[Camerota:] Millennial voters make up as much of the electorate as baby boomers now and they seem to lack enthusiasm for either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. This important voting bloc is a focal point now and this is a front page story in "USA Today" just this morning, that we're showing you. So here to discuss what is important to millennials are CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, Kayleigh McEnany. And national spokesperson for MoveOn.org and Hillary Clinton supporter, Karine Jean-Pierre. Great to see both of you ladies this morning. So, you know, "USA Today" you guys were on the front page. Everybody wants to know what makes millennials tick. Karine, what are the issues that are most important to millennials? [Karine Jean-pierre, National Spokesperson, Moveon.org, Clinton Supporter:] Well look, Alisyn, millennials are the most diverse, right, and the most progressive group generation that we have. And as you were saying, they're going to make they're going to be a huge factor, maybe make or break the election this cycle and so they really care about the issues because of that. They grew up in a time where nasty ads T.V. ads really took over and so this is why they really care about climate change, they care about income and equality, college you know, debt-free college and that's what they're going to be looking towards. And I think Hillary Clinton really aligns with the issues that they truly, truly believe. [Camerota:] And yet, we keep hearing that they're not enthusiastic about either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. What do you think is behind that, Kayleigh? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] That's true, and I think the big story with millennials is that they are progressive. They do lean left but they don't like Hillary Clinton. Something that Donald Trump hasn't hit nearly enough in fact, I don't think he's hit it ever is the fact that Hillary took $2 million in speaking fees from universities on the backs of students. She spoke at UCLA for an hour took $300,000. Her team called it the special university rate. That could have funded six students going to college. [Camerota:] But is that her fault or is that the university administration deciding to pay big-ticket speeches? [Mcenany:] It's her fault, too. Her fault, too. If you're going to give a speech at a university give the money back so that six students can go to school free. Don't tell us you care about student tuition. I have student loans out right now. Don't tell us you care about my student loan debt [Camerota:] OK. [Mcenany:] if you want to take it and profit from it. [Jean-pierre:] Forty million people 40 million people in this country have student loan debt so that's definitely a reality. [Camerota:] But wouldn't have would it have helped the millennial's enthusiasm for her if she had said I'm going to give this to a scholarship fund? [Jean-pierre:] So, here's the thing. There's a Quinnipiac poll that came out before "P****gate", less than a month ago, that showed that millennials believe 73 percent of millennials believe that Donald Trump is biased towards women and minorities. I mean, that's just that's just the fact. So [Camerota:] I want to ask you. [Jean-pierre:] we're talking about them being progressive and diverse. [Camerota:] I do want to ask you about the most recent controversies. Do millennials care about, you just said, 'P****gate'? Do these controversies is this something that millennials are talking about? The controversies with either Bill Clinton's past or Donald Trump's lewd comments? [Mcenany:] I think they do care about both of those things. What I think they care about more is being respected. I think they care about authenticity. I think they care that they turned out to support Bernie Sanders to the tune of 90 percent in most states and then they find out that the DNC actively thwarted his campaign. And then they find out from this WikiLeaks documents, you know, they care deeply about Wall Street and paying their fair share and these are progressive values millennials hold. And yet, Hillary Clinton is standing before Wall Street not releasing the transcripts because she was telling Wall Street she is going to do everything she can for the financial industry while telling millennials something different and using the DNC to thwart the messenger for those causes in the form of Bernie Sanders. [Jean-pierre:] But here's the thing. Here's the thing, Alisyn. Hillary Clinton has Sen. Sanders, Sen. Warren. She has President Obama, Michelle Obama all behind her. Who does Donald Trump have at that level? Nobody. So that's sort of just the reality that we have there. [Camerota:] Let's look at the poll numbers right now in terms of how millennials are feeling. If you're under 45 is that really a millennial? I think you have to be younger, right? [Jean-pierre:] We're getting older. [Camerota:] I mean but anyway, there's where we have 54 percent of under 45-year-old voters support Clinton right now. Only 29 percent support Trump. So I hear you, Kayleigh, that they wanted Bernie Sanders but they're not crazy about Donald Trump. [Mcenany:] Yes, and this is where Donald Trump could improve. He has a message that millennials will hear and that is I'm going to better the economy. You're going to have jobs. You're still hurt by the Great Recession and, you know, I'm here to help you. But I don't think he's effectively brought that case to college campuses, to millennials. I think he has four weeks left, he should start to do that. It's really important and that's where he could improve. [Jean-pierre:] Yes, and I totally agree. Look, last night, Hillary Clinton was at Ohio State 18,500 people showed up. It doesn't speak to who's going to vote but it definitely speaks to enthusiasm. And look, millennials aren't stupid at all. They're very smart, they're paying attention. And just like the night of the debate there was a Muslim woman who a young Muslim woman who asked Donald Trump hey, how are you going to deal with Islamophobia, which what did he do? He gave an incredibly Islamophobic answer. A black man asked him hey, how are you going to bring America together as president? What does he do? He talks about inner-city violence, which he assumed because he was black that he lived in an inner city. I mean, so millennials are paying attention to that and they're listening and they're watching. [Mcenany:] And they also don't need these answers refiltered. He said to the Islamic woman look, Islamophobia is a real problem and we've got to address it and we have to make sure that it doesn't happen. And then he proceeded to talk about Islamic terrorism and the importance of saying that word. So I think millennials see the nuance there and it's important to say that word. Which, by the way, we've learned today that in these WikiLeaks Hillary Clinton said terrorism is not a problem. This was in 2013. How prescient was she? Look at ISIS now. [Camerota:] Karine, what about the idea from Kayleigh's side that millennials are not that familiar with the Clintons Bill Clinton's controversial past with women and that by bringing these women into the debate, Donald Trump sort of raised awareness of what had happened in the 90s. What do you think about this? [Jean-pierre:] I think it's a I think it's a completely it's failed strategy. It's not going to work. That's not what millennials actually care about. They care about the issues of climate change, they care about college affordability, they care about income and equality. Those are the things that they care about. Now we have to remember, they grew up in a time where attacks really took over their lives and that's why issues matter to them. That's why Bernie Sanders really resonated on those types of issues. [Mcenany:] I think it I think they care deeply about this because look, there's a revolution on college campuses. I was on Harvard Law School's campus last year. Sexual assault was the dominant issue among young people that and "Black Lives Matter". They didn't know about it, it's important to them. [Jean-pierre:] Look, at the end of the day, especially when we're talking about "Black Lives Matter" there's only one candidate meeting with "Black Lives Matter". There's only one candidate that's talking about implicit bias. She spoke about it in the first in the first debate. There's only one candidate who has the support of the "Mothers of the Movement" and I think that's what matters. That's what they care about. [Mcenany:] And Donald Trump has talked about Sandra Bland. He said that that was wrong. [Jean-pierre:] No, no. What Donald Trump [Mcenany:] The situation [Jean-pierre:] Not at all. What Donald Trump has done is that he goes in front of a majority of white audiences and does a character assassination of the black community. And what does he offer? Hey, what do you have to lose? [Camerota:] OK, ladies, thank you for spelling out both of your positions. Really appreciate it. What do you all think? You can find me on Twitter @AlisynCamerota. I'd love to read your comments. OK, we're following a lot of news including the growing turmoil in the GOP. Let's get right to it. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] I meant what I said and it is still how I feel. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] People that can't fix a budget but then they start talking about their nominee. Isn't it really sad? [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] I no longer support Donald Trump. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Any of you see that debate? I'm not sure you'll ever see anything like that again. [Trump:] If they want to release more tapes we'll continue to talk about Bill and Hillary Clinton. [Clinton:] He just doubled down on his excuse that it's just locker room banter. That is just a really weak excuse. [Trump:] WikiLeaks I love WikiLeaks. [Clinton:] We now know who Donald Trump is, but the real question is who are we? [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Cuomo:] Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. Up first, is there a Republican civil war happening right now? House Speaker Paul Ryan declaring he can no longer defend his party's nominee. He says the focus has to be keeping control of the House and Senate. [Camerota:] This, as the first national poll is out after Trump's vulgar comments on that audio surfaced. They show Trump's 11 points behind Hillary Clinton today. Trump is promising to ramp up attacks against the Clintons. Only eight days until the final debate and just four weeks left until Election Day. CNN has every angle covered for you. Let's begin with chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Good morning, Dana. [Costello:] U.S. war planes overnight dropping ammunition to anti-ISIS rebels in Syria. Fifty tons of small arms ammunition and items including grenades are now in the hands of the Syrian Arab coalition. This move coming after President Obama assured the American public Russia is not leading in Syria. He did that during a sit down with "60 Minutes." [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] What we've been able to do is to stall ISILl's momentum, to take away some of the key land that they were holding. To push back, particularly in Iraq, against some population centers that they threatened. But what we have not been able to do, so far, I'm the first one to acknowledge this, is to change the dynamic inside of Syria. [Costello:] And it's that dynamic in Syria that led to one of the most contentious moments of the interview, when CBS's Steve Kroft suggested Russian President Vladimir Putin was challenging President Obama's leadership. Senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns joins me with more on that. Good morning. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. We did see flashes of the combative President Obama in that interview. He got asked a question from Steve Kroft about Putin, challenging his leadership in Syria. And he turned it around into a question about Putin's leadership. This sort of follows on with the message the White House has been putting out for days about the notion that Putin is damaging himself and Russia's interest in Syria. Let's listen a little bit to that exchange. [Obama:] Mr. Putin now is devoting his own troops, his own military, just to barely holding to, by a thread, his sole ally. [Steve Kroft, Cbs News:] He's challenging your leadership, Mr. President. He's challenging your leadership. [Obama:] Steve, I got to tell you, if you think that running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in, in order to prop up your only ally is leadership, then we've got a different definition of leadership. For the last five years, the Russians have provided arms, provided financing, as have the Iranians. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump saying he will finally detail his immigration policies this week, but his campaign still struggling to explain where he stands. We're breaking down the details. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Two known gang members arrested for shooting Dwyane Wade's cousin in Chicago. This as she pushed her three-week- old child in a stroller. The emotional plea for her mother. [Romans:] Overnight passengers fleeing one of America's busiest airports. Reports of gunshots, causing evacuations and a shutdown a shutdown of LAX. The airport now given the all clear. We'll tell you what happened to cause that scare. [Berman:] It is a person in a Zorro costume. Somehow connected or involved or at least there on all [Romans:] It really raises questions, if there really is a major event, you know, how prepared are the airports to, you know, control the crowds. [Berman:] Indeed. [Romans:] Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] I'm John Berman. It's Monday, August 29th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. And the wait to hear Donald Trump clearly explain his immigration policy may be over or not. Overnight Trump tweeted, "I will be making a major speech on illegal immigration," all caps, "on Wednesday in the great state of Arizona." Trump's speech, if it happens, come after a week of vacillation, raising questions about whether he was backing off a central campaign promise. His team was on the Sunday shows, but neither his running mate nor his campaign manager could or would give a definite answer on what Trump plans to do with the millions of immigrants now in the U.S. illegally. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Candidate:] Let's be very clear. Nothing has changed about Donald Trump's position on dealing with illegal immigration. He put this issue at the center of this presidential campaign in the Republican primaries. And his position and his principles have been absolutely consistent. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] The one issue that you didn't really address is whether or not the 11 or 12 million undocumented immigrants will be removed by a deportation force as you heard Mr. Trump say in that clip from November of last year. Is that policy still operative? [Pence:] Well, what you heard him describe there in his usual plainspoken American way was a mechanism, not a policy. [Unidentified Male:] How do they leave? Do they self deport or does is there a whether you want to call it deportation force or something that helps them leave the country immediately as he's previously said he'd like to see happen? [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager:] That's really the question here, John. [Berman:] In fact that is the question. It's one that Donald Trump had an answer for the last 14 months of the campaign, but now does not. And now with less than a month to go before the first presidential debate, really just a little over two months until the election. Not much time to get that clear consistent message on immigration. Let's get the latest from CNN's Dianne Gallagher. [Dianne Gallagher, Cnn National Correspondent:] John, Christine, that first presidential debate less than a month away and a campaign official tells us that Donald Trump did spend part of his Sunday getting ready for it. We're told the Republican candidate and his advisers did some debate prep at the Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey. And one topic that will likely dominate the debate between Trump and Hillary Clinton, immigration. Specifically what should happen to those 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here in the U.S., and is still one that is dogging the Trump campaign. So late Sunday, Trump announced that he's going to be giving a major speech, this Wednesday, discussing illegal immigration. It's going to be in Arizona which has been key in the debate over what to do about it. Of course, this follows last week where he gave some contradictory answers about whether he believes all of those in the country illegally have to be deported, as he's previously stated, saying at one point he wanted a softening of his policy and then later saying that some might actually see it as him hardening on the issue. So what Trump is emphasizing now is that immediately after being elected he would deport criminals who are not in the U.S. lawfully and that there would be no path to legalization for undocumented immigrants unless they leave the country, apply to return, and then pay back taxes. But what the campaign is avoiding saying is whether or not Trump still believes there should be a force to round up and then deport all of those who are here in the country illegally. Also whether all of them must actually leave the country, saying that he wants it done in a humane way. Well, politicians on both sides questioned exactly where he stood on some of those points and some analysts say that Trump is hurting himself by delaying his planned speech. Vice presidential nominee Mike Pence, though, defended Trump's approach on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION." [Pence:] You see a CEO at work. You see someone who is engaging the American people, listening to the American people. He's hearing from all sides. But I promise you he is a decisive leader, he will stand on the principles that have underpinned his commitment to end illegal immigration in this country, and that's what people will learn more about in the days ahead. [Gallagher:] So, of course, all eyes are going to be on Arizona for some answers, come Wednesday John, Christine. [Romans:] All right, Dianne Gallagher, thank you for that. Trump also drawing fire for the way he's recently tried to appeal to African-Americans, asking them, in his words, what the hell they have to lose by voting for him but making his pitch to largely white audiences. [Donna Brazile, Dnc Chief:] Donald Trump has not held an event in the black community. He has not gone to a black church as Hillary Clinton has done. He has not gone to historical black colleges as Hillary Clinton. He's not met with the mothers of children who have been slain and killed from violence in this country. [Romans:] But late last night, the Trump campaign announced Trump will speak to African-Americans via an appearance on a black Christian television channel, the Impact Network. The interview is set for this Saturday morning at 11:00. Still Trump has a long way to improve his standing with black voters. A recent Pew poll shows just 2 percent support Donald Trump. An NBC- "Wall Street Journal" poll shows just 1 percent support among black voters. Over the weekend Trump courted more controversy when he tweeted about the tragic death of NBA player Dwyane Wade's cousin. She was shot and killed while pushing a stroller down her Southside Chicago street pushing her 3-week-old baby. Trump wrote, "Dwyane Wade's cousin was just shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will vote Trump." That drew furious condemnation from critics who accuse him of exploiting a tragedy. Trump then put up a second tweet offering his condolences to the family. [Berman:] Chicago police have now charged two men with murder in the death of Wade's cousin Nykea Aldridge. Police say they are brothers, both gang members, on parole for gun convictions. Officials say the brothers were shooting at a man who had dropped off some women nearby. They say the brothers thought the man might be armed so they chased him started shooting, missed, hitting Aldridge instead. CNN's Rachel Crane sat down with Nykea Aldrige's mother who spoke about her daughter's total devotion to her four children. [Rachel Crane, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, it was incredibly moving having this conversation with Dianne, Nykea's mother. She said that she wanted to celebrate her daughter's life. That she was a fashionista. She described her as simply awesome. She loved to do her hair, she was a wonderful writer, she liked to write poetry, and her whole life was about her four children. [Dianne Aldridge, Mother Of Shooting Victim Nykea Aldridge:] She was just trying to make a better life for her and the kids, you know. That's the most important thing in her life was her kids, you know, to make sure that they got out of situations that she had been in. They tell each other, you know, they miss their mom. They want their mom. It just hurts to hear kids saying they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore, only through spirit, only through only through pictures. That's the only way they know their mom for the rest of their lives. The only thing they have to go on is what they had. It's just hard for a kid. It's really oh God, it's heartbreaking not to have her here to raise her own children. I truly, truly, from the bottom of my heart, I forgive them, I forgive them. I can't bring her back but I forgive them. And I just pray to God that they pray to God to ask for forgiveness for what they've done. They've taken a person's life, senselessly. [Crane:] Just heartbreaking hearing the pain that that mother is going through and remarkable that through that pain she still has a message of forgiveness for the men who committed this crime. And unfortunately this is not the first time that Dianne has gone through this kind of grief. Her eldest daughter was also killed from gun violence 10 years ago. Back to you, John and Christine. [Berman:] Thanks to Rachel Crane. And our hearts go out to that family, to be sure. Amid all the attention about Aldridge's death, there has been more gunfire in Chicago. The police department says four people have been killed and 24 injured just since Saturday afternoon. "Chicago Tribune'reports there have been 2,808 shooting victims so far this year. That is on pace to exceed last year's total at this point, of about 2,988. [Romans:] All right. Nine minutes pas the hour. Fed chief Janet Yellen prepped the world for a rate increase but a wave of U.S. economic data this week may determine the timing for that rate hike. Yellen talked about rosy data and strong labor market, a strong housing market last week. But a solid monthly jobs report this Friday yes, Friday, we have a big jobs number. It could determine if we see a bump in September or December of this year. Ultra low rates have propelled stocks to record highs. Even while the U.S. has had a slow growth recovery far below historic averages. It's been seven years, though, without a recession. Seven years without a recession. And the Central Bank has done the bulk of the work so far. So economists say the next president whoever that is will have to spend more money to boost growth. Many experts think government spending is too restrictive. For example, they predict infrastructure spending could create jobs and beef up business. Both Trump and Clinton have proposed spending on bridges and roads, but the Republican controlled House seems reluctant to spend more. Whether that changes after November remains to be seen. Global markets mixed this morning. In the U.S. futures are lower. But a lot in the stock market a lot of people in the stock market are thinking whoever is the next president is going to have to work with Congress to make some smart choices on spending. [Berman:] A lot of politicians I have been speaking money managers are concerned that if there is a recession, you're not going to be able to cut rates to get out of it. [Romans:] Exactly. [Berman:] Because you can't cut rates anymore because they're so low. [Romans:] And you know, a recession will a recession is inevitable. [Berman:] Yes. Yes. [Romans:] You know, you don't go for that's the whole business cycle. Expansions and contractions. We've been expanding for seven years. All right. Ten minutes after the hour right now. Syrian rebels gaining territory against ISIS, but these victories could complicate U.S. involvement in that region. We are live in the Turkey-Syria border next. [Howell:] Welcome back too CNN "Newsroom." I'm George Howell. We are covering the first week of the U.S. President Donald Trump. He is set to speak with the host of foreign leaders this weekend including a phone call with the Russian President Vladimir Putin. For more, let's bring in CNN's Ivan Watson live for us in the Russian capital this hour. Ivan, a pleasure to have you with us. So the Kremlin has really played down the significance of this phone call more as proper protocol rather than looking for any significance changes. Donald Trump also saying that it could be too early to talk about sanctions. What more do we know about this phone call and how important it is? [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, it'll be the first direct communication between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin since he was inaugurated to Kremlin. You're right, downplaying expectations, saying it's largely an opportunity for the Russian President to congratulate his American counterpart and saying it's unlikely that real substantial issues would be discussed in this first conversation between the two presidents. As for Donald Trump, he was asked about the possibility of lifting U.S. sanctions against Russia. Recall that the outgoing Obama administration in its final days imposed some additional sanctions, targeted some top Russian officials, expelling some Russian diplomats who were accused of engaging in intelligence gathering activities. And this is what Donald Trump had to say on Friday when asked about that. [Trump:] As far as the sanctions, very early to be talking about that, but we look to have a great relationship with all countries ideally. That won't necessarily happen. Unfortunately, it probably won't happen with many countries. [Watson:] The Trump administration has made it very clear that it would like to try to cooperate with Moscow on battling against ISIS and battling against terrorism, but Donald Trump has seen significant opposition from senior members within his own party, in Congress, who've made it clear that they do not want to see Trump going soft on Russia for the role it has played in intervening and in annexing parts of Ukraine. And they want to ensure that the Trump administration continues to support European allies that are part of the NATO military alliance. [Howell:] Well, there is that difference of opinion between Donald Trump and the people in his cabinet. But here's the question. So, the U.S. President has suggested he would like to see the U.S. and Russia work closer together against terrorism. But again, Russia, a nation that has been accused of essentially carpet bombing cities like Aleppo, resulting in a number of civilian casualties in its support of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Could the U.S. find itself conflicted if working closer with Russia in that fashion? [Watson:] Yeah, I mean there are whole host of areas where Russia and the U.S. have traditionally disagreed. And what the Trump administration has made clear, well, they want to find areas where they can cooperate together. And it seems, you did have an outspoken voice in the Russian parliament coming out with a series of tweets today saying, hey, we can work together in Ukraine, on resolving the Syria conflict, on battling against terrorism. Also, this is [inaudible] are also taking digs against long time critics in the U.S. of Russia, such as the Republican Senator John McCain, calling him a foe of Russia and saying that he was panicking at the possibility that sanctions could be lifted. You also had this intriguing tweet coming out from the Russian embassy in London, of course. The British Prime Minister was meeting alongside Donald Trump and indicated she didn't want sanctions lifted until Russia moved forward with a peace process in Ukraine. And this tweet is saying, "Engage but beware," Prime Minister said, "As far as we're aware, Cold War was long dead." So, there are real tensions still between Russia's critics, both in the U.S. and in Europe. And certainly, we see that the Kremlin would like to see Trump moving away from some of those critics, to opening up in their eyes, hopefully, a new era of detente between Moscow and Washington. It's still far too early to see whether or not Trump will be able to move forward. And whether that is in fact his vision. George. [Howell:] A statement from the British Prime Minister Theresa May, "Engage but beware." The evolution of the statements from the President Reagan back in the '80s, "Trust but verify." Ivan Watson, live for us in Moscow. Ivan, thank you so much for reporting. His first week in office, President Trump's actions are already being felt across European capitals. Our Atika Shubert has more on that from Berlin. [Atika Shubert, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well a message of solidarity from both the French President Francois Hollande and Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel as they face a dramatically different political landscape now especially with President Donald Trump. Take a listen to what Francois Hollande had to say. [Francois Hollande, French President:] There are challenges posed by the new U.S. administration in regards to commercial roles, in regards to the conflicts in the world. We, of course, have to speak to Donald Trump since he was chosen by the Americans to be their president. We have to do it with a European point of view and our interest and values. [Shubert:] Just some of the challenges they face from President Trump during trade agreements but also saying NATO was obsolete and that the European Union was merely, "a vehicle for Germany," and that other countries in the E.U. would soon follow Great Britain out the door. So, Merkel and Hollande are already looking to see how they can unify the E.U., make sure it stands strong. Well at the same, they face their own internal challenges, populist parties that are espousing anti-immigrants and anti-E.U., policies have gained in recent polls. And of course, there are elections coming up in both France and Germany. Merkel, especially, is feeling the pressure because she is running for reelection again. Now incidentally, both Hollande and Merkel will be having their own telephone calls with President Trump where they will be able to discuss those issues. Atika Shubert, CNN, Berlin. [Howell:] Two-time Oscar nominee John Hurt has died. The British actor played wand maker Garrick Ollivander in the first two Harry Potter movies. He started as a stage actor. He had a breakout role in historical film "A Man for All Seasons" in 1966. During his six- decade career, he had extensive movie and T.V. credits to his career, including "The Elephant Man," "Midnight Express," "1984," "Alien" and "Indiana Jones." Hurt was honored with numerous awards over a six- decade career. He was knighted in 2015. No specific reason was disclosed for his death, though. John Hurt was 77 years old. An honor student in the United States, she is also a Syrian refugee, coming up. We'll introduce you to an 11-year-old girl, hoping to make America better at the organization working to help refugees to rebuild their lives. We are live from Atlanta at this hour broadcasting to our viewers across the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN "Newsroom." [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, it was campaign promise that really got supporters fired up. But now Donald Trump is backing away from his pledge to lock up Hillary Clinton. Also ahead, protests after Japan and South Korea strike a deal of their militaries, the first such agreement since World War II. And later, case closed. The FBI makes its decision in a child abuse case against Brad Pitt. Hello and thank you for joining us. I'm Isha Sesay. This is NEWSROOM L.A. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump hasn't held a news conference since his victory. He is talking to The New York Times. And CNN's Jim Acosta reports he is moderating some of his more controversial campaign positions. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Today, Donald Trump met face-to-face with one of his favorite targets, The New York Times. And the newspaper's reporters were live tweeting the highlights. To all of his supporters calling for Hillary Clinton to be jailed over her e-mails in the Clinton Foundation, Trump hinted he is leaning against pushing for any sort of prosecution, saying it would be very, very divisive for the country. It's a reversal for Trump who shattered presidential campaign norms by threatening to imprison his opponent repeatedly. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. [Acosta:] On his Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon, who has been accused of showcasing racist views on his Breitbart News site. Trump said, "It's very hard on Bannon. I think he's having a hard time with it because it's not him." And Trump even moderated his stance on global warming, which he once called a hoax, telling The Times, "I think there is some connectivity between humans and climate change." With his inauguration getting closer, the president-elect has no shortage of flames to put out. From a new revelation in The Washington Post that the Trump Foundation admitted to the IRS, it was engaged in self- dealing and illegally misusing charitable donations to the mounting conflicts posed by his business affairs overseas. Trump told the Times, "In theory, I could run my business perfectly, and then run the country perfectly. There has never been a case like this." [Michael Flynn, Retired U.s. Army Lieutenant General:] We are facing another ism, just like we faced Nazism. [Acosta:] And there are new questions about Michael Flynn who is tapped to be Trump's national security adviser, after the retired general's comments on Islamism last August. [Flynn:] This is Islamism. And it is a it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet. And it has to be excised. [Unidentified Male:] Dr. Carson, Dr. Carson [Acosta:] Trump also met with rival turned supporter Ben Carson and tweeted, he is seriously considering the doctor to run housing and urban development, even though a Carson adviser just last week said, "Dr. Carson doesn't think he's qualified to run a federal agency." Trump has mostly tried to bypass the media since his election, revealing his upcoming agenda in this transition produced video. [Trump:] My agenda will be based on a simple core principle, putting America first. [Acosta:] A top supporter's message to the press, "Get used to it." [Laura Ingraham, Radio Talk Show:] But now Donald Trump is going to, you know, make his own way with the press. And he is probably going to do a lot of those videos, I would imagine. [Unidentified Male:] Sure. [Ingraham:] Words straight to the American people. Go around the press. [Acosta:] CNN has learned Mitt Romney is seriously considering the possibility of joining Donald Trump's administration as Secretary of State. A source familiar with transition discussion says, it's likely the 2012 republican nominee will be consulting with his family over the weekend. That source tells CNN a decision is not expected until next week. Jim Acosta, CNN, New York. [Sesay:] Well, joining me now here in L.A. are Matthew Littman, a democratic strategist and a former senior adviser to Barack Obama in his campaign, and CNN political commentator, Lanhee Chen, former public policy director for Mitt Romney. Good to have you both with me again for round two. And Lanhee, as that report from Jim Acosta ended on the note of your old boss, Mitt Romney, let me pick up there and ask if you were a betting man, would you say he'd take the position? [Lanhee Chen, Cnn Political Commentato:] I you know, I think it's tough to say, honestly, there are a lot of different factors- [Sesay:] Oh, don't hedge your bet. [Chen:] Look, you know, I think I think look, there are there are a lot of different factors involved here. And obviously, Governor Romney cares deeply about the country. He always has cared deeply about the country. When Donald Trump asked for his advice and council after being elected president-elect, he provided that to him. So we'll have to see what happens. I've said this a lot. I mean, I really think that Romney would be terrific in any number of positions, senior positions in the U.S. government. I voted for Governor Romney again this year. In fact, that's how qualified I think he is. So, I'd be delighted if he were in any senior role. [Matthew Littman, Democratic Strategist:] I think Mitt Romney would also be good in a lot of positions in government, regardless of whether democrat was our president was a republican or a democrat. [Littman:] I just I just [Sesay:] It didn't happen. [Littman:] But I just have a hard time believing that Romney could take this job and have to deal with Trump sending out these tweets, and then Romney having to apologize to people around the world. I just think that Romney should think better of it and should not be Secretary of State. If I were Romney, I wouldn't do the job. [Sesay:] Speaking of the issue of consistency, which is really what you're getting at there, you know, as you were saying, Matt, you know, you just don't necessarily know which Donald Trump you may get. Let's talk about his walking back on this whole campaign promise of prosecuting Hillary Clinton. Let's put up the tweet. Because it came from The New York Times, from the meeting he had with them on Tuesday. And this is what one of their journalists put out. Trump is pressed if he has definitively ruled out prosecuting Hillary Clinton. He said, "This is just not something that I feel very strongly about." Matt, are you surprised? [Littman:] I'm not surprised because nothing about Donald Trump at this point is surprising. The fact that he changes his positions, I don't think he knows what his positions are from one day to the next. Anyway, but what he did was, he riled up his supporters. He riled up these people who would yell "Lock her up." all the time, got them to vote for him and is walking it back immediately. Couple of things; one, Trump doesn't decide who gets prosecuted. Number two, the FBI said that Hillary didn't do anything that they can prosecute her for, so they're not going to. So, there's nothing here anyway. So, what Trump was telling his people during the campaign about "lock her up" was never going to happen. This is basically an admission of [Sesay:] All right. Listen to Lanhee, listen to what Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager had to say as she spoke to one of the morning shows on Tuesday. [Kellyann Conway, Senior Trump Adviser:] I think when the president- elect, who is also the head of your party now, Joe, tells you before he is even inaugurated, he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content to the members. Look, I think he is thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the President of the United States. And things that sound like the campaign aren't among them. [Sesay:] All right. So, Lanhee, Kellyanne Conway saying that, he is sending a message to the GOP congress, drop it. It's over. I'm good with it. Will they? [Chen:] Well, first of all, I think that's the right message to be sending. So, I'm glad that he sent that message. I'm glad that Kellyanne sent that sent that message. I do think republicans in congress want to focus instead on this first 100-day agenda. I mean, it is a very ambitious agenda. They're talking about doing a lot of things, some of it through executive action. But most of it is going to require congress to act, you know, if they're going to do anything about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, they're going to need congress to act. If they want to do anything at all with tax policy, tax reform, it's going have to go through the congress. So, my guess is, that republicans in congress, and they're going to take their lead from Paul Ryan. And I can tell you that Paul Ryan would much rather be focusing on the substance than on a potential investigation into Hillary Clinton. [Littman:] Yeah. No, I agree with that. Donald Trump has a very difficult agenda to get through quickly, including building that wall, right, on the Mexican-American border? That's going to be very tough to do. [Sesay:] Was not mentioned in that transition video. [Littman:] He's also got he said he is going to defeat ISIS very quickly. That's going to be very tough to do, within the first 100 days or the first six months. You know, when Barack Obama came in, he fulfilled, actually, a lot of the promises that he made. The one thing that didn't work out was, he said he was the candidate of hope and change. And within a very few months after he got into office, people started to say, "Where is that hope and change he promised?" Donald Trump has to be careful of the same thing because he promised that things are going to happen very fast. And if those jobs don't start manufacturing jobs don't start coming back, those coal jobs don't start coming back very quickly within those first few months, people are going to start to wonder. [Sesay:] But is that why he's loaded his 100 days with tasks that require executive action so he can get a couple of easy wins? [Littman:] He can get those easy wins, that's true, but those aren't what he promised people, and people know that what he promised and I think people are going to look within those first few months within the first six months and they're going to start to say, "Where are those jobs. you promised us those jobs. You promised that you would defeat ISIS." He said he would do it fast. And that's what they're going to be looking for. [Chen:] You know, it is traditionally the case in the U.S. presidency, when the new president takes office, that first 100 days is so critical because they do get a little bit of a pass from congress. They do get a little bit of honeymoon period. And that's really when things have to get gone. Things become exponentially more difficult after that period is over. So, for Donald Trump, I do think it is going to be crucial for him to get things done. I do think also, though, Donald Trump is a master brander. [Littman:] Right. [Chen:] Regardless of what happens, he is going to be able to say, even if the Affordable Care Act is not fully repealed, he'll say, "We repealed it. We did a great job." Now, we're going to have "Trumpcare" and it's going to be fantastic. [Littman:] I actually agree, right. [Chen:] And he's very skilful with that. [Sesay:] Well, as he heads to the Oval Office, you know, there are clouds over it, as we're all aware. Amongst them the things that played out in Washington, D.C. on Saturday involving the Alt- Right Movement. Ugly scenes from this group, effectively, a group of racists and bigots. Let's remind our viewers of some of what we saw on Saturday that has many people questioning Donald Trump and how he's using his voice at a time like this. [Richard Spencer, Alt-right Movement Leader:] Hail Trump! Hail our people. Hail victory! [Sesay:] Nazi salutes, horrific language being used at that gathering. Matt Littman, why didn't President-elect Trump come out and immediately condemn this? [Littman:] Is it hail, H-E-I-L or H-A-I-L? [Sesay:] I don't think you're focusing on the right thing. [Littman:] No, I do wonder because you're talking about people who often are in support of the Nazis, some of these people. And in the case of Trump, you've got a lot of people. I'm not saying all of his support, you know, is from racists. But there is definitely a segment of the Trump support that this white national movement. And Trump has really not forcefully disavowed this movement. He just says things like, "I disavow, or I don't want them to support me." But he has used their support to get to where he is now, when he is not forcefully disavowed these people. [Sesay:] Lanhee, the president-elect told The New York Times that the Alt-Right is not a group I want to energize. And if they're energized, I want to look into it and find out why. And that's according to a tweet that was put out by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman. Now, the southern poverty the Southern Law Poverty Center kind of just saying that is disingenuous, the whole thing of I don't know why they're energized. Let's put up the statement that they actually put out after Donald Trump's comments at the New York Times. Is that, "The reason he's energized the "alt-right" is simple: He's been playing its tune from the day he announced his campaign and called Mexican immigrants rapist. His proposal to ban Muslim immigration, his talk of mass deportations, his attacks on political correctness, it's all been music to the ears of a movement that envisions a white America. And that's exactly the America that the "alt-right" wants to see." So here is my question to you. He comes out, he says, "This is not a group I want to recognize. I condemn everything that they stand for." But he continues his language of talking of Muslims in ways that is troubling to people, at least through the campaign. He continues to say, you know he continues to support the attacks on political correctness. It's kind of conflicting messages, is it not? [Chen:] I think that you can never be forceful enough in denouncing the kind of hatred that was expressed in that meeting. And I think that as president-elect now, it is his responsibility to rise above whatever campaign rhetoric, some of it clearly problematic. Some of it clearly, maybe even more than problematic, you know, the statements about the judge, the Mexican-American judge, for example, were very troubling to me personally. I think that you can never denounce those folks enough. I think he needs to continue doing that. But I think if you look at what they're starting to do now and talking about what a President Trump would actually do, he has begun to come off of some of these more extreme positions from the campaign trail. And I actually think that's probably a good thing, in terms of bringing the country together. So I would hope that as they pursue policy, they do pursue a more reasonable pathway, while at the same time denouncing this sort of stuff, like we saw over the weekend. [Littman:] Could I ask? What are those positions where he has become more reasonable? [Chen:] Well, I think, for example, on immigration, they've talked about enforcing existing laws a lot more. They've talked about executive actions that would [Sesay:] But it was [Chen:] Yeah, I mean, I think we have to be careful to distinguish the language that the president-elect himself is using from those that he may be considering for post. He can't control everything Kris Kobach says. [Littman:] Banning Muslims and banning people from countries that have terrorism, basically support terrorism, those are still on his agenda. So, I don't think he has moderated that very much. [Chen:] Well, now well, to be fair, I think that some again, some who he's considering have continued to support a Muslim ban. He has talked about needing to look at immigration from countries that are known harbors known safe harbors for terrorists. I think that's a little different. [Littman:] Let me OK. Well but on his website, that Muslim ban still exists. [Chen:] Well, I you know, I think that's one of those things that they have to [Littman:] So he hasn't moderated it? So when we're saying he has moderated his views, what views has he moderated? [Chen:] Well, again, I think he is certainly on issues like Obamacare, for example, he has basically said, look, I think there are elements upon it that we should we should keep. [Littman:] This goes to your point about messaging. [Chen:] With respect to but with respect to the issue at hand, which is the racial tension that clearly exists in many quarters in the United States. Again, I think he does need to be forceful. He does need to continue to do those things. But at least, early on, the signs I do think, are promising with respect to issue likes immigration. [Sesay:] Final words to you, Matt [Littman:] You're saying two different things, though. You're saying that he needs to continue to do these things and be forceful. The things he's if he continues to do them, he is not being forceful. He needs to be forceful. [Chen:] No, no. I mean, he needs he needs to continue to moderate some of this stuff and also be forceful in denouncing this kind of speech. [Sesay:] Boy, though we must leave it, Matt Littman. We should leave you to dream of a democratic presidency. Lanhee Chen, thank you so much. [Chen:] Thank you. [Littman:] Thank you. [Sesay:] Thanks to both of you. All right. Next on NEWSROOM L.A., new deal between South Korea and Japan is sparking protests. Why the two countries have agreed to something they haven't tried since World War II. Plus, ahead of the holiday season, the U.S. warns Americans about the threat of terrorism both at home and in Europe. [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] ISIS has one message for its followers in the west, and one message only. Kill as many people as you can. It sees truck attacks as was carried out in Nice as a very practical way of doing this. [Harlow:] For many mere in the United States, the holiday season is a time to rejoice. But in parts of the Middle East, that are targeted by militants celebrating Jesus' birth is an act of courage. Simply being Christian can mean death. My colleague Carol Costello spoke with an Iraqi Christian nun who is helping those most in need. [Carol Costello, Cnn Correspondent:] What's happening to Christians in Pope Francis' words is genocide. Thousands displaced by ISIS, their lives forever changed. You can see it in this child's face in a refugee camp under Kurdish control. See it in a play put on by refugee Christian actors who share a community's grief on stage. I talked with Sister Ben over the internet. Can you still hear me? A Dominican nun caring for Christian children at this refugee camp. The connection was tenuous but we managed. Sister, how do you explain is to the children? [Sister Ben Saaed, Dominican Sisters Of St. Catherine Of Sena:] They understand that ISIS is very, very dangerous. So they say we would like to be as a soldier to fight ISIS and we can't go back to our home. [Costello:] So even the smallest children want to fight ISIS as soldiers? [Saaed:] Yes. I'm talking about the first to five years children. [Costello:] Millions of people of various religions from fled. Among them hundreds of thousands of Christians from Syria and Iraq. Sister Donna Markham is president of Catholic Charities [Usa. Sister Donna Markham, President, Catholic Charities Usa:] August of 2014, August 6th, to be precise, ISIS came in and all of the Christians were essentially evicted from their homes. So their convent, their school, their hospitals, everything, their mother house, everything was lost. So they left with the clothes on their back and ran for their lives. [Costello:] They ran from happy lives, from their middle class homes. The nuns ran from their convent to this, a refugee camp. They now live in shipping containers. Electricity goes in and out. Food is scarce. But they have no choice. So did ISIS use the usual tactic, you know, you either convert [Markham:] Convert, pay a tax, yes. [Costello:] So what did the nuns tell them? [Markham:] They left with the Christian community because the sisters wouldn't certainly never convert and they didn't have money to be paying taxes. So but they fled with the Christians. And their desire which is really courageous from my vantage point is that they will not abandon their people. [Costello:] Do you want to leave the country or do you want to go back home? [Saaed:] Of course we would like to go back home because every single day our first half hour with the children we start with a prayer. So we ask the children, what would you like to share with God in your prayer? And first off all they say we would like to go back home. [Costello:] People in the United States want to know how they can help. How can they help the Christians in Syria, in Iraq, and other places? [Saaed:] First we are asking for your prayer because your prayer supports us. We would like to live our life normally, like others in this world. We would like to live our life as in peace because we haven't seen peace since we born. And we would like to live in dignity because we lost our dignity. [Costello:] Carol Costello, CNN, New York. [Harlow:] All right. The national weather service just issuing a tornado warning for Dallas, Texas. Our Karen Maginnis monitoring it all in the CNN severe weather center. Karen, what do we know about this hour? [Maginnis:] It is a very dangerous situation. Tornado warning right around the Dallas Metroplex area. Not Ft. Worth but in Dallas right along that interstate 30 corridor. Over a million people at risk for a possible tornado. There are indications there is rotation with these thunderstorms. But not just here, in the Metroplex area further to the south. We have these discrete cells that have been popping up. They are much more prone to producing tornadoes. You can see there are tornado warnings out that go for about the next 30 minutes or so. This will be occurring over the next few hours. A very dynamic system that, in fact, on the back side of this for Dallas you could see a rainsnow mix tomorrow night. Very different Poppy. [Harlow:] All right. We'll be watching very closely. Karen, thank you for that. The CEO of America's biggest bank Jamie Dimon sat down for a rare one- on-one interview with my colleague Cristina Alesci. He is bullish on the state of the U.S. economy and you will also hear him give his take on the income inequality debate. [Jamie Dimon, Ceo, Jpmorgan Chase:] In the short term, OK, U.S. economy is broad based, going two and two-and-a-half percent. Consumers are in better shape. The debt service how much income goes to service debt is back where it was in 1985. Household formation is going up as prices are going up, 401 [k] s are going up. Small business middle market, large companies are in very good shape. If you look at America in the long term, we have exceptional universities. We have the best military in the planet. We will for a long period of time. We have the best businesses. Medium, large, and small. We have unbelievable innovation from the Steve Jobs to the factory floor. We have a great work ethic. Very low corruption. We have the greatest military barriers ever built called the Atlantic and the pacific. All the food, water, and energy we ever want. We are in pretty good shape. You know, it converse and says out of respect, China doesn't have enough energy. And they are, you know, they are surrounded by Russia, Pakistan, India, Vietnam, China, North Korea, Philippines. It's a tough part of the world. And even since World War II, they had squish issues with four or five of those nations. They don't have enough food, water, and energy. They don't have a lot things going right. So we have it. We're in really good shape. [Cristina Alesci, Cnn Money Correspondent:] Now, you said you don't see weakness. You don't see a dark spot in the American economy? Some people will point to income in equality. Do you think that is a real issue? Do you think income inequality is a real issue? [Dimon:] Yes, I do. Early in recovery, often income goes to, you know, the one percent is, you know, asset prices go up. But I would like to talk to what are the solutions to it? What should we do about it? I have three very basic ones, OK. Grow the economy more. Focus on growing the economy. Get wage pressure. And then we will all be obviously be complaining about too much wage pressure. Second, skills train and education so both the education, MSE schools and the proper training. So as kid graduate school, they have a certificate that leads to a job andor college down the road. And I love the idea. And I heard from both Republicans and Democrats of a better income tax credit. So being paid to work. So it is an incentive, you know. I think people are proud of their work. So that working is a good thing to do. It is supposed to be paid for if not to work, so. And there are a bunch of other ideas. But I would love to sit down around the table what will fix this. You know, it is not going to fix if the point to people and yell at them and think that they are to blame. [Alesci:] When you started in the business in the 1980s, about 60 percent of Americans had a favorable view of the finance industry. Today that number is 37 percent. Why so low? [Dimon:] Which is it for media? [Alesci:] I have no idea. But I know that we are not near the bottom. [Dimon:] My guess, it is not that much different. The disaster happened in 2009, OK. The American public was hurt. And, you know, I think in general they would look at the culprits on of being some combination of Washington in Wall Street. In general, that is true. There is not that every bank was that bad. Everyone made some kind of mistake. And I think it hurt everyone. But you know, one of the things that happened in society today is we do this to everybody. So if you go way back when, we thought doctors, lawyers, police, stock brokers were all up here. Now they are all down here. Somehow, media. Somehow, we kind we have all lost trust in each other, which I don't think it is a good thing. And you know, more than I can do is to bank each other. Earn it back. And so, our customers at [Alesci:] As the leader of the biggest bank in the U.S., do you feel personally responsible to revive the perception of bankers in this country, to make it better, to make sure that people like bankers more? [Dimon:] I can only do my part to earn our trust and respect every day, both with our client and the communities we do business. And with our regulators and the governments, we try to have, you know, we have a lot that demands us whom will make more happy. I can't single handed and make America [Alesci:] You can't. But that was my question. [Dimon:] Yes, I feel respond to do my part as best as I can as long as I am here, yes. [Alesci:] You stress test for everything. You said that. The Greek exit. [Dimon:] Hundred a week. Everything, yes. All the time. And you reinvent new ones sometime just to scare yourself in. [Alesci:] How about if Bernie Sanders wins? Have you stressed test for that? [Dimon:] I don't think Bernie is going to win. But I'm not that worried about that even if he became president. [Alesci:] Why? Do you think you can talk to him out of breaking up same things? [Dimon:] Well, I think that is a far more complicated subject. You know, company JPMorgan, you know, I'm really proud of this company. You know, I travel around the world Saudi Arabia, and Abu Dhabi, and Mumbai, and Hong Kong. And you know, we help their countries, their people, their companies. They want us. They want more of our capital, our brain power. And you know, we help some of these big American multinationals in 30 or 40 countries. We raised almost $2 trillion a cap for year for big business, small business, hospitals, governments. We just did a bond for crew. That's what we do. And you know, you need to be a big bank to do some of that stuff. [Alesci:] So you think that you can convince him [Dimon:] I would hope so, yes. [Alesci:] There is more benefit in being a big bank than breaking a law. [Dimon:] You need them. If you break them up, someone else are going to do it. And they will be the Chinese. And if you think that is good for the future of America, I beg to defer. [Alesci:] Speaking of politics for a second. You supported you contributed to Hillary in 2006 and 2007. Why not recently? [Dimon:] I am not getting involved in politics right now. [Alesci:] At all? [Dimon:] At all. [Alesci:] Well, you brought [Dimon:] I [Alesci:] After the results come through? [Dimon:] No. If and when I feel like it, I'll do it. [Alesci:] Why? Are you going to run for office? [Dimon:] No. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about support a candidate. But the public should know JPMorgan and its pact does not support anyone nor has it ever. But when we tell our people here, by the way, listen to both candidates. If you're a Democrat, listen to some of the really smart Republicans. If you're Republican, listen to some of the smart Democrats. Don't just have a knee-jerk reaction. [Alesci:] You brought up policy, right. And so the tax policy has been something that's been debated. And you've admitted that it needs to be addressed, right? [Dimon:] Yes. [Alesci:] Trump was one of the candidates. Actually, he was the first Republican candidate to bring up the fact that Wall Street should pay higher taxes. Do you agree? [Dimon:] Look. When you say that, we pay I was actually in Hong Kong, and the chief executive in Hong Kong was talking to a bunch of our clients. JPMorgan, thank you for the taxes you pay. We pay a lot of taxes. We pay about 30 percent in cash every year, OK. So we pay a lot of taxes. We also pay the [Fdic -- Alesci:] Is that your effective tax rate? [Dimon:] Yes. Cash. It is our gap and our cash is about the same, around 30 percent. It changes year by year. So we actually pay that much in cash taxes. So forget banks. The issues with corporations is our tax rate is the highest of all developed nations. We are driving capital overseas at the margin. I have already told people in Washington, by the time you figure it out, the only question is how much damage has been done? You can't forget the right or wrong but you can't have taxes 10 percent higher that is about everybody else and think it is good for the country. It can't be good for the country. Those who have a choice who are leaving their capital overseas, they believe plans overseas, they have been argue overseas. And you know, here, people say, listen, you're not patriotic. It has nothing to do with patriotism. Those are the choices individuals make when they move, when they do things. So we should fix that. It doesn't mean that I don't think we shouldn't fix personal taxes too. I want to eliminate a whole bunch of deductions. I get rid that carried interest tax. I do a whole bunch of things too. [Alesci:] So you would be willing to pay more, you personally? [Dimon:] Yes. But here is the issue about that. I would. But you know, the American public, and one that people says, put their faith [Harlow:] Fascinating interview from our Cristina Alesci with Jamie Dimon. Thank you for that. Coming up next, tonight's number. [Lynette "diamond" Hardaway, Donald Trump`s Supporter:] He is going to make America great, and that is why I stump for the Trump. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Please tell me a candidate that has outlined his policy more so than Donald Trump. [Diamond:] We have a border that needs to be secure. [Rochelle "silk" Richardson, Donald Trump Supporters:] Yes. [Diamond:] We have ISIS trying to cut off heads. [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] We have people going into movie theaters shooting it up, Don. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Trump has just won me over. And, I am going to tell you why, because he is the best of the worst candidates. [Diamond:] He is telling the naked truth. Let him tell it and speak it the way he needs to. That is why we love him. [Unidentified Female Audience Memer:] When the media claimed, Oh, people are not being murdered in the U.S., he started parading them in front of the media and they shut up. [Diamod:] We have to make America great. [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] And, the only way we can do that is with Donald Trump. [Pinsky:] Many thought Trump`s popularity will fizzle out long ago, but so far not the case. In fact, there is less time remaining than he has been in the lead. Now, according to a new poll, he still leads by double digits. Back with Kayleigh, Sunny, Marc, Evy and Erin. And, Marc, as you see from our audience he gets support in places that are unexpected to me. Particularly, that last woman that the older African-American woman. [Summers:] Yes. [Pinsky:] The black woman that stood up there. I went up and put my arm around her, what is it? You surprised me. She said, "I am angry." That is what she said. [Summers:] Angry at what? [Pinsky:] Angry [Mcenany:] For most of the country. People are still hurting economically. Wages are depressed. [Pinsky:] They take it bad. [Mcenany:] People are down and out of luck. [Pinsky:] And, they feel hopeless. [Mcenany:] And, they are hoping for anyone [Hostin:] We have high employment rate in years. [Mcenany:] Not when you look at real unemployment. [Summers:] Here we go. Here we go. [Mcenany:] More people [Summers:] All these made-up facts [Mcenany:] It is not made-up facts. [Summers:] No matter what Obama does, he could cure cancer. Well, he really did not cure cancer. Somebody else did. [Pinsky:] But it is the middle class that feels like they do not have the freedom to pursue an opportunity. They feel like their opportunities are closing. They do not even lay blame. They not even saying the ones I have spoken, "Oh, it is Mr. Obama." They have not said that, but they say, "I think Trump can get me more opportunity, and I can be more optimistic about my future." [Elmore:] And, I think there are so many career politicians out here that cleanse their mouth and just say the same thing like a beauty queen. They are like robots. Mr. Trump is not like that. He actually speaks the truth and he is a breath of fresh air in a broken system. [Pinsky:] Evy is saying yes. [Poumpouras:] And, you know, he does he comes up very positive. He comes up very enthusiastic. He speaks like he knows what he is speaking about [Hostin:] His actions seemed like demographic. He has also insulted almost every single voting block. [Summers:] Yes. [Mcenany:] And, they still like him. [Poumpouras:] And, they still like him. [Pinsky:] Well, Sunny, two things. One is that, that polarizing thing again [Hostin:] Sure. [Pinsky:] When as I said, my audience surprised me. I walk around this town, New York City. And, I talk to people of particularly Hispanic and black and they do not just not like him. They hate him. [Summers:] Yes. [Hostin:] Yes. [Pinsky:] So, it is that polarizing again that seems to be cutting through. [Hostin:] But, I think what is really fascinating is that you just said, "Well, you know, he speaks the truth." What truth? What are his policies? For me, as a lawyer, I am looking for his criminal justice policy, his platform, his reform platform. I have not heard about that. Foreign policy, I have not heard about that. [Pinsky:] He is going to win. Did you forget get it? He is going to win, Sunny. [Hostin:] Finally, economic. I have not heard about that. [Summers:] When he says, "We are going to build a wall, and will get the Mexican government to pay for it." Really? He cannot run the government like a business. [Pinsky:] Let us bring in his supporters. Let us bring in via Skype, two Trump`s biggest supporters, "Diamond and Silk." They are "Stump for Trump Sisters." Ladies, thank you. Congratulations, apparently, Donald Trump re-tweeted you, guys, earlier today. We are going to put that tweet up if you like. There it is. But, ladies, help my panel here. I am going to give them a chance to poke at you a little bit and ask questions, but what do you think it is that he is tapped into? [Lynette "diamond" Hardaway, Donald Trump`s Supporter:] Listen. He represents opportunity, success, the American dream. [Rochelle "silk" Richardson, Donald Trump Supporters:] Yes. [Diamond:] And, he is going to be representing the American people. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] The American people is tired of being left behind. [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] So, it is time for someone to put us first. And, baby, that is why stump for Trump. [Silk:] Right! [Diamond:] And, that is why we are going to vote for him. Yes! [Silk:] That is right. [Pinsky:] OK. Sunny and Marc seemed to be the most curious about this. [Hostin:] I am very curious about this. You know, you say he represents the American dream, but the bottom line is he started ahead, right? His father gave him almost $300 million in investments, so that he could be successful. So, how do you think he represents the true American dream, which is more of a sort of pull yourself up by the bootstraps dream? He has had it all. He was sort of born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He is very different from everyday people. [Diamond:] I do not think that he is very different. He is To us he seems average and ordinary [Silk:] That is why. [Diamond:] And, that is what we like about him. And, you say, pull yourself up by the bootstraps, but how can you do that if you do not have straps? [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] So, we need a man that do not talk to someone to take this mess and turn it into success, baby. And, that is why we Stump for Trump. [Silk:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] Marc, go ahead. Hang on, ladies. Hang on. Let me get Marc ask you question. [Summers:] Do you feel any way, shape or form that this man is a bully? I can go back to the Rosie O`Donnell stuff when he made fun when he deals with people is he makes fun of them. He shuts them down in a very negative way. And, you think this is OK for a man who could be the leader of the free world? [Diamond:] He is not a bully. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] Rosie O`Donnell started that whole fiasco. [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] If she would not have mentioned anything about his hair, started to making fun of his hair, then he never would have called her out. [Summers:] Here is what I cannot wait [Diamond:] He is not a bully, baby. [Summers:] Ladies [Diamond:] He is a man that wants to make America great again. [Silk:] And, he is. [Summers:] Here is what I cannot wait. I hope he gets the republican nomination because when he has to debate against Hillary Clinton, it will be one of the best evenings of entertainment you have ever seen in your life. She will be the first person who will shut him down. [Pinsky:] I will give Kayleigh chance to ask question, now. [Mcenany:] Diamond ladies, I am very much with you. I think, you guys, are excellent. And, one of the things and I want to see if you agree is that Donald Trump`s rise is a by-product of this culture, where everyone is so sensitive. We are so quick to call people sexist. We are so quick to call people racist or homophobic. Donald Trump is who he is. He is authentic and he is the result of this high-offense culture. Do you agree? [Diamond:] I absolutely agree. [Silk:] Totally. [Diamond:] Yes, baby! Yes. Let people say what they are going to say. And, listen, we got to practice something called tolerance. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] And, if I got to tolerate you. Then tolerate that I may not like some things about you. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] We have to learn how to agree to disagree. [Silk:] To disagree. [Diamond:] And, that is why we love Donald Trump. [Pinsky:] Erin? [Elmore:] Hi, ladies. How are you? I love what you are all about. I am a huge Trump supporter. And, you know what? I think a lot of naysayers that are often telling me why you like Donald Trump and why are you supporting him? I want to know what you say to those people that do not like Donald Trump. [Diamond:] Well, we say this here. He is going to bring back opportunities [Silk:] Jobs. [Diamond:] We need opportunities and jobs in this country, where people are thriving again. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] That is what I tell them. [Silk:] Uh-huh. [Diamond:] And, I will tell them, listen to me. Stop always get out of the box. [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] Let us do something different. [Silk:] Uh-huh. [Diamond:] I wish all Americans would take switch their parties to republicans to vote for him and the primaries and the general election. [Silk:] Exactly. [Diamond:] So, that we can change this whole system. We need a businessman [Silk:] Yes. [Diamond:] to come in and fix this with a master plan as they call it. [Silk:] That is right. [Pinsky:] There you go, ladies. We are going to leave it at that. And, it is very similar to what I was saying, right? People in middle class who feel like somehow they are being missed. They are being passed over. [Hostin:] It is astonishing to me. [Pinsky:] They are not saying they are fault somewhere. They are just saying they like something more enthusiastic. And, if you remember, when Reagan came in [Hostin:] Sure. [Pinsky:] That feeling of we were like those `70s were terrible. All of sudden, this guy came along and said, "We can make it good. We can make it great." I remember that feeling. [Summers:] Yes. But Clinton saved Bush Sr. after Bush Sr. destroyed the country. And, Obama fixed what the next Bush has destroyed. I just want to ask the ladies one question. [Pinsky:] They are gone. They are actually gone, Marc. I am sorry. But, it is the weird thing about history, though, right. It is a weird continuum to say, it was all this or all that or it started here and ended there. It is very hard to put your finger on it. Just a feeling that people have right now. [Hostin:] And, it is sort of remarkable that he is seen as sort of this incredible businessman when he has filed for bankruptcy four times, when he had his clothing line. Even those jobs were not here in the United States [Summers:] China. [Hostin:] They were in China. So, you know, this notion that he is going to make America great again is just it is astonishing. And, I think going back to your point, Dr. Drew, maybe it is just that he is just good television. People are not scratching the surface. [Pinsky:] Maybe the way the media is has infected politics. And, I think if you look at history, that has been a part of politics throughout history. Media has influenced politics. Why next thank you, panel did a white police officer stop a black man who was merely jogging? Back with that after this. [Don Lemon, Cnn Tonight Show:] It is breaking news and there is new cell phone video tonight, here it is. It's from the Russian media outlet life news of the smoking ruins of a Russian jetliner that crashed with 224 people on board. Did ISIS bring down this plane? This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Here is what we know right now, U.S. intelligence points to a bomb planted somewhere on the plane by ISIS or its affiliates. Britain calls it a significant possibility. The U.K. and Ireland suspending all flights from the popular Sharm el-Sheikh Resort, stranding thousands of tourists and the candidates are also weighing in tonight. In the meantime, Donald Trump tops a brand-new poll just ahead of Ben Carson, and NBC releases this Saturday Night Live promo. [Cecily Strong, Snl Star:] Donald had promise that for the whole show he is not going to brag or he's the best at anything, right Donald? [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] That's right, Cecily. And I'm going to do the best job anyone's ever done not saying it. [Lemon:] All this plus Quentin Tarantino breaks his silence tonight. There is a lot to get to a whole lot and we're going to get to all of it. But we're going to begin to our breaking news. CNN's Ben Wedeman is live for us in Cairo. Also, Pamela Brown working her sources from the CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta. Ben, to you first. It is almost dawn on Thursday morning in Egypt. If this was terror, as officials believe. What did ISIS do and how were they able to bring this plane down? What do you know about the plot? [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, what we know is from these unnamed American sources, officials who say that somehow ISIS managed to smuggle an explosive device on board the plane when it was at the airport at Sharm el-Sheikh. And that somehow or rather it exploded 300 kilometers north of Sharm el-Sheikh. Now, this is what American officials are saying. It's not at all clear what actually happened. The Egyptian civil aviation authority put out a very brief statement today saying they are running the investigation and further information will be made available in due course. The Egyptians have been very tight lipped and about this investigation. And generally, downplaying the possibility that this could be terrorism, terrorism by ISIS, obviously, tourism is a mainstay of the economy here, particularly in the Sinai Peninsula. So, Egyptian officials are very wary of creating an atmosphere in which tourists start to cancel their vacation plans, although the fact of the matter is, given the media attention, probably that is already afoot, Don. [Lemon:] Yes. Speaking of that, I want to know what the security is like, Ben, at the Sharm el-Sheikh Airport, if there could be if we could there, would they do would it do other places as well, what are they doing there? [Wedeman:] Well, Don, you know, I lived in Egypt for 14 years and I've been through that airport more times than I can count. It's a resort destination. The security is very relaxed, shall we say. We don't add we're not able to see what's going on behind the scenes. But the only person I know who was ever stopped at the Sharm el-Sheikh Airport was a friend of mine who was stopped by Egyptian security, they said because she wasn't smiling when she left. [Lemon:] Oh, goodness. All right, Ben. I want you to stand by. Let's go Pamela Brown now. Pamela, you know, what changed today to make both the British and U.S. authorities to say this is one of the leading theories as to why this plane crash? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, Don, to be clear, no conclusion have been reached but we've learned from officials there was chatter intercepted by the U.S. intelligence community after that plane crash. Suggesting ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula could have been responsible for putting a bomb on the plane, which is at least part of the reason why officials are leaning to the bomb theory that is also based and part on monitoring of internal messages of the terrorist group. But because there hasn't been corroboration with forensic evidence from the crime scene there, U.S. officials are still being very cautious. But it is clear, just from talking to people they're extremely worried that this could be a reality that ISIS could have planted a bomb on that plane. Don. [Lemon:] And if it is confirmed that ISIS is behind this, what does it say about how their operations and their capabilities are expanding? [Brown:] It would be very significant for the U.S. intelligence community if it turns out that ISIS was capable of building a bomb that could bring brown an airplane. Up until now, Don, the U.S. intelligence community is known that ISIS in the Sinai Peninsula there one of the most active brands of devices has bomb-making capabilities. But bringing down a plane takes another level of sophistication that is a departure from what the U.S. intelligence community has seen from the terrorist group. That would raise the concern substantially because a lot of what ISIS has been focused on is taking over territory. This would indicate that its goals are expanding if turns out that the group was responsible for that crash. [Lemon:] Why do authorities believe it was an inside job? [Brown:] There is additional a classified intelligence, according to my colleague, Elise Labott, that supports this theory, Don, of an airport worker putting the bomb on the plane. Now we don't know what that intelligence says. But what we do know is that officials have scrubbed the passenger manifests and the crew and the passengers have checked out. So, that as lean investigators to believe a possible theory that someone planted a bomb on that plane that would detonate once it reaches a certain altitude and only certain people would have access to the plane. Don. [Lemon:] All right. Thank you very much. Ben Wedeman, Pamela Brown for that and our breaking news. Now, to other breaking news story. Donald Trump back on top in a brand new national poll of republican voters. And joining me now to discuss is Charles Hurt, a columnist for the Washington Times, Mercedes Schlapp is also here, she is the co-founder of Cove Strategies and former media spokesperson for President George W. Bush. And CNN political commentator, Ryan Lizza, Washington correspondent for The New Yorker. It's good to have all of you here. Ryan, there is a new poll out tonight, as I mentioned; Fox News has conducted entirely after the CNBC debate. Let's put the numbers now. It shows Trump is on top, 26 percent, that is followed by Ben Carson, 23 percent. You know, it's a persistent lead at the top of the polls. He's not going anywhere, no matter how people try to write him off. We talk about that. Why do people try to write him off and he's not going anywhere? [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, Sony did tried to write him off occasionally in the past. I think you're absolutely right, Don. His staying power... [Lemon:] That was meant for you, Ryan. I'm coming for you tonight. [Lizza:] His staying power is a constant in this campaign, big story of the campaign. He has now been at the top of the polls with an occasional number two placement in a few of the state polls in a few of the national polls, longer than any of the so-called fad candidates in previous cycles, right? Howard Dean, or Herman Cain, or Michelle Bachmann. All of the candidates that kind of surge and then dropped hasn't happen with Donald Trump. He gets a steady quarter to a third of the republican vote. And, you know, I think at this point you have to believe that's going to that's going to continue until someone starts spending some money to make a strong, sustained case against him. That's how a candidate that's how a front runner gets taken down and so far none of his opponents have been willing to do that. [Lemon:] Yes. They have spent a lot of money. Listen, there are cleared tiers to these candidates here, Mercedes. At the top, Trump and Carson. [Mercedes Schlapp, Republican Strategist:] Sure. [Lemon:] And then the more establishment candidates led by Rubio and Cruz, each with 11. Rubio has 11, Cruz has 11 percent, as well. Jeb Bush at 4, and the rest of the pack in single digits. The debate seemed to help Rubio and Cruz, just a little bit, but it didn't hurt Trump and Carson, even though people said, you know, they were they don't talk much. Carson was kind of lackluster. It didn't hurt them. [Schlapp:] No. Well, you have to think about it this way, both Trump and Carson, they survived the debate. So, they didn't have a stellar performance but they didn't bomb either. So, you know, the debate have... [Lemon:] Is it better in some of these debates if they really don't say that much? [Schlapp:] Sometimes it's better to be quiet than say something and put your foot in your mouth, don't you think, Don. So, I think in this case what is fascinating about Donald Trump and we saw this even yesterday when the first set of polls came out that Ben Carson was ahead. What did Donald Trump do? He went out and basically changed the narrative. When he spoke to George Stephanopoulos in the morning he basically said, you know what? Ben Carson doesn't have the right temperament to be president. So, again, he is masterful at being able to change people's perception about these different candidates. You know, he goes on the attack with Marco Rubio on his finances, questioning whether Marco is able to manage the economy because he can't manage his credit cards. Again, putting these doubts in the voters' minds. And guess what, when you look at this race in Kentucky where Matt Kevin won, it said something very powerful. This is a political noble, a wealthy man. [Lemon:] My old friend, Matt Bevin. [Schlapp:] Yes. And guess what? What does this show that there is urge that this want that the GOP voters are out there and that they want this sort of outsider type of personality. [Lemon:] OK. Let's get Charles Hurt heard on here. Charles, my colleague, Dylan Byers, points out that Chris Christie now has 2.25 percent, that's an average in the last national polls and he may not make this main stage. Everyone said, you know, he has he hit back so hard against all the candidates. And why are you talking about Fantasy Football and all of that, but Jeb must Jeb Bush be counting his lucky stars that he is still up there. [Charles Hurt, Washington Times Columnist:] Indeed, I think he is. And really and truly, that last debate was Chris Christie's absolute best performance of the campaign so far. He's been a huge disappointment to everybody. And so, for him to get this news, you know, tonight, today, basically, that it looks like he, and perhaps even Mike Huckabee won't make the main stage next week for the debate is really bad news. But, you know, looking deeper into the numbers, you know, I think that obviously the top line numbers about the horse race numbers in that in that Fox poll are the most important lines. But if you go one layer deeper, I think you get into something that is even more interesting and that is that the number of people who pick Donald Trump as their second choice, Ben Carson, leads that pack. Donald Trump is in second place right behind him. What that means is, that there are he has the second highest number of people who are presently with a different candidate but willing to fall back to Trump. And that really puts a lot to the whole establishment argument that we have heard from the beginning, Don, about how there is this hard-set ceiling that Donald Trump can never reach above. Well, that is not true. There is a whole another, you know, if something happens to Ben Carson, for example, there are a lot of voters apparently, who will then turn to Donald Trump as their second choice. [Lemon:] There used to be a saying in news that you want to be the most liked and most hated person. That was the perfect position to be in if you are a commentator or a newscaster. So, maybe that's Trump's position and that's a good position to be in. But let's talk about these terror attacks and ISIS claiming responsibility. The other candidates spoke out about it. Listen. [Jeb Bush, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] ISIS has a desired strategy to put the black flag of ISIS in the White House. And a plan to destroy Western civilization. That's a law enforcement exercise this. We need strategy to take them out. [Lemon:] But you know what, Mercedes, the GOP front runner, Dr. Ben Carson was asked how he would respond as president to make sure that ISIS doesn't get a bomb on the plane coming to the United States. Here's how he responded. [Ben Carson, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Well, you know, I think our people are actually doing a very good job already and we haven't had any bombs on our planes for that reason. Obviously you don't want to relax the surveillance that we have. [Lemon:] That was that was his entire answer. [Schlapp:] Right. [Lemon:] But to be fair he was speaking after a book signing. But does that answer raise any concerns for you about his grasp on terror and foreign policy? [Schlapp:] Well, I think I've been concerned for a while about Ben Carson's foreign policy positions. I think just recently, he spoke about how, you know, Saudi Arabia should have turned in Osama Bin Laden to the United States if we would have threatened them with saying we wanted to go energy independent. I mean, these are not necessarily very well thought out foreign policy positions. And I think that you can't afford to be a especially as a Commander-in-Chief with that a prime when the primary roles of a president to really you have to have a deep understanding of what is going on, especially in areas like the Middle East. And I just find that his answers are pretty much half baked. [Lemon:] All right, every one. Stay with me. When we come right back, Donald Trump is getting ready for his gig hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. And having some fun this in this promo with cast member Cecily Strong. [Strong:] Due to FCC regulations Trump can only appear in this promo for less than four seconds. Isn't that right? [Trump:] That's correct, Cecily. I'll be hosting Saturday Night... [Strong:] Time! [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Good evening. John Berman here, in for Anderson. Tonight, was it something he said? Did Donald Trump today suggest or think out loud or even just joke, joke about someone taking a shot at Hillary Clinton if she becomes president? You're going to hear what he said today. You'll hear the uproar over it. Our panel will debate it. A former CIA and NSA director will comment on it. You will hear Donald Trump's own late reaction on the controversy, that his remarks, whatever he meant have caused. First, though, the words themselves and CNN's Sara Murray who joins us from the campaign trail. Sara, what's the latest? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] Well, John, Donald Trump really left it up to his allies to spring to his defense on the Second Amendment controversy he set off Mike Pence at a political rally and defended Donald Trump's comments and right here in North Carolina, Rudy Giuliani defended Donald Trump saying when he talked Second Amendment supporters earlier, he was talking about political power, there was no threat against Hillary Clinton. As for Trump, he stayed silent on the issue this evening as he tried to get back on message. [Murray:] Donald Trump setting off controversy with another off-hand comment, one some believe amounts to a violent threat against his political opponent. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] Hillary wants to abolish essentially abolish the Second Amendment. If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is, I don't know. [Murray:] Trump's suggestion that Second Amendment voters have the power to stop Clinton, instantly raising questions about what the candidate meant, whether he was looking to coalesce gun supporters behind him or if he meant something more nefarious. The Clinton campaign quickly seizing on Trump's comment as a sign the GOP nominee is inciting violence, saying in a statement, "This is simple what Trump is saying is dangerous. A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way." The Trump campaign swiped back, billing the issue as a media-driven controversy and insisting Trump was simply trying to rally gun voters. In a statement, the Trump camp says, "It's called the power of unification Second Amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified which gives them great political power. And this year, they will be voting in record numbers, and it won't be for Hillary Clinton. It will be for Donald Trump." But Trump's latest off-the-cuff comment on a week when he was striving to stay on message is exactly the sort of flair up giving members of his own party pause. The latest defector, Senator Susan Collins of Maine who penned an op- ed saying she will not vote for Trump. The GOP senator even telling Jamie Gangel that Trump poses a risk to the nation. [Sen. Susan Collins , Maine:] Donald Trump, in my judgment, would make a perilous world even more dangerous. [Murray:] Her announcement coming soon after a group of 50 GOP national security officials said they can't back Trump either, arguing he would put at risk our country's national security. Trump quickly dismissed the snub. [Trump:] These are 50 people that have been running our country forever, and they said we can't support Donald Trump. The reason they can't, you know why? Because I'm not going to hire these people. I don't want these people. [Murray:] But as he struggles to keep his party in line and lags in the poll, Trump says the key to the victory is more of the same. [Trump:] I've always had a good temperament and it's got me here. We've beaten people in the primaries and I certainly don't think it's appropriate to start changing all of a sudden when you've been winning. [Murray:] As well as finding openings to hammer his Democratic opponent, today mocking Clinton for saying she short-circuited her handling of the e-mail issue. [Trump:] Could you imagine if I said that I short-circuited? They would be calling for my execution. They'd bring back the electric chair. It's one thing to make bad decisions and it's another thing to be wacky and make bad decisions. [Berman:] All right. Sara Murray back with us now. Sara, the initial comments about the Second Amendment and he had a whole rally after that, did Donald Trump make any effort to clarify or clean up those remarks? [Murray:] No, he really didn't, John. He talked a lot about the Second Amendment, but he did not deal with the controversy specifically. However, he was asked about it in a FOX News interview where he dismissed the notion that he was talking about anything other than political power. Take a listen. [Trump:] Nobody in that room thought anything other than what you just said. This is a political movement. This is a strong, powerful movement, the Second Amendment. You know, Hillary wants to take your guns away. She wants you to leave you unprotected in your home. This is a tremendous political movement. The NRA, as you know, endorsed me. They're terrific people, Wayne and Chris, and all of the people over there. And, by the way, they've already I just saw, they tweeted out basically, they agree 100 percent with what I said, and there could be no other interpretation. Even reporters have told me. I mean, give me a break. [Murray:] Now, John, this is one of the key differences that we're seeing with how the campaign has dealt with this issue versus past controversies, they put out a statement quickly to clarify it. Donald Trump dealt with it in an interview, and he did not mention it on the stump. It's pretty clear the campaign wants to move beyond this and talk about some of the issues they were hoping to focus on this week. [Berman:] All right. Sara Murray, thank you so much. Let's bring in the panel now. Clinton supporter and former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, "New York Times" national political reporter, Alex Burns. Also with us, conservative Trump critic and Sirius XM radio host Margaret Hoover, Clinton supporter and former Bill Clinton senior White House adviser Richard Socarides and Trump surrogate John Jay LaValle. Corey Lewandowski, let me start with you. There could be no other interpretation and that's what we heard from Donald Trump. Well, for several hours after Donald Trump made those statements, including immediately after, there were a lot of other interpretations that a lot of other people watching had, no? [Corey Lewandowski, Cnn Political Commentator:] Here's what I think. Again, you know, the media wants to talk about a narrative which isn't there. What he said was, let's make sure that the people who endorsed me which is the NRA and the people who support the second amendment are showing up on election day, because if you look at the context of what this was, it was in the context of appointing a U.S. Supreme Court justice, what he was talking about, and specifically talking about the right for people to keep and bear arms, hinging on who that next president is, who will appoint the Supreme Court justice and he has made the hallmark of his campaign outlining the type of justices who he would appoint ensuring the second amendment was held intact. [Berman:] Christine Quinn, was that the only interpretation? [Christine Quinn, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, that's not what he said, first of all. So, it's revisionist history, one. Two, he was talking about in the case, not about voting, about what would happen if and after Hillary was elected. But I think the big this comment today fits into a pattern with Donald Trump, of him repeatedly saying things that in the best of all generosity need vast explanation and tea leaf reading, and usually are inflammatory, divisive and reckless. And we see that happening over and over again. You can insert any number of things he said or done into this conversation tonight, and that really just reaffirms that Donald Trump does not have the temperament or the skill set to be president of the United States. We can't have a president who we have to explain to the world every day what he really meant was this. What he really meant was that. His comments are as Corey has said in the past. He's a straight shooter. He doesn't pull any punches. He decides what's said. He runs this campaign. Corey would know that better than anybody, and we see that in what he says over and over and over. And this is just another very bad example of that. [Berman:] Corey? [Lewandowski:] Look, John, I think if you look back at "The Huffington Post" story that was posted in 2008 about Hillary Clinton and let me read you a headline. Hillary Clinton's assassination gaffe that idea in January, bad idea now She made the statement about Barack Obama getting out of the race and saying oh, no, RFK was not assassinated until after this nomination [Berman:] We have to remember that I'm old enough to remember that Hillary Clinton was severely [Quinn:] And immediately apologized. [Lewandowski:] Where is that as part of the discussion? Where is the discussion point from eight years ago, Hillary Clinton said Barack Obama should she should not get out of this race because RFK was assassinated, while Barack Obama was still in this race? [Quinn:] Can I say something? One, what Hillary Clinton said was putting the length of races into a context of anything can happen. Did she phrase that poorly? Absolutely. And what she did right afterward which I can bet dollars to donuts Donald Trump will never do tomorrow, will never do, was apologized for having misphrased it. And you know what? Admitting you made a mistake is a really good leadership quality, one that Donald Trump doesn't have because he thinks he's perfect because he kind of lives in a fantasy world. [Berman:] I'm old enough to remember that statement in 2008. I'm also old enough to remember that Hillary Clinton received a lot of criticism for it, like Donald Trump is tonight. Alex, I'm also old enough to remember yesterday afternoon, when Donald Trump was giving an economics speech where the entire new focus of the campaign was going to be on the economy and people left behind. It's not. [Alex Burns, National Political Reporter, New York Times:] Yes, remarkably, we're not still talking about the estate tax repeal 24 hours later, which is a subject that usually runs out voters. But I think we've seen this pattern replay itself a number of times where the Trump campaign begs him to stay on the prompter to give a speech that is consistent with the message that they believe can win the elections. He gives the speech, Republicans are briefly reassured and then something like this happens. And even if he is being misinterpreted or he misspoke or didn't intend to convey, or would allow people to convey what a lot of people believe he did convey, this is how candidates always get off message. This is a traditional problem the candidates have who improvised on the stump, and feel like they need to say things to rev up a crowd and that they can't say the same thing over and over again. It's just that with Donald Trump, everything in that area happens on steroid. [Breman:] So, Margaret, Mike Pence was asked about this in an interview and Mike Pence says he does not think that Donald Trump was trying to incite violence. What's interesting about that is that a number two on the ticket is having to say that the number one on the ticket wasn't trying to incite violence. What kind of position is Mike Pence in and to what Christine, what Clinton was saying, what kind of position does this put Republicans in who are supporting Donald Trump to have to explain these comments regularly? [Margaret Hoover, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it's incredibly painful for Republicans like Paul Ryan and others who are having to explain away the top of the ticket. But let's just be very clear, I mean, Corey said the hallmark of this campaign has been, I don't know, he said something very aspirational. I mean, the hallmark of this campaign has actually been rhetoric that was quite vitriolic. And so, you have to see this against the backdrop of coming out of the convention where chants on the convention floor were lock her up, lock her up, lock her up, people constantly refer to her as a murderer, as a criminal and that, you know, he even offered to pay, as we know, for the legal bills and people who roughed others up at his rallies. I mean, there has been a thematic reinforcement of violence as something that is acceptable from Donald Trump. So, let's call a spade a spade here. I mean, what he said all of those Second Amendment people, the guys behind him in the stands even immediately realized that this was a startling thing that he just said, and that it was essentially inciting violence, inciting an assassination attempt against his rival. [Berman:] John Jay LaValle, you're nodding your head no. [John Jay Lavalle, Trump Surrogate:] No, no, this is ridiculous. This is a typical Democrat spin. I don't know why the media buys into it because you're selling advertising. I get it. I get the business. [Hoover:] For the record [Lavalle:] Let me finish. Thank you. [Hoover:] I have been a Republican my entire life. [Lavalle:] Yes, I don't know how much so. When I finish [Hoover:] Only 70 percent of Republicans are in favor of your guy [Lavalle:] Donald Trump gives a speech, an incredible speech, talking about reform of our economy, the two most important issues to Americans are not what you're talking about tonight. It is our economy and the failing economy and the failed Democrat policies and ISIS, and terrorism, and what are we talking about tonight? [Hoover:] Why are we talking about it? Why? [Lavalle:] There is no reason to talk about it. We need to focus what the American people want to hear about. [Hoover:] Isn't it important what the candidate says? [Lavalle:] It's important that this economy needs to be reformed. It's important that here's 14 million families out of work today than there were seven years ago. It's important that there are $800 million trade deficit in this country. [Hoover:] I would love to talk about the issue and every issue you just mentioned and Republicans would like to talk about. [Lavalle:] Let me say this if you want to correct America and you want to correct a lot of our social like unrest that's out there, let's put Americans back to work, because when people have jobs and they can feed their family. You know, home ownership is at its lowest points in the 1950s, this is crazy what's going on in America, and we're talking about comment that's not even true. [Hoover:] Look, here's the thing, I'm with you on every single one of those issues and you and I would much rather talk about those issues than this, the problem is that your guy can't stay focused. He cannot have a good day subsequently and four or five other good days. [Lavalle:] He had a whole day talking about the economy. [Berman:] Richard Socarides has been sitting here smiling and I'm not sure if that's because he's happy with this scope of the discussion. Jump in? [Richard Socarides, Democratic Strategist:] I would say that you have right here a great example of the unity in the Republican Party. [Socarides:] I mean [Berman:] You seem all broken up, Richard, that there are Republicans fighting. [Socarides:] The Republicans are fighting with each other because you have a candidate who once again today showed perhaps in the most dramatic way possible how he is temperamentally unfit to be president. And listen, the fact that were the thing that is just amazing to me now is that we're having this discussion. I mean, it is clear to everybody exactly what Donald Trump meant. I mean, he has this way of saying things d then taking them back and saying I was joking, or that's not really what I meant, or there could be he says something where there could be two meanings. But there should be no question in anybody's mind and not in John's nor Corey's exactly what he meant. He meant to say, he meant to suggest what he's obviously suggested to everybody else and then he takes it back. And this is, you know, a direct appeal to his supporters who may feel this way, and it is very dangerous. It is very dangerous in our politics, and I think we all have a responsibility as people who are involved in the political process, and as people who are in the media to call him out on this. I mean, what is totally unacceptable in our political discourse has become acceptable today. I mean, this is the kind of discourse we have in countries controlled by dictators and countries that have phony elections. We're not having a phony election and we're having an election about the future of our country and he's making these crazy suggestions. [Berman:] All right. Hang on, guys. I know you all want to jump in and comment on this. We will come back and discuss it much, much more. Coming up next, a conversation with former NSA and CIA director, Michael Hayden, about these remarks today and why he calls Donald Trump a threat to this country's national security. And then later, how did this happen? Hillary Clinton speaking about the worst mass shooting in the country's history and there sitting behind her in the red cap, the shooter's father. He actually says he was invited. What does the campaign say? Stay tuned. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] President Obama will speak later this hour set to be at 4:30. You'll see both live here on CNN. For now let me get you up to speed on what is happening in Baton Rouge, at least three police officers are dead after the daylight shootout. Now we have some new information we are just starting to get in. Video recorded, seen by a civilian, watching the police response and firefight this morning. [Cooper:] One man who was shooting at police officers is dead now. A law enforcement source tells CNN that a man matching his description was seen sitting in a car not far from the city's police headquarters shortly before this shootout. It happened near a number of businesses and stores and homes. Police responding initially to reports of a man with a rifle exchanged fire with one gunman, possibly others. That has not yet been determined. Witnesses say at least one of the men shooting at police officers was dressed head to toe in black wearing some sort of a mask. Right now, we know at least one suspect, one shooter, is dead. Again, the latest information from our Pamela Brown is that according to one source, a man matching that man's description was seen sitting in a vehicle out near police headquarters before the shootings. The situation is definitely not over. Police are on an area wide manhunt for other possible suspects. Everyone who lives in that area of Baton Rouge needs to stay inside and lock their doors. CNN's Polo Sandoval joins me now from CNN Center in Atlanta. Polo, I may have to interrupt you if the governor does begin this press conference. But let's update our viewers on the manhunt and the police situation in Baton Rouge right now. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn National Correspondent:] Anderson, a few hours ago, we heard from police officers on the ground who said there could be two other individuals that they are still trying to seek out. Keeping that in mind, we have to understand there are people who not only live in Baton Rouge, but also work and go to school there, including Louisiana State University. In fact, just a few moments ago, I read a statement that was released by LSU a few moments ago. Officials there saying although the shooting actually occurred a good distance from the campus they're taking security measures to make sure that everybody stays safe. [Cooper:] All right, let's listen into Polo, let's listen into Governor John Bell Edwards as well as state police officials. They are just gathering right now for the news conference. [Unidentified Male:] We're here today to give you an overview of what occurred today in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Today with us that will be speaking will be State Police Superintendent Colonel Mike Edmonson. He's going to give a rundown, an overview of what we can provide, what info we have available now. Following the colonel will be Parish Sheriff Sid Gotreaux to speak to his deputies that were lost today followed by Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie, who will speak to his officers that we lost today followed by U.S. Attorney Walt Green, who will give a comment on the federal perspective, followed by remarks by Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, and our governor, John Bell Edwards. We will not be taking questions at the end. We're going to provide you everything that we know up to this point, so the briefing will conclude with Governor Edwards' remarks. Thank you. [Colonel Mike Edmonson, Superintendent, Louisiana State Police:] First of all, thank you all for being here. I'm Colonel Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana. First, let me tell you something, we're getting phone calls from around the nation and around the world. We want and need your prayers. Baton Rouge is in need of those prayers right now, so we thank you for those. We want you to know we appreciate every single one of them going on at this time. We're not going to take questions at the end of this because it is an active, it is an ongoing, investigation that has a lot of moving parts right now with multiple agencies. Louisiana State Police is the lead agency with regard to the investigation itself. We'll be working very closely with these Baton Rouge parish sheriff's office and the Baton Rouge Police Department from a local perspective. And then we'll be joined from all our federal partners as we work to many, many leads that has taken place right now. We're going to give you a 1-800 number for the public to have as we move forward. Let me make something clear right now. You're getting a lot of information. You're interviewing a lot of people. If it does not come from myself, the chief of police, or the east Baton Rouge parish sheriff, we cannot confirm its being factual. Just know that out front. We're going to have another press conference tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. Central Standard Time. We want to allow our detectives and all our investigators the crime scene, it's a very large crime scene. We're going to tell people in the Baton Rouge area if you do not need to be in that area of Airline Highway and Old Hammond Highway, stay out of that area because we're going to be working that throughout the evening and throughout the night. Please also note that there is not an active shooter scenario in Baton Rouge. No active scenario that involves a shooter in the city of Baton Rouge. We do believe based on the information that we have again this is ongoing. We believe the person that shot and killed our officers, that he is a person that was shot and killed at the scene. That's what we know right now. What we do not believe is we have any other shooter held up in the Baton Rouge area. But understand this investigation has a lot of moving parts and pieces. We'll be moving and going on each one of those, but right now there is no active shooter scenario going on in Baton Rouge. I'm going to read it to make sure you have the information. Today at approximately 8:40 a.m., several Louisiana law enforcement officers were shot near Airline Highway, Old Hammond Highway. A call came into central dispatch of the Baton Rouge City Police Department saying that there was a guy carrying a weapon, carrying a rifle, walking in that particular area at Airline. That was the information that came into us. Local officers were transported to local hospitals for treatment. Three officers have died from injuries. Two from the Baton Rouge Police Department and one from the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office. One East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's deputy is in critical condition, just got out of surgery a short time ago. The sheriff and the chief are going to speak on those. Two additional officers suffered none life-threatening wounds. They are in stable condition at the hospital right now. At approximately 8:40 a.m. Baton Rouge PD officers at a convenience store observed the individual. He was wearing all black standing behind a beauty supply store holding a rifle. At approximately 8:42 a.m., reports received of shots fired. At approximately 8:44 a.m., reports received of officers down on the scene. At 8:45, reports received of more shots being fired. At 8:46 a.m., reports received of the suspect again, he was wearing all black standing near a car wash located right next to the convenience store. At 8:48 our Emergency EMS units started arriving at the scene. They were staging so they could start approaching and getting the bodies at the scene to render first aid. Officers engaged the subject at that particular time and he ultimately died at the scene. Those were officers that were responding to the scene itself. State police and multiple agencies responded to the scene in an attempt to secure the area and identify possible potential suspects and the further threats in the area. We in law enforcement ask the public to stay vigilant. We want to know if you see something suspicious and you know what's suspicious and out of the ordinary in your particular area. Call your local police department. You know that number. Call that particular number. If you see suspicious activity and you don't contact your local police department, call the following number, 1-800-225-5324. Again, we do not have an active shooter scenario in the city of Baton Rouge. We are working the investigation. It's going to take us in multiple directions. A lot of leads out there we're following on. If you see something out of the ordinary, please call us. We'll have a 1:00 p.m. press conference tomorrow afternoon. We'll completely update you on anything that's going on with this. Sheriff? [Sheriff Sid Gautreaux, East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office:] Thank you, Colonel. As the colonel has just stated, shot today in east Baton Rouge parish. Three of which are Baton Rouge city police officers, two of which are deceased, one is still alive and Chief Dabadie will speak to those individuals in a minute. We've had three East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriffs deputies that were shot. One is deceased, a 45-year-old. One is in critical condition fighting for his life as we speak, 41-year-old, and one had non-life- threatening injuries. He's in surgery right now. He's 51 years old. Each one of these individuals married. Each one of these individuals have family. We're grieving as a law enforcement community. We're grieving for each other. We're grieving for our loss and we're grieving for our families. And we ask for your prayers. Not only for us, like I say for the deputies, but the families and the co-workers. As law enforcement, we are a family and we stand here together as you can see. But our number one priority is the safety of our community, the safety of the people that live here, the safety of law enforcement. We have activated the Louisiana Sheriff's Association Task Force. As you can see behind me, several of my fellow sheriffs are here. We want to assure you we are having a coordinated effort that is going forward to ensure that we continue to provide the services necessary to protect the citizens of this parish. With God's help, we will get through this. To me, this is not so much about gun control as it is about what's in men's hearts. And until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people, if we don't do that and this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people. So I would just ask for your prayers and your support for all of the families of those that are involved here today and continue to pray for this parish, this city, this state, and this nation. [Carl Dabadie, Baton Rouge Police Chief:] It's with a heavy heart that I stand here today. As the others have said, we've had six officers shot today. Three of those officers would be our PD officers. Two were killed in the line of duty. One is 41 years old and has just under a year of service. The other was 32 years old with ten years of service. One non-life threatening injury. The officer was 41 years old and has nine years of service. We would ask for prayers for this community, for our officers, for the families that have been affected by today's senseless shootings that went on this morning. Prayers for all law enforcement. Not just BRPD, but for all of us. We stand united. This is a united front. Make no mistake about that. This is very united. Public safety remains our priority and we will continue to do our job in the light of what's happened. We have several agencies from outside that are coming in to lend support and help. Our officers have been depleted for the last 12, 14 days. There's other agencies who are coming in to help us and back us up, and that is for this community's safety. As the sheriff said, we have activated the sheriff's task force. And it is a coordinated effort going forward. We'll get through this as a family. We'll get through this as a community. But I want all of the BRPD officers to know I support you. Every single one of them, I stand with you. I stand beside you and we are going to get through this and we'll get through this together. This is not going to this is not going to tarnish this city or this department. We're going to move forward. Thank you. [J. Walter Green, U.s. Attorney Middle District Of Louisiana:] This is indeed a tragic day for the city of Baton Rouge. On behalf of the attorney general of the United States and myself, I want to offer my condolences to the families as well as the officers that are involved in this shooting. I can promise you with the backing of the Department of Justice and the attorney general all federal law enforcement assets that are needed will be given to this investigation. We will go wherever it takes us to conclude this investigation. I would tell you that our continued support with federal, state, and local law enforcement in this matter has been great. We have agents from the ATF, the FBI, as well as the United States Marshals Service as well as people in my office currently assisting with the investigation, and we'll continue to do so until justice is served. Thank you. [Mayor Kip Holden, Baton Rouge:] Let me tell you what. This is truly a sad day in Baton Rouge as we now meet again behind senseless killings. We continue to ask the question and continue to make the statement, let peace prevail in Baton Rouge and this parish. We must look ahead. The president has acknowledged this violence and will reiterate those things in about I think around 3:30 our time. But again, the people that you see here today let me say unequivocally, the president has responded to the needs of Baton Rouge. Not only that. The agencies you see here have always been partners with the state police, the sheriff's office, and the city police. We are one family all seeking justice for all of our people. And so let me thank the president and also Ms. Jarret for their calls and the governor will elaborate also on the call he got from the president. But we must say that we ask you now for your prayers. We also pray for those who were killed or injured today in the incident. We want you to pray for their families and be with them not only today but in the future. They are our first responders. Now we pledge to them and their families that we will be their first responders. We must strive every day to be one nation under God and the decibel for liberty and justice for all. We thank our officers who are fallen in the line of duty. We pray for their families. We pray for peace everywhere. God bless you. [Governor John Bel Edwards , Louisiana:] Well, today has been a very tough day here in Baton Rouge and in Louisiana and in our country. An absolutely unspeakable heinous attack on law enforcement here in Baton Rouge claimed the lives of two Baton Rouge police officers, one sheriff's deputy, and injured three others, one of whom today right now as we speak is absolutely fighting for his life. It's unjustified. It's unjustifiable. The violence, the hatred, just has to stop. And it's at times like this I wish the command of the English language that I have were more adequate to the task to convey the full range of emotions that I am feeling and to express them on behalf of the state of Louisiana. Earlier today, I along with Mayor Holden and the law enforcement community here gathered with the family members of the victims at the hospital. And when I tell you unspeakable tragedy, it's unspeakable that these men risking their lives to protect and serve this community were taken out the way that they were. They are our real life, everyday heroes. As you have been told by Colonel Edmonson, this is an ongoing investigation. There are a lot of moving parts and multiple agencies. I want to reassure everyone here in Baton Rouge and the state that we're doing everything humanly possible to make sure everyone is protected. Every resource is going to be available to be used to bring these perpetrators, if there's more than one, to justice. And obviously, it means federal, state, and local. You just heard from the U.S. attorney from here in the middle district in Baton Rouge, but we're being aided by the FBI, the ATF agencies as well. But I also spoke with the president of the United States a couple of hours who called to express on behalf of himself and the first lady but also the people of the United States their condolences, their best wishes for those who were injured for their full and speedy recovery. But also their prayers for the people here in Baton Rouge and around the country. We have to do better. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. And the people who carried out this attack, the individuals, they do not represent the people of Baton Rouge or the state of Louisiana or what's best about our country. They don't represent the values we stand for. Obviously, our community is hurting and only through peace and unity can we heal and that's going to take constructive dialogue. There simply is no place for more violence. That doesn't help anyone. It doesn't further the conversation. It doesn't address any injustice perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself. And we are not going to tolerate more hate and violence tearing apart the communities and families of Louisiana. So as I did just a few days ago, I'm inviting the people around the country to join their prayers to mine that our nation, that our community here, can heal, that we can get past this. And certainly pray for the recovery of those officers who were injured today, but pray for all of their officers. All of our officers here in Baton Rouge and around the state and around the country and their family members, who every day expose themselves to great risk of harm simply so they can protect$ and serve as they have sworn to do. As you were told by Colonel Edmonson, we are not going to take questions at this point. There will be another briefing, press briefing, tomorrow at 1:00. And we will then update you all with any additional information that we gather between now and then. So I want to thank you for covering this press conference. And again, I ask everyone to join with the folks of Louisiana in solidarity so as a nation we can heal. We can get past this and we can be what we're supposed to be in the United States of America because we're not there today. God bless you. [Unidentified Male:] At 1:00 tomorrow, we'll have a briefing. Anything significant that happens before then, we'll make sure you're notified of it, but please stay with us on that. Thank you all very much for being here. [Cooper:] All right, you heard a number of officials. Governor John Bel Edwards was the last to speak, but earlier we heard from Colonel Mike Edmonson from the state police. The headline from Colonel Edmonson that there is no active shooter scenario right now in Baton Rouge, that the person who shot and killed the police officers in Baton Rouge and wounded three police officers in Baton Rouge they believe now was shot and killed. That was the person wearing all black said to be with a mask and a long gun. That person was shot in a shootout with police they believe. Unclear right now they said, look, this is an ongoing investigation with multiple agencies and a lot of moving parts. Unclear if that person had help, but they believe there was only one shooter was involved. There is no active shooter scenario right now in Baton Rouge. They said the initial call came in around 8:40 a.m. A guy carrying a rifle was seen walking down the street dressed in black. Around 8:42, there was reports of shots fired. There were exchanges of gunfire around 8:45 and 8:48 when the EMS units were heading to the scene and that is when police were able to kill the gunman. Right now the condition we know three law enforcement personnel are dead. Three others have been wounded. Two are in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries thankfully. One is an East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy who is in critical condition right now and as they said fighting for his life. A lot to process, but again the headline for people in Baton Rouge, according to the state police, there's no active shooter scenario in Baton Rouge. Earlier on, they said there was some concern there might be other shooters or other suspects who were involved in this incident on the loose. They believe that the shooter who engaged with police, the only shooter was killed by police. I'm joined by Art Roderick, CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director for the U.S. Marshals Service also here with Bob Reid, also a CNN law enforcement analyst. So Art, the pieces are coming in slowly into focus. It is still very much an active investigation, though. [Art Roderick, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Yes, it always amazes me that this damage with three officers killed, three wounded, all happened in a span of seven to eight minutes. [Cooper:] Right. [Roderick:] It just amazes me. That's a long seven and eight minutes for those officers on the scene and obviously with three dead, it's absolutely horrendous. It was nice to hear that we had some solid information that came out. Now the question is, were there others that possibly assisted him prior in the planning stages, did they supply the weapon? Did they supply ammunition? So all of this will come out as ATF moves through this particular case. We got information that he had a phone with him at the time. Law enforcement's looking through that to see who he had communications with, but it is very odd that there are some reports that he was sitting by the Baton Rouge [Cooper:] Pamela Brown had a source saying that this person was seen in a vehicle outside or near the police headquarters. [Roderick:] Right. And then the shooting took place very close to the headquarters there. It is a strange set of circumstances here. [Cooper:] Was this person intentionally trying to engage with police? Was that the objective? Was that the motive? That's unclear. [Roderick:] Right. Was he taking out the police department? I'm sure they'll have all this information. [Cooper:] Right. I mean, clearly what he was wearing, a long gun, it truly raises a lot of concerns and questions. [Bob Reid, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] From what I followed there, outside the convenience store that's usually attended by law enforcement officers [Cooper:] In fact there was a law enforcement officer inside at the time the first shots were [Reid:] Maybe that's all going to start coming together that this person was stalking them and was outside, but we have to wait and see. [Cooper:] Right. This was said to be a store that was very popular with law enforcement officers. They went there not far from the headquarters. Also with me CNN senior law enforcement analyst and former assistant FBI director, Tom Fuentes. Tom, I should point out, we are about 4 minutes away from anticipated remarks by President Obama. We'll obviously bring that to our viewers as well. Tom, from what you heard in the press conference, what stands out to you? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] I have to admit, Anderson, to be kind of confused about the whole thing of when was the first shot fired, how did this thing get started? Were shots fired were before any police officers got there? Was it strictly when they arrived they were met with gunfire? At what point where they able to return or were at the backup so there was a lot of details which admittedly we'll know more tomorrow at the 1:00 briefing but I found it confusing to get a handle on what occurred when those officers arrived at the scene. Had there been shots fired already or not or did they arrive under a hail of gunfire? [Cooper:] Right. Which one eyewitness that we spoke to at the top of the last hour claimed that there had been, but again it's one eyewitness and unclear how reliable what he feels he saw or heard is, Tom. [Fuentes:] We also know from the Alton Sterling incident that Baton Rouge officers carry body cams. In that incident the body cams fell off, but you could see they were attached and came off. In this case as they're driving up, they should have dash cams. Even if they don't have dash cams on the squads as they're arriving at the scene, the officers still have front facing body cams. I know it's probably gruesome because the officers that were killed probably have their own deaths recorded, but that should give the investigators a lot of information as to what exactly happened when they arrived at that scene. [Cooper:] Also with me is retired LAPD police sergeant, Cheryl Dorsey. Sgt. Dorsey, how is it when an investigation like this happens, I mean, obviously, all the officers involved have to be interviewed. How quickly does that whole process begin? [Cheryl Dorsey, Retired Lapd Police Sergeant:] That may vary from agency to agency. Certainly on the Los Angeles Police Department it begins immediately and so I don't really know what the protocols and procedures are there. But Anderson, one of the things that I would like to speak to is what's going to happen with our men and women in blue uniform going forward? I think the way that we handle ourselves, which has been reactionary, based on what we have seen is now forever changed. So I think the days of one man units and responding to high priority calls without the presence of an air unit is something that's going to have to be looked at carefully so that our officers are safe day-to- day when they respond to high priority calls and maybe even what we just like to call routine calls because there's no such thing anymore. [Cooper:] When you say a high priority call, what would that entail? [Dorsey:] That would entail this call of a man with a gun. You're going to go there with your antenna kind of high, right. This is a man with a gun call so you want to be particularly careful. But I'm not sure anymore that a routine call, a dispute, a disturbance could be a situation where someone may want to ambush an officer. I know on small departments, they do run what we call, L-units, a one- man car. So great care has to be given now when officers respond to make sure that they have the resources so that they can put themselves in the best position advantageously to be safe when they end that encounter. [Cooper:] CNN law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander, is also with us. I want to run through the timeline first as we know it according to what we just heard from the state police. They say that at approximately 8:40 a.m. Eastern Time officers responded to I should say local time. Officers responded to a call about a person carrying a weapon. Two minutes later at 8:42 a.m., reports came in of shots fired. At 8:44 a.m., reports started coming in of officers down on the scene. At 8:45 a.m. more shots being fired. Another report of a suspect wearing all black clothing standing near a car wash near a convenience store came in at 8:46 a.m. And two minutes later, at 8:48 a.m., Emergency EMS units started arriving at the scene trying to render first aid to the officers who were shot. And it was sometime in that time frame that the active shooter that the shooter who had killed the officers and wounded others, was himself shot and killed. So Cedric, what do you make of what came out from the press conference? [Cedric Alexander, Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, those timelines that you see probably came straight out of their 911 center as they were called in that really give you somewhat of a picture of what occurred every two minutes. And it appeared to be an event that took about six minutes. We don't know I agree with Tom on this, is that there are some things that appear a little sketchy that is I believe being deliberately left out and probably appropriately so merely because they're still an active investigation going on. They probably are taking a look at some very gruesome footage that's taken from those video recorders on those officers that may have lost their lives and those that were injured. So, it's probably a lot of information in there Anderson, but they have to be very careful in terms not being able to give out too much information right now because it is still very early in this and this is a real very sensitive matter as well too because probably it's going to be captured probably will have been captured on some type of video. [Cooper:] Which is a sickening thought or rather for law enforcement to have to even have to look at that, to see what happened to their fellow officer? [Unidentified Male:] That's correct. [Roderick:] Not only do you have the body cams, but my understanding is that this is a business area, so you've got all the businesses with surveillance cameras set up in that area, and law enforcement will be pulling those also. And that could give them a very good view of this individual moving from the police station, getting out of his vehicle, and walking down the street. I'm sure they'll have whole story put together, if not already fairly quickly. [Cooper:] We should point out we're awaiting you see on the side of your screen we're waiting for President Obama to make live remarks about the shootings in Baton Rouge. You know, I guess the main question still remains and it bears repeating the motive of this person. Was this to lure police officers? Was this to directly engage with police officers? Was that the motive of this person when he woke up this morning? [Roderick:] That's the key part. I mean, we've got to figure out what his motive is because this could affect law enforcement across the country. If this is just similar to the individual in Dallas where you have one mentally disturbed person that's coming out and wants to engage law enforcement, that's one thing as opposed to what we thought earlier, where we could have had a conspiracy involving two or three people. It seems to be narrowing it down now to possibly just one individual. And that, as horrible as it sounds, calms a lot of fears around the country. [Cooper:] How it would I mean, we heard from Cheryl who is saying, you know, some of the ripple effects it could have. Do you agree with her in terms of how this may affect how police respond to even routine calls? [Roderick:] I think that's exactly what's going to happen. After every one of these incidences, law enforcement always goes back and reviews all their standard operating procedures, their policies, their guidelines to make sure this particular type of incident doesn't happen again. Unfortunately, a lot of times law enforcement is reactive as opposed to proactive, but we've got to get to that part where we're a little more proactive. [Reid:] And one other thing is officers that are in one-man cars are now in two man cars. That affects the citizenry of the communities where it takes longer to get to calls because you don't have those numbers of cars. It still always going to be serve and protect, but survival is getting up there. [Cooper:] And in terms of weaponry, you know, does the average police officer have a long rifle in their vehicle that they can respond in kind say to somebody? [Reid:] Some do. Some departments that I'm familiar with, they have one car that's equipped with S.W.A.T. equipment that's on that shift. But for the officer that's under fire, that doesn't help if he's ten blocks away. [Cooper:] Right. Time is of the essence. I mean, this went on for at the very least some six minutes or so. I remember reading FBI studies of active shooter situations. Most of the people who were killed by active shooters are killed within the first six minutes and oftentimes it takes several minutes for police to even get on the scene, but in this case they were there. Not only according to the state police, was there somebody already in that convenience store, a police officer, but the headquarters was very close. [Roderick:] It sounds like they engaged them right away. In you know, that six minutes is a long time and it sounds like, you know, thank goodness that police officer was in that convenience store, did see this, engaged him right away. We don't know exactly what officer was where when they were shot and killed so, you know, law enforcement wants to look at that and figure out tactically, you know, is there something we can do better. [Cooper:] We also had this eyewitness report of somebody already down when police got there, which again I don't know how accurate that was or what this person actually saw. I mean, that doesn't fit into the narrative that the police have given out so far. We don't know who that person was. [Reid:] Yes, exactly. [Copper:] We are waiting again President Obama expected to make statements. He already had put out a statement earlier this afternoon responding to the shootings. The condition of the three wounded officers in Baton Rouge, two of them are in stable condition thankfully with non-life-threatening injuries we were told. But according Colonel Mike Edmonson'State Police, one of the sheriff's deputies, the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies, is in critical condition and fighting for his life. Cheryl, the LAPD, I mean, I remember there was a shootout many I don't, you know, recall the year. This is just coming from my memory where a heavily armed individual with sort of makeshift tactical gear. I think he attempted to rib a bank and he engaged with a shootout with police in L.A. who were heavily outgunned by this person. And that really that changed the tactics, that changed the weaponry that the LAPD began to use or began to routinely carry. Didn't it? [Cheryl Dorsey, Retired Lapd Police Sergeant:] Yeah, that was at north Hollywood and I was actually assigned to north Hollywood division when that occurred. And you know, as a police officer, I mean, we're always outgunned, right. I mean, we have to follow certain guidelines and procedures and you know, we're only allowed to carry those of us in uniform in a black and white a certain type of weapon and we, you know, certainly in my time, I went from a.38 revolver to a.9 millimeter and I think they're carrying something much different now. And in terms of even the ammunition that were given and so much like in that north Hollywood shootout, we were outgunned and so we had officers who commandeered a gun shop and thankfully the owner was amenable to some of our officers arming themselves with automatic rifles so that we could just at least have a level playing field. And so, you know, I don't know what's going to happen, but this is not good, Anderson, and so, you know, it's important that our officers are mindful. Right now, for real, for real, when you go out there, you are a a disadvantage. Wear your uniform issued bulletproof vest because I see officers throwing them on at the last minute when they get in a tactical situation. And in an emergency, that's not the time. So, we just need to be safe and mindful so we can get home to our families at the end of the evening. [Cooper:] Cedric Alexander, again, no according to State Police, no active shooter situation ongoing right now in Baton Rouge, which is certainly a relief to a lot of the residents in Baton Rouge because earlier the police had said there may be other suspects armed suspects who are out there. They're saying right now they don't believe that is the case, that the person who shot and killed the police officer was himself shot and killed, but that doesn't mean that there aren't concentric circles of people who knew what this person was planning, perhaps helped plan with this person or in some way aided and abetted this person. [Alexander:] Absolutely, Anderson, and that's going to be part of the continuing investigation. The good news is the lone gunman has been put down. Still what we don't know is who may have been involved with him in the planning, in the execution of this horrific event. But they'll get to the bottom of that I'm quite sure here pretty soon once they identify him, identify who his contacts are, identify his relationship in that community or wherever he may have come from. And I think we'll find that out here pretty soon. [Cooper:] And Cedric, obviously, I mean, because they believe or Tom Fuentes, because they believe the gunman himself they know the gunman himself was shot and killed, it's only a matter of time before they can identify that person and then that's when the investigation actually kind of gathers speed. [Fuentes:] True. I'm sorry. Is that for me? [Cooper:] Sorry, Tom, go ahead. [Fuentes:] A point I'd like to make, Anderson, is that they make it clear that he may have been the only shooter on the street, but they're looking into whether others assisted him or were co- conspirators. And so when they get the information off his cellphone or maybe when they go to his residence, computers or other family members that may lead them to go to other residences, there's nothing to say now that those other suspects might be lying in wake to ambush the police when they come knocking on their door. [Cooper:] And Tom, in a situation like this, is the FBI do they have a role in this? [Fuentes:] Absolutely. All the law enforcement agencies are out there. And, you know, in the beginning, they don't know is it domestic terror or is it some other, you know, type of crime, but they all know they need to work together. The FBI has a large office in Baton Rouge. I learned that they were there immediately assisting the police. Also often provide a great deal of forensic assistance with the Evidence Response Teams, but also the ATF, the Marshals, DEA, everybody that can lend a hand comes out there as well as all of the state county and local city police in the area coming to help. Unless, as the chief mentioned, Baton Rouge has been depleted because of all the extra work they've had the last week and a half of trying to cover protests and other situations. So, they need all the help they can get just to put officers on the street. [Copper:] Cedric Alexander, in terms of the investigation, what are the main questions that police are looking at now? I mean, if you were in this investigation, what would you want answers to other than the motive of the shooter and the identity of the person? [Alexander:] You want to identify the shooter Absolutely. You want to identify the shooter and you want to try to determine what that motive may have been. And that's going to be gathered certainly through his associations and any other technical evidence they're able to come up with, but that's the first and foremost thing in terms of this investigation, Anderson, is who is this shooter. And that's going to tell us a lot about his history. And who has he been associated with and of course doing search warrants at his residence or wherever he may reside to his vehicle, and it's going to reveal a lot of information, and that's going to take a little time. [Cooper:] Again, we are waiting for President Obama, any moment now. He was to have spoken at 4:30 we were told. You see that on the side of your screen. We're waiting for his comments. His statement earlier expressed obviously support for those who lost their lives and those who are in the hospital. And as I said, the three wounded officers thankfully two of them do not have life-threatening injuries. The third officer, an East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputy, is said to be in critical condition right now. And also the State Police wanted to emphasize this is very much an ongoing investigation. Multiple agencies are involved with multiple moving parts. Our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown is also joining us now. What are you learning? Before the press conference, we got a report from you about a possible sighting of this gunman. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right. According to the preliminary information, there was a possible sighting of him in a car wearing all black, the mask, and the long gun. And then there was a 911 call that we've now know where the person calling in said that there's a person walking down the road carrying this long rifle wearing black. The description of the one suspect we know of that is down and that we have learned that the law enforcement has a potential ID and that they're now trying to figure out who he's been in contact with and who else may be involved. [Cooper:] So you've learned they do have a potential [Id. Brown:] There's a potential ID. We're not ready to say the name yet, but there is a potential ID and we know that they've been up on his cellphone trying to figure out who else he's, you know, who else he's been talking to, whether there is a bigger conspiracy at play here. I can tell you that in the wake of what we saw in Dallas, there was an increasing chatter among domestic terror groups, hate groups that want to target police about wanting to do something similar. That has been a bit concern. We have no idea if that relates to this situation because the big question is, were police responding to something else? Another crime taking place or was this a police ambush? I will mention one scenario that officials are looking at right now, and it's just a scenario as whether as possibility that someone could have called 911 to lure in police. That is something that we've seen elsewhere where someone has called 911 just to get police in one place and then launch an attack. There was chatter about that and then there were some arrests made in Hollywood, Florida. So, that is certainly a scenario. I've also learned through my sources that there was a police officer in a little coffee shop right next to where the shooting happened. About ten minutes before, his relatives said he was in that coffee shop. So the question is, did he engage the shooter initially and then did the police arrive. They're still trying to fill in those gaps as we speak, Anderson. [Cooper:] The idea that this could have been potentially a 911 call used to lure somebody in to rather explain earlier and there were point of others of our law enforcement analyst. I mean, that does have ramifications for police all around the country. I mean, of all the 911 calls coming in, if you suddenly are now second guessing the validity of these 911 calls, that's a huge concern. [Brown:] Absolutely. I have been speaking to law enforcement officials early across the country today and every one of them said that this is scary. This is a dangerous time. And as one person said, you know, law enforcement's job is to go in and protect the community, but who is going to protect us now? There is really this feeling among law enforcement that it is open season against them. Again, we don't know the context around the shooting, but it certainly raises that concern. And since we're here in Cleveland, Anderson, the talk is about how, you know, how do you protect police and people? You've got the open carry law, which does raise concern among law enforcement, that there could be people with nefarious intentions mixing in with the protesters. And then you have a large presence of law enforcement, as one official said, that's like a tinder box with a spark, there's a lot of concern. [Cooper:] All right, you had mentioned that the cell phone, that the police may already be up on the cell phone of this shooter. Do we know was the cell phone recovered at the scene? [Brown:] I don't know I don't know those specific details. I mean, the first as we just heard Cedric state, you know, the first thing they want to do is identify the shooter, see who else they've been in contact with. So, that was definitely something that they did very early on. But we don't know if it was on the shooter or if they found it elsewhere. [Cooper:] OK. Tom Fuentes, this idea of second guessing 911 calls, I mean again, the ripple effects for this could be dramatic for police forces around the country. [Fuentes:] You know, it's interesting Anderson as this type of possibility when I went through a police academy training in 1973, they talked about situations where that's exactly what happened. A call went in, whether it was a family disturbance or suspicious subject. And when the officers arrived, they were ambushed. So, it's nothing that hasn't happened for decades, it's just like we haven't heard about it for a while and all of a sudden it's coming up now as a new technique, but it's not new. It's just it's happening again more recently in greater numbers than it used to. [Cooper:] Yeah. President Obama, again, expecting his remarks very shortly, anytime now. Gloria Borger is also joining us. I mean, you know, I think back to just last week in Dallas, President Obama saying, "Look, I've had to do this too many times." Here he is yet again speaking in the wake of a horrific shooting of police officers. [Gloria Borger, Chief Political Analyst:] You know, I understand. He's had to do this 15 times since 2009. [Cooper:] Some sort of mass shooting. [Borger:] Some sort of mass shooting. First I believe it was Ft. Hood. And this is a president who is sick over this honestly. Whether its gun control that he keeps talking about or whether it's ISIS or whatever it is that inspires any of these people. I think this is a president who doesn't want this to be his legacy when he leaves office, to have this kind of unrest and this kind of outrage, whatever sparks any of this. And I think what you heard from the president in his statement was his talk about the rule of law and about civilized society and that these attacks have to speak because they're conducted by cowards, but you know, these are words that we have heard from him. And every time I see him do something like this, you can just we'll see in a few minutes. You can see the anguish in his face having to preside over these kinds of things. [Cooper:] Did you want to say something? [Brown:] We had mentioned earlier, Anderson, that there was a possible ID of the suspect that was down and we have now learned Baton Rouge police shooter has been identified as 29-year-old Gavin Long. This is according to two law enforcement sources. He was born, the sources say, on July 17th, 1987. So, fairly young, named Gavin Long. Of course, right now we're trying to figure out where he's from? What his connection is? Why he was in that area, but this coming from my colleague [inaudible] and Evan Perez as well, these two sources and Gavin Long, 29 years old, was the shooter. [Cooper:] Once now, I mean, now that they have an ID, it's just a matter of time now before they go to his home. They go to his circle of people to try to find out more. [Brown:] Yeah, absolutely. I mean, that is really what they're doing now as we speak. We know they've interviewed relatives of some of the police officers who were involved and they're also going to interview those who knew this gunman. We talked about, Anderson, you don't like naming the gunman because so often they do things just to get attention. [Cooper:] Was this somebody who witnessed what happened in Dallas and thought, you know, in some sick way he wanted to do a similar thing? [Brown:] And as I mentioned earlier, in the wake of Dallas, law enforcement picked up an increase in chatter from these hate groups saying we want to do something similar. Maybe we can call 911 and lure in cops in this way. And so, they're certainly on edge and you know, they're certainly law enforcement knew there was a possibility to be a copy cat attack. The motive here is still very much unclear and we're still trying to figure out if there was more than one shooter. That is still a bit murky as well for law enforcement officials. [Cooper:] Although, I mean, that's one of the things, because the governor did talk about suspects, plural, potential suspects plural, and yet they have come out and said that there is no active shooter situation in Baton Rouge. [Brown:] That was my first question. [Cooper:] That the gunman himself, the person that shot and killed the police officers was himself shot and killed, which seems to indicate that there were not other people armed shooting at police. [Brown:] Or it could have been people who they've figured out to give him a car or accomplices in some way, but not actually involved in the shooting. But I will say typically in situations like this, the initial thinking is that there is more than one shooter. And so police moved forward as though there is more than one and prepare for that, but typically ends up being one lone shooter. [Cooper:] Well, a lot of that also as we've talked about before, is contradictory eyewitness statements. I mean, eye witnesses from different vantage points see different things, calling different things and say or even confuse sometimes police with, you know, in tactical gear with the shooter wearing all black. We've seen that in other shootings as well. So, oftentimes you have reports early on, the initial reports, of multiple shooters. And then, I mean in Dallas, you know, there were those early reports of multiple shooters triangulating, and turned out the shooter was actually just shooting and then moving using a tactic that he had practiced. [Borger:] You know, that's one reason you see the president waiting to a degree because he wants to talk to the FBI, he wants to talk to other law enforcement. He wants to determine exactly what they know, because before he addresses the American people and of course, we know part of what he's going to say, but he wants to have as much information as he can because the president of the United States should be the last person to jump to conclusions about anything. And so, you know, you can be sure he was in contact with law enforcement as we were told immediately. But there's a need, I would say, to talk to the American public at a time like this because we are getting all different kinds of information, and it's scary to people. And what a president does at this time is try to calm people down and say, "Wait a minute, okay, take a breath. Let's mourn and let's figure this out." [Cooper:] Law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander is also with us as we wait President Obama's comments. Cedric, how do, I mean, as they said this is very multiple agencies involved in this ongoing investigation. How confusing is it in a situation like this to have all these different agencies working how is that all sorted out, who does what? [Alexander:] Well, that may sound complex, Anderson, but the reality of it is, is that we have been working together for a lot of years across this country a multitude of agencies and particularly in the climate that we're in now, post-911. So, this is not new to us. We all have very specific roles. We all got coordinated and planned for events that we often see today, so it's not unusual. It may sound like it, even though there are a number and a variety of federal, state, and local agencies involved, but everybody is very respectful of each other. Everyone shares information, and everyone understands the importance of working together so that the bad guys are caught and the community remains safe because for all of us, it's about public safety and make sure that we protect that respective community and the same time respect being in supporting each other during the investigation. [Cooper:] Pamela Brown, you're getting some more information. Is that it? [Brown:] No, we're just making a point that it just registered, as I was reading on air the gunman's name that it's his birthday today. The shootout happened on his birthday. It does raise questions a little bit about whether this was just a spur of the moment crime that was being committed or something he wanted to do to go down in flames on his birthday. And as was Cedric was saying, I've been speaking to people on the ground in Louisiana, and there is a bit of confusion because there are so many law enforcement officials involved in different agencies. There's a bit of confusion in terms of delegation of duties, and so that is why too in the very beginning, you need to be so careful with the preliminary information because it could be a bit of a game of telephone when it comes to those. [Cooper:] I think Athena is standing by. The White House, I think that we've been we expected President Obama to speak about 25 minutes ago. Any word on when he's going to speak? [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] No, Anderson. We believe he'll be coming out any minute now. As you mentioned, he was scheduled to speak several minutes ago. He's likely still coming up with the right words to say. We've heard the president say really over and over again, but certainly during the memorial service in Dallas, how words are not enough. Action is needed to deal with the tension that's going on in these communities. And so, I think he's well aware coming out here today. He's going to talk about to support the police. He's going to condemn the attack as he's already done in a paper statement, and as he had to do a couple weeks ago of course in Dallas. This is becoming all to routine him having to come out and play the role of consoler in chief, comforter in chief. He said already in a statement put out today that we don't yet know the motives for this attack, but there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. So, I suspect when he comes out to deliver what we expect to be brief remarks, maybe five minutes or ten minutes. He'll talk about the need to make sure justice is done, to make sure this crime is investigated, to offer support for police, and to come together. The president has been trying to argue that America is not as divided as a lot of these recent events would suggest. But for a lot of people those words don't sound true. When you wake up on a Sunday morning, maybe with some people heading to church and see this news. So, he has to strike a balance as he comes out today to of course offer support for police, try to offer words of comfort. All of course as we're still waiting to find out more about just what went down in Baton Rouge, Anderson. [Cooper:] Well, more details to come no doubt. We will await President Obama. We'll bring you his remarks live. We're going to take a short break. Our coverage continues. [Howell:] At the Olympic Games it was an incredible photo finish in the 400-meter sprint on the women's side, a nail-biter between the Bahama's Shaunae Miller and American Allyson Felix. CNN's Coy Wire is live in Rio with exactly how the winner managed to cross that finish line and take the gold Coy. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] George, what a finish in that 400-meter final. Everyone in the stadium or watching on T.V. had no idea who had won. Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas had a huge lead but the defending world champ, Allyson Felix, dug deep. She would end up leaning in at the line but Shaunae Miller does a feet don't fail me now, diving across the line, and it worked. Gold by seven one- hundredths of a second. But with that silver, Allyson Felix earns her seventh all-time medal and surpasses the great Jackie Joyner-Kersee to become the most decorated American female track athlete ever. Guys, this just in. Simone Biles is human. She is, she really is. After three straight golds here in Rio, a bronze in the beam competition. She nearly fell off the beam and had to use her hands to catch herself. Judges score that as a fall, so bronze it is. She could still end up with gold in the final tonight on the floor final, that is. But congrats to young Laurie Hernandez, too, Biles 16-year-old teammate who finished with a silver in the beam event. All right, let's get an early start on the medal count, like Christine Romans' early start on your money. We've got Team USA, 75 overall. China's in second with 46, and Great Britain in third with 41. Now, guys, last night I got a chance to catch up with Michael Phelps and I had to ask him what's next for the GOAT, the greatest Olympian of all time. [Michael Phelps, 28 Career Gold Medals:] I think first, I get to go home for a couple of days and relax and just enjoy some sun and get to see the pups. I'm happy now and I think that's the biggest difference between now and 2012. You know, in 2012, I think I just wanted to be done. I wanted nothing to do with the sport anymore. And now I'm very happy, very pleased with the place that I'm in and I'm happy with how I finished my career. [Wire:] Guys, it was great to see Michael Phelps out and enjoying his 28 career Olympic medals. We'll also get to enjoy Usain Bolt today, a 200-meter heat that he'll be racing in. It's been a fortunate experience to be able to watch two of the greatest of all time in these games. [Howell:] Coy, I saw that picture that you took with Phelps that you put out on Twitter. That's a picture you hold onto, man. It's very cool. [Wire:] Thanks, George, I appreciate. I had to keep that man covered from the rain. [Romans:] I know. I tell you, it's a Coy Wire, my job does not suck day, you know? All right, thanks. Nice to see you, Coy. All right, let's get an early start on your money this morning. It's a trifecta for stocks record highs. Yes, folks, stocks have never been higher. The Dow, the Nasdaq, the S&P 500 blazing into unchartered territory, a synchronized gold medal for these three average. All three now posting strong gains for the year. The Nasdaq has had the most impressive rally, frankly, from its low back in February. It's up more than, I think, 20 percent from that low. This has been a classic broad-based rally. I want to show you the top performing sectors in the S&P 500. Telecom, 19 percent; utilities, 15 percent; energy, 14 percent; materials, 11 percent. So can anything stop this bull market? Some investors are growing nervous that prices are inflated. Remember, the last time these markets all hit highs together was in 1999. Remember what happened after that? A bubble burst. There is also political risk. Wall Street seems to be betting that Hillary Clinton will win the election. If the polls swing toward Trump stocks may swing as well, so there's always that. Right now, Dow futures slightly lower. Stock markets in Europe and Asia down a little bit, taking a step back from all those records. Oil down about six-tenths of one percent. Two health care headlines to tell you about this morning. Aetna is dropping Obama care coverage in 11 of the 15 states it services. Next year, it will only sell Affordable Care Act products in Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, and Virginia. Aetna has lost some $430 million since the exchanges opened in January 2014 because they people who sign up, they found, are sicker and more costly than expected. And a new report this morning from Fidelity shows the average American will need $260,000 for health care costs when they retire the average American couple. It projects that cost will jump between four percent and six percent annually in future years. Something to think of. That's outside of savings in your 401 [k]. Those are health care costs in retirement for a couple a quarter of a million dollars, more than that. [Howell:] When people hear that, though, does that make them feel like they can't do it or [Romans:] You know what? I'll tell you what, a lot of people see numbers like that and they just say I can't make the paycheck stretch as long as the month right now [Howell:] Right. [Romans:] how am I supposed to save? It reminds people that health care is one of the fastest-growing costs in your retirement formula. [Howell:] And nice reference to the Olympics there [Romans:] Yes. [Howell:] in your financial report. Quick criticism and scrutiny for Donald Trump as he outlines his plan to fight ISIS. The Democrats are responding. "NEW DAY" picks up the coverage right now. [Trump:] We cannot let this evil continue. ISIS is on the loose. [Clinton:] Donald's been all over the place on [Isis. Rudy Giuiliani, Former Mayor, New York City:] Donald Trump has the intellect and the strength to confront our enemies. [Biden:] He is not qualified to know the code. [Trump:] Hillary Clinton lacks the judgment to lead our nation. [Allyson Felix, Olympic Track And Field Athlete:] I'm going to go out there and run with heart. [Unidentified Female:] Allyson Felix came up just short of a fifth Olympic gold medal. [Romans:] Breakout star Simone Biles takes bronze on the beam. [Phelps:] I am definitely very happy I came back for one more. [Unidentified Male:] It's as high as I've ever seen it. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn:] Historic deadly flooding in Louisiana. [Unidentified Female:] His car is under the water. [Unidentified Male:] It is still very, very dangerous. We still have waters rising. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Camerota:] Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Tuesday, August 16th, 6:00 in the East. Up first, Donald Trump calling for extreme vetting of immigrants trying to come to the U.S. He talked about making them pass an ideological test. [Cuomo:] Trump also trying to clean up his case against the president and Hillary Clinton for the rise of ISIS. No more talk about founding, now it is about policy choices. Vice President Joe Biden taking on that accusation. He and Clinton made their own new case for what Trump could mean for national security. We have every angle covered for you. Let's begin with Athena Jones, live in Washington with more. Good morning, Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. [Cooper:] Well the breaking news, President Trump has lost his bid to reinstate his travel ban, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling unanimously against him. A short time ago, President Trump called the ruling political. He started his day by attacking Senator Richard Blumenthal on Twitter for revealing what Trump Supreme Court nominee according to the senator said to him, the nominee Neil Gorsuch, about Donald Trump's criticism of judges. The White House has been [inaudible], they denying that Gorsuch said not only what the senator said he said but with multiple people say they heard. Athena Jones tonight has details. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch meeting with senators who will decide his fate and avoiding questions about President Trump. [Off-mic] [Jones:] This, after senators from both parties say Gorsuch told them in private that he found the president's remarks criticizing the federal judge's handling a challenge to the administrations immigration ban demoralizing and disheartening. [Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut:] There's no question that Judge Gorsuch said to me that he found this attacks on the judiciary by the president to be disheartening and demoralizing. [Jones:] Today, meeting with the bipartisan group of senators to discuss the nomination to the high court, the president denying Gorsuch ever criticized him. [Donald Trump, U.s. President:] His comments were misrepresented. [Jones:] But White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer went further, insisting over and over that Gorsuch was talking in general term and not directly recalling out the president. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] The judge was very clear that he was not commenting on any specific matter, right? When he was asked about his general philosophy, he literally went out of his way to say, "I'm not commenting on a specific instance." [Jones:] But that statement refuted by a Gorsuch's White House appointed spokesman and the Senate Republican who met with the nominee and said they discussed the president's criticism. [Unidentified Male:] Disheartening is a great world. Judge Gorsuch and I actually talked about that and frankly, he got pretty passion it about it. Your answer about the context doesn't make sense when you think about what Senator Ben Sasse said today I mean, this morning on T.V. he said that he asked Judge Gorsuch specifically about the president's so-called judge tweet and in response [Spicer:] You know, this is like the fourth time, I've asked and answered. [Unidentified Male:] No, but this is a different context. [Spicer:] I understand that. [Unidentified Male:] What do you want? [Jones:] Connecticut Senator Richard Blumenthal said Gorsuch made it clear he wanted his concerns shared. [Blumenthal:] In fact, Judge Gorsuch specifically said, "You should feel free to mention what I said about these attacks being disheartening and demoralizing." [Jones:] Still, he and other Democrats want Gorsuch to go further and publicly denounce the president's comments. [Sen. Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader:] What he did does not show independence. It shows an ability to desire the appearance of independence without actually asserting it. [Jones:] While Republicans contend the episode demonstrates Gorsuch's respect for judicial independence. [Sen. Roy Blunt, Montana:] What Judge Gorsuch is showing here is his independent character, the fact that as a judge he's going to call them as he sees them. [Cooper:] That was Athena Jones reporting. And just before the broadcast, I spoke with Senator Blumenthal. Senator Blumenthal, first of all, I just want to get your reaction to the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. [Blumenthal:] This ruling may be narrow in scope, but it has very, very broad ramifications in ending the chaos and confusion that the president's executive order unleashed. It's a real victory for the rule of law showing that courts will not be bullied by threats and personal inductive and insults. And my hope is that it indicates where the courts will be going and sending the president a message. Rip up this order. Do not adopt bans based on religious tests or unconstitutional standards. [Cooper:] Today, the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said that Judge Gorsuch was talking in general terms and not directly calling out the president when he was speaking to you. So I want to ask you, was Gorsuch talking in general terms? [Blumenthal:] Indisputably. He was talking about President Donald Trump's attacks on the judiciary. And I repeated several times that I was absolutely outraged by these attacks by the President of the United States and Judge Gorsuch responded that he found it disheartening and demoralizing, referring to those same attacks. But, Donald Trump [Cooper:] So were those that he found it demoralizing and disheartening? I mean, that if he was referring to you have no doubt was what you had that the tweets, the comments by the president? [Blumenthal:] Not only I have no doubt, but also his spokesperson that same day confirmed my interpretation, Judge Gorsuch's own spokesperson. And, at least three of my colleagues have heard the same thing from Judge Gorsuch and had confirmed it, two of them publicly. And so, I think that President Trump ought to listen to them and to his own White House staff who were at the meeting. [Cooper:] So just to be absolutely 100 percent clear, when Sean Spicer says and I quote, "The way that Senator Blumenthal characterized them, I mean, the remark, he was talking about the tweets and saying that he, Gorsuch, was disheartened. That is not what the judge said." You're saying he's flat out wrong? [Blumenthal:] I'm saying that what Judge Gorsuch said to me was that disheartening and demoralized were what he found Donald Trump's attacks to be. And there is no doubt in my mind that he was referring to those attacks, because I urged him and, in fact, he must publicly condemn them, not behind closed doors in the privacy of my office or my colleagues, but publicly, clearly, directly. That's what he must do. [Cooper:] And you said that to him? [Blumenthal:] Absolutely. [Cooper:] And what how did he respond, because yesterday you said that, you know, he sort of didn't really answer. [Blumenthal:] Well, he declined to answer that question, and he declined to answer other questions, which I found very troubling. [Cooper:] But, I mean, he will be appearing on the Hill in public hearings. You and others will have the opportunity to ask direct questions to him publicly. Isn't that the venue for I mean, for him to be able to talk about the president's tweets or to repeat what he said to you? [Blumenthal:] It's another venue. And I will press him very aggressively for answers then and in the meantime. But right now, there is a special obligation for him to condemn publicly these attacks, because the independents of the judiciary core principle of our democracy is at stake here. And it's not at some point in the future that he can avoid the damage to the courts. It's right now and he needs to demonstrate his independence. Otherwise, the American people will have justifiable doubts that he will be more than a rubberstamp for the Trump administration. [Cooper:] As you know, the president also brought up an incident from 2008 where you said you served in Vietnam. You hadn't actually serve in Vietnam, but served during Vietnam as a reservist. President Trump this morning tweeted, "Senator Richard Blumenthal who never fought in Vietnam when he said for years he had major lie, now misrepresents what Judge Gorsuch told you." Do you have any response to the president? [Blumenthal:] This issue is not about me. It's far bigger than me, and far bigger than Judge Gorsuch's nomination. It's about the independence of the judiciary and Donald Trump's attacks on it, which really are a disservice to the core principle of our democracy, the integrity and independence of the courts. [Cooper:] All right, Senator Blumenthal thanks very much. [Blumenthal:] Thank you. [Cooper:] A quick programming note for the breaking news on the travel ban court ruling, "The Messy Truth with Van Jones" will not air tonight. Instead, that's going to air tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. I hope you'll watch that. Up next, in the second hour of "360," the Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson and his Solicitor General Noah Purcell, I'll talk to them live about their victory. [Church:] Welcome back, everyone. South Korea's National Intelligence Service warns ISIS may be targeting the U.S. military in their country. The NIS says the terror group released information about NATO bases in South Korea and is encouraging attacks on military personnel. Our Paula Hancocks joins us now with more from Seoul, South Korea. Paula, what more do we know about this? And how credible might the threats be? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Rosemary, the NIS thought they were credible enough that they had to make this statement. It's not very usual for the intelligence agency here to be publishing this kind of information. But they say they believe that ISIS has details on 77 U.S. and NATO Air Force facilities around the world, also individuals, and in 21 different countries, including South Korea. They've publicized the details internally on their telegram messaging service. They called on their supporters to carry out attacks against the Air Forces bases and also the individuals. There is one air base in particular that's mentioned here in South Korea, Osan Air Base, which is just about 60 kilometers or 40 miles south of Seoul. Also, NIS has mentioned one individual, a South Korean who is from a welfare organization. They don't say why that person has been individually targeted. They say they are receiving protection at this point. And they have warned the U.S. military here in Korea. And to show that it could be considered credible the U.S. forces in Korea are taking it seriously they have issued a statement, saying that, "The U.S. Forces, Korea, takes the safety and security of its installations very seriously." Saying they "remain prepared to respond at any time to any emerging threat" Rosemary? [Church:] Paula, why South Korea? What are authorities saying about that? [Hancocks:] The statement seems to say there are installations around the world that are being targeted. South Korea is among those that have been targeted. It is the South Korean intelligence agency saying this. They also say they have been having a problem with ISIS sympathizers recently. Over the past five years or so, about 50 foreigners have been deported because they had links to terrorist organizations, the NIS believed. They said two South Korean citizens were caught trying to join ISIS. The beginning of last year, there was a teenager that traveled to Turkey, believed to be trying to get into Syria to join ISIS. At this point, authorities, the last we heard, don't know where he is. They assume he could be in Syria. This is an emerging problem for South Korea. Not on the scale you see in other countries, but a threat that the South Koreans aren't used to. When they think of attack on their soil, they think of North Korea. They don't think of ISIS. But the NIS is pointing out that thought process has to change Rosemary? [Church:] Certainly. Paula Hancocks keeping us up to date on that story. 3:45 in the afternoon there in Seoul, South Korea. Many thanks to you. ISIS hackers may be targeting foreign militaries, but other hackers are returning the favor. They are trolling the terrorists on social media, with images the extremists find offensive. "CNN Money's" Laurie Segall has the story. [Laurie Segall, Cnn Money Technology Correspondent:] How long does it take you to successfully take over an ISIS members' account on Twitter? [Unidentified Hacker:] Once I get the information I need, I can be in an account as fast as 60 seconds. [Segall:] ISIS has been waging a cyber war online. Then there are the folks fighting against ISIS and these guys aren't doing it legally. They're hackers. One of them I've been talking to for months. He goes by the name Wachula Ghost. That's his alias. His latest move has been taking down hundreds of ISIS members' Twitter accounts and replacing the account with pornography and Gay Pride memorabilia. So I'm going to call him up and ask him why he's doing this, and also how easy is it to hack into the Twitter account of an ISIS member. Hello? [Unidentified Hacker:] Hey, Laurie. How you doing? [Segall:] What exactly have you been doing with ISIS accounts? [Unidentified Hacker:] Lately, we started hijacking their accounts, taking over their accounts, basically just to troll them, to annoy them and make fun of them, and take screen shots, phone numbers, I.P. addresses, the whole nine yards. I have all of that information on all the accounts I've ever taken. And we got the idea and there were others that had the idea, also, of spreading porn through the accounts. [Segall:] So why pornography? [Unidentified Hacker:] We thought putting the porn, naked images, would offend them. And I'm sure it's offended other Muslims, but that wasn't our goal. [Segall:] Now that this horrific tragedy has happened in Orlando, you guys have also been putting up Gay Pride messages. Can you talk me through that? [Unidentified Hacker:] I saw the news, and you know, you had all those people, those innocent lives that were lost, and all the people everyone was mourning. And I just felt there was something I could do, so I took their images, their flags, and I left a message on a lot of the accounts in support of Gay Pride. [Segall:] You don't believe that the government is doing enough? You don't believe that the social networks are doing enough? [Unidentified Hacker:] If social networks were doing enough, we wouldn't be on there doing what we're doing. I get beheading images, I get threats, we're going to kill you, we're going to do that. And that's great, because they're focusing on me right now, so that means they're not able to do something else. [Segall:] Why is it so personal to you? [Unidentified Hacker:] Sometimes, you just have to stand up for what you believe in. If you want change, you have to make that change. [Segall:] Even if it means doing something illegal? [Unidentified Hacker:] Even if it means doing something illegal. If the change is for the good, it's got to be done. [Church:] That was "CNN Money's" senior technology correspondent, Laurie Segall, reporting there. A new concern ahead of the Rio Olympics involving street crimes. Tourists being warned to be on the look-out. What the pickpockets are especially looking for. That's coming up. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn:] It is 5:00 here on the east coast. It is so glad you are with us. History has just been made. I'm Poppy Harlow. And tonight all eyes are on Cuba. Remember this day. It is a defining day in American History, March 20th, 2016, the day that the president of the United States walked off Air Force One and walked on to Cuban soil. [Harlow:] The last time a sitting U.S. president stepped into the Cuba, 1928. That is when then President Calvin Coolidge sailed there aboard a battleship from Florida. President Obama surprised the world when just 15 months ago, he announced that the decades-long freeze in relations between Cuba and the United States was ending. Well, today he and the first family walked the walk. They are now standing on a new clean page of U.S. history. The first family will be in Cuba until Tuesday. They have many activities plans. The main event tomorrow that is when President Obama sits down face-to-face with Cuban president Raul Castro. This will be their first meeting in Cuba. I want to take you straight to Havana. My friend, my colleague Chris Cuomo is there. What a moment Chris to be there. I know the weather isn't cooperating. It is a little bit of a downpour behind you. But tell me what it is like to be there and also the fact that president Castro wasn't there to meet the president at the airport. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Correspondent:] Look. You framed it the right way, Poppy. But it is all about perspective. Think about it. Your child, we know you are really close now, when your child comes into the world, it will be a different relationship between the U.S. and Cuba than you and I have known, OK. [Harlow:] Yes. [Cuomo:] For generations of Cubans, they were told this would never happen. And is this rainy? Yes. The air was thick with anticipation and then the clouds opened up. An old man told me in the square in front of the bureau that Fidel brought [U.n. Patrick Oppmann, Cnn Correspondent:] They talked before and they will be spending a lot of time together on this trip. [Cuomo:] So this is true but cover and how much of that is OK? [Oppmann:] We are going cautiously. He want friendly relations but these countries will probably never be friends. As our government officials tells me here, they want to be able to coexist which they have never done. But we are talking about, you know, a new day. This is a lot of ways a new world with the revolution and every country but Mexico, broke relations in the hemisphere with Cuba. You know, up until last year, we were the only country in Hemisphere that didn't have [Cuomo:] But this means more for Cuba and for Cubans than it does for the United States. I mean, the embargo isn't hurting the U.S. except this generation, two generations of Cuban Americans who lost so much here, who are worried about the perceptions of Castros and the realities of the Castros and wanted America to be a defender. Someone that wouldn't turn blind eye to those wrongs. All that is in play right now. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Yes. It is like a big Peaya right now. There is a lot of mix of different things going on here, Chris. You know, one thing that we can say about this is that this is going to be a diplomatic dance for President Obama. You know, he is coming in. He wants to show the world that the president of the United States and his family have come to Cuba. But at the same time, you know, the White House made it very clear. He is going to talk about the rights of Cubans and how he wants to see those rights broadened. He wants freedom of the press, freedom of speech, freedom of assembly. Those are things that are not enjoyed broadly here in Cuba. So the president wants to get that message across. But in terms of what is at stake for the Cubans, the greatest natural resource forts Cubans has almost its opposition to the United States. Well, President Obama is now trying to take that off the table. And you know, Cuba can't count on the Soviet Union any more. Can't count on the petrol dollars coming from Venezuela anymore. They need the United States. And as Patrick said, the United States was so isolated in Latin-America, in a sense they need Cuba. They have been talking about the Colombian peace process in the context of these talks with the Cuban officials. And so they are hoping that this pays dividends on a lot of different fronts. [Cuomo:] Earlier today, it was a beautiful day, by the way, before the rain came. The rain here for weeks as Patrick Oppmann keeps on blaming on me. Right now, we are seeing something that you don't see the way when it was El Papa. When the Pope came, there were pictures of him all over Havana and beyond. This is one of the rare images of President Raul Castro and President Obama. The significance, Patrick. [Oppmann:] One of the very few. It just show how cautious. I have to tell you, I have worked with officials and a lot of big events. Now, I have never seen them more tense, more concern. The narrative here breaks with their entire life that United States is blame, the enemy. You know, last U.S. invasion was the Bay of Pigs. And then they will always stand up to the U.S. Well, you know, maybe that one in respect from a lot of countries around the world but it broke the economy here. And I think Cuban officials tell me again and again we want a normal country. And part of that is having normalize relations with the U.S. So, you know, it is going to be slow moving forward. But President Obama has something in common with most Cubans that Raul Castro doesn't, which is that he wasn't born when the revolution took place. He also is of African heritage. So it look when you seem someone with a recognized, you know, that meeting you covered in Panama, you know, Raul Castro railing against the U.S. and saying I can't blame you because you weren't even alive then. [Acosta:] He likes president Obama. [Oppmann:] He does. [Acosta:] And during pros press conference I ask [Cuomo:] Which by the way, that is a plusminus also. It is a lot of political opponents would be there. You know, that is what is wrong with President Obama. That is a guy that Raul Castro likes him and fair or unfair. [Acosta:] That's right. Ted Cruz just put on a statement a few moments ago saying that the president by visiting Cuba is legitimizing a brutal dictatorship. Those are essentially the words coming from Ted Cruz. But you are right. It does cut both ways in terms of the president's relationship with Raul Castro. But when I asked President Obama, because Raul says sure I trust President Obama. I asked President Obama, do you trust Raul Castro during that press conference in Panama, he didn't answer the question. He didn't say yes I trust Raul Castro. SO this is going to take time. It took 50 years or 60 years to get to this point. It is not going to change overnight. This is the first step in the process. Yes, Raul Castro did not come and meet President Obama at the airport. I don't think this is a diplomatic disaster from the word go. We, like Patrick said, we have a few days to get through together. Few mojitos would be drink along the way. Few cigars will be smoked. [Cuomo:] And I'm being told they knew that President Castro wouldn't be here to meet him when he got off the plane. So this isn't something where President Obama was surprised. Any intrigue like that is simply unfounded on the basis of fact as we understand it right now. [Oppmann:] Every moment has been planned. The U.S. and Cuba, since the embassy opening, have been working more closely than ever. It used to be if you were a U.S. diplomat here, you were completely isolated. You have one meeting to Cuban official and that was about it. They spied on you. They harassed you. Didn't work with you. That is strange. But it is going to be hard. It took 10 administrations, U.S. administrations, to get where we are now. If it was easy, it would have happened earlier. [Cuomo:] Patrick Oppmann, Jim Acosta, thank you very much. We are going to get dried off here and then we are going to continue our special coverage from Havana. History has just been made. And there's a lot more to come. So coming up, we are going to show that the first family is going to take part in a big embassy meet and greet, another first. It set to tour the family the streets of old Havana in the rain. We will take you there live. Stay with us. So, what we just saw, just a reminder, if we can get a picture up there, United States finally has a president, since the revolution, setting foot on Cuban soil. That's a good thing for a lot of people. It is a scary thing for a lot of people. But to be sure, it ends more than half a century of strained relationships. We are going to have CNN's Patrick Oppmann. He is going to take a look at how we got to where we are right now. There's a lot of history. Here is how the story has gone. [Oppmann:] It is the communist island just 90 miles off the United States and for more than 50 years relations between Cuba and the United States have been chilly at best until now. [Unidentified Male:] Fidel Castro in Cuba. Castro and his [Oppmann:] 1959, Fidel Castro leads an army of thousands into Havana forcing out the dictator at the time and becomes the country's new leader. There were high hopes for the young revolutionary but almost immediately confrontation begins with the United States. The U.S. places an embargo on Cuba and soon after breaks off diplomatic relations. Later, the infamous failed U.S. invasion at the Bay of Pigs. The CIA hatches plots to assassinate Castro. Hundreds of plots according to the Cubans. And soon the Soviet Union secretly deploys nuclear missiles to Cuba. [Unidentified Male:] Regard any nuclear missile launch from Cuba against any nation in the western hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States. [Oppmann:] The Cuban missile crisis lasts just two weeks. But Cuba and the United States remained locked in cold war tensions for decades. In 198 0 an exodus as more than 100,000 Cubans come to the United States after Castro loosens restrictions. Two decades later, another Cuban leaving by boat, 6-year-old Elan Gonzalez. His arrival in the United States sparks custody battle chess trance forms into a propaganda victory. Fidel Castro said he expected to die while in power. But in 2006, a mystery illness forces him to step down. His brother Raul takes over. And in 2015, that's what many consider to be unthinkable, restores diplomatic relations with Cuba's longtime nemesis, the United States. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] That it's not a priority when he wants to seek a that that public bully pulpit of Twitter of the Twitter world. But I'll tell you, watch North Korea, watch how they react to this stuff, because I'm sure they are following the president's Twitter comments very closely. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Karin, there is so much stuff for us to watch right now we need more than two eyes, what's happening in North Korea, what's happening in Syria. And then, you know, people are on tender hooks trying to figure out if Secretary of State Tillerson is going to actually be met by Vladimir Putin, who at one time called him a good friend. What do we expect today from that? [Karoun Demirjian, Congressional Reporter, "washington Post":] Right. I mean we don't know exactly what to expect there. And I think that is in a way tactical by Russia to not answer that question and leave us on the tender hooks trying to figure out if that's going to happen or not. And and that that just is another kind of power play here that's happening and and you can basically trace this meeting to those same sorts of origins. Are is Lavrov going to have the upper hands coming out or is Tillerson? He's the more experienced diplomat. But as we just said, you know, the United States just did make a strike in Syria, which probably did rattle Moscow quite a bit. So who comes out of this being the stronger party? And that is certainly part of it, even though there are diplomats trying to kind of come to an accord, there's certainly a lot of, you know, whose weight is going to be thrown around more and be more influential on the ground. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] John, help me with this one. Riddle me this. Tillerson seems to have a harder line on Russia when he heads in there, you know, about what's going to be acceptable, what isn't. But, before he gets there, he's at the G-7 with a group of people who are very concerned about what's happening in Ukraine and he says, why would the American taxpayer care about what's going on in Ukraine? What is that about? [John Kirby, Cnn Military And Diplomatic Analyst:] Yes. I I don't know. I'm absolutely befuddled by that comment. I just don't understand it. I mean, look, what Russia is doing in Ukraine, which we don't talk about a lot, is still very serious. They have violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine. They continue to do that. They continue to foment instability there. And it does matter. It matters to our allies and partners in Europe. And it matters to the American people because it matters so much to our allies in partners in Europe. And now we have, you know, troops that are deploying more to Balkan countries. So this is not this is not a conflict, frozen though it may be in the headlines, it's not a frozen conflict on the ground in Ukraine, I can assure you that. Also back on the Putin thing, it's not untypical atypical for them to kind of keep you on the string here with a Putin meeting. There were times when Secretary Kerry would travel where we weren't even sure when we got on the ground whether it was going to happen or not. Most often it did. You heard Peskov say earlier today, yes, it's probably going to happen. I wouldn't be surprised if he meets with Putin but I also wouldn't be surprised if they if they drag it out to the last minute and then it's like a late-night meeting kind of thing, which is typical for President Putin. He likes to do that. [Camerota:] Very oh, that's good to know. That's good context. Panel, thank you very much for all of the information. [Sciutto:] Thank you. [Camerota:] All right, so President Trump is not ruling out some kind of action in Syria again. What is the plan? What about the plan to pay for it? We're going to ask White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney next. [Camerota:] The Clinton Foundation announcing a series of major changes that would go into effect if Hillary Clinton is elected president. The foundation, of course, has come under some scrutiny over its practices when Hillary Clinton was secretary of state. Joining us now is the president of the Clinton Foundation, Donna Shalala. She's also served as secretary of health and human services under former President Bill Clinton. Secretary Shala, great to have you here. [Donna Shalala, President, The Clinton Foundation:] And ran a bunch of universities in between. [Camerota:] That's right. You have quite the resume. [Shalala:] I just want to point that out. [Camerota:] Yes, we are familiar with your credentials. Let's talk about these changes that have now been agreed to by the Clinton Foundation if she is elected president. Let me read them for our viewers. Only accept contributions from U.S. citizens, independent charities. Not accept contributions from foreign individuals, governments, corporations or charities. Former President Bill Clinton would resign from the board of directors. The foundation's international work would transition to other organizations. So, I mean, I guess that begs the question, if this is important, if she's elected president, why weren't these changes necessary when she was secretary of state? [Shalala:] Well, it was a different situation. There was a process set up to approve foreign donations during that period. But when she's president, there's no process you could set up that would eliminate conflicts of interest. So we actually have to reduce the size of the foundation and what it does. But here's the important point. The president has reinvented philanthropy. Next week we're going to have this huge, annual meeting, the Clinton Global Initiative. It's already had an impact on 400 million people around the world. It brings together corporation, international, many of them, with not for profits. There will be some heads of state there, too. But it does commitments. And each of these corporations steps forward with a not for profit distribute packets, for instance, to clean water, lots of different kinds of initiatives that improve education, and health, and opportunities for people around the world. And in doing that, the president has done a different kind of philanthropy than anyone else has done. [Camerota:] And I don't think that anybody is disputing that the Clinton Foundation and the Clinton Global Initiative has done great work. [Shalala:] Great work? Magnificent work. [Camerota:] Magnificent work around the world for all sorts of people in need. What the problem is, is that there does not seem to have been a real firewall between the Clinton Foundation or CGI and the State Department. And we have all sorts of examples now of the times that those line were crossed. So that's the problem. [Shalala:] Well, but there was a process set up to make sure those lines were not crossed. So I dispute the [Camerota:] They failed. [Shalala:] I I dispute the point because we have protected and during that time we protected the initiatives of the foundation. There's no question about that. But you can't do that when she's president. What you have to do when she's president is we have to actually eliminate any aspect of conflict of interest, so all the international programs they've spun off. What the president has said is, we have to spin them off in a way that doesn't hurt people. The programs have to be seamless in their transition. And what will be left is the centerpiece of the foundation, the library, the Clinton Center in Little Rock, and maybe a couple of domestic programs, ones that helped babies. [Camerota:] Sure. But, I mean, with all respect, how can you dispute that the lines were crossed. We have evidence of it from the e-mails? [Shalala:] No, there's no evidence that policy was impacted by anyone's requesting an appointment. So, let me dispute any indication that Mrs. Clinton's behavior on policy was changed in any way. The most important thing is, this is a magnificent foundation that has reinvented philanthropy. From Malawi to Haiti to Cartagena, we're doing spectacular work and we have to make sure that that work continues, but not under the Clinton Foundation's umbrella. [Camerota:] Let me show you an example of an e-mail that emerged that made people think that lines were crossed. Not policy perhaps but certainly access. This is an e-mail from Doug Band, who, of course, is one of the top executives at the Clinton Foundation, to Huma Abedin, who was at the State Department. Doug Band says, "We need Gilbert Chagoury," he, of course, the Lebanese Nigerian businessman who was looking for a land deal, "to speak to the substance person regarding Lebanon. As you know, he's a key guy there and to us and is loved in Lebanon. Very important." Huma Abedin at the State Department says, "It's Jeff Feltman. I'm sure he knows him. I'll talk to Jeff." Doug Band says, "better if you call him. Now preferable. This is very important." [Shalala:] And, guess what, that never happened. It never happened. [Camerota:] But he asked for a favor. [Shalala:] I don't care I don't care who asked for what, it never happened. It just did not happen. [Camerota:] But were you comfortable with the Clinton Foundation executives asking State Department for favors and access? [Shalala:] You know, no one should no one should cross any line. I requesting a courtesy meeting when I was secretary of HHS for instance, by a Republican senator, was not unusual. And any cabinet officer knows that members of your committees will call up and say, hey, listen I've got this guy that's got a way of saving money in health, so will you see them as a favor to me? So [Camerota:] So business as usual is what you're saying? [Shalala:] No, and business as usual is not acceptable anymore in government because we have better disclosure that we've ever had before. The Clinton Foundation is totally transparent. You could see our tax returns. You can see who our donors are. We reveal our donors quarterly. You can't find a charity in this world that reveals their donors quarterly. [Camerota:] I know that you're on record, I think, as saying that Chelsea Clinton should continue on with her role at the Clinton Foundation, even if Hillary Clinton is elected president. Is that right? [Shalala:] Let's go back to what we've said is going to be the Clinton Foundation in the future, the library, and the Clinton Center in Little Rock, and maybe a couple of small domestic programs. Chelsea decides she wants to stay in the foundation board to keep an eye on her father's library, among other members of the board. I mean the centerpiece is going to be the presidential library. No one is going to tell us to get rid of the presidential library, or to eliminate any kind of formal governance for the presidential library. [Camerota:] So no conflict of interest in your mind if Chelsea is there and seeking donations or things like that, even if her mom is in the White House? [Shalala:] Well, but remember what we've said about donations. No foreign governments. No foreign contributors. No foreign foundations. We'll take money from independent foundations for Gates, the people that have been giving it, Rockefeller, people who have been giving us foundations. And from individuals who have contributed to the library and the library has a number of contributors over the years. [Camerota:] There is a fundraiser coming up I believe tomorrow and it's in honor of President Clinton's birthday and there will be a fundraiser for the Clinton Foundation. But I think you've said that they will not disclose what amount is raised or from whom. [Shalala:] We will disclose the donors. There's no question about it. We will disclose the donors. We will, as we do on our tax return, disclose the money that we raise. The tax the IRS tells you actually not to connect the donation with the person's name, but we certainly would disclose the donors. And, listen, for that party, I looked at the list, and other than two people, all of them are people who have been annual donors to the foundation and are longtime friends of the president. But two people are my guests who I paid for who are farmers in North Dakota, my twin sister and her husband. [Camerota:] Sounds fun. Secretary Shalala, thanks so much for all the information and explaining it to us here on [New Day. Shalala:] You're welcome. [Camerota:] Great to have you in the studio. Let's get over to Chris. [Cuomo:] A Busy morning. Busy morning here on NEW DAY, especially as the election is concerned. You've got Hillary Clinton's strong words about hate in the campaign. You've got new revelations about what will happen to the Trump organization if Trump is elected. We're going to discuss all that with David Gregory, next. [Hill:] His new film had Oscar buzz, but now Nate Parker's "Birth of a Nation" won't play tonight at the American Film Institute. The Q&A that was supposed to follow that screening also axed. And it's all because of some comments recently made by Parker when he was talking about his acquittal in a past rape case. Joining me now, Jean Casarez who has more on Parker's past. And this came as a surprise to a lot of people. And has completely derailed this film. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. And a lot of people are in his corner and they're saying, "why now? It doesn't make sense." The film doesn't have its premier nationally until October. But all of the focus right now and believe me, there is a lot of it it's on the background of the star, Nate Parker. [Casarez:] From the moment Nate Parker's film, "Birth of a Nation" premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, the picture has been met with critical acclaim. The historical account starring Parker as Nat Turner who led a slavery revolt in 1831, won big honors at this year's film festival. Fox Searchlight then invested a record $17.5 million for distribution rights. "Birth of a Nation" was on its way to blockbuster success. That is until this. Parker, the writer, director, and star of this film rated R in part, because of violence was formally accused of a violent act himself, in 1999. Rape. Sexually assaulting a young woman that he knew while a student at Penn State University. Parker was arrested and charged with multiple offenses. His roommate at the time, John Celestin, now co-author on "Birth of a Nation," was also charged with sexually assaulting the young woman at the same time. According to legal documents, Parker harassed the accuser during the time before trial. Parker was found not guilty on all charges. In 2012, the woman who accused Parker and Celestin committed suicide. The future of the movie is now in question. With showing being cancelled or modified before the national premier October 7th. Parker himself has taken to Facebook trying to explain what happened 17 years ago. "Over the last several days, a part of my past, my arrest, trial, and acquittal on charges of sexual assault, has become a focal point for media coverage, social media speculation, and industry conversation. I understand why so many are concerned and rightfully have questions. While I maintain my innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law. There is morality. No one who calls himself a man of faith should even be in that situation." And once again, Nate Parker was acquitted of those charges. CNN has reached out to his representatives, they have not contacted us back. But one more thing, Toronto International Film Festival, they are going to screen the film, but they have cancelled a live interview, a Q&A with him after the, after the shooting. [Hill:] Which is fascinating that they it's actually not surprising, of course on one hand, that they don't want especially Fox Searchlight, I imagine does not want him to have to take questions on this after that film. Interesting that it's still being screened. The backlash is fascinating, though. And how much of it has come. And this happened in 1999. Proof though that these things don't go away. [Casarez:] But he's acquitted. [Hill:] Right. [Casarez:] He's acquitted of the charges. But the polarization is amazing. And people that you would think would be in his corner... [Hill:] Yeah. [Casarez:] ... are saying, "I will not view the film." I mean, social media is just ablaze with this. [Hill:] Interesting too, his statement too where he says, "even though I was acquitted, this is about morality." Interesting that that's coming from him. [Casarez:] It's very honest. [Hill:] Yeah. We'll continue to watch how it plays out. Jean, nice to see you... [Casarez:] Thank you. [Hill:] ... thank you. Federal law enforcement has been called to investigate an alleged hack on comedian Leslie Jones' website. The SNL star's website was taken offline earlier this week after racist images, as well as Jones' personal information were posted. Jones you may recall has been the target of several racist attacks in recent weeks. Even taking herself off of Twitter for some time because of hateful messages. Ryan Lochte is being called back to Brazil, and the Rio police say they're not playing games. They olympic swimmer being charged with filing a false police report after he claimed he and three other swimmers were robbed at gunpoint. Now Lochte can choose to send an attorney and does not need to appear in court. If convicted, Lochte could face six months in jail. Thanks so much for being with us today, I'm Erica Hill in for Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [Costello:] The mystery deepens over the weekend crash of a Russian airliner that killed all 224 aboard. This morning airline officials made a startling claim there had to be an external influence on the plane for it virtually to disintegrate in midair. The Kremlin says terrorism cannot be ruled out. And about an hour ago the director of the National Intelligence Agency, James Clapper, echoed that very same thing. Let's talk about this with Alan Diehl. He's a former accident investigator for the FAA and the NTSB as well as the U.S. Air Force. Welcome, sir. [Alan Diehl, Former Accident Investigator For Faa And Ntsb:] Thank you Carol. [Costello:] And I should also mention you're the author of the book "Air Safety Investigators: using science to save lives one crash at a time". So you are the perfect person to talk to this morning. The voice and data recorders have been recovered. How soon will we know something? [Diehl:] I would imagine the Egyptians will release some details within the next certainly within the next few days. And of course, they have the physical evidence, the wreckage there, so we'll know more about potential terrorist acts or explosions or missiles within a matter of days, I would expect. [Costello:] Supposedly this plane virtually disintegrated at 31,000 feet. People were still strapped in their seats with their seat belts on when they were found on the ground. How unusual is this type of catastrophe? [Diehl:] Well, of course, air disasters in general now are very rare once every eight million flights. But it has happened. And I would I would suggest that we don't know that the aircraft broke up at 30-some thousand feet yet. It may well have been, and all indications are, it may have stayed intact until roughly 5,000 feet above the ground. It was descending at 6,000 feet a minute from the evidence so far. And then they lost the electronic signals at 5,000 feet above the ground. The aircraft is spread over about a seven- square mile area. So, that aircraft may have descended largely intact until roughly 5,000 feet above the ground. So, we're still I mean, obviously, the investigators are still looking at the details but we'll know a lot more within a matter of days, I'm sure. [Costello:] Investigators say there was no distress call from the crew. [Diehl:] That's not unusual. Many of my fellow pundits talk about, you have I have an airline transport pilot license. Trust me, if you're flying a jet aircraft at 30-some thousand feet, you're going to focus on trouble shooting the problem and not talking to the controllers. So, that's not not that unusual. They were probably dealing with some kind of major emergency. Clearly they were flying over a restricted area up to 26,000 feet. And the aircraft descended either out of control or under their control. So I suspect these pilots were very busy in the minutes before the final breakup. [Costello:] All right. Alan Diehl, thanks for joining me this morning. [Diehl:] Thanks Carol. All right. This is Tampa, Florida. Jeb Bush is at a campaign appearance, obviously, and he has changed his campaign slogan from "Jeb Exclamation Point" to "Jeb Can Fix It". His campaign people say you're going to see a more aggressive Jeb Bush. We're going to be following this campaign appearance. We'll fill you in after a break. [Cuomo:] All right. This election is going to be about battleground states probably more than any other in recent history. We're going a series on it to show you what may matter most in November. Republican Donald Trump is going to campaign in Virginia today. Why? Well, it's the home state of the Democratic VP nominee Tim Kaine. It is a state that is often red but could go blue. President Obama turned that state blue for the first time since '64. He repeated it in 2012. Hillary Clinton needs to do that now to win. CNN's Athena Jones is live in Alexandria, Virginia, with more. Good morning. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. That's right. Hillary Clinton wants to keep Virginia blue. Two polls in early July had her lead in this state in the high single digits, but there hasn't been much reliable polling since the party convention. So, we'll have to wait and see new numbers to see where the race stands. What we do know is that both campaigns are fighting hard for this battleground state's 13 electoral votes. [Jones:] The battle for Virginia is being waged by volunteers like these. [Unidentified Female:] Are you planning to support Hillary come November? Yes, yes. [Jones:] Working to identify and recruit supporters to help turn out the vote in this swing state. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] Thank you, Northern Virginia! [Jones:] And with three months to go until Election Day, neither side is taking anything for granted. [Garren Shipley, Communications Dir., Virginia Rnc:] Virginia is absolutely critical. The road to the White House runs through the commonwealth, and we're committed to making that happen for our Republican nominee. [Susan Swecker, Chairwoman, Virginia Dem. Party:] It's a very competitive state, and we're going to do everything we can to win this one for ClintonKaine. [Jones:] The Clinton team has had staff here since April and has 28 field offices with opening this month. Much of their focus will be on turning out voters in northern Virginia counties close to D.C., an area with a large college educated population that has grown more diverse in recent years. [Dr. Jeremy Mayer, Schar School Of Policy And Government, Gmu:] Loudoun County is a huge battleground. It's a very large, second only to Fairfax, and there's a lot of swing voters there, a lot of people who can be persuaded. [Jones:] Once reliably Republican, Loudoun County voted twice for President Obama in 2008 [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] It is good to be back in Virginia. [Jones:] and 2012. [Obama:] How's it going, Leesburg? [Jones:] Helping him stop a decades long Republican wining streak dating back to 1968. Now, it's a top target for both Clinton and Trump. [Trump:] We have to get everybody out. Loudoun County is so important. [Jones:] The real estate mogul has already won over some Loudoun County voters. [Unidentified Female:] He basically says things like it is. I feel more that you can trust him more than Hillary. [Unidentified Male:] It's mainly a never Hillary vote. [Reporter:] Really? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. Because I think she has way too much baggage to be president of the United States. [Jones:] But Clinton supporters here are just as committed. [Unidentified Male:] I think competency is important. And she clearly has a lot of experience and seems to know what she's doing. [Unidentified Female:] She's the best candidate for the job. I've been a supporter of hers for a long time. In this particular case, I think that she is certainly the better choice. [Jones:] And the Clinton campaign hopes tapping former governor and current Virginia Senator Tim Kaine as her number two will help her in the state. [Sen. Tim Kaine , Vice Presidential Nominee:] Do you want a trash talker president or our bridge builder president? [Jones:] The Clinton team and its allies has spent nearly $5 million on TV ads in Virginia, while the National Rifle Association has spent just over $260,000 on behalf of Trump. The Trump campaign hasn't spent any money on the air waves, but that doesn't mean Republicans aren't fighting hard to win here. [Shipley:] We're working right now with our volunteers to identify as many Republicans as we can and then as we move forward in the campaign, that will become persuasion, motivation to get out the vote. [Jones:] Trump's campaign is leaning heavily on the Republican National Committee for its get out the vote efforts. The RNC has been on the ground here since the beginning of 2015. [Unidentified Male:] My name is Jacob. I'm with the Trump campaign. [Jones:] They now have some 40 paid staffers working with hundreds of volunteers to woo voters, particularly in Southwest Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley, and Southside Virginia look the North Carolina border. And they're not conceding Loudoun County, where recent college graduate Cameron Saadi is hoping the debates will help him make up his mind. [Unidentified Male:] I'll be watching them to see how the candidates distinguish themselves from each other. [Jones:] Now, given recent history, Hillary Clinton may have the edge here, but RNC teams are taking a page from the Obama campaign playbook. They've divided the state into more than a hundred neighborhood areas that they're organizing from the ground up. That means that this year, the person knocking on the doors of potential GOP voters is more likely to be a friend or a neighbor rather than a stranger dispatched from some distant GOP headquarters. It's more persuasive and something the RNC folks say the Obama teams did well here Brianna. [Keilar:] We'll see if that works. Athena Jones in Alexandria, Virginia thank you so much for that report. They are America's new golden girls. Young, fierce, and crushing it at the Rio Olympics. Is this the best U.S. gymnastics squad ever? We have Shannon Miller, the most decorated American gymnast ever, joining us next. [Cooper:] Before the break, we saw Donald Trump suggest to Ted Cruz once had a Canadian passport, then went ask for evidence. He said, "Well, that's what I heard." He also said that Senator Cruz should go to federal court and so many words, ask a judge to rule him American enough to be president. Our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin says that's simply not the way the federal court works. Trump also had plenty of other controversial things to say especially on foreign policy. Here is part 3 of his conversation with our Wolf Blitzer. [Blitzer:] I've heard everything you've said on foreign policy over these past several months. There seems to be, and correct me if I'm wrong, an emerging, let's call it a "Trump Doctrine". You want China to take care of North Korea. You want Russia to take care of Syria. You want Germany to take care of Ukraine. Basically, you want to outsource all of these sensitive issues. [Trump:] Well, I want help. The United States, we're like policemen of the world. We're involved with Ukraine but Germany doesn't care. Now, Germany should care a lot more than us, and why are we always the one that's out there. And Putin said very nice things about me. I mean, he understands I get it, OK, I get it. And most people don't get it. But you look at what's going on in the world. We're the policemen of the world. We owe $19 trillion. We just made a ridiculous budget, you know, the omnibus that just approved in about like 15 seconds. I never saw a budget of that size. Who would ever believe a budget like that gets approved so quickly. I mean, the only thing Obama negotiates well with, frankly, are the Republicans. He always seems to come out on top with the Republicans. Iran beats him. Everybody beats him. We're the laughing stock all over the world but the only one he beats are Republicans. And the Republicans should be ashamed of themselves for allowing that budget to pass. So now, we're at $19 trillion plus we're going to be at $21 trillion right now. So yeah, I want other countries to get involved. [Blitzer:] Let's talk about some other tensions, as bad as the Middle East is. It's getting worse right now. [Trump:] Getting worse. [Blitzer:] These tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran. The execution of the Siite cleric in Saudi Arabia, the ransacking and burning of the Saudi Embassy in Tehran, first of all, would you condemn Saudi Arabia for the beheadings of these clerics and these terrorists? [Trump:] I don't like it. I mean, I don't like. They're supposed to be our, you know, great ally. I don't like to see it. They, you know, they executed all of these people, who knows. I mean, here in this country, if we execute like one person a year, it's like a major event. They do it like routinely. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia is sort of the one that we picked and we are there. And I have many friends from Saudi Arabia, very good people. But Saudi Arabia has got to pay. If we're going to protect them from Iran, which we made a super power, you know, we gave them $150 billion, we essentially gave them the right to make nukes, because that's what they are going to do. And if they don't make them, they'll just buy them because they have so much money. And, you know, they'll be doing... [Blitzer:] You know, the Saudis hated this nuclear deal with Iran. [Trump:] I hated it more than them. [Blitzer:] I know you hated it. [Trump:] And Israel hated it more than I do. [Blitzer:] Israel hated, the UAE hated we all hated it, are you concerned the Saudis now, given this tension with Iran, Saudi Arabia may decide, "You know what? We're going to go buy a nuclear bomb maybe from Pakistan or some place like that". That proliferation issue is really serious. [Trump:] I said to that deal and I said it to CNN, I said it to anybody that who would listen, is going to lead to great nuclear proliferation and that's what is happening. That's what's going to happen. [Blitzer:] Because the Saudi Foreign Minister... [Trump:] And you can't blame them. [Blitzer:] Adel al-Jubeir, I don't know if you know him, he used to be the Ambassador. He told me last year he wasn't ruling out the possibility that Saudi Arabia could go ahead and develop, or maybe even buy a nuclear bomb. They have a lot of money. [Trump:] Well, they want to develop or buy, they have plenty of money, believe me. And they have plenty of money. And, you know, when I see Yemen with that long border right along Saudi Arabia, and I saw the event the other day where, you know, with the in Iran, which was caused, in my opinion, by the government of Iran as an excuse to go in because they want to take over Saudi Arabia, they want to get the oil. They want to take over Saudi Arabia. And the other reason they wanted Yemen, in my opinion, is because now they have a nice long border right in this perfect feeder right into Saudi Arabia. And, you know, at some point, we have to be reimbursed. We actually pay rent. You know, in Saudi Arabia where we have a basement, pay rent. We pay rent for protecting, why are we paying rent? They have to pay up. South Korea has to pay up. Germany, we protect Germany, you know that, right? We protect so many different countries, we get nothing. [Blitzer:] Installed 40,000 U.S. troops in Germany. Right now 70 years after World War [Ii. Trump:] And you know what they pay us, practically nothing. They make Mercedes, they are a behemoth economically. They have tremendous money. We protect them. One of the things I do very early, I want to protect a lot of people but they have to help us, they have to help us economically. We are becoming a third world country. We are a deader nation, $19 trillion and the new very dumb budget that was approved by everybody two weeks ago, that's going to add at least another $2 trillion, so worth $21 trillion. [Blitzer:] You heard the President of the United States, 30,000 Americans die each year from gun violence, about half suicides. What would you do right now to prevent that kind of slaughter? [Trump:] OK. The first thing I do is protect the Second Amendment. The second thing I do is I wouldn't use executive orders to do this. You got to get people. You know, our country was founded on the basis that you're supposed to negotiate back and forth with different members of different parties, and you come to a conclusion through negotiation and compromise. You don't go and just keep signing orders. And all he's doing is taking chunks out of the Second Amendment. That wouldn't happen. You know, isn't there's... [Blitzer:] You don't want convicted felons or mentally ill people to be able to go to a gun anyplace... [Trump:] When you say... [Blitzer:] Can get access to a gun... [Trump:] When you say anyplace, we have very strong laws right now on the books but the federal government says it's very bad... [Blitzer:] Gun shows for example, you don't want the bad people having access to guns. [Trump:] But when you get into the gun show that's a slippery slope. That stops a father from giving his child a... [Blitzer:] What about online purchases? [Trump:] Let me go a step further, because we.. [Blitzer:] The background check makes sense, right? [Trump:] We have to protect the Second Amendment. We have no choice. We have to do that. It's very important. I believe it from the sacred standpoint... [Blitzer:] The President says he believes in the Second Amendment too. [Trump:] Well, I don't think he does because he's and Hillary is a disaster. Hillary wants to take the guns away from everybody. And Hillary is going to be worse than Obama. Hillary is I can't imagine this, she wants to take the guns. You know what's interesting, in California when you had the two people, these two horrible people, shoot people that gave them a wedding party. These people that got killed gave them a wedding party. Anyway, they went in. They shot. If a couple people in that room had guns or if a couple of people in Paris had guns, you wouldn't have had 130 people or 14 people in California laying dead with more to follow because you have so many people so badly wounded. If people in Paris as an example, which is the toughest gun control place on earth they say, Paris and France, now if you're a bad guy, you can't have a gun. If you're a good guy, you can. If they had guns here or right here on their ankle and those guys walked in there and started shooting, it would have been a much different story. So and you know, it's very interesting, so many people that believe in the gun control when we have these debates, they always lose the debate to me and then I call them up the next day. So how do you feel about? Well, I still haven't changed my mind. I don't know what it is. We need the Second Amendment. We can have a chopped up but if it is going to be changed, it's got to be done through a process, not through executive orders. [Cooper:] And Wolf Blitzer joins us now. I want to ask you about foreign policy in a second, but it is so fascinating to hear Donald Trump talk about Ted Cruz and refusing to say whether he believes Cruz is a natural born citizen which in the past he had given a different answer to ABC, to Jonathan Karl. Saying that a lot of legal experts had looked at it and he got a clean bill of health on this one. Now, he's saying well he's hearing a lot of people asking this question. [Blitzer:] Right. And it's getting closer and closer to Iowa and some of the more recent polls in Iowa show that Ted Cruz is actually ahead of Donald Trump in Iowa. So it's getting tense and you saw him even suggest that Ted Cruz favored amnesty, that he wasn't stronger on illegal immigration than he is. So this is going to get, I suspect, the next less than four weeks a bit tougher between these two frontrunners, shall we say at least in Iowa. Donald trump is way ahead nationally in almost all of the polls. His ahead in New Hampshire but in Iowa it's close. Ted Cruz has a solid base there especially among the evangelical conservatives. So a lot of people have suggested to me and I'm sure to you as well Anderson that, Donald Trump is a bit nervous right now that's why all of a sudden an issue that I thought would have come up a long time ago. The fact that Ted Cruz was actually born in Canada raising questions about whether or not he's a natural born citizen eligible to become president of the United States. I assumed that was going to come up awhile ago. It's coming up now less than four weeks before the Iowa caucuses. [Cooper:] And it is interesting this notion you brought up there in the interview of a Trump doctrine. He's talking a lot about burden sharing specifically about the U.S. leaning on China when it comes to North Korea. In an interview, I do with him months ago he talks about wanting to, you know, bomb the hell out of ISIS, take in Iraq's oil. He spoke with a lot of, you know, forcefulness, muscularity some would say when it comes to foreign policy in the past. Do you see that as they shift? [Blitzer:] No, because I think over the years he has really wanted to avoid U.S. entanglements. I have interviewed him many times over the years. I recently, in preparation for this interview, went over a lot of the interviews I did with him in 2012, 2008, 2007. For a longtime he has been adamantly opposed to the U.S. involvement in Iraq, for example he said the United States should have never gotten into Iraq. He said to be years ago that President George W. Bush was a disaster. He shouldn't been impeached for what he did in Iraq. So he wants the U.S to stay out, on the other hand, he does have does have a robust military posture. He wants the U.S. military to be strong to get tough if necessarily but his preference clearly with North Korea, with Syria, with Ukraine as he makes it clear, let others do the work. The United States should not be the international policemen. [Cooper:] Yeah, Wolf Blitzer, fascinating interview. I appreciate it. Wolf, thanks very much. [Blitzer:] Thank you. [Cooper:] Just ahead tonight, Wolf also asked Donald Trump how the U.S. should respond to North Korea's claim about testing a hydrogen bomb. Mr. Trump had an answer to the question is, does his plan make sense? Some details on that ahead. [Curnow:] France's foreign minister is stepping down. Laurent Fabius offhandedly confirmed to reporters at Wednesday's cabinet meeting that that would be his last. Fabius served nearly four years in the post. The former prime minister is being considered to head France's Constitutional Council, which is charged with upholding the constitution. Next hour, the U.N. Security Council is set to hold a closed-door meeting on the dire humanitarian crisis in Northern Syria. A Syrian government offensive around Aleppo backed by Russian airpower is forcing tens of thousands of people to flee to the Turkish border. CNN is now being given access to the regime-controlled western part of Aleppo. Our Fred Pleitgen has this exclusive report from the city that could change the course of the war. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We are right in the heart of Aleppo. This is the Jamalia area and it's actually fairly close to the front line. But it's also one of the main places held by the Syrian government. Now as you can see in this area, there are a lot of products that are actually available. Food, also a lot of other products as well. However, the people here, it is very, very difficult for them. There's almost no electricity. Most of it comes from generators. And of course, because we're so close to the front lines, there is also shelling here and it's quite dangerous for the folks who live here. "I believe we already endured about 80 percent of the hardship," this man says, "and I hope the remaining 20 percent will end soon." "The situation is very tough right now," he adds, "but we are steadfast and we believe the power will be on the correct side." And this man says, "We have had very tough times. But thanks to the victory of the army, we have survived these hard times." Aleppo is also currently the key battleground in Syria's civil war. The Syrian government, under President Bashar al-Assad, has started a brutal offensive in this part of the country, also, of course, backed by Russian airpower and pro-Iranian militias as well. And they believe that if they are able to deal a crushing blow to the rebels in this part of Syria, that they could decide the Syrian civil war for themselves. Of course, that still is unclear. They don't know how solid their games are at this point or whether or not the rebels might try to launch a counterattack. But at this point in time Aleppo is certainly one of the toughest battlegrounds in the civil war that's been going on for about five years Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Aleppo. [Curnow:] Thanks to Fred for that report. And with regime forces, Iranian- backed militias and Russian warplanes closing in on rebel fighters, what kind of leverage does the U.S. have to influence the outcome? Well, let's bring in Andrew Tabler of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. He joins us via Skype. Hi, there, Andrew. You have spent a lot of time in Syria. And as you saw from Fred's report there, there's two sides of Aleppo that we're seeing. How do you think that could change in coming weeks? Do you believe the Syrians can hold and take Aleppo? [Andrew Tabler, Washington Institute For Near East Policy:] I think the real question here is I think that Aleppo can be encircled. And I think that's what their regime's intention is at this point, the regime's ability to go in and retake and hold Aleppo is another matter. The regime lacks a lot of manpower. We'll have to wait and see. I think at the moment they are trying to use this juggernaut, Russian-Iranian regime juggernaut, to sort of cajole and to scare the opposition into surrender. I think that's what their game plan is at the moment. [Curnow:] OK. Well, we've just heard that the French foreign minister says he's going to resign. He in that speech, he kind of questioned U.S.'commitment to Syria. He said, we don't have the feeling that there's a very strong commitment commitment he's referring to from the U.S. He also said, "There are words but actions are different and obviously the Iranians and Russians feel that." Do you agree with him? What is the feeling in Washington and is there a sense that there's not a lot of commitment? [Tabler:] I don't think there is commitment. I think it's pretty clear, it's not new. I think what's changed is that now the U.S.-backed rebels are losing at such a rate due to the Russian intervention that now it's very much a situation where Russia is looking very good and victorious in all this and Washington's foreign policy is in tatters. And I think that's what's behind the French foreign minister's statements. We'll have to wait and see what happens in the coming days as we have talks here in Munich and beyond. [Curnow:] You reference that; has the U.S. then abandoned the opposition rebels as an article of foreign policy, sort of alleged you know, rebels saying they won't surrender to Mr. Assad under any circumstances, that they are being pushed into a corner. So there's the fear that some might join more radical organizations. There might be a consolidation but not a particularly good consolidation. [Tabler:] Sure. So there's a lot of things that can happen here. The regime and the Iranian forces, if they had the manpower to retake and hold all their territory, it would be one matter. They don't. So what is perhaps could happen here, we're not sure is that the rebels can either call a cease-fire which is, I think, what the Russians are trying to control them into doing or they can go over and join ISIS and Jabhat al-Nusra and other groups, which will not surrender. And we'll have to wait and see. I would imagine do a little bit of both. [Curnow:] OK. So Fabius talks about Assad's brutality, Russian and Iran's complicity, American ambiguity. We've just heard from the Department of Defense, our Barbara Starr saying the U.S. is calling the situation dire. "The Washington Post" talks of an uncontrollable disaster. This is bad and there doesn't seem to be any exit strategy. [Tabler:] There isn't. I think it's a situation where, at least in this conflict but particularly in the Middle East, the United States is withdrawing and "rebalancing," quote-unquote, in the wake of the nuclear deal faster than the other side can advance. I think Vladimir Putin and the Iranians saw this opportunity and now are exploiting it with, I think quite deep ramifications that if the northern offensive continues or if Aleppo is besieged or there's further conflict, it's likely to push even more refugees out of Syria into Turkey. And those are going to be heading for Europe's shores very shortly in the spring as things warm up. That, in itself, has ramifications for not just the security situation in Europe but also European politics in the coming election cycles. [Curnow:] Yes, that's a good point. Andrew, thanks so much for joining us here on the IDESK. Appreciate it. [Tabler:] My pleasure. [Curnow:] Well, we return to the U.S. presidential race after this. The outsiders deal big blows to establishment candidates in New Hampshire. Can they keep the momentum up in the next contest in South Carolina and Nevada? We'll have a live report. [Baldwin:] Just one day now after President Obama emerged from a Pentagon meeting and once again described the fight against ISIS is quoteunquote "long term." We're getting a sense of what long term means in sheer numbers. Out of Capitol Hill here and defense secretary Ash Carter today revealed that thus far U.S. troops have been able to train 60 Syrian fighters to take on ISIS. [Ashton Carter, U.s. Defense Secretary:] This number is much smaller than we had hoped for at this point. Partly because of the vetting standards I just described. But we know this program is essential. We need a partner on the ground in Syria to assure it is ISIL's lasting defeat. [Baldwin:] Let's talk about this number, 60 and beyond, with retired Brigadier General Anthony Tate. General, welcome, as always. [Brig. Gen. Anthony Tate, U.s. Army:] Great to be here, Brooke. Thank you. [Baldwin:] All right. Let me reiterate this, 60 Syrians trained to take on ISIS. The goal, just for a perspective for people, this program was to train anywhere from 3,000 to 5,000 fighters per year and, again, 6-0 trained. [Tate:] Right, Brooke. You know, part of the problem is that if you're a Syrian freedom fighter, you really have three options. You can fight Assad in Damascus, You can fight the Kurds in the north or you can fight ISIS in the middle. And in what is not a holistic country to begin with, it's very tribal. It's hard to recruit to begin with. And so I think that's the first hurdle the defense department is facing, is the recruitment process and then, secondly, as you heard Secretary Carter mention, the vetting process. [Baldwin:] Yes. [Tate:] We want to make sure that we're not bringing folks in that have a track record of fighting for the other side. And certainly, this is a tactic that the enemy ISIS or Iran would use to get some sleeper cells in there to either get all the training and then take the weapons and then go fight us knowing our tactics and knowing our strategies. And so, it's really three dimensional chess set we're playing here in Syria. We need Assad pressured because Assad has that strategic link to Iran. Meanwhile, we need ISIS fought in the middle of Syria, they own about 50 percent of Syria, and you know, the Kurds are up in the north doing their own thing established in Kurdistan. So, this whole vetting process is really slowing down the training. And that training, basic training. [Baldwin:] General. [Tate:] Yes. [Baldwin:] If I may, just jump in, I want to walk back a half second because you're throwing a lot at me. And I want to follow up on one of your points, you know, talking of, obviously, some of these folks. They have choices. What, if you're the U.S., how do you incentivize these folks to take the U.S. side to fight ISIS? [Tate:] Well, obviously the best incentive for any military, one is the patriotic fervor that they might feel, and two is being paid. And all the soldiers involve in these wars are being paid whether it's ISIS or the Kurds force or whomever, they have to be paid. And so, that's how you incentivize the troops. And so you attract troops that way, but have you those tribal affiliations and they're looking in three different directions. [Baldwin:] OK. Let me just play some sound. This is Senator John McCain talking about he's been incredibly critical of the White House strategy on ISIS. As he would say, a lack of strategy. This is what he had to say at this hearing. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] When it comes to ISIL, President Obama's comments yesterday at the Pentagon, revealed a disturbing degree of self-delusion that characterize the administration's thinking. It is right, but ultimately irrelevant to point out as the president did, that we have conducted thousands of airstrikes, taking out many ISIL fighters and pushed it out of some territory. None of the so-called progress that the president cited suggests that we are on a path to success. [Baldwin:] He says not on the path to success, solely points to the air campaign. Do you agree with him? [Tate:] Well, Brooke, its proven time and time again that an air campaign alone will not lead to victory. You've got to have that ground component that flushes the enemy out. And you have to have clear concerted objectives that will lead you to some end state that results in some kind of political settlement, so that you can have peace. And so airstrikes alone aren't going to do it. And I think that's part of the Syrian effort is to get enough troops on the ground there in Syria to pressure ISIS and Syria so they can't without any kind of pressure just focus on Iraq. And so if we can pressure them in Syria, that will loosen up the defenses in Iraq a little bit and help us push north and reclaim some of the land in Iraq. But, you know, President Obama 18 months ago, said we have no strategy, at least we have a strategy now. And whether that strategy's not moving as quickly as they had hoped and as Secretary Carter said, so ultimately 60 today, who knows how many a year from now. But the average basic trainee goes from 10 weeks of basic training at U.S. army and another up to 10 weeks of advanced in to those training. That's four or five months of training for the average American soldier. [Baldwin:] So now, I understand, but you know, we've been at this for a little while. And I think it's striking a lot of people the number 60 as opposed to the goal of 3,000 to 5,000 not quite cutting it yet. General Anthony Tate, thank you so much. We'll be right back. [Tate:] Thank you, Brooke. [Kristie Lu Stout:] North Korea says its main nuclear facility is in full operation and ready to cope with U.S. hostility. Plus, thousands of migrants rush to through Hungary but tough new restrictions are in effect. We are there at the border. And dramatic rescues in the southwest United States where the deadly floodwater claims at least eight lives. And we begin with fresh concern over North Korea's nuclear program. After it warned the U.S. its nuclear arsenal has improved, its main nuclear reactor is now fully operational and it is prepared to use nuclear weapons at any time. Now the Yongbyon nuclear complex is a key facility for Pyongyang. It was dismantled in 2008 after North Korea claimed they use it for building nuclear weapons. Now the announcement, it came alongside some fiery rhetoric against the U.S. Let's go to straight to Kathy Novak in Seoul, and Kathy, more alarming and more attention grabbing threats from North Korea. What exactly did it say and how is the U.S. and South Korea reacting? [Kathy Novak, Cnn:] Well, this nuclear facility that you're referring to, a Yongbyon, Kristi, includes a uranium enrichment plant, it includes a plutonium production reactor. This is where North Korea says it is developing the nuclear weapons that it says are used as a deterrent, that it says it is allowed to develop because it says that the United States is conducting a hostile policy against it. The threat that it was giving in North Korea's news agency KCNA was that if the United States continues what it calls a hostile policy and continues to what it says act mischievously that North Korea is prepared to respond with nuclear weapons at any time. Now analyst have been studying satellite imagery of this facility ever since two years ago when North Korea was promising to restart operations. The jury is out on whether or not North Korea really does have the capacity it says it does, but the head of U.S. national intelligence did say earlier this year that North Korea was following through on this threat to restart operations at Yongbyon. And all of this is happening after North Korea was already saying that it was in the final stages of lunching a new satellite, and that is being interpreted as basically a veiled threat of another rocket launch, the testing of ballistic missile technology that would be in violation of United Nations security council sanctions it. I spoke to the U.S. ambassador of South Korea, Mark Lippert, and here's a little bit about what he had to say about that. [Mark Lippert, U.s. Ambassador Of South Korea:] We will remain vigilant. We are always working with the government of South Korea to provide a robust deterrent to remain vigilant on threats, and to ensure that other alleys in the region, as well as the U.S. homeland, are protected from threats posed by North Korea. [Novak:] Now for its part, South Korea is also saying that it is watching developments closely, also saying that it is working closely with the United States as North Korea continues to issue these threats Kristie. [Lu Stout:] So, South Korea and the United States both watching the situation very closely, but does North Korea really have the technology to target the United States? I mean how much of a threat does North Korea really pose here? [Novak:] Well that seems to be the open question, Kristie. Some say that North Korea does not have the technology to launch a ballistic missile that could reach the United States, but what it is saying here is that it is openly continuing to develop the technology, that that is the ability that it wants. And these are two parts of the whole, if you will. So on one hand it is saying that it is developing the nuclear weapons that it would then need to load basically onto a ballistic missile that would be used to launch the nuclear weapons that North Korea says it has. And, part of the reason this is causing so much concern is because of the timing. This is all coming ahead of a key anniversary. On October the tenth, North Korea will be marking the 70th anniversary of the founding of the workers party of Korea, and there has been speculation that the regime of Kim Jong Un is planning some kind of provocative act. Maybe a missile launch, maybe a nuclear test, to mark that anniversary. So it is likely to continue to be a tense time here on the peninsula as we work towards that anniversary coming up just in a few weeks, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, a tense time. Those growing threats do pose a growing challenge. Kathy Novak joining us live from Seoul. Thank you Kathy. The Turkish coastguards says at least 22 people have died and some 250 of them have been rescued after a boat capsized carrying hundreds of migrants. It was believed to be traveling from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos, and although almost all people make the journey safely, the migrant group tells us that dozens of migrants have died recently trying to make that crossing. Now Hungary has made its first arrests under new migrant laws. Now it comes a day after Hungarian police said that they intercepted more than nine thousand people entering from Serbia, and under the new rules, anyone caught crossing illegally faces up to three years in prison. But people are still arriving. Even as Europe still struggles to find a solution. European ministers have so far failed to agree on how to resettle tens of thousands of needy people. Now earlier, the German Vice Chancellor spoke about the crisis. [Sigmar Gabriel, German Vice Chancellor:] Our country cannot on its own solve the issues of the refugee crisis of the world, and that means that we need European solidarity above all. Yesterday, Europe once again showed how to fail. [Lu Stout:] Now, the leaders of Germany and Austria, they're currently discussing the crisis at this moment and we expect them to speak shortly. When they do, we will bring that to you live. Now meanwhile, thousands more people are arriving to Europe everyday, and Macedonia is now appealing for help at this massive influx. Our Senior International Correspondent, Ivan Watson, reports from the southern border. [Ivan Watson, Senior Internaiotnal Corespondent:] This is the border between Greece and Macedonia, an informal crossing point through which refugees and migrants have been streaming through by the thousands. More than 8,600 people in the single 24 hour period. Hi. Where are you from? Syria? Where are you going? Finland? Okay. So you hear these people identifying themselves as Syrian refugees, saying that they're either going to Finland or Germany. We've heard many people say that they want to go to Sweden as well. This is an improvised journey that people are on. This is not a formal route, it's been kind of cobbled together, and the Greek and the Macedonia authorities, for example, have been allowing it to take place, allowing these people to move through as swiftly as possible to move them on to their next destination. Most of the people we've spoken with began their international journey by boat, by small, unsafe, overcrowded smuggler's dingies, traveling from the Turkish coast to Greek islands. And that's where tragedy struck before dawn on Sunday when one of these vessels overturned. At least 34 people drowned, among the victims, 15 children, four of them were infants. Now, for those who have made it here to Macedonia, the next leg of the journey will likely be aboard a train that will travel the length of Macedonia to the next country on the migrant trail, and that is Serbia. A challenge will now be posed as Southern European countries have announced that they're going to tighten restrictions on their borders and we're getting warnings that as those policies get put into place, we could start to see bottlenecks at border crossings like this one where people once moved quite smoothly by the thousands, we could start to see buildup of migrants and refugees. Ivan Watson, CNN, at the Macedonian border of Greece. [Lu Stout:] You're watching News Stream and still ahead on the program, in Australia, a new prime minister is sworn in, we'll hear what the old one had to say on his way out. Plus, one man says it took just minutes for a torrential downpour to cause raging flood waters in the western United States. We'll look at conditions there. Also ahead, one of the rivals of Donald Trump says, in your face, after he insulted her looks. Carly Fiorina is now turning the tables ahead of Wednesday's big Republican debate in the U.S. Welcome back. Now, one day down. Malcolm Turnbull has racked up his first day in office after being sworn in as Australia's new Prime Minister this morning. He successfully challenged Tony Abbott for the top job on Monday, and law makers in the liberal party voted 54 to 44 to replace Abbott with Turnbull. Abbott says that he will help make the transition a smooth one, and he thanked the Australian people for the past two years. [Tony Abbott, Australian Politician:] The great privilege that I have had is to see the wonder of this country like few others. And, I want to thank the Australian people for giving me the honor to serve. And yet, this is a tough day, for when you join the game, you accept the rules. I've held true to what I believe and I'm proud of what we've achieved over the past two years. [Lu Stout:] Now Tony Abbott's ousting means Australia will see its fifth Prime Minister in the span of just eight years. Abbott blamed the revolving door of leadership on the media and quote, "poll driven panic." We turn now to the western United States where at least eight people were killed in a flash flood that swept through an area along the Utah Arizona border. An official says seven of the victims were in two vehicles that got washed away. It also says they were all women and small children. Five people are missing. According to witnesses, it took just minutes for the flood water to swamp the town in Utah where all of this happened. Now, let's get the very latest on conditions there. Chad Myers joins us now with the full forecast Chad. [Chad Myers, Cnn Weather:] Kristie Lu, there could be more showers in the area today, but there won't be, I don't believe, that torrential rainfall that fell within about 45 minutes. Let me zoom you into what happened yesterday. This is the area that saw the rainfall and it continues to see a couple of showers here. I'm going to zoom you in here, right here to Hillvale and Colorado city. We had one shower around one o'clock and another one around three thirty, it was the one at three thirty that was the heavy rainfall. I'm going to take you right here to a google earth and show you the topography. This flood was completely a topographic flood. There is rain in the mountains up here to the north and to the northeast of the city. All of the sudden that rain here piled up in a big puddle and had a rush downhill, and as it rushed down through the town there were people actually watching the flood, the early flood. They didn't realize how bad it was going to be, and then it got very difficult to get out of the way, and this is what the problem was yesterday as we saw so many people in the way of those flood waters. And the floods could continue today. There could be more in the way of flooding, at least in parts of the west. This is kind of part of a dying tropical system off the west coast. I suspect, though, that most of the heavy rainfall today will be actually closer to Los Angeles. So, this could continue for awhile. This happens in the west. This is a mountain driven rainfall event and all of the sudden, what goes up on top of the mountain has to rush back down to the bottom Kristie Lu. [Lu Stout:] So, we have these deadly flash floods in Utah, more flooding on the way in that part of the country. Meanwhile, wild fires in California continue to threaten lives. What can you tell us? [Myers:] You know, not that far away, probably less than a thousand kilometers away, we're talking about significant fires here, and I'm talking major hectors. I mean, lots of square miles here, lots of square kilometers. 25,000 hectors burned already, only 10% contained and 10,000, 10,000 structures already burned. Some towns completely wiped out here, because the winds have been so bad. I mean, that's almost what we would call our wine country, Napa, Sonoma. But then, Lake County, the one next to that, very dry. Hasn't rained in California, really, for years light rain but we have been in a significant drought here. Same significant drought here. This is the Amador and Calaveras county at 28,000 hectors burned and very little containment with any of these fires and we don't see any significant containment at all. There could be some showers, there could be some light rain, but the problem, Kristie Lu, when the light rain comes in there will be significant wind with it. We could see 40 kilometers per hour of wind. And, you get a spark on top of a pine tree these are like, these are like [Lu Stout:] So the rain, not going to bring relief? I mean, this is an escalating crisis there. Chad Myers reporting. Thank you Chad. You're watching News Stream. Still to come of the program, new satellite images over the South Chine Sea raising new questions about China's intentions there. We got the details straight ahead. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Absolutely. We're going to see, you know, some people have said this is Trump versus the 10 other candidates. Trump is going to be, I'm sure, a focal point of the debate. But maybe we're going to learn a lot about other candidates based on their conversations with each other. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Brian Stelter, thanks for stopping by. Appreciate it. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The clock is ticking down and the curtain is about to go up. Just eight hours from now, CNN launches its first Republican debate of this presidential season. That's Air Force One of the Ronald Reagan era looming over the main stage. First up, the undercard, the four lowest polling candidates go head to head. They'll face a smaller audience. But on the plus side, they'll have more time to sell themselves. Right? Then at 8:00 p.m. Eastern, the main event, 11 candidates, crowding on to the stage and at the center, frontrunner Donald Trump, he knows he's wearing the bull's eye tonight. Mark Preston is the executive editor of CNN Politics. He joins us live from the site of the debate, the Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Good morning. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Director:] Good morning, Carol. What a setting to have this Republican presidential debate. You know, there are many in the Republican Party who think it was Ronald Reagan who really reinvigorated it with his win back in 1980. So in just a few hours, as you said, we will see not one but two debates. Bobby Jindal, Rick Santorum, George Pataki, and Lindsey Graham will be on the so-called undercard debate. A lot on the line for those four as they try to re-ignite their campaigns. But the main event will be at 8:00 tonight. And there are certain moments we need to look for tonight, Carol. The first moment is, will Donald Trump moderate his tone? He has been very critical of his opponents in the past debate and certainly on the campaign trail. Another moment we'll look for, will Jeb Bush go on the attack of Donald Trump? He has been under this withering criticism of Trump. Carly Fiorina, who was not on the main debate stage back in August, will she go directly at Donald Trump? Those two have been attacking one another. They both have business backgrounds. That will be a key moment to watch for tonight. And there are several of these candidates who need to break out. The likes of Rand Paul, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, all need to have moments. And the reason why is they need to reinvigorate their campaigns. Their poll numbers are low. And they need to convince donors to continue to give to them to fuel their campaign as we move forward, Carol. [Costello:] All right. Mark Preston, thanks for joining us. I appreciate it. By this point in the campaign, no one can question that Donald Trump is a master at marketing Donald Trump. But his policies, not so much. That's because his vision has been short on specifics. And that was the case again last night when an expected foreign policy address offered more heat than illumination. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It is one of the dumbest deals and one of the weakest contracts I've ever seen of any kind. They're taking $150 billion. They're getting a deal that's going to need it's going to right into nuclear weapons. [Costello:] CNN's Athena Jones joins us. She's also at the Reagan Presidential Library. Good morning. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. You're right about that. You just heard Donald Trump talking about his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal. Yes, in general, he has been more he's had more of a focus on showmanship, on stagecraft, on selling Donald Trump as a brand. He has been short on policy specifics. That speech last night, that foreign policy national security speech, was just 15 minutes long, and there weren't really any policy specifics in that either. He often talks about wanting to make the U.S. military stronger so that no one even wants to try to mess with America. But he didn't get into further specifics than that. He talked about the Iran nuclear deal. He talked about wanting to improve health care for veterans without saying exactly how he'd do it. But he also talked, I should tell you, about illegal immigration. That's of course the big topic that he's been focusing on since the very beginning. He said at one point there are illegal immigrants who are treated far better than our veterans. Listen to how Vice President Joe Biden responded to Trump's talk about illegal immigration at an event at his own house. This event was to mark the Hispanic Heritage Month. Take a listen. [Joe Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] I want you to remember, notwithstanding the fact that there's one guy absolutely denigrating an entire group of people, appealing to the baser side of human nature, working on this notion of xenophobia in a way that hasn't occurred in a long time. The American people agree with us. [Jones:] So there you heard Vice President Biden responding to Trump's rhetoric. And there have been protests outside several of the last couple of events. The one last night and also on Monday night in Dallas. You had a lot of Latinos and others out protesting some of Trump's tough rhetoric. We'll see if he repeats that same rhetoric tonight, Carol. [Costello:] All right. Athena Jones, I can't help notice the backdrop. So the podiums are set up. There are are there pictures on the front of can we go back to Athena's shot for just a second? I'm just fascinated by the stage. Can you show us around just a little bit, Athena? Can you move or are you wired in? [Jones:] Absolutely. I'll back up a little bit. I'm wired in but I've got some room. This is the podiums that are set out. You can see here Donald Trump is going to be in the middle there. They are only a few inches apart, Carol. About 20 inches apart. So once they're filled with the candidates, it's going to feel very, very intimate. I should note here that the backdrop is this Air Force One. This is the Air Force One that President Ronald Reagan flew on. CNN has spent weeks building this stage. We are three levels up, building this stage so that it could be right next to that airplane. And you could have that airplane be the backdrop. And if we move the camera just a little bit more over here, you can see the rest of the setup. It's a rather intimate setting. Look how close the podiums are to the rest of the audience. Only about 500 people can fit here. They are guests of the Reagan Library, guests of the Republican National Committee. And a few of the folks in the audience will have been invited by the campaign. But a much more intimate setting than the last debate which was in a basketball arena. You can also see some of the cameras. There are going to be 13 cameras tonight. So a big production but in a very intimate setting. We'll see if that affects how the candidates interact with one another, how much they're willing to really bash each other tonight, Carol. [Costello:] I know, I couldn't help but notice the vacuum cleaner behind you. So hopefully they'll remember to remove that when the debate begins. [Jones:] They want it to be pristine. They're going to vacuum a bunch. [Costello:] I love that. Athena Jones, thanks so much. All right. Back to serious stuff. Let's talk about foreign policy. Might it take center stage tonight? With me now to talk about that, Doug Hyde, former deputy chief of staff for Eric Cantor and former RNC communications director, and Mike Rogers, CNN national security commentator and former congressman and chair of the Intelligence Committee. Welcome to you both. Thank you so much for being here. [Doug Hyde, Former Deputy Chief Of Staff For Rep. Eric Cantor:] Thank you. [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] Thanks, Carol. [Hyde:] Thank you. [Costello:] You're welcome. So, Mike, I want you to hear what Mr. Trump said about our military. Listen. [Trump:] We're going to make our military so big and so strong and so great, and it will be so powerful that I don't think we're ever going to have to use it. Nobody's going to mess with us. [Costello:] So, Mike, I was unaware that our military was weak. What was Mr. Trump trying to say? [Rogers:] Well, there's been a lot of debate about what size our military should be. They just announced about six months ago 40,000 troop reduction. And so there is real concern out there about the right size of the United States military. So what I think Trump is doing has taken that populist tone of knowing that there's a theme of real concern about the size and shape of the United States military, meaning they've raided maintenance accounts to do operations, things that do affect what's called readiness in the military, is a unit ready to deploy, and when they get there, are they combat ready? And there are some readiness questions and other things. So he took that, and what you saw was that kind of heated rhetoric. And people can identify with that. I think that's exactly why he does it. He doesn't have to explain details. He just says I'm going to have the biggest and best military in the world, and people applaud, and he moves on to the next issue. [Costello:] And, Doug, something else Mr. Trump said yesterday. He said that he will be able to negotiate with Russia's Vladimir Putin and also the Iranians simply because they know he's a great negotiator. Could that be true? [Hyde:] Well, maybe they know that, maybe they don't. I think they're looking the whole world's looking at these elections right now and laughing at what's happening at the Republican Party. And in part because as your previous segment with Athena highlighted, there's a lot of rhetoric but there's not much specifics. And it's not just foreign policy. It's on every issue under the sun. If he's talking about immigration, if he's talking about veterans, there's a lot of rhetoric, not a lot of specifics. And so we'll see a lot of the candidates certainly go after Donald Trump tonight. Jeb Bush is being talked about doing it. Certainly Carly Fiorina. I'm also going to be interested to see what Hugh Hewitt has to say, what Jake Tapper has to say. And Congressman Rogers and I have both been on the receiving end of some uncomfortable questioning from Dana Bash. Lord knows she's not going to hold back tonight. And that's where we'll see real rhetoric being held to the fire. And instead of just attention to Donald Trump, we'll see some scrutiny. And that will ultimately, I think, will be his undoing if this continues. [Costello:] So, Congressman Rogers, is there any Republican candidate out there right now that has a great foreign policy? [Rogers:] Well, you know, there's a lot of them that have been spending time getting more thoughtful on their positions. And on foreign policy, it's OK to mature in a candidacy. This has been an unusual election in the sense that there's so much attention so far out to so many candidates. But yes, there are some great positions out there on a lot of candidates. And they're thoughtful positions. You know, it's not I'm all in or we're all out. Foreign policy, and certainly national security, is always nuanced in there somewhere. It means it's never as easy or as black and white as you think it is. And there are a lot of candidates, Carly Fiorina, Jeb Bush, others who have had this really thoughtful dialogue on national security. So when you look at the list, there's a lot of really good candidates out there with very solid national security positions that I think America can embrace. The problem is when you have a Donald Trump out there who says he's just going to have the biggest, baddest military in the world, all of that serious policy discussion gets shoved aside. At some point, it will turn. People will start asking specifics about what their national security positions are because it will be, if not number one in some of the early primary states, number two in importance for those early primary state voters. [Costello:] Absolutely. And you know, what you said, Congressman, when you said, you know, thoughtful debate, I think it's easier for many Americans just to look at things in black and white and not to look at things in shades of gray because frankly, they're tired of that, and they're tired, Doug, of things not getting done. So they don't really want to be thoughtful at this moment. [Hyde:] Well, but what we see from the voters and this is historically true is after summer, after Labor Day, that's when they really start to focus more seriously. They're paying more attention to what the candidates are saying, and that's where more specifics come in. You also have Washington in session for a good part of the rest of the year. They've been out all of August. And as Congress acts, you also see the candidates reacting whether positively or negatively to what Congress is doing. I think we'll ultimately get down to a lot more specifics. And that's where for Donald Trump the devil may be in the details. [Costello:] All right. Doug Hyde, Mike Rogers, thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. And of course be sure to tune in tonight for the first of two debates beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. The main event with the 11 candidates starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump wants to build a wall and send all illegal immigrants back to Mexico. Why one family I talked with say those words hurt. [Fatima, Undocumented Immigrant:] We're not monsters. Like everyone says that we're immigrants, but no one everyone is an immigrant. No one unless you're a descendant from Native Americans. You are an immigrant because you all came from somewhere. [Cuomo:] Former presidential candidate Ohio governor John Kasich breaking his silence in a CNN exclusive. This is his first interview since suspending his 2016 campaign, and the governor tells our AC, Anderson Cooper, he's not yet ready to endorse Donald Trump. He also says he won't serve as VP. And you can pretty much forget about him entering the race as a third-party candidate. And guess what? I didn't even give away a headline. Take a look. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] There's a story in "The Washington Post" this weekend, has got a lot of pick up that a number of Republicans, conservatives, Mitt Romney among them, has been looking at the possibility of a third party candidate or an independent candidate, or conservative candidate. Your name is mentioned. Has Mitt Romney reached out to you? Have you [Gov. John Kasich , Former Presidential Candidate:] Well, I don't want I don't want to get into who. I've had a phone call with somebody that wanted me to run, consider running as third party candidate. [Cooper:] Are you considering that? [Kasich:] No, I'm not going to do that. [Cooper:] Why? [Kasich:] Well, I think that I gave it my best where I am. And I just think running third party doesn't feel right. I think it's not constructive. You know, one of the things that's interesting is it's really hard to be thoughtful when you deal with the media, because many of them think that everything is sort of a political ploy or a political play. It's been a little bit of a disappointment for me. In fact, I've talked to somebody in the media to say, you know, you have a responsibility. You know, it's really been interesting. You can have depth to something, and people think well, that's just politics. No. When I talk about two paths, you know, the path of rebuilding the country or pushing people down into the ditch, that's not some political ploy that somebody calculated for me. That's my that's my insides, that's my soul. And so, a third party candidacy would be viewed as kind of a silly thing. I don't think it's appropriate. I just don't think it would be the right thing to do. [Cooper:] In terms of what happens now, would you I mean, I'm guess the obvious question is will you endorse Donald Trump? [Kasich:] I don't know. Unless I told you about these two paths. You know, If I feel, you know, I read some stuff recently. While I'm not glued to this, I've read some other stuff that to me is too negative. I don't like when he is attacking, putting people down, or, you know, learn to take it a little bit. You know, the idea you know, at least initially of maybe Paul Ryan shouldn't be at the convention. I mean, come on, man, you won. You know, be magnanimous in victory. So, Anderson, what I'm saying is I'm for uniting and I have to see him move to uniting. If he doesn't, I'm undecided here at this point. So, we'll see what happens. [Cooper:] So, just for the record, you're undecided about whether or not you would endorse Donald Trump for president? [Kasich:] Yes, I am. Right. I'm undecided. [Cooper:] Are you undecided about whether you'd actually vote for him? [Kasich:] You know, at the end of the day, endorsing is going to mean a lot. And frankly my wife and my daughters have watched this, and if I were to turn around today and endorse him, they would be like, "Why, Dad?" And that matters to me. We'll see what he does. He has a chance to move to the positive side and unify this country. [Cooper:] Is it a question of tone or policies? [Kasich:] I think it's both, I think it's both. And, you know, have some consistent policy and be positive. [Cooper:] Obviously, your name has also been talked about as vice presidential candidate, vice presidential pick. Is that something you would consider? During the campaign, you said, absolutely not. [Kasich:] No, I have not changed my mind on that. Look, I said all along, I have the second best job in America. [Cooper:] So, if Donald Trump called you and said, "Look, you've got to do this, you've got to do this for the country." [Kasich:] No, I'm not inclined to do that, I'm not, no. And I'm really actually excited about getting back here with my team for the state of Ohio. And I gave it my best. [Cooper:] Because Trump said he wants somebody with, you know, experience on the Hill. [Kasich:] Well, look, here's the situation. You know, we've had two different messages. His message was, you know, the elites are bad, and everybody is giving you the shaft, and kind of gotten people angry. But my message is: let's stand against the wind. Don't cave in to the negative. Let's figure out how as people we can rebuild our country. Those are two very inconsistent messages. So, it would be very hard for me unless he were to change all his views and become a uniter for me to get in the middle of this thing. [Camerota:] I mean, look, in some ways John Kasich was going to be the logical person to have a third-party run, because he stuck it out the longest. He always said he would stay and present an alternative for voters But he is quite clear, and unequivocal, that that doesn't interest him now. [Cuomo:] Right. I mean, anybody who had asked about it earlier, it wasn't practical. [Camerota:] Sure. [Cuomo:] Would know he would never do that. He really is a very authentic person and in an inauthentic game. And I think that he highlights something for all of us here. We're living through a time that you and I have never seen, certainly in our professional lives. [Camerota:] True. [Cuomo:] To think that a presumptive nominee has big shots in their own party saying not only am I not sure if I endorse this person right? He's the presumptive nominee but I don't know if I'm going to vote for him yet, and referencing their families. This is uncharted territory in politics in this day and age. That's what makes it interesting to watch. [Camerota:] yes. Many things make it interesting including this. Donald Trump says the media is on a witch-hunt against him and he called our control room yesterday to make sure we saw that. Is he right? We'll debate it. [Cuomo:] He said, "Hello. Witchhunter?" [Kosik:] People in one southern California community have been forced from their homes because of a massive leak of methane gas. [Blackwell:] And officials say it will be months before the leak can be stopped. CNN's Paul Vercammen has the latest for us this morning. [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] The Katz family, a blended modern Brady Bunch with five children and dogs, lives in a temporary home. [Christine Katz, Gas Leak Victim:] It's disgusting what's going on. I'm heartbroken. We had to leave our beautiful home. [Vercammen:] They're 33 miles from the house they vacated in Porter Ranch, a Los Angeles suburb reeling from a massive methane gas leak. [Brian Katz, Gas Leak Victim:] The smell can cause you to be nauseated. It can cause to give headaches, nose bleeds, which I have had, stomach problems. [Vercammen:] Infrared video taken by environmental activists shows a noxious plume rising over Porter Ranch from the Aliso Canyon storage facility owned by Southern California Gas. The utility says the underground leak first detected in October may not be stopped until late March. [Mike Mazrahi, Socal Gas Spokesman:] We're drilling a relief well. That relief well is going to go way down about 8,500 feet. It's going to intersect with the leaking well and then pump liquids and muds down there to stop the flow of gas, and then cement to permanently abandon the well. [Vercammen:] While SoCal Gas drills is paying for residents of 2,200 Porter Ranch homes to stay in temporary housing, including Yates Dickel. [Unidentified Male:] It's the slow moving tsunami of evacuees. People realize this is serious stuff. [Vercammen:] The gas company asks more than 6,000 people are seeking financial aid. Many of them applying for help at a community center it established. Some government agencies are now taking extreme precautions. The FAA invoked a fly zone to 2,000 feet at a half mile around the leak site in response to fears gas fumes could be ignited by aircraft above. The L.A. Unified School District closed two schools below the leak and is transferring almost 1,900 students. That means two of the Katz boys will start at a new campus after winter break, and the family says two-year-old Ava has suffered the most. The Katz has claimed in one of the several lawsuits against SoCal gas, the leak resulted in upper respiratory symptoms that left Ava in intensive care for four days. [C. Katz:] Even though we're so upset and saddened and stressed, trying to hold it together for them. You know, it's hard. We're a big family. [Vercammen:] Just one family moved out by a gas leak disaster that might be unseen and is still months away from being undone. Paul Vercammen, CNN, Porter Ranch, California. [Kosik:] I can't believe it's going to take until March to plug that leak. I feel bad for those people. Ugh. [Blackwell:] Absolutely. Listen, we're going to take you to Massachusetts. A court there has ordered Bill Cosby's wife, Camille Cosby, to testify in a defamation suit brought against her husband. She will have to give that deposition. [Kosik:] Also, we are remembering the daughter of Nat King Cole this morning, Natalie Cole, died after years of battling health issues. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell, with the headlines we're following this hour. [Howell:] U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has another likely cabinet pick to announce soon. A source close to the transition process says the billionaire investor, Wilbur Ross, is being seriously considered for commerce secretary. Ross supported Trump during the campaign. Every U.S. president since 1948 has had to figure out the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. CNN's Becky Anderson explains soon it will be Donald Trump's turn, if he chooses to try. [Announcedr:] If you always felt a deep yearning for Jerusalem [Becky Anderson, Cnn Correspondent:] An enticing commercial for luxury homes from an Israeli developer. But they'll be built on what U.N. and many governments condemn as land stolen from Palestinians. Israel disputes this. Bright, vivid adverts like this. [Announcer:] It will include residential buildings [Andedrson:] Part of the ongoing hostilities between the two sides that began decades ago. Here, an attack on a Jewish community just before Israel was established in 1948. All stretching to today. A recent run of sometimes deadly stabbings by Palestinians against Israelis, the latest spasms of violence. This, as Israel moves forward with new settlements in territory that Palestinians want for a future state. [Anderson:] It's all part of the seemingly endless pulling and pushing of cruelty from both sides. And president-elect Trump hasn't put out a clear vision on bringing about peace. At one point, vowing to remain neutral in any negotiations. At another, using rhetoric that feeds hardline narratives in Israel. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] We will move the American embassy to the eternal capitol of the Jewish people of Jerusalem. [Anderson:] Doing that wouldn't go over well with many in this part of the world. [Daniel Levy, President, U.s.-middle East Project:] The theory has been that this would cause some turmoil in the Arab world. It would undermine the prospects of peace. [Anderson:] But it would almost certainly please Israel's right-wing leader who said he would be happy to see Trump take the White House. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli President:] Congratulations on being elected president of the United States of America. You are a great friend of Israel. [Trump:] I love Israel. And honor respect the Jewish faith and tradition. [Anderson:] It's a mixture some have been hoping for and others fearing potential new challenges for Netanyahu. [Levy:] There will be a push to seize this moment that may not repeat itself, to annex territory, to do things that have not been done before. [Anderson:] Whether it be president-elect's contradictions, he has promised to work for peace, saying, quote, "As a deal maker, I'd like to do the deal that can't be made and do it for humanity's sake." But other American presidents have tried and failed. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] That is two states living side by side in peace and security. [George W. Bush, Former President Of The United States:] I strongly support a two-state solution. [Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] The future of the peace process and the stability of the region are at stake. We cannot afford to fail. [Anderson:] The peace process looks as endangered as ever. [Levy:] So this could be a clarifying moment to say that a peace process that is thoroughly moribund will no longer be something we can pretend to cling to. [Anderson:] The world waits to see if there will be a renewed push for peace. Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi. [Howell:] Becky, thank you. A British woman is facing jail time in Dubai after telling police that she was gang raped. A U.K.-based legal advice group says that she has been charged with having extramarital sex. CNN's Muhammad Lela joins us now from Abu Dhabi following this story. Muhammad, what more are we hearing from the United Kingdom about this situation? [Muhammad Lela, Cnn International Correspondent:] George, it's a good question. It's very interesting because this has become a very sensitive case here in Dubai. We did reach out to the British consulate. They gave us a statement and they said, quote and notice how terse this statement is. They say they are "supporting a British woman in relation to the case and remain in contact with her family." And, quote, "We have raised the case with the UAE government and would like to see it progress as quickly as possible." So, other than we know that the United Kingdom government is helping this woman, we don't have a lot more than that. We've spoken to government official that has told us this is a sensitive case and they won't say anything on the record. And neither will the police in Dubai. It's a very, very sensitive time right now, specifically because Dubai's brand or its image in the rest of the world is that it's a very friendly place to Westerners and tourists. It's a place of amusement Parks and skyscrapers and beaches. So, a case like this is the last thing that Dubai wants to publicize to the rest of the world. [Howell:] Muhammad Lela, live for us in Dubai. Thank you very much for being with us. We appreciate your reporting. South Korea's corruption scandal is intensifying. The opposition party is collecting signatures for an impeachment motion against President Park Geun-hye, who is now a suspect in the investigation. Three people with ties to the president were officially indicted on Sunday. CNN's Paula Hancocks has more now on the 's growing anger. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Corrspondent:] Elected on an anticorruption ticket, Park Geun-hye's promise to clean up South Korea's politics has gone disastrously wrong. Hundreds of thousands are calling for her resignation in protests. Park has become yet another presidential face of what one of her predecessors called the Korean disease. Park now considered a suspect by prosecutors is accused of conspiring with a confident, who was not part of government, but was part of a cult-like religion. Choi Soon-sil was indicted Sunday on charges of fraud, abuse of power and coercion, accused of extorting millions of dollars from big conglomerates, like Samsung, for her foundation's or personal use. She's apologized and denied the charges against her. [Unidentified Male:] One problem with corruption in South Korea is that it does have its roots in the very same reasons why such an economic miracle. That is the cooperation, which is also collusion between the government and big business. [Hancocks:] Not including Park, there have been six presidents since South Korea officially became a democracy in 1987. Every single one of them has been linked to corruption, either directly or through immediate family. Two spent time behind bars. One committed suicide in the middle of an investigation into corruption. [Unidentified Male:] Politics and the business groups linked to corruption and also shaking the entire country from the fundamentals. So, we're very ashamed and we're very much worried about it. [Hancocks:] Park's father, Park Chung-hee, ruled South Korea with an iron fist in the '60s and '70s. Some saw them as an economic savior. Others saw him as a dictator who trampled on human rights. Residents who once supported the daughter now fear they have voted in a ghost of her father. This protester tells, "This sort of thing happened with her father 14 years ago. But times have changed. The public will not put up with this anymore." [on camera]: President Park has apologized twice since this scandal broke. She's even effectively offered to give up some of her powers to parliament, but so far it is simply not enough. These protesters are not interested. The only speech they want to hear is a resignation speech. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul. [Howell:] Paula, thank you. France's Conservative Party has narrowed a crowded field to two candidates for president, but only one of them was supposed to make it this far. We'll have the details next. Plus, Kanye West fans, they are pretty upset after the rapper abruptly ended his concert in California on Saturday. You'll one of his notorious on-stage rants. Stay with us. [Banfield:] Bill Cosby is testifying for yet another deposition today for a sex assault lawsuit, but his testimony will stay sealed at least until December 22nd, and then we are not quite sure what's going to happen. But that's when California their courts there have plans to write review everything he says today in that deposition. All of those transcripts and then decide which portions or may or may not be confidential. Meaning you're not going to hear it This is a big day for his accusers so we're bringing in our big players my colleagues, Jean Casarez who is a correspondent but a lawyer, CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callan and HLN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson also lawyer. First you Jean with the reporting on today's deposition. I just assumed since the allegation was this happened when she was 15, Judith Huff at the Playboy Mansion that the jurisdiction California and I would happen there and you found out not so fast. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] I was able to confirm with a source close to case that the deposition actually is taking place not in California. Undisclosed location, undisclosed time, we don't know if it's going on right now, but it is not in California. [Banfield:] OK, so for our viewers and indeed even for me who follow this case meticulously, I get confused as to whose, who and who's story is what against Bill Cosby. But the big players Judith Huff who's having a deposition today, Chloe Goins who filed a federal suit earlier this week, and then Andrea Constand who's name continuously comes up with regard to everyone cases. Differentiate for me again the story with Judith Huff was. [Casarez:] 1974 California, she went to a park, she met Bill Cosby along with her little friend. He invited them the next weekend to a tennis club ended up with the Playboy Mansion. She says she was sexually assaulted district attorney office said statute of limitation has run, no criminal charges, but Gloria brought the civil suit, because in California she was a child when it happened, the statute of limitations extends outward, so. [Banfield:] As long as you have a repressed memory, right? And that's the issue that Judith was. [Casarez:] And that is one of major issue, that causal connection right there. [Banfield:] They're fighting like... [Casarez:] Yes. [Banfield:] Yeah, you have to have that repressed memory to bring that suit, but we say you were shopping that story, which tells us you didn't have a repressed memory. [Casarez:] Right. [Banfield:] Let me get into that with our lawyers and back but. [Casarez:] Chloe Goins? [Banfield:] That every case. [Casarez:] Not that long ago. [Banfield:] Also Playboy Mansion. [Casarez:] Also Playboy Mansion, she was older about 18. Currently, we have confirmed, CNN has, an investigation is going on and maybe with the district attorney office whether criminal charges will be filed, but she filed a federal suit in court in California just last week. [Banfield:] And then Andrea Constand. [Casarez:] Andrea Constand, the leader of them all. 2004 she was an employee at Temple University. She says Bill Cosby sexually assaulted her, district attorney in 2005 refused to bring charges. Civil case brought, there was a settlement, a monitory settlement. But source close to Andrea Constand tell me that there has been a criminal investigation, the biggest secret they say. A criminal investigation going on to reopen that case. [Banfield:] So that's two, two criminal investigation. [Casarez:] And possible criminal charges in Pennsylvania. [Banfield:] Gentlemen, let's talk about today. Cosby is walking in there. I imagine he is well briefed by his lawyer is to what to do and what not to do. First question to you Joey is what are the odds that this thing ends up in the courtroom to start with? [Joey Jackson, Hln Legal Analyst:] The odds could be very great. And let's go back from the beginning. You mentioned issue about repression. Now remember this it's important that minor has some recourse, so when something happens when you're a minor, perhaps you want to suppress it and you just don't want think about it because all that brings to you and all the emotion that applies. So under that statute if you could established through medical testimony and expert testimony that you did repress it. But within the last three years it came to surface and he could make the argument base upon everything that's come out that it has come to the surface. Now you have viable claim, because I'm use people are saying wait a minute it's 40 years ago. What gives, how is this able to come out now? Based upon the statute it is able to come out. So the issue then become it's a question approved. Did it happened, when did it happen, how it happened, did he do it. [Banfield:] I want to know what Cosby's lawyers and I'm sure there's a phalanx of them are telling him right now as this put on their suit, ties and polish their shoes and walk in to what is certain to hornet's nest. [Paul Callan, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Well, the first thing they'll probably told was, this case will never go forward because she was shopping the story originally and trying to shake down Cosby and settle the case 10 years ago. [Banfield:] So what are they're telling him to say [inaudible]. [Callan:] So they're all shocked to be facing Gloria Allred. She's have two deposition what Donald Trump is to Republican politics. She's somebody who attracts headline, and she's somebody who knows how the ask questions. She's going to be under oath for the first time in many, many years asking him not only about the Judith Huff case, but other cases to see if there is a pattern of him using drugs and alcohol to get women into sexual situations. [Banfield:] And only just going to be on this stop edit button, stop no, you won't answer that. I mean, is that what we're going to do? [Callan:] They're going to do that. But they may get in trouble with the judge because the role in deposition is that unless you're asserting the Fifth Amendment attorney-client privilege. [Banfield:] Correct. [Callan:] If the question could leader to discoverable evidence it's admissible. [Casarez:] And it may asset the fifth base on another criminal investigation. [Banfield:] Cannot wait for December 22nd at the very least. Thank you to all you. Paul, Joey and Jean. I do, appreciate it. And stick around here because we do have some other issues. Coming up, shooting death of a little child made doubly tragic by the murder charge now filed against another child. She was eight when she died. And her killer is 11. We're going to talk about this in a moment. [Cabrera:] A wave of small earthquakes shaking Mount St. Helens in recent days, and experts say more than 100 quakes have occurred underneath the Washington state volcano over the last several weeks. So, what does this recharge mean? Let's bring in meteorologist Allison Chinchar. She is in our CNN Atlanta weather center. Allison, this seems a little bit fishy to say the least, a little nerve racking for folks on that zone. [Allison Chinchar, Ams Meteorologist:] That's right. when you say hundreds of them, you think oh these must be big quakes. But that's just these have been incredibly small quakes. However, it's the frequency of them that have the scientists keeping a close eye on this. This is the past area over the past seven days, these blue squares that you see, those are the monitoring sites. These are all of the earthquakes that have occurred in this region in the last seven days. Now, again I want to point out, none of these have been huge. In fact, most of them have been at a magnitude of 0.5 or less. You and I can't even detect that, they're so small. Now, a maximum was around 1.3, again, very hard for humans to detect something of that small magnitude. Now, they were all shallow. Basically what this means is when you get these swarms, the repressurization of the magma that's in there, and it kind of seeps through some of the cracks that are there, and that's what causes a lot of these little mini earthquakes. But you want to keep in mind, this process is going to continue for years without the eruption. That's what they're trying to make sure that you understand. They're not expecting an eruption by any means. So, again, it sounds cool, sounds interesting, but not really a big threat at this time. [Cabrera:] Well, thank goodness. Although you wonder, why now, why are they happening now if it's not pointing to something more imminent? [Chinchar:] Certainly. [Cabrera:] Thank you, Allison. [Blackwell:] Our next hour on [New Day:] major GOP players line up to say whether they will or will not back Donald Trump's presidential candidacy. We'll look at the divide and the challenges to unite the party. [Cabrera:] Plus, rare access aboard a nuclear submarine. It's a CNN exclusive, next. [Blackwell:] All right. Glad you stayed with us for this, because CNN gets exclusive underwater access to a cutting edge nuclear attack submarine. The primary mission right now is to keep a close watch on Russia and other adversaries. [Cabrera:] And as CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto explains, the Cold War might be over, but the tensions are still bubbling beneath the surface. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Victor and Ana, we have seen this confrontation between the U.S. and Russia play out in the air. You have these close flybys of U.S. and NATO aircraft by Russian planes, flybys of U.S. and NATO warships on the water, public disagreements over Ukraine and Russia. What we have not seen is what's taking place underwater, a real arms race there you could say, and we got a rare you view inside. [Unidentified Male:] It's five and eight. You launched the open window two. [Sciutto:] The crew of the USS Missouri nuclear attack U.S. submarine is training for war. [Unidentified Man:] Fire. Tube two. [Sciutto:] They simulate firing torpedoes and cruise missiles from depth, towards targets on sea and land. [Unidentified Man:] Torpedo course 3-3-7. Unit running, wire good. [Sciutto:] And they're constantly testing the sub's enormous speed and maneuverability. [on camera]: So we're in the midst of another steep ascent. You're hearing that alarm as we approach 20 degrees. We're going to get to a 25 degree angle. Keep in mind, I'm standing up straight now, but as I'm leaning forward, that's keeping me vertical in relation to the ground as the angle ascend gets sharper. These are just exercises, but the Missouri the "Mighty Mo" to its crew has repeatedly come nose-to-nose with real-world threats. When Russia annexed Crimea, and launched military action in Syria, the Missouri was deployed nearby. And when a Russian sub turned up off the coast of Florida in 2012, it was the USS Missouri called into action to track it. That's just showing hey, showing where they can go? [on camera]: That's a showing, hey, showing where they can go. [Commander Fraser Hudson, Uss Missouri:] Honestly, I think it's operational experience. If anything were to ever happen, they have experience. They know those waters. I don't think it's a political statement on their part at all. [Sciutto:] Russia is deploying attack submarines in numbers and with aggressiveness and advances in technologies not seen since the Cold War. And now, China, North Korea, Vietnam, India, and others are joining a new arms race under the sea. Commodore Ollie Lewis command a squad of ten Atlantic base subs including the Missouri. [Commodore Ollie Lewis, Commander, Submarine Squadron 12:] We were operating on places where we didn't have to rely on an adversary being there to challenge. That's changing. We're back to the point now where we have to consider that there's an adversary ready to challenge in the undersea domain and that undersea superiority is not guaranteed. [Sciutto:] The Missouri's greatest asset may be its silence. Invisible to satellites, virtually inaudible to other ships and subs. [Unidentified Man:] Dive, dive. [Sciutto:] Giving the U.S. the element of surprise. [Hudson:] Whether there is a submarine there or not, they don't know. A potential adversary has to take that into their calculus when they make decisions to do bad things. [Sciutto:] And so, underwater is where these boats and their crews spend 90 percent of their time deployed. So USS Missouri is coming into port now, Mayport Naval Station in Jacksonville, Florida. And that's not something if you're a submariner that you do very often. Their most recent deployment, they were out for 181 days, 163 days were at sea. That is the life of a submariner. And that is a call to action the U.S. Navy's 70 submarines are getting more and more often. [on camera]: U.S. commanders are confident that U.S. submarines maintain a technological advantage over Russian submarines, but not by much. There's a whole new class of Russian submarines. [Brown:] Tonight, right here on CNN, a look back at the 2000 presidential election. It was George W. Bush versus Al Gore, the recounts and the Supreme Court. And those in the middle of it knew however it turned out they would be accused of stealing an election. CNN chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, takes a revealing look behind the scenes at a man who was calling many of the shots, an adviser brought in by Republicans to steer the ship. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] A well- respected Tallahassee lobbyist with ties to Jeb Bush, and a long history in Republican politics, Max Stipanovich, became Katherine Harris' brain. [John "max" Stipanovich, Tallahassee Lobbyist:] I explain to her, you don't have any friends. We're going to be loathed by the media for the rest of our lives and through the lives of our grandchildren. That is not what is important today. We are doing to elect a president of the United States today, and that forget all of that other stuff. [Borger:] As Americans watched partisans watched it be duked out everyday the on TV, Max was plotting the Republican path to victory. [Stipanovich:] I called the senior staff together and I said that we are not going to break any laws, but I want you to forget about the intent of the laws. We are going to bring in election in for a landing, and we're going fight them tooth and nail and house to house, and hand in hand, and we were going to be holding Florida unless they sent in the federal troops. [Borger:] He knew exactly what he had to do, stop recounting votes, and preserve Bush's election night lead, no matter how small. [Stipanovich:] We actually believed the result was right. We said that George Bush has won this election, and it is our job to make it so, and we are going to rapidly as possible close off any option, any path that the could be followed that produces an end result other than that one. And people are going to watch this and be appalled. Oh, my god, the corrupt bastards, they stole the election. No, we won the election. [Brown:] Gloria Borger joins me now. Just a fascinating look back at this time. From all the reporting you have done about this, 15 years later, are the Democrats over it? [Borger:] No. They are not over it. They lost the closest election in modern political history. Surprisingly, though, Pamela, they don't think that this election was stolen from them in any way, shape or form. They believe, as do many Republicans, actually, that I spoke with, that more people went to the polls with the intention of voting for Al Gore than George W. Bush, but of the votes that were counted, more people voted for George W. Bush. It's very hard in an election to count or recount intentions of voters, so when they went down to Florida, they knew in a way that they were trying to fix the unfixable. And they also knew that, in looking back, as I talked to them, one of them said to me, "We brought a knife to a gunfight." The Republicans were there to preserve a victory they believed they already had. The Democrats were trying to contest a victory, and that put them in a tough position. And the Republican team, as you just heard from Max Stipanovich, was pretty far out there and willing to do whatever it took. The Democrats just couldn't match them. [Brown:] Wow. Gloria Borger, cannot wait to see this tonight. [Borger:] Thank you. [Brown:] You don't want to miss it. "Bush v. Gore, The Endless Election," it airs tonight, 9:00 p.m., only on CNN. That's it for me. For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next. For our North American viewers, NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts right now. Thanks for being here with me. [Costello:] A tragic shooting in Chicago and now a Chicago man is behind bars, charged with child endangerment, after his young son found a loaded handgun in the house and accidentally killed his younger brother. Evelyn Holmes of affiliate WLS explains how the child was able to get to the weapon. [Evelyn Holmes, Wls Reporter:] A grieving family walks out of court after a judge calls this case the ultimate tragedy. A 6- year-old accidentally shoots his 3-year-old brother to death. eIan Santiago was killed with a loaded gun his father Michael Santiago kept wrapped in pajama pants on the top of the family's refrigerator. [Israel Lasalle, Grandfather Of Eian Santiago:] You know how kids are. They get into everything. That is not a safe place that you can put a gun, where a kid can't reach it. You know, or can't find it. [Holmes:] Eian's grandfather had no idea Santiago kept a loaded gun in the house until Israel LaSalle heard the shot. LaSalle was watching Eian and his brother while Santiago was at work and the boys' mother was at the store. The shooting happened about LaSalle sent his 6-year-old grandson downstairs to get something in the kitchen. [Lasalle:] I look out and he was running up the stairs and tells me somebody that shot his brother. And I told him, well, who's going to shoot your brother? There's nobody down there. But at the same time, I was running down the stairs with him. And I seen him laying on the floor in the kitchen and I went and got him. [Holmes:] Eian died at the hospital. His father, Michael Santiago, is charged with felony child endangerment. Prosecutors say Santiago was a former gang member who bought the gun on the street to protect himself from another gang member. Santiago did not have FOI card or a concealed carry license. [Unidentified Female:] I don't want to blame him, but in reality there's just a little negligence. Negligence in the sense he was not being careful. Take the gun, hide it somewhere. I mean, deeply hide it, where that child would not find it. [Holmes:] Israel LaSalle doesn't want to blame Santiago other, nor does LaSalle think the 25-year-old father should be charged with a crime. But LaSalle says a loaded gun should never have been within his grandchildren's reach. [Lasalle:] It's stupidity, to keep something dangerous in the house where your family could get hurt. [Costello:] Evelyn Holmes from our affiliate, WLS, thanks for that report. We'll take a closer look at the legal aspects of this case in our next hour. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. A showdown is brewing on Capitol Hill. In a matter of days. Hilary Clinton will make a high-profile appearance and testify before a House Benghazi Committee. Lawmakers are expected to grill Clinton about the 2012 attack in Libya that killed four Americans. The Republican congressman in charge of that committee, Trey Gowdy, is sending a firm message to members of his own party when it comes to talking about Clinton: Shut up. Listen to what he told CBS. [Rep. Trey Gowdy , Chairman, House Select Cmte. On Benghazi:] I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, shut up talking about things you don't know anything about. And unless you're on the committee, you have no idea what we've done, why we've done it, and what new facts we have found. We have found new facts, John, that have absolutely nothing to do with her. [Costello:] Congressman Gowdy says Clinton is one of many witnesses and that his focus will be on e-mails sent by Ambassador Chris Stevens, one of the victims in the attack, asking for more security. As for Hillary Clinton, she says she will do her best to answer questions from lawmakers. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I've already testified about Benghazi. I testified to the best of my ability before the Senate and the House. I don't know that I have very much to add. I will do my best to answer their questions, but I don't really know what their objective is right now. [Costello:] The Benghazi attack is one of the many hot-button issues lawmakers are expected to tackle this week now that Congress is back in session. Cue the partisan bickering over the budget. First things first, lawmakers have about two weeks to raise the debt ceiling. On one side, you have the White House, which says it won't negotiate over the increase and wants Congress to raise the borrowing limit. On the other side, Congress. Keep in mind lawmakers also need to pass a new government funding plan, which expires in December. One of the areas bound to come up, of course, the defense budget. My next guest is a senior member of the House Armed Services Committee and warns cuts to the defense budget could have devastating consequences to the country's national security. Republican Congressman Mike Turner of Ohio joins me right now. Thank you, Congressman, for coming in. Appreciate it. [Rep. Michael Turner , Ohio:] Thank you for having me. [Costello:] So you wrote a letter to the House leadership urging lawmakers to stop kicking the can down the road when it comes to defense spending. Is that possible? Because probably not many Americans think it is. [Turner:] Certainly, we are somewhat having a showdown there on Capitol Hill in that, as the president is asking for the debt limit to be raised, he's not in agreement as to what we should be spending. So if you don't know what you're going to be spending, it's hard to agree what the debt limit should be. But the president just last week made an announcement that he's going to keep troops in Afghanistan. But as we look to next year for 2016, he's not yet agreed to sign the National Defense Authorization Act that would fund the troops in 2016. Now, the men and women in uniform need to know they're going to have the equipment and funding necessary. We have a bipartisan bill headed toward his desk that he's saying he's going to veto. But yet he has committed that troops will be staying in Afghanistan. [Costello:] As you well know, Congress is in complete chaos right now, with the speaker situation and all that. So how can there be any agreement between the parties while that's still going on? [Turner:] Well, there can be agreement. The White House hasn't even appointed negotiators with a Congress, as the president said he's not even negotiate. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] All right. So much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. And it all starts right now. All right. Hello, again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right. Two of three American heroes who prevented a massacre on a train in Europe are now headed to Paris to take a private phone call from the president of the United States. President Barack Obama. Anthony Sadler and Alek Skarlatos were scheduled to leave the French capital leave for the French capital, I should say, a short time ago. They'll be received at the presidential palace in Paris tomorrow as well. And Spencer Stone, the third American, well, he remains hospitalized after sustaining some injuries. So they, these three young men right here, along with a British national subdued a gunman who had emerged from a bathroom on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. And now you're about to see exclusive video taken from inside the train. And you are going to see one person who appears fairly bloodied on the ground. That we understand is Spencer Stone who sustained injuries, and then you're also going to see someone who we now know is the gunman who is hogtied. Hopefully we can pull up that video for you. Meantime you're still looking at those three American heroes who are soon to be honored. Well, earlier we heard from the British citizen the British national who helped out. He talked outside the hospital in Arras, France. [Chris Norman, Subdued Gunman On Train:] I heard a shot. I heard some glass breaking, and then I saw somebody running down the aisle to the front of the train. I was facing towards the back. I then stood up to see what was happening. I saw a man with what I think was an AK- 47, anyway it was some kind of a machine gun or a submachine gun. So my first reaction was to sit down and hide. Then I heard one guy, an American, say go get him and I heard another American say, don't you do that buddy, or something like that. I think that was it. So then I decided that perhaps it was really the only time or only chance was to act as a team and try to take over the terrorist, I suppose he's a terrorist. And so what I then did is I jumped up and I was actually the fourth person to begin working on the terrorist. The other person who was there before me was Anthony Sadler, who is the student. I've clarified that Alek Skarlatos is from the National Guard in the United States and Spencer Stone is from the U.S. Air Force. Having done that sorry. [Unidentified Reporter:] Are you trained excuse me for that? [Norman:] Was I trained for that? [Unidentified Reporter:] Yes. [Norman:] No. Not at all. I think it was actually very rapid reasoning because he had a Kalashnikov, he had a magazine full, I don't know how many magazines he had. And my thought was OK, I'm probably going to die anyway, so let's go. What else is there to do? Either you sit down and you die or you get up and you die. It was really nothing more than that. I mean, we've seen enough of these kinds of attacks to understand that they will kill everybody once they get started. And my point of view was that two guys had already started working, doing and really started tackling him, maybe they needed some help. And my purely a survival. I said to myself, OK, maybe I have a chance if I get up and I help as well. [Whitfield:] Incredible. That's Chris Norman there, the British national who then joined in on the three Americans that he was describing had already taken action, trying to take down that gunman. So let's bring in Nic Robertson. He's in France, outside the Arras police station. So, Nic, what more do you know? You're joining us by phone now. What more do you know about the two Americans who'll be making their way to Paris for their phone call and where the investigation goes from there as well? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, Fredricka, as far as the investigation goes it's really happening not only in France where this man is now captive and taken to the French External Security headquarters in Paris where he's being questioned, the French authorities have [Whitfield:] All right. Incredible detail on that. Thank you so much, Nic Robertson. Appreciate that from Arras, France. All right. So the heroes have a huge story indeed to tell. CNN's Polo Sandoval is joining us from New York. So, Polo, what more do we know about these young men? I spoke with the fathers of the father of Alek who says they go way back to middle school, they are buds, they are really like brothers, and they just wanted to have some good time together in Europe. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Fred. Even from your conversation just now with Mr. Skarlatos, who said that basically the instinct kicked in for these three guys and they quickly switched into survival mode and you can now call them tourists turned heroes. And they're really that. Not only the rest of the country but really the whole world now quickly familiarizing themselves with these two men, and obviously the other individual that remains in surgery right now. Again it all started on that high speed train yesterday as it zipped from Amsterdam to Paris. A shirtless man armed with a box cutter and several firearms managed to fire off a few rounds, quickly getting the attention of these two individuals who quickly sprang into action a few moments ago. We also heard as well from one of these individuals, Alek Skarlatos, who was really doing some of the speaking right now for his friend who continues to undergo some surgeries before he pulls through. I want you to listen now, Fred, as really he just gives tremendous credit to his friend that he was traveling with on the train yesterday. [Anthony Sadler, Subdued Gunman On Train:] He just reacted so quickly and so bravely. He was really the first one over there, even after being injured himself. He went to go help the other man who was bleeding also. Without his help, he would have died. That man was bleeding from the neck. [Sadler:] He just went over there and saved his life as he was bleeding himself. [Sandoval:] Fred, right now we are waiting hopefully to eventually hear back from Spencer Stone as he continues to recover. And then you also have Chris Norman. He's the British national here, Fred, really the backup for these three guys. He used his necktie to really restrain this individual before authorities could intervene. Let's go ahead and listen to a bit of what he had to say earlier this morning. [Whitfield:] All right. [Norman:] We've seen enough of these kinds of attacks to understand that they will kill everybody once they get started. I said to myself, OK, maybe I have a chance if I get up and I help as well. [Sandoval:] So it's incredible, Fred. Finally I should mention just how humble not only these three young American men are, as well as the other British and this other Frenchman that we have not yet been told exactly who he is and what role he played, but really it's interesting because they call him heroes, they're very humble about it, these two, to even almost shrug it off but call them for help, Fred. [Whitfield:] Yes. [Sandoval:] And they will likely answer. [Whitfield:] Yes. I love what Chris Norman said. He said, you know what, I figured I was probably going to die. I'd die doing something than doing nothing. [Sandoval:] Right. [Whitfield:] Pretty powerful stuff. And then in the end they all survive it which is even better of course. All right. Thank you so much, Polo Sandoval. Appreciate it. [Sandoval:] You bet. [Whitfield:] All right. Meantime, in another part of the world, overseas. It looks like tensions between North and South Korea may be easing today. North Korea had given the South an ultimatum to stop its propaganda broadcast by this morning. Well, now both sides are holding talks. North Korea still has its frontline troops in what's being called a wartime state. Earlier in the week there was an exchange of artillery fire over the DMZ. The heavily fortified area separating the two. Well, CNN's Kyung Lah is near the DMZ. So, Kyung, last we spoke, the talks have been going on for six hours. Where do they stand now? [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] They have still they are still continuing. And these talks, and I should correct if I said six hours. It's more like eight hours. [Whitfield:] Wow. [Lah:] We're about to hit eight hours of negotiations for these discussions and they are continuing well into the night. It is 2:10 in the morning here in South Korea and there's no indication that they're going to be letting up any time soon. If history tells us how long they're going to go on, it's still going to be several more hours. There is some very from what we understand these types of negotiations have not happened since 2007. And these are the very first for Kim Jong-Un. To send in someone who is basically his right hand people. So he is sending them in. He wants to have a dialogue with South Korea. We are told that 24 hours before that deadline was set to expire, South Korea got a message from North Korea. Eight hours before the deadline was set to expire. They finally agreed on the conditions and they set this meeting. The meeting still going on. But, Fredricka, you mentioned the tensions here on the Korean Peninsula, at least the posture has not changed. People are still not allowed into this area where I'm standing and in a nearby town about two hours way from here right along the DMZ people are still in underground bunkers. So the posture hasn't changed. The reality at least between these two Koreas has not changed at all. [Whitfield:] All right. Kyung Lah, thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right. So let's a closer look at the crisis between the two countries. Gordon Chang is the author of the book "Nuclear Showdown." And he's a columnist for Forbes.com. All right. Good to see you. So we're accustomed to seeing this kind of brinksmanship between the two Koreas. But while it remains unusually tense is it at all promising that when you talk about face- to-face talks for eight hours and counting now, that has to mean something. [Gordon Chang, Author, "nuclear Showdown":] It is promising. And I think it's because both sides have a powerful incentives to keep the talks going, to try to reach some agreement to avert the worst outcomes. And so I think that we are going see if not an agreement now, probably you know, in a day or two. I'm not so sure that they can come to terms so quickly, but eventually I think that they will be able to come to some understanding. [Whitfield:] And what would that agreement look like. I mean, what are they trying to nail down or come to terms with? [Chang:] Well, the North Koreans would like those loud speakers to be taken down. I don't think that that's going to happen. But the South Koreans might stop the broadcast. Now what the North Koreans could do, that's another issue because there are the landmines that they planted. They want to prevent their own soldiers from defecting across the Demilitarized Zone to South Korea. So they are not really willing, I think, to take some of those counter measures out. That's going to be difficult for the South Koreans to accept. They're going to want something tangible out of Pyongyang. [Whitfield:] And would there be a third party involved here, I mean, to kind of mediate or is it strictly the North and South, and they have to either agree or break off talks and go their separate ways? [Chang:] Yes, this is going to be North and South Korea and really nobody else. For instance, the North Korans are not going to want the Americans involved, and also the North Koreans have really cut relations with China, first of all in the diplomatic level starting from 2013, but also there's been an attempt by Kim Jong-Un, the ruler of North Korea, to cut the military-to-military ties. And we saw that with the execution of a four-star general, about six or seven months ago. And that general was killed because he did not want to cut off relations with Beijing. So this is going to be a North-South discussion and nobody else really involved in this. [Whitfield:] Well, Kim Jong-Un feel like, you know, he is being undermine, if he were to be the one to agree to certain terms because it seems even as you talk about the executions, I mean, he wants people to fear him, and especially wants them to fear, you know, him across the border. So is there a real incentive for him to want to agree to anything? [Chang:] I actually think that he needs a victory. He, I think, created these provocations in the beginning of this month because he wanted to bolster his rule. And the problem that he has had over the last year and a half, two years or so has really been with the military. That's where we've seen the most executions recently, especially with the defense minister a couple of months ago. So it is going to be difficult for him to come to terms, but he is eventually going to have to do it because for him I think that an all- out war with South Korea, that's not very likely. And he certainly can't have that and eventually he'll need to have something, some concession from South Korea, because he did create this crisis in the first place. [Whitfield:] All right. Gordon Chang, fascinating stuff. Thank you so much. Appreciate your expertise. [Chang:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right. We'll have much more from the NEWSROOM right after this. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump unleashing his first television ad of the campaign. I believe we just got it in seconds ago. Here it is. [Unidentified Male:] But Donald Trump calls it radical Islamic terrorism. That's why he's calling for a temporary shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until we can figure out what's going on. He'll quickly cut the head off ISIS and take their oil. And he'll stop illegal immigration by building a wall in our southern border that Mexico will pay for. [Berman:] All right. Donald Trump's new ad right there. He says he will spend millions. $2 million a week in Iowa and New Hampshire. Airing this ad. Very interesting. He talks about his proposed ban on Muslims entering the United States. He talks about the wall. He wants to build with Mexico and he attacks Hillary Clinton directly. Trump also told the "Washington Post" he has several other ads in the works. So that was the very first airing of the new Donald Trump ad. The rest of the Republican field also launching their final push. Ted Cruz, Chris Christie, they have multiple events scheduled today. Ted Cruz is in Iowa, Christie will be in New Hampshire. Marco Rubio, he will appear in both states today. Jeb Bush, he needs something, he needs a comeback, and after pulling his commercials from Iowa and South Carolina, he will rely on retail handshaking politics. He is also keeping up his new sharper attacks on Donald Trump. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] And Donald Trump, I don't believe, is going to be the party's nominee. If he is, he's going to get crushed by Hillary Clinton. And I wanted to point that out. He said some things that are just outrageous. His views on policy have shifted with the winds. He is a strong supporter, until recently, of Hillary Clinton. And now he's the front running candidate for the Republican nomination. Someone has to call him out. [Berman:] Ben Carson has a new campaign leadership this morning after his campaign manager and commutations director up and quit. Carson told ABC News the campaign needs people with, quote, "the ability to execute and not just have good ideas." John Kasich, he's got a new ad out today as well in New Hampshire. He's been polling in the top five there or so in recent weeks. He needs to do better than that. He's pinning his hopes on that state. [Romans:] Happening this morning, Bill Clinton set to make his first solo appearance on behalf of his wife in New Hampshire. The campaign is striking a delicate balance between Bill Clinton's huge popularity among Democrats, rather, and the risk of putting him on the trail. With his past sexual indiscretions already on the table now as an issue, campaign allies are concerned that having him upfront could do more harm than good. On Sunday, Hillary Clinton, she shut down a heckler who turned out to be a New Hampshire Republican lawmaker. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Just just well, I'm going to call on people. I'm wait a minute, I I'm not going to take your question because other people have been yes, go right there. This man right there in here we go. Right there. You are very rude and I'm not going to ever call on you. Thank you. [Romans:] Clinton rival Bernie Sanders, he was very clear on "STATE OF THE UNION" that he just doesn't care about the issue. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] I think we got more important things to worry about in this country than Bill Clinton's sex life. [Berman:] In just hours, President Obama meets in the Oval Office with Attorney General Loretta Lynch. They are set to discuss options for tougher gun restrictions. Over the next couple of days, sources familiar with the issue tells CNN the president will announce executive actions on guns. Potential changes already drawing heated criticism from Republican presidential contenders who say these moves circumvent the will of Congress. For the very latest, let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates in Washington Chris. [Chris Frates, Cnn Investigations Unit Correspondent:] Hey, good morning, John and Christine. On his first full day back in Washington after the holidays, President Obama today plans to meet with the attorney general and other top law enforcement officials to discuss tougher gun restrictions. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] A few months ago I directed my team at the White House to look into any new actions I can take to help reduce gun violence. And on Monday, I'll meet with our attorney general, Loretta Lynch, to discuss our options because I get too many letters from parents and teachers and kids to sit around and do nothing. [Frates:] Sources say President Obama is expected to announce new executive actions soon. Expanding background checks on gun sales, aimed at closing the so-called gun show loophole which allows some gun sellers to avoid conducting background checks. Gun control advocates have also pushed the White House to tighten regulations on the reporting of lost and stolen guns and they want the president to prevent more alleged domestic abusers and passengers on the no-fly list from buying guns. But before the president has even announced the details of his actions, Republicans running to replace him were seemingly competing on who would undo them faster. [Trump:] So he's going to sign another executive order having to do with the Second Amendment. Having to do with guns. I will veto that. I will un-sign that so fast. So fast. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] This president is a petulant child. The fact is, if he wants to make changes to these laws, go to Congress and convince the Congress that they're necessary. But this is going to be another illegal executive action which I'm sure will be rejected by the courts. And when I become president will be stricken from executive action. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] All these executive orders are going to come out tomorrow. They're going to undermine our Second Amendment rights. On my first day in office, they're gone. [Frates:] Democrats have applauded Obama's efforts. On Sunday, Bernie Sanders, whose Democratic rivals have called him weak on gun control, endorsed increased background checks John, Christine. [Berman:] All right, Chris Frates for us in Washington. And a special programming note. This Thursday at 8:00 p.m., President Obama will join Anderson Cooper for an exclusive live town hall event about "Guns in America." Among other things, the president will discuss the executive action on guns he will announce early this week and will take questions from a live studio audience. A town hall on "Guns in America," with President Obama, moderated by Anderson this Thursday night, 8:00 p.m. only on [Cnn. Romans:] The Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino is set to reopen this morning. That's of course the facility where 14 people were killed in a terror attack last month. The conference center where the shooting took place will remain closed. And there is a new security fence around the facility. A full day of events is planned to make the employees feel safe. Many of them have been working from home for the past several weeks. [Berman:] A devastating earthquake hit northeast India overnight. At least six people were killed in the 6.8 magnitude quake with dozens more injured. Those numbers, they are expected to rise. Rescue efforts are being hampered by communications and power outages. The quake was centered near the border with Myanmar. There are reports of severe damage to residential and government buildings in the state of Manipur. [Romans:] The potential for deadly flooding threatening millions from Illinois to Louisiana. The Mississippi River beginning to recede up north but still over its banks in several states as this bulge of water moves down river. Authorities in St. Francis County, Arkansas, are searching right now for a man who was swept away by floodwaters while riding his four-wheeler. There is a huge cleanup effort underway in the St. Louis area this morning. A devastating floods triggered by 10 inches of rain over three days leaving behind enough silt and enough debris to keep workers busy for weeks if not months. A closer look at the forecast coming up in just a few minutes. [Berman:] Camille Cosby is scheduled to be deposed Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by seven women who claimed they were sexually assaulted and defamed by her husband. The wife of comedian Bill Cosby tried to have a subpoena requiring her to testify thrown out, but a judge ruled her attorney's failed to prove the value of her testimony would outweigh the undue burden it might cause her. [Romans:] We are getting our first look at the wreckage of the cargo ship El Faro. The vessel sank October 1st. Caught in a category 4 hurricane while traveling from Florida to Puerto Rico. All 33 crew members on board died. Federal investigators are considering a search of the wreckage, it's 15,000 feet down. They want to potentially locate that ship's black box. Thirty-eight minutes past the hour. Let's get an EARLY START on your money. Stock futures lower. There is a global selloff. Happy New Year, everyone. China's stock market plunged. Officials there halted trading for the rest of the session. The spark, it was weak manufacturing data. We're also keeping a close eye on oil prices this morning. Crude initially moved up after Saudi Arabia cut diplomatic tie was Tehran but it's now stabilizing. Of course renewed unrest in the Middle East would be something that would drive oil prices higher. Oil plunged 35 percent last year. It's bad news for oil producing nations, but really great news for drivers. A new forecast says low prices at the pump will stay well into 2016. AAA predicts the national average for a gallon of regular will stay below $3 a gallon over the next 12 months. Right now the national average $1.99. 22 cents below a year ago. Drivers, John Berman, saved about $540 because of lower gas prices. [Berman:] You drove in this morning? $1.77? [Romans:] $1.77, I saw. $1.77. [Berman:] I guess I'll move into that gas station. [Romans:] I know. [Berman:] Just keep buying gas. [Romans:] I know. But you have to pay like $15 to go through the tunnel after that so [Berman:] But, but, over the last 24 hours, some signs that perhaps oil prices could go up because of what's going on in the Middle East. [Romans:] Watch. Let's watch. [Berman:] Just one of the effects of the dramatic and dangerous tension there. Saudi Arabia and Iran. The Saudis kicking out Iranian diplomats. This standoff getting hotter by the minute. We have new developments overnight, next. [Whitfield:] All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We're following breaking news in the investigations of the San Bernardino massacre. Divers have pulled items out of a lake, which is about three miles from the site where Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik killed 14 people more than a week ago. CNN's Ana Cabrera is following the story for us. She's joining us now right outside that lake. Very windy there. What more do we know about these items that may have been retrieved? [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, we only know that they have found items. We don't know exactly what those items entail or whether they are definitely connected to this case. But the FBI officials confirming that divers have found a number of items. This is very arduous, painstaking work. This lake is murky, it's dark, it's deep. We know there are three divers in the water today and every now and then you see them pop up. You can see one of those divers along the bridge area. He's been going under, they've been working it from side to side. We've seen divers on this side towards the cameras yesterday working in this area and then now today, there's a couple of divers on the other side. And what we understand is that they're going to scour as much as they can of this lake's bottom in order to provide assurance that they have pulled anything out that could possibly be linked to the shooters. The FBI telling us that they came out to this area to search because they had received a couple of leads that there perhaps might be something out here, because the shooters were spotted in this park area on the day of the shooting. And as you're seeing, we are seeing him throw a few items to the shore. Every now and then, we see them pick something up, throw it back in the water. And so it's still a mystery, exactly, what they are pulling out. But, Fred, we know that investigators are still looking for a hard drive that was missing from the couple's home. And those electronics are such an important part of this investigation and putting the puzzle together, to figure out whether Tashfeen Malik and Syed Rizwan Farook were influenced or directed by anyone or any kind of terrorist group Fred. [Whitfield:] All right. Ana Cabrera, thank you so much. Appreciate that. Let's get more on these developments. I'm joined now by CNN law enforcement analyst and former FBI assistant director, Tom Fuentes. All right. So, Tom, thanks so much for joining us. So again, as Ana said, we don't know exactly what they have found, what they may have even retrieved. Earlier you said, you know, if it does mean like the hard drive or anything electronic, there's a pretty good possibility you could still retrieve information. Let's talk about what kind of credible information investigators must have had to even go to this lake and feel fairly confident that they might locate something there because this couple had recently been there. [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, Fred, it could have been as simple as just a neighbor saw this black SUV. At the time didn't think anything of it until later, watching the news, they see that that vehicle or a vehicle resembling that vehicle had been close to that lake. And it could as simple as that. It doesn't sound like they have area video cameras or traffic cameras that might have spotted the vehicle or spotted them personally, but it sounds like maybe one or two neighbors may have called in and said, you know, now that we see this has happened several hours ago we saw a vehicle resembling that near the lake earlier in the day. [Whitfield:] And then, Tom, what does this tell you about the level of sophistication of trying to cover up the track? If indeed this couple may have thrown the hard drive or something else in this lake. We know and investigators already said that they had crushed, you know, cell phones that they that were retrieved from garbage cans, but what does this tell you about the covering up the tracks that indeed they must have been had dialogue with others and they just don't want or they were instructed not to, you know, lead two others or sell leaders, anyone they may have had dialogue with? [Fuentes:] Well, I think if they've watched CNN and saw reports on the last 70 arrests the FBI has made on ISIS, either members or wannabe members, they would see that one of the first elements of the investigation is to go to the computer and look up all of the Web sites visited, all of the communications, the contacts, friends, whoever they're reaching, using that computer, that that's a key element of the investigation, as are the cell phones. But the computer actually is more important because it's used to go to Web sites that would be very revealing of what they were reading, who they were communicating with. So, you know, that would not be rocket science on their part to figure out, get rid of the computer. You recall in the Boston marathon investigation, Tsarnaev gave his computer, his laptop, to one of his roommates, who then threw it in the trash, the trash ended up in the dumpster, the dumpster ended up in the landfill, and the next thing you see is several dozen FBI agents in hazmat suits going through that landfill to locate it. So they may have realized throwing it in the trash is not the easiest option. Smashing it may not be as easy as it sounds. Throw it in the water, throw it in the lake. [Whitfield:] All right. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much. [Fuentes:] You're welcome. [Whitfield:] All right, now to Geneva, Switzerland, where police have made two arrests after finding traces of explosives in a car. A live update, next. [Whitfield:] Well, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in New York. So, three possible terror attacks on U.S. soil in one day. In Minnesota, nine people stabbed at a shopping mall in St. Cloud. We've also just learned the FBI's investigating the incident as a potential act of terrorism. And ISIS is claiming the attack was carried out by a "soldier of the Islamic state." And that suspect was shot down dead by an off duty police officer. And then in New York, multiple law enforcement officials saying there are similarities between the bomb that went off in Manhattan last night and the one in Seaside Park, New Jersey earlier in the day. However, officials have not concluded that the incidents are connected. Meantime, a diplomatic firestorm is erupting after U.S.-led coalition air strikes accidentally killed and wounded dozens of Syrian soldiers. The bombing prompted Russia to call an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council last night. The U.S. is expressing regret over the incident. Central command says they were after ISIS targets at the time. CNN's Global Affair Correspondent Elise Labott joining me now with more on this. So you had an exclusive interview with Secretary of State John Kerry. How does he explain all of this? [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affair Correspondent:] Well, you know, you heard Samantha Power, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. last night. She was calling this as a stunt. She was pulling no punches. And that Russia came back and said this is a ploy to end the ceasefire and end cooperation. And I asked Secretary Kerry about that. And he seemed to say that's a very cynical view of looking at it and called on the Russian, really said it was the Russians to blame. Take a listen. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] The biggest judgment they need to make is stop Assad from bombing people indiscriminately, which he continues to do. And if you are serious about having a ceasefire, and they say they are, then they should keep Assad from flying right now and prove their sincerity about a ceasefire. But to allow Assad, who is a spoiler, he doesn't want a ceasefire. To allow him to continue to go after opposition pretending that they are Nusra, is in and of itself a huge challenge to this effort. So we call on Russia to stop the grand standing, stop the show boating, and get the humanitarian assistance going. It is now Sunday morning. [Unidentified Female:] That's right. [Kerry:] This started Monday night of last of this past week. And the humanitarian assistance is supposed to be flowing. The regime, once again, is blocking it. So Russia's client, Russia's supported friend, is the single biggest blockade to the ability to move forward here. And the opposition feels threatened because the bombs continue even as there is supposed to be a cessation of hostility. So let me just say this clearly, Russia signed up to a cessation of hostility. Assad said he would live by it. Then he needs to stop and let the Joint Implementation Center get set up, so Russia and the United States can coordinate in order to avoid the kind of terrible thing that happened yesterday, which we all acknowledge and regret. [Labott:] So, some very tough words there from Secretary Kerry. Essentially saying that, you know, what they're calling essentially a mistake is really because the Russians are not cracking down on the regime like they said they would, and not letting that aid get through so this ceasefire can move into the next phase, which is the U.S. and Russia working together not only to end the violence in Syria but to jointly go after these ISIS and Al-Nusra Front threats. So this ceasefire really very shaky right now. [Whitfield:] Is there lost hope on this ceasefire? [Labott:] Well, I asked the Secretary Kerry that. I said, how long are you going to give this. You know, you wanted seven days of quiet, you haven't had one day of quiet. You haven't seen one aid convoy go through. He said, "You know, listen, we know it's imperfect. We have to give it a test." I asked him, "It seems like they're answering your test." And he said, "We're not ready to pull the plug yet." And why is that? Because really, Fred, they have no other options, no other alternative. President Obama has said he does not want to get more militarily involved. So, really, the only option for the U.S. right now is to work with the Russians, as imperfect as it may be, to try to calm the violence and more importantly, get some of this aid in, because, especially in Aleppo, the Syrian civilians are really in bad shape. [Whitfield:] Is there kind of an imposed deadline on the ceasefire? If it doesn't work by this point, then you got to call it a failure or start over? [Labott:] Not really. I mean, Secretary Kerry said you need seven days of consecutive quiet. And so they have not... [Whitfield:] Whenever the first day begins. [Labott:] Whenever the clock starts ticking. So, you haven't had one day. And now, they're not saying necessarily quiet. They're saying it needs to be reduced violence. I think if the U.S. were to see some of this aid get in and you had a little bit of reduced violence, they'd be more willing to work with the Russians. But still, the Pentagon, very weary of this agreement, very weary of working with the Russians. So, even if the violence has calmed down and you get some of that aid through, still have a Pentagon who is going to be, in effect, carrying out this agreement that is very reluctant to work with the Russians. So, it's not looking good. [Whitfield:] Meantime, these poor people hanging in the balance, who were desperate for aid. [Labott:] Who are really the victims here. [Whitfield:] Yeah. All right, Elise Labott, thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right, the next hour of the "CNN Newsroom" begins right after this short break. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Just after 9:00 PM here in New York, a new day on the campaign trail as leading republicans try to capitalize on last night's CNN Debate. They got a lot of exposure, more than 18 million people watched. The focus, national security, stopping terror attacks, fighting ISIS. There's new development tonight on all those fronts, but first, how the two frontrunners tried today to turn their debate performance into a post-debate bounce. Jeff Zeleny is with the Trump campaign in Mesa, Arizona. Sunlen Serfaty is in Los Angeles with Ted Cruz. Let's start with Jeff. Donald Trump's speech in Arizona, almost like a self-declared victory lap. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Anderson, it's certainly seen that if Donald Trump was subdued last night, he certainly was not today. He entered this rally in dramatic fashion. He was landing his airplane right in the front of a hangar. Loud, loud music from the Air Force 1 soundtrack. Not surprisingly here. So this is all part of his plan to, you know, if you say you're winning, you are winning, you keep winning. But boy, Anderson, there was no specifics about policy. There was nothing really discussed that would, you know, change any voters' minds, if someone will sort of came to him with an open mind and wasn't quite sure about him. He talked about how he's leading in the polls. He listed 13 separate online polls. He read from a sheet of paper, saying he won the debate last night. And so Donald Trump is obsessed about these polls, about winning. The question is, if he ever does not win in one of the actual contests in Iowa or New Hampshire or South Carolina, what will happen then? There was no talk about that today. It was a victory day for Donald Trump. [Cooper:] You know, before the debate and the days before, he had said some critical things about Ted Cruz. He got kind of attacked or cautioned, I guess, by Rush Limbaugh, Mark Levin, radio conservative radio for going after Ted Cruz. At the debate, he had the opportunity to repeat the things, he walked it back. Did Trump say anything about Cruz today? [Zeleny:] He said very little about Ted Cruz. He embraced him a little bit more. He said he's a very nice guy and that's all he had to say about Ted Cruz. So Anderson, this is one of the most fascinating dynamics of the race here. Ted Cruz is a serious candidate. He's leading Donald Trump in Iowa. Most respected polls say he is growing nationally, but Donald Trump is not taking him on. It's the first time we've seen this happen in this campaign. So far, it's good for business for both of them, to sort of embrace one another. But I have to think that that will change coming in the New Year, when Ted Cruz continues to ascend here. But for today, at least, he did not talk about him at all. He did seem to relish going after Jeb Bush yet again. He clearly got under skin at the debate last night. So Donald Trump had some more words for Jeb Bush. But for Ted Cruz, it is all happiness and hugs and light. We'll see if that keeps up. I'm not sure it will. [Cooper:] Happiness, hugs, and light. Jeff Zeleny thanks very much. Now Ted Cruz spent more time last night squaring off with Marco Rubio than Trump. For that, let's go to Sunlen Serfaty in Los Angeles. Did Cruz address Trump at all today? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, keeping in line with last night's debate, Anderson, Ted Cruz said not a single bad word about Donald Trump today. It was all positive. And he really seemed to go out of his way to praise Donald Trump today, saying he's energized with a lot of voters and he's happy that a lot of voters will potentially be coming out to vote. You know, this is a well-masked strategy by Ted Cruz here, making sure that he doesn't alienate Trump's supporters, wants to woo them over to his side, if they should come. And he seems for the most part really determined to stick to that strategy, at least publicly, and for the short time at least at his sights really hone in on Marco Rubio. [Cooper:] And about Rubio, he's suggesting Rubio's campaign is now nervous. What do you have to say about that? [Serfaty:] Well that's right. At least four times today, Ted Cruz mentioned that he does think that Rubio and his campaign are getting a little nervous. And that was the reason he said he thinks that they clashed repeatedly during last night's debate. But this, of course, has been a battle that is a long time coming between the two senators, really previewing, potentially, what this how this dynamic could play out on the campaign trail and will continue to dominate, most likely. Very clear that both of these senators understand the very real threat that the other poses to their path forward and they're ready to take each other on. [Cooper:] All right Sunlen, thanks very much. Joining us now is CNN chief national correspondent, John King, host of "CNN Inside Politics". Also "Washington Post" syndicated columnist, conservative, Kathleen Parker, and CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord, who's a Trump supporter and served as White House political director during the Reagan administration. It was interesting to see Trump and Cruz finding kind of new ways to stay out of each other's way in the debate last night. [Kathleen Parker, Syndicated Columnist, Washington Post:] Well, yes, I think the comments were just exactly right. They're obviously trying not to alienate each other's followings in the hopes that, you know, should obviously one of them is going to leave the other one behind, so they want to be able to bring those supporters with them. [Cooper:] And actually polls kind of show that for our trust board is there for a lot of them, their second choice would be Cruz, same with Dr. Carson, their second choice would be Cruz. [Parker:] Right. And they're really such different candidates. But Cruz is really, you know, he's got such a sophisticated ground game. He's been working on his infrastructure all along, sort of for a while, off the radar a bit, and now he's kind of, you know, he's the horse at the backside, pulling up. [Cooper:] Right. [Parker:] And ahead of everyone else. [Cooper:] If it's not just a ground game in Iowa or in a lot of southern states as well. [Parker:] It's all over, yeah. He's got the he's sort of got what Mitt Romney once have which is, you know, spreadsheets and lots of people on the ground. So he's in a good position to play the long game. And I do think he is probably you know, I would predict he's going to win Iowa. And then I don't know what Mr. Trump feels about that. And how you know, because he has always talked about the polls, what you have to realize is that's all he talks about. You know, when there are no polls to cite, when he can't just keep saying, "I'm winning, I'm winning," he's not talking about anything substantive in there at all. So that's all we're hearing about is he's winning. [Cooper:] Right, what happens if he doesn't? [Parker:] So when he doesn't win, I don't know about what's left. [Cooper:] Right, it would be interesting to see. John, how do you see Marco Rubio playing to all of this? I mean, he certainly seems to be a candidate who has consistently played a long game, waiting patiently for others to drop off, even if that may not actually happen. [John King, Cnn Anchor, "inside Politics":] Well that may not happen until after New Hampshire and part of the question for Marco Rubio's lane in this race is where is he by then, Anderson. You're right, he's been patient and in most national polls now he's in third place but it's a pretty distant third place or fourth place, lumped with Dr. Carson, and you have Trump and Cruz at the top. The question in this race really is how many lanes do we have? Ted Cruz is a classic evangelical candidate who, I agree with Kathleen, is surging in Iowa right now. He also adds in a significant tea party element. Those are the two energetic bases of the Republican Party right now. If Cruz gets a big win in Iowa, what does Trump do? Does he go on and try to win New Hampshire, or does that somehow fundamentally change the campaign? And so we have the evangelical tea party candidate in Cruz. We have the disruptive outsider in Donald Trump, who's not really an ideological candidate. He's just a disruptive force in the republican party. And then will there be a mainstream establishment candidate? And Marco Rubio wants to be that candidate. He's ascendant at the moment, but Jeb Bush still wants to be that candidate. Chris Christie, who's gaining ground in New Hampshire wants to be that candidate. John Kasich wants to be that candidate. Of the outsiders, you could say Carly Fiorina could be that kind of a candidate. Well, not all of them can survive. And so the question for Marco Rubio is, yeah, he's a good debater, yeah, he's moving up right now, but where is he going to win? [Cooper:] And Jeff, for Donald Trump, for your candidate, and to Kathleen's point, if in Iowa he does not win, what happens? I mean, if he doesn't have a poll to tout, does he just move on, and look to New Hampshire or look to South Carolina? [Jeffrey Lord, Former Reagan W.h. Political Director:] Sure, of course. I mean, which is that's exactly, as a matter of fact, what happened to Ronald Reagan. He lost Iowa to George H. W. Bush. And he went right on to New Hampshire and won New Hampshire and then on to South Carolina, et cetera. And as a matter of fact, he lost some more primaries to Bush along the way. He lost my home state of Pennsylvania in April of 1980, I mean, you know, well down the road. So, this is going to be a long march here. This is not going to be decided in Iowa or New Hampshire either. We're going to go on for quite some time. And that's where you get into questions of organization and money and resources and all of that. [Cooper:] And Kathleen, how vulnerable do you think Marco Rubio is on immigration, given his past legislative record? [Parker:] Well, very. I mean, that's a problem for him. And that sort of explains the animus between him and Ted Cruz too. You know, nobody none of Ted Cruz's colleagues like him because he's always been about himself, primarily. And he, you know, works with the house to shut down the government. So, you know, they very much resent him. And then he's also taking pride, Cruz is, in reminding people that he actually fought Marco Rubio on his immigration plans. So he can kind of stand out in the you know, as sort of the fire against immigration versus poor Marco, who is trying to do what I think most Americans think should be done. [Cooper:] John, I mean, just last as we... [Lord:] Anderson. [Cooper:] Go ahead. Sorry, go ahead, Jeff. [Lord:] Anderson, one thing that I think we're not thinking about here, in all the presidential history, only three United States senators have gone from the senate to the White House directly, it was President Obama, President Kennedy, and President Warren Harding. We've had lots and lots and lots of senators, some of them very well known like Ted Kennedy, Barry Goldwater, George McGovern, others, who run for president and either lose the nomination or get the nomination and lose the White House itself. So, I think that perhaps where we may be looking at a phenomenon here of two senators battling here, and whether or not they'll emerge, whether their job itself is, you know, is innately a problem for them. I think we'll find out. [Cooper:] Interesting. John, how long do you see this going? I mean, how long does this race go on for? [Kasich:] I wish I had that crystal ball. But, you know, this we have we're in role reversal this year that looks like, now, you know, Bernie Sanders is still a credible candidate, don't get me wrong. But you could look at data and say you can see the democratic race ending relatively soon. Hillary Clinton has a chance to put it away relatively soon. She's almost the it's-your-turn candidate that we normally have in the Republican primaries. This Republican race, let's assume Cruz wins Iowa. Trump is well ahead right now in New Hampshire. Now, we move on to South Carolina where Trump leads at the moment. Then this is why you have to keep an eye on Ted Cruz. Iowa does not have a great history of picking presidential nominees. Yes, George W. Bush won there for republicans and went on to win the nomination. But Mike Huckabee won there. He was essentially a one state wonder. Rick Santorum won there. He went on to win 11 another states but Mitt Romney had it locked up pretty much by then and Santorum won some of those states. I don't need to beat up on Senator Santorum, he worked really hard at that campaign. But he won some of those states simply because he wasn't Mitt Romney. And you get down to that point in the race. The Republican party changed its calendar this year. So you have you're going to have the SEC primary on March 1st. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Florida are right around those states as well. Some other southern states as well, Ted Cruz is not Mike Huckabee or Rick Santorum because as Kathleen noted, he has a good organization, he has a good team and Anderson, he has money. [Cooper:] Yeah. [Kasich:] And so if this race stretches on, this race stretches on, that's the question. Will Trump start digging into his own pockets? He will have to spend more of his own money if this becomes a long protracted race. He has to spend a ton of it so far. He's not airing T.V. ads. Will he make that strategic decision, I mean for the long run, or will losing a state or two change the calculation. We don't know that but this could go on for quite some time. [Cooper:] Yeah. John. Thank you, Jeffrey Lord, Kathleen Parker, good stuff. Thank you. John just mentioned South Carolina. How the debate played there last night. 150 voters who watched with our Gary Tuchman told them who they thought won the night. We'll show you that. Plus the breaking news in Baltimore, protests now calm after hung jury in mistrial in the Freddie Gray case. The jury deadlocked after deliberating for less than three days. We'll talk about what happens next in the courtroom when we continue. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Good morning, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Poppy Harlow. This morning, Democrats in suburban Atlanta are lamenting the victory that has slipped away, a congressional seat that has been held by Republicans since Jimmy Carter was in the White House and seen as a key measure of President Trump's popularity. Democrat Jon Ossoff won 48.1 percent of the vote against the crowded and divided Republican field that all that matters is that, well, he didn't win. He didn't get a simple majority and therefore, no victory. [Berman:] And that means he faces a June runoff against the leading Republican Karen Handel and she's going to have the full weight and might of the Republican Party behind her. Let's go to the heart of Georgia, 6th, CNN's Jason Carroll is there. Jason? [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And you know, basically, you have to look at the reality of what happened on the ground. Both sides are claiming a victory of sorts here. If you look at what happened with Jon Ossoff here, I mean, basically, he wanted to avoid this Runoff Election with Karen Handel, but he was up able to get 50 percent of the vote. However, he was still able to get 48 percent of the vote and that's a huge margin for a Democrat running in a Republican district. He was able to do that in part, by making this a referendum on the president, again, having said that, both sides claiming a victory, both sides looking forward to that Runoff Election on June 20th. [Jon Ossoff , Georgia Congressional Candidate:] And there is no amount of dark money, super PAC, negative advertising that can overcome real grassroots energy like this. [Karen Handel , Georgia Congressional Candidate:] They spent upwards of close to $10 million, just on TV alone. $5.5 million compared to roughly $75,000 that I spent on television. So, money buys a lot when it's a very compressed race. That won't be the same in the runoff. Republicans are united. We know that this is an important race and it's going to stay in the hands of a Republican and I'm excited about the next 60 days. [Carroll:] Karen Handel is the establishment Republican here. She's well known in the district. She's a former Georgia Secretary of State. What's interesting about that interview that she did on "New Day." She was asked repeatedly if she thought that this was a referendum on the president. She really sort of dodged that question. She dodged that question when I asked her, as well. Having said that, the president did call her, congratulated her for her win. Also, she said that she welcomes President Trump to come here and campaign with her. We should also note that going forward, tomorrow DNC Chair Tom Peres is going to be here, speaking at a Democratic event which clearly shows that going forward this event this special election is going to be getting national attention on both sides. John? Poppy? [Harlow:] Jason Carroll in Georgia 6th. Thank you so much. Let's talk about all of this. We are joined by Symone Sanders, CNN political commentator, former national press secretary for Bernie Sanders 2016 and CNN political commentator Kayleigh McEnany, nice to have you both here. So, Kayleigh let me begin with you because our Chris Cillizza, in his column, on all of this, right? This That one Republican consultant told him, "This race is absolutely and entirely a referendum on President Trump. Every single vote Jon Ossoff receives is a rebuke of Trump from within Georgia 6th." This is from a Republican consultant. What part of this makes you most nervous? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't think that's the case at all. In fact, you know, "National Review" interviewed several voters down there and there were certainly some who were voting against President Trump. But there were others who said I just knew Ossoff's name because you know, they poured millions and millions of dollars into this race, nearly $10 million spent on this race alone. 90 percent of the funding, by the way, came from outside the district. So, Democrats essentially handpicked this candidate, poured in millions and millions and millions of dollars to try to flip a district and they failed. They failed at the task at hand. This was not a grassroots uprising. This was a Republican victory last night by forcing this runoff and it is not a referendum on President Trump. And if it is, it's a great referendum on the president because he engaged in robocalls. He was tweeting about this race. He poured his political capital into this race and it clearly paid off. [Berman:] Well, the flip side of that, Symone, let me put it to you this way. Would this race have ever been so close had not President Trump been in the White House? Remember, Mitt Romney won this district four years ago by well over 10 percent. [Harlow:] 23 percent. [Berman:] 23 percent four years ago. You know, President Trump won it by barely a point and now you have this Democrat who albeit, he didn't get across the finish line but he was running more than you know, 25 points ahead of the nearest Republican, Symone. [Symone Sanders, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes, I mean, this just goes to show the map is now different. Look, I think it is really important to note that usually Democrats only garner 36 percent of the vote in Georgia 6th. And last night, Ossoff got a little over 48 percent. So, Democrats are in a very good position. There are 94 districts that are more favorable, that look better than Georgia 6th for Democrats across the map. And that means we have the chance to actually take back the House in 2018. Now, it's not going to be easy and it's going to be a hard-fought battle. But I think this just goes to show that there is momentum. There is potential out there in some places where there had not been potential for Democrats before. [Harlow:] All right. So, the Republican Party, the NRCC just released an ad in the wake of this. Let's play it. [Unidentified Female:] So, how many here actually live in the 6th district. Please raise your hand. Wow. That's good. That's good. [Ossoff:] We need to attract more high-tech and research jobs to the area. [Harlow:] I know you talk, Kayleigh, about all the money that poured in and you're right. 95 percent of it came from out of the state. Is this time for Republicans to do the same, to match Democrats on this one? [Mcenany:] They definitely should. You know, you can't lose the runoff. That would be a huge defeat for Republicans. I don't think they will win the runoff because now, you no longer have 11 Republicans in the race. You just have 1 Republican versus 1 Democrat. But I do think that they should bone up their funding, pour money into this because the one thing I do think that this shows besides kind of the artificial money pumped into this from the Democrats is I do think that there is energy among Democrats just like the Tea Party in the wake of President Obama's early presidency that came together. There was energy. They wanted to topple the president and the Democratic Party. There is that energy there so Republicans should not take that for granted. [Sanders:] But John and Poppy [Berman:] Go ahead, Symone. [Sanders:] In this race, the Republicans spent $4.2 million against Ossoff in negative attack ads. And Karen Handel, she barely garnered 20 percent of the vote. So, with that being said, this is definitely a winnable race for Democrats and I think this speaks to the broader notion that, Democrats in places like Nebraska, places maybe in some Texas, other places in Georgia. People need to bone up and be ready because there are winnable races coming up in 2018 and places where we haven't won before. [Berman:] So, Symone, I ask you, Democrats or independents. And I ask this to you specifically cheekily because of something your former boss, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, said last night. You know, he was asked outright. This is a guy that is extremely popular among Democrats. Some people see his movement as the future of the Democratic Party. He was asked outright if he is a Democrat. Listen to what he said. [Chris Hayes, Msnbc:] Do you consider yourself a Democrat? [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vermont:] No. I'm an independent. And I think if the Democratic Party is going to succeed and I want to see it succeed, it's going to have to open its doors to independents. [Berman:] Now, Tom Perez, the chair of the Democratic Party was sitting next to him and I'm not sure the thought bubble there was boy, am I happy he's saying this right now, might have been something else. But Symone, is that the message you want the Democratic Party right now? [Sanders:] Look, I think the message is this. We should be more focused on people doing the work, what people care about, what the issues are as opposed to people having a D, R, I behind their name. I think Bernie is what I'd like to call a new blue crew Democrat. Somebody that no, does not identify the Democrat put a D behind his name, but someone who is willing to work with the party and within the party towards the ideals that not just the party, but people all across America, independents and even some Republicans actually care about. So, I think that is the future of the Democratic Party. Yes, opening it up. We still want people to be Democrats. Well, we shouldn't shut the door because they're willing to put a D behind their name. We want people that are willing to do the work and work for all of the issues. And be that big tent party that we say we are. [Berman:] That you the time for us with Bernie Sanders, you know "Odd Couple Act." They need to work on some of their personal chemistry maybe as they tour the country. Symone Sanders, Kayleigh McEnany, great to have you with us, thank you so much. [Mcenany:] Thank you. [Sanders:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Also, the breaking news this morning, convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez found dead in prison, in his prison cell this morning. Massachusetts official say he hanged himself. [Berman:] So, Hernandez used to play football for the New England Patriots. He was serving a life sentence for the 2013 killing, murder of Odin Lloyd. He was most recently though, found not guilty on two other murder cases. CNN's Jean Casarez joins us now with more. What are we learning from officials? They found him at 3:05 a.m. in his prison cell. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right. What we've just learned from the Worcester District Attorney's Office, there is going to be an autopsy performed. The chief medical examiner will be performing that autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. But it all started at 3:05 a.m. this morning when Aaron Hernandez was found unresponsive in his prison cell by officials. He had taken a bed sheet and hanged himself, attaching it to the window of his cell. Now, very unusual, he had apparently, according to prison officials, stacked things up against the door so conceivably would create difficulty for someone to get in. But they did get in and they began to perform emergency procedures to try to revive him, 911 were called and at that point, he was transported to the University of Massachusetts. He was pronounced deceased at 4:07 a.m. this morning. And so, it comes after a great victory for him on Friday, victory in that he was acquitted of a double murder. He was emotional in court. I think one of the first times he was ever seen to be emotional. He was hugging his attorneys. He seemed elated. He turned around and looked at his family, his daughter. His young daughter had been in court for some of this trial. But the reality is he went back to his prison cell. He was in general population, a single cell, general population and that's where he is for the life sentence of the murder of Odin Lloyd while his team is now going which he would be a part of that team today. They're going to Washington to meet with President Trump on the Super Bowl victory and that reality is he's still there. I do want to mention, you know, the autopsy is important because the Massachusetts State Police are investigating. So it's important to get the stamp, the cause and manner of death. They also have to wanting to rule out any foul play here. [Berman:] All right. Remember, 2013 murder of Odin Lloyd is to talk about Aaron Hernandez, Odin Lloyd he would have been 31 right now. So, we should remember the victim today as well. Jean Casarez, thank you so much for being with us. A reminder here, you'll want to watch the CNN's Special Report "Downward Spiral: Inside the Case of Aaron Hernandez" That airs tonight at 11:00 p.m. Right Here on CNN. A new warning from the vice president to North Korea, he tells CNN in an exclusive interview, "no direct negotiations with Kim Jong-un." Plus the Super Bowl winners, the New England Patriots headed to the White House with some breaking news, reports just coming out within the last half hour, Tom Brady will not be there with them. Find out why. [Harlow:] Also, the man at the helm of the embattled banking giant, Wells Fargo speaking out in an exclusive interview about the fake account scandal that has rocked that bank. Was it at the core, a system, a culture problem? [Tim Sloan, Ceo Wells Fargo:] Well, those two things that you describe which actually are very important created a culture in the retail banking business that was inappropriate. [Camerota:] So I'm sure I'm sure you remembered those conjoined twins we told you about. We have an update for you. The boys are recovering ahead of schedule after undergoing the grueling 27 hour surgery last month. And Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta checks in with the family. [Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] When Nicole McDonald got to hold her son Jadon for the first time, it was as if she saw him for the first time. [Nicole Mcdonald, Mother Of Jadon And Anias:] As a mother you know when you hold your child, you know every bit of their face. Well, his face also encompassed Anias' . So it's my first moment of relearning his face. [Gupta:] Jadon and Anias are literally one in 2.5 million. They were born craniopagus twins conjoined at the head sharing between 1 12 to 2 inches of brain tissue, after over a year of planning last month the boys were separated after a 27 hour long operation at children's hospital at Montefiore in the Bronx. McDonald's have allowed CNN to follow their journey from surgery through rehab exclusively. Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. Hi, buddy. Hi. The last time we were in this room they were on a, you know, they were on a... [N. Mcdonald:] They were in one bed. [Gupta:] They were conjoined. Everything he's pretty happy with the outcome. [N. Mcdonald:] I think so. [Gupta:] Are you sticking your tongue out at me? [N. Mcdonald:] Yeah, that's a new trick. [Gupta:] You're sticking you tongue out at me. For the McDonald's this entire month has been full of first times. First time in separate beds, first time being held, first time seeing each other, but it hasn't been easy to get here. The boys have battled infections, fevers, and seizures. It's been particularly trying for Anias. [N. Mcdonald:] Serious infections close to the brain. Skin involvement. They had to take, you know, the bone out of Anias. They had to take skin out, you know, that's just been for Anias, it's just there's never a break. [Gupta:] Despite all of that, the boys' doctors are so pleased with their progress. Dr. James Goodrich is the boys' neurosurgeon. You said he was right on or ahead of schedule even. Is there a I mean because it's so rare, is there a schedule? [James Goodrich, Neurosurgeon, The Children's Hospital At Montefiore:] Well, it's just when you only deal with trauma cases, people with injuries, recovery times are in months, sometimes years so we're a month. If you consider this is one month out, this to me is incredibly fast. [N. Mcdonald:] Yup, Yup. [Gupta:] Do you feel like you have permission or do you allow yourself rather now to think about the future with regard to Jadon and Anias? [N. Mcdonald:] I think about their future all the time, all the time. I think about the first time they go to a park and I think about, you know, them getting married some day. I think about I think I've thought through their whole future 100 times over. [Christian Macdonald, Father Of Jadon And Anias:] It's not that I'm not optimistic. I just I'm just more curious what the future holds for them, but I guess I don't want to get my hopes up. You know, I guess I just take it one day at a time. [Gupta:] But each day continues to bring more blessings. The day I visited Nicole and Christian got to see Jadon without his head dressings. [C. Mcdonald:] I've never seen you like that buddy. [Gupta:] For the first time. What's there like, mom to see the first the first time without the dressings. [N. Mcdonald:] It's amazing. This is the most amazing thing. I just can't even believe it. And look at his little hair on top, it's growing in. Hi, baby. So when I look at them and I see them laying in their beds whole and generally healthy and I think mentally with it and moving forward, I don't just see that miracle, the separation miracle, but it's been the miracles that took place every step of the way. I know like my, yes. [C Mcdonald:] Anybody could take it off. How does it feel to be your own little boy? [N. Mcdonald:] You have a head of hair. [Gupta:] Well, Alisyn and Chris, I can't get enough of those images. I mean I still get goosebumps a little bit looking at them. I will tell you that what you are seeing here is very rare. As you might imagine, I mean I'm a neurosurgeon. I've never seen anything like this. One in 2.5 Million pregnancies result in babies who are conjoined at the head. Very few make it all the way to delivery and to birth. Even fewer have access to the sort of resources you just saw. So a lot of things came together, but the doctors said, again, that this was one of the most challenging operations he's ever done. And he's the world leader in this but also one of the most rapid recoveries he's ever seen. The next step for Jadon and Anias is to go to rehabilitation. They have never sat up, they have never crawled, they have never walked. They're going to learn all of that stuff again. This is like a second birthday for them. But again it's just incredible. Really brings a smile to my face. Back to you guys. [Camerota:] Oh, my gosh. It melts my heart to see his little head I mean his little hand touching his head for the first time without the dressing and feeling around up there. [Cuomo:] There are so many layers of connection that wined up getting here, especially if you're a parent, you know, when we heard this is the first time these kids have ever seen each other, the first time... [Camerota:] Isn't that incredible? I mean I just want to stop there for a second. They've always been aware of each other, they were connected, they could hear each other but they've never seen each other. [Cuomo:] And another thing for me is Sanjay is such a unique blessing in this business. You know, he is a neurosurgeon. He gives you insight and access in the stories. You would never get I could never cover that, the way Sanjay just did and we're all better for it, what an amazing story, especially so close to Thanksgiving. [Camerota:] I'm sure that when... [Vause:] Welcome back everybody. Fierce storms in the western U.S. have forced thousands of people from their homes. California and Nevada are dealing with heavy rain, snow, flooding and mudslides. The storms damaged homes and left hundreds of thousands without power. High winds brought down the iconic pioneer cabin tree in northern California. The hollow giant sequoia was cut in the 1800s so tourists could pass through. Then a cold snap is gripping much of Europe and it's hitting thousands of refugees especially hard. CNN's Amara Walker has the story. [Amara Walker, Cnn Correspondent:] From the frozen streets of Warsaw all the way south to the islands of Greece, heavy snow and freezing temperatures are wreaking havoc across much of Europe. With temperatures dropping below minus 30 degrees Celsius in some spots, the extreme cold has claimed the lives of more than 30 people over the weekend. Just in Poland 17 people died of hypothermia and according to government officials 65 have died of cold-related causes since November. In Romania, heavy snow and high winds forced roads and railways to close. Dozens of villages are reported to be without power. At least four people have died there according to local media. Snowstorms paralyzed Turkey's largest city of Istanbul where heavy snow forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled, leaving thousands of travelers stranded over the weekend. In Greece, even the beaches are blanketed with snow. The arctic blast has hit refugees especially hard. Thousands are living in limbo, stranded in makeshift camps like this one in Lesbos while they seek asylum or await relocation. In Serbia hundreds of migrants wrapped in blankets lined up for a hot meal. Many are living in an abandon warehouse with nighttime temperatures well below freezing. They have only a campfire to try to keep warm. [Unidentified Male:] Actually the cold is too much and last night weren't asleep with all the people sitting around the fire. [Walker:] Dozens more refugees are camped out on Serbia's border waiting for a chance to try to enter neighboring Hungary, but aid workers warn these migrants are not equipped to deal with the extreme cold. [Milena Radosavljevic, Doctors Without Borders:] Since it was minus 20 these few days it's really cold. People are suffering. [Mohammad Massoud, Migrant Community Representative:] It's a lot like freezing, completely freezing especially during the night. Nobody can stay here but we have to. [Walker:] For many there is nowhere else to go and only more cold expected in the coming days. Amara Walker, CNN. [Vause:] Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins us now for more on this brutal cold snap Allison. [Allison Chinchar, Ams Meteorologist:] That's right. Well, Amara mentioned it that they think [inaudible] is that it is going to linger for many of these locations. Take a look at some of the snow again coming out of Italy. You can see what look like these little white humps here. Those are actually cars that are just entirely buried under the snow. We've had a series of systems kind of come through and we still have a couple of systems around the area that will be impacting the same places over and over again. So we are still looking at additional snow for portions of Italy. We're also talking Hungary. We're talking Bulgaria, Turkey, even into Greece. Again the areas that have already seen enormous amounts of snow already now getting even more. We're talking additional accumulations in most [inaudible] about 10 to 15 centimeters. Again that's a decent storm but you have to remember, it's on top of what we've already had and again likely going to last the cold along with it for several more days. Switching gears on the other side, we're talking a major storm system that has been impacting the West Coast and we're about to get our next system that will move through Tuesday into Wednesday of this week. A lot of this pulling moisture from what we call the atmospheric river where some of that moisture has originated as far away as Hawaii now bringing all of that moisture into California, Oregon and Washington. This out of Truckee, California major interstate I-80, which is the big east-west connector was shut down after a mudslide and not to mention all your little tiny roads and highways around that that have also had some closures. Already much of California and even Oregon has picked up about 100 millimeters of rain but now we're talking possibly an additional 100 millimeters on top of what they've already had. So obviously flooding and landslides still going to be a concern going forward. [Vause:] Ok. Allison thanks for the update. A short break here. When we come back, Roger Federer getting court time after a six-month layoff. After the break, you'll hear what the Grand Slam champ has planned for the coming season. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Refocusing today with a new ad directing fire instead at Hillary Clinton. [Unidentified Male:] Damn it feels good to be a Clinton. A shameless politician always plays her cards right. [Serfaty:] In the spoof of "Office Space." Many of the candidates are speaking at the conservative Christian Bob Jones University in South Carolina, making a big pitch to woo coveted evangelical voters. [Jeb Bush, Presidential Candidate:] I do not believe you put your faith if a lock box in public life and say, well, that's only for my private matters. That is just not that is totally wrong. [Serfaty:] And jockeying over who has the most conservative credentials. [Sen. Marco Rubio, Presidential Candidate:] You disagree with people, for example, on the definition of marriage, they call you a hater and bigot. What's the next step? [Serfaty:] Of course all this happening just one week before Republican voters head to the polls here in South Carolina. Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Greenville, South Carolina. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] All right, the next hour of the CNN Newsroom begins right now. Hello again, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. NATO is pushing back against contentious remarks from Russia's prime minister today. At an international security conference this morning, Dmitry Medvedev the strained relationship between Russia and the west could be described as a new cold war. [Dmitry Medvedev, Russian Prime Minister:] NATO diplomacy with regard to Russia remains unfriendly and opaque. One could go as far as to say we have slid back to a new cold war. Almost on an everyday basis we are called one of the most terrible threats either to NATO as a whole or to Europe or to the United States. Sometimes I wonder whether it is 2016 we live in, or 1962. [Whitfield:] Let's bring in CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joining me from Munich. So tell us more about NATO's response, and should the west see the prime minister's comments as more of a threat rather than a complaint? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] I think it's being viewed here as Russia's interpretation of how it sees the situation and perhaps more of an indication about what Russia does. That was certainly the opinion when I talked to the supreme allied commander of NATO forces, U.S. four-star General Philip Breedlove. He told me that it is Russia that is trying to not even rewrite the rules but create new rules, crossing international borders into Ukraine, annexing Crimea, developing increasing clusters of missile systems that are designed to target air, road, and sea, potential sea attack, all the way from Kaliningrad in the north close to NATO, St. Petersburg, Crimea, and now in northern Syria. These are sophisticated missile systems, and NATO sees Russia developing and intensifying these clusters. It's a concern. So when I said to him, what about, when Medvedev says, you, NATO, unfriendly, opaque, and are heading towards a cold war, he said no, that is not the case. That's not how NATO sees it. This is what he said. [Robertson:] Isn't this by definition the cold war, arms buildup? [Gen. Philip Breedlove, Nato Commander For Europe:] Well, they are entitled to their understanding of this, and their description of this. We in NATO do not want to see a cold war. We do not talk about it. It is not what we want to happen or anticipate happening. We're a defensive alliance who are arraying ourselves to face a challenge we see. That challenge is a nation that once again decided that it will use force to change internationally recognized borders. And so we take those appropriate actions to be able to assure, defend, and deter. [Robertson:] Now, the Russian prime minister's tone there, rather sort of defensive, if you will, came after a lot of criticism here in Munich, and particularly right after the French prime minister had said NATO has got to stop bombing civilians around Aleppo rather, Russia has to stop bombing civilians around Aleppo, that Russia is continuing to back and support Bashar al Assad even though the Russian foreign minister just a couple days ago agreed to a cessation of hostilities in Syria in less than a week's time now. So that's why I think we're hearing the Russian prime minister is getting a little hot under the collar about the pressure he's taking here. [Whitfield:] All right, Nic Robertson, thank you so much, joining us from Munich. I want to bring in CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier. So Kim, you just heard the NATO commander's response. Should NATO and the White House take this cold war rhetoric very seriously? [Kimberly Dozier, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] I think they understand that it is rhetoric. Russia watchers say they're less in a cold war than a hot peace. You don't have both powers pointing nuclear weapons at each other as they once did in the cold war. What you have instead is Russia using force to protect its client states or its client communities on the ground, and the U.S. and NATO pushing back. Only today Secretary of State John Kerry again called Russia aggressive. So when you have that kind of language, you have to expect it to come back from the other side. Yet in the background there's still working quietly ahead on things, as you mentioned, on the Syrian fighting, but also on nuclear deterrence. That new 2011 START treaty, where each side reports to each other, how many nuclear missiles it has, that's still holding. If stuff like that starts falling apart, that's when you really get worried. [Whitfield:] And then how might this impact what is taking place in Syria as it pertains to any commitments the west wants to make, what Russia is or is not doing in Syria? [Dozier:] Well, it's as if each side is messaging its audience that it's doing all it can to stop the fighting. But that Russia has said it's very skeptical even a cessation of hostilities will hold and is continuing to back its state, Assad, Syrian forces. And those forces are continuing to press forward encircling Aleppo. And Russia says it will keep, quote-unquote, "targeting terrorist forces." The U.S. say you're not targeting terrorists. You're targeting U.S.-backed rebels who are legitimate opposition forces on the ground. So you see the war of words still playing itself out on the ground. It's hard to see that stopping anytime soon. [Whitfield:] All right, Kim Dozier, thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, still ahead, the six remaining Republican candidates facing off tonight in South Carolina. What will tonight's debate look like? We'll talk about it, next, in the Newsroom. [Baldwin:] Republican vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, today dismissing any speculation he and Donald Trump are at odds on their positions on Syria. Pence insists they're on the same page, even though during the debate last night, Trump flat-out contradicted Pence's idea about using military force when asked about how to stop the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate:] He and I haven't spoken and I disagree. I disagree. [Martha Raddatz, Debate Moderator:] You disagree with your running mate? [Trump:] We've got to knock out ISIS. Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS. We have people that want to fight both at the same time. But Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is Russia and it's Iran. I believe we have to get ISIS. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved. [Pence:] The question I had and you can check the transcript, so can your viewers was about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo and what we ought to do. Donald Trump's Trump position, our position is that we need to establish safe zones. You need to be willing to use you need to be willing to use resources, and including military power, to secure those safe zones to allow those people, including 100,000 children, to be able to evacuate. Last night, she conflated that and referred to general provocation and involvement by the Russians, the Syrian regime. You know, Donald Trump's made it clear, our policy is safe zones for people suffering in Syria. [Baldwin:] So, we really wanted to hone in on the Syria issue. Clarissa Ward, we're coming straight to you, our senior international correspondent. You've covered Syria extensively. One take away from that initial statement from Trump, he said he hasn't talked to his running mate, number one. Number two, he said Aleppo is a disaster. He said he doesn't like Assad. But, quote, "Assad is killing ISIS." When you heard that, did you read that as Trump praising Assad? What did you make of his response? [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] What I made of his response is essentially he's branding himself as sort of an apologist for Assad and Russia and Iran and the action those three forces have taken combined together inside Syria. What he's essentially saying it is unfortunately that they're killing all these other people, but they're also killing ISIS. To a certain extent, that is true. Russia did, with Assad's forces, take back the ancient city of Palmyra from ISIS. We have seen Iranian military advisers in Iraq advising and helping with the fight against ISIS in Iraq. So there is some truth to that. But what it ignores is the larger picture which shows quite clearly that ISIS has thrived precisely because of Assad's atrocities. It has grown as a result of the vacuum left by the Syrian civil war. And when you spend time in Aleppo, as I do, you see and understand firsthand how it is that this devastating humanitarian conflict is quickly turning into an incubator for extremism. What also confused me is that Donald Trump also says he would like to see safe zones. So, on the one hand, he seems to be willing to let Assad do his thing, along with Russians and Iranians. But it would be interesting for me to see how he plans to implement these safe zones, because this is an idea that obviously has been put forward by many different diplomats at many different junctures in this conflict. The reality is that the Assad regime has not been amenable to that, nor have its Russian backers. So there's a lot of confliction in the Syrian policy he articulates Brooke? [Baldwin:] So that was Trump. This was Hillary Clinton's response to what she would do in Syria. [Clinton:] I would not use American ground forces in Syria. I think that would be a very serious mistake. I don't think American troops should be holding territory, which is what they would have to do as an occupying force. I don't think that is a smart strategy. I do think the use of Special Forces, which we're using, the use of enablers and trainers in Iraq, which has had some positive effects, are very much in our interests. [Baldwin:] It sounded to me that her response was very similar to the strategy of the current administration. When President Obama himself was asked about Syria last month, he said it haunts him. You know, in terms of helping in the war then, what did you hear enough in her response? [Ward:] One very major difference from President Barack Obama, she said she would like to see a no-fly zone implemented in Syria. That would offer some kind of protection to the civilians who have live under that relentless bombardment for five years now. But she didn't give any details on how that no-fly zone would be implemented. The jury is not out on this one. A lot of analysts are saying, hold on, that's a major military investment. It would require potentially escalating the conflict in Syria even further because it is the Russian fighter jets who are ruling the skies over northern Syria right now, not the U.S. But certainly, this is a significant departure from the policy of President Barack Obama, and potentially one that the people of Syria would very much welcome Brooke? [Baldwin:] Well, you're the one to talk to, having testified at the United Nations and being to Syria multiple times. Clarissa Ward, thank you for your voice. Coming up next, inside the shocking hot-mic moment shaking up the current presidential election. Up next, we'll talk to a former producer for "Access Hollywood," his thoughts on who might have leaked that 2005 video between Trump and Billy Bush, and is there more from where that came from? [John King, Cnn:] Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. Thanks for sharing your Sunday morning, as we deal with sad and stunning breaking news. The death of the Supreme Court's conservative intellectual powerhouse, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia. The death of perhaps the court's most polarizing member immediately set off a monumental election year battle. Two giant questions will shape that fight: Who wins the war of wills now between President Obama and Senate Republicans? They say the next president should fill this vacancy. The current president says the country cannot afford to wait a year. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibilities to nominate a successor in due time. There will be plenty of time for me to do so and for the Senate to fulfill its responsibility to give that person a fair hearing and a timely vote. [King:] The big question: how does the vacancy change a volatile presidential campaign in which what was a hypothetical debate about court picks is now a reality and a flash point? [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] The next president needs to appoint someone with a proven conservative record similar to Justice Scalia. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] We are one justice away from a Supreme Court that will strike down every restriction on abortion adopted by the states. [King:] Plus, a feisty and at times ugly Republican presidential debate headed into a huge week in presidential politics. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] The weakest person on this stage by far on illegal immigration is Jeb Bush. They come out of an act of love. [Bush:] If you want to talk about weakness, you want to talk about weakness, it's weak to disparage women. [Trump:] I don't disparage. [Bush:] It's weak to disparage Hispanics. [Trump:] I don't disparage. [Bush:] It's weak it's weak to denigrate the disabled. [King:] Feisty night. We'll get to that in a moment. With us to share their reporting and their insights, Julie Pace of "The Associated Press", CNN's Manu Raju, Ryan Lizza of "The New Yorker", and Jackie Kucinich of "The Daily Beast". Let's start with the death of Justice Scalia, a sad moment, and a big political fight that started within seconds, almost sad that that happened so quickly. This is not just about President Obama and Senate Republicans in an election year war of wills. This is about the ideological balance of the Supreme Court. So many decisions in recent years have been 5-4, 5-4, and the conservative majority has won. A Democratic president now has a chance to make his third pick and to reshape the court for years. We would have it would be the Obama court with this. So, inside the White House, you spend a lot of time covering the president, they think they're going to move forward, but do they think they can win? Do they think they can get the country to put enough pressure on Senate Republicans to force a vote? [Julie Pace, Ap White House Correspondent:] They're going to try. I mean, this is going to be the fight of Obama's final year in office. If he though he was going to spend a lot of time on other issues, I think those kinds of gotten put by the wayside. This certainly came as a surprise to them. You know, often when you have justices that are retiring, you get a little advanced notice at the White House. This is as much of a surprise to them as anybody. And I think they see that this as a real affront to the president's authority. They've seen Republicans try to paint him as essentially an illegitimate president previously, and I think you're going to see Obama go to the mat on this. It will be challenging for him to pick a nominee who can even stand a chance of getting a vote in the Senate. He'd probably have to pick someone who is a little more moderate. There are some options out there right now. But I do not think you're going to see the White House back away from this at all. [King:] And let's talk about the court for a minute, before we get into the raw politics. Justice Scalia calls himself an originalist. He says his job is to not to make new law. His job is to go back to the Founding Fathers. I want you to listen before we talk about the consequential cases. This is the justice talking a couple years ago to Piers Morgan about what he thinks the most important job he had in the Supreme Court, and how he thinks he helped shape the other justices. [Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Associate Justice:] I sleep very well at night knowing that I'm doing what I'm supposed what I'm supposed to do, which is to apply to apply the Constitution. I do not always like the result. Very often, I think the result is terrible. But that's not my job. I'm not king. [King:] He's a hero to conservatives because he says read the Federalist Papers. Read the Constitution. If it's not there, it's not there. So, he says there's no Roe v. Wade, he says there's no same-sex marriage. Before the court now, you have affirmative action cases. Senator Cruz, you heard in the debate, said maybe state restrictions on abortion could come back in. There are voting rights cases. I mean, in terms of the next 25 years of American and legal history, if President Obama gets his pick, it's huge. [Ryan Lizza, Washington Correspondent, The New Yorker:] It's huge and, look, a lot of liberals and conservatives have argued that Scalia is the most influential jurist in the last 30 years. And that's why this pick is so much different than any of the Bush era, any of the Obama era, even of the Clinton era, because you have a conservative and arguably the most conservative member of the court who is going to be replaced by a liberal or a moderate, right? We haven't had that in a very, very long time. Obama previous picks were replacing liberals, right, liberals with liberals. Bush was replacing conservatives with conservatives. So, it's not an exaggeration that the ideological balance of the court is at stake here, and that's what makes this so unique. I think the first shot by the Republicans was, let's try and pressure President Obama not to even nominate someone. That lasted about an hour, right? The appointments clause, Article 2 Section 2 of the Constitution says the presidential shall nominate President Obama has a quarter of his second term left. He's obviously within his rights to nominate someone. Now, the Senate will have to accept or reject or not get or perhaps not vote at all. [King:] That's the fascinating point. If this came after the conventions in the summertime, you could flatly understand the Republican argument, we're too close. We can't get it done. We can't do the hearings. We can't do the background check. We don't have time. Leave it to the next president but 11 months. And to your point, can the president travel the country holding up a Constitution and say I thought you guys were the constitutional conservatives. This is my power. And we elect presidents for four- year terms. I've got almost an entire year left. You can't shut down me. I was elected by the American people. And you can't shut down the court or essentially guarantee a punch bunch of 4-4 decisions, which means no decisions on tough issues. [Jackie Kucinich, Daily Beast Senior Politics Editor:] Particularly with a group of Republicans that talk a lot about the Constitution, that someone like Ted Cruz who claims to be a constitutionalist. Now, Ted Cruz, I think, will be under the most scrutiny, arguably, during this process because he's someone no matter what he says, we have a piece up on "The Daily Beast" about how effusive he was about [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] And, John, you know, getting back to your point, it will be a long time before a Supreme Court nominee will be replaced if Republicans do not allow a vote this year. It usually takes a few months to go through the legislative process. So, if they waited until the next president, we're looking into maybe may, June of next year, and that will be a long time for 4- 4 cases and a Supreme Court and Republicans could get a lot of heat for it. The one thing I think that may cause them to break is if a lot of these blue-state Republicans, particularly in tough re-election races in the Senate in Ohio, in New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Illinois, those members start to break and start to pressure McConnell to hold a vote on the Senate floor and Chuck Grassley to hold a vote in the Judiciary Committee, that could change the balance. But, right now, they're trying to [King:] And I think that balance will change only if President Obama can change public opinion, can get out in the states and campaign and change the environment. Because otherwise we have gridlock. I was going to say Armageddon in Washington, but Armageddon would imply action. If the Republicans won't give the president his pick, then you can bet the Democrats are not going to give Republicans anything. They'll just tie up the Senate and will essentially say might as well go campaign. But the question going forward is, do the Democrats get involved in this? Do Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders say allow the vote, but how does the president I'm fascinated by the point he's got 11 months left. How does he change this? [Pace:] I think he is going to have to apply some pressure on people like Kelly Ayotte, on Mark Kirk, on Rob Portman, who are looking at re-election potentially in a difficult year for Republicans in the Senate. I think it's going to be really important that he picks a candidate who Republicans would have a hard time turning down. One option would be to pick somebody like Sri Srinivasan who was recently confirmed unanimously by the same Senate, by the same exact Senate, pick an historic candidate. If he went with Sri Srinivasan, who would be the first Indian American, if he went with another woman, if he went with an African-American woman or man, then that just ramps up the pressure on Republicans to block not only this president but an historic candidate. [Lizza:] That's what changes the debate right away. Right now there's no face out there. There's no person, right? It's all theoretical. Once the White House actually has a name with a record and perhaps someone who's voted on in the is that the [King:] Does that person say sure, Mr. President, do it or does that person understand the meat grinder they would go into? [Kucinich:] I think they have to. I think they have to. And the other thing with Obama is him getting out here and nominating someone quickly, because the conservative machine is going to be out there saying oh, my gosh, he's going to he's going to nominate Holder. They're going to start really vilifying this person before they're even out of the gate. [Raju:] The person to watch, of course, is Mitch McConnell who claimed he's an institutionalist [King:] Who the Republican base probably dislikes more than they dislike President Obama. He's an institutionalist and he believes in the power of the Senate for advice and consent. When he was under a lot of pressure on Loretta Lynch, he eventually led a confirmation vote even if people like Cruz were saying do not let her get confirmed. We'll see if he breaks this time, though, because the stakes are much higher. [Lizza:] I think one mistake is Republicans say out of the gate saying essentially, we won't have a vote or we won't approve anyone that is nominated, rather than waiting for the person and then actually having a reason to vote against them. Because right now they look like they are dead set against any confirmation no matter who it is. [King:] We'll talk more about this later in the program. But up next, it's Valentine's Day. So where's the love? Well, not at the Republican debate last night. We'll get to the hard feelings in a moment. But first, politicians say the darnedest things. Here you go a special Valentine from the president to the first lady. [Obama:] Michelle, this Valentine's Day I'm going to treat you right. I'm going to make you some zucchini bread. Then I'll spread out some veggies on a plate. Just the way you like them. Because I love you so much, I Obamacare about you more than you even know. That's right. Obama cares. [King:] Much more on the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the crackling political fallout in a moment. But let's turn now to the Republican race for president and last night's feisty debate. Former President George W. Bush will campaign in South Carolina for his brother, Jeb, tomorrow. And he was very much a debating point last night. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. We have destabilized the Middle East. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none, and they knew there were none. There were no weapons of mass destruction. [Moderator:] OK. All right. Governor Bush. [Bush:] I am sick and tired of him going after my family. My dad is the greatest man alive in my mind. While Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe. And I'm proud of what he did. [King:] That's one of several very feisty exchanges, Donald Trump blaming George W. Bush. Also when Jeb Bush was responding, he said, "Your brother didn't keep us safe. 911 happened on his watch." Donald Trump was clearly unnerved at the crowd, which is establishment Republicans. The Bush family brand is still pretty good in South Carolina. And Donald Trump was essentially waving at them saying this is the corporate lobbyists and donors and the like. On one hand, you could say Trump seemed to lose his cool a lot. That will hurt him. On the other hand, we say we've watched this play out over the years, and with his core supporters, does it help him? [Raju:] That's the question. I mean, every time we think that trump is going to go down in the polls, he goes back up. It was remark building to see how rattled Trump gets. Any bit of criticism even from some boos in the crowd. You can see him get angry and call people out where other candidates Rubio, for instance, was getting booed or heckled at one point just talked over the boos and tried to ignore it. Not Trump. He seems to get pulled into a tit for tat with audience members. And also Jeb Bush, too. Jeb Bush is not nearly the kind of target that Donald Trump for Donald Trump in a threat for Donald Trump in South Carolina the way that Ted Cruz is. But Donald Trump time and time he kept going after Jeb Bush just because Jeb Bush gets under his skin. [Kucinich:] Jeb Bush has a lot gotten better about responding to Trump and getting under he's figured out how to get under Trump's skin, and that's been fascinating to watch, because Jeb Bush four months ago would have wilted under that sort of Trump attack. [Raju:] Yes, no more low energy Jeb. [Lizza:] The first time last night Jeb earned the exclamation point at the end of his name, right? You know, I think what's interesting about this is Trump went left on a few issues, at least for Republicans. It is not popular to accuse George W. Bush of being responsible for 911. It is in South Carolina, the war in Iraq is most voters do not have the view that Trump has. He talked about Planned Parenthood in a positive way at one point. The fascinating thing about Trump's success so far is that he has managed to win voters despite his heresies on a whole number of issues, when you have candidates like Cruz and Trump trying to tell the Republican electorate, this guy is not of us. He's not a true conservative. And will this finally change in South Carolina? Can his opponents finally crack the code on Trump and get the voters to say wait a second, he's not a conservative. And you have to wonder if the Scalia death plays into that. [King:] That's an interesting point. And one quick fact check: Donald Trump repeated again last night that he was an early opponent of the Iraq war. Simply not the case. If you look in 2003, before the war, there's no public record of Trump saying, don't do this. There is in 2004 after the war was going south, he did became very vocal in saying Bush was mangling the administration of the war. But he kept saying that he was out there vocally before the war. And Mr. Trump, if there's public record, send it on in. We love to see it. But it doesn't exist if you go looking for it. Let's move on to your point you're making, because you would think that he'd be more on in a fight with Ted Cruz, who has an evangelical base in South Carolina than Jeb Bush. And he has been on Twitter first, repeatedly in recent days tweeting about Ted Cruz, including this one just before the debate, "Ted Cruz is a cheater. He holds the bible high and then lies and misrepresents the facts." And then in the debate last night, Trump and Cruz head to head. [Trump:] Single biggest liar, you probably are worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar. And today, we had robocalls saying Donald Trump is not going to run in South Carolina where I'm leading by a lot. I'm not going to run vote for Ted Cruz. This is the same thing he did to Ben Carson. This guy will say anything. Nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of these colleagues. [Cruz:] Donald didn't disagree with the substance that he supports taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood. And Donald has this weird pattern. When you point to his own record, he screams "liar, liar, liar". [King:] The stakes for these two guys are enormous. If Trump can get a win in South Carolina on Saturday after his big win in New Hampshire, then he heads south. He talks about the wall. He talks about amnesty. He talks about banning Muslims. And you'd have to say he's in pretty strong shape heading into the southern primaries. If Cruz gets the win, same thing. He's the conservative candidate. You mentioned the Supreme Court pick in the mix. And he's going into a Super Tuesday SEC primary where most of the states have a high percentage of evangelical and Tea Party voters. That was not a surprise. Did anybody win that confrontation? [Pace:] I don't know if anybody won it, but it's clear where the battle lines are drawn. I think that Cruz has potentially a slight advantage because he can claim the outsider mantel in the same way that Trump can simply because he is so loathed by GOP leaders, but he does have an extremely conservative record that he could fall back on. And I think some of the most effective ads and most effective attacks against Trump over the last several weeks have been pointing to statements he's made, you know, as recently as a couple years ago which make him look a lot more liberal. So, if Cruz can either win in South Carolina or stay very close to Trump, I do think he has a good playing field in front of him. [Raju:] It's interesting to hear the "L" word, liar, being used. [Pace:] Over and over. [Raju:] Not just by Trump but also Marco Rubio in that fight over immigration. It just shows that Cruz really occupies a level of support that both Trump and Rubio need to tap into to have a pretty successful night. [King:] They're trying to say essentially Ted Cruz is a fraud. He keeps telling you he's the consistent conservative. He's the guy you've always wanted. He won't blink. He won't back down. They're trying to make the case that's not true. [Lizza:] That word used to be a real red line in politics. I think on the Senate floor, you're not allowed to use that. Rubio had called [Raju:] He did against McConnell. [Lizza:] You couldn't do that. So, Rubio calling him a liar was a little surprising. You have to wonder if Ted Cruz is a little regrets hugging Donald Trump for all of 2015. Now, he's trying to make the case against him. He was the person that helped allow Trump's rise, but by hugging him, giving him conservative credentials all that time through 2015. Cruz's problem if you look at exit polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, he does very well with higher income evangelicals, more white-collar evangelicals, but Trump is winning blue-collar evangelicals, and that's what he has to Cruz has to do in South Carolina is win them back. [Kucinich:] Cruz is just banking on Donald Trump not being around this far in the contest. And it just hasn't happened for him. I do wonder, though, if and maybe this is, you know, out there, but I wonder if someone like a John Kasich actually had the best night of everybody, because he didn't engage with anybody. He actually kept to his message over and over and over again, even when people tried to engage him, he stayed positive. So, I wonder if there is a section in the electorate [King:] And he essentially said Hillary Clinton is going to win if we keep fighting like this, and here's another example, the fighting that Kasich was talking about. And to your point about Rubio also going after Cruz, immigration is a huge issue with the Republican base. Ted Cruz has tried to say, you know, Marco Rubio was with the gang of eight, which he was. He supported a bill in the Senate that called for a path to citizenship. They went into it, too. [Cruz:] Marco went on Univision in Spanish and said he would not rescind President Obama's illegal executive amnesty on his first day in office. I have promised to rescind every single illegal executive action including that one. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] First of all, I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision because he doesn't speak Spanish. And second of all, the other point that I would make [Rubio:] This is a disturbing pattern. For a number of weeks Ted Cruz has been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about Planned Parenthood. He lies about marriage. He's lying about all sorts of things. Now, he makes things up. And here's the truth Ted Cruz supported legalizing people that were in this country illegally and only now that he's saying [Cruz:] That is not true. That is absolutely false. What he said is knowingly false. [King:] Nine debates in, clearly they're tired of each other. They don't like each other. Any pretense of civility is gone. The liar plus they understand the stakes of where we are on the calendar. [Raju:] Right, and we've seen the fight between Cruz and Rubio play out over this issue of immigration. Both men, actually to be fair, are muddying their own records and taking a harder line than they did in that 2013 debate. But it's really interesting to see the Rubio and Cruz battle really play out here. Both men want the other to go away. They want to make the race a two-man race between them and Donald Trump. And the worse they do in South Carolina could go [King:] That was critical for Rubio, too, because of the bad debate in New Hampshire. So, how do you have people to give him OK? Not forgiven but at least you get a second chance? [Pace:] He was much more fluid in this debate. A lot of the things that he said certainly you would have heard in his speeches, it didn't come across quite as stilted as he did the other debate. But very important in South Carolina that the RubioBushKasich win stay close, because if Trump and Cruz pull away after South Carolina, if you look at where the map goes after that, it's hard to see where the establishment fights back. [Lizza:] To coin a phrase, I think Rubio knew exactly what he was doing. [King:] Very good. Still ahead, the Democratic race is getting feisty, too. Plus, the latest on the death of Justice Antonin Scalia and the debate over filling a vacancy that could swing the ideological balance of the nation's highest court. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. A short time ago, we got word that tennis executive, Raymond Moore, will step down as CEO of the BNP Paribas Open in California. That decision came after he made statements that stunned many people in and out of the sport. [Raymond Moore, Ceo, Bnp Paribas Open:] They ride on the coattails of the men. They don't make any decision and they're lucky. They're very, very lucky. If I was a lady player, I would go down every night on my knees and thank god that Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were born because they carried the sport. [Sesay:] Serena Williams quickly responded. [Serena Williams, Tennis Pro:] There's only one way to interpret that, get on your knees, which is offensive enough, and thank a man, which is not we, as women, have come a long way. And we shouldn't have to drop to our knees at any point. [Sesay:] The World Tennis Association also condemned the comments saying they go against its code of conduct. [Vause:] Now, the response to Moore's comments from the top-ranked men's player is raising eyebrows, raising the issue of equal male and female payers. He says that male players should play for more because there's more spectators for the men's matches. Joining us is Denise White, CEO and founder of the sports management firm, Entertainers and Athletes Group. Thank you so much for joining us. [Denise White, Ceo & Founder, Entertainers And Athletes Group:] Thank you for having me. [Sesay:] The comments by Raymond Moore are deplorable. He's resigned. But the bigger issue here, and we touched upon this, he is gone but he is speaking to this culture, this think process, that still exists in sport. [White:] Unfortunately, I think a lot of his comments are indicative of his generation. The problem with that is a lot of his generation is still running the tournament. I think it was amazing, wonderful, great, that he resigned. He needed to. But I think we need to start getting people in place that have a view that women's sports is just as equal, if not better, than men's sports. When you have people running it all starts from the top-down. When you have people that are running an organization, whatever sports organization that is, that has that type of idealism that women are lesser than men, that's how everyone is going to view it. But the minute you change that idea, you change that process, you change that conversation, that's when we start to have change in women sports. [Vause:] How do you change that? In tennis, women don't get equal time on the top courts. Men's finals end the tournament. It seems like the women's events are the de facto event. How do you make the switch, the Australian open finishes with the women's singles instead of the men's? [White:] That, again, comes from the top-down, from commercialism, to television, where the viewership comes from. It has to come from those heads of whether a [Vause:] Can't this be driven by the viewers and the fans? [White:] Absolutely, it can. But not enough people are vocal about it. We have Serena and other women, part of the tour, talking about it. Sometimes women are more reserved in speaking about what we want. We have been taught, don't talk about what you want, don't tell everyone that we should be at the top of something, or the lead of something, or the CEO of a company. It's, be pretty, be quiet, go home, have babies. [Sesay:] To that point, just to pick up on your thought process there, should we see the women band together more? Should we see more collective action on the part of women? [White:] Absolutely. Absolutely. Billie Jean King said something great today and it resonated. She was a pioneer for the sport, so many years ago. If we can get that thought process going and get the conversation going again. But really start making people at the top start changing and making different decisions when it comes to women's sports. That's where really, it starts. [Vause:] You mentioned 7 percent of all women sports. [White:] 7 percent of all women sports are televised. [Vause:] Televised. [White:] 93 percent of men's. [Vause:] Let's play devil's advocate. If there was a viewership, people would want to watch it. People want viewers. If there was demand for it, they would put it out. [White:] I think there is demand for it. I don't think it's getting heard. [Sesay:] Agreed. At the end of the day, they're getting the advertising dollars, getting paid. The people in the companies recognize the value of the women. [White:] Absolutely. That's where you try to figure out where the disconnect is. Everything from Dove to Clairol to Maybelline, these women are selling products. These women are sports athletes. Where is the disconnect that we don't have more dollars for women to have more viewership on more networks? Where is that disconnect? And it comes from the top. [Vause:] Great points. [Sesay:] Great points, Denise. [Vause:] Appreciate it. [Sesay:] Appreciate it. [White:] Thank you for having me. [Sesay:] Thank you. [Vause:] We would like to talk more but we're out of time. [Sesay:] I'm Isha Sesay. The news continues with Rosemary Church and Errol Barnett right after this. [Erin Burnett, Erin Burnett Outfront:] OutFront next. Breaking news. The FBI Director, "incredulous" over President Trump accusing Obama of wiretapping his phones. And tonight, the White House won't say whether Trump has confidence in the FBI Director James Comey. And more breaking news. Republicans unveiling their bill to repeal parts of Obamacare, what does it leave in place and the meeting filled with expletives. Sources say, the president accusing his staff of fumbling. We have new details behind Trump's rage. Let's go out front. And good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. We begin with the breaking news. Incredulous, a source telling CNN at this that FBI Director James Comey's reaction to President Trump's charge at former President Obama ordered his phones to be wiretapped during the campaign. We're also learning that Comey had FBI officials reach out to staff at the justice department over the weekend. Part of that discussion, a request that the justice department publicly knock down Trump's allegations. Also, tonight White House Spokesman Sean Spicer speaking to CNN moments ago dodging the question when asked twice if Comey has Trump's full faith and confidence to remain as director of the FBI. [Sara Murray, Cnn White House Correspondent:] What's the president's view of James Comey right now? Does he have the president's full faith and confidence to stay on as the FBI Director? [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] Well, I'm not I don't think we've only heard unsubstantiated anonymous sources make those claims. I don't think Director Comey's actually commented on anything that he has allegedly said, so I'm not I'm not going to comment on what people say he might have said. [Burnett:] That was Sara Murray you heard asking that question. She's OutFront at the White House at this moment. And Sara, look, this is the reality, the FBI and the White house seemingly at very, very serious odds tonight. [Murray:] That's right, Erin. There does seem to be some distance between the president and the FBI Director about his allegation that came seemingly out of the blue over the weekend, a serious allegation the notion that a former president wiretapped then presidential candidate Donald Trump. But if you think Trump is backing down from that allegation, no, think again. President Trump leveling a stunning attack at his predecessor, alleging without any evidence that former President Obama spied on him at Trump Tower. This weekend, Trump tweeted, how low has President Obama gone to tap my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon Watergate, bad or sick guy. His allegations appeared to have been inspired by a Breitbart article that was make its way around the White House. But since then [Spicer:] Absolutely not, no way. The president has made very clear that he wants the house and senate intelligence committees to look into anything in the 2016 election that may or may not have been proper with respect toss wiretaps or surveillance. We hope that they do that. [Murray:] Meanwhile, sources tell CNN that the FBI has asked the justice department to refute Trump's claim that Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump's phones last year. The FBI's request came because such a wiretap would be illegal. The president can't just order eavesdropping on a U.S. citizen. A court would have to approve the wiretap request and that would mean a judge would have had to have found sufficient evidence to do so. Today, Spicer declined to say whether FBI Director James Comey still has the president's full confidence. But what about the president with the FBI director? [Spicer:] I haven't asked him that yet. I think obviously he's focused today first and foremost on this effort to keep the country safe. [Murray:] Over the weekend, the former director of national intelligence also said he was aware of no such wiretapping during his tenure. [James Clapper, Former Director Of Natural Intelligence:] For the part of the national security apparatus that I oversaw as DNI, there was no such wiretap activity mounted against the president the president- elect at the time or as a candidate or against his campaign. [Murray:] As for Obama, a spokesman for the former president insisted he's never ordered surveillance of any U.S. citizen saying a cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. Even members of the Republican Party said they weren't sure what the president was referring to. [Sen. Marco Rubio, Florida:] If it's true, obviously, we're going to find out very quickly and if it isn't then obviously he'll have to explain what he meant by it. [Murray:] Now the President Trump's tweet came ahead of a very busy week for him. He has the new travel ban that they unveiled today as well as the new plan to plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. There is some on the hill who believe that this wiretapping allegations could be a distraction from that agenda, Sean Spicer dismissed that notion today and basically said, look, we can all walk and chew gum at the same time. Erin? [Burnett:] All right. Sara, thank you very much. And well, the White House would not say today whether the president still has confidence in the FBI Director, James Comey, we are getting new information now as to what Comey thinks about the president's claims of wiretapping. And Pamela Brown is OutFront with that breaking news in Washington. Pam, what are you learning about what the FBI director says? PAMELA BROWN, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Erin, we're learning that the FBI director had a level of disbelief, if you will, after the president tweeted that the past president, President Obama, ordered a wiretap of his phones during the campaign. Of course, as Sara mentioned, a president can't order a wiretap of a phone and the FBI acts independently of the president when it comes to going to the FISA courts to ask for a warrant to wiretap them in phone. And so, in response to this, Director Comey of the FBI was concerned that this allegation could be bad for the FBI's reputation given the magnitude of the allegation and the fact that he believed he knows it was wrong, according to a person familiar with the matter. And so that was really behind what we saw, what we reported on over the weekend. Staffers in the FBI reaching out to career personnel at the Department of Justice asking for DOJ to come out and publicly knock down this allegation and say that it's simply not true. As we know, that has not happened, Erin, and we're told by a person familiar that there was a level of frustration with the FBI Director that that hasn't happened. But, of course, this is really a unique and interesting situation where you have the director of the FBI seemingly at odds with the president. All right. Thank you very much. It certainly is. Pamela Brown, thank you. And OutFront now, Republican Congressman Chris Stewart who sits on the intelligence committee. And Congressman, I appreciate your time this evening. You just heard, the FBI Director incredulous of President Trump's accusations. And I don't know if you heard but Sean Spicer, the press secretary refused twice to say that Trump has confidence in Director Comey. Do you in the intelligence committee, do you have confidence in James Comey tonight? [Chris Stewart, United States Representative For The 2nd District Of Utah:] Yes. We do. I think he's one of the finest men in government, I think he's shown integrity in some very, very difficult political situations and we have much to learn. I mean, the reality is there's no reason for us not to have trust and confidence in Director Comey at this time and in the investigations going forward, we'll be working with Director Comey on that. He's been very forthright with us in the past and I would expect he would continue to act that way. [Burnett:] Now, you have confidence in him but the reality of it is of course, Congressman, the president has made a huge allegation and he has presented no evidence for it, right? It was out of the blue, I think everybody was dumbfounded, you, us, everybody. Should he be making a claim like this publicly and then not putting any proof out? [Stewart:] Well, it is a serious claim and it is much better if we have some evidence to support it at the same time. But the problem is it's not the only time we've seen that. For the last few weeks we've seen this narrative that previous Trump administration or that there are campaign officials were in some way colluding with the Russian government to manipulate the campaign, that certainly been a story that we've heard. Again, without any evidence that officials have had to say we don't have evidence to support that. I don't think either one of these is very helpful. I think it's better if we have a serious and a delivered investigation as a house intelligence committee has been permitted to do. We started this investigation by the way, not in the last month or so, we start today in September. And I think it's better if we do that and probably don't have as much political grandstanding and a little less a little less focus on the cameras, a little more focus on finding out the truth and reporting to the American people. [Burnett:] And the truth is important, I do want to say in terms of what we reported. Again, it has been constant communications between the Trump campaign not colluding and constant communications of course, we've had evidence out but colluding no, at this point, no, nor have we reported that. But on this issue of wiretapping, right? The president could clear this up so quickly, Congressman. If there's proof he knows about it. If a request to wiretap him came as he alleges from the Obama White House, he has the ability to declassify that request, could he that right now? And that would mean you, the American public, you, me, we all see the allegations and the requests. So, if the request exists, why isn't he declassifying it and letting us all see the classified information? [Stewart:] You know [Burnett:] But just because he comes out and alleges something is true on Twitter, is it is it worth you running it down, spending time and resources to run it down just because he said it's true with no evidence thus far? [Stewart:] You know, I was asked that in an earlier interview today and I and I and I had to say, look, this is the president of the United States making a very serious accusation. I don't know how we could ignore it. And that would be true regardless of what the accusation was and regardless of who the president was. If any president says this type of serious behavior took place then we have a responsibility to tell the American people either it did or it didn't. I don't know how we could just say, well, you know, that seems that seems unlikely therefore [Burnett:] We didn't know he have no evidence, he's the president so it carries merit just on that basis of his office. [Stewart:] Well, yes, yes, yes. Just like for example we're pursuing allegations of improper conduct between individuals and perhaps Russian intelligence and we don't have evidence of that either. But some of the accusations have been made and so we need to answer that question. [Burnett:] Well, the president was I mean, been on that, U.S. Intelligence deemed it important enough to brief the president on a 32-page dossier, right? With the pool aside with James Comey at the FBI. We have since learned that some of the conversations in that dossier between Russian nationals did take place. I mean, there are some facts that go with that including U.S. intelligence deemed it important enough to brief the president. This isn't just a tweet from the president. [Stewart:] Well, as there are I think in background now and this is not me speaking as member of the intelligence committee, this is background on what's been recorded by other entities within the press. Let's say that, you know, that they did go to FISA courts in June and they were declined and so they went back I believe in October. And they [Burnett:] Right. But he could declassify this, so we could all see what the allegations were. [Stewart:] Well, that's true but again, I'm just giving you an indication that there was some indication that, you know, there was some reason to believe that. So I'm going to let the president answer that. Again, I haven't counseled with him on this, I don't know what his thinking is. I would encourage all of us, not just the president but all of our organizations and entities. Declassified information as appropriately as we can, as quickly as we can. I think we do need to investigate it, the American people want to know if it's true or not. I think we owe them that type of an answer. [Burnett:] Yes. Well, part of the reason I'm asking this issue about him declassifying, right? Is that the President of the United States can't just order eavesdropping on a U.S. citizen. You referenced the FISA for it, right? A specialized judge has to deem the evidence and has go in and say here's the evidence that we believe as merit as of the wiretap and then that FISA court has to approve the wiretap. So there's a couple scenarios here. Either a judge found sufficient evidence of something going on in Trump Tower that required a wiretap, option one or Trump is falsely accusing President Obama. Both of those things are bad for President Trump, are they not? [Stewart:] Well, I don't know that there's, you know, if you're interested in creating a scenario that's bad for anyone individual here I think we can do that for a lot of different folks and a lot of hypothetical theories. I think the more important question here is once again, just getting to the truth, just answering the question for the American people. And, you know, the Intel Committee we work in a bipartisan way, we don't work with the cameras blazing in front of our faces. We've been had reputation on working across the aisle and being serious about our work. I hope and I expect we continue to do that because these questions that you're asking me tonight deserve to be answered and they deserve to be answered in a serious and thoughtful way that isn't politicized and it isn't done for a political advantage. [Burnett:] And before we go, Congressman, I do want to ask you about the other breaking news at this hour. We're getting our first look at the GOP leadership plan to replace Obamacare. Do you support it? [Stewart:] Well, I haven't seen it yet. Of course you know there's been all sorts of iterations of this. [Burnett:] Yes. [Stewart:] I sure the hope that I can I suppose that I will unless there's something, you know, dramatically different in that, this is something we promised the American people that we would support and I look forward to looking at it later tonight. [Burnett:] All right. Well, I appreciate your time, Congressman. Thank you for coming OutFront. [Stewart:] Thank you. You bet. [Burnett:] All right. And next, we have more breaking news. Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a letter to congress again insisting he did not lie during his confirmation hearings, it's a triple down. What's the reaction on Capitol Hill? One of the senate's top democrats OutFront this hour. And an angry president lashing out its staff in an expletive filled meeting according to a source. Why is he so angry tonight? And Jeanie Moos, on why Barbra Streisand is blaming president Trump for ruing her diet. [Asher:] Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Zain Asher. Let's get you caught up on your headlines at this hour. As fighting is intensifying in Aleppo, Russia is warning the U.S. against attacking the Syrian Army. The Russian Foreign Ministry says such an attack would have terrible consequence across the Middle East and could create a power vacuum that will be filled by terrorists. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov talked about possible steps to normalize the situation in Aleppo in a phone call on Saturday. The public is getting a look at one of the U.S. Republican presidential candidates' tax returns. The "New York Times" obtained portions of documents filed from 1995. They showed Donald Trump declaring a loss of $916 million which could have helped him avoid paying taxes paying taxes for many years. CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of those documents for now. And Haiti and Jamaica are bracing for Hurricane Matthew. Shoppers are stocking up on any supplies they can find. The powerful category 4 storm is expected to hit those countries on Monday. The Dominican Republic has also issued a tropical storm warning for its southern coast. And the Pope has just finished celebrating mass Sunday in Azerbaijan. It is the last leg of a three-day visit to the Caucasus region between Europe and Asia. He was in Georgia on Saturday and it's back to Rome later Sunday. Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher has been following the Pope's travels. She joins us live now from Azerbaijan. So, Delia, just explain to our audience, because Azerbaijan is a predominantly Muslim country. It only has a few hundred Catholics. So why did the Pope choose this country to visit? [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] Well, you know, Zain, probably precisely for that reason. It's such a tiny Catholic community. I mean, there is one Catholic Church in the entire country and that's the first place he went when he got off the plane, it's where he said mass. There are only seven priests, there are five nuns, they're Mother Theresa's Missionaries of Charity. And there's about 500 Catholics and most of those are not from Azerbaijan. They would be diplomats or people working for the oil companies here. That's a big part of their economy, obviously, in Azerbaijan. There's also a small community of Filipino workers. So the first priority, let's say, for the Pope whenever he travels is to visit with the Catholics of the country. Now normally those can number into the millions. But here we've got a small group of about 500 so it was the first thing that he wanted to do. But of course in the broader sort of political spectrum he's making this visit to these former Soviet republics. He began in Armenia in June, and then Friday and Saturday was in Georgia and now finishing up in Azerbaijan, as part of his interests in reaching out to those areas that are also involved in conflicts, in disputes. The Pope, we know, is a Pope of peace, so he comes with a message of peace and Azerbaijan is dealing with a border dispute with its neighboring Armenia, so the Pope is going now after lunch to speak to the government leaders here, and that will certainly be one of his main objectives, but one of the highlights here, as you mentioned, it is a predominantly Muslim country, so he will be visiting a mosque and the mosque here in Baku, in the capital city, is unique because it is one of the few mosques in the world where both Sunni and Shia Muslims pray together, and the leader of the community here, the Muslim leader, the Sheikh Pashazade, is the only Muslim cleric who is recognized by both branches of Islam. So that's going to be one of the things we're looking at this evening because there will be speeches both by the sheikh and by Pope Francis Zain. [Asher:] And Delia, before the Pope was in Azerbaijan, he was actually in Georgia and that was an interesting choice, as well, for the Pope to visit because there was a lot of tension between orthodox Christians in Georgia and the Catholic Church, and we're hearing that there were protests, as well. Just explain to us, I mean, how bad were these protests, are they still ongoing, even though the Pope has left. Just explain that situation there to us. [Gallagher:] Yes, it was kind of unusual because you don't normally see protests when you travel with Pope Francis, but I have to say it was a handful of fairly hardlined Orthodox protesters who are reflecting a dispute which frankly goes back a millennium, and that is the original split between the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, and they are suspicious of the Pope and the Vatican coming into their country, what they think maybe trying to convert the Orthodox to Catholicism. Those are animosities that go back a long way and are still kind of deeply entrenched and what the Vatican tries to do with the various Orthodox churches, there are Orthodox churches, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, et cetera, is you know, make these churches, make these trips, come and have dialogue and that's what the Pope spoke about yesterday. They are not coming to try to convert anybody, but they do want to have dialogue because they are both Christian churches. So that is what they call ecumenical outreach on the part of the Vatican. It's very important for them Zain. [Asher:] All right, Delia Gallagher, live for us there on the phone. Thank you so much. Appreciate that. All right, Donald Trump is trying to win over Bernie Sanders' young supporters and he's using a speech by Hillary Clinton to do it. A conservative Web site posted a clip of Clinton's speech back in February. It says it was obtained from a Clinton campaign staffer's hacked e-mail. Take a listen. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Some are new to politics completely. They're children of the great recession. And they are living in their parents' basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves. And they don't see much of a future. I think we all should be very understanding of that and we should try to do the best we can not to be, you know, a wet blanket on idealism. You want people to be idealistic. You want them to set big goals. But to take what we can achieve now and try to present them as bigger goals. [Asher:] And you heard Hillary Clinton there basically referencing younger voters living in their parents' basements. Well, now Trump is actually accusing Hillary Clinton of ridiculing Sanders and his supporters. Take a listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders supporters are hopeless and ignorant basement dwellers. Then, of course, she thinks people who vote for and follow us are deplorable and irredeemable. I don't think so. [Asher:] Now the Clinton campaign is not denying the clip's authenticity, but it is disputing Trump's interpretation of what Hillary Clinton said. The Clinton campaign actually issued a statement noting let me read it for you here. As Hillary Clinton said in those remarks, she wants young people to be idealistic and set big goals. She is fighting for exactly what the millennial generation cares most about, a fairer, more equal, just world." And Trump has spent much of his campaign in attack mode. He's never been afraid to go after anyone who he feels has insulted him. Our Sunlen Serfaty looks back at his history of feuds. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Donald Trump's penchant for public feuds didn't start with his foray into politics. They have been part of his persona as long as he's been in the public eye. One of his earliest squabbles was over 30 years ago with author Graydon Carter. A few Trump carries on to this day. Carter was the editor of "Spy" magazine in the '80s and referred to Trump as a, quote, "short-fingered Bulgarian." Trump had never let it go. Listen to Carter this year on [Npr. Graydon Carter, American Journalist:] He'll send me pictures, tear sheets from magazines, and then with a gold Sharpie, he'll circle his fingers and in his handwriting say, "See, not so short." And I know it just gives him absolute fits. [Serfaty:] Marco Rubio baited Trump with it during the debate, prompting this over-the-top response. [Trump:] Look at those hands. Are they small hands? If they're small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there's no problem. I guarantee you. [Serfaty:] And who could forget Rosie O'Donnell? That feud still going strong after a decade. It all started in 2006 when O'Donnell lambasted Trump as a hypocrite for almost taking the crown away from then Miss USA pageant winner Tara O'Connor after tabloids revealed her drinking and using drugs. Something that Trump finally publicly forgave her for but invoked O'Donnell's ire for the man known as a playboy. [Rosie O'donnell, Actress:] There he is, hair looping going, everyone deserves a second chance. [Serfaty:] Trump immediately doubled down. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Rosie O'Donnell is disgusting. I mean, both inside and out. You take a look at her, she's a slob. She talks like a like a truck driver. [Serfaty:] And it's a feud that lingers today with Trump actually mentioning O'Donnell during the first debate. [Megyn Kelly, Fox News:] You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. Your Twitter account [Trump:] Only Rosie O'Donnell. [Serfaty:] For a campaign desperate to modulate their presidential contender, Trump's consistent feuds and his inability to let go of them has proven even more problematic. The thin-skinned business titan going after Fox debate moderator, Megyn Kelly, back in March after Kelly brought up past derogatory remarks he had made against women. [Trump:] There was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever. [Serfaty:] In July, he continually clashed with the Khan family belittling the parents of Humayan Khan, a Muslim army captain killed in Iraq after they spoke out against him during the Democratic National Convention. [Trump:] His wife, if you look at his wife, she was standing there. She had nothing to say. [Serfaty:] And when it comes to those Twitter outbursts, his preferred way of needling his enemies, he had this to say to David Letterman. [Trump:] The Twitter thing, the tweeting thing does get you in trouble. You say things and you think it's so cute and so smart and it comes back to haunt you. [Serfaty:] Advice from the past that many are hoping he'll take now. Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Washington. [Asher:] We're going to have to squeeze in a quick break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, Columbians head to the polls in the coming hours to vote for a landmark referendum. They'll be saying yes or no to a peace deal with the country's rebels and now the FARC is making a dramatic offer to the victims of the conflict. We'll have details just ahead. Plus, a volcano spews ash and smoke over western Mexico. The eruption is affecting local villages. That's also ahead. [Blackwell:] Welcome back. I'm Victor Blackwell here in front of Dallas police headquarters. The police are defending their use of a bomb and this bomb-carrying robot to kill Micah Johnson after that standoff with officers. It really is a first of its kind takedown. Dallas police say they used a robot like the one you see here as a last resort. This was after negotiations failed and the gunman kept shooting at them. Johnson ambushed and killed officers during an anti-police brutality protests on Thursday, spraying bullet into the crowd. He hit two civilians, hit 12 officers. Five of those officers were killed. Now, Sara Sidner is here with me. First, they're defending it against whom or what? [Sara Sidner, Cnn National Correspondent:] It's an interesting question, because it isn't as if there is a large groundswell of people asking, why did they use this? There's a lot of people who recognize that the situation was extraordinary and they used extraordinary means to deal with it. So, we should be clear about that. But there's always the question of the slippery slope. When these should be used, since this has likely never been done before, exactly how they will use it and what are the decisions going into using something like this which is obviously going to create quite a bit of damage and kill whomever is anywhere in the vicinity of that blast radius. Let's talk a little bit about the actual device that they use. It was a remote tech, model F5, with a claw and arm extension, and on that claw and arm extension, it had C4, a whole pound of that explosive substance. That can do quite a bit of damage. It obviously ended up killing the suspect in this case. We should also mention exactly when all of this was going on. If you listen to what the police said, there were four officers who had already been shot and killed. And there was an officer who was likely killed during the negotiation which went on for hours. At some point the police decided, we have to do something or more officers are going to die. Here is what the police chief said about why they used this device. [Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. [Sidner:] So you heard there, it would expose our officers to grave danger. There will be questions going further about this. But I think in this particular situation, a lot of people are looking and saying this does appear to be their last resort. [Blackwell:] Yes. Sara Sidner, thanks so much. Let's expound this conversation now. I want to bring in Jeff Parks. He is homeland security and improvised explosives expert. He also served in the Army. Thank you for that service and thanks for being with us this morning, Jeff. [Jeff Parks, Homeland Security And Improvised Explosives Expert:] Thank you. Good morning. [Blackwell:] So, first, when Sara said remote tech model F5 with a claw and arm, I have to admit I glazed over a bit. I need for you to as plainly as possible in just a few seconds if you can explain what this is, what it's typically used for, because this use is a first of its kind. [Parks:] Bottom line is it's a remote controlled vehicle that's driven by an operator through a camera feed. It has a manipulating arm which is able to pick things up, put things down, extend and carry a package as it did in this case. [Blackwell:] All right. Thank you for that. Jeff, we hear now that the chief is defending the department's use of this robot and the bomb to kill the shooter. What do you think of the chief's decision to send in that robot? [Parks:] I think it was an excellent decision. I think the robot is there for high risk situations. In this case, it was carrying the explosive. That's actually one of the things these are designed to do. The difference was that you had the chief had made a decision that lethal force was authorized and they used it to carry the explosive to the shooter versus normally where it may be carrying it to another explosive device that you're going to disrupt. [Blackwell:] So less than a pound or roughly a pound of C-4 used here that was detonated to kill this shooter, can you put that explosion into context for us? I mean, without being too graphic and indelicate because of the hour, but put the explosion into context. [Parks:] I would say that's a significant amount of explosive. It was more than enough to do the job to neutralize this individual. [Blackwell:] OK. OK. Now the question is, this is a first. Does this lead potentially for this to happen more often? That this would be a more common use of this technology? What's your concern or do you have a concern about the possibility of this becoming more common? [Parks:] Victor, I think the key here was the unique part of this was you had a mass casualty situation. You had a police chief who had been forced to make the decision that this lethal force was authorized. And that's where police forces don't frequently go. So, that makes this more unique than the delivery method when was the robot. Once that decision was made, they had to eliminate this guy. You could use the robot or have to send a SWAT team. You wouldn't know, the SWAT team could have encountered improvised explosive devices, other bobby traps, and this guy was clearly well positioned. So by using the robot and a large amount of explosive, it kept them from putting those officers at risk. I don't think it's a slippery slope. Again, this robot is designed to investigate and carry a package or a bomb as it did here. So, the difference was not what it was carrying, but where it was carrying it. [Blackwell:] All right. Jeff Parks, part of the conversation this morning as the chief here proactively defending the use of the robot and the bomb here, as Sara Sidner just told us a couple of moments ago, not specifically questioned or challenged by any specific entity, but part of the explanation of what happened here. Again, Jeff Parks, thanks so much. [Parks:] Thank you. [Blackwell:] All right. So, this week the country really was torn from within by violence, carried out by police and carried out against them, we should say. The police chief here in Dallas says his profession is hurting. [Reporter:] Standing at a podium just hours after five of his officers were killed and seven others wounded by sniper fire, Dallas Police Chief David Brown speaks for them all. [Brown:] All I know is that this this must stop. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. Filmmaker Woody Allen kept his word and ignoring questions linked to allegations of past sexual abuse. His estranged son, Rowan Farrow wrote an opinion piece saying the media should challenge Allen on allegations of assaulting his sister. They asked about Farrow's essay, which called Allen a predator. The director told them he hasn't read it and never will. He told a "Variety" reporter, "I have said all I have to say about it." [Sesay:] In five weeks, voters in the U.K. will decide to whether or not to leave the European Union. Right now, though, Britons are caught up in Eurovision song contest. [Vause:] As CNN's Claire Sebastian reports, a clash of politics and entertainment have the British thinking about another sort of Brexit. [Claire Sebastian, Cnn Correspondent:] In this underground bar in London, you would never know Britain's place in Europe was even in question. [Sebastian:] This is a glimpse into the life of Britain's diehard Eurovision fans. They hold an event like this once every month throughout the year. Alasdair Rendall is president of the U.K. Eurovision fan club, which claims to be the biggest in the word. There is very little he doesn't know about the contest. [on camera]: Who was the host country in 1975? [Alasdair Rendall, President, U.k. Eurovision Fan Club:] In 1975, it was Sweden. Hosted in Stockholm, because that was the year after Abba had won. [Sebastian:] Despite the hardcore fans, recent poll showed 60 percent of Brits would actually vote for a Brexit from the song contest, the highest proportion in Europe. [Rendall:] If you look at the U.K. attitudes towards the EEC in the 60s and 70s, we were keen to join in the '60s. We joined in the '70s. And they were years we were doing well at Eurovision. [Sebastian:] In the '60s and '70s, they had three wins and three top ten placings. Fast forward to the late '90s, no to the Euro and no more wins at Eurovision. Since 2003, singing duo Gemini, first of three recent entries to come last. [Rendall:] Perhaps over the last 15 years or so, we felt politically removed from the European continent, politically removed from the European Union. I think that does have crossover and our attitudes towards Eurovision. [Unidentified Announcer:] Good evening, Euro! [Sebastian:] Perhaps, appropriately, this year's theme of the contest is "Come Together." The British entry is called "You're Not Alone." [Rendall:] Could it be a reference to the U.K. position in Europe? Who knows? Maybe we should ask again on the June 23 after the referendum. [Sebastian:] Claire Sebastian, CNN Money, London. [Vause:] Wow, they're good those guys. Sour grapes much or what? [Sesay:] I don't know, I always enjoyed watching Eurovision song contest. No, I get it. Not going to touch it, thank you. All righty. The election cycle has been full of weird surprises. So American TV host Jimmy Kimmel decided to join the political absurdity. [Vause:] Kimmel announced he will be running for vice president earlier in Hollywood. Our colleagues in Washington got the exclusive. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Jimmy, Wolf Blitzer of CNN. [Jimmy Kimmel, Host, Jimmy Kimmel Live:] Hey, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jimmy Kimmel confirmed he is running for vice president of the United States. He has no running mate he claims not to be a Washington insider, or outsider. And believes he'll make a great number two despite the fact that sources are telling us that in high school, he got a d in social studies. Let's go over to the wall, see how he is polling right now. Jimmy, take a look at this. Right now, all indications are you are polling at 100 percent. [Kimmel:] Wow, that's wow, that's great news! [Vause:] Huh. If I could vote, I would vote for him. [Sesay:] Jimmy Kimmel. Got to love him. [Vause:] OK. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. [Sesay:] I'm Isha Sesay. The news continues with Natalie Allen right after this. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] Oh, what a voice. Thank you so much for making us part of your Christmas morning. We are privileged to be part of it and so grateful to have you with us. Merry Christmas to you. Happy holidays. I'm Christi Paul. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Victor Blackwell. Merry Christmas to you. You are listening to the Spelman College Glee Club right here in Atlanta. They're going to be with us throughout the morning. You're going to love what they have for you a little later. [Paul:] Their voices. [Blackwell:] Yes. [Paul:] We also have the very latest news for you, of course, and a look at some of the biggest stories of 2016. I want to start with Alison Kosik with today's top stories. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, Christi and Victor, and merry Christmas to all of you. We've got some developing news overnight. Debris from a crashed Russian military plane has been found in the Black Sea. The plane disappeared from radar shortly after taking off from Sochi. Russia's defense ministry says 92 people including 8 crew members were aboard. It's unclear what caused the crash but one Russian official is ruling out terrorism. For more on this, let's go to CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance who's joining us live from Moscow. Good morning. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Good morning, Alison. That's right. This aircraft, which is a Tupolev 154 model aircraft, which is an old type airliner, which used to be the workhorse of the Soviet fleet, but it's now used almost exclusively by the Russian defense ministry for VIP transports, supposedly. This flight was on route for Moscow to Syria, and it was it stopped in Sochi on the Black Sea for refueling, but it was carrying, interestingly, the Red Army choir. The Alexandrov Ensemble, as it's called, which is the official choir and dance artists of the Russian military. And they were en route to Syria to stage a performance for the Russian troops stationed there. We understand from the defense ministry that 64 of the people on board, 92 that were killed, were members of the choir andor were dancers with the choir. So, you know, complete tragedy for them, obviously. But, already, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president has sent his condolences. But let's take a listen to what Igor Konashenkov, the Russian defense ministry spokesman, here in Moscow had to say. [Igor Konashenkov, Russian Defense Ministry Spokesman:] Now at a distance of 1.5 kilometers off the Sochi coast, at the depth of about 70 meters, parts of a TU-154 aircraft body have been discovered. A search operation is underway. Four boats and five helicopters are currently operating in the plane search area, as well as drones. Reinforcement has been dispatched to the area. [Chance:] Well, the Russian officials at the moment are sort of ruling out any possibility of this being a terrorist attack, although they're doing that before the investigation has been completed. They said they're focusing right now on the possibility of mechanical or pilot error to try and understand why this Tupolev 154 aircraft plunged into the sea off the Russian southern coast. [Kosik:] Certainly, a devastating event, especially happening on Christmas. Matthew Chance thanks so much. President-elect Donald Trump's controversial foundation is going away. Trump says he's doing away with the charity to avoid potential conflicts of interest once he enters office, but shutting it down may not be so simple. The foundation is under investigation in New York state for alleged misuse of donations and can't be dissolved until the investigation is over. DNC deputy communications director Eric Walker said the move was a wilted fig leaf to cover up his, quote, "pitiful record of charitable giving." The Trump Foundation has no employees and $1 million in assets. The man who was going to be communications director in the Trump White House has changed his mind. Jason miller who was named to the post just days ago says he's declining the job to spend more time with his family. Miller's wife is due to have the couple's second child next month. Miller's joined the Trump campaign in June. President-elect Donald Trump and his wife Melania celebrating Christmas in Palm Beach, Florida. They're celebrating today but last night as you see the Trump's attended a midnight church service. They were greeted by a standing ovation from the congregation. Buckingham Palace says a bad cold will keep Queen Elizabeth from attending a Christmas Day service. A statement put out by the palace a short a time go said she was staying home to help her recovery but will still take part in the royal family Christmas celebrations during the day. Her grandson Prince William went to church on Sunday morning with his wife Catherine and their children Gorge and Charlotte. At the Vatican, Pope Francis delivered his annual Christmas blessing before the crowd at St. Peter's Square. The pope offered his thoughts and prayers to victims of terrorism around the world. He also urged an end to fighting in Syria saying far too much blood has been spilled. Christmas has returned to one Iraqi town after years of ISIS domination. The terror group seized Bartella in 2014 but was driven out in October. Muhammad Lila has more now on how Christians there are celebrating. [Muhammad Lila, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a moment that many at this historic church thought they would never see. Celebrating the birth of Christ in a place once desecrated by [Isis. Archbishop Timthawes Al-shamani:] Even if it's ISIS, the Lord taught us to love and forgive our enemies and to pray for them. The most important thing is for us to live in harmony and peace. [Lila:] ISIS overran this town more than two years ago. Everyone fled. Look closely. Bullet holes on the walls are scars that remain. ISIS broke the church's glass but not its heart. [Raida Shmoun, Bartella Resident:] Happiness and sadness at the same time. This town used to be full of life but now look at it, such a desolate place. We can't live here now. [Lila:] The town was recaptured by Iraqi forces in October this year. Thousands of ISIS fighters are just a few kilometers away. This is now a place of razor wire, broken buildings, and the reality of war. [Nori Younani, Bartella Resident:] I could never imagine this would happen. We have lived here for more than a dozen years. We never thought we would be displaced. Our houses are destroyed. Will it be able to come back? [Lila:] In town, the green of a single plastic Christmas tree breaks up the misery surrounding it. This is a place guarded by the army now. Just holding this mass requires armed soldiers at the door. [Rev. Paulis Mati, Priest:] We need the guarantee of international protection. If there is no safety, we cannot live in this area. Today, we have no dignity. We are displaced in our own country. [Lila:] Displaced but not disheartened. [Younani:] We have to have hope in this life. If we don't have hope, then we are finished. [Lila:] The ancient hymns of one of the world's oldest Christian communities are being sung here again. A small act of life in a country that's seen so much death. Muhammad Lila, CNN. [Kosik:] All right, Muhammad. Thanks very much. Let's check in on the Christmas forecast and also update you on the super typhoon that's bearing down on the Philippines. Our Karen Maginnis is at the weather center live. Good morning. [Karen Maginnis, Ams Meteorologist:] And good morning and merry Christmas. We do have quite a bit of weather to tell you about all around the globe. If you're looking for a white Christmas, it can be found, but a good portion of the United States is looking at some exceptionally warm temperatures, 15 to 20 degrees above where it should be for this time of year. But the snowfall from the four corners region of the United States, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, extending up towards the south provinces or the central provinces of Canada and into the Dakotas. But there's quite a bit of fog, also some ice. And that's going to be very problematic from folks who are going to try to get some plans for Christmas Day. If you are not ready in place, it is going to be slow going on some of the secondary roads and certainly the interstates where you might see some whiteout conditions, especially all the way from grand forks to Bismarck to Rapid City, where wind gusts could be as high as 55 miles an hour. But just to give you some indications just how varied these temperatures are across the U.S., we've got teens in Billings, Montana. We've got 30s and 20s across the northern tier. But look at this, 70s across the Deep South, and if you think that's exceptionally warm, it certainly is. Some areas will come close or even beat their record high. Huntsville, Alabama, could make it to 75 degrees. Tallahassee, Florida, 82 degrees on Christmas Day. The old record goes back to just last year. They were 81 degrees last year. Here comes some of that wet weather even in places where you would normally expect some snowfall. We're looking at rain in the forecast from Boston, New York, Washington, D.C., all the way down towards Memphis. Now for the typhoon, it is super typhoon intensity. It has already made landfall. Winds associated with this put it at just near category five intensity. Let's go ahead and show you some of the statistics associated with this. It has made landfall right around the Catanduanes region. It is moving towards the west. As it does it is going to weaken a little bit but not before plowing across the region. And over the past 70 years, there have been about seven Christmas Day super typhoons that have made landfall. Right now the winds associated with it at 155 miles per hour with higher gusts. Back to you, Alison. [Kosik:] Wow. Karen Maginnis, that is one monster storm. Thanks very much. And merry Christmas to all of you. I'll throw it back to Victor and Christi. [Paul:] So, in today's fast-paced, modern world, it takes a lot more than enthusiastic reindeer to get all of the gifts to the right people in all the right places. [Blackwell:] So, when we come back a look at all that it takes to get your presents where they need to be on time. [Church:] A deadly cold snap is gripping much of Europe and it's hitting thousands of refugees especially hard. CNN's Amara Walker has the story. [Amara Walker, Cnn Correspondent:] From the frozen streets of Warsaw all the way south to the islands of Greece, heavy snow and freezing temperatures are wreaking havoc across much of Europe. With temperatures dropping below minus 30 degrees Celsius in some spots, the extreme cold has claimed the lives of more than 30 people over the weekend. Just in Poland, 17 people died of hypothermia and according to government officials, 65 have died of cold-related causes since November. In Romania, heavy snow and high winds forced roads and rail ways to close. Dozens of villages are reported to be without power. At least four people have died there according to local media. Snowstorms paralyzed Turkey's largest city of Istanbul where heavy snow forced hundreds of flights to be canceled, leaving thousands of travelers stranded over the weekend. In Greece, even the beaches are blanketed with snow. The Arctic blast has hit refugees especially hard. Thousands are living in limbo stranded in makeshift camps like this one in Lesvos while they seek asylum or await relocation. In Serbia, hundreds of migrants wrapped in blankets lined up for a hot meal. Many are living in an abandoned warehouse with nighttime temperatures well below freezing. They have only a campfire to try to keep warm. [Unidentified Male:] Actually, the cold is too much and last night we didn't sleep. We, all the people sitting around the fire. [Walker:] Dozens more refugees are camped out on Serbia's border waiting for a chance to try to enter neighboring Hungary. But aid workers warn these migrants are not equipped to deal with the extreme cold. [Unidentified Female:] Since it was minus 20 these few days it's really cold. People are suffering. [Unidentified Male:] It's look like freezing, completely freezing especially during the night. Nobody can stay here. But we have to. [Walker:] For many there is nowhere else to go and only more cold expected in the coming days. Amara Walker, CNN. And meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins me now in the studio. I mean, those images are just horrifying, aren't they? And more of that same weather to come. [Allison Chinchar, Cnn Meteorologist:] That's right. Take Budapest, for example, the high temperatures will actually finally get above freezing say Thursday of this week, but it only lasts for a day or two. And then we're right back down to below freezing once we get to the weekend. So, we've got another cold snap coming which kind of adds insult to injury for a lot of those folks. So let's look at what we're going to be dealing with here. We got several systems that will be entering this region and again, a lot of the snow is going to be on top of the same areas that have already had it. We're talking Italy. We're talking Turkey. We're talking Greece, Bulgaria, a lot of these areas that have already seen snow are now going to get even more snow on top of that. Here's a look at the system. Again, this one especially around Turkey and Greece, notice it doesn't move very fast. That means as that snow is falling it's allowed to accumulate quite substantially because the system itself is not moving very fast. So, again, widespread we're talking maybe about 10 centimeters, but there will be several pockets that pickup in excess of 20 centimeters of snow. And, again, this is on top of what they've already had. Now, in the western region of the United States we're also watching a very big system here. This one, it's come in two waves. We have the first wave that came Saturday night into early Sunday and wrapped up on Monday. Now the next one, Tuesday into Wednesday. And the key thing here is what we call an atmospheric river. We just have a funnel of intense moisture that's moving in. Some of it from as far away as Hawaii. So, again, it's coming quite a bit of a distance. But that goes to show you how powerful it can be if it can make that distance and still produce some of the intense rainfall amounts and snow fall amounts that we've seen. For example, take a look, this is Truckee, California, interstate i-80 was shut down. That's a major east west thoroughfare shut down because of mud slides and unfortunately, that threat is going to continue. Look at some of this snow man. At first you think that gentleman is standing in the street. Do you realize now that's the snow that's just accumulated on top of the roof. And you have to get on there and shovel it off because more is expected. You run the risk of having some of those structures be compromised and perhaps some of those roofs caving in. Here is a look at the forecast snow and rainfall announced. Again, you can see we've already had some areas pickup 100 millimeters of rain, some areas will expect to pick up an additional 100 millimeters of rain on top of what they've already had. Now the good news is some areas of California have been in a drought. They need to see the rain. They're excited about it. The problem is the areas that will get the most rain is northern California. And unfortunately when you have drought that means the trees have been stressed for years. And so when you add heavy rain, when you add wind you get things like this. Take a look at some of these photos. This is a very famous tree, Rosemary, in California. It's in a park. You can actually drive your car underneath it. I've actually been there. But this is what it looks like now. Unfortunately, the storm took its toll. The entire tree has collapsed. They carved that hole in there, Rosemary, in the 1880s. It's been around a very long time. It's a huge tourist spot for people to get their picture taken there. And unfortunately, no more future generations will be able to be allowed to go in there. [Church:] It's very sad, isn't it? It looks so vulnerable at the bottom bay, anyway, didn't it? It was an accident waiting to happen. [Chinchar:] Years of drought have really stressed a lot of the trees there in general. [Church:] Yes. All right. Yes, unfortunate there. Allison, thank you so much. I appreciate it. We'll take a quick break here, but still to come, the nominations for Britain's biggest night in film have just been announced. The leading back to contenders coming your way in just a moment. [Berman:] Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meeting with the president of Turkey at this hour. The war on ISIS dominating these talks with this key NATO ally. CNN's Elise Labott live in Ankara, Turkey with more. Elise, what's going on? [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, John, Sec. Tillerson holding lunch with the foreign minister right now just wrapped up two hours with President Erdogan. A very difficult set of issues for them to discuss. The main thing is that he's here to deliver a very unhappy message for the Turks, which is that the U.S. is ready to cooperate with the Kurds, which are the Turks sworn enemy and who they view as terrorists, in the push against Raqqa in Syria. They know that's not something that the Turks want to hear but they're saying these Kurds are the best fighters, the best chance to go against ISIS, and that's really the message he'll be delivering today. And President Erdogan that's not something he wants to hear at all but it's right now it's very difficult for him because he's facing a referendum which would extend his rule and give him a lot of extra powers in the next couple of weeks so he doesn't want to make any concessions to the U.S. right now. The U.S. has been very antimately opposed to this referendum, so have the European allies. But notably, Sec. Tillerson is expected to kind of sidestep this issue not do anything to rock the boat. He, notably, won't be meeting with any members of the opposition here in Ankara. And he's also expected to face some pressure from President Erdogan to extradite that cleric, Fethullah Gulen, who Turkey believes was responsible for that failed coup attempt last year. So, a lot of landmines that Sec. Tillerson is trying to walk through while he really just tries to secure this critical Turkish cooperation in the fight against ISIS. As you know, the operation against ISIS the coalition airstrikes are coming out of Turkish bases and the Kurds the Turks are threatening to go against the Turks on the border. So a lot of issues he's here to address Alisyn. [Camerota:] Oh my gosh, yes. Secretary Tillerson has a lot on his plate. Elise, thank you for all of that reporting live from Turkey for us. Back here at home Trump University is back in the spotlight. You may remember back in January, then-president-elect Donald Trump agreed to settle three fraud lawsuits for $25 million. Well, today, a judge the very same judge who Mr. Trump attacked over his Mexican heritage will consider a motion that could put that settlement in jeopardy. One former student wants to face the president in court. CNN's Drew Griffin spoke with her. [Drew Griffin,cnn Correspondent:] John and Alisyn, Sherri Simpson could do nothing and get at least half her money back in this settlement, but that's not enough. She wants all of it and most of all, she wants to see the president in court. [Griffin:] It's all Sherri Simpson has left of what she first thought would be her ticket to financial freedom. She says when she plopped down her money $20,000 back in 2010 she really believed signing up for Donald Trump's real estate school would lead to a wealthy future. [D. Trump:] Success, it's going to happen to you. [Sherri Simpson, Former Trump University Student:] He promised us that he handpicked all of his mentors and teachers and that they were all trained with his system. [Griffin:] Simpson says she quickly found out it was all a charade. She's filed a motion with the San Diego Federal Court asking she be allowed to opt out of the national Trump University settlement. She wants the ability, she says, to sue Donald Trump one-on-one. If the judge agrees, the entire settlement agreement could be tossed out. Why not take that money and run instead of facing a possible elongated and, I assume, very costly federal lawsuit? [Simpson:] And possibly very nasty, given his history with this case. [Griffin:] Well, it will be nasty, of course. [Simpson:] I think what he did to me and what he did to everybody else was really fraudulent and I'd really like to take him to trial. I'd like to hold him accountable for what he did. [Griffin:] Simpson is a registered Democrat. During the campaign she even recorded an anti-Trump commercial for an outside group trying to defeat Donald Trump. [Simpson:] America, do not make the same mistake that I did with Donald Trump. [Griffin:] And while she described herself in that commercial as just a single mom, Sherri Simpson is also an attorney an attorney who specializes in real estate foreclosures, bankruptcies. She's had her law license placed on probation and has, herself, filed for bankruptcy twice. Let me ask you a tough question for an attorney who deals with bankruptcies and foreclosures. How could you be so gullible and how could you be so I'm sorry, but at the time, dumb, to fall for this sales pitch? [Simpson:] Can I ask you a question back? It looks like the whole country has done the same thing. He's a salesman. Donald Trump was the salesman. He was the one behind it. To the best of my knowledge, he was an extremely successful billionaire real estate mogul. I never suspected that it was a moneymaking scheme that there was no substance behind the smoke and mirrors. I really didn't. [Griffin:] You said in the beginning of this interview you aren't a political person. Are you still not a political person? [Simpson:] I'm still not a political person. [Griffin:] You seem like an anti-Trump person. [Simpson:] Yes, except this didn't start when he was running for president. This didn't start when he was president. This started, for me, seven years ago. [Griffin:] Do you feel he got away with it? [Simpson:] I do. I feel he got away with it. [Griffin:] So what does she want? She wants all the money back $20,000 with interest, plus three times that amount in damages. And, John and Alisyn, she wants something else. She wants an apology from Donald Trump, himself John, Alisyn. [Camerota:] OK, that may be the hardest part of her demands. [Berman:] Well, his next apology might be his first. I mean, if so, we will see. It could happen. Who knows? [Camerota:] What a fascinating profile there, thanks to Drew. So we're following a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to it. [Rep. Charlie Dent , Pennsylvania:] The House is in a situation where the issues become overly politicized. We're going to have to rely on the Senate. [Unidentified Male:] We're here to assure the American people we will get to the bottom of this. We have a chairman more loyal to the White House than the investigation. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] How he conducts himself, when and where he shares things, are issues for him that's it. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, will be serving as assistant to the president. [Unidentified Male:] There is an ethics crisis in the White House and it starts at the top with the president. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Texas:] Judge Gorsuch will be confirmed to the Supreme Court. [Unidentified Male:] If he isn't qualified, nobody is. [Sen. Jeff Merkley , Oregon:] This seat, for the first time in U.S. history, was stolen from one president and delivered to the next. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Camerota:] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your new day. Chris is off, John Berman joins me. We have a lot to talk about today. [Berman:] Indeed, we do. [Camerota:] Great to have you here. So, all eyes on Capitol Hill today. In just two hours the Senate Intelligence Committee begins its first hearing on Russia's meddling in the U.S. election and the alleged ties to the Trump campaign. Committee members are promising to stay above the political fray that is plaguing the House investigation. [Berman:] This, as the FBI Director James Comey he has spoken out publicly about the impact of this political partisanship on the Russia investigations. And also this morning, a new job for the first daughter, Ivanka Trump. She will take on the official title of assistant to the president. That actually is a very lofty title inside the White House and it's raising some new ethics questions. We have a lot to cover on day 70 of the Trump presidency. Let's start with CNN's Sara Murray, live at the White House. Good morning, Sara. [Sara Murray, Cnn:] Good morning, John. [Alisyn Mccarthy, Cnn Anchor:] Melissa McCarthy pretty much do anything all day long. Right? [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] She's funny. Who is going to play Berman? We're giving the show over to them now. There's a lot news. What do you think, Colin Jost? [Camerota:] Oh, I don't know. I was thinking, you know [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] George Clooney. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Colin Jost. [Cuomo:] George Clooney? [Berman:] George Clooney. The Rock plays me. It's in my contract. [Cuomo:] The Rock, Dwayne Johnson? [Berman:] It's in my contract. Clooney is the only one who can play me. [Harlow:] Guys, I keep saying, it's clear who the diva is on this program, right? [Berman:] Clooney. [Cuomo:] Oh, yes. [Camerota:] We see it. [Berman:] All right. [Cuomo:] And tell him to stop sitting on that pillow. [Camerota:] Oh my god. [Berman:] Lou Ferrigno, Alisyn, thank you very much. NEWSROOM starts now. Good morning, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Harlow:] I'm Poppy Harlow. So glad you're with us. Hope you had a great weekend. We have a lot of news to get to, namely a senior White House official telling CNN the knives are out, talking about President Trump's embattled national security adviser, Michael Flynn, who would counsel the President in times of peace or war, is accused of betraying the trust of the administration, all the way up to the Vice President. White House officials no longer believing Flynn's claim that he did not discuss sanctions with Russia before the administration took over. The denials repeated by a very trusting Vice President Mike Pence on CBS last month. Whether Flynn stays or goes may not be his decision alone. [Berman:] Now, one place you might want a national security adviser who every one trusts, when a rogue nation with an unpredictable dictator stages a missile launch to taunt you. That's just what happened with North Korea, so that is on the President's plate, too. Let's begin at the White House with CNN's Joe Johns. And that White House, Joe, leaking like a sieve over the weekend. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] I think you can say that, John. And what we are told is that Michael Flynn has no plans to resign, no expectation he'll be fired, but it's pretty clear he also remains on thin ice. And when you look at the situation in its totality, the fact of the matter is, the President has to have complete and total trust and confidence in his national security adviser, or there could be problems. And we got some sense of the state of play here at the White House over the weekend when the White House senior policy adviser appeared on some of the Sunday morning shows. And just listen to how he talked about Flynn. [Chuck Todd, Nbc News Anchor:] The White House did not give you anything to say other than that on [Stephen Miller, Senior Policy Adviser To President Donald Trump:] They did not give me [Todd:] on General Flynn? [Miller:] They did not give anything to say, sure. [Todd:] So you cannot say whether or not [Miller:] Asked and answered, Chuck. [Todd:] the President still has confidence in his national security adviser? [Miller:] It's not for me to tell you what's in the President's mind. That's a question for the President. [Todd:] Well, let me [Miller:] It's a question for our Chief of Staff. Asked and answered, Chuck. [Todd:] Let me ask [Johns:] So kind of a non-answer on Flynn there. And that would appear to be exactly the message the President and this administration wanted to send, because the President also tweeted out later that he was congratulating Stephen Miller for his performance on the Sunday morning shows, adding, "Great job!" We haven't heard so much from the President today. In fact, uncharacteristically, he hasn't tweeted this morning. What we do know is that, later today, he's going to hold something of an Africa day on the telephone. He'll be speaking to the leaders of both Nigeria as well as South Africa, after that meeting here at the White House with the Canadian Prime Minister John and Poppy. [Harlow:] Joe Johns, thank you so much, reporting for us live from the White House. And while Michael Flynn is no longer denying those claims, that he talked about whether or not the Trump administration would soften those sanctions on Russia in that phone call with the ambassador, just this morning, the Kremlin is repeating, no, there was no talk of sanctions on the phone before the Trump administration took over. Very different stories from some in the White House and from Russia. Our Matthew Chance is in Moscow with more. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, right, Poppy. The Kremlin appears to have gone off script a little bit in the sense that it's sticking to the line that it's been adopting all the time, in the sense that it's been acknowledging that these conversations took place between the Russian ambassador to Washington in December and Mike Flynn, the Trump national security adviser. But they're categorically saying that the issue of sanctions did not come up in any of the conversations that were had between those two men. They're also rejecting the idea, and this has been an allegation leveled at the Kremlin, that Vladimir Putin's response or lack of response to the expulsion in December by President Obama, in the final few weeks of his administration, of 35 Russian diplomats, as well as other sanctions against Russia over allegations of Russian hacking. Well, that non-response by Vladimir Putin came out of the conversations between Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador to Washington as well, but the Kremlin, categorically denying that. Now, if there are transcripts of these conversations and if they are released, we're going to get a better picture, obviously a very clear picture, of what was actually discussed, whether the Kremlin is telling the truth or not on this issue. [Berman:] Matthew Chance for us in Moscow. No, there seems to be wide agreement here in the United States, at least from the reporting from "The Washington Post" and others, that sanctions were, at a minimum, discussed. So thank you for that, Matthew. Appreciate it. Joining us now, Margaret Talev, White House correspondent for Bloomberg News; Jim Walsh, international security analyst; and Paul Singer, Washington correspondent for "USA Today." Margaret, I have to say, yesterday, the Sunday shows, when Stephen Miller went out and, with deafening silence, refused to defend Michael Flynn, I haven't seen that level of silence, I think, anywhere. Why? Why cut him off at the knees like that? [Margaret Talev, Contributor, Bloomberg News:] Right. And during sort of what you will consider like a traditional administration, everybody would read that as a sign that the person in question had lost the President's confidence. But the difference is that, this administration, in its early weeks, what we have seen is that, sometimes, it's just sort of like a lack of planning or preparation that's leading to the thing that, in another administration, would seem like a really big deal or a clear signal. So what's not entirely clear is whether Stephen Miller said what he said because he didn't expect the question and wasn't sure how to answer it, or whether he said what he said because that's what he was told to say when he went out on those shows. There's a couple of clues, that I think are really important, that sort of undercut the idea that Stephen Miller was trying to send a clear signal. One is that Michael Flynn was on Air Force One in Florida for the entire weekend with President Trump in Mar-a-Lago. And the other is that General Flynn is slated to be a full participant in both Trudeau's meeting, the Canadian leader's meeting, and Bibi Netanyahu's meeting later this week with the President. But these things turn very quickly. Hill Republicans have been gone or are coming back. We know a lot of Democrats want to investigate General Flynn or perhaps to have him step aside, but we haven't heard that clamoring yet from Republicans in Congress. And that, to some extent, may play a role. But right now, it does seem that President Trump, himself, is standing by his national security adviser. And that's the most important factor on which to judge this. [Harlow:] Although, I think that tweet is very telling, lauding the performance of Stephen Miller on the Sunday shows. Paul, to you. I mean, we're, what, four weeks or so in now, and you've got White House officials telling our own Jim Acosta, the knives are out. Also, you have Richard Painter, the chief White House ethics lawyer under President George W. Bush tweeting this, this morning, "Lack of candor about conversations with the Russians. He'd be gone by now if it were in the Bush White House." How much time do you think Flynn has? [Paul Singer, Washington Correspondent, Usa Today:] Well, you know, part of the problem for this administration is that they have never been big fans of protocol and process. This is the whole thing during the campaign, the same thing. They like to upend the apple cart. Well, in this case, protocol and process is you don't talk about sanctions with your opponent, that is, your adversary country, when you're not the President of the United States. And this is what Mr. Flynn may have done. Also, Mr. Flynn has been long time sort of a font of conspiracy theories. Now, it's coming back to bite him. He had said all kinds of things that he wanted to be investigated amongst the Democrats and Hillary Clinton. Now, the conspiracy theory involves him. This is all sort of coming back to haunt this administration. This is why we have process and protocol, is to keep you out of these kind of problems. [Berman:] And you know, you say they don't mind upsetting the apple cart. Well, now, they are the apple cart [Singer:] Exactly. [Berman:] that they are upsetting right now, so there are repercussions there. You know, Jim Walsh, to you. On the issue of national security here and the effect that this has, "The New York Times" has a really interesting sentence in its report today. It says, "Three weeks into the Trump administration, national security council staff members get up in the morning, read President Trump's Twitter post, and struggle to make policy to fit them." So it seems even beyond whether or not people trust Michael Flynn. There are deeper issues here. [Jim Walsh, International Security Analyst:] I agree, John. And that's why I think something is going to happen. Mr. Flynn may be attending these meetings. He's obliged to attend some of these meetings with leadership states or on the national security council, but when you step back, there are two big storms brewing. One is sort of the rocky rollout of the Trump administration in these early weeks, things that they themselves said they wish they had done differently, and a lack of coordination with their own party, with foreign leaders and so just problems, problems in the basic administration of the White House. And you have this ongoing, though quiet but bubbling story about Russia. You'll remember that CNN reported exclusively that that dossier by that private investigator, parts of it parts, not all of it had been confirmed by the intelligence agency. So there's still questions, an ongoing story, about what is the Russian-Trump relationship and stories about, you know, is this the gang that can't shoot straight? You put those together, and I think change is going to come. And whether it's the Chief of Staff or the national security adviser or someone, it's an adjustment that presidents make when they try to, you know, get back in the game and make the process run more smoothly. [Harlow:] On your point of Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, I mean, a lot of people questioned whether or not he would be the pick, whether he would get the job. Ultimately, it's sort of, you know, the President who sort of split the baby between the establishment, and many of them wanted Reince Priebus to be the Chief of Staff. And then he also has Steve Bannon as one of his top advisers. Here is what the CEO of Newsmax Media, Chris Ruddy, said to our Brian Stelter on "RELIABLE SOURCES" on this network. Some context here, this is someone who is very close, buddy-buddy, with the President. Here is what he said about Reince Priebus. [Christoper Ruddy, Founder And Ceo, Newsmax Media:] I think there's a lot of weakness coming out of the Chief of Staff. I think Reince Priebus, good guy, well intentioned, but he clearly doesn't know how the federal agencies work. And I do think the President is not getting the backup he needs in the operation of the White House and, sometimes, the pushback that he needs, which you would have with a stronger White House counsel White House Chief of Staff. [Harlow:] Margaret, I mean, this is someone who it's not someone that doesn't talk to the President. This is someone who knows the President. He didn't say where he's getting that or if that's just his own opinion, but what do you make of it and what it means for Reince going forward? [Talev:] I think it certainly reflects that there are sort of multiple channels of influence into the White House, and that there is sort of a column of power and networking that doesn't want Reince Priebus to be the Chief of Staff. But, strategically, Reince Priebus both reflects establishment and reflects sort of order, and he reflects relationships with congressional Republicans. And those are all three very important levers for President Trump as he seeks to do some of these other things outside the box, to be able to keep that sort of friendly line of communication with the establishment and with congressional Republicans. So this is a question of a real chess move, as is the situation with General Flynn at the national security council. If he were to go, who would step in? The notion that there would be nobody ready to step in is almost unimaginable. So among the other factors that may be under consideration is that very basic question on both of those fronts. Many of these situations where chaos has been attributed to the White House have been not the doing of Reince Priebus so much as the doing around Reince Priebus. And when Priebus has stepped in, there has been an attempt to dial that back and come up with more pecking orders. So I do think this reflects the fact that there are folks who don't want to see Mr. Priebus as Chief of Staff, but it may not reflect precisely what's going on. [Berman:] So Stephen Miller, the senior policy adviser, he's in the middle of all of this, seemingly. You know, whether there's a discussion about these executive orders or anything else on T.V. yesterday, he's in the middle of it. And of course, yesterday, he was mixing it up, again, on the issue of alleged voter fraud, unsubstantiated claims without evidence. He made more of them. Let's listen. [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News Anchor:] President Trump, again, this week, suggested in a meeting with Senators that thousands of illegal voters were bused from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. Do you have that evidence? [Miller:] I have actually, having worked before on a campaign in New Hampshire, I can tell you that this issue of busing voters into New Hampshire is widely known by anyone who's worked in New Hampshire politics. It's very real. It's very serious. This morning, on this show, is not the venue for me to lay out all the evidence, but I can tell you this, voter fraud is a serious problem in this country. [Stephanopoulos:] Just for the record, you have provided absolutely no evidence. [Berman:] So, Paul, there is no evidence of this, right? [Singer:] Nope. [Berman:] These are unsubstantiated claims without evidence. You know, I've covered New Hampshire a lot. I've never seen any evidence of it myself, so let's leave that aside. The question is why does he keep saying it? What use does this serve for the White House? [Singer:] Yes, they're not unsubstantiated claims. They're fake claims. There's nothing to it. I don't know what it serves for the White House. There's two possibilities. Ron Brownstein was on your air a while ago talking about the possibility that they are trying to lay the basis for states to advance voter I.D. bills, a further restriction of voting rights using this as an argument. The other possibility is they prefer to talk about this rather than talking about General Flynn, rather than talking about contact with Russia. That this is a topic they know that reporters can engage in, and they can get into this back and forth over and that we seem to find fascinating. The fact of the matter is, I think it was Michigan, did a review of the ballots and found 31 people voted twice. They voted absentee, and then they voted in person. Thirty-one. That is not enough to get you to 3 million. [Harlow:] We're out of time here, but not to mention the fact that, you know, one of the things that he claims that back and forth went on for minutes he said, you know, on the issue of people being registered in two states, some of the President's closest advisers, Steve Mnuchin, some of the other ones, up for Treasury Secretary, also registered in both states. [Berman:] And perhaps [Harlow:] It's just not the same thing. [Berman:] And perhaps children as well. It happens. [Harlow:] Yes, it's not the same thing. Guys, thank you very much, Margaret, Jim, and Paul. [Talev:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Still to come for us, the President's foreign policy is squarely in focus this morning as North Korea claims a successful missile launch over the weekend. Also, two high profile foreign leaders are headed to the White House. [Berman:] And a huge evacuation in California. Nearly 200,000 people on the move this morning due to fears about the integrity of the nation's tallest dam. [Pereira:] Voters in Iowa described as mad as hell giving anti- Washington candidates their emphatic seal of approval. With brash billionaire Donald Trump leading the Republican pack with 23 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson just 5 points behind. Meanwhile, on the Democratic side, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders is cutting into Hillary Clinton's lead in "The Des Moines Register's" Bloomberg Politics poll. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] The sheriff calls it a cold-blooded execution. Harris County, Texas, Deputy Darren Goforth killed as he filled his patrol car with gas. Thirty-year-old Shannon Miles has been arrested and charged with capital murder. He is due in court today. The sheriff believes the deputy was targeted because he was wearing a uniform. [Camerota:] Breaking news overnight: a terminal at Newark Liberty Airport evacuated and put on lockdown after a man walked through a secure hallway exit door. He was detained by Customs and Border Protection agents and then turned over to Port Authority police. The terminal was swept by authorities and K9 units, then reopened an hour later. [Pereira:] Another in a history of shockers on MTV's Video Music Awards. Singer Miley Cyrus, she was the host, revealing a little extra while hosting the award show last night. She gave viewers quite an eyeful when a curtain she had draped over her chest oops, drooped. [Camerota:] Ooh! [Pereira:] She apologized. I say it in quotations, I'm not sure if it's being seen as legit. Former drag race contestants helped her close the show with a colorful performance of "Do It", from her just release free album. All sorts of things, we'll talk about some of the hits, runs and errors of the big show. [Berman:] What an accident. [Pereira:] Oh, how embarrassing. [Berman:] Imagine that. [Camerota:] She must be mortified. [Pereira:] It happens in morning news, you know what I mean? Just saying. [Berman:] See what happens in the morning. Go to my office tomorrow morning and see what goes on. [Pereira:] OK. OK. [Berman:] All right. Let's turn now to sports, another day, another no-hitter. Andy Scholes, save me, with the bleacher report. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Just to think, she used to be Hannah Montana, guys, right? This time around, the no-hitter goes to Jake Arrieta. It's the sixth no hitter of the season, guys. We only had four all of last year. This is Arrieta's first career no- hitter. He was just lights out on the mounds for the cubs, striking out a season high, 12 in a 2-0 win. It's first hitter no-hitter for the Cubs since Carlos Zambrano did it seven years ago. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, the second time in ten days they have been on the wrong end of a no-no. All right. The U.S. Open tennis tournament gets under way in New York today without one of the biggest names in the women's game. Third seed Maria Sharapova withdrew yesterday with a right leg injury. With no Sharapova, that means the road to the calendar grand slam will be a little easier for the top ranked Williams. All right. Tom Brady suiting up for the Patriots in Friday night's preseason game didn't look great. Throwing two interceptions. Today, he'll be back in court, along with Roger Goodell for another Deflategate hearing. Lawyers for both sides will make their final arguments to Richard Berman. The federal judge hopes to have a ruling on the four-game suspension by Friday. That's six days for the Steelers and their season opener. And, guys, at this point we are down to three outcomes, one, Tom Brady wins, his four-game suspensions thrown out. Two, NFL wins, the suspension stays. And three, the one we don't want to happen is the judge sends it back to arbitration with the stipulation that a neutral arbitrator rule in the case, not Roger Goodell. If that happens, we are back to square one. [Pereira:] We need neutral. There's a Berman connection. [Berman:] Just to be clear, there's no relation between that Judge Berman and this Judge Berman. [Scholes:] Like I said earlier, John is the second most important Berman in New York City today. [Camerota:] Great point, Andy. Thanks so much. All right. We'll have the latest Iowa polling, good news for Bernie Sanders, bad news for Hillary Clinton. Could Clinton's front- runner status be truly in jeopardy? We are going to look at all of that. [Bolduan:] Back to breaking news out of Belgium. A federal prosecutor saying several arrests have now been made in connection with Brussels terrorist attack. Let's bring in Nic Robertson. He's in London. It seems there's a lot of information we don't know quite yet, Nic. We don't know the names, at least at this moment unless you have a breaking update on that. We also don't know how many. What is the significance that you're picking up of the several arrests made? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] This diminishes the threat to European cities and to Belgium. By how much we don't know until we know the names and how many people have been picked up. We know that Belgian authorities have been on the lookout for anything more than eight or 10, up to 20 or more people. We know that as of last year European intelligence agencies knew that 60 operatives from is have been sent to target European cities. Anyone taken out of that mix, if these men are part of that ISIS terror threat, which is what the Belgian authorities are so on the alert more at the moment, is going to help them. It's not going to remove it all together. Until we know precisely who has been arrested, it's going to be hard to say. But it is interesting that these arrests, we don't know how many, came the day after Belgian authorities decided to put out more information about the man in the hat and the white coat, seen with the other two suicide bombers at the airport in Brussels minutes before the attack there. He went on the run. Belgian authorities released videos showing him as he moved away from the airport and towards a nearby town. Has this helped them develop more intelligence and more information? Who have they captured? How significant? We're waiting to find out. [Bolduan:] And there's some indication we could get more information, the number of people, some of the names. Some of that could be coming. We're watching it closely. Nic is there for us and we'll bring you updates as we get them. Nic, thank you so much. Let's go back to politics here in the U.S. The war of words between the Democratic candidates reaching somewhat of a cease fire this morning. Give us a minute. It could change. After Sanders called Clinton unqualified, Clinton said Sanders didn't do his homework. They're both backing away from the attack lines and turning their focus toward the Republicans. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] I think it's a silly statement, but he's free to say whatever he chooses. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is he qualified to be president? [Clinton:] Here's what I believe. I believe voters will be looking at both of us, but I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz any time. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, , Vermont & Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I respect Hillary Clinton. We were colleagues in the Senate. And on her worst day she would be a better president than candidates. [Unidentified Reporter:] She's qualified? [Sanders:] Of course. [Berman:] Joining us right now, the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders, Jeff Weaver. Jeff, Bernie Sanders just said yes, she's qualified. Two days ago, he said these are the reasons she's not qualified. Which is it? [Jeff Weaver, Campaign Manager For Bernie Sanders:] I think what he was pointing |t the other day is on a number of issues, the secretary as taken stances including supporting the war in Iraq, taking money from big companies that call into question if she should be the nominee. [Berman:] He said she's not qualified to be president because. This morning he said, of course, she's qualified. [Weaver:] I think he said these more qualified than any of the Republicans. He has pledged to support the Democratic nominee. She has as well. [Bolduan:] He said she's qualified. Please tell me you're not going to say he misspoke on that. [Weaver:] No, no. Clearly, her resume makes her qualified in that sense. [Berman:] So she is qualified? [Weaver:] In that narrow sense, yes. [Berman:] She is qualified? [Weaver:] In the narrow sense of the resume for the job, yes. [Berman:] In the narrow sense of, yes or no, is she qualified, she's qualified? [Weaver:] There's more than a resume. There's things like judgment. Over the number of years, there's times when she exercised terrible judgment, the war in Iraq is one of the issues, supporting DOMA. If you look at her record, on issue after issue, she now apologizes for half her record, DOMA, the super predator comment, the war in Iraq. On and on it goes. She repudiates positions she took. [Bolduan:] Jeff, when people watch this, they say this is part of the silly season no one likes. Bernie Sanders said it this morning, this is not the question that keeps Democratic voters up at night. [Weaver:] Oh, absolutely. [Bolduan:] No kidding. But why then has it become a trip up? Why is he if this is not something keeping folks up at night, why has this become a thing of unqualified and not qualified? If she's better than any Republican out there, she's qualified. [Weaver:] Well, look, what we have said all along, and this goes back to there was a debate about who was a progressive a couple months ago. [Bolduan:] Yes. [Weaver:] A similar kind of debate. What has been clear throughout the campaign is Bernie Sanders has set the agenda in terms of the message. The Clinton campaign set the tone. We came into New York after Wisconsin, after they lost seven of the last eight contests, some of them, by overwhelming margins, we came into New York, there was an attack on the Senator's qualifications. Jeff Zeleny reported about Clinton's strategy in New York was going to be disqualifying him, defeat him, and then reunify the party later. Let me tell you something. Bernie Sanders is a son of Brooklyn. He's going to campaign like a Brooklyn person. If they want to bring it, on that level, we'll bring it back. [Bolduan:] Is it not over? Is it still being brought in? [Weaver:] Well [Bolduan:] What's happening here? [Weaver:] We'll see. If the Clinton people want to have a debate on the issues and the substantive issues, we're happy to do it. [Berman:] Let's talk about substance. [Weaver:] Sure. [Berman:] You're talking about Clinton's decisions on Iraq and said she's, in part, responsible for the rise of ISIS. And you say that the decisions she made while secretary of state helped create a vacuum in the Middle East. [Weaver:] It's not just me. [Berman:] No, it's not just you. People like Marco Rubio have said that. People like McCain have said that repeatedly. Are you saying the decisions of the Obama administration exactly, I talked to her about it to withdraw the troops from Iraq during Obama's term help create a vacuum in Iraq? [Weaver:] It wasn't a withdrawal of troops. It was going into Iraq in the first place. It was a mistake. Bernie Sanders was in the Congress at the time talking about exactly what would happen, which is a vacuum would be created and there would be a lot of instability and god knows what would come out of it. And that's what happened. [Berman:] One of the vacuums a lot of people are using the vacuum comment for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, which certainly Bernie Sanders supported. [Weaver:] Absolutely. [Berman:] Does he think that created a vacuum in Iraq? [Weaver:] No, the vacuum was created by engaging in an unnecessary war of regime change in the Middle East against what is admittedly a brutal dictator, but not one who was involved in 911. [Bolduan:] So one vacuum, but not the other? You don't think it created a vacuum with troops being pulled out? [Weaver:] Well, should the United States troops have stayed there forever? That's the problem. That's the problem with the wars. We're not going to have U.S. troops occupying other countries for years and years. It's not feasible strategy. That's why we have to have a different foreign policy, not of a Bush, George W. Bush foreign policy or a Dick Cheney foreign policy. [Bolduan:] You have been floating the possibility, actually, the likelihood of an open convention. Do you have a floor operation underway for that? [Weaver:] We're beginning to work on that. In all likelihood, there will be an open convention when we get to the Democratic convention. [Bolduan:] Describe the operation for us. [Weaver:] Yeah. The operation or scenario? [Berman:] The operation. [Bolduan:] The operation. We get the scenario. [Weaver:] We are in constant contact with super delegates as we go towards the convention to convince them what is the fact, polls show Bernie Sanders beats the Republicans by better margins. And if Donald Trump isn't the nominee, the secretary loses to Kasich and sometimes to Cruz. [Berman:] You talk about the idea of an open convention, fighting it out on the floor, we're trying to figure out if that's a threat or something you're actively planning for. [Weaver:] I was just at a meeting about it two days ago. Yes, it is something actively going on in the campaign. We have many people affiliated with the campaign with floor experience in the Democratic Party. We're looking at our options in terms of rules and delegates and what have you on the floor. [Berman:] Who is your Paul Manafort? Who is going to run it? [Weaver:] We'll to be revealed. [Bolduan:] Do you have one name, though? [Weaver:] No. I don't think we have one name. We have a team of people who are helping us. [Berman:] Jeff Weaver, great to see you. Thank you so much. [Weaver:] Dream Weaver. [Berman:] Dream Weaver here on the set with us. [Weaver:] Yeah, thank you. [Bolduan:] Thank you. [Berman:] Coming up next, the Clinton campaign will join us to respond and also talk about Bill Clinton's heated run in with Black Lives Matter protesters. [Bolduan:] Plus, we'll have more on our breaking news. Authorities just captured one of the fugitives in the Brussels terror attacks. Major arrests have been made. New details about the identities and how many have been arrested. We'll be right back. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln Host Of "dr. Drew" Program:] Tonight, an HLN exclusive. Steven Avery`s ex-fiancee is telling us, she now believes firmly he is in fact a murderer. She says for the first time publicly that he is, quote, "Not innocent." Take a look. [Natisha Lance, Hln Senior Producer:] Do you believe Steven Avery killed Teresa Halbach? [Jodi Stachowski, Steven Avery`s Ex-fiancee:] Yes, I do. [Lance:] Why? [Stachowski:] Because he threatened to kill me and my family and a friend of mine. I was in a bath and he threatened to throw a blow dryer in there, and he told me that he would be able to get away with it. He beat me all the time punch me, throw me against the wall. I would try to leave, he smashed the windshield out of my car, so I could not leave him. He is like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Semi-nice person, then behind closed doors, he is a monster. [Pinsky:] Joining me, Lisa Bloom, Civil Rights Lawyer at the Bloom Firm and legal analyst for Avvo.com; Judy Ho, Clinical Psychologist and professor at Pepperdine University; Joseph Phillips, actor and conservative commentator and Laura Richards, Criminal Behavioral Analyst. She trained as a profiler with New Scotland Yard. And, joining us from Wisconsin, Natisha Lance, Senior Producer at HLN. She is the very person who interviewed Jodi. Natisha, she seemed to defend Avery in that documentary. She was somebody who you During the documentary, you look at her, you go, "Why is she staying with this guy?" Then her alcoholism comes up. Her run-ins with the law come up and now she is singing an entirely different tune. Why the switch? [Natisha Lance, Hln Senior Producer:] And, we were still asking why did she stay with this guy when we spoke to her. So, the switch here is what she is saying is now the truth. She says that the documentary was all lies. She even asked to be removed from the documentary, going to the filmmakers. They came to her asking her she wanted to do one last interview and she said, "No." And, she actually asked to be taken out of the interview completely. But, the bottom line is that, she says that she suffered abuse at the hands of Steven Avery for many years. We pulled police reports that corroborate the thing that she was saying. We also spoke to the prosecutor, who told us that she was a witness on the prosecution witness list. She was not in the trial, but he said that she was a witness on that list because of the longstanding abuse between the two of them. [Pinsky:] Did you find her believable? Did you believe what she was telling you, Natisha? [Lance:] It is so hard to say. You know, my job is to get all the information on both sides. Listen to what Jodi is saying. Get all the information from law enforcement. Check out the things that she is saying and then present it to viewers and let them decide for themselves. [Pinsky:] Now, there is something she said, Natisha, that caught my attention. She said she was so desperate to get away from Avery. She, actually, tried poisoning herself with rat poison. If this is true, it is rather dramatic. Take a look at this. [Stachowski:] I ate two boxes of rat poison just so I could go to the hospital and get away from him, and asked them to get the police to help me. We did not have a phone. He ripped that out of the wall. [Pinsky:] All right. So, if my viewers remember, I was calling this man guilty from the beginning. He fit a profile. Lisa, any changes in opinion? [Lisa Bloom, Civil Rights Attorney And Legal Analyst:] You know, this is a fantastic interview and it is very interesting, but it would not be admissible in court. [Pinsky:] Why? Why? [Bloom:] That is probably why the prosecutor did not call her? [Pinsky:] Why? [Bloom:] Because first of all, her opinion about whether he is innocent or guilty is not admissible in court. OK, but, her abuse, it might be [Pinsky:] Might be? [Bloom:] in some places it is strikingly similar or substantially similar, but it is not similar to what he is alleged to have done in this murder. So, I do not think it would be admissible and this woman got some credibility issues. She probably has some mental health issues if she is eating rat poison, I am sorry to say that and she lied what she is saying now is she lied in the documentary when she defended him. You know, she said that on tape in the documentary. Now, she is saying, "Well, none of that was actually true." [Pinsky:] And, she really did not defend him in the documentary but she certainly seemed persuaded to defend him if she needed to. Judy, what do we call this? We are going to put a name to this? [Judy Ho, Ph.d., Clinical Psychologist:] The defense that she is putting on for him as well as switching [Pinsky:] Well No, what are we going to call her? I mean she is an alcoholic. [Ho:] Yes. [Pinsky:] We know she is an alcoholic, so is she liar, liar, pants on fire? Is that the whole story here or is this a borderline who is switching now? [Ho:] Yes. [Pinsky:] because she is angry with him and who know where the truth lies? [Ho:] Absolutely. There is a mental health issue here, just like Lisa said. She probably is on the borderline spectrum somewhere. But, that does not take away from the fact that she was abused and that he does fit that profile of what we would define as a psychopath or somebody with anti- social personality disorder. [Pinsky:] OK. So, we have somebody who lit a cat on fire. So, it is fire, animal torture and now domestic violence. Laura, is that fitting profiles for you? [Laura Richards, Criminal Behavioral Analyst:] Absolutely. I mean, that is the classic triad. And, I absolutely disagree. I think she gives a very clear insight into the type of person Steven Avery was. And, I agree with the fact that, actually, it does not tell us about guilt or innocence of the murder, but given that insight, ex-partners know the perpetrator the best, and these people around the perpetrator. And, I absolutely think it was an authentic account and it is a really important account. [Pinsky:] Joseph, have at it. [Joseph Phillips, Actor And Conservative Commentator:] Well, I wonder whether she was In this interview, she was telling the truth with as much authority as she was telling the lie in the documentary. [Pinsky:] I will tell you what. I am going to give you a chance. [Phillips:] But [Pinsky:] I am going to give you a chance to [Phillips:] But, I do want to say this. [Pinsky:] Please. [Phillips:] I want to say this. Profiling does not mean innocent or guilt. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Phillips:] And, even if he was a wife beater, which is a horrible, horrible thing [Pinsky:] Yes. [Phillips:] and, he is a horrible person. Horrible people still deserve due process. And, it seems to me that this film is about whether or not he received due process, and if he did not, it does not matter whether he beat her or not. [Pinsky:] Well, unfortunately you are right. I do not disagree with you at all. And, that is what we have been debating on this show for quite some time. But we are beginning to get a picture that this film is about making a documentary and nothing more. [Ho:] Yes. [Pinsky:] And, it is not a court proceeding, it is a documentary. And, as such, some people participated, some people did not. [Ho:] Right. [Pinsky:] They had to put a story together. [Ho:] Yes. [Pinsky:] And, they gave one version to the story. Now, we are starting to hear the other version. [Phillips:] But she did participate. [Pinsky:] Well [Phillips:] She participated [Pinsky:] You are right. [Phillips:] And, she did defend him. She said that when she called him, he did not sound like he was rushed or that he had just been committing rape and murder, which I do not know how one sounds when one does that. [Richards:] Exactly. How does one sound? [Pinsky:] Well, let me show you the footage you are talking about or some of the same footage. Here we go. This is Jodi defending Mr. Avery in the documentary. [Stachowski:] I called Steven at 5:36, supposedly when all this murder, whatever, was supposedly happening. And, we talked for 15 minutes. And, the conversation was normal. He did not sound rushed or like he was doing anything. And, if he was in the middle of doing something, we would not have talked for 15 minutes. [Pinsky:] Natisha, did you address that particular claim with her and how in fact did she explain it away or did she? [Lance:] She did. She did. We addressed that specific claim. She said that he did actually sound funny to her. He did not sound rushed, but she said he did not sound normal. And, she also said because she was in jail the day that this murder happened, when she saw it on T.V., something in her gut told her that he was guilty and that he did this. And, she,also, carried a lot of guilt, because she was supposed to be getting out of jail that day. Steven Avery was supposed to pick her up to go to an alcoholic drinking class. She was not able to get out of jail that day, and she feels like if she was out, then maybe Teresa Halbach would still be alive. But, one more thing I also want to say is that the reason she says that she said the things in the documentary is because she was afraid of Steven Avery. She said that he told her to make him look good otherwise she would have to pay. [Bloom:] But, he is incarcerated at that time. [Richards:] Exactly. Pay how? [Bloom:] He is incarcerated for life without the possibility of parole. [Pinsky:] At the time of this stuff was [Richards:] Well, he was in jail without he had not posted bail at this time. At least that was my understanding watching the documentary. So, she was going to pay how? He was just going to continue make collect calls to her phone over and over and over again? I do not know. [Ho:] But, then, again, when somebody has been abused for that amount of time, and there is a lot more than just a profile of a physical abuser here, there is a profile of somebody who has, actually, had a long string of manipulative behavior, torturing animals, multiple threats of other people`s lives. It is not just hers. And, so, that gets into the psychological aspect of a woman who has been abused. And, she has her own mental health problems. [Pinsky:] It becomes like a Stockholm-type syndrome. But, hang on. Natisha asked why Jodi did not tell the filmmakers about the abuse and here is that footage. Look. [Begin Video Clip] [Lance:] Did you tell the filmmakers about how you were being treated? [Stachowski:] No. [Lance:] Why not? [Stachowski:] Because Steven told me to make him look good. [Lance:] And, if you did not make him look good, what would happen? [Stachowski:] I would pay for it. [Lance:] How? [Stachowski:] Knowing him, he would beat me. He told me once if I did leave him that he would burn down my mom`s house with them and my daughter in it. [Pinsky:] Lisa, it is like Patty Hurst asking her, "Why you did not talk about the abuse by the SLA," because she was a Stockholm Syndrome. [Bloom:] Well, that is true. And, what I love about this interview and this whole "Making a Murderer" story is it shows the criminal justice system as it really is. So, you know, I practice civil and criminal law every day. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Bloom:] This happens all the time. Witnesses change their stories. They want to recant. They want to add facts. They do not like the way they look when testify the first time. They want to change everything. It is messy. And, what that boils down to in a criminal case is not proving a case beyond a reasonable doubt. I think it creates a reasonable doubt when witnesses are not clear in their testimony. [Pinsky:] But, then you get experts like Laura, Judy, me to kind of help with the clarity because we deal with this stuff all the time and we do know who fits the profile [Bloom:] I appreciate that. [Pinsky:] Hang on. I know, but let us get some more from this exclusive Avery ex-fiancee interview. And, also, the victim`s family is speaking out for the first time. You will hear what they have to say and what they think of "Making a Murderer." We are back after this. [Lu Stout:] aleppo under a 48-hour cease-fire, BUT according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights at least 70 fighters have been killed in a battle between Syrian forces and Islamic factions. Now, video released by the Nusra Front is giving us a unique perspective on the war being fought around Aleppo. It was shot from drones and it depicts the impact from rockets as the al Qaeda affiliate fought for Khan Tomman, a suburb southwest of the city. Just watch this. Watch what happens. Wow, a revealing perspective of the war there. Now, al Nusra Front said in a statement it controls Khan Tomman and a couple of surrounding villages after coordinating with other Islamist factions. Now, CNN's Jomana Karadsheh is monitoring developments on the spiraling violence in Syria. She joins us live from Amman, Jordan. And Jomana, we know that there was a deadly airstrike on a Syrian refugee camp. Women and children were killed. What happened and who is responsible? [Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Kristie, no one is taking responsibility for this attack on Thursday on this internally displaced people makeshift refugee camp near the Turkish border in Idlib Province. According to reports, it was unidentified jets that dropped the bombs on this camp, killing at least 30 people and wounding more than 80 others, according to the United Nations, that's describing this as saying that this could amount to a war crime. And, you know, looking at the images, the aftermath of this attack really devastating attack, you know, these are people who have fled their homes looking for safety, displaced like millions of other Syrians who have been displaced by the violence over the years, probably displaced once or maybe even more than once, finding refuge there, but that, of course, wasn't even safe for them. And you hear from the people in these videos that we saw in the aftermath, they're blaming the Syrian regime and its allies for this attack, but the Syrian regime coming out today saying it was not responsible for this attack. Now, this is something, Kristie, that we have been seeing over and over again in recent months. These attacks on hospitals, on markets, and in this case, a refugee camp with no one taking responsibility, but having a blame game here with the different sides blaming each other and it is the civilians yet again who are caught in the middle of this very complex war. And this attack, of course, happening while the country is supposedly in this so-called cessation of hostilities, yet we see women and children yet again the victims of this violence, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] That's right, despite the truce, or so-called truce, the human toll rises in Syria. Jomana Karadsheh reporting for us live. Thank you. Now, Russia's renounced Marinsky Theater Orchestra has performed amid the ruins of the Roman amphitheater in the Syrian city of Palmyra. Now Britain's foreign secretary has called the concert a tasteless distraction from the suffering of millions of Syrians. But Moscow says the event was dedicated to the victims of ISIS. Now our senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen witnessed the performance. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn International Correspondent:] Attack helicopters hovering over our convoy at all times for protection. Russia's army went to great lengths to bring a massive group of journalists to the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra, recently liberated from ISIS. When we arrived, a surprise: a classical concert featuring a Russian star director right in the ancient amphitheater, and a greeting from Russian President Vladimir Putin. This concert is way to thank those who fight against terror, he said, ready to sacrifice their lives. The star music Sergei Raldugod, named in the Panama Papers for alleged links to offshore companies with cash flows of hundreds of millions of dollars. He has denied any wrongdoing. Also on hand, Russian soldiers who demined Palmyra after ISIS was ousted, a sign of the pride Russia takes in its Syria intervention. Palmyra was liberated from ISIS control in late March after the Syrian army launched a massive offensive. When ISIS moved in to Palmyra, many experts feared the worst, that the terror group would flatten this entire remarkable ancient site. But when ISIS was driven out of here by the Syrian military, of course, with a lot of support by the Russian air force, the experts were surprised to find how much of it remained intact. But some treasures like Palmyra's Triumph Arc were destroyed. Now experts are debating how to restore them, but threats like unexploded ordinance remain. While, Russian demining teams have cleared both the ancient city and a nearby town they are also training Syrian troops to find and destroy explosive devices. The commander says the bombs ISIS left behind were particularly sophisticated. "ISIS left bombs behind that were professionally made," he said. "We found high-grade explosives and at least three suicide vests." Russia clearly views the liberation of Palmyra as a major victory not only for the Syrian, but for their forces as well, one they want the world to take note of even as Syria's civil war drags on. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Palmyra, Syria. [Lu Stout:] Now, the key U.S. jobs report for April has just released. And the U.S. economy added 160,000 jobs in April. That is fewer than expected. Now, economist surveyed by CNN Money had expected a rise of 197,000 jobs. Now, the unemployment rate remains steady at 5 percent. We're going to have much more on the jobs report on CNN Money. That starts in about 20 minutes from now. Now, place your bets and stand by for the jump. Now Saturday marks the 142nd running of the world famous Kentucky Derby. But with the great event comes great responsibility, and next on News Stream, we go behind the mic to see what it takes to call a horse race. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news: prison release. President Obama commutes the sentence of Chelsea Manning, the Army intelligence analyst sentenced to 35 years for a massive leak of U.S. military secrets. And the president pardons a former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff who pleaded guilty to making false statements about a leak of secrets on Iran. Power play. First on CNN, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, warns the Trump administration not to ignore Russia's interference in the U.S. election and says it would be a grave mistake to start a new dialogue with Russia from a position of weakness. Putin pushes back. Russia's president comes to the defense of Donald Trump, dismissing as rubbish the claims that Moscow has got compromising information on the president-elect. Disapproval. Our exclusive new poll shows that just four in ten Americans approve of the way Donald Trump is handling his transition. That's the lowest rating of any recent president-elect. It comes as dozens of Democratic lawmakers show their disapproval by boycotting Trump's inauguration. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] We're following multiple breaking news stories right now. President Obama has commuted the remaining prison sentence of Chelsea Manning, the soldier convicted of stealing three quarters of a million pages of documents and videos and turning them over to WikiLeaks. And the president has pardoned James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, who pleaded guilty to making false statements about leaking secret information on Iran to journalists. And first on CNN, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, warns it would be a grave mistake for the Trump administration to overlook Russian aggression and Russia's interference in the U.S. election. She says Trump should not begin a new dialogue with Russia from a standpoint of weakness. Fireworks are expected as a hearing is about to begin for President- elect Trump's controversial pick for education secretary, the Michigan billionaire Betsy Davos. She's known as a strong advocate for school choice and education vouchers, but critics say she has no connection to public education. Democrats are digging in for a fight. We'll bring you that hearing live. That's coming up momentarily. And an exclusive, our new CNNORC poll shows that Donald Trump's approval rating, just 40 percent. That's the lowest of any recent president-elect. More than four dozen Democratic members of Congress say they'll boycott Trump's inauguration, a move sparked by Trump's feud with their colleague, Congressman John Lewis. I'll speak with Democratic Senator Robert Menendez. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they'll have today's coverage of the day's top stories. Let's begin with our White House correspondent, Michelle Kosinski, and this hour's breaking news, President Obama commuting the sentence of Chelsea Manning. Michelle, was this a surprise? [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] I mean, not in the sense that we knew this was a possibility. The White House has been asked about it repeatedly over the last couple of weeks leading up to this, but that doesn't mean it's not a bombshell, especially to the intelligence community. I mean, Chelsea Manning leaked hundreds of thousands of pages of classified or sensitive documents, ending up on WikiLeaks. Many feel that she hurt national security. And when the White House would talk about, say, Edward Snowden by comparison, that's exactly what they would say his situation was, that he harmed national security. As we speak, we're getting a briefing from White House officials to shed more light on the decision making here and why he did this. And keep in mind, we're also going to hear from the president tomorrow, so the president can be asked directly his thinking on this. But there have been petitions, several of them. One on the White House website was more than 100,000 signatures saying that Chelsea Manning has suffered behind bars. She was sentenced to 35 years. She's already served several years. She has tried to commit suicide. She's been held at times in isolation. So, it could be that there's a sense that she's served her time, that she faced her crime, as opposed to Edward Snowden, that she served part of that. But keep in mind and Edward Snowden, again, by comparison, he didn't apply for clemency. But we did hear former attorney general Eric Holder say that he felt Snowden did a public service, at least in the sense that he shed some light and started a conversation about secrecy within the government, and the NSA. So, it's possible that there isn't a sense that what she exposed and part of it was human rights abuses or what she saw as that, had some value publicly. But we're really going to have to hear from the White House directly and the president to hear what went into this. Already, though, we are hearing from those in opposition, from Republicans saying that a traitor should not be held as a martyr. And we're hearing from WikiLeaks, too, that tweeted out "victory" Wolf. [Blitzer:] Michelle Kosinski at the White House. The president will be holding a full-scale conference, his last as president, tomorrow. For more on the president's controversial decision to commute Chelsea Manning's sentence, let's bring in our justice correspondent, Evan Perez. Evan, what are you hearing from your sources? [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, this was a shock to the national security establishment in Washington, the fact that that the president, who in the last in his administration, frankly, over the last couple of months, has taken a strong line against WikiLeaks and the role in the leaks of information that were of information that was stolen by Russian intelligence, at least according to the U.S. government, and the role WikiLeaks played in that, in the recent election, the idea that you would commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning, who is the one that put WikiLeaks on the map with her leaks, was something that people just could not fathom. The idea that you at least in the view of national security officials, they believe that she endangered people's lives, these hundreds of thousands of documents. Not only the lives of people, but also the relationships between the United States and other governments. A lot of information that other governments had passed on to the U.S. government, to the State Department, was released as part of that. Obviously, there was a tremendous outpouring from the human rights community in favor of Chelsea Manning. They viewed her case as one that was simply about human rights. She is somebody who is struggling with her gender identity. She was seeking to figure out a way to get out of a male prison, as you know. And, so, from the view of human rights, this was a simple case. In the national security arena, it was not so simple, especially in light of the 2016 election, Wolf, and the the decision that or the signal that this would send, they view, to other leak cases in the future. [Blitzer:] Evan Perez with the latest on that. Evan, stand by. The Manning and Cartwright cases had significant impact on the United States military. I want to go to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. So, how's this news about Chelsea Manning's commutation being received where you are over at the Pentagon? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, I think it's fair to say, Wolf, with a very raised eyebrow. The U.S. military firmly believes that Chelsea Manning, as a low-level junior Army soldier, mind you, stole illegally hundreds of thousands of documents, downloading them off a system a classified system, putting them onto a personal computer data device. This is something that is against the law. The military already, long before, taking a very hard stand on it. And back when this all happened, top Pentagon leaders were absolutely furious about it and wanted to send a very strong message that stealing information and then leaking it would not be tolerated. And, of course, it was it really did put WikiLeaks on the map. And now this action by President Obama comes against the backdrop of WikiLeaks' potential involvement in the Russian hacking scandal, potential involvement. We grant you that. So, this is going to be looked at in a very difficult fashion, I think, by U.S. military leaders. There is an understanding of what Chelsea Manning personally is going through in prison. Everybody gets that. But in the meantime, the view from the Pentagon is this person stole some 400,000 Defense Department documents, hundreds of thousands of State Department cables. The president has had the absolute right to do what he did, but it is the reaction from the U.S. military. And I would say the same thing about the James Cartwright case, but that, oddly enough, is a little bit different. People like to say the junior troops get the full weight of the law, and senior commanders, when they violate the law, get excused from it. But there's a general understanding that General Cartwright did what he did, offering that information about Iran to reporters, because the administration wanted him to. He was not out there freelancing completely on his own. But then he did lie to the FBI, according to what he pled guilty to. But General Cartwright, as a four-star, would indeed have been one of, if not the most senior U.S. military person to serve a prison term for something like this. And he was someone, when he served, that was very close to President Obama. So, I think there was a sense that perhaps this action for General Cartwright was coming. The Manning one, on the other hand, may be a very unpleasant surprise to many military commanders, Wolf. [Blitzer:] General James Cartwright, the former vice chairman of the joint chiefs of staff. He pled guilty, one count of lying, in effect, to federal investigators about a leak to journalists involving Iran. So, I take it, Barbara, very difficult reactions to the decision to pardon General Cartwright over at the Pentagon, as composed, as compared to the decision to commute Chelsea Manning's prison sentence. [Starr:] There are different reactions, Wolf. But I do think that people probably want to appreciate the fact that this whole business is a very long-standing issue in the U.S. military. Why is it that very senior commanders don't appear to serve the same punishment that more junior people do? Other senior commanders, General David Petraeus, is on probation still for his involvement in disclosing classified information to his biographer. He did not go to jail. He reached a plea agreement. General Cartwright there is a feeling that, very deeply in the junior ranks of the U.S. military, that they got the worst of the punishment, the worst of the prison sentences, and top officials appear not to. For all of the extenuating circumstances we've just discussed, that is what has happened to General Cartwright, to General Petraeus, to other top officials who have conducted themselves with wrongdoing, but it is a very deep feeling that runs in the junior ranks that perhaps they do bear the brunt of military law enforcement, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Barbara. I want to you stand by, as well. Barbara Starr at the Pentagon. Our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is with me. You're getting more reaction to this decision by the president. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, WikiLeaks is celebrating now. They just tweeted out "victory!" exclamation point. But it's an interesting test for WikiLeaks. Let's just remind our viewers of the association here. So WikiLeaks, of course, founded by Julian Assange, and Chelsea Manning was, to some degree, really their greatest source ever. Put them on the map. They'd done some releases before, but the documents that Manning stole from the U.S. Military gave and then were released via WikiLeaks were just this massive trove, as we know, essentially created WikiLeaks as this kind of global force, as it were, revealing these secrets. So, he is indelibly tied to Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks. Five days ago, WikiLeaks tweeted the following: "If Obama grants Manning clemency, Assange will agree to clemency despite clear unconstitutionality." Remember, Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadoran embassy in London to avoid extradition to Sweden. He's facing allegations there of sexual assault by two women. The reason he has given repeatedly is he feared that, "Listen, if I go there to face these allegations, that's really a an attempt for the U.S. to then extradite me from there back to the U.S. for releasing these documents." But five days ago he said, "Listen, you grant clemency, I will come to the U.S. I will face extradition" and, of course, face charges for his involvement in this. The question now is does Julian Assange keep that promise? Of course, there's no connection we're not trying to make any connection between that Assange demand and the fact that the Obama administration has decided to do this, but the fact is they have done it. Five days ago Julian Assange promised to come here to the U.S. We'll see if he follows through on that promise. And imagine if he does. You will have I don't know if you want to call it the trial of a century, but you would have quite a legal proceeding here with Julian Assange, particularly as Barbara mentioned, WikiLeaks' involvement in Russian hacking and the U.S. election. It's the assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that WikiLeaks was, in effect, the vessel for all these stolen documents, stolen by Russia and then released via WikiLeaks. So, if they follow through on this promise, would be an enormous event. [Blitzer:] The WikiLeaks' tweet victory, "Obama commutes Chelsea Manning sentence from 35 years to seven, release date now may 17. [Sciutto:] Right. And we have Edward Snowden, of course, who has his own exile, as it were, in Russia for his involvement in releasing documents. He's saying, as well, in five more months he will be free, addressing this to Chelsea Manning, of course. "Thank you for what you did for everyone, Chelsea. Stay strong awhile longer," says Edward Snowden. [Blitzer:] All right. We're going to get more reaction right now. Joining us, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. He's a key member of the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. [Sen. Robert Menendez , New Jersey:] Good to be with you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right. So, President Obama just commuted Chelsea Manning's sentence. We pointed out she was sentenced to 35 years in prison, some three or four years ago. Respond to this. Why do you think he did it? Did he do the right thing? [Menendez:] Well, I don't know why he did it, and so I'll look forward to hearing his reasoning because I just heard about it. But the reality is I have serious concerns about equivocating sentences when national security is at stake. What happened here is that literally hundreds of thousands of documents were released. It put national security at risk. It put individual operatives at risk. It put our national interests at risk with other countries. And at a time that we are seriously questioning what Russia did as it relates to our recent elections and the role that WikiLeaks and the different iteration has played in that regard, I'm not sure what type of message we send here. And, so, I'm really surprised that the president took this action and I have concerns about what message we send about ultimately revealing a sensitive national security documents. [Blitzer:] So, you have serious questions about why the president did this. You'd like to hear more of an explanation directly from him, is that what I'm hearing? [Menendez:] I would. I'd like to hear why it is that he took this step because there are very serious consequences when you release the type of documents that she did. And at the end of the day, what message do we send for the next person who thinks that they can get a treasure trove of documents released, because something inspires them to do so, and the consequence that flow from that. We've had agents in the field. We have operatives in the field. We have security situations set up across the world, our military and non-military entities. We have interests in terms of our advocacy and countries abroad, which is also revealed here. So, at the end of the day there was enormous damage done. And whether it be her or whether it be Snowden or whether it be Assange, at the end of the day, we're going to have to have a clear and unequivocal message that, in fact, you cannot ultimately put the United States at risk because of your individual actions by making public critical documents that are classified and secret and put the U.S. At risk at the end of the day. There has to be serious consequences for that. And if at the end of the day you think you can do that and then have your sentence commuted, I'm not sure that we send the right message. [Blitzer:] The argument that I've heard from some, some critics already, Senator, is that what the president has done in commuting Chelsea Manning's sentence is, in effect, to send a message to others in the U.S. intelligence community, the U.S. military, go ahead and do what he what she did and down the road you probably will get a more lenient sentence. That's the argument that will encourage more of these kinds of leaks to WikiLeaks. I'm sure you've heard that concern as well. [Menendez:] Well, I've heard that and other arguments in the past. And it is something that is a legitimate, I think, valid argument. The reason at the end of the day that there are consequence, punishment when convicted for ultimately releasing national security documents that put the national security of the United States at risk, those who served in the armed forces, those who served through clandestine operations, those who served in our embassies abroad is to send a very clear message that you cannot do that. And whatever calling you think you're answering, I think there has to be a severe consequences. Now, if, in fact, people believe that you can do that and at the end of the day have your sentence commuted, or maybe walk away without that consequence, I think that is a real risk at the end of the day and a legitimate public policy issue. [Blitzer:] Senator, I need you to stand by, because we have more questions for you. But first I want to get back to our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's following another major breaking story today ahead of his inauguration. Donald Trump now sparring with U.S. allies and adversaries alike, with the exception, I should point out, of Russia. Jim, Vladimir Putin is actually coming to Trump's defense. [Sciutto:] Interestingly enough, because you do have allies. Many adversaries, including China unsettled, even confused by some of the president-elect's comments with the exception of Russia that is welcoming many of them. Even sharing many of the same talking points with Mr. Trump. Even joking about some of the more salacious and unsubstantiated details of such allegations, which many news organizations, including CNN, have declined to report on in detail. [Putin:] it is hard to believe that he ran to a hotel to meet with our girls of a low social class, although they are the best in the world. [Sciutto:] And attacking those who prepared and published the dossier. [Putin:] People who order false information and spread this information against the elected president, who fabricate it and use it in a political fight, they are worse than prostitutes. [Sciutto:] President Obama's spokesman took a parting shot in his press briefing to note that Putin's comments defending Trump's legitimacy echoed those of the president-elect. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] First of all, it sounds like he got his copy of the talking points. Second... [Unidentified Male:] From whom? [Earnest:] Well, I don't know. It certainly sounds a lot like what the incoming administration's team is saying. But it is not the first time that the Russian president has called into question the veracity of the United States government. [Sciutto:] Three days to his inauguration, the president-elect's rhetoric is unsettling U.S. allies and adversaries alike. China's president Xi Jinping apparently warning Mr. Trump. [Xi Jinping, President Of China:] No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war. [Sciutto:] This after Trump has repeatedly vowed to get tough with China on trade. [Donald Trump , President-elect Of The United States:] They haven't played by the rules. And I know it's time that they're going to start. They're going to start. They've got to. [Sciutto:] U.S. allies in Europe also pushing back, Germany expressing disbelief at Trump's dismissal of NATO as obsolete. [Frank-walter Steinmeier, German Foreign Minister:] I just can't believe that an American administration would follow the thought process that Europe is not somehow important to the U.S. With a look at the history of the U.S., I just can't believe this. [Sciutto:] The Trump transition team says that the president-elect does not want a trade war with China. In fact, a senior advisor to the transition says that the Chinese, in his words, and Americans have common cause and a very strong bilateral relationship. The question, of course, Wolf, which message wins out? What is going to policy be regarding China. But also Russia under a Trump administration. [Blitzer:] Jim Sciutto, stand by. We're going to be speaking about this and more with Senator Menendez in a moment. But we also are following a breaking development, a stark warning for Donald Trump from the outgoing U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Our global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, sat down with Ambassador Samantha Power just a little while ago. Elise, tell our viewers what you learned. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, it was a very interesting conversation. We sat down right after Ambassador Power made a very bold and blistering speech against Russia, warning that Russia was a major threat to the U.S. that must be stopped. Now, in our conversation, we talked about president-elect's calls for warmer ties with Russia and President Putin. You heard this week the president-elect saying he would consider easing the sanctions on Russia in exchange for perhaps a deal on reducing nuclear weapons. Now Ambassador Power said it is necessary to have a dialogue with Russia, and she conceded that the new administration has a chance to improve ties, but she warned against letting Russia off the hook for their actions in Syria, Ukraine, the meddling in the U.S. election, and warned against appeasement. Take a listen. [Labott:] Are you concerned that the wrong signals are being sent to Russia? [Samantha Power, U.s. Ambassador To United Nations:] I would be concerned if we looked away from Russian interference in our election. I would be concerned if a country that just lopped off part of a neighbor got to keep that, because I think it would unleash dynamics around the globe that we can't even predict. And I would certainly be concerned if we thought that, you know, violating human rights, murdering opposition politicians and journalists and some of the tactics that Putin has used internally, that that would make for a reliable partnership over time. I think one would have to ask real questions about that. What I, though, do think is the case is that we need a dialogue with Russia and the new administration has a chance to kick one off. But we should not do so from a from the standpoint of weakness or the desire somehow, obsequiously, to kind of give Russia a bunch of things, notwithstanding everything they've done over the last few years. I think to have historical amnesia when the stakes are this high, for us, for our shared security, for prosperity, for trade, for you know, everything would be a grave mistake. [Labott:] And we also talked about calls by the president-elect and members of Congress to de-fund the U.N. after that very controversial vote condemning Israeli settlements. Ambassador Power warned Trump and the woman who he's picked as her successor, Nikki Haley, against such a move. She said that countries like Russia and China would be all too happy to pick up the vacuum of U.S. leadership, and that's not a world we want to live in, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Elise, thanks very much. Let's get back to Democratic Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. He's a key member of the Foreign Relations Committee. I want you to respond to what we heard, Senator, from the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, today dismissing these allegations that the Russians have compromising information on the president-elect. Does his seeming defense of of the president-elect concern you? [Menendez:] Well, I have to be honest with you, Wolf. This whole relationship, at least as it appears at this point in time, between the president-elect and Vladimir Putin and some surrogates here, they all alarm me. You know, this isn't a game of Monopoly where you sit at the Monopoly board and you decide, "Well, I'll let you have, you know, Crimea and I won't make an issue of it, or part of Ukraine in return for this. You know, I'll give up sanctions if you give me this." This is not a grand deal that you make as if you were, you know, flipping real estate. At the end of the day, I think there is a strong bipartisan view here in the Senate about Russia as an adversary; Russia's efforts against our national interests, our national security interests; about its pejorative role in the world of trying to destabilize the international order that we worked so hard since World War II to build. And, of course, in the most recent manifestation of their efforts to try to affect the U.S. election. So, I hope that the president-elect will come to some rhyme or reason to understand that, for whatever admiration there is of him being, quote-unquote, "a strong leader," there is a difference between strength and thuggery. There is a difference between being a decisive leader and being a decisive leader that ultimately takes your people into hardship, as we see Russian soldiers coming back dead from some of the incursions in the Ukraine and in Syria and other places, all to pursue a geo policy to try to strengthen Russia's hand in the region and the Middle East. So, this is, as he props up Assad, who is a butcher, so, I mean, there are clearly divergent reasons. And, of course, we would all like to have a good relationship with Russia, but it has to be a relationship that is based on some common values, some common interests, some common goals, some common efforts at the end of the day that are in sync with our national priorities, that are in sync with also our principles. And that's what alarms me. I just don't see where the president-elect sees this. And then I see Putin, who is KGB, and they still do everything that he used to do when he was at the KGB. They spend enormous amounts of money spying. They spend enormous amounts of money seeking to compromise individuals in the United States who are in positions of authority. And at the end of the day, you have to realize who your adversary is. And, so, this is really alarming, and I hope we have a change in course of events when he has all the information available to him. [Blitzer:] Senator, I don't know if you saw this new CNNORC poll out today. It shows more Americans actually want to improve relations with Russia rather than take strong steps against Russia. You can see the numbers: 41 percent want strong steps, 56 percent want to improve relations with Russia. So, you think Americans do you agree with those Americans who want to work with Russia right now? Clearly, the president-elect wants to do that. [Menendez:] Well, look, you know, we want to work with countries in the world that share our values, that are willing to support our mutual goals, not just goals of the United States, but the goals of the international community. But I think if you ask in the abstract, the average American would it be better to get along, have good relationships with Russia, the answer would be yes. But then when you cite what Russia is doing: its indiscriminate bombing in Aleppo and the killing of innocent civilians, its invasion in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea; and what it did in Georgia; and what it did in our elections and the list goes on, and you say, do you want a good relation at any cost, I think the answer would be overwhelmingly no. So it depends how you ask the question and how you pose it. And, so, we have a country that is adverse to our national interests and to our national security interests. And until they are willing to be in alignment closer with us, and most importantly, willing to be in alignment with the international order that we created that they have violated, both in Ukraine and in Syria, I don't think the American people would accept a good relationship at any cost. [Blitzer:] Amidst all of this, senator, the president-elect also once again called NATO, the NATO alliance obsolete. How do you think this kind of rhetoric could impact the U.S. relationship with key allies, especially in Europe? [Menendez:] Well, NATO is, you know, the tour de force of our strategy of being able to bring an alliance together of European countries for which our strategy is to ensure security on the European continent so that we don't relive the past as we have seen. Twice the United States went to Europe during World Wars 1 and 2. And secondly, not to deal with the challenges here at home. And so NATO invoked its charter when we were struck on September 11. NATO has engaged with us in Afghanistan, for example. NATO is a critical element of our international security structure. It is not outdated. Can it can it be prepared to meet new challenges, like the challenge of ISIS where we have challenges of individual actors and entities that are not state actors? Of course. Can it work to improve, to respond to irregular forces, as what Russia did in the invasion and Ukraine, if it was part of a NATO alliance? Yes. But at the end of the day it's critical. And the opportunity for us to have our bases in many of these countries, to create forward projection of strength anywhere in the world, is a value that I don't think that the president-elect has fully come to understand. Hopefully, his designee for the secretary of defense can edify him on that. [Blitzer:] Senator Menendez, thanks very much for joining us. [Menendez:] Thank you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] We're standing by to hear from one of Donald Trump's most controversial cabinet picks. Senators will be questioning education secretary nominee Betsy Davos. She's a billionaire, a major donor to conservative causes, as well as a major advocate for school choice and education vouchers. We're going to go to the hearing live as soon as she begins her statement, starts answering questions from the senators. Right now, I want to bring in our political correspondents and experts to discuss a lot of what we just heard. And David Chalian, let me begin with you. The very controversial decision by the president of the United States to commute the sentence of Chelsea Manning from 35 years in prison. She will have served about seven years in prison when she's finally released in May. The political fallout from this, I anticipate, will be intense. [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] And I think it's going to be across party lines. I don't think you're not going to see all Democrats just line up behind President Obama on this. We've seen some congressional reaction from some Democrats, already coming out quite concerned about this. And you have to go back and remember at the time, Wolf. When those State Department cables were released, the work that the Clinton State Department at the time and the Obama administration had to do to apologize around the world. Hillary Clinton I was just refreshing my memory called it an attack at the time. So, it is indeed controversial. This is this is clearly one that I don't think is going to sit well with everyone up there on Capitol Hill. [Blitzer:] And we just heard from Democratic Senator Menendez. He wasn't very happy with this decision. He wants more information directly from the president. You're getting more reaction, Dana, as well. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] That's right. I think just the opposite. You're exactly right. That it's not going to sit well with many, I think. It seems as though it's not going to sit well with most Democrats. Obviously, the most interesting, because they're breaking with their outgoing president. But Lindsey Graham, who of course, is a very loud voice and respected voice on national security in Republican circles, just told me that Manning stabbed fellow soldiers in the back; and President Obama slapped them in the face. So, pretty strong stuff. I mean, I just got him on the phone. He was livid, absolutely livid. And like I said, he's clearly not alone. [Blitzer:] You know, Sara, we haven't heard any official reaction from the Trump team yet, have we? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] No, we haven't heard any official reaction. We've asked, and Donald Trump is sort of in a weird position when it comes to leaks at this point in his tenure. [Bash:] And WikiLeaks in particular. [Murray:] And WikiLeaks in particular. I think he's been critical in the past about some of this information leaking out, some of those confidential State Department documents, but he's been on the campaign trail in recent months saying, "I love WikiLeaks. I love WikiLeaks." And when it comes to the recent leaks around John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chief's e-mails, he has essentially all but said the means justified the ends in that hacking situation. So, I think people will be watching very closely to see how Donald Trump walks the line on this particular issue. I don't want to try to guess what exactly he's going to say because... [Jackie Kucinich, Cnn Political Analyst:] And if Julian Assange comes back. He said that, if Chelsea Manning was pardoned, he would come back. So, regardless what he thinks about the Justice Department. So, how Donald Trump and his Justice Department handles Julian Assange, who's someone that he's kind of been on both sides of the fence on. He's said he should I think he said he should have some kind of capital punishment. And then, you know, he's praised his work in recent years, last year. So, that's going to be a really interesting test if he does decide to return. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] I think the question this president and the White House will have to answer here, will answer and I think it's an important one if how much was the personal story of Chelsea Manning involved in this, because the outcry from the left was so strong on this, and she's having a difficult time in federal prison, no question. But to me that is a central question here. Without that, you have to wonder if the outcome would be the same. [Bash:] Because she transitioned. [Zeleny:] Exactly. Because she transitioned from a man to a woman. I think all of that certainly played into this. Without that, it's hard to imagine, I think, this president would have done that. [Blitzer:] And you covered Trump throughout the campaign. He repeatedly, as you point out, praised WikiLeaks, said, "I love WikiLeaks," because of the damaging information that was presumably being released about Hillary Clinton and the Democrats. [Murray:] Right. And he seems to view leaks that are damaging to his political opponents in one way, whereas leaks that could be potentially damaging to national security in a different way. That's sort of the closest I could say for differentiating these two things. But I think that this is going to be sort of the first real indication. OK, this is a person who is not liked by many Democrats, not liked by many Republicans, and many people do believe he put many of our intelligence assets at risk. So, how do you respond to that? From that points, I would say Donald Trump would respond forcefully and negatively to this move by President Obama. But it does sort of put him in a box where he's saying, "OK, I feel fine about hacking directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, but I don't feel fine about these leaks." [Blitzer:] Go ahead. [Bash:] I was going to say, Jackie, your point about Julian Assange is so important as the story just is breaking. That is important to talk about, because not just has he changed his view... [Murray:] Right. [Bash:] ... over the past few years on Julian Assange. Remember, Julian Assange was Sean Hannity's guest recently. [Murray:] Right. [Bash:] And Sean Hannity, we know from FOX and talk radio, is a close adviser of Donald Trump. They talk quite often. And following that interview, Donald Trump started tweeting praise for Julian Assange. So, he's going to be president in a few days. It's going to be up to him to decide what happens if Julian Assange does try to... [Blitzer:] Do you think, David, Julian Assange would be more likely to come to the United States, face face the consequences during a Trump administration as opposed to an Obama administration? [Chalian:] Well, I'm sure that calculus probably makes sense if you were choosing between that. But I don't know that that will happen. I do think, though, to Jeff's point, this can't be and obviously, there's going to be a press conference tomorrow. I would imagine the president is going to get a lot of questions about this, because, I mean, look, Edward Snowden just tweeted out publicly a heartfelt public "thank you" to Barack Obama. That is not what a sitting president wants from somebody who's been labelled a traitor. So I think it is a very complicated issue that Barack Obama is probably going to take several questions tomorrow and have to spend quite a bit of time explaining to the American public, how this isn't rewarding behavior that put our national security at risk. [Zeleny:] Which is why he did it today. He wants to explain this; he wants to have the final word on this. Not to be something that he did on his way out the door here. But you have to think that Donald Trump is going to oppose this, because it's an Obama position at the end of the day. And Republicans, it's what you said Senator Graham said. That's the common thinking up there. [Kucinich:] Sure. And the White House has already drawn the distinction between Snowden and Chelsea Manning on what they said was Chelsea Manning actually went through a trial. He was sentenced. He stood in front of his peers, and she stood in front of her peers and was sentenced, where Edward Snowden ran and has been hiding in a country that is an adversarial country. So, they've already sort of started drawing that distinction. I think you'll hear something similar from the president tomorrow, if he's asked about that. [Blitzer:] This is going to be one of those legacy issues for this president on the two or three days before he leaves office. This controversial decision is something that's going to stick around for a while. And you covered him, Jeff. You appreciate that. [Zeleny:] Add it to the list. I thought our list was sort of over of the legacy items. But I think you're absolutely right in terms of how he is viewed by hawks and national security people like Lindsey Graham and others. I think that this will, in their view, you know, offer one more piece of evidence that this president is weak in that area. But I think, again, I do expect him to explain this tomorrow. But this is, you know, not I'm not sure how high it is on the list of legacy items, but it's fascinating and something I did not expect after covering him for ten years. I didn't think he would do this today. [Blitzer:] Yes. I think a lot of us were surprised. David, you were, I'm sure, surprised, as well. [Chalian:] I was surprised. And I do think that it is an enormous sort of gift to the left and the grassroots base of the left on Barack Obama's way out the door. This has been a vocal sort of rallying cry for many, many groups in the president's base. [Blitzer:] And it's going to be something that, as we point out, the hawks are really going to go after, this soon-to-be ex-president of the United States. [Bash:] Oh, absolutely. And it's going to give them fodder, you know, and it's going to give them a rallying cry, something to rally around. Not that they needed it when they have, you know, Obamacare and everything else. But it certainly, I think, politically does help. I wonder how much and I can't wait to see this press conference tomorrow. How much he's going to say I mean, he won't admit that it was "Oh, you know what? I was pressured by the left." I mean, that's never going to happen. But but how much how much he's going to tell the personal story of Chelsea Manning. And about never mind the transition and the going from a man to a woman but more specifically, why she decided to do this, the fact that she decided to stay in the United States, face trial, you know, that she didn't have a choice. And I think that my guess, in covering President Obama, is that it's going to be not his explanation's going to be not so much about national security but more about who this person is and why she decided to... [Chalian:] I have a feeling we're going to hear from Professor Obama to explain... [Bash:] Exactly. [Chalian:] ... the human interest in this case and how he came to this conclusion. [Blitzer:] We just got a statement from the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Let me read the full statement from the speaker. "This is just outrageous. Chelsea Manning's treachery put American lives at risk and exposed some of our nation's most sensitive secrets. President Obama now leaves in place a dangerous precedent that those who compromise our national security won't be held accountable for their crimes." I suspect, Sara, that's just the beginning of the reaction. We're going to get a lot more from a lot of Republicans and some Democrats, as well, who are deeply upset by the president's decision. [Murray:] I think that's absolutely right. And I think, if you are Donald Trump, then you are watching this play out. For instance, you could see a moment for your party to rally behind you. A lot of members of the Republican Party, a lot of members of the Democratic Party have questions about what he's going to be like as commander in chief. He's planning this inauguration where he's trying to come off as tough, as a strong leader. And this could sort of be the first chance we see of whether he's going to send that signal to Republicans: "And look, if there are leaks, I'm not the kind of president who's going to allow that on my watch. I will crack down on people who put our national security at stake." Because I think there are fair questions out there right now amongst some members in his own party about just how he will approach this, for instance. [Blitzer:] All right. Everybody stand by. There's more breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM. Let's take a quick break, resume our special coverage right after this. [Baldwin:] This just in. Governor Nikki Hailey of South Carolina will deliver the Republican address following the president's state of the union next week. In a statement she says quote "this is a time of great challenges for our country but also of great opportunities. I intend to speak about both." So let me bring in our chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Now we have the name. You know, obviously, my immediate thought was, potential future VP pick. Talk to me a little bit about that and how this is also sort of become this whoever, you know, issues this response to the president it's become like an infamous or an interesting position for these folks. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Yes. It's a 'be careful what you wish for" because it doesn't always go well. Let's start with what you just began with that she's a potential VP pick. She is absolutely there's so much buzz around her as that she is, you know, a pretty successful, very successful, I think, certainly if you're a Republican, governor of a southern state. She has been doing well when it comes to the economy, when it comes to education reforms and others. So it is let's just start where we should start, which is her record and her experience and her abilities. But let's also look at what I was just calling her, the pronoun, she's a she. And the bottom line, blunt way, there's no other way to say it, Brooke, but Republicans in Washington, particularly on Capitol Hill, are desperate to counter the idea that the Republican Party has turned into an anti-woman bigoted party. So what better way to do it, then again, let's start with her experience and her credentials, to have a successful southern governor who was a woman, who is a minority, and can show that side of the Republican party. So I think if you look at the full package for the party, it is frankly genius. When it comes to Nikki Hailey, it's you know, it is kind of a tough bag because you will never know what is going to happen. You had Marco Rubio's infamous water moment. Bobby Jindal did not do himself any favors. It was, you know, awkward and a little bit odd. And the list goes on when it comes to Republican responses. [Baldwin:] All right. So Governor Haley for that. Let's move on and talk about a date that I'm sure you have on your calendar for quite a while, February 1st, the Iowa caucuses. Take a look at this map. I love this map because you have 20 stops, town halls, events, appearance all to date. The candidates there on the trail in full force. Not only is the trail heating up, you know, sort of these ad wars. You have several ads from Republican candidates and the groups that support them. They are launching today across Iowa and New Hampshire. And two alone are from a group that supports Marco Rubio both with the same target. Watch this. [Unidentified Male:] Chris Christie could well be Obama's favorite Republican governor. Why? Christie's record. He instituted an internet sales tax, supported common core and liberal energy policies. Incredibly Christie even backed Obamacare's Medicaid expansion. Chris Christie, one high tax common core, liberal energy loving Obamacare Medicaid expanding president is enough. Conservative Solutions PAC is responsible for the content of this advertising. [Baldwin:] So not only is it a Rubio super PAC, it's the Rubio campaign going straight after Chris Christie. Why? Why Chris Christie? [Bash:] This is a perfect example of how these campaigns are trying to play a game of chess with the map that you just showed. People who support Rubio, including and obviously especially the super PAC who by laws isn't supposed to talk to the campaign, are worried about the fact that in New Hampshire Chris Christie is doing better. I'm told that internally inside the super PAC that Rubio is still beating Chris Christie, but that Chris Christie is coming up on Rubio. So for Marco Rubio to be the kind of establishment alternative going down the road, he has to do well somewhere. And let's just assume in New Hampshire Donald Trump wins because he is ahead in the polls and I'm told, you know, he is even in some private polling among many Republicans. Then, if Marco Rubio loses in New Hampshire to Chris Christie, he is in trouble. He's got at least perform a strong second if not win to be able to continue on and do well where the Rubio campaign I know hopes to do very well, which is South Carolina. So that is the reason. It's because they are looking ahead. They see Chris Christie as a potential threat to their long-term game and they want to try to nail them. And I'm told by a source at the super PAC, they are worried that Chris Christie is, you know, basically living in New Hampshire right now. He has been winning support on his personality. He has a big personality. And he has having these town halls day in and day out, but they want to remind people of his record which is what they added to that. [Baldwin:] All right. So all these candidate, all these other people at work heating up. Just quickly, why is no one directly targeting the front runner? Where's the anti, you know, Donald Trump campaign ad? [Bash:] You know what, Brooke? It's simple. It doesn't work. People have tried it. Jeb Bush is out there saying it until he is blue in the face. He is probably talking about it as we speak. It's not working. [Baldwin:] Yes. [Bash:] End of story. [Baldwin:] OK. The end. There you go. Dana Bash, thank you so much. [Bash:] Thank you. [Baldwin:] My next guest says President Obama is siding with Iran over Saudi Arabia as the sides are escalating, the violent dispute in the Middle East. Hear his reasons for saying that, coming up next. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Anchor:] Republicans running for president taking tough questions on the CNN town hall stage. Who made the best case to voters? Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Miguel Marquez. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] So, nice to see you this morning. [Marquez:] Good morning. [Romans:] I'm Christine Romans. Another late night, folks. It's Thursday, February 18th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. Let's talk about that. Breaking overnight: Republican presidential candidates making their cases to CNN viewers in the first of two town hall events. This meet the voter town hall, two of them come as a new national poll shows Ted Cruz edging ahead of Donald Trump by a two point margin. It is just one poll, though. Trump still holding a commanding lead in the next two states to vote, Nevada and in South Carolina, scene of those back-to-back town halls. Chief political analyst Gloria Borger is there. She has the latest. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Christine and Miguel, Republican presidential candidates tried to take a break from the heat of the campaign last night here in Greenville, South Carolina. And some of them, like Marco Rubio, actually succeeded when he tried to present himself as the unifier in the Republican Party. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] My promise to you if I'm the nominee, I'm not just going to unify the Republican Party. I'm going to grow it. We're going to take our message to people that haven't voted for Republicans in the long time. [Borger:] But it wasn't all sweetness and like. Rubio doubled down on his charges against Cruz as being a liar. [Rubio:] I said he has been lying because if you say something that is not true and you say it over and over again and you know that is not true, there is no other word for it. And when it's about your record, you have to clear up your record, you have to clear it up, because if you don't, then people say, well, then, it must be true. He didn't dispute it. And he's done that a number of times. We saw what he did to Dr. Carson in Iowa, which is wrong. We saw yesterday, Trey Gowdy, somebody came up with a fake Facebook post saying Trey Gowdy was no longer endorsing me, a very popular congressman here in South Carolina. So, these things are disturbing and they need to be addressed. [Borger:] And Cruz couldn't resist taking on Donald Trump one more time. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] It is quite literally the most ridiculous theory that telling the voters what Donald Trump's actual record is, is deceitful and lying. And listen, when I said this morning I held a press conference where I read his letter to everyone, and I invited Mr. Trump. I said, please, Donald, file this lawsuit. [Borger:] And there was the lighter side of the candidates. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] What do you do to relax? [Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] Play pool. [Cooper:] Play pool? [Carson:] I love to play pool. [Cooper:] Are you competitive when you play pool? [Carson:] I like to win. [Rubio:] I actually grew up listening to '90s hip hop music, especially the West Coast stuff and I really like it. In the last few years, what's happening with EDM, you've got this electronic disc jockeys or these deejays that are taking electronic music and overlaying it with tracks, country music, and all sorts of things. So, the lyrics are clean, the beats and the music is fun, I've gotten into it. So, it's a lot of fun. [Cruz:] I actually don't sing music I mean, I will sing things like "oh, my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Heidi-tine." [Cooper:] OK. [Cruz:] Which is really corny. But, you know, I used to do it when she put it on speaker phone in her office and embarrass her. You know, I kind of do you know, I just called to say I love you, I just called to say I care. I cannot not sing to save my life. [Borger:] Tonight, Jeb Bush, Donald Trump and John Kasich take the stage with Anderson Cooper. Back to you. [Romans:] What I learned last night is that Marco Rubio [Marquez:] Thanks to Gloria. [Romans:] Thanks, Gloria. That Marco Rubio is color blind. That Ted Cruz [Marquez:] Cannot really sing very well [Romans:] Cannot sing very well. [Marquez:] But is cute with his wife. [Romans:] Is cute with his wife. And Ben Carson plays pool. That's what I learned last night, among a lot of other things. [Marquez:] Well, I learned they are all smelling blood in the water on Donald Trump and going after him hard. [Romans:] There's that. [Marquez:] So, now, to assess all of that in the town hall, we are joined by political analyst Josh Rogin. Josh, impressive that you stayed up for the debate [Romans:] We love you. [Marquez:] and now you're here with us at 4:00 a.m. You are [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] I'm dedicated. [Marquez:] You are a monster. You are a machine, my friend. Thank you for being here. [Rogin:] Anything for you, guys. [Marquez:] Your takeaway. You watched the entire thing. What did you see that jumped out at you? [Rogin:] Well, a couple of things. First of all, there was a big break with Cruz and Rubio when it came to foreign policy. So, two real competing visions for where the Republicans should go. Rubio defended invasion of Libya. He called for more intervention in Syria. And Ted Cruz advocated the exact opposite policy. I think you saw a big break there. I think you also saw a Marco Rubio that was really energized by recent endorsements, by rising numbers in polls. It not clear the endorsements will result in actual votes, but anyway, it's given the campaign momentum. He is feeling the wind beneath his sails. I think you also saw Ben Carson really enjoy the format. I mean, this is a guy who really can't get a word in edge wise when it comes to the debates and everyone screaming. Not suited to his temperament, to his cadence. And there you had almost an hour to really just talk. And people really got to hear Ben Carson's views really uninterrupted and I think that was pretty rare. [Romans:] That's why I really like the town hall format. We're going to get three more candidates tonight in the town hall. Let's stick with Marco Rubio. He got that endorsement from Nikki Haley, who is the governor of South Carolina, who has very high approval ratings in her state, who has been critical of Donald Trump, and how her party has tapped on numerous important occasions, like, you know, giving the counter to the president's State of the Union. Listen to what Marco Rubio said about that endorsement. [Rubio:] If you look how far we have come since the 1960s and how South Carolina has come from where it is today to where it was 30, 40 years ago, it is simply amazing. In my campaign for president today, I got the endorsement of a governor of Indian descent who endorsed a presidential candidate of descent and tomorrow will be campaigning alongside the African-American Republican senator. All three are doing that here in South Carolina. That says a lot about the Republican Party. [Romans:] So, I think it's interesting to know, both of them are Gen- Xers. This is sort of the emergence of Gen X players and campaign politics for the first time. [Rogin:] Well, that's right. I think what you are seeing here is Marco Rubio make the argument that demographically, he matches up best against Hillary Clinton. He's got youth over experience. He's got he's going to appeal to minority voter blocs. That's sort of his frame for why he would be able to carve off in the general election that some other candidates wouldn't. I would not overestimate here the impact of the Nikki Haley endorsement. Let's remember, she came out early for Mitt Romney in 2012. [Romans:] Right. [Rogin:] South Carolina went for Newt Gingrich, the first they haven't actually picked a president in quite a long time. So, we're in a year where it is all about railing against the establishment. It's about the insiders. So, having the insider sitting governor is nice, it couldn't hurt, but it's not clear that that's going to make a difference when it comes to vote. [Marquez:] But the huge piece here is that national poll, that NBC"Wall Street Journal" national shows Cruz two points up over Trump. That's a tiny margin. He was 13 points down the last time that poll was taken in October. All of those candidates that drop out, their votes seem to be going to everybody but Trump. Is this the end of Trump? [Rogin:] I think what you are seeing is Trump and these are national polls. [Marquez:] National polls, yes. [Rogin:] But I think what you are seeing is that Trump has a ceiling. And everyone sort of knew that Trump had a ceiling. Trump was benefitting from the fact that all the rest of the electorate was super split with all of these eight, or nine or 10 or 15 candidates, depending on when we talk about it. So, as the field gets whittled down, all the non-Trump voters, whether or not that's 70 percent in this state, or 60 percent in that state, are going to start coalescing, and it gives an opportunity for all these other candidates to actually go past Trump in the numbers. So, South Carolina is the first real test of that. But as we get further and further down into the later and later states, we're going to see that. If Trump maxes out, and that's the prediction that he's going to match out somewhere, let's say at 30 percent, let's say at 35 percent, if he is against five people, that's good for Trump. If he's against two people, that's really bad for Trump. [Romans:] His supporters have said you have under estimated him from the get-go. [Rogin:] That's also true. [Romans:] This is one poll. It's a national poll. This is a guy who is getting people out. This is a guy who has amazing support. We will hear from him tonight. He is one of the three candidates tonight. Listen to what Cruz I want to listen to what Ted Cruz said. You know, it is almost impossible to watch this presidential election with say grade school kids. There is all this calling back and forth of called liars, you know, all these bragging and liars. You hear so much of this. It's just it is such an odd and different political season. And that's something that Ted Cruz remarked about. Listen. [Cruz:] This is a strange election season, in many ways. Both Donald Trump and Marco Rubio are following this pattern that whenever anyone points to their actual record to what they said and voted on and what they have done. They start screaming liar, liar, liar. I mean, it is the oddest thing. I cannot think of any precedent. Now, from my end, I have not and will not respond in kind. If they want to engage in personal insults, if they want to go to the mud, I'm not going to say the same thing about them. [Romans:] You know, I mean, the lying accusations flying. Does that hurt or help these candidates? Sort it out. [Rogin:] Yes, it is interesting on two levels. On the one hand, if you are Ted Cruz, you are trying to lump Marco Rubio and Donald Trump in the same camp. [Marquez:] Yes. [Rogin:] They are both saying the same thing. Therefore, they're both. Therefore, I'm the best alternative. But it's interesting. It's important to note here that Rubio and Trump haven't approached in the same way. Rubio is calling out specifics and Trump sent a letter. A cease and desist letter to Ted Cruz ask about his ad which simply showed Trump expressing support for the pro-choice position many years ago. So, if you watch Ted Cruz in the town hall last night, he was very specific and very verbose about the legal implications of sending a cease and desist letter. You know, Ted Cruz is very comfortable talking about this stuff. Donald Trump, a businessman, who's very litigious. But Ted Cruz is a litigator. He knows this stuff. He argued before the Supreme Court. So, Donald Trump has gone farther than Marco Rubio. I think he's weighted into Ted Cruz's wheelhouse here. I think he really sort of stepped into it because if he wants to get into a legal battle with a lawyer who has argued before the Supreme Court, that is a legal battle he's going to have tough time winning. [Marquez:] Yes. And hammer and tongue there going after Donald Trump's credibility as a conservative. Josh "The Machine" Rogin, thank you very much. [Rogin:] Anytime. [Marquez:] We really appreciate it. Three candidates down, three to go, it'd be very interesting to how Donald Trump does tonight. One more CNN Republican town hall live from South Carolina tonight. John Kasich, Jeb Bush and Donald Trump will answer directly to voters. Coverage begins tonight at 8:00 p.m., only here on [Cnn. Romans:] All right. A Republican heavyweight speaking out in favor of President Obama getting the chance to name Antonin Scalia's replacement. On the Supreme Court, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor says, quote, we need somebody in there to do the job and just get on with it. Meantime, conservatives are slamming the president's decision not to attend Justice Scalia's funeral on Saturday. The White House is not giving any reason for the decision but says the Obamas will pay their respect as Scalia lies in repose tomorrow. [Marquez:] Now, happening today, the White House will officially announce President Obama's plan to visit Cuba next month as part of the trip around Latin America for President Obama. The Cuba visit comes as the U.S. rebuilds ties with the communist nation after a half century of sanctions and estrangement. CNN's Republican last night, Cuban American candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz both criticized the president's plan, saying he should push for a free Cuba. Apple refusing to help the government unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino terrorist. Presidential candidates weighing in on that battle. We'll have that coming up. [Berman:] In the last two days, all the presidential candidates have weighed in on how they would fight terror. Some in ways are really hadn't heard before. More now, from Phil Mattingly. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Terror and politics once again inextricably linked. [Gov. John Kasich, Presidential Candidate:] It not about patrolling neighborhoods. It's not about shutting our borders down. [Mattingly:] GOP frontrunner Donald Trump saying when it comes to foreign policy, he will keep U.S. Enemies guessing. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] You know, we need unpredictability. The enemy. We have enemy. ISIS is an enemy. I frankly don't want the enemy to know how I'm thinking. [Mattingly:] Going all in on the use of torture. [Trump:] I think we have to change our law on, you know, the water boarding thing where they can chop off heads and they can drown people in cages and heavy steel cages and we can't water board. [Mattingly:] And considering the use of a nuclear weapon against [Isis. John Heilemann, New York Magazine Journalist:] You wouldn't rule out the possibility of using a nuclear weapon against ISIS? [Trump:] Well, I'm never going to rule anything out. [Heilemann:] Right. [Trump:] And, I wouldn't want to say even if I felt it wasn't guard. I won't want to tell you that. [Heilemann:] Right. [Trump:] Because at a minimum, I want them to think maybe we would use it. OK. [Mattingly:] Ted Cruz under pressure from New York City police officials. [Unidentified Male:] In the statements he made today is why he's not going to country. [Mattingly:] Defending his own proposals to increase patrols in the U.S., Muslim neighborhoods. [Cruz:] Look it is that ostrich head in your sand political correctness that has made America so vulnerable. [Mattingly:] Hillary Clinton challenging both in a sweeping foreign policy speech in California today. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] We can't let fear stop us from doing what's necessary to keep us safe. Nor can we let it push us into reckless actions that end up making us less safe. [Mattingly:] Each candidate fighting for position in the wake of the western Tuesday contests. A day that saw Hillary Clinton come closer to locking up the Democratic nomination. [Clinton:] I'm also very proud to have won Arizona tonight. [Mattingly:] A delegate split in the GOP. Ted Cruz winning Utah and Donald Trump dominating in Arizona. Another primary night raising questions about the effectiveness of the stop Trump efforts. Cruz securing the endorsement of Former GOP Candidate Jeb Bush. Pointing to it as another sign the party is coalescing behind his candidacy. [Cruz:] What we're seeing all across the country is the momentum is with us. And I tell you one of the things that shows that is this morning, Jeb Bush endorsed our campaign. [Mattingly:] Phil Mattingly, CNN, Milwaukee. [Berman:] All right joining me, CNN Political Commentator and Donald Trump Supporter Jeffrey Lord, CNN Political Commentator and Republican Strategist Ana Navarro and CNN Senior Political Analyst David Gergen. David, you heard about how some of the candidates are addressing the issue of terror right now. Donald Trump not ruling out nuclear weapons. Ted Cruz saying he wants to secure Muslim neighborhoods here. Look, they obviously are saying this for a reason. They think there is political gain here. What is it? [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] There is political gain. Americans feel shaky, they felt jittery. They are increasing sense of this terror these terror attacks are out of control. And they are looking for a strong man. That's what benefited Trump all along. So I think in the short term this will help him the most. I think the nature of his proposals, they sometimes get very wild. I think in the long run will play to Hillary Clinton's benefit, if she's tough. [Berman:] Jeffrey Lord, how do you use nuclear weapons against terrorists? [Jeffrey Lord, Trump Supporter:] Well, what he's really saying John, is something that's been done before in American history. Most definitely with Richard Nixon. It's called the mad man theory, seriously. It comes from Mack Valley. And basically what it says is, keep the enemy guessing as to what you will do or not do. Are you unpredictable? Make sure they see you as unpredictable. Richard Nixon was a devout believer in this. Talk about it frequently that he want the soviets in the day to think that he was a mad man capable of anything. Out of that came all sorts of his arms agreements, his trip to China, his opening with China because they he really felt he had used this wisely. That's in essence what Donald Trump is saying. [Berman:] Is that, Ana, an essence what Donald Trump... [Lord:] It's been before. [Berman:] ... is saying? Is it being unpredictable, Ana or is it being unserious? [Ana Navarro, Republican Strategist:] John, please don't ask me to interpret Donald Trump, I don't speak that language. Look, I just think that both Cruz and Trump are trying to argue each other on who can be tougher and crack down harder Muslims. They see Muslims as the enemy. They're trying to portray that. It has worked for Trump in the past. And I think, you know, Cruz is keenly aware that he is in a primary fight with Donald Trump. And, you know, it's about giving red meat to the base. And, you know, saying the things that make sense in a primary though may not make sense, if and when one of them becomes president. [Berman:] It is interesting though a lot of... [Lord:] Hey John? [Berman:] ... what's being hang on one second Jeffrey, because a lot of us being said in the Republican side right now is in reaction to how President Obama is dealing with this most recent terror attack in Brussels. And some would say the lack of reaction by President Obama. He continued his trip to Cuba. He went to the baseball game in Cuba. He's now continuing his trip to Argentina and I have to show you some pictures of this just a short time ago. President Obama in Argentina, dancing, doing the tango. Hopefully we have that video there. There's the president. That's the president doing the tango, the President of the United States doing the tango. David Gergen not badly I should say. David Gergen, you know. As far as an image goes in the midst of terror fears after Brussels, is this the image the White House wants to send? [Gergen:] Well, to be fair, the president has a belief that to shrink is the best thing he can do. He does not want to seem like he rushed into anything and, you know, that somehow he gets all shaken up and so he wants to hold back. He continually hold back. I happen to disagree with that especially in that and I think the people now after all these attacks, we've had an attack a day around the world for the last 12 days. But after San Bernardino and Paris and Brussels and Ankara and Istanbul, people are looking for more forceful action to actually drive back ISIS and right now we're not winning against ISIS. We have reduced the amount of territory that happened in Syria and Iraq but they've expanded elsewhere and we now learned through the Associate Press they trained up 400 fighters to go through Europe. Under those circumstances, I must tell you, I would tell the president, when you open your speech in Cuba to the Cuban people and a 38-minute speech, you only get 50 seconds to Brussels. You're really underplayed. You sort of brushed it off. When you go to a baseball game it looks like a frivolous when you're dancing like that. So, yeah, I even get the hard call. You should have thought about coming back and gathering ordinary people are looking for leadership here. I think that's a critical issue for him. The restraint does not equal leadership when you are under attack like this. [Berman:] We haven't confirmed the exact detail by the way of 100, you know, 400 fighters going to Europe right now but the idea that ISIS is sending fighters... [Lord:] John? [Berman:] ... is something we have reported. Jeffrey, go ahead. [Lord:] By chance just the other day, right before the Brussels attack, Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair gave an interview to the BBC and he was talking about this very issue. And he said that when people are forced to choose between what they see as liberalism that was flexible and not assertive versus a hard line position that they inevitably when faced with terror will go straight to the hard liner. I really do think that's what you're seeing here. I mean, he said this before all of this transpired, but I think he was right about it. [Berman:] Ana, I have to give you the last word right now and, you know, a 15 seconds or less. The president is dancing the tango. Your thoughts? [Navarro:] I think the entire thing is horrible. It reminded me of when he went golfing right after James Foley's head was cut off. Look, I think it's inexcusable that when the entire world is standing in solidarity with Brussels is in shock, is in grief. The President of the United States is in Cuba sitting next to a dictator who has been in power for 56 years who has ordered the shoot down of American citizens, who has been anti-American for 56 years eating peanuts and going to the baseball game like he was Walt Disney. It's not Walt Disney and it's a day of grief for the entire world. I think President Obama knows full well that the optics matter but he chose his legacy over optics. And I think it was a shameful, shameful disappointing moment for President Obama. I was disappointed. I was not surprised. [Berman:] All right, Ana Navarro, David Gergen, Jeffrey Lord, thank you so much. Just ahead, our top story and why specifically Belgium is such a hot bed for terror. [Costello:] President-elect Trump heading to Washington just three days before he is sworn in, facing his historic low approval ratings and a growing number of Democrats boycotting his inauguration. According to a new CNNORC poll, more than half Americans disapprove of the way Trump is handling the presidential transition, and only 40 percent prove. He trails far behind his immediate predecessors, President Bush, Clinton and Obama, all had support above 60 percent. And Trump also faces a growing boycott among lawmakers, nearly one in five House Democrats say they will not attend the inauguration on Friday. CNN's Jason Carroll live outside of Trump Tower to tell us more about that. Good morning again. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And good morning to you again, Carroll. You know, at last count, 39 Democratic lawmakers now saying they are not going to be attending inauguration festivities. That number really increased significantly after Donald Trump came out and criticized Congressman John Lewis saying this was a man that was basically all talk and no action, and you look at history and that's not the case. This is a civil rights leader who is one of the freedom writers, arrested and beaten, and marching for civil rights during that tumultuous period of time. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, one of those Democratic lawmakers coming out and saying she simply cannot go to Washington to support the president-elect, and a number of Republican lawmakers, on the flip side, saying this is not about lawmakers following their conscience, they say it's more about partisan politics as usual. [Rep. Barbara Lee , California:] I don't want to celebrate, you know, a president-elect coming in that campaigned on a campaign of bigotry and divisiveness, and he continued to campaign even after he won the campaign on this platform. [Rep. Sean Duffy , Wisconsin:] The Democrats lost. Donald Trump won. You may not like him, you may not agree with his agenda, just like we didn't agree with President Obama's agenda. But show up. That's your duty as a Republican congressman. Be part of the process. [Carroll:] What does the president-elect have to say about all of this? He is being basically upbeat about what is to come later this week. He says people are pouring into Washington in record numbers, and Bikers for Trump are on the way. In terms of some of those numbers, we should also note that a number of people showing up in Washington later in the week will be protesters who plan to voice their opposition to the president-elect Carol. [Costello:] All right. Jason Carroll, reporting live from Trump Tower. The partisan divide, well, it's now a canyon, like the Grand Canyon. There's a reason all the lawmakers are skipping Trump's inauguration. Back to that CNNORC poll, 80 percent of Republicans approve of Trump's handling of the transition, but only 8 percent of Democrats feel the same way. When asked if Trump will do a good job as president, 93 percent of Republicans say yes, and only 14 percent of Democrats think he will. With me now to talk about this is Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor of Spectrum News, and Lara Brown, program director for the George Washington University Graduate School of Political Management. Welcome to both of you. [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Good morning. [Costello:] OK. So, Errol, this poll suggests Trump is shaping up to be one of the most polarizing president-elects the nation has had in modern times, yet, this weekend, Mr. Trump tweeted this, quote, "For many years, our country has been divided, angry and untrusting. Many say it will never change. The hatred is too deep. It will change." Errol, will it? [Louis:] Well, I don't know if putting four exclamation points after it and all capitals will do it. It's a little bit deeper than that. The reality, of course, is that this president-elect let's be clear, he is not that much of an exception, and we had a string of presidents who ran on polarizing programs, who divided the country and took advantage of the country and decided to win and govern with sort of 50 percent plus one. Donald Trump is clearly intending to do that. There are a number of things we could roll back the clock over the last six weeks of opportunities that he had an opportunity to bring people together and did the opposite, and the fight with John Lewis being the most recent and spectacular example. So, we're not I think going to do well by looking at his tweets, but we should look at his actions and his words. And the reality is, he does not intent to govern as a uniter. He may find some advantage there and that's what will move forward. But for a long time, what is broken about Washington is that you do derive political advantage and in this case, you win the presidency by being a divider. [Costello:] And our country is so divided. I'm going to throw some more numbers at you, Lara. We are split geographically, gender-wise, racially and education wise. Trump's transition approval numbers are 30 points higher among rural voters, 20 points higher among men and 20 points higher among whites. So, I know Errol got into this a little bit. But what do you think this means in terms of governing? [Lara Brown, Program Dir., Grad School Of Political Management, George Washington Univ:] Well, really, what this is about is you can see what the basis of the campaign was, and we had a divisive election, and we had one in which the two sides did not see each other's views at all and there is a great deal of nastiness. The last time we had sort of numbers that were even approximating anywhere approaching this was actually during George W. Bush's, you know, transition time, and in the run up to the inaugural as he was questioned because of the inversion of the popular vote and the Electoral College, and yet, you know, George W. Bush was obviously in a much better shape than is Donald Trump currently. But it's also true that Representative Lewis protested and, in fact, boycotted George W. Bush's election back in or inaugural back in 2001. [Costello:] OK. So more numbers to throw at you. According to our CNNORC poll, most Americans do not believe Donald Trump will protect the U.S. from hacking and they don't believe he will defeat ISIS, they don't believe he'll build a wall, but a majority of Americans do believe that he will increase jobs and fix the tax code. So, what does that say to you? [Louis:] Well, what that says to me is that people have a realistic sense of when the president-elect is speaking politically, what's realistic and what's not. The wall, we heard from any number of experts is simply a fantasy, it's kind of a metaphor. Something will be built, but it's not going to be what he promised. I think for a lot of people, it doesn't really make that much difference. The metaphor was intended to signal he'll be tough on the border. When it comes to the jobs, though, this is what people want, this is at the heart of his brand, not so much the wall, but his ability to manage the economy, his ability to sort of bring growth up towards 4 percent, and that's the number he promised and that's the number we should be looking at, his ability to change the trade deal, so that they'll be the kind of prosperity that he promised. I think his presidency will probably rise or fall more on that than almost any other single thing. [Costello:] So, just I want to touch on disunity one more time, and a lot of people are blaming Mr. Trump for that, and a lot of Democrats are going to skip the inauguration, Lara, doesn't that lend to the disunity in the country, too? [Brown:] Well, it does. There's no doubt about it. When one commits to politics in America, that actually means you should be committing to the process and not the results, and in fact, I think the Democrats are doing themselves a disservice by not showing up and not participating and not acknowledging what is the most signature achievement of the country, which is a peaceful transfer of power for over more than 200 years. So, there is I think a problem for Democrats in the, if you will, optics surrounding this. But I also think it's important to realize that Donald Trump, his honeymoon appears to be more like one following an arranged marriage. Republicans are not even as enthusiastic as one would anticipate, that they should be in relation to having a White House, and certainly everyone seems to be somewhat wary about what Trump's actions will be going forward. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Errol Louis, Lara Brown, thanks so much. I'll be right back. [Harlow:] One week from tomorrow, the people of Iowa will cast the first official votes of the 2016 presidential race. A brand- new FOX News poll shows Donald Trump with a strong lead over Senator Ted Cruz. Trump getting 34 percent support among likely Republican caucus goers. That's an 11-point bump from just two weeks ago. Cruz coming in at 23 percent, slightly down from 27 percent in the last FOX News poll. A top Clinton ally who runs her super PAC tells CNN today quote "I may have spoken too soon when predicting in December that the Democrats would face Cruz in November. I now believe the GOP nominee is likely to be Donald Trump. I don't agree with some Democratic thinking that Trump would be easy to beat. He has rewritten all the rules, and I would expect a tough race with Hillary." Let's talk about all of it with Kathie O'Broadovich, political columnist for "the Des Moines Register." Yesterday, Kathie, thank you for being here. Yesterday, your paper endorsed Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio for president. Just a couple of weeks ago, the poll from the register, had Trump trailing Cruz. Now Trump seems to be surging by 11 points. Why do you think that is? [Kathie O'broadovich, Political Columnist, The Des Moines Register:] I think that people are making up their minds at the very last minute, Poppy. And I actually think that the polls might fluctuate again here before Monday before a week from Monday. We have a situation where we have people really deciding late. I was just at a Ted Cruz event yesterday [Harlow:] Yes. A lot of them still undecided, that's for sure. Let's have on the Democratic side, right. You have Bernie Sanders out with a new ad. It is airing in Iowa right now. They just started airing it in Iowa and New Hampshire. There's no one speaking in it or talking about Bernie's message. It is simply a bunch of images set to the Simon & Garfunkel single "America." let's roll it. All right. There it is. No attacks. Just a collection of images to that famous song. How effective, Kathie, is something like that in your state? [O'broadovich:] Well, you know, ads by themselves don't necessarily move people to the caucuses. You know, we like to talk about the ground game and face-to-face contacts. But this is a really interesting ad. It wouldn't be talking about it if it was a typical ad, right? And the interesting thing, I think, is you know, Bernie Sanders has really been mostly appealing not mostly, but in a large way appealing to younger voters. "America t "Simon & Garfunkel it hitting a much older generation. And the way I read this is, you know, he is hitting back I think at Hillary Clinton talking about reality and which candidate has the most realistic plan. Bernie Sanders is about idealism. And I think he's reminding voters my age and older of a more idealistic time tp. [Harlow:] Yes. It's interesting. I mean, that sort of theme of pragmatism versus idealism has been playing out across this campaign, hasn't it, on both sides. When you look at the latest polling, it has Hillary Clinton trailing Sanders in Iowa by eight points. This is among likely democratic caucus goers. One voting bloc that Clinton is really hitting hard is younger women. She had stars like Demi Lovato, Lena Dunham stumping for her. There's campaign swag they're giving out including a, quote, "girls just want to have fundamental rights." That's a tote bag. There's a throw pillow even. It says a woman's place is in the White House. There you go. So how key is that voting bloc when it really comes down to it for her? [O'broadovich:] You know, younger women have been harder to get out to the polls. And, you know, I think that Hillary Clinton is trying, you know, to appeal to the you know, the fact that she could make history being the first woman president. And you know, this is a Democrat that may be sort of untapped. And so, you know, it's interesting that she's working hard for younger women in particular. Bernie Sanders overall does better with younger voters. But they're also, you know, a little bit harder to get out to the caucuses. They're going to be in college. They might be concentrated in their college towns instead of spread out around a state like any democratic candidate wants their support to be. So, you know, she's trying to maybe peel away this younger woman demographic from Bernie Sanders. [Harlow:] Right. Well, and isn't that sort of a demographic that can sort of rally the troops, if you will. Because on the Democratic side, to be honest, there's been an issue of enthusiasm especially, some would argue, for Hillary Clinton. When you look at this new CBS"New York Times" poll that found 47 percent of Republican voters are more enthusiastic about this election season than the Democratic voters. Only 32 percent of Democratic primary voters are sort of reared up to go and enthusiastic. Why do you think that enthusiasm is lacking on the democratic side? [O'broadovich:] Well, I think that there has been just a lot of excitement and interest generated by Donald Trump and all of the media attention to Donald Trump. This is something truly new. On the Democratic side, you have a known quantity in Hillary Clinton. You have an outsider in Bernie Sanders, but he's not a brand-new type of animal in politics. And then Martin O'Malley who just hasn't made it competitive. And so, I think that part of the real outsider energy has been on the Republican side. That does not mean, though, that people won't get excited about caucusing for the Democrats. A close race will get people into the game and going out to their caucuses. [Harlow:] No. It is a good point. All right. Kathie O'Broadovich, good luck to you this week. Busy week ahead for you in Iowa, no question. [O'broadovich:] Thanks, Poppy. [Harlow:] I do want to go to Hillary Clinton speaking live in north liberty, Iowa. [Clinton:] They're just making small talk. We said well, you know, how long have you worked here? She told us. We said, well, is this a good job? She said, well, I have two jobs. I work 7:00 to 7:00 at one of my jobs and then I come here and work till 3:00 a.m. and I have two kids and I'm raising them alone. And we are just going to keep trying as hard as I can to make it. I met a woman in Tama last week who has three minimum wage jobs working about 65 hours a week, and is so worried she's not going to be able to help her daughter go to college. She introduced me to her daughter who is in high school. And I said, well, I'm going to make it possible for her to go to college. And I'm also going to work as hard as I can to get wages up and get more economic security for people. [Harlow:] All right. We'll continue monitoring Hillary Clinton. Obviously, she and her competitors on both sides spending a lot of time in Iowa this week as we are just about one week away from this critical Iowa caucuses. Interesting to know, you heard Kathie O'Broadovich said, but our most recent CNNORC poll found in Iowa right now, you have 20 percent of likely Democratic caucus goers still deciding who they're going to support. Those undecided voters, those are the ones who the candidates are going after right now and tomorrow night at this event our CNN Iowa Democratic presidential town hall, our very own Chris Cuomo will moderate. That's tomorrow night 9:00 p.m. eastern only on CNN. Coming up, it is game day, as if I needed to tell you that, football fans. It is game day. And not even the biggest blizzard that North Carolina has seen in quite a long time can stop the NFC championship in Charlotte. A live report from the stadium next. [Lemon:] Please, whatever you're doing, just sit down and watch this next segment. Doctors at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas speaking out today about treating the police officers who were ambushed last Thursday. One of them is Dr. Brian Williams. He was a trauma surgeon on duty. He said the experience is personal for him and he thinks about it every day. [Williams:] I understand the anger and the frustration and distrust of law enforcement, but they're not the problem. The problem is the lack of open discussions about the impact of race relations in this country. And I think about it every day. That I wasn't able to save those cops when they came here that night. It weighs on my mind constantly. This killing, it has to stop. [Lemon:] Dr. Brian Williams joins me now. Thank you, doctor. How are you? [Williams:] Thank you for having me. I'm getting by. [Lemon:] Yes. And that was just a, you know, a courtesy how are you, but really, I was watching you today. How are you doing? How are you doing? [Williams:] How am I doing? That is somewhat difficult to answer. I'm I go hour to hour. This incident has been playing in my mind constantly. It's it's like this bad movie on an endless loop. But going to work has forced me to kind of push it aside temporarily but it continues to break through. And I discuss it a lot with my wife. We talk about it at work. But I have not fully had a chance to just sit back and process really what actually happened. [Lemon:] Yes. I thought it was really profound when you said, because it was very simple, you said, I don't know what I'm going to do with all of this. You don't know from moment to moment what you're going to do, right? [Williams:] That's true. I know, for me, I have to do something. I don't know what that it's going to be or when. I'm savvy enough to recognize there is an issue, just haven't taken that next step. [Lemon:] Yes. [Williams:] I still think about the I'm still thinking about the officers and the families and the men that were killed in Baton Rouge, in Minnesota last week. And I compare my situation to theirs. It's hard for me to focus on myself right now. [Lemon:] It's a real if we can just for a moment, though, if you'll indulge me it's a real tug-of-war for you because you're a successful surgeon. Obviously you go in to do your job, you have tremendous respect for law enforcement, but you said while you are a successful surgeon and you do have a respect for law enforcement that you fear them at the same time. That's not something that one of your friends sitting there, a fellow surgeon and friend sitting there as a white person does not have to deal with. Help our help America understand the conflict that you have as a black man. [Williams:] Well, clearly when I'm at work dressed in my white coat, the reactions I get from individuals and the officers I deal with on a daily basis is much different than what I would get outside the hospital in regular clothes. And my fear and some mild inherent distrust that law enforcement that goes back to my own personal experiences that I've had over my entire life, as well as hearing the stories from friends and family that look like me, that have had similar experiences. Put that all together, and that will explain why I feel the way I do. [Lemon:] Yes. Your friend is Dr. Kent Dr. Kent, I forget his last name. Who was there with you today? You know what I'm talking about? [Williams:] Dr. Ken? [Lemon:] Yes, the doctor, the surgeon who's also a police officer. And who's also your... [Williams:] Dr. Eastman. [Lemon:] Dr. Eastman. [Williams:] Dr. Eastman, yes. [Lemon:] Dr. Eastman was sitting there today and you guys talked he talked about your friendship and how your families know each other and your wives know each other and your children and you have these difficult you're starting these difficult conversations with each other and you have very different views on all of this. What are you talking about? How are those conversations how are you facilitating these conversations? What are you guys discussing? [Williams:] Well, clearly Dr. Eastman and I have very different views on law enforcement. He is a police officer. I am not. He probably has never had the same experiences dealing with law enforcement that I have had over my lifetime. And now that this incident has happened, it has allowed these conversations to begin, but there's certainly been little progress at this point because it's only been a few days and there's a long, long way to go from here. [Lemon:] Are you on the at every moment, I hear you in your voice, are you on the verge of tears at every moment? [Williams:] Not at every moment, but there are have been times where people have mentioned the officers and then that sets off a chain reaction of thoughts in my head about what happened that evening. I'm good most of the day, but there are times where it just takes over. [Lemon:] You said every day you think about how you couldn't save those police officers coming in. Is that a guilt what is that feeling? [Williams:] Well, I did mention myself, this is a team that worked on all these office. I certainly was directing that team and in the end, I did much of the physical work on the individuals. In the end certainly out of respect for the family, I don't want to discuss all the details of what we did, but I just wish maybe I could have gotten to them a few minutes sooner. [Lemon:] You're OK, doc. The country's with you. The world is with you. And we understand your pain. I mean, as much as we can. [Williams:] I don't understand why people think it's OK to kill police officers. I don't understand why black men die in custody and they're forgotten the next day. I don't know why this has to be us against them. This is all really it has to stop. [Lemon:] The world you have you have everybody's attention, doctor, quite honestly. What did you want to say? What would you like to say to America right now? [Williams:] We are in this together, we are all connected. All this violence, all this hatred, all these disagreements, it impacts us all. Whether you realize it or not. This is not the kind of world we want to leave for our children. Something has to be done. [Lemon:] Can we talk about your daughter, because you say that you're often out with your daughter and you want her to see you having positive experiences with law enforcement and there are certain things that you do in her presence in the presence of law enforcement to reinforce that. [Williams:] Well, I when I'm out, if I'm at a restaurant and I see police officers in uniform eating, I make it a point to pick up their tab. For me, I want them to see a black man who acknowledges them as individuals, acknowledges the sacrifices they make and show that I appreciate what they do. And I also want my daughter to see me doing this so that when she grows up, she can recognize that the police officers are not the enemy. That they're people she can trust. Because the burden I carry with me is not something I want her to have as an adult. [Lemon:] How old is she? [Williams:] She's five. [Lemon:] Five years old. Did you you saw the video of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile being shot. [Williams:] yes, I saw it. [Lemon:] You had no idea at that time that this would somehow and some ways fell over into your emergency room. It must just be surreal for the moment. [Williams:] Yes, it is. That is correct. I did not expect there to be a path from to other states to my city. But I certainly felt the impact of those incidents on me personally. So, for me the tragedy that began in Dallas on Thursday night, it started for me well before that. And that was the culmination, not the beginning. [Lemon:] You described these events as a turning point for your life and that's why you decided to speak out. This changed you. [Williams:] It absolutely has changed me. I'm certainly not the only African-American male in this country that feels the way I do toward law enforcement. But I work with them on a daily basis. They're my colleagues. They're my friends. And as I said, I'll respect what they do. But I also understand how men like me can fear and distrust officers in uniform. I get it. But that does not justify inciting violence against police officers. Does not justify trying to kill police officers. This incident didn't fix anything. It's making it worse. We're no longer talking about the dead black men. We're no longer discussing race relations in this country. And I certainly do not want to take away from the Dallas police officers and their families, but we should be discussing the impact this tragedy has had on everyone involved. Not just the heroes in blue, but the American citizens that have paid the price as well. [Lemon:] So, to that end, you said that there needs to be more open discussion and dialogue about race. Some people say that there's a lot of talk, there just aren't people listening right now. Many people. And others see the problem very differently. We're going to have a town hall here on Wednesday night on CNN. How do we start to understand each other better? Doctor, help us begin that conversation. How do we do that? [Williams:] There are a lot of people talking at each other, talking over each other, trying to shout each other out, but I don't see people truly listening to the other side, truly putting themselves in their shoes and seeing the world through their eyes. And until we're ready to do that, there probably will not be any truly substantive change. [Lemon:] Dr. Brian Williams. You're one hell of a man. You're a brave man. Thank you so much. Thank you. [Williams:] Thank you for having me. [Lemon:] Thank you. And we appreciate the service because you truly are doing the work of the Lord, the Lord's work. We'll be right back, everyone. [Barnett:] We have some dramatic images to show you. They underscore the often deadly dangers migrants face to flee to Europe. An Italian patrol boat approached an overcrowded migrant boat to offer life jackets and you see there the passengers rushed to one side. That caused the boat to rock violently before capsizing. [Church:] The Italian crew threw life jackets to the people who spilled into the sea. The navy says more than 560 migrants were rescued but five people died. Nearly 6,000 migrants have been rescued recently. [Barnett:] For a third day, Greek authorities are moving thousands of migrants from the border with Macedonia to state-run facilities. A Greek government spokesman says the train line to the Balkans which runs through the Idomeni migrant camp should be open in the coming days. Protesters at the camp have been blocking those tracks since late March. [Church:] Well, the migrants face another risk besides the dangerous Mediterranean crossing. [Barnett:] That's right. Nick Paton Walsh has this exclusive report from Tripoli on how ISIS militants are infiltrating migrant groups to get to Europe. [Walsh:] This is the moment when desperate dreams come to an end. We're with the Libyan immigration police inside a warehouse of migrant hopefuls they just raided right on the Tripoli beachfront. As Turkey and Greece close their shores, the Libyan route to Europe has exploded again. Here, among the squalor that a lifetime's savings buys, is when fantasies of a future in Europe fall apart. Where are you from? [Unidentified Male:] Nigeria. [Walsh:] Bejim fled ISIS-loyal Boko Haram in Nigeria, whose bombs killed his father and brother. And he survived the desert trek until here. We leave quickly as this is the smugglers' neighborhood. But there is a new threat here. Smugglers and police telling us that ISIS have hidden fighters among other groups of migrants bound for Europe. This trade in human souls is awful enough until you think that perhaps ISIS are using this passage of human life into Europe to try to infiltrate the continent with sleeper cells. Police tell us off camera they've caught different other migrants with ISIS links and a top Libyan intelligence official warns us the threat is real. It is a huge and unpatronable coastline where smugglers rule. We talked to one disguised for his safety who says in the past two months ferrying ISIS has become part of the trade. [Unidentified Male:] About two weeks ago, a boat left the ISIS stronghold serge. Among them were about 40 ISIS. They were heading to Europe but bad weather turned them back. Ten days later they tried again. I don't know if they got there. About a month ago, I got a call from a devout guy I knew was ISIS. He wanted a small boat for 25 people and was willing to pay about $40,000. I didn't take the deal. [Walsh:] Do you and other smugglers feel comfortable moving people who you know may be ISIS toward Europe? [Unidentified Male:] Smugglers are only interested in smuggling. ISIS, anyone. They don't care. Melon or watermelon. Only money matters. [Walsh:] The Libyan state is torn apart by infighting. Its coast guard struggling to even find boats. Fighting the migrant trade across this, the whole coastline of the Libyan capital Tripoli, are just six boats like this, none of which are in particularly good service. You simply can't imagine how under resourced things are here so close to Europe. These are the desperate scenes as they try to rescue some African migrants whose dinghy collapsed late last year. Smugglers now prefer these dinghies, vulnerable to the slightest weather change. A trait born of human misery. Some fleeing ISIS themselves. Only to find ISIS now seek to hijack their deadly journey to spread more suffering. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Tripoli. [Barnett:] You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, a new report shows Hillary Clinton broke federal rules by using her own server for official e-mails. We'll ask our legal analyst whether that was criminal. [Church:] Plus, one of Italy's most famous cities has quite a cleanup ahead after a road collapsed in a popular tourist spot. We'll explain when we come back. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] I think the momentum is with us. I certainly would like to see a debate in New York. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Two key terror suspects still on the loose. [Unidentified Male:] Thirteen new raids. [Unidentified Female:] Hundreds of protesters stormed a memorial chanting anti-immigrant slogans. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] The ancient city of Palmyra back under the control of the Syrian government. [Unidentified Female:] It is a symbolic and strategic gain for the Syrian army. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. [Camerota:] Good morning. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Chris is off today. Don Lemon joins us here in studio. We'll get you some more coffee. Next stop, Wisconsin. The presidential candidates making their way to the Midwest, eyeing the next big prize on the primary counter. The war of wives continues. And of course, the war on terror dominating the conversation on the Republican side. Donald Trump threatening once again to, quote, "spill the beans" on Heidi Cruz, whatever that means, and outlining his America first foreign policy plan. [Lemon:] That's on the Republican side. On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders coming off a stunning weekend trifecta, sweeping Hillary Clinton by landslides in Hawaii, Alaska, and Washington state. But is there any way that he can close the delegate gap on Hillary Clinton and capture the nomination? Our coverage kicks off right now with the Republicans and Phil Mattingly. He joins us now live from West Salem, Wisconsin. Good morning, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Don. This is where the Republican field is supposed to be focused, Wisconsin. One week from tomorrow, 42 delegates at stake. A crucial, crucial state for all three candidates left in the race. Instead, coming out of this weekend, there are a couple other things people are focused on: the continual battle with the wives, a potential lawsuit and Donald Trump's foreign policy. [Trump:] I don't think America is a safe place for Americans, if you want to know the truth. [Mattingly:] Donald Trump claiming Americans are unsafe the day after laying out his controversial foreign policy world view in a lengthy interview with "The New York Times." He calls into question traditional U.S. alliances, including NATO, describing his approach as, quote, "not isolationist, but America first." He says, if elected, he might stop buying Saudi oil unless they commit ground troops to fight ISIS and opening the door to the notion Japan and South Korea developing nuclear arms of their own. [Trump:] He started it. I didn't start it. [Cruz:] Attacking spouses and children is off-limits. It has no place in politics. [Mattingly:] This as he and rival Ted Cruz ramp up the war of words over their wives, Cruz slamming Trump for hitting below the belt. [Cruz:] He sends tweets attacking my wife, attacking Heidi. It is inappropriate; it is wrong. It is frankly disgusting. [Mattingly:] The front-runner accusing Cruz of knowing about a super PAC ad targeting his wife, Melania, first. [Trump:] Don't forget, I call him Lying Ted. I call him that, because nobody that I've known I've known a lot tougher people over the years in business, but I've never known anybody that lied like Ted Cruz. [Mattingly:] Trump threatening on Twitter to, quote, "spill the beans" on Cruz's wife, Heidi, and again on Sunday. [Trump:] There are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about, but I'm not going to talk about them. [Mattingly:] Cruz calling Trump's actions a deliberate distraction, coming down hard on a salacious story in the tabloid "National Enquirer," which earlier this month endorsed Trump. [Cruz:] He's pushing these attacks. And by the way, he's been pushing them for many, many months online. These are complete made-up lies. They're garbage. [Mattingly:] Trump also blasting Cruz for courting additional delegates Louisiana's March 5 primary, issuing this threat on Twitter, quote, "Just to show how unfair Republican primary politics can be, I won the state of Louisiana and get less delegates than Cruz. Lawsuit coming." Now, Republican operatives are trying to figure out what the grounds would actually be for that lawsuit. I was emailing for one last night who said, "Look, this is how the game is played. You might not like the rules, but these are the rules." Now, guys, what really happened here is Donald Trump had a slight lead in Louisiana when he won the state. He and Ted Cruz actually split delegates, 18 apiece. There were 10 that were left over, 5 to Marco Rubio, 5 that were unbound. Ted Cruz went in and worked to get those 10 delegates. And according to "Wall Street Journal," it looks like he has them. Nothing illegal about it. Obviously, Ted Cruz's campaign willing to take a few jabs, as well. His national spokesman tweeting out last night, "Maybe your time is better spent reading the rules than sending hate tweets" Alisyn. [Camerota:] Phil, thank you for explaining that procedure. That was actually digestible. Thanks for that. We'll talk to you in a minute. Meanwhile, no letup in the Ted CruzDonald Trump feud. Joining us now to talk about this and Trump's foreign policy proposals is Trump's senior adviser, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Good morning, Sarah. [Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Trump Senior Advisor:] Good morning, Alisyn. [Camerota:] Let's start with Donald Trump on foreign policy. He had this stunning 100-minute interview with "The New York Times." They published the entire transcript, which we've read. And he said a lot of things people consider sort of bombshells in there. So let's start with what he was saying about he would be willing, it sounds like, to allow Japan places like Japan and South Korea to develop nuclear weapons so that the U.S. doesn't have to keep supporting them. Are we understanding that right? [S. Sanders:] You know, I think the main theme here and across the board with Donald Trump's foreign policy has been extremely consistent. Whether we're talking about immigration, whether we're talking about trade, or whether we're talking specifically about foreign policy. Donald Trump's overarching theme has been to put Americans first. And I think that he's putting all things on the table to help keep our country safe, borders secure. And that is his biggest focus. And I think we see that in every bit of foreign policy discussion. He has put together an incredible team, led by Senator Jeff Sessions. And I think we'll continue seeing that foreign policy develop and grow as he talks with and meets with that group of leaders on a weekly basis. [Camerota:] But how does it keep the U.S. safe if more countries get nuclear weapons? [S. Sanders:] I think that the big thing is that we need some of these other countries to get some skin in the game. For far too long, the Obama administration has let everybody else walk free while America carries the burden for keeping the entire world safe. Not just America safe but the entire world safe. [Camerota:] Sure, but you mean nuclear skin in the game? I mean, sorry to interrupt, but you mean let other countries get some nuclear skin in the game? Because that has been the impression by keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of other countries, that is what keeps the U.S. safe? [S. Sanders:] Well, and I don't think necessarily advocating that we put nuclear bombs in the hands of everybody, again, the theme is and the point is, is that we need to look at all options and that we need to do, No. 1 in our top priority and our top focus time and time again has to be to put Americans first and to keep Americans safe. We need to look at different options in order to do that. Clearly, what the past administration and what the Obama administration has done and what Hillary Clinton did as secretary of state didn't do that. And so we need to look at new things that, again, keep America safe and keep our country safe. [Camerota:] I want to also ask you about this war of the wives between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. They talked about it again this weekend. Here's what Donald Trump said about Heidi Cruz yesterday. [Trump:] Well, there are things about Heidi that I don't want to talk about. But I'm not going to talk about them. I mean, you know, you could look, but I wouldn't talk about them. [Camerota:] Sarah, what is he referring to? [S. Sanders:] You know, I don't know the specifics on that. I know that he's getting a lot of heat right now for allegedly pushing this "National Enquirer" story, when it's very well documented that this is a story that has been pushed for at least over six months by Rubio allies. I think that is a question that should go to them on the details of that. And as far as what else he may be talking about there, you know, that's not something I know of at this point. What I do know is you're continually hearing attacks on Donald Trump about his war against women. As a mother, as a mother, as a wife, the things that keep me up at night aren't whether or not some politician hurt my feelings. It's whether or not they're going to keep my kids safe, our borders secure, whether or not my kids go to school. They're going to come home, and they're going to be safe. And they're not going to be hurt or threatened or attacked while they're there. If they manage to go on and graduate from high school, they're going to be able to get a job. If they get a job, they're not going to be so burdened by this government that they can't succeed. So those are the questions that I think keep most women up at night, not this back and forth and not whether or not somebody's feelings got hurt. But whether or not our kids are going to be safe and whether or not they have the opportunities to succeed. [Camerota:] But Sarah, as his senior adviser, when Donald Trump says he's going to spill the beans on Heidi Cruz, would you be comfortable with that? [S. Sanders:] You know, again, my focus here is whether or not he's going to do those things. He's proven time and time again he's going to be a tough leader. And, you know, Donald Trump is a guy that's been hit with $67 million in attack ads. Everybody seems to leave that out. Where is the outcry over that? Why isn't anybody. He's been attacked relentlessly and ruthlessly and far more than any other candidate in the race on both sides. Nobody is talking about that. And I think it's unfair to say that he can't respond, he can't hit back when he's continually and repeatedly being attacked on both sides of the aisle. [Camerota:] Well, it's just whether or not it's fair to hit back to a candidate's spouse, whether a spouse should be off-limits? And I wonder if you worry that this will affect his standing among women. Let me just pull up some of the latest numbers. This is the latest CNNORC poll from March 20. He has a 74 percent here unfavorable among women. Do you worry that, if this goes on much longer about spouse's wives, that that will get even higher? [S. Sanders:] I don't. And part of that, I think that, if you look back, the origin of where the fight of spouses, wives started, it wasn't with Donald Trump. His wife was attacked, and he's defending himself and defending his wife. Again, I think it goes back to the question, when women step into the ballot box and they think about what keeps them up at night, it's not about whether or not somebody hurt their feelings. It's whether or not somebody is going to keep their kids safe, whether or not that person is going to fight, give their children opportunities, and whether or not their children are going to be able to go on and succeed in America. And I think Donald Trump is the clear winner when you start asking yourself those questions. I don't think anybody thinks Hillary Clinton certainly is going to do a better job at any of those things than Donald Trump. He's one of the toughest guys in the race. And I think that's what women are looking for. And when it comes time to check a box or pull the lever, they're going to absolutely pick Donald Trump, because that's thing that keeps them up at night. [Camerota:] Sarah Huckabee Sanders, thanks so much. Great to get your take. [S. Sanders:] Thank you, Alisyn. [Camerota:] Tomorrow night, the three Republican candidates will take part in a CNN town hall in Wisconsin where we will be talking about all of these many issues. This is just one week before the primary there. The GOP town hall Tuesday night, 8 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN. Tune in Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. To the Democratic race. Now Bernie Sanders riding a wave of momentum following a three-state western sweep over Hillary Clinton this weekend. Wisconsin is the next big prize. Sanders is setting his sights on New York, saying that he's got what it takes to beat Clinton in her adopted home turf. CNN's senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, live in Washington with more. Hi, Brianna. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Hi, there, Michaela. This was a very big weekend for Bernie Sanders, particularly because of the lopsided nature of these wins in these three western states. He's now calling for a debate against Hillary Clinton in New York state. The DNC at this point has debates in April and in May as to be determined. And there's nothing scheduled before New York. We know that the Clinton campaign has been a little reticent to want to do some more in debates in this case. But what he's hoping to do, what Bernie Sanders is hoping to do is ride the momentum not only of this weekend but also of some other states that are favorable towards him into perhaps it would actually be a very stunning win in New York. But certainly trying to give Hillary Clinton a run for her money. Here's what he said. [B. Sanders:] Every vote is pivotal. We are now winning in state after state the Latino vote. We're doing better now that we're on out of the South with the African-American vote. We're doing extraordinarily well with young people, and we are we think we do have a path toward victory. [Keilar:] Now, even with these wins over the weekend and perhaps some more wins coming Bernie Sanders' way, the math that you saw there in terms of pledged delegates really favors Hillary Clinton at this point. She's more than 200 in terms of pledged delegates, 200 ahead of Bernie Sanders. And Don, we're talking about New York and Bernie Sanders having his eye on that. That's April 19. The next big thing we're watching is Wisconsin. This is on April 5. This is next week. And even at this point, talking to Clinton aides, they say, "You know what? Wisconsin probably favors Bernie Sanders." So they're playing that expectations game, saying that Bernie Sanders may win there. Clearly trying to avoid a surprise upset like this on Michigan, which is a neighbor, of course, of this state coming up. [Lemon:] Good stuff. Brianna Keilar in Washington this morning. Thank you, Brianna. We have some breaking news to tell you about. The new airport security video there it is just released showing a Brussels airport bombing suspect who is still on the run. It is the first moving image that we have seen of the suspect in the light-colored jacket and hat. There he is right there, center screen. It comes amid more than a dozen weekend raids. Over three people now under arrest in the growing man hunt. Our senior international correspondent, of course, is Clarissa Ward. She has the very latest from Brussels this morning. Clarissa, good morning to you. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Good morning, Don. Well, Belgian authorities haven't again been giving any information as to why they are suddenly releasing this video now. This is the first time we are seeing moving images of the third airport bomber. By now, we've seen that still paragraph many times of him in that light jacket with the glasses and the hat. He, of course, had the largest amount of most powerful explosives that did not actually detonate, but the fact that Belgian authorities are now releasing this video does call into question whether they have, indeed, been successful in identifying them. Now, we do know that there have been a number of raids. Three people are being charged today with participation in terrorist activities. And over the weekend, we learned that Belgian authorities arrested a man on Thursday who they're only identifying as Faisal C. Faisal C. reportedly being charged with terrorist murder, attempted terrorist murder, as well as participation in terrorist activities. The severity of those charges raising the question of whether he may have played a central role in these attacks. And we're also learning today that the death toll has now risen. Belgian authorities say that 35 people have been killed. Another four people died in the hospital today. We know that four Americans are among the dead. Two have not been identified. But two are now known to be Justin and Stephanie Shults of Tennessee. They were taking Stephanie's mother to the airport when the blast hit Alisyn. [Camerota:] That's just so heartbreaking to see all of those beautiful pictures, Clarissa. Thank you very much. Well, Russian President Vladimir Putin trying to take credit for what's being called a major turning point in the fight against ISIS. Syrian forces recapturing the ancient city of Palmyra over the weekend, delivering what the Syrian Army calls a, quote, "mortal blow" to the Islamic State. Let's get more from CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon. She is in Istanbul for us. Good morning, Arwa. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] And while the Russians may be justified to a certain degree in taking credit for the Assad regime's recapture, Palmyra is not necessarily this so-called mortal blow. Now, the regime was able to take full control of the city and the ancient UNESCO site that is very close by. One that many were concerned would have been devastatingly destroyed by ISIS. We do know that ISIS during the year-long occupation that it undertook of Palmyra did, in fact, destroy a number of millennia- and centuries-old temples. It does seem at this stage that much of it is intact. Russian airstrikes, hundreds of them pounding the area, which then allowed for the regime to advance. This is both a strategic victory, given Palmyra's location connecting homes to the east, with the ISIS stronghold to the west. But it is arguably much more of a symbolic victory, one that is sure to reduce the morale among Bashar al-Assad's forces but also one that is allowing the Syrian president to very brazenly say that his and Russia's strategy is working, as opposed to that of the U.S.-led coalition. [Pereira:] All right. Thank you so much for that. We appreciate it. Meanwhile, a splinter group of the Pakistani Taliban now claiming responsibility for a suicide bombing at a crowded park in Lahore that killed at least 69 people. That blast happening near a children's amusement park. Most of the dead are women and children. The group admittedly saying that it intentionally targeted Christians, many of them families celebrating Easter. More on that new video of one of the Brussels terrorists terrorists on the run. How will this impact the investigation? And what about the manhunt for more terrorists involved? We're going to have more details ahead. [Unidentified Female:] ISIS has given no proof it was responsible. What could have happened to this plane that would have caused it to disintegrate in midair? [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. [Camerota:] Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. First, it was an important night for Republicans that could have implications for next fall. Kentucky electing a new Republican governor, only the second time that that has happened in the last 40 years. And the Virginia State Senate is still in GOP hands. And those are just two of the party's big wins last night. [Cuomo:] There were also two notable ballot measures. Remember, you have the votes, and you also have these referenda. There are certainly victories for conservative voters in Houston, rejecting an equal rights ordinance and Ohio citizens rejecting legalization of marijuana. Now, in just a few moments we're going to talk to Donald Trump. We're going to get his take on the polls, because they cut both ways for him. How he sees the race. How he sees last night and why he believes that today he is better for you than anybody else to be president of the United States. We have complete coverage. Let's begin with John Berman, the breakdown of last night's results. What did you see, J.B.? [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] There was a big upset in Kentucky and a big win for the Republicans there. Matt Bevin, elected governor of Kentucky, he will be just the second Republican governor in more than 40 years in that state. Democrats have held that office for a long, long time right now. He beat the attorney general, Democrat Jack Conway, fairly easily. That despite the fact that Conway was leading in almost all the polls going into election night. A couple interesting dynamics here. Matt Bevin, a Tea Party favorite. You'll remember, he ran against Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, in a primary a year ago. He lost but won now. He'd been driving around the state in his gold Cadillac Escalade, trying to channel the outsider surge around the country right now. He might have tapped into it. Also, a fierce opponent of Obamacare in a state, Kentucky, where Obamacare has been widely implemented. Thousands and thousands of people signed up on the Medicaid rolls there. It will be interesting to see how he approaches that issue now that he will be governor there. Also, let me read you a tweet, Bevin crowing about the victory, "From the bottom of my heart, thank you to all who voted today. We are Kentucky." The question is, is it more than just Kentucky right now? Because let me show you a map. Look at that. That's the entire south. All Republican governors in all of these states except for Virginia. Virginia, the lone holdout state with a Democratic governor. And Virginia, by the way, Democrats suffered a blow last night. They did not flip the state senate there. That is something they badly wanted. Another race to tell you about. In Mississippi, the incumbent governor, Republican Phil Bryant, he won very easily. A couple of ballot measures that caught people's attention around the country. Ohio, there was a measure to try to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational use. Voters there voted no overwhelmingly; 64 percent said no. There was a weird dynamic going on here, though. Voters also had to decide whether or not there was a monopoly for those who grew it. Just a few farms in that state would be allowed to grow it, including one owned by boy band member Nick Lachey. He tweeted last night, "While I may not agree, the people of Ohio have spoken. And that's the way it's supposed to work. Change takes time. #democracy #respect" A bad night for Nick Lachey. In Houston, an equal rights amendment that had been on the books, a city council ordinance, it was repealed. It was an ordinance that banned discrimination based on sex, gender, also sexual orientation and against transgender people. That measure was repealed, 61 percent to 39 percent. This became a battle over bathroom rights. Opponents of this said it would give the right for men to go into bathrooms and, perhaps, be predators of some kind. Again, that measure repealed Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. Thanks for looking at all of those changes for us, John Berman. Meanwhile, nearly a dead heat right now in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. Donald Trump, who we're going to speak to in just a moment, holding onto a one-point lead over Dr. Ben Carson in a new Quinnipiac poll released last hour. That is a statistical tie. Let's bring in Athena Jones on these new numbers, live from Washington, Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. This new poll with Trump and Carson neck and neck within the margin of error is more evidence that this race is changing after months of Trump being solidly in the lead. And when you compare the numbers now to September, Trump's numbers are pretty much unchanged. But you can see that Carson and Ted Cruz have each gained six points, and Marco Rubio has jumped five points to third place. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush is way down at 4 percent. He's lost six points in that time. And there's more bad news in this poll for Bush. He has the worst net unfavorability numbers of any candidate; 58 percent view him unfavorably. And just 25 percent have a favorable view. Another interesting point to highlight here is that, while Trump is tied with Carson at the top, when all the candidates are matched up head to head, against Hillary Clinton, Trump is the only one of the top three Republican candidates that loses to her. And there are more new numbers out this morning in the key early voting state of New Hampshire. The WBUR poll there shows Trump and Carson are at the top, and other candidates like Marco Rubio and Chris Christie are also making gains in that state. So there's a lot of talk a lot to talk about with all these numbers Chris. [Cuomo:] And we have the man to talk to them about, Athena. Thanks for teeing us up there. Joining us now, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. He's filing papers today to be on the New Hampshire ballot. Mr. Trump, did I get you out of bed? Are you ready to go? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] No, you didn't get me out of bed. I'm ready to go. I'm leaving for New Hampshire very shortly. We're going to be filing our documents today. And that will be very exciting, actually. [Cuomo:] All right. So you'll be on the ballot there. The polls show that you should expect to do well. The polls are all over the place, to be frank. The Quinnipiac, the national no show polls show you locked up with Carson, as you know. They see a big bump for Rubio and Cruz after the debate. People were expecting that. Now we see it. There are also state polls that tell a different story in terms of your growth. Here it's a little stagnant on the national side, but in states like Georgia, South Carolina, you're seeing pops. Make the case for why you believe the polls say you're doing just fine. [Trump:] One just came out in Florida, and I'm way ahead. Just came out a little while ago, and I'm way ahead. The polls I've done very well in. You know, it's amazing. Last week we had ABC"Washington Post," where I was way ahead in a national poll and that came out. And then CBS came out where I was slightly behind by, I guess, two points; and everybody thought it was bigger than the Benghazi story with Hillary Clinton. It was amazing. And I said, "Well'Washington Post'poll?" They said, "Oh, well, we didn't see that one." So you know, I think it's a pretty unfair playing field. But that's OK. Because ABC"Washington Post" was a great poll for me. It came out just about at the same time as [Cbs. Cuomo:] Well... [Trump:] And, you know, it's an incredible thing. But I think I'm doing well in New Hampshire. We're doing really well you saw yesterday, we took the lead back in Iowa. We have a huge lead in Florida, a huge lead in South Carolina. So, you know, we continue to go on. Look, the bottom line is it starts on February 1. So everybody will still we'll see what happens on February 1. But you know, I'm getting the biggest crowds by far. Yesterday, other than Sara Murray didn't report it very well, because she never flips the camera to show the lines. I think she's absolutely terrible, your reporter. But we had a line that went down practically to Park Avenue from Trump Tower. [Cuomo:] I drove past it. [Trump:] It was an incredible scene there. [Cuomo:] I drove past it... [Trump:] Most people said they've never seen anything like it. [Cuomo:] I saw the lines. The book's selling well. [Trump:] And if you listen to Sara Murray, you'd think there was three people standing in the Atrium of Trump Tower. [Cuomo:] No, no, no, no. That's not the way she did it. [Trump:] That is the way that is the way she reported. [Cuomo:] That's the way you took it. [Trump:] No idea. [Cuomo:] That's the way she took it. I understand. [Trump:] She's a very unemotional person or she's not a very good reporter. [Cuomo:] Let's talk let's talk about the tactics. First of all, I opened up your introduction and interpretation of the polls to give you your say. I didn't mention the Florida poll because our people in house don't like the methodology of that poll. So we're not using it until we can confirm the numbers. The other one... [Trump:] But if somebody else were leading I guarantee you'd be using it. [Cuomo:] No. Absolutely not. If the methodology isn't good, we don't use it. But let me... [Trump:] I accept your word on that, Chris. [Cuomo:] I appreciate it. And I take yours, as well. So when you use these tactics of negativity about the media, I get that they are working for you, but it's also my job to check them on you. You've lumped me in with what you had called the Sara Murrays. You know she's a top-notch reporter. [Trump:] No. No, I don't know that. I don't see it. I don't see it. [Cuomo:] Well, you said the same thing about me, too. Right? If I say something you don't like, you say... [Trump:] You are top notch. I don't see it with Sara Murray. [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] Somebody else somebody she never reports on my crowd sizes. You know, we have the biggest crowds. She you know, shows her face and never scans the room and shows the tremendous crowds that I'm getting. [Cuomo:] All right. Well, let's make it about you, not Sara Murray. [Trump:] Maybe she's a low-key individual that doesn't believe in showing crowds. [Cuomo:] She's one of... [Trump:] I see other people, they have crowds that are tiny in comparison. And everybody shows their crowds; they never show mine. [Cuomo:] Everybody is uniform in their reporting that you are certainly the biggest celebrity in the race. Nobody is questioning that. It's how it will translate into you as a leader, into you as president. That's what the testing is about. However, these tactics have worked well for you. The question is will they continue to? Yesterday you were outspoken about how you thought Hillary Clinton had gotten a pass, only easy questions in the debate. Now we both know you tweeted you thought Anderson did a great job in the debate. [Trump:] He did do a very good job. A terrific job. [Cuomo:] He's the one asking the questions. So how did she not give good questions if he did a great job? [Trump:] They were tough questions, but they weren't tough like the questions that we were getting. And the questions that I was getting, it wasn't even a question from John Harwood. He was making wise-guy statements with the questions. [Cuomo:] That's one example from one guy. [Trump:] ... person, by the way. And he asked him a question about me, and Governor Huckabee let him have it. I thought he did a great job. So the difference is, I thought Anderson Cooper did a great job, but comparison and there were tough enough questions, but they weren't tough like us. And ours weren't even questions. They were statements given over by the moderator. [Cuomo:] I know. But Mr. Trump, can you imagine what would happen if he came out against Hillary Clinton? Here were his first questions. "Will you say anything to get elected? Do you change your political identity based on who you're talking to? Are you a progressive or a moderate?" He then looks at Bernie Sanders and says, "Is there anybody else here who's not a capitalist" and then starts to dictate what he says at the GOP made to go ad against him as a socialist who honeymooned in Russia. These were heavy blows that Anderson brought. He tested them. He showed what you want to see in a debate, which is when I punch you in the nose, how do you respond? And this should be something you should embrace, right? [Trump:] Well, the question is, did he talk about the e-mails in any great length? He asked Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders somehow gave her a pass. That was the end of... [Cuomo:] That was Bernie, not Anderson Cooper. That was Bernie's judgment, not Coop's. [Trump:] No, no. But did he ask did he go into that with Hillary during that question? [Cuomo:] Sure he did. Sure. He did his job. But this is about you guys, not about the media. [Trump:] I understand that. There were other things. I mean, there were a lot of things that could have been asked of Hillary that could have been very nasty, so nasty that I don't even want to bring them up. But there were many things he could have asked. Now with that being said, I thought Anderson was very professional. I thought he was tough. But if you look at the questions that were asked of us, they were much tougher than that. [Cuomo:] All right. So let's leave that as it is. The obvious takeaway from this... [Trump:] They weren't even questions. They were statements. [Cuomo:] The obvious takeaway I think we'll both agree on this is that you should do CNN as often as possible. Because it is obviously the fairest place doing the job at the highest level. Agreed? [Trump:] And you get your best ratings. [Cuomo:] Agreed, agreed. Let's move on. The book comes out. The reaction is huge. People are looking at it in there. They're buying it. They're buying multiple copies. And now we start to look inside. There are two things I want to get your response on. There's this guy, Michael D'Antonio. I know that you were working with him in the beginning when he was doing his research. Then you cut him out. He tells a different story about how you got your start, the help you got from your family. My question to you is this: What is wrong with acknowledging the help that your father, who's one of the legends in New York City in terms of building a better city? What's wrong with the fact that you had a successful family who helped you? [Trump:] You know, my father was very, very proud of me. Michael D'Antonio wrote a third grade book. He's a guy I don't even know. I did two or three interviews with him, two or three little ones. Then I saw where he was going. I left him. I walked out of the room. He worked with somebody from "People" magazine. He said my sister and my brother and people gave me a $30 million loan. They didn't have $30 million. When I started out, they didn't have 10 cents. They did well on their own, and they didn't have money. And my father never gave any money. When my father passed away he gave some, but by the time he had passed away, I had already built my business, frankly. And when my father passed away, who was a wonderful guy... [Cuomo:] Yes. [Trump:] Your father knew my father and liked him a lot. [Cuomo:] He liked him. He respected him. He thought he was one of the giants of New York. Your father did the right thing for the right people. And that's why he was respected by politicians and others. [Trump:] My father was he was a builder in Brooklyn and Queens. When my father when I went into Manhattan, my father didn't want me to go into Manhattan. My brothers and sisters didn't have money until my father passed away. Because when my father passed away, that's they got something from my father. Not nearly as big as people think. But they got something from my father. Whatever my father left, it was split up. Don't forget: I have two brothers, two sisters. Me and, you know, other people got things, OK. [Cuomo:] Right. I don't understand... [Trump:] Just so you understand, by the time it was all split up, then we had a thing called estate tax, which is a massive tax. [Cuomo:] No question. [Trump:] But by that time I had long built my company. But this guy D'Antonio said my brothers and my sisters gave $30 million. They didn't have $30 million, especially in those days. You know, you're talking about he was talking about the '70s and '80s. They didn't have any money. [Cuomo:] Right. I just my point of the question is, I know as you know, I know your family's history very well. Your father is basically beyond reproach as far as I'm concerned in terms of what he did for the city. I just don't get it what's wrong with acknowledging that he helped you? [Trump:] He used the same beauty parlor in Queens. And I think they really loved each other. My mother thought your mother was one of great ladies. And by the way, so do [I. Cuomo:] Well, look, you certainly won my mother over. She's already going to give me a nasty talk this morning for asking too many questions. "You should have let Donald talk." But I'll deal with her when I get off with you. I'm just asking that question because it shows... [Trump:] You just heard my answer. My answer was my father was totally supportive. I learned he was my mentor. He was my best friend. My father didn't have that kind of money where he could give that kind of money out. My father didn't want me to go into Manhattan. And I took a small loan. And it was relative and when I say small, small compared to what I built. I mean, I have a net worth of much more than $10 billion. So anybody that can take a small amount of money and build up that kind of a net worth, and I'm not saying that and I also own some of the great assets of the world, including Turnberry in Scotland, and Doral in Miami, you know, hundreds and acres right in the middle of Miami. And Trump Tower and many other buildings all throughout. You know, the Bank of America building in San Francisco, a big chunk of that, 1290 FDR Ave. I have some of the great real- estate assets. And you know, so it's not just like they throw off "X" dollars. They throw off a lot. I have very little debt. You saw that, because when I did my filing. "Oh, well he'll never file, because..." But then I have all these people writing books about I got this, I got that. I got peanuts. Brooklyn wasn't worth I mean, I've heard numbers where I was given so much money. Brooklyn wasn't worth that kind of money at that time. You're talking about a long time ago. When I built the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in fact, I got hired to put up a lot of the money. Because frankly, to put up that kind of money coming out of Brooklyn and Queens was impossible. I built the grand Hyatt Hotel. [Cuomo:] I understand. I just wanted you to give a chance to correct the record. Because it was set up like you were you were moving away from your dad. I wanted to give you a chance to answer. [Trump:] I have a cousin who calls me all the time. He sort of does, like, a family tree. And you said, "You know, Donald, someday you'll have to correct all these all these horrible books that are written. They're so wrong. Like Wayne Barrett, a total dope. A total loser. He wrote stuff that is just incredible. He wrote if I had a lawyer and if the lawyer 20 years ago represented some mobster or something, immediately I became best friends with the mobster, because I had the same lawyer. Even though Steinbrenner had the same lawyer. [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] Newhouse had the same lawyer. Some of the biggest people in New York. But if I had a lawyer who, at some time during his career represented a mob guy, all of a sudden, I was friendly. [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] Wayne Barrett was one of the worst. You had so many bad reporters. And my cousin said, "You really have to do a book." This was not that book. Although it is a book talking about the assets and talking about debt and talking about all of the things that I've done so well. Because I'm trying to show that that's the kind of mindset we need to run the country, where we have 19 trillion in debt and we don't make good deals anymore. [Cuomo:] I get the case that you're trying to make. [Trump:] I will make great deals for this country. I'll get us out of debt, because I'm very good at it. [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] Nobody can do it like I do. By the way, Carson does not have the mentality to do that. He has no chance. And you look at Rubio, he's totally overrated. He's got debt on his credit cards. [Cuomo:] Good. You made the segue you made the segue I need to make here, Mr. Trump. [Trump:] Excuse me? [Cuomo:] You made the segue that I needed to make. So thank you for that. When you talk about your opponents, which you've been doing more and more recently, Ben Carson doesn't have the temperament to do what he does and have the experience. Marco Rubio, you talk about his personal finances. Jeb Bush, you talk about his energy. Here's what they say in response, so you can respond. The Carson camp says this is genius what Donald Trump is saying, because he's using his own weakness as what is Dr. Ben Carson's actual strength. You're the one with the temperament issue. Anyone you disagree with, you call a loser; you say they stink. How good no matter how good a reporter they are, you say they're a terrible reporter if you don't like what they say. That you have never been in public office. [Trump:] He says the same thing, by the way. [Cuomo:] He says it differently than you, and he doesn't say the kinds of things that you would say, which often you back up on, but it still hurts in the moment. [Trump:] Ben Ben will not be able to deal with China. He will not be able to deal with Iran. He will not be able to deal with any of the countries that are really abusing our country. They're abusing it. [Cuomo:] What is the proof that you could? [Trump:] He will not be able to deal with Japan. [Cuomo:] What is the proof that you could? [Trump:] That's not his thing. And frankly, when you talk about energy, he's got lower energy than Jeb Bush. [Cuomo:] What does that mean, low energy? [Trump:] He's not going to do anything. [Cuomo:] What does that mean, low energy? [Trump:] ... at all. I mean, I don't know where Ben comes from. But if Ben got in, you would say, "Oh, my God, we have ourselves a problem." [Cuomo:] But Ben Carson here's what I'm saying. [Trump:] I will tell you that right now. [Cuomo:] Here's what I'm saying. I'm not here to advocate for them. [Trump:] People can put them in I have the ultimate temperament. My temperament is great. You can't have a bad temperament and build a great company. [Cuomo:] But all you do is attack those who disagree with you. You can't do that on the world stage. [Trump:] I have 90 days left. I want to win. I have 90 days left. And I'm a different guy than Jeb Bush, who said, "Marco is terrific. He's my dear, dear friend. He's such a wonderful person." And you know what I said? Three months ago I said, "They hate each other." And I turned out to be right. [Cuomo:] They both say they don't hate each other. They both say they're doing what you're saying. [Trump:] Excuse me, they hate each other. To be specific, they hate each other. [Cuomo:] They both say they don't hate each other. [Trump:] More than you will ever know how much they hate each other. [Cuomo:] You do know better than they do, I guess. [Trump:] Marco is extremely disloyal Marco was extremely disloyal to Jeb Bush, and everybody said Marco will never run, because without Jeb, Marco would have never been where he is. And Marco, frankly, I mean, when he ran, it was shocking to people, especially to the people of Florida. It was shocking that he ran. [Cuomo:] but here's what... [Trump:] Because of the loyalty factor. [Cuomo:] Here's the criticism. Here's the case you need to make. [Trump:] By the way, I think and I think those people are right. He should have been more respectful to Jeb Bush. [Cuomo:] I think that he actually got a lot of points in the debate because he was so respectful that when there was this open attack, a naked attack by Bush about whether or not he goes and does the voting or not, how did Marco Rubio respond? With empathy, as a friend would. Certainly, if he'd said that to you, he would have gotten a different response. [Trump:] The problem the problem is that he was weak in terms his attack and his counterattack. There was no counterattack. [Cuomo:] Actually Marco Rubio didn't counter... [Trump:] What Jeb should have done is he should have then refuted what Marco had said, because Jeb had the better argument; but he was a bad messenger. [Cuomo:] Well, maybe. That's your take. What I'm saying is this. [Trump:] That's not my take. That's everybody's take. [Cuomo:] It's not everybody's take. You don't know what everybody's take is. You only know what you say. [Trump:] He had to counterattack. He attacked him, and that was fine. And his message was not as badly delivered as people said. [Cuomo:] Here's what I'm saying. [Trump:] He attacked the problem was Marco went on, talking about how wonderful it is that he didn't vote, which is wrong and other things. And then Jeb just stood there and didn't say anything. [Cuomo:] All right. Here's the point. You cannot effectively think you're going to win to be president by just attacking the opponents all the time. It has to be what you are going to do, what is positive. [Trump:] I've said what I'm going to do. [Cuomo:] And how you will do it. [Trump:] I've said what I'm going to do. [Cuomo:] You say what you want to do. [Trump:] I'll renegotiate deals where we're losing billions and trillions of dollars. [Cuomo:] I know, but you have to do more. You have to say how you'll do it. [Trump:] We'll have the finest trade deals. Right now we're suckers for the rest the world. I'm going to start immediately with renegotiating our trade deals. I'm going to build up our military. I'm going to take care of our vets. I'm going to get rid of Obamacare and replace it with something much better. [Cuomo:] That all sounds good, but the devil is in the details. [Trump:] I've said this 100 times. I mean, unfortunately, you have me followed by Sara Murray, and she doesn't know what she's doing. [Cuomo:] Listen, Mr. Trump, you have to stop insulting people who do their job. [Trump:] ... nor did she report the energy, to use another good word. You report the energy in the room. She stands there like, you know, there's 12 people in the room. [Cuomo:] She is a good reporter. You know she's a good reporter. You were nice to her yesterday when you saw her at your book signing. But now you use this tactic of attacking her. [Trump:] ... I saw her report the same night. She didn't even show the lines of people. [Cuomo:] So what? She didn't show the lines. People know how many people were there. You tell everybody. [Trump:] It stretched excuse me. It stretched all the way down to Madison Avenue from the door. Three and four abreast. [Cuomo:] I get it. We know that there were big crowds. [Trump:] She said there were three people standing there. [Cuomo:] We get that there were big crowds. We cover it all the time. I get as much criticism for doing the interview with you, how I do it as I do for having you on the first place. Because they say you get so much attention. [Trump:] I doubt that. I guarantee you this, if Sara Murray if there was nobody at the book signing, Sara Murray, she would have covered it. Then she would have showed all the empty space. [Cuomo:] I don't think you have a good case that the media is mean to you. [Trump:] And she gives very inaccurate stories. [Cuomo:] I just don't think you have a good case. You get the most attention. [Trump:] I don't know if that's because she's incompetent or she doesn't like me. Or maybe she's given instructions from up above. Who knows? I don't really care. [Cuomo:] Listen, you know she's not getting instructions. You know you get the most attention. [Trump:] I'm sure, yes, CNN is very straight, I'm sure. [Cuomo:] You see now? You went from saying CNN is good, that we do a good job. Now you're taking a shot at us. [Trump:] NO. I'm complaining about the reporter that covers me. I think she's terrible. That's fine. [Cuomo:] All right. Let's talk about "Saturday Night Live." Let's let's change. I can't have you going after Sara Murray. I'm going to have to come find you after this. [Trump:] You'll defend her later. I'm sure she'll defend herself in a very timid way. [Cuomo:] Well, she's she's doing a good job. [Trump:] No, she's not. She's not reporting accurately. [Cuomo:] I'm telling you... [Trump:] She's not reporting accurately. [Cuomo:] She is reporting accurately. You just don't like the reporting. [Trump:] ... these rooms. I go into rooms that 4,000, or 5,000, 6,000 people. When she reports it, you'd think there were five people there. And the people are going crazy, and they love we're going to make America great again. They go crazy. And she stands there reporting, "Well, I'm here." Never talks about the crowds. [Cuomo:] Mr. Trump... [Trump:] The crowd size. [Cuomo:] You cannot... [Trump:] Usually she reports when everyone has left, and she's standing in an empty room. [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] That's not good reporting. [Cuomo:] Mr. Trump, that's your perspective on it. [Trump:] There has to be an agenda some place in [Cnn. Cuomo:] Listen, her agenda is truth, just like the rest of us. And if you don't like it, you attack us... [Trump:] Let somebody else have her. [Cuomo:] All right. Let's talk about "Saturday Night Live." Let's end it on a funny note. So you're going there to do it. I was very surprised that they invited you, because I thought you were at war with them. Then all of a sudden, they wanted to have you on. You say it's because of ratings. [Trump:] You're never at war when you get great ratings with a network. OK? [Cuomo:] Well... [Trump:] Nobody gets ratings like me. Do you think that you would have had 24 and 25 million people watching CNN and watching FOX... [Cuomo:] No, I don't. I don't think the popularity I don't think the popularity is enough. [Trump:] If Rubio was there, Rubio would have you would had two people watching. [Cuomo:] I think that you help ratings. There's no question with it. I see it in my minute by minutes. It's one of the reasons that we get frustrated that you don't do everybody evenly. You like to go to the safe harbors where they give you a pass. You don't like to come on as much. [Trump:] I like to go to places where they treat me fairly. [Cuomo:] Well, do you think I treat you fairly? [Trump:] I won't comment on that. [Cuomo:] Come on. [Trump:] I'm not talking about you. I'm talking about [Cnn. Cuomo:] All right. But I'm talking about I only do this one show. [Trump:] I go to places where I get treated fairly. [Cuomo:] Do I treat you fairly on NEW DAY? [Trump:] I like you. And I like your treatment, and I do think you're fair. But your other people, I can tell you, do not. All right. Well, look, that's your opinion. I'm just saying, you know, no matter how you feel about Michaela Pereira, I want you to know that I still invite you on NEW DAY whenever you want to come on. Because you're relevant. You're the front-runner. Let's talk about "SNL." What are we going to expect from you out of this? Why are you doing it? Well, I think because Lorne Michaels actually, it started off as a skit. And when Lorne I said, "All right, I'll do it." And they took it up to Lorne Michaels, who's an amazing guy. He's run "Saturday Night Live" brilliantly for many years," and he's a friend of mine and all. And he said, "Well, wait a minute, Donald's agreeing to do the skit. Would he do the whole thing?" And they came back and he called me. He said, "Would you host 'Saturday Night Live'?" And I said, "You know what? I would." Because it's an honor. You know, I did "60 Minutes" a few weeks ago where Putin was with me. We were stable mates, right? And they got tremendous ratings on that show. Booked the highest ratings. They did really well. And then Lorne called, and he wanted me to do it. So you know that's to me hosting "Saturday Night Live," being on "60 Minutes" with a really good piece like they gave, I think that's, you know, their iconic things. [Cuomo:] Ben Carson says that being president is a serious thing. Ben Carson says you shouldn't be joking around about becoming president. It's a serious endeavor. Should be treated seriously. And that goes to your tone, as well. [Trump:] Ben Carson would have done it in two seconds if they asked him. [Cuomo:] He says no. [Trump:] If they asked him, nobody would watch. So they wouldn't ask him. Because they are about ratings, and they are about current culture. And they ask people. I saw that where Ben Carson said, "Oh, I'm too serious to do "Saturday Night Live." I'd never do it." I mean, give me a break. He would have done it in ten seconds, and he wouldn't do probably "60 Minutes" either, because it's not serious enough. Ben Carson would have done "Saturday Night Live" in two seconds if they asked him. But they didn't ask him. They won't ask him, most likely. Maybe they will. Who knows? But they probably won't ask him, because it is ratings driven. And he's not going to get ratings. And frankly, if they asked him, he would have done it in two seconds. So when I heard his statement about this is too serious, give me a break. He took a two-week tour of a book where he left the campaign in order to promote a book. So he'll leave the campaign in order to he announced, "I'm leaving the campaign to promote a book." [Cuomo:] You've got a book out, too. He said he was just modifying his schedule. [Trump:] If you look and if you look at "Saturday Night Live," probably every president we've had for many years has done "Saturday Night Live." So what Ben Carson said is a lot of bunk, and you know it. [Cuomo:] Well, I'll take your criticism on it. [Trump:] You don't have to take my criticism. You know it's true also. Every single major politician in this country probably for 30 years has done "Saturday Night Live." if they're invited. If they're invited. But to do it you have to be invited. And to the best of my knowledge, Ben Carson has not been invited and probably won't. But he would do it in two seconds. [Cuomo:] All right. I look forward to watching you on Saturday night. It's past my bedtime. But I'll watch it, because I like to see what you do there. Thank you for coming on NEW DAY, thank you for not throwing me under the bus this morning. But don't do it on Twitter after this. [Trump:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] I'm going to be watching the Twitter feed, Mr. Trump. Good luck in New Hampshire today. [Trump:] Very good. Thank you very much. [Cuomo:] Take care. [Pereira:] Really? [Cuomo:] He does not like you. [Pereira:] Really? [Cuomo:] I'll tell you that right now. [Pereira:] My, my, oh, my. [Cuomo:] You were unfair. [Pereira:] Really? [Cuomo:] You were unfair, but everybody knows it. Although we do match. [Camerota:] Ahead... [Cuomo:] Did my mother call yet? [Camerota:] We'll have our reaction to Chris's interview with Donald Trump. Why don't you let him talk more? That's Chris's mother reaction. [Cuomo:] That's what she's going to say. [Camerota:] We'll have Michael Smerconish here. We have a lot to talk about. Meanwhile, we'll also get the latest clues for you in one of our top stories, and that is what brought down this Russian commercial airliner. We'll be right back. [Church:] Imagine that in an instant some of your money became worthless. That's what happened in India. The government suddenly scrapped two of the country's largest currency notes and issued new ones. The move forced people to wait in long lines to trade in their old bills. CNN's Ravi Agrawal is in New Delhi where people are still scrambling to get the new rupee notes. He joins us now. So, how in earth did India get to this point? What is happening now and what is likely to happen going forward? [Ravi Agrawal, Cnn International's New Delhi Bureau Chief:] That's right. Rosemary. So, I'm here in New Delhi in the heart of the city and this is about the fourth or fifth day now that people are being cueing up at ATM's. Today in Monday exactly is bank holiday. So, the banks are closed, ATM's are open. This one here I've met people in the line behind me who have been here for three or four hours already. And there are probably me here for a few hours before they gets the pan a little bit to the other side so you can see how far this line goes on all the way that way and then into the ATM machine area and that's where people are getting out about 2,500 rupees, that's the maximum about $40. Now, how did we get here and why are all of these people cueing up? Well, it all began on Tuesday when India's Prime Minister, Narenda Modi suddenly announce he was going to get rid of the 500 and 1,000 rupee bills. Take a listen to this. [Agrawal:] Kamal Gupta [Ph] has run this business for 43 years. It's a typical Indian mom and pop stores selling everything from milk to shampoo. Today, he says, sales are down by more than half. Can I pay this for, with this 500 rupee note? [Unidentified Male:] No. [Agrawal:] What about this. [Unidentified Male:] No 500, all closed by the government. [Agrawal:] It all began Tuesday when Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi made a surprise primetime announcement to the nation. Five hundred and 1,000 rupee notes, the two biggest available would be discontinued and replaced with new 500 and 2,000 notes. The reason, a crackdown on counterfeiters and tax evaders. At mom and pop stores like this one here, that sell a whole range of products. There are no credit card machines. Every single transaction is in cash, and that's not unusual across the country. In fact, experts say that 90 percent of all transactions in India are in pure cash. So, even if it's expensive jewelry, people pay in cash, and that's what the government wants to change. One reason is taxation, only 3 percent of Indians actually pay income tax, that's in part because the tax barrier is high. But also because it's difficult to keep track of so many off the books cash payment. The government's main target is rich tax evaders people literally stock piling hidden cash. But this week, the middle class is feeling the pain as well. We walked around a few banks in New Delhi, long queues of men and women lined up to replace old money with new. For now they can only exchange the equivalent of 4,000 rupees just $60. We stopped to chat. This man says his son is getting married tomorrow. He needs to get out more cash but the surprise rules are ruining all of his plans. This woman here says the move is an inconvenience. But she's happy that tax avoiders will now face a crackdown. So, Rosemary, there as you heard from a few people, the middle class, new Delhi citizens and these are many more of them right here who are really bearing the brunt of a move that in design was meant to get rid of what is known here as black money. Money that is illegal money that hasn't had tax paid on. So, the off chute of that, the fall out of that, is that a lot of regular folk are really struggling as well to make ends meet, to get the money out to pay for their fruit and vegetables, the small daily stuff. So, frustration is beginning to build, but even so, it's quite peaceful in the number of people I spoke to here, say that these are tough measures but necessary measures, and hopefully some good will come of it in the few months, Rosemary. [Church:] Yes. The frustration is totally understandable when you look at those cues. Ravi Agrawal joining us there from New Delhi where it is 2.22 in the afternoon. Many thanks. Well Saturday Night Live wraps a tumultuous week in America with a dramatic departure from the show's usual formula, that's next. [Costello:] Take a look at the big board. The Dow is up nearly 200 points rallying on news of a bailout deal for Greece that could give the cash-strapped country as much as $96 billion in fresh loans. European leaders spent 17 hours hammering it out. The agreement would keep Greece in the Eurozone, but it's not a done deal just yet. The Greek government still has to implement serious reform so let's head over to Athens. CNN's Isa Soares is there. Good morning. [Isa Soares, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. You're quite right. Alexis Tsipras has his work cut out for him. He's already made his way to Athens. He is here and he is basically saying that its hard work ahead but he believes these are the best measures, the best possible chances for his people because they want to stay in Europe, and that was his mandate. His mandate was to push back on austerity but not risk Greece's position in the Eurozone. So he has 48 hours, Carol, just until Wednesday to push through these tight reforms, these core sets of reforms, which includes more tax hikes, also includes pension reforms which if you remember were huge red lines. In terms of whether he will get the backing, well, there are some dissenters within his own party, Syriza Party, so he may lose the support of the Syriza, the majority, of course, from the Syriza Party, but there is seems to be some support from opposition groups because they're the ones that were saying why were we calling for referendum? Why are we risking Greece's place in the Eurozone? Today were saying that they will support Alexis Tsipras. Now the concern turns, Carol, to the banks. Whether the banks will have enough money. We heard today from the European Central Bank, they're the ones who have been flooding the market, flooding banks in Greece with money. They've been pretty much the lifeline for Greek banks. They said today they will not increase the liquidity to Greece banks, clearly putting more pressure on Alexis Tsipras for that parliamentary vote to go ahead, before making any decisions as to whether Greek banks will have more money. In the meantime, bank are closed. Capital controls are still in place Carol. [Costello:] All right. Isa Soares reporting live from Athens, Greece this morning. An intense international manhunt is under way right now for a man U.S. officials describe as one of the world's most violent drug lords. Known as El Chapo, Joaquin Guzman is a cold-blooded killer who reigns over a top global multi-million dollar drug empire. He's been sitting in prison for a year but he is free this morning after pulling off an elaborate prison escape that makes the Clinton prison escape in upstate New York looks like child's play. Polo Sandoval is in Mexico near the prison where El Chapo broke free. Tell us more. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Tell you what, Carol, the search seems to be intensifying. We've seen federal police on their patrols around the prison facility itself. We're actually just west of Mexico City here and now really the search focusing on an area in and around Toluca, Mexico which is really not far from here. Now I can also tell you that really the main concern here is that he could have potentially fled to Sinaloa, which is really his home state. It's a very mountainous region and, of course, much, much more of that, plus where he could potentially be hiding and much more coming up right here in the [Cnn Newsroom. Costello:] I just wanted to ask you another question like who is looking for this man? Is the United States involved or other countries involved? [Sandoval:] We know that we know that state, federal, and local officials here in Mexico have obviously been on the hunt, but as well as really U.S. authorities you can bet are keeping a very close eye on the situation here. You're talking about a man who is not only dangerous but ruthless but also is known for really just some very ruthless, terrible violent killings as per some of our experts. [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] He is a complete savage. What they do and how they do business is based on complete terror in their community. These are people that they killed, journalists, politicians, police officers, corrections officers, and then not just that person, but every member of their family. [Sandoval:] And really that's all part of the major concern here for authorities in Mexico, Carol, is they want to track this man down. He's been able to really flee before so they know that this is a man who knows his way around Mexico. He knows his way around Sinaloa, the state of Sinaloa, and of course well, the concern there, there are many people who see this man as a sort of a Robin Hood figure, somebody who would be people who would be willing to welcome him with open arms and potentially hide him. So again, the center of the search at the maximum security prison you see behind me but really that search really moving outwards from where we are at this hour Carol. [Costello:] All right. Polo Sandoval reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. Checking some of the top stories for you at 29 minutes past the hour. Officials are still trying to figure out what caused an explosion that sent a Rhode Island woman flying onto a pile of rocks. The woman was on this beach when that mysterious blast threw her five feet into the air. [Laura Demartino, Sister Of Injured Woman:] After it happened, it was large gutters of the sand separated. You could actually see crevice like an earthquake. We didn't know. We thought it was an earthquake. We thought the boat hit the rocks on the other side. We didn't know what caused this tremendous eruption. [Costello:] The woman has since been released from the hospital. Police say no explosives or malicious intent was found. In Illinois two people are dead and two police officers recovering this morning after a wild shootout. The two officers were responding to a 911 call on Sunday when a man with a shotgun walked up and opened fire in the Chicago suburb. A shootout ensued. The suspect was shot and killed. Police then found a man shot to death inside the home where the officers were called to. Both officers will be OK. We're about to get our first ever up close look at Pluto. NASA officials say [Unidentified Male:] We have to keep that held in; otherwise, the gun won`t fire, OK? OK, turn your this leg forward. There you go. Just like that. All right, go ahead and give me one shot. All right. Where is he shot? Right in the head, dude. He`s shot in the head? Yes. I don`t think he`s going to make it. [Unidentified Female:] Sir. [Unidentified Male:] Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female:] Is he still able to speak to you? [Unidentified Male:] No, he`s completely unconscious. [Abrams:] So sad. A 9-year-old girl visiting an Arizona gun range loses control of an Uzi. Gun instructor, helping her, suffered a fatal bullet wound to the head. Tonight, the family of 39-year-old, Charles Vacca, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the owners of that gun range. I`m back with Loni, Yodit, and Mike. The victim`s family says, "It is fundamentally unsafe to give machine guns to children." Loni, what do you expect that the gun range is going to argue here? [Coombs:] Well, there`s a number of things for them to argue. First of all, there is no legal law that says a certain age is good or not. Their policy at that gun range is that if they are 8 years or older, they can fire an assault rifle or assault weapon, however, only if that particular instructor decides that they are capable and safe to do so. So, this instructor made that determination on his own with this child, and then this instructor handled the gun with her in a way that he ended up getting shot and killed. And many experts looked at that videotape and say he made a number of mistakes as far as the way experts would have handled that situation. [Abrams:] Yodit, we`re talking not just about an assault, we`re talking about a fully automatic weapon... [Tewolde:] Right. [Abrams:] ...an Uzi here... [Tewolde:] Right. [Abrams:] ...do you think that this is strongly a potentially strong lawsuit? [Tewolde:] Not at all. Who would be in a better position to instruct, he has special skills, this instructor. He had the knowledge and for him to feel comfortable in handling that kind of machine gun with a 9-year-old, he`s got to bear that responsibility. [Abrams:] Well, he is the one that put it on automatic. But let`s ask, you know, James Goodnow joins us now. He is the attorney who is representing the Vacca family. Thank you very much for joining us. We appreciate it. What do you make of that? I mean, you know that the gun range is going to point the finger at your client`s former father, husband, et cetera and say it`s his fault for putting it on automatic, it`s his fault for not standing behind, it`s his fault for not taking the necessary security measures? [James Goodnow, Attorney For Vacca Family:] Well, I think if you look at this case at its core, there`s one factor we know, and that`s if children weren`t allowed to shoot fully automatic weapons at this range, Charlie Vacca would still be alive. And I think it`s important that we step back here and understand this situation. Charlie Vacca served his country, served our country and he did two tours in Kosovo, and he came back in a situation that many veterans find themselves in, and that`s struggling to find work. He works here and the problem is he was not provided with the proper training. Yes, he had the military background but the military as far as I know doesn`t train anyone in how to teach young children how to shoot fully automatic weapons. So, Charlie Vacca is a victim of this system that was really profiting off an unsafe environment. [Abrams:] Look, I have great sympathy for Charlie Vacca. Obviously, I have great sympathy for his family. I think no matter how you look at it this is a tragedy, but you`re a lawyer, I`m a lawyer. Our panels are lawyers. We have to also look at this through the legal prism in the end and the reality is, the Arizona authorities looked into this range after this happened, and they were fully in compliance with all Arizona laws. [Goodnow:] Well, you have to draw a sharp distinction here between OSHA Laws or other laws and what`s negligent in the civil context here... [Abrams:] Yes. [Goodnow:] ...we of course know as lawyers and other people out there understand that the standard in a case like this is what`s reasonable? And is it reasonable for there to be an operation that ships tourists from Las Vegas across the border into Arizona takes them to a Disneyland-like environment with pictures of Rambo, a monster truck hamburger, and then has policies that allow young children to shoot machine guns... [Abrams:] Yes. [Goodnow:] ...weapons of war that fire a thousand rounds a minute... [Abrams:] Look, I... [Goodnow:] ...I don`t think a... [Abrams:] ...yes, look... [Goodnow:] ...but I don`t think the jury will conclude that. [Abrams:] I 100% agree with you that 9-year-old should not be firing machine guns, period. There should be that should be legislated, that should be policy, et cetera but I still think you`re going to have a bit of an uphill battle here. Let me ask you to take a break for a second. We come back we`re going to hear from the victim`s children as well. They had a message for that little girl who accidently killed their dad, coming back after this. [Vause:] A devastating attack in northern Syria has left 48 people dead. ISIS claimed responsibility for a suicide truck bombing which targeted a Kurdish defense complex area near the Turkish border. Kurdish officials still don't know how ISIS was able to breach that stronghold. And separately state-run media report the Syrian army has surrounded Aleppo, cutting supply lines to rebel-held neighborhoods. The regime is sending texts advising residents to leave, but a local photojournalist says there is no way out. The Turkish government is widening its crackdown after a failed coup almost two weeks ago. State-run media report nearly 1700 soldiers have been fired including 87 generals. Turkey is also shutting down dozens of TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. Ian Lee joins us live this hour from Istanbul. So, Ian, Erdogan has clamped down on schools, universities, the police, the military, now the media. How far is he prepared to go? [Ian Lee, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, John, as far as necessary, according to the Turkish government. They accuse these institutions of either belonging to the Gulenist movement or being sympathetic to it. The Gulen movement being the movement that is behind the cleric in the United States, Fethullah Gulen. An enemy of Erdogan, considered a terrorist organization here. But this crackdown has a lot of people concerned, including rights groups and the international community. Over 15,000 people have been detained in this crackdown, including over 9,000 soldiers. There also have been allegations of abuse in these prisons, going as far as sleep deprivation, people going without food in stress positions, and in some rare cases also allegations of rape. So some very serious stuff there, but the Turkish government denying that, saying that these people are being treated fairly and that this is a purge of those elements that were behind the coup in Turkey John. [Vause:] And when we look at the crackdown which is currently under way on media organizations, how widespread is this? [Lee:] It is very fairly widespread. These are small to medium outlets, news agencies, which include three news agencies, 16 TV channels, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines, and 29 publishing houses, and one really stands out, which Cihan, which is a news agency that monitors the elections. It's one of three big ones. And one of the three that isn't belonging either to the state or Erdogan. So there is some concern there, also, about that. But these are news agencies that the government says are Gulenist, but also this is very concerning as Erdogan has been accused and is accused of having authoritarian tendencies, that this crackdown on the media is just going after opposition voices that he does not agree with. [Vause:] Very quickly, that meeting coming up with the Supreme Military Council. What are the changes now expected within the Turkish military? [Lee:] This is very interesting. And it's happening later today. It was initially scheduled for August, and a lot of people say this was the reason really behind the coup was that there was going to be a shakeup within the military structure and that those elements in the military preempted that with that coup. But today we are expecting a reshuffling of the military. Remember, a third of the generals here in Turkey have been arrested, accused of being behind this coup. So we're expecting changes within the structure of the military. But there are some major questions, as Turkey has a raging civil war on its southern border. You have Syria. You have Iraq. Also there fighting Kurdish separatists in the southeast. So the military readiness will be a high priority. So we'll be watching that meeting later today. [Vause:] Ian Lee, thank you. Ian Lee live this hour in Istanbul. A short break here, when we come back, to Rio they go. Russian athletes are off to the Olympics, but some don't even know if they'll be allowed to compete. Also ahead, we'll talk to a former FBI agent about security in Rio. What's the bigger concern, terrorism or being mugged? [Whitfield:] All right, we've got a special documentary on Top Tonight, Got Shorty, Inside the Chase for El Chapo. You'll hear from the people who searched for and eventually captured the notorious drug lord. That's tonight at 8 only on CNN. All right, the baseball legend is calling it a career. New York Yankees star, Alex Rodriguez, better known as A-Rod announced this morning that his last game will be Friday. [Alex Rodriguez, Retiring New York Yankees Player:] I love this game and I love this team. And today, I'm saying goodbye to both. This is also a proud day. I was 18 when I broke into the big leagues. I never thought I could play for 22 years. At 18, I just wanted to make a team. I want to thank the Steinbrenner Family for giving me this opportunity and for making me a part of this team. [Whitfield:] All right, pretty powerful stuff there. CNNs Richard Roth is at Yankees Stadium. You can hear a pin drop or rather you can hear all the cameras, you know, and the shutter speeds there. But his last game is Friday, but then he is not going to be leaving the Yankees all together. [Richard Roth, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right. Fredricka, this was a Yankees-encouraged retirement. Hank Hal Steinbrenner owner of the Yankees called A-Rod. A-Rod said let me think about that offer for 24 to 48 hours. The Yankees told Alex in effect after his failed performance on the field, let's think about a different way here. But the key has said also A-Rod is still getting $27 million plus. He is getting whatever he was owed in this humongous contract he signed years ago. There would have been difficulties if Alex said I want if he wasn't going to get the money. Alex was asked at this press conference about his career and his legacy, which certainly was filled with controversy. [Rodriguez:] I do want to be remembered as someone who is, you know, madly in love with the game of baseball, someone who loves it at every level, someone who loves to learn teach it, watch it, play it, coach it. And I also I'm going to be hopefully remembered for someone who trip and fell a lot but someone who kept getting up. [Roth:] Those stumbles certainly referring to his problems with performance-enhancing drugs, being suspended for an entire season in 2014. I asked Yankees fans their thoughts on A-Rod's departure. [Unidentified Male:] Well, time is time. He's got to go. It's time to go. Why? Because he is 40 years old, he served his time. He is a Hall-of-Famer. It's time to go. It's about time he retires. He gave all he could to the team. While he was here, he was a tremendous player, but you know, this year you could see that he is not doing all that well, so. [Roth:] He still was fourth home run short of the magic 700 number, Fredricka. And CNN Money reports that ticket sales have sky rocketed at 500% for A-Rod's potential last game... [Whitfield:] Not bad. [Roth:] ...on August 12th, that's Friday referred to here. [Whitfield:] Yikes, well those fans are blunt, that's a blunt talk, isn't it? All right, Richard Roth, thank you very much outside Yankees Stadium. All right, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Thank you so much for being with me today. Much more of the NEWSROOM straight ahead. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Top of the hour, I'm Poppy Harlow in New York. So glad you're with us this Sunday Evening. We begin tonight with politics and more polling in the race for the White House. [Harlow:] This week five of the U.S. Women's National soccer team took a hammer to the glass ceiling on pay inequality by filing a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission about their own organization. Five of the teams highest profile players filed a wage discrimination action on behalf of them and their team mates against the U.S. Soccer Federation demanding equal pay for equal play. When you look at the numbers, it's not hard to understand why they're upset. Last year the women's national team earned about $5,000 per exhibition match. The men were paid nearly about four times that amount, about $18,000. When you look at the World Cup, the disparity is even more striking. The U.S. men's team earned $9 million in 2014 for losing in round 16. The U.S. women, who won last year's World Cup, they got just $2 million. On Thursday, women's soccer legend Hope Solo said this is not just about money. [Hope Solo, Goalkeeper:] We continue to be told we can be grateful just to have the opportunity to play professional soccer and to get paid for doing it. In this day and age, it's about equality, it's about equal rights, equal pay, and we're pushing for that. We believe now the time is right because we believe it's a responsibility for women's sports and specifically for [Unidentifed Male:] Right. [Solo:] For women's soccer. [Harlow:] Let's not forget the Women's World Cup final last summer was watched by more than 25 million people and that makes it the most watched soccer game in U.S. history. Men or women. Earlier this year I spoke with one of the big stars of the game, Abby Wambach, about exactly this. She retired after their World Cup win. She is not formally part of the lawsuit that was filed this week. I asked her what her mission is now post her soccer career. [Wambach:] I think that where I'm geared towards now is just real, true equality and the conversation around it. [Harlow:] Equality for who? [Wambach:] For everyone. You know, it's not just a gender, women versus men. This is also a race issue. This is also a religious belief. [Harlow:] When did you realize first that you weren't getting it as a female athlete star, that you were not getting equality? [Wambach:] I think that I probably always knew that I wasn't getting it and I was always fighting for something and clawing. But when I retired, I kind of realized, whoa, I've been getting mistreated on some level. And it's deep-seated innate thing that we all kind of agree and believe in and accept. I was allowing myself to be treated that way. [Harlow:] You mean being paid less. [Wambach:] Yes, being paid less, being given less opportunity. [Harlow:] When you and the women's team won the World Cup, you guys got nice chunk of change, $2 million, but when you compare that to the $35 million the male champions got in the World Cup the year before [Wambach:] It's incomparable. [Harlow:] Incomparable. How did you stomach that? [Wambach:] Well, I didn't. I didn't stomach it. That's why I'm fighting. That's why I'm tking about it. That's why I want there to be at the very least a conversation around it. We were the most watched soccer game in the history of North America. [Harlow:] Over 26 million people. [Wambach:] Well, actually the number is even higher. Fox will tell you it's probably 31 million people, which is pretty amazing. And if you were to compare that to the men and also say it actually still beat any male game that was ever aired, that's a huge deal. [Harlow:] Here's how you put it. Simply put, you said, enough is enough. [Wambach:] And it is. I mean, at what point as a female are we going to keep letting this happen? And it's really scary when you're on the inside. I get it because I was there. You don't want to rock the boat. You don't want to lose your position. You don't want to lose your job. You don't want to lose your insurance. You have bills to pay. I get the level of fear that it's based around. But now that I'm outside of it, I can fight for the rights of the women that are still involved, who may still might have that that fear factor. [Harlow:] In terms of the lawsuit filed this week, U.S. soccer has responded to the complaint and it has issued a statement saying, "in part our efforts to be advocates for women's soccer are unwavering. We are committed to an engaged engaging and negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement that addresses compensation with the women's national team players association to take effect when the current CBA expires at the end of this year." We will stay on this story and let you know what happens. From soccer to basketball, March madness, yes, it's almost over. But if you needed a little extra basketball before it's all over, look no further than this week's CNN hero. [Vause:] Chinese President XI Jinping arrives in the U.S. on Thursday for a summit with President Trump. The two leaders will not meet in Washington, but rather at Mr. Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The growing threat from North Korea and trade expected to dominate these talks. Paula Hancocks standing by live in Seoul, South Korea; also Matt Rivers in Beijing. Matt, if you look at the situation in China, close to election year, and got a big Congress leadership decision coming later in the year. So Xi Jinping a good successful summit, won't do him any harm. [Matt Rivers, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] No, absolutely not. He is in the middle of trying to consolidate his political power in China ahead of that big Congress later this year. He's trying to get the people loyal to him to hire positions within the Communist Party. To do so, he has to walk a very fine line when he goes to Florida. On the one hand, he has to appease his party's hardliners who are not thrilled with the kind of rhetoric we heard from Candidate Trump and President Trump about China. He has to stand up to President Trump in the eyes of hardliners in China. On the other hand, President XI is overseeing an economy that is gradually slowing down and it needs the United States and that economic relationship that China depends on with the U.S., the exports it sends the U.S., to make sure China's economy doesn't have a hard-crash landing and rather has a gradual transition into a more mature economy. So President XI has to play both sides. He has to look every bit the statesman, the strong leader, the strong man the hardliners in China want. On the other hand, he can't go too far because he doesn't want to goad President Trump into putting up protectionist trade barriers that could hurt China's economy in the long run. [Vause:] Paula, the U.S. president made it clear he wants China to do more to try and rein in Pyongyang. That's hardly a new headline now. Every administration going back to Bill Clinton has been asking that of Beijing. What's different this time around? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] What we've been hearing from Beijing consistently over recent months, if not further, was they wanted dialogue. They wanted there to be negotiations between North Korea and the other parties. The six-party talk, the talks between the six nation that's had the most input into this crisis, that hasn't been going for many, many years. But China wants Washington to talk to Pyongyang. We've heard from the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson when he was in the region that it's not the time to do that, it's not practical to expect that. What we're hearing from President Trump would suggest that's the last thing on his mind at this point. Although, of course, we're yet to see exactly what the North Korean policy of the Trump administration will be. That hasn't been laid out yet. But obviously, what President Xi would like to see if very unlikely to happen. So Donald Trump will be asking him to push North Korea further, to push sanctions further to try to put the squeeze on North Korea more at a time when Donald Trump isn't willing to do what President Xi wants, which is to negotiate. So it will be a tricky conversation as President Trump himself said. [Vause:] At the same time, we're seeing the North Koreans continue to fire ballistic missiles and there's concern the North is gearing up for another nuclear test. [Hancocks:] That's right. North Korean doesn't seem to be slowing down in any shape or form. The North Koran leader, Kim Jong-Un, has made it clear he wants to perfect his capabilities, when it comes to nuclear, when it comes to missiles. He has said he will keep testing and he's also said he's close to test launching an intercontinental missile that could potentially hit mainland United States. And he carried out this ballistic missile test on the eve of this meeting. As U.S. officials saying it looked like a spectacular failure, we're not hearing about it in North Korea media, so you would assume it's a failure. The just the fact that North Korea will carry out these missile tests despite what is, or maybe because of what's happening between the U.S. and China, puts China again in a tricky position. [Vause:] Matt, back to you. The summit is being held in Donald Trump's golf resort in Florida. Why is this seen as a bit of an honor or a bit of a win for President XI, even though we know he may not be playing golf. [Rivers:] Just look at the fact that Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, was given a relatively cold reception by the president at the White House. This is, by going down to what the president calls his southern White House, it could signal a friendlier atmosphere between both sides, that he hasn't brought other leaders there, other than Prime Minister Shinzo Abe from Japan. That's very important to the Chinese leader because there is some animosity that remains between Japan and China, and so it's very important for the Chinse leader to be seen at the very least on equal footing with the prime minister of Japan. So between those couple factors, certainly a win for President XI to go to the so-called southern White House. [Vause:] Matt Rivers in Beijing, Paula Hancocks in Seoul, thanks to you both. Well, President Trump and President XI won't be talking climate change during the summit. It's one area where the United States and China have actually reversed roles. Will Ripley has the details. [Will Ripley, Cnn Senior International Corrspondent:] Two dramatically different photo ops hours apart. Chinese President Xi Jinping planting trees in Beijing, talking about protecting nature. President Trump signing an executive order in Washington dismantling President Obama's climate change policy. The leaders of the world's two biggest polluters switching sides. China ready to take the lead on going green. "I'm shocked," says this Beijing resident. "But that's OK, our national leaders are paying much more attention than before." "I don't feel like President XI has done much," he says. "We're not seeing the results." [on camera]: It's true there are still smoggy days in China cities like Beijing but as the U.S. seems to be reversing course on climate change, China is changing its approach. Even hardline state newspaper "Global Times" is calling out Trump and urging Americans to stop his climate policies. [voice-over]: For years, Chinese policy misled the public on pollution and suppressed environmental activists. [Unidentified Male:] Some of the factories are not in compliance [Ripley:] Now they are working together, creating this app showing real-time pollution data, pressuring violators to clean up their act. [Unidentified Male:] Now, finally, there's a real political will to try to control the pollution. [Ripley:] Times have definitely changed. As the U.S. rolls back environmental regulations, China is investing hundreds of billions of dollars in clean energy, like this wind turbine factory and a Chinese tech firm buying into Tesla. Many Chinese are fed up with toxic smog, a deadly by product of economic growth, believed to kill more than two million people in China each year. "Other countries have experienced pollution," says this man, "so we have examples how to deal with it." The world's biggest polluter hopes to put bad air in the past as the second biggest now faces an uncertain environmental future. Will Ripley, CNN, Beijing. [Vause:] Coming up next, "State of America" with Kate Bolduan for those watching in Asia. And for everyone else, after the break, why more and more companies are yanking their commercials from Bill O'Reilly's show on the FOX News channel. [Blitzer:] Welcome back we're standing by. We have the tape of Hillary Clinton. She just answered a whole bunch of questions aboard her plane on her flight from New York down to Florida. We're going to play that tape. She really goes after Donald Trump on a whole host of issues, including his refusal to release his tax returns, among other issues. We're going to get to that tape in a moment. Adam Schiff is with us, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Democrat from California. I want to get your reaction to what we just heard from retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former head of the Defense Agency. What stood out to you? [Rep. Adam Schiff, , California:] What stood out to me, you asked him about not meeting with the Philippines president and Trump's claim he would have taken Air Force One away, is Flynn made it clear he believed we should stand up to bullies. When you asked him about Putin, he wasn't willing to say the man's name or showed no willingness to talk about Russia's involvement in hacking. For someone who has leaned so far forward in accusations, it was very notable he was unwilling to take on Russia and their cyber activity. It speaks a lot to Flynn's own relationship with Russian TV, the Kremlin mouthpiece, as well as the whole Trump's campaign's affection for the Russian dictator. [Blitzer:] When you say Flynn's relationship on Russian TV, what do you mean by that? [Schiff:] This is someone that appears on Russian television, who was invited to a dinner to sit next to Putin at that Russian TV's annual dinner. This is the propaganda arm of Putin, the Kremlin. To go to Moscow to say at times things disparaging of the United States, I think shows a closeness to the Russians that characterizes the entire Trump campaign. This is a candidate that has talked disparaging about NATO and speaks flatteringly of Putin, the fact that the Trump campaign is so infused with people that have a favorable opinion of this bully. Flynn, when you invited him to confront that bully, wasn't willing to. He was willing to talk about the Philippine president but not talk about someone who may be actively trying to involve ourselves in this. [Blitzer:] What is the point you are trying to make about General Flynn, retired U.S. lieutenant general, former head of the Defense Intelligence Agency? What's the point you are suggesting about his relationship with the Russian government? [Schiff:] I think General Flynn, like so many surrounding Trump, and Trump himself, has a rosy view of Vladimir Putin. When he is asked to talk about Russia's interference, its hacking, he doesn't take the opportunity to talk about it. He said, I don't know anything about that. You'll have to ask the government. What kind of an answer is that? [Blitzer:] What is the answer to that? Are the Russians directly interfering in the U.S. election process? [Schiff:] On the basis of the public information, that he ought to be aware of, that I'm certainly aware of, there is very strong evidence of the Russians hacking into the DNC and into DCCC. There is very clear motivation for them to be behind the dumping of information as well. This is a pattern and practice we have seen the Russians undertake in Europe. It's consistent with their modus operandi. The fact that Flynn is unwilling to talk about it tells me that the Trump campaign is just too much in the corner of Vladimir Putin. That is very much against our national security interests. I would love to ask those people who signed that letter on behalf of the Trump campaign, those retired flag officers, what they think of Trump's disparagement of NATO and his glorification of Putin. [Blitzer:] Do you believe the Russians are interfering, hacking, if you will, DNC computers, DCCC computers, Hillary Clinton's campaign, because they want Donald Trump to be the next president of the United States? Is that your suspicion? [Schiff:] My suspicion, based on the public information, which is very powerful, is that the Russians want to interfere in our elections. They want to sow discord. They would prefer to see Donald Trump, for all the reasons I mentioned. They don't want to see Hillary Clinton as president because they know she will maintain sanctions against them and can build support for international sanctions, as she has as secretary of state. But it is as much about disrupting and discrediting American democracy. We are in a fight over ideas. They are holding up their authoritarian model. We are holding up the democratic model. [Blitzer:] Congressman Schiff, thanks so much for coming in. [Schiff:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Adam Schiff is the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. Up next, we are standing by for Hillary Clinton. She is getting ready to take the stage in Tampa for a campaign rally. We'll go there live when she is on the stage. Stay with us. Much more right after this. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. It is do or die time for Ohio Governor John Kasich. He said if he doesn't do well in tomorrow's New Hampshire primaries he's throwing in the towel. The Ohio governor putting his faith in his ground game and his ability to show his personality. Here's what he told CNN this morning about the key to victory. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] I think the debate helped me because people got to see a little bit more after my personality like they do in the town halls and like they're seeing with this interview. But, you know, at the end of the day, I put my trust in the people there on the ground. And so we've just been like that little engine that can, and we're going to just roll through the tape. And then we're going to kind of duplicate this going forward. [Costello:] Representative Mike Turner joins us now a Kasich supporters. Welcome, Congressman. [Rep Mike Turner , Ohio:] Thank you for having me. [Costello:] Ok. So do you think that John Kasich will drop out if he doesn't do well in New Hampshire? [Turner:] I think he's going to do great in New Hampshire. You know voters have basically two questions to ask. What is the candidate's position on the issues? And really, you know, can they deliver. And with John Kasich he certainly has the voter's confidence I think in both those. One, not only just his position on national security, creating jobs and balancing the national budget but he has the ability to point to real accomplishments. It's not just a leap of faith of can he do it, he's done it on the budget. He's balanced the national budget when he was budget chairman. On national security he served on the Armed Services Committee. And on jobs he gets to point to the turnaround in Ohio. [Costello:] But he's so positive. He's like the happy warrior. Isn't this election all about anger? [Turner:] Well, I think he's a happy warrior because he has the resume. He can tell people this is not just what I say I'm going to do. This is what I've done. When you look at the turnaround in Ohio, when people say we want jobs the country to turn this economy around, they can look and see that he's done that in Ohio. He's the only candidate that's balanced the national debt. [Costello:] Why isn't he, like Marco Rubio, consistently slamming President Obama? [Turner:] Well, again, I think John is spending his time talking about what he's done, not just what's been in the past. And that's where I think the voters want to look to. They want to know what the direction he's going to take the country. And he certainly has the ability and I think he's going to have the support of the voters. [Costello:] So what do you think about Marco Rubio's debate performance and his that repetitive line that he kept tossing out that Obama knows exactly what he's doing? [Turner:] I think it goes to some of the concerns that people have about his candidacy of the depth of experience. And that's where John Kasich makes a big difference there. He is the only candidate as the budget chairman who has been able to balance the national budget. [Costello:] Did that hurt Marco Rubio? I guess that's where I'm going. Did that hurt Marco Rubio? [Turner:] I think it certainly did because, you know, with most candidates, again when they turn to what am I going to talk about, they can talk about something they've done. And I think that's where John Kasich, you know, has an edge. In his town halls everywhere, if somebody raises an issue, it doesn't matter what it's going to be he's going to be able to say this is what I've done as governor. This is what I've done when I was in Congress. This is what I've done that has made a difference in people's lives. [Costello:] So Errol Louis earlier said that Kasich would be a great vice presidential candidate. And then I posed to Errol in the break, I said "Really"? Donald Trump's vice president would be John Kasich?" And Errol said "Stranger things have happened." [Turner:] Well, I think we need to focus on the top of the ticket. And right now John Kasich I believe is the best for that. I think people will see that in New Hampshire. As people have looked at all the candidates and they begin to look at what his resume is, and what he's saying, I think that they'll turn to John Kasich. [Costello:] We'll see. We'll see tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day. Congressman Turner thanks for stopping by. [Turner:] Thank you. Thanks for having me. [Costello:] Still to come in the NEWSROOM young, female and supporting Bernie Sanders? Some of the world's most famous feminists say support Clinton instead. So what gives? Is there a feminist age rift? [Church:] Welcome back, everyone. The pope has been warmly greeted throughout his time in Cuba. A huge crowd of young people turned out in the rain just to catch a glimpse of him. He told them to be tolerant to those who think differently. Earlier Sunday, the pope celebrated mass before a crowd of thousands. There he told Cubans to serve people, not ideas. Now, before he was Pope Francis, he was Father Jorge Mario Bergoglio, and not too long ago, the man who would become the pope, looking out for those on the margins, was himself marginalized, living alone in a small room. CNN's Daniel Burke has more. [Daniel Burke, Cnn Correspondent:] This is Cordoba, a city in the heart of Argentina. [Burke:] More than a million people live here, but in the 1990s, this was a lonely place for the man who would become Pope Francis. Jorge Bergoglio, that's the pope's name before he was Francis, used to live in Buenos Aires, where he had a reputation for being more a drill sergeant than a man of mercy. He would tell priests how to read, how to dress, even how to pray. Finally, the Jesuits decided they'd had enough. They sent him 500 miles away to Cordoba, basically hoping to get rid of him. So how did this man who was exiled not only become pope but become a rock star pope? [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said, diplomacy is the work of small steps. [Unidentified Male:] I want to thank and recognize the support of the Vatican and especially Pope Francis for the improvement of relations between Cuba and the United States. [Jon Stewart, Former Host, The Daily Show:] I love this guy. [Javier Sebastian, Journalist:] Nice to meet you. [Burke:] Nice to meet you. Javier Sebastian is a local journalist in Cordoba [Sebastian:] How is it? [Burke:] Good. [voice-over]: who fed me well and gave me their perspective on how the city changed the man. You can hear the sadness in the pope's own words. Ricardo Spinasi was one of the pope's closest friends. He read me a poem that Francis wrote about being lost on a dark night, with only the stars to keep him company. Ricardo, told me that if I really wanted to know what happened during the pope's dark nights, I should talk to his spiritual son, Father Angel Rosi. [on camera]: How long have you been here? [Father Angel Rosi:] 18 years here. Mate. [Burke:] That's a big mate. He looks happy. He took me to the chapel where the pope prayed alone every morning. Rosi said that the pope suffered terribly during his exile, his friends were actually worried about his mental health. Wow. [voice-over]: Father Rosi showed me the actual room where Francis lived. [on camera]: He would pray and write and read in here? [Rosi:] Yes. [Burke:] Very simple. Very humble. [voice-over]: In the end, it's not exactly clear what happened to Pope Francis during his exile in Cordoba. But he says that he came back more merciful and kinder. So it seems like whatever happened here clearly had a lasting impact on Pope Francis. [Church:] Daniel Burke with that report. To the weather now, and storms are in the forecast for many migrants making their way into southern Europe. We have our Pedram Javaheri here to talk to us about that. And of course, the problem is that these people have had so much to deal with and the weather is not on their side. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] It's not on their side, not this week. And of course, we know the seasons are transitioning on Wednesday. Actually, it's the first day of autumn across the northern hemisphere. As we see a shift in the pattern the weather pattern not going to be helping the situation. But the pattern towards the southeast, we looked at right there. Really much of the Greek isles, that's where the active weather is locked in place. And the storm system here will meander over this region for a couple of days. So I know some of the land routes, especially exiting, say, out of Greece and work into Macedonia, certainly one of the areas where we know people have had to be trudging through some muddy areas just to get across the land, the region. The storm system will push through the area and eventually by mid-week we'll see conditions try to improve. The heavy-dutiest rainfall toward Athens, southern Balkans. Perhaps upwards of 200 millimeters of rainfall. As it goes right into Macedonia, notice the wind speeds 40 to 60 kilometers per hour. The water route across the Eastern Med much the same as well when it comes to the situation there. You look at some of the images in recent days across the Greek and also Macedonian border and it looks much like this. You get the heavy rainfall we know will fall this week. Certainly not going to help with people having just their livelihoods on their back and trying to cross over this region. The other story we're following, the smog across portion of Beijing. Of course, we know the 45th annual Beijing international marathon was taking place on Sunday and look at some of the images. It kind of surprises some people, but other people, some of them getting into the race and wearing masks during the entire 42-kilometer race just because of the air quality issues. In fact we know some seven people hospitalized because of heart-related issues and of course we know across this region a lot of smokers, a lot of lung-related cancer as well. Much of it attributed to smoking. But certainly doesn't help when you're talking about pollution being a major player in this part of the world. A storm system will come here and clean up the air for one or two days and then we're back at it again for several weeks at a time of poor air quality. As it gets cooler, people start using coal to heat their homes. And that doesn't help. [Church:] Yeah. And no advice to people that it's not a good idea to get out in the street and run [Javaheri:] They've continued. It's a very large event, 30,000 participants. And I think it was run at your own risk. And your oxygen intake sometimes increases tenfold when you're running. You're taking in far more pollutants. [Church:] Very vulnerable. [Javaheri:] You're very vulnerable. [Church:] Yeah. Pedram, many thanks to you. [Javaheri:] You're welcome. [Church:] We'll take a short break. But still to come, facing unusual challenges on and off the race course. Up next, an Iranian woman's goal in motocross. Back in a moment. [Whitfield:] All right. The U.S. flag raised above the American embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years. The U.S. and Cuba marking their resumption of diplomatic relations. But what happens now between the two countries? Joining me from Houston, CNN presidential historian Douglas Brinkley, and in New York, Stephen Schlesinger, a fellow at the Century Foundation, whose father Arthur Schlesinger worked in and wrote extensively about the Kennedy White House. Good to see both of you. [Douglas Brinkley, Cnn Presidential Historian:] Thank you. [Stephen Schlesinger, Adjunct Fellow, Century Foundation:] Nice to see you. [Whitfield:] All right. So, Stephen, to you first. You know, what was that moment like for you, and did your dad ever talk about possibly seeing that kind of day, or that day happening, like what we saw yesterday? [Schlesinger:] I think he always wanted this day to happen. I don't think he would have realized it was going to take another 50 years. You know, it's quite remarkable. Ten presidents I believe have been in office since the embargo was instituted against Cuba. Finally, we have a president who made a breakthrough and it's a very impressive turnaround, and I think it will pay very much dividends, both with our relationship with Cuba as well as with the entire Latin American community. [Whitfield:] And so, Douglas, you know, this ceremony was full of symbolism, you know, from the U.S. Marines involved 54 years ago, taking the flag down, to now being the ones to help raise the flag. Apparently the cane that Secretary of State, you know, Kerry was walking on also had its significance there. How important was this moment to set a tone, so to speak, of how these two countries will be working together this day forward? [Brinkley:] Well, it's a very important tone-setting moment for John Kerry. It's one of the high watermarks of his tenure as secretary of state. Barack Obama will most likely get very high marks in history for kind of healing U.S.-Cuban relations. But we've got to be cautious here. Embassies can open and they can close. We had an embassy in Venezuela, in Caracas, running and then we shut it down. We'll have to see. We're not the friendship with the United States and Cuba is not ironclad at this juncture. There's still human rights issues. And if we ever find out that Cuba is in some ways sponsoring terrorism against the United States, things could dissolve. But for the moment, as Stephen Schlesinger said, this is a very healing moment after this many decades of the United States and Cuba at each other's throats. It looks like now a friendship is blooming. [Whitfield:] And blooming in what way do you see, Stephen? Because yes, unfinished business. We're still talking about, you know, an embargo that has yet to be lifted. It takes an act of Congress in order for that to happen. But what do you see next in the short term as opposed to the long term? [Schlesinger:] Well, I think there are going to be a series of small steps. I think Doug is quite right that you know, Cuba is not going to change overnight. In fact, it may not change for years. So the small steps are important. I think right now Secretary Kerry has been talking about some of them. For example, dealing with narcotics interdiction, or the environment, or issues of financial transactions or agriculture or telecommunications. All those issues are pretty straightforward and can be dealt with in a bilateral basis. But when you get into the issues of human rights, the settlement of expropriated property of Cubans and Americans, and issues of democracy, it's you're talking about a much longer-term situation. [Whitfield:] And then, Douglas, you know, just listening to the ceremony and listening to the whether it be the poet or even Secretary Kerry, some beautiful, you know, words that were being used. And when using language like, you know, as two peoples who are no longer enemies or rivals, but neighbors playing the Cuban national anthem first, and then later playing, you know, the U.S. national anthem. In what way do you see those as, you know, significant moves in order to really kind of thaw the ice? [Brinkley:] Well, I think the Cuban people and the American people have a shared rich history. And so one of the ways that the ice thawing is going to happen are cultural exchanges. Students going down to Cuba now. People going to do tourism. I went down to Cuba just to see the sight of the Bay of Pigs invasion. And went to see where Theodore Roosevelt's, you know, history down there. It's an amazing place, Havana. So I think the influx of American tourists going to Cuba is going to be quite remarkable. And when people start talking and dialoguing, sharing music, food, it's a chance for these two countries to get much closer. And also Fidel Castro is on his last legs, so to speak. And Raul Castro has shown more of an shown signs that he liked to get along with the United States. So for some people that remember the Cuban missile crisis, this is really a moment to celebrate when tensions are at an all-time low right now. [Whitfield:] Yes, neither of the Castros were there, but, you know, their aura, indeed. You know, is certainly in the vicinity. [Brinkley:] Yes. [Whitfield:] Stephen Schlesinger and Douglas Brinkley, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it. [Brinkley:] Thanks. [Schlesinger:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right. We'll be right back. [Newton:] It's the legendary eight minute anthem that's kept every generation rocking out since the 1970s. Ok, I stopped to convince my kids of that. But whatever, it starts as a haunting acoustic slow dance and ends as a heavy metal head banger. And that final line, "She's buying a "Stairway to Heaven," I'll spare you, I won't sing it. Now a jury in the United States will have to decide if Led Zeppelin's megahit was a rip-off. Now in a lawsuit claims the beginning of "Stairway to Heaven" was copied from another band. I want you to take a look at yourself or take a listen at least. Such a classic, right, that was "Stairway to Heaven." Now a suit filed by the estate of songwriter for the band Spirit claims Led Zeppelin lifted that rift from the song "Torse." Jeff Peretz is the professor of music theory at New York University. Jeff it does sound really similar. Kind of explain what's going on there. [Jeff Peretz, Nyu Professor Of Music Theory:] Well, yes, they sonically similar and they're using the same harmonic structure, the same chord progression, which is iconic classic chord progression. It's known as a minor line cliche. [Newton:] Minor line cliche. [Peretz:] line cliche. It's a minor chord, the lowest note descends chromatically. It has been used in many, many, many song. "My Funny Valentine," Rodgers and Hart 1937. Stevie Wonder has used it. The theme song for "Sex and the City" uses the same chord progression. [Newton:] "Sex and the City" theme song same one. It's landed in court. How and why? [Peretz:] I think because after the blurred lines case, people think that things that sound similar can be tried as being possible infringement. [Newton:] Ok, now stopping there, let's remind everyone of the blurred lines. That is that song that unfortunately, annoyingly it was in everybody's head a few years ago. [Peretz:] It was and it sounded a lot like "Got to Give It Up" by Marvin Gaye. The math didn't line up, it's not the same chord progression, it's not the same melody, it's not the same rhythm, yet a jury found that it was copyright infringement. Probably more because everybody loves Marvin Gaye and people don't really maybe feel the same way about Robin Thicke. [Newton:] Really? [Peretz:] I think the hubris of Robin Thicke in the personality contest of it all had a lot to do with it. [Newton:] OK, but let me take from what you're saying, this is going to go to a jury now, this case of Led Zeppelin. And you're basically trying to tell me anything can happen. [Peretz:] anything can happen. The math behind it, it is that it is same chord progression, which is not copyrightable. What sounds the same are the recordings. About the plagiarism case, plagiarism speaks to the actual composition. This is not a copyrightable bit of information. It's a little harmonic sequence. This are only 12 notes in western music, seven when you're talking about a key. And if there's only seven docs, there's only but so many rows we can put them in. It's fair game to use them in any order you choose. [Newton:] what do you think in terms of what's set out there? Do you think Led Zeppelin heard this beforehand? [Peretz:] Possibly, they may have heard it from "My Funny Valentine" from Rodgers and Hart, or "Don't You Worry About a Thing" from Stevie Wonder, or from "In a Sentimental Mode" for Duke Ellington. It's used so prevalently that possibly they heard it before. It's like the equivalent of me copyrighting the color red in a painting. If I use red and say no one else can use it because I discovered this color. It's basically a sonic collar. [Newton:] In terms of the music industry itself, is this going to be kind of a legal fluke, like look, you can say a lot of songs sound alike but that doesn't mean they end up in court. [Peretz:] That's true. Anybody's guess at this point. After the blurred lines case which, you know, the math didn't line up. It's not the same song. And it was found to be the same song. Although the reward was reduced and I believe it will be eventually overturned. I would like to see the jury do the right thing and just throw this one out. Because it really has no merit. [Newton:] So that's clear where you stand. If you had to deal with ignoramuses like me on the jury, who doesn't know about music. So I'm sitting there and part of this jury, and you have to show me. I just heard that from myself. What do you say? Clearly you have an opinion. You saying throw this out. [Peretz:] I think it's up to the judge to properly instruct the jury as to what is copyrightable and what is not copyrightable. The method the way in which the song is presented is not a copyrightable thing. The information that's being used, the melodic art would be. But there's no melody on top of the spirit song, and the chord progression is the same but that's something traditionally that's not copyrightable. The harmonic structure, the so same seven chords are there for everybody to use. [Newton:] If it goes either way, if it's thrown out, do you think it will affect anything going forward? Do you think people will finally stop -? [Peretz:] Not really. I think this is kind of like it's big news today but i don't think it's going to become much. I think the way they snuck it into court with the re-release of the remastering, that's kind of cute. But I don't think it has any merit and if it is found to be infringement, it's going to further the gray area and make it a little bit more difficult. You know, when young artists are starting out, if they're not able to emulate their heroes and to write in different styles then how are they to start? And if this case does set a precedent, then Blind Willie Jefferson owns every blues that was ever written. [Newton:] Now I get what you're saying. You're saying in order that's the reason you would put to this jury to say look, you couldn't possibly copyright this. [Peretz:] Correct, if I make a movie and there's two cops, buddy cops, that's a tropes, you know, and so there are many, many movies that have that same type of ideology behind it. So why can't my song have the same cord progression as another song? [Newton:] You know, there's been a lot of criticism about the music industry in general. And a lot of people, you can say it, you know, people talk about the money side of it, people talk about the creative side of it. I mean in general when you see cases like this, does it give you hope in the music industry or you just think sometimes it's an absolute snake pit? [Peretz:] Well, that's [Newton:] We all know it is, yeah. [Peretz:] I think that you know the copyright laws are there to encourage creative and to inspire people to continue to do great work and I think that suits like this may go against that. You know, that methodology. We want them to be able to write. We want them to be able to use the information, to use the pieces of the puzzle that are there to build their own pieces of art. And if we start restricting that and we start getting litigious around that, it will go against the idea of fair use for creativity. [Newton:] To use a term, thank heaven you were here to explain. We'll continue to watch this case. And we're having you back when something does happen. [Peretz:] All right, all right. My pleasure. [Newton:] Still to come, this is Australia's current $5 bill. We'll show you the revamped version that's causing a bit of a stir on social media. That's right after the break. [Sciutto:] It's an honor and privilege to receive and it is one of the best seats in the house. I'm talking about Michelle Obama's box at the State of the Union address tonight. Seated will be the vice president's wife, Jill Biden, Senior Adviser Valerie Jarrett, as well 23 others, including our next guest, U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Spencer Stone. He's with me here tonight. Spencer, you made headlines in August with this acts of heroism that stopped a potential terrorist attack on this train in France. Tonight, we know we hear that the president is going to talk about responding to the terror threat. I'm just curious as someone that has literally faced it, what would you like to hear from the president? [Spencer Stone, U.s. Air Force Staff Sergeant:] I'd like to see where he sees our country in the next couple years and what his plans are for his last year in office. He still has a lot of time to do some things. I think he's going to get it done to the best of his ability. [Sciutto:] Let me ask you then about the moment as it happened. You're on the train. You see the attack underway. You saw his weapon. You knew what you were risking there. I'm fascinated by people in moments of acts of heroism of what they are thinking where you make that decision. What went through your mind? [Stone:] The decision was made a long time ago. I always mentally prepared myself for a moment like that because I knew it's realistic. At least my family is going to know I went down trying. [Sciutto:] You thought you were going to die? [Stone:] Yes, sir. [Sciutto:] The gun was pointed at you and the bullet didn't go off. [Stone:] He tried to shoot at me. It was a bad primer. So that gave me more time to run at him before he could load another round and I was able to get to him. My other friends joined in, helped out and we subdued him. [Sciutto:] I cover terrorism. That's my beat here at CNN. I get a lot of questions from people, how likely am I to face an attack. I get that question all the time. Should I go to Paris? There was a bombing here today. The president, we hear, has tried to balance the actual threat of terrorism to say it's a threat, but you're more likely to get struck by lightning. Not to minimize it, but go on living your life. [Stone:] Exactly. That's what I keep saying to people. [Sciutto:] You get that same message? [Stone:] You can't live your life in a bubble. You can't be thinking of these things constantly. You have to keep going. If things like that happen, you have to be ready to respond. Mentally prepare myself. Say, OK, if I'm in a situation, which is what I'll do, and I did it. [Sciutto:] I went it to Paris for the most recent attacks. I talked to witnesses who describe the look on the faces of attackers as being blank, just blank, almost, not like a Robert, but almost like expressionless. I wonder, as you were rushing the gunman, what did you see? What did you see in his eyes? [Stone:] I kind of blacked out. I was expecting a gun shot to go off. In the midst of the fight, it took two minutes to get him unconscious and take everything away from him. But my friend told me when he was hitting him in the face, he was giving us a blank stare back. No emotion. [Sciutto:] No feeling for anything? [Stone:] No feeling for anything. [Sciutto:] Final question. Next steps, do you think about running for office? [Stone:] I think I need a lot more experience and knowledge to be able to take that job on. But I'd be willing to work towards that. [Sciutto:] You would. Good to hear. In the meantime, are we going to see you in the movies? We'll see I don't know, who is going to play you in the movie? Who would you like to see play you in the movie? [Stone:] People always ask me that question. I don't know. Who knows? My friend, Anthony, says he wants Will Smith to play him. Alex says [Sciutto:] You can do worse than that. Spencer Stone, we thank you for your service. Great to get the chance to meet you. Our coverage of President Obama's final State of the Union address begins tonight at 7:00 eastern right here on CNN. That's it for me today. Wolf Blitzer will be back tonight. And tomorrow, Wolf sits down with the King Abdullah of Jordan. That interview will air Wednesday evening at 5:00 p.m. eastern on "The Situation Room" here on CNN. The news will continue right after this break. [Curnow:] Mexican drug boss El Chapo has spent the past week in a prison close to the U.S., an indication perhaps that he may be extradited to America at some point. Now you would think his being in prison who make people feel safer but now families living nearby in Juarez are worried. Nick Valencia tells us why people are petrified their city could turn violent again. Here's his report. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Life goes in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Once desolate streets traded for a semblance of tranquility in the city just across the river from El Paso, Texas. Not so long ago, it was infested with drug cartels. At its violent peak, there were more than 3,000 people murdered in one year. Most of those deaths were attributed to the war between the local Juarez cartel and the infamous Sinaloa Federation, popularly known for its leader, Joaquin Guzman, AKA El Chapo. While life on the streets has changed in Juarez with El Chapo's return, the bloody past seems very much present. His presence has reimagined the nightmares for many. Sergio Velez lived through the violence brought to Juarez by El Chapo between 2009 and 2012. He says he still mourns the death of one of his construction workers, killed inside his business. [Sergio Velez, Business Owner:] There are many people very hurt by that war. There are many still mourning what happened during the narco war and there's still a very latent sense of insecurity bred by the delinquent group of El Chapo Guzman here in Ciudad Juarez. [Valencia:] Painful memories Velez buried deep in his mind have been unlocked by the return of El Chapo. Even with the kingpin behind bars, some fear of a return of impunity for the cartel foot soldiers still in the city. However, the mayor of Juarez tells CNN the drug lord's transfer to Juarez has had no impact or relevance on the daily life of most residents. [Javier Gonzalez Mocken , Juarez Mayor:] Juarez now finds itself peaceful, working and dedicated to produce goods and services. Juarez is dedicated to creating better life conditions for its residents. [Valencia:] There are obvious concerns that El Chapo will escape prison for a third time. There have also been questions about the penitentiary's infrastructure. Is it capable of holding him? With the spotlight back on Juarez for the moment, residents would prefer to discard the unwanted attention and move on from its violent past Nick Valencia CNN, Atlanta. [Curnow:] That does it for us here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Thanks for joining me. I'm Robyn Curnow. Don't go anywhere. "WORLD SPORT" with Amanda Davies is next. END [Kaye:] New information revealed today about Hillary Clinton's health. Both physical and financial. New documents revealed that she and her husband Bill have paid $43 million in federal taxes since 2011. As far as Clinton's physical health goes, her doctor says she's, quote, "She's fit to serve as president." This news comes as a new batch of Clinton's e-mails during her time as secretary f of state is released. We'll talk more about all of this with our Sunlen Serfaty, she's in Washington. And, Sunlen, I guess Hillary Clinton wants everybody to know that she's in good health and can clearly keep up with the younger guys in the race. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] That's right, Randi. You know, these are two huge documents dumped by the Clinton campaign. Now first on those financials. The campaign, they released seven years of Clinton's tax records and they revealed that Bill and Hillary Clinton, well, they earned over $140 million during that seven-year period. And during that time they paid $57 million in federal, state and local taxes at a combined overall tax rate in the last year of 48.8 percent. During that same time they donated a total of $14 million to charity. Also in a separate release by the campaign we also learned that Hillary a little bit more about her health, her doctor releasing a summary showing that the issues that she had from that health scare in 2012, that concussion and blood clot, that issue they say has been completely resolved. But this document also revealing that she does take blood thinners still as a daily precaution. You know, all this came as the same day as latest batch of e-mails from her private e-mail server were also released by the State Department so the Clinton campaign clearly very eager to try to show that they're trying to be transparent in releasing this other information. The polling shows that Clinton's trustworthiness is a big area of vulnerability for her as a candidate so clearly, Randi, this is something the campaign is very acutely aware of Randi. [Kaye:] Yes, and you mentioned those 2,000 pages of the e-mails from when she was secretary of state. Anything stand out in those? [Serfaty:] Well, one of the biggest areas I think that stood out was how highly redacted many of the e-mail were. Dozens of e-mail had information that was blacked out. And that was because, not that it was classified information but deemed sensitive information. And this was inspected, we know that the intelligence committee has a team at the State Department and making sure now that there's not any classified information released in this latest and that was because in the last round we heard from the inspectors general in the intelligence community that there were some classified information released as part of this overall release of the e-mails. But I have so to say that aside there were some moments of color in the release of these e-mails. One e-mail that Clinton sent to her chief of staff, Randi, requested her to borrow the book "Send" which is a classic guide on how to e-mail Randi. [Kaye:] Yes, that is a little ironic. I also know, you're hearing some developments regarding one of Clinton's closest aides and a paid dispute. What do you know about that? [Serfaty:] Yes, this is real interesting. This is all about Huma Abedin, she is one of Clinton's longest serving aides. She served with her as chief of deputy chief of staff at the State Department, also currently serves on her presidential campaign. The State Department inspector general has been looking into a dispute over whether she was overpaid $10,000 when she departed the State Department, and this is also around two one vacation in August of 2011 and also how she was paid during her maternity leave. Now Huma's lawyers dispute this and they say that she did do work during both of those leaves so she deserves to be paid. And they are asking for an administrative review of the findings. [Kaye:] All right. One more thing on the plate there. All right. Sunlen, thank you. Nice to see you. Moments ago the plane debris that could belong to Flight 370 just arrived at a France laboratory. Investigators say they will quickly be able to identify it, but then what? We will take you there live. Plus a judge goes from angry to emotional inside a courtroom over an undocumented immigrant accused of a deadly crime spree. You'll see what happens. [Dos Santos:] It's the epitome of refined Southern decadence. The Kentucky Derby is this very Saturday. Some people call the race the most exciting two minutes in sports. So the announcers have a tough job to get it right. Our Richard Roth gave it a shot. [Richard Roth, Cnn Commentator:] Up fast with so bad I'm good. The bad deputy gets away alertly from the inside and settles in. I'm calling today's fourth race. What should I know? [Ken Warkentin, Freehold Raceway Announcer:] You need accuracy and clarity. You need control. You can't get too excited. And you should use the binoculars. [Roth:] How upset can you get if a race caller makes a mistake? [Warkentin:] Oh, very upset. [Roth:] Because I might make a mistake. [Unidentified Male:] You're not going to make a mistake. I've got full confidence in you. In a half-mile track you'll find if you stick with the one, two, three and four you'll probably do pretty good. Just stick with those numbers [Roth:] I wasn't good in math though in school [Unidentified Male:] OK, so we'll go with the six, seven and eight then. [Roth:] during testing I called the horse Paystobea a mean girl. And we later learned it was pains to be mean girl. Is Paystobea a mean girl in front. Is that embarrassing? [Warkentin:] Yeah. That is embarrassing. [Roth:] Is it proper for a race announcer to make a bet on the race he's calling? [Warkentin:] It's an unbiased approach to the business. You might be concentrating too much on that horse that you bet. [Roth:] $2 across on the five Rock Rock Who's There. Number 6 Ok Cognac number seven Real Mystical. And number eight Magnum Might. [Unidentified Male:] My great pleasure to introduce Richard Roth. Don't mess up, Richard. [Roth:] The fourth race at Freehold, second away. Many people don't know Wolf Blitzer was a driver once. Finished 14th in the Preakness. Breaking news, this fourth race is under way. Rock Rock Who's There going for the early lead in the middle of the track. Cheyenne Patty, though, along the rail, gets the lead. Grabbing the lead, Rock Rock Who's There, along the back stretch. Comfortably in the pocket second shot Cheyenne Patti. It's Factor J. A little bit of an error there Cheyenne Portsman four. That's OK Cognac coming on third. Knock, knock Rock Rock. Got to drive me crazy Rock Rock Who's There. Pulling away. Magnum Mike third making a move. We have Rock Rock Who's There in front in the fourth at Freehold. Give me at straight. How bad or good? [Warkentin:] Well, you had to go through the field. There's some horses that you really had didn't give a call to at all. I'll give you a "b." [Roth:] yeah. You heard my screw-up? [Unidentified Male:] In the middle, but you recovered. [Roth:] Do I have a future? [Unidentified Male:] No. But that's beside the point. [Dos Santos:] No pressure. We'll be back with more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment's time. Don't go away. [Sesay:] Hello, everyone. The South Korean student that has been detained in North Korea is reportedly about to be released. The South Korean Unification Ministry says Won-Moon Joo is expected to be handed over to South Korea at the border in a few hours. Kathy Novak is in Seoul and joins us now with details. Kathy, what do we know about this decision to free the student now? [Kathy Novak, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, what we know is just coming from the South Korean side at this stage. It says that North Korea informed the authorities here that this student was to be handed over this afternoon in just a few hours from now. More than that, we're not sure because there's nothing official coming out from the North Korean state media in terms of the reason why he may be released this afternoon. There is a major national holiday coming up. The questions are, perhaps, with the timing be associated with that. But in terms of the reasons behind North Korea's decision, we just don't know. What we do know is that this was a very lucky young man. There are three other South Koreans still being detained in North Korea. They were sentenced to life sentences of hard labor in labor camps. And South Korea continues to call for their release as well. We would imagine that Joo will also be up for some questioning when he arrives on the South Korean side. It is illegal for a South Korean citizen to cross into North Korea without permission. So there will certainly be questions about that, and, indeed, what happened to him while he was in North Korea Isha? [Sesay:] Well, we're seeing some pictures of Won-Moon Joo speaking to Will Ripley in recent months. What do we know about why he did, indeed, cross over into North Korea? Or what have we learned? [Novak:] Well, what we heard from him, when he spoke to Will, as you say, he is an NYU student, a South Korean citizen but a resident in the United States studying there. He travelled from China into North Korea and said he wanted to get arrested, that he thought that this whole event would cause he said he wanted a great event to happen. And he was telling Will Ripley at the time that he was hoping he would be able to tell the story of an ordinary student who was able to cross into North Korea and, by the good graces, basically, he said, of the authorities there be allowed to return home. It seems, according to the South Korean Unification Ministry, that may, indeed, be what is going to happen this afternoon. Though, of course, we don't know what is going to be happening to him when he reaches here in South Korea, because, as I say, there will be some major questions being asked of him. Because when he talks about a great event, he didn't really expand on how he thought this could be a good thing. This is a very unusual event, and certainly very dangerous. And he was facing the potential of a very harsh punishment in North Korea. [Sesay:] Kathy, if he is, indeed, released, which is the expectation, will it make any measurable difference in relations between the North and the South? [Novak:] Well, it's interesting because he referred to that when he spoke to CNN back in May, that he was hoping that if he were released, that would do something to better relations between the North and the South. As I say, there are three other South Korean citizens doing hard labor, life sentences in North Korea. The South will continue to push for their release. It comes at a very tense time between North and South Korea. As I mentioned, there's this major anniversary coming up in North Korea. We're expecting a big military parade in Pyongyang. There was also expectation that at the time of that event there may be a rocket launch or a nuclear test or fears that another provocative move could be happening from North Korea. So the South is constantly watching out for that. But lately, relations have simmered down from the time of a couple of months ago when there was artillery fire exchanged across the border and high-level talks had to be had to calm the situation. But it's always a tense time on the peninsula, Isha, and it remains that way now with this major anniversary coming up in North Korea in just a few days' time. [Sesay:] It is, indeed, always a tense time on the peninsula. Kathy Novak joining us from Seoul, South Korea. Thank you, Kathy. Appreciate it. Now the fall movie season has blasted off with the release of "The Martian." The Matt Damon space thriller topped the weekend box office, grossing an estimated $100 million worldwide, including $55 million in the U.S. Amra Walker takes a look now at the sci-fi hit. [Matt Damon, Actor:] So I have to make water and grow food on a planet that nothing grows. [Damon:] In your face, Neil Armstrong. [Amra Walker, Cnn Correspondent:] In "The Martian," Matt Damon stars an as astronaut stranded on the red planet, mistakenly left for dead after a powerful storm forces his crew to abandon their mission. [Damon:] This is Mark Watney. And I'm still alive. [Walker:] With help more than 100 million miles away, Damon has to survive all alone while NASA plans a daring rescue. Damon, Director Ridley Scott, and the rest of the cast turned out on the red carpet in London for the film's European premiere. [Damon:] It's a really uplifting message and movie, and it felt like right now with everything happening, it was a nice thing to put out into the world. [Unidentified Actor:] I think the movie works very, very well. And I got to work with some terrific people. [Unidentified Actress:] It's amazing, and it's Matt. People like to see matt. People like to see what Ridley is doing. It's just really exciting to be here. [Walker:] And the movie is also getting some help generating buzz, thanks to this week's news that NASA scientists have found water on Mars. [Damon:] Cheers. Congratulations to everybody at NASA with this is huge, huge news. I wish I knew about it while I was stranded on Mars. But the next time I'm stuck there, at least I know there will be water. [Walker:] Maybe movie makers can tackle that in a sequel. Amra Walker, CNN. [Sesay:] Well, "The Martian" could break records by the time the box office numbers settle. Right now, just shy of having the biggest October opening ever. Earlier, I spoke with Tim Grierson, the chief film critic of "Paste" magazine about the movie's appeal. Tim, great to have you with us. A $55 million opening weekend box office haul for "The Martian." Help me understand the pull here. Is it Matt Damon? Is it Ridley Scott? Is it the recent discovery of flowing water on Mars? [Tim Grierson, Chief Film Critic, "paste" Magazine:] It may be a little of all of those things, actually. I think it's just a great concept, the idea of this lone astronaut stuck on Mars trying to figure out how he's going to get home and NASA trying to figure out how to rescue him. We've had stories like "Castaway" and "All Is Lost" and even "Gravity," really like survival stories. They are very popular. I think the fact that they discovered, you know, water on Mars, or at least announced it this week, I think that could help kind of boost people's interest in it. I think the reviews have been really strong for this movie. I thought it was really great myself. I think it's just a really great feel-good movie. I think all of those factors together, combined, to make people feel like this is the movie we want to see this weekend. [Sesay:] You wrote a great review for it in "Paste" magazine, and one of the things you say is this is not a survival movie, which is what a lot of people may expect. Explain that to me. [01:45:] [Grierson:] My own father was nervous about seeing this movie. He was like, it's a guy by himself for a whole movie. Do I want to see that? There are little elements of that. Matt Damon is a botanist who has to make 30 days worth of rations last for a year. But the movie is very much about this idea of how people's brain power, how, you know, the smartest people in the world, can work together to figure out how to rescue this one guy who is stuck on Mars. For me, the thing that's really strong about this movie as opposed to "Castaway" is that the character that Matt Damon plays. He is not a character who is going through this ordeal to learn something about himself, as opposed to Tom Hanks' character, where it was a cosmic lesson that this character had to learn about not being so hung up on time and sort of appreciating the everyday. Mark Watney, the character that Matt Damon plays, is a pretty capable, regular, normal smart guy. So this kind of challenge that he goes through is more just about him showing off his competency as opposed to some sort of deep wound in himself that he's going to learn from. [Sesay:] But the thing about movies, about brain power, they place the director in a pretty tight spot where he has to walk a fine line [Grierson:] Right. [Sesay:] between portraying the cerebral and the movie just being dull. [Grierson:] Yes. [Sesay:] But you say Ridley Scott pulls it off. [Grierson:] Yeah. I think it's really well done. It's based on a novel from a few years ago. And what the movie does really well, it's kind of like a mystery or a whodunit, how is this guy going to get off Mars? You get to watch Matt Damon's character figure things out. He is such a smart guy anyway. He figures out, OK. This is how I can make water. This is how I can make food. This is how I can contact NASA. And not unlike "Apollo 13" from 20 years ago, you know, the people back home at NASA are figuring out, if we get a ship at this time over there, how can we make it work? So it's definitely not too cerebral or boring. This is an intense, well-made thriller. There's an idea of a ticking clock. We have to get this guy back in time. So you get wrapped up in smart people doing smart things. And figuring out, if we do this and this and this, we can get this guy back home. [Sesay:] Tim, great to have you in with us this evening. Great review in "Pace" magazine, as I said. And I'm going to go check it out. Thank you. [Grierson:] Thank you. [Sesay:] $55 million in the U.S. alone. Well, "Star Wars" isn't just a box office legend, but an auction success as well. Details of a record-setting sale of movie memorabilia. That just ahead. [Barnett:] We have exciting news for fans of Disney theme parks. You see Disney revealed the design for its Shanghai Disneyland scheduled to open next spring. [Church:] Officials say the new park will feature six themed lands filled with rides, shows and everything else fans have come to expect in a Disney park. Shanghai Disneyland will feature the first mandarin version of the musical "The Lion King" the last Disneyland opening was a decade ago in Hong Kong. [Barnett:] Now golf's third major of the year, the Open Championship is underway at St. Andrews golf course in Scotland and all eyes are on American Jordan Spieth. [Church:] Yes, he is aiming to be the second player in history to win three majors, including the Masters and the U.S. Open in a calendar year. That hasn't been done since Ben Hogan back in 1953. He tees off in less than an hour. [Barnett:] Good luck to him. And you will surely see a lot of this on social media in the next day. An emotional and tearful moment for one of the most famed U.S. Olympians of all time at the ESPY Awards. [Church:] Yes, gold medalist, Caitlyn Jenner, received the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage Thursday night. In her first speech since identifying as transgender, Jenner called for respect and said that the world needs to accept people for who they are. [Caitlyn Jenner, Arthur Ashe For Courage Awardee:] So for the people out there wondering what this is all about, whether it's about courage or controversy or publicity, I'll tell you what it's all about, it's about what happens from here. It's not just about one person. It's about thousands of people. It's not just about me. It's about all of us accepting one another. We're all different. That's not a bad thing. That's a good thing. [Barnett:] Now Caitlyn Jenner's speech was one of many highlights from the ESPY's. CNN's Stephanie Elam looks back at a night filled with inspirational and emotional moments. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] The 2015 ESPYs were heartbreaking while at the same time inspiring, and a lot of it had to do with what athletes were dealing with outside of the world of sport. There was Danielle Green, the former basketball player turned war hero who lost her arm in battle and came home to work with other veterans. She won the Pat Tillman award. There was also Lauren Hill, the young basketball player who wanted to play her first basketball game. She lost her battle to cancer. Her parents accept that award on her behalf. And then there was also Caitlyn Jenner, the one person people were really looking to see and she took her time at the spotlight to focus on issues in the transgender community as she knew that she has a place to do it with her fame and with the safety of her protected bubble that so many young people she says don't have the same luxury. [Jenner:] If someone wanted to bully me, I was the MVP of the football team. That was not a problem and the same things goes tonight. If you want to call me names, make jokes, doubt my intentions, go ahead, because the reality is I can take it. But for the thousands of kids out there coming to terms with being true to who they are, they shouldn't have to take it. [Elam:] Several of Jenner's children were in the audience and a couple of them got emotional. She got emotional as she talked about not wanting to let down her family with the decision to come out as a transgender person. There were a lot of people we spoke to who for the most part showed support for Caitlyn Jenner, not just in general, but also receiving this Arthur Ashe Award for Courage. A lot of people felt like this was a worthy reason to honor somebody who became the world's greatest athlete in the 1976 Olympics when Bruce Jenner won the decathlon. But you saw on Twitter some people were not thrilled about it. But at the end of her speech, inside of that live broadcast, she did get a standing ovation. Stephanie Elam, CNN, Los Angeles. [Church:] It was certainly a very powerful and inspirational speech. [Barnett:] There was some backlash online, but that's just proves there is a long way to go in raising awareness. You have been watching CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks so much, everyone. I'm Errol Barnett. [Church:] I'm Rosemary Church. Stay with us. "EARLY START" is next for our viewers here in the United States. [Barnett:] For the rest of you there's another edition of CNN NEWSROOM. Have a great day. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. We'll check the headlines now. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] After a contentious relationship during the presidential campaign, Donald Trump wants to make nice with the top tech industry leaders. He welcomed executives from Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, other companies as well, to his gold-plated Trump Tower on Wednesday. The president-elect says he really wants to stay in touch. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] You'll call my people, you'll call me, if really doesn't make any difference. We have no formal chain of command around here. [Vause:] Joining me now is Democratic strategist, Matt Littman, and CNN political commentator John Phillips, talk radio host and political columnist the "Orange County Register." Thanks for coming back. Matt, first to you. This meeting here after such a bitter campaign, most of the tech industry was siding with Hillary Clinton. During the campaign, they talked about net neutrality, a Muslim registry. They didn't raise a word about that during this meeting today with Trump. [Matt Littman, Democratic Stragtegist:] So let me say, when you say most the tech industry was siding with Hillary Clinton, I would say it's 99 to one of the tech industry, not all the tech industry. [Vause:] Right. That's the one. [Littman:] All the money in the tech industry went to Hillary. I mean, it was really the tech companies, what they stand for, the types of employees may have, that is not Donald Trump's target audience. But on the other hand, if Donald Trump to bring these people what they want, which is tax repatriation, being able to bring their money overseas at a much lower rate, and if he can increase the number of rate of H1B visas for the tech companies, there may be a change of tune for these tech companies. [Vause:] He could win them over. [John Phillips, Cnn Political Commentator:] Maybe. [Phillips:] He has made up with Mitt Romney [Vause:] You think? [Phillips:] He's made up of a Silicon Valley. What is next? Maybe Rosie O'Donnell. She could come to the White House for some Hot Pockets. [Littman:] Mitt Romney. We saw Mitt Romney, he was interviewed for secretary of state. Trump demanded an apology from Mitt Romney in order for Mitt Romney to be secretary of state. [Phillips:] so much better at making him secretary of the Veteran Affairs. [Vause:] They should have listened to Phillips. [Littman:] By the way, they should keep Bob McDonald. [Vause:] Let's move on. What was interesting was the boss of Twitter didn't turn up. The speculation is because Twitter would not let the campaign do a Crooked Hillary" emoji. [Phillips:] Who knows? You can never tell with these sorts of things. The executives that were in there gave money to his opponent. I am sure they said nasty things about them. The CEO of Apple, Tim Cook, came after him very publicly, multiple times. So, if you can make up with those people, you can certainly make up with Twitter. [Vause:] What was interesting about this, not just the tech CEOs were in that room about 90 minutes, but also the Trump kids, Ivanka, Don Jr, Eric, were all there. These are the guys, especially Donald Jr and Eric who are meant to be running dad's business. This firewall, may be separating themselves out from the conflicts of interest, shouldn't they have started that by now? [Phillips:] Lots of 70-year-olds have their kids in the room when they're talking tech. Look, he's still the president-elect. He is not the president. The kids will be running the company. He is going to be running the country. If there is a conflict of interest that comes up, we have divided government, we have separation of powers, Congress will investigate, the media will call him out. It is not like he works in some clandestine industry. He builds huge hotels and puts his name on the top of it. So, I think this is much ado about nothing. [Littman:] So I don't. [Phillips:] He has a very bad relationship with the Republican establishment in D.C., and sometimes were you stand depends on where you sit. And these guys sit in the U.S. Senate, they sit in the Congress, and they do not want him to steamroll them. And there are still plenty of Republicans left in the Senate, including Lindsey Graham, that has a real bee in his bonnet with Trump, Senator Sass from Nebraska and others who I believe would jump at the opportunity if they thought he [Littman:] I only believe that while well, I don't agree with that. I believe they'd only jump at the opportunity if his popularity went down. I think if his popularity stays where it is in the Republican Party, they won't be jumping [Vause:] It's been revealed that Donald Jr., big hunter, likes to go shooting elephants and lions and tigers and stuff. He had a hands-on role in selecting Ryan Zinke as the interior secretary. Just earlier this year, he said that, you know Donald Jr said he wanted the job of being the secretary for the interior. Listen to this. [Doanld Trump Jr, Son Of Donald Trump:] Our big inside over Thanksgiving and Christmas, now that this thing has become very real with the presidency, is, hey, Don, the only thing you would be doing in government is actually Interior, so I don't know if I'd be the head of it or just informing them but [Vause:] OK, so kind of tongue in cheek. But, John, this is what Democrats and Republicans are kind of worried about. [Phillips:] All of it's tongue in cheek. It was a joke. [Vause:] Oh, come on. [Phillips:] The kids it was well known. [Vause:] But he does have a hands-on role in choosing [Phillips:] Yeah, but sometimes the father does, sometimes the father doesn't. They didn't like the kids, him and Ivanka, didn't like Corey Lewandowski. Lewandowski was the campaign manager. The campaign hits rocky moments and then Corey was removed. And Corey came to work for us here at CNN. What is the first thing that happened after Donald Trump is elected president, Corey resigned and then went to go take some sort of job with the Trump administration. So, if the kids do not like him, and he is still back in the father's good graces, he certainly not listening to everything that they are saying. [Littman:] One of the problems they have isn't just with the influence of Trump's kids. There seems to be nobody who is going to be working in this White House in a leadership position with any experience in politics or in a White House. Priebus, Bannon, these are people we're talking about an enormous organization. We're talking about the government. None of these people have any experience. That is a real concern. [Vause:] To the other conservative Democrats, at least, when it comes to conflicts of interest, is this hotel in Washington, D.C., which the Trump Organization and Donald Trump leases from the federal government. Democratic leader, Elijah Cummings sees that as one of just many conflicts of interest, which is on the horizon. He is what he said. [Sen. Elijah Cummings, , Maryland:] He look, and all you have to do is read the lease. It says basically, if you are an elected official, you can't be a part of the lease. Period. I mean it's no ands, ifs or buts. And so basically what they told us is that he would have to get out of that lease at some point. And it needs to be done sooner rather than later. [Vause:] There are so many issues that are coming up with the business and the presidency. Matt, isn't this was the transition should have been doing for months and months and months before it came to this point? [Littman:] Yes, but they did not think there were going to win, so that's why they didn't do it. Until that 9:00 on election night, they said, oh, my gosh, wait, what? And we're all going to be moving to Washington. So, it seems obvious that between the family members, Trump paying himself back all this money from the campaign, the hotel where foreign diplomats want to say when they come to town which, by the way, I have to say, the outside of the hotel looks very nice. I will not step foot in that hotel. [Phillips:] It happens all the time at the state and local level. In the city of New York, Michael Bloomberg was elected mayor, where the financial sector is the economic engine of that city. What type of business did he come from? He gave from the financial sector. He owned a news agency that covered the financial industry. It all worked out. This will work out, too. [Vause:] We'll hold you to that. One of two really bizarre twists in the campaign, the hacking of John Podesta's e-mails. It now appears that was the result of a typo. There was phishing email which Podesta received. A tech expert looked at it, in the campaign, an aide, and actually said, "This is a legitimate email, John needs to change his passwords immediately." What he meant to type was, "This is an illegitimate email." Is it possible, Matt, that that the entire election was actually decided by a typo? [Littman:] Who could feel worse right now than John Podesta. I mean, really? [Vause:] Well, the guy that sent the e-mail. [Littman:] Right. This is just horrible. Yeah, it is possible. Listen the bigger story here is not John Podesta. It is the Russians hacking the e-mails. It is whether Congress is to really going to look into this. It is what what the Russians why did the Russians want Donald to be president? Those are the bigger issues here, not John Podesta. [Phillips:] The only angrier person in the United States than John Podesta, is Hillary Clinton. [Littman:] Right. [Vause:] Right. And on that, thank you. [Littman:] Thank you. [Vause:] Appreciate it. The controversial Philippines president is making headlines for a shocking admission about his time as mayor. What he said. That's next on NEWSROOM L.A. [Blitzer:] We are looking at the video just coming in. Only moments ago, the U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter welcoming his French counterpart, the French defense minister, for an honor accord at the ceremony at the Pentagon. And topping the agenda is the huge development today, Turkey, a NATO ally, shooting down a Russian warplane near the Turkish and Syrian border. They will discuss the joint efforts to fight ISIS in Iraq and Syria as well as the fallout from the attacks in Paris. In light of those attacks in Paris and a series of ISIS videos threatening the United States, security is clearly being ramped up here ahead of the Thanksgiving weekend. Joining me is Democratic Congressman Gregory Meeks, of New York, who is representing part of the city directly cited in some of the ISIS videos. He's a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you, Congressman, for joining us. What is going on in New York City, first of all, because the Paris attacks certainly have focused in on the threat to soft targets in your beautiful city as well? [Rep. Gregory Meeks, , New York:] Well, Wolf, what is going on is what we do every time this time of the year. We have the great New York City Police Department working with Homeland Security and other intelligence agencies to make sure that all New Yorkers and the visitors to New York are safe in this festive holiday of Thanksgiving, and the Thanksgiving Day Parade. I see people though that they are living their lives and people are walking the streets and doing shopping, and all are looking forward to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. So, yes, security is up, and you know one thing that police Commissioner Bratton keeps talking about, "If you see something, say something." That is in place. But we feel confident all will be safe and we will have a great Thanksgiving here in New York City. [Blitzer:] All right. Let's talk about the foreign affairs right now, one of the areas of expertise. In the news conference with the French President Hollande, President Obama said the U.S. now will share more security information with France to stop efforts to stop the flow of foreign fighters. Here is the question, is Turkey, based on everything that you know, doing enough to protect its border with Syria, and prevent ISIS terrorists from coming from Syria back into Turkey, a NATO ally from which they can go into the Europe and maybe even come to the United States? [Meeks:] Clearly, Wolf, we know that more can be done, that the borders between Turkey and Syria have been sparse. That is where some of the fighters have been going across the you know, are from the crossing one border to another. So there is much more that can be done. And Turkey, who has been helpful, and continuing to be helpful as part of the NATO ally, but we have to beef it up, and make sure that wherever is there is a weak link, it is strengthened. That is what the president is talking about along with President Hollande, and we have to make sure that happens, working in a collective way, working in a multilateral way. [Blitzer:] And when you heard that the Turks shot down a Russian airplane along the TurkishSyrian border, what was your reaction? [Meeks:] That there needs to be more communication, and that the Russians need to come on board with the other 65 nations that are part of our coalition. Because if we were all focused on Daesh, this would not happen. We would be sharing the common information necessary, and all be focused on the common enemy. Russia should understand now, because their jet was shot down by ISIL, their plane by ISIL, through a bomb, through terrorist attacks, and that we have to be on the same side and coordinate together. And so I have been told by some of my administrative sources that the Russian plane was in fact over in Turkey territory. So, that has got to be and I'm hopeful that the dialogue and the conversation will make Mr. Putin understand that he should come to be part of the coalition of 65, as opposed to the coalition of two as the president talked about. [Blitzer:] Congressman Meeks, thank you for joining us. I hope it is a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday for you and your family as well. [Meeks:] Thank you, Wolf, same to you. [Blitzer:] Coming up, more on the breaking news, Turkey shooting down of a Russian fighter plane near the Syrian border, saying the plane violated its air space. We'll ask our intelligence panel if this is going to exacerbate tensions with Russia. The security crisis in and around Syria clearly, clearly, a very disturbing development. Much more right after this. [Natalie Allen, Cnn Anchor:] Remnants of a disaster. The first evidence of flight 804 state emerges from the Mediterranean. But the proof of proof of what caused the EgyptAir crash is still missing. A major objective one in the fight against the Taliban, U.S. officials think they've killed the leader of the Afghan terror group. And a tale of two candidates, after Donald Trump cozy up to the National Rifle Association, Hillary Clinton spends the evening with the mothers bereaved by gun violent. It's all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for joining us. We're coming to you live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. An uninflated life vest, a seat, a purse and other personal belongings batted from debris is all searchers have found, so far in the hunt for EgyptAir Flight 804 along with some human at remains. They are still looking for the flight data and cockpit voice recorders which will likely answer many questions. French aviation officials say the plain sent automated messages indicating smoke near the cockpit confirming the data obtained from CNN scene and these screen shots. The jet was over the Mediterranean heading from Paris to Cairo when it dropped off radar early Thursday morning. CNN's Ian Lee is in Cairo with more on the investigation. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] What investigators are looking at right now is the information that came from the airplane minutes before it crashed. As sensors were detecting smoke in the avionics and lavatory. Could it mean a fire? Possibly. Could it mean something else? They don't know at this moment. To really get a full picture of what happened, investigators tell us they still need to find the fuselage and the data recorders. Those are still in the Mediterranean. They have not been able to locate them at this moment. But we are seeing parts of the plane being recovered or has been pieces of carpet, a blanket, a pillow. And remember, this was a red- eye flight. So these items could have possibly been in use when the crash happened. There was also a life jacket as well as a purse. But these are small pieces of a bigger puzzle of what actually happened. The rescue crews are also saying they found body parts. And for families here in Cairo that is crucial. They want to have their loved ones recovered as so that they can give them a proper burial but Egyptian officials are saying that, that still could take weeks. As they need to do DNA testing to make sure the remains get to the right family. So the big theories, right now, two of them, it could it be terrorism or could it be mechanical. Investigators still don't know. The Egyptian officials has that they're leaning more toward terrorism but they haven't ruled out anything yet. This investigation still very much under way and ongoing. Ian Lee, in Cairo. [Allen:] Many aviation experts are saying that the flight may have been tampered with prior to take off. But that hasn't led to any clear idea of who might have done it if that is the case at all. Our Tom Foreman shows how long the list of possible suspects could be. [Tom Foreman, Our Tom Foreman Show's:] At the time this plane went down, there should have been two people in the cockpit, five crew members in the cabin, three security people here marked in red and 56 passengers. They all have to be looked at by investigators. But let's sweep this plane back to gate of Charles de Gaulle before it took of and look at this area right around who had access to this. First of all, there were people on the ground who were doing basic maintenance and care of the ground, maintenance crews that to check the wheels, hook up fuel lines, things like that. There are luggage handlers who had to put bags on and off. There were cleaners who have had come on tidy up a little bit. There can be caterers who have to put food and beverage on board. And there were gate agents ready to check tickets and where people are seated. All in all, easily, 35 people who had access to the plane, direct access on the ground. If you expand it just a little bit, let's say we include the plane next to it or the plane over here, those areas where you have people could walk over in just 100 steps or maybe even less, this number jumps up you can easily triple it to more than 100 people. And if you go to the whole airport, and everybody who has some sort of security badge here that gets them into a secure place then it goes wild. This number jumps to 86,000 people who have some sort of access at that airport. So we started wondering, what about here in the United States? How many people have a badge that lets them go into some sort of secure zone in one of our airports somewhere coast-to- coast? Turns out last year, homeland security gave us a number. 3.7 million people. That's a lot to keep track of. [Allen:] Tom Foreman reporting for us there from Washington. Alan Diehl joins me now from Albuquerque, New Mexico. He's a former accident investigator with the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board. He's also the author of "Air Safety Investigators: Using Science to Save Lives-One Crash at a Time". Alan thanks for being with us. I want to as you first as you know as teams continue to search for the fuselage and the recorders. We only have this ACAR's data not for each authorities said backed up showing a cockpit window was open for some reason that's then smoke alerts from a front lavatory in the avionics bay, and then within the two to three minutes timeframe, two alerts having to do with flight control computer systems. Are these computer systems in the avionics area and how important is that area to control this type of airplane? [Alan Diehl, Former U.s. National Transportation Safety Board:] It is absolutely important. It is the brains of the aircraft dock. The airbus was the first fully automated aircraft to fly year A3 fly I should say in the '88. And that is where every that's the central nervous system, if you will, of the aircraft. So, if things start going wrong in there, if there's heat, fire, et cetera, you got real problems and you could've literally lose control of the airplane because the aircraft is also a fly-by-wire aircraft. The electronic signals from the side stick controllers run through that section, that bay, that avionics bay. And I also know that the wall between the cockpit and the lavatory, the forward lavatory, is it's not armored like the door. It's fairly flimsy. And so smoke could also drift from the avionics bay into the cockpit and then into that lavatory. So, everything is still on the table. We don't know why that smoke was detected in that avionics bay or lavatory. Could have been sabotaged, could be a mechanical failure or so. Everything is very much on the table, at this point. [Allen:] Well what is protocol or the methods for a pilot and co-pilot when they detect smoke? What would they begin to do? [Diehl:] First thing is you get your smoke mask on. There's one stow at beside your cockpit. Now these are not the kind of masks at the passengers in the back, the yellow things that come down from the ceiling. These are more like the firefighter mask. They cover your face. And when you hit the button it literally inflates the back tubes inflate and hold the goggles, which are integrated into the mask tight to your face. So that's the first thing. The next thing is you start doing what they what we call troubleshooting. They have to figure out what's this what's causing this problem. And there are very complex and lengthy checklists. Now these come up on computerized screens. But you're supposed to work as a team to troublesho to works through the checklist. So, a lot of things need to happen in a sequence. The problem is, if you have smoke in the cockpit, we've seen this before, even with the goggles, Natalie, it can cover up the instruments. You literally can't see the instruments that you're using to fly by. So, things can go very bad very quickly if you have a failure like this. [Allen:] Is there a microphone in these masks for the pilots to still communicate with each other? [Diehl:] Yes Natalie, they use an earphone each mask. Once you put it on, the masks are if the mask microphones are hot. So they can talk to each other, of course. And they can select whether they want 100 percent oxygen or just normal oxygen, depending on how much smoke there is in the cockpit. But we've seen before, there was a Swissair McDonnell Douglas jumbo jet that had a cockpit fire and they were complaining when they found the voice recorders, you could hear the pilots the co-pilot who is flying saying, "I can't see the instruments." He also lost his transponder and a lot of the automation. Remember, this aircraft or highly automated. And you're it's important that you be able to see these instruments, especially at altitudes like 37,000 feet. You don't want to make too many dramatic moves too suddenly that you could've you can literally stall the aircraft and have a what they called depart-controlled flight, and then you are in deep trouble. So, this is going to be a lengthy process and not until they find those black boxes, the data recorder and the cockpit voice recorder. We probably really understand this and, as others have said, we need also need to find the wreckage of the E.E. bay or they call it the Electronics Equipment Bag. But that's going to be critical. So then the nose of the aircraft is critical, but the tail where the black boxes are located are also critical. Now the tail with the black boxes has the underwater locator pingers. So, those are good for 30 days. I just hope the Egyptians are getting the support they need. This didn't in Malaysia 370 and we the batteries died and so the batteries expired before we found the airplane. But we still haven't found that airplane. [Allen:] All right. So, that of course, they want those and list here the pinging hopefully of the Mediterranean Sea is pretty deep, but what will be key to learn? What will you'll be hearing for when they do and if they do recover the recorders of what would you be wanting to know about the data? [Diehl:] Well, there are different types of recorders. Obviously one is they call it a voice recorder, but it's really a noise recorder. And I can remember, a South African 747 that went down in the western Indian Ocean, they never find the data recorder. But on the so-called voice recorder, they could hear circuit breakers popping in the cockpit. So, both recorders are very critical. In my book, I talked about the flight data recorder with its hundreds of channels tells you what happened, but you have to kind of listen to the voice recorder to deal with the response of the pilot. So, both are critical. But Natalie, there's one other thing that I haven't heard anybody talk about on television, and that is the oxygen- the solid state oxygen generator that's located in that forward lavatory. In 2011, the FAA ordered all U.S. aircraft to remove those oxygen generators for fear that a terrorist could those as weapon. These burn very hot and could be dangerous in the hands of the wrong person. They are literally located I believe in the ceiling of the lavatory of that airbus. And I don't know if the European authorities, some of them did this. But I don't know if the Egyptians removed those portable or not portable but they fixed oxygen generators from the lavatories. If they haven't done that, I'd sure like the Egyptian officials to acknowledge that. [Allen:] All right. Well, we'll look into that. And thank you for sharing that information with us and thanks for helping us understand what's next with this search and we hope they find these data recorders. Alan Diehl. Thank you, Alan. [Diehl:] Thank you. [Allen:] U.S. officials think an air strike has killed the leader of the Afghan Taliban. Mullah Akhtar Mansour was traveling in a vehicle near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. A U.S. official says the strike probably also killed the second man in the vehicle but it may be days before the deaths are confirmed. The strike was authorized by President Obama. So, what impact with Mansour's death have on the larger fight against the Taliban? Chief U.S. security correspondent Jim Sciutto got some insight from former CIA counter terrorism analyst, Buck Sexton. [Buck Sexton, Cnn Security Correspondent:] This may keep them off balance for a short while. And it's also it should be noted that we're entering the fighting season, we are in the fighting season in Afghanistan and so anything that disrupts their operational tempo is going to be very helpful for the purpose of stability and will help the afghan national security forces perhaps get a stronger footing in some areas. All that said, there's certainly succession plan in placed. We've seen leadership before killed or just die of natural causes that are at up the heads of insurgencies or terrorist groups like the Taliban without really much of a long term change. In fact, sometimes things get worse afterwards. So, right now I think there will be a bit of a pause or they're will a pause in some operations perhaps because of the strike. You can also expect senior leadership to probably keep their heads down a little bit more in the Af-Pak border area, but we still have a very long protracted insurgency, a counterinsurgency campaign to wage. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Anchor:] So place this in the political debate for us, does this fight the narrative that the U.S. war on terror is failing? We know that there is a recent CNN poll that shows that most Americans feel the fight against ISIS, for instance, is not working. Does a strike like this on the heels of other successful strikes against terror leaders in Iraq and Syria, Yemen, you name it, does it change that narrative? [Sexton:] I don't think it will really affect perception, Jim, because not that many people, quite honestly know Mullah Mansour is or was, depending on whether he was actually killed in this strike. Isn't somebody who is thought of, for example, having direct ties to 911. Mullah Omar, for example, is someone who is generally better known, obviously, Osama Bin Laden. I mean some of the names that have become more prominent in terrorist lexicon that have taken out in the past, quite affect perception but Mullah Mansour will be replaced with Mullah such and such in a very short period of time. And so I don't think it will really make much of a difference to how the public views this. I think what does matter is that we still have close to 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We've been that war for 15 years and there's no change in strategy. There's no reason to believe we're doing anything differently that would put the Taliban back on their heels. We're still hoping for political reconciliation. We've been hoping for that for a long time. The Taliban is resurgent this year. The Taliban has actually been taking back territory, so it's really, piece by piece in a very large war, and this is a good day for U.S. special operations, a good day in the counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban but not a sea change. [Allen:] Buck Sexton, former CIA analyst. We turn now to the presidential race. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are blasting each other on guns. Like Clinton calls Trump's ideas dangerous. Hear that with given a moment plush a tropical cyclone slams the coast of Bangladesh. The death and destruction left in its wake. We'll hear about that from Derek Van Dam. [Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] That is entirely unused beach. We don't really get people. We don't get buildings until right about there on the south end of New Smyrna, as you get down toward Cape Canaveral. So, right now, the worst wind is where nobody is. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Chad, what are were looking at in terms the concern of duration? Like where we are here in Jacksonville now that the advisory shifted and I'm with your man, Van Dillon here from HLN who is showing me all the special meteorological data you get in. With that shift in the advisory, so it's not going to be real full impact here in Jacksonville until like late afternoon, early evening. But all this tenderizing that's going on of these bands before it, how does that increase vulnerability? [Myers:] Well, it certainly does, because the more you rip a building apart, the longer duration the wind happens, the more damage occurs because of that one shingle that's gone, now two are gone. One board, that one fascia board falls off and now the winds under your house and in the attic. So, the longer the wind goes, the more damage, unlike a tornado that takes it and blows it all away at the same time. Here is your duration problem, and I know you probably don't have a return model, but there is the bottom of the eye six hours ago. It's only moved this much. It's moved less than 60 miles in six hours. If you're talking about another 120 miles to Jacksonville, my 11-year-old can do that math, that is another 12 hours before the eye gets to you. That's how long you'll be in it to win it. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] OK, Chad. Thank you very much. [Cuomo:] Appreciate it. [Camerota:] Chris, you stay put, hunker down. We'll be back with you momentarily. We do want to bring in Mayor William Capote. He is of Palm Bay, which, of course, is south of Canaveral. That's where you have been watching Jennifer Gray's live shots from. Mayor, where are you hunkered down? [Mayor William Capote, Palm Bay, Fl:] I'm hunkered down with my family at my home right now. Everybody, our chief of the fire department is at the EOC. They lost power there and that's the southeast section of Palm Bay, but they're running on generators. They have radio, 800 radio power for cell phone and communication but we're hunkering, hunkering down. [Camerota:] Yes. [Capote:] I'm listening to the winds. As you're stating, I can tell because I've been up the whole time. I've been listening to winds picked up just like on clockwork at 2:00 in the morning, it got really intense and right now, as you're mentioning about Cape Canaveral. Those wind hitting them, now it is coming to the northwest. I live on the northwest side of the city and I can hear it in the back of my house. And I can hear the wind pounding and pounding away. But I'm in communication with my staff and they're letting me know what's going on. And we're ready to move any time for any emergency that's needed. [Camerota:] When you say I mean for any emergency. Are you going to be sending out emergency responders or are they also hunkered down? [Capote:] No, right now. We're going to let it settle in first. We'll let it settle in first. For those people that decided to stay and they need extra help in regards to oxygen and things like that, at this time, we're not able to send the responders. We're going to have to wait until we could. [Camerota:] Right. [Capote:] But the winds have intensified. [Camerota:] And, Mayor, when you say you're hunkered down with your family. Do you have children? [Capote:] I have my son. He's older now, but we're here together as a family. My other son had got 24 hours, he has two-day duty because he works for a satellite company in Melbourne and they needed to keep your feed going because the feed that they do is for CNN and all the other stations. [Camerota:] Oh, my gosh. Well, thank your son for us that he was called into duty so we could be broadcasting out to the country and to the world, quite frankly, that's watching what's happening to you there. Wow, lots on his shoulders. So, when you say that the wind was intensifying at your house, can you describe it to us? What has it been like? [Capote:] As a matter o fact, let me walk and if I lose signal, let me kind of give you I'm going to the back, so you can hear. [Camerota:] Try to describe what you're seeing for us, as well. [Capote:] OK. I boarded up the back of my and you can hear the pounding. I can hear the pounding in the back from the wind hitting it. [Camerota:] From the boards over your windows, you're saying. [Capote:] Can you hear it? [Camerota:] Well, not as well as you can, but I take your word for it. [Capote:] But it's intense. You can hear the wind pushing, pushing on the plywood. [Camerota:] Yes. Are you how are you you boarded up your windows, obviously. [Capote:] Correct. [Camerota:] What else do you do to take cover? [Capote:] I've been through this before in 2004. I felt like an experienced soldier, and I still have power, electrical power. The northwest side of Palm Bay has power. We still have electrical power. It seems that southeast lost power. And I'm still getting reports in on what's going on with the other sector. [Camerota:] That's good. Well, Mayor, we know you have your work cut out for you once you do make it through the worst of the storm that is hitting you right now. Then, obviously, you'll have days and days of cleanup there. So, thank you for taking the time. Hope your family stays safe. Send our regards to your son there who is helping out. Thanks so much for being with us on [New Day. Capote:] OK. Thank you. [Camerota:] We'll take a very quick break here and then we will get more updates from Chad Myers and check back in with Chris who is in Jacksonville. NEW DAY will be right back. [Cuomo:] All right. You're watching NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo in Jacksonville, Florida. The advisory of Hurricane Matthew has been shifted. This is the area that is supposed to get the most concentrated impact, but that's not for many hours from now. Yet, phones were just going off with emergency alerts. Local authorities saying a hurricane is coming. Please take shelter. Hurricane Matthew is making its presence felt along the east coast of Central Florida. We have winds measured in excess of 100 miles an hour. The eye of the storm, the western edge, several miles off the coast of Florida and holding, moving very slowly, literally, less than ten miles an hour as it moves up north and northwest along the eastern coast of Florida. The latest advisory: over 320,000 people without power. And as we go to Jennifer Gray, meteorologist who is in central Florida, Palm Bay, which is getting hit harder, that power will be out for a while, Jennifer, because emergency services cannot get out in these conditions. [Jennifer Gray, Ams Meteorologist:] Oh, absolutely not. We have gusts of 80 miles an hour here and there's no way they can get to you. So important for people to get out. Take this as a warning, if you live up the coast, we're seeing 100- mile-per-hour winds on Cape Canaveral. If that continues to head to the north, you're not going to be able to stay in your home, especially if it's a mobile home or structure that's not very sturdy. Get to one of those shelters while you can if you are north of the storm. But a lot of the shelters in Brevard County where we are, are filled, which is good news. It shows some people heeded those warnings, Chris. But, yes, the winds have been incredibly gusty. What's eerie about it almost is that right now absolutely nothing. Not even a breeze and then all of a sudden it will come out of nowhere and almost knock you off of your feet. And so, that's the nature of these hurricanes. They're ferocious and this one is continuing to push up the coast. We're going to be in this for another couple of hours. Very intense wind and then it should start to slack of by later on in the morning, which is good news. And then you can get out and the emergency crews will be able to get out and kind of assess the damage. But that eyewall is just to our north and east. We feel the winds are starting to shift a little bit. So, honestly, I'm little curious how much longer our satellite will be able to stay up when we're no longer protected by this hotel. But we had to move quite a bit inland from yesterday because the surge was making us very nervous. The storm surge seven to 11 feet possible, especially areas to our north that includes where you are, Chris, a little bit later today. I think the storm surge is going to be a huge concern as we go forward with this storm and that goes without saying, of course, the wind, but as well as the rain. Like we've been saying, a lot of times it was the water. The water that takes lives in these storms necessarily the very strong winds, Chris. [Cuomo:] You know, Jennifer, it's just the question of time and how it changes in this situation. Yesterday my biggest concern about the St. John River was the mullet run and now today it's almost at its cresting point right now. We still have four feet of tide to go before noon and maybe six or ten feet of surge. So, we're going to have to keep an eye on the situation here in Jacksonville and also where you are. I'll check back in a little bit, my friend. Right now, let's go to Boris Sanchez. He's in Daytona Beach. They've been getting much harder there. We see the power go out, strikes of lightning, an x-factor that can cause all kinds of unexpected damage. Boris has had to move his shot several times. Hopefully, he's in stable position now. What are you seeing, Boris? [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Chris, right now we're in a lull. The winds have slowed down since the last time we've got a chance to talk to you. But it's still very, very nasty out. We've seen several power flashes, as you mentioned. The lights have been on but flickering on and off just down the street, when I got a chance to look down there a few moments ago. You can see the palm trees swinging in the wind. They were bending pretty far at one point. There's a ton of debris all over the street. And one of the most interesting things about hurricane is the crazy sounds that you hear. We've heard banging all over the place and really difficult to make out what it is, because you don't want to risk yourself by going out and seeing what is on the street. As I mention, a ton of trash and debris out there and surprising that people have decided to stay here and hunker down considering that storm surge we have been talking about higher than six to seven feet. We're right here on the beach at Daytona Beach. There is a boardwalk just down the street from us. I was talking with the gentleman last night who told me the last night who told me the last time they had a direct hit from a hurricane here many years ago, that boardwalk was totally inundated. He's expecting the same thing to happen during this hurricane. We've already seen the water creep up to the edge of our hotel and this is just the beginning of this storm. The surge, as I said, six to seven feet here. Wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour have already hit this area and the hurricane is still a couple hundred miles south of us. So, as it creeps closer, we're going to see these conditions worsen. But as I said right now, it looks like things are calming down. One last thing, Chris I just saw a guy walking down the street. A terrible, terrible idea. If you decided to ignore the mandatory evacuation order, at least stay inside your home because rescue officials will not be able to help you as this continues to get worse. [Cuomo:] You know, Boris, you're making the right call. We're not in the business to tell people what to do ordinarily, but this is an extraordinary circumstance. The authorities have made it clear. Being out there is just reckless. It's just reckless. Please, keep the word out. When you see people, say something and trying discourage others from doing the same. We'll check back with you in a little bit. Right now, let's get to Dr. Bob Sheets. Now, he was in charge of the National Hurricane Center when we were dealing with Andrew back in 1992, I believe it was '92. You know, Dr. Bob Sheets, Andrew was a word we kept hearing in the last few days about a potential analogy to what Matthew could be. Can you explain that to us and in terms of any of that expectation coming to fruition yet? [Dr. Robert Sheets, Hurricane Expert:] Well, they were totally two different storms. In this hurricane, it's a very large hurricane. It's not nearly as powerful as Hurricane Andrew was, because there the winds were 175 miles per hour. You would not see those lights on that you're seeing in your live shots and the destruction was tremendous from the wind. In this storm, it's going to be primarily the destruction from the storm surge. In the area south of the keep, the water is close to shore. And so, you have a lot of wave action down there. From here on north right on up through the Charleston, South Carolina, area. The water is relatively shallow in near the shore. That means as the wind is pushing the water towards the shore, it cannot sink and recirculate but piled up. So, the major damage here is going to be from the storm surge itself. [Cuomo:] I saw reports that there was actually a wave recorded at over 17 feet, about 20 miles off shore. Now, that's just a dramatic aspect of this. But, you're right, it's the volume of water. The surge, especially in more shallow areas that creates the catastrophe. In terms of what we're seeing so far as it moves up the coast, is this storm doing what you expected it to do? [Sheets:] I think the forecasts have been very good in terms of there guidance from the models that have been developed and improved over the years. So, the forecast is very good from a point of view of the National Hurricane Center, it's the most difficult project because of the fact that just a wobble to the left makes a huge difference as compared to the wobble to the right. The fact that it's staying along the coastline on an usual track because with we had Hurricane Floyd in '99 that was stronger and it stayed a little farther off shore and then went directly in to the coast up in the Carolinas. But this one here is going to loop and that's a very difficult forecast jump. [Cuomo:] In terms of experience, we're talking about Andrew that was back in '92. One of the concerns for authorities has been that the eastern coast has not had the recent life experience of living hurricane and understanding what the risk is and what the resilience is that is need. Is that a concern? [Sheets:] That's always a concern about people's life experiences. The people that were in Mississippi and Katrina, you're never going to have to worry about them responding to a hurricane, again. The people that were in South Dade County and Hurricane Andrew, you're not going to have to worry about them, and the people up in the Charleston area that were there in Hurricane Hogan in '89, you're not going to need about them responding to the hurricane. But the ones that get the fringe area of the hurricane for instance, this hurricane, people all along the coast so far, they have not experienced the eyewall of the hurricane. So, it would be a false experience for them if you had a hurricane come directly into the shore. [Cuomo:] We want people to remember that because we have a lot of hours left of exposure to Matthew. I want to bring in Chad Myers, Dr. Bob. He has a question for you. Chad, go ahead. [Myers:] Hey, Doctor, I want to talk to you about the storm surge in the St. John's River and also up towards St. Simon's island. There are a few cuts in the sandbars here all the way from Daytona, all the way to Jacksonville. The next true opening for the water to pour in will be the St. John's River and then on up towards the Tybee Island. What will that storm surge potential be here? [Sheets:] It's going to be very large you don't have the water flowing out of the rivers into the ocean. The wind is going to push it up the river and in those inlets is going to push it up there and the fact that this is such a large storm with the long duration of time pushing that water ashore means that it will pile up. And I think that I've seen the hurricane center storm surge model indicate somewhere around 10 to 11 feet of the surge. Now, again, you're going to have waves on top of that. So, it's not just the surge itself, but the waves on top of that and then the inland factor by driving it up the St. John's River and some of those. [Myers:] Chris? [Cuomo:] Well, those are good points, but tough to hear Dr. Bob Sheets. Thank you very much for being with us. Chad, thanks for keeping us aware of the status because that's what we're aware of right now. What is behind us the St. John's River and the growing concern is, it is right up at the bank right now. Four more feet of tide to come before high tide at about noon local time and the surge that is expected and the wind that's coming with it. I don't think we're going to be able to stay here and I think this whole area is going to be pretty significantly under water. So, Dr. Bob Sheets, thank you very much. We'll check back with you if we need you. Chad, you know you'll be with you. Alisyn, back to you in New York. [Camerota:] OK, Chris. Last we heard, 300,000 people there in south Florida were without power. But we don't know the latest numbers. So, we want to bring in Rob Gould. He is with Florida Power and Light. That is Florida's largest power company. Mr. Gould, what are the latest numbers of how many people have lost electricity? [Rob Gould, Chief Communications Officer, Florida Power & Light:] Yes, Alisyn. We think at this point we're making a lot of progress. We have about 550,000 customers impacted thus far. We restore about 150,000 customers and I think that indicates how much effort we have already been putting into this storm. We have been out in this storm restoring power. As soon as the storm clears, of course, we'll be hitting it in earnest. We've got a small army of about 15,000 folks, 12,000 of which are field workers. And the key in any restoration like this is to have your field workers ready. Have them prepositioned and in place and we have been monitoring the storm for the better part of a week. We had our command center open and, again, had our people in place so we can get about the restoration as quickly as we can once the storm passes. [Camerota:] Gosh, Rob, what a herculean effort for those 12,000 people that you have in place. Are they out in the elements right now trying to work on power? [Gould:] We are actually. I think what's important to understand. We invested $2 billion in our system since the past decade. Since the last time we saw a major strike here in Florida. And those, those investments are yielding benefits. I heard Boris talking before about the fact that he was seeing some flickers and things of that nature. That may be a good thing. We have installed devices, for example, on poles that, actually, instead of having a truck to have to roll to change a fuse, it actually automatically opens and closes and opens and closes and tries to clear the circuit so that the power stays on. And I think that as we continue to see the storm move up the coast, we're making progress. We still have upwards of a million of our customers still in harm's way. So, we're not out of this by a long stretch. [Camerota:] And, Rob, just very quickly. When day breaks there and people and the wind passes or the rain passes and people want to come out and check out their neighborhood, I know that you have a big warning for them because just because they don't have power doesn't mean that the lines aren't still hot. What do you want people to know? [Gould:] Bottom line is, if you see a line down, do not go near it. It could be energized. If you see flooded waters, stay away from it. There could be a power line down. Again, we've invested $2 billion since the past decade, but this is a force of Mother Nature that candidly we have not seen in a very, very long time. And Mother Nature has not done a clearing effort, either, in that time. So, we're seeing a lot of flying debris. A lot of trees down, things of that nature. So, there's no way to hurricane proof a system. We think we have a very strong and resilient system. But we're talking about a category four storm, category three now. [Camerota:] Yes. [Gould:] And we have a long way to go and safety is the most important part. [Camerota:] Rob Gould from Florida Power & Light thanks so much for joining us. We'll have much more of the track of Hurricane Matthew when NEW DAY continues. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Cuomo:] All right. To our viewers in the U.S. and around the world, you're watching NEW DAY. I'm Chris Cuomo in Jacksonville, Florida. The latest advisory has this area getting the most concentrated hit from Hurricane Matthew but not for many hours for right now. Right now, it is battering the eastern coast of central Florida. Alisyn Camerota is live up in New York to keep the ship steady. The shots are going down as the bands of feeder system are coming through. You lose your shot, and we've got to have somebody else here and we have that for you this morning. Here's our latest information. The hurricane is still maintaining category three force. That means there's sustained winds of 120 miles an hour at its core. Here on shore, we've been feeling gusts of up to 110 miles an hour so far. But in areas of central Florida, Daytona Beach, Palm Bay, they have been getting battered steadily. Over 300,000 are without power and it's going to stay that way or get worse because emergency services cannot get out. In the conditions and the areas where power is out. So, let's get to Jennifer Gray right now. [Quest:] Market volatility is nearly over, so says the governor of China's central bank. You may well ask excuse me how does he know that? Well, it does not appear to be backed by several new economic indicators. Look at the red arrows down. First of all, we've got falling growth. Last year's GDP has been revised from 7.4 to 7.3 percent. Not a big change, but any sign of a slowdown sets off alarm bells, and there will be questions, of course, whether you actually believe the 7.3 is a valid number. So, you've got falling growth and you've got falling reserves. The foreign currency coffers are emptying at a record pace. Hardly surprising, and the reserves have dropped by nearly $94 billion in August. That's when they were intervening to prop up the currency. There's also been the expenditure in the markets, and you've got a total issue of what they've been doing with they've actually been selling, the Chinese have been selling US Treasury debt out of their stocks. And finally, falling markets, which of course, you'll be aware, the Shanghai Composite closed down some 2.5 percent on Monday. If you look at the market let's just look at a six- month market, and you can see. It's basically lost some 40 percent of its value since June, and even if we take a one-year limit now, you start all right, over the 12-month, not year-to-date, over a 12-month limit, you're still up maybe marginally just about. But it's a close-run thing. But that is not a pretty sight. Stephanie Flanders joins us now from London, who is the global market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management. Good evening to you. Good to see you, as always. [Stephanie Flanders, Global Market Strategist, Jpmorgan Asset Management:] Evening, Richard. [Quest:] All right. So, do you believe the governor when he says the market volatility is over? [Flanders:] You know, I'll believe that they're a bit more serious about letting market forces operate in things like the stock market when they stop talking about when it's going to go up and when it's going to go down and when it's going to be stable. That's one of the lessons, Richard, that you get from being a finance minister or quite quickly from being a central bank governor. You don't want to tie yourself to promises about what direction the market's going to go if you are actually serious about a market economy. I think that obviously, what people have been looking for in the China situation is not so much what happens to that stock market, which actually affects quite a small bit of the economy, and it's always been very speculative. But what we're seeing going on in the global in the real economy, which you were just talking about. And also, what we're seeing in terms of how policymakers are responding to the difficult challenges they face. Because we've always thought they were quite good at dealing with these things, and they haven't really been looking so great over the last few weeks. [Quest:] And yet, the sort of dislocation collywobbles, whatever you want to call it, that we're seeing in the global economy at the moment. Is it your view that it's justified on the back of what we're seeing in China? [Flanders:] I think you can't draw a direct line from any realistically from what's going on in China any likely economic effect that that would have for the rest of the world to any sort of dire predictions about the global recovery. I don't think we're in a situation where even quite challenging times for China and I suspect it could get more challenging I don't think that's enough to send us into a global recession. But I think it does tell us that the developed world, for the moment, is kind of on its own. It's not going to get any extra support from the growth coming from emerging markets. And in fact, it's probably going to find there's a bit of a headwind from that, but actually the whole emerging market world in large part, thanks to the weakness in China, is going to be weaker even weaker than we thought. [Quest:] And factoring in that, the question of the moment because there is only one September. Are you a September or a December woman? [Flanders:] You know, I'm one of those people who thinks they haven't made up their mind yet, for one thing when you think about the US central bank. But you know what? You can never underestimate the parochialism, if you like, of the US central bank. They're always very clear their job is to think about the US. And I actually think it's better for the rest of the world I they just focus on the US, because it's hard enough to get that right. If they start to make different calculations about what impact it might have on this or that. Of course they have to think about indirect effects, if they had if there were big issues in the emerging market world, what effect would that have in the US? But their focus is on the US. And you know what? The US doesn't really look like an economy that needs rock-bottom interest rates at the moment. You might not think it's a great time to raise rates, but it doesn't really feel like a time where it needs that kind of emergency support. [Quest:] And finally, when we factor it all in, what will it take this is the billion-dollar question what will it take to soothe the nerves of the market? We don't believe the 7.3 percent China number. There are worries about September. Emerging markets we haven't quite factored in just the long medium-term effect on this. So, what's the soothing balm for this volatility, if there is one? [Flanders:] I think if you continue to get pretty decent growth news out of the US and Europe, which is what you're seeing. In fact, some very good figures out of the UK and elsewhere. And if you get some reassurance that there is a bottom to some of this bad news coming out of emerging markets. I think the real risk, as always, is not the direct economic impact, it's the indirect impact and the psychological impact of just not knowing how bad this could get. We'd like to see that we're reaching some kind of turning point there. I'm not sure we're quite there. [Quest:] Stephanie, lovely to see you. Thank you so much. Stephanie Flanders joining us from London. [Flanders:] Thanks. [Quest:] The situation on the Hungarian-Serbian border is intensifying. Now the Hungarian police are resorting to pepper spray on increasingly desperate migrants. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Political controversy swirls around Donald Trump this morning. A heated debate with a Muslim- American family who lost their son in Iraq. New criticism from the left, the right and the soldier's father himself. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm John Berman. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Christine Romans. It is Monday, the 1st day of August. 99 days to go until the the presidential election, folks. It is exactly 4:00 a.m. in the East. An unprecedented beginning to the general election campaign with Donald Trump facing an unprecedented controversy locked in a face-off with the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed fighting for the country overseas. Khizr Khan and his wife caused one of the most dramatic moments, if you'll recall, at the Democratic convention last week challenging Donald Trump's American values. And Trump's response this weekend shocked many even within his own party and overnight his own running mate stepped in to try to calm the storm. CNN's Kristen Holmes has more from Washington. [Kristen Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, Donald Trump is taking heat from all sides after lashing out at the parents of fallen American soldier. Gold Star father Khizr Khan, who while honoring his son on stage at the Democratic National Convention, said Trump has sacrificed nothing. Over the weekend, Trump responded. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] I've made a lot of sacrifices. I work very, very hard. I've created thousands and thousands of jobs, tens of thousands of jobs. When I can employ thousands and thousands of people, take care of their education, take care of so many things [Holmes:] Khan hit back during an interview on CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION" telling Jim Acosta he hoped Trump's family would teach him some empathy. Here is more of what he had to say. [Khizr Khan, Father Of Deceased Muslim U.s. Soldier:] This person is totally incapable of empathy. I want his family to counsel him, teach him some empathy. He will be a better person if he could become, but he is a black soul, and this is totally unfit for the leadership of this beautiful country. [Holmes:] Trump also suggested that Khan's wife, Ghazala Khan, who stood next to her husband during the speech but did not take the mic, wasn't allowed to speak. In an emotional Op-Ed published by "The Washington Post" the Gold Star mother fired back saying, "Walking on to the convention stage with a huge picture of my son behind me, I could hardly control myself. What mother could? Donald Trump has children who he loves. Does he really need to wonder why I did not speak?" Now Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, one of many Republicans distancing themselves from Trump's comments, issuing a statement praising Captain Khan, calling him a true American hero, adding that the agreed with the Gold Star family that a travel ban on, quote, "all members of a religion," is simply contrary to American values John and Christine. [Romans:] All right, Kristen, thanks for that. You know, that interview with Jim Acosta and with Mr. Khan was really moving. And he said, he said, look, my wife knew she saw the picture of our son on that stage, she would barely be able to stand up, let alone open her mouth and speak. But he said that she had a hand in what he said and didn't say in the speech, that she helped him review his comments. [Berman:] And in her op-ed, she said her silence speaks to the pain of Gold Star families across the country. I should say that both the Khans, the mother and father, will be on "NEW DAY" later this morning. So we'll hear from both of them. [Romans:] We have heard now from Trump's running mate, Mike Pence, overnight. He issued a statement calling Captain Khan an American hero, adding this, "By suspending immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, rebuilding our military, defeating ISIS at its source, and projecting strength on the global stage, we will reduce the likelihood that other American families will face the enduring heartbreak of the Khan family." [Berman:] Mike Pence has a son who was a Marine like them. New controversy from Donald Trump this morning on another front. This fall's presidential debates. Trump now claims he wants two out of the three debates rescheduled. The complaint is that the debates fall on the same nights as nationally televised NFL games football games. Donald Trump tweeted that Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party are trying to, quote, "rig" the debates by minimizing their audience. The Clinton campaign called Trump's complaints malarkey. In fact, these debates were scheduled without the input of either campaign or either party. In a statement the bipartisan commission that organizes the debates said the Commission on Presidential Debates started working more than 18 months ago to identify religious and federal holidays, baseball league playoff games, NFL games, and other events in order to select the best night for the 2016 debates. It is impossible to avoid all sporting events. And there have been nights on which debates and games occurred in most election cycles. A debate has never been rescheduled as a result. [Romans:] Donald Trump promised Sunday that Vladimir Putin would not invade Ukraine if Trump were in the White House. Then backpedalled when it was pointed out the Russian president already did. Trump told ABC News, quote, "He's not going into Ukraine." But Trump had to reverse course after host George Stephanopoulos noted that Putin annexed Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula two years ago. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] He is not going into Ukraine, OK. Just so you understand. He's not going to into Ukraine. All right. You can mark it down. You can put it down. You can take it anyway you want. [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News:] He is already there, isn't he? [Trump:] Well, he's there in a certain way. But I'm not there yet. You have Obama there. And frankly that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama. [Berman:] Donald Trump campaigns today in Columbus, Ohio, just after Hillary Clinton wraps up her bus tour there. Then this evening Hillary Clinton will be in Nebraska. She will speak about the economy. Hillary Clinton has also been taking on Trump's remarks about the Khan, the Muslim-American parents of the soldier who was killed in Iraq. CNN's Brianna Keilar has more now from Ohio. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Good morning, John and Christine. Hillary Clinton's approach to the Khizr Khan- Donald Trump controversy changing over the weekend. At her first stop in Pennsylvania on Saturday on her bus tour, there was actually a line in the teleprompter about this and she skipped over it. It wasn't until Saturday night at about 11:00 p.m. that she mentioned it publicly and even then it was just a passing reference. Well, fast forward to Sunday. She went to church, she spoke about it. When reporters asked her about it and she was much sharper in condemning his remarks. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] He has, throughout the course of his campaign, consistently insulted and demeaned individuals, groups of Americans, people around the world, and one doesn't know where the bottom is. It's hard to imagine anyone who has ever run to be president of the United States saying any of what he said. And the accumulation of it all is just beyond my comprehension. [Keilar:] Now what could have affected her calculus through the weekend was Saturday night during her remarks, it wasn't until after she gave them, there was a statement put out by the Trump campaign trying to clarify some of his remarks. But the Clinton campaign viewed it as Trump digging more of a hole on this issue. And also Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, condemning Donald Trump's remarks as well. The Clinton campaign actually re-tweeted that as Hillary Clinton tries to hit Donald Trump with some of these white working class voters and pull away some of his support here on this bus tour John and Christine. [Romans:] All right, Brianna. Thank you for that. President Obama claims progress is being made on the most critical issues faces the nation's veterans. He will speak at the 95th National Convention of Disabled American Veterans this afternoon. And despite a significant backlog in patient wait time, the president is expected to point out that homelessness among vets is down 47 percent under his watch. The president had promised to end veteran homelessness by the year 2015. All right. It is Monday morning. Time for an EARLY START on your money. Want to know who's going to win November's election? Hey, watch the stock market. Starting today the direction the S&P 500 moves during August, September and October, has done a great job predicting presidential elections since World War II. If stocks rise 82 percent of the time the party that currently controls the White House wins the election. You got that? If stocks fall, that party loses 86 percent of the time. The basic idea is that if the economy is growing and people think the good times will continue, they'll like the one that stick with the same presidential party. If they're fearful, stocks tend to fall, voters want new leadership. An early indicator shows stocks' slow start with August gains. Look at that. Stock futures higher. Stock market in Europe and Asia are rising. Oil is down. It is the first trading day of the month. And we've had London, Paris, Frankfurt have been open for about an hour. And they're starting the month with gains just like July. July had very good gains for stocks in the [U.s. Berman:] Very nice. All right. Nine minutes after the hour right now. Just incredible flooding. Deadly flooding in parts of Maryland. The destruction left behind. We'll give you the damage assessment and the new forecast for today. That's next. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] need to still meet strict requirements including those related to human rights. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] It's interesting to hear President Obama pay heed to human rights, but he said that human rights was not tied to the lifting of this embargo. He did say that the U.S. would keep pushing for free speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly in a country day where just a day ago the BBC was ordered by the government to stop reporting and where human rights says a Human Rights Watch says that the state of human rights here is dire in all areas Chris. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Michelle Kosinski, thank you very much for the reporting. Appreciate it. President Obama confirming overnight the leader of the Afghan-Taliban is dead. Speaking in Vietnam, the president called the death of Mullah Akhtar Mansour, quote, "An important milestone in our longstanding effort to bring peace and prosperity to Afghanistan." He was killed on the Pakistan side of the border with Afghanistan in a drone strike. CNN has learned the Taliban leadership has already met in Pakistan to choose a successor. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] The Iraqi prime minister saying his country is, quote, "approaching a moment of great victory." In a televised address this morning, Haider al-Abadi says Iraqi security forces are launching an effort to reclaim the city of Falluja from ISIS. The city has been under ISIS control for nearly two and a half years. Leaflets were dropped over the weekend advising residents of Falluja to flee ahead of this military campaign. [Cuomo:] Up next, exclusive unprecedented access inside Syria. The big question is can the U.S. train rebels to successfully take on ISIS? See for yourself. And hear from a top U.S. commander on his secret mission to the region. It's a report you will not see anywhere else. [Costello:] The panic and fear from last week's deadly shooting inside that movie theater in Lafayette, Louisiana, are revealed in newly released evidence. For the first time, chilling surveillance video shows the gunman calmly entering the theater. And moments later 911 calls capture the horrifying aftermath. CNN's Ed Lavandera has more for you this morning. Good morning, Ed. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. All these calls and radio traffic and the surveillance video released by authorities there in Lafayette, and as you mentioned, it captures the horrifying moments when this shooting erupted. [Lavandera:] Chilling new surveillance video shows Louisiana shooter John Russell Houser buying his movie ticket, calmly walking past a concession stand, and right down the hall, straight into Theater 14. Less than 15 minutes into the movie, Houser pulls out a.40 caliber handgun and fires off at least 13 rounds. These are the frantic 911 calls that began pouring in. [Unidentified Female:] There's a shooting Grand 16. [Unidentified Male:] I mean, he shot right at people. [Unidentified Female:] There's two people shot, two people shot. [Lavandera:] Police race to the scene. [Police Officer:] We need everybody over here. Send anybody you got. [Lavandera:] Police say the shooter initially tried to escape by blending into the fleeing crowd. [Police Officer:] Everybody hang on. They say he's inside. He is reloading. He has a weapon. We have an active shooter here. [Lavandera:] The presence of law enforcement caused him to turn the gun on himself, according to officials, but not before killing these two women and injuring nine more. [Police Officer:] Suspect is down! Suspect is down! We have several more victims inside with gunshot wounds. [Lavandera:] Thursday night in Lafayette [Crowd:] Amazing grace. [Lavandera:] hundreds attend a celebration in remembrance of the two victims one week after their tragic deaths. [Unidentified Female:] Just want to say thank you for everyone involved in finding my daughter on that horrible day. [Lavandera:] The community-wide event titled Unite, Honor, Heal. [Unidentified Female:] And God's grace will lead me home [Lavandera:] And, Carol, of course, these new evidence, these recordings, don't really do much to answer the main question that so many people have: Why would that man who has been described as a drifter come from Alabama, pick this theater in that city? That is a question that still remains unanswered, Carol. [Costello:] Ed Lavandera reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, it is Hillary Clinton versus "The New York Times". Her campaign is taking on the paper for what it calls egregious errors. We'll talk about that next. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you for weighing in. We're following a lot of news this morning, including new questions about Donald Trump's foundation. So let's get to it. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] The American people have had it with decades of Clinton corruption and scandal. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] He spends all of his time dumping on America. Everything about America is in bad shape. [Trump:] I'm the one that got him to put up his birth certificates. I'm very proud of that. [Clinton:] I have no idea what he's going to say the next time. You know, I will spend some time preparing for it. [Trump:] We have a president who is a disaster, and he was ultimately impeached, in a sense, for lying. [Clinton:] It will be either him or me. I am going to do everything I can to make sure it's me. [Unidentified Male:] I heard a bomb-like explosion. I hear this really loud bang. The whole platform had been destroyed. The entire roof had collapsed. Went through the bumper block and flew through the air, through the depot. [Unidentified Female:] Her mission is not just to understand what happened, but why it happened. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Unidentified Male:] Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your NEW DAY Donald Trump is up early this morning. He is tweeting attacks about Hillary Clinton, as well as that former Miss Universe, who is supporting Hillary Clinton now. [Cuomo:] Trump has decided to make this election about what he calls Clinton's sordid past, attacking Hillary Clinton's response to her husband's infidelity. What is Clinton doing? She's out on the campaign trail, trying to earn the votes of millennial voters. The stakes rising with just 39 days until election day. Only nine until the next presidential debate. There's already early voting going on. Every angle covered, including CNN's Chris Frates, live from Washington. Good morning, Chris. [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, good morning, Chris. Donald Trump is on a tirade this morning against Hillary Clinton and former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado. He said this. He said that Hillary Clinton was duped by Machado, accusing Clinton of floating her as an angel without checking her past. Now, the Republican candidate also calling Machado disgusting and falsely alleging that she was in a sex tape and that Clinton may have helped her become a citizen. And, Chris, he's also preparing a few other lines of attack, as well. [Trump:] The Clintons are the sordid past. We will be the very bright and clean future. [Frates:] The presidential race is getting personal, Donald Trump hinting that he's considering bringing up Bill Clinton's infidelity the next time he faces off with Hillary Clinton on the debate stage. [Trump:] Well, she was very nasty to me, and I was going to do it, and I saw Chelsea sitting out in the audience and I just didn't want to go there. [Frates:] The thrice-married candidate telling reporters he's not worried about this attack inviting scrutiny of his own marital history, like his well-documented affair with actress Marla Maples while he was married to his first wife. [Trump:] I have a very good history. I guess, I mean, they can do it, but it's a lot different than his. That I can tell you. I mean, we have a situation where we have a president who was a disaster, and he was ultimately impeached over it, in a sense, for lying. So, we'll see whether or not we discuss it. [Frates:] The plan, an attempt to fight back against Trump's own controversial comments about women, detailing talking points obtained by CNN this week, encouraging Trump's surrogates to drop names from Bill Clinton's past, like Monica Lewinsky. [Unidentified Male:] Do you, as someone who presumably wants more women to run for and win office and high office, feel any obligation, if Trump brings up your husband's past, to speak out against a spouse's indiscretions or past being brought into a campaign like this? [Clinton:] No. Look, he can say whatever he wants to say, as we well know. We have seen it in real time over the last many months. And I'm going to keep running my campaign. [Frates:] Trump's also standing by his claim that he did a service to the country by leading the birther movement. [Trump:] I was the one that got him to produce the birth certificate, and I think I did a good job. [Frates:] And going a step further, saying he's proud of his effort, while reiterating a false claim that Clinton questioned the president's citizenship when she ran against him in 2008. [Trump:] I'm the one that got him to put up his birth certificate. Hillary Clinton was unable to get there, and I will tell you she tried; and she was unable to do it. And I tried, and I was able to do it. So I'm very proud of that. [Frates:] All this as Trump's foundation faces renewed scrutiny this morning, saying the New York state attorney general's office, "The Washington Post" reporting that the charity never obtained a certification that New York requires before charities can solicit money from the public. The Trump campaign has not responded to the paper's request for comment. Now, CNN has also reached out to the Trump campaign and has not yet gotten a response. And also this morning, "USA Today" has an editorial out calling Trump unfit for the presidency. It's the first time in the paper's 34-year history it's taken sides in a presidential race. But the paper noted it was not endorsing Clinton. And yesterday the paper ran an op-ed by Mike Pence, where the veep candidate made the case for his running mate. So lots of news out there on the campaign trail today, Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Chris. Appreciate it. Hillary Clinton is swinging through another key battleground today while opening a new line of attack against Donald Trump. The campaign also busy courting millennials. They're trying to keep them away from third-party candidates. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux live in Washington with details Suzanne. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. Well, Donald Trump continues to try to bait Hillary Clinton with threats of bringing up her husband's past infidelities. Clinton is on the road, and she is mocking Trump for his debate performance, using his own words about being smart for not paying income taxes. Clinton's going after Trump's tax plan, his character, his business practices. And she's in Florida today for two campaign stops as she pushes to court the millennials. Now, polls are now showing that they are being drawn to the third-party candidates, particularly Gary Johnson. The threat now is that Johnson could become a spoiler, and Clinton was faced with that question in her press gaggle aboard the plane. Take a listen. [Clinton:] I think either Donald Trump or I will be the president of the United States. And, so, people have to look carefully in making their decision about who to vote for, because it will be either him or me and I am going to do everything I can to make sure it's me. [Malveaux:] This morning two new polls are out, giving us the first glimpse of Clinton's post-debate bounce. It shows that Clinton now with a seven-point lead over Trump in both the key battleground states of New Hampshire and Michigan. What is particularly revealing is the 21-point lead that she has among women in Michigan. Desperately trying to cut into that. It should come as no surprise that is where Trump is campaigning today Alisyn. [Camerota:] Suzanne, thanks so much for all of that reporting. We want to bring in now CNN political commentator, Hillary Clinton supporter and vice chair of the New York state Democratic committee, Christine Quinn; and CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany. Ladies, thanks so much for being here. Donald Trump got up early. I don't even know if he slept, because throughout the night he has been tweeting, just sending out a flurry of tweets, mostly about the Miss former Miss Universe, Alicia Machado, stuff. I won't I'll just paraphrase one. This was sent at 5:14 in the morning. "Wow, Hillary was duped. Used by my worst Miss Universe. Hillary floated her as an angel without checking her past, which is terrible." Kayleigh, I'll start with you. You, as well as other advisors and surrogates we've had on the show, have advised Mr. Trump to move away from this. Let's get back to the issues. Why is he sticking with this? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] You know, I do think that's important. When you're on the defense to move to the offense. It's important for the debate, important he do that next time in the debate. That being said, I understand his inclination to want to bring this up. He's been accused of saying these horrible things about her. It's important to look into this lady's past. Go on CNN Espanol, and you'll find an article about how a witness accused her of having a child with a drug lord. On her own airwaves, she was asked about threatening the life of Judge Fuenmayor, and she said, "So..." [Camerota:] So again you're comfortable going back and dredging up things. You think this is important for the campaign? [Mcenany:] I think when Hillary Clinton brings this up and presents her words as fact. That is to say that Miss Universe's words as fact, it's important for Donald Trump to explain his side of the argument. That being said, I think surrogates can do that. I don't think Donald Trump needs to be doing that. [Camerota:] We are four days after the debate, and he's still putting energy into this. And some suggest that he can't help himself. [Mcenany:] Well, I know how frustrating it is. Look, we play the clip of that workout video, for instance. Well, I went and looked at the full context last night. And Donald Trump actually said, "I eat a lot, too. A lot of Americans have issues like this." He offered to work out with her. There is more to the story than I think has been reported, and I think he wants to get that out there. [Camerota:] Go ahead. [Christine Quinn, Cnn Political Commentator:] I'm almost speechless, right, which is a lot for me. Right, right, right. These are the facts here. This woman was Miss Universe. Apparently, she gained some weight. Donald Trump made that an enormous issue. He said she was an eating machine and that she gained a tremendous amount of weight. And that it was an enormous problem. That's not made up, and I think the Trump campaign is trying to make us all believe that Secretary Clinton has made this up. That's not made up. It's on video. And then there's this workout tape, where he brought reporters to watch her work out and try to weight. It was unkind, inappropriate and sexist. But then we have this position where he's now can't let it go. Which, in my opinion, only underscores what Secretary Clinton has said, which is that he is a man who can be baited by a tweet or less. [Camerota:] That's the point. But, Kayleigh, this is the point. It does seem to have gotten under his skin. I understand what you're saying. He wants to defend himself. That's the natural inclination. But he's a presidential candidate. And four days later, we're still talking about it, because he tweeted about it multiple times last night. So, what does that tell you about his impulses and what he would be like as a president? [Mcenany:] I don't think it's impulses, because I think this dialogue is a perfect example. Christine, have you watched the entire video? The entire video. Workout video. [Quinn:] First of all, let me just say something. [Mcenany:] No, answer, please. You haven't watched it. Well, let me explain what you have not seen. No, please, I sat there and let you talk. [Camerota:] I do want to hear your point. [Mcenany:] Let me explain what you haven't seen. He calls her beautiful in the video. He says, "I fought for her to keep her title." He goes on and on. He says, "I have eating issues. I've eaten too much, as well." [Camerota:] But my point is, four days later, why are we still talking about this? [Quinn:] Whether or not wait, Alisyn. Whether or not he did a thing, you allege, regardless of whether it was true or not, it doesn't erase that he said these bad things about her, one. Two, it doesn't erase that, yet again, what you were doing and Trump surrogates started doing is attacking the messenger, demeaning the person who is in question here and denying the truth, which is a pattern. And, three, even if he is the Mother Theresa of Miss Universe, as you would like us to believe, he has no impulse control. [Camerota:] That's the point. Look, this is the point, is that people have said that. It suggests that he doesn't have impulse control, and as a president, you want somebody who has impulse control. [Mcenany:] I think when you have someone impugning your character, spinning scenarios to make them seem bad when they were not, in fact, bad, not showing the entirety of this workout video and making these horrible allegations, I do think it's important to defend your reputation. And I think if any of us were said that we said these certain things, I think all of us would want to... [Quinn:] If I had said them as he appears to have said a version of them on tape, I would apologize. [Camerota:] OK. [Quinn:] And he the fact he is constitutionally incapable of knowing when to let go. [Camerota:] Yes. [Quinn:] To step back, take a deep breath, really means I don't want him at the table... [Camerota:] OK. That's fine. [Quinn:] ... the future of the world. [Camerota:] Let's move on. Let's move on to the past. Which is the 1990s because, once again, the sex scandals of the 1990s of Bill Clinton and, let's face it, Donald Trump, have reared their ugly heads. Let me read for you, Christine, what the Clinton campaign put out, a statement about this yesterday. Brian Fallon, the spokesperson, says, "Well, Trump and lieutenants like Roger Stone and David Bossie may want to dredge up failed attacks from the 1990s; as many Republicans have warned, this is a mistake that is going to backfire." How can they be so sure? We're not in the '90s any more. How can they be so sure that this is going to backfire, bringing up Bill Clinton's past and Hillary Clinton's response to it? [Quinn:] I think we know it's going to backfire. One, we know because elections are about the future. And we're spending, what are we, five, six weeks away from the election, and we're talk abo Donald Trump attacking women's weight. We're talking about a presidential nominee being up at 5 a.m. in the morning tweeting about things. We're talking about the past. We're not talking about the future. And, really, if you're going to throw which I just don't think is appropriate in a presidential election, it's undignified. If you're going to throw issues about people's marital past, be sure you're standing on incredibly firm ground, which Donald Trump is not. And quite frankly, we've heard over and over that Americans are not uplifted by this election. Right? And this school of thought is going to further drag us down, not up. And we've seen Republican leaders, one of the people who led the impeachment effort say, don't do this. We know high-level Republican senators are saying, don't do this. It is going to demean the election, and it's not going to work. [Camerota:] You heard this argument. What is the point of going back? [Mcenany:] There are few times I agree with Christine. But I do think you shouldn't bring it up on a debate stage, because it does open him up to criticism. And I think two people sparring about marital past is not going to gain any new voters for either of them. I understand the logic. I think it's important. If Hillary Clinton wants to paint herself as a hero for victims of sexual assault, I mean, it's important to look at how she treated women who accused her husband of that. But not on a debate stage. [Camerota:] Donald Trump has suggested that he may bring it up at the second debate. So, you think that that would be a bad idea. But do you think that he will? I hope not. I think that the e-mail scandal, the Clinton Foundation smashing BlackBerries with hammers. These are the important issues. Voters don't trust her. Bringing in something new, I just don't think, is the right way to go. I don't think he'll end up bringing it up. But we'll see. [Quinn:] you never know. I mean, he would have thought, but he wouldn't have been tweeting about Alicia Machado at 4 a.m. in the morning. Who knows? [Camerota:] Christine, does it give you any cause for concern that the way they're spinning it is that it's a character issue for Hillary Clinton. How she handled it back in the '90s. So even if you don't want to look at what Bill Clinton did, how she handled it, and they've been able to use some material. [Quinn:] No, Hillary Clinton is probably one of the most, if not the most significant champion for women and girls and survivors of sexual harassment, rape, sexual assault, female genital mutilation this country, this world has ever had, certainly that I've seen in my lifetime. She's a woman who stood on the international stage and, for the first time in China said, human rights are women's rights, said gay rights are human rights. She has helped change the world and make it a better and more equal place for women and girls, and that's what she'll do as president. So, I'll put her record up, against anybody's, particularly Donald Trump's any day of the week and twice on Sunday. [Mcenany:] Except when she put private investigators on women who were accusing her husband of sexual assault. [Camerota:] But they say that, when it came to her own life, she didn't have the... [Quinn:] These are ridiculous attacks. Hillary Clinton made a decision, as a lot of women have, a personal decision about her marriage. That's her marriage. The Trumps' marriages were his marriages. They're none of our business. But look at her record. As a children's advocate, as a senator, as a first lady and secretary of state, it is unparalleled and championed by both parties. [Camerota:] Maybe this is the last we'll ever hear of it. Thank you, ladies, for being here. Chris. [Cuomo:] All right. Funeral services held today for former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. President Obama and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, among dozens of world leaders who attended the services. Peres spent more than 70 years in public service. He earned the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in negotiating Israel's first peace deal with the Palestinians. Peres died Wednesday after suffering a major stroke. Shimon Peres was 93 years old. Four Republican state attorneys general filing a lawsuit to stop the Obama administration from transferring the oversight of the Internet to an international governing body. The lawmakers in Texas, Arizona, Oklahoma and Nevada say the move violates the Constitution, even threatens online security. The action throws a serious wrench into the Internet transfer, which was scheduled to roll out tomorrow. [Camerota:] All right. Coming up, we have more on Donald Trump. What is he trying to accomplish with his early morning tweets this morning? Michael Smerconish has some ideas. He'll weigh in. [Cuomo:] Plus, we all know what happened with this train. We know it was about speed. We know how many were injured. What we don't understand fully is why, why the technology that exists to make this happen still isn't in place. We have the very latest on the investigation from the NTSB, next. [Howell:] Continue following the breaking news this hour in central Italy, a 6. 6 magnitude earthquake that hit east of Perugia. This is according to the U. S. Geological Survey, that earthquake struck at a depth of about 10 kilometers, or six miles. Our meteorologist Derek Van Dam just described it as a shallow earthquake, the very same region was hit by two other earthquakes earlier in the week. Also getting a statement from the monks of Norcia in Italy, Norcia I should say. They are looking for anyone who may need their last rites after this earthquake. This is according to a statement released by them. They say no reports of deaths or injuries at this time. But I want to show you this image of the basilica at Norcia. You get a sense here of the before and after, the after this 6. 6 magnitude earthquake. You get a sense of the damage that has been done. And also, according to the monks of Norcia, there are reports of people trapped in the main square. This is an area that links the town to the main roads, again, this according to a tweet on the monks of Norcia Twitter account. We're continuing to follow developments and get information from sources on the ground about what happened in central Italy, but again, a very strong earthquake that has struck the region. Stay with CNN as we continue following that breaking news. America's choice 2016, the FBI's discovery of e-mails by one of Hillary Clinton's top aides was made public over the objections of the U. S. attorney general, this according to officials. The FBI director, James Comey, ignored those objections when he unilaterally uniformed Congress on Friday. In the meantime, Hillary Clinton on Saturday seemed to shake off the bombshell announcement as she campaigned in Miami with pop star Jennifer Lopez. But she has been loudly complaining of Comey's timing, so close to this election. Thousands of e-mails belonging to long-time Clinton aide Huma Abedin, were recently discovered during an unrelated FBI investigation of Abedin's estranged husband, Anthony Weiner. The revelation was red meat for Republican rival Donald Trump, who spoke about it greatly to his supporters. Here's what he had to say to them on Saturday. Listen. [Donald Trump, 2016 Republican Presidential Nominee:] The only reason, the only reason that they did this action that you saw yesterday was very, very serious things must be happening, and must have been found, very, very serious things, very, very serious things. [Audience:] Yes! [Trump:] It's called instincts, folks. [Howell:] As a matter of fact though, it is important to point out that not even the FBI understands what the contents are of these e-mails. All we know according to a source is that the e-mails were neither sent nor received by Hillary Clinton. This is what Donald Trump was referring to in a tweet back in 2015, "it came out that Huma Abedin knows all about Hillary's private illegal e-mails. Huma's PR husband, Anthony Weiner, will tell the world. " The FBI's investigation into Clinton's private e-mail server was closed last July, so its sudden resurrection so close to the election knocked the Clinton campaign back on its heels. The candidate has gone on the offensive, now targeting Comey for his timing. Listen. [Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic Presidential Nominee:] It is pretty strange, it's pretty strange, to put something like that out with such little information right before an election. [Howell:] Even before the e-mail controversy came back to life, new polls showed Trump closing the gap with Hillary Clinton. A Washington Post ABC poll released on Saturday has Clinton with just a two-point advantage. That is within the margin of error. A week ago, Clinton had a double-digit edge in the very same poll. CNN's poll of polls, which averages the five most recent national polls, gives Hillary Clinton a five-point advantage over Donald Trump. That is a snapshot of where things stand right now. This is CNN Newsroom, we'll be right back after the break. [Whitfield:] All right. Hello again, everyone. And thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So one of the world's most notorious drug kingpins is on the run after escaping from a Mexican prison. Joaquin Guzman, better known at "El Chapo" escaped from a maximum security federal prison this morning just west of Mexico City. Guards noticed he was missing after discovering a hole in his cell leading to a roughly mile-long tunnel with lighting and ventilation. Guzman is the head of the Sinaloa cartel, considered one of the most powerful and violent in Mexico. It's also known for being a major heroin supplier to the U.S. But he is also known as being a sort of Robin Hood, having that reputation in his hometown. CNN's Sara Ganim joins me now with more on who he is Sara. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] Good afternoon. Good afternoon, Fred. Yes, he is no doubt a very notorious and dangerous criminal in Mexico, known his cartel well known in the United States for supplying much of the heroin and cocaine that makes it here. And guess what, a lot of the way that it's transported here is through tunnels. His cartel is known for tunneling drugs underneath the U.S.Mexican border into the United States. And now officials believe that that is the way that he escaped for the second time from a prison in Mexico. [Ganim:] They call him El Chapo, or shorty for his small 5'6" frame, but his legend is enormous. And now the world's most powerful and deadly drug trafficking kingpin has broken out of prison in Mexico, again. Joaquin Guzman is the notorious drug boss who runs the Sinaloa cartel, widely believed to be the biggest supplier of heroin and cocaine in the United States. Authority say this time he escaped through a hole in the shower area of the Altiplano prison. [Monte Alejandro Rubido, National Security Commission:] The tunnel is a vertical pass about 10 meters deep and had a ladder and stairs. This tunnel has PVC tubing, ventilation and lighting. [Ganim:] His latest escape adding to El Chapo's legend, in Mexico he's a towering figure of intrigue, the subject of books, songs and folklore. And he's wanted on both sides of the border. In the U.S. on federal trafficking and organized crime charges. His cartel notorious for tunneling drug under the U.S.Mexican. Born into a poor family in the Sinaloa state when the drug trade was evolving, Guzman amassed a powerful empire, one that he continued running from behind bars after his first arrest in 1993. His reputation only grew as he spent 13 years on the run after escaping from prison in 2001. Sneaking out in a laundry cart, in a plot that allegedly cost him $2.5 million in bribes. He was caught and rearrested just last year at this resort in Now, Fred, one of the ways he was able to stay on the run for so many years the last time he broke out of jail was, again, through his network of tunnels and also just the enormous amount of staff, the people around him who protect him. Obviously the U.S. officials unofficially very upset about this. They had tried to extradite him back here for the few months that he was back in a Mexican jail in a Mexican prison, I'm sorry, saying, you know, essentially that they didn't believe that he couldn't break out there again. He just holds so much power in that state. Of course their fears came true again this morning, Fred. [Whitfield:] All right. Sara Ganim, thanks so much in New York. Well, let's talk more about this. Joining me on the phone is award winning staff writer for "the New Yorker," Patrick Radden Keefe who has written extensively about "El Chapo. So Patrick, glad you're back with us. So, you know, he escaped from prison before, as we're being reminded by Sara there. So is it your feeling that he has gone somewhere to simply blend in, someplace off the beaten path? What is his I guess what is to be predicted about his escape? [Patrick Radden Keefe, Staff Writer, The New Yorker:] Well, I think that the big question actually is going to hover over the next few hours and days, which is can they pick him up before he gets back to his home state of Sinaloa. If there's a big surge by the Mexican government in that area immediately around the prison and they can capture him before he flees the state, then you might actually see a situation in which he's recaptured. But I think that what history has shown us is that if he can get back to the mountains where he grew up and where he has a huge amount of local support, I think we'll never see this guy again. [Whitfield:] My goodness. We understand that he may have still been doing business while behind bars. So that also speaks to his continued influence. [Keefe:] Yes. You know, it's funny, I spoke to a Mexican official earlier today who was really incredulous. This is a person who had told me every time I raised the idea that "Chapo" might escape again, somebody told me it's never going to happen, it's never going to happen. And this morning he sent me an email with two words which were it happened. And when I talked to him later, he says that, you know, there had been some suggestion that Chapo Guzman has become kind of symbolic figure in the cartel. You know, some people would say, he was a nonexecutive chairman, that he wasn't actually making the day- to-day decisions. And what this guy suggested to me was that the fact that they went to the trouble that they did to get him out suggested that he was indispensable, that they need him running this operation. [Whitfield:] And so if that is the case, and this operation clearly is very influential, while he was imprisoned, was there any way of indicating whether his business was hurt by his absence? [Keefe:] I mean it would be hard to say. There have been a lot of questions in recent months about who was going to take over. He has sons who were allegedly part of the cartel. There were other people in the leadership with him. But these are people who are quite old. Guzman is I think about 60 now. Some of the people who had been major figures in the cartel are older than he is. And so there were questions about whether there would be a leadership vacuum. But at the same time the Mexican government had kind of moved on once "El Chapo" was captured and was beginning to focus on other cartels in different parts of the country that were more of a priority. And so I don't think there had been a there was never a huge diminution in drugs that were coming across the border. And that is one of the paradox that you can take out the head of the organization and the organization will actually continue to function. [Whitfield:] And you know, the president, Enrique Pena Nieto, had apparently conveyed that this escape is a real blow to that government, that administration's efforts because apparently he had taken some credit for weakening some of the cartels. Is there a feeling that Nieto had indeed helped weaken this cartel especially with the arrest of "El Chapo," because even today in Paris the Mexican president has said that this escape is, quote, "an affront to the state." [Keefe:] Yes. Look, it was a huge victory for Pena Nieto to capture "El Chapo." It was really the only thing you could compare to in terms of the magnitude of -. And here was President Obama and the killing of Osama bin Laden. This was somebody who really appeared untouchable. And to have him get away now in a situation in which everybody has been watching and kind of wondering. Actually many, many Mexican officials said to me and said publicly that this was going to be a real test of the Mexican judicial system, could they handle a guy of this magnitude. And people said again and again, yes, we can. This is going to be a proof of concept for us. To have him escape in such a bold manner in a tunnel that looks like it was an industrial project. This was not a tunnel this guy dug himself, there were lots and lots of people involved in this thing. It's a major embarrassment for Mexico. And I think it will be a real source of tension for U.S.Mexican relations. [Whitfield:] All right, Patrick Radden Keefe, thanks so much. All right. Also, straight ahead, closing arguments set to begin this week in the Colorado movie theater shooting. Next, our legal experts take a look at what we can expect from James Holmes' defense team. [Whitfield:] All right, we continue to monitor presidential candidate Hillary Clinton right there in Hoover, Alabama, just outside of Birmingham. She's laying out her plan for the economy but also giving credit to President Obama. So in her words, he strengthened the economy. She is releasing more information about her promise, her plan to increase wages and put more young people in college. We'll continue to monitor her remarks there out of Hoover, Alabama. Meantime, we're also learning new details today from this month's campus massacre in Oregon. The man so many called a hero, Chris Mintz, is recounting what happened the day of the shooting moment by moment. Eight students and one professor were killed in the rampage, nine people were injured, including Mintz, who was shot five times. CNN's Nick Valencia has details. [Unidentified Male:] Dispatch as many ambulances as possible, we have upward of 20 victims. [Valencia:] Chilling new details from the Oregon community college massacre from shooting survivor, Chris Mintz, the army veteran who has been called a hero for protecting others. [Unidentified Male:] He's in a classroom. [Valencia:] In a Facebook posting Mintz recalled the day that he says started out as normal but quickly descended into chaos. He writes "There was a bunch of yelling and that there were gunshots going off that sounded like fire crackers." Mintz, who says he sat in the front of the class, says everyone got up and took off. "I stopped and held the door open and waited for everyone to leave safely," he writes. "He then says he took direction from a counselor that kept screaming someone needed to tell the people in the library, and I told her I would do it." [Unidentified Female:] Somebody is outside one of the doors. [Valencia:] Mintz writes that he made his way back into the classroom area where he came face to face with the gunman. "He leaned out and started shooting as I turned toward him," he recalled. This is how he described the shooter. "He was so nonchalant through it all, like he was playing a video game, and showed no emotion." Mintz says "The shots knocked me to the ground and felt like a truck hit me." He then says he was shot again while on the ground and that the gunman said "That's what you get for calling the cops." Mintz writes in the Facebook post that he told the gunman that he didn't call police and they were already on the way. He then yelled to the gunman, "It's my kids birthday, man." Mintz says "The shooter pointed the gun right at my face and then retreated back into the classroom." [Unidentified Male:] Hello, everyone. I'm doing well. [Valencia:] A friend posted this video of Mintz in the hospital. He has since been released and has this lingering question. "I'm still confused as to why he didn't shoot me again." [Whitfield:] That was Nick Valencia reporting. All right, coming up, the rash of deadly attacks in the West Bank continues this weekend as a peace rally is underway. We're live from Jerusalem next. [Blitzer:] President-elect Trump has been meeting with the victims of the Ohio State University terror attack, also with first responders. We're standing by to hear what he has to say. We'll have coverage of that. Stick around with us for that. We're back with Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California. He's the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. We're going to get talk to him about the threat posed by Russia both to U.S. cyber security, U.S.-backed forces. That's coming up. But we want to get the latest from our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, right now. Jim, you had a chance to speak to a senior U.S. military official about all of this. What's the latest you're hearing about the Russian threat? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, at a time when you have the president-elect, other members of his incoming administration questioning the threat from Russia, talking about a friendlier relationship, like U.S. intelligence agencies. the view of the U.S. military is that Russia is very much a threat. This senior U.S. military official putting it at least on a par with violent extremism and spoke specifically about the context of Syria, describing an upcoming moment when you'll have U.S.-backed Syrian rebels coming face to face with Russian-backed regime forces there, just one of many places along with Ukraine and elsewhere where the U.S. Are coming into direct conflict with the potential of military escalation as well. [Blitzer:] Just this week, as you know, Donald Trump told "TIME" magazine And let me quote now from what he said. He said, "Why not get along with Russia? And they can help us fight ISIS, which is both costly in lives and costly in money; and they're effective and smart." And he still says Russia didn't necessarily hack the U.S., didn't interfere with the U.S. election. What are you hearing about that? [Schiff:] Well, it remains the public assessment of the U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia did, in fact, hack the election. It's our own reporting that there is the possibility of new information that firms up the idea that it was done not just to interfere in the election but also to help Donald Trump win the election. That's purely on the election, though. But in terms of the broader threat, as we were saying earlier, there are other areas where you are coming into conflict. This senior U.S. military official certainly identifying it high on the list. I asked him if he's communicated that to the president in light of those differences of opinion. He said that there is we serve only one president at once. Presumably, that will happen after he takes office. But it's interesting. This happens as a bipartisan group of U.S. senators 15 Democrats but also 12 Republicans wrote a letter to the incoming president specifically on the issue of Russia and Ukraine. And I'm going to read one excerpt from that letter. They said, "In light of Russia's continued aggression and repeated refusal to respect Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereign right to choose its own destiny, we also renew our call for the U.S. to increase political, economic and military support for Ukraine." So you're seeing a clear signal there, Wolf, that even Republican lawmakers will not sit back, at least on the threat like Ukraine, Syria and hacking of the U.S. election. [Blitzer:] Jim Sciutto reporting for us. Jim Sciutto is our chief national security correspondent. We're back with Congressman Adam Schiff of California, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. You've also written a letter on this very sensitive issue to the president, requesting a classified briefing to provide details, specifically details on Russian hacking of various American political organizations. Has that request from you to the president has that request been granted? [Schiff:] It hasn't been granted yet. And I think that all the members of the House ought to receive the same briefing those of us on the Intelligence Committee have about Russia meddling in our election. This is something, frankly, I think the president ought to speak to the country about and share as much as he can in declassified form with the country. These events, these attacks by Russia, cyberattacks, were really unprecedented in their scale and their impact, and we haven't seen the last of them. And one of my concerns is that there hasn't been an adequate deterrent. There really hasn't been any cost the Russians have paid. And that has got to change. It may have been to the benefit I think it certainly was of Donald Trump during the campaign. But the minute he crosses Putin, as inevitably he will have to, because Putin is not our friend, he may be the subject of damaging dumping of documents, and he may find that he has a different view of it when he's on the receiving end of that kind of punishment. [Blitzer:] Because the director of national intelligence, General Clapper, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, they wrote a letter, a public statement in early October, saying this went to the highest levels of the Russian government, the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, the release of these e-mails that from John Podesta, who's who was the chairman of the Hillary Clinton campaign. When they say the highest levels of the republic of the Russian republic, does that mean Putin himself ordered this, knew about it, was involved in it? [Schiff:] You know, unfortunately, Wolf, I can't go beyond what the director has agreed to declassify. But I think you can tell Putin has a very small circle around him. He runs that Kremlin. There's not a lot of dissent. And something of this significance, getting involved in the hacking of a U.S. election, leaving fingerprints all over your work, that's not something I think that can't take place, as the director said, without agreement at the highest levels. I also want to say, in terms of the Senate letter that you and Jim referred to about Ukraine, I fully agree with the contents of that letter. I think we should provide stronger support to Ukraine. Frankly, a year or two years ago, I was advocating that we ought to provide stronger defensive weapons to Ukraine. And these things are not unrelated. When you don't deter the Russians, when you don't push back hard, they view it as an open door, whether that's in Ukraine or that's in the cyber world. We have to meet this newly aggressive, belligerent Russia with a strong pushback. [Blitzer:] Let us know if you get that request granted from the president of the United States. We'll be anxious to hear. [Schiff:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] Adam Schiff is the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee. Coming up, the Electoral College meets in just 11 days to formalize the election of Donald Trump. Could a new lawsuit, though, complicate things? Plus, details of the tactics now being adopted by ISIS. Are terrorist forces preparing to bring them to the west? [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Counting down to Super Tuesday and voters will begin lining up in just a few hours. This is CNN tonight, I'm Don Lemon. By this time tomorrow, nearly 60 percent of GOP delegates will be allocated and the whole thing could come down to winner take all contests in Florida and Ohio. Could this be the last chance for Republican powers at be to stop Donald Trump? And on the Democratic side, can Hillary Clinton deliver a knockout blow to Bernie Sanders, to the Sanders campaign? I want to bring in now CNN's Rosa Flores in Ohio and Sara Murray who is in Florida. Hello to both of you. Rosa, first, is Trump worried about winning Ohio? Is that why he's there tonight? [Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] You know, Don, the answer is yes, absolutely. Right now in the polls, Kasich and Trump are head to head and every single vote counts. That's why he was here. In fact, he flew from Florida, held this event here at this venue, you can see people breaking down the stage behind me, and then he flew right back to Florida. But we've got to mention this. Lately, in the past week, all of the Trump events have been overshadowed by protesters, probably the most explosive in Chicago at the University of Illinois where protesters and supporters clashed. They threw punches at each other, leaving a police officer bleeding and also leading to the cancellation of that event. So what happened here today in Ohio? Something very different. The Trump organization controlling the message. Hear this. They asked supporters, attendees, to park about seven miles from this location and then they screened those attendees and bussed them to this location. So did it work? Absolutely. Not one disruption during tonight's event. Donald Trump speaking about Ohio and how it should be a big win for him but again, the bottom line, Ohio means big for Trump because this could mean that he gets his rivals out of the way, including Kasich, and for Kasich, of course, it could be a big win. He could change the narrative of this campaign if he wins big in his home state. [Lemon:] And Rosa, we did see Sarah Palin out stumping for him in Florida. Tell us about that. [Flores:] Sarah Palin was out in full force and in full color as well. As expected, typical Palin, she had some colorful words for protesters. [Sarah Palin, Former Governor Of Alaska:] We've needed a revolution and we found our revolutionary! Donald J. Trump is that revolutionary. What we don't have time for is all that petty punk ass little buggery stuff that's been going on with these quote unquote, protesters. [Flores:] Again, the Trump organization controlling the message, bussing attendees to the venue here in Ohio to avoid clashes between supporters and protesters. Don [Lemon:] All right, Rosa, thank you. Sara, on the eve of his home state's primary, how confident is Marco Rubio? [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, he and his campaign are still insisting that they have a good shot to win here in Florida but, of course, they are facing a very steep, uphill climb and it was really telling to see Marco Rubio at his events earlier tonight because he was very reflective, not only on sort of where he has come during this campaign, he expressed some regrets about some of the language he used against Donald Trump, about sort of getting down there in the gutter and not appearing as presidential as he wanted to, but he also expressed alarm at the tone that we've heard from Donald Trump and some of the things that he said, including about violence at his own rallies, and he also sort of seemed beside himself saying that humility used to be a virtue and now it seems to be a weakness. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] We have a culture today where what used to be wrong is now considered right. My whole life I've been told, being humble is a virtue. And now being humble is a weakness and being vain and self-absorbed is somehow a virtue. My whole life I've been told, no matter how you may feel about someone, you respect everyone, because we are all children of the same god. [Murray:] And Don, we've heard these kinds of comments from Marco Rubio over and over again tonight and it really just gives you the sense that going into tomorrow, he views this not just a fight for his campaign and for the future of his campaign to win Florida, but also as a fight between the values and sort of the conservatism that he holds dear versus what they see from Donald Trump. I mean, there are a number of Republicans that are telling me that not only do they hate the kind of politics that Donald Trump is espousing but they are also kind of afraid of it, Don. [Lemon:] Are there signs, Sara, that Marco Rubio may be out if he doesn't do well tomorrow? [Murray:] Well, his campaign is being very careful to say that that is not the case. They are not saying that if he doesn't win Florida he will all of a sudden get out of the race, but his Super PAC, for instance, hasn't reserved any time on the airwaves past Tuesday. They are really the ones who are bolstering him here in Florida, so that's sort of telling, and just the fact that it is his Super PAC that's spending on the airwaves in Florida, it's not the campaign, tells you that they're having a problem raising the kind of money that they need to keep posting an aggressive stance up against Donald Trump. Of course, that all could change if Rubio pulls out a surprise victory here, but it does give you a sense of sort of the obstacles that he's going to face if he does lose Florida and still for some reason decides to stay in this race. Don [Lemon:] Sara Murray and Rosa Flores, thanks to both of you. Let's discuss all of this now. Matt Lewis of "The Daily Caller" is a senior contributor and the author of "Too Dumb to Fail". CNN political commentators Kayleigh McEnany and Margaret Hoover. Hello to all of you. Again, to some of you, at least one of you. Matt, you say tomorrow is the most important day in the election season so far. Are you nervous? [Matt Lewis, Author, Too Dumb To Fail:] No, I don't get nervous about that. But it is. I think it's the most important because, look, if Donald Trump wins both, then I think he's going to get the delegates he needs to clinch the nomination. If he loses both states, I think it's very likely we have a contested convention, and if he wins one state and loses another, as I suspect he probably will, then in that case, the muddle goes on. So it's a chance for Trump to close it out or for the empire to strike back. [Lemon:] Kayleigh, is Kasich in Ohio Trump's stiffest competition yet, do you think? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] No doubt about it, because Ohio has 66 delegates. It's an enormously important state in that sense. It's a winner take all, and this is a very popular governor. He has a 62 percent approval rating. But Trump's strong point there is hitting Kasich on NAFTA. This is a region of the country that has been hurt with manufacturing jobs and saying, your jobs have gone overseas. I'm here. I'm your anti-free trade person. So, yes, it's his strongest competitor. He still has a shot. But even if he loses Ohio, going forward, if he wins Florida, he only needs 50 percent more of the remaining delegates. Many of the states coming forward are winner take all states so he's in a very strong position if he walks off tomorrow just with Florida. [Lemon:] You don't seem to agree with that. [Margaret Hoover, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well I just disagree on the point that Ohio has suffered economically under Kasich's term as governor. I mean, Ohio did very well because of the auto bailouts, and frankly, because of natural gas. The huge boom in that part of the country, while the rest of the country was really enduring really terrible unemployment rates, Ohio was buttressed because of this growth, this explosion in the energy industry. Kasich has the ground game. Kasich has the political infrastructure. Kasich has the, get out the vote and party apparatus, so I think Kayleigh's right, that's the one place where I think we can have confidence that Donald Trump can be able to be stopped. It certainly doesn't look that way in Florida. But the question is, then what? I think Matt's right, the muddle goes on. Republicans have to think clearly about what they're going to do. What happens to the never-Trump movement? Because it really started as a pro-Rubio, pro-mainstream Republican movement under the guise of being anti-Trump. But do mainstream Republicans go with Cruz or do they sit out this election or find a protest candidate? [Lemon:] All right. Let's move on. Those are good questions but I need to talk quickly about Florida. Who wins Florida? Because Florida is in play as well. [Hoover:] You want my guess? [Lemon:] Yes. [Hoover:] I mean, the voter's have got to decide but it's looking like Trump right now. And I have to say, those numbers this is just analysts. Marco Rubio's numbers seem to have really dropped over the weekend and a Monmouth poll that came out said, 22 percent of people think that the violence in Chicago actually helped Donald Trump over the weekend, not hurt him. [Lemon:] Go ahead, Kayleigh. [Mcenany:] There have been six polls that have come out in two days. Donald Trump is ahead astounding in all of them, in most of them by 20 points. The question to me in Florida tomorrow is not, does Donald Trump win, it's does Ted Cruz beat Marco Rubio in his own home state? Do you know how monumental that would be? If Marco Rubio not only lost but lost to both Trump and Cruz, it would mean more credence to this narrative of, it's an outsider election, where even the outsiders beat Marco Rubio in his own home state. [Lemon:] Matt, what happens Kasich wins Ohio, Trump wins Florida, and then Cruz comes in second in Florida and Rubio comes in third in his own home state? [Lewis:] Well I don't think that's going to happen. Look, Cuban-Americans in south Florida are historically difficult to poll. I think Marco Rubio is going to do better than people think. I think Trump wins Florida. [Lemon:] Do you think he's going to win it? [Lewis:] No. I think Trump wins Florida but I think Rubio does better than people think. And I have to say, I'm very proud of him. If you watch you played that clip of him earlier, where he's talking about, you know, he had gotten off and sort of talking about Donald Trump's hand size or whatever, this is the Marco Rubio, if he goes out, he's going to go out in style. It is what it is, but I think he's going to hold his head high with the comments he's making and I think he's right on track right now. [Lemon:] All right. Everyone stay with me. When we come right back, could an open convention be the worst of all possible worlds for the GOP and is there a third-party candidate waiting in the wing? [Lemon:] We do have some breaking news out of the U.K. where votes are being counted in a Brexit referendum on whether Britain will stay in the European Union. We're going to go live to London throughout the evening. We're going to continue to check on this. Correspondents and producers station throughout Britain to get you results on what's happening with the Brexit referendum. So, meanwhile, Donald Trump is flying to Scotland to visit his golf properties and despite the fact that he is a presumptive republican nominee. He is not planning to meet with any government officials. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta has more now. Jim? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Don, this will be no easy putt for Donald Trump. Trump will be here in Scotland for what is essentially a business trip. He will be doing a ribbon cutting on a newly refurbished golf course Trump owns here in Turnberry, Scotland. And I'm told most of Trump's family will be here for that event. But unlike past presidential candidates at this stage of a general election campaign, Trump is not slated to meet with any foreign leaders on this oversees visit. Not the British Prime Minister, not even top government officials here in Scotland. Trump, as you know, has clashed with British Prime Minister David Cameron, who slammed the presumptive GOP nominee's proposals to ban Muslims coming into the U.S., which is why Hillary Clinton released a web video mocking Trump's trip today. Here is what was in that video earlier today. [Unidentified Female:] Like this later will discuss a petition signed by more than half a million people to ban Trump from entering Britain. [Jack Dromey, British Parliament Member:] Donald Trumps is a fool. He is free to be a fool. He is not free to be a dangerous fool on our shores. [Unidentified Male:] In that exclusive interview Mr. Trump told me should he become president he might not have a good relationship with David Cameron and he challenge London's first Muslim Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to an I.Q. test. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Looks like we're not going to have a very good relationship. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Over the weekend, Trump will head to a separate golf property in the town of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he has clashed with residents who are proposed to the project there. A few home owners in the area have even raised Mexican flags to protest Trump's immigration rhetoric. But a Trump source tells me this trip absolutely makes sense even during the campaign, noting this multi-million dollar project has his name on it. So, of course, he wants to make sure it's being managed to his standards. Don? [Don Lemon, Cnn Tonight Show:] All right. Jim Acosta, thank you very much. I want to bring in now Andre Bauer, he is the former Lieutenant Governor of the South Carolina of South Carolina who supports Donald Trump. Van Jones is here, he is former official in the Obama administration, Maria Cardona with me tonight in New York, democratic strategist who supports Hillary Clinton and is a super delegate. And republican strategist Kevin Madden here as well. You're not a super delegate, Kevin madden? [Kevin Madden, Cnn Political Commentator:] No, no. Just a regular delegate. [Maria Cardona, Democratic Strategist:] You bet. [Lemon:] Just a delegate. Oh, well. One day. One day. So, welcome, Andre. I want to start with you. Trump Donald Trump going to Scotland to open a golf course. Is it a little off topic right now? [Andre Bauer, Former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor:] Well, the first thing I would bring up is that normally in any election, after a hard-fought battle, most folks take a few days off. It's very common that you take a little time off, recharge your batteries. What makes Donald Trump tick is business. He's recharging his batteries by taking a trip, supporting his son and doing his does best and that's business. [Lemon:] So, you're saying it's not off topic? [Bauer:] I don't know that off topic. He's still in the full news cycle. You're talking about him every day and you're reinforcing to the American public that this guy is a business guy, and he's not a politician. Quite frankly, he probably didn't travel there like you and I do. He didn't have to go to TSA, and get a poor man's massage. He went over there in what quite frankly is a mobile office for him. [Lemon:] Andre, Andre? [Bauer:] Yes? [Lemon:] I just needed you to answer my question. Do you think it is off topic? [Bauer:] Sure, it's off topic. But he's not an on-topic candidate. [Lemon:] OK. Thank you. All right. So, as we say in the polls, Hillary Clinton, we've been saying this, is eight points ahead of Donald Trump in Florida. They're tied in Ohio, virtual tie in Pennsylvania. So, do you think that, you know, his time would be better spent campaigning in battleground states? [Bauer:] I don't think the average person right now is paying that much attention. We haven't even had the convention yet. Most folks are working. I mean, guys like us that pay attention to this, sure we're paying attention. But swing voters, most of them are working hard right now. And this is not what they're primarily concerned with. After the conventions, yes, they'll pay more attention to it. But I don't think it makes a big difference right now. [Lemon:] OK. Do you think it makes a difference, Kevin Madden? [Madden:] It does. Look, I mean, people are paying attention, this is a very important election. We are 120-plus days away before the election. And we're only, you know, maybe three weeks away from the conventions. People are paying attention. When you have an opportunity like this to drive a message about or by going overseas, Donald Trump is sending the wrong type of message. Where he could be sending a message about national security or showcasing his potential talents as a world leader or as a future commander-in-chief. Instead he's showing as he's hawking a golf course that he's building. I don't think that's really the message that is going to resonate with those swing voters that the lieutenant governor was talking about. They want some clarity on national security. They want some sense of stability on foreign policy. And, you know, standing on the 18th hole over at Trump Turnberry is not exactly going to do that. [Lemon:] Do you think it's bad optics, Maria? [Cardona:] I absolutely think it's bad optics. Because first of all, it underscores everything that we have heard up until now in terms of Donald Trump's bad business practices. So, let's not let's not forget that we just came off of a whole slew of coverage of Trump University and how he defrauded thousands of people because they didn't get what they paid for. And then now we're talking about his golf resort in Scotland, which apparently is losing millions of dollars and in the process of putting together this project, he essentially made everybody mad. He rolled everybody over there, using the equivalent of imminent domain, kicking people off of their property. There is going to be tons of people protesting because they really don't like him. They talked about he talked about how he reported in Scotland apparently how he lost a lot of money. And then over here in the financial disclosure forms he reported that he made a lot of money. So, which is it? This gives democrats and Hillary Clinton a huge opportunity to talk about what a fraud he is when it comes to business. [Lemon:] Van Jones, the candidates do take trips across the pond to bolster their foreign policy credentials. That's not new. Barack Obama, when he was a candidate, President Obama he was a candidate in 2008 did it, Mitt Romney in 2012. So, how is this different? [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, that's what's so remarkable. He is actually going to Europe at a major, major moment in history. Is the European Union essentially going to break up because Britain leaves? This is a huge moment. He could go there, he could talk to people, he could make the case for them to stay, to go. He's not talking to one leader. Not one elected official. Not a dog catcher. Nobody! He's just going to show off his new golf course thing. And it's almost like he's profiteering off of his candidacy. Listen. [Lemon:] But what about to Andre's point where he says everybody needs a break? You know, everybody needs a vacation. [Jones:] Sure. [Lemon:] Seriously. [Jones:] Well, listen. Most people when they take a vacation, they take a vacation. This is not a vacation. This is a business kind of junket in the middle of the presidency. There is this danger of him just seeming unseemly, when it comes to the business that he's running while he's running for president. Don't forget. He was charging his own campaign money from his hotels and everything else. Almost making money off his own campaign. I just... [Lemon:] He did explain that today. [Jones:] What? [Lemon:] He did explain that and said why give other, you know, hotel or venue the money when he can give his own? And, you know, some people understand that. But, listen, to Van's point, Andre, and to the point I was trying to make earlier, is it off topic? Especially I asked because when nearly 7 in 10 voters think that GOP presumptive nominee should, you know, stop down from the step down, excuse me, from the Trump organization while he is in politics right now. So, what do you say to those voters? [Bauer:] I tend to agree that he should. But from my understanding, this was kind of a big deal for his son. He has taken a day or two off to go over there and support his son. And, you know, he is an unorthodox candidate again. But it reinforces the guy first and foremost he is a business guy. And again, it's never been unusual for candidates to take a few days off, usually a week off after a hard- fought primary. [Lemon:] OK. Also, Van, I need to tell you that today he said in a statement he said he would no longer make his campaign repay $50 million loan. Again, we'll continue to talk about that. Stay with me, everyone. When we come right back, we're going to continue to talk about this conversation and also we're going to take you to the U.K. to figure out what's going on with their Brexit referendum vote. Don't go anywhere. [Quest:] Shares in Fiat Chrysler dropped very sharply, has become the latest car company choking on emissions scandal. The U.S. environmental agency, the EPA, is alleging that Fiat Chrysler violated pollution laws by installing software in vehicles that allowed them to cheat on diesel emission tests. If you take a look at the actual announcement came late in the day in Milan, and whoosh, straight goes down the sharp share price, as the company loses 16 percent of its market valuable. That's a sizable amount for a company as big and as mature as Fiat Chrysler. The fall came at the end of the trading day, all because the EPA was about to issue a notice of violation. Now, Fiat Chrysler's chief executive says the automaker did not defraud anyone, and that its software is compliant with the law. [Sergio Marchionne, Ceo, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles:] We have had discussions now with the EPA on this matter since December of 2015. So, it's been more than a year and a half. We have made tons of material available to them. We continue to discuss the issue and we are in the process now of presenting a more complete set of control strategies that will remedy all of their concerns. So, the issue could have been settled and should have been settled, I think, in my view, in a more efficient way, in a more business-like manner, as opposed to evaluating this to suggestions that we're right to defraud anybody. [Quest:] Joining me now is Drew Kodjak, the executive director at the International Counsel on Transportation. He helped uncover the VW scandal. I'm confused here. I mean, they sort of say there was some software installed, but that it didn't break the law. What's going on? [Drew Kodjak, Exec, Dir., Council On Clean Transportation:] Great question, Richard. There are two aspects of the law. The first is that any time you put software on a vehicle that changes the emissions when the vehicle is operated out in the real world, you have to disclose that information to the EPA. Fiat Chrysler did not do that. The notice of violation finds that there are eight different instances where the agency found software codes that had not been revealed. That is a violation of the clean air act. The notice of violation clearly states that. What we don't know, and what is still under discussions between the agency and Fiat Chrysler is whether or not those software codes are justifiable or not. Now, you can justify those codes if you can show that they were necessary to prevent damage from the engine, to the engine or the emissions controls. And that's the existing question that's still open. [Quest:] So, this is not a Volkswagen situation, where they would have put in some software for the specific purposes of defeating the test? [Kodjak:] It's close, Richard. We just don't know yet. It could be exactly the same as a Volkswagen situation. There is software on the vehicles identical or very similar to the types of software that Volkswagen put on its vehicles. That software detects when the emissions tests are being run, and it raises emissions when the vehicle is operated under normal driving conditions. Very similar to what happened with Volkswagen. The only difference right now is that the agency hasn't reached a determination as to whether or not Fiat needed that software to protect the engine. That's the difference. [Quest:] In a sentence, sir, how much more of all of this do you think is out there, waiting to be uncovered? [Kodjak:] The EPA is still in the process of testing passenger diesel vehicles on those manufacturers that produce them for sale in the United States. Since the Volkswagen scandal broke in September of 2015, we still haven't gotten a clean bill of health on those manufacturers and until that happens, there is still a big shoe that's waiting to drop. [Quest:] And we look forward to you being on the program, to pick the shoe up and help us understand what it looks like, sir. Thank you very much, indeed. Good to see you on the program. [Kodjak:] Thanks for being here. [Quest:] A busy day. We'll have a Profitable Moment on conflicts of interest after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. [Cuomo:] It's not right just because you're 50 years younger than we are that we didn't have [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] That makes you feel old today? [Cuomo:] Here's a picture of you back then. There she is. [Camerota:] Look at that. [Cabrera:] That's my real hair, by the way. [Cuomo:] Wearing a wig I mean, what is that about? [Cabrera:] That's my [Cuomo:] There you go. [Cabrera:] Check out the leopard the leopard print pants there. [Camerota:] And look at your hair. [Cuomo:] Now we're talking. [Camerota:] That is so good, Ana. [Cabrera:] I was a trendsetter then. What happened, I don't know. [Cuomo:] That look is back, by the way. [Camerota:] Thank you for that. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello. Hi, Pamela. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] Wow. That was so fun. I'm so envious of your hair when you're a little girl, Ana, my goodness. [Cabrera:] I'm always trying to keep it off my face. [Brown:] You're doing a good job of it. [Cuomo:] Me too. Because it's falling out of my head. [Brown:] Chris, I don't wanted to hear it. Come on now. All right. You guys have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now. [Camerota:] You too. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The world pays attention to the U.S. elections. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I want to run against Hillary, not me, I just want to run against her. It could be we're going to run against crazy Bernie. [Obama:] Let voters make up their minds and during primaries people get a little grumpy with each other. [Trump:] Let me tell you something, if she wins, and I hope she doesn't, you'll have nothing but four more years of Obama and you can't take that. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I have turned over all of my e-mails. No one else can say that. It's not an issue that is going to affect either the campaign or my presidency. [Brown:] Well, good morning to you. I'm Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello on this Thursday. Thanks for being here with us. President Obama has a message for Donald Trump. World leaders are watching you. The commander in chief blasting the presumptive Republican nominee, accusing him of being, quote, "ignorant" when it comes to global affairs. [Obama:] They're rattled by him. And for good reason. He does a lot of the proposals that he's has made display either ignorance of world affairs or a cavalier attitude, or an interest in getting tweets and headlines, instead of actually thinking through what it is that is required to keep America safe. [Brown:] And the president's blistering remarks coming during a news conference in Japan, where world leaders are meeting for the G-7 Summit. Let's get right to CNN's senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns with more on this Joe. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Pamela. The president's remarks, tracking with polls that suggest voter uncertainty about Donald Trump's ability to handle foreign and military policy issues. And this, by the way, is one of those areas where voters have suggested former secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, might have an edge over Trump should she become the Democratic Party's nominee. So it is a vulnerability for Trump, particularly blighting, as the president's suggestion, that Trump's more unusual proposals were more about getting tweets and headlines than thinking things through. Listen. [Obama:] Even those countries that complain or question particular policy decisions that we make know that ultimately things don't hold together so well if the United States is not making good decisions. They are paying very close attention to this election. I think it's fair to say that they are surprised by the Republican nominee. They are not sure how seriously to take some of his pronouncements. [Johns:] So far no response this morning from Donald Trump himself. Trump supporters already taking issue and pushing back on the president's comments, including Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions on CNN this morning, suggesting Donald Trump's sometimes unorthodox views on certain policy issues are either potential negotiating points or things that could breathe new life into international relations with some countries Pamela. [Brown:] All right, we will wait and see if and when Donald Trump responds to this, Joe Johns. We do appreciate it. And meantime, tensions and scuffles, both inside Donald Trump's campaign and outside his latest rally. Trump supporters and his critics clash with each other and sometimes with police. A handful of people are arrested. [Trump:] Don't hurt them. I say that for the television cameras. Do not hurt him. Even though he is a bad person, folks. Bad person. [Brown:] And as you saw there, inside that rally, Trump calling for calm, as one protester is booted. But that's not the departure people are buzzing about today. Trump's political director, Rick Wiley, abruptly leaves after only six weeks on the job. As power struggles percolate through the campaign, Trump remains on on topic, bashing Hillary Clinton and seizing on the State Department reports that her private e-mails broke the rules. [Trump:] Crooked Hillary. Crooked Hillary. She is as crooked as they come. She had a little bad news today, as you know, from some reports came down that weren't so good. But not so good. Inspector general's report, not good. [Brown:] CNN's Jason Carroll is here with more. Good morning to you, Jason. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And good morning to you, Pamela. You know, that report from the State Department's inspector general was a gift for Donald Trump, who used it as more ammunition as you heard there to go after Hillary Clinton at his rally yesterday in Anaheim. Once again you heard him use the term crooked Hillary, citing the report, which was very critical of Clinton, using her personal e-mail account for government business. Trump told the crowd that Clinton is not equipped to be president, doesn't have the temperament nor the judgment. He pointed out that Bernie Sanders was the one who initially questioned Clinton's judgment. And you know, Pamela, Trump has had a bit of a love-hate relationship with Sanders. He has said several times during campaign speeches that he felt that the delegate system was rigged not only against him, but Sanders as well. But in the same breath, he calls Sanders Crazy Bernie. Just last night, though, Trump said on "Jimmy Kimmel," he would be open to debating Sanders. [Jimmy Kimmel, Host, Jimmy Kimmel Live:] Are you prepared to debate the major issues facing our largest state and the country before the California primary, yes or no? He wants to know if you will debate him. [Trump:] Yes, I am. How much is he going to pay me? [Kimmel:] You would do it for a price? Would the price be? [Trump:] Yes. Because if I debated him, we would have such high ratings and I think I should give take that money and give it to some worthy charity, OK. [Kimmel:] So if it was done for charity, you would agree to do that? [Trump:] If he paid a nice sum, I if it were a charity, I would put to love to do that. [Carroll:] Well, it certainly didn't take Sanders long to reply. He tweeted, "Game on. I look forward to debating Donald Trump in California before the June 7th primary." We'll have to see if that actually happens. What won't be happening is a debate between Clinton and Sanders. Sanders wants to debate Clinton ahead of the California primary. She has declined Pamela. [Brown:] All right, Jason Carroll, thanks so much for bringing the latest there. And as Trump sharpens his attacks against Hillary Clinton, his top aide, Paul Manafort, tells the "Huffington Post" that voters can expect a softer tone when it comes to issues like his proposed ban on Muslims. With me now, CNN political commentator Marc Lamont Hill, co-chair of Donald Trump's New York campaign, Councilman Joseph Borelli, and director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, Larry Sabato. Welcome to the three of you. Great to see you, gentlemen. I want to jump in to Trump's strategy for the general. But first I want to talk about this news, Joseph, about Trump's political director, Joseph Wiley Rick Wiley, rather, leaving after only six weeks. Did this happen because of infighting within the campaign? [Joseph Borelli, Trump Supporter:] It might have. I'm not going to speculate on exactly what happened between the people in the various campaigns. But every presidential campaign, you see sort of, you know, a team of rivals emerge with, you know, in attempts to try to get access to the candidate, to try to be more influential in the race. It's not something unique to the Trump campaign. It's something that happens in most. And if Mr. Wiley ran out of things to do on the campaign, then I'm not surprised that he was asked to leave or whether he resigned on his own, whatever happened. [Marc Lamont Hill, Cnn Political Commentator:] Six weeks, though, and in a moment where he is about to enter the general election, and where he is winning and actually beginning to consolidate the party suggests to me a very strong internal power struggle, largely over what kind of Donald Trump we're going to have. Are we going to have the Donald Trump from the primary season, who has, you know, really galvanized a group of voters who otherwise don't come to the polls or is he going to look more presidential and softer? That's the question. I think that's part of the internal tension we're seeing right now. [Brown:] Yes, because, you know, some people would argue, Larry, that the tact that Donald Trump continues to take right now is only, you know, galvanizing his supporters, but it's not necessarily broadening out his base. And lately he's really been on a tail going after Governor Susana Martinez, going after Elizabeth Warren, among others, not just Hillary Clinton. In your view, is that a smart strategy? And is that causing some of those rank-and-file Republicans who have yet to really endorse him, kind of to hold back and not come out and rally around him yet? [Larry Sabato, Director Of Center For Politics, University Of Virginia:] Well, the number of prominent Republicans who haven't endorsed Trump is dwindling, so I don't think that's significant. But I do think Trump made a mistake in attacking Susana Martinez, the first Latina ever elected governor of any state. She is a Republican. Now she's been no Trump fan, that's true. But given Trump's problems with Hispanics generally, that was an attack that he really could have done without. [Brown:] And let's talk about that, Joseph, because he still has high unfavorables among women and Hispanics. They've gone down from women from the 70s in March to the 60s now, but still, it's pretty high. And yet he is going after someone like Susana Martinez, who's very popular within the Republican Party. A Hispanic woman. What do you think about that strategy? Do you think that he should scale back those kinds of attacks? [Borelli:] Well, let's start here. Governor Martinez, as the president head of the Republican Governors Association, should have been a little bit more politically savvy to realize that the Republican nominee was in her state and she really shouldn't have snubbed him. That said, you're right. We do see better numbers for Trump amongst women and I think the numbers aren't moving as fast as a lot of people would like. But there is a clear trend where he is gaining support amongst women. He's also gaining support amongst the probably the most important demographic of all, independents, and we're seeing that in the rise in poll numbers overall and swing states. [Brown:] And I want to ask you this, Marc, because Trump continues to say that he is not going to release his tax returns during this audit. Clinton, as we've seen has continued to use this as a line of attack against Trump. [Hill:] Yes. [Brown:] Do you think it's really going to work for her? [Hill:] I'm not sure that it will. The tax thing is important and he absolutely should release all tax returns and the audit excuse is somewhat flimsy. At the same time, it's hard for Hillary Clinton to make a transparency argument. She can't run a campaign on transparency because of her own e-mail scandal, which she admits was a mistake. And I'm not saying we should beat a dead horse. But because there are so many sort of murmurs about the Clintons and transparency, I'm not sure that that's the best plan of attack. For me Hillary Clinton should very much focus on her foreign policy experience. I mean, just yesterday, when we saw the president himself talk about world leader whose have a critique against Donald Trump and really fear of Donald Trump as a global leader, that's a much better and responsible successful mode of attack. [Brown:] Do you think it will be is that what people want, though, you think, her talking about policy and issues? Because we've seen Donald Trump use a different tack and he's really garnered a lot of attention. [Hill:] Donald Trump defies all logic, though. I mean, every strategy that traditionally would work against the candidate has not worked against Donald Trump. So I think at some point, you have to just play your strong hand. And her strong hand is that she's more experienced, that she has greater foreign policy knowledge, that she's more responsible. That she's more stable. That she's more mature. These are the sort of attacks or critiques, rather, I would make if I were Hillary Clinton campaigner. [Brown:] So you think in the long run, that's going to pay off for her. [Hill:] Is it has to. It has to. [Brown:] OK. I want to just go quickly you mentioned that the State Department IG report that came yesterday, Donald Trump seized on it basically saying that this just bolsters his argument that she is crooked Hillary. And here's what Clinton had to say in response. Let's listen to that. [Clinton:] Well, there may be reports that come out but nothing has changed. It's the same story. Just like previous secretaries of state, I used a personal e-mail. Many people did. It was not at all unprecedented. I have turned over all of my e-mails. No one else can say that. I have been incredibly open about doing that. I will continue to be open. And it's not an issue that is going to affect either the campaign or my presidency. [Brown:] Is that true, Larry? [Sabato:] Well, no, she is absolutely right, Pamela. It's the same sorry. And that's the problem. This e-mail controversy which is entirely of her own making, it is her fault that this has happened, she knew better than to do this. It is coming up again and again and again. If there is any good news for her, it is that everything we see so far suggests that Republicans are upset, but Democrats aren't. Now the Bernie Sanders supporters I'm sure would say that it is a negative one reason why they're not supporting her, but if she gets the nomination, they'll probably come on board eventually. But this is not going to be helpful for her [Brown:] But do this go to the trust issue? You know, when you see she had said, you know, her team had said, look, we're cooperating, then you find out in this report that Hillary had denied giving an interview to the IG, things like that. Does this go to the trust issue or not? Is this just trying to get your sense on how damaging this might be or not. [Sabato:] Well, I think it re-enforces her problems, which are twofold. People don't like her and don't trust her. Her advantage is that people also do not like or trust Donald Trump. So we have two candidates with the highest unfavorables ever recorded for major party presidential candidates. [Brown:] And President Obama is weighing in on all of this. It's pretty unusual for a commander-in-chief to come out and be this involved in an election season like this. It seems, I mean, he is really gone after Trump, though, Marc. I mean, he came out and said that Trump's remarks display ignorance and a cavalier attitude. Have you ever heard this from a [Hill:] It's a little early for that, I will say. Typically a president goes on the campaign trail for the nominee, which means post June, post July, you begin to see this type of language. You typically don't see it in May. But I think the president would argue that the stakes are very high. That a Donald Trump presidency is of such puts us to such extraordinary peril that he has to intervene. Not as a campaigner, not as a partisan, but as a global leader and someone whose job it is to safeguard the country. [Brown:] Joseph, your thoughts? [Borelli:] You know, the president has a right to attack the Republican nominee. And that's something, I think, as Mark said, we will expect to hear over time. But I think Trump's getting a lot of public support for many of his comments because of the failures of the Obama and Secretary of State Clinton's foreign policy failures. If he didn't have something to tweet about or talk about in terms of the government's policy in Libya and Syria, in Russia, and elsewhere, he wouldn't have the opportunity to even tweet about this and even gain support. [Marc Lamont Hill, Cnn Political Commentator:] But that there are critiques of several Obama and Clinton on foreign policy, no doubt. I've been echoing, I've been saying them for eight years. [Borelli:] M-hm, right. [Hill:] ... But that doesn't mean that Trump's policy is correct. And I think the fear is that his interventions or his proposed interventions are extraordinarily bad. Building a wall is a pander and it's a bad policy. [Borelli:] Keep in mind, the President right now is on an Asian trip where he's undermining our stability in our relationship with China. And he's lending his credibility to the Vietnam regime, which is horrible on human rights... [Hill:] Wait a minute... [Borelli:] ... so what's let's just be fair about... [Hill:] Did you say he's undermining our relationship with China, yet Trump says we're they're we're going to suck the blood out of China in the next six years. That undermines a relationship. He says he wants to kind of, move away from [our] relationship with the U.K., one of our strongest allies, again destabilizing the region. It's impossible to imagine anything Donald Trump has said has done anything to advance our relations with another nation. [Pamela Brown, Cnn:] All right, we have to leave it there, guys. Marc Lamont Hill, Larry Sabato, Councilman Joseph Borelli. Thanks for that really interesting discussion, good to hear all of your different viewpoints. Up next on this Thursday, the United Nations issued this stern warning about Iraq's siege on ISIS. Are the good guys endangering the lives of thousands of civilians? We're going to take a look after this break. [Quest:] Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There is more "Quest Means Business" in just a moment. The President of the European Council invoked Shakespeare in his "brexit" deals with David Cameron. And we're expecting important earnings from Yahoo! and chipotle within the next few moments. We'll bring them to you when we have those details. For all of that, this is CNN. And on this network, the news always comes first. Hillary Clinton has been declared the winner of a narrow victory over Bernie Sanders in the Iowa caucuses. Pools show Sanders in the lead in the next race in New Hampshire. Speaking to CNN's Wolf Blitzer, Secretary Clinton admitted she has work to do in order to attract younger voters going forward. [Clinton:] I'm thrilled to see so many young people get into the political process and I was very proud of all the young people who worked for [Richard Quest, Cnn International Anchor And Reporter Host Of "quest Means Business" Show:] in order to attract younger voters going forward. [Hillary Clinton, U.s. Democratic Candidate For President:] I'm thrilled to see so many young people get into the political process and I was very proud of all the young people who worked for me, volunteered for me, supported me. That's all to the good and it's great for the Democratic Party. But I'm going to have some work to do to reach out to young voters, maybe first- time voters who have to make a tough decision as they evaluate who should be our president, our commander in chief and I intend to do that. [Quest:] Meanwhile, the Republican candidate Ted Cruz is back on the campaign trail also now in New Hampshire after a stunning victory over Donald Trump in Iowa. The Texas senator told supporters that his victory had sent a clear message to the rest of the United States. [Ted Cruz, U.s. Republican Candidate For President:] The men and women of Iowa sent notice 'cross this county that this election is not going to be decided by the media. [Cruz:] If this election is not going to be decided by the lobbyists and the Washington Cartel. That it's going to be decided by the grassroots. [Quest:] Spain's Socialist Party will get the next chance to form a government two months after the general election failed to produce a clear winner. King Felipe has asked the Socialist leader Pedro Sanchez to form the government. The Current Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of the popular party was unable to put together a successful coalition. North Korea has told the United Nations it will launch a satellite into space in the next month. This is video from 2012 when the North said it was firing off a rocket carrying a satellite. Officials in the U.S. say the same type rocket that will put the satellite into orbit the North could also be used on a ballistic missile. "To be or not to be together." Donald Tusk quoted Hamlet as he unveiled his plan aimed at getting Britain to stay in the European Union. And critics are already giving it bad reviews. The British Prime Minister David Cameron says he knows a hog from a hacksaw, Act 2 of the appeal to the British people. The PM insists he got what promised with his four conditions. Meanwhile, the Euro skeptics in Act 3 and his own party doth protest too much for Cameron's likings. And they could turn on their own leader as the plot moves on to the Final Act. The Final Act is the vote itself and the British people will decide whether tis nobler in the mind to stay with Europe or to find fortune on their own with their slings and their arrows. But it is important to note at the end of "Hamlet," everyone dies. Mr. Cameron says Britain can reach a happier ending with a few improvements to the proposals. CNN's Phil Black explains when you look at the draft, what's there. [Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] June 6, 1975, the last time the British people had their say on whether or not to stay inside the European Union. Sixty-seven percent of voters were in favor. So Britain has remained part of the growing economic block now made up of 28 nations. Fast forward 40 years the U.K. holds an election and returns David Cameron's Conservative Party to power. It allows him to deliver on a key promise made to satisfy many in his own party. A national vote on the U.K. membership with the E.U. to be held by end of 2017. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] Yes, we will deliver that in-out referendum on our future in Europe. [Black:] Cameron wants Britain to stay in the E.U. but says he needs a better deal to sway British voters. He's demanding reform in four key areas. [Cameron:] We want to have a Europe where we're not subsumed into a super state, but we can be proud and independent. We want a Europe is competitive, we want a Europe that respects our currency and treats us fairly and we want a Europe that takes the pressure off in terms of migration. [Black:] Migration is the big contentious one. Cameron believes many Europeans come to Britain because of generous government benefits to low- paid workers and he initially pushed for a deal that would see migrants go without those benefits for four years. But the E.U. said no way, that's discrimination. So the suggested compromise is an emergency brake where benefits can be suspended temporarily if migration rates are causing excessive pressure on the country. Cameron says this draft agreement is real progress. [Cameron:] If we can secure what's in this document and finish off the details and improve it still further, we'll be able to show that on balance Britain is better off, more secure, more prosperous, better chance of success for all our families and all our people inside this reformed European Union. [Black:] But critics aren't impressed. One anti-E.U. pressure group called it a "worthless package of so-called reforms." The E.U. leadership also has a tough sell convincing other member states to embrace compromise. European Council President Donald Tusk reminded the mistakes are high, tweeting, "To be or not to be together, that is the question." Now the focus is thrashing out the detail to secure a final agreement at an E.U. summit this month. If successful, the British people could soon learn when they will get to vote. The earliest possible date would be in June. Phil Black, CNN London. [Quest:] Courting business leaders has been one of the most important parts of the British prime minister's campaign. Mr. Cameron spoke at a Siemens Factory on Tuesday and insisted Britain would be better off in the E.U. He's seen shaking hands there with the chief executive of Siemens U.K. who is Juergan Maier we're delighted having been with the prime minister. Mr. Maier joins me now from London. You were fortunate that of course the day he's there and you get the deal, have you had a chance to look at this deal the various component parts as to whether or not you find it acceptable for British business. [Juergan Maier, Ceo, Siemens U.k:] Yes sure, I have had a look and obviously I was there today as the Prime Minister was addressing some of our employees. And as far as I'm concerned, particularly the point of more competitiveness I think is good for business in Britain. I think it's good for business across the whole of Europe. And the other key thing for me is that we definitely have made progress on these reform points. So I'm looking forward to an opportunity for a hopeful early referendum because that would be good for business because uncertainty is not [Quest:] Right. [Maier:] good for business and we'd like this behind us and we'd like to unite. [Quest:] And as I read the document today, one of the key areas is this idea that sterling must not be and acking out on the other non-Euro currencies must not be at a disadvantage to the countries to those countries who for whom the Euro is their currency. Do you think that makes a difference? Or, I mean, I guess the real issue the critics say it's just words, it's verbiage, it's just it's just stuff. [Maier:] Well, at the end of the day, what this does is it makes it absolutely clear that there are two types of countries within the EU and one set of countries are within the Euro, and Britain, like some others, have chosen not to be part of that Euro. That means that we have all of the other benefits of access to the free market of being able to do joint research projects which is very important to ta company like ours. But it means we're not part of the common currency which I think is absolutely fine, and to make that more explicit I think is a positive thing. [Quest:] This you mentioned a moment ago about the damaging effect of a prolonged debate or a prolonged referendum process. Not necessarily with Siemans, but from your contacts with other chief execs and other European business leaders, are they deferring or delaying or procrastinating on investment decisions pending this referendum, do you think? [Maier:] Well I think uncertainty is never good for business. So the answer is, is there might be some businesses that are saying well, you know, at the end of the day in or out of the E.U. is quite an important factor. And might just hold a decision until I know what the outcome is going to be. So I so I do think that in this moment in time, there will be some finance director's CEOs who might well be holding back on making important decisions so therefore my message is the sooner we can move on, the better it will certainly be for business. [Quest:] Well of course that will be June the 23rd, of course assuming there's a problem there with the national parliament votes in Scotland and Wales. Finally, Mr. Maier, I'm just going to chance me luck here did the Prime Minister give you any indication when that referendum would be? Did he sort of say ah, Juergan, it'll be March, it'll be June, it'll be any idea? [Maier:] No is the answer to that, but I think we were all encouraged by the fact that progress is being made. So we hope as early as possible. Maybe it is in June, let's see. [Quest:] Good to have you, sir. We'll talk more as this debate goes on. We'll have you back in again to talk us through the business aspects of this. Nice to see you joining us from London. Now from the question of a single currency to the issue of Israeli startups. And we'll talk about the economic situation is getting very trick, particularly when it comes to raising money. "Quest Means Business." [Berman:] All right, we have more breaking news surrounding the resignation of Michael Flynn as national security adviser. The Republican chair of the House Intelligence Committee just said that he wants an investigation into the issues surrounding this, but not not what you think. Let's bring in our senior Capitol Hill reporter Manu Raju for more details on this. David Nunez, what does he want to investigate, Manu? [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Reporter:] Well, he just told reporters that he's very concerned about the leaks that have been surrounding the calls between Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador. And he says that is something that he wants to look into. He's very concerned about the leaks. Now, I had a chance to just ask him, well, what about the discussions between president-elect, at the time, Donald Trump and Michael Flynn about Russia and whether did the president-elect at the time instruct Michael Flynn to discuss the issue of sanctions or discuss anything with the Russian ambassador. And Mr. Nunez said, well, that is actually something that could be covered by executive privilege. In other words, something that he does not think that Congress would be able to look into. So that is one issue. There is a lot of questions about what exactly the president of the United States knew, and whether or not he told his national security adviser, incoming national security adviser, to discuss the issue of Russia's sanctions as they were come into power. But that's not something that the Congress, at least this committee, the House Intelligence Committee, which is looking into Russian meddling in the elections, plans to look into. Now, I did speak to another member of that committee, Peter King of New York, the congressman, the Republican congressman, said that he thinks that Donald Trump should should actually detail to the public exactly what he said to Michael Flynn at that time, should divulge it. And I said, well, do you think that if he does not there should be an investigation into this by Congress? He said he didn't really go that far. But he said that he does think it's incumbent on the president to detail those conversations. Now this all comes, John and Poppy, as Democrats are coming for a full independent investigation about what happened, but Republicans in Congress believe it can be done through the existing committees to look into this issue of Russia, Russia hacking. But, of course, there's disagreement with about the scope of the investigation with Mr. Nunez suggesting that it will not look into the issue of Donald Trump's discussions with Michael Flynn. [Harlow:] But it's just pretty incredible when you think about what the public has the right to know and what the public should know. And it echoes what the president what the president just tweeted [Berman:] Right. [Harlow:] Saying, this is about illegal leaks coming out of Washington, not about the issue that the vice president was lied to or the national security advisor just forgot. [Berman:] And it is notable, by the way, that the statement from the chairman, the Republican chairman of the House Intel Committee [Harlow:] Echoes [Berman:] Comes within the same 10-minute period [Harlow:] Yes. [Berman:] That President Trump tweeted. We don't know if, in fact, those are coordinated messages, but they're coincidental to say the least. [Harlow:] Absolutely. On some other important news, and that is the president's pick for labor secretary. Someone who's been controversial from the moment he was chosen by the president, Andrew Puzder, former CEO of a big fast-food restaurant chain, under fire now, not just from Democrats, but from four Republican senators who say we're going to wait until we support him. We want to hear what he has to say at the confirmation hearings. This is notable, Manu. [Raju:] Yes, look, we'll see if they actually vote no. That is the big question. Right now they're saying they do want to hear some of the his positions on key issues, but also some of the controversies from his past, most notably his hiring of an undocumented immigrant as a housekeeper, later paying back taxes, but also messy issues involving his divorce from three decades ago and allegations that he faced at the time of domestic abuse. Something that actually his ex-wife at the time has since withdrawn, but also has become back into the spotlight because she appeared in disguise in the mid '80s after that divorce on "The Oprah Winfrey" show to discuss these issues. Now, senators on that committee have actually reviewed that "Oprah Winfrey" tape, that episode, in which she appeared on that tape. We have not seen that publically. But expect senators on that committee to ask Mr. Puzder about that at this hearing on Thursday. But Republicans, the leadership, big business groups are pushing very hard for his confirmation. They think it could be among the hardest, if not the hardest of Donald Trump's nominees to get confirmed. But they need to make sure they limit those defections to no more than two Republican senators because if it's three or more then he's not going to get the job. Poppy and John. [Berman:] And, Manu, a quick question here. You know Paul Ryan, the House speaker, the House leadership, they're going to hold a briefing momentarily and Paul Ryan will be put in one of those situations that he just loves. [Harlow:] Right. [Berman:] He's going to face questions about President Trump and issues no doubt surrounding the resignation of Michael Flynn. Any sense how the speaker will address this? [Raju:] It remains to be seen. I think that he probably will support what the president has done so far. He will probably say it's up to the president to choose his own national security team. You're not hearing a lot of criticism from the House speaker towards the president of the United States since this since Donald Trump won the election. I don't think you'll probably hear much of that today. You do hear some disagreement about the issue of Russia, but it's done in a more gentle way, not in a way to provoke a fight between the White House and the House Republican leadership. So watch him to be pretty gentle in that regard. [Berman:] Manu Raju for us on Capitol Hill, where the news is breaking as well. Thanks so much, Manu. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie picked a heck of a day to go to Washington and have lunch with the president. He will be at the White House in a little bit. I wonder what they're going to talk about today? Mr. President, what's new in your life? [Harlow:] Well, this morning, the family of Philando Castile is still demanding answers a week after his death. An investigation is unveiling really a string of contradictions. He said, she said, including whether or not Castile received medical aid after he was shot. Our Rosa Flores is live in Minnesota with more. Look, this is this is critically important when you look at when emergency services are usually called and when you look at what the governor said the next day versus what we're now hearing from police. What are police telling you, and how does that counter what the governor said? [Rosa Flores, Cnn Corresppondent:] Well, Poppy, all of those details are very, very important. That traffic stop happened on this street, that fatal shooting near this memorial. Like you mentioned, all new this morning, we're learning from a neighboring police department what they say they did to try to save Philando Castile's life. [Flores:] You've seen the dramatic cell phone video of Philando Castile in a white t-shirt covered in blood after being shot by a police officer. [Police Officer:] I told him not to reach for it! I told him to get his hand off it! [Flores:] Now, we're hearing from police what they say happened after the camera hit the ground. [Rick Mathwig, Roseville Chief Of Police:] We are people. [Flores:] Roseville Police Chief Rick Mathwig says it's his officers who arrived first on scene. [Mathwig:] At that time, our officers didn't know who had shot whom. It was a chaotic affair. [Flores:] But within three minutes, he says, they administered CPR on the street right outside Castile's car. [Mathwig:] One officer from Roseville of the four that did CPR showed me his blood-soaked pants of Mr. Castile's blood. Another showed me his blood-soaked boots of Mr. Castile's blood. So, Roseville officers performed professional, caring CPR on Mr. Castile and tried to save his life. [Flores:] A clear contradiction of what Minnesota Governor Dayton said Thursday about what happened. [Gov. Mark Dayton , Minnesota:] She recounted it this morning in front of the residence that Philando was not given first aid, nobody tended to his condition as they were attending to the condition of the police officer who did the shooting. [Mathwig:] It hurt me as the chief of Roseville Police Department to hear the governor of Minnesota saying that Mr. Castile did not receive CPR. It hurt. [Flores:] But that's not the only contradiction Chief Mathwig points out. [Diamond Reynolds, Victim's Girlfriend:] I didn't arrive home until about 5:00 this morning. [Mathwig:] She wasn't held all night. She was held for just about two hours. [Flores:] Reynolds was held in this room, the chief says, called a soft interview room because it has toys, books, and blankets for children to play. [Reynolds:] They manipulated me to go to the station, where they agreed to feed us and give us water, and they didn't. They separated myself and my daughter. [Flores:] A state investigator ended up helping her that night. [Mathwig:] She had talked about how her groceries were in the car and her child hadn't eaten all day. So Chris Olson took $40 out of his own billfold and gave it to her. [Flores:] And before dropping her off at home just before 1:00 a.m., Chief Mathwig says a police officer gave the little girl a teddy bear. Now, since that governor's press conference, he has come out publicly several times in support of law enforcement. Right after the Dallas shooting, he thanked police for their service and for saving the lives of so many around the country. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Rosa, this isn't going to be just he said, she said. This is going to matter. This is a fundamental element of any litigation that is to come in this case. We'll stay on it. Rosa Flores, thank you. Let's take a quick break. The race for the White House growing tighter. Polls out this morning, key battleground states. Remember, this election is going to come down to not just a few states but a number of counties. That's how tight it is. We have the numbers next. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Interantional Correspondent:] We're running now with these migrants and refugees who just broke out of the holding area right along the border with Serbia. [Anderson:] Border tensions boil over as Europe scrambles to catch up with a refugee crisis that shows no signs of slowing. We're live for you in southern Hungary this hour and we'll go to London in Paris for the latest rhetoric from Europe's leaders. Also ahead, how to tackle the root cause of the crisis. [Staffan De Mistura, Un Special Envoy To Syria:] There's no more time for niceties or diplomatic malaise or postponements or partial solutions. It is to push... [Damon:] The UN's envoy to Syria names and blames the world powers he says are responsible for the continuing war in Syria. That interview is coming up. And the pope introduces reforms that ease the process for Catholics who want to annul their marriages. Live in Rome for you on one of his most significant reforms yet. [Announcer:] Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson. [Anderson:] At just after 7:00 in the evening, it is a very good evening from the UAE. We are watching a dramatic scene unfold in southern Hungary. Hours ago, hundreds of frustrated migrants burst through a barrier near the Serbian border and began running deeper into Hungary. Let's listen. Well, CNN's Arwa Damon has been walking, or running, alongside these migrants who are now at least a few kilometers into EU territory. She's been tracking the plight of many of the refugees from the Syrian civil war, which Arwa has covered from the start. She's going to join us in a few minutes here on Connect the World. Meanwhile, the EU commission is about to lay out its proposal detailing how many refugees should be taken in by the various countries in Europe. France and the UK have said they will pitch in. And while some nations in eastern Europe are voicing objections, German Chancellor Angela Merkel says that quotas are the only way to ensure that every country does its part. [Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:] We really need to discuss about a joint and overarching asylum policy and we, Sweden and Germany, are of the view that binding quota actually ought to be applied so that refugees can be fairly distributed to the European member states. Unfortunately, we are a long way off this target. [Anderson:] All right. And just a reminder, we'll be back with Arwa in a moment for what is the latest on a dramatic situation playing out in southern Hungary. I want to turn to Britain where there is an eruption of controversy after Prime Minister David Cameron revealed an unprecedented military strike in Syria after two years two years after, sorry, parliament denied him permission to act there. Mr. Cameron announced that two UK nationals were killed in a drone strike near the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. Now this was last month, he said. Reyaad Khan, seen here on the left in a propaganda video put out by ISIS was the target of that attack. Rohul Amin seen here was also killed. Now having acted without a mandate from parliament, Mr. Cameron will likely face questions when he returned to parliament on Wednesday for his regular question time. Well, the UK controversy comes as France looks set to take on ISIS in Syria. Well, for more on all of this, let's get you our correspondents up live. Now Nic Robertson is with us from outside 10 Downing Street tonight. And Jim Bittermann standing by in Paris. Let me start with you, Nic. And even without that mandate, the British defense minister is saying that the government would, quote, not hesitate to do this again. How is Cameron defending his position? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Interantional Correspondent:] Well, it's the right of self defense of the nation, article 51 of the UN. He said that he went to the attorney general in Britain and put this situation to him, or a situation similar to this to him, and he was given a legal greenlight to go ahead with these strikes where he said these young men were involved in plotting attacks in Britain, that there were several plots in the past 12 months that have been thwarted by Britain's security services and that the only way to stop these men going ahead with the plans that they were putting in place for more attacks was to disrupt them. And the only way to disrupt them was a drone strike killing them. So, what the prime minister said here is that Britain has the right to do this, because it is a right of self-defense. He said that this was meticulously planned. Human rights lawyers here are calling it into question. Opposition parliamentarians have said they really need more information if they can make a judgment on this themselves. They don't know the information that was provided to the attorney general for him to make this legal decision. So, it certainly is very, very likely to raise more questions, wanting more details about the circumstances, the precise nature of the circumstances at prime minister's question time on Wednesday. I have to say, though, it's entirely possible that he will use national security, as we've heard up until now, not to get into further details. [Anderson:] Yeah, it's been just over two years, Nic, since Mr. Cameron went to parliament to ask for permission to intervene in Syria. That was to go after President al-Assad's regime. As I mentioned, parliament rejected his proposals, then. Listen to his response a few days after that defeat, just to remind our viewers. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] Last week, the House of Commons voted clearly, and I've said I respect the outcome out of that vote. And I won't be bringing back plans for British participation in military action. [Anderson:] Well, is this, Nic, a case of Mr. Cameron, then, again ignoring parliament's wishes to get involved in Syria? Or is there a genuine appetite for anti-ISIS strikes at this point? [Robertson:] I think there are several things in play here. One is that was the last session of parliament. David Cameron is back, Prime Minister with a much bigger mandate for the Conservative Party. He's not in an alliance government. The request back then, as you said, was to go after President Bashar al-Assad with manned aircraft, and this was of course right on the heels of the gas attack in Syria, which caused so much controversy around the world, that was resolved in a different way other than going for those strikes. He had rushed the MPs back from their summer recess for this vote. It did go against him. But as recently as last week when he was asked this question about further military action inside Syria, he said he wouldn't do it without the full support of the government. What he announced yesterday does seem to fit in with what we're learning, that he would like to push this parliament to a vote in October to determine whether or not Britain should carry out more strikes inside Syria. right now, it's manned strikes, or manned aircraft in strikes over Iraq after ISIS. This would just shift them a little westwards into Syrian territory. The question that is there a greater appetite for that here in this country at this time, there certainly is a realization among many people here that ISIS poses a threat, that people that are going off to join ISIS are already, if you will, nailing their colors to the flagstaff. A lot of people are unhappy about that. [Anderson:] Thank you, Nic. And a reminder that much of our reporting of late has been on Syrian refugees who are making their way, often a treacherous journey through Europe. Many of them will say it's not ISIS they fear in Syria, it is President Bashar al-Assad. For another conversation. The French President Francois Hollande is looking to step up France's involvement in Syria. He has announced that France will begin reconnaissance missions over the country today aimed at gathering intelligence in preparation for bombing raids against ISIS. Jim is with us in Paris. How significant is this announcement, Jim. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn International Correpsondent:] Well, I don't think too significant politically. This is more of a philosophical discussion that's been taking place within the highest levels of governments here for the last year. Basically, France has been on board with the coalition and bombing targets in Iraq. But, from the very beginning, Hollande has said that he basically doesn't want to involve the French forces in bombing Syrian ISIS positions in Syria, because ISIS is against Bashar al-Assad. And he would like to see Bashar al-Assad out. So, by bombing them he's actually supporting Bashar al-Assad. So, the logic for the French was that they shouldn't bomb because it supports the regime and they'd like to see regime change. Now, however, there has been a philosophical change. And clearly Hollande believes that it's more important to fight ISIS than in fact it is to have regime change Becky. [Anderson:] Jim Bittermann on the story in Paris for you. And a lot more on Europe's efforts to solve what is this crisis at both ends. Just ahead, as the fighting in Syria continues to drive more people from their homes, we're going to have my interview with the man the UN has told to sort it out. I'll ask him if that is even possible at this point. That is the UN envoy to Syria coming up. And we'll turn to Germany to look at the challenges that Chancellor Angela Merkel, a hero to some migrants, will face on delivering on her promise to take in nearly a million refugees. Well, back to the story of the day, and a scene that truly captures the anger and desperation felt by many of those trying to reach Europe from places like Syria. CNN's Arwa Damon following a group of migrants and refugees who broke through a police barrier and simply ran into Hungary earlier today. Where are you? And what's going on? [Damon:] Well, Becky, they've come to a stop here, something is going on. It might be the buses that they are waiting for. Yes, OK, this is what has happened up until this point. These people did not break through the Hungarian border fence, they actually came through the fence. They were then taken to something of a holding area where they were waiting for buses. And they were fed up with the wait and the conditions that they were having to wait in. They were waiting for hours. Some of them have been waiting for days. So they broke through the police perimeter there. They ran through the fields for about three hours. Some children like that little girl up there I don't know if we can grab a shot of her right there. She lost her shoes. A lot of the other kids losing their shoes as well as they bolted. But eventually the police force did catch up to them. It was especially difficult for the parents of the little kids to carry their little ones and try to run through this terrain. So, eventually the police force did catch up to them and then walked alongside them for about two to three hours along these train tracks. At a few occasions, they did try to stop them, but the front row of these refugees and migrants, made up of young men, always physically pushed through the police force. They eventually convinced them to stop right here, told them they would be bringing them food and water, which they did. And then there were some pretty lengthy negotiations underway at the end of which we heard that they agreed that they would get on buses that the police would bring them. And here they have to trust the police. And there is not a lot of trust here. But that that would take them to a location, a camp where they would be spending the night. They were promised that they would not be that they would not be fingerprinted and then tomorrow morning, they're expecting a train. [Anderson:] Yeah. And we after I speak to you, we'll be hearing from the UN envoy to Syria about what is this human catastrophe as a result of this civil war and the reason why these people are on the move. Just before we leave you, Arwa, how long have these people been on the road? Is it clear? And where are they trying to get to at this point? [Damon:] Well, they've been they've been on the road they landed in Greece anywhere from two to four weeks ago. Some of them crossed into Hungary yesterday, some a few days ago. But most of the last two to three weeks they've spent walking. And it's exhausting. And they don't have... [Anderson:] With their kids on their backs. [Damon:] And it is not cheap. Just that sea transit can cost anywhere from about $1,300 per person. And yes, as you say, they're walking this entire way carrying their children for the most part. [Anderson:] Arwa, you've said it isn't cheap. I mean, this is just remarkable to see. And these are people who have now been on the road for two to three weeks. And as you rightly point out, they're doing this to provide themselves and their children, most importantly, a future. But they have no idea what will happen at the other end, do they? And we know that the German's for example, have talked about the doors being open only temporarily, for example. Are they concerned that possibly they'll miss the boat, as it were? They won't get in once they get to the other end? [Damon:] Well, they're concerned about a couple of things. They're concerned about a couple of things. They're concerned about getting where they need to get. And they also were concerned prior to all of this about Hungary closing its borders as well, because remember that is going to be taking place in the very near future. And, yes, they are aware of the reception that people are receiving in Germany right now, which is really part of the reason why they're just so desperate to get there. They want this ordeal to be over. And they just want to be able to get somewhere where they are able to relax that little bit if that is even possible for them. Because then once they get there they have to start a new life without the community, without everything that used to be familiar for them: a new language, new culture, new traditions, something that they are fully willing to do, but it's not easy. And you can see. I mean, every single step of the way of this trip is difficult, every single step of the way is fraught with its own problems, its own very different challenges, whether it's people breaking out of holding areas, or cramming trying to get on a bus. A lot of times, you know, it's the parents that all they want to do is just protect their children. And they never thought that it would be this hard, that they go through this much, especially not when they reached Europe. And they are exhausted. And at the same time, even though all they want to do is protect their children and comfort their children. They're so tired that many of them when you talk to them say that what they miss the most is their own parents comforting touch, because all they want, like one woman was saying, is for her mother to come and hug her and tell her everything is going to be OK, because this has just been so unspeakably difficult. [Anderson:] And Arwa, just before we go, I can hear either the bus driver or one of the policemen there trying to get these guys sort of in to line, as it were, I guess to get on the bus. I'm assuming you're speaking Hungarian, and I'm assuming that most of the people trying to get on this bus and trying to get themselves a seat, as it were, and just sit down for a bit, don't speak any Hungarian, right? I mean, how many speak Germany? How many speak English I mean, how are they communicating? How difficult is it? [Damon:] You know well, that's been one of the really big challenges. It's actually been one of the things that struck us, because even when they're at organized locations like at the holding area that they were at, there aren't really any Arabic speakers either. There's no one really to translate. So you do have some of these police officers who do speak a little bit of English, some who do speak English perfectly well. You do have, you know, some of the refugees who do speak English and they try to communicate like that. But, yes, a lot of the times one of the really big problems has been the language barrier, because when these people reach Hungary having walked from Serbia into Hungary, they arrive exhausted, thirsty and confused. They want to know what the process is. They want to know how long they're going to have to wait at each point, what's going to be happening to them. And there's no one there to properly explain it to them. And so that of course adds to further frustrations. But when we've asked government officials about this, they say, well, look, you know, these aren't just people who speak Arabic. You've got Afghans, Pakistanis, people from Iran, people from other parts of the world, so we can't be expected to provide a translator for everybody. But, yes, a very good point there. The language, of course, does make it even more difficult because there aren't people around that can answer all of the questions that they have. [Anderson:] Keep at it, Arwa. Thank you. Arwa Damon there is in southern Hungary on a trip, which has been some weeks in the making. But for many of those, as you can see, who are making this journey they are making it an even longer trip than even we have been reporting on. Excuse me, while I just cough. CNN has of course been reporting on the unfolding refugee and migrant crisis as Syrians flee violence, and those from other places, of course. But there are many, many Syrians who are fleeing violence and more at home looking for stability and security in other countries. The conflict started as a civil war, that's now in its fifth year. But long ago, it devolved into what is a multi-pronged proxy war as world powers vie for influence and protect their interest with Russia, Iran, Saudi and the U.S. increasingly involved. Well, the rise of ISIS in Syria has raised international concern as the terror group gains ground in the war torn country. And getting all the parties involved in the conflict to agree on a path towards peace is a difficult task, to say the least. Well, I spoke to the man charged with that task, UN special envoy for Syria Staffan de Mistura a short time ago. And I began by asking him which countries can impact this conflict in Syria. have a listen. [De Mistura:] The countries who can make an influence are: USA and Russia to start with. They are talking. They are actually talking constructively at the moment. But not enough to reach a conclusion about the mother of all issues, which is how to find an architecture of the future of Syria, which has enough credible, substantial change of governance combined with a sufficient, sustainable continuation of the state as such, because we don't want no one wants another Libya, another Iraq. And then two other countries, let's call them by name because they are the ones who can and should make a difference, Iran and Saudi Arabia, Saudi Arbia and Iran. If Saudi Arabia and Iran start talking, America and the U.S. and the Russia are talking at the moment but not to the point of concluding. Iran and Saudi Arabia, unfortunately, are not yet talking. [Anderson:] You pointed the fingers squarely at the U.S. at Russia, Iran and Saudi Arabia. Let's start with Iran and I'm going to come back to Russia and the U.S. and indeed Saudi. Iran says it is willing to sit down with rivals, Saudi and the U.S., to discuss a solution to the Syria crisis. Here is what the Iranian president had to say earlier. [Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President:] Iran will sit down at any table if it sees that a secure, stable and democratic future for Syria will be the end result of negotiations. We are ready to talk with all parties, with countries inside and outside the region. What is important for us is the lives of the Syrian people. What is also important is for those Syrians who have been made refugees to return home. If one day Syria is more secure, that will be in the interest of the whole region and the world. [Anderson:] Sir, Iran was excluded from the previous rounds from the Geneva peace talks on Syria. You've said the UN has the right to invite everybody, including Iran, to participate in the process. How critical is it for you that Iran is at the table at this point? [De Mistura:] Not to me, but to the Syrian solution, to the Syrian conclusion of this conflict, it's critical. Anyone today will not be naive enough to believe that if we exclude Iran from the equation there will not be a solution on this conflict. Iran and Saudi Arabia have been supporting the two sides very actively. They are part of a regional tension that we need to help to be solved. It's not only Syria, look at Lebanon, look at Yemen, look at Iraq. Isn't it time finally for them to sit and talk? That's how conflicts have ended in the past. Now, Iran is ready to talk. The important thing is to qualify how far are they ready to consider that we cannot go back to the past. [Anderson:] I want to talk about plans going forward. But as you just eluded, this is a human catastrophe. In the short-term, the British prime minister on Monday said that UK forces could be deployed to Syria to help set up safe zones, and called the idea of safe refuge as certainly the right sort of thinking. Do you agree? [De Mistura:] Well, it's not for me to agree or not agree. What I can say is the following, that any type of partial solution of a military nature to a conflict that cannot be won, they've tried for five years, everyone, to win through a proxy approach a conflict which has been not winnable. So the time is not to look at partial solutions, why... [Anderson:] With respect, sir, I do want to look at partial solutions, because this is a human catastrophe. There are 11 million people displaced, many of those within the country. So in the short-term, I put it to you, are safe havens the short-term solution in both the north and the south? Because if they are, that will need a UN resolution and no-fly zones and I wager you that President Bashar al-Assad will see that as a threat to his sovereignty, and one assumes that somebody like Russia as a friend not a foe of the regime there would veto that correct? [De Mistura:] Correct. And that's most likely. And we will lose another six months, another year of tragedy. Isn't it time, instead, for looking at the global solution. It's very simple, in theory. The war could end in one month, believe me, once the oxygen will have been taken away from both sides and telling them, look, we are not going to fueling you anymore, either side, with money and weapons. Sit down about a possible road map, which we have it. The thing is, let's go to it. Then, the conflict will be over, and buffer zone or non-buffer zone will become obsolete. [Anderson:] So, can I confirm with you that you say that President Bashar al-Assad has a role going forward in any political solution? [De Mistura:] I didn't say that. I didn't say that because it's not for me to say that, that's up for the Syrian people to say that. One day they will be given a chance for free, honest, really UN internationally monitored elections who should be their leader, whoever will he be. What I'm saying is that currently, in order to conclude a conflict. Due to this crisis and due to the trigger of the refugees, there is no more time for niceties or diplomatic malaise or postponements or partial solution. It's to push Russia and America to continue seriously their dialogue and conclude it. And above all, to put enough, more pressure on those who can make a difference. Iran and Saudi Arabia, for god's sake, sit together, do something about what otherwise will employed the whole region. And would be endless. [Anderson:] Strong words from the man who is tasked, at least by the UN, in trying to sort out the mess that is Syria at present. Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Coming up, Germany takes the lead on the refugee crisis sweeping Europe. Many people there going out of their way to welcome the new arrivals, but not everybody, it has to be said. And we'll be live in Rome as the Vatican makes a radical announcement, simplifying the process for Catholics to end their marriages. Stay with us. [Cooper:] More on my interview now with Donald Trump up close and personal. Yesterday he took questions from voters at Theo's Restaurant in Manchester, New Hampshire. Today he even made quip about having dinner with one voter who was leaning toward voting for him but not 100 percent sure. It became kind of a running joke and was a casual atmosphere their in the restaurant but some of the voters questions tackled the bigger issues. Take a look. You take about taking Brian to dinner maybe I'll take him to dinner Timothy's Restaurant. This is Timothy Baines he is a restaurant owner. He says his still undecided. So you could convince him as well. Timothy. [Timothy Baines, Restaurant Owner:] Yes. Hi, Mr. Trump. I own a small restaurant here in Manchester and interact with young people on a daily basis. It's clear they don't trust Washington. [Trump:] I don't either, Timothy less than anybody maybe. Not too much. [Baines:] Absolutely. It's a polarized environment. And I feel like a lot of that is because of our most recent two presidents. What tools will you bring to the table to be able to work with people on both sides of the aisle? [Trump:] It's a great question, you know, in Manhattan, I built a tremendous company and somebody was mentioning today, I built a job, I built really a city on the west side of Manhattan. You know it very well, Anderson, Trump place. And it goes from 72nd street to 59th street. I had to get zoning. Now, this might sound simple. This was, Anderson would understand people that are in Manhattan you would... [Cooper:] It's not an easy thing to do. [Trump:] I was told that it was impossible, in fact I bought a land very inexpensive, because if people said it was impossible to ever get it done. I got it zoned for a 6,000, almost 6,000-unit job with tremendous shopping, with tremendous parking, thousands and thousands of spaces. I got it zoned for one of the great jobs and it's been a tremendous success. It did a great job to get that zone and to get that taking care of, you can negotiate anything. One other thing I say I just got the old post office recently on Pennsylvania Avenue, I'm building and Hotel. Every major company in the country wanted that hotel company. And I got that. Who did I get it from? The Obama Administration. If you think about it, right. I had a great plan, I have a great balance sheet. I got it from Obama. We can solve problems if we help people that are now. [Cooper:] Politically, though, you are polarizing but you're saying once you get to Washington you can actually get deals done? [Trump:] I get along with people. Look Ronald Reagan and Tip O'Neill were very opposite. They get along, they had a great relation, they really liked each other. [Cooper:] For some polls... [Trump:] Compromise is not a dirty word but we have to get a much better part of the compromise. It's not a dirty. I mean we have people that will never be able to make deals. You know, somebody said, oh, he'll make deals. I'm going to make good deals. That's what I do. I made billions of dollars by making good. [Cooper:] There are some conservatives who worry you'll make deal too much that you'll compromise too much on conservative principles. [Trump:] I'm not a huge compromiser. I have to tell. I make great deals. I make deals I own some of the greatest assets in the world. People wanted them everybody... [Cooper:] Is it important to get a deal or just stand on a principle? [Trump:] You have to both. Honestly, you have to both. You'll get the deal done but only if it's right. For instant on the Iran deal, I would never started negotiating that deal unless they let our prisoners go first. I would gone in I would settle this and got to let our prisoners go. They would say no, I would walk, I would have doubled up the sanctions within 24 hours, they would have let the prisoners go. Then I would gone in. Now I would gone a second bite, I would say listen, we are a busted country. We have no money. We owe $19 trillion. Because I want to take my father always says, take the lumps out. He used to say son, take the lumps out. OK. [Cooper:] And what's does that mean? [Trump:] That means make it a little bit nicer. [Cooper:] OK. [Trump:] Because normally I go and say, we're not giving you the 150 billion. So instead I would say fellas, we owe $19 trillion. We're a country that has no money. We can't give you the 150. They'll say, "But we want it." I'll say, "We don't have it, we don't have it." That's called taking the lumps out. That supposed to. OK. They will go crazy. It will break up. Two days later, they'll call back, let's make a deal. We keep the $150 billion. And by the way, what have they done? Well, they started to like me but I'm liking this guy. I think I got him. I think I have them both. But you know what? What have we done with 150? What have they done? They bought 118 airbus planes, not Boeing Planes. They're spending all of their money in Europe. They're giving Russia a big chunks of money for missiles. I didn't even know they were allowed to buy missiles? Why are they allowed to buy missiles? It's so unfair and so incompetent. [Cooper:] We'll just have more of my interview with Trump. Wasn't all policy talk, he open up about his family including his wife. Here's how he described the moment that he knew he has in news. [Trump:] I was at a party and I was a single person at a party and she was standing and there were three or four supermodels. And I said, "Oh look whose here. Its super model, super model." And I say, "Forget about them. I like that one. Who is that?" [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Our politics lead today: Hillary Clinton's campaign insists it was going to never would be easy. And new swing state polls prove just how difficult her run to the White House could be. The former secretary of state now finds herself looking up at Republicans in hypothetical square-offs for the Oval Office in Iowa, in Colorado and in Virginia, all pivotal backgrounds where the White House can be won or lost. New Quinnipiac polls show Clinton lagging behind former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, losing to Florida Senator Marco Rubio, and tasting theoretical defeat at the hands of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. In one of those matchups, she is within the margin of error. And, significantly, voters in all three states, of course, view Clinton unfavorably. This is part of her problem. The only person they say they like less than the former first lady is Donald Trump, which is the other big news from these polls. After his rally in South Carolina yesterday, in which he gave out the private cell phone number of one of his rivals, Senator Lindsey Graham, Trump had a relatively quiet campaign today, though he plans to visit the TexasMexico border tomorrow. But even a quiet day in Trump land is seldom quiet, his financial disclosure forms released, and he sat down with the host of "A.C. 360," Anderson Cooper, who joins me now. Anderson, you sat down with Mr. Trump just a few skyscrapers away. And you asked him about these polls. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] I did. I started off asking him about I wanted to start off by asking about the or mentioning the "Washington Post"ABC poll. [Tapper:] Yes, butter him up a little bit. [A. Cooper:] Exactly. [Tapper:] Sure. [Cooper:] To not feel I was being too negative. He did not like the fact that I raised the Quinnipiac poll, though, he later told me. But, yes, I talked to him about it. Obviously, we had to do it. Here's what he had to say. In the general election voters, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, you have the worst favorability ratings of anyone, Republican or Democrat, negative favorability ratings of almost 2-1. Hillary Clinton also did bad. What do you say? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I haven't seen it. I really don't know. I haven't seen it. I have only... [Cooper:] ... favorability ratings worry you? [Trump:] I don't think so. I mean, I have turned a lot of them around. And, as you know, in North Carolina, it was negative. And now it's like tremendously positive. And when people hear what I say about the vets and how strong my commitment is to the vets, they have been treated so badly, and to the border, which is just horrible, I mean, every time people listen to me, all of a sudden, it becomes very favorable. [Cooper:] So, you think you can turn around because a lot of people say, look, those kind of unfavorability ratings, that does not bode well. You think you can turn that around? [Trump:] I don't know. I mean, who knows? I'm doing this for the good of the country. Somebody has to do it. Politicians are never going to turn this country around. Our country is a mess. The politicians are going to destroy this country. They're weak and they're ineffective. [Cooper:] It was a very wide-ranging interview. I really tried, as you did in your interview with him, to really pin him down on specific policy issues... [Tapper:] Right. [Cooper:] ... because, as you know, he's big on broad-brushed stuff. When you actually narrow down so we talked a lot about his criticism of John McCain on the veterans, specifically on his veterans record. I tried to do pin him down on specific bills that McCain has passed and what Trump thinks about that. So, it's interesting to hear his perspective on that. But I also asked him about releasing Lindsey Graham's phone number and whether his whole tone is presidential enough and whether he would change that tone. Here's some of what he said. [Trump:] I get called all these horrible names by Lindsey Graham, who I don't even know, I didn't start it with Lindsey Graham. I couldn't care less. He's registered at I think zero in the polls. By Rick Perry from Texas, who was up in my office a few years ago, I just posted a picture of him shaking my hand looking for money and looking for support. I call it hypocrite, but they're saying horrible things, I don't even know these people. Am I supposed to, you know, say it's OK for them to say one guy, I guess, it was Lindsey Graham called me a jackass. Am I supposed to say it's OK? You have to fight back. [Tapper:] It's interesting, Anderson, because you point out Trump gave out the phone number after Lindsey Graham suggested he was becoming a jackass. We do have new tape in a video with IJ Review. Graham reacted to this because obviously his cell phone is being bombarded, "How to destroy your cell phone with Lindsey Graham." It's kind of not unlike that scene in the film "Office Space." Here's Lindsey Graham destroying his multiple flip phones because obviously they're no good anymore although, on the other hand, he could just change the number. [Cooper:] But for the argument that Donald Trump has changed the GOP race, I mean, Lindsey Graham, would not have made a commercial like this. I don't think ever. Lindsey Graham would not have called anybody a jackass. So in a way Donald Trump has gotten a lot of these candidates off their regular messages, and made them perhaps more well-rounded appearing or at least I don't know. [Tapper:] You're always looking for the positive, Anderson. [Cooper:] But it was interesting, Trump, in the interview today, I asked him, you know, is what you're doing presidential, and would you change as president? He said he would change. As president, this is what he does in a race, but as president, he would I asked him if he was a uniter or divider, to use George Bush's term, he said he would be a uniter and he went on to explain why. [Tapper:] I know that a lot of the Republican candidates are upset not just because he's getting so much attention, but he is drowning out their message. Jeb Bush earlier today talking about a major address, cutting the signs of Washington or expanding the amount of time between working the government and becoming a lobbyist, and he got overshadowed. [Cooper:] And every day look, I mean, Donald Trump is an amazing marketer. He's going to the border tomorrow. You know that is going to get a huge amount of coverage more so than if some another candidate did. [Tapper:] Yes, Anderson Cooper, looking forward to the entire interview this evening. Be sure to be in front of your TV sets or have CNN Go fired up, 8 p.m. Eastern so you can catch the full one-on-one sit-down with Donald Trump tonight on "AC360." Let's go now to CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, you heard Mr. Trump says he can turn around these numbers in this latest Quinnipiac poll. It's going to be an uphill climb. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Jake, no doubt about it. Definitely an uphill climb because this new poll show, as you've said, Trump has the worst favorability rating of any candidate in the field, Democrat or Republican. But if he wasn't doing so well, his rivals might not be piling on so much. The sharpest response came today from Rick Perry, to coin the phrase, "trumpism." He urged Republicans not to fall under its spell. [Zeleny:] Donald Trump is heading to the border. He is trying to stay on top of the Republican field by doubling down on immigration. During a Thursday tour in Laredo, Texas, with border patrol agents. [Trump:] With the border and border security, lack of border security, and illegal immigrants, it's a huge problem. [Zeleny:] But tonight a new poll shows fresh vulnerabilities for Trump, not in the GOP primary, but if he would ever become the party's nominee. [Trump:] We have to make America great again. [Zeleny:] In three key general election battle grounds Colorado, Iowa and Virginia nearly six in 10 voters hold unfavorable views of Trump. For now he's resonating with some primary voters looking for a tough candidate, but party leaders say he's talking too tough specifically about fellow Republicans. [Trump:] Rick Perry, he put glasses so people will think he's smart. You have this guy, Lindsey Graham, a total lightweight. We have people that are stupid. [Zeleny:] It was Rick Perry's turn today to be singled out on social media. Trump released this picture and tweeted Perry was once begging for my support and money, hypocrite. The former Texas governor fired back, urging conservatives to dump Trump. [Rick Perry , Presidential Candidate:] He offers a barking carnival act that can best be described as Trumpism, a toxic mix of demagoguery and mean-spiritedness and nonsense. Donald Trump's candidacy is a cancer on conservatism, and it must be clearly diagnosed, excised and discarded. [Zeleny:] While the GOP free for all has Democrats smiling, the new Quinnipiac poll shows trouble for Hillary Clinton. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I am going to keep going. I believe it's so important for all of us. [Zeleny:] In those same three general election swing states, majorities of voters had an unfavorable view of her. The survey also shows Clinton trailing Republicans Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, and Scott Walker in hypothetical matchups in those three states. And this is why Trump worried Republican leaders. They believe several candidates, Bush, Rubio, and Walker among them have a real chance of defeating Hillary Clinton next year, or whoever becomes the Democratic nominee, but they believe Trump could damage the brand of the entire Republican Party Jake. [Tapper:] Jeff Zeleny in Washington, thanks so much. Coming up, a little lighter fare in our Pop Culture Lead, the night all of Twitter has been waiting for. "Sharknado 3," now with mower sharks and more natives. The most amazingly trashy film of the year, the stars will be here to answer your questions. [Natalie Allen, Cnn Anchor:] Aleppo braces for what could be a final government assault on the city as thousands of troops amass near rebel held areas. A major storm churns up the Atlantic hurricane. Matthew gains a cat five rating, threatening several Caribbean nations. And police in Italy solve a 14-year-old mystery and recover a pair of priceless paintings by van Gogh. Where have they been? Remember that heist, when they lowered themselves from the ceiling and plucked them out of the museum? They are coming back now. We will tell you about that. It is all ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. [Allen:] The battle for the Syrian city of Aleppo, as bad as it has been, is very likely going to get worse and more bloody. The U.S. estimates as many as 10,000 Syrian led ground troops are gathering in advance of what maybe a final assault of government forces against rebels holding part of the city. Those left in Aleppo were already coping with devastation from months of heavy bombardment. On Friday alone, reports say at least 12 people died after warplanes targeted a residential neighborhood. And in the past few days of bombing, some 100 children have died. The World Health Organization says some 270,000 civilians remain stuck in the city with dwindling supplies. Nick Paton Walsh has a closer look at this city on the brink. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Sr. Intl. Correspondent:] With the possibility of as many 10,000 Syrian-led fighters or troops near the rebel-held part of Eastern Aleppo, that is one U.S. estimate, there are potentially very dark days ahead for that area. Already under a pretty effective form of siege that's lapsed at times but now seems to be depriving them of food but also intermittently of water as well; 300,000, by some suggestions, civilians trapped in that area. They have faced bombardment for years but nothing like what they've seen in the past weeks or days. The U.N. suggesting that 96 children have been by that bombardment in just the last week, 223 injured, hard really to fathom numbers like that. They come at you so often during a civil war. Perhaps easier to understand what one aid worker we spoke to said, "My nerves are fraught. I simply can't talk about this anymore." He described how he has seen three rockets land just recently near him, body parts everywhere and how the people there had no hope in anyone to come to their assistance now apart from God. That's the kind of desperation we're seeing in this area. Those clashes in that area suggesting an offensive that may be launched by those troops in the forthcoming days or weeks in the central area, first in Al-Bashir, where we also heard this day that a barrel bomb landed, killing seven people there as well, including children. It is a dark episode, indeed. That area of Aleppo has held out for years against regime forces and now it faces, perhaps, a more strategic and significant collapse, that of U.S. policy at this time. John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, has been so keen that he believes that a diplomatic solution, working alongside his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, nay possibly ease the violence here. There'd be some U.S. officials who've cynically pointed out they don't trust the Russians here at all. Even John Kerry himself has said, frankly, it's his only choice. It's clear that the White House doesn't want to put military resources into a conflict that could be seen to clash openly against Russian resources on the ground there. But the question now is what really has Moscow been planning for the past couple of weeks? The volume of resources now potentially available for this assault against Aleppo, if it does happen and there are many suggestions that it may be underway will take weeks to get into play. And those same weeks should have been spent, have been spent by Moscow and Damascus talking, potentially, diplomacy and peace with its Washington counterpart. That has fallen apart now. We're now seeing one of the darkest episodes of violence that have hit Syria in this already nightmarish civil war. The U.S. talking about sanctions, maybe, against Russia; the possibility of better armaments being supplied by Syrian rebels, by their Gulf allies, that might be able to target Russian and Syrian aircraft. A lot of talk here at this point. But the broader recognition, the U.S. is not going to commit ground troops here or potentially stop what many are already considering a war crime, the targeting of hospitals there as well. Yes, this can be documented. This can be observed but it's unlikely there'll be an effective military response to stop it, certainly from outsiders, this looming now as potentially one of the darkest moments we have seen yet in Syria's civil war Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut. [Allen:] In Idlib, Syria, one rescue brought an aid worker to tears. A warning: the images we are about to show you are disturbing. We say that a lot here. Volunteers from the White Helmets dug for hours to save a month-old baby. An airstrike hit her home and she was trapped. This video was in the back of an ambulance. The aid worker said he felt like she was his daughter. You can also hear him calling out, "Dear God." The U.N. says it's going to conduct an independent investigation into how its humanitarian relief trucks were attacked. The convoy was so close to Aleppo, preparing to deliver much-needed aid. Instead, those supplies were destroyed. Officials say at least 18 people were killed, including the head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent in the area. The U.S. blames Russian warplanes, an accusation Moscow denies. On the campaign trail, Donald Trump says he does not regret his Twitter tirade against a former Miss Universe. The U.S. Republican presidential candidate mocked Alicia Machado in a string of scathing pre-dawn tweets Friday. Democratic rival Hillary Clinton called the Twitter rant "unhinged." More now from Jim Acosta. [Unidentified Male:] Mr. Trump, why did you go on the late-night tweet storm last night? [Acosta:] When it comes to his battle with former Miss Universe Alicia Machado, Donald Trump is no Mr. Congeniality. In response to Machado's claim Trump called her "Miss Piggy" for gaining weight, the GOP nominee lashed out at the pageant winner in a series of bombastic tweets in the middle of the night. "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting [check out sex tape and past] Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?" And this: "Using Alicia M in the debate as a paragon of virtue just shows that Crooked Hillary suffers from bad judgment! Hillary was set up by a con." The Trump campaign, which offers no proof Machado ever even appeared in a sex tape but says it's just firing back. [Jack Kingston, Senior Adviser, Donald Trump Campaign:] I don't know Ms. Machado, but I've seen many of the interviews with her. She's not a very credible witness, you might say. [Acosta:] Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta jumped into the fray, poking at Trump on Twitter: "I'm almost Trump's age so get the urge to get up in the middle of the night. But important safety tip: Don't reach for your phone." Machado insists her past is not relevant, admitting to CNN... [Alicia Machado, Former Miss University:] Everybody has a past and I'm no a saint girl, but that is not the point now. [Acosta:] In a statement, she says Trump's latest attacks are cheap lies with bad intentions, adding Trump "insists on demoralizing women, minorities and people of certain religions through his hateful campaign. This is one of his most frightful characteristics." Trump is also ripping into the Clintons, with not-so-subtle references to their past marital problems. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] The Clintons are the sordid past. We will be the very bright and clean future. [Acosta:] Raising questions of hypocrisy for Trump, who's on his third marriage. [Unidentified Male:] You're not worried about your past history at all? [Trump:] No, not at all. I have a very good history. [Acosta:] Trump is also attacking the media, blasting reports that he was furious at aides for spilling the beans on his debate preparations, tweeting, "Remember, don't believe "sources said" by the very dishonest media. If they don't name the sources, the sources don't exist." But Trump has claimed to rely on anonymous sources, too, tweeting back in 2012, "An extremely credible source has called my office and told me that Barack Obama's birth certificate is a fraud." And Trump is attacking newspapers when endorsements don't go his way. For the first time in its history, "USA Today" offered its opinion on a presidential race, declaring Trump unfit for presidency. And after that, the Trump campaign is slamming a report in "The Washington Post" that The Trump Foundation was never properly certified to solicit donations. [David Fahrenthold, "the Washington Post":] By not doing this, Trump avoided a requirement that he submit to an annual audit, a real annual audit that might have looked into his foundation and found some of the violations of law that we seem to have found along the way this year. [Acosta:] But Trump did find vindication on one front: the presidential debate commission said his microphone was defective in that first face-off with Hillary Clinton on Monday night. At a rally here in Michigan, Trump suggested there was a conspiracy, telling the crowd he wonders why his microphone was so bad Jim Acosta, CNN, Novi, Michigan. [Allen:] A new national poll shows Clinton gaining some ground on Trump after that first debate. FOX News shows Clinton at 43 percent nationwide to Trump's 40 percent; with the margin of error it essentially makes that a tie. Clinton is doing a bit better in some key states; in Michigan, she's up 7 points, 42 percent to 35 percent. That result is mirrored in New Hampshire. It is also a key battleground state that could go either way in November. And in all-important Florida, the race has narrowed to just 4 points, barely outside of the margin of error with Clinton ahead. Nobody knows if the fallout from Trump's Twitter rant against the former Miss Universe will hurt him. But the incident is prompting some to take another look at what he has said in the past about women. And Kyung Lah reports Trump is not the only one in the spotlight. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] I do cherish women. I love women. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Trump's critics question if that is really true. But it's not only Trump who is facing scrutiny. Some of his closest advisers are as well. [Unidentified Male:] We need to have a fight in the Republican Party for the soul of the conservative I agree with you. [Lah:] Campaign CEO Steve Bannet in 1996, he faced misdemeanor domestic violence charges. His ex-wife, in the Santa Monica, California, police report alleging he grabbed her, an incident that the officer says left red marks on her left wrist and the right side of her neck. Those charges were dropped. [Unidentified Female:] This is a FOX News alert. I'm [Lah:] The man behind FOX News, Roger Ailes, is now an unofficial Trump campaign whisperer, although Trump won't officially acknowledge his role. FOX News ousted Ailes after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment; most prominently, anchor Gretchen Carlson, who received a $20 million settlement from [Fox. Newt Gingrich, Former House Speaker:] You're not supposed to gain 60 pounds during the year that you're Miss Universe. [Lah:] That's former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, speaking this week, defending Trump's comments about Alicia Machado's weight gain after she won the crown. Gingrich is now a Trump adviser. He and Trump have both been married three times, both accused of infidelity. In 2012, Gingrich's second wife recalled this about her former husband to ABC News. [Unidentified Female:] Oh, he was asking to have an open marriage and I refused. [Lah:] Then there's Rudy Giuliani, former New York City mayor and Trump backer. After Monday's debate, Giuliani spoke to reporters, bringing up Bill Clinton's affair, criticizing not just him but Hillary Clinton. [Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor Of Nyc:] She attacked Monica Lewinsky. And after being married to Bill Clinton for 20 years, if you didn't know the moment Monica Lewinsky said that Bill Clinton violated her, she was telling the truth, then you're too stupid to be president. [Lah:] But Giuliani should be able to relate to marital strife. Married three times, he announced a separation to his second wife at a press conference before telling her, his divorce and affair playing out publicly on New York tabloid front pages. Trump's closest advisers are not all male. His campaign manager is a woman, Kellyanne Conway. And another person who has his ear is also a woman, his daughter, Ivanka Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles. [Allen:] In other news we are following, India and Pakistan blame each other for these latest clashes in Kashmir. An Indian official said there were two separate shootings between troops Saturday. No one was killed. India has evacuated more than 10,000 people from the border area. The two nations have nuclear weapons. They have fought two wars over Kashmir and have argued about this disputed region for nearly 70 years. Deutsche Bank shares took a wild ride on Friday. Next here, whether they ended up or down. And what's fueling this investor uncertainty? Plus: a major hurricane threatens parts of the Caribbean. The latest on Matthew coming next with Derek Van Dam. [Paul:] 45 minutes past the hour. And an attorney for the family of Aaron Hernandez says, he plans to sue State Officials for negligence. [Blackwell:] Now the former NFL star apparently hanged himself with a bed sheet in his Massachusetts prison cell this week. His body was found near three suicide notes and a bible. For more on those notes and what happens next in this case, we're joined by CNN Correspondent Sara Ganim. So Sara, what are we learning about the contents of these notes and what happens now? [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] Well Victor, a judge ruling to preserve all of the evidence from Aaron Hernandez's jail cell including video of his cell door in the hours before he was found, as well as those three suicide notes. Two of them, CNN has learned, to Hernandez's fiancee and his daughter. It's unclear at this point who the third note was written for. In addition, law enforcement sources telling CNN, a bible verse John 3:16 was written in red markings on Hernandez's forehead and cell wall. We also know from the prison that there were apparently steps taken to block that cell door from the inside. Hernandez's attorney making if request to preserve all of this evidence on behalf of the family, saying that the family is upset with how they leaned of the details of the suicide notes, and the bible verses, and overall the handling of what happened. The family attorney saying he expects to sue the prison for negligence in parts because he alleges there was no check on Hernandez's cell between 8 p.m. the night before and 3 a.m. the morning he was found. He was being housed alone in a general population cell. The family through attorneys saying there was nothing to indicate anything like this was possible. In fact, the day before, his attorney expressed confidence in the appeal of his murder conviction in the case of Odin Lloyd. With Hernandez's death now, it's possible that murder conviction will be tossed out given that it was under appeal with no result. Hernandez's family has announced they've donated his brain to science to be studied as part of a program looking at brain damage in football players that can cause behavioral problems. Victor. BLACKWELL. All right. Sara Ganim, thank you so much. [Paul:] Well, still to come for you this morning, Anthony Bourdain's new documentary film highlights the glamour and perils of critically acclaimed Chef Jeremiah Tower. The same Chef joins us next. [Pence:] But in the midst of all of that, in the midst of that liberal agenda that we see mounting up, we get the news this morning revealing, as it is, Hillary Clinton, in remarks that were made in New York City just last night bear repeating. And let me see where someone put them here. Take your time. Hillary Clinton said last night, at a big fundraiser in New York City, that, uh, the American people the millions of Americans that are supporting my running mate were described in, uh, the most deplorable of terms. It's extraordinary to think of it. She referred to those of people as irredeemable. Well, I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton's low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms. The truth of the matter is that the men and women who support Donald Trump's campaign are hard-working Americans. [Unidentified Male:] Right. [Pence:] Farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community, members of, uh, members of, uh, every class of this country who know that we can make America great again. So let me just say from the bottom of my heart, uh, Hillary, they are not a basket of anything, they are Americans and they deserve your respect. I've not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can't even repeat, since, uh, Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion. Well, let me just say, no one with a record of failure at home and abroad, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruptions and no one with that low opinion of the American people should ever be elected president of the United States of America. We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never be president of this great nation. You know, the failed leadership of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton must be answered with resolve and with strength and with vision. And that's precisely what Donald Trump and I will do. Donald Trump has a vision to make America great again. And it all begins with making America strong again. It all begins with recognizing that we live in a tumultuous time in the life of this nation. It will be this weekend that we mark the 15th anniversary of 911. That was a day that, uh, I actually was in this city, as many of you who are here were, as well. I found myself on Capitol Hill. I'll never forget the sights and sounds of that day. I'll never forget seeing half of the sky filled with billowing smoke. I will promise you this, the day that Donald Trump becomes president of the United States of America, we will again rebuild our military, we will restore the arsenal of democracy and America will again stand tall on the world stage. We will stand with our allies and we will stand up to our enemies. We cannot have four more years apologizing to our enemies and abandoning our friends. America needs to be strong for the world to be safe and on the world stage, I promise you, Donald Trump will lead from strength. We will stand with our allies and if the world knows nothing else, the world will know this America stands with Israel. But in a Trump administration, we know that a strong America requires a prosperous America. And we'll make America great again under this administration, not with the higher taxes and more regulation and more ObamaCare and more of the the war on coal. But Donald Trump has a plan to get this economy moving again for every American. We're going to cut taxes across the board, lower marginal rates. We're going to end death taxes and we're going to lower business taxes in America so American companies can compete with companies around the world to create jobs here in this country. And on day one of this administration, Donald Trump will sign a moratorium on any new federal regulation and he will repeal every single Obama executive order that is stifling growth and stifling the freedom of the American people. When we elect Donald Trump as negotiator-in-chief... America will again have trade deals that work for the American worker and we will hold our trading partners accountable to the commitments that they make in international exchange. And on day one, Donald Trump and I will end the war on coal once and for all. The American dream unfolds for every American beginning with a good education. Just this week, Donald Trump laid out a plan to open doors of opportunity in education for young people, particularly in the disadvantaged community. Our plan to make our schools great again is all centered on the notion that we believe that that, uh, parents ought to be able to choose where their children go to school in America, regardless of their income or their area code. We'll continue, of course, to support all state efforts for traditional public education, but we'll continue to make it possible for states to use even more resources to innovate in the manner of charter schools, expanded educational choice and this White House will support home-schooling by parents all across the United States of America. And finally, Donald Trump and I know that to confront these challenging times, we have to recognize that our present crisis is not merely economic and political, but moral in nature. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Pence:] At the root of these times should be a realization that people in positions of authority have walked away from the timeless truths of honesty, integrity, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay and the simple notion that you ought to treat the other guy the way that you want to be treated. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Pence:] We will not restore this nation with public policy alone. It will require public virtue. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. Yes! [Pence:] And that emanates from the traditional institutions of our nation, of family and religion. You heard him say it yesterday, at the center of all of our policies will be center will be the the notion of the importance and the paramount importance of the family and also will be at the center of our policies, will be a commitment to ensure the vitality and the freedom of religion, of every American and every religious institution in the land. That includes freeing up the pulpits of this nation. [Unidentified Female:] Yes! [Unidentified Male:] Yes! [Unidentified Female:] Yes! [Pence:] Donald Trump talked about it yesterday, but not nearly enough. It really is extraordinary. You know, I always like to say that, uh, politicians ask how things are, leaders ask why. Donald Trump was in a meeting it was the better part of a year ago, with religious leaders from across the country. And in his own way, he said, well, I'd love to have your support and why don't you get out there and talk about it. And they all, almost with one voice, said, well, we can't, because there's actually a provision in the Internal Revenue Code that threatens to withdraw the tax-exempt status of religious institutions, preventing them from going anywhere near endorsing or supporting a candidate for public office. It literally has been in place since the 1950s, when, uh, a senator named, uh, Lyndon Johnson, added it to the Internal Revenue Code. Well, Donald Trump, like a good leader, simply said, why is that the case? Anyone with more than a passing knowledge of the founding of this nation knows that the most powerful speeches that thundered about independence in the land thundered from the pulpits of this nation. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Pence:] Anyone that knows anything about this nation knows it was the voice of people of faith that pricked the conscience of the nation and brought an end to the sin of slavery across this nation. I've stood in the church in Montgomery. Alabama where Dr. King where Dr. King railed against the injustices that took place in places all across America. And again, it was the voice of the people of faith that advanced the cause of civil rights all across America. So Donald Trump asked the question, why? And we couldn't be more proud that for the first time ever, part of our platform and a priority of the Trump administration will be the full repeal of The Johnson Amendment. We will take the muzzle off people of faith in this nation and let the voice of faith be heard. And lastly, let me make it crystal clear. People who know me well know that I'm pro-life. I don't apologize for it. I want to live to see the day that we put the sanctity of life back at the center of American law and we send "Roe v. Wade" to the ash heap of history, where it belongs. And let me assure you the Trump-Pence administration will stand for the sanctity of life and defend the unborn from the first day we take office. I'm truly grateful I'm truly grateful for Donald Trump's strong commitment to the sanctity of life. He understands the moral imperative of advancing the cause of life and we've spoken of it many times, in fact, did again this morning on my way here to see you. During my time as governor of Indiana, I'm proud to say with the support of many of you in this room, we promoted a culture of life in the state of Indiana. We instituted the first ever state income tax credit for Hoosier families who adopt and we supported crisis pregnancy centers around the state by providing additional funding, millions of dollars, through the Real Alternatives program, so that women facing crisis pregnancy have more choices before them and can choose life. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Anchor:] And we've been listening to Donald Trump's running mate, that's Indiana Governor Mike Pence. He's been speaking to the Conservative Value Voters Summit. The vice presidential candidate taking aim at Hillary Clinton for her comments calling half of Donald Trump's voters deplorable, although he used the word irredeemable. Let's bring in CNN's senior political reporter, Manu Raju. Manu, Pence just responded to Hillary Clinton's comments at last night's fundraiser. Let's listen. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. Right? The racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic, you name it. Unfortunately, there are people like that, and he has lifted them up. [Savidge:] All right, Manu, and then we heard Mike Pence respond, although he did seem to have a fumble. He got to the moment where he wanted to quote Secretary Clinton and didn't seem to have the exact quote in front of him, but he worked his way through it and made his point. This is the point I'm asking you, Hillary seems to have served up a great issue for the Republicans to now exploit, especially Donald Trump and as we just heard Mike Pence. [Raju:] Yes, they really see this as a game-changing moment, Martin. Remember, they're trying to compare this to when Barack Obama said that a lot of voters who don't support him cling to their religion and their guns, and Mitt Romney's infamous 47 percent gaffe that really upended the election back in 2012. Really by painting a large group of people with a broad brush in such inflammatory and derogatory terms gives Republicans an opening, they believe, especially since the national polls have this race very, very close. A lot of mainstream Republicans are voting for Donald Trump, simply because they tend to vote Republican, and they don't like Hillary Clinton. So she's talking about a lot of voters potentially, possibly swing voters, and putting them in this big basket. Now, the Clinton campaign is trying to clean this up a little bit, but they're not apologizing. Last night Clinton's spokesman actually tweeting that Clinton was referring to people who attended Trump rallies, which is a much smaller group than people who are going to vote for the nominee. We'll see if that actually makes a difference. Republicans clearly see an opening here, which is why Mike Pence seized on that moment and made that key part of his speech to that Value Voters Summit Martin. [Savidge:] My question is, who is Mike Pence talking to here? I mean, I know the crowd that's listening to him. They're already on board. So this message is, what, to fire up those already supporting the campaign, or are they hoping, just as we did, others hear this message. It's broadcast in other areas? [Raju:] Indeed. A little bit of both. They want to make sure that this group of voters gets to the polls. Even people who, you know, may not be totally on board Trump's train saying, look, listen to things Hillary Clinton says. This is out of bounds. Try to really drive up her unfavorables. They are trying to really make the case that Clinton is saying something that she shouldn't be saying. She's trying to sell herself as someone who has steady judgment, leadership, doesn't say inflammatory things the way Donald Trump does. But they believe this comment undermines the case that she has been making to voters. So potentially they think it could bring about bring on some of those moderate mainstream Republican voters who may not be there with Donald Trump and say, look, Hillary Clinton is saying things that are not right that I can't get on board with someone who says things like this. So we'll see if it actually works. Clearly the Trump campaign sees an opening here. So we're not going to see them drop this any time soon. [Savidge:] Oh, yes, no. You can see right away they just believe this is a dish that was served for them. Do you think that the campaign of Hillary Clinton is going to have to come out and do more than just sort of add that nuance that the candidate herself is going to have to address this? [Raju:] They'll be asked about it. I'm not sure if she's going to walk it back, I should say, because she has been saying similar things for some time. She had made similar remarks on Israeli TV interview last week. It just wasn't really noticed until her comments at that New York fundraiser last night. So this is a comment that is not unusual for Hillary Clinton to be making. So it's going to be very difficult for her to say, oh, I misspoke, if she's been saying this for some time. I think they will probably try to add that nuance and they'll try to dig in. They'll try to use it probably to fire up their own supporters. So we'll see. I don't think you're going to expect Hillary Clinton to apologize any time soon Martin. [Savidge:] She probably hopes Donald Trump will do something else and that would take the heat off. Manu Raju, thank you very much for joining us. Let's listen now to Governor Pence's reaction to Hillary Clinton and her comments on Trump supporters last night. [Governor Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Nominee:] At a big fundraiser in New York City that the American people. The millions of Americans that are supporting my running mate, were described in the most deplorable of terms. It's extraordinary to think of it. She referred to those people as irredeemable. Well, I will tell you right now, I campaign on a regular basis with Donald Trump. I campaign all across this country for Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton's low opinion of the people that support this campaign should be denounced in the strongest possible terms. The truth of the matter is that the men and women who support campaign are hard-working Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community, members of every class of this country who know that we can make America great again. So let me just say from the bottom of my heart, Hillary, they are not a basket of anything, they are Americans, and they deserve your respect. I've not heard that level of disdain for Americans that I can even repeat since Barack Obama described people that opposed him as people who cling to their guns and religion. Let me just say, no one with a record of failure at home and abroad, no one with her avalanche of dishonesty and corruptions, and no one with that low opinion of the American people should ever be elected president of the United States of America. We must decide here and now that Hillary Clinton will never be president of this great nation. [Savidge:] Indiana Governor Mike Pence, Trump running mate, speaking just a few minutes ago in Washington. Let's bring in our panel of experts. Joining us is CNN political commentator and Donald Trump supporter, Jeffrey Lord. He's also written a book, "What America Needs, The Case for Trump." Also with us, Basil Smikle, the executive director for the New York State Democratic Party. He is a Hillary Clinton supporter and one who has worked with her aides while she was the senator of New York. Welcome to both of you, Gentlemen. Thank you very much. So I just don't know where to begin. Mike Pence, I think, whether you like him or dislike his policies is a very good speaker. And he had a great moment teed up, but it was nearly muffed by I don't know whether it was a prompter or a lost page. Just listen, quickly. [Pence:] We get the news this morning revealing, as it is, Hillary Clinton in remarks that were made in New York City just last night bear repeating and let me see where someone put them here. Take your time. Hillary Clinton said last night [Savidge:] Take it from a guy who handles a lot of paper. When you start to see that shuffling, it's a cue. There's a problem. But he did recover, and he did hammer home the comments that Hillary Clinton made essentially criticizing half the people who support Donald Trump. Basil, what's your reaction to Pence and how he said it and this whole controversy? Because it seems to be bad for Hillary Clinton. [Basil Smikle, Executive Director At New York State Democratic Party:] Well, I don't think it I actually don't think it's on the order of the 47 percent that Pence referenced, and I don't think it's on the order of his reference to Barack Obama's comments because I think there has been widespread condemnation of a lot of the words that Trump himself has used and the words that some of his supporters have used and some of their actions. Supporters, surrogates have talked about this for the better part of this campaign cycle and I think the other part of Hillary's comments were missed in what Mike Pence said, which is that there are Americans, there are supporters who have a genuine concern about what's happening in the economy today, and that should not be overlooked. But I think it's clear from Donald Trump himself, who delegitimized this president by suggesting he wasn't born here, there certainly are there certainly have been comments from supporters and from the candidate himself [Savidge:] Yes, I got that, and she could have gone after Donald Trump, but she didn't. She went after Donald Trump supporters. In some political realm, that's like, you know, you just don't do that. Jeffrey, let me ask you this. Pence told Dana Bash in an exclusive interview that Trump reminded him of Ronald Reagan. Does that comment sound like something Reagan would have said? [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] No. I mean, Ronald Reagan never attacked his opponents' supporters. He attacked his opponents. I have to say, the Hillary Clinton remark is very much a Freudian slip. This is the party where a horrific history of systemic racism overlaid with an unbelievable, in the modern era, elitism, an arrogant elitism. I have no doubt she really absolutely believes this. This is part of the problem, that you've got these folks in Washington, D.C., you've got people like Hillary Clinton, and this goes far beyond Hillary Clinton, who have a real contempt for the American people, particularly people who live somewhere between Manhattan and Los Angeles. They really can't stand them. I think it slipped, and I think she's going to pay a political price for it. [Savidge:] Smikle, you know, I will say this. I don't necessarily agree as strongly as Jeffrey just said it, but that could be the impression some people get, that somehow the mask slipped here and she sort of said how she really feels about a certain part of the electorate. [Smikle:] No, I don't think so. I take issue with Jeffrey's comments about the Democrats and their sort of neglect of their support. Look, I've been a lifelong Democrat. I have seen my party elect African- American mayors and an African-American president, on the verge of electing a woman to be president of the United States. So to me, while I know that my party has its problems and we have been pushed to our limits, I am grateful that the party has expanded and has been more inclusive. If you listen to the language issue, if you even go back to our convention, there was a message and have been messages of inclusion. Something that I think a lot of the detractors, particularly some of the folks speaking on behalf of the Trump campaign, that want to say that the Democrats are the party of slavery, which Jeffrey has said to me several times. I think have not really considered the fact that both the parties and the constituents have changed dramatically over the last century or so. So the point I'm making broadly is that, listen, our party has had its problems. But I think the Democrats have traditionally and historically been supportive of communities of color, of urban areas, of the disenfranchised. [Savidge:] I apologize because I used your last name when I spoke to you a minute ago. [Smikle:] No problem. [Savidge:] Jeffrey, let me get your thoughts on this CNN poll that shows Trump supporters more enthusiastic about the election. Is that enthusiasm gap a problem, do you see, for Clinton? I'm sure they do see it that way. [Lord:] Yes, you know, Martin, I have seen this first hand. Last month Hillary Clinton was here in Harrisburg. One of the press reports noted she had "several hundred," quoteunquote, supporters there. A few days after that, I was with Donald Trump at a rally right here a few miles from Harrisburg, and the place was filled. There were thousands, at least 4,000 to 5,000 people inside, and there were another several thousand people outside who couldn't get in. I can only tell you from talking to these people, these people are revved up. They have made this a mission in life and I do think this is a problem for Hillary Clinton. [Savidge:] And I presume that is why [Lord:] The enthusiasm gap is what I call it. [Savidge:] Right. And I would say that's probably why you have a whole litany of superstars that are going to be on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton in the coming weeks. I'm sorry, I've got to leave it there. Jeffrey Lord, Basil Smikle, thank you both for joining me. I'm sure we're going to talk again. You can learn more about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton with CNN's "The Essential." Both documentaries begin airing tonight at 8:00 Eastern Time right here on CNN. [Keilar:] In same week Bill Cosby was arrested on sex assault charges, his wife, Camille, learned she must testify in a defamation case against him. Cosby's wife of nearly 52 years will be under oath Wednesday in the civil case. Seven women say Bill Cosby portrayed then as liars when they came forward and accused him of drugging and sexually abusing them. Mrs. Cosby's attorneys argue that the couple's private conversations are privileged but the plaintiffs say they subpoenaed Mrs. Cosby because she was her husband's business manager. Bill Cosby is free on $1 million bail. He was arrested Wednesday on charges that he drugged and raped a woman named Andrea Constand, the first of 50 women who publicly accuse Cosby of assaulting them over the last four decades. Criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos, joining me to talk about this. Danny, Camille Cosby, people are surprised to learn about this, that there are exceptions, I guess because it is a civil case, but is there any chance that she testifies, this testimony becomes public and it's used against him in this criminal case in Pennsylvania? [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Let's talk, first, about the fact that anyone testifies under oath could potentially be used against them, in virtually any proceeding with some exceptions. But, number one, will she testify? The judge ruled that, in this case, her claim that her communications were privileged was not exactly right. Instead, under Massachusetts law, it's an issue of competence. So in other words, the law looks at her as being incompetent to testify against her husband. And, this is a nuance distinction, but when it comes to depositions, discovery in a civil case, the scope of discovery's much broader than that which is ultimately admissible at a trial. And just because a witness like Mrs. Cosby may not ultimately be competent to testify against her husband, even if her testimony may not be admissible at trial, she can certainly appear for a deposition because that information may lead to the discovery of other admissible evidence, and that is the standard under which civil depositions are held. [Keilar:] How much will the defense play up his public persona as America's dad? [Cevallos:] I think they'll do that. But they have so much more in terms of defending this case that they can rely on. Number one, certainly use America's dad, but whatever goodwill he's built on the reputation as arguably been tarnished beyond repair. Instead, focus on the defensible of the case. This is a defensible criminal case. Number one, there is no scientific evidence. It's all testimonial evidence. So attack the credibility of those witnesses, impeach their testimony. And in doing so, the entire commonwealth's case is based on the recollections of a witness from over a decade ago. That's the kind of testimony that can be cross-examined and can be damaged. [Keilar:] What about this I mean, obviously, I interviewed Bill Cosby's lawyer this week. She's going to make the case that this is all political, this is what authorities there campaigned on, they were going to take down Bill Cosby. The statute of limitations would have expired not long after these charges came forward, after Bill Cosby was arrested and charged. She'll probably make an issue of that, too, right? [Cevallos:] There's an interesting defense, an interesting motion that the defense may consider here. Although we know that the statute of limitations prescribes to the amount of time in which a criminal case can be prosecuted, sometimes, even cases brought within the statute of limitations or the cases of murder, which obviously isn't here, which has no statute, anytime the prosecution intentionally delays, if they intentionally delay to gain a tactical advantage, the supreme court has said, in some cases, that may that the due process clause may require dismissal of that case. That's an exceedingly large motion to win but it's something the defense will make here because they'll argue that politically there are many reasons why this case originally was investigated and a deliberate decision was made not to prosecute. Now, almost more than a decade later [Keilar:] Danny, I'm sorry. I've got to cut you've there because we're running up I want to give "Smerconish" all of his time. Happy New Year to you, Danny. [Cevallos:] Happy New Year. [Keilar:] I'm Brianna Keilar, in Washington. I'll meet you back in an hour. "Smerconish" starts right now. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Embattled Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is set to deliver a highly anticipated speech about police misconduct to members of his city council this morning. This comes as the city braces for the possible release of yet another video of a controversial police shooting pending a judge's order. CNN's Rosa Flores has more. [Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] First there was the shocking video of Laquan McDonald and then Ronald Johnson. Both shot and killed by Chicago police, cases that have caused outrage. But there's a third police shooting and video that few have seen. We've talked to two men who have seen it and they say it shows in detail the killing of black teen Cedrick Chatman by a Chicago police officer in 2013. [Brian Coffman, Chatman's Attorney:] He is running as fast as he possibly can away from the police when he is shot. [Flores:] Brian Coffman represents Chatman's family and has been fighting for the release of the video. [Coffman:] Approximately three to four seconds lapses and the first bullet is fired. And he is dead within eight seconds of getting out of his car and running. [Lorenzo Davis, Fired By Ipra:] We saw the commotion when I heard gunshots. [Flores:] Lorenzo Davis analyzed the video second by second and says this case cost him his job. [Davis:] We felt like it was unjustified shooting. [Flores:] Davis led the review for the city agency that investigates all officer-involved shootings, called the Independent Police Review Authority, or IPRA, a former police officer himself, he describes what's on the video. [Davis:] They pulled up alongside of that car. [Flores:] Chatman was running away from the stolen car he was driving when a police officer opened fire. [Davis:] Chatman was running along here, and when he got to roughly this location, I would say, there was a gunshot. [Flores:] Chatman was carrying a black iPhone box in his hand. The shooting officer would later say he thought it was gun. [Davis:] He did not shout a warning. He did not use his radio to give direction of flight. He simply pointed his gun until he had a clear shot. [Flores:] Lorenzo Davis says when he deemed the shooting unjustified, his boss said IPRA asked him to change it to justified. When he refused, he says he was fired. [voice-over]: IPRA assigned another investigator and called part of Davis' report glaringly biased, saying there was a significant discrepancy between Davis' findings and what the facts of the case actually show. The officer who shot Chatman was exonerated. [Davis:] They don't want to say that the shooting was wrong. [Flores:] Why is that? [Davis:] Because then it makes it look like some police officers are killers. Right, and they don't want it to look that way. [Flores:] Rosa Flores, CNN, Chicago. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Familiar questions and a familiar search for answers there. We'll stay on that story. So, San Bernardino, why weren't the terrorists there on the radar for law enforcement despite planning an attack three years ago, all these communications, it seems to get broader and broader who they were working with. We have new reporting about all those different aspects and we ask who should have known, next. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] The U.S. president says the world cannot be complacent on nuclear security and warns to keep radioactive materials out of the wrong hands. Plus: Donald Trump tries to right his ship after a week of flip- flopping while the Democratic candidates accuse each other of lying. And remembering Garissa University. CNN speaks with survivors of that massacre in Kenya one year after Al-Shabaab militants launched a devastating raid there. Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, we want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. NEWSROOM starts right now. [Howell:] A good day to you. We begin this hour with the nuclear summit in Washington, D.C., and the efforts to maintain security of nuclear stockpiles. The U.S. president, Barack Obama, says an important treaty is now expected to go into effect. That treaty requires member states to do more to secure their radioactive materials. China pledged to work closer with the U.S. as well, playing a key role in enforcing sanctions against North Korea, which has nuclear weapons. Mr. Obama also says he wants to reduce America's nuclear arsenal further but he also wants to modernize the nuclear weapons the U.S. does keep. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Just the smallest amount of plutonium, about the size of an apple, could kill and injure hundreds of thousands of innocent people. It would be a humanitarian, political, economic and environmental catastrophe with global ramifications for decades. It would change our world. So we cannot be complacent. We have to build our on progress. [Howell:] World leaders at the summit also focused on keeping nuclear materials out of the hands of terrorists. But one major nuclear player decided not to show up. Our Brian Todd reports on why Russia skipped this major summit. [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] With the Brussels and Paris attacks, a clear message from ISIS. They can and will hit Western cities and kill as many civilians as they can. And it appears ISIS wants to create more devastation. After the Paris attacks investigators in a raid found surveillance footage of an employee at a Belgian nuclear facility. [Andrew Bieniawski, Nuclear Threat Initiative:] And that nuclear facility had highly-enriched uranium, but also produced these radiological sources. So now we know that they actually are trying to take steps to try and acquire these materials. And so therefore we need specific action coming out of this Nuclear Security Summit. [Todd:] But at the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington one leader who could make a huge difference in securing nuclear material was a no- show. Vladimir Putin has once again snubbed President Obama. [Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Advisor:] Russia's lack of participation obviously in our view is frankly counter-productive. [Todd:] Russia has more than half the world's stockpile of nuclear materials and its safeguards haven't always been air tight. [Bieniawski:] There was an example several years ago where an insider employee at one of the Russian facilities at Luch was slowly taking out small quantities of nuclear material from that site. [Peter Bergen, Author, "united States Of Jihad":] Certainly historically I mean I've been to Russia and gone to some of their nuclear facilities and, you know, in the years after 911 it was very amateur the way they were, they were holding these radioactive materials. [Todd:] But experts say the Russians have since gotten better at securing nuclear material. Security analysts say, if Putin had shown up at the summit, he could have shared intelligence on how to keep ISIS away from nuclear and radiological material. Either way, the terror group would have a tough time getting its hands on a nuclear weapon. But radiological material for a dirty bomb, often stored in hospitals and industrial complexes, is far less secure. ISIS can access that. And ISIS supporters in the U.S. haven't been bashful about where they want to strike. This kind of target is really their aspiration, right? [Bergen:] Yes. So mass casualty attack clearly their aspiration. The radiological bomb, if it went off here, many people dead in the immediate vicinity, but the much bigger deal, Brian, is that it would disperse radioactive material all around downtown Washington, several block area. It would close down the city for maybe years. [Todd:] Responding to the criticism of Putin for not showing up at the summit, a Russian official told us they're not sending a bad message and there's much more to nuclear security than this summit. The Russians have also ticked off some reasons for Vladimir Putin's absence from the summit. They say some countries with nuclear material, like Iran, are not participating. They say most of the key goals for nuclear security have already been reached, so no need to show up. And they say the U.S. is unfairly pushing its agenda on international groups like the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog and Interpol Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. [Howell:] America's choice 2016: the current U.S. president had some sharp words for Donald Trump. This after his recent comments that the United States should back out of its security role in Asia. The Republican front-runner suggested at a CNN town hall on Tuesday that Japan and South Korea should develop their own nuclear arsenals. And at a news conference at the nuclear security summit, Mr. Obama said the remarks indicate that Donald Trump should not be in the Oval Office. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The person doesn't know much about foreign policy or nuclear policy or the Korean peninsula or the world generally. It came up on the sidelines that people pay attention to American elections. What we do is really important to the rest of the world. [Howell:] Mr. Obama's criticism of Trump comes as the presidential race heats up in the state of Wisconsin with its primary just around the corner. Voting is set for next Tuesday there, April 5th. And it's expected to be a crucial contest for both parties. There are 42 delegates at stake for Republicans and 86 pledged delegates for Democrats. Local officials say they could see the state's biggest voter turnout for the primary in 36 years. That primary isn't looking so good for Donald Trump. He is 10 points behind Ted Cruz at this point. And that is just one part of Trump's bad week. The past few days have been the most challenging of his campaign so far. Our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, has this report for us. [Dana Bash, Cnn Sr. U.s. Congressional Correspondent:] When all else fails for Donald Trump, he tries to change the subject, like he did today. [Unidentified Male:] Ted Cruz was my roommate. I did not like him at all. [Bash:] Slamming Ted Cruz in a new Instagram video after one of the billionaire front-runner's worst weeks since the campaign began, causing a bipartisan firestorm with these comments when asked if women should be punished for having an abortion if it became illegal. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] The answer is that there has to be some form of punishment. [Matthews:] For the woman? [Trump:] Yes. There has to be some form. [Bash:] That, Trump recanted within hours and later added this [Trump:] It could be that I misspoke, but this was a long, convoluted subject. [Bash:] But he has not taken back what he said at CNN's town hall, advocating for more nuclear weapons in Asia. [Trump:] At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. [Bash:] Now Trump is refusing to rule out using nuclear weapons in Europe. [Trump:] Europe is a big place. The last person to use nuclear would be Donald Trump. That's the way I feel. I think it is a horrible thing. The thought of it is horrible. But I don't want to take anything off the table. [Bash:] Trump's rivals continued to blast him, including John Kasich, who until this week mostly held his fire. [Gov. John Kasich , Ohio, Presidential Candidate:] The problem for him with town halls is he actually has to answer questions in a specific way. [Bash:] Kasich also went after Ted Cruz for having a thin leadership record. [Kasich:] His record is shutting down the government and making everybody he works with upset. [Bash:] As Trump sees his unfavorable ratings rise and support among women fall, he's quick to point out that he is still the front-runner by a long shot and that even if he arrives at the GOP convention in July without winning the nomination, if he is close, it should be him. [Trump:] I really think that whoever has that kind of an advantage should get it. [Bash:] But the first-time politician is also learning that seizing the Republican nomination takes more than just winning contests. It takes winning over delegates in some states where rules vary. Sources tell CNN that educating Trump about the complicated delegate process was the subject of Trump's meeting this week with Republican Party chair Reince Priebus as RNC headquarters in Washington. [Trump:] Very actually a terrific meeting, I think. And it's really a unity meeting. [Bash:] CNN is told that Priebus used the meeting to ask Trump to ease up on trashing the RNC, as Trump did this week at CNN's town hall. [Trump:] I have been treated very unfairly. I will give you an example. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Unfairly by who? [Trump:] I think by basically the RNC, the Republican Party. [Howell:] That was CNN's Dana Bash reporting for us. In yet another reversal on Friday, Donald Trump told CBS News that federal laws are set and should not be changed to outlaw abortion. Later, his spokeswoman said Donald Trump was just giving an account of the current laws, which he would change as president. Now to the Democratic race, where things are getting more personal. Hillary Clinton says that Bernie Sanders' campaign is lying about her record and she's sick of it. Now Sanders says that Clinton is the one lying. Senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has this report for us. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Sr. Washington Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton just can't shake Bernie Sanders. [Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary Of State, Presidential Candidate:] This is really personal for me. [Zeleny:] Their Democratic fight isn't winding down, but ramping up and expanding to new fronts. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vt., Presidential Candidate:] Secretary Clinton. [Zeleny:] Sanders and his supporters keeping alive their criticism of Clinton receiving contributions from the oil and gas industry. This confrontation with a climate change activist going viral. [Clinton:] I do not I have money from people who work for fossil fuel companies. I am so sick, I am so sick of the Sanders campaign lying about that. I'm sick of it. [Zeleny:] The outburst offers a fresh window into a rising frustration with Sanders. The Clinton campaign accepts money from people who work for oil and gas companies, not the companies themselves. Sanders called it a distinction without a difference. [Sanders:] If people receive money from lobbyists of the industry, I think you're receiving money from the industry. And these are not just a little worker there. These are lobbyists who represent the oil and gas industry. [Zeleny:] But today in New York, Clinton struck back, saying Sanders isn't pro-business. [Clinton:] I just go crazy when I hear Senator Sanders and the Tea Party Republicans railing against the export-import bank, like it's some kind of evil presence. [Zeleny:] The Democratic rivals are also tangling over abortion, Clinton accusing Sanders are not properly denouncing Donald Trump's assertion women who have abortions should be punished. [Clinton:] Senator Sanders agreed that Donald Trump's comments were shameful, but then he said they were a distraction from and I quote "a serious discussion about the serious issues facing America." [Zeleny:] Sanders cried foul. [Sanders:] What Secretary Clinton did is take things out of context. I am 100 percent pro-choice. [Zeleny:] The root of the tension is the length of the race. The Clinton campaign once assumed the race would be all but over by now, as campaign manager Robby Mook noted in this memo after Clinton lost the New Hampshire primary two months ago, writing: "The nomination will very likely be won in March, not February." Sanders has an edge in Wisconsin and is fighting hard on Clinton's turf in New York. He drew 18,000 supporters last night to a rally in the Bronx. [Sanders:] My father came to this country at the age of 17 from Poland without a nickel in his pocket. [Zeleny:] Sanders is well behind in the delegate race, but money is keeping him in the game. His campaign says it raised $44 million in March, fortifying it for the final two months of the long Democratic primary. [Sanders:] Let's take this fight to the White House. Thank you all. [Zeleny:] But for Bernie Sanders to take this to the White House, he needs to keep winning and winning big. His first target is Wisconsin. He's camping out there all weekend long. Now a top Clinton adviser told me today they believe Wisconsin is basically out of reach. That's why they are focusing so much attention on New York. But judging by the size of last night's crowd in the Bronx for Sanders, that populist streak in New York is alive and well and the Clinton campaign is taking New York very, very seriously. They know a loss there would upend this race like nothing else could. [Howell:] That was CNN's Jeff Zeleny reporting there for us. Bernie Sanders spoke out about Clinton's finger-pointing at a rally in Wisconsin on Friday. The Vermont senator says his campaign was not lying about Clinton's donations from fossil fuels from that industry and the former secretary of state owes him an apology. [Sanders:] According to an analysis done by Greenpeace, Hillary Clinton's campaign and her super PAC have received more than $4.5 million from the fossil fuel industry. In fact, 57 oil, gas and coal industry lobbyists have directly contributed to her campaign, with 43 of them contributing the maximum allowed for the primary. And these are not just workers in the fossil fuel industry. These are paid, registered lobbyists. Secretary Clinton, you owe our campaign an apology. We were telling the truth. [Howell:] Gloves coming off there. Be sure to join CNN on Tuesday for all the day's coverage of this critical Wisconsin primary. It could be a game-changer for candidates on both sides, only here on CNN. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And still to come this hour, the deadly bridge collapse in Kolkata, India. A look at who authorities are blaming there. Plus the Garissa University massacre one year on. Survivors reflect on what they saw that day and how they are moving forward. Stay with us. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome. You're watching a special edition of NEWSROOM L.A. on Hollywood's biggest night, the 89th Academy Awards. Hello. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. [Amara Walker, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Amara Walker. Thank you very much for being with us. It is moment for the Oscars that everyone is talking about. [Vause:] Everybody it seems. It all happened in the last few moments of Sunday's ceremony, all live on television. The musical"La La Land" was announced as best picture winner, but it wasn't. [Walker:] The acclaimed drama "Moonlight" was the actual winner. A "La La Land" producer told the stunned crowd, there's been a mistake. "Moonlight" won and this is not a joke. Let's more from our Stephanie Elam. [Vause:] She's at the governor's ball in Hollywood. Stephanie, this is what everybody will be talk about right now. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Everyone is talking about it, no doubt about it. What is sad about this is here you have folks from "La La Land" that thought they won. It takes the shine away from them. This was a major upset that "Moonlight" won. This little movie made in 25 days for $1.5 million up against this behemoth. The fact they won is a huge deal. In case you missed the moment everyone is talking about, take a look back at how it all went down. [Unidentified Actor:] And the Academy Award for best picture You're awful. Come on. "La La Land." We lost, by the way. I'm sorry. There's a mistake. "Moonlight"," you guys won best picture. This is not a joke. This is not a joke. I'm afraid they read the wrong thing. This is not a joke. "Moonlight" has won best picture. "Moonlight"," best picture. [Elam:] And everyone thought it was some sort of joke but like the cruelest joke ever to play on anyone in that situation, on the biggest, biggest award of the night. Adding to the confusion, Emma Stone, who did win best actress, she was backstage and this is what she had to say. [Emma Stone, Actress:] We are so excited for "Moonlight." I think it's one of the best films of all time. I was pretty beside myself. I also was holding my best actress in a leading role card that entire time. [Elam:] To clear things up, we did zoom in on the envelop envelope, being held by Warren Beatty. It does say lead actress or actress in a lead role. You can see that on there. He did say that on there. What I also learned is there are always two cards that are printed. They both have sets of the right answers of who did when. That is because when one is on stage reading the card the celebrity is up there reading it, another has the card to make sure they are reading the right thing. That's where they realized the discrepancy. How did this did a third card show up? I don't know but I know what Emma Stone is saying she could have her card and there could be another card. Getting more clarity now. It is still the story everyone will be talking about for probably the next 24 hours. [Walker:] I think. It's confusing but it seems like there are multiple prints of the same card or something like that. Stephanie, thank you. [Vause:] All right. Let's bring in our panel. Joining us, five-time Golden Globe nominee, Actress Marilu Henner; entertainment journalists, Segun Oduolowu and Samantha Schacher. [Laughter] [Walker:] Also with us, Fandango correspondent, Alicia Malone; and TV writer and comedian, Louis Virtel. Let's start with you, Louis, How in the world does this happen? It was so painful to watch. [Louis Virtel, Tv Writer & Comedian:] Every single second of that video is horrifying. It starts with him clearly knowing he has the wrong envelope then she says will you read the right thing already? Then it turns into a stranger running on stage and yelling somebody is lying or whatever that was. I am shocked. I have seen that video with Alicia five or six times. Every time I have to swallow the biggest gulp ever because it is so strange and unprecedented. [Alicia Malone, Correspondent, Fandango:] It makes me feel so ill to watch it. It is sad "Moonlight" didn't get the big moment as they deserved, but good on the producer for "La La Land" for bringing the cast up. [Vause:] Good old Bonnie and Clyde. They have done it again. [Marilu Henner, Actress:] Oh, my gosh, Warren looks like is someone going to save me, should I just keep going? He says best picture. Why didn't he stop it? I want someone to interview warren to see what he was thinking. Your heart is pounding anyway. Everybody is dying to hear what comes out of your mouth next. He's a director, he should have stopped it and said, hey, I don't have the right card here. [Henner:] Yeah. [Vause:] Apparently, Fay Dunaway turned up at the governor's ball and is refusing to talk about it. [Virtel:] Of course, she is. [Walker:] I feel bad for "Moonlight." I know social media is talking about this. But this was their moment and, right now, not as many people are talking about "Moonlight" but more about this crazy mix-up. [Samantha Schacher, Entertainment Jouranlist:] Most I've read are in response to "Moonlight" and this moment rather than this film that highlights addiction and one struggle with their sexuality. You're really missing out on this moment. Yes, we talked about the fact that because of this controversial moment it could bring attention to the film but I would have much rather had the moment that "Moonlight" deserves. They would have gone up and send their award and all of the questions would have been about the films, actors, directors. [Segun Oduolowu, Entertainment Journalist:] And for the movie, it's a horrible blow on the biggest night, the biggest stage. You're getting your just due. As a viewer at home [Oduolowu:] Yeah. You can't script this! [Henner:] Memory is tied to adrenaline which is why everybody remembers the highs and lows of their life. Because of it this will be one of the most memorable moments in history and "Moonlight" will be brought up every year as the little engine that could and also the movie that [Vause:] Louis, this movie, "Moonlight," that cost $1.5 million to make walked away with three awards, including best supporting actor for Mahershala Ali, who is the first Muslim to ever win an Academy Award. [Virtel:] It is thrilling in every way. When you talk about best pictures, and I'm thinking back years and years, there's never any weird themes. I can't think of an entirely non-white cast. As long as we can have movie where we can have worlds of non-white people that don't feel like they have to establish a relationship with a white character to feel relevant that is awesome. It is awesome for many reasons. [Walker:] Alicia, were you surprised that Casey Affleck won over Denzel Washington? [Malone:] Yeah. It surprised me. Denzel won the SAG award, the Screen Actors Guild award and the winner of that award goes onto win the Oscar, plus that performance in "Fences." He is fierce and can go from being terrifying to charming in a blink of an eye. Casey Affleck's performance was understated. It was more about keeping your emotion in and he has the controversy. I felt it would harm his chances. So I was surprised to see Casey Affleck win for best actor. [Oduolowu:] How do we know Denzel didn't really win? [Vause:] Casey Affleck did take the crumbs out of his beard. David, best supporting actress. [Schacher:] Viola Davis' acceptance speech is an exact mirror of how she acts. She speaks with her heart on her sleeve and her role in fences, flawless. She jumps out of the screen. You're captivated the moment you see her ton screen. Well-deserved win for her. With Casey Affleck, even though he won the Oscar, people are upset because of the sexual harassment allegations. [Oduolowu:] There's a cloud over it. In response to Viola Davis, this is like a long she has deserved an Oscar for a long time. She does incredible work. She will continue to do incredible work. [Walker:] She told Stephanie Elam she felt like she might get snubbed again. [Oduolowu:] You have to prepare. Again, the idea of the Academy Awards aren't being judged Yeah. But for Viola to win first of all, she was amazing in that red dress. Her speech was flawless. But I hope that it is the spring board for an actress that deserves more and bigger things to come. You know, in the same way I hope for my dear friend, Octavius Spencer. Let's seeing these ladies as more than these characters of, oh, strong black woman. Let's her play an alien hunter. Let's start to see them cast outside of [Vause:] Without being judged here, because "La La Land" had 14 nominations. It was a tie for the most nominations ever. I think it walked away with four Academy Awards at the end of the day. Marilu, what happened? [Henner:] I think people wanted to spread the love. I also feel like they started to really evaluate each character. Once they really went to fill out their ballot that story [Vause:] Maybe that self-indulgent [Walker:] Yeah. "La La Land", we both saw it and didn't exactly enjoy it. I sort of fell asleep and had to wake myself up. Samantha, explain to us [Vause:] Did you like "La La Land?" [Schacher:] I loved "La La Land." I don't think it should have been nominated for best picture. [Walker:] Not nominated? [Schacher:] It was a fantastic film. I do think it was a great escapism from the volatile political climate we are all in right now. However, when you compare that film to a "Moonlight," to a "Lion," I just don't see the comparison. I didn't fall asleep. I think the right picture [Walker:] Eight to 10 nominations. [Schacher:] Emma Stone did a fantastic job. She was also singing and dancing. A lot of rehearsal time involved. I do think the best actress nomination should have gone hands down. That was the most captivating performance. [Vause:] Alicia, how unlucky was Nicole Kidman to be nominated in a year? Nicole Kidman, I thought was truly Yeah. [Malone:] You can tell she brought to much of her personal story she is so emotionally raw. I thought he did an awesome Australian accent. He did a really good job. Nicole Kidman has been turning out performance after performance a long time. I hope more people see "Lion" because that is another film deserving of [Walker:] I loved that film. Do you feel like it was snubbed this year Louis? [Virtel:] "Lion?" [Walker:] Yes. [Virtel:] I go back and forth on "Lion." I knew when he was scrolling on google earth that he was eventually going find his home. There was less suspense than there should have been. I think the biggest stuff of the night was Isabel In the history of best actress winners, routinely, they are the most vulnerable performance of the year. She in that movie is so stony and so stoic and so hilarious. I was really rooting for her. [Oduolowu:] If she walked in her right now with a sign that said I'm Isabel [Vause:] OK. We have to squeeze in a break, guys. [Henner:] She has been around for a long time. [Walker:] All right everyone. Up next [Vause:] She is going places. [Walker:] Up next, as expected, U.S. President Donald Trump came up repeatedly during the Oscars. We are going to look at the political humor and commentary from Hollywood's big night. Stay with us. [Keilar:] It is one of the greatest unsolved crimes in history, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey. And tonight at 9:00 eastern a CNN special report explores the theories, secrets and bombshells of the case. It has been nearly 20 years since the 6-year-old girl was found strangled to death in the basement of her home on December 26th, 1996. Who did it, remain as mystery. Jean Casarez sat down with those closest to the investigation, including JonBenet's father. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] It was noon, six hours had passed since Patsy Ramsey had called 911. Their little girl JonBenet was still missing. Police combed the house trying to figure out how an intruder could have gotten in. One possibility, an open window in the basement, but that was dismissed quickly. [Fred Patterson, Fmr Det., Boulder Police Dept:] The window well had cobwebs on it. You can't go through cobwebs without disturbing them. [Casarez:] Officers examined the ransom note and tapped the phone. [Unidentified Male:] The kidnapping note said, I'm going to call you between 8:00 and 10:00. [Casarez:] As the deadline came and went, John Ramsey was pacing so police asked him to search the house for clues. [John Ramsey, Father:] One of the detectives asked me and my friend who was there to go through every inch of the house, started in the basement. We have one room in the basement that there are no windows in that room. When I opened the door and when I turned the light on and I hoped that she was still OK, but I could tell that she probably wasn't. [Casarez:] JonBenet's body was covered in a blanket. Did you take duct tape off her mouth? [Ramsey:] I took the duct tape off immediately and then tried to untie her hands. But the knot was way too tight. I couldn't get it loose. I couldn't do anything but scream. [Unidentified Male:] And John Ramsey carried his daughter rigid from rigor mortis up the stairs and set her body down on the floor. [Keilar:] Jean Casarez joining me now. And I mean, this is just a riveting look back at this crime that I think still has so many people puzzled, and we know that people have grown up hearing this name. They maybe aren't familiar with basic facts of the story. What happened? [Casarez:] Well, it is just as you saw. It was a little girl. She was in kindergarten. It was a family from Atlanta that moved to Boulder because of John Ramsey's business that had grossed $1 billion that year. It was in the local newspaper. It was big news. And they had a wonderful Christmas day, and Christmas evening. And John Ramsey does not like to talk about this. But we went to him. He lives in a very remote community, very private now. Agreed to sit down one on one, and he takes me through how that the last time he saw her was when he put her to bed Christmas night. And then the next morning a scream from Patsy and it was that ransom note. Now, as you know, it went on and all forces were looking at the parents. They became the prime suspects. Very controversial that they wouldn't sit down for a formal interview with police when their daughter was murdered until months afterwards, John Ramsey has another reason he believes that games were being played. And he was told, look, they want to convict you. They want to convict you. Get a defense attorney. The best you can find. And he and Patsy had to do that. And it goes on from there. So he relives it, he talks about finding her body. Things we had never heard before of what he found when he opened that cellar door, as he called it, in the basement. [Keilar:] And Jean, this is a reminder. I want to tell people that this is a special that airs tonight at 9:00 p.m. right here on CNN. We'll learn a lot more. We'll learn about some of the outstanding facts in the case. And Jean will be taking you through that. It's a great report. Jean, thank you so much. And thank you for watching NEWSROOM. Wolf starts right now. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Aleppo, Syria [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Newsroom Show:] A terror attack targeting Iranian pilgrims in Iraq. At least 80 people are dead. ISIS is claiming responsibility. Plus, wildfires spread through Israel. Now ten people are detained and the prime minister is talking about arson. And later, disturbing reports of rape and abuse of the Rohingya people in Myanmar. How some in the movement from minority are fleeing the country. Hi, everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier, live from Atlanta. You are watching CNN Newsroom. While the ISIS loses ground in the battle for Mosul in Iraq, the militant group can still strike elsewhere in the country. Thursday, a bomb went off at a gas station southeast of Baghdad causing utter carnage. At least 80 people were killed and 50 injured. And this is just the latest attack in a country plagued by violence. Far south of the Iraqi government led operation to retake Mosul from ISIS a tragic reminder of the terrorism civilians face in Iraq. The victims of this attack dozens of Shiites most on a pilgrimage from Iraq. The truck loaded with explosives parked the nearby buses before detonating. The group was on route back to Iran from the holy city of Karbala where they were paying homage to a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack reading, "The flames of battles in Mosul will reach them in Baghdad, Kabala, and Najaf." The Sunni terror group has long had the ambition of sparking full blown sectarian civil war in Iraq. This bombing was the deadliest in the country since an explosives filled truck blew up near a shopping mall in Baghdad in July killing at least 300 people. The largest death toll in a single incident since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Under pressure from Iraqi security forces and losing territory fast, ISIS is lashing out. In October, ISIS launched a failed counterattack in Kirkuk, a tactic, it seems, the terror group intends to repeat. And back to Mosul in the east of the city, ISIS is no longer in total control but it is still a threat. We're hearing dramatic stories from people inside Mosul. CNN's Phil Black reports on death and survival in the city. [Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] These people have just lived through the horror of urban warfare, they coward in their homes for days, prayers and white flags their only protection as Iraqi forces fought their way through the neighborhoods of eastern Mosul against fierce ISIS resistance. Now there is little food, water, or medicine, no electricity, but there's much relief. [Unidentified Male:] That is like a dark a dark thing on your chest. [Black:] ISIS is like a dark thing on your chest? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Black:] And it's gone now? [Unidentified Male:] The dark is gone. [Black:] you can hear the fighting in the near distance. It is still dangerously close. ISIS is gone from the streets but its ability to harm these people hasn't passed. Just 24 hours ago, we're told a family was sitting here outside their home when a mortar struck just a short distance away and an 18-month-old girl was killed. Her name was Amira Ali [Ph]. Her father Omar is overwhelmed by grief. He cries, "what did she do wrong? She was just playing. She's gone from me and she's my only one." Every day this makeshift clinic inside Mosul sees the terrible consequences of mortars fired into civilian areas. It's a bloody production line. The wounded are delivered, patched up quickly and loaded into ambulances for transport to hospital. At times it seems endless as one ambulance pulls away another military vehicle speeds in carrying more wounded civilians. They're unloaded with great care as the medics work to help the victims of yet another ISIS mortar attack. But they can't save everyone. This man's 21-year-old son was killed. He says "A mortar just fell in front of the door. We came and he was just a piece of meat. Four or five of my neighbors were standing with him and they're all dead." [Vanier:] And police in southern France are searching for a suspect after a woman was found dead inside over time at home for priests and nuns. A local official in the Montferrier areas says a masked man forced his way in to the home earlier Friday morning. The intruder tied up a staff member who was able to free herself and call police. A source said the suspect used a knife to kill his victim and that it appears she was indeed the intended target. Police do not think the attack was terror related. At least 74 people are dead after a construction accident in eastern China. The disaster happened when a platform built to help with repairs at a power plant collapsed. That's according to state run news agency Xinhua. Authorities say 68 people were on the platform when it went crashing to the ground on Thursday. More than 200 firefighters have been deployed with search and rescue dogs to find survivors. And China has ordered all residents of the Xinjiang region to surrender their passports. Those who want to travel abroad need to get permission from local authorities. The government has not said why they're confiscating passports but activists say that Beijing is deliberately targeting Muslim Uighurs. In the past, China has targeted the minority groups which are blamed for multiple attacks. Latin America's longest conflict may finally be over and this time the agreement is expected to be enshrined in law. Shasta Darlington looks at Colombia's latest attempt at peace with the FARC rebel group. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Colombia's government and the FARC rebel group have signed a peace deal bringing an end to half a century of fighting again. That's because nearly two months ago, Colombians voted to reject the initial peace accord. President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC rebel leader known as Timoshenko signed this new deal in a simple ceremony using pens fashioned out of bullets. [Timoleon Jimenez, Farc Rebel Group Leader:] Let words be the only weapons of Colombians. JUAN MANUEL SANTOS, COLOMBIAN PRESIDENT [Darlington:] While there are some changes in this new accord, the single biggest difference is simply that President Santos is not going to put it to a nationwide vote. This goes to Congress to be voted on. It also stands in stark contrast to the grandiose ceremony we saw at the end of September when heads of state flew in. The U.N. secretary general was there. Military planes were flying overhead and Colombia's president said that they had finally found peace. Of course, it was just a few days later, in a nationwide referendum that Colombians voted to reject the deal by a very narrow margin. But it highlighted the divisions this the country, the anger and frustration after decades of conflict that had killed over 200,000 people and displaced about 5 million people. Many Colombians felt that the rebel leaders simply weren't being held accountable. They weren't looking at jail time. They were being allowed to run for office in the future. While this new accord does have tougher sanctions. Not all of the demands were met. And in fact, critics say it still doesn't go far enough. But it is expected to pass in Congress because Santos and his allies have a comfortable majority there. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro. [Vanier:] Wildfires are raging across part of Israel and the West Bank and Israeli authorities say that arson maybe to blame. An official says at least 10 people have been detained in connection with the fires which began just north of Haifa on Tuesday. Sixty thousand people have been ordered to evacuate Israel's third largest city. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke earlier about the fires and gave a stern warning to those who maybe behind them. So for more on these fires we are joined now by CNN's correspondent Oren Liebermann. Oren is in Haifa. The prime minister, Oren, is making a connection between these wildfires and terrorism. What do you make of that claim? All right. We'll get back to Oren Liebermann. He is still setting up. We'll get back to Oren in just a second and he'll get you the details on the wildfires in and around Haifa and the claims by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. We're right back after this. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] House Democrats set to vote tomorrow on who they want to be their next leader. Our next guest is challenging Nancy Pelosi for that post. Joining me now is Democratic Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan. Nice to see you, Congressman. [Rep. Tim Ryan , Ohio:] Good morning. [Camerota:] Before we get to the vote tomorrow, I just want to ask you about what's happening in your home state. You know the breaking news that there's been this terrible attack at Ohio State University. From what you know, do you believe this is a terror attack? [Ryan:] Well, first and foremost, our thoughts and prayers go out to all of the families that are at Ohio State. I mean, this is just a tragic act in such a great town, such a great college campus, you know, just a few days after the great Ohio State-Michigan football rivalry, so the whole state's still in shock about what happened. I think we've got to let the investigation play out. Clearly, there's it sounds like there was some rhetoric and some posts that point in the direction of something very nefarious, but I think we have to let the investigation play out. [Camerota:] Congressman, one more point before we get to your race and that is that as soon as tomorrow the Ohio Senate plans to vote on a bill that could possibly allow concealed handguns on college and university campuses. Do you think that's a good idea? [Ryan:] You know, I really don't. You know, I think that college campuses and other areas need to be safe havens and I and I get it. I understand the other side of the argument, but there are certain places that I think need to be kind of insulated from guns, and I think places of education and higher learning are those places. But, you know, again, that's in the Ohio Senate's hands right now. [Camerota:] Yes. OK, so when we spoke last week when you were here in our studio, at that time your bid was considered somewhat of a longshot to unseat Nancy Pelosi. How's it looking today? [Ryan:] Well, I think a lot of people are going to be surprised tomorrow. We have a lot a support. We keep rolling out members of Congress who are supporting us. We rolled out two more last night Stephen Lynch from Massachusetts, Dan Lipinski from the Midwest. We have two more coming today that I think people will be excited about. And I've been making calls, you know, all week, since I left you in New York. And people are excited for some change, and I'm excited to have the opportunity to lead the caucus if they so choose. I think we need a change. Again, we're at the smallest number we've had in our Democratic caucus since 1929. And we've really got to ask ourselves when we walk out of the room tomorrow, what are we going to tell the American people? That what happened on Tuesday and what we've not been able to do since 2010 is OK? We're going to keep going down the same path? Or, will we have a new messenger, a new message, a new brand, and a new Democratic party? [Camerota:] So what's your biggest beef with Nancy Pelosi's leadership style? [Ryan:] Well, you know, we're not winning. That's the main beef I have. I come out the sports world and played a lot of sports growing up. I'm from northeast Ohio. We keep score and we're not winning. I just don't think it's acceptable for us to say losing 60-some seats since 2010 is OK. We're slaughtered all over the all over the country. Thirty-three governors, two-thirds of state legislatures. Obviously, everything in Washington, D.C. is now Republican and we want to be in a position to be able to implement our ideas as Democrats. And it's not, you know, just getting in, but it's we have certain things we fight for. Pensions, making sure people don't privatize the Medicare program, making sure kids don't get thrown off their health insurance. These are very important things to Democrats but if we don't have the levers of power there's not going to be anything we can do other than complain about it. And I think we need to make a strategic decision to go in another direction. Very respectful of Nancy Pelosi and all of her accomplishments, but I think it's time to go in a new direction. [Camerota:] But why do you think Democrats have lost their way. Specifically, what have you all done wrong? [Ryan:] Well, we don't have a robust economic message and we don't have to give up our progressive values on progressive issues. Those, of course, are a major part of what we stand for as Democrats, but if we don't have a robust economic message, we don't have a message that ties all of the different interest groups together. And if you want to run a successful campaign a campaign with a lot of juice, a lot of magic to it, and we've all seen those campaigns happen, you've got to have a theme. A robust economic theme in policies that tie everyone together. And look, if you're black, brown, white, gay, straight, man, woman, you want a good job. You want a job that pays, you want increased wages, you want a good pension, you want health care benefits, you want security. And you don't want to have to work 80 hours a week and miss your kid's soccer game or miss your kid's school play. These are fundamental to everyone in the country and if we don't have a message that really, really puts that out there, we lose. And that's what's been happening and that's why we are where we are right now. [Camerota:] So, as you and I speak, right now, it's 7:36 Eastern, what do you think your numbers are? I mean, if you think we're going to be surprised tomorrow what do you think the numbers are? [Ryan:] We are within striking distance. We've got a lot of support and lot of people that are that are helping us. As I said, we keep rolling out endorsements. Marcia Fudge, who actually ran the Democratic National Convention for us in Philadelphia, was chair of the Congressional Black Caucus very, very popular in our caucus, is supporting me and came out last week. So we've got some key endorsements that are moving people into our into our camp. And again, we've got to continue to make the case to our colleagues in the next 24 hours that what's the world going to look like when we walk out of that room on Wednesday, you know? What are we what are we going to tell all the Democrats? What are going to tell all the Americans that told us they wanted change? [Camerota:] Yes. [Ryan:] That we weren't going in the right direction. I feel like we really need to tell them we've got to move in another direction and, you know, I'm the one that's there to help provide that voice. And I know I can go anywhere in the country and campaign for Democrats on the issues we talked about a little bit earlier [Camerota:] Yes. [Ryan:] and I'm excited to be able to do that. I'm excited to help create what can look like a very, very new Democratic Party. [Camerota:] Congressman Tim Ryan, we will be watching. Thanks so much for taking time for [New Day. Ryan:] Thanks for having me. [Camerota:] Chris. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] All right. If you've been paying attention to the transition for the presidential administration you'll notice there's a lot of drama surrounding it. Is the president-elect intentionally choosing his administration like a reality show and, if so, is this a good sign for the country? Some big brains on the transition, ahead. [Cabrera:] We have some breaking news to tell you about. Just moments ago, presidential hopeful Donald Trump responded to reporting that RNC chairman Reince Priebus told him to tone it down on his illegal immigration remarks. And I want to bring back in CNN political reporter Sara Murray. So, Sara, we were just talking about this conversation that the two apparently had last night in our segment about a half an hour ago, and it was just minutes later that Donald Trump fired off this tweet. What did he say? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] Yes. So we are hearing from Donald Trump yet again today. He tweeted, "Totally false reporting on my call with Reince Priebus. He called me ten minutes, said I hit a, quote, nerve. Doing well, end." So this is Donald Trump's version of how the events went down. One thing I would say, though, is the Republican National Committee has a whole set of communications officials. They send out e-mails every morning about the stories they're reading, the headlines they're paying attention to. The No. 1 story on the list was "The Washington Post" story about this exact call, about Reince Priebus telling Donald Trump to tone it down. So the idea that that didn't happen, the idea that it's totally fabricated, I'm not sure why the RNC would be pumping that out as the hop headline of the day if it never happened. [Cabrera:] All right, Sara Murray, thanks for the update. We'll continue to follow. Still to come, just who is this child? Take a look at this picture here. This is a huge mystery to police. A little girl's body found near the beach on Boston Harbor. And despite a massive media campaign, police say no one has come forward claiming to know who the girl could be. The strange case of Baby Doe after the break. [Berman:] It has been a constant theme throughout Donald Trump's 11-month campaign. His alleged disdain for the media. We saw it again yesterday Chris' interview with Trump right here on NEW DAY. Trump claims to disdain the same media attention that he constantly seeks. Let's talk about it. We're joined now by Jennifer Rubin. She writes the "Right Turn" blog for "The Washington Post" and has been a recent Trump target. Also with us, Jeffrey Lord, CNN political commentator and a Donald Trump supporter. Jennifer, I want to start with you. Donald Trump doesn't like you and we know that because he said so here yesterday on NEW DAY, completely unprompted. Let's listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] You have a lightweight a real a real dope. [Cuomo:] Mr. Trump, they say you have to [Trump:] You have a lightweight named Jennifer Rubin who spoke about I didn't speak to Rubio. Well, I have spoken to Rubio. And then she said I never spoke to Ryan. Well, I have spoken to Ryan. And either she's living in a time warp or something [Cuomo:] All right. [Trump:] if you watch her. [Berman:] Yes, you know, among the issues that hadn't been discussed in that interview before that moment were either Marco Rubio or Jennifer Rubin, and it came up right there. Your response? [Jennifer Rubin, Right Turn Blog, Washington Post:] Well, first of all, what I said was absolutely correct and he is lying again. I said that he hadn't spoken to Ryan after the New York primary. Ryan, again, confirmed that that was the case. This conversation that Trump claims happened, didn't. And he also claimed, falsely, that he's been having conversations with Rubio about the vice presidency. Once again, Rubio denied anything like that happening, yesterday. So, the specific issue he was lying about why he brought this up is because, I think, two things. One, he uses the press to deflect substantive questions. Chris, when you began that interview yesterday, you started with a really tough question and he spent about eight minutes complaining that you hadn't complimented him on his recent wins. He uses this as a way because, as you pointed out earlier in the hour, he doesn't have steady, comfortable, substantive answers to policy questions. He deflects and he fends his [Cuomo:] Well Jennifer, there's one other reason he does it. There's another reason he does it and I'll direct to this Jeffery because he'll echo it immediately. He does it because it works. Jeffrey, when he says hey, you were unfair to me. He said a couple of times, in that interview, things that he has to know aren't true about our reporting here on this show where he was like hey, you misstated my tax thing. He knows I didn't misstate these things. I was giving him the chance to clarify them. But it works for him to say that he is victimized. It works for him to say that whether it's a Rubin or a Cuomo, or whoever it is at the moment, they're against him. Why? [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] Chris, back in if I may 1970, when I was a freshman in college, Spiro Agnew, then vice president of the United States, went to Des Moines, Iowa, gave, unbelievably in the day since there was no cable television, a nationally-televised speech in which he attacked the media. He called them nattering nabobs of negativism. [Cuomo:] Nattering nabobs of negativism. [Lord:] A great satire. Exactly, exactly. My point to you is Spiro Agnew's numbers went up. And this has been gospel in the Republican cannon ever since, to this day. You heard Ted Cruz do this the other day when he was about to get out the race and he went after Roger Ailes and Rupert Murdoch. Newt Gingrich did this on the stage of the debate the other day. This is gospel that the media, writ large, is unfair. In Donald Trump's case, I can tell you. I talked to him two years ago and asked him about the perception Republicans don't fight back. He immediately launched into the media. That particular day the issue was Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers who made all those racist remarks. And he said he had been on another show on another network. Had talked about this. Had given this sort of routine castigation of Sterling that everybody was giving. And then added, as he was going off, aside from which he's got the girlfriend from hell. And suddenly, this was being played as his defense of Donald Sterling, which he wasn't whom he doesn't know in the first place. He said this is really dishonest. So all I'm saying is that Donald Trump personally thinks this about some of the media [Camerota:] Yes. [Lord:] and that he's more than open to, in his words, "exposing them" and [Camerota:] Yes. [Lord:] this is Republican gospel. [Camerota:] Well, Jennifer, I want to get back to the larger issue here about Trump going after journalists because we've all been in his crosshairs. He makes it known when he doesn't like a particular line of questioning and calls you names. And, you know, it is our job to expose hypocrisy where we see it or expose untruths where we see them. Do you think that this has had a chilling effect on journalism? [Rubin:] Not at all. I think, in fact, you've seen much tougher questioning because I think there's been complaints, rightly so, from some of the Republican losers that he got extraordinary access. He got extraordinary time. That's what's so ironic about this as he has been given billions of free coverage hours on air and yet he still complains. Let me pick up on something that Jeffrey said, though, which I think is important. That strategy works very nicely in a primary because the Republican electorate feels very strongly. It doesn't work, however, in a general election. Frankly [Berman:] But, Jennifer [Rubin:] Let me finish please, Jeffrey [sic]. Let me finish. When you do it in a general election people who aren't necessarily Republicans turn in and they see this guy whining about a reporter. They see him saying you didn't compliment me. He comes across as whiny, as immature, and I don't think it has the same effect with non- Republicans whose votes he's going to need. [Berman:] What do you say about these new polls out today, though, Jennifer, right? Quinnipiac has new polls out of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Florida. [Rubin:] And I got a new poll for you in the Miami Herald that he's down by 30 points in Florida, so we can play that game all day long, Jeffrey [sic]. [Berman:] OK. So, you don't buy these new polls that show him leading in Ohio, close in Pennsylvania, close in Florida? [Rubin:] No, I don't buy a poll that has 39 percent and 42 percent, with how many percent in undecided at this point. So I think we learned that lesson with early polls before. Listen, we'll see if it works or not. But, in fact, right now he has unfavorable ratings are sky high with women, with minorities. He's losing categories that Mitt Romney won married women, white women. So he's going to have to do something to ingratiate himself with these groups and right now all he's doing is picking fights with other Republicans. His Republican support is down to about 84 percent, which is unheard of for the leader of a national party. So I think his natural instinct, which is to lash out, which is to fight, which is to make stuff up, which is to throw around all kinds of accusations may work in one context. I'm not sure it works in a national context. [Berman:] Right. All right guys, from these nabobs over here, thank you both for being us today. Really appreciate it. [Camerota:] We have to get back to nattering. We have a lot of news to cover. Let's get right to it. [Trump:] I thought everything was fine and then I got blindsided. [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] He's the nominee. I'll do whatever he wants. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] His rhetoric is not only reckless, it's dangerous. [Trump:] She is playing the woman's card to the hilt. [Clinton:] I'm going to let him run his campaign however he chooses. [Trump:] You watch the problems she'll have. [Loretta Lynch, Attorney General:] They created discrimination against transgender individuals. [Gov. Pat Mccrory:] Fighting discrimination, which I support wholeheartedly. [Pinsky:] A student at a Chicago Vocational High School caught on camera bullying and threatening, this time, a teacher. Take a look. [Unidentified Male Student:] No. [Unidentified Female Student:] No, wait. Wait. No! [Unidentified Male Student:] Now, ask me what my name is again. [Unidentified Female Teacher:] Whatever you are throwing, you need to throw it away. I need you to throw it away. OK, young lady, I am going to have to ask you to have a seat. I am going to have to ask you to have a seat. [Unidentified Male Student:] You are on camera. I am fixing to smack a [Pinsky:] Back with Loni, Vanessa, Mike and Lisa. And, joining us Cheryl Dorsey, Sergeant LAPD retired, author of "The Creation of the Manifesto: Black & Blue." Now, the video is from 2011, but it posted a few days ago and has since gone completely viral. So, we thought at best we take a good look at this. The teacher was a substitute. Now, we have been covering classroom violence recently, which is what drew our attention to this particular video. Mike, does the resource officer`s aggression the other day, when the guy that pulled that young lady out of the chair, does that behavior at least make more sense when we see maybe perhaps what he might have been up against in the classroom? [Catherwood:] It certainly, you know, is a good argument for the need for police presence on campus. I mean, I do think that with the internet being what it is and everyone having a high definition phone in their pocket, including students nowadays, there is this desire to act out, almost beyond what you would want to do, so that you can get the recognition on world star Hip-Hop or [Pinsky:] Wow. [Catherwood:] you know, Facebook or whatever it is. Because, look at it like this is probably the most attention this student ever gotten in his life. And, it is for what? It is for an egregiously, reprehensible behavior. [Pinsky:] Sergeant Dorsey, I find the teacher`s behavior remarkably composed. No? Lisa, you say no? [Bloom:] I am saying little too composed. [Pinsky:] Well, let me hear from the police force. CHERYL DORSEY, SERGEANT LAPD [Bloom:] Yes. [Sergeant Dorsey:] You have to set the stage in and the tone. And, obviously, she did not do that from the very beginning, because these people do not [Pinsky:] Is that what we are telling our teachers? They have to be police officers? [Sergeant Dorsey:] No. No. [Pinsky:] I mean she is trying to run her classroom. [Sergeant Dorsey:] You just have to have demeanor. You have to have command presence. You have to if you are not a bully, well, you have to at least get in your bluff, right? Make them think that you will do bad things to them if they do not behave, even though you may not. And, so for her to be so passive, I think was really more encouraging for this young man, because all that, "Hold me back, let me at her," if he really wanted to get away and throw a chair, he could have. It was for show and it was to entertain the class. And, I think it is because she did nothing that encouraged him to act the way that he did. [Coombs:] I think if she had done something, he would have reacted more. I mean I give her credit. She is a substitute teacher. And, we all remember substitute teachers, everybody kind of takes advantage of them a little bit, because they do not know the students. They do not know what is going to go on. They do not know the personality of the class. And, this woman, she just remained calm. She is trying to keep the situation defuse as much as possible. She did not know how to get help. She has asked somebody, is there a security person? But, I thought she did a great job. Yes, she is a little abnormally, perhaps to the point where I wonder if she is a little bit traumatized from past experiences. I am not sure. [Barnett:] Or just in shock. [Coombs:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Yes. That is right. [Barnett:] She is probably scared out of her mind. I have been a substitute teacher. And, luckily for me, I have to just worry about being hit on and not actually being hit. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Barnett:] But humble brag. No, but I am just saying like, you know, when I was in these classrooms, I looked like one of the kids. I was fresh out of college and teaching these kids. And, there are situations that arise where you really do not know what to do, because you are coming in for the day [Coombs:] Right. [Barnett:] and you are supposed to be playing a DVD or something. You do not know how to handle these situations. But, my issue is, just like it was with the young lady, who was slammed by the police officer, when do we realize that these kids are hurting? Like what do we do when do we talk to these kids to figure out what is wrong? [Pinsky:] Well, what do you do with that? [Barnett:] OK. Not that substitute teacher, but that was not the first time this kid acted out. [Pinsky:] Right. [Barnett:] That was not the first time he is showing out and going completely ignorant in class. But, like the young lady that was sitting at her desk, no one knew what she was going through at home. And, so, we can get to these kids at an earlier stage and figure out what else is going on. Maybe we can avoid situations like this where kids do not know how to handle whatever it is happening in their minds. [Sergeant Dorsey:] And, what was the consequence for that activity? That is what we do not know. [Bloom:] Yes. [Sergeant Dorsey:] That is what we do not know. Because, I think if she [Pinsky:] We do not know. [Sergeant Dorsey:] If the mindset was to allow him to do this and he will never do this again, because at the end of the day there will be a serious consequence, then I am OK with that. But, just to let him bully you like that, then what do you do tomorrow? What do you do next week when you come back? [Bloom:] It is the teacher`s job to control the classroom. The teacher is the adult in the classroom. No, and you cannot just sit there. So, my mother was a substitute teacher in Watts in the 1960s during the riots. All 5`2" and 95 pounds of her. And, nobody gave her any trouble. I mean, every teacher knows the first thing you have to learn how to do is control your classroom, whether you are a substitute or not. I am not blaming her. I am sorry if she was hurt emotionally or physically in this incident. But, teenagers are going to rough it up. They are going to push the boundaries. I have raised two kids. I got a 16-year-old at home right now. You have got to take control when you are the adult. [Pinsky:] Vanessa, what are you suggesting? What do you think we are going to find there? [Barnett:] I do not know, but I fell like a lot of times we feel [Pinsky:] Because people do a lot of that work, a lot of that work. [Barnett:] But not in those inner city classrooms. [Pinsky:] Yes. Sure. [Barnett:] I have been in those schools. I went to inner city school, where there was all kinds of things happening on the premises. We were walking through metal detectors. We had security officers on site. And, so, I know what it is when you have a classroom full of rowdy kids. But, I also know that some of the kids come from broken homes. [Pinsky:] OK, from broken home. [Barnett:] Some of these kids do not eat. They do not have [Pinsky:] Malnutrition. I agree with you. [Barnett:] They do not have [Pinsky:] Horrible environment. [Barnett:] Horrible environment. [Pinsky:] The violence they are growing up in, right? [Barnett:] And, a lot of these kids maybe have mental health issues, maybe there is ADD. Maybe ADHD, maybe there is [Pinsky:] Yes. OK. So, now, what are you going to do? [Barnett:] There are various of things, but all we see [Pinsky:] There you go. You listed four really important things [Barnett:] are bad kids, and we want to arrest them now? [Pinsky:] No. No. I see [Barnett:] You want to put officers it the class. [Pinsky:] I see mental health stuff. I do. [Barnett:] Exactly. but who is talking to these kids? Who is pulling them into the counseling office instead of the detention hall? Who say, "OK, you are acting out and you will be punished?" But let us also talk about what is happening at home. What is happening in your heart and your mind? No one cares. They just want to push them on through the system and they may end up in jail somewhere. [Pinsky:] I totally agree with you. Do you think that kid want to sit in a therapist`s office? [Barnett:] Kids do not want to do a lot of things. He did not want to be at school, either. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Barnett:] And, so, that is where it takes these adults to say, "No, you are going to sit here. You are going to tell me what is happening." Because maybe not the first, second or third time, but someone needs to tap in and help him before he hurts himself or someone else. [Bloom:] And, I think they do want somebody talk to. You know, I interviewed a lot of inner city boys for my book`s wager, which is about raising boys. And, I am walking into schools, who am I, a total stranger. And, I would sit and talk to them for hours. They were delighted to have somebody take an interest in their lives, to find out what was going on, to give them suggestions about things they could do. I think a lot of boys in particular are crying out for an adult to take an interest in them. [Pinsky:] Listen. I will tell what. One one positive relationship sustained with an adult after age 8 and forward, can change the direction of a life. One positive relationship. If each of us could maintain a positive relationship with a kid in need, particularly those of us that are men, who kids without fathers Mike, you have something to say? [Catherwood:] Well, I also I think that what Lisa was talking about, the need to have an interaction with adults, it goes to show that nowadays, even in the best of circumstances, with the most caring parents, we spend so little time with our children, because we make less money working more hours. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] In proportion to, you know, what it is to cost of living, we all work way more than we used to, and now someone who has a good job cannot support a family. So, most families have two you know, two incomes. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] And, it is just the way this world is working. I think we are dealing with a different set of children. You know, like Lisa was talking about her mother working in Watts in the` 60s. I think even in the neighborhood like Watts, it is a whole different group of children now. [Pinsky:] I totally agree. [Catherwood:] Their idealism [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] and everything is skewed to a way that makes it much harder to deal with. [Pinsky:] I think we are hungry as a country for answers along these lines, exactly what that is going to look like in the future. I just do not know because it is expensive, so, unless, we all take it on ourselves. We got now next up, students rallying behind the classroom cop. The resource officer who had been fired, that gentleman there, for throwing a student across the room. You will hear about that after this [Sesay:] Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now. We begin with a story just into us here at CNN. Turkey's state news agency reports a powerful explosion at a police checkpoint in the eastern part of the country in Cazro. The town is not far from Iraq and Reuters reports it is home to a large Kurdish population. We'll bring you thing information the latest it comes into us. To Italy now. Aftershocks are hitting the town. A camera crew captured a strong one on Thursday. These aftershocks are hampering rescue efforts. Workers say the possibility of finding anyone alive is dwindling by the hour. So far, 250 people are known to have died. More than 360 are injured. Italy has declared a state of emergency in the devastated areas and that frees up about 50 million Euros in aid. Siletta, a small village saw 22 people killed. CNN contributor, Barbie Nadeau, joins us from there. Barbie, tell us what is happening where you are right now. [Barbie Nadeau, Cnn Contributor:] We're right here in one of the hardest hit areas right now. One of the things, when you spend a little time here, you start looking at the rubble and understanding what people went through. Underneath this window, there are sheets tied here. We don't know if anyone climbed to safety. But just seeing that brings home the fact that this is not a movie scene, this is an actual real place where people died. 22 people lost their lives in this place. We know that 22 people died here. We know their bodies have been removed. They're not searching actively for anyone else in this area, but we're seeing some moment. Rescue workers, still in this area. No doubt trying to shore up this area. But all over here, you see the destruction. People who lived here, those that did survive are coming back to take a look. They obviously want to get into their houses, they want to take what's left of them. Some houses are standing, others there's nothing left. Right now, authorities are working with those people trying to give them a sense of comfort, to feel safe, but difficult to do because of the extremely strong aftershocks we've had. There was one that registered about 4.8 a while ago, shook the area, shook a lot of this rubble. And for the people who got out of these houses alive, those are the types of things they're having a hard time going through and those are the specific priorities of the workers, the civil protection people and the counselors right now that are in action trying to help those people deal with the aftermath of this, people who lost lives, loved love lost loved ones, lost their houses, now have to begin the process of starting over. And there are more than 6,000 people, officials here, right now trying very hard to make that happen for them Isha? [Sesay:] Yeah. The damage is hard to take in. Barbie Nadeau, joining us. Barbie, appreciate it. Thanks so much for the reporting. Residents in a nearby village say they mourn for all the dead saying there are too many. Their village was spared mass casualties but has been reduced to piles of rock. Atika Shubert is there. [Atika Shubert, Cnn Correspondent:] The village of San Angelo is covered in rubble. When we arrived, soldiers salvaged the church bell, but no one is here any more. Aftershocks keep people from returning. A mother and child were killed, crushed in their beds [on camera]: It's incredibly eerie walking through the rubble of this tiny village of San Angelo. I want to point this out. This bed sheet here, you can see it knotted to the top, tied together. I think residents inside may have used this to try and come down because as you can see, the doors are stuck because the walls collapsed around them and there was no way for people to come out this way so survivors may have tried to come out here. You get a real sense of just how horrific this was by the scenes here. Whole walls sheared off. You can see inside the kitchens and the living rooms just as they were at the moment the earthquake struck. [voice-over]: As you walk through the rubble here, we step over doors, these twisted pipes, windows that have been sheared off. But this really shocked us. What we're standing on top of now, it's actually a car that has been crumpled by the rubble of the home that's fallen on top of it. [on camera]: At the village green, a tent camp is being built to house hundreds from San Angelo and neighboring villages. Survivors rest in the shade, still in shock. This grandmother tells us there is no hope, too many people dead. Amatrice doesn't exist anymore. Amatrice has disappeared. There are so many dead, so many children. [voice-over]: The village of San Angelo is one of the places where tent camps are based and this tent camp can house several hundred people. I actually spoke to several teenagers that were right here in this playground when the earthquake struck at 3:00 a.m. That was lucky because they were able to help many of the elderly residents who were trapped inside their homes and they set up the first aid camp here. In that time, the camp has grown and I want to show you a little bit here. Many of the people from the neighboring towns and villages are coming here now. It's lunchtime, they are getting food, water, whatever medical help they need but also importantly, electricity. They are able to plug their phones in to keep in touch with their families and tell them that they're safe. [on camera]: Here, they are safe, but stunned by the destruction and loss all around them. Atika Shubert, CNN, San Angelo, Italy. [Sesay:] We want to show you some photos now, a few before and after shots that give you a better understanding of the damage, from the 15th century San Augustus Church to the town's iconic clock tower, and even roadways to other villages. And you can see widespread destruction and bleak reminders of how life used to be. Now, at least five people are dead from a hostage standoff in Somalia. Police in Mogadishu says they stormed the center. Before the siege, a car bomb detonated near the Turkish embassy. A terror group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the bombing. Whenever we think the Syrian civil war cannot or should not get more brutal and horrendous, it does. At least 15 people were killed in a barrel bomb attack carried out by the Syrian government. Rebels and the Syrian regime are intensifying their fight over Aleppo, which just used to be an economic powerhouse. Separately, Syria's main ally, Russia, has agreed to a 48-hour cease- fire in Aleppo. The U.N. has been requesting that for weeks, but says more is needed to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. [Unidentified U.n. Official:] Unless those step inside, unless those pauses first happen and become permanent, there's millions of people that are trapped inside the country, and I hate to think what their fate is if we could not reach them very with quickly. [Sesay:] Jomana Karadsheh is following developments for us. Jomana, what's the latest you're hearing about the situation in Aleppo right now? [Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Isha, what we know is these devastating images that we have been receiving overnight of that attack that took place in southeastern Aleppo in a rebel-held besieged area where they say at least two barrel bombs, these according to human rights organizations, these are canisters packed with explosives and fragments of metals that the Syrian regime is close to using, they say they are unguided and thrown out of helicopters and randomly hit various buildings. In this case, according to activists, it hit a building in this residential neighborhood and there are different casualty figures according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights that keeps attract of the violence on the ground. They say at least 11 of the people were children, four others were women. And we have been going through these images and videos that have been coming out by activists since yesterday, Isha, and I have to say they're extremely heartbreaking, just unimaginable suffering that you see in these pictures and these images. And we wanted to share one video with you that we chose to show our viewers. I have to caution them that it is extremely graphic and disturbing. It is not suitable for all viewers. But it shows and reflects the suffering of one mother. And you can imagine other mothers who have lost children. This one woman wailing, screaming over her son, screaming, saying Hassan. She wants to take a photo with him. You can see how distraught she is and you can feel the anguish in their voice. It's unimaginable. And this is the suffering of one mother. And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, more than a hundred children so far this month have been killed in the fighting that has been escalating in Aleppo. Dozens of other mowers going through this kind of grief and also, according to the Syrian state news agency, the regime, there was another attack on the Western side of Aleppo controlled by the regime. They say mortar attacks by rebels killed at least six people including two children, suffering on all sides of this conflict Isha? [Sesay:] Those pictures of that grieving mother, incredibly hard to watch. Jomana, what about this 48-hour cease-fire that's been agreed to by the Russians. What are the expectations there? What are the goals for what can be achieved in 48 hours, considering there's so much need there in Aleppo? [Karadsheh:] Well, this 48 hours we first heard this days ago, Isha, where the Russian defense ministry said they are willing to accept a 48-hour humanitarian pause in the fighting, a truce where they would allow the united nation toes bring in this desperately need aid into Aleppo. We have heard warnings from the U.N. saying hundreds of thousands of people, if not more than a million here, are facing severe shortages. And they really desperately need to get this aid, but they cannot do that unless there's a pause in the fighting that would allow them to move in. Now, the Russians said that they are willing to do this, but according to the U.N., we need to wait and hear from the other parties on the grouped, the rebel parties and, of course, the person powers including the U.S. that have the ability to broker such an agreement that would allow the U.N. to bring in this desperately needed aid, trucks ready to move according to the U.N. Isha? [Sesay:] It is so desperately needed. Jomana Karadsheh, thanks, as always. Now, Iraq says it has forced is out of a strategic town south of Mosul. The terror group has lost a key source of oil revenue. It is a crucial step towards retaking-Mosul, which is capitol de facto in Iraq. Mosul, which is Iraq's second largest city, has been under the brutal control of ISIS for more than two years. Inside that city, a secret resistance is staging a small war of their own. Here is Arwa Damon. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Operating deep within the shadows of ISIS territory in Mosul is a network so secretive even its own members do not know each other's identities. The letter "M" spray painted on Mosul wall. "M" for "the resistance." The message to [Isis:] We are here, we are among you. The Mosul battalions look for weaknesses in ISIS defenses, carrying out hit-and-run operations or waiting for a moment to strike isolated targets, like had checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. This man is one of their liaisons. [on camera]: How did the Mosul battalions manage to organize themselves? [Unidentified Male:] It started as two friends who trust each other and they would arrest to target ISIS in a particular point. [Damon:] The same happened elsewhere and by the end of 2014 the Mosul battalions formed. Their weapons are basic. What they found and hid in the city or what they snatched from [Isis. Unidentified Male:] The roadside bombs they use they would steal from ISIS. Is puts bombs in certain area. And those who have previous military experience would target them. [Damon:] They operate in two and three-man cells independent of one another. No cell knows the name of another. [on camera]: The man says he is with the battalions in Mosul. [voice-over]: He's speaking just outside the city. Talking on the phone is punishable by death. [Unidentified Male:] We carry out assassinations, sniper operations against senior is members. We target the Houses they live in. [Damon:] The distorted voice in this video says they assassinated an ISIS fighter. The images then show what they say is the dead man's I.D., pistol and suicide belt. He says they are providing intermediaries, intelligence and coordinates to the coalition. Here is the aftermath of a strike they say is based on their information. And they are waiting for what they call zero hour, distributing leaflets warning ISIS its end is coming. And they ready, ready for the day Iraq's army is successful and they rally the people to rise. Arwa Damon, CNN, Iraq. [Sesay:] Time for a quick break now. Next on CNN NEWSROOM, police in Brazil have charged Ryan Lochte with falsely reporting a crime. We'll discuss what other legal options for the Olympic swimmer. [Kristie Lu Stout:] Now Saudi Arabia cuts ties with Iran after Shia protesters burned the Saudi embassy, a major diplomatic split could further divide the Middle East. Armed protesters take over a government building in U.S. state of Oregon warning that they will defend themselves if forced to leave. And protests in Hong Kong after the disappearance of a fifth person linked to a publisher of books critical to China. We begin with escalating tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran that now appear to be spreading. Bahrain has just announced it is joining Saudi Arabia in cutting diplomatic ties with Iran. This comes after Iranian protesters ransacked and burned the embassy over the weekend. That attack was in response to Saudi Arabia's execution of a prominent Shia cleric. Now, Russian state media report that Moscow is ready to act as an intermediary between Iran and Saudi Arabia. Now, Frederik Pleitgen is following this story for us from London. He joins us now live. And Fred, Bahrain is now severing diplomatic ties with Iran. I mean, walk us through the growing regional impact that this split between Saudi Arabia and Iran is having and could have? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, it could have major regional implications throughout a region that, of course, Kristie, as we know, has been very volatile over the past couple of years. If we look at places like Yemen. We look at places like Syria. We look at places like Iraq, but also Bahrain itself. Bahrain, of course, is a country with a Sunni minority ruling over a Shia majority. They've always had a government that was very close to the Saudis, big allies of the Saudis but have also had a majority Shia population. And the rulers there in Bahrain have for a long time accused the Iranians of trying to stoke sectarian tensions in that country. So certainly the Bahraini move is not something that necessarily really comes as a surprise. However, the speed at which the relations between the Saudis and Iranians have deteriorated over this weekend is certainly something that is surprising. You had the execution of that very prominent Shia cleric that did spark a lot of genuine outrage in Iran. However, then you had the storming of the embassy in Tehran on Saturday night, which the government under Hassan Rouhani later acknowledged was wrong and he said that would go after those who perpetrated this. The Iranians on Sunday saying that they had arrested some 40 people. However, that was certainly not enough to set the Saudis or to appease the Saudis. If you will they then announced on Sunday night they were severing all ties accusing the Iranians of trying to undermine security in Saudi Arabia. So, the pace at which these relations are deteriorating and the consequences all of this could have for the Gulf and for the greater Middle East is certainly something that is absolutely troubling to players around the world. [Lu Stout:] That's right, with deepening anger spreading fast across the Middle East. Fred Pleitgen reporting for us live. Thank you, Fred. Now to Iraq now, and the brutal fight for Ramadi. Iraqi troops are combing the newly liberated city for booby traps and bombs that ISIS left behind. Nima Elbagir reports. [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Ramadi, after months of ISIS rule, this is what remains. ISIS's occupation of the city leaving its mark both above and below ground. [on camera]: These are the houses that the militants were hiding inside of. You can see what they were doing is they were digging up tunnels so that they were able to move from house to house without being seen by the coalition planes. And so that this wasn't spotted from the air, they were hiding the dirt that they were digging up and keeping it inside the houses themselves. You come through here, we can show you one of the tunnels leading through. Some of these tunnels, we're told, went as far as a kilometer. We're going to go have a look inside. They're not actually that wide, but it does give you a sense of them moving in the dark, under the ground, out of sight. [voice-over]: The city fell to ISIS in May last year. Since then, Iraqi forces have been battling to reclaim their territorial integrity and their ravaged morale. The head of Iraq's counterterror force told us the liberation of Ramadi should be celebrated around the world. [Lt. Gen. Taleb Shegati Al-kenani, Iraqi Counterterrorism Force:] Defeating ISIS in this victory has impacted on ISIS plans and its very existence, including weakness and desperation. The road to Mosul is now open and clear. [Elbagir:] Blindfolded and bound, captured ISIS fighters face the wall. They were, we're told, attempting to blend in to what remains of the local population. A reminder ISIS fighters could be hiding in plain sight. Even as the road to Mosul is in the Iraqi armed force's sight, a week on from the announcement of the liberation here in Ramadi, counterterror forces battle to purge the city of the remaining militants' presence. We're hearing some pops of gunfire there. They're a little further across the other side of the river. The fighting is ongoing. The clean up operation is still going on and that's why the helicopter is circling overhead. In spite of the threat of IEDs and roadside bombs, the troops continue their painstaking push. Under every inch of reclaimed territory, a possible death. Everyone here knows so much is at stake in this claimed liberation and not just for Iraq. [Al-kenani:] This victory is a victory for humanity because ISIS is against Iraq and against all of humanity. [Elbagir:] It is also, finally, some palpable momentum in the battle. Nima Elbagir, CNN, Ramadi. [Lu Stout:] And that was CNN's Nima Elbagir reporting from inside Ramadi. Now, there is a deep global sell-off underway this hour on the first trading day of 2016. U.S. stock futures are falling fast ahead the opening bell after China suspended its markets due to heavy loss. Shares and stock markets across Europe are also, as you can see, sharply lower. They have followed the plunge in share prices that grip markets here in the Asia- Pacific earlier. Setting off the panic was that weak manufacturing data, that report out of China earlier this day. The benchmark Shanghai Composite shed nearly 7 percent. And the losses were so big that trading was automatically halted on China's two main exchanges. Now, armed protesters in the U.S. state of Oregon have told CNN that they will remain in a federal building for as long as it takes to take a stand against how the federal government uses and controls land. Now, they have taken over a national wildlife refuge near the city of Burns, that after two ranchers, a father and son, were convicted of arson. They are due to begin their sentences later today. Now, they said they started a fire to reduce the growth of invasive plants and to protect their property from wildfire, but they were accused of hiding signs of poaching. Now, a spokesman for the protesters say that they are not terrorists, but a CNN.com, one of our contributors asked if armed people take over a government building and do so in the name of Islam, would that change how they are labeled? Now, go to CNN.comopinion, check out the article, it's written by CNN's national security analyst Juliette Kayyem. Let's get more on the standoff under way in Oregon. Sara Sidner joins us live from Burns. Sara, what's the latest there? [Sara Sidner, Cnn Interantional Correspondent:] Yeah, hi, Kristie. Basically what has happened is that there are two groups of people involved in this. One: the Hammonds. Now, the Hammonds that you mentioned are going to turn themselves in. They're going to jail, they're going back to prison to serve more time after a the government decided that they appealed their sentence and they said, look, they haven't served enough time, they have to go back to jail. They are going to do that. They are separate from the incident that's happening here. This is being led by Ammon Bundy. He has long, him and his family, long have had beef with the federal government saying that the federal government has overstepped its bound when it comes to land rights. They are ranchers and farmers who believe that they should able to use the land that the federal government has taken from local communities and that it is far overstepped its bound and so they have decided to come here in support of the Hammonds who are also ranchers, saying they are here not in their name, but they are here in the name of ranchers everywhere and inviting people from around the world and around the country to come in and help them secure the land and give it back to the people. The issue with that, of course, is that the federal government says this is federal government land, which is technically the people's land. It is a wilderness here, a wildlife refuge. We are basically 30 miles outside of Burns in the middle of almost nowhere, if you will. This is a place where you would come out to kind of enjoy the scenery. But this family has decided that they are going to take over this government building which is inside of the property. They've also stopped people from being able to come and go in and out of the property freely. And we have not seen, Kristie, any police presence whatsoever so far. They've been here for a couple of days. This is now going on the third day. But we do hear from the sheriff's department that there will be a command center set up. This group has said that they do not want to become violent. They said that they will not be the first to create any violence, that they are not hurting anyone, they are simply holding on to land they believe should be given back to the local people here. As far as how long they will be here, they say they are going to stay here as long as it takes. [Lu Stout:] So, this family, they say at issue here is the use of public land. You're reporting that you've seen no police officers there despite the fact that these are armed protesters or can we even call them that? Because, Sara, the standoff there has sparked this huge debate online, on social media, among Americans about why these armed protesters are not being called terrorists. Tell us about that. [Sidner:] Right, so there is a whole group of people online who have been talking about this group saying, wait a minute, if they were Muslims or if they had a different if they were African-American that they would be treated differently. I cannot speak to that. All we know is that this is literally very far away from any city and that is their point, that they are not putting anybody in danger. But we haven't seen a police presence out here. We do know that there will be one. They have promised that they are going to set up some sort of a command center. But we asked particularly, we asked Ammon Bundy, the person who is heading up this idea of taking over this federal building about that. They are being called names like Y'all Qaeda. And he said, look, we are not terrorist, we're patriots. That's how they see themselves. That's how their supporters see them. And as to what the federal government does, because this is federal land in their jurisdiction, we'll have to wait and see about that. Let me let you listen to what Ammon said earlier today about why they are out here. [Ammon Bundy, Protest Spokesman:] If we go to the constitution, we can see who's done really what. An article 1 8.17 are the rules that the federal government have to follow in order to own and control land and resources inside the state. And that is first, they have to get consent from the state legislatures. Second, they have to purchase them from the rightful owners and third, they can only use them for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards and other needful buildings. And they have done this here. They did not get consent from the state legislature. [Sidner:] Now, the federal government, of course, has a different story about this. And we asked him because what is particularly interesting is that Ammond Bundy is not from here either. He is coming from out of state. He has taken over land. He is not from this area. He says he's doing this in the name of the local people here. But the local people haven't come out in big numbers to join him either. So, it is an interesting scenario that will play out in the coming days as the federal government and the police start to make their move. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, Sara Sidner reporting right where it's happening, just outside Burns, Oregon. Many thanks indeed for that update, Sara. Now, here in Hong Kong, people are demanding answers over the disappearance of nearly half a dozen booksellers all reportedly critical of China's Communist Party. Now, after the break we have a report on the police investigation into the missing vendors. Also ahead, charged allegations are exchanged between South China Sea neighbors. We've the details of a new territorial feud that has pit Vietnam against China. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] A bomb in the air and now bombs on the ground. THE LEAD starts right now. Breaking news: ISIS claiming responsibility for killing dozens in twin suicide bombings in Beirut, Lebanon. Is there a time or a place ISIS cannot attack? Plus, surveillance video showing police Tasing a man at the door of a hospital and pulling him away. He later died in custody, but what really killed him? And more than 100 women now telling a drug company, hey, you're paying to raise my kid after you made a mistake with our birth control pills. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We have some breaking news in our world lead today, sirens blaring in Beirut as two suicide bombers blow themselves up within minutes of one another. Now ISIS says it is behind the twin attacks that killed at least 41 people and wounded more than 200 others. CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto has the latest. Jim, if ISIS did in fact kill all these people, how significant a development is that? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] It's big. It shows them expanding their reach again beyond Iraq and Syria, this the deadliest attack in Lebanon by any group in two years, and could have been much worse, reports that a third suicide bomber's explosive belt only partially detonated. It is a harsh defeat as well for Hezbollah's security. It had stepped up that security after attacks in recent months, and clearly failed here. [Sciutto:] The blast struck during the height of rush hour, coordinated, powerful and deadly, rocking an open area market just south of Beirut. The Lebanese news agency reports two suicide bombers blew themselves up within a few hundred feet of each other. This man said he was praying when the blast blew a door right over his head. The victims carried by bystanders over rubble from damaged buildings and rushed to nearby hospitals. [Tamara Qiblawi, Reporter:] The twin suicide bombing went off. The area is mostly empty. It's been cordoned off by the army. Otherwise, there's a lot of shattered glass on the street, a lot of blood. And it's really just a scene of chaos and carnage. [Sciutto:] Within hours, ISIS claimed responsibility. This neighborhood is a stronghold of Hezbollah, the Lebanese militia fighting alongside Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria, ISIS'sworn enemy there. [Michael O'hanlon, Brookings Institution:] ISIL doesn't think of itself as having borders. Let's remember, while you say ISIS, I say ISIL, they say I.S., the Islamic State. And they see themselves as trying to establish as a caliphate, which means an Islamic government covering all the areas where Muslims live today in the world. And so Lebanon is just going to be seen as another battlefield. [Sciutto:] We know that ISIS has sympathizers inside Lebanon and has attempted other operations there before, including kidnappings across the border from Syria. These attacks today come on the same day of a renewed offensive against ISIS in Iraq, that involving Kurdish Peshmerga, but also with U.S. support. [Tapper:] Jim, should we view this as is expanding into another country outside of Iraq and Syria, as we just heard in the piece? [Sciutto:] You should certainly, and kind of in a different way because it's almost an expansion of the war inside Syria, because you have Hezbollah on one side that's been supporting Bashar al-Assad, Hezbollah of course based in Lebanon, and ISIS fighting Assad in Syria, and now ISIS in effect taking a shot at Hezbollah across the border there, but also again showing its ability to project terror attacks outside of its home base in Iraq and Syria. Got the Metrojet crash, looking like that was an ISIS attack, and then you have these suicide bombings today. [Tapper:] All right, Jim Sciutto, thanks. And joining me is Republican Congressman Ryan Zinke, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He was also a Navy SEAL commander in Iraq at SEAL Team Six, completing more than 370 missions. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. [Rep. Ryan Zinke , Montana:] Always a pleasure to be with you. [Tapper:] ISIS is claiming responsibility for these bombings in Beirut that killed at least 40 people, hundreds injured. What is the significance of this? [Zinke:] Well, ISIS is not down and out. ISIS is flexing its muscle. If it's true that ISIS brought down the Russian plane, and if it's true that ISIS conducted suicide bombings in Lebanon, you know, they're reaching out to Hezbollah, attacking Hezbollah, Russia and remain in the game. And ISIS remains incredibly dangerous. And I think, for our position, we should revoke passports for U.S. citizens there. We should secure our southern border. I think that's important. There's a lot of things we can do, arm the Kurds unilaterally, you know, in concert with Turkey. But there's a lot we can do and should do. [Tapper:] We should also point out, of course, that ISIS has been conducting horrific terrorist acts in Syria and Iraq for years. But striking a major tourism spot such as Sharm el-Sheikh, which you just alluded to, bringing down the plane potentially, and now perhaps this horrific suicide bombings, two of them, in an international city like Beirut, this is putting innocent people in harm's way, innocent people from outside the war zone. I mean, this could really involve other countries in the fight, theoretically. [Zinke:] Well, and you look at what ISIS probably has in their arsenal. They have used mustard gas. I believe those reports have been true. In Mosul, the university, it's likely they had their hands on radioactive material. That could be a dirty bomb. So ISIS has the capability of inflicting grave harm. And, as you say, they're not afraid to use it, in Lebanon, going Hezbollah. You have the different groups in a backdrop of Shia vs. Sunni, ISIS vs. al Qaeda, you know, you have competing terrorist organizations. Unfortunately, I don't think we have heard the last from ISIS. They continue to push the envelope and go further and further. [Tapper:] Well, do you think ISIS has eclipsed al Qaeda at this point? Is ISIS the biggest terror threat in the world? [Zinke:] Well, certainly two rivalries, both of them are evil. I think ISIS probably has done more recruiting recently. You see they're very active in social media. You see that they're likely response will be for beheadings in Afghanistan. And their global reach I think is expanding. Obviously, our air operations alone has not been successful in stemming the tide of ISIS. And the unfortunate part is, I think we will see a continuing expansion of ISIS, although I think it's positive that the Kurds along with U.S. air operations is going into Sinjar. So there are some things that we are doing correct, but I think that at the end of the day, we haven't done enough to assure our allies that we're in the fight. [Tapper:] Congressman Ryan Zinke, thank you so much. And a day after Veterans Day, thank you for your service, sir. [Zinke:] Thank you. And God bless. [Tapper:] From Lebanon to Iraq now, where a major offensive is under way to retake a key northern city from the bloody hands of ISIS. U.S. forces now providing critical air support for the more than 7,000 Kurdish troops taking the fight to the terrorist group. The city of Sinjar, a strategic stronghold, was captured last year and serves as a vital ISIS supply route between Iraq and Syria. Residents there have been forced to flee. CNN cameras, of course, capturing heart-wrenching moments of desperation from last year, as dozens, dozens of innocent civilians battled to board a military chopper as they fled. They were escaping near certain death. Right now, Kurdish Peshmerga forces in control of a number of villages in the area, as well as a major stretch of highway, but the intense fighting in Sinjar itself has only just begun. CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is embedded with Kurdish forces on the front lines near Sinjar. Nick, what exactly are U.S. troops doing to assist in this fight? Is it limited to airstrikes? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We are told that they are not down on the ground in the front line. And that pretty much tallies what we saw ourselves. Looked pretty hard, didn't see mysterious U.S. presence within the normal Peshmerga troops we saw. They seem to be up in the hills actually directing the airstrikes, as far as we can tell. Today, at about 9:00 sorry, yesterday night at about 9:00 now local time, we saw the first moves in. It lit up the sky, frankly, coalition airstrikes, one after another, and then a large trail of Peshmerga. We followed their moving around to the west of that city. They were trying to move in, in very large numbers, strike their way into the city center, but above all, as you mentioned, Jake, take that vital Route 47 that runs straight through the heart of Sinjar. Yes, it's symbolically important that it's reclaimed from ISIS to kind of set back the damage done to that ethnic group, the Yazidis, who they captured and many of them enslaved last year when they swept into that town. But it's strategic. It's vital. It runs between Mosul and Iraq, one ISIS stronghold and the capital of their self-declared caliphate, Raqqa, in Syria. Today, we saw them move in, take that road. A lot of heavy resistance from ISIS further out west, that was met by very powerful coalition airstrikes. But then they managed to gather the numbers, the Peshmerga, and move towards the city center, digging huge trenches across that highway, putting very large earth berms, making it pretty much unusable. But ISIS, they're still in the city center. We just don't know how much fight they have left in them, Jake. [Tapper:] Nick, describe for us, if you can, what the conditions are like on the ground there. [Walsh:] It's extraordinarily cold. Very open spaces. A lot of airpower being used. I think that kind of visibility we have seen with the clear skies today has really helped the coalition pinpoint the strikes we saw. I mean, there were times when, frankly, you would hear a thud every few minutes or so. The city center itself of Sinjar, there seem to have been some very thick fires lit by ISIS, perhaps to obscure their movements. There were four huge plumes of smoke that covered, blackened much of the city and the sky itself during today. And then another remarkable thing too, sort of mushroom clouds you hear that are not airstrikes. They come from car bombs that ISIS is trying to use. They used to be extraordinarily successful when we saw them being used in Kobani, but the Peshmerga have a new tactic. They seem to have missiles, many call them MILAN missiles, perhaps given to them by Western governments. That lets them take out these suicide bombers as they drive towards them at a safe distance. That's a change. That's given them an advantage on the ground and it seems to translate into real success on the highway. Whether they can take the dense urban center of Sinjar in the days ahead, that's a different question, Jake. [Tapper:] Nick Paton Walsh embedded with Kurdish fighters, thank you, my friend. And stay safe. In our money lead, more than 100 women saying they unexpectedly got pregnant after a birth control mixup, and now some want the contraceptive maker to pay for the costs of raising their children that story coming up. [Costello:] All right. We want to head back to Columbia, South Carolina, and Bernie Sanders who's selling his economic plan to help lift working families out of poverty. Let's listen. [Sanders:] Andrea, Andrea. [Unidentified Female:] Senator, we're only a few days before the primary here. You are leaving for Super Tuesday. I know you're going to be back for the election. [Sanders:] Yes. [Unidentified Female:] But there is a feeling among some in South Carolina that you are writing off [Sanders:] No, no, no, no. No, let me just say, and I say that with these two guys by my side, and I thank them so much for their support and I think media does this a whole lot, Andrea. We came to South Carolina. And if you look at the polls we were like 7 percent, 8 percent, 9 percent in the polls. We were 50, 60, 70 points behind. We have waged a very, very vigorous campaign. We have picked up a lot of support. And we have closed the gap very, very significantly. But this from day one was going to be a very difficult stay for us. We're not writing off South Carolina. You all know that an March 1st, there are a dozen states that are holding elections. And the nature of the world is we got to go out to other states. I think I'm leaving for Oklahoma in a little while, where we think we have a shot to win. We have a shot to win in Massachusetts, Colorado, Minnesota, and in other states. My own state, I think we're 80 percent in the polls so I think we're going to win there as well. But we are fighting here in South Carolina as hard as we can. But within the context, you know, I think Secretary Clinton was in California the other day. I don't mean she's writing off the state. That's the real world that we live in. And let me just say something else. I was asked a funny story. And mostly I want to stay on poverty today. I know because this is we got off on this. When I was in Iowa there was some bad poll came out. I was 40 points behind. Somebody, well in you lose Iowa you're going to drop out of the race. So let me remind my friends in the media, Iowa is one state. New Hampshire is another state. Nevada is another state. Great state of South Carolina is another state. And do you know what? There are dozens and dozens and dozens of states that follow. In some of those states I expect we are going do very well and win, maybe by large amounts. In some states we're going to lose. We won New Hampshire by 20 votes. Not the end of the world for Secretary Clinton. There are states we're going to lose. But the race goes on. And this is a race. We got to get 2400 delegates. 2400 delegates. So we are in this race to win it. And I think we are going to pull off one of the great political upsets. Yes, Andrea. [Unidentified Female:] Why do you think Democratic turnout is down? [Sanders:] Let me say that. All right. [Unidentified Female:] Donald Trump seems has enormously expanded. [Sanders:] Let me say this. Tell me about turn around. What we are being compared to is the phenomenon which I have said for a long, long time, of Barack Obama in 2008. Barack Obama broke the mold. The turnouts that he brought out were beyond belief. In states they ran out of ballots. All right? The truth is the Democratic turnout in Iowa was very, very good. Not as good as 2008. Compare it I think it was the second largest turnout in history. Turnout in New Hampshire was actually very, very, very good. Not quite where Obama was in and remember also when you compare just 2008 you have not only Obama and Clinton, you had John Edwards and other candidates. Each one bringing out their own campaign. So if you want to compare turnout just to 2008 I don't think that that's fully fair. Go back to 2004, go back to 2005, we're doing pretty well. Now in Nevada did we have the kind of turnout that we wanted? Absolutely not. Yes, Nancy. [Costello:] OK. We're going to jump out of this press conference now. That's Bernie Sanders and he's talking about voter turnout which is very important in his mind because the bigger the voter turnout, the better Bernie Sanders supposedly does. I want to bring in Errol Louis, our political anchor for New York One News, and also a political analyst for CNN, and Hilary Rosen, an adviser to the Democratic National Committee. Welcome to both of you. So, Errol, why is Bernie Sanders saying turnout is great but it's not as great as 2008 because that was historic. Why is he making such a big deal of that, Errol? [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it's true for one thing. I mean, if you get peppered with questions about well, gee, turnout seems to be down, there is not so much enthusiasm for you, you know, you've got really sort of recalibrate it and sort of make clear that what happened in 2008 really was unusual on a lot of different levels. It also points, by the way, down the road to a larger problem for the Democrats, which is that you've got this Republican romp that is going on. And it is really stirring up record turnouts getting people really energized. A lot of times that can come back to haunt the other party. The Democrats, you know, by trying to sort of get the nomination into Clinton's hands without much fuss or fight or a lot of debates they really risk putting a lot of the electorate to sleep. It's a concern not just in the primary for Bernie Sanders but for the Democratic Party as a whole. [Costello:] Well, here's the thing with that, Hilary. So let's say we get to the general election and it's between either Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton and of course Trump wins the nomination. Won't that energize Democratic voters to come out just because Trump is in the race? [Hilary Rosen, Adviser To The Democratic National Committee:] Trump will definitely energize Democratic voters. You know, the challenge with Trump is going to be where does this broad swath of independent voters go in the general election? Where, you know, historically well, at least for the last two elections they helped carry Barack Obama into the White House. And I think that, you know, we are going to see Barack Obama play an important role here in the Democratic in the general election because there are very few people who can kind of take on Donald Trump. And I think it is going to be hard you know, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders don't have sort of magic fairy dust to diminish Trump's supporters. He's got a lot of vulnerabilities that the Republicans haven't gone after at this point. And I think Barack Obama is going to help people go after those. [Costello:] OK. I want to dip back into Bernie Sanders' newser here because he was talking about his complete support of President Obama and I want to talk about that next. Let's listen to what he's saying now. [Unidentified Female:] You began a pilot program where they can track officer-involved death, something that previously only being done media outlets like [Sanders:] Yes. [Unidentified Female:] to the federal government when they kill Americans [Sanders:] Well, let's let's rephrase it. When you have made a judgment, they kill. But when individuals die under police apprehension or police custody, should that be mandatory? Yes, I do believe that. [Unidentified Reporter:] And would you support any legislation? [Sanders:] Pardon me? [Unidentified Female:] Would you support legislation? [Sanders:] Yes. Yes. OK. Yes. [Unidentified Female:] Senator, in the event that this math does not eventually add up for you and you do continue to [Sanders:] And your concern is about poverty in South Carolina? Was that your question? Is that where you're going? [09:25:0] [Unidentified Female:] I'm going follow up with the poverty question. But first, I just want to say well, and you can answer it this way. What would your priorities be? You're going to have significant delegate support walking into the Democratic convention [Sanders:] My priorities are to win the Democratic [Unidentified Female:] Democratic Party at the convention. [Sanders:] To nominate Bernie Sanders as president. You know, look, look, look. Let me rephrase it again. OK. When we began this campaign essentially it was almost believed by most that Secretary Clinton was the inevitable candidate. She is not the inevitable candidate now. I think we've got a real shot to win it. And what I would ask of the media is not to look at it state by state. You know, we're going to win some states. We're going to lose some states. There are it is necessary to get 2400 delegates. We are going to have good days. We're going to have bad days. Secretary Clinton will have good days and bad days. But let's kind of look at the long-term thing. We have momentum. And if you want again I don't want to stress polls too much. I'm not a great believer in them. But short look at the polls and state by state, do you know what you are seeing? The gaps are narrowing. Clinton is still in the lead, her lead is narrower. We think we have momentum and momentum is very important. So I think we are on a path toward victory. It is a tough fight. And let me tell you something, if we win this it will probably be the biggest upset in the history of America. Gentlemen in the back, yes, sir. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Senator, two questions. Just to fact check real quick. Mrs. Clinton, Secretary Clinton was first lady back in 1996. So is there substantiation for the notion that she actually rounded up votes? [Sanders:] Yes. [Johns:] And second question I think [Sanders:] I'm saying she was active on this issue. You're right. She was first lady. [Johns:] All right. And to this issue of economics in South Carolina. Just sort of directly. This has come up many times but could you just sort of directly address your view of racism as a byproduct of economics? Or do you see racism as an issue that is cultural and needs to be dealt with in a cultural way? [Sanders:] Let me talk about South Carolina and just say one thing. I'm on the committee that wrote the Affordable Care Act. OK? And I can tell you to the best of my memory, there was not any discussion on that committee and we had dozens of meetings about states not taking advantage of their ability to expand Medicaid that we gave them. And it was shocking to me, not just in South Carolina, but other states. How many folks? Hundreds of thousands of people now who could get healthcare? Who are not getting healthcare in South Carolina simply because of ideological reasons. They are black and they are white. Who are not getting healthcare. Some of them will certainly die and be much sicker than they would have been. And let me just answer your question by saying this. I was, I know I always get nervous because I date myself when saying this. I was there with to march in Washington in 1963 with Dr. King. And do you remember what the title the full title of that march was? It was called the March for Jobs and Freedom. Jobs and freedom. In other words, what Dr. King understood is that to be fully human, you have to have a decent income. You have to have employment. Not to mention that we have to break down the barriers of racism and bigotry. Both. All right. Thank you all so much. Thank you. [Costello:] All right. That was Bernie Sanders holding a news conference in Columbia, South Carolina. He wants of course to get as many votes as possible before the big primary between the Democrats heats up later this week. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the race is on for the big one. That would be Super Tuesday. We'll talk with Trump's campaign spokeswoman about his big win last night and a million dollars worth of attack ads set to begin today against Donald Trump. [Cuomo:] Protesters at North Carolina's state capital building erupting in anger, because lawmakers failed to repeal the so- called Bathroom Bill in a special session that was called to repeal the bill. As of now, the controversial measure is still the law of the state. CNN's Nick Valencia live in Raleigh, North Carolina, with the very latest. It seems a political play near the end foiled the process. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Lots of surprises. Lots of surprises yesterday, Chris. Good morning. It was nine hours that they were in session. The legislature adjourning without resolving the issue that they were scheduled to meet about. The day started with drama, Republican representatives standing up in protest to say that the special session was unconstitutional and that anything that happened yesterday should be null and void. It ended with state Democrats blasting Republicans for not living up to a deal that was reportedly brokered early this week. For now, House Bill 2, the so-called Bathroom Bill, is law in the state. [Valencia:] Frustrations boiling over in North Carolina. Lawmakers failing to repeal the state's controversial Bathroom Bill after more than nine hours of closed-door meetings and negotiations. Known as House Bill 2, the legislation requires transgender people in public buildings to use the bathroom that corresponds with the gender assigned at birth. [Roy Cooper , Governor-elect, North Carolina:] The legislature had a chance to do the right thing for North Carolina, and they failed. [Valencia:] Incoming governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, slamming the Republican-controlled legislature for their actions during Wednesday's special session, which was called solely for the purpose of overturning the law. [Cooper:] I'm disappointed that we have yet to remove the stain on the reputation of our great state. [Valencia:] The law, signed by outgoing Republican Governor Pat McCrory in March, sparked outrage across the country and resulted in economic losses for the state, with businesses, sports associations and cultural figures all pulling out the state in protest, and the Justice Department filing a suit to challenge the matter. McCrory, who has blamed his election loss on the bill, pointing the finger at Democrats Wednesday, saying in a statement, quote, "This was at least the third time that pressure from the left sabotaged bipartisan good faith agreements for political purposes." [Unidentified Male:] We're her unconstitutionally. [Valencia:] Are you planning on voting no, then, against the repeal? [Unidentified Male:] I'm planning on voting no on anything that's done here, because it's all unconstitutional. [Valencia:] The bitter back and forth coming as each side accuses the other of playing politics and failing to live up to the terms of a reported deal to ensure the repeal of the contested bill. The legislature is expected to be closed for the rest of the year. When they reconvene on January 11, there's a chance that House Bill 2 will be put on the agenda, but that's not a guarantee Chris, Alisyn. [Camerota:] This just thank you very much, Nick. This chapter just keeps going. [Cuomo:] Also, look. I mean, this is all about politics and definitional politics, identity politics. Who do you want to be? That one lawmaker said, "I'm voting no; this is unconstitutional." Most legal analysts will tell you that any law that bans transgender people from a bathroom would be found unconstitutional. It's a violation of equal protection. So this is more about politics, less about the law. [Camerota:] It goes on. Meanwhile, the Kremlin describes U.S.-Russian relations as, quote, "frozen." What should President-elect Trump do about Russia? We'll discuss that next. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Politics now. Donald Trump has been firing rhetorical salvos at rival Marco Rubio for weeks now. This week, Trump sent him something else 24 bottles of Trump Ice Natural Spring Water, and some towels. It was a care package to Rubio's Washington campaign office, along with a note that read, "Since you're always sweating, we thought you could enjoy some water. Enjoy". Rubio responded this morning, saying it seemed like top-notch water and that he was, quote, "grateful for the gift." Let's get right to CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, this all comes as Rubio rises in the polls and he attracts attention and also scrutiny. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Scrutiny especially when it comes to his voting record. He has actually missed more votes this year than any other Republican senator running for president. And the big vote today in the Senate was on a defense authorization bill. Usually, they're bipartisan and aren't really in jeopardy, which is why Rubio didn't feel compelled to come back from the campaign trail. And it was a decision that was nearly a political mistake. [Bash:] Marco Rubio has missed many Senate votes but this was almost a political disaster. [Unidentified Male:] On this vote, the yeas are 73, the nays are 26. [Bash:] For a while, it looked like Republicans would need Rubio's help in beating back a Democratic filibuster of a military funding bill. [Unidentified Male:] Senator Marco Rubio. [Bash:] He was hundreds of miles more on the presidential campaign trail. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] There are times when you're not going to be there. Now, let me tell you, we have canceled events and traveled across the country to make votes, especially if we can make a different or if it's a high profile [Unidentified Male:] So you don't think [Bash:] Rubio didn't cancel today's trip to New Hampshire and lucky for him after high drama, a 15-minute vote dragged out for an hour and a half, so many Democrats broke ranks that Rubio's absence did not cause an embarrassing Republican defeat. One that would have been worse since another Republican presidential candidate, Ted Cruz, was presiding in the Senate. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Florida:] The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. [Bash:] Rubio's former mentor, Jeb Bush, regularly hits him on it, telling voters that senators should only get paid if they show up for work. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Everybody works to provide for families. Why is it that people miss votes in the U.S. Congress in such a rampant way? I think if they miss a vote, there should be a deduction in their pay. And I hope you do as well. [Bash:] Donald Trump is on his case, too. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] He's got the worst attendance record. You can't do that. You've got to vote. You know, people elect you to a position, you've got to vote. [Bash:] Rubio is slowly climbing in the polls, which puts him squarely in the sights of the GOP front-runner. [Trump:] Rubio is not the guy negotiating with the kind of people you have to negotiate to turn this around. [Bash:] That as Trump insists he's in this for a long haul. [Trump:] I'm not going anywhere. [Bash:] Now, Rubio sources say, he regrets missing votes but it's not practical to travel the country running for president while being in Washington to cast votes. And they privately insist he's not going to pay a price with presidential primary voters for missing Senate votes because they say many of those voters view the Senate as a waste of time anyway. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD, coming to you live from Vegas, where the curtain goes up on the last Republican debate of the year in a little under 26 hours. Our political panel is here to preview it all, the big Republican rumble, CNN's political commentators S.E. Cupp and Paul Begala and Kevin Madden. That's Republican, Democrat, Republican, for those keeping track. First thing, Paul, we were talking about this, Mike Huckabee, Governor Huckabee's big pitch about how he has experience. That is not I mean, look at the polls. That's not what Republican voters want. [Paul Begala, Cnn Political Analyst:] Right. Right message, wrong party. I mean, usually, for all my adult life, it was the Democrats who wanted the new, the fresh. And now every Democrat running has been in elective office since disco era, even Martin O'Malley, longtime mayor, longtime governor. Hillary Clinton has been running since the last Clinton was president. I mean, my party is now the party that wants experience, but the Republicans don't. And, I mean, I like Governor Huckabee, but he's fishing where there ain't no fish right now in his party. They want something new and different. And and they're calling for it. And for him to tell you in that interview you know, he gets that rare moment of airtime, and he says, "Well, I'm the most experienced." That that's not what they want. [Tapper:] Kevin, let's talk about tomorrow night's main debate. Huckabee will be in the undercard debate, the main one. What are you expecting in terms of Trump versus Cruz? Because Cruz really nipping at his heels in Iowa. In one poll, he's even ahead of Trump and then, nationally, he's in second place, the margin depends on what poll you look at, but he poses the biggest threat to Trump right now. [Kevin Madden, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes, when I think when those two have their clash, it will be interesting to see how they handle it. First of all, I think the one thing that Trump is going to come after Cruz on is immigration. Immigration was what helped Donald Trump ascend in the polls. And I think there are some areas where the Trump folks believe that Cruz is vulnerable. The interesting thing will be, then how does Cruz respond? The conventional way to respond on the debate stage is to attack back and to offer your own contrast. But Cruz has gone about the Trump fight that he's had over the last few days by trying to bear hug him. He believes that ultimately the way to win here is to offer Trump supporters himself as a vehicle for a lot of the anxieties that they have about the economy and national security and ultimately, he'll be there standing when Trump voters start to look for a more traditional candidate. And believe it or not, Cruz believes he's a more traditional candidate in that sense. [Tapper:] Well, he is more traditional than Donald Trump. It's interesting, as you know, Trump saying his temperament is better than Cruz is, called him a maniac and as John Berman showed in his piece, the response of Ted Cruz was to tweet out a clip from the movie "Flashdance," not the hippest most modern clip from before [Madden:] That's a lot of millennial on this one. [Tapper:] S.E., this was a movie starring an actress named Jennifer Beals. What are you looking for on the stage? Is it the Cruz-Trump showdown or is there another contender you're looking at? [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] I'm actually going to be looking at the way that Marco Rubio deals with Ted Cruz. I think tomorrow night is incredibly important for Marco Rubio because it's a foreign policy debate. And he and Cruz are having this very interesting argument about foreign policy right now. If Marco Rubio can't define Ted Cruz's foreign policy as weak and inconsistent [Tapper:] I think he called it isolationist. [Cupp:] Yes, well, yes, and he's got to put Cruz on the defensive about his foreign policy at a time when terrorism is top of mind to so many Americans. If he can't make definitively make Ted Cruz look weak and inconsistent tomorrow night, I think he's Cruz is going to have a massive momentum going into Iowa. And Rubio's going to have a hard time catching up. [Tapper:] And Donald Trump did something that a lot of people said he was not going to do, which is he well, second time he crossed the threshold, oh, he'll never get over 25 percent, 25 percent, 30 percent. Now in the new Monmouth poll, which is a respected poll nationally, he's at 41 percent. [Begala:] It's remarkable. And he's not going anywhere. I think Kevin makes a great point, that Ted Cruz is the one person who seems to have a strategy for Donald Trump. And it's the bear hug. But that requires at some point for, you know, Mr. Trump to go down and go away, and so far he hasn't done it. So that clash to me is going to be the most exciting thing when Trump hits Ted. But you're right, I think Ted's response the worst thing Trump has done is attacked Ted Cruz's faith, which should be out of bounds in any political debate. But I suspect Ted Cruz who is a man of faith will heed Proverbs Chapter 15 Verse 1, a soft word turneth away wrath. My least favorite of the verse of the Bible, I have to say. I like a harsh word [Madden:] Ted Cruz said something interesting the other day in the audio that leaked, he said, Donald Trump when the gravitational pull brings Donald Trump back to earth, he'll be there. Campaigns as we know voters don't look at gravitational pulls. They have a choice forced upon them between candidates, and I think that's one of the difficult things, and that's why it is conventional and risky for Ted Cruz to try and bear hug when at some point, he's going to have to force a choice for those voters between him and Donald Trump. [Cupp:] But also Donald Trump is Ted Cruz's best friend. Before Donald Trump got into this race, Ted Cruz was viewed by the majority of the Republican base as to the very, very far right, Tea Party, some would call extremist, some would call, you know, sort of a loose cannon. Donald Trump has managed to make Ted Cruz look rational, look more appealing, more palatable to a lot of conservative voters. So, I think Ted Cruz's strategy of sort of being that guy, the more palatable version of Donald Trump at the end is very smart. I don't know if he can topple Trump, but I think that's a very smart move. And I think it's paying off especially in Iowa. [Tapper:] Paul, you advised the pro-Hillary super PAC, right? [Begala:] I do. [Tapper:] OK. So, they did something interesting. They are now sending "make America great again" hats to all the Republican candidates except with a little sewn insignia at the bottom their own Trumpism which is prove you're a Christian in the case of Jeb Bush, you know, no Syrian refugee orphans for Chris Christie, et cetera. No matter who wins, Democrats are going to try to make that person Trumpified, to paint them with a Trump brush so to speak. That wasn't a hair joke. [Begala:] If you look at what super PAC I advise is doing and what I hope other Democrats will do it is just that. Donald Trump is the leading candidate for president of the Republican Party, he therefore defines the party. And to the extent some of these guys and gals are bear hugging him or trying to be pale imitations of him, Democrats will want to lump them altogether. And they have given us fodder. This is a great challenge in a primary, you want to rev up your voters and they're doing a great job of that in the Republican Party, but they risk alienating people in the middle. [Tapper:] Paul, S.E., Kevin, thanks so much for joining us. In case we haven't mentioned, we are just one day away from the next Republican presidential debate, the final one of 2015. You can see that right here on CNN tomorrow night at 8:30 p.m. Eastern. This has been an unpredictable election. CNN wants to know what you think will happen next. You couldn't do worse than our pundits. Go to CNN.complay, there you can make predictions, and enter a chance to win a trip to join CNN in Florida at the Republican debate in March. Coming up, is Ted Cruz the money ball candidate? How the Cruz campaign says it's using data science to read voters' minds and climb the polls. Plus, President Obama warning ISIS leaders, you're next. But is this a military strategy or a PR one? [Howell:] You've heard that line, "Blame the media." U.S. presidential candidate Ben Carson is doing just that for mischaracterizing his recent comments on Muslims. He told news outlets to, quote, "mature" and that he believes anyone can apply for the job. Earlier in the week, he told MSNBC he wouldn't support a Muslim running for president. Carson now says he'd support a Muslim for president but only if they renounced sharia law. Newly discovered e-mails are raising questions about exactly what Hillary Clinton considered to be personal. The exchanges are from 2009 between Ms. Clinton and then-commander of U.S. CENTCOM, General David Petraeus. State Department officials called the e-mails, quote, "getting acquainted." They say that the exchanges do not appear to include classified information. Clinton claims that she has turned over all work-related e-mails and her personal server over to investigators. Clinton's husband is defending her in a new interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton says critics have made more out of the e-mail issue than there really is. He also talked about the Republican frontrunner, Donald Trump. Listen. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn:] Again, as a great student of American politics, what explains Donald Trump? [Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] Well, first of all, he's a master brander. And when you have a lot of people running and people are trying to make distinctions, being able to put a personal stamp on it so people identify with who you are, accounts for something [Clinton:] certainly in the beginning. So I think that. Then he said to the working class supporters of the Republican Party, that have largely shifted over for cultural reasons, I'll give you economic reason to vote for me. I'll build a wall around the southern border of America and I'll stop buying Chinese imports so your incomes will go up. Now that all will have to be fleshed out in the course of time. And I'm sure the other future debates will do it. But he's got a lot of pizzazz and zip. He's branded himself in a clear way and he's generated some excitement. And it remains to be seen what's going to happen. It's an unusual election. You know, there's there doesn't seem to be much interest yet on their side. I think there is on our side, because both Hillary and Senator Sanders have laid out pretty detailed, positive policy positions, talked about what they would cost and, you know, you can actually have a debate there, where you could discuss the relative merits of their positions on health care or generating jobs or lifting incomes or whatever. But over there, it seems to be more about resentments and one-liners. I don't know. It's interesting. [Zakaria:] But could Trump be the nominee? [Clinton:] I think so. [Zakaria:] Wow. [Clinton:] I mean, how do I know? I don't understand I don't understand any of it very well. And look, I've been out of politics a long time. I haven't run for office in 20 years. And, also, I'm not mad at anybody. I mean, you know, I'm a grandfather. I love my foundation. I'm proud of Hillary. I'll do what I can to help her. But I'm not the best pundit anymore. I don't have a good feel for this. All I know is what I think is good for the country. And I think the country needs somebody who can give us broadly shared prosperity, help families and kids, try to reduce the impact of all this huge anonymous money in our political system and, in a world full of challenges, keep big, bad things from happening and make as many good things happen as possible. That's how I would define the job of the next president. That's what I think. And so I think Hillary would be a great president. But I have I have no confidence in my political field anymore. I've just been out of it a long time. And I'm not I'm not mad at anybody. So I'm just happy to be here. [Howell:] That was former U.S. President Bill Clinton, speaking with CNN's Fareed Zakaria. And you can see the full interview Sunday night at 8:00 in London, 9:00 in Berlin and 11:00 in Abu Dhabi, right here on CNN. Sir Elton John and Russian President Putin have plans to meet to discuss gay rights in Russia. This comes after a prankster called the singer pretending to be Mr. Putin. Senior international correspondent Matthew Chance has more. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, I think it's a pretty smart PR move from the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, the real one this time, actually calling Elton John and agreeing to meet him in person. Remember, last week, a couple of Russian pranksters pretending to be Putin spoke with the British rock star after he'd offered to meet Putin to discuss gay rights in Russia. The telephone conversation was, of course, recorded and it showed that Elton truly believed he had the Russian president on the other end of the line. Take a listen. [Elton John, Performer And Philanthropist:] Look, tell him I'm extremely honored to be on this, that he's calling me and that I'm speaking to him. It's a great privilege to be able to speak to one of the most influential people in the whole world. It's amazing. [Chance:] OK, this time the Kremlin said it took a bit of convincing to get Elton John to take the call, who was perhaps understandably suspicious. I know that you are have been played by pranksters, President Putin told the singer, according to the Kremlin, but they intended no harm. But that, of course, doesn't excuse them, he said. Well, of course, gay rights are a very serious issue in Russia, where laws have been introduced to restrict public discussion of homosexuality. And activists say they face discrimination. Elton John, for his part, brushed off the prank call, saying that his offer to talk with President Putin still stands and he seems now to be a small step closer to that actually happening Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow. [Howell:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, the little car carrying a passenger of great stature. We look at the regular ride for a pope who acts like a regular guy. [Pinsky:] Fourteen-year-old Kali Bookey is accused of beating her brother`s teen girlfriend then slitting her throat. The girl survived. Kali calls herself a psychopath. Watch this. [Unidentified Male:] They found a 15-year-old girl, badly beaten, the victim was the girlfriend of Bookey`s brother. She told the investigators the younger girl had biked several miles to her home, walked inside, and savagely beat her. She did make the statement to her victim, "This will be my first, but it won`t be my last." Investigators say Bookey admitted to punching the girl up to 30 times then smashing two ceramic bowls over her ahead and using the broken pieces to cut her neck. When the suspect left, she made the comment, "enjoy the afterlife." Bookey later told authorities she was jealous of her brother`s relationship with the girl. [Pinsky:] I am back with Sara, Yodit, and Melissa. Melissa, more details here. [Mccarty:] So, this 14-year-old, I mean, we have to take that in, 14 years old, is being charged with attempted first degree intentional homicide, and she will be, according to reports, tried as an adult. Now she has admitted to police and also her victim who is only 15 years old, the girlfriend of her brother, that she was a self-proclaimed psychopath, and she wanted the girlfriend to be her, quote, "first kill." [Pinsky:] Oh. [Mccarty:] Now she also admitted to stalking this young girl for a week prior trying to figure out how she was going to do it. Now, Drew, this is where it`s interesting. She was the one that called police. Now, initially, she made a phone call to police saying at 4 a.m. she was riding her bicycle around when two masked men jumped out of a truck, tried to abduct her, and instead, she said, hey, "don`t take me, I have a girl whose home alone, take her instead." And then when police arrived, they found this teenager bleeding from the face and the neck because she was brutally beaten for two solid hours. A bowl was smashed over her head, shards of the bowl were used to cut her throat. At one point, the victim asked for a glass of water. The accused, you know, attacker, then gets her water, and she says, "do you want to," according to the complaint, "do you want to die now or bleed out?" And the victim reportedly said "I want to bleed out." When cops showed up, still alive, currently in critical condition, and that`s when she identified who her attacker was. [Pinsky:] And according to court documents, Kali told the victim, told the victim, that she was a psychopath. Joing me now is Casey Jordan, a criminologist, attorney and host of Wives with Knives on Discovery. Casey, let`s first of all, let`s first open by reviewing the criteria for psychopathy so we really understand what we`re talking about here. [Casey Jordan, Criminologist:] Well, we have a debate between a psychopath versus a sociopath. But most psychologist agree that psychopathy is going to be genetic or innate in nature, and that sociopathy or what we now call antisocial personality disorder is usually a product of the environment. Of specific things that happen to a person. And the number one criteria we usually look at is abuse. Surviving sexual abuse, emotional abuse, psychological abuse. But I don`t think this girl is a psychopath, I think she just watch too much television. [Pinsky:] Well, would you wait a minute. [Jordan:] She is obsessed. [Pinsky:] Wait a minute. [Jordan:] What? [Pinsky:] I don`t know how a 14-year-old can do this kind of thing without being a psychopath. I mean, she apparently showed no anxiety, she did it so systematically for such a sustained period of time. I don`t understand know how a 14-year-old could do that unless she had no emotion, which is what psychopaths have. [Casey:] Oh, I think she has emotions. And I think her emotions are jealousy, obsession and attention seeking. The key is that she has a bunch of elements, but she doesn`t have the impulsivity. Remember, she plans this very carefully. And the key is that her mother said there was no sign of this whatsoever. Does she have a history in school? Has she tortured animals? Started fires? It isn`t impossible that this is popping up for the first time when she is 14, but what kind of girl gets obsessed with her brother and with his girlfriend to the point where she wants to kill the girlfriend? I think something very bad happened to this young lady, perhaps it`s lately, but her obsession is either with her brother or the girlfriend. Whether its flowers in the attics or whether its wild things, something is going on with this girl that I think is not organic, but environmental. [Pinsky:] OK. She`s like that she had been sexually abused or something, is that what you`re implying? [Jordan:] I think it`s very likely. [Drew:] Okay. Melissa? [Melissa Mccarty, Special Correspondent, Crime Watch Daily:] She also claims reportedly told the victim that she thinks that she will kill again. [Drew:] And she told she told... [Jordan:] That she left her alive. [Drew:] ... and she told detectives that she hated her brother`s girlfriend because she made him happier than Bookey could make him. [Jordan:] Right. [Drew:] So, there you go. Jealousy results in stalking and homicidal behaviors? [Jordan:] Well, I think the key here is that she didn`t kill the girl. She said that she wanted it to be her first kill but she left her alive. She then called the police, made up a story about abductors, sent the police to the girl`s house to make sure that she actually lived. Interestingly enough, the girlfriend in the meantime was texting the boyfriend, the older brother of the attacking girl, and saying that well, when she died, she wanted his last name, also the attacker`s last name on her tombstone, and later from the hospital said that her scars looked cool. I mean, I think you`re talking about a triad of three teenagers without very much going on in their lives who really enjoy drama. I`m not saying that the attack wasn`t serious, but I do think that there`s a lot more going on here than psychopathic. [Drew:] Okay. And HON cannot refute or confirm what we`re talking what Casey is suggesting here. Yodit, you got a look of a what? Confusion on your face? [Yodit Tewolde, Attorney:] I`m I`m just mortified by the fact that this 14-year-old can go to such a great length and I`m sure that all of us can agree that it is properly being handled in the adult court. She is a juvenile and I`m glad that they`re not keeping the case in the juvenile court because of the cold and calculated manner in which she went about this. It deserves to be in an adult court. She actually needs to be transferred from a juvenile detention center to an adult jail. That`s where she deserves to be. [Sara Azari, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Yodit no. I think, okay, I`m with you on the trying her as an adult. In fact, in Wisconsin, you don`t even get a fitness hearing to determine whether you should stay in the juvenile system. The DA`s office has full discretion to charge you and try you as an adult. So, there`s no fitness hearing in the scenario, but to put a 14-year-old in prison with adults, I think, you`re exposing that 14-year-old to a lot of safety issues, and then, also, the liability of the state as a result of that. I don`t think that she needs to be with adults serving time, but I see why she has to be accountable as an adult. [Pinsky:] Yeah, we`re splitting hairs here. Fortunately, we don`t get to make we don`t make those decisions. Now, I want to sort of phone in on something that detectives reported that caught my attention, and that was her calm demeanor when she told the entire story. Casey, that doesn`t get your attention at all? I would think a 14-year-old who is a product of abuse would be emotionally all over the place as opposed to calculated and not anxious. [Jordan:] I know but but they can become they can become very crusted over from dealing and suppressing emotions. Listen, I think the number one thing this girl needs is a psych evaluation before she even goes to adult prison. [Pinsky:] Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. [Jordan:] But beyond that, what you got is a girl who might be suppressing emotions. She may not lack emotions. She may not have remorse or lack of remorse. She may simply not be able to tap into it. I really think the missing linchpin here is why is she obsessed with her brother. [Unidentified Female:] Right. [Jordan:] Why is she trying to make this girl move away, as far away as possible. She said she didn`t really want to kill her, but wanted to scare her. And this girl is obsessed with her brother in a very unnatural way, and you really need to figure out what happened to her that makes her want to get rid of the girlfriend. [Azari:] Are you are you insinuating that the brother may have abused her? [Pinsky:] Or the or the girl? [Azari:] Like she had a relationship with brother? [Jordan:] I don`t know that I`m insinuating it. I I think that any good psych eval will look into that possibility. Where does the obsession come from? [Pinksy:] So what what mitigates you`re calling her a psychopath is the obsession and stalking and the fact that we have no... [Jordan:] And jealousy. [Pinksy:] ... and no antecedent history of things like setting fires and harming animals. Reasonable. We`re gonna keep this going. [Jordan:] The mother says there`s no sign. Yeah. [Pinsky:] Later. Well, you know how that goes. And later, the most dangerous game ever. We`ve got an update on Pokemon Go. Did parents abandon a baby in order to go after a Pokemon character? Back after this. [Grace:] Did 37-year-old yoga expert, Alexandria Duval, intentionally drive her beautiful identical twin sister off a 200-foot cliff, plunging the Ford Explorer on to a rocky shore? [Unidentified Male:] Identical twin yoga teachers were in their Ford Explorer when it suddenly plunged 200 feet off a cliff, killing one sister and injuring the other. [Lawrence Lau, Boy Scouts Chaperone:] ... she floored it and was in a rage as she sped past us. [Grace:] Joining me from "The Maui News", Chris Sugidono. Chris, thank you for being with us. I`m stunned about the entire scenario. And there has been a lot of discussion, this is not a second-degree murder. But in your jurisdiction, second-degree murder is causing the death, knowingly and intentionally, causing the death of another. Chris, is there any suggestion that this woman, Alexandria Duval, broke? That she hit the brakes, that she tried to steer away from the cliff? Any suggestion of that, Chris? [Chris Sugidono, "the Maui News" Staff Writer:] Well, reading the probable cause report, there were no attempts of any braking during the event, and a witness did report that the driver appeared to be in a rage, and the woman sitting in the passenger seat, which was Anastasia, was pulling the hair of Alexandria, who was driving the car, right before Alexandria made a sharp left turn and plunged to the rocks below. [Grace:] Trying to get her to slow down would be my guess. Joining me right now, special guest, Alan Akina, who actually saw the crash aftermath. Alan, thank you for being with us. [Alan Akina, Saw Crash Aftermath:] You`re welcome. [Grace:] Alan, what did you see? [Akina:] So, the situation was that I`m a Boy Scout leader there in Hawaii and I had my Boy Scout troop camping about 200 yards away from where the accident took place and it was actually my two leaders and two of my scouts, my 15-year-old Boy Scouts that witnessed the entire scene. So, they were the last ones to see them that go off the cliff. And your person that you just had on is absolutely right, they did not brake. There was no braking that took place. And, you know, those roads there in Hana are very, very narrow. In some places they allow one car to go at a time and in most places, when you go two at a time, is very tight. So, it`s hard to navigate but, you know, this is a very traumatic situation, being there on the scene. I mean, to see what happened and to get reports from some of the locals that were in the area that made their way down that 200-, 300-foot cliff before any of the fire department or police department got there. They came up and gave us the report and it was just gruesome to hear what the scene looked like inside the car. [Grace:] We are looking at the wreckage of that 2016 Ford Explorer right now. Can you describe the scene once the twins, once Alexandria, drove the Explorer off the cliff? What was the scene, Alan Akina? [Akina:] OK. So my two leaders were driving the van going toward Hana and they came around the bend and they saw this car, this Ford Explorer stopped in the middle of the road. And it had its hazard lights on and so they pulled up because they couldn`t go around it because the roads are so tight, so they stopped about 40 feet away and they witnessed two girls fighting. They said, we saw two girls fighting, screaming and we saw hair being pulled. Now, here`s the interesting thing was that the hazard lights were on. And after a bit of fighting and screaming and pulling of the hair, the driver had the presence of mind to actually turn the hazard lights off and put the car in drive and then floored it. And they zoomed past our van and probably 60 feet after that, made a quick left and it went through, like a 3-foot high rock wall and then took off over the cliff. So, I know the preliminary reports are coming back that, you know, she attempted murder. But after we after I interviewed my leaders and my scouts and we had time to process it that night, we thought there might be another angle to it because, you know, who, in their right mind, would kill themselves? Basically, you are going off a 200- to 300-foot cliff, you are going to die. It`s a miracle that she survived at all. You are going to die. So, the one thing that we thought, and here`s why. All of my leaders and scouts, and there were two other tourists that were behind our van that saw the incident. All of them could not confirm that there was someone sitting in the passenger seat. Even the local that went down to the car, he said that the other girl was in the backseat and he couldn`t find a pulse on her. So, what we thought was, hey, you know what, maybe she was in the backseat and they were fighting and they pulling hair everyone knows they were pulling hair but to pull her hair, you would reach between the driver and passenger seat. And so you would actually be pulling sort of toward the right. If you are pulling toward the right, your natural reaction to get out of someone pulling your hair would be to go the opposite way. So she had to pull left, maybe when she pulled left accidentally turned hard left as well. So, you know... [Grace:] And interesting, along that train of thought to Corporal Dwaine Parker, accident reconstructionist, the so-called black box of the Ford Explorer is likely going to show what witnesses say, that even if she had turned left, by accident, she never tried to brake, Corporal Parker? [Corporal Dwaine Parker, Accident Reconstructionist:] Yes, that`s correct, Nancy. And your guest that just came on, his theory of being pulled back to the right and her reaching up to grab the steering wheel for bracing herself would allow you the ability to turn left of the steering wheel. That is a plausible case. And the data from the black box thus shows that the steering wheel was turned and that the vehicle went in that direction and that there was no braking applied. If she`s being pulled to the right, perhaps her body is now out of alignment from sitting within the driver`s compartment and her leg extended and hitting the gas pedal and at that point she has no presence of mind to even hit the brake pedal or capability to hit the brake pedal. So I think that the fighting, the domestic dispute, between the sisters is going to play a big part in the... [Grace:] I think you are right. And there`s so much more to it. Matt Zarrell, you`ve got the reports from eyewitnesses that say they had been fighting all day long, that the perpetrator was apparently jealous of her identical twin sister. Jealous over what, I`m not sure. That they had been living the high life off of their yoga membership, their class students and they absconded with all that membership money. And they were having financial fights. I mean, look at this yoga studio. It`s packed with students. Not only that, she refused to talk to police, EMTs or the hospital staff about what happened. And she tried to flee the jurisdiction, Matt Zarrell. [Matt Zarrell, Nancy Grace Producer:] Yes. She tried to flee multiple times. The police checked with the TSA and the airport. She tried to get to the West Coast multiple times. The other thing that the cops are going to focus on is multiple witnesses saw rage in Duval`s eyes as she hit the gas and took off over the cliff. That could play a significant role in this case. [Grace:] And she is headed straight for a preliminary hearing at this hour. To Dr. Bradley Marcus, chief medical examiner, Richland County, joining us tonight. Dr. Marcus, how is it that the driver, the sister, Alexandria Duval, who changed her name. Her name used to be Alison Dadow, why did she just hurt her arm and she`s in a sling while the sister, formally Ann Dadow, now Anastasia Duval, I mean, they ditched their names and legally got a name change so nobody could really trace them. Why does she die of head trauma and the perp just has her arm in a sling, Dr. Marcus? [Dr. Bradley Marcus, Richland County Chief Medical Examiner:] Well, it depends, you know. I`m not sure if one or the other was not wearing a seatbelt or not because that can play a significant effect on injuries sustained in the crash and she could have been in a position where the air bag went off or something and she was protected inside of the vehicle. [Pinsky:] Stanford rapist, Brock Turner, facing 14 years in prison. Got six months in county jail. With good behavior, probably serve three months. Back with Kurt, Tiffanie and Yodit. Kurt, convicted of a felony sexual assault, out in September. Does that seem fair to you? [Schlichter:] No, it does not seem fair. Three months for Well, it is three felonies. I think it is 289 and a 220. You know, I just cannot get by this. Dr. Drew, I cannot accept this, because this would not happen to anybody who was not a Stanford student. This would not happen to anybody whose parents were not wealthy. If it was someone else, they get a sentence that it was appropriate. Why did not he? What kind of justice system do we have? [Pinsky:] Here is Brock Turner`s mother who wrote a letter to the judge asking for leniency during the sentencing procedure. We have an audio recreation, and this letter has been edited for time. Please listen. [Unidentified Female Speaker:] This is his future life. I beg of you please do not send him to jail or prison. Look at him. He will not survive it. He will be damaged forever. And I fear he would be a major target; Stanford boy, college kid, college athlete, all the publicity. This would be a death sentence for him. Having lost everything he has ever worked for his entire life, and knowing the registry is a requirement for the rest of his life certainly is more than harsh. Your honor, please be kind and merciful to my beautiful son. He is suffering. [Pinsky:] Yodit, I do not know. Listen. This whole thing is a tragedy. It is sad. But no one is talking about the victim. [Tewolde:] Exactly. No one is talking about the victim. And I think a lot of what she was saying in the letter could have been applied to the victim. Her life is ruined. But you know what? We are not surprised here, because as a mother, any parent would write on behalf of their son [Pinsky:] Sure. [Tewolde:] and plead to the court for leniency. But this also reminds me of the judge that gave the affluenza teen ten years` probation for killing four people. And that was an individual who had a clean cut, came from money, and had influence. So it is just disgusting. And it is sad at this point. [Pinsky:] And Tiffanie, do you agree on me, this kid will not reoffend. It is not as though he was an innocent sort of bystander. He was an active rapist. [Davis-henry:] Absolutely, Dr. Drew. 100 percent. You know, the mom is asking for us to be kind and merciful to him. What about being kind and merciful to the victim? He was not that on that night that he raped her. And I do not know, but I just feel like I disagree with what your last guest said. As parent, if this were my son, he deserves to go to jail. [Pinsky:] Yes. You know, it was funny, I was thinking the same thing, Tiffanie. With those with mental health, I think sometimes you know you have to bring the ax down when there is transgression. You do not mitigate. [Davis-henry:] This is not acceptable. [Pinsky:] You do not enable. You do not mitigate. [Davis-henry:] No. [Pinsky:] You do not allow somebody to get away with behavior that is completely unacceptable. [Davis-henry:] There are consequences, Dr. Drew. There are consequences and this is one of them. [Pinsky:] You must let them come. Thank you for watching. Thank you, panel. We will see you next time. Please DVR the show. You can watch any time. Tell a friend. "Nancy Grace." END. END [Cooper:] On the eve of the first Democratic presidential debate here in Las Vegas tomorrow night starting at 8:30, according to reports, Hillary Clinton is facing the imminent release of another batch of e- mails from her private account when she was secretary of state. Now, as you know, her use of that e-mail account has become a focus of attacks by her critics and Republican opponents on the campaign trail. In an interview that aired last night on "60 Minutes" President Obama addressed the attention the e-mail controversy has been getting. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] This is one of those issues that I think is legitimate, but the fact that for the last three months this is all that's been spoken about is an indication that we're in presidential political season. [Stephen Croft, Cbs Anchor:] Do you agree with what President Clinton has said and Secretary Clinton has said that this is not that big a deal? Do you agree with that? [Obama:] Well, I'm not going to comment on... [Croft:] You think that's not that big a deal? [Obama:] What I think is that it is important for her to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the American public and they can make their own judgment. I can tell you that this is not a situation in which America's national security was endangered. [Cooper:] President Obama's comments come on the heels of Kevin McCarthy's remarks about Clinton's poll numbers falling as a result of the House select committee's Benghazi investigation. He later admitted his remarks were a factor in bowing out of the race for House speaker. He also said he didn't mean to suggest that the committee was targeting Clinton for partisan reasons. Yesterday, though, a former investigator for the committee dropped a bombshell on CNN "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper, accusing the Republican-led panel of doing just that, turning a fact-finding mission into investigation focused solely on Clinton and the State Department. It's an accusation that committee chairman Trey Gowdy vehemently denies. Here is what Bradley Podliska told Jake Tapper. [Bradley Podliska:] I have a conscience. There is wrongdoing here, and I think it needs to stop. And I do not want the investigation to end. I want the investigation to be refocused back to its original purpose. The victim's families are owed the truth and as it stands now, they aren't going to get the truth. Hillary Clinton has a lot of explaining to do. We, however, do not need to shift resources to hyper focus on Hillary Clinton. We didn't need to de-emphasize and in some cases drop the investigation on different agencies, different organizations and different individuals. [Cooper:] Mr. Podliska was fired in June. He says he lost his job in part because he refused to focus his investigative efforts on Clinton and the State Department. Mr. Gowdy says that he never voiced his concerns or objections. Next week for the first time, Hillary Clinton will testify before the committee. There's a lot to talk about their panel. CNN political commentators Kevin Madden joins me and Paul Begala is back with us. Paul is co-chair of a pro-Hillary Clinton super-PAC and advisor to President Clinton in the '90s. We heard President Obama there saying this is something that needs to be addressed, but that national security wasn't violated. How can he say there's not a national security problem if his own Justice Department is still doing investigations? [Paul Begala, Cnn Commentator:] Well, he certainly has more and better facts than I do, and Hillary needs to send him a bouquet of roses. That was as calm a defense. You know, a lot of Democrats panic, and my people are kind of weak that way, and here is the president of the United States, most beloved Democrat in America, saying everybody calm down, national security was not compromised. [Cooper:] I don't get how he can say that for sure if there is a department [Begala:] He's got pretty high security clearance. My guess is he knows. [Cooper:] But there is an ongoing Department of Justice investigation, and he's what, getting e-mails about it? [Begala:] I have no idea is the honest answer. But he's the best and most credible person that Hillary could ever hope for to defend her on this, and I thought he did a magnificent job. [Kevin Madden, Gop Strategist:] But he did say Hillary Clinton has to answer these questions to the satisfaction of the American public, and I think up to this point, she has not. He's not the arbiter here. The ultimate arbiter I think will be the public when they render electoral judgment on Hillary Clinton, but also the investigators. You're right, Anderson. There are investigations going on right now. They will decide whether or not in a non-partisan way whether or not there were violations or there was some wrongdoing here, and that's ultimately where the test will be. [Cooper:] Do you think at this point, though, the fact that you had this guy coming out saying this, you have the comments that McCarthy made, that now Secretary Clinton is on much safer footing? [Begala:] Absolutely. It's gone from being a shield to being a sword. This never happens in life. You remember in "Annie Hall," they are waiting in line at the movies and the guy is bloviating about Marshall McLuhan, and [Cooper:] I happen to have Marshall McLuhan right here. [Begala:] He says you know nothing of my work. People like me sitting there watching this, saying this is obviously a partisan deal. I've been through a lot and I know and can tell. But now an investigator, a Republican major in the Air Force has stepped forward and said, I was one of the investigators and I'm telling you it was a partisan investigation. That never happens in real life, and it did, and I think this makes this a win for Hillary, not a loss. [Cooper:] You say she still needs to answer questions. Hasn't she been asked just about every question there is on this subject? [Madden:] She has, and one of the big problems she's had and the reason that this problem has festered is that every time she gives an answer, subsequently the facts don't add up, and that's why she's continued to have these trustworthiness problems from her campaign. I think these are serious charges that the investigator has made, and there are legitimate questions that have to be asked. I think Trey Gowdy has to continue to make the focus on the fact that, you know, I thin the charge that this has been hyper focused on Hillary Clinton, the State Department [inaudible]. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state has been a big focus of this for a reason, because she was involved with the decision-making that took place with regards to what happened in Benghazi. So I think that the public is not going to reject this the way that Paul has said, that they will want to continue to see these answers. [Cooper:] You know, much was made, I think it was a Quinnipiac poll, in which 69 percent in a general election said that Hillary Clinton, that she's untrustworthy. When you actually break down the numbers, among Democrats, it's overwhelmingly positive, that I think was like 70 percent or something, I might be wrong a few percentage points, believe she's trustworthy, but among independents, she does seem to have a big issue here. Clearly among Republicans she has an issue but even among independents. [Begala:] There's clearly work to do. The debate is one opportunity to do that. Again, if I were advising her, I'd say pick up this sword now, and show that this the reason they keep hearing these bad things about you is a partisan investigation is leaking [Cooper:] But hasn't she done that time and time again? Blame- [Begala:] Because it's true. I lived through that. Do you think Ken Starr was on the level? Hell no! It was a completely partisan deal. So is this. We have an investigator himself saying it. A Republican investigator on a Republican committee says it's a Republican hatchet job. What the hell? Maybe I believe him. [Madden:] This is why it will continue to be a problem for Democrats. Democrats keep saying that Hillary Clinton needs a better strategy with answering this, and once she gets a better strategy, she will be fine. The problem for Hillary Clinton is that her story doesn't add up. Time and time again, as there are questions about the e-mails, what she knew, when she knew it, what [inaudible], the answers have been refuted by I'm sorry, her answers have not added up to what she said previously. So that's the problem. Hillary Clinton's story not holding up to the scrutiny. [Cooper:] You say jump on this, use this. [Begala:] Yes, because to use a different metaphor, it has jumped the shark. The Republicans as they always do I said this months ago to you hide and wait. The Republicans will overplay their hand. You know, Benghazi is a legitimate issue to not the e-mails, Benghazi to investigate. It's been investigated seven times before this committee. And important findings were made, and Hillary made 29 different changes because of that, because there was clearly a crisis, and now they made it a partisan thing. It's not going to help. [Cooper:] Paul Begala, thank you. Kevin Madden as well. Just ahead, Donald Trump facing some tough crowds, and some tough questions in New Hampshire today. See how he handled that when we continue from Las Vegas. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] John, thanks. The polls close in most of Michigan, all of Mississippi in an hour. Idaho and Hawaii later. We'll have all the results and reaction, another crucial day of voting. "The Race For The White House" Special Coverage Super Tuesday 2.0 continues. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] The race for the White House is tightening as the remaining candidates fight it out in key states tonight. [Cooper:] And tonight's outcome could determine who stays in this wild ride to the nomination. [Announcer:] Right now, new battlegrounds in the presidential race. After a weekend of fresh wins for the front-runners and for their top rivals. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Millions and millions of people are coming to vote for the Republicans because of me. [Announcer:] Four more states are weighing in, with both parties bracing for climactic battles one week from now. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Whether we like it or not, we're all in this together, my friends. [Announcer:] Who will win another Super Tuesday scramble? It's America's choice. Tonight, in the Republican race, Donald Trump piling up delegates and piling on his opponents. [Trump:] Lying Ted and little Marco, this is not presidential material, folks. [Announcer:] Ted Cruz, racking up new wins, raising questions about whether voters are thinking twice about Trump. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Our campaign is the only campaign that has beaten Donald Trump over and over and over again. [Announcer:] Marco Rubio, stalling, rejecting Trump's call for him to drop out. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] We've all been underdogs. But we will win! [Announcer:] In the democratic race tonight, Hillary Clinton widening her lead, still facing voter doubts, and a determined opponent. [Hillary:] We have got to work together. We need to unify our country, not divide it. [Announcer:] Bernie Sanders, keeping the pressure on after his weekend triple play. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] This is a campaign of the people, by the people and for the people. [Announcer:] Now, it's time for voters to have their say. [Clinton:] When I hear people running for president, they are bad mouthing America, it really upsets me. [Announcer:] When will we learn who faces off in the fall. [Trump:] Who wants Trump? [Announcer:] America is choosing. Every contest counts. And the all- important race for delegates is heating up right now. [Blitzer:] We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. The next seven days could very well decide which of the six remaining presidential candidates will accept their party's nomination in July. For the Democrats, 166 delegates are on the line tonight. Hillary Clinton is looking to shut out Bernie Sanders. But both candidates they have a long way to go. We're not even halfway through this race. While Hillary Clinton'campaign is leading in the delegate math. Bernie Sanders still has plenty of momentum and has vowed to fight until the convention. For the Republicans, 150 delegates are at stake tonight. Trump is the delegate leader right now. Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, they're hoping the Never Trump Movement isn't already past its expiration date. Cruz has won six states so far. And he is arguing the Never Trump Movement needs to unite behind him, not Marco Rubio. Rubio says, he just needs to make it past his home turf, Florida, that's when he'll win he says and derail the front-runner. We're counting down to the 8:00 p.m. Eastern hour, that is when the polls close in Mississippi. At 9:00 p.m. Eastern, that's when we could make a major projection in Michigan. That's where the most delegates are on the line tonight of the campaigns are making the biggest play. At 11:00 p.m. Eastern, polls close in Idaho where the Republicans are voting today. And at 1:00 a.m. Eastern, vote counting gets underway in the Hawaii caucuses. CNN is taking you to every state and inside every campaign tonight. Our Sara Murray is with the Donald Trump campaign in Jupiter, Florida. Sarah, what's the latest over there? [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, we've all seen this tightening in the national polls. But tonight will be the first real test whether Donald Trump's momentum has taken a hit. Now, Trump has made it clear. He wants to win in Michigan. He wants to win in Mississippi. Just last night he was campaigning in Mississippi, bragging about how he was leading in the polls there by double digits. So the key thing to watch for Donald Trump tonight is not just, does he win these two states, but by what kind of margins. We know that he has stalwart supporters, we know he has people who have jump on the bandwagon early and he had stuck with him. But the problem for him has been bringing in this late deciding voters. And that's what we were hearing, even earlier in Mississippi voters who came out. They wanted to see some more specifics from him, they wanted to see a little bit more meat on the bones. And a couple of them at least telling me, they are going to vote for Ted Cruz Wolf. [Blitzer:] And Trump's headquarters tonight, Jupiter, one of his golf courses in Florida. Sara, we'll get back to you. Let's check in on the Cruz campaign. Now, Sunlen Serfaty is joining us from North Carolina which has, it's primary next Tuesday, a week from today. Sunlen, what's the latest there? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Well, this is really an atypical election night for Ted Cruz rather low-key, much different than past election nights. There is no big banners, no blasting music, there will be no big speech at the end of the night here for Ted Cruz. He spent the afternoon and the evening at this Baptist Church in Kannapolis, North Carolina, speaking to voters in advance of the March 15th primary here. And he just held a press conference with reporters where he talked about this anti-Trump movement in his words he says, Trump has built this image that he's unstoppable, that he's unbeatable. Well, we're starting to see that crash into reality. Now, he will not stick around here to make a big speech at the end of the night. He will be on a plane flying to Miami, Florida, while much of the election results are coming in later tonight in advance of an event here tomorrow morning. Really speaking volumes where his focus is right now, and his next big quest to take down Marco Rubio in his home state of Florida Wolf. [Blitzer:] Sunlen, thanks very much. Let's bring in Dana Bash and David Chalian. You guys have been going through some numbers right now, exit poll information. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] That's right and before we get to that, I think, sort of it's important to look at the night and what we're expecting. I have to say, David, I'm sure you've been on the phone with your sources all day. I was talking to people who I would never in a million years expect to tell me that they voted today for Ted Cruz. But they did. Somebody in Mississippi, Austin Barber, who is as bad establishment as he gets, said, you know what, I voted for Ted Cruz, and it's because I think he is the best person to stop Donald Trump. Not Marco Rubio, not John Kasich, Ted Cruz and that is the dynamic we just heard from Sunlen and Sara that they're certainly seeing and hearing on the ground. And it seems to be the way things are heading at least tonight. [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] That's right. Because what you have in the Republican primary electorate is that, if you are somebody who is opposed of Donald Trump as your nominee, that becomes the most important issue for you. Right? And so what you're saying, when you talk to other Republicans, Ted Cruz slowly becoming more establishment of a choice, because of that one factor alone, this stop Trump moment. It's something we'll going to be talking about all night long, and we're going to be assessing and looking for clues to see, is it really taking hold. Is there something going on with Trump right now that his momentum is being somehow slowed. Now, there are big contests tonight. He can emerge with victories, he was leading in the pre-election polls in these states. But you see the national poll. You see the conversations that's happening among Republicans, I really do think that's going to be the big story line tonight. [Bash:] And I should say that even people who do not want Trump to win do expect him to. We'll see if that happens but expected to do so in Michigan and Mississippi. But let's take a look at Michigan. You've been going through the exit polls, and about what the qualities are that candidates have and what the voters are looking for. [Chalian:] Yes. We wanted to sort of look first at the issue to reign that is out there. And we looked just in Michigan here, in both parties, to get folks a sense. And I think it's really interesting. So, what may not be so surprising is that the economy is the number one issue. We see it, 35 percent say the economy on the Republican side, 32 percent government spending, 22 percent terrorism, nine percent immigration. Democratic side, take a look at this. Forty two percent of Democrats in the Michigan primary voting in the Michigan primary today say the economy and jobs are the most important issue, followed by income inequality, health care, and terrorism. But now we dig in, Dana, a little bit further into the economy at the issue of trade. We've heard so much about it on the campaign trail. Watch these numbers. Among the Michigan Republican primary voters, a majority, 53 percent say that doing trade with other countries takes away U.S. jobs. Thirty four percent say, it creates U.S. jobs. Democrats feel that way even more so, a bigger majority, 56 percent of Democrats voting in the Michigan Democratic Primary believes doing trade with other countries takes away U.S. jobs. Thirty one percent say it creates jobs. This is why that stat right there is why you hear Donald Trump when he says, hey, I'm going to be the nominee, and when I'm the nominee, I'm going to put states like Michigan [Bash:] That's right. [Chalian:] In play in the fall. That is why. This is an electorate across the aisle that is completely open because of their concerns to hearing the kind of message on the economy and trade that Donald Trump has been selling hard. [Bash:] And it is real. You've been in Michigan in the past few days, so have I. It is true. It is a bipartisan sentiment. People still feel economic anxiety and very much blame the trade policies of both presidents, Democrats and Republicans in the past. And that is where both Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders meet. And I'm sure you were there too. You probably heard the same thing Wolf. [Blitzer:] I certainly did. And it's going to be a fascinating night tonight. I think it's going to be pretty exciting for all of our viewers. Anderson, over to you. [Cooper:] Wolf, thanks very much. I'm joined by some new panelists joining us, Michael Smerconish is here. We have of course, Nia-Malika Henderson. David Axelrod is joining us. Gloria Borger as well. David, let's hear from you. Just in terms of what you were looking for tonight, and what you read from those exit polls that David Chalian has been talking about. [David Axelrod, Cnn Senior Political Commentator:] Well, first of all, I've never seen a fuselad like the one that's been aimed at Donald Trump in the last few weeks. I mean, there have been so many guns trained on him. And there's some evidence as David said, the national polling that it's having an impact. The question is whether anybody but the Trump movement can prosper in an environment where the campaigns have nobody but me movement. Each one of these challengers think they should be the alternative to Trump. And the longer they stay in, as we said, week after week, the better he does. And this we'll see tonight if there's some indications to whether some are going to fall away or whether he's beginning to fray as a result of all these attacks, which have been very, very severe. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] You know, the question is also, we saw this "Wall Street Journal" poll tonight, which had Trump losing ground tremendously against his top contenders. And I think the question we have to say is, even if people gain on Donald Trump, because of this establishment barrage against him, the question is whether it's too late. [Unidentified Male:] Right. [Borger:] Because he's already racked up a bunch of delegates. He's going to get a lot of delegates tonight. And if John Kasich wins in Ohio, that's winner take all. So, we have to see. [Cooper:] And to that point, Michael Smerconish, I mean, the last primary night, even though the margins were closer, Donald Trump still won those states. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor, "smerconish":] True. But he's not performing at a 51 percent rate thus far. So even though he's doing well comparatively, he's not doing well enough to lock this thing up. The question is, is it going to on for a while, for another three or so months at the current pace. Or is he going to tee this up for next Tuesday, to really put it out of contention for the others. And I'm not sure which way it goes but it's very hard to see how anyone other than Trump can assemble the 1,237 before Cleveland. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes. And that's what you heard Kasich say earlier. Nobody is going to get to that 1,237. They like the idea that it's chaos and it's muddled. But there are some, I think underlying constants about this race. And this is, it might be three people, but all the time Trump is winning. In states all across the country. And so I think it benefits the establishment to keep saying it's muddled. But in fact if you're an establishment candidate, particular candidate like Rubio, one thing you've got to look at tonight is, maybe he comes in fourth and maybe he doesn't even meet the threshold to get [Axelrod:] The two guys we have to watch closely tonight. Not necessarily the headliners, Rubio and Kasich. If Rubio is weakened tonight going into Florida, that enhances Donald Trump's chances of winning Florida. If Kasich does well tonight, perhaps he'll do better in Ohio. If he doesn't, then Trump has a good chance to take Ohio. Those two huge winner take all prizes next Tuesday. [Cooper:] I want to turn to our commentators Andy Dean, is joining us, Trump's supporter, former president of Trump Productions Van Jones, and political commentator, former Obama administration official S.E. Cupp, CNN political commentator Donna Brazile, political commentator and Democratic strategist. Andy, welcome. Good to have you actually here. [Andy Dean, Donald Trump Supporter:] Thank you. I appreciate it. [Cooper:] We got you out of L.A. We actually got you here. So, what are you looking for tonight? [Dean:] So, we've got Michigan, we've got Mississippi. These are two very, very different states. The one thing they have in common is they are both primaries. And if we look forward, the next 24 states to vote, the rest of it, 23 of them are primaries. There's only caucus left. Ted Cruz is only been doing well in caucus states. Ted Cruz has only won two primaries, his won his home state and his neighboring state, Oklahoma. So, if you look to the future, tonight is going to be a big sign. If Trump can win diverse primaries, then I don't see when the next 23 or 24 states, primaries he doesn't win. [Cooper:] Do you see any signs of cracks or weakness in terms of Trump? To David Axelrod's point, there are a lot of guns pointed at him. A lot of ads being ran against him. Do you see them having any effect? [Dean:] I think when tens of millions of dollars are spent against Donald Trump. Yes, the margins may come down a little bit. But at the end of the day, the voters are going to have their say, and in two hours, if Trump wins Michigan and Mississippi, these are very different states once again [Cooper:] Right. [Dean:] I'm sure John King will look through the evangelical population, very very different. If he wins both, then I think that there's no way that Trump can't win the nomination. [Cooper:] S.E., I mean, to Andy's point, Mississippi is a state which on paper, you know, months ago, Ted Cruz would have thought, oh, this is a great state for me. Huge percentage of the voters are evangelical. Donald Trump has been winning evangelicals. [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. And much to Ted Cruz's surprise, much to a lot of people's surprise. And I think it's made a lot of Republican Party elders kind of reconsider what the evangelical math looks like, I think for a long time Republicans took the evangelical vote for granted. Assumed we knew who these people were. Turns out they're not as homogenous as maybe they used to be. And they're not as loyal to the GOP at large as they have been in the past. These are people who are now going for the guy who's probably the least, I would say, the conservative of all 17 candidates that we've offered up. And to speaks evangelical the least fluently. So, I think it's sort of a wakeup call to the party to look again at the makeup of our evangelical voters. [Cooper:] Van? [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think when it comes to Trump, there's a villain in Marvel Comics called Sebastian Shaw. And the harder you hit him, the stronger he gets. The harder you get it. So there was a theory, I think, that this was Sebastian. You couldn't hit him. Don't fight him. We're going to see how many bullets he can eat without actually getting weak. [Cooper:] The Marvel Comic book theory. We're going to bring in Donna shortly. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to take you down on top of the hour in Mississippi. We hope to share the first votes out of that state with you. We're working on being able to make projection. A long, exciting night ahead. Keep it right here on CNN. [Costello:] A massive man hunt now underway in Georgia for a suspect who shot two police officers, and then fled the scene. Authorities are on the lookout for this man. His name is Minquel Lembrick. He's accused of opening fire on police following a domestic dispute call. CNN's Victor Blackwell is following the story, good morning. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Correspondent:] Carol, good morning to you. Let me get you the very latest that just came in from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations. The reward for information leading up to the arrest of this accused cop killer has more than doubled -overnight. Now up to $70,000, more than 50 local and state officers and investigators have swarmed this small community of Americus, Georgia, about 140 miles South of Atlanta. We are told that this man on your screen, Minquel Lembrick 32 years old, is said to be armed and dangerous. He went into hiding about 24 hours ago after investigators say he shot two police officers, killing one. Here's what we know. Officer Nicholas Smarr with the Americus Police Department and Officer Jody Smith with the Georgia Southwestern State University Campus Police Department responded to a call about a domestic dispute at an apartment complex roughly 24 hours ago. They encountered Lembrick, when officers say, he started firing shots. Smith is now in very critical condition at a hospital but we are told that Smarr died soon after the shooting. Here's what we know about Lembrick. This is from the Americus Police Chief, Mark Scott, who says that Lembrick was someone who was known to his office and to the officers there. But they did not know when they responded to this call that he was the suspect. That he had open warrants relating to kidnapping charges and other charges relating to a previous domestic dispute. There was a woman and a child who were found at that location. They are safe. But this is a real concern for Georgia's Southwestern State, which is so close to where this happened. The shooting did not happen on campus but there was a lockdown at the university, at local grade schools. The university is now, they finished with their finals yesterday and we know that the grade schools are open there but with extra security. When it comes to the question of where could this suspect be. The police chief there says, that he doesn't know where he could be, but they are getting tips in. They are checking those locations. So this manhunt is broad and growing and again, in just the last few moments, we learned that information leading up to that arrest, up to $70,000. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Victor Blackwell reporting live for us. I'll be right back. [Gupta:] Welcome to Portland, Oregon, in the pacific northwest of the United States. The city is known for having a bit of a quirky personality. But even the people of Portland are surprised to see this. Your eyes do not deceive you. That is a llama and an alpaca walking through downtown. [Lori Gregory, President, Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas And Alpacas:] Everybody needs a little bit of the happiness and joy in unexpected places. [Gupta:] Photos, hugs, a lot of laughter, that is what Rojo and Napoleon can do. That is what Lori Gregory and her daughter Shannon have been sharing with the Portland area for eight years now and counting. [Unidentified Female:] Hey, llamas. Hey, alpacas. Hi, Napoleon. [Gregory:] We never dreamed that we would be doing work with llamas and alpacas. We moved to Vancouver from Oregon 20 years ago and bought two and a half acres, and basically got tired of mowing the lawn of the acreage. And so we went to the fair to look for some animals to keep it eaten down, and just kind of were intrigued with the llamas. [Gupta:] Shannon and Lori went llama shopping at a farm. A llama caught their eye immediately. Rojo, Spanish for "red," would become their first llama. [Gregory:] Roho just stood out from all the other llamas that were there. All the other llamas were out playing with their buddies in the pasture, and Rojo was only four months at the time. And he was just following the owner around her yard while she was doing chores. [Gupta:] That is 13 years ago. Over that time, Lori says, while he certainly grew, Rojo now weighs more than 400 pounds, his personality never changed. [Gregory:] Very people friendly, very touchable, enjoys being around new environments and things like that. So we are just so thankful to have him to take around because everybody falls in love with him. [Gupta:] So when someone suggested they get him certified as a therapy animal, it was an easy decision. [Gregory:] It was a pretty extensive process to get him certified eight years ago. And we have done over 1,000 visits since then, added four other llamas and three alpacas, and we go out almost every day of the week now. [Gupta:] Lori and Shannon started a nonprofit called Mountain Peaks Therapy, Llamas and Alpacas. Today they are headed to visit a nursing home with Rojo the llama and Napoleon, the alpaca. The residents here at Emerson House suffer from severe dementia, but the moment this unique group steps off of the elevator, there are smiles all across the room. [Shannon Hendrickson, Vice President, Mountain Peaks Therapy Llamas And Alpacas:] It is really neat taking a giant 400-pound animal into everywhere. A lot of times you get a lot of shock at first. They don't really understand why a llama who is dressed up is in their home. And then you look at this intrigue. So it is a shock, and then they are like, I want to feel it, I want to feel how soft he is. He looks cool. And then when they put a carrot in their lips and he gives them a kiss, it is instant, pure joy. [Gupta:] These carrot kisses are popular. Llamas don't have any upper teeth, just bottom teeth, so they don't bite. HENDRICKSON It happens 100 times during every visit, and it is the same. It's just seeing people so giddy and just being the source of tha joy really fuels me and is exciting. The Mayo Clinic says animal assisted therapy can reduce pain, depression, anxiety, and fatigue. Smiling and laughter are also good for your health and longevity. The simple act of smiling has been shown to activate the happiness centers in your brain, impacting your mood. Even a forced smile will do it. But I can tell you, with Rojo and Napoleon around, no one is forcing a smile here. This is pure joy. [Lindsey Bretzman, Enrichment Director, Emerson House:] All of the residents have dementia, so not all of them are able to communicate verbally. But once they see the animals, it becomes a whole new experience. So they touch the animal, and giving the llamas kisses. A lot of our residents lit up today. I had residents who don't speak English singing in the native tongue to the animals and touching the animals. [Gregory:] For me, it has been life changing. When we first got certified for therapy with Rojo, I thought this will be fun to share our special llama with these people and going to places like that. And then the first visit we did, Shannon was with me, and she had him on lead and was taking him into a rehab facility, we were there. And I was back on the backside with all the nurses and people in the facility, and as she would take him along the bedsides. I would hear them getting so excited and saying, wow, Harold hasn't spoken in a month, and I heard him say that he is cute, or look at how Helen is trying to sit up and she has not moved for and it is like every room we were going into, it is like seeing miracles happen. [Unidentified Female:] So soft. [Gupta:] Rojo is becoming a bit of a celebrity around here. Shannon has even written a children's book about him. For this mother- daughter team, it is another way to share Rojo with those who need him, or just need a smile. [Unidentified Female:] Of course. You made my day. Oh, good. [Gregory:] Once we started to take them out, it is like, I have to do this. I can't not do it, you know? So, yes, it is a purpose and a life calling. And so, I'll be doing it until I can't anymore, and then Shannon will bring him to visit me. [Hendrickson:] She better. [Gupta:] Those smiles are infectious, don't you think? It is incredible the difference a visit can make from Rojo and Napoleon or from Casper the therapy dog. Animals seem to have this almost magical power about them. If you have a pet at home, give them an extra treat today. With all they are doing for your health, they have earned it. For "Vital Signs," I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] OUTFRONT next. Hillary Clinton's new attack. The target, Donald Trump's wealth. Is he not as rich as he claims and why does this issue hit such a nerve. Plus, Donald Trump surging past Hillary Clinton in a new poll. Now the slim lead in a general election match-up. Can he win it all? And new details on EgyptAir Flight 804 and the chilling final goodbye from the cockpit tonight. Let's go OUTFRONT. And good evening to all. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, Clinton on the attack. Hillary Clinton's harshest words yet against Donald Trump, going after what matters most to him. His business record. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I mean, ask yourself. How can anybody lose money running a casino? Really. [Burnett:] This as polls show Trump surging ahead of Clinton. The "Washington Post" ABC News poll has Trump ahead of Clinton by two points. Now, that's within the margin of error. But here's the bottom-line. It's an 11-point swing in Trump's favor since March. Another poll by "The Wall Street Journal" and NBC News also shows Trump surging eight points in the past month alone. Now that poll is also within the margin of error. And in that one, Clinton is leading by three points. This comes as Trump just moments ago in a phone call with CNN clarified his position on guns in schools, saying school officers are trained teachers should be the ones carrying guns. It comes after the presumptive nominee rejected and supporting arming teachers in classrooms in the same interview. A lot to get to tonight. We begin with Sara Murray though who is OUTFRONT tonight at Trump Headquarters in New York. And Sara, Trump today with a big play to try to capitalize, build momentum in those polls with a meeting at Trump Tower. [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, that's right, Erin. Today, Donald Trump met privately with Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee. This one of the leading Senate Republicans, the latest sign that Donald Trump is trying to bring the party together, get Republicans behind him. And, of course, all of this is happening as the general election polls look tighter than many pundits expected. [Murray:] Skeptics protected a Donald Trump ticket would mean a blowout victory for Hillary Clinton. [Donald Trump , Gop Presumptive Nominee:] Now I'm going to start focusing on Hillary. That's going to be so easy. [Murray:] But new national polls reveal a race that's rapidly tightening. A "Wall Street Journal" NBC News poll puts Clinton at 46 percent, compared to Trump's 43 percent. Her three-point edge down from a double digit lead just a month ago. A "Washington Post" ABC News poll also shows a dead heat with Trump at 46 percent support, and Clinton at 44 percent. As speculation whirls over who Trump might choose for a VP, the billionaire businessman met privately with Senator Bob Corker today who brushed aside questions about joining the ticket. [Sen. Bob Corker , Foreign Relations Committee Chairman:] I have no reason whatsoever to believe that I'm being considered for a position like that. You know, I'll say that until I'm blue in my face. Again, this was a meeting between two people who didn't know each other, except over phone calls. [Murray:] Trump allies say Corker's foreign policy experience could be an asset to the first time presidential candidate. Even if he doesn't make the VP short list. [Corker:] We talked bigger picture. Really relative to foreign policy. Domestic issues that matter. [Murray:] Meanwhile, Trump is still aiming to consolidate his conservative base. And he's turning to a potent issue. The second amendment to rally voters. [Trump:] I don't want to have guns in classrooms. Although in some cases, teachers should have guns in classrooms. [Murray:] But he's delivering a muddled message saying he doesn't want to see guns in classrooms. [Trump:] I'm not advocating guns in classrooms. [Murray:] And in the next breath, suggesting trained teachers should be armed. [Trump:] Teachers should be able to have guns. Trained teachers should be able to have guns in classrooms. [Murray:] And in the latest signal of Trump shifting positions, Trump the candidate mocks the concept of climate change on the trail. [Trump:] So Obama is talking about all of this with the global warming. A lot of it is a hoax. [Murray:] But Trump the businessman isn't so dubious. According to Politico, Trump's company applied for a permit to build coastal protection for a seaside golf resort. The reason, rising sea levels and other effects of climate change. Now Erin, tonight Donald Trump spoke to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in an effort to clarify his position on guns once again. He said he would not eliminate all gun-free guns in schools, only in some cases and also said that school resource officers, that he meant by trained should be the ones who are trained to carry guns Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Thank you very much, Sara Murray. And OUTFRONT tonight, John King. So, I don't know, you know, when we see this meeting at Trump Tower today, this is Donald Trump trying to get the party behind him. He's a man who loves a good poll. When it's good for him. Big swing in these new polls. And it's a big-time in Trump's favor, again and again. Why is he doing so much better in such a short period of time? [John King, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, let me quickly add the caveat. It's a national poll, Erin and we elect president state by state. Mitt Romney was very close in the polls blown out in the Electoral College. Number two, it is May in the elections in November. And why is Donald Trump doing better in the polls? Number one, because this is over. The Republican race is over. And we saw this go back to look, and right after John McCain clinched in 2008. He actually went into the lead in the national polls back then. Because the Republican Party, like then, has now mostly, mostly consolidated around Trump now while the Democratic Party is still dealing with this. Bernie Sanders still in the race. Sanders supporters don't like Hillary Clinton. Independents like Bernie Sanders more than Hillary Clinton. So in the new national polls, when you look at the numbers, Sara just talked about them. Essentially, you know, Trump is up two points. That's a tie in the "Washington Post" poll. Clinton up three points. That's a tie in the "Wall Street Journal" poll. Why is it? Independents have come Trump's way since the polls a month or two ago. And Hillary Clinton is not completely consolidated Democratic support because of Sanders supporters, forgive me. Some of them are still holding their nose. [Burnett:] Right. And you would anticipate that that would change. Now, the other thing I find interesting is in one of the polls we got today, you know, late tonight in the "Wall Street Journal" poll, John, you know, the incredible unfavorables, we had said this for the two most unpopular candidates really in modern history and Hillary Clinton was slightly less heated than Donald Trump, now they're tied. Now they're tried. People don't like either one of them. [King:] And so you have at least half of these supporters of each candidate saying they're there because they're voting against the other person. That's what, A., tells you you're probably going to have a pretty nasty race. Because these are two candidates. Look at them. This is the "Washington Post" ABC poll but very similar numbers as you know in the new NBC Wall Street Journal polls as well, 41 percent of registered voters view Hillary Clinton favorably. Four in ten registered voters. It's the same for Donald Trump. They are both viewed unfavorably by almost six in ten voters. So, you're starting off such negative ratings and you both very well known. She's known in politics, he's known as a celebrity real estate development, now politics. It's hard to change these numbers when people think they know you so well. So what does this tell you? It tells you, number one, they're viewed very negatively and also suggest when you have candidates like this, Erin, that you got a negative race. [Burnett:] Well, and the other thing, of course is how much, how long does this last? You talk about Hillary Clinton once Bernie Sanders, if he does lose, I know he still says it's an uphill climb, he can do it. But she obviously is likely to be the nominee. Will Sanders supporters get behind her? Will these polls change dramatically or do you think we're going to see this sort of head-to-head, back and forth, all the way to the fall? [King:] I think without a doubt, we're going to have a very competitive election all the way to the fall. I will say this by going back to this map here, and you look at the race for president, 2012. Remember, Mitt Romney was actually pretty close in the national polls throughout the general election and he lost an Electoral College blowout, even though the election itself national election wise polling, national vote wise was pretty close. Why do I think this is going to be very close to the end? Look at how these two are split. Hillary Clinton is the candidate of choice when people say experience and temperament to be president matter. But who will change D.C.? Donald Trump has a slight edge in the economy right now. If this election is about changing a dysfunctional Washington. He wins. If the election is about a steady, experienced hand. She wins. That's what the next few months are about, Erin, trying to define and convince the voters what should be issue number one. [Burnett:] All right. Thanks very much to John King. And of course you could see from that if being honest and being trustworthy is what matters, we don't have a president come November. OUTFRONT tonight, Trump supporter and former Navy SEAL Carl Higbie. Sanders supporter Sally Kohn. Former communications director for Ted Cruz's campaign Alice Stewart. Clinton supporter Wendy Davis. Trump supporter Jason Osborne and David Gergen, who served as adviser to four presidents Reagan and Clinton among them. You see the polls, Carl. Can Donald Trump really win this? Because I think John King points out something crucial, right? Mitt Romney had it very tight in the national polls and he got blown out in the electoral. [Carl Higbie, Former Navy Seal:] Right. Something I think we need to take into consideration here is you have somebody so far outside the political spectrum. Conventional politics is a boxing ring. Donald Trump is a street fighter. He's going to get in and Hillary Clinton is just not going to be able to defend his blows when it comes to the first debate. I think it's going to be over after the first debate. [Burnett:] Wendy, what about the polls, the surge we have seen for Donald Trump? Because you can say margin of error you want, but certainly 11 points in one poll, eight points in another. That's dramatic. [Wendy Davis, Hillary Clinton Supporter:] You know, two points ago, you didn't see it, because we didn't have a Republican nominee yet. Now the party is uniting behind him. We're going to see the party unite behind Hillary Clinton, as well. And I agree, I can't wait for that first debate, because I think that's when it's going to be over, as well. Hillary demonstrating her experience compared to his naivete and his inability even to articulate positions, I think is going to draw a very strong contrast between the choices. [Burnett:] David, what do you think about the significance of these polls? Because this is now been sort of a cascade over the past few weeks. [David Gergen, Former Presidential Advisor:] Well, first of all, I think the poll suggests that the electorate is still quite fluid. That this could move in many different directions, we just can't predict. [Burnett:] Even though they are so well-known. [Gergen:] Exactly. We've had a ten-point swing. But secondly, I do think coming at this particular moment, the polls are very, very good news for Donald Trump. Because he was a lot of people were on the sidelines. I thought this was going to be another Goldwater. It's going to be a blow out on the other way. But if you go back to the Goldwater with Johnson race of '64, Johnson was ahead from June until Election Day by more than 20 points. There was never did this dead heat that you see. Trump has got a lot better chance. And this is going to bring people over. The Bob Corker's of the world are going to see him now because they think he's got a chance to win. B., that maybe they'll hold the Senate. And C., they'll get a better chance to win the House. If it's close. [Burnett:] All right. But here's the thing. People don't like either one of them. All right? It's not just the unfavorables, is what John King just pointed out. Half the people voting for each of them are only voting because they hate the other one. [Jason Osborne, Donald Trump Supporter:] Right. [Burnett:] That is a bad situation. [Osborne:] I would actually be more worried if I were Hillary than if Donald Trump. Because Hillary's numbers are unfavorable numbers have been this way for over two decades. Donald Trump is new to the political scene. He's definitely striking a chord with kind of these Independent voters that are tired of Washington, just like Bernie Sanders. [Burnett:] So you're saying his short term unfavorables are less awful than the long-term unfavorables. [Osborne:] I think he has a better opportunity we don't know who Donald Trump is, because we haven't seen his bio, other than what his opponents have attacked him with. So, we don't know his upbringing, we don't know his personal story. We know all about Hillary. I think as you start to see Donald Trump on the campaign trail, talking about how he became who he is, beyond just the attacks of he got a million- dollar loan from his father. You know, similar to Terry McCaul off giving a loan to the Clintons for their first mortgage. You know, I think you're going to see a softer side of Donald Trump and people get to understand him a little bit more. And those negatives are going to go down. Whereas Hillary's are going to stay up. [Burnett:] Is this going to win you over? I mean, you've been on the receiving end of the nastiest things that Donald Trump can offer working for Ted Cruz. [Alice Stewart, Former Communications Director For Ted Cruz Campaign:] Absolutely. [Burnett:] Are you going to can this win you over, this softer side that Jason says exists of Donald Trump? [Stewart:] I think the changing the narrative in terms of their favorability is job number one for both of them. You call back in 2012, Mitt Romney checked all the boxes in terms of who they can help the economy, who they thrust, who they feel would be a great leader. Obama's numbers were bad on the specific issues. But people liked Barack Obama better. He won in the unfavorability checklist and that's why he did so well. So if between Hillary and Donald, they are split on who they trust for the economy and education and jobs and national security, they both need to work on the favorabilities, becoming more likeable and connecting with the people. And I do agree that once Hillary is the actual nominee, her numbers are going to go in her favor. Right now the Republicans are rallying behind Donald and he's getting the bump from the united party. Once there is a head-to-head, mano-a-mano in this race, Hillary's numbers will go up. That's when the real raise will begin. [Burnett:] Sally? [Sally Kohn, Progressive Activist:] Well, look, I mean, they have very different reasons for their unfavorabilities and I completely disagree with what Jason just said. [Burnett:] They're both [Kohn:] Hillary has been in the public eye for over 20-30 years and those unfavorables are arguably not going up any further. And by the way, they exist because she has been so prolonged subject to attacks from the right. I mean, look at [Burnett:] Benghazi! [Kohn:] Let's take Benghazi. You know, 16 hearings, 30,000 pages of documents. She was found, you know, no culpability whatsoever by Republican committees. And Republicans are still hammering her about it. [Unidentified Male:] That's because she said what does it matter that these people died. That's why. [Kohn:] Trump's negatives had so much further they can go out, when people will start paying attention in this race and the fact that he knows so little and has the wrong temperament to lead this country. [Burnett:] Pause for a moment. You're all going to be with me right after the break. New information tonight on EgyptAir 804. Where was the plane just before it disappeared from radar? Some new details to reveal tonight. Plus, an exclusive CNN report inside Syria on a secret mission with the top American commander in the region. When in secret, our cameras were there. And one of the most personal issues for Donald Trump. A special report coming up. [Lynda Kinkade:] Ready to do business: Iran looks to update its aging fleet of commercial planes. And President Rouhani has landed in Italy making the first state visit to Europe by an Iranian leader in 16 years. A report from Tehran coming up. Also ahead, one week to go. U.S. presidential contenders hit the campaign trail hard just seven days before the crucial Iowa caucuses. We'll be live in Des Moines later in the show. Also ahead... [Stan Grant, Journalist:] My people die young in this country. We die ten years younger than average Australians and we are far from free. [Kinkade:] An impassioned speech by a prominent Australian journalist. We'll have more on the viral video about his country's record on indigenous rights coming up this hour. [Announcer:] Live from CNN Center, this is Connect the World. [Kinkade:] But first we start with the war in Syria and peace talks between the warring parties were supposed to get underway in Geneva on Monday. But the UN special envoy now says they have been pushed back and will start Friday. He says discussions are continuing over who should be invited to represent the opposition. On the ground, the violence rages on and so does the human suffering. These images are said to show the aftermath of recent fighting in the city of Aleppo. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh has been following the Syrian conflict and joins us now from Beirut in neighboring Lebanon. And The UN special envoy for Syria is said that every day lost is a lost day for a ceasefire. How challenging is it to bring the relevant parties together to find a political resolution? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, this really was kind of the zero hour where many felt that increasing international pressure and perhaps increasingly similar scripts bar the fate of Assad between Washington and Moscow here might yield something, but last-minute hurdles, everybody seeming to disagree on who should be the invitees list. Now what we heard today from Staffan de Mistura, the special envoy, was basically a message that said this train is going to leave anyway on Friday. Either you're on it or off it. And if you're off it, you might not be able to influence where it goes. So, the notion, really, I think, is that they will pretty much invite everybody apart from those groups listed by the UN security council as terrorist organizations, and then hope that they are worried about being left out of the process. But some may not show, some may walk out. He's using very vague language about quite where this is supposed to go. Here's what he said. [Staffan De Mistura, Un Special Envoy To Syria:] We are going to aim at the proximity talks starting on the 29th and ongoing for six months on a staggered chronological proximity approach. That will be the way we try to make it different from the past. This is not Geneva III, this is leading to what we hope will be a Geneva success story if we are able to push it forward. [Walsh:] Now, what does that mean? Proximity talks? Well, it means that you're probably not going to see the different groups, even perhaps those in the opposition who don't agree with each other necessarily in the same room or even the same hotel. It might simply mean that they are brought to the same area Mr. de Mistura will shuffle between them trying to work out common ground. And the first three weeks, that will be the most intense approach that I hope perhaps certainly John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state hopes that maybe the process will begin to define itself and people will be scared to be left out. But the key question is who is going to attend, meeting tomorrow in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, between opposition groups. That may solidify their position, but there have been such many last-minute changes of position or new red lines drawn that I think many are concerned you may see key parties not show up on Friday and that could undermine the process overall. [Kinkade:] And Nick, speaking of John Kerry, the U.S. secretary of state, did reach out to foreign ministers from both Russia and Saudi Arabia. Do you have any indication about how those talks are going or what was said? [Walsh:] Well, there was a lot of last-minute closed door telephone calls made. There were indications, certainly, from people I was talking to ahead of this announcement that perhaps they may not know when it was going to occur at all, when the talks were going to occur at all, but it seems to have been last-minute phone calls between John Kerry, Sergei Lavrov, his Russian counterpart, that may have been to design pressure or perhaps sent to be on the same page. Let's just hold the talks and see who is willing to show up and invite pretty much everyone that we can. But the key question you have to ask yourself is what has this last ground standing done to those who will actually attend? There's been criticism reports that perhaps John Kerry pressured some of the Syrian opposition into attending. Maybe they didn't like that. We know certainly the Russians don't want to be at the same table as Jaesh al-Islam, one of the key opposition groups who they consider to be terrorists. It's a frantic mess, but I think the notion here is they believe if they push forward and just start a process, maybe people won't want to be left out of it and will show up Lynda. [Kinkade:] OK, Nick Paton Walsh in Beirut, Lebanon. Thank you very much. Well, now to an historic visit that is as much about deals as diplomacy. Iran's president has started his first foreign trip since international sanctions were lifted on his country just over a week ago. Hassan Rouhani arrived in Rome accompanied by more than 100 business leaders and ministers amid high hopes on both sides of multibillion dollar contracts being signed. CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen is covering us from Tehran. And Fred, it's just over a week since the sanctions were lifted. It seems Iran is moving rather quickly to build business relationships. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yeah, they certainly are. They are moving extremely quickly. And if you see that this is a very fast trip by President Hassan Rouhani where he's trying to get these business relationships going. There's talks, for instance, medium to small-sized Italian businesses investing in Iran, also a lot of French oil companies apparently try to get in on the hydrocarbon sector. This is certainly something where the Iranians are trying to move foreign investment into this country along as fast as possible. Now, one of the sectors that the Iranians have identified as being in dire need of foreign investment is their airline sector. They want to buy planes. They also want foreign investment, for instance, in their airports. But they also want additional airlines to fly over here into Iran. For the very first time in a long time there has been an international airline conference that took place here in Tehran with people from the industry from around the globe. And here's what happened there. [Pleitgen:] A high end video produced by Iran's Civil Aviation Authority. As the country looks to drastically modernize its air travel sector in a CNN interview, the Transport minister outlined ambitious goals. [Abbas Ahmad Akhoundi, Iranian Transport Minister:] I'm seeing that Iran Air will compete within five to seven years with all the regional airlines. [Pleitgen:] Years of sanctions have devastated Iran's airlines and even its aircraft are old and unsafe because of a shortage of spare parts. But at one of the first major international airline conferences in Tehran, companies from all over the world are scoping out what they hope could be a dynamic new market. [On Camera] Iranian authorities believe that they will need hundreds of new planes in the coming years. Not just to meet the demand of its citizens, but also for the millions of tourists they believe could be coming here soon. [Voice-over] Iran is looking to buy more than 100 aircraft from both Boeing and Airbus and the minister in charge says that is just the beginning. [Akhoundi:] We think we need about 100 short-range fleet for our local flight. And for national flight and international flight about 400 fleet that can do the long-range air flights. [Pleitgen:] But because Iran's economy is highly dependent on oil, the drop in international crude prices could hamper Iran's plans for a large scale modernization of its air, road and rail infrastructure. While some believe that could also affect development of the tourism sector, Iran's Tourism minister tells me the country will be ready for a major influx of foreign visitors. "The price of oil has a big effect on our economy," he says. "But 90 percent of our investment in tourism is done by the private sector and the private sector started investing even during the sanctions." For years, international sanctions have made Iran's airlines some of the most unsafe in the world. Now Tehran is keen to leave behind its troubled aviation past and get its fleet and airports up to speed. And if you look at the amount of delegates that were there and the amount of companies from which delegates were there, you can see that many of these international companies do view Iran as a possibly very, very dynamic market going forward. And one of the other interesting things, Lynda, that happened on the sidelines of that conference is that the transport minister also announced that Iran was seriously looking into direct flights between Iran and the United States. Of course, that would be a gigantic step considering the political situation that still is the reality between these two countries - Lynda. [Kinkade:] Yeah, that would indeed be a huge move, Fred. And just in terms of the businesses that do strike a deal with Iran, what's the risk? What sort of problems could they encounter if Iran fails to comply with any of the conditions of the nuclear deal? [Pleitgen:] Well, I mean, you're absolutely right. What essentially the businesses that are coming here right now and there are a lot of people who are flying in. I can tell you the flights into Iran are packed with business people mostly from Europe, also a lot of them from China as well. They're essentially making a bet on the future. They believe that the political situation here will remain stable and they believe the economic situation will improve and that the nuclear deal will hold. And that of course is the big risk. Will it hold? Will the relations get better? Or could there be some sort of miscalculation on any of the sides that are part of this nuclear agreement that could put these political gains at risk. Right now, what many people are looking forward to is for Iran to be able to do electronic banking again, to be part of the swift agreement again, to make sure that people can just do business here without having to take in sacks of money into the country. Certainly, these are things that they say have to happen very quickly in order for businesses to be able to conduct business here in this country and certainly every stage of the way they look at the political situation and they hope that it will hold and certainly they do see that there could be a risk that if it doesn't hold that all of the headway that's made because of the nuclear agreement could be put at risk. [Kinkade:] Yeah, certainly a big gamble for those businesses. Frederik Pleitgen in Tehran, thank you very much. ISIS has released a gruesome new propaganda video. The 18 minute tape is highly produced and edited. It shows the faces and names of the nine men ISIS claims carried out a wave of attacks in Paris last year. And some of them can be seen executing ISIS prisoners. It also contains an audio message from the suspected ringleader of those attacks. Abdelhamid Abaaoud. The messages of the other attackers were filmed in what appears to be a desert. Now for more on this, I'm joined by our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson who joins us live from London. And Nic, this propaganda video really seems to strike at the heart of France. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Correspondent:] It's very slickly produced. And certainly, it's an intention, if you will, to score a double propaganda victory not only the attack in Paris late last year, but to come back and haunt the French, try to intimidate them in a way by rerunning in this montage, this slickly produced montage, rerunning news clips of that night of the attack happening. But also as you say, the comments that are made by the nine attackers, the people that ISIS says are responsible for the attack. Three of them they say are French, four of them Belgian, two of them Iraqi. Aa brutal executions of the style that we have seen ISIS make before. But here the people that are executing are almost being used as sort of stage extras in a very horrible, very macabre, very despicable way for each of these individuals to make statements. One of the statements talked about there will be attacks at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. Another one says on the Champs Elysees next, of course that famous boulevard, big, wide boulevard in the center of Paris leading up to the Arc de Triomphe, very famous. So this is what it appears that ISIS is trying to do. It says that Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, you know, said that the attack should go ahead, gave it authority, and very clearly they are trying to sort of put these attackers in the battlefield in Iraq and Syria, show them as somehow authentic figures. They're clothed in very new battle uniforms clearly they don't appear to have been to the front line. They are just involved in these executions. So, it's carefully staged here to show that these men didn't just turn up in Paris from nowhere, that they came from ISIS's command in Iraq and Syria. [Kinkade:] And Nic, they seem to indicate that the next target could be the UK. Is that a serious threat? What should we make of it? [Robertson:] Well, certainly, the British say that they are looking at this, but they call this video a desperate act. What you see towards the end of those almost 18 minutes is a clip from the House of Commons where David Cameron, the British prime minister and other parliamentarians are discussing British air force joining the United States and others in strikes over Syria. And what the narrative is, is that these will this is a mistake that you're the enemies of Islam. If you attack us, we will attack you. It's a very clear indication that they say that they will try to threaten the UK. It's terror, it's intimidation, the British are looking at it. We know that the British authorities here have stepped up their readiness for this type of terror attack. They've put a significant number more armed British police on the streets of London, because of the reality of what everyone saw in Paris Lynda. [Kinkade:] OK. Some great analysis there. Nic Robertson in London, thank you very much. Well, still to come, the three Democratic candidates for U.S. president are getting ready for one last appearance on the same stage before Iwa voters get the chance to weigh in on the race. Also remember these scenes? Five years after the revolution launched from Cairo's Tahrir Square, we will be asking what the Egyptian uprising achieved. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. [Sidner:] And I'm Sara Sidner, in for Isha Sesay. Japan and South Korea are condemning North Korea's apparent launch of two more ballistic missiles. One exploded on launch from a province in the southwest, and the other flew about 1,000 kilometers to the east before falling into the sea. [Vause:] Final decision could come Thursday on which Russian athletes will be allowed to compete in the Rio games. The International Olympic Committee has been reviewing doping test results for the entire Russian team. [Sidner:] And two new chemical gas attacks have been reported in Northern Syria. Anti-regime group said an attack in Idlib province has sickened dozens of people there. Syria's government is claiming a terrorist group is responsible for another gas attack that killed five people in Aleppo. [Vause:] And Donald Trump says he is withholding his endorsement for U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan and former presidential nominee, Senator John McCain, in the upcoming election battles. Both men have been critical of Mr. Trump, but they have not dropped their support for him. OK, we can lose the music now. Women have been asking the Catholic Church for years why they can't preach at mass or even be ordained as deacons. [Sidner:] Now, the Vatican is actually taking a look into the issue. Delia Gallagher has details on the Pope's brand new initiative and where it might lead. [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Correspondent:] Pope Francis has named a 12- member commission, six men and six women, to study the historical question of women deacons in the early church. This was a request made on the part of a group of nuns in may. The Pope said he would look into it, but he specifically stated that creating the commission was not opening the door necessarily to women deacons. He merely wanted to study a period of history, he said, that was unclear to him. Currently in the Catholic Church, only men are deacons. Deacons perform some of the functions of a priest but not all. The important thing is that they are ordained. That's a special category in the Catholic Church that is not open to women. Now, should the commission come back to the Pope and say, in the early centuries of the church, women deacons performed many of the same functions as male deacons today, then yes, indeed, that would give the Pope grounds to look at the question of ordaining women deacons. And that question is important because it would then open the argument for the ordination of women priests. However, it is a long shot, because there has already been a commission in 2002 who studied the question of women deacons and came back and said, there is not a similarity between what the women deacons did in the early centuries of the church and what male deacons do today, and because Pope Francis has previously said that the door to women priests is closed. In any case, the commission must undertake their study and give their report. Conservative estimates could take up to a year, and then Pope Francis will have to decide if he's going to make a decision. Any developments on the controversial issue will have to await the commission's work and report which could take up to a year, and of course, Pope Francis's decision should he decide to make one. Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome. [Sidner:] Joining me now via Skype from Martha's Vineyard is CNN Religion Commentator, Father Edward Beck. He is also host of the Sunday mass. Thank you so much for joining us today. [Father Edward Beck, Cnn Religion Commentator:] Great to be with you, thanks. [Sidner:] Let's talk about this commission. There's a lot of people interested in what the Pope has to say, and about this decision to put a commission in place what exactly is this commission going to be studying? [Beck:] It's going to study deaconesses in the early church, whether there were women deacons and what their role was. Because the belief is that if there were women deacons in the early church6 and they functioned in pretty much the same way as male deacons today, then what would prohibit Pope Francis from saying, why don't we ordain women deacons now? And so really it's going to be an historical study to look at the early centuries of the church, women deacons, what they did, and is it comparable to what they might do today. [Sidner:] Out of curiosity, is it scripture that's going to be looked at? Is it historical events that will be looked at, or all of them? How do they come to their decision in this particular case? [Beck:] Well, there's at least one woman deacon that we know is mentioned in scripture by St. Paul, that's Phoebe. Now exactly what women deacons did in the early church, some believe that they basically ministered to the poor. And so they did almsgiving, they did service. It's not clear that it was a liturgical function, because deacons today, as you know, in the Catholic Church, they can baptize, they can preside at weddings, and they do liturgical functions. They can preach at mass. Women can do none of that in the Catholic Church. [Sidner:] I have to play the devil's advocate, sorry for the pun there, but when it comes to these commissions, there have been commissions on this before, and time and time again, his predecessors have said, no, this is not the role for women in our church. What might change? [Beck:] Well, it was in 2002, and basically what that commission said was that deacons in the early church did not function women deacons, did not function the same as men. Again, they weren't liturgical functions. I think what people are looking for, can women preach at mass? Can they perform baptisms? Can they preside at weddings? Because that opens the clerical function aspect of being a deacon to priests as well. So I think what's maybe different about this commission is, they're going to look at historical documents through kind of a different lens. Some time has passed. This pope seems more willing to have the conversation than perhaps past popes. And so I think it's all a matter of how that commission comes together, what their findings are. And you do have a pope here who listens, who has spoken about the need to include women in the decision-making of the church in more substantial ways. He's already said that. He's talking about the feminine genius. And so what we have to see is, does he then take that forward and say, well look we've come to a point where we can take the next step. Many are hoping he does take that step. Others are kind of afraid of it. They don't want to open the door to women. They're saying, the Catholic Church is the only church that has just male priests now, male celibate priests. We should stay that way. So there is this tension between the progressives and the traditionalists. We will have to see what this commission says and where the Pope winds up with it. [Sidner:] All right, thank you so much for joining us. Father Edward Beck, joining us from Martha's Vineyard. [Beck:] My pleasure, thank you. [Vause:] And we'll take a short break. When we come back, voters heading to the polls in South Africa. What's at stake for the country's ruling party? [Sidner:] Plus, thousands are fleeing South Sudan, and even more are expected to leave. What's driving people from their homes? That's coming up as well. [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. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Good evening. Thanks very much for joining us. Two main threads of the hour. Tonight, remembering the fallen police officers in Dallas. You see a very vigil just beginning outside the city hall. And protesters back on the streets again and major cities across the country just as they were in Dallas, raising voices against the killings of African- Americans had counteract with police. Demonstrations tonight in Chicago, Sacramento, California, as well as Atlanta. Joining us by phone is Charlie De Mar of our Chicago Affiliate WBBM. Charlie, what's the scene in Chicago? Charlie, can you hear? It's Anderson. You're on the air. What's the scene in Chicago? [Charlie De Mar, Wbbm Reporter:] Hi Anderson, good evening. Yes. About 8:00 local time here and these marchers are going on about their 5th hour marching the streets of Chicago. Shortly after I checked in with you last hour that the marchers regrouped, they took a little break, came up with a game plan. It was a couple thousand marchers at that point. Now the crowd has dwindled down to about a couple hundred and they mostly stayed on the sidewalk, but it's still a very busy part of Chicago. We just saw the crowd actually move from the sidewalk rushing the street and I saw a woman get detained. It's the first person to be put in handcuffs today. I saw the tail end of it. All I saw was this woman pushed a cop, but again, I didn't see what led up to that. But this crowd is much smaller, but much more rambunctious than we saw in the earlier hours. [Cooper:] All right, Charlie De Mar, thanks very much. These pictures are from a short time ago, not live images. Now to Atlanta, CNN'S Polo Sandoval is there. Polo, it looks like from the advantage point, the overhead shot we're seeing right now, not as large a protest as it was in Chicago earlier. Do you have a sense of numbers overall in Atlanta? [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, Anderson, we've seen hundreds of people. Just to bring things into perspective or add some context here, we did hear from Atlanta's mayor earlier this morning saying that today would be day five of demonstrations and they have seen an estimated 15,000 people over those last five days take to the streets and only 25 arrests until today, Anderson. I have to tell you, we've been walking with these demonstrators and really speaking to them and today was the first day that I actually witnessed some of these officers eventually go into the crowd and begin to pluck out certain individuals. We've seen at least 12 arrests or so. However, the crowd here continues on the sidewalk because we have heard from authorities here in Atlanta over and over again saying people are free to protest and to hold these demonstrations and marches, as long as they stay off public roads because that is now a public safety issue. So as a result here now we're now seeing people on the sidewalk here making their way through this to the Buckhead region which is essentially. If you're familiar with the Atlanta area, it's basically an upscale shopping, dining area here in Atlanta. And that's one of the reasons why the mayor has increased security. And one of several reasons why they are now on the streets and we're seeing police here on the ground as they continue to make sure that at least people stay off the sidewalk. But you talk to people here and ask them if they know where they're going and at this point, many of them, Anderson, will tell you that they're just following that drumbeat, following that very familiar cry for justice, Anderson. [Cooper:] All right, Polo Sandoval. Polo thanks. President Obama, Vice President Biden, Former President George W. Bush and hundreds of members of local law enforcement will gather tomorrow afternoon at a concert hall in Dallas to remember the five fallen officers and help the city heal. Right now as you saw briefly at the top of the hour in city hall plaza, people are gathered for a Dallas strong candlelight vigil. Martin Savidge is there for us now. Martin, what's been going on? [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, you know, I have been trying to gauge the mood of the people here, watching them for a long time. Certainly there's sadness. It's very somber. There are also people coming together. You see a lot of officers in uniform hugging, hugging the public. This is a chance for, again, the community to come together and grieve, but also to share in the pain that they're going through and that's happening right now. There are family members that are here of the officers. There is also a huge representation of the public and it's a very wide representation of people from all walks of life and it's only just now getting under way, Anderson. [Cooper:] Martin, let's just take a look at this. They're obviously showing the images of the five fallen. Let's just watch and listen. And Martin, how long is this vigil tonight and what do we expect to happen over the course of it? [Savidge:] Well, there's going to be a number of speakers and each person that speaks will represent one of the fallen officers. So in some ways, you could say it's almost like eulogies that will be delivered. And then on top of that we also expect to hear from the chief of police, David Brown. You know, he's a man who you would have to say today has got to be running almost on empty when it comes to both his level of energy and his emotions. And he has an incredibly difficult week ahead. The funerals of five officers would tear out the heart of just about any police chief. And yet, that's what he has to go through. Of course, the whole community has to go through that, but he's the man in charge. Again, it will be very, very hard. [Cooper:] Let's listen in again. [Unidentified Male:] The heroes weren't just outstanding police officers. They were fathers, sons and, husbands. They were neighbors, coaches, and church members. Officer Brent Thompson was described as super nice and a friend to everyone. He was a person you would ask for help and he would have your back. He was married two weeks ago to D.A.R.T. Officer Emily and was the father of six children. Officer Patricio Zamarripa was a navy veteran and served three tours in Iraq. He was an avid sports fan. He loved the cowboys and the Texas rangers and WWE wrestling. He was a proud son and a loving father of two children. Officer Michael Krol was from Michigan, who loved and talked a lot about his mom. He enjoyed fishing with his father. He never caring if he caught anything, as long as he was spending time with him. He was described as a loving guy with a big heart who liked country music, the Detroit lions and the Detroit tigers. Senior Corporal Lorne Ahrens was a former college football player and was described as a lovable giant who was always laughing. He was also known for always being there to have your back. Lorne was married to DPD Detective Katrina and had two children. Sergeant Michael Smith was a good person who was always trying to help others. He was nearing retirement, but continued to serve the citizens of Dallas like it was his first day on the job. He was married to his loving wife Heidi for 17 years and had two children. To our country, I pray we can pause and take a step back. When everything is negative and full of hate and anger, there can be no solutions. We must listen to each other rather than simply talking at one another. We will not let the cowardly hate-filled acts of one man divide our city and our country. I believe in our police department and I believe in our country and its citizens. I also believe we can rise and face these challenges together. If we are to hope for a better life, for our cities and communities, our nation must unite behind law enforcement. To my fellow officers, I ask that you honor the legacy of our fallen brothers by continuing in their footsteps and protecting and serving the citizens of Dallas with the same honor and integrity exhibited by these five heroes. To the families, we want you to know you will always be there for you. You will always be part of the family in blue. Your loved ones will never be forgotten and their sacrifice will long be remembered. I would now like to introduce Dallas Police Chief David Brown, who has done an outstanding job in this crisis. [David Brown, Dallas Chief Police:] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look, it's a train. It's a plane. No, it's superman. As a young child I ran home from school to hear that, so that I could see the reruns of the television series "Superman". I love super heroes because they're now like what I aspired to be when I grew up. They're like cops. They're like police officers. Super heroes and cops are mission-focused. Give us a job to do we'll focus on accomplishing the mission. So what's our mission today? It's helping these families understand how to conquer this tragedy. What do we tell you all? Well, being a person of faith, I always refer back to the good book, the Bible. And we have an example of how to conquer this tragedy. When the good Lord was crucified and rose on the third day, alive, he say it, oh death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? Families, we love you. We love you with everything we have. We are now your surrogate family members. We're your brothers and your sisters. When you need us, you call because we'll not only be loving you today, we'll be loving you always, always until the end of time. We'll be loving you until you are me and I am you, always. Always faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Look, it's a train. It's a plane. No, it's Patricio Zamarripa. Look, it's Brent Thompson. Look, it's Michael Krol. Look, its Lorne Ahrens. Look, it's Michael Smith. God speed. God bless you. God bless the Dallas police department. Thank you. [Cooper:] That was Dallas Police Chief David Brown. Just ahead, two men remember one of those officers who Chief Brown just named. He was their brother, the first officer in the history of the Dallas transit police force to be killed in the line of duty. Later, new developments in one of the police shootings that ignited such protests. Protest still going on tonight. Details ahead. [Bolduan:] We're counting down right now to a big policy speech from Donald Trump coming up in a couple hours in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. He'll be talking about trade. But we're also waiting to learn more about what appears to be a shift on the major proposal and one of the major controversies of his campaign, a ban on Muslims entering the United States. It's been met with criticism from Democrats and people in his own party, including Paul Ryan. The Trump campaign is now saying they are revising their proposal revising the play having to do with immigration, no longer to focus only on Muslims. Instead, on people coming from terror states. A lot of clarity needs to be offered on that point. We'll go over to CNN's White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, watching more on this. Jim, what are we expecting to hear from Trump today in this speech and also on the Muslim ban? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Hi, Kate. Yeah, Donald Trump will be returning to some of those things he was testing out over the weekend after the vote in Britain to break in the European Union. You recall after the Brexit vote Trump said he hopes Americans will re-declare their independence this fall. Well, the presumptive GOP nominee will deliver a speech today on trade that has been dubbed, quote, "declaring American economic independence," at a factory outside of Pittsburgh, in a state Trump has put no his target list for the fall. He will go after trade deals like NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. He will slam the White House and Hillary Clinton as politicians who betrayed American workers for the sake of globalism. Now the Clinton camp has already offered a rebuttal to much of what Donald Trump will say today. They are accusing the New York businessman of peddling a slew of products over the years that were manufactured overseas, from ties to furniture. Now as for the Muslim ban, Trump has been hinting to this change over weeks saying he would welcome a Muslim into the U.S., if they were coming in from Scotland. Campaign sources tell us that yesterday advisers were putting the finishing touches on a new policy that would no longer propose a temporary ban on Muslims immigrating into the U.S. Instead, as you mentioned, that ban would apply to countries with no terrorist links. Obviously, there's a lot of questions to be asked and we'll see if Donald Trump talks about this today. My sense is he will not during this speech, so we will be watching for policy announcements. The campaign has simply not announced this yet, but I talked to an adviser yesterday who said they were working on this new policy over the weekend as Donald Trump was in Scotland making these remarks that was basically sending reporters in all sorts of different directions trying to figure out where the campaign stands on it at this point. But this adviser I talked to yesterday said the policy change is coming soon Kate? [Bolduan:] And this is significant as we wait to hear about it, Jim. This is one of the few areas where Donald Trump has very early and been very specific on a proposal that he would like to put in place when becoming president. Jim Acosta on this. Thank you so much. We'll talk more about Trump's new position on the Muslim ban he's proposed. Let's bring Republican Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, from Tennessee. Congresswoman, thank you for joining me. [Rep. Marsha Blackburn, , Tennessee:] Sure, yes. [Bolduan:] You have endorsed you have endorsed Donald Trump and support his position. Do you consider it a change what we're hearing coming from the campaign, do you consider this a change from his original position? [Blackburn:] You know, I'm so pleased to see there be more specificity and it comes more in line on the legislation we are working on in the House and the Senate. Both Senator Sessions and I have legislation, he in the Senate, me in the House, that would dealing with this halting and pausing of the resettlement program until the president can give us a definitive plan. Let us know how people are going to be vetted. Look at the long-temple costs. Look at the annual costs. And then also making sure that DHS can tell us who has come into the country since 2001, and do we have any coming in on the terrorist watch list. So I'm pleased to see this step. I think it is positive. And it is exactly, precisely what I hear from people every day that they want to see happen. [Bolduan:] You mentioned, just position, the campaign when asked about it yesterday said there's no change in his proposal. But it is a change, yes? [Blackburn:] I think there is clarification here because you're looking at people that are coming from countries that have a known link to terrorism. And you're asking our government to do their part. [Bolduan:] So that is a change. Do you think clarification is a change or no? [Blackburn:] I think clarification brings some more specificity to tell us exactly what you're going to say. And I think realizing, too, Kate, as we are going into the convention and the end of the general election, you're going to see that. Go back to Hillary Clinton last December, who said she would not use the term "radical Islam." Look at what she just recently did last week. She used the term "radical Islam," which I thought that was a positive for her. We have, it seems on the Democratic side of the aisle, a lot of people who are terror deniers. Look at what has transpired as facts have come forward through the Benghazi report. Look at what is happening with the presence of ISIS in the terrorist cells that are now, according to the FBI, in all 50 states. And so I think the more we can say this is how we're going to get behind this, this is how we're going to be more watchful. I talked to constituents very involved with the missions programs and outreach. They want to make certain that people that are coming into the country are who they claim to be. And that they are where [Bolduan:] So a positive step in clarifying his position, is the clarification banning Muslims or all people coming from terror states? [Blackburn:] I think that it is going to be a halt. Many of us in Congress have said, let's just pause, let's take a pause, and let's make certain that the administration has a plan for ban on all Muslims That's smart and that's common sense. [Bolduan:] or on all people coming in? [Blackburn:] I can only talk to you about what we have done in Congress. I have not spoken with Mr. Trump. But what we have done in Congress is to say, let's take a temporary pause, a time-out, let's get our act together on this. Let's make certain that we know who people are, where they are coming from, what their intentions are, and be certain that we know what the cost is going to be. [Bolduan:] Do you have a clear idea of what terror states we are talking about here? What is a terror state? [Blackburn:] I think you're looking at countries that would have link or a sponsorship to terror. And we know that many of those exist in the Middle East. So let's wait and let's let the campaign come forward with their plan. I can't speak for their plan until [I -- Bolduan:] Right. [Blackburn:] I can just tell you what we have looked at in Congress as we've looked at the security issues of this country. National security is the top issue in this campaign. And [Bolduan:] Does it concern you that when they define it as links the way they define terror attacks or attempts launched against the United States and European allies, is how they have described it, that would include the U.K. and France and Belgium. [Blackburn:] Let's let them move forward with their plan. What we want to make certain is those coming into the country are not going to do us harm. And that is the reason for looking at this. And I've got to tell you, as you at the Office of Refugee Resettlement, there's not a lot of transparency there. As you talk with them trying to get information, their reports are delayed. When you talk with individuals that are handling some of the unaccompanied alien individuals and children, they will tell you don't know if the individuals they are releasing, these unaccompanied alien children, if they are in the country illegally. They don't know the relationship to those children. That is something that is difficult to confirm. I have friends that are very involved in fighting trafficking, sex trafficking, labor trafficking, and they are quite concerned gangs, what is going on in some of the links there. So I think that for the security of the nation, let's pause it. Let's get our act together on this. Let's be sure the office of Refugee Resettlement is working appropriately. [Bolduan:] We'll wait to see how Donald Trump clarifies it. [Blackburn:] Yes, we will. Yes, we will. [Bolduan:] Congresswoman Blackburn [Blackburn:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] thank you for your time, as always. Appreciate it. [Blackburn:] Sure. Lots to discuss. Our political panel is here to discuss. Mo Elleithee is back with us; and Jason Osborne, a Trump supporter who worked on the Ben Carson campaign; and Ana Navarro, CNN political commentator, who supported Jeb Bush's campaign. Great to see you guys. Ana, on the issue of Donald Trump, we are waiting for clarity. If it looks like a pivot, sounds like a pivot, is it a pivot and does it make you happy? [Ana Navarro, Cnn Political Commentator:] I have absolutely no idea what it is because, frankly, it is a moving target. It's very difficult to figure out what the position is. What we saw yesterday was two Warren spokespeople from the same campaign. One said it was a changing, the other one said absolutely no change. Bottom line, he's held more positions now than the Kama Sutra. We just saw that from Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, bless her soul, she had to speak to what Congress is doing because being able to articulate what the Trump campaign is advocating has become an extremely difficult task. If you can do it, good for you. I can't tell you what the current decision is. I can tell you the last thing he said, the last statement from Donald Trump, was that it was an absolute and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. If he has changed, it will be a pivot. That is yet to see. And we will see it if and when it comes out of his mouth. [Bolduan:] Jason, if it's a pivot, does it make you happy? This is what when you look at the numbers in exit polls, during the primary in South Carolina, 75 percent of Republican primary voters agreed with the all-out complete ban the way Donald Trump originally prescribed it. Super Tuesday, two-thirds of GOP primary voters supported him. This is one of the things, why they supported him. This is one of the things that got him where he is today. And now he's pivoting. [Jason Osborne, Trump Supporter & Ben Carson Campaign Worker:] No, I wouldn't say it's a policy. [Bolduan:] What? [Osborne:] I think you have to look at the broader complex you have to look at what he has been saying all along, which is there's been a deep concern among Americans that state-sponsored terrorism should be restricted those people coming from countries where there is state- sponsored terrorism. [Berman:] All right, today, women around the world, men too, celebrating International Women's Day. The mission is to rally for equality. Marches are happening in Australia, India, some other places as well. There are some demonstrations here at home kicking off in just a few hours. And it's not just marches. Also there are some who are doing something of a strike movement here, calling it a day without a woman. [Unidentified Female:] Five million of us marched. And made our voices heard. But it doesn't end there. In fact, we're just getting started. I strike for my future children. I strike for the artists. I strike for every woman who cannot strike. The day without [Harlow:] Well, earlier today, the president expressed his support, tweeting, quote, "women are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy." Joining us is iconic fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. She's not only a legend in the world of fashion, she is someone who has broken through many a glass ceiling in her own right. And each year her foundation recognizes inspirational women dedicated to leadership and community impact through the DVF Awards. You can vote for those starting today. Among this year's nominees, a pioneer of anti-human trafficking efforts and advocates of victims of family violence and sexual assault. Diane von Furstenberg, a woman who dresses me in many wrap dresses and John Berman in many wrap dresses [Berman:] All of us. [Harlow:] Thank you thank you for being here. I want to get to the awards in a moment, but I just you know, as someone who was very vocal in the campaign and a supporter of Hillary Clinton, what's your reaction to the president tweeting, supporting women around the world? Do you think he's shown that? And what more do you want to see from him? [Diane Von Furstenberg, Fashion Designer:] Well, I am not going to get into he's our president. I think it is I mean to say that women are vital is, obviously, obvious, since we women give life. I think it is important. I felt like ever since I was a little girl that the women's movement got better or we had more and more rights. And lately I feel like certain things are being questioned. And therefore I think it is very important for all women to remember that they are women, and to fight for their rights, and to show their strength, because I've never met a woman who is not strong. But somehow, sometimes, we forget it. [Berman:] What do you think is being questioned now? What is missing now that you detect a change? [Von Furstenberg:] Well, I think there's a certain attitude with women, and so maybe a lack of respect. But I don't want to be a victim. This is not what it's about. I mean, Women's Day, Women's International Day is about celebrating women and celebrating the work that women do. And there are so many incredible women who do so many things for helping other women. And not only do they have the strength to survive difficult times, but then they have the leadership to inspire others. [Harlow:] So let's talk about some of those women. I mean this is the eighth year that you are hosting your foundation is hosting the DVF Awards and these are a big deal. And I was reading through the names of the women that are being recognized for the extraordinary work that they do. You know, these aren't these aren't movie stars or famous people. These are the people that do just remarkable work that changes the world for the better. Why is it so important right now to showcase them? [Von Furstenberg:] It's always important to showcase them. And what I do I mean the reason I have these awards is to really give exposure to these incredible women who may not be known but who do so much. And I think that it's inspiring I mean, for me it is so humbling and inspiring to see the work of all these women. So I would welcome all of you to go on dvfaward.com and vote for, you know, one of these four incredible women. You know, one is about violence, domestic violence, and civic rights, and mentorship, and anti-trafficking. Those are issues that are incredibly important. And when you read about it, when you see about it, it can only move you. So please go on dvfaward.com and vote. [Berman:] I think these women are inspiring to everyone, again, men and women. It's interesting, today is International Women's Day but some people here in the United States are also celebrating it in a different way. They're calling it a day without a woman day. And there are people calling for strikes, whether it be at schools or businesses. [Harlow:] Right. [Berman:] It's a different way of looking at it, isn't it? What do you think of that way of looking at things? [Von Furstenberg:] I think it's getting attention, right, trying to it's getting attention on how important women are and how much we must respect women. So everybody does it in their own way. Even the Statue of Liberty went dark. She wanted attention to. [Harlow:] Yes, it's a good point. Before you go, let me get your take on this. Some of your fellow designers have said they have they're not willing to dress the first lady, one of the most recognizable women now in the world. You took a different stance. You said of course I would dress her. You respect the office. A first lady should be respected. What would you like to see from Melania Trump in the fight for women's equality? [Von Furstenberg:] Oh, I don't know. That's not for me to say. I think that, you know, she's our first lady and therefore we should respect her. She happens to be a beautiful woman. I am sure I hope that she will find her way to pass on the message. I know she was talking about bullying, which is a very important thing. [Harlow:] Yes. [Von Furstenberg:] So, I mean, I I I I that's not for me to say. But whatever she does, we will watch it and we will approve. [Berman:] All right, Diane von Furstenberg, thanks so much for being with us. Appreciate your time. Appreciate what you're doing on this day. Thanks so much. [Harlow:] And, again, you can go to dvfawards.com and vote for some of those pretty remarkable women right there. Our thanks to her. All right, Obamacare, is this bill dead on arrival or is there still hope for the GOP'S first real chance to do what they said, repeal and replace it? Just moments from now, lawmakers break out the scalpels, I suppose you could say, and start cutting up this bill. This is where the sausage is made. Can the bill some are calling Obamacare lite, some Republicans are calling Obamacare lite, can it survive? We'll take you live to Capitol Hill, next. [Camerota:] Conservative pundit and Donald Trump critic, Bill Kristol, says there will be an independent third-party candidate to challenge Donald Trump. So, who is this mystery candidate? Let's discuss this and so much more with staff writer for the "Weekly Standard", Michael Warren, and CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany. Thanks to both of you for being here. Michael, let me start with you. Bill Kristol is your boss. Who is this third-party candidate? [Michael Warren, Staff Writer, The Weekly Standard:] Well, I speak for myself. I don't speak for Bill. But so I don't know who that candidate is. I mean, there are a lot of potential options. But it's going to have to be somebody who understands why this fight is so important. When it's such a daunting fight, when you've really got everything seemingly going against you in terms of the institutional hurdles, the sort of expectations hurdles that that candidate would face, it's going to have to be someone who is willing to do it in the face of all those things and still understand, be able to communicate why they need a third choice, the American people need a third choice. [Camerota:] Yes, and that is going to be a real challenge, which I why we probably is not seen anybody publically throw their hat in the ring. Here are the people who have said no thus far to overtures about become that third-party candidate. Governor Mitt Romney, obviously former candidate and he was of Massachusetts, Senator Ben Sass of Nebraska, Congressman Adam Kinzinger. So, I mean, Michael, I know you don't want to steal Bill Kristol's thunder and you may not know who it is. [Warren:] I don't. [Camerota:] OK. But I mean, do you think I guess my point is, is this pie in the sky or is somebody really going to emerge? [Warren:] Well, I think somebody could emerge. I mean, it's a question of whether that person is willing to do it. And I think that we should emphasize that while the task is daunting it's not impossible. I mean, this is the craziest presidential election year that anybody seen in a really long time. [Camerota:] Yes. [Warren:] So anything could happen. You've got polls that show that Americans want a third choice, a third major choice because they don't like the idea of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton becoming president. They just need that choice. And it's going to have to be up to somebody to step up. [Camerota:] OK. So, Kayleigh, so, half of the American public as he just said is open to a third-party candidate. The Trump campaign does not want this. Corey Lewandowski just called it a disaster if there were a third party person to get in. What's the problem? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] Look, it would be a disaster. Here's the thing: it's an outsider's election so it's not surprising the American people would want a third-party candidate. When you look to Republican voters, "The New York Times"CBS poll eleven days ago showed 80 percent of Republicans think that Republicans should consolidate around Donald Trump. So, this third-party candidate would be supporting a minority as used in the Republican Party. Not only that, they would essentially be sealing the way for Hillary Clinton. It would be a disaster. It would certainly make the path harder for a conservative to get into the White House. And I'm not sure why Mr. Kristol is okay with the idea of the Supreme Court being lost for a century, because that is what would happen if a third party candidate [Camerota:] Because he says it doesn't represent the conservative wing of the party that he, Bill Kristol, has for so many decades. [Mcenany:] But here's the thing, where was the movement to court a third-party candidate against Mitt Romney who laid the blueprint for Obamacare in Massachusetts or John McCain who was for cap and trade, against the Bush tax cuts? These were not the ideal conservative candidate but there was no similar movement. It's interesting now they want a third-party conservative candidate. [Camerota:] Michael, it's interesting also that Donald Trump doesn't mind a third party candidate if it's Bernie Sanders. He has actually encouraged Bernie Sanders to become the third-party candidate because he knows that that would siphon votes off of Hillary Clinton. But, of course, there is another alternative, we just interviewed him here on NEW DAY. The libertarian candidate Gary Johnson talked about his motivation for getting into the race and he also talked about whether or not he is prepared for what Donald Trump would bring at him. So watch this moment. [Cuomo:] Are you ready for Donald Trump once you're in this thing and he recognizes you to give you a big punch in the nose for calling him a racist? [Gary Johnson, Liberatarian Presidential Candidate:] I think they've already started coming. So, you know, Donald [Camerota:] I believe that was the old kiss-off that we just saw there. So, Michael, what about that? Do you think that Gary Johnson with his V.P. running mate now Bill Weld, what do you think they will do in the polls and beyond? [Warren:] I don't know. I mean, I think that what you just saw there suggests that Gary Johnson may not have the broad appeal that a real third-party challenger to Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump would need. [Camerota:] Why is that? Why giving the kiss-off to Donald Trump show he's not appeal? [Warren:] Well, look, he was governor of new Mexico but he's a little kooky. He's got some kooky views. It's the Libertarian Party. It's not one of I think a sort of mainstream movement within American politics. I think that's the difference between somebody like Gary Johnson or somebody even like Bernie Sanders and a more sort of mainstream conservative candidate who could challenge Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. I think, you know, Kayleigh mentioned 80 percent of Republicans want to unite behind the candidate of Donald Trump. I think if they're given an option it's not going to be so clean so many of those Republicans didn't support Donald Trump. They're a little worried about the prospect of Hillary Clinton becoming president. They're a lot worried. But if the polls show that there is some fluidity in this race, you know, a third party candidate gets in and I think a lot of those Republicans might reconsider supporting Donald Trump for this third one. [Camerota:] Kayleigh, Jerry Johnson was at 10 percent before he got into the race. What do you think the impact of he or any other third party person jumps in will be? [Mcenany:] I put the Libertarian Party as categorically different than the efforts to court a third-party candidate, because here's a thing, they represent a viable ideology, they have political platform they're putting forward. It's a positive agenda. Whereas third party candidate is a negative agenda, they're about denying Donald Trump the nomination and sealing the path for Hillary Clinton. To me, that's categorically different than the Libertarian Party, which has a viable platform that differs in some ways from the Republican Party. [Camerota:] Do you think Gary Johnson will have an impact? [Mcenany:] I don't think so. I think, look, they will probably get roughly the same they've gotten in elections past, but I don't think it will be dismal to Donald Trump's prospects. [Camerota:] Michael, Kayleigh, thanks so much. Great to get both of your perspectives on this. [Warren:] Thanks. [Camerota:] Chris? [Cuomo:] All right. This story has people talking and it has emotions high. The gorilla everyone knows his name now, Harambe, this little boy finds his way into the enclosure. Gets dragged around by the gorilla. The gorilla gets killed. Well, how did they know what to do in this situation? We have another zookeeper who went through the same ordeal. That gorilla did not get killed. Why? What's the difference? What does he think of this situation? Answers ahead. [Sciutto:] Welcome back. There are new details this morning in the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. It could undermine the prosecution of police officers charged in Gray's death last April. The news, Gray suffered a spinal cord injury, as you know, and later died. Now police report says Gray may have previously hurt his back, but prosecutors kept that information from defense attorneys. Our Miguel Marquez has the latest. Miguel, do we know how serious this previous back injury was? [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, that's the very big question, whether it was an injury at all. This is all little curious the way this has come out. Defense lawyers have filed documents saying that they want access to all of Gray's medical records because on March 31st last year, a few weeks before he was arrested, an officer says Mr. Gray was giving them information about a robbery and complained that he had hurt his back or that his back hurt. On April 12th, Mr. Gray was arrested. On April 19th, Mr. Gray died. On April 27th, after a week of protests, Baltimore exploded. And then only on May 1st did that same officer say with all the press about Freddie Gray his memory was jogged, and he filed this unsolicited report that they remember him complaining about a bad back that day when they talked to him March 31st. Defense lawyers say this is their a-ha moment, that the prosecution didn't turn this over and we should have access to all medical records. The judge in this case has denied that in the Porter case, for instance. We will find out whether or not he will allow it in this case. Defense lawyers have asked for all of his incarceration records because they heard some anonymous tip that Mr. Gray may have tried to harm himself while in police lockup in Baltimore's central corrections facility. All of that the judge has to decide on the state, filing its own document, saying they shouldn't have anything, it's all irrelevant. Even if he did have a bad back, it was his neck and a blunt force trauma that killed Mr. Gray. So, none of this should be relevant. The judge should decide on this, we believe, this coming Thursday and then the trial of Officer Goodson is set to begin on the 11th Jim. [Sciutto:] Understood, Miguel Marquez. Good analysis on this. Thank you. Let's get some legal analysis with trial attorney Eric Guster and criminal defense attorney Darren Kavinoky. So, police van driver Goodson, he's going to go on trial January 11th. I mean, let's get the exact weight of this new information. First of all, Miguel raises a point. Does it, Darren, have any effect on the relevance of this, the fact that the police officer wrote this report after the fact, in other words, after he died, after he died and after the riots? [Darren Kavinoky, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Well, it's a curious bit of timing that this only this report would have been authored after the officer's memory was jogged, and not at a time con tem contemporaneous. It opens up this other issue about Freddie being a police informant, that he's providing information about other robberies. It really does send us down this whole other area of inquiry about what was his relationship? I think the real problem, though, when we're talking about this legal ruling is that here we are, the judge is a gatekeeper designed to make sure that only relevant information gets in front of that jury. And at this point where the central issue in the case is how did Freddie Gray become injured, fatally injured, anything that tends to that's at all relevant to that inquiry I think should be in the hands of the defense otherwise you risk doing a trial twice. It's a ripe appellate issue if they don't turn that info over. [Sciutto:] That's right, Eric. I mean, there are especially two questions here. One is what is the actual relevance and weight of this information? I mean, for instance, my back hurts sometimes. It doesn't mean, you know, eventually, I'm going to break my neck, right? So, that's the question. But on the flipside, I imagine, you know, by withholding something, in a way you make it a bigger deal than it was, right? What's your view? [Eric Guster, Criminal & Civil Trial Attorney:] It's actually a very huge deal. The defense should be allowed to see any potential information that could help their client because in our justice system, the defense has had should have rights to everything. If this young man had any type of back issues, any type of medical issues, they should be given that information. Now, the judge can rule that that information cannot be given in front of a jury, cannot be presented. If it appears that the prosecution is hiding this information or keeping it from the defense, that's a problem. Just like what Darren just said. They do not want to try this case again if there's a convictions. So, if they don't give up that information and provide it to the defense, they're asking for this case to be retried because that's clearly a case of ethical rules and they should give that information to the defense. Whether used or not, that's used in front of the judge and the judge's decision. [Sciutto:] Yes, and we already have a hung jury in the first case to go through on this. Eric and Darren, I want you to stand by because we're going to talk Bill Cosby in a moment. But, first, I want to get to more breaking news. We're getting word that a driver tried ramming his car into a group of French soldiers who were guarding a mosque in France. Police say the soldiers then open fire on that car, wounding the driver. No details on his condition at this moment. Also no clearance as to what this driver was trying to do. A soldier and person passing by were also hurt in this. We'll give you updates on this story as we get them. Let's now go to live pictures from Dubai. This is the hotel skyscraper that was burning. You'll remember last night on New Year's Eve and tonight, a day later, 24 hours later, it is still smoldering, still smoking into the sky night there. Pieces of the building are reportedly passing to the ground. Are we getting the whole story here? And more on our breaking news. A gunman opens fire near a pub in Tel Aviv Israel. At least two people are dead. A manhunt is now under way. Stay with us. [Max Foster, Cnni:] U.S. president responds to critics of the Iran nuclear deal. [Zain Asher, Cnni:] Also ahead, tracking El Chapo's escape. We will take you inside the tunnel this drug lord used for his prison break. [Foster:] First ever new images of Pluto reveals surprises about the [Asher:] And a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and all over the world. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Zain Asher. [Foster:] I'm Max Foster. This is CNN NEWSROOM. We are going to begin though with some breaking news out of the U.S. because former president George H.W. Bush is in a hospital in Maine at this hour after falling down, breaking a bone in his neck. [Asher:] Yes. And his spokesperson tells CNN that the 91-year-old is in, quote, "very stable condition." George H.W. Bush was, of course, the 41st president of the United States. He fell ill Wednesday morning while at his summer home in Kennebunkport. The injury is not considered life-threatening and Mr. Bush is not expected to stay long in the hospital. [Foster:] Now, the White House is brushing aside opposition and is then practically defending the Iran nuclear deal. President Barack Obama answered the objections to the agreement point by point in a news conference that lasted more than an hour on Wednesday. He insisted that the plan was never designed to address every problem with Tehran but instead had one goal. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] It achieves our top priority, making sure that Iran does not get a nuclear weapon. But we have always recognized that even if Iran doesn't get a nuclear weapon Iran still poses challenges to our interests and our values both in the region and around the world. I challenge those who are objecting to this agreement, number one to read the agreement before they comment on it. Number two, to explain specifically where it is they think this agreement does not prevent Iran reason from getting a nuclear weapon. And why they are right and people like Ernie Moniz who is an MIT nuclear physicist and an expert in these issues is wrong, why the rest of the world is wrong and then present an alternative. [Foster:] Well, the U.S. defense secretary will head to the Middle East next week to reassure allies. And Reuters reports, the trip includes Saudi Arabia crucially. The Sunni kingdom is an arch rival of Shia Iran. The Saudi ambassador to the U.N. expressed his concerns about the deal. [Abdallah Al-mouallimi, Saudi Arabia Ambassador To United Nations:] We take assurances that have been given to us by all parties at face value. And we accept them for the time being as being sufficient grounds to believe that this is a reasonable agreement. What is more important in our view is what is going to be the behavior of Iran following the agreement. It would be odd if Iran reaches a modest preventive and normalization of relations with the international community but continues to have difficulties in its relations with its own neighbors. [Asher:] That was the Saudi ambassador to the U.N. Now, the Arab world is certainly divided over this deal. Now, some countries believe that it will ease tension while others doubt it will stop Iran from building a nuclear bomb. Nick Paton Walsh examines the reaction and the agreement potential impact across the region. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It gone away with a key phone call nearly two years ago between President Obama and Rouhani. But now that deal is done, it is Obama who has hit the phones comforting distraught Middle East and allies who see him warming to their nemesis, Tehran. In a mostly Sunni Gulf, he told the Saudis they will quote "committed as ever to counter Iran's destabilizing activities in the region." He said similar to the United Arab Emirates adding the U.S. would quote "support our partners in building their defense capabilities." Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu has been un-consolably critical of a deal, but was told it would not diminish our concerns regarding Iran's support for terrorism and threat s toward Israel. His counterpart in Tehran didn't have to sell it. Allies in Damascus or Baghdad on the dropping of sanctions and unfrozen billions being a god idea. Instead the sales job was to hard liners who see the U.S. the great Satan. [Hassan Rouhani, Iranian President:] It shows at the technical level we are the level of the world. We can talk at the legal level we are the level of the world. At the political level we are at the global levels this in and by itself means victory. [Walsh:] Here in the Middle East torn apart by Sunni-Shia sectarian bloodshed, undergoing some of the worst violence in chain as seen decades. This deal has always been about far more than the already massive issue of nuclear weapons. It risks tipping the scales. America has had long-term alliances with Sunni powers here but there is a perception that this deal marks them throwing their lot in with the Shia side of the fight. It isn't that yet but the potential breathing room it buys Tehran has many fearing deeper change. The deal was welcome in Damascus and Baghdad by any released Iran funds could help boost Shia-militia. In Iraq, there the awkward ground allies of U.S. warplanes fighting ISIS. In Lebanon it could help Iranian back and beleaguered Hezbollah, sworn enemies of Israel. In Yemen it could help the Shia Houthi rebels also backed by Iran who are fighting a government in exile supported by U.S. ally Saudi Arabia. It's a deal that might take one issue off a table, a nuclear bomb for Iran but oddly might raise the temperature in the shat erred region even more. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut. [Foster:] Now, the agreement makes no mention of the four Americans who have been detained in Iran against their will for years now. Critics insist the deal should have included their freedom. [Asher:] And when CBS correspondent Major Garett asked the president about these four, listen to the response he got. [Major Garett, Cbs Correspondent:] As you well know, there are four Americans in Iran, three held on trumped up charges according to your administration, one whereabouts unknown. Can you tell the country, sir, why you are content with all the fanfare around this deal to leave the conscience of this nation and strength of the nation unaccounted for in relation to this four Americans? And last week, the chairman of the joint chief of staff said under no circumstances should there be relief for Iran in terms of ballistic missiles or conventional weapons. It is perceived that was a last minute capitulation in the negotiations. Many in the Pentagon fear you have left the chairman joint chiefs of staff hang out to dry. Could you comment? [Obama:] I have to give you credit, Major, for how you craft those questions. The notion that I'm content as I celebrate with American citizens languishing in Iranian jails Major, that's nonsense. And you should know better. I've met with the families of some of those folks. Nobody's content. [Foster:] That told him. [Asher:] Yes. He is very open and honest, President Obama, there. [Foster:] Now, we go on to Greece now because there is a step closer to getting a bailout package that will keep it from going bankrupt. The parliament has approved more austerity measures. The pension reforms and the tax increases are unpopular but they pave the way for formal talks to begin with creditors in hopes of bringing billions of dollars in to Greece. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras begrudgingly went forwarded with the plan. [Alexis Tsipras, Greece Prime Minister:] I will admit measures we are tabling are harsh and I don't agree with them. I don't believe they will help the Greek economy and I say so openly. But I also say that I must implement them. That's our difference. [Asher:] Now, the result for a heated and dramatic look at that, debate in parliament. Dozens of members of the prime minister's own party voted against the plan. And outside the building in Athens, protesters let the anger boil over in the street even before lawmakers began voting. So what you are seeing here is police using teargas on protesters after the police were hit with Molotov cocktails. [Foster:] Much more coming up on the contentious vote in Greece. Later this hour, [Asher:] Right. And we are going to talk about Mexico right now. Drug lord Joaquin Guzman, also known as El Chapo picked one of two blind spots on his cell surveillance camera to make a big escape that has got everybody talking. [Foster:] Yes, really. And as has this new footage showing him inside the cell showing Guzman duck behind shower then never resurface. We now know that the hole led to a mile-long tunnel freedom. CNN's Nick Valencia was allowed to go inside. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] This is the closest that we have been allowed to get to El Chapo's tunnel. The tunnel he used in his braze and escape on Saturday night, it is by all accounts, a magnificent fete of engineering. Let's come on in and see exactly what El Chapo here had in store. This is a small little exit, just a couple of feet wide and couple feet long. You see with a ladder, maybe about ten-foot, 15-foot ladder that leads down in to that tunnel. The room here is nothing to brag about. It's empty. Full of cinder blocks. You can see these containers full of dirt here, these wheelbarrows full of dirt. Here we go. OK. Here's another ladder leading down to another part. Deeper part, deeper section of the tunnel. It's a ways down. You can see this is the modified motorcycle that investigators showed us images before. It is on a track. It seems to roll back and forth. There are buckets left behind and look at this, left behind oxygen tanks, as well in order for them to survive down here. It is a very tight space. I can't even stand up. I'm 5'10" and I can't stand up all the way. It is a remarkable fete of engineering. The tunnel stretches for more than a mile, carved out earth here. This modified train track for the mini motorcycle. You see here electricity lines. Difficult to breathe down here. A lot of dirt, dust. This here for the ventilation system. Tight, tight space down here. But for a man known as El Chapo I'm sure he had more than enough room to work with. This motorcycle was on a track here. This is the bike that El Chapo used to ride out of the prison. Still has gas in it. You can still smell the gas. It's overwhelming odor of gas in this tight space. It is really suffocating. Nick Valencia, CNN, outside the Altiplano prison, Mexico. [Foster:] Fascinating to see inside. And earlier I spoke with Phil Jordan who is the former director of the U.S. drug enforcement agency El Paso intelligence center. He says he predicted this escape would happen. [Phil Jordan, Former Director Of The U.s. Drug Enforcement Agency El Paso Intelligence Center:] This guy, Chapo Guzman is a multibillionaire, not a millionaire, a billionaire and he can do anything he wants to when he wants to. The only surprise I had was that he stayed in custody, allegedly in custody, for one year. I predicted that he would be out in less than six months unless they had extradited him to the United States which they are not going to do because Mexico the politicians, the people in the payroll of Chapo Guzman would have a lot to lose, including high-ranking politicians. [Foster:] But lawyers in Mexico would argue the extradition treaty between the two countries means that he has to serve his sentence in Mexico before they can send him to the U.S. So, it is actually a very simple legal precedent. [Jordan:] Well, it's only as legal as they want to make it. I can give you an example where they extradited Juan Garcia, another associate of Chapo Guzman, one of the drug lords out of the cartel. Now, it is the same as it is illegal to terror arms or to have arms in Mexico, but every gang member, every cartel member carries guns, semiautomatic guns, and they use them every day. [Foster:] Well, Mexico's interior minister says he already fired the prison director and other prison officials who may have been involved in the escape. At least 49 people have been questioned. [Asher:] In the U.S., search and rescue teams have found the smoldering wreckage of a small private plane that crashed over the weekend in Washington State. Now, the lone survivor, 16-year-old Autumn Veatch, you see here there in a wheelchair, is now at home after hiking out of the rugged north cascade mountains two days after Saturday's crash. She had been flying with her grandparents who are there stand by their small plane. She was flying with them when the plane apparently ran in to trouble. Our Dan Simon has more. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] They said this is a very difficult, steep area. In fact, crews had to use specialized equipment to get it to. When they got, there they said the plane was still smoldering. It was still on fire. In fact, they had to call the U.S. forest service to put out a small brushfire. They did find the bodies. They have been recovered. At this point it seems like it is now up to the federal authorities to determine what in fact happened. It is now in the NTSB's hands. But we can tell you there was some bad weather prior to that plane going down. And that's according to Autumn Veatch. That's what she relayed to the authorities. That there was some cloudy weather and she couldn't see much in front of her. [Foster:] Now, Donald Trump's political campaign has made an important financial disclosure. The candidate apparently is worth far more than people thought. Details coming up. Plus, a day after NASA spacecraft passed by Pluto. Scientists are getting the sharpest images ever of the dwarf planet from its mountains to the largest moon. We will have more in a few moments. [Lu Stout:] Welcome back. This is CNN Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. 15 minutes past 7:00 here in the UAE. Our top story this hour, a global market meltdown. Billions had been wiped off the value of global shares, oil at a six-year low. This is the Dow Jones right now. It plunged 1,000 points within minutes of opening today. Clearly doing better than it was off just more than sorry 400 points there, some two-and-two-thirds of one percent. I'm want to say that it's a better day than we might have expected on the Dow, but watch this space. We'll keep you bang up to date in exactly what's going on. Well, they fled one hellish situation only to walk right into another. Thousands of people trying to make their way across Europe to seek asylum and now flooding into Serbia on foot. They are coming from Macedonia after crossing its border with Greece. The very latest flash point in this crisis. It comes as German chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande meeting to discuss what's being called Europe's worst refugee crisis since World War II, some calling it the worst crisis in its entirety since the cold war for Europe. Arwa Damon joining us now live in Macedonia. You're just across the Greek border. And you've spent some time there now. And at this point yesterday, Arwa, reporting the good news that Macedonia had actually opened its border and allowed some of these refugees to push towards their destination effectively, which is northern Europe. What are people telling you there? [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Becky, everyone, especially the Syrians have absolutely tragic stories of what they've had to endure back in their homeland and then how arduous the journey just to get here was. On the other side of this wire fence, that is Greece. And this is what it looks like today, fairly well organized, relatively speaking. You've had groups of people continuously arriving, being lined up, and they're fully being let across to then catch the bus on the Macedonian side of the border. But even just getting here is just absolutely exhausting. Earlier, we saw a woman who was three months pregnant collapsing from the heat. She had to be carried across. Many of these people have felt as if this was the only option that they had to ensure a future for their children. You can see the kids here making this journey mostly on foot. It's hard to believe that these little children have already probably spent days walking and they have days, if not weeks, of walking ahead of them until they do reach their final destinations. And as you were saying there, this is a crisis the likes of which Europe has not really seen in its recent history. And as one aid worker we were talking to, Becky, said what people need to think about because there has been a lot backlash against the refugee and migrant populations, they've been coming through some the local populations, feeling overwhelmed by the influx, some countries not necessarily welcoming them, but this one aid worker was making the point that, you know, when it comes to talking about how Europe needs to start handling this, an individual needs to recognize the fact that this could be any of us. We take a lot of what is around us as being guaranteed, the fact that our society seems like it's not going to crumble, that war might not necessarily come to our doorstep or other circumstances that could put us in these kind of positions, well that's not necessarily the case. So the starting point of any kind of conversation needs to be was a level of compassion, humanity and the recognition that we could all end up in this situation and that is what we need to really take into consideration. Because all these countries do have to come together at this stage for some sort of long-term solution, the crises that drove these very different populations out are not going to be ending, demographics are changing that is the sad reality of the world we live in. And we cannot abandon these people. [Anderson:] Arwa Damon on the story for you. Arwa, thank you. Well, the streets of Beirut are much quieter today after protesters called off another planned demonstration, but their campaign against the government is far from over. Organizers say they want to reevaluate their approach after more than 400 people were injured in clashes over the weekend. The protests began over the government's failure to collect rotting garbage in the streets, but quickly turned into widespread outrage against the government in general. Well, let's get the very latest now from Nick Paton Walsh who is live in Beirut. Any reaction to those images we saw last night, Nick, from authorities at this point? Are they going to do anything about this? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn International Correspondent:] The first thing we've seen the most obvious symbolic reaction, Becky, is a large collection of what you know as t-walls. Concrete slabs have been erected right down where there were protesters yesterday forming an enormous concrete wall between the prime minister's residence and the rest of those people out in Beirut, a symbolic gesture, certainly, and the police will say it's for their own security, but it does certainly isolate them, cut them off from those people down the streets below. Secondly, we've heard from the protesters today, and they are calling for people to come on to the streets again nationwide, or whatever city they're in on Saturday at 6:00 in the afternoon there. They're calling for investigations into what happened on Saturday and Sunday. And they're holding key ministers responsible for that. The government, themselves have been again referring to the role of infiltrators of a third party to instigate the violence we saw. And, you know, while the density of those individuals will be debated a lot, and that's happening already now in Lebanon, it was clear there was a certain minority that were much more keen on confronting the police than peaceful majority of the crowd and that allowed that violence to escalate here. But so far today, the presence of the army that began about midnight last night has calmed things on the street. We're hearing from the protesters at their conference that they are hoping for some kind of silent candlelit walk from near the justice palace where many of those detained last night are being held. But that is a relatively small operation we understand at the moment, the focus being on Saturday, an ability for them to organize themselves better ahead of that broader protest. All eye really, though, on the government and what level of reform it can put in. The environment ministers announced tenders to deal with the waste crisis, companies that will be involved in cleaning it up. That hasn't pleased the protesters at this stage as people looking to see quite how fast the government can implement reforms. They can put up a wall very quickly within 16 hours of the army coming onto the streets, but we haven't seen that level of swift response to the reforms requested by the protesters Becky. [Anderson:] Nick Paton Walsh in Beirut for you this hour. Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. 22 minutes past 7:00 here in the UAE. ISIS destroys another part of Syria's historical legacy. I'm going to take an in depth look at the latest casualty and what it means. First up, though, transformations is taking us to Japan where one town is turning to cycling to drive tourists to the area. That's next. [Sciutto:] The standoff between Dallas police and the man who killed five officers came to an end after what may be a first for law enforcement, the use of a robot carrying a bomb. CNN's George Howell looks at how robots are being used by police to keep men and women in uniform safe. [Unidentified Male:] There is the O.D.'s robot, going towards the [Ied. George Howell, Cnn Correspondent:] Remote-controlled robots have been used by the U.S. military in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to defuse explosive devices. [Unidentified Male:] D1000. [Howell:] Here's a scene from the movie "The Hurt Locker". [Unidentified Actor:] Oh, look at that. Nice 1-5-5, huh? [Howell:] In recent years, some local police departments have invested in the technology to investigate suspicious packages and cargo. But in Dallas, a potential first in the United States, the delivery of an explosive device by a robot that was used to kill the police- shooting suspect holed up in a garage. Negotiations to end the standoff had gone on for hours. [David Brown, Chief, Dallas Police Department:] We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. [Howell:] Police have not released the details of their tactic, what type of robot was used, information about the bomb, and how it was detonated, or if the robot was even present at the time of the explosion. [Unidentified Endeavor Robotics Employee:] It could be picking up evidence. He could be picking up potential explosive devices. [Howell:] Endeavor Robotics says it has sold robots to several police departments in the Dallas area but wasn't sure if their device was used Thursday night. [Unidentified Endeavor Robotics Employee:] Our whole purpose is to keep people at a safe distance from hazardous conditions. We've seen that in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the IED threats. [Howell:] Robots are expensive, with some costing more than 100,000, but local police departments say the technology is well worth the cost. [Unidentified Law Enforcement Officer:] Before, a bomb technician had to climb into a suit, go down and take care of business, where now we can use the robotic system. Much better. [Sciutto:] Coming up, we pay tribute to the victims of the Dallas shootings. [Cooper:] We began the program tonight with breaking news on the report that's expected to underscore the assessment from the entire U.S. Intelligence Community that Russia was behind the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton's campaign chief. Now there's more. President-elect Trump will be getting a very high- level briefing on it. He just tweeted, you can decide for yourself what to make of the quotation marks, "The intelligence briefing on the so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange." CNN justice correspondent, Pamela Brown, has been on the story all night. She joins us again. So Donald Trump just weighed in on this, essentially confirming that he's still skeptical of Russian involvement and seemingly skeptical of the term intelligence for the Intelligence Community. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right. It's remarkable how this is playing out, because for months, Anderson, Donald Trump has questioned the veracity and the intelligence supporting the idea that Russia was behind the hacks. And essentially, Donald that President-elect Donald Trump is coming out and challenging the intelligence agencies that will usually be working for him when in fact he is officially the president. With this tweet here tonight, I've spoken to intelligence officials who are frankly perplexed by it, that there was some sort of delay with this briefing about that comprehensive report dealing with the election hacks, because all along, as far as I've been told by officials, it was supposed to happen as early as Friday and perhaps even later, because this comprehensive report hasn't even gone to the desk of the President. And when this high-level briefing does happen, Anderson, it will be the first time that Trump comes face-to-face with the leaders of these agencies that he has been challenging and questioning, Anderson. [Cooper:] So it's not clear I mean, let me just be clear. Is it can we say definitively there was not a delay? Or do we know? [Brown:] The people I've spoken with in the Intelligence Community, a couple of officials, have said they're perplexed, because it was never on the leaders of the Intelligence Community's schedule to go up to New York and brief the president-elect before Friday, before [Cooper:] OK. [Brown:] So there may be some miscommunication or misunderstanding about the schedule, but I can tell you, that as terms of the leaders of the Intelligence Community that will be involved with this briefing, they were never on the schedule to do it before Friday. So there is some confusion about this so-called delay [Cooper:] OK. [Brown:] and, again, Anderson, it hasn't even gone to the desk of the President, and Trump would be briefed after that happened. [Cooper:] All right, Pamela Brown. Pamela, appreciate it. Tonight's tweet was far from the only one making headlines. Tonight, he also used Twitter to break the tradition, had sent a sharp message to North Korea. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has details on that. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Nobody knows if North Korea's Kim Jong-un has seen Donald Trump's latest tweet. North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon, capable of reaching parts of the U.S. it won't happen. And nobody knows how North Korea's erratic leader will now react. [Col. Cedric Leighton , Cnn Military Analyst:] This particular tweet is in essence telling the North Koreans, putting them on notice, that they are going to be watched very carefully by the incoming administration and that they don't have carte blanche. [Starr:] This after Kim said [Kim Jong-un, North Korean Leader:] Cutting edge arms equipment is actively progressing. An intercontinental ballistic missile test launch preparation is in its last stage. [Starr:] It's not clear how soon Kim can be ready to launch a missile that could reach the U.S., but the prospect raises alarm. If a nuclear weapon exploded over a west coast population center like Los Angeles or San Francisco, tens of thousands could be killed. Even a non-nuclear North Korean attack into South Korea could also kill tens of thousands, including 30,000 U.S. troops based there. Trump, on the campaign trail, was open to talking to Kim. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] I wouldn't go there. That, I can tell you. If he came here, I'd accept him. But I wouldn't give him a state dinner. [Starr:] Now Trump wants to pressure China to get Kim to roll back his nuclear program. China has been taking out massive amounts of money and wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but it won't help with North Korea, nice. But that message already largely brushed aside by Beijing. [Geng Shuang, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman:] We hope to see all sides avoid remarks and actions that would escalate tensions. [Starr:] The Obama administration doesn't think North Korea can threaten the U.S. with a nuclear missile yet. [John Kirby, State Department Spokesman:] We do not believe that he at this point in time has the capability to tip one of these with a nuclear warhead. [Starr:] The current U.S. military response focuses on defending against an attack with interceptors in Alaska and California and ships in the western pacific. But in the face of a sudden imminent threat, U.S. officials tell CNN President Trump could activate existing plans for preemptive attacks, so-called no-mercy strikes to destroy the regime and its weapons. A former Defense Secretary who called for a preemptive strike in 2006 now says it must not happen. [William Perry, Former Defense Secretary:] A preemptive strike could bring about complete and total catastrophe to South Korea and to Japan. So that is not an option. [Starr:] The person who also called for a preemptive strike against North Korea back in 2006, the current Defense Secretary Ash Carter. Anderson? [Cooper:] Barbara Starr. Barbara, thanks. Lots to discuss. Joining me is Gordon Chang, "Daily Beast" columnist and author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes on the World", also CNN national security commentator and former House Intelligence chairman, Mike Rogers. Chairman Rogers, let me just start with you. Before we talk about North Korea, I just want to ask you about the tweets from Donald Trump tonight about the intelligence briefing and Russian hacking being delayed. He puts quotes around the word intelligence and hacking. Is he setting himself up for a difficult relationship with the Intelligence Community, and is that a bad thing, or is that, you know, maybe a wise thing? [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] Well, I mean, I'd be a little cautious how you do it. If he's pushing the Intelligence Community on its analytical products and what they're finding and what they're recommending, I think that's perfectly OK. Where it gets a little dicey is if you're attacking the integrity of the officers who are out risking their lives right now trying to get information, that will backlash in a way that I don't think they'll anticipate. I hope they're not getting there, I hope that's not what this is. If he wants to challenge this, remember, in about less than, whatever it is, 16 days, he's going to get the keys to every Cabinet. He will have all of the information he needs to make his own assessments. He can have dissenting agreements, come to the White House and talk him through where he thinks he wants to be on a particular position. If you jeopardize the relationship between the executive and these intelligence agencies, I think that's really kind of a dangerous place to be, mainly, again, because these are almost living organisms. They're out doing things every day. They didn't care about the election, they didn't care who won. They're out doing their bit. They're out there trying to gather the information, some risking their lives to do it to bring it back, to formulate an analytical product that would inform policymakers. If you disrupt the trust relationship between that, and I'm not saying you can't push them or give them the wire brush treatment, as a matter of fact, I think they would thrive in that kind of an environment, but if you attack the integrity of these individuals, I think that's where the line gets crossed. I haven't seen him do it yet, but he has certainly has come close. [Cooper:] All right, let's talk about North Korea, Gordon. Is there any way to know how North Korea responds to Donald Trump's tweets? I mean, this is uncharted waters where a president-elect is tweeting 140 characters, you know, messages to North Korea. [Gordon Chang, Author, "nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On The World":] Yeah, well and when you look at what Trump said in that first tweet, it's clear that Kim Jong-un saw that as a declaration of war. At the very least, a threat of using force imminently. And we know one thing about Kim Jong-un. He's in an unstable regime. You know, he's executed 140 people during his first five years. He's purged 340 [Cooper:] 140 members of his own government. [Chang:] Senior yeah, senior leaders in his own government and regime. And also, when you put in the junior officers, that's maybe 500 or so when you total it off, because they've been sent to the camps, and we can't count that. So for Kim Jong-un, he has got to look tough, because if he doesn't look tough, he knows that he could die. [Cooper:] Chairman Rogers, I don't know if the question is about the appropriateness of a president-elect, you know, tweeting to Kim Jong- un or tweeting something that can Kim Jong-un's going to read. What do you just what do you make of the what kind of impact has going to have if any? [Rogers:] Well, I mean, I didn't see anything that would directly threat an escalation. There's certainly convectional conflict. There's one thing for certain, we have to change the dynamic that we're having with North Korea. The way we have been handling it isn't working. Now I'm not a big fan of using tweets to engage, because it's, you know, 140 characters can be misconstrued in a way where people have large armies and react in ways that aren't anticipated. But I do think that it's OK for the President-elect to set out a path that says we're going to do things a little differently, including trying to engage China hopefully on the black market activities in the on their southern border, North Korea's northern border, that allows this regime to continue to flourish, and that really hasn't been dealt with. I think if that's the path that we're going down, I think it could be great. If we continue to use tweets after the President is sworn in on January 20th, I get a little concerned, because it is too easy to misconstrue those words, those 140 characters in a way that probably won't be helpful, and that's not a whole of government approach. You want a whole of government approach to try to rein in Kim Jong-un. And, by the way, it's too late. He has nuclear weapons. He has an intercontinental ballistic missile that has been fired. He has fired missiles from a submarine. All of those spell danger for the future of national security of United States. We're going to have to deal with that in a way that we haven't dealt with it before. It doesn't mean conventional action. It doesn't mean preemptive strikes necessarily. I don't think we should take those off the table, but I don't think you ought to lead with those. [Cooper:] Gordon, I mean, do we know enough about what the impact of a strike against North Korea would be? [Chang:] Well, the thing that we know is that North Korea has chemical and biological weapons. It has nukes on short-range missiles, intermediate range missiles. They could basically take out any South Korean city they want. And, you know, when people start talking about the casualties from the first couple hours of war from Seoul alone, they're talking hundreds of thousands, and that's why the military strike is absolutely the last option. But we have a lot of things that we haven't done. You know, we've tried almost every policy. The one policy that we haven't pursued though is imposing cost on China. We know that Chinese entities have been selling uranium hexafluoride to the North Koreans, they've been selling other components for their uranium weapons program, and yet, we just stand back and we don't do anything about it. And so this has got to change, and I think it will. In the end of the Obama administration, we started to see the first sanctions on China. I'm sure that Trump is going to continue on that path. [Cooper:] Interesting. Gordon Chang, appreciate your expertise. Mike Rogers as well. Thank you so much. Coming up next, can Republicans in the House nearly gutted the watchdogs who were keeping them and Democrats honest from where House Speaker Ryan stood on the move? Also perspective from admitted influence peddler Jack Abramoff, he joins us ahead. [Walker:] Welcome back, everyone. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren has made her debut on the campaign trail with the presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Warren was relentless in attacking Republican Donald Trump Monday showing why Clinton may consider her as a possible VP pick. Suzanne Malveaux has the story. [Warren:] I'm with her. Yes, her. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren joining forces today for the first time in the campaign. [Warren:] Donald Trump says he'll make America great again. It's right there. No, it's stamped on the front of his goofy hat. You want to see goofy? Look at him in that hat. [Malveaux:] Today's event in Ohio fueling speculation that Warren could be selected as Clinton's running mate. The Massachusetts senator using the opportunity to unleash a blistering critique of Donald Trump. [Warren:] What kind of man roots for people to lose their jobs, to lose their homes, to lose their life savings? I'll tell you what kind of a man a small, insecure money grubber who fights for no one but himself. [Malveaux:] And using Trump's controversial comments throughout the primary season against him. [Warren:] Donald Trump calls African-Americans thugs, Muslims terrorists, Latinos rapists and criminals, and women bimbos. Hillary Clinton believes that racism, hatred, injustice and bigotry have no place in our country. [Malveaux:] Clinton voicing appreciation for Warren's tenacity. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I do just love to see how she gets under Donald Trump's thin skin. [Malveaux:] Clinton is hoping that Warren will also help her win over more progressive voters in the Democratic Party who backed Bernie Sanders during the primary. The former secretary of state today striking a populist tone. [Clinton:] We must have an economy that works for everyone again, not just those at the top. [Malveaux:] Clinton and Warren today sounding very much united. But that has not always been the case. Warren remained neutral throughout the Democratic primary fight only endorsing Clinton earlier this month. And in a 2004 interview with PBS she criticized Clinton's position on a piece of bankruptcy legislation. [Warren:] She has taken money from the groups. And more to the point she worries about them as a constituency. [Malveaux:] But no signs of any past conflicts between the two women today as Clinton hopes with Warren's help she can block Trump from the White House. I talked with several Clinton campaign operatives who told me they were watching closely today the body language between these two dynamic female leaders, watching closely how the crowd will respond, and mindful of whether Warren would overshadow Clinton. From the reaction of the audience they told me the ClintonWarren pairing did not disappoint. Suzanne Malveaux CNN, Washington. [Walker:] All right. A lot to talk about. Joining us now Democratic strategist Dave Jacobson and Republican consultant John Thomas. Welcome to both of you. Thanks again you for coming in. All right. So Dave, let's start with you. How much does Clinton need Elizabeth Warren? I mean we just heard there from Suzanne Malveaux that there is this risk or some people talking about her overshadowing Clinton but we know that Elizabeth Warren has a lot of populist appeal especially to the Bernie Sanders supporters. Does she need that from Warren? Does she need that appeal? [Dave Jacobson, Democratic Strategist:] Look, I think if we were looking at polls that we say a month ago with sort of a razor thin margin between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump perhaps Clinton would need sort of a Hail-Mary pass with a game-changing endorsement like Elizabeth Warren. There is obviously a ground breaking appeal with the possibility of two women running for president at a time when we have only had two men who have won the presidency in America. But look, I'm not sure given the poll trends that we've seen that she sort of needs that earth-shattering VP added to her ticket. I do think that's why we are seeing someone like Tim Kaine who is a much more sort of pragmatic swing-state senator from Virginia as sort of the front runner in the VP stakes. [Walker:] And now, of course, we want to talk about Trump's response. He tweeted this to, you know, Elizabeth Warren and Mrs. Clinton, slamming him. He tweeted, quote, "Crooked Hillary is wheeling out one of the least productive senators in the U.S. Senate. Goofy Elizabeth Warren who lied on heritage." Now Trump's campaign also called Warren a sellout for supporting Clinton and I would imagine you, John, would say that he might have a point on this whole sellout thing because we know that Warren and Clinton didn't really see eye to eye when it came to Wall Street. [John Thomas, Republican Consultant:] Yes. Warren is a true believer of the left. Hillary is a true believer in polling. But look, I think I agree with Dave on the VP selection. Hillary Clinton's selection really is about optics, not function. Whether it's two women at the top, I'm not really sure because I think Hillary Clinton doesn't have a female problem. She's doing just fine with them in the poll. She has a white man problem. Those are the people that Donald Trump is doing well with right now and Hillary Clinton hasn't been able to capture. I just don't think she is going to choose Warren as good of an attack dog as she may be. [Walker:] I want to also get John Oliver's take on it. You've got to, you know, get him in here especially about Trump's reaction to the results of the Brexit referendum. We know that. Warren and Clinton were slamming Trump on that as well. But let's take a listen to what John Oliver, the British comedian, had to say. [John Oliver, Comedian:] And the thing is, later that day, he found a way to make this whole thing about himself tweeting "Many people are equating Brexit and what is going on in Great Britain with what is happening in the U.S. People want their country back." And you might think that is not going to happen to us in America. We are not going to listen to some ridiculously-haired buffoon peddling lies and nativism in the hopes of riding a protest vote into power. Well let Britain tell you it can happen and when it does there is are no [Walker:] So his message basically is what happened there, right, in the U.K. could happen in the United States. To you, Dave, I mean you have people asking that question. Does a Brexit mean that Trump could win the presidential election? Do you think that there be a surprise waiting where, you know, he wins and we see this rebelliousness coming from the people like we saw in the U.K.? [Jacobson:] Look, Donald Trump is full of surprises. Nobody thought he would become the Republican presumptive nominee. But I think if you see sort of the volatility and the chaos that we're seeing with the global final markets post Brexit, I think that underscores the fact that Americans are tuning in to this and they're saying, you know what, that could potentially happen should Donald Trump win the presidency. And I think that's why we are seeing a nose dive with his poll numbers. Earlier today there was a poll that came out showing him down 12 points. And so I think you are sort of seeing these trends and I think people are starting to think twice about Donald Trump and I think it also speaks to the general electorate. First there's the primary electorate right. This is a guy who sort of threw out red meat talking points that appeal to the most extreme part of the Republican Party. And that is what propelled him to become the nominee. But now that he has pivoted to a general election he's really starting to turn off those moderate voters. [J. Thomas:] I am going to disagree here. I think the fact is you have to look at two key statistics. That's a right-track, wrong-track question out of the E.U. a year ago, when there was only 14 percent support for the Brexit. There was 77 percent of U.K. members thought they were on the wrong track with the E.U. 77 percent. 66 percent of Americans think that America is on the wrong track. I think the fact is even if with all the economic uncertainty, voters are so frustrated. They are frustrated there and they're frustrated here. And they may vote just to do something and change the status quo. And Donald Trump is anything but the status quo. [Walker:] So obviously a lot of parallels there especially with the populist anger. You mentioned polls Dave and I want to show the latest poll NBC NewsWall Street Journal poll that just came out on Monday. 45 percent of Republican voters say that they are satisfied with Trump as their party's presumptive presidential nominee while 52 percent more people say they prefer someone else, more Republicans. Now on the flip side Clinton, you have 52 percent of Democratic voters saying that they're satisfied with Clinton while 45 percent prefer someone else. So I mean to you, John, I mean Trump's unfavorability ratings are obviously higher than Clinton. And why are we saying I mean Dave is mentioning Trump's poll numbers going down against Clinton as well nationally. Why are we seeing this and Trump, the things that he's been saying lately do you think he is hurting himself? And risking it reflected in the poll? [J. Thomas:] In any other election cycle where it was an anti- establishment election Hillary Clinton would be toast. But in this election cycle every time there is a moment where the anti- establishment candidate should rise up Orlando, Brexit Donald Trump steps on it. And that's why. He keeps getting in his own way. But I think we're starting to see a shift in his campaigning. He fired his campaign manager. He's tightening up his messaging. I think he is going to start to get tighter and tighter. So I think the polling numbers will come back. Remember, it's a long time to November. [Walker:] Dave. [Jacobson:] Look, I think he is having a real unification problem. Politico reported earlier today that scores of GOP leaders are refusing to participate or have speaking roles at the convention because they don't want to ride the Trump coat tails because they're afraid it's going to impact their election, their ability to win. The "Washington Post" and ABC News put out a poll that showed 88 percent of Democrats support Clinton. I think that really underscores the point that she is really unifying the party and that leaders and activists within the Democratic establishment and the Bernie Sanders universe are starting to coalesce behind her. [Walker:] We'll talk more next hour with you two. I know, obviously there is always more to talk about. I appreciate you both coming in John Thomas and Dave Jacobson. [Jacobson:] All right. Thank you. [Walker:] We're going to take a short break here. When we come back, we'll take you back to London for more on what some are calling the Brexit hangover broken promises, tumbling stocks and deepening uncertainties, the fallout over the U.K.'s vote to leave the E.U. Also, Los Angeles wants to bring the Olympics back to the United States for the first time in more than 20 Years. We'll hear from the head of the bid committee. That's next. [Cuomo:] Important situation developing. A suspected killer is on the run in Oklahoma. There's a very intense manhunt. Police say Michael Dale Vance killed two people wounded four others, including police officers. He is now taunting police with online posts. We've got CNN's Martin Savidge joining us with the latest. Unusual to see this kind of behavior. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Very unusual. What is so very disturbing about this case, Chris, is not only that the suspect appears to be enjoying what he's doing, but he also appears to enjoy bragging about it on social media. [Unidentified Male:] This is more intense than what I thought it was going to be, to say the least. [Savidge:] The suspect in a double murder on the run and making threats on Facebook live. [Unidentified Male:] Watch this, people. [Savidge:] According to Oklahoma police, 38-year-old Michael Vance is armed and dangerous, believed to be carrying an AK-47 or something like it. [Undentified Male:] Letting you all know, look, this is real, see. That's [Savidge:] Authorities say Vance began his crime spree Sunday night in a town east of Oklahoma City, allegedly opening fire to two officers on a disturbance call shooting them before fleeing the scene in a patrol car. Vance posting this video while on the run. [Unidentified Male:] I'm about to steal another car. Like right now. [Savidge:] According to court documents, Vance also stole a car from this mobile home park, wounding one person. [Unidentified Female:] After he stole their car and was driving out he shot a couple shots towards us and I just so happen to get hit. [Savidge:] An affidavit obtained by police spotted this stolen car outside of this home where they discovered the bodies of his aunt and uncle shot, stabbed and showing signs that the suspect tried to dismember them. Their 2007 Mitsubishi Eclipse missing. [Unidentified Male:] He has that mentality that he's getting on his path and noting is going to be able to stop him. [Savidge:] Oklahoma police say a man matching Vance's description and driving a Mitsubishi Eclipse shot somebody at a truck stop 130 miles west of Oklahoma, around 2:30 Monday morning. Police also believe Vance may have a medical condition that can be transmitted through blood and that he might try to spread the disease. Vance has also charged with two counts of first degree murder, he's also got a weapons charge and unauthorized access to the vehicle. But get this in July, he was arrested for sexual abuse of a child. Authorities want this man to be found, but they're warning the public, he is extremely dangerous. So, be careful if you see him Alisyn. [Camerota:] Yes, Martin. Call your authorities if you have any idea where he is. You can just call 911 and they'll put you in touch with the right people. Martin, thank you very much. Well, Donald Trump and his surrogates continue to lash out at the media. Our media experts weigh in on the latest attacks, next. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Anchor:] Hey, good morning. I'm Brian Stelter and it's time for RELIABLE SOURCES our weekly look at the story behind the story of how news and pop culture get made. Ahead this hour, Clinton wins big in South Carolina, but does her redemption in the Palmetto State solidify her path to the nomination and should the press be careful not to count Bernie Sanders out? Ed Schultz and David Brock will weigh in. Plus, the candidates' media blitz before Super Tuesday is ramping up, but there's one place the candidates aren't appearing. It's your local newspaper. We're going to talk with three of the country's top editors join me from Super Tuesday states for a special editors' round table. And later, an implosion at MSNBC. Host Melissa Harris Perry's show suddenly gone, canceled. I have fresh reporting on what went wrong later this hour. But, first, the gloves, they sure were off at the CNN's GOP debate in Houston on Thursday night. Gosh, it feels like it was a long time ago, doesn't it? Almost 15 million viewers tuned in to watch the leading candidates hurling insults and trading personal attacks. But it's really what happened next between Marco Rubio and Donald Trump on the campaign trail that made the debate look civilized. Marco Rubio taking a page right out of Trump's playbook and it's making the GOP contest feel like this, a SmackDown from the WWE. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I watched him repeat himself five times four weeks ago [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] I watched you repeat yourself five times five seconds ago. [Trump:] It was meltdown. He's a nervous basket case. [Rubio:] Con artist. [Trump:] He's a choker. [Rubio:] He spelled choker, c-h-o-k-e-r, chalker. [Trump:] Boo, boo. [Rubio:] The worst spray tan in America. [Trump:] Nasty little guy. [Rubio:] Make sure his pants weren't wet. [Trump:] Ahh, ahh, I need water. [Rubio:] He was having a meltdown. [Trump:] Bing, bing, bing. Bing, bing, bing. [Rubio:] Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whoever did that to his face. [Stelter:] What do we say, right? You know, comedian Jake Flores might have said it best. He suggested on Twitter this week, he said, "I'm starting to think this is the last season of America and the writers are just going nuts." I was just looking here. It's been retweeted 25,000 times. So, clearly, some people agree with him. Now, many people are asking have media outlets enabled Trump and are they now egging on Rubio? Let me bring in my all-star panel to talk about. Kathleen Parker, syndicated columnist at "The Washington Post", Jim Warren, the chief media writer at "Poynter", and Mollie Hemingway, senior editor at "The Federalist". Kathleen, do you feel is happening is Rubio basically trying to portray Trump as a loser, something other candidates up until now have been maybe afraid to do? [Kathleen Parker, The Washington Post:] Well, absolutely. And I'm delighted that he seems to have taken my advice because I wrote a column to that effect. But anyway, yes, he you know, basically what he's doing I think is going after Trump. He's taunting him because the one thing a bully can't stand is to be taunted, and he's trying to get under Trump's skin I think at a deeper level than anyone else has bothered to do previously and why not? I mean, Trump has been throwing it at him pretty fiercely. He's returning the volley. [Stelter:] Yes, what [Parker:] But he's also having a little bit of fun I think. It's a liberation moment for Marco Rubio who has been accused of being so robotic previously. [Stelter:] Yes [Parker:] So, he's you know, it seems to be working too. Trump cannot stand it and we'll see where it goes. We'll look forward to everyone getting back to being a little more presidential however. [Stelter:] You think that will actually happen? [Parker:] Will that actually happen? Well, you know, it has to at some point. I mean, I think Marco Rubio has been out front for a good long while with his policies and has been very, very serious all along. But now [Stelter:] I find myself [Parker:] that he's be able to do this a little while [Stelter:] I'm sorry to interrupt you. I was going to say I find myself wondering, Mollie, if this wall-to- wall coverage of Trump and now this wall-to-wall coverage of Rubio could end up hurting Trump. You know, a lot of people have said for months that cable news coverage of Trump has boosted his campaign, has turned him into the front-runner he is, but you have to wonder now that Rubio is using Trump's tactics and being broadcast live doing them, if it will really start to do damage to Trump. [Mollie Hemingway, Senior Editor, The Federalist:] Well, it's not just that Donald Trump has gotten so much of the media coverage. You know, 60 percent to 80 percent of the actual air time when you're covering Republican candidates, it's also about what he's getting coverage for. The media aren't responsible for Donald Trump but they're definitely responsible for enabling him and they're also responsible for the fact that if you're a Republican candidate and you're trying to get even a chance at air time, you have to taunt and mock your opponent just to get any time on the air. And so, that is something I do wish the media would reflect on what they're incentivizing in the process. There's no incentive to act presidential because it doesn't get you air time. There's no incentive to talk policy. [Stelter:] Jim, as our media critic, do you agree? [Jim Warren, Chief Media Writer, Poynter:] Yes. Well, Kathleen, there's a better chance my New York Knicks from the early days will win the championship than this is going to get more presidential anytime soon. I mean, we have an obvious race to the bottom for the likes of Trump and now Rubio. The marketplace is almost dictating, you know, this sort of descent into the valley of kind of almost Internet trolling. The back and forth is akin to some of the raw notes we see at the bottom of our internet pieces as anybody can say what the heck they want. And, obviously, you've got the symbiotic relationship between the candidates on one hand and news director whose see some of this as ratings manna, particularly with Donald Trump, and you have a system which is commercially driven. Remember, in most other countries, you know, debates and town halls like this are not commercial. There's not an incentive for folks to sort of jack up the pugilistic air about it. So, I don't think this descent to the bottom is going to change anytime soon. [Stelter:] You know, Jim, I went to reach for my water to take that sip and then I realized Trump might make fun of me. The way we've seen visual comedy on the trail with Trump mocking Rubio, and then Rubio, of course, reading tweets on stage, we showed that a couple of minutes ago, it felt like something right out of late night TV, right out of Kimmel having people read mean tweets. Kathleen, I saw you shaking your head yes. [Parker:] Well, are you speaking to me? I couldn't tell. [Stelter:] Yes, go ahead. I'm sorry. [Parker:] There's a little bit of wind. So, I think it goes without saying that the candidates, that this campaign on the Republican side has devolved into sort of the reality TV, you know, template. But, you know, I think too and I agree with Mollie that the media do have a choice in how they cover it, and I wish they would cover it more substantively and the ratings clearly drive all of that. But, you know, at some point, I do think, you know, maybe it's after the conventions. I mean, that's a long time to wait for presidential. But at some point, you know, everybody has got to sit down and talk seriously about how to fix things and how to unify the country primarily. That's the most important [Warren:] But, guys, guys, at the same guys, at the same time it's interesting, you have so many reality sort of hiding there in plain sight, whether it's the Donald Trump business record, and that's been laid out by many folks. There was the former "New York Times" reporter David Cay Johnston who a year or so ago did a fabulous piece raising 20, 25 questions or so in something called "The National Memo" about that record. Then, the other night you had Rubio with what was deemed some Pearl Harbor-like sneak attack when it comes to Trump University. That's all been laid out. Go to "TIME" magazine, my old friend Steve Brill did a fabulous piece just going through the court records and almost everything Trump said in response to Rubio, to Wolf Blitzer, was categorically wrong. But the question is does is any of this appreciated? The information is out there, but there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of understanding or interest in understanding [Hemingway:] It's not [Stelter:] Mollie [Warren:] on the part of the Republican primary electorate. [Stelter:] Mollie, go ahead. [Hemingway:] It's not just about whether you cover it one time or whether there was something written in the past. It's really about how much coverage you're giving as part of the whole. And so, when Donald Trump get so much coverage for every outlandish thing, and then you say, "Oh, well, there was a piece written a few months ago that went through some of his mob ties," that's not sufficient. I think the media need to be a little more proportional in the same way that they cover Hillary Clinton. Certainly, her campaign gets covered but also some of her e-mail scandals and things like that. So, I think we could just see much more substantive coverage of Trump as well. [Stelter:] You mentioned mob ties. Worth knowing Ted Cruz brought up that on one of the Sunday show this is morning. Wonderful if we'll hear more from Cruz on that. I want to turn in this block to another of Trump's favorite punching bags, of course, the media, because this week, "The New York Times" wrote one of these substantive stories we're hungry for. The title here is: "Donald Trump in New York, Deep Roots, but Little Influence." Now, don't know this for sure, but what do you think? Do you think Trump attacked "The New York Times" as a result? Take a look at what he said. [Trump:] "The New York Times," it's going out of business, it's the worst newspaper. It is a dead newspaper. These people are incompetent and they're bad people. They have a bad agenda. We're going to open up the libel laws so when they write falsely, we can sue the media and we can get the story corrected and get damages, right, believe me. [Stelter:] "The New York Times" has seen better days but it's not dead. Jim, I want you to tell us about the libel law issue. Educate our viewers for a moment. Is it fundamentally an attack on press freedom to do what Trump is proposing to do? [Warren:] Yes, absolutely. I mean, if you go back [Stelter:] Why? [Warren:] to the Supreme Court case, famous case Sullivan, you've got to show malicious intent in proving libel against a media outlet, even when it publishes erroneous facts. The irony here of a guy who is trying to weaken those libel laws at the same time, he's very much profiting, is he not, from the protections of the First Amendment by basically saying what the heck he wants. But I think in the process, by railing every time he feels he's been done some injustice by the press, I think he has inadvertently making a very, very good case for why you should make the laws stronger, not weaker. And I do hope Mr. Trump and campaign adherents are watching the Oscars tonight and crossing their fingers that "Spotlight" wins because that movie is all about the First Amendment and its relevance in a democracy and why it should be stronger, not weaker, as Trump wants to make it. [Stelter:] You just gave a great tease for me. We're going to talk about "Spotlight" later in the hour. I'm curious, you know, we have to keep in mind whenever I hear Trump criticizing the press, I think this does resonate with a lot of his fans. We are a punching bag that seems very effective. Mollie, is the antidote, if there is one, to that sort of rhetoric? [Hemingway:] It's heartening to see the way the media have responded negatively to Donald Trump's calls to open up libel laws. But it also speaks to the strength of his argument, which is that the same media who are complaining about what he said about "The Washington Post" and "The New York Times," they don't care when Democratic candidates openly state they're opposed to Citizens United, which is also a Supreme Court decision that protects the First Amendment, that allows people to criticize candidates. I don't know if people remember, Citizens United was about a nonprofit group trying to criticize Hillary Clinton and the Supreme Court said they could do that under free speech and free press rules. So, we don't see the same level of angst about other candidates speaking against the First Amendment or the current administration, which hasn't been so friendly to press freedoms and has punished people that they think are not covering them fairly, or also just opposing other parts of the First Amendment such as religious freedom protections. People are upset about that and that's partly why they're supporting someone like Trump. [Stelter:] Mollie, Jim, Kathleen, I thank you all for being here this morning. [Hemingway:] Thank you. [Warren:] Thanks. [Stelter:] A quick reminder that after Super Tuesday, the big media story will be Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly, the rematch next Thursday night. You know, this conversation reminds me of a quote of "Rolling Stone's" latest issue. We put it on screen here. It says, "Trump found the flaw in the American Death Star. It doesn't know how to turn the cameras off even when it's filming its own denies." So should we find the off button? The author of that story, Matt Taibbi, will join me right after the break. [Quest:] Cockiness isn't a human trait purely after all we believe. Google's DeepMind computer hasn't even finished its five game "Go" tournament against Lee Se-dol, but its programmers are speculating about the next game they'll use to humiliate us humans. It's "StarCraft." It's a computer game that pits humans against two hostile alien races. This is the next one. Now unlike Go or chess where players can see the whole board. It StarCraft players have their opponent's strategy largely secret, and that makes it more difficult for a computer to play as well. But the mere fact that the DeepMind computer was able to play this game, how significant is it? Joining me now is the human and futurist, Michio Kaku, and we are absolutely delighted that the professor is with us. He a professor at the City University of New York and host at "Sci Fi Science" on the Science Channel. Professor, we always are so pleased when you help us understand these things. Look, it won. It won convincingly and it appeared to learn from previous mistakes. In other words, it was thinking. You don't agree, do you? [Michio Kaku, Host, "sci Fi Science," The Science Channel:] Well, this is a milestone because there are more possible moves in the game of "go" than all the atoms in the known universe. So this was a milestone in the history of artificial intelligence. But you have to remember that it's an adding machine. A very sophisticated adding machine that adds so fast it gives the illusion that it's self-aware and that it's innovative. However, you cannot go to DeepMind and slap on his back and congratulate it for winning, because DeepMind does not even know that it's a machine. It does not have any self-awareness whatsoever. [Quest:] Why do you put such importance on this concept of self-awareness? I understand it's relevant if we are talking about humanity and attributable human values. But if you're talking about a machine taking over, once it starts, it just keeps going. [Kaku:] Well I'm a fan of the "Terminator" series, however, we are decades away from creating a robot that is aware of itself, that is innovative, that learns from this experience, that has human interactions and has common sense. For example, ask DeepMind a simple question. Can strings push as well as pull? You see be we know that strings can pull but not push, but robots don't. Because they have no experience with common sense. And this is one advantage that we humans have. We learn. We learn from bumping into thinks, but there's no line of mathematics that says that strings can pull but not push. [Quest:] What do you see as being the benefits of something like DeepMind playing "go"? [Kaku:] In the next coming years, we're going to have expert systems like robo doc, robo lawyer and robo accountant. You'll talk to an image in your intelligent wall screen and you'll talk about your symptoms and robo doc will scan the internet and give you the best medical advice known to science almost for free. This is going to revolutionize medicine, revolutionize the legal profession, but it won't replace doctors and lawyers. Paralegals might be replaced. But we still need the human experience. We still need the wisdom of humanity. [Quest:] Professor, finally, how long have I got in this job before DeepMind decides it can do a better job than me? [Kaku:] Just realize that you are among the winners. Because of the fact that you have innovation, leadership, talent, analysis, experience, of which robots have none of the above. So people that are involved with intellectual capital are going to be the winners of the future. That means of course most of humanity. [Quest:] Thank you very much, professor, good to talk to you. Thanks for putting it into perspective, I feel reassured on a Friday that I might actually have a future, thank you, sir. [Kaku:] Thank you. [Quest:] We will continue this evening. Whilst you how very appropriate after talking about DeepMind and "go" let us think, let us have "MAKE, CREATE, INNOVATE." [Quest:] Out of crisis comes an opportunity, whatever the phrase was, never miss the opportunity well, you know what the phrase I'm talking about. I'll think of it while we're talking. More Indians are turning to mobile payments as India struggles with a shortage of cash. The crisis started about a month ago, when the government abruptly pulled the two largest rupee notes from circulation. It was the 500 and the 1,000 rupees. They account for 86 percent of all cash in the country. Harold Montgomery is the chief executive of MoneyOnMobile, one of India's biggest mobile payment companies. Good to see you, Sir. [Harold Montgomery, Chairman, Moneyonmobile:] Thank you, Richard. It's great to be here. [Quest:] How much of a disaster was this policy, not in its intent, but in execution? [Montgomery:] This is a very difficult moment for India. People throughout the country are struggling with substituting their old cash for new cash. Let me give you a sense of the scale of the problem. There is 1.2 billion people in India. Every single one of them is affected by this policy decision simultaneously. That's a very rare in human history. We're talking about 23 billion bank notes that have to be exchanged, 8 billion, 15th and 15 billion 500s and 8 billion one hundred. It's a huge, huge task. Farmers can't get their crops to market. There could be food shortages later. Commerce has really come to a halt in many cases. [Quest:] Are you accepting those notes for people to charge on their mobile accounts? [Montgomery:] Only banks are allowed to accept old currency for new currency. So, our audience is at the lower end of the pyramid. There are mostly dealing with 100s and 50s anyway. So, this problem isn't as exaggerated where my company operates. We're dealing with the un-banked. But for many, many people this is really a constraint on commerce and everyday life. [Quest:] Where do you see the cashless society of India, which is so much based, as you just pointed out on small denominations, ordinary traders, ordinary people, frankly, putting money in a sock under the bed in most cases. Where do you see the growth potential? [Montgomery:] Almost everyone in India has a reservoir of cash in the home that they're trying to exchange for new currency. But what the governments trying to do is to force everyone into the banking system, at even the elementary or entry-level and to force digital transactions. There's a lot of reasons for it. Stopping black money is one, as you mentioned. But stopping counterfeit is another. I have seen estimations of five to eight percent of the notes in circulation in India are actually count counterfeit. That's a huge problem. [Quest:] So, the volume of transactions that you are now seeing as a result of this policy this change, how would you characterize it? [Montgomery:] It's growing exponentially. Were seen transactions across the board at all digital payments companies moving forward. I was in India for the policy change. The next day, you could not buy a cup of coffee with cash if it was a 500 or 1,000, you had to use a digital payment method. People who didn't have them yesterday are getting them today. Smart phone sales are growing, because they enable digital payments more easily. [Quest:] So, when I say this misfortune is your good fortune. I mean, I'm not being nasty. [Montgomery:] It's an extraordinary stochastic market opportunity for my company and others similarly situated. [Quest:] I admire your honesty, sir. Thank you very much indeed. [Montgomery:] Thank you, Richard, thanks for having me. [Quest:] Smart phone apps. I don't need to tell you it changes about every aspect of your life. In Amsterdam, there is a new generation of office buildings. They are not only smart, they are sustainable and some would say they're almost alive in this edition of "Europe 2020" we meet "The Edge." It is morning in Amsterdam, and "The Edge" is ready and waiting for the hundreds of people making their way to work. The Edge is more than a building, it's like a living, breathing structure that has thought about you before you even set foot through the front door. [Coen Van Oostrom, Founder & Ceo, Ovg Real Estate:] We have an app where we, in the morning, can say, hey, I'm going to the building today. I want to work in the morning, having my own desk in the afternoon. Then working in a team, and then a suddenly we have the possibility of really getting the workplace we need at the moment that we need it. [Quest:] Need to find your college? Ask "The Edge" and its app? Booking a room? Want to adjust the blinds? The Edge and the app are your friends. This is the future of smart buildings. At the heart is a system of technology that drives connectivity and efficiency. And obviously, can deploy a robot to patrol the grounds. It all makes "The Edge" the world's greenest and the world's smartest office space. [Oostrom:] We ended up coming up with new innovations that not only made this building really sustainable, but more importantly made it smart. [Quest:] Take the lighting. There are no electric cables here. Instead LEDs are powered by an invisible digital ceiling with computer cables rigged up to thousands of sensors. [Derek Wright, Philips Lighting:] The levels of saving are around about 80 percent in terms of to a conventional lighting system. And about 40 percent of a building's usage is normally about the lighting usage. So, the savings become huge in comparison. [Quest:] It all adds to the sense that this building is alive. Solar panels are its skin. Providing power for phones, laptops, and cars. The heating system becomes the blood stream regulating the temperature by pumping hot and cold water straight out of the ground. Using the data gather from its human friends, "The Edge" facilitates a new way of working for those within. Employees here are encouraged to hot desk, finding a work space based on their schedule and activity. [Oostrom:] A company renting in this space can have double as many people on the floor per square meter then we had in the old type. [Quest:] For its commitment to improving the way people live and work, Amsterdam and projects like "The Edge" have earned the city the title, European Capital of Innovation for 2016. It sets an example for Europe and the world. [Oostrom:] What we find really interesting right now, is that there will be a new generation of buildings. We used to have dumb buildings, then we went into the world of sustainable buildings, and we now move into the world of smart buildings. I have no doubt that five years from now the new buildings in the world will be smart buildings. [Quest:] As "The Edge" has learn about our habits at work, we have learned from "The Edge" in designing better buildings and ultimately a better way of life. We'll have a Profitable Moment after the break. [Whitfield:] All right. Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Two months two his presidency and Donald Trump is dealing with his biggest setback to date, the failure of the president and his fellow White House Republicans to pass the GOP health care plan. On Friday, the president blamed Democrats for the defeat and went as far as to claim he never promised to repeal and replace Obamacare in his first few months of the job. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Look, I never said what, I'm here 64 days? I never said repeal and replace Obamacare you've all heard my speeches. I never said repeal it and replace it within 64 days. I have a long time. [Whitfield:] Actually, the president is on record multiple times saying he would ask Congress to send him a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare immediately after taking the oath of office. With me now is CNN congressional reporter, Lauren Fox. Lauren, good to see you. How is this failure likely to play out on Capitol Hill and with Trump supporter? [Lauren Fox, Cnn Congressional Reporter:] Yesterday, emerging from the meeting, Republican members of Congress were disappointed with the fact that they were not able to deliver the votes to President Trump on this bill. One thing we have to remember, this is the vote that was going to catapult them and had catapulted them to win the House, Senate, and the White House. And members back home are going to be able to be deeply disappointed to hear the Republican Party was not deliver to them. We have to hear some bites from members folks back home who are who are very disappointed with the president. [Unidentified Female:] I don't like the repeal of Obamacare at all. I feel like it was pushed through. And now Trump is trying to push through something, but at least he's honoring the other votes. I'm happy that it didn't pass. Let's just if it didn't pass, leave it the way it is for now. If you can't agree behind the scenes, leave it alone. Let it just be what it is until you can do something better. [Unidentified Male:] Obamacare, as it stands, I think they need to focus on bigger issues and keep keep this plan going. [Fox:] As you can hear, constituents back home are very divide over what should happen to the Affordable Care Act. And I think what we can expect moving forward is that members of Congress are going to move to Trump's next agenda items, tax reform, infrastructure. We shouldn't be expecting that health care will be front and center any more. Some Republicans are warning that if something is going to be done on Obamacare at this point Senator Graham said earlier at a town hall, they'll need Democratic support to get it across the finish line. I think everyone realizes Republicans are deeply divided on this. And exactly what to do moving forward is going to fall to bipartisan support. Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right. Lauren FOX, thanks so much. The president himself saying yesterday that next on the agenda, he will likely tackle tax reform. For more of our reporting go to CNN.com on all of this. Still ahead, Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, says he is confident Democrats can block a vote on Neil Gorsuch, the president's nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. What are the Democrats planning? We'll discuss next. [Baldwin:] We're back with the breaking news. So glad you're with me on this Saturday. There's so much to talk about here in Washington. You're watching CNN special live coverage as demonstrations erupt across America for a myriad of reasons. This is not just about Donald Trump. This is not just about Hillary Clinton. This is about issues. This is about the White House listening to what these women and men have to say. Let's talk, though, now about how the White House ordered a stop to the tweeting at the National Park Service. Let's go to Manu Raju, our CNN senior congressional reporter who has the scoop on this. Manu, set up the story. What's happened? [Manu Raju, Cnn Correspondent:] A "New York Time" reporter tweeted images of the 2009 President Obama's first inauguration in which roughly, estimates were about 1.8 million people came to celebrate and to experience that inauguration. And "The Times" report included an image of that with an image of yesterday's inauguration. And it appeared according to those images that a lot fewer people were at Trump's inauguration compared with Obama's inauguration. Well, it turns out that was not very popular for the Park Service. After that tweet came out the Park Service actually re-tweeted that "Times" reporter's tweet and that didn't go over very well with the White House. And there was an instruction that came down from the National Park Service that there will be no more tweeting or re- tweeting until further guidance comes out on Monday. We all know, we heard Donald Trump on the campaign trail time and again talk about the size of his crowds, really pointing to the size of his crowds as a sign of major enthusiasm behind his campaign, his candidacy, and now his presidency. And so this obviously rubbed Donald Trump and his team the wrong way. The Park Service later issuing an apology of sorts for that re-tweet. And it's also a sign, Brooke, that Donald Trump will be running the White House, a lot of career folks in these different bureaucracies, the federal agencies maybe have different views than the White House and they do things that are not very popular with the White House. So as Trump comes in he's trying to make sure that people are all on the same page, but with so many federal officials out there who may have different views and may try to do things to undermine him. Brooke? [Baldwin:] Manu, thank you. We've got the panel first to just react to this. And Kate, we were actually talking about this earlier, because not only have the comparisons been made of course yesterday to the Obama inauguration. I'm sure they'll be the pictures of today compared to yesterday. And of course, Mr. Trump says, it's not fair, it's not OK. [Bennett:] I'm actually struck today by this picture behind us on the set of the capital where he was just sworn in yesterday. It feels very sort of deserted and desolate. And just to the right down the mall, it's packed with people. Obviously, it's not the optics, I think, that we wanted the Trump administration would want to kick off his big weekend with. However this march has been planned, and it's a march so big they can't march. So there's something to be said on that. But there's definitely [Bash:] Can I just add something to that? When I saw the reporting on the fact that the Trump administration asked the Park Service to pull that tweet back, let me just say, to start with, the National Park Service, their job is to part of their job is to estimate crowd size. So if they didn't know the numbers, then they should be careful about what they re-tweet, particularly since that's their job. Having said that, the fact that on day one of a full Trump administration, the White House is saying, please don't tweet something that clearly would upset the president who is, admits, obsessed with his own crowd size is a little bit alarming because it is a slippery slope. And you know what, there are going to be things his agencies are going to report that he's not going to like. And you know what, it's what happens when you're not running your own organization or your campaign. You have got to get used to it. You're now the leader of the government. [Baldwin:] Let me come back in a second because I've been told in my ear, Jim Sciutto, as we've been talking about crowd size, you've got some news on the [Cia. Sciutto:] It is just 20 minutes away from when the new president goes to address the CIA. It's that Mike Pompeo, who is his choice, not yet confirmed choice to lead the CIA, that he in written answers to question from Congress said that he's open to reinstating water boarding, a form of torture. We talk a lot in panels about how elections matter, and of course, they do, but appointments matter, because this has been really, excuse the phrase, a tortured issue for the CIA in recent years because when the CIA allowed torture to be used in the wake of 911 against terror suspects, just in the wake of that, first of all, there were legal issues, but there was enormous regret inside, worry about damage to the organization, damage to American values. The CIA on this issue has only really just begun to recover from. So now you have the incoming director saying he might reinstate it. And keep in mind, that's in defiance of other senior military officers in the Trump administration, Defense Secretary Mattis among them, who sat down with Trump. [Urban:] If I could weigh? I went to school with Mike Pompeo. I went to West Point with Mike Pompeo. I've known Mike Pompeo since July of 1982. [Baldwin:] Wow. [Urban:] And I can state unequivocally he's an unbelievable patriot, a great individual of sterling character, and what he said in his testimony, during his testimony was he would ask the general counsel's office to reexamine all of those types of issues. He didn't say he was open to reinstating water boarding or he was going to water board anybody. He said he would ask the general counsel's office. [Sciutto:] Why don't I read exactly what he said in his written answers? [Baldwin:] Please do. [Sciutto:] "If confirmed, I will consult with experts of the agency and other organizations of the U.S. government on whether the Army Field Manual which sets standard for interrogation, uniform application is an impediment to gathering vital intelligence to protect the country." [Urban:] It doesn't say he's going to reinstate water boarding. [Sciutto:] I didn't say that. I said that he was open to it. And here he's making a judgment here. He's making a statement saying if it's an impediment, then I might reconsider. I'm fairly certain I'm not reading into those comments. [Urban:] It wasn't that the CIA director is going to reinstate water boarding. [Sciutto:] I didn't say that. I said that he's open to considering it. [Preston:] Where this puts us, though, in Monday with a nomination that's been delayed could now be delayed even further down the road because you do have the likes of John McCain and Lindsey Graham and those types who are Republicans who would 100 percent b behind Mike Pompeo that might say, let us take a step back and learn about this a little bit further. [Bash:] This is the reason why Mike Pompeo wasn't confirmed yesterday. Ron Wyden, the senator from Oregon, because he's on the committee, he saw this testimony and he said, whoa, whoa, whoa. I'm going to use my right as a senator to hold this up, and there was a big blow-up on the Senate floor about it, and they agreed to hold the vote. [Rosen:] This is part of a bigger issue that the Trump administration is facing in terms of their nominees. First of all, they've gotten a very slow start in confirmations. As of this time with George Bush and Barack Obama, they each had seven or eight of their cabinet already confirmed. Donald Trump only has two of them. And what, you know, I found over the last couple of days is that the number of appointments that they have made in these agencies, and goes to the interior department, where they ready for what was happening? No, they're not ready for what's happening anywhere because they hardly have any people in place to fill these jobs. [Baldwin:] David, I want you to quickly respond to that, because I've got to go to break. [Ham:] One problem they're not dealing with is the filibuster because the Democrats took it away from themselves. [Urban:] Back to Mike Pompeo. [Rosen:] That's exactly right. They can do whatever they want. [Urban:] On cloture it was 89-11 to put Miami Pompeo forward. So there's no doubt Mike Pompeo is going to confirmed as the CIA director. [Rosen:] But they're not getting their paperwork in on time. [Urban:] The Democrats are simply slow walking him. [Baldwin:] Speaking on Pompeo, the CIA, again, just a reminder to all of you watching and following along on this very busy Saturday with me, we will be seeing President Trump from the CIA giving remarks. Of course, we'll take it live at the top of the hour, but we're also watching these throngs of men and women, younger and older out today in full force marching for what they believe in. Different issues they want Mr. Trump to listen to. We'll hear from some of these women coming up. [Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] Let's talk, Randall, why buy Time Warner? [Randall Stephenson,, Chairman & Ceo, At&t:] Its seems to us like a very natural extension of what we do. We're in an environment where our customers are demanding more and more video, more and more entertainment content, not only on the TV, but on the mobile device. And we have a really large customer base in mobility. And the ability to take really premium quality content to our customers in the mobile environment is huge for us. It's huge for our customers. And as we made the scan and looked for premium content to bring to our customers, this is the premium content we think on the planet right now. And so the ability to do something special like this with Time Warner is just a very natural extension for us. [Romans:] Why sell now, Jeff? [Jeff Bewkes, Chairman & Ceo, Time Warner:] Well, it's not really selling, it's joining. [Romans:] All right. [Bewkes:] And so this is our biggest customer. It's our biggest partner. DirecTV, AT&T and then all these mobile customers that we now will have together. And what allows us to do is just move faster with more innovation, better consumer offerings, more different price points, more effective advertising and, therefore, people are going to see that more of the cost of content can be borne by advertising and the experience of watching television can be better. [Romans:] So what changes for the consumer, for somebody watching us right now. Randall, what changes for them with these two companies together? [Stephenson:] Oh, I think you're going to see the pace of innovation in terms of delivering meaningful premium content to the customer on mobile devices. That pace of innovation is what's going to change. And and we all are trying to innovate in this way. And our experience is, when you're trying to do meaningful innovation and bring new product and capability to market, doing it in arm's length contracts is always really, really hard. And so you put these two companies together, now the two companies are working together to change how the customer experiences entertainment, how the customer experiences CNN, literally. That's what we think will change. The customer's demanding not only the entertainment, not only the content, but the ability to integrate social, doing clipping and posting and social interaction with their content. So these are the kind of things we really want to move fast through. [Romans:] Talk to me more about how you see the future audience consuming the stuff. You know, you've got this young millennial who does in many cases they don't want to ever have a cable package, right? They're viewing this content differently. How does this deal see that or feed that? [Stephenson:] So the millennials, and in fact our customer base in general is not consuming less content. Our customers are consuming more premium content today than they've ever consumed. But they're consuming it in different places. They're not consuming it just on the television in their living room. They're consuming it now on their tablet. They're consuming it on the mobile device, on the go, and they're consuming it everywhere. And it's it's really stark if you look at the the amount of volumes, how they're increasing traffic going to these mobile devices. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] That's video driven. And so where we see that continuing. But we see that if we can actually innovate and curate to content differently and bring to the customer differently, we actually think this doesn't slow down, this accelerates. And this is the really important thing here because we're really excited about, as this accelerates, as this demand for premium content on these mobile devices continues to grow, it gives us more and more incentive to invest more and more in infrastructure. [Romans:] Right. [Bewkes:] Right. [Stephenson:] And innovate in infrastructure. This idea of 5G technology. [Romans:] What is that? [Stephenson:] It's the next generation of mobile technology. So think about the fastest Internet speed you get from the cable company is a gig, right, that we you can buy a gig of speed. 5G will allow us to provide a gig of speed to you wirelessly. And as we innovate this kind of content, having a 1 gig wireless network, so our customers can stream any kind of content, any kind of video anywhere. Ultimately, we think we'll be competing head to head with the cable companies with a wireless offer. We can hit those kind of price points, combine it with this kind of content. We think this is exciting. [Romans:] You know, we were talking about that cable-free customer or the customer who wants to be cable-free and Time Warner well, you and I have talked about some of the things that Time Warner has already been doing to sort of see this Film Struck for example. [Bewkes:] Yes. [Romans:] You know, talk to me a little bit about how this deal, how this deal fits into that. [Bewkes:] Well, we've had a progression for years. We wanted to have more video on demand. That was launched at HBO about 15 years ago. And then progressively we've seen broadband delivery give us more VOD service. Think of Netflix. Think of Hulu. Think of Amazon. And we added Film Struck, which is for film buffs. We've got HBO now available. So you can subscribe to that without adding anything else. You can do it a number of ways. And I think what we're going to see is with this kind of a platform and, you know, we believe this will be essentially a catalyst to more competition, more innovation and what we'd like to see is all the distributor companies basically doing more choices, more experiments. And we think this will, if consumers like the kind of packages and more competition leads to more it leads to lower prices, it leads to happier consumers and it tells us where to go. [Romans:] So eight weeks ago you first met in this building to start kind of talking about this. That's pretty quick for such a big merger. Tell me a little bit about the timing here because we are in the midst of what is, I think, the most populous presidential election in modern history where, you know, big is bad and I'm wondering if that timing play had any effect on you guys. [Stephenson:] No, it had no effect on it. I I came to see Jeff because our businesses, obviously, do a lot together. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] And we buy a lot of Time Warner content. And so we see each other regularly. We get together regularly. And came by to see Jeff. We had lunch. And as we began to talk, me about where I saw the world of distribution going, 5G that we've spoken of here this morning, and where he saw the world of content, of premium content moving and we just really came to an agreement that these things are converging and they're going to converge very, very quickly. [Romans:] Just think how I mean a movie studio and a phone company. I mean you think about how quickly things have really changed in terms of both of your both of your businesses. I'm wondering about the regulatory scrutiny. I mean you look at the front pages of the papers today and, you know, immediate opposition is almost in every single headline first paragraph. We've heard folks on the campaign trail talking about Hillary Clinton, have said that she will you know, her spokesman said that they will, you know, give it scrutiny if she is president. [Stephenson:] Right. [Roimans:] Donald Trump says it shouldn't be allowed to happen. Are and there will be hearing in Congress, no question. Are you worried about the regulatory scrutiny at all? [Stephenson:] Well, obviously, we're very attentive to it. We we've announced a lot of big deals and this this is not too much different than what we've seen in the past. This deal is unique, though, from any deal that we've ever done of any size. And, in fact, it's unique in this regard. This is a true vertical integration of two companies. [Romans:] Explain what that means. It means it means it's not as if two companies do the same thing already. [Stephenson:] Yes. Yes, so think about AT&T. We've tried to buy T- Mobile. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] That was a horizontal integration. That was a concern that the government had is that a competitor was viewed to be taken out of the market. This transaction is not horizontal. We don't compete. In fact, it's vertical. Jeff is a supplier to [At&t. Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] His content is part of our package we buy. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] Vertical integrations have a very standard review in the regulatory process. And there's not a there's not a competitor being taken out and, in fact, you're hard pressed to find in either one of our industries a time when a vertical integration was shot down by regulators. Generally what happens is where the regulators have concerns with the a merger like this, they'll put conditions on it and impose conditions to help remedy the concerns that they may have. [Romans:] And you're ready for that? [Stephenson:] Yes, we're we're ready for a review. We expect it to be a vigorous review. Like you said, we're sure that we'll get a chance to visit with Congress and tell our story there. But we feel like the information and the data will drive this and the law will drive this. [Romans:] This has been compared some have been raising the ComcastNBC merger and saying, you know, that there was some you know, it's been [Stephenson:] No, I mean, look, when the regulators looked at ComcastNBCU, the biggest concerns at that time there were two of them, right, net neutrality, needed to insure that they protected net neutrality [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] And over the top video. And I think if you look at this transaction, six years after that, the net neutrality debate, I think it's over. I think the case was settled by the circuit court and I think net neutrality is behind us. Over the top, I think Netflix is somehow going to make it. I think they're going to pull through. I think they're going to make it, right? [Romans:] Let me ask you about CNN and its independence here because CNN is just one of the many, many name brands that are in the Time Warner stable. But you have said that AT&T will not be reaching into how CNN does its business or tells its story. [Stephenson:] I watched how Jeff manages this business today and I think it's a model for how we want to manage it in the future. And, look, I I think of a brand like CNN and the key variable of your brand is your independence. And when people watch CNN, are they getting an independent assessment and reporting of the news. The last thing we want to do as AT&T is in any way taint that in the slightest bit. [Romans:] And you're sure they understand the separation of all that? [Bewkes:] Yes. You know, you've been at CNN for many years and it's been owned by Time Warner. Has it been interfered with? I think no. [Romans:] No. [Bewkes:] And why? There are two things. People watch news channels if they trust them to be independent, honest and objective. That's always the challenge. And when you're looking for the best journalists in the world, you would only work at a news channel that lived up to that standard. [Romans:] What changes for the Time Warner brand? You stay on for how long? [Bewkes:] Well, at least a few years after the we'll all we'll all do it as long as we're useful for the new company and [Stephenson:] This is great. This is the first time I've heard you say a few years. This is a really big moment. [Romans:] And you have the tape. You can always reroll the tape. [Bewkes:] Well, we've got a year to get to the to get to the close and then we need some period of time, but we have some tremendous executives in both of our companies [Romans:] And you think [Bewkes:] That are going to be, you know, we've we're always trying to build the next generation. [Romans:] Trying to build the next generation. So you keep Time Warner sort of operating those brand as they are now with the leadership they have now? [Bewkes:] Yes. [Stephenson:] Absolutely. [Romans:] And move forward. At what point, you know, they operate as two sort of separate companies, AT&T and Time Warner? [Stephenson:] Yes. I mean you should think of Time Warner becoming a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. And, look, I mean, Jeff has built an amazing company over here with some amazing brands and I don't envision us stepping in here and, like, we're going to fix this. I mean this is a well-run company. I said at the very beginning, I think this is the premium content brand company in the world. So I don't envision us changing a lot with it. What we do want to figure out, and this will be the management art that we have to figure out, and that is, how do we begin to think differently about curating this content and formatting this content in new ways that we can get it to our customers in different ways and different formats and getting that seamlessly working across the two companies, that will be the management art we have to figure out. [Romans:] So tell me again, I mean what we're talking here is how what content is going to look like in five years and how together you guys can harness it and get it to people. But for consumers, you know, they want to know what's going to change for them. Their Bills? You know, their phone bills, their cable bills? What is the biggest thing that they'll notice differently, do you think? [Bewkes:] They're going to have more choices of different channel packages. If they want a big package of a lot of channels on their big screen TVs and they can watch the show and walk out of the house with a tablet and have seamless connection, or maybe they don't want that. Maybe they've got it's a young couple that wants to use mobile devices to watch. Maybe they don't want the full package of channels. There will be more choice, I think better prices for consumers. There will be [Romans:] You think better prices for consumers? [Bewkes:] Yes. More competition usually leads to more price reductions. [Stephenson:] I'll give you a classic example of this. You'll see this actually next month, and that is, one thing we've been working on since we closed on the DirecTV acquisition is a purely over the top [Bewkes:] Yes. [Stephenson:] Content package. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] We're calling it DirecTV Now. [Romans:] Right. [Stephenson:] This is a mobile centric, purely over the top package that's going to our consumers. This is going to be a radically lower price point than what the consumer is expecting or has typically paid. And it's going to be 100 plus channels. We're not talking channels that nobody watches. [Romans:] Right, right, right. [Stephenson:] This is 100 plus premium channels. All of this content will be on there. ESPN, the Disney content. This is a very, very different experience. Mobile centric is designed for the tablet and the smartphone. Now think about having an anchor tenant like Time Warner whose content is in here and HBO and that content and how you can begin to integrate social into this. And social interaction, and can we clip the content and send it to friends, and interact with our friends on this. These are the kinds of things that we think are going to iterate much, much faster and change how the consumer experiences content. [Romans:] Jeff, let me ask you about your legacy, this company. I mean you've I mean you've been what are your thoughts, I guess? [Bewkes:] Well, I think it's our company. [Romans:] Forty years, right? [Bewkes:] It's you're in it, too. [Romans:] Yes. [Bewkes:] Look, this company invented the magazine. [Romans:] Right. [Bewkes:] It invented satellite delivered non-ad sported TV at HBO. It invented 24 news at CNN. And so we're very proud of the information of informing people, of telling authentic stories. And this will help us to do even more investment, even more variety and keep evolving the distribution system. That's what this is about is making sure that the breakthrough content that we're seeing an explosion, not just in our company, but in all the television companies. We need to get this out across the world in a way that harnesses the 21st century of mobile devices, broadband delivery, VOD. There's so much programming, you need a good interface to figure out what is it, what do I want to watch. And that's what this will help. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Our thanks to Christine Romans for helping us with that. Well, in our next story, they put their lives on the line to serve our country. And they got bonuses to re-enlist in the Army. Now, the government wants that money back, with interest. Next, we talk to a soldier dealing with this troubling turn of events. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Intelligence uproar. Chairman Devin Nunes reject calls for him to step aside from his committee's Russia investigation amid growing controversy and partisan rancor. I will ask the former CIA Director and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for his take of Nunes' actions and his credibility. Regulation rollback. The president signs a sweeping executive order to undo the Obama administration policies to combat climate change. Will it create jobs, as Mr. Trump claims? And accepting blame? A top U.S. commander now concedes that an airstrike likely killed innocent Iraqis. Did ISIS deliberately lure coalition forces to attack a location, knowing dozens of civilians would die? We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] Breaking news this hour: The White House is pushing back against new controversy in the House investigation of the Trump camp's contacts with Russia. The press secretary, Sean Spicer, flatly denying a report that the administration sought to block testimony by the former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. But Democrats are questioning whether a House Intelligence Committee hearing that had been scheduled for today was canceled to prevent Yates from talking publicly. This is another cloud over the investigation led by Republican Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman. Tonight, Nunes is rejecting growing calls for him to step aside from the probe, as even some Republicans are joining Democrats and raising concerns about his credibility. Also tonight, the Senate Intelligence Committee is moving forward with plans to question the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, about his Russia contacts. The panel's chairman revealing Kushner's testimony will be conducted in private and likely under oath. The president, meantime, is making good on a campaign promise to gut Obama era environmental policies. His just-signed executive order is designed to put energy independence and jobs over efforts to combat climate change. This hour, I will talk with Leon Panetta, who served as defense secretary and CIA director under President Obama. And our correspondents and analysts are also standing by. First, let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, Sean Spicer says the administration would actually welcome testimony by former the acting attorney general, Sally Yates. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Wolf, that is what Sean Spicer said today at the White House briefing. But I can tell there are some conflicting accounts of how serious the White House is about this testimony. Now, there was scheduled to be a hearing today on Capitol Hill, another hearing about these Russian allegations. Of course, that was called off. But Sally Yates was going to be one of the star witnesses. Now, you will remember she was a deputy attorney general in the Obama administration and she was a holdover. She was the acting attorney general in the first days of the Trump administration until she was fired. That's a bit of background here. But at the press briefing today, Sean Spicer said they would welcome her testimony. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] On the 24th, Ms. Yates' attorney sent a letter to the White House counsel requesting that consent, specifically stating that if they did not receive a response by March 27 at 10:00 a.m., they would quote "conclude that the White House does not assert executive privilege over these matters." The White House did not respond and took no action that prevented Ms. Yates from testifying. That's the story. That's what documents show. I hope she testifies. I look forward to it. It was never let's be honest. The hearing was never was actually never notified. If they choose to move forward, great. We have no problem with her testifying, plain and simple. [Zeleny:] But the question here is executive privilege here. And now the issue we're talking about, Wolf, is the investigation into Michael Flynn and contacts he had with Russian operatives. Of course, he is the former national security adviser who was fired. But Sally Yates was involved in the investigation into him in the final weeks of the Obama administration. So she has a perspective on this that she wanted to share with the hearing today, with the House Intelligence hearing, which was abruptly canceled, Wolf. So, even though the White House is saying they would like to have her testify, we will see if that ever happens in the House committee or on the Senate committee, which is also under way Wolf. [Blitzer:] I'm sure it would have been a fascinating hearing. I was looking to that testimony. Jeff Zeleny, thanks very much. Also, tonight, the House Intelligence Committee chairman insists the panel's Russia investigation is in fact moving forward, as he rejects growing calls to recuse himself. Let's go to our senior congressional reporter, Manu Raju. Manu, yet another chance to question Nunes today. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Yes. That's right. I mean, he is really defiantly staying in that position, believing that these questions for him to step aside essentially amount to partisan politics. That's what even some Republicans on the committee, including Peter King of New York, told me earlier today. Now, this all coming afternoon Nunes went and briefed the White House, President Trump last week over surveillance information that he learned from a secret source on White House grounds about some communications with Trump officials that were picked up in some of these intelligence reports. But also his decision to abruptly cancel Tuesday's public hearing that was supposed to happen today and also the committee, because of this, canceling all other private briefings that were going on today, raising real questions about whether this committee can go forward. Now, when I asked Nunes today, will you listen to these Democratic calls to recuse yourself, he said he would not. [Raju:] But are you going to stay as chairman and run this investigation? [Rep. Devin Nunes , California:] Well, why would I not? You guys need to go ask them why these things are being said. [Raju:] Can this investigation continue as you as chairman? [Nunes:] Why would it not? Aren't I briefing you guys continuously and keeping you up to speed? [Raju:] But they are saying that it cannot run as you as chairman. [Nunes:] You have got to go talk to them. That sounds like their problem. I don't have my colleagues are perfectly fine. They know we're doing an investigation and that will continue. [Raju:] Now, we know today's hearing was supposed to also feature Sally Yates, as Jeff Zeleny was just reporting. Now the question had been whether or not the White House was seeking to block her testimony. The White House denied that, of course. But when I asked Devin Nunes whether or not the White House had any role in urging him to cancel today's hearing, he would not say. [Nunes:] Look, you guys are just speculating. I'm sorry. Whenever there's time, we will did a press... [Raju:] But did they ask you to cancel the hearing today? [Nunes:] Come on, guys. I mean... [Raju:] Why did you cancel the hearing? [Nunes:] There's no nothing has been canceled. [Raju:] Now, Nunes also today earlier suggesting that he is open to having FBI Director James Comey and Mike Rogers, the NSA director, come before the committee in a private briefing. They actually canceled that briefing today, but Adam Schiff, a top Democrat, said he wants to have a public hearing before moving forward on some of their private briefings. But the Senate Intelligence Committee Wolf, moving forward on its, including starting to make plans to interview Jared Kushner, who is President Trump's son-in-law and a top adviser, about his contacts with Russian officials. The chairman of that committee, Richard Burr, telling me it is likely that that testimony will happen under oath, but it will be a private setting, not a public setting. We will see whatever we may learn from this private testimony, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Manu Raju getting some excellent exercise up on the Hill as well. Manu, thank you very much. We are also learning more tonight about the Senate's Russia investigation and plans to question the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, Jared Kushner. His testimony is likely to be under oath and it's likely also to focus at least in part on his newly disclosed meeting with a Russian banker who has close ties to Vladimir Putin. CNN's Jessica Schneider is looking into all of this for us. This hearing is supposed to take place, I take it, behind closed doors. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, that's right, Wolf. The chairman, Richard Burr, saying that Kushner's testimony will be that private interview, but likely under oath. And, of course, on the list of likely questions, why did Jared Kushner take a meeting with the chair of a state-run Russian bank at the height of the transition? [Schneider:] Jared Kushner met with this Russian banker during the transition. Sergey Gorkov is the chairman of VEB Bank and has deep ties to Russian government. Gorkov was appointed to his job by Russian President Vladimir Putin. White House disclosed that Kushner met with Gorkov at the request of Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in December 2016, but insists this was all part of Kushner's transition duties. "Jared attended the meeting in his capacity as transition official. Nothing of substance was discussed. There was no follow-up." But the bank says its executives met with Kushner as part of a road show of business meetings in 2016, disclosing that Gorkov met with a number of representatives from the largest banks and business circles in the United States, including the head of the Kushner Companies, Jared Kushner. So which was it, a transition officials meeting or a meeting to discuss private business? The White House not answering requests to clarify, instead insisting all inquiries about the administration's ties to Russia are just another distraction. [Spicer:] If the president puts Russian salad dressing on his salad tonight, somehow, that's a Russian connection. [Schneider:] But ethics experts say there is cause for concern. VEB Bank was under U.S. sanctions for three years. Generally, simply meeting with an entity under sanctions isn't necessarily a problem, but doing business with it might be. When Kushner met with Gorkov, he was still CEO of Kushner Companies. At the time, the company was trying to attract financing for a building project in Manhattan. [Dave Levinthal, Center For Public Integrity:] Jared Kushner's position within the Trump transition and administration was well known to the people who he was doing some sort of business with. So that's where you get the issue of gray area and lines blurring between what somebody does in his or her private capacity as a business person and what somebody is doing in their public capacity as an official or an adviser to the most powerful man in the world. [Schneider:] VEB Bank's strategy posted to its Web site highlights its tight relationship with the Russian government, stating, "Together with the government, we will select the most promising growth areas in the economy." A Kremlin spokesman says the Russian government was not aware of the meeting between Kushner and Gorkov. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Richard Burr, tells CNN that Jared Kushner will likely testify under oath, but privately to senators. Republican Senator Susan Collins says her committee needs to clarify whether Kushner was acting as a member of the Trump transition team or his private business, but Collins suspects the Russian bank might just be trying to drum up more confusion. [Sen. Susan Collins , Maine:] This has been a longstanding practice of the Russians to spread disinformation. So, I was not surprise when they contradicted Mr. Kushner's explanation of why he had these meetings. [Schneider:] And the Senate Intelligence Committee begins its open hearings on Thursday. The first day will feature Russian and cyber- security expert, but still no word yet on when Jared Kushner might actually appear before the committee Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Jessica, thank you, Jessica Schneider reporting. Let's get some more on all of this with the former defense secretary, the former CIA director under President Obama, Leon Panetta, who is joining us now. Mr. Secretary, thanks for joining us. I want to get to all of the developments involving Jared Kushner in a few moments, but first let me ask you about the canceled testimony of the former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Both the White House and the House Intelligence Committee chairman, Devin Nunes, maintain that they did not communicate about her testimony and that they still want to hear from her. So why do you believe Chairman Nunes canceled that important hearing that had been scheduled today with Yates, the former CIA director, the former director of national intelligence as well? [Leon Panetta, Former U.s. Secretary Of Defense:] Well, that's a major question, Wolf, why those hearings would be canceled, canceled abruptly. The whole purpose here of these investigations is to determine the truth, the truth of what Russians did in the election, what can we do to prevent that from happening in the future, and was there any collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians? Those are the issues. We're entitled to the truth. The only way you find the truth is by allowing testimony to take place, by gathering evidence and by trying to find the facts involved. And when you cancel hearings, when you fail to look at the facts and the evidence, it does impact on the credibility of that investigation. [Blitzer:] People are wondering why did those public hearings that have been announced for a while, why were they suddenly canceled? In letters published, Mr. Secretary, by "The Washington Post," the Justice Department wrote to the law firm representing the former acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Let me read a couple sentences from that letter. "Ms. Yates seeks authorization to testify about communications she and a senior department official had with the Office of the Counsel to the President. Such communications are likely covered by the presidential communications privilege and possibly the deliberative process privilege. The president owns those privileges. Therefore, to the extent Ms. Yates needs consent to disclose the details of those communications to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, she needs to consult with the White House." The White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, said today the White House did not exert executive privilege and would have let her testify, her testimony proceed, had the hearing not been canceled. Explain this idea of executive privilege to our viewers. What's at issue here? [Panetta:] Well, there is something called executive privilege, where communications between members of an administration and the president are protected under this executive privilege rule. It seems clear that somebody raised the issue of executive privilege. However, the press secretary made clear that they are not asserting that privilege. And obviously the deputy attorney general now has the opportunity to testify. I guess my recommendation would be that the committees ought to immediately proceed to get her testimony. [Blitzer:] When a former Department of Justice employee like her is asked to testify, is it typical to have this type of negotiation, possible restrictions on his or her testimony? [Panetta:] Normally, the role of a White House counsel is to raise the issue of whether or not executive privilege applies. That was certainly done in the time I was in the White House. And the president usually operates to try to protect that privilege. However, if there is an investigation that is going on, then clearly that privilege can be waived. It sounds like they are willing to waive that privilege. And I think that's good, because we will be able to find the facts out as to what she knew and what she didn't know. [Blitzer:] Yes, Sean Spicer mincing no words. He says the White House wants her to testify. Let's see if that hearing does in fact take place. Last week's testimony from the FBI director, James Comey, the National Security Agency director, Admiral Mike Rogers, contradicted President Trump's wiretapping claims against President Obama, considering the former acting Attorney General Yates' role in the departure of General Michael Flynn as the national security adviser from the Trump administration, is it likely that her testimony would also contradict previous statements from the White House on Russian contacts? [Panetta:] I think the issue here is, what did she know about the investigation, particularly as it related to the national security adviser, Flynn? And what were his contacts with the Russians and was he forthright in explaining what those contacts were about? I suspect that that is the main area that she would testify to, although she is a deputy attorney general and is aware of a number of elements that may be involved in this investigation. [Blitzer:] Yes. And as important as her testimony would have been if there had been that hearing today, the former director of national intelligence, James Clapper, and the former CIA director, John Brennan, they were also scheduled to testify in an open hearing today. Their testimony could have been even more significant in the American public's learning what was going on. I assume you agree? [Panetta:] There's no question. This is an intelligence issue. Our intelligence agencies are the ones who determined that Russians were deliberately trying to influence our election. Issues surrounding what Russians were doing clearly came to intelligence officials that were involved in this matter. So their testimony, I think, would be critical to being able to determine what exactly the facts are as it relates to Russian interference. [Blitzer:] A lot of supporters of the president, though, feared that whatever they said could have contradicted some of the accusations that have been leveled by President Trump. [Panetta:] Well, again, you know, the whole purpose here, I think what the American people expect is that we will find the truth. And that's the purpose of these investigations, the investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee, by the FBI, and by the House Intelligence Committee, although clearly the House Intelligence Committee's investigation has some real credibility problems now, as a result of what Chairman Nunes did. But the whole point is to try to find the truth, find the facts and determine exactly what happened, not speculate, not listen to the statements that are coming out of all sides as we go through this investigation, but what are the facts, what is the evidence, and what is established in truth in terms of what happened here? [Blitzer:] Mr. Secretary, we have a lot more to discuss. I want to take a quick break. We will resume all of this right after this quick commercial break. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] All the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I've been told to stop shouting about ending gun violence. Well, I haven't been shouting but sometimes when a woman speaks out, some people think it's shouting. [Camerota:] That was Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton trading jabs. And now, Senator Sanders fighting back against the accusations of sexism labeled by Hillary Clinton. Is it no more Mr. Nice Guy time? Let's bring in Bernie Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver. Jeff, great to see you. What does Bernie Sanders think about these charges of sexism against him? [Jeff Weaver, Sanders Campaign Manager:] Well, look, you know, it is an illness here in Washington D.C. some politicians believe that no one could possibly be in a room with them without talking about them. But the truth of the manner was Senator Sanders was tack about the tenor of the debate in general over the issue of the gun violence and gun safety. And I think anybody who looked at it objectively understands that there, in fact, has been a lot of shouting back and forth from people on both sides, and it's time to build a consensus around common sense gun safety legislation. So [Camerota:] Is the term "shouting" a sexiest term? [Weaver:] Well, it wasn't leveled at Secretary Clinton. So I don't think it's relevant. [Camerota:] So, is this what is sort of prompting Bernie Sanders new tone? What some believe is a new tone of him going after Secretary Clinton? Let's listen to what he said last night about Hillary Clinton. [Weaver:] Sure. [Sanders:] I have been opposed to these disastrous trade agreements from day one. I'm glad that Hillary Clinton has come on board and now said, well, she's against the Keystone pipeline. Well, do you know what if you take climate change seriously and understand the impact it will have on this planet, it is a no-brainer. What the American people and Democrats have to know, which candidate historically has had the guts to stand up to powerful people and take difficult decisions. [Camerota:] So is that Bernie Sanders taking off the gloves against Hillary Clinton? [Weaver:] Look, there are some clear policy differences between Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton. There's no doubt it. You know, the Clinton campaign has tried as rapidly as they can to race towards Senator Sanders in terms of positions because, you know, he's setting the terms of the debate in this election. So, you see on Keystone, she said they were inclined to support it. In terms of TPP, she said it was the gold standard. Spoke in favor of it 45 times. In terms of DOMA, she claimed it was kind defensive action when in fact it was that discriminatory gay law against Americans. So, on issue after issue, you see there are clear differences between the candidates both in terms of their positions and in terms of the consistency with which they have held those positions over the years. [Camerota:] Jeff, this does sound like a different tone from Bernie Sanders. It is not to congenial tone that we heard at the debate. Is this intentional from your campaign that now sort of the gloves are off and it is time. We're getting closer to the first primaries, to more vociferously go after Hillary Clinton? [Weaver:] Well, it's not about going after anybody, but it's about laying out the differences between the candidates. I mean, an election is a choice. Voters are going to go into the caucus rooms or into the booths and they are going to make a choice between two candidates. And it's important to know what those choices are. I would also say, you know, while we've been setting the agenda in this debate, the Clinton campaign has really been setting the tone. It was they who launched super PAC attacks against Senator Sanders. It was they who made this sort of distorted sexist attack against Senator Sanders. All baseless. So, you know, I think, what we would like to do is we would like to have a campaign where we talk about the issues, which we are doing. And if that is the tone that they want to set in this campaign, you know, we can do that as well. [Camerota:] Jeff, so much was made in the debate of that moment that Bernie Sanders said, "Enough with the e-mails, nobody gives a damn about the e-mails." And we interviewed you on NEW DAY the next morning and that did seem to be one of the highlights of the debate. But now, a couple of weeks out, in sort of the cool light of day, does Bernie Sanders regret making that statement? Because it did seem too friendly to Hillary Clinton. [Weaver:] No, absolutely not. Look, this must be a campaign about issues, about trade policy, about raising the minimum wage, about dealing with a rigged economy that is propped up by a corrupt political system. Those are the issues we want to talk about. E- mails or no e-mails, that's not an important issue to the American people. What they want to talk about are the issues that you heard Senator Sanders just talking about last night. Where he is drawing contrasts but they are on the substantive issues that American people care about, not emails and gossip and personal attacks. [Camerota:] Jeff Weaver, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Nice to talk to you. [Weaver:] Happy to be here. Thank you. [Camerota:] Let's get over to Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. Alisyn, a new national poll establishing Dr. Ben Carson as the man to beet right now among all Republican candidates, including Donald Trump. What's behind the surge? Can it last? [Tapper:] ... next door in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for watching. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news. Hillary Clinton's health records. Forced off the campaign trail by a case of pneumonia that was kept under wraps, Clinton releases a detailed doctor's statement as she recovers from her illness. Will this move help her recover from a serious campaign setback? The weirdness of Oz. The first videos released from Donald Trump's appearance on "The Dr. Oz Show," where he releases some results from his latest medical exam. But is Trump doing enough to answer calls for transparency? Colin's scowl. Former Republican secretary of state calls Donald Trump, and I'm quoting now, "a national disgrace and an international pariah." But he also says Hillary Clinton screws up everything she touches. Stunning revelations from Colin Powell's stolen e-mails. And nuclear hostage. As North Korea scoffs at the United States' show of force following its latest test explosion, a U.S. general warns that America is being held nuclear hostage by Kim Jong-un's regime. Can America do anything about this growing threat? We welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. The breaking news: slowed by a bout of pneumonia that was kept hidden for days and has kept her off the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton has just released a detailed letter from her doctor that describes the diagnosis and treatment for her illness and sums up her latest physical exam, including vital signs, results of lab tests and current medications. Hours earlier, Donald Trump drew on his experience as a TV showman to reveal information from a recent physical exam. It came during a taping of "The Dr. Oz Show," which reporters were not allowed to attend. The show airs tomorrow. But Trump's campaign says he gave Dr. Oz a one-page summary of his exam and discussed his physical activity and dietary habits. Trump had pledged to release very, very specific numbers, but his campaign now says the full results of his exam will not be made public. Trump has been under growing pressure to reveal his health history, along with his tax returns and information about his charitable foundation, now under investigation by New York's attorney general. Plus, our brand-new CNNORC polls are just out, and they show Trump taking the lead in two crucial battleground states. He leads Clinton by five points in Ohio and three points in Florida, which is within the sampling error. The survey showed Trump with a stronger lead among independent voters, a key sector in this race. I'll speak with a Trump supporter, Congressman Sean Duffy of Wisconsin. He's standing by. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's get straight to Hillary Clinton's health records. Joining us now, our senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar; CNN political director David Chalian; and our chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Sanjay, what stands out to you in Clinton's release today? Is there anything here that paints a better picture of what her health is like right now? [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Well, we have a little bit more detail about this most recent episode with the pneumonia, Wolf. We understand now that she had been having some symptoms for some time. I guess we knew that with the cough and then some of the other symptoms. We know that she got a CAT scan on Friday, which was what revealed this pneumonia. For some time, again, we weren't told about the pneumonia until a couple of days later, but she underwent significant testing in order to make this diagnosis on Friday. That's September 9. And was started on a ten-day course of antibiotics at that point. So we have a little bit more information there. Just now as we're talking to you, Wolf, we got this letter, as well, with a little bit more detail. We understand, for example, in January of this year, she had significant sinusitis, as well. She got antibiotics and steroids at that time and also had a tube placed into her ear to try and allow some of the fluid to be drained from around her sinuses. But nothing more really sticks out, Wolf. She had a letter released by her doctor in July of last year. So this is about 13, 14 months later now as this new this new health information coming out. Her triglyceride level, something you know about, Wolf, had a significant jump during that time from, I think, it was 69 to 159. Now, not clear why that is. It could be because of one was done while she was fasting and the blood test. One was done while she was not fasting. But to your question, Wolf, nothing in particular really stands out other than this most recent health episode. [Blitzer:] Let me read the last paragraph, Sanjay, of this letter. Dr. Lisa Bardack wrote this letter. She's the physician that's treating Hillary Clinton. "My overall impression is that Mrs. Clinton has remained healthy and in the developed new medical conditions this year, other than the sinus and ear infection and her recently diagnosed pneumonia. She is recovering well with antibiotics and rest. She continues to remain healthy and is fit to serve as president of the United States." Bottom-line conclusion from her doctor, Dr. Bardack. Based on what we know and we don't know everything, obviously. But based on what we know, Sanjay, would you agree with that conclusion? [Gupta:] Yes. I mean, look, you said it right, Wolf. We're getting the information that they're giving us, and based on that information. I think anyone would draw that same conclusion. I will tell you that there's nothing to suggest otherwise. I look for when I look at these types of letters, I'm looking for, you know, things that are big. And, you know, is there any kind of evidence of cognitive dysfunction? Is there anything with regard to the heart, the lungs, the brain? Is there any kind of disease or some underlying illness that you worry about? And those are the points that Dr. Bardack is talking about. The most significant thing, really, that Secretary Clinton has seems to have experienced was back in 2012, when she had this head injury from fainting and then hitting her head and developing this blood collection. Dr. Bardack has noted in previous letters that she that all resolved, and she had no evidence of long-term injury to the brain. The blood clot that had formed at that time has resolved. So, you know, cognitively, physically, I think that's the point that Dr. Bardack is making, that she is fit to serve. [Blitzer:] Let me bring in Brianna Keilar, who's been covering Hillary Clinton for the entire campaign, for all practical purposes. She's had some problems with transparency. Does this ease that problem, the release of this letter from Dr. Bardack? [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Well, I think that's what they're going for, certainly. But she she had a misstep by not releasing the information that she had pneumonia. When we learned that on Sunday, we found out that she had been diagnosed two days before with it. And what we're learning from the letter is that, actually, she had a fever even a full week before that. So she had been suffering from, you know, certainly some symptoms, it seems, for at least nine days before we heard anything. So it goes to transparency, where certainly her campaign is, I think, trying to make up some of what was a misstep for them there. I also think they're trying to assure people that she's healthy, because there have been a lot of unfounded theories out there about her health. And one thing that really stands out to me is this statement from her doctor, where Dr. Bardack says the remainder of her complete physical exam is normal and she is in excellent mental condition. Sanjay talked about it's important to know certain medical indicators, including cognitive indicators. And here they're assuring people that she is in excellent mental condition. You have some people who have been trafficking in unfounded theories that she hasn't recovered from her 2012 concussion that led to that blood clot between her skull and her brain and this is an effort to say, OK, no, that's not true. In fact, they had said quite a while ago her doctor had, that she was that was completely resolved. [Blitzer:] It's more information, David Chalian, than we have about Donald Trump's health right now, though maybe get some more tomorrow. But it's certainly not what John McCain did back in 2008 when he let journalists and physicians like Sanjay Gupta go through all of the actual records and spend hours speaking to the physicians who had been treating him. [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] You're absolutely right. She's basically now living up to the RomneyObama standard that we had but not quite living up to the John McCain standard of that full disclosure that you're talking about and that ability to talk with doctors, to actually inspect the medical records, even for a limited window of time, as John McCain allowed. So yes, she's falling short of that, but you are right to note we now that she's now done this twice. Donald Trump hasn't done this once yet, releasing a more complete sense of the current state of her health based on an examination. We got a tiny bit of information, perhaps, out of Donald Trump talking to Dr. Oz today. But if you want to look at the score sheet, Hillary Clinton is clearly releasing more information about her health than Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] Yes. Let's see what he does over the next 24 hours. Sanjay, what other medical records would you like to see from Hillary Clinton? Is there anything in here that seems abnormal for a 68-year- old woman? She's about to turn 69 next month. [Gupta:] No. I wouldn't say that there's anything that's abnormal in here. You know, they even make mention of the fact that, at the time that she got this CAT scan of her lungs, she also got a CAT scan known as a coronary calcium score of her heart to basically assess her for heart disease. And the score came back as zero, which is obviously good and indicates that there's very little risk for having some sort of heart problem. As you know, Wolf, that can be a concern for men and women alike. So there is more information, as David pointed out, in this than we've seen before from her and certainly more than we've seen from the letter from Mr. Trump. I don't think there's anything that stands out as unusual for someone who's 68 years old. There's a couple of things, again, with regard to back in 2012. Exactly how significant was that injury to her brain? She's on a blood thinner now. When you're on a blood thinner like Coumadin, your levels have to be checked regularly. They make mention of that in the letter. They say the levels are checked, but they don't tell us what those levels are. So there's little things in here. But, you know, again, without looking at all the medical records, it is one of those cases where sometimes you don't know what you don't know. I'm not suggesting there's anything else there. But you know, doctors, like journalists, want as much information as we can get so we can look at it ourselves and make determinations. [Blitzer:] It's very interesting Sanjay, because you speak about her cholesterol levels: 189 LDL, which is the bad cholesterol; 103 HDL, the good cholesterol; 56. But the triglycerides, 159. And that has significantly, as you point out, gone up. It was, what, in the 50s a couple of years ago or so. What does that mean? Because that doesn't sound very encouraging. [Gupta:] Well, yes. I saw that, and that is probably the most noticeable change from July of last year to now is the triglycerides have gone up almost 100 points. What I would say, and you know, I think I've talked to colleagues of mine about this already. It is probably related to the fact that, when you get the when you get this blood test done, what you've just had to eat, and whether or not you've been fasting. If you've been fasting, you could have a much lower triglyceride level. If you haven't been fasting, and you've eaten something that's high in fatty foods, it would be a higher triglyceride level. So again, I don't know for certain, but given that the other numbers, the total cholesterol, the LDL and HDL, as you pointed out, are within the same range and just the triglycerides have gone up, my guess is that she just had eaten before that most recent blood test. [Blitzer:] David, does this raise the bar for Donald Trump to, at least, release this much information? [Chalian:] Well, it doesn't look like Donald Trump is all that responsive to bar raising. I mean, for instance, on the tax returns, the Clintons have released 39 years of tax returns; and Donald Trump still refuses to do so. So yes. I think it gives the Clinton campaign a talking point about their transparency compared to Trump's transparency; and there's a difference there and one that they will highlight. So in that sense, I think it will put on some more public pressure. But it doesn't seem like Donald Trump seems to only release what he is interested in releasing. He doesn't seem all that susceptible to the public pressure. [Blitzer:] All right. Everybody stand by, because under pressure to reveal his medical records, Donald Trump has now provided a brief summary of his latest physical exam to TV's Dr. Oz. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is joining us now with more on that. What have we learned, Sunlen? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, we know, according to audience members that were inside for the taping today, that Donald Trump revealed that he does not exercise and that he wants to lose between 15 and 20 pounds. And yes, he did produce this one-page summary letter from his physical last week to Dr. Oz. But that has not made public yet. And it's still under the undertone here is that we still don't have a full picture of Donald Trump's overall health, as he still refuses to release his medical records. [Sunlen:] As questions about transparency swirl around his campaign, Donald Trump is revealing some new details about his health. [Dr. Mehmet Oz, Host, "the Dr. Oz Show":] So these are all the reports... [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] Those were all the tests that we've just done last week. [Serfaty:] The GOP nominee taping an interview on the "Dr. Oz" syndicated TV show, presenting the television personality with a one- page summary of the physical exam he had last week. And until it airs tomorrow, leaving only the studio audience members to share the purported details of what Trump divulged. [Sheldon Hosten, Audience Member:] And according to according to Dr. Oz, everything seemed normal. [Unidentified Male:] That's according to he's normal? [Hosten:] Yes. Yes. There was no surprises except, again, that Donald Trump said he's on a statin, cholesterol-lowering drug. [Serfaty:] The Trump campaign says it will release the results of Trump's physical to the public on Thursday but not more detailed medical records, as some previous presidential nominees have done. Despite Trump recently suggesting that he would be willing to provide a fuller picture of his medical history. [Trump:] I would love to give specifics as far as I'm concerned. [via phone]: I took a physical, and I'll be releasing, when the numbers come in I feel great. But when the numbers come in, I'll be releasing very very, very specific numbers. [Serfaty:] And Trump is still facing scrutiny for refusing to release his tax returns, citing a purported ongoing audit. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Will Donald Trump release anything from the IRS proving that he's under audit? [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager:] I don't know. Why? In other words, why are you are you calling him a liar? [Serfaty:] A letter from Trump's own tax counsel shows that his returns from 2002 to 2008 are no longer under audit, but he still won't even release those. The information vacuum is creating a flurry of questions about Trump's claims of charitable giving and the Donald J. Trump Foundation. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice-presidential Nominee:] This is a man who's given away tens of millions of dollars to charitable causes throughout the course of his his business life. [Serfaty:] Those claims made without any proof from the Trump campaign and coming amid a series of reports from the "Washington Post" and CNN, showing that Trump spent money from his charity on himself and used others' contributions to make them appear to have come from him. The New York attorney general announcing on CNN that he has opened an investigation into the foundation. [Unidentified Male:] We have been looking into the Trump Foundation to make sure it's complying with the laws that govern charities in New York. [Serfaty:] The Trump team eager to discredit the instigation, calling it a left-wing hit job but not releasing anything to disprove it. There are also new questions being raised about the Trump Organization's business dealings overseas, setting up a potential conflict of interest with foreign countries if he were president. [Ivanka Trump, Daughter Of Donald Trump:] We can say, you know what? We're going to do less deals. We're not going to do that deal, even though it's a fine deal, it's economically reasonable, because it could create a conflict of interest. And we'll act incredibly responsibly. And my father already said that he would put the company into a blind trust, and it would be run by us. [Serfaty:] The Trump campaign there trying to put out Ivanka Trump to try to defuse all these reports, but these questions have and will continue to come up for Donald Trump, because he still refuses to release those tax returns. Wolf, these issues of transparency really dogging his campaign right now. [Blitzer:] Good point. All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thanks very much. We've just really released we've just received the released letter. Hillary Clinton's health situation. We're going to have more on the breaking news right after a quick break. [Smerconish:] The latest bombshell in the Russian hack investigation came on Friday. House Intel Chair Devin Nunes suddenly canceling Tuesday's public hearings about the Russian hack. Now, this capped a week of back and forth regarding Russia and President Trump's claim three weeks ago that he was wiretapped by President Obama. On Wednesday, Nunes suggested that Trump transition members may have been picked up in surveilled communications with foreign intelligence officials. The White House quickly seized this as substantiation of the president's tweets on March 4, which by the way I don't think it was. In other words, there's nothing in what Congressman Nunes said that justifies or substantiates President Trump tweeting that President Obama was a bad or sick guy who tapped him at Trump Tower. Remember, the critical tweet said that. "Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism." Only somebody not paying close attention will see this as affording President Trump a defense of what he said about President Obama and it is something that was predicted right here last Saturday by General Michael Hayden, former head of the CIA and NSA. Watch. [Michael Hayden, Former Director Of The Cia And Nsa:] I think where this is going, Michael, and I think this is the lifeline, that I think the administration is hoping they can grab on to is something that we call incidental collection. I suspect if there is any example of a US identity being unmasked that has any relationship to the Trump campaign or Trump Tower, and again, Michael, very normal, very correct, very legal, I think at that point the White House goes, aha, I told you so. I think this is where it is going. [Smerconish:] He was prescient. On Wednesday afternoon, Congressman Nunes traveled down Pennsylvania Avenue to share his thoughts with the president, causing "The New York Times" in a Friday editorial to label him a lapdog in a watchdog role. Joining me now, former homeland security assistant secretary and CNN national security analyst Juliette Kayyem, who also hosts The Skiff podcast. Unpack, Juliette, what you heard from General Hayden and how those events played themselves out this week. [Juliette Kayyem, Former Homeland Security Assistant Secretary And Cnn National Security Analyst:] Well, Hayden predicted exactly how it unfolded and one could even argue that maybe the White House saw him and thought this might be our lifeline. And so, what your viewers have to understand is that the law recognizes that there will be incidental collection, they're following a potential foreign intelligence agent, he happens to call me because we're doing some project together, and so therefore whatever I said to him might be captured. So, the law has in it it specifically designates the potential for incidental collection and protects the US citizen who may not be under surveillance. And so, it's so normal that the fact that the Trump administration would come out and say, aha, this is the moment, and as you said, it really wasn't the moment, I think, shows a certain amount of desperation about the investigation and how it's unfolding at this age. I will say also on Nunes, it was a meltdown week for him because remember, by Friday, he was kind of even backtracking from what he said. He basically needs to go for having done this. [Smerconish:] Well, I want to show you, show everybody, part of what he said this week after making that trip to the White House. Roll that tape please. [Rep. Devin Nunes , California:] To me, it's clear that I would be concerned if I was the president and that's why I wanted him to know and I felt like I had a duty and obligation to tell him because, as you know, he's been taking a lot of heat in the news media and I think, to some degree, there are some things that he should look at to see whether, in fact, he thinks the collection was proper or not. [Smerconish:] Juliette, when he said that he thinks there are things that he, President Trump, should look at, I said to myself, lacking your credentials, I said, wait a minute, that's your job. [Kayyem:] Yes. Basically, Nunes has one job and he didn't do it, right, which is to be the oversight committee, to ensure that this election was secure and that there is no collusion with the Trump campaign. Look, a lot of evidence is coming out. We're only talking about one story this week. There were stories about Manafort and his past lobbying efforts. By Friday, there was a story about Mike Flynn, the former national security advisor. All these different pieces cut across the spectrum from mere coincidence to potential collusion. And that's what an investigation is about. The idea that they haven't shown anything yet. It seems to be the answer by Trump supporters. This is what an investigation does. It takes all those different pieces from foreign intelligence, wiretaps, surveillance, the potential that one of these witnesses and I believe it might be Mike Flynn is talking to investigators about what he knows all of those pieces will come together and we'll see at some stage whether a legal case can he made. [Smerconish:] OK. So, now to go back to Gen. Hayden being prescient in saying that when all is said and done, the White House will try and portray in criminal terms what is the routine collection of incidental evidence. I want to show you President Trump seizing the moment. Roll the tape. [Unidentified Male:] Do you feel vindicated by Chairman Nunes coming over there? [Trump:] I somewhat do. I must tell you, I somewhat do. I very much appreciated the fact that they found what they found. [Smerconish:] So, he now sees vindication, but I remind the audience of the tweet that began all this, three weeks ago today, just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism." And in an interview with Michael Shearer at "TIME Magazine" this week, the president said, "well, I had that in quotation marks." I'm paraphrasing, but it's a very liberal interpretation of what I meant by wiretapping. Explain. [Kayyem:] When Trump said those tweets or when he wrote those tweets, he clearly wanted the American public to believe that President Obama himself, with no predicate, demanded of the FBI that they put wiretaps on Trump Tower and on Trump himself. First of all, you can't do that. There's no way that a president can do that. But assuming that he's right, it would be so it's such a hostile statement about the previous administration and I think what's happened this week is it led Comey Director Comey by Monday to say, look, this is about my investigators in this investigation.'I was wrong. I thought Comey would not validate that there was a criminal investigation going on or investigation going on about potential collusion with the Trump administration. It was a jaw- dropping moment. And the reason why I believe now Comey did that was to protect his agency and to protect the investigation. It's now almost impossible for the Trump administration to close down the FBI investigation. They can sort of be in collusion with Nunes, which is clearly the case right now, but it's almost impossible now for them to have any influence, which is good, over an independent investigation about Trump ties to the Russian hacking events. [Smerconish:] Hey, Juliette, final thought, just tell me yay or nay if you agree because this gets confusing quickly. The big picture question is whether there was an aiding and abetting of a hacking. That's the legal issue, right? That's where this is headed. We don't know the answer to that question. But when all is said and done, that's the issue. [Kayyem:] That's the issue. And on a scale from 0 to 10, zero being these are all coincidences and ten is collusion, I'm now at a 7. Wow, OK. Juliette, thank you as always. Appreciate your expertise. All of our scales here today go from 1 to 11 because Harry Shearer is still to come. Those of you who remember Spinal Taps. As always, tweet me your thoughts @smerconish or post them on my Facebook page. Katherine, what have you got? It's clear as mud that Nunes is in Trump's pocket and not impartial. He must go and be investigated for his own Russian ties. Look, all I can tell you is, I don't think he should've made that trip down Pennsylvania Avenue and given a briefing to the president because that's not his role. His role is to be our eyes and ears and not the president's. That's how I see it. [Smerconish:] Up next, it's a political Rorschach test. I love this. Put it up on the screen. What does this look like? What do you see in that image? Some see goofy kicking Donald Duck. It is actually Pennsylvania 7th congressional district that incorporates my neck of the woods, the Philly burbs. Redrawn that way and the GOP's Operation Redmap, which literally changed the shape of how America votes. It was a project that took gerrymandering to new highs or lows. How did it happen? I'll explain. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, running mate rumble. Just hours from now, Tim Kaine, Mike Pence who will make a better case for the top of their ticket at the vice-presidential debate right here on CNN? [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Poll positions. New data coming in and how it could factor into the next Clinton-Trump debate. [Blitzer:] And Donald Trump in Arizona right now. Will he fire back at the critics again, including a high school student who called him out today about body image? [Cooper:] I'm Anderson Cooper. [Blitzer:] And I'm Wolf Blitzer. And you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Good evening from the campus of Longwood University here in Farmville, Virginia, just west of Richmond, site of the one and only 2016 vice- presidential debate. I'm in the spin room here, what the university calls Spin Alley. Tonight on CNN, two men, both seasoned debaters and experienced advocates, will take the stage here at the university's Willett Hall, each with a job to do. They'll be making their case for the top of the ticket, perhaps in ways that Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton, for that matter, that they themselves cannot make. Billions will watching. We've just learned that Trump will be live tweeting during the debate. And with election day fast approaching, what happens here on CNN tonight will factor into how people vote. We begin, though, in Prescott Valley, Arizona, with CNN's Jason Carroll He's covering the Trump rally that's about to get under way any moment now. Jason, what can we expect from Trump today over there where you are in Arizona? [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, a couple of things, Wolf. We do expect Donald Trump to talk about tonight's debate. That's first. Second, we also expect him to once again keep up his defense about being the underdog when it comes to his tax controversy. As you know from those rallies yesterday in Colorado, we heard him lay out this new narrative, talking about he did what he did for his company, he did what he did for his family, saying that he's a fighter, he knows the system, and that he knows how to win. I've been talking to a number of people here at this rally, and basically, Wolf, they say they're in line with what Donald Trump is saying, but many of them are telling me they also wish he would move on from this point, move on to the issues. We'll see if he talks about that later on. He's expected to take the stage now in just about any minute Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jason, Has the campaign commented on their expectations from Mike Pence at the vice-presidential debate here tonight? [Carroll:] Well, they're already talking up Pence, even before Trump has taken the stage. They've been talking up Pence. They've been saying that they're expecting him to do well, calling him a winner. Donald Trump has been saying that he's been doing a fantastic job. As you alluded to earlier, Donald Trump also saying that he's going to be live tweeting from Las Vegas. So he'll be watching tonight's debate, as well. Pence, for his part, has been preparing in what we could say is more of a traditional way. As you know, Donald Trump criticized for not preparing for his debate. But Mike Pence apparently having a stand-in for tonight's moderator, Elaine Quijano. The Trump camp, from what we're hearing, telling CNN that he is very prepared and will hold his own tonight Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jason Carroll reporting for us. Thank you very much. I want to go to Jim Acosta, who's got late word on how Mike Pence has been getting ready for tonight. Jim, what can we expect tonight from Governor Pence? What's his objective? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, his objective tonight, Wolf, is to win. The Trump campaign desperately wants to reset the narrative out there, and a win will do just that. If Mike Pence can deliver that tonight. I will tell you, I just talked to a top Pence aide in the last several minutes, who said Mike Pence did not do any additional debate prep today, that he feels he's ready to go. He worked out. He spent some time with his family but felt no need to do any additional debate preparations today. That's basically because he's been doing this, Wolf, since he got the nod as Donald Trump's running mate back in July. That is how long he's been preparing for this debate, as Jason Carroll said. He's taken a more conventional approach, working with Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, playing Tim Kaine behind the scenes and yes, even a top aide, Nick Ayers, playing Elaine Quijano, the moderator in tonight's debate. All that in debate prep. I will tell you, Wolf, they say he is ready for these attacks on Donald Trump's tax returns. They know that those attacks are coming. I talked with one top aide with Mike Pence who says, yes, he is prepared to handle that. And for good reason. He should be ready to handle other things. I ran into a top Democratic strategist in just the last several minutes walking up to this live shot who said Mike Pence better be ready tonight. They're going to be coming after him. Tim Kaine is going to be coming after him with everything that they've got. Post- traumatic stress disorder comment that Donald made yesterday when he said that some soldiers coming back from battle zones oversees are perhaps not strong enough or not ready to deal with the effects of moving back into civilian life. Trump later said he didn't mean any kind of dig or attack on soldiers when he said that, that that was a misunderstanding. But according to this Democratic strategist that, too, is in the arsenal for Tim Kaine tonight, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jim Acosta reporting. Thank you. A teenager provides the headline tonight for the Clinton campaign. She asked Secretary Clinton a question that goes straight to the challenge that Donald Trump faces in winning more support from women, especially in key states like Pennsylvania, where new polling today shows weakness for Trump. Let's talk about we'll talk about the polling in a little while, but I want to go straight to CNN's Joe Johns. He's outside of Philadelphia for us right now. Joe, how did Hillary Clinton respond to this young woman who asked her about body image? [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] It was a strong response, Wolf. The women's vote so important in the Clinton calculation this November. It was a forum to talk about women's issues. A 15-year-old, tenth grader from this area, asking Mrs. Clinton a question, the very first question of the forum from Brennan Leach about female body image and Donald Trump's record of evaluating women by their looks, giving Hillary Clinton an opportunity to weigh in. Listen. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] My opponent insulted Miss Universe. I mean, how do you get more acclaimed than that? But it wasn't good enough. So we can't take any of this seriously anymore. We need to laugh at it. We need to refute it. We need to ignore it. And we need to stand up to it. And especially the bullying. There are too many young women online who are being bullied about how they look. [Johns:] The questioner, the tenth grader in that situation, Brennan Leach, told me after the event she's always been a political junkie. Her dad's involved in politics in the state. But I asked her how she got that question in. And she said, believe it or not it was random, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Very fascinating, Joe. What else did Hillary Clinton have to say at her event today? [Johns:] It was an interesting event. It was attended by not only Hillary Clinton but also Chelsea Clinton, her daughter. It was moderated by Elizabeth Banks, the actress. And in the audience, among others, Chelsea Clinton's mother-in-law, Marjorie Margolies Mezvinsky, the former congresswoman from here in Pennsylvania. They talked about a number of the issues Hillary Clinton has hit across the campaign trail. Women's equal pay, for example. The use of guns to commit crimes. Many other issues, including children's health. So a long forum here, and an opportunity for Hillary Clinton to make her case to voters in a state where she's doing quite well in the polls, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Joe. Thank you. Joe Johns reporting. And now to Tim Kaine, Virginia's Tim Kaine, who will be debating on home turf. The White House said President Obama will be watching at least a portion of the debate tonight. He and Senator Kaine, as you might know, they are good friends. Jeff Zeleny has been following debate preps on the Democratic side for us. He's joining us now. Jeff, what has Tim Kaine been doing today in these final hours before the debate? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, one thing Senator Kaine has been doing is simply relaxing. One aide said that he has done all the preparations he needs to do and was simply relaxing. He visited a civil rights museum this afternoon here in Farmville, Virginia. His parents are visiting from Kansas City. They were with him. So he's hanging out with family and friends, but he is getting ready for this moment. Wolf, the Clinton and Kaine campaign know that this moments is absolutely essential. And it's described to me like this. They want to continue the momentum started at that first presidential debate. And Tim Kaine is going to simply pick up exactly where Hillary Clinton left off and going to prosecute the argument against Mike Pence. So he has been studying up. He actually spent some time in Raleigh, North Carolina, at debate camp. He was reading and watching former debates that Mike Pence had done, as well as really familiarizing himself with Hillary Clinton's record but also with Donald Trump's record, Wolf. [Blitzer:] What are you hearing, Jeff, about his specific strategy for tonight? [Zeleny:] Wolf, one thing I'm told that Senator Kaine is going to do is make Mike Pence, or try to make Mike Pence own Donald Trump's words. He is going to repeat a litany of what Donald Trump has been saying throughout this campaign and ask Governor Pence if he agrees with it. We know there are several differences between Mike Pence and Donald Trump. Releasing the tax information, of course, is one of the most obvious. But he is going to press Mike Pence on if he agrees with something that Donald Trump has said specifically. He also is going to really try and make this more about Donald Trump, a referendum on Donald Trump. Of course, Mike Pence is going to try and make this all a referendum on Hillary Clinton here. But Wolf, one thing that is different about this vice-presidential debate, after covering several of them. There are no questions in this debate hall if either of the two of them are prepared to be president. Pretty much everyone agrees, at least by most establishment standards, that they are. So that gives them both time to focus on Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Without being on stage, they will still be the center of conversation Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, indeed, they certainly will be. Jeff Zeleny, thank you. Up next, as Donald Trump's rally gets underway, Trump just now starting to speak. Anderson and the panel getting ready to weigh in on what Mike Pence and Tim Kaine need to do tonight to help the top of their respective tickets. We're counting down to the 2016 vice-presidential debate here in Farmville, Virginia. We'll take a quick break. We'll be right back. [Curnow:] Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here's a check of the headlines. Rio's issues seem to be growing daily, as the Olympic Games are set to begin in one month. Juliana Barbassa is a journalist and author of "Dancing with the Devil in the City of God." She joins us now by Skype. Hi, there. Thanks so much for talking to us about Rio. And the big question is so much has already disappointed some people, has the city already failed to deliver? [Juliana Barbassa, Journalist And Author:] Well, from the point of view of residents here, it certainly has. The biggest promises to improve transportation significantly, to clean up pollution in the bay that's at the core of metropolitan Rio, to improve safety, all of those have failed to happen and failed to live up to the promises that were made in 2009, when Rio won the bid. [Curnow:] Promises made; Olympics always sort of shoot very high in terms of promises and expectations. Is this just a case of over-expectation? [Barbassa:] Well, it is. But why were those promises made and inscribed into the Olympic bid in the first place if they were too high to meet? Perhaps, if that's the case, then we should reconsider how these bids are made, what the IOC looks for in host cities. And Rio, certainly, it missed the mark significantly. [Curnow:] You've written a book about Rio and, specifically, the experience of hosting the World Cup. Why is this proving harder to get together for Rio? Is it, when the World Cup seemed to be pulled off relatively successfully? [Barbassa:] It's actually a very similar situation. I believe that when the Olympics happens, it will actually flow pretty seamlessly. The venues, I think, will be ready at the very last minute but they will be ready. Rio is a beautiful city. It will look fantastic on TV. The sports are going to be as fascinating as they usually are. The problem is, as in the case of the World Cup, a lot of the infrastructure developments that were supposed to go along with it are failing. A lot of the cost overruns are tremendous. I mean, venues are costing in the case of the World Cup, much more than double what they were expected to cost. And so a lot of the promises that are failures that we're seeing are the ones that would most benefit the population. And the cost is much greater than expected. The event itself, I think, will look OK on television. [Curnow:] What, for you, is the biggest threat? Your book is called "Dancing with the Devil." Who's the devil here? [Barbassa:] Well, the way I saw these bids to host both the World Cup and the Olympics, I saw it as a Faustian bargain on the part of Rio officials, city officials, state officials and even federal officials. You know, the president of Brazil bid for this. The idea was that you're going to attract this tremendous international attention to Rio de Janeiro and to Brazil and that the city and the country were going to shine and prove to the world that they can do a fantastic job. Well, Rio is very different now and Brazil is very different than it was in 2009, when the bid was accepted by the IOC. And that's what I mean. It was a Faustian bargain. You invited something that then you couldn't control and the Rio and the Brazil that are going to be on screens very, very soon are far from ideal, far from what was expected. [Curnow:] So, from your perspective, is there one overriding concern? Is it the ongoing drug wars? Is it the heavy-handed policing, the pollution? What is it that you feel has been the greatest failure here? [Barbassa:] Well, it depends on your perspective. On a short-term perspective, if I were an Olympic athlete coming into Rio, for example, I would care tremendously about the quality of the water in the bay. You're going to have to compete and come in contact with that water. The fecal coliform counts are 10 times higher than is considered safe. If I were an Olympic visitor, I would worry about safety in the streets. I would worry about the fact that transportation infrastructure that's supposed to get me to and from the main Olympic cluster is still not inaugurated. But from the perspective of the population of Rio, I feel like we've got longer-term concerns. Tremendous money: you know, the state and the city have gone into debt to finance a lot of its projects. And this is going to have to be paid off at a moment when Brazil is deep in a recession and the state of Rio is broke. The governor declared a state of public calamity. And so not only do we have failing infrastructure and missed promises but we have a lot of debt to pay off in years to come. That's the biggest concern locally. [Curnow:] I'm just seeing some wires crossing from Rio. And as you were talking, the Rio mayor is giving a press conference. And he says the city is far from being perfect. But this does not eliminate the pride as the city prepares itself to host the Olympics. When all is said and done, do you think that sense of pride will trump everything else? [Barbassa:] Well, we can have that if we have nothing else, right? We can always throw a great party. We can show people a good time. Rio does that very well. Every year, there are tremendous Carnival celebrations here. New Year's in Copacabana draws millions of people. Pride costs nothing. It doesn't take any preparation, any planning. Yes, we'll have pride. And I think the Olympics are going to be beautiful and I think people will have a good time. But, again, the question for me is, at what cost has all this happened? At what impact to the local population? [Curnow:] Great having your perspective there from Rio, Julianna Barbassa, thank you. [Barbassa:] Thank you. [Curnow:] Well, could you go 40 days without buying anything plastic? Ahead, we'll meet one woman who did and find out what could happen if more people don't follow her lead. [Bolduan:] Two hours into the trading day on Wall Street. The market reacting to Britain's decision to leave the European Union. Alison Kosik is there, has been there all morning for us in the New York Stock Exchange with the very latest. Alison, what are you seeing right now? [Alison Kosik, Cnn Money Business Correspondent:] We are, Kate, seeing the losses accelerate and the losses are sticking with the Dow down 465 points. Still a little better than it was earlier. We did see the Dow down as much as 539 points. But we still continue to see that flight to safety, to those considered to be safe haven investments like gold and U.S. treasuries. We are seeing yields really fall, and that could wind up affecting interest rates in a big way, especially if you carry a mortgage. It means your mortgage rate could go down. That's good news if you're looking to finance or refinance your home. Also, one other good bit to this to give you a little bit of a bright spot on this Red Friday or this black Friday as you can call it, oil prices down 4 percent. That could translate to the gas station as well Kate. [Bolduan:] Watching it closely. Alison, thanks for that update. We're keeping a close eye on that. It will be a volatile day ahead, maybe a couple of days ahead. Let's bring back our conversation, though, to talk about not only the global economic impact but the politics of it now. Rana Foroohar is back with us. Steve Elmendorf is back with us. Also joining me now, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany, and Republican consultant Brett O'Donnell. Bret, important to note for this conversation, did consulting work for the vote leave campaign in the U.K. Guys, great to see you once again. Brett, Hillary Clinton's campaign did not agree with me when I posed this to them just a short time ago. I will ask you though. Is the U.K. having a Donald Trump moment? [Brett O'donnell, Consultant, Uk's "leave" Campaign:] Well, in some respects. People in Britain were very frustrated with immigration and the loss of control of their borders. They face a situation where there's free movement amongst 28 nations, the prospect of five others joining and the overstretch of their public services left them in a situation where they believed immigration was a huge problem facing the country. So, in that respect, immigration being important was certainly a driving issue in the race. [Bolduan:] One of the things that Donald Trump in his remarks today, Rana, he said that immigration was a key part about this, maybe the driving part behind this vote. When you look at Brexit from your perspective, how much of it was immigration and anti-immigration sentiment and how much of it was economics? [Rana Foroohar, Cnn Global Economic Analyst:] You know, certainly, a big part of it is immigration, but immigration is really part of the whole process of globalization. If you think about what globalization is, it's the free movement of people, capital, and labor across borders, and I think that what voters were saying is that their questioning this. They're questioning the economic benefits of it. I think that there is sometimes a nationalistic, xenophobic part of that, but there are also legitimate reasons that one might want to control migration. Unfortunately, I think that the real legitimate economic debate got lost in a lot of the anger, you know, which, of course, culminated in the murder of an MP in the [U.k. Bolduan:] You know, in reacting to this, Donald Trump is in Scotland an unconventional candidate with an unconventional first overseas trip itinerary and an unconventional then response after this historic vote. He spent the first ten, maybe just short of 15 minutes promoting his golf course. As I was listening to him, he's talking about an entirely new sprinkler system and how great the suites are and everyone should see the suites at the Turnberry resorts. The world was watching. I don't think that's an overstatement. Here and abroad we're watching to see how Donald Trump is going to react to this. That's how he spends a big chunk of that conversation as he takes to the microphone. Is that how you would have advised him to take it on, Kayleigh? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think he handled it perfectly today [Bolduan:] Why? [Mcenany:] because the first thing he said when he got off the plane is that he's proud of England. This is a big moment for the United Kingdom. He acknowledged it and then he did what he intended to do which was to be there for his son. It was a big moment for his son. He was a father who was there for his kids. He knew that the moment would come ten minutes later during a press conference where he had the ability to address what happened, and what happened was you had Barack Obama go to the United Kingdom, you had alongside Christine Lagarde, alongside the prime minister, alongside Hillary Clinton who stayed back here and advocated for this globalist sort of policy, and you had the United Kingdom, the voters rejected. And northern England you had huge working class turnout saying, we don't want this, it's not good for us, we're tired of regulations. The E.U. is about to put in regulations on hair dryers and kettles. And you can't even make a croissant without going through all of these Orwellian regulations. That [Bolduan:] Don't hit with my croissants, Kayleigh. Don't hit my breakfast. [Mcenany:] I won't. [Bolduan:] So, I know you've got a lot to say. As we just heard from Brian Fallon, they are jumping on his words in the way what Donald Trump said today, saying that they think what he said today shows that he is even less qualified for office. He doesn't have the temperament to be president of the United States. But play this game with me, I like to do sometimes, Steve Hillary Clinton, though, woke up this morning, saw this headline, she was pro remain, U.K. decided to leave and she said what? [Steve Elmendorf, Former Deputy Campaign Manager, John Kerry '04:] Well, she put out a statement and talked about the problem here, but I think Donald Trump's press was bizarre. I mean, the fact that you would spend ten minutes talking about how building a government golf course is like building a country and trying to sell suites at your golf course when we're having this moment of world economic crisis, when people are worried about their 401K, [Bolduan:] Kayleigh, does it fly in the face of what was a strong message, one of the strongest lines, she says I'm with her. I'm with you, American people. Does that fly in the face of it? [Mcenany:] I don't think so at all, because here's the thing. The reason he was articulating, you know, the prestige of this new golf course is because this is what his son built. He took a moment away from the campaign. Ten minutes, I think we can all afford 10 minutes to praise the work of his son. I think that's a great thing for a father to do, and then he pivoted to what is a very important issue. He handled this brilliantly. He was spot on today. [Bolduan:] Brett, I want you to weigh in. What do you think and everyone has an opinion on this. What do you think the impact of the Brexit vote over there, what does it mean over here? Does it help Donald Trump's message? Does it help Hillary Clinton? What does it help more? [O'donnell:] Well, I think it hurts Hillary Clinton and it hurts Barack Obama significantly. Both of them have campaigned or were support of [Bolduan:] But wouldn't they have also been criticized if they hadn't given an opinion o it? [O'donnell:] Well, maybe, but I think they should have respected the will of the British people to vote. I mean, this was an important moment where Britain decided to take back control of its borders, of its economy, and of its democracy, and I think that's what it represents. Now, how it plays in the United States we'll have to see but it super charges the immigration issue and sends a signal that worldwide, people want borders. [Bolduan:] And also put that on the heel of this, coming on the heels of the very important, very non-conclusive, conclusive Supreme Court decision on immigration. Immigration once again front and center in this election. Guys, thank you very, very much. I appreciate your time. Thanks, Brett, great to see you. We're waiting right now. President Obama's first live remark since the U.K.'s historic vote. The president pushed hard for the U.K. to stay in the European Union, even saying that leaving would put the U.K. towards the back of the line when it comes to trade deals with the United States. What does the president say now? An important moment for Barack Obama. We're going to bring you those remarks live. We'll be right back. [Blitzer:] Let's get to the race for the White House. Dr. Ben Carson, he's getting increasingly assertive now in rejecting questions that have been raised about his violent teenager years. CNN reporters, including our own Maeve Reston, have attempted to corroborate incidents that Carson describes in detail in his autobiography as well as in interviews and public statements. But Carson blasted the reporting, launched into an aggressive attack on the media. Here's part of his interview earlier today with CNN's Alisyn Camerota. [Dr. Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] I think it's pathetic. And, basically, what the media does is they try to get you distracted with all of this stuff so that you don't talk about the things that are important because we have so many important things. And, you know, I'm not proud of the fact that I had these rage episodes, but I am proud of the fact that I was able to get over them. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Correspondent:] Look, of course. [Carson:] And my message has been that you can escape from that kind of angry. [Camerota:] Yes, people are resonating with that message. [Carson:] And some of the victims were members of my family, I understand that and I will not let them be victimized again by the media. And if you choose to believe that I'm incapable of these acts, I guess that's kind of a compliment to me. That's good. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Look, people are believe it is fascinating to hear about your story of transformation, how you went from an angry young man to the soft spoken doctor, renowned surgeon that we see today. But what's interesting is that our reporter did go to your campaign to ask, can we talk to these people? And your campaign wasn't willing to make them available. This is the Seminole story of your youth, of how you [Carson:] So why why would they [Camerota:] Why not? Why can't we talk to them? [Carson:] Why would they why would they want to victimize these people by exposing them to you? [Camerota:] It's not victim how is it victimizing them by saying, well us more about this story, we're interested? [Carson:] The the story is well documented. If you choose not to believe it, if it doesn't fit the narrative that you want, that's fine, OK. Let's let the American people decide. [Camerota:] But, Dr. Carson, your story has changed. For instance, first you say that Bob was your close friend who you almost killed and then yesterday you said well actually his name wasn't Bob. I changed the names. And that's fine. People do that all the time, Dr. Carson, in their memoirs. [Carson:] I I I changed I changed names throughout all the books [Camerota:] Yes. [Carson:] Even of patients [Camerota:] People [Carson:] Because and unless I have specific permission from them to use their names, that's an inappropriate thing to do. [Camerota:] Of course. And people change the names in their memoirs all the time, but they note that. They note that at the beginning if they say that fictitious names are going to be used. But nevertheless, then you change it to say that he was not actually your close friend, he was a family member. So [Carson:] He was a family he was a family member. [Camerota:] OK. [Carson:] And, you know, I -I really don't want to expose him further. You know, I've talked to him. You know, he would prefer to stay out of the media. And I think I want to respect that. What I really want to do is is help people, American people, although they seem to understand it a lot already, that one of the tactics that is used by you guys in the media, particularly when someone is doing very well, is, let's find a way to get them distracted and get all the people distracted so that we can get away from the real issues. And I'm simply not going to allow that to occur. [Camerota:] Look, Dr. Carson, I know you call this tactics. It's called vetting in politics. You know it well just from the short time that you've been involved in vetting campaigns. [Carson:] Is that what was done with the current president? Is that what you guys did with him? [Camerota:] Yes. As a matter of fact, it [Carson:] No, you did not. Give me a break. [Camerota:] President Obama's autobiography, "Dreams of My Father," was also vetted. You will recall, Dr. Carson, that people [Carson:] Give me a break. [Camerota:] Dr. Carson [Carson:] Are you kidding. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] All right, let's bring in CNN's Maeve Reston and Nia-Malika Henderson. Also our justice reporter Scott Glover. He's joining us from Los Angeles. Scott, in that NEW DAY interview, Alisyn asked Dr. Carson about variations in his account of some of those incidents when he was, what, 13, 14 years old. What are some of the discrepancies? [Scott Glover, Cnn Justice Reporter:] Well, he's described Bob again by the first name of Bob, which he very recently said was a fictionalized name. He's described him as a friend and as a classmate and now he is describing him as a close relative. That's new information. And it's information that would have been helpful to us when we went to the campaign initially in a very transparent way and said that we were reporting on these incidents and asked for their help in, you know, identifying some of the people. There's another incident regarding an attack on his mother. He writes in "Gifted Hands" about having an argument with her about what clothes to wear and attempting to attack her when her his brother intervenes and stops that from happening. He has subsequently spoken of an incident involving an argument over clothes where he attempts to attack her with a hammer and his brother intervenes. Now, I don't know if these are two separate incidents in which he attempted to attack her over, you know, an argument over clothes, but we've asked for some clarification on that, are they two incidents, are they one, you know, things off this nature. And Dr. Carson has said that, you know, we've not talked to people from various points of his life and said that the rock throwing incident that we had written about occurred when he was seven or eight. Well, we have spoken with people from earlier periods in his life, but with due respect, it's in some ways beside the point because he says that he committed various acts as a teenager, including hitting people with bricks and rocks and bats. The stabbing attempt happens around that time. According to this most recent version of events, the attack on his mom happens around then. And we certainly have talked to people who knew him as a young teenager and people who, in fact, lived next door to him. And again, no one is directly challenging what he has said. They're just saying that they don't recognize him as that person. [Blitzer:] Maeve, what he does say, what he told Alisyn, was that in his book he changed the names not only of these young people with whom he had these violent encounters, if you will, but also with patients down the road to protect their privacy, to protect so their identity wouldn't be disclosed. When you were researching this article for cnn.com, did the campaign tell you that they were that he had which is not all that uncommon in autobiographies, sometimes people change the names to protect people's privacy, protect their identity had they told you that? [Maeve Reston, Cnn National Political Reporter:] They had not and as Scott just said, you know, we sent them a list of questions more than a week ago saying that we had contacted Jerrys and Bobs who went to school with Dr. Carson, could they give us the last names, et cetera. They refused to provide any information at all, but they certainly didn't say that that the names at that time were fictitious. Same when we went to them with our findings before we published our story on cnn.com. Again, there was no mention of these being fictitious names. And I will note, you know, in "Gifted Hands" that that while it is true that you that often authors do try to protect the identity of people in their books, that Dr. Carson's book does have some notations in it. For example at one point in an introduction he changes the blood type of a patient that he's talking about. There's an asterisk next to that saying, changing the blood type to protect this person's identity. We did not see any stars next to Bob or Jerry's names, so that's what we've asked for further clarification on from the campaign. [Blitzer:] He said he also says if these people, and he spoke to one of them as recently as yesterday, if they want to go public, that's their prerogative [Reston:] Right. [Blitzer:] But he's not going to share their identity because they want their privacy. [Reston:] Right. [Blitzer:] All right, stand by, guys, we're going to have much more on this coming up. Also, some new questions surfacing today about another part of Dr. Ben Carson's past, a story about West Point. His business manager and good friend, Armstrong Williams, is standing by. We're going to discuss these latest developments with Armstrong when we come back. [Harlow:] Welcome back. Donald Trump set tomorrow to unveil his economic plan in his speech in Detroit at the economic club there. Job creation will be a major part of this. It's all about jobs, jobs, jobs in most elections, and certainly in this one it is a big factor. Let's keep talking about this with one of the 13 men on Donald Trump's brand new economic team just unveiled on Friday. David Malpass is a Trump senior economic adviser, former economic official under Reagan- Bush 41, and also formerly the chief economist of Bear Stearns. Thanks for being with me again, David. Appreciate it. [Malpass:] Nice to be on. [Harlow:] I want to delve into something Donald Trump said to the "Washington Post" a few months ago. He said, if I'm president, over eight years, if I win, you know, two terms, then I will be able to eliminate the $19 trillion national debt. Every economist that I've spoken with has said that is not possible. Is it possible, since you're one of his senior economic advisers? [Malpass:] You know, I think it would be hard to eliminate it. That was a long time ago and it was a very hard-fought primary campaign. So, what we're doing now is going into the general election with a big message, which is that America can be a lot better than what it's been with faster growth. You know, the latest growth numbers are just 1.2 percent over the last year. So that's a very poor economic performance. So, one of the things for voters to think about is how are you going to have a better economic future with less of it oriented toward debt? You know, the debt has been going up at a very rapid rate over the last eight years. That's something that's got to stop. [Harlow:] So just to be clear, that's a no, right? You're saying that's not possible and it was part of his what he said to win the primary? Is that what you're saying? [Malpass:] Yes, I think we've just got too much debt for it to go away short time period. What we can do is make a lot stronger [Harlow:] Does it concern you when he says things like that? [Malpass:] You know, he's not a career politician, so one of the things that's going on is he's speaking to the public, to a lot of the American public who wants a major change from the old system. I really do think the system has been rigged. It's rigged for the corporate interests, for Washington, D.C., for New York, and that's got to change. So, that's going to mean a much stronger financial position for the U.S. government. [Harlow:] So, let's talk about getting a strong financial position for the U.S. government, because I'm seen it firsthand for the American people. I've seen it firsthand on the road, across the Midwest, across the Rust Belt. I've seen the pain these American families are feeling losing these farm jobs, so I get it 100 percent. Donald Trump talks about putting a 35 percent tariff on goods imported from Mexico and from China, and I just wonder if you think that really will bring those manufacturing jobs back, or does that lead us down a path towards a trade war? [Malpass:] What I really hope people will do is listen to his speech tomorrow and see whether it whether they think it's going to create a lot more growth than Hillary Clinton's plan. You know, people aren't looking into her plan the way they are into Donald Trump. She hasn't really said how she's going to make this work to raise taxes on small businesses, to raise taxes, really, on a lot of the American entrepreneurial community and still claim there is going to be growth. There seems satisfied [Harlow:] So is that tariff proposal not in there anymore? Is that what you're saying? [Malpass:] There is going to be enforcement of the trade laws against countries that are cheating on their on the trade laws. So I think that's an important way to think about how commerce is going to go going forward. There's been go ahead. [Harlow:] Look, it's important. You bring up Hillary Clinton's plan, right, and she has announced what she would like to see, a huge infrastructure spending plan. Donald Trump has said he wants an even bigger infrastructure spending plan, I believe about twice the size of hers, and yes, it all comes down to how you are going to pay for it. There's no question about that. But I think the question is also being very straightforward with the American people for both candidates, frankly, David, on what jobs are coming back and what aren't? And I just wonder if you think both the leading candidates are being honest with the American people about what manufacturing jobs are really coming back and what manufacturing jobs are not because of globalization and technology. [Malpass:] Well, I think Trump is being honest that what we've been doing hasn't worked and what he's going to do is going to work better. And specifically that can be done with tax reform, trade reform, energy reform, regulatory reform. Those are all things that Hillary Clinton simply isn't aspiring to. She wants to have the program go in the same direction that it's been going in the past. [Harlow:] All right. So [Malpass:] I think that's where the election has to come down to. [Harlow:] So, David, I want to pull up this screen because you're one of 13 men that has been named to Donald Trump's economic team. This just came out on Friday. And economist Nouriel Roubini, as you know, one of the few economists who predicted the housing crash just tweeted this this morning. "Trump's policy team, a bunch of white men billionaires and supply side nuts who will find policies to help blue collar workers? Laughable joke." OK. That's Nouriel Roubini's opinion. When you look at the team, there's not a single woman on it, there's not a single African- American. Does that bother you? [Malpass:] Well, the economic program is aimed at making lots of the economy work better for the middle class and especially for minorities and youth. They've been left out of the economic [Harlow:] It's just not representative of the makeup of America. But it's not representative of the makeup of this country. [Malpass:] But but are you are you saying that every committee that's established have to have exactly the same racial makeup? Of course, we would like lots of input [Harlow:] That's a great let me answer that, David. Let me answer that. I think that's a great question. [Malpass:] Yes. [Harlow:] And no, I'm not saying that. But what I am saying is that if you look at the data and you look at study after study after study, what we know is that companies that have diversity in the corner office, companies that have diversity on corporate boards, are companies that do better financially. McKenzie, I mean, McKenzie is a company that has high acclaim across the board. 2015 study, they said companies in the top percentile for gender, racial and economic diversity are more likely to have financial returns than are higher than their industry medians. There is no question about the data. [Malpass:] Right. So and that's absolutely a core part of how you make America better and how you make the economy grow faster. Trump, you know, his business industries have featured have included women at the highest levels. His daughter obviously, Ivanka, has been very involved in creating and thinking about the economic program from the standpoint of how it can make things better for women, for women who are trying to take care of children at the same time that they're working. That's a core part of the economic plan. And I think that's going to work well. That doesn't mean that every committee that's formed, and some of them are formed you know, the campaign is coming together and moving very fast. This is not something that Trump planned to do for a long time. [Harlow:] What? [Malpass:] And he's not a career politician. So what [Harlow:] But are you saying that it wasn't a well thought-out committee because you're speaking to Ivanka's traits and assets, and I sat down and I've interviewed her, and she's an extraordinarily well in business. [Malpass:] No. [Harlow:] So isn't that argument even more to have diversity on this committee? [Malpass:] So this is great committee. This is people that can really contribute to thinking about the economic program and helping create and make it make sense for all parts of the country. All I'm saying is, there's lots of aspects of this campaign. You know, Hillary Clinton kept touting the idea that she had 800 paid staffers in I forget when that was in June, and that's something that simply wasn't happening within the within the Trump campaign. So what we're doing is building very quickly an economic program that will make and announcing the details of the economic program in stages so people will see that there is a better future for the U.S. than what we've been seeing now. [Harlow:] So, David, very quickly, will we see a woman added, an African-American added, do you think? Would that be a good idea? [Malpass:] I think there will be lots more people involved in the economic program. I don't know what that what this council is going to have as far as a makeup. Sure, that would be great. And if you have names, I'd love to hear and I'm sure Mr. Trump would love to hear names for people to add. But the key point here is, how do you make America grow faster, and that requires lots and lots of reform and change from what we've been doing. [Harlow:] David, we're looking forward to the speech tomorrow in Detroit, and thank you for coming on with me tonight. [Malpass:] Thanks a lot. Enjoyed it. [Harlow:] All right. We'll be right back. [Howell:] Hundreds of volunteers plan to return to a beach in New Zealand trying to save dozens of pilot whales who beached themselves on the sand. At least 250 of whales stranded on a beach have died. Emily Cooper of TVNZ has more now on the desperate rescue effort. [Emily Cooper, Tvnz Reporter:] A desperate and heart breaking rescue mission. [Unidentified Female:] This is echo. Named her. Echo will survive. [Cooper:] The hundreds of volunteers digging in at the site of a mass stranding of pilot whales. [Unidentified Male:] Not covering the blow hole going around the dorsal fin and then just making nice move back into the water. [Cooper:] Trying to save the animals still beached in the shallows [inaudible]. [Unidentified Female:] We're singing to her because she was whistling before when we were doing it. It's quite emotional. For me it's encouraging to see the number of people who have come out today to help. A lot of them haven't seen a whale before. [Cooper:] The whales stranded here overnight. [Unidentified Female:] When they said come and see the whales, we just assumed that they were near to the shore, but not stranded or beached like this. [Unidentified Child:] Some might die. [Cooper:] Many did die, but rescuers successfully refloated about half of the survivors. [Unidentified Male:] We've just been sitting out on the edge of the shelf just observing, making sure that they don't come back in. [Cooper:] For the remaining whales, a long wait for the next high tide. [on camera]:It's currently a race against time for these guys at the moment. It's low tide. It's about keeping them comfortable. Later on this evening at high tide, let's hope they'll be able to refloat. [Unidentified Male:] The dead ones on the side was pretty heart breaking. It's an amazing thing to come out here and help these animals. The adrenaline has been keeping us afloat. [Unidentified Female:] It is very emotional. It's very sad. [Cooper:] An emotional time for all of those on the beach that will carry on into tomorrow. [Howell:] Again, that report coming to us from Emily Cooper of TVNZ. For the second time in less than a week, a big snowstorm is set to hit the northeastern part of the U.S. Our meteorologist, Julie Martin is looking at the timing of this storm and how that will compare to the last one that came through Julie. [Julie Martin, Ams Meteorologist:] Not expecting quite as much snow with this next system, George, but still New England will get hit once again. We're looking at Sunday in through Monday, and lots of folks traveling on Monday for work. You'll be impacted by those winds. Here's a recap of that last storm. It was just a couple of days ago. Perry, Maine, picked up 20 inches, about 50 centimeters of snow. Anywhere from, say, a foot to a foot and a half elsewhere. It was pretty miserable out there. Do you remember this video? Take a look at what folks were dealing with there, downed power lines and trees. This is some video coming in from the police department there in Sandwich, Massachusetts. By the way, winds on Cape Cod gusted to around 70 miles per hour, so we were dealing with hurricane force winds. We just had blizzard conditions. A real mess there in the northeast. Now we're getting ready for round two. The good news is I mentioned not going to be as big of an event. Nonetheless, still going to be an impressive storm. Taking a look here at the blue on the map. This is all a winter storm watch stretching all the way from Maine down in through Massachusetts. All the way out through upstate New York, Vermont, New Hampshire included in that. The purple here that is a winter weather advisory. That's where you are looking at the messy weather conditions on Sunday in through Monday. This is actually a blizzard watch where you see the bright green here in Northeastern Maine. White-out conditions very likely. Taking you live to the radar. You pick up a dusting of snow overnight in general. Maybe about an inch or so for folks here in Boston. Here's our setup. The low pressure rapidly moves off shore on Sunday, deepens, really gains, and then that snow machine really starts rolling in, and that is going to be the timing again. Sunday into Monday, in general looking for anywhere, say, two to six inches of snow. You see the bright purple here on the map. We'll keep you posted on that and the wind conditions as we head out into the workweek. [Howell:] Julie, thank you so much. A star of the hit TV show "Game of Thrones" is focusing his off camera efforts on the topic of climate change. Jonathan Mann shows us the actor's mission to document some of the dramatic changes that are happening right now in Greenland. [Unidentified Male:] Greenland, it's like a whole different world. It's like something out of a movie. [Jonathan Mann, Cnn Correspondent:] For Danish actor, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Greenland is his family's second home. His wife grew up there. Now the "Game of Thrones" star and newly appointed U.N. goodwill ambassador is partnering with Google to document the country's changing landscape. Waldau is traveling around Greenland wearing a high-tech backpack called "The Trekker" collecting street view imagery of the country's amazing sites. From the ancient Viking ruins to these stranded icebergs called beached whales, to its geothermal hot springs. [Unidentified Male:] What I love about Greenland, you turn a corner, you walk a few hundred yards, and you are in the middle of nowhere, and I feel small in the best sense of the word. [Mann:] Waldau hopes his efforts and images will help people understand the drastic changes taking place in Greenland. [Unidentified Male:] If we go and we film with the trekker a glacier and come back in five years, we'll be able to see that there's less of this ice in five years' time. [Mann:] And by documenting Greenland's vanishing beauty helps people better understand the impact of climate change before it's too late. [Unidentified Male:] Greenland is all untouched in a way, but if we all work together, we can preserve this beautiful wilderness that we have left. [Mann:] Jonathan Mann, CNN. [Howell:] Jon, thank you. Fans of the show "Saturday Night Live" are anticipating stars like Alec Baldwin to appear this weekend. All, of course, with the clear dislike of the president. A preview of what may be to come as NEWSROOM continues. [Bolduan:] Bernie Sanders, after facing questions from voters in the CNN town hall last night, is now facing questions from reporters this morning in South Carolina. [Berman:] We want you to listen to what seemed like a very thinly veiled allusion to Hillary Clinton a few moments ago. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] Billionaires and wall street, executives pour hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars into the political process in order to elect candidates who represent the wealthy and the powerful, and the poor remain invisible, powerless, not heard from. Most don't even vote. [Berman:] CNN Washington correspondent, Joe Johns. I think I heard your voice in that room, Joe. What was Sanders doing the morning after the CNN town hall? [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well, for one thing, John, I think he was just making his appearance felt here in South Carolina. There has been this running narrative in the Palmetto State that Bernie Sanders has been writing off South Carolina because Hillary Clinton has such a big lead in the polls and that has been sort of spurred by her strong support in the African-American community. Sanders, this morning, at that news conference, saying he has not been writing ff South Carolina, but also tipping his hat to the idea that he might have to worry about doing better in some other states. Listen. [Sanders:] We came to South Carolina, and if you look at the polls, we were like 7, 8, 9 percent in the polls. We were 50, 60, 70 points behind. We have waged a very, very vigorous campaign. We have picked up a lot of support and we have closed the gap very significantly. But this, from day one, was going to be a very difficult state for us. We're not writing off South Carolina. [Johns:] So, if you look at his schedule, it tells a slightly different story. After Sanders' news conference, he went on to Kansas City. From there, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, then tomorrow, to the states of Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota. So, it's pretty clear that the Sanders' campaign is looking forward, not just to Super Tuesday, but even beyond the 15th of March. That's when Ohio is. So they have other things on their mind. The fact of the matter is Hillary Clinton continues to run pretty strong in South Carolina according to the polls John and Kate? [Berman:] The number-one tell about where a campaign is going is where they're headed. and where they spend their time. Joe Johns, thanks very much. Joining us now, CNN political commentator, Donna Brazil; and Democratic strategist, Margie Omero. Donna, let's me start with you. You have seen a lot of campaigns. You are not picking sides in this one. But after the CNN town hall last night, just a few days before the South Carolina primary, where the heck are we? [Donna Brazile, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, there's no question that South Carolina is going to turn the tide for one of the Democratic candidates, in large part because we have a much more diverse electorate in South Carolina. With 65 percent of the voters projected to be African American. I do believe South Carolina will not just turn the tide one way or another but also give one of the candidates needed momentum going into Super Tuesday. While you may not come in first place, if you're able to capture 15 percent or more of the voters, you're able to accrue delegates. And I'm happy to see not only Hillary Clinton but also Senator Sanders doing so well reaching out to voters that will be important to their victory. [Bolduan:] Speaking of reaching out, Margie, I want to remind our viewers of something Bernie Sanders did last night. It sure seems like the first time he's gone so out of his way to embrace President Obama during this primary, at least in this way. Listen here. [Sanders:] Look, you can disagree with Obama all you want, but to say that the president of the United States, who won an election fair and square, was not a legitimate president, really undermines what we are as a nation. [Bolduan:] Now, it's everything that we know that has gone on, especially Bernie Sanders basically accusing Hillary Clinton of taking on his campaign message. Does that help Bernie Sanders embracing President Obama last night? [Margie Omero, Democratic Strategist:] Well, the president is enormously popular with Democratic primary voters across the board. So, it makes sense for both candidates to talk about the president and talk about the relationship to the president and remind voters how they feel and how we all feel about him. Certainly that he has encountered a lot of obstructionism and unfair criticism from Republicans. That's something that all Democratic primary voters typically agree on. Also, it you look at lot of the exit and entrance polls, you see Clinton has the advantage of folks who want to see a candidate continue Obama's policies while Sanders has the advantage among those who want to see a candidate go further. What comes first? That we can't really tell from the exit and entrance polls but it does make sense to have that conversation. [Berman:] Margie, I want to know if you think Hillary Clinton puts issues behind her. There's been the issue of should she release her transcripts from paid speeches to Wall Street firms, and she said, I will when everybody else does, including the Republicans. Then the emails came up and the FBI investigation happening. A federal judge saying they may have to testify, and Hillary Clinton said I don't think the voters care about that. Is she doing anything to make these issues go away? [Omero:] I think each one of these news stories, I don't think they change a lot of minds, in the primary or general. That's not to say that they can't hurt her because whenever these issues are in the news that just takes up oxygen that can be better spent, from the Clinton's campaign's point of view, on other topics. [Bolduan:] Donna, you're nodding your head. What do you think, that line from Hillary Clinton last night, "I'll release all my transcripts when everybody else does, including the Republicans." [Brazile:] Kate, I want her to release her love letters. I want her to release her bills. Come on. It is true these are serious issues and the campaign, like the secretary, must take these issues very seriously. But at the same time, they're distractions, especially when you're trying to have a conversation with voters. So, I wish she could put all of these issues behind her. [Costello:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The United Nations just voted to endorse that landmark nuclear deal with Iran and begin removing ten years of crippling sanctions on the country. Joining me now with more, CNN senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth, and CNN senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta who's in Washington. I want to start with you, Richard. Tell us about what the United Nations did. [Richard Roth, Cnn Senior U.n. Correspondent:] Well, the Security Council often divided on so many big issues 15-0 vote to start lifting economic sanctions on the nation of Iran. And it endorsed the nuclear deal worked out over those many weeks in Vienna. The economic embargo, banking restrictions, those get lifted after 90 days. Five years to the lifting of arms embargo. Eight years for holistic missile technology. This big five powers think that Iran will now have to live up to the agreement. The U.S. feel it could already always put back sanctions if necessary under this agreement. Carol. [Berman:] This morning, who is or who was the real Ben Carson? It's a key piece of Ben Carson's story that he has discussed many, many times over the years. The calm quiet we see today only came after a tumultuous and troubled past. His books and speeches are filled with references of having a pathological temper. Listen. [Dr. Ben Carson, , Presidential Candidate & Retired Neurosurgeon:] And I picked up a large rock, hurled it at his face, broke his glasses. I would go after people with rocks and bricks and baseball bat and hammers. I had a large camping knife and I tried to stab him in the abdomen. Fortunately, under his clothing, he had on a large metal belt buckle. The knife blade struck with such force that it broke. [Bolduan:] Now, this is important, because Ben Carson is running, in part, on this biography, his story, and his spiritual redemption from a violent past. [Berman:] CNN national political reporter, Maeve Reston, went to his hometown of Detroit to look into this narrative. Maeve, what did you find? [Maeve Reston, Cnn National Political Reporter:] My colleague, Scott Glover, and I actually set out to find the victims of these attacks that Dr. Carson has described, just as sort of part of the normal vetting process that you would do for any presidential candidate. We wanted to know if those temper issues did actually end at that moment. What we found, going through year books, talking to neighborhood friends, talking to people, was we couldn't find anybody who recalled these incidents ever happening. Now, remember, we're talking about Carson beating people with bricks and bats. So you would assume that these kinds of incidents would have gotten around. But we are still looking for the people that he's identified as having attacked. He only uses first names. Jerry, a kid he hit over the head with a lock. And Bob, who was in the stabbing incident. But the neighbors we talked to said that person who would do those things was unrecognizable to them. I think we have some sound from them to listen to. [Unidentified Female:] I was shocked. I was surprised. Because he was, you know, quiet and kind. [Unidentified Male:] I was really surprised when I read he tried to stab someone. Like, what? [Unidentified Cnn Correspondent:] Does it fit with a guy you knew, that kind of activity? [Unidentified Male:] No. I said, you hid it from us all those years. And he said he was just too embarrassed to even talk about it. I was surprised at some of the things he said. But, you know, he said that honestly, and I believed everything he told me. [Reston:] So it's really important to remember here that, you know, the 10 people we talked to on the record, a lot of them were skeptical. They couldn't recall any of these incidents. But nobody challenged his stories directly or said they thought he was a liar. They just found it very curious that they had never heard about these incidents at the time that they happened. So, really, it just raises a lot questions about that piece of his life, and the way he's telling the stories on the campaign trail as he connects with evangelical voters. [Berman:] It'll be interesting to see. Maybe someone will come forward who does have some memory of [Reston:] Right, we're looking for them. [Berman:] Again, it's ironic in a way that there's a story involved with people not remembering what a bad guy or violent guy a presidential candidate was. Usually, you would think you want to cover up the opposite here. But it matters because it's part of his narrative, right? [Reston:] Absolutely. The evangelical voters have powered his surge to the top of the field. What's so important is God intervened, he says, at age 14, right after the stabbing incident. He prayed in the bathroom for three hours. He says that after that moment, he never had a violent outburst again. So that's what we're trying to confirm and figure out as we think about someone who wants to be president in the Oval Office, you know, at the nuclear controls. [Bolduan:] Maeve Reston, thank you. [Reston:] Thank you. [Berman:] Coming up, a new biography out where former President George H.W. Bush has remarkable criticism for the administration of his son. Stay with us. [Camerota:] So how are voters feeling about President Trump's first month in office? Well, we wanted to head to the heartland to find out. I sat down with some passionate Trump supporters, as well as some of his critics, in Columbus, Ohio, at the Ladies' Gallery inside the Ohio Statehouse. Our discussion centered or foreign policy, Russia and if there's any chance of uniting this divided country. Are you comfortable with the idea that some of Mr. Trump's top advisers would be dealing with the Russians during the campaign and before he was installed in the presidency? [Dennis Mckirahan, Retired Salesperson:] Well, it's the old rule that 80 percent of the things you worry about never happen. We probably get overexcited about a lot of these things and probably it's nothing most of the time. I mean look at our history. It's been that way. It's not the only thing that's ever happened that was skeptical. [Camerota:] So not a big deal to you? [Mckirahan:] Not a big deal to me. [Camerota:] Any of you? [Mckirahan:] Here's the big deal. [Kris Mccurry, Mortgage Banker:] I think you've got to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. [Sara Marie Brenner, Fmr. Delaware County Chairman For Trump Campaign:] Exactly. [Mckirahan:] The big deal that we don't all agree [Mccurry:] I mean keep them under the radar. They're supposed to be talking to these people. [Brenner:] Exactly. [Mccurry:] The fact that he was talking [Christian Tamte, Small Business Owner:] Do any one of you remember Gorbachev and the shoe and I will destroy you from the inside? Is that lost or is that because it's not our generation that we don't remember that? [Mckirahan:] Well, no, I remember that. [Camerota:] What do you mean by that? [Tamte:] Russia told us they were going to destroy us from the inside. [Mckirahan:] Right. Yes. [Tamte:] They are a snake. [Brenner:] Oh, sure. Well, we don't disagree on that. [Tamte:] They are. We know this and and so keep your friends close and your enemies closer, we've been doing that, I think, over the years and we haven't I could I could see how you would want to go ahead and increase communications with them, but that is a slow, careful process, not, let's get in bed with Russia. I don't want to be buddy-buddy with the bad guy. [Brenner:] I don't think we are. [Tamte:] I think we absolutely [Mckirahan:] But that's opinion that's opinion when you [Brenner:] No, I don't think it's buddy-buddy at all. I think [Tamte:] No. [Mckirahan:] All right, I don't think we're [Brenner:] I think what it comes down to is is, you've got to look at Trump from a business person. And if I'm sitting down, I'm doing a business deal with you. If we hate each other, we're going to get nowhere, right. [Tamte:] I understand this [Brenner:] But if we can at least converse [Tamte:] Yes. [Brenner:] Then we have a chance of getting somewhere. [Tamte:] So do we converse in those back rooms where no one can see anything? [Mckirahan:] Sometimes you do. [Brenner:] Sometimes you have to. [Tamte:] I'm sorry, no. [Camerota:] Do you guys ever play a game with yourself called, what if Hillary Clinton did it? And do you ever do sort of a mind trick where you think [Mckirahan:] I do it all the time on both sides, yes. [Camerota:] OK. So so, yes, I think that it's an interesting game. And so when you say, what if Hillary Clinton's national security adviser before she was installed in the White House, if she had won, had had repeated calls with the Russians and her top advisors had had repeated calls with the Russian and then went on a Sunday show and misled her vice president and lied about it, then what? [Mckirahan:] I would call for an investigation. That's not a problem. [Camerota:] But why [Mckirahan:] And that's what they're doing. [Camerota:] But why do you seem to be more calm about it on the Trump side? [Mckirahan:] I'm calm on either side of that one. [Camerota:] But are you calling for an investigation with Mr. Trump as well? [Mckirahan:] Sure. I don't have a problem with it. [Camerota:] OK. If Huma Abedin were in this same situation, you would say, people have back room conversations. What's the big deal? [Mccurry:] No. [Mckirahan:] No, I would say room there's room for being a skeptic. [Mccurry:] I think investigations Have an investigation. I'm more of a facts person. We're just speculating that it would happen. I did hear that he they have transcripts of his calls, so there's not any funky, you know, stuff that they don't know about going on. But once the facts come out, you know, that's what we run with. [I -- Camerota:] That's and if there was something where he was saying, oh, we'll ease sanctions when we get in, then would you be disappointed and would you think differently? [Mccurry:] Yes. I mean I'm all for doing the right thing. I mean I mean [I -- Rev. Dr. Mary Reaman, Pastor, Tree Of Life Community:] But what is the right thing? [Mccurry:] That's good. [Mckirahan:] Only God know for sure. [Mccurry:] If he's if there's foul play, then good, he should [Brenner:] Something, though, that [Mccurry:] He already resigned. You know, it I agree with that, that [Tamte:] This is the whole thing with Trump. I want to do the right thing. Silence. There's nothing after that. You all we all want to do the right thing and you got behind the guy that yelled the loudest and made the best show. And the thing is, there's nothing to he didn't say anything while he was running. He's not saying anything now. And you don't know what that right you can't even tell please, I really and I don't mean this as an attack. I really am I'm like to sit back and be calm and really listen. [Brenner:] But at the end of the day it seems like when when someone on the right does something wrong, there's an automatic assumption that they're wrong and that there was evil motive there. And if you if you look at the at the course of the last 10, 20 years, it's gotten even worse. [Camerota:] Do you guys ever play that mental game? [Tamte:] Yes. [Camerota:] Of what if Barack Obama did this, what if Hillary Clinton did this? What if Hillary Clinton's national security adviser had conversations with the Russian ambassador before Hillary Clinton wouldn't you say she's making an overture to a foreign dignitary, big whoop? [Tamte:] I would be very upset. I would be [Camerota:] Oh, you would? [Tamte:] In fact, I was not even happy with all the things that Obama did. I was not all like, woo-hoo, Obama for everything. I would be livid with Hillary Clinton if I found out that she did something too. I try very hard to look at things from all sides. [Raeman:] This is what I think is part of the issue. I don't know that I'm right and you don't either. And we have to say [Mckirahan:] We only know what we know. We only know [Raeman:] We have to begin to say to each other, I don't know. I believe x, y, z, but I don't know and I want to have the humility enough to listen. If we keep saying, I'm right and you're wrong, or, you have to be wrong for me to be right, which is not true, we can both be right, and we can both be wrong. Until we overcome that, until we can say with humility, I don't know how to address these issues and I'm not going to come at it in a partisan way but I'm going to use my mind and my heart equally and have compassion and empathy for the human being and the planet, nothing changes. [Camerota:] How are you left feeling? I mean when you see the division, even in this civil setting, and when you see the division in the country, what what do what do you think is going to happen over the next four years? [Michael Milisits, Voted For Hillary Clinton:] Honestly, I'm cautiously optimistic because, you know, he did say that he was going to unite America, and it appears to me that the majority of America has united against his agenda and is now starting to mobilize in a way that we have never seen before. [Camerota:] But then where does it leave these guys? Like, in other words, if you're marching all the time against President Trump, then what about the 44 percent of the country that thinks that he's doing a great job? What do we what do you do about these guys? [Milisits:] That's the question I've been asking everyone that I come in contact with. [Mckirahan:] See I see I see [Milisits:] That's the million dollar question, really, I mean that's [Mckirahan:] Yes. [Brenner:] Yes. [Milisits:] That that, you know, and that's that's why we need to have this dialogue. [Camerota:] What do you how do you feel? Do you feel that there's any do you feel like trying to find common ground [Mccurry:] Yes, [I -- Camerota:] Or do you feel like giving up with the other side [Mccurry:] No. [Camerota:] Because you don't have a lot of common ground with them? [Mccurry:] I personally am have tons of friends of all walks of life. We get along. I think there's just too big of an anti-Trump bandwagon going on right now. And, I mean, we we have to give him a little bit of a chance here. It's gone a little crazy. [Camerota:] And, Christian, what do you think in terms of the division? Is this just what we live with now? [Tamte:] He ran on make America great again. One, I've always thought America was great before. I think we're still great and I think we're just getting better. And the world is now seeing what America really is. And that is, that when we see something that isn't lined up with what we believe, then we have the right to stand up, the world will see. The world will see. [Camerota:] All right, so we asked for your thoughts on this discussion. And I want to share two somewhat representative tweets of what you sent in. Henrick writes, "come on, Alisyn Camerota, there are a lot of people sore about the progressive agenda, meaning the global village, it's falling down and that's it." Braxton tweets, "if Hillary had even remotely done any of these, Trump would be holding lock her up rallies. The hypocrisy is incomprehensible." We thank you very much for weighing in and for watching. I'll see you tomorrow. CNN "Newsroom" with Poppy Harlow picks up after this very quick break. [Hala Gorani, International Correspondent, Cnn, London:] Welcome back, everybody. To our viewers around the world and in the United States, you're watching our special coverage of the Paris terrorist attack. I'm Hala Gorani. [Berman:] And I'm John Berman. We are live in Paris this morning, but there is some breaking news outside of this city right now from Mali. A Radisson Hotel in the capital of Mali, Bamako, under attack right now. We are hearing that 170 hostages have been taken. U.N. troops have been called in to help the local ground forces with the situation. [Gorani:] Right. It must be terrifying for the people there. A government spokesperson said military forces on the ground, they've set up a perimeter around the hotel. It is an active situation. The U.S. Embassy in Mali is advising American citizens and staffers to remain indoors. [Berman:] This Radisson in Bamako is known as a place where Westerners in that city go, spend time, hang out. Very possible some of them being held hostage right now in this ongoing situation. [Gorani:] And of course France had military operations in 2013 in Mali against Islamic forces there and really you could say it was a successful... [Berman:] Yes. [Gorani:] ...operation for the French there. If this is a way of making a point on the part of Islamist fighters in that country that we are going to hit back in Mali, this would be the way to do it, to go after foreigners, international customers at that Radisson in Bamako. [Berman:] At this point we don't know if there is direct connection, but certainly a symbolic reason to think that there could be. [Gorani:] Right. [Berman:] There's also some new information this morning here in Paris about the presumed whereabouts of the man who could have been involved in planning those attacks. [Gorani:] Now a source close to the investigation is telling us at CNN that Abdelhamid Abaaoud was seen on security footage, closed circuit television. He was at a Metro station at the same time the Bataclan siege was underway. [Berman:] French police confirm that Abaaoud was one of two people killed in the pre-dawn raid in the Paris suburb of St. Denis on Wednesday. CNN's Erin Burnett spoke with Nathalie Gallant. She is the attorney representing Abaaoud's father and, according to that man, Abaaoud believes his son was a psychopath and the father is now relieved that he is dead. [Nathalie Gallant:] Yes, he was relieved because he, he, he knew already in the last month that his son was linked to all the terrorism acts which happened in Europe. He was afraid to, to learn that his son, Abdelhamid had maybe again committed something horrible. [Gorani:] In fact a read an article quoting the sister of Abdelhamid Abaaoud long before these Paris attacks, because this man has been known to authorities, when it was believed he'd been killed Syria. We now perhaps believe that he faked his own death. His sister also quoted as saying, I sure hope he is dead. [Berman:] Right, they had hoped he was dead at the time. [Gorani:] Right. His own family wanted him dead. Now, of course, it's confirmed. But back to ISIS and these videos that have been emerging over the last several days, fighters are vowing to attack the United States, France again, and Italy, all places that the group has threatened. [Berman:] And the FBI says it is not aware of any credible Paris- style threat in the United States. But the FBI says it is taking the possibility of a copy-cat attack very seriously, as you imagine they would. [Gorani:] And Italy is ramping up its security measures in light of all these threats. St. Peter's Square recently featured on the cover of that online ISIS magazine. And this, coupled with all new threats, is triggering security concerns over the upcoming jubilee. That's a major Catholic event taking place next month. [Berman:] I want to go to our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, who is Rome for more right now. Delia. [Delia Gallagher, Senior Editor, "vatican" Magazine, Rome:] Hi John and Hala. Well the Italian Foreign Minister said yesterday that they have names of five possible terrorist suspects here in Italy whom they are working to identify. That is the extent of the information coming from the Foreign Minister yesterday. The U.S. Embassy here in Rome issued a warning to U.S. citizens, identifying three possible vulnerable sites for attacks, St. Peter's Basilica, as you mentioned, as well as La Scala, that's their opera house in Milan that's due to have their opening night on December 7th, as well Milan's main Catholic cathedral. The U.S. Embassy urging U.S. citizens here to be vigilant as well around churches, synagogues, hotels, restaurants, and so on. Now the Interior Minister said yesterday that Italy has moved 1,000 military to guard important sites around Rome and Italy. He says this was a plan which they had in place, ready to go, for December 8th, the date which Hala mentioned as the start date for Pope Francis' special jubilee year, but they have moved that up in light of the Paris attacks. Now the Italian police force is also saying they want a visible security presence around the streets of Rome and throughout Italy. I can attest to that. In the Metro, around the Vatican, and around important sites, we are seeing increased security. However, Italian authorities are very firmly pointing out that they do not have any credible plans for attack in Italy, but urging everyone to be vigilant. We should say that the increased security that we are seeing now we have seen before when ISIS released videos in September of last year and in January of this year, specifically mentioning Rome as a possible target. So we have seen in the past this higher level of security. Indeed, they are on a level 2 alert, which is the highest level next to being directly under attack. In all this, Pope Francis, something of a reassuring figures. He is continuing business as usual. We saw him Wednesday in St. Peter's Square, going around, greeting the crowds in his open-air Pope mobile, and the Pope has on schedule to go to Africa. A five-day trip in Africa starting next Wednesday, which the Vatican says will go ahead as planned. John, Hala. [Gorani:] Delia Gallagher is live in Rome. We'll be right back with more. [Cuomo:] All right. You know why we're in Paris. You know what happened a week ago today rocked French society, rocked the world, frankly, as a wake-up call about the depth and breadth about the war against ISIS, reverberations all over Europe and certainly in the United States. There is a major controversy going on there now about what to do against ISIS and what to do with these Syrian refugees. It's become a metaphor moment. These Syrian refugees have become the personification of the risk for many Americans over 53 percent, who now say they shouldn't be allowed to enter the country. Certainly a plurality of governors in the country is saying the same, largely Republican, but reflecting popular concerns. Let's have this discussion. Mike Rogers, CNN national security commentator and also former chair of the House Intelligence Committee. Mike, you know this situation very well. You've served as a mentor for me and others on it. Let's have the discussion. You make the points of fact and policy that you believe encouraged this position of keeping the refugees out, and I'll give what are the pushback-points on that. Ignore these sirens going by now. It's part of the new normal here in and around Paris. Police van going by, they use their sirens often here, does not mean anything urgent in particular. Mike, please, go ahead. What's the case? [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] A couple of things, Chris, and so first of all, you have to take race and religion out it. I think the president did a disservice when he tried to put in race and religion, into this debate. You know, a few years ago, it was that we had some very serious national security concerns about the porous border in the south. Some 200,000, they would call them in the department other than Mexicans were coming across that border. And any talk trying to say is there a way we can improve on that was you just don't like people of color. That's ridiculous. This is a national security issue. We're finding that out with the Syrians trying to use our southern border to get in, same with this program. The problem is a normal [Cuomo:] Mike, let's take it point by point. [Rogers:] You have the ability to check data bases in Eastern Syria and Western Iraq and other places. You don't have that. So you need to have an honest debate about it. They don't have access to that information about those individuals, and the process of which they go through doesn't have access to that information either. So you're taking a bit of a risk and then you have this other problem, Chris, with people, we know that they've said they're going to infiltrate these Syrian refugee populations and they have successfully done that. So you ought to step back, work with the governors about a process that says, all right, we have concerns. We don't have the resources to police the problem that happens. How do we do this in a better way? The president didn't do that. He just said, well, you don't like people of color, therefore, I'm right, you're wrong. That's the wrong way to approach this and we'll never get to a common sense answer if we continue to have this fight. [Cuomo:] All right. OK, Mike, you put a lot out there. Give you the points of push back and you answer them in some order, one, Syrians trying to attack the southern border of the U.S. You are talking about one group of guys that have been investigated from Honduras right now, not a flood. In terms of what we know about Syrian refugees, you know the facts on it. You know, the breakdown is that it's largely male, female, 5050. This isn't some warrior class that we're letting in. There have been almost no arrests in any relevant terrorism context of Syrian refugees. They've been somewhat become the personification of fear for Republican governors. You know, legally, our governor has not a scratch of right to say that they won't take a refugee. It's a federal situation. Maybe if they negotiated some type of right or privilege with their Medicaid contract with the federal government, they have funding leverage but they can't say no. But ultimately, yes, they should be negotiated. My point to you is how do you justify shunning an entire group of people without any factual basis for them as a threat? Maybe one of the guys here in these last attacks in Paris went through this refugee route as a fake Syrian, maybe one. We don't even have that substantiated yet. Where's the substation of the threat? [Rogers:] Well, I can tell you this, Chris, and this is what bothers me most about this is it's either you are all in or you're all out, and it's fear-mongering. It's not. I think the governors have a point. Can you verify that these people don't have these problems? By the way, we think, you know, the numbers are in the thousands that they think have infiltrated into Europe, thousands. So intelligence shows that. Others show us that. The FBI director came out and said, no, we can't really guarantee that these folks aren't trying to use this system to infiltrate [Cuomo:] If you want to scare them [Rogers:] here's the problem. The president created this problem [Cuomo:] Go ahead. [Rogers:] You're either with me or some kind of bigot or racist. That is so non-productive. Why don't you bring those governors in, go through a process. If they need extra help on security, offer it. That never happened. He looks for this to be divisive issue and so it leaves the governors in my mind really no better place to go and it makes everybody look bad. I think there's a way to go through this [Cuomo:] Look, there is no question [Rogers:] They cannot. This is really important. They cannot verify that those folks have not been infiltrated because the intelligence services and law enforcement know that they have in the past. That's the problem. Even the Kentucky case where the Iraqis got in and were collecting weapons and looking to do terrorist act as a result a few years ago. [Cuomo:] Right. [Rogers:] With the refugee Iraqi refugee program. So we know it has happened. Not a notion that it's never happened. It has happened. That's what I think the governors are basing their decisions on, I think. [Cuomo:] It's happened with Iraqis. It's never happened with Syrians. We've been taking in Syrians for years as you know, Mike. You know all this. I don't mean to condescend. You've taught me much of this. It's happened with Iraqis. It has not happened with Syrians and certainly President Obama would take exception how you're framing his perspective on this, but that's for him to defend. If you want to scare people about this, if that's what's going on here and the Syrians are scary because we can't vet them completely as Comey said, one, we are talking about proving the non-existence of facts. He's saying, well, if they are not making a mark on the system I can't tell there's anything wrong with them, well, that's a presumption that if there's no mark on somebody, there still may be something wrong with them. And then compare it to the vetting of every other immigrant population. These refugees, Mike, as you know, go through layers of vetting that no other immigrant population. These refugees go through layers of vetting no other part of the population undergoes and don't you think that should be part of the calculus before you close off an entire group of refugees who are running for their lives. [Rogers:] It should be part of the calculus absolutely. I don't think anyone is saying it is not, but when you say it [Cuomo:] But it isn't. [Rogers:] You are saying no refugee has been infiltrated. Certainly to the United States, right, at least that we know of. But they have in other places including Europe. That is the problem. So we all have to argue about the same facts. They have infiltrated refugee population. They are using all of their systems to infiltrate and then by the way top out of that system. They can get here under one system by fake passports, fake ids. You can get on the deep web today and buy Syrian international driver's license, Syrian driver's license, Greek passports, Greek driver's license, it is so readily available. And by the way, here is the scary part and this is why I think people are a little nervous about the security side. Not who they are or what their religion is. It is the fact that we have millions of documents, especially passport documents and travel documents that have gone missing, millions over time. So people worry about that. That's why you're finding British passports showing up in places where you wouldn't think that they would show up meaning the terrorist getting a hold of it. So we have this problem. Maybe if we take all our energy instead of trying to fight with each other about, you know, is somebody being mean. This is where compassion meets reality and yes, we should try to help the refugee population. First of all, we should have done something in Syria and still should do something in Syria. That is what's causing the refugee population. That's what causing it. Inaction there is causing this problem here. So let's deal with that and then try to deal with this security problem, Chris, where we know that they have infiltrated refugee streams and are telling us they are going to do more. That is the problem. [Cuomo:] All right, Mike Rogers, thank you very much for laying out that part of the case. Appreciate the perspective as always. We're going to take a quick break. We are following an emergency situation in Mali right now. Gunmen took control of a hotel, 160 people or more were inside. We do hear maybe 80 have been freed, but that means 80 may still be inside. We have details. Stay with CNN. [Mayor Bill De Blasio , New York City:] I want to make very clear that this individual could be armed and dangerous. He should be treated as armed and dangerous. Anyone seeing him should call 911 immediately. But we definitely have, now, someone that we want to get in immediately for questioning. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Mr. Mayor, are the authorities still saying that this man is part of a broader cell that they believe was operating in New Jersey? Is that still their consistent theory? [De Blasio:] It's too early to say if there's something bigger. We know we want to get this individual in. And what's important now and this is why we always want to make sure law enforcement defines each step of the way what we believe is happening we need the facts to be able to piece all of this together and define was it an individual, was it more than one individual? Do these different incidents relate? I think we're going to know a lot more in the course of today. Things are moving very quickly and certainly we're going to have a lot more to say in just the next coming hours. [Cuomo:] The idea of what the understanding is of what's going on, is it true to your understanding that the reason they want this guy is they think he may have been not just the organizer but the bombmaker and they're concerned about getting him so that he can't find his way into other situations and created even more threat. [De Blasio:] I don't think we should assume too much. I think I can certainly read between the lines, though. Law enforcement is making clear they want to get him, they want to question him, and he may be armed and dangerous. So I think it's fair to say this is the person we're most interested in at this moment. And, Chris, a very important point. The people need to participate. Law enforcement is doing an amazing job. We have a huge police presence out in New York City right now in the subways, around the U.N. for the General Assembly. You're going to see a lot of strong police presence. And I believe this case is going to move very quickly and the NYPD and FBI are going to be able to find the people who did it, but we need the public's help. We typically get a lot of information from the public that helps law enforcement. Anyone who sees this individual or knows anything about him or his whereabouts needs to call it in right away. [Cuomo:] What is your message to the people? Yes, this investigation is moving very quickly and, yet, this is a situation that was missed by authorities if it wasn't, in fact, an operating cell. What do you think should be the fear concern? [De Blasio:] I think the reality is that our federal partners and certainly the NYPD, for 15 years, have done an extraordinary job of finding any individuals who might have had a plot in mind or thwarting plots as they were moving. We are in a different and more complex environment in terms of terror. We know there's going to be more attempts made. My point is people should have confidence. We have an extraordinary intelligence gathering apparatus between our federal partners and the NYPD. We have the biggest anti-terror capacity of any police force in this country and it's been growing in the last couple of years. I think people should have confidence that we're very well protected but there will be moments like this. There will be moments when someone tries something. Thank God, there were no fatalities the other night. And the important thing is to get this individual quickly and continue to be strong and vigilant. That's what we can do. But if you look at the history, the typical situation is any group that's attempting an attack is found out in time. [Cuomo:] So, obviously now, there's always a concern about being deliberate, not getting ahead of the investigation. Clearly, investigators are treating this like what it seems, as a terror situation. Have they given you information about continued concern that there may be other bombs that were have been placed? That people should be unusually alert to see something and say something. [De Blasio:] Not in the sense, Chris, that there is a specific description of something to look for. But I think the way you said it is right. New Yorkers and all people should be vigilant and should never assume. If you see a suspicious looking package we need to know about it right away. That's the bottom line. If you overhear a conversation where someone appears to be discussing a potential act of violence, law enforcement needs to know that right away. The public should recognize how crucial their role is. Our new police commissioner, James O'Neill, said this the other day, that the public can provide some of the key ingredients to help law enforcement finish this case and be able to protect people going forward. But the bottom line today, be vigilant. If you see something unusual, particularly an unusual package, we need itreported in right away. Don't explain it away, don't assume it's nothing. We want to know about it right away. [Cuomo:] What a first day on the job for O'Neill as the city's new commissioner. The man on the screen right now how confident are investigators that he is the man on the video? He is the man that they're trying to zero in as the potential bombmaker? [De Blasio:] I don't want to speak to that conclusion. I can say they're absolutely confident they need to get him in and question him. And the fact that they have now, in just the last moments, put out a photo shows real confidence on the part of law enforcement that this is someone that is likely involved in one way or another. But we shouldn't speculate, yet, how many people or what role each person played. What we do know is we do need to get this guy in right away. Now again, my experience with the NYPD and the FBI is once they zero in on someone they will get them. [Cuomo:] How confident are they that they have their hands around the scope of this cell? Do they have any confidence that they know about how many people are involved, how many they're still looking for? Any sense of that? [De Blasio:] Chris, I would be careful in using the word cell. I understand it's a way to describe something but I would be careful. We do not know yet if it is only one individual, more than one individual, if it is an organized group or not. We should not assume that yet. But we know we've got one person we need to talk to. And as we talk to this individual and again, I have a high level of confidence that law enforcement will bring him in we're going to be able to then start to have more knowledge of what happened here and if there were additional people involved. [Cuomo:] All right. Mr. Mayor, we'll stay in touch with you and your office. Thank you very much for joining us on NEW DAY. We're going to keep organizing the reporting that's coming in right now. There is new information. We'll take a quick break and then we'll come back with our reporting as we get it. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Well have a lot more on the breaking news, so stick around. We'll be right back. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] You're in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Saturday, I'm Pamela Brown in Washington, great to have you with us. So, we begin with the breaking news, President Trump firing off unsubstantiated allegations of wire-tapping. Allegations that stun even members of his own administration. President Trump tweeting, "Terrible, just found out that Obama had my wires tapped in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism." He went on to clarify that his personal phone was tapped. A spokesman for former president flatly denies those claims saying this. "A cardinal rule of the Obama administration was that no White House official ever interfered with any independent investigation led by the Department of Justice. As part of that practice, neither President Obama nor any White House official ever ordered surveillance on any U.S. citizens. Any suggestion otherwise is simply false." White House correspondent Athena Jones joins me live near Mar-A-Lago. Also with us, CNN crime and justice producer Shimon Prokupecz. Athena, I want to go to you first. What kinds of response are you getting from the White House about these major allegations? Have they said anything? [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] All right, Pamela. Well, look, we've been asking since early this morning. White House officials here in Florida and also in Washington. We've been asking for them to provide any evidence to back up the President's unsubstantiated allegations. We have not received any evidence from them. But my colleague, a senior White House correspondent Jeff Zeleny did speak with a senior administration official in Washington who said that White House colleagues learned of the President's tweet storm only after he sent them, this was early this morning. And it's not uncommon for the President to get up and be tweeting early in the morning. Today he started around 6:30 a.m. This official pointed to a story on the conservative website, Breitbart News that has been circulating in the west wing. That story followed up on comments from radio talk show host Mark Levin who claimed that President Obama worked to undermine Trump's presidential campaign and his administration, including through various investigations on Russia and these possible ties between Russians and Trump associates. This official said that Breitbart News story infuriated the President. And just a couple of hours ago, the President's social media Director Dan Scavino, also a top advisor tweeted out a link to that very same Breitbart News story. So, that lends credence to the idea that it was that story that the President was basing this angry tweets on. But he clearly didn't run them by his communications' staff and they were caught flatfooted. And we haven't heard any official comment from them Pamela. [Brown:] And Shimon, you've been speaking with a former senior U.S. official with direct knowledge of the investigation. What is the reaction been from the Obama team on these wiretapping claims? [Shimon Prokupecz, Cnn Crime And Justice Producer:] Well, bigger than just the Obama team, Pamela. This is a former official who has direct knowledge of the FBI and the Department of Justice investigation. And there's just been flat denial. And I'll read you something this person told me. Which is "This didn't happen. It is made up, false. Wrong." There was no equivocation. It just isn't like oh, well maybe it happened here or maybe it happened there. Or we may have been looking at something else. I mean, this person just flatly denied that anyone at the Department of Justice had done this. Had gone before a judge, to try and seek some sort of authorization to wiretap Donald Trump's phones. [Brown:] Yes. Some strong language there from that official that you spoke with basically saying that this claim is false. Athena, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff called the allegations outlandish and baseless, what about Republican lawmakers? What are they saying? [Jones:] We are seeing some responses from Republicans. For instance, South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham had a town hall this morning in South Carolina where he talked about this. Listen. [Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] I don't know if it's true or not. But if it is true, illegally it would be the biggest political scandal since Watergate. So it's my job, as United States senator to get to the bottom of this. [Jones:] And that sentiment about it being his job to get to the bottom of this as a United States senator, that sentiment is being echoed by other Republican colleagues, including Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska who put out a statement a little while ago saying that the public needs more information about the President's allegations. He says that if there was wiretapping, it was either with or without a warrant from a special court known as a FISA court. If it was without that warrant then the President needs to explain what kind of wire-tap this was and how he knows about it. If it was with the legal court order, he says the President should ask that the application for surveillance be made public. To everyone, or at the very least to the U.S. Senate. He went on to say, we're in the midst of a civilization-warping crisis of trust and the President's allegations today demand the thorough and dispassionate attention of serious patriots. And it's worth restating here, Pamela, just what Shimon was saying, and that is that former senior officials are saying that the idea that then-candidate Trump's phones were wire-tapped is just wrong. One other official said it was just nonsense Pamela. [Brown:] And Shimon, you know, for the FBI to be able to wiretap someone's phone. A U.S. citizen, it would have to go to the FISA court and prove why that needs to happen. A President can't just order someone's phone to be wiretapped which is what Donald Trump seemed to be saying in his tweet. That President Obama ordered this. Walk us through the process. [Prokupecz:] Well, that's exactly right. This isn't something that would come even from the White House or a sitting president. Obama in this case. So basically what would have to happen is the FBI would have to go to the Department of Justice and then the Department of Justice would then have to go before a secret court known as, you know, where they do this, as the FISA court and ask for permission, for authorization to tap Donald Trump's phone. You know, there's some argument over how easy is that. I think in this case and certainly from the source, this official former official with direct knowledge of this investigation, said it would have been really tough for them to get this kind of permission. To wiretap Donald Trump's phones. The other thing is if there was a criminal investigation, which was being handled by the FBI and the Department of Justice, they would have had to have shown that there was some sort of criminality to a judge or perhaps some sort of crime was being committed, there were allegations made. They would have to go before a federal judge and try and get a warrant. Also, you know, various steps would need to be met before a judge would grant that this kind of authorization. It's a pretty tough burden to meet. This happens every day in federal courts, but I think given who Donald Trump was at the time, and who he is now, you know, this official stressed it would have been really tough for us to get this kind of authorization. [Brown:] And again, he stressed that it's false, that is simply not true. Shimon Prokupecz, Athena Jones, thank you very much. And I want to bring in my panel now, Bob Baer, CNN's intelligence and security analyst and a former CIA operative. Betsy Woodruff, politics reporter for the "Daily Beast." And Julian Zelizer, Princeton University historian and CNN contributor. Bob, we're hearing from former CIA analyst Ned Price who quit the agency a few weeks ago. He also donated $5,000 to the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton's campaign last year. He tells CNN that this is either a calculated attempt to distract from this administration's multi-pronged and yet unexplained Russian ties, or a fundamental misunderstanding of how intelligence and law enforcement authorities operate, either way. This outburst should frighten all Americans. So, that's what he says. Bob, do you agree, disagree, is this a calculated move in your view or misunderstanding or neither of those? What's your take? [Robert Baer, Cnn Intelligence And Security Analyst:] Oh, Pamela. I don't know how much he calculates. But it's ludicrous to think that Obama went to the FBI, got a FISA warrant, FISA court agreed to tap Donald Trump's phone. First of all, there's no probable cause to ask for it. The FBI would go into full revolt. This would have been leaked. There would be a record of it. Which the President could get right now. So it's ludicrous, and I think he's under a lot of pressure, under this Russian, this Russian thing which we still don't know what it is. And he's striking out against Obama. To say his phones were tapped, you know, I would bet the ranch on it, they weren't. It's impossible. Getting a FISA warrant as I said is extremely difficult on a presidential candidate no way. So, I think he's lashing out. As he has been for so long. [Brown:] And Betsy, he's not only saying that his phone was tapped, but also that the former president was responsible for it. I mean if this was true this would be a mega scandal. An affair with Watergate, I mean, and we still haven't heard from the White House. It's been nearly 12 hours. What do you think about that? What should be said and what's your expectation? [Betsy Woodruff, Politics Reporter, "the Daily Beast":] Right. Well, to use a hallowed journalism cliche, these are what we call bombshell allegations in the big "if true" category. And the fact that the White House isn't supporting the President in the comment that he made on twitter this morning thus far. Besides the few scattered tweets from the White House officials is telling, of course. And it suggests that there may not be a "there" there. I think the larger issue that this points to is that the President doesn't seem to have a very sophisticated understanding of the way the intelligence community works. Of course, President Obama could not have asked a FISA court to authorize wiretapping, because that's not how it works. That's not how you get a FISA authorization. [Brown:] And the FBI can't do that, either. [Woodruff:] Exactly. Exactly. There's just no reason to think that this is specifically what happened. And this isn't the only example of Trump and his team not seeming to know some of the stuff that most folks who work in this world know about intelligence-gathering. For instance there's a lot of panic about the facts that leaked that Mike Flynn spoke with the Russian ambassador. But in the intelligence community, it's common knowledge that the Russian ambassador was being wiretapped. That many ambassadors for country the U.S. has fraught relationships with, those guys are getting wiretapped. If you're an intelligence official and you call them, someone is probably listening to your call. The fact that Trump, his advisers, his own former national security adviser didn't seem to understand that, just points I think to what we've been talking about, the fact that the understanding of these issues is fairly thin. [Brown:] All of this comes on the heels of President Trump's widely praised speech before Congress on Tuesday. Let's watch that. [Pres. Donald Trump , United States:] The time for small thinking is over. The time for trivial fights is behind us. We just need the courage to share the dreams that fill our hearts. The bravery to express the hopes that share our souls. [Brown:] So Julian, does his predawn twitter storm wipe out that positive balance? I mean how do these unsubstantiated wiretapping allegations affect the general public's perception of their new president? [Julian Zelizer, Historian And Professor, Princeton University:] I think it was probably too much to make an argument that that address represented some pivot to a new Donald Trump. President Trump is the same person he's always been and I think the tweets this morning reflect much more of the kind of politician he has become. These are unsubstantiated claims. We're not hearing that there's a lot of evidence behind what he's now accused the former president of doing and the irony is he ends the tweet saying this is McCarthyism. It is, but it's what he's done, rather than what's being done to him. I think this is about distracting people from the discussions of investigation into the Russia connections, which have been front and center all week. And suddenly, the conversation is turning to Obama. So this is who President Trump is. And I think that speech really didn't reflect the kind of shift people are talking about. [Brown:] So, bob, I want to go back to you, because you were a CIA agent. How would anyone prove wiretapping had taken place? I mean, this is the whole point of wiretapping to keep surveillance covert, under the radar? [Baer:] You can't prove it. I mean, if the implication is that the President went out and sort of a black bag operation with private operatives, you know, it would it involve a break-in? Would it involve listening to a cell phone? He wasn't specific. How does he know this? And I think he's been citing Breitbart. And I read that Breitbart report and there's some interesting things in it. There's nothing about tapping President's phone. The Breitbart phone, you know, if the FBI did ask for a FISA warrant on a campaign, you know, a guy working for Trump, that's something different. Why did they do it, what was the probable cause. But you know, getting into the bottom of this, he's making accusations he cannot prove. [Brown:] Right. And just on that note, sorry to cut you off there. But I mean, he sent this tweet early this morning. Said he just learned presumably he's not getting an intelligence briefing early on a Saturday morning. So it does appear, Betsy that this information came from this Breitbart report or a right-wing radio talk show host. It appears once again he's relying on the right-wing media reports to make these allegations. The last time I recall it was about Sweden in a FOX News report he saw about attacks in Sweden. Do you think this is reckless? [Woodruff:] That is really interesting things about the Trump presidency is that perhaps more than any previous president, we know exactly what his media diet is like. He reads a lot of Breitbart. He watches "FOX AND FRIENDS." He pays attention to the things that are said on conservative talk radio. And the reality is that Breitbart has a spotty record when it comes to reporting things that are consistently, factually accurate. They draw lots of criticism for getting stories wrong in the past and in the case when Steve Bannon was running the site, for refusing to apologize for stories that were incorrect. They ran a story about a women named Loretta Lynch. And they said that she was the Loretta Lynch who've been named to run the Justice Department but it was just completely wrong. The fact that the President is relying so overwhelmingly on this site for his news about pivotal National Security issues, pivotal intelligence issues is unprecedented. It's not the way most presidents get their information about Intel and I think the larger root issue here is that the President himself has long telegraphed an extremely low level of confidence in the American intelligence community. He's extremely skeptical. We know he's often been prone to believing conspiracy theories. Believing that there are nefarious forces at work that we don't have good information on and of course that's a level of suspicion, distrust that's very much of a piece that the way Breitbart covers these issues. So, it makes sense that he would rely on them. That said it's something that I imagine would give many observers pause. [Brown:] All right. Stick around. We have a lot more to discuss, we'll be back in just a few. And coming up, Attorney General Jeff Sessions set to meet with the President next hour after days of heat about his contact with the Russian ambassador. How the Trump administration is fighting to untangle itself from the controversy. Up next. [Kate Riley, Cnn World Sports Correspondent:] London is still coming to terms with Wednesday's terror attack on Parliament. And the Football Association in England has said, they will pay tribute to those who died and recognize the bravery of the security services and all those involved. When England play Lithuania at Wembley on Sunday, stars and clubs took to social media to show their support. The England football team hosting on Twitter saying,"Sometimes football isn't everything. A message to London, our city, stay strong, stay safe, stay together." David Beckham who captained England, 59 times, took to Instagram: "My thoughts are with those who lost loved ones and were injured in London. Prouder than ever of our great city and the people who protect us." And three-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, is in Australia, ahead of the start of the first race of the season tweeted: "Praying for all those affected in London." One of the lives claimed was Keith Palmer, a policeman and season ticket holder for League One Football Club at Charlton Athletic. The team posted a video on their Twitter account showed their support. The club all lay a red and white scarf of their seat. He occupied for many years as a local supporter of the club and will remain until their home fixture on April 4th. That's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody, the investigation into alleged ties between the White House and Russia is growing more partisan. Atop health democrat says, he's seen new information on possible collusion between associates of President Donald Trump, and the Kremlin. Adam Schiff suggests that it could even merit a grand jury investigation. [Sesay:] But that's not the case according to the Chairman of the Intel Committee. Republican Devin Nunes, indicated he doesn't know what Schiff's talking about. Here's what the two lawmakers told CNN's Manu Raju. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Reporter:] You said that there's more than just circumstantial evidence of collusion. What did you mean by that? [Adam Schiff, United States Congressman From California:] I don't feel comfortable talking about particular evidence: either that the FBI is looking at, or that we're looking at. But I do think that it's appropriate to say it's the kind of evidence that you would submit to a grand jury at the beginning of an investigation. [Raju:] This new evidence of collusion from Schiff, you said you have no idea what he's talking about? [Devin Nunes, United States Congressman From California:] I don't know. [Raju:] You haven't seen any new evidence of collusion? [Nunes:] Not that I'm familiar of, no. [Vause:] Keep in mind, though, they sit on the same Intelligence Committee. They're both the ranking member of [Sesay:] Well, the Republican plans to rollbackObamacare: heads for a make or break vote on Friday, but chances for passage seem slimmer than ever. The vote was supposed to be held on Thursday: the seventh anniversary of Obamacare. But it was postponed when Republicans couldn't get enough of their own party members to support the bill. [Vause:] Now, defeat, would be a blow to the President. He's campaigned to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. After a day [Inaudible] [14:] 43 the negotiations, the White House and Republican leaders announced an ultimatum. They were done. And they will hold the vote now, on Friday. [Paul Ryan, United States House Of Representative Speaker:] We have been promising the American people that we will repeal and replace this broken law because it is collapsing and it's failing families. And tomorrow we're proceeding. [Unidentified Female:] Do you have the votes? Do you have the votes? Do you have the votes? [Sesay:] Do note, there's no answer. No response to, do you have the votes? [Vause:] Deadly silence. [Sesay:] Many conservatives opposed the Republican bill for not getting rid of Obamacare's main provisions. Our own Phil Mattingly explains. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Meeting after meeting and lots of legislative wrangling, the Republicans are still short of a health care deal. GOP lawmakers shuttling into closed-door meetings on both sides of Pennsylvania Avenue. [Donald Trump, United States President:] Only politics is we have a great bill. [Mattingly:] Underscoring a clear reality despite the all-out blitz from President Trump and House Leaders, they don't have the votes. That comes in the wake of a moment of brief daylight as the White House and House Leaders agreed to changes sought by the conservative house freedom caucus. [Unidentified Female:] Earlier today, you think you're confident that they have the votes. Do you believe that? [Bradley Byrne, United States House Republican:] Yes, yes. If it took us up for a vote it's going the pass. [Unidentified Female:] Why do you say that? [Byrne:] Because if you are a Republican, you have one choice, you are going to vote with Donald Trump to repeal and replace Obamacare or you're going to vote was Nancy Pelosi to defeat the only bill that repeal and replace Obamacare. And if you are a Republican, that's a pretty simple choice. [Mattingly:] But even as its members filed into the White House today and gave President Trump a standing ovation, still, unwilling to commit to the bill. [Mark Meadows, United States House Republican:] I'm still a no at this time. I'm desperately trying to get to yes and I think the President knows that. I told him that personally, and I can say with all the freedom caucus they are really trying to get to yes. That's why we met for such a long time. It was at times a not contentious but I would say very rigorous debate. [Mattingly:] And the change they sought to strip the essential health benefits required by Obamacare risked alienating the party's centrist faction. One of them told CNN, quote, "This bill is collapsing", a conundrum that led house minority leader Nancy Pelosi who shepherded Obamacare to passage to provide some unsolicited advice of her own. [Nancy Pelosi, United States House Minority Leader:] You build your consensus in your caucus and when you're ready, you set the date to bring it to the floor. Maybe a great negotiator rookies on an error for bringing this up on a day and clearly you're not ready. [Mattingly:] So here's where we stand, it is now do or die. It is the highest game stakes of chicken you can imagine. The President made very clear through his advisers there would be no negotiating. He wants a vote. He is demanding a vote and he wants it on Friday whether the members like it or not whether they have the votes or not. And I think that's a really crucial component here. As it currently stands, they do not have the votes, which means they need something to change quickly. The President hopes that backing the members that aren't with him right now, that will be the answer. Well, we'll see on the House floor it's about as dramatic as it's going to get. Phil Mattingly, CNN, Capitol Hill. [Vause:] Well for a lot more on the high drama on Capitol Hill, let's bring in Legal Analyst, Earl Ofari Hutchinson Author of the End of Obamacare and Republican Consultant John Thomas. OK. So, John, I guess this is a negotiating ploy right out of the art of the deal, you know reframe the vote not for necessary Trumpcare but a vote to keep Obamacare and explain that one to the folks back at home. But why rush on this? You know President Obama for about a year before Obamacare, actually got through he convinced his own party and passed on party lines, but he also got other groups on board like, you know doctors and medical professional groups as well. Why push this through so quickly? [John Thomas, Republican Consultant:] Well first of all this was one of the main campaign pledges he ran on day one, you know repeal and replace. We were past day one so he's got to get it done quickly. The other thing is he's tried the carrot approach, there is no more pork or backroom deals that he can provide to these members and he is worried that you you end up going into a death spiral of negotiations. So he's made the determination he has gone as far as he can. Now it's time to bring out the stick. [Sesay:] Well it is remarkable that the House Republicans voted nearly 90 times to reveal repeal parts of Obamacare. And now they have the White House and they have both houses of Congress and they can't get it together. [Earl Ofari Hutchinson, Syndicated Columnist:] Well, you know, when they took all those votes they already knew it was dead on arrival in the Senate. So really they had nothing to lose. It was not going to pass in the Senate and it was not being attained in the Senate, and if it did the one time it did it got pass at. President Obama he did sell it. But now it's different. As John said, Trump made over and over again on the campaign trail repeal and replace. He kept saying that. That was one of the lynchpins of his campaign. Now you have taken the House and now you have taken the Senate, you being the GOP and you tried, you've had seven years to put a replacement on program on the table. You haven't done that. So everything is coming together if you don't do it now, when? Trump said something else he says that if you don't do it now as part of his ultimatum, what I'm going to do is move on. No, he's not going to move on. This is a crucial public policy issue and this is a political issue. So there's no moving on. It's going to keep coming up coming up even if it doesn't pass within 24 hours. [Vause:] You know what is interesting; we heard from Nancy Pelosi, the former House Speaker the Democrats, their facing they're saying this is a rookie mistake by a new White House administration setting a date before you have the votes. We also have this reporting from the New York Times in the last couple of hours about the strategy here and some regrets from the Trump administration. "Mr. Trump has told four people close to him that he regrets going along with Speaker Paul D. Ryan's plan to push a health care overhaul before unveiling a tax cut proposal more politically palatable to Republicans". So judges from this new strategy what have you hear? You know is Trump right? Should have they gone with the tax cuts first and then try to do the health care. [Thomas:] It might have made more sense. I mean, tax cuts are something Republicans can all agree upon and when you look at what the CBO said, I don't know that their projections are 100 percent accurate but by and large, I mean look, this isn't giving the amount of savings that Republicans want to. So look, they're rushing through on something that is controversial. It's not a simple fix. Yes, and this is to be fair to Democrats, this is what you get when you don't have somebody with a lot of experience in White House. [Sesay:] And Earl, OK, according to New York Times reporting, some regret on the part of the President. Let's look at Speaker Ryan. I mean, because this is it now, if this thing fails, someone's looking at who is going to be left carrying the can. Should he be worried that it's going to fall to him-they and he will have regrets that, you know maybe this is a President who is too open to negotiating? [Hutchinson:] Well this is his kind of his fall back, kind of another ploy saying look, you know maybe we rushed it here shouldn't have listened to Paul Ryan. Maybe I should have used the tax cut Trump card at that point in time. I don't want to use the double on that time. But the fact of the matter is he didn't. You know, when you talk about tax and tax reforms you know that been there's been a lot of proposals put on the table over the years on that too. Some have gotten some places, some have not. But health care is different. It has so much political dynamite to it you see that's the thing. So, they're going to keep focusing on that, they're going to keep pounding on that. Taxes will come along at some point but I'm going tell you it's almost a snoozer, a yawner. That doesn't draw attention. This does. We probably wouldn't be talking about that if it wasn't for health care. That is the jewel in the crown. [Vause:] Let's take a look at the latest polling because Trumpcare according to here its 17 percent support amongst the people who were polled. So, the choices here for Republicans are pretty grim. They can either fail to get the bill through or they can and then suffer the consequences or they can get this bill through and then John, they're essentially, you know, if it gets through the Senate as well, they're taking a package to the American people that, you know, most people hate that they don't like. This is not how it was all meant to play out. [Thomas:] Well look, the administration is taking a risk that it will lower the costs and perhaps open up more access for people because of lower costs. So they're taking risks. If it doesn't do that, it's going to blow up in their face. [Vause:] You see this what this is why Obamacare it went through with 37 percent approval and hope that it would get more popular as people learned about it, it got less popular. [Thomas:] Right. [Sesay:] But the more problems of Trumpcare not to pile on, but the CBO as you know released another some more data on Thursday showing that what we had thought would have been this 337 million billions saving of a 10 year isn't quite what we thought. Now as you look at those numbers, it's actually 150 billion. It doesn't make this even more of a lemon, doesn't it? [Thomas:] It does if those projections are right. The CBO has been wrong before, I mean I think the difference between John, you point of you know Obamacare and Trumpcare is that Democrats voted for the bill and didn't even read what the heck was in it. Republicans are actually reading what is in it and are trying to fix it as it goes through. So Democrats in the lineup more so than Republicans, which I think it's there's just has been bad press coverage from the outset about Trumpcare and that's what's been stalling it. [Sesay:] OK is it bad press coverage or is it a bad bill? [Thomas:] That's a good question. [Hutchinson:] Well, you got there's something else. It's not just the CBO I mean, look at the polls. This GOP has a problem. The problem is the majority, there have been a number of polls that show a majority of people do not, when they know what the Affordable Care Act is, not Obamacare. They don't want it replaced the way it is and the way the GOP is framing it. So there's really a double problem with Trump and Paul Ryan. On one hand, we made all these promises to make the change repeal and replace. But on the other hand, we've got conservatives in the party that don't like it they call it Obama land. We've got a majority of the American people that say we do not want to replace the whole thing. There are certain parts of it that we like. And many, by the way, has been pointed out. Many of Trump's supporters that voted for him, guess what? They are benefitting from the Affordable Care Act. So you got a triple problem. [Sesay:] Answer my question. Bad bill, bad press, which is it? [Thomas:] Oh boy. I mean it's a combination. But I think we haven't seen the final form is going to change in the Senate. There are some tweaks that need to be made for sure. [Vause:] Very wise answer. This health care reform stuff, it's complicated. No one knows how complicated it is. John and Earl. [Thomas:] Thank you. [Sesay:] Anyway, moving on. The Kremlin calls claims it had one of its critics killed absurd, that Denis Voronenkov was shot and killed outside the Kiev hotel on Thursday. [Vause:] The former Russian lawmaker fled to Ukraine last year. Ukraine's President calls this killing a Russian state terrorist act. More details now from Frederick Pleitgen reporting from Moscow. [Frederick Pleitgen Cnn International Correspondent:] Denis Voronenkov calls wife devastated after her husband, a Kremlin critic was killed right in the heart of Ukraine's capital. Police say the assassin waited for Voronenkov and his bodyguard in front of a hotel and opened fire arrived once they arrived. As a result of the shootout, one man was killed. Kiev's police chief says, his bodyguard was wounded and the killer was also wounded. Both are in hospitals and being given medical assistants. The killer later died in hospital. Ukrainian authorities saying he never regained consciousness. Denis Voronenkov was a former member of Russia's communist party; he fled to Ukraine in 2016 and adopted Ukrainian citizenship. Though he denied it, Voronenkov was charged in absentia by Russian authorities for alleged fraud in a real estate deal in February. Highly critical of Vladimir Putin and Russia's annexation of Crimea, Voronenkov vowed never to be silenced. Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko quickly pointing the finger at the Kremlin saying on his official website, "The insidious murder of Denis Voronenkov in the city center of Kiev is an act of State terrorism by Russia which he had to flee for political reason". Denis Voronenkov is not the first Kremlin critic mysteriously killed. In 2015 opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was gunned down in central Moscow, or the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko, who British authorities believed was poisoned with a radioactive substance in 2006, London pointing the finger as Moscow as well. For its part, Russia points to recent political murders in Ukraine and calls the allegations against Moscow absurd. It seems like Ukraine will make everything so that no one will ever know the truth about what really happened today on March 23rd in Kiev. The spokeswoman for Russia foreign ministry said, "Ukrainian authorities have launched a full- scale investigation into the murder of Denis Voronenkov, another Kremlin critic dead, leaving behind a grieving wife expecting their second child." Frederick Pleitgen, CNN, Moscow. [Vause:] And we'll return to London now after the break with more details on the man who drove his car into crowds of people on Westminster Bridge. [Baldwin:] Donald Trump making a real effort to look presidential. He's doing something presidents are known for, and that's visit disaster areas. Mr. Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, there handing out supplies after wrapping up a tour of the flood ravaged region of Baton Rouge and surrounding communities. They visited a church. They met with volunteers. They toured a flood damaged school. This is a flood of historic proportions. 13 people have died. Water has damaged more than 40,000 homes. Let's go straight to Rosa Flores who's been in Louisiana for the better part of the week. She is in Baton Rouge in the city of Gonzales. I know you have been reporting on this 18-wheeler. Trump donated all these supplies. How are folks reacting to that? [Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] I'm here with a resident who's actually taking some of those supplies to her community. I got to tell you, Brooke, we hear a lot of stories while we're out here of people whose homes were completely flooded. Eva Potts' home was not flooded. But hear what she's doing for an entire street of people. So tell me about what you're taking to people who have been impacted by this flood and why. Why since you are not impacted by this flood but you decided to help. [Eva Potts, Louisiana Flood Victim:] Well, first of all, I live on that street and the rest of the people who live on that street are all Latinos. And it's hard to translate to them that there is help out there during a disaster like this. So my sister actually they're her renters, most of them. And so my sister said, all right, sis, we've got to help these people. And we were lucky this morning, two policemen showed up at my trailer at the very first beginning of the street, and they said, you know, there's plenty of help out there for your people down the street here. We said, well, go drive down there and first come back and tell us where we can come and get supplies for them. Because they're not going to do it because it is hard for us to translate to them there is help. [Flores:] At this church. So you decided to pick up some stuff for them. Show some of those things. [Potts:] I'm here getting whatever I can get. Those two policemen told me. They were very nice. They brought me water. They said bring your car down there. Down there, the church of Saint Amant, load your car up. That's what these people are doing. It is awesome. [Flores:] Now tell me about how many people are impacted in this one street and you were mentioning that they have children, as well. [Potts:] They have from 6 weeks old to teenagers. Babies are probably going to sleep on these blanket, however many I get. Diapers. They need cleaning agents. They need soap. They need food. I was just looking at this bag of potatoes, I was like, oh, my god I need some potatoes because they'll last a long time. My sister and I will probably be back a couple of times. As long as they'll let us come. I'm going to try to get the young mothers to get in the car and actually come with me. Because there is baby food in there and I don't know what their babies are eating. [Flores:] Well, thank you so much for sharing your story with us. We appreciate it. Thank you so much for doing all of this for so many others. These are the types of stories, Brooke, that we keep on hearing here. People that are not even impacted by the flood, their homes did not flood, they decided to do something to help. In the case of Eva, she is helping her entire block by being here and gathering supplies for them. [Baldwin:] So awesome. I love it, a bag of potatoes, it seems so little but it goes so far in situations like these. Rosa Flores, just awesome job reporting on all this all week in Louisiana, thank you. And let go ahead and just bring in Michael Smerconish to talk about what is happening in Louisiana, Trump in Louisiana and beyond a lot of headlines here hosted by CNN's Smerconish. So happy Friday, good to have you on. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor, Smerconish:] Nice to see you. [Baldwin:] Let's begin with the fact that Donald Trump hopped a plane with his running mate. They are on the ground. He has donated everything from within this 18-wheeler. I know that you had made a point this morning saying, he's not a hero until he cuts a check. This is pretty generous. [Smerconish:] Well, he cut the check. I was asked this morning on "New Day" what more need he to do. I said it would be great if he made a direct contribution. I am giving credit where credit is due. Might I also say, Brooke, the campaign at least in the last 24 hours is beginning to look downright conventional. This is what candidates should be doing and expressing regret for some of their remarks as he did last night. It is also something that a candidate should be doing. It looks like the pivot, who knows where we are on Monday, but it looks like the pivot that has been long overdue is now coming to the Trump campaign. What most surprises me is that Manafort is out. Manafort reportedly was a guy who wanted Trump to be more confined. Steve Bannon comes in and so where some had expected that the campaign would now really turn up the heat, instead it's more conventional. So where it goes from here, I'm not sure but I can't wait to find out. [Baldwin:] So 81 days to go. This is crucial timing. A lot of changes. You hear different translations of all these changes from Trump folks. But I do want to play because this is a man who is notoriously unapologetic. Here he was in Charlotte talking about his regrets. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] Sometimes in the heat of debate speaking on a multitude of issues, you don't choose the right words or you say the wrong thing. Believe it or not, I regret it. [Baldwin:] So that's not a Trump we've really seen. Do you think are you surprised that this is in the Steve Bannon era? It is also in the Kellyanne Conway era as well. [Smerconish:] True. Maybe there is a good copbad cop routine that's playing itself out and Kellyanne is winning thus far. On radio today we sort of parsed the video, some saw it as a hostage video that he had to do this and was being forced to say it. I'll take him at face value. I know that I regret we're midway through the day now. I probably regret ten things that I've done today. I've never heard him express any remorse up until this moment. And I think that it is healthy. Because it makes you wonder about an individual who just is incapable of any circumspection. [Baldwin:] I know an expression of regret does not a pattern make to your point we will wait and see where the campaign goes Monday. Meantime, I understand you interviewed Mark Cuban ahead of your show. This is a man who I think he said he would before they had chosen their running mates for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, I think I read earlier this week that he would be willing to play Trump in Hillary Clinton debate prep. What did he share with you? [Smerconish:] He wanted it clearly understood that his support of Hillary Clinton is not driven solely by some of his concern over Donald Trump. I wanted to know from him where did the wheels come off the bus. Because what I remember is that it was last September. He facilitated the use of the Dallas Mavericks arena, the American Airlines arena, to Donald Trump. 20,000 people showed up and he touted himself as a potential vice presidential running mate for Donald Trump. But along the way, Cuban came to the opinion that Donald Trump as a candidate this is his word was lazy, wasn't read in, wasn't doing the work. He had real concerns about Trump and looked Secretary Clinton as being the better alternative. But I really like Mark Cuban because, Brooke, he's an independent thinker. He is not an ideologue. You don't where he is coming from, he's liberal on some things and conservative on other things. I think that's what the country needs more of. [Baldwin:] I can't wait to hear more of him this week on your show. Let me actually back up a second. We just got some breaking news announced from the White House, that the President they're having calls for the President to come to Louisiana despite the fact that the governor said, actually, please, sir, just wait a week because they are stretched so thin. We now know the President will visit Baton Rouge next Tuesday, August 23rd. What do you make of that? [Smerconish:] Well, I think it is a good thing. I'm sure this is probably perceived as good news by the Trump campaign, if I have to analyze this in stark political terms while these folks are suffering, I hate to do it but I'm sure the Trump campaign will say we forced his hand. But for us he wouldn't be going. Probably from the White House, their truthful answer would be Katrina. After Katrina, you got to go. [Baldwin:] Michael Smerconish, thank you. Good to see you. Please tune in [Smerconish:] You, too. [Baldwin:] Saturday, 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Coming up, we have interview with the Director for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta now after the news today, five new cases of Zika detected in Miami Beach. What he will tell pregnant women about traveling to this area, an unprecedented travel advisory here. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. A quick check on the markets in the Asia-Pacific region. [Pres. Barack Obama:] In last month's bipartisan budget agreement we secured funding to help cities like yours to build water infrastructure; and we're going to have that funding available to you by the end of next week and that includes more than $80 million for the state of Michigan. Our children should not have to be worried about the water that they are drinking in American cities. that's not something we should accept. [Vause:] The contaminated water crisis in Flint is the subject of the latest "Time" magazine cover story. The article entitled "The Poisoning of an American City: Toxic Water, Sick Kids and the Incompetent Leaders Who Betrayed Flint." Hundreds of people in Flint say the contaminated water has made them sick. Everything from hair loss to rashes and other unexplained illnesses. CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Correspondent:] Look at me. Look right at me. When her son Gavin started to become ill, it was subtle. So subtle Lee Anne Waters wouldn't have been blamed for missing it. Okay, look right at me. Keep your head straight. How about right here? How many fin [Unidentified Child:] One. [Gupta:] Okay, good job. Look up. Look down. Do you have any do your fingers feel numb at all? One day she looked at Gavin and his twin brother Garrett side by side, the difference was staggering. [Lee Ann Waters, Mother, Flint Michigan:] The size he is right now is pretty much the size he was last February, February 5th of 2015. [Gupta:] So almost a year ago. [Waters:] Almost a year ago, yes. [Gupta:] How much does he way with versus his twin? [Waters:] He's 35.8 pounds and his twin is 58 pounds. [Gupta:] For months they had been drinking the same water, but Gavin was showing the effects of poisoned by lead and such is the nature of lead poisoning. It can affect people differently even twins. elevated lead levels in the water in 2014. So this doctor started to look at levels in her young patients and what she found was shocking. [Dr. Mona Hanna Attisha, Pediatrician, Flint Michigan:] The percentage of children with lead poisoning doubled in the city of Flint, and in some neighborhoods it actually tripled. [Gupta:] She sounded the alarm to state officials as loudly as she could, but no one listened. instead [Attisha:] We were attacked, so I was called an unfortunate researcher; that I was causing near hysteria and that the state numbers with were not consistent with our findings. [Gupta:] Maybe denial was so easy because of this: Flint, a city surrounded by some of the largest fresh water lakes in the world was now delivering some of the world's most contaminated water to its citizens. In October of 2014, General Motors, you say, stopped using the water because it was corroding their parts. [Attisha:] Right. [Gupta:] That seems like an obvious clue. [Attisha:] Yes, so red flags, loud alarms should have been going off in people's brains. If it is corroding engine parts, what is it doing to our plumbing that is predominantly lead based. [Gupta:] Water that could corrode engine parts; just imagine what it is doing to the body and brain of Gavin Walters. [Attisha:] These kids did nothing wrong. They did nothing wrong, except being poor. [Gov. Rick Snyder, R-mi:] In May, Professor Mark Edwards, from Virginia Tech, and Dr. Mona Attisha sounded an alarm about lead in Flint's water. [Gupta:] The Governor says you can have anything you want, anything, Mona. [Attisha:] I want a rewind button to April of 2014. That's what I want because you can't undo this. You cannot undo this. [Gupta:] If there has ever been a U.S. city in need of a rewind button, it is Flint, Michigan. More than a third of the people here are living in poverty; life expectancy is 10 to 20 years shorter than the rest of the state. There's not a full-scale grocery store anywhere in sight. [Attisha:] And then we got lead? Like, if you were to think of something to put in a population to keep them down for this generation and generations to come it would be lead. It's just a loss of words. [Gupta:] But they, Dr. Mona, Lee Ann, the 100,000 citizens of Flint, have to believe that clean water will return one day soon. Do you know why people have been putting you on TV lately? [Gavin:] Yeah. [Gupta:] Why? [Gavin:] Because they wanted to put us on TV; so they could see us. [Gupta:] Because you are handsome. [Gavin:] Yup. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Flint, Michigan. [Vause:] Well, coming up on Newsroom L.A., share the emotional moment when a little boy in China who thought he'd never have a real family meets his new parents for the very first time. [Savidge:] Secretary of State John Kerry announcing a deal with Russia that's aimed at putting Syria's peace process back on track. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] The United States and Russia are announcing a plan which we hope will reduce violence, ease suffering, and resume movement towards a negotiated peace and a political transition in Syria. [Savidge:] The deal which calls for a cease fire to take effect across Syria at sundown Monday is being greeted with cautious enthusiasm around the world. CNN International Diplomatic Editor, Nic Robertson is following this story, he joins us now live from Geneva. Nic, this is welcomed but what is included in the deal? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] So some of the things that the deal will call for is that cessation of hostilities as the sun goes down Monday evening. [Robertson:] And sort of a seven day trial period, test period, to see if it can hold. After that the United States and Russia will be working to put together joint military centers so that they can focus combined efforts to target the former Al Qaeda affiliate, Al Nusra and to target ISIS But there's also going to be a humanitarian effort, a part of the deal calls for specific cease fires in Aleppo. And, specifically for humanitarian aid to be targeted to that city, 300,000 people, opposition people there, cut off from access to food, so that is a key part of it. But, another fundamental and this is something that has sort of being seen has been seen to be if you will flouted already today. One part of it stipulates that the Syrian air force and those helicopters that drop the barrel bombs, they will be severely limited and curtailed in where they can attack and this is to avoid civilian casualties. Secretary Kerry says oftentimes the Syrians say they're going after terrorists, going after rebels and civilians get hit. And that's what's happened today in the city of Idlib in the northeast of the country. A Syrian opposition group says 24 citizens killed in bombing in that city today. So, even though this has all been agreed you can see already is there really a will to stick to it if this is happening? People are already asking that question, Marty. [Savidge:] One you know we mentioned this was negotiated by the U.S. and Russia it's happening in Syria. Do we know what the Syrian regime is saying about all of this? [Robertson:] Well, the first inklings we're beginning to get are that they are saying that they are going to support it. Certainly Sergei Lavrov yesterday in the press conference, or in the early hours of this morning actually, said we told the Assad government what the agreement is and they accept it. Of course, the key part of this is the enforcement part. If the Syrian government transgresses is Russia really going to turn up the heat on them? In the past, particularly when it's come to the political talks in the past, you know the United States and others have had the expectation, the real expectation that Russia is going to do that, turn up the heat on Assad and it hasn't happened. So that is certainly a big open question. But, at the moment, there's the appearance that the Syrian government along with the opposition and the U.N. are going along with it. You know, we're going to see in the days ahead, Marty. [Savidge:] We definitely will. Especially the people in Syria. Nic Robertson, thank you very much. International outrage and alarm after yet another nuclear provocation from North Korea. What punitive action can be taken against Kim Jong-Un, we'll talk about it next. [Banfield:] In three day, Stanford rapist Brock Turner is set to get out of jail. He was convicted of raping a woman behind a dumpster at a frat party and he got a six month jail sentence, plus three years' probation. But with good behavior, he's only had to serve a part of that, just a couple of months. But, today, we want to focus on the survivor, who we are not naming, but we will call her Emily Doe because that's the name the prosecutor was using to describe her. And it was, of course, Emily Doe's courageous letter to the judge and to the court and to her rapist that has now inspired a bill. A bill that's making big headlines. It's called B-2888 and it is in California. And, yesterday, lawmakers of that state vote unanimously, unanimously to ensure that anybody who is convicted a sexual assault in the state of California cannot simply get a sentence of probation. They got to go to jail. The bill now goes to the governor's desk, Dr. Jerry Brown, as to whether he wants to sign it or not. California State Senator Jerry Hill and Assembly Member Evan Low, co-sponsors of the bill, join me live now from Sacramento. They introduced this to the public and to their colleagues. And this has got to be quite a victory. Senator Hill, give me your reaction to this. [Jerry Hill , California State Senate:] Well, it's quite exciting because we're very happy that hopefully we will see in the future when it's rape, it is rape. It will be called rape, regardless of whether it's forcible or whether someone is unconscious and you take someone and try to give them alcohol, get them drunk, to make them unconscious, and then you know you're going to get away without being charged with rape. So now rape is rape regardless of whether you're conscious or unconscious. That's the important part. [Banfield:] Assemblyman Low, I saw a quote from you saying the Judge Persky's ruling was unjustifiable and morally wrong. However, under current law, it was within his discretion. So this is where you were all at, saying he had the right to do that. He had the right to give that sentence to Brock Turner, but it wasn't morally right, hence this bill. So with all of that in mind, do you think this backlash against Judge Persky has been fair? [Evan Low , California State Assembly:] Well, Ashleigh, I think what's important is that we look at the loophole in the current law. It's unconscionable that an individual could rape an individual and be eligible for probation because this individual was unconscious. And so what we're doing is closing this loophole and saying that if you're going to do the crime, you're going to do the time. And it's important that we make this strong statement. [Banfield:] But do you think it's fair that there is this backlash, there's a recalled Percy campaign, given that it was within his discretion to do this and so many have found it so offensive? [Low:] Well, this is part of the democratic process, certainly. It was within the purview of his duties. But certainly we also want to ensure that we are doing our obligation as legislators and being responsive to the people. This is an atrocious act and we want to make sure that we're taking action accordingly. [Bolduan:] White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, and the press, it's safe to say at times has not been the most harmonious of relationships. But when is it ever with the press secretary and the press? One that has often led to some fiery exchanges in the daily press briefings, like this one yesterday with reporter April Ryan. Watch. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] But, April, hold on. It seems like you're hellbent trying to make sure that whatever image you want to tell about this White House stays. Because at the end of the day, let me [Spicer:] OK. But, you know what, you're asking me a question and I'm going to answer it, which is the president I'm sorry, please stop shaking your head again. [Bolduan:] Joining me now CNN political commentator, Angela Rye, the former director of the Congressional Black Caucus; Joe Borelli is here, Republican New York Councilman; and Jackie Kucinich is here, CNN political commentator, Washington bureau chief for "The Daily Beast." Angela, a lot of people talking about that moment, April Ryan, having her own say about it. Did you see a problem with that exchange yesterday? [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] Absolutely. Absolutely. In part, because this is now the third instance of disrespect for April Ryan in this White House. Donald Trump set the tone. Omarosa had an issue. They were once friends and now this. April Ryan for many people, not just African-Americans but many people is a very straight shooter, a tremendous reporter and deserves jut most respect. He doesn't get to be a daddy and tell her not to shake her head. [Bolduan:] Do you think it's gotten to the point that Hillary Clinton has gotten to? Do you think it's racist and sexist? [Rye:] I think it definitely was sexist. I think the other issues she's had he with the White House have issues with racism. Again, we've had issues historically of people believing that all black people look the same. Donald Trump thought all black people know each other, and she should set up a meeting with the CBC, despite being a reporter. [Bolduan:] I will say this. Sean Spicer has worked in Washington for a long time. I think a lot of folks will agree no one has ever sensed any racism or sexism coming from him, Jackie. He was asked to respond this morning on the Hugh Hewitt show. Here's what he said? [Spicer:] April is a tough reporter that knows how to throw it back and take it back. So to somehow I think it's frankly demeaning to for some folks to say she can't take it. We went back and forth. I disagreed with the angle and the way she was coming at the question. But that's what we do, we go back and forth. I don't treat one person different than the next. But to suggest that somehow, because of her gender or race, she would be treat differently, I think is frankly demeaning to her. [Bolduan:] White House briefings get tense. That's not unique to this White House. Do you think Sean Spicer is more helping or hurting the White House with this stuff? [Jackie Kucinich, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't think that this had anything to do with her race or gender. I think this has to do with respect. I think the way that this White House is conducting themselves with reporters and adversaries, in general, the name calling, the condescending nature that we saw yesterday, that is corrosive. We've all had chippy conversations with press secretaries. [Bolduan:] Yeah. [Kucinich:] That's the nature of this job. But it does go too far. Sean Spicer called another reporter an idiot this week. That's not appropriate. That's not appropriate on a playground and certainly isn't appropriate in the White House briefing room. [Bolduan:] If you take there and misstatements coming from the podium since inauguration day, Joe, do you think the press secretary's credibility has been hurt? [Joseph Borelli, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think Sean has a tough job, and one he needs to repair some of the damage he may have done over the first few months. The initial press conference with the crowd size didn't help. [Crosstalk] [Borelli:] We can't treat every instance, like this one, like it's a unique, the first time it ever happened. There's no evidence that there's any gender discrimination in this. Sean is an equal opportunity brash responder to people of both sexes. He's not the first to do it. Roberts Gibbs was cited by "The Daily Beast" as having a contentious relationship, often in shouting matches with reporters. [Bolduan:] Yep. [Borelli:] President Obama, in 2016, got into a little shouting match with a "Washington Post" reporter in October. There was headlines about that. We can't treat this as unique because it's Sean Spicer and because it's Trump. [Bolduan:] I've clashed many times with Sean Spicer. I never thought it had to do with my gender. I'll say that much. But to this point, if his credibility has taken a hit, if he's lost all credibility, who is he losing credibility with? Here's my point. Would it be any different coming from that podium from a different press secretary when the tone is set from the top, the man in office? [Rye:] That's very true. Part of the issue here is I think, I don't know Sean Spicer. But I watched him interact with you during the campaign. That is a completely different person than who's presenting it himself at the podium. I'm sorry, he's a totally different guy. I've heard people say he's very respectable and all of that. It is a problem at the top. Donald Trump does set the tone. You see how leadership trickles down to the bottom. He is the person that is to blame for this new spicy Sean Spicer. [Bolduan:] Do you think it would be different if it was a different press secretary? And I mean that, because the tone is set from the top. The message has been all along with this administration that often, what it comes from those daily briefings is for an audience of one, the president. [Kucinich:] It is the audience of one. Look how some of his surrogates, people on the campaign behaved during the campaign towards reporters. It's all you need to know. And Donald Trump likes this is combative in your face style. He doesn't really take much stock in the press. And it shows. It really does. And so everyone has a different style, of course, and maybe someone would approach it separate. I feel some of the press secretaries stood up there and on the Hill, you know when someone's being straight with you. Sometimes you just don't think Sean Spicer straight with the people in that room and the American people beyond the cameras. [Bolduan:] If he if he wants to turn around the relationship with the press and let's be honest, a contentious relationship with the press has been great for this president, pre-taking office and post- taking office. How does he do it. [Borelli:] I think he's got a lot of work to do. But as Jackie was saying, with the way surrogates acted during the campaign I was a surrogate myself but I have to say No, no. But I was probably scolded worse on panels like this than Sean Spicer scolded this reporter. [Rye:] Come on. The only time we had a moment [Borelli:] I'm saying it's a two-way street, that this type of relationship, this type of contention, this type of language is sometimes often used in relationships like this. We can't treat it as unique. [Bolduan:] All right, guys, thanks so much. [Rye:] Thank you, Kate. [Bolduan:] Thanks for joining us AT THIS HOUR, everybody. "Inside Politics" with John King starts right now. [John King, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you, Kate. Welcome to "Inside Politics." I'm John King. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Guest Anchor:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Sticking with politics now. Scott Pruitt, President Trump's pick to run the Environmental Protection Agency has now been confirmed. That marks the 14th nominee in the Trump administration to be approved by the Senate almost as many confirmations as President Obama had over the same span back in 2009. In a last ditch protest, Senate Democrats took to the floor, railing against the former Oklahoma attorney general's ties to the oil and gas industry and his prior lawsuits against the very agency he now leads. CNN government regulation correspondent Rene Marsh joins me now live. So, Rene, a district judge in Oklahoma, he's ordering Pruitt to hand over thousands of communications with oil and gas companies while he was attorney general. What are they looking for? [Rene Marsh, Cnn Government Regulation Correspondent:] That's right. I mean, despite his confirmation that just happened a few hours ago, we real should I expect even more drama. His opponents say he was often an advocate for the energy industry and now a watch dog group's request for his e-mail communication. Well, that happened some two years ago. And when that request was not granted, the Center for Media and Democracy filed a lawsuit. They believe the e-mails will reveal potential conflict of interest. [Unidentified Male:] The nomination is confirmed. [Marsh:] Scott Pruitt confirmed to the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, the same agency he fought against as Oklahoma's attorney general. The confirmation coming as Pruitt faces a new court order. [Lisa Graves, Center For Media And Democracy:] The American people have a right to know what Scott Pruitt is hiding. [Marsh:] A watch dog group filed a lawsuit to get access to Pruitt's e- mail communications with the fossil fuel industry. Thursday, an Oklahoma district judge ruled Pruitt must turnover 3,000 e-mails by next Tuesday. [Graves:] He has been hiding information from the Senate and from the American people about the true extent of that relationship, how deep his ties go to the industries that he would be basically charged with regulating. [Marsh:] He's filed at least a dozen lawsuits against the EPA and in his confirmation hearing, senators revealed Pruitt used Oklahoma state stationery and signed his name to letters drafted by energy lobbyists. Those letters were then sent to federal agencies criticizing environmental regulations. Democrats pushed to delay Pruitt's confirmation vote to allow time to review the e-mails. [Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] It's not the worst thing in the world to take a few extra days to properly vet someone who will have immense power. [Marsh:] But Senate Republicans refused to delay. [Sen. Mitch Mcconnell , Majority Leader:] It's pretty clear what's happening. They want to move them as slowly as possible and on the ones they have deemed controversial, they want to give their left wing agitators enough time to get up and get organized. [Marsh:] Democrats accuse Pruitt of being pro-industry. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Our plan will end the [Epa. Marsh:] Pruitt's track record makes him attractive to Trump and Republicans who are desperate to rein in an agency they say is wasting taxpayer dollars. [Unidentified Male:] I get no joy being one of those states at the end of America's tail pipe. [Marsh:] From an all nighter on the Senate floor to protests outside the EPA and a union urging its EPA members to tell their senators to vote no. Despite the resistance, a fresh tweet from the agency for the first time in weeks, welcoming Scott Pruitt. Pruitt was confirmed on a largely party line vote, but there were some crossovers. Democratic Senators Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, both who represent producing states, voted for him while moderate Republican Susan Collins voted against him. [Sciutto:] Rene Marsh, thanks very much. If you don't think Russia is watching President Trump's every move, you're wrong. Today, Moscow is trying to needle him with a new taunt. And the president is spending another weekend working from his Mar-a- Lago resort. Guess who is footing the bill for his security? That would be you and me. [Kristen Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] I understand I haven't gotten the support of all the Republicans, of all people in my own party there. But that being said, he did take a step to quell those concerns yesterday by, as you mentioned, endorsing Speaker Ryan. He had upset several party leaders she he said earlier in the week that he wasn't sure he was ready to endorse Speaker Ryan. In addition to that he also endorsed Senator John McCain from Arizona and Senator Kelly Ayotte from here in New Hampshire where we are right now. And so we'll see how all of this message of unity moving forward, how that affects the party in the coming days, really. And I should mention, Fred, we did reach out to Senator Kelly Ayotte's office to see if she would be here with Donald Trump at this rally in New Hampshire. We have not heard back yet. We're still waiting on that. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Keep us posted, appreciate it. I want to bring in Julian Zelizer, a historian and professor at Princeton University. All right, so, given you are a historian, let's start with Trump quoting Ronald Reagan. Is he trying to appeal to traditional Republicans? Is he trying to appeal to an audience that hasn't necessarily shown him a whole lot of love? [Julian Zelizer, Historian/professor, Princeton University:] Well, it is not clear. What Reagan did was first to convince all the different factions in the conservative movement that he was the best bet for the Republican Party, that he was the best bet to actually create a coalition. And I don't think everyone in the Republican Party feels that way right now. And Reagan worked hard not to alienate different Republican groups. So in some ways the reverse of what we're seeing with Donald Trump. He reached out to show that he would support a very broad agenda and he avoided the kind of polarizing remarks within the Republican Party that could have hurt him. [Whitfield:] And Trump waited until campaign stop in Wisconsin, Paul Ryan's home state, to finally endorse him, just days ago saying, quote "He wasn't there yet" when asked about a Ryan endorsement. So is this pressure from the establishment from the RNC, the GOP saying you have got to do this? Or is he having second thoughts? [Zelizer:] I'm sure there is a lot of pressure, especially for Republicans who have endorsed him despite what they privately want to do. And to have him then attack is really hard for a lot of Republicans to take. So I'm sure the pressure has intensified. What is not clear is if Donald Trump will continue on listen. We've seen throughout the campaign he is his own person. He can be very erratic and he can be very tough when someone tries to restrain him. So my guess is this won't last long and we're going to more internal party conflict in the coming weeks. [Whitfield:] And these endorsements, it is coming at a time when the Trump campaign has been embroiled in several controversies, falling poll numbers. There has even been talk, loose talk that has been published about whether Trump is going to drop out or whether he would be replaced by the establishment. Is all of that just talk? [Zelizer:] No, it's not just talk. This is an unusual campaign. We haven't seen anything like this. I think that's fair to say. And so there is an element where many Republicans, Democrats don't know what's coming next. And they don't have a full gauge of how Donald Trump thinks. So I think there are many people who feel not because of pressure but because of becoming frustrated with the processing, sensing that he might who's very badly, that he actually steps out of this whole race. So I think it is loose talk, but I think there's a basis for it. And that's what has many people in both parties nervous about what comes in the weeks ahead. [Whitfield:] Yes, and nervous about whether that's the October surprise. [Zelizer:] Right, that would be quite a surprise to lose a candidate a month out. [Whitfield:] Again, we don't know anything, just a whole lot of chatter out there. Julian Zelizer, thank you so much, appreciate it. [Zelizer:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right, it's not just New Hampshire. Colorado is also a key battleground state, one which Donald Trump has called a must-win in his race for the White House. CNN's Kyung Lah takes a closer look at the different strategies of the two campaigns. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] In the battleground state of Colorado, the ground war. [Unidentified Male:] I'm getting people registered to vote. [Lah:] Taking aim with real and augmented and retail politics. Clinton campaign workers playing "Pokemon Go" to register potential voters, and using other attention getting draws. A cello? [Anthony Carlson, Colorado Democratic Party Regional Organizing Director:] A cello. You have to be unique, especially in a battleground state like Colorado where the stakes are so high. [Lah:] Battleground Colorado twice elected Republican George W. Bush, then gave Barack Obama back-to-back victories. This year the state is showing signs of leaning Democratic. Some recent polls give Hillary Clinton a double digit lead. Another potential advantage, since 2012 Democrats have registered more voters than Republicans. And the ranks of Latino voters continues to grow up to 15.3 percent, higher than the national average. And 14 Clinton campaign offices are up and running in the state, hundreds of workers are on the payroll, the operation expected to triple by early October. [Emmy Ruiz, Colorado State Director, Hillary For America:] We're not going to take anything for granted. For us our ground game is critical. [Lah:] Democrats have spent $5.6 million on Colorado TV ads while Trump supporters have spent $232,000. The Clinton camp now polling TV ads, saying Trump isn't on the air waves or, frankly, on the pavement. Are you seeing the Trump operation out there? [Ruiz:] No, I haven't. [Lah:] The Trump plan in Colorado is far different. Yes, there are some workers knocking on doors, but only a handful are on the payroll, most are volunteers. The Trump campaign has just five offices, relying instead on an extensive Republican national state and local network in place since 2013. The campaign is not worried about being outgunned in the traditional ground game. [Robert Blaha, Chairman, Trump Campaign In Colorado:] Her game plan is the same old tired worn out paradigm we've seen for years and years and years. Trump brings a brand-new level of energy. Colorado will be decided in large by a group of people in the middle of America. [Lah:] In Colorado, more than one third of voters are registered independents like Marc Sabin. He sports Trump. [Marc Sabin, Independent Voter:] I will do it as an independent. So I will contribute directly to Donald Trump. I do not contribute to the [Gop. Lah:] Loyalty to Trump, not party, and x-factor not lost on both sides. And with both candidates having high unfavorability numbers, it's leaving some independent voters uncertain of which way they'll go in November. [Cara Miller, Independent Voter:] I'm not sure I want either of them as president. [Lah:] So how are you going to decide, then? [Miller:] I don't know. I guess the lesser of two evils. [Whitfield:] All right, our thanks to Kyung Lah for that report in Colorado. Just a reminder, don't miss "State of the Union" tomorrow. Our Jake Tapper sits down with former GOP presidential candidate and Ohio Governor John Kasich. It all starts tomorrow morning at 9:00 right here on CNN. Coming up, aerial mosquito spraying wraps up in south Florida. Next, we'll take you live to Miami and show you what else is being done to prevent a larger spread of the virus. [Isha Sesay, Cnn:] Funerals are being held for the 31 people killed in Monday's attack near Turkey's southern border. The victims were attending a rally in support of rebuilding the Syrian town of Kobani. As our Arwa Damon reports, authorities say they've identified the attacker. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Correspondent:] This is the cultural center in Suruc where the attack took place and we do need to warn our viewers at this stage that the video they're about to see is incredibly disturbing. But we are deciding to broadcast it to show the inhumanity and terror of the attack. [Damon:] And now 24 hours later, this is the scene. The group that had gathered not only talking about and wanting to bring attention to the Kobani reconstruction efforts but they had also gathered donations for the children, toys, school books, now symbolically placed here, a sign of defiance against the sheer violence that did take place. Many people, though, very angry at this stage with the Turkish government, the crowds here earlier, chanting anti-government slogans, believing that the authorities should have done more to protect this nation from the threat posed by ISIS. In Gaziantep there was a mass procession earlier in the day before the victims killed in the attack were taken to their various resting grounds, many of those perished here were from different parts of the nation. The Turkish prime minister also saying that they have identified the suspect in the attack but they are not publicly disclosing that information. They're still investigating what lengths the individual may have had. The Turkish authorities have previously alluded to this attack being the work of ISIS revenge for Turkey's most recent crackdown on individuals, hundreds rounded up over the last few weeks, suspected of having links or ties to ISIS. This attack not necessarily coming at a surprise. People have been bracing themselves for the violence in Syria to spill over, but still shocking this nation to the very core Arwa Damon, CNN, Suruc, Turkey. [Sesay:] Turkey's allies, including the U.S., have been increasingly concerned about the stability of the Turkish-Syrian border and the Suruc attack is giving new way to those fears. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr joins us now from Washington. Barbara, what are U.S. officials saying about this brazen terrorist attack on a NATO ally? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, the latest certainly that the Turks are saying ISIS is responsible for, the U.S. expressing that concern that you're pointing to, Isha, the concern about the Turkish-Syrian border. This is an area that has been a big concern for some time. For months now, ISIS fighters have found very easy routes across that border into Northern Syria. The U.S. has been pressing the Turks to shut down the border crossings, to exert more control over the border. There had been some indication that the Turks were attempting to do that. So the question is, is this ISIS retaliation for the Turks moving against them? But there may be something else here. There is a good deal of fighting in Northern Syria right now. The Kurds there have been pressing towards Raqqa, the Northern Syrian self-declared capital of ISIS. And ISIS is feeling that pressure, U.S. officials believe. So they may have just simply been lashing out with this terrible episode of violence. Either way, it's getting very much noticed by the U.S. about what is happening in Northern Syria and how much ISIS may be reacting to the pressure it's under. So expect to see more from the coalition, more bombing, more airstrikes, more going after the ISIS targets because as ISIS reacts and moves around, it makes it easier for those coalition warplanes to find them Isha. [Sesay:] Indeed, Barbara. But given that Turkey is critical to the fight against ISIS, do we anticipate the U.S. stepping up direct support to this valued NATO ally? [Starr:] Well, this has always been an interesting question. Some sort of safe zone on that border region, a lot of people have been calling for it. But for the U.S. to engage in that directly, I think would be very problematic for the Obama administration. They're going to ask as they continue to for more coalition support, more intelligence sharing. That may be something that the U.S. can do something about. As it flies those reconnaissance missions over Northern Syria, having a look at what is happening and sharing what intelligence they can with the Turks Isha. Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, appreciate it. Thanks so much. [Sesay:] Now the U.S. Defense secretary spends a second day in Israel trying to ease anger over the Iran nuclear deal. Ash Carter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for two hours. They did not speak to reporters afterwards. On Monday, Carter called the U.S.-Israeli relationship "rock solid" and said Israeli concerns about security are justified. [Ash Carter, U.s. Secretary Of Defense:] There's no disagreement about the ultimate objective. We cannot let Iran have a nuclear weapon. And there's no disagreement about the threats Israel sees every day from Iran's destabilizing activities; from terrorists, like Hezbollah, Hamas and ISIL. [Sesay:] Ash Carter will also visit Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The Saudis have expressed concerns over the nuclear deal as well and how it may increase Iran's influence in the region. The mayor of the largest city in the U.S. says he's committed to reducing carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030. New York's Bill de Blasio made the ambitious pledge during a Vatican conference on climate change and human trafficking. [Bill De Blasio, Mayor Of New York:] The encyclical is not a call to arms; it is a call to sanity. It's a reminder that we, as leaders, have a sworn duty to protect. But how can we protect our people if we accept a status quo that is slowly killing our Earth? I humbly submit that we were called here not to be congratulated for whatever progress we've made, although it is certainly worthy. We were called here to take la datosi and give it life, to systematically address the danger of climate change. [Sesay:] You heard Mayor de Blasio refer to the pope's encyclical, released in June. The document is essentially a papal love letter to our planet and a strong warning about the destructive impact of climate change. Our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, joins me now with all the latest on the Vatican summit. Delia, help us understand the Vatican's point of view, their reason for calling this summit and those they have invited. [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] Well, what's interesting about this summit, Isha, is that for the first time the Vatican has invited mayors from around the world. We've had religious leaders here; we've had international government leaders here. But for the first time we've got the mayors. And the recent for this, the Vatican says, is that they want to address the issue of climate change and modern slavery from a grassroots level, in particular in urban areas, where the poor are the hardest hit. So for the Vatican's part, they are hoping to encourage action at a local level as well as obviously working at the international level and attempting to influence the conversation that's going on and some important decisions that will be made on U.S. sustainable development, U.N. sustainable development goals in December in Paris. So really Pope Francis has kind of ramped up the Vatican's efforts with regard to these two issues, which are very close to his heart. He has been very consistent in mentioning them over and over. You heard Mayor de Blasio reference the pope's encyclical, which, in large part, is devoted to the topic of climate change and human trafficking. On the part of the mayors, of course, it's a wonderful opportunity for them and perhaps one of the first times that they've been able to all get together, 65 of them, and hear and share some of their best practices. It's been a fascinating morning and afternoon to listen. It's still going on at the moment, to listen to some of their contributions. They each had 10 minutes to speak and, for example, there's the mayor from Kochi in Kerala in India. And he says India has the most slaves in the world but that they have enacted laws to attempt to allow Indians the right to work and to give children the right to an education. The mayor of Madrid, for example, said that it's not enough just to set laws; they have to set a good example. And she says that she and her local counselors take the bus and walk whenever possible. So there's a good exchange going on between the mayors to effect action at a local level but from the Vatican's point of view, they want to put what they call moral pressure on the U.N. decisions for some kind of a legally binding agreement between all countries on these issues Isha. [Sesay:] Delia Gallagher joining us there from Rome, Delia, appreciate it. Thanks so much. Now the CNN Freedom Project is dedicated to shining a light on modern- day slavery. Our latest production is a documentary called "Children for Sale: The Fight to End Human Trafficking." Actress and activist Jada Pinkett Smith speaks with a young survivor right here in the United States, who was sold for sex a few years ago. She was lured, she says, by someone she thought was her friend. [Jada Pinkett Smith, Actor And Activist:] "Sacharay" was born and raised in Florida. By the time she was 14, she was constantly being teased at school. " [Sacharay":] What I got picked on a lot about was being black. I have really, really dark skin, I guess. [Smith:] She felt alone at home and at school. That's why, when an older classmate offered friendship, she jumped at it. " [Sacharay":] I thought she was like my best friend because I could like tell her anything. And one day she asked if, you know, I want to skip school, want to have fun, you know. So we went to this barber shop. When I was there, she introduced me to these guys. [Smith:] "Sacharay's" new "friend" had just led her to the man who would eventually become her trafficker. " [Sacharay":] We talked about how we was going to make money, how it was going to be easy. We didn't have to depend on nobody and it was all fine and good and stuff. So I fell for it. [Smith:] Was there any kind of grooming process, like when this first started? Or it's just something that just happened and you he was just expecting you to learn on the way? " [Sacharay":] He slowly brought on. When we got closer, when he felt like he got closer to me, he usually did it out of the back of the barber shop. And he'd even have people that were with the post office, mailmen come in. Mailmen came in and paid their money to him, came back there to me. [Sesay:] Be sure to watch the CNN Freedom Project documentary, "Children for Sale: The Fight to End Human Trafficking." It premieres Wednesday night at 8:00 in London, 9:00 pm in Berlin, only here on CNN. You're with INTERNATIONAL DESK. Still to come, as polls close in conflict-stricken Burundi, we'll get up an update on the vote and the violence. Plus, Donald Trump is making headlines and even leading in some polls. But is the U.S. Republican presidential candidate really electable? We're there as he hits the campaign trail. Do stay with us. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Each of this year's top ten CNN heroes proves one person really can make a difference. And again, this year, we're making it easy for you to support their great work. Just go to CNNheroes.com and click "donate" beneath any 2016 top ten CNN hero to make a direct contribution to that heroes fundraiser on Crowd Rise. You'll receive an e-mail confirming your donation, which is tax deductible in the United States. No matter how small, it can make a big difference in helping the person who inspires you to continue their life changing work. CNN is proud to celebrate all these everyday people changing the world, and through December 31st to offer you this simple way to support their causes. Right now your donations will be matched dollar to dollar up to $50,000 for each of this year's honorees. You can donate from your laptop, your tablet, or your phone. Just go to CNNheroes.com. Your donation in any amount will help them help others. Thanks. [Paul:] You're never too old to fight a war. In this case it's a 70- year-old woman fighting racist propaganda in her city. [Blackwell:] CNN's Atika Shubert reports. [Atika Shubert, Cnn Correspondent:] Seventy-year-old Irmela Schramm scours the streets of Berlin armed with a scraper, a can of spray paint, and nail polish remover. Then she sees it, a Nazi swastika amid the street graffiti. She gets to work. Schramm calls herself a political cleaner of neo Nazi and racist graffiti. And every week Schramm spends up to 17 hours scraping off racist stickers and painting over swastikas with hearts. [Irmela Schramm, Graffiti Activist:] I could like at that swastika and say, oh, that's awful and walk by she says. No one would dare to do anything. I don't want to wait for someone else to do something about it she says. At home, Schramm shows us her catalog of work. It started 30 years ago when she spotted a flyer supporting convicted Nazi war criminal Rudolph Hess. Disgusted, she took the house keys and scratched the flyer off. [Schramm:] I just scrubbed the hate away until it was all gone, she says. It was a fantastic feeling afterwards. The mind pollution was gone. [Shubert:] It has become a personal mission that has taken her across Germany and six other countries. She says she has cleaned more than 130,000 neo Nazi symbols and racist graffiti. And the amount she sees on the street is increasing, she says, especially against refugees. [Schramm:] People tell me I am intolerant, that I don't respect the far right's freedom of speech. But I say freedom of speech has limits. It ends where hatred and contempt for humanity begins. [Shubert:] Neo Nazi groups have sent her death threats. Police have warned that her work is too provocative and she could face thousands of dollars in fines for defacing public property. On the day we tagged along a Berlin cleaning crew was simply annoyed. "I like what you're doing," says this cleaner, "but not the way you're doing it." Well, Shramm dismisses the cleaners with a laugh as she does to most of her critics. Just as she's about to call it a day, Schramm spots a big one across the street, "Nazi neighborhood." She whips out her can of red spray paint and gets to work. [Sesay:] Hello, everyone. American gymnast, Gabby Douglas, is having a rough Olympics. She has plenty of criticism online throughout her time in Rio. First it was failing to put her hand over her heart during the U.S. national anthem. That extended to a lack of support for her teammate. But anyone who was looking any closer would have found plenty of images showing quite the opposite. Like these. Douglas' mother weighed in on the flack her daughter was getting in Rio. [Natalie Hawkins, Mother Of Gymnast Gabby Douglas:] For her to come out here and fight for her team and then get the onslaught of all of the online criticism and all of the negativity that, you know, people just threw her way was overwhelming. It proved, in the end, to be a little bit too much. [Sesay:] Joining us now to discuss this is entertainment journalist, Segun Oduolowu. Segun, what do you make of all this? I can't quite understand why she was turned on in this way after the celebration and the adulation of London four years ago. [Segun Oduolowu, Entertainment Journalist:] Well, it's cruel, it's ugly and it's mean. That's the bottom line. I challenge anyone who is detracting from Gabby Douglas at her performance. What did you do for your country today? This young girl sacrificed her time, her body, and basically for her country to win gold and bring glory to the United States. She comes from a military background that her mom mentioned. Not everybody stands with their hands over their heart when the national anthem is played. They're talking about the faces she made. Women's gymnastics may call themselves a team, but they are individual competitors. What I say and what I believe is she was more disappointed with her own performance. And so her lack of jubilation isn't that she's not cheering for her teammates, which other pictures clearly show, it's frustration on how she did not perform as well as she may have wanted to. She's 20 years old. She's not going to be able to do the same thing she used to do at 16 when she was the darling of London. Liz Clark, of "The Washington Post," wrote an interesting article, how women, especially women in sports are picked apart for the wrong reasons. We talk about how they look, their hair, are they feminine enough. This beautiful girl has been sacrificing for the last eight years of her country. For people on social media to attack her because they don't like the still shots or how she was at the podium, did they say the same thing about Michael Phelps when the American anthem was played when he was laughing and giggling when he won for swimming? So it's cruel and mean, and it's demeaning to women. [Sesay:] I'm trying to make sense of it, whether it's this thing where, with the elevation of Simone Biles, there's this counter- effect they're pushing Gabby down. [Oduolowu:] It's like Highlander. There can be only one. [Sesay:] Yeah. I just don't understand. [Oduolowu:] Well, I think it's so easy for us to default to the racial element, like I mentioned with Michael Phelps, white swimmer laughs during the national anthem, no one says anything, black gymnast doesn't smile or doesn't have her hand over the heart, national outcry. But, you know, there's this line in the "Dark Knight" where Batman says I love that. I love Batman. [Sesay:] Carry on. [Oduolowu:] Where he says, "Either you die as a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself as the villain." If she finished at London, she's Gabby Douglas on a box of Wheaties, and Simone Biles comes in and carries the torch. By coming back, she gave them ammunition. They're making her the villain. Now they're making her the villain, and it's unfair. [Sesay:] She did apologize when speaking to reporters on Sunday. She said, "I've been through a lot, a lot. Sometimes I sit back and say, what did I do to disrespect people? What have I done to disrespect the USA? I don't get that part. I'm sorry." The very fact that she had to apologize. [Oduolowu:] It's mind blowing. She's apologizing to trolls on Twitter, trolls. People who have no better thing to do in their time than to chastise a 20-year-old woman for what they imagined she was thinking when they played the national anthem. Again, judging from your couch when you've never done a back hand spring, a forward roll, a cart wheel or anything like this, to on judge this young lady, who as I said, you sacrifice your body in women's gymnastics. And it only comes around every four years. Imagine the pressure that you have one, one bad moment and it's done for the entire Olympic career. That may be it. The amount of pressure that these young ladies are under, the way they are scrutinized. For people to say that on Twitter, it's ridiculous. My heart goes out to Gabby because I don't think she did anything wrong. She's a competitor. If this was a man who did this, they would be like, oh, he's in the zone. He's thinking about the next competition. But for Gabby Douglas, she's not as sparkly as they would want her to be. [Sesay:] No, indeed. I would say she has tweeted in the last couple of hours and seems in better spirits and has thanked everything from the positive comments she has received. And the last hour, she put this out, "Thank you so much for all the love. My heart is full." [Oduolowu:] Who has been a supporter of her. [Sesay:] She says, "I love you, guys." [Oduolowu:] She should. [Sesay:] She should. [Oduolowu:] This is Olympic dreams. Do not take away from a young girl who has sacrificed, like I said, eight years from London. Be better than that, people. Treat our athletes better. Be better. [Sesay:] OK. [Oduolowu:] Yeah, right. Come and see me on Twitter. [Sesay:] Gets like that sometimes. All right. Thank you for that, Segun. It meant a lot to us. Now, the world's fastest man is on top of the world at the Rio games. As Jeanne Moos shows us, he's all smiles. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn National Correspondent:] When you're running a hundred meters in under 10 seconds, who has time to smile? Cheese. Usain Bolt, that's who. His smiling photo had tweets flying. "Bolt stops, takes a selfie, then continues to run the race." As for his rivals, "Homi is fighting for his life and Bolt is posing for photos mid race." "Smiling like a roadrunner, beep, beep." At least Bolt didn't stick out his tongue. Like the roadrunner. "It is taking me longer to type this tweet than it took bolt to run and win his event." Soon the Olympic semifinal race was transformed into the presidential race. [on camera]: The Bolt smile may be an Internet meme, it's not yet a tattoo, as far as we know. [voice-over]: Michael Phelps' steely stare was the first big meme to come out of the Olympics. And now it's been tattooed on the owner of a tattoo shop. She tattooed it her boss's right calf, working from a photo taped to his leg. [on camera]: Did you have to shave his leg? [Unidentified Female:] Yeah, I did. I cut him by accident. [Moos:] Somewhere in that, tattoo, we'll see a little cut? [Unidentified Female:] It's right by his chin. [Moos:] The tattoo got the blessing of Michael Phelps. [Michael Phelps, U.s. Olympic Swimmer:] That's awesome. That is so cool. [Moos:] From the glare to the smile, the two Olympic names wouldn't be more opposite. But opposites attract eyeballs on the Internet. Take it away, Frank. Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York. [Sesay:] Great piece there. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The news continues next with Rosemary Church. [Gorani:] New Year means new tech, and the annual gathering of innovators in Las Vegas to find the next big thing is unfolding. A lot of chatter has been around Faraday Future. It's an electric car startup and it unveiled its flashy new product. There was, however, just one issue. [Unidentified Male:] Oh. OK. It seems like it's a little bit lazy tonight. [Gorani:] The car was supposed to move on its own after an investor prompted it, but it didn't. Not a great presentation to kick things off for the company. CNN Tech Correspondent Samuel Burke is there in Las Vegas. Let's talk about this company. It was a hiccup at the debut. I mean, how embarrassing was it? Was does it say about the actual car? [Samuel Burke, Cnn Money Business And Technology Correspondent:] It was pretty embarrassing for the company, Hala, though that same thing happened to Steve Jobs, so maybe it's a good omen for them. This company, Faraday Future, is quite mysterious. They want to be a competitor to Tesla, but they've been all talk, no walk until last night when they showed their first production vehicle. As you mentioned, zero to nearly 100 kilometers per hour in just 2.39 seconds in front of us. The car has a range of course, it's an electric car, so this is the most important part about it of about 611 kilometers on just one charge. Maybe if you're the type of person who loses their keys, Hala, you don't strike me as that type of person, but maybe you can use facial recognition to get in the car. And if you are too tired to look for a parking spot or just can't find one, you can actually get out of the car and let it do the searching for you, and then it'll just back into a space. Of course, if it works. And that is after that big hiccup. It left people with some questioning marks. Still, a lot of excitement around this company. A Chinese billionaire who created the equipment of China's Netflix is the big backer of this. So we'll see. But for now, it's living in Tesla's shadow, that's for sure. [Gorani:] Is it on sale yet? [Burke:] Oh, well, you can pre-reserve it. And they don't tell you how much it will cost. Probably between $100,000 and $200,000, Hala, you can pre- reserve it for $5,000 now. Refundable, don't worry, Hala. So I'm sure you'll fork out for a holiday gift for me. [Gorani:] Yes, right. I wouldn't even fork it out for a holiday gift for myself. We hear you have some wearable technology that could improve people's health. What's that about? [Burke:] Well, because I forgot to give you a holiday gift [Gorani:] Oh, we have a show and tell. Get ready, everyone. [Burke:] I'll be bringing you this. I won't be falling live on your show the way I did last year on that skateboard, but this is actually quite interesting because it has to do with health. And so often people say, well, CES is cool but what do they do to improve people's lives? This is a scarf, actually, made for people who live in climates that might have a lot or rather, the environments that might have a lot of pollution in them. So it's a scarf that disguises you can be like this and be on your bicycle maybe disguises what's really inside it, a pollution mask. They have them for men and for women. So I'll be coming back to London with this for you. It costs about 150 euros. That's a big holiday gift for you, Hala. It's worth it just being a few days late. That's all. [Gorani:] But in Asia, I was in Asia recently and a lot of people, I'd say a vast majority of people, actually wear masks to protect themselves against the pollution and germs. [Burke:] Oh, yes, and in Mexico City, you see a lot of folks like that, too. It's a French company, actually, and they said they're going to be pushing hard in Asia and some of those cities that are so well known for having such high pollutants. [Gorani:] But that kind of looks like a baby onesie for some reason, to me, from this distance. It does, right? Doesn't it? Drones. Talk to us about drones. Some new security measures that companies are putting in place. [Burke:] Hala, CES has become all about drones in the past few years. DJI, I remember when that company was just a little small startup. They're still waiting to come and talk to us now that they're the biggest drone manufacturer in the world. This drone that you're seeing right now actually folds up to the size of a water bottle, Hala, but it is important to talk about the security measures because now that there are so many more drones, so pervasive, you know, governments, airports, all around the world trying to figure out what to do. You remember that story that we had back in London of drones actually bringing drugs into a prison not too far from your studio? Well, now, they have what's called geofencing, Hala. These maps that live inside these drones are actually looking around and already have preset areas so they can't go to those areas. So even if I try to fly a drone to a prison which, obviously, I won't be doing any time soon, it will stop me from doing that. The same for the White House. You get too close to the White House, even if you want to keep on going, the drone will stop you. So we're seeing a lot, not just the rise of drones, but what to do to stop drones. [Gorani:] Right, yes. That's interesting and also, I mean, quite necessary. You don't want all these drones flying in sensitive areas. Thanks very much, Samuel Burke. We'll see you soon. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. We'll see you same time, same place tomorrow. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for being with us. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln:] Tonight, a Texas deputy executed in cold blood. Is they are a linked to Black Lives Matter. Plus, a reporter and photographer murdered on live T.V., hear what Alison Parker`s father wants us to know tonight. It all starts right now with the "Top of the Feed." A 47-year-old sheriff`s deputy, never saw it coming. He was shot in the head and back, 15 times. Take a look. [Sheriff Ron Hickman, Harris County Sheriff:] Deputy Darren H. Goforth, 47- year-old, ten year veteran was literally gunned down at a service station just down the road in what appears to be an unprovoked, execution-style killing. [Unidentified Female Reporter:] Investigators are still searching for a motive, but the county sheriff says he believes Goforth`s death may be linked to Black Lives Matter. [Sheriff Hickman:] This rhetoric has gotten out of control. We have heard "Black Lives Matter," "All Lives Matter." Well, cops lives matter too. So, why will not we just drop the qualifier and just say "Lives Matter." [Deray Mckesson, Organizer And Activist, "black Lives Matter":] The only charged rhetoric of the movement has been about, "I am holding officers accountable." [Pinsky:] Joining us, Evy Poumpouras, Security Expert, former special agent with the secret service. Vanessa Barnett, HipHollywood.com. Mike Cathewood, my "Love Line" and KABC co-host. We are on 790 AM at noontime; host of "Chain Reaction" on GSN. Areva Martin, attorney and legal commentator. And, with us as well, John Cardillo, former New York City Police Officer, host of the "John Cardillo" show at 1290 WJNO. Vanessa, my question to you is, has the "Black Lives Matter" rhetoric just gone too far? [Vanessa Barnett, Hiphollywood.com:] No. I do not know what the connection in this case is as of right now. There has not been a motive established. All we know is that the man, who allegedly did this crime was black and that the officer was white. That is all the information that we have right. So, to connect the two does not make sense to me, when the Black Lives Movement is not at all about gunning down officers. [Pinsky:] Well, there was some crazy rhetoric over the weekend in Minnesota. John, it was in Minneapolis, I think, was not it? When they were saying fry the police or something? [Michael Catherwood, "love Line" And Kabc Co-host/ Host Of "chain Reaction" On Gsn:] Pigs in a blanket. [Pinsky:] Pig in a blanket. John, did you see that stuff. [Catherwood:] Yes, yes. "Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon and do not forget New York City". "What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now." Chanting over and over. It is ridiculous to say "Black Lives Matter" did not insight this. It has actually become a radical terrorist hate group. [Pinsky:] Well, hold on. Wait, wait, wait. We jumped way into this argument here fast. Let me hang on. [Barnett:] at this point, that is ridiculous. [Pinsky:] Yes, let me Mike, let us talk about the guy that alleged perpetrator. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] He had quite a sheet, right? [Catherwood:] Yes, I mean he has definitely had quite a history. Shannon Miles, he is 30 years young. Harris County Texas Sheriff says he has a history of resisting arrest, trespassing and disorderly conduct with the firearm. While he has had several run-ins with the police, he has no prior interactions with this officer. [Pinsky:] Wait, I heard he was actually put away in a state psychiatric hospital. [Catherwood:] In 2012, Dr..Drew, he was found mentally incompetent to stand trial after allegedly attacking a man in a homeless shelter, where he was staying. And he was sent to a mental hospital for six months and then declared competent. But, they could not try him for that case, because they never found the victim. [Pinsky:] See, Evy, what kills me about all these cases, and the one we are going to talk about later as well is, oftentimes, it is people with mental illness getting their hands on guns. [Evy Poumpouras, Security Expert/former Special Agent With The Secret Service:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Should they have access to guns if you have that if you are six months in state mental hospital? [Poumpouras:] No. And, if you look at the law, the law is all screwed up, that is why they keep trying to redefine these gun control laws. The law says, if you are deemed mentally incompetent, that means that a judge or a court or some other entity says, you are mentally incompetent, then they put you in an institution, then you cannot get a gun. [Pinsky:] Ever? [Poumpouras:] Yes, technically [Pinsky:] Depends on the state. [Poumpouras:] Depends on the state, depends on the circumstances. But, listen to this. Let us say you still suffer from the same disorder. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Poumpouras:] Let us say, you have a mental issue. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Poumpouras:] And, then you decided on your own, "You know what? I am going to go get help. And, voluntarily, I go to get some help from an institution. I can still get a gun, because I put myself there." So, the law has to so many quirks and issues. What they need to do is redefine. [Pinsky:] Areva, come on now. Is that what we should be worried about as opposed to "Black Lives Matter?" [Areva Martin, Attorney And Legal Commentator:] Absolutely. We should be worried about the mental health issues. One of the things as Mike read that guy`s wrap sheet, I did not hear you read that he was a member of "Black Lives Matter." So, I am not sure how they are making this huge connection between this group, which primarily sprung up on social media, have been talking about police accountability, not talking about killing police officers. Now, are there some fringe members, are there are some people who are on the fringes of this group who may hate police officers? Absolutely, all groups have fringe members, but you cannot hold the entire "Black Lives Matter" movement, which is responsible for so many good things that are happening, like today, 7,000 Los Angeles Police Officers, who are wearing body cams for the first time in the history of Los Angeles. [Pinsky:] And, by the way, taxpayers are not paying for it. It was donated by private donations. So, it was something [Martin:] But, the whole movement to get body cams, you have to draw some correlation between the protests by groups like "Black Lives Matter." [Catherwood:] I think Areva`s point is very important. Dr. Drew, after you left the radio show today in the afternoon at KABC, I took nothing but calls from black citizens. Some of them are law enforcement themselves saying that, these radicals that may be dressing themselves up as the "Black Lives Matter" movement, do not in any way represent either them as members of the Black Lives Movement or African-Americans period. [Pinsky:] Mike, hold on. Evy, hold on. John, I want to relive a moment that I have right here in the set, like last week. If you guys could get the tape for me in the control room. We had a guy you will remember this, John, who got up in the audience, right? And made some pretty inflammatory remarks. Let us play that if we could. All right? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] It is only a matter of time before the people start shooting at the police and say whether they are shooting at us. It is like they do not realize that they are kind of starting a revolution. [Pinsky:] If anything, you worry that could happen. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] I am saying, it is just a matter of time before it happened. [Pinsky:] Well, you are saying it is going to happen. Be careful. Be careful. [Ryan Sorba, Chairman Of The Young Conservatives Of California:] It has already happened in New York [Pinsky:] Be careful. And, then, John, you reacted to that rather strongly?. [Cardillo:] Oh, yes. [Pinsky:] You want to have at it again? How do you connect between Is that guy people are starting to think that way because of a social movement? [Cardillo:] Let me explain this, because I have been studying the "Black Lives Matter" movement and digging in very deep. Recently, the new Black Panther Party and the Nation of Islam have very visibly called for the murders of police officers in whites. And, before I am cut off, it is important to understand that they have provided with the explicit permission of "Black Lives Matter" perimeter security at their events at "Black Lives Matter" events. "Black Lives Matter" groups are marching with banners that say "Black Lives Matter," calling for the murder of police. Now, before people shut me down and tell me this did not happen, there is streaming video on 500 sites showing it did. So, "Black Lives Matter" is absolutely responsible for the incendiary rhetoric that leads to violence against police and law abiding citizens. [Pinsky:] But, Vanessa, again, is it just the periphery? Do they need to take responsibility for that? [Barnett:] Just spouting off ignorant comments that you almost cannot even respond to. No, they are not out here, attacking and killing police officers. You are taking one isolated incident and then there was another incident in New York from people from rogue radical people, who are not paying in dues to "Black Lives Matter." That is not what we have here. And, I do not know why you are so threatened by me saying my life matters. Black Lives Matter and that is OK. I am not saying your life matter any less, so for you to be threatened by that because you have people a group of people coming together for good [Cardillo:] No one is threatened by it. [Barnett:] No one is going out and not the majority of that group is asking for cops to be murdered. You are just spouting off ridiculous things to get on T.V., and no one is here for you. No one is here for you. [Pinsky:] Hang on. Let me go to the audience. Hang on, John. Hold on a second, Vanessa. Yes, sir, go ahead. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Well, first of all, I would like to give my condolences to the deputy and his family. My heart goes out to them. [Pinsky:] Well, Areva, the point is well taken. And, maybe Black Lives Matter is ill-serving their point, their defense [Martin:] I disagree with that, Dr. Drew. [Pinsky:] by in anyway being associated with the things that John says they are being associated. [Martin:] Well, I disagree with that. Black Lives Matter have had an incredible impact on the constitutional policing in just one year that they sprung up after the death of Mike Brown. So, I think they are absolutely on point. And, as to Vanessa`s point, when we say black lives matter, we are not saying that white lives do not matter, or that police lives do not matter. All lives matter. [Pinsky:] But, John feels that there is some elements in there saying [Martin:] But, you have to recognize Black Lives Matter is calling attention to the issue of racial disparities in policing as it relates to African- Americans. That is real. [Pinsky:] Hang on. [Mar Tin:] You cannot dismiss that. [Pinsky:] Last thought, Evy. John, hold on. We got to take a break. [Poupouras:] I got to I want to just say something. [Pinsky:] Very quick. [Poumpouras:] You know what? I do not exactly I do not agree with what John is saying, black lives do matter and they should be allowed to express themselves. But, the other thing, I want to point out is this, the moment we have a white officer get involved in a shootout with an African- American, automatically, that stereotype is in there, that "Oh, this must have been racist." So, I just feel like it is just happening on both sides. And, before we make judgments, white, black, whatever, we should know what happened before we start calling people racists. [Pinsky:] All right. Next up, I got a friend of the slain deputy joining me. And, later what the parents of a murdered daughter reporter saying tonight. We are back after this. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back. You're looking at like pictures from Joint Base Pearl Harbor, where 75 years ago, today, Japanese attack planes dropped bombs over parts of Hawaii, propelling the United States to enter World War II. The U.S. Navy and National Park Service are hosting a memorial ceremony right now. Live pictures coming in. And we're watching two other major events commemorating Pearl Harbor. The Vice President-elect Mike Pence visiting the World War II Memorial here in Washington, D.C. And at Texas A&M University, former President George H.W. Bush and former Senator Bob Dole, remembered for their service during World War II as well. While these ceremonies honor the veterans at Pearl Harbor during that fateful day, one survivor never felt like a hero. He tells CNN's Kyung Lah why, this year, he is going back to Pearl Harbor for the very first time. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Ask B.C. Wilborn the secret to living to age 95 in good health, he'll say love of a vibrant hobby, like horse racing, and a lot of experience in surviving. [on camera]: Do you think, I'm a war hero? [B.c. Wilborn, World War Ii Veteran & Former Navy First Class Petty Officer:] Oh, no, no. Gosh. Just the opposite. You think what you could have done, and didn't do. [Announcer:] The Japanese have attacked Pearl Harbor. [Lah:] 75 years ago, Wilborn stood aboard the "USS Maryland" as the Japanese launched an early morning attack on Pearl Harbor. Wilborn just a 20-year-old first class petty officer in the Navy. [on camera]: What did it feel like to be in the middle of that? [Wilborn:] I didn't have no fear. I see everything happening, and it just seemed like unreal. [Lah:] Daughter, Edie, and her husband, Ron. [Edie Stanton, Daughter Of B.c. Wilson:] They pay a big price for us to be free. [Lah:] How old are you here? [Wilborn:] I was 24, 25. [Lah:] They had pictures and saw their father's purple heart but he never talked about World War II, until, for reasons no one can explain, a few years ago [on camera]: Just started talking? [Ron Stanton, Son-in-law Of B.c. Wilborn:] Just started talking. Sad to say, I didn't have a tape recorder to get it. [Lah:] And he hasn't stopped talking, Wilborn sharing horrors, the men he couldn't save aboard the capsized "USS Oklahoma." [Wilborn:] You hear them tapping on the wall and wonder, I guess thinking they're going to get rescued. After about two days, maybe, on the third day, stopped. No more. [Lah:] More than 400 men died on "The Oklahoma." [on camera]: 75 years later, you can still recall that sound? [Wilborn:] Oh, gosh, yes. And I thought it was about the sad evidence thing I saw in the Navy. I was I don't know. Seemed so helpless. [Lah:] Unlike many survivors, Wilborn never went back to Pearl Harbor. That's changing this year. 75 years later, he's returning for the first time since that day of infamy. [on camera]: What changed? Why did you start thinking about it? [Wilborn:] It's a sad day, and I don't know. You try to get it out of your mind and then, it don't go. [Lah:] So the survivor faces one last battle of his own memories. Kyung Lah, CNN, Collinsville, Illinois. [Blitzer:] Defense Secretary Ash Carter, he's in Japan today, pledging America's commitment to its alliance with Japan and praising the security relationship the two countries share. Let's talk a little more how the Defense Department and U.S. military have evolved since Pearl Harbor, 75 years ago, today. Let's bring in CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel, Cedric Leighton. Colonel, thanks very much for joining us. [Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] My pleasure, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Your dad served in the U.S. Army in World War II. I was a former Pentagon correspondent. Is it it's not unusual that a lot of those veterans, for years and years, they never wanted to talk about what they went through during World War [Ii. Leighton:] Absolutely true, and I think it's particularly true with people who actually saw close combat. My dad did not see close combat but served in the intelligence side of the army and he worked a lot of the code-breaking issues that became really famous in later years. First of all, he couldn't really talk about that in the close proximity to World War II because of the classification, but then he was able to talk more about it, and it was very clear that that had a decisive impact on the war. [Blitzer:] I can only imagine how emotional this trip to Pearl Harbor for this 95-year-old veteran is going to be. Let's talk about the lessons of Pearl Harbor, lessons that are important today. We often hear military analysts say it's important to prevent another Pearl Harbor. In today's worldwide, what does that mean? [Leighton:] Pervaded the language quite a bit. You're trying to prevent a surprise attack. You want to be prepared. It's all a readiness. And if something bad happens, you want the resilience necessary to overcome that particular surprise attack. So, if there is an action, like a Pearl Harbor or a 911 attack, you want to be able to make sure that you have the resources and the military capability that can actually prevent or actually practice retribution against an attack of that type. [Blitzer:] Because Pearl Harbor was clearly an intelligence failure? [Leighton:] Absolutely. The real shame of Pearl Harbor, Wolf, was the fact that you had a situation where there was information available, that there was some type of Japanese attack being planned, but the precise nature of the attack wasn't known, the precise manner, timing of the attack, that also wasn't known, and that was a significant failure. And also, the fact they didn't fuse intelligence with operational information, such as the radar picture, and that prevented a great deal of activity as well, and really caused the surprise to be a complete surprise. [Blitzer:] The former defense secretary, Leon Panetta, speaks of a cyber Pearl Harbor threat to the United States right now. And that is enormous, that cyber warfare potential attack. [Leighton:] Absolutely. Because, unlike a kinetic attack, like Pearl Harbor was, really what 911 was, a cyber Pearl Harbor would be an attack that would be a stealth attack until it's too late, and what they're really worried about, people like Leon Panetta, are worried about is an attack on the infrastructure, the power grid, hospitals, things that make daily life possible today in our society. If an attack like that were to happen, it would have significant social disruption for this country. [Blitzer:] The U.S. military works around the clock to prevent precisely that. That's what keeps them up at night. Thanks so much. Cedric, thanks for joining us. [Leighton:] You bet, Wolf. My pleasure. [Blitzer:] Senator John McCain, himself a Vietnam War veteran, is speaking at the World War II Memorial right now commemorating the 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor himself. A very, very emotional day for so many people. Coming up, President Obama opens up to CNN about a threat to the country that took him by surprise, and why it wasn't on his intelligence radar. His candid interview, that's coming up next. [Sesay:] U.S.-led coalition forces are moving forward in their fight against ISIS in Iraq. Right now, troops are circling Mosul and have killed up to 900 ISIS fighters. The militants have also started sending suicide squads to Mosul from Raqqa in Syria. [Vause:] And Raqqa is the next ISIS stronghold coalition forces will be targeting. The U.S. defense secretary says both operations will happen simultaneously. [Sesay:] CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, joins us live via Skype from Oregon. Colonel Francona, thank you so much for joining us. Why are ISIS fighters launching such fierce defense of areas to the south of Mosul as opposed to just retreating to take a stand there in the city? I mean, what's the group's strategy here? [Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] Well, they're trying to slow down the Iraqi advance giving the ISIS fighters inside the city more time to make the fortifications stronger than they are. They are being effective at it. They have blunted the momentum of the Iraqi army. The Iraqis are still moving forward but it's going slowly to clear the obstacles, mine fields and suicide bombers. So you know, that's their strategy and it's being effective. [Sesay:] To date it appears the Iraqi-led coalition is successfully coordinating the efforts among the different actors involved. And we know there are a lot of different parties involved. If they get to Mosul and breach the perimeter, that cohesion will be tested in a new way. [Francona:] I think it's going to be. We're seeing how fierce the defense of the city of Mosul is to be. We're not even to the city yet and the fighting is already intense and fierce. Once they get into the city itself, it will be that much more intense. And we've heard from the Iraqi generals that they plan to only use the Iraqi army and Iraqi police forces inside the city itself and have the Kurds remain out. I think once they get in there and find out how hard this is going to be, they will have other actors in there, probably the Kurds, maybe not the Shia militias, but they will be hard pressed to this by themselves. [Sesay:] They are. Colonel Francona, thanks for joining us. [Francona:] Sure. [Vause:] Next here on CNN NEWSROOM, a moment of revelation, something that has not been seen for centuries, the stone slab believed to be the final resting place for Jesus. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program from the United Nations. Now the U.N. refugee agency warns that 2016 looks set to claim a dubious distinction. The deadliest year on record for migrant crossings. While arrivals by sea are down, almost half to what happened last year, Syria means the flow won't stop any time soon. And Jordan is one of the front-line states hosting nearly 1.5 million refugees. It's an almost unbearable strain on a tiny country of 6.5 million people. Amid this, Jordanians voted in parliamentary elections this week, contested for the first time in a decade by the political arm of the Muslim brotherhood. And they are expected to do very well, indeed. Here at the U.N., Queen Rania joined me for an exclusive interview about the refugee crisis and about the battle against extremism. You have said many times that the evil ideology of these extremists has to be defeated. Jordan has about 4,000 people who have joined the Jihadist in Syria. It's apparently the biggest per head per capita other than Tunisia in that region. And there is a new experiment in Jordan, we read, of a new sort of layout in mosques that imams have to be sanctioned. Their sermons, so to speak, have to be sanctioned. How is Jordan dealing with the radicalization of people? [Queen Rania Al-abdullah, Queen Of Jordan:] Well, when you say that there are large numbers, it's not surprising since we are very close to the ground zero of extremism. Just by physical proximity. We realize that the ideological battle is a battle that has to be led by us Muslims. It is our fight for our future as Muslims. And I think every element of society has to be involved in that fight. Not just mosques or religious leaders, but it has to be fought in every aspect of our society. In our media, community centers, schools and universities. We do not believe that these people exist on the fringes of Islam. We think that they are altogether outside of Islam. And that's why we call them "hawarish" or outlaws. And if you look at their records, many of them go back to the criminal cells and prisons. They are ex-criminals. So it is very important for us to reveal them for who they are. [Amanpour:] Are you doing a good enough job at that? [Queen Rania:] I don't think any of us are doing a good enough job at that. We cannot contain this ideology, unless we confront it with courage. But in Jordan, we are trying to reveal them for who they are. They are a group of people who pick and choose, they cut and paste, they manipulate certain elements of Islam in order to come up with their own toxic brew. And there's a recent report that revealed that over 70 percent of their recruits hardly have basic knowledge of Islam, which makes them the ideal candidates so that you could manipulate them and have them fall for the twisted ideology. [Amanpour:] Not to mention some we've heard about drink alcohol, have sex out of marriage. I mean, so many of them. [Queen Rania:] They're absolutely devoid of any religious or moral legitimacy. And that is something that we need to reveal. You know, as you know, their ability to succeed has depended on their ability to craft messages that resonate with the wide spectrum of people and to disseminate those messages far and wide. And we need to get better at doing that. And you know, their toxic ideology outlives and outlasts them. So you can kill the extremist, but the perversion, the poison persists. We really need to understand that we need to fight them on the Internet, in every element of society. So there needs to be a mind shift. [Amanpour:] You're on fire, your majesty. [Queen Rania:] Let me say, you know, the most probably important thing is to really root out the causes of injustice in our world. Because that is where the vulnerability comes. You know, whether its prisoners who have been humiliated in Abu Ghraib, or the suffering families who have lost everything in Aleppo or in Afghanistan. You know, I think if we allow for the creation of a human being with nothing to lose, then that is probably injustice that we can inflict on another human being. And it is the greatest threat for the rest of humanity. So [Amanpour:] Blow-back. [Queen Rania:] Absolutely. We cannot allow for the creation of people with nothing to lose. It's just unfair. [Amanpour:] And, finally, as a mother and as a mother of girls, you had an event with Michelle Obama, the first lady, about girls' education. And I think during that, you said never has there been a bleaker time in your region, that you remember. Tell me about that? How as a mother does all of this affect you? [Queen Rania:] People always look at the urgent issues, the political ramifications. What keeps me up at night is thinking what kind of future generations are we creating today? With so many children knowing nothing about a lifetime of war and terror. What kind of generation is this? Are they going to be consigned to poverty? To [Amanpour:] Your majesty, Queen Rania, thank you very much indeed for joining us. [Queen Rania:] A pleasure. Thank you. [Amanpour:] And after the break, we visit the, quote, "Conflict Cafe," crossing enemy lines to break bread together. We imagine that, when we come back. [Harlow:] Tomorrow marks one year since an unarmed black teenager was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Earlier today, crowds turned out to celebrate Michael brown's life and to mark the anniversary of his death. His death, of course, sparked national outrage and led to protests across this country. We are learning more now about another fatal shooting of an unarmed teenager. This one in South Carolina. Nick Valencia reports. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Poppy, the Seneca police department calls it a justified shooting, saying their officer feared for his life. But the parents of 19-year-old Zachary Hammond say their son did not have to die. [Valencia:] July 26th, 2015, 19-year-old Zachary Hammond is on a date with 23-year-old tori Morton, who is the target of a drug sting. When they pull into a Hardee's parking lot, police are waiting. According to police report, Hammond, who was driving, attempted to strike an officer with his vehicle during the attempted arrest. He shot twice. He dies at the scene. [John Covington, Seneca Police Chief:] It's a horrible situation. I mean, you get put in a predicament. And sometime you know when you sign up to be a police officer that that potential in your career that you might have to use deadly force. The Seneca police chief says his officer is a victim, too. [Eric Bland, Attorney For Zachary Hammond's Family:] A victim of attempted murder. That's what the police chief. [Paul Hammond, Victim's Father:] I have a hard time believing it when my son is no longer here. [Unidentified Female:] That he's the victim. [Valencia:] The Hammonds say police have not given them answers. So they went looking for their own. An independent autopsy they conducted shows their son was shot from behind and at close range. The family attorney adds the results show the car was stopped at the time of the shooting. [Angie Hammond, Victim's Mother:] It's been very hard. Not only are we grieving that our son is gone, we don't know why it happened or what happened. We're just trying to find the answers. [Valencia:] Lieutenant Mark Tiller, the officer involved in the shooting, is a ten year veteran and has no history of getting in trouble. In a statement, Tiller's attorney put the blame on the 19- year-old Hammond. In order to stop the continuing threat to himself and the genuine public, two shots were fired by Lieutenant Tiller in quick succession. If not for Lieutenant Tiller's quick reflexes and his ability to push off the car, lieutenant Tiller would have easily been run over by Mr. Hammond. On Friday, Hammond supporters held a vigil, in hopes that attention to his killing will bring them answers from police. The South Carolina law enforcement division is investigating the incident. They tell CNN they're still collecting evidence. We've reached out to them ask for the dash-cam video of the incident. But they say it's a part of an ongoing investigation and will not be releasing it at this time Poppy. [Harlow:] Nick Valencia, reporting. Coming up next, a few Pew poll showing that and increase in the number of Americans that view racism as a major problem in this country. We'll break it down next. [Aaron David Miller, Vice President & Distinguished Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center For Scholars & Author:] And clearly civilians are going to be caught up in what is going to be a fierce and incredibly determined struggle. Then there's the question of humanitarian flow and refugee migration. So I think the big losers, just as in Syria and Iraq, will be the people of Syria and Iraq. I don't think there's any question about that. What the coalition forces can do in order to mitigate or anticipate and prevent these losses it's hard to say right now. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] We'll get to what Petraeus said. Let's back up. Mosul was captured by ISIS, it was 2014, a thousand ISIS soldiers to some 30,000 Iraqi troops. Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the head of ISIS, announced the creation of the caliphate at the Grand Mosque in Mosul. That's the last two years. Why is it so significant now? [Miller:] I think for symbolic reasons alone. The reality is ISIS is going to survive Mosul. But the reality is if you can deprive the Islamic State of its main asset, which is control over territory governance, the capacity to recruits to a place, and however bitter the experience may be to offer an alternative form of governance, you deny the Islamic State a caliphate. You demonstrate that they are, in fact, a nasty ideological organization driven by hatred and propaganda. And you can begin, it seems to me, to invincibility and inevitability that seems to have provided by this proto-terror state with an extraordinary message and that's what needs to be done. That's not going to deal a bitter blow to its ideology, its capacity to inspire disgruntled individuals in Europe and other places and in the region as well, but deny them the caliphate in Mosul. And, you're right, I mean, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi announced the caliphate at the Grand Mosque. Mosul is a hugely important city, as you pointed out, two million people before 2014. It has the largest single Christian population of any Iraqi city. And it stands as a potential symbol of a new Iraq, of a kind of multicultural Iraq with a sectarian economy. Now that's a dream right now but it carries great and tremendous value, particularly for the Iraqi government that has yet to demonstrate its competence and capacity. This is the largest single operation that the Iraqi military has undertaken, clearly, since the American invasion in '03. [Baldwin:] Which would lead to the question, to your point, you have this actual battle, you have this ideological battle, and if and when it finally is over and falls, to General Petraeus' point, we have to go. I just want to tell our viewers, what about afterwards, the competence of Iraq to move forward. Aaron David Miller, please come back. As always, we appreciate having you on. Thank you, sir, so much. [Miller:] Thank you, Brooke. [Baldwin:] Thank you. Coming up next, back to presidential politics. A new batch of WikiLeaks. What it reveals about the Clintons' relationship with Al Gore, specifically this election cycle. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton traded jabs at a charity dinner last night. Got some pretty big laughs, but Trump also got booed, repeatedly, for ignoring the dinner's tradition. We'll have the highlights and the lowlights next. [Unidentified Female:] I could have been shot. Like I didn't know where the shooter was. I don't know where he could have been. I don't know if you could have gone into. Our theater and shoot us. And I was just so afraid. [Costello:] President Obama is on his way to Nairobi, Kenya right now addressing security issues across the region. But once again he's faced with security issues here at home. The president has been briefed on last night's deadly shooting and in a cruel twist the tragedy just comes hours after he called a lack of commonsense gun laws that, quote, "most frustrating part of his presidency." Michelle Kosinski live in Kenya with more for us. Hi, Michelle. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Carol. Right. You know, Kenyans were kind of upset over the last couple days with the world talking about potential security concerns of the president traveling here. Well, now people here are marveling that what the president is being briefed on right now is the security concerns of regular people in public places in America. I mean, you look at over the last couple of years that shootings have happened in malls, theaters, kindergarten schools, you name it. It is a problem. And what to do about that problem is the debate right now. President Obama expressed his frustration over trying to do more to prevent these things in an interview with the BBC last night. And interestingly as you mentioned this happened only hours before a shooting happened yet again. Listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The one area I feel that I've been most frustrated and most stymied, it is the fact that the United States of America is the one advanced nation on Earth in which we do not have sufficient commonsense gun safety laws. Even in the face of repeated mass killings. And if you look at the number of Americans killed since 911 by terrorism, it's less than 100. If you look at the number that have been killed by gun violence, it's in the tens of thousands. [Kosinski:] So, in that interview, he also said that he wasn't going to be stopped from trying to do more. So that would have to be in the form of an executive order. How far that would go remains to be scene. The White House hasn't been giving much in the way of detail on what they want to do on this issue and when it could happen. When you look at 2013, for example, after the Newtown shooting at the school, in Sandy Hook, the president enacted nearly two dozen executive orders on gun control but they were fairly weak. I mean, they did things like try to share information among agencies, put limits on background checks. But a lot of these were stymied by legislation. That kind of had them going nowhere. When you look at Congress's attempts to limit the president, it's pretty tough. Most recently, they put in a rider to an appropriations bill for the Department of Justice that would limit the president's attempts to try to stop ammunition from being sold in certain quantities. Things like that. I think most interestingly, one thing the president tried to do in his last round of executive orders was to allow the CDC to do studies on gun violence, just studies. But the CDC hasn't wanted to do that out of fears that if they studied gun violence in America, that Congress would try to cut certain funding. So, that's the kind of impasse that the president faces and to say that this would be an uphill battle to try to change things, Carol, is putting it very, very lightly. [Costello:] Well, it's a sad world when you can't even do a study without fear of repercussion. That's ridiculous. Michelle Kosinski, I know you can't comment. I'm sorry to lay that on you. But I just had to say it. Michelle Kosinski reporting live from Kenya this morning. I appreciate it. All right. We just got cell phone video in from inside the theater. This was taken by somebody who went to the movie last night in Lafayette. You can see that they are attending to an injured person on the ground. I'm seeing this for the first time along with you. They are trying to carry that person to get some sort of help. You can hear the emergency vehicles arriving in the background. We assume they are hearing that person to a vehicle that might be able to take them to the hospital. Nine people originally taken to the hospital, one of them in critical condition. The parish president just told me that two of those injured have been released from the hospital. That's good news. But everybody says the psychological scars will live on forever. Later this hour, we're going to check in with the Lafayette Police Chief Jim Kraft. He'll tell us more about the shooter, this 59-year- old drifter, that just opened fire for no apparent reason in this movie theater. I'll be right back. [Gorani:] Welcome back. A look at our top story. Police say two men are dead in what they describe as a murder-suicide at the University of California in Los Angeles. They say the situation at UCLA is now contained and that students are not under any threat. The shooting happened at an engineering building on campus. In the United Kingdom, Vote Leave campaigners have published a tough new immigration policy ahead of the upcoming referendum on the European Union. It would be based on the Australian points-based system and would require new immigrants to speak, quote, "good English" and have the skills, quote, "for relevant jobs," unquote. Investigators say a French naval vessel has detected underwater signals from EgyptAir Flight 804. The flight data and cockpit voice recorders could reveal what caused the crash of the plane on May 19th. The main wreckage not found yet. Now Al-Shabaab is claiming responsibility for an attack on a popular hotel in Mogadishu. This is take a look. This is the first video we're getting from the scene. Police now say at least 10 people were killed. Two lawmakers are reportedly among those who were killed. The attackers set off a car bomb at the gates of the hotel and then they stormed the building. The U.S. president is touting the economic progress made since the start of his term. He's in Elkhart, Indiana, this hour. A source tells CNN that Mr. Obama is also ready to wade into the race for the next president. He's going to go out there potentially in a more significant way than he has up until now. In fact, he has not in any significant way so we'll see how that manifests itself. Let's look again at that race now. "Unethical," "a fraud," "a total lie," that's what some former employees of Trump University, as it's called, call the school that Donald Trump founded. Their scathing accusations are a part of court testimony in a class action lawsuit. Drew Griffin has more on the documents just released and how they suggest the school was less in the business of education and more in the business of making money. [Drew Griffin, Cnn Sr. Investigative Correspondent:] The sales team playbook just released is the first time we've seen such a detailed account of how Trump University was able to sell $40 million in what's alleged to be a worthless real estate course. In these pages are details on seating, dressing, the use of power phrases and scripted answers to tough questions, like, "How much money will it cost?" "I'm glad you asked that question," the playbook script tells the salesperson to say. "It takes money to make money. This is an invitation-only program. Most students who are invited into this program use established lines of credit, like a credit card, utilizing the bank's money," the script says, "other people's money," to handle their tuition. For people with no credit cards or have used up their limits, "Do you have any other seed capital or savings set aside to further invest into your real estate projects?" Another document instructs staffers to collect personalized information that you can utilize during closing time. For example, are they a single parent of three children who need money for food? Sales people were told to use that personal information, tug on emotions of potential clients and close the deal, preferably with a credit card swipe for up to $35,000. [Eric Schneiderman, New York Attorney General:] This is thousands of people who were taken for millions of dollars. [Griffin:] New York's attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, is leading one of three lawsuits against Donald Trump and his Trump University, the lawsuits all basically the same. [Schneiderman:] There wasn't one piece of his pitch that was actually true. [Griffin:] Schneiderman alleges it wasn't a university. Its teachers didn't teach any Donald Trump secrets. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] And these were all people that are hand-picked by me. [Griffin:] And, no, according to lawsuits, none of the instructors were hand-picked by Donald Trump. Feicisimo Limon says he paid more than $26,000 for his Trump real estate course. He says he learned nothing and was constantly pressured to buy even more. [Feicisimo Limon , Former Trump University Student:] What the heck are you talking about? More money and I'm not learning anything? [Griffin:] You didn't learn anything in that class? [Limon:] No. [Griffin:] Drew Griffin, CNN, New York. [Gorani:] Let's bring in Mark Preston. He is CNN Politics executive editor and he's live in New York this hour. So this Trump University thing, we see that Hillary Clinton is using that now. Clearly this is her strategy. She tweeted out a flurry of tweets from her official account. This is something that they feel maybe is a weakness here? [Mark Preston, Cnn Political Director:] They do. And what they're trying to do is to call into question his integrity and his morals and, quite frankly, his honesty. Donald Trump has declared, as our viewers all around the world know, that he is an unbelievable businessman, that he knows how to get things done. And this Trump University really was a set of classes that he suggested or at least indicated that he would teach people who signed up for them the secrets that he was able to develop and to hone and, they, too, would become successful. And, clearly, from Drew's report right now and from the lawsuits, that's not necessarily true. [Gorani:] But all that counts in this situation is whether or not it hurts him votes, whether or not it takes support away from him as a candidate. [Preston:] Right. And we're looking and seeing what Hillary Clinton is doing right now is that she is trying to chip away at the integrity of Donald Trump and trying to convey to voters that he would not be right person to elect as president. Now I have to say, singularly, I'm of the mindset that this issue will not hurt him when looked at by itself. However, if we continue to see issues like this or circumstances like this that build up over time, could this hurt him in October and November when voters head to the polls, certainly at the beginning of November? Then that possibly could happen Hala. [Gorani:] All right. Now let's take a look at one of the latest polls. Because these are interesting: even though the U.S. electoral system is different, it's not you know, it's sort of a direct universal suffrage system, but still nationally, if you look at this Quinnipiac poll, Trump versus Hillary Clinton, 4 percentage points apart. I mean, this is not what a few months ago I think people would have predicted necessarily. They would have thought the establishment candidate would have much more of an advantage. Yet we are seeing them extremely close. What does that tell us about the race going forward? [Preston:] Well, a couple things. One is that both of those candidates on our screen, the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, and the likely Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, have very high negatives here in the United States. Voters are not very happy with either of them. But Donald Trump, because he's been able to basically secure the Republican nomination, has been able to consolidate Republicans behind his candidacy and that has helped his numbers. We have not seen that on the Democratic side. Hillary Clinton's still battling for the Democratic nomination with Bernie Sanders. She's expected to win it next Tuesday. However, she still is in this primary fight. But, to your point at this moment in time, as we look at this national poll, Donald Trump is doing far better than any of us had ever expected Hala. [Gorani:] But for him to in fact win the election, he would have to do much better than that even in states that are currently leaning Democrat. He would have to flip those states, based on what Mitt Romney did last time. [Preston:] Exactly. And if you were to just kind of visualize the United States the map of the United States in your head right now, Donald Trump is trying to win the big mid-Atlantic state, Pennsylvania, and then to go west out to Ohio and then perhaps up to Wisconsin. All these states are considered Rust Belt states, states that had manufacturing as businesses that have gone away and have been really hurt by U.S. trade deals or at least that's what Donald Trump is saying. He thinks that he can win these states. These are states that so far had been won by Democrats. For Donald Trump to win in November, he would have to pick off these states. Quite frankly, there are other paths for are him to look at, that would be to win states out west, as well as win the state of Florida. But he's really had some trouble with these states, particularly states like New Mexico or Florida, which have high Hispanic populations and his declaration to build a wall, Hala, has not gone over very well with Hispanic Americans. [Gorani:] All right. Thanks very much, Mark Preston. Always great having you on the program with your analysis. Now we've reported extensively on migrants and refugees fleeing Syria. The majority try to reach Europe but others are looking further afield. Some have ended up as far away as South Korea. They're trying to build a new life there but dozens find themselves stuck at an airport in Seoul. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Inchon Airport in Seoul repeatedly voted one of the best in the world. But it's a place of limbo for these men, appealing against South Korea's decision to refuse them refugee status. Legal cases are ongoing so we're hiding their identities. One of their lawyers says up to 180 [Hancocks:] people are in this waiting area meant for 50. The justice ministry tells us there are only 116. Many of them have been here for months. No bags, no windows, a fast food burger and drink three times a day. The meat is not allowed. So most eat just the bread. The man filming this is Mohammad, one of 28 Syrians here. He's in his early 20s and fled Aleppo after his home was destroyed and the Assad government called him up for his military service. "It's impossible for me and my friends to return," he says. "Some are running away from the army. Some running away from the government or military service. We ran because we don't want to be a part of the war. We don't want to hold a gun." The justice ministry rejected his application six months ago because he didn't come from Syria directly but from a safe country. He traveled through Turkey and China. Mohammad's lawyer tells me China forcefully repatriates North Korean defectors because they don't consider them refugees. And an amnesty report claims Turkey has been banishing about 100 Syrian refugees a day since January. The claim these countries are safe is illogical. Mohammad says he decided to come to South Korea as he couldn't bring himself to try and reach Europe. "I have friends who died in the sea," he tells me. "I'm so sad about it. I just couldn't try, because I saw my friends and thousands of other people drowning in the sea." The justice ministry declined our request for an interview and also for access to the would-be refugees, citing security concerns. But they did say for those who didn't want to stay in this waiting room, they were able to stay in the transit area but at their own expense. As for the waiting room, the justice ministry says the airlines operations committee is responsible. BAOC is asking the government to take responsibility and the lawyers say unhygienic conditions are making some of their clients sick. Since 2014, hundreds of Syrians have been allowed into the country under humanitarian status. The justice ministry says they have no benefits except basic health care and only three have been granted full refugee status in 20 years. But for Mohammad, he's still waiting to hear if he's even allowed to apply Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul. [Gorani:] Don't forget, you can get all the latest news, interviews and analysis on our Facebook page, facebook.comHalaGoraniCNN. We'll see you online and we'll see you after the break. Because coming up, it is one of the most emotive issues in the debate over Brexit. That is immigration. The Leave campaign is proposing an Australian-style points system. What is it? Why would anyone support it? I will speak to former British foreign secretary Lord Owen, campaigning for the U.K. to leave the E.U. after the break. [Keilar:] Another Republican breaking with his party to support Hillary Clinton. We're talking about former congressman Chris Shays, who wrote on Op-Ed for cnn.com about his decision, saying in part, "I know some Republicans dislike President Obama and have such a strong dislike for Hillary Clinton. They are willing to vote for a man they know does not have the temperament, knowledge, or experience to be president. In fact, I think many Republicans know Donald Trump could cause great damage to our country and the world at large and still plan to vote for him. But not me." Former Connecticut congressman Chris Shays joining us now. And tell us about your decision. How did you come to this conclusion that you were not going to not only are you not going to support Donald Trump, but you are going to support Hillary Clinton. [Fmr. Rep. Christopher Shays , Connecticut:] Well, first off, I was a strong and am a strong supporter of John Kasich. He was my first choice, my second choice, my third choice, but now my conclusion is that Hillary Clinton is my choice. If you had told me I would have said that three months ago, I would have been really surprised. So I watched the conventions. Republicans had a very dark convention. It was almost like a lynching, you know guilty and lock her up. And I thought this isn't the party of Ronald Reagan and it ain't the party that I joined. And then I watched the Democratic Convention and Hillary did all the things that reminded me why I liked her. I worked with her on the 911 sicknesses of these incredible people who were cleaning up the debris and trying to save lives. And she came into our hearing I was chairing the National Security Committee and we were in New York. She came in the hearing, sat next to the other House members, asked me one or two questions, and then spoke. She was willing to work with House Republicans and Democrats and she wasn't partisan, she was solution-oriented. The biggest problem we have in this country right now is our government is not working. And our founding fathers formed the Constitution to help a diverse group of people find common ground. She'll do that. [Keilar:] How many people do you think are in a similar situation to you, though? Do you think there are a lot of Republicans who are going to make this switch? [Shays:] I think there are a lot of Republicans that know that Donald Trump is not qualified but they represent districts where a lot of Republicans a lot of Republican candidates know he's not qualified and they are in districts where a lot of Republicans, in particular, and maybe some of the affiliated voters are supporting him, and I would be really angry if they didn't support Donald Trump. [Keilar:] You said that's not the party I joined when you're talking about Republican Party. Hillary Clinton sort of famously said she's said repeatedly because she was at one point a Republican, as a young person. [Shays:] Yes. [Keilar:] She said I didn't leave the party, the party left me. I wonder if you feel the same way about the Republican Party right about now. John Kasich had a lot more similarities, I thought, with some of the Democratic candidates than he did with many of the Republican candidates. [Shays:] You know, the one similarity he had is he wanted government to work. He's a fantastic governor in Ohio. And it's almost like when Ronald Reagan came in he believed in small governments like Republicans do, but that got morphed into not liking our government and then it got morphed into we don't want government to work if it's bad. And this one quick story. I asked a senator who was a House member he just got into the Senate the youngest senator I mean, the newest. And I said how do you like being there? He said I love it, I can kill anything. The Senate one senator can stop anything. And so Republicans are not using government to do good things, they're just trying to just not have it do anything. How do you repeal regulations? You need a law. You need to work with both sides to repeal what you've done. [Keilar:] You make the case that Donald Trump is dangerous. [Shays:] He is dangerous. [Keilar:] Why do you feel he's dangerous? [Shays:] Well, first off, he's ignorant of the world and he's ignorant of what he says. He's casual about nuclear weapons, about our adversaries. He's giving our allies the impression that we may not be there for them. Words matter, particularly for a president and for, like, the head of the Federal Reserve. If they cough, the market goes up or down. And he doesn't have a principle that heads him in a good direction. [Keilar:] Did the Clinton campaign reach out to you on this? [Shays:] No. [Keilar:] I know they've been courting some Republicans. [Shays:] No. I knew John Podesta and I had a friend. I said tell John I'd like to offer my support and he got back to me and put me in touch with someone. [Keilar:] But you have not always been supportive of Hillary Clinton. You had some pretty harsh words for her over the years. [Shays:] I have. [Keilar:] This is a bit of an about-face. [Shays:] It is a bit of an about-face, candidly. I sat back and said OK, what do you like about her, what don't you like? I like the fact that she's smart, intelligent, hard-working. I like the fact that she knows the world community, she knows the Congress, she knows the White House, and she knows the American people. I mean, she's been around a long time out in the community. That's what I like.You know, I don't like the fact that she pushes things to edge. The Clintons do that. [Keilar:] To the line. [Shays:] They do, and it's hurting her. I mean, she should win this thing with no close second. [Keilar:] Former congressman Chris Shays, thank you so much. [Shays:] Thanks. [Keilar:] We really appreciate you being with us Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, another issue that's going to come up in this election, and it matters, is the intelligence assessments on ISIS and al Qaeda. Where they overly optimistic? That's what a Republican-led Congressional investigation they're report just concluded. Is that accurate and if so, what does it suggest? We have a national security expert weighing in next. [Cuomo:] ISIS makes threats. That's what they do. However, when they come to two American cities, including the Big Apple, New York City, just ahead of Thanksgiving holiday parade, millions are going to be there. You have to deal with it. [Camerota:] So, the NYPD is stepping up their counterterrorism training including a major drill this past Sunday. [Pereira:] Here to discuss the security efforts and so much more, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and his wife, Chirlane McCray. Really a pleasure to have you both here. In fact, we want to talk to you about a very important and exciting new mental health initiative that's taking place and is ongoing. But, obviously, with the Thanksgiving Day parade around the corner, we have to talk about with urgency what's going on in the city. Understand there's some major preparations under way and have been going on. We saw some drills that the NYPD was conducting. How are you feeling about security in your fair city, Mayor? [Mayor Bill De Blasio , New York City:] I feel very good about what NYPD is doing. Remember, we've had the Macy's parade, the Thanksgiving parade for years. [Pereira:] For a few years. [De Blasio:] It's always been a yes, a few years. It's been a very big event. But the NYPD has really perfected over the years how to handle these large events and actually the most impressive version of that was when we had the pope here simultaneously with 140 leaders from around the world, presidents of different countries and the president of the United States all in the course of one week and the NYPD literally made it look easy. They were that good. Since then we've now added the beginning of a 500-person counterterror force which we call critical response command. And this is a specifically trained armed force for counterterror activities only. You saw the drills on Sunday. Very impressive group of men and women in our police force who have volunteered to focus on fighting terror and they are the best of the NYPD and I'm really happy to say, this is the best prepared city in the country to both prevent terrorism and to respond in God forbid we had any here. [Camerota:] But, I mean, given what happened in Paris where soft targets were hit. How can you feel confident that that wouldn't happen in New York? [De Blasio:] I think in the age of the lone wolf, we have to be sober about the fact that you can never account for everyone. But we can say this: for 14 years since 911, NYPD working with our federal partners, FBI, et cetera, have kept the city safe. And part of that is an extraordinary intelligence gathering capacity and a real focus on prevention, which has worked. Now, we're adding to that capacity. So, what we find is having close relationships to the community and getting intelligence early and looking for those leads, using a variety of techniques has helped us to stay ahead of anyone who may have evil intentions. But in the age of the lone wolf it's important to be able to respond quickly as Commissioner Bratton said last week. We now have a 500-person plus counterterrorism force on top of the other capacity that we have. If there are even multiple events around New York City, we can respond within minutes with a lot of firepower and a lot of training. [Cuomo:] And also, look, the experts you hear all the time in your briefings, they're surprised things haven't happened, how much stuff they stop. Bad guys only have to be successful once. You do have big advantages over Paris. That's an obviously fractured society. They have big problems with community that thank God we don't have here yet. It's a different equation. But you can never over-prepare. [Pereira:] Well, add to it, we have technology on our side. We understand someone's brother has launched an initiative, an app. We know of see something and say something. Now there's see something send something the idea that if you see something, take a picture and then send that image to the proper authorities. [De Blasio:] That's exactly right. People should feel empowered that if they have information, they can actually help to fight terrorism. What we shouldn't do is play into the terrorists hands and change our habits, change our lifestyle, change our democracy. Secretary Jeh Johnson, our homeland security secretary, said it beautifully, he said, terrorists can't succeed if we refuse to be terrorized. This is psychological warfare. That's what it is. Remember, you know, think back to World War II, how the different sides tried to convince each other they're going to lose. This is psychological warfare. If we say, no, we're better than that, we can prevail but it's important for the average citizen if they do see something, if they hear something, if they think somebody is up to no good, report to the authorities immediately. [Cuomo:] An organic segue, we're dealing with terrorists, we're dealing with people of unstable of mind. [De Blasio:] Yes. [Cuomo:] Mental health is an issue, Chirlane. We're trying to figure out how to deal it because of stigma, you know, when people if you have diabetes, you have diabetes. If you have leukemia, you have leukemia. If you have schizophrenia or bipolar, they call you crazy. There are stigma that you're dealing with doesn't have parity with physical healthcare the way we want it to be. What can you do? [Chirlane Mccray, First Lady Of New York City:] That's right. We need to change the mindset around the mind. It's very much a part of the body. That's what Thrive NYC sets out to do, is bring about a culture change and help people understand that mental illness is, first of all, pervasive. The number is one in five New Yorkers have a diagnosable mental health condition in any given year and it's treatable. This is something that we can address in children and seniors and parents. There is something for everyone. [Pereira:] What's so interesting is people think that and they think extreme cases. But there is a spectrum. And included in that spectrum one of the focuses of Thrive NYC is dealing with mothers. This is very important to you. Talk about that. [Mccray:] Maternal depression is very common. The estimate is one in ten women who are pregnant or new mothers have maternal depression. But we don't really know because we don't collect data. Pediatricians and OB-GYNs don't always. [Pereira:] And there's a stigma, too. You don't want to say I'm struggling. [Mccray:] Who wants to be a bad mom? [Cuomo:] They're least likely to self-report. [Mccray:] That's right. There's such a stigma. It's a mark of disgrace to feel anything but joyous because you have a new child. But it's a real condition. It's a disease. And it can be treated. We want women to get screened. [Camerota:] Mr. Mayor, this is a personal issue for you. Your father suffered. Your daughter has been public about suffering. It's heartbreaking. [De Blasio:] And we have to talk about it. We talk about what our daughter Chiara has gone through and she's been very open, because she sees it as her obligation to talk about her struggles, both mental health struggles and substance abuse struggles, because that's part of how we heal our society, it's part of how we help reach people to talk about it. I talked yesterday about what my dad went through, you know, World War II hero. He was a wounded veteran, battle of Okinawa. Came back with what we now call PTSD. We didn't call it back when I was growing up, we didn't say PTSD. We tried to avoid the fact that he obviously something he was carrying from the war with him. It devolved in his case into alcoholism and substance abuse and mental health problems so often go together. But we have to talk about it, because as Chirlane was saying, the stigma is keeping people from getting treatment. [Pereira:] Avoidance is never a good tactic, isn't it? We're glad you both joined us. We wish you both a wonderful Thanksgiving and a safe one. Thanks for joining us today. [De Blasio:] Thank you. Happy Thanksgiving. [Camerota:] Thanks for being here. [Cuomo:] A lot of news on the table right now. So, let's get right to it. A Russian military jet shot down by Turkey near the Syrian border. [Blitzer:] Welcome back. There are new signs the Republican Party is at risk, not only of losing the presidential race, but also the U.S. Senate. Take a closer look. Polling in New Hampshire shows the state's Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan eight points ahead of Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte. In response, a GOP group is out with a new ad pushing voters to re-elect their GOP Senator as a check and balance of what could be a Clinton White House. Watch this. [Announcer:] America's future is far from certain, but no matter whom the next president is, New Hampshire needs a strong voice in the U.S. Senate. That Senator, Kelly Ayotte. She works across the aisle to get things done. [Blitzer:] Our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, is with us. Senior political reporter, Manu Raju, has the latest on all of this. Dana, you're doing a lot of reporting on this. How worried are Republicans about so-called down-ballot races? Do you expect ads like this to start appearing elsewhere? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Yes, they are worried. And, yes that is the hope. When I was talking to a source who helped get that ad that you just played on the air, starting today, in New Hampshire, it was explicitly with the hope that other like-minded conservative groups, more establishment-oriented Republican groups, like the Chamber of Commerce, will turn their attention, and more importantly, their resources towards the Senate exclusively. Now, that is effectively what has been going on with regard to money, but message is the difference here, and that's what made that ad that you just played different from what we've seen, in that it makes pretty clear that this Republican group believes Hillary Clinton is likely to be in the White House. And the message to voter is, you want to keep your Republican Senator, in this case, Kelly Ayotte in New Hampshire, and you want to keep a Republican majority as a check and balance on a Hillary Clinton White House. The goal, again, by the Chamber of Commerce, in not just New Hampshire but to try send a single to other like-minded groups, and even candidates themselves, to start to say explicitly we're not going to win the White House, you've got it elect me. [Blitzer:] What other states, Manu, are we see very tight Senate races emerging? [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Assuming Hillary Clinton wins, Democrats need to pick up four seats to take back a majority. And they have a lot of opportunities. We're expecting them to probably win in Illinois and Wisconsin, the two on the map right now. Dana talked about New Hampshire. But also Pennsylvania, another very tight race that could go either way, go the other way. And you're looking at three red states that are going to be critical that Republicans now hold that Democrats have a chance, a serious chance, of winning, in North Carolina, Indiana, Missouri. Those could easily flip. Republicans really only have one pick-up opportunity and that is in Nevada. Harry Reid's seat is a toss-up between the Republican and Democrat. Democrats have a very good shot, just because they have so many opportunities. And if Donald Trump continues to slide and loses in some of those states by significant margins, it's going to be very hard for Republicans to run significantly ahead of the top of the ticket. That's why Donald Trump's performance is so critical for Republicans in keeping majority in Congress. [Blitzer:] Manu, Mark Kirk, an Illinois Republican Senator, he has a lot of problems potentially as well, right? [Raju:] That's right. He probably is one viewed as likely to lose his seat, but he is still maintaining, has an outside chance. Republicans believe that perhaps he could survive, if the Democratic Candidate Tammy Duckworth underperforms. But when you look at the landscape overall, Illinois is viewed as almost very, very likely to flip, just because it is so difficult for a Republican to win in a blue state, like Illinois, in a presidential election year. And there's no outside money going in to help Mark Kirk right now. So that's going to be very hard for him to win back. It's one of the four that Democrats are assuming they will pick up in taking back the majority. [Blitzer:] And if they get a 5050 split in the U.S. Senate, if there's a Democratic president, Democratic vice president, the vice president is the president of the U.S. Senate, and he presumably will cast that tiebreaking vote in favor of Democrats. Democrats would be in the majority. Dana, a number of reliably red states are turning into toss-up states. Early voting results are showing that two in particular, talking about Arizona and Utah, are looking relatively promising for Democrats. Pretty extraordinary, isn't it? [Bash:] It is. And some of these red states, if we keep the map up, are toss-ups for different reasons. Utah is because Utah is largely Mormon. That is not Trump territory, not at all, and the Mormon Republicans that were already onboard with Donald Trump pretty much left in a mass exodus after the tape came out of him saying what he said on "Access Hollywood." That, combined with the fact that there's a third-party candidate there, Evan McMullin, who is a Mormon himself, who has been running hard there, that the Clinton campaign thinks he actually could win that state and rob those electoral votes from Donald Trump. And then if you look at Arizona, there's a different reason that it is perhaps competitive. The fact that Michelle Obama was sent there yesterday tells you everything you need to know. The main reason there is because of the demographic changes. It is a growing Hispanic population there. And a lot of young people, also, and older people, for that matter, but the Democrats think that it is more ripe demographically than others. And one thing that's surprised me, Georgia. Georgia is a state that nobody even thinks about on the presidential level. It is reliably red. And Republicans I'm talking to are very concerned that state could actually flip for Democrats this year [Blitzer:] Manu, you're well plugged in with members of the House and Senate. It's extraordinary, isn't it, that the Republican leaders in the House of Representatives, the speaker, Paul Ryan, the Senate, Mitch McConnell, majority leader, both have been pretty silent when it comes to the Trump campaign. Right? [Raju:] Yeah. I mean, they're just in such a bind right now over Donald Trump, particularly Paul Ryan, the way he's handled this for months. It shows exactly the predicament he's in. The challenge for Ryan right now is that he, of course, came out and said, told colleagues he would not defend Donald Trump in the aftermath of the release of that "Access Hollywood" tape, but has not spoken out publicly against Donald Trump, because he does not want to get backlash from the right. But Ryan is in a difficult spot, because if you get right after the elections, if you do keep the majority, it's going to be a narrow majority, they'll have a vote on the floor of the House in order for him to be re-elected as speaker, and he cannot afford to lose many votes, particularly conservative votes, because conservatives could be more powerful in the next House Republican conference if more moderates lose their seats. So Paul Ryan is in a difficult spot because if he speaks out or does not campaign with Donald Trump, conservatives are not happy and are threatening to vote against him. That's one reason why he has been silent about Donald Trump over the last couple of weeks, and I'm not sure if he'll say anything about him before Election Day Wolf? [Blitzer:] I've been calling it the sounds of silence, quoting somebody else. Guys, thanks very. Manu, Dana, thanks. Up next, the White House teasing the Philippines government over its mixed messages when it comes to its relationship with the United States. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] I dub that person the Filipino Mike Pence. [Chris Frates, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] Trump put the head of the Republican National Committee in one of the most powerful positions in Washington. But Priebus' insider cred is balanced out Bannon's anti-establishment worldview. In a statement about the duo, Trump said this. "Bannon and Priebus will continue the effective leadership team they formed during the campaign, working as equal partners to transform the federal government, making it much more efficient, effective, and productive." Now, Priebus is known inside the Beltway and has good working relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. People like Sen. Mitch McConnell, who is the Senate majority leader, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who's been a longtime friend of Priebus. And those relationships and Priebus' knowledge of exactly how Washington works could be key in helping Trump pass his legislative agenda through Congress. Now, Bannon, who's the Trump campaign CEO, also ran "Breitbart News" and that news site has been accused of catering to racists, sexists, and anti-Semitic audiences. And Bannon's also been critical of the GOP establishment. Now both men will advise the next president, President-elect Donald Trump Victor, Christine, back to you. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Chris, thank you so much. Now, hate watchdog groups are slamming Donald Trump's choice of "Breitbart" boss, Steve Bannon, as chief strategist and senior adviser. The Anti-Defamation League released a statement saying this. "It is a sad day when a man who presided over the premiere website of the alt-right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists, is slated to be a senior staff member in the people's house." [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] The Southern Poverty Law Center scolding the president-elect for the hire in a tweet. "Trump should rescind this hire. In his victory speech, Trump said he intended to be president for all Americans. Bannon should go." [Blackwell:] And this from retiring Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, escalating his attacks on the incoming president with this new statement. "President-elect Trump's choice of Steve Bannon as his top aide signals that White Supremacists will be represented at the highest levels in Trump's White House." [Romans:] All right, the sear of racist harassment following Trump's election appears to have become a reality in some communities. One of several incidents reported across the country happened at an Episcopal church in a heavily Latino neighborhood. This is just outside Washington. Graffiti reading "Trump nation, whites only" was discovered Sunday morning on a wall and on a sign advertising Spanish language services. Washington's Episcopal bishop, Mariann Budde, calling on Donald Trump to speak out against the vandalism. [Blackwell:] Well, Trump talked about it, albeit briefly on Sunday, in his first sit-down interview on television since winning the election, on CBS's "60 MINUTES". Trump was pressed to address acts of violence, and harassment, and vandalism that his supporters had reportedly committed in his name. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] I would say don't do it, that's terrible because I'm going to bring this country together. [Lesley Stahl, Cbs Correspondent, "60 Minutes":] They're harassing Latinos, Muslims. [Trump:] I am so saddened to hear that and I say stop it, if it helps. I will say this, and I'll say it right to the camera, stop it. [Romans:] All right, let's break down the latest on the Trump transition and what we're learning about Trump's policies with "CNN POLITICS" reporter, Eugene Scott. Good Monday morning to you. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Good morning, good morning. [Romans:] Welcome back. We love it when you get up early for us. So last night on "60 MINUTES" President-elect Trump sat down and talked to Lesley Stahl, and on immigration, two of the signature policies, a deportation force and building a physical wall along the entire border. We heard that over and over again for the last 15 months. This is what he said last night about his immigration policies. [Stahl:] Are you really going to build a wall? [Trump:] Yes. [Stahl:] They're talking about a fence in the Republican Congress. [Trump:] True. [Stahl:] Would you accept the fence? [Trump:] For certain areas, I would. [Stahl:] What about the pledge to deport millions and millions of undocumented immigrants? [Trump:] What we are going to do is get the people that are criminal and have criminal records gang members, drug dealers. We have a lot of these people probably two million it could even be three million. We are getting them out of our country or we're going to incarcerate. But, we're getting them out of our country. They're here illegally. After the border is secured and after everything gets normalized, we're going to make a determination on the people that you're talking about. [Romans:] Ironically, some of that sounds like current policy. They're already I mean, President Obama has been criticized for having [Scott:] Right. [Romans:] a deportation force [Scott:] Sure. [Romans:] for kicking people out of the country. We already have areas of the of the of the border with Mexico that is a fence. Is Donald Trump walking back some of those promises that were so popular among his supporters? [Scott:] Well, we certainly didn't see him say that he's going to build the biggest wall with the most beautiful door, which is what he regularly said when he was on the campaign. But I think what he is realizing is that a significant percentage of Republicans do not support deporting and do not support building the wall. And so, now that he has their support now that they helped elect him, I think he has to realize that he's serving multiple demographics and he has to find a way to compromise. And that's what Reince Priebus is going to help him do. [Romans:] Well, you sound like that sounds like a Washington politician. You get to Washington and to get stuff done you have to horse trade. [Scott:] Well, he's been a politician since he announced his campaign, even though many people say he's not a politician. You can't run for a president and not be a politician [Romans:] Right. [Scott:] and we're going to see more of this. [Blackwell:] Let's talk about the Supreme Court because for some people who weren't passionate about Donald Trump as their nominee, that was what they leaned on to say that we are going to support Donald Trump for the presidency. I want everyone to listen to what he said about two important issues and his nominees to the Court. [Stahl:] Will you appoint are you looking to appoint a justice who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade? [Trump:] So look, here's what's going to happen. I'm going to appoint I'm pro-life. The judges will be pro-life. If it ever were overturned it would go back to the states, so it would go back to the states [Stahl:] And then, some women won't be able to get an abortion? [Trump:] No, it will go back to the states. [Stahl:] By state? [Trump:] They'll perhaps have to go to another they'll have to go to another state. [Stahl:] Do you support marriage equality? [Trump:] I it's irrelevant because it was already settled, it's law. It was settled in the Supreme Court. I mean, it's done. [Stahl:] So even if you appoint a judge that [Trump:] It's done. You have these cases have gone to the Supreme Court, they've been settled and I'm fine with that. [Blackwell:] So, as it relates to abortion rights he is having this discussion about if he sends a justice who could tip it into to overturn Roe v. Wade, but when it comes to marriage equality, settled, done. [Scott:] Yes. [Blackwell:] It shows what the priority, socially, will be for this White House. [Scott:] Yes, that's very interesting because Roe v. Wade is settled and done, according to the Supreme Court. But many of his supporters were hoping that he would appoint a judge who would be pro-life and interested in reversing it. And we see that if you do reverse it you definitely have to send it back to the states first. But it's not going to be the slam dunk that so many people think it will be. The reality is people have various views on these issues, even within the group of people [Romans:] Right. [Scott:] who support it Donald Trump and he has to listen to more of them and see what they want. It's not as simple as saying this is what I want, this is what's going to happen. That's not what being president is like. [Romans:] Let's talk about the transition team. His kids are on there, his son-in-law is on there. They will also be taking care of his business so that's sort of an interesting overlap there. It raises questions, potentially, about conflict of interest. He's made a couple of appointments Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon. What's your takeaway? [Scott:] Well, it's not that surprising that they're on the transition team because they've been key advisers during the campaign. But it is against federal law for them to have staff positions in his administration. You can't hire them. But the reality is you don't have to have a job within the White House, officially, to be a strong adviser. And we should expect them to continue being strong advisers, especially his daughter, Ivanka, on issues related to women and working mothers. And his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, in terms of policy and strategy in business dealings. [Romans:] All right. Eugene Scott, nice to see you this Monday morning. [Scott:] Thank you, guys. [Romans:] Thanks for being here. [Blackwell:] All right, this afternoon President Obama he will hold his first news conference since Donald Trump was elected to secede him. This comes just before the president embarks on his final foreign trip in office. He's looking to reassure anxious allies about the stability of U.S. foreign policy despite Donald Trump's stated intent to undo some of the top Obama initiatives. The president will travel to Greece, Germany, and Peru. [Romans:] Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, a vocal supporter of Donald Trump, but he doesn't agree with every one of Trump's policies. In an interview with CNN's Poppy Harlow, Icahn says Trump's plans to repeal Wall Street regulations may not be the right answer. He does support Trump's proposals to deregulate other areas of business. Icahn thinks the Federal Reserve had no choice but to keep interest rates low. You know, Donald Trump has criticized the Federal Reserve as political. Carl Icahn does not agree. And when asked about Trump's temperament, Icahn said this. [Carl Icahn, Business Magnate:] The issue is this country must take a different a different approach. The country must go in and be a friend to business. After eight years we have been anything but that and now, this is the hope that you have to do it. And if you don't do it, we will definitely lose our [Romans:] Icahn will not join the Trump administration. He says he's never worked for anyone else in his life and he's not going to start now, but he hopes Washington and Trump will listen to his advice. [Blackwell:] Yes, Donald Trump has suggested several times on the campaign trail that he would bring in Carl Icahn to be part of the team. Carl says no, I've got a job, I don't work for anyone else. [Romans:] Carl Icahn does not seem to be a fan of big bureaucracies. [Blackwell:] Yes. [Romans:] I don't think he'd want to be on the in the Treasury Department. [Blackwell:] All right, so let's talk about the Seahawks and the Patriots. Did you see this? A Sunday night rematch of one of the most thrilling Super Bowls ever and the teams did not disappoint. Hines Ward with the details in the Bleacher Report that's next. [Harlow:] Breaking news tonight out of Turkey, a travel warning for Americans and an order for family members of U.S. consulate employees in Istanbul to leave. Our senior international corporate Ivan Watson is on the phone. Ivan, when you think about the strategic importance of Turkey in the fight against ISIS you think about it as one of the largest majority Muslim democracies in the world and a key U.S. ally. How significant is this news? [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, I think there have been a succession of increasingly concerned messages of warning coming from the U.S. state department to American citizens visiting Turkey, as well as to diplomatic staff warning about the threat of potential terror attacks of kidnappings. And Turkey has been much more volatile, much more unstable within the last year or two and it really has been in decades. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time that I can recall that the families of diplomats stationed here in the commercial capitol Istanbul which has long been a major tourist destination, that they are being ordered too home because of these concerns. But over the course, again, of the last week and more, there have been a lot of warnings from the U.S. state department about avoiding the southeast of Turkey which is bordering with Iraq and Syria where there's a Kurdish insurgency, and where there are also affected by these attacks. And Istanbul itself has been hit multiple times this year by suspected ISIS attackers Poppy. [Harlow:] Ivan, thank you very much for the reporting, of course, on the phone from Istanbul. We got much more with Ivan coming up here. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] in the east. Alisyn is off after a snake charming mishap, but she is fine. John Berman joins us this morning. And we turn to what is certainly a big night for Hillary Clinton. She's going to be face to face in a debate with Bernie Sanders who is now seen as the legitimate contender for the nomination. Senator Sanders, fresh off dominance in New Hampshire, anticipates a different Clinton tonight. But what will that mean? [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] In the meantime, nine days to the Republicans primary in South Carolina. The candidates are blanketing the state. But how does the race shift now with two White House hopefuls calling it quits after a poor showing in New Hampshire? We begin our coverage with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns joins us now with a look at the high stakes Democratic race. Joe? [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Michaela, all eyes on Milwaukee this morning as the Democratic candidates prepare to go head to head for the first time after the first in the nation primary. Bernie Sanders will be looking to maintain his momentum and show he's not just a one-state wonder. And for Hillary Clinton it will be a chance to try to change the narrative. [Johns:] Bernie Sanders raising over $6 million in the 24 hours after polls closed in New Hampshire, gaining momentum before tonight's crucial PBS Democratic presidential debate. Descending on New York City in a victory lap celebrating his sweeping win in Tuesday's primary, bringing his antiestablishment message to "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert." [Bernie Sanders, Presidential Candidate:] Our campaign finance system, our election system, and our economy is essentially owned and controlled by a relatively small number of people who's greed, in my view, is really wrecking havoc with the middle class of this country. [Johns:] And the daytime talker, "The View." [Sanders:] This country is supposed to be a nation of fairness, and we're not seeing that fairness. [Johns:] Meanwhile Hillary Clinton laying comparatively low after her crushing defeat. No longer the undisputed Democratic frontrunner, tonight's critical debate could help her get back on track. The former secretary of state already making changes, promising a more aggressive edge. The challenge for Sanders going forward will be capturing the African-American vote, a key piece of the Democratic electorate and the pivotal South Carolina primary later this month. Courting the African-American vote, Sanders took his campaign to Harlem Tuesday, meeting with civil rights leader Al Sharpton. And important to say the former secretary of state continues to poll very well with minorities, and underscoring that, almost immediately after the debate in Milwaukee tonight she is expected to turn her attention back to the palmetto state and the issue of schooling in some of the South's poorest communities. So a lot of reasons tonight's debate is a potential turning point for both of the candidates, Chris. [Cuomo:] Too true, Joe. Thank you very much. Let's talk Bernie Sanders to Bernie Sanders' campaign. We have the national press secretary for Bernie Sanders campaign Symone Sanders with us right now. Symone, good to see you again. Let's start with the meeting with Al Sharpton. Why him? He's a controversial person in the media to be sure, and beyond. Why meet with him, and what was the outcome? [Symone Sanders, National Press Secretary, Bernie 2016:] Chris, thanks for having me this morning. And I think it was important to meet with Reverend Sharpton because the conversation centered around issues that are important to the African-American community. And we will shy away from the opportunity to have a robust conversation about issues. And so Senator Sanders and Reverend Sharpton talked about Flint. Reverend Sharpton challenged Senator Sanders and if he can actually attract and retain African-American voters, and if Senator Sanders is really committed to holding up the mantle of our issue, African-American issues. And I think Senator Sanders held his own in that conversation. It went very well, and we were happy to be there with him yesterday morning. [Cuomo:] All right, Symone, so we have a sense of what we think the new tact of contrast will be coming out of the Clinton camp. Do you want to take a test on it? [Symone Sanders:] Let's take a test. [Cuomo:] The first one is the super delegates. They're coming out saying you have party officials and you know how the process works. You have a lot of super delegates, over 400, already backing Hillary Clinton. They are not going move, very tough to overcome that type of advantage what. What do you say? [Symone Sanders:] You know, I say that super delegates still have the chance to change their mind. And we are actively working for the support of the American people. So it is no secret that the establishment is behind Secretary Clinton, but we think that we can make a very good showing. We can close these gaps and hopefully win some other folks over. [Cuomo:] OK, now, you are not in the GOP. You are on the Democratic side. The word "establishment" is going to play differently on the left. They don't like being called the establishment like the machine on the Democratic side is a bad thing, and they are criticizing Senator Sanders for being a newfound Democrat. Yes, he caucused with the Democrats, but you didn't have the skin in the game on the big votes. You never risked anything for what you say you believe in now as the Democrat. Fair criticism? [Symone Sanders:] Not a fair criticism at all, Chris. Yes, Senator Sanders, he not only caucused with the Democrats. He was in leadership. He is the former chair of the Veterans Affairs committee. He is the ranking member on the Senate budget committee. Senator Sanders definitely has skin in the game, skin in this Democratic game. And I'll go further to say, you know, where Senator Sanders is where a lot of people in the Democratic Party are currently and where the party is going. And issues of economic inequality, when we're talking about climate change, criminal justice reform, ending mass incarceration, these are all things that Senator Sanders is not knew to these issues, he's not new to talking about. So I would push back on that and say I disagree. [Cuomo:] If he was so tied to his passion and his authenticity, why did het not run as an independent? [Symone Sanders:] Senator Sanders has talked about this at length. And he's noted that if he was going to run he wanted to give the party he wanted to give America its best chance. And its best chance is not running as a third party candidate. Again, Senator Sanders has caucused with the Democrats. He's been in line with the Democrats on overwhelmingly a number of issues, and he wanted to run as the Democrat in this election. Senator Sanders is a Democrat, he's running as a Democrat, and he is not going to seek a third party nomination because that is not what's best for America, that's not what's best for the party. And so we are interested in literally transforming the landscape of American politics. We're in it for the American people here, Chris. And so this is what's best for the American people. [Cuomo:] I hear you, Symone, but a little bit of a catch 22. You're saying I want to give the best chance, I want to be part of the party. But at the same time when a big part of the party apparatus and leadership seems to be behind his opponent, he's saying that's the establishment. I don't count that part. Which is it? Are you into the party, or do you not care what the party says? [Symone Sanders:] Well, we're into the party, Chris. But, I mean, the party is not one dimensional. There is a robust progressive conversation happening all across America right within the Democratic Party. And what Senator Sanders is doing, what his candidacy is doing is bringing these new people into the party. We saw record voter turnout in New Hampshire, Chris. We saw the second highest voter turnout in the Iowa caucuses in its history when we were in Iowa. These are folks that were disengaged, that did not see themselves as a part of the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders is bringing those people back into the party. We are building a new coalition which Democrats will need if we want to retain and keep the White House in 2016. So I would say what Senator Sanders is doing is the best chance for the Democratic Party. Senator Sanders is the best chance for Democrats to keep the White House and he's the best chance to ignite the base and bring new people into the party that we need, progressives, young people, even some folks that have been voting against their own interests for years. So we are committed to building that coalition, and we are happy that these folks are now getting engaged and involved and are not only joining the political revolution but joining the Democratic Party. [Cuomo:] Fair point, record turnout in Iowa, almost a record turnout in New Hampshire. The New Hampshire that eclipsed it was with then Senator Barack Obama running for president. And that is the last line of attack that we're hearing new this morning, which is that Senator Sanders is not embracing enough of what President Obama has done. He's been connected to some books that were critical of President Obama. He's making it seem like Obamacare isn't the landmark achievement that it is. He's not supportive enough of what the president has done. [Symone Sanders:] And Chris, you know, I disagree. So Senator Sanders is supportive of President Obama. And he's spoken about it at length. He's talked about President Obama came in and totally took the country to another level. He had to clean up the mess that the Republicans left for us. And he has done an amazing job. But what we are saying is that the next president of the United States, and I think the Clinton campaign would agree, has to build on that success and has to take America to the next level. That is what Senator Sanders is talking about. So when we talk about a Medicare for all single payer system, we're talking about universal healthcare, we're not talking about doing away with Obamacare, with the Affordable Healthcare Act. We are talking about building on its enormous success. Look, 29 million Americans in this country are still uninsured. That is a fact we have to address. Millions more are still underinsured. So the Affordable Healthcare Act did great and amazing things. Senator Sanders was on the committee to help write the Affordable Healthcare Act. But it is time to take it to the next level, and that is what the next president of the United States will have to do. [Cuomo:] Symone Sanders, thank you very much for making the case for the senator from Vermont, appreciate it. All right, so big night today. You are going to not hear the proxies anymore. It is about the main people. Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, face to face in the PBS News Hour Democratic presidential debate. You can watch the simulcast right here on CNN or your local PBS station tonight 9:00 p.m. eastern, John. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Chris, there are now seven Republicans left standing in the race for the White House. Six of them, all the ones not named Donald Trump, have nine days to knock him off his perch in the South Carolina primary. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta live in Greenville, South Carolina, on the Republican race. Good morning Jim. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Good morning, John. It is a figure of speech for candidates to do a victory lap, but we saw Donald Trump do that exact thing onstage last night here in South Carolina. He is now firmly the frontrunner in this race for the White House on the GOP side. But the rest of the Republican field is as determined as ever to bring him down. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] When you have victory you don't need sleep, right? [Acosta:] Only one candidate is clearly leading a shrinking field of GOP contenders marching on to South Carolina. [Sen. Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] Now it's up to South Carolina to pick a president. [Acosta:] Donald Trump riding high after his huge New Hampshire win seemed to switch his campaign tactics Wednesday night, choosing not to go after most of his GOP rivals, this time hitting his Democratic opponents hard, Trump sounding more like a general election candidate. [Trump:] This guy Sanders is up ranting and raving like a lunatic. You think Hillary Clinton, who is terrible, you think Hillary, look at the damage she did. [Acosta:] But the frontrunner couldn't resist taking a jab at his most vocal GOP attacker, Jeb Bush. [Trump:] He's a low energy person. I said he's a stiff and I said that if he was in the private sector he wouldn't be able to get a job. [Acosta:] What's left of the GOP field now has a target squarely on the brash billionaire's back. [Jeb Bush, Presidential Candidate:] Can you imagine Donald Trump as president of United States? We will be worse off than we are now. [Sen. Marco Rubio, Presidential Candidate:] The hard thing about Donald in the short-term is he doesn't have any policy positions. [Cruz:] The only way to beat Donald Trump is to highlight the simple truth of his record. It is not conservative. [Acosta:] Senator Marco Rubio is taking the high road, addressing Chris Christie's decision to drop out of the race less than a week after the debate spat. [Rubio:] I think Chris was someone who somehow concluded that attacking me would help his campaign and. Obviously it didn't work. I think he's very talented, very likable. I think he has a future in public service beyond what he's doing now in New Jersey. [Acosta:] Now getting back to Donald Trump sounding like a general election candidate, you should have heard him last night here in South Carolina, Michaela. He was predicting if he's the Republican nominee he will win traditionally Democratic states like Michigan and New York. He is feeling very confident right now in that frontrunner position, Michaela. [Pereira:] All right, Jim, thanks so much for that. Top U.S. security officials say ISIS is plotting a possible attack on American soil sometime this year. This as we learn Russian air strikes in Syria are actually helping the terror group. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is live in Washington with more for us. Barbara. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. Defense Secretary Ash Carter at NATO headquarters in Brussels today talking to the allies, trying to get more help from them in that fight against ISIS. But in the meantime ISIS adapting on its own, very much now looking at what the U.S. calls external attacks, ISIS attacking in Europe, even here in the United States. The military director of the Defense Intelligence Agency gave a very chilling assessment about all of this. [Lt. Gen. Vincent Stewart, Usmc, Director Of Defense Intelligence Agency:] As the Paris attacks demonstrated, ISIL has become the most significant terrorist threats the United States and our allies. ISIL will probably attempt to conduct additional attacks in Europe and attempt to direct attacks on the U.S. homeland. [Starr:] Direct attacks on the U.S. homeland in 2016. What General Stewart is talking about is the possibility that ISIS will inspire or directly order potentially an attack here in the United States. ISIS now active in eight countries far beyond Syria and Iraq now, now very firmly a global threat. Chris? [Cuomo:] One of those situations, Barbara, where we all know it's possible, but when you hear it laid out like that it makes it that much more daunting. Thank you for the reporting. Appreciate it. Also breaking this morning, NATO taking a bigger role to try and slow the migrant crisis. Warships under German command will be sent to intercept smugglers on the Mediterranean. Coast guards in Greece and Turkey are cooperating with this mission. Remember, nearly a million men, women, children made the voyage by sea to Europe last year to escape humanitarian crises in the Middle East and North Africa. [Berman:] This is a pretty crazy video to show you. A wild elephant on a rampage in India destroying homes and cars and sending villagers into a panic. Officials eventually stopped the elephant with four tranquilizer darts. It is believed the elephant strayed from a local forest. After this it was taken to a park for elephants. It was caught after it was tranquilized and taken to this park. Luckily no injuries reported in this. [Cuomo:] No injuries, nobody hurt. [Berman:] But one pissed off elephant. [Cuomo:] What is the chance that the elephant was being chased by a mouse? [Pereira:] Pretty unlikely. All right. The candidates just can't seem to escape the late spotlight, getting the most laughs, so-called outsiders. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders after their victories in New Hampshire, take a gander. [Jimmy Kimmel, Comedian:] Donald Trump right now is on Cloud Nine, which he owns by the way. He bought it from the Chinese. [Stephen Colbert, Comedian:] If these guys manage to make it all the way to the general election, it will make for some great debates. "Donald Trump is a billionaire, he's going to give our country to the 1 percent". "Bernie Sanders is a clown. He's going give our country to China." Donald Trump is a great negotiator and at this point, I can't tell if I'm doing Trump or Bernie, I can't tell. Honestly, the difference is not huge. [Jimmy Fallon, Comedian:] I want to say congratulations to Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump on winning for each of their parties. In his speech, Bernie said he couldn't have done it without the support of millions of Americans. While Trump was like "this was all me." You losers did nothing." [Pereira:] You losers did nothing. That's funny. [Cuomo:] You know it is hard to get a sense of what he really feels though sometimes with Donald Trump. You know? He's playing this misdirection game all the time. [Berman:] A lot of different stuff about the same thing sometimes. [Cuomo:] Here is one thing that he says that is 100 percent true. He is dominating the race on the GOP side right now. But if he's so popular, why are there so many in the Republican Party, especially the leadership not happy about that? We're going bring in two experts who both worked in a Republican White House to discuss. [Francois Hollande, French President:] Friday, the 13th of November, is the day we will never forget. France was struck cowardly in an act of organized war, organized from far away, and acted out in cold blood where assassins killed 130 of our people and more than 350 others were wounded in this day of betrayal. Today, the nation, the entire nation, is struggling to live 130 names of the victims, 130 lives taken away, 130 wasted lives, 130 lives we no longer here, and 130 joys. These women, these men, taken away the happiness of their lives because they were life, that they were killed. It's because they were France that they were shot dead, because they were freedom that they were massacred. At that such serious moment in this such painful time, with the nation in accord with itself, I address in its name our compassion and our affection and our feelings toward the families, the nearest and dearest of all those gathered here, the parents who no longer see their children, the children who will grow up without their parents, couples broken apart by love letters and brothers and sisters separated forever. A hundred thirty dead and so many wounded, marked forever, marked in their flesh, Traumatized at the deepest level. And so, I want to say quite simply these words: France should be alongside you. We will unite our forces to calm the pain, and after burying the dead, we have to repair to all of you. I promise you, solemnly, that France will do everything, destroy the army of the fanatics that carried out these crimes. It will act without bending down to protect these children. I promise also that France remain herself such as the disappeared have loved it and wanted France to remain, and if there was a need, a reason for us to stand up today, a reason to fight for our principles, a reason to defend this republic. We find it in their memories, these women, these men, to come from over 50 areas of France, from cities, from suburbs, from villages and towns, they also came from the world, 17 countries sharing their grief with us. These women, these men on that Friday the 13th where in Paris, a city which lives in the day and shines at night, there are on the terraces of cafes and these place that's open in meeting of ideas they were sharing with the world. On that evening where autumn seemed not to finish, where there was singing at Bataclan to the sounds of an American group showing of friendship in the concert hall which for two centuries embodied the spirit of Paris. These men, these women, of all ages, but the majority were less than 35 years old. They were children when the Berlin Wall came down. They had not had the time to believe in the end of history and it already caught up with them. Where in 11 of September of 2001, they had then understood that the world was faced with new danger with the attacks of the beginning of this year upset them. Many, I know, had demonstrated on the 11th of January as millions of French people had. They had refused to be faced with fear or faced with the threat of terrorism. They knew that France was not the enemy of any people, but they will go where they're called to protect the weakest and be against any kind of domination. These women, these men were the youth of France, the youth of a free people, who cherish culture of its own, and all cultures that is to say all cultures. At the Bataclan, many people made music their work. It's just this music was unbearable to terrorists. It was this harmony they that wanted to break, to smash, it's this joy that they wanted to destroy with their bombs. And they will not stop it. And we can only respond to them by multiple songs, concerts, shows. We will continue to play in stadiums and in particular the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. We will participate in the great sporting events where the most modest meet. And we will also share the same emotions of our differences, of our different origins and cultures and confessions and faiths because we are one nation only carried by the same values. What the terrorists want, to divide us and throw us one against other. They will fail, I assure you. They believe in the cult of death. But we have love. Love for life. Those who fell on the 13th of November were France, all France. They were students, journalists, teachers, people who worked in restaurants and engineers, many other professions, architects, professionals, carpenters, waiters, people who worked in advertising, artists. They were all France, the talents of the world. All of them wanted to succeed for themselves, for their families and for their country. Let us remember their faces, their names, but also their hopes, their joys and their dreams and we will act tomorrow. We know the enemy. It is hatred, that which kills in Copenhagen, which killed in London, the enemy is fanaticism to submit people to an order is obscurantism. That is to say Islamism which is this, an enemy which we will defeat with our forces. Those of republic with our weapons, with our arms and democracy and institutions with rights, with law and this fight, we can count on our military undertaken engaged in difficult operations in Syria and Iraq and the Sahil. We can count on our police officers, our gendarme, together with justice who carried out admirable acts to put terrorists out of state to be able to harm. We can count on the parliament to adopt all the measures of defense in the interest of the country and the spirit of national agreement and respect of fundamental freedoms. And then above all, we can count on every French woman and every French man to show vigilance, resolution, humanity, dignity. We will carry out this fight to the end and we will win it. Being loyal to the every idea of France as it is, the art of living, a ferrous to be together and attachment to secularism, belonging to the nation and confidence in our common destiny, trust in our common destiny, I will tell you here, we will not change. We will be united united on the main thing. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] You have been watching French President Francois Hollande speaking at a remembrance ceremony for the 130 victims of the Paris terror attacks which happened two weeks ago today. Senior European correspondent Jim Bittermann joining us. Jim, you know, the speech from the French president, very moving, very solemn, he talked about children not growing up with their parents and couples broken apart. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior European Correspondent:] Exactly, Alison. The fact is that he was very solemn during the ceremony. And in the speech, one of the things that he said repeatedly was that he was going to destroy the enemy, destroy the people responsible for this. "I make you a solemn promise," he said, "we will destroy them." The president wanting to make sure the country knows that France is going to go out after the people responsible for the bloody attacks here two weeks ago. Around him were a lot of the family members of the victims, 130 victims who were killed and also some of the survivors. There were 350 injured in the attacks, and a lot of them in the ceremony today as well as their families and first responders and the honor guard. And the ceremony that was very ecumenical politically because we had all politicians, the entire political class of France gathered here, the government is here, of course, but former presidents and his governments, any number of members of political parties and leaders from political parties all here today to show unity, which is what President Hollande has been asking for the last few weeks since the attacks happened Alison, Boris. [Kosik:] Very strong and moving words from the French president. Jim Bittermann, live from Paris, thanks so much. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Anchor:] Russia's president declaring himself ready to cooperate with the U.S.-led coalition battling ISIS. Vladimir Putin sitting down with the French president in Moscow yesterday, the latest in a parade of world leaders that President Hollande has met with since the ISIS terror attacks in Paris. Hollande saying afterwards that Putin is ready to strike only against ISIS and only against jihadist groups. Left unsettled, Bashar al Assad's future as president of Syria, flatly opposed by western powers, but left open by Putin. So, will this be the sticking point in building an international coalition against ISIS? For some insight, let's bring in senior international correspondent Matthew Chance in Moscow. Matthew, good morning. Hollande saying that Putin has agreed to only attacking ISIS, only attacking these jihadist groups. But from Putin's perspective, the moderate Syrian rebels are also a jihadist group. So, does this really change anything in Russia's strategy? [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] I don't think so. The use of the phrase jihadist groups covers a plethora of factions on the ground in Syria. The other various rebel factions of the groups fighting against the Assad regime. And, you know, that lack of discrimination, if you like, or discernment has been reinforced over the last couple days. I mean, the rebels themselves, the Turkmen backed by Turkey, filmed themselves on a cell phone shouting "Allahu Akbar", "God is great", while machine gunning the Russian pilot who had ejected out of the aircraft that was shot down by Turkey. One of them, the pilots of the aircraft, was killed. So, this idea that there are moderate rebels that the Russians should deal with and can be brought in to talks with Assad to form a united front ISIS is just seen as absurd from the perspective here in Russia. [Sanchez:] All right. Matthew Chance reporting live in Moscow thank you. [Kosik:] Chicago bracing for a new protest, demonstrators furious over the killing of a black teenager by police and planning to target their message at holiday shoppers. That's next. [Quest:] Hello, I'm Richard Quest. There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in just a moment. When a U.S. Senator demands an inquiry into the price of a life-saving drug. This EpiPen, will talk about this with Amy Klobuchar. We'll be live on this program. And will be remembering the queen of Paris. Legend designer Sonia Rykiel has died. Before we get to those stories allow me to update you, because this is CNN and on this network the news always comes first. At least 250 people are known to have died following Wednesday's 6.2 magnitude earthquake in Italy. Hundreds of people are injured. The rescue operations continue late into the night with reports of aftershocks in the town of Amatrice. A U.S. Navy boat has fired three warning shots at an Iranian vessel in the northern Persian Gulf. American officials say the Iranian boat was harassing the U.S. Navy craft and failed to stop even after flares had been fired. The American ship then fired the three warning shots into the water. After 50 years of fighting, Colombia's government and the FARC rebels have reached a deal. It took nearly four years of negotiations to come to this agreement, which must be approved by majority of Colombian voters. The referendum on this will be held in October. Hillary Clinton has accused her Republican rival Donald Trump of peddling right wing conspiracy theories. The Democratic nominee said Trump was being sinister in trying to appeal to extremists. Earlier Trump said, Hillary Clinton's email scandal was the most shocking since Watergate. Ryan Lochte will be summoned to appear in a Brazilian court. The Olympic swimmer faces accusations that he filed a false police report after he claimed to be robbed in Rio during the games. Brazilian police say Lochte is free to send a lawyer in his place. Look at this, this is the EpiPen. Those who suffer from allergies will be well familiar with its use well, maybe not familiar with his use, but certainly familiar with its design and intention if things go wrong. You basically stab yourself with it in the thigh. The chief executive of Mylan that makes it, is now describing a broken health care system that's to blame for the skyrocketing price of the EpiPen in the United States. Some 400 percent over the last couple of years. The drug companies under fire for raising the price of the injectable allergy medicine so much, so fast. A box of two EpiPens costs $600 in the United States. If you contrast that same medication in the United Kingdom, it's $120. You may well be saying, of course, nothing new about this, we could choose any medication, whether it be indigestion, antiretroviral or EpiPen, and you would see a higher price in the United States. Mylan has announced a discount program that would cut the price in half for some patients. That would still leave people around $300 for two EpiPens. And remember, they only last for a year. So you have to renew them. And many people will be renewing them at the beginning of the year when they're paying the full deductible on their insurance policies. U.S. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has tweeted, there is no justification for this hikes. The actress, Sarah Jessica Parker, whose son suffers from a nut allergy, says she will end a relationship with Mylan. She had a deal to promote the company's allergy drugs. Mylan's chief executive, Heather Bresch, says, "The pricing is out of our control." She called on congress to fix what they described as a broken system. [Heather Bresch, Ceo, Mylan:] Look, we are going to continue to run a business and we're going to continue to meet the supply and demand of what's out there. It's a complicated system. And to get in it and understand it takes time, which as you know, many people don't have the time to take the time. Our Congress, our leaders in this country need to get around the table and fix this. [Quest:] We're very grateful that joining us is the U.S. Senator from Minnesota, whose daughter also suffers from allergies and realizes on an EpiPen. Senator, thank you. Do you have any sympathy, Senator, which this idea or this view that it is the system that's broken and it's the system that's responsible for such a sharp increase in price? [Amy Klobuchar, U.s. Senate Democrat, Minnesota:] Well, I would like to see systemic changes. But to be very clear, this is the first program I've been on that has had the audacity to lead with the fact that the prices for the very same product are so much cheaper in other countries. You see the same thing in Canada. I actually have a bill with Republican Senator I'm a Democrat Republican Senator John McCain to allow for the re- importation of drugs from countries that have cheaper prices, but just as safe of products. And so do I think there's systemic solutions? Yes, including negotiations for drug prices with pharma for Medicare. Including stopping companies from colluding generics and big Pharma to stop products from getting on the market that would create competition. But do I think this company did a bad thing? Yes. [Quest:] But what you did they do that was bad? When you have the chief executive saying, listen, this is the market. This is what it costs. This is how we have to do business. [Klobuchar:] I'm sorry, but they were the company that had this product when it cost $100. It's not like they suddenly changed the product, they made some minor changes to it, but there is absolutely no way those costs of R&D accounted to 500 percent increase on the product. There's no way you can explain why it would be selling cheaper in other countries. So in my mind they took a product that was a good product, is a good product, and then increased the price because they wanted to have more money and more profits. Their profit margin went up, Richard, from 2008 it was 9 percent. In 2014 their profit margin was 55 percent. [Quest:] Right, where men and women of the world on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Senator. What we're everything talking about here is price gouging, that's the name for it, isn't it? [Klobuchar:] Well, and unfortunately, under American laws, when a company has monopoly power I'm the ranking member on the antitrust subcommittee when a company has monopoly power and they price gouge, that in itself is not a violation of the antitrust laws. You have to show they colluded. That they signed contracts to keep competitors out of the market. Obviously, I've called for that investigation of the situation with the FTC. [Quest:] The problem is you'd have thought that since insurance companies pay much of the price for these drugs, and Medicare, Medicaid pays much of the price, but for-profit insurance companies surely should have a greater interest in lower cost of pharmaceuticals. Let's face it, Senator, we're talking about classic capitalism here. So why has classic capitalism failed? [Klobuchar:] I believe that you need the consumers empowered and the people empowered to see how much they're getting ripped off to get change. And ironically that's what's happening. Some of these high deductible plans, which many of us which we didn't have a plan like that, but OK, high deductible plans. They show the consumers how much these products have cost, are costing, and will cost. So that is creating pressure from individual Americans to start pushing, saying this is way too much money. And before it was just embedded in the system, hidden in the system. So I truly believe we need more generics for competition. And our laws allow for that, but it's been slowed down. And pharma has stopped bills that would make it easier to have more competition, foreign competition, as I pointed out, and then allowing negotiation. I don't think you can believe this, the harnessing nanergy of America's seniors, right now they have no ability to negotiate. The prices are set. The VA gets to negotiate, the veterans do, but not the seniors under Medicare. That would be a huge draw for bringing prices down. [Quest:] Senator, we're grateful that you've taken the time this evening in the busy election year, to come and talk to us. Thank you. [Klobuchar:] Well, it's great to be on. [Quest:] Thank you. Now, we'll talk more about this obviously in the months ahead. I still got my EpiPen in case things go a bit funny. I wonder whose it is. I've got to give it back to him, because they need it more than anybody else. Mylan's stock finished down nearly.75 percent. It was a little bit of an up tip there in the market, but down towards the end. Again, not big movements on the day. The market closed down in the red. Mylan led a decline in health care stocks and it all brought the whole market down. The Dow was off 33 points. In Europe, the controversy over Mylan dragged down pharma across the Atlantic. And you see that the FTSE fell as drug makers saw a fall in prices. Germany ifo survey says, business morale in the biggest economy deteriorated in August. And that's why you see the largest loss in the Xetra Dax. The queen the knitwear has passed away. Sonia Rykiel's fashion design, seen here in film, "Prot-.-porter," live on. And we will take a moment to remember the woman who changed French fashion with a sweater. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, good evening. [Costello:] Breaking news now. New information about the future of American troops on the ground in Iraq. CNN's Chief National Security Correspondent, Jim Sciutto has more. Good morning. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Secretary Carter on an unannounced visit to Iraq announcing while he was there that the U.S. is sending 200 new troops to Iraq, to be exact 217 new troops. They will be advisers. They will also be security forces there and aviation forces, that final piece, because the U.S. is also sending apache attack helicopters in. This is something that the U.S. has actually been pushing the Iraqis for some time. Why these troops now? They're going to be involved in this push to retake that key northern city of Mosul. It's an ISIS stronghold. The Iraqi forces have been moving closer. This is a major prize in this effort to unseat ISIS from Iraq, and I would also add this, Carol. This is very key because it speaks to the danger that these U.S. troops will be facing. They will be allowed to be at the brigade and battalion level as opposed to just higher up at the division level. What that means is they'll be a lot closer to the front lines, a lot closer to combat, and, therefore, in greater danger, and we've seen U.S. troops lost in some of the fighting just over the last several months. Final note I would say is this is now pushes the number of U.S. troops in Iraq over 4,000. Nothing near the levels of 150,000 that we had several years ago, but it's been rising steadily over these last weeks and months. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Jim Sciutto reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. Saudi Arabia being blamed for a drop in world markets after they scuttled a meeting with the world's top oil producers in Doha. But so far the stock market here in the U.S. is making gains. The Dow is up 60 points. Oil prices are down. But the Doha talks were aimed at cutting back the supply of oil. That means the current glut can continue and continue driving prices down. I'll be right back. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] You just got a big dose of the case for Hillary Clinton. The case is, though, what about the other guy. What about Donald Trump? What about how a lot of voters see Hillary Clinton that is not favorable? Here to make the case is former New York City mayor and Donald Trump supporter Rudy Giuliani. Always a pleasure to have you on the show. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Mayor, nice to see you. [Rudy Giuliani , Former New York City Mayor:] Nice to see you. How are you? [Camerota:] Fine, thank you. [Cuomo:] So we just had two friends of Hillary on to say the following [Giuliani:] Right. Right. [Cuomo:] Here's who she is. She is a workhorse. She is somebody who has always done for others. She is someone who has made mistakes, but ultimately is fighting the good fight. Donald Trump cannot compete with her pedigree or her passion. What is your case? [Giuliani:] Well, my case against her is, she was found by the FBI to be extremely careless in handling national security information. Seems to be a pattern. The DNC was extremely careless in handling national security information. She was secretary of state. You can't point to a single accomplishment. You can point to over throwing Gadhafi in Libya. Now we have ISIS in Libya and chaos. You can point to her re- setting the relationship with Russia and now Putin is pushing us all around the world. You can point to her agreeing to take the troops out of Iraq, hence we get ISIS. You can point to the fact that she agrees with the agreement with Iran, which is disapproved by 60 percent of the American people. And you can find a 65 percent disapproval rating in the latest poll. Plus, she's never accomplished anything as secretary of state. There's no treaty. There's no agreement. There's just I can honestly make the case that from the day she walked into office until the day she walked out, the world was more dangerous in every key area of the world under the jurisdiction of the secretary of state than before. Oh, by the way, I left out the South China Sea. China has challenged us in the South China Sea and she is sitting by and watching Obama reduce our military to pre-World war II levels. [Camerota:] You say that Putin is pushing us around. That's not how Donald Trump frames it. He seems to have been somewhat complimentary towards Putin's leadership. And as you know, yesterday, he seemed to invite Russia to hack into Hillary Clinton's e-mails. What did you think when you heard him say that? [Giuliani:] Well, first of all, I know what he meant when he said it, because I got a call from his campaign manager. [Cuomo:] Was it your idea that he say that? [Giuliani:] No. He was telling a joke. When he got off the plane, he tweeted out, the e-mails should be sent to the FBI. He was joking around. Now, let's analyze this for a minute. According to Hillary Clinton, if she's telling the truth, which 65 percent of the American people believe she's incapable of, but if she's telling the truth, there's nothing on those e-mails that has anything do with national security. This is the stuff she destroyed. [Cuomo:] Right. [Giuliani:] It's all about Chelsea's dress, her recipes. [Cuomo:] Right. So what's the point there? [Giuliani:] The point there is, there's no national security implication to any of it. Second, it doesn't exist. [Camerota:] Yes. [Giuliani:] Third, I will I will be willing to give you a 98 percent guarantee the Russians already have it. [Camerota:] But isn't the point that Americans don't know when Donald Trump is joking. When do we believe his words and when do we think he's joking? [Giuliani:] Oh, I don't know. If he tells me, I'm joking, I take him at his word he's joking. [Cuomo:] But when you're running for president of the United States, I'll submit it this way, I do not think Rudy Giuliani makes that joke to the Russians when they are the number one inimical state to the United States. [Giuliani:] OK. So here's what you've done. You've flip it to an offhand comment by Donald Trump [Camerota:] At a press conference. [Giuliani:] As opposed to as opposed to Hillary Clinton, for years and years, putting a private server at her home, in clear violation of federal law, exposing thousands and thousands of secrets, and destroying destroying 35,000 e-mails. [Cuomo:] Can't both be wrong? [Giuliani:] What? [Cuomo:] Both are wrong. You can say both are wrong. [Giuliani:] Yes, except one [Cuomo:] You don't stand up as a potential president [Giuliani:] Except except except [Cuomo:] And make that kind of crack and you don't do what she did. [Giuliani:] Except one made a flippant comment for 30 seconds, and the other for four years as attorney general acted with extreme carelessness, which is gross negligence as secretary of state. We're going to put somebody in the White House who acted with extreme carelessness? Did you hear anyone last night defend her on that? [Cuomo:] No. [Giuliani:] No. Did you hear anyone defend her on advocating for the removal of Gaddafi? No. Did you did you find anyone up there defending her on the removal of the troops from Iraq? No. Did you find anyone up there defending her on re-setting the relationship with Russia? No. Last night was fantasy land in Philadelphia. They didn't touch a single, substantive issue. Because on the substantive issues, Hillary goes down. Plus [Cuomo:] Well, but a convention is [Giuliani:] Seventy [Camerota:] Yes. [Cuomo:] Mr. Giuliani, you know that you don't spend your time pointing out the bad spots of your candidate. [Camerota:] Yes, the RNC didn't do that either with Donald Trump. [Giuliani:] No. I did I said [Cuomo:] Well, Ted Cruz did. [Camerota:] That's right. [Giuliani:] I'm sorry, I sure did. I said I've known Ted I've known I didn't say Ted Cruz. [Cuomo:] No, you didn't. [Giuliani:] You don't want to know what I think about Ted Cruz. I said, I know Donald Trump for 29 years, and here are the good things about him and this is what he's for. And he's for being a lot tougher on ISIS. And he's for [Cuomo:] You didn't say here are the bad things about him. That's not what you do in a convention. [Giuliani:] No, but I defended him. [Cuomo:] Absolutely. You stood [Giuliani:] But they didn't defend her. [Cuomo:] Well, they defended her [Giuliani:] What I'm saying [Cuomo:] They just didn't address her negatives. They're different things. [Giuliani:] Yes, well, I defended Donald against his negatives. I took them on. By the way, she hasn't had a press conference since December 4th 2015. [Cuomo:] That's fair criticism. [Giuliani:] Now wait a second. [Cuomo:] That's fair criticism. [Giuliani:] Wait a second. Excuse me. [Cuomo:] She doesn't address the media the way Trump does. [Giuliani:] Excuse me. Excuse me. I don't want to be I don't want to be confrontational. [Cuomo:] Yes, you do. [Giuliani:] You should be ashamed of yourself. [Cuomo:] Why? [Giuliani:] As the press. [Cuomo:] Well, how do we control whether she has a press conference? [Camerota:] Yes. [Giuliani:] You should every day be saying, where's the press? Look, if I were the mayor of New York and I didn't have a press conference for four days, big old press [Camerota:] We do interview her. I mean we do have one-on-one interviews with her. We have had access to her. [Giuliani:] Oh, don't that is a lot [Camerota:] We have interviewed Secretary Clinton. [Giuliani:] That's a lot easier than it [Cuomo:] And let me tell you, her people come at us about Trump [Giuliani:] I did a press conference [Cuomo:] And his taxes and interviewing him about things and giving him too much time. Everybody complains. [Giuliani:] She should not be allowed to get away, running for president of the United States and not having a press conference for over half a year. [Cuomo:] And people say he shouldn't be able to get away with saying this kind of stuff when he might be president of the United States. [Giuliani:] Well, OK. [Cuomo:] There are criticisms on both sides. [Giuliani:] Yes, but at least he's open and transparent and he's not afraid he's not afraid to answer any questions head on. [Camerota:] Taxes? How about taxes? [Cuomo:] He hasn't released his taxes. [Giuliani:] She is she is [Cuomo:] She always beats me to that question. [Giuliani:] She is the buttoned up candidate. She is the teleprompter candidate. [Camerota:] Should he release his taxes? [Giuliani:] Rudy Giuliani would. Up to him. That's a personal question as to whether you would release your taxes. [Cuomo:] Is it? How is it a personal question, not a transparency one? [Giuliani:] It's up to people. There's no legal there's no legal requirement to do it. [Cuomo:] And there's legal restriction against it just because he's being audited, if he is. [Giuliani:] That's what I'm saying. I mean, it's a personal question as to whether you release your taxes or not. Taxes are generally private. If he wants to release them [Cuomo:] Not when you're running for president. [Giuliani:] Yes, they are, as a matter of law. [Cuomo:] No, but I'm saying, everybody releases them in the modern era. [Giuliani:] That doesn't make it a matter of law. [Cuomo:] Right. I'm not saying it's, you have to. I'm saying, should you? [Giuliani:] It's up to him. Let him decide whether he wants to. [Cuomo:] You see no downside to that? [Giuliani:] I don't see any downside to it. I think what she did with e- mails is so much worse. People say someone asked me the other day, would you rather have a politically incorrect president or Hillary Clinton? I said, I'd rather have a politically incorrect president than someone who was extremely careless in the handling of my national security information. [Camerota:] Yes. [Giuliani:] Do you know that no police officers, uniformed police officers, were allowed on the floor of that convention, and nobody in the media covered it? [Cuomo:] I don't even know if that's true. Is that true, that they weren't allowed? [Camerota:] We'll hand to God. [Giuliani:] I'll take an oath. [Camerota:] All right. [Giuliani:] Comes from a high official in the police department on the way in here. [Cuomo:] I'll check it. [Camerota:] And we will look into that. [Giuliani:] In the way in here I asked the police officer [Cuomo:] I'll check it. [Giuliani:] And I said, were you allowed into the convention? I said no. He said how did you feel about it? He said, I don't want to be there anywhere. [Cuomo:] I'll check it. [Camerota:] All right. [Giuliani:] They don't like cops. [Camerota:] Mr. Mayor [Giuliani:] What did you cover what happened in Baltimore yesterday? [Cuomo:] Yes. [Camerota:] Yes. [Giuliani:] Yes. Did you did you cover Hillary [Cuomo:] We had Elijah Cummings on. [Giuliani:] Yes, but did you cover Elijah Cummings apologizing for finding them guilty before they were found innocent? Did you cover Hillary finding them guilty before they were found innocent? Has she apologized to those cops yet? [Cuomo:] She has not. [Giuliani:] Where do they go to get their reputation back now that a black judge has found them innocent? [Cuomo:] But that's the that's the process of justice, right, you try the case, you see what happens to the charges. [Camerota:] Yes. [Cuomo:] We'll discuss this more. [Giuliani:] Yes, but then you apologize [Camerota:] Rudy Giuliani [Giuliani:] Well, you don't find somebody guilty before they go to trial. You know that. [Camerota:] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [Cuomo:] This is a longer this is a longer discussion. [Camerota:] Yes. [Cuomo:] We don't have the time for it right now. [Camerota:] You made the case. Thank you. [Giuliani:] This may this may be why she failed the bar exam the first time. [Cuomo:] Oh [Camerota:] Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [Cuomo:] I was telling you how he went out on this. [Camerota:] Yes, I know. It all comes down to tonight for Hillary Clinton. Can she sway voters with her convention speech and what kind of bump could she see coming out of Philly. We'll discuss all of that with our political all-star panel, next. [Lemon:] Well, believe it or not, the 2016 summer games are just two months away. But in the wake of a storm of bad news in Brazil, is Rio ready? CNN's Ivan Watson has more. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It's hard not to be seduced by Rio de Janeiro, this spectacular city soon to be the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Two months before the start of the games, construction crews are putting in the final touches at the Olympic venues. [Gustavo Nascimento, Head Of Olympic Venue Management:] Everything is going to be ready on time. We're going to deliver the bark fully commissioned the 24th of July. [Watson:] But despite Rio's beauty, the city and Brazil as a whole are facing some pretty daunting challenges, a whole series of unexpected setbacks leading some to wonder, are Rio's Olympics somehow cursed? Just days ago, a warning from more than 100 international doctors calling for the games to be postponed or moved because the mosquito borne Zika virus could threaten an expected half a million foreign visitors. That view rejected by the World Health Organization, which does advise pregnant women to avoid the Olympics entirely because of the risk of severe deformities to unborn children. And then there's the political and economic crisis. Turmoil after Congress suspended Brazil's elected president in an impeachment process last month and high-level corruption scandals during the worst economic recession in generations, which has left more than 10 million Brazilians unemployed. The economic hardship aggravating Rio's endemic problems with violent crime, daily gun battles between police and drug gangs in the city's impoverished [inaudible], as well as a surge in robberies. This month members of the Spanish Olympic sailing team mugged at gun point. [Fernando Echevarri, Spanish Olympic Sailor:] And we just turned around to see what was happening and we saw the pistols. [Watson:] Olympic sailors also worried about Rio's notoriously polluted bay, a dumping ground for much of the city's raw sewage. [Unidentified Female:] We don't want to swim in it. [Watson:] Rio's Mayor warns this isn't a first world city. [Eduardo Paes, Mayor Of Rio De Janeiro:] Don't came here expecting that everything will be, you know, perfect. We live in a country that has economic crisis, comes with lots of inequality, with all of the problems that we've seen concerning corruption, bribes, but the city will be much better than it was when we got the games. [Watson:] But even one of the Mayor's new infrastructure projects is now a deadly failure. This brand new spectacular Cliffside bike path was supposed to be a showcase project for the Olympics. Instead, it became a tragic setback when the waves took out part of the trail, killing two people last month. In the turbulent run-up to the Olympics, a virtual storm of bad news that leaves you wondering what could possibly happen next. Ivan Watson, CNN, Rio de Janeiro. [Lemon:] We'll be right back. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] Next up, breaking news. A brand-new poll showing Donald Trump leading in New Hampshire. Marco Rubio though on the rise big time passing Ted Cruz. Plus, new evidence tonight that the Cruz campaign told voters Ben Carson had quit the race when it wasn't true. My guest tonight the Cruz campaign co-chairman. And more breaking news, the State Department reeling tonight that classified e-mails were sent to the private accounts of Colin Powell and staffers for Condi Rice. What does that mean for Hillary Clinton? Let's go OUTFRONT. Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, the breaking news. Donald Trump with the big lead in New Hampshire. Marco Rubio now rising fast. He is in second place. The latest CNN WMUR poll just out showing Trump at 29 percent. Marco Rubio at 18. That is up seven points in just one week. That's a surge, although we have a wide margin of error here so that's important to keep in mind. Ted Cruz is at 13 in a virtual tie with John Kasich. Now, right now, this is a live picture of Donald Trump. He is about to rally supporters in Portsmouth, New Hampshire speaking there already. Now, even though 29 percent of voters in this poll said they would vote for Donald Trump, here is something crucial, one-third of Republicans polled are still undecided. The bottom-line is at anyone's race with just five days to go. Sara Murray is OUTFRONT tonight at the Trump rally in Portsmouth. And Sara, we've got less than a week, we are in the final days here. This poll is pretty stunning. Yes, he's in the lead, but we have Rubio with a big surge. You've got all these undecided voters. Any change in strategy from the Trump campaign? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Well, Erin, remember the polls showed Donald Trump in the lead in Iowa too and they lost there. And they are feeling burned by that. They're not taking any chances pumping up his visibility in the state and also stepping up their efforts on the ground. Donald Trump is kicking his campaign up a notch. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I have your vote, right? Do I have people's votes in here? [Murray:] Unwilling to let another victory slip from his grasp. [Trump:] I'm actually starting to spend good money. And the reason is, number one, I don't want to take a chance, okay? Number two, I don't want to blow it. [Murray:] On top of spending on the airwaves, today Trump doubled his schedule from two events to four. [Trump:] Got to do it. [Murray:] But with just five days until New Hampshire, Trump's campaign schedule is still relatively light, including today Trump had just six events planned before the primary. After losing Iowa, Trump loathed to admit mistakes acknowledged he could have built a more solid ground operation. [Trump:] In retrospect, we could have done much better with the ground game. [Murray:] In the day since, he's made a point of stopping by his campaign offices to rally the troops. One thing he's not doing. Downplaying expectations, making it clear he's playing to win in New Hampshire. [Trump:] I've been here a lot. I have a great relationship with the people of New Hampshire. I love them. [Murray:] A new CNN WMUR poll shows for now Trump is well positioned. He leads in New Hampshire with 29 percent support from Republican primary voters compared to 18 percent for Marco Rubio, who has moved into second. Meanwhile Ted Cruz at 13 percent is nearly tied for third with John Kasich at 12 percent. Trump's position on top has Cruz, the Iowa victor, sharpening his knives. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Donald Trump is very rattled right now. He told the entire world he was going to win Iowa and then he didn't win. [Murray:] And accusing Trump of being a sore loser after Iowa. [Cruz:] You could call it a trumper tantrum. [Murray:] And after Jimmy Carter suggested he would prefer a president Trump over Cruz, the Texas Senator turned that around on Trump as well. [Cruz:] Jimmy Carter said the reason is simple. Donald's views this is almost a quote. It's not quite verbatim, it's close. Donald's views are malleable. He has no core beliefs on anything. [Murray:] But Trump's vowing to New Hampshire voters one way or another he's ending up on Pennsylvania Avenue. [Trump:] Seriously, who wouldn't want to leave? Although, I'm building a hotel right next door which is also located on Pennsylvania. I'll still be on Pennsylvania Avenue one way or another. [Murray:] Now, Erin, because New Hampshire is a primary and not a caucus state like Iowa, it is a little bit easier to get organized here and to make sure people turn up. But that said, people still want to see their candidate especially with so many undecided voters. So, I wouldn't be surprised if we see Donald Trump adding even more campaign events between now and primary day Erin. [Burnett:] Certainly doubling down. All right. Sara, thank you very much. I want to go now to Trump's supporter Jeffrey Lord who served as White House political director for President Ronald Reagan. And the editor of The Weekly Standard Bill Kristol. All right. So, Jeff, let me start with you. Trump is down a point in this poll. Rubio is up seven. Margin of error of course is seven. He had surge though. I mean, certainly you've gotten a Rubio bump after his performance in Iowa. Should Trump be worried? [Jeffrey Lord, Donald Trump Supporter:] Well, you should always be worried when you're in these things. I mean, you cast a glance over your shoulder, but you keep ongoing. And you treat everybody in the race. I mean, there's Governor Kasich. There's Governor Bush. There's Governor Christie. You treat every single one of them as your rivals and you worked as hard as you can and you take absolutely nothing for granted. [Burnett:] So, Bill, can Marco Rubio win? I know, you have made it very clear. You know, you've done your entire cover of your magazine against Donald Trump, but the point is, can Marco Rubio pull it off at this point? Do you think that that is real? [Bill Kristol, Editor, The Weekly Standard:] Yes. I mean, he gained seven points in the last week. He can gain seven points in the next five days until they vote. That would get him into 25. Trump, the late deciders in Iowa did not go for Donald Trump. It's not so much he didn't have a ground game. It's just simply that the people who are undecided or uncertain didn't break to him at all, so he underperformed his poll numbers. You could end up with Rubio at 25, Trump 23, something like that. That's quite possible. [Burnett:] So, let's talk about this undecided issue, Jeff. In the new poll, it does stand out as Bill points out. Undecided 34 percent. So, that's more than the people who say they're voting for Donald Trump at 29. Right? You've got undecided is higher than the Donald Trump group. And at 37 percent of voters said they would never vote for Trump. That's also the highest of anybody and it's up for 31 percent just a few days ago. So, is this concerning? I mean, are these unsurmountable challenges for Trump? [Lord:] Oh, they're not unsurmountable. And, you know, the entire percentage is not going to vote against Donald trump. He's certainly got some folks, a lot of folks I'm sure who will break towards him. So, you know, but again, this is about having a ground game operation in New Hampshire, which is different than Iowa. There's different issues at play. There's different constituencies at play. New Hampshire very much sees itself I mean, I'm a native New Englander myself. They're very independent, and so, you know, you just keep on working and keep on working and eventually you'll get there. [Burnett:] So, Bill, you're talking about Marco Rubio. You think that he could pull out a win in New Hampshire. Obviously. That would be a stunner and truly transform this race. He is trying to run as an establishment candidate, but some people are criticizing him for going way too far to the right to try to pander to the base. Chris Christie is one of them and here's what he said. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] He's made it very clear that on the issue of pro-life, Marco Rubio is not for an exception for rape, incest, or life of the mother. Now, you know, I think that's the kind of position that New Hampshire voters would be really concerned about. Marco Rubio is just a guy who moves and shifts depending upon what he thinks he can get out of the electorate and what he thinks he can get from him. [Burnett:] This issue of abortion, a recent Quinnipiac poll, Republicans overwhelmingly disagree with Rubio. I mean, 80 percent of the Republicans [Kristol:] So, he's not pandering, is he, Erin? I mean, that's the thing. Marco Rubio said what he believes. What he believes is he's pro-life, he's pro-life [Burnett:] You don't think he's pandering to a base that actually votes in primaries, though? [Kristol:] That was the base. I'm pro-life Erin and the base has supported every pro-life senator who has said yes to exceptions for rape and incest. And Marco Rubio has voted yes in the Senate for exceptions to rape and incest. What Rubio said, as I understand it, personally he does not believe that abortion is right in that circumstance, but he would support and has supported exceptions with rape and incest. So, what Christie is doing is really disgusting. Rubio said what he believes. Maybe it's too extreme, Erin. Maybe he would agree with it. People are entitled to vote against Marco Rubio if they find that offensive. But it was the opposite of pandering. The pandering thing to say is, I'm pro-life, but of course, I'm for these exceptions. [Burnett:] What do you say to that, Jeff? That's a pretty good argument Bill just put to the table. [Lord:] Well [Kristol:] Why are you laughing, Jeff? Do you think Marco doesn't believe what he said? [Lord:] No, I think he does believe what he says. [Kristol:] OK. [Lord:] But I do think he has got a bit of a problem with the New Hampshire electorate. I mean [Kristol:] I agree with that too. I agree with that. [Lord:] This is a state I mean, this is a state that is notoriously independent. You know, live free or die. So, I do think he's got a bit of a problem on his hands with it, but, no, I don't question his creditability on this, no. [Burnett:] So, Jeff, and a final question for though you about Donald Trump or he's adding rallies. Right? He says he's not taking anything for granted. But, you know, in Iowa obviously there's been reporting, you know, he didn't put a lot of people on the ground. He ended up regretting that. He's admitted that. Can he make up a ground game right now in New Hampshire to get out the vote at this late hour? [Lord:] Yes. Well, I think he's been working on this a long time. And one other thing that I think he has going for him, his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is from New Hampshire. [Burnett:] Yes. [Lord:] And has been involved in New Hampshire politics over the decades. So, he knows, he himself knows the state very, very well and knows and has participated in get out the vote drives. So, I think that's a big asset for Donald. [Burnett:] That's interesting point. Well, thank you both very much. OUTFRONT next, new evidence that Ted Cruz's campaign told voters Ben Carson was suspending his campaign even though it wasn't true. OUTFRONT tonight, Cruz's campaign co-chair. And breaking news. State Department investigators say Colin Powell and staffers for Condoleezza Rice got classified information through personal e-mail accounts. That live report coming up. And pictures of Jeb Bush's campaign event. This is going on as I speak. Live pictures, Barbara Bush there with her son in a very rare appearance and W. about to step up to the plate in a big way. We'll be right back. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, debate night. GOP candidates are getting ready for a showdown here in Las Vegas. Our CNN debate is it, the last of the year for the Republicans, the last look before families gather for Christmas and Festivus or whatever and talk. And for some of the White House hopefuls, this may be their last chance. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Taking down Trump. He is the runaway frontrunner in national polls, and his rivals need to find a way to try to cut into Donald Trump's lead. Can they? Donald Trump says they will be coming after him tonight. Everyone knows he can certainly dish it out. We'll see what happens on that stage tonight. [Cuomo:] And terror scare. The nation's second-largest school system shut down. The fear in America is real after the bloodiest attack since 911. National security is the theme tonight. There will be a lot of talk about strength. But who will do something really different that makes a difference to your safety? Our team captain, Wolf Blitzer, is preparing to moderate tonight's Republican debate. I'm Chris Cuomo, alongside the one and only Anderson Cooper, and you are in THE SITUATION ROOM. We are live here in Vegas, the Venetian Hotel. This is the place to be. Just a short while from now, the GOP candidates will get after it on national security. Who do you think will keep you safe? [Cooper:] The focus of the CNN debate, as we said, is national security. It is the first time the GOP candidates will debate since the slaughter in Paris, as well as the massacre in San Bernardino, California, the worst terror attack on American soil since 911. And the debate comes as Los Angeles school system, the nation's second largest, with 650,000 students, is completely shut down by an e-mail threat. Officials in New York received and discounted a similar threat. CNN obtained a copy of the message which warns of pressure cooker bombs concealed in backpacks, as well as the use of nerve gas. [Cuomo:] All of this in context for tonight here in Vegas. The Iowa caucuses, seven weeks away. The latest polls show what we've seen to date: Donald Trump out in front, bigger than ever: 4 out of 10 Republicans say Trump is the man right now. That lead has grown since his proposal to ban Muslims from the United States sparking outrage but a boost in the polls. And in Iowa, Trump is neck and neck with Senator Ted Cruz. Some polls actually show Cruz leading. [Cooper:] And for many other candidates, of course, in this crowded field, if they are to make any kind of mark, it is now or never. Tonight is the night the frontrunner, Trump, knows he will be the target tonight. "They'll all be coming after me," he said last night. The stage here is set for some high drama. Our correspondents, analysts and guests are standing by with full coverage. The candidates, they have been checking out the stage behind us, getting a last-minute look before their showdown. We begin tonight with CNN's John Berman. John, what can we expect tonight? [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Anderson, I am backstage at the Venetian theater. Behind me right there is the door that the candidates will walk in in just a few minutes as they emerge from their dressing rooms. And they will walk in right there and walk across that stage. You can even see here five lecterns. They will be added after the first debate, which begins in just a few minutes. They will be added to make nine lecterns for the prime time debate. As you have noted, this is the final debate of 2015. And there are some new factors which could have a major impact. No. 1, Ted Cruz moving close to center. He will be right next to Donald Trump. That is a position that has been fraught with peril. Some of the people who have stood there, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, remember him? No. 2, Chris Christie, back on the main stage after a one-night engagement in the undercard debate. He could be a big factor tonight. He knows how to control this type of event. No. 3, they will get 75 seconds. The candidates will get 75 seconds to answer the questions. They will get 30 seconds to respond if they are named by someone else, a rebuttal, if you will, 30 seconds. They will both get opening and closing statements, as well. So the candidates could get a chance to set the tone early on. Finally, this space, this is the Venetian Theater. This is a theater that was built for "Phantom of the Opera" to come to Las Vegas. It seats 1,400 people. "Phantom" ran for six years here. So this is a space that knows drama, maybe nothing like tonight, unless they start singing Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, John. Let us know if there's any prefight trash talking that we need to know about as the candidates take the stage. Ted Cruz is certainly not going to like hearing himself being described as moving to the center. He very much says he is the man on the right lane, and he's going to stay there. Donald Trump is liking what he's hearing, two national polls have him higher than ever. People were wondering, what would it mean that he offered to ban Muslims from the U.S.? Well, it's helped him. And there's no question that he is going to be a target tonight. He is the man in the middle. So let's turn to CNN political reporter, Sara Murray. The other candidates are going to be coming after him. This is the way he sets it up. He doesn't want to start it, but he'll finish it. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Yes, and it's really interesting, he did say that last night. It's like he's fully prepared for it. But you also see a different Donald Trump on these debate stages than we do on the campaign trail. On the campaign trail he ripped into his rivals. He goes after pretty much everyone. So you remember, when you look at past debates, there were long stretches where Trump kind of almost seemed to disappear, where he was happy to let the other candidates go after one another. Now Trump is also interesting because he has a little bit of a different day going on than some of these other candidates. He decided to skip the walk-through that the other candidates are doing and for good reason. Instead of doing that, he's meeting with Sheldon Adelson. He's the billionaire mega GOP donor. Sort of an interesting meeting for Trump today, because he says he doesn't want any money, he doesn't want any big outside donors like this. Now, Trump also didn't have very far to travel. He tweeted earlier that he's staying at his hotel, Trump International. He's looking forward to a good debate tonight. He hopes he's treated fairly. [Cooper:] All right. Sara, thanks very much. The focus of tonight's CNN debate, of course, is national security. With America on edge after the bloody attack in San Bernardino, there was a new scare today, as we told you about, in Los Angeles, where the school system, with more than 650,000 kids, was shut down after what officials called an electronic threat. Our justice reporter, Evan Perez, has the latest on that Evan. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] You know, Anderson, the reaction to this e-mail threat really does tell you a little bit about the atmosphere there in over in the West Coast in California in the aftermath of the San Bernardino attack. But you know, we have taken a look at the message. And you also kind of you can see why New York City got a similar message, and they reacted in a different way. We saw the message mentioned pressure cooker bombs and backpack bombs and that there were a group of attackers who were preparing to take out take an attack against schools in Los Angeles and in New York, and the message made a reference to a vulgar reference to a male body part. So that's one reason why New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton reacted to this by declaring it to be a hoax. Take a listen to what he said. [Commissioner Bill Bratton, New York City Police:] We have been in contact with the Los Angeles Police Department, a department I'm very familiar with, and a school system I'm very familiar with. It appears, as of this time, that the school system out there acted on their own, without consultation with local law enforcement authorities, and they may have shut down their schools for the day. We see no need whatsoever to take that action here in New York City. That we do believe, our preliminary investigation, that this is, in fact, a hoax; and we'll investigate it as such. [Perez:] Officials in Los Angeles were quick to defend the school district superintendent who made this decision. He wanted to make sure that the kids are safe, all 650,000 school kids there. The Charlie Beck, the chief of the Los Angeles Police Department, addressed the media. And here's how he put it. [Chief Charlie Beck, Lapd:] Any time these kind of threats are made against our campuses, given all the school shootings in America, given San Bernardino, you know, we take them seriously. You know, we gave we gave the school district the our best advice on this, and they chose a path. And you know what? As I said, everybody has to make decisions in life. Some people, the superintendent in this case, had to make a decision that affects everybody in this city's children and another 100,000 of his own employees. And you know, I think it's irresponsible to criticize the decision maker. [Perez:] And now we know that the FBI is investigating this. They want to know who's sending these messages. These are not uncommon, as you know, Chris, for school districts and for universities to get these. Some of them react like Los Angeles did. Some react the way New York did, but they really just have to take it as each example comes. [Cuomo:] There's no question they're not uncommon, Evan Perez, thank you very much. In fact, they're too common. The fear is very real. And people are erring on the side of safety. And you can't blame them right now. And that's what brings into sharp focus this debate here tonight. Donald Trump, once again the national frontrunner, but Ted Cruz is surging and not just in Iowa. Some polls do show him taking the lead there, which some expected, but not in this fashion. So let's turn to the national spokesman for the Cruz campaign, Rick Tyler. Good to have you, with Anderson and me here. So going into tonight, big part of the intrigue is, how will Senator Cruz respond to his moment when he's talked, what he'll project? What can you tell us? [Rick Tyler, National Spokesman, Cruz Campaign:] I think what he'll do is what you'll see tonight is Ted Cruz looking like a commander in chief. He'll look like he's in control. Yes, I do think people will attack. But look, he will advance and defend his positions. But I don't I don't see him participating in the food fight. So if the mashed potatoes start flying around, I'll expect them to pick that up. I think he'll try to stick to the substance. [Cooper:] Marco Rubio has been painting him as an isolationist. You're obviously going to be prepared for for that. What's the response? [Tyler:] Well, he's not an isolationist, and nobody believes he's an isolationist. Ted Cruz is a is a conservative. And the polls, "The Des Moines Register" showed that more voters in Iowa see Ted Cruz as their commander in chief. They also say he has the right temperament, and he also has the most favorability rating. So that's a lot of surprises that come out of the poll that I think have got the establishment in Washington sort of befuddled. [Cooper:] You guys have also been playing a really kind of a long ground game. [Tyler:] Yes. [Cooper:] You've been preparing for this. And when you look at the most recent polls, for those people who are still supporting Dr. Carson, their second choice is Ted Cruz. So there's a lot of people who still could go to the Ted Cruz camp. What do you think has been working best for you? Because I mean, everyone says you've got a great ground game in Iowa, even in South Carolina and in a lot of other southern states. [Tyler:] We've been working really hard in Iowa. We've got 3,800 volunteers. We've got 170,000 nationally. Our people really just want to be found. They want a conservative to lead, and they see that in Ted Cruz. You've got all 99 county chairs named. That's a lot of hard work in Iowa. They just announced that right after this debate we'll going to do our fly-around in the March 1 states. So we'll be visiting seven states in ten days. We've got, like, ten stops. And so we're going to we did a bus tour in the summer, which people sort of said, "What is Ted Cruz doing?" We're going to do that again, solidify the long game so that we are prepared to go. What we don't want to do is win Iowa, and then that's the one state strategy. It got to be a national strategy. [Cuomo:] That's the challenge, right? Very often, the political campaign is a two-step dance. What do we do now? What do we do next? What do you do now is you capture your moment. You try to find a way to be the practical alternative to Donald Trump. That's what we're hearing more and more about why Cruz is suggestive to people. Then, your second step is you can't be a one-trick pony. It can't be just Iowa. People expected you to do well in Iowa, not this well, not this soon, perhaps. Give yourself a pat on the back. But how do you replicate? You put a lot of money, a lot of time into Iowa. You can't do it everywhere. How do you replicate the success? [Tyler:] Well, for one thing we've got the most money on hand. And so the candidates have to decide they have to show that, when they go into March 1, which is a lot of state's, you're going to have to have available resources. We've had the most available resources. The other thing is our super PAC has not spent any money. That I don't participating in those strategies is kind of interesting. [Cuomo:] Didn't he hire people for the ground in Iowa? [Tyler:] I've read the same reports you have, but they have not started to advise on television. So but you know, March 1 is going to be a time when it's going to get very expensive, very fast. And we'll have the resources to do that. We've already built the ground game in those states. We've been all over those states. And remember, most of those states are just southern states. They're evangelical states. All of them are in the south. They're over 50 percent evangelical. Some, like Oklahoma and Tennessee and Alabama are 70 percent evangelical, even more so than Iowa. So we think we'll do really well there. [Cooper:] What do you do regarding Donald Trump tonight? We've seen Donald Trump on the campaign trail. He called Ted Cruz the other day a little bit of a maniac. [Tyler:] A little bit. [Cooper:] You guys put out a commercial with, you know, the best movie ever, "Flashdance." [Tyler:] 1983. [Cooper:] I remember it all too well. [Cuomo:] How many times have I re-enacted that scene? [Cooper:] But I mean, tonight because Donald Trump has actually, you know he talked stuff on the campaign trail, but often on the debate stage he doesn't necessarily attack some of these candidates. Do you expect him to come face to face with...? [Tyler:] I can't predict what he's going to do. I do know this. You know, Ted Cruz likes Donald Trump. And it appears to me that Donald Trump likes Ted Cruz. I think they have a they have a rapport. But they are in competition for the presidency of the United States. So they're both going to be looking at distinguishing. Many ways this could be down to a two-person race. I mean, so we'll see we'll see what happens. [Cuomo:] Well, here's the trick. Is that he can't just look in front of him anymore. I thought one of the things that Anderson did so brilliantly in the Democrat debate, was that there was a balance of who each of the people were on the stage relative to their position. Not as many. But he's going to have Trump in front of him. He's going to have Rubio and Carson, not necessarily behind but next to him. They're going to come at him. How does he handle that in a way that shows him at his best? Because he can be nasty. He's smart, intellectual, pressing his points. [Cooper:] And he's a great debater. [Cuomo:] So how does he deal with it tonight? Because you keep saying and we hear from everybody he's not going to get into it. He's going to be good. He's going to be his best self. How do you do that when you get attacked. [Tyler:] If it's an attack on substance, we'll participate and clarify the substance and making people clear of the policy. I think one of the things that Senator Cruz has been very, very strong is, yes, he's very he's very good at debates. I think he'll do extraordinarily well tonight. But he also knows his policy. He also knows how the government works. He also remains the original outsider. And that's what the voters seem to be looking for an outsider. They certainly they see that in Donald Trump. But Ted Cruz is the proven outsider. And that's what he's going to see. [Cuomo:] Is he pumped? Is he ready for tonight? [Tyler:] It's great to see you. Yes. [Cuomo:] What's the word? Is he pumped? Ready to go? [Tyler:] He's ready to go. He's excited. [Cooper:] The word? Pumped? [Cuomo:] This is like a prizefight. You see Anderson before the Democrat debate? He was back there punching the wall. That was something. [Cooper:] Thanks for being with us. Good luck tonight. Coming up next, he'll be at the center stage. That means Donald Trump will be getting it from both sides. The frontrunner says his rivals will all be coming after him. Tonight, the question is can they do any damage? He's doing incredibly well in national polls right now. And Senator Marco Rubio is one of those rivals who's been gaining ground on Donald Trump. What does he need to do tonight to hold momentum and to gain momentum? We'll hear from one of his key advisers. [Romans:] U.S. intelligence officials tell CNN there is little doubt the Russians hacked the Democratic National Committee e-mail system. Donald Trump insists those claims are a democratic distraction, a distraction by democrats. But he sure ignited a firestorm when he stood before reporters on Wednesday, stood before reporters and he challenged Russian hackers to find dirt on Hillary Clinton. Listen. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing. I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press. Let's see if that happens. [Romans:] If the Putin regime is behind the DNC breach, the White House says it can respond with, quote, "a full range of options." We want to go live to Moscow and bring in CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance. Good morning, Matthew. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Good morning, Christine. That's right. Donald Trump really fueling that up roaring United States about the alleged involvement of Russian linked hackers to the hacking of those DNC files, calling, as we just heard from him for Russians to find the 30,000 e-mails that are missing, linked to Hillary Clinton. You know, it's something that the Russians have react very coolly to reacted very coolly to. They've denied categorically, first of all, that they are linked at all with this hacking scandal. I spoke to the presidential spokesman last night, he said, look, Russia is a country we don't hack. And basically it's been dismissed as the usual fun of get fun and games in a U.S. election campaign. In other words, you often get it in U.S. election campaigns, lots of criticism, lots of bashing the Russia. And that's how the Russians are categorizing this at the moment. But of course, U.S. officials, as you mentioned, are saying there's plenty of evidence now pointing the finger of blame at Russian-linked hackers. [Romans:] Just remarkable. All right. Matthew Chance, thank you so much for that, Matthew. Really, just remarkable when you think about it. Then you got a presidential candidate standing up there inviting inviting a foreign government to hack. [Berman:] Well, that's exactly right. Matthew Chance says the Russians are saying it's the usual fun and games in politics. There are people here on both sides of the aisle saying anything, but the usually fun and games you see in politics. Let's bring our back our panel to discuss this. You know, we heard the word treason thrown around, calling on another intelligence service to come, spy and break into the U.S. government. You know, Leon Panetta said as much from the stage last night. Let's listen to that. [Leon Panetta, Former Cia Director:] Donald Trump, who wants to be president of the United States, is asking one of our adversaries to engage in hacking or intelligence efforts against the United States of America to effect an election. [Berman:] John Philips, Donald Trump supporter, you hear the criticism from Leon Panetta. You've heard it over the last 20 hours or so. How do you respond? [Phillips:] Well, Wolf Blitzer asked me what should Donald Trump do during the Democratic Party week. And I said he needs one of those callers like you put on a dog when they bark its absence so they stop barking. Anytime he wants to have a press conference, anytime he wants to tweet, he needs to call or to zap him because... [Romans:] And you still want him to be your president, right? [Rye:] Trump supporter. [Rogin:] He had endorsements up right there. [Phillips:] Lots of presidents haven't had self-control. You see them with Mr. President Taft did around the carbs. But look, this is something he shouldn't be doing. He was trying to take the story line which, let's be honest. The story line at this both conventions have been hijacked by unforeseen events that happened at the beginning of this convention with Debbie Wasserman Schultz. That's what he was trying to do was take the focus off of what was going on the convention hall and put the focus back on the e-mails. Now, he successfully did that, but you shouldn't joke around about espionage. [Rye:] I don't know that it was a joke either. I know you're a foreign policy genius. Just give me one second. [Berman:] Yes, genius. [Rye:] The one thing that is fascinating to me is he has condemnation from really reputable people. One is Leon Panetta on that stage last night where there were millions of viewers, and the other two came from in through party both Speaker Ryan and you have his running mate as saying something very different. So, I don't know if it was a joke, but I really believe that he thinks... [Phillips:] Paul Manafort said it was a joke. [Rogin:] Yes. [Rye:] Look, I don't believe Paul Manafort. He got on here and lied to Chris Cuomo and thought him just nailed. [Rogin:] Well, Paul Manafort who was a lobbyist for both forces [Ph] for a decade, but putting that to one side. Listen, Donald Trump is... [Romans:] Do this. [Rogin:] Donald Trump is right. If the Russians released 30,000 e- mails, we would love it in the media, OK. Well, that's the journalistic term for that is smorgasbord, OK? So, let's so first of all, let's not pretend that we're anti-Russian leaks here, OK? [Rye:] I am. I don't like them. [Rogin:] I'm pro-leak personally, all right [Rye:] Watch out. [Phillips:] We just want tips for yoga because that's all important tips. [Rogin:] Well, that's the other thing. The 30,000 e-mails are deleted so we couldn't really be serious because they're gone so they can't be hack. Second of all, there were supposed to be all personal so there is not really national security issue here. What I'm getting at here is I think the Clinton campaign actually overplayed its hand, right? They have the upper hand on the foreign policy, they have imminently qualified former secretary of state versus someone who has no foreign policy experience. So, what do they do? They actually raised the alarm, they escalated and they put themselves in a position now where a lot of people who I talk to in both republicans and democrats are asking, OK, if you really believe that this is treason and the Russians are influencing the election, what are you going to do about it? What's the Obama administration going to do something about it? They're painting themselves to a corner. The truth is we are not going to do anything. There are no real responses plan. This kind of thing does happen all the time. It is what the Russians have been doing for 20 years. So, I think, you know, we have this weird situation where all of a sudden the democrats are the tough on Russian party and the Trump people are the oh, well, we should really engage the Putin party. That's a switch. [Romans:] Yes. [Rogin:] But on the other hand... [Romans:] It's Donald Trump. [Rogin:] Yes. But to John's point, you know, this is what Trump believes, all right? He's not out of line. He's telling you what he's going to do. He's being very clear about it. [Phillips:] And I think there's also an element. When FDR was president, he thought he could swoon, he thought he could charm Stalin and it didn't work out that way. I think a certain portion of Trump believes that he can swoon and he can bring Putin over. [Rogin:] But every president thinks they can do that. George W. Bush looked into Putin's eyes and saw the soul of the man and said, we can do business. [Romans:] Mark, open an eyes to get in here. [Preston:] Listen, here is the issue. OK. I mean, this is fun and interesting and bizarre that we're having this conversation that the Russians are now engaging and trying to score around, you know, with our presidential race here in the United States. The issue is is it reckless, OK? And what Donald Trump did today is reckless. I mean, the bottom line is he's going to start getting security breaches. [Rogin:] Next week. [Preston:] Right. So, the concern is, as certainly wants republicans is, will he take this information and mistakenly release some of it? Now I don't know if that you would know better than I do if this information is so top secret which I don't it is. I think it's more broad spectrum. But the fact is, Donald Trump did succeed in taking the day away from Hillary Clinton. She they won it back tonight or last night on the convention night. But Donald Trump is now going to have to own this going forward. [Romans:] All right. Guys, stick with us. Early Start continues next. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn:] Good evening, everyone. I want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you live from Paris where it is 11:00 in the evening. We begin this evening in Brussels where the highest terror alert level has been extended because of the threat of coordinated multiple attacks just like we saw take place here in Paris. The Belgian prime minister announcing earlier today that possible targets include malls, shops, and public transportation. Tomorrow, schools and the subway will remain closed as the security in the capital remains boosted. Also new this evening, French police releasing this photo of one of the suicide bombers, the suspected ones who attacked the Paris soccer stadium with a plea for information about who the man may be. What we do know is that he was dropped off at the stadium by this man, now the most wanted man in all of Europe. His name, Salah Abdeslam, and he remains on the lamb. We are getting a clearer picture, though, of how he made his escape during the chaos getting sued in Paris. Sources telling us here at CNN that after he dropped off the bombers, he ditched his car three miles away in the middle of a cross walk. His brother now telling Belgian television he believes that Abdeslam changed his mind last minute, decided not to go through with the attack and fled. Much more now from our very own Tim Lister, who has been tracking every move we have been able to track down. Tim, thank you for being with me. This has been extraordinary, the fact that the best intelligence in the world can't find this man nine days in. Given what his brother just told Belgian television in the last few hours, he pleaded with his brother to turn himself in, go to jail. What else did he say in? [Tim Lister, Cnn Producer:] Well, he also said that he thought his brother had had a last-minute change of mind. That he felt that he was an intelligent person and saw the futility of what he was meant to do and therefore he decided not go through with the operation and that he decided to try to get home, basically. [Harlow:] What we also know is that, you know, you wrote an extensive piece on this on CNN.com called the mystery of France's most wanted man. And you say that we have been able day by day to learn a little bit more. What do you think the biggest clue is that has come out thus far about his movements? [Lister:] I think the biggest clue, one of the guys who drove him back to Belgium, that Saturday morning, said, according to his attorney, said that when they picked up Abdeslam in Paris at about probably 5:00 in the morning on Saturday, he was very, very agitated and ready to blow himself up. Those were the words of this guy who helped drive him home to Brussels. And he was also wearing a really big coat and carrying something really heavy which suggests that he maybe still had a suicide belt with him, that perhaps he was meant to go through with an operation did not. But another mystery. For four hours between the end of the attacks when he essentially dumped his car and he was picked up, just off the radar. Disappears all together. He is wandering around Paris. [Harlow:] It is extraordinary. And you pose this question at the end of your piece. You say, was he supposed to do it, meaning blow himself up, and didn't have the courage to, which it appears more likely now, this is of what his brother we just don't know. How confident are the authorities here in France, Belgium, that they can track him down? Because it seems pretty amazing that someone could evade all of these countries looking for him. [Lister:] I think it is amazing, seems to be no trace of him after about a week. He arrived back in Belgium on a Saturday morning. A week later, nobody knows where he is. [Harlow:] Nothing. [Lister:] There is nothing. Now, some speculate that he may have even taken his own life. He was in a very agitated state. He didn't know where to turn. Others, very, very poor sourcing on this say he maybe was spotted indirect to other places. So that's why this intense Belgian operation continues because they feel he is still out there and that he may finally carry out this act of martyrdom that he was perhaps meant to carry out in Paris a week ago. [Harlow:] And what other lives might he take if he does indeed decide to do that. [Lister:] Exactly. [Harlow:] Tim Lister, thank you very much. You can go to CNN.com, read Tim's fascinating piece step by step, the mystery of France's most wanted man. Also, we know that in less than 48 hours, President Obama will sit down for a face-to-face meeting with the French president Francois Hollande. The two leaders will focus on the global response to the deadly attack here on Paris. President Obama slamming ISIS and the terror group's ideology when he spoke today on his trip to Malaysia. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] They are a bunch of killers with good social media. The Americans who are building things and making things and teaching and saving lives as firefighters and police officers, they are stronger. Our way of life is stronger. All of which is to say that our coalition will not relent. We will not accept the idea that terrorist assaults on restaurants, theaters and hotels are the new normal or that we are powerless to stop them. After all, that's precisely what terrorists like ISIL want. [Harlow:] Let's talk this over with CNN global affairs analyst Kimberly Dozier and CNN military analyst and lieutenant general Mark Hertling. Kimberly, to you first. What we know, that major French aircraft carrier [Kimberly Dozier, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] Bridge the gaps. And you've got to wonder if he might not also be lobbying behind closed doors to get President Obama to step up the number of strikes as well as to step up the transparency in terms of how much intelligence they share with France. I understand it's much better than it was, but it could be better still. And in Russia, you know, Russians have been targeting some ISIS areas, but the majority of their attacks still have been on rebels who are against the Syrian regime. So the U.S. and France would like to see them switch that fire power and move towards ISIS-held areas and really step up the bombing campaign. The other thing that they have been doing is ratcheting up bombing and it doesn't look like the Russians can sustain what they haves with 34 jets on the ground so far. So, again, maybe France could be the bridge between the U.S. operations and coalition operations in Russia to start putting the pressure on the troops together. [Harlow:] And they certainly the impetus to do that now following these horrific attacks. General Hertling, I want you to listen to what Chuck Hagel told our Jake Tapper this morning in a fascinating exclusive interview. Let's roll it. [Chuck Hagel, Former Secretary Of Defense:] We needed to more clearly define our political strategy along with our military strategy because it's my opinion, it certainly was the opinion of the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Marty Dempsey. He can speak for himself. But it was our opinion there is no military solution to this. We are up against an ideology, we are up against a reality of a set of dynamics we have never seen before, sophistication in social media. The military paralysis, the tactical strategic prowess that ISIS possesses, the funding. So we should more clearly define what is our political strategy? What are our priorities? Who is the enemy here? Is Assad the enemy or is ISIS the enemy? [Harlow:] I'm wondering your take on that, general. Is there no military solution to fighting ISIS because this is an ideology that has spread so rampantly? [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, Cnn Military Analyst:] We have said for a very long time, Poppy, that this will not be solved militarily. I have said that several times on CNN. I thought the former secretary's interview this morning was fascinating because it outlines some things which message the fact that well, let's put it this way. There has been a strategy from the very beginning. There are seven lines of operation to this strategy, two of which are military. The other ones have not received as much attention from the general public or even from the Congress. So the focus on those other lines of operations, stopping the transport of fighters, influencing the economics of this terrorist and criminal organization, attempting to counter the messaging and the ideology and many other things are all part of the overarching strategy that has not received the attention that bombing Syria has received. And I think what we are seeing now is several other nations, France, later this week you're going to see prime minister Cameron go to the parliament after he's won over some votes from both parties and present his strategy which is going to mirror, I believe you'll see, President Obama's strategy over the last year of continuing to take the fight to this criminal organization. I think the good thing is that you are seeing a lot of other countries coming together which was one of by the way, one of the lines of efforts of the strategy build a viable coalition. You're seeing those countries come together because they see the threat. And all of those countries are going to start influencing, as Kimberly says, they are going to start influencing Russia in a very positive way to counter ISIS, to perhaps do some power sharing agreements with Mr. Assad and eliminate some of the causes of this entire insurgency. [Harlow:] All right. And let me read this for both of you before you go and we'll talk about it later in the hour. But this is what Mike Vickers, the former undersecretary for intelligence under Hagel said to "Politico." Quote, "by any measure, our strategy in Iraq and Syria is not succeeding or is not succeeding fast enough. We are playing a long game when a more rapid and disruptive strategy is required." So consider that. We will talk about that a little bit later in the hour. Kim Dozier, General Mark Hertling, thank you very much. I appreciate it. And perhaps the biggest target of the recent airstrikes has been ISIS'self-declared capital of Raqqa in Syria. What I want to show you now is a CNN exclusive. Our CNN Senior international correspondent Nick Payton Walsh gets extraordinarily close to the ISIS headquarters. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Air strikes can repeatedly pound Raqqa, but it's here that any ground offensive would have to begin. And still, a sense of stalemate. Their ultimate goal of Raqqa, visible on a good day in the far distance. This base at times hit by ISIS mortars. [Harlow:] You do not want to miss Nick's full exclusive report from Raqqa I shouldn't say from Syria, that is Monday morning on " [New Day," 6:] 00 a.m. eastern time. Getting very close as I said, to Raqqa, the de facto capital there. Quick break. We're back in a moment. [Camerota:] This morning three countries reeling after ISIS attacks in the space of one week. Terrorists attacked Turkey, Bangladesh, and Iraq, leaving hundreds of people dead. This as ISIS continues to lose ground in Iraq and Syria. Joining us now is Colonel Christopher Garver. He is the spokesman of the anti-ISIS coalition in Iraq, Operation Inherent Resolve. Colonel, thank you so much for being with us on this 4th of July. [Col. Christopher Garver, Military Spokesman, Anti-isis Coalition In Iraq:] Thank you, Alisyn. We'd like to extend a happy independence day to everybody back in the United States. [Camerota:] And to you as well there. So this Baghdad attack just sounds God awful, Colonel. At least 200 people killed, including many children. These were this was in a middle class neighborhood. These were families that had come together for the weekend to celebrate together. It was the end of the school year. It was families just doing what we all hope that we can do, and they were slaughtered. Does it when something like this happens, does it give you pause as to whether your mission is working? [Garver:] Well, it certainly gives us resolve as to why we must accomplish our mission. As we saw and we have seen before, ISIL is a group of terrorists who will attack us in any of our capitals, in any of our countries, anywhere across the globe given the opportunity to do that. The Iraqis, unfortunately, saw that, but we also saw that in Bangladesh. In Turkey we've and seen bombings, in Paris, in Brussels. We've also seen people inspired by this terrorist group that conduct attacks in the United States and then all of our capital. So it certainly gives us resolve as to why we must accomplish our mission and defeat them here in Iraq and Syria. [Camerota:] Let's talk about that. These three attacks in the space of one week in different continents. I mean, this was an attack in Asia in Bangladesh. This was in Turkey, that straddles Asia and Europe, and then of course, the Middle East in Baghdad. What do you think of the scope of ISIS? Because it feels as though it's expanding. [Garver:] Well, ISIL is a global problem. We've known it's a global problem. They've wanted to have global impact for the last two years. As they get squeezed in Iraq and Syria, as we take terrain away from them and defeat them and they have not won a battle in Iraq in the last seven months. Ever since the fall of Ramadi last year, they have not won a battle, and they have only lost ground. They're trying to remain relevant on the global stage, and they're trying to show that as they attract crazies and sickos from across the globe, they're trying to show that, hey, we're still a viable threat, we're still a viable force. So that's why, again, it's important we defeat them here to help cut down this exportation of terror across the globe. [Camerota:] And your mission, of course, is to shrink that physical space that they occupy. But how important is that physical space, since it does seem as though regardless of physical space, they're able to perpetrate these global attacks? [Garver:] Well, it's important because they declared themselves an independent country, what they call a caliphate, in between Iraq and Syria. Kind of between the space that wasn't being governed very well, and they conquered some more space. They're showing, or trying to show, the crazies around the world, hey, we are a viable state. This is the caliphate as it's been declared. You need to come to us, and we will train you and make you a foreign fighter as we call them here. We have to break that. We are not only trying to beat a force on the battlefield but beat an ideology as well. We're trying to prove that ISIL does not have anything of value to offer the world. That's why we have to defeat them. [Camerota:] Colonel, some in the military have suggested the air campaign that you're a part of, obviously leading, is not as effective as it could be. Barbara Starr sat down with the air force chief of intelligence, who said on a scale of one to ten, he would only give it a five. Let me play for you what he said about this. [Lt. General Robert Otto, U.s. Air Force:] I would give us a five, which means we have a lot of work to do. The problem is not having enough fighter jets to drop bombs. The problem is having enough legitimate targets that we can strike that can put ISIL on their heels. [Camerota:] Colonel, is that a problem, which is not having people on the ground to point out exactly where the fighters are and the targets, to make the air campaign more successful? [Garver:] Well, we do both what we call dynamic targeting, which is the targets that develop in the middle of the fights, and we do deliberate targeting, which is as our intelligence finds those viable targets, as he was just talking about just there, we then go in and strike those targets. But we're being very careful about hitting civilians. We're being very careful about making sure when we go attack something that is ISIL, it's what we want to attack. We have a very stringent vetting process to make sure we're hitting exactly what we think we're hitting. In the middle of fights, we'll roll fighters in, I support of the Iraqi Security Forces and in support of our opposition partners in Syria and attack targets that way. But it is it's something we're constantly working at and constantly working to get better at. So absolutely, it's something we're continuing to improve. [Camerota:] Colonel, thank you for your time today. We wish all of you there on the front lines a happy 4th of July. Thanks for being here. [Garver:] All right. Thank you, Alisyn. [Camerota:] Let's get over to John. [Berman:] All right, thanks, Alisyn. Some of our military heroes and their families honored with a Major League Baseball game just in time for the 4th. This was wonderful. We'll explain what's going on here and why this MarlinsBraves game made history. That's next. [Natalie Allen, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Natalie Allen. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Here are our top stories. The king of Saudi Arabia promises a speedy investigation into the deadliest tragedy at the hajj in 25 years. At least 717 people were killed in a stampede near the holy city of Mecca. It happened during a ritual known as the stoning of the devil. Chinese President Xi Jinping received a cordial welcome at the White House Thursday ahead of what are expected to be tough discussions on cybersecurity. The White House is threatening sanctions against Chinese hackers allegedly stealing intellectual property. Four international students were killed in Washington State after a tour bus and a duck boat tourist vehicle collided. It happened on a highway near downtown Seattle. Dozens of people were hospitalized. Two of them remain in critical condition. Pope Francis had high praise for the women of the Catholic Church when he visited St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York Thursday. The pope told a group of nuns he loves them very much and thanked them for their courage. Francis' evening prayers at the Cathedral capped a busy day. Thursday morning, he addressed Congress back in Washington where he touched on two hot-button topics in the United States, climate change and immigration. [Pope Francis:] I call for a courageous effort to redirect our steps. The most serious effects of the environmental deterioration caused by human activity. I'm convinced that we can make a difference, I'm sure. I say this to you as a son of immigrants knowing that so many of you are also descendants of immigrants. Tragically, the rights of those who were here long before us were not always respected. [Allen:] Later today, the pope will speak at the United Nations, and we'll bring that to you here at CNN. Pope Francis spent the night at a multimillion-dollar home in New York. But as Miguel Marquez reports, the Catholic leader doesn't need much to be comfortable. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] It's where pontiffs have laid their papal heads when visiting the Big Apple for nearly 40 years. [Bernardito Auza, Archbishop Of Suacia & Apostolic Nuncio:] For this pope to visit the United States for the first time, and Cuba, I think that means a lot to him. [Marquez:] Archbishop Auza will host him at the Vatican's official home in New York, the Apostolic Nunciature for the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations. A big title, but for this pope, it will a simple affair. [Auza:] Dinners and lunch and breakfast will be very simple, really. No, no, no. No red meat. [Marquez:] All fine for a pope who shunned the ornate papal apartment in Rome for the simplicity of the Vatican's more humble guest house. "The New York Times" reports Francis has asked only for water and bananas in his room during his stay. The five-floor home is 11,000 square feet located on Manhattan's Upper East Side, valued at around $20 million. It was given to the church in 1975 by the family of former New York City Mayor Hugh Grant. Francis will be the third pope to stay. [Unidentified Priest:] That's where Pope John Paul II stayed his visit in '79, his visit in '95 and then again when Pope Benedict came in 2008. [Marquez:] Pope John Paul II dedicated the building on his first New York trip as pontiff in October 1979, even shaking hands with Hugh Grant Jr, the son of the New York mayor who owned the house. Grant grew up in the home. [Unidentified Priest:] The house was completed in 1894. [Marquez:] Regis High School, also founded by the Grant family, made this video, "The Pope's Home Away from Rome," for Francis' visit. Those who have been inside the residence say it's modest by New York standards. Even the bedroom where the pope will sleep is described as basically a room. It does come with its own chapel. [Unidentified Priest:] In 1914, Mrs. Grant had a private chapel built in the residence naming it the Chapel of the Holy Spirit. [Marquez:] After two nights in New York, the pontiff moves on to Philadelphia and somewhat less storied accommodations, The St. Charles Seminary. The church was forced to sell its 23,000-square-foot mansion in 2012 for budgetary reasons. Miguel Marquez, CNN, New York. [Allen:] To the other side of the world now, and North Korea. And the question, Kim Jong-Un the peacemaker? That's not a widely held view of the North Korean leader outside North Korea, but a top North Korean official says that Kim averted all-out war when tensions spiked between North and South Korea last month. Will Ripley has more from North Korea's capital, Pyongyang. [Park Yong-chol, North Korean Official:] We've characterized it as a suspicious incident. The South Koreans are saying it was caused by us, but it was definitely not us. We expressed our regret meaning we felt sorry it caused injury to their personnel. That is all. Importantly, our respected marshal, Kim Jong-Un, brought the situation under control with his firm decision to preserve peace and security, taking the safety of our loving people and the entire nation as his top priority and for the future of mankind. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] You characterize leader, Kim Jong-Un, as a peace maker. The outside world has a different impression. Case in point, the statement recently from your own state media that North Korea is prepared to use nuclear weapons against the United States at any time. [Yong-chol:] This is simply our official position on the fact that we have been under constant military threat from the United States. It's not a declaration of war or threat of a preemptive strike against the United States. [Ripley:] Any preemptive nuclear strike from North Korea? [Yong-chol:] America has said it would launch a preemptive nuclear strike against North Korea. We're just showing we have such rights to preemptive strikes as well. [Ripley:] Is your leader, Kim Jong-Un, the person that would push that button and make that call? [Yong-chol:] Of course, yes. To use the nuclear option or not is solely decide by the central committee of the Workers Party of Korea. You have to understand it correctly. The fact that we're a nuclear power does not mean we're going to use it randomly. [Ripley:] I want to talk about the North Korean economy. Here in Pyongyang I see more cars, people carrying Smartphones. We even saw a woman with a pet the other day. There are signs the economy is growing here. Is that growth happening also outside of Pyongyang and other major cities? Is everybody seeing the benefit? [Yong-chol:] You've seen for yourself some of the good signs of the improvement in our national economy. Things are happening here in very positive ways, not just in Pyongyang but throughout the country. We have fully now emerged from the economic difficulties of the arduous march. Now we're entering the heyday of the prosperity of the country. We think the country will make a rapid and strong leap forward to make this young nation into an economically prosperous nation and in the very near future. [Allen:] CNN's Will Ripley again there reporting live from inside the capital of North Korea. And I'll talk with Will about his reporting from there in our next hour. He'll be live from Pyongyang. The remains of a Russian czar have been exhumed nearly 100 years after his execution. Many people in Russia are buzzing about this story. Ahead, what investigators hope to learn about Nicholas II. [Brown:] New polling out today shows Hillary Clinton leading the Democratic field in three important swing states. But it's in New Hampshire where she seems to be struggling. With just months to go before the first in the nation primary, a new report in "Politico" says there is a growing rift between the official Clinton campaign and some of her informal but influential advisers. Those advisers are ready for her to cut her losses and focus her attention elsewhere. But her campaign apparently isn't ready to give up on New Hampshire. Despite this latest CNNWMUR poll here. It shows Clinton trailing her chief rival, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, by 16 percentage points there. Even Clinton admits victory won't come easy in Sanders' neighboring state. Here's what she told the "Today" show at a town hall in New Hampshire this week. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] I've got work to do in New Hampshire. I'm very excited to be leading everywhere else and I'm going to keep working hard everywhere else. But I always thought this would be a great contest. It's important. We're trying to elect the next president of the United States. [Brown:] And I'm joined now by the man who wrote the article, Gabriel Debenedetti; and also joining me, "Boston Globe" reporter, political reporter, James Pindell. Thanks for coming an. Gabriel, first to you. The two Clinton sides at odds according to your article. Who do you think has the bigger advantage here? [Gabriel Debenedetti, Political Reporter, Politico:] Well, the campaign has the advantage, and there's no sense that she's going to drop out of New Hampshire anytime soon. But the fact remain that's there are people who speak with her or who have been involved with her previous campaign that's are saying, well, maybe it's time to reevaluate, maybe it's time to plenty Bernie have his run in New Hampshire. [Brown:] They're I saying that based on her poll number there's. James, you say hold on a second, Clinton still has a chance in New Hampshire. Based on what? [James Pindell, Political Reporter, Boston Globe:] Well, based on history. I mean, this is the most ridiculous idea. I'm not attacking Gabriel or his sources. They're anonymous. It makes sense because I wouldn't put my name on this. If you look at primary history, nearly every single winner of the New Hampshire primary in recent decades has been down in many cases really down before they came back. And no one knows this story better than the Clintons. When Bill Clinton was nose-diving in 1992, he was able to come back in New Hampshire. He was able to do it. The same way with, I don't know, Hillary Clinton in 2008 when she was down 12 points before she pulled off a surprising victory. You know, Hillary has the largest campaign staff in New Hampshire, the deepest experienced campaign staff in New Hampshire. She's opening her tenth office. These are people who are on the sidelines as is mentioned in the politico report. This is not the campaign. And by the way, we're five months away, and this makes absolutely no sense for her to drop out in one state. It's one state. There are 49. If you want to counter Bernie Sanders, you know what you do? Take the lead back in New Hampshire. [Brown:] To your point, James Gabriel, there was a quote in your article that sort of speaks to that coming from one of your sources saying that the only thing worse than being second on primary day in New Hampshire is being first right now, basically because New Hampshire voters are known to change their minds at the last minute. Is that right? [Debenedetti:] Yeah, that's right. You look at the example of every recent primary, at least in the Democratic side. The person who's winning at the end of the day is not the person who was winning at this point. That's the point that was made to me over and over and over by the actual Clinton team. The Clinton team is full of pros in New Hampshire. They really know this. The argument to pull away is a little bit tough for them to understand, especially when you consider that New Hampshire might be a competitive state in the general election, too. Assuming Hillary Clinton gets that far for them, you wouldn't want her to have pulled out already. [Brown:] Gabriel, bottom line here, how important is New Hampshire to the Clinton camp, to winning? [Debenedetti:] Very important. I mean, they think that they could certainly win this without New Hampshire. They have an organization beyond New Hampshire. They have a great organization in Iowa as well. But the reality is if you're not competing in New Hampshire, it's tough to see a decent path forward for any candidate. New Hampshire is an extremely important state. And they know that. [Brown:] James, I see you nodding your head. Would there be, just looking at the other side, do you think any advantages if Clinton focused less on New Hampshire and poured more resources into other early primary states? [Pindell:] Well, I do think one thing that has happened which we can say is that the fire wall for Hillary used to be New Hampshire. Clintons never had a deep relationship in Iowa largely because her husband skipped the '92 caucuses there. But that firewall is no longer New Hampshire. It's the southern firewall where Bernie Sanders doesn't have much support among African-Americans and others. That is absolutely true. But again, if you want to stub the momentum a little bit, all you've got to do is reclaim the lead in New Hampshire, which is not going to be easy. She is losing, but it is not lost. And remember, the moment Joe Biden decides he's not going to run, this race is within single digits in New Hampshire alone. [Brown:] And as you pointed out in your article, James, it's not just about polling. It also has to do with organization and money as well. Gabriel Debenedetti, James Pindell, thank you so much. [Pindell:] Thank you. [Brown:] And we are one week away from the first Democratic debate Tuesday night, October 13th. That's the CNN Facebook Democratic debate only on CNN. Up next, a tragic story. Police say an 11-year-old boy shot and killed a little girl in her own yard over puppies. You'll hear from her mother, up next. Plus, in moments, the Coast Guard expected to make an announcement about the missing ship that sailed into the eye of a hurricane. The families are already telling us they're bracing for bad news. We'll be back. [Costello:] All right, some breaking news to tell you about right now. South Carolina police officer, Michael Slager has been indicted on federal civil rights charges. He's the officer accused of gunning down Walter Scott during a traffic stop last year in South Carolina. Let's get right to CNN's Martin Savidge, he has more on this. Hello, Martin. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Hello, Carol. Yes, the former North Charleston police officer is already in custody and he's been held on state charges of murder. But now these are federal charges to come down. And I should stress to you, this is extremely rare, that law enforcement officers are charged federally. But that is the case here because it is considered so horrific, how Walter Scott died. So the first charge is essentially deprivation of rights. That's to say that as a law enforcement officer, the use of extreme force was clear here. Five shots in the back as Walter Scott ran away. Another charge, federally, is the use of a gun during the commission of a crime. And lastly then, the third, obstruction of justice. This goes to Michael Slager. He told investigators, allegedly, that Walter Scott was attacking him with the police officer's taser. That's why Slager says he had to fire on him. But the video that came to light showed a very different story. It was Walter Scott who was running away. He was shot five times in the back. This all was back in April of last year. It happened after a traffic stop. The officer pulled over Walter Scott because he had a broken taillight. And now a federal case on top of the state. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Martin Savidge reporting live for us this morning. Still to come in the Newsroom, Doctor Sanjay Gupta will join us to talk about tonight's CNN town hall special on America's addiction to painkillers. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Bill Cosby defiant. His lawyers are promising a vigorous defense after he was charged with sexual assault. What are his alleged victims saying this morning? We have the very latest, straight ahead. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] The historic flooding only getting worse in parts of Missouri. Roads and homes washed away by the power of rushing waters with nowhere to go but up. We're going to tell you where the danger lurks next. [Romans:] And security out in force as the world gets ready to usher in 2016. Police working in major cities around the world to keep celebrations safe. But the terror threat already forcing one major cancellation. We'll tell you where 2015 will go out very quietly. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Kosik:] Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It is Thursday, December 31st. New Year's Eve. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. And reaction is pouring in this morning to the stunning news that for the first time, comedian Bill Cosby faces criminal charges. The TV legend is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting a former Temple University employee, Andrea Constand, 12 years ago. The local prosecutor at the time declined to charge the actor, citing insufficient evidence. Constand sued Cosby and settled in 2006. Well, now, following the parade of recent accusations against Cosby, his deposition in Constand suit has been unsealed, providing a new prosecutor with new evidence. CNN's Jean Casarez was at Cosby's arraignment and has the latest. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine, Alison, Bill Cosby was not late to his arraignment yesterday right here at this very small court house behind in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. When defendant Cosby entered the court, he appeared as though he couldn't see well and his attorney had his arm and really helped him step by step get to the defense counsel and sat him down in his seat. The magistrate judge took the stand a very short time later and really apprised Mr. Cosby of the criminal charges against him, alleged, aggravated indecent assault, explaining the various theories of the prosecution. She also told him bail was set at $1 million, 10 percent he would have to pay. Cosby didn't saying anything. He doesn't have any emotion that came out through his eyes. He just was intently looking. But she was talking about the conditions of bail, saying that he could not have any contact with the accuser with the complainant. At one point he said, "With who?" And she said, "With the complainant." He seemed to understand. She said, "Do you understand what I'm telling you?" He said yes. He gave up his passport. His attorney had it, gave it to the prosecutor as a condition of bail. The judge ended by saying, "Mr. Cosby, good luck." And Bill Cosby said, very matter of fact and very respectfully, "Thank you." The victim, Andrea Constand, at this point, we believe remains in Canada. Her attorney said she was told one day ahead of time that charges would be brought. She is so grateful, I'm told, that this district attorney is believing and has confidence in her Christine, Alison. [Romans:] Jean, thank you for that. Other Cosby accusers are applauding the news that an alleged victim will get her day in court. The lawyer for former supermodel Janice Dickinson releasing this statement, "Though he is a very wealthy and famous celebrity, Mr. Cosby should be subject to the same criminal and civil laws as everyone else. Mr. Cosby's arrest today is a highly significant chapter in his accusers' long journey towards justice. Every woman who stands up against Mr. Cosby does so in solidarity with the over 50 women who have now had the courage to speak out against him." Supermodel Beverly Johnson tweeted about karma, writing, "When it comes down to it, truth is simple. There is nothing that we give to others that does not come back to us in some shape or form." [Kosik:] Attorneys for Cosby immediately slamming the prosecution of their client as political. Their statement says this, "The charge by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office came as no surprise, filed 12 years after the alleged incident and on the heels of a hotly contested election for this county's D.A. which this case was made the focal point." It goes on to say, "Make no mistake. We intend to mount a vigorous defense against this unjustified charge and we expect that Mr. Cosby will be exonerated by a court of law." Cosby faces 10 years in prison if convicted. [Romans:] All right. There is no rain in the forecast, thankfully, for Missouri. But you know what? The historic flooding underway there right now is only going to get worse. Overnight, state officials closed parts of the major interstate south of St. Louis so they could push the sandbagging efforts to the limit. They are hoping to keep the interstate open as long as possible. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon says the Mississippi River is expected to crest later today and will hit all time record levels. CNN with the governor as he toured the flood ravaged area by helicopter. Houses, neighborhoods, schools, all under water and ruined. Rescue efforts across the state. Watch carefully. This is terrifying to watch as this unfolded live. This is a man trying to get the dog off the roof and he fall into the water. For some time, they had been on the roof with the waters rising. The dog getting more frantic, really not cooperating frankly. Check out this truck towed up and out with some of the river still inside. Watch as they open the door and the water pours out. Unbelievable there. Governor Nixon discussed the magnitude of the damage he saw. [Gov. Jay Nixon , Missouri:] Until you see the magnitude of it, it sometimes difficult to feel the damages. Plus, we want to make sure that we understand where we know the water is moving, because all of this water is headed down to another place in the state of Missouri. And if you are winning fights here, it allows us then to measure and be prepared downstream, in places like Perryville and further South. [Kosik:] So many people are affected by the flooding. In fact, more than 12 million people under flood warnings right now in 19 states. You can see them there. It is extremely unusual for this time of year to see this. For the latest on the forecast, let's bring in meteorologist Allison Chinchar. Good morning. [Allison Chinchar, Ams Meteorologist:] That's right. And, Alison, I want to update you, because you are right about this being rare. Some very strong wording coming from the National Weather Service in St. Louis. Wanting to emphasize out of the series of floods that we had Interstate 44, Interstate 55 and Interstate 93 have been shutdown for at least a period of time. That never happened during the Great Flood of 1993 in the same area nor did it happen during the December flooding of 1982. So when you are trying to grasp the magnitude of this storm, understand we will no longer be comparing to the previous storms. This storm is the benchmark going forward, if there were ever any flooding events here. So, that just really puts it into perspective, how serious this really is. And again, as you mentioned, we still have more than a dozen states dealing with flood watches, flood warnings or even flash flood warnings right now. And over 350 rivers are still either at or above their flood stage. Now, the good news is we are going to start to see those come down over the next couple days. It stopped raining and it will stay that way for at least 5 to 7 days in these areas which will allow the rivers to come down. The roadways to start to become uncovered and people can finally start to recover. Here is a look at current conditions. Behind the system that moved through, we are talking much cooler weather, 17 right now in Minneapolis, 24 in Des Moines, 37 degrees in Louisville, but it's still 67 in Virginia Beach, and 69 in Charleston right now into Charleston. All of the rest of the system will push out into the Atlantic. Today, we have areas of lake-effect snow for the northeast and also into the Midwest. But for the most part, eastern half of the country is really going to get a bit of a break. High temperatures, again, big changes, especially for cities like Nashville. You're only going to top out at 44 today, 58 in Atlanta, 47 degrees for the high today in Boston. We will be 84 in Jackson, but your colder temperatures are also going to be on the way as well. Just give it a few extra days. New Year's Eve for tonight, if you are heading out for some celebrations in New York City, it should be 40 degrees as you are out there. The good news is we will have some light winds and mostly cloudy skies, relatively a normal New Year's Eve for a lot of these folks. So, that at least is good news. No rain or snow to have to contend with. [Kosik:] OK, Allison Chinchar, thanks for the latest on weather. [Romans:] All right. Time for an early start on money this morning. The last chance to trade stocks for the year. And U.S. stock futures barely moving. The big story: another huge drop in oil. A 3 percent slump in oil prices yesterday. Oil now down 30 percent for the year. So, a progress report for you for stocks this year, ending the year basically where they started. This is the S&P 500, moved sideways most of the year. Right now, the S&P 500 is up just 0.2 percent for 2015. That's very different from the double digit gains so many have become used to. Last year, the stocks climbed 11 percent. In 2013, a stunning 30 percent. But what's in store for next year? You know, this is barely budging here. Well, experts polled by CNN Money, they do not expect more double digit gains. But they expect a bigger boost than this year. The prediction about a 6 percent gain for the S&P 500 for rest of the year. And I will say, there's some tech stocks that did very well this year. Netflix, Amazon, a few others. That is why you have the NASDAQ with a solid gain for the year. So, if your retirement portfolio has those names in it, you did pretty well this year. [Kosik:] I hear you. All right. 2016 is just 19 hours away. Celebrations planned around the world, but terror concerns threatened to put a damper on the festivities. That story, next. [Romans:] Tonya Couch, mother of the so-called affluenza teen, she is back in the U.S. this morning, landing just hours ago while her son her son is still in Mexico. Sources say Ethan Couch has been transferred to an immigration holding facility in Mexico City. He is expected there while lawyers file paper works seeking legal protection for him and they tried to block Mexican authorities from deporting him. Couch violated his probation sentence in Texas from a drunk driving crash in which he killed four people and badly wounded two others. He and his mother were on the run for nearly three weeks before arrest in Puerto Vallarta last week. Texas prosecutors plan to charge Tonya Couch with hindering the capture of a juvenile. She could face up to 10 years in prison. [Kosik:] Breaking news this morning, police in Belgium have arrested a tenth person in connection with last month's terror attacks in Paris. The men charged with terrorist murder and participating in a terrorist organization. Those are the new charges authorities have put on this new suspect. Let's go to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joining us now live from Brussels. So, Nic, arrest apparently netting new clues as to how these terrorist attacks in Paris were carried out? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Yes, absolutely. We know that what this man charged with terrorist murder, participation in a terrorist organization in connection with the Paris attack, that ten cell phones were found in the premises where he was arrested. We now know yesterday, new information emerging that a cell phone found outside the Bataclan Theater in Paris, that theater where so many were gunned down and killed, that the cell phone had sent 25 text messages in the 24 hours before the attack. The last message sent immediately before the attacks, saying we are about to start. Those text messages, those 25 text messages sent to cell phones here in Belgium. Now, it's not clear if those ten cell phones recovered yesterday are the same cell phones that the text messages sent to. But this, the arrest of this man, the charge with terrorist murder, the third arrest this week, two men arrested earlier this week, planning an attack here on New Year's Eve in the Grand Place, the center of Brussels, a beautiful square where revelers gather for the New Year. But celebrations here have been canceled. Fireworks displays, traditional in Brussels to bring in the New Year. They have been canceled this year. The prime minister appearing on television saying terrorists are more prudent, more professional than they have been in the past, that the terror threat changes hour by hour. The mayor of the city saying he cannot keep large numbers of the people in the city safe. That is why the celebrations for New York are being canceled Alison. [Kosik:] So many big cities on edge this New Year's Eve. Nic Robertson, thanks so much. [Romans:] And again, the celebrations canceled in Brussels, but they are still, of course, scheduled to go on here in the U.S. despite a threat to New York City, Los Angeles and Washington. The NYPD is responding with an unprecedented deployment for the annual Time Square celebration. We have Miguel Marquez there. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn National Correspondent:] Christine, Alison, well, this is it. The crossroads of the world despite not being any credible threats will be turned into the most secure streets in the world. The ball will drop right down there. The famous New Year's Eve ball, more than 1 million revelers in Times Square here. Police taking no chances though, saying even though there is no credible threat, they will plan for anything that comes at them. Six thousand police just for these few blocks alone. Tens of thousands of law enforcement to protect events happening throughout New York City. What was once parties and good times are now considered soft targets. The threat of ISIS has changed for cities like New York. They will have to throw everything at it from the land, from sea, from underground in the subways, even from the air over the city to protect the entire city during the New Year's Eve celebrations. They will have lots of bomb-sniffing dogs out and available. They will have radiation detectors, chemical detectors, and thousand of cameras as well to keep tabs on things. The mayor of New York saying that because of Paris and San Bernardino, it has changed the way they look at security. [Mayor Bill De Blasio , New York City:] We pride ourselves in the city. We are the best prepared city in the country. The best prepared city to prevent terrorism and to deal with any event should it occur. There will be a tremendous number of officers who you will see and many officers you won't see. There will be obvious security measures you will see and a number of measures you won't see. What we can assure you is that the preparations are extraordinary. [Marquez:] New York City saying that special response team is able to respond to dozens of incidents at a time, that's because of the San Bernardino and Paris attacks. They want to be able to hone in and respond to any sort of small bore attacks in several different locations at the same time. This will be the biggest security operation ever with 800 additional officers. New York City says it is prepared for whatever may come Alison, Christine. [Kosik:] OK, Miguel Marquez, thanks for that report. And a friend who allegedly supplied assault rifles to the San Bernardino massacre couple now facing terrorism charges. Twenty-four- year-old Enrique Marquez was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday. He is accused of conspiring with Syed Farook to plan terror attacks in 2011 and 2012, years before Farook and his wife killed 14 people earlier this month. Prosecutors have said there's no evidence Marquez knew about the San Bernardino attack. [Romans:] Turning to the world of politics. Most of the candidates laying low for the New York's holiday. Even so, big news this morning from the Jeb Bush campaign. A major shift in strategy, dropping $3 million worth of TV ad buys in early voting states. Instead, switching gears, those resources will be redeployed with the campaign instead sending 60 or more staffers to those states. Donald Trump doing a redeployment of his own, repurposing his signature slam against Bush, that he is low energy, using it now against Hillary Clinton. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Low energy can be applied to Hillary. I just don't like to use the same thing twice on one of my enemies, right? Because I consider them enemies. We view this as war. Don't you view this as war? It's war. It's war. [Romans:] Ben Carson's war chest in the headlines as well, with word he raised at least $23 million in the fourth quarter. That puts Carson at or near the top of the Republican fundraising race. Not a bad haul for a campaign that was reported just weeks ago to be in a fundraising crisis. Cruz had $20 million, also near the top of that list. All right. The Golden State Warriors taking the court without their top star. Could they pull off a win and how long could Steph Curry be on the sideline? Coy Wire live on site, he's there, for the Orange Bowl. He's got the details for this morning's bleacher report, that's next. [Burnett:] Donald Trump is going to be taking to the stage there at that podium at any moment. We anticipate. He's on time which means that sometimes you hear all of the phones going up so he may be walking out. We anticipate we're going to bring this to you live. We'll see what he says about Hillary Clinton as well as Ted Cruz. This rally coming as several of the establishment Republicans went to New Hampshire to convinced voters they are the best candidate to defeat Donald Trump including Jeb Bush. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] You know, it's not funny anymore just for me, to be honest with you, when he says as he did two months ago that ISIS was not a threat to the United States, just leave it alone. And then he said that, let Russia take care of ISIS. That's not their intention. Now he's praising Putin. He's praising Putin who is an enemy of the United States. Who has repressed the Russian people and is acting in their own national interests against the interests of the United States. This is not a serious man. [Burnett:] Sunlen Serfaty is OUTFRONT at that rally in Grand Rapids where Donald Trump is going to be on the stage I know behind you at any moment, Sunlen. Jeb Bush, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie all in New Hampshire tonight. Donald Trump is in Michigan. Interesting choice. How well is he doing in New Hampshire? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, it's interesting, Erin. You know, Donald Trump has been very careful to avoid declaring that he has any state locked up. But the Trump campaign certainly feeling a level of confidence in the early state. The pinned that on the latest polling. The latest CNNORC poll out of New Hampshire showing that Donald Trump is 18 points ahead of any other candidate. Marco Rubio, the closest opponent behind him in the second spot. Donald Trump will hit New Hampshire and Iowa after a brief pause over the Christmas holiday. But interesting and something we'll likely hear more from in those final weeks before the Iowa caucus and the New Hampshire primary. Donald Trump recently has been really urging and pleading with voters that they have to show out to vote. And certainly I think that's a big sign that the Trump campaign has an awareness that they need these supporters that come to all of these big rallies to actually mobilize and vote Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Sunlen, for the past few days, Trump has been hitting hard against Hillary Clinton, also against Jeb Bush. What do you expect in terms of the tone? In terms of who he talks about tonight? [Serfaty:] That's right. I do expect him to bring the heat again tonight here, Erin. He has been going after Jeb Bush hard, calling him in recent days, "dumb as rocks," say that he's an embarrassment to the Bush family, and similarly, the latest dustup with Hillary Clinton over this ISIS recruitment videos. I think Donald Trump feels that it's given him an opening to go from Hillary Clinton as his biggest foe. Certainly, I think this sort of argument works well in a crowd sort of like this, where it's full of supporters and really fires up his base. I think we'll see Donald Trump repeat those arguments and bring the heat here in Michigan tonight Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. As you can hear, Donald Trump is going to be appearing behind Sunlen. We're going to be monitoring that for you and bring you live as he starts to talk about Hillary Clinton. OUTFRONT now, Wes Moss, Donald Trump supporter and host of "The Money Matters", WSB Atlanta radio show, and Amanda Carpenter, our political commentator and former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. All right. Wes, let me start with you. Trump's lead right now, huge, 21 points in the latest national poll. Are the other Republican candidates running out of time to stop him? Do you buy this national polling? [Wes Moss, Radio Host, "money Matters":] I do. This polling is very indicative of the tide in America. Erin, there's an unmistakable tide in America, and if you go back and the tide is anti- establishment. And that's exactly what Trump is. Quite frankly, it's what Cruz is as well. But you see who is leading the GOP and they are taking advantage of it and the establishment tide. You go back to June, July when Trump just got into the race, it was a fad candidate, a fad candidate. It turns out that it's too late for a lot of the other GOP field to make sort of make up any ground on Trump at this point. [Burnett:] Amanda, do you accept Trump as inevitable? [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] No. I think he's very vulnerable and I think we're going to see him get notched down a few places like Iowa. But I want to focus on where he's at right now in Michigan. I find this fascinating, because I have long believed that Trump is speaking to a different kind of Republican, even Democrat-leaning voter. This trip to Michigan, earlier this year he went to an area where I grew up and these are disaffected union workers that the Democratic Party has abandoned. That speaks very clearly to their hearts. And so, I think this is part of his national presence. He's nationally speaking to that kind of voter. I don't think that's going to win him an Iowa caucus, maybe not even New Hampshire. But that speaks to his national lead in the polling. [Burnett:] Which is an interesting point. The voters that have been left behind. I mean, Wes, you have Jeb Bush really now stepping it up on his attacks against Trump and he called Trump a jerk. So, he's now using words he didn't used to use. He used to be more intellectual about it. Now he's not. He's more emotional and raw. Are you worried this could pose a real challenge, whether it's Bush or someone else, like a Cruz or a Rubio or a Christie? [Moss:] Yes. Jeb Bush is really playing right into Donald Trump's hands. He's doing exactly what Trump wants him to do and it's not making Jeb Bush look like a very smart candidate. The fascinating thing about Trump, I know he's about to get started here, the fascinating thing about Trump is that for the college-educated group, he's still in the lead but he's tied with Cruz and Rubio, effectively. For non-college educated, let's call that potentially disenfranchised voter all around America. He leads by 2 12 times his closest competitor. So, he's got a formula and it's working and it's not that different of what happened with Barack Obama when he got out to vote with a younger vote and what allowed him to win. If Trump can get that group, which is two-thirds of the population to vote, he has a real chance at the whole election, not just the [Gop. Burnett:] All right, we're going to dip in here just for a moment. Listen to him. He's talking about the Democratic debate and Hillary Clinton. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Right here, you see the name Trump on that? But every single poll that they took for the debate, who won the debate? Who won? And it's sort of interesting because the FOX poll, which came out and it's a big one and a good one which came out three or four nights after the debate, had me up 11 points, 11. And I was already leading. And then I said, I guess I won the debate, right, folks? You know, so they had 11 polls, and they had Drudge, who's a great guy, 46 percent. That is 46 percent of the vote, out of 50 people. That's a lot. I would honestly take right now 46 percent of three people. But this is 15 people. By the way, sadly, I guess you heard, Lindsey Graham left the race today. Sad, very sad, extremely sad. He was nasty to me, wasn't he? You see how everybody that goes against me is like x, x. So, we started off with 17, I won't say how many left, but a lot people starting to leave, they're going to start to leave, but everybody wouldn't that be nice? That should happen with our country. Everybody goes against us, down the tubes. Sort of interesting, right? Sort of interesting. So, I this is on the debate and the night of the debate, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people voted. Who was number one in the debate? I was. I love you, too. So who is number one? Trump, Drudge, 41 percent. "TIME" magazine, hey, they didn't even give me person of the year. They should have. That's why it's heading down the tubes, folks. They gave it to a woman who has not done the right thing in Germany. It's not doing too well over there. Nice woman. I like her. I better like her. I may have to deal with her. Look, hey, Putin likes me. I want her to like me, too, right? You know, it's sort of funny, so Putin, out of nowhere, I never meet Putin, but we were on "60 Minutes" together, not together but together. Meaning, I had a segment, he had a segment. We got tremendous ratings on that show. I took full credit. I said, if it weren't for me, they wouldn't. But we didn't meet. So, we were stable mate sort of sense, right? It was he and I on "60 Minutes" like five or six weeks ago and it was great. And he came out of nowhere two days ago and he said, "Trump is brilliant. He's great. He's the leader. He's the leader of the parties." And he said nice things. I don't know. I had never met him, so I didn't know. He said nice things. All of a sudden, I'm hearing things like, oh, isn't it terrible that Putin is saying that? That's not terrible. That's good. That's like a good thing, not bad. He can't stand Obama. Obama can't stand him. Wouldn't it be nice if we could get along with people, you know? It's unbelievable. You know it's Russia, after all. Somebody said, are you at all offended that he said nice things about you? I said, no. No. They said, Trump should have been much nastier. That's terrible. And then they said, you know, he's killed reporters and I don't like that. I'm totally against that. By the way, I hate some of these people but I'd never kill them. I hate them. No. These people, honestly I'll be honest. I'll be honest. I would never kill them. I would never do that. Let's see. No, I wouldn't. I would never kill them. But I do hate them. And some of them are such lying, disgusting people. It's true, it's true. But I would never kill them and anybody that does, I think it would be despicable. But, you know, nobody said he killed he says he didn't. Other people say he didn't. Who did he kill? Well, we don't know but we hear that. I say, tell me, who did he kill? It would be so great if we could get Russia on our side and other countries on our side and knock the hell out of ISIS and the knock it. Right? Right? [Heckler:] Donald Trump is a racist. You're a bigot! [Trump:] Bye-bye! Bye-bye! [Burnett:] All right. You're hearing Donald Trump talking about the polls after the last Republican debate and also doubling down on the Vladimir Putin compliment, Vladimir Putin calling Donald Trump brilliant. Donald Trump saying he's not ashamed of that at all and also doubling down on his defense of Putin killing reporters. Let's go back here to our panel, Amanda Carpenter. Amanda, what's your take on this? I mean, you know, one of the things when you watch Donald Trump is, he speaks to the people who are in the room, to your point. He is speaking to the people on the room. He does not care about the fact that this is televised and he may not be speaking to a lot of others around the country. [Carpenter:] Yes, I think that's a point that struck me most, just listening to the audio, is that the crowd sounds very intense. I mean, these are people that showed up to stand up and cheer because they are with Donald Trump and with his gut instinct. So, that kind of speaks to the greater anxiety and the greater fear in the electorate that many candidates fail to recognize and it's a mistake to just make have a focus and taking on Donald Trump. They really need to recognize what he's speaking to and find a way to tap into that feeling. [Burnett:] Wes Moss, as a Donald Trump supporter, do you worry that he could go too far saying, look, Vladimir Putin, I get along with the guy. I'm flattered by his compliments. I've never seen proof of him killing journalists. I mean, some of these things to experts in the foreign policy community are pretty shocking. [Moss:] Erin, I think what we just saw there is something that we we have never seen from a modern day political candidate, ever. Donald Trump's communication is directly with the people where who he's talking with and it's very rare to see the ability for somebody like that, especially on the political stage, to come close. I mean, he's more of a rock star to that audience there, as you can see, than he is a candidate. So, in order to make change as a president, you have to first get elected president, and I don't know of anybody else that has ever approached it this way. Trump has always been wonderfully known for his brand as a business person. Now, he is his own brand as a political candidate, and he's purging his own path, and it's working and working tremendously well. [Burnett:] All right. Well, thank you both very much. I appreciate your time. We'll continue to monitor this rally, which we'll be bringing you live as appropriate? OUTFRONT next, a gigantic mistake at the Miss Universe pageant. Donald Trump capitalizing off of that today. What really happened here? We're going to show and tell you. And a woman barreling her car down the sidewalk in the Vegas Strip, killing one, mowing down dozens, her 3-year-old child in the car. Why did she do it? It's the epic mistake that has folks across the globe, including Donald Trump talking. Comedian Steve Harvey declaring Miss Columbia the winner of the Miss Universe contest, a title well, he had to take back just moments later on live television. So, what happened and what is Donald Trump saying? Brian Stelter is OUTFRONT. [Stee Harvey:] Miss Universe 2015 is Colombia! [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Put yourself in Miss Colombia's high-heeled shoes. She was wearing the crown thinking she was the new Miss Universe, smiling in front of a worldwide audience when less than two minutes after being declared the winner, host Steve Harvey walked back on stage and announced this [Harvey:] I have to apologize. The first runner-up is Colombia! [Stelter:] It is a moment that will live in TV infamy. The host of "Family Feud" mistakenly reading the first runner-up's name, then correcting himself with the whole world watching. You could see his discomfort. [Harvey:] This is exactly what's on the card. I will take responsibility for this. It was my mistake. It was on the card. [Stelter:] The real winner, Miss Philippines, printed in small type on the card, showing the perils of live television. Harvey tweeted an apology saying, "I feel terrible". And suddenly, Miss Universe was trending like never before. Donald Trump pounced on the opportunity, claiming that if he were in charge, this would have never happened, he tweeted. Trump sold his stake in Miss Universe to the talent agency WMEIMG just three months ago after NBC and Univision wanted to get out of business with him. That was during the protests against Trump's comments about Mexican immigrants. The networks have refused to televise Miss USA back in July. But now, Trump is turning Harvey's gaffe into a positive, even offering a solution. [Trump:] I think I'd make them a co-winner. It would be very cool. I would recommend that they go have a beautiful ceremony, which is good for the brand and good for Miss Universe and do a co-winner. [Stelter:] And just like that, Miss Universe became part of our presidential pageant. Tonight, Erin, lots of conspiracy theories and ideas out there. Was this a stunt to get attention for Miss Universe? I say no for one simple reason. There is no amount of money to make that embarrassment worth it for Steve Harvey. [Burnett:] I think you're right about that. OUTFRONT now, Fraser Seitel, a crisis communications manager. I have to say, Fraser, I like Donald Trump's idea, you have a mistake that horrific, you make them both a winner. [Fraser Seitel, Crisis Communications Manager:] No. [Burnett:] No? [Seitel:] Terrible idea. If anybody Donald Trump should know there is only one winner. My goodness. Does she want to share the title with Hillary? No, terrible idea. [Burnett:] All right. Some people said this is a publicity stunt to get attention for the pageant, which lost a lot of carriage on networks when Donald Trump sold it. What do you say? [Seitel:] No, I mean, I agree with Brian. I mean, they would have to pay Steve Harvey and Miss Colombia a lot of money if they had staged this. But this was the best thing ever to happen to the Miss Universe pageant. Before this happened, people forgot it was on. The audience was down a million from last year. Now, it's headline news all over the country. It's a publicity bonanza. It's they couldn't have they asked for better publicity. [Burnett:] So, a video emerged this morning from behind the scenes that shows Harvey blaming the teleprompter. Here he is. [Harvey:] So, obviously, there blaming the teleprompter. But now, he's saying he misread the card and he's taking full responsibility for it. What do you think happened? [Seitel:] Well, teleprompters are hard to read. I'm having trouble reading that one. The answer is that he handled it immediately with the people back stage in a proper manner. He came out. He took responsibility. He should continue to take responsibility. This is going to boost the audience next year. You know, I'm reminded of the Golden Globes where Ricky Gervais bad mouthed everybody who organized and so on. People loved it. They watched the Golden Globes have invited Ricky Gervais back to host it again. If I were Miss Universe, I would think seriously about inviting Steve Harvey back next year. I guarantee you, it will increase the audience. [Burnett:] That's a pretty interesting idea and sounds probably right. All right. Fraser, thank you. [Seitel:] Thank you. [Burnett:] And OUTFRONT next, a night of bloodshed, chaos, men, women, children mowed down by a car in Las Vegas. [Unidentified Male:] It was mayhem and it was very intentional. [Hickman:] I have been in law enforcement 45 years. I don't recall another incident this cold-blooded and cowardly. [Paul:] Continuing following that breaking news out of Texas this morning, where a sheriff's deputy has been shot dead. Officials say Deputy Darren Goforth was simply pumping gas when someone came up behind him and opened fire, killing him in an instant. An active manhunt under way right now. We understand in the greater Houston area to find this man. You see him there. This was seen in the surveillance video and this is the truck he was seen leaving in, a red Ford ranger. Local affiliate reporting that the suspect has been caught, but police are not confirming that yet to CNN. We do continue to make calls this morning. Goforth was a ten-year veteran in the department, just 47 years old, and a wife and two children now this morning are trying to reconcile all of this. We are also watching breaking news out of Thailand. Local police say they have arrested a suspect in the bombing that killed 20 people and injured 120 others earlier this month. The man is described as a Turkish national and police say they found ball bearings linking him to the blast in the apartment where he was found. Apparently, they would think kind of ball bearings that were found at the scene. At least ten people may be involved in this and police are still investigating possible connections to international terrorist groups. We will have a live report for you at the top of the hour. [Blackwell:] Let's turn now to the 2016 race and Donald Trump is heading to Nashville today. And this comes after he spoke at an event in Massachusetts, which Trump made sure that he at least told everyone was not a fundraiser. We will get to that in just a few minutes. But first, let's talk about the event. Trump renewed attacks and now he's spreading the love around, taking aim at a top aide for Hillary Clinton. Listen. [Trump:] You look at trade pacts. China, eating our lunch. Japan, like we're children. Mexico, both in trade and at the border, what they are doing to us is terrible. And I have great respect for China, for Japan. I love the people. I love the people of Mexico. I love Hispanics. Nobody nobody loves Hispanics like I do. I probably have more than almost anybody working for me. We have some low energy people. They are really low. I'm not going to say Jeb is low energy, but he is pretty low. Who would you rather have negotiate with Iran? Trump or Jeb? [Audience:] Trump! [Trump:] How about this? Trump or Hillary? [Audience:] Trump! [Trump:] Who is Huma married to? One of the great sleeze bags of our time. Anthony Weiner. Did you know that? She is married to Anthony Weiner. You know the little bing, bing, bing? Bong. I love you very much. So, no, think of it. So Huma is getting classified secrets. She is married to Anthony Weiner, who is a perv no, he is. [Blackwell:] All right. So, shortly after those comments, Clinton spokesman tweeted this out. Donald Trump has spent the summer saying offensive things about women, but there is no place for patently false personal attacks toward a staff member. "He should be ashamed of himself and others in his own party should take him home and to stand up to him and draw the line for once. It's embarrassing to watch, frankly." That from Nick Merrill of the Clinton campaign. Let's talk about this with the CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and with us, political anchor for "New York One News" Errol Lewis. Good to have both of you back. [Ben Ferguson, Cnn Political Commentator:] Good morning. [Blackwell:] Ben, I want to start with you. One could argue that there are strategic advantages to many of the other attacks. Many of the other statements. What is the strategy here with going after Huma Abedin? [Ferguson:] No, I think he is pushing the narrative that Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted and that said, one word, people don't trust her. They associated her with the words liar. And I think his point was you can't trust her and look at the people she's surrounding herself with. They have an access to these emails, to top secret information, and then look who they are married to. Can you trust Anthony Weiner? Can you trust Huma? Can you trust Hillary? So, the way that he put it, there is going to be a lot of people that say it was not very classy or tactful, but he was telling the truth. She did have access to this information, she was around Hillary Clinton. I definitely wouldn't trust her husband knowing what we know about him. So I think for him, this is probably going to be one of the situations where the blunt talk, people are going to like it. [Blackwell:] So, Errol, certainly the people there in the room ate it up, but is there any reason to think that because Huma Abedin is married to this former congressman she is sharing any of this information and let's also say Huma Abedin is not just any Clinton staffer. [Errol Lewis:] Well, that's right. And first my way of disclosure, Anthony Weiner appears on my show every week. We talk about New York City politics. He and a number of other ex-officials. And for your viewers who don't know what all went on with Anthony Weiner. We should be clear he was caught up in a sexting texting scandal and he resigned from Congress, and it was a real problem for him, but it was all consensual. Nobody came and said that he did anything to them, no laws were broken, you know, nothing like that. For Donald Trump to sort of I guess run this line, it's a great talking point on right wing radio as my friend Ben knows very well, it's sort of a punch line that doesn't need much of an introduction. And so, I think Donald Trump was really just playing for laughs for the crowd. There is nothing at all serious there as far as a serious allegation. If he has a serious allegation to make, that would be one thing, but it doesn't sound like it was even meant to be taken seriously. [Blackwell:] And Huma Abedin has worked with Secretary Clinton for many, many years close and trusted, confidant staffer there. Let's talk now about this event that was held. A hundred dollars a head to get in. And do we have the sign that was outside this event? Yeah, let's read this. "Please have checks made payable to Donald J. Trump for president incorporated, or cash ready on entry." Now that sign is outside. But this is what Trump said about the event. Apparently, we don't have it. So Trump has said that this is not a fund-raiser. Not a fund-raiser. Checks are being made payable to the campaign, Ben, looks like a fund-raiser and sounds like a fund-raiser. What is it? [Ferguson:] Yeah, it's a fund-raiser and these are those little things that I think what can get any candidate in trouble. If you go out there and every day on the campaign trail you tell people how rich you are and that you're so rich that you don't have to be beholding the donors and you're turning down million dollar checks left and right and getting off of plane and someone is trying to hand you 3 million and you say no, I don't want it. But you take seven dollars from an average American who sends it out to the campaign. He said that's what he wants, he wants the little donations, not the big money and I'm going to turn it all down. And then you have a fund-raiser and then you try to tell people it's not a fund-raiser. Now, a $100, they are probably not making money a lot of money for his campaign. It is expensive to put these on. It is expensive for the security. I'm assuming the food was probably pretty good. And that argument, all right, I can see it, but at the end of the day when you say you're a multimillionaire and you're not doing fund-raisers and someone has to write a check for a hundred bucks to get in, he says people came for free too. I understand that, but it's either fund-raising and you're going to take money or you are not going to do it. You can't mingle the two together in these big, you know, huge statements that he makes, that I turn down millions every day from prospective donors. [Blackwell:] Is he getting any big checks, any indication? I mean there has been no release or disclosure from these other groups that had been set up, make America great again and we know there is a nonprofit. But Errol, he has derided the million dollar, 5 million, 15 million dollar checks. 700 people at a hundred bucks a head is 70 grand. It's not going to make or break Donald Trump. Why does he do it? [Lewis:] No, it's not. But I think look, if we look back in the last election cycle, it costs all in about a billion dollars for Mitt Romney and for Barack Obama. And Donald Trump, while he is a billionaire, I don't think anybody and this is how they get to be rich, right? They don't they don't really just spend money blindly and the reality is he can look at Jeb Bush who he has been attacking every day. Jeb Bush has a super-PAC that has a 100 million dollars ready to go. If it all starts getting aimed at Donald Trump and perhaps he has a reason to believe that it will be, he's going to have to fight back. Let's keep in mind, Donald Trump made his fortune as a real estate developer. Real estate development at least in New York is based on other people's money. You don't spend your own money. You get somebody else to put up the money. And so, I think both as a business model, as a practical necessity, the days of Donald Trump saying I'm not going to take any money from anybody are going to come to an end. He has got at least one super-PAC backing him. [Ferguson:] He has got more than one that's going to come out and favored him. He was even talking about that last night. But there are just acts that are forming because they love what we are doing here. Donald Trump is going to have to play the traditional game of raising money when you're running a national campaign at some point. In fact, it's I think it's already started to happen. It's just this is a big promise that you're not going to take money, you're not going to fund-raise, and then when all of a sudden you start doing it, I think people start to say, maybe you are a little bit... [Blackwell:] And you know what, it made him so attractive to supporters that he is the unconventional candidate and maybe that is changing. Errol Lewis, Ben Ferguson, thank you both. [Lewis:] Thank you, Victor. [Paul:] New details this morning about the one person who survived that Virginia shooting that was captured live on television. We will take you to Roanoke. Also, NFL player Michael Vick, he has a new job. The same old controversy, though, is following him it seems. Find out what fans of his new team are saying about their new quarterback. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] OUTFRONT tonight, Donald Trump taking on the southern border. But his trip hit a snag before it even began. And all the buzz seems to be about the hat he is wearing. So, did the trick backfire? Plus, a major development in the case of Sandra Bland. Officials say an autopsy proves her death was a suicide by hanging. But the family has its own autopsy in the works. What will that show? And a fight erupting in a small Texas town over a Muslim cemetery. Why residents are protesting this final resting place? Let's go OUTFRONT. Good evening, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan in for Erin Burnett. OUTFRONT tonight, Trump takes on the border. Donald Trump flew into the border town of Laredo, Texas, today, a high profiled trip intended to put the spotlight back on his signature issue, illegal immigration. Trump sporting a wide make America great again baseball cap and yes, it has taken on whole life of its own online, he repeatedly told reporters that he was making the trip to Laredo despite what he described as a major security threat. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Well, they say it's a great danger, but I have to do it. I love the country. There's nothing more important than what I'm doing. [Bolduan:] Border patrol agents were supposed to lead Trump's tour, but then backed out at the last minute. The Trump campaign slammed their, quote, "superiors in Washington for silencing them." Dana Bash is OUTFRONT tonight in Laredo, Texas traveling with the Trump campaign. Dana, it seemed like a crazy day. What happened? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Congressional Correspondent:] That is an understatement. And to boot its battle, 111 degrees here right now. But look, whether or not Donald Trump actually learned something new by coming here to the border, that's to be determined. But you ask whether or not it backfired. Probably not. Because the main goal was to put focus right where some of his most ardent supporters want him to do that, and that is on the issue of immigration. [Bash:] Donald Trump landing for the cameras on the plane that bears his name. Using an unusually long motorcade to blaze a campaign trail to the U.S. border with Mexico. Mob the cameras to capture a series of photo ops. That is Donald Trump behind there. Engineer to return the spotlight to the issue that helped make him a surprise force in the republican primary, order security. [Trump:] I'm the one that brought up the problem of illegal immigration. And it's a big problem. It's a huge problem. [Bash:] But how much Trump actually learned is unclear. Even before Trump arrived, his tour hit a snag. The local border patrol union that invited him uninvited him this morning for fear of it looking like an endorsement. [Trump:] They invited me and then all of a sudden, they were told silencio, they want silence. The border patrol, they are petrified of saying what's happening because they have a real problem here. [Bash:] Instead, Trump went to the border for a brief meeting with local Laredo, Texas officials, the mayor and the city manager Jesus Olivares. [Trump:] This man I'm going to steal him to run something for me. He is fantastic. [Bash:] But if Trump talked to Jesus about building a wall, he claims he will get Mexico to pay for, he didn't get positive feedback. [on camera]: Do you agree with Mr. Trump that the way to make the border safe is to build this wall? [Jesus Olivares, Laredo Texas Manager:] Well, that's a federal issue. And we have our comments on that. We don't think that's necessary at this time. I think there's other ways that we can work together with the federal government. [Trump:] No, no, not at all. [Bash:] Still Trump left doubts about whether he stands by his own promise to build a wall along the 2,000 mile border. [Trump:] I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. [Unidentified Female:] Are you in favor of a wall? [Trump:] Yes. In certain sections, you have to have a wall. Absolutely. [Bash:] And he is still not backing his claim that Mexican officials sent undocumented immigrants across the border. [Trump:] We will be showing you the evidence. [Bash:] Now, although Kate, Donald Trump was not able to get a tour from the local border patrol union as he had planned probably when he got on his plane to come down here this morning, he did have a meeting in the building behind me with other law enforcement officials, including some border patrol agents who still went to hear his speech despite clearly having some second misgivings I should say from his bosses here. Back to you. [Bolduan:] Disagreements with those, some of the folks who were standing right there with him. Very interesting. [Bahs:] Interesting. [Bolduan:] Very interesting, Dana. Dana Bash OUTFRONT for us tonight. Dana, thank you so much. Also OUTFRONT tonight, former republican Congressman Tom Tancredo and Congressman Henry Cuellar, a democrat who represents Laredo. As well as Joe E. Baeza who was with the Laredo Police Department, he met with Donald Trump there today. So, Tom, let me start with you. Because you heard in Dana's piece, I mean, you had folks standing up with him who were disagreeing with Donald Trump on his big signature issue of putting up this border wall. Folks are calling this more of a pr stunt than anything. They're talking more about his hat than they are than anything else. So, did this backfire? [Tom Tancredo , Former Presidential Candidate:] Well, I don't know because I don't know exactly what the purpose was. If it's to simply draw attention to the issues on the border, then I suppose it worked. If it was actually to find out something about what goes on on that border, it certainly didn't. I guarantee you, I mean, I have been to the border many times, both northern and southern border, and I assure you that if you go to the border and you are given the tour by the folks on the ground there, the border patrol agents, you're going to get a dog and pony show. You are not going to see the real border. You have to if you want to see that, you go down there and talk to the rangers who live there. You see what happens on their land. You see what happens to their to the water tanks that are vandalize. You see what happens to the trash that piles up in huge, huge masses in places called layup sites. You'll see the wrecked trees where, in fact, people women coming across that border are raped by the coyotes and then their undergarments are hung on the trees. [Bolduan:] Wait. So, Tom, do you think this was do you think this was a pr stunt too? [Tancredo:] Those things you will see. Hey, listen, when you are running for president of the United States, everything you do is a pr stunt. You hardly ever do anything that is in fact just, you know, fact finding. [Bolduan:] Excellent point. [Tancredo:] That's been my experience, I believe. [Bolduan:] Congressman, a question to you. Trump called the border in Laredo a danger. He said this not once. He said this multiple times. If we have that sound bite, listen here. [Trump:] I'm going to the border tomorrow. I may never see you again. But these are minor details. We're going to the border. And we will see you later hopefully. We'll see you later. They say it's a great danger but I have to do it. People are saying, oh, it's so dangerous what you are doing Mr. Trump. It's so dangerous what you are doing. I have to do it. [Bolduan:] So dangerous, I have to do it, it's a great danger. It's a great danger. Congressman, this your hometown. I mean, what do you say to that? [Rep. Henry Cuellar , Texas:] Well, I think he's known to make some very amusing statements like he just did. I live there. I drink the water. I breathe the air. My family lives there. If you look at the FBI statistics for the border, the border has a lower crime rate than the national crime rate. And this is using FBI statistics. If you look at the crime rate of Laredo, the murder, we had three murders for a hundred thousand, less than three murders, for a hundred thousand. [Bolduan:] I mean, this is the kind of the debate being had at this very moment. And someone who is in the middle of it at least today is Joe E. Baeza. Joe, let me bring you in on this. You met with the you've met with Donald Trump today, along with other city officials. They were standing right there with him on the tour. Congressman Joaquin Castro, he called everyone out today on Twitter who was with Trump saying that Trump used you all and that it's embarrassing for South Texas and Hispanics. That's a pretty serious statement. What do you say to that? [Joe E. Baeza, Laredo Police Department:] Well, the truth of the matter is that this entire visit really wasn't even the city's idea. We basically were going to be in a supporting role. We were going to basically provide adequate security for crowd control and police presence and assure that everybody was orderly and peaceful. Due to the circumstances that were presented to us this morning and the fact that that the union had the rugged pulled out from underneath them, really what happened was that we rose to the occasion. We said, why would we waste the opportunity to speak to a presidential candidate and to give them our views on the things that matters to us as a border community and that was exactly what happened today. He was given a very brief tour in regards to and a presentation by city leaders in relationship to Laredo's their world role in being the largest inland port in the United States. The mass amounts of commercial motor vehicle traffic that comes through the border, our role in having a stake in all of that and what Mexico means to the business trade in Laredo, Texas. It was a pivotal. And Mr. Trump was completely engaged into this conversation and I think the conversation went well. [Bolduan:] Well, it's interesting you say conversation. Because at least in part of it, it doesn't seem like it was much of a conversation. Because Trump sure seems to not have changed his position on the fact that he wants this big position is that he wants to build a massive border wall there. Do you think in what you showed him in the conversations you had that you changed his opinion at all? [Baeza:] I think we gave him food for thought. I think it would be ridiculous for us to assume that he was going to leave a convert in relationship to what we were trying to explain. I think the systemic issues that are always surrounding the border communities and it always is in a four-year cycle with relation to presidential elections. We live the issues here on the border community. They don't go away every four years. We deal with them day in, day out. We know the nefarious nature of narco-trafficking, illegal immigration, the ramifications that would mean for us. We basically have been in charge of homeland security for quite some time, even before the term was coined post-911. Because Homeland Security starts with home front security for us. Where our community that we love, that we enjoy so much. And it was pivotal that we basically took advantage of this visit, because how often do we have a person like him in order for him to have 15 minutes with us to give him a presentation? [Bolduan:] There's no doubt about it. There's no doubt about it. The spotlight was back is back on your town right now. And you at least had 15 minutes. I mean, I guess that's more than a lot of people get. Thank you so much. [Baeza:] Exactly. And obviously [Bolduan:] Go ahead. [Baeza:] Thank you then. I appreciate that. [Bolduan:] Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you so much, Joe, Tom, Congressman, I appreciate your time. Got to love those delays with live TV. OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump now threatening to run as a third party candidate. He's got the billions to do it. But what would it do to the GOP? And officials tonight are ruling Sandra Bland's death a suicide. But listen to her voice just before her death. Does she sound suicidal to you? [Sandra Bland, Found Dead In A Jail Cell:] How did switching lanes with no signal turn into all of this? I don't even know. Call me back when you can. [Bolduan:] Donald Trump issuing a major threat to his party tonight. He is warning Republicans that if the party is unfair to his campaign, he will absolutely consider running as a third party candidate. Empty threat or the GOP's worst nightmare? Chris Frates is OUTFRONT. [Trump:] Here is the good news. I'm very rich. [Chris Frates, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] And that's what makes Donald Trump's latest threat very real. Trump told a hill newspaper Wednesday that if the Republican National Committee doesn't play fair, it increases the chances he will mount a third party run. The RNC asked Trump to cool his heated rhetoric after making comments about undocumented Mexican immigrants. [Trump:] They are bringing drugs. They are bringing crime. They are rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. [Frates:] The republican committee also chided Trump after he suggested that GOP Senator John McCain, a former prisoner of war, was not a war hero. But even Trump has acknowledged that a third party run could be disastrous for Republicans. [Trump:] The best way of defeating the Democrats and probably Hillary I think it's going to be Hillary, is to run as a republican. If I do the third party thing, it would be I think very bad for the Republicans. I think it would be very bad in terms of beating the Democrats. [Frates:] It's a point backed up by recent polling. In a head to head match-up, democrat Hillary Clinton beats republican Jeb Bush by six percentage points. Add Trump to the race and Clinton wins by 16 points. Republicans fear a repeat of the three-way election of 1992 where some blamed Ross Perot for costing President George H.W. Bush the White House. Perot spent $65 million of his own money. Trump is financing his run the same way. [Trump:] I'm using my own money. I'm not using the lobbyists, I'm not using donors. I don't care. I'm really rich. I posted over $10 billion. [Frates:] Trump's disclosure forms show he is worth at least $1.4 billion and has at least $265 million in debt. The form's broad ranges, the top ranges anything worth more than $50 million, make it impossible to verify Trump's claim that he is worth $10 billion. Trump's campaign mocked the form saying, quote, "This report was not designed for a man of Mr. Trump's massive wealth." Some of his most valuable assets are in real estate, resorts, golf courses, residential and commercial properties. But he also makes money on everything from royalties and rents to speaking fees and licensing deals. And the last thing some Republicans want is Trump throwing that cash behind an independent third party run. But Trump seems to walk back those comments today telling reporters that he wants to run as a republican. And Kate, with that characteristic Trump bravado, he predicted he would win that nomination. [Bolduan:] Of course, he made that prediction, Chris. Thanks so much, Chris. [Frates:] You're welcome. [Bolduan:] Joining me now to discuss, former head of communications for the Republican National Committee, Doug Heye and CNN political commentator and former special adviser to President Obama, Van Jones. Gentlemen, let's begin. So, Doug, how serious should the RNC and republican candidates take this threat from Trump? [Doug Heye, Former Rnc Communications Director:] I think it's the latest news to just keep the Trump thing going. We were talking about a phone number yesterday. We were talking about Lindsey Graham and John McCain before that. Obviously, he will say anything to stay in the headlines. This will certainly stay in the headlines. What I would like to see is more digging down. We saw some vulnerability in Donald Trump today. He was asked, what would you about the illegal immigrants, the millions of illegal immigrants who are already in this country? And we know that he doesn't have the policy chops on anything. And he said, I don't know. He punted on the answer. I think if Republicans and really journalists dig down on policy issues, the emperor will show that he doesn't any have any close and he doesn't have any answers. [Bolduan:] I guess. And in your view that it doesn't even matter if he runs as a third party candidate. But Van, oh Van, third party candidates they have also played the spoiler role for Democrats obviously, we've laid that out. Ralph Nader in 2000 just to drop a name. What would you do if this were your party? What do you do about this threat? What do you do about this let's play the game, if he becomes a third party candidate? [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, first of all, what's very interesting is that you have a lot of discontent in the country. But the Democrats, the party is healthy enough to absorb that. So, you know, our renegade is Bernie Sanders. He was an independent. He had to come inside the party to be relevant. The Republican Party right now is in such disarray, they have so many candidates, they have so many problems that somebody could go outside. This party does not seem to be able to contain and manage its own contradiction. So, they have that problem to deal with right now. What I think is very, very interesting is that you do have a moment in which I think the Republicans are underestimating Trump. I don't think Trump is going away. I don't think he is going to flame out. I don't think asking him a tough policy question is going to shut him up. I don't think he has got any shame. He cannot be shamed. I think he's going to be a very powerful force. I think he's gaining strength. And I think people are whistling past a graveyard, they think this guy is going to go away. He may be the last man standing. He won't get the nomination, but he may be the last man standing next to the guy who is. [Bolduan:] That means the nominee is not standing. Okay, that would look what does that look like? Okay. So, Doug, the RNC, when you talk about how this threat has come about, the RNC, they told Trump they told Trump to tone it down after his controversial immigration comments. They also put out a statement criticizing his comments after he questioned McCain's war hero status. Trump is saying, if you are not fair to me, I may absolutely consider running as a third party candidate. Is the RNC at all at fault here? Would you have recommended taking this guy on in the middle of a primary if you were still there? [Heye:] Well, I think what they did was pretty obvious. Anybody who insults Senator McCain's war record is probably going to be criticized. Obviously, even John Kerry spoke out in favor of Senator McCain and his war record. But the RNC has very specific rules that they are following. You know, when I worked to the Republican National Committee, I had the bylaws of the committee at my desk. And you had to follow them to the T. And one of those it's like a prime directive is that the Republican National Committee does not get involved in primaries at all. [Bolduan:] Then, what did they do with that statement? [Heye:] Well, I think standing up for John McCain is a totally different matter. [Bolduan:] There's no place in our country in our party or country for comments that disparage. That's indirectly criticizing Trump. [Heye:] Well, I certainly think whether it's the communications director or Reince Priebus they're going to stand up for a senator who's fought for our country, you know, in the way that John McCain did so much. But when it comes down to the debate structures, when it comes to who is allowed on the stage or not, the Republican National Committee can't and shouldn't step in there. And that's why I think they're taking the right course so far. [Bolduan:] And Van, I mean, you said Trump could be the last man standing. Trump I mean, couldn't Trump hurt Hillary as well if he ran as a third party candidate? There are plenty of ways to tie the two together. And you can be sure that the republican nominee, whoever that may be, would take a lot of pride in pointing that out and highlighting that. [Jones:] Well, I think that they might try to do that. I don't think it will work as well. First of all, I think that Hillary Clinton is really the opposite of Donald Trump in terms of her style, in terms of her background. I think it really having him running around, she then can say, look, you know, I'm the grandmother in chief. I want to be grandmother in chief. This is not the way you want a commander in chief acting. It's so important that the commander in chief have gravitas, have some experience. This guy actually I think makes Hillary Clinton look great. Frankly she makes he is going to make a lot of people look good who are not Republicans. He is making the Republican Party look terrible. And I think if he runs as a third party candidate or frankly, if he is won the last two or three people standing in the republican primary, he hurts that party in ways that's very hard to describe. But he is not going away. I think republican leadership needs to accept the fact this guy is here to stay. [Bolduan:] And Doug, I kind of get the sense, the more Van says it, that the more he hopes he doesn't go away. I'm getting that a little bit of sense here. [Heye:] And I don't blame him. I don't blame him one bit. [Bolduan:] Guys, great to see you. Thanks so much. [Jones:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] OUTFRONT next, a major development in the case of Sandra Bland. Officials saying an autopsy shows her death was a suicide. The inmate next to her cell speaks OUTFRONT about what she heard. And Bill Cosby's new strategy, publically fighting the accusations. His news attorney says, despite the sex and drugs, Cosby never committed a crime. [Unidentified Female:] For a person to offer a substance in a consensual relationship to a person with knowledge and for them to choose to accept it is not criminal. [John Berman, Cnn:] That does it for us. Thanks for watching. A special edition of "Smerconish" starts right now. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn:] Hey, welcome to a special primetime edition of "Smerconish." Week one of the Trump presidency. I'm Michael Smerconish. It has been a hell of a week. The most politically tumultuous in the three decades that I've been paying very close attention. Just take a look at today. The executive orders keep coming. The latest, suspension of all refugee admissions for 120 days and for Syrians until further notice. In foreign affairs, the President held hands with the British prime minister, but canceled next week's meeting with the Mexican president due to the border wall dispute. And their joint statements reveal a crucial disagreement. Tomorrow, he's calling Vladimir Putin, of whom today he suddenly remarked, "I don't say good, bad or indifferent. I don't know the gentleman." So how will that chat go? He's also dialing back his plan to bring back torture saying he'll defer to Secretary "Mad Dog" Mattis, but he still thinks it's effective. I'll talk tonight to the man who implemented enhanced interrogation post 911. And, as you know, I like to receive and comment in real-time on tweets that you send me. So please, tweet me @smerconish and I will read some live on the air. As a matter of fact they're already coming in. What does Nomad say? "Smerconish, you are an effing disgrace to independents," whoa, "as you had your head up Trump's ass for weeks. GRFOOH." I'll have to ask my kids about that. Et cetera, et cetera. Hey, Nomad, you know what's unique about your tweet? Is that normally I catch hell from the left and the right. So I guess tonight is unique for a whole other reason. But first, how is he doing? That, like everything else in this country, depends upon your silo, your bubble. And I know this from my personal interactions, hours spent this week conversing with my SiriusXM radio listeners and many social media exchanges. Here's how I see the divide. To the critics, the 73 million who voted for someone other than Donald Trump, this thing is already a hot mess. We have a president still fighting over the size of his inaugural crowd. He sends bombastic, petty tweets. He made an overly political speech standing in sacred space at the CIA, lies about voter fraud, entertains thoughts of reinstituting torture, has already offended the Mexican president, now wants to stick the American people with the bill for the wall. And has a senior adviser openly telling the media they are the opposition. But none of that seems to matter to the 46 percent who voted for him. They are elated. Here's what they see. A media-driven fight over crowd size, immediate action, like he promised, to end Obamacare, a reinstated abortion ban, the end of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, NAFTA on life support, a revival of the Keystone Pipeline, follow through on that pledge to build a wall, and a willingness to send the Feds to end all that carnage in Chicago. There's not much overlap in those two views. But there is a way of working through all this. The policy disputes are mostly honest differences. We had an election. One side won. The other side lost. The losing side has to face policy consequences. And the 46 percent? They're in charge. But what is unacceptable is government by distortion, by fear, by intimidation, making unfounded assertions about voter fraud or needlessly insulting the people of Mexico. That's intolerable and left undeterred, that can only metastasize to more impactful issues. Now there is, of course, an institution that should be playing a moderating role with regard to this divide. I speak of the Congress. Congress can limit the first use of nuclear weapons, halt the building of walls without authority, and sign off on whether there are sanctions with Russia. I also believe that the Congress has a leadership role to play in the court of public opinion and in private discussions with the President about modulating his behavior when necessary. So, here's hoping that they fill the enormous void. You know, I've always tried to balance this program with voices from all sides. And just last April we held a focus group in Philadelphia made up of voters who had changed their registration to Republican so they could vote in the primary. Here are some highlights. [Jerry Zimmer, Trump Supporter:] I truly believe he cares about us. I have always been a proud American. I'm tired of apologizing for being a proud American. [Mary Lou Zimmer, Trump Supporter:] He started saying things like the wall, like immigration. [Smerconish:] Some of those folks are back tonight to see what they think of the new president. Jimmy Finn and Jerry and Mary Lou Zimmer. All right, guys, it's only a week, maybe it's unfair. Give him a grade. How was the week? [M. Zimmer:] Well, Michael, I think I have to differ from your opinion. I think I would give him an [A. Smerconish:] Hey, my opinion was to layout the way both sides see this because there doesn't seem to be much of a middle ground. You give him an A. What's his grade? [J. Zimmer:] I'm giving him an A minus. [Smerconish:] Why the minus? What didn't he do that earned him the minus? You [J. Zimmer:] Hillary's still walking free and the Clintons are still hoarding and stealing money. [Smerconish:] Yeah, in other words, you really did want her locked up. [J. Zimmer:] I want it to be proven. [Smerconish:] Jim Finn, what's [J. Zimmer:] If you let her go to the old folks home afterwards, that's fine, instead of the prison, but the facts need to come out. [Smerconish:] Jim Fin, what's the grade? [Jim Finn, Trump Supporter:] Michael, I give him an A. Every day I get home from work, I'm wondering what he did today. So, I think he's doing a great job so far. [Smerconish:] Well, I'm wondering what he did today but maybe not for the same reasons that you are wondering. But I'll tell you this, it hasn't been dull, that's for sure. Look, you know I love [Finn:] Dull, dull. [Smerconish:] You know I love legal tablets. [Finn:] Not dull at all. [Smerconish:] You know I love legal tablets. [Finn:] Yeah. [Smerconish:] I love drawing a line down the middle and looking at the pluses and minuses. The Zimmers, you heard the list of the critic complaints. Why is he arguing about crowd sizes? Why does he tweet in the manner that he does? What about that lie, at least according to "The New York Times," that three to five million illegals voted in this election, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera? You know the criticisms. What are you thinking when you hear them? [J. Zimmer:] OK, as far as the voter, that's to be seen. But let's get back to talking [Smerconish:] You mean the fraud issue? [J. Zimmer:] Yes. But let's go back to talking about the crowd size. The big issue there was they come out I'm not going to name the stations. He threw the bust of Martin Luther King out. That's like telling the nation the president came in and threw eggs at his grave. Went to Atlanta and God knows what he did to it. They try to start this. [Smerconish:] No, you know that didn't happen. [J. Zimmer:] Absolutely. [Smerconish:] And you don't like the way in which that was reported. [J. Zimmer:] Absolutely. Oh, and [inaudible] behind somebody. That is not reporting. That is not telling the news. That's making the news. [Smerconish:] OK, so, you're telling me it's the media. I mean, as I articulated in my pluses and minuses, you think this is all a media concoction and that he hasn't misbehaved or acted inappropriately thus far. [J. Zimmer:] He has made some mistakes. [Finn:] Bias. Yeah, bias. [J. Zimmer:] But I do feel that the news media is very, very biased. [Smerconish:] You think out to get him. [J. Zimmer:] Out to get everybody, to get the ratings up. Ratings are more important than facts. [Smerconish:] But Jerry [J. Zimmer:] Ratings are more important that facts, that's what I'm saying. [Smerconish:] let's talk facts. Because when he talks about voter fraud and when he talks about three to five million people having voted illegally in this election, I wanted to know where did he get that from. The citation that he offers is Pew research. I have the study in my hands. That bears no resemblance to what really occurred in this study. I mean, do facts matter? [J. Zimmer:] Facts matter, but who did the study? [Finn:] I don't even think we should be worried about that. [Smerconish:] A nonpartisan organization associated with the go ahead, I'm sorry, Jim. [Finn:] I don't think that's one I don't think we should be worrying about that. He's already the president. So, my biggest thing is the media bias, whatever. We just we got to all start coming together because this is starting to get to be a real pain. I mean, it's every day. It don't matter what channel you go on, news or whatever. He is our president. So let's, you know, we got to get together on this. [Smerconish:] I'm all for listen, I'm all for [Finn:] I got grandkids. I'm only anything. [Smerconish:] I'm all for respecting him as the president of the United States, but there are a number of issues that I think are fair game. Mary Lou [M. Zimmer:] Yes. [Smerconish:] he campaigned on that pledge to build the wall. [Finn:] Yup. [Smerconish:] He campaigned on the pledge to build the [Finn:] I'm going to give you that. [Smerconish:] Jim, hang on one second. I want to ask Mary Lou a question. [Finn:] I agree. [Smerconish:] He campaigned on the pledge to build a wall. Who's going to pay for the wall? [M. Zimmer:] Well, we are. But Trump is, I believe, he is a man of his word. And he is also the businessman who has the art of the deal. I believe he will make the deal with the Mexican president and the wall will be paid for out of Mexico. [Smerconish:] Hey, Jim, doesn't it make you nervous. And, you know, maybe you went to one of those events where it was a big line. Who's going to pay for the wall? Everybody would say Mexico. But he's now asking the Congress [Finn:] Yeah, I know. [Smerconish:] for somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 billion. That's all of us paying for the wall. Speak to that issue. [Finn:] I understand that, but that I think that he's going to, you know, I think Mexico isn't going to pay for the whole wall. I'm going to tell you that right now. And yes, taxpayers, us, we're going to have to pay for some of it. But I agree in the long run. I said I think we'll probably get most of our money back but not all of it. I got to agree on that. [Smerconish:] And you're OK with that? [Finn:] With paying some [Smerconish:] Yeah. [Finn:] Well, yeah, if it's going to protect my family, yeah. [Smerconish:] You OK with the American taxpayers picking up the tab? [Finn:] If it's going to protect us. [Smerconish:] Let me ask the two of you. You OK with that? [J. Zimmer:] Would you rather pay $14 million or the $100 billion? [Smerconish:] Billion, 14 billion. [J. Zimmer:] $100 billion that we're paying for the illegals that we're feeding, clothing, giving them Social Security cards, giving them driver's license. [Smerconish:] Another immigration issue [J. Zimmer:] They're going to save money. [Smerconish:] just came up today. So President Trump said, hey, for the next 120 days we're not taking any more refugees. I assume you agree with that as well. [M. Zimmer:] I do, absolutely. [Smerconish:] Because you [M. Zimmer:] Because [Finn:] I agree. [J. Zimmer:] Yeah, so do [I. M. Zimmer:] Yes, I agree with you also, Jim. He always said that he wanted America first. And if you stop and think about it, if we let these refugees in, not only are they taking money out of our pockets paying for their different medications and types of things this way, they're taking our jobs away. America needs those jobs and that's what Trump is for. [J. Zimmer:] We take [Smerconish:] Go ahead. [J. Zimmer:] our homes away from our elderly because they can't buy our taxes and shove them into a home and pay three times more than we could from paying the taxes. We are so worried about people from other countries that have billions of dollars. Look what Saudi Arabia's got. Where is their money to take care of their own people? [M. Zimmer:] Right. [J. Zimmer:] I was brought up to take care of your family comes first. Where does the money from Saudi Arabia? [Finn:] Jerry, what I'm [Smerconish:] Go ahead, Jim, I know you're dying to get into this. Go ahead. [Finn:] I know. What I'm worried about, what about the children coming over here. That's the only thing with immigration and stuff, the children that's coming here. I have three grandkids, you know, I love kids. You know, that's the only thing. What are we going to do with the kids that are already over here, you know? That something has to be done about that. So, that's a concern of mine, too. [Smerconish:] OK, so those who came by virtue of their parents, they now are here illegally, and you say, Mr. Trump, President Trump, at least let them stay, the dreamers. [Finn:] Well, I mean, I'm not talking about today. I'm talking about the children that already have been over here for like two and three years already that they've done nothing with. So, that's what I'm saying. [Smerconish:] All right, Jim Finn, Mary Lou and Jerry Zimmer. By the way, is America great again already? [M. Zimmer:] Not yet. [Finn:] Not yet. [J. Zimmer:] Proud to be American. For the first time in eight years I can happily say that I'm proud to be an American. [Smerconish:] Oh, you weren't proud to be an American? [J. Zimmer:] Yep. I was very proud. [Smerconish:] I am proud. [J. Zimmer:] But we applaud someone that said that. That's what we're leaving. [Smerconish:] OK. But you're making me nervous because what you're really saying is you yourself weren't proud to be an American before. [J. Zimmer:] I've been proud to be an American since I crawled out of my first black and gold diapers that had steelers on them when I was first born. [Smerconish:] OK. Guys [J. Zimmer:] Never a day I wasn't proud. [Smerconish:] Nice of you to come back. [J. Zimmer:] I'm just prouder today. [Smerconish:] Prouder. OK. [M. Zimmer:] Yeah. [Smerconish:] That I'll accept. Thank you, guys. Hey, what are you thinking? Tweet me @smerconish. Put up another one so we can all look at it together. Check it out. "Smerconish, if there were three million illegal votes cast deviously wouldn't the Dems have been able to win the Electoral College?" You know what I keep wondering, Jessica, the three to four or five million people that he speaks to, wouldn't someone be on "Access Hollywood" by now or doing a TMZ interview or maybe even CNN? Where are these people? That's what I'd like to know. OK, you've heard from his base. Next up what Steve Bannon calls the opposition party and I refer to the media. And, is it ever appropriate for journalists to use the "L" word as in lie? [Unidentified Male:] Unsupported claims. Maybe not true. [Unidentified Female:] Denial of the facts. [Unidentified Male:] The President's statement was unsubstantiated. The President's statement was unfounded. You've had your share of misstatements over the past few months. Leading with multiple falsehoods, declaring erroneous figures easily proven to be factually inaccurate. [Erica Hill, Cnn Anchor:] We'll be looking up to that and to your updates, as well. We'll also be looking to see when the color of the water of the pool changes. Coy Wire for us live in Rio. Thanks for joining me today. I'm Erica Hill. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders. [voice-over]: I think he's the founder of ISIS, I do. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Reince Priebus essentially threatened Donald Trump to turn things around or else. [Trump:] If it is true, that's OK, too, because all I have to do is stop funding the Republican Party. [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigative Correspondent:] Secretary of State Clinton's chief of staff was in New York working on behalf of the Clinton Foundation. [Unidentified Female:] Do you feel confident that all the rulings were followed? [Trump:] Maybe the most important election that our country's ever had. It's probably the only way I'm going to get to heaven. [Berman:] Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] That was a good one. I'm Kate Bolduan. Let us play our favorite game on this happy Friday, one we like to call, I didn't say that, you just heard it wrong. You can find it right on the shelf next to taboo and battleship. No, you are definitely not sensing any bit of sarcasm here. Today, Donald Trump after tripling down on calling President Obama and Hillary Clinton the co-founders of ISIS, is now tweeting this, quote, "Ratings-challenged CNN reports so seriously that I call President Obama and Clinton the founders of ISIS and MVP. They don't get sarcasm?" Let us take a brief walk down memory lane of the last 48 hours. [Trump:] He is the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of ISIS. I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, these are the founders of [Isis. Hugh Hewitt, Conservative Radio Show Host:] Last night, you said the president was the founder of ISIS. I know what you meant, he created the vacuum, he lost the peace. [Trump:] No. I think he's the founder of ISIS. He's the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. I give her, too, by the way. [Hewitt:] But he's not sympathetic to them. He hates them. He's trying to kill them. [Trump:] I don't care. He was the founder. [Berman:] Meanwhile, something nearly unheard of in Trump world, an admission of vulnerability, maybe even weakness in states you would never imagine. Let's go to chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, live for us in Washington. Dana, you are never sarcastic. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] I don't know what you're talking about. I'm usually not speechless. The question I'm sure you're wanting to know is, how did he go from Hugh Hewitt not handing Trump not one but two lifelines to kind of work his way out of this idea that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are the co-founders of ISIS yesterday to today saying, no, no, it was just sarcasm, CNN and other news organizations are taking me too seriously. So are we supposed to not take him seriously even when he says he really means it and doubles, triples, quadruples down? I'm not sure I know the answer. We have to keep on keeping on keeping on, reporting what he says and bringing it to viewers. [Bolduan:] Keep on keeping on. That's basically the only way to survive this election for any of us. Dana, we have heard him say he was joking and folks have misunderstood him before. [Bash:] No question. [Bolduan:] One thing we haven't heard before really is Donald Trump talking about losing and talking about specific states. [Bash:] There was so much focus on his founder and the ISIS situation yesterday that this may be got a little bit lost. I think you're exactly right. I think it was something so striking because it seems so out of character for Donald Trump speaking yesterday to a group of evangelical leaders in Florida talking about the potential to lose a very Republican state of Utah. Listen to this. [Trump:] You got to get your people out to vote. And especially in those states where we're represented having a tremendous problem in Utah. Utah's a different place. I don't know is anybody here from Utah? I mean, it's I didn't think so. [Bash:] Now, just a little bit of context there. Again, he was talking to evangelical leaders. There is kind of an historic tension between evangelicals and Mormons. And Mormons, of course, make up the vast majority of the Republican voters in Utah, at least those who Republicans rely on. So that was kind of what his appeal was there. But, still, the idea of him saying that it's a place that he could potentially lose is definitely not something we hear from the guy who says he's going to be winning so much, we're going to get sick of winning. However, I will say, as that is going on, I'm hearing this morning from some Republican officials, veteran Republican officials, who have run campaigns on a national level before, people who are perplexed about where he is spending his time. For example, tomorrow, Donald Trump is going to Connecticut. Connecticut is a historically reliably blue state, at least in modern times. His campaign tells me that they think that is one of the areas where he can turn it red. They say that's the reason he is going. But that's not the only complaint, I will tell you, as I toss it back to you. The other big open question I'm hearing is what about the tens of millions of dollars he has been able to raise? He spent a lot of time fundraising. Why is it they're waiting so long to put any ads on the air? He says it all the time on the campaign trail, the Hillary Clinton campaign is spending so much money against him and he's got goose egg on the air. And, you know, they say inside the Trump campaign, they do have a strategy, they do have a plan. They won't share it with us. But there's a lot of concern out there he's just sitting on this money and they don't know why. [Bolduan:] The longer you wait, the more expensive the ads get in those media markets. You know what I mean. So, Dana, keep on keeping on, great to see you. [Bash:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Joining us, Joseph Boreli, New York City councilman, Trump supporter; Doug Heye, CNN political commentator, Republican strategist, former RNC communications director; Hilary Rosen, CNN political commentator, Democratic strategist and Hillary Clinton supporter; and Hunter Schwarz, national political reporter for "The Independent Journal Review." Guys, great to have you all here. Mr. Boreli, to you first, my friend. You are a Donald Trump supporter. All day yesterday, Donald Trump and everyone supporting him and defending him spent all day saying this was not a joke, this was very serious and this is exactly what Donald Trump means. Does this put you in a tough spot, now that he's gone 180 so quickly? [Joseph Boreli, Cnn Political Commentator:] No, I think Donald Trump was using sarcasm the whole time. Whether you're a supporter or critic believed that he was actually saying Barack Obama was in a cave somewhere in Syria [Bolduan:] He believes he was saying that. So many people were defending him on our air, saying that. [Boreli:] I have been objective on Donald Trump comments in the past. I think this is one of the times it works to his Benefit. What he's doing is creating a word association. He's saying Obama is tied to ISIS in a way we can all remember. For the last three days, we haven't been talk about any of the stuff that was bad for him in the last week. We've all been talking Trump surrogates have been explaining this comment and Trump opponents have been saying, well, Obama really did have a failed policy on ISIS but it's not nice to say. [Berman:] Your idea is if you're talking about ISIS at all, even if you're talking about false claims about ISIS, it's good for Donald Trump. [Boreli:] He's creating, again, a word association that two guys in a firehouse or two women waiting for their kids at school can just talk and snicker at and I think it presents this rather, it just it creates this image in people's mind of an association between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and ISIS which a concern. [Berman:] When he said he wasn't joking yesterday, he was joking about not joking? [Boreli:] I think so. [Bolduan:] There you have it. Hilary? [Hilary Rosen, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, that's just a terrible thing to say. I just I want I don't even know where to begin with this kind of gamesmanship about such a serious national security issue. First, he was joking about president Putin, Vladimir Putin infiltrating America's databases. Then he said, no, I was just joking. Now he's just joking about it. It's not funny. He's running to be commander-in-chief. Making jokes about this. And then his surrogates going on TV saying, of course he's sarcastic and that's the point so you'll all act like idiots for three days talking about it. That is just not funny. This is not what a presidential campaign should be about. Hillary Clinton is out there talking about the issues. Where is Donald Trump's five-point plan to deal with ISIS, if he's so smart about it? Let's talk about it. Let's have a conversation about how he's going to govern. This is not a game. [Bolduan:] Doug, real quick, on this. We've got another topic we want to talk about. But you're a Republican that is no fan of Donald Trump. Where do you land on this? [Doug Heye, Cnn Political Commentator:] We focus on Donald Trump outrage every day because it's always something different. While we talk about the latest crazy thing Donald Trump said, what's really happening on the ground is Hillary Clinton right now is organizing in key states and key counties in precincts. Donald Trump's campaign is not. I was in Iowa last week. There's no Donald Trump campaign there. Help had a rally. There was a big Trump plane in the Des Moines airport which, unfortunately, it was bad timing to be at, at the same time. In my home state in North Carolina, another swing state, there's no real Trump campaign there. The only thing you hear about Trump staffers is this week's revelation that one Trump staffer pulled a gun on another staffer. Probably not the Second Amendment conversation we need to have. Also demonstrates this is not a real campaign and doesn't exist except on TV and Twitter. [Berman:] Want to come back to the strategy around the country. But let me put a button on the sarcasm discussion to the point Councilman Boreli was making because, on Monday, Donald Trump is giving a speech, a policy speech, he says, on ISIS, in Ohio. You know, ISIS is one of these issues, who best to handle ISIS. In the polls, it's been Donald Trump ahead, Hillary Clinton, topsy-turvy. This is a place where he's competitive. So if it is being discussed, is this terrain you think which is more favorable to the Trump campaign, Hunter? [Hunter Schwarz, National Political Reporter, The Independent Journal Review:] You know, this is something that he focused on when he was speaking at the RNC. You know, the war on terror is no longer something we fight far off in Afghanistan. This is something that's come home. That's something he's campaigned on. He is the candidate who is going to be able to fight is and fight terrorism at home and abroad. [Bolduan:] Let's talk about kind of the campaign organization and where things stand right now. There's this letter has been an open letter to the RNC, to Reince Priebus, saying it's so bad that you need to pull back, you need to move all of your resources elsewhere. Doug, move your time, your energy, your effort elsewhere. You saw that letter. You decided not to sign. Do you disagree? [Heye:] I don't disagree with that strategy. I think that's probably where the RNC will end up. We have members of the Senate who we need to shore up and who really are experiencing a lot of bad things on the campaign trail, having to answer another Donald Trump comment yet again every day. For me, you guys know when I worked at the RNC, it was pretty choppy waters. I don't want to add any choppy waters to what Reince and the team there is dealing with. I think we get a lot of people 50-people letters and all the harrumphing. I wish they were doing that a year ago when people were warning this guy should be taken for real and he's dangerous for the party and potentially the country. [Berman:] We'll leave that there. Hunter, I want to talk about Utah because it's fascinating. You cover it quite a bit. Give us a sense of what's going on there right now. Give us a sense of what Donald Trump's words yesterday meant, because it's fascinating on many levels. On the one hand, was he asking for evangelical support in Utah? Did he just not understand the dynamic between evangelicals or Mormons? Or was he trying to fan the flames? [Schwarz:] What we're seeing is unprecedented. Mormons are the most Republican religious group in the United States. Usually, it's taken for granted they'll vote Republican. To have the Republican nominee admit he's not doing well in Utah. And then the Democratic nominee, we had Bill Clinton in Utah yesterday. He was fundraising. And Hillary Clinton wrote an op-ed in one of the two major newspaper. And it was the language in that was it was very specific to Mormons. She mentioned Mormon history, including the 1838 extermination order where the governor of Missouri said Mormons should be exterminates. These are things you don't hear presidential candidates saying when they're speaking to Mormons. She quoted Mormon leaders. She quoted Mitt Romney. And [Bolduan:] Why is he struggling? What's the one why is he struggling amongst Mormons? Why is he struggling in Utah? [Schwarz:] Mormons what they look for in a leader, it's not necessarily the things Trump looks for. The things they teach you growing up and the things you value, it's more humility than being bold and brash like Trump. And so he's just he's having a problem connecting with voters there. The governor of Utah, however, he's been critical of Trump, Governor Gary Hubert. But he said he's planning on voting for Trump. He may not agree with everything he says, but he said he thinks Trump does a better job on state rights, Supreme Court nominees. But even his administration is split because I spoke with a spokesperson for the lieutenant governor, Spencer Cox, and he said he is not ready to say he's going to vote for Trump. So that's how a lot of voters in Utah and Mormon voters across the country are feeling now. [Berman:] Councilman, as you sit here in New York and you look at troubles in Utah, that's got to be concerning. [Boreli:] Look, I don't know if Utah was ever on the Trump campaign strategy in a broad sense. I think as we pointed out he did always have troubles with Mormons. You saw that in the primary as well. It's a state where if you don't get this bloc of voters, the Mormons, you're not going to compete as a Republican. I think he's going to do a great job. I think as Hunter pointed out, the governor's comments are indicative he could pick up ground there. I just don't think the campaign has formally adopted a Utah broad-based campaign approach. [Heye:] But the reality is Republicans shouldn't have to in Utah. And South Carolina has problems, too. [Bolduan:] But, I mean, Hilary, do you think Hillary Clinton is going this kind of goes on the Georgia conversation we had, the Arizona conversion we started having. Does this fit the bill? Are they going to be moving resources? Bill Clinton was there. Is she going to start going there? [Rosen:] We're seeing Hillary Clinton move the map for Democrats in an historic way here where Georgia in play. Utah in play. Arizona's looking strong. I think we're going to see Hillary Clinton win some states that weren't originally in the plan. And, you know, the interesting thing, just as a political analyst, not as a partisan here, the amount of defections we are seeing from Republicans. It's just I never not only have we never seen this in presidential elections, I've never even imagined it could be this broad. And so the fact that Donald Trump is just not really significantly expanding his base beyond the primary. And, in fact, is sort of pooh-poohing the need to, gives Hillary Clinton a lot of openings here to just broaden her tent, broaden the support. And, frankly, when he governs as president, it will serve her well, because she will have started to bring the country together in the general election. [Berman:] Said as a nonpartisan. [Bolduan:] Nonpartisan. [Berman:] Hillary Rosen, Hillary Clinton supporter; Hunter Schwarz, Doug, Joseph, thank you very much. [Bolduan:] Thank you. [Berman:] Up next, we're going to speak to a Republican who signed the letter we were just talking about urging the Republican Party to stop spending money on behalf of Donald Trump. Why they now think that Trump's what they call "recklessness" could hand the Democrats more than just the White House. [Bolduan:] Top Hillary Clinton aide travels to New York City. That sounds like nothing. The reason for her travel, that sounds like something a lot of folks are talking about now. New details about the State Department, Hillary Clinton's State Department, and where the line is between that State Department and the Clinton Global Initiative. We'll be right back. [Nancy Grace, Hln:] Breaking news tonight, live, Jacksonville. A desperate mom calls 911 after her 8-year-old daughter vanishes from a Walmart superstore. After a frantic search, authorities locate Cherish`s tiny body bloody, half-clothed, submerged in murky water. Does video and just obtained 911 calls leave behind clues in the 8-year-old girl`s disappearance? Tonight, we go deep inside the investigation. We discover disturbing details, including two previously hidden critical calls that could help crack this case, and the shocking possibility Cherish could have been saved. And tonight, joining us live, the little girl who got away. [Unidentified Male:] The desperate 911 call she made from the Walmart where she last saw her 8-year-old daughter, Cherish. [Perrywinkle:] And I don`t understand why he would [Unidentified Male:] Newly released surveillance video shows him with that family and then casually walking out of the store with Cherish next to him. [Grace:] Breaking right now, "Star Trek" star`s $170 million love child claim. The son of an actress mom boldly goes where no man has gone before, firing torpedoes in the courtroom that the "Star Trek" superstar, Captain Kirk, is his bio dad, that the lead star of the "Star Trek" franchise, "Boston Legal," "T.J. Hooker," and of course, Priceline, has an affair with his mom, and now, years later, demands nearly $200 million. But is he trying to live long and prosper from a fake connection? [Unidentified Male:] Captain Kirk. The amount of integrity in both universes, Mr. Spock. William Shatner is being sighed for $170 million by a man claiming to be Shatner`s long lost son. So when I see this guy, I should call him out on the air. Yes. I mean, I don`t know what he`s doing or why he`s doing that. [Grace:] That`s from CBS TV distribution and 102.5 The Bone radio. Breaking right now. Mom`s lover goes on the run. A massive manhunt follows when a 2-year-old little girl found, according to doctors, dead from severe child abuse. So what about Mommy? Where was Mommy during all of this? Did she lie to cover up, even accepting Gofundme donations? Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. Bombshell tonight, live to Jacksonville. A desperate mother calls 911 when her 8-year-old little girl goes missing in a Walmart superstore. After a frantic search, authorities locate the tiny body of Cherish. She is bloody, half-clothed, submerged face down in murky water, under a log. Does video and a 911 call leave clues in the 8-year-old girl`s disappearance? Tonight, we go deep inside the investigation and discover disturbing details, including two previously hidden critical calls that could help crack the case. And tonight, the shocking possibility that we have been wrestling with. Could Cherish have been saved? And tonight, another little girl who got away. I want to go straight out to Larry Hannan, court reporter with "The Florida Times-Union." But first, Larry, watch your monitor. I want to pull up the video that we`re talking about, the heart-breaking video of little Cherish. There`s her mom, and there`s who we believe to be the killer, in the black outfit, short sleeves, long pants, whitish baseball cap. See him honing in on Cherish? She`s the 8-year-old little girl with the long, dark hair. See, he follows her, not only with his body but his eyes, wherever she goes, even into the changing room. Now, he meets the mom at a Dollar store and he sees the mom is having difficulty paying and there they go out the door. The mom thinks they`re just going inside the store to the McDonald`s located in the Walmart superstore. But instead, he lures her out to his car. Watch. Watch him. Keep your eye on the video. See him targeting her, ignoring the mom and the other two little girls, following along with her? Now, they met earlier at the Dollar store. They come to Walmart. He sees she can`t pay for the children`s clothes, offers to pay, says he`s waiting on his wife. But when they get to the McDonald`s, look, the McDonald`s is just off to one side, to the left. They go out the door. Keep watching. They go to his white van. Now, Larry Hannan, I want you to hear one of the two phone calls that we uncovered. And let me tell you, everybody. This is getting extremely complicated. We have learned that police officers have been thrown out of the homicide unit, that they have been reprimanded, that they have been suspended for getting to the scene, not reporting this as a kidnapping to the superiors for hours, not telling the media for five hours. All this time, the little girl`s life could have been saved. But what about this 911 call? Listen. [Operator:] Jacksonville 911 [Unidentified Female:] Hi, we are calling about a suspicious van over here, a white van. It was parked behind some bushes really deep. And then we heard that it was... 911 [Operator:] The nearest crossroad? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, ma`am. I know it`s a white van. It`s not there anymore. But we don`t know if he dumped anything because [Operator:] Right. [Unidentified Female:] So we are not sure that`s the van, but a white van was pushed all the way to the back of the bushes this morning. 911 [Operator:] Near some bushes? [Unidentified Female:] Right behind the church. 911 [Operator:] And how long ago did you see it? [Unidentified Female:] Oh, man [Operator:] All right. You said it`s now gone? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, ma`am. 911 [Operator:] But you think he may have just in case he might have dumped something? [Unidentified Female:] Right. We don`t know, but just in case. It looked suspicious because it was all the way to the back. [Grace:] Larry Hannan, court reporter, "Florida Times-Union," that call makes me sick. And I`ll tell you why. Did you hear them say, We just found out a little girl was kidnapped. We`re just hearing it. But we saw this way, way, way back, hours ago. It`s gone now. If this had been handled properly, they would have heard the Amber Alert. They would have known about the Amber Alert. Everybody would have. They saw the white van! That is where he raped and murdered this little girl, in the back of his van. They could have stopped this, had they known. Did you hear the caller, Larry, say, We just heard about the little girl? [Larry Hannan, "florida Times-union":] Yeah, the one thing I should point out is these were the early morning hours. It`s quite possible these people wouldn`t have been awake or seen the van before then. But you know, the sheriff took action after this incident and disciplined several officers for not responding quickly enough. [Grace:] Larry, I appreciate that, but the girl is dead, OK? And I`m glad the sheriff, the elected sheriff, did the right thing by disciplining all these officers, but that doesn`t change anything. Five hours passed before the media was alerted. The Amber Alert was all messed up. And not only that, when police got there, they didn`t they acted like they didn`t believe what the mother was saying. She was standing there saying, My daughter could be being killed and raped right now. Did you hear her saying that over and over? She`s not getting any action. They`re acting like she`s making the whole thing up. Here are people seeing the van go by and nobody knows. The child is in the van. If you look at the inside of the van, that is where the child was raped and murdered, for Pete`s sake! Hold on. I`m being joined right now by two special guests. I mentioned when we first said good evening that there is a little girl that got away. Several years ago, this little girl was stopped by the same guy. And when you hear white van I see you crying. I see you, Mommy. I cannot imagine sitting beside my daughter or my son right now and reliving this! Tell me, why are you crying? What about Cherish`s story is impacting you this way? Your girl is safe now. Ma`am, what has moved you to tears? [Stephanie Thornton, Mother:] It`s sad. It feels like nothing`s being done about none of it! [Grace:] Tell us in your own words, Chrystina, what happened when you had a brush with Donald James Smith. What happened? [Chrystina Thornton, Girl Who Got Away:] All I can remember is when he called my grandmother and called me and started asking me all these sexually [sic] questions and stuff. [Grace:] Ms. Thornton with me is Chrystina and Stephanie Thornton. It is a mom and a daughter. And her terrible encounter with the same man happened when she was just 9 years old. Ms. Thornton, what happened? Stephanie, how did I still don`t understand how he got your daughter`s number, figured out who she was. He had to be stalking her, to start with. But tell me what happened when you picked that phone up. [S. Thornton:] Well, it started with he called my oldest son, Chrystina`s brother, and asked for Chrystina Hand. And my son said that she lived with her mother. He asked for my number. My son gave it to him because he said he was a DCF worker, that his sister had been abducted by her grandfather so he needed to speak with her. So he gave Donald Smith my phone number. Donald Smith contacted me that morning and said he was with Department of Children and Families. He read me a like, a badge number. And he started telling me that my daughter had been abducted by her grandfather. There had been allegations called in that her grandfather was sexually molesting her. I had argued with him for a while on the phone and told him that I didn`t believe that. And he just started I mean, he sounded so professional, so professional. [Grace:] And let me understand this, Stephanie. He wanted to get your daughter on the phone, right? [S. Thornton:] Yes, ma`am. [Grace:] So ultimately, he at that moment, she happened to be at the grandmother`s house, right? [S. Thornton:] Yes, ma`am. She was in Callahan at her grandmother`s house. [Grace:] So he called the grandma`s house. Justin, do you have the tears of what he was saying to Chrystina on the phone? I really don`t want to ask her. Chrystina, could you tell us as best you know what? I`m going to ask your mom. What did he say to your daughter on the phone, Ms. Thornton? [S. Thornton:] Her grandmother put her on the phone, and his first words for her was, Do you wear a bra? Then his second words was, Do you have hair down there? [Grace:] She`s 9 years old? She`s 9 years old? [S. Thornton:] Yes, ma`am. [Grace:] Then what happened? [S. Thornton:] And she started crying. She handed the phone to her grandmother. And she hadn`t said nothing to her grandmother of what was said to her. And her grandmother was talking to Donald Smith on the phone, and he said that they had to meet at McDonald`s so they could meet up, that she had to go to Fernadina hospital to be checked out to see if she had been messed with. [Grace:] And let me guess, Ms. Thornton, he was going to take her to the hospital? So he got the grandmother to actually did she bring Chrystina to the McDonald`s? [S. Thornton:] Yes, ma`am. She met him up there. And but in the mix of that, while she got dressed and everything to get her up there, I had got on the phone with DCF. I called them because something was telling me in my mind that DCF... [Grace:] Thank God! [S. Thornton:] ... doesn`t call. They come to your house. [Grace:] That`s just what Cherish`s mother said, I thought something was wrong, but I didn`t trust myself. So you go to McDonald`s, right? [S. Thornton:] I contacted DCF first. They said there were no allegations made against my child. So I called JSO as I was getting in my vehicle to go to Callahan because the grandmother done said that she was meeting him up there. So I got into the McDonald`s parking lot. I was flying. I got there. And there was a white van sitting two cars over from her and her grandmother. So I kind of locked them in... [Grace:] A white van. I cannot believe this, the same thing as with baby Cherish! I want you to hear what he said to police when they questioned him about luring yet another little girl in a white van. Listen. [Unidentified Male:] You have not come up with any reason why you might have been in contact with this family on the west side or... [Donald Smith, Accused:] None whatsoever. [Unidentified Male:] ... on the west side or... [Smith:] None whatsoever. I don`t know anything from Adam or Eve. Never even heard of her. [Unidentified Male:] No? [Smith:] Never heard of them. [Jake Tapper, Cnn:] That's it for "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper, turning you over to Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for watching. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Happening now, new low. Donald Trump hits bottom in his debate with Hillary Clinton, and in a new national poll which has him trailing by double digits. Is the Trump campaign in freefall and dragging down the Republican Party with it? Ryan's revolt. House Speaker Paul Ryan says he will no longer defend Donald Trump and will focus on protecting his party's hold in Congress. Ryan tells Republican lawmakers to head for the exits if they need to. Expanding the map. Democrats may step up their efforts to capture the House and Senate seats. Sources say there's talk of pouring more resources into the states Democrats never thought they could capture. And un-predictable. New signs that North Korea's leader is preparing some sort of provocation. Is Kim Jong-un plotting a new rocket launch or some other surprise timed to the U.S. election? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] Breaking news. After a shockingly nasty debate, the presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail today, and that presidential campaign has turned into an all-out brawl. After downplaying the explosive video of his vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks, Trump went all out in last night's debate, aggressively working to keep his base, calling Hillary Clinton the devil and threatening to jail her if he's elected. Today he's picking up where he left off. But in the process, Trump may have alienated even more mainstream Republicans and independents. In a stunning move, House Speaker Paul Ryan today said he will no longer defend Donald Trump and will focus on protecting the GOP majority in Congress. He told colleagues they must do what's right for them and their districts. Clinton smiled through the debate; and Democrats have reason to keep smiling. Our CNNORC poll showed Clinton won the debate by a large margin. And today, a new national poll shows her leading Trump by 11 points. Clinton is campaigning today in key electoral battlegrounds, hitting back hard at Trump and sources say the newly-emboldened Democrats may take their fight for control of Congress into more states. I'll speak with a Trump supporter, Congressman Chris Collins. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. But let's begin with the Trump campaign and the Republican Party, both seemingly in meltdown mode. Today, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is out on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. Sunlen, Trump was defiant in the debate. Tell our viewers what he's saying today. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, what we're seeing is really Donald Trump lashing out today against Speaker of the House Paul Ryan. He's been, of course, trying to keep his campaign off life-support, but tonight Donald Trump seems to be digging in deeper with many Republicans in taking on this very aggressive, very defiant posture. This is still very much a campaign and a party in crisis mode. [Serfaty:] Tonight Donald Trump's scorched earth strategy is threatening to engulf the Republican Party. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nomine:] If they want to more release tapes saying inappropriate things, we'll continue talking about Bill and Hillary Clinton doing inappropriate things. There are so many of them. [Serfaty:] House Speaker Paul Ryan today holding a conference call with Republican lawmakers, telling them, according to sources on the call, that he will no longer defend Trump and will spend the next month focused on preserving the GOP's congressional majority. Ryan telling members, quote, "You all need to do what's best for you and your district." Trump firing back today, tweeting, quote, "Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs, and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee." The intraparty battle comes as a new NBC"Wall Street Journal" poll done after the release of the 2005 videotape with Trump making sexually aggressive comments about women, but before Sunday's debate, finds Trump trailing Clinton nationally by double digits. [Trump:] If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse, mine are words and his was action. [Serfaty:] Trump's no-holds-barred debate performance was an attempt to stabilize his candidacy, bringing to the debate women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment and assault as he tries to move past the videotape controversy. [Trump:] I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud of it, but this is locker-room talk. [Cooper:] Have you ever done those things? [Trump:] And women have respect for me. And I will tell you no, I have not. [Serfaty:] Trump's contrition was short-lived, quickly turning his focus to sharply criticizing Clinton. [Trump:] She has tremendous hate in her heart. And when she said "deplorables," she meant it. [Serfaty:] Even suggesting he would try to imprison his Democratic rival if he was elected next month. [Trump:] If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country. [Trump:] Because you'd be in jail. [Serfaty:] Despite the concerns by some in the party about Trump's path forward, his running mate, Mike Pence, says he's not jumping ship. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice-presidential Nominee:] It's absolutely false to suggest that at any point in time we considered dropping off this ticket. [Serfaty:] Even after Trump contradicted gun during the debate on the ticket's stance towards military action in Syria. [Trump:] He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree. [Serfaty:] Pence today saying there was no daylight between the two. [Pence:] I've talked to him about our policy. Donald Trump has made it clear our policy is safe zones for people suffering in Syria, but also his focus is on destroying ISIS in Syria. [Serfaty:] And in a sign of support, Mike Pence returned to the campaign trail today. That was after this weekend he decided that he could not represent Donald Trump at an event on Saturday. Mike Pence telling the North Carolina crowd that he does not condone what Donald Trump said in that videotape, but he does believe in forgiveness Wolf. [Blitzer:] Sunlen Serfaty, thanks very much. Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail after last night's down and dirty debate. She's working to try to get out the vote in key battleground states. Our senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is joining us live from Detroit. Joe, Hillary Clinton has some fresh momentum right now. What's the latest? [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, she had noisy crowd here at Wayne State University in the Detroit area. The Clinton campaign says the candidate is happy with her performance, happy with the polls that show her up, and also hopeful that she was able to get her key campaign messages at that debate last night, despite what the campaign communications director, Jim Palmieri, calls distractions and even an attempt by Donald Trump to, quote, "intimidate the former secretary state." [Johns:] Fresh off he contentious second debate, Hillary Clinton takes her campaign to the Motor City to woo blue-collar Michigan voters. [Clinton:] Donald Trump spent his time attacking when he should have been apologizing! [Unidentified Female:] I'm a Republican, but this election is so much bigger than party. [Johns:] Her campaign is appealing not only to loyal Democratic voters but persuadable Republicans in a series of new TV ads featuring GOP voters who are supporting her bid. [Unidentified Male:] By putting party aside and voting for Hillary Clinton. [Johns:] A CNNORC poll conducted immediately after the debate Sunday night found that 57 percent of those who watched believe Clinton won, compared with 34 percent who said Trump did. The survey, which skews slightly more Democratic, showed Clinton with a 34-point lead among women and an 11-point edge with men. [Clinton:] He needs to take responsibility for his actions and his words. [Johns:] Clinton began the fiery debate taking aim at Trump's temperament, painting him as unfit for the presidency. [Clinton:] Donald Trump is different. I said starting back in June that he was not fit to be president and commander in chief. [Johns:] Clinton seizing on the 2005 video of Trump making lewd comments about women to make a broader case about his readiness to become president. [Clinton:] Yes, this is who Donald Trump is. But it's not only women, and it's not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president, because he has also targeted immigrants, African- Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others. [Johns:] But Clinton also facing questions about leaked portions of her paid speeches, in which she said politicians can have different positions in public and in private. [Clinton:] As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln was trying to convince some people; he used some arguments. Convincing other people he used other arguments. That was a great I thought a great display of presidential leadership. [Johns:] Trump quickly pounced on the remark. [Trump:] She lied. Now she's blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. That's one that I haven't OK, honest Abe. Honest Abe never lied. That's the good thing. That's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. [Johns:] While much of the night was filled with sharp attacks, it ended on a higher note, with the candidates being asked to compliment their rival. [Clinton:] I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. [Trump:] I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit; she doesn't give up. I respect that. [Johns:] And the Clinton campaign saying they would like to get her more talking about what she'd like to do as president as opposed to Donald Trump, which only underscores a problem she's having: that he commands so much media attention, it's sometimes difficult for her to get her message out over the roar. And the concern is that things could get even worse in this last month, because last month's last night's debate suggests this could get even dirtier. Back to you. [Blitzer:] All right, Joe Johns reporting for us. Thank you. Joining us now, Republican Congressman Chris Collins of New York. He was the first member of the Congress to endorse Donald Trump. Congressman, thanks for joining us. [Rep. Chris Collins , New York:] Good to be with you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] So Congressman, do you still support Paul Ryan as speaker of the House? [Collins:] Oh, of course, I do. Paul Ryan has a very difficult job. It is his job to make sure we maintain our majority in the House, which we're going to do, but the bigger the majority, the better. So nothing has changed over the last few months, where that's Paul Ryan's primary job. It was yesterday; it is today. And it's a true statement: all of us running for reelection have to run our own races. So I really didn't see any controversy or anything new popping up today that was any different than yesterday with Paul Ryan's focus on maintaining our majority in the House, which we're going to do. [Blitzer:] That's what he says he's going to do exclusively. He's going to work to try to maintain that Republican majority in the House. But also on that conference call, according to our sources, he made it clear he is not going to defend Donald Trump; he's not going to go work for him. He's not going to do any campaigning for that. Is that appropriate? [Collins:] Well, I mean, Paul Ryan never has defended Donald Trump. He's focused on maintaining our majority in the House. Again, I don't see that any different than we've had for the last few months. And it's going to be that the movement behind Donald Trump and the grassroots that are as supportive of Donald Trump today, as they were a week ago. [Blitzer:] You know you know, Congressman, they were going to be campaigning together on Saturday, this past Saturday. Trump was going to go to Wisconsin. Paul Ryan was going to welcome him there. Reince Priebus, also from Wisconsin, the chairman of the Republican Party, was going to be there. The Republican senator, the Republican governor. But they disinvited Trump after that video came out Friday night. So there was going to be an effort by Paul Ryan to go out there publicly and campaign for him. But that's gone away. Are you happy about that? [Collins:] Well, I will say Saturday was a very raw day, if you will, after that video came out that was disappointing to a lot of us in what he calls locker-room talk. But he has now apologized to America, which he did last night. And so he's moved on to the issues, the difference between his change agenda and Hillary Clinton's status quo agenda and clearly did point out 30 years of words that Hillary Clinton has made on campaign trails but no positive actions to support that. So I think Donald Trump did an incredibly good job last night pivoting to the difference in his change agenda versus her status quo agenda and pointed out again and again, like in western New York, the jobs that she promised as a U.S. senator that never happened. She's making additional promises now on the campaign trail that, frankly, are not going to happen. [Blitzer:] You mentioned Saturday was a pretty brutal day. So many Republican colleagues of yours, other well-known Republicans, like Condoleezza Rice, for example, Senator John McCain, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Congressman Jason Chaffetz. That video came out, and all of a sudden all of them said they could not support, they could not vote for Donald Trump. That was a breaking point for them, and it seems like for a lot of other Republicans, as well. Your reaction to that? [Collins:] Well, I disagree. I think the majority of our members of Congress are still solidly behind Donald Trump, because we know what this country would look like with four years of Hillary Clinton in office. The Supreme Court is what came up last night, and she did not say for one second she was looking for Supreme Court justices to defend the Constitution. She wants to rewrite Citizens United, wants to take our guns away... [Blitzer:] Congressman, what would be your breaking point? [Collins:] My breaking point in supporting Donald Trump, I'm not sure there ever would be, considering Hillary Clinton and her actions, her lies to America. She's never apologized to lying about her e-mails. She's never apologized for lying to the Benghazi families. [Blitzer:] So let me just be precise. [Collins:] She's now lying about her WikiLeaks and the issues there. [Blitzer:] Congressman, if more tapes come out, very, very raw, vile tapes came out in the coming days, that still wouldn't impact you as far as your support for Trump? [Collins:] Well, words are words, and they can be disappointing, and they can be language I would not use, but again, it comes back to words versus actions, and Donald Trump did point that out. And his change agenda, whether it's our energy policy, Supreme Court, defeating ISIS, you know, making sure that we secure our borders and get our jobs back. That is the America that we have to worry about. It's not words; it's actions, and it's the future of our country. Donald Trump represents that agenda that's going to change the country for the better, working with a Republican House. And it's not Hillary Clinton and her empty rhetoric and her phony feminist agenda that is not reality. So, no, I'm going to be continue to be a very strong Donald Trump supporter, because the future of America is at stake. [Blitzer:] All right, Congressman. Stay with us. We have more to discuss. We'll take a quick break. We'll resume our conversation right after this. [commercial break] We're back with Chris Collins of New York. He was the first member of the House to support Donald Trump. Congressman, Trump came into last night's debate reeling from the release of that awful video, with party leaders abandoning him left and right. Instead of showing some real genuine remorse, he proceeded to bring up Bill Clinton's accusers. He threatened to jail Hillary Clinton if he were elected president. He called her the devil. He repeated all those lines, by the way. Today at his rally went even further. Is it smart for him to take what some call that scorched-earth approach? [Collins:] Well, the Hillary Clinton campaign has taken a scorched- earth approach, because she really doesn't have a positive message for America, and her actions do speak louder than words. So what you've got here is an outright, you know, brawl. And I think we're going to see it for the next four weeks. Donald Trump is going to be talking about his agenda of change. Hillary Clinton is I don't know if she's going to try to defend the indefensible, whether she's talking about our economy, the unrest in our inner cities, the divisiveness of this nation, the situation in Syria and Iraq. Last night, she even had the audacity to say she was not in the administration when they drew the red line. Another outright lie. And so, you know, Hillary Clinton should be apologizing to America for, you know, her lies. But as we move forward, I'm afraid we're going to see, you know, a pretty nasty four weeks. And what goes around comes around. And, you know, Donald Trump is not someone to take anything, you know, laying down, so, you know he did apologize. He moved right to his message of change. He contrasted that with Hillary Clinton. I suspect you're going to see that and, you know, some very blunt words. [Blitzer:] It's going to be yes. [Collins:] That's how Donald Trump talks to America. [Blitzer:] If last night and today is any example, it's going to be brutal. But you know what? Donald Trump wasn't always like that as far as Hillary Clinton is concerned. I interviewed him back in 1999. Listen to what he said then about Hillary Clinton. [Trump:] Terrible times. I think she's been through more than any woman should have to bear, everything public. I mean, women go through this on a private basis and can't take it. She's on the front page of every newspaper every week with what went on in Washington. I think she's a wonderful woman. [Blitzer:] He also around the same time, he called Bill Clinton a victim. He said that the accusers his accusers, in his words, were an unattractive group. He called Paula Jones a loser. What do you make of this reversal? And do you think voters buy this sudden concern for these women that he's now showing? [Collins:] Well, I mean, that was then, now is now. And what I would say, you know, some people don't remember I was the one that introduced Hillary Clinton in February of 2001 after she won the Senate race. I was the one that stood with her at my biotechnology company, introduced her to western New York as she started her Senate career. I've subsequently seen who Hillary Clinton really is. I obviously don't support her at all now. I gave her the benefit of the doubt back in 2001, only to be disappointed with the rhetoric and the words that did not turn into actions. But that was then. Now is now. And Donald Trump is a private-sector business guy doing business. And as he has said before, he understands, you know, at some point he was supporting Republicans, he was supporting Democrats as a private-sector business guy. You know, I'm not surprised he would say nice things, whether he was biting his tongue as he did or not. But today is the day that matters, and Hillary Clinton's actions, certainly, since she was a U.S. senator and subsequently secretary of state, which have been one failure, one bad judgment call after another... [Blitzer:] All right. [Collins:] ... which has led us to where ISIS is today and so forth. You know, today is the day that matters, Wolf. [Blitzer:] I'll just point out I'll just point out, Congressman, I remember that interview back in 1999. He was effusive. Very warm, very outgoing in his praise of Hillary Clinton at the time. And I assume he was very, very sincere back in 1999 in going out and saying all those nice things about her and her husband. But let's leave it on that note. [Collins:] Well, you know, I think we should remember that she said very nice things about Donald Trump as well. [Blitzer:] She and her husband went to his wedding, as a lot of us remember, as well. [Collins:] That's correct. So another time. [Blitzer:] So they they used to have a good relationship. Now they clearly don't, although they didn't shake hands at the beginning of that debate last night, but they did shake hand at the very end. Congressman, thanks for joining us. [Collins:] Always good to be with you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Coming up: the campaign trail is winding through the battleground states today, but the path to 270 electoral votes is not getting any easier for Donald Trump. And there are new indications right now that Kim Jong-un is planning some sort of provocation. Will he launch a new rocket ahead of the U.S. election? Stay with us. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Texas:] We gave it everything we've got, but the voters chose another path. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] The Cruz campaign over. Donald Trump wins Indiana and overnight, the Republican Party chair declares Donald Trump will be the presumptive Republican nominee. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I think we can pull off one of the great political upsets in the history of the United States. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Bernie Sanders winning Indiana. A big upset against Hillary Clinton, keeping his campaign and momentum alive. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] Great to see you. I'm John Berman. It is Wednesday, May 4th, 4:00 a.m. in the East. And the breaking news this morning: Donald Trump, he has knocked Ted Cruz out of the race. Donald Trump won the Indiana primary. He won it huge. And now according to the chair of the Republican Party, Donald Trump will be the presumptive Republican nominee. Look at this. Donald Trump beat Cruz by more than 16 points, 180,000 votes in Indiana. He picked up at least 51 delegates, probably 57 by the time it's all over. And Cruz delivered the hard news to his crushed supporters. [Cruz:] And so, with a heavy heart, but with boundless optimism for the long-term future of our nation, we are suspending our campaign. [Berman:] You hear the shouts from the surprised audience there. Late last night, Donald Trump praised Ted Cruz, calling this withdrawal a brave thing to do. CNN's Jim Acosta with the Trump campaign has the latest. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] John and Christine, Donald Trump and his entire family were caught completely by surprise by Ted Cruz's announcement that he was dropping out of the GOP race. Trump trounced Cruz in the Indiana primary, a contest that the Texas senator had basically described as a must win. Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., told CNN that his father and the entire family were shocked as they watched Cruz make his announcement, and Trump sounded very gracious as he praised Cruz for getting out of the race. A big contrast compared to what he was saying about Cruz earlier in the day. Here's what he had to say. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Ted Cruz, I don't know if he likes me or he doesn't like me, but he's one hell of a competitor. He's a tough, smart guy. [Acosta:] Trump also made the pivot to the general election campaign, saying he was ready to take on Hillary Clinton, and he even reached out to African-American and Hispanic voters in his remarks. But Trump still plans to keep on campaigning, saying he will continue on with stops in West Virginia and Nebraska set for later this week John and Christine. [Romans:] All right, Jim Acosta thanks, Jim. Let's talk about last night's developments in Indiana. CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, senior media correspondent Brian Stelter, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", and political economist, Greg Valliere, he's the chief strategist to Horizon Investments. All three of you, good morning. Let's start with you, Brian. Your headline from the GOP side of this race grace overnight, Donald Trump nailed it again. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Yes, and the Never Trump movement loses again. Whether this is the end of the GOP race or whether it will officially end in a few weeks from now with the California race, the Never Trump movement once again losing in a very dramatic way. And $75 million in TV ads were spend just on broadcast TV trying to stop Trump in recent weeks and months. That has failed. You see that with Ted Cruz getting out of this race, acknowledging Trump is the presumptive nominee. [Berman:] And, Greg, you know, perhaps the most important development came last night, besides Donald Trump sweeping Indiana. A tweet from Reince Priebus, Reince Priebus is the Republican Party chair, who we'll hear from a little in "NEW DAY," tweeted this, "Real Donald will be presumptive GOP nominee. We all need to unite and focus on defeating Hillary Clinton. Never Clinton," he says. This essentially, Greg, right, the Republican Party officially lining behind Donald Trump. Who would have seen this coming? [Greg Valliere, Chief Strategist, Horizon Investments:] Right. I think that for now, the big story is going to be, will the Republican Party coming to, will they unify. I think they will. It's not going to be pretty. There are going to be a lot of people, Bush Republicans, John McCain Republicans, who will never support Trump. I think by and large, the party will hold its nose and unify behind Trump. [Romans:] Unify behind Trump. You know, I got to tell you, Dylan, when you look at some of the exit poll, it shows the primary season so far had been contentious for Republicans. When asked if whether they're energized by the campaign or divided, 56 percent said it's divided the party. Can they unify here and move forward? Can they rally behind, Dylan, their candidate now? [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Reporter For Media And Politics:] Yes, I mean, look, I disagree. I think for many Republicans, certainly the ones who rallied behind the never Trump or stop Trump cause, I don't see them coming around to Donald Trump. I do think what we called the so-called Republican establishment, you know, the RNC, Republican National Committee, I think they have to rally behind the candidate who has the most delegates, or who has 1,237 delegates, and that will be Donald Trump. You can see that in the RNC chairman's statement. But I think there are a lot of Republicans out there who believe that in order to save the party, they actually have to stand up against Donald Trump. I don't think that necessarily means fighting for Hillary Clinton but I do think it means sort of standing on the principles of what the Republican Party has historically been about. I think if you look, for instance, at the Republican media, say "The Weekly Standard", if you look at "The National Review", if you look a lot of conservative media throughout the country, conservative radio, those are people who have vowed forever not to stand with Trump, and I'm not sure all of those people are going to be willing to go back on that pledge. [Berman:] Look, you know, Mark Salter, who was John McCain's speech writer, Ben Howe, who's a blogger at RedState.com, they both tweeted yesterday using the hashtag #Imwithher, meaning I'm with Hillary, indicating they will vote for Hillary Clinton. Ben Sasse, the senator from Nebraska, the next voting primary, a week from now, in Nebraska, Ben Sasse has made clear that he has no plans to vote for Donald Trump. And Ted Cruz, in his victory speech or not victory speech in his concession speech, in his dropping speech last night, Brian Stelter, did not mention Donald Trump by name. And Ted Cruz just yesterday called Donald Trump a pathological liar. [Stelter:] Yes, these last hours of Cruz's race and Trump's treatment of Cruz in the last hour was astonishing these claims involving Oswald and the JFK assassination, really disturbing stuff. It was only hours before Trump praised Cruz on stage once Cruz had left the race. I mean, to see it end like this is partly what makes it so historic. The word historic is overused, but we are talking about a billionaire businessman, reality TV star, who will be the GOP nominee. That is a once in a generation sort of moment for this country, a true outsider, right? We assume it's always going to be a governor, or a senator, or a congressman or someone else who has a political background. That actually for once in our lifetime is not happening, and one of the reasons why this is extraordinary. Yet at the same time, people like Bill Kristol already calling for a third party, calling for someone else to enter the race. We saw people posting pictures of themselves burning their Republican voter ID information. That kind of thing, we certainly have not seen that before. [Romans:] Greg, let's talk about the angst he's tapped into here, because he has, if you look at Indiana, it has the highest percentage of manufacturing jobs of any state in the country. It's where Carrier, that air-conditioning company, is located. Revival that video of the economy on the factory floor being told, these workers being told that their jobs were going to be moving to Mexico. That tapped right into what Donald Trump is selling here, this what some would call an isolationist view of going backwards to an old days view of what manufacturing looks like in America. That's really been working for him. Are we going to hear more about that from him? Is that going to be the kind of story line, the policy story line of this election? [Valliere:] Absolutely. And you've got to say Bernie Sanders also tapped into that last night, this great antipathy toward free trade that even has dragged Hillary into opposing free trade. I think that's going to be a dominant theme. I think Trump obviously has to win Michigan and some Rust Belt states, a long shot. But this really strong opposition to free trade, this economic angst, as you say, is one of the major, major plot lines of this election. [Berman:] All right, guys. Stand by. A lot more to discuss coming up. [Romans:] That's right. And Bernie Sanders winning Indiana, pitching his path to victory over Hillary Clinton in the race for president. [Sanders:] So, we feel great about tonight, not only in winning here in Indiana and accumulating more delegates, but also gaining the momentum we need to take us to the finish line. [Camerota:] An update now on the situation in Syria. Government forces there are tightening their grip on Aleppo, reclaiming yet another neighborhood. This as tens of thousands of Syrians run for their lives. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen spent the weekend in Aleppo. Fred, tell us the latest. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, Alisyn. It looks like there was another collapse of many of the rebel defenses in that little enclave that they have in Aleppo. There was really a sustained campaign by the Syrian government forces, and I don't think that we can stress enough that, even by the Syrian civil war, what we've been seeing in Aleppo over the past couple of days is a lot more fire power. You're not talking about an ebb and flow on the battlefield. You're talking about a sustained 24-hour campaign, using very heavy weapons. And at the same time, Alisyn, you have tens of thousands of people trying to flee those besieged areas, and the only way they can go out is to go right through the front line. We were there just two days ago, and we saw people who were in a devastating state, who said that it was very dangerous for them to come up, but they had to make that journey, hoping they would make it out safe. So, really looks as though the rebels are losing their foothold in Aleppo. This is something that could only be a matter of days, the Syrian government believes. But at the same time, the Syrian government is losing ground elsewhere where ISIS has gone back into the ancient city of Palmyra. Of course, there's a lot of concern about the ancient Roman ruins, which really are a cultural heritage. But it seems as though ISIS used bad weather in the past couple of days, which meant the Syrian air force couldn't fly airstrikes, and has moved into that town, again. So, a lot of motion there on the battlefield. A lot of things happening. A very, very brutal state of affairs right now, especially out there in Aleppo Chris. [Cuomo:] Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. Another story for you this morning. The gunman who shot and killed former New Orleans Saints football player Will Smith after this traffic confrontation last April has been convicted of manslaughter. Last night very late, actually, the jury also found 29-year-old Cardel Hayes guilty of attempted manslaughter for wounding Smith's wife, Raquel. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] It is 7:00 here in New York. I'm Poppy Harlow. We begin this hour with breaking news out of our nation's capital. We have just heard that something extraordinary will happen tomorrow, an event so rare and so history making that President Obama has only done it twice in his entire time in office. The president of the United States will address the nation from inside the Oval Office. It will happen at 8:00 Eastern Time. Of course, CNN will carry this presidential address live. Let's go straight to CNN's Chris Frates. He joins me live in Washington this evening. We just learned about this in the last few moments. Do we know what the president is say and what he is focusing on tomorrow night? [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Poppy. Yes, we are getting some indication of that. But as you say, really big breaking news out of the White House. President Obama will make a rare address to the nation tomorrow night at 8:00 about what the government is doing to keep Americans safe. The Oval Office address will also touch on the investigation into the ISIS-inspired attacks in California that killed 14 people earlier this week. The White House said Obama will also address, quote, "The broader threat of terrorism," including the nature of the threat, how it has evolved, and how we will defeat it. He will reiterate his confirmed conviction that ISIL will be destroyed and that the United States must draw upon our values, our unwavering commitment to justice, equality and freedom, to prevail over terrorist groups that use violence to advance a destructive ideology. Now, Poppy, the news comes on the heels of a meeting the president held with his national security team this morning. The White House says the presidency updated him on the investigation into the California shootings and highlighted several pieces of information that point to the attackers' radicalization to violence. Now, we already know about one piece of evidence suggesting radicalization. That was a Facebook post by the female shooter pledging allegiance to the leader of ISIS. Now, during the briefing, which that included the FBI and CIA directors, the attorney general, and the homeland security secretary, the White House said officials reiterated that there is no evidence yet that the killers were part of a larger terrorist cell. Remember, on Friday, the FBI said incident was investigating the attacks as an act of terrorism. And, Poppy, people will be watching what the president has to say about that and the investigation more generally tomorrow night, as well as listen to go hear how the president plans to deal with the larger issue of defeating ISIS. So, that's what we have tonight, Poppy. Lots of big breaking news in the nation's capital. Lots of eyes on the White House tomorrow night as well. [Harlow:] No question. Chris Frates, thank you very much. We, of course, will carry that live for you here on CNN. I want to go straight to CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen, an adviser to four presidents with very unique perspective on something like this. David Gergen, as we heard from Chris, this happened only twice in this president's term in office. It happened both times in 2010. First announcing the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq. Second, after the gulf oil spill. David Gergen, how big is this? [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] It's big, Poppy, because President Obama has been reluctant to use the Oval Office. His predecessors used it far more frequently to address the company. All of which would suggest this is a bigger speech. And also suggests I believe that it'd be in the field in the Middle East or whether it'd be here at home, to come to the nation at 8:00 in the evening, on a Sunday night from the Oval Office, it's going to be about more than reassuring we're safe and he is taking actions. And we talk about the past, he's really got to set for himself because the expectations. Eight o'clock, Oval Office, President Obama, it is going to be big. [Harlow:] Absolutely. David Gergen, if you were writing the speech. You have been inside the rooms making these decisions before with other presidents. What does the nation need to hear from its commander in chief? [Gergen:] Well, it needs to know that, first and foremost, that people want to know are my kids going to be safe? And the second thing they want to know is, am I going to be safe? And so, he has to give assurance this is going to improve people's personal security. There is a lot of fear in this country right now. It's also reminiscent of 911. I think the level of fear is about the same thing, the same level as before. But it's I must tell you that I think that in order to convince people, he's going to have to take bold steps. Undoubtedly boots on the ground in the Middle East. But it certainly must mean a crackdown on domestic terrorism, homegrown terrorism. It's going to be hard for him to convince the country that we should take in refugees from Syria. [Harlow:] Right. [Gergen:] You know? It's going to make that case a lot harder. So, he's got I don't think I don't think he's going to give a bland address, 12 minutes. Something that works, he's going to do something that's got some crack to it. [Harlow:] David, the context of this, this announcement, we're learning this today, just a few hours after he had that meeting with his national security team today. One would think that contributed to this decision to make an announcement. Can you take us into the process with the president and his senior advisers when you say, all right, we're going to make only the third Oval Office address in your presidency, potentially the last Oval Office address in his presidency. He doesn't have that much more time in office. How do you come to that decision? [Gergen:] Well, I think the first decision is what is it you want to achieve? I would assume as soon as they learn that there were some terrorist ties with this couple in San Bernardino, that the president, all of his advisers said, look, we have to take steps here. The country is scared by this. And we have to do concrete things. You guys come up with a list. Let's come up with a menu of options. This morning, they got together, probably in the Situation Room or somewhere else in the White House in which they reviewed what those steps might be. They made the decision, OK, we have a concrete action plan. Let's decide how to announce it. I would assume the action is big enough they thought this deserved an Oval Office. [Harlow:] David Gergen, thank you so much for that. Again, you will be with us tomorrow night. There will be special coverage hosted by my colleague Wolf Blitzer tomorrow night. That special coverage at 7:00 p.m. ahead of this Oval Office address which we will carry for you live in its entirety at 8:00 p.m. David Gergen, our entire political team will be with us tomorrow night for that. Thank you very much. Also, I want to take you now to San Bernardino, California. A federal law enforcement source confirming to CNN that just today, a search warrant has been served at the home of a man who bought two of the rifles used in Wednesday's massacre. We are gathering more details in Washington. National security advisers briefing the president today, telling him there is no evidence so far of a larger terror network at play outside these two shooters, even though ISIS has not taken responsibility for the attack, they did praise it today on their video program, calling the two individuals you see on your screen supporters. Stephanie Elam joining me from outside the couple's home in Redlands, California. All right. Talk to me, Steph, about the significance of this warrant. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, it's important to note, Poppy, that these rifles we know were not purchased just before these events. They had been purchased previously. And what the search warrant was about, what we believe it was about is searching the house of the person who bought these rifles in the past, the person who had acquired these. We do not know if anything was removed from the house. We do not know if they found what they were looking for. But we know it happened in the early morning hours here in California where they had the search to gain some information. And I believe the reason why they may be doing this is just to make sure that they are rounding out all of their edges, knowing where all the pieces fall into the puzzle and making sure that there isn't another head of the snake that may be out there who played a part in this nefarious and awful attack here in San Bernardino. [Harlow:] That's what I was wondering because as you heard, the national security team advising the president today saying that there is it doesn't appear at this time that this was part of a larger web like what we saw in Paris. I mean, what are people on the ground there, Stephanie, saying? I know neighbors had absolutely no idea there was anything awry here. [Elam:] Yes. As of now, it appears to be a case of lone wolves. Maybe not a lone wolf, but a lone wolves situation, where they were operating together. But the neighbors here, the neighbors that have spoken have said, you know what, they pretty much kept to themselves. They looked like a normal family with a young child. Remember, they had a 6-month-old daughter that they have left behind. So, a lot of signs saying they just stayed quiet, to themselves, and were blending in. And that may be the scariest part about this whole development that they were doing this on their own, inspired what they had seen overseas. [Harlow:] All right. Stephanie, will you stay with me? I want to join in this conversation with CNN security and intelligence analyst Bob Baer. Bob, you heard what Stephanie said. Potentially lone wolves, no one knew around them what was going on. Law enforcement had no idea. How is that possible when you have what they have described, law enforcement has described as a home made bomb lab with 4,000 rounds of ammunition, 12 pipe bombs, and numerous tools to make IEDs. How is it possible that no one knew? [Bob Baer, Cnn Security And Intelligence Analyst:] Poppy, somebody knew, seriously. I mean, number one is the attack, let's do not forget it was a military assault. You don't pick this up by getting stuff off the Internet. Someone had practice with those weapons. They had to reload them. The speed, throwing the bombs out to disengage from the police and on and on and on. There was some training. I can speculate who got it. Maybe it was her in Pakistan with that militant group that did Bombay. I do not know at this point, and the smashed phones, smashed hard drives. They were trying to hide a larger network. But the case remains go ahead. [Harlow:] They weren't that sophisticated, Bob. Because they tried to alter these weapons to make them sort is of fully automatic, if you will. They didn't succeed at that. These pipe bombs apparently were in effective, weren't working. [Baer:] The pipe bombs, yes. They were very primitive. But the actual attack, entering the target, the surprise speed and extreme violence at the objective is a classic military assault. They got out before the police could intercept them. They were apparently on to a second attack. This is not the profile of beginners. Somebody knew something. Somebody practiced, maybe in California. And they had some communications with the smashed cell phones. I just do not buy playing this down as a one off, almost an accident. I think it's more serious. I think there are more networks out there. And that somebody was radicalized in Saudi Arabia or Pakistan. So, in that sense the radicalization did occur overseas. [Harlow:] What does the target tell you? [Elam:] Can I just make one point here about this? [Harlow:] Yes, absolutely, Stephanie. Yes. [Elam:] Because I think it's interesting to note here about this property, because I've walked about it. I am standing in front of the place where the killers were living. One thing I noticed about the garage. It is like an alley where the garages face each other. There's nothing else back there. It is not like a house where you have the garage in front and you can drive up and see what's going on there. Not to say that no one didn't know what was going on, I'm not disputing that. I just want to clarify one thing, that we do believe this activity was going on in the garage, which is separate from the townhome. You have to walk outside to get to it. It is its own building. We did not see in there when we went in there yesterday. But the point being, it's not like people, neighbors are out and can see what's going on there because it is removed in the back and all the garages face each other in this alley. [Harlow:] I think that's a great point. We're looking at aerial shot of that from Thursday when the FBI was going through that garage. Bob Baer, to you, I was going to ask about the target. What do you make of the fact that the target was his colleagues at a holiday gathering, work event? Usually in these terrorist attacks, we have seen sort of targets where they don't know anyone. [Baer:] Well, Poppy, in this case, you have to look at the Islamic State and their propaganda is they want to create the most violence and shock. And they did exactly that in killing friends and colleagues. I mean, it's the enemy that's among us that we can't see, which is so shocking to Americans. This is why the president is going to address the nation. This is much more shocking to us as Americans than attacking, for instance, a federal building because, you know, that's within their framework. But this group is so violent and so unpredictable. And they will go to any degree that they prove this in killing friends and colleagues. I find that much more disturbing than if they had shot up somebody in a uniform. [Harlow:] And, Bob, you're a former CIA operative. I'm interested in what the intelligence community wants to hear from their commander in chief tomorrow night? [Baer:] Are we safe? Exactly. As David Gergen said, are we safe? And I don't think we are. And I think this president has to put the country on a war footing. I mean, I'm not panicking. This isn't the end of the republic. But if we want to know what the FBI can do to identify these people and stop them in advance. If those people had taken the same garage and made were TATP bombs out of there, acetone and peroxide bombs, they could have done a lot more damage and killed a lot of police, and hit a major structure. They didn't have the skills to make the bombs, not like the Paris people. They could have potentially done the same damage as occurred in Paris. [Harlow:] The words you use, war footing. Stephanie Elam, very quickly to you, what about the people there. I mean, you've been there all week. What do they want to hear from the president? [Elam:] Oh, I think a lot of people just want to know they're safe. It is the same thing Bob is saying. It's like, is this the new normal? A lot of people not wanting to believe that. And out there, you know, we're not in a big city. This is not big city. This is not Los Angeles. We are removed from here. And these are the places that people don't think stuff like this happens. They don't think this happens in their neighborhood. That's what makes people so unsettled. [Harlow:] Bob Baer, thank you. Stephanie Elam, thank you very much. Again, special coverage of the president's address will be 8:00 tomorrow night. Straight ahead, police in Florida shoot and kill a man today in broad daylight after he allegedly attempted to rob a bank. All of it caught on camera. [Unidentified Male:] The subject went into the bank, handed over a note, saying he had a bomb and that he was robbing the bank. [Harlow:] Our Alina Machado on the ground just spoke with the man who shot the cell phone video of the killing. That interview is next. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] And the question I think that they have to ask themselves is, if you are repeatedly having to say in very strong terms that what he has said is unacceptable, why are you still endorsing him? What does this say about your party that this is your standard bearer? This isn't a situation where you have an episodic gaffe. This is daily and weekly where they are distancing themselves from statements he's making. There has to be a point in which you say this is not somebody I can support for president of the United States, even if he purports to be a member of my party. And you know, the fact that that has not yet happened makes some of these denunciations ring hollow. I don't doubt their sincerity. I don't doubt that they were outraged about some of the statements that Mr. Trump and his supporters made about the Kahn family. But there has to come a point at which you say somebody who makes those kinds of statements doesn't have the judgment, the temperament, the understanding, to occupy the most powerful position in the world because a lot of people depend on the White House getting stuff right. And this is different than just having policy disagreements. I recognize that they all profoundly disagree with myself or Hillary Clinton on tax policy or on certain elements of foreign policy. But you know, there have been Republican presidents with whom I disagreed with but I didn't have a doubt that they could function as president. I think I was right and Mitt Romney and John McCain were wrong on certain policy issues, but I never thought that they couldn't do the job. And had they won, I would have been disappointed but I would have said to all Americans they are this is our president and I know they're going to abide by certain norms and rules and common sense, will observe basic decency, will have enough knowledge about economic policy and foreign policy and our constitutional traditions and rule of law that our government will work. And then we'll compete four years from now to try to win an election. But that's not the situation here, and that's not just my opinion. That is the opinion of many prominent Republicans. There has to come a point at which you say enough. And the alternative is that the entire party, the Republican Party effectively endorses and validates the positions that are being articulated by Mr. Trump. And as I said in my speech last week, I don't think that actually represents the views of a whole lot of Republicans out there. With respect to Libya, you know, I have said on several occasions that we did the right thing in preventing what could have been a massacre, a bloodbath in Libya. And we did so as part of an international coalition and under U.N. mandate. But I think that all of us collectively were not sufficiently attentive to what had to happen the day after and the day after and the day after that in order to ensure that there were strong structures in place to assure basic security and peace inside of Libya. The good news is is that we now have the beginnings of a government in the Government of National Accord. They are serious about trying to bring all the factions together, to start creating a basic security structure and to begin to monitor Libya's borders and to cooperate internationally to deal with issues like ISIL penetration on their territory. And at the request of that government, after they had already made significant progress against ISIL and had essentially pushed ISIL into a very confined area in and around Sirte, it is in America's national security interests in our fight against ISIL to make sure that they are able to finish the job. And so we're working in partnership with them to assure that ISIL does not get a stronghold in Libya, even as Libya begins what is going to be a long process to establish a functioning government and security system there. So, you know, the good news is that they recognize these this terrorist organization in their midst is contrary to their national interests, as well as the world's and we're hopeful that having completed this process of driving ISIL out, they will then be in a position to start bringing the parties together inside that country. And not only us, but the Europeans and other countries around the world have a great interest in seeing stability in Libya because that the absence of stability has helped to fuel some of the challenges that we've seen in terms of the migration crisis in Europe and some of the humanitarian tragedies that we've seen in the open seas between Libya and Europe. [Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean Prime Minister:] Nicholas? [Question:] Thank you [inaudible] President Obama. The first question is for Prime Minister Lee. You've spoken about the continuation of the U.S. rebalance being a significant part of peace and stability in Asia. How do you envision this continuation proceeding in the next 50 years? And what role do you see Singapore playing in this context? What are some of the hot button issues that we're likely to face as the U.S. hopefully continues its rebalance? Second question. You've mentioned these strong bipartisan links that Singapore has had with nine different U.S. presidents from both sides of the political divide. Very strong record there. How would we address a U.S. leader which adopts a stance that's more closed-off, more anti-globalization? For example, we see that in November. President Obama, I have a question about the ministry collaboration, which has been a cornerstone of the relationship between Singapore and the U.S., especially coming on the heels of the latest announcement of the medical team to the global coalition against ISIS. With the rising threat of terror in Asia, and indeed the rest of the world, the potential for ministry confrontation in the South China Sea, how do you see Singapore featuring in U.S. plans to address this going forward? Last question. Four more years is a phrase that I think you're hearing a little bit in the past few weeks and months. And while that's not possible, if it were... [Lee:] Well, 50 years is a very long time. Fifty years ago 50 years ago, nobody imagined what the world would be like today or what Singapore would be like today and that we would have such a deep and broad relationship and so many things to do together. We would like to build on this for the next 50 years. It depends on how we each of our countries does. In Singapore, whether we are be able to remain stable, prosperous, open, successful. In America, whether you remain one of the vibrant leading economies in the world, in a world in which there are other powers, other centers of creativity and technology and science and progress. But yet, unique participant with a history of contributing to the world not just for your own interests, but because you believe that the world should be a better place for all countries. And if America can do that and Singapore can maintain our success, then I think there are many opportunities for us to make common cause together. And then the rebalancing, which the president has enunciated and executed will sustain and endure for many years to come. It will be a very different world. Countries will grow, and other countries will slow down. Demographics will have a big factor to come. I mean, if you look at Japan, the population has been shrinking, and they will have to do something somehow to turn it around. Otherwise, 50 more years population shrinking, and you have a very small country left in terms of economy, in terms of influence internationally. Singapore, too, has demographic issues. America has a demographic change. The population is not shrinking, but the composition is changing. And in this situation, we have to adjust to a new world, maintaining our position and our the ability to compete. And yet, knowing that it's not going to be the same as it was in 1946, when America was half the world's GDP. So or one- quarter of the world's GDP. So, that is the crucial factor over the next 50 years. As for what we do over bipartisan links, if there is a U.S. leader who is more closed off and wants to turn inward, I don't think this is the right forum or indeed, there is any right forum for me to talk about U.S. politics in public at this moment. We will work whoever is a U.S. administration, whichever party. We have worked with five Republican and four Democrat administrations. And our experience of American elections, presidential elections has been that many precious buildup during the election campaign, and after the elections in a in a calmer, cooler atmosphere, positions are rethought, state strategies are nuanced, and a certain balance is kept in the direction of the ship of state. It does not turn completely upside down. The Americans take pride in having a system with checks with checks and balances. So, it is not so easy to do things, but it is not so easy to completely messed things up. [Obama:] The he's absolutely right. [Question:] Thank you, Mr. President. You're here today touting the Trans-Pacific Partnership, but Hillary Clinton is against it. Her vice presidential nominee, Tim Kaine, has now reversed himself and is now against it. Donald Trump is too, meaning that the next president is opposed to this deal. So my question is if you take both candidates at their word, how do you plan to get Congress to pass this deal during the lame duck? And what's your plan to convince the members to do so, given the opposition I've just described? And secondly, security officials inside and outside the government have said they're almost certain that the hack of the Democratic National Committee came from Russia. Does it look to you like Russia's meddling in the U.S. election? And what impact should that have on your administration's relationship with Moscow? [Obama:] Well, right now, I'm president and I'm for it. And I think I've got the better argument and I've made this argument before, I'll make it again. We are part of a global economy. We're not reversing that. It can't be reversed because it is driven by technology and it is driven by travel and cargo containers and the fact that the demand for products inside of our country means we've got to get some things from other places. And our export sector is a huge contributor to jobs and our economic wellbeing. Most manufactured products now involve a global supply chain where parts are made in all corners of the globe and converge and then get assembled and packaged and sold. And so the notion that we're going to pull that up root and branch is unrealistic, point number one. Point number two, it is absolutely true. The evidence shows that some past trade deals have not delivered on all the benefits that were promised and had very localized costs. There were communities that were hurt because plants moved out, people lost jobs. Jobs were created because of those trade deals, but jobs were also lost and people who experienced those losses, those communities didn't get as much help as they needed to. And what is also true, as a consequence of globalization and automation, what you've seen is labor workers losing leverage and capital being mobile, being able to locate around the world. That has all contributed to growing inequality, both here in the United States but in many advanced economies. So there's a real problem, but the answer is not cutting off globalization. The answer is, how do we make sure that globalization, technology, automation, those things work for us, not against is? And TPP is designed to do precisely that. Number one, it knocks out 18,000 tariffs that other countries place on American products and goods. Our economy currently has fewer tariffs, is more open than many of our trading partners. So if everybody agrees that we're going to have lower tariffs, that's good for American businesses and American workers. And we should want that, we should pursue it. Number two, the complaint about previous trade deals was that labor agreements and environmental agreements sounded good, but they weren't enforceable the same way you could complain about tariffs and actually get action to ensure that tariffs were were not enforced. Well, TPP actually strengthens labor agreements and environmental agreements, and they are just as enforceable as any other part of the agreement. In fact, people take them so seriously that right now, for example, Vietnam is drafting and presenting unprecedented labor reforms in Vietnam, changing their constitution to recognize worker organizations in Vietnam for the first time. So what we're doing is we're raising standards for workers in those countries, which means it's harder for them to undercut labor standards here in the United States. The same is true for environmental standards. The same is true for things like human trafficking, where we've got a country like Malaysia taking really serious efforts to crack down on human trafficking. Why? Because TPP says you needs to. It gives us leverage to promote things that progressives and people here in this country, including labor unions, say that they care about. So if you care about preventing abuse of workers, child labor, wildlife trafficking, over-fishing, the decimation of forests, all those things are addressed in this in this in this agreement. I have not yet heard anybody make an argument that the existing trading rules are better for issues like labor rights and environmental rights than they would be if we got TPP passed. And so I'm going to continue to make this case. And I've got some very close friends, people I admire a lot, but who I just disagree with them. And that's OK. I respect the arguments that they're making. They're coming from a sincere concern about the position of workers and wages in this country, but I think I've got the better argument and I've got the evidence to support it. And hopefully, after the election is over and the dust settled, there will be more attention to the actual facts behind the deal and it won't just be a political symbol or a political football. And I'll I will sit down with people on both sides, on the right and on the left. I will sit down publicly with them, and we will go down through the provisions. I I would enjoy that, because there is a lot of misinformation. I am really confident I can make the case that this is good for American workers and the American people. And you know, people said we weren't going to be able to get the Trade Authority, to even present this before Congress. And somehow, we muddled through and got it done. And I intend to do the same with respect to the actual agreement. You had a second question? That was a long answer. I was I apologize, Mr. Prime Minister, but every once in a while... [Question: Obama:] The FBI is still doing an investigation. You're right that there have been some assessments made that this might have been a Russian hack. What I can tell you without commenting on the specifics is there are a lot of countries out there that are trying to hack into our stuff. Governmental, databases, but also private sector databases and not-for-profit databases. And this is why we have stood up such an aggressive effort to strengthen our cyber security. And we have provisions in place where, if we see evidence of a malicious attack by a state actor, we can impose, potentially certain proportional penalties. But that requires us to really be able to pin down and know what we are talking about. And so, I don't want to get out of ahead of the legal evidence and the facts that we may have in order to make those kinds of decisions. More broadly, we are trying to promote international norms and rules that say, there are certain things that states should not be doing to each other when it comes to cyber attacks. There are certain things that are out of bounds. And those norms, I think, are going to slowly build and get more more adherence over time. But it's we're still early in the process. I mean, in some ways the explosion of the internet and its importance to our communications systems has outstripped the legal architecture to protect them. And we're playing catch up. But we're going to have to keep on keep on at it. In terms of how it affects our relationship with Russia, look. I think we've already got a lot of differences with Russia on a whole bunch of issues. But I think that we have been able to try to stay focused on those areas where we still have a common interest, understanding that we have deep disagreements on issues like Ukraine. But perhaps, potentially, we have an interest in bringing an end to violence in Syria, how do we balance those issues. That is pretty standard state craft at this point with Russia. If in fact Russia engaged in this activity, it's just one on a long list of issues that me and Mr. Putin talk about, and that I have got a real problem with. And and so, I don't think that it wildly swings what is a tough and difficult relationship that we have with Russia right now. But it's not going to stop us from still trying to pursue solutions, so that we can, for example implement the Minsk Agreement, and get Russia and those separatists to lay down arms and stop bullying Ukraine. That's not going to stop us from trying to make sure that we can bring a political transition inside of Syria that can end the hardship there. [Lee:] Can I say something about the TPP? I don't want to wade into your domestic politics, but looking at it from somebody on the other side of the Pacific who has been intimately involved, and in fact, triggered the whole process, because we started the P4, the little FTA on which the TPP fall and just become this important initiative. The economic arguments for the TPP in terms of trade, I think the president has presented them eloquently, what the benefits are to American companies. [Bolduan:] In just a few minutes, Indiana's Governor Mike Pence, he's expected to endorse Ted Cruz for president. [Berman:] Joining us to talk about this development and the big race in Indiana, we're going to bring in Indiana state representative and Donald Trump supporter, Robert Morris. Representative, thank you so much for being with us. You work in the state government. You work with Governor Mike Pence. What affect will this endorsement have, Mike Pence coming out in a few minutes to back Ted Cruz? [State Rep. Robert Morris, , Indiana & Donald Trump Supporter:] Each of us endorses the candidate that we believe is going to be best to run our country. I believe that Donald Trump is the best candidate to lead our country, and that's why I'm supporting Mr. Trump. [Bolduan:] What do you think the impact, though, of the governor supporting Ted Cruz will have? [Morris:] Well, I think it's fairly interesting. As I walk my district and meet my constituents, most of the constituents are looking for Mr. Trump to win Indiana this coming Tuesday. You know, we have a number of outsiders, you know, the Washington establishment we have a candidate running for Congress right now that's being criticized Liz Brown is being criticized because she hasn't been elected long enough. She's running for U.S. Congress. Marlin Studsman, who has been a congressman for six years, he's being criticized as well because Elected long enough. These people are looking to go to Washington, D.C. Liz Brown wants to make a difference out in Washington, D.C. She's pledged term limits as well. [Bolduan:] But what does that have to do with governor Mike Pence? [Morris:] What it has to do with Governor Pence, being elected for a long time in Congress and being friends with Senator Cruz, I'm just trying to give you a correlation between the difference in what I'm seeing in my district. As I walk my district and talk to my constituents, about 75 percent of my constituents are going to vote for Donald Trump on Tuesday. [Berman:] So Ted Cruz has been working the state very, very hard. Ted Cruz is basically camped out in Indiana. He did this running mate gambit with Carly Fiorina there the other day. He's picking up the endorsement now. Donald Trump has been there, yes. Do you wish you had him in the state a little bit more working the Hoosier crowds? [Morris:] Yes. He's been at the capitol a few times. He's going to be in Ft. Wayne this Sunday. I've had a number of constituents that have called me and asking questions, how to get tickets to Memorial Coliseum this Sunday at 4:00 p.m. And it's been fun to meet Mr. Trump. I believe he's going to be a great leader for our state, and come November, he's going to be Mr. President. [Bolduan:] Do you think do you think you can guarantee a win for Donald Trump in Indiana on Tuesday? [Morris:] I believe he's going to get all 57 delegates. He's going to get the 30 delegates because he's going to win the state, and then he's going to get the other 27 delegates as well because this is what the people want. And this is what us elected officials need to realize, that Donald Trump, you know, this past Tuesday, had a clean sweep. We have to listen, as elected officials, to what the people want. And like I said, I continue to knock on doors, continue to meet people at the supermarkets, the malls. They want Donald Trump to be the person in charge and to lead our country and I believe [Berman:] One quick question. One quick question. Carly Fiorina criticized Donald Trump for embarrassing Mike Tyson and the idea of Mike Tyson supporting his candidacy. Obviously, Tyson was convicted of rape in Indiana. Does that team up, does that make you uncomfortable at all? [Morris:] I think as we look at things and who Mr. Trump gets behind, bob knight, when I was at the Pepsi Coliseum got a standing ovation. He said I'm not involved in politics at all. As you guys get to know me we've just been doing this interview a short time I'm not going to bash any one person. If Mr. Trump believes Mr. Tyson did his time and he's a good person today, we got to recognize that. We need to stop beating up on and look at the good qualities of people. I know that's your job as you interview, but Mr. Trump is the person that the people want in my district here in Indiana. [Bolduan:] Indiana State Representative Robert Morris. We appreciate your time. We'll see what happens on Tuesday. Thanks so much. [Morris:] Thanks for having me on your show. Appreciate it. [Bolduan:] Of course. Thank you. [Berman:] All right. Bernie Sanders has one supporter in the Senate, Jeff Merkley. Now the one Senator says if Bernie Sanders is still behind after all the votes are cast in June, he should get out of the race. We're going to get reaction from his campaign manager, next. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] What does Donald Trump not want us to see? THE LEAD starts right now. Every presidential nominee has done it since Richard Nixon, so why is Donald Trump now going back on his own word to let the voters see what's in his tax returns, the tax returns of the super rich candidate? He is the man who signed what is perhaps the most controversial law in this country right now, North Carolina's so-called bathroom bill, a measure that critics say is discrimination against transgender individuals, plain and simple. Today, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory is here to tell why he thinks it's necessary. Plus, more mystery surrounding Prince's death. What was doctor doing at his estate the day Prince died? [Question:] Would you release tax returns? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I would release tax returns. The answer is, yes, I would do it. I would certainly show tax returns if it was necessary. I have no objection to certainly showing tax returns. [Tapper:] Hmm, interesting. That was 2015. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Our politics lead. Mitt Romney predicted there would be a bombshell in Donald Trump's taxes, something so damaging, it might destroy Trump's taxes at winning the White House. You have just heard Trump say four times way back in February 2015 that if he faced these kinds of requests and challenges on his taxes, he would release his tax returns. Well, now we likely will not get the chance to ow if there are any bombshells before Americans vote in November. Trump told the Associated Press in an interview that quote "There's nothing to learn" from his stack of 1040s and W-2s and he will not follow the example of every single Democratic and Republican presidential nominee since 1976. Sara Murray is in New York. Sara, what's the Trump campaign's thinking on this issue? Why not just release his returns? [Sara Murray, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Well, Jake, their latest explanation is that Donald Trump is in the process of being audited and they don't want to release the returns at that point. But what's not clear is why he hasn't released perhaps returns from earlier years. What is clear is that Donald Trump is once again trying to rewrite the political playbook. [Murray:] Donald Trump's bucking tradition once again, refusing to release his tax returns before Election Day. Trump tells the Associated Press: "There's nothing to learn from them." But Trump would be the first nominee since 1976 to keep all his tax info under wraps. The returns shed light on a candidate's effective tax rate, charitable giving and investment income, all issues that have tripped up politicians in the past. Earlier this year, Trump suggested it was only a matter of months before he'd release his returns. [Trump:] But I have one of the world's most complicated tax returns. It's a massive return. And but I will get it done as soon as I can. [Murray:] Now the billionaire businessman isn't budging. His latest reason, claiming he can't release them because they're under audit. [Trump:] I will absolutely give my return, but I'm being audited now for two or three years, so I can't do it until the audit is finished, obviously. While I'm under audit, I'm not going to release my tax returns. No lawyer would let you do that. [Murray:] It's an excuse some tax experts balked at, saying releasing the returns wasn't likely to cause additional problems. But other experts said it may make sense as a legal strategy to keep his taxes under wraps. As for the IRS, it says individuals are free to release their own tax information. In fact, Richard Nixon did just that, releasing his returns while he was under audit in the 1970s. Today, Hillary Clinton seizing on Trump's reluctance to release his returns. [Hillary Rodham Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] When you run for president, especially when you become the nominee, that is kind of expected. My husband and I have released 33 years of tax returns. We have got eight years on our Web site right now. So you have got to ask yourself, why doesn't he want to release them? Yes, well, we're going to find out. [Murray:] Trump's resistance is a sharp about-face after he criticized 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney for failing to release his tax returns sooner. [Trump:] I think that Mitt was hurt really very badly by this whole thing with the income tax returns. I believe that he should have either said I'm giving them April 1 or I'm giving them soon. [Murray:] This year, the tables have turned, and it's Romney questioning what Trump is hiding. [Mitt Romney , Former Presidential Candidate:] I predict that there are more bombshells in his tax returns. [Murray:] While Trump may never win over Romney, he's still looking to patch things up with Paul Ryan tomorrow on Capitol Hill. Even though the House speaker said he's not quite ready to endorse Trump, he insists he's still pushing for party unity. [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] What we're trying to do is be as constructive as possible, but have a real unification. We just finished probably one of the most grueling primaries in modern history. It's going to take some work, and that's the kind of work we're dedicated to doing. [Murray:] Now, Donald Trump has taken an unorthodox approach to pretty much everything in this campaign. And here is another example. He also told the Associated Press that he thought President Obama's data operation during his campaign was overrated. And Trump believes his recipe for success in November will rely more on his own personality and less on analytics Jake. [Tapper:] All right, Sara Murray, thank you so much. Donald Trump's refusal to reject the support of white supremacist organizations in an interview he did with me earlier this year made many Republican officials at the time nervous. But to those who belong to white supremacist or white nationalist groups, it was music to their ears. Take, for example, William Johnson. He's a Los Angeles-based corporate attorney selected by the Trump campaign to be one of its delegates in California. He's also chairman of the white nationalist American Freedom Party. The Southern Poverty Law Center calls the group quote "a political party initially established by racist Southern California skinheads that aims to deport immigrants and return the United States to white rule" unquote although Johnson is seemingly trying to make the group seem more mainstream. It is Johnson's voice you heard on those pro-Trump robo-calls that offended many Americans which we reported on back in February when Trump was running against senators Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. [William Johnson, Chairman, American Freedom Party:] The white race is dying out in America and Europe because we are afraid to be called racists. Donald Trump is not a racist, but Donald Trump is not afraid. Don't vote for a Cuban. Vote for Donald Trump. [Tapper:] A spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, Hope Hicks, told "The Washington Post" that a database error led to Johnson's inclusion as a potential delegate after he had already been rejected by the campaign. Joining me now is William Johnson. Mr. Johnson, thanks so much for being here. Appreciate it. [Johnson:] Oh, you're welcome. I'm happy to be here. [Tapper:] I'm not here to debate your ideology, with which, for the record, I could not disagree more strongly. I am interested, however, in what happened in the last day. My understanding is once some reporters noticed that you were a delegate and asked the Trump campaign about you, the Trump campaign tried to get you removed as a delegate, but it was too late. Is that correct? [Johnson:] Well, I think that I was approved as a delegate. I submitted my application and I was approved. And then immediately when the list came out, they saw that they had a clerical error and so then they sent me an e-mail saying that you are removed from the list, so I wrote back an e-mail telling them, I understand. I resign. And then later in the day, I got contacted by a media person who says, well, you're still on the list. And so then I sent them a second e- mail saying that, I resign, I will not attend the convention, I will not be a delegate. [Tapper:] So the Trump campaign found it objectionable that you were on the list before reporters did; is that correct? [Johnson:] No, I think what happens is that I slipped through the cracks, and they approved me. And then once the list came out, the media had intense interest in my listing, and so that caused them to review the situation, and that's how it transpired. [Tapper:] So you believe the campaign when they say that a database error led to you being chosen as a delegate? [Johnson:] Yes, I believe that I submitted the application, and they did not intentionally have me on as a delegate. And so then when they found out about it, they corrected it and I concurred. [Tapper:] Do you think that Ms. Lagomarsino, Trump's California delegate coordinator, knew your views and your history when she first reached out to you and congratulated you on being a delegate? [Johnson:] I believe that she did not know my views at all. [Tapper:] You told "Mother Jones," which broke the story, the following quote "For many, many years, when I would say these things, other white people would call me names. Oh, you're a hate-monger, you're a Nazi, you're like Hitler. Now they say now they come in and say, oh, you're like Donald Trump." What do you mean by that? [Johnson:] Well, right now in today's society, they're passing around the word racist more and more and everybody is being called a racist nowadays. And so that term and all of these invectives are having less meaning. What I mean by that is that we're now able to more openly discuss issues regarding race because everybody is being called such invectives nowadays that it doesn't mean much anymore. [Tapper:] Do you believe that the white race or the European white race is the superior race? Is that your view? [Johnson:] I believe that Western civilization is declining and dying out in every country around the world that has traditionally been white. Europe is being replaced by immigrants from Africa. America is the same thing is happening here. And so I believe that we need to be aware of this precipitous decline in the white race. And I think it's good for people to be proud of your heritage, whatever heritage that might be, but particularly for white people, because the whites now are so afraid to be proud of their heritage, because they're called bad names if they are. [Tapper:] What is it about Mr. Trump that you like? [Johnson:] Mr. Trump is the real deal. He does not govern, he will not govern by public opinion poll. He says what's on his mind. This is kind of like what Ron Paul did. This is what Bernie Sanders is doing. And that's a refreshing change from the politicians that we have had for many decades. That is probably the best thing about him and what endears him to most people in general. [Tapper:] Do you think that he shares your views in terms of the decline of the United States because of other races coming to the United States? [Johnson:] Well, no, I have not said that America has declined for that reason. [Tapper:] You suggested it. [Johnson:] I'm saying that we are being dispossessed, but I have not attributed it to the other races. And you're saying things that I have not said. But I do believe that when you replace one people with another, that is not a good thing, whether it takes place in Mongolia or in Sweden. I think that Donald Trump has to be a president for all peoples. That's what all the presidents must do. It is up to me as an advocate for the white group to push our agenda more than any other agenda. That's my responsibility. His responsibility is to lead the entire country. [Tapper:] Mr. Johnson, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. [Johnson:] You're welcome. [Tapper:] So, how do other Trump supporters and the Republican Party respond to a Trump supporter who is a white nationalist? We will discuss next. [Keilar:] In war ravaged Syria today, finally some much needed relief came for tens of thousands of families and children in the city of Aleppo, a safe way out. These green buses and ambulance vans today were allowed to carry people out of Aleppo where shooting and shelling and air strikes make it simply too dangerous for people who are not fighting the civil war. Take a look at some these pictures. We have some aerials that were taken just this morning. They show not only long lines of evacuation buses, but the near complete destruction of Aleppo. This is one of the world's oldest cities and the most populous in Syria. CNN's Frederik Pleitgen who was in Aleppo just a few days ago is watching these developments from Beirut. Fred, we were expecting this large-scale evacuation yesterday, what happened? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior Intenational Correspondent:] What happened was that the cease-fire fell apart, Brianna, in the last minute and then shelling actually resumed. There was some heavy fighting yesterday where people who were locked up in that last little rebel enclave inside Aleppo recorded as many as 100 artillery shells falling on that neighborhood. They also said that there were air strikes by warplanes as well. And so today they tried to get all of it back on track to make sure those people are able to evacuate. And even that got off to a very rocky start. The first convoy of those vehicles that you were talking about before actually got shot at when it came to the checkpoint between the rebel held area and the government held area, and then had to turn back. One person was actually killed and several wounded in all of that. But then the people who were organizing this came together and said, "Look, we're not going to allow this to fall apart. We're going to suspend it and then try to get it back on track. And then a few hours later, those convoys did indeed start moving. And if you look at those convoys, you'll see that many of them have a lot of ambulances in them and that's because the first people who were being evacuated from that rebel enclave are the ones who needed most, the ones who are sick, the ones who are wounded, the ones who need immediate medical attention and are only going to be able to get it if they get out of those areas. So that's what's been happening. So far, the latest numbers that we're getting is that more than 1,000 people have already been evacuated. Apparently, several thousand are supposed to get evacuated today, but that's only part of the people who are still in there. And the next phase, they're going to have more civilians come out. And then also those rebel fighters who are still in there and that's going to be key, because once the rebel fighters are out, that's when Syrian government forces are going to move in and that's when the Syrian government is going to once again have full control over Aleppo. There won't be a rebel presence there anymore, which is of course, a bitter moment for the opposition fighting against President Bashar al-Assad, Brianna. [Keilar:] All right. Frederik Pleitgen, thank you so much for that update as we continue to follow the story that is changing each day there in Syria. Up next, Donald Trump's newest feud actually goes way back with the guy that he called he's called a loser and a dummy for years. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Don't call Donald Trump a flip-flopper, especially when it comes to immigration. The GOP presidential candidate pushing back on reports that he may be softening his stance and thinking of ways to help undocumented immigrants stay in the United States legally. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We're dealing with people. We have to be very firm. We have to be very, very strong when people come in illegally. We have a lot of people that want to come in through the legal process. It's not fair for them. And we're working with a lot of people in the Hispanic community to try and come up with an answer. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] So you're not flip-flopping? [Trump:] No, I'm not flip-flopping. We want to come up with a really fair but firm answer. That should be very firm. Look, we want to come up with something fair. [Costello:] All right, that's what Trump said on "FOX & FRIENDS" this morning. Questions about Mr. Trump's policy that were raised after a weekend meeting with Hispanic advisers to his campaign. What Trump reportedly said he wanted a, quote, "humane and efficient way to deal with undocumented immigrants." Trump's campaign manager downplaying those comments in an interview with CNN. [Conway:] So what Donald Trump said yesterday in that meeting differed very little from what he has said publicly, Dana, including in his convention speech last month in Cleveland. It's that we need a, quote, "fair," end quote, humane way of dealing with what is estimated to be about 11 million illegal immigrants in this country. Nothing was said yesterday that differs from what Mr. Trump has said previously. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Well, let me play something from what Mr. Trump has said previously. Listen to what he said back in November. [Trump:] You're going to have a deportation force and you're going to do it humanely and inexpensively. [Mika Brzezinski, Msnbc Host, "morning Joe":] But what are they going to be, ripped out of their homes? [Trump:] Can I tell you? [Brzezinski:] How? [Trump:] They're going back where they came. If they came from a certain country they're going to be brought back to their country. That's the way it's supposed to be. [Bash:] So does Donald Trump still support that? A deportation force removing the 11 million or so undocumented immigrants? [Conway:] What he supports and if you go back to his convention speech a month ago, Dana, what he supports is to make sure that we enforce the law, that we are respectful of those Americans who are looking for well-paying jobs, and that we are fair and humane for those who live among us in this country. [Bash:] So [Conway:] And as the weeks unfold as the weeks unfold he will lay out the specifics of that plan that he would implement as president of the United States. [Bash:] Will that plan include a deportation force, the kind that he just you just heard in that sound bite and that he talked about during the Republican primaries? [Conway:] To be determined. [Costello:] All right. Questions about Trump's immigration stance as he seemingly try to woo minorities after months of controversial comments. For more on that, I want to bring in CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. Good morning, Sunlen. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning to you, Carol. And Trump's controversial statements over immigration and these new questions over his immigration stance did come out of a meeting where he was trying to reach out to Hispanic voters. His newly formed Hispanic advisory council and to truly court minority groups of voters, a group that he has struggled with so greatly throughout this campaign. But with his new campaign format and his new campaign team firmly in place, it does appear that Trump is at least trying in his rhetoric into new words, debut some new messaging, reaching out to expand his base. And that's his base. And that's something we've really seen him do just in the last week at multiple campaign rallies. Really start to release this new campaign rhetoric, reaching out, in particular, to African-American voters. Here's a small part of what he's had to say. [Trump:] I've asked the African-American community to honor me with their vote. You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. 58 percent of your youth is unemployed. What the hell do you have to lose? [Serfaty:] So that's just there, a small slice of what Donald Trump is bringing now to the campaign trail, although he is delivering many of those remarks in front of predominantly white audiences. It should be noted, Carol, this is such a bill hill for him to climb. The latest poll has Trump support with African-Americans at just 1 percent compared to Clinton's 91 percent Carol. [Costello:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty, reporting live from Washington this morning. Thank you. So let's talk about this. I'm joined now by Congressman Brian Babin. He represents the 36th Congressional District of Texas and is a Trump supporter. Welcome, sir. [Rep. Brian Babin , Texas:] Thank you, Carol. Good to be with you. [Costello:] Nice to have you here. Do you think Donald Trump is flip- flopping? [Babin:] No, I do not. I think he's been very, very consistent. You know, he's if it hadn't been for Donald Trump, we wouldn't even be talking about the immigration problems that this nation is facing today. And I think he's been very consistent. He wants to enforce the law. He wants to uphold the Constitution. And he wants to secure the borders. [Costello:] So you are in favor of a deportation force. And you believe that he is still in favor of implementing something like that. [Babin:] Well, now what I'm in favor of are criminal alien deportations. We've had 86,000 criminal aliens who have been released from prisons and their countries don't take them back. I'm very, very concerned about that. But if we take deportation off the table, we may as well take sovereignty off the table as well. That's got to be [Costello:] So [Babin:] That's got to be the law must be enforced. [Costello:] So you're talk about the 11 million undocumented immigrants already in the United States I assume. So Mr. Trump said that he would deport them in a humane and efficient way. What do you suppose that means? [Babin:] You know, I think, as the campaign goes on, we're going to see more specifics come out. But, you know, it goes without saying if the current administration, which Secretary Hillary Clinton has been part of, has certainly not secured the borders, has certainly continued attracting and bringing folks illegally into this nation who can compete with American workers [Costello:] Well, I'd like to focus on deporting these 11 million people because it would come at enormous cost to taxpayers. And I'm just trying to figure out what Mr. Trump means when he's going to come up with a humane and efficient way to rid the countries of all of the to rid this country of all these people. [Babin:] Well, when you say rid this country of all these people, I think in a humane way, my interpretation is that he's going to take this slowly, he's going to talk he's going to reach out, as he's already done, to Hispanics. And it's not just Hispanics coming in either. I've been to that border twice. I'm from Texas. We've got folks coming in across our border down there in south Texas who are from the Middle East, from Africa and all over the world. [Costello:] Like how many? [Babin:] We've seen well, last last year alone, we had 47,000 Cubans seeking asylum. They came in across the border. And we've had a number of ISIS operatives apprehended on the border. [Costello:] But aren't but doesn't the United States accept Cubans? [Babin:] They do. But there is a there is a situation, where if Cubans step foot you know, across the border, then they get asylum, but if they come in by boat, they don't. It's a crazy regulation. I'm not going down that rabbit trail. The question here is [Costello:] Well, no, but I'm intrigued by that. [Babin:] The question, Carol [Costello:] Should that change in your mind? [Babin:] The question is securing the border ma'am? [Costello:] Yes. [Babin:] The question is securing the border and freeing Americans up to find the jobs that they need. We are coming out of this recession, the slowest rate that we've seen since the 1940s. And Americans need these jobs. [Costello:] But let me ask you this. [Babin:] We shouldn't be opening our doors to people who are going to compete with the American labors and American workers. [Costello:] Let me let me ask you this. You said that the did you say that there are ISIS supporters coming over the border from Mexico? [Babin:] Yes, I can. I can say that. [Costello:] Can you confirm who they are and where they've gone and how many? [Babin:] They have been apprehended. I can't tell you. I think there was about six in one group. It is documented. I've been down there two or three times. I was just at the El Paso Center, what we call the Epic Center. And there's some folks coming across that border not just looking for jobs. There's a lot of human trafficking. There's a lot of drugs. [Costello:] So where are these ISIS supporters coming from? What countries? [Babin:] Well, you know, all I can say is they're coming from countries that are ISIS hot spots and it's happening. You know [Costello:] Like Iraq and Syria? [Babin:] Any way you any way you want to cut this, there are people who want to do us harm, who are sympathetic to ISIS and they're coming across this border. They're coming up through Central America and through Mexico. And they're here. You don't have to look any further than San Bernardino [Costello:] So [Babin:] Garland, Texas, the Boston marathon bombing, Orlando, Florida. [Costello:] So I want to get specifics because this is very scary to most Americans. So you have seen these ISIS supporters in custody or talked to ICE agents about these particular people, and where are they now? Are they have they been sent back? [Babin:] I can't tell you that. [Costello:] Are they roaming the country? [Babin:] I have not personally [Costello:] Are they in prison? [Babin:] Ma'am, you're trying to put you're trying to put words in my mouth. I have not personally seen this. I have talked to Border Patrol agents on the south Texas border and there have been ISIS sympathizers who have been apprehended on our south Texas border. But you're going down a rabbit trail here, ma'am. The biggest thing here is that Donald Trump, he's a plain-talking American who is very, very sympathetic to the American workers and he's he's very intent on changing the things that have harmed America. And our open borders is one of those [Costello:] Well, let me OK, let me go down another rabbit trail, if you will. [Babin:] Another rabbit trail, that's right. [Costello:] Mr. Trump is trying to reach out to minority voters and not just to Hispanic and Latino voters. He said Democrats have failed African-Americans. So why the hell not vote for him? Our Alisyn Camerota asked his running mate Mike Pence about his pitch. Here's Mike Pence's take, let's listen. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] On Friday night, Donald Trump was in Michigan, as you know, and he was making an appeal to African-American voters. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Candidate:] True. [Camerota:] And he used some language and messaging that some people have taken umbrage with. I'll read some of it to you. He said, "You're living in poverty. Your schools are no good. You have no jobs. You have 58 percent youth unemployment. What the hell do you have to lose?" That was an appeal to vote for the Pence Trump- Pence ticket. What do you think of that message? [Pence:] Well, it was such an honor for me and really a privilege to be with Donald Trump earlier in the day as we toured neighborhoods devastated by the flooding in Baton Rouge. I saw I saw this broad shouldered leader and his profound compassion for the hurting families in Louisiana. And I think that message and other messages all proceed from the fact that Donald Trump and I both believe that we can do better for every American. We can get this economy moving again. The liberal Democratic policies of our major cities have resulted in failing schools and unsafe streets in too many areas. And Donald Trump is speaking to that boldly. He really believes, and I agree with him, that by getting this economy moving again, lower taxes, rolling back regulation, focusing on American energy and trade deals that work for Americans and also by expanding school choice. [Camerota:] So in terms of the language that he used on Friday night, you were OK with that? The "you're living in poverty, you have no jobs, what the hell do you have to lose?" You were OK with it being that blunt of a message? [Pence:] Well, look, Donald Trump is not a experienced politician who carefully selects his words, speaks right from his heart, right from his mouth. [Costello:] Well, here's the thing, Congressman. Many African- Americans say Trump's outreach was not for them, but for white voters who think Trump is racist because Mr. Trump chose to make those remarks in front of a largely white audience. Can you address that? [Babin:] I sure can. I don't think Mr. Trump's got a racist bone in his body. I think he is concerned about all Americans. What he said you know, personally, I would not have chosen the same language that he chose. But he is not a politician. You know, the political elites are the ones that got us in the mess we're in today. All these problems that America faces. And quite frankly, we've been 60 percent of Americans think that the country is going in the wrong direction. And Mr. Trump has promised to take us in the opposite direction. And I think the average American wants to come to the polls. And I think we're going to surprise some folks. I believe Mr. Trump is going to surprise a lot of people, just like Ronald Reagan surprised them back in 1980. And I think it's going to be a turnout [Costello:] Well, the polls don't the polls don't show that. [Babin:] You're going to be ma'am? [Costello:] The polls don't show that. He's got 1 percent support among African-Americans. And I just want to get to this. Do you think it would be more effective perhaps if Mr. Trump would apologize for the birther talk or that President Obama founded ISIS? Do you think those things might be turning off African-American voters? And if Mr. Trump just said, you know, I didn't mean that stuff about the birther stuff, would that appease voters? Should he say something like that? Should he apologize? [Babin:] I don't think he's got a thing to apologize for. I believe that he's concerned. He's not a he's not a professional politician. But you don't have to be a professional politician to identify the problems and to fix them as the president. You don't have to be a politician to become the president. We're looking at his opponent, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hasn't had a press conference in 260 days because she didn't want to answer questions about the failed policies under her as the secretary of state and under President Obama's administration. I think people are very concerned about the direction of this country. And as far as the polls go, I think there are a lot of people who may be undecided and who will surprise remember, President Carter was ahead of Ronald Reagan at this point in time back in 1980. I was around. I was a Reagan supporter at that time and it shocked the American people spoke and it shocked a lot of professional elites and the establishment. Just like this is going to be a shock in November, just a few months. [Costello:] All right, we've got 77 days to go. Congressman Babin, thank you so much for joining me this morning. Still to come in the [Babin:] Thank you. [Costello:] You're welcome. Another conservative media voice advising team Trump but will it change his style or amplify it? Hear from his VP pick next. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW. Many a candidate for public office has seen his own words come back from the distant past to haunt him, but Donald Trump, as you may have already heard, is not your normal, usual, everyday candidate. So now the political universe is abuzz that words that Donald Trump claims were not his, but those of a very helpful, very insightful Donald Trump spokesman who happened to sound very, very much like one Donald J. Trump. Words that Donald Trump say don't matter. They don't matter because they were spoken 25 years ago. "The Washington Post" got a hold and an audio recording from 1991. And on that audio recording, a reporter from "People" magazine interviewing a man who identified himself as a newly hired Trump press aide named John Miller said this. [Unidentified Female:] What is your position there? [Unidentified Male:] Well, I'm sort of in PR, because he gets so much of it. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Unidentified Male:] And, frankly, I mean I can tell you off the record, if I can tell you [Unidentified Female:] Yes. Yes. [Unidentified Male:] If I can try to get to know you and talk a little bit off the record, I can tell you that he he didn't care if he got bad PR until he got a divorce And people said, how come all of a sudden he's doing so well and then I guess [Unidentified Female:] Where did you come from? [Unidentified Male:] I I was I basically worked for different firms. I worked for a couple of different firms. And I'm somebody that knows and I think somebody that he trusts and likes. [Banfield:] That reporter tells "The Post" that she hung up and thought, it's so weird that Donald Trump hired someone who sounds just like him. Here's how Donald Trump responded this morning on the "Today" show. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It was not me on the phone. And it doesn't sound like me on the phone. I will tell you that. And it was not me on the phone. And when was this, 25 years ago? [Unidentified Female:] In the early '90s. But [Trump:] Wow. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Trump:] You mean you mean you're you're going so low as to talk about something that took place 25 years ago about whether or not I made a phone call, I guess you're saying under a presumed name? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, under a presumed name. [Trump:] OK. Well OK. The answer is no. [Banfield:] I want to bring in CNN politics reporter Jeremy Diamond, who's following this right now. The phone call's getting a lot of ink and it's getting a lot of TV time, but is it the only incident like this? [Jeremy Diamond, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Well, it's certainly not, Ashleigh. You know, we went back and kind of looked to see where else has Donald Trump used this name of a spokesman? You know, John Barron, John Miller. And I found a few different instances, including "New York Times" articles from 1994 and 1985 in which, you know, there's a spokesman, John Barron, quoted as a vice president of the Trump organization. And, you know, what's really interesting is this has kind of been an open secret. Not only in New York media circle, especially the gossip pages of New York tabloids that have repeatedly use the quoteunquote spokesman, but also among Trump organization executives, former Trump organization executives who told CNN that, in fact, you know, this was well known that Donald Trump would, in factunquote spokesman. [Banfield:] So he was obviously not happy with Matt and Savannah's line of questions and actually said, so you're going to go so low as to talk about something that took place 25 years ago, whether or not I made a phone call. Let's get on to more current topics. But the problem is, is that Donald Trump, just in the last week, has focused very, very heavily on stuff from 25 years ago, from the 1990s, and he has been sort of trying to destroy Hillary Clinton over things in the 1990s. [Diamond:] That's right. Yes, this has been emerged as kind of one of the central attacks that Donald Trump is leveling against his likely general election opponent, Hillary Clinton, who is, you know, the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, of course. He has repeatedly brought up issues about Bill Clinton's past, you know, his alleged affairs, his alleged sexual abuses and that's kind of main line. Here's Donald Trump talking about Hillary Clinton as a quoteunquote enabler. [Trump:] And Hillary was an enabler and she treated these women horribly. Just remember this. And some of those women were destroyed, not by him, but by the way that Hillary Clinton treated them after everything went down. So just remember that, folks. [Diamond:] So, as I said, that's kind of one of the central lines of attacks that Donald Trump has now been leveling against Hillary Clinton as he ramps up for a general election after locking up the presumptive Republican nomination. So it seems like that's a sign of more things to come, but certainly Donald Trump does not want to be talking about things like the fact that he perhaps pretended, impersonated a spokesman in the '80s and '90s, but he will continue to focus on Hillary Clinton's, you know, the issues emerging with her during that time. Ashleigh. [Banfield:] I think I get it. OK. Jeremy Diamond, thank you for that. Can't wait to talk this one out with my panel. Jeffrey Lord is a Donald Trump supporter and a CNN political commentator. Errol Louis is a CNN political commentator and political anchor for Time Warner Cable News. And Amanda Carpenter is a former communications aide to Ted Cruz, as well a CNN political commentator. Welcome to all three of you. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] Hello, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Did not think we were going to be running tape from back in the '90s today, but, Jeffrey Lord, you have the unenviable task of trying to put this one in perspective and make it sound good. It doesn't sound good. You've got to be honest, it doesn't sound good. [Lord:] No, I don't agree with you at all, Ashleigh. Look, I in my as I you know, in my misspent youth, I was a press secretary to a congressman and a United States senator. I know how Washington works. And there's very few presidents, cabinet officers, senators or congressmen who do not do some version of what Donald Trump is being accused of doing here. They talk to reporters on the sly and say, don't use my name, but, and then the reporter goes out there and says, a source knowledgeable dah, dah, dah, dah, dah, and they never say [Banfield:] But that source is being honest, though. Jeffrey, the difference being the source is being honest. The source is saying who I am when I tell you these things don't use my name. [Lord:] The source doesn't matter. No. No, no, no, no, no. [Banfield:] Isn't there a difference between just blatantly lying? [Lord:] No. No. [Banfield:] This isn't punking because nobody is told they're being punked. [Lord:] The source Ashleigh Ashleigh, the source is not being identified in the newspaper, or on television. The source is hiding his identity and the reporter is going along with it. [Banfield:] The reporter is not being lied to. [Lord:] The the public is being lied to. This isn't just a quoteunquote anonymous source. This is a senator, a [Banfield:] Are we really having this debate over semantics? Honestly, Jeffrey, I thought you were going to say something more like 25 years ago things are different now and [I - Lord:] Well well, let me let me get to that. Let me get to that. And I will say that, Ashleigh. Four years ago, when Mitt Romney ran for president, "The Washington Post" front paged a story that when he was in high school, high school, he and along with a gang of kids had cut you know, pinned some kid to the grown in a high school type situation and cut his hair. And years later this kid turns out to be gay. I.e., Mitt Romney was a gay basher. This is what happens to Republican nominees for president, whether it's John McCain [Banfield:] Well, I'm not going to [Lord:] Whether it's Mitt Romney. Donald Trump. This is what goes on. [Banfield:] I'm certainly not going to apologize for anyone who does that, but there is a massive difference between someone in high school and a businessman well into his 30s or 40s openly lying publicly to a reporter. [Lord:] Ashleigh, Ashleigh, if you're out of a job in America, do you really think somebody cares about this? [Banfield:] I think people care if their if their president lies. Errol, do they care? Errol, do they care if somebody was telling lies to a reporter? Look, we're the bottom of the heap, but do they care if they're lying 25 years ago? [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I don't I don't know whether people will care. I can tell you, people should care that the candidate lied on camera today. I mean what he did 25 years ago is what he did, it's as obvious I mean, look. Well, this is a legal show, so I'll use a little law school Latin, right. [Banfield:] OK, so I'm going to move on from that because frankly, which is the word that Donald Trump likes to use a lot and strangely that guy on the phone used as well, frankly, say what you will about it. Amanda, id'like to draw your attention to other tape today. Donald Trump was asked by George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" today a very simple question with regard to the tax returns that Donald Trump says he won't release because he's being audited. Have a listen to that exchange. [George Stephanopoulos, "good Morning America":] What is your tax rate? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It's none of your business. You'll see it when I release. But I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible. [Banfield:] Amanda, what is your tax rate? None of your business. Is it our business? [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] I mean, I think it is. Every other presidential candidate has made these disclosures. Of course, Donald Trump is free not to do it, but he's going to continue to get questions, especially if he wants to make tax reform a central issue. Offering these tax disclosures is a sign of good faith to the voters. This is how I've made my money. This is how I've conducted my life. He's been unwilling to go under that vetting process. And the thing that sort of really boggles my mind between the tax returns and this issue of whether or not it's fair for "Washington Post" reporters to go look at these audiotapes is that, you know, a lot of Republicans, conservatives, went crazy because they didn't feel like Obama was vetted enough during his presidential campaign. This is what the vetting process is. It's looking at how you've conducted your public life. And if you haven't been in office a long time, we need to look at your businesses. That's what people want to see the tax returns for. And then also, Donald Trump, how have you conducted yourself as a public figure? Did you misrepresent yourself to make your divorce look better in the papers? This is the central question to his relationships with women. And I agree, tabloid fodder, really, who cares if it was 25 years ago, but are you lying about it right now? And if you're not lying, then produce this PR figure that you hired and apparently trusted enough to discuss your divorce with the press. If he can't do that, then I think that makes it clear what's going on. [Banfield:] Yes, because John Miller, John Barron shouldn't be too hard to find. [Carpenter:] Yes. [Banfield:] Obviously a big supporter of Donald Trump, bit fan of Donald Trump, says he knows him really, really well. It's possible he's still around, either of those two people. I don't know which one it was. I know you're laughing, Jeffrey Lord. And sometimes we have to laugh until we cry because this is the president of the United States. This isn't who's going to win "Survivor." It's not going to be who wins the, you know, reality shows. [Lord:] Well, I would be less concerned about this than if the secretary of state was lying about Benghazi, to be perfectly candid. [Banfield:] And that's going to be another segment as well. And there have been many segments about it. But I do have to ask you, is it I mean is it not our business? Because for the last 40 years, Amanda said all presidents, just in the last 40 years [Lord:] Right. [Banfield:] Which is a lifetime for many of us, every president has done it. And it does [Lord:] Speak for yourself. [Banfield:] Well, God bless you. But definitely more than my lifetime. So my issue is, is that those tax returns will tell us a lot about whether Donald Trump tells the truth. If we're going to move beyond these tapes, the tax returns will tell us that. And every other candidate and president has agreed. Why is he different? [Lord:] Ashleigh, you know, I have to say, in thinking about this, Donald Trump or anyone else, frankly, I just think that this is worth a worthless exercise. It has only been done for 40 years. In other words, we had plenty of presidents in the United States, up until I think Richard Nixon was the first that had to do this in the sort of post-Watergate atmosphere. I just think that, you know, who cares at this point. This is not in the Constitution. This is not a qualification to be president. I don't really care what anybody's taxes are. [Banfield:] Being honest is. I'm just going to say that. Look, I think crime is bad. Puppies are sweet. And that it is important to be honest if you are a president. [Lord:] Well [Banfield:] Errol, quick, last word. [Lord:] No, that's not [Louis:] Especially I mean especially especially if you're never mind 40 years ago. The last 40 days, if you're going to be a candidate who runs around talking about lyin'Ted and crooked Hillary and saying the press is dishonest and casting aspersions on everybody else's statements, you should be willing to take a little bit of what you're giving out and answer some questions and be truthful for a change. [Banfield:] And, Errol, I'm just going to answer that. Jeffrey, that Donald Trump sells himself on a campaign trail regularly as being a very astute businessman. So I think it's only fair for us to see for ourselves if it's just what he says or if it's what he does. [Lord:] But the issue one of the issues here is the IRS and the politicization of the IRS. And there's all kinds of people [Banfield:] OK. [Lord:] I mean the whole Lois Lerner episode pictures the IRS as a very political agency. [Banfield:] But 10 you know, 10, 15 years of politicization of the IRS. He's not releasing any of them. I think we could go back and forth on this all day. [Lord:] We could. [Banfield:] I adore all three of you and I absolutely love having you on this program. [Lord:] I love it. [Banfield:] And I hope you have a great weekend. Thank you. [Lord:] Thanks, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Jeffrey Lord, Errol Louis and Amanda Carpenter, best to you, all three. Coming up, the former head of the CIA is slamming Donald Trump's positions on foreign policy as, quote, ready, "crazy." That's the former head of the CIA. His explanation, plus reaction from this man, a very busy man these days, who travels a lot and has to take in a lot of information. He's the RNC's communications director, Sean Spicer. He's live with me next. [Gorani:] All right, well, it's is a crucial day for the European Union, leaders are meeting in Brussels right now for what the European Council leaders say is a make or break summit. The topic, this country, Britain, should it remain in the European Union or should it exit the so-called "brexit." David Cameron wants other to agree reforms before he puts it to a public vote. He was in a bullish mood when he spoke about it earlier, listen. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] We've got important work to do today and tomorrow and it's going to be hard. I'll be battling for Britain if we can get a good deal, I'll take the deal, but I will not take a deal that doesn't meet what we need. I think it's much more important to get this right than to do anything in a rush. But with goodwill, hard work, we can get a better deal for Britain. [Gorani:] The leaders are discussing a deal of sorts agreed by David Cameron and E.U. Council Leader Donald Tusk. Here's what Britain wants. Among the reforms on the stable, a return of sovereignty to London, Cameron wants to reassurance that the U.K. will not be forced to be more involved in the E.U. than it wants to be. Another, and this is important for David Cameron and those who oppose greater relinquishing of sovereignty to the EU, limiting migrants access to social benefits in this country for the first four years after they alive and this could be a major sticking point in negotiations. Let's cross live to Brussels, CNN Money's Europe editor, Nina Dos Santos joins me now live with more. All right, so simple question, is Cameron going to get what he wants in Brussels today? [Nina Dos Santos, Cnn Money Europe Editor:] The 28 answers to actually come to that conclusion, and they all have to be unanimous, Hala, and that is exactly what's going on in the building behind me. We have those European leaders, 28 heads of state that make up this particular block. Having a working dinner at the moment. I understand they're having a dinner of [inaudible] and potatoes which sounds officially enough like a very posh way of saying, fish and chips, which is a very typical British dish. David Cameron has embarked upon this enormous political gamble internationally and domestically as well to silence the skeptics within his own conservative party back home. People here in Brussels are very aware there's domestic politics that play as much as international politics, however, with significant consequences for all. This particular meeting in the culmination of no more than fewer than 20 speed charming meetings that David Cameron has been embarking upon in the last month or so. This is what's at stake and what's been achieved so far. [Dos Santos:] Crisscrossing the continent, shaking hands at a time showing his teeth. [Cameron:] We want to have a Europe where we're not into a superstate, but we can be proud and independent. [Dos Santos:] David Cameron has plowed on with his efforts to secure reform of the E.U. Concessions which he hopes will convince his country to stay in the union, on its own terms. [Cameron:] Europe that is competitive. We want a Europe that respects our currency and treats us fairly. [Dos Santos:] Behind the scenes and in front of the cameras, experts laid them on the table. Acting out here how a British exit or brexit would play out in complex negotiations, and it isn't pretty. [Unidentified Male:] It's not you're out, you would be out once you come to an agreement with European Union. Europe is a disaster. [Unidentified Female:] You are not going to be saved. [Unidentified Male:] This is an absolutely devastating decision that Britain has taken. [Dos Santos:] The E.U. is the U.K.'s biggest export market taking in about 44 percent of its goods and services every year. But that share has been dwindling over the past decade. What's more, the UK runs a deficit with Europe and trade surplus with other faster growing economies, which is why some suggest the nation could afford to go it alone. [Malcolm Rilliand, Former British Foreign Secretary:] You have people at either end of the debate, some desperate to leave, some desperate to stay, most find what is in the long-term interest. [Dos Santos:] But leaving the E.U. could cost the country dear, up to 3 percent of its GDP according to some surveys as free trade deals become void and terrorists return. Goldman Sachs reckons the pound could plunge 20 percent. But the rest of the E.U., a U.K. departure wouldn't just mean lost growth, it could set a dangerous precedent for others eyeing up the exit door. [Unidentified Female:] It is dangerous because it would be the first time that the right to succession would occur. But it's a bad signal. [Dos Santos:] Which mean either way this referendum won't redefine Britain's relationship with its neighbors, but test the ties that bind the entire block. Now, Hala, earlier you mentioned those two thorny issues as before David Cameron is going for. Particularly limiting ply grants benefits across the United Kingdom. That has four eastern European countries u in arms. And getting them on board will be crucial, as much as getting France on board to try and make sure that the U.K. isn't getting special treatment here. Those are going to be the kind of things that are playing in the room behind me. I understand that it's likely that we'll only really hear the full nuts and bolts of any agreement about 11:00 a.m. tomorrow morning when they have a breakfast meeting. Interestingly enough again, many [inaudible] that's British, it'll be an English breakfast. Let's see whether the English side, British side gets what they want out of it. [Gorani:] All right. We'll see what they have for breakfast, will it be German pastries or English breakfast tea. We'll make a whole thing out of what they decided to have for breakfast. Nina Dos Santos in Brussels following this important story for us, thanks very much. And do stay tuned because on the program we have a very interesting discussion later on in the show. I will be speaking to two MPs from the same party, the conservative party, they have different opinions on the E.U. One says the U.K. should stay in, the other says the U.K. should leave. First though, we'll return to the war in Syria. Amid accusations hospitals are being intentionally targeted by war planes, I'll ask "Newsweek's" Middle East editor where she thinks the battle lines are being drawn and I'll have her with more on a new book she has out on her time in Syria. We'll be right back. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Family and others who he knew were connecting him with ISIS operatives who wanted to carry out an attack here in this country. That's what the FBI charges him with. When the FBI contacted him and interviewed him, he lied about the source of this money. He said that he was being given money by a friend or a cousin in order to buy an iPhone. He also said he got the money from his mom. All of these, it turns out, were not true, and the FBI is now also charging him with making false statements to investigators. We're still going over the documents that the FBI and Justice Department filed, and we will give you some more info on this as we get it. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] All right, we will stay in close contact as you go through all of that. Evan Perez, thank you so much for that, the breaking news on this Maryland man. Thank you. And we roll on, hour two here. I'm Brooke Baldwin live in Las Vegas, a beautiful shot inside the Venetian Hotel. That's where it all goes down tomorrow night. We're watching the countdown clocks, 26 hours, 59 minutes, four seconds here ahead of the final Republican debate of this year, 2015. And, listen, this is the first time that the front-runner, Donald, Trump has a lead quite like this. Check these numbers with me, because he's now officially crossed the 40 percent mark in this new national poll. This is Monmouth University released just minutes ago. In fact, the number, it is 41 percent, outdoing his next competitor's support combined. Take note, though. When this poll was taken, remember, this started last Thursday, three days after Trump announced his plan to temporarily ban Muslims from coming into the United States. And I'm just going to throw more numbers at you. This just in, this ABC News "Washington Post" poll says that that ban is what many Republican voters want. Nearly 60 percent here of Republicans surveyed support Trump's proposal. Another debate first here. Texas Senator Ted Cruz, he has stepped into the spotlight as Republicans' second choice for the nominee. As we talk so much about podium positioning on the debate stage because that's so key as well, if you're looking at it, Trump in the middle and there you see Ted Cruz just next to him. Polls suggest that Senator Cruz has taken over much of Ben Carson's support nationally. And in the state with the first caucus, Iowa, February 1, Ted Cruz is pretty much neck and neck with Donald Trump there. You see Trump at the top, 28 percent, Cruz just behind him with 27. Before we dig into all these numbers, let's just get the lay of the land with senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, who is inside the debate hall, where it's less windy. Lucky you, Jeff Zeleny. But let's begin, let's lead with this statement that's just been released by Donald Trump's doctor, where he is apparently unequivocally the most healthy person who would be elected president, or something like that. Am I right? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] That's right, Brooke. Donald Trump is 69 years old and there have been questions about his health. So his doctor released a medical statement just a short time ago, not coincidentally right before the debate. It was actually dated December 4, but they are releasing it right now, that gives him a clean bill of health. Let's take a look at this one line from it. He says: "Actually, his blood pressure, 110 over 65, and laboratory test results were astonishingly excellent. He has no history of ever using alcohol or tobacco products. If elected, Mr. Trump, I can say unequivocally, will be the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency." So, Brooke, even Donald Trump's physician speaks in superlatives like he does. So, I'm not sure how he knows he would be the healthiest ever elected, but certainly he is giving him a clean bill of health. If he would become the nominee, if he wins this Republican nomination, I certainly expect that he will be called upon to release actually more specific records, as opposed to just this statement. But, for right now, this puts him in line with all of the others. But, Brooke, I can tell you, anticipation is building so much for this debate. You can see behind me here right now it's actually a setup for the undercard debate. That's Mike Huckabee, Lindsey Graham, George Pataki, the former governor of New York, as well as Rick Santorum. It's a setup for that, but the main event has those nine other candidates. Now, Brooke, it you take a look around here, this is an amazing hall. It was designed specifically for "The Phantom of the Opera." If you look at the top there, if you can see that, that's the amazing chandelier that comes crashing down in the middle of "The Phantom of the Opera." It stopped its run here in 2012, so now it's a fixed position, so no worry that that would happen during the debate at all, but, Brooke, this is the most ornate of settings of all of the debates so far. It's certainly one of the most important ones, politically speaking, as well here, because those Iowa caucuses, as you said, are just a few weeks away, February 1, to kick off this whole campaign. [Baldwin:] I have said it before, I will say it again. We're going to blink and it's going to be Iowa time. Jeff Zeleny, thank you so much. Beautiful chandelier there. Let's dig deeper now, though, with CNN political commentator Michael Smerconish, who hosts CNN's "SMERCONISH" on Saturday mornings here on CNN. And also here with us we're in her city, actually conservative blogger Krystal Heath, author of this book "God and Government: Why Christians Must Be Involved in the Political Process." So, great to have both of you with me. Krystal, let me just begin with you. Just want to tee you up a little bit. Looking at the polling, the national poll, you have seen it. This is huge, that Donald Trump is above the 40 percent mark at 41. He's officially up in the Quinnipiac Iowa poll, though Cruz is nipping at his heels. He's doing really well. This is in the wake of what he said about Muslims and the ban in the United States. [Krystal Heath, Author, "god And Government":] Yes. And I think he is doing well nationally, but this isn't going to be decided we're not in a national election right now. So if we look at the state-by-state polls with the primaries, where this is going to be settled, Cruz is rising and he's doing really well. I think we have a couple polls out now where Cruz is actually winning in Iowa. We're seeing that I think it's either a New Hampshire poll I believe now where Chris Christie overtakes Donald Trump potentially. It's just incredible. [Baldwin:] In your heart, does this irk you? [Heath:] That Trump is it does a little bit, yes. I think he's not the best representation of conservative values and the GOP as a whole. But I think there's an excitement with him that people really like and people like that he speaks his mind. I can appreciate that, but I also think there's some decorum that's lacking that others like Senator Cruz or even Senator Rubio would do a better job presenting on a national stage. [Baldwin:] With regard to Trump and his comments on this ban of Muslims in the United States, this is what I have for you, this new poll saying three of five Republicans back his plan. How when you're looking at all of the other candidates, and I realize we're talking primaries still, I'm thinking of who my audience would be, how do you thread the needle if you're other Republicans wanting to sort of draw a line in the political sand with Trump, yet at the same time the majority of those early voters potentially agree with Trump on Muslims? [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Contributor:] I think there's a tendency for some of us to say Donald Trump continues to lead the national polls in spite of these things he's said. But we're looking at it in reverse. He's leading the national polls because of these things that he has said. I completely agree with Krystal in so far as we're all fixated on the national numbers, but it's not a national process. It's a state-by-state process. Politically speaking, today, I would rather be Ted Cruz than Donald Trump. [Baldwin:] Why? [Smerconish:] Because I think that the momentum is on his side. I think that Iowa is going to reshuffle the cards of what's going on. I'm also thinking about Jeb Bush having said two years ago that sometimes you need to be prepared to lose a primary to win a general. When I look at those numbers, they are a reflection of what the Republican Party has become. Don't forget that two-thirds of Americans don't agree with that sentiment. You may escape the primary process and set yourself up for a fall in the general election if you buy into what Trump has said on that issue. [Baldwin:] But I'm wondering about the general election and specifically with regard to Senator Cruz, because he's doing really well in Iowa when you look at just the sheer number breakdown with evangelicals. Off the top of my head, I want to say he's up at least 10 percentage points over Donald Trump. But in terms of a general election, there are pitfalls for him. [Heath:] There definitely are. He's just not because of what people like and the way he says anything that he's thinking, that I think could lead him to trouble, like we saw with the Muslim comment just this last week. I think his unabashed way of saying everything, even to the point where his doctor says he's the healthiest person that could ever become... [Smerconish:] Astonishingly. [Heath:] Astonishingly, as if his doctor knows every person that has ever been president personally. [Baldwin:] But are we calling Cruz moderate when you put him next to a Donald Trump? Because a lot of people would not say that. [Heath:] I don't think so. But I think, if you break it down, people say the GOP is split between conservatives and establishment. But I think that Cruz could actually be someone that the GOP can coalesce around as an alternative to Donald Trump, because conservatives already like him. The GOP, which says, hey, we don't want Donald Trump, is going to say, if Cruz is our way to not have Trump, let's go with Cruz. [Smerconish:] I still see this as a matchup between the so-called maverick candidates and I put Cruz in that category with Carson and Trump and the establishment types. I'm absolutely not surprised that, as Carson has fallen, Ted Cruz has picked up that support. And, remember, tomorrow night, as you watch, there really are two debates playing themselves out on that stage. I'm curious to see, are the establishment types going to look left and right and go after one another, because they are not going to... [Baldwin:] Within the establishment. [Smerconish:] They are not going to pick up from Trump or from Carson or from Cruz. They are locked in their own world. Sooner or later, somebody needs... [Baldwin:] Different kind of grab bag. Krystal and Michael, thank you very much. ... in Vegas. Thanks for having us in your town. Ted Cruz of course is emerging as really a formidable foe with Donald Trump, his biggest competition. But before his rise in the polls, before he launched his bid for the nomination, before the grassroots donations really began pouring into his campaign, Cruz was a lesser known junior senator. Initially, he was at Princeton, went on to Harvard Law, an attorney, expansive knowledge of constitutional law and a fierce opponent of Obamacare. When the threat of a federal government shutdown loomed just a couple years ago, Cruz engaged in a now infamous, remember this, 21-hour filibuster that had more than a few obscure moments. "Green Eggs and Ham," anyone? Here's a look back. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] I will credit my father. He invented this wasn't for the restaurant. But he did it anyway. He invented green eggs and ham. Some time ago, I tweeted a speech that Ashton Kutcher gave. Now, number one, just as a consumer, I'm a big fan of eating White Castle burgers. And I took the coward's way out and so went and purchased some black tennis shoes. And so I'm not in my argument boots. I want to take the opportunity to read two bedtime stories to my girls. I do so like green eggs and ham. Thank you, thank you, Sam I Am. I want to point out just a few words of wisdom from "Duck Dynasty." You five rednecks on a mower, it's going to be epic. Redneck rule number one, most things can be fixed with duct tape and extension cords. [Unidentified Male:] Can you tell me, Senator Cruz, where do Chinese gooseberries come from? [Cruz:] Chinese gooseberries actually come from New Zealand. [Unidentified Male:] Can you tell me what part of the world's a Panama hat comes from? [Cruz:] Ecuador. [Unidentified Male:] A camel's hair brush, you know what's it made of? [Cruz:] Squirrel fur. Happy, happy, happy. [Baldwin:] Let's stay on Ted Cruz here. Joining me more to talk about the Texas senator, Todd Gillman. He's the Washington bureau chief for "The Dallas Morning News," just wrote a piece saying essentially he's planning to win. Good to see you in person. Thanks for sitting down with me here on set in front of the Venetian. Talking, we were just with my last two guests, about the Quinnipiac Iowa polls and how Ted Cruz is really doing well among evangelicals and has been for a little while. How does he hang on to that and take it past Iowa? [Todd Gillman, "the Dallas Morning News":] He has no problem hanging on to evangelicals. That's his lane. Santorum and Huckabee are old news, retreads. They are not making a lot of traction. [Baldwin:] Trump has been trying. [Gillman:] Trump has been trying. Carson has done a lot better in that lane, but obviously has been collapsing, as people get to understand that maybe he well, he certainly is a brilliant neurosurgeon, but doesn't know a lot of knowledge about foreign policy and a lot of the other things that you need to know if you're president. I don't think Cruz has any trouble holding onto the evangelicals, leapfrogging New Hampshire, where they're not a factor, into South Carolina and the South. Building off of that is more of a challenge, but, as I know your guests were discussing with you, it could be that the anti-Trump sentiment in the Republican Party is so intense that they would even hold their nose and swallow a vote for Cruz. I'm not convinced yet that that's going to happen. I think a lot of people in the Republican Party think that Trump is going to collapse all by himself. And maybe they could find a different alternative than Ted Cruz. [Baldwin:] What about I think a lot of people are familiar with Cruz's politics, but what about personal? I was talking to Amanda Carpenter, who used to work for him, coms director. She said she was excellent, excellent, but you have heard from Donald Trump. One of his jabs has been that he doesn't play well with others. I think it was Bush 43 who said essentially the same thing. Does he? What do you know, having covered him for so long? [Gillman:] He's a very nice human being to the people who work with him, who work for him. They love him and they adore him. He's a nice person. He does not play well with others. He went to the Senate and instantly antagonized all but maybe three of his colleagues, including everybody in both parties. He came out and called the leader of his own party a liar publicly. He devoted the first chapter of his campaign biography to making the case that there was so much mendacity in the Senate that it was even worth it for him that it was important for him to expose that and talk people don't like that. He does not play well with others. He's somebody who doesn't just want to shake up Washington, but wants to play against it, who wants to show that those people are so evil and venal and mendacious that you need a savior like him to come in and mop it up. It's hard to see the establishment overcoming that level of antagonism that he has created. [Baldwin:] To be able to embrace that. [Gillman:] To be able to embrace that. Yes. [Baldwin:] I was sitting, I was re-reading Jeff Toobin's "New Yorker" piece from two summers ago on Ted Cruz, and fascinating details even reading back to his Princeton days. Right? You have two different kinds of debaters. Ted Cruz was the parliamentary debater. Right? That's when you are not handed the topics ahead of time. You have to be able to think on your feet and know a vast array of subjects and kill it, and he did. He was like the number one debater in the country and went on to Harvard Law. This is sort of his milieu, if you will. [Gillman:] It is, although I have to confess I debated on that circuit too. [Baldwin:] Here we go. [Gillman:] Not nearly ever as good as Senator Cruz and never would have been. But debating in the Senate and debating on a presidential stage, there's certainly a lot of overlap. There's the presentation, thinking on your feet, all of that, but there is much more substance at this level. Those of us who have done college debate or even seen it recognize that he has distinguished himself. He has moved beyond that. There's a lot of silliness and goofiness and just saying the most extreme thing. [Baldwin:] But he's not silly and goofy on that debate stage. If anything, he looks straight at that camera... ... heart. [Gillman:] Now, he does have a tendency, as we college debaters say the most extreme thing, the argument to the extreme point, and he does that. But so does Obama, taking the straw man and then knocking that down. He has a lot of skills that he developed very well that serve him well at this level. A one-on-one debate with Donald Trump would be fascinating. A one-on-one with Obama or Clinton would be fascinating, absolutely. [Baldwin:] Todd Gillman, I had no idea I was sitting in such the presence of a college debater. Nice to see you in person. Thank you very much, especially on everything with Ted Cruz. I appreciate it. Make sure, let's just remind everyone, you can watch the final Republican debate of 2015 only here on CNN starting tomorrow night 6:00 Eastern live here from the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. Next, we were just talking about the president of the United States, President Obama today making this rare visit to the Pentagon, revealing a fact that the U.S. had not yet officially confirmed about a key ISIS fighter. We will have that for you. Also ahead, I will speak live with a conservative writer who says Donald Trump is really, really a Democrat and would win if he would run as one. A Trump supporter disagrees, will join us live. And breaking news involving Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl. Just days after we hear his own version of events in his own words, a huge development involving the charges levied against him. I'm Brooke Baldwin, and you're watching CNN's special coverage of the CNN debate live from Las Vegas. [Kosik:] Welcome back. Major world leaders taking the stage at the U.N. General Assembly including President Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Xi's government facing criticism for human rights violations including a major crackdown on activists and human rights lawyers. Let's go to CNN's Saima Mohsin live in Beijing. So how is President Xi expected to be received at the United Nations today? [Saima Mohsin, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, look, the answers, Alison, there will be a giant sign for the Free the 20 campaign which is being run by Ambassador Samantha Power. That is for 20 women around the world that have been imprisoned largely activists, human rights activists, women's rights as well. Three of them from China. So he might not like to see that as he enters. Now he is expected to focus, though, on climate change. His big success during his meetings with President Obama, of course, a success for President Obama, too, towards the Paris conference. Cap and trade system being implemented there. China of course the world's largest polluter. So anything on climate change from China will be a hugely positive note to talk about at the UNGA. He's also expected to talk about a peace initiative and touch upon China's expansion in the South China Sea. Now, you know, that that has been incredibly controversial particularly with the United States. And U.S. of course pushing Japan for the security bill as well to see Japan move into the military arena trying to bring in some kind of equal militarily in this region. As you mentioned, though, human rights issues not likely to be touched upon, but a huge concern for many around the world. Not least here in Beijing. I met with lawyer turned activist. She's been an activist for 10 years now who was imprisoned. And she said she was tortured by police. Many like her. There has been a huge crackdown this summer. It's not likely to be touching on that, though Alison. [Kosik:] OK. CNN's Saima Mohsin live from Beijing. Thanks for that. [Romans:] All right. China's president is in the United States hanging out in Silicon Valley, visiting the White House, updating his Facebook. How Xi Jinping is breaking his own social media rules next. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Let's turn to our "MONEY LEAD" now. More trouble for the Trump brand. Sears and Kmart are just the latest major U.S. retailers to announce they're dropping some Trump brand products. This comes after President Trump blasted Nordstrom on Twitter last week, for the company's decision to discontinue Ivanka Trump's line, which Nordstrom blamed on slumping sales. CNNMoney's Cristina Alesci joins me now live. And Cristina, break it down for us, is this more about politics or brand performance for this retailers? [Cristina Alesci, Cnnmoney Correspondent:] Well, right now, it's all about spin, because the retailers want the public to believe that a decline in sales for Trump products drove their decisions, but Ivanka's camp and Trump's in general, would like it to believe would like people to believe that the retailers are just taking cheap shots. Now, look, based on my reporting, the decision to drop Trump brands are tied to both money and politics. [Melissa Mccarthy, Portrays White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer On Saturday Night Live:] It's beautiful, it's shimmery, it's elegant, and at $39.99. It is an unbelievably affordable. [Alesci:] This may not have been the publicity Ivanka Trump was looking for. Nevertheless, the biggest audience in years tuned in to "Saturday Night Live", after T.J. Maxx and Nordstrom distanced themselves from the First daughter's fashion line. Over the weekend, Sears and Kmart also dropped Trump's home brand. [Kellyanne Conway, Counselor To President Donald Trump:] Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online. [Alesci:] A highly controversial plug for Ivanka's label from the White House, and an attack on Nordstrom from the president himself, come as sales of Ivanka's brand drop. According to one retail analysis firm, online sales for Ivanka's fashion brand were down 26 percent in January compared to the same time last year. A spokesperson for Ivanka Trump's line tells CNN, "We've seen our brand swept into the political fray, becoming collateral damage in others' efforts to advance agendas unrelated to what we do." Adding that the brand saw increased sales last year. [Jamie Turner, 60 Second Marketer Chief Executive Officer:] There are two ways to look at sales data. One, is the full year versus trends. You might see a pattern there that's not very positive. The result is you'll pull the product off the shelf. [Alesci:] Nordstrom says the choice to drop Ivanka's line was based on performance, not on politics. And the decision doesn't seem to hurt Nordstrom. The company's stock jumped immediately following the controversy. And celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell and Chelsea Handler took to social media to troll Trump with photos of their purchases. [Turner:] The Donald Trump brand tends to skew a little bit older. They focusing on older males who might not be as sensitive to some of the things that he is saying. The Ivanka Trump brand on the other hand is focusing on urban millennials. They are sensitive to what's going on. And as a result, they're pulling back what their purchasing on the Ivanka Trump brand. [Alesci:] It was still a busy weekend for at least one Trump brand. President Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Florida which has recently doubled its membership dues, provided the high-profile backdrop with a visit with Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A presidential product placement unlike any other. Bottom line, Jake, this story shows that retailers especially are worried about a backlash from consumers, so much so that they're willing to take a risk and wade into politics, which is not something they typically like to do if it means preserving their bottom lines. And this is definitely new territory for corporate America, Jake. [Tapper:] Cristina Alesci, thank you so much. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter @JAKETAPPER or you can tweet the show @THELEADCNN. That is it for THE LEAD, I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over now to Wolf Blitzer, he is right next door in a place I like to call "THE SITUATION ROOM." Thanks for watching. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] You're on the CNN NEWSROOM, top of the hour. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Poppy Harlow. Thanks for joining us. Just as Donald Trump and Republican leadership agreed to work towards party unity, there's a new potential controversy dominating the headlines. An audio recording from the 1990s just surfaced, and it's raising questions about whether Trump may have posed as his own PR guy during a phone interview with a reporter. Trump denies this is his voice on the tape. Take a listen for yourself. [John Miller:] I've resort of been here in here to handle because I've never seen anybody got so many calls from the press. [Sue Carswell, Former People Magazine Reporter Who Interviewed Trump:] Where did you come from? I came from I basically worked for different firms, I worked for a couple different firms, and I'm somebody that knows, and I think somebody that he trusts and likes. So, I'm going to do this a little part-time. [Cabrera:] All right. We'll dig into that in just a moment but first, there's another issue catching fire, Trump refusing to release his tax returns until an audit is complete, which could be after the general election, and now the Clinton campaign is jumping all over that alleging he has something to hide. Let's go to CNN's Scott McLean for that part of the story Scott. [Scott Mclean, Cnn National Correspondent:] Yes. Well, earlier this week, Trump seemed to be making headway on party unity, winning over some Republican donors and congressmen, and now he also has to fend off a new attack from the Clinton campaign over his refusal to release his tax returns. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Maybe I'm going to do the tax returns when Obama does his birth certificate. [Pres. Barack Obama , United States:] The state of Hawaii released my official long form birth certificate. [Trump:] If I decide to run for office, I'll produce my tax returns, absolutely. I am officially running for president of the United States. [Unidentified Male:] Any closer to releasing taxes? [Trump:] Well, I'm thinking about it. I can't do it until the audit is finished. [Unidentified Male:] The audit is no excuse. The IRS has made it very clear, the audit is not bar to public release, it is entirely your choice. [Mclean:] Now, Trump has said he wants to release the returns, but will only do so once an IRS audit is done. [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News Chief Anchor:] Do you believe they have a right to see the tax returns before they make a decision? [Trump:] I don't think so, but I do say this, I will really gladly give them, not going to learn anything, but it's under routine audit. When the audit ends, I'm going to present them. [Mclean:] Now, Trump went on to say, he hopes the audit will be complete before the election in November, but we have no way of knowing exactly when it will be done. Now, if he does not release the returns, he would be the first presidential no, not to since the 1970s. Legally, though, he's under no obligation to make them public. Now for his part, Trump has also been taking shots at Clinton on the transparency question calling her a great hypocrite because of the private e-mail server she used while she was Secretary of State and the fact that she has yet to release transcripts of the high priced speeches she gives to Goldman Sachs Ana. [Cabrera:] All right, Scott McLean, thanks for that report. We also have this new bizarre audio tape that has the political world abuzz this weekend. Trump denying it's his voice on this 1991 recording between a "People" magazine reporter and a mysterious PR man calling himself John Miller who does sounds an awful lot like Donald Trump. Well, here's the side by side comparison. [John Miller:] I can tell you this. [Trump:] I can tell you this. [John Miller:] He's probably doing as well as anybody. [Trump:] I know politics as well as anybody. I hold up the Bible as well as anybody. [John Miller:] You understand that. [Trump:] You understand that. [John Miller:] He's starting to do tremendously well. [Trump:] She did tremendously well. [John Miller:] He paid his wife a great deal of money. [Trump:] You will see a great deal of cooperation. [Cabrera:] CNN's senior investigative correspondent Drew Griffin took at this tape to an audio forensic expert, this is what he found. [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigative Correspondent:] The real amazing story of Donald Trump's old spokesman as the Washington Post headlines writes, maybe that it's been such an open secret for so long, it's hard to believe that anyone is still questioning it. [Carswell:] What's your name again? [John Miller:] John Miller. [Carswell:] You work with [John Miller:] Yes, that's correct. [Griffin:] It was back in the 1980s, and when the flashy New York real estate mogul needed to get a bit of news out, the newspaper reports it was common knowledge among New York reporters that Trump just assumed a different name and handled the media calls himself. Like this call from reporter Sue Carswell at "People" magazine concerning Trump's breakup with girlfriend Marla Maples. [Carswell:] What kind of comment is coming from, you know, your agency or from Donald? [John Miller:] Well, it's just that he really decided that he was not, you know, he didn't want to make he didn't want to make a commitment. He really thought it was just he was coming out of a, you know, a marriage, that and he'starting to do it tremendously well financially. [Griffin:] If that John Miller sounds like Trump it's because audio forensic expert, Tom Owen, says in his opinion, it is. [Thomas Owen, Forensic Audio Specialist:] I can conclude with the fair degree the scientific certainty that it is Donald Trump's voice. [Griffin:] Owen, compared that John Miller on the phone call with "People" magazine [John Miller:] He didn't want to make a commitment. He really thought it was too soon. He's coming out. [Griffin:] To the real Donald Trump interviewed on CNN's "Larry King Live" in the 1990s. [Trump:] I don't talk about relationships, I don't talk about the personal aspects of it. [Griffin:] Due to the quality of the old recordings, he could not use his biometric analysis that he says would be absolutely certain, but based on pitch, tone, cadence and his expertise, John Miller and Donald Trump are one in the same. [Unidentified Male:] I'm confident that it's Donald Trump based on my analysis of the critical listening, listening to the two recordings, and drawing a conclusion based on various factors, pitch, mannerisms, syllable coupling. [Griffin:] Trump even tacitly admitted under oath to using one of his false PR names in a 1990 court testimony when he said, I believe on occasion I used that name. [Trump:] Thank you, everybody. [Griffin:] Trump was confronted with the taped phone call and "The Washington Post" story on Friday's "Today" show. [Trump:] No, I don't think I don't know anything about it. You're telling me about it for the first time, and it doesn't sound like my voice at all. I have many, many people that are trying to imitate my voice, and you can imagine that, and this sound like one of these scams, one of the many scams. Doesn't sound like me. [Griffin:] Drew Griffin, CNN Atlanta. [Cabrera:] All right. Thanks to Drew Griffin. Now, this this really could have been a transformative week for Trump. These tapes now shifting the conversation, but remember, there was a lot of positive momentum coming out of these meetings in Washington, so what do these new developments actually mean? I want to bring in our political panel, CNN political commentator, Jeffrey Lord, he is a big supporter of Donald Trump. Also with us, CNN political commentator, Doug Heye, he is also the former communications director for the RNC, and not a fan of Trump. Also Democratic strategist Maria Cardona joining us, her firm currently does work for a pro-Clinton Super PAC. All right. Jeffrey, we'll start with you. Is it Donald Trump? Jeffrey? Can you hear me? Is it Donald Trump? And what are these political implications here? [Jeffrey Lord, Donald Trump Supporter:] I don't think there are any. I mean, first of all, Donald Trump unequivocally denies that it is he on the tape. The thing that occurs to me, I mean, Ana, as you know and I know in this day and age of high-tech we could have a picture of you and me having tea with Adolf Hitler and it would look exactly like the real McCoy, and, of course, it would be phony as a $3 bill. So, frankly I don't trust in this age of technology, you can take any famous person, make them say anything, make them do anything, make them look any way you want. [Cabrera:] You don't think it's him? [Lord:] He says unequivocally it is not. [Cabrera:] And do you believe him? [Lord:] Yes. I will take his word. He knows what he's doing here. You know, that's what he says. You know, sure. [Cabrera:] Doug, what do you make of it? Is it Donald Trump and would he have any reason not to lie about, to try to sweep it under the rug? [Doug Heye, Former Rnc Communications Director:] Sure. If it talks like a Trump and it sounds like a Trump, it's Donald Trump. I think that most reasonable people can agree on this. I don't think electorally it hurts him at all. I think it continues the very Trump- focused conversation that he's had for over a year now where he dominates every news cycle on ridiculous things almost weekly. But what we've also seen is, you know, Jeffrey says he takes him at his word. This is the problem that a lot of voters feel is taking Trump at his word. He says he is going to build a wall, then says it's a suggestion. He says he's going to increase the minimum wage and then the next day he says he's not going to increase the minimum wage. He says the same things about taxes. One of the things Trump's been able to do very effectively has been able to resist any kind of pinning down on anything. But what we seen with Trump and this latest tape shows it, is that Trump is all over a Morpheus on every issue, and that's what is troubling to so many people. [Cabrera:] Maria, there's another issue, the issue of taxes. [Maria Cardona, Democratic Strategist:] Yes. [Cabrera:] And Trump saying he's not going to release them until after the audit, which we know could still be months, if even years away because this 2009 taxes are still under audit. Will the GOP let him get away with this or should the electorate let him slide on this issue? [Cardona:] Well, I think that's up to the Republican Party. I do think that it is something that voters are going to continue to demand because it is something that for the last 40 years every presidential candidate has put out their taxes so that voters can see, and, in fact, Donald Trump himself was bashing Mitt Romney for not having released his taxes, and Mitt Romney ultimately did released his taxes. So, there's a lot of hypocrisy going on here. But I think the fact that he's not released his taxes, the fact that he's denies that is him on the tape, when, in fact, we all know that it is him on the tape. And to Jeffrey's point about technology, there's also technology that exists today that can prove who people are. And you already have a forensic audio expert, many of them saying that this is absolutely Donald Trump on the tape, and I would have had so much more respect for him had he said, look, yes, that was me on the tape. We wouldn't be talking about this right now. [Cabrera:] Now, Doug, you say [Cardona:] Well, here's I'm sorry, go ahead. [Cabrera:] Jeffrey. [Lord:] Oh, sorry. [Cabrera:] Jeffrey, do you think it's an issue that that is worth talking about? [Lord:] No, no. [Cabrera:] If there's people trying to throw these tapes out against Trump like he says? [Lord:] The example I've used is when we raise the tail in the Indiana primary, and there was a lot of talk about air-conditioning and all these people who lost their jobs. If you're sitting there in Indiana, and you just lost your job and you are trying to feed your family, people could care less about this kind thing. This is a decided this is a media thing, a New York Washington media deal here, and people out here in the real world who are trying to earn a living, who was concerned about their jobs, their health care, et cetera, they could care less about it. [Cabrera:] And Maria, go ahead. [Lord:] So, I agree with that. There are so many other issues that are so much more important to be talking about, but the way that this affects Trump is not that this is going to be a number one issue for voters, but two ways, number one, this is a different electorate than the Republican electorate in his supporters that he faced and that he gathered during the Republican primary. He needs to add voters to his side. This is not something that is going to help voters have trust in a man who can't even admit that this is him on the tape. And then that spills over to other issues. Well, if he's lying about this, how can I trust him on the other issues that he says he's going to fight for me on? And that's a contrast with Hillary Clinton that she will win every single time. [Cabrera:] Well, fortunately, for Donald Trump, he is running against Hillary Clinton who has this kind of problem to the max. All right. We'll talk more about transparency. We can talk more about trustworthiness. Because you all are sticking around. So, Jeffrey Lord, Doug Heye, Maria Cardona. Stay with me. We'll talk to you in just a minute. [Cardona:] Thanks, Ana. [Cabrera:] But still ahead this hour as well, whose voices at the reporter on the end of that now infamously phone call talked to CNN and how unique theory about what happened? Plus, Dan Quayle sitting down exclusively with CNN, why the former vice president says he underestimated Donald Trump? And later, a year after a deadly shootout in Texas, CNN travels to the inner circles of the world of the rival motorcycle club. Do not miss this. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Allen:] The U.S. first family and the British royals are publicly feuding. But it's all for a good cause. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama tweeted a challenge to Prince Harry over the upcoming Invictus Games, a competition for injured veterans. The prince responded and recruited Her Majesty for some help. Here is Phil Black with the story. [Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] This is a celebrity Twitter war like no other, the Obamas versus the royals, the White House versus Kensington Palace. Michelle and Barack Obama attacked first, posting on a video on Twitter Friday. And Prince Harry returned fire with a video of his own, featuring what has to be his most powerful weapon: his grandmother. [Henry, Prince Of Wales:] A message? Oh, from Michelle. How very amusing. Let us watch it together? [Elizabeth Ii, Queen Of England:] Yes. So look. [Michelle Obama, U.s. First Lady:] Remember when you told us to bring it at the Invictus Games? [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Careful what you wish for. [Unidentified Male:] Boom. [Queen Elizabeth:] Really, please. [Prince Harry:] Boom. [Black:] "Boom, really, please," wouldn't normally be considered a winning verbal smackdown. But it carries a little more power when it comes from the queen. The Obamas and the royals spent quite a bit of time together in London recently and have clearly developed a rapport. This is a good-natured attempt to develop a bit of friendly rivalry ahead of the upcoming Invictus Games, a sporting event for injured military veterans. It's a cause that Prince Harry is heavily involved in Phil Black, CNN, London. [Allen:] Great story there to end on, thanks for watching, I'm Natalie Allen. "WINNING POST" is coming up in a few moments, right after our headlines. [Zakaria:] My next guest says he wishes that, when he graduated from college in 1994, somebody would have told him that the Internet and computers were going to change the world. Well, he's now written a book for the graduates of today, telling them what the next 20 years will bring, which industries will boom, which jobs will grow, which skills will be necessary to compete. It's a book, though, that all of us should read, not just kids. Alec Ross is the author of "The Industries of the Future." Ross was senior adviser for innovation to then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Alec Ross, pleasure to have you on. [Alec Ross, Author:] Thanks for having me. [Zakaria:] So this is the question that everybody wants to know because young people want to figure out what industries they want to go into; people want to know what they should know about to retool; and all of us are interested. So, you know, bottom line, what is the biggest trend you notice when thinking about these industries of the future? [Ross:] Well, I think that the story of the last 20 years was the story of digitization. The story of the next 20 years is going to build on that. But what we're going to see are advances in hardware and material sciences and artificial intelligence, creating entirely new trillion-dollar industries. The world's last trillion-dollar industry was created out of computer code. The world's next trillion-dollar industry is going to be created out of genetic code. So now, 15 years past the mapping of the human genome, for example, I think we're three or four years away from unleashing the long-hoped- for revolution in life sciences. [Zakaria:] The other big thing you talk about in the books is the robotics, one of these things that people had imagined would progress more than it has. You know, people thought we would have robots that could clean up the kitchen and, you know, you've got a few vacuum cleaner robots, but what is making it change? What's the new step function? [Ross:] The robots from the cartoons and movies of the 1970s are going to be the reality of the 2020s. And there are really two things driving this. The first is there are things that are historically very difficult for robots, like grasping. It might seem straightforward, but it's actually very complex to model out mathematically and algorithmically. But there have been huge breakthroughs in mathematics in just the last 18 months that are now taking what were once complex robotic tasks and are now making them possible, basically allowing us to take robotic work from being merely routine and manual to cognitive and non-routine. And the second big development is cloud robotics. So if C-3PO interrupted us right now, Fareed if he walked in here and he said, "Oh, my, excuse me," and, you know, walked off walked off the set, in the movie version of that, there would be a lot of hardware and software worrying through that gold-gleaming body. In the real C-3PO of, say, 2025, that will be a cloud-connected device. So if he interrupted us here on the set, he would ping the cloud and the intelligence from the cloud would give him instructions, "Excuse yourself" "Excuse yourself in English and go find a seat." What this means as a practical matter is that we don't have to build million-dollar robots to get remarkably sophisticated artificial intelligence. They can be lean machines so long as they're connected to the cloud. [Zakaria:] Many of the robots, driverless cars, replace people. We had Derek Thompson on for The Atlantic, who pointed out that the single most common occupation of an American male is driving a car, bus or truck. Presumably, you say, "Get used to it; there will be a lot more of this." [Ross:] This is going to continue to happen. But here's the thing people aren't talking about, Fareed, which is going to be a really big deal. In the past, automation and robotics have replaced blue-collar labor, dominantly manual labor, but the combination of artificial intelligence with new automation technologies is going to displace what I would call low-level white-collar work. Think about my father. I love my father. For 40-some years he's worked as a real-estate lawyer in Hurricane, West Virginia. And what he's done is he's created big stacks of paper for people when they buy and sell a home. That kind of work, which requires cognition but also has a lot of rote work to it, I think, is going to be supplanted by a combination of AI and robotics. [Zakaria:] So young people listening to this, parents listening to this, will wonder what should we do to prepare for this new world? [Ross:] I have a 13-year-old son, an 11-year-old daughter and an 8- year-old son. And I really wrote this book to try to light a little path for them. Sixty-five percent of all jobs for children entering primary school today will go into job titles that don't presently exist. And so I have a chapter in the book called "The Most Important Job You'll Ever Have," which is parenting, which focuses on the skills and attributes that today's kids will need in tomorrow's world. And I point out two things, first: interdisciplinary learning. We've got to be able to take science, technology, engineering and mathematics and combine that with skills in the humanities focused on 65 percent of jobs go into jobs that don't exist. this focuses on skills kids need in tomorrow's would recall. I point out two things. first, interdisciplinary learning. We've got to be able to take science, technology, engineering and mathematics and combine that with skills in the humanities focused on persuasion, teaching and other such things. The second thing I would say is language learning, foreign languages and computer languages. The world is growing more global. People who are prepared to work on a 196-country chessboard are going to be those who are best positioned and computer coding because, if you are a competent coder, you basically have a few decades' worth of guaranteed employment in front of you. [Zakaria:] Alec, pleasure to have you on. [Ross:] Thank you. [Zakaria:] Up next, the one, the only, the great Harry Belafonte on race, Hollywood and America. [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn:] Tonight, China's President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump speak on the phone with fears that a Trump presidency could spark a trade war. China's Ambassador to Washington tells me Beijing won't start one. [Cui Tiankai, Chinese Ambassador To The United States:] We never want to have any war, trade war or other wars with other countries. And besides, both China and United States are members of the WTO. So we should all play by the WTO rules. [Amanpour:] Also, ahead the U.S. president-elect says he is the champion of America's forgotten man and woman. Who are they and what are they hoping for? Prominent lawyer and social justice activist Bryan Stevenson joins the program. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. The Trump White House is taking shape and it is off to a divided start quite literally. As chief-of-staff, the most powerful White House job, Trump picks the establishment candidate Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National Committee, but he's appointed a far right media boss as chief strategist. Steve Bannon, who also helped run Trump's campaign has build a career of spreading the views and conspiracies shunned by mainstream society. A member of the so-called Alt Right, head of "Breitbart News." The question is how will the two come together to keep the main promise that Trump has made, especially then in his victory speech. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] The forgotten men and women of our country will be forgotten no longer. [Amanpour:] So who are they, the forgotten men and women? According to the demographics and the exit polls, 58 percent of white Americans voted for Donald Trump. Among non-whites, 74 percent voted for Hillary Clinton. She also won among the poorest Americans. The truth is that the pendulum of the forgotten has swung between white and black communities, although throughout American history, African-Americans of course have been the most oppressed. Over the weekend, one of the most important chronicles of black American culture, the comedian Dave Chappelle issued this challenge to the new administration as he described a White House party for the African-American community that he recently attended. [Dave Chappelle, Comedian:] I saw how happy everybody was. These people who have been historically disenfranchised and it made me feel hopeful and it made me feel proud to be an American, and it made me very happy about the prospects of our country. So in that spirit, I'm wishing Donald Trump luck, and I'm going to give him a chance, and we, the historically disenfranchised demand that he give us one, too. [Amanpour:] So throwing down the gauntlet there, joining me now from Montgomery, Alabama, is the renown U.S. civil rights lawyer, Bryan Stevenson. Bryan, welcome back to this program at this incredible time. [Bryan Stevenson, U.s. Civil Rights Lawyer:] Yes, thank you. It's good to be with you. [Amanpour:] Can I just ask you, do you accept the challenge and the opportunity that Dave Chappelle just put out there? [Stevenson:] Well, I don't think there is any way that you can lead this country without being mindful that this is a very diverse society. You can't be the president for some subculture, for some cohort, for some group. President Obama struggled really hard to make it clear to people that he wasn't just an African-American president. Many criticized him for trying too hard to elevate and make the interest of other communities a priority. I think this president, President Trump, can't lead effectively if he pretends the country doesn't have a vibrant, strong, diverse and dynamic community. And I think what the comedian is saying is that if you continue to talk in the somewhat bigoted, xenophobic way, if you talk as if minorities, people of color, disenfranchised communities don't matter, then the problems of this nation that we've seen are just going to get worst. And I think we all want to see something better than what we saw during the campaign. [Amanpour:] OK. [Stevenson:] The opportunity now is really in front of President Trump. [Amanpour:] With that in mind, I would like to play for you a sound bite, a bit of an interview that Donald Trump gave to "60 Minutes" last night, when he was asked about this sort of spike in hate crimes that's going on since the election. Muslim women being attacked; their veils being ripped off. Hispanic children at school being taunted with "Build the Wall," "Build the Wall." Let me just play this and get your reaction afterwards. [Trump:] I would say don't do it. That's terrible. Because I'm going to bring this country together. [Unidentified Female:] They're harassing Latinos, Muslims. [Trump:] I am so saddened to hear that. And I say stop it. If it helps, I will say this. And I'll say it right to the cameras. Stop it. [Amanpour:] What do you make of that, Bryan? [Stevenson:] Well, I think it's encouraging that Mr. Trump recognizes that this kind of hatred, this kind of animosity will destroy this country, but it's regrettable that people are responding in this way based on what he has said over the last year. You can't mock people of color. You can't characterize Mexicans as rapists. You can't talk about banning Muslims and demonizing whole communities and religious groups for a year and not expect that people aren't going to react to that when they feel empowered. So he's going to have to do more than say stop it. He's going to actually have to articulate a vision that gets to the heart of this problem. [Amanpour:] It brings out the elephant in the room and that is the hiring of Steve Bannon, which has caused real shockwaves certainly around America and here in Europe. A very far right media boss, who has entertained all sorts of conspiracy theories, anti-Semitism on his Web site. Evan McMullen says saying stop to racist means little, when you name white supremacist darling Steve Bannon chief strategist in the very same day. I mean there is a conundrum, right? I mean, this has to be addressed? [Stevenson:] I don't think there is any question. I mean, I really think the moral integrity of this nation is now at risk. We have great wealth in America. We have great power. And I really do believe in that biblical injunction that says, "To whom much is given, much is required." And for us to be a leader, we've had to use our status responsibly, thoughtfully, carefully; otherwise, we become abusive, we become destructive. And I think the appointment of someone who gives voice to so much hate, who has championed the politics of fear and anger has got to be seen as a real threat to global security, to the kind of moral influence that this nation claims to want to have, and a world that's increasingly violent and at risk. And so we've got to do better than to be silent about these kinds of appointments. And I do think it's a very serious moment. Not just in American history, but in world history. If we're going to give space to the politics of fear and anger, to the voices of hate, and distrust, we are all going to be at risk. [Amanpour:] In America, the forgotten have gone from white working-class under FDR who tried to address them with the new deal, and then all the way to Lyndon Johnson, who realized the black community was being left out and tried to address some fairness for them. And then it sort of swung back and forth. Is that what is happening in the United States? [Stevenson:] Yes, I don't think there is that's a credible analysis. I mean, the truth is that the electorate in this nation has always been dominated by a white majority, and no politician could get power at the presidential level without trying to respond to the anxieties, the challenges, the perspectives of the white middle class. I think, you know, the war on poverty had the optics of dealing with world poverty in the black belt and in poor black communities, but they have always been more white people on welfare in this nation than black people. It was design to help all Americans living in that space. Forgotten in this context, it's not economic in my view. It is not even political. It's social, because we've had to talk about the challenges of undocumented people and immigrants. We've had to talk about the continuing narrative of racial difference that puts people of color at risk, and talking about this has become more of a priority. People have reacted against that. And that's about a narrative. It's not actually about politics or economics or status. It's about who we are trying to address in the challenges that we face. And so I don't actually accept this idea that the people who empowered Donald Trump are forgotten. What I think Mr. Trump did was revive the politics of fear and anger. And whether you're in the United States or whether you're in Britain, wherever you are in the world, if you allow yourself to be motivated, shaped, governed by fear and anger, you will tolerate abuse. You will tolerate inequality. You will tolerate injustice. And the disfavored will always be at greater risk. [Amanpour:] Given the fact that the current vote count has Hillary Clinton more than 600,000 votes ahead and it's not over yet. What is the way forward? [Stevenson:] Well, I do think that people who have a different vision are going to have to become more politically engaged, more politically active. We've had this bad habit in America where people like to protest, they like to make a lot of noise and then they'd like to go home and wait for someone else to do something. I think we didn't do a very good job of engaging communities that were going to be at risk, who had been targeted. And I think they've got to get politically active in a democracy. If you protest and then don't work at trying to change things in your local community, at your state community, at the national community, you do not succeed. With protests, there has to come activism. And I don't think we've been as active. I don't think we've been as committed. You know, many people have grown up with an African-American in the White House. They've made assumptions about the character of this nation. And I think those assumptions have been proved false. We've got a lot of work to do in American, become the kind of society that we claim to be. We have historic poverty, historic disenfranchisement. That tension between communities of color and the majority, I think worse than they've been in a long time. We've got this mass incarceration problem. One in three black male babies is expected to go to jail or prison. These kinds of conditions mean that we've all got to be more active, more tactical, more strategic and more vocal about uplifting the issues that are priorities. [Amanpour:] Bryan Stevenson, thank you very much for joining us today. [Stevenson:] Happy to be with you. [Amanpour:] Thanks, Bryan. We'll keep checking in with you. And this ugly election cycle has left many American distressed. Donald Trump has pledge to unify the country. But his own hometown New York City, which voted overwhelmingly against him, one subway station there is now serving as a therapy outlet. Straphangers are expressing themselves with post-it notes, leaving colorful messages of kindness and strength. Coming up, a new world order. Trump has promised aggressive action against China. My exclusive interview with a worried Chinese ambassador to the United States. That is next. [Quest:] Britain's ambassador to the European Union has resigned only months before Brexit negotiations are due to begin. Ian Rogers seen here with the former Prime Minister, David Cameron, who appointed him to the role, was set to play a leading role in the U.K.'s exit from the EU. Now, Britain's negotiating position could be seriously weakened. Nina dos Santos is in London for us tonight. Nina, why is he gone? [Nina Dos Santos, Cnnmoney European Editor:] Reporter: Yes, we don't quite know yet why he's gone. All we know, Richard, is that he decided to inform staff earlier today. This has been acknowledged by the U.K. government, which thanked him for his work over the last three years in Brussels as the UK's ambassador to the EU. But he does, nevertheless, as you point out, leave a number of months earlier. Just a couple of months before Theresa May was planning on activating that Article 50 get-out clause, by which the U.K. could start to withdraw from its membership of the EU. We do know that Sir Ivan was put in a rather difficult position just a month or so ago, when his private views to the UK government were leaked to a news organization. Views that showed that he said that it would probably take about ten years to negotiate a proper Brexit deal and proper replacement of the kind of deals that the U.K. has with this other EU 27 partners. And that had been viewed as rather pessimistic by some pro-euro skeptic, pro-Brexit members to have the government. I should point out that at the moment, some pro-Brexit papers are currently greeting his departure with delight. "The Daily Telegraph" saying, they acknowledge the fact that he stayed on for a few months after the Brexit vote, but that he should be replaced, they say, by somebody who is positive about Brexit. Whether it's positivity or practicality that wins the day, Richard, well honestly, time will tell. [Quest:] But how serious is it? If you accept that it's going to be a team of people hosting or holding the negotiations. The U.K. is already short on negotiators for trade and for Brexit. So how serious is it being viewed that they've lost somebody of that stature? [Dos Santos:] The U.K. is between 300 and 500 people short according to some reports in terms of its negotiating capability, Richard. This is a country that hasn't actually had to negotiate a free trade deal for the best part about 30 years. That's a whole generation of trade lawyers. And this is the most senior negotiator that they have that they have just lost. The big question is, who replaces him from here? If pro-Brexit members of the government, euro sceptic members of the government get their way, it would be somebody who is far more positive about the official stance. By the way, the U.K.'s official stance of managing to negotiate Brexit is two years, not ten. But really, will that help this country to get a slightly softer Brexit than the hard Brexit that the markets are worried about. That's the big question this evening. [Quest:] And just bring us up to date, it is the start of the new year. We are awaiting the decision from the Supreme Court in Britain on whether or not Parliament has to be consulted. Do we know when we're going to get that decision? [Dos Santos:] We're probably going to get that decision, we think, before those March negotiations are set to begin. Remember, Theresa May has said that she would like to invoke Article 15 negotiations for the U.K. to exit by March. Probably that decision is likely to come. I believe it's around a month, if not a couple of weeks before then. But before then, I should also point out, we have this other interesting situation, Richard, where it's 60 years since the signing of the Treaty of Rome will be happening amid great fanfare. And if the U.K. hasn't tendered this resignation, if you like, from the EU between now and then, we could have this ironic paradoxical situation that Theresa May is there among all the other founding members of the EU, but she's the only one leaving, but they're celebrating the fact that for 60 years, they've managed to create the EU, even if one of those partners is prepared to leave soon. [Quest:] I suspect she'll have to be there anyway as a member, but Nina Dos Santos, good to see you. Thank you. The Eurasia Group says it's not economic recession that threatens the world in 2017, it's geopolitical recession. The group has released its list of the top ten risks for the coming year. It sees a g-zero world without a global leader. Risk number one, America under Donald Trump. There are other countries to watch, Germany and the future of Angela Merkel. That comes in number three. Turkey and the President Erdogan's expanding powers, number eighth. And number nine is North Korea. We celebrate and we wish a happy new year to Ian Bremmer, the president of the Eurasia Group. Come on, Ian, obviously, Donald Trump is the biggest geopolitical, you call it risk, I would say a matter of interest in the next 12 months ahead. [Ian Bremmer, President, Eurasia Group:] No question. The fact that the U.S. president is driving geopolitical risk is something that five years ago, ten years ago, you would have thought is inconceivable. But today it's an obvious point. It's not at home. It's that the United States has renounced the idea of American exceptionalism. Not only are we not going to be the sort of a policeman in the Middle East, which has been decreasing under the two Obama's terms, but also on global trade and critically on global values. You can work with the Russians, Europeans may not be that important. [Quest:] You talk about a dependent America in this. And you say, "Trump America's first philosophy builds on the core of American values. It's not an obvious near-term benefit or of its provisions of the public good or others writing free, it's not something the U.S. should be doing." That's how you talk about it. But Donald Trump would say, no, you're wrong, Mr. Bremmer. [Bremmer:] How would he say that? [Quest:] He would say it, because if America is strong and America is first, then all the allies would benefit accordingly. It's the weakness in America that has caused so many problems. [Bremmer:] He might say that over the long-term, but it's very clear. Look at the people who wanted Trump to win around the world. Not in U.S., there were lots of reasons to vote for Trump in the U.S. But internationally, you had Putin, you had Victor Orban, Kim Jong-un. These are not people that want the United States to be successful. These are people that wanted the U.S. to be diminished. And it's very [Quest:] No, that is one that is a very negative way of looking at it. You could arguably say that those who can't want Trump to win were part of the swamp in their own establishment era. [Bremmer:] You could argue that, absolutely. There's no question that globalization is something that Trump believes is anti-patriotic. And all of these corporations have said looking at their own profits and not of the interests at home. But the Chinese see Trump's win as a big opportunity. And the reason they see that, is because Trump's the one that killed the TPP. Because of Trump, American allies in Asia and their leaders say, we can't count on the U.S., we used to be able to. China sees that as ability to make a lot of for themselves. Not with the U.S., a different model. [Quest:] So, what we have here in all this. You've got China overreacts, the weaker Merkel, the White House versus Silicon Valley. But if we take China and Russia, neither country has seen Trump's teeth when he perceives their actions are harming the [U.s. Bremmer:] Well, Russia and China are very different issues on this. The Russians, of course, see that Trump is a win for them. Get rid of American exceptionalism. Deny the possibility of Russian hackers. [Quest:] o, no my point is, that Putin hasn't seen Trump turn against him. [Bremmer:] That's true. That's true. Putin has seen the exact opposite, right? Where China has seen that the Americans are saying, we'll put a question on the one China policy. Where now he's tweeting about North Korea and the Chinese aren't doing enough to help. The Chinese are going to give it back to the Americans. There's no question. Trump does believe that America's negotiating position globally is a lot stronger than it has been. And he thinks that if by pushing hard, he can get more. I personally believe that while America remains the only super power in the world, that America's negotiating position internationally is actually a lot weaker, because its allies in Europe are weaker, because its allies in Asia are hedging, and China is more [Quest:] You are the White House versus Silicon Valley. Why is that a geopolitical recession risk? [Bremmer:] It's a risk because unlike companies like Ford and Boeing, who can do a deal easily with Trump, give some more jobs in, and those are points that both sides can put on the board, with Silicon Valley, that's hard to do. It's hard to do first because they control the new media, and that's going to be oppositional with what Trump wants to do with it. It's also because Trump's security interests are going to be problematic for their business interests. [Quest:] I have one question for you. [Bremmer:] Go for it. [Quest:] Aren't you just one of those elites that Donald Trump wants to drain from the swamp? [Bremmer:] Donald Trump believes that you and I are globalists and by virtue of that, we're anti-patriotic. I happen to believe the only way you can be patriotic is recognize that the future of 7 billion people is going to be more important than determined by future of 300 million. And that is something we need to pay a lot more attention to. America first ultimately needs to be much more engaged with the rest of the world than Donald Trump is prepared to be. [Quest:] I'll see you in Davos. [Bremmer:] Yes, you certainly will. We won't be at the inauguration. [Quest:] With more elites. There we are, thank you very much. Now, as we continue our program tonight, Howard Lutnich is with me. You're going to be with me after the break. Come over here, sir. We've got a lot to talk about. Your new president that you've appointed, and what you expect to happen in the year ahead. Good to see you. [Baldwin:] So much attention has been focused on Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz in the lead-up to the all-important Iowa caucuses four days from now. The Republican presidential candidates are really at the top of the polls here, so close when you look at the numbers. Behind them, distant third, you have Florida Senator Marco Rubio. He is on the trail in Iowa trying to remind his supporters to keep the big picture in mind, defeating the Democrats come November. And Rubio warned them not to get sidetracked by the fact Trump is boycotting tonight's debate. [Sen. Marco Rubio, , Florida & Presidential Candidate:] 90 percent of their coverage is on this whole thing, oh, Donald Trump's not going to show up. Ted Cruz is challenging him to a one-on-one, mano-o-mano debate. Interesting side show, greatest show on earth. This is not a show. This is serious. We cannot lose this election. We have to turn this country around now. We cannot wait another four years. [Baldwin:] Joining me now here in New York is Utah Congressman Jason Chaffetz. He's the chair with the House Oversight Committee. He is supporting Rubio for president of the United States. Congressman, so great to see you. [Rep. Jason Chaffetz, , Utah:] Thanks for having me. Appreciate it. [Baldwin:] Thank you. [Chaffetz:] Yeah. [Baldwin:] Listening to Marco Rubio saying, this is serious, this is not a show. When you see that and you hear that, to me, that says, my goodness, he's been on the trail, for what, six months, and he's still frustrated. He's frustrated over this guy Trump. [Chaffetz:] There's a lot of oxygen sucked out of the room on what is legitimately a sideshow about whether or not he's going to be in the debate, not be at the debate [Baldwin:] Even before then. [Chaffetz:] We, as Republicans, we better darn well start talking about issues, about policies, and why conservatives in the White House would be better for the country. That's the heart and soul of why Rubio is running. He's very conservative. But he's got to be talking about the issues. And these other little things are distracting. [Baldwin:] How does he do that tonight, sans Trump on the stage? How does he sell that to the American people? [Chaffetz:] Look, Trump not in the room, A, most people get more time. And when you get in and start talking about foreign policy, about how to grow the economy, all those types of things, Marco shines. He is our best foot forward as Republicans. If we want to win in November, we better darn well have Marco Rubio at the top of the ticket. [Baldwin:] Hoping to outshine Marco Rubio is Senator Ted Cruz, who will finally get that center podium spot. I talked to a lot of people. There's a lot of negativity swirling around him. The fact there's not a single Republican Senator who works with him on the Hill who is saying we like this guy to me speaks volumes. Why is that? Why is not a single Senator publicly endorsing him? [Chaffetz:] He'll have to answer that. There's a reason why a lot of us of the younger generation support Marco Rubio, myself, Trey Gowdy, and a host of others. We're behind Marco Rubio because I happen to have met and spent time with every single candidate on both sides of the aisle, some more than others, and Marco Rubio is just that person who we gravitate to as that leader. [Baldwin:] Why not Cruz? Give me something. I mean, I see this look in your eye. [Chaffetz:] I don't want to say anything negative about him. I can tell you the positives are so great for Marco Rubio. He's just an engaging personality we trust. And Marco has actually passed some substantive legislation. When he went after those risk corridors and got that legislation passed in his first term that shows success in bringing both sides of the aisle together that other candidates haven't been able to do. [Baldwin:] So success in Washington, but when you hear hear House Speaker Paul Ryan say, you look at all these guys and gals and it's like a circular firing squad, that's not a good thing. [Chaffetz:] I don't think you've seen Rubio taking direct shots. He's been [Baldwin:] Do agree with Speaker Ryan? [Chaffetz:] Well, yeah. When we're beating up on each other, we're not beating up on the policy differences between ourselves and Clinton and Sanders. [Baldwin:] Rubio's taking direct shots? Really? [Chaffetz:] He's had $20 million laid down and he's still in the top three. That's pretty remarkable, and I think shows the staying power. That's not going to be let up after the nominee comes. You have to be able to take a lot of Clinton fire and a lot of Democratic money coming after you. I think they're mostly scared about having Marco Rubio at the top of the ticket than they would be Senator Cruz or any of the others. [Baldwin:] Did you hear what Vice President Joe Biden said? [Chaffetz:] No, I didn't. [Baldwin:] Let me share with you. He said actually, we have the sound. Here you go. [Chaffetz:] OK. [Joe Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] We may be given a gift from the Lord in the presidential race here. [Baldwin:] Cruz or what's his name. He's the vice president. [Chaffetz:] I would agree with the vice president. The last couple of cycles have been tough because we are not fans of what President Obama has been doing, and with him as the vice president. He just said the last couple cycles have been tough, I would agree with him. [Baldwin:] A gift from God. To you point, it's [Chaffetz:] Give the vice president a microphone and there will be material there, so, yeah. [Baldwin:] Congressman Chaffetz. OK, final question [Chaffetz:] We have a lot of good qualified candidates. There's a lot of people who don't [Baldwin:] Isn't that part of the problem? [Chaffetz:] I also think it's an opportunity because we have a very diverse ticket, from Carly Fiorina to Dr. Carson to you keep going down the list, we have a very diversified ticket above and beyond what normally people say, oh, Republicans, there's just all this certain type. We have two people, a Cruz and a Rubio, that have their names on the ballot. You would have never expected that two, three years ago. They're still getting familiar with these people. I'm convinced in my heart when people get to know Marco Rubio, hear him, see him, understand him, listen to him in the debate, that's why he has this growing momentum and support, and why I think he's the best foot forward come November. I really believe it. [Baldwin:] Congressman Jason Chaffetz, thank you very much. [Chaffetz:] Thank you. Thank you. [Baldwin:] Coming up next, new developments in Flint, Michigan, and the effort to fix this ongoing crisis of lead-tainted water. My next guest is stepping up to help people who need it the most. She is the queen of soul, Detroit native, Aretha Franklin, live on CNN, next. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Today, Hillary Clinton heads to Iowa the same day early voting kicks off in that state. No coincidence. As of today, 11 states are already voting. But Iowa is the first to offer in-person polling stations. Secretary Clinton is getting more help on the campaign trail from her former rival Bernie Sanders. She needs his help to reel in unenthusiastic millennial voters. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is with the Clinton campaign. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] John and Christine, Hillary Clinton is heading to Iowa today, only the second time returning to the state since winning the Iowa caucuses back in February. She is going to Des Moines because it is early voting today. Voting is starting for the first time, heading now until Election Day, some 40 days away. Now, the Clinton campaign is running behind in Iowa. Donald Trump visited on Wednesday. But she is trying to use on the ground campaign and early votes to make up the difference. She is seeking young voters, among all. That is the biggest bloc of the Obama coalition that she has yet to win over. Now, she was campaigning on Wednesday in that other early voting state, New Hampshire. She had Bernie Sanders at her side. He made this argument to voters. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Former Presidential Candidate:] So, I am asking you here today, not only to vote for Secretary Clinton, but to work hard to get your uncles and your aunts, to get your friends to vote. If anybody tells you that this election is not important, you ask why the Koch brothers and Sheldon Adelson and other billionaires, why they are spending hundreds of millions to elect their candidates. [Zeleny:] Now, Senator Sanders campaign will be campaigning aggressively in the final month of this campaign. Aides to the senator tell me he will head to Wisconsin and Michigan and other states he won in the hard fought Democratic primary campaign, trying to rally those young voters, those millennial voters. This is why it matters. Millennials now out-pace baby boomers, except they don't always vote. And some are turning towards the third party candidates like Jill Stein and Gary Johnson. The Clinton campaign is trying to win them over. They are so critical to building that path to 270 electoral votes when the real election day, November 8, comes around John and Christine. [Berman:] All right. Our thanks to Jeff Zeleny, for that. Joining us now, the managing editor of CNN politics digital, Zachary Wolf. Mr. Wolf, you know, Bernie Sanders out with Hillary Clinton targeting millennial voters. Michelle Obama at La Salle University in Philadelphia, targeting millennials. By the way, Joe Biden was at Drexel. I think Hillary Clinton was at Temple. They are blanketing colleges in Philadelphia and I don't think it's a coincidence, right? They need to target millennials voters. And as for the message from the first lady, she went after Donald Trump yesterday. Listen to this. [Michelle Obama, First Lady:] If a candidate thinks that not paying taxes makes you smart or that it's good business when people lose their homes, if a candidate regularly and flippantly makes cruel and insulting comments about women, about how we look, how we act well, sadly that's who that candidate really is. [Berman:] It's really where she is saying it, at a college. Who Hillary Clinton is with, Bernie Sanders, it tells you everything you need to know, Zach, about where the Clinton campaign thinks they are soft right now with young people. [Zachary Wolf, Cnn Politics Digital Managing Editor:] That's right. It has been a problem for them since the primaries when a lot of young people or most young people, not most, but Bernie Sanders did better than her time and again with young people, with millennials. And her strategy from the beginning of the campaign is to get out that Obama coalition and big part of that is young people. So, you're going to see Michelle Obama, Bernie Sanders, all these people blanketing college campuses trying to get young people interested and excited to vote for her. That's the area where she's really lagged. [Romans:] You know, and they are seeing this attention rising in the polls in the third party candidates. Last night, we hear on MSNBC, another Aleppo gaffe, or Aleppo worthy gaffe. Listen to this. [Chris Matthews, Msnbc Moderator:] Name a foreign leader that you respect. [Gary Johnson, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] I guess I'm having an Aleppo moment in the former president of Mexico. [Matthews:] But I'm giving you the whole world. [Johnson:] I know, I know. [Matthews:] Anybody in the world you like. Anybody. Pick any leader. [Johnson:] The former president of Mexico. [Matthews:] Which one? [Johnson:] I'm having a brain [Matthews:] Well, name anybody. [Bill Weld, Libertarian Vice Presidential Candidate:] Fox. [Johnson:] Fox. [Matthews:] Name your favorite foreign leader. [Johnson:] Fox He was terrific. [Matthews:] Any foreign leader. [Weld:] Merkel. [Matthews:] Merkel, OK, fine, save yourself. Can't argue with that. [Romans:] So, Zach, how does he recover from that? Two big gaffes. He has been doing better in the polls. [Wolf:] Well, he is kind of the only other candidate in the race on all 50 ballots. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate, is not. There are some states where she will not be on the ballot. So, Gary Johnson, if you don't want to vote for Clinton or Trump, Gary Johnson is pretty much it for a lot of people in all the states. Now, that said, you know, he could have said any number of things. He could have said, I don't think there is another libertarian leader I like. There's not another libertarian president in a foreign country. He's sort of found a way to recover from that. He has shown himself to be good in the hot-seat moments. Chris Matthews was doing his best to make that a hot seat. [Berman:] I don't think this was a gotcha question. Name one human being on earth outside this country that you respect and Gary Johnson couldn't come up with one. He's uncomfortable with that video we showed you. You know, if you let it out long, it is more uncomfortable. That is the nice version for Gary Johnson right there. Donald Trump after Hillary Clinton was diagnosed with pneumonia and after she left the 911 ceremony and the video where she almost to fall over, almost collapsed there, he was careful to not talk about it. After the first debate, that seems to have changed. Listen to what he said in Iowa overnight. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] You sell the days off that Hillary takes. Day off. Day off. Day off. All those days off and then she can't make it to her car. Isn't it tough? [Berman:] So you put this in with some new rhetoric we're getting from the Donald Trump team. They are really going after Hillary Clinton hard these last few days, going after Bill Clinton and his marital indiscretions hard the last few days. And it begs a question, you know, what are they doing after this first debate leading up to the second debate? Why does their tone seem to have changed? [Wolf:] I think because he lost the first debate by most reasonable measures. They need to find a way to change things. I will fact check you a little bit there. He did not talk about her health right after her spell there. The whole reason we were talking about her health is because Trump's campaign and other Republicans had the sort of whisper thing leading up to that. So, they helped sort of create the questions in some ways, to create that issue in ways. Now, you know, for this next campaign, they have said that, you know, they suggested, I think, they will go at her more personally. They will go at her relationship with her husband. You know, these are things that bring back the '90s and bring back all of the questions that people have about Hillary Clinton and still her big weakness is her trustworthiness. And will this get at that? So, I think that's probably where they will go. [Berman:] All right. Zach Wolf, consider myself fact checked and chastened at the same time, great to have you with us. [Romans:] I love fact-checking John Berman at 5:00 a.m. is one of my favorite things to do. All right. Thanks, Zach. Talk to you in a few minutes. Thank you. All right. Seven minutes past the hour. Families of the victims of the 911 terror attacks are now legally free to sue Saudi Arabia. Both chambers of Congress voting overwhelming to override President Obama's veto of the Saudi lawsuit bill. It's the first time the president has suffered a veto override since he took office. At a CNN town hall last night, he blamed politics for the setback, although lawmakers from both parties opposed him. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I'm concerned and this is not just my concern. General Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said it was a bad idea. Secretary of defense said it was a bad idea. And then we found out, some of the people who voted for it said, frankly, we didn't know what was in it, and there was no debate. And it was basically a political vote. [Romans:] The president's press secretary called the Senate's override the single most embarrassing thing the Senate has done since 1983. That suggestion is provoking anger from some Democrats, with one aide calling the moment amateur hour at the White House. [Berman:] So, the president made his remarks about the Saudi Arabia lawsuit bill during the CNN town hall. The event took place at a U.S. Army Post in Ft. Lee, Virginia. The audience made up mostly of military families. They have plenty to say to the president. CNN's Michelle Kosinski was there. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, John and Christine. Yes, this was different. I mean, I think this is the first time in recent memory that things did not just immediately turn to politics. Not one of these questions was about Donald Trump. In fact, it was emotional. I mean, listen to this, from a wife of a veteran who died after waiting more than a year for a colonoscopy at a V.A. medical center. [Unidentified Female:] When are we going to actually start holding these contracted doctors and V.A. employees accountable? It is the difference between life and death. [Obama:] We actually made progress. Again, I don't want to pretend we are anywhere we need to be, but, you know, we have in fact fired a bunch of people who were in charge of some of these facilities. I don't know the particular case of this individual doctor, but you can bet I'll find out after this meeting. [Kosinski:] This wasn't exactly an easy crowd for the president either. I mean, when you look at recent polls among U.S. service members, it shows that their approval rating for the president is around 15 percent to 30 percent. And they chose Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton two to one. Also, about 15 of troops surveyed said when they had to choose between two candidates, they don't want to vote at all. They don't feel like either major party has their best interest in mind. So, part of President Obama's goal here was to show that his administration cares and that their policies support the military John and Christine. [Romans:] All right. Michelle in Virginia for us thank you. So, in California, protesters ignoring calls for calm after a deadly police shooting of an African-American man. What police just revealed about the investigation. What the man was holding in his hand. We now know after the break. [Unidentified Female:] Having a toy is every child's dream, but toys aren't always affordable or made locally. One person doing his part to change that is Daniel Otero in Nairobi, Kenya. [Daniel Otero, Founder Edusto Ventures:] There was a missing type of toys in Kenya, because most toys are imported. [Unidentified Female:] After graduating from arts school, Ortero started creating toys for schools. With only $20 he launched Edusto ventures in 2012. [Otero:] My initial capital I used it in buying some raw materials, that is plywood, bought paint, bought brushes and then I borrowed some tools to work. My first items were picture actually puzzles. I began in a hard way. I marketed myself from school to school. Sometimes you get disappointed. Along the way you go to schools and they tell you we don't want this, or we're not going to buy today. [Unidentified Female:] After a few weeks, Otero got his first order. [Otero:] A [inaudible] 500 and I made my first 5,000 shillings in my business. When I began I had only five designs. Each year I developed more designs. Right now I have 110 toys I do. This business is quite the tasking. I'm the designer. I'm the quality controller. I'm the marketer sometimes. So I have to do all the work first before it grows. Now sometimes you can even get in the time of sitting down and thinking about other stuff, it's not an easy thing. [Unidentified Female:] Currently, Ortero he relies on recommendations to market and sell his products. [Otero:] And I have that dream that I'm going to make sure that this becomes a big company, I want to make sure that Edusto becomes a global company that produces the best quality toys. [Tapper:] Welcome back. My political roundtable who is here with me again. Bill Kristol, let me start with you on the news that Stephen Bannon, the president's chief strategist at the White House, has been removed from official membership in the National Security Council. What's going on? [Kristol:] I think some of the reporting suggests that the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, wasn't getting along with Bannon and thought he was doing some damage to his father-in-law and urged that Bannon kind of be relegated to a lower profile. That may be true. I can't tell. Kushner seems quite powerful. But to me, this is a story about H.R. McMaster, the national security adviser, who now clearly has control of the National Security Council, who is bringing in pretty mainstream Republicans and some actually bipartisan senior directors into that body. I think he's taking charge gradually, very quietly of foreign policy to the degree he can. If the Trump administration ends non- disastrously, I believe historians will look back and say that the day that H.R. McMaster replaced Mike Flynn was a huge moment. He went from having a national security adviser who is problematic in all kinds of ways to a really experienced and savvy professional who is used to assuming responsibility as a general in the Army and who has really stepped up on this case, I think. [Tapper:] On the subject of foreign policy, let's turn to Syria, if we can. Tony, you were a deputy secretary of state during John Kerry's term as secretary of state. Obviously, Bashar al-Assad is the one responsible for the actions committed by Bashar al-Assad, but there has been criticism leveled at the Obama administration. One tweet from 2014 from the State Department from John Kerry noted in 2014: "Today, the last 8 percent of declared chemical weapons were removed from Syria. Great work done by all involved." Apparently, Assad was hiding some chemical weapons still. [Blinken:] Well, two things. The vast bulk of the chemical weapons munitions were removed and destroyed. The vast bulk of the infrastructure that Syria had was destroyed. And, as a result, Syria no longer represented a strategic threat to countries in the region with chemical weapons. And, God forbid, if that stuff was still there today, as horrific as what we have seen is today, imagine how much worse it could be if all of that stuff was still floating around Syria. But there were some residual chemical weapons that were left that we were trying to account for. Mostly what's happened in the intervening years is they used chlorine as a weapon which is not [Jake Tapper, Cnn The Lead Anchor:] Not on the list. [Blinken:] It's not on the list although it's used as a weapon is banned. But what we saw in this most recent attack appears to be something well beyond chlorine. It appears to be a nerve agent. Russia needs to own this. The administration needs to put Russia on the spot. It's Assad's guarantor, there should be a very tough Security Council resolution, make the Russians veto it. Second, we should condition any counterterrorism cooperation with Russia on them grounding Assad's air force, getting him back to the table and having a real cease-fire at the very least. I'm also hearing rumblings that the administration is actually contemplating some kind of use of force in Syria against Assad. That would be an interesting development. [Tapper:] What does the public make of all of this? There I always sense that there is a lot of outrage among types of people that are sitting around this table, including me. And a lot of people in the public who are upset about it but nobody really wants there to be military action because they are exhausted after 20 years of war in which men and women were killed abroad in Afghanistan and Iraq. [Diane Hessan, C Space Founder And Chairwoman:] Yes. Well, you know, the public is appalled over all of this. I mean, you don't have to read a lot of newspapers to have a negative reaction to what's going on with those children. I think people are watching this a lot, unlike some of the other issues, like the ultimate reality show. And, you know, for people who admire Donald Trump, you know, it's baseball season, and David Ogilvy once said don't bunt, swing for the fences. And I think people who admire Trump feel that he doesn't bunt, that he's clear and bold in his decisions and what he does, so those people are very nervous because they know he doesn't want to look like a pushover. That's not his style. So what does he do? How does he finesse this, and how does he do something I mean, this is not a situation in which things can go wrong and he can blame someone else. [Tapper:] Let's hope he let's hope he chooses wisely whatever it is. Thanks one and all for being here. We appreciate it. Coming up, peace in the middle east. U.S. relations with China, LGBT rights, climate changes, just some of the things on Jared Kushner's plate at the White House, but the real estate project that put the President's son-in-law on the map, well, that's in deep trouble. Is Kushner really ready to take on the world? Stay with us. [Chrystal Mccadden, Mother Of A 7-year-old Kid Who Was Handcuffed By A Police:] I was told that when he walked in, he told my son "If you do not sit down, I am going to handcuff you." [Unidentified Male Reporter:] This is cell phone video shot by Chrystal McCadden as she walked into Brownell Stem Academy. Her son handcuffed behind his back. McCadden said the officer could not release her son because he did not have a key. [Mccadden:] He do not deserve to be in handcuffs. He ain`t in here with no knife. He ain`t in here with no gun. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] The officer eventually got a key and released her son. McCadden asked her son about what happened. [Mccadden:] The first thing he said, "Mom, I did not kick. I was kicking the cart. I was kicking the cart." [Unidentified Male Reporter:] The officer used handcuffs to restrain the child to prevent injury to the child or others. [Mccadden:] I do not want a kid to feel like, "If I do something wrong, I am going to get handcuffed." [Pinsky:] The mom further goes on to say the son has ADHD but has never been violent. Back with Sam, Rolonda, Mike, John, and Areva. So, we talked earlier about teachers being called in the resources officers, because they cannot seem to handle the children. John, I go out to you. What is it that is going on? Do you have a sense of why adults having difficulty controlling classrooms? [Cardillo:] Well, you know, in this case, it was a matter of protocol and obviously very traumatic for a 7-year-old to be handcuffed. It is a bad visual. [Pinsky:] It is a big day. John Cardillo said too much force. Too much force being used. OK. [Cardillo:] Well, I am not saying too much force. [Pinsky:] OK. [Cardillo:] There was hold on. There is a reason. There is a reason you guys might actually agree. One of the things I read was that when the call was made to the officer, it was alleged the child was trying to hurt himself. And, you are trained to restrain the child and you train at the hands are the path to injury. So, while it looks bad and I know it is traumatic, it probably was safest for everyone concerned, including the child [Martin:] No. [Cardillo:] But not having a key was ridiculous. [Pinsky:] You know, Areva [Martin:] There are some things Dr. Drew that should never be done. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Martin:] Putting handcuffs on a 7-year-old, can we just agree in this country? We should never do that. We have to figure outweighs to teach children to engage in appropriate behavior without criminalizing them at 7 years old. [Pinsky:] I have been saying [Watts:] Traumatic. [Pinsky:] Yes. And, I have been saying a lot on this show, we used to use restraints in psychiatric hospitals and we agreed in the community and establishment, the medical community agreed, this is barbaric. I mean this is it is a failure when we have done that. It is a failure. [Watts:] Why would not they like put him in a separate room as opposed to put him in handcuffs? [Pinsky:] Well yes, ma`am. Go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, my point is that, if you cannot control a 7-year-old without putting him in handcuffs, then you do not need to be in the classroom. You do not need to be the peace officer at school. You need to go sit down somewhere, OK? A 7-year-old, you traumatize them for life. You are teaching that child that he is going to go to prison. It is unacceptable on any level. [Pinsky:] Have you been a teacher? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I was a substitute teacher. Yes. [Pinsky:] What age group did you work with? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I worked for kindergarten all the way up to 14-year-olds. And, I found that 14-year-olds were too much for me to handle, so I stopped. [Pinsky:] Well, it looked like that was 14-year-old that we were looking at in that first tape. Do you have any insight or point of view that is different than we have been discussing here? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, I worked with Special Ed and those children they do get a little [Pinsky:] Yes, when I saw that substitute teacher the way she sort of stayed calm and centered and hung in, that is how you are trained to behave, right? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] You have to keep it controlled. And, in the case like that, she should have gotten up and left the classroom and gotten some help, because he could have bashed her in the head very easily. [Pinsky:] But, he could have hurt the other kids just as well. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] I mean she hung in with them. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, she was a tiny little woman, and I am sorry, I would not have stayed in there. I would have gotten help. But when you are over powered like that, you have to get help because that situation was completely out of control. It just should not have happened. [Catherwood:] Well, and then the question I guess that is asked is, "When you take the responsibility out of the teachers hands and an officer or resource officer of some sort is called, what do you do?" I mean, we are saying everyone can agree that it starts at home and it starts with parenting, it starts with getting to the root of whatever problem is involved in this child, but we are now at the point of no return. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] We are now at the point where the guy is holding a chair up. We are now at the point where, you know, students are fighting in a classroom. How can you fault and I am not saying, you know, making excuse [Pinsky:] Well, listen, Mike. [Catherwood:] but if you are called as an officer and you show up and a guy is holding a chair above his head, I mean [Martin:] We have to be able to distinguish Mike between that video where someone is holding a chair threatening harm [Pinsky:] Than a 7-year-old. MARTIN than a 7-year-old that maybe is kicking what we have been told is a cart. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Martin:] Totally different [Catherwood:] And of course just like John said, the visual of a 7- year-old being handcuffed, it is disgusting. But at the same time, the argument remains when you are called in and you have been told there is a student whose acting up, he is acting violent maybe towards himself or herself or to other students, I mean, you are coming into the situation with a whole different kind of idea on what is going on than someone whose been in there watching, you know. [Pinsky:] Let me read what the police chief has told us. He says, quote, "We have initiated and scheduled training for all officers and de- escalation and communication specifically geared to children. I have apologized to the mother for this situation and assured her that we will protect the integrity of this investigation and will be transparent in our findings. [Schacher:] That is great. [Pinsky:] That is good, Areva, right? [Martin:] That is a great acknowledgement by that police officers that something went wrong in that classroom, and they are going to try to fix it. [Schacher:] Yes. [Pinsky:] They are going to fix it, yes. [Martin:] They are going to try to fix it. [Pinsky:] Which is good. [Martin:] That is what important for themselves. [Pinsky:] All right. Let us leave it at that. One thing I am just going to leave it at that. We can go on and on about this, but I am going to go to the next topic, which is Robin Williams. We got new information on his depression, his suicide. His wife said, it was not depression per se. It was a complex neurological disorder. I will explain it after this. [Lemon:] Tonight, Sandra Bland's family says it has no faith in the justice system after a grand jury in Texas decided not to indict anyone in her death. Bland died in police custody in July after being arrested during a traffic incident. Officials say she hanged herself but her family disputes that. I'm joined by Sandra Bland's sister, Sharon Cooper and Cannon Lambert, attorney for the Bland family. Good evening. [Sharon Cooper, Sandra Bland's Sister:] Good evening, Don. How are you? [Lemon:] Doing better than you, I'm sure, Sharon. How is the family? How are you guys doing? [Cooper:] Quite frankly, it's been a challenging year for us overall, and I think the holiday season brings much more of a challenge than we imagined, especially in light of the recent grand jury's decision not to bring forth any indictments with regard to Sandra's in custody death. [Lemon:] What was your reaction when you when you heard about the decision not to indict anyone? [Cooper:] Quite frankly, it's a range of emotions. I think what's most imperative to note on the family's behalf is that there is a little bit of disheartening there are a little bit disappointment, but quite frankly, not surprise based off of the fact that we don't have much faith in the grand jury process due to the secretive nature of that process. And the fact that it is historically been seen to be viewed as a prosecutorial tool, which in most cases, specifically in the favor of a prosecutor. And to be quite honest, if a prosecutor wants an indictment they know very well what evidence they need to present to get that indictment, and if they don't, conversely they know what evidence to withhold to ensure that there's no indictment set forth. So, that's how we're feeling at this time. [Lemon:] So, Cannon, you called it a sham sham of a proceeding. Is that why, for what Sharon just voiced there? [Cannon Lambert, Sandra Bland's Family Attorney:] Here's the reality of it. What we understand is that the five special prosecutors that were appointed, one of them, Paul Looney, actually is quoted as saying two months before they came back with this result. That they weren't even investigating whether or not Waller County jailers did anything wrong or instead even committed any criminal acts. But instead, they were just looking prospectively forward to see if there were some suggestions they could make in the future as to how they might conduct themselves. So, when you have a situation like that it begs the question why and what were they doing in the first place? As you well know, these proceedings are secretive. We're not able to be present. We're not able to know what evidence is submitted, it's sealed. We're not able to know what witnesses were called. We're not able to you know, the prosecutor has an opportunity to submit whatever evidence that they want, they can hold that whatever evidence that they want. There is not a judge that's there that oversees the proceeding. Instead, it's the prosecutor that oversees. [Lemon:] So, for you it's about transparency you think and that there should be more transparency. And since you are talking about the prosecutor, Cannon, Darrell Jordan, who is the special prosecutor at this, state to your family last night. I want you to listen and respond to it. [Darrell Jordan, Prosecutor:] We would love to speak with the family. I've never heard of any situation in all my years of a prosecutor not speaking to the victim's family. We reached out to the family. I offered to fly to Chicago on my own dime to go meet with the family. [Lemon:] So, why haven't you and the prosecution spoken? [Lambert:] Because of him. The reality of it is that when he was initially appointed as a special prosecutor he called me and letting me know that he was going to be coming to Indianapolis and then he was going to some wedding or some sort of family function. At the time he called he asked whether he could meet with us the next day. We were in Houston. I told him we were happy to meet with him but we wouldn't be back in Chicago until several days thereafter. But to contact us again because we would be happy to do that. He never did. By the way, I wasn't just there talking to him, so, too was the family, they are fully aware of the fact. He is the investigator, right, isn't it his responsibility? Yet, he never contacted us ever again. The first time we hear from him saying I'd love to talk to the family is after they come up with the result? That's strange, isn't that putting isn't that booty backwards? [Lemon:] yes. I know what you wanted to say. I mean, you can say that word on the show because it is after 10 p.m. Eastern and we would understand that. But listen, I want to ask you... [Lambert:] I mean, but the bottom line is that you have to be you have to honest with people. [Lemon:] This is an important question, Cannon, before we run out of time, I want to ask you this. [Lambert:] Yes. [Lemon:] Lawyers representing Waller County say that if the family had paid Sandra Bland's bail, reportedly $515 that she be alive today. I mean, what do you say to that? [Lambert:] It's ridiculous and it's preposterous. They also say that if Mr. Mosley had answered the phone that she would be alive today. What really is the case is, if they had done what they were supposed to do she would be alive today. They had two booking documents that were diametrically opposed that they did nothing to try and figure out why that was the case. They put things in her cell and they shouldn't have been there. They didn't attend to her and check in with her the way they were supposed to. They knew that she wasn't eating. They did nothing. I mean, the reality of it is, is that when people are responsible they often look to shirk the responsibility by pointing the fingers somewhere else. [Lemon:] And, Sharon, the prosecutor's says that this case is still open that they plan to investigate the arrest. I saw your mom on television today, she said, you know, you just have to patient in this process. Is that hopeful news for you that there will be a more satisfying outcome? COOPER; I will you that the hope is dimming with regard to the aspect of any charges being brought against the officer. And the reason I say that, Don, is simply this. It's been five months since this senseless accident since this incident occurred. And what is crystal clear and what is the easiest thing in this case is that Sandra should never have been arrested in the first place. The same dash cam video that you have access to, and that I have access to and that the world has access to is what the opposing side and special prosecutors have had access to for the five last months. So, the fact that is even a notion that there is more time prolonging the grieving process of this family, dragging it out through the holidays to say that they need more time to bring charges on the officer. They in the 52 minutes in Sandra's encounter with Sandra is very clear that her civil rights were violated and that the officer acted in gross professional misconduct. Well, I thank you for coming on regardless of the circumstances behind your sister's death, it is it is tough when you lose anyone. And I know it's going to be a tough holiday season for you and your family and our thoughts and prayers are with you. Thank you, Sharon. Thank you, Cannon. [Lambert:] Thank you. Thank you very much. [Cooper:] Thank you, Don. [Lemon:] Coming up, can it really be that nobody is legally responsible for Sandra Bland's death? We'll talk about that. That's next. [Sciutto:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Today, House Democrats decided to delay their vote for new leadership for another two weeks. The decision comes in the wake of last week's shellacking. And it's a move that could spell the end of an era for longtime House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who has been at the helm of House Democrats for nearly 14 years now. Let's go to CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He's live on Capitol Hill. So, Jeff, postponing this vote really does signal some distress among House Democrats? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well, Jim, it signals absolute concern across the Democratic Party, starting with the House of Representatives. Now, so far, there has not been a center of gravity around any one person to run against her. But all that could change in 15 days. [Zeleny:] One week later, President Obama is still talking about bruising lessons learned from the election. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] There is this mismatch, I think, between frustration and anger. Perhaps the view of the American people was, was that you just need to shake things up. [Zeleny:] And shake things up, voters did. Now the Democratic Party is facing a shakeup of its own, as outgoing Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid takes forceful aim at Donald Trump. [Sen. Harry Reid , Minority Leader:] Well, thanks, everybody, for being here. [Zeleny:] The Democratic rank-and-file is restless. Today, House Democrats voted to delay the election of its leaders, a warning shot to Nancy Pelosi that she may face a challenge of her own. She walked into a closed-door meeting today confident of keeping her title as the Democratic leader. [Question:] Madam Leader, do you expect a challenge to your leadership today? [Rep. Nancy Pelosi , House Minority Leader:] No. [Zeleny:] Her effort to hold a quick election failed. Challengers now have two weeks to step forward. She walked away quickly, saying she doesn't own the stinging Democratic defeat. [Question:] You got beat pretty badly here. And this speaks of leadership. [Pelosi:] Well, that speaks to the presidential race more than our race. [Zeleny:] The Democratic Party is demoralized, decimated and in disarray. It's seeking new direction at the DNC and beyond. The place to start rebuilding is on Capitol Hill where young Rust Belt lawmakers say the party must increase its appeal to working-class voters. Pennsylvania Congressman Brendan Boyle said his state should not have been such an easy win for Trump. [Rep. Brendan Boyle , Pennsylvania:] Our party needs to do a much, much better job of reaching out and representing blue-collar and working-class voters. And for me, this election should be the final wakeup call that we get. [Zeleny:] The Democrats' finger-pointing is giving way to soul- searching and who should be the face of the party. [Rep. G.k. Butterfield , North Carolina:] We just got a shellacking. We just got a shellacking last Tuesday. We got an unexpected defeat. And we have got to recalibrate and decide how we go forward. It's just like death. There are different stages of grief that you go through. [Zeleny:] Pelosi still enjoys strong support from many fellow Democrats. But Ohio Congressman Tim Ryan is considering mounting a challenge, saying it's time for a new direction. [Rep. Tim Ryan , Ohio:] This is not about in the past election, in my mind. This is about the next election, and what do the leaders look like, what does the message sound like, in order for us to pick up the seats that we need to pick up to get back in the majority. [Zeleny:] And, Jim, the thing you hear again and again talking to so many lawmakers up here today is geography. The party needs to look inside the center of the country here, not just on the West Coast or East Coast here, for the next leader, many people say. That's why some are turning to Tim Ryan as a possible candidate for the House Democratic majority Jim. [Sciutto:] Jeff Zeleny on the Hill, thanks very much. You heard there from Democratic Congressman Tim Ryan. And he joins us now live. Congressman Ryan, thanks very much for taking the time. You just said there, our viewers heard, that it is time for a new direction in the Democratic Party. You have not ruled out running against Pelosi to lead House Democrats. You have colleagues that are pushing you to run. Does new direction for the party mean new leadership? [Ryan:] Well, it means a big conversation around where we need to go and who needs to be that messenger. I mean, we have a situation now, which I agree with what Nancy Pelosi said. I don't blame her for this election. The question is moving forward. We have to go into red states. We have to go into red congressional districts. We have to talk to blue-collar workers. We need blue-collar workers to vote blue. And in order to do that, we need to have the message and the messengers to be able to connect with them to pull them back into the Democratic camp. [Sciutto:] Are you the messenger, Congressman Ryan, or is it Nancy Pelosi? [Ryan:] Well, I don't know if I am or someone else is. But that's what this whole conversation is all about. My goal was to get this moved so that we can have a family discussion. And like many families who need to have a pretty important discussion, we tend to put it off, sometimes days, sometimes weeks. We have to have that tough discussion now and figure out what's going to position us to take the House of Representatives back. We have an opportunity here. Now, as much grief as there is, there is also opportunity. What's America 2.0? What's it look like? And how do we get there and how do we position the Democratic Party to help us to get there? And then when you look at the Republicans controlling the presidency, the House and Senate, they are going to repeal the health care bill, they're going to privatize Medicare, they're going to gut Medicaid. Many red congressional districts in many red states have people in them that benefit from these programs. So, as they're repealing these programs and taking these benefits away, we need someone who can go there and make not only that argument that we need to stand up for some of these programs that they benefit from, but also that we're going to here for blue-collar workers to get good-paying jobs back in some of these communities. [Sciutto:] Before we get to the agenda, it just sounds like it's clear you're not ruling out challenging Pelosi for the leadership. [Ryan:] I am not. And I don't think anyone else is. I think there are a lot of people having conversations right now. [Sciutto:] So, let's talk about the agenda then. You listed a number of things that you expect the GOP to push now, repealing Obamacare being one of them. Are there things that you can work, that Democrats can work together with Republicans on? Do you see room for compromise? [Ryan:] I would hope there would be a couple things. I think, when you talk about what Donald Trump said during the campaign, draining the swamp, let's do it. Let's do it right now. Let's move to publicly financing campaigns or campaign finance reform. That's how you drain the swamp here in Washington, D.C. You get the money out. I hope we can work with him on that. Rebuilding the country. He talks about a big transportation bill. Let's go. Let's do it. Let's get our and building and construction trade people back to work. Let's have buy-American provisions in there, so it's American-made steel and American-made concrete. I think those are two big things that we can do together right out of the gate to let the American people know we want to find opportunities to work together. But then if you try to repeal the health care bill, we are going to fight you. You try to privatize Medicare, we are going to fight you. You try to gut some of these social programs, we are going to fight you every step of the way. [Sciutto:] Final question for you. More than 100 House Democrats have signed a letter urging Trump to rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon. Will you and your colleagues refuse to work with Steve Bannon in his role? [Ryan:] I signed that letter myself. I think it's appalling that we would have someone that is either or has very close ties to white supremacist groups. I represent a lot of working-class African-American folks in my congressional district. I am appalled that this man would somehow make his way into the White House. And I think it's disgusting that the president-elect would appoint somebody like that. We need to move in another direction. I mean, regardless of what happened in this election, we should be an America that welcomes everybody. And that means immigrants and poor and black and brown and gay and straight. This is America. And we should not put somebody at such a high position that's going to be advising the president of the United States, not the president of a union, not the president of the rotary club The president of the United States has someone with deep ties to these groups and has promoted these groups over the past few months. It's disgusting. And I think it is going to be very, very difficult for us to work with President Trump if he's pushing this guy out front to be his top adviser. [Sciutto:] Congressman Tim Ryan, thanks very much. [Ryan:] Thank you. [Sciutto:] A look at the four men who could lead Trump's national security team and why there are already big concerns about one candidate in particular. [Church:] A warm welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. I want to update you now on our top stories this hour. Activists say at least 27 people were killed in another day of intense air strikes in eastern Aleppo on Monday. Syrian regime forces have been bombing rebel-held areas relentlessly, killing more than 300 people since last Tuesday. There have been reports of chemical attacks on civilians. Authorities in China are blaming snow, rain and fog for a deadly car pileup. Seventeen people were killed in the 56-vehicle accident on a northern highway. China Xinhua news agency reports 37 people were injured. An official investigation is underway. Donald Trump says he will pull out of negotiations on the Trans- Pacific partnership trade deal once he is president. He made the announcement in a short video outlining his first 100 days in office. The Japanese Prime Minister quickly responded saying the TPP is meaningless without the U.S. involvement. Well, the clock is ticking down to Donald Trump's inauguration in January, and there are still many open positions left in his upcoming administration. CNN's Jim Acosta has the latest on Trump's search for the people who will help to carry out his presidential agenda. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Welcome to the latest episode of presidential apprentice. Donald Trump's cabinet candidates look almost like contestants parading past the cameras, the chance to be a part of the new administration. [Scott Brown, Former Massachusetts Senator:] I'm glad that he called. And he's going to obviously meet other folks and we should know I would think probably after Thanksgiving. [Acosta:] There are transition surprises every day with democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard being floated as a possible United Nations ambassador, and past rival Rick Perry under consideration for energy, not to mention the ultimate cliff hanger, Mitt Romney. Transition sources say the 2012 GOP nominee is a real possibility for secretary of state. [Trump:] Smart enough. [Acosta:] Potentially shifting Rudy Giuliani over to homeland security. Even more unclear is the fate of Chris Christie who met with Trump after bumped from his role leading the transition. Trump has problems looming, like the growing course of white nationalist and neo-Nazis and the self-described alt-right movement who were cheering his election. In an alt-right conference in Washington, one of the movement's leader, Richard Spencer offered this disturbing take on the president-elect catch phrase "Make America Great Again." [Richard Spencer, National Policy Institute President:] For us, as Europeans, it is only normal again when we are great again, hail Trump, hail our people, hail victory. [Acosta:] Trump's new chief strategist Steve Bannon is still being pressed on the sometimes racist and anti-Semitic stories featured on his web site Breitbart news. Bannon defended his views to the Wall Street Journal adding, "Breitbart is the most pro-Israel site in the United States of America." Former DNC Chair Howard Dean who is now running to lead the Democratic Party again described Bannon as a Nazi in an interview with the Canadian news outlet. [Howard Dean, Former Vermont Governor:] He is a complicated guy. He appoints a reasonable person who is much more conservative than I am but for somebody who can talk to there was chief of staff and then senior adviser is a Nazi. [Unidentified Male:] You called him a Nazi? [Dean:] Well, he is anti-Semitic, he's anti-black and he's anti-women. [Acosta:] In response to the alt-right conference the Trump transition team released a statement saying the president-elect denounces racism of any kind. But that statement does not come close to the criticism president-elect had for the cast of Hamilton in its comments for Mike Pence. Jim Acosta, CNN, New York. [Church:] Along with possible cabinet candidates, leading members of the media also met with Mr. Trump Monday. They included executives and anchors from America's five biggest TV networks including CNN president Jeff Zucker and anchor Wolf Blitzer. Now this comes as concerns increase over how much access the media will get in Trump's incoming administration. And joining us now to talk about this is CNN's senior media correspondent Brian Stelter. Brian, always great to talk with you. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Thanks. [Church:] So, what all was achieved in this meeting with the president- elect and where does it leave this question of media access to Mr. Trump and his administration going forward? [Stelter:] Now these meetings can be pretty useful. You know, from time to time, President Obama and past presidents have had off-the-record sessions with journalists. For example, every year before the state of the union address, the president meets with the big TV anchors before the address, talks to them over a lunch about his plans for the year ahead. This meeting, though, not quite so productive. According to sources who were in the room share there's only unanimously because the media was off-the-record. It was venomous at times with Donald Trump complaining about media coverage of his campaign and now this transition. He singled out NBC and CNN, two of the networks that were in attendance. However, Trump also said he does want to have a working relationship with the press. He recognizes the importance of the press and his aides said there will be a press pool. This has been one of the big issues involving access. When the president or president-elect usually travels anywhere a small group of journalists travel with that person. President-elect Trump say he will have that same arrangement, he will accept a press pool in the future. But the big takeaway is that President-elect Trump is the same as candidate Trump. Still angry at the media, still complaining about the media and we saw that on Twitter later in the day, as well. He commented about all of the coverage of conflicts of interest between his businesses and now running the government. He said the only people that care about that are the "crooked media." So, the same Trump we saw in the primaries and during the election is the same Trump we are seeing today. [Church:] Interesting. And then over the weekend, Brian, Mr. Trump tweeted about the reception that his V.P. pick Mike Pence received at the Broadway show Hamilton and he also tweeted about not being very happy with his own portrayal on the comedy show Saturday Night Live. Unlike other leaders the president-elect it appears unwilling to accept this level of free speech, how much concern is this causing? [Stelter:] I think it's taken a while for him to understand that being the president means you are the most criticized person in the country, maybe the most criticized person in the world. But the way you see these stories really depends on the way you see Trump himself. Here's what happened. [Brandon Dixon, Hamilton Cast:] Conversation is not harassment. [Stelter:] That's Hamilton star Brandon Dixon responding to Donald Trump's twitter fight with the most acclaimed show on Broadway. Trump lashed out of the cast tweeting that they harassed future V.P. Mike Pence. After Dixon delivered this message following Friday's performance with Pence right there in the room. [Dixon:] We have the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us. [Stelter:] With the president-elect back in firm control of his Twitter account he's not letting go of any perceived slight calling the cast rude and writing, "The cast and producers of Hamilton, which I hear is highly overrated should immediately apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior." [Trump:] It was very inappropriate. [Stelter:] And Trump's ire is not just reserved for Hamilton. [Alec Baldwin, Snl Cast:] Google, what is ISIS. [Stelter:] After SNL portrayed him as in over his head, Trump fired back on Twitter. "It is a totally one-sided biased show, nothing funny at all. Equal time for us." Alec Baldwin who plays Trump responded "equal time, election is over. There is no more equal time. Now you try to be president and people respond. That's pretty much it." Trump's former campaign manager says his fiery tweeting is a nonissue. [Kellyanne Conway, Former Trump Campaign Manager:] Why do you care? I view that and make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet, you are assigning malice or you're assigning wrongdoing to him where it doesn't exist. And I think we all should have learned a lesson from the election that that doesn't fly with the voters. [Stelter:] Some media watchers are worried that Trump's tendency to lash out could over time hurt free speech. Others say a thicker skin would just serve him well. [Unidentified Male:] He is going to be made fun of, as he should be, any president will be, and should be and he's got such a thin skin he can't just shrug it off. [Stelter:] Shrug it off is exactly what Mike Pence did after the stars of Hamilton spoke up. [Mike Pence, United States Vice President-elect:] I wasn't offended but what was said. I'll leave it to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it. [Stelter:] Whether trump can take a cue from his V.P. and tone down his reactions remains to be seen. Rosemary, I think this is the divide in the nutshell. If you are a Trump fan you believe he is sticking up for his vice president, sticking to the elites. But if you are a Trump critic you say why is he grabbing his phone, complaining about a Broadway show? And by the way, the producers of Hamilton would love to have him come see the show. They've told me they have two seats available for him any time even other show has been sold out for a long time. [Church:] Yes, it will be interesting to see if he takes up that invitation. Brian Stelter, always a pleasure. Thanks so much. [Stelter:] Thank you. [Church:] A quick break here. But still to come, Pope Francis makes another move toward inclusion and forgiveness. Ahead, the power he's extending to all Catholic priests. [Quest:] The magnificent views, along with the pan flute music. It must be, of course, Peru. Magnificent, even with the mosquitoes. As we continue the coverage from the IMF and World Bank, we'll have more from the panel a little bit later on. On the question back in Europe, France's economy minister says a few stupid people were responsible for the appalling scenes that took place at Air France when senior executives of the company found themselves under attack by protesting workers. You'll be well aware, of course, that as part of those protests, they had literally the shirts ripped off their back, and the men had to run to escape. Now, the economy minister, Emmanuel Macron, spoke exclusively to Jim Bittermann and says that action will be taken against those responsible. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Just days after Air France workers attacked their bosses, who have been pushing reforms to streamline the company, after dramatic conflicts between taxi and Uber drivers, which led Uber to close down part of its French operation, and after any number of strikes and social conflicts, the 37- year-old French economics minister gathered venture capitalists from the US and other countries for two days of meetings hoping to convince the financiers that economic reforms are taking hold here, as he explained in this exclusive interview with [Cnn. Bittermann:] What's the point of this? [Emmanuel Macron, French Economics Minister:] The point is first to explain our policies, to explain what we are doing here in terms of reforms. To explain how, basically, our ecosystem in terms of innovation and start-ups is increasing and improving, and how attractive it is. [Bittermann:] Do you find that they have a bad image of France? [Macron:] Roughly speaking, I would say that our image has improved, and we have to do a lot of things. As for Air France, we are speaking about a few isolated people, extremely violent, who decided to do so after the announcement of an important restructuring plan. So, the government backs management, and all the unions condemned, ethically, this fact. So I want to be clear, it's not about France, it's about stupid people, and they were condemned for that. [Bittermann:] It was a little curious to me that you've got to go outside to get investors, to get venture capital. This is a rich country. Why do you need to go to outsiders to invest in France? [Macron:] If we want to accelerate this new, new economy, I would say especially this disruptive economy in a lot of sectors, we need to be much bolder and much more aggressive in terms of financing. And you know, historically speaking, when you look at the French situation, we were largely driven by financing through debt or through banks. And we have to shift the model towards a much more market-driven financing, and a much more equity financing. Our people are extremely aware of globalization of disruption, and of the fact that we have to change our model. [Quest:] The economy minister of France, Emmanuel Macron, talking to Jim Bittermann. We will be talking to the governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney; the finance minister of Brazil, Joaquim Levy; and the managing director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde. The second part of our panel discussion, when we get to grips with the individual issues facing the various countries. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, we are live, tonight, in Lima. [Bolduan:] The manhunt has intensified for a Texas teenager and his mother. The so-called "affluenza: teen, Ethan Couch, he's been missing for a week now. That's his mom on the left side of your screen. The U.S. Marshal Service is releasing a "wanted" poster and announcing a reward for the fugitive teenager, given probation after a drunk-driving incident where four people were killed. He got probation for that. The reason he's wanted now is for violating that probation after a video surfaced on social media. [Berman:] He's on the run, apparently with his mother. Let's discuss it with CNN law enforcement analyst and former assistant director of the U.S. Marshal Service, Art Roderick. Art, this is a kid convicted of drunk driving and his mom. I don't know they run a crime syndicate, I don't know they have vast criminal experiences. Why is it difficult to catch them? Shouldn't there be signs of where they are now? [Art Roderick, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] I think they're investigating quite a few very good leads out there at this point. Once the sheriff's office referred this case over to the north Texas Fugitive Task Force that opened it up to the whole country. There's 70-plus of these same types of task forces all over the U.S. and territories. With the publicity this case has got, they do have several good leads they're investigating right now. It is kind of unusual, you're right. I mean, I've arrested career criminals that have breathed a sigh of relief because they're constantly looking over their shoulder. It's very stressful to be on the run like this. Especially when your particular case has garnered this much publicity. [Bolduan:] Now, the mom is now listed as missing. She wanted as well along with her son. That leads us to wonder, what is the role of the father here? I know the background here is a little complicated. The parents we know the parents were divorced. They remarried and then split up again after that deadly crash. He used that now infamous defense of "affluenza." What's the role of the father here, Art? [Roderick:] Yeah, it is very strange. Obviously, the first thing investigators are going to look at are family members. They're going to go directly to the father since he had probably the closest contact with the mother and the kid. Now, the other family members, extended family members, they're going to look at those family members and try to figure out how they're communicating with one another, if at all. I'm sure there was some type of planning to make this particular run go, so that they might have stashed some money. Sooner or later they're going to make a mistake. These are not career criminals. And I think somebody's going to come forward very shortly with here they are at this particular hotel right now. They have the vehicle out there. There's an 800 number to call, 800-336-0102, if anybody has leads on this particular case. But I think it's a matter of time at this point before they get picked up. The other interesting fact is I think the father reported that the passports of both these individuals are missing. If this case goes international, that opens up to a whole other aspect of the investigation. [Berman:] Look, there's not a lot of goodwill for the people in the local community. There's a lot of people would like to see them caught and soon so a lot of people willing to help. What if they are abroad, what if they did leave the country, Art, what kind of trail would that leave behind? Just based on your experience, you say something's going to trip them up. What do you think it would be? [Roderick:] I think what will trip them up is the cash, the money issue. These people aren't used to living under the radar like most fugitives that are successful at staying away from law enforcement generally do. Money will be their holdup. What's going to happen is the Marshal Service has a great financial investigations unit. They're looking at their accounts, their credit cards, anything to do with any money that's been shifted around. Now, if this case does go international, then that opens up the whole Interpol avenue where the task force would go to Interpol. There's a section of Interpol, I think it's the Alien and Fugitive Unit that sits over an Interpol hearing here in Washington that would establish a red notice. That red notice would go out to 190 member countries around the world. That red notice would allow them to be picked up if they try to enter another country. [Bolduan:] So, they've put out this the description of this car they're looking for. They also say the passports are missing. Does that tell you the fact the car description has been put out there, does that tell you they don't yet think it has gone international or maybe they just don't really don't have a really good lead on where they could be? [Roderick:] I think they're concentrating domestically right now. But you always have to look at the international aspect when passports are missing, obviously. Now, it's their passports, so the minute they scan those passports it will show up somewhere because they are in the National Crime Information Center right now as a wanted person and as a missing person. So, if they try to leave the country under those legal passports that should be picked up fairly quickly. [Bolduan:] Art Roderick, great to see you, Art. Thanks so much. [Roderick:] Thank you. [Berman:] Coming up from us, from Donald Trump saying John McCain was a war hero to Ben Carson's story about trying to stab his friend. [Bolduan:] 2015 was quite a year of one-liners, insults, interruptions and fabulous political intrigue. We'll take a look back at the race for the White House with the top moments in politics of the year, next. [Lemon:] Oh, boy. The commercial breaks are only broadcast, Donald Trump's charitable foundation getting him into trouble with New York State's Attorney General. Back with me now, Betsy McCaughey, John Avlon, and Jennifer Granholm. So, can I ask you about the respond, Betsy, from the Trump surrogates because I said I never thought that I would see Rudy Giuliani or Chris Christie, or Betsy McCaughey like doing cart wheels and back flips trying to explain this. Would you have used the same language genius? [Mccaughey:] I would definitely not have said genius and brilliant because it is such a widely used provision in the tax code, there's nothing genius or brilliant about it, but I would say it is an essential part of the tax code and we shouldn't eliminate it because it encourages people to take risks, creating job. [Lemon:] Moving on. Let's talk about Eric Schneiderman, the New York State Attorney General saying that his and telling Trump basically giving his charity a cease and desist, what's your reaction? [Mccaughey:] Yes, I got it right here. [Lemon:] What's your reaction? [Mccaughey:] My reaction is this. For the top law enforcement person in the state to sign on to the Hillary Clinton campaign advisory board and then turn around and launch an investigation of her opponent is unethical. And he should have recused himself. Many people should calling for his resignation because of this conflict of interest. And someone else should be looking into this. The timing of this is also suspicious. It could be that administrative errors were made. But I will tell you this, the same attorney general identified $225 million in donations from foreign governments to the Clinton Foundation that were not reported in contrary... [Lemon:] But doesn't that negate your argument? [Mccaughey:] No, but just a second. Contrary to New York state law and did nothing about it. Did nothing about it. [Lemon:] So, John, I want you to respond to that, but let me just put up the statement from the Trump campaign. And again, it says, "While we are remained very concerned about the political motives behind A.G. Schneiderman's investigation, the Trump Foundation nevertheless intend to cooperate fully with the investigation." So, go on, John. [Avlon:] Well, look, there's a lot of bad blood between these two figures that's not a secret particularly in sort of the arcane circles of New York politics. It is troubling whenever you get judicial actors seeming to have partisan motives or motives that could be impugned. That said, this is largely a problem of their own making. I mean, you know, this foundation, much vaunted, under scrutiny that they could have anticipated, seems to not have filed basic forms. And now according to the attorney general they are going to have to open their books as of October 15th. Everything we've seen to date would suggest they're probably not ready for that kind of scrutiny in terms of both disbursements and payouts. And it's going to be a distraction to the campaign, but it's because they resisted transparency for so long that they find themselves in this situation. [Lemon:] Politically motivated, governor? [Granholm:] No, it's just that the facts are the facts. They didn't register. They're supposed to register. I think this actual failure to register is less damaging than the actual non-existence of a charity, meaning that this charity was not in fact a charity at all. It is a vehicle for funneling stuff to Donald Trump to be able to pay his legal bills which is, not legal or to buy six-foot portraits of himself that he's hanging on the walls of one of his resorts. These are and not to mention the donation that he made to Pam Bondi to get her to stop investigating Trump University. This is not a charity at all. This is a where he takes other people's money to satisfied his own his own vanity. [Lemon:] John, do you want... [Avlon:] That's part of the larger problem think of what we've seen, is that Donald Trump's lifestyle basically seems to have been funded by a series of interconnected shell corporations through which he funnels a lot of money. So, he can take a massive loss, take the reduction, have very low reported income and still live like a king. Once this kind of transparency is put in place with the foundation, you could see a lot of really troubling, hard-to-explain things, a charity, a foundation that does not seem to be charitable, but instead seems to be devoted to self-grandiose to self-enrichment. If that's the case, it certainly, you know, this is a problem of their own making. [Lemon:] Look out, Betsy is looking up. I'm looking at her nose. [Mccaughey:] Yes. I don't think that's the case. [Avlon:] It may not be the case. [Mccaughey:] Let me just point out that the to give you a little bit of a parallel here, the Clinton Foundation failed to report 1100 donations from foreign governments and entities that Mrs. Clinton's foundation was required to report under her agreement with the State Department when she took office there, and also under IRS regulations. A 111 omissions. So, they had to re-file four years of taxes for the Clinton Foundation. And here is the one sentence in the cover letter that struck me as so apt her, because foundations, like people, make mistakes, they are refilling four years of taxes. So, I would say... [Lemon:] Isn't that what Governor Granholm just said? [Avlon:] Yes. [Mccaughey:] That's why I would say... [Avlon:] We're all flat. We're all broken. [Mccaughey:] ... here maybe and the administration in New York, I've run a foundation in New York State, it's an overwhelming amount of paperwork, if they forgot to file with the charity office I filed with the New York... [Lemon:] Governor, didn't you just give her that? [Granholm:] Yes. Listen. Listen, I'm saying that this is an administrative error. I get that. And it would be improper for Eric Schneiderman not to go after it because his office regulates charities. What I'm going at this underlying purpose, and to compare the Clinton Foundation with the Trump Foundation is so desperate. Tell me one person that the Trump Foundation whose life has been saved? Under the Clinton Foundation 50,000 children every year in Malawi, and in Kenya and in Ethiopia are saved. Tell me one drug whose price has been reduced because of the beneficent of the Trump Foundation. And because of the Clinton Foundation 11.5 million people now have access to AIDS drugs and to lower cost malaria. This is not a foundation, the Trump Foundation. The Clinton Foundation has done remarkable work. [Mccaughey:] I would argue that the Trump Foundation also does good. They made a sizable contribution to a veteran's organization in Florida. And the trouble with the Clinton Foundation is that it was really used as a way of reaping in huge amounts of money from foreign governments, companies and individuals while Mrs. Clinton was Secretary of State. [Lemon:] But do you deny the good the Clinton Foundation has done... [Mccaughey:] Absolutely not. Absolutely not. [Lemon:] You can't argue with that. [Mccaughey:] Both of these institutions probably have their worth and their good points. [Lemon:] But is it fair to compare the two because the Clinton Foundation is much larger foundation than the Trump Foundation. [Mccaughey:] I think that... [Granholm:] And has been rated four stars by all of the charity review organizations. [Mccaughey:] I think it is the Clinton Foundation has really a ripped off the United States government and the people of the United States by swapping favors in return for donations to that foundation. [Granholm:] That is such that is not true. [Mccaughey:] That is not something the Trump Foundation has ever done. [Lemon:] That's a bunch of Donald Trump's campaign talking points. And that is just an accusation that is not ben proven. [Mccaughey:] That is such a lie. [Lemon:] Yes. I have to say that's an accusation that's not been proven. [Mccaughey:] You bet. [Lemon:] Thank you very much. When we come right back, it has been a week of bad news for Donald Trump, but he has bounced back before. Can he do it again? [King:] Well, if you watch a show called "Inside Politics" my guess is you've heard the name Stephen Bannon. He is the president's advisor, was the former Breitbart News executive, now, a senior advisor to the President of the White House, a key architect of the America first nationalist message. We don't see him much publicly. So it was a big event when he appeared publicly at the conservative conference yesterday laying out his view of the Trump agenda. [Steve Bannon, White House Chief Strategist:] I kind of breaking out the three verticals of three buckets. The first is kind of national security and sovereignty, and that's your Intelligence, the Defense Department, and Homeland Security. The second line of work is what I referred to as economic nationalism, and that is Wilbur Ross of commerce, Steve Mnuchin of Treasury, Lighthizer at Trade, Peter Navarro, Stephen Miller, these people that we're rethinking how we're going to reconstruct the our trade arrangements around the world. The third broadly line of work is what is deconstruction of the administrative state. [King:] Fascinating to see because we don't see him publicly that much, number one. Number two, whether you might disagree with the agenda, but a very articulate lay-out, communications strategy for the agenda. I want to start at the end there. The deconstruction of the administrative state. A very conservative federalist approach that Washington has amassed way too much power and Steve Bannon views his job as Donald Trump's senior advisor to help the President blow a lot of it up. [Hemingway:] Right. Not just too much power, but too much on accountable power. And you see this with the agencies going rogue and people having different ideas than either the President or Congress that they report to. You know, a lot of the problems with Obamacare came out not from the bill, but the way HHS interpreted the bill. A lot of the restrictions on religious liberty came out from the administrative state, not from the original legislation. So this is a very big animating issue. And it is interesting to hear someone actually articulated on a national state. [Raju:] I think this is probably the most concise argument that anyone has method as you say that anyone from the White House has delivered about what Trump's world view is, probably even more so than Trump himself to hear that the deconstruction of administrative state. I mean, that is an interesting argument an interesting way to discuss how Trump views the world. Probably in a way that, you know, Trump may himself start to talk more about going forward because of explained and sell his agenda [King:] And he the President's not a criticism, it just a he talks more transactional. I'm for this and for this and for this. This is the deal we're making. Steve Bannon, they're laying out an ideological conservative America first and nationalist when it comes to the foreign policy, national security trade stuff, but a very states rights, you know, let's deconstruct Washington. That is a little bit of Reagan and Goldwater. You know, Reagan was unable to deliver as much as he promised there. [Taley:] But Reagan was still on establishmentarianism. And he believed in systems and in, you know, packing order and certain amount of chivalry. And there are these two pillars of his remarks yesterday. One is nationalism. One is deconstruction, which also goes along with the words disruption. And it's not just the administrative state in terms of agencies. It is all of the way you consider the administrative state of Washington. It is disrupting and deconstructing the power of Congress, the power of the press, the power of institutions that put that central core inside the White House in check. [King:] That's right. Let's take his voice in one more time because we often talk about the politicians keep their promises but a lot of controversies. You know, is President Trump going to reach out to those bill forms. President Trump going to do things they didn't promise they can't. Hey, here's Steve Bannon on how he thinks the president will proceed. [Bannon:] He's laid out an agenda with those speeches for the promises he made. And our job every day is just to execute on that. It's to simply get a path to how those get executed. And he's maniacally focused on that. [King:] In other words, go back and look at what he said during the campaign, and that's what you're going to get. [Kucinich:] So, yes. Is anyone surprise about what he's doing and he's actually he's executing on what he said. But it's fascinating because Bannon has been saying a lot of this for a very long time. And to the extent that Trump has just adapted it and is executing it has been a fascinating thing so much. [Raju:] It's also a time there's a long way to go in this presidency. [Kucinich:] Right. [Raju:] There's a lot that still needs to happen. We'll see if that he can they can still say that what you're telling. [Hemingway:] What he was also signaling was that it's very hard to achieve this and that they have all the forces in Washington raid against him was asking people to support and hold them accountable. [King:] Yes. They're asking CPAC to stay on the team to help and to push when necessary. We'll see you back here on Monday, "Inside Politics" Sunday morning at 8:00 a.m. as well. After a quick break, Wolf Blitzer is in the chair. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Talk to Donald Trump. That was the order of the day for Republicans here in Washington. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee made the rounds. He met with House leadership this morning. He left his meeting with the Senate leadership just a few minutes ago. And he also had a few more meetings before he leaves Washington. But the big meeting everyone was anticipating was the first meeting of the day for him. That was the meeting with the House speaker, Paul Ryan. The pair released a joint statement saying, among other things, this. There is a great opportunity to unify our party and win this fall and we are totally committed to working together to achieve that goal. Later the speaker, Paul Ryan, addressed the media. [Rep. Paul Ryan , U.s. Speaker Of The House:] I was very encouraged with what I heard from Donald Trump today. I do believe that we are now planting the seeds to get ourselves unified, to bridge the gaps and differences. And so, from here, we're going to go deeper into the policy areas to see where that common ground is and how we can make sure that we are operating off these same core principles. And so, yes, I am this is our first meeting. I was very encouraged with this meeting. But this is a process. It takes as little time. You don't put it together in 45 minutes. So, that is why we had, like I said, a very good start to a process on how we unify. [Blitzer:] Trump also met with the entire House Republican leadership team. Later, he sat down with Senate Republicans to talk policy and politics. He's at a Washington, D.C. law firm right now having yet more meetings before he heads back, presumably, to New York. Let's talk about all the day's events so far, the impact they could have on the presidential race and the impact on Republicans, in general. Jim Acosta is our Senior White House Correspondent. Dana Bash is our Chief Political Correspondent. Manu Raju is our Senior Political Reporter. Dana, you know Capitol Hill obviously very well. Unity seems to be the message of the day the Republicans are pushing. But then, again, I didn't hear a formal endorsement from Paul Ryan of Donald Trump. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] You didn't hear it because there wasn't an endorsement. That was abundantly clear that Paul Ryan was not ready to do that. But unity is the word of the day and I think you have to really not be listening at all to get that because it's some form of that word, unite or unify, has been coming out of the mouth of everybody across the board. But, still, Paul Ryan's office at least just sent out an interesting tweet with the photo of him with school girls and the caption said, my most important meeting of the day. Now, the first at first blush, it's was he throwing some shade Donald Trump's way? You know, I haven't heard back from his office, but, you know, sort of knowing Paul Ryan and maybe his team, I think they are trying to have a little bit of fun with us that there was, obviously, a big spectacle around his meeting with Donald Trump, and he's trying to kind of put things in perspective. But about that meeting, the to me, one of the most interesting parts of it was the very first hour at the Republican National Committee with Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, with Reince Priebus, the RNC Chair, and with Donald Trump. The three of them just met, no staff, no one else in the room, I'm told. And afterwards, I spoke to the RNC chair, asked him about it. Here is part of our conversation. [Reince Priebus, Chair, Republican National Committee:] It was a private meeting in my office. And I'm not going to talk about the specifics other than to say things were discussed that were specific. It was a cooperative meeting. It was mutually, I think, cooperative and positive. And that's the only way to describe it. [Bash:] Do you feel like a couple's therapist? [Priebus:] No. You know what? You wouldn't say that you were in the room. It was very it was great. And I think that it had very good chemistry between the two of them. [Bash:] Good chemistry, Wolf. You know that both men you've interviewed them both. I can't imagine two more different individuals. Still, I am told, by sources familiar with the first meeting and more importantly perhaps the second meeting of the day which was not just Ryan but also other members of his House Republican leadership team, that Ryan made clear in a non-combative, sort of very congenial tone that Ryan believes that it is up to Trump, as the presumptive nominee, to help unite the party. That it is not united. That even though he did get millions of voters and votes, a lot of people voted against him. And that you just heard Paul Ryan in that sound bite, talking about the fact that he won't explain what the specifics were but that they did talk specifics. My understanding is that one of those issues was something very near and dear to Paul Ryan's heart which is the budget. Had to figure out how to begin to balance the budget. And, you know, Ryan's whole M.O. since he has really been here has been to deal with Medicare and Social Security, something that Donald Trump has been a little bit more standoffish on. I'm told that that was part of the conversation of specifics Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Dana, stand by. Jim Acosta, what are you hearing from the Senate side on their meeting with Donald Trump, Senate Republican leaders? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Well, keep in mind, Wolf, as Dana was just talking about, you know, the bridge to cross for Donald Trump with these Senate leaders is not as far and as wide as it is with Paul Ryan. Mitch McConnell is, at this point, endorsing Donald Trump. It's a muted endorsement. It's a soft endorsement. It's an endorsement nonetheless. And so, you know, Donald Trump does not have the same problems over on the Senate side as he does on the House. But I will tell you, from talking to people inside the Trump campaign, they're pretty pleased about how this meeting went with Paul Ryan. I just talked to a Trump aid a few moments ago who said, you know what? We did not expect Paul Ryan to be on board with an endorsement today. And in the words of one aid, we think we're going to get him. And they feel like, hey, Paul Ryan is not the type of leader who is just going to jump on board on day one. But, in the words of this one aid, that's what makes Paul Ryan a good speaker. So, Wolf, when you're hearing all of the right things being said around something as contentious, potentially, as this, it has to lead you to conclude that they're going to get there eventually. What Speaker Ryan had to say, during that press conference, had to have been very, very promising to the ears of Donald Trump and the Trump campaign. This is a speaker who wants to unify the party. And Donald Trump, even though he spent a good portion of primary process breaking the Republican Party into several different pieces, they I think they understand, inside the Trump campaign, that they have to start putting those pieces together. And today, this Capitol Hill primary, Paul Ryan primary, whatever you want to call it, was a crucial part of it. But at this point, Wolf, they are feeling very good inside the Trump campaign about how this day has gone so far Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, so far, it looks like both sides really stressing the positive. Manu, we saw some protesters earlier this morning when Trump first arrived here in Washington with the speaker. He spoke about be this being the beginning of the process. How many more meetings should we anticipate before the speaker of the House, the Republican leader there, backs Donald Trump formally, endorses him? [Manu Raju, Cnn Political Reporter:] Well, I think there's going to be a lot of conversations but I'm not sure how many more face-to-face meetings that we can expect. But this is what the speaker just described as a beginning of the process. That's something that he told House Republicans yesterday, too, that today's meeting certainly would not end things. It would just start to begin the discussion. And why that's significant is because the speaker is actually crafting an election year agenda, something that he wants House Republicans to campaign on as they face potentially tough reelection races. As we know, 30 seats need to flip for the Democrats to keep control or to retake control of the House. Speaker Ryan wants to give something for those guys to run on. But the problem is that a number of those key policy items actually conflict with Donald Trump. And Donald and they discussed those issues, as Dana mentioned earlier, in that in this meeting. But Paul Ryan wanted to down play the fact that there actually a disagreement among over some key, key issues. What was interesting was that these discussions are going to continue to take place, Wolf, are going to be about policy, about the agenda. So, we can see, perhaps, some Trump influence in this House Republican agenda that their members will eventually campaign on Wolf. [Blitzer:] And, Manu, we just heard the Republican the majority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, say it was a very constructive, positive very good, very constructive meeting. Not a surprise. Mitch McConnell, he's on board more so than the speaker of the House, right? [Raju:] That's right. He actually said earlier this week that he thinks that Trump could be very competitive in swing states. So, clearly, that poll, the Quinnipiac poll, we saw earlier this week as sort of competitive in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, that went a long way to alleviate concerns among Senate Republican leaders Wolf. [Blitzer:] And you see reporters on the sidewalks here in Washington, D.C. outside the law firm. Donald Trump is inside. They're, obviously, hoping when he comes outside to that van, he will maybe stop and talk. We'll, of course, have coverage of that if that happens. Guys, stand by. Productive and encouraging, that's how Paul Ryan describes his meeting with Donald Trump. But he's also saying uniting the party is process that will take time. Let's discuss what's going on. Joining us now, our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger and CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston. Gloria, what is this effort by Trump and Ryan to find common ground mean for the future of the Republican Party? How crucial is it for the party to unify right now? [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Look, I think it's very crucial and it's in both of their self-interests, honestly. I think Donald Trump doesn't want to get in a big fight with Paul Ryan or the Republican leaders. It's not as if his supporters really care very much about what the establishment thinks on Capitol Hill. But it's in his own self-interest to work with them, not only on raising money but it's also in his interest to work with them because he wants to keep Republican control of the Congress if he were to get elected. So, what Paul Ryan is looking for is and he kept referring it today over and over again was this notion of common ground, core principles. Right? Because, as he pointed out, he and Donald Trump have an awful lot of differences when it comes to specific issues. But core principles, which he pointed out, limited government, OK? They all agree on that. The Constitution. I guess they all agree on that. Separation of powers. They all agree that they believe Barack Obama has overused his executive authority, particularly when it comes to the issue of immigration, for example. They are all pro-life, he says. So, he's trying to find a way, Wolf, to get to yes with Donald Trump. And if it's got to be broad areas of agreement, then it'll be broad areas of agreement. But you want to give your party something that they can all run on and say, look, this is where we all agree as a party, and then seem united at least in the broad sense. [Blitzer:] And, Mark, the stakes for both of these men, Paul Ryan, Donald Trump, obviously enormous right now. But from Paul Ryan's perspective, he's got to worry. Obviously he wants to make sure that there's a Republican president, but he also wants to make sure that there's a Republican majority in the [Borger:] Sure. [Blitzer:] House of Representatives. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Right. And that's his number one job. And, you know, a couple of things here, Wolf. First of all, you know, the bottom line is that Paul Ryan became the speaker of the House on his own terms. He was drafted into it, grudgingly. He didn't seem to necessarily want the job, perhaps, because he, himself, wants to run for president in 2020 and that's a pretty difficult position to run for president from. But when it comes to Donald Trump, by not capitulating, Paul Ryan is setting the tone for his leadership for the House of Representatives. You know, we're focusing a lot on Donald Trump and how Trump is setting the tone. Well, Paul Ryan is doing the exact same thing. Now, talking to senior Trump advisers, they knew, too, coming out of today, there would be no endorsement. And, in many ways, this works to both Paul Ryan [Borger:] Right. ' [Preston:] and Donald Trump's advantage. And the reason being is that Donald Trump still looks like he's not part of the establishment, OK, even though he is. He's he will be the nominee. And Paul Ryan is able to show that he is not going to fall over for Donald Trump or for anyone else, at the same time, creating a safe haven for those candidates that are Republicans that are afraid to align themselves with Donald Trump. And while there are going to be differences on policy issues, Wolf, there certainly will be, they're not going to agree on all issues, I think Paul Ryan's biggest concern is Donald Trump going out and saying something outrageous that Paul Ryan just cannot accept and, perhaps, morally doesn't even agree with and has to take a step back. [Inaudible.] [Borger:] Wolf, what was also interesting to me today was you didn't see an orchestrated joint photo-op, right, with Trump and Ryan together. They each went their separate ways. Trump had a separate meeting over in the Senate side. Ryan held his press conference. I'm sure we'll hear from Trump at some point. But, you know, they didn't go out of their way to, kind of, come out with their hands up together and say how we're all unified. Because I don't think it would have been believable, at this point. And, perhaps, not in either of their self-interests, at this point. They have to show that this is a real trying to come together around some core principles. So, I don't think they were ready to do that photo-op today. Maybe sometime down in the future, [Blitzer:] Yes. [Borger:] but it didn't happen today. [Blitzer:] We'll see if they, eventually, release a photograph from inside that meeting, [Borger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] not only Trump and Paul Ryan, but Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee who helped put that meeting together. All right, guys, stand by. I want to show our viewers some live pictures we're getting in from Washington right now. This is outside the law firm where Donald Trump is continuing some meetings inside. He's at a series of [John King, Cnn Host, "inside Politics":] OK, it's an issue and it may be an issue in California, but for Jeb Bush to be stuck in the quick sand. I am convinced anchor baby could become the self- support of 2016. Once Mitt Romney went there in the campaign four years ago, it was over with Latino voters. [Ashley Parker, "the New York Times":] Right, I mean, it certainly was and here's the thing, Jeb Bush is a self-described policy wonk and a self-described nerd ball and so he wants to be talking about the policy and Trump has clearly gotten Jeb Bush and all the other Republicans off their game, and of course, this was some sort of make this about language and rhetoric. And when you're trying to substitute one group with another group, he is now offended, you're simply not winning regardless if you have very good policy that a lot of immigration activists agree with as Jeb does. [King:] I think Mr. Trump is under the governor's skin, fair to say? [Robert Costa, "the Washington Post":] He is. I spoke to Trump yesterday. He just continues to slam Bush. And he loves it. I said are you going to stop it ever? He said, probably not and on immigration especially this has put the Republican Party in a tough position. The base loves what Trump is saying on immigration. Whether it plays in a general election, who knows? [King:] Right, but the calendar has been changed, those southern states are going to be a lot more important this time. [Costa:] Even if you don't get a big bounce out of those early February caucuses and primaries, March 1st, nine states, south. [King:] You mentioned he says he may not stop going after Governor Bush, someone needs to help me understand why he thinks it's in his benefit, to his benefit to keep going after Megyn Kelly. Megyn Kelly was on vacation. Donald Trump tweeting out last night at Megyn Kelly, "Must have had a terrible vacation. She is really off her game. Was afraid to confront Dr. Cornel West. No clue on immigration." That was about the "Kelly File" last night. Later he tweets, "I like the "Kelly File" much better without Megyn Kelly. Maybe she could take another 11-day unscheduled vacation" so two sort of gratuitous shots at her there. What I think is a bigger problem. He then again re-tweeted a tweet where somebody called her a bimbo. He did that right after the Fox debate when he had the confrontation with her and he does it again last night. No rules apply to Donald Trump, but I cannot see how that is in his interest. [Parket:] I was very stunned to see those tweets as well. Donald Trump is in a weird way a post Fox News candidate, a post everything candidate. The rules of traditional politics do not apply. You cannot go to war with Fox News. You try to get booked on all of their shows, right? And he's doing the exact opposite and crowd loves him for it. [Costa:] I was at a focus group last night of Trump supporters in Virginia and the one thing these were all Trump supporters, the one thing that really turned them off, Trump's comments about women. He should be paying attention to the voters. It's not acceptable if you're a presidential candidate. [King:] Interesting point. We'll see how this plays out. Betsy Klein sent out a note saying she was talking to a Trump supporter who said, as a parent, it makes me cringe, some of the stuff he puts out on Twitter. Ashley, Robert, thanks for coming in. Alisyn, it's a very interesting. We'll see how the Jeb-Trump thing I think is going to be. We have that CNN debate coming up in just a few weeks. I think the Jeb-Trump thing is going to be the biggest head- butt. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] The thing to watch. All right, we look forward to that debate, September 16th. John, thanks so much. Next, we speak exclusively with Christopher Norman. He is the man who helped those three Americans bring down a terror suspect in France. He tells us his incredible story on board that train. He is next. [Harlow:] The Olympic Games and another golden moment for Usain Bolt, sprinting to victory in the 200-meter race. Today, the world's fastest man hits the track again. CNN's sports anchor Coy Wire live in Rio with more. I explained to Alisyn in the break what a triple-triple is. I didn't, because I really don't know. Coy? [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Anchor:] Poppy, I got you covered. We'll get to it. But bolt putting a huge exclamation point at the end of his final individual event of his Olympic career. Greatness has been his aim. He said after the race he wants to be among the greatest, Ali and Pele after the games. He wins his eighth career gold medal yesterday, absolutely kicking up dust in the 200 meters. It's his second gold here in Rio. If he and his team win the 4 4x100-meter relay today, that would give Bolt, Poppy, unprecedented triple-triple, winning the 100, 200 and 4x100 meter events in three consecutive Olympic Games, fastest man ever. All right. Team USA's Ashton Eaton matched an Olympic record score, once again claiming the title of world's greatest athlete. Gold in the decathlon for the second consecutive Olympic Games, becoming just the third man to ever do so. And talk about a power couple. Ashton's wife Brianne competes for Canada. She took bronze in the heptathlon here in Rio. Ashton says he gets way more nervous watching her compete than when he competes himself. But after a huge scare, the U.S. women's 4x100-meter relay team getting a second chance and running away with it. They dropped their baton in their morning heat yesterday, get disqualified, but they appealed because they were bumped by a Brazilian athlete. They were allowed to run again, this time alone on the track. They do qualify for today's final where they are one of the favorites to win. NEW DAY medal count, let's go. USA rolling, hitting the 100 mark in overall medals. China and Great Britain in second and third respectively. A couple of things to look forward today, Poppy. U.S. men's basketball have their hands full in the semis today with Spain and we also have that 4x100-meter relay which will likely be Usain Bolt's final race in his Olympic career. [Harlow:] Triple-triple all the way. Coy Wire, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Stay with us because coming up in our next hour here, Team USA gymnastics superstar Simone Biles live with us right here. [Camerota:] I now understand it perfectly. Thank you very much for that, to you and to coy. All right. We have to talk about this story that has confused so many people, $400 million cash flown to Iran on the day American hostages are released. The State Department says that's not ransom. So what was it? Our security experts break that down next. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Can't possibly understand their anger. But he said, you know, in the past, presidents learn how to channel that anger and turn it into something positive, useful, productive. And he said Trump is directing our anger for, quote, "less than noble purposes," and talks about creating scapegoats, and talks about Muslims and the rest. And so I think he addressed it in the way that he could without getting into a longer speech about it, but I think he did, at least, acknowledge what is going on out there and making it very clear that you have plenty of other candidates out there, if you're angry, who you can vote for. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] You know, Bakari Sellers, it was surgical, it was prosecutorial. He was unprecedented. It is something we have not seen in this way, in this campaign to date. There were no jokes about small hands here. This was deadly serious. The question is, Bakari, is it too late? [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Commentator:] Well, I think it is too late. I thought part of the speech was a white paper somewhat enveloped in a campaign speech. I thought it was very sharp on policy and contrast. But to Gloria's point, I mean he did talk about this underlying fear. And I just think that the Republican elite the Republican establishment are truly missing who these Republican voters are that are coming out in droves voting for Donald Trump. Donald Trump has proven to be George Wallace on steroids. And the Republican Party has absolutely no way to handle what is going on with this Trump phenomenon. I think Mitt Romney was the was it was awful timing. I think Mitt Romney was an awful messenger. But if you step back for a moment, what we just saw in American political history is beyond theater. I mean it was it was amazing to watch this type of level-headed, concise takedown of the frontrunner. But what we're also going to see, and I think David Chalian can prove this point to be true, is Donald Trump is going to go up four or five points in the polls because it just misreads what's going on out there at the polls every single day. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] And, Bakari, interesting you bring up polls because that's also something that Mitt Romney addressed in his speech in part, saying that Trump relishes any poll that reflects what he thinks of himself. But polls are also saying that he will lose to Hillary Clinton. Barry, I want you to weigh in on that element because just look at the latest CNN poll. It does CNN poll in a head-to-head with Hillary, Donald Trump loses to Hillary, where the other candidates would not. [Barry Bennett:] Yes, but you go back two weeks and you get a different result. I mean, you know, polls are snapshots in time. [Bolduan:] But as everything changes day to day here. [Bennett:] Exactly. So I don't know what the polls are going to be tomorrow. I think this is going to be a very competitive race. I think the Clintons have even said that. Both sides this is going to be a big election on the direction of our country. If you believe Washington is doing everything right and they can really help you, then you can vote for the Clintons. If you think we should try a different direction, maybe even burn it to the ground, then let's go in a different direction. [Berman:] All right, Gloria Borger, David Chalian, Dana Bash, Barry Bennett, Bakari Sellers, Ryan Williams, who was with us before, our thanks to all of you for being part of what is truly an extraordinary moment in a campaign that just keeps getting more wild by the moment. [Bolduan:] Keeps on getting exactly what it's getting. I mean it gets wilder and wilder. Our special coverage of this special moment in American politics continues with Ashleigh Banfield right after this. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW. If anyone watching Donald Trump's scorched earth drive to the GOP presidential nomination was wondering, what do you think Mitt Romney thinks about all of this, well, now we know. In the latest bizarre upending of conventional politics, the 2012 Republican nominee just gave a speech, just wrapped it up, excoriating the likely 2016 nominee. Donald Trump tried to beat Romney to the punch with a series of overnight tweets, including this one, "failed candidate Mitt Romney, who ran one of the worst races in presidential history, is working with the establishment to bury a big "R," Republican win." I should also point out that in 2012, candidate Romney gratefully accepted the endorsement of businessman Trump. We're going to get to that in just a moment. But first, what may go down as the ultimate death knell for Ronald Reagan's legendary commandment that Republicans not speak ill of one another. Here, for you, Mitt Romney at the University of Utah. [Mitt Romney , 2012 Gop Presidential Nominee:] Now, Donald Trump tells us he is very, very smart. I'm afraid that when it comes to foreign policy, he is very, very not smart. Now, I'm far from the first to conclude that Donald Trump lacks the temperament to be president. After all, this is an individual who mocked a disabled reporter, who attributed a reporter's questions to her menstrual cycle, who mocked a brilliant rival who happened to be a woman due to her appearance, who bragged about his marital affairs, and who laces his public speeches with vulgarity. Donald Trump says he admires Vladimir Putin. At the same time, he's called George W. Bush a liar. That is a twisted example of evil trumping good. There's a dark irony in his boasts of his sexual exploits during the Vietnam War, while at the same time John McCain, whom he has mocked, was imprisoned and tortured. Dishonesty is Donald Trump's hallmark. He claimed that he had spoken clearly and boldly against going into Iraq. Wrong. He spoke in favor of invading Iraq. He said he saw thousands of Muslims in New Jersey celebrating 911. Wrong. He saw no such thing. He imagined it. He's not of the temperament of the kind of stable, thoughtful person we need as leader. His imagination must not be married to real power. The president of the United States has long been the leader of the free world. The president and, yes, even the nominees of the country's great parties helped define America to billions of people around the world. All of them bear the responsibility of being an example for our children and our grandchildren. Think of Donald Trump's personal qualities, the bullying, the greed, the showing off, the misogyny, the absurd third grade theatrics. You know, we've long referred to him as "The Donald." He's the only person in the entire country to whom we have added an article before his name and it wasn't because he had attributes we admired. [Banfield:] And that, my friends, was just a very small portion of what turned out to be a scathing and somewhat compendious amalgamation of everything that people have said they don't like about Donald Trump in the last several months. But there are plenty of people who have said the exact opposite. And while Mitt Romney was laying into Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner was on his plane flying to Portland, Maine. And Romney hinted at the response that he most certainly is expecting from Donald Trump once that Twitter gets active again. In the meantime, I want to bring in Jeff DeWit, who is Arizona's state treasurer, and a Donald Trump supporter. And also Trump supporter Barry Bennett, who was formerly Ben Carson's campaign manager. Gentlemen, start your engines. I am so glad that you're here. Before I even ask you to react to some of the things that you have just heard, I also want to bring in this voice, because it's a very important voice. Mitt Romney mentioned him by name. It's John McCain, who is the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee. He released this statement. I'm just going to have to read it live for you as I get it. John McCain says, "I share the concerns about Donald Trump that my friend and former Republican nominee Mitt Romney described in his speech today. I would also echo the many concerns about Mr. Trump's uninformed and indeed dangerous statements on national security issues that have been raised by 65 Republican defense and foreign policy leaders." He went on to say, "I want Republican voters to play close attention to what our party's most respected and knowledgeable leaders and national security experts are saying about Mr. Trump and to think long and hard about who they want to be our next commander in chief and leader of the free world." If I can, Mr. DeWit, I'll begin with you. I understand that the criticism that so many of Trump's supporters have about all the things that Mitt Romney laid out in his speech. They feel that Mitt Romney may be deaf to the things that they find important. But can you argue with what John McCain has just said? [Jeff Dewit, Trump Supporter:] I'm sorry, was that for me? [Banfield:] Yes, go ahead, Mr. DeWit. [Dewit:] Oh, yes. So instead of now just one failed presidential candidate attacking Mr. Trump, now we have the last two failed establishment Republican candidates attracting Mr. Trump. Yes, I argue with everything. These two gentlemen just don't get it. They don't see what's going on. And I'll give you another take on this. What it looks like is that when you have Mitt Romney get up there and say, OK, vote for Cruz in the states he can win, vote for Rubio in the states that he can win. What he's doing is trying to keep Donald Trump from getting the number of delegates he needs for the nomination and setting up a brokered convention. But we know that the GOP is abandoning Marco Rubio right now and that they don't want Ted Cruz. What I think we just saw was Mitt Romney throwing his hat in the ring saying, hey, if we broker the convention, here I am, so that he can go on and lose again. We can't keep doing this. That's why there's so many people standing up, rising up right now and why Donald Trump is getting more votes, just him, getting more votes than the entire amount of people [Banfield:] OK. [Dewit:] That turned out in some states before is because we don't want these failed establishment candidates and policies again. We want something different. [Banfield:] So [Dewit:] And that's what Donald Trump brings together. [Banfield:] Barry Bennett, look, Jeff DeWit makes a very good point. Maybe these are two failed Republican presidential wannabes who are saying these things and these criticisms. But I'm going to go back at this very topic because a lot of people are bringing up foreign policy and temperament and stability, which was exactly what Mitt Romney just said. And I'm not going to reiterate what they said, I'm just going to list a few other names that are sacred to a lot of Republicans, Tea Party Republicans, neocons, sacred names in foreign policy and foreign affairs. Michael Chertoff, the second director of Homeland Security under George Bush, Robert Kagan, the leader of the neocon movement and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Eric Edelman, the former undersecretary of defense under Bush 41, Dr. Eliot Cohen, a counselor at the State Department from '07 to '08, Bryan McGrath, managing director for defense consultancy. They all said the same thing. They are very worried about a man they say is completely inept when it comes to the very critical issues of America's safety. It's not just Mitt Romney. It's not just John McCain. It's the thinkers that people who know best have trusted for a very long time. Can you react to that, Barry Bennett? [Barry Bennett, Former Campaign Manager For Ben Carson:] Yes, I mean, they are the establishment in the industry, right, I mean, by their very nature. They are the neocons are very upset that they might not have any power in a Trump administration. You know, I'm sorry. He doesn't think like they do. So [Banfield:] But doesn't doesn't the establishment also you have to concede that establishment also offers experience and depths and knowledge, right? [Bennett:] Yes, but there are there are more than 70 experts on foreign policy in America. You know, you have got a list of 70 who are all Washingtonians who are part of the establishment who can't wait to be part of the next administration and they know that that's not going to be part of the Trump administration. You know, it's it's self- importance, if you will. Listen, what we saw today, one I think was, Mitt Romney hit a new low. I mean I have not seen any former presidential candidate or former banner carrier for our party ever go quite that low, which is sad. But what is really happening is, the battle lines are being drawn, right? The establishment understands they can't win the nomination. So now they're going to try to steal it. [Banfield:] Jeff DeWit, when [Bennett:] They're going to try to stop Donald Trump any way they can in a brokered convention. [Banfield:] OK, Jeff DeWit, when Barry Bennett says that Mitt Romney just hit a new low, let me ask you about how low things are going to go, because by all accounts Mitt Romney's speech today is the beginning of an avalanche, not just from Mitt Romney, but of a lot of people who are going to come into his wake and do the very same thing and hammer away at all of the things that he said were the weak spots of Donald Trump. And then it won't just be Republicans who do that. It's possibly the Democrats as well with the three-prong attempt that Hillary Clinton apparently has cooking in the hopper. Don't you think that this is the beginning of a lot of lows, Barry Bennett? [Bennett:] Yes, I do. Unfortunately [Dewit:] Well, I agree. It [Banfield:] Sorry. [Dewit:] I agree that Mitt Mitt Romney [Banfield:] I beg your pardon, Jeff DeWit. I'm sorry. Go ahead. [Dewit:] Yes. I agree that Mitt Romney has hit a very new low for himself, and I think he's destroying his political brand right now. I don't know that many other people are going to come out because I think what you're going to see is a backlash against Mitt Romney on this because he's so off the mark. And, honestly, what can him or anybody else, including the Democrats, say in a negative fashion about Donald Trump that hasn't already been a charged level against him already? We've seen all the attacks, we've seen all the talking points and they all are off the mark and they don't go anywhere. So Donald Trump is one of the most successful business people our country has ever produced. We all know that. And trying to say, oh, we had this failure or this thing didn't go as planned, then if by that math, we would consider Thomas Edison a failure. So here's a man that created the phonograph, the light bulb, the moving picture camera, had over 1,000 patents, and yet one of his most famous quotes is, "I don't have failures, I just 10,000 things that just didn't work." So that's Donald Trump is a very, very successful man and that's what we want in our country. [Banfield:] Jeff DeWit [Dewit:] We've got to get it out of the hands of the political establishment and back into people that know what they're doing. And that's what Donald Trump represents. [Banfield:] You you echo you echo millions of voices that are out there without question. We see them daily at those rallies and we see those who stand behind him endorsing him as well. Jeff DeWit, thank you. Barry Bennett, thank you to you, as well. [Dewit:] Thanks, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] All important voices and there is one voice, not only important right now, but extraordinarily loud. And that is Donald Trump himself. So we are waiting to hear from The Donald. He is going to be speaking at a campaign rally in Portland, Maine. In fact, we're counting down the minutes to that at this point. It's scheduled for 1:30. It could be a little early. It could be a little late. You just never know. This campaign has been through the looking glass. We're going to bring it to you live as it happens. And our breaking news, Mitt Romney, former GOP presidential candidate in 2012, just giving I think it's fair to say one of the most scathing assessments of the current GOP presidential frontrunner, Donald Trump, to date in this season. But will this speech hit a mark, or will this make no difference whatsoever? When you quote John Adams, it should be important, but will it? Digging deeper, next. So just moments ago, presidential candidate John Kasich took to the Twitter and gave his response to Mitt Romney's remarkable speech, I can only say. An awesome in terms of just how powerful, not people who would say awesome as in "good," but certainly powerful. This is what Kasich tweeted just moments ago. "Well-said, Mitt Romney. John." And look at the quote down below. A picture of the Oval Office. "The one who works here should make us proud." I think you can expect there's going to be a lot of reaction like this on Twitter, and there will be the opposite. I'm not sure how the scales will play out on that one. My colleague Jim Acosta joins me live now from Salt Lake City. CNN Politics executive editor Mark Preston is live in Washington. And joining me live here on the set is CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger. First to you, Jim Acosta. Things are quieter in the hall where you are now. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Yes. [Banfield:] But you could have heard a pin drop, I swear, off the top of that speech. [Acosta:] That's right. [Banfield:] And then I wasn't sure how to assess the audience reaction afterwards. Just take me there. [Acosta:] Yes, Ashleigh, I mean this was a very enthusiastic reception for Mitt Romney. You know, we are in the city where he saved the Salt Lake City Olympics. So, you know, this is a friendly crowd here. I will say, after the speech was over, one thing that I took note of is that Mitt Romney worked the front of this audience here like it was a presidential campaign event rope line. You know, he was shaking hands, he was looking like a presidential contender all over again. Of course, if you talked to sources close to Mitt Romney, they say this is not about him jumping into the race for president, although we could get into the scenarios about a contested convention later on this summer. That we won't get into right now. But, Ashleigh, I think what we just witnessed is the beginning of the splintering potentially of the Republican Party. Mitt Romney did what no other Republican establishment candidate has done up until this point, and that is to deliver a cool, calm, collected blistering of Donald Trump and everything that he stands for. The problem, though, for Mitt Romney and the Republican establishment is and there are a couple of things. One is, it may have come too late. Donald Trump may be so far ahead that he may have this Republican nomination locked up. We'll have to see what the impact of this kind of speech will be on the poll numbers. The second thing is, is that, you know, you have to account for Donald Trump's crowd, his audience. I mean we go to these events every day. He is bringing in five, ten, sometimes 15,000 people into these auditoriums and arenas around the country. There is obviously an appetite inside the Republican Party for what Donald Trump has to say, no matter what Mitt Romney has to say about that. And the other thing that was left unsaid in the speech, and it was, as you said, it was scathing, it was blistering, it was an indictment of Donald Trump. But Mitt Romney did not talk about the fact that he sought Donald Trump's endorsement four years ago. These two men were standing side by side. [Banfield:] Yes. [Acosta:] Obviously now they're on other ends of the Republican Party. And it may be a sneak preview of coming attractions if this party breaks apart into a nasty fore fight at the convention later on this summer, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Which, Jim Acosta, is exactly why I used the word "awesome." I don't use the word "awesome" like teenagers do as in "great." I use it as in "jaw-dropping," because four years is a very short time ago. [Acosta:] Yes. [Banfield:] To see such an incredible change of pace for both of these two men. So hold that thought for a second. Mark Preston, if you could step in here for a moment. Hearing that list of all of the complaints that Mitt Romney has about Donald Trump, and there are many people who agree with them. There are just as many who do not. I want to speak to the just as many who do not. Is Mitt Romney completely tone deaf to the Trump supporters who say, we don't care about your list. We don't care about all those things that you perfectly just had numbered in your spreadsheet. We care about the straight shooter who doesn't do things the way they've always been done, which is failing us. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Right. And, Ashleigh, a couple things here. One is, Mitt Romney wasn't speaking to those voters when he took that lectern today. What he was speaking to were the voters on the edge, the ones who look at Trump and say he's a fighter for the Republican Party, but they're not quite sure if they can vote for him. Voters who are from the industrial Midwest, such as Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, even Indiana, states that have yet to vote, weigh in on this election. A couple things, though, that I think we need to take a step back and think about here. For all the criticism that Mitt Romney lobbed at Donald Trump today, probably the most striking was is that he questioned his stability to be the president of the United States. Code word, he questioned his stability to be in charge of the nuclear codes. I think that is an incredible thing to say about somebody, and that's what Mitt Romney seemed to be telegraphing today. In addition to that, we have to look at what Barry Bennett had said earlier, that he was surprised that Mitt Romney would do this. Barry Bennett, the supporter of Donald Trump. Why are we surprised? Donald Trump has been very critical of Mitt Romney. Donald Trump has been very critical of the 2008 presidential nominee John McCain. John McCain came out seconds after that speech was finished. He was critical of Donald Trump. George W. Bush, the last Republican president, was also critical of Donald Trump. We should not be surprised by this at all. So what we should be surprised about, though, is where the direction of the Republican Party is going to go. To Jim's point, there is going to be a splintering. The question is, will it be something that will be so devastating to the Republican Party it will take years to fix, or will this just be another bump in the road in politics as we normally see. [Banfield:] Yes, that that thing you just mentioned, stability was book-ended by temperament and suitability. He was nailing that towards the end of the speech, Mark. Gloria Borger, I want you to come in on this notion that there is a ton of chatter already. It was instantaneous about [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Yes. [Banfield:] This looks like a guy who's throwing his hat in the ring. Plenty of your sources, plenty of people all throughout the Republican Party have thrown water on that. Are they still throwing water on that? Is there another name that may be behind the subtext [Borger:] Yes. [Banfield:] Is getting thrown into the ring? [Borger:] I think that you have to take Mitt Romney at his word. He had a chance to run. He met with Jeb Bush, if you'll recall, earlier on in this process. He was really thinking about running again. And he decided not to. So I don't think Mitt Romney is going to be a candidate for president. What you're talking about is a contested convention. And whether Mitt Romney at some point would throw his hat in the ring. I think Mitt Romney would rather see one of the candidates who are running win in that contested convention, or his favorite son, who will always be Paul Ryan, the man he chose to be his junior partner when he was running [Banfield:] Say that name again, the guy who was just on Capitol Hill saying, we won't have any of this. [Borger:] Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House, would be is a tremendous favorite of Mitt Romney's. But I think what the speech Romney gave today, I have to tell you, he ran for president twice, was the nominee once. Whether he will drive people to vote for Donald Trump or not as a result of this speech, I think this is probably the most memorable speech of his long political career. We don't hear speeches like this very much. I think it was something he's been chomping at the bit to say. Yes, he went and kissed Donald Trump's ring when he was running for the presidency last time. A lot has changed. And it would have been interesting for me to hear what has changed in this speech. He did not address that. But I think it was one of these moments in American political history when you see somebody who is involved in politics, has been a public servant, cares deeply about his country, who is not a candidate come out and say and with an audience, with a natural audience, right? [Banfield:] Yes. [Borger:] W. can't give this speech, his brother just ran for the presidency and failed. Come out and give this speech and say, this is what I believe from the bottom of my heart. [Banfield:] And I've got no, you know, skin in the game at this point. [Borger:] I've got no dog in this fight. [Banfield:] Yes. [Borger:] Now, you can believe him or not believe him, Ashleigh, like, you know, I could be completely wrong, right? But I don't think I am here. So that gives him a certain amount of credibility. And he, you know, he didn't speak for a very long time to the anger of the Republican voters, which we see every day. [Banfield:] Nobody did. No one did. [Borger:] He did he said, use it to a different purpose. Don't use it to have scapegoats, right? But I do think we ought to sort of stop and take note of this because we don't see it very often in American politics. Ronald Reagan, in 1964, gave a speech for Barry Goldwater in the middle of the election, a time for choosing, which Romney referenced, which was a speech in nature kind of similar to this. [Banfield:] I think I know the answer to this, but I'm just going to get you to say it anyway. Because of your acumen and your platform, the fuel that this will provide to Donald Trump [Borger:] Absolutely. [Banfield:] In about eight hours, when that debate begins, between those candidates, what will the dynamic be, a, with him with what's happened and with the others on that stage? [Borger:] Well, I think it depends on the questions, obviously. It depends on the others on the stage. But Romney was sort of clever. He did a little pre-buttle today in his speech and said, just watch how Donald Trump responds to my attacks. See how he how he responds. And that's what we'll have to watch tonight at the debate. And watch how the other candidates respond to what Romney said today. [Banfield:] Yes, I have a feeling that the transcription services are already delivering those copies digitally to the [Borger:] Well, we we already heard Kasich, right? [Banfield:] Right. Right. The tweets have already started. I should remind you, if you just joined us, that Donald Trump is in the air. I don't know if he's got wi-fi on Trump force one, but that's maybe why we haven't had the tweet yet as a response to what Mitt Romney has laid out. Again, one of the more [Quest:] The Irish cabinet is to meet again on Friday to decide whether to appeal against the EU's ruling on Apple's tax bill. Whatever happens, Apple says it is committed to its headquarters in the city of Cork, from where CNN's Phil Black sent this dispatch. [Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] Sprawling, shiny, and still growing. This is Apple's Cork campus. A hub for almost 5,000 jobs, stretching between one of the city's more deprived neighborhoods and some of Ireland's famous green pastures beyond. Our camera was invited in to see what Apple was built here and what's still to come. A new wing will soon rise above this earth, accommodating another 1,000 workers. We were allowed to see the grounds. We were not allowed to talk to anyone about the EU's order for Apple to pay EUR 13 billion in taxes, said to have been avoided through a deal with the Irish government. But this tour carries a not very subtle message, like the image of its founder, Steve Jobs, visiting the company's original operation on this site more than 35 years ago. Apple's message, all of this has nothing to do with tax dodging, rather it's proof that Apple is committed to Ireland, that it's been here for decades, investing, changing people's lives. Here in Cork, it is very hard to find people who disagree with that. On the streets of the city, there is an overwhelming sense of defiance. Many here believe the EU has overstepped, and they credit Apple with first transforming Cork, and later helping the city recover from the dark days of the 2008 financial crisis. Pat O'Connell has been selling fish here since the '60s. He says many of his customers work for Apple. [Pat O-connell, Fish Merchant In Cork, Ireland:] It's a phenomenal investment. It is now a huge part of Cork. Without Apple through this recession, I don't think Cork would have survived as well as it did. We had two things which saved us, one was Apple, the other was our pharmaceutical industry. Both very much foreign direct investment. [Black:] Lord Mayor Des Cahill tells me Apple's investment encouraged other multinationals to invest in the region. [Des Cahill, Lord Mayor, Cork, Ireland:] We have a lot of the top brands here, Apple, Pfizer, we have a lot of the top brands here, certainly led by Apple back in 1980, when Ford and Dunlop shut down. [Black:] You can't escape the view here that Ireland should fight the EU and not take Apple's billions, because the tech giant already contributes through creating wealth and jobs. But it's not a unanimous view. One of Ireland's key opposition parties, Sinn Fein, says the EU ruling should not be appealed. Instead, Sinn Fein says Ireland should take the money and put it to good use. [Donnchadh O Laoghaire, Sinn Fein Irish Parliament Member:] There's no question that we can continue to be a place that companies such as Apple invest in and have healthy taxation base and invest in services. [Black:] It is likely the EU ruling is just one step in a long legal process as Ireland and Apple send their lawyers to court. They both deny doing anything wrong and both fear the ultimate consequence will be reduced foreign investment in a country whose economy now depends on it. Phil Black, CNN, Cork, Ireland. [Quest:] Profitable Moment, next. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Thank you very much. I spent a long time this morning on making my shoes so beautiful, so shiny. And then I walked through more dusty floors than I have ever seen in my life. [Trump:] But that's OK. It was worth it. That is great. So hey, I'll tell you, we have something so important to talk about. You've got to get those ballots in, right? And I was going to bring my political director up, but we don't have to do that, do we? We have a booth right on premises. You know that. And you can go there and you can do whatever you have to do. If you don't have your ballot, they give you another one and they void your one at home. And then, of course, the other side would send that one in too, but we don't do that stuff. We don't do that stuff. Because, you know, if you listen to President Obama that never takes place, except eight years ago he was saying it did take place, right. He said it took place in Chicago. Of course, he said really good things about Obamacare, too, and that didn't work out. Remember, he said you could keep your doctor, keep your plan. Boy, oh, boy, this country. We've got the greatest country in the world, but we will make America great again. Believe me. We are going to do it. So go out. You have got to do it. We have a movement like they have never seen. Go out. When we are finished, or if you want to leave even earlier, that's OK with me. I won't be insulted. But everybody who, by the way, has sent in their ballot? That's pretty good. All right, so it's probably 70 percent. We have got to get them in because I have real problems with ballots being sent. Does that make sense? People say, here is a ballot. Here is another ballot. Throw it away. Here is one I like. We will keep that one. I have real problems. So get your ballots in. We are trying to have some pretty good supervision out there. We have a lot of people watching you people that collect the ballots. We have got a lot of people watching the people that collect the ballots. Now, the dishonest media will say, oh, that wasn't nice. Everything is so honest. Everything in our country, we have 1.8 million people that are dead registered to vote, right. And some of them vote. I wonder how that happens. We have 2.7 million people on more than one state. They are registered in two states and sometimes more than that. And I could go on and on and on. But let's assume the best. So you have got to go and you have to do that, otherwise our great movement that's never been seen, nothing like this has ever been seen in this country, and even these dishonest people back there will admit that, and you have to go and you have to send those ballots in. And you also have some areas where you can vote in Colorado, but I guess it's mostly ballots. So just do and send them in. And if you want to vote, vote. Whatever the hell you have to do, do it. In 10 days, were going to win the state of Colorado. And we are going to win back the White House. Early voting is underway. So make sure you get out and vote, meaning what we just said. One of the most important reasons you have to vote is that we can immediately, without question, so simply repeal and replace the disaster known as Obamacare. You see what's happening to your premiums. First of all, it is no good. It doesn't work. On top of that, your premiums are going up 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent. In the great state of Arizona their premiums are going up this year 116 percent. Now, they sent out a director from the White House. They were trying to say 25 percent. You should be so lucky. They say it will go up about 25 percent. We haven't found too many of them. It is out of control. It is no good. It's just been announced that the citizens of Colorado are going to be experiencing a crushing double digit hike. Now, the number is so big that I refuse to tell you what it is because I want you to leave here happy. But when you see what it is next week, you are going to be very, very angry. And remember this. Crooked Hillary Clinton wants to double up and triple up on Obamacare. Even Bill Clinton admitted that Obamacare is the craziest thing in the world, he said, where people wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. It's actually worse than that. In Minnesota where the premium increase will be close to 60 percent, the Democratic governor just said the Affordable Care Act is no longer affordable. Jonathan Gruber, MIT, my uncle was up at MIT. I like my uncle much better. The architect of Obamacare admitted it was a fraud, and he said it was passed because of the stupidity of the American voter. But the only stupidity was that of the officials, and really the primary stupidity was that the officials allowed that thing to be rammed through over the objection of some politicians, I must admit, but overall, the American voter. It was rammed through. Hillary Clinton wants to double down on Obamacare, make it even more expensive. Just this year, Clinton called Obamacare, and this is sort of interesting, one of the greatest accomplishments of President Obama. You know this thing is just dead, right, you know? One of the great accomplishments of the Democratic Party and an accomplishment of our country. It is one of the great catastrophes. My contract with the American voter outlines a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. And I'm asking for your vote so we can get the job done for Colorado and the families of Colorado. We will have a plan that is so much better and that is so much less expensive. It's going to be beautiful. We will bring sanity back to health care. Real change also means getting rid of the corruption in Washington. As you have heard, it was just announced yesterday that the FBI is reopening their investigation into the criminal and illegal conduct of Hillary Clinton. This is the biggest political scandal since Watergate. And it's everybody's deepest hope that justice at last can be properly delivered. Hillary has nobody to blame but herself for her mounting legal troubles. Her criminal action was willful, deliberate, intentional, and purposeful. Hillary set up an illegal server for the obvious purpose of shielding her criminal conduct from public disclosure and exposure. That didn't work, although, it certainly did, because 33,000 e-mails missing, we haven't seen it yet. However, I think some of these 33,000 were captured yesterday. She set up this illegal server knowing full well that her actions put our national security at risk and put the safety and security of your children at risk. To further cover up her crimes, she bleached, which nobody does, because it is so expensive has anybody ever wanted to get rid of an e-mail and bleached it? Has anybody? Raise your hand. Has anybody even heard of it, right? She bleached and deleted 33,000 e-mails after, after, after, after, right, receiving a Congressional subpoena. So she gets the subpoena. It is a congressional subpoena. And she says, we better get rid of this stuff, 33,000 e-mails. She made 13 phones disappear, some with a hammer. She lied to Congress under oath, lied to the FBI on many occasions, and then recently it was revealed that two boxes of e-mail evidence, in addition to everything else, went mysteriously missing. That was three weeks ago. She even pretended not to know that the letter "c" meant "confidential" or even "classified." Give it one or the other, right, one or the other. It meant confidential, but at least say she thought it was "c" meaning like paragraph "c." The only problem is there wasn't an "a" or a "b," or a "d." And her memory went bad with the FBI on 39 separate occasions. As the recent release of a memo from one of Bill Clinton's closest associates demonstrates, the Clinton's have turned the government into a scheme for personal profit. That's all it is. Take a look. Are you looking at this stuff? The Clintons even saw the deadly disaster in Haiti as an opportunity to cash in. The people of Haiti hate the Clintons. I will tell you that. They hate the Clintons. They have been used. The WikiLeaks revelations have revealed a degree of corruption at the highest levels of our government like nothing we have ever seen as a country before, including a candidate who boasts to donors about having a public position for the voters and a private position for Wall Street. Hillary put the office of secretary of state up for sale, and if she ever got the chance, she would put the Oval Office up for sale so fast your head would spin. Well, she did it with the bedroom, right? That's just a small version. That doesn't count. Hillary should have been convicted long ago. She should have been convicted. You know, they are complaining about, oh, it is so terrible. They're staring up. Well, they found a lot of e-mails that were never given. And now it was just revealed there were over 10,000 that they just found. And these, I assume, were never revealed. You are supposed to give your e-mails. The process and the legal process has been taking a long time. It is very sad it has taken so long. And now it is reported today, this morning, that the Department of Justice was fighting the FBI, and that's because the Department of Justice is trying so hard to protect Hillary. It was reported that 97 percent of the Department of Justice's employees in terms of their presidential contributions, 97 percent went to Hillary Clinton, which means they don't like me too much, right, 97 percent. There are those, and I happen to be one of them, who think Hillary offered Loretta Lynch a reappointment as attorney general. I happen to be one. Perhaps, just perhaps, of course he said he only talked about golf and the grandchildren. But he was on the plane for 39 minutes. He went to Arizona, an unbelievable place, but there are those that think that when he went on to the plane, that's what they discussed just prior to a decision being made. He said it was to play golf but he never played. And I think it was over 109 degrees out. This is what we mean when we call it a rigged system. This is what we mean. This is what we mean. She is under investigation. The plane, just happened. Oh, gee. That's great. That's the attorney general's plane. I'm in Arizona playing golf. I went to play golf. It's 109 degrees. I went to play golf middle of the summer. So, oh, isn't that, that's the attorney, maybe, I will stop and say hello. Let me stop. I have had a plane for a long time. I have never had anybody walk off the runway into my plane, ever. I have never had that happen. I don't even think it is legal. I don't think you are allowed to do it. So he is going to play golf. There she is. Let's go see her 39 minutes. We talked about golf, I give that two minutes, and grandchildren. I give that three, because they are grandchildren. It is more important. What happened to the rest of the time? What happened? So I happen to be one that now, right after that, she made that decision, and boy did that cause ripples within the FBI. Boy, oh, boy. Now, the attorney general is fighting the FBI because the FBI finally did what was right. But, also, something that should have been done a long time ago. Perhaps through this other investigation, and that's the investigation of a person that over the years I have known a little bit and watched. Did I call him correctly? Did anybody see? It is called good judgment. It is called good instincts. If you check out the tweets or if you check out whatever it is I wrote about him, it was so perfect. I said, I can't and that was done a long time ago. But they found by looking at Anthony Weiner, a major, major, major sleaze, they found what may be some of the 33,000 missing and deleted e-mails. Isn't that nice? That Hillary tried so desperately to destroy, even going so far as using systems that most people have never heard of. I wonder is she going to keep Huma? Huma has been a problem. Do we agree? Huma, Huma has been a problem. I wonder if Huma is going to stay there. And I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the sidewalk got immunity. I hope they haven't given Huma immunity because she knows the real story. She knows what's going on. She knows what's going on. And the sad thing is, and this is one of the things I said, how can you have all of this incredible, confidential, secret information and have your top person married to this guy. I said that's the way life works. And everyone said one thing has nothing to do with the other. Well, it turns out it does. It turned out it does. And this is very serious stuff. You know, General Cartwright, James Cartwright, highly respected, four star general, last week, this is a four star general, he is going to serve up to five years because he lied one time, and I think he tried to lie, if you study it, for national security reasons. But he lied one time. He is going to prison. His life has been destroyed. He is going to serve up to five years in jail. General Petraeus, as you know, for doing a tiny fraction of what Hillary Clinton has done, his life has been destroyed. The young man taking pictures of the submarines, the 40-year-old submarines, I think whoever wants it years ago, right. And he shouldn't be doing it, but you've seen his mother. The horror that people are going through, and then we allow Hillary Clinton to do what she did and there is no retribution. And then people are complaining, because they are a little bit surprised that this came up. But honestly, this whole thing should have been over with a year ago. She is so guilty. She is so guilty. She is so guilty. This should have come up a long time ago. But now, the evidence, as I would imagine, is so overwhelming, because they wouldn't have ton this unless it was overwhelming. And despite that, if the reports are correct, despite that, the attorney general didn't want anything to happen to Hillary. I wonder why. It is very sad. Folks, we are living in a third world country. This has never happened before. This has never happened before. This is the lowest point in terms of our judicial system. This is the lowest point in the history of our country, remember that. And when I talk about a rigged happens, let's see what happens. Let's see what happens. On November 8th. We are going to change things. We are going to change things. We're going to change things. We have a movement and we're going to show that we have a real movement toward common sense, toward honestly, toward so many things, toward honesty, toward taking care of our veterans, toward saving our Second Amendment, toward Supreme Court. November 8th, the stakes could not be higher. A vote for Hillary is a vote to surrender our government to public corruption, graft, and cronyism that threatens the very foundations of our constitutional system. What makes us an exceptional is that we are a nation of laws and that we are equal under those laws. Hillary's corruption shreds that foundational principle. You have seen it. You have been watching this take place for a long time. But actually it has been going on for years with the Clintons. You can go back to Whitewater. You go back to the cattle purchase. She had a better return on cattle than guys that have done it all their lives. That was another beauty. I mean, this is just way it is. Public corruption is a grave and profound threat to a democracy. Government corruption spreads out like a cancer and infects the operations of government itself. If the corruption is not removed, then the people are not able to have faith in their government. Now, when you look at what's happened over the last year, with the FBI, and with the Department of Justice, nobody in this room has more faith now. You have a lot less faith now. But let's see how it all works out. But what happens and what's been happening has never in the history of our country happened before. And I can tell you, you have amazing people in the Department of Justice. And you have amazing people in the FBI. These are great, great people, great men and women, people that love our country. And I want to tell you, I'll bet you, without any knowledge, there was a revolt in the FBI. I'll bet you there was a revolt in the FBI by what they allowed to happen with respect to Hillary Clinton. There was a revolt. And I can be pretty sure of it. It deadens and saps the spirit of civic participation when you see what's going on. Corruption decays our trust in institutions and our legal system, et cetera. When the outcome is fixed, when the system is rigged, people lose hope not only in the system in our country itself. And you understand that. I've seen people. I've gone around. We have the biggest crowds ever. Ever. Nobody has ever had anything like this, ever. We had a crowd the other night in Florida that was so big. It was in this massive field like central park. It was this massive field. And they had tens of thousands of people. But they had thousands of people outside. And I said, let them in. AND the fire marshals said, we can't do it, sir. I said, no, no, let them in. They can't have a fire. It's a field. He said, no, sir, we can't do it. I said, why? He said, stampede. Think of it, stampede. Stampede. And it is a stampede of love. It is not like, oh, gee. But if you had 45,000 or 50,000 people running forward and we have ten tough guys standing up here, they don't have a chance. So they use the word "stampede" because the crowds are so big, it is incredible. It is something that nobody has seen before in this country. You know, Bill O'Reilly said it. I will say. Bill O'Reilly and others said it. It is the single greatest political phenomenon, he said, of his life. But many other people have said the same thing. But if our system isn't properly run, it becomes detached and the people become detached. Our society becomes unhinged and unplugged. When the powerful can get away with anything, because they have the money and the connections to rig the system, then the laws toward moral authority no longer exist. And I have to tell you I've been on the other side for a long time. It is not bad other there. It is pretty good. And I understand. I talk about insider, outsider, who is more of an insider than me? I understand. But I also understood what was going on and I also understand what was happening to our country, and I love this country. And our country was going in the wrong direction. We aren't going to have a country any longer. [Crowd: Usa! Usa! Usa! Trump:] Hillary believes money and power, not truth and justice, should rule the day. As FDR once said, government by organized money is just as dangerous as government by organized crime, interesting statement, interesting statement. This is what we often see in third world countries where the governments are often run by a small handful of corrupt people for their personal enrichment. Corruption is corrosive to every institution of government and it must be stopped. Restoring honesty to our government and the rule of law to our society will be my highest priority. [Trump:] We must and we will save America. And that is why my contract with the American voter begins with a plan to end government corruption and to take our country back from the special interests and the donors. I want the entire corrupt Washington establishment to hear and hear, I mean big league hear, the word of us. Not me. It is us. When we win on November 8th, we are going to Washington, D.C., and we will drain the swamp. I tell people I hated that expression. It started a week ago. I didn't like it. I said, that's so corny. I said, then, I went and said it, halfheartedly said it, and the place went crazy. Frank Sinatra didn't love "My Way." And then he sang it and he saw what was happening, and then it became the biggest and he ended up loving it like crazy. But that was a very interesting thing. Drain the swamp. Very accurate. At the core of my contract is my plan to bring back our jobs. Right now, 70 million American women and children live in poverty or near the brink of poverty. As part of our plan to bring back our jobs, we are going to lower taxes on American business from 35 percent to 15 percent. We will unleash the full power of American energy, including oil, clean coal, national gas, and shale energy. We're going to put our miners back to work and we're going to put our steal workers back to work, believe me. Hillary Clinton has said by the time we get through all of my conditions, I do not think there places in America where fracking will continue to take place. So we will pay five times more for our energy. Is that OK? [Crowd:] No! [Trump:] That's what's going to happen. She has also pledged to put the miners out of work. You saw that. That was fun. She is going to put the miners out of work. Then she goes to see if she can do well in West Virginia. By the way, she didn't do too well. You saw what happened with West Virginia, great people. And I went to some of have the miners. You talk about massive landslide. That was a big landslide. But I won West Virginia. I went to West Virginia and I talked to the miners. And I said, would you ever think of like going into a different area, like moving to another location and do something else? And one of them actually had tears coming down his eyes. They love mining. That's what they want to do. Their fathers, their grandfathers, their great grandfathers, that's what they want to do. They love it. They are great at it. That's what they know. That's what they love. She wants to put them out of business. We are putting them back into business. We are going to have clean coal, clean coal. And by the way, it is a virtually unlimited resource. In terms of civil defense, in terms of our defense, it is virtually unlimited. Everything else is like a light. It is good for 25 years. And I want all forms of energy, including modern, technological energy. Windmills are great, but a lot of times the wind doesn't blow. A lot of times it is killing your eagles and your birds and things. And I am all for it. I am all for solar. I did some solar. They said, Mr. Trump, you have a 28-year payback, isn't that wonderful? I said, 28 year, that's terrible. What they don't say is by the time the tenth year comes you have to put in new panels because they are all rotted out with the weather. I'm a builder. That's what I do. They say in 28 years, you get your money back. I said what about the fact that I have to replace them four times before I get to 28 years. What happens if I'm not around in 28 years? That could happen. We will become a rich nation once again. But to be a rich country, we must also be a safe country. Hillary wants a 550 percent increase in Syrian refugees. That's above, and you have plenty of people moving here you don't even know about. You don't know. Your government is not telling you. But that's above 550 percent Syrian refugees, that's above the thousands and thousands of people already moving here from Syria. And we don't even know where they are from. We know nothing about them. We don't know, are they ISIS? Are they not ISIS? And we all want to protect them. We'll build safe havens. We will get the money, by the way, we owe $20 trillion in case you haven't heard. We'll get the money from the Gulf state who have plenty of money. They needs us very badly, folks, they need us very badly. They will put up the money. We will build safe zones. But we can't have them come here. You look at all of the problems. You look at Germany and you look at so many different look at France. I have people, friends, that love going to Paris. They don't go to Paris anymore. They say, Paris is no longer Paris. So she wants 550 percent above the thousands pouring in right now under the Obama plan. Not going to happen. The Hillary refugee plan would leave us with generations of terrorism, radicalism, and extremism inside of our shores. I don't think the people in Colorado are into radicalism. I know too many people and they are not into the world of radicalism, OK. I have so many friends here. Some of them are in the audience. Some are very successful. Some have lost their shirt because of regulation. They have lost their shirts because of regulation. So let me state this as clearly as I can. When I'm elected president, I am going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. The Trump administration will also secure and defend the borders of the United States. And yes, we will build a wall, and, yes, Mexico will pay for the wall, 100 percent, 100 percent. By the way, 000 percent. [Crowd:] Build the wall! Build the wall! Build the wall! [Trump:] I wish these very dishonest people would spin those cameras to show the crowd and the enthusiasm. They never do. You know what they See? You go home. You know what you see? My face the whole time. Even I don't want to watch it. And you know what they don't realize. If they did that, it's better television. They don't understand that. Boy, are they going to die in the ratings after this election is over? Man. Are they going to die, are they going to die and they call and I say, no, thank you, no interest. Boy, oh boy, oh boy. And they are not watching Hillary, I'll tell you that. Hillary has pledged open borders and supports sanctuary cities. Like the sanctuary city where the killer of Kate Steinle came out of. Under my contract and she was an incredible young woman. Under my contract with the American voter, we are going to cancel all federal funding for sanctuary cities. We will end illegal immigration, deport all criminal aliens, and save American lives. A tremendous problem. We also need a new foreign policy that puts America first, folks. America first, not other countries first. Hillary's not other countries. Hillary's policies have caused disaster in Iraq and Syria and Libya, and unleashed ISIS. Hillary and our failed Washington establishment have spent $6 trillion on wars in the Middle East. And now it is in worse shape than ever before. Think of it. We have spent so far in the Middle East, $6 trillion dollars. We could have rebuilt our country twice, more than twice if you had people that knew what they were doing. We could have rebuilt our country twice. But our failed establishment has dragged us into foreign wars that have made us less safe. They've left our borders wide open at home, and they shipped our jobs and wealth to other countries. We go into wars that we don't win. We're constantly going from here to there to there. How about me? I have been attacked because I was so tough on Mosul. When I heard four months ago they were going into Mosul, I said, why are you talking about it? Why do you say you are going into Mosul? "We are going in to get the leaders of ISIS." But don't you understand, these are smart people and tough people. Don't you understand when you say you are going in to get the leaders, they are gone. But they leave plenty of people behind that are good fighters. And it is a tough fight. Whatever happened to the element of surprise? Remember when we were young, we studied General MacArthur, General George Patton, these were tough people, smart people, smart people. General Douglas MacArthur, I think to this day, used to be when I was in school, to this day had the highest grades ever in the history of West Point. That's great. I think that's great. I'm a person that believes in that kind of stuff. Maybe I'm wrong but it's pretty impressive. General Douglas MacArthur was a great general. General Patton was a rough guy. His people would do anything for him. They would die for him. Today he couldn't make it because he is too tough. Today, we have guys that are politically correct. We have politically correct people. We notify. When I say take the oil, you know what they do? They send leaflets, "We are going to be bombing the area in seven hours. Please leave the area." These people are crazy. I have taken some heat because they've said don't tell Mosul. They'll say you go in and you do the job and talk about it a week later, and by that time you'll have the people. They say, Donald Trump, what does he know about warfare? What do I know? Oh, forget it. Hopefully, hopefully, you know, we're going to rebuild our military. We are going to rebuild, because depleted. It's called peace through strength. I hope, now, we are going to have to get rid of ISIS. I hope we are not going to have to use our military. Peace through strength. But to all Americans, it is time for new leadership. We desperately need new leadership. Just think about what we can accomplish in the first 100 days. We are going to have the biggest tax cut since Ronald Reagan. And actually it is even a little bit larger. And Hillary Clinton is going to raise taxes. We are the highest taxed nation in the world, and she is going to raise taxes. As Podesta says, she has got bad instincts. She has got bad instincts when the e-mails are on Anthony Weiner's wherever. Sleazebag. We are going to eliminate every unnecessary job-killing regulations. It is killing our businesses. We'll rid of a lot of them. We are going to stop the jobs from leaving Colorado and going to other countries, like Mexico. It is a one-way street. They get the money. They get the jobs. They get the plants. They get the factories. We get nothing. We get unemployment. We are going to cancel every illegal Obama executive order. And by the way, this young person just mentioned the wall, loves the wall. We are going to have a big, beautiful door on that wall, meaning we are going to have lots of doors on that wall. And we are going to have people come into our country. We want people to come into our country. They are going to come into our country legally. They're going to come in legally. We want that. They are going to come in legally. Thank you for reminding me, but you are right. Thank you, ma'am, thank you. Provide school choice and put an end to Common Core, which is a disaster. We are bringing education. We are going to rebuild our very depleted military. We have the greatest people on earth in our military. We have jet fighters that are so old, currently operational, that are so old we can't even get parts for them anymore. We have to get them from airplane graveyards. That's what we have. And we are going to take care of our vets like our vets have never been taken care of before. Believe me. We're going to reduce surging crime and support the great men and women of law enforcement. And I don't know if you know. You never hear from these very dishonest people in the media. But the murder rate, murder, in the United States, is the highest it has been in 45 years. They don't tell you these things. They don't tell you about the fact that good jobs are not available. They have left. They don't tell you about, we don't make product anymore relatively speaking. They don't tell you about that. Highest murder rate in the United States in 45 years. We're going to save the Second Amendment. We got a full endorsement by the National Rifle Association, the earliest they have ever given an endorsement. They are great people, too. They love this country. We are going to protect and conserve Colorado land for hunters, anglers, farmers and ranchers. And we are going to appoint justices to the Supreme Court of the United States who will uphold and defend the constitution of the United States. Americans are tired of being told by politicians that they have to defer their dreams for another day, but they really don't talk in terms of days. They talk in terms of decades. Hillary has been there for 30 years and she has accomplished nothing, only negative. She has made things worse. I see during the debates, did I win the debates, OK? Did I win the debates? But I see during the debates and, boy, was she tired after the last two debates. Not a lot of energy, doesn't have a lot of energy. She was tired. She wanted to go home and go to sleep. But I was watching, during the debate, first debate, it came to me. She said, we are going to do this. We are going to do that. I said, you know, she has been there for 30 years. She never did it. They want to do something with the tax cut. That's fine with me. Whatever you want to do, that's great. I understand the tax code very well. But so do other smart people. I built an incredible business. So do other people that understand business. Her donors did the same thing as I do. I said, Hillary, why don't you change the code. That's OK. I don't mind. Change the tax code. She complains and complains like a critic. I never liked critics. They always complain, complain, complain but they can't do anything themselves, right? So I said, Hillary, why don't you change t it. Go ahead and change it. Take care of these situations. She is talking about the vets. She thinks the vets are being well-served. They are being badly served. She doesn't even know they are being badly served. Remember, she made the statement a few months ago that the vets are being well- served. She immediately took it back when she got probably 10 million letters. It is such a disaster. She is a candidate of yesterday. Were the movement altogether of the future. Our movement represents all Americans from all backgrounds and from all walks of life. We're a divided country right now. We are not going to be divided for long. We are going to be a loving country, we're going to be like this room and the arenas and everyplace else. There's love. There's love. And there is no better place to be that be a Trump rally. Is that right? No better place. We are asking for the voters and we are asking for the votes of Republicans, Democrats, independents, and first-time voters. And by the way, we have a lot of them. You see what's going on in Florida? They have lines. They have never had lines in Florida. They would have two people in a room. They would vote and leave. They have lines that are four blocks long all over the state of Florida. We are winning Florida. I think we are winning Colorado if it's a straight-up system. Get those ballots in. I don't love the concept of ballots. I don't love it. Get those ballots in and follow your ballot. You can follow your ballot. Make sure that ballot is registered. Make sure that ballot is counted. OK, we are dealing with a bunch of babies. Well, nothing happens under our electorate. This is the foundations of our country. Well, so is the Justice Department and so are all these other things that are happening so badly. So follow your ballot. If you do, I think we are going to win Colorado and maybe win it big. We are fighting for every citizen who believes that government should serve the people, not the donors and not the special interests. We are a divided nation, but we are fighting to bring us all together as Americans. With your vote, we are just 10 days away. Can you believe it? I've been doing this for a year and a half. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. I've had people call me wrong. They have been calling me wrong for so long. They are not calling me wrong. They are calling us wrong. I watch these characters on television. They don't have a clue. Some of these guys I watch them. They have been calling it wrong for so long. And now they are devastated. They are just like exhausted. They don't know that we are going to have a very big victory. This is going to be a big victory. It is going to be beyond Brexit. I call it beyond Brexit. We are going to beat crooked Hillary big. [Crowd:] Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! Trump! [Trump:] Thank you, thank you. By the way, if you believe after this, I go to two other beautiful parts of the country, and I do this again and again and again and then I go and a rest for three hours. And then I get up at 6:00 in the morning and do it again and again and again. But, you know what, the end result is going to be a big, beautiful victory. And Hillary stays home. And then they take an hour to cut a ribbon. I want to see the job my kids did building a hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House. So I take an hour. Now, she sleeps most of the time. She does very little, a tiny fraction of what I do. She says, Donald Trump went off the campaign trail to open a hotel. By the way, an hour after that, I was in North Carolina doing this. And she was home. You know where she was? She was home sleeping. Oh, folks, they don't get it. We are just ten days away from the change you've all been waiting for your entire, life. Together we are going to make America wealthy again. We are going to make America strong again. We are going to make America safe again. And we will make America great again. Thank you. God bless you, everybody. Thank you, thank you. Get those ballots in. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Looking at your screen right there. Donald Trump on the right wrapping up his rally in Golden, Colorado, while on the left Hillary Clinton just arriving there in Daytona Beach, Florida. Shaking hands and chatting with, presumably, some supporters. Unclear exactly who everybody is. We saw some of the folks of course holding some campaign Hillary Clinton signs there. All this taking place under this cloud involving the FBI's now reviewing of e-mails and looking into how pertinent they are to Hillary Clinton's private server. Donald Trump seizing on the opportunity, seemingly much more rejuvenated, even talking more confidently about the investigation involving the FBI and also promising change if he, indeed, is the one elected to the White House. Let's bring in Tom Hamburger, a reporter for "The Washington Post," who has been following the FBI investigation, also CNN's Phil Mattingly, who is joining us from, there he is, Daytona, Florida, where Clinton will be arriving soon. So, let me begin with you, Tom, because you have been reporting on James Comey for some time now. To me about the conflict or really the impetus as to why Comey would issue that letter and send it to members of Congress and also underscore in his statement that he doesn't know a whole lot about those e-mails that were now recovered. [Tom Hamburger, Reporter, "the Washington Post":] Fredricka, that's the odd thing about this memo note that James Comey sent to members of Congress yesterday. It was short and rather vague and had an explosive effect. The reason he has told people at the FBI and in the memo to employees, acknowledged he felt he had no choice but to let members of Congress know that there was new information that had surfaced. Why? Because previously he had testified before Congress that the investigation was effectively closed and that there was no case that a reasonable prosecutor would bring against Hillary Clinton. Now he says we have information that there is new evidence that has surfaced. He didn't say what it was, but he said it could be significant and he felt he had to let Congress know. [Whitfield:] You know, Tom, Donald Trump calling this the biggest public scandal since Watergate. You have covered Washington for a very long time. And when you hear a statement like that from Donald Trump, how correct or incorrect is he? [Hamburger:] Fredricka, you have got you make a good point. Donald Trump was asking made a couple of statements there. One is he assumed that some of the information in these e-mails might be missing e-mails, that they might be significant, that they might revive the criminal case. In fact none of that is known. Comey has acknowledged so far he doesn't know what's in them. And in fact, his Justice Department folks have told us they may even be duplicates of emails that have already been released. [Whitfield:] Phil, there you are in Daytona. You are going to be covering this Hillary Clinton event. You have covered both sides, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, for the past few months now. What are people there saying about what they are hearing from Donald Trump and this FBI investigation? Everybody has got their phones. They are getting the immediacy of news. What that is been their response? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] It is an interesting thing. It kind of cuts both ways. First you see a lot of organizers, a lot of folks on the ground actually energized by this. We have heard that from the campaign as well. They believe their people in the field will feel like they are under attack and work harder to get people out. But the reality is, Fredricka, in talking to Democrats, not the Clinton campaign, other national Democrats, Democrats who are involved in swing state races across the country, they are floored by what happened. First, there was shock, then there was anger that it was possible this could come up again. And now they are kind of mixing in with the Clinton campaign a lot of outrage directed towards Jim Comey. But the reality is this. There are a lot of tight races here in Florida. There's a Senate race that's very tight. There's a couple of House races that are very tight here. And there are a lot of concerns about what the drag this will bring to the campaign going forward. You talk to a lot of Clinton supporters, Hillary Clinton made a really interesting point yesterday, Fred. They believe this is baked in. If you had problems with this e-mail issue, you have been upset about it for a long time. It will be really interesting to see the numbers over the next couple of days if that actually rings true, Fred. [Whitfield:] And Tom, Huma Abedin, longtime aide of Hillary Clinton she has been traveling with Hillary Clinton, but today, not the case. Apparently, will not be there for two days in Florida. What do you read in that, if anything, Tom? [Hamburger:] You heard Donald Trump in the segment you just broadcast making specific reference to Huma Abedin, asking about her legal status and whether Hillary will keep her. So she has emerged even more than she has in the past at the center of this controversy. And currently her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner, apparently had the devices on which these heretofore unseen e-mails were located. So Huma Abedin is at the moment a topic of conversation for Donald Trump and something that the Hillary Clinton campaign would prefer not to talk about, at least for the moment. [Whitfield:] And then of course, Phil, Hillary Clinton saying to Comey, bring on all the information. How much is this upstaging her plans, her mission, her message? [Mattingly:] No question it is. We expect to hear about it here when she comes and gives remarks here in a couple hours, Fred. But if you look at the campaign, just to give you some context. I was on the flight yesterday with Hillary Clinton when this news broke. The plane has Wi-Fi but the Wi-Fi was down throughout the entire flight. That flight included a discussion with her top advisers about going to Arizona next week, opening up a new battleground, a very real battleground in a traditionally red state. That was the pathway they were on, a pathway of putting new states in play, not thinking about necessarily just 270 electoral votes but seeing how high they could run up this score. Then we landed, and this clearly has changed the dynamic. We talked to her advisers. They say Hillary Clinton she hasn't been thrown off by this at all. They are changing any of their TV buys, any of their visits for far in the schedule. But there is no question at all, this has dominated the campaign right now. This is the focus. And nobody expected this to come as a shock just 10 days out. I think along with looking at the numbers, the other interested element of this, Fred, is going to see if you see any major strategic changes from the Clinton campaign. So far, no. [Whitfield:] Phil Mattingly, Tom Hamburger, thank you, gentlemen, appreciate it. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Much more straight ahead in the Newsroom after this. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, Presidential Candidate:] Please keep this a secret. Do not tell Secretary Clinton. She's getting a little nervous, and I don't want her to get more nervous. But I believe we've got an excellent chance to win New York and a lot of delegates in that state. [Camerota:] That was Bernie Sanders celebrating his big win last night in Wisconsin over Hillary Clinton. That is six out of the last seven states for Sanders. But he is also still recovering from a stumble in an interview with the editorial board of "The New York Daily News" which raised questions about whether the media has been tough enough on Sanders. Joining us now to talk about all this is National affairs correspondent for the nation John Nichols and CNN Senior reporter and Media Politics Dylan Byers. Great to have both of you gentleman with us this morning. John, let start with you he had a resounding victory last night in Wisconsin. Do you think that perhaps the media has not taken Bernie Sanders seriously enough before now? [John Nichols, National Affairs Correspondent, The Nation:] Well, I think the media has taken him pretty seriously in the last couple of months since the New Hampshire win in that and maybe the week or so before New Hampshire, quite seriously. But the core premise that you're getting to is an important one. Because I'm not sure the media has taken the Democratic race quite so seriously as it has in Republican race. The Republican race has grabbed the spotlight, and obviously for reasons well discussed. Now is this contest gets to New York, if we believe the polls, the Republican race is not going to be that close in New York. The Democratic race is going to be very competitive. And New York is a media hot house. It's a place where you really do have things breaking very, very fast, as Dylan well knows. And you have table papers, the Daily News and the post that really go at it every morning with incredible headlines [inaudible]. So I think this is going to be real test. [Camerota:] All right. Let's talk about this daily news interview Dylan that it has been labeled basically a disaster in some corners for Bernie Sanders because of how he answered some questions. So let me give our viewers an example of some of the things that they say that he botched. For instance, one of his signature platforms is that he would break up the greedy big banks. So he was asked by the editorial board of "The Daily News." How would you go about doing that breaking up the banks? Sanders says "How you would do is having legislation passed, or giving the authority to the secretary of treasury to determine, under Dodd- Frank, that these banks are a danger to the economy over the problem of too-big-to-fail. "The Daily News" says "But do you think that the Fed, now, has that authority?'Bernie Sanders says "Well, I don't know if the Fed has it." It seems like that's one he should be able to hit out of the park, Dylan. [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Reporter For Media And Politics:] That absolutely when he should be able to hit out of parking. Look, these sorts of answers happen throughout this interview. They happen on foreign policy which has been Sanders has been weak on foreign policy in terms of identifying specific proposal about what he would do for some time. Fine, his issue was always taking on Wall Street. It's always about the economy. That really is what brought him as far as he's come. But now in an interview, he can't even really get into specifics about how he would break up the banks or how he would implement this ambitious economic policy that he's brought up. And, you know, look the point is right. We're getting into a New York City media market. They're going to go very hard, they're going to take advantage of the fact that they've got two weeks in the national spotlight right now with this race. And they're going to go really hard on all of these candidates. And for Bernie Sanders, a guy who has been able to get up there and rail against Wall Street day after day after day and get called for specifics and just well, you know, Wall Street deserves everything it gets but not have any specifics on that issue now might be that time when people really begin to take a second look at just how effective he can be in actually implementing these proposals. [Camerota:] John, here is another example. This one is, what you would do to fight ISIS basically and what you would do with a captured is commander? "The Daily News" asked, what would you do with the captured ISIS commander? Sanders says "Imprison him." "Daily News" says "Where?" Sanders says, well, if that questions leads us to Guantanamo." And "Daily News" says "Well, no separate and apart from Guantanamo. It could be there, it could be anywhere. Where would a President Sanders imprison, interrogate that person. What would you do? Sanders says "actually, I haven't thought a lot about it. I suppose, somewhere near the locale where that person was captured. Should Bernie Sanders have thought more about that answer? [Nichols:] Yeah, look, that's a rough answer. And, you know, I think when you get to the heart of the matter, rather than going, you know, on this specifics of that issue, which people have wrestled with a great deal, what you recognize here is there is that there is something unique about a newspaper editorial board session. You are sitting with a group of folks where they have done a lot of research. They would do editorials on these issues. They take stands. And one of the critical things in the moments like this is to simply have a clear stance, take it and, you know, let it sort out as it does. [Camerota:] And so, why didn't he give to you John. I mean, why didn't Bernie Sanders have a clear stance on both those things? Whether he has the authority to break up the banks and what he would do with imprisoned ISIS commanders. [Nichols:] Well, I think that the answer to that is I can't get into somebody's head and say why you did or you didn't. But I can say that you have to setting like this. Let me also suggest on that first one, the banking question, I do think that on that one, I'd like to see more questions and more answers there. Maybe some other additional newspaper editorial sessions. My sense is that Sanders can and will do better on those. But of course this gets to the heart of the matter. You have two weeks. You're going to get hit very aggressively again and again and again. And there are not those opportunities to clean things up. You've got to hit the mark in every interview and every setting. And so, for Sanders, if he recognizes that this interview did not go as he wanted it to go. [Camerota:] Yeah. [Nichols:] And then really kind of get stronger, he could do fine in New York. But if you see a series of this, if you see a pattern of this, New York City especially is the sort of place where this can become a real problem. [Camerota:] Yeah, John Nichols, Dylan Byers. Sorry gentlemen we're out of time. But thank you very much. [Byers:] No worries. [Camerota:] We appreciate you're being here on NEW DAY. Talk to you guys again soon. We're following a lot of news including the results from Wisconsin primaries so let's get... [John King, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome to this special convention edition of INSIDE POLITICS I'm John King. It is day two of Donald Trump's Republican Convention here in Cleveland, and it is, again, rather chaotic. I'm told Donald Trump is furious at his campaign team. Also told Melania Trump is just as mad, if not more so. You most likely know why. To borrow a phrase, we hold this truth to be self-evident, this is plagiarism. [Michelle Obama, First Lady:] We want our children and all children in this nation to know [Melania Trump, Donald Trump's Wife:] Because we want our children in this nation to know [Obama:] That the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. [Trump:] That the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. [King:] What was supposed to be the magic moment of opening night has instead turned into a Trump campaign nightmare. With us to share their reporting and their insights, "The Atlantic's" Molly Ball, CNN's Manu Raju, Jonathan Martin of "The New York Times," and CNN's Maeve Reston. Let's begin by giving Melania Trump, or whoever wrote this line, some credit. [Melania Trump, Donald Trump's Wife:] There would be good times and hard times and unexpected turns. It would not be a Trump contest without excitement and drama. [King:] Well, you can't argue with that. Day one had drama. [Unidentified Male:] All those in favor say aye. All those oppose, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. And the resolution is agreed to. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon [King:] And, here you go. This was an amazing entrance. Day one also had excitement. And then this most unexpected turn, the biggest moment of the night, a testimonial about the man and the marriage, well, it included something borrowed. [Michelle Obama, First Lady:] Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values. [Melania Trump, Donald Trump's Wife:] From a young age, my parents impressed on me the values [Obama:] You work hard for what you want in life. [Trump:] That you work hard for what you want in life. [Obama:] That your word is your bond that you do what you say you're going to do. [Trump:] That your word is your bond, and you do what you say and keep your promise. [King:] And now the fallout dominates day two. Let's just go down the line and share some reporting. The Trump campaign, at first, tried to just brush this away. Internally, they can see there's a huge problem. I'm told the candidate's mad, his wife is mad, his kids are mad. Most of the anger being directed at the campaign chairman, Paul Manafort. He didn't write the speech, but he was the guy brought in to right the ship. He was the guy brought in to make sure this convention ran well. And day one, off the tracks. But they say they're not going to fire anybody. [Molly Ball, "the Atlantic":] Well, that is the whole MO of Trump and his campaign is to never apologize, never admit that anything has happened. We've seen this in the shifting explanations that the campaign has offered, this this desire to shift attention elsewhere and not to admit that anything actually happened, which is pretty preposterous when you look at those clips the way you just did. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes, I mean, this is exactly what the Trump campaign has been doing all campaign season to saying, if he gets into trouble, if Donald Trump gets in trouble, to says something, to not acknowledge that he did anything wrong. Not acknowledge that the campaign did anything wrong. Fight back, blame the media, I'm sure we're going to get a much pretty intense pushback that the media is just making a big deal about this, going after the candidate's wife. And believe that voters, at the end, just will not really care about it. In some ways they may be right. She's not the candidate. She's the candidate's wife. So the fallout, politically, would not be as bad as if it were Donald Trump, but clearly they believe that eventually the news cycle will move on. [Jonathan Martin, "ny Times" National Political Correspondent:] This happened at about 11:45 to midnight last night when you first saw online reports about the plagiarism. In most campaigns, John, overnight there would be a scramble to figure out what happened to address it and to issue of some kind of talking points that would include accountability and an apology. At 8:00 a.m. this morning, when I saw Reince Priebus, the chairman of the RNC, eating breakfast with the press, he had gotten no guidance. It was clear, he was on his own. He had no explanation for what happened here at all. So there's been this incoherence that you see from both the national party and the Trump campaign. There is no plan for how to respond to this. And, still, here it is, noon, and it's still almost, you know, not 12 hours later, I don't know, do you guys know what their answer is? It's not clear. [Maeve Reston, Cnn National Political Reporter:] Well, but, I mean, I think to Jonathan's point, what I've been hearing from Trump sources, you know, last night and today is that this is a situation where, you know, this was a speech that was not written by one person. There were a number of guiding forces, you know, helping her. Obviously, she's not a native English speaker. And that there is confusion in the campaign even about how this happened. And so I think that's why we saw such a huge delay in getting a coherent message together. And the statement that they put out last night was incoherent. [Raju:] Yes. [Reston:] It talked about the fragments of Melania's speech coming from somewhere. [Raju:] Right. Right. [Reston:] It just didn't make any sense. So [Raju:] And may and she sort of got herself into trouble by that NBC interview [King:] Right. [Reston:] Exactly. [Raju:] Yesterday saying that she [Martin:] It was all her. [Raju:] It was all her, and then the campaign said, well, it was actually a team of aides that helped her. So, which one is it? [King:] Right. So she says in this interview, look, let's cut her some slack. Now and all politicians say this, I write my own speeches. Few politicians do. [Raju:] Totally rare. [King:] Few spouses of politicians, especially who are not politically active, write their own speeches. My understanding is, she gave them some thoughts. [Reston:] Right. [King:] Most of the stuff about her upbringing. They gave her and they said this is great. This is great. This is wonderful. We're going to fancy it up for you a little bit. We're going to make it into a speech. And in the process somebody, somebody, and there's no disputing this, you cannot say these lines were not taken from the Michelle Obama speech. But to that point, the statement issued last night by the communications director was incoherent. I don't know what point he was trying to make except go away. The press is asking for a statement. Hope this you know, throw the dog a bone. And then this morning, Paul Manafort, again, the man brought in to right the ship, the man in to be the alleged adult in the Trump operation blamed the media and he blamed somebody else. [Paul Manafort, Trump Campaign Chairman:] There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values, that she cares about her family, that things like that. I mean she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she would cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy. I mean it's so I mean this is once again an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton how she sneaks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work. [King:] Now, we're in Cleveland, not Roswell. Can someone help me understand how the Trump campaign plagiarizes and Melania Trump is put on stage before millions of people, trying to soften her husband's image, and we end up talking about this the next day. And this is somehow a plot by Hillary Clinton to demean her and take her down. [Reston:] I mean that just was so out of I don't even where do you even grab that out of the ether, right? I mean I think [Martin:] Yes. [Reston:] The case that they were making is that, you know, people started to point this out on Twitter, perhaps, and we have no idea. You know, Clinton sources were prodding this along or pointing out similarities in this speech. But, you know, to turn around that way. I think the biggest point though is that, you know, a lot of people will see Melania as the victim here. [Martin:] Right. [Reston:] And the Trump campaign could use that to their advantage in a sense that, you know, if this turns into a pylon where it's hurting her image, I think that will be an interesting conversation that we're having toward the end of this week. [King:] Is it more, though you're exactly right. And, look, we have no evidence this is her fault, except for the fact, if you speak at a convention, she's a businesswoman, she's not just a spouse, she's a businesswoman, she has a brand, which is, I'm told, why she's mad. That they ripped the rug out from under her. But you take responsibility. She's watched what's happened the last year. She has been a very low key player on the campaign trail, in part because she says she did a great interview with Anderson Cooper where she said, I disagree with my husband from time to time. I wish he would dial back the tone from time to time. So, you are responsible, as we are sitting here, for whatever we say, you're responsible for. So she has to take own up to some responsibility. However, when you understand the process, there's no question, she is not the source of where these words came from as we go forth. But so we can make it about Melania Trump plagiarizing and who helped her do that, but isn't the bigger question, this is Donald Trump's moment. This is Donald Trump's convention. Donald Trump says all the people in the Obama administration are stupid. I hire smart people. I will hire the people to get the right things done. If you can't run a convention, if you can't vet speeches, can you run the country? [Reston:] To that point, though, last week, what they were totally focused on with a very organized operation was squashing that revolt in rule, and they did have, you know, a fleet of 100 lawyers, the Trump campaign, working on that. Clearly what's happening here is there is some aspects of the campaign that are organized and others that are not organized at all. And things are falling through the cracks because they are not fully staffed yet, and this has been the complaint of, you know, Republicans all over the country. They don't see the ground game yet. They don't see the com staff yet. And he's yet to show that he has a coherent organization that can win. [Martin:] Those things that are controlled, at least in large part by the national party, and by those who are loyal to the national party, which basically are the kind of lobbyists who are here on loan for the weeks leading up to the convention, are typically run with fairly good precision. Those things that are largely controlled by the Trump campaign, which is not really a campaign, it's basically making it up as you go, oftentimes you have issues. And I think this speech that she gave was the domain of the campaign, not the folks who were here for the last month organizing the convention. And I think that's the problem is that when these things are done by the bare bones Trump operation, things don't always go well. [Raju:] And and [Reston:] I mean Tim Tebow, right? Tim Tebow was reported to be a speaker, and then suddenly it was the committee on arrangements that was being blamed for [Martin:] And they were infuriated, by the way, by that, because [Reston:] Totally infuriated. [Martin:] Because it was not their fault. The campaign was rushing to get a list out to the press of who was going to speak and they put Tebow on the list before he was confirmed. [King:] So if your brand is "The Apprentice" and "you're fired," why not fire somebody? [Raju:] Well, then you'd have to acknowledge that something is wrong [Martin:] That's right. [Raju:] And they have not done that yet and that could be a whole [King:] Can I go back to the, we hold some truths to be self-evident. That that's not my line. You know, that yes, something's wrong. [Ball:] Well, to your point earlier, nobody thinks that Melania Trump did this. Nobody thinks that Donald Trump did this, right? It was somebody in the campaign, but it's a but, you know, when you're the candidate, you are the CEO of your campaign. You are managing an enterprise. And so if your claim to fame is that that's what you're good at, it called that into question. But also, this is a huge missed opportunity. The whole point of this whole week, we've been told, is to soften Donald Trump's image [Raju:] Right. [Ball:] And to show him as a family man, as someone who's devoted to his wife, and to his children [King:] Right. [Ball:] And who has this humanity that hasn't necessarily come across over the course of the primaries. And so when the story becomes about this instead, you have missed that chance. [Raju:] And look at what happened, you know, yesterday. It started off with that revolt on the floor to force a procedural vote to really disrupt the proceedings on the floor. And that was dominating the news coverage beforehand. Then they had the speeches, which the party was on message going after Hillary Clinton. And then it was overshadowed afterwards by this controversy. So, clearly a rocky start to the convention. [Martin:] And [Reston:] Of Ohio. [Martin:] Who happens to be a popular, a two-term governor of perhaps the most crucial state in the country. Who was that? [Raju:] In the middle of the convention. [Martin:] Right. [King:] Right. We'll get to all of that. It's just stunning. Their central theme, as they say, for all the cases they need to prosecute here this week, the priority number one, the Trump campaign tells us, is to convince people, this is a likable guy. Give him another look. You'll actually like this guy if you learn from his family. And most Republican strategists inside the Trump campaign, they disagree, but most Republican strategists think, off the rails on the first night. We'll see if they can get back on the rails on night two and we'll get there as we move forward. Up next, Trump says the the Trump campaign says Benghazi is critical to the case against Hillary Clinton. Well, maybe someone should have told the candidate. [Blitzer:] Many of the polls across New York State have been open since 6:00 this morning. That's been decades since the New York played such an important role in the race for the Republican nomination, and it's also a crucial test for the Democrats this time as well. Miguel Marquez is in a polling station in Lancaster, New York, not far from Buffalo. Miguel, Upstate New York in particular is a key part of the race for the Republican presidential candidates. What are they expecting? [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] It's heavy today. In a typical primary, they've got about 35 percent of the eligible electorate turning out. As of this morning, they had 15 percent turn out. When they get busy this afternoon, as people get out of work and it will get much busier. We're in Lancaster outside of Buffalo, a place you know well, they've had hundreds of people come here so far today. It's a bit of a lull now because it's lunch hour but they cycle them through very, very quickly. They are fast here in Buffalo. To their various voting districts there and to the privacy screen so that they can actually vote. We're seeing high interest because there's three New Yorkers in this race. Donald Trump has great ties to Buffalo. He was here last night. He has ties to the real estate community here. Hillary Clinton started her Senate campaign here in 1999. Has very strong ties here. And Bernie Sanders has been here several times as well, upstate. The state's largest city playing a huge role in this election and the vote clearly getting out Wolf? [Blitzer:] Thank you very much, Miguel. Enjoy Buffalo. Let's talk about what's going on with our political panel. Joining us, Angela Rye, a CNN political commentator and the former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus; Amanda Carpenter, the former communications director for the Ted Cruz campaign and the political commentator; and Scottie Nell Hughes, chief political commentator with the USA Radio Network. She's a Donald Trump supporter. Amanda, who has the most to gain tonight? [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think Donald Trump. Not just because he's probably going to win New York but what I'm looking for is how he handles his win. All over the air waves in the run-up to the primary, his surrogates and members of his campaign has been accusing other people of fraud and even bribery and dirty tricks, all this kind of stuff. So Donald Trump coming after a win. What does he do with that momentum going into the states? As he rises to the level of being a candidate that will finally campaign on the issues or is he only going to make this about smearing others and if he does too that, I think he will continue to repel delegates from coming over to him because no one has seen him able to rise to talking about the issues and going into a general election against Hillary Clinton where we saw Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders really get into debating over a minimum wage and financial services industry and can't put Donald Trump against Hillary Clinton in that environment. [Blitzer:] Scottie, what do you make of the reports that there's a shake-up inside the Trump campaign he's moving to a new level? Older campaign staffers are moving up and new ones coming? [Scottie Nell Hughes, Chief Political Commentator, Usa Radio Network:] I think this is called growth. These are natural growing pains as we get ready to go into a convention. I do think Mr. Trump because he is reflective of the popular vote is still going to make that magic number and there's a good chance we're not going to have a brokered convention and after July, he will definitely be our nominee. But just in case, this is kind of like an insurance policy. Wolf, you get a team in place and people exactly where they I think Mr. Trump is very optimistic hoping the people's vote would actually matter and we continue to not have these delegate shenanigans and Kasich already boasting that he has the majority of the delegates in Indiana and the primary hasn't happened yet. These shenanigans would not necessarily shape the Republican Party with the effect it is today but it's coming out some of the state primaries and the state parties have their own way of thinking that might not necessarily be reflective of the people who vote as Republicans in the state. [Blitzer:] Angela, I know you speak to Democratic Party insiders behind the scenes. Who would face the biggest or represent the biggest challenge to the Democratic nominee whether it's Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders? Among the three remaining Republicans. [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] You know, Wolf, I think that's quite a toss-up. I think folks don't like Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. I think the reality of the situation is Ted Cruz the starting to seem more reasonable because of how far Donald Trump has been but most of us know that Ted Cruz's policies aren't that much different from Donald Trump's policies. The main difference is that there's a little bit more meat and substance which from my vantage point makes it a little more scary. So the reality of it is either one I'd say, you're picking your poison. [Blitzer:] Amanda, you've taken a look closely at the numbers. Ted Cruz, let's say he comes in third today. The polls suggest he might and doesn't do well in the next five states and in Pennsylvania and some of the other states that are coming a week from today. What will happen? He won't be able to mathematically, like John Kasich, not yet to that magic number on the first ballot. What happens then? [Carpenter:] Here's the thing. All Ted Cruz has to do is stop Donald Trump from get 1237. Next week will be hard contests for the Cruz campaign. They need to eek out delegates in places like Maryland and Delaware and continue to add and wait for the calendar to turn back their way when they go to Indiana, California, Washington, Oregon to comply with the mail-in ballot and favors campaigns that are more organized. If they can survive the next two weeks, then play well in the final contest going into the convention, momentum will be on their side when it counts the most. [Blitzer:] Scottie, I want you to react. [Hughes:] This is interesting how many times you use the word survive and that's never a good word with the campaign. And when two campaigns look to cause chaos within a party that will divide, you can actually see what their goal is. We have to go up against a great machine on the Democratic side, whether it's Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. In the end, I hate tell my buddy, Amanda, it doesn't matter about these delegates counts that we have to deal with in the primary. It matters about getting people motivated to the polls. But right now, Mr. Trump has a larger popular vote and every time delegates aren't necessarily, you don't pull the same shenanigans in November. [Blitzer:] Very quickly. Go ahead, Amanda, very quickly. [Carpenter:] One quick point. The field organization does matter a lot. I agree with you, Scottie. And Ted Cruz is the only person that's built a national campaign with field activism in every state that can go toe to toe with Hillary Clinton. [Hughes:] Congratulations. He's a politician. [Carpenter:] and he hasn't done that yet and he won't be able to do it now. [Hughes:] That's why you have the Republican Party. [Blitzer:] Stand by, guys because there's more coming up. It will likely be on another story we're following right now. President Obama's final visit to Saudi Arabia as the president of the United States. This will be the fourth time he's visited Saudi Arabia since taking office. But it might be far from a fond farewell. Tensions between the gulf state and the U.S. are causing some international and domestic problems for the president. We're going to tell you what's going on, set the stage when we come back. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Do is take a look at a couple of things that Donald Trump has said out on the campaign trail about being against the Iraq war back in 2003, and being against the Iran nuclear deal as evidence of that. Now, obviously, Donald Trump has talked about a lot of different things on the campaign trail which has raised eyebrows. Among his foreign policy proposals or proposals that have foreign policy implications, he's talked about temporarily banning all Muslims into the United States, he's talked about building a wall on the U.S.Mexican border, deporting 11 million undocumented immigrants, taking out the families of terrorists in strikes on ISIS and renegotiate trade deals in Asia, which could, obviously, have major ripple effects around the world. Now, we should point out that Donald Trump was on CNN's "New Day" earlier this morning talking about what he's going to be laying out in this foreign policy speech. We don't expect him to offer a whole lot of specifics. But Chris Cuomo did ask Donald Trump whether he endorses the president's current plan to send in 250 additional special operations forces into Syria to take on ISIS, and Donald Trump did not immediately trash the idea. He said, it's an idea he could support with one qualification. Here's what he had to say. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I don't agree with telling it to the world. I would send them in quietly because right now they have a target on their back. So I would agree with it much more I don't know what purpose they're being sent in for, but I would agree with it. I could live with it. But what I don't like doing is sending them in so, I mean, you know, with such fanfare. Let them go in, let them go in quietly, be unpredictable, but I just, you know, from my standpoint, I just find it very, very hard that every time we do something, we announce it for publicity reasons. And I think that's very negative. I think that's a I think that's a bad thing. [Acosta:] Now, we should point out, Wolf, there are some interesting people who are expected to be in attendance for this. Not only the full display of Donald Trump's national security team, but Senator Jeff Sessions, who is a prominent endorser and surrogate for Donald Trump. We expect him to be here according to a couple of members of Donald Trump's national security team. I'm seeing the former congressman, Bob Livingston, here. He was almost the speaker of the House. As you know, Wolf, he's endorsing Donald Trump. And there are people from academia, from the military who are all endorsing and supporting Donald Trump's campaign. And it was one other thing that I think is interesting that we're going to hear in this speech that I just want to point out, and it goes to this issue of dealing with Russia. As you know, Wolf, President Obama has not been a big fan of the idea of working with Russia, working with Vladimir Putin to go after ISIS through counterterrorism operations. Apparently, during this speech, we may hear Donald Trump talk about doing just that. So talk about policies, specific that we have not heard a whole lot of during the course of this campaign. That might be one of them that we're going to hear from Donald Trump during the course of this speech. Of course, you know, we'll be listening in closely to hear exactly what Donald Trump has to lay out over the next 30 to 45 minutes. But given what we heard last night, Donald Trump was not exactly toning it down in terms of his rhetoric at that victory speech in New York. Perhaps that tone will be a bit more measured in what we're about to hear in just a few moments from now, Wolf. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] And the campaign, Jim, says this is the first of several scripted policy speeches, foreign policy, domestic policy speeches, he's going to be delivering over the next several weeks to lay out his vision for a Trump administration, if you will. Is that right? [Acosta:] That's right. And, remember, we heard Donald Trump talk about his policy when it comes to Israel and Palestine. That was at AIPAC earlier this year. But we're going to hear Donald Trump give a speech, a major speech, on the economy. And as Donald Trump was saying last night during his victory speech in New York, the economic policies that he's talking about during the course of this campaign also inform his foreign policy. When he's talking about ripping up trade deals with China, when he's talking about imposing tariffs on goods that are imported from Mexico, you know, by companies that used to be based in the United States, those are not only economic policies, those are policies that are going to have major diplomatic and foreign policy implications. From what Donald Trump has talked about so far in just dealing with Mexico has to have a lot of people on edge over at the State Department, Wolf, because that is going to be a major departure from what the Obama administration has been pursuing over the last eight years, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Jim Acosta is over at the Mayflower Hotel here in Washington. We're awaiting the start of Donald Trump's speech. We'll see who introduces him over there and we'll get back to you, Jim. Stand by. I want to get a little political assessment of what's going on right now. Gloria Borger, this is an effort, a clear effort, by the Trump campaign to show a more presidential side of this candidate. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Right, and I think they understand that he's not only been attacked by Hillary Clinton on his foreign policy views and that if he becomes the nominee he would be running against a former secretary of state and that contains certain vulnerabilities but also certain strengths, but that he's also been under attack by his own Republican Party on not only issues like trade, but issues like bombing ISIS, for example, issues like Iraq. You know, the neoconservative wing of the party believes that was the right decision. He believes it was the wrong decision to go into Iraq. On China, on NATO, on everything from on nukes, because he wants to thinks it wouldn't be a bad idea if Japan and South Korea had nukes. You can go down and down the list, as Jim was mentioning, immigration, temporary ban on Muslims. I'm not sure there's anything that he and either the establishment or the neocon wing of the Republican Party really [Blitzer:] You know, it's interesting, following his five big wins yesterday, we just we did the math, our political unit. He is now winning, Trump, in the popular vote in all of [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] The establishment, I think that, probably. I think probably the better way to answer that is, it depends who you consider a part of the establishment and what you consider coming around, whether or not they're really there or they're still in a little bit of denial because there certainly is still that never Trump movement that they're going to put ads on TV in Indiana, they're going to continue to try to stop him. However, I do think that the numbers that you just talked about, the fact that he did so overwhelmingly well last night in these states, really it kind of crystallizes things for people and it makes the opponents to Donald Trump very frustrated. Just one quick thing, though, I want to say on the foreign policy. I think that what part of what has driven the support of Donald Trump isn't just like the "make America great" brand and things like that, but it's also that he he's he sounds very [Blitzer:] But I think he will lay out what some are calling, maybe not an isolationist policy [Bash:] Yes. [Blitzer:] But more of a non-interventionist policy. You know, there are other countries in the world. Let them get the job done. The United States has a lot of pressing business right here at home. [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] Yes, I mean, I think his goal is going to be to at least try to take away that he is not ready for the foreign policy piece of the attack. I think that's exactly why he started on foreign policy. Everybody knows it's important. It's rising in voter appeal as far as candidates who can step in and handle that position. So I think this is a blocking and tackling speech. If he can stick to it, I think he can kind of lay out a plan that gets at least tempers some of the doubt if he does it correctly. [Blitzer:] I want to bring Fareed into this conversation. Nic Robertson also. Because viewers around the world are obviously fascinated by what's going on here in the United States. A lot is at stake. What are people around the world saying, Fareed? What are they feeling when they see this presidential contest unfold? And it now looks like Trump has an excellent chance of being the Republican nominee. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, "fareed Zakaria Gps":] Oh, they are they are very worried. I had the Italian prime minister on my show last Sunday. He essentially flatly came out and endorsed Hillary Clinton, saying from you know, markets fear and that is the way in which he is he is risen to prominence. We don't like this at all. Look, I think it's important to point out, Trump's rise to prominence is on foreign policy. That is to say it was the wall with Mexico that began Trump's rise to prominence. He then accelerated it with the the issue of the ban against all Muslims. So he has been playing foreign policy all along. What he has recognized, I think this is what Dana was saying, is that there is a very large group of Americans who feel who have a kind of Jacksonian impulse on foreign policy, which is, the whole world is bad, all these countries, enemies and allies, are to be deeply distrusted. We have to do what we need to do unilaterally. I don't think he will be quite isolationist. He will probably come out saying, we need to defeat ISIS, we need to beat up the bad guys, but then go home. In other words, no nation building, no policing, no engagement, no alliances. And there's a very deep strain of American politics, you know, Andrew Jackson being a proment part of it, that have often always felt like this. And what Trump has found is that he's stepped into that vein in the Republican Party and in the broader public. It is, in my view, deeply responsible because he can't actually can't run you know, can't engage in the world that way. You can't find a path to prosperity or security in that in that way. But it does appeal to people's gut instinct that is, why do we have to make all these deals with other countries? Why do we have to work with other countries? Can't we just go in, guns blazing, beat up the bad guys and go home? [Blitzer:] You know, it's interesting. I want to bring Nic Robertson into this. Nic, you're back in London right now but you were just in Saudi Arabia. And Saudi Arabia, a very important country, obviously, to the United States and the rest of the world. How are they viewing Donald Trump? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] You know, with a lot of skepticism, Wolf. And he's called them various times big contributors towards global terrorism, yet in terms of how he's described at AIPAC in particular how he would deal with Iran, they might see a lot attractive in that for them. But, you know, I think fundamentally the Saudis and their gulf allies are in sort of a position where it doesn't really matter what the next U.S. president is going to do and say. They're kind of on their own path. Absolutely, they're interested in what Trump has said, particularly his comments about Muslims. I think this notion, the block and tackle here, that this is a speech that kind of can diffuse some of the criticism that may come from Hillary Clinton. I mean look at what the british prime minister has said about Donald Trump's views on Muslims. He's called them divisive, wrong, and stupid. There's been a lot of condemnation from leaders around the world. The pope's condemned the talk of the wall. And he said Trump should be building bridges. The only person that's come out and spoken positively about Trump has been the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who's called him outstanding and talented. I mean how can any of that, you know, Putin on one hand, Kremlin on the other, stack up well in a debate on foreign policy? It doesn't look good. So this speech, while leaders like Cameron and Putin may be looking for details, they'll recognizes the speech is really aimed at domestic politics. But how it echoes back from them, how we hear these comments from the international leaders, is certainly going to be important as this campaign goes forward. [Blitzer:] An important speech by Donald Trump. Nia, this is a group that's sponsoring this speech, hosting the event. It was originally supposed to be at the National Press Club but they needed a bigger location so they moved it to the Mayflower Hotel. The Center for the National Interest, a conservative think tank here in Washington, they have a publication, "The National Interest," pretty well known among conservative circles, and that underscores the political nature of this. He's trying to reach out to the Republican conservative foreign policy elite, if you will, and say, you know what, I've got some important ideas. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes, and he's done some of this. In some ways he made the speech at AIPAC and that was a teleprompter speech. They actually sent it out to reporters before he gave it. And he also named some foreign policy advisors, gave long interviews to "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" on foreign policy. But, still, you have the establishment very much worried about where he would go in terms of foreign policy using words like dangerous, using words like unpredictable to describe his approach to foreign policy. And even in some of the debates, I mean those are big issues, particularly among Rubio and Lindsey Graham, who are more hawkish, who are more in the neoconservative kind of realm of the Republican establishment. Very much trying to draw Donald Trump out on some of these issues, on the nuclear triad, for instance, showing that he didn't really know what that is. So but, yes, I think this is, again, him sort of checking the boxes in some ways, giving signs to the Republican establishment that he's ready, that he's learning, right? And that he's making some progress in trying to be the presidential presumptive nominee of the party. [Borger:] You know, nobody else has done a 100 minute interview with "The New York Times" on foreign policy. So I think you have to give him credit on that. [Henderson:] Yes. [Borger:] He's been out there with a bunch of his ideas. The problem I think he's had is that it's been ad hoc and often, at times, inconsistent. And so if you're going to have a doctrine, it has to be something that is thought through with a certain amount of consistency, rationale and I think that's what he's trying to do today because if you are not for the use of force, you think it's indiscriminate. You talk about, you know, bombing the hell out of ISIS. You have to people are going to ask questions. OK, which is it? And if you think going into Iraq was a mistake, what would you have done? So I think that there are questions that need to be answered because he has said so much over these months. [Blitzer:] All right, everyone stand by for a moment. We're going to take a quick break. We're going to await Donald Trump, his speech on national security, foreign policy. A very carefully drafted speech. People are watching. They're listening. He is the Republican presidential frontrunner. We're awaiting Donald Trump. He's over there at the Mayflower Hotel right here in Washington, D.C., getting ready to deliver a major national security, foreign policy speech. He's going to go in-depth on a lot of his views. Jim Acosta is on the scene for us over at the Mayflower. Jim, I take it he's going to be introduced by a former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad. Is that what you're hearing over there? [Acosta:] We are hearing that, Wolf. And we are also hearing that there are a number of members of Donald Trump's foreign policy and national security team here. I met a couple of them before the speech got going here and, you know, some of them are veterans of the Reagan administration and go back to previous Republican administrations. And so what Donald Trump is trying to do here is show, as others were saying just a few moments ago, that he has the foreign policy heft. And, you know, keep in mind, while Donald Trump has said things like he wants to bomb the hell out of ISIS and take the oil, and that might make the people in the think tank crowd here in Washington fidget in their seats a little bit, out on the campaign trail, lines like that, Wolf, are the reason why Donald Trump racked up those huge victories in those five northeastern states last night. People want to hear that kind of rhetoric, they want to hear that kind of language. As Gloria was saying, they want to hear that Donald Trump wants to bomb the hell out of ISIS. But at the same time, he has also said he's opposed to the Iraq War. So how do you square that circle? That those are some of the details that the public may be wanting. Maybe people in the Acela corridor may be wanting. But I'm told by advisors, we should not expect a whole litany of details and specifics in this speech. This is going to be broad outlines, thematic and getting back to some of the things that Donald Trump has already talked about on the campaign trail. You know, he has talked about whether NATO is obsolete. Donald Trump has said at numerous events that NATO has outlived its current usefulness and that it needs to be upgraded, perhaps take on more of a national security posture and counterterrorism posture, I should say. And those are things that Donald Trump says, you know what, I was right about that issue. And so you may hear a bit of that as well, sort of recapping some of the things that he's talked about. As Fareed said, he has been talking about foreign policy throughout the course of this campaign. And so I suspect you're going to hear a lot of Donald Trump going back and reviewing some of the things he's talked about during this GOP primary. A battle that we've seen unfold. But at the same time, you may hear a few new details here and there that might be very interesting, very tantalizing working more closely with Vladimir Putin and Russia. That is something I'm hearing may be involved in this speech. I think that will be very tantalizing to hear. But at the same time, Wolf, as some of the other folks were saying earlier, you talk to people inside the White House, what President Obama hears from just about every foreign leader around the country, what is going on with Donald Trump? And I would suspect that a lot of those foreign leaders are going to be watching and paying attention to what Donald Trump has to say in just a few moments, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, I think he will make some references to Russia. He's noted in the past that the Russians want to bomb ISIS in Syria, go ahead, let them do it. Let the United States stay out of it. [Acosta:] That's right. [Blitzer:] Let the Russians get the job done. We may hear that. Jim, stand by. Fareed, let's talk a little bit about some of the foreign policy positions he's outlined so far. I'll put a few of the headlines he's put out there over these past ten months or so. He supports a two- state solution between Israel and Palestine. Wants two states. He also has suggested, it's caused him some grief, that the U.S. should be, quote, "neutral" in trying to negotiate a deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians. He hates the Iran nuclear deal that the Obama administration worked out. he says it was the worst negotiated deal ever. $150 billion for the Iranians. He says the U.S. got nothing out of that. And as Jim Acosta just said, he's suggested several times that NATO may be obsolete right now. That other countries should be paying more of the price of NATO and playing a bigger role. Those are pretty controversial positions, Fareed. Your reaction? [Zakaria:] They are controversial. Most particularly the last one because, as you know, Wolf, on Israel, Palestine, he started out he's been all over the place on many of these. He started out suggesting he was going to pressure the Israelis. Then he got some pushback. He went to AIPAC and said, no, no, all I mean is the kind of usual [Blitzer:] That's a good point and we'll see what he says about that. I suspect he's going to make some reference to that in this speech that's coming up. Mike Rogers, you were chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. On terrorism, he said all sorts of things, and I'll put a few of the things he's said. As Fareed just said, ground troops. At some point he says, yes, the U.S. may have to deploy ground troops. Not for a long time, but to kill ISIS and destroy ISIS. He's gone further in saying air strikes, if necessary, if these terrorists are hiding among families, he wouldn't rule out necessarily going out and killing the families of terrorists if necessary to destroy ISIS. And as far as the water boarding policy, what some have called torture, he says water boarding would be fine. He would even go further. He says, ISIS, they behead people, they put them in cages, they drown them. The U.S. can't be tied with one hand behind its back. You've heard him say all of that and I suspect he may get into some of that in his speech. [Rogers:] I have. You know, I hope so. And I think Gloria's right, he needs some consistency on his foreign policy. He suffers from drive-by briefings. To give you an example. On the NATO issue, I'm I'm positive someone went in and said, NATO isn't paying up their fair share to keep up their percentage as they agreed. He took that, poured gas on it and said, NATO's obsolete. And I'm setting them up to get a deal is what he said in that whole I think that whole exchange, meaning he's going to go get that extra 2 percent, or get them to meet their 2 percent. [Blitzer:] Because only a few of the 20, what, 28 allies in the NATO alliance [Rogers:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Only a handful meet that 2 percent of their GDP threshold for defense spending. [Rogers:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] And he says, why can't all of them do that? [Rogers:] Right. And so what he does is then ramps it up. And I think that's where Fareed is exactly right, he takes the populist position on what a position that every secretary of state for the last 20 years has taken, which is NATO, you need to meet your minimum obligation and defense needs. He took that position in that drive-by briefing and what came out was, you know, NATO's obsolete and then he came out and said, I'm just setting them up for the deal, all right, and then I'll get the deal. I'll get them at their 2 percent. It's dangerous when you do that. It sends really terrible messages to our allies and our adversaries, candidly. And this fits and starts in Syria has to end. We have a fits and starts policy now. It's not really working all that great. We need the next commander in chief to have a consistent policy, whatever that is, and implement it. He needs to do that if he's going to gain any of the folks who are serious about national security to say he might be able to be OK as commander in chief. [Blitzer:] Dana, I what you to listen to what he said on "New Day" this morning, the interview he did right here on CNN, on this notion he should be more presidential. Listen to this. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not going to be changing. I'm presidential anyway. I mean, I can change to presidential, but I'm presidential anyway, I guess. [Chris Cuomo, Anchor, Cnn's "new Day":] What does it mean when you say change to presidential? What do you think being presidential is that you're not right now? [Trump:] Well, I [Blitzer:] Some of his advisors have told him, tone it down a bit. But he's been reluctant to do so, especially when he's addressing 20,000 people at a stadium some place at a big rally. [Bash:] Yes, I mean, and it's not just about using bad words that you don't want your kids to hear. It's about saying the kind of thing that he said at the end of what was a pretty magnanimous speech yesterday, for the most part, about Hillary Clinton, saying that she plays the woman card and she wouldn't get where she is if she's if she weren't a woman. I don't I don't think that most presidential candidates or even presidents, you know, if he wins, would say that. Having said that, that's his appeal to his supporters, the non- politically correct, you know, so on and so forth. But to that, sort of tying this into foreign policy, you know, we talking we're talking about the Trump doctrine. He said very explicitly last night that he doesn't want a Trump doctrine because he wants to be flexible. [Borger:] Yes. Yes. [Bash:] He wants to be able to kind of change with the times and see how things go in the world and so on and so forth. You're grimacing. [Rogers:] Well, you can't you cannot send that message to your allies that maybe we'll be with you, maybe we won't be with you. Which is why every NATO country has expressed concern about his foreign policy position. They need to understand. So if you're those Baltic states, you need to understand, if Russia comes over the border, are you going to be here? Will you be here, as you have told you, the United States. If you have a president that comes in and said, well, maybe, maybe not, depends on how I feel that day. [Borger:] But, you know, you know, people have accused President Obama of being unpredictable that way as well [Rogers:] Yes, that's true too. [Borger:] And not and not being a, you know, an ally that they can depend on. Right. [Rogers:] Yes, I would say, I ditto. I agree. [Borger:] But, you know, the red line, I go back to crossing the red line in Syria decision on chemical weapons. [Bash:] Yes. [Rogers:] Right. [Blitzer:] You know what's interesting right now, is you see a lot of foreign policy ex government officials, academics, beginning to sense, you know what, this guy may be the Republican nominee [Henderson:] Right. [Blitzer:] And they're jumping aboard the ban wagon right now. [Henderson:] Yes. [Blitzer:] They're you'll see who's in the crowd over there today. [Henderson:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Not just Senator Jeff Sessions, who's an early supporter of Donald Trump, of Alabama, and I know that he and some former members of his staff have been very involved in helping Donald Trump, Steven Miller, for example, one of Donald Trump's national security advisers, used to work for Senator Sessions. But you're seeing a whole bunch of other think tankers, academics, former government officials already sensing, you know what, I'm going to go join his team because he may potentially be the president. [Henderson:] That's right. I mean they see that this is a full bandwagon that's leaving the station, to mix metaphors, and they want to be on board. Thy want to see if they can be a part of a Trump administration or an advisor. As he is going about this campaign, they want to see if they can shape his foreign policy. I mean it's interesting that that's happening. But it will be interesting to see if we see this from elected officials, right? If they come out publicly and [Blitzer:] All right, this is Zalmay Khalilzad, the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan and Iraq during the Bush administration, introducing Donald Trump. [Zalmay Khalilzad, Former U.s. Ambassador To Afghanistan And Iraq:] In my recently publish memoir, "The Envoy," I tell the story of coming from Afghanistan to the United States legally as a teenager, and of my latest service as a U.S. diplomat in Afghanistan, Iraq, and the United Nations, analyzing what we did right and drawing lessons for the future. America gave me an opportunity to succeed and I tried to pay back a little by my service to the United States I mentioned in my book. I would like everyone to read it. And to borrow a phrase from Mr. Trump, "it will make your head spin." Today, as the primaries wind down, Donald Trump delivers a much anticipated speech on his foreign policy philosophy. This is a critical moment for America [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] The system, the system, the system, a metaphor for discontent about the establishment, is it something that's hurting Donald Trump? Is it something could ultimately reward John Kasich at a convention? Let's discuss all this with the national chair of Young People for Kasich, Gregory Caruso, and CNN political commentator and Trump supporter, Kayleigh McEnany. Let's start with the latest piece of sound that Donald Trump has kind of this manifesto of madness at the system that he has. Let's listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It's not a system. There was no voting. I didn't go out there to make a speech or anything. There's no voting. And, you know, I heard Pete say, well, that's the way it is. Well, that really shouldn't be the way it is. This was changed in the summer to help a guy like Cruz. And it's not right now. You know, I won as an example, South Carolina. I won it by a landslide. Like a massive landslide. Now they are trying to pick off those delegates one by one. That's not the way a democracy is supposed to work. [Cuomo:] But, Kayleigh, isn't that exactly the way a democracy is meant to work. Those words were done and in many cases, a year in advance. Everyone knew about them. Everybody had a chance to prepare and it is no secret that Trump is behind an organization. Is this sour grapes or is this a real case you think you can make that this system is against him somehow? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think it's a real case. And it's not necessarily against him. But we have a problem and it's not democratic when you have 1 million voters in Colorado who were disenfranchised, on August 25th, the GOP committee out in Colorado decided that they didn't like how their voters voted in 2012. They voted for Rick Santorum. They were unhappy with that. When Donald Trump was leading in the polls, Ben Carson leading in the polls, they didn't like that. So, in August, they said, you know what, sorry, voters, you don't get a chance. You don't get a voice in this. We know better than you. It's our turn, not your turn. That is completely wrong. That's not how democracy works. The people should have a voice in all cases. [Cuomo:] But it's up to the state party, right? [Mcenany:] But it's up to the state party. It shouldn't be that way, though. [Cuomo:] And everyone had a fair chance, right? [Mcenany:] No one had a fair chance, because people didn't get to speak. [Cuomo:] No, everybody had a fair chance. Everybody had a fair chance. [Mcenany:] To buy for delegates who are party officials. And, by the way, as you said in your introduction, you know, this system is a metaphor for the establishment. And the GOP would be very wise to listen to their voters who have said in every state, 50 percent and above, that they feel betrayed by the Republican Party. This is why. Cases like this. [Cuomo:] So, this is the rules obviously these rules were done, Gregory, without any idea or notion that Donald Trump would even be in the race. But now here we are. And John Kasich last night in the town hall was saying, look, the rules are bizarre. But you know what, the convention rules are what they are as well and I believe they're going to work for me. How so? [Gregory Caruso, National Chair, Young People For Kasich:] Right, these rules weren't made just to stop Donald Trump from getting the nomination. They have been in place for a long time and this is electoral process, however bizarre it may be. So, I think John Kasich is he's been saying for a long time, we are going to an open convention after the first ballot, it will go to the delegates who will take the process very seriously. And that's where he's confident that he can come out with the nomination. [Cuomo:] Where does the confidence come from do you think, Greg? You know, he says, well, we're getting momentum. It hasn't won a state except Ohio. Hasn't won a delegate in a month. Is the option for Kasich that you hope that the other two destroy each other and seem unelectable? [Caruso:] Not necessarily. But I also argue that might have already happened or is starting to snowball. I think I think it comes the confidence comes from his experience. He has 30 years in government. He's been governor of Ohio and very popular in that state. So I think he has seen this before. And he's confident that he can come out of an open convention and then beat Clinton in the fall. [Cuomo:] How concerned are you, Kayleigh, about what organization means to the person that you support going forward? This is not something that you win alone. Politics has never been that way. And now, it does seem that you are dealing with a better organization. In fact, Trump is saying it. [Mcenany:] Look, organization is important, because even he though the rules are unfair, I don't see them changing, even though they should be changed. So, it's important in the event that you get to a brokered or open convention. But that being said, I do think Donald Trump has a real chance at 1,237. We talk about open convention, open convention, but we have New York, where Donald Trump will likely take close to 90, 95 delegates. You got New Jersey, you have Pennsylvania. The math ahead looks very good. So, I think there is a real shot at him getting to 1,237. [Cuomo:] He has to win a percentage of delegates that he has not won to this point. [Mcenany:] He does. It's a hard path, it's a narrow path, but it's one that can happen. [Cuomo:] And one other thing, let's put these numbers really quickly, though, just for context, because Trump is very upset. The system is rigged and it seems to hurt me more. Raw vote, 37 percent. Delegate vote, put it up, 43 percent. How does it make the case that the system is hurting him more than anyone else when he is doing better in the system than he is with just voting of regular people? [Mcenany:] Because here's the thing, that 43 percent of delegates you know, this is complicated. They vote on the first ballot. They are obligated to vote for Trump. But many of the delegates are actually not Trump supporters. They are Cruz supporters or they support other candidates. So, in the event of the second ballot, that 43 percent looks a lot, a lot smaller. They are not Trump people. They are just obligated by the laws of the state to vote for him in the first ballot. [Cuomo:] That's called politics. [Mcenany:] It is. [Cuomo:] It is always up in the air ands you've got to work the system. Everybody knows that, at least everybody who has been in it. All right. Gregory Caruso, thank you very much. Kayleigh McEnany, appreciate the snapshot, as always. [Caruso:] Thank you. [Mcenany:] Thanks. [Cuomo:] Mick? [Pereira:] Well, Chris, there's certainly no shortage of angry rhetoric on the campaign trail this year. Candidates from both parties engage anything wars of words. Is that good strategy? And if so, which candidate benefits the most? [John Vause, Cnni:] The battle for the Republican presidential nomination gets nasty. Donald Trump reveals an opponent's personal information in his latest stunts. [Zain Asher, Cnni:] And new dash cam video of Sandra Bland's arrest, the woman whose death in police custody is now under investigation. [Vause:] The drone that fires a gun made by a teenager and it might be completely legal. [Asher:] And the U.S. president faces tough questions on Iran on his last appearance on funny man Jon Stewart's "the Daily Show." [Vause:] Hello, everybody. We'd like to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause. [Asher:] And I'm Zain Asher. And this is [Cnn Newsroom. Vause:] Great to have you with us. We begin with Donald Trump once again drawing a lot of criticism after taking his feud with fellow U.S. Republican presidential candidate Lindsey Graham to a whole new level. [Asher:] So now, here's what happened. At a rally in Graham's home state of South Carolina on Tuesday with millions of people watching on national television, Trump gave out the senator's private phone number. Here's our Dana Bash with more. [Dana Bash, Cnn Senior Congressional Correspondent:] Donald Trump unbound by a barraged by criticism. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] They say they didn't like the way that, you know, I'm a little loud. I'm a little too strong. They don't like it. [Bash:] The reality TV star with a flair for drama took presidential politics to yet another level. [Trump:] And I see your senator. What a stiff. What a stiff. [Bash:] Responding to fellow Republican candidate Lindsey Graham saying this to [Cnn. Sen. Lindsey Graham , Presidential Candidate:] He is becoming a jack ass. [Trump:] And I watched this idiot Lindsey Graham on television today and he call may jack ass. He is a jack ass. [Bash:] Standing in Graham's home state of South Carolina, he retaliated by reading aloud the personal cell phone number. [Trump:] He gave me his number. And I found the card. I wrote the number down. I don't know it if is right number. Let's try it. 202 [Bash:] We asked why. Why did you read Lindsey Graham's cell phone number? [Trump:] So people can call him so he can maybe get something done but he won't be able to. [Bash:] Graham now unable to be reached by cell who responded through his campaign manager saying Donald Trump continues to show hourly that he is ill prepared to be commander in-chief. All this amid a back and forth with Iowa's largest newspaper, "the Des Moines Register," whose editorial board called for him to pull the plug on his bloviating the side show. Trump shot back about the newspaper's sagging sales. He appears to be buoyed by the politics of personal warfare. That and crowds like this. All told, some 1,100 people in the Maine auditorium and an overflow room Trump visited after the speech. Many in this retirement community waited on line for hours to get in. [Unidentified Male:] He has set of balls.. He is a doer. [Unidentified Female:] I think he is terrific because he tells the truth. [Bash:] Not everyone who came was a supporter. [Unidentified Female:] He scares me. [Bash:] He scares you but you are still here? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. I want to see him. He is a celebrity. [Bash:] Despite causing so much controversy with comments about John McCain's war service, some veterans here in military rich South Carolina came to hear him. [Unidentified Male:] He just disappointed me. I wasn't offended, but I was disappointed. [Bash:] And yet it's not a deal breaker. [Unidentified Male:] No. Not yet. [Bash:] Why is that? [Unidentified Male:] Too far to go. The man has tremendous background. He, obviously, has a great ability to delegate. He can make a decision on the spot but it also gets him in trouble. [Bash:] As for Graham, he did try to make light of trump's cell phone stunt by saying in a tweet, probably getting a new phone, iPhone or android? Now, that would be an upgrade no matter what for somebody like Lindsey Graham who only communicates by phone. He doesn't text or e-mail. Currently has a flip phone. Dana Bash, Hilton Head, South Carolina. [Vause:] Clearly that Donald Trump throwing out personal insult and taking cheap shots at his rivals and working for now. He is leading in at least one national opinion poll. But is it a meaningless side show, what critics call a destruction with traction or is he speaking truth to power as his supporters claim winning over voters who admire his blunt talk. Jeffrey Lord is a former aide to President Ronald Reagan and a contributing editor the "American Spectator" and he joins us now from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thank you for being with us. How much harm is being done right now to the GOP and the primary process with candidates throwing around personal insults like this? [Jeffrey Lord, Former Reagan White House Political Director:] You know, I don't think any to be perfectly candid. I know people are concerned about this. You know, to be perfectly candid, there's a lot of anger out there in the base of the Republican Party towards the quote- unquote Republican establishment, the leadership in Washington, et cetera. This is their way, I think, of sending a message to these folks. [Vause:] It appears Mr. Trump has survived the insult to Senator John McCain accusing him of not being a war hero, questioning his war hero status, if you like. Potential though, is trump facing a much bigger problem when it comes to social conservatives with his views on religion? He said he's never asked God for forgiveness and he seemed to mock Holy Communion. [Lord:] That is a valid question. As he goes through what we used to call in the Reagan era the three legs of the Republican Party, the three-legged stool. Social conservative was one, economic conservatives and the national security conservative. But don't rule out the fact that he may be, like Ronald Reagan, changing the dynamic so that as people sort of weigh their choices here I think what they are looking for here is honesty. And I think that's why they are responding to him. [Vause:] Would you vote for Donald Trump for president? Do you think he would make a good president? [Lord:] Sure. You know, it always amazes me. He's built this entire global organization. And, you know, you can't be a dummy and do that. I've gotten to know him a bit. He's a very, very smart guy, very talented. And I listen to these descriptions of him from people, you know, that he is a rodeo clown or he is this and he is that. And I think, you know, boy, talk about the power of, you know, under estimating people. They used to under estimate Ronald Reagan, too, you know. He was a B movie actor and he was not very bright, and all of that kind of thing. I think they are massively underestimating Donald Trump and I think they are going to, you know, pay a price for it. [Vause:] Is there a problem here though that as Donald Trump goes through this primary season that eventually he alienates so many sections of the American voting public that he runs out of support from veterans to immigrants, and the list just keeps going on. [Lord:] Yes. I don't think he is going to run out of support. The whole McCain incident I found particularly fascinating because when McCain ran for president himself, there were all kinds of people out there saying things that were just terrible about Senator McCain that he was abusive, he had a bad temper, he was mentally unstable. I mean these were common reports in the media of the day. And suddenly now they are all defending his honor which I must say I find somewhat suspect here. So I think, they are making a mistake, a big one going after Donald Trump like this. [Vause:] My God, are you saying there is hypocrisy in politics these days? I'm shocked. [Lord:] It's shocking, John. I just to find this out. [Vause:] Jeffrey Lord, great to speak with you. We appreciate your point of view. I hope we can talk again. [Lord:] Anytime, John. I'd love to do it. [Asher:] And it's true that Ronald Reagan was perhaps under estimated initially but at least he had held public office before. [Vause:] He was head of the actors union. He was in California. He had actually run for the presidential primary at least once before. Missed out. So yes, he had a lot of runs on the board. [Asher:] Donald Trump, I mean if he can survive Senator Graham attacking him, if he can survive attacking McCain. [Vause:] He still has the conservative media on his side, like Rush Limbaugh, FOX News, still supporting him. [Asher:] OK. So we'll see what happens. The debates are going to be interesting to watch with him on the stage. [Vause:] King Kong. [Asher:] And another Republican contender had officially entered the race. Second term Ohio governor John Kasich announced his bid for the White House Tuesday in front of a crowd of thousands of supporters at his alma mater Ohio State University. [Vause:] This is the second time he sought the nomination and here he is talking about his plans for job creation and also the economy. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] You want job creation, you balance the books. Am I right? You balance the books. If I'm president, or maybe I should say when I am president I will promise you, I will promise you that my top priority will get this country on a path to fiscal independence, strength and we will rebuild the economy of this country because creating jobs is our highest moral purpose, and we will move to get that done. [Vause:] Kasich said he also supports Medicaid expansion under the affordable care act, that's Obamacare, common core education standards and a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. He should run as a Democrat. [Asher:] Certainly more moderate than the rest of the Republicans. OK. And here's a look at the 16 Republican candidates officially in the running. There's a lot of them there. Kasich's competitors include former Florida governor Jeb Bush, Florida senator Marco Rubio and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. This is a very, very crowded field. It is growing by the second. [Vause:] This one not so crowded. Democrat field includes five major candidate, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton leading the way so far. Bernie Sanders giving her a run for her money. Let's see how long that actually lasts. [Asher:] OK. On to another story we are following. A young woman is stopped by police for a minor traffic violation. Three days later she's found dead in a jail cell. Now, we are getting a look at the dash cam video of the arrest. Now police say 28-year-old Sandra Bland is her name, she hanged herself. This is what police are saying, that she hanged herself with a noose made out of a trash bag while under arrest in Texas earlier this month. Her family say they do not believe that she killed herself and she had a lot of good things in her life to live for. That is what the family is saying. [Vause:] The district attorney says there are cameras in the hallway outside Bland's cell and they don't show anyone entering or leaving before her body was found. The DA says a grand jury will ultimately decide whether what happened was a suicide or homicide. Let's get to that arrest video now. You may see some glitches here. We don't know if the video has been edited or an issue with the camera equipment. What you are about to hear though is a tense exchange between the police officer and Miss Bland. [Unidentified Male:] Do you mind putting out your cigarette, please? [Sandra Bland, Victim:] I'm in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette? [Unidentified Male:] Well, you can step out now. [Bland:] I don't have to step out. [Unidentified Male:] Step out of the car. Step out of the car. [Bland:] No. You don't have the right. [Unidentified Male:] Step out of the car. [Bland:] You do not have the right to do this. [Unidentified Male:] I do have the right. Now, step out or I will remove you. [Bland:] I refuse to talk to you other than to identify myself -. [Unidentified Male:] Step out or I will remove you. [Bland:] I am getting removed for a failure [Unidentified Male:] Step out or I will remove you. I am giving you a lawful order. Get out of the car now. Or I'm going to remove you. [Bland:] I'm calling my [Unidentified Male:] I'm going to yank you out. [Bland:] OK. You're going on yank me out my car? OK. All right. Let's do this. [Unidentified Male:] We're going to. [Bland:] Don't touch me. [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car. [Bland:] Don't touch me. I'm not under arrest. [Unidentified Male:] You are under arrest. [Bland:] I'm under arrest for what? [Unidentified Male:] Send another unit. Get out of the car. Get out of the car. Now. [Bland:] Why am I being apprehended? [Unidentified Male:] I said get out of the car. [Bland:] Why am I being apprehended? [Unidentified Male:] I'm giving you lawful order. I'm going to drag you out of here. [Bland:] You're going to drag me out of my own car. [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car! Get out. Now! Get out of car. [Bland:] For failure to signal. You are doing all of this for a failure to signal. [Unidentified Male:] Get over there. [Bland:] Right. Yes. Let's take this to court. For failure to signal. For failure to signal. [Asher:] Joining us now is Harry Houck, CNN law enforcement analyst. So Harry, thank you so much for being with us. I want to get your reaction to this video. At what point did the officer overstep the boundaries do you think? [Harry Houck, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, everything looked good up to the point where the officer asked the woman to stop smoking and she wouldn't stop smoking. I think maybe the officer overreacted when it came to the smoking incident and he had then opened the door and then told her to get out of the vehicle. But one thing people have to remember is no matter what, when a police officer tells you to do something on a stop, you have to do what the police officer tells you what to do. [Asher:] Even in a situation whereby he is telling you to stop smoking and it certainly not against the law to smoke in your car. You still have to do what he said. [Houck:] Well, now I mean, she didn't have to stop smoking, of course, you know. And it seems like, you know, she was very arrogant. She was yelling at the officer. It was a very tense situation for both of them. The fact is that the officer should have let the smoking thing go. That's what I would have done. But still the officer then made the decision that he was going to place her under arrest for resisting arrest or for the summons because the summons is in lure of an arrest and she should have just complied with the officer. He probably would have let her go even after that. [Asher:] And so, I mean, given that it is sort of unnecessarily escalated and I think, you know, watching this video, they are probably both to blame to some degree. But In terms of disciplinary action, what do you think should happen to this officer? [Houck:] Well, you know, the department regulations for that state police there, he might have broken a regulation or so. And you know, that officer might get suspended or something like that. And maybe not that might not even happen, you know. Because the officer did act properly. The fact, you know, they are going to ask the officer, listen, did you tell her to get out of the dare because she wouldn't stop smoking or because you decided because the way she was reacting toward you that you were going to place her under arrest for motor vehicle violation. [Asher:] And of course, the sad part of all of this is that Sandra Bland ended up allegedly committing, now we don't know what happened, but allegedly committing suicide in her jail cell. Now, we know that the investigation is being looked at, it is going to be treated as a murder investigation. Now, given that there are no seem to be no witnesses. We know there's a videotape outside of the cell. What will the FBI be looking for in terms of evidence here? [Houck:] Well, they are looking for the same thing that police weren't looking for here. They are going to look that video. That video was on the cell area. The police said that nobody went near that cell. Also there were two prisoners across from her cell. They were interviewed. They said that nobody went in to the cell at the time nor did they hear commotion coming from that cell. So it pretty much looks to me as an easy investigation and an easy case. I would call this case sort of a ground ball based on the evidence I have seen. [Asher:] But the officer the officer who arrested her certainly isn't to blame for the latter half in terms of what happened in the cell but it could have been deescalated. [Houck:] Yes. It could probably have been deescalated. Buy you know, I thought that even after he told her to stop smoking and she decided she wanted to stop smoking, she still had that arrogant attitude towards the officer from the beginning. So she seemed to be a little out of control. So even if the officer tried to calm that down, I don't think it would have helped. [Asher:] Well, there were clearly tensions flaring but we will see what happens with that investigation. Harry Houck, joining us there. Thank you so much. We appreciate that. [Houck:] Thank you. [Asher:] So I guess the question is, if an officer tells you stop smoking, even though you know it is not against the law to smoke in your car, do you absolutely have to do what the officer says. I mean, that would get anybody upset. [Vause:] Do it and work it out later on. [Asher:] Yes. I guess, that's right. [Vause:] The Pentagon says the U.S. say drone strike has killed a veteran terror leader in Syria. Official say [Asher:] The U.S. had a $7 million bounty on his head. Pentagon official say a missile hit his vehicle in northern Syria earlier this month. And U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered American flags to be lowered in honor of the Chattanooga shooting victims. Flags will fly at half-staff at the White House, the capital and other government grounds until Saturday. [Vause:] Meantime authorities still don't know why Mohammad Abdulazeez opened fire on U.S. service members last week. Sunlen Serfaty reports. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Tonight, investigators are focusing on how this man, Anwar Al-Awlaki may have been a motivation behind the Tennessee shooting spree. In writings examined by the FBI, Abdulazeez, as far back as 2013 he wrote he agreed with some parts of the American-born Yemeni cleric radical teachings. Al-Awlaki, leader of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was killed by U.S. drone strike, but has inspired a series of recent terror attacks, including the shooting at "Charlie Hebdo" in Paris, the Boston marathon bombings. [Daveed Gartensten-ross, Foundation For Defense Of Democracies:] He is the pre-twitter inspiration for a lot of terrorist attacks, someone who would show up again and again in various attacks as being a figure who they looked upon as being particularly inspirational and also particularly authoritative. [Serfaty:] Investigators have also uncovered data found on Abdulazeez's cell phone showing Internet searches as recently as a day before the shootings, questioning whether someone could use martyrdom to atone for sins like being drunk. The reference as came at a time when Abdulazeez was coping with losing his job because of drug issues and attempting to hide it from his family. Three months ago, Abdulazeez was arrested and charged with DUI. Police say they notice a white powder under his nose at the time. Tonight, the FBI is focusing on the 48 to 72 hours leading up to the shootings, putting together a time line, interviewing those who came in to contact with him, leading up to the point he rented the mustang convertible to Thursday's attack. So far, investigators have found no communication or coordination with any terror group, but they continue to sort through what has emerged as a complicated, conflicting web of political and religious views. [Gartensten-ross:] Assuming that Abdulazeez wasn't connected to any group, that's the kind of lone wolf that is difficult to stop. Someone who doesn't really have traces of communicating with say a terrorist operative, someone who isn't acting on a group's behest. [Serfaty:] Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, Chattanooga. [Vause:] When we come back here on CNN, Apple posted almost $50 billion in sales this quarter, but that wasn't enough for investors and we will explain why shares took a tumble. [Asher:] Plus, several convicted [Cabrera:] This latest headline blasted the front page of "The New York Times" this weekend, "Bill O'Reilly Thrives at Fox News Even as Harassment Settlements Add Up." This new report offers new accusations of sexual harassment against the Fox News star. Let's bring in CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter joining me now. Brian, this issue of sexual harassment seems to be a cloud hanging over Fox News for some time now. What are the latest allegations? [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Yes. And this story gets to the issue of culture within, in this case, a newsroom. But at corporate culture, questions that would apply to any big company, in this case, a big media company. Of course, the conservative cable news channel, well known for stars like Bill O'Reilly. People tune in by the millions for O'Reilly's take on the news. But O'Reilly has quietly settled a number of cases over the years of women who accused him mostly of sexual harassment, in one case, verbal harassment of a nonsexual nature. "The New York Times" started to look into this late last summer. That was when the head of the network, Roger Ailes, had to step down. He had been sued for sexual harassment by ex-anchor Gretchen Carlson. Other women came forward saying Ailes had also put them in situations or trying to sleep with them and trying to take advantage of them. So Ailes leaves last summer and then "The New York Times" starts looking at O'Reilly. O'Reilly, back in 2004, had settled a lawsuit very publicly, a $9 million settlement with the ex-producer, but these other settlements were private. I think we can put on screen the examples "The Times" found. These are examples from 2002, all the way until 2016, just last year in the wake of the Ailes matter. You can see five women that received payments from O'Reilly totaling $13 million. Some of those, smaller sums; some of those bigger sums. There are also two other women, "The Times" describes, who have not received settlements but who have accused O'Reilly of improper behavior. [Cabrera:] So how is O'Reilly and Fox News responding? [Stelter:] I would say Fox is standing not right next to O'Reilly but standing near him, saying that he says there's no merit to these allegations, saying he supports the company's efforts to create a safe, friendly work environment for all employees, female and male. You know, this is a network that has had to rethink its human resources, had rethink the way it does business in the wake of the Ailes scandal. [Cabrera:] Right. [Stelter:] For example, they say they now have sensitivity training, sexual harassment training, new people in charge of those departments, things like that. But this O'Reilly issue goes to the heart of the matter because he's the biggest star on the network. [Cabrera:] Exactly. [Stelter:] And if now, still, there are women coming forward, saying they experienced harassment and yet he's still the host of the biggest show on the channel, it makes you wonder if the network is going ahead and accepting the fact that it can make lots of money from him and looking the other way when it comes to these allegations. [Cabrera:] Brian Stelter, thanks for sharing some of that new insight with us. We appreciate it. [Stelter:] Thanks. [Cabrera:] Coming up, swipe, click, cheat? CNN's Laurie Segall takes us inside the war room of Ashley Madison and reveals the secrets that made countless users more likely to search for an affair. [Romans:] Anger over tainted lead poisoned water in Flint, Michigan that may have been in the water supply for more than a year. That anger is being felt on the campaign trail this morning. Hillary Clinton blasting Governor Rick Snyder for his handling of the crisis. Which, the governor admits, the crisis is a disaster, but he's rejecting calls for his resignation. Meantime, two new class action lawsuits by Flint residents, those are expected to be announced today as Governor Snyder prepares a major address. CNN's Sara Ganim is there. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, Governor Rick Snyder speaking tonight at his State of the State address is expected to address potential solutions to this Flint water crisis. On Monday, he told "The National Journal", it's not unfair to call this his Hurricane Katrina. He talked about a lack of trust between himself and the people of Tlint because of this issue saying this: "Trust is something that once you lose it, it's much harder to earn it back. So that's the point we're at." That's something we're certainly hearing from residents when we talk to them. Continued protests on Monday in Flint and in the city of Ann Arbor where the governor has a residence. Protesters not just calling for his resignation, but also calling for his arrest. They're angry at the way that this has played out and angry that they continue to have to pay for the water that they say is not safe to drink. Most of all, what we're hearing from people when we talk to them on the ground here in Flint, is they want to hear how the governor plans to fix this. They're hoping for those solutions tonight. John and Christine. [Romans:] And we'll be watching. Thank you, Sara. The Michigan governor is expected to address another crisis in his State of the State address. The toxic condition of Detroit's public school facilities. The city is bracing for another day of planned teacher sickouts over the hazardous conditions in many school buildings. Detroit school officials say they're working on the complaints. They plan to inspect all schools. Teachers, support staff, parents, they say the cycle of neglect has a devastating impact on students. The San Francisco open bay bridge has now reopened following a protest against what demonstrators call police brutality. The bridge was shutdown for a time on Monday. The California highway patrol arrested 25 demonstrators. They chained themselves and their vehicles across all five Westbound lanes freezing traffic for about a half hour. The spokesperson for the group says their action was a strong, courageous stand in solidarity on the Martin Luther King holiday. The so-called affluenza teen, Ethan Couch is still in Mexico fighting his return to the U.S. At a hearing this morning in Texas, prosecutors will argue for his case to be moved from juvenile to adult court. Couch violated probation in a drunk driving crash that killed four people. He fled to Mexico with his mother. Tonya Couch is charged with helping him escape. She is out on bail. Mothers Against Drunk Driving plans to present a petition with 40,000 signatures demanding Couch be held accountable as an adult. This morning, the music industry and millions of Eagles fans are remembering Glenn Frey, a co-founder and leader of the iconic rock group who died Monday at the age of 67. Don Henley, also a founding member of the Eagles, who wrote many of their biggest hits with Frey, says in a statement, Glenn was the one who started it all. The man with the plan. Frey, Henley, and the other members of the Eagles started out in the early 70s as a singer, Linda Ronstadt's back up band. Soon they were on their own, spinning out hit after monster hit. "Taking It Easy", "Lying Eyes", "Hotel California", "Desperado", another good one. Some of them with Frey on lead vocals. CNN's Sara Sidner has more on the passing of a true rock legend. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, we're inside Amoeba record store which is the largest independent record store in all of America and they are certainly here feeling very sorrowful that Glenn Frey has died. There are a few records up there with "Take It Easy" on the record. You can look at his tenure, his history in the music business and it is absolutely amazing. He is an icon. And if you talk to anyone who worked with him, they will tell you he was a perfectionist, perfectionist. I mean, there was zero room for error. He wanted things to be perfect so that when he went on stage and the Eagles performed, the fans got everything they wanted and expected. And he was very serious about the business, but he apparently was also a joker. He was the guy who liked to joke and do a lot of pranks on some of his members of the band. But it turns out, according to his publicist, that he died of complications from several things including pneumonia and acute ulcerative colitis. He has certainly lived a rock star's lifestyle if you ask anyone who knew him. But his loss is a great loss for the industry itself because he brought so much. He was not only a guitarist, he wrote many of the songs, he sang on many of the songs. He was a lead vocalist on some of the songs. He was also, you might not know this, an actor. He acted actually in "Miami Vice." Had an incredible career. Dying at 67 just doesn't seem right, especially to his fans. John, Christine. [Romans:] Sara, thank you for that. You are absolutely right. All right, Twitter is currently down, broken, out of service for some users. If you can't read it on Twitter, well, we'll tell you what the company is saying ahead. [Brown:] Just in to CNN, new details on the shooting of an 18 year old in St. Louis that prompted violent protests after hearing this morning that the victim here was shot in the back. A law enforcement with knowledge of the case tells CNN's Don Lemon that four shots were fired, three of them by one officer. We're also told that police are canceling days off and going to 12-hour shifts this weekend in preparation for community reaction. Of course, we will share any more updates as we get them. And switching gears to what's going on in the Atlantic. Hurricane Danny strengthens into a category 2 hurricane. I want to bring in Chad Myers for more on this. Chad, what does this mean for us? [Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] Well, Pamela, you know, it's still many, many days away from the U.S. if it ever makes it here. It has to go over quite a few islands before it does. It is a small hurricane with a lot of wind in the very middle. I can draw you a box here. This is one line of latitude and longitude. So, that's about 70 miles by 70 miles. If I box this whole thing in with two, that's 140 by 140. I mean, that's not even the size of Pennsylvania. So it's a small but exact and mighty little storm and mighty far away yet, too. It is going to travel towards the Leeward Islands, probably close to St. Thomas, maybe the British Virgin Islands, maybe Antigua. We'll see where it goes from here, but the middle of the cone does take it over the islands and maybe even toward Puerto Rico if it turns left or turns right, it misses all the islands but we'll have to watch it from there. When it does hit Haiti and the DR they will tear it up because there are a lot of mountains there. But the next stop could be Cuba or the U.S. We'll have to see. By then, though, it will be less of a storm. It certainly won't be a cat 2. [Brown:] All right. Chad, I know you will be keeping a close eye on it. Thanks so much. [Myers:] You're welcome. Well, "Donald Trump was right" police say that's what two men said following their alleged attack on a homeless man. Their reason, according to officials, was because the victim was an illegal immigrant. The pair identified as brothers, Scott and Steve Leader, they face assault and battery charges and are now being held without bond. The attack comes days after Trump's divisive immigration proposals. Take a listen to what the GOP front-runner said when asked about this incident. [Reporter:] Two men in Boston, two brothers, were arrested for allegedly beating a Hispanic homeless man, and they told the cops it was OK because you were right on immigration. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I haven't heard about that. I think that would be a shame, but I haven't heard about that. I will say the people that are following are very passionate. They love this country. They want this country to be great again and they are very passionate. I will say that. [Brown:] Joining us now is Maria Sacchetti, "The Boston Globe" reporter who first broke this story. Maria, thanks for coming on. First off, it's so horrific, what more do we know about the victim of the attack and how he's doing right now? [Maria Sacchetti, Reporter, The Boston Globe:] Well, we don't know very much about him. I mean, he is 58 years old. He's a homeless man and he was allegedly attacked while he was sleeping outside of a subway stop. He was very badly injured according to the Mexican government which has identified him as a Mexican citizen and condemned the attack. His nose is broken. He was apparently hit with a metal pole in the chest, arms, and the head. [Brown:] So much brutality there, and apparently, Maria, this is not the first time the suspects have done something like this, is that right? [Sacchetti:] Right. One of them was convicted of a hate crime after the September 11th attacks. He apparently threw a cup at an immigrant working in Dunkin'Donuts. [Brown:] Wow. And I imagine a lot of people have a strong reaction to this where you are there in Boston. Have you heard from immigrant advocates? What has the response been like? [Sacchetti:] Yes. I mean, there's been widespread condemnation both here in Boston and in Mexico. Last night the Mexican government condemned it and urged people to not to really recognize the contributions that immigrants make to the society and to prevent this kind of violence. Advocates have said the same. And also city officials have been concerned. Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and also the police commissioner and others have and the prosecutors also, there's been these men are now charged with a hate crime, which is elevates it and that's making a statement as well. [Brown:] Yes, very serious charge there. Maria Sacchetti, thank you so much. [Sacchetti:] Thank you. [Brown:] Well, it was a brutal day for stocks after the market plunged to a record low for this year. Will we see red again today? Plus, a little girl who was just sitting in her room shot while doing her homework. The emotional breakdown from the officer who tried to save her life ahead. [Romans:] The latest now on the battle for Mosul. Tens of thousands of coalition troops moving closer than ever to the city. The Pentagon expects the fight to drive out ISIS to be bloody. The extremist group reportedly sending in hundreds of suicide squad fighters from Syria, ahead of the upcoming battle. I want to bring in CNN's Michael Holmes. He's live on the ground near Mosul for us this morning. Bring us up to speed, Michael. [Michael Holmes, Cnn International Anchor:] Yes, Christine, a very active battlefield. As you said, those suicide squads if you like coming in in the hundreds, according to the locals in Mosul, wearing distinctive uniforms, wearing suicide belts, coming in from Syria, obviously determined to fight to the death. Now, 15 kilometers to the south of Mosul, there is a town called Hammam al Alil. Now, this is the last major population center from that direction before Mosul. Iraqi troops have it surrounded, but we're told that inside, they have moved, ISIS moved in some of the better fighters. Their more capable fighters, Chechens, Tunisians, Moroccans, Afghans, foreign fighters, who obviously are there to try to delay the advance, cause as much problems as I can, damage as much of the Iraqi military equipment as they can, but also possibly damage morale as forces get ever closer to Mosul. Intelligence obviously coming out of Mosul, too, because we heard from locals there today that three houses that are being occupied by a squad of ISIS experts and anti-tank and anti-aircraft weaponry was struck at about 6:30 a.m. local time today. Those three houses destroyed and 20 ISIS fighters, we're told, were killed. On another point, we also heard that several ISIS police officers patrolling the streets of the city all this time have been shaving their beards likely, of course, to try to blend in with the local population, a tactic that has been expected and feared Christine. [Romans:] All right. Thanks so much for that. Michael Holmes in Mosul for us. Two strong earthquakes hitting central Italy, some 50 miles from the site of the quake back in August that killed about 300 people. Just hours after 5.5 magnitude near the town of Visso Wednesday, a 6.1 quake struck in the same region. No reported injuries, but there were reports of historic buildings being damaged or destroyed. [Berman:] All right. The World Series now all even. The Cubs, they beat the Indians 5-1 in game two. Just like Cleveland in game one, the Cubs kind of jumped out early. They won control from the start behind pitcher Jake Arrieta. He didn't allow a hit until the sixth inning, although I have to say, he was kind of all over the plate. It was a weird game. The series now goes back to Wrigley Field in Chicago, game three Friday night. The first World Series game played at Wrigley in 71 years. [Romans:] So, you know why they won? They won because I put these on. I said I will wear these all day if we win this game. We are superstitious, Chicago people. [Berman:] So, you'd have to wear that every game now. You'd have to wear it. And maybe every morning from now on. If they lose, it will be because they did not wear those glasses for very EARLY START of the World Series. [Romans:] I'm very torn. I'm torn between keeping my job and I'm torn between supporting my Cubbies. [Berman:] You know that our bosses are up watching right now. They are that committed to the news. Donald Trump pledging to dig deeper into his own pocket in the 12 days of his campaign. He claims he's spending more than a hundred million dollars. Is that true? A closer look ahead on EARLY START. [Jones:] Welcome back. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hannah Vaughan Jones. Israel says it has new evidence that Hamas is syphoning off humanitarian aids meant for Palestinian civilians. For the second time in just a week, Israel has charged an international aid worker with aiding Hamas in Gaza. The latest, Waheed Bossh, an engineer with the United Nations Development Program. Israel says he has confessed to being recruited by Hamas. Let's bring in Oren Lieberman for more details following the developments for us from Jerusalem. Oren, good to see you. Just update us first on the developments today in this story and what the U.N. has said in response. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] These charges come against Waheed Bossh, a 38-year-old Gazan who worked as an engineer for the UNDP, the United Nations Development Program that does humanitarian work inside Gaza, for example, rubble removal and helping in the rebuilding process following the 2014 Gaza war. Israel arrested Bossh on July 3rd and charged him today with aiding directing that humanitarian aid towards Hamas. For example, Israel says he helped Hamas build a jetty for military purposes in Northern Gaza. Israel also accuses Bossh of directing aid towards Hamas in terms of rebuilding, saying that neighbors with large Hamas population would get rebuilt before those with Palestinian populations. Because of those accusations, Bossh was charged today Hannah. [Jones:] It is the second time that something similar to this has happened just in one week. Is there any indication yet or how Hamas operatives are managing to infiltrate international aid organizations? [Liebermann:] Well, in terms of these two investigations, as you mentioned, Bossh and the second investigation, which was against Mohammad El Halabi, there doesn't seem to be an indication between these two investigations that they were coordinated. Let's talk about El Halabi for just a moment here. He also a 38-year- old Gazan, was the Gaza director of that branch of World Vision, a U.S.- based humanitarian aid organization. Israel accused him and charged him with siphoning millions of dollars away from that aid organization and giving it to Hamas' military wing. Israel says he was a member of Hamas' military wing. He, El Halabi Israel says worked his way into World Vision because he did some work for the United Nations and because his father worked for the United Nations, giving him an advantage in the hiring process. That's how Israel says he worked his way into World Vision, which does millions of dollars' worth of aid in Gaza. The response from both the U.N. and World Vision has been similar. Both say they take the accusations very seriously and they're looking with an internal review at how their own mechanisms were bypassed to make sure humanitarian aid goes where it's supposed to go. World Vision had a second part to the statement saying they're at least partly skeptical of the information Israel has put out. Let me read this statement to explain why. This is from Kevin Jenkins, the CEO of World Vision. He says, "If any of these allegations are proven to be true, we'll take swift and decisive action. Unfortunately, we still have not seen any of the evidence. World Vision's cumulative operating budget in Gaza for the past ten years was approximately $22.5 million, which makes the alleged amount of $50 million being diverted hard to reconcile." That statement is why World Vision is skeptical of the information Israel has put out. Both organizations which is the U.N. and World Vision say they will cooperate fully with authorities during this investigation and they urge Israel to conduct a fair trial in both cases Hannah. [Jones:] Oren, we appreciate it. Oren Liebermann live for us in Jerusalem, thank you very much indeed. The number of people killed in Monday's attack in Quetta in Pakistan has now risen to 72. Lawyers across the country went on strike to protest against the assault. Many of those killed were themselves attorneys who were mourning after the killing of one of their colleagues. CNN's Michael Holmes has more. [Michael Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] This morning across Pakistan, the Courts of Justice were silent as the country's legal community mourns its dead. Quetta's lawyers have been mourning one of their own, the 41-year-old Bilal Anwar Kasi, the president of the Balochistan Bar Association. Shot dead early Monday, his body was being taken out of the mortuary of the city's civil hospital when a suicide bomber detonated eight kilograms of explosive. Scenes of chaos, distraction, and screams of despair followed. The majority of those dead were lawyers including several senior advocates. A generation of legal mentors, silenced. [Ghulam Muhammad, Pakistani Lawyer:] No crime against humanity compares to this. It's very tragic. Our seniors and intellectuals have been killed and may God reward them in heaven. [Holmes:] Pakistan's lawyers are protesting nationwide taking to the streets, holding vigils, making their voices heard, sometimes by silence. In solidarity with the victims, this morning the halls of Pakistan's Supreme Court was empty. The chief justice of the country absent, participating in the strike. Shops were closed. Their windows clamp shot as Quetta's residents grieved and tended to survivors. That attack also targeted journalists and doctors, individuals mainly from Pakistan's tiny middle class. Their lives now cut brutally short. A 25-year-old cameraman, Mahmoud Hassan, among them, a father of four who had worked his way up from a security guard at a local channel, taking night classes, and sharing dreams of one day appearing on air as a reporter. As Quetta bleeds, its citizens are unafraid and dauntless. [Ali Farman, Quetta Shopkeeper:] We strongly condemn the attack. There are those who are trying to destroy our city, our country, by such actions, but we will not allow it to happen under any circumstances. This is our country. It is our city. It is the duty of all of us to protect them. [Chance:] One of the groups that have claimed responsibility for the attack is a splinter group of the Pakistan Taliban, known for attacking soft targets like churches, mosques, children's parks and now a hospital. A place of healing, now a bloody reminder of one of the deadliest attacks in the country. Michael Holmes, CNN, London. [Jones:] At least 23 people were hurt in Southern China when a dog went on a two-hour rampage. You can see a person fighting off the animal. The dog struck at victims randomly jumping and chomping down hard on passersby refusing to let go. Police eventually cornered the animal and killed it. It is still unclear if the dog had an owner or indeed what set it off. Stay with us. You're watching THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, live from London. Still ahead on the program, online radicalization is a major problem for the west. We'll look at one French jihadist who seems to know just how to entice his young, vulnerable fellow citizens. And a young British man is behind bars in the U.S., accused of wanting to kill Donald Trump. But his mother says her son has a serious mental illness. We're hear from her in just a few minutes on THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. [Rosemary Church, Cnn:] Battle for control, the Iraqi government says Ramadi is liberated, but local leaders say ISIS still controls parts of the city. Millions of people are under flood warnings in the U.S., and in parts of Missouri, the water could reach historic levels. And a top North Korean official said to be one of Kim Jong Un's closest comrades, has died. We will look at the circumstances surrounding what happened. Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN Newsroom. A big win for Iraq, a major blow to ISIS. Iraqi prime minister Haider Al-Abadi raised his nation's flag in Ramadi Tuesday. The city is still about 25 percent under ISIS control, but as Elisa Labott reports, Iraq's military is calling it a victory, and setting its sights on other areas that ISIS still holds. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Correspondent:] As Iraqi forces evacuated civilians from Ramadi's city center and swept for explosives left behind by the militants, pockets of resistance remain. Tribal leaders charged with holding Ramadi, tell CNN ISIS still controls a quarter of the city, now mostly in ruins. Still, the U.S.-led coalition said it was confident the Iraqis would hold the area. [Col. Steve Warren, Spokesman, Anti-isis Coalition:] We don't think the remaining enemy has the has the oomph to push the Iraqi security forces off of their positions. [Labott:] Iraq's prime minister arrived in Ramadi under heavy guard the day after the army declared the city liberated. Today, he saluted the troops, promising to take the fight to Mosul, and push ISIS out of Iraq entirely by the end of next year. Today, the coalition boasted 10 ISIS leaders have been killed in recent air strikes, including Sharaf Al-Mudan, who had direct contacts with the suspected ringleaders of the Paris attacks days before the siege, and was believed to be planning more attacks against the West. [Warren:] Without leaders to be able to facilitate the activities, your ability to conduct activities goes down. We haven't severed the head of the snake yet, and it's still got fangs. We have to be clear about that. There is much more fighting to do. [Labott:] In Syria, the coalition has now helped secure a hydroelectric dam from ISIS grip for the first time since 2012. Located near the eastern city of Manbij, it chokes off a key supply route from ISIS headquarters in Raqqa. But despite the battlefield losses, one retired general warns ISIS is growing as a worldwide threat. [Mark Kimmitt, Former Us Assistant Secretary Of State:] While they may not be doing ground military offenses, they are still controlling the social media, they're still attracting a significant number of recruits, and I think their new strategy for inspiring attacks worldwide is proven very effective for them. [Church:] Elise Labott reporting there. Well New Year's Eve is just hours away in some parts of the world, and police are looking out for any possible end of the year terrorist threats. Jim Sciutto shows us why authorities are on alert. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Correspondent:] With New Year's fast approaching, authorities across the world on alert for terror, from Belgium, to Bangladesh, to New York City. [James O'neill, Nypd Chief Of Department:] People should feel safe this New Year's Eve because we're there. You're going to have one of the most well-policed, best protected events at one of the safest venues in the entire world. [Sciutto:] Police in Belgium arrested two men Tuesday in connection with a plot they say to attack historic sites in the Belgian capital on or around New Year's Eve. A senior Belgian security official tells CNN the target was Brussels Central Square, the Grand Palace, the plot inspired, though not directed by ISIS. Police conducted several terror raids Sunday and Monday, seizing military uniforms and ISIS propaganda, the Belgian government raising the threat level to 3 out of a possible 4, meaning an attack is likely. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, the U.S. Embassy warned U.S. citizens of possible attacks on New Year's Eve. New York says there is no credible threat to the New Year's celebrations, but it is dispatching 6,000 officers to Times Square, where more than 1 million people are expected on Thursday night. The secretary of Homeland Security encouraging New York Police Academy graduates to be vigilant on their new beats. [Jeh Johnson, Us Homeland Security Secretary:] In the face of this current threat to your country, to our country, I encourage you to build bridges to the communities in this city that the Islamic State is attempting to target for recruitment. [Sciutto:] Underscoring the homegrown dangers, a British couple were both convicted today of preparing for acts of terrorism, after investigators seized stockpiles of chemicals and bomb-making materials at one of their homes, and this video, showing them testing an explosive device. [Laura Nicholson, South East Counter Terrorism Unit:] It is clear that a radical and violent Islamic extremist ideology was the motivator for these offenses. [Sciutto:] On the battlefield in Syria, the coalition announced that air strikes killed ISIS leader Sharaf Al-Mudan, who officials say had direct links to the mastermind of the Paris attacks, and was actively plotting more terror. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington. [Church:] The storm has passed, but the governor of Missouri says the threat is far from over. Parts of the state will likely see historic river flooding through early next week. It's one of 13 states currently under flood warnings across the U.S. Missouri's governor has activated the National Guard to help first responders in evacuated areas. Alina Machado reports. [Alina Machado, Cnn Correspondent:] High water is already covering several roads in and around West Alton, Missouri. And just 70 miles from here, the situation is much worse. There are several homes and businesses already underwater in Union, Missouri. Authorities there telling CNN they had to rescue at least two people who were caught up in rising floodwaters. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon is asking people to please avoid driving through roads that are covered with water. Listen to this. [Jay Nixon, Missouri Governor:] Just this morning, we were informed of an additional three flood-related deaths. This brings the total number of fatalities in the storm to 13, 12 of which were caused by vehicles being swept from flooded roadways. Now that the rain has moved out, the threat has changed, but it is not by any means over. [Machado:] And that is why the mayor of West Alton, Missouri, has asked residents to leave. He has issued a voluntary evacuation order, and so far most people have left their homes. Alina Machado, CNN, West Alton, Missouri. [Church:] And earlier, CNN spoke with Linda Horn about how the floodwater is affecting the roads in Missouri. She's a spokeswoman with the Missouri Department of Transportation. [Linda Horn, Spokeswoman, Missouri Dept Of Transportation:] We're dealing with rising rivers all across the state of Missouri. We currently have over 225 roads that are closed in the state, and our worst situation is that Interstate 44 is closed in the middle of the state, cutting near Rolla, Missouri, and we are expecting a spot on Interstate 44 to close in St. Louis before morning. And those two closures on Interstate 44 are making it not only very difficult to get around Missouri, but also very difficult for travelers trying to get through our state and travel in the Midwest, the ability to get, say, from Illinois to Oklahoma. And so we're having a tough time dealing with truck traffic and through travelers trying to get through the state of Missouri. [Church:] And in some areas, these floods could be unprecedented. Let's turn to our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, to learn more about this, and to get an idea of just how extensive this flooding is. [Pedram Javaheri, Cnn Meteorologist:] Yeah, it is incredible. You know, this is something that you typically don't see take place to this nature, to this extent when it comes to the time of year that it is. Typically the first week of winter no one is talking about this historic level of flooding. That happens in association with incredible snows, the spring melt, and of course the summer rains across this region. And you take a look, think about the 18 million people that are dealing with the flood watches and warnings that are in place over this region. In fact, when you talk about river flooding, officials even say Ban Ki-Moon in the past has made references to river flooding as a slow motion tsunami almost in progress, because you have the water just traverse downstream over a several-week period. And if you take a look, the moisture very limited over this region, so everything that has come down pretty much all transpired. But I want to show you what has occurred in the past several days, when you bring back in the Mississippi River Basin, its tributaries, tremendous tributaries across this region that funnel in a lot of water. And you go in, in the past three to seven days, we've seen somewhere between 15 to 30 centimeters, or 6 to 12 inches of rainfall. This was all amid all the tornados, the severe weather, about 70 Tornados respond across this region. The moisture associated with those storms was incredible, and again, all coming down in the form of rain, typically in the cold season you bring this down in the form of snow, and snow does a great job, actually, of absorbing the moisture. So the runoff typically in the winter season is limited, the water levels typically want to drop. This time around it certainly hasn't felt like winter. And if you take a look at the gauges, and of course the levees that are in place over this region, here's what it looks like. We think the flooding will continue downstream over the next several days. By the time you get down to the Arkansas River, southern portion of the Mississippi River, we're talking January 2nd, January 3rd before all of the water is funneled downstream. And, of course, with a lot of tremendous stress placed on these levees we know a lot of them are beginning to really overtop, and that's the issue. The good news with this, for some people, is that once you have an overtopping occur, you're releasing some stress associated with the flooding. But, of course, if there's too much stress on this, levees fail and you have widespread damage. And this is something that's happened back in 1993 it was, where a significant flooding occurred over this region. And we know of $15 billion in losses that happened because of the flooding of 1993. There about 100 plus levees were overtopped, as well. So a very serious situation beginning to take place across this region. If you take a look, over 400 river gauges that are reporting flooding across portions of the Midwestern, the central, the southern United States, and this pattern continues over the next several weeks. And unfortunate too, when it comes to weather-related fatalities in the United States in the past 30 years, flooding is number one. About 81 people every single year lose their lives due to flooding. Tornados come in second there, at number two, with the hurricanes and lightning strikes being very close. And I want to kind of point out something here, too, because when it talks about flooding, in 2014 alone, and you go back several years, Rosemary, and look at flooding, the vast majority of flooding fatalities, about 66 percent of them, occur when people are driving. You have about 12 percent of the people falling in, about 3 percent fishing, walking accounts for about 7 percent of flood-related fatalities. But you can see what happens when you're displacing people, because of the water coming down, you're potentially telling people they need to evacuate, and if people do not heed caution or go down roadways that you've heard are closed, on the order of hundreds of roadways, now people are placed in danger, as well, so it's something to take very seriously as early as possible with these waters beginning to rise. [Church:] Yeah, that is a wake-up call, just looking at that breakdown there, Pedram. Of course we've heard from authorities saying do not go out in your cars, particularly at night, because of all the water. It doesn't take much water, does it, to cause problems for people in vehicles particularly. [Javaheri:] Absolutely, yeah. Just about ankle-high water, if it's moving at about 3 to 5 miles per hour, that will begin moving your vehicle. You bring that up to your knee height, and you're talking about this vehicle having no chance at all, yeah. [Church:] Absolutely right. Many thanks to you, Pedram. We'll talk again soon. [Javaheri:] Thank you. [Church:] Want to turn to eastern China now, where the state-run Xinhua news agency is reporting rescuers have found eight workers in a collapsed mine. The miners have been trapped for five days. Rescue crews can now talk to them using an intercom system, and they're delivering food and other provisions to them as well. The mine in Shandong Province collapsed on Christmas Day, killing one worker. Nine people are still missing. The rescuers have not been able to reach the miners as yet. Investigators are working to find out what caused that collapse. Donald Trump calls Bill Clinton's marital indiscretions fair game, and now the billionaire is inviting the media and his rivals to investigate his own personal life. Plus, the new charges the so- called affluenza teen and his mother will face as they're brought back to the United States. We'll have that for you next. Do stay with us. [Howell:] A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. Indonesian officials have spoken with a suspect in the purported VX nerve agent attack that killed Kim Jong-nam. She told them she was asked by people who looked Japanese or Korean to apply it on Kim inside the airport in Kuala Lumpur. Officials say she thought the substance was "a kind of oil, like baby oil." We'll continue to follow that story. In Syria, suicide attacks in the regime held city of Homs have killed at least 32 people including a military intelligence official. This is all according to Syrian state media. Reports say the bombers targeted two security centers, a Syria umbrella organization that includes the former Nusra Front, has claimed responsibility. Iraqi forces are closing in on a key part of Western Mosul, this as they continue to fight to take that city from ISIS. Dozens of militants have been killed, but others have escaped Western Mosul through tunnels. Iraqi fighter jets also bomb ISIS targets in both Iraq and Syria for the first time Friday. The White House says it did nothing wrong in asking the FBI to publicly knock down reports of contacts between Russians and the Trump campaign back in 2016. Senior Trump officials say the FBI broached the subject first, but when the White House followed up with FBI Director James Comey, he declined to comment on an ongoing investigation. The president of the United States Donald Trump was once an unlikely champion for American conservatives, but now he is a leader of that movement as he demonstrated at a major conference on Friday. Our Sarah Murray has this recap for us. [Murray:] The president leveraging his moment in front of a friendly audience to further escalate his attacks against his favorite foe. [Trump:] I want you all to know that we are fighting the fake news. It's fake. Phony. Fake. A few days ago, I called the fake news the enemy of the people. And they are. They are the enemy of the people. [Murray:] After an extended opening screed against the media [Trump:] It doesn't represent the people, it never will represent the people, and we're going to do something about it. [Murray:] Donald Trump touted his presidential achievements so far. [Trump:] Basically, all I've done is keep my promise. [Murray:] And defended his administration's plans to crack down on undocumented immigrants living in the [Us. Trump:] As we speak today, immigration officers are finding the gang members, the drug dealers and the criminal aliens and throwing them the hell out of our country. [Murray:] As Trump ticks through his top agenda items, he revived his campaign rallying cry and vowed to build a wall along the southern border. [Trump:] We're building the wall. We're building the wall. In fact, it's going to start soon. [Murray:] US Customs and Border Protection announced it will soon ask for design proposals for prototype wall structures near the US-Mexico border. And after the administration's first effort to temporarily ban immigration from some Muslim-majority countries was blocked by the court, today, Trump previewed a new executive order. [Trump:] We are going to keep radical Islamic terrorists the hell out of our country. We will not be deterred from this course. And in a matter of days, we will be taking brand-new action to protect our people and keep America safe. [Murray:] All of this, as Trump offered clues about his first presidential budget. The president has insisted he would cut spending. But, today, he pointed to a dramatic increase in military spending. [Trump:] We're also putting in a massive budget request for our beloved military. It will be one of the greatest military buildups in American history. [Murray:] And he vowed yet again to repeal and replace Obamacare, dismissing the outcry members of Congress have seen back home in their districts. [Trump:] The people that you're watching, they are not you. They are largely, many of them, are the side that lost. You know, they lost the election. It's like how many elections do we have to have. They lost the election. But I always say, Obamacare doesn't work. [Murray:] For Trump, the event today was something of a victory lap. While his 2011 speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference previewed his political ambitions, Trump snubbed the event last year. And what a difference a year makes. [Trump:] You know, the dishonest media, they'll say he didn't get a standing ovation. [Howell:] The president of the United States on stage at the CPAC conference. That was our White House correspondent Sarah Murray reporting for us. Mr. Trump drew applause from the Conservative Political Action Conference, but a prominent journalist says the president has some Republicans concerned. Here's what Carl Bernstein told CNN's Anderson Cooper. [Anderson Cooper, Host, Anderson Cooper 360:] Does it surprise you the extent to which how much the Republican Party has embraced the sort of economic nationalism? [Carl Bernstein, Journalist And Author:] Well, I think two things are happening. The base of his victory have embraced it and we're watching at CPAC a narcissistic demagogue even going farther with his message of anger and with his message of exclusion. While on Capitol Hill, what is happening, he is scaring the hell out of a lot of movement conservatives and a lot of senators and congressmen who worry about his stability and are well aware that he is presenting all of this in a fact-free universe. There's great concern on Capitol Hill. I'm sure that others on this broadcast can attest to that. And so, we're heading in two different directions, where there's some real skepticism in his own party in Washington about his approach and whether he really is a president who knows what he's doing, while at the same time, he's energizing those who brought him to the dance. [Howell:] Carl Bernstein there speaking to our Anderson Cooper. Federal authorities are investigating a possible hate crime in the United States in the State of Kansas after an Indian man was killed. The man's widow says that she was worried about violence against foreigners, but her husband said everything would be OK. Mourners held a vigil Friday night for the 32-year-old. He died Wednesday after being shot while having an after-work beer with a friend who was wounded himself in that shooting. The victim's widow spoke Friday about her husband. [Sunayana Dumala, Widow Of Srinivas Kuchibhotla:] His passion was aviation. He wanted to succeed so much in this industry and do so much for this country. And he for sure he did not I'm sorry. He did not deserve a death like this. [Howell:] Authorities later arrested this man, 50-year-old 51-year- old. Witnesses told local media that he shouted get out of my country before returning to the bar and opening fire. Police have not corroborated that information at this point. Still ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM1, inside a groundbreaking surgery, how 56 hours changed this man's life forever. Plus, Hollywood is getting ready for Oscars. A little later, we'll look at who could win that coveted statue and who might go home empty handed. Stay with us. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. The nerve of George Zimmerman today. He appears to be desperate to auction off the gun he used to kill Trayvon Martin back in 2012. Zimmerman calls it a piece of American history. Opening bids for his.9 millimeter pistol started at $5,000 but his first attempt to sell this gun didn't go quite as planned. I want to bring in CNN's Polo Sandoval. Polo, you've been texting with George Zimmerman this afternoon. What did he tell you about moving his gun auction from one website to another? [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, the first question, Jake, why was did he do that. We do understand that Zimmerman is at odds with gunbroker.com, which was the initial web site that listed this weapon that he allegedly used in that shooting right there. Zimmerman actually sent me a message saying that, quote, "Unfortunately, Gun Broker was not prepared for the traffic and the publicity surrounding the auction of my firearm." That's why he eventually went to another web site. But then you hear from gunbroker.com, who are also weighing in with a statement of their own that they posted on their web site. Here saying, quote, "our site rules state that we reserve the right to reject listing at our sole discretion and we have done so with the Zimmerman listing. We want no part with in the listing on our web site or any publicity that it is receiving." Which is important to mention that that is what makes this difference. Meanwhile, you have unitedgungroup.com, which is a web site that is currently listing Zimmerman's pistol. And I can tell you that really just a few moments ago that the actual web site went down. I checked online a little while ago to try to access it. I spoke to the owner of that web site and he says that they have seen more traffic in the last 15 minutes than they have seen in the last several months. You're looking at the posting right now. In it, you can see that he lays out the details of it. The owner of this web site telling me that they are working right now to try to restore that web site so that they can get the auction back up and running Jake. [Tapper:] All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Flying to your summer vacation destination this year could be a little cheaper. Plus, the airport security lines could move a little faster if some lawmakers get their way. How? We'll explain next. [Cuomo:] OK, Donald Trump's now-fired campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski he was no stranger to controversy. He was a guy who liked to mix it up. He was out there in the crowd with Donald, and then there was this, in March, where he is seen grabbing reporter Michelle Fields at a campaign rally. Despite pictures showing Fields bruised arm, Lewandowski always maintained he did nothing wrong. He went after Fields. Fields then wound up leaving Brietbart where she had been working at the time. She now is working at the Huffington Post and she's a political reporter. She wrote a book that is a very interesting insight into the dynamic in the beltway that this election is such a referendum on for so many people, called the "Barons of the Beltway". So, with all that, we've got Fields here this morning. Michelle, there's so much stuff to talk to you about. Even though you had to suffer through that, you left Brietbart, you went to Huffington Post. You can't be upset about that. What do you see in these changes of the Trump campaign Lewandowski being out? Do you believe that Lewandowski is why Trump has had the stumbles that he has had? [Michelle Fields, Political Reporter, "huffington Post":] Look, I don't think Corey Lewandowski was probably very good at his job. He was simply a body man who organized these amazing events for Trump. Yes, he's out, but that doesn't change the fact that Trump is still Trump. No one can make Trump say the things that he's been saying. He has said some very racist things, especially about the judge, not too long ago. It's not his staffers that made him say it, it's him. So he can get rid of all of the staff that he has and bring on new staff, but it doesn't change the fact that he is Trump and that is his character. [Cuomo:] Now, you're a hybrid, right? I keep calling you a reporter but you're part of the Republican #NeverTrump organization. Like, that's your mindset on this. So you're covering him but you're doing it through a lens. Do you believe that this change might give you a little bit of hope, as a Republican, that he could become the kind of candidate you need him to be? [Fields:] No, because like I said, I don't think that changes the character. He has shown us what he's like, who he is. Just because you get rid of staffers doesn't change who you are as a person. This is someone who is a bully. Who is, like I say in my book, a Washington insider. I profile tons of Washington insiders. That is Trump. He has done a very good job at positioning himself as this outsider, yet he is someone who has built this amazing real estate empire through deals that he's gotten with politicians. He's paid off politicians in New York, who then gave him favorable treatment when it comes to many of his deals. This isn't someone who is an outsider. He's building a hotel a few blocks away from the White House. This is someone who is very cozy with the media, especially many people in cable news. This is not someone who is an outsider. He is, in fact, the ultimate insider. He is the baron of the beltway if he were to get elected. [Cuomo:] He started one of his introductory remarks was look, I know how the game works. I was one of the ones paying the money for favors, and people actually kind of dismissed that as his having insight into the system. Let's put up an excerpt from the book that makes this point for you about barons of the beltway and Trump being one of them. You say here, "Trump was supposed to be different. He tricked many, many good people into believing that he was authentic, that he would tell it like it is. But while Trump may not have been a politician himself, he was still very much a part of the elite system that's been running Washington for far too long." So, is he the problem or is he the solution, Fields? [Fields:] He is absolutely the problem. I think what we need is someone who is an actual outsider, not someone who is masquerading as an insider. This is someone who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. This is someone who has been involved in nepotism, helping his sister become a judge and get into a high position. The idea that he's going to just go into Washington and, you know, disrupt it is incorrect. In fact, many lobbyists are very excited about Trump because they think that he is a dealmaker. He is not someone who is ideological. He's not motivated by ideology. In fact, he's motivated about keeping power, getting more money himself, and this is not someone who's going to care about the American people and his constituents. He went and said that if he were to go on Fifth Avenue and kill someone that his supporters are, essentially, stupid enough to continue to support him. So, the idea that he's going to go in there and keep to his promises when he clearly thinks his supporters are not very bright and will stick with him through anything, I think, says a lot. [Cuomo:] So, one side note which is, as you probably know, Trump's sister has very good reputation as a judge [Fields:] Oh, very good, yes. [Cuomo:] But, you know, so [Fields:] But she has admitted that he did lobby to help her get the position that she's in. [Cuomo:] Right. Well, you know [Fields:] It was according to a "New York Times" report. [Cuomo:] I know, but you want to a "New York Times" whatever. But, what I'm saying is let's give her her due. She's got a big reputation as a judge. [Fields:] Oh, yes, of course. [Cuomo:] But, let me ask you something else. [Fields:] But it still shows nepotism. [Cuomo:] Be that as it may, let's end it on this idea, though. So, you're a Republican, you're a #NeverTrump-er. What is your alternative, though? He is your party's presumptive nominee. At this point it seems, emphatically, he's going to be your nominee. Would you consider do you believe there is a slice of your party that would consider Clinton? [Fields:] I do. I think that [Cuomo:] Are you one of them, by the way, Fields? I'm putting you on the record. [Fields:] I'm not a huge fan of Hillary, as you know. I've been a conservative my whole life, pretty libertarian, but I do think that Hillary would not be as detrimental to this country as Donald Trump would, especially when it comes to foreign policy. I think Trump can cause a lot more damage than Hillary would if Hillary were elected. So, I would. [Cuomo:] Michelle Fields, good luck with the book. I would suggest that you were employing an artificial standard the "not a huge fan". This election is the "who's less worse"? You'll have to change your lens of looking at it [Fields:] Yes. [Cuomo:] based on what we're hearing from all the voters. Michelle Fields, thank you very much and good luck with the book, "Barons of the Beltway" Brooke. [Baldwin:] All right, shall we talk drones this morning? Drones can be good fun, but what happens when they start falling out of the sky or getting in the way of planes? An exclusive look at new research on drone dangers straight ahead. [Whitfield:] All right, welcome back, the big event at day 3 of the G20 meeting in China. It could be an informal meeting between President Obama and Russian President Putin. Obama also has other pretty big diplomatic challenges ahead of him including China. Just yesterday tensions boiled over between members of the president entourage and Chinese officials over security access. I want to bring in Gordon Chang. He is a Columnist for the "Daily Beast" and the author of a book on North Korea's nuclear ambitions. Good to see you, all right. So, China did not necessarily give President Obama a warm welcome upon the arrival of the plane. The tensions are obvious there. Is this China flexing its muscle? I mean, what could have been behind all of that? [Gordan Chang, Columnist, "daily Beast":] Yeah, this is perplexing because China wants a controversy-free G20. And what they're doing is they're sort of pushing everyone in the other direction. I think that this can be explained within the context of China's internal situation. I think President Xi Jinping has probably tried to create a situation where elements in the communist party and the military have to rally behind him. So this really isn't about the United States. It's more about the problems inside China right now which include a very difficult economy. The G20 is supposed to be about the economy. China's got a real problem there. [Whitfield:] Yeah. So the U.S. has also warned China that there would consequences if it doesn't stand down on its expansion to South China Sea. At what point does that warning have to be backed up with some kind of action? Is this something that would even, you know, come into the preview of discussions particularly since we're talking about it statistically and economic kind of session? [Chang:] We're going to find out maybe in a couple of days because the Philippine government has reported seeing barges around Scarborough Shoal which China seized in 2012. Those barges are probably a prelude to reclamation which would make permanent and active aggression. And in March President Obama warns Xi Jinping that there would be serious consequences if China started reclamation. So, we're going to have a real live test of Sino-U.S. ties perhaps within a week. [Whitfield:] All right. And then, this side meeting that could be taking place today, China time, between President Obama and Vladimir Putin might it be that the topic of conversation, the primary topic of conversation, would be about Syria. [Chang:] Well, Syria certainly is going to be on the agenda but the other issue is the Russian build up of their forces around Ukraine which is certainly worrying NATO and clearly this is something that would involve the United States. So, there are a number of issues about Russia. It is going to be across the board, I think, in terms of a problematic relationship that we've had with the Kremlin in the last couple of years. [Whitfield:] OK. And there are a lot of things that President Obama could potentially be talking about with other leaders. And as it pertains to Turkey, with President Erdogan apparently, you know, President Erdogan has really demanded the return of that exiled clerk whose been living in the United States. Is that something a topic he might broach with President Obama there? Would it be appropriate? [Chang:] Yeah. Well, certainly, they've talked about that. They're going to talked about human rights as President Obama has been very firm about human rights. And as we heard in Fareed Zakaria interview, the President makes a very important point. That is, there shouldn't be this crackdown because it was the Turkish people who rally to save the government. So, you know, here we have nuclear weapons based in Turkey. This is going to be something that we've got a lot of interest involved in what happens going forward with Erdogan's dealings with the military. [Whitfield:] All right. And lot potentially on the table in this G20, the last for this sitting president. All right, thank you so much, Gordan Chang. Appreciate it. Good to see you. [Chang:] Thank you, Fred. [Whitfield:] All right, straight ahead, Donald Trump's running mate, Governor Mike Pence, says he will release his tax returns this week and Trump just might too, but when? We'll discuss that next. [Baldwin:] You're watching CNN. We're back here live in the middle of this Ronald Reagan library here in Simi Valley, California. I'm flanked by this stunning mountain range. Off camera, to me, it's a beautiful place to call home for all of us for the next couple days. Listen. We're 48 hours away from the big show, the CNN Republican debate that could really change momentum, change this 2016 race for the nomination. Let me show you the candidates and remember 11 of them on that stage at 8:00 eastern come Wednesday night desperate, obviously, to steal the limelight from the man who is in the center, Donald Trump. A new ABC News"Washington Post" poll puts Trump on top of the Republican field and he's now at 33 percentage points. The only other in double digits is Ben Carson. Even seeing a 12-point jump in the key early primary state of New Hampshire. That's in Ne Monmouth University poll. That was also out today. So let me bring Cheri Jaocbus, Republican strategist and here with me in Simi Valley, I have Kevin Madden, CNN political commentator and former national press secretary for Mitt Romney for president. So he has been through this rodeo a couple times. So, welcome to both of you. Thank you so much for being with me. And off the top here, Sherry to you first and then Kevin, I want you to name two candidates who will be let's say of the 11 Wednesday night that this will be make or break. Cheri? [Cheri Jacobus, Republican Strategist:] I think Ben Carson, for one. He's doing well in the polls as we know coming in second very strong. What's also interesting is that when you're asked for a second choice, Ben Carson leads the others by quite a lot. So I think that you're going to see Ted Cruz coming after Carson because he wants that number two spot to Donald Trump. I don't think they are going after Donald Trump. They have an alliance. Another one, Carly Fiorina. She has got some good bragging rights now going in. She just won the straw poll for the national federation of Republican women. We had Ted Cruz come in second. Ben Carson Third. Donald Trump, fourth. So this is her chance. As you know, you know, she's been trying to get to the grownups table as they say on the stage. She is there. So she has an opportunity. I'm going to name one more, John Kasich. He has been the sleeper in this. He's doing a lot of grass roots work. He's gaining some key endorsements, but he's largely been laying low. He doesn't really want to have to make his candidacy be about Donald Trump. So I think that he has a shot to really shoot forward. So those would be the three-four, really, that I would be watching. [Baldwin:] OK. Kevin, you have two? [Kevin Madden, Republican Strategist:] Well, I'm going to agree with Cheri on Carly Fiorina. I think this is an extraordinary opportunity. She used the first debate to break through into the top tier and really get a look from a lot of voters. I think those voters are going to be tuning again in to see if there's more of they like the first time around. And this is an opportunity for her. I mean, and one thing she's struggled with has been name I.D. So this chance to get before tens of millions of new Republican voters and really build on that momentum is big. I would say in the break column, I would say this is a big night for Scott Walker. Scott Walker has really seen his numbers plummet since the Donald Trump industrial news complex has taken over. And here's an opportunity for him to really breakthrough that clutter and show the people that were registering support for him again previously that he's back in the fold. So I think that will be interesting to see for him. [Baldwin:] We are 48 hours out. I was asking you if you're missing any of this or not you know. That didn't go around and he laughs. He laughs. But Kevin, but 48 hours out, what is happening right now with these candidates in their campaigns? How into the needy-gritty are they that they have been, you know, readying for this for quite a while? [Madden:] Well, I think this last 48 hours, they are doing a lot of polishing up on some of the policies. Some of the points that they want to make. Some of their strategies on how are they going to breakthrough on that stage. I think the other part if it is when they start to do this walk through and they see that sight in how close they are going to be together, they are going to start thinking through the strategies of just the physical element of this debate. And starting to think of ways that they can break out in that sense. [Baldwin:] They are basically, and I was asking you about this off camera before, but they are basically from me to you. And so, we were talking about cringe worthy moments. And listen. All these candidates have cringe worthy moments where all there, you know, folks working with them off stage. But when you saw your guy, when you saw Mitt Romney grab Rick Perry like this, awkward. [Madden:] Awkward. Yes. The one thing you have to remember about these is more and more is that they become performances. And the optics really start to matter. And the optics can work in your favor. But when you do something like Mitt Romney and reach out, those optics can really start to be a difficult moment for the candidates. These debates are largely defined by moments of strengths and moments of weakness. Now, somebody like Donald Trump who for the last 35 years has been a celebrity and is much more comfortable in these environments, it could work to his favor. And similarly, Jeb Bush who is, you know, more of a policy wonks, somebody who is focused more on substance, that physicality may work against them. So they are going to have to be waste overcome soon. [Baldwin:] How they use the audience because the front row is feet away. All of that will be at play. Cheri, to you, totally off the lay of the land here. You know, one of the big stories we have been following at CNN is the story out of [Jacobus:] Well, I'm assuming you have some inside information that that will be one of the questions. [Baldwin:] I have no inside information. I have not been inside the cone of silence, let me just say that. But I'm thinking about it. [Jacobus:] Yes. One thing that all of the candidates will struggle with and what they want to do well with is no matter what they are asked, of course, they want to address the question. And I know the format is such that they are going to be addressing each other. Jake Tapper has said that much. But what they want to do is talk about their priorities. They want to define themselves. So if that is an issue with which they want to be defined by, then they should go ahead and talk about it. If there's something else that they can address that is related to that that they care more about, I think they should address that. [Madden:] Look. You know, I think there's an undercard here between Cruz and Huckabee and even Carson for the evangelical vote. Even if it's not asked as a question, I will bet they are going to try and leave it in because that's what they want. They won't allow these voters in places like South Carolina and Iowa which are early on in the contests on the calendar, they want the voters to know that they are the candidate that's going to stand up for their values in this race. [Jacobus:] I would agree on that issue. [Baldwin:] Cheri, to be continued. I promise, to be continued. Cheri Jacobus and Kevin Madden, thank you so much for being with me. And again, let me remind you, folks, must-see TV Wednesday night. The CNN presidential debate for the Republicans Wednesday at 6:00 eastern is when it begins here on CNN. Coming up next, no surprise, we're all thrilled the energy, the anxiety is palpable here in Simi Valley. We'll take a look back, though, at the memorable and historic moments these huge events, these debates have produced in the past. We're going into the vault. [Harlow:] Get ready for the glitz, the glam, and of course the music. The 59th Annual Grammy Awards right around the corner. Of course it is this Sunday. [Berman:] Mostly the glitz and the glam. That's what we're here for. Want to bring in CNN's Stephanie Elam. She's got the latest on who's nominated and what we can expect when it comes to glitz and glam Stephanie. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] I think this one is glitz and glam, but it think even bigger than that this one, John and Poppy, is the music. And you've got some big contenders. You got Beyonce, you got Adele. In fact if you want to know what you're looking for at the Grammys, take a look at this. [Elam:] From Adele to Beyonce, the Grammy Awards honor the biggest names in music and 2017 is no exception. [Jem Aswad, Senior Editor, Billboard Magazine:] It is the Vatican, sort of, of the music business and of music entertainment. [Elam:] Beyonce leads the charge with nine nominations, including Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and the night's most competitive prize, Album of the Year. The singer's latest collection, "Lemonade," faces off against Adele's "25," Justin Bieber's "Purpose," Drake's "Views," and Sturgill Simpson's "A Sailor's Guide to Earth." Awards aren't the only thing on deck at the Grammys. Expect some big collaborations. Lady Gaga with Metallica and The Weekend with Daft Punk are just a few of the duets set to hit the stage. So that's just an idea and you know what else you can probably expect is some tribute to Prince. Remember we lost the iconic musician last year so expect that on music's biggest night that there will be something to remember him by. But if you want to just take a look again at those big the big award of the night is Album of the Year, just to give you an idea again, you've got Beyonce with Lemonade, you've got Adele's, you've got Justin Bieber, and Sturgill Simpson. Now if you notice here almost of these titles are just one word. So that may have been a trend in 2016, guys. I'm just noticing that. Sturgill Simpson, though, taking it long. Never know what that has to mean with anything but hey. [Harlow:] Do you have your dress? Do you have your dress, Steph? I know you're going. [Elam:] I'm going to be on the red carpet. It is a very long red carpet. I will be out there. I'll be posting pictures. I'll be tweeting. I'll be trying to look a little different than the news lady that I am right here right now. [Harlow:] Just don't wear the same dress as Beyonce, OK, Steph? [Elam:] I'll try. That's going to be hard. Yes. [Harlow:] Thank you. Have fun. Thank you all for being with us all week. It's been good. [Berman:] It's been awesome. Come back next week. [Harlow:] Bye, guys. [Richard Quest, Cnn Anchor:] Closing bell is ringing on Wall Street. Lime Brokerage is ringing the bell, and the gavel gets hit. Yes, there we are, a nice firm gavel to bring trading to a close. It's Wednesday. It's the 22nd of June. Tonight, Britain on the eve of history. Last-minute campaigning before a vote that frankly is still too close to call. Banks batten down the hatches for fear of punishing pound volatility, and all aboard. I'll be taking you on board a whistle-stop tour of Britain in our 1970s British camper van. I'm Richard Quest live in London where, of course, tonight I mean business. Good evening. It is the eve of an historic decision that will shape Britain and its place in the world for decades to come and the country is bitterly divided. A record 46.5 million people have now registered to vote in the EU referendum, and the polls have consistently shown voters are split down the middle. Ahead of the vote British politicians are making their final push persuading the electorate. The Prime Minister, David Cameron, told voters remaining in the EU will boost Britain's ability to create jobs, fight climate change and win against terrorists. U.K. Independence Party, UKIP leader Nigel Farage says, a vote to leave is a vote to literally regain control of the nation. [Nigel Farage, Leader, Uk Independence Party:] Tomorrow we can vote for real change. Tomorrow we can vote to put power back in the hands of people. We can vote to take control of our country back. We can vote to get our borders back. We can vote to get our pride and self-respect as a nation and in who we are as a people back. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] Above all, it's about that word, together. We will win together, fight together, keep the Britain in a European Union together. So let's get out there and vote remain, tomorrow, Thursday. Go for it. Thank you. [Quest:] Now the former U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer and Lord Norman Lamont joins me live. First of all, you're obviously strongly from the "Leave" campaign. Have you found yourself in some difficulty being on the same side as Nigel Farage from UKIP, a man with whom you don't have many things in politics with common with? [Norman Lamont, Former U.k. Chancellor Of The Exchequer:] It's not so much being on the same side as Nigel Farage. I don't take any particular pleasure of being the opposite side from David Cameron who used to work for me when I was chancellor exchequer. This is an issue above personal friendship, that is above party. [Quest:] Right. There's a letter in this morning's "Times". Entrepreneurs and business executives have written this letter to the "Times." Entrepreneurs and business executives are basically making a last-minute push to stay in the EU. The letter is on page nine, if I sort of head to it. To nearly 1,300 of them were involved, and they signed this letter urging voters to choose to remain in the EU. The letter basically says they represent over a million employees, and it is their considered opinion that they are better off within the EU for business point of view. Why should we ignore the views of so many CEOs running so many companies? [Lamont:] Well, I don't think you ignore the names of the people, but a list of names is not an argument. One considers the arguments on their merit. [Quest:] But you're talking about Sir Richard Branson, Carly McAuliffe, EasyJet Michael Bloomberg, I mean, I could go through the whole list. You can see the letter. It basically says, as business people we look to the future, and a future inside the EU is where we see more opportunities for investment, growth and new jobs. Now, your side has to basically say why we should not listen to these people who employ so many people and run such big businesses. [Lamont:] Well, I think you would find that smaller businesses and entrepreneurs actually, you know, there are plenty of them. They may be a minority, but there are quite a lot of people in that category who take quite a different view. I don't think that this is determined, as I said, by lists or by numbers. You say they represent a million employees. Well, the labor force, you know, that's less than 5 percent of the labor force. [Quest:] But it's the companies, sir. It's Diageo, it's BP, it's PWC and, I mean, these are the backbone of the British economy. [Lamont:] Big business, many of it likes the EU because it has an inside track. They can sit cozily with civil servants. They can lobby. Brussels is full of lobbyists. Big business like it more than small business does. That is the case, but, you know, I think there are arguments against I think one of the mistakes that many of these businessmen make is that they overrate the single market. The impression is given that the single market is some castle or walled garden and we've got a special key to it, but, frankly, this is just not true. The EU is accessible to non-members as well. The United States sells more to the single market than we do. Even in services the United States is increasing its services faster than we do. [Quest:] You surely can understand that it is very difficult for the voter to go against many experts, many economists, who were wrong over the ERM and wrong over the euro, but, you know, when the doctor tells you to take this medicine, you take it. As David Cameron says when the car mechanic says don't drive the car you don't drive it. When George Soros says, the pound is going to go down 15 percent, you listen and were you on the other side of Soros in `92. [Lamont:] But as you have just said, these people were wrong before about the euro. I remember in 1982 when 364 economists, 364, it's not 1,200 but still an awful lot, wrote a letter to "The Times" saying that the British economy would never recover from the policies being pursued by Mrs. Thatcher. And almost to the day that they wrote the letter the economy started growing again. This is not just about the opinion of there are other issues as well. There's obviously the issue of our borders. There's the issue of where the European Union is going. It is going towards becoming a political union in which the British Parliament has less say, ministers have less say. They are a small minority. You have 10 percent of the votes in the European Parliament, 8 percent of the votes in Council of ministers and we have measures imposed on us that we don't want. [Quest:] If the vote is to remain, just for the purposes of this question, sir, humor me that the vote, do people like yourself then basically keep quiet and sort of work for reform within the union, but this has now been a decision. We have to move forward within the union. It's time to put the argument of membership [Lamont:] I think whatever way it goes, the decision has to be accepted. Of course, people may [Quest:] But you call rankle sidelines. [Lamont:] I'm not going to rankle. [Quest:] Not you personally. [Lamont:] I don't think people should rankle. But that is not to say that you can settle an issue for eternity. I don't suppose there's going to be another referendum if "Remain" win within the next couple of years or the next five years. But that doesn't mean that people won't evaluate what Europe is doing. An awful lot will depend on what Europe does next as well. [Quest:] Lord Lamont, thank you, sir, for coming in. Thank you, I appreciate it very much. Now, as we sort of take the temperature of those people who were there in `92, of course, when the ERM diabolical took place. And also in the years afterwards. Lord Lamont's predecessor, Lord Nigel Lawson, who supports the "Leave" campaign as well. So here we have two former Tory chancellors, both of whom are supporting the leave campaign. I started asking Lord Lawson how he accounts for experts warn of grave consequences from Brexit. [Nigel Lawson, Former Uk Chancellor Of The Exchequer:] I think that when people say don't listen to experts, what they're thinking about is, for example, the 364 economists who in in 1981 said that such a government, that which I was a part, was driving the economy on to the rocks and we'd be in a deeper recession. In fact, then we had a recovery. The experts subsequently said the United Kingdom will be finished if we didn't join the euro. It's now clear that the euro is a disaster area and we were very fortunate that we didn't join it. So they are frequently wrong. But you know, I mean, you know, in my own small way as a long serving chancellor I regard myself as something of an expert and Norman Lamont, another former chancellor, takes the same view that we will be far better off outside the European Union. [Quest:] One of the most persuasive arguments for the "Leave" side is that you would negotiate an independent trade treaty with the EU. But surely any trade treaty with the EU would require Britain to follow the same rules and the same standards whether it's manufacturing standards. You know, you're going to end up being following the rules without having a say in how they are made. [Lawson:] Well, there are three things, if I may say so, that are mistaken about that. First of all, we don't need a trade treaty at all. You don't need a trade treaty to trade. We do far more trade, far more with the rest of the world than we do with the rest of the European Union, and we don't have a trade treaty with most of these countries. We don't have a trade treaty, for example, with the United States, and we do an enormous amount of business with them. People confuse trade treaties with trade. Trade is important and trade treaties are not. Particularly if you look at Europe where the weighted average of the European common external ties bar is 3.6 percent. That's a tiny barrier and indeed the rest of the world, all outside the European Union, trade massively with the European Union despite no trade treaty. The other thing is what this ignores is the harm of overregulation. One of the problems with the European Union is they have what they call is a Democratic deficit and bureaucrat surplus. And European regulation is stifling small and medium-sized companies, particularly in the United Kingdom, and we can't do anything about it inside the European Union because European Union law is superior to United Kingdom law. [Quest:] Lord Lawson talking to me before earlier and before that you heard Lord Lamont, two conservative chancellors maybe from different era, but both men of whom actually had to deal with very much the issues of Europe, the pound, the ERM as it was and the euro. There are less than ten hours and Britain goes to the polls. In 23 hours the polls will be just about to close. If voters choose to leave, it will trigger immediate and dramatic changes for markets and politics. We'll look at that in just a moment. It's QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. Good evening to you tonight from London. [Blitzer:] Bernie Sanders speaking at a rally in Manchester, New Hampshire. I want to listen in quickly as well. [Bernie Sanders, , Vermont & Democratic Presidential Candidate:] When we talk about the economy, we cannot ignore the elephant in the room, which is the greed, recklessness, and illegal behavior on Wall Street. [Sanders:] Now, there are a lot of people who would prefer not to talk about it, I will. I was in the House of Representatives, representing Vermont. I was on the House Banking Committee, and I saw the billions of dollar coming in from Wall Street in campaign contributions and lobbying to deregulate Wall Street. I helped lead the opposition against that deregulation. Was not successful. Wall Street got the government off of their backs. They were free to do what they wanted do. And we all know what the results of that freedom were. I wouldn't phrase it exactly like that. [Blitzer:] Bernie Sanders delivering his stump speech in these, the final hours before the New Hampshire primary. As you know, Bill Clinton is accusing some of Bernie Sanders' backers of what he described as "sexist" attacks against Hillary Clinton. The Sanders campaign calling Bill Clinton's remarks, quote, "disappointing." Jeff Weaver is Bernie Sanders' campaign manager and joins us live from Manchester now. Give us your reaction to Bill Clinton's comments, what he said yesterday, and what he's saying today. [Jeff Weaver, Campaign Manager, Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaign:] Wolf, this has been a hard-fought campaign in New Hampshire. We've tried to keep this focused on the important issues facing the people of New Hampshire. A rigged economy held up by a corrupt system of campaign finance, the need make college affordable for people, the need to make sure that people have health care. These are the issues. This is why Senator Sanders is ahead in New Hampshire. Unfortunately, the Clinton campaign, now that they find themselves behind, have really tried to turn this into a much nastier kind of conversation. And it's unfortunate in these final hours of the New Hampshire primary that they've sort of gone down this road. [Blitzer:] They're blaming you guys. You know, you heard what she said at the debate last week that Bernie Sanders' campaign was engaged in artful smear in all of this. And they also are suggesting and you heard this from the former president, Bill Clinton that the Senator is being hypocritical on the Wall Street issue. We did some checking when we did some checking CNN checked that Bernie Sanders as a Senator hosted the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for retreats for top Democratic Party donors who gave more than $30,000 a year. And among those donors were those associated with Goldman Sachs and other banks, Wall Street banks, and investment houses. What do you say to that? [Weaver:] Well, what you mean to say is that the DSCC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, hosted these events at Martha's Vineyard. They do it ever year. He showed up as a Democratic Senator. He never solicited money from Wall Street people or made any calls to Wall Street people. I can guarantee you that. Look, this is a distraction. The truth of the matter is that Bernie Sanders is the only one who does not have a super PAC in this race. He's not a wall street-funded candidate. He's not taken millions of dollars from financial interests in speaking fees. And you know, this is really a distraction, Wolf, from the real issues facing this country. [Blitzer:] He was not [Weaver:] It's just unfortunate. [Blitzer:] I want to be precise. That Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, events on Martha's Vineyard, he wasn't listed as a host sponsor of the event? [Weaver:] He he may have been listed on some materials. Let me tell you, that's an event that is organized by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee every year. It's an annual thing. They ask Democratic Senators to show up. And so he has done that in the past. [Blitzer:] What's your expectation for tomorrow? [Weaver:] You know, we are slightly ahead here. It is a hard-fought campaign. You know, the secretary has been on TV here since August. As you know, she won this state eight years ago. This is really the fourth Clinton primary election here. President Clinton had two here. This is Secretary Clinton's second. We expect a hard- fought campaign. It's snowing out here in New Hampshire. We don't know what that means. We hope to prevail by turning out the thousands and thousands of people who are rallying to Bernie's call to transform America. [Blitzer:] Jeff Weaver, the Bernie Sanders campaign manager. Jeff, thank you very much for joining us. [Weaver:] Happy to be here, Wolf. Thanks. [Blitzer:] Thank you. Coming up, the first female secretary of state tries to elect the first female president of the United States. Will words get in the way? What Madeleine Albright is saying and how the Clinton campaign is responding. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] Police need help finding this man who may be responsible for deadly bombing in central Bangkok. [Errol Barnett, Cnn Anchor:] Plus a new CNN poll suggest that despite all the controversies, Donald Trump's popularity shows no sign of slowing down. [Church:] And regulators in U.S. sign off on a new drug described as Viagra for women. [Barnett:] We'll all hear it at this hour. Hello and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and all around the world, I'm Errol Barnett. [Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. This is "CNN Newsroom." And we begin this hour in Bangkok where police are working to identify the prime suspect in Monday's bombing at a Hindu shrine. Authorities say surveillance video shows a man in a yellow T-shirt leave his backpack at that shrine. It exploded minutes later, killing 22 people and injuring more than 100. [Barnett:] Now that shrine is open to the public once again at this hour. You can see, the golden statue bears visible scars from Monday's bombing. Police and the prime minister say it was a deliberate attack meant to hurt Bangkok's tourism industry. [Church:] All right. We do want to go to live now to Bangkok where CNN is following developments. And we understand authorities held a news conference [inaudible]. [Unidentified Female:] Announced a 1 million beat or $30,000 reward to anyone who leads them to that suspect. They are still working hard to track that man who led to the do the bombing or was involved with the bombing. But they believe this is a suspect connected to the bombing. Is he is a lone wolf? We don't know. Was he working with other people? We don't know that. But police are working hard to confirm that as far as the press conference is concerned. They've also told us they are looking at the second bomb location as well, Rosemary, just the next morning, at a close to a bridge by the river. There are riverboats Rosemary that run up and down the river in Bangkok taking people, ferrying them around like taxis on the river. Now, people were waiting to board a boat when someone threw down a bomb. It bounced off the pierce and went thankfully into the water. There were no injuries. Police divers are in the water there and have used sandbags, at least 3,000, I believe, something to that number, to block off an area to clear the water and go down and see if they can find more clues and evidence. What they have said initially, speaking to local Thai TV, the police spokesman had said he believes it is also a pipe bomb and used ball bearings which is what they believe was used at the shrine here across the road from me. They believe they have a lot of similarities and could be connected. Rosemary. [Church:] And significantly of course still no claim of responsibility here. And presumably the police have no doubt that this man that was caught on the surveillance camera is indeed the bomber, presumably they have done some assessment as to the epicenter of that explosion. Are they saying anything about that? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, in terms of who is behind it and claims of responsibility as you rightly say there have been no claim of responsibility so far which is unusual if it was a major terrorist attack by a major organization. As we've seen in the past, organizations are very quick to claim responsibility. They want that glory. They want to claim it. They want the world to know and fear their organization and to announce their arrival in any place that they are attacking. That hasn't happened here. Of course, there has been discussion about the insurgency in the south Rosemary and that is largely always been contained in the south it's never really ventured out, certainly not this magnitude in the heart of Bangkok. So as to this person and this suspect, as you say, as they discussed the CCTV shows him going in wearing a backpack and leaving it there. So by a process of elimination they are saying that they believe this man is connected to this bombing. And, Rosemary, the place in which he leaves that rucksack, that black backpack is where the bomb went off. It's where it was surrounded by people on both sides. You know, this really is right in the heart of the center of Bangkok and represents the heart of Bangkok in so many ways, Rosemary. It is a religious shrine. Yes it's dedicated to a Hindu God but is it a religious shrine that all religions venture too, the Buddhist community, Sikhs, Hindus and people go there to be at peace and admire it. It does not have any walls around it. That is symbolic as well, Rosemary. It's inviting and that is why there are so many people. It has a railing but you can see into it and there are people on both sides, flower sellers, store holders and people inside as well. And where the bomb was placed it was placed to cause maximum damage and death as we seen it, Rosemary. [Church:] Let's hope with the incentive of this $30,000 reward that someone can come forward of course having that surveillance camera footage is helpful. Once they can get closer, hopefully someone will recognize this suspect. That news conference ongoing and we'll get any new information that comes to hand. [Barnett:] Want to bring you developments into CNN from Indonesia. A government official says more than $470,000 was on the Trigana Air flight that crashed over the weekend. The crash was being the cash was being brought by Indonesian post officers to distribute to poor families. Six bodies have arrived at a hospital in Papua province for identification. None of the 54 people on board survived. The plane's black boxes have been sent to Indonesia's transportation safety commission for analysis. The flight lost contact with local air traffic control on Sunday shortly before it was scheduled to land. [Church:] China says it is investigating the director of the country's safe agency following last week's deadly chemical explosion in Tianjin. [Barnett:] Authorities are working to cleanup the toxins left behind. Our Will Ripley reports on the many challenges [inaudible]. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] He street from thousands of apartments where people are supposed to be moving in in less than two months. A state reporter who travelled to the center of the blast site which is heavily restricted. There is not any access to the general public but this reporter was embedded with the crews, as they got closer to the center of the blast site, the levels of sodium cyanide and neurotoxins exceed the measuring capacity of their testing meters. That shows you just how heavily concentrated these chemicals are. And it's made worse on the ground here by the fact it has been raining today. So the rain, while it clears some of the pollution in the air it makes things more complicated on the ground because the water can interact with the chemicals that these folks here, the Hazmat workers here are working to detect. The cleanup effort continues and so does the process of identifying the bodies. The death toll is holding steady and more and more families are getting confirmation that their loved ones were killed in this disaster a week ago. There are dozens missing a full week after the explosion and the ensuing disaster that this city and this country is still coming to terms with. Will Ripley, Tianjin, China. [Church:] Greece has seen a 400 percent increase of the number of migrants arriving in the country year-on-year. That is according to a U.N. refugee spokesman. [Barnett:] Now, almost 21,000 migrants in Greece in 2015 is 160,000. The total number in 2014 was more than 43,000. [Church:] Thousands of desperate immigrants are hoping to find shelter on a cruise ship the Greek government has set aside to house migrants. [Barnett:] Media are not allowed on the ship. But we have exclusive footage. [Atika Shubett, Cnn Correspondent:] This is the Greek solution to the immigrant crisis on the Island of Kos, a cruise ship. The refugees can live aboard the ship while they are getting registered. That should only take a few days. Once they have their papers they can move off the Island and for many here that is the doorway to Europe. But will it work? Greek officials won't let media on board. But these pictures taken from inside by one of the refugees shows good conditions and hot meals provided. Not without problems, though, backed up toilets and the boat is filling up fast. This man says he is happy to be on board, though. [Fawaz Faour, Syrian Refugee:] This is good solution. It's better to say to stay than on the street. [Shubett:] But this man warns that the boat is getting crowded. Now it's getting full, he tells us and it's better to process our registration quickly. There will be too many people inside I told my neighbor this morning there must be 2,000 people just inside this cafeteria, he said. The number camped out on the streets has diminished but this is only a partial solution. The boat is for refugees fleeing the war in Syria and Iraq only. For thousands of others from Pakistan to Nigeria, the wait is much more, weeks or longer. They crowd outside the police station to register in the baking sun, ramped in squalid conditions. The cruise ship is only scheduled to be here until the end of the month and with thousands arriving every day, Kos may find it needs more than a boat. [Church:] Right now, Germany is parliament is getting set to vote on a bailout package for Greece. These are pictures of the German finance minister there. The bailout package worth up to $95 billion would help Greece avoid an outright financial collapse. [Barnett:] Let's bring in Isa Suarez. Some have said there has been a rebellion ahead of the vote. [Isa Suarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning Errol, good morning Rosemary, it will pass, that is the expectation. But the bailout has been much contended in Germany where a lot of uproar was Germany has to pay up for a third bailout, really for Greece, something they wanted to avoid but what we're seeing now is a beginning of the vote. Where debating starts and you're looking at live pictures there from Berlin and that's the German finance minister. We are expecting the vote to pass, but you know there, is some sort of dissent within the ranks. Initially we were hearing reports of up to 120 MPs who were really going to rebel against this vote. But yesterday there was a test vote. It doesn't mean anything, but just to see which way people would vote. It was about 60 dissenting voices. Worth noting this is a parliament of 631 seats. Merkel has around 317. And although there are some dissenting voices within the CDU, the center right party, many social democrats, the minority government and the green party say they will vote. What they worry about and this is the crux of it people saying they shouldn't be backing a third bailout for Greece. Germany is the one contributing the most to this bailout. Second, many are saying, look, we don't know exactly the terms in detail this bailout. A majority of MPs have been on holiday and called back for the second time now to vote on this and haven't had time to go through the 600 pages retailing this and many think there would be debt relief which they don't want to see because it simply means that a lot of their own Germans will have to pay up. And another big concern which is something that chancellor Merkel has well is this idea of the IMF. Is the IMF behind this deal and support it? Which is something they wanted. [Barnett:] Many of the issues being considered right now and we should consider at what political cost will all of this have on the leadership of Angela Merkel and Germany in general ahead of this important vote on this Greek bailout. [Church:] Britain's Sebastian Coe has been elected as the new president of the International Association of Athletics Federations. That is the world governing body for track and field events. He beat out a Ukrainian for the post. Coe is a four-time Olympic medalist and one of the greatest middle distance runners in history. The election was held three days before the 2015 world championships in Beijing and in the midst of a series of doping accusations against some of the athletes an alleged cover-up by the organization. [Barnett:] Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," U.S. republicans are not laughing over a joke Hillary Clinton made about the e-mail scandal surrounding her campaign. [Church:] Plus, Donald Trump is soaring in the latest CNN poll. How is he winning so many hearts and minds? We want to find that out. That's coming up. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] And welcome back to New Year's Eve Live with Kathy Griffin and Anderson Cooper. [Kathy Griffin, Cnn:] That's right. And by the way, I like the way you say and Anderson Cooper. Like you kind of know your place finally. [Cooper:] Well, you're the star. [Griffin:] Oh, stop it. I'm just a legend. Now look, we're three hours from midnight here in New York, and all around us, people are very excited. We just talked to someone from Brooklyn, America. I mean, that is a trek. Have you ever gone that far? [Cooper:] Many times, yes. [Griffin:] Now, where have you been the last few days? [Cooper:] I was on vacation in Myanmar for actually for two weeks. I have not taken a two-week vacation in like 20 years, 15 years. [Griffin:] I'm sorry, since last year when you avoided me until this very day? [Cooper:] That's not true. [Griffin:] OK. We actually have some photos of where Anderson really was in the last few days, acting like he was in what is it, Monmar? [Cooper:] Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, of course. [Griffin:] Hello, I know. All right, so here's a picture of you and you were clearly just walking around New York as the naked cowboy. I'll let the crew put them up there. [Cooper:] It's like a dream, to be the naked cowboy. [Griffin:] And then they'll put up the next one. [Cooper:] Any day. [Griffin:] Any day. Or I can. There you are canoeing at Yale. I think you went back to Yale. [Cooper:] Yes. I think that's a kayak. [Griffin:] Were you on the Yale kayak team? [Cooper:] Oh, look at that. [Griffin:] You were actually boxing with Sean Hannity, your best friend. Now when you and Sean Hannity hang out together, besides boxing, what do you guys do? [Cooper:] We just like to shoot the you know what. [Griffin:] OK, aren't you a professional person who can say things on the air unprompted? [Cooper:] I'm thrown by the beefcake, I'm sorry. I get all tongue tied. [Griffin:] Wait, are you leaving me a window to assume that you think that Sean Hannity could be defined as beefcake? [Cooper:] Well, those bodies are, you know, clearly stand-ins. [Griffin:] [inaudible] complementing Sean Hannity on the show. That is something I am shutting down right now. But, I do want to know why you were boxing Sean Hannity in your Rachel Maddow glasses. [Cooper:] That's my Rachel [Griffin:] Did Rachel come in and really kick his butt? [Cooper:] You know, everybody at CNN has to wear those glasses. It's in our contract now. [Griffin:] You just want to be Rachel Maddow. I mean who doesn't. She's wonderful. [Cooper:] She's a mixologist too, you know. [Griffin:] Oh, she's like the white Oprah. She's like drinky drinky every Friday. [Cooper:] Oprah drinks? [Griffin:] Oh my OK, are you going to act like you don't hang with Oprah? All right, hi, America and Sweden and globe. This guy was probably when he says Myanmar, he means Oprah's house [inaudible]. They were there drinking more than Rachel Maddow, fighting with Sean Hannity, maybe Dennis Miller came over. He lives down the street. [Cooper:] Where do you think Gayle and Oprah are right now? [Griffin:] Spooning. [Cooper:] No, I'm betting St. Barts. [Griffin:] But they're spooning there. [Cooper:] They're probably at a big fancy party at St. Barts. [Griffin:] Oh, they're calling big something. [Cooper:] I don't know what that means. [Griffin:] All right. I'm leaving it up for interpretation. [Cooper:] But Times Square is the place to be, isn't it? [Griffin:] Oh, nice come back. [Cooper:] Thank you. [Griffin:] That is very nice. Now tell me about Myanmar-mar, because I don't even think you went there. [Cooper:] You realize that you and I have done this show now for, this is our tenth year, and probably every other New Year's show who is out here at some point has talked about, like, the size of the crystal ball that gets lowered, the size of the crowd [Griffin:] Right. Or they talk about the science of how they build it and stuff. [Cooper:] Right, yes. Or the history. We've never talked about any of that. [Griffin:] No, I like to talk about your personal history, what I imagine your history to be, and then what I tell you your future is going to be. [Cooper:] I was in Myanmar and I put my pictures on Instagram @andersoncooper to prove it. [Griffin:] I'm sorry, I didn't know you were going to go there, but if we can show the photo that Anderson had the nerve to put on his IG the kids call it [Ig -- Cooper:] I knew you were going to bring this up. By the way you know, for a moment, I didn't post it because I thought, Kathy's going to [Griffin:] Yes. But you did. [Cooper:] That's I'm guessing that's not the photo you're talking about. [Griffin:] Oh, let's start there. We're going to work up to it. So first of all, explain yourself. [Cooper:] I was at an elephant sanctuary, elephants used in the timber trade, so they rescued these old elephants, like 68-year-old elephants to give them a good life, and you get to feed the elephants as a tourist there. It's a nice thing. [Griffin:] OK. Walk me through this. So Anderson Vanderbilt goes to Myanmar, you go see Aung San Suu Kyi, and then you say, god, I miss Burma, and then what, she gets you into the elephant preserve and you do the hungry man? Because you have a horrible diet. I fear what you would feed an endangered elephant. [Cooper:] I ate chicken and cashew nuts every single day. [Griffin:] What about Boston Market? [Cooper:] They didn't have it there yet. [Griffin:] Are you in fact an unpaid spokesperson for Boston Market? [Cooper:] I'm not a spokesperson, no. [Griffin:] But you are unpaid by them. [Cooper:] I'm not paid by them, certainly, but I used to love the Boston Market. [Griffin:] But how did you used to? [Cooper:] Well, like I haven't even there in a while. I go through phases where I eat the same food for six months at a time [Griffin:] Oh god. That is such a psychological it's not even Freud Freud's like this. I don't have time. This one's too obvious. All right. What is your little phase that you are supposedly eating now every day, three times a day? [Cooper:] I get a there's this company called Fresh & Co. in New York, they make salads, like you can order your own in front of you. I get a salad [Griffin:] Give me my book. Give me my book. If he's going to plug his endorsements with fresh salads or whatever it is, I have a book for sale. Please order it now. It's a best seller. [Cooper:] Very funny. [Griffin:] All right, go ahead with plugging your food company. [Cooper:] But this is our tenth anniversary so throughout the night tonight, we're going to show some of our I don't know if they're our best moments or [Griffin:] They're my proudest moments. [Cooper:] And I'm, you know, it's an obviously a joy and an honor to be here with you. [Griffin:] Were you going to say a double-edged sword? [Cooper:] No. [Griffin:] I felt like you were going to say a double-edged sword. [Cooper:] No. [Griffin:] Because while I did put you on the map, there are times I've teased you. [Cooper:] But the deal is and this is the truth, and Kathy, we've talked about this on the air before. Every year, Kathy works her butt off to make the show happen and I show up at the last minute and just I ride your coattails. [Griffin:] Excuse me. This is what I heard and you better confirm this. Two hours ago, I said, where's Anderson? Quote, he's taking a nap. Taking I start working on the show January 1. [Cooper:] I'm jet lagged. [Griffin:] I start jet I'm not comedy lagging [Cooper:] Myanmar's 12 hours ahead. [Griffin:] I thought it was Myonmar [sic]? All right. And then I asked if it was a jack nap, and then someone said, what's that? [Cooper:] A what? [Griffin:] And I'm going to a jack nap? [Cooper:] What's that? [Griffin:] Do you really want me to answer [Cooper:] I really don't. [Griffin:] Keep asking. I'm happy to answer that. I could answer that all day in many ways. Because I love you have the nerve to ask me the meaning of that. Maybe in Myonmar [sic] they call it a jaw nap. I don't know. Why don't you ask them? [Cooper:] I figured it out. [Griffin:] And are you trying to leave? Just so you know, he has nowhere to go and yet he's still kind of like thinking he can leave. [Cooper:] Anyway, let's take a look at one of our throughout the night tonight we're going to show some of our best moments. [Griffin:] Just get it together. [Cooper:] Let's take a look. I'm here with, of course, Kathy Griffin. [Griffin:] I'm here with not Ryan Seacrest. [Cooper:] Someone own Twitter was saying there's going to be a drinking game every time I giggle nervously. [Griffin:] That is going to be out of that one. You better watch your back, because I'm coming at you full tongue, grabbing your butt. You're going to have to call security. Take it or leave it, Andy. [Cooper:] Every year, we usually put a sign under the camera to just remind Kathy, no nudity. [Griffin:] Yes, and I just thought [Cooper:] Are you kidding me? Look at the snow. Look at the sign. What, do you want to hit me? [Griffin:] Yes, I do. [Cooper:] Go. Ow. It kind of hurt. [Griffin:] And you know what I do when you do that? [Cooper:] What? Ow. She really has been punching me all night long. [Griffin:] Have you been working out? [Cooper:] Yes. [Griffin:] How many times have I punched you? [Cooper:] This is like the sixth time. You know what's sad about that? I don't know how many years ago that was 2010. I'm wearing the same exact sweater. [Griffin:] What's going on? Financial hard times? [Cooper:] I'm cheap. Literally, that's the exact same sweater. [Griffin:] You're admitting you're cheap? [Cooper:] Yes. [Griffin:] I didn't know you knew that. [Cooper:] Of course I know I'm cheap. [Griffin:] Ever since I've known you, I've been telling everybody, like, tens of thousands of people how cheap you are. [Cooper:] I'm cheap. I'm cheap. [Griffin:] All over the world. And now you're just saying it. [Cooper:] I admit, yes. [Griffin:] But you do have a lot of money. Like you're not hurting. [Cooper:] I'm doing fine. I'm doing better than I ever thought I would. [Griffin:] You don't have Hannity money. [Cooper:] Well, who has Hannity money? He's got radio money. He's got the TV money and the radio money. That's like mad money. [Griffin:] Wait a minute. What's going to be our hook? [Cooper:] What do you mean? [Griffin:] Well, we should think of something, like there should be we should call that Joy Mangano from the movie "Joy". Maybe she could be on with a onesie, like a Kathy Anderson onesie, and then [Cooper:] I liked our seats before which were [Griffin:] They swivel. They keep us in shape. [Cooper:] They're good for the core. [Griffin:] All right. So before your jack nap, were you working out this morning? [Cooper:] I did work out. Not this morning. When I got home [Griffin:] OK, hold on. It is so embarrassingly easy to catch him in a lie. First of all, you were not in Myanmar because you just admitted you were at the gym this morning, so obviously [Cooper:] I just flew back. [Griffin:] In a gym? I don't think there's a gym airplane. [Cooper:] No, I flew back. I got back today [Griffin:] Clearly here's what he does. He goes to the gym, he goes for a donut. He feels terrible and fat. He goes home for a cry, then ahh and then a healthy lunch. [Cooper:] OK, you know what's funny about this is I actually in the airport in Yangon, there was a donut store and bought six donuts and I ate them on the flight and I felt bad the whole flight. [Griffin:] You never ate six donuts in your life. [Cooper:] I did. [Griffin:] What if your poor mother hears this is? [Cooper:] She is watching, by the way. She already sent me an email [Griffin:] Hi, Glow. Oh my gosh, I love you. I miss you so much. And sorry that this one ate six donuts. That's not how you raised him. Your mom [inaudible] [Cooper:] My mom does not eat a lot. [Griffin:] She doesn't need to. She's perfect. [Cooper:] Well, because oh, and when we were growing up, I, like, my mom would always say, oh, you need to you should gain weight. I'm like, we have no food in this house, so how can I gain weight? [Griffin:] Your mother doesn't need food. She can live on fabulousness. She's a legend. And by the way, I have to my yearly it's kind of our tenth anniversary of me telling you, no matter what you do [Cooper:] I know. [Griffin:] you will never [Cooper:] I know. [Griffin:] be as wonderful as your mother. [Cooper:] I know. [Griffin:] OK, good. And I love you've never fought me once on that. [Cooper:] I admit it. [Griffin:] I just need you to know it. [Cooper:] So we have correspondents all throughout the world. Gary Tuchman and his daughter down in Miami. Randi Kaye is onboard a cruise ship heading toward off the coast of Cuba [Griffin:] Is she defecting? [Cooper:] I'm not sure Cuba's ready for us yet. I'm not sure that's the first thing [Griffin:] The Kardashians have been there, but they're not ready for us yet. [Cooper:] Oh, Randi, how's it going? [Griffin:] Hi, Randi. [Cooper:] You're with the captain [Randi Kaye, Cnn Correspondent:] It's going pretty well. Yes. That's very funny. We're enjoying a bit of champagne here on the bridge with Captain Johnny. Captain, great to see you. [Unidentified Male:] Thank you. Glad to have you here. [Kaye:] Great to be here. There's been a little bit of a we'll call it a CNN coup up here. We have taken over. I am now in the captain's seat driving the ship, even though I've had a fair amount of champagne. You're OK but oh boy, you're taking it away? [Unidentified Male:] No champagne if you're the driver. [Kaye:] You should have told me that about an hour ago. [Unidentified Male:] You should have come earlier. [Kaye:] Let's explain to our viewers though why it's so dark out here. So you can see outside, see where [Unidentified Male:] Well, when your drive your car, you usually turn on the light inside a car in order to see out even though you have headlights. On a ship, you don't have headlights. So it's pitch dark up here normally so we can actually see out. [Kaye:] So this is where the party isn't happening on this ship tonight. But we are here and I'm going to take a drive. You're going to show me you know how all this works, really? [Unidentified Male:] Yes, I do. [Kaye:] It's on auto-pilot, come on. [Unidentified Male:] Give me a break, no, no, no. We're driving this. And if you're going to learn how to drive it [Kaye:] OK. Let's make it official. [Unidentified Male:] You've got to have a uniform. [Kaye:] Put it around me. I'm going to take one shot at driving this ship tonight. I'm looking out. We're in the clear, right? So this is the this is it? That's it? That's all I need to do? I just go that way? [Unidentified Male:] That's all you're steering. Just a tiny little bit. [Kaye:] OK. Let's go a little bit to the right. [Unidentified Male:] Whoa! Whoa! [Kaye:] Oh, sorry. OK, too much? [Unidentified Male:] Yes, too much. [Kaye:] All right, you want to get us back on track? [Unidentified Male:] No, no, we are good. [Kaye:] All right. Well it's good to know it's not really an auto- pilot. We are in great hands. The captain is not going to be taking part in the partying until after midnight tonight, right? [Unidentified Male:] I'll be around. I'll be around to see that my 6,000-plus guests and the crew are having a great time and yourself. So yes, I'll definitely [Kaye:] I'm going to keep this jacket and we're going to head back downstairs to the rest of the party scene and we'll be back with you guys in just a little bit. Back to you. [Cooper:] All right, Randi. Thanks so much. [Griffin:] Thank you, Randi. I love seeing Randi when she's sober. Now look, Randi, I remember last year, and I know you don't, but as the evening goes on, Randi frankly is in danger. Like if you remember last year, we weren't sure if Randi was like even going to make it back to the city or America or anywhere. [Cooper:] And she said there's like 50 bars or something onboard their ship. I looked away for a second, looking, and meanwhile she was talking, I turn back, she's undressing the captain in front of our eyes. [Griffin:] She's on a date. I mean, I don't know who's hitting on who but either he's a gentleman or she is a thief. She stole his official jacket. Randi! [Cooper:] So we, we're going to check in with Randi throughout the night. I know she's going to be checking out at some of the bars. Richard Quest is also here. He's down in the crowd. Richard, where are you? I'm looking for you. [Richard Quest, Cnn Correspondent:] If you look over to your left you'll see me just over here. Fully dressed in all the regalia of New York various sports clubs. We decided it's a tribute to New York. So changing outfits once again, we have the Islanders, we have the Jets, we have the Giants, arguably the Jets and the Giants, should they be included in New York regalia? But we'll leave that for another day. We have the Mets. We have the Knicks. The Rangers, and right down here we have the Brooklyn Nets. Just don't ask me, Anderson, what they all play. Because I get my baseball mixed up with my basketballs and my basketballs mixed up with my footballs and my ice hockey. But it is a tribute oh, I forgot the Yankees. Oh god, I'll never get home in one piece. Here we have the crowd. [Quest:] Right. We got to find out what time people got here. What time did you get here? [Unidentified Male: 1:] 00 p.m. [Quewst: 1:] 00 in the afternoon. [Unidentified Male: 1:] 00, yes. [Quest:] Wow. [Cooper:] That's not so bad. [Quest:] They have been here since 1:00 in the afternoon. And you know, Kathy, my question, how have they gone to the facilities? [Griffin:] Richard, you know me too well. I assume it's colostomy bags and a lot of goodwill. [Quest:] Look, I can tell you, there are some very strange looking liquids in some very strange bottles here in Times Square. [Griffin:] Did he say strange nitwits? [Cooper:] Liquids. [Griffin:] Oh, I thought you were calling people nitwits, which is fine with me. I'm very judgmental. But Richard, I know you're not like that. [Cooper:] Richard, I like that you are trying to sell sports teams because you probably know as little about sports as I do. [Quest:] All right, Anderson, quick question. Quick question. What do the Brooklyn Nets play? [Cooper:] Basketball. I know that. [Quest:] Basketball. All right. What about the Rangers? [Cooper:] Hockey. I know that. I mean, look, I'm a New Yorker. I know all these teams. [Griffin:] Oh! [Cooper:] That's right. That's right. [Quest:] Now it's being big and butch. [Griffin:] I could not love you more, Richard Quest. I couldn't. I'm not capable of loving you more. That's how much I love you. [Quest:] We go from sports to sparkling when we see you in the next hour. Where are you from? [Unidentified Female:] Japan. [Quest:] From Japan! [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Quest:] Why are you here? [Unidentified Female:] I love New York! Yes! [Quest:] Do that again. [Unidentified Female:] What? [Quest:] You love what? You like New York? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. Yes. [Quest:] All right. There you are. Big cheer. Come on! [Cooper:] All right. [Griffin:] All right. So look. You're a very bright guy. You went to Choate. So who's the President of Japan? [Cooper:] Oh man. [Griffin:] You don't know Shinzo Abe? Wow, that's bad. [Cooper:] I should have known Shinzo Abe, all right. [Griffin:] All right, who's the star player on the Nets? [Cooper:] The star player on the Nets? [Griffin:] Yes. [Cooper:] Oh, come on. I have no idea. [Griffin:] Carmelo Anthony. [Cooper:] Oh, OK. I know who he is. [Griffin:] Wow. Randy, come here. This is my boyfriend Randy. He didn't want to do this. Start asking him sports questions. Anything about New York sports. [Cooper:] Oh no. I appreciate you wearing an Anderson hat though. [Griffin:] Oh, fantastic. OK. Here we go, Mr. I'm a New Yorker. What is the fare oh, these aren't sports but I love this for you. What is the fare for subway or local bus line to New York City? [Cooper:] I have a metro card so I don't know the fare. I think it's what, like $1.75, $1.50? [Griffin:] I'm a New Yorker. I'm Anderson Cooper. [Cooper:] I buy a $50 metro card and that's what I have. [Griffin:] What's the fare [Cooper:] Let me find my wallet. I have $1.50, $1.75. [Griffin:] Please on Twitter, at home, please get this man an answer which is obviously $2.75. And now, I'd like you to apologize to New York. [Cooper:] I use a metro card. You know, when I was a kid, it was [Griffin:] When you were a kid? You mean when you went everywhere in horse and buggies? Randy, what is a sports question? Ask him [Unidentified Male:] Who won the Super Bowl this year? [Cooper:] That would be the [Griffin:] Buckaroos? The lampshades? [Cooper:] Denver, the Broncos. [Unidentified Male:] Denver Broncos? [Cooper:] I don't know. [Unidentified Male:] Is that your final answer? [Cooper:] That is my answer. [Unidentified Male:] That's correct. [Griffin:] All right, wait, ask him who is the MVP or whatever it is. Do they get an MVP? [Unidentified Male:] Do you know who won the World Series this year? [Cooper:] Oh, oh. Wait a minute. No. Giants! Giants? [Griffin:] Oh, I'm sorry, Chicago. [Unidentifid Male:] Ended their drought. [Cooper:] Of course. The big breaking of the [Griffin:] And by the way, Chicagoans won't be bothered by that at all. Oh, Cubbies. I mean that was flying in the face [Cooper:] I'm not pretending to know sports. [Griffin:] Of Harry Caray of every Cubs fan [Cooper:] I know Harry Caray. Harry Caray I know. [Griffin:] More sports questions. [Unidentified Male:] Who won the Olympic soccer? [Cooper:] OH, Brazil. It was an incredible game. And the final score was incredible. It was like one of those penalty kicks. It was amazing. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. Correct. He's correct. [Cooper:] And the Maracana stadium. I wish I was there. [Griffin:] OK. Think of harder ones. This is you trying to like mix with Randy and here's the thing. News flash. He lives in Brazil. So that's only reason [Cooper:] That is the only reason I know. [Griffin:] he knows. And please at some point please can we put up the picture of him on the cover of "Architectural Digest"? I call the picture a lot of nerve. Like when I saw that picture, I literally just said [Cooper:] Oh no, there's the other picture. [Griffin:] Oh, OK, I'm sorry. [Cooper:] That's fine. Put that [Griffin:] Go back to the one you were, and then I'm going to give you some crap about your [Cooper:] That's the elephant sanctuary where you get to not only feed the elephants, you also get to wash the elephants. [Griffin:] OK. So let me just take a minute. Everybody put your drink down for a second. This I'm going to use the word charlatan has been so shy since I've known him and by the way, I've known him since he had brown hair. All right, I've known him since he had brown hair. And it was, oh, I won't ever take my shirt off no matter what. What possessed you [Cooper:] Well, you have to take your shirt off when you're washing the elephant. You're in a river. [Griffin:] But every time I take my shirt off on New Year's, you don't understand that you have to take your shirt off on New Year's. So now why don't you take your shirt off and pretend I'm an elephant? [Cooper:] No, because I would have to maintain that pose to look halfway decent and that's too difficult. [Griffin:] Please give me the back story because I can only imagine I bet you guys, you staged that photo for hours. He was like Barbara Walters with the lightening rod. [Cooper:] I did have two other people I cut out. [Griffin:] He probably had a cinematographer. How big was your crew? There's no way that was like a quickey. I bet it was a crew [Cooper:] There were about 100 shots and I had to edit out I edited out my partner and our friend Pablo. I edited them both out. [Griffin:] You cropped out? That is so you. By the way, don't ever take a picture with him, because he's going to crop your ass out, I'll tell you right now, and you can say A-S-S. Now look so how much did you starve yourself for this photo? One month. Admit it. [Cooper:] I've been working out a little. My trainer is coming tonight. He's going to visit with his girlfriend. [Griffin:] That is so real and relatable that your best friend is your trainer. Is your publicist going to come as well? Oh, what's happened to you? Let's go back to the elephant. Now, did the elephant cry? [Cooper:] No. The elephant seemed very happy. It was like a 60- something-year-old elephant. Very sweet. [Griffin:] Did you have the elephant's permission? [Cooper:] Yes. They love it. As all elephants do all day is they eat, they poop, and they like to bathe. [Griffin:] Not unlike you. That's why you felt a special relationship with that elephant. Now, did you ever like, did you do tan spray or did you draw muscles? Because I hear a lot of famous people they like draw muscles. [Cooper:] No. [Griffin:] Like what's love got to do wit hit, when Angela Bassett had her muscles? [Cooper:] She doesn't need to draw any I mean, please, Angela Bassett, I mean come on, Kathy. [Griffin:] My name is Tina Turner and if I could just stay in this hotel for one night oh, don't make me cry. Don't make me cry. [Cooper:] You know what I love about Tina Turner? I love that she's sort of like I think she got married recently and she's sort of out of the public eye. I just think it's cool that she's like living her life. [Griffin:] Yes. I believe she lives it I know you spend a lot of times thinking about this. [Cooper:] It's so funny, I actually had a conversation in Myanmar because our friend Pablo is obsessed with Tina anyway, I don't need to I digress. We are on TV. Never mind. [Griffin:] I just want you to know, you are going to be more relatable by the moment. You know, everybody, when you're in Myonmar [sic] with Pablo, and you're talking about Tina Turner, that's when you know it's time to go to Nashville. [Cooper:] No, because oh, never mind. We're going to take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to go to Miami Beach, Nashville, New Orleans, we're even going to hear from the dalai Lama? [Griffin:] Yes, I called him. [Cooper:] And of course, the the dropping of the ball, imagine, all of it. Two hours 37 minutes away from 2017. [Weird Al Yankovic, Musician:] Aloha, Kathy. Aloha, Anderson. Weird Al Yankovic here. Just wanted to wish you all a happy new year from beautiful Boise, Idaho. [Unidentified Female:] Kathy, Anderson, it's so warm in here. I'm trying to find the new year. Do you know where it is? Happy New Year, everyone. 2017. Oy. [Unidentified Male:] Hey yo what's up? It's DJ Cali. Kathy and Anderson Cooper, happy New Year. God bless. Hey, Anderson, hey Kathy, it's your old pals Pen and Teller. Sorry we cannot be in Times Square with you. We are in Las Vegas, Nevada, where there is a lot of celebrating going on. Happy New Year. Have a great 2017. Penn and Teller, Vegas. Finally, 2016 is over. I'm so happy. You got any predictions for 2017? You know, it's funny you should ask. I do have a prediction. Well don't keep me in suspense. As a matter of fact, it's actually the same prediction I had for 2016. And what would that be, Jeffrey? Donald Trump will be the next president of the United States. Oh, I know. I know. But Van Yes? There's one thing I'm sure we can agree on, buddy. That's true. Happy New Year, Kathy and Anderson. [Griffin:] Ah. See? [Cooper:] Penn and Teller, I've never seen their show. I'm dying like I've always wanted to see it. [Griffin:] It's a great show. Yes. And by the way, you've got to love Van Jones. [Cooper:] Oh my gosh. And Jeffrey Lord has been so sweet. [Griffin:] Well, mostly Van. I know, I'm biased. [Cooper:] Van is amazing, and so just like I don't know, just generous and smart and just a really great, great guy. [Griffin:] Van Jones is the guy that I want to bring to family arguments. Like I want him to go, Van, like Van, take over. [Cooper:] It's like in that Woody Allen movie, [inaudible] where he's like, if only Marshall he's talking about Marshall McLuhan, well I happen to have Marshall McLuhan right here. [Griffin:] How many times have you had dinner with Marshall McLuhan? That's such a name you would whip out like nothing. That is so typical. OK, first of all, can we go back to the elephant picture for one second? All right. First of all, did you even learn the name of the elephant? [Cooper:] They're not anthropomorphizing animals. [Griffin:] You mean first of all, isn't that a word for talking an object and making it human like? [Cooper:] Maybe so. [Griffin:] Oh boy. If I could wow. Can somebody call Yale and make sure there wasn't a typo? [Cooper:] Yes, they did not give it [Griffin:] Did your poor mother have to pay for Yale and now you don't even know [Cooper:] Yes. I majored in like [Griffin:] How much money do you owe your mom? Like for all that she's put into her dreams, how much do you feel bad about? Quite a bit? [Cooper:] Quite a bit. [Griffin:] I know. I know. [Cooper:] Let's check in with Gary Tuchman. [Griffin:] I have a hair in my mouth. [Cooper:] Do you really? [Griffin:] Yes, see it? It's like right there. COOPER There? I like how you trust me so little you think it's a bit. He's like, what are you going to do? [Cooper:] I don't have my glasses so I'm looking [Griffin:] Wait, are you not wearing your glasses because you're as vain as America thinks you are? [Cooper:] I'm not wearing my glasses because I didn't bring the right ones and the ones I brought are like my nerdy science glasses. [Griffin:] Go to CVS and get cheaters. Go to [Cooper:] I have a I don't know. [Griffin:] Oh, you think they're not there yet? [Cooper:] No, it's like they don't have the glasses. [Griffin:] How's your manapause going? Because Suzanne Somers told me all about that manapause and she said it is going to creeps up on it gets you. Are you hot flashing? [Cooper:] I don't know. Let's check in with Gary and Lindsay. How's everything going down there at the Fontaine Bleau Hotel. [Unidentified Male:] [inaudible] would you say it's loud here? [Unidentified Female:] Can you say that again? [Unidentified Male:] We can't even hear each other talking, but I assume that you hear us because we have very good microphones. We talked in the last hour, the world's largest poolside New Year's Eve party was about to start and now it started, an estimated 2,700 people here at the Fontaine Bleau Hotel because on stage just before midnight, Justin Bieber is going to be performing. Who else will be performing here tonight, Lindsay? [Unidentified Female:] It wouldn't be Miami Beach if there wasn't an after party after the midnight party. We're going to be hearing from DJ Skrillex as well as [inaudible] later tonight in the late club downstairs, so we're going to be picking up the caffeine, I think. [Unidentified Male:] I can't hear what you're saying but I know it's going to be [inaudible] a minimum of $500 to be here. All the alcohol you want to drink so it'll probably be a pretty wild night, and up to $50,000. Some people have paid $50,000 to have a table of 10 next to the stage, stay in a hotel for a few days, and treated like a king or a queen and have as much fine champagne as they want. Lots of people come from all over the country to be here. Ladies, your name? [Unidentified Female:] Daisy. [Unidentified Male:] Your name? [Unidentified Female:] I'm Abby. [Unidentified Male:] You're from where? [Unidentified Female:] Chicago. Boston. [Unidentified Male:] And why did you come to this party tonight? [Unidentified Female:] Because [inaudible] and it's something to look forward to. [Unidentified Male:] You want to see Justin Bieber? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, of course. [Unidentified Male:] Have you seen Justin Bieber before? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. I saw him open for Taylor Swift a long time ago. [Unidentified Male:] I hope you guys have a lot of fun. Don't drink any of the alcohol. You won't be able to drive after that. A tip of the day. Lindsay, you have someone to talk to too, right? [Unidentified Female:] Yes, I made a friend over here, this is Ben who I believe is a Belieber. Ben, tell me, why are you here tonight? [Unidentified Male:] I'm here with my family to see Justin Bieber perform. It's going to be a great night. [Unidentified Female:] And tell me, what is your New Year's resolution? [Unidentified Male:] Do well in school and get better, get my grades up. [Unidentified Female:] All right, thank you so much. Enjoy it. Happy New Year. [Unidentified Male:] Thank you, you too. You can't help but want to dance with al the music playing. I'll tell you, Anderson and Kathy, one thing I'm slightly worried about having coved news for so many years, there are lots of swimming pools here, and people are going to be drinking a lot, and I talked to security and I said, what do you do if somebody falls in the pool? It's not a pool party, it's a poolside party. They say, we are here to rescue them. I'm telling you, I used to be a lifeguard, and happy to participate in a rescue [Unidentified Female:] I can't hear a word you're saying but agree with it all. [Unidentified Male:] Anderson and Kathy, back to you. [Cooper:] All right. Well, we'll check back with you guys once [Griffin:] We will. I have to own something that just happened which is embarrassing which is that I had lipstick on my teeth, and then I think someone caught me just by doing that. It's stupid it wasn't vulgar I apologize. And you know I never how do I look? [Cooper:] You look great. [Griffin:] You can tell me. I have no problems about it. I don't have an ego like you. I'm a person that can understand that we have frailties, and I'm sorry, I think you wanted to know some of my [Cooper:] Where are you on tour? You're on tour, aren't you? [Griffin:] You mean on my upcoming celebrity run-ins 80-city tour? Why don't we run the [Cooper:] Wait a minute, an 80-city tour? [Griffin:] Babe, I did 80 last year. [Cooper:] Wow. [Griffin:] Eighty. Eighty cities is in the year. [Cooper:] Wow. [Griffin:] I love it. Guess what? There's a lot of material that I have. I have [Cooper:] An 80-city tour. That's amazing. [Griffin:] I know. It's almost like I have a book to support with stories that are inspired by my real life. [Cooper:] It's a very funny book. We talked about Bryan Cranston. You wrote a lovely thing about me. [Griffin:] But what about I did write a lovely thing about you. [Cooper:] It could not have been nicer. [Griffin:] And do you want to know what happens in the commercial break here? So in the book, I told what happened in the commercial break last year when I sprayed his face with more spray tan than J. Lo wears, whether or not she's with Drake. Hey, what about that? What about that? [Cooper:] So I didn't know she had broken up with the younger guy. [Griffin:] Casper. [Cooper:] Cas [I -- Griffin:] Do you know anything how did you get this job? [Cooper:] I don't know. [Griffin:] By the way, is Lindsay taking over for you? [Cooper:] She very well may be, yes. [Griffin:] I feel like that was a subtle way of when they're like, she's coming to New York [Cooper:] Oh, yes, no. That's how it happens in [Tv. Griffin:] And then you're out. [Cooper:] You're out, yes. [Griffin:] Now what job would you go back to? The Mole or ABC World News? [Cooper:] I don't know what I would do. As you know, I have no actual skills. [Griffin:] Skills, right. So would you go back to the Sears catalog? People always need boxers or briefs. [Cooper:] I do remember my pose. That was [Griffin:] You mean the one that we happen to have racked up and ready to go so the whole world can see it? Yes. We're going to own your modeling career, all 20 minutes of it, because I feel like you had it. Now when you were modeling, did you feel like someone like Tyra Banks should have said, congratulations, you're America's next top model? [Cooper:] No, because when you're a child model, all I could do is like stupid poses like running or that [Griffin:] Sorry, I thought we had pictures of modeling, but we don't. [Cooper:] That's fine. [Griffin:] Oh, I love it. Off camera, they're like, Kathy, they're on TV right now. They're not. But at some point, maybe they'll just throw them up. [Cooper:] We are live in Times Square. As many as a million people they say could be here tonight. It's actually pretty warm. Oh, look. There's the modeling shot. [Griffin:] OK, hold on. Let's just take a minute. So, first of all, was that [inaudible] or like what? [Cooper:] That was probably Macy's newspaper ad. [Griffin:] Let's be honest. How much did your poor mother have to beg to get you that gig? [Cooper:] No, actually [Griffin:] How many times did she call and say, please, he doesn't really have skills. He's a little slow, as we say, which is a technical term. [Cooper:] No, I told you I was cheap and I was, as a young kid, I was concerned about saving up money for my future so I got a job as a model. I know. [Griffin:] OK. Someone has got to step in here. So your name is Anderson Vanderbilt. [Cooper:] It's not Vanderbilt. It's Cooper. [Griffin:] And somehow you're worried about money? [Cooper:] I was. [Griffin:] How old were you? [Cooper:] I was like 11 I think when I started. [Griffin:] But wasn't your stock portfolio already up to like $3 billion at that point? [Cooper:] I believed in being independent and [Griffin:] OK, you know what? Here's how I'm calling BS. Do you remember when I was playing a wonderful theater in Staten Island? I sent him a selfie of me on the ferry because I thought it would be cool if I went to my own show for thousands of people on the ferry. I sent him a picture and I said, see how #humble I am? And then I believe your text back was, yes, because my family owned that island. [Cooper:] No, that's not true. I never said [Griffin:] The Vanderbilt's totally owned Staten Island. [Cooper:] The did not own it, they had a farm. That's how the started in the like late 1600s. [Griffin:] They had a farm, you're going with they had a farm? [Cooper:] That's how they started. The first guy was an indentured servant, went to Staten Island, generations later, they [Griffin:] What about the railroads? [Cooper:] Yes, well they finally started running a boat between, a small boat, and then they built up. [Griffin:] So you're saying there's not very much money in boating and railroads? [Cooper:] No, they made tons of money, but I don't have it. It's you know, it doesn't exist anymore. [Griffin:] So you thought doing one page [Cooper:] Do you think I'd be working three jobs if I would be, actually. [Griffin:] You totally would. But I just love [Cooper:] So would you. [Griffin:] Yes. But that's my achilles heel. How much did you get for the modeling? [Cooper:] $75 an hour. [Griffin:] You remember that? [Cooper:] Of course I do, I'm cheap. I remember every dollar I've ever made. [Griffin:] You remember your salary when you were 12 years old? [Cooper:] Yes. And every day after school, I would call up the agent and I'd go for a go see and I would go for auditions and then, yes, if you booked it, it was $75 an hour. [Griffin:] Now, would you refuse to take your shirt off at a go see? [Cooper:] No. No. [Griffin:] Because in Myonmar [sic], you were all about it. [Cooper:] All right. We have got to take a break. [Griffin:] OK. [Cooper:] We got a lot more we got about two hours, 23 minutes, and a few seconds before 2017. We're going to be taking [Griffin:] Ushers in. [Cooper:] Ushers in. [Griffin:] That's what they say. [Cooper:] Oh, I thought you meant Usher is here. [Griffin:] Usher is here live in 20 minutes and he's going to sing "Yeah". [Cooper:] No. [Griffin:] Live. [Cooper:] And we also want to give a big thank you to the folks at the Marriott Marquise Hotel for their great shot from their well, I guess it's from their roof top? [Griffin:] Roof top or, you know, a window. [Cooper:] Well, it's from the Marriott Marquise. It's an amazing view to spend [Griffin:] I love when the prompter stops and then this one has to think. Because honestly, the prompter stops, and he's like uh [Cooper:] The word is all mangled. I don't know what it says. So I'm not sure what part of the hotel it's in. [Griffin:] You can't associate them with being mangled. [Cooper:] Anyway, thanks to the Marriott Marquise. We'll take a break, we'll be right back. Welcome back to New Year's Eve in Times Square. You're live with Kathy Griffin and me [Griffin:] And confetti going all over. [Cooper:] Wow. Look at that. It's not New Year's yet, but [Griffin:] It's your personal New Year's because you were looking at [Cooper:] Joe Jonas was performing in Times Square. [Griffin:] Joe, I'm on to you. I don't even think you were singing. It's a cute jacket but honestly. All right. Here's the deal with Joe. I know Nick is your jam. [Cooper:] Yes, I'm a fan. [Griffin:] But I feel like Joe's got to hit the gym more, you know what I mean. But I told him, I said you need to be in better shape to get a hotter girlfriend. [Cooper:] You said that? [Griffin:] Do you doubt I would say that to his face? I said it to him like a week ago. Please. You should hear the things I say to everybody. I guess mostly it's you. [Cooper:] Yes, well [Griffin:] All right. There is confetti in front of the prompter which is kind of amusing because I love to watch you improvise. [Cooper:] I can I can go for hours without a prompter. [Griffin:] Oh, I'll go until 3:00 in the morning. Don't you start. Don't you two snaps me. [Cooper:] Welcome to Times Square New Year's Eve. We want to check in with Lynn Smith who's down in Dallas for us. Lynn, what's going on there? [Lynn Smith, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Anderson, Kathy, happy New Year. It's so great to see you. Dallas, Texas. They do everything big here. Last we checked in with you, we were right over there, St. Rocca's, fantastic Italian restaurant here with a beautiful view of Reunion Tower which comes hey, everyone come 12:00 Central time, they're going to be great fireworks. But, my producers have done some research and they found out just across the street there's a wedding underway. And I figured, let's be folk singers from Salt Lake City and crash a wedding. Come on. Come on in. Woohoo! Happy New Year! Hey, you guys. Wait. First question. Is this open bar? [Unidentified Male:] It is. [Smith:] Yes, I came to the right wedding. OK. Let's meet the bride and groom, who being a seasoned journalist as I am, I did a little research myself about them. Mr. and Mrs. Erica Hall. Come on over, Erica, Connor, come on up. A beautiful bride and groom. Let me tell you. They have beauty on their side. Look at these two. Come on over. Aww. Hello. Congratulations. You guys are so adorable. I looked at your not profile. Erica, you snagged a good one. So, Connor wrote their entire story, their love story. You guys are college sweethearts. You met freshman orientation. What was the first thing you thought of when you saw her? [Unidentified Male:] Whenever I got out of the car, Erica was the first girl that I saw and I just thought, college was going to be great, and I don't know why I was thinking about her after that, the month later, because I didn't even talk to her, but it was history. [Smith:] What was the first thing that went through your mind when you said I do? [Unidentified Female:] Shock. Starting this, so excited. So excited. [Smith:] Brand new, beautiful life. Can I play a little newlywed game with you guys? I'm testing the newlyweds here. OK, ready? What is his favorite type of ice cream? [Unidentified Female:] Cookies and cream? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Smith:] Yes. Oh, we have a good start. Coffee or tea? [Unidentified Male:] Both. [Unidentified Female:] Both. [Smith:] Perfect. See? They're a perfect match. They don't need us. But you know, you guys, this is a wedding. Can we all get everybody on the dance floor and start breaking down? Are we ready? Everyone? Can we get everybody on the dance floor? [Cooper:] Oh. Oh. Oh. [Griffin:] They're going to the dance floor. [Cooper:] They're doing it. [Griffin:] All right. Now let me just say this. The vest, the Connor, the husband, and beautiful wife, bride, gorgeous dress. Do they not seem like a little bit like one of those couples that's going to be on "Discovery I.D." where she's [Cooper:] Oh, no, come on that's that's not true. They look like a great couple. [Griffin:] I'm just saying, you don't watch lifetime? [Cooper:] Well, I like, "Snapped". [Griffin:] I love Snapped", and she looks like she might snap. That's all I'm saying. [Cooper:] No, no. They're [Griffin:] Connor, watch your back. [Unidentified Female: 2017! Griffin:] And there's even "Snapped" marathon now. [Cooper:] They're dancing. Everyone's dancing. [Griffin:] Is she PK? Is he OK? I'm going to be honest. I'm more suspicious of her than him. Because if you watched "Snapped", and you and I do, she has got a plan where maybe she's making his coffee but then accidentally just be careful. [Cooper:] OK, we would expect the best in Dallas. Looks like they're having a lot of fun. Thanks, Lynn. We'll talk to you later. [Griffin:] Bye, Lynn. [Cooper:] There you go. We're going to take a quick break [Griffin:] You don't even know who Lynn is, do you? [Cooper:] I do know who Lynn is. She's [inaudible]. [Griffin:] Who is she? Where is she from? What'd she do before that? [Cooper:] I don't know what she did before that. [Griffin:] OK. Where does she live? [Cooper:] I don't know [Griffin:] Have you ever talked to her? [Cooper:] I never met her, no. [Griffin:] And that's how you think you know someone. [Cooper:] I know that she works at [Hln. Griffin:] Because I just told you. All right, go to break. [Cooper:] All right. [Griffin:] Just do it. [Cooper:] We're going to take a short break, just a moment. We'll also check in in with Don Lemon and Brooke Baldwin who are in New Orleans at the Spotted [inaudible] down on Frenchman's Street. Certainly that's a city that knows how to party, as do the folks here in New York. They're passing out balloons [Griffin:] Oh, as do Brooke Baldwin and Don Lemon. [Cooper:] That is certainly true. [Unidentified Male:] Hey, Kathy, hey Anderson. It's Chris Culper, the extremely poor man's Channing Tatum. I want to wish you both a happy and safe New Year. And I would be with you right now if Kathy didn't insist on carding me in public places. [Unidentified Female:] Happy holidays and happy New Year Anderson and Kathy. [Unidentified Male:] Hello, Anderson and Kathy. Happy New Year, happy 2017. [inaudible] and my good friend, [inaudible]. We love you very much. Go see our new movie "Patriots Day", open everywhere January 13. Happy New Year. Happy New Year, Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin and everybody, from Cookie Monster! Nom, nom. Happy New Year. [Gilbert Gottfried, Entertainer:] Hi, this is Gilbert Gottfried, and you know, New Year's is upon us and New Year's has become very commercialized. So let's not forget this year what New Year's is really all about. Heavy drinking and making a damn fool out of yourself. So happy New Year. [Griffin:] Thank you, Gilbert. [Cooper:] That's so cool. [Griffin:] That was a great collection by the way. [Cooper:] And you these are all people that you called up [Griffin:] I produced the show this year. I'm not going to lie. [Cooper:] You produce the show every year. [Griffin:] Every year, OK. So first of all, let's go back one by one. So we have a special guest. Gavin [Unidentified Male:] I'm Gavin. [Griffin:] Gavin DeGraw, ladies and gentlemen. I love this guy. [Cooper:] How's it going? Good to see you. [Griffin:] Gavin DeGraw, superstar, international superstar. [Unidentified Male:] You're the superstar. [Gavin Degraw, Musician:] I'm just here. It's good to be near you. [Cooper:] The chemistry here. Something [Griffin:] We go back. [Degraw:] We're like comfortable. [Cooper:] I hear. I hear that, yes. [Degraw:] I mean, we haven't hung out a lot. [Griffin:] I know, but why don't you come over? [Degraw:] I'll come over. [Griffin:] Call me next week, come over. [Degraw:] Let's go. [Cooper:] What neighborhood you living in? Do you live in L.A.? [Degraw:] I live here-ish. I live in Nashville-ish, I live in North Miami-ish. But I odn't live in L.A. but I'm in L.A. most of the time. [Griffin:] You can stay at my house if you're in [L.a. Cooper:] You know who she lives next to? [Degraw:] What's your thread count? [Griffin:] Thousand. [Degraw:] Oh, I am so at your house. [Cooper:] She's beyond thread counts. [Degraw:] Are we on the air right now? [Cooper:] Yes, yes. [Degraw:] She lives next to Kanye and Kim. [Griffin:] Yes, I do. I live next door to Kim Kardashian and Kanye. [Degraw:] Oh man, that's awesome. I'll bring my camera. [Griffin:] Here's the ironic thing. They couldn't be nicer neighbors. Like all my friends thing I have these crazy stories [Degraw:] Do they come over a lot and apologize just for having so much press outside all the time? [Griffin:] Kim did one time. [Degraw:] Really? She's like I'm really sorry. [Cooper:] Everybody says she is incredibly nice, by the way. You've had a great year, though, by the way. Congratulations on everything. [Degraw:] I think we've all had a great year. Look where we are right now. We're in Times Square. [Cooper:] We're very lucky, yes. [Griffin:] Tell me what you love about the [inaudible] because you're like a real deal performer. No lip syncing. I love that about you. [Degraw:] I live on the road, that's true. Thank you for that. [Griffin:] What venue [Degraw:] I mess up sometimes. That's the nature of the beast. That's why I like it. [Griffin:] That's what makes it special. [Degraw:] Well I'd say venues, MSG is the best. [Griffin:] The best, right. [Cooper:] Madison Square Garden. [Degraw:] The best. Fenway Park is the best. Sorry guys. I know you hate each other but that's [Griffin:] I saw you at the Hollywood Bowl. [Cooper:] How much time are you on the road? [Griffin:] Yes, how many gigs you do a year? [Degraw:] I do hundreds. [Griffin:] Wow. [Degraw:] Hundreds of dates a year. [Cooper:] Do you love being on the road? [Degraw:] I love the road. I really love the road. I don't know what my house looks like as much as I know what the inside of my luggage looks like. I know my luggage very well. I know where the socks go, I know where [Griffin:] Your luggage is your house. Do you have your system? [Degraw:] I know where the exercise t-shirts go, separate from the show t-shirts, a totally different fabric. [Cooper:] Oh. [Griffin:] There are smells involved. [Degraw:] Different things altogether. Yes. And so you get to know those little compartments because you're dealing with limited space. [Griffin:] Are you an expert packer? Are you one of those? [Degraw:] I'm a terrible packer. But I know the regions. I'm a bundler. I'm a roller and a bundler. Some people are folders, I'm not a folder. [Cooper:] Have you ever been to Times Square on New Year's Eve? [Degraw:] I have. I've been here I came here as a tourist. I had not two nickels in my pocket. I was freezing to death. I couldn't get into any of the bars because I had no money, and now I'm here playing Times Square. It's amazing. [Griffin:] Anderson has the same story. [Degraw:] Are you picking on him right now? [Cooper:] Yes, my god. [Griffin:] Always. [Degraw:] That's not nice to do. [Griffin:] I made a career on it. [Degraw:] He has feelings too. [Griffin:] I haven't seen one. [Degraw:] Do you have feelings? [Griffin:] I haven't seen one. [Cooper:] I push them deep down inside. I have like one or two every [Griffin:] But they are hidden under his Prada suits. [Cooper:] Oh, you're bad. [Griffin:] I know. I get worse as the night goes on. [Cooper:] What's it like playing in Times Square? [Degraw:] Magnificent. First of all, there's nowhere quite like New York City. But to exponentially add to that, there's nowhere in the world like playing Times Square in New York City on New Year's Eve, period. It's the absolute [Griffin:] What is the craziest tour experience you've had? Have you ever had a microphone go out, or what's the craziest thing [Degraw:] I've had a lot of things go wrong. [Griffin:] During a show? [Degraw:] Just in life. But on top of that, in publicly too, and one of which is I for a second I thought I was James Brown. I had a phase, and we all go through phases. [Cooper:] Of course. [Griffin:] Sound familiar? [Degraw:] Yes, I've gone through many a musical phase, many of which [Cooper:] Did you jump off and [Degraw:] I did the split. [Cooper:] Oh. How did that go for you? [Degraw:] Well, the James Brown phase came after my Aerosmith phase. The Aerosmith phase, I had a mistake where I tried to go over a barrier, and of course my shoe got caught in between those little tiny bars, the little jail bars [Griffin:] Did you hurt your taint? [Degraw:] My foot got caught, but the rest of my body went over. I became like three different people. I was all folded up like a cube, like a Rubick's cube. [Griffin:] This was during a show? [Degraw:] Oh yes, it was great. And then I did sort of like a I don't know, it was like a scene from I don't know like "Les Mis." I was just on the floor crying, the microphone [Griffin:] In "Les Mis", are you [inaudible], who are you? [Degraw:] No, I was like Cosette. [Griffin:] Oh, dropping the knowledge. [Cooper:] My college roommate used to sing that all the time. [Griffin:] By the way, that's so him to be [Cooper:] We got to take a break. I want to wish you a happy New Year though. Thanks so much for talking to us. [Degraw:] Happy New Year to you as well. Hey, thanks for the time. I'm such a fan, man. Such a fan. And you know I'm a fan. Give me a real kiss. [Cooper:] All right, we'll take a break. We're live from Times Square. A lot more, the view courtesy of the Marriott Marquise. We'll be right back. [Unidentified Male:] Happy New Year, I wish I was there with you but I'm on the other side of the world in [inaudible], India. I had to get away. We got a special guest, though. Your holiness, will you wish our viewers a happy New Year? I would like to express happy New Year. I think happy New Year, not just a party and some cake, some wine, not only that, I think happy New Year should include peace of mind, really happy mind, then combine physical comfortable and enjoy some drink or some sort of cookies and meantime mentally peace, happy, that's the real meaningful happy New Year. Happy New Year, your holiness, thank you. Thank you. [Howell:] [Video playing] We are following the story of an African-American man killed by police in Louisiana. His family set to hold a news conference at city hall in Baton Rouge in just a few hours' time. It's the moment captured on video that shows when police shot Alton Sterling in front of a convenience store graphic video. Authorities say officers responded when an anonymous caller reported that a man selling C.D.'s outside the store had pointed a gun at someone. Witnesses say the officer tried to taser the suspect but when the shock didn't disable him they tackled Sterling and then this happened. [Unidentified Female:] Oh. [Unidentified Male:] Oh. [Unidentified Female:] Oh my God. [Unidentified Male:] They shot him? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Unidentified Male:] Oh my goodness. [Cpl. L'jean Mckneely, Baton Rouge Police Spokesman:] This is an ongoing investigation. We're going to review the video, we're going to review the audio. We have witnesses non-biased witnesses here. We're going to bring them down to our station and interview them. [Mignon Chambers, Shooting Victim's Sister:] I really want to know more about what happened about the whole situation because my brother didn't deserve it. [Howell:] Family members there demanding answers. We froze that disturbing video just a split second before the fatal shot. Keep that in mind. Late last night, though, more than 100 people gathered outside that store to protest the shooting. Some people carried signs, chanting "black lives matter" and "hands up, don't shoot". [Romans:] All right, the University of Tennessee has settled a lawsuit filed by six women who claim they faced a hostile environment at the school. That is, after they filed sexual assault allegations against student athletes. According to court documents obtained by ESPN, the school will pay the women nearly $2.5 million. The university is not admitting guilt in that settlement. [Howell:] Sandy Hook families finally getting their day in court. Depositions are set to begin today in their lawsuit against gun manufacturer, Remington. They made the Bushmaster semi-automatic rifle that Adam Lanza used, as you'll remember, in the elementary school massacre that killed 20 first-graders and six educators in 2012. The suit claims that the company knew the rifle was meant for the military and that it was too dangerous to sell to civilians. [Romans:] All right, 48 minutes past the hour. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. The aftershocks of the Brexit vote still rattling global markets. Dow futures right now are down. Stock markets in Europe dropping. Stock markets in Asia closed lower overnight. Investors are fleeing the British pound, pushing it to a new 31-year low against the dollar. Back here in the U.S. the Dow has posted triple-digit moves seven out of the past eight sessions. It's been wild, folks. All but one of those are gains or losses of more than one percent. So how do you protect your investments in this wild stock market this could go on for months, frankly diversify. Research from Wells Fargo shows most diversified accounts are still higher for the year. Investors, meanwhile, rushing into some safer options. The yield on the 10-year Treasury bond is the lowest ever. A record low right now, 1.33 percent. When there's more demand for bonds the yield goes down, when there's less demand it goes up, as you know. The good news for many Americans was bond yields are tied to mortgage rates, so mortgage rates are low, low, low, but low bond yields, bad news for banks so watching very carefully what these very low interest rates mean. [Howell:] That's right. Well, time to take a look now at what's coming up on "NEW DAY". The one and only Chris Cuomo is joining us now live. Chris, a lot to talk about today. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor, "new Day":] Good to see you both. Absolutely, we have a lot of breaking news that's happening at this hour. Protests, as you mentioned, George. A call for an investigation after a police shooting in Baton Rouge where a black man was shot and killed. We're going to show you the cell phone video that captures a lot of this confrontation, and it's a big reason that there is so much outrage. Plus, the FBI decision about Hillary Clinton's email issues. Now, Donald Trump is reacting very strongly. We'll have lawmakers from both sides of the aisle talking about how this controversy plays out as a political question. We're also going to have lawyers take it on because this was a legal determination, so we'll show you both sides of this. Everyone's going to talk about it in terms of politics, Christine, but this was legal determination [Romans:] Yes. [Cuomo:] made by the FBI and we'll take you through what the different elements were. [Romans:] All right, Chris Cuomo, thanks for that. Can't think of anybody better to do it, thanks. All right, millions of Americans will be making one of the worst investments ever this week. What could it be? Why are so many of you [Howell:] I get it. [Romans:] making this bad investment? We'll have an early start on your money, next. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump wants to ban all Muslims from entering the United States. A proposal that's getting plenty, plenty backlash this morning. New information this morning about the San Bernardino shooters. When they were radicalized and how they got their guns. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. It is Tuesday, December 8th. It's 4:00 a.m. in the East. John Berman has the morning off. An earthquake hits the world of presidential politics after Donald Trump calls for a religious test banning all the Muslims from entering the United States. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. [Romans:] Trump's new position drawing cheers from those supporters and drawing fire from nearly every other corner of the political world. The latest now from senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Christine, Donald Trump's plan to ban all Muslims from coming to the U.S. was met with wide condemnation from across the Republican establishment. Every single one of his rivals criticized his plan. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney weighed in. He said it's simply un-American. But the supporters who were here in South Carolina listening to Donald Trump make his case, they cheered in response. Some of them said they thought it went too far, but others said it was given the shooting in San Bernardino. Now, this has actually changed the conversation in this presidential debate. Donald Trump talked about that as he made his case for why he believes this plan is necessary. Let's take a listen. [Trump:] We have to be tough. We have to be smart. We have to be vigilant. Yes, we have to look at mosques and we have to respect mosques, but yes, we have to look at mosques. We have no choice. We have to see what's out there, because something is happening in there. Man, there's anger. There's anger. And we have to know about it. [Zeleny:] Now, it was that type of language we heard through and through more than an hour long campaign event. He said something is happening out there. Something is going on out there. He even went as far as there could be another World Trade Center bombing. It is the fear and frustration that he is playing into by choice. Politically, it may be a wise move for him, but it's an open question of how this plays in the longer term. With this Republican debate now one week away, you can bet this will be front and center in the conversation Christine. [Romans:] All right. Jeff, thank you for that. You are right. Announcing his policy, Trump pointed to a poll from the French think tank, the Center for Security Policy, that claims a quarter of all U.S. Muslims believe violence against Americans is justified as part of global jihad. Within hours, Trump was using that poll to defend his Muslim exclusion policy on FOX News. [Greta Van Susteren, Fox News:] There are Americans serving in our military who are Muslims who are overseas on bases. Do you apply this rule to them? [Trump:] No, they would come home. They would be able anybody here stays, but we have to be very vigilant. There's a lot of bad things going on. When you look at the polling numbers that came out, there is tremendous hatred. There is tremendous animosity. These are people living in our country for Muslims living in the country, which is amazing, because I have Muslim friends, Greta, and they are wonderful people. There is a tremendous section and cross section of Muslims living in our country who have tremendous animosity. We can't let this happen. We have a country to protect. [Van Susteren:] Does this apply to your friends? Does this apply to your Muslim friends? This complete shutdown? [Trump:] No, this applies this does not apply to people living in the country, except that we have to be vigilant. [Romans:] Now, as Jeff Zeleny mentioned, Donald Trump's Republican rivals were quick to respond slamming his plan with vivid language. Jeb Bush tweeted, Donald Trump is unhinged. His, quote, "policy proposals are not serious". And this from Marco Rubio, "Donald Trump's habit of making offensive and outlandish statements will not bring Americans together. Chris Christie and Carly Fiorina also blasting this idea as unnecessary and in Fiorina's case, unconstitutional. [Carly Fiorina , Presidential Candidate:] He is mobilizing anti- Muslim sentiment. He is preying on the fears of the American people. It is called rabble-rousing. [Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] This is what people say when they have no experience and you don't know what you are talking about. You do not need to be banning Muslims from the country. That's in my view, that's a ridiculous position and one that won't even be productive. [Romans:] All right. John Kasich tweeted, "We need a leader that will unite us, not divide us." Ben Carson released a statement saying, quote, "Everyone visiting our country should register and be monitored during their stay, as is done in many countries. I do not and would not advocate being selective on one's religion." Ted Cruz highlighted his own approach, focused on excluding Syrian refugees. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] That is not my policy. I've introduced legislation in the Senate that would put in place a three-year moratorium on refugees coming from countries where ISIS or al Qaeda controls a substantial amount of territory. And the reason is that's where the threat is coming from. The Obama administration and FBI told us they don't have the resources to vet those refugees, to determine whether or not they are ISIS terrorists. I think that's the approach we should take. [Romans:] Trump taking fire from his own party. Trump also taking fire from Democrats. In a personally signed tweet, Hillary Clinton calling Trump's proposal, quote, "reprehensible, prejudiced and divisive. Donald Trump, you don't get it. This makes us less safe." And Bernie Sanders tweeting that the United States is a strong nation when we stand together. We are weak when we allow racism and xenophobia to divide us. Donald Trump will get another chance to explain his Muslim exclusion policy in the 7:00 hour of NEW DAY. All right. There's new information this morning on the couple behind the San Bernardino massacre. The FBI making step by step progress as it investigates this husband and wife team of killers, Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Officials say it's still unclear who radicalized whom, but that it was not a recent development. And there are new questions about the original buyer of some of the guns they used, a former neighbor of the Farook family. CNN's Ana Cabrera has the latest this morning from San Bernardino. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine, we are learning a lot more about the shooters in this massacre. We've learned that both had been radicalized and they had been for quite some time according to the FBI. They also tell us that both had been practicing target shooting at a local gun range and they had done so just days before the shooting. Now, authorities have confiscated five guns, including two pistols and three rifles. Three of those guns we're told were purchased directly by Syed Rizwan Farook, but two of the assault rifles were purchased by another man now identified as Enrique Marquez. Investigators have interviewed him. He's not facing any charges at this time, but authorities say they still don't know how those guns ended up in the hands of the killers. The FBI is calling this a massive investigation and they are trying to be extremely methodical as they work to get answers. We know they've collected 320 pieces of evidence, many of those sent to the FBI crime lab. They've also interviewed some 400 people, contacts of the killers, including Farook's parents who we know were interviewed individually for several hours. Authorities here say they're also working with intelligence and their counterparts overseas, trying to track the couple's movements that any contacts they may have had there. What's really slowed them, though, is trying to track the digital foot print. Of course, that could be crucial in this investigation. We know the couple destroyed their cell phones. The hard drive was missing from the computer. And the FBI insisting they're not going to leave any stone unturned Christine. [Romans:] All right. Ana Cabrera, thanks for that. Meantime, the Department of Homeland Security plans to tweak its terrorism alert system under the current system. There are two threat levels, imminent and elevated. Now, the department plans to add a third level to cover less serious threats in order to provide general advisories to the public when necessary. No word when that level will take effect or what it will be called. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid filling in the president's pledge to destroy ISIS with plans to introduce legislation that would create an ISIS czar. Reid says the plan will help unify the federal government's efforts in fighting ISIS. Democrats will also push for sanctions aimed at cutting off the terror group's ability to receive funding. Top House Republicans admit they need a short-term funding bill to avoid a government shutdown at midnight Friday. Right now, lawmakers are working on a spending plan and bill addressing a host of tax breaks set to expire at the end of the year. Also slowing down this process, both parties pushing to attach a variety of items to the budget like provisions covering Syrian refugees and Wall Street campaign finance reforms. Nine minutes past the hour. Time for an early start on your money this morning. An ugly morning for stocks around the world. Asian stocks closed much lower. European stocks and U.S. stock futures are down right now. What is dragging down markets? Oil. Oil prices plunged nearly 6 percent yesterday to a seven-year low. That's because OPEC did not reduce output despite a huge supply glut. Plus, a slowdown in global demand adding to a drag on prices. We have not seen prices like this, folks, since the battle days of the big global recession. Bad news for oil companies, great news for drivers. Gas could fall below $2 a gallon nationwide for the first time since 2009. The average right now is sitting at $2.03 compared to $2.67 a year ago. One stock moving before the bell, Chipotle. Boston College said more than two dozen students, including members of the men's basketball people got sick after eating at Chipotle. This amid an E. coli outbreak linked to the chain that has made people sick in at least nine states. That stock tumbling in the free market. All right. New protests in Chicago after police cleared in the deadly shooting of the black man. We've got that story, next. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Brooke. A snowy day here at the United States Supreme Court. The flag is at half-staff. The body of Justice Scalia now back in his home state of Virginia. The court and the country now thinking about and pondering just what's going to happen next now that the single most important figure in conservative legal thought has died. [Johns:] The body of Justice Antonin Scalia returning home to Virginia this morning. The 79-year-old died here in his sleep at a Texas resort over the weekend. Funeral plans for the Supreme Court's strident conservative voice are underway, and so is the epic political battle for his replacement. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] President Obama in my view should make that nomination. I hope he does it as soon as possible. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] There is no way the Senate should confirm anyone that Barack Obama tries to appoint in his last year in office to a lifetime appointment. [Johns:] The Republicans fear another nominee would tip the scales on some of the defining debates of our time. In the coming months the Supreme Court justices are expected to take on several hot button issues including Obama care mandate requiring most employers to pay for birth control, abortion, and the president's actions on immigration. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I plan to fulfill my constitutional responsibility to nominate a successor. There will be plenty of time for me to do so. [Johns:] Top Democrat Harry Reid called for the seat to be filled right away. As for a timeline, a senior Obama administration official points to the president's previous Supreme Court nominations, both taking about a month. [Unidentified Male:] He has every right to do it, and the Senate has every right to not confirm that person. [Johns:] But Senate Republicans are pledging to stall, demanding that Mr. Obama allow the next president to make the choice nearly a year from now, the GOP hoping this could rally conservatives against a potential liberal shift on the high court, driving voters to the polls come November. The problem with only justices, their only options are to leave lower court decisions in tact if they're divided on a case, or to hold the case until a replacement is confirmed. [Unidentified Male:] If the Republican leadership refuses to hold a hearing, I think that is going to guarantee they lose control of the Senate. [Johns:] There had been some concerns and some confusion about the circumstances surrounding Scalia's death. A county judge in Texas confirming that he did die of natural causes and that he was pronounced dead over the phone after consultation with law enforcement authorities. Back to you. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Joe Johns at the Supreme Court. Thanks so much, Joe. So what does the president do now? How hard is he willing to fight over this in his final 11 months in office? CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski traveling with the president in California. Good morning, Michelle. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, John. The White House keeps insisting that it is the president's duty to put forward a nominee, but it is just as much the duty of the Senate to give this person, whomever it will be, a timely confirmation. The odds of that of course right now not looking so great. But the White House doesn't want to weigh in on that. They don't want to talk about all the Republicans are saying about this needing to wait until we have a new president. But here is what the White House is saying in a statement. "Given that the Senate is currently in recess we don't expect the president to rush this through this week but instead will do so in due time once the Senate returns from their recess. At that point we expect the Senate to consider that nominee consistent with their responsibilities laid out in the United States constitution." So we know that the Office of White House Council is already starting to take on this task. They are going to have to vet people who are rumored to be on the president's short list. Some names being put out there, there are several federal appeals court judges, even the current attorney general, Loretta Lynch. The White House isn't giving anything away at this point, but as Joe Johns was saying, if you look at the past it has taken a month for the president to present his nominee. That could also be the case this time around even though we do have a sense of urgency surrounding this. Chris and Brooke? [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] All right, thank you very much, Michelle, appreciate the politics side of this. Now let's try and get some perspective on all of this. There are a lot of different pieces to this. Good thing we have big brains this morning, David Gregory of "Meet the Press" fame, Jeffrey Toobin, CNN senior legal analyst. All right, this is a little bit of a headache. We have a loss of the man. That is not a headache. It's horrible for his family and his friends. This man was a giant. Now you get into how you deal with what happens on the court. There are all of these precedents at play. One thing that is not a precedent in any way is the idea of President Obama not having the right or even politically not nominating somebody because he is near the end of the term. That's just piffle. But it does get complicated in terms of what can be done here and what's been done in the past. [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] Right. This is ultimately more about power than principle. The Republicans recognize that the Supreme Court is currently, or was before Justice Scalia died, five to four conservative majority. Scalia is gone. This gives President Obama the opportunity to reshape the court for a generation. They don't want to let him do it, period. That is really what this is about. And with a year left in his term they can run out the clock if they want because the Republicans control but there's nothing about precedent. There's nothing about law. It is just an exercise of power by the Republicans in the Senate. [Cuomo:] As we've been talking about it, they put together a graphic, because, Brooke, you have been raising good questions about what has been done here in the past. We have had periods before of how long until a nomination. [Baldwin:] And 99 days, the longest, Clarence Thomas. We have the graphic here. You can see how long it has taken. You can see on the far left all the way to the right. So it is a process in any other circumstance. And now here we are in the midst of this presidential election, David Gregory, and I'm just curious how, as I'm thinking of Republican candidates on the stage debating all of this and they talk about we are up against Hillary Clinton, how will they use this to their advantage? [David Gregory, Former Moderator, "meet The Press":] I think two ways. The one big number 16 years. There is the prospect of 16 consecutive years of Democratic rule in the White House if Hillary Clinton becomes the nominee and ultimately the president is a two term president. So if you are thinking about the Supreme Court in that span of time, you are talking about the generational change underscored by the fact that the conservatives have lost really the intellectual godfather, the modern textualist, originalist movement in Antonin Scalia who has had so much impact. So I think that is huge. The other piece is pure ideology. You hear Ted Cruz talking about what kind of justices Donald Trump would name. Would there be movement conservatives? Ted Cruz is in a position as a former Rehnquist clerk himself and a lawyer and a Supreme Court advocate to really make a very coherent argument about the kind of justices who should succeed a Scalia if they have a Republican president. So I think both parts of it including an ideological fight in the state like South Carolina that is coming up in the next few days. [Toobin:] If I can just add a point to what David said, the court is now at an unusually old group of people even by historical standards. Ruth Ginsberg is 82. Anthony Kennedy is 79. Stephen Breyer is 77. So it is not just the Scalia vacancy that is on everyone's mind. There is also the prospect of wholesale changes at the court if retirements take place in the age group that they usually do. [Cuomo:] Now in terms of what they want, this is something that needs to de be discussed. There is this veil, it is not really political. We sit these men and women down, they don't give political opinions. And we really want to talk about what we want in terms of their reckoning of the law. It really seems to me like real balderdash at some point. You have Ted Cruz. We want an originalist. First of all, he knows Scalia is the father of originalism, but even he left the document from time to time. You have Ted Cruz who is relying on the definition of being eligible to be president which isn't an originalist notion. If you went by the original document, he might be in some trouble on that. So there is a real hypocrisy to what they say they want and what they really want. [Toobin:] What they want, what everyone wants in the Supreme Court, I think, is results. Does the constitution protect a woman's right to choose an abortion? May a university use race in admissions? May Congress regulate campaign contributions? Those are the results people care about. The intellectual architecture that gets you there I think matters less. [Baldwin:] What happens when you think of cases that will be in front of the Supreme Court, affirmative action, immigration health care? And if we're talking four and four, a tie or a court divided, what then until there is a ninth? [Toobin:] What happens from a practical point of view is that the lower court decision stands and represents the law of the land for the circuit, for the states that that circuit represents. That is the status quo. But there are no precedents established for the whole country if the court divides four to four. Most of the time the Supreme Court is not evenly divided. Most of the decisions are substantial majorities or unanimous, so those cases go forward as normally. But the hot button, high profile cases may likely be kicked down the road. [Cuomo:] We have a treat for you. We have Nino Scalia's biographer who is joining us now. Joan, do me a favor. First let me get the right pronunciation of your last name. You ethnics, it's very tough to say your name. [Joan Biskupic, Reuter's Legal Affairs Editor:] Yes, just like Scalia would say, right? Biskupic, Biskupic. [Cuomo:] Biskupic, so tell us about the man. I love that when people would ask about him his background, for all the genius he is associated with, he would say I'm an Italian from Queens. There's my background. Next question. Who was the man? [Biskupic:] That helped him get confirmed, you know. Even Teddy Kennedy with all the Italian-Americans up in Massachusetts had to vote for him knowing how conservative he was. So he was an only child, first generation Italian-American. He was the only offspring of his generation, too. So he has been in the spotlight since birth. He was fun. He loved to play poker. He sang. He played the piano. Obviously he loved to hunt, and that is where he was this weekend. He once asked me about had I gone turkey hunting. Of course not. He said have you ever heard a turkey gobble? And I said no. He said, the thing is when you are waiting for a turkey and you're listening to the gobble, and you're waiting for that, you have just one shot. And I always remember him talking about the one shot to get the turkey in terms of his idea of his one shot in life. [Baldwin:] Joan, I'm fascinated will all of these different justices, and some of them are getting up in years. Is that a correct way to say it? [Cuomo:] I'll say it like that. [Baldwin:] And I'm fascinated by the relationships between some of these justices, specifically I know you know all about the relationship and the deep friendship between Justice Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. [Biskupic:] That's true. And Justice Ginsburg is our most senior justice. She's going to have a birthday on March 15th. And then Justice Kennedy is about to turn 80. They were pals. These people are appointed for life. They're in closed quarters for day in and day out. So it is like a family and the dynamics among all of them. And she said, and I just caught the end of what you all were talking about, but I wonder if you mentioned what she said in her remembrance, "We were best buddies." And all of them, even the justices who weren't as close to him all thought of him so fondly. There was a lot of eye rolling around him. It was like "That's our Nino." They sort of accepted him for that even though he drove many of them crazy. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor herself, who is now retired, his behavior sometimes would push her more to the left. Justice Stevens, who is also retired, really considered him a good friend, although again it would be like that's Nino in terms of some his behavior. But he was such a force to be reckoned with. He was there since 1986, and it is really hard to imagine what the country is going to be like without him on the law and also within the confines of the marble palace there. [Cuomo:] Because of all the politics surrounding him right now, Joan, give us a little bit of his head on where politics were. I'm reminded, as you know, he and my father had a lot back and forth. And Scalia used to tease my father and say, why do you mess with this politics? Everybody is all over the place. You know your own head. You should get back into the law. Where was he on politics? [Biskupic:] He came in the Nixon administration. He was a hardcore Republican, but he didn't show it so much. He worked in the Nixon administration and the Ford administration. He was head of the Office of Legal Counsel. He was very political. I will never forget seeing him in 2009 right after David Souter had announced his retirement. I went to see him in chambers, and I said who do you think it would be? And he said, oh, come on, he has to appoint the first Latino. He sort of got all of that. Right now he would be thinking, OK, he would be gaming it out just like both sides are gaming it out now. But he was very committed. He was very committed to Richard Nixon, to Gerald Ford, and then he was a Ronald Reagan appointee. [Baldwin:] What do you think he would think of politicization of what this will mean not just for the fight to become president, the current Republican majority of the Senate, the big picture implications? What would he think? [Biskupic:] Frankly I think he would be really scared knowing where these cases are going to go. I caught Jeff talking about what is at stake here, the idea that so many cases that could have gone five-four without him now are going to go four-four with a split or maybe have to be reargued. This already was the most politically charged term we've had in years with the array from affirmative action to abortion to the death penalty and immigration. So I think actually despite his rightwing ideology and political leanings, he would be concerned about what is going to happen to the law of the land. [Toobin:] Joan, can I ask you to talk about something which I think is a fascinating legacy of Justice Scalia is how oral arguments changed at the court once Justice Scalia joined in 1986. Talk a little bit about that. [Biskupic:] Well, Jeff, they used to be a quiet bunch up there. We had Thurgood Marshall, William Brennan, Harry Blackman. They didn't talk much during questioning. In fact, now when people complain about the fact that Clarence Thomas didn't speak, it used to be many of them didn't speak much. You know, they would speak some, Clarence Thomas doesn't, but they didn't speak much. So he comes on and he's got he's kind of got the law professor style and he's so certain of himself and confident that he begins asking so many questions nonstop, it really shakes things up. And I've kidded about how one of his colleagues turned to another and said do you think he knows the rest of us are here? So, he and then it was nonstop. And now it's the norm up there in part because we have more law professors who've joined the bench and there's more give and take. And he also, Jeff, you probably remember this, he could be really mocking and humiliate the person standing at the lectern. I remember one time [Toobin:] Excruciating. [Biskupic:] Oh, it was terrible. He would say something like are you reading from that and try to embarrass the guy. Or I think one time he said, well, if somebody was stumbling to find the answer in his written materials, which you really shouldn't do, but he said when you find it, could you shout bingo. But that was the thing about him. We would laugh, but there was it was tough if you were in his sights. [Cuomo:] Well, look, one of the big themes that was around this man not just as a jurist but as an individual was decisiveness. So let's play on the irony of that, David Gregory. We are coming into replacing him in an atmosphere that is all about being indecisive. The politics are certainly going to be of obstruction and trying to get nothing done. What's the plusminus on that? [Gregory:] Well, again, I think that both sides have a fight and an argument to make here. And if you are the president you are certainly going to nominate someone, understanding that there is a broader legacy to the Obama presidency here and the future of the court moving in a potentially more progressive direction for a long period of time if he has a Democratic successor in Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. And on the right I think there is a probably a more visceral sense of we just lost our guy, somebody who was so important to movement conservatives so there is a substantive piece of that. But there is the direction of the court, as well. And I think you have a lot more I think grass roots organizing that goes on on the right to turn out voters for whom the Supreme Court nominee is a huge issue. And as Jeff points out, it's not just Antonin Scalia now but it's all the potential slots that open up over the next four to eight years. So I think that becomes tremendously important. And I just wondered too, into this conversation, to what extent Antonin Scalia, who was outspoken for saying about Bush v. Gore to his critics get over it, I wonder to whatever extent he really struggled with that as a decision, given how humble and quiet he wanted the Supreme Court to be in American political society. [Baldwin:] Joan, would you have an answer to that? [Biskupic:] Yes, I was going to say, humble and quiet actually, those aren't two of his watch words. [Cuomo:] I was going to say. [Biskupic:] I think he what he couldn't get over, David, were decisions that went the opposite way, you know, for example, gay marriage. But he always remained very confident about that decision in Bush v. Gore and batted away anyone who would ever counter it. [Baldwin:] Final question, Joan, and I'm just wondering, you know, knowing currently there is now this court of eight, how would he feel about President Obama nominating someone now versus, as we're hearing from Republicans, doing it down the road? [Biskupic:] Well, that's tough because I think, as I said, institutionally he cared so much about the Supreme Court and cared so much about the law that I don't think he'd want the court to go, you know, for a long time with just eight members. And I can hardly really speak for him but I think he really believed, he so believed in this court of last resort. But, you know, he probably would have misgivings about a liberal succeeding him. Gosh, how ironic, a liberal succeeding this man who's had such a conservative imprint on the law. [Cuomo:] Joan, David, Jeffrey, thank you very much. What a great discussion about this guy. And look, let's be honest. Scalia was not quiet. And we know that he didn't like what was going on in the election, talking about how the Supreme Court doesn't make the law of the land and these guys aren't elected. [Baldwin:] That bit about the bingo. [Cuomo:] He didn't like the dialogue that's going on right now in this election, but was certainly not alone in that. Let's make that turn as we go into break. This weekend what an ugly demonstration of what politics has become at the presidential level. They were going at it but the level at which Trump and Cruz were going at it. Trump even went after the audience it seems at one point. We're going to talk to a Trump spokesperson about how this is going to help or hurt him in South Carolina. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news. Courthouse shooting. Two court bailiffs are dead. Two other people are injured after gunfire erupts at a Michigan courthouse. We're learning more details about what happened. Gunman's arsenal. New and troubling details emerging about the weapons amassed by the sniper who targeted Dallas police. Tonight, as police download body-camera video of the attack, we're learning more about the gunman's time in the U.S. military and his visits to hate- filled racially-charged web sites. And for the first time, his parents are now speaking out. In the streets after a weekend that saw hundreds of arrests, demonstrators once against take to the streets, demanding change in how police treat African-Americans. And law and order candidate. Donald Trump returns to the campaign trail, promising to make America safe again, while also calling himself the candidate of compassion. Is he capitalizing on the aftermath of a deadly week? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] There's breaking news coming in from Michigan, where at least three people are dead, two others are injured after gunfire at a courthouse in the western Michigan city of St. Joseph. An undersheriff tells CNN two court bailiffs and the suspect are dead. Also tonight, dramatic new details of the standoff between Dallas police and the gunman who killed five officers. We now know that, after police cornered him, Micah Xavier Johnson sang and laughed at officers and scrawled a final cryptic message in his own blood. Police also say that, given the weapons and bomb-making material he had amassed, the bloodshed could have been much worse. We're also getting new information about the attacker's visits to websites run by organizations that are considered hate groups, including one that called for attacks on police because of two police shootings of African-Americans earlier in the week. And in the wake of the Dallas attack as well as nationwide protests over two deadly shootings involving police and African-Americans, Donald Trump is taking a tough new tone out there on the campaign trail. He's calling himself the law and order candidate. The head of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks, he's standing by live to take our questions. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of all the day's top stories. Let's get right to the breaking news. First, though, Brian Todd is monitoring new reports coming in from that Michigan courthouse shooting. Brian, what happened? [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, just a short time ago, the sheriff of Berrien County, Michigan, Paul Bailey, told reporters that the scene is secured, the courthouse secured, and the scene is rendered safe. Now, just a short time ago, we talked to Sheriff Bailey or his office gave us some information. They said that two bailiffs and a suspect were shot and killed at the courthouse there in Berrien County. That is located in the town of St. Joseph in the southwest corner of Michigan. The undersheriff tells CNN one civilian and another officer were wounded in this incident. There could, however, be more civilians hurt. We'll get to that in a moment. A short time ago I spoke with Chris Gautz, public information officer for the Michigan Department of Corrections. They run a probation office inside that courthouse. Gautz told me one of their employees, a female probation agent, was in or near a third-floor courtroom in that building when the gunman ran right past her and some other people. Gautz is not sure if their agent actually witnessed this shooting. But it's his understanding, again, that this happened either inside or very near a courtroom on the third floor of that building. Berrien County Sheriff Paul Bailey told reporters a short time ago that, quote, "brave officers" were able to interne and to take the shooter down. Bailey says a deputy sheriff is now in stable condition, and he said there are, quote, "several other people" in stable condition. One thing we just got from the Lakeland Medical Center in St. Joseph: that that officer is being treated at that center, along with several civilians. That is from the Lakeland Health media specialist Jessica Hines. But key questions right now at this hour: How did that shooter get a gun if this, indeed, did occur inside the courthouse? We know its courthouses are very secure. They check everybody for weapons. Did the shooter grab a weapon from law enforcement officers? That's a key question. Sheriff Bailey says that his office, plus the local homicide task force, St. Joseph's Public Safety Department, Michigan State Police and the FBI will investigate just how that suspect got their hands on that weapon, Wolf. That's a key question tonight. And as we know right now, two bailiffs and the suspect shot and killed in this shootout... [Blitzer:] Two other people... [Todd:] ... inside the courthouse. Yes. At least two people injured, possibly several more. That's a little unclear. [Blitzer:] Brian Todd, thanks for that report. Let's get to the dramatic revelations today about the deadly standoff between Dallas police and the sniper who killed five officers. Our national correspondent Kyung Lah is on the scene for us in Dallas right now. Kyung, police say the gunman had so many weapons, the death toll could have been much worse. [Kyung Lah, Cnn National Correspondent:] Because these are very high- powered rifles. There was a rifle that he was using that, unfortunately, has really become the norm in these mass shootings. Investigators say they are still in the process of following every lead. They've taken some 300 statements. They're looking at the ballistics. They are in the process of examining all the video involved here. The goal: to piece together in real-time exactly what happened. [Lah:] Tonight new details on the weapons gunman Micah Johnson carried the night he killed five Dallas officers. Law enforcement sources tell CNN investigators found a Glock pistol, another handgun and an AK-style semiautomatic rifle as they poured through the evidence. [Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] There's over 170 hours of body- camera video to download. And that is ongoing. Detectives are also collecting all dash cam video. [Lah:] Dallas Police Chief David Brown describing the delusional behavior of the cornered gunman: singing, laughing, and writing a final cryptic message, the initials "R.B." on the walls in his own blood. Also tonight, new details of Micah Johnson's troubled past. Newly- released school records show he graduated near the bottom of his high school class, then joining the military. His parents spoke to "The Blaze," his mother saying her son wasn't the same after seven months in Afghanistan. [James Johnson, Micah Johnson's Father:] I didn't see it coming. I love my son with all my heart. I hate what he did. [Delphine Johnson, Micah Johnson's Mother:] The military was not what Micah thought it would be, the ideal that he thought of our government. Of what he thought the military represented. It just didn't live up to his expectations. [Lah:] While in the Army, Micah Johnson was accused of sexual harassment by a female soldier in the Spring of 2014 while they were both serving in Afghanistan. He received an honorable discharge. The Army service record would include standard low-level marksmanship training but nothing extensive. Bomb-making material found in Johnson's home. Nothing he would have learned in the military. [Brown:] There's a lot of questions, and it is very complex. This person obviously has a delusion. This person also was very committed to killing officers. To be quite honest, I'm running on fumes. [Lah:] Dallas's police chief unvarnished about his own and his department's fatigue. Chief David Brown acknowledging threats against his and his family's life via Facebook that candidly, openly spoke about the frustrations of local policing on the eve of the president's arrival in the city. [Brown:] We're asking cops to do too much in this country. We are. We're just asking us to do too much. Every societal failure, we put it off on cops to solve. We're hiring. Get off that protest line and put an application in. We'll put you in your neighborhood, and we will help you resolve some of the problems you're protesting about. [Lah:] He also had a message to policy makers. The police chief here in Dallas saying, "We're putting our lives on the line. You do your jobs. Try to make these streets safer by writing better national policy." And Wolf, in a few hours, we are anticipating a candlelight vigil here. A candlelight vigil being honored being placed here by the Dallas Police Association to honor the five fallen officers Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, thank you. Kyung Lah reporting for us from Dallas. Joining us here in THE SITUATION ROOM right now, the president and CEO of the NAACP, Cornell William Brooks. Cornell, once again thank you very much for coming in. Over the weekend, we saw an outpouring of demonstrations, largely peaceful. Some got a little heated, as you well know. What's your reaction when you see these demonstrations? Do you want more of these demonstrations? These are the people who are protesting against what they see as police violence against African-Americans. [Cornell William Brooks, President/ceo, Naacp:] The NAACP has an old tradition of nonviolent protest. In the city of Atlanta, the NAACP was on the forefront of a very large demonstration. It was largely peaceful. We've been on the forefront of these demonstrations around the country. But here's what we know. You cannot bring about an end to racial violence, as in police brutality, with more violence. We exercise our rights under the Constitution by demonstrating our commitment to the ideals of this country and by posing pushing forward policies by reform. We did that in Congress. We do that in the state legislatures. We do it on the streets and in the streets across the country. So when you ask, do we need to have more demonstrations? Absolutely. But we have to not only demonstrate on the streets, we have to show up at the polls in mass and in the millions. That's what we intend on doing. [Blitzer:] The former New York City mayor, Rudy Giuliani, he had some controversial words about Black Lives Matter. The organizer of a lot of these protests. Let me play this for you and get your reaction. [Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor Of New York City:] When you say Black Lives Matter, that's inherently racist. Black lives matter. White lives matter. Asian lives matter. Hispanic lives matter. That's anti-American, and it's racist. [Blitzer:] Your reaction? [Brooks:] Every once in a while we all have to have a major dose of reality. Here's the reality. In many places across the country, black lives are not valued. They're devalued. Dehumanized. When an unarmed African-American man is seven times more likely to lose his life than his white counterpart, there's a devaluation of life. When we say black lives matter, that is the premise to the ethical conclusion that all lives matter. Unless the first is true, the second can never be true. Mr. Giuliani needs to think about this. We are at a moment in this country where we have many people losing lives at the hands of the police under questionable circumstances. We see these horrific videos. I had a chance to speak to Mr. Castile's mother a day or so ago. Look into a mother's face. Look into a mother's eyes. She lost her son, her dreams, her aspirations in her son, and he's he's detained or I should say stopped 52 times in his community. This is the story of a generation. So Mr. Giuliani, I beg to differ. I simply say to you that your record in New York City with respect to the disastrous policy of stop and frisk, which is another way of saying detain and demean was wrong. It was wrong in that city. It was wrong across the country. It was bad policy. And we have to move beyond that to good policy. [Blitzer:] You came back here to Washington from a visit to Minnesota. And earlier, you were in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. You met with the family, relatives, friends, others. What was it like to actually go to those two places and see the anger, the frustration? [Brooks:] Heartbreaking. Heartbreaking. I simply ask everyone to think about your mother. Think about your father. Think about the people who love you. And think about how their hearts would break when your life taken from you and simply as a consequence of your skin color. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Being black and in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is something no imagine no American should have to imagine. But that is what is happening all across this country. So meeting with Mr. Castile's family. Meeting with Mr. Sterling's family. Being in these communities, broken communities, it is tough. But this experience gives the NAACP all the more resolve, all the more determination to push more policies. And I want to emphasize, laws that will change the situation. We do that by showing up on the streets and showing up at the polls in mass and in the millions. So when we have our convention, and part of this week, and we have presidential candidates, Secretary Clinton coming before us, we are going to demand of them real answers for the problem in the streets. This is a problem that can only be solved if we as a country come together. [Blitzer:] And Hillary Clinton has accepted your invitation. Has Donald Trump accepted the NAACP invitation to appear, as well? [Brooks:] We are hoping that he will do so. We have not yet heard from him. But I believe that the road to the White House takes you through the NAACP and Cincinnati. [Blitzer:] I want you to stand by. We have more to discuss. Much more on all the new developments right now. Cornell Williams Brooks of the NAACP is with us. We'll be right back. [Cabrera:] It's a crisis like one the world has not seen since World War II. Thousands of migrants, mostly refugees, packed up what little they have and left their homes in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan in hopes of a better future for their families. Most are looking for a better life in Europe. Just today, this ship brought nearly 2500 migrants to mainland Greece, from the small Greek island. 10,000 more are stuck there now, waiting for their documents to get processed, just so they can continue on their journey. Hungary migrants are forced to wait at holding sites in what we hear are primitive conditions. Some tussled with police that are blocking roads to keep them from leaving until they register as refugees. Some nations are pledging to do more to help. Still others are saying they just can't keep up with the influx. Let's bring in CNN's chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, joining me live in Paris. Christiane, today, you had a chance to interview a top E.U. official. Tell us more about that. [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] Indeed. I am in Paris on a day where the tide does seem to be shifting. You mentioned the poor refugees still stuck in limbo in Hungary. Hungary is Europe's poster child for the worst refugee response. Germany is the best. Now we're seeing France and Britain today announce, respectively, 24,000 and 20,000 refugees in each of those countries they'll take in. But over a period of years, whereas, in one day this past week, Germany took in 17,000 refugees in one day. We have a massive disparity of reaction in Europe. And the European chief, the foreign policy chief, who I spoke to, said their aim is to try to get everybody to do their fair share, to take their fair share of the burden, or else they may face sanctions. And when I asked her about the emotional impact of the horrifying picture of the poor little boy face down in the water off the Turkish coast, is that having an effect, this is what she said to me. [Federica Mogherini, Foreign Affairs Chief, European Union:] Sometimes even political leaders need an emotional push, which is sad in my opinion, but if we do not manage to act united and fast in front of these tragedies, in front of these human tragedies, then what would move more courageous decisions if not these. The point is that people die, children die, women die at sea and at land, even when we don't see the pictures. We should remember that this is a tragedy that's going on now for years. It is going to stay probably for the next coming months and years, and we better face it rationally. [Amanpour:] So it is also not just a European problem. It is not a German problem. This is a global problem. She was quite critical as many others have been for several days of the gulf Arab states, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Arab Emirates, Kuwait who have taken in zero Syrian refugees, despite fueling and paying for the militants in Syria, and the United States with its big heart, deep pockets, projecting humanitarian values, has taken in under 1500 Syrian refugees since the war began four and a half years ago. A lot of people need to step up to the plate Ana? [Cabrera:] You talked about some of those gulf nations that have quite a bit of money and they're in that region. What is the reason for not accepting some of these refugees? [Amanpour:] It is incredibly hard to decipher. They say officially we're taking X number of refugees from the Yemen war, but the U.N. and others say that these gulf Arab states, which are amongst richest per capita in the world have the capacity for two million refugees if they chose to take them in, remembering, of course, that the countries immediately bordering Syria have taken in nearing four million and are bursting at the seams, that's why they can't take more, which is why the flood comes across to Europe at great personal risk to the people. Finally, as highlighted, the reality, and that is that unless the war in Syria is stopped, this is not going to stop the exit from Syria and other parts of the region. [Cabrera:] I want to ask you about what we are hearing about attacks against refugees in Europe, that the attacks are apparently on the rise. Who is behind it? [Amanpour:] For instance, in Germany, which has been the most generous, has taken in the most number of people. People have lined up at train stations to cheer on the refugees coming over. Ordinary citizens around Germany have gone out, provided enormous amount of private and personal aid to them as they come in. Even shoes are being put out at Frankfurt station, for instance. But like in many parts of Europe, there are horrible vicious neo-Nazi and extreme groups. In Germany, they had trouble with backlash the past several months to the point that the chancellor, Angela Merkel, had to go to one of the places that had been to pledge these places would be protected. Since that happened, the overwhelming narrative has been shifting now to this generous reception that Germany is taking. But yes, the German officials are telling their people we have to accept this is not a one-day crisis, not a month or a year. This is something that's going to be with us for many years and that we have to get used to the changing and shifting demographic of our country. [Cabrera:] Right, when you talk about the sheer numbers we're talking here. Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much for joining us. Great insight. And up next, a shocking video. Take a look. Why did two Texas high school football players tackle this referee from behind? Now, could criminal charges be on the way? We'll discuss. [Pereira:] All right, here's the five things for Friday. At number one, the Malaysian team investigating MH370 now says debris found on Reunion Island does indeed belong to Boeing a Boeing 777. The piece of the wing will head to France today for further analysis. Newly released video shows gunman John Hauser buying a ticket and walked into that Louisiana movie theater last week moments before killing and wounding two people wounding nine others before taking his own life. Former University of Cincinnati Police Officer Ray Tensing is out on jail on bond. He pleaded not guilty to murder and voluntary manslaughter in the death of Samuel DuBose. Two other campus police officers are on paid leave as an internal investigation begins. There is no sign of two Florida teenagers missing at sea. Austin Stephanos and Perry Cohen went fishing last Friday and never returned. The Coast Guard search spanning 44,000 square miles from south from Florida, rather, to South Carolina. Former President George H.W. Bush showing everyone that he's doing just fine. Two thumbs up, in fact. The 91-year-old broke a bone in his neck when he fell in his home. He posted a picture and tweeted, who knew jumping out of planes was safer than getting out of bed. Thanks to all of your for your kind well wish well messages. For more on the five things to know, go to newdaycnn.com for the latest. Alisyn. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Michaela. Soaring unemployment, high suicide rates and third world living conditions mark the lives of more than a million Native Americans living on reservations in the U.S. But on one struggling reservation in South Dakota, Rochelle Ripley is bringing help and hope. Meet this week's CNN hero and be sure to tell us about someone you think is deserving at cnnheros.com. [Rochelle Ripley, Cnn Hero:] The Lakota reservations are very isolated. The spirit of the people, it's alive, but they struggle with the conditions tremendously. We have extremely high rates of suicide, addictions. Food often is in very short supply. Unemployment. Health issues are another huge challenge. My name is Rochelle Ripley. I formed a group to keep a promise to my Lakota grandmother to go home and help our people. And we're almost to the front door. There you go, you're at the front door. [Unidentified Female:] All my electricity outlets and stuff were no good and it could have been a house fire. [Ripley:] We're doing as much as we can to make her house safe for her. They want to get the floor down tonight. [Unidentified Female:] It's still feeling even more newer in here. [Ripley:] We've been teaching how to eat healthy on a very limited budget. [Unidentified Female:] I'm going to give you a couple of these. [Ripley:] We have a medical team. We work collaboratively with the tribe everywhere we go. So we're going to continue, obviously, to toys and to new clothing. We get in everything from beds to food. We're all children of this earth and we need to work together so that everyone has a chance at having a decent life. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Erin, thanks very much. Good evening, everybody. Thanks for joining us. The story, of course, tonight begins out of Baton Rouge. We're in Cleveland, site of tomorrow's Republican convention, but we do begin with the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge. Shots fired this morning in that city that are echoing here and across the country tonight. [Cooper:] Those shots this morning took the lives of three law enforcement officers, three law enforcement officers are dead including Baton Rouge Police Officer Montrell Jackson. Family members speaking to the local paper saying that he was a 10-year veteran of the force and a new father. Six days ago he posted an emotional appeal online. I want to read part of it to you. He said in part, "These are trying times. Please don't let hate infect your heart. This city must and will get better. I'm working in these streets, so any protesters, officers, friend, family or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer, I got you." Officer Jackson was just 32 years old. His son, Mason, is just 4 months old. Two other officers also lost their lives this morning, their names have yet to become public. Obviously, we'll try to find out as much as we can about them when those names are released, we'll let you know about them. Three others were wounded, one critically. Authorities suggest but have not flat out said that only one man was involved and was killed in the shoot-out itself, 29-year-old Gavin Long of Kansas City. Now, we're naming him because investigators have specifically said they want to know more about him and they want to hear from anybody who actually knows him. CNN's Chris Cuomo is in Baton Rouge tonight. He joins with us now with the latest. So, Chris, let's talk about what we now know about this incident. You're hearing about how this shoot-out unfolded. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor, "new Day":] All right, Anderson. So this is a very, still quickly and deeply developing situation. We do have information about what happened this morning. 9:40 local time, that's when this first started which was, this 911 call alerting officers to someone walking down this avenue where we are now, about a mile from our current location with a long gun. So police officers responded. When they did, they were engaged immediately by the gunman. And as we know, the numbers quickly became profoundly deadly. You have three people who lost their lives. You have six others who were hit. Within 10 minutes, you end up having a second reinforcement of officers here and EMT on the scene. And of course, the shooter was taken out by the police here. The larger question that's looming is why, and this man presents a very complex picture that Drew Griffin and the investigative team is working on, as you know. There are multiple identities and certainly a background that is rich with conflict with this shooter. We do know that he was a marine. We know that he went to infantry school. That would explain his, you know, success, to call it that, with the weapon. He knew how to use this long gun. There's also a lot online about him and his expressing in no mixed fashion an animosity towards the police and a belief in fighting back in what he saw as this perverse notion of rebellion. So the police are trying to figure out exactly how this happen, was this call just an observation of the man or was it a setup, a design. Now, on its face, Anderson, it would be enough, if someone saw somebody on the street with a long gun and called it in, it could have precipitated all of this. Online there are videos of this man suggesting his connection to these types of events believing he was called to be in Dallas at the same time as the officer shooting there. He's going to be a complex picture, but it takes you to the same place, Anderson, which is this man came here with an intention to do violence and did just that and the police responded and took him out but not before there were tragic losses. [Cooper:] You know, early on, Chris, the police had said that there may be other suspects out there, then at that press conference later in the afternoon they said, you know, the active shooter situation is over, it was just the gunman who was killed by police. But at this point are police talking about anybody else he may have actually been in contact with or connected to? Is there any public information about that? [Cuomo:] It's the right question, Anderson. Our reporting is that they're all over this guy's life right now. They're all around his address in Missouri. They're trying to find out his connections. It's not going to be quick though, Anderson, because they're come up with too much too soon. This man had so many different affiliations, either legitimate or desired with all types of anarchy groups and different surveillance people and different types of extreme and fringe causes. So it's going to be very rich very quickly, Drew Griffin is tracking down a lot of that. That's not an easy task. But some of the explanation of these early calls about multiple shooters does sound familiar in terms of the reporting we did in Dallas. A little bit may have been echo effect. A little bit may be just eyewitness experience of figuring this out. There was a lot of fire very quickly with, on the case of the shooter, a long gun. As you know well, Anderson, the noise that that makes and the reverberation of it can to be enough to distract and make people wonder where gunfire is coming from and from how many. [Cooper:] We're also learning and we talked a little bit at the top of the broadcast, a little bit about one of the police officers killed. [Cuomo:] Say it again, Anderson, please. I'm sorry. [Cooper:] We're just starting to learn a little bit more about the officers themselves who were killed. [Cuomo:] You know, we know that there are three at this time. We also know that there are people who are critically injured. You never want to get ahead of yourself on the numbers, you know, as you know very well. We still don't know what's going to happen here. These are real injuries and there real battles going on in the local hospital. But one of the officers that's come out, 32-year-old, just had a son of his own. And there's a special poignant with this officer because he posted last week about Alton Sterling's death and how he felt such tension from it and such pain in his heart as an African-American and as a police officer. Montrell Jackson was his name, 32 years old. And this post, people are really seeing it as a source of someone who really put his finger on this situation. He talked about the pain of being an officer and being second guessed in the community that he puts his life on the line to protect and also the confusion of being an African-American male who gets one type of heat in uniform and another type of heat out of uniform. And he expressed it very beautifully. And at the end, he resolved to keep protecting this community, if people needed a hug, he would give it to them. He said, "I'm on it. I've got your back. And he was telling people not to let hate infect their own hearts and then, here he is, the victim of hate himself. [Cooper:] Yeah, one of three killed in line of duty today. Chris Cuomo, thank you very much. As you mentioned, local and state authorities really have been all over this case working to put together a picture of the man authorities have identified as the killer. As Chris said, they're searching for who he may have associated with, where he traveled, what he did online, anything really to get a better sense of what may have motivated him to do this. Tonight, we're learning that this search is beginning to bear some information. CNN Senior Investigative Correspondent Drew Griffin as Chris mentioned joins us with that. So at this point, what more do we know about this shooter? [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigative Correspondent:] First of all, Anderson, I think we should explain to your regular viewers that we are going to use his name and there's a reason for that. His name is Gavin Eugene Long, 29, he served five years in the marines, left honorably in 2010. The reason we are using his name tonight is because police are looking for more information on this person in any kind of information that could be culled from across the country to those people who knew him. He was known online on two different websites as a man he called Cosmo Setepenra. He called himself a freedom strategist, an author and spiritual advisor. As we've been reporting, he's followed many, may conspiracy groups dedicated to anti-government surveillance, anti-law enforcement monitoring, and he posted on a group called stop organized gang stalking. On the videos that CNN has been viewing, which we do believe is him, he has talked openly of revolution. He has talked about fighting back against the bullies and in an ominous post that he claims to have filmed from Dallas after the shooting of those Dallas police officers he wrote, "You've got to fight back. That's the only way a bully knows to quit." That's the picture that's being painted at least across his own social media of a person who obviously had some kind of beef with the police who came to Baton Rouge this morning and from what we can determine seems to have come here for one reason and that was to hunt police. Anderson? [Cooper:] Just so sickening. Drew Griffin, we'll continue to follow those leads. I want to go to Fred Jackson, he's Montrell Jackson's uncle. He joins us now by phone. Fred, I'm so sorry for your loss, for your family's loss. Please tell us about your nephew. What kind of guy was he? [Fred Jackson, Montrell Jackson's Uncle:] Anderson, you know, I've been in Michigan for the last 23 years coaching college football. But I will go home two or three times a year. And every time you would go, you get an opportunity to see this young man. He's my youngest brother's son. And he was going to be 33 years old, going to be 34 this December, and just a tremendous dedicated individual. Really believed in what he was doing, believed in helping people. That was his whole thing. He want to help other people. [Cooper:] And he got a young baby. [Jackson:] Yes. Haven't been that long. I think three or four months old. You know, every time I had an opportunity to talk to him, he was all about what he could do to help other people. He just wanted to do things. He just thought he could do something to help Baton Rouge be a better city in which he live, a tremendous young fellow. [Cooper:] He'd written online in the wake of the Alton Sterling shooting about some of the pressures he was facing, the difficulties he was facing, the difficulties he was facing but being a police officer, is that something he always wanted to do? [Jackson:] Yes. That's what Jose, my brother's name's Jose, was telling me he always wanted to be somewhere that he can be protective and be dedicated, I guess, on people. And, you know, he is just with a self-motivated person who thought he could do something to help, you know, just other people be better. And that's he's been like that all his life, just a dedicated young man. That's just the way he was. [Cooper:] I can't imagine how his family is holding up now. I mean, where do you go from here? [Jackson:] It's very, very tough. I just talked to my sister and my brother who still live there. And my brother, who is his father, was just saying, you know, all of the time when he was around, it was all based on the fact that he could do something to change, he could do something to make a change and that's probably why he wrote the letter that he wrote. And it's so hard on them right now because it'so unexpected, yet still, when you are a father of a policeman, you have a tendency to understand a little bit about the type of job that it is and, you know, these things can happen. But you don't realize how bad it is until it hits home. It's very difficult right now for his entire family. [Cooper:] Yeah. Well, again, please pass along our condolences and our thought, our prayers, Fred Jackson, thank you very much for joining us. [Jackson:] Thank you. [Cooper:] There's more late developments from Baton Rouge throughout the next two hours of this broadcast. Just ahead, Donald trump and his new running Mike Pence, what they said especially what Donald Trump said is making new headlines and raising some eyebrows as well tonight. We'll talk about that ahead and more of the details coming out of Baton Rouge. [Cabrera:] In today's "Fit Nation," meet the man who holds the Guinness World Record for the farthest distance ever traveled on a skateboard in 24 hours. Here's Dr. Sanjay Gupta. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Andrew Andras is a giant in the small but competitive world of long- distance skating. [Andrew Andras, Long-distance Skating Competition Competitor:] You can kind of say it's between, say, a cyclist and a runner. [Gupta:] At 39 years old, Andras is the ultra skate world record holder, skating over 300 miles in just 24 hours. [Andras:] There's no books out there on how to skateboard for 24 hours. So it was a lot of figuring out, how to feed the body and your training program. [Gupta:] Andras is a firefighter paramedic in Miami-Dade. [Andras:] It's a very physical, demanding job. It's a very stressful job and we need forms of stress relief from that. Being out on the long board and racing was my answer. I love the competition, the sport and pushing yourself past the limit that you didn't think you could do mentally or physically. The human spirit wants to be challenged. [Zakaria:] The Zika virus is spreading explosively says the World Health Organization. It is a pandemic in progress says America's top infectious disease doctor. This once obscure virus is now found in a wide swath of the Americas well over 20 countries or territories in all according to the CDC. It is believed that for most people the virus is a minor medical hiccup but the CDC has warned pregnant women not to travel to the danger zone. Why? Because there is an association doctors are still investigating between Zika and a sometimes deadly birth disorder called microcephaly, where babies are born with abnormally small heads. Joining me now to help us understand the big picture is Sonia Shah, author and investigative reporter. Her next book is called "Pandemic: Tracking Contagions from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond." It comes out next month. Pleasure to have you on, Sonia. [Sonia Shah, Author And Journalist:] Thanks for having me. [Zakaria:] So can this spread to the United States? [Shah:] Yes, and it probably will. We've already had other viruses that are carried by the same mosquitoes that are present in the United States. So it's prettily likely that it will take hold in the U.S. at some point. [Zakaria:] But when you look at things like dengue and other mosquito borne illnesses, they don't spread like wildfire in the U.S. the way they do in South America, why? [Shah:] Well, the places where Americans don't live in as crowded cities as in, say, northern Brazil. That's one part of it. So in the places where we have these vectors, these mosquitoes that carry the diseases, people don't live that closely together, so we have fewer people in those places for one thing. But it's also the way that we live. You know, we have electricity so we have air conditioning, so we go inside, we have screens on our doors and on our windows and we're protected from mosquito bites. So in all these ways where our lifestyles are such that we don't get as exposed to mosquito bites as people like, say, poor people in a Brazilian slum might be. [Zakaria:] But sometimes strange things cause these diseases to spread. You point out that the houses crisis in Florida actually help dengue spread. Explain why. [Shah:] During the foreclosure crisis we had a lot of abandoned homes. And because that's Florida, that meant a lot of empty swimming pools and gardens, and when the rains came they filled up with standing water, and they became giant mosquito hatchery. So essentially no one was home to notice and no one was home to let in the mosquito inspectors and then of course a year later we had the first epidemic of dengue in Florida and 5 percent of the population of Key West was found to have been exposed. [Zakaria:] El Salvador has told its people, its women, not to get pregnant for the next two years. Many other South American countries have issued similar kinds of warnings, though not quite as extreme. Is this an overreaction? [Shah:] At this point, I don't know that it is. I mean, we don't know enough about the connection between Zika virus and this horrible birth defect. And the other problem is we can't really surveil for it very well because you can't really tell if you have it until it's kind of too late to do the best test. Right? so you have you can see if you have it within the first five days of infection, but you don't have symptoms then so you're going to be unlikely to go out and see if you have it anyway and do the blood test. So we don't have a good way to track this disease and then of course we don't have any treatments for it or any prevent you know, any vaccine for it. So it's really going to be nine months later when you have the baby that you'd realize that I had you know, that this thing had happened to you. So at this point not getting pregnant, you know, it's really it's an incredible public health warning. I haven't heard of anything like that before. And we think of pandemics as causing death rates to go up. But in this case, this could be a pandemic that actually has sort of an opposite effect which is, you know, birth rates might fall. [Zakaria:] You know, so this is all happening in part because of globalization, trade, travel, people moving around. And you see I think you point out there are 300 brand new infections in the last 50 years. What's the solution? Because we we're not going to stop, we're not going to wind back that clock and not travel, and you know, goods are going to be moving from place to place. What should we be doing? [Shah:] Well, we need to do a lot better surveillance for one thing. Now we can't know which pathogen is going to cause the next sort of big epidemic. But we do know where these things are more likely to happen because we know how it happens. So we know that in places where there's rapid urbanization and a lot of slums, intensive livestock production, a lot of air con connections, all of these different ways in which these pathogens can emerge, we know that's how it happens. So we can look at a map and we can see, well, where are the hot spots where this is most likely to occur and we can do intense surveillance in those places. And people are already starting to do that in sort of ad hoc way. But I think that's something we really are going to need to step up in the future. [Zakaria:] And do we need to in countries like the United States, developed countries that would be the recipients here have a different kind of public health investment and response? [Shah:] I think so. I mean, right now we usually have a kind of bio medical response to these disease outbreaks and that is to kind of isolate the cause and, you know, the mosquito in this case, or the virus and kind of surgically target it with the chemicals and drugs, but what we're seeing with a lot of these new diseases is that they're moving from wildlife into human populations or livestock into human populations. They're being driven forward by social and political factors, large scale diffused environmental factors, so we really need sort of a collaborative approach. You know, we need veterinarians, wildlife biologists, social scientists, political scientists, as well as our bio medical experts to really come together to start a much more collaborative approach to solving these health crises. [Zakaria:] And the stakes are very high. Sonia Shah, thank you so much. [Shah:] Thank you. [Zakaria:] Next on GPS, we all know the French have incredible wine and great cheese. But what about their tech start-ups? Really? Find out how this bastion of socialism and leisure might be becoming the Silicon Valley of Europe. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor: 7:] 00 on a Saturday morning. I'm glad to see you're up. I'm Christi Paul. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you [Paul:] Donald Trump is, of course, they've fighting back this morning. He just tweeted, I want to read this for you here. "100 percent fabricated and made-up, charges pushed strongly by the media and the Clinton campaign may poison the minds of the American voter. Fix." And yesterday, slamming the women accusing him of sexual assault. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] I am a victim of one of the great political smear campaigns in the history of our country. [Blackwell:] Well, the two new allegations come from Summer Zervos, a former "Apprentice" contestant and Kristin Anderson, a photographer and former model. But Trump called Anderson's accusation nonsense and false and release the statement on Zervos. He writes or at least the campaign writes, "I vaguely remember Ms. Zervos as one of the many contestants on "The Apprentice" over the year. To be clear, I never met her at a hotel or greeted her inappropriately a decade ago. That is not who I am as a person and it's not how I've conducted might life. In fact, Ms. Zervos continued to contact me for help, e-mailing my office on April 14 to this year, asking that I visit her restaurant in California. Beyond that, the media is now creating a theater of absurdity that threatens to tear our Democratic process apart and poison the minds of the American public." Well, CNN's Ed Lavadera has been following this accusation. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] The first of eight accusers publicly came forward, Wednesday night this week. Mindy McGillivray was one of them. For her, it was the presidential debate in St. Louise that prompted her to speak out. Mcgillivray couldn't believe what she had just heard. [Mindy Mcgillivray, Donald Trump Accuser:] We hear Anderson Cooper ask him like a number of times. You know, is this something you that did? Did you grope women? Did you kiss them? And he just adamantly says no? I jumped off my couch and I was like, "You're a liar." [Lavandera:] Summer Zervos once appeared as a contest on Trump's reality show "The Apprentice". After she was kicked off the show, Zervos was in talks with Trump about working for his company. He asked to meet her at the Beverly Hills Hotel. [Summer Zervos, Former Apprentice Contestant:] He came to me and started kissing me open mouth as he was pulling me towards him. I tried to push him away. I pushed his chest to put space between us and I said, "Come on, man, get real." He repeated my words back to me "get real," as he began thrusting his genitals. [Lavandera:] In the early 1990s, Kristin Anderson was an aspiring model in New York. According to the "Washington Post", Anderson had never met or seen Donald Trump in person until he sat down next to her one night in a Manhattan dance club. [Kristin Anderson, Trump Accuser:] The person on my right, who unbeknownst to me at that time was Donald Trump, put their hands up my skirt. [Lavandera:] Temple Taggart is a former Miss Utah. She says, without her consent, Trump kissed her on the lips immediately after meeting her in 1977. Rachel Crooks told the "New York Times" that Trump kissed her inappropriately as well in 2005. Natasha Stoynoff, a write for "People Magazine" says Trump forcibly kissed her and pinned her down while on a reporting assignment at Trump's Mar-a-lago Estate in Florida. And Jessica Leeds says Trump grabbed her breasts and put his hands up her skirt on a plane in the early 1980s. Donald Trump, again, Friday denied all of the allegations against him and described it all as a political smear campaign. [Trump:] I don't know who these people are. I look on television. I think it's a disgusting thing. [Lavandera:] Which is exactly how Mindy McGillivray says Trump treated her one night backstage after a Ray Charles concert at the Mar-a-lago Estate. McGillivray was there with a friend waiting to get her picture taken with the singer. When she says Trump grabbed her from behind. [Mcgillivray:] And he didn't give me a second glance. He knew what he did. I know he knew what he did. I can tell by looking at his smug face, he knew exactly what he did. I told Ken I was like, "Donald just grabbed my ass." And he was like, "What do you want to do about it?" I'm like, I was silent, you know. I don't want to do anything. [Lavandera:] She says she regrets not confronting the billionaire right on the spot. And despite Trump's insistence that he treats women with respect, all of the women who've come forward say Trump treated them like objects that he could have his way with. What would you tell Donald Trump today? [Mcgillivray:] You're a sick, sick person. And if he don't acknowledge it, then maybe he's just an helpless old man who needs to step down. [Paul:] And the Trump campaign released this statement before the lead from Summer Zervos' cousin named John Barry. And the statement said "I am completely shock and bewildered by my cousin, Summer Zervos, and her press conference today. Ever since she was on "The Apprentice" she has had nothing but glowing things to say about Mr. Trump. That was until Summer invited Mr. Trump to her restaurant during the primary and he said no. I think Summer wishes she could still be on reality T.V and in an effort to get that back, she's saying all of these negative things about Mr. Trump." [Blackwell:] Well, CNN reached out to Zervos' attorney, Gloria Allred and she responded with this. "John Barry is a huge Trump supporter. He was employed at Summer's family restaurant until several months ago when his employment ended. Since then he has expressed hostility and ill will towards Summer." Let's bring in CNN's Chris Frates. Chris, we know that the Trump campaign is releasing the statements. They talk about some of the other allegations. What else are we hearing from the campaign? [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, Victor, well, you know, that statement is coming, you know, essentially after two more women came forward yesterday. And they alleged Donald Trump groped them. Now, that number of women who have accused Trump of sexual assault or harassment now totals seven. And we heard from Hillary Clinton's campaign, she's steered mostly clear of these allegations against Trump. You know kind of fearing that pulling the spotlight away from Trump's troubled campaign is not the way to go at this point. She stayed mostly quiet. But she did weigh in last night at a fund-raiser in Seattle. [Hillary Clinton, Presedential Candidate:] The whole world has heard Donald Trump brags about mistreating women. And the disturbing stories keep coming. This is who Donald Trump really is. We know that. Now, we have to demonstrate who we are. America is better than this. [Frates:] Now, Kristin Anderson told "The Washington Post" in a story published yesterday that Trump slid his hand up her miniskirt and touched her private parts at the New York City night cluck back in the '90s. And former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos said Trump grabbed her breasts and kissed her over dinner at the hotel back in 2007. Now, of course Victor, Trump dismissing these allegations as lies. In fact, he seems to mock two of his other accusers as too unattractive to draw his eye. And he painted himself as the victim of a smear campaign. Here's what he said last night, reiterating what he said in a tweet this morning. [Trump:] These allegations are 100 percent false, as everybody. I think you know. These claims defy reason, truth, logic, common sense. They're made without supporting witnesses. [Frates:] Now, all of these allegations have knocked Trump off his game, off his message since that news broke last week. But in a statement last night, Trump said he plans to address the nation in a much more personal way. He wants to talk about his vision for the country and put this behind him, Victor. [Blackwell:] All right, Chris Frates, once again form Washington, thanks so much. [Frates:] You're welcome. [Blackwell:] Christi? [Paul:] Chris Moody, CNN Politics Senior Digital Correspondent with us now. So, Chris is there a sense that Donald Trump can come can overcome all of this. And when might we hear more of that policy as opposed to all of the shenanigans that we've heard so far. All of these accusations from Trump himself? When are we going to hear more from him? [Chris Moody, Cnn Politics Senior Digital Correspondent:] Well, Donald Trump is in fox hole right now fighting for his political life. And with just a couple of weeks left in the election, time is really running out. The major opportunity he has to try to turn this thing around is next week in Las Vegas at the presidential debate with Hillary Clinton. But looking at the electoral map, going into this election, it was already really tight. Hillary Clinton already had a firm head start just because of the demographics of the country. Donald Trump needed or excuse me needs to win states like Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania and others. Really have a clean sweep of all of these battleground states in order to reach the 270 votes he needs to get to win the Electoral College. That is getting harder and harder by the day as he's having to answer questions about alleged sexual assault, instead of making his closing arguments. So, he's really going to have to turn this around very quickly. And every time he's talking about alleged sexual assaults, this time he's not talking about his vision for the country. As Chris Frates mentioned just a moment ago, this has knocked him off his game and he has to get back on his feet as soon as possible if he wants any hope of winning those Electoral College votes in those key swing states. [Paul:] Well, and somebody else who's been publicly silent about all of this is House Speaker Paul Ryan. He would actually, with a build at a major party address in Madison, Wisconsin and he was talking more about Congress. So, when you look at what you we're talking about, the electoral map and the numbers that we're talking about if Hillary Clinton at this moment seems to be poised to win the White House, would that not push Republicans to get out and vote to keep Congress in Republican control? [Moody:] That's right. The presidency is not the only office that Republicans are worried about right now. They fear that that down ballots, they could suffer as well including popular members of Congress, the House and the Senate. Now, if Donald Trump should lose in November, the Republican Party is really going to have to pick up the broken pieces of what happened over the past couple of years. There's been an incredible split in the party that has been unforeseen, really in modern history. And the Republican Party is going to have to have a real gut check and figure out what kind of party they want to be in the future, whether it's the party of Donald Trump, or more of a conservative party that we saw before Trump's rise. Now, this is complicated for a guy like Paul Ryan who has decades of experienced and time talking about conservative values, but then endorsed Donald Trump. He will be known as a Donald Trump supporter after this election, whether he likes it or now. So, I expect if Donald Trump should lose in November, I expect there to be some real soul searching in the Republican Party. [Paul:] All right. Chris Moody, appreciate your thoughts. Thank you so much. [Blackwell:] All right. So, what's next for Donald Trump on the defense fighting allegations for multiple women? Our panel, we'll weigh in next on what this means for the Trump campaign, less than 30 days now from the election. [Frederik Pleitgen:] Angry protests as Turkey reels from a suicide bombing near the border with Syria and crowds accuse the president of being too soft no ISIS. We'll have a report from the scene of the explosion in just a moment. Also ahead, the defiant village with a demolition order hanging over it. We'll hear from an Israeli rabbi who is against the slated destruction and ask him why there is such international interest in the case of Susya. Plus, why has this video gone viral in Egypt? We speak to writer Shareen al-Feki about attempts to crackdown on harassment and why some women support drastic action. [Announcer:] Live from CNN London, this is Connect the World. [Pleitgen:] At any moment, we could hear from Pope Francis as he addresses a conference on climate change and human trafficking. Mayors and other local politicians from around the world have gathered at The Vatican in answer to the pope's call to action. He's set to meet with them this hour. Our Vatican correspondent Delia Gallagher joins us now from Rome. And Delia, we know that these issues are very close to the pontiff. What are you what is he likely to say? [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] Well, we expect them, of course, to encourage the participants. This is the first time that the pope is meeting with mayors, Fred. You know, he's been quite tireless on both of the issues of modern slavery and climate change to get them into the public eye, to make it a top priority for international and local leaders. And what the pope is trying to do now is work on a two-pronged approach. One is at the local level, represented by the mayors. The other is the international level. And I think he's speaking right now, Fred, so maybe we can take a listen to what he's saying to the participants. What he's saying, Fred, while we're waiting for the pope. [Pleitgen:] Yeah, looks like the video is stalling there for a second. But let's talk a little more, especially about the modern slavery. What are the main issues for him there? Because it is a very different approach that he would take than, for instance, one that politicians would take, because he's obviously coming from a more spiritual perspective, isn't he? [Gallagher:] Yeah, and a lot of the mayors have referenced that today, saying, you know he is the highest moral voice today that we have on this issue. The Vatican has been working for many years on the question of human trafficking. I think we've got some of what he's saying now. Let's take a listen, Fred. [Pope Francis:] This is what I tried to express in the encyclical [inaudible] that we cannot separate man from everything else. There is a relationship which has a huge impact both the environment on the person and the person in the way they treat the environment. And also the rebound effect against man when the environment is... [Pleitgen:] Video is stalling again there. He was obviously at that point in time just speaking about the politics toward the environment. He was, of course, very vocal on that issue, saying that man is obviously one with nature, that we can't separate ourselves, that man's actions obviously have great affect on the planet. How important, Delia and you're in these circles a lot how important is the environmental issue to him? [Gallagher:] Look, the environmental issue is important to the pope, because it's important to everybody for creation care taking care of the Earth. But it's important to Pope Francis in particular because of his care for the poor. And what the Vatican states over and over again is the connection between climate change and its effect, in particular, on the poor, on poor cities. That's why the mayors are here and particular in the urban areas. In fact, they say that global warming is one of the causes of poverty and one of the causes of forced migration. And so they are calling on the mayors to help at the ground level in their urban areas with the poor, in particular. We know this pope has the poor at the top of his agenda. So any of these issues, human trafficking is another one, which affects mainly the poor. There was a mayor from India, from Kochi in Kerala said India has the highest number of slaves in the world and that they are enacting laws to help child labor laws to help them get an education to allow Indian families to work. So, all of these issues are interconnected. And what's unique about this conference is for the first time Pope Francis is bringing them together and saying one thing affects the other. And at the heart of it is his care for the poor, which is a gospel value, as they say here at The Vatican, that Jesus was concerned for the poor, that's Pope Francis's main focus in all of this Fred. [Pleitgen:] Yeah, you're absolutely right. Of course, that is something that he has shown a lot since he became the pontiff. In fact, I want to hit on something else that you were saying, because it is quite interesting as well. Now, you were saying that the Vatican has obviously been pushing these issues, have been on these issues for a very, very long time. But it does appear as though they have become a little more prominent since this pope has come into office. What do you think? [Gallagher:] Yes. Well, Pope Francis has totally ramped it up. I mean, he has made it his top priority, I think we could say. Certainly under Pope Benedict, even under John Paul II The Vatican has issued documents on creation care, care for the environment, on human trafficking, that's been happening for a number of years here at The Vatican. But Pope Francis has met with international leaders, has met with UN leaders, has in mind a meeting in December in Paris on sustainable development goals at the UN, so trying to actually affect policy. And when he issued his encyclical, which is mostly on creation care and on the idea of helping the environment and human trafficking, he said part of the reason for that is to influence the discussion on this. But he's not just stopping there, he's inviting the mayors to The Vatican so that he can get in on the ground level as well. So, I think it's clear that and all of the mayors kind of paid homage to him in their talks saying that he is really the most outspoken voice nowadays and really the only one capable of kind of bringing everybody together in this sort of neutral place without any kind of real bias one way or the other, other than to help the poor and to help the environment. [Pleitgen:] That's Delia Gallagher, thank you very much for joining us there from Rome. The pope, of course, a moral authority, someone who also has a lot of influence on politicians as well. Thank you very much, Delia. And you can join us all this week for an in depth look at this global problem of modern day slavery. Be sure to watch this CNN Freedom Project documentary "Children for Sale: The Fight to End Human Trafficking," that's Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. in London, 9:00 p.m. Central European Time. And of course only here on CNN. Now Turkey has always been a stone's throw away from ISIS. And now it's feeling the danger like never before. A devastating bomb blast near the Syrian border has some Turks outraged and pointing the finger at their leaders for how they've handled the threat. This protest in Istanbul turned violent after some in the crowd shouted slogans blaming the government. Monday's explosion in Suruc killed 31 people and wounded at least 100. The victims were attending a support rally for the battered Syrian border town of Kobani when the bomb went off. Now Turkey's prime minister says one suspect has been identified. He's also said a connection to ISIS has, quote, "gained probability." Our own senior international correspondent Arwa Damon traveled to the site of that horrific attack. [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] This is the cultural center in Suruc where the attack took place. And we do need to warn our viewers at this stage that the video they're about to see is incredibly disturbing. But we are deciding to broadcast it to show the inhumanity and terror of the attack. And now 24 hours later, this is the scene. The group that had gathered not only talking about and wanting to bring attention to the Kobani reconstruction efforts, but they had also gathered donations for the children: toys, schoolbooks, now symbolically placed here, a sign of defiance against the sheer violence that did take place. Many people, though, very angry at this stage, with the Turkish government. The crowds here earlier chanting anti-government slogans believing that the authorities should have done more to protect this nation from the threat posed by ISIS. In Gaziantep, there was a mass procession earlier in the day before the victims killed in the attack were taken to their various resting grounds. Many of those who perished here were from different parts of the nation. The Turkish prime minister also saying that they have identified the suspect in the attack, but they are not publicly disclosing that information. They're still investigating what linked the individuals may have had. The Turkish authorities had previously eluded to this attack being the work of ISIS revenge for Turkey's most recent crackdown on individuals, hundreds rounded up over the last few weeks, suspected of having links or ties to ISIS. This attack not necessarily coming as a surprise. People have been bracing themselves for the violence in Syria to spill over, but still shocking this nation to the very core. Arwa Damon, CNN, Suruc, Turkey. [Pleitgen:] And of course we'll be continuing to follow that investigation as it goes on. And if something new happens we will of course inform you immediately. Well, he's been labeled an embarrassment to his fellow Republicans and compared to Godzilla by liberals, but don't call him a loser, well not yet anyway. A new nationwide poll shows billionaire and U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump taking a commanding lead among likely Republican voters. The former reality TV star is scheduled to appear at a campaign event in South Carolina this hour, a key state in the race for the Republican nomination. Trump will be boosted by that new poll, the Washington PostABC News survey shows him with 24 percent support among likely Republican voters, that's nearly double his nearest Republican opponent. There are some caveats, however. And we have our own CNN's Dana Bash on the scene in Bluffton, South Carolina to tell us what those caveats are. Dana, how likely is he to win? [Dana Bash, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Well, it is I think way too early to answer that question, but I think the one thing we can say is that everybody in the Republican establishment, his Republican opponents are quite surprised by how well he is doing. I mean, that is a pretty significant lead, as you just mentioned, to have double digit lead on a national level. Now, as you mentioned, he is a reality TV star. Donald Trump is a celebrity, no question about it, and that does fuel some of that. But, you know, the issue for him, and the issue for voters, and I've just been anecdotal gleaning this and talking to some of the people who are here to listen to him speak today. This is a retirement community in South Carolina, is he's not a regular politician. I mean, that's what I heard over and over again from voters coming to listen to him saying that he's a doer, that he doesn't speak like everybody else. One even said that he has I'll clean it up, cajones. And that they like that about him. So, that's the plus and part of the driving issue for his rise in the polls. The negative is, of course, the fact that his truth to power sometimes can backfire and he can go a little bit too far, as he seemed to have done when he questioned Senator John McCain and whether he really should have war hero status, because he was captured in Vietnam and a prisoner of war for five years in the so-called Hanoi Hilton. I have to tell you, South Carolina is veteran rich. And I've spoken to some veterans here again just anecdotally who say it's not a disqualifier, that the organizations, veteran's organizations came out and condemned him, the Democrats, Republicans said that you can't say that kind of thing, but some here say that, you know, it's not necessarily a disqualifying thing. One said that he's on probation, but he wants to hear what Donald Trump has to say today. [Pleitgen:] He's certainly spicing up the Republican race, isn't he. Dana Bash, thank you very much there in South Carolina. Now, Donald Trump is not the only on shaking up U.S. politics, though. Coming up in 20 minutes, we'll look at the rise of the liberal challenging Hillary Clinton. Plus, we'll go to the West Bank to a Palestinian village, which Israel is set to demolish despite calls from the EU and the United States to not do that. An international debate just ahead. [Cooper:] Donald Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services Secretary, Georgia congressman, Tom Price is facing heat all by Democrats we should point out on the eve of his Senate confirmation hearing. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer is calling for an investigation to Price after CNN's Manu Raju reported that Price bought stock in a medical device maker and then introduce legislation that would have directly benefited the company. CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports on the fallout and the other questions surrounding Price's nomination. [Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent:] Reaction from Democrats about allegations regarding Tom Price's stock prices was swift. [Sen. Chuck Schumer, Minority Leader:] I am extremely troubled and he's got a steep mountain to climb. I'll wait to see what he says at the hearing, but it's going to be awfully hard for him to dig himself out of this hole. [Gupta:] A Trump transition spokesman called the allegations, "junk, adding any effort to connect the introduction of bipartisan legislation by Dr. Price to any campaign contribution is demonstrably false." This isn't the first time Price's relationship with the health care industry has come under scrutiny. In December, the "Wall Street Journal" reported Price made 40 health care pharmaceutical and biotechnology stock trades since 2012, totaling more than $300,000. All widely set on a powerful Waste and Means Committee in helping overseeing Medicare. This month an investigation by the Kaiser Family Foundation found Price, "sought special treatment from the FDA for industry donors on 38 different occasions." Price declined our request for an interview and, through a spokesman, said he will, "comply fully with the recommendations put forward by the ethics office." The statement included a reference to a previous government investigation that found Price to be compliant with congressional disclosure rules. As for Price's personal history, a search by CNN found no court, criminal or bankruptcy filings and no medical malpractice complaints against him. Dr. Dan Barrow is the chairman of neurosurgery at Emory University. He's my boss. And he has also helped raised campaign funds for Price. When he started his residency nearly 40 years ago in 1979, Price was one of his fellow interns. [Dr. Dan Barrow, Chief Of Neurosurgery, Emory University Hospital:] There are a couple of circumstances in life where you really see what people are like. One is when they don't think anybody is watching them, and the other is when you're under some kind of stress. [Gupta:] What did Tom Price sort of fit in to all that for you? [Barrow:] I think he was one of the best that I dealt with. [Gupta:] Price got his medical degree from the University of Michigan. It was during his orthopedic surgery residency at Grady Memorial Hospital in Emory University in Atlanta, Price met his wife, Elizabeth, Betty, an anesthesiologist and current Georgia State representative. Together they had one son, Robert, 26, who graduated from Vanderbilt. After eight years in Georgia State Senate, Price was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2004. Guided by strongly held religious beliefs, Price is staunchly against abortion, getting a zero rating from Planned Parenthood and a 100 from National Right to Life. [Rep. Sam Zamarripa, Georgia:] Tom is a lives and breathes public policy. [Gupta:] Sam Zamarippa served as a State senator with Tom Price. [Zamarripa:] This guy is a born legislator with a lot of skill. [Gupta:] Skill he's pledged the use to repeal Obamacare, something he has been trying to do for years. [Rep. Tom Price, Nominee For Secretary Of Health And Human Services:] We want to repeal this law and we want to replace it with positive, common sense, patience-centered solutions that put patients and families and doctors in charge of health care, not Washington, [D.c. Gupta:] If Price is confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, he would oversee 11 agencies, including the CDC, FDA, National Institutes of Health, and 80,000 employees. He'd be just a third physician ever appointed to this role. [Cooper:] And Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins me along with the rest of the panel. What do you hearing from doctors about Price but also about the Affordable Care Act? [Gupta:] Well, it's hard to paint doctors with one brush, you know, certainly, they're very different and they're also different a little bit on these two issues. I think for the most part, doctors have been pretty supportive of Tom Price, all the major medical organizations have released statements in supports of his nomination. I think with regards to the Affordable Care Act it's almost more of a question of feeling a little stuck. That's probably the best way I can put it. Most of the major medical organizations said they would prefer to not see the repealed, more so, not so much because they agreed with all the principles of it, but because they don't want to destabilize the existing system now which has been in place. I think it was only about 3 percent or 3.2 percent of doctors gave the Affordable Care Act in A grade. So the vast majority giving, you know, C or lower. [Cooper:] Right. [Gupta:] So that's sort of the position they're in. [Cooper:] It is interesting, John, I mean, as we talk about Trump talked to the "Washington Post", said his health care plan is insurance for everybody. I mean that's never been part of the Republican plan for health care and there's parsing of the words of exactly what he meant. [King:] Like on many issues, I do not mean to disrespect at all, but you need a Trump translator because he does not speak in the language of Washington. When he says NATO is obsolete, what his staff says he means this, a lot of members don't pay their dues. So people have to increase their defense budget, so not that he wants to get rid of NATO. On health care when he says insurance for everybody, does he mean universal coverage? Well that requires government incentives, that requires a lot of money. We don't know exactly what he means because he gives the statement he has said, I don't have the plan ready yet. To Dr. Price, Congressman Price credit, during the repeal debate in Congress, he was one of the Republicans who said I have some plans. Now, they do not get to universal coverage or, you know, universal access. They don't have as much government role as much more market based. So if Trump has a plan that covers everybody or just about everybody that is different from his own health secretary's plan, this is a part of the confusion right now as we await for the specific proposal. [Cooper:] And of course the timing of any kind of replacement is critical. [Borger:] Well, it's got to happen right away. And Donald Trump has made that very clear and politically he's absolutely right about that. Because to Sanjay's point about destabilizing the medical community, you are destabilizing the American population. You have 18 million people who have health insurance now who are afraid they're going to lose it. You have people with preexisting conditions, et cetera. And he understands that you can't take something away without giving voters something better. And it's complicated. They've had six and a half years from, you know, or eight years you might argue, but, you know, to replace it and they haven't come up with a real plan other than Price's plan, which a lot of people don't like, particularly Democrats and some Republicans. So how do you do that? How do you save Medicaid? How do you save Medicare and give people universal access? [King:] But [inaudible]. [Lord:] Well, you know, as somebody, Trump speak is my second language. [Rye:] We've noticed. That was good. [Cooper:] We're out of time so [Lord:] All right. So I think what he is talking about here is accessible, which is [Borger:] Right. [Lord:] you know, everybody has health care access, that's what he's talking about. He's not talking about a government mandated in the insurance program. When I asked, Tom Price, I would just suggest again as I've said the main problem here is his position on Obamacare, not any of the rest of this. But that's why they do this. [Cooper:] You're saying it's all political? [Lord:] Sure. Absolutely. I mean, he's not the first to go through this kind of thing I might add. [Bernstein:] What do you mean he means access? He says what he means and he said something like this before. You know, he'll take on the Republicans sometimes. Now, they might try to beat him over the head on this because it is such an enactment to what they believe. But I'm not so sure. [Cooper:] We shall see. In the last hour, you we heard from a small business owner, who is very optimistic about the Trump presidency. Coming up next we'll hear the other side, leaders of the so-called "Sanctuary Church Movement", and the immigrants they protect and they are not giving up hope, but they're concerned about may happen, and hear from them when "360" continues. [Asher:] China is refusing to accept a court verdict, saying it has no legal basis to claim contested waters in the South China Sea. The ruling is viewed as a decisive win for the Philippines. But it could heighten tensions in the region. I want to show you this map, because this map actually shows the complicated, very complicated, I should say, set of claims in the area. China's claims are in the red. That extends way beyond the mainland. Philippines claims is in the yellow. These disputed area is rich in resources for fishing, oil, and gas, and it's also a very crucial trade route. That's why so many countries are claiming it. Jamie Metzl is a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and former Executive Vice President at the Asia Society. Jamie, thank you so much for being with us. How will China be bound by this ruling? [Jamie Metzl, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council:] They're bound by international law, but as you know, Zain, that doesn't mean so much. So the ruling is against them. They certainly have egg on their chin. It makes life more difficult. But they have also claimed these four what they're calling islands, but what the international law calls rocks, in the South China Sea. They've built runways and essentially fortresses on them. It's bad for China, but they're still holding territory that they didn't previously possess. [Asher:] It's bad for China, but here's what I don't understand. If they continue to violate the sovereign rights of other countries, what specific consequences will there be for them? [Metzl:] That's a general question about international law. Certainly it would be bad reputationally for them. Certainly it will harm them in the eyes of other countries that have a greater respect for international law. But there isn't an enforcement mechanism, often, for international law. Certainly for the holding of this tribunal. That's the crux of the problem. It's binding international law, but there's nobody available to enforce it. It's certainly bad for China. It's a big loss for China. But now it will move from the realm of law to the realm of geopolitics. [Asher:] Rather than continue to fight this, do you think China might end up negotiating some kind of settlement, do you think, is that possible? [Metzl:] The question is what a settlement might look like. I think it's quite likely that they will negotiate a freeze. But it's in their interest to negotiate a freeze, because they've been building so aggressively on these rocks. They now have four extended runways that are militarized. If they have a freeze, they are going to freeze in place a tremendous benefit that they never had. That's one of the things in your map, it showed just how outlandish China's claim is. They made this kind of crazy claim, then they started building these basically military installations on parts of the open sea that they previously had no claim on. And now they will pull back, I'm sure, and negotiate a freeze, but those military installations aren't going anywhere. [Asher:] I'm just curious, what sort of evidence about The Hague look at before reaching this conclusion or this ruling? [Metzl:] It's very technical. They sent people out, they looked at historical records. The technical issue is whether these reefs and rocks are above the water or below the water at high tide. And if they're islands as China claims, then they would not only have a 12-mile sovereign zone around them but a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone. And that's what the tribunal looked at, their experts looked at. That was completely and categorically rejected. They looked at historical records. They looked at the islands, at the topography and they came to the conclusion that none of these rocks and reefs were in fact islands as China has claimed. Meaning that China's claim is completely illegitimate in international law. [Asher:] All right, Jamie Metzl, live for us there, thank you very much, we appreciate that. Rivals no more. Bernie Sanders finally throws his support behind Hillary Clinton for president. Details coming up. [Tapper:] Still more in politics. New hurdles stacking up President Trump's pick to head the Labor Department. Those old racy Super Bowl ads not even the half of it for Andrew Puzder. He defends his suggestive commercials to promotes his Hardee's and Carl's Jr. brands. But Puzder, the man picked to run the Labor Department, faces new questions about an undocumented immigrant who worked in his home, this as Puzder's spokesman now tells CNN after four cancellations, his hearing and confirmation date is finally set for next Monday and his necessary paperwork is finally i. CNN's Jason Carroll takes a look at the other problems Puzder still faces. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] The man tapped to lead the Labor Department now under scrutiny for his own hiring practices. Andrew Puzder, the CEO of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's, says his wife employed a housekeeper for a few years, during which "I was unaware that she was not legally permitted to work in the U.S." Puzder's spokesman says the housekeeper was hired about 10 years ago, and fired five years later when he found out she was undocumented. The spokesman says Puzder paid back taxes for her within the past few months. [Sen. Maggie Hassan , New Hampshire:] The fact that a nominee for secretary of labor would have hired somebody who wasn't documented and who arguably shouldn't have been working again really calls into question his understanding of basic labor law. [Carroll:] If Puzder is confirmed, the Labor Department would be run by a secretary with a long record of opposing government regulation, coming out against proposals for a $15 minimum wage, required overtime pay, and the Affordable Care Act. And with a slew of labor-related complaints at his company, current and former workers at Hardee's and Carl's Jr. announced last month they have filed dozens state and federal complaints, including allegations of wage theft, manipulated overtime, sexual harassment and unfair labor practices. [Sen. Elizabeth Warren , Massachusetts:] A secretary of labor nominee whose whole profit model was how to squeeze the lowest-wage workers in America, how to get them to work off the clock? [Carroll:] Republican Senator Johnny Isakson would not say if he will support Puzder. [Sen. Johnny Isakson , Georgia:] I'm not prepared to make a definitive statement until I have seen all the facts. [Carroll:] But the Senate majority leader says he's firmly behind Puzder. [Sen. Mitch Mcconnell , Majority Leader:] I think Andy Puzder is an outstanding choice. I'm enthusiastically in support of him. We are always looking for nominees who have never made a mistake. Frequently, it's impossible to find nominees who have never made a mistake. [Carroll:] Former Republican Senator Jim Talent has known Puzder for 30 years and thinks he will be confirmed despite the housekeeper issue. [Jim Talent , Former U.s. Senator:] He is an honest and humane person. So, I think when senators look at the episode and see the details of it, they will conclude that here was a guy who thought it was important to comply with the law. [Carroll:] In the past, Puzder has said a large number of his restaurant employees were in the country illegally. "It used to be that we'd have people in the restaurants, somebody would announce that ICE was coming and 40 percent of the employees wouldn't show up." He made the statements while talking about the benefits of E-Verify, a database for businesses to check employee's citizenship. Puzder's spokesman saying the 40 percent figure was either a misquote or hyperbole and that he was showing the importance of E-Verify, which he says significantly reduced the number of inadvertently hired undocumented workers. Hiring undocumented workers derailed past Cabinet nominees. George W. Bush's labor secretary pick forced to drop out and Bill Clinton's attorney general nominee withdrew in what some dubbed Nannygate. A Republican source told CNN last month that Puzder had voiced second thoughts about his nomination because all of the criticism that he would be facing from Democrats, labor unions and other liberal groups. Puzder pushed back against those reports, tweeting: "I am looking forward to my hearing." And, Jake, once again, that hearing now scheduled for February 16, now that he has all his paperwork in. [Tapper:] All right, great, Jason Carroll, thank you so much. Joining me now to talk about this all, Republican Senator Johnny Isakson of Georgia. He serves on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. He's also chair of the Select Committee on Ethics. Senator, always good to have you with us. Thank you so much. [Isakson:] Thank you, Jake. Good to be with you. [Tapper:] So, I just want to start with actually some breaking news on a press call just now. Your colleague, Senator Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut who met today with Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch, said that Gorsuch used the words demoralizing and disheartening to describe President Trump's attacks on individual judges in the Ninth Circuit and out West. This is according to Senator Blumenthal. But this is the president's Supreme Court nominee. What do you make of it? [Isakson:] Well, I have to go by what you're saying is a quote from somebody else. I'm surprised that he would repeat that if that was, in fact, what was said. But I can't deny because I wasn't there to hear it. [Tapper:] Do you have any thoughts on whether it's appropriate for the president to talk about judges the way he has been? [Isakson:] Donald Trump has taken it on himself to talk about anything he wants to within 140 characters and I don't think judges would be off limits, according to him. [Tapper:] All right. Let's move to the topic of his labor secretary nominee. Puzder is by far not the first nominee to learn he had hired an undocumented worker. But others in the past, including Linda Chavez and Zoe Baird, they have withdrawn their nominations. Do you think that Mr. Puzder needs to do the same? [Isakson:] I think we need to get all the totality of the evidence in and the statements that have been made. And certainly he will have a decision to make if he wants to stay in. And if he does, we will have a decision to make as to whether or not he's the secretary that's confirmed. But that will all be coming up next week. I think the hearing is set for Monday. [Tapper:] It is interesting, though, if one were to have a secretary of labor who had employed an illegal immigrant, an undocumented immigrant, especially for President Trump, who has made illegal immigration and combating it such a big issue. Now, Mr. Puzder says once he found out that his housekeeper was an undocumented immigrant, he ended her employment and paid the IRS back taxes. What more do you need know about that? [Isakson:] Well, I just need to know the sequence of when those events took place, if in fact he did pay it back promptly when he found out. I think we are going to have a hearing a meeting later tonight to get some of that evidence. And I'm looking forward to seeing the preponderance of all the evidence to turn out what is true and what is not, make a conscientious decision for the people of America. [Tapper:] As you know, often what happens is nominees find out about these things during the vetting process and then they try to rectify them before appearing before senators such as yourself. If he only rectified this recently, as opposed to when it happened, will that be a problem for you? [Isakson:] Well, again, you weigh the totality of the evidence that comes out at the hearing we're going to have next Monday and the responses that he's given. Obviously, the more the weight of the circumstances adds as you get one in. I will take in the totality of all the answers and I will make a decision then. [Tapper:] Back when Puzder was announced in December, you said this in part quote "I am pleased to see that the president-elect is drawing from his own experience in business to nominate a qualified successful businessman and job creator to become our next labor secretary." But I guess the question is, would if this undocumented worker or the abuse claims that have now been rebutted from his ex-wife or even the complaints from staff at his fast-food companies, would any of that be enough to take away from the good things you see in his nomination? [Isakson:] I think the most significant of those claims is the one where he hired an illegal alien in the United States of America and she worked for him for five years before she was asked to leave, before he found out. Finding out the timing on when he found out and how he found out, that's important. The employees who have made statements about how they were treated, the other things he's talked about, that's all hearsay at best and really wouldn't be a consideration. [Tapper:] Senator Johnny Isakson, Republican of Georgia, it's always great to have you on. Thank you so much, sir. [Isakson:] You too, Jake. Thank you. [Tapper:] More fallout from the deadly U.S. special ops raid in Yemen that cost a Navy SEAL his life. Officials in Yemen are now saying stay out of our country to the U.S., but the Pentagon is saying, not so fast. Then, a critic of Vladimir Putin remains in the hospital in grave condition after possibly being poisoned again. The Kremlin is denying a role, but the critic's wife, she has a different story. Stay with us. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. And thank you for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. You are in the NEWSROOM. The East Coast is digging out of record-breaking snowfall from Tennessee to New York. And many major airports are bracing for a travel nightmare in its aftermath. Airlines in New Jersey and New York are already cancelling some Monday flights. And D.C. area airports are at a standstill. Runways still buried and operations are shut down. It will be a series of messy days to follow. Backups and delays after widespread cancellations left thousands of passengers stranded throughout the region. Dangerous icy roads are beginning to reopen in some places, though, driving is being highly discouraged in the cities hardest hit. The death toll from this storm rose to 14 overnight. And massive snow melt is putting parts of coastal New Jersey under flood warnings now. One resident sent us this video of waist-deep water overtaking his business. The cleanup is just beginning. And this overnight time lapse video from a viewer in Maryland showing the rapid snow accumulation there. Baltimore broke its snowfall record after getting slammed with 29 inches of snow. And in Washington, look at these amazing photos of Arlington cemetery. Headstones just barely peeking over the thick, white blanket of snow. And Philadelphia got more than 22 inches in two days. That's as much as the city typically gets in an entire season. And in New York, utility workers and snowplows are attempting to clear the roads for Monday's commute. But some New Yorkers are already getting out. But some people are actually enjoying it very much today. Let's get to Poppy Harlow who is in Manhattan there. And you see that some of the sidewalks are cleared off. People are definitely not letting the snow stop them. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Correspondent:] Not at all. I mean, it is actually a glorious day in New York City. The sun is shining. A lot of the streets are clear, Fred. What a difference 12, 24 hours can make as they do the big dig here in New York City. Look. You've still got a lot of headaches here for travelers. You have 85 percent of flights out of LaGuardia canceled today, 50 percent out of JFK. That huge international airport are canceled. But you are seeing things reopening. Broadway back on track, back open today after shuttering last night. You've got a lot of restaurants, hotels, everything like that is back to normal. The governor, though, Andrew Cuomo, saying we are not out of the woods yet. The big headache right now is for people that rely on the Long Island railroad to get in and out of the city. That is still completely shuttered. They are having issues getting it back online ahead of the Monday commute. No idea when that is going back online. So I think that's the biggest headache. All the subways still running above ground and underground and now in New York City. Let's go to check on how things look around the city. I want to go to Chad Myers, our meteorologist, in Times Square. My friend, I bet you the tourists are out in force. [Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] They are. From their bummer day yesterday when they got all their things canceled on them, the Broadway shows and the opera and all that, to now we have traffic again, traffic and honking as far as you can see. So we are back. Now you have to understand the snow only stopped 12 hours ago. A record snowfall for the day ever in New York City and we're moving again. Very few cities in the world can do this. But the smells are back, Poppy. You have the burning pretzel. You have the hot dogs. You have little halal food. The food stands are back. That's what we were missing last night. New York didn't smell right last night. But now it is now it's looking good. Hey. How you doing? We're live on CNN. How did the storm affect you? [Unidentified Male:] Well, I live in a condo so not too much. [Myers:] You just went up and down. [Unidentified Male:] Doorman came down and shoveled everything. Had enough food for a week. [Myers:] Ever seen know snow like this before? [Unidentified Male:] I think back in ninety [Myers:] You were here? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Myers:] So was it this bad? Was it this bit of clean up this fast? [Unidentified Male:] No. It's pretty incredible. [Myers:] Yes. This is really is pretty amazing. All right. Thanks very much for your time. Yes, I think everybody here is looking at the sidewalks, looking at the streets and going, I can't believe we are up and running again. But we are Poppy. [Harlow:] We are. And you know what, Chad, the schools all reopen tomorrow. So for my niece and nephew here who are hoping to get a day off of school, that's not happening for them. Chad Myers, thank you so much. Enjoy it out there. It is a lovely day here in New York City. I want to take you to Ryan Young. He is at Penn station. And Ryan, this is where the headache comes many. Because I cannot tell you you probably know how many millions of people rely on the Long Island railroad and right now, no dice. [14:05:109] [Ryan Young, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. No dice so far. We know that 2000 worth, we have been trying to work to rectify this issue. We actually drove in from New Jersey this morning. I can tell you the roadways were clear to get here to New York City. And as we have been driving around the city so far. Yes, people are slowing down and having to deal with those mounds, but you have to think about those workers who were working behind us to try to get this Long Island railroad back together. That Monday morning commute is something so many will be concerned with. Three hundred thousand people depend on this to get to work and school and everything in the morning. So you can understand with all the snow this week and all the cabin fever that people are going to want to get in. In fact, the governor talked about it earlier this afternoon. [Mayor Bill De Blasio , New York:] First of all, do not drive if you don't have to unless it's really urgent. We want people to stay off the streets. We want people to keep their cars where they're parked. It is very important to recognize. There's a lot of work being done to get the city up and running for Monday. We need people off the streets for their own safety. We need people off the streets for the safety of others. We need them off the streets so sanitation can clear the streets. We need you off the streets so our first responders have the freedom to get to emergencies. [Young:] And that's actually New York's mayor talking. Hopefully my brain is not as log-jammed as the railroad tracks here. But look. They are trying to get it back open so people can get to work on Monday morning. You obviously understand that as they try to negotiate the road around here, people seems so far seem to have patience. Little hawking going on, but that's just New York City Poppy. [Harlow:] Do we know why it is that the Long Island railroad, Ryan, is having such a hard time getting back online? I believe, and correct me if I'm wrong, New Jersey transit is running. [Young:] Well, they said that because the lines are exposed, of course with all that snow that comes down, someone's got to clear it all so they're working to get that done. That's the explanation that we heard earlier. But of course, we made those calls to figure out just in terms of maybe any technical issues they may be having along the way. They want those lines open and safe for everybody to get to work on Monday. [Harlow:] Yes, no question. And get there safely. All right. Ryan Young, thank you so much. I want to take you now to my friend Jason Carroll in Central Park, who has had right, Jason, if you have to cover a blizzard you kind of got the best assignment. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, I would say so because you're out here with people who are in a good mood, who are having a lot of fun, taking a few risks, if you don't mind me saying. If you take a look at here, you can see this is the hill where everyone's been packing themselves into here at central park where we actually broke a record. 26.8 inches of snow measured here, Poppy. As you know, that is the second largest snowfall recorded in New York City's history. Everyone coming out here doing what they can. Some not doing so well. These are some of the casualties coming out here and going too fast on the hills. But the Kaufmans are going to brave the hill anyway. They are out here. You didn't drive here, actually. You kind of drove here. You Ubered here, correct? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. That's driving in the city. [Carroll:] How were the roads? [Unidentified Male:] Rush a lot of snow, but they did a pretty good job plowing. So, no trouble getting over here. [Carroll:] And what's your assessment so far of how the city did? How they are fared? I mean, it seems from our point of view, and I'm told in some ways that the streets seemed to be plowed pretty well, lots of salt out there. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. I think they did a pretty good job. You never know what you're going to get but got a lot of snow and they cleared the streets and here we are. [Carroll:] No. We know he is out here also, Poppy, with his daughter and her friend. They also have a few of their new closest friends behind them. You guys have been looking forward to this since yesterday, yes? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Carroll:] So have you taken a ride down so far? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Carroll:] Fast, slow? [Unidentified Female:] Very fast. [Carroll:] I have to ask you something because I'm looking at this and maybe I'm old school, but I don't see a brake on here or even any sort of method of steering. So when you are going down there on that hill, how do you prevent yourself from crashing into someone? [Unidentified Female:] You don't. You just breathe. [Carroll:] OK. Well, have at it. Good luck. And I'm sure there are a lot of attorneys here on this hill as well in case you need one later. All right, guys. Thanks very much. Be well. So again, Poppy. Everyone out here trying to do what they can to enjoy every inch of this snow. A lot of these folks were thinking about telling us that, you know, telling us they were trying to take the subway up here. I know you were talking about travel as well. I want to point out there are still delays on some of those subways as well. We experienced that this morning. So anyone watching this trying to get around the city, realize it's still very much slow go Poppy. [Harlow:] Jason, I have to tell you, last night after we were on live with you with the revelers and the people building the snowman in the middle of Eighth Avenue, I got a lot of angry tweets. People were mad at me for telling them to go home and be safe. So everyone, go outside today. Have fun. Right, Jason? [Carroll:] Slowly. As long as you do it slowly. Then yes, go have some fun. [Harlow:] Go have some fun. Jason Carroll, thank you so much. Fredricka, I will send it back to you. But Fred, interesting fact here. 26.8 inches of snow yesterday in New York City. We missed the record, Fred, by 0.1 inch. [Whitfield:] Oh my goodness. [Harlow:] 26.9 inches back in 2006. So I guess we need to get dumped on again to get a record. [Whitfield:] Well, I'm sure nobody really wants that to happen. [Harlow:] Right. [Whitfield:] But you know, at this point it's just about pacing oneself, right? [Harlow:] Exactly. [Whitfield:] All right. Thanks, Poppy. We will see you again momentarily. Meantime, the cleanup a different story in New Jersey. The storm brought significant flooding to parts of the garden state. Our Boris Sanchez is there. How's it looking? [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Fred. The cleanup is under way. This looks significantly different than it did just two hours ago when this road was totally impassable. We are going to give you a look at the cleanup and talk to some neighbors to see how they are doing right after this. [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] We get now to more breaking news, the so- called "affluenza" teen captured in Mexico after weeks on the run. Ethan Couch is his name, picked up by Mexican authorities with his mother. Is American prison the next stop for the duo? Is that where they're going next? Let's bring in Joey Jackson and Danny Cevallos, both of them CNN legal analysts, and both of them criminal defense attorneys, and both of them very evenly matched, to talk about both of these cases here. So, I want to ask you guys as defense attorneys, what's the defense for Ethan Couch after doing this? How do you defend what has happened? Because he got 10 years probation, people were upset saying he should have gotten way more. You first, Joey. [Joey Jackson, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Let's start with the obvious, Don. Good morning to you. The obvious is he's got a bit of a problem. We know that. And the fact is, whenever you run it demonstrates some type of consciousness of guilt, something you should never do. However, remember this, at the time he was sentenced he was a juvenile. The purpose of the proceedings are we know the tenets of the criminal justice system, punishment, deterrent, rehabilitation. [Lemon:] Right. [Jackson:] Sixteen years old at the time of the commission of this horrific offense, four people dead. He's scared. Doesn't know what to do. He's still a young guy. He's under the influence of his mom and his parents. He still can be rehabilitated, which is the whole essence of the fact that a 16-year-old who's now 18 years old thinking. Therefore, there should be mercy because there's a rehabilitation element that's still present within him. He's got a long way to go in life. He can be redeemed. He can be an effective member of society if given the opportunity. [Lemon:] OK, a lot to unpack here, what he talked about, Danny, because he says, you know, in the commission in trying to get away, it was obvious that he was hiding. Take a look at the pictures. This is what he looked like when they picked him up in Mexico. Obviously, in the middle, changed his hair color. As you said, did his mom influence him to do this? What gives in this particular case? There is a lot to unpack. [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] There is a lot to unpack. But this is not that different from any other probationer who violates his or her probation. Whether you're in the juvenile system or the adult system, one of the last things you want to do as a defendant on probation is go back before that judge that gave you the gift of probation in the first place and show that judge why that judge may have made a mistake. There's no angrier judge in the criminal justice system than a back judge on probation when you've violated probation, because what that judge can do is either reinstate probation or, more likely, revoke probation. That original probation, being allowed to stay outside under the law in that jurisdiction, ten years probation was the maximum number of years of probation he could have gotten under the law. If he was exceedingly lucky under the circumstances, he will not be so lucky once he goes back before the back judge. [Lemon:] Yes, but that was probation. You know, people were saying he should have gotten ten years in jail, if not more. Is this a continuation, though, of miscarriage of justice as many people see? Because as I understand, the judge is retired, the original judge. [Jackson:] Exactly, and that's the bigger problem, Don, because the judge who gave him, as Danny referred to, as the gift of probation, is no longer there. And so, every judge has a wide degree of discretion in terms of what they do and how they handle you. And, certainly, if there was any opportunity now for a judge, you know, to mete out justice in this case, to reverse what was thought of many that this was just an inappropriate sentence that had no relation to what he actually did, let's think about this four people dead, 16 or not. Another in your car Exactly who's brain dead and other one injured. So, if ever there was an opportunity for now the judge sitting there with the other judge gone, to say, you know what, we gave you an opportunity the first time, we focused on rehabilitation. You blew it and now you're going to do the full measure of your sentence. Let's add one last element, Don. He was 16 at the time of the commission of the offense. He's an adult now. [Lemon:] He's 18. He'll be 19 in April. But, still, Danny, you know, when you're 18 or 19, not to excuse what he did, obviously it's horrible. But the question is going to shall how much influence did his mother have over him as an 18-year-old, 17- year-old, 18-year-old, almost turning 19 now? What happens to the mom now? [Cevallos:] Well, the mother faces all kinds of problems of her own. Number one, in this jurisdiction, when a juvenile's placed on probation, a parent can be made a part of that probation order. So even under a juvenile's probation order, the parent may have obligations. After all, in many cases, the juvenile's living with the parent and the parent must enforce things like curfew and other rules. The other part, too, is separately as an offense, that parent may have been harboring a fugitive. So, mom is going to have a number of questions to answer in court, whether under the original probation order if she had any obligations or as a new separate criminal offense. Either way, this is not a good idea to take your son to Mexico to avoid his probation obligation if that's in fact what she did. [Lemon:] Yes, a lot of legal experts said when this happened, that we would be seeing him again, once he was sentenced we'd be seeing him again. [Jackson:] Guess what? [Lemon:] And sadly [Jackson:] We're seeing him again. [Lemon:] I want to turn to Tamir Rice. Are you surprised there were no indictments handed down? [Jackson:] I don't say that I'm surprised, Don, but I think certainly, the process left a lot to be desired. And the reason I say that is because, you know, as a prosecutor, you have a wide degree of discretion in terms of how you handle the case. You're the judge, the jury, the executioner with the grand jury. And the manner in which this occurred, I was one who felt that, you know, he should have potentially been recuse from the outset and a special prosecutor placed there. When you are the local prosecutor and you're working closely with the police, relying upon them for your investigations, for your arrests, for the prosecutions and other matters, it's very difficult for you now to sit in judgment of them. And I think that it sort of goes against a notion of trust that we have in the process and the system. And any prosecutor who wants an indictment and a conviction certainly gets one because you control the flow of information. And if you look at for one second, if you pose this next to Baltimore, where, you know, within weeks, there was a criminal actual complaint against the officers and then an indictment. And you look at, for example, South Carolina with Slager who shot, you know, Michael Scott in the back, within months, there was an indictment. Here, why did it take over a year, first of all, to go before the grand jury? And after that, there's no action. I'm one who says the process [Lemon:] There needs to be more transparency in the process. When you look at his officer, his record, Danny, he was a trainee. He had other problems at other jobs. Here's what the prosecutor Tim McGinty called the case, "It was a perfect storm of human mistakes." The question is, though, when you look at the officer's record and you look at the whole situation, where do the mistakes stop and the criminality begin? [Cevallos:] The Supreme Court addressed that very issue. And, unfortunately, the law remains somewhat unsettled. If you look at the facts of this case, this is an officer who, yes, was sitting in the passenger's seat. But his brother officer was the one driving the car that brought him so close to Tamir Rice in the first place. And that I think is part of why McGinty is calling this an unfortunate set of circumstances, because the shooting officer was not the one that brought him within seven feet of Tamir Rice. But even all of that aside, you know, I have to dissent respectfully with Joey Jackson when he says people are demanding a more transparent process. This is the grand jury system. It was never designed to be transparent. If we don't like that as a citizenry, then we need to change it. But if we are disappointed in the grand jury process because it's not transparent, it was never designed to be. [Jackson:] We're not talking [Cevallos:] And as to whether or not we're surprised [Jackson:] Danny. [Cevallos:] Joey? [Jackson:] We're talking about the process of McGinty bringing the matter before the grand jury. [Cevallos:] Agreed. [Jackson:] The fact is that the local prosecutor should divorce himself from that so that the citizens know that the presentation of the information is fair. That the flow of information is what the grand jury needs to see, needs to evaluate. When you have a local prosecutor who controls as a former prosecutor, I can tell you, the grand jury would do what I would want it to do. So, it's not the grand jury process I'm assailing. [Cevallos:] Exactly. [Jackson:] It's the fact that the local prosecutor presented the information to the grand jury when an outside entity should have done that to allow the company to have trust and faith and respect in the outcome. [Lemon:] And you two gentlemen can pick this up later. [Cevallos:] And, Joey [Lemon:] Danny is going to be here in New York. He'll be on CNN. We'll be discussing that. [Jackson:] Look forward to it. [Lemon:] Sorry, Danny, we'll get you back in on CNN. You guys can discuss. Thank you very much. I want to tell our viewers, coming up in our 8:00 hour, we're going to talk for the family of Tamir Rice about the grand jury decision. Michaela? [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Don. Americans seem to agree that the country has changed under President Obama. But is it for the better or for worse? We'll take a closer look at a brand new CNN poll, coming up next. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] What a great series this has been. Good for you for bringing this to us. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Wasn't me. [Cuomo:] So humble. We've all been telling about the people who made powerful marks on our lives. It leads up to that two-hour special this Sunday hosted by Anderson Cooper and the beauty over here, Michaela Pereira, called "The Person Who Changed My Life." This morning, I'm going share my story. There is only one boy out of 14 grandkids in my family and it is my son, Mario. That makes him very special on a lot of levels and my relationship with him has been special as well. Family is everything. A simple lesson that's taken on deeper meaning since we lost the man who it taught me, my pap. To me, he wasn't the governor. He was a father. [Mario Cuomo, Father Of Chris Cuomo:] And what about Christopher? [Cuomo:] Who was always teaching about giving back. [Mario Cuomo:] It is right to give to people and to the world. [Cuomo:] But his biggest lesson is what this piece is all about. [on camera]: My father would often say to me, spend time with your kids. Don't bring your work home with you the way I did. [voice-over]: To be a good parent. For me and Christina that means raising our jewels, Bella, Mario and Carolina. Raising the girls can be a joy and a chore. But the biggest challenge for me has been figuring out the dynamic of making a man. It may be the hardest thing I've ever done. [on camera]: A lot of men, a lot of people realize their mistakes sometimes, but don't want people to know. [voice-over]: I know because I was one of those people struggling, trying to balance what I thought was right with what was actually right for my son. And the answer came from the person who changed my life, Mario. [on camera]: My son helped make me change in a way that made me who I am right now in this chair as much as any formative experience in my life. I'm not embarrassed to say that my relationship with my son was not how I wanted it. I wasn't doing the best for him. It wasn't making him the best that he could be. If you have to raise your voice with your kid every time you want him do anything, are you really getting it right? [voice-over]: Being intense and insistent works as a journalist, but it was not working for me as a father. Even as the baby, my little man literally ran the other way. [on camera]: He's not motivated by the same things. He's not scared by the same things. He's sensitive to things that I am not. [Mario, Son Of Chris Cuomo:] Don't do that. [Cuomo:] Don't do what? I won't do it. [voice-over]: Mario is who he is even at this young age is 5, 7, 9 and he's always been completely sure of telling me that he doesn't like what I was doing. Sure he knew I loved him, but we wound up in frequent standoffs that were kind of funny, but really frustrating. [on camera]: And I'm this 200 pounds monster and I'm trying this 40 pound standing up to me and I'm like where is the fear. And then when I saw the fear I was like I don't want to see it. And times are different. My mom ran the house. [Matilda Cuomo, Mother Of Chris Cuomo:] I think you were like a different person when you used to come home from Albany. You were just so happy to see him that you behaved yourself. It was very nice for me. [Cuomo:] Mama reminded me that I was more than a handful as a kid. And I was forgetting two things. Strength is not just toughness but sweetness especially for boys. [Matilda Cuomo:] A father has to give time and love, the love and the affection that they need. More than you can believe. A boy, especially a boy. They don't show it. But they are just as much as the girl they want to know that you care for them. [Cuomo:] So what is the plan today? Fishing? [Mario:] Fishing. [Cuomo:] The second thing was the key. She said Mario will be your best teacher. Listen to him and let him show you how to be. So I stopped insisting and starting listening. Good job, bud. And sure enough, I realized my son and I were saying the same things. Just in our own way. So if I say how much you do like something and you say 1 out of 10, that means you don't like it. Do you understand that? [Mario:] No, Daddy, one is the worst. Two is the second worst, 5, 5050, 9, second best. Ten the best. [Cuomo:] I reached out to people who knew better. I reach out to the clinician. I reach to people who do it for a living, who understand kids? [voice-over]: Some book learning, some intuition from mom, the example of my wife. It all helped, but the best teacher wound up being my little man. [on camera]: It was really hard for me to change what I thought was right and what I knew and how it was and he helped me do it. I used to get angry lot more than do I now, right? [Mario:] Yes. [Cuomo:] I would say I'm sorry, I stink I'm trying to better, right? [Mario:] Yes. [Cuomo:] How do you think we helped me become a better daddy? [Mario:] You always were a good daddy. [Cuomo:] It doesn't matter how much I changed. How much I learn from being with him. [on camera]: He taught me if I let go and I let somebody else have their way a little bit I is wound up more happier and more satisfied with the dynamic. [voice-over]: Now I'm not saying it is all smiles and laughs, but now we find a way through whatever life brings. [on camera]: Look at that grass fish. Think we'll always be buddies? [Mario:] Yes. Even when you are not on earth anymore. You will still be my buddy. Always. [Cuomo:] Now, I know when he says that he's thinking about grandpa being gone and so am [I:] It would be amazing for me to watch pap with Mario now. I think pap would respect the effort I made to be better for my family. He put inside of us what we need to stay together and stay true to what matters most. And that is all I want for my kids. [voice-over]: Two Marios changed my life I suppose and my hope and prayer is that what mattered most about the one who is gone will live on in me, my girls and the son who carries his name. [on camera]: Do you understand why it was important to name you after grandpa? [Mario:] No. [Cuomo:] Because grandpa is gone, right? But his name lives on. [Mario:] He's not gone. He's still in my heart. [Cuomo:] I can't even look at you guys right now. Anyway. What we wanted to do was you know, I think a lot of dads can relate to the piece. I can't look at you guys right now. I just think that dads will be able to relate to the piece. Sometimes what matters most is hardest to do. [Pereira:] I love your family so much, but I love you even more right now. Look at who's there. [Cuomo:] Get off my phone. [Pereira:] We're talking about you. Come on over here, big man. Your dad needs a hug I think. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] That's beautiful. [Cuomo:] They're making me cry. [Camerota:] Mario, what did you think about the story? Did you like the story your dad told? [Cuomo:] What did I tell you about using my [Pereira:] There are families out there that are going through some of the very things that all of us have gone through. People, individuals, somebody needs a leg up or love advice or mend a relationship. This is why this kind of special is extra, extra important. [Camerota:] I agree. There are more coming. [Cuomo:] Are you all right with the story? Did you like the story buddy? [Pereira:] Take another picture. [Cuomo:] Who's better than me? You. [Camerota:] Thanks for sharing that, Chris. That was a beautiful story. [Cuomo:] And I thank my wife for letting me share the story. [Pereira:] She's a fox by the way. [Camerota:] Indeed. "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello starts right after the break. Have a great weekend everyone. [Ash Carter, Secretary Of Defense:] We were operating within the law and I am operating within my authorities to suspend collections, starting now, and I'm exercising those authorities. [Camerota:] OK, big update on the story we've been covering all week about National Guard members having to repay their reenlistment bonuses. That was Secretary of Defense Ash Carter ordering the Pentagon to stop seeking those repayments of bonuses. He has set a July first deadline for this to be resolved. Joining us now to discuss this, as well as the battle in Mosul, is CNN military analyst and former Army commanding general, Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling. General, great to see you this morning. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] Good morning, Alisyn. [Camerota:] Before we get into it, I just must say the power of the press, OK? General, we have covered this every single day here on NEW DAY, as well as throughout CNN, as well as other journalists at other networks. And after Congress had years and they didn't fix this problem, the media shined a light on it and now the problem is fixed. So all the people who say they don't like the media, put that in your pipe and smoke it. [Hertling:] Well, I love the media, Alisyn, and you are great, and you and Chris are super up there. But here's what I'll tell you. This is an ugly baby. That's how most soldiers would describe it and it's been that way for a couple of years because it's been passed back and forth between the State of California, the Pentagon, and the Congress. And the perception issues on what's going on I think Mr. Carter, the Secretary of Defense, did exactly what he needed to do, suspend the collections and suspend the recoup of the payment. But truthfully, it goes a lot deeper than that. There were a lot of commander involvments in the California Guard that committed fraud. Some of them have been punished. There were some soldiers who accepted money when they shouldn't have. And the question is, do they get to keep the money [Camerota:] Right. [Hertling:] that they knew was falsely gained? And again, it has to do with what was the adjutant general of the State of California doing to make this known? What was the governor of California what was Congress doing if they found out about it? And, in fact, it falls right on the lap of the Secretary of Defense and he had to make the hard call this week to say hey, stop this nonsense. Let's not take away money. Let's figure it out and hold the right people accountable. [Camerota:] I mean, look, we've talked to National Guard members who had retired. They had to pay these back to the tune of tens of thousands [Hertling:] Yes. [Camerota:] sometimes $40,000 they had to remortgage to get a second mortgage on their home. What does happen to these people who've already had the hardship of paying back the bonuses? [Hertling:] Well, they can they can readdress grievances and ask for a recoup of the money that was taken away from them under Sec. Carter's plan. But, again, let's go back to the power of the press. Has the press talked to this soldiers who knowingly took money falsely and talked to the commanders who gave it? So, that's the rest of the story. And, really, this is all about accountability. And having spent a good portion of my life in the military I was thinking of making it a career after 37 years you always have to take responsibility and hold yourself accountable for these things. And that's the rest of the story that's not being covered, is we say oh, gee, those poor soldiers. Yes, there are certainly some poor soldiers who were put in dire economic straits. [Camerota:] Yes. [Hertling:] But at the same time, there were probably some that knew exactly what they do they were doing, and they shouldn't have that money given back to them. [Camerota:] OK, we're on it. I hear your pitch and we will stay on this story, obviously, and update everybody on all sides of it. Let's talk about what's going on in Mosul. How do you think the battle to rid that city of ISIS is going? [Hertling:] Well, from all reports and from the comments I've been receiving from my friends, both on the Iraqi and Kurdish sides and the U.S. military side, it's going much better than they expected and faster than the plan had seen. But again, they all realize that they're still on the eastern side of the city of Mosul, which they knew was going to be the easier fight. They have not crossed over to the western side, across those five bridges that cross the Tigress River, and that's where the fighting is really going to get rough. And I believe that's where ISIS is going to hold their ground and fight to the death with suicide vests, car bombs, house-borne IEDs IED snipers moving around through the tunnels that are in that part of the city and the tough streets that are in the old town and near the airport. So the toughest part of the fight is yet to come but early indicators are that, first of all, the Iraqi security forces are acting as one of my Iraqi friends told me, instead of five fingers, they're acting as one fist, and they're going after the enemy. That's a good thing because it indicates that that Army has come back to the fray and they're receiving government support from the Iraqi Central Government in Baghdad. So all of that is good, but there's a lot left to do, not only in the fighting but what happens in the humanitarian relief efforts afterwards. [Camerota:] Yes, absolutely. General Mark Hertling, thanks so much. Great to talk to you this morning. [Hertling:] Always a pleasure, Alisyn. Thank you. [Camerota:] Let's get over to Chris. [Cuomo:] The Hispanic vote is expected to be pivotal on this Election Day, especially in the battleground states like Florida, Nevada. Which way do we think Latinos will go? Let's discuss, next. [Bolduan:] At last night's debate, Governor Mike Pence appeared to lay out some detail on policy towards Syria, a bit surprising, maybe because we haven't heard much detailed policy coming from Donald Trump on that. Pence also seemed to go further on military action that he would support than Trump, and then some. Take a listen. [Pence:] The provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength. And if Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say to be involved, in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them from this humanitarian crisis that is taking place in Aleppo. I truly do believe that what America ought to do right now is immediately establish safe zones so that families and vulnerable families with children can move out of those areas, work with our Arab partners, real-time, right now, to make that happen. [Berman:] We are joined by CNN's senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, who has done significant reporting in and around Syria. Clarissa, thanks for being with us. We just heard Mike Pence say that he thinks that the United States military needs to be prepared to use military force to strike targets of the Assad regime. That is something I do not believe I have ever heard Donald Trump say and it is a fairly significant policy pronouncement. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It is. I think there are two issues here, John. The first issue is that this was seemingly the only thing that the vice presidential candidates agreed upon, both of them arguing for safe zones to protect civilians in northern Syria where they are currently under relentless bombardment. For both candidates to come out and propose that means it's a pretty damning indictment of President Obama's current Syria policy. Now, Pence went one step further and said it's not just a question of creating safe zones but we also need to look at returning Russian force with U.S. military force. And this is the moment where he diverged from Donald Trump, because we have heard Donald Trump, back in 2015, talking about creating what he called big beautiful safe zones where refugees and internally displaced people inside Syria could go and take refuge, which would then ease the effects of the refugee crisis that's being felt across the Middle East and, indeed, in Europe. So this was a real moment where we saw him move away from the Trump playbook. We also saw him really move away from the Trump playbook when he was talking about Russian President Vladimir Putin. We have heard Donald Trump many times talking about what a great leader his is, what great popularity ratings he has, how effective he is. You heard Pence here calling him a "bullying little man." And I think what you are seeing essentially is that Pence is really given the voice of a much more standard GOP position with regard to Syria and with regard, of course, to President Putin and the U.S.'s military handling. But the bottom line that was really interesting is that both candidates, Democrat and Republican, came out saying more needs to be done in Syria. It will be interesting to see on Sunday whether we hear Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump go into any more detail about what a more robust Syria policy would look like because, so far, we haven't heard much about the tails. [Bolduan:] It's one thing is very clear. Arab partners around the world are watching and listening to these candidates and what they say as their prescriptions to how they would be different, especially with regard to Syria, if they win. What you heard from Mike Pence last night, if that would be the policy of the Trump campaign, how is that likely to be received around the world? [Ward:] By people who are allied with the Syrian opposition, so the gulf states, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Turkey, most Sunni Muslim countries would be delighted. They feel very strongly that U.S. leadership has been tragically absent in the Syria conflict. Of course, people supporting the regime of Bashar al Assad, whether it's Russia or Iran, would see this as a very dangerous escalation in this conflict Kate? [Berman:] Clarissa Ward, thanks so much. Appreciate it. [Bolduan:] Thank you, Clarissa. [Ward:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Coming up for us, one line from last night that people keep talking about there are a lot of them including this, "You have whipped out that Mexican thing again." What was Mike Pence talking about? And why Democrats don't want to let it go, ahead. [Berman:] Plus, Bill Clinton in some hot water after calling Obamacare the "craziest thing in the world." Now he's doing a little bit of a walk-back or a dance-back or sprint-back. That's coming up. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Here we go, top of the hour. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thanks so much for being with me. Right now, Donald Trump's hosting a roundtable over at Trump Tower here in Manhattan on national security and immigration, discussing solutions, for example, on how to defeat ISIS. He is also expected to receive his first classified intelligence briefing, that happening at some point today. This all is on the heels of a new shakeup, a major shakeup within his campaign, the new man in charge, Steve Bannon, who runs Breitbart News. He is adored by many on the far right for its combative and steadfastly conservative talking points and really so much more. First, though, let me bring in Sara Murray, our CNN politics reporter, who is there outside of Trump Tower. The different forms and phases of the Trump campaign and who has been at the top, why this change now? What's happening? [Sara Murray, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Well, it is interesting, Brooke, because Donald Trump has actually been on message for the last couple of days, framing himself as the security candidate, the law and order candidate. Like you said, he is having this roundtable in Trump Tower today and this classified briefing later. But the frustration surrounding Trump, surrounding his advisers about how this campaign was being run, about the fact that he's so far behind in so many of these battleground states just hit its limit this week. Over the weekend, Donald Trump had a couple conversations with folks about his frustration and their frustration with how the campaign was being run. And then on Tuesday, there was a meeting between Jared Kushner, his son-in-law, as well as Paul Manafort, the campaign chief, right-hand man, Rick Gates, and then Steve Bannon, as you said, the new CEO, and Kellyanne Conway, essentially Steve and Kellyanne are going to be the new people. These are going to be the ones who are running the show. And this really gives Donald Trump the freedom to go back to basics, to run again as a political outsider and to say, look, I'm going to be myself, I'm going to run my campaign the way I want to run it. Trump still believes that he has a shot at winning this. But if he doesn't, he feels like he can at least look back and say this was the type of campaign I wanted to run vs. right now, where he's been sort of one foot in the establishment lane, one foot in the outsider lane. We have seen plenty of frustration from his advisers and from other Republicans about sort of his inability to really broaden the tent and become palatable to the political class Brooke. [Baldwin:] Sara Murray, thank you so much. By the way, Hillary Clinton on the stump in battleground state of Ohio today. She's in Cleveland. She's just laid out an economic and tax plan she says is vastly different from her rival. Her plan largely targets the 1 percent, promising a 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires. Meantime, Donald Trump promising lower taxes across the board, including the wealthiest Americans, and Hillary Clinton wasted no time hitting him on precisely that. [Hillary Rodham Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Ohio would gain 376,000 jobs under my plans and lose more than 123,000 jobs under Donald Trump's plans. [Clinton:] And it's hard it's not hard to see why, because he wants to give tax cuts to big corporations, millionaires, Wall Street money managers. He's even created a new tax loophole that we call the Trump loophole, because it's really good for Trump. It would let millionaires and billionaires cut their tax rate in half on a lot of their income. [Baldwin:] The Trump campaign, by the way, just responded, saying this quote "Clinton continues to push her broken tax plan on the American public. For an economy desperate for a jump-start, Clinton's plan will only act as a straitjacket. Recession, losses and declining wages will all be the features of the Clinton economy." On this, let's go to our senior CNN Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, there in Cleveland after her speech there. You're talking to voters in Ohio. Whose message is resonating? [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Correspondent:] Well, number one, I can tell you that Hillary Clinton is up about 4 percentage points here in Ohio. So, that sort of speaks for itself. But one of the big questions here in Ohio is the extent to which Hillary Clinton is getting that four-point lead from things is he doing, as opposed to things Donald Trump is doing to himself, if you will. Nonetheless, you heard the essential message that she brings here to Ohio. And when you listen to some of the facts she puts out there, number one, she says Donald Trump hasn't released his tax forms like some other candidates have done. She also talks about the fact that she says he would get or his family would get an estate tax benefit of something like $4 billion at the end of the day. But the underlying message in all of that is Hillary Clinton suggesting once again that Donald Trump is out for himself. That's the message they hope is resonating here in Ohio and the other battleground states. Meanwhile, the news here in large part is about Hillary Clinton and the campaign's reaction to the shakeup over in the Trump campaign, the hiring of the Breitbart chief to run the campaign, essentially. Hillary Clinton talked a little bit about that right out here just a little while ago. Listen. [Clinton:] I think it is fair to say that Donald Trump has shown us who he is. He can hire and fire anybody he wants from his campaign. They could make him read new words from a teleprompter. But he is still the same man who insults Gold Star families, demeans women, mocks people with disabilities, and thinks he knows more about ISIS than our generals. There is no new Donald Trump. This is it. [Johns:] So, the attack here, Brooke, essentially is that Donald Trump decided to move to the right, instead of the middle, as some others had suggested. But even Trump himself has said that if he had moved to the middle, it would be another problem completely. Robby Mook, the campaign manager, saying also today in a conference call that Trump had decided to quote "double down on his most nasty, small and divisive instincts" Brooke. [Baldwin:] That's right. That's right. That's what we have out of Brooklyn responding to all of this. Joe Johns, thank you in Cleveland. Back to the Trump shakeup Joe was just reporting on, and the new sort of chief in the Trump campaign, Steve Bannon. I want you to listen to a reporter for "Bloomberg Businessweek" I just interviewed last hour. He's Josh Green. He wrote this incredibly detailed piece interviewing Steve Bannon for weeks on end just a year ago. Here was our conversation. [Josh Green, "bloomberg Businessweek":] Bannon is just a charismatic wild man, mile-a-minute talker. He's a man who has had this bizarre series of careers, from Naval officer, to Goldman Sachs banker, to Sarah Palin filmmaker, who fell in with Andrew Breitbart, the late conservative provocateur, and wound up taking over the Breitbart News Network after Breitbart died. So, he's sort of insinuated himself into the center of this alt-right world of splinter conservatives. [Baldwin:] Let's start there. Let me bring on Leon Wolf. He is the managing editor for the conservative Web site RedState.com. Matt Schlapp is with us. He's a former George W. Bush political director and a Trump supporter. And with me here in New York, CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston. Gentlemen, welcome. And, Matt, as a Trump supporter, let me just begin with you. You say bringing Mr. Bannon on is an excellent, excellent idea. Tell me why. [Matt Schlapp, Former White House Director Of Political Affairs:] Yes. I think what's happening here is, first of all, Kellyanne Conway was already on the Trump team and she's going to take an elevated role. As we get to this last phase of the campaign, messaging becomes critical, especially as they start to in earnest with their television advertising. And I think, for Bannon, anyone who knows him I know him well have a very high regard for him. He is a doer and he is a manager, but he also understands than digital economy better than most entrepreneurs. And I think the fact is, is that as they get into this advertising phase of the campaign, it is not going to be about the 1980s. It's got to be about the 21st century. Steve understands that well. So, I think you are going to see this focus on messaging hit on every single aspect. And I think all these changes are very positive. [Baldwin:] He's a doer. But when you also read about him, you read words like political assassin and in the realm of dark politics. You just heard the Robby Mook quote from Joe. People are all over the map on this guy. Leon Wolf, what do you think? [Leon Wolf, Managing Editor, Redstate.com:] Well, you know, I do want to say that insofar as the idea is to go back to letting Trump be Trump, I think that's probably a good move for the Trump campaign. The managed Trump is not working. He's terrible and painful to listen to on a teleprompter. He still makes gaffes. He's just now boring to watch. So, insofar as this is going to reflect that, I think it is a good call for the Trump campaign. I don't know that hiring Bannon specifically is the right medicine that they want to take, because I just don't know who Bannon's shtick reaches that is not already firmly committed within the Trump kind of ambit there. I feel like that audience is not the audience that Trump has a problem with, even within the Republican Party, as he definitely does have problems with Republican Party voters. [Baldwin:] I'm listening to you. And I also want to get some of our CNN reporting on. And, Mark Preston, you know this. This is from our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, from a Trump campaign source, when we think about Bannon, especially ahead of debate prep, et cetera, for Trump. This debate this campaign source adding the fear with some insight of the campaign is that the conservative firebrand Bannon will want to quote "dig up every coffin for the debates with Clinton." [Mark Preston, Cnn Political Editor:] Right, so a combative nature. And as you saw just a few moments ago as well, we showed who was advising Trump, formally, informally. And if you put Bannon in the same category as Roger Stone and the same category at Roger Ailes, you are talking about now a strategy that is going to go right after Hillary Clinton in certainly a more aggressive way than we have seen Donald Trump. I know that's silly to say a more aggressive way than what we have seen from Donald Trump because he's been rather aggressive against Hillary Clinton. But I do think you are going to see it become more pointed attacks on Hillary Clinton. Paul Manafort, who's now moved into this other role or moving back to his original role, however you want to interpret what the Trump campaign is saying, or, quite frankly, he's been ousted, he was supposed to be the connection to the establishment. Bannon is not the connection to the establishment. So, at a time when Trump is still trying to deal with making the establishment come on board, they are now really trying to fire up the grassroots even more. [Baldwin:] On that, Leon, here's my question. If perhaps this will put more distance well, let me just ask you, do you think this move will put more distance between Donald Trump and the RNC? [Wolf:] I have to think that it will. Just from the people that I know who are kind of within that circle and I haven't talked to any of them yet today since this news broke late last night. But the news that a guy like Bannon is going to be brought into a very prominent role in the campaign is certain to kind of spike Republican establishment nervousness through the roof. I mean, I think that the Republicans like Paul Ryan and Reince Priebus do want Trump to focus on being more aggressive towards Hillary and stop the kind of random, sporadic attacks he has on other Republicans. But I don't know that a lot of the stuff that Bannon is likely to bring to the table, which is essentially a rehash of the stuff that didn't work against Bill Clinton in the '90s, is really what they're looking to dredge up in terms of this election and going after Hillary Clinton in that respect. So, I definitely do think it will cause some additional angst within the halls of people who are even right now deciding, are we going to pull victory funds away from Donald Trump? [Baldwin:] And then perhaps focus down-ballot, although the let Trump be Trump mantra was really successful for him in the primaries. Matt, I heard you were you were shaking your head there. [Schlapp:] Yes. No, I think we are missing the story here. Everyone's viewing this as somehow Trump is going to retool and become kind of like an attack machine on Hillary Clinton, and that's a bad thing. [Baldwin:] What's the story? [Schlapp:] By the way, that is what Republicans thought was the biggest virtue of Donald Trump, is he could really take the fight to her. And what we have seen over the last three weeks is, she's done a pretty good job of taking the fight to him. He's on his heels. And I think Donald Trump realizes that. He wants to get on his forward foot. I think Bannon will understand that. I think this is not a question about, do you go after Hillary Clinton or not? The facts are on the table. We all know this campaign is about Washington and the fact that Hillary Clinton's been a part of Washington for three decades. Now, can we make more effectively the case that she's not the right person to fix Washington? I think the combination of Bannon with Kellyanne as the campaign manager, I think that sharpens the message. That is what this is about. [Baldwin:] OK, quickly. [Preston:] Just a couple things. One is, it is not so much taking the attack to Hillary Clinton. It is, what attacks are you going to try to lodge against her? And I think that might get the nervousness within the Republican establishment. And having Kellyanne Conway with Donald Trump day to day, minute to minute, that will give a little bit of relief, I think, to GOP establishment folks who have worked with her over the years. We will see how he does. [Baldwin:] OK, Mark Preston, thank you. Matt Schlapp, Leon Wolf, thank you all so much. And by the way, tonight, you will have a chance to get to know the Green Party presidential ticket in a live town hall. Do not miss Jill Stein and her running mate, Ajamu Baraka, answering questions at 9:00 Eastern only here on CNN. Coming up next: Donald Trump is calling for more policing as he is out and about, perhaps trying to court more African-American voters, some African-American voters. And in the middle of it, he called Hillary Clinton a bigot. And he says Democrats have failed the African-American community. We want to talk about that. Also ahead, "The Boston Globe" today, on the editorial page, calling on the Clintons to shut down their foundation if she wins the White House why President Bill Clinton admits changes would have to come. [Whitfield:] All right, the Trump administration says all options are on the table with the president's proposed travel ban. Athena Jones is traveling with the president who is in Palm Beach, Florida. Athena, we know that one of his top advisers was more than just hinting but really delivering the message that all options are on the table, and they're going to continue moving forward on this travel ban. [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Fred. That's right. You know, the big question is, what is going to happen next? They're discussing all options. It's very clear that the president believes as he told us on the flight down here on Friday that his administration would ultimately win out on any court battle. But he also made the argument that there is a sense of urgency here because he believes he feels that the nation's security is at stake. And so it's clear that they would like to take some actions rather quickly, sooner rather than later certainly, but just what those actions will be is still being worked out. Let's go ahead and listen to what the President's Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller had to say on "Fox News Sunday," and then we'll talk about it on the other side. Let's play that. [Miller:] Right now we are considering and pursuing all options. Those options include seeking an emergency state at the Supreme Court, continuing the appeal with the panel, having an emergency hearing en banc, or going to the trial court in the district level and the trial on merits. They also include as you have mentioned the possibility of new executive actions designed to prevent terrorist infiltration of our country. But I want to say something very clearly, and this is going to be very disappointing to the people protesting the president and the people in Congress like Senator Schumer who've attacked the president for his lawful and necessary action. The president's powers here are beyond question. [Jones:] And those last couple of lines, Fredricka, are very interesting to talk about. He talked about the president's lawful and necessary action, his powers here are beyond question. So, Stephen Miller is making the case that the president's statutory and constitutional powers allow him to institute this travel ban. That's completely within his powers. He's also sounds like he's making the case that the president's actions are not reviewable because they deal with national security. And if you remember, during those oral arguments that so many of us listen to before the three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, that was one of the essential questions whether this idea of whether the president's actions are reviewable. Certainly, the court came down on the side that they are reviewable. Stephen Miller continues to argue that they are not reviewable, essentially, and he made that point over and over again on various Sunday shows this morning. It's not surprising that he should make that point, but it is interesting to point out, because it is at odds with that ruling. The bottom line here, Fredricka, is that despite what President Trump told us on that flight on Air Force One down here coming down here on Friday when he said that, you know, he could file a brand new order as soon as tomorrow or Tuesday. Now, he didn't commit to either of those days. But, it just doesn't look like it's quite as imminent as that that a new order could be coming at. It looks as though they're still working on it. But this White House has been full of surprises, and so we'll have to just wait and see what actually happens. Fred? [Whitfield:] All right, Athena Jones, thank you so much, in Palm Beach. Appreciate that. All right, let's bring back CNN Senior Political Analyst Ron Brownstein. So, you know, Ron, the Trump administration considering all options on this travel ban, at the same time you're hearing, you know, from Athena where that the White House feels that these actions are really not reviewable. Why is this the White House running the risk of jeopardizing its credibility in this way? [Brownstein:] First of all, I mean, the essence of the American constitutional system of checks and balances is that there is nothing beyond question. Everything can be questioned within the political system. And ultimately, it is for the courts to decide where the lines are in both statutory and constitutional authority. And as Athena alluded to, not only was this issue raised during the oral arguments, but the Ninth Circuit judges explicitly rejected the idea that in their decision that the president's actions in this area were not reviewable. So, I mean, there is no question that the courts ultimately have authority to decide when the president has exceed his own authority. I mean, that's been since, you know, since, you know, John Marshall. So, you know, I think that they are kind of moving into a position that kind of raises a different set of issues then they narrow, than the immediate ones surrounding this executive order. [Whitfield:] So it almost sounds like there are two messages. Well, Donald Trump tweeted, you know, "See you in court." It also sounds like they're saying they're willing to dismiss what the court is asking, which is an explanation of the motivation behind the court order by saying when he was on Air Force One, "I'm going to have a new executive order and we're likely to see it this week." [Brownstein:] Right. I mean, look, so the problem they've got with staying in court is that a full hearing by the Ninth Circuit which is the most Democratic leaning of the circuits, 2 to 1 Democratic appointees is unlikely to end any differently than this initial decision. And then they face the prospect of reaching a divided 4-4 Supreme Court, not a conceivable even that one of the Republican appointed judges could uphold this decision. So, the court route is difficult in terms of reversing the stay. And even if you go back and rewrite the executive order, there's no guarantee that the coalition of forces that fought this one in court, the states of Washington and Minnesota, joined by 16 other states, joined by a coalition of 100 leading businesses including Apple, Facebook, Google, pretty much the entire 21st century economy would not go back into court and challenge that, because don't forget, both the district and appellate court questioned the very premise that they had shown, that the administration had shown sufficient evidence that there was a reason for any kind of additional restrictions beyond those in current law on these countries. That there was a national security threat. Presumably, that question would hang over to any kind of scaled back executive order, for example targeted to only those who had not been to the United States previously. [Whitfield:] Yeah. It seems like it would be creating, get a whole new problem, a whole new fight. [Brownstein:] Yeah. [Whitfield:] So the Trump administration also now doubling down on claims of widespread voter fraud without offering any proof. Take a listen to this exchange on ABC earlier today. [Miller:] This morning on this show is not the venue for me to lay out the evidence, but I can tell you this, voter fraud is a serious problem in this country. You have millions of people who are registered in two states, or who are dead who are registered to vote and you have 14 percent of non-citizens according to academic research, at a minimum, are registered to vote, which is an astonishing statistic. [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News Anchor:] You can't make hold on a second. You just claimed again that there was illegal voting in New Hampshire. People bussed in from the state of Massachusetts. Do you have any evidence [Miller:] I'm saying anybody George, go to New Hampshire. Talk to anybody who has worked in politics there for a long time. Everybody is aware of the problem in New Hampshire with respect to bringing in voters and with respect to [Stephanopoulos:] I'm asking you as the White House Senior hold on a second. I'm asking you as the White House Senior Policy Adviser, the president made a statement saying he was the victim of voter fraud [Miller:] And the president was. [Stephanopoulos:] Do you have any evidence? [Miller:] If this is an issue that interests you, then we could talk about it more in the future and we now have our government is beginning to get stood up. We have the Department of Justice and we have more officials. An issue of voter fraud is something that we're looking at very seriously and very hard. But the reality is, is that we know for a fact, you have massive numbers of non-citizens registered to vote in this country. Nobody disputes that. [Whitfield:] OK. Well, it's being disputed a lot. I mean, and calling this once again a serious problem. I mean, bottom line, is this just like a diversionary tactic, again? Or what's going on? [Brownstein:] No. I think it's quite the opposite. First of all, talk to anyone in New Hampshire. Today, Tom Rath, who is the longest serving long time GOP strategist in the state said that these claims are completely unequivocally unfounded. So, you can talk to anybody in New Hampshire. There is simply is no evidence of these charges, but I don't think it's a diversion at all. I mean, I think that, you know, we people started thinking this was kind of the peak of the president that it was his pride was hurt that he lost the popular vote. He lost in New Hampshire, so therefore it had to be because of voter fraud. In fact, what increasingly seems to be clear is that these claims are being made to pave the way toward potentially further restrictions on voting, tightening voter I.D., other efforts that the Obama administration in many cases went to court to fight as an attempt to constrain the ability of minorities and lower income people to vote. So I think this is far from a diversion. All indications are that they are heading toward "investigation" that will become the predicate for potentially a new round of voter restrictions and I think a battle royal both in state legislatures, in Congress and in the courts. [Whitfield:] And switching gears now, the U.S. Department of Education sent out a tweet this morning with a quote from W.E.B. DuBois, so I'm pronouncing it DuBois, you know, misspelling is the bottom line of the last name. They followed up, the Department of Education with an apology and yet another typo saying, "Our deepest apologies," but spelling that wrong. Is this just, you know, an error or just a reflection of something else in terms of just not being concise, precise, caring? [Brownstein:] Look, every new administration struggles to get its feet under it. This one is struggling more than most in a lot of different ways from the small, like the tweets that you cite to the large, like Stephen Miller being the architect of an executive order that was at the core of what they have wanted to do on immigration that has run afoul not only of Democratic but of Republican appointed judges. So, they are clearly struggling to get going. They are making a lot of waves. They are moving forward on a lot of things that they have promised to do, and thrilling many of their supporters. But I would note that today in the Gallup poll his disapproval rating reached 55 percent in 23 days. No other president has reached even 50 percent disapproval in less than 150, usually in like 600 or 700 to get to 50. There is a lot of evidence that the cart is kind of wobbling here in the early weeks, and that's why you begin to hear these kinds of whispers among Republicans about whether there will be a course correction on some of the staffing, particularly in the White House. [Whitfield:] Cart is wobbling, a good way to put it. All right, I mean, really wobbling. All right, Ron Brownstein, thank you so much, in Washington. [Brownstein:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] We'll be right back. [Allen:] We turn our attention to the peninsula where they are carrying out live-fire exercises, held every year by the United States and South Korea. Kathy Novak is in Seoul. [Kathy Novak, Cnn Correspondent:] This is not your average target practice. South Korean F-15 fighter jets that can take down a large number of North Korean fighters at once, E 737s that can detect movement across the air space from the South Korean border, Syrian helicopters that launch flairs to evade North Korean missiles and drop off command dose to infiltrate enemy lines. "Our soldiers are ready and able," says the Italian commander, "with the will and courage to fight against the enemy." [on camera]: These exercises bring together U.S. and South Korean fire power preparing to how to respond to a North Korean provocation and signaling all-out war. [Novak:] But two can play at this war game. At the Korean peninsula, North Korea invented the game, parading its 1.2 million active troops and weaponry of its own under the watchful and unforgiving eye of supreme commander, Kim Jong-Un. Anti-tank missiles manned by loyal servants of the Korean Peoples' Army, submarine that Pyongyang claims can launch ballistic missiles. 70 percent of the fleet deployed during the recent crisis. And artillery like the kind the U.S. says was aimed towards propaganda speakers on the border. South Korea fired back. Watching this drill, it's clear these shells don't miss. Suggesting when dozens of South Korean rounds landed in an empty field north of the DMZ that's exactly what they were aiming at. They have the fire power but the game of war this in the peninsula is more about showing off the fire power than actually using it. [on camera]: This is not only a military exercise. It's a show. Members of the public have even been invited to watch the display. [voice-over]: Nothing like patriotic music to go with your show of fatal force and with every ground-shaking, eardrum-shattering boom of artillery in a perfect "V" formation, enthusiastic applause from the crowd. It may seem ridiculous, but it works. "I felt really anxious living here," she says, "but after the performances, I'm not anxious at all. North Korea can't defeat us." Satisfied theater-goers at a very dangerous show. Kathy Novak, CNN, South Korea. [Allen:] Quite a show of military might on both sides of the DMZ there. More military exercises on the Korean peninsula are wrapping up today. For more, let's bring in Kyung Lah, live from Seoul. These exercises have been ongoing, taking a pause during the particular tension and threats by North Korea, Kyung, and finally the talks. So it wasn't like these exercises were the sole responsibility for the tensions this year. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] It was mainly that it was a piling on of everything that was already happening here on the peninsula. The specific exercises that we're talking about happened over 12 days, they were computer-generated and what the joint forces were doing led by the United States is basically looking at what would the response be from South Korea and the United States should North Korea attack. That was the exercise and that is something that happens every single year. North Korea knows this, they expect this. But given what was already happening on the peninsula w, that a land mine exploded, something extremely rare, that they had responded by putting up speakers blasting anti-North Korea news, pop music, what we will refer to as propaganda from South Korea, all of this piling on with the joint U.S.South Korea exercises. That's really what sort of brought this to a higher level. That's what led to all of the concern, the joint drills ending today after 12 days Natalie? [Allen:] People there probably, even though they like it as we just heard in Kathy's piece, because it gives them comfort, there's been so much tension there. Perhaps this will herald a little more stand down on that. We saw that both sides got together. They held two meetings to talk about their differences. Is there any more of that expected? [Lah:] There's nothing specifically planned right now. But those marathon sessions, they were basically a gateway into more talks. There are underlying issues, persistent issues here on the peninsula that talks are hoping will be a break through to get at those issues. Specifically, what South Korea really wants is to try to conduct family reunions. Families that have been separated since the start of the Korean War. That's 65 years ago. These relatives are dying and they want to have these last meetings before that happens. That's what South Korea wants. North Korea wants a dialogue so they can get more financial assistance. Both sides have come to the table. Talks hopefully will happen in the future. That's what those marathon talks were about. Cooling things off initially and then leading to more talks down the line Natalie? [Allen:] We certainly hope those family reunions get to take place and we hope that our viewers saw your poignant, touching story when you interviewed these elderly people in the United States who have not seen their children in decades. And we certainly hope there are more of those reunions to take place. Hopefully, that story is on CNN.com. Kyung Lah, thank you. One of the student leaders of last year's pro democracy protests in Hong Kong was in court Thursday to formally face charges in the movement that brought parts of the city to a stand still for more than two months. 18-year-old yes, just 18 Joshua Wong was charged with unlawful assembly and inciting others to participate. He also faces charges of obstructing police at another demonstration. Wong says he does not regret what he did, even if he does have to serve time in jail. Financial markets in the Asia-Pacific region are extending their winning streak with more gains today. Trading has just ended in Tokyo and Sydney. And the Nikkei finishing up 3 percent. And Australia's ASX 200 closing up a half percent. The Shanghai up 2.89 percent. And Hong Kong is up.54 percent. So the green arrows continue. And on Wall Street, stocks surge for the second day in a row. Dow finishing Thursday up 369 points. Let's bring our Asia-Pacific editor Andrew Stevens in. He is live from Hong Kong to break down these numbers for us. Hello, Andrew. [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia Pacific Editor:] Hello, Natalie. Yes. You showed the key to driving what's been happening in Asia-Pacific markets today. Take a look at that Dow streak, that Dow Wall Street number. A big boost thereafter, revision of economic growth in the U.S. sharply higher, so the U.S. economy, world's biggest, really, is motoring on very, very nicely. Combine that with people now thinking there's unlikely to be an interest rate rise in the U.S. soon and to get a powerful rally on Wall Street, which flows through very much into the Asia-Pacific markets. And if you take a look at someone like Tokyo, interesting behind the numbers there, Japan was up sharply. And it was being led by the commodities companies, like Mitsubishi, like Mitsui. They are big companies. It is important they're up. Because what it is saying is that the growth from the in the U.S. is offsetting any slow down in China, which means there will still be a demand for raw materials, hence commodity prices are going up. That is sort of what is going on behind the scenes if you like. So the Shanghai is up by 3 percent. Second day in a row, still in positive territory, and now trading to go there. But if you look at the markets over here we have been talking a lot about the roller coaster the last five days, Natalie. But if you look along the term, that red dot there, that 43 percent, what that tells you is that over the year, the past 12 months, Shanghai is still up by 43 percent. So there are still profits in that market for some investors. It has come off the top sharply down by 40-odd percent since June, but you can read that as it's still got a long way to fall but there are still people in there with some sort of profits. [Allen:] Looking at that right there, looks like a mountain peak with a bit of a descent lately. [Stevens:] I'm sure there's a technical term for that. [Allen:] Yes. You won't get any technical terms for me on the money end. I leave that up to you. Andrew Stevens, watching it for us there in Hong Kong. Thanks, as always. We will have your top stories, right after this. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] As you mentioned, a lot of new polls out in the last couple of days, three in Nevada showing it's Hillary Clinton who is ahead out in Nevada, Colorado, 11-point lead for Clinton in two polls, Florida, a narrow Clinton lead in the new polling, several of them. North Carolina, a couple of new polls, Clinton is leading there. Now, this doesn't mean she is going to win them. Doesn't mean the momentum can't swing back, but look, Jake, at Donald Trump's challenge. Now you are looking at a map that looks very much like the ObamaRomney map. Donald Trump lost the momentum. He needs very much Mike Pence to do him a favor tonight and then Donald Trump on Sunday night to grab the momentum and pull it back,because it gets hard when you get inside the last 30 days to change one state. If Donald Trump Donald Trump, excuse me, has to change three or four states, it gets very difficult. [Tapper:] Even with a bad week for Trump, though, John, there are states where he is still holding onto a lead, battleground states. [King:] Right. If you are Trump, you're studying this one, because Ohio has stayed consistently for Trump, even as Hillary Clinton has made gains in other places. So, if you're Donald Trump, you are looking at this state and thinking, why is it? It's demographics. It's his trade message. It's older white voters. If you're Donald Trump and you're saying, OK, we're falling in Colorado, we're falling in Virginia, we're struggling in Florida, I think you will see the Trump campaign look back to the Rust Belt again, because that's where they're doing the best. Now, Pennsylvania has moved Clinton's way. Michigan has moved a little bit back more in Clinton's favor. But if you're Trump and you look at the most recent data, Jake, this is still your area of strength. The problem is, Ohio is not enough, though. He has to flip some others. [Tapper:] All right, John King, thank you so much. Joining me now, the campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, Robby Mook. Robby, thanks so much for joining us. I assume Senator Kaine has an answer if the moderator or Governor Pence raises the fact that former President Bill Clinton just offered a harsh critique of Obamacare. Take a listen. [Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] You have got this crazy system where, all of a sudden, 25 million more people have health care and then the people are out there busting it, sometimes 60 hours a week, wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. It's the craziest thing in the world. [Tapper:] Robby, Obamacare is the craziest thing in the world? [Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager:] Well, I think that's taking a little bit out of context. First and foremost, over 20 million people now have health insurance today in our country because of Obamacare. We have got to improve it, but we have got to protect it. Donald Trump wants to completely rip it up, take away health insurance from those 20 million people, from the young people under 26 who get it through their parents, take away, you know, basic care, preventative care for every single American. So, we have got to protect Obamacare. But what he was touching on, to your question, was that premiums are going up too high in some places, and we need to do more to help small businesses in particular afford health insurance. And that's why Hillary wants to create better tax incentives and tax credits for small businesses, so that they can afford the health care, and create pools, so that they have better bargaining power with the insurance companies. [Tapper:] Now, just to note, the White House press secretary, Josh Earnest, today said quote "It's not exactly clear what argument Bill Clinton was making." And, of course, he wishes Bill Clinton used different language. [Mook:] Well, again, I think that what Bill Clinton was trying to hit on is that a lot of small businesses are struggling to afford health insurance. They can't form big enough bargaining pools. That's why we have got to get them better tax credits, allow them to pool together. Look, we also one thing he didn't mention is the cost of prescription drugs, which is also going up too high. We have got to allow Medicare to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs and make sure that we're doing more to lower the out-of-pocket expenses for everyday Americans. So, there's a lot of work to do here. I just rattled off a lot of specific ideas that Hillary Clinton has. Donald Trump hasn't named a specific idea on health care, except that he wants to repeal Obamacare altogether. And everybody agrees that would be a disaster. [Tapper:] I would just point out, I wasn't quoting Donald Trump. I was quoting former President Bill Clinton. But let me move on. The RNC has launched a new digital ad called "America Deserves Better" criticizing Senator Tim Kaine's record when it comes to the death penalty because of his work not only as a defense attorney, but also his work as governor. Here is a little clip. [Narrator:] Richard Lee Whitley sexually assaulted and murdered his elderly neighbor. Tim Kaine defended him. Outside Whitley's execution, Tim Kaine said, "Something personal in me will die with Whitley." Percy Walton brutally murdered three people. As governor, Tim Kaine commuted his sentence, citing concerns disproved by the courts. [Tapper:] It's a tough Web ad, Robby. Your response? [Mook:] You know, Donald Trump's campaign has had a very hard week. They are desperate to try to change the narrative here. And they have said themselves they're going to go on the attack, they're going to throw a bunch of mud around. The attacks that are in that ad have been launched at Senator Kaine for some time now, when he ran for governor, when he ran for Senate. They have been answered. What we want to talk about in this debate are the issues, about how we help people afford health care, afford college, how we create more jobs, how we get wages rising. So, that's what Senate Kaine is going to be focused on in this debate. We hope that Governor Pence wants to engage on those issues as well. [Tapper:] Robby, just a quick question. Do you think it's Senator Kaine's job tonight more to attack Donald Trump and Mike Pence or to vouch and build up Hillary Clinton? And please don't say both. [Mook:] No, actually, Jake, I think the work that both Secretary Clinton and Senator Kaine want to do in their respective debates is make sure that people understand the real plans and proposals they have that are going to make a difference in their life, how they're going to create jobs, how they're going to get wages rising. That's what we'd like to focus on. That's when our campaign has always done best, is when they have the opportunity to talk about those proposals. I think what is going to be tricky in this debate for Governor Pence is, how is he going to answer all these questions about whether he will stand with Donald Trump? Is he going to back him up when he says that he may not have paid taxes for two decades? Is he going to back up his attacks on the former Miss Universe? Is he going to back up his attacks on a Gold Star family? This is a very tricky situation for him. And we will just have to see how he navigates that. [Tapper:] All right, Robby Mook, campaign manager for the Hillary Clinton campaign, thank you so much. Appreciate it. [Mook:] Thank you, Jake. [Tapper:] Coming up, Hillary Clinton expected to take questions from reporters at a rally. And we're also standing by for Donald Trump in Arizona. He is expected to speak to supporters just hours ahead of tonight's V.P. debate. Plus, the hospital at the center of the VA scandal, how is it possible that conditions for veterans there are getting even worse? We will have a report. Stay with us. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. A hijacker seizes an airliner and the drama ends peacefully on live television. This is one of the last hostages escaping through a cockpit window and scaling down the side of the airplane. Minutes later the hijacker surrenders. That is reportedly him in the white shirt. The man you see being led away there. Officials say this was not an act of terrorism but a man upset over his ex-wife. The flight from Alexandria, Egypt was supposed to be a short hop to Cairo. Instead the hijacker said he had an explosive belt and ordered the flight to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. CNN's Ian Lee is in Cairo with more for you. Hi, Ian. [Ian Lee, Cnn International Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. And what we're hearing from this man is that or from officials is that this man was very much disturbed. That he had a list of demands. Nothing very consistent. And after they were able to successfully arrest him, they were found out that the bomb that he claimed he had wasn't in fact real. This brings a very terrifying moment for a lot of people, especially those hostages on board that plane. There was a lot of dramatic footage coming out of that. Talking to one of the passengers who was on the plane saying that they didn't really know something was wrong until they were flying over the Mediterranean, not on the flight path to Cairo. And that the stewardess told the passengers that there was a hijacking. They collected the passports of the people. A really terrifying moment because nowadays you don't have these sorts of incidents and peacefully end the way they do. The passengers really breathing a sigh of relief once they touched down in Larnaca. But from what we're seeing right now, from what officials are telling us, both Cypress and Egyptian, is that this is a man who, as they say, is disturbed. Someone who has issues. And going forward the question is going to be, what kind of motivations were behind it and what can they figure out about security going forward. [Costello:] All right. Ian Lee reporting life for us from Cyprus this morning. I want to bring in our aviation expert right now. Peter Goelz is a former managing director of the National Transportation Safety Board. He's now a senior vice president at O'Neill and Associates. Welcome, sir. [Peter Goelz, Former Managing Director, National Transportation Safety Board:] Good morning carol. [Costello:] Good morning. So early on officials publicly doubted that the hijacker really had an explosive belt on. Does it worry you at all that terrorists are also watching this drama play out that they realize they can commandeer an airliner with just a bluff? [Goelz:] Well, I think that's a growing concern. I mean, I think the Egyptians handled this as well as they could. The flight crew did. And I think the Cypress did the same. But the question is, did this guy have even a fake bomb that cleared security? And if he did then there is a question of security at the check points. But if he simply he got on board once he was on board and said I've got a bomb, well, then that's that's a challenge. But it does raise that question Carol. Anybody can do it. [Costello:] Absolutely. I just want to ask another question about how Egyptian authorities handled this because they held a news conference early on. They got the name of the hijacker wrong. They released the wrong name to the public. The Egyptian president even laughed at the hijacker's possible motive. Watch. [Pres. Nicos Anastasiades, Cyprus:] In any case it is not something which has to do with terrorism. Always there is a woman in the [Costello:] All right. That was the Cyprus's president. But still it was just a strange moment because the hostage drama was ongoing at that time. [Goelz:] It was a very unusual moment. And inappropriate to be honest. And the issue is haven't the Egyptians learned anything over the past year and a half after the aircraft was blown up after ground personnel put the bomb on board. One of their flights so it's a question of, are the Egyptians taking this seriously? And given how much they rely on tourism you would think they would have a much more professional and serious approach, even to these kinds of events. [Costello:] OK. Just a question from a person who flies a lot. And I am that person who flies a lot. How should passengers have reacted to this mentally unstable man claiming he had a bomb? [Goelz:] Well, you know, that is a very difficult question. You know, ever since the heroes that the Shanksville, you know, tragedy where they tried to take over the plane, and since then passengers have taken things into their own hands. But when you've got someone who says they have a bomb, I think for I think for a while you've got to figure out whether that's true and what his motives were. And that he was flying to Cyprus seemed to indicate that this was not an act of terrorism. But boy, that is a very difficult question. And each of us has to answer that God forbid if we're ever put in that position. [Costello:] Peter Goelz, thanks for your insight as always. [Goelz:] Thank you, Carol. [Costello:] All right. On to politics now. Three candidates, one stage. Hours from now, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and John Kasich make their pitch to voters during CNN's town hall in Milwaukee. Vying for support ahead of next week's critical Wisconsin primary, all of this as the Grand Old Party is looking more like a big old brawl. CNN's Phil Mattingly live in Milwaukee with more. Good morning. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. Good morning, Carol. No shortage of issues for the three candidates to delve into tonight and no doubt that they certainly will. Whether it is personal attacks, whether it is their wives, whether it's Donald Trump's foreign policy, which really over the last couple of days has been flushed out in a way that we haven't seen before. All of that is on the table and no time like now to do it. Only seven days before the next crucial primary. [Mattingly:] All three GOP candidates converging on the battle ground state, Wisconsin, for tonight's CNN town hall, a week before voters head to the polls in the high stakes primary. Republican frontrunner Donald Trump receiving a hostile reception Monday. Protesters demanding Trump cancel a rally later today, saying to, quote, "keep hate out of our state." Popular Wisconsin conservative radio host Charlie Sykes who has endorsed Ted Cruz also giving Trump the cold shoulder. [Charlie Sykes, Conservative Radio:] Mr. Trump, before you called into my show, did you know that I'm a #neverTrump guy? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] That I didn't know. [Mattingly:] An opening act for a state with 42 delegates at stake and a strong anti-Trump movement. [Sykes:] Here in Wisconsin we value things like civility, decency and actual conservative principles. So let's possibly make some news. [Mattingly:] Trump continuing to defend his campaign's attacks on Ted Cruz and his wife Heidi. Again blaming Cruz for a super PAC ad in Utah that featured Trump's wife Melania. [Trump:] He owes me an apology because what he did was wrong. He sent out a picture to people in Utah. [Sykes:] No. Well, actually he didn't. And you know that he didn't. You know that it was a super [Pac. Trump:] I know he knew about it. [Mattingly:] In an interview with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, Cruz laying down another challenge to Trump. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] We have heard that you want to debate Donald Trump one-on-one. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Yes. [Serfaty:] Why? [Cruz:] CNN has two town halls back-to-back. An hour with me. An hour with Donald Trump in the exact same location. We should make it a debate. Let's make it a two-hour debate. Let's combine our events. [Mattingly:] And Ohio Governor John Kasich attacking both of his opponents on their foreign policy positions. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] We got one guy saying we should patrol Muslim neighborhoods and the other one saying we should have a religious test. It's not good foreign policy. [Mattingly:] All while Trump threatens to sue over delegate allegiances in Louisiana. A state Trump won but Cruz could walk away with more delegates. The Texas senator brushing off Trump's litigation threats. [Cruz:] Who cares? He can threaten whoever he likes. [Mattingly:] Now, Carol, Donald Trump taking to Twitter to reject Ted Cruz's challenge to a one-on-one debate but really does have an extensive public schedule in the state over the next couple of days. This coming after about a week of not having any public events at all. Really underscoring that he has work to do if he wants to do what he's been doing over the last couple of states and that's win Wisconsin. Ted Cruz with very good numbers in the state. John Kasich really zeroing in on a number of congressional delegates congressional districts where delegates will be allocated from. There is a lot of ground to move in this state right now for these three candidates, just kind of making clear that tonight is a very important event in advance of the Wisconsin primary, Carol. [Costello:] All right. Phil Mattingly reporting live from Milwaukee. Thank you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, if you thought Trump's interview with the never-Trump host was awkward, wait until you hear what Trump said about Heidi Cruz during that call. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan, joining you live from New York. We want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and around the world [At This Hour. John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman, live in Paris. This is CNN's special coverage of the takedown of one of the world's most- wanted terrorists. Let's get you up to speed with the very latest. The dramatic news. Abdelhamid Abaaoud is dead. The man believed to be the planner, the architect of Friday's attack that stole the lives of 129 people here in Paris, killed. French officials say prints from his hands and feet confirmed that he died in the stunning raid in the suburb of Saint- Denis yesterday, his body riddled with bullets before he could carry out another act of terror. French officials have linked him to at least four foiled plots in Europe this year. And at this moment, investigators are tracing links to several more known jihadists. This news comes as yet another attacker, Salah Abdeslam, is still on the loose this morning. He was last seen on the road to Belgium. Today, new raids in Belgium, where so much of the planning and organizing for these Paris attacks happened. As I said, so much news to go over today. The major development, the death of the planner, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. We'll turn to CNN diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, for more on this Nic? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well, we know that he's been identified through forensic analysis. The prosecutor told us the building was badly collapsed. Obviously, his face and picture are very well known to French authority, so what we heard from the prosecutor today, that it had multiple impacts on his body. Not clear if it was from the first sniper shot and the subsequent fuselage of bullets or if it was because he had some kind of explosives near him, was caught in an explosion are or the explosives that went off when his cousin, the female suicide bomber there, detonated her suicide vest. But the prosecutor said very clearly, they identified, and the interior minister making very clear this is not the end. It is the beginning. This man has connection with other known jihadists. That's what the interior minister said, they will continue investigating those connections. We also understand that the reason French authorities were able to begin to know they need to look urgently for this man on their own soil is because they got a tip-off from Moroccan officials. Abaaoud, a Belgian national, but Moroccan origin. Moroccan sources who told the French two days before this raid that he was on French soil. The French then being able to zero in on telephone intercepts to know the location to go to. But the big headline from the interior minister today, this man he called he said he played a decisive role in Friday's attack, was involved, connected with four of six terror plots the government said it thwarted since spring this year John? [Berman:] The Moroccans told the French about him being in France on the 16th. The attacks here in Paris were on the 13th. That gives you a sense, though, of how much more is needed in terms of speed of communication between countries right now and the battle against terrorists like this. Nic, any sense of what they're investigating now? If they believe there are other terror cells still at work here in Paris. [Robertson:] OK. I was outside that apartment in Saint-Denis until late in the night. The police told me the operation there would probably continue for another 24 hours. Substantial physical damage. What they will be looking in there is any cell phones, any recent written communications, any computers, any hard drives that can give an indication to where Abaaoud was in the previous days. They got from the Moroccans two days prior to that raid that he was here in Paris. So, what was he doing before? What were his foot steps on the important days leading up to the attack on the 13th, Friday? Who was he speaking to? Where is he going? That will lead police to the next stage of where the interior minister hinted they're going, the connection with other jihadists. So as the police go through that apartment the two apartments there, that will provide them a level of information. Of course, they say they arrested took into custody eight people, three of them, they say they arrested in connection with these terrorism offenses. So, they will be talking to them as well to generate more information. The government here has told us the prime minister, the interior minister has also said as well, the French president, that the raids on homes of suspected jihadists around France will continue. The legislation that's been debated and passed today will make that easier. So, I think we can expect, from what we're hearing from the interior minister, to expect more operations to target more of the people that they will undoubtedly find were in connection with Abaaoud in the recent weeks John? [Berman:] They staged more than 100 raids a night every night since the attacks here last Friday. Nic Robertson, here in Paris, thank you so much. We have breaking news from Belgium as well. Six anti-terror raids launched there today. We understand at least nine people have been detained now in connection with the attacks here in Paris. I want to get to Ivan Watson right now, who is in Belgium, with the very latest. Ivan, what do you know? [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] John, that's right. That series of raids taking place in and around the Belgian capital, Brussels. Now, several of these raids were conducted in connection with the investigation into the Paris attacks. You had at least two people detained for questioning. Belgian investigators say. And then there were another series of search warrants and raids that were carried out in connection with a case that has been open since the beginning of 2015, police here say. And that's into a man named Bilal Hafdi. He is a resident of Belgium, also one of the suicide bombers from the Paris attacks. He had been on the radar of Belgian investigators for some time when he was believed to have left Belgium and gone to Syria to join the ranks of ISIS. But what the Belgian investigators say they did not know is that he had somehow gotten back into Europe. They only discovered he was back in Europe when his remains were found among all the carnage in Paris. When asked about the reaction to the deaths of Abaaoud, the federal prosecutor's office here said that they don't really have time to rest on any kind of whirls. They're busy right now searching for another key suspect, that fugitive, Salah Abdeslam, who has been missing sin the Paris attacks, whose car was found here in Brussels after the Paris attacks, after a brief questioning period by French police when he escaped the dragnet there. He's still very much wanted. Authorities here very worried what he may be capable of, as long as he is still a fugitive John? [Berman:] That's right. He very much still on the run right now. As we see, probably the most wanted man in Europe. Ivan Watson, in Belgium, thank you so much. I want to bring in CNN terror analyst, Paul Cruickshank, here with me in Paris. Paul, Abdelhamid Abaaoud dead. Three things, I think, that are crucial here. One, it's amazing that he was here in France in the shadow of the Stade de France, the stadium attacked Friday night. Number two, it's amazing they pulled this off. They killed him within days of this attack. Number three, and this may be the most important for us right now, what does this mean going forward for the battle against would-be terrorists here in Paris? Does it disrupt or slow down possible operations? [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] I think it does disrupt. Abaaoud was probably going to be part of second wave, another spectacular attack when all of the world's media was here in Paris. They had very heavy weapons. This was the second team, it's almost certain at this point they were about to launch an attack, we've been told that by sources, officials. This is the worrying thing. This is part of a wider network. A half dozen Belgium and French is recruits, climbed up the hierarchy, many are now in Raqqa, where they're training, fresh recruits coming in from Belgium, France, other countries, giving them one or two weeks training and sending them back to launch attacks. This is laid out to me by intelligence officials. A key figure in this network working together with Abdelhamid Abaaoud was Fabien Clain, who is 10 years older than Abaaoud and is likely playing a more senior role in this conspiracy than Abaaoud, because he's older and they've been working in tandem and some of these other recruit fighters to plot a wave of terrorist attacks against Europe. And the interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, was talking about this. He says out of the six terror plots in the last six months, four were orchestrated by Abaaoud. But it was Abaaoud working together, they believe, with Fabien Clain. And Fabien Clain has a long track record of jihadist activity. He was friends with Mohamed Merah, who killed the Jewish school children in 2012 in southern France, in prison for a while in a network with al Qaeda, the same group as ISIS. And back in 2009, he was involved in plotting against the Bataclan concert hall here in France. Not only that, John, he claimed responsibility for this attack for ISIS. We have that audio. We're working, efforting to get it onto CNN. Claiming responsibility for the attack, saying that it was partly targeting "that idiot, who is the head of the French republic. The guy claiming the attack is still at large in Raqqa, working with Abaaoud, working to push even more of these recruits back. All of that very alarming. This threat stream is nowhere near over. It's just beginning. ISIS is starting to push down the accelerator when it comes to international terrorism, targeting not just the West, but also Russia. It's going all out right now. Why is that the case? One theory is that they have this apocalyptic vision that they want the West, they want Russia to go in, in a big way. They're trying to provoke it because they think the end of days is coming. It will be a last battle in this town in Syria, where, according to one of these prophecies, which isn't authenticated, but they believe there's going to be this end-of-days battle between the armies of Rome and armies of the Muslims. They're trying to make that happen more quickly. They think they're agents of God. That's part of the calculation from a rational point of view, also to electrify that base around the world. It's then retaliation. [Berman:] I don't know there's a rationale point of view. But Fabien Clain, this man still in Raqqa. Any sense of why Abdelhamid Abaaoud, any sense of why he was here, running or helping orchestrate these operations? [Cruickshank:] Because they felt, clearly, he would be a good organizer here, working with these youngsters that he knew. I mean, he grew up with two of his brothers, right, we've been talking about, the Abdeslam brothers. They were part of a gang toll in Molenbeek. They've known each other for a long time. Being able to come into the country with people he's known, evaded security services with in the past, all that's been very useful to ISIS. So, I think they felt that they you know, they could send Abaaoud back, you know, be a sort of local team leader here. But some of the more senior French brains behind this operation, including the guy who claimed responsibility for is, are still there at large, doing more of this pressing the accelerator, fasten your seat belts. [Berman:] Paul Cruickshank, very dire warning to hear that. Yes, Abdelhamid Abaaoud is dead but the man who claimed responsibility, Fabien Clain, still alive and in Syria. New this morning, China is promising revenge after ISIS said it killed a Chinese hostage. Could this change the situation on the ground in Syria? Plus, new ISIS video depicting ISIS suicide bombers preparing for an attack on New York City. What intelligence officials say about this video. Is it a real threat? This is CNN's special live coverage. Stay with us. [Pereira:] All right, here we go with the five things to know for your new day. At number one, the president and chancellor out at a University of Missouri. They're stepping down amid a student-led revolt over racial tensions on campus. The football team who refused to play until the president resigned, they're set to resume practice today. Ben Carson, Donald Trump head-lighting tonight's Republican debate in Milwaukee. Dr. Carson facing intense media scrutiny over stories about his past. Fox Business Network is promising a, quote, "real debate" about real economic issues. Security officials here in the U.S. are taking a closer look into the vetting process of airport employees following the crash of Metrojet Flight 9268. Insider attacks a main concern following speculation an airport worker smuggled a bomb into that doomed airplane. Police in Texas are questioning a man in connection with the shooting of a state judge last week. Officials say that person of interest was arrested on an unrelated fugitive warrant. A federal appeals court voting 2-1 against President Obama's plan to give nearly five million immigrants work permits and protection from deportation, upholding a challenge filed by 26 states. And, remember, you can always get more on the five things by visiting newdaycnn.com. She lost a daughter, her home and had to tough it out on the streets. Now one Army veteran is making sure that no one has to endure the heartbreak that she did. It's today's "Impact Your World." [Pamela Burrell, Volunteer, Action Ministries:] This is what we do right here. This is what we do. [Pereira:] Pamela Burrell know what it's like to go hungry. The 52-year-old Army veteran has made it her mission to help make sure no one else does. [Burrell:] It's just like an ultimate high. Like an unconditional high. [Pereira:] Today she is helping prepare meals for families, drawing on her experience as a cook in the Army. That's when Burrell's life took a terrible turn. A friend looking at her two daughters while she was served overseas killed her four-year-old. [Burrell:] My daughter had been hit with a fist and then she was thrown down the stairs. I have memories and I'm reliving my struggle and it hurts sometimes. [Pereira:] The single mom fell into a deep depression. She lost her job and even tried to take ore hen life. [Burrell:] I was a project mom. So going into the military was supposed to make things better for my family and myself. [Pereira:] Burrell and her other daughter lived on the streets for years until they found a charity dedicated to ending homelessness. She got an apartment and treatment for PTSD. But she still thought about her friends on the streets. [Virginia Spencer, Executive Director, Action Ministries:] She's always bringing someone else with another tough story who's on the street that she met in the park and bringing them to us and saying, hey, can you help them? [Pereira:] Burrell's dream is to own her own restaurant, buy a home and continue to help veterans. [Burrell:] To me it is just the right thing to do. It is the way I was raised. [Cuomo:] Big debate tonight. Fox Business Network promising to hold a substantive debate focusing on the economy. How different will it be? Let's bring in CNN senior media correspondent, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES", Brian Stelter and CNN senior media reporter and for media and politics, Mr. Dylan Byers. Good to have you both here. Well you got a Cavuto and a Bartiromo. Those are Italian names, that's always a good start, as we like to say. What do you expect tonight, Mr. Stelter? It is Fox. Does that mean anything? It is also a Business Network. That gives them a comparative advantage. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] I spoke with Mrs. Bartiromo. She does have that beautiful Italian accent. She talked about how she's not going to put up with any nonsense from these candidates. If there are more cries of media bias, I have a feeling that she and Cavuto will shut it down pretty quickly. This is Fox. Which means the candidates might not complain as much about the questions. Fox is a favorite network of conservatives. Fox Business is a smaller sibling channel. This is the biggest day in their history, as "Adweek" put it yesterday. A big chance to show off the channel. So any mistakes, any screw ups are going to look bad for the channel. But I have a feeling, Chris, that from Roger Ailes on down to Bartiromo and Cavuto and everybody else, they know exactly what they are doing. They are not going to let it get out of control the way the cNBC debate did. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] OK, so Dylan, do they bring up any of the discrepancies in Ben Carson's childhood stories or do they not touch it? [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Reporter, Media & Politics:] Yeah, I believe they will. In fact, I think Bartiromo suggested as much to Brian just yesterday. But the way they do it matters. They have to do it in a very nuanced way because, of course, this entire Fox Business debate is happening in the context of the cNBC debate of the sort of protests against the media, the pushback against the media that we saw from the candidates and from critics after the debate. So every question that the moderators are asking tonight has to be done in a very careful, substantive, nuanced way. So how they address the issues about Ben Carson's history is going to be interesting to see. [Camerota:] So Brian, what does that sound like? What are those questions then? [Stelter:] I think it is about tone. It's about a respectful tone, even though the questions can be as sharp as they possibly can be. I think both of you frankly, Alisyn and Chris, are experts in that and getting the tone right while challenging these candidates. Now, it is only two hours. We've got eight candidates on the stage, two hours. They have longer opportunities to rebuttal and to respond to people. So we'll see how many questions actually are able to get raised [Cuomo:] But you also have to remember [Stelter:] These candidates might chew up a lot of time in their responses. [Cuomo:] Brian, you know, we've been talking about the moderators, I would suggest, way too much. I mean, I think that they have to be present and do their job. But they should not be the focus. What the focus is is going to be what's coming at them, what the tone of the candidates is. Let's play Donald Trump as a taste of exactly what is working right now in this GOP primary and then let's talk about how they handle this. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] People are getting away with murder. I never saw anything like this. You can say anything about anybody and their poll numbers go up. No matter what you do. [Cuomo:] Listen to what he just said, Dylan. I don't know what's going on. You can say anything about anybody, meaning he attacks people, and their polls still go up. You have to remember the mindset of what's being confronted with these moderators. Is if they start going at each other that way, not about policy, not about economics, what is a moderator to do? You have to let them just go at it, right? [Byers:] Well yes, certainly there is only so much a moderator can do. It is really funny to hear Donald Trump say that because of course he was the one who made this campaign, this sort of unprecedented campaign where you can say anything and get away with it. He really sort of created that this time around. So it is interesting to see him sort of commenting on it as the spectator. But you're absolutely right. Look, there is only so much the moderators can do. The most they can hope for is to sort of control the debate, ask substantive questions so they don't get a ton of pushback from the candidates themselves and then really, look, it is a debate. It is not a forum. You have to let them go at it a little bit. [Cuomo:] I also hope people listen for what they don't hear. They are going to be asked questions. Look we know Cavuto and Bartiromo, they are at the top of the game, they know business very well. They have been doing it for years. They are going to say, so what are you going to do about taxes? Listen for what you hear about what I'll do with taxes versus how the current situation stinks and how nobody else on the stage can do it as well as they can. [Camerota:] Yeah, if you hear them laying out specifics. But Brian, that leads me to my next question and that is, it's logical for Fox Business Network to say we're just going to stick to policy. We're only going to talk about the substance. But, of course, voters also want to hear about someone's past and they like testing somebody's temperament and that makes sort of for the fireworks of the night and that's always interesting. So can the moderators really just stick to sort of the caster oil of policy? [Stelter:] I think if they do the reviews will be rather poor because people will say it was a dull debate. I think you are absolutely right that people do enjoy the fireworks. The enjoy the personality and the personal conversations about these candidates. We might all say we want substance, but the reality is some of these candidates don't even want to talk about substance. Some of these candidates, like Donald Trump, would rather talk about personality, would rather take personal shots at each other. Some of these candidates don't even have detailed economic policies published yet. So we'll see how much detail they actually want to share. But I think the difference between a good debate and a great debate would be if we learn new things about the differences between the candidates. Yes, there are some differences between these candidates' views of the economy. Not huge differences, but there are some. If we can actually see those differences on stag, if we can actually have them expressed, that will make for a successful debate tonight. [Cuomo:] Dylan, I think maybe the middle space will be that you'll hear a Cavuto or a Bartiromo, who are more than smart enough to do this, cherry pick policy positions and say, well, what would you do differently? And you've said this in the past, how would that work? Then you wind up getting to the same place, right, where a competitive advantage and who's better than whom. [Byers:] Yeah, I think that's right. And there is always the risk here that it goes too far into the weeds. Too far into policy. And look, like Brian said, there is a reason that 24 or 25 million people are tuning into some of these debates and it is not to hear a policy discussion. People do want those fireworks. So how you have a substantive debate, don't draw the criticism that cNBC drew, while at the same time creating, you know, entertaining television, that is going to be the challenge for them tonight. [Cuomo:] I'll bet my lunch money [Stelter:] The reality is, there is a civil war going on in the GOP. And these debates are our opportunity to see those battles being fought. [Camerota:] Yep. Dylan, Brian, thank you. We'll be watching. [Cuomo:] I'll bet my lunch money they get better reviews than cNBC did. [Stelter:] Thanks. [Camerota:] Wow. OK. I'm going to have to pay you that much money. [Cuomo:] And I spend $7,000 on lunch. "Good stuff" next. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I hear everybody is coming after me. I've been doing this for 30 years. I feel really good about the debate. [Carly Fiorina , Presidential Candidate:] And I don't really worry much about what Donald Trump says. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] I think he believes that he can insult his way to the presidency. [Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] I've watched this Jeb Bush, you know, Donald Trump food fight and nobody cares. [Dr. Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] And I don't think that my strategy is going to change at all. It's going to be to tell the truth. [Sen. Rand Paul , Presidential Candidate:] Running for office is combat. I'm going to mix it up because I like to rumble. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It 10:00 a.m. here at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, 1:00 p.m. in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Up first, round two, and the gloves are off. The second Republican primary debate hosted by CNN only hours away from now, and the candidates, they're arriving throughout this hour for a walk-through of the debate stage. Eleven candidates meet in the main event, that starts at 8:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. Our Correspondent Athena Jones is outside the Reagan Library here in Simi Valley, California. Athena, Lindsey Graham, the Republican presidential candidate, the senator from South Carolina, he's there. He's getting a chance to feel the stage, if you will. Set the scene for us. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Wolf. That's right. We just saw Senator Graham pull up right here. This is where all the candidates are pulling up. They'll be walking past us. We're trying to ask them, you know, how are feeling? Are you ready? I asked that of Senator Graham. I said, what did you do this morning to prepare? And he just said, I got up. I took a shower. So, that's what he said and went on by. There he is. You can see that picture of him up on the main debate stage getting the lay of the land. Each of these candidates has a chance to come in, stand by their podium, find out where the moderators are going to be sitting, the people who are going to be asking the questions. And just get a sense of what to expect tonight at the main event. Well, he is in the first event, but it is a first big event for both tiers of candidates Wolf. [Blitzer:] It's a huge event. Both of these debates are major opportunities for all of these candidates who are still in this race for the Republican presidential nomination. Athena, and just remind our viewers, they can't bring any notes with them. They can have no cell phones. They can go up there, there's a piece of paper, a notebook. They can write something when they get up there. But there is no props, if you will, to help them, right? [Jones:] No props at all. That's part of what makes this is so exciting and so unpredictable. The big question becomes not just will any of these individual candidates have a memorable moment on the positive side, but, of course, in debates past, you've had candidates who have clearly lost their train of thought, led to long pauses. There's, of course, that oops moment from now former candidate, Rick Perry, from the last cycle. So, no, the candidates have to show up. They have to be ready. They're going to have, as you mentioned, some notes note paper that they can take the notes on. And, of course, water, if they need it. But they can't bring anything with them to that stage tonight Wolf. [Blitzer:] All of the candidates will have a few minutes to walk around the stage, get a feel for what's going on. What do they have, like 15 minutes each, is that right? [Jones:] It's something like that. They're staggered so that you don't have the candidates facing off ahead of the face-offs. So, they're staggered arrivals. Each candidate has a several minutes' long window to come on up here, head up to the stage, check out where they're going to be standing and get an early view of what it's going to look like tonight. But the idea is that they're not meant to overlap ahead of time. They'll have to wait until the actual hour of their debate before they before they're all out there together Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right. Athena, thanks very much. Our Chief Washington Correspondent, the anchor of "THE LEAD," Jake Tapper, he will moderate the debates tonight. Joining him on the stage for questions, the conservative radio talk show host, Hugh Hewitt, and our Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash. Dana, what are your expectations? I know you and Hugh and Jake, you guys have been preparing, preparing and preparing. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] That the debaters are going to debate. And that and that at the end of the time here, the Republican voters are going to really have a much better sense of where the candidates stand and who they are and what they stand for. [Blitzer:] Yes, this is a debate, Hugh. [Hugh Hewitt, Host, "the Hugh Hewitt Show":] Oh. [Blitzer:] This is not a conversation. This is not an interview. This is a debate. That means, let these candidates show where they disagree on certain sensitive national security domestic issues. [Hewitt:] Exactly right. They touched gloves in the first debate. And then, mostly, they introduced themselves as though it's the first episode of a television series. Tonight, they're going to be going after each other, because it is an opportunity to put in the Republican primary voters' mind some distinction between themselves and the other 11. [Blitzer:] There's been a history, over the years, a lot of debates, where some of these candidates, they go after the questioners, as you well know. They're not happy with the question. They're they think the question is unfair. I assume all of you guys have are bracing yourself, potentially, for that. [Bash:] Hugh, you don't know what that's like. [Hewitt:] I don't know what that's like at all. You know, President Reagan, we're at his library. It's a great honor to be here. I don't think that will happen so much because of the set that CNN has constructed with Air Force One behind it. It really does add a sense of gravitas to this. And I think they'll be lowering themselves if they go after the moderator, or at Dana and Jake or Dana and I. I think they need to talk to each other if they want to impress the voters out there. [Bash:] Yes, and it's not about us. It's about them. And as much as we can make that clear by the end, I think that we will have done our jobs. [Hewitt:] Yes. [Blitzer:] But some of these candidates, as you know, Hugh, they don't like what they call the mainstream media, whatever that means. And sometimes they feel that they can score political points among some of the more conservative supporters out there if they do that. [Hewitt:] Well, they get pushback. I mean, I've interviewed them 40 times since the first debate, all of them, with the exception of Senator Paul hasn't been on since the first debate. But John Kasich is my home state governor. And he likes to punch back at me all the time and so I'm used to this. And it's not just the main stream media, it's so called, but they punch back at all media. Newt Gingrich showed there was value in that in the last cycle. So, I expect, maybe down the road but not tonight. Tonight, they have to distinguish themselves from each other, and I suspect that will be what will be happening. [Blitzer:] It's a much more intimate auditorium, [Bash:] Yes, that's right. [Blitzer:] if you will. Five hundred people in the audience tonight, as opposed to thousands in Cleveland at that first debate, and you have Air First One right behind the podium over there, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. So, that does set a tone. [Bash:] Absolutely. I was at the first debate in Cleveland and it was fascinating. But it was a very large venue, as you were we were talking about yesterday, at the arena where LeBron James plays. And it definitely felt that way. I mean, they tried to make it more intimate but there's only so much you can do when you have such a big but this is a stage that was literally built from nothing. You know, I think it's, like, 45 feet in the air. It's really to be special to be up right next to the plane that President Reagan flew on and others before him. And so, I think you're absolutely right about just the feel and the vibe in there. It's quite different than it was in Cleveland [Inaudible.] [Hewitt:] We don't want one kind of vibe. We are in earthquake territory. I live out here. And I was looking at that platform, and I was thinking, man, if we're above 6.0 tonight, we're going to have quite an interesting scene up there. But it's pretty well constructed. [Bash:] We put it together and it was definitely something that I didn't think of but it's the first thing you said. [Hewitt:] Yes, first think I said because I'm from California. [Blitzer:] So, the first debate is a much smaller debate. Four presidential candidates. That starts at 6:00 p.m. Eastern, George Pataki, Rick Santorum, Governor Bobby Jindal, Louisiana Senator Lindsey Graham. These guys have a major challenge. Now, it's going to be a good opportunity for them. They'll have more air time, if you will, because there are only four as opposed to 11 candidates on the stage. But they have to do something to break out of that second tier. [Hewitt:] You know, I asked Senator Graham last week, why was he so sad during the first debate? Because that's what Twitter said. And he said, there wasn't anyone in the auditorium. They'll be people there tonight. He's very funny, you know. He's a very funny guy. So, I think that the crowd will give them a lot more energy and someone gets a ticket off of that stage but not more than one. Maybe nobody does. But someone gets a ticket to the main stage out of that preliminary conversation. So, I expect that they will be looking for air time. [Bash:] Right. And the last time, for many of them, for all of them, particularly on the first stage with exception of Rick Perry who won't be here now, they hadn't done a presidential debate before. They had all been in public office, been in public service. They had done it on the state level but not at this level. And so, they didn't really know what to expect. And now, that first one is over, and they know what to expect. So, it I can't imagine that they haven't modified how they're going to approach it based on that. [Blitzer:] Three of those four candidates in the first debate, Hugh, as you know, Pataki, Jindal, and Lindsey Graham, not Rick Santorum so much, but those three, they've really gone after Donald Trump in the recent weeks. They've slammed him. George Pataki, the former governor of New York says, he's not even he's not ready to be president. He couldn't vote for him if he were the Republican presidential nominee. Bobby Jindal, the Louisiana governor, refused to tell me he would vote for him if he were the Republican nominee. They're really going to after Trump, but Trump's not going to be on the stage with them during that first debate. [Hewitt:] You know, I assume Donald Trump will be watching in his green room as they do that and it will get his juices flowing. And I was surprised by Governor Pataki's tweet that he would not vote for Donald Trump. That's kind of a shock to me, as a conservative, that he would say that. And I'm sure that will come up. And I'm sure that Donald Trump will be watching but so will the other 10 candidates because what really happens in the undercard is that you've set up a lot of the issues that will happen in the in the second debate. And it will not without significance what any of them say, and I assume that all the candidates will be listening. [Bash:] And, actually, let me just correct because when you said Senator Santorum, I should make clear that, of course, Senator Santorum did debate on the big stage and he won Iowa last time around. And on senator Santorum, he is somebody who is not all that thrilled with all the attention that Donald Trump is getting. And I know that, just from talking to him since, that he's eager to talk about the issues that divide the Republicans. [Blitzer:] I'm sure they will all be forceful and assertive in making their points. And some of that, the sound bites, if you will, from the first debate, they could be used to play during the second [Bash:] Sure. [Blitzer:] debate, right? [Bash:] Sure. Well, at least refer to, if nothing else. [Blitzer:] At least refer to. All right, guys, thanks very much. Good luck tonight to both of you. [Bash:] Thanks, Wolf. [Hewitt:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Much more coverage coming up as we count down to tonight's debate, including a look at Donald Trump's effect on the Republican Party. Is he alienating voters or is he drawing in people who normally would not get involved? We'll talk about that. And later, Senator Rand Paul, he's promising he'll go after Donald Trump tonight in a big way. Senator Rand Paul, he will join me live here at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California during this hour. [Stelter:] Outrage is the emotion that many citizens in Chicago are feeling right now, with some calling for the resignation of city officials after the release of this police dash-cam video. It shows 17-year-old Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by an officer who has now been charged with murder. The shooting happened in 2014. And here is how it was initially covered in "The Chicago Tribune." The headline says "Cops, boy, 17, fatally shot by officer after refusing to drop knife." So, it relies entirely on the police point of view. But the video disputes much of what was originally reported. This is a case that demonstrates why hardworking journalists are so important, especially on a local level. And let's show you why. Joining me now from Chicago, Brandon Smith, a freelance journalist who fought for the video's release, and Jim Warren, the chief media correspondent for the Poynter Institute, the former managing editor for "The Chicago Tribune." So, Jim, set the story up for you for us all. You say the local media in Chicago really blew this. You say essentially they were producing bulletin board reporting. What went wrong in the initial days after the shooting? [Jim Warren, Chief Media Correspondent, Poynter Institute:] Well, for me, the central point here, Brian, is less the video in some ways than the collective failure of journalism to do the sort of tough on-the- ground digging to pierce the official narrative in matters like this. If you think, even after Ferguson, Missouri, even after the Eric Garner case on Staten Island, we're too inclined to simply regurgitate the police blotter. Yes, we have fewer resources than we used to, but there's sort of a lack of intrepid reporting that plays out. And even this morning, my alma mater "The Chicago Tribune," one of the better regional papers in the country, has a long, righteous story calling for an independent investigation of all the failures here. Not once does it step back and say, hey, what was our role here? What was our failure in something that is really encapsulated many days, many even many nights, when a reporter gets to the scene of a shooting, probably unavoidably late. The witnesses are gone. There's the tendency to simply accept the official police narrative, and no real tendency to accept possible alternatives. I think it's a tendency one sees, all forms of journalism, Washington, D.C., covering the private sector, covering, to the extent we do, the nonprofit sector. And that is simply often being shills for established powers. So, one knocks on wood in this case, Brian, that one had a couple of folks who were just a little bit more inquisitive than us in the mainstream media. [Stelter:] And that does bring us to Brandon. Let me bring you in here. And tell us, why did you decide to FOIA for these videos? So, FOIA is the Freedom of Information Act. It's a way to try to get material from government. You decided to do that after many other media outlets didn't. Why? [Brandon Smith, Freelance Journalist:] Well, because the other outlets didn't pursue it any further when they were denied. The crucially, the FOIA statute says that there are a few exemptions where the public body doesn't have to give you the information if it falls into one of these. But in this case, the judge ruled that they couldn't use this particular exemption. They were claiming it was an active investigation against the officer. And, in particular, the judge said you didn't in the ruling, the judge said the city did not demonstrate that the investigation was going to be harmed if they released this video. And... [Stelter:] So, this was this was all about follow-up, right? This was about you following up repeatedly. And have you gotten everything you want? Are you now submitting more requests for more information? What else do you still want to know? [Smith:] There are all kinds of things that are still yet to be known in the case. The video record is incomplete. The police car that had the most clear shot of what happened is has no video publicly available. And then the audio of the on the tapes, there are five tapes released, the audio is kind of circumspect. It's very faint or missing. And one more video starts halfway through. So, we're looking for the audio. And we're also looking for police statements. My attorney and I in our suit, which is still ongoing, we're looking for statements made by all the police officers on the scene. [Stelter:] So, Jim, I have to get up to a hard break here, but I guess the takeaway is, do not take no for an answer when you're a journalist. [Warren:] Yes. [Smith:] Right. I mean, it's a tough lesson. [Warren:] Yes. I wish we were all a little bit more intrepid. You can have a huge amount of sympathy for police and the absolutely un huge burdens we place on them, to be psychiatrists, to be social workers. We ask too much of them. [Stelter:] That's right. [Warren:] But, at the same time, not so receptive to the official accounts of what happens when they are directly involved in cases like this. [Stelter:] Jim Warren, Brandon Smith, thank you both for being here this morning. [Warren:] My pleasure. [Stelter:] Coming up next here, all the news, all the analysis you need is in palm of your hands these days, which raises an uncomfortable question. Do I even need to be here? Two experts will help us explore the brave new mobile world of journalism right after this. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Hillary Clinton's campaign is more than doubling its ad spending in the final days leading up to the election. The campaign pouring an additional $18 million into advertising as polls show Clinton and Donald Trump locked in a tight race across several battleground states. The RNC is also getting into the game. It's putting up nearly $3 million in its first ad buy in support of Mr. Trump. But are these massive ad buys, well, do they pay off at all? Let's talk about that. I'm joined by Vanderbilt political science professor and negative ad expert John Greer. Welcome. [John Geer, Professor Of Political Science, Vanderbilt University:] Thank you for having me. [Costello:] Thanks for being here. So, you are an expert on these kinds of ads. And we've asked you to pick the most and least effective of the season. [Geer:] Right. [Costello:] And you chose the Clinton ad "Mirrors" as one of the most effective. Let's watch part of it. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] I'd look her right in that fat, ugly face of hers. She's a slob. She ate like a pig. A person who's flat chested is very hard to be a ten. Does she have a good body? No. She has a fat [Costello:] So, John, why is this ad effective? [Geer:] Well, it's using Donald Trump's only words against him and it's playing to a theme about about young girls, and about the treatment of women. And so it resonates with people. And the basic reason it works is because it's not exaggerating. It's, in fact, troublingly so the truth. [Costello:] OK, so on the Trump side there's an ad spotlighting Hillary Clinton's deplorables comment. Let's watch. [Geer:] Right. [Unidentified Female:] Speaking to wealthy donors, Hillary Clinton called tens of millions of Americans deplorable. [Clinton:] You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. The racist, sexist, homophobic [Costello:] So so, John, why is this ad effective? [Geer:] For the same reasons the other one was. Hillary Clinton did not, you know, do herself any favors with that comment about the deplorables, and the Trump campaign appropriately used it against it. [Costello:] OK, so I'm getting I'm detecting a theme here. So if you use the candidate's own words against them, that's the most effective kind of political ad? [Geer:] Right. I mean and these this is why negative ads are important because there providing factual information, they're showing reasons that you might not want to vote for Trump or you might not want to vote for Hillary Clinton. This is information the public needs to know. And we happen to have two very unpopular candidates, so we're going to can expect a lot of negative ads and for those negative ads on average to be pretty effective if they tell the truth and hit on salient themes. [Costello:] OK, so now for the ads that weren't so effective. The Trump campaign tried to counter criticism about Trump's experience and temperament with an ad called "Speak." [Unidentified Male:] It's a movement, not a campaign. Its leader, Donald Trump, builder, businessman, success. Doing what others called impossible. Donald Trump's priority? You. Dreaming big. Building bigger. United for family, jobs, country. Defined by freedom. Standing together. Pushing ahead. Leaving the past behind. Changing our future. Together, we'll make America great again. [Costello:] So, John, this is such an uplifting ad. Why isn't it effective? [Geer:] Well, because the problem is, it's headed it's basically going into some serious cross winds. That is that Donald Trump is not perceived by the American public to be any of those things. He has very high unfavorables. And this ad is trying to paint a picture that's just not consistent with the evidence. And so, as a result, it backfires. And that's among the reasons why we have so many negative ads in this campaign because both candidates are unpopular. [Costello:] Interesting. OK, so here's one Clinton ad that didn't work. This was by a pro-Clinton PAC and the ad is called "Speak" and it also uses Trump's own words against him. Watch. [Trump:] You know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her, wherever. Does she have a good body? No. Does she have a fat ass? Absolutely. Do you like girls that are 5'1". They come up to you, they're where? If Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her. I view a person who is flat chested is [Costello:] OK, so the "Mirrors" ad worked, so why wouldn't this one? [Geer:] Well, this is really an interesting example because it is very similar theme to "Mirrors," but it's presented in a different way and I don't think that it comes across effectively. So it isn't just the message, it's the messenger that matters. And in this case, that ad didn't work very well. And I think on average, a lot of the third party ads aren't very good because they don't have direct contact with the candidates by law. And so the candidate ads themselves, they're directly tied to the campaign. They know the kind of themes they want to talk about. And so I think this is a really great example, but it isn't just the message, as I said. It's also the way the message is presented. [Costello:] So in these last five days leading up to the election, Hillary Clinton especially, her camp is releasing a barrage of ads in battleground states. And I would suspect most of them are negative. Is that a good strategy for her since the polls have tightened? [Geer:] I think it's yes, I think it is a good strategy. I mean, everybody believes that all these ads make a difference. And if you air them in the battleground states, it should be able to turn some of some voters towards Clinton. The problem is that it's a four to one edge for Clinton right now in spending. That should make a difference. But this campaign has upended so much of conventional wisdom that maybe in fact that won't be the case. Maybe Trump's strategy of just trying to get free media coverage will carry the day. But Clinton has the money. These states are close. It's a good investment. And it's probably not the time to air positive messages because both candidates are unpopular. So keep reminding voters about why the other side is so bad and hopefully you'll get enough votes to carry an election. [Costello:] All right, John Geer, thank you so much for being with me this morning. [Geer:] Thank you. [Costello:] It all comes down to Tuesday. Election Day 2016. We'll have all-day coverage right here on CNN. And protesters and police clash outside of a Louisiana senate debate featuring Ku Klux Klan member David Duke. Protests outside the venue, an historically black college, turned rowdy as demonstrators tried to force their way inside, prompting police to begin pepper spraying students. [Unidentified Female:] For no reason. She was just standing there. They started releasing pepper spray. They sprayed a girl directly in the face with it. I was covered on my shirt, my arms, my face. There was pepper spraying [Costello:] In all, six people were placed under arrest. The group that organized the protest had requested the school excluded Duke from attending the debate. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, intense fighting inside Mosul right now with Iraqi forces enter the ISIS stronghold. [Marquez:] Welcome back. Still no plan, but there is movement within the GOP on the vow to repeal and replace Obamacare. Congressional Republicans meet privately to hear from officials leading that effort. Still, internal divisions over key components are slowing down that process. As lawmakers head home for a week long recess, where angry voters are expected to demand answers. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from Capitol Hill. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Miguel and Alison. Look, there's no question about it. Republicans just haven't coalesced around a repeal-and-replace plan like they expected. They campaigned on this issue for multiple elections now and there are real problems here. But over the course of the last couple days, we have seen them really start to work behind closed doors to try to get information out to members. Some members want to move quickly. Some would like the process to slow down. Here's what's important: those members are now going home for recess, where they're faced with town hall backlash, seven-figure ad buys by one liberal group attacking them on this issue specifically. This is why these meetings, these briefings are so important. And this is why Speaker Paul Ryan laying out an actual timeline matters. Take a listen. [Sen. Rand Paul , Kentucky:] Obamacare and repealing Obamacare was a big reason why we won the House in 2010. It's a big reason why we won in 2014. And it's still yet a reason why we won the White House in 2016. We owe this to the conservatives around the country who elected us to repeal, to completely repeal Obamacare. [Mattingly:] Now, guys, there is no question about it. There is a long road ahead. But the fact legislation will actually start moving, the process of legislating will actually start happening, that in and of itself will start assuaging some of the concerns of the members. But the reality is this, on policy, not just on politics, not just on timeline, there are clear differences inside the Republican Party still on what to do with Medicaid, on what to do with the taxes that are applied to the Affordable Care Act. They don't have straight answers on that yet. That will be with the negotiations going forward. It is a long path ahead. No question about it. But there is at least movement and we talked to Republican aides and they acknowledge that is a positive sign going into what is expected to be a rough recess Alison and Miguel. [Marquez:] All right. Thanks to Phil Mattingly. And the president has just tweeted about Obamacare saying, "Despite the long delays by the Democrats and finally approving Dr. Tom Price, repeal and replacement of Obamacare is moving fast." [Kosik:] Could he be watching CNN? [Marquez:] It is very likely. [Kosik:] Could he be watching EARLY START? [Marquez:] Although as fake news, who knows what he's watching? [Kosik:] Bite your tongue. [Marquez:] I will. [Kosik:] All right. On the heels of President Trump's news conference, the vice president heads to meet with world leaders overseas. How can he ease concerns about the administration? [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news: terror at the mall. A deadly shooting spree at a popular shopping center believed to be a terror attack. Multiple shooters are believed to be on the loose. Residents are being urged to stay indoors, as an intense manhunt unfolds. Did the killers target children? Trump's tricks. Fresh from a rousing and focused speech at the Republican Convention, Donald Trump returns to his more familiar campaign style. He lashes out at Ted Cruz and says he can keep his endorsement. Was the convention a turning point for Trump or a one- off? Announcement delayed? Hillary Clinton is considering postponing unveiling her pick for vice president in the wake of the latest terror attack, the Democratic Convention just days away. Who has she chosen and when will she reveal her running mate? We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] We're following the breaking news. At least nine people dead in a shooting at a mall in Munich, Germany. Police say a gunman may be among them. This is being treated as a terror attack. And right now police are searching the entire city and the area for multiple suspects. The city is on virtual lockdown and people are being warned to seek shelter and stay indoors as the manhunt for the killers unfold. Donald Trump has just put out a statement saying the rise of terrorism threatens the way of life for all civilized people and we must everything in our power to keep it from our shores. Trump vowed of a terror threat in his speech at the Republican Convention, vowing to restore law and order, saying he alone can keep the country safe. And Hillary Clinton's campaign is watching the situation unfold right now in Munich. But an aide tells CNN it has not yet changed plans to reveal her pick for vice president, expected at any time. We're covering the breaking news this hour with our guests, including retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark. And our correspondents, expert analysts are also standing by. Let's begin with the manhunt unfolding in Munich right now after that deadly shooting spree. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, is working the story for us. Barbara, you're learning new information. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Wolf, tonight, at this hour, authorities have no real idea who carried out the attack and what their motivation may be. As they look for additional intelligence, this major European city on edge. The killings have shut the city down. And in the meantime, the U.S. Embassy warning Americans in Munich, Germany, to take cover and to stay indoors. And the U.S. military doing a head count for all of its personnel across Europe, trying to make sure no one is in Munich and in danger. [Starr:] Covered bodies outside the Munich shopping mall. Already, German police have made one determination. [Unidentified Male:] This is a terrorism situation. [Starr:] But who is responsible is not clear, ISIS, right- wing extremists or others. Authorities brought much of the city to a halt and continued a manhunt into the evening hours. [Unidentified Male:] We believe there are three perpetrators. We have contradicting information, but up to three. [Starr:] Shooting broke out initially at a McDonald's at the popular Munich mall. Dozens of people fled, terrified eyewitnesses offering what information they could. [Unidentified Male:] I went to the one of the exits and I looked in his direction and then he shot at two people near the stairs. And I ran away. [Starr:] Some saying the gunman aimed at children. [Unidentified Female:] The children were sitting to eat. They can't run. I hear this Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. This, I know because I'm Muslim too. [Starr:] German police quickly began to assemble, warning people to stay off the streets amid the confusion of the early hours with little intelligence about what was happening. U.S. officials were awaiting an assessment from German law enforcement and intelligence services. So far, there is no credible claim of responsibility. However, one U.S. official says there has been concern for months about potential ISIS activity across Europe, attacks either inspired by ISIS or directed by operatives back in Syria and Iraq. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] It's still an active situation, and Germany's one of our closest allies, so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need in dealing with these circumstances. [Starr:] At this hour, it has to be said again there's no clear understanding of who or what group or individuals may have been behind this attack. But the U.S. government remains extremely concerned, we're told, about ISIS activity in Europe. CIA Director John Brennan has been warning for weeks that ISIS may be trying to send operatives into Europe to carry out attacks. Not clear again if that's what happened in Munich Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Barbara, thank you. Brian Todd is also working the story for us. Brian is here. Brian, we're hearing some chilling descriptions from eyewitnesses. [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Really riveting witness account from a woman we reached earlier, Wolf. What we can tell you right now is in the latest Twitter post, the Munich police said they're bringing in special forces from Bavaria and surrounding federal states as reinforcements. They are also tweeting public transportation remains disrupted. Right now, it's about midnight in Munich. We're getting just these stirring accounts from witnesses tonight. One woman who we reached on the phone from a store right next door to the McDonald's near the mall said she was inside the McDonald's there that you see just a couple of inches away from the shooter. It appears to be the same shooter seen in this video shooting people outside of McDonald's. We're only calling this woman by her name, Loretta, out of concern for her safety. My producer Dugald McConnell, who speaks fluent German, reached her this afternoon. Loretta says the shooter had her back turned had his back turned to her or she believes she would be dead right now. She was waiting for her 8-year-old son outside the men's bathroom. She said her son saw the man loading his gun inside the bathroom. She says he came out of the bathroom and started targeting children. She also gives an account of what that man said. [Unidentified Female:] I hear this Allahu akbar, Allahu akbar. This, I know because I'm Muslim too. I hear this and I only cry, screaming and take my children and go out. [Todd:] Now, Loretta got to a windowless store next to the McDonald's, she says. And that's where we caught up with her a short time ago. She hid there with her two children ages 8 and 11, Wolf, a harrowing experience for this woman. [Blitzer:] Any indication where the terrorists might be right now? [Todd:] Police say they assume the attackers are still in Munich, Wolf. They're conducting a citywide manhunt tonight. They have stopped all train and subway service. They are asking drivers to clear the highways. But police do say they have had alerts in other areas, Wolf. This remains a very, very fluid situation. And as we said, it's right now just after midnight in Munich. The cover of darkness, late at night. You don't know who is out there. People are asked to stay in their homes, stay in shelters, but it's a huge city. And it's late at night. [Blitzer:] Shelter in place. That's what they're telling everyone in Munich right now. Brian, thank you very much. Let's get some more on the breaking news. Retired U.S. Army General Wesley Clark, a former NATO supreme allied commander, former Democratic presidential candidate, is joining us now. General, thanks very much for joining us. These gunmen reportedly still on the run. Munich police are saying it looks like a terror attack. How dangerous is this situation right now? [Wesley Clark, Former Nato Supreme Allied Commander:] I think it's more dangerous than one could anticipate because normally these people self-destruct. And that's bad if people are nearby, but in this case maybe they're not. Maybe they have decided to try to hit another target. This was a pattern in San Bernardino, you may remember. The gunmen got away and then they were caught. These people could be miles away. They could be in a different community. They could be hiding with accomplices. This is a really critical period of time. I hope the German intelligence authorities really do have complete electronic coverage of this area. They need to be looking at social media. They need to be looking obviously at cell phone transmissions and everything else to try to determine who was communicating with whom at this time and where they are now. And it can be done. [Blitzer:] I assume, General, you spent a lot of time in Germany. You were the NATO supreme allied commander. You know your counterparts, the German counterparts. They are very good in this kind of stuff, aren't they? [Clark:] They're terrific. The German authorities are very, very confident. They are very well-equipped. They do have a standard of information sharing and information collection, and whether they have gone far enough and enough intrusiveness to be able to really identify people and have the kind of electronic coverage of cell phones they need, I assume they have, but who knows. We're going to find out, I think. [Blitzer:] The shooting took place at this McDonald's right at this major shopping mall in Munich. Do you believe that Americans might have been targeted? State Department now warning all U.S. citizens in Munich to shelter in place just like the German government, the Munich police are warning everyone in Munich to shelter in place. [Clark:] Even if Americans weren't specifically targeted, McDonald's is a symbol of America. So, it could serve a dual purpose. You can hit a symbol of America. You can kill children if that's who he was targeting. And you can create even more havoc. What we haven't seen yet in the news media, Wolf, is why do German authorities believe there might be three shooters? That's what we haven't seen. And maybe there's some information coming on that. [Blitzer:] That's because eyewitnesses have described three individuals, three shooters who look different, were at different locations. That's why they are suggesting, General, there may be three shooters. There are nine bodies they found at that mall. They think one of them possibly could be one of the shooters. But that's why this manhunt is still under way, because eyewitnesses have given various accounts of who the shooters might be. There is pattern though unfolding. If in fact it's ISIS we don't know if it's ISIS or al Qaeda. You don't know. It might be right- wing terrorists who are opposed to all the Muslim immigrants who are coming to Germany right now, whether from Syria or Libya or Iraq. But there's clearly a heightened state of alert in Europe right now. That's totally understandable, right? [Clark:] That's exactly right. And there should be, because we know the cells that were in France and Belgium were also in Germany. There were connections to some of these people. Some have been arrested. And we have to look at every one of these tragedies as also an opportunity to go back and roll up networks. And so police and the military have got to move very, very quickly on this. And obviously any information that the United States can share, electronic or otherwise, we will obviously be doing that to help our German friends. But there's Austria nearby, there's Italy nearby, there's Switzerland nearby. Everybody has to be working this. [Blitzer:] Germany has been on a heightened state of alert since Monday when an Afghan refugee in Germany, a 17-year-old, started stabbing people on a train with an axe, screaming out Allahu akbar throughout, claiming he was ISIS-inspired. ISIS later claiming responsibility for the attack. The fear right now is what just happened at the shopping mall could be connected. Do you believe it possibly could be connected? [Clark:] I believe it's probably ISIS-inspired and it may be ISIS- directed. We will know more as we look at the behavior of the gunmen. But typically the ISIS people who have been inspired have not survived the incident. This sounds like something different. It sounds like a more determined effort to sow confusion and create havoc in Germany and maybe elsewhere, so new tactic. [Blitzer:] General Clark, stand by. We have more to discuss. There's other information coming into THE SITUATION ROOM right now. Much more with the former NATO supreme allied commander right after this. [Blitzer:] In war-torn Syria, one Christian community is rebuilding, at least trying after being occupied by al Qaeda fighters. Residents still fear for their lives after jihadist groups threatened to wipe them out. Our senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, has this exclusive report. [Fred Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] "Jesus loves you no matter how you feel, these children sing at a religion class in Maaloula, Syria's most famous Christian town, which was occupied by Islamist militants for six months. Several townspeople are still missing. "I want things to be better, like they were before and for the kidnapped people to come back," 7 year old Gabriella says. Similar words from 8-year-old Barla Hamoon "I want Maaloula to be better and more beautiful than it used to be," she says. "Shocking, their reaction when I ask how many of them have had to flee their homes." Islamist rebels, led by al Qaeda's wing in Syria, Jabhat al Nusra, invaded Maaloula in late 2013. This video by one of the groups allegedly shows a suicide blast that took out the checkpoint to the village. The rebels kidnapped 12 nuns from a convent. It took more than six months of intense battles to oust them. But scars remain. This is the convent and shrine, or what's left of it, a warning to Syria's Christian community. [on camera]: While some buildings here in Maaloula have been restored, others remain exactly like this, completely destroyed and mostly burned out. And of course, many people who live in this town ask themselves whether Christianity still here a future here in Syria. [voice-over]: Syria is home to one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. Maaloula is the last place where the Aramaic that Jesus spoke is still in use. But groups like ISIS have vowed to oust the Christians from this land. This member of Maaloula's city council shows me just some of the priceless icons that were damaged or looted, especially the most ancient ones. [Josef Saadi, Maaloula City Councilman:] They stole it, and then they fire the other. [Pleitgen:] They burned it? [Saadi:] Burned it. [Pleitgen:] As we left Maaloula, a Christian song was playing on a loudspeaker system in the entire town a sign of defiance from a Christian community that hopes the children, learning about their long heritage in Syria, will have a future in the land of their ancestors. [Blitzer:] Fred is joining live from Damascus. Fred, how serious is the threat against the Christian communities remaining inside Syria? [Pleitgen:] It certainly is very serious, Wolf, especially is you look at groups like ISIS. ISIS has essentially told the Christians here in Syria they have three options, convert to Islam, leave Syria or be killed. That's the three things ISIS put on the table for them. Then you have other rebel groups in Syria as well who accuse the Syrian Christians of siding with the Syrian government of Bashar al Assad. But the fact of the matter is most Christians aren't siding with any side. They simply want to be left alone. But they do see the old status quo as the best chance for survival. At this point in time, we were in that ancient Christian community, they're remained defiant but there has been some attrition already. We were just seeing in that report that Maaloula is one of the last places in the world where they speak the ancient Aramaic of Jesus Christ. There was also an institute in Maaloula where they taught the Aramaic of Jesus Christ. That institute has now closed because the head of the institute has fled Maaloula. So certainly, the Christian community here is already taking some hits, feeling the heat, especially from Islamist groups right now. They say they want to be defiant, but it's not easy for this very ancient religion in this land Wolf? [Blitzer:] Can they get out? We know that hundreds of thousands of Christians, whether this Iraq, Syria, they fled. What about those who remain right now? What are the prospects of them fleeing, if you will? [Pleitgen:] Well, you know, it's difficult. Some of them certainly have already fled and some have fled their ancestral homeland, like Maaloula, and some come here to Damascus hoping to find a safer place here. And some, quite frankly, have fled the country. There are some organizations helping especially Christians to get out of Syria and get them to places line Europe or like the U.S. But certainly, it's difficult. And you know, if you look at the Christian community here, Wolf, they don't feel like they're guests in this land. They say they're an integral part of what makes Syria what it is, and so many of them don't want to leave at this point in time. But certainly, the prospects are dimmer with every day of the conflict, especially since there doesn't seem to be an end in sight Wolf? [Blitzer:] I think you are right, unfortunately. Fred Pleitgen, excellent reporting for us from Damascus. Thanks so much, Fred. A group of American heroes honored today by President Obama at the White House. Hear what he had to say about these Medal of Valor recipients. [Barnett:] A warm welcome back to those of you watching all over the globe. This is your last half hour of CNN Newsroom. With that, I'm Errol Barnett. [Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. It is time to check the headlines for you. And Russia's aerial bombardment of Aleppo will be the focus of a meeting of the international Syria support group Thursday. The U.S. is pressing for a ceasefire in the hopes of reviving peace talks that faltered early this month. A diplomatic source says Russia is proposing a ceasefire for all sides to begin March 1st. [Barnett:] A South Korean source tells CNN, Pyongyang has executed a high ranking North Korean military leader for, quote, "factionalism, misuse of authority, and corruption." That source declined to give further details on how or when the general Ri Yong-gil was executed. Ri's execution is the latest in a string of high profile deaths in North Korea. [Church:] Emergency relief officials say two female suicide bombers killed at least 58 people at a camp in Northeast Nigeria. The camp houses people displaced by the terror Boko Haram. There were apparently three bombers, but one, we understand refused to detonate her vest when she realized her family was there. [Barnett:] Iran's President, Hassan Rouhani is marking the 37th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. These pictures are coming to us at least is a live pictures we're showing you right now. The president has been speaking to a large crowd of people there in Tehran. On Wednesday, Iran supreme leader pardoned more than a thousand prisoners as is tradition. It has been a big 24 hours in the U.S. race for president. Donald Trump of course is riding high from his win in New Hampshire and he's carrying that momentum into South Carolina. [Church:] The state's primary is a week from Saturday. At a rally Wednesday, Trump went after two of his familiar targets, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] The last thing we need is another Bush. That I can tell you. That I can tell you. [Barnett:] Now Trump's competition in the republican field is shrinking. Chris Christie is ending his White House bid after a disappointing sixth place finish in New Hampshire. He was once seen as a potential frontrunner, but he says he leaves the race without an ounce of regret. [Church:] And Carly Fiorina is also pulling out of the race. She was the only woman in the republican field and finished second to last in Tuesday's New Hampshire primary. [Barnett:] But there's still plenty of candidates left. Meanwhile, John Kasich and Jeb Bush are trading blows off to coming in second and fourth respectively in the New Hampshire primary. CNN's Dana Bash has more. [Dana Bash, Cnn's Chief Political Correspondent:] John Kasich arrived in South Carolina basking in the glow of his strong New Hampshire finish. [John Kasich, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] But what I celebrated last night was the army of volunteers who had really delivered the victory. [Bash:] To be sure, Kasich was a distant second behind Donald Trump, but he finished first among republicans vying for the mainstream mantle, leaving the GOP field even more scrambled, and Kasich preparing for political incoming. [Kasich:] I'm not going to be a pin cushion or marshmallow but I'm also not going to spend my time trying to trash other people. [Bash:] It's a fine line for Kasich whose calling card in New Hampshire was his upbeat campaign. [Kasich:] When you spend all your time trying to drag somebody else down, maybe people have had enough of it. [Bash:] And yet, Kasich sources tell CNN a key goal in South Carolina is to damage Jeb Bush who needs a strong Palmetto State showing to survive. [Unidentified Female:] Quite a few of us here in this room attended the Kasich town hall. [Bash:] Today, a South Carolina voter team Bush up for a pre-emptive strike against Kasich. [Unidentified Female:] How would do differentiate yourself from Kasich? [Jeb Bush, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] I like John Kasich. He has been an effective governor. [Bash:] Bush took the opportunity to hit Kasich on a weak spot with conservative voters that the Ohio Governor accepted federal dollars to expand Medicaid under Obamacare. [Bush:] Did the governor was for expanding Medicaid, which is part of Obamacare. [Bash:] Even before Bush left New Hampshire he went after Kasich on defense spending, a big issue in military rich South Carolina. [Bush:] John Kasich also has this belief that you can, you know, save money so much that you can't you know, that on a net basis you don't have to increase defense spending. It's not I don't think that's an honest evaluation of the needs of the military right now. [Bash:] Team Bush already cut this anti-Kasich web video. [Kasich:] I spent a whole career trying to reign in defense spending. [Bush:] We need to rebuilt the military. [Bash:] Sixteen years ago, George W. Bush used South Carolina to turn his primary campaign around, and is still popular with republicans. Jeb is hoping to capitalize on that. [George W. Bush, Former U.s. President:] There's no doubt in my mind that Jeb Bush will be a great commander-in-chief for a military. [Bash:] Meanwhile, Marco Rubio's campaign is hoping that Bush-Kasich battle gives him time to recover from a devastating fifth place finish in New Hampshire. [Marco Rubio, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Our disappointment tonight is not on you. It's on me. [Bash:] Rubio sources tell me they hope Kasich's battle in South Carolina with Jeb Bush helps Rubio. Because for Rubio the name of the game is climbing back to where he was perceived to be just a few days ago, and that was the establishment favorite. But that was before he plummeted in New Hampshire. Thanks in large part to bombing in Saturday night's republican debate. Now Rubio says he really had no idea how bad it was on stage. It wasn't until he got off, he saw social media, talked to his aids, that's when he started to get it. Dana Bash, CNN, Washington. [Church:] Well, fresh off his New Hampshire win democratic candidate Bernie Sanders had a busy Wednesday. [Barnett:] Yes. And it included a stop on the late show with Stephen Colbert. They've talked about health care and jobs and of course, Sanders helped Colbert out with his monologue. [Stephen Colbert, The Late Show:] But Senator, this show is supposed to start with a host standing up talking to a camera. [Bernie Sanders, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Stephen, that's what the elites want you to think. [Church:] Senator Sanders made a few other stops after talking New Hampshire. [Barnett:] That's right. Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has more on that and what's ahead for the candidate. [Sanders:] Tonight, we serve notice to the political and economic establishment. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Reporter: Bernie Sanders claiming a big win in the New Hampshire primary taking a victory lap on the view tasting the ice cream named after him, Bernie's yearning... [Sanders:] It's the first time I taste it. [Unidentified Female:] You did? Did you like it? [Keilar:] ... and showing off his basketball skills while also looking to expand his appeal to a broader swath of the Democratic Party. [Sanders:] There's a lot of hard work in front of us, but I think the message that we're bringing forth that this country is supposed to be a nation of fairness and we're not seeing that fairness right now. [Keilar:] Sanders is also firing back at former President Bill Clinton for recent attacks like this. [Bill Clinton, Former U.s. President:] When you're making a revolution you can't be too careful about the facts. [Keilar:] Sanders trying to appear above the fray. [Sanders:] I was disappointed by President Clinton. I've known him for 25 years and I like him and I respect him. And I hope that this campaign does not to generate it into really kind of... [Unidentified Female:] But he's fighting for his wife. [Sanders:] Yes, I understand that. [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Sanders:] But nonetheless, let's keep it on the issues, not making personal attacks. [Keilar:] Sanders' New Hampshire victory is also proving to be good news for his campaign coffers, hauling in $5.2 million in the 18 hours after the polls close Tuesday night. As the democratic primary fights enters in new phase, Sanders faces a new challenge making inroads with the African-American voters. A crucial constituency in states like South Carolina, which holds its primary later this month. Part of Sanders' stepped-up outreach a meeting today in Harlem with the Reverend Al Sharpton. The civil rights activist saying afterward he'll wait until he meets with Hillary Clinton next week to pick a candidate. One South Carolina poll showed Sanders trailing Clinton by 57 points with black voters, a sign of his uphill climb. But that was taken before Clinton's narrow win in Iowa and Sanders' decisive victory in New Hampshire. Following last night's stinging loss, Clinton said she's ready for a long fight. [Hillary Clinton, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] And here's what we're going to do, now we take this campaign to the entire country. We are going to fight for every vote in every state. [Keilar:] One day after defeat in the state that delivered Hillary Clinton such a sweet victory in 2008, she spent the day taking it easy preparing for the democratic presidential debate hosted by PBS here at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. [Barnett:] We called upon two of our sharpest CNN political commentators to discuss the race ahead. Van Jones on the left of your screen. So, the former adviser of President Obama supporting democratic in general; and on the right you see Jeffrey Lord, a former Reagan White House political director supporting Donald Trump. I will keep the peace from the middle. Welcome to you both. [Jeffrey Lord, Former Reagan White House Political Director:] And that is right. He is on the left and I'm on the right. [Barnett:] That's exactly right. Literally and figuratively. [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] That's exactly right. [Barnett:] Now it's getting exciting now. Trump is being pushed to get specific on what policies he would enact if president I just want you both to listen to some of the pressure coming from the campaign trail. [Rubio:] Hard thing about Donald in the short-term is he didn't have any policy positions. He tells you what he's going to do but he won't tell you how he's going do anything. [Ted Cruz, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] The only way to beat Donald Trump is to highlight the simple truth of his record. It is not conservative. [Barnett:] And Cruz also is now coining this phrase calling Trump's bid a sign failed candidacy because it's about nothing. Jeffrey, when are those specifics coming? [Lord:] Well, there are specifics out there. I've written a book on which I've included several of them on veterans, on immigration, on health care I believe is in there. I mean, he's quite specific on some of the things. I mean, it is just your basic political stuff that they want to do. I understand why do it. This is what primaries are about. [Barnett:] I know you've got quickly ignore that phone call coming in. Van, let me ask you, what do democrats make of the Donald Trump's factor at the stage because at this moment, he's both a certified winning candidate and the typical political rule book does not apply to him. Is that scary for democrats? [Jones:] Well, right now it's very shocking to see the republican establishment completely falling apart incapable of stopping essentially a celebrity landlord from running rushes out over their party. And frankly, running rush out rush out over a lot of America's most cherished values. I mean, here's a guy who would fit very comfortably in Europe with some of the very, very right wing also photo fascist parties in his attacks on immigrants, his complete disregard for the basic rules of civil discourse. And yet, he seems to have found a place inside of the Republican Party. And frankly, if you look at his numbers from New Hampshire, lots and lots of different types of republicans for some reason like this guy. I think he's a very, very dangerous force in American politics. My hope is that republicans responsible republicans will get their act together and stop this guy, if they don't do it democrats will do it in the fall. [Barnett:] And speaking... [Lord:] Of course, I feel the same way about Bernie Sanders. [Barnett:] Well, let's speak about what's happening with democrats and Bernie Sanders because they are arguing over specifics on how they will address the concerns of African-Americans now that we're moving toward South Carolina. Most African-Americans there are going to polls do support Hillary Clinton, but Bernie Sanders is making a strong play and raising tons of money. Van how much work does he have to do, though? [Jones:] I'll let my good friend, Mr. Lord, take his shots at Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders were in Europe, though, he just would be a run of the mill social democrat. It's only in United States where those terms. [Lord:] It could be a run of socialist. [Jones:] He would be a social democrat they would probably call him in Europe. That said, Bernie Sanders has some very significant weaknesses when it comes to African-Americans and Latinos in the United States not because his policy doesn't appeal to them but because he's been the senator of a very, very white state, Vermont, and has not spent the past 10, 20, 30 years reaching out beyond that state to build a national constituency. As we all know the Clintons have been doing relentlessly for decades. They have a big, big head start among African-Americans. I think that Bernie Sanders can close that gap, at least in part, but he's going to have to work very hard. [Barnett:] And Jeffrey, Donald Trump has said African-Americans like him because he can do something about jobs, typically the unemployment rate for minorities is higher than the national average. But will we see some of that support coming out for him in South Carolina? [Lord:] I don't know that you'll see it in South Carolina because I'm taking a wild guess here that a good part of the African-American community in South Carolina will be voting in the democratic primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. But in the general election that's another situation all together. Errol, I have to say I find it vastly amusing to listen to Senator Sanders and Hillary Clinton debate and they're complaining about how terrible things are. And he's been the United States senator all this time for the last seven years and she has been the Secretary of State and President Obama has been in the White House. So, if they're in complete charge, why is everything so terrible? And the answer is that they keep moving the country left and these things don't work and that's why people are upset. So, that's why I think Donald Trump stands a chance of improving on the African-American vote in the fall. [Barnett:] All right. I appreciate you both. Our dynamic CNN political commentators, Van Jones in Chicag, and Jeffrey Lord in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Thanks, gentlemen. [Lord:] Thank you. [Barnett:] Now while the Clinton and Sanders campaigns prepare for the next democratic contests the candidates themselves are getting ready to go head to head against each other. We'll bring you the PBS News hour democratic presidential debate on Friday at 8 p.m. in Hong Kong, 9 p.m. in Tokyo only here on [Cnn. Church:] And after this very short break, Twitter made a grim announcement about its performance Wednesday and the stock market reacted quickly. [Barnett:] And Vogue a name open summers with fashion and style. See how the magazine's British version is celebrating its 100 birthday. Back in a moment. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] This morning, Hillary Clinton goes before the House Benghazi Committee. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Four two-hour rounds of questioning. I really don't know what to expect. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] She will have more experience with congressional hearings than most of the people there. [Unidentified Male:] It looks like some sort of medical emergency. It's not an accident. [Unidentified Female:] Concession in a fatal road rage shooting. [Gorden Eden, Albuquerque Police Chief:] This is a complete disrespect of human life. [Veronica Garcia, Mother Of Lilly Garcia:] And she's going to be missed by a lot of people. [Unidentified Male:] And strike three called! We haven't been to the World Series since 2000, and the Mets are on their way back. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] The theme this morning is destiny. You've got the Mets looking forward in baseball. You've got Hillary Clinton and this Benghazi Select Committee. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] I thought you were over that. [Cuomo:] It's kind of obvious in front of us this morning. Good morning to you. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, October 22, 6 a.m. in the East. And there's just no way else to say it. Today is a big day. Hillary Clinton's campaign for president, the state of political play, both may well change in status, after the former secretary of state testifies before the controversial House Benghazi Committee this morning. What do we know to this point? What is Clinton responsible for in the security lapse that led to the deaths of four Americans? And is this committee able to conduct a fair search for answers? We're going to tackle all of these questions in a moment. [Camerota:] OK. But, we begin with breaking news for you. The manhunt is over. Authorities in New Mexico arresting a man who has confessed to gunning down a 4-year-old girl during a road rage incident. Police say the suspect opened fire on a pickup truck, killing Lilly Garcia in the backseat of her father's truck. CNN's Ana Cabrera has all of the breaking details for us. What have you learned Ana? [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Alisyn. Authorities say it was an anonymous tip that ultimately led them right to their suspect. He was taken in for questioning without incident and then arrested more than 24 hours after that fatal road rage encounter that's now left a family shattered. [Cabrera:] Breaking overnight, the lengthy manhunt in New Mexico ends with an arrest in that heartbreaking road rage that left 4-year-old Lilly Garcia dead. [Garcia:] She just grabbed your heart. The first ten minutes you met her, she would grab your heart. And she's going to be missed by a lot of people. [Cabrera:] Now 32-year-old Tony Torrez is in police, custody thanks to an anonymous tip. Police say Torrez confessed to killing Lilly on westbound Interstate 40 in Albuquerque Tuesday afternoon. [Eden:] This should have never happened. This is a complete disrespect of human life. [Cabrera:] The deadly encountering unfolding over two miles. Two vehicles cutting each other off on the highway. The drivers exchanging words. Moments later, shots ringing out. Torrez pulling out a gun and opening fire on the red truck Lilly's father Alan was driving. [Caller:] I'm not sure what's going on. There's a red Ford F-150 in the center median. And it looks like some sort of medical emergency. It's not an accident, but there's an adult holding what looks like an unresponsive child. [Cabrera:] A fatal gunshot to the head striking Lilly, who was in the car next to her 7-year-old brother, picked up from her second day of school. [Unidentified Female:] The caller is advising his daughter is breathing. [Unidentified Male:] 10-4, and that was the one with the head injury? [Unidentified Female:] That's 10-4. [Cabrera:] Lilly was rushed to the hospital where she was later pronounced dead. [Gov. Susana Martinez , New Mexico:] I just can't express how sad it is to know that something as simple as going down the freeway, and your child dies because of road rage. [Cabrera:] Torrez is now accused of murder, child abuse, and several other charges. He's currently being held on a $650,000 cash only bond Alisyn. [Camerota:] What a tragic and terrible story, Ana. Thank goodness, they have a suspect in custody. Now to our other top story. Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton expected to face a grilling this morning when she testifies before the House Benghazi committee. What will they ask her? CNN senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar live in Washington with the preview. What are we expecting, Brianna? [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] We're expecting many unanswered questions. That's what Republicans will say. Democrats will say they've all been answered by seven previous congressional investigations. The goal here, according to the GOP chairman of this committee, Trey Gowdy, is for this to be the final and definitive accounting, investigation into what happened during this 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi. But Democrats who support Hillary Clinton say this is just a political hatchet job. And a new poll shows that the public is more inclined to agree with Democrats. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I really don't know what to expect. [Keilar:] This morning, just hours away from Hillary Clinton's highly anticipated Benghazi hearing... [Clinton:] They ended up becoming a partisan arm of the Republican National Committee. [Keilar:] A new CNNORC poll reveals the public agrees with the Democratic frontrunner. Seventy-two percent believe the investigation is being used for political gain. [Rep. Kevin Mccarthy , Majority Leader:] We put together a Benghazi special committee. A select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. [Keilar:] Two numbers of the GOP seemingly admitting to as much. [Rep. Richard Hanna , New York:] This may not be politically correct, but I think that there was a big part of this investigation that was designed to go after people. [Keilar:] But committee Chair, Republican Trey Gowdy, strongly denies he's playing politics. [Rep. Trey Gowdy , Chairman, Select Committee On Benghazi:] I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about it. [Clinton:] Was it because of a protest? Or was it because of guys out for a walk one night and decided they'd go kill some Americans? [Keilar:] That anger and frustration palpable in Hillary Clinton's last testimony before Congress more than two years ago. [Clinton:] What difference at this point does it make? [Keilar:] A moment likely still fresh in the minds of the Republican- led committee members. [Unidentified Male:] Madam Secretary, you let the consulate become a death trap. [Keilar:] Yet after three years of accusations, seven investigations, thousands of pages of e-mails and hours of testimony, Republicans say they still have unanswered questions. On September 11, 2012, Islamic extremists overran the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, setting it ablaze and then storming the nearby CIA annex, killing U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, as well as an information officer and two former Navy SEALs. But is Clinton ultimately to blame for the terror attack and deadly security lapse? That's what some Republicans say is still unknown. [Clinton:] With specific security requests, they didn't come to me. I had no knowledge of them. [Keilar:] Now, this committee, the Benghazi Select Committee, is the one that uncovered Hillary Clinton's sole use of private e-mail and the fact that she housed her e-mail, stored her e-mails on a private server in her New York home. But one of the aims of this of this committee hearing is to question Clinton's judgment. Also what you heard there in the last 2013 hearing, on why this mission was not more secure. Republicans say it's a very valid question. Democrats say that this is something that has been asked and answered Chris and Alisyn. [Cuomo:] All right. Well, there's certainly very much two sides to this, maybe three sides to this, Brianna. So let's take a look at it right now. We're going to bring in David Roth, the founder of Correct the Record. That is a pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC. And we have Ben Ferguson, friend of the show, CNN political commentator and the host of "The Ben Ferguson Show" here on NEW DAY. Gentlemen, as you both know, we use the use arguments, not insults, and everybody gets a chance to speak. So, let's begin with you, Mr. Ferguson. Lay out the argument for why this hearing is necessary today. [Ben Ferguson, Cnn Political Commentator:] Families still don't have answers to what happened that night. They were told they would were going to give be given answers from Hillary Clinton. And then they've been locked out of the answers that they want. And they believe that this matters, because their loved ones died. It's really that simple for them. And I think for Trey Gowdy, I think it is that simple. You want to find out what happened and where there were lapses and why was there not better security on the anniversary of 911. Why was there this made-up story afterwards, that this happened because of a video on YouTube, which was not true? Why was it that people couldn't answer their call and their request for help, and these at the time of need, before they died. If you're a mom, you don't care about the politics of this. You buried your son, who was serving this country. And you deserve to get better answers than "No one will call me back and no one will talk to me." With the argument, they said, "Well, you're not direct family." You birthed a child, for goodness sakes, and you buried your son. That's not a good enough answer for that mom. And that's what I think this matters for Trey Gowdy. [Camerota:] OK, David. You heard there Ben lay out the three sort of overarching questions the Republicans don't think have been answered. Why wasn't there better security? Why was there this story about the video? Why wasn't there a quicker response? Do you believe that those have already been answered? [David Roth, Founder, Correct The Record:] Yes, they absolutely have been. This is a discredited and illegitimate investigation. We know that seven congressional committees and an independent statereview by the State Department all concluded all answered those questions. They answered many more. And they all concluded that Secretary Clinton had no wrongdoing in this matter. So she's being brought up here and the questions that have asked have already been answered, except for ones that are political cheap shots. [Camerota:] Hold on. [Roth:] In a sentence, what is the answer? Why wasn't there better security? Well, look, the security arrangement is ultimately the responsibility of the ambassador on the ground, as all these inquiries have found. And so... [Camerota:] But Ambassador Stevens was asking for more security. [Ferguson:] He requested more security. [Roth:] There was a security lapse here, and that's just what the prior investigations have found. But that has nothing to do with hauling Hillary Clinton back in... [Ferguson:] Are you blaming... [Roth:] No, no. [Ferguson:] Are you blaming the ambassador for his own death? [Roth:] No, no. I'm saying the Republicans in their own words have said this is a partisan exercise, just trying to drive down Hillary Clinton's poll numbers and to show her to be, quote Kevin McCarthy made up a name untrustable. And that's what's going on here. It's an outrage, and it's an abuse of power. [Ferguson:] The outrage is the fact... [Roth:] It's an abuse of power... [Ferguson:] The outrage is the fact, David, that you just said that the ambassador... [Roth:] ... by Congress, by the chairman... [Cuomo:] Hold on, hold on, hold on. We can't hear when both speak. [Roth:] If the chairman cared about the families, maybe he would have gone to some of the hearings that they scheduled that are actually on the merits of Benghazi. [Camerota:] OK. Hold on, David. Let Ben let Ben respond to what you say the answer to the question is. [Ferguson:] David, you just said the person on the ground that's in charge of security, you're blaming or you're saying the person who's in charge of security on the ground, who requested more security, multiple times is a guy who is a dead ambassador. And you're saying it's his fault. And you're saying to a mother who buried her son, who was on CNN yesterday, that basically, "We gave you answers. And if you don't like them, tough luck, because the ambassador is dead and your son's dead." And you're saying this is political and that's your answer? [Roth:] I'm not saying it's political. The Republicans in their own words have admitted that this whole thing is political. And if a chairman of the they really wanted to know the answers here, some of the hearings he scheduled that are on the questions they're asking. Maybe he would have shown up for, instead of only going to the ones where he could score political cheap shots. [Cuomo:] Hey, Ben, obviously, when someone has passed, you change the analysis in terms of what their accountability is. The man is gone. His family has to deal with that. That's going to cloud the analysis, any way you look at it. The point here is, is this committee necessary, based on everything that's been said before? There was a nice little hit piece put out on me before by our friends on the right, saying that everything that I asserted in any interview yesterday, about that the secretary has talked about the threat; she's talked about her responsibility; she's talked about what she knew and what she didn't know are lies, like it never happened. Four people were dismissed from the State Department on recommendation because of their failure to act in this situation. How come they're not focusing the focus of this hearing? [Ferguson:] Because, I think you see that there was more time spent on the cover-up and the time spent on putting out a false story, and a false idea that this was all caused by some random guys, to quote Hillary Clinton, walking down the street, wanting to kill some Americans. And she said, what difference does it make? Well, it makes a big difference... [Cuomo:] Ben Ben, you just you just laid out very eloquently the emotional pull of these families to get answers, and they had to delay. And you're not direct family. And if you don't like their answers, that's fine. Four people got dismissed for this. They are not the subject of this committee's investigation. Why wouldn't you talk to those guys if you want these answers? [Ferguson:] Because I think you look at the people that put out the narrative afterwards to cover their rear end in leadership. You hold those accountable in leadership. Unlike what your guest said, which he said hold the ambassador accountable who, by the way, is dead. [Roth:] The secretary took responsibility. [Ferguson:] ... requesting multiple times security. The secretary did not take responsibility. [Roth:] Yes, she did. [Ferguson:] She threw a story out there that was a lie. [Cuomo:] David, did the secretary take responsibility? [Roth:] The lying here is by Trey Gowdy, who has misled the public, put false information into the press. Lied to his own members of Congress when they tried to frame... [Ferguson:] You still believe they're dead because of a YouTube video? You actually are saying that today going into this thing. You believe all the people that died in Benghazi was because of a YouTube video? [Roth:] Of course not. There's no evidence that there was any deliberate attempt to mislead the public, and we've looked at this time and again. If you're so outraged, why don't you denounce the Republicans who raised money off this? [Camerota:] I just want to bring up some of the polls. These are just out this morning, and they talk about the public's perception of the Benghazi committee. And it's not, David, exactly what you're saying, that the public thinks that this is all just ginned up for political reason. If we can pull up P-3, have the Benghazi hearings gone too far, the GOP gone too far with the Benghazi hearings? Now, 40 percent say no. Handled appropriately, 51 percent. Believe that it was handled appropriately. So more people think that the Republicans are trying to ask questions, then, that they're overreaching David. [Roth:] Well, there's a question in that poll that shows that even most Republicans believe there's partisan motivation here. And on whether the committee has gone too far, people are still learning now. It's only been very fresh in the news what's really going on here. We had a whistle-blower from this committee, a conservative Republican, say that he was fired for refusing to try to frame Hillary Clinton. And then the committee went out and trashed their own employee, breaking the law, doing that. So the real accountability here and the one who really should face the music is Trey Gowdy and the rest of the Benghazi hoaxters, not Hillary Clinton. [Cuomo:] So here's the problem with this, Ben. Ben, here's the problem with this, and I will demonstrate it with other statistics. I hear what you're saying on this. And there's no question that how this started led to where we are right now. I'm not just saying the incident; I'm saying how it was handled. You know, a lot of critics of Hillary Clinton are saying it's an analogy to the e-mail situation. That it's not what it ultimately became, but it's how it started that motivated it. But look at the numbers here, you know, if we're going to talk polls. Is it about political gain? Forty-nine percent of the GOP says that it's for political gain. This is overall, 72 percent say it. But if you break it down by party. Put that one up; that's P-2. Forty- nine percent of the GOP says, see, that's the problem here, is that the idea that it's just about finding facts isn't is it here's my question to you: is it fatally compromised by the fact that it's being conducted in a political sphere? [Ferguson:] Well, look, in politics, it's always things always are termed political. When you have this many members of Congress and the Senate, they're going to use everything they can to their advantage, some of them will, for whatever their reason is. But let's look at the real issue, and that is not look, I don't think it should be political. I want to make that abundantly clear. And there's still questions that need to be answered. And I think Trey Gowdy is doing this in a way that is going to at least get some sort of closure for those families. And make it very clear the time line of the four and the response after and why lies were told and misled stories about what happened on that night. I also think it's other one other important issue with Hillary Clinton. The issue that was asked and one of the poll numbers said more than 60 plus percent of Americans say they're dissatisfied with the way that Hillary Clinton has handled Benghazi. Among independents... [Cuomo:] Fifty-nine percent. That's the number. [Ferguson:] That is a big issue, 69 percent. [Cuomo:] Fifty-nine. Fifty-nine percent. But it's a big number. [Ferguson:] Well, it's a very big number. And the reason it is, is because people do not feel like Hillary Clinton is trustworthy. The same reason why they don't trust her on e-mails. The same reason why they have issues of trust is because she doesn't answer questions to a mother who asked about why her son died that night. It's that simple. [Camerota:] Ben, David, you have laid out perfectly for us and previewed the fireworks that we will be seeing starting at, I believe, 9 a.m. this morning, when the committee gets under way. Thanks so much. [Cuomo:] And we'll have you guys back after this. Because the after analysis is very important. Because we're going to have to make sense of this. And you're going to have a lot to make sense of. We're going to have complete coverage, because it matters, and you've got to cover it completely. Nine-thirty eastern. They could question Clinton for as long as eight to ten hours. [Camerota:] All right. Meanwhile, Donald Trump now topping national polls for 100 days straight. And with a little more than 100 days to the Iowa caucuses, Trump is beefing up his ground game there, making a big push to court evangelical voters. CNN's Athena Jones is live in Washington with more. What's he doing, Athena? [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Alisyn. This has been remarkable to watch. Trump has had incredible staying power in the race so far. You hear a lot of people talk about how, in 2012, Herman Cain and Rick Perry held the lead at different points and didn't end up being the nominee, a point Jeb Bush has been making. But none of them were on top for 100 days. And of course, as you mentioned, voters in Iowa Trump was campaigning yesterday, trying to appeal to white evangelical voters, who are a very important part of the GOP electorate there in Iowa that make up the majority of Republican caucus goers. He made a clear attempt to appeal to them yesterday, when he talked about his Christian faith. And also the need to bring back the phrase "Merry Christmas." Take a listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I'm a good Christian, OK? Remember that. And I told you, about Christmas. And I guarantee, if I become president, we're going to be saying "merry Christmas" at every store. The "happy holiday," you can leave that over in the corner. [Jones:] So a clear attempt to appeal to those folks who feel like there's a war on the word "Christmas." Now, as for Trump's standing with white evangelical voters, this is a group where he faces some stiff competition from Ben Carson. In our latest poll, the CNNORC poll, it shows that Carson leads Trump by two points nationally, you can see there. That is well within that poll's margin of error. I should mention that Trump skipped an opportunity to appeal to a huge crowd of evangelical voters at a forum outside Dallas this weekend at a megachurch. Carson was there. So was Cruz, Bush and others. And one more thing I should tell you about the religious front. Carson also said in an interview with FOX Business News that he would, quote, "look at closing mosques," if they are, quote, "loaded for bear." By which he apparently meant if they're a threat Chris. [Cuomo:] Carson or Trump? Trump said that, that he'd look at closing the mosques, right? [Jones:] That's right. It was Trump. Excuse me. [Cuomo:] You know, got to keep it straight. Got to keep it straight. People confuse one for the other all the time, Athena. It's not you. All right. We'll check back with you in a little bit. We also have breaking news out of Sweden. A masked man with a sword attacks a school about five hours southwest of Stockholm. Authorities confirming at least one person dead, four injured. Those numbers are early. Police say the suspect has been shot. Serious condition. We don't know more about that yet. Information is coming in. We're reporting on it. When we get it, we'll give it to you. [Camerota:] Well, Congressman Paul Ryan's demands to take the speaker's job have not yet completely been met. Ryan's bid to become House speaker just did get the backing of a majority of the conservative House Freedom Caucus. However, that falls short of the caucus's 80 percent threshold for a formal endorsement. Ryan is forging ahead anyway, hoping the backing of two other House caucuses to continue his quest to succeed John Boehner. [Cuomo:] It's a tricky one. You got 70 percent, a super majority. But they need 80 by their own rules. [Camerota:] Right. [Cuomo:] But then the leadership came out and said, "We support him, but we don't endorse him." [Camerota:] He doesn't meet the threshold. So what will he do about that? [Cuomo:] All right. So New York is headed for greatness once again. The Mets on their way to the big, big dance. They swept the Chicago Cubs. It's got to be said, they had a great season. They got closer than they have in a very long time to this. Let's get to Andy Scholes joining us now. Andy, is Daniel Murphy the best player ever? That's what Mets fans are asking this morning. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports:] Good morning, guys. Yes, it's hard to put in words how amazing Daniel Murphy has been in the postseason. This is a guy, Chris, who's never hit more than 14 home runs in an entire season. And after taking one deep last night, he's now homered in six consecutive games, which is a postseason record. He's got seven overall during the playoffs. Just an incredible run by Murphy. His latest bomb coming in the eighth inning last night. It made the score 8-1. Another insurance run for the Mets right there. Murphy was your NLCS MVP. And this was a crazy stat. The Mets never trailed the Cubs at any point in any game during this series. They would complete the sweep with an 8-3 win in game four. And they're now going back to the World Series for the first time since 2000. [Daniel Murphy, Nlcs Mvp:] It's such a blessing to be able to contribute to what we've been able to do. I really can't explain it. It's just it's just a complete blessing. That's the only way I can describe it. And I can't explain why the balls keep going out of the ballpark, but they do. And we keep winning ball games, which is the most important part and the clueless part. [Scholes:] And the Mets now will now wait for the winner between the Royals and the Blue Jays. K.C. leads that series in three to two. Game six is going to be Friday night in Kansas City. And guys, with four great arms Harvey, Degrom, Syndergaard, Matz the Mets, they're going to be tough to beat in the World Series. [Cuomo:] We were having a very different conversation here, which was actually much more interesting. [Camerota:] Andy, they were quizzing me. He said, "Do you even know where the Mets play?" I said, "Yes, Shea." [Cuomo:] Shea Stadium. [Scholes:] It's now Citi Field, but... [Camerota:] Yes. Also, I remember one time, I was telling my husband where I'm going, I said, "I'm going to Shea Stadium." I spelled it "S-H-A-Y." He was like, who are you? [Cuomo:] Yes, yes. Well, it's very close. [Camerota:] Thank you. [Scholes:] Learn something new every day, Alisyn. [Cuomo:] It's going to be very exciting for the city. You know, I'm a Yankee fan. But it's great to see them get there. You know, the Mets, they're kind of like Jets fans, Mets fans. Usually if you're a fan of the Jets, you're a fan of the Mets. Jets, Mets, both play in... [Camerota:] They rhyme. [Cuomo:] And they're both very beleaguered franchises, so the Mets have done, arguably, much better than the Jets have done. [Camerota:] Even I get this conversation. I understand. [Cuomo:] Even you know that the Jets suck. That I actually did know. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is on top in the polls for three months running now. But his closest rival, Ben Carson, may have the edge when it comes to the evangelical vote. What will Trump do to neutralize that edge? [Trump:] I hate the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis with what's happening, you have to. You know, this was started by President Obama when he didn't go in and do the job when he should have, when he drew the line in the sand, which turned out to be a very artificial line. But you know, it's living in hell in Syria. There's no question about it. They're living in hell. [Cuomo:] He doesn't like the concept of it, but on a humanitarian basis, he has to do it. That's Donald Trump not referring to going back on Fox News, but on dealing with the migrant situation, the crisis that's going on in Europe. Now some see this as a change of heart because of what he has said about the domestic immigration program. So how do you reconcile that? He also made a controversial statement about the Black Lives Matter movement. He's having an event today about Iran and there's new information about him in polls. So let's get somebody to weigh in on all of this who know Mr. Trump very well on his positions. Executive Vice President of the Trump Organization, special counsel to Mr. Trump himself, Michael Cohen. Counsel, good to have you here. [Michael Cohen, Executive Vice President, Trump Organization:] Good morning. [Cuomo:] Yes, he's talking about migrants, but let's we'll get to that. The criticism, one criticism of Donald Trump is, you know, the way you talk about the blacks, the way you talk about the Hispanics and immigrants, you cannot win those votes. You're saying polls show otherwise. Make the case. [Cohen:] They sure do. There's a new poll that just came out that shows Mr. Trump actually substantially head of any other Republican ever at 25 percent with the African-American vote and 31 percent with the Hispanic vote. And again, we've been saying this going back to the July 17th event where Mr. Trump announced his candidacy. This is not Hispanics, it's not about Latinos, this is about illegal immigration and everybody agrees and it clearly shows that in the polls. Mr. Trump is right. [Cuomo:] Now, something else that we've seen in polls, while they do say he's ahead, there's a large part, maybe more than 50 percent, of his own party that says Trump is not the guy I want as a candidate. How does he move from where he is into the realm of the moderate Republicans and then the independents, as many of our viewers are. [Cohen:] Mr. Trump is going to be Mr. Trump. There's no doubt about that. He's going to say what's on his mind and he's going to back it up. And again, the polls show that he's correct. He signed this pledge that, in all fairness, they never should have had anybody sign the pledge. It's the first time, I believe, ever [Cuomo:] To not run as a third party. [Cohen:] That is correct. [Cuomo:] Why did he do that? [Cohen:] Because it was right for the party. Because they turned around and they told him that they were going to play fair and he's taking them at their word for it. [Cuomo:] But what if they don't? What if they get to the convention and it's tight [Cohen:] I believe that they will. I believe that Mr. Trump will end up being the Republican nominee. I believe that the support by the American people will force the RNC and others within which to back him. And that's part of the pledge. And supposedly even though I didn't see it anybody else I mean, Mr. Trump had a massive press conference. Nobody else knows if anybody else even signed it, though I was told that they did, that they agreed to support whoever the Republican candidate is. And it's going to be Mr. Trump and we're going to expect their support. [Cuomo:] A pledge is a nonbinding contract. He could break it. Is there a chance? [Cohen:] He could break it and so could they, but Mr. Trump doesn't break his word. [Cuomo:] So you're saying there is zero chance he runs as a third party candidate? [Cohen:] I would say that there's pretty close to a zero chance. [Cuomo:] You lawyers, Michael Cohen. [Cohen:] Yeah, you, too. [Cuomo:] When we need one I like this. But right now I don't need this. So you're saying close to zero, but you're keeping a little window. [Cohen:] Well, you have to keep a window Nothing is 100 percent certain. But I can turn around and tell you Mr. Trump never breaks his word. [Cuomo:] All right. So that's that situation. Now let's see how he gets to this point of having to make a decision like that. The Iran deal today, he's having a meeting, Ted Cruz is going to be there, they've been loosely allied in the past, we know that. Why is he having an event where he wants to talk about Iran in a productive way and he's got the "Duck Dynasty" guy there, Sarah Palin there, Glenn Beck there. It seems like he's catering to a very definite perspective. What's he trying to say [Cohen:] I don't think he's catering to anybody. I think that they asked to come to the event and he's not going to turn anybody away. Their vote is as important as anybody else's. Their voice is as important as anybody else's. You know, Mr. Trump, he's a deal-maker. Let's be honest. We talk about this in every show. He's [Cuomo:] Written books about it. [Cohen:] "Art of the Deal," right The Iran deal, as Mr. Trump has said, is probably the worst deal in the history of this world. And it's one that I believe we're going to regret many years from now. [Cuomo:] But you know that the global consensus, certainly in Europe and beyond, is that this was better than no deal. Nobody's ever happy when you make a deal with someone who's not your ally. You had Russia, you had China, you had India saying we're not for these sanctions going forward. We want the commercial opportunities here. It's easy to say I could do better, but all the people at the table, including the Iranians, say we had to give things up we didn't want to give, but it's better than no deal. [Cohen:] What did they give up? They're taking $150 billion from the United States. [Cuomo:] The sanctions don't get given up right away. There is monitoring. They don't get to refine plutonium the way they wanted to. They have to reduce their stores in a way they didn't want to But you had nothing in the past. You had nothing in the past. [Cohen:] I don't think we're going to have anything either right now and I think that's the sad part. When you have the ayatollah turn around and say in 25 years from now, Israel will be wiped off this planet, that they will no longer exist That's America's ally. You got to be true to your allies. You have to be good to your friends. You can't just turn around and take a foreign country that we really have not had great relations with and put them ahead of those that we have. It just doesn't make sense and that's Mr. Trump's point. He's the greatest deal-maker on the planet. This is a lousy deal. And when he wins the president, you're going to see, he'll change this deal. He will renegotiate this deal. [Cuomo:] But he talked about the situation with migrants. Here he wants to find all the illegals and get rid of them. People say it's impractical, let alone potentially impossible. But then he says, well, this humanitarian crisis, we've got to do something here. It's terrible. Why doesn't he apply the same logic to so many who come to this country from Central America in the same way? [Cohen:] One could turn around and say one is an immediate humanitarian need, the other are individuals who are seeking to come to the United States improperly. They're seeking to just walk through a border and call this place home. [Cuomo:] A window into the fact that this is a little bit more of a complex issue than maybe he laid it out as first, that it's not as easy as saying all or none. You know, that you have to think it through. [Cohen:] Well, again, I don't think we really know the extent of the problem. And only until Mr. Trump becomes the president and actually gets into the White House where he can look at the deal and understand the deal and then he could revise the deal in order to make it work. That's what he does and that's what he does best. [Cuomo:] Michael Cohen, thank you for coming on to clarify the positions. All right. So NEW DAY tomorrow 7:00 hour, Donald Trump joins us live. He says he wants to explain how he is going to put proposals into business. And he wants to discuss his issues directly to you. We invited Hillary. We invited Jeb Bush. Donald Trump is the one who said yes. You'll get him tomorrow. Mick. [Pereira:] We look forward to it. So violent crime is rising in New York as police and their use of stop-and-frisk. The mayor says those two facts simply aren't related. We're going to get him to explain live ahead. [Romans:] Swiss authorities raising the terror alert after getting a tip about a potential terror attack. Police patrols ramped up in Geneva this morning. The tip came from U.S. intelligence. Investigators are searching for ISIS operatives. I want to bring in CNN's Alexandra Field monitoring the latest for us live from London. The search for ISIS influence has been all over Europe. Do we know if they think the operatives are in Switzerland now? [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] They cannot say definitively whether or not these operatives are within the Swiss border or moved on. What they believe is these are people who traveled to Syria and returned to Europe. What this development means is it adds to the list of people that officials are looking into over the Paris attacks. We saw raids in France and Belgium and now the active investigation in Switzerland. This began after U.S. officials shared information that they have been monitoring conversations with extremists who talked about attacks in Toronto and Geneva and even Chicago. At this point, officials suspect they are part of a network which also involved a well-known ISIS recruiter who is believed to have recruited one of the attackers who blew himself up during the attacks at the Bataclan Theater in Paris. This is why officials believe that these suspects could be so potentially dangerous. Again, Christine, they are not aware of whether or not these people remain in Switzerland or if they could have moved on. There is more information that officials are looking at which led them to raise the alert level through Switzerland and Geneva, and that is this, an associate of Salah Abdelsalam, has reportedly crossed into Swiss territory at some point. That is, of course, raising additional concerns for Swiss officials Christine. [Romans:] This is U.S. intelligence raising the initial concern for officials in Switzerland? [Field:] Right, information that has been flagged by U.S. officials that has been shared with Swiss officials. This information has to be shared for French and Belgium authorities and also U.S. officials at this point as they try to ferret out anyone who could have been connected to the attacks. We know that along with Salah Abdelsalam, authorities are still looking for one man who was seen with Abdelsalam two days before the attacks and two other men who were seen with him two months before the attacks Christine. [Romans:] Information sharing that has to happen and apparently is happening. Alexandra Field, thank you for that, from London. [Kosik:] This morning, divers resume searching a lake in San Bernardino looking for evidence in the terror attack that killed 14 people. The FBI believes the male gunman, Syed Rizwan Farook, had ties to a group of local jihadists. Four of those men arrested in 2012 for trying to join al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Officials are telling CNN that Farook was in the social circle of one of the men, [inaudible], a Jihadist recruiter who is now serving 25 years in prison. Also there is new information about some of the guns used in the attacks. Federal sources tell the "L.A. Times" that Farook asked his neighbor, Enrique Marquez, to buy the two assault rifles because Farook feared he would not pass a background check. The AR-15s were bought in 2011 and 2012 right around the same time Marquez said he and Farook were considering a different terror attack. More on the FBI investigation now from CNN's Kyung Lah in San Bernardino. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Alison and Christine, FBI dive teams have been painstakingly searching this lake bit by bit. There is a report that the two killers were spotted here at this park on the day of the massacre. The FBI not specifying whether that report was before or after the massacre, but they say they will search this lake looking for any evidence. Law enforcement source telling CNN what they are specifically looking for are any missing items. Items that were not in the apartment that they are very curious about specifically a hard drive that is missing, that is one item that they are looking for. They spent several hours here expected to resume the search at daybreak Alison and Christine. [Romans:] Thanks for that, Kyung. Now let's see what is coming up on "NEW DAY." Chris Cuomo joins us this morning. Good morning, Chris. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor, "new Day":] Good morning, ladies. How are you both this morning? Happy Friday to you. [Kosik:] Can't be happier. [Cuomo:] We will talk about the GOP. They are bracing for the idea that 50 primaries and caucuses may not settle who gets the nomination for president. You have a big field and you have Trump to deal with. Supposedly the intelligence within the GOP are not happy about it. There have been meetings about a brokered convention. They have to go in to Cleveland and basically make a deal. Who do you think would have an advantage about deal making? Donald Trump said he would. He said the disadvantage is this is a bit of a rigged game because all these guys know each other. Of course, that is getting ahead. We will dive into the latest poll numbers that show clear shifts in what is going on in the GOP field. Now, one of the names that is not popping in the poll, but still resonating around the country is Carly Fiorina. We will talk to her this morning about what she sees going on with Donald Trump within the party and with some of the names that popped up. Why Ted Cruz and not her? We will talk to her about it. Also the terror threats emerging at home and abroad, we will talk about the need to really share intelligence and what has to change after San Bernardino. That is what we have, my friends. [Kosik:] A lot going on. Thanks, Chris. [Romans:] Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer gives birth twin girls and reignites the maternity leave debate because she is going to be working again very soon. We will have an EARLY START on your money next. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, breaking news: Rick rolled. Cruz campaign communications director Rick Tyler forced to resign over a false ad targeting Marco Rubio, Cruz and Rubio in a bitter race for second as Donald Trump heads into Nevada's caucuses with a very commanding lead. Who will come out of it as the strongest Trump alternative? Out of the kitchen. John Kasich stumbles and gets called out on a tone-deaf remark about his women supporters. He quickly apologizes, but has the damage already been done to his struggling campaign? I will ask him when he joins us live this hour. Shooting spree. An Uber driver on a rampage, killing six people at multiple locations, taking fares in between. Now he's charged with murder as investigators comb his past for clues. What was his motive? Cease-fire failing? The U.S. and Russia announce a plan to reduce the bloodshed in Syria, but there's growing skepticism about the deal, even before it goes into effect. With ISIS on the offensive and not part of the agreement, is there any real hope for the thousands of civilians whose lives now hang in the balance? We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] We're following the breaking news. Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz firing his communications director on the eve of Nevada's Republican caucuses. Rick Tyler forced to resign after tweeting a false story about a false story about Cruz rival Marco Rubio insulting the Bible. With Cruz and Rubio at war with each other, Donald Trump heads into tomorrow's caucuses the odds-on favorite following his overwhelming win in the South Carolina primary, where he picked up all 50 of the state's GOP delegates. We're also following the shooting spree in Michigan. An Uber driver now charged with six counts of murder, accused of targeting random victims in multiple locations and driving customers in between the killings. We're covering all that and much more this hour with our guests, including Republican presidential candidate, the Ohio governor, John Kasich. And our correspondents and expert analysts, they are also standing by live. But let's begin with the surprise developments in the Republican race for the White House. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is in Las Vegas for us tonight. Sunlen, some political drama, this on the eve of the caucuses there. What's the latest? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. This is a huge shakeup within the Cruz campaign. Senator Cruz has just fired his communications director, someone who is one of his top allies in his inner circle of his campaign, fired over spreading false video about Marco Rubio over Twitter. The Cruz campaign tonight very much in the middle of a storm. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] This was a grave error of judgment. [Serfaty:] Ted Cruz is in cleanup mode, demanding the resignation of his communications director, Rick Tyler, after he distributed a video that falsely depicted Marco Rubio dismissing the Bible. [Cruz:] It turned out the news story he sent around was false. But I'll tell you, even if it was true, we are not a campaign that is going to question the faith of another candidate. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] It's part of a pattern. [Serfaty:] Earlier today, Rubio called foul on the Cruz campaign for what he said were dirty tricks. [Rubio:] Every single day, something comes out of the Cruz campaign that's deceptive and untrue and in this case goes after my faith. And no one is ever held accountable. [Serfaty:] Trump is seizing on this staff shakeup to slam his rival, tweeting quote "Wow, Ted Cruz falsely suggested Marco Rubio mocked the Bible and was just forced to fire his communications director. More dirty tricks," as he takes a South Carolina victory lap. [Trump:] We won with everything, tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people, just won. [Serfaty:] Meanwhile, despite saying last month that Rubio is eligible for the presidency... [Trump:] He was born here. It's definite. He was born on the land. [Serfaty:] ... Trump now raising some doubt, retweeting a message suggesting otherwise. [Trump:] I'm not really that familiar with Marco's circumstance. [Serfaty:] But Rubio brushing it off. [Rubio:] I'm going to spend zero time on his interpretation of the Constitution with regards to eligibility. [Serfaty:] John Kasich is in Virginia today taking a shot at Rubio. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] I didn't have a script. I didn't have a teleprompter. [Serfaty:] But that unscripted style is getting him into hot water over comments about his support among women during his first run for state Senate in the late 1970s. [Kasich:] We just got an army of people who and many women, who left their kitchens to go out and go door to door and put yard signs up for me all the way back when, you know, things were different. Now you call homes and everybody is out working. [Serfaty:] Earning him a rebuke from one supporter. [Unidentified Female:] First off, I want to say your comment earlier about the women came out of the kitchen to support you, I will come to support you, but I won't be coming out of the kitchen. [Kasich:] I got you. [Serfaty:] At his next stop, Kasich attempted to clean up his remarks. [Kasich:] I don't run around with all these notes as lots of people do. I'm real, and maybe sometimes I might say something that isn't artfully said as well as it should be. [Serfaty:] Back on that shakeup with the Cruz campaign, the Rubio campaign tonight very clear they want to push this even forward after that firing was announced. They came out with a new statement, this from Alex Conant, spokesman for the Rubio campaign, saying quote "There's a culture in the Cruz campaign from top to bottom that no lie is too big and no trick is too dirty. Rick did the right thing by apologizing to Rubio. High time for Ted Cruz to do the right thing and stop the lies" Wolf. [Blitzer:] Strong words indeed from Alex Conant. All right, thanks very much, Sunlen, for that. With Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio fighting for second place in Nevada, Donald Trump heads into tomorrow's caucuses the clear GOP favorite. CNN's Jim Acosta is in Las Vegas for us. Jim, the Trump campaign expecting another victory tomorrow night. What are you hearing? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. And I think we had a first here today. For once, the story of the day is not all about Donald Trump. One day before the Nevada caucuses, Trump is milking this feud between Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. He's been tweeting about it all afternoon. We can throw one of those tweets up on screen. It says quote "Just saw the phony ad by Cruz. Totally false. More dirty tricks. He got caught in so many lies. Is this man crazy?" Why is that important to Donald Trump? Because he's been harping on this since Iowa, when Ted Cruz was accused of dirty tricks against Ben Carson. Now, as for the campaign here in Nevada, Trump is riding high in the polls. The latest polls show he's way out in front of his nearest rivals in Nevada. So, it's no surprise he's conducting just an abbreviated campaign in this state, only holding two rallies, including one here in Las Vegas later tonight, another one in far-off Sparks, Nevada, tomorrow before the results start rolling in tomorrow night. Wolf, his campaign is confident about its chances, but this is a caucus. And his advisers are well aware that Trump did not perform as well as the polls were indicating in Iowa. They have to be careful not to be too overconfident about they might do here. They still have to get out the vote, get out those caucus-goers, Wolf. [Blitzer:] A lot of work to do before tomorrow night. All right, thanks very much for that. We're waiting to speak live with John Kasich. He's going to be joining us momentarily. We will get to that interview as soon as he is there. But in the meantime, I want to bring in our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, our senior political commentator the Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker" magazine Ryan Lizza, our senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and CNN political commentator Ana Navarro. Ana, you were a Bush supporter. He's dropped out. I know you are friends with Marco Rubio. Can we say you are now a Marco Rubio supporter? [Ana Navarro, Cnn Contributor:] Look, Wolf, I think what you can say is that I'm licking my wounds. I was incredibly emotionally invested in the Jeb Bush campaign. You have to understand that that wasn't just a candidate to me. He's been my friend my entire adult life. I want to wait and see what he does. And, look, give me a couple of days to rebound. It's not as easy as going from one spouse to another. It's never a good idea to go right into another relationship after a divorce. [Blitzer:] All right, fair enough. Gloria, you have interviewed John Kasich. [Navarro:] That's family counsel from Ana Navarro. [Blitzer:] All right, good words. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Good counsel. [Blitzer:] Gloria, you have spent some time with John Kasich. We're going to be speaking with him live fairly soon. He says it's really for all practical purposes a four-man race right now. [Borger:] He does. [Blitzer:] He eliminates Dr. Ben Carson. There's still five Republicans running. Is it a three-man or a four-man race? [Borger:] I have talked to a lot of Republicans. There are some who would just wish that John Kasich would get out of the way so that they could consolidate behind Marco Rubio. The establishment is running to Marco Rubio. But as one Republican said to me today, he said, look, John Kasich has a strategy here. And he said to me, look, you cannot have a conversation with John Kasich without understanding that he has got a plan, and this campaign to him is a crusade. It's a crusade about the kind of politics he wants to see in this country and he can go down a plan. He's not Ben Carson. Ben Carson is hanging around. We don't know why. Maybe it's to stick it to Ted Cruz a little bit with those evangelical voters. We don't know. Kasich is saying it's a four-man race. His plan is, I'm going to win in Michigan. There are a handful of Super Tuesday states I might be able to win. We're going to get to Ohio, winner take all. I'm the governor. We will have to see. So I think there is a plan there. Not everyone is convinced it will work, however, except John Kasich still is. We were all surprised that Rick Tyler was fired today by Senator Cruz, his communications director, for this false story about Marco Rubio supposedly not believing in the Bible or whatever. You must have stunned by that too. [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Contributor:] Yes. I was stunned by him actually having to resign, to be honest. We're in the political season where these kind of things just have not been as big a deal for the front-runner, Donald Trump. Right? If this had happened to Donald Trump, he would have given the person a raise rather than asking him to resign. But I think it's a sign frankly that Rubio excuse me that Cruz's campaign is a little bit rattled by Trump and Rubio constantly calling him a liar. That word used to be a red line in politics. Marco Rubio couldn't call Ted Cruz a liar on the Senate floor. His remarks would have to be taken down. And they every day out there are accusing him of the L-word. And I think Rick Tyler had to fall on his sword, because this plays right into that argument against the campaign. [Blitzer:] Donald Trump calls Ted Cruz a world-class liar, not just a liar, but a world-class, the worst liar he says he's ever seen. Those are strong words, Nia. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] That's right. And even Ben Carson Ben Carson hasn't used the L-word, but also was questioning Ted Cruz's believability and his honor and integrity. And, remember, Ted Cruz's banner says "Trust Ted." Right? So, they went right after that. And I think it's done some real damage. And he here in throwing Rick Tyler overboard is really trying to tamp down on some of that damage. I reached out to Ben Carson's campaign, because they have been calling for someone to get fired. They said a day late, a dollar short. [Henderson:] Yes. Right. It wasn't over them. [Blitzer:] That's basically what the Rubio campaign says as well. Go ahead. [Borger:] Yes. Look, the calling card that Ted Cruz has is, I'm the values candidate. If you look at the exit polls, it shows that that is the area in which Ted Cruz excels better than any other candidate. But a close second is Marco Rubio. And if he loses that voters who vote on ethics and values and social issues, then where is he? He's nowhere. He had to stop the bleeding. [Blitzer:] It's interesting, Ana, that Donald Trump, as we all know, had earlier raised questions about Senator Cruz's eligibility to be president, because he was actually born in Canada. But now he's turning his sights on Marco Rubio's eligibility potentially because he was born in the United States, but both of his parents were Cuban immigrants to the United States, did not have U.S. citizenship at the time. He was born in 1971. What do you think of this latest development? [Navarro:] Oh, I think Donald Trump is on very thin ice. I think it's not going to work. Look, Marco Rubio was born in Miami. And I know there's a lot of people in the United States who might think Miami is the closest Latin American country to the United States, but, no, we're actually part of the United States. Marco Rubio was born American. And I will tell you, nobody can speak as pretty as Marco Rubio about being an American, the American inspiration story, American exceptionalism. So if Donald Trump challenges him on being an American, Marco Rubio, who is incredibly articulate, incredibly poetic, I think is going to respond in a very vigorous way. And if I were Donald Trump, Donald, don't go there. Don't give Marco an opening because he's going to shut you down and shut you down very well at a debate on that. [Blitzer:] He retweeted Sunlen's tweet on that, as you know, Gloria. But Marco Rubio is getting picking up a lot of endorsements from Republican establishment, more members of the U.S. Senate and others as well. Presumably, this is going to help him. [Borger:] And former members of the U.S. Senate like Bob Dole, for example. That's worth, what, a vote. But, look, I think it's not the endorsements. We have learned in this campaign that endorsements don't matter. The question is where does the money go? Follow the money. Right? And some of the money will no doubt go to Marco Rubio. But Jeb Bush, I'm told, has not given a signal yet as to who he's going to endorse. I'm told there are a lot of hard feelings still between the Rubio and Bush camps because of their Shakespearian fight that they have had. Some money could go potentially to Kasich. Kasich is looking for some Bush money. In Texas, Cruz could get some Bush money. But it's the money that Rubio is looking for. [Blitzer:] It's interesting, Ryan. Hold on, Ana. It's interesting that's money is important, but Jeb Bush and his super PAC, they had more than $100 million and it didn't exactly work out for them. [Borger:] Right. [Lizza:] Yes, money is not everything. Donald Trump has proved if you can keep your face on the media full-time, that you don't need to buy television ads. I think this race is very simple. Either the Republican Party rallies around Marco Rubio as their last chance to defeat Donald Trump, or Donald Trump is going to be the nominee. And Kasich is going to have to make a decision very soon about whether he wants to be the person that allowed Donald Trump to be the nominee or the person that fell on his sword and got out of the race. [Blitzer:] All right, guys, everybody, stand by. Once again, we're standing by also to speak with Ohio Governor John Kasich. We're going to get his thoughts on what's going on. He's a Republican presidential candidate. Much more right after this. [Lemon:] Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed a so-called religious freedom bill this week. He says it protects "sincerely held religious beliefs and more convictions of individuals, organizations and private associations. Critics are blasting the law as legalized discrimination. So, joining me now CNN's Polo Sandoval. Polo, good evening to you. Some say this is a victory for religious freedom, others call it discriminatory. What's the mood like there? [Polo Sandoval, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, absolutely. We have to remember that the ink is still drying on this. The governor still signed it yesterday so people are still reading it over. They're still trying to understand the legalities involved here. So, you'll find very different views, very opposing views here in Mississippi tonight. And also different takes on the law, different interpretations. Even some of the legal experts that we've spoken to are still unsure whether or not this will only affect LGBT individuals or perhaps have wider effects. Perhaps the unmarried couples living together or single mothers as well. But what we do know, especially after reading this bill over and over again Don, is that there are obviously effects when it comes to people working in the wedding industry, deejays, florists, bakers, et cetera. Now, people living in those industries now have the would now be able to refuse service for same-sex couples and not of course not face potential punishment by the state. [Lemon:] Polo, you spoke to two business owners with different views on this bill. What did they tell you? [Sandoval:] Yeah, well one is them is the Kake King as he's known around here. Jeromie Jones, he's a baker, in fact he says that he is the only black baker in the state of Mississippi according to him. He sighted market research. He traveled around the state checking in on different bakeries. And really his take is quite bit of a disappointing tone. He told us he's obviously quite upset with this law being passed. In fact, he's been the subject of discrimination before and now he fears that the passage of this law may now even lead him to move out of his native state. Take a listen. [Jeromie Jones, Bakery Owner:] We have to pretty much pick up and move everything just because I don't feel like that we're ever going to be appreciated here for who we are. We're never going to be looked at as equal. [Sandoval:] Again, that's Jeromie saying that, again, he is the only gay black male baker in the state of Mississippi according to what he's learned so far. And then of course you have the other side of the coin here, too, Don. There's who are glad to see this now become a law, including a seamstress that we caught with who works with brides on a regular basis. And she told us that she would never knowingly take part in preparing a wedding dress for a bride that would be taking part in a same-sex marriage. We asked her if she were to find out if one of her customers was in fact planning to take part in a same-sex marriage, this is what she told us. This is how she would handle it. [Jackie Buchanan, Owner Seamingly Perfect:] I haven't ran into a situation where there were, you know, two brides or whatever the case may be. But f that should happen, I would take a stand. I think Christians should take a stand on their beliefs. [Sandoval:] So again, you just heard there from Ms. Jackie Buchanan. In her own words, she would respectfully decline and that's what she's asking fellow business owners to do in light of the passage of this law. But I can tell you, Don, before I let you go, is that the conversation, the debate is far from over here in Mississippi tonight. [Lemon:] Before we let you go Polo, I mean this bill is the latest in a wave of religious discrimination laws against the south since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, but this one has specifically strong language. What exactly does it say? You mentioned bakers, and people in the wedding industry, but what exactly does it say? [Sandoval:] We started speaking to legal experts immediately after the governor signed this and even before and what really set this apart is directly under section 2, which sets apart three specific items that would be protected here, different religious views. That is that marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, that sex is only for heterosexual married couples and that a person's sex is fully decided upon birth. And that is why so many people are taking issue. Again, supporters of this, including the state's governor saying that this is simply protecting people's rights, but then you speak to people like the baker that we spoke to today and they will tell you this opens the door wide open and sets things up for discrimination. [Lemon:] Polo Sandoval, thank you very much. Reporting from Jackson, Mississippi. Joining me now to discuss this, representative Steve Holland of the Mississippi House and Roger Severino, the director of the Heritage Foundation DeVos Center for Religious and Civil Society. Good to have both of you on this evening. Thanks for joining us. Roger? [Steve Holland, Mississippi House Representative:] Hello, Don. [Lemon:] What do you say to those who say it's discriminatory? [Roger Severino, Heritage Foundation Devos Center Director:] I think they're mistaken. The bill actually answers a fundamental question. Are we going to be a society that believes in live and let live where multiple views of marriage can actually co-exist or is it going to be winner take all where judges and government will take ne view of marriage then you view and coerce religious people and institutions to come along under penalties, under fines and revocation of tax exemption? And Mississippi has said no, we're going to respect freedom, we're going to respect tolerance for dissent and protect people like Barronelle Stutzman, a 70-year-old grandmother florist from Washington who was fined not because she refused to serve people... [Lemon:] With all due respect Roger, this goes... [Severino:] ... it was about marriage ceremonies. [Lemon:] With all due respect, this goes beyond marriage. It talks about sexual relationship. It talks about, you know, gender and all that. It goes beyond marriage. Listen, I have to ask you with all due respect, it sounds likes the same argument for Loving versus Virginia, which was decided years ago between, you know, people of two different races. What's the difference here? [Severino:] Well, I disagree. I think race is entirely different. I was at the civil rights division for the Department of Justice for seven years. I enforced our anti-discrimination laws. This is a passion of mine and this is entirely different. This is entirely about religious freedom. It is tailored very specifically to the wedding context [Lemon:] For religious freedom was also used in Loving versus Virginia as well. They said that the bible says it was against two people of different races marrying. [Severino:] Yes, and race is different. This has nothing to do with race. And in fact, the words sexual orientation appear nowhere in this bill. This is in response to an act of a Supreme Court decision that overturned the will of the people around the country and redefined marriage for everyone including Mississippi that had a constitutional amendment that said marriage is a union of one man and woman. It's the same belief that President Obama had as recently as 2012. [Lemon:] Okay, I want to get Representative Holland in. You're a Democrat in a conservative state. Why did you come out against this bill? Could it cost you? [Holland:] Well, I guess it could cost me. I'm not worried about that cost because I believe strongly in what I believe in and I've been that way for the 33 years that I've served in the Mississippi House of Representatives. But I don't know why we need government sanctioned discrimination. That is just that simple to me. Our state of all the states in the nation has a sordid history and we tried some of us have tried so hard to move ourselves toward progressive legislation, toward better school system, toward better health for our people and statistically we continue to lag at the bottom. But this was a pretty big slap in the face. I don't see this religious freedom at all. I see it as the government saying that we can just discriminate against whole classes of people. And we went through that in the 60s and we're still suffering from that and it just hurts my heart as a Christian, number one, that we're not practicing love. And I think that's the basis of Christianity. The great commandments are love God and love your neighbor as yourself and I don't see much love in this bill. [Lemon:] So Roger, here is what the Mississippi ACLU tweeted. "Welcome to Mississippi, the hospitality state that says you're okay only if you're straight and married, #shameonphil." A number of corporations have also denounced this bill, I mean don't you think this is going to hurt look at all these companies that provide services and businesses and jobs to the people of your state. Do you think this is going to hurt Mississippi economically? [Severino:] Well, first, everybody deserves to be treated with respect, absolutely. And that includes people who disagree on the position on marriage. This is... [Lemon:] But how is it respectful let me ask you, how is it respectful if you go into a business expecting a service and someone says to you I'm not serving you because you're black or you're gay or because of some other thing that they just don't happen to like because they say it's part of their religion, that their religion doesn't allow that. How is that not discriminatory? [Severino:] Again, I sued bigots for the Department of Justice for seven years. I know what discrimination looks like. This is entirely different. This is a very tailored, specific, balanced law that addresses the issues related to marriage in a Supreme Court decision. It allows people to dissent in a very small context, small businesses, in the wedding service context, religious institution, religious educational facilities, adoption facilities, it's very focused, very tailored, very balanced. There should be room for people of faith to express their beliefs and not be punished by the government. [Lemon:] But is this not what happens on Sunday? Isn't that what happens o Sunday? Isn't that happens inside of you as the bible says because this law is basically about conservative Christianity. It does not mention any other religion, it does not mention the text in any other type of religion. It's about conservative Christianity so, it doesn't seem to respect the wishes of other people from other religions. It just seems to be focused on Christianity. Well, I need to get a break here but I'll let you respond so stay with me. When we come right back, are these religious freedom laws damaging the GOP and will the party pay a price in November? We'll be right back. [Carol Costello, Cnn Host, "newsroom":] We are live in Philadelphia, the site of the Democratic National Convention. Good morning to you, I'm Carol Costello, thanks so much for joining me. Any moment now Bernie Sanders delegates are set to speak in Philadelphia. Expected to roll out new plans for their platform moving forward. Those plans coming less than 12 hours after Bernie supporters booed several speakers during day one of the DNC. First Lady Michelle Obama, oh no, they did not boo the First Lady. Mrs. Obama, though, called for unity. [Michelle Obama, First Lady Of The United States:] But when a crisis hits we don't turn against each other. No we listen to each other, we lean on each other. Because we are always stronger together. And I am here tonight because I know that that is the kind of president that Hillary Clinton will be. And that's why in this election, I'm with her. [Costello:] With me now, Democratic strategist and Hillary Clinton supporter, Tracy Sefl. Patricia Murphy, columnist for The Daily Beast and Roll Call. And Tim Miller, former Communications Director of the Jeb Bush presidential campaign. Welcome to all of you. Tracy I will start with you. Michelle Obama, everybody says great speech, hit it out of the park. But I had a Bernie Sanders supporter on just a few minutes ago who said that she did nothing to unify the party when it comes to Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton. [Tracy Sefl, Democratic Strategist:] Well are we sure he saw the speech? Because that's pretty small in terms of the percentage of Bernie supporters who are acknowledging all of the unity, and the efforts, and the policy proposals, and calls to support her. So is it a done deal, is it going to be 100 percent? No, of course not. I mean we're Democrats, after all. We like to make things a little complicated. [Costello:] Patricia what do you think? Will we hear as many boos tonight? You know Bill Clinton is expected to take the stage. A lot of Bernie supporters don't like his policies. [Patricia Murphy, Columnist, "the Daily Beast":] That is the great unknown, going into these next three days at the Democratic convention. I was with Bernie supporters yesterday who were actively plotting a challenge to Tim Kaine's Vice Presidential nomination, on the floor. And they were also talking about other ways they could express their continued disapproval of the Democratic Party. Especially after the Wikileaks email. I think that really inflamed the tensions coming into this Democratic convention. So we're going to have to wait and see. I know they were talking about booing Hillary Clinton, challenging Tim Kaine. I and I said well what if Bernie asks you all to stop doing that? And they said you know, it was never about Bernie. And they don't consider themselves Democrats in some cases. They don't care if they disrupt the Democratic Party's convention. And so many of them are wedded to this disruption even more than they're wedded to Bernie Sanders. [Costello:] Well what's interesting and Tim Miller, I'll bring you into this part of the conversation I talked to a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters who were protesting yesterday. And they too said this has nothing to do with Bernie Sanders. We skipped the Republican National convention, they said, because everybody knows that's corrupt. We want to like bring out the DNC's the corrupt nature of the DNC. That's why we are here. So as a Republican, as you sit here and watch this convention, Tim, what goes through your mind? [Tim Miller, Former Communications Director, Jeb Bush Presidential Campaign:] Well I don't have to be as diplomatic as Tracy does because I don't have to win these folks over. I think they're cuckoo for cocoa puffs. I don't I have no idea what is happening. They Bernie got crushed in you know it wasn't even really that close. So I mean, obviously it was surprisingly close. We thought Hillary was going to win easily and it was a challenge. But in the end she won by 4 million votes, about. And the policies that they're pushing are two clicks short of Venezuela. So I don't know what they're doing and I think what you're seeing on the Democrat side is a party that is going through the early stages of what we are seeing in the Republican Party right now. Which was kind of a takeover from the anti-establishment side. And I think if the Bernie folks had been a little bit more diplomatic and united with maybe some of the African American base or the Latino base of the Democratic Party, he might have ended up being the nominee. Which would just be insane as far as I'm concerned. [Costello:] Going back to Michelle Obama's speech, I thought it interesting on many fronts. She talked about Hillary Clinton in very much the terms of a mother. She talked about her children a lot. And she talked about Hillary Clinton being our friend, as in Barack Obama's friend and Michelle Obama's friend. Let's listen. [Michelle Obama, First Lady Of The United States:] And this election and every election, is about who will have the power to shape our children for the next four or eight years of their lives. And I am here tonight because in this election there is only one person who I trust with that responsibility. Only one person who I believe is truly qualified to be President of the United States. And that is our friend, Hillary Clinton. [Costello:] OK so there were all there was always these rumblings, Tracy, that you know, the Obamas didn't really get along with Hillary Clinton, or the Clintons. I mean, but did this dispel those notions? [Sefl:] She not only dispelled them but she did it in such an elegant, effortless, graceful way. I have to give props to Sarah Hurwitz, her speech writer, for the magnificent prose. But props of course, to the First Lady for her delivery. I thought it was incredibly authentic. And I loved hearing her say she trusts that Hillary Clinton is the best person for this job. Those are really important words for everyone in the hall, and outside, and all around Philly. Whatever their grievances may be, her words were very, very powerful. [Costello:] And she was also, Patricia, very positive on a night when everybody was dissing Donald Trump. And at Michelle Obama's speech, frankly, resonated more with the crowd than the speeches dissing Donald Trump. [Murphy:] Yeah, and not just what resonated with this crowd, but I think what resonated beyond these crowds and these conventions, out to the millions of Americans watching these messages. And I covered the Republican convention last week and this convention this week. And I would say if there's a criticism to be made of the Republican convention last week it was a lot, it was dark in some cases, but also a lot of following Donald Trump's lead. Saying, "we're losers, we don't win anymore. Our country, people aren't afraid of us, they don't respect us." And after a while that kind of was beating the audience down a little bit. Until he said, "and here's how I'm going to fix it." I mean thanks from Michelle Obama, particularly a woman who's had her own patriotism challenged, and her husband's citizenship challenged. To come out and say regardless of everything that they have been through, this is the best country today, in the world. And so I thought it was really powerful. And again, something that people could connect to. Because if, you know, anything about Americans, they want to be hopeful about their future. And so I would say if other Democrats can follow that lead, they'll be successful in this convention. [Costello:] So Tim, do you think that resonates with Republicans like yourselves, who aren't all in for Donald Trump? [Miller:] Well look, she's not going to, I don't think, bring a lot of Republicans over to Hillary's side. I just think that the fault lines are too deep and it's been really 20, 30 years where Hillary has been an extremely partisan, negative force looking towards Republicans. So I don't think she's going to be able to fix that rift. But I do think that she was a model last night for what we should see the next three days for Democrats. And I think trying to turn Donald Trump into just your average Tea Party Republican is not an effective attack. I think Michelle gave a very personal defense of Hillary that also attacks Donald Trump without not saying his name, but on the lines of character, and readiness. And this is not your usual Republican. He's far outside what is acceptable for a President of the United States. And I thought that is something that's going to resonate, I think, particularly with women, Republicans who are sitting there trying to decide do they vote for Trump or do they maybe just take a pass and vote down ballot. [Costello:] All right. Tracy Sefl, Patricia Murphy, Tim Miller, thanks to all of you, we appreciate it. Still to come in the Newsroom, Trump is keeping busy with running mate Mike Pence this morning. They're hitting the trail to talk to veterans. [Howell:] A warm welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we are following for you. This hour, Poland is set to formally welcome the biggest European deployment of American troops since the Cold War. The reinforcements are seen as an affirmation of the NATO alliances, but the Kremlin is calling the deployment a threat to Russia. The Senate Intelligence Committee is looking into whether or not Russia meddled into the U.S. Presidential Elections. The hearings will also investigate any ties between Russia and political campaigns. U.S. Intelligence agencies say that Russia ordered the hacks in order to help the President-elect Donald Trump win the presidency. In the meantime, Trump suggested he is keeping an open mind about U.S. sanctions on Russia. In a Wall Street Journal article, he says that he is willing to consider lifting those sanctions, but that he will keep them in place for some time for society. The U.S. put those most recent sanctions in place last month, as you will remember to punish Russia for its alleged meddling. Donald Trump has promised big changes once he is in the White House. That could include the U.S., that decades old one China policy, under it, Washington has formal diplomatic ties with Beijing and not with Taiwan. But the President-elect told the Wall Street Journal that that's up for negotiation. China says no negotiations. We get more from Steven Jong in Beijing. [Steven Jang, Cnn Correspondent:] If business tycoon Donald Trump thinks everything the world is negotiable, he may be sooner minded as the next U.S. President but at least in the eyes of the Beijing government, one issue is absolutely non-negotiable that is the One China Policy. Officials here have reminded him and his team time and again in the past few week that Taiwan is China's core interest and the One Chine Principle is the cornerstone of the bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington. They'd like to say that every U.S. President since Jimmy Carter has committed to this policy and stuck to it and they certainly hope the Trump White House would do the same instead of derailing four decades of development and achievements. But Mr. Trump does have a point about that the U.S. does sell billions of arms to Taiwan to allow it to defend itself against the potential Chinese attacks. But it's exactly this kind of strategic ambiguity in the One China Policy that's allow Beijing, Washington, as well Taipei to maintain relative peace and stability in the decades past. So at least on this sensitive issue what's being said matters as much as what's being done. Now, on other issues, Chinese officials have been quite restrained and measured in their response to Mr. Trump's remarks, including issues like trade the South China Sea and cyber security. What they have been saying here is this relationship has so much going tore for it, if less more cooperation, less confrontation is the attitude both sides adopt. They also like to point out the phone conversation Mr. Trump had with China's President Xi Jinping after the Trump's election that both leaders have said mutual respect is important in with dealing with each other. One other thing they like to bring up is that is Mr. Trump is not president yet, so what he has been saying so far is not official U.S. Policy and the Chinese government pays more attention to official policies instead of a leader's style and personalities. But privately, many officials have expressed to me that they're unsure how to deal with this U.S. President, who likes to conduct foreign policy online, some have even asked me for suggestions. My response, follow him on Twitter. Read his tweets and have an answer ready for reporters like us. Steven Jang, CNN Beijing. [Howell:] Steven Jang, thank you so much for your reporting. As for the current U.S. President Barack Obama as he moves into his final days of office, republicans in the U.S. House and Senate seek to dismantle a landmark of his administration. They have voted to begin gutting the Affordable Care Act better foreign as Obamacare. We get more now from CNN's Manu Raju. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The current resolution is agreed to. [Manu Raju, Cnn Reporter:] The House taking the first step to repeal Obamacare. [Paul Ryan, U.s. Representative:] This law is collapsing while we speak. [Raju:] Congress approving a budget that will now give republicans the authority to repeal much of the Affordable Care Act on a party line vote. [Donald Trump, U.s. President-elect:] Repeal and replace [Raju:] The move is intended to fulfill one of the main campaign promises of President-elect Donald Trump, who wants to replace the law at the same time as repealing it. [Trump:] It will be essentially simultaneously. It will be various segments, you understand, but will most likely be on the same day or the same week but probably the same day. It could be the same hour. So we're going to do repeal and replace. [Raju:] But Trump's comments undercut the plans of GOP leaders, who want to take their time developing a new health care law. House Speaker Paul Ryan even said last month, that a replacement would not be ready by the next football season. At CNN's Town Hall, a shift, Ryan now promises to move quickly. [Ryan:] So we want to advance repealing this law with its replacement at the same, along the lines of I what I just described as something definitely a plan within the first 100 days to get moving on this legislation. [Raju:] But they are already running into problems. The party is divided of how to replace the law. And some influential voices are asking party leaders to hit the brakes. [Charlie Dent, U.s. House Republican:] Yes. I think the repeal plan need to be fully, fully developed and better articulated prior to moving forward. I have some reservations about moving as quickly as we are. [Raju:] Do you have concerns at all about the time table then in. [Mike Coffman, U.s. House Republican:] I it's going to be a very I think it's going to be a very long process. [Raju:] You don't think it's going to happen right away? [Coffman:] No. [Raju:] Some conservatives are demanding quick action on plans allowing individuals to buy insurance across state lines and to receive tax breaks for getting coverage. [Thomas Massie, U.s. House Republican:] Why don't we do replace and repeal? You nkwo, we can do these things as we could be putting those things on the floor this week. [Raju:] Democrats are warning the GOP will pay a political price for scrapping a law that helped insure an additional 20 million people. [Nancy Pelosi, U.s. House Minority Leader:] What are they doing in this bill? Overturning the Affordable Care Act, undermining the health security and financial stability of America's working families, and defunding Planned Parenthood. That's their that's their manhood thing. [Raju:] Manu Raju, CNN Capitol Hill. [Howell:] Certainly a chill there with lawmakers in Washington. And let's talk now about the cold also across much of the eastern part of Europe. It is cold. In fact, it is deadly in some places, and we have a lot more to talk about with our Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. You know, online someone just told me it's really cold in California, too cold weather is just the thing to talk about. [Allison Chinchar, Cnn Meteorologist:] That's right. We now have over 40 million people under some type of ice storm warning, winter storm watch, in portions of the United States. And that's where we're going to start because we have the potential for a very dangerous ice storm that is taking shape, stretching all the way from Texas over towards Washington, D.C. Now, the threat under this is a multitude, we're talking widespread power outages, we're also talking travel disruptions as well. Basically what we have is very shallow cold air, it's being overrun by a warm moist air and what that means is when the precipitation falls from cloud, it's going to be in a form of rain and then just as it reaches the surface it will free on contact and that makes it very dangerous if you're driving along the roads. It appears it's coming down as rain and hit your windshield as rain but it freezes on the road or any type of cold surface, mailboxes, sidewalks, power lines for example. This is where we have the greatest threat for the freezing rain at least in a short term but that system begins to push east as we go into the coming day. That's why it has such as huge swamp and area to cover, it's a very slow-moving system. Now, widespread, we're talking about a quarter of an inch of ice accumulations but you'll notice out towards the especially Oklahoma City stretching along Interstate 40 and 35m we could be looking at three quarters up to an inch of ice accumulations. Again, that's incredibly dangerous. On the other side of Atlantic, we're also talking very cold temperatures and a winter storm. Now, this is a look at Albania where villagers are trying to have for food and water. They've been kind of trapped in the region because of the incredibly heavy snowfall that they had in this region. Here you can see one of those emergency helicopters trying to drop some of supplies. Now, that brought snow to London cancelling at least 80 flights at Heathrow Airport in the last couple of days. That is now traversing off towards the east bringing snow to places like Germany, Poland, stretching all the way down towards Albania in the coming days. Widespread, we're talking snow accumulations about 10 centimeters but there will be some spots especially on those higher elevations or maybe not so many complains because the ski reports like to have it, we could be looking at 20 even possibly 30 centimeters of snow. And then we're also talking the next cold snap that's going to come in. Notice those pink and purple colors there, that's what we're talking the really incredibly cold air. Take a look for example [Howell:] Wow, I remember looking back the image from Budapest, and just frigid temperatures. [Chinchar:] Yes. [Howell:] Thank you so much, Allison. [Chinchar:] You're welcome, thank you. [Howell:] Still ahead here on Newsroom. The fight against ISIS, fight troops could be closing in on the terror group's leader. Also how Mosul University became a front line in the battle to retake Iraq's second largest city. Stay with us. We'll be back in just a moment. [Lemon:] Lieutenant Governor of Texas initially pointing the finger of blame at some in the Black Lives Matter movement who have chanted anti-police slogans in the past. And then later, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick clarifying that people have a right to protest, but police officers deserve the public's support. Others expressing their anger at President Obama, including former Illinois republican Congressman, Joe Walsh. And Joe Walsh joins me now. Congressman, thank you for joining me. Last night, you sent out a tweet and let's take a look at it. It says three "Three Dallas cops killed, seven wounded. This is now war. Watch out, Obama. Watch out Black Lives Matter punks. Real America is coming after you." It has since been deleted. Why did you do that? [Joe Walsh, Former Illinois Congressman:] Because, hey, Don and thanks for having me. Because I'm pissed off a lot of Americans are pissed off and a lot of police officers are around the country are upset because there really is a war on our cops. And a lot of police officers, Don, just like I think a lot of Americans believe that it started with Barack Obama. You go all the way back to Ferguson, Missouri. From that point forward, the last couple years, Barack Obama has done nothing but hate on cops. Accusing cops of being bad and racist. He did it again, Don, a couple days ago, Minnesota... [Lemon:] When OK, hang on, Congressman. [Walsh:] Go ahead. [Lemon:] When did he accuse cops of being bad and racist, a specific example? [Walsh:] The moment after his first and second and third statement after Ferguson said, there is systemic racism, police departments in this country need to be reformed. I mean, think about that, Don, a black man... [Lemon:] OK. But wait a minute... [Walsh:] No, no, no of black men... [Lemon:] But that's not accusing but that's not accusing cops of being racist. He's actually pointing out a fact there is systemic racism in this country and there are police departments that need to be reformed. What is racist about that? [Walsh:] He said cops were racist. Think about this. He said cops were racist after he found out that a young black man in Ferguson, Missouri, attacked a cop. Instead of going after the young black man who attacked the cop, he criticized the cop. And, Don, ever since then, ever since we've had one of these incidents, his impulse, his reflex is always to go after the cop, always. [Lemon:] But listen, if we're speaking on facts here and not emotion. [Walsh:] These are facts. [Lemon:] So, you're saying specifically that the president but the president has never said cops are racist. You're saying that the president is saying cops are racist. Those words never came out of his mouth. Do you have proof that he said that? [Walsh:] hey, Don. Yes, he said it again two days ago when he says that there is systemic racism in the police department after the Minneapolis shooting. He's telling people on the streets that police officers are racist. Now, maybe you and I can make that distinction, but when people on the street hear the President of the United States time after time say that there is racism in police departments all over the country, man, that kind of hating leads to what you got in Dallas. [Lemon:] OK. Do you think that there is racism in police departments across the country? [Walsh:] I think, Don, there's racism all over America, heck, yes. [Lemon:] So, then how is that statement wrong? [Walsh:] But I don't believe but I don't believe police departments are racist. I do not believe there's systemic racism. To say there's systemic racism, Don, means that most cops around the country are racist or most police departments are racist. There are bad cops, there are bad republicans and bad news anchors. But you don't condemn the entire department. [Lemon:] OK. Well, let me I'll give you this. There are right. There are bad republicans, there are bad democrats and there are bad news anchors. Sometimes I am not a great news anchor. Sometimes I am so exhausted like now I've been on the air for 24 hours... [Walsh:] Right now, yes. [Lemon:] ... I may not be a great news anchor. So, if I will admit to that, then why can't you admit that there is racism in some police departments around the country? [Walsh:] I said there was. I said there was. [Lemon:] Yes. [Walsh:] But I guess, Don, what I'm saying is, his reaction to every police shooting is the same. And you know, think about this, Don. Before we know the facts, he's accused the Minnesota shooting that being act of racism just like the governor of Minnesota did before any investigation, before any trial or any due process. They scream racism. And two days later, you got a black man that wants to kill five white cops. There's a connection. And he can't deny it. [Lemon:] OK. I think you are drawing a conclusion that is not necessarily there. So, I mean, I have to ask you then, what is what is your thing with Barack Obama? You have never liked Barack Obama in everything every situation that's happened that you're involved with, but you take personally and you attack the President of the United States. What is that? [Walsh:] Well, Don, I don't take it personally. I mean, I'm a former congressman. I'm a radio guy. I try to be as objective as I can. I don't like him because I don't think he likes America. I don't think he likes our service members. I don't think he likes our men and women in blue. And I know you think maybe, Don, it's just me saying that. Man, if you talk to most ranking file cops, they don't believe this president likes them. They don't believe this president stands by them. If we have a guy in the White House who doesn't like our cops, I find that our president. [Lemon:] OK. If you know if you think that's right, then why did you why did you delete the tweet? First of all, I don't believe that. [Walsh:] And, Don... [Lemon:] I actually don't believe anything that you just said about the President of the United States. I don't... [Walsh:] We disagree then. [Lemon:] I think it is listen, I think it has probably something to do with ideology or something to do with political parties, I don't know. [Walsh:] No. [Lemon:] And I don't want to assume anything else about you. But that is a broad statement and actually an insulting statement about the commander-in-chief. He is the commander-in-chief of the... [Walsh:] Don, you asked for my opinion. I gave it. OK? You asked for my opinion, I gave it. And by the way, I didn't delete the tweet. Twitter shut me down. And Twitter said the only way you'll open your account is if we get rid of that tweet. [Lemon:] OK. [Walsh:] I didn't delete that. [Lemon:] Thank you for explaining that. So, you stand by your words then? [Walsh:] Oh, absolutely. Because I stand by what I meant, Don. I didn't I didn't intend to say everybody go threaten Barack Obama or incite violence against Barack Obama. I don't know of a sane person that would do that. That's not what I meant, Don. [Lemon:] So, what does that mean, "Watch out Black Lives Matter punks, real or watch out Barack Obama or Obama, real America is coming after you." What is real America? Are you saying that Barack Obama he's not a real American? [Walsh:] No. Real Americans are Americans, white, black and brown that respect police officers, period. Real Americans are white, black and brown Americans who don't go after cops. When I said... [Lemon:] What if someone said to you real Americans respect the Office of the Presidency and the person who is holding the office? How would you go about that? [Walsh:] Oh, I do I do respect the office. I don't respect this man, Dn. If Hillary Clinton wins, I'll respect her. I don't respect this man. [Lemon:] But don't you think that's hypocritical if you say real Americans... [Walsh:] No. [Lemon:] ... respect but then you don't respect him? [Walsh:] I respect the office, not him. And Don, again, I stand by my words. Watch out President Obama. I didn't mean that to be incitement to violence. What I meant was, Americans are finally going to stand up and stand with our police officers and stand against him. [Lemon:] Congressman Joe Walsh, thank you. I appreciate you coming on. [Walsh:] Thank you, Don. Thank you. [Lemon:] All right. We'll be right back. [Berman:] The Cincinnati Bengals now 8-0 to start the NFL season. That's pretty good. Johnny Manziel and the Cleveland Browns, not so much. [Romans:] Coy Wire, he's always good. He has more of this morning's bleacher report. Hey, Coy. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Good morning. Good morning, Christine and John. Yes, the Bengals are off to the best start in team history. The Browns only two wins so far this season. They're hoping tht John Manziel's second start of the year would give team a spark. Early in the game, Manziel is so so, like a seamstress. Second quarter, Manziel scrambles right, he hits Duke Johnson for the only touchdown of the game. Not sure about this Peter Pan celebration. You have to tell me about how you feel. Johnny completed 45 percent of his passes. He was sacked three times in the game. Now, for the Bengals, you can't spell dandy without Andy. Dalton looked awesome. He had to hook up with Tyler Eifert for three touchdowns for the game. You have Eifert on your fantasy team, you're going to like your chances this week. Bengals win, 31-10. Now, prosecutors in Buffalo, New York, said yesterday they will not file rape charges against Blackhawk start Patrick Kane. Kane was accused of sexual assault by a 21-year-old woman in August. After a three month investigation, Erie County district attorney cited a lack of credible evidence and the accuser no longer wanted to cooperate in the investigation. Kane in a statement yesterday continues to profess his innocence saying he has done nothing wrong and he's glad the matter is now closed. We now have surveillance video of Serena Williams thwarting that man's attempt to stealing her phone at a restaurant in San Fran. He uses his jacket as cover and try to slides out. But you can see Serena, she runs out of the restaurant, down the sidewalk to confront the crook. Now, she posted a great play-by-play on her Facebook page on Wednesday. If you want to go, check it out. It's good stuff. Now, Minnesota Twins legend Torii Hunter had his press conference yesterday. His heartfelt message to his wife was beautiful with a surprise ending. Check it out. [Torii Hunter, Played 17 Years In Mlb:] My wife, thank you. Thank you for being there for my kids and raising my kids. The way I provided was caused me to go out and travel and be away from family. And now, I'm coming home to you, you know, and maybe we can go to that beach we wanted to and lay out nude. [Wire:] Now, they do call Minnesota the Land of A Thousand Lakes. I don't know if any of those beaches are nude. I know it's very cold this time of year. [Berman:] Yes, that's too cold for that. [Wire:] That's right. Torii Hunter still has goals in retirement. So, that's good to see, John and Christine. [Berman:] He still has goals in retirement. There's hope for all of us, I guess. Sort of. Thanks, Coy. [Romans:] get another. [Berman:] Exactly. Yes, you better go back to work. [Romans:] Welcome home, honey. Now go get a job. [Berman:] All right. Thanks so much for that, Coy. New information this morning on why investigators believe ISIS was behind a deadly Russian plane crash. President Obama now on the record on what he thinks. That's next. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn:] Tonight, he's promised to build walls, but is Donald Trump now trying to build bridges? My interview with Mexico's former foreign minister Jorge Castaneda as Trump heads to the country for surprise talks with the Mexican president. Plus, the trials and struggles of London's illegal immigrants. We shine a light on the light in the shadows. And the dramatic decline of the African elephant, renowned naturalist David Attenborough on what their extinction could mean for future generations. [Unidentified Male:] I think it's a crime. And a crime that if it happens, will rest heavily on humanity's shoulders. [Ward:] Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the program. I'm Clarissa Ward in for Christiane Amanpour. Donald Trump is on his way to a country he has insulted for over a year to meet with a world leader who likened him to Hitler. Yes, it's hard to believe, but the controversial candidate for U.S. president is on a hastily arranged trip to Mexico, where he'll sit down with its President Enrique Pena Nieto. A puzzling move on all sides, to be sure, given all Trump has said about America's neighbor to the south. Here's a quick reminder. [Donald Trump, U.s. Republican Presidential Nominee:] They're sending people that have lots of problems, and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some I assume are good people. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. [Ward:] Let's go straight to Mexico City. Jorge Castaneda is Mexico's former foreign minister. He joins me now. Thank you so much for being with us on the program. Help us explain what's going on here. Why did President Nieto extend this invitation? [Jorge Castaneda, Mexico's Former Foreign Minister:] Well, quite honestly, Clarissa, and thank you for having me. Quite honestly, I can't understand it either. It seems incomprehensible and many people in Mexico since late last night are sort of scratching their head and closing their eyes and saying, what in the world is going on here? Why would President Pena Nieto invite Donald Trump? Because he also invited Hillary Clinton. But she has not said yes or no, and is certainly not coming in the next two or three days. Why would he invite someone who as you said has insulted Mexicans? Mexicans in Mexico and Mexicans in the United States for over a year now almost every day. Why does Pena Nieto invite someone who is lagging in the polls to such an extent that it seems very far-fetched that he could actually win the election? And why is he inviting someone who obviously is using this visit to Mexico as a political ploy, as an electoral ploy in the United States. At the end of the day, Donald Trump is using Enrique Pena Nieto as an instrument of his campaign in the United States. It really is quite incomprehensible. And I think we could at least say that Mexicans are very perplexed about what in the world is going on here. I agree with you completely. [Ward:] Well, that's what I wanted to ask you. I mean, how do Mexican people feel? Their President Pena Nieto extending this invitation to a man who has been insulting, to say the least, about the Mexican people. Is there a sense of anger on the streets that this invitation was ever extended? [Castaneda:] Well, on the streets, I wouldn't know quite yet, although there have been calls for demonstrations along the road. He would probably have to take either from the airport to the official residence or near the American embassy. But in the social media in Mexico, Clarissa, there is outrage, not anger, it's outrage. And also an enormous amount of sarcasm and irony. President Pena Nieto has been accused of plagiarism a few days ago, and so some people are saying on Twitter, well, perhaps that will be their main topic of conversation, Trump's wife's plagiarism of Michelle Obama and President Pena Nieto's plagiarism of his dissertation when he graduated and got his law degree. But more seriously, there is this sense that this is something that President Pena Nieto is doing out of political desperation because he is collapsing in the polls in Mexico. He has an important state of the union message tomorrow, which nobody knows what he will tell us about the state of our union, which is a pretty terrible state. And so perhaps he was thinking that he could get Trump and Hillary Clinton down here on the same day or same couple of days, and then Trump took him at his word, used the trip to Mexico to then schedule, reschedule his speech on immigration for Arizona tonight. So he comes to Mexico City, sees the president, then goes to Arizona, makes his speech and practically will say, I spoke to the president of Mexico this morning, and I told him all of this, and he more or less agreed with me. It's an incredible use of someone else, very skilful, I must say, on Trump's part and rather incomprehensible on President Pena Nieto's part because there was no need to do this. There is no tradition in Mexico, Clarissa, of American candidates coming to Mexico during the campaign. That is hardly done. They can do it during the primary campaign. You recall President Obama, then Barack Obama's visit to Europe in 2008 during the primaries campaign, but the strictly presidential campaign, there is no precedent for an American mainstream candidate coming to Mexico during the campaign proper. [Ward:] And as you said, I mean, it certainly does give Donald Trump a veneer of being a statesman to be able to come to his speech tonight and say I just spoke with President Pena Nieto. But I wanted to ask you this, the Mexican people obviously are not necessarily big fans of Donald Trump. But do you think there is something that Trump could say today that would soften his image in Mexico, that would undo some of the damage that this devisive rhetoric we have seen from him has done? [Castaneda:] I don't think so, Clarisse, for a very simple reason. Recent polls just two weeks ago in the country's main newspaper had Donald Trump being disapproved of or disliked by 90 percent of those who were interviewed. He has insulted Mexicans every single day for more than a year now. And all of this has come back to Mexico. This is transmitted by CNN, of course, but many other networks in Mexico throughout the country. And Mexicans all those Mexicans, 12 million Mexicans in the United States call home, write home, text home, whatever you like, and tell their families in Mexico, did you hear what this guy said about us yesterday? That we're a bunch of rapists. So the Mexican people, by far, overwhelmingly, detest Donald Trump. I see nothing he could say here, except a full-fledged public apology. I apologize for what I've said about Mexicans the last year. I apologize for what I said about deportations. I apologize about what I said about the wall, about you guys paying for the wall; forget the wall, forget about paying for it, forget about deportations, forget about reviewing NAFTA. All of a sudden I've seen the light, and I agree. I don't think that's going to happen, Clarissa, quite honestly. You never know. In Mexico, you know, we believe in miracles, but I sort of find it difficult to believe that that could happen. [Ward:] Indeed. I wouldn't hold your breath. Jorge Castaneda, thank you so much for joining us on the program. Well, Mexico has played host to many momentous political movements, including in 1955, a young Cuban revolutionary named Fidel Castro, who would meet Che Guevara in Mexico City and embark upon his overthrow of the Cuban Dictator Batista by launching a boat from the Mexican coast. Earlier today, another historic arrival in Cuba marked a new era in Cuban American relations. As for the first time, a U.S. airline operated a direct flight to the island, flying just one hour from Florida. And when we come back, a grounds eye view of immigration right here in the heart of London. [Jake Tapper:] That's it for "THE LEAD." I'm Jake Tapper turning you over now to one Mr. Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. Thanks for watching. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Happening now: rigged system? Donald Trump returning to the campaign trail. After several days off, he's now lashing out at the GOP, calling the delegate selection process rigged and comparing himself to Bernie Sanders. We're standing by to hear what Trump will say next at a rally that's about to get under way. Gestapo tactics. Trump's convention manager goes even further than his boss, accusing Ted Cruz of using Gestapo tactics to win all of Colorado's delegates. John Kasich says Cruz used strong-arm tactics in Michigan. Is Cruz playing by the rules? And what strategies are all of the GOP campaigns using right now in New York? Supporting vigilantes. Fresh fighting on the Democratic side, with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders hitting each other over experience, qualifications and judgment. Now Clinton is attacking Sanders' immigration record, saying he was reporting vigilantes instead of voting for immigration reform. Is the new harsh tone working out there on the campaign trail? And can Sanders overcome Hillary Clinton's lead in New York? And un-burden. A top espionage official defects from the Kim Jong-un regime, leaving the spy agency that's behind numerous kidnappings, assassinations and the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures. Will he reveal some of North Korea's most closely guarded secrets? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following the race for the White House and a bitter back-and- forth between the Trump and Cruz campaigns. Donald Trump's convention manager now accusing Ted Cruz of using, quote, "Gestapo tactics" to win all 34 delegates in the Colorado primary; and Trump himself is calling the system rigged and crooked. We'll be listening to hear what else he has to say at a rally tonight in New York, where the primary is now just eight days away. We're also following what could be a devastating breach for North Korean dictator, Kim Jong-un. We're just learning that a top intelligence officer from the country's notorious spy agency defected, and he's now in South Korea's hands, possibly revealing details of kidnappings, assassinations and cyber-attacks carried out by the Kim Jong-un regime. We're covering all of that and much more this hour with our guests, including Trump campaign national spokeswoman, Katrina Pierson. And our correspondents and expert analysts, they are also standing by with fast-moving developments on these fast-moving stories. Let's begin with our CNN political reporter, Sara Murray. She's in Albany, New York, with the Trump campaign for us. Sara, Trump is holding a rally there in a little while. Is he expected to keep hammering away at this idea that the Republican Party's nomination process is rigged? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, that's certainly what we will be listening for. Donald Trump has touted himself as this fantastic manager, negotiator, the kind of guy who will surround himself with smart people if he's elected. Now that he's getting out-organized on the ground by Ted Cruz in a number of states, he is protesting and, in true Trump style, he is doing it very loudly. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Because nobody knows the system better than me. [Murray:] From immigration to campaign finance to his own bankruptcies, Donald Trump has always said he knows how to work the system. And he'll work it from the White House. [Trump:] And one of the things I always say, I know the best negotiators. [Murray:] But up against the complex process of wrangling delegates, Trump is coming up short and crying foul. [Trump:] What we have going is a movement. So what they're trying to do is subvert the movement with crooked shenanigans, all right? And we're just not going to let it happen. [Murray:] Even warning the Republican Party that voters might revolt. [Trump:] And I say this to the RNC, and I say it to the Republican Party: You're going to have a big problem, folks, because there are people that don't like what's going on. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] God bless the great state of Colorado. [Trump:] After being shut out of the delegate chase by Ted Cruz in Colorado this weekend, Trump's new convention manager is likening Cruz's campaign tactics to those of Nazi Germany's secret police. [Paul Manafort, Trump Convention Manager:] You go to these county convention and you see the tactic Gestapo tactics. [Unidentified Male:] Gestapo tactics? That's a strong word. [Murray:] Today Cruz swatted back. [Cruz:] Donald has been yelling and screaming, a lot of whining, and the latest thing he's seized upon is, when people vote against him, they're stealing the election. It's a really odd notion. What is this democracy of which you speak? [Murray:] The Texas senator feeling increasingly confident and arguing, if the convention goes beyond one ballot, he'll emerge victorious. [Cruz:] If we go into a contested convention, we're going to have a ton of delegates. And let me tell you, in that scenario, I think we will go in with an overwhelming advantage. [Murray:] Today Cruz jokingly wondering how Trump had even made it this far. [Cruz:] A lot of people have speculated that, when he launched the campaign, it was it was on a lark, and that he suddenly found himself surprised that, you know, his brand of reality television attracted a lot of attention. [Murray:] Meanwhile, Trump is facing blowback from Boston after "The Globe's" editorial board published this faux front page, declaring "Deportations to begin under president Trump." Sunday night, Trump shot back. [Trump:] The whole front page is a make-believe story, which is really no different from the whole paper for the whole thing. [Murray:] Now, Wolf, we know the Trump campaign wants to avoid a contested convention. They want to show up in Cleveland with 1,237 delegates, but there are a number of contests coming up where these unbound delegates are going to be at play once again. And we will see if Donald Trump can get a little bit more organized with the help of his new convention manager Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Sara. Thanks very much. Sara is in Albany, New York. Let's get some more on the Cruz campaign right now. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is joining us from Irvine in California. Sunlen, it's going to be an all-out battle between Cruz and Trump, certainly, when California holds its primary in early June. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. And Ted Cruz holding his first rally here in California, already looking ahead to June 7, as you noted noted. That is the last primary on the nominating schedule. And Ted Cruz really today making a big point to play up how pivotal he sees California, telling the voters here, this crowd, saying that they could decide the nomination and potentially lead the way towards a path forward and, really, make a big point of sending a message to the nation beyond California. So interesting comments from Ted Cruz today. He also, of course, did launch into a long and mocking critique of Donald Trump's complaints over the rules of the delegate nomination process, to make a point over his own campaign's strength. Here is more of what he had to say here today. [Cruz:] Now, in response, Donald has been yelling and screaming. [Unidentified Female:] Whining, not winning. [Cruz:] A lot of whining. I'm sure some cursing. And some late-night fevered tweeting. All the characteristics, I would note, we would want of a commander in chief. And the latest thing he seized upon is when people vote against him, they're stealing the election. It's a really odd notion. "What is this democracy of which you speak? Wait, wait, you mean voters get to vote? No, no, no, no, no. No, no, no." [Serfaty:] And to that point, the Cruz campaign across the board really did seem to be playing up their organizational strength, not only here in California but across the country, touting from the stage a series of statewide endorsements here in California. Also, you heard Senator Cruz there talking about it and the co-chair of his campaign from the stage here just a short while ago, saying that they are the only campaign that's already prepared, that's already organized for the state to be one that greatly matters now in this nominating process, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Thanks very much. Sunlen Serfaty reporting for us. So let's get some more on all of this. The national spokeswoman for the Trump campaign, Katrina Pierson, is joining us. Katrina, thanks very much for joining us. [Katrina Pierson, National Spokeswoman For Trump Campaign:] Thank you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] You just heard, in Sunlen's piece, the Cruz campaign is openly saying that a contested convention is their best shot of winning this nomination. Is your campaign confident you can get to 1,237 before Cleveland? [Pierson:] We are absolutely confident, Wolf, that we will get to 1,237 by California. You know, it's interesting that the Cruz campaign is laughing and joking. Meanwhile you have millions of Republican voters right now who are tearing up their registrations as we speak. And I really want to clear up something with regard to the voters voting. That is not what is happening, because the problem is when Donald Trump wins a state, the voters have voted, but yet the party system comes in on the back end, on the delegate selection process, to award delegates to other people. That's the problem. [Blitzer:] Katrina, I saw a video of one guy ripping up his Republican registration. I haven't seen millions of Republicans doing it. Where do you get that number? [Pierson:] There are millions of Republicans right now who are saying this is not going to work. We have voters in Louisiana. You have voters in Tennessee who all are experiencing this right now, and many of them are threatening to leave the party. And that's not bringing the party together. And back to Colorado, we're talking about the rules. Of course Mr. Trump knows the rules. The campaign knows the rules. However, they changed the rules in Colorado this past August after Mr. Trump came out, was on top and was not fading as everyone thought. They decided to scrap the election. That's not a democratic process. There was no election in Colorado. [Blitzer:] But the Cruz campaign, they were on the scene. They were doing what they were doing to play by the rules in Colorado. Did the did the Trump campaign miss an opportunity? [Pierson:] The Trump campaign had paid staff on the ground in Colorado, but here's what people miss about the, quote unquote, "system." Thirty-eight hundred people competing for essentially less than 40 spots. It wouldn't have mattered if Trump would have had a thousand people on the ground, because the state party already decides who they want the delegates to be. So yes, a Trump supporter may get elected at the county level, but as this pyramid system replaces itself throughout the multiple elections that they have, they eventually get their own people, which is exactly why Politico reported the same thing is already happening in Indiana, a state that has not voted yet. [Blitzer:] But you know that there were a lot of complaints that the Trump people who were on the Colorado, they missed deadlines, they misspelled names. They didn't really know what they were doing. That's a huge embarrassment, isn't it? [Pierson:] Well, there's been a lot of reports, and that's why I'm refuting a lot of them now, because if you were on the ground, you could see there were pictures of ballots people have posted now on their social media accounts, showing how their delegate number was left off and others were printed twice. So not only were Trump delegates left off the ballots; their credentials were conveniently lost and then found after the fact. So there are some shenanigans going on even when you are following the rules. [Blitzer:] But the point is, Katrina, that Donald Trump is the author of "The Art of the Deal." He knows how to make deals. He knows how the systems work. Shouldn't he and his team have been better prepared for what happened in Colorado and presumably could happen elsewhere? [Pierson:] Wolf, to my point, it wouldn't have mattered how many people we had on the ground if the rules aren't being followed by everyone. When the system is rigged and was rigged in this case from August in the state of Colorado, even when you're following the rules and you are making deadlines, if the county party says or the state party says, "We don't have your paperwork," even though you filed it and they find it after the fact, don't you think that's a little suspect? This is what we're running into. [Blitzer:] Are you going to file a complaint now? [Pierson:] There are complaints filed that are going to be filed, and I believe Mr. Manafort already alluded to that. [Blitzer:] Will your campaign be able to effectively work for delegates if it does come down to a contested convention? Because everyone seems to believe that the Cruz campaign is so much more better organized, more experienced people with a lot a lot better ground game, as they say. [Pierson:] Well, the senator has been running for president for a couple of years now, so he should be organized. But as far as this magical ground game, what is the excuse for losing seven states that he was supposed to win to Donald Trump? Donald Trump has won 21 states. Ted Cruz hasn't even won ten. So, so much for that ground game. We're very confident we are going to achieve those delegates by California. [Blitzer:] Your convention manager, Paul Manafort, accused Ted Cruz's campaign he used these words of engaging in, quote, "Gestapo tactics" after the clean sweep of the delegates on Saturday in Colorado. Is that characterization, Gestapo tactics, really appropriate? [Pierson:] Well, you know, it's not just our convention manager. I mean, even Kasich's people were talking about some of the tactics that were being used in Michigan, for example. They used the word "strong arm," which essentially is the same thing. There are a lot of delegates that are receiving, let's just say, interesting phone calls from people that might sound intimidating. So we're going to find out, aren't we? [Blitzer:] Is it appropriate to use the word "Gestapo"? Because I assume you know what the Gestapo did. [Pierson:] Well, it is a word to define exactly the type of malice that is involved with going after some of these delegates in a very hostile and intimidating way. [Blitzer:] Katrina, you know what the Gestapo during World War II. That word should not be used to talk about the tactics that that the Cruz campaign engaged. That was inappropriate, right? [Pierson:] Well, again, you're talking about a campaign that doesn't really care much for political correctness. And if it's a term that just simply describes how... [Blitzer:] But it's inappropriate you don't use the word "Gestapo" to talk about a political campaign in the United States. That gives the Gestapo too much credit, right? Don't you wish you could have taken that back? [Pierson:] Well, where was all this hostility concern when Mr. Trump was being called Hitler? So yes. I think this is just another situation where it is a word to determine just how hostile that this has gone on in these states for these delegates. And I think it was a word that just lets everyone knowing exactly what he was talking about. [Blitzer:] So you don't want to back away from the word you don't want to back away from that word, Gestapo? [Pierson:] No. And the Kasich campaign also talked about strong-arm tactics. [Blitzer:] Strong-arm tactics is one thing but the Gestapo, you know what they did. You know the millions of people, especially Jews, who were murdered. [Pierson:] Yes. He was talking about exactly the same thing, the strong-arm tactics that the Cruz campaign has been using, the intimidation; and a lot of people feel a little hurt by that. [Blitzer:] All right. Stand by, Katrina, I want to continue this conversation. [Pierson:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] There's a lot more to discuss. Much more with Katrina Pierson, right after this. [Sesay:] U.S. president Barack Obama made an unannounced late-night visit to the memorial for victims of the Paris terror attacks. Mr. Obama added a rose to the overflowing bouquets outside the Bataclan theater. CNN's Alexandra Field has new details now on the attack suspect who is still at large. [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] For more than two weeks, Salah Abdeslam has been the most wanted man in connection with the Paris terror attacks. Authorities have already identified his brother as one of the suicide bombers. And they say that together both brothers rented the cars that were used in the attacks. But now a source is telling CNN that it was Salah Abdeslam who also purchased detonators prior to those Paris attacks. A French newspaper is reporting that the detonators were bought at a store north of Paris and that the owner or manager of that store contacted authorities when he saw Abdeslam's photos as part of this international manhunt. Abdeslam was able to leave France entering Belgium in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. That's before police knew exactly who they're looking for. But one U.S. lawmaker now speculates that investigators could be closer to finding the man they've been searching for. [Rep. Michael Mccaul , House Homeland Security Committee Chairman:] I do think they are closing in on him. And that's the good news. There are many involved with this plot. It's a very sophisticated plot, an external operation that we've seen from ISIS. You mentioned the bombing of the Russian airliner. This is a new ISIS, a new chapter for them to be able to conduct three external operations in just recent times. [Field:] The search for Salah Abdeslam has prompted raids and arrests across Belgium. Already authorities have arrested six people in connection with to the Paris terror attacks. They have arrested two men who are believed to have driven Abdeslam from France to Belgium, along with another man who's believed to have picked him up once he arrived from Belgium and driven him to another location. And while they continue their hunt for Salah Abdeslam, they're also looking for one more man, Mohamed Abrini, who was seen with Abdeslam just two days before the terror attacks. Alexandra Field, CNN. [Sesay:] Well, the body of the Russian fighter pilot who was shot down near the Syrian-Turkish border will be returned to Russia. Turkish authorities flew the body to Ankara, where it will be transferred to Russia at a later date. The Turkish military downed the jet on Tuesday, saying it was flying in Turkish air space and was repeatedly warned to leave. Russia denies those claims, and President Vladimir Putin calls the incident a stab in the back. Well, let's turn to senior international correspondent Matthew Chance live in Moscow. Matthew, Russia initiating economic sanctions against Turkey. Give us some perspective on how Turkey how Turkey is being targeted. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, a number of areas. I mean, the despite the political differences between Russia and Turkey, they've always had this strong economic relationship. That's now really being impacted by these sanctions with the Kremlin announcing that there will be restrictions placed on Russian firms involved in projects here, particularly building projects, things like that. Russian sorry, Turkish nationals who are living in Russia will also be affected. They've got rid of, for instance, the visa free travel from Turkish citizens coming to Russia. You'll now need a visa from January 1st. Also, products, food products particularly, are set to be sanctioned as well. The Kremlin has already said this will happen. The list of exactly which products are going to be restricted has yet to be published. We're expecting it before tomorrow, according to the Russian government. And so yes, some considerable restrictions placed on Turkish businesses operating this country. They have banned charter flights between the two countries. Russian tour operators are saying now they won't be selling holiday package deals to Russian tourists. That's significant because last year, for instance, 3.2 million Russians went to Turkey on their holidays. That will probably grind to a virtual standstill. And so yes, this fallout over the shoot down last week of the SU-24 Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border is now having a huge impact on relations between the two countries. [Sesay:] And, Matthew, is there a clip after getting relations back on track? It seems that the Turks definitely making overtures to try and de-escalate the situation. [Chance:] Yes, possibly. I mean but, I mean, in terms of in terms of getting the relationship back on track, I mean, we're not in that phase yet. I mean, we're still in the phase of the relationship getting worse. And so I think ultimately, you know, what you'd hope that the relationship would get back on track. But at the moment, there's still great deal of tension, a great deal of animosity between the two countries. President Erdogan of Turkey has been pushing, requesting to have a face-to-face meeting with Vladimir Putin in Paris. They're both there attending the climate summit in the French capital. But the Kremlin has essentially rejected that so far at least publicly. We don't know what's going on behind the scenes, but yes, I mean, the Russians at this point are saying, you know, we want an apology. We want compensation. And the Turks have refused to offer either of those things. And so that's led to a deepening of the crisis between the two nations. [Sesay:] Matthew Chance joining us there from Moscow. Appreciate it, Matthew. Thank you. Well, U.S. presidential candidates supports his position on Syrian refugees with a first-hand visit. Ben Carson's trip to Jordan ahead. Plus, tempers flare on the Paris streets ahead of the global warming summit. We will go inside the protests. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] So a new poll over the weekend shows Donald Trump still leading the pack of Republican presidential hopefuls. His closest competitor is 13 points behind Carson. They are leaving some former favorites trying to make up the grounds. Our next guest is looking to break out. It's Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey. Welcome. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] Great to be back. [Camerota:] Good to have you on NEW DAY. Let's talk about what happened recently where Donald Trump put out his immigration plan. We want to get your response on how yours differs. Let's put up a couple bullet points. He's going to make Mexico pay for the border wall as you heard. He's going to deport all criminal aliens as he says, defund sanctuary cities and end birthright citizenship. You've spoken about that too. Do you like that part of the plan? [Christie:] We talked about four different ways you have to secure the border, walling and fencing in certain places, not the entire border. It doesn't make any sense. [Camerota:] How are you going to pay for that? [Christie:] The United States will pay for that. This makes no sense. I have met the president a number of times. I think if we present him with a bill, he is not going to pay for it. This is international diplomacy. It is different. We should build it in those places especially urban areas along the border where it's more difficult to patrol. Second, we need to have FBI, DEA, and ATF agents embedded with border patrol folks to deal with the criminal element. They are much more trained to be able to deal with gun running and drug running. They are typical border agents. Third, we need to use drones and other electronic surveillance in the more difficult parts of the border to show where we need to deploy human resources more effectively. And then fourth and most important, we need to use e-verify. The folks are coming to work. They are not coming to vote. They are coming to work. If they know they can't get jobs, they are not going to come. So, that's the most important element of all four. All four are important. That's the most important element. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Now you deal with this in a very real way in New Jersey. You have people coming in for the right and wrong reasons. E-verify, nobody has owned the position of I'm going after the employers. If you don't employ them the wrong way, they are not here the wrong way. It's a third line for people. You think about owning that issue and making it the mainstay of the platform. [Christie:] I am owning it that's why I said it's the most important thing. I know they won't like it. Make your profit legally. I want businesses to make as much profit as possible. If they do, they are going to create more jobs and more economic opportunity. But you can't do it by exploiting cheaper labor and especially when that cheaper labor threatens our national security and threatens the economic security of the American people. I absolutely own it. I said this last week in Georgia. The Chamber of Commerce crowd needs to get on board. You want to help fix the immigration system. They need to be part of the solution. We cannot only blame the people on the southern part of the border. We have people in this country who are employing folks illegally. The reason is to make a bigger profit. I would make the fine so large that any profit is not only wiped out, but then some. Absolutely, have to do it because otherwise, Chris, people are going to continue to keep coming. If they believe they are going to be employed, they are going to continue to come and find ways to come and it will be more difficult to stop it. [Camerota:] Let's talk about another wrinkle of exploiting cheaper labor. I'm talking about the gender gap about paying women less. Do you pay women on your staff the same as you pay men? [Christie:] You bet I do. In fact, my chief of staff is a woman. My policy chief is a woman. They get paid no differently than the men on my staff. What I care about is talent. What I care about is talent and commitment. They are the kind of people I have on my staff. That's not only now, but what I do as attorney as well. [Cuomo:] We put it to Trump because of what happened with the comments and the ugly comments. He said I take care of women the way it matters, which is what I pay them. I said show me the proof. His guy came on with the proof. He hires them, puts them in position of power, now chase everybody else the way you chased us. Do you think it's true he puts women in positions of power and pay them like men? [Christie:] If they don't, they should. If you are the leader of a large organization like I am in New Jersey, what you care about most is putting the best people in the best position and making sure they are compensated fairly. Nowhere in that sentence do you hear anything about gender. To me, it doesn't matter. The fact is, I have said to the women on my staff over the course of time, part of it is their obligation, too. I believe a lot in what Sandberg talks about in terms of women in the professional mode leaning in and making themselves bigger parts of these organizations. That helps to solve the problem, too. In the end, it's my job to set the tone we have in New Jersey. [Camerota:] Why I'm looking at the most recent, I believe staff list, you are right the chief of staff is a woman, but I believe that you have three times as many men in your cabinet as you do women. [Christie:] Yes, a number of my women have left. [Camerota:] Why is that? [Christie:] Because they got better paying jobs in the private sector, God bless them. Remember, this is also a six-year-old administration. A lot of folks have been with you for a long time. They wind up wanting to go to the next step of their career. They go to the private sector to make more money help support their families, advance their careers. Here is what I feel like as the leader of an organization and this is whether it is a man or a woman working for me. When they serve for a period of time then it's my obligation to make sure that I help them advance their career in whatever way they think is best. If it's staying in government that's great, but if it's not, they want to go to the private sector, that's fine, too. By the way, some of those women have also moved to my presidential campaign as well. My communications director is no longer there. She is now running my presidential campaign. [Camerota:] You feel good on campaign about the number of women and men, and the pay equity? [Christie:] The person running my campaign for president is a woman. I don't think you can get a better job than that. [Cuomo:] It's interesting what he did. He was painted as a misogynist basically. This is what you think of women because of what you say. He's saying judge what I do. It will be interesting. This is the reality for a lot of governments, you have a 3-1 ratio and we need to do better. Will you accept that? [Christie:] Sure, of course, but you have to vote by the way. I would reject the premise. You can't just say, well, this is what I do, so it does not matter what I say. Words matter, too. When you are a leader, what you say from the pulpit, if you are a governor, a business leader, a member of Congress, and especially when you are president of the United States, you can't excuse awful comments as part of well, I do things differently. When you are a leader, what you say matters, what comes out of your mouth matters. I'm glad he's putting that kind forward. Good for him. Good for the women working for him and being treated fairly. The fact is, all of it matters when you're running for president. [Camerota:] Let's look at the Democratic side of the race. The new poll shows that Bernie Sanders is gaining on Hillary Clinton. She's at 49 percent. He's at 30 percent. Do you think that is directly tied to the e-mail issue with Hillary Clinton or is there something else going on with her campaign? [Christie:] I think it's two things. I think the first thing is that Mrs. Clinton doesn't answer any questions. She doesn't answer questions. The most recent stuff she was saying yesterday, trying to say everything raised about her is politics. It is not. If she would answer questions directly, why did you have a private e- mail server? Now I was the U.S. attorney for seven years working for the federal government. They made it clear from minute one, all official business is to be done on government e-mail. [Camerota:] She says all her predecessors also used private servers. [Christie:] Not exclusively. I had a private e-mail account, but I didn't do my business on a private e-mail account. She did everything on that account and then what most people are concerned about it, she gets the server cleaned. Why not answer that question instead of talking all the time about, the politics and the Republicans. It is not about politics. [Camerota:] What do you think the answer is? [Christie:] I think she didn't want people to see what was on the e- mail server. [Camerota:] Why? [Christie:] That's a good question. She needs to answer that too. Why did you wipe it clean, Mrs. Clinton? Why? I mean, seriously. Can you imagine if after the breach investigation began, by the way, I have done all my business as governor on a private server and I have deleted 30,000 of them, but trust me, none of them had to do with the bridge? Give me a break. She wants to talk about being held to a different standard? What she's doing is refusing to be transparent. I think that's the first problem. Secondly, she's not speaking to the concerns it American people really have because she won't speak to her national security record and a failed national security record. They are making people feel anxious in this country. If she starts to answer questions, interact with people, the poll numbers would be different. Poll numbers don't matter any way. [Cuomo:] There's so much intensity going on. I hear you. We have 400 days left. The intensity of the coverage is we are getting more true measure than we usually do. When it comes to the e-mail thing, is this fair pushback on it? Yes, she was using private e-mail. There is no disputing it. You used the bridge-gate analogy. Some of your people got caught on that. They are like, we are using private e-mail. Here is sometimes a dove tailing of this and if it were so bad, why did t never come up until she decided to run for president? [Christie:] Well, first of all, again, exclusively, Chris. In today's world, everybody has their own private e-mail account even if they were working in government. If they use that for personal issues, family issues, those types of things. She was exclusively using it. She didn't use her government e-mail account. She wanted every communication that she had within her control while she was the highest ranking cabinet member in the United States? Why didn't it come up before? No one knew. The people that did know were part of the team. They were part of the team, Chris. God forbid we question Secretary Clinton. Now she's running for president, she's going to be questioned. You know what? I did this for seven years as U.S. attorney, there is ample evidence here to criminally investigate her conduct. We haven't talked about the fact that the e-mails may have contained classified information, which is clearly against the law. Remember this, David Petraeus was prosecuted and convicted for this in her husband's administration. You have folk that is were prosecuted and convicted for this. Why would she be any different? [Camerota:] We have more questions for you too, Governor. More issues with Governor Chris Christie, that's next. Stick around. Welcome back to NEW DAY. Let's bring back in 2016 presidential candidate, Governor Chris Christie. Thanks for sticking around. [Christie:] Thank you for having me. [Camerota:] All right, let's talk about the latest polls. This one was a Fox News poll. It was released over the weekend. You can see the top contenders. I'll put it up for you right now. [Christie:] Read the numbers. [Camerota:] The point is, you are not in the top contenders. You are somewhere down at 11. I think you have 3 percent. [Christie:] Yes. [Camerota:] So, how are you going to change that? [Christie:] Campaigning. That's why campaigns matter. The question they ask in those polls, if this election were held tomorrow, who would you vote for? People will be shocked because they are not going to be held tomorrow. If campaigns didn't matter, we would sit home and watch [Tv. Camerota:] You are going to pound the pavement and you're going to meet as many as people? [Christie:] We have some money to advertise. We are going to move closer to when people actually decide. There was a recent poll in New Hampshire that said 85 percent of the people have not yet decided. Well, then, the poll is about 15 percent of the people. I mean, you know, it's time to take a deep breath. We have a lot of work to do. What that poll tells you more than anything else is the race is unsettled. The American people and the Republican primary voters have not got anywhere near making a decision. It's my job to go out there and convince them that I am the best person. That's what every candidate's job is. Go out and do the best you can. Because of the specificity of the message, the details of the plans and the passion we bring to leadership that we are going to wind up being the winner here. [Cuomo:] Can you raise the money? [Christie:] Sure. We have done pretty well raising the money so far, Chris, and we are going to continue to do well at it. We have a group of real loyal supporters that believe Washington is broken and a problem and we need a governor to come in that is strong and direct, tell people the truth and to fix it. Those kinds of people, a few committed people can help you change the world. [Cuomo:] Trump is sucking a lot of energy out of the room. There's no question. Now he is the frontrunner. It was interesting to me in the last segment hearing you say, what you say as a leader matters as much as what you do. He's given you some cover on that. That was going to be a big angle of criticism on you and it has been in the past as you know. What do you think he's done in terms of the dynamic or what did you learn watching him about what you don't want to be and what you do want to be as someone who's out in front. [Christie:] Listen, what I have learned is that the American people are angry at Washington, D.C. and the depth of their anger is being funneled through Donald's candidacy. That's what I have learned the most is that what I felt as I traveled around the country last year, this overwhelming anxiety of people. We don't want anything to do with Washington, D.C., we want it changed and so, you know, the challenge for me over the course of time, who do you want to change it with? You know, somebody who is blunt and direct? Absolutely, but someone who actually knows how to operate a government or someone that does not and I think that is the challenge moving forward. What I have learned right now is that anger that I detected is manifested itself in the numbers you see with Donald and a lot of folks as well. [Camerota:] Times say you were fund raising over the weekend, you raised $11 million? [Christie:] The $11 million was raised by our superpac. We'll be reporting. The campaign started on June 30th. We didn't have to do a report for the campaign. We'll do one I guess mid-October. [Cuomo:] OK, so compare that to Jeb Bush's $114 million from his superpac. That's you are at a big disadvantage. [Christie:] So is everybody else. If my dad didn't work at the Briers ice cream plant in Newark and was president of the United States, and my brother was president of the United States, I would probably have $114 million, too. There are certain advantages that come along with that. Everyone in the race acknowledges that Jeb has that advantage. That's fine. He will spend that money. If he uses it well, it will help him. It won't change who he is. [Cuomo:] When we were talking the last segment, you said it's time to go after the employers and immigration. That's how you really stopped the problem because if they don't have jobs to go to the right way, they won't come. Similarly money in politics, superpacs, I know that you are a governor, a politician. You know how to disarm. I hear this at home all the time. But, it's so toxic. It's so corruptive of the process that should a leader, at some point come forward and say it's got to stop. I have to have one, but you just can't do it. Is that impossible? [Christie:] It's impossible. It's impossible. Jeb has $114 million, I don't want to have any. Here's what I think we should do. The fact is all these rules are written by lawyers. [Cuomo:] It's all legal. This is legal money. [Christie:] Of course, all these rules are written by lawyers and then lawyers figure out how to get around it. Here's what we should do in my opinion. We should get rid of all the laws and everyone should be able to donate as much as they want to whoever they want. And in return, the candidate should have to give disclosure within 24 hours on the internet because Chris, what you're getting at is especially with some aspects those superpacs that don't have to disclose is people don't know whether you're being influenced by the money you're being given. If we were able to take as much money from where we wanted to, individuals, corporation, whoever and disclose it 24 hours later then we're responsible for everything. The real problem with superpacs in my view is that I can't work with my superpac. The superpac that's supporting me I have no influence. [Cuomo:] Which no one believes. [Christie:] I'm telling you, as a former federal prosecutor, I'm not going near that. It's a violation of the law. The superpac has to make whatever decisions to spend money. If you don't like one of the ads and come to me, I'm sorry. I can't talk about it. I can't say on television that I don't like it. That could be sending a signal to the superpac. Here is the thing. Why not make the candidates responsible for everything? We are going to be responsible for one of us being president of the United States. Why not for every dollar that comes in, every message that goes out and disclosure in 24 hours. If we did that, then I think in a country with 230 million people, we need a lot of money to communicate to folks and we certainly don't want networks like this to go bankrupt because we are not paying for ads, right? Let's be honest about it. Let's be straightforward. Let's stop with the games. [Camerota:] We have 5 seconds left. Is Vice President Joe Biden going to get in the race? [Christie:] I don't know. We're both University of Delaware alums. Another fighting blue hen in the race wouldn't be a bad thing. [Camerota:] Governor Chris Christ, thanks so much. [Cuomo:] Good luck, Governor. [Christie:] Thanks, Chris. [Camerota:] We'll be right back. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump is cementing his spot in the presidential race. He's the top yet another national poll with other anti-establishment candidates right behind him. So who is Trump helping and who is he hurting, and can he keep up the momentum? We'll take a look at that next. [Cooper:] Well, there are big shoes now to fill at the State Department, with President Trump in, four top management officials are out. Two senior administration officials said the State Department brass were told that their services were no longer needed. This is unusual and that the White House usually asks career officials, not political appointees, career officials to stay on for a few months and leaves a gaping hole in State Department management, with the combine 150 years of experience between the officials. Our Elise Labott joins me now with more. So, who are these four senior State Department officials that were asked to leave and what do they do there? [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, Anderson, one of the names you might recognize, undersecretary of management, Patrick Kennedy, a longtime serving top official at the State Department who's been embroiled in the Benghazi controversy, he was in charge of management then, and also in charge of helping handle Secretary Clinton's e-mail when she was at the State Department real critics from Republicans about him. There's also the assistant secretary for administration, Joyce Anne Barr, the assistant secretary for consular affairs, her name is Michele Bond, another long serving official, and Ambassador Gentry Smith, who handled the Office of Foreign Admissions. That's embassies and consulates here in the United States. So, as you said, these are long-serving career officials, 150 combined years of institutional knowledge among them, and it does leave a gaping hole in the management department of the State Department as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, he's not been confirmed yet, but he's expected to be next week. I mean, these bureaus have deputies, but it really does leave a lot of institutional knowledge out the door as this new secretary comes in. [Cooper:] I mean, the State Department says they have new people who could fill the slots. How unusual is it for an incoming administration to go after staffers without having a replacement lined up? [Labott:] It's pretty unusual. I mean, generally, these are career appointees, some of them have served during since the Nixon administration. So, clearly, they've served in Republican and Democratic administrations. Usually, they say, listen, stay on for a few months until your successor is confirmed. Case in point, Patrick Kennedy, when the Bush administration came in, he was assistant secretary for administration and they asked him to stay on until his successor was confirmed and that was six months. And it's not just the management department. There are other officials across the State Department that were told their services were no longer needed. For instance, the assistant secretary and acting undersecretary for arms control, Tom Countryman, was on his way to a conference in Rome when he was told to turn around, your services are no longer required. So, it's pretty clear that the Trump administration wants to start fresh. The problem is all this, you know, decades and decades of institutional knowledge walking out the door, they're going to be hard-pressed to find those kind of officials that know the inner workings of the State Department the way these people do, Anderson. [Cooper:] All right. Elise Labott, thanks very much. Back with the panel. Christiane, this does get to a point you raised in our last segment about Mexico, essentially just the pace of change and again, this is what folks voted for Trump for but it's unlike anything I think we've seen in quite a long time. [Amanpour:] Yes. I mean, absolutely. There's a huge pace of change, for want of a better word. I mean, some of the people that Elise is talking about, I understand, were going to retire anyway, they were older. Some have to do it in terms of procedure in terms of incoming and outgoing administrations. Some of them I'm told simply, you know, left because they didn't want to be part of the incoming administration. So, there is a whole a mixture of reasons for this. But the bigger picture is, you know, when are will all the people get in to actually govern? And I'm not the one asking this question. Foreign leaders, foreign, you know, interlocutors and things. I've heard from you know, different European capitals that, you know, they've come over here, haven't had a sense of who their partners are. Let's just take a for instance today, I was interviewing Saeb Areikat and the chief Palestinian negotiator, and the Israeli ambassador to the U.N. about the whole idea, is the embassy going to move, what's it going to mean? I mean, Areikat said that the Palestinians haven't had their letters responded to or anything responded to in terms of questions. That might be political but it might be administrative. We just don't know. [Lewis:] Yes. I think one of the untold stories was hinted at just there is how long it takes to get some of these people confirmed. I mean, it could be six or more months before some of these staff positions are confirmed and in place. It just seems you know, look, I totally understand Donald Trump, there is an argument to be made about sort of cleaning house, getting people who have frankly haven't been that effective, or just don't share your philosophy, getting them out, bringing in your team. But it takes so long to staff up and to sort of get all of your people in place. And that strikes me as maybe that's something we need to focus on is expediting these things. [Lord:] I remember working in the Bush 41 administration for Jack Kemp. And we got the letter that said, thanks, be out by January 20th at noon. We held a party with Secretary Kemp the day before, we took the half day off, and that was it. But those were the political people. One of the problems here in this town that has been there increasingly is are the career folks. Lots of them belong to union, political unions, they donate money, et cetera, and the money goes heavily to Democrats. I don't care. God bless their First Amendment rights. What I'm suggesting is the culture in these bureaucracies is left-leaning. And so, when you get a Republican president like Donald Trump who comes in, not to mention somebody who's been such an outsider, they're going to want to flush the system out. And they should. One, so they have career people in there who are representing their point of view, and two, so that things get done here and they get fresh blood in there. That's [Powers:] Well, are you you're saying get rid of career people who they think don't have their political view? Because I don't think that's [Lord:] Because the career people are supposed to represent [Powers:] But what are you talking about? Career people have protected positions. They've been there their entire lives and they're actually not and they're not all partisans, but I mean, this is your breaking news here, if you think that you're saying the Trump administration is going in and purge career people out of the administration? [Lord:] Well, this is what we're seeing here. [Powers:] These are political appointees, aren't they? [Lord:] These were career people, were they not? [Lewis:] Some of them. [Cooper:] My understanding. [Powers:] Yes. But if leaving on their own accord, that's not the same thing. [Lord:] They submit their letters of resignation. [Powers:] Political appointees submit their letters of resignation. But career people are not obliged to submit. [Lord:] Well, these folks did. [Cooper:] Let me bring in Elise. Elise Labott, are these all career people? [Labott:] These are all career people who have been in the administration for decades. The process is when you're in a confirmable position, that the president appoints you to, you are required by law to submit your resignation. Now, you'll remember a few weeks back, all of the political ambassadors submitted their resignations and they were all told, "Yes, thank you, be out by January 20th." Some of them usually ask to stay on for a couple of weeks. Some of them have kids in school. They were all told, "No, we'd really like you out by January 20th." Now, on a political realm, that's certainly expected. But with the career officials even though they're required to submit their resignation, they're serving both most of them have served several Democratic and several Republican administrations. So, the question is, do they want to just purge and start fresh? They're not going to be able to fill every position with new people. These are as Kristen said, these are protected positions and also, they have a lot of institutional knowledge. So, it is kind of rare that they would be asked all to leave in this way and I have to respectfully disagree with Jeffrey. I understand what you're saying about how a lot of these officials perhaps lean left, but these are, you know, loyal to the department that they serve. Really, they kind of go with the flow with any administration. [Lord:] Therein lies the difference. I mean, I think they don't go this whole controversy with we were talking about the other night with the websites or whatever where the National Park Service and all this sort of thing, that epitomizes what the problem is. Whether it doesn't matter. It could be the FBI. It could be the EPA. It could be the Justice Department, what have you. You have these folks in this culture, for lack of a better term, a culture of liberalism within the department, that's what they do. [Lewis:] Everybody says they want change and their politicians come to Washington and then they become part of the system and they become like all the other politicians. And one way to make sure that happens is to have bureaucrats who slow down the works. Donald Trump is a revolutionary candidate and he wants to do some big things. Those may be good things, those may be bad things, but the way to strangle the baby in the crib and to prevent that from happening is to have people and you know, personnel is policy and if you have people in key positions who are not implementing your vision, then you're not going to be able to accomplish much. [Cooper:] I'm not sure strangling the baby in the crib is the greatest Let's take a pause. We're going to have more with the panel ahead. President Trump today was expected to launch an investigation into voter fraud after he made claims, unproven ones, that millions of fraudulent votes were cast against him. So, why was the announcement actually delayed? That is next. [B. Baldwin:] Breaking news we've been covering this afternoon, the fact that we've now learned that Mitt Romney is apparently set to speak his mind about this state of the Republican race for president. The 2012 Republican presidential nominee will reveal some more of his opinions about the state of the Republican Party tomorrow morning from the University of Utah, 11:30 a.m. Eastern. A source close to Romney tells CNN, no endorsement is expected. But now, pundits are obviously having a field day trying to predict exactly what it is he will be saying. Joining me now, Republican Consultant Susan Del Percio, sorry, the, I don't know if that snapped, one time administration official with former NYC, New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Conservative Strategist and Pollster Lisa Boothe, and U.S. News & World Report, Senior Politics Writer, David Catanese. So, welcome to all of you. And David, we have a little bit of reporting on what, you know, Romney is supposed to say as far as the other candidates. But what are you hearing? [David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer, U.s. News & World Report:] Well, where has he been, would be my question. [B. Baldwin:] Yeah. [Catanese:] You know, look, with 15 states have voted. You know, hundreds of thousands of votes have been cast. Now, Trump looks like the front-runner. Mitt Romney is going to come out and talking. And it looks like he is going to repudiate Trump without endorsing one of the other candidates. But this smells like too little too late. And it's all because if you're a mainstream establishment Republican, you didn't believe Trump was real. You didn't believe August was real. You didn't believe September was real. You thought this was all a bubble that was going to burst once the votes were cast. And now, coming in March 2nd to try to save this thing I mean, Trump hasn't been saying anything new, you know. He's had the same rapport, the same confrontational bombastic tone. And now, Mitt Romney is deciding to act? This is a long Hail Mary pass it looks like. [B. Baldwin:] Well, Susan, let me turn to you because we were talking, you know, last week, he came out and was attacking Trump on the tax returns. Now, all of a sudden, he'll be speaking tomorrow. We do know that he will be criticizing Trump. To what degree? I don't really know. But, you're saying, he's doing it now because why? [Susan Del Percio, Former Official In Mayor Rudy Guilani Administration:] Well, two things, one, I think he's doing tomorrow because like last week, it's right before a debate. So whatever issues he brings up, it'll play in tomorrow night's debate. And the second reason is, he is a better messenger than some of these Super PACs or former spokespeople for different campaigns. You need you know, he was the last person to run for president from the Republican Party. He is a Republican figurehead. Yes, he's part of the establishment. But he when he delivers a question to Donald Trump or attacks Donald Trump, people really listen and eats up the time. The biggest question I have is, will Trump take the bait? [B. Baldwin:] Well, Lisa, what do you think? I mean, this has obviously the potential to backfire. We've been watching them back and forth on Twitter. Does Trump take the bait? [Lisa Boothe, Vice President Of Political Polling, Wpa Research:] Well and he very well may, but does that mean anything, and does it change the dynamics of the situation? I think that's the big question mark. [B. Baldwin:] Could he get more supporters out of it? [Boothe:] Well, there's been a lot well, potentially. I mean, there's been a lot of ammunition that has been thrown Donald Trump's way. But the reality is he had significant wins in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Nevada as well as Super Tuesday last night and has indicated his dominance in various regions of the United States. I mean, he's won in the north. He's won in the south, he's won in the west, and he has also picked up, you know, different parts of the Republican delegation along the way. And what he's been doing is running this rage against the machine type of campaign that's resonating with Republican voters who are angry. They're angry with the establishment. They're angry with people, quite frankly, like Mitt Romney. So I don't know if he is the right messenger at this moment for this anti-Trump rhetoric and the reality as this comes down to math, you need 1,237 delegates... [B. Baldwin:] Yeah. [Boothe:] ... to the convention out of that 2,472, and Donald Trump is well on his way. So my question to Mitt Romney was, where were you two weeks ago? Where were you a month ago? And that is at the point where... [B. Baldwin:] To David's point. [Boothe:] Yeah, exactly, to David's point. At a point when maybe it would have made the difference. Or what we've seen throughout this process so far, maybe it would have just emboldened him. [B. Baldwin:] So, David, back to you, you know, we've talked about obviously the number of delegates that is the most important part. But it's also the numbers in terms of record turnout on the Republican side. And you look the Donald Trump with regard to that. I want to play some sound. This is Former Governor Mike Huckabee speaking just last night. [Mike Huckabee, Former Presidential Candidate:] The establishment Republicans are all, you know, bed-wetting over this. And they don't seem to understand that we have an election. Look, I just believe that at some point we need to recognize. If you want to oppose Donald Trump, do it, but don't pretend that somehow that all these voters who have gone out and voted for him are stupid. They're not stupid. I tell you what they are. They're angry. And they're angry at the very establishment who is going nuts because Donald Trump is doing so well and they don't get it that they're the problem. [B. Baldwin:] Susan, David, how do these, you know, establishment leaders, these louder voices, these anti-Trump folks. How do they, you know, not disparage this pro-Trump folks and get them on their side? [Catanese:] They're in a vice. You're not seeing look, you got one U.S. senator who has come out and said he will not vote for Trump. And I believe today, you have a governor, Massachusetts, who said he will not vote for Trump. But frankly, you got all these statements from the speaker, to Mitch McConnell, who are repudiating tactics but they won't even say the guy's name, because it's dicey to vet here. I mean, the conventional wisdom is Trump is going to be a drag on the ticket. He's going to bring the whole party down, this is going to blow up the party. But look at the numbers that you just cited. [B. Baldwin:] Yeah. [Catanese:] Record turnout on the Republican side. So, if you're a senator or in a Senate race in Colorado, do you want to put your arm up to Trump and not go near him and repudiate him? Or, do you think he's going to bring you a tailwind? And I think that's the unknown right now. And that's why you see a lot of these establishment figures walking the line. Repudiating some of the tactics, some of the language, but not going as far to say, "We can't have him, we won't vote for him." [B. Baldwin:] David Catanese, Lisa Boothe, Susan Del Percio, thank you all very much. [Del Percio:] Thank you, Brooke. [B. Baldwin:] Again, we will be watching to see what Mitt Romney says tomorrow at the University of Utah. Next, though, we talk about Chris Christie. Chris Christie and the look on his face might have stolen the show from his former Republican rival, who he has now endorsed, Donald Trump, last night. Why some are now calling on the New Jersey Governor to resign. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome to News Stream. Police target the company building this overpass in India that collapsed. We have a live report from Kolkata with details. Over a hundred thousand people paid to reserved to this car before they didn't even seen it. We'll look at the massive demand for Tesla's new Model 3. And the leaders of U.S. and China meet in Washington dispute over the South China Sea where high on the agenda. The construction company building the bridge in Kolkata, India that collapsed now faces criminal charges at lease 24 people died when a section of the over the pass came crushing to the street below. More than 24 hours later search and rescue efforts there are winding down. Joining me from the scene of that disaster in Kolkata is CNN's Sumnima Udas. Thank you for joining us there. You're right there in the thick of things Sumnima. Just 24 hours after the disaster took place, already the construction company facing charges of attempted murder. Have we heard any explanation for how this happened either from the company of from the government? [Sumnima Udas, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right Ivan. And according to local reports some of those officials from that construction company have also been detained. But we have not been able to confirm that are solve at the moment. We have not been able to get in touch with the company there. In fact unreachable at the moment but the police have thought and official charge the against this company charges of culpable homicide, which include attempt to murder and that because they say this flyover over here. Well, what used to a two kilometer long flyover. And what you see over here is empty space because a hundred meter long roughly 100 meter long chuck just came crushing down. This has been on the construction for the past five to seven years at least. This should not have taken so long. And a local government had been pressuring this company to get ahead with it and to inaugurate this flyover for quite sometime. It appears according to locals here there were putting in some flag in this area complete just the morning before this flyover just collapse. Again, we don't know exactly, you know, what the cause of it is, but a lot of people here blaming it right now on solid construction and faulty engineering. Ivan. [Watson:] Sumnima, I understand let say a densely populated area, very, very congested as well. One of the worst places you could have it manmade disaster like this taking place. What are the people there telling you about this? [Udas:] To be honest a lot of people here are still in the state of shock. It's been, you know, complete scene of chaos here until this morning. There was pile and piles of concrete and rubbles. The people are still trying to make sense of what's happened. But people are starting to question as well as to who is responsible for what's happened here. Now we've been talking to families as well, a family who lost their love ones a family two sons in fact who lost their father and mother. They were just in this exact area where I'm standing in one of the handheld wretches trying to get to a hospital nearby when that overpass came crushing down. We spoke to the son and he here's what he have to say. [Abhiskek Kanio, Son Of Victim:] Condition was very bad. There were not any person to see and [inaudible] who protecting this. The reason [inaudible] was want but the food take action something on deck that something should not happen included from for any of their families. Such kind of this happened with me. Just have a place to go [inaudible] please take action incident so that no further this kind of accident happened. [Udas:] . stay to talk that much. But saying that hope is this something like this never happens again. But a lot of people here say sadly a something like this can happen again given India's record in terms of infrastructure develop. Ivan. [Watson:] Let's hope the authorities there start to adopt perhaps some new procedures to prevent a repeat of this terrible accident. All right Sumnima Udas live there from the scene of the bridge collapse in Kolkata. Thank you very much for your update Sumnima. For more in-depth coverage, head to CNN.com that's where you'll find Ravi Agrawal first person report from Kolkata. He's our bureau chief in New Delhi. And he describes what it's like to return to the city that is so different from the one he knew as a child. It's word of read. All right, let's take a look now at news in Europe. A Belgian court has ruled that Paris terror attack suspect Salah Abdeslam can be extradited to France. It's not yet known when the transfer will happen. Abdelslam became the most wanted in Europe after the November attacks that killed 130 people. People captured him two weeks ago in Belgium after a shootout. Abdeslam is also suspected of having role in this months terror attacks in the Belgian capital, despite being in custody at the time. So we're going to go straight to Brussels that's where CNN's Alexandra Field is standing by. What more can you tell us about this extradition. Again, of man who was the most wanted man in Europe. [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, we can certainly doesn't come as surprise but French authorities him back and now we're going to get him back. He's been held here on the European arrest warrant. The transfer will happen at you lay out we're just not sure when. What's interesting though is that after he was taken into custody, he was cooperating with investigators we're told. He was talking. That ended however, after the Brussels bombing and at that point he decided that he would willingly be extradited to France. He had previously tried to fight extradition according to his attorneys. So there's a lot of information that authorities are still hoping to get from him not only about the Paris attacks but also about the attacks in Brussels. And there's very little that the public actually knows about Salah Abdeslam at this point. We do know that he was able to sneak his way out of Paris in the hours after the attacks. He was able to cross the boarder heading into Belgium undetected because police at that point didn't yet know who they were looking for. But ultimately Ivan he is bound in Molenbeek, this neighborhood in Brussels that was quite familiar to him. The question now is how long was able to hide out there without being flag for authorities. [Watson:] You know, I've been to that neighborhood. It's not very far where you standing right now. Are going to get sense of what the reaction is to Salah Abdeslam his upcoming extradition. Are there people who perhaps sympathize with him in neighborhoods like that where he was effectively hiding out until he was captured after that shoot out. [Field:] That idea of sympathy is the problem that you hear address the police by local officials in my federal officials all the time. You know, in the aftermath of the Paris attacks. When we got to spend a little bit of time in that Molenbeek neighborhood, people seem very reluctant to speak to members of media and certainty on Camera, they were very reluctant to contact authorities. And this was at the time where there were sweeping raids in that community and he has authorities tried to track down anyone who could have been connected to that Paris attack. So, whether or not you're talking distinctly about people in that community and others that may actually support Salah Abdeslam. There is certainly a more pervasive problem here where you have people who are not willing to go forward stick their neck out, contact authorities if they suspect that someone is hiding out in their myths. And frankly he seemed been hiding out at this point close in plain site. He was in Molenbeek. There was a similar situation in Paris where one of the ring leaders was also found in a Paris apartment. People had not reported that he was there. And we now know that the Laachraoui brothers who investigator says responsible for the attack at the metro and the airport were also in Brussels prior to that attack even though authorities looking for him internationally, Ivan. [Watson:] I can only just begin to imagine what the security will be like when they transfer Salah Abdeslam from Belgium across the boarder to France. All right, Alexandra Field. Thank you very much for that update live from Brussels. Now let's move to the U.S. now where there some news involving Turkey on the sidelines of a nuclear summit underway in Washington. U.S. President Barack Obama promised Turkish President Recep Tayyipo Erdogan, that America would help keep it's NATO allied Turkey secure. But elsewhere in Washington there was very polarized view of unclear. This was the scene where the Turkish president was delivering a speech a think tank. The Brooking Institution Mr. Erdogan entourage was mounts by a small group of protesters scuffles broke out between the president security guard and protesters. Caught in the chaos journalist covering the event, one was physically removed by Turkish security. Another claimed who have been kicked by Turkish bodyguards One ongoing criticism of Mr. Erdogan is his track record on press freedom. Let's turn now to the U.S. race for the White House. Donald Trump says he's ready to bring his party together following talks with Republican leaders. But otherwise we aren't hearing very much from Trump following his latest controversial comments. CNN's Field Phil Mattingly is live in Hershey, Pennsylvania with the latest development. Good to see you Phil. Trump, is he right now making piece with the Republican national community? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] He is trying Ivan. And for good reason right now you have to look at this kind of through two pathways. The first is, Donald Trump needs to figure out to get the requisite how to get the requisite delegates to secure the nomination. Now there is 2,000 plus delegates in play. You need 1,237 to actually secure the nomination. Donald Trump is very aware of the fact that Ted Cruz is operating behind the scenes to try undercut those efforts right now. So that was a primary reason he had that close door meeting with the Republican National Committee yesterday. But the other reason is should Donald Trump secure that nomination. He's going to have to go in a general election with the support of the Republican Party. A Republican party on the establishment side, that is very uneasy about Donald Trumps features. Now Donald Trump calling for unity. [Mattingly:] Donald Trump now trying to make nice with party leaders a mid fallout from yet another political firestorm. The Republican frontrunner in Washington for a meeting with the chairman of the Republican National Committee Reince Priebus. Behind close doors sources say discussion focused on delegate rules ahead of the convention. Just days after Trump and the other GOP hopefuls backout of their pledge to support the nominee. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] A very good meeting. We met with Reince Priebus and the staff and they're very good people, very actually a terrific meeting, I think. And it's really a unity meeting. [Mattingly:] Trump also huddling with foreign policy advisors at the site of his new hotel for a two hour private meeting. And his comments on nuclear proliferation continued to rile American allies. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] But if you said, Japan, yes, it's fine, you get nuclear weapons, South Korea, you as well, and Saudi Arabia says we want them, too? [Trump:] Can I be honest with you? It's going to happen, anyway. [Mattingly:] Trumps camp uncharacteristically quite Thursday. One day after his abortion comment with the New York billionaires campaign on defensive. [Chris Matthews, Msncb:] Do you believe in punishment for abortion. Yes or no. It's a principle. [Trump:] The answer is that it has to be some formal punishment. [Matthew:] For the women. [Trump:] Yeah, it has to be some form. [Matthews:] His rivals seizing on the controversy claiming forcefully he's not qualified for the Oval Office. [John Kasich, U.s. Republican Presidential Candidate:] And I have to tell you that as commander-in-chief and leader of the free world. You don't get do- overs. [Mattingly:] Ohio Governor John Kasich unleashing appointed n specific attack on the front runner. [Kasich:] The abortion controversy using nukes in the Middle East and in Europe. Get rid of the Geneva Convention, getting rid of NATO and having a Supreme Court justice who's going to investigate Hillary's e-mails. I don't even know what's he's talking about there. [Mattingly:] Ted Cruz sending out his wide Heidi in top surrogate former presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, attempting to underscore Trumps continue difficulty with women voters. Now Ivan, all of this is coming just a few days before the ever important Wisconsin primary. Donald Trump trailing now in consecutive polls by double digits to Ted Cruz, he will head back there this weekend to really try and earnest to makeup some ground. But then you have to focus here in Pennsylvania where I am today. Ted Cruz will be here. John Kasich will be here. And Ivan, sources with John Kasich's campaign said what we saw yesterday his attacks on Donald Trump which really haven't happened over the course of this campaign over the course of this campaign are just the start. Expect him to go after Donald Trump in earnest for the next coupe of weeks, really a shift and the tone of this campaign. Ivan. [Watson:] Let's take a look at the Democratic race now, Phil. The next major contest will be taken place in New York. Does Bernie Sanders really think he stands a chance in that state against the former senator from New York Hillary Clinton? [Mattingly:] It's almost amazing that we'd even be having the discussion about this, right Ivan. So Wisconsin comes on Tuesday and then really all eyes on New York. Bernie Sanders is in New York today and that's because his campaign seems phase to grow. Just a few months ago Hillary Clinton was up by 30, 40, 50 points in that state. The state she represented as U.S. senator before becoming secretary of state. Now Bernie Sanders campaign is now confident and his standing in Wisconsin Tuesdays primary. That's where the focus is starting to shift over to New York. Hillary Clinton's campaign advisor tell me that they feel very good about where they are in New York, still with the double digit lead there. But Bernie Sanders thinks they make up ground. And again Ivan, it's all about delegates and both of these races right now. And if Bernie Sanders can make up ground maybe not make it look like a huge defeat, that means he's pulling delegates and once again, this race that I think a lot of people never thought would get this far or get to this point continues forward. A bit of long slab one that Hillary Clinton certainly doesn't appreciate at this point, Ivan. [Watson:] Right. Thanks Phil. And I just notice you're standing there in front of giant Hershey's kisses. You're in Hershey, Pennsylvania, so one of the bonuses of these assignment lots of chocolate, all right. Now, if you're a fan of automobile. You want go stick around for this next report. The wait is over for the Tesla. The model 3 Tesla it's known as the electric for the masses. And we'll have more on the big reveal. Also ahead, the FBI is keeping quiet about who help crack the San Bernardino killers iPhone. But we'll tell you why all signs are pointing an Israeli company as the expert third party. Stay with us. [Whitfield:] Hi, welcome back. College football world, only two teams left standing in the battle for college football's national championship, Clemson and Alabama, rolling over their opponents in the Orange and Cotton Bowls, setting up an epic showdown. CNN's Coy Wire joins us live now from Ft. Lauderdale. Happy new year, Coy. So, definitely not tight games. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports:] Awesome games. Happy new year to you, Fredericka. Clemson, they entered this match-up as the nation's lone unbeaten team, No. 1 ranked team, but they were still underdogs to the Big 12 champion, Oklahoma. Now, Clemson, they're seeking their first national title since 1981, but they had to find a way to stop the Sooners' third-ranked scoring offense. And they did. This game was actually close until Clemson exploded in the second half, outscoring Oklahoma 21-0. They were led by the dynamic duo of Wayne Gallman on the ground, who scored twice, and Deshaun Watson, who is the game's offensive MVP with over 330 total yards and two touchdowns, including this one through the air. Now, Clemson, they stay perfect with a 37- 17 victory. Head coach Dabo Sweeney's Clemson Tigers, guys, they have been on an incredible run. And he told me about it just shortly after the game. Check it out. [Dabo Sweeney, Clemson Head Couch:] It's been an unbelievable year. You know, 2015, to be 14-0, and to earn a chance to play one more time in January of 2016, that's our 17th win in a row and we ain't played Wilson Junior High 17 times. We played some tough people. [Wire:] No disrespect, Wilson Junior High, Dabo loves you. Now, the other semifinal featured the only team from last season's playoffs to make back. Alabama taking on the Big Ten champs, Michigan State. Nick Saban entered this game with a perfect 8-0 against his former understudies, and Cyrus Jones helped improve that record. His 57-yard punt return for a touchdown was a huge spark, but quarterback Jake Coker played the game of his life, throwing two touchdowns in this Tide's 38-0 smackdown of the Spartans. Now, Coker dedicated this to his brother, who's fighting overseas. And guys, watch the emotion, holding back tears, as he told our Andy Scholes after the game how much this meant to him. [Jake Coker, Alabama Quarterback:] I just love him, man. He do all this, you know, he's the reason for a lot of this, why I play so hard and try to do what I can do. He's an inspiration, man. I love him to death. [Wire:] Now, in just ten days, Alabama and Clemson are going to play for that national championship in Arizona. We'll be there, take you with us. While the Tide are looking to win their fourth title under Nick Saban, Clemson and Dabo Sweeney, they have a chance to become the first team in college football history to finish the season a perfect 15-0. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Fridays are awesome! I`m Carl Azuz. It`s great to have you watching this April 8th. First up, we have an in-depth report for you. CNN recently got an exclusive interview with the head of the U.S. Terrorist Screening Center. It was created in 2003. It`s an organization of several agencies run by the FBI. One of its jobs: to combine the U.S. government`s information on potential terrorists into one list, and to help screen people who entered the U.S. or try to travel internationally on an airline. For someone to be added to the list, U.S. officials have to have reasonable suspicion that he or she is connected to terrorism. Some civil liberties groups say the organization standards need to be higher than that. They`re concerned it`s too easy for someone to be put on the watch list. But officials says if they raise the bar anymore, they`ll miss people who may be plotting an attack. [Christopher Piehota, Terrorist Screening Center Director:] This means to me that the Terrorist Screening Center`s mission will never be done. [Subtitle:] Terrorist Screening Center, somewhere outside Washington, [D.c. Piehota:] And it reminds us daily of the importance of what we do. [Subtitle:] This 3-story tall piece from the base of the World Trade Center`s North Tower sits at the entrance of the TSC. From the USS Cole bombing, October 12, 2000. [Piehota:] The threats were ever present, and the remnants were put here to remind our staff of our mission, which is to prevent acts of terrorism, keeps us mindful of the threat that is still out there. [Subtitle:] The "Underwear Bomber", December 25, 2009. From the Oklahoma City bombing, April 19, 1995. [Piehota:] Each remnant or each artifact shows you the evolution of terrorism. This particular architecture was from the North Tower, and where you can se the bent areas is where the aircraft made entry into the tower. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Right there? [Piehota:] Right there. [Brown:] Every day you come in and you say, we`re not going to let this happen again. [Piehota:] This cannot ever happen again. [Subtitle:] An exclusive interview with Christopher Piehota, director of the Terrorist Screening Center. [Brown:] One public perception about the U.S. terror watch list is that many innocent Americans with no ties to terrorism make it on those lists. What is your reaction to that? [Piehota:] I know that is a perception, but it is an incorrect perception. For the United States persons on the watch list, it is a very, very small part of the population of the watch list. U.S. persons on the watch list comprise less than half a percent of the total population. [Brown:] And how many changes are made to the watch list every day? [Piehota:] The watch list, I would just say, for 2015, the watch list changed on an average of about 1,500 times per day, where in those 1,500 changed transactions, some people were added to the list. Some records were updated and modified and some people were removed from the list. [Brown:] What are some of the frustrations from your perspective, being the head of this terror watch list? [Piehota:] It`s concerning that our partners don`t use all of our data. We provide them with tools, we provide them with support, and I would find it concerning that they don`t use these tools to help screen for their own aviation security maritime security, border screening, visas, things like that for travel, we find it concerning. [Brown:] We`ve now seen two ISIS terror attacks in Europe, more recently in Paris, as well as in Brussels, at the airport and the metro station. Would the U.S. watch list have prevented the terrorists identified in those attacks from slipping into the United States. [Piehota:] It depends. Now, and I say "it depends" because if they`re on our list and they were properly identified, they may have been caught at our borders, they may not have been granted access to our country. So I can say that I would hope that our screening network would have caught them. Nothing is 100 percent foolproof, I will tell you that. [Brown:] Did that information make its way to our watch list? Did they share information prior to those attacks about these people? I`m just trying to get a sense of how that work, would work. [Piehota:] We were aware of some of those people. [Brown:] Brussels right now is still on top of everyone`s mind. We know of at least two bombers who are still on the run, possibly in Europe. How concerning is that to you that these could people who might want to make it into the U.S. They haven`t been publicly identified. [Piehota:] It`s very concerning, and that`s where the awareness and the vigilance comes in. We really on our partners to look for them, conduct investigations and operations that help us identify them. [Brown:] But in Europe, there are cases where perhaps information wasn`t shared about someone because of privacy laws, and because how does that impact the terror watch list? [Piehota:] Well, it impacts the terror watch list in a way that our sharing may not be as broad or inclusive as it could be. [Brown:] There are so many people living Europe to go to Syria to train, unbeknownst to European officials. That didn`t just come right back. I mean, what`s stopping them from making it into the U.S.? [Piehota:] It`s highly concerning. We make sure that we know as much as we can. And we take that information and we use it the best we can, to minimize threats to our communities. But we can`t know everything all the time. [Brown:] Let`s talk about the migrant crisis, because, you know, the U.S. is expected to take in tens of thousands of people over the next several years. Your job will be to ensure none of those people are terrorists and make it into the United States, in collaboration with other intelligence partners. How sure are you that you will be 100 percent successful? [Piehota:] Nothing is 100 percent. We will strive for the best we can, nothing we can guarantee is at 100 percent level. [Brown:] Do you think that this screening process in place though is as rigorous it can be to prevent terrorists from making it in? [Piehota:] I`m pretty confident in us catching people who would try to come to this country for illicit purposes. But again, I can`t say that we would be batting a thousand. [Subtitle:] The world`s first dengue vaccine is available in the Philippines. One million children in dengue affected areas are vaccinated. It took 20 years and $1.8 billion of funding to make the vaccine. Dengue fever is one of the world`s most common mosquito-borne viruses. It infects around 390 million people each year and kills more than 25,000. The vaccine was developed by French drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur. The company said the vaccine could prevent up to 93 percent of severe dengue cases. Researchers say it could reduce cases in the Philippines by 24 percent over five years. The World Health Organization hasn`t yet approved the program. [Azuz:] Yesterday, we announced a school in West Africa. Today, we`re headed to the Far East. In the city of Jeonju, South Korea, it`s great to see our viewers at Chonbuk National University. Thank for watching this Friday. In the city of New York, in the state of New York, hello to the Lions. Columbia Grammar and Preparatory is on the roll. And we`re visiting some of our viewers in Texas. The Hornets is what the buzz is all about. They`re at Hudson High School in Lufkin. You might want to sit down for this, if you`re not already. You see this chair? It`s wooden. It`s got some graffiti on it. It says "Harry Potter". And it recently sold at an auction for $349,000. That`s as much as a nice house. Why? Because this is the chair that author J.K. Rowling sat on while writing the first two Harry Potter books on her typewriter. To the auction`s winner, Rowling wrote, quote, "My nostalgic side is quite sad to see it go, but my back isn`t." It must have been given her a shrieking back, maybe it`d be better suited to a Longbottom. But it makes you wonder, could the chair have sold for Volde-more, someone probably had the Dumbledore budget and Snape a few competitors to Weasley their way into ownership. Right now, though, they`re probably feeling pretty s-muggle. Harry Potter puns, they`re magical. END [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. Now, from "Cabaret" on Broadway to "The Good Wife" on TV, the award-winning actor, Alan Cumming has long been a familiar face on stage and screen, known for his sparkling personality and his haunting, revealing books, his latest, "You've Gotta Get Bigger Dreams," provided the perfect spring board for our conversation about celebrity and real-life politics. Alan Cumming, welcome to the program. [Cumming:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] I mean, you are the ultimate political strategist at least in your TV life and we are in the post-second debate mode. Did you watch it? [Cumming:] I did. I did. I'm here in London. I set my alarm clock, I woke up and I watched it. [Amanpour:] And did you think it measured up to the fictional politics, or does it even exceed the plot lines that you can generate for fictional politics? [Cumming:] Well, I think the whole American campaign right now is way beyond any insane satirical plot line. I'm just embarrassed. I'm so embarrassed that at this stage in a political campaign, let alone a presidential campaign for a huge country like America, that genitalia groping and the size of a Miss Universe contestant should be major part of discussion. [Amanpour:] Can I ask you, though, because it is relevant. It's obviously the reducto absurdum of our celebrity culture. You've just written a book, "You've Got to Get Bigger Dreams." We'll talk about that in a second. But it is all about the selfie. It's all about the me, I've looked through it, I've seen it. It's all pictures about you. He is a reality television star. Is this to be expected? [Cumming:] No, I don't think. Of course, we've known Donald Trump for a while. He's not popped out of nowhere. So I don't think that I think, you know, we get what we deserve in elections. My personal understanding of that is the lack of value that America puts on education. And so we have a generation that isn't very educated. It does not analyze the news as infotainment, instead of facts. And so, and it's much more predispose to be duped by sound bites and jingoism. But at the same time, if I may say, that's also a huge fault of the media, the political media for not taking sides, for not properly investigating and doing their job. [Amanpour:] There are obviously some fantastic exceptions. The "Washington Post" has distinguished itself from the very beginning holding him and all the other candidates accountable. [Cumming:] Yes. [Amanpour:] The basic duty of journalists. [Cumming:] That and entertaining the minority. And also the other thing is, who is reading the "Washington Post"? A very, very small percentage of the electorate. [Amanpour:] What about when you were playing Eli Gold in this runaway success "The Good Wife?" I mean, you were you had a heart, but very cynical, hard-bitten, political adviser. I mean, people are very cynical about politics. And so when they see an adviser like Eli Gold, you know, doing all sorts of nefarious things, they may confuse that with reality, and may not think that politics is aspirational anymore. [Cumming:] Well, I think, they're right. Chicago itself is a whole other world. And that's obviously where the bulk of the Democratic headquarters are, and where so much of the Democratic ethos comes from. And it's a very, very corrupt time politically. And they wear the corruptness on their sleeves as a badge of honor. It's not something that's hidden. I can't remember the exact date. It's something like four out of the last six governors of Illinois have gone to prison. I mean, that's terrible. And so there's a whole suede of corruption and criminality that's attached to politics in America. That doesn't seem to be a problem for most people. [Amanpour:] But I did want to ask you about this. Because you've got to get bigger dreams kind of plays into what we're talking about. Tell me about the title. It's an encounter with Oprah Winfrey, right? [Cumming:] Yes. The book is a book of stories and photographs of moments in my life, and I tried to stand back from my life in a way because I'm an outsider in America. I'm an outsider in Scotland as well. I think it's quite a healthy place to be able to stand back and allow other people to look into it and have the same sort of look at it in the same way. But Oprah so Oprah said that line, because my friend Eddie is obsessed with Oprah. And I was being invited to a big gala that she was being honored at. And he really wants a photograph of her, of course. Here's the photo I take. [Amanpour:] Here it is. [Cumming:] Oprah started to come towards us. [Amanpour:] And you were going to miss your shot. [Cumming:] Yes. But we were going to be right beside and she was coming [Amanpour:] And marched off? [Cumming:] No, I took the photo, boom, marched off. And I thought, that's the photo you see. It's kind of I thought, oh my goodness, what a terrible picture, but I think it's perfect. [Amanpour:] Your last book "Not My Father's Son" was very dramatic and spoke of a very, very tough childhood. [Cumming:] Yes. [Amanpour:] Tell me a little bit about that. And particularly the relationship between you and your father, which was abusive. [Cumming:] Yes, my father was very abusive, very violent, physically and mentally abusive. And we lived in a very remote area of east coast of Scotland. And to my brother as well, he did those things. And it was just really tough. And I'd never let anyone come right to the house. I don't in case my father was out and around. Because, you know, it's the thing about when you're abused, you protect the abuser. If the abuser is good at his job, it's a common thing that the abusee protects. Embarrassed, of course, and humiliated but also wants to protect him because it will wash to them if they find out. So I would always make sure that my I would always get dropped off a little bit away from my house. It's been interesting writing this book and it also did something because when I'm on a book tour again and people come up to me and tell me things, you know, from my past. It's actually a great way to engage in public. [Amanpour:] Yes. What I was going to say exactly. People sometimes need larger than life characters like yourself to make it OK. [Cumming:] Yes. [Amanpour:] To talk about it and to seek help. [Cumming:] I mean, this book has been amazing. I didn't really bargain on it at all, perhaps rather naively. But the number of people that have come up to me and say, you know, I had a similar thing. And you've been able to make me talk to my family, or you know, you gave me confidence to do it. That's been an incredibly moving and a surprising part of this process. [Amanpour:] And "Not Your Father's Son." Was he not your father? I know your brother called you and said this. He said that you weren't [Cumming:] Yes. I was about to do that [Amanpour:] You were? [Cumming:] I took the test. [Amanpour:] You are. [Cumming:] So it was in that time I was really happy because I want to be his son. My brother was like, oh, you're lucky. And then when I did get the DNA results and I discovered that he was lying, and I could tell him, I was so furious. And, also, I thought I'm dealing with an irrational man, who was and his imagine all his life, or from a certain point in my early life, he has made his truth that he did not father me. How do you deal with that? How do you get to that? There's no sense of logic. There's no you know, after talking to other people, I realized that he had some form of mental illness. Certainly many personality disorders. A little bit like Donald Trump, actually. And I sort of made peace with that. I'm not going to get any any he died. But I'm not going to get any rationale from someone who is so irrational. [Amanpour:] Really important lesson. It's great that you wrote it. [Cumming:] You've got to let go. But I do think Donald Trump is mentally ill. Getting back to that, Christiane. I really I do think I mean, various things about different personality disorders, which he obviously has narcissism being an icon. [Amanpour:] Well, his biographer says that he's very narcissistic. [Cumming:] I think it's beyond that. There's definitely certain conditions like his absolute inability to take responsibility, or to understand why his lack of empathy might affect anyone around him are classic personality disorder traits. [Amanpour:] Alan Cumming, thank you very much indeed for joining me. [Cumming:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] And now, from a weird world to a surreal presidential portrait. This official painting of the outgoing Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves was unveiled today, playing up his signature bow tie. It is sure to be a unique entry in Estonia's collection of presidential portraits, and talking of one offs, the country's new president will for the first time be a woman. And speaking of first-time women, we go to Somalia next where Fadumo Dayib touches down to blast off with her bid of the presidency there. Imagining that after this. [Blitzer:] Some more live pictures coming in. The president of the United States getting ready to address about 5,000 sailors, Marines, ship builders, others, on the "USS Gerald R. Ford," an aircraft carrier, a brand new one. Not yet ready, way beyond schedule. We'll have live coverage of the president's remarks coming up. In the meantime, the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer, just tweeted this picture of the president meeting with some of those sailors. The president sporting a red USA hat. It's fitting that the president is visiting the shipyards in Newport News, Virginia. They'll be very busy if the president gets his wish to increase military spending by $54 billion in this current year and next year alone. On the president's wish list are dozens of new naval ships. Here with me, retired Admiral William Fallon, former commander of the U.S. military's Central Command. Thanks for joining us. [Adm. William Fallon, Former Commander, U.s. Central Command:] Sure, Wolf. [Blitzer:] What do you think about the president's request for billions more in defense spending right now? As you know, the U.S. already spends more on defense than the next six, seven or eight countries combined, including China and Russia. [Fallon:] It's true. We also have a responsibility that we've assumed worldwide that nobody else has. But the reality is that the services has been spending a lot of money in recent years on these wars in the Middle East and there's been a recapitalization that's long overdue particularly for the Navy, which has not been able to keep up with readiness. So right now, the readiness of the forces, the head of the Navy is not anywhere near where it needs to be. It needs to be fixed. [Blitzer:] This new aircraft carrier you served in the Navy for a long time. You were the head of the military's Central Command. And I love aircraft carriers, don't get me wrong. The U.S. now has 10 of them. Used to have more. This one they started building it in 2008. Supposed to be ready in 2014. It's now 2017. It's not yet ready. It's billions and billions and billions of dollars overbudget. It's going to wind up costing U.S. taxpayers $13 billion. Here's the question: Why do they always get it not always, but most of the time these defense contractors, they get it so wrong. They make promises. It's going to be delivered on time, but it's way, way delayed and way over budget. [Fallon:] I think the problem is it goes way beyond the defense contractor in question here. And that is that the process in my opinion is broken. The acquisition process is badly broken. Has been for some time. So it's a rarity that you can find any program of whatever size that seems to be on time and on budget. It's one of my laments in service, trying to deal with this. But this particular piece of hardware is unique in that it's [Blitzer:] This new aircraft carrier, new generation. [Fallon:] The first one in 50 years. The Nimitz class carriers which, as you correctly pointed out, 10 in the Navy now, really designed back in the late '60s. The first Nimitz went to sea in the mid '70s. This technology, first time in 50 years but it's a lot more than just a new ship. We've there's certainly enduring value in these carriers. The average lifespan is about 50 years. And this particular ship has an entirely new reactor design, first time in 50 years. [Blitzer:] And the president is being briefed on this, I'm sure, right now. But I know that he is very frustrated with these costs. [Fallon:] Oh, sure. [Blitzer:] He wants to work hard to make sure that the costs go down. I assume we might hear that? [Fallon:] A great idea. There are all kinds of factors. One of them is building one at a time, which is what's going on of any ship is really a challenge. The other thing is the new technology that's being incorporated in this one is there's no more complex ship in the world than an aircraft carrier. This incorporates very novel features, such as the electric catapult. We've never done this before. Very interesting. [Blitzer:] When he speaks, we'll be hearing a lot more. Let's see if he gets into the cost overruns and delays, as he has with a new Air Force One and new F-35, all these other programs. [Fallon:] Show me a program that's on time and on budget [Blitzer:] Admiral Fallon, thanks for being here. Thanks. And thanks for all the great work you've done. [Fallon:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Coming up, President Trump once again will be speaking very soon about the new aircraft carrier. Not yet ready, but will be ready, we're told, soon, the "USS Gerald R. Ford." Let's see if he addresses the issue of the attorney general controversy that's now erupted, contacts with the Russian ambassador to the United States, calls within his own Republican Party for Sessions to recuse himself from any investigations involving Russia. Republican Senator James Risch, a key member of the Foreign Relations Committee there you see him up on Capitol Hill he's standing by to join us live when we come back. [Camerota:] Captain Khan paid the ultimate sacrifice protecting his fellow soldiers from a suicide bomber for which he was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. Thanks so much for joining us on NEW DAY. We'll see you tomorrow. Time now for "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Thanks so much. NEWSROOM starts now. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thanks so much for joining me. Hillary Clinton rides a big bounce out of her party's convention and recaptures the lead over Donald Trump. Clinton surging in our latest poll, erasing Trump's lead before her convention and now ahead by nine percentage points. But the most important number is on the economy. Clinton jumps ahead of Trump by two points. Less than two weeks ago Trump led on that issue by 11 points. And on trade, Clinton now enjoys a comfortable lead of 10 points. And both candidates are in a dead heat, though, when it comes to terrorism. 48 percent of voters choose Clinton, 48 percent pick Trump. And it's worth noting our surveys took place before Trump's latest scorched earth sound bites over the last 24 hours. We have a lot to cover and Phil Mattingly is here to walk us through all of it. Good morning, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. A lot to unpack, no question about it. And it's important to note at the top line that these numbers are coming in the wake of the Democratic National Convention. Obviously Hillary Clinton seeing a bump kind of across the board. But when you dig down into specific issues, Carol, you hit on one of the biggest ones, obviously, the economy. But also look at key kind of flash points of this campaign. On immigration, Hillary Clinton starting to open up a bigger lead there with a 55-43 lead over who would better handle the issue in this poll. But worth noting, and Carol, you mentioned terrorism. Who would handle ISIS better? Now this is another key issue of this campaign an issue where Donald Trump has made very clear, based on his posture, his continual push of strength and power, he believes he can ride this issue to a lot of success in the campaign. Hillary Clinton at 48 percent, Donald Trump at 47 percent. When it comes to terrorism, when it comes to ISIS. This is an issue where there's not a lot of separation between the two of them. And Carol, we've seen how voters throughout this campaign have been very uneasy by what's been happening in the Middle East, by what's been happening in Europe, by the inspired attacks that have happened here in the United States. This is an issue to keep a very close eye on. And while there's been a clear bump for Hillary Clinton in the wake of the convention, still very close on this issue specifically. [Costello:] And I'm sure Mr. Donald Trump noticed these polls because he came out swinging yesterday. [Mattingly:] Yes. Absolutely. And I think it's one of the things that Donald Trump, when he feels like the pressure is on him, he's going to swing back. And it hasn't necessarily been something Republican official have always appreciated, most notably in the issue that's still being talked about today. The attack that the Donald Trump has felt like he's been attacked by Khizr Khan. No question about it by what happened at the Democratic National Convention yesterday and Republican officials have made very clear, they wish he would leave this alone both publicly and behind closed doors. Donald Trump making clear that's not going to happen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] He made a deal with the devil. She's the devil. He made a deal with the devil. [Mattingly:] Donald Trump ramping up his personal attacks on Hillary Clinton while criticizing Bernie Sanders for supporting the Democratic nominee. [Trump:] She picked a vice presidential candidate who is like the opposite of him. [Mattingly:] And suggesting that if he loses in November, it's because [Trump:] I'm afraid the election is going to be rigged. [Mattingly:] All as the ongoing feud between Trump and the parents of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier, Captain Humayun Khan, escalates. [Trump:] I have great honor and great feeling for his son, Mr. Khan's son. But and, you know, as far as I'm concerned, he's a hero. [Khizr Khan, Father Of Deceased Muslim U.s. Soldier:] You can attack Muslims, you can attack judges and nobody can question your caliber? Your lack of empathy? And you want to be commander-in-chief? [Trump:] I was very viciously attacked as you know. When you have radical Islamic terrorists probably all over the place, we're allowing them to come in by the thousands and thousands. And I think that's what bothered Mr. Khan more than anything else. [Khan:] He says, oh, I am being severely attacked, harshly attacked. Well, this is political season. You're a candidate for an office. And I have same rights as you do. [Mattingly:] The dispute rocking the GOP. Dozens of Republican leaders forced to come out in support of the Khans. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] We want to honor the families of those who have served and those who have sacrificed, all of us. [Mattingly:] Trump's campaign bombarding their supporters on Capitol Hill with e-mails, urging them to back his position, but instead getting the cold shoulder. [Rep. Marsha Blackburn , Tennessee:] Our Gold Star families deserve our full and total support. [Mattingly:] Emotions running high at a rally for Trump's running mate Mike Pence, a woman whose son is in the Air Force booed for bringing up the issue. [Unidentified Female:] Trump has disrespected our nation's armed forces and veterans and has disrespect for Mr. Khan and his family is just an example of that. Will there ever be will there ever be a point in time when you're able to look at Trump in the eye and tell him enough is enough? [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Nominee:] It's all right. Folks, that's what freedom looks like and that's what freedom sound like. OK. I want to honor your son's service to the country and your family's service to the country. I truly do, ma'am. [Mattingly:] And Carol, obviously deft handling a very sensitive issue there from Governor Mike Pence but that's really kind of an example. This is starting to resonate on the campaign trail. That's something that concerns Republicans again who have said repeatedly, we wish they would just leave this alone and move on. They don't want this to be the issue. They want the economy, they want jobs. [Costello:] Well, here's the thing, though. [Mattingly:] To be the things people are talking about. [Costello:] Like A Republican congressman just came out this morning and said, you know what, I'm going to vote for Hillary Clinton. What can you tell us about Congressman Richard Hannah? [Mattingly:] And this is a first. And I think when you talk to Clinton campaign officials, they're waiting for this to happen. Maybe the levy starts to break. There's a couple important caveats here. Richard Hannah is an upstate New York congressman, a Republican, no question about it. He is retiring. He is from a swing district. So this is not a dyed in the wool conservative who's barking Trump, but he in an opinion piece said that Donald Trump is endlessly flawed. That's a quote. And that he will be supporting Hillary Clinton. But again it's worth noting here, he's retiring. There's not a lot of politics that he has to deal with here. But still it's something. No question about it, the first Republican congressman now officially saying he will vote for Hillary Clinton. [Costello:] All right. Phil Mattingly, thanks so much. So let's talk about all of this with our panel. With me now, CNN political commentator and Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for "The Atlantic," Ron Brownstein, and CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Hilary Rosen. So, Kayleigh, I'll start with you. This Republican congressman, with all the caveats that Phil Mattingly spoke about, does this concern you? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Trump Supporter:] I'm not concerned by this. I mean, I fully expect leaders and Congress to not support Donald Trump because he ran against the Washington way. He ran against Congress essentially. He ran against Washington insiders. So I'm never surprised when I see criticism from congressmen or even support for Hillary Clinton. And I went I would really challenge the notion that this is a true Republicans because I think Republicans know that Hillary Clinton and the Obama way, that the American people cannot afford four more years of that. [Costello:] True Republicans. So, Hilary, you're a Clinton supporter. I would suppose that you would say, you know, what else do you expect? [Hilarity Rosen, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, here's, I think, the real problem, which is that every time Donald Trump makes a big mistake, whether it's the Mexican judge, whether it's the Jewish star slur, whether it's, you know, Humayun Khan, he has a three point response. The first is to demonstrate dramatic insensitivity to the diversity of America. The second is to insult Hillary Clinton. And the third is to say that he's being cheated. And we've seen this time and time again. And I think what we have is a broad swath of Americans, including thoughtful Republicans, are just sick of it. They think that this demonstrates sort of a lack of preparation for leadership to be commander-in-chief. And so, you know, it's not just any one incident. It's about his character. And I think over and over again we are now seeing this be about his character. [Costello:] So, Ron, put this into perspective, this Republican congressman who says he's now going to vote for Hillary Clinton but he's going to retire. There are no political consequences for him. Does it matter? [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] I think it does to a point. As Kayleigh says, I mean, you know, one is not a flood. But what you have is a series of voices creating what the the phrase I heard the most at the Democratic convention from Clinton strategist was permission structure. And the idea is essentially creating a permission structure not so much for hard core Republicans, but for conservative leaning independents who usually vote Republican to feel that it's OK to vote for Hillary Clinton. And that ranges from Brent Scowcroft, the national security adviser for president the first President Bush, to Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of the former mayor of New York, to Mark Cuban, you know, the billionaire. All of whom are saying to these voters, particularly these white collar white voters, that it is OK to depart from their usual leanings to vote for Hillary Clinton. And it's worth noting that in your new poll, Hillary Clinton is leading among college educated white voters by 10 points over Donald Trump. No Democrat in the history of polling, going back to 1952, has ever won most college educated white voters. And I think that is the kind of permission structure, to use their phrase, that they are trying to create with these kinds of endorsements and defections from Donald Trump. [Costello:] So, Kayleigh, let's just talk I just want to ask Kayleigh this question because Mr. Trump has doubled down on Hillary Clinton. He's called her the devil, right? He called her the devil yesterday. He said the election will be rigged. So, Kayleigh, those attacks might appeal to a certain demographic, but I suspect it won't to educated whites. [Mcenany:] Well, you know, about the devil comment, he that was a metaphor. He said Bernie Sanders made a deal with the devil, and I think he clarified this metaphor by saying by deal with the devil, meaning Hillary Clinton [Costello:] No. He said she is the devil. [Mcenany:] After he said that she made a deal with he made a deal, rather, with the devil. So I think he was clarifying his metaphor. That's certainly how I took it. You know, these little things that happen on the side, I think most voters care about their family, I think they care about slow growth, abysmal economic report in the second quarter, 1.2 percent, low wages, ISIS terrorist attacks, every other day it seems like in Europe [Costello:] So why isn't Donald Trump talking about that? [Mcenany:] Well, this is where it's really important. And Newt Gingrich has said this. Donald Trump in order to win needs to bring up the same three or four issues every single day that Americans care about. I think that's really important to stick to the issues. We shouldn't be talking about Khan this week, we shouldn't be, you know, mired in this kind of controversy. And to get out of that, it's going to take Donald Trump really sticking to the issues. [Brownstein:] Carol [Rosen:] Donald Trump has to care about actually those issues to be willing to talk about them. What we see over and over again [Mcenany:] He does care about them. [Rosen:] No. What we see over and over again is that Donald Trump cares about, you know, his thin skin and attacking back when he feels attacked. And so that's not leadership. That's not rising above. And it is critically important that we that we realize that Americans do want progress on the economy, they do want change in Washington. But they really also want to feel pride. They want to feel pride in their leaders, pride in how they manage their families. We saw Sally Bradshaw, another prominent Republican in the important state of Florida yesterday saying, I could not look my children in the eye if I voted for Donald Trump. [Brownstein:] Yes. [Rosen:] The message he sends is not the message I want to deliver. [Brownstein:] And Carol? [Costello:] Ron? [Brownstein:] That's an important point. I mean, I think, look, for Hillary Clinton to be even on terror and ISIS and the economy after her own convention which is always a high point for candidates really isn't a great result. It is possible that she will drift back behind among to Donald Trump on some of these issues as the as the kind of the afterglow of the convention fades away. But this may be a campaign, to Hilary's point, where these kinds of issue assessments are less important than a broader view about the candidate's character and values. I mean, the biggest problem Donald Trump faces in this race, I think is that, you know, 60 percent of voters going in said going to the convention said he was not qualified to be president. In your poll 64 percent of college white men and 80 percent of college white women say he does not have the right experience to be president. And the other big hurdle he faces is that people many people see him as racially divisive and not reflecting the values of a kind of a modern, tolerant America that has room at the table for all racial and ethnic groups and for women as well as men. So it is entirely possible that on Election Day he may lead on the economy, may lead on terrorism narrowly and may still be facing a significant deficit with the coalition of minorities and college whites who simply view him as both unprepared and not reflecting the values of contemporary America. [Costello:] OK. So I'm going to [Brownstein:] So that's challenge. [Costello:] I'm going to pause the conversation right here. I want you all to stay with me because you're going to join me in the next block and thanks so much. Still to come, it's the battle of the billionaires. Hillary Clinton lining up supporters to help her take on Donald Trump. Will it work? [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Welcome back to CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Carl Azuz. Hope you enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday. We`re happy to see you on this last day in November. An international conference on climate change known as COP21 gets started today in the French capital. Almost 150 world leaders are expected to be here. The main goal: an international deal to limit greenhouse gas emissions across the globe. Because of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, France`s government has dramatically increased security. It`s banned large gatherings like a massive environmentalist march that was planned for Sunday. There had been protests some peaceful, some not. More that 200 people were arrested yesterday for fighting with police. Supporters of the conference say moving ahead with it is a rebuke of terrorism. Critics say that climate is not their main concern. [Unidentified Male:] I`m not convinced about the necessity at this moment to organize this event. I think we have other priorities today, even if the environment is very important. [Azuz:] President Obama flew to Paris last night. He`s hoping to make climate change action a significant part of his presidential legacy. But it`s unclear how much he can do without the support of the U.S. Congress. A major incident involving Russia and Turkey happened over the break. We`ve told you how Russian warplanes are conducting airstrikes in Syria. Russia supports that country`s government. Turkey opposes it. Last Tuesday, a Turkish fighter jet shot down a Russian one. The two Russian pilots ejected, only one survived. Turkey says the Russian plane had violated Turkish airspace. Russia says it did not. Turkey says it gave the Russian plane multiple warnings before it was shot down. Russia says it did not. Russia says the plane was targeting ISIS terrorists. Turkey says none were in the area. One thing that`s for certain, the incident is changing the dynamics of international military involvement in Syria`s civil war. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] This is what worries U.S. pilots right now, the Russian S-400 anti-air missile system being unloaded in Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin says this massive system will protect his pilots and aircraft in the wake of Turkey shooting down a Russian jet. [Vladimir Putin, Russian President:] We need to have security for our air force, and that is why we have set up the modern system, S-400. This is one of the most effective and efficient systems in the world. [Starr:] The S-400 will give Russia the capability to control hundreds of miles of Turkish and Syrian airspace. The Pentagon does not believe the system is fully operational yet but is watching developments by the hour, a U.S. military official tells CNN. If the Russians activate it, U.S. warplanes may have to start flying with specialized electronic jamming aircraft to protect themselves, or even forego some airstrikes. U.S. officials tell CNN they need an agreement on how to proceed before the system is activate. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] I think there`s a lot more talk going on at the tactical and operational level, while the heads of state remain bellicose but it is just upping the ante and you never know when this might happen. [Starr:] Putin remains furious, also saying the U.S. knew ahead of time the location of the Russian jets but did nothing to stop the shot down. Two U.S. military officials tell CNN the U.S. did not know. [Azuz:] Time to find out who`s on the roll. All of these requests were made at CNNStudentNews.com. We`re starting in the Mount Rushmore state of South Dakota. Tripp-Delmont School District is there and the Nighthawks of Tripp are watching. In Bowling Green, Ohio, the Bobcats are on the prowl. Great to see Bowling Green High School. And in Kobe, Japan, hello to all of our viewers at Nada High School. Thank you for making us part of your day. In the U.S., today is traditionally a day of online sales known as Cyber Monday. The 28th was Small Business Saturday. The 27th, Black Friday. Retailers hope these different terms encouraged Americans to shop as the holiday shopping gets into the gear right after Thanksgiving. This year`s Black Friday sales were a mixed bag. Spending at brick and mortar retailers, so physical stores that people walk into were down more than a billion dollars from last year. But online sales for Black Friday increased by more than $33 million from 2014. Looking at Black Friday alone doesn`t give the whole picture, though. [Karin Caifa, Cnn Correspondent:] Eagar for early deals, from this Wal-Mart near Atlanta, to the snowy parking lot in Denver, to Macy`s flagship store in Manhattan. The difference: this was Thanksgiving night. [Unidentified Female:] The way it`s been the last couple of years. Thanksgiving is the best night to do it. [Caifa:] The shift from Black Friday continues. According to the National Retail Federation, more consumers planned to shop on Thanksgiving Day this year, than last. And sales tracker Adobe estimated more than $1.7 billion was spent online, on Thanksgiving Day. In Arlington, Virginia, at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City Friday afternoon, traffic had picked up from the morning. [Todd Jerschaid, Fashion Centre At Pentagon City Dir. Mall Marketing:] The big indicators that we look for, is not only foot traffic, but foot traffic with shopping bags. And we`re seeing a lot of that. So that`s a good indicator already, early in the season. [Caifa:] Some shoppers less focused on a specific item. [Unidentified Female:] It`s not too bad today actually, but there are some good deals, and you can start your Christmas shopping. Be festive. [Unidentified Male:] There are good deals here, I think, better than on regular days. [Caifa:] Bargains very much in consumers` minds. Despite lower gas prices and lower unemployment recently, retail sales have lagged. The Black Friday frenzy was still alive and well in some places, like the Toys "R" Us store in New York`s Times Square, but there may have been a bit of nostalgia at play. The location will close, when its lease runs out in January, another sign of a changing retail landscape, at the holidays, and beyond. In Washington, I`m Karin Caifa. [Azuz:] The folks aren`t just shopping. They`re traveling to get home for the holidays. And flight attendants aboard planes aren`t just there to help keep them comfortable. They sometimes save lives. In the 1930s, the first stewardesses, female flight attendants, were all registered nurses. That`s not the case now. But today`s attendants still know life-saving techniques like CPR that you`ve studied in health class. And there`s also a doctor on call. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] The holiday season is the busiest travel time of the year, with millions flying to celebrate with friends and family. But that also means a higher chance of in-flight medical emergencies like heart attacks, strokes, even births. And flight attendants who have to know how to keep passengers safe even at cruising altitude. [Unidentified Female:] Welcome, welcome. I will brief the crew as to the scenario. [Gupta:] Out of all the training that a flight attendant might go through, how big a component is the medical and safety part of it? [Justin Epley, Flight Attendant Instructor, Delta Air Lines:] The medical and safety part of it is a heavy component of it, and we do put a heavy emphasis on responding with CPR knowledge, using the EEDs and the equipment onboard the aircraft that we have available to respond for basic first aid instances as well, too. [Gupta:] You try and put people through essentially real life scenarios through the training. I mean, you make it as realistic as possible. How do you that? What do you do? [Epley:] We actually use scenarios that we have experienced in flight. [Unidentified Female:] Sir, are you OK? [Epley:] Some of the scenarios that we bring into training could be something like passengers in discomfort, that are feeling weak, lightheaded and how to respond and page for medical assistance onboard and how to respond properly using STAT-MD as a resource to report the symptoms that we see. [Unidentified Female:] Contact the flight deck. Get them the page STAT-MD and page for medical assistance. [Gupta:] One of the most valuable resources the flight crews have at their disposal is a service called STAT-MD. STAT-MD is a ground- based support center that provides medical consultations for in-flight emergencies. These are especially-trained physicians who can help the crew make assessments and also give recommendations on how to treat the patients. [Unidentified Male:] Can we also put him on his side to prevent him from aspirating if he vomits. [Gupta:] What is the call that is absolutely the worst call? [Dr. Tj Doyle, Md, Medical Director, Stat-md:] It can vary. I mean, I think the ones that probably raise everyone`s blood pressure are ones when someone`s in labor, an imminent child birth and we`ve actually had that. We`ve had babies delivered on flights. And obviously, the most severe cases are someone that actually goes on a cardiac arrest. And so, they may be applying the defibrillator, the defibrillator shocking. [Voice:] Stand clear. [Azuz:] Hard to tell whether the people who built this are bigger fans of LEGOs or the Green Bay Packers. Both were incorporated in the scale model of Lambeau Field, pieced together by students from the Milwaukee School of Engineering. It`s 172 the size of the real thing and it took more than 130,000 LEGOs to make. Now on permanent display at a museum in Wisconsin, the model includes the field, the stadium, even the entry way to the whole complex. And like the team itself, the LEGO stadium is packered with solid blocking. It`s got strong lines. It doesn`t pass on upright accuracy, precision is the field`s goal and it gets a kick out of its Lam-bold-faced success. I`m Carl Azuz. And today`s show has reached the end zone. END [Vanier:] Derek Van Dam from the CNN Weather Center has joined us. A powerful storm has turned deadly after slamming the California coast on Friday. Derek, what's the latest? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] Unfortunately, there's already been two fatalities, one from a woman being stuck in a vehicle in a flooded roadway and also a strong wind gust toppling power lines landing on a vehicle. Unfortunately, a fatality issue there. Look at the aftermath of this storm. It's actually still ongoing. This is actually just some of the visuals coming into CNN. Trees that have been standing for over 100 years toppled over like they were twigs. We also had a dramatic landslide captured on video in the San Bernardino National Forest. I mean, this is amazing to actually see this. One exceptional piece of footage after another coming in. And there are reports of over 200 millimeters of rain just in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties outside of Los Angeles. There was [Van Dam:] large sinkholes being reported in and around the L.A. region. Just since noon, the fire department responded to 150 calls of downed power lines; 83,000 customers without power, as we speak. And we continue to talk about the potential for more rain and flooding. The other big story this week has certainly been Lake Oroville, the spillway or the dam that has ultimately failed over the past week. Well, it's going to be tested once again with the storm system and the filtering water coming in. There is still an additional 100 millimeters of rain on top of that for the Lake Oroville region. So we'll be monitoring the wires and keeping you abreast of all the latest information. [Vanier:] All right, thank you very much. Always appreciate it, Derek Van Dam from the CNN Weather Center. Thanks a lot. [Van Dam:] Thanks. If you're getting a little bit too much Trump in your news, you can add several extensions to your Google Chrome browser to modify your view of the Web. The Make America Kittens Again extension will take any images of President Trump on your favorite news website it's got to be cnn.com, right and turn them into kittens. Here's how it looks on our site. "The Daily Show" came up with another extension. It's called Make Trump Tweets Eight Again. It makes the president's tweets appear as if handwritten by 8-year olds. These extensions, by the way, free, so just Google them. All right. Thank you very much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier. "IN 24 HOURS" is next. But first I'm back with the headlines. [Harlow:] A lot of confusion and questions this morning over Judge Neil Gorsuch, the president's pick to join the Supreme Court. All of this as his confirmation hearing has not even been scheduled yet. Gorsuch, who is making his case to senators from both parties on Capitol Hill this week, told some Republicans and some Democrats that he finds the attacks on the judiciary and judges personally, quote, "demoralizing and disheartening," of course those alluding to attacks one would think the president made on the judiciary. [Berman:] Now the president is also firing back at one of those lawmakers, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, saying he misrepresented Gorsuch's comment. So the Republican who has served as a spokesman for Gorsuch said it's all true. The president also at odds this morning with Senator John McCain over the raid in Yemen that left a U.S. Navy SEAL dead. Joining us now, Republican Senator John Thune of South Dakota. He is the chair of Senate Republican Conference. Senator Thune, thank you so much for joining us this morning. [Sen. John Thune , South Dakota:] Good morning, John and Poppy. Congratulations on the launch of the show. [Harlow:] Thank you. [Berman:] Thank you so much. I'm so impressed you guys all got the memo. Listen listen, you are the chair of the Republican Conference and one of your senators in the is under attack by the White House this morning. I'm talking about Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. President Trump wrote this morning, "Senator McCain should not be talking about the success or failure of a mission to the media, only emboldens the enemy. He's been losing so long he doesn't know how to win anymore." You're reaction to that, Senator. [Thune:] Well, look. I think the reaction to the mission, we lost a Navy SEAL, you can't call it 100 percent success any time that happens. But we did kill three al Qaeda AQAP operatives and also gathered some very valuable intelligence. So I think you could characterize it at least as a mixed bag and somewhat of a success. But it just shows how difficult these counterterrorism missions are. And hopefully we'll learn some lessons from this and be able to improve on our tactics for the next confrontation. But with respect to the conversation that's going on about that, look, I think these are both people who have strong views, and I think that the president and Senator McCain obviously have different conclusions about what happened here. But I think the important thing is that we focus on the work of defending the country, making sure that we learn from this and do a better job next time. [Harlow:] I think everyone in this country is all for a heated and spirited debate between people in the same party or opposing parties. However, it's the personal attacks I think that John and I are trying to ask you what your opinion is about that, because as you know, this is a president who as a candidate said that John McCain was not a war hero. And now he's calling him someone who loses and going against him personally as well. Is that something you're comfortable with as a sitting Republican? [Thune:] John McCain is a hero. And a United States senator who speaks his mind and somebody that we all listen to, particularly when it comes to national security matters. So yes, I don't think it's it's probably not advisable for that line of discussion or that conversation to be going on publicly. I think the important thing is that there are things that we all agree on, things that we want to get done for the good of the country. And at some point the president is going to need senators, every Republican senator, because we only have a 52-vote majority here in the United States Senate, in order to accomplish his agenda. So I hope everybody can kind of dial it down a bit and keep focused on the things that unite us and that's really getting the economy growing again, creating better paying jobs, and lessening the regulatory burden on businesses in this country, and looking at ways that we can strengthen our national security and keep Americans safe in what is increasingly a dangerous world. [Berman:] And Senator, I'm also sure you want to get, you know, Gorsuch confirmed as a Supreme Court justice. You've spoken in glowing terms about Judge Gorsuch. You say he's the kind of judge who knows how to call balls and strikes. You sort of said that some of the president's recent comments about judges are off the plate in terms of balls and strikes. I'm wondering if you agree with him that comments about the judiciary, criticism about specific judges, if you agree, if demoralizing and disheartening? [Thune:] Well, I think, John, that that those comments demonstrate that this is an independent judge and why it's important that we go about the process of confirming him. He clearly is somebody who has great respect for the court, great respect for the rule of law, someone who has been universally respected on both sides of the political aisle and has issued opinions as a judge on the Tenth Circuit that have drawn not only a lot of attention but a lot of praise. I think this is somebody who ought to be able to go through a process, get fair consideration, obviously answer hard questions, but at the end of the day get an up and down vote. And I think the statements that he's making demonstrate to me his independence and his ability to judge with impartiality and to call balls and strikes, which is what I think most Americans look for when they think about the Supreme Court. [Harlow:] Some also see, Senator, Judge Gorsuch's willingness to go into these meetings with Republicans and Democrats lawmakers on the Hill this week, and say these things, alluding to the president's comments and call it disheartening, et cetera, and demoralizing to talk about the judiciary in that way. They see that as a play a very smart political tactic on his part to get the eight votes that he needs to get to 60 a Democrat he needs to get to 60 votes in the Senate for confirmation. But some are criticizing the fact that he's not willing to come out and say that publicly. How do you see that? [Thune:] I think that he'll get that opportunity when he testifies in front of the Judiciary Committee here in the Senate and goes through the confirmation process. He'll get lots of questions. I'm sure many questions perhaps on this very issue. So he'll have a chance to answer on the record most of these meetings that he has with members of Congress. I think are by and large tend to be sort of private meetings, although this is obviously something that got leaked out into the public domain. And again, I think what it represents, however, is in these meetings that he's having with members of Congress, both Republicans and Democrats, he has been willing to express an independence and that's something we're all looking for. When it comes to the judiciary and our constitutional democracy, an independent judiciary is absolutely foundational to our success. And I frankly like the fact that the judge is speaking his mind. [Harlow:] One thing that I found was interesting, if you do have one more moment is that when he was questioned by the Senate in 2006, when he was being questioned by Senator Lindsey Graham for his Tenth Circuit nomination, he was asked by Lindsey Graham, the best you can, describe what you think an ideologue would be and why it would be bad. Here's what he said, "Someone who is not willing to do what I just talked about, someone who is not willing to listen with an open mind to the arguments of counsel to his colleagues, to precedent, and someone who is willing to just willy-nilly disregard those things to the effect of his own personal views." It was interesting to hear those words from him years ago in contrast to what the president said this week, yesterday, about the Ninth Circuit and, you know, going in the wrong direction, and that a high school graduate could decide this. How do you see it? [Thune:] Again, I think the reason that he got overwhelmingly and unanimously confirmed when he was up for the Tenth Circuit a decade ago was for that very reason. I think people saw in him the qualities that they want to see in members of the bench. You know, the decision that is percolating now through the courts in the Ninth Circuit, the Ninth Circuit has been overturned by the Supremes about 90 percent of the time. But I think that, you know, you the courts and all around the country, we know where the sort of left of center courts are, right of center courts are. But they have a job to do, and it's a job that is necessary in our system of checks and balances, and I think we have to respect that role. And I think Judge Gorsuch does, which is why, again, I think he's getting reviews on both sides of the aisle up here, as someone who will be an independent, impartial judge, and ultimately somebody who I hope will benefit from an up and down vote and be confirmed to the Supreme Court. [Berman:] All right. Senator John Thune from South Dakota, thank you so much for joining us on our premier week. Really appreciate it, sir. [Thune:] Thanks, guys. Great to be with you. [Berman:] All right. We'll be right back. [Hala Gorani, Cnn The World Right Now Anchor:] Tonight, a special two-hour edition of the program and we'll look at many stories including politics. A former rival gives Donald Trump his support, Dr. Ben Carson is now endorsing Trump. How will is it impact the crucial Florida or Ohio primaries. Then, the American President describes Libya as a complete mess in a new interview, and criticizes the British Prime Minister for much of it. And happening now, the funeral for former First Lady Nancy Reagan, a look at her legacy and her influence, you're seeing those attending there including George W. Bush, and his wife Laura and other dignitaries officials as well former First Lady Rosalynn Carter there in the front row. While a lot more on Nancy Reagan's funeral in Simi Valley, California, a little bit later in the program. Hello everyone, as I mentioned this is a two hour edition of "The World Right Now". I'm Hala Gorani, we are live in CNN London. This is a special edition of "The World Right Now". Well you saw some of the images there at the top of the hour, funeral services are beginning this hour this 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time. This is Simi Valley, California. It is the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and these are the services for former American First Lady Nancy Reagan. The current First Lady Michelle Obama is attending as his former President Bill Clinton and his wife and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. She is taking some time away from the campaign trail today to be there. Now Nancy Reagan died on Sunday, she was 94. Both of her children, her son Ron and her daughter Patti Davis will offer readings during the ceremony. Mrs. Reagan is being buried alongside her husband of more than 50 years, former President Ronald Reagan. And as I mentioned this is all happening on this day at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California. CNN Sara Sidner joins us now live from Simi Valley, California with more on what to expect in the next few hours, Sara? [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] We're watching as the Reverend Kenworthy walks in. We are also seeing all of the dignitaries here, political heavy weights are here, as well as Hollywood stars, you've been watching them scream and to pay their final respects to Mrs. Reagan, the former First Lady, who is really well-known for a few things, but mostly the love that she had for her husband and that very much on display. This was planned by her, each detail nothing in this this funeral. She had it handed everything, every single detail, to the peonies on her casket there that was her favorite flower, to those who were invited as well as the little cards that they give out when you leave, thank you for paying your respects. She planned this and about 6 to 9 months ago we're told from the folks inside of the Presidential Library here that she looked over those plans and made sure that every single detail was just how she wanted it. In the end she will be buried just inches away from the husband that she fiercely love and support him. Hala? [Gorani:] All right, let's talk a little bit about those attending because we have personalities and dignitaries former first ladies, former president, but also figures from the entertainment world, figures from the journalism's world, tell us more about who's there, as we watch her casket there make it's way in front of those attending these funeral services, Sara? [Sidner:] Yeah, we watch this Canadian Prime Minister former Canadian Prime Minister Mulroney showed up and he was talking about the fact that he's going to be reading a letter that will probably bring tears to a lot of people's eyes. He's here to take part in this funeral. We're also going to hear from her children who will eulogize her. We'll also hear from for example former NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw who is here to also eulogize Mrs. Reagan. You can see that the breath of the people who were here. They are from all walks of life and they've been screaming and we're talking about a thousand people, so a large crowd and we're seeing right now of the casket has been brought in and everyone is on their feet including the First Lady Michelle Obama is here. There are also many former first ladies who have come to be apart of this and to say goodbye to someone who truly is iconic. She had a huge presence in the White House but she also had a huge presence in American culture, she was the one that came up with the "Just Say No to Drugs" campaign if you remember that back in the '80s, And then when she was a former First Lady, she really push hard for stem cell research which was against the Republican Party's wishes, they were not with her on that issue but she was there, she was she was there and pushing forward for her husband always fiercely fighting for him. Hala? [Gorani:] All right, we'll be speaking with analyst Larry Sabato in a moment. But first thanks Sara. Let's listen and I understand the Battle Hymn of the Republic, one of the musical pieces being played today, let's listen for a moment. Larry Sabato is joining me as the point-founder and the director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, he joins us live from Charlottesville. So, Larry let's talk a little bit about Nancy Reagan's legacy, she had a very of course love and relationship with Ronald Reagan really a big chunk of the '80s defined by that partnership. Tell us more about how history will remember her. [Larry Sabato, Director Center For Politics University Of Virginia:] Actually I think history is going to remember in a very substantive way. We weren't fully aware in the 1980s of the influence that Nancy Reagan had on Ronald Reagan President Reagan on big issues including the relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union. The more we learned, the more we realize that she pushed very hard to give her husband a legacy of peace rather than one of the cold warrior that he had defined himself for much of this political career. [Gorani:] So explain that and by the way if we could get back to the video of the actual event in Simi Valley, that would be great. But explain what do you mean she pushed him more toward peace, specifically here, because what would the alternative have been had she not been an informal adviser in the White House, do you think? [Sabato:] President Reagan had always been very concerned about Soviet Union, and remember early on he had called... [Gorani:] Yeah. [Sabato:] ... it the evil empire. Well it's very difficult to negotiate to with an entity that you're calling the evil empire. She helped to get in to tone down the rhetoric and behind the scenes she was even encouraging key Russian figures like Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko to negotiate with Ronald Reagan and she pushed President Reagan to redefine that relationship in a way that defined peace and in the way that encourage negotiations and agreements which did in fact occur in the second term of the Reagan Administration. [Gorani:] That's very interesting and by the way I want to let our viewers know what their watching right now Nancy Reagan's Funeral standby for a moment Larry in Simi Valley, California at the Reagan Presidential Library, there is a Ron Reagan, the son of Nancy and Ronald Reagan, Patti Davis their daughter as well. We understand that speakers will include James Baker the former Secretary of State, Tom Brokaw news anchor, Amazing Grace will be sung by the Santa Susana High School Choir, we'll have Diane Sawyer from the world of journalism as well. And, a few others as well to pay tribute to Nancy Reagan. [Unidentified Female:] ... is far beyond pearls. Her husband entrusting his heart to her has an unfailing prize... [Gorani:] This is a family member, the niece of Nancy Reagan there as well paying tribute to the former First Lady. [Unidentified Female:] ... obtains wool and flax and makes cloth with skillful hands. Like merchant ships, she secures her provisions from a far. She rises while it is still night and distributes food to her household. She picks out a fill to purchase out her earnings, she plants a vineyard... [Gorani:] There's Michelle Obama the current First Lady with George W. Bush sitting to her left. We'll go back live to the funeral of Nancy Reagan. This is a special edition of "The World Right Now". Still to come though, other news. Republican candidates for U.S. presidents take on a much different tone in the latest debate that happened yesterday on CNN, we'll break it down for you. And it is starting to sound like the plot of a spy novel. Washington officials say a former Putin aide did not die of a heart attack but something far more sinister. All that and much more when "The World Right Now" continues, stay with us. [Lu Stout:] Now earlier this week, in a battle of man versus machine, Google's Alpha Go software scored a decisive victory in its human know-how. Now, this is a huge leap for artificial intelligence. Now, IBM was one of the first to bring the power of AI to public attention with Deep Blue, the computer that beat the chess grand master Gary Kasporov in 1997. And its super computer Watson bested Jeopardy champions at the game in 2011. Now, the company has since been researching and further developing Watson and technology that can think. And IBM's vice president of cognitive computing, Guruduth Banavar, joins me now live from New York with more. Guruduth thank you for joining us here on News Stream. We have seen major progress in AI programs, mastering board games, winning game shows. And we have to ask, how close are we to having AI that has human-like cognitive abilities? [Guruduth Banavar, Vp Of Cognitive Computing, Ibm Research:] Thank you, Kristie, for having me on the show. First of all, I would like to say that cognitive it is an idea of partnering between people and machines to do things that neither one can do by themselves. So, at the end of the day, cognitive computer is trying to leverage the strengths of humans and combining that with the strengths of machines to solve the world's big problems. So, it is not a question of how close computers are to humans. I think it is a question of how we combine the powers of computers with the powers of humans to solve the big problems like health care, education, environmental problems and so forth. [Lu Stout:] So it's about collaboration and working together. Now, earlier this week, of course you and the world we all witnessed that moment when an AI defeated a master go champion. And yes, you saw comparisons to Skynet, comparisons to Terminator. They were made. And we can joke about it. But a number of people out there are still very afraid of artificial intelligence. Should we be afraid? [Banavar:] Well, I'm not afraid of artificial intelligence. And the reason is because these are technologies that are really powerful in terms of helping us solve the big problems. Like I said before, if you look at health care, the amount of data we have in the world is tremendous. And if we look at environmental problems, we have a lot of data. But we don't have the insight to solve those problems today. When we apply these technologies, we actually understand what's underneath that data. And we can come up with the right solutions. You can look at education. You can look at other fields like industries of all kinds. We think we can actually use this toolkit that is being developed by AI to solve these big problems. [Lu Stout:] So these toolkits developed by AI can be used to solve problems in education and health care. Give us the update on Watson. IBMs AI, what is it up to now? Since Watson won on Jeopardy, how have you expanded its capabilities? [Banavar:] So, since winning Jeopardy, Watson has acquired a lot of skills. It can now see images. It can now do analytics on different kinds of data. It can also do speech and text translation of different kinds. And so when you take all of these pieces of technology and you can combine it in ways that can address problems, we've seen that it can make a revolution in different industries. So for example, in health care, we have seen it being applied to cancer treatment, coming up with personalized treatments for patients who are going through many different kinds of chronic conditions and very different lifestyles. We have also seen it being applied in creating personalized education regimes for students. We have seen it applied to providing public services and information for citizens. We have seen it being applied for understanding the environment, understanding patterns of industry and other kinds of traffic and use of many resources in a city environment to address smog and other issues like that in a project we call green horizon in Beijing, which has also now being expanded in other parts of the world. So overall, Watson has become a set of solutions that are focused on very practical problems in the world that it can use its capability for understanding huge amounts of data and then partnering with people to make the right decisions and provide the right insight. [Lu Stout:] Yeah. I found it interesting when you talk about AI you say there is nothing to be afraid of AI, AI is a partner. And this is a collaborative relationship. And my final question to you is this, what can AI learn from us? What can we learn from AI? [Banavar:] Well, AI has always been something that people at the end of the day have trained and built. So even today when we have algorithms that we call machine learning, or deep learning, or deep reinforcement learning, there is a pretty big role for people to train these computers to learn the knowledge about the world, and more importantly, to come up with the right problems to solve. So people are the ones that actually ask the right questions. People are the ones that have to ultimately take the insights provided by these systems and apply it with the right kind of value judgment and the right kind of common sense. And on the other hand, also there's a lot of things that AI systems can do that people cannot do. For example, doing large scale data pattern recognition, doing large scale mathematics. These are the kinds of skills that people can leverage from AI systems. And when you combine the two, as I said before, you can actually solve problems that neither one can solve by themselves. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, man and machine, the ultimate partnership. Guruduth Banavar of IBM Research, we'll leave it at that. Thank you so much for joining us on the program. Take care. [Banavar:] Thank you very much. [Lu Stout:] Now, Seaworld, you probably heard the story already, a sea change at Seaworld. It is ending part of its controversial killer whale program. The company says that it will no longer breed orcas and the killer whales currently in its care will be the last at its three U.S. parks. Now, as CNN's Martin Savidge reports, Seaworld has faced blistering criticism since the 2013 CNN documentary "Blackfish." [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] The announcement is as big as the creatures its about. SeaWorld says it's retiring its star performer killer whales after decades of shows and years of controversy over orcas in captivity. The company revealing the surprise in a video tweet. [Unidentified Female:] The company who helped the world fall in love with orcas will end all orca breeding and transition away from theatrical orca shows. [Savidge:] Speaking this morning on CBS, the company's CEO said public attitudes have changed. [Joel Manby, Ceo, Seaworld:] It is about where society is shifting. I have seen clearly that society is changing their attitude about these unbelievable majestic animals being in human care. [Savidge:] For years, animal welfare groups have blasted SeaWorld for their killer whale program saying the mammals were too large, too smart and too social a creature to be kept in theme parks. [Dispatcher:] Wayne County Sheriff's Office. [Unidentified Male:] We need SO to respond for a dead person at SealWorld. A whale has eaten one of the trainers. [Savidge:] But it was the CNN documentary film "Blackfish" focusing on the death of SeaWorld trainer Dawn Brancheau and questions regarding how captivity might have turned Tilikum, one of SeaWorld's biggest attractions, into a real killer that was a turning point. [Unidentified Male:] There will be no more admission tickets. No more rides. [Unidentified Female:] No more teddy bears. [Savidge:] SeaWorld never recovered for the public backlash, attendance declined, so did its stock price. Now, SeaWorld says it will focus more on its animal rescue and rehabilitation efforts, even partnering with one of its fiercest opponents, the Humane Society. [Unidentified Male:] We have been talking the last three months very quietly. [Savidge:] Marine biologist Naomi Rose has worked more than 20 years for this day. [Naomi Rose, Marine Biologist:] This is stunning news. [Savidge:] She's thrilled, but says killer whales can survive for decades and wonders where and how the remaining 28 orcas at SeaWorld will live. [Rose:] They need to get out of those tanks. I don't think the tanks are good for them. And so I would like to continue a dialogue that explores options such as seaside sanctuaries, coastal sanctuaries for these animals, where they will be in a more space, and a more natural habitat. [Savidge:] SeaWorld hasn't said specifically how it's going to care long-term for its orcas. Right now, it's just content with taking a big step toward hopefully solving an even bigger controversy. Martin Savdige, CNN, Atlanta. [Lu Stout:] You're watching News Stream. And still to come, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg bypasses China's online censorship and provokes a debate on air pollution by jogging in Beijing. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Did President Trump's nominee for secretary of education lifted some of her written responses to Senate a questionnaire ahead of her confirmation hearing? Betsy DeVos now facing some very new questions this morning. CNN Politics producer, Dan Merika, is joining us. Dan, what do you know? [Dan Merika, Cnn Producer:] After the Betsy DeVos hearing earlier this month was limited to one round of questions, Democrats submitted hundreds of questions to the Michigan Republican asking for her answers. She answered a lot of them and submitted them in written form. In these answers, it appears that Betsy DeVos, Trump's pick to lead the Department of Education, lifted text from an Obama administration official. I want to read exactly what she said. She was asked about LGBT youth and bullying in schools, and here's what her answer was: "Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive and grow." But earlier in the year, an Obama administration official, the head of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division, said this: "Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow." Now this comes as Betsy DeVos' confirmation is in question. Democrats see her as possibly the most vulnerable nominee that Trump has put up. And some Republicans have not committed to voting for her in the open Senate forum. Her hearing is actually going on right now in committee. And it is likely she'll get out of that committee but remains to be seen whether she'll be confirmed. This is after her confirmation hearing, even Republicans admitted it was less than stellar. She speculated about the use of guns in schools to combat grizzlies and she chalked up a 20-year clerical error that left her as one of the senior officials on her mother's charity that donated to groups like Focus on the Family that believe in conversion therapy for LGBT people. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Dan Merika, at the White House with new reporting, thanks so much. I want to bring in our panel. David French is a writer for the "National Review. Brad Woodhouse is a former communications director for the DNC. And Abby Phillip is a CNN political analyst and a reporter for "The Washington Post." David French, full disclosure, we are just hearing Dan's reporting for the first time, seeing what Betsy DeVos said in that questionnaire, which is awfully similar to what an Obama administration official said earlier. And there are some other examples of similarities as well that we haven't had a chance to dissect fully. Let me put it this way. If it does turn out there are more than one example, several examples of Betsy DeVos seemingly lifting lines from something someone else said, how much trouble would she be in? [David French, Writer, National Review:] It would have if it's large-scale plagiarism on the order of what you saw from Monica Crowley, it would be an issue. That phrase right there, I've heard that phrase, variations of that phrase constantly. It's almost like a mantra in the education community, that particular phrase. So, I don't find that to be all that interesting. I'd have to see what else is out there. [Bolduan:] Yeah, I think more to come. And we'll stick by with you and look into more of those examples. Brad Woodhouse, the other breaking news play out this hour. Senate Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee boycotting basically two confirmations, for the treasury secretary and Health and Human Services secretary, bringing the machine to a halt because of the committee rules. Why are they doing it? Are they going to we were talking to Doug Heye just before this. Are they about to overplay their hand and look like they're just blocking and not helping with progress? [Brad Woodhouse, Former Communications Director, Dnc:] I don't think so at all. Senate rules are there for a reason. And I think Democrats have every right to exert these rules to the best of their ability and to highlight the qualifications of these nominees, and also use this as an opportunity to shine the light on this administration, writ large. Last year, Senate Republicans, who are in the majority, used their prerogatives and their rules to block President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court for an entire year. So, them boycotting a hearing, boycotting a vote, slowing down the confirmation of people they don't believe are qualified, that have ethical problems, like Price, I think it's appropriate, and I applaud them for doing it. [Berman:] The question is, are they just obstructing to obstruct? There's that old saying, Brad, two wrongs don't make a right. But there are other sayings [Bolduan:] But this is Washington. [Berman:] like, what goes around, comes around. Abby, let me press forward. This has been an unbelievably fast-paced few days here. Much of it by choice from the Trump administration. Much of it not by design. But the reaction to some of the things they've done or tried to do. In just a few minutes, Secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly, will be holding a news conference about the travel ban, discussing ways they'll implement it going forward, and take questions. Is this a sign that the administration is trying to get ahead of some of this conflict that's been going on? [Abby Phillip, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, you see pretty clearly a signal from congressional Republicans about what they're willing to stick by the administration on and what they're not. And Paul Ryan earlier this morning said he supports the overall executive order but he pointedly said that the roll-out was not what it should have been. And I think John Kelly is responding to widespread concerns among Republicans this roll-out has been so messy and has rated more political problems for them. Even if they are going to stand by Trump on the foundations of this order, the way in which it was implemented, you know, in trapping green card holders and valid visa holders in the process isn't going to work. What we're seeing on the Hill right now is Democrats trying to adjust to the pace, but also, they have to kind of get organized themselves about how far they want to go with deal with Trump. And I think this moment, these next 48 hours, will be a key test of how coalesced they can be around some of these issues, particularly the executive order, and what impact that will have on Trump's nominees as well. [Bolduan:] Let's be honest. Republicans on Capitol Hill are also trying to adjust to the pace this White House is moving. David, you are no fan of Donald Trump. Obviously, we spoke with you many times. You seriously considered running against him in the presidential election because of it. Your reaction to this travel ban and the protests and backlash afterwards? You say it's overblown. Why? [French:] Well, let's the executive order itself is a huge climb- down from a lot of Donald Trump's campaign promises. The executive order itself caps refugees at a level higher than George W. Bush administration levels, puts a really short 90-day pause on immigration from seven countries that with the most problematic, with the exception of Iraq, are war-torn countries that are, in many cases, enemies of the United States. A 120-day refugee pause is not that long in the scheme of things. The really interesting part of his immigration policy and refugee policy is what comes next. But the implementation, the roll-out was such a disaster. It was so incompetent. The protests at the airports, for example, all of that was entirely avoidable. You let in green card holders, let in people with valid visas. And, good grief, you let in translators who have sacrificed and risked their lives for American forces overseas. That's so easy to do. And the administration didn't do it. It's quite telling that only now is General Kelly really, seemingly, beginning to assert control over the process. He should have been in control of the process from the beginning, not Steve Bannon. [Berman:] One thing David wrote, Brad, is that he doesn't see this as a Muslim ban. It's a ban on seven countries. It's not as much as the president said at one point during the campaign. But you are shaking your head because [Woodhouse:] I am. I am shaking my head. You cannot John, you cannot separate the sentiments of this president and those sentiments that he expressed on the campaign from his actions in office. This is a ban of Muslims. It's a ban of Muslims from those countries. Rudy Giuliani this weekend called it a Muslim ban. The son of the national security adviser, who was working on the transition for much of the time after the election, called it a Muslim ban. And the fact of the matter is, whatever the text of it is, the sentiment behind it, how people around the world are reacting to it, and what it will actually do, it sends a signal that we do not welcome people of this religion in the United States, and it will not help us in the war on terror. It will hurt us. Every expert that's been interviewed has agreed with that sentiment. Former CIA officials, former national security officials believe that this will be a black eye on the United States and will hurt us in the war on terror and not help us. [Berman:] "Every" is probably going far. I think there are people [Bradhouse:] Well, everyone I've read. [Bolduan:] Everyone that Brad [Bradhouse:] Got to read more. Got to read more. [Berman:] David French A very well written piece. Brad, Abby, David, thanks for being with us. Appreciate it. [Bolduan:] Thank you, guys. [Berman:] Right now, President Trump's team making the final preparations for tonight. He's going to nominate someone to fill the Supreme Court vacancy tonight, and we've barely talked about it. Will the decision leak out early? [Bolduan:] Plus, for the first time since President Trump's travel ban was put in place, the new Homeland Security chief, General John Kelly, he's going to be holding a news conference to talk about the implementation of this executive order. And maybe answer some questions of why it didn't go so smoothly in the beginning. He's about to speak to cameras. We'll bring it to you in just moments. Be right back. [Quest:] Welcome back, if the risk of explosion and fire were not enough to make you stop using your Galaxy Note 7, assuming you haven't already returned it and if not why not. Samsung is going to do the job for you. They're releasing a update that will stop the phone from fully charging. It means the device will be dead and can't overheat and explode. The idea is you'll charge it, but it will never charge more than 30 percent and it is necessary, they say, because some users have refused to exchange their phone. However, it seems good but Verizon is refusing to send the update to customers. The carrier says it is adding a risk to the user because if an emergency their phone doesn't work and they have not have another phone. What a mess. Shelly Palmer is with me, host of "Digital Living." [Shelly Palmer, Host Of "digital Living":] How are you? [Quest:] Does the Samsung update make sense? In some countries, the update literally stops the phone from operating at all. Isn't that better? [Palmer:] They first issued an update that got the phone to charge just to 60 percent. And they got 93 percent of the phones back. That is incredible and now they want the rest of them. To encourage you to send back the rest of them they're putting this software update out. Verizon doesn't want to do it but all of the other carriers are going to do it, and they want you to send the phone back. That's what they want. [Quest:] It's a question of go, do the update, the phone won't charge, it will be useless. [Palmer:] You are not going to have a choice. It will happen automatically. They really want the phones back. I know you just said that that at the low charge rate it's not a safety risk, but in fact it is a safety risk until you send it back. It's a recalled product, it should no longer be out in the wild. [Quest:] Why don't they just use the update that stops the phone from operating as a phone, breaks the phone. [Palmer:] Not being Samsung I can't tell you why, but this is as close as you're going to get. Once you unplug it, it's not going to work. Verizon say it's is a safety issue, because you have to be able to dial 911. It is a safety issue, send the phone back. But Samsung just wants an abundance of caution. They want their phones back, so they're going to make them almost unusable. [Quest:] We can sit here and talk about this, but how damaging has this been to Samsung? [Palmer:] It is hard for me to tell how other people are thinking. From my perspective, they did exactly the right thing. They got out ahead of this thing in fact they got in trouble for getting out ahead of it. They said we have a problem, it's been a recalled problem. They got 93 percent of the phones back, and they just want to get past it. So, I think it is not going to hurt them that much. [Quest:] No, but what it does do is as we used to say in this thing dog bites boy. But what it does do, it creates more stories. You end up with Samsung washing machines blowing up, and Samsung this, that, and the other. [Palmer:] I don't know if I personally would have done this particular update and brought this back into the news, but I think they are so they just so want them back and they want to do the right thing. I think ultimately it will not hurt them at all. I think their products are great and I don't think it's going to hurt them. [Quest:] So, you're a fan? [Palmer:] Yes. [Quest:] Ready for your blood pressure to go up? [Palmer:] Yes, not again, Richard, please, the blackberry thing, I know you love it, there is nothing bad about it, but you have to join at least the stone age. Come this far with us, seriously. [Quest:] You will see the light someday. "MAKE, CREATE, AND INNOVATE" after you have had a break and a chance to think about me. [Curnow:] Welcome back. A U.S. fencer heading for the Olympics is already making history. Ibtihaj Muhammad will be the first American athlete to compete in the games wearing a hijab. U.S. President Barack Obama gave the New Jersey native a shoutout this week when he spoke at a U.S. mosque. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] When Team USA marches into the next Olympics, one of the Americans waving the red, white and blue will be a fencing champion wearing her hijab, Ibtihaj Muhammad, who is here today. Stand up. Come on. [Obama:] There we go. I told her to bring home the gold. [Curnow:] Well, Ibtihaj joins me now from New York. Talk about pressure. He told you to bring home the gold. I know you had a conversation with him afterwards. What did you say to him? [Ibtihaj Muhammad, U.s. Olympics Athlete:] I mean, obviously, just in awe that the president is so supportive of me as an athlete. So I told him that's the plan. Hopefully gold in Rio this summer. [Curnow:] You're the first U.S. Olympic athlete to wear a hijab. How does all this attention sit with you? You're not just competing. You're also being called on to be a leader on an issue at a sensitive time. [Muhammad:] I mean, it means a lot to me to be able to represent the United States and be an ambassador, not just to the sport but also to our country and show the diversity. And one of the special things that I hold near and dear to my heart, being an American, is how diverse our community and our society is. [Curnow:] You say that but of course all of us, no one can ignore the rhetoric coming out of the Republican presidential race particularly. What did you think when you heard Donald Trump saying that the U.S. should ban all Muslims from coming into the country? [Muhammad:] When I first heard Donald Trump's statement, my first concern was, am I going to be able to get to my next Olympic qualifier? And honestly, that was my major concern. Traveling and representing the United States as an athlete is something that is not something you do or I have been doing for a few months; I've been doing it for years. And it's such a large part of my life. And competing at the Olympic Games is like the pinnacle of elite athletes' careers. So it was really important to me to be able to not just get to my competition and compete but also be able to get there without the fear of hatemongering or the fear of bigots or anyone feeling that they wanted to take out their anger on me in any physical way. [Curnow:] There's that concern. I mean, you have said that you are fearful that there could be more hate crimes in the U.S., particularly because of the very poisonous nature of this conversation. [Muhammad:] That's a major concern and not just with me as an athlete but I know that it's a trending theme amongst American Muslims all over the country. People are afraid to be who they are and are afraid to live their lives, which, in most cases, are very ordinary lives. And I think that that was addressed by the president in his speech that he made a few days ago. And as a concerned American citizen, I appreciate that. [Curnow:] I've read that you were inspired by the Williams sisters. You're now an inspiration to many young American Muslim children. What would you say to them? [Muhammad:] To really believe in themselves and believe that they can do anything with perseverance and hard work. I remember as a kid people telling me that black people didn't fence. I remember people telling me that Muslims didn't fence. And without that belief and that drive in having strong athletes like Muhammad Ali or like Serena and Venus, without having strong people to look up to when I was a kid and to really face diversity head on, I wouldn't be where I am today. So I'm really appreciative of that. [Curnow:] Beyond the U.S., the ban on wearing a hijab while playing sport has been lifted across many, many sports. I know FIFA lifted the ban, I think, in 2007. How much of a difference has that made? Obviously, huge. But also I understand from literally a garment wearing perspective, there's a sports hijab and that's also made it easier. [Muhammad:] Yes, so I know FIFA lifted their ban. FIBA as well lifted their ban on the hijab. I know for myself I kind of sought out my parents sought out fencing for me because the hijab didn't hinder me from participating in the sport in any way and also I could be fully covered without having to alter the uniform. I think it's definitely a step in the right direction to have large organizations like FIFA and FIBA lift their bans on hijab. [Curnow:] OK. Ibtihaj Muhammad, thanks so much for ginning us. Good luck. [Muhammad:] Thank you. Thank you so much. [Curnow:] Well, that's all for me, Robyn Curnow, here at the CNN Center. There'll be much more sport coming up with Christina Macfarlane after the break. END [Erin Burnett, Cnn:] Just hold on one moment. I'm Erin Burnett and welcome to our special coverage of tonight's GOP debate, the final debate before Tuesday's crucial New Hampshire primary. Joining me, again, our Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger; our Senior Political Analyst, David Gergen; Senior Political Reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson; and David Axelrod, our Senior Political Analyst. Also here with me tonight, our Political Commentator's Jeffrey Lord, Donald Trump Supporter; Amanda Carpenter, the former Communications Director for Senator Cruz; Matt Lewis, the author of "Too Dumb to Fail: How The GOP Betrayed the Reagan Revolution to Win Elections"; and Kevin Madden, of course, the Senior Advisor to Mitt Romney's 2012 campaign. It was a very big night for a couple of the candidates and a particularly bad night for others. You could say this really moved the needle for some. Let's get started with tonight's winners and losers. Okay, so let's start with you, Gloria, this time. The winner? [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Anyalyst:] I didn't change my mind. [Laughter] [Borger:] So I think Marco did not have a great night. I thought he had a debate that he lost with Chris Christie on the question of his experience. I think the governors all did well. I think Kasich, Bush and Christie did well. Christie was on the attack and I think he probably ended up helping others more than he helped himself, but we'll have to see. [Burnett:] David? [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] I thought the big winner tonight were people who had executive appearance, that included the governors as well as Donald Trump. They New Hampshire has more independents and it's supposed to be a more moderate state. I think the fact that they're more pragmatic than people in Congress, both Cruz and Rubio, I think, plays well to the New Hampshire voter. People are looking for answers. They want leaders who can actually get something done. I think tonight we saw experience does matter in how you think about things. It makes you more pragmatic. [Burnett:] And the loser? [Gergen:] The loser was Marco Rubio. [Burnet:] Nia? [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Agreed. Marco Rubio, I think, you know, he's now got something hanging over his head, this narrative about not being prepared, being canned. So I think he's got to figure that out going forward. The winner? I thought Trump kind of won by not losing. He didn't get in the middle of big fights. People still seem to not really want to take him on. There was that moment with Jeb around eminent domain but whether or not that will resonate immediately here, with New Hampshire, hard to see that happening immediately. [David Axelrod, Senior Political Analyst:] You know, Cruz was the winner in Iowa and he isn't a big player in New Hampshire because there isn't that base of conservative voters that he's hoping to find in South Carolina. I thought there were moments when he looked a little uncharacteristically indecisive, like when he was asked to repeat what he had said on the trail about Donald Trump [Borger:] Right. [Henderson:] Yes. [Axelrod:] not being able to not being prepared to have his finger on the button. I thought he, frankly, kind of wimped out on that and I wonder how his supporters felt about that. [Burnett:] Yes, he wouldn't take it he wouldn't repeat it and he was given multiple [Axelrod:] They gave him a button and he didn't push it. [Burnett:] All right, now, you all, obviously some of you have dogs in this fight. You're a Donald Trump supporter. [Jeffrey Lord, Trump Supporter:] Right. Right. [Burnett:] You're the former Communications Director for Ted Cruz. I mean, you could go anyway, but let's go down the line here. Winnerloser. [Lord:] I do think the governors had a good night and I think David is right about executive experience. For the first time that I've heard at length, Donald Trump talked about his own executive experience, which I do think is propelling some of his support. One of the losers, if I can say, I think was Ben Carson. I just think we're rapidly seeing this disappear. He's such a nice guy [Borger:] And he barely made it out of [Burnett:] It may be telling that you're the first person who's mentioned his name in the past couple of [inaudible]. Amanda, winnerloser? [Amanda Carpenter, Former Communication Director, Ted Cruz:] I mean, he's down Chris Christie is the winner. I mean, he was in such complete control in this debate. At one point I was wondering if he were the moderator, but I don't think it will help his campaign because he was so vicious to Marco Rubio. I think there's some blood that spattered back. [Axelrod:] It could be after Tuesday he will be available to be the moderator. [Carpenter:] Going on the attack, I pictured him as VP in a vice presidential debate because that's one of the big tests when you pick a VP, can they perform in that very important debate, and man Chris Christie could mess somebody up. [Laughter] [Burnett:] Matt Lewis? [Matt Lewis, Author, "too Dumb To Fail: How The Gop Betrayed The Reagan Revolution To Win Elections":] I think it was sort of a murdersuicide with Chris Christie. He tried to take out Rubio, but it's not going to help Christie right now. I do want to [inaudible]. I think Rubio finished strong, but in the beginning it was disastrous for Marco Rubio and I think the problem was, put this in context, Rubio comes out of Iowa in third place but he might as well have won. He had all this momentum going into New Hampshire and if he finishes ahead of Kasich of Jeb and of Christie in New Hampshire, he then owns the establishment lane. It then becomes clearly a three-man race but Rubio had a bad night for a bad debate. [Burnett:] And Kevin? [Kevin Madden, Senior Advisor, Mitt Romney:] Well I think if we're going from first to worst, I would definitely agree that Christie had a very strong debate. I think he controlled the tone and the tempo of the debate. He definitely beat Rubio on points with that head-to-head exchange that they had. Carson was almost nonexistent. He's a nonfactor now. I think he's clearly he's this may have been one of his last debates. Rubio I'm sorry, Rubio, while he did start slow, got much stronger during the course of the debate. I think he recovered very nicely. I think momentum is a very valuable commodity, particularly at this time in the campaign. I don't know if he will continue to keep that momentum. It could have stopped him now. So that's one thing to be factor. To agree with something Amanda said, Chris Christie is probably the most effective surrogate we have in going after Hillary Clinton in the general election. So he's going to be around even if the campaign may end on Tuesday night. [Burnett:] But it's interesting how on this side, this table thought it turned from okay, Rubio had a bad night and then you all started to turn it to at the end he got better. [Madden:] He did get better. [Burnett:] Hold on one moment. We have John Kasich, Governor Kasich with Sarah Murray in New Hampshire. Sarah? SARAH MURRAY, CNN CORRESPONDENT, via satellite: So how do you close the deal? Yes, Erin, we have Governor Kasich here, telling us how to close the deal in New Hampshire. [Gov. John Kasich Republican Presidential Candidate:] Well we close the deal, what we've been doing we have an army of people here. We're going to knock on every door in this state. I'm going to continue to do town halls, massive amounts of media. Closing the deal is just running through the tape. I mean, this was important tonight but not the only thing that matters but I think we had a good night. [Murray:] You feel pretty good about where you're sitting? If something was to change in the next couple of days, where do you think you need to finish to guarantee that you will go onto South Carolina? [Kasich:] We're going to be fine. We're going to be just fine. We'll tell you on the Tenth. [Murray:] Now the other thing, there are lot of independents here in the Granite State, and this is wide open election. They could go to Trump. They could go to Bernie Sanders. They could go to you. Why do you think they will turn out for you? What in your message is different from the other [Kasich:] Well because I've been in the I've never been in the establishment, but I'm not in the anti-establishment. I know how to get things done and I know how to bring people together, and I have a positive message. I mean, people like the fact that I've been positive. All of our commercials are positive. It paints a vision. It paints hope and opportunity. So [Murray:] Do you ever worry that you'll get lost in the shuffle of Republicans going at each other's throats on a debate stage like that? [Kasich:] The last thing I want to do is be in the middle of going at each other's throats. I'm not interested in that. I think tonight went very, very well and I'm extremely happy and so is everybody in our after-debate party room. People are going crazy. We've got we've got so many volunteers here. We're going to keep knocking on the doors. If it snows, if it rains, it doesn't matter. We're going and we're going to have a great night on Tuesday. And we'll see you all then. [Murray:] You think you have the big momentum in this state right now? [Kasich:] I know we do. We have a lot of momentum here and it's driven by people. It's not look, it's people who have a sense that things could be different I'll tell you something, all the press says how can you win by being positive? If we do really well and get out of here with a strong finish, you'll be talking about this positive campaigning and positive politics works. I think you're going to find that it is and it's going to be a very interesting story. [Murray:] Just one more question, Governor. You've done this once before. People might not remember; it was a long time ago you ran for president. How much different does this time feel? [Kasich:] Well I was just a kid back then. Look, I was at a house party and I talked to this lady for 15 minutes. She looked at her watch and said when do you think the candidate will get here? You can't even compare the two. This is an incredible experience. I want to say this, regardless of what happens, this has been a fantastic period of my life. It's just been remarkable. I'm a happy man. We all are. On the bus, traveling around, we just have a great time. So, New Hampshire, I need you; please. See you. [Murray:] All right, Erin; you heard him there. He sounds very positive about his momentum in the state now. At a minimum, I think he seems pleased with this experience even if, for some reason, things don't go his way in New Hampshire. Erin? [Burnett:] Certainly very confident with his momentum, talking there with our Sarah Murray. Very confident. Very confident about his momentum, Gloria. [Borger:] Yes, I think their internal polls are showing them doing better than our polls do. I think they think they're in second place, perhaps. I don't know [Burnett:] They definitely do. [Borger:] I interviewed them on Friday night and he was categorical. So he's the happy warrior; right? You saw that all night tonight. You just saw it now. We saw it. Look, I think Kasich's appeal is that he's the only one who's not criticizing anyone else; you know? Some people say that's because he wants to be vice president. [Burnett:] Right. [Borger:] He told me I would be the worst vice president in history. I don't want to be vice president. I'm not that kind of guy. I'm just playing for this. So [Burnett:] So all of you have mentioned that he had a good night, and he always says in interviews, whenever I interview him he goes no one knows who I am. But when they get to know who I am, if I get a little name recognition, I'm going to be able to build on it. Perhaps moments like he had to tonight, on immigration, may help. Let me just play that. [Kasich:] Americans would support a plan like this. I think Congress would pass a plan to finish the border, guest worker, pay a fine, a path to legalization and not citizenship and we have got to get this done. I will tell you this, within the first 100 days that I am president, I will put that proposal to the Congress and I will tell you as a former congressman and an executive in Ohio, I can promise you that I believe you'll get the votes to pass that and we can move on with that issue and protect our border. [Burnett:] David, how effective was he in having people around the country now know who he is? [Axelrod:] Look, I think he has executed his strategy very effectively. That's not the question. The question is, what does it yield in a party that may not be in sync with him? There may be enough votes for him to finish well in New Hampshire then the question is where [Burnett:] Yes. [Axelrod:] would he go after that because he's running a great general election campaign, honestly. Everything he says would play well with independent voters in a general election. The tenor of his campaign would play well with voters in a general election, but it doesn't seem to match the mood of the Republican Party. [Burnett:] And, Matt, of course, he got endorsed by the "New York Times" on the same day the "New York Times" endorsed Hillary Clinton. [Lewis:] Listen, I just wrote a book criticizing the Republican Party and, having said that, John Kasich is trying to win a republican nomination by being this cantankerous curmudgeon who is criticizing the Republican Party. He is the John Kasich is what liberals think the Republican nominee ought to be. [Gergen:] Right. [Lewis:] He does not play. Maybe in New Hampshire [Borger:] He might in New Hampshire. [Lewis:] is the only hope the guy has, but there's no [Burnett:] because of the independents, they're able to vote. [Lewis:] But there's no second act. [Carpenter:] There's some people trying to make Kasich happen. I can tell you, among conservative activists, they know one thing about John Kasich: he extended Medicaid under Obamacare. That is a death Nell. Nobody likes it. Put on top of it that Kasich's people like to complain about the conservative movement, donezo. It's not going to happen. [Axelrod:] It's okay to attack the Republican establishment from the right. It's not such a good idea to be attacking it from the left, if you're a moderate republican. [Burnett:] Does anybody think John Kasich, if he does come out of New Hampshire with a very strong Number Two, really, really surge, does he have a future after that? [Borger:] He says, look, he's not South Carolina is not his natural terrain. [Burnett:] Right. [Borger:] Michigan, you know, maybe; but the south is not natural terrain. [Cross Talk] [Burnett:] Go ahead, David. [Gergen:] Given the expectations game going into this, if he comes out ahead of Rubio, number two, it will scramble the race. He will become the alternative. Not that he's going to go on and win, but he's got a chance. I think he's become a much better debater. A few weeks ago when he was debating, he was frustrated. He was angry. It was very uncomfortable to watch him. [Burnett:] You could see his anger and frustration. [Gergen:] It just felt the Trump thing just disturbed the hell out of him. [Burnett:] He is, of course, also the governor of Ohio, which is a crucial state for the Republican Party. [Henderson:] Very successful governor and he has done well with African-American voters. He won 26-percent of African-American voters in 2014; 33-percent of Black men, 20-percent of Black women. [Gergen:] And he can appeal to Hispanics. [Burnett:] Go ahead, David. [Axelrod:] Here's the deal and you're right it's going to scramble the race if he does well there, but what it will also do is prevent clarification in the race. The establish republicans are eager to have one candidate around whom everyone can rally. If John Kasich wins, it's not going to be him because of all the reasons that these guys have mentioned. So what it's going to create is kind of continued glut where certainly Rubio will go forward. I don't know if anybody else will, but it's not going to be as neat as the establishment would like. [Carpenter:] If Kasich beats Rubio in New Hampshire, it is worse for Rubio than it is good for Kasich in the end. [Madden:] Absolutely. [Gergen:] Absolutely. [Burnett:] Yes, I agree. What about Jeb Bush? We talked about coming out in a crowded establishment area. If you have Kasich, if you have Rubio no matter what, what about Jeb Bush? Is there any scenario in which Jeb Bush is not in this race after New Hampshire? [Lord:] I actually think he could do better in New Hampshire, you know, enough to survive and go on. [Axelrod:] It's possible. [Madden:] What happens then is people start looking less at the polls and they start looking more at resources and Jeb Bush somebody like Jeb Bush comes out of New Hampshire and says I've got the resources, in a five-person race, to continue through all those March 1 through March 15 contests on the calendar. John Kasich then will be forced on Wednesday, to wake up Wednesday morning and try to raise $10 million. [Borger:] He doesn't have the money. [Madden:] Does he have the ability to do that? That will be the first big test. So I think David's right. This would prevent a consolidation of the establishment. [Lewis:] But if Rubio comes ahead of the establishment lane then I think [Burnett:] Okay, hold on one moment. We have Donald Trump now in the Spin Room with Sarah Murray. Sarah? [Murray:] Mr. Trump, we're live on CNN. Thanks very much. Mr. Trump, so you did not lob any attacks at your opponents tonight. You were much more disciplined. Are you trying to show that side of yourself to the voters in New Hampshire? [Trump:] It just worked out that way. I mean, I thought it was a very good debate. I thought the moderators did really an excellent job. It was really a good debate. I was very happy with my performance. Many people you know, it's, in the world of the Twittersphere, they're all saying I won the debate. So, I'm happy. I had to do well tonight and it was a lot of pressure tonight. [Murray:] Why did you have to do well? [Trump:] Because, you know, I have a lead, I guess, if polls mean anything, I have a lead. I don't know that I had to be outstanding but they're all saying I really did well. [Murray:] You got a bit burnt by the polls in Iowa. [Trump:] I did? I got burned by the fact that, you know, Ben Carson lost another votes. if those votes didn't go over to another person, I would have won Iowa. So, you know, that would have been nice, but I'm not thinking about Iowa any more. I thinking about New Hampshire. [Murray:] Right; so in New Hampshire does it feel like you have double- digit lead, like ten points, 20 points, or does it feel close to you? How do you feel here? [Trump:] I don't know and we're not going to know. it's easier to poll New Hampshire because you don't have the caucus system. The caucus system is very complex and very tricky. You saw that by what happened to Ben but I think we're going to do really well here and, you know, I've had a relationship with New Hampshire for many, many years. Many, many years and have so many friends up here, beyond the political stuff, so I think I'm going to do well. It was very important that I do a good job at the debate. [Murray:] And you said after Iowa that you guys could have done better with a stronger ground game. How have you sharpened your ground game in New Hampshire? How confident are you that it's better? [Trump:] Well I'm spending a lot of money on ground game. I think prob you know, personally, I think the debate tonight is more important than the ground game because in New Hampshire the people they like you and they're going to go out and vote and they're going to go back. There's not so much of a ground game. I think that our ground game's good but I really think the debate tonight was more important than the ground game. [Murray:] Are you surprised more of your rivals didn't go up against you? Jeb is the only one that tried the take you on on stage? [Trump:] Well, actually, if you look, Ted Cruz, they said did you say that and will you say that now, essentially, to his face and he didn't want to do that. I appreciated he didn't do that. Jeb tried to go, but Jeb is easy. [Murray:] Now, what was going through your mind when you saw Marco Rubio give eventually the same response over and over again as Chris Christie was criticizing him as being too scripted? [Trump:] Well he was scripted there. I don't know what happened. I mean, he said it after the fourth time I said I disagree with you. I think it's the exact opposite, about President Obama but it was a great debate. People really enjoyed the debate. It's getting high reviews. It's an honor for me to have been involved. [Murray:] Do you look at Marco as your closest competitor here in New Hampshire? [Trump:] I don't know. I mean, who knows? Maybe the one last, maybe the last place winner, whoever that may be, will be my closest competitor. I look at them all. They're all very smart people. they're all good people. I look at all of them as my competitor. [Murray:] When you hear them asking you questions about eminent domain; do you think that's something voters in New Hampshire are listening tom that they care about? Do you think that could affect you here? [Trump:] I was so happy they asked me that question because eminent domain is a very important thing for a country. I mean, wouldn't have highways. You wouldn't have schools. You wouldn't have bridges. You wouldn't have airports. You wouldn't have anything. The other things is, when the government takes your property, they pay you a fortune for it. You know, they said, Donald Trump likes eminent domain. I don't like it, it's a necessity. They also said it's called a taking. I'm in real estate. I'm very good at real estate, but it's called a taking, a taking of the property but people don't realize a taking means you get paid. They don't just take it. They take it and then they pay. If you're smart, you'll get much more than the value of your property. [Murray:] Now one of the issues they put Marco Rubio on the spot tonight was about his view on abortion, that there should not be any exceptions for rape, incest, life of the mother. Do you think that's too extreme of a stance, even in a Republican primary? [Trump:] He said no exceptions. I do believe in the three exceptions, yes. [Murray:] But do you think it's too extreme? [Trump:] I thought it was a tough question for him and he said he doesn't believe in the exceptions but then he came back and said well maybe he does. I'm not sure what his answer was because he actually answered it in two ways. First he didn't, you know, he talked about the exceptions then he came back and sort of indicated he did believe in the exceptions. I have the Ronald Reagan you know Ronald Reagan believed in pro- life. He was pro-life with the exceptions. [Murray:] I'm curious, in the wake of the loss in Iowa, have you made any changes to your staff? [Trump:] Excuse me, it wasn't a loss. [Murray:] The second place [Trump:] It was second. 17 people started and some went out. It's the first election I was ever involved in. I came in second and probably came in first. I mean, if you take away [Murray:] How do you probably come in first? [Trump:] Because all you have to do is take way the Ben Carson that you people sort of slipped up on, but I'm not blaming CNN because actually CNN it was not CNN's fault. [Murray:] It was not. CNN did not report that Ben Carson was suspending [Trump:] You also came out with a tweet a minute later, in case there was any question, but you take away those thousands of votes in fact, one of the big shows on FOX did a study, it was "Bill O'Reilly" and they said if that doesn't happen, Trump probably wins Iowa. [Murray:] So you think you would have won if the Cruz campaign had not done that. [Trump:] You know what it amounts to? Four votes per precinct. But I don't care about that anymore because I'm totally into something else. You know what it is? New Hampshire. So I hope you had a good time. [Murray:] All right, Erin; so you heard him, just there. He wants to get past Iowa. He wants to move onto New Hampshire. He's being a little more careful in his expectations here for state but clearly a state he would like to win. [Burnett:] Yes, making that very clear and a much calmer Donald Trump in that interview with Sarah. Although we did hear him at one point say, I'm very good at real estate. II mean, the real Donald Trump is still in there somewhere. But Gloria, it was a much calmer Donald Trump, a more humble [Borger:] Yes, I think he understands what New Hampshire wants and the, I think, kinder, gentler, Donald Trump although Donald Trump [Gergen:] Except for waterboarding and [Borger:] Waterboarding I was just going to say that. Waterboarding and this whole question of he said [Burnett:] He said he would do much more than water boarding. [Borger:] I think Trump understands that he wants to keep a lead. If you want to keep your lead, you just don't want to do anything that's going to upset people one way or another. [Carpenter:] Right. [Burnett:] All right; we're going to take a brief break and when we come back we're going to do fact check of one of the most important things said tonight by Ted Cruz and an important one to get the facts right on because what he said was wrong. We'll be right back. [John Vause, Cnn Newsroom Anchor:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour: terror on the underground. Authorities race to find those behind the deadly attack on the St. Petersburg Metro. Plus, President Trump renews his baseless wiretapping claims at the sound of a busy critical week for his presidency. And later, breaking through autism. I'll speak to the young woman with nonverbal autism who's become a voice of autism, ahead. Hello everybody, great to have you with us. I'm John Vause and this is now the second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. Russian authorities call it a terrorist attack. An explosion ripped through a subway in St. Petersburg killing 11 people, wounding dozens more. Witnesses describe a smoke [Oren Liebermann, Cnn International Correspondent:] They have, and it has already been a busy morning in the Sunni Square as the day has gotten started. A number of the people going into or out of this metro stop here behind me which was closed down, this is one stop this and the next stop, the attack happened between these two stops so this was closed for a while. But opened early this morning and it has been busy since, many coming here to stop at what has become a very busy memorial and a growing memorial. Especially, as Russia marks three days of mourning starting with the day we have seen a number of people laying flowers here. You can see there are hundreds of flowers as well as dozens if not, hundreds of candles as people here pay respects and there's a very similar memorial to this one station over at the technological institute station. And that is again that's the next stations, so it's between these two stations that the attack happened. It was in fact at that other station that President Vladimir Putin came late last night and paid his own respect as well. Condolences pouring in from around the world for the victims here: 11 dead, dozens more are wounded, and some still in critical condition. That as a nation in mourning, investigators try to figure out who's responsible for this and how this happened. [Vause:] So, clearly, this is just still early in terms of the investigation, but exactly where is it now focusing? [Liebermann:] So, police investigators have taken a number of steps both interviewing witnesses and metro employees as well as going through a number of metro stops, which is how as you pointed out, they found another device and were able to diffuse it before it exploded. But investigators haven't given any sort of indication about who their suspects are who their main suspects are at least. There are sort of two traditional suspects if you will: one would be checking separatist who carried out a number of attacks on Russian soil but that was more in the early 2000's. Although they have carried out attacks as recently as 2013, that has essentially quieted down a bit in the last four years and that leaves the other main suspect which would be ISIS, which has carried out announced the number of threats against Russia, and famously claimed the bomb the metro jet flight, the Russian charter flight over Sinai about a year and a half ago, so those would be the two prime suspects, and yet, there's been no indication from Russian officials and investigators on which one they may suspect at this point as the investigation continues. [Vause:] As we said, it is still early. Oren, thank you. Oren Liebermann, live in St. Petersburg. Thank you. Well, for more now, in Seattle Washington, Global Follower for the Woodrow Wilson Center and former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Dougherty; and here in Los Angeles former FBI Special Agent, Bobby Chacon. Bobby, first to you, does the method of the attack, what we know about it, does that say anything about who may have been behind it? We also have learned there was an improvised explosive device, which was, you know, basically defused. It didn't go off, it was disguised as a fire extinguisher. [Bobby Chacon, Federal Bureau Of Investigation Former Special Agent:] Yes. Well, I think that you know, if we're looking at previous recent ISIS attacks I think it could be it could fit the profile of an attack. In other words, it wasn't that sophisticated. It looks like the device that went off may have been secreted in a briefcase that was simply left on the train in the train car. This wasn't an attack where say the device was actually attached to the tracks, that might cause a derailment of the train and cause more death and destruction. This was a, you know, more of a simplistic delivery of a device which could have been in a backpack or, in this case, a briefcase and the other device in the same manner. So, to me, this does look like an ISIS-inspired event, if you take some of their some of their other recent less involved attacks. [Vause:] And also, ISIS have issued a number of threats recently, Bobby, regarding Russia's military offensive in Syria, in particular, it's bombing campaign in Aleppo. [Chacon:] Oh, yes. And ISIS has made no secret of the fact that they want to and intend to hit Russia in Russia. And in fact, there was an attack last year on two police officers just outside of Moscow. Of course, the incident with the airliner that was left on its way to St. Petersburg, in fact, that was taken down by ISIS. So, yes, they've made no mistake that they're coming from Russia, and they intend to carry out attacks. [Vause:] Jill, is this attack is linked back in some way to Russia's to military offensive in Syria, will there be a political price for President Putin? [Jill Dougherty, Cnn Former Moscow Bureau Chief And Global Follower For Wilson Woodrow Center:] Well, it does have, you know, aspects that can kind of play both ways. I mean, you do have the President looking Presidential, continuing with his schedule, then going over and laying some flowers at the makeshift memorial, and showing, you know, strength, et cetera. So, that is what he would want to show. On the other hand, it kind of does undermine the faith, let's say, of people that he can protect them from outside forces, from terrorism. That's always been the issue with Syria, whether Russia supports for this. Essentially, you have support for Shiites, that would be Iran which is an ally with Russia right now in Syria, against the Sunnis in most of the Muslims in Russia are Sunnis. So, there always has been a worry that maybe there would be some type of backlash and that's the dilemma right now. But you do have this other political side of it, which is President Putin in that conversation with President Trump who called President Putin to express condolences. Both of them agreeing that you have to fight terrorism and get rid of terrorism as quickly as possible, so, that for President Putin would be a good sign. [Vause:] Bobby, I've heard some commentators say that Russia is now in the front line or it's the number one target when it comes to Jihadi groups. Do you think that's a fair comment? [Chacon:] Yes, I think it could be, certainly. I think Russia has probably one of the largest numbers of foreign fighters, you know, fighting the war in Syria against the Assad regime of any non-Muslim country. I think they even have they may even have more than France which, you know, leaves Europe in exporting fighters to that region. So, I think it's entirely possible. [Vause:] OK. So, let's go on to what the response here that we're hearing from the Russian President, Jill because this was the first public response from Vladimir Putin after the blast. Listen to this. [Vladimir Putin, Russia President:] There's been an explosion in the St. Petersburg metro. There are killed and wounded. And at the beginning of our meeting, I'd like to express my sincere sorrow and condolences to relatives of those who died or who were injured. [Vause:] And Jill, not much in terms of what he said but, sort of his demeanor, did he seem to be unusually subdued to you? [Dougherty:] Well, not really. I mean, after President Putin unfortunately, has the history having had to deal with a number of terrorist attacks. So, I think it was kind of a measured careful response. At that point, he was saying it could be terrorism, it could be other reasons, and then he went on with that meeting with President with the President of Belarus and then, you know, pretty much continued with his day except for that visit again to lay the flowers. So, I wouldn't necessarily read anything into it, at that point. He just was being very careful. And at that point, they had to wait until the investigation is over. Once it is over, we have to listen very carefully to what he says and also to his actions, what he does when they actually do determine who carried out this attack. [Vause:] We also heard from the U.S. President, moments after the blast. This was Donald Trump. [Donald Trump, United States President:] Terrible. Terrible thing. Happening all over the world. Absolutely, a terrible thing. [Vause:] These two leaders have since spoken by phone as you mentioned Jill, but how will those remarks be seen by many Russians? [Dougherty:] Oh, very positively. In fact, in some of the Russia media, they're noting that he was the first person who made a comment in the west, among leaders, after that attack. So, it's what Russians actually have been hoping to hear perhaps, of course, not having been victims of a terrorist attack themselves, but hoping that the United States would come on board as they always put it and join forces with Russia and fight terrorism. That's what they wanted. It's what President Putin has pushed for and that's what President Donald Trump has been talking about. But a lot of this got highly politicized in these hearings et cetera about the Russian interference in the American election. So, it's he I don't think, obviously, that President Trump has been able to move at all as quickly as he wanted to do with that to work with Russia against terrorism. [Vause:] And Bobby, finally to you, I'm just curious, was it a coincidence that Vladimir Putin was in St. Petersburg at the time of this attack, do they just get their timing they're just lucky I guess, in their timing? [Chacon:] I doubt it. Although it could be. But, you know, I think that, you know, if ISIS wanted to make an even stronger in the attack itself is that, look, we cannot only attack you on your own soil but we can actually attack you in the very city and in the very vicinity where your president where Putin is. And so, you know, there've been posters around the internet and stuff with Putin with bullet holes in him and other things, you know, so ISIS is definitely, you know, put President Putin in the cross hairs and so this could be one of those ways in which they're saying that they can get close to him. You know, it's surprising that there's been no claim of responsibility yet, but, you know, we're still kind of early in it and, you know, I that's one of the things I'm waiting to hear. [Vause:] Yes. As are so many others. Bobby, thank you. Bobby Chacon and Jill Dougherty, thanks so much for being with us. [Chacon:] Thank you. [Vause:] The U.S. President is sending his son-in-law and who also happens to be a Senior Advisor on a diplomatic mission to Iraq. Jared Kushner made the unannounced trip on Monday. He met with Iraqi officials in Baghdad. He was invited by the U.S. top general for the trip. Our Ben Wedeman reports from Erbil in Northern Iraq. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Lead Correspondent:] It was a get-to-know-you-visit to one of Washington's most difficult military and diplomatic challenges. The special advisor to President Donald Trump and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner came to Baghdad and met with Senior Iraqi officials including Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi. 36-year-old Kushner has no diplomatic or military experience, and this is his first visit to Iraq. Kushner was joined in his meetings in Baghdad by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford and General Stephen Townsend, the Commander of the anti-ISIS International Coalition. They discuss the battle for Mosul and continue the American support for Iraq and its war against ISIS. Their visit comes at a time when the offensive to retake Mosul has reached its most difficult phase with bloody street to street fighting and mounting civilian casualties. Although President Trump recently said, things are going very well in Iraq. Monday, the Iraqi military put out a statement saying it would be setting up safe corridors for civilians to evacuate West Mosul's old city in preparation for a new push to drive ISIS out of the area. I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Erbil, Northern Iraq. [Vause:] Well, it seems the U.S. President is trying again to divert attention away from the Russia investigations. This time, Mr. Trump, citing at Fox News report, claiming that President Obama's former National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, requested what's known as the "Unmasking" of those associated with the Trump campaign. In other words, revealing their identity of those who're caught up in surveillance of usually a foreign agent. Usually, those names are concealed or masked. Former Senior Intelligence official tells CNN, Rice's role at the time allowed her to legally request some information to be unmasked and that does not mean that information was necessarily late. Well, joining us now for more Democratic Strategist, Dave Jacobson; Republican Consultant, John Thomas. OK. It seems right now; the whole unmasking issue is not the story which Fox or the President believed that it might be. Let's listen to a Democrat Congressman, Jim Himes. [Jim Himes, United States Congressman From Connecticut:] There's absolutely nothing unusual about unmasking. We get all kinds of intelligence intercepts all the time. And it involves masked U.S. person information, it could be a reference to a U.S. person, it could be a U.S. person talking. [Vause:] So, Dave? [Dave Jacobson, Democratic Strategist:] Look, Donald Trump is the deflector in chief. At a time when his poll numbers are sinking, they're more reflective not just a sinking ship, they're reflective of the titanic. They're almost at the bottom of the ocean. This is a guy, according to The Hill newspaper today, was polling with an approval rating of 34 percent today. So, he's trying desperately to do anything to change the conversation away from the Russia probe. And this is the latest sign of him trying to change the subject, yet again. [Vause:] OK. Here's before we get to John, here's a little more on the whole unmasking issue. It comes from the former Acting Director of the CIA, Michael Morell. OK, this is what he writes, "Senior officials in the U.S. government, when they see one of these intelligence reports that say U.S. person one or U.S. person two, they can go back to NSA and ask, who is that person? They have to have a good reason for asking that question. They have to explain that reason to the NSA. Once the request is made, NSA says yes or no. And when that gets approved it gets approved for the individuals who specifically requested the unmasking. It is not unmasked broadly." So, John, I found that on the Google machine. Couldn't the President have found it out by picking up the phone? [John Thomas, Republican Consultant:] Yes, I mean, he could have, but it's still there are unanswered questions here. Number one, Susan Rice who did a mask list, why is it that just a week or two ago she's said she knew nothing about it, she's never heard of this. She doesn't know what the President is talking about, and just seen that there is unanswered questions as to why she wanted it unmasked and who directed her to have it unmasked. I don't think it's cutting dry even if unmasking does happen regularly. Why Trump? Why around the election time? And why have this selective memory that it never happened in the first place? [Vause:] Dave, you know, a good point. There does seem to be a few issues here which need to be clarified. [Jacobson:] I think the real issue though is Donald Trump has been singularly focused on these so-called leaks for the last few weeks with all of these stories, sort of exposing the Russia great scandal and here he is citing a story that really is emblematic of other leaks and so I think it screams hypocrisy and that's the real big issue here. [Vause:] OK. And looks like the Senate. Let's move on is about to go nuclear over the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, listen to this. [Patrick Leahy, United States Senate Democrat:] My conscious would not allow me to ratify the majority of leaders act. Not last year, not this year. I will not, I cannot support advancing this nomination. [Chuck Grassley, United States Senate Republican:] If the Democrats will filibuster this person of the high quality is, that there isn't any justice that a Republican will put forth that they would get his that they would support. [Vause:] OK. So, John explains the nuclear option here for Republicans keeping in mind that most people around the world think that a filibuster is a filling for a sandwich. And why do Republicans think they have no other choice? [Thomas:] Yes. And I most of your viewers probably think the nuclear option means Trump is finally about to press the nuclear button. No, no, it just means that it turns the confirmation process to a simple majority and set a meeting to thirds and Republicans do have a simple majority to confirm nominee Gorsuch to the process. Here's the larger thing, it's it's not that Neil Gorsuch is one of the most qualified nominees that Trump possibly could have nominated, the trouble is that the Democrats don't want to give this guy an inch. They are the party of no now and it really is irrelevant of whether who the nominee is. In this case what so ridiculous about this is how well qualified Neil Gorsuch is for the position. [Vause:] And that does seem to be, you know a fairly reasonable point. The standard for confirming a Supreme Court judge simply is that person qualified or not? You know, political leanings or you know whether or not you like the particular rulings, it's all about their qualifications and there are a lot of people out there saying Gorsuch is qualified. [Jacobson:] Well look. Last time I checked Barack Obama was elected to a four-year term and this seat opened up back in February, almost a year before the November Presidential Election. He wasn't elected to a three-year term it was a four-year term and so if we're talking about qualifications, Merrick Garland got widespread bipartisan support. Republicans' and Democrats said that he was highly qualified and the justice didn't even have an opportunity to have a formal hearing before the Judicial Committee whether will up or down vote by the entire United States Senate. And so I think, the challenge here, the Democrats have, is number one, they actually had a nominee that didn't get a hearing number one and number two, Gorsuch is out of the mainstream. This is a guy who didn't during the hearing didn't enthusiastically endorse and recognize the validity of Brown versus board of Education, number one. And number two, he has a long history of citing with big red corporations over people if you look at the hobby lobby case. And so I think Democrats go ahead. [Thomas:] This message is just sour grapes because Merrick Garland didn't confirm because the Senate upheld a long standard tradition that in the election year you punt until the next office holder moves in. Is it not even sour grapes? I feel like you need a better reason to block Neil Gorsuch in that. [1:20:14] [Jacobson:] Well listen during the election year, by the way, this was before the New Hampshire primary vote. This is before the South Carolina primary vote. We didn't know if they were Republican or Democratic nominee was. It was very early in the Presidential contest. [Vause:] Yes. And you know probably, you know it's one of those moments that people just need to move on. And find the solution that makes everybody happy but I don't think it will. Thanks for being with us. [Jacobson:] Thank you. [Thomas:] Thanks. [Vause:] Well, coming up here on NEWSROOM L.A., Donald Trump taking on North Korea just days before he's set to meet with the leader if China. We'll have the latest from Beijing, in a moment. [Unidentified Female:] Shots fired in Ferguson, Missouri, a year to the day after Michael Brown was shot and killed. Everyone in the streets started running. Two distinct and different shooting scenes here. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever. [Unidentified Female:] Donald Trump on the offensive. [Trump:] You think I'd make a stupid statement like that? Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would even think about it. [Carly Fiorina , Presidential Candidate:] They were completely inappropriate and offensive comments. JEB BUSH [R], PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE; We want to win. Do we want to insult 53 percent of all voters? [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, August 10, 6 a.m. in the east. You've got me, Mick and Ana Cabrera here this morning, and we have important news overnight. While you were sleeping, multiple shootings broke out on the first anniversary of Michael Brown's death. There were no riots. This was nothing like the past. After a peaceful protest all day long, night brought gunfire to the streets again. [Michael Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Reports of at least two rounds of gunfire. One of them, in fact, involving plainclothes officers responding after police say they came under heavy fire. The alleged shooter is in critical condition and undergoing surgery. Let me get the very latest from Sara Sidner. She has been on scene all night, and I understand, Sara, you witnessed some of that gunfire. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] I did; sort of got caught in the middle of it, though. As protesters squared up with police, who were standing across West Florissant, and those conversations going back and forth, with protesters chanting and police standing in their riot gear, hundreds of yards away from where they were, we suddenly heard gunshots ring out. We were just in the middle of talking with the new interim police chief when those shots were fired. [Sidner:] Gunshots ring out on the streets of Ferguson on the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown's death. Erupting into chaos overnight when gunfire sent protesters and police running for cover. [Unidentified Male:] The suspect engages them with gunfire. The plainclothes detectives returned fire from the inside of the vans. [Sidner:] St. Louis County police say officers were involved in heavy gunfire in two shootings Sunday night. In one incident, police say a suspect shot directly at plainclothes officers with a stolen.9 millimeter. [Unidentified Male:] There were four officers who were in that van. All four fired at the suspect, and the suspect fell there. He is in critical, unstable condition. [Sidner:] We captured some gunshots on camera as I interviewed Ferguson's interim police chief. Angry protesters clashing with police, hurtling bottles and bricks at officers. Police deploying tear gas to disperse the crowds. Two businesses were damaged and looted. These images capture bullet holes in unmarked police cruisers caught in the crossfire. The night of unrest following a day of peaceful vigils to remember Brown's death and the movement it started. [Unidentified Male:] ... two, one! ... two, one! ... two, one! [Sidner:] Demonstrators marched and observed four-and-a-half minutes of silence, the amount of time [SIC] Brown's body lay on the street after he was shot. Brown's killing sparked outrage and protests nationwide. Though the officer was later cleared by both a grand jury and the Department of Justice investigation, anger bubbled over. Violence then... ... mirroring violence now, one year later. And the person who was shot, we are told by police, is in unstable and critical condition at this time. They have not released his name. We also understand that there are two police officers who were pepper-sprayed we're just getting this information now pepper- sprayed by protesters; two unmarked police cruisers that were hit with gunfire; and one officer who had had lacerations to her face because someone threw a rock or a brick towards her. And that's the scene right now. Everything has really calmed down. People have dispersed, but you know, the protesters saying that this wasn't anything to do with them and pretty upset about the fact that there was a shooting tonight. [Cuomo:] There's been that tension since the beginning about who's doing it, why they're doing it. And one thing we know for sure, and you know very well, Sara, at night things tend to change there. So let's now get some perspective from someone who's been on the ground there living it, knowing the situation. His name is Chris King. He is the editorial director for "The St. Louis American." And he's very involved in that community. Chris, what's your take? [Chris King, Editorial Director, "the St. Louis American":] Well, we only have the police version of events. This man was shot behind a building that he ran behind on this foot pursuit. But one thing I was heartened by hearing from the police chief, Jon Belmar, I just left his press conference, was he insisted these couldn't be protesters, because protesters come out to seek positive change. They don't pull guns on people. [Cuomo:] Right, but it's always been a mixed population there about who is doing what. You helped us navigate that situation many a night down there. What do you believe about the status there now? How are the tensions? Has anything gotten better? [King:] Well, Chris, what you kind of have here is one problem encroaching upon another. We have a problem of gun violence. We have a real problem with gun violence in the city of St. Louis and in our ring suburbs. And we have a problem with the disparate impact of law enforcement on African-Americans. The protesters are out to address one problem, which is this violently disparate impact of law enforcement on African-Americans. But tonight, I would say, or early this morning, they stumbled upon another problem, which is that too many people have guns and aren't afraid to use them for no good reason. [Cuomo:] All right. But you do not see this as a suggestion that things are going to blow up there again. Do you see any systemic changes in the works? Do you see any attitude changes in the communities? [King:] Well, I see a national movement that started in Ferguson. And it's one year on, and it's been an exciting time to be here the last few days. I've gone to organizer meetings and church services; and it's been a really thrilling time to be here. And it's going to be a thrilling time to be here. But we have people with guns in these communities, and some of them showed up on the fringe of the protest tonight. [Cuomo:] But is it getting any better? I mean, you know, do you see more police presence in a positive way in the neighborhoods? Are there more people on the street? Have you heard about the budgeting for it? You know, we know what the hard changes are that lead to the soft changes of attitude and emotion towards the police and vice versa with the community. Where is that, in your opinion? [King:] Ferguson is still in damage control mode with this police department. They don't have a deal with the Department of Justice. They have an interim chief. Until they have a permanent chief and a deal with the Department of Justice, a consent decree, you're not going to see any big change in Ferguson. You haven't seen any big change in Ferguson. Now Belmar, the county police chief, I've seen an arc in him. For him to talk about protestors he talked to me about a civil rights movement that started in Ferguson that's not the man that we heard last August. So he's learned he has to know the community, and he has to seek community trust to police it. And I think Belmar has grown. And I think the way he spoke about the shooting reflects real growth. Because he assumed, if they were pulling guns on his officers, as this person allegedly did, that they weren't protesters, because he see what protesters do: they protest. [Cuomo:] Do people accept the police version of what happened there, that why this happened and why the guy had the gun, which was supposedly a stolen weapon? [King:] I would say probably not. [Cuomo:] Probably not? [King:] I mean, the people that trust law enforcement, probably not. I mean, the people that trust law enforcement, trust law enforcement opinion and evidence. And the people that distrust law enforcement, they distrust law enforcement statements and evidence. That's just the reality we're in here. [Cuomo:] All right. Well, the biggest question of the moment will be what's the word on the street about whether or not this first anniversary is going to be used as a precipitating moment for more violence? Are you hearing anything that concerns you? You had been you had a pretty good finger on the pulse of the anarchists and people who were coming in from outside to use the opportunity a year ago. What are you hearing now? [King:] Well, I mean, they have more opportunity today than they had yesterday because of what happened last night. And today will be a critical day. If there are more people that want to come out and create mayhem and make it difficult to move forward constructively, then they have an opportunity, much more than they did a day before, when we had a beautiful, peaceful commemoration weekend going. I mean, there was grief, and there was anger and people need positive change; but there was also a coming together of a national movement that started here and that came back to the origin. [Cuomo:] All right, Chris, you have been very helpful to us in understanding the situation on the ground. Let us know what you find out. And as you know, we're going to stay on this story. Be safe and thank you. [King:] Thanks, Chris. [Cuomo:] Ana. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] Now to Texas, where the FBI is joining the investigation into an officer-involved shooting death of an unarmed black college football player. Christian Taylor was shot multiple times by an officer in training. And this morning newly-released edited surveillance video showing the moments before the fatal shots were fired. CNN correspondent Ed Lavandera is live in Arlington with the very latest Ed. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Ana. Well, all this coming on the heels of the anniversary there in Ferguson, but this was video shot at 1 a.m. in the morning, Friday morning. Nineteen-year-old Christian Taylor seen acting erratically at a car dealership here in the city of Arlington, at one point jumping up and vandalizing one of the vehicles out in the parking lot of the car dealership. And then police say he drove a Jeep inside through the glass walls and into the showroom floor. When officers arrived on the scene, police say here they instructed Taylor to lay down on the floor; and they say that's when he took off running through tried to escape through a back door and was shot four times or was shot at four times by a 49-year-old rookie police officer who was just ending his training period here with the Arlington Police officer. Ironically enough, it was the other officer that was responding with him, his training officer, that used a Taser in all of this. Christian Taylor's father told a local station here in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area that he understands that his son wasn't doing the right thing at the time but doesn't understand why his son had to die. Arlington Police have asked the FBI to come in and look at the shooting. They say it's still too early to lay out all of the facts that led up to this altercation, but they are taking a close look. They say there was an altercation between Taylor and the officers. They won't say if that was physical or verbal. But that's one of the things they're taking a very close look at Michaela. [Pereira:] Ed Lavandera, our thanks to you. Turmoil in the Trump camp. The front-running Republican defiant and unapologetic for what many consider a crude remark about debate moderator Megyn Kelly. The Donald, meanwhile, says he did nothing wrong, insisting that he cherishes women. Let's get the latest from someone we cherish, Athena Jones in Washington. Good morning and a happy Monday to you. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. Happy Monday. Donald Trump has offended Hispanics immigrants. He's offended veterans and former prisoners of war, all without hurting his standing in the polls. So the question now is whether these latest remarks will do any lasting damage to his candidacy. [Jones:] Donald Trump on the offensive. [Trump:] All I was doing was referring to her anger. I said nothing wrong whatsoever. [Jones:] The latest controversy surrounding the billionaire erupted after he said this about FOX anchor Megyn Kelly, one of moderators of Thursday's debate, to CNN's Don Lemon. [Trump:] She starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions; and, you know, you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever. [Jones:] Trump was upset with what he calls unfair questioning from her during the Republican primary debate. [Megyn Kelly, Fox News Anchor:] You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. [Jones:] The GOP frontrunner appeared on four Sunday shows to defend himself, including CNN's "STATE OF THE UNION," saying he never intended to suggest Kelly was having her period, as many interpreted his comment. [Trump:] I was going to say nose andor ears, because that's a very common statement, blood pouring out of somebody's nose. It's a statement showing anger. Do you think I'd make a stupid statement like that? Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would even think about it. [Jones:] In a sign of growing concern in some GOP quarters, Trump was disinvited from a conservative Republican gathering over the weekend after the comments about Kelly. Many, but not all of Trump's GOP rivals, criticized the remarks. [Bush:] Do we want to win? Do we want to insult 53 percent of all voters? What Donald Trump said is wrong. [Fiorina:] They were completely inappropriate and offensive comments, period. [Jones:] A comment that drew fire from Trump on Sunday, when he tweeted, "If you listen to Carly Fiorina for more than ten minutes straight, you develop a massive headache." Now, over the weekend, Trump's campaign lost a top political adviser, Roger Stone. They say they fired him. He says he quit concerns about the campaign's direction. We next expect to hear from Trump tomorrow night in Michigan Chris. [Cuomo:] All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate the reporting. We'll be following it up with some expert takes on what it means for Donald Trump and what it means for the GOP. Is this a window into a bigger problem with women that they have? We also have breaking news overnight. Gunfire outside the U.S. consulate in Istanbul. Turkish authorities say they have one possible shooter in custody and are looking for another. No injuries yet. Turkish soldiers and police targeted in separate attacks today. This comes as American fighter jets arrive in Turkey. They will carry out airstrikes against ISIS in Syria from there. The consulate is closed while investigators determine what happened. [Cabrera:] New details about this weekend's brutal killings of six children and two adults inside a Houston, Texas, home. Now police say, before the gunman shot each victim in the head, the alleged killer had gotten into some kind of a dispute with one of those adults he killed, the woman that he used to date. Police say the suspect then turned the gun at officers as they were called to the home, and he was eventually arrested after a seven-hour standoff. [Pereira:] Frank Gifford is being remembered this morning as a pioneer both on and off the field. The NFL Hall of Famer died Sunday. The Gift [SIC] was the Giff, rather, was known as the Golden Boy. Let's take a look back now at that extraordinary career. On the field, Frank Gifford was a legend, considered one of the greatest to wear the Giants uniform. Off the field, he was praised as a wonderful father, husband and friend. The California native made his way from being all-American at the University of Southern California to a first-round draft pick by the New York Giants in 1952. Gifford was a versatile star on both offense and defense, the backbone of a team that went to five NFL title games in the '50s and the '60s. In 1956, he was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player, leading the Giants to the league championship that same year. Selected to eight pro bowls in three different positions, he was inducted into the pro football Hall of Fame in 1977. One of the first American sports stars to make the move to broadcasting, Gifford joined "Monday Night Football" in 1971. During his 27-year run, many saw Gifford as the straight man in a raucous booth that became an American institution. [Frank Gifford, Pro-football Hall Of Famer/broadcaster:] Glad you're with us. This should be a good one. [Pereira:] In 1986, Gifford married NBC talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford. On Twitter, Kathie Lee thanking those who paid tribute to her husband. "Deeply grateful to you all for your outpouring of grace. We are steadfast in our faith and finding comfort in knowing where Frank is." The football legend passed away suddenly at his Connecticut home Sunday morning of natural causes. He was 84 years old. Tremendous career and legacy. [Cuomo:] Oh, yes. You know, so many got to know him in later generations as Kathie Lee's husband. [Cabrera:] Right. [Cuomo:] But this guy wasn't just the first really movie-star good looking guy. He played three different positions, made the all-star team at all three of them, and he was the first player to transition into broadcasting. [Pereira:] Think about, that is such a regular occurrence now. [Cuomo:] Not then. [Pereira:] Not then. Not then. [Cabrera:] He was just sort of talented. [Cuomo:] He was incredibly talented, every he had really a lot of fans. [Pereira:] Which is a big thing for you to say as a Jets fan. [Cuomo:] I know. You get used to the Giants always being the best. That's OK. But our thoughts and prayers to his family. [Pereira:] Absolutely. [Cuomo:] A big loss for all of us. We would hope that you stay with CNN all morning, because we're going to have continuing breaking coverage live from Ferguson, Missouri. But first, we're also going to take a look at these issues surrounding the GOP. Yes, he is the man in the middle, Donald Trump. He's also the frontrunner. He says he was not implying a FOX moderator was hormonal when she criticized him or he criticized her, to be more accurate about it. The situation isn't going away. Does the GOP finally need a game plan for dealing with Trump and women? More ahead. [Rep. Kevin Mccarthy , California:] Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping. Why? Because she's untrustable, but no one would have known any of that had had happened had we not [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Congressman Kevin McCarthy and Sean Hannity there. McCarthy could become the next House speaker suggesting that the House Benghazi Committee lowered Hillary Clinton's poll numbers. Did he just give an inside look into why that committee was formed in the first place? You know who thinks the answer is yes to that? Hillary Clinton. Here's her response. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] When I hear a statement like that which demonstrates unequivocally, that this was always meant to be a partisan political exercise, I feel like it does a great disservice and dishonors, not just the memory of the four that we lost, but in everybody who has served our country. [Cuomo:] Hillary Clinton taking the high ground there. Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan and senior adviser to the pro- Hillary group, "Correct the Record," joins us now. The response I believe from the McCarthy team will be, no, no, not the formation of the committee. It was what the committee revealed that wound up lowering her numbers, do you accept that justification? [Jennifer Granholm , Former Governor Of Michigan:] Absolutely not. I heard somebody yesterday describe this as Toto pulling back the fake curtain on the Wizard of Oz. We all knew this was, yes, the committee investigating this with nobody having found there was wrongdoing, so this committee is formed. And it has now been the longest special investigative committee in the history of the United States. I think taxpayers should be really ticked off that they've spent $4.5 million and spent more time than they did looking at Pearl Harbor than they did looking at Watergate. And we know the purpose of it. And Kevin McCarthy revealed what everybody knows. And I would encourage you to talk to the Democrats who are on that committee who have known it all along as well. This was a political sham. This was out to get Hillary Clinton because they don't want to run against her and now it's just been revealed. [Cuomo:] What about the allegations that we still don't know what exactly went wrong in Benghazi from an accountability standpoint? [Granholm:] But how many committees do we have to have that show this? The special committee that was a bipartisan group looking at this who said very clearly that there was nothing nefarious happening there, sometimes, just can't get there in time. She has made whatever, there were technical fixes that need to be made. She's taken responsibility. She took action. She appointed a group to fix that. John Kerry has taken that on. This has been reviewed, reviewed, reviewed. Talk about a waste of government resources and talk about an insult to the people who were actually killed in that terrible tragedy, because they have been used politically. And that's what Kevin McCarthy revealed. [Cuomo:] What about the e-mails that just were released by the State Department, about 3,850 documents mostly from 2010, 2011. You got the chief-of-staff then, Cheryl Mills, openly addressing the concerns about having private e-mail and what could have. You have portions of 250 documents upgraded to classified status retroactively. It won't be made available publicly for that reason. Does this show any responsibility on part of the Clinton team? [Granholm:] She has taken responsibility for that too. She said it was not a wise move to have a private server. However, I must say that these 200 e-mails that were retroactively classified just to be clear again, for your viewers, there was a separate system that was used to view classified information. You cannot physically send it on a private e-mail so totally separate. But I would encourage people to take a look at these e-mails because they really do give an interesting view of what goes on inside of government. And that e-mail that you referred to by Cheryl Mills, which she expressed some concern, and indeed coming from Samantha Powers, that the antiquated Department of State e-mails were really not the belt because we needed to upgrade the system. Now, we know that the federal government's system has been hacked and continues to be hacked, multiple, multiple times. There's been no evidence of a successful hack on equipment servers. So, you know, hopefully, that continues, obviously. But the bottom line is there was no transmission of classified information at the time. [Cuomo:] So let's put up the money also, Hillary put up $28 million on the last reporting period. Bernie put up $25 million. Of course, the spin is Bernie doing better than Hillary because the rate of increase of his money is such more dramatic. How do you see it? [Granholm:] Well, she's raised $75 million in the primary race. She's on track to raise 100. She has raised more than any candidate in the history of the United States in this particular quarter. And if you put actually Bernie Sanders money and Hillary Clinton's money together, they outraised the entire Republican field. So there's a lot of excitement on the Democratic side. So she raised more money. She's on track to meet her goal. I think she's really happy about how things have turned out in the third quarter. [Cuomo:] Governor Granholm, appreciate you being on NEW DAY to correct the record. We'll be back with more questions for you soon I'm sure. [Granholm:] All right, thanks, Chris. [Cuomo:] So, mark your calendars. The first big Democratic debate is going to be hosted by us and Facebook and it's going to be on Tuesday, October 13th, 9:00 p.m. Eastern. Let the battles begin Mich. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] We're very much looking forward to that. All right, Jeb Bush tweeted that he was flattered by similarities between Donald Trump's tax plan and his own. Where does Trump's plan fall short? We're going to pose that question to Jeb Bush. [Sesay:] Europe's highest court has ruled that employers can ban workers from wearing head scarves. [Vause:] The European Court of Justice says it's OK for companies to ban any visible political, philosophical, or religious signs. Many rights groups and religious leaders call it discrimination. [Sesay:] Yes, well, Edina Lekovic joins us now. She's communications director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council. Edina, it's good to have you with us again. [Edina Lekovic, Muslim Public Affairs Council:] Thanks for having me. [Sesay:] You have said that you feel that this decision by the European Court of Justice exposes a double standard in the European law. How so? [Lekovic:] Well, it's out of line with other rulings that have happened in European courts. But let's back up. I think that it's important that this that we realize that this is it's the wrong approach to a problem. If we're talking about integration, we need to create opportunities for inclusion, not exclusion. And I think that that's exactly what this ruling gets wrong. And it's out of sync with a European Court of Human Rights ruling a couple of years ago, which I want to get this right, said sometimes an employee's right is to manifest freedom of religion. And so there is this contradiction, this gap between these two European courts. And I think that it exposes the way that many of these decisions are becoming more and more political for obvious reasons. [Vause:] There is a shift under way in Europe where they are sort of leaning towards the secular. So part of the case before this European court, it involved a Muslim woman in Belgium. She's a receptionist. She asked her employer if she could wear a head scarf. The company said no. They then issued a rule banning all clothing which you know, which was religious in nature. And the court said this is OK. And this is what they said. "Because the rule thus treats all employees of the undertaking in the same way, notably by requiring them generally and without differentiation to dress neutrally." So on the surface that would seem to be quite fair, everyone gets treated the same. But you know, Christians, compared to, say, Jewish men and Muslim women, they don't have the same obligations to display their faith, right? So this isn't quite fair if you look at it that way. [Lekovic:] They do and they don't. I mean, every faith has its forms of religious practice. Some of those are more liberal, some of those are more what we might consider orthodox. And you know, and so you know, and I consider my own situation, I see women who are wear a niqab and I cringe a little bit as a Muslim because that certainly reflect my understanding of Islam. But that's that woman's understanding of Islam and that's the kind of diversity that we're trying to negotiate in our societies. But there's, again, a contradiction because European courts have also allowed for women to wear crucifixes whether it's in corporate settings or educational settings. And so it just this gives further fuel to the idea that this is targeting Muslims and that Muslims are being disproportionately targeted at a time when again if we want to create integration we have to create opportunities for inclusion where people can see the intersection between their faiths and their civic identity and their citizenship. There's a different way to go about this where Europe can benefit and appreciate its European its Muslim immigrants. [Sesay:] So that being said, effectively where we're at is Muslim women being asked to choose, effectively, between their faith and their employment. But what will they choose? [Lekovic:] Well, I think that when we put people's identity on the line, we're creating a false choice. First of all, we're saying to them, you can either be a Muslim woman who covers her hair or you can be a professional woman. That's a false choice. You can be a professional Muslim woman. And as an American-Muslim woman, I know this today, I'm once again grateful that my country's laws value religious freedom and that our laws are set up to protect different forms of expression. Nobody should be proselytizing, nobody should be, you know, pushing their faiths out in any of these settings but to simply reflect your own identity in the way that you feel comfortable I think should be something that we all agree on. [Vause:] You mentioned the difference here between the United States and Europe because in the U.S. there's a strong bias towards, you know, freedom of religion. In Europe, though, there's always been this sort of bias towards freedom from religion. So right now that freedom from religion in Europe seems to be clashing with the surge of Muslim immigration. [Lekovic:] It sure does. But I think that this is I don't think it's actually about religion in most cases. I think we're talking about immigration. We're talking about who is seen as being a foreigner versus being a native. This is something that we're seeing in the United States with the white nationalist movement as it's being called. So we're seeing this rise in many countries and I think that many of these European countries are going to have to grapple with immigration in different ways. Here we have, in the U.S., the valued idea of being a melting pot, that we take in immigrants and this is what we're fighting for today under the current administration, how to retain those rights and freedoms. And I think that Europe in some ways sends us a warning signal of going down a path that disenfranchises people again instead of creating opportunities for them to be integrated. They came to this countries because they want better lives so we should be creating paths where they get better lives and society to introduce as a whole. [Sesay:] Yes. And to that point of warning signals, the European court making this decision, you know, some have said, is a warning signal that they're pivoting away from protecting minority rights. What is your sense of where this road takes us? [Lekovic:] I think that it's very disappointing that Central European values, just like Central American values, are about inclusion and about space for multiple people, these ideas, these ideals have continued to evolve. Europe today, European nations today need to look deeply at their national character. My parents left Yugoslavia. They lived in Austria for eight years. They realized they were never going to be accepted as truly being Austrians and so they decided to reinvent their lives again by becoming Americans because they knew that here they could become Americans. That's something that we're still striving for certainly. But I think that many European countries need to evolve to create space for others in ways that are different than they have in the past. [Vause:] It seems that they were moving in that direction in the last couple of years. [Sesay:] Its pivot. Yes. [Lekovic:] Which yes. And I pray for the best in the Netherlands tomorrow because I think that we democracy is on the line here. There is nothing less than democracy on the line and the western ideals that so many of us cherish. [Vause:] Edina, good to speak with you. Thank you. [Sesay:] As always good to speak to you. Thank you. [Lekovic:] Thank you. [Vause:] And with that, time for a quick break. "STATE OF AMERICA" with Kate Bolduan is next for our viewers in Asia. [Sesay:] For everyone else, Dutch voters are getting ready for a crucial parliamentary election. Just ahead, we'll go live to Amsterdam to see why this man could lead the country away from the rest of Europe. [Jake Tapper, Cnn:] Rene Marsh, thank you so much. That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. I turn you over to Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. He's got some hot new poll numbers from New Hampshire. Thanks for watching. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, stumping with Trump. Sarah Palin hits the trail with the GOP frontrunner. But they seem to be attacking the Republican establishment nearly as much as the Democrats. Is that a smart move? Pulling ahead. Breaking news, our brand-new poll shows Donald Trump way ahead, but Jeb Bush is moving up in New Hampshire. Can he revive his campaign? I'll speak to Jeb Bush live this hour. ISIS jihadis. ISIS fighters are aggressively recruiting young Muslim women online with promises of romance and an idyllic life, promises that are soon shattered. How many western women have been lured from their homes to join the terror group? And snow escape. 50 million Americans are bracing for a major winter storm, and Washington could be facing a blizzard of historic proportions. Airlines already preparing for a travel nightmare. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. The breaking news: our latest poll shows Donald Trump stretching his big lead in New Hampshire, but it's getting crowded in the middle of the pack. And Jeb Bush is pushing his way into a tie for third place. My interview of the Republican candidate just moments away. Fifty million Americans could soon be buried in snow, and many of them may have more than two feet to shovel. Parts of the East Coast could face a blizzard of epic scale. There could be widespread power outages. Plows are on standby, airlines already scrambling to get ready for a travel mess. Our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's get to the breaking political news in New Hampshire. Our just- released CNNWMUR poll of people who plan to vote in the state's Republican primary, that poll shows Donald Trump with a commanding lead. He has 34 percent. That's 20 points ahead of his closest rival, who's now Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Marco Rubio, who is second to Trump in our last poll in New Hampshire, he has fallen into a third-place tie with Jeb Bush, who's now on the rise. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is in Hollis, New Hampshire, where Ted Cruz is about to hold a rally. Sunlen, what's the latest there? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, Ted Cruz here in New Hampshire trying to recover from a rough 24 hours for his campaign. But again today, the center of attention out on the campaign trail was not with him but focused squarely on Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. Donald Trump and Sarah Palin with an encore performance today. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Everybody wanted her endorsement. She said, "What you're doing, Donald, is amazing." [Serfaty:] The duo hitting the campaign trail together in Oklahoma. [Trump:] We have a movement going on, folks. We have a movement. This is not this is not a normal situation. People are sick and tired and fed up. And, yes, we're angry. We are angry. [Serfaty:] Rallying supporters at the conservative Christian university, Oral Roberts. [Sarah Palin, Former Governor Of Alaska:] And here we got a redhead from the big Red Apple running for president. And yet the GOP machine, all of a sudden, they're saying we're not red enough. We're not conservative enough. And I say what in the world do they know about conservatism? [Serfaty:] Palin's support a boost to Trump's conservative credentials and a potential momentum killer for Ted Cruz, threatening to undercut his main argument against Trump, that Trump is a closet liberal. Trump is flying solo this morning in Iowa, despite a campaign announcement that Palin would travel with the GOP frontrunner to both of today's events. [Trump:] How can you be running with a cloud over your head? [Serfaty:] Giving Trump the spotlight to himself to unload on Ted Cruz... [Trump:] With being a Canadian citizen, he said, "Oh, I didn't know that." How did he not know that? Then he said with the loans, "Oh, I didn't know that." Smart guy. He doesn't know that? That's worse than Hillary when you think about it. [Serfaty:] ... and twist the knife a bit. [Trump:] You have a great governor in this state. Terry Branstad came out yesterday, and he said, "You can't have you can't have Cruz." And I think it has to do with more than ethanol. [Serfaty:] Cruz today in New Hampshire launching a fresh attack at Trump for favoring big government when it comes to energy policy. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Donald Trump promised not only to protect the ethanol mandate, but to expand it to have the federal government do even more picking winners and losers by mandating ethanol be a larger part of the marketplace. [Serfaty:] Amid this battle there are no signs of wear for Trump. A new national poll showing Trump way out in front, with more than twice as much support as his closest rival. And in a CNNWMUR New Hampshire poll, Trump tops the pack 20 points ahead of everyone else. Facing these headwinds, Ted Cruz making a big point today to show he's trying to keep his spirits up. [Cruz:] Style matters. Look, would it kill Republicans to crack a joke? Actually, some of them, I think it might. You know, have a little fun, for Pete's sake. [Serfaty:] And Ted Cruz today here in New Hampshire was forced to cancel two campaign events to return to Washington for votes in the Senate. This is the kind of deviation that really knocks him off his message at exactly the time, Wolf, that he needs to be focused on using each and every moment out here on the campaign trail to recapture the momentum. [Blitzer:] Sunlen Serfaty in New Hampshire for us. Thank you. Let's go to our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. Today he's on the campaign trail with Donald Trump and Sarah Palin. Jim, they're attacking the Republican establishment almost as much with a passion as they're going after the Democrats. Tell us what happened today. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Yes, they're attacking everybody, Wolf. And this tthihis seems to be a match made in Tea Party heaven. Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, they were dishing out the conservative red meat and wooing evangelical voters at the same time at the Christian conservative-founded Oral Roberts University here in Oklahoma State. Palin touted Trump as the only candidate, quote, "ballsy enough" her words to take on the Washington establishment like Trump. The former Alaska governor tore into the news media and said the GOP frontrunner, meaning Trump, is strong enough to go rogue, no matter the consequences. Here's what she had to say. [Palin:] His candidate, Trump's candidacy, this movement, this force, this strategy proves that, shoot, as long as that establishment, as long as they get to keep their titles and their perks in D.C., and their media ratings, they don't really care who wins elections. Believe me on this. I've kind of been there, and I see how they treat those who go rogue, like Mr. Trump does, in order to do the right thing. You want to know proof of that? Even today the GOP machine, they're attacking their own frontrunner and his base of dynamic, diverse, very patriotic supporters. They're attacking you, because they can't afford for the status quo to go. Otherwise the gravy train, it stops, and they can't keep slurping from it. Not if things change the way that Mr. Trump and all of we know needs to change. [Acosta:] As for Trump here in Oklahoma, he slammed Democrats, as well, went after Bernie Sanders as a, quote, "wacko" and a communist. And the billionaire tycoon said he is determined to win Iowa, adding it won't mean much if his supporters don't turn out on caucus night. Here's more of what Donald Trump had to say. [Trump:] We are going to win so much we're going to have win after win after win. You people are going to get sick and tired of winning. You're going to say, "Please, please President Trump, we can't take this much victory. Please stop. We don't want any more wins." And I'm going to say to you, "We're going to win. I don't care what you say. We're going to make our country great again. We're going to win. We're going to win. And we're going to win!" [Acosta:] Now, it's worth noting when Palin was not at Trump's side earlier today, he ripped into Ted Cruz. But when she was at this event here in Oklahoma, Donald Trump declined to go after his arch rival in Iowa. But, Wolf, as for this chemistry between Donald Trump and Sarah Palin, it is clearly there. He sees a lot of himself in her. And I think vice versa. I think that's why they perform so well out on the stump, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right. Jim Acosta reporting from Oklahoma for us. Thanks very much. As we reported our new poll shows Jeb Bush on the rise in New Hampshire. He's now tied with Marco Rubio in third place. Still, though, far behind Donald Trump. Jeb Bush is joining us now live from Manchester. Governor, thanks very much for joining us. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Thank you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] You've been calling yourself the anti-Trump. But some some of the pundits out there think it's too late for a comeback. What do you say to them? [Bush:] Well, we're making good progress, because my message of hope that we can change the things in Washington, rather than just describing how bad things are, seems to be working. I have a proven record as a governor of the state to disrupt the old order in Tallahassee, Florida. And I can do the same in Washington, D.C. And I have proven ideas to lead our country going forward. And so it's a tangible result that people are looking for. I have the leadership skills to do this. Donald Trump is neither a conservative nor a leader. And while he's a great entertainer and I respect Sarah Palin, as well he is not a conservative. And we need to have a conservative be nominated to defeat Hillary Clinton. I don't think that Donald Trump can beat Hillary Clinton. I believe I can. [Blitzer:] Listen to what Donald Trump said about you today at one of his rallies. [Trump:] How about Bush? Look, the guy spends now he's up to $79 million. Now, I wouldn't even mention this, but a lot of it's ads against me. He does these negative ads against me. Otherwise I wouldn't mention it. Maybe I would. But $79 million. And he's bing, down in the basement, right? The first thing he should do is he should get rid of the Jeb stuff, get rid of all of the nonsense that he's going through with, "I can fix it." You know, his new slogan, "I can fix it." He can't fix anything. He's a low-energy person. Low-energy people don't get things fixed. But if he were a real politician, he'd be careful when he says, "I can fix it." Because where I come from, that's dishonest. When you fix it, you're dishonest. He shouldn't say, "I can fix it." Now, I think he's probably an honest guy, but a stiff. There's no question about it. [Blitzer:] I want to get your reaction to that. But it seems those kinds of attacks in almost every speech he refers to you, they seem to be having an impact. [Bush:] Well, Wolf, look, he's not going to win the presidency by tearing me down or tearing women down or tearing the disabled down, more importantly, or calling John McCain a loser because he was a POW, or tearing Hispanics down. That's not how you win. That's how you lose. We need to have an uplifting message, applying conservative ideas in the right way. And that's what I'm prepared to do. Look, Trump's an entertainer. He's not going to be commander in chief or leader of the free world. He's not he's not going to lead us to a safer and securer and freer America. And so I'm going to stay the course. The reason why he attacks me is he's scared of me. He's insecure. He doesn't believe that that he can take me on. And while I'm doing worse than him in the polls, the simple fact is why would he spend his time tearing down someone who's so low compared to him? This is this is because we're moving up. And I believe that he believes that we're the real challenge for his winning the nomination. And the tragedy of this is we have a Democratic nominee, likely nominee who's under investigation by the FBI. The only chance that she could become president is if we nominate a guy like Trump. [Blitzer:] You've said that Donald Trump and I'm quoting you know "He's a junkyard dog, that's for sure. I seem to be the focus of most of his attacks." Then you said at one point, "Just one thing I need to get off my chest, Donald Trump is a jerk." So you've said Donald Trump is insulting his way to the presidency, but it sounds like you're insulting him, as well. [Bush:] Yes. Hey, did you just hear the in our interview he just went through about a minute-long diatribe? Is that a junkyard dog or what? Look, this is politics. It's not bean bag. I totally get it. And the simple fact is people are hurting in this country. The main reason why I believe that he's the wrong candidate isn't that he attacks me. It's that he attacks women, Hispanics, the disabled. Across the board, he finds ways to tear people down to make himself look like the strong man. And that's a sign of weakness. That's not a sign of strength. We need a president that has a steady hand, that has a servant's heart, that has conservative principles and a proven record to lead this country forward out of the mess that we're in. [Blitzer:] Why is he doing so well in all of these polls? [Bush:] Because people are angry about Washington, D.C. And what I'm saying is I'm angry, too. This system is not working right now. Our democracy is imperiled. We need a president that stops pushing people down to make himself look better. And to have the ability to work with Congress to fix how we tax and regulate, fix the mess that exists in Washington, change the culture so that we could have rising income again for the middle class for people to be lifted out of poverty. And as important, we need a president who will be a commander in chief that will have the back of the military to keep us safe. And that's my advocacy to turn this angst and frustration into a force that will change the culture in Washington so we can move forward. [Blitzer:] Sarah Palin, as you know, endorsed Donald Trump. You call that laughable. [Bush:] Yes. [Blitzer:] That was your word. But she's saying Donald Trump is conservative enough. Your response? [Bush:] Look, I didn't say that her endorsement of Trump was laughable. I have I have a lot of respect for Sarah Palin, particularly her commitment to the life issues and to protecting the disabled. We share a passion about that. I respect her. But for her to say that Donald Trump's a conservative when he was pro- abortion in the most recent past, he believed in higher taxes, he thought Hillary Clinton would be a great negotiator in Iran, he's been all over the map in foreign policy, certainly not a conservative. Rush Limbaugh and others are now questioning his conservative credentials, and I think they're right. [Blitzer:] Governor, we have a lot more to discuss. I want to take a quick break. Much more with the Republican presidential candidate, Jeb Bush, right after this. [Asher:] Hello, everyone, I'm Zain Asher. Coming up in the next half-hour of QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, Apple switches its gun emoji for something a little less harmful. And I'll talk to the CEO of IMAX on the day they announce a massive deal in China. Before that these are the top news headlines we are following at this hour. U.S. President Barack Obama says Donald Trump is unfit to be the country's next commander-in-chief, speaking at the White House after a meeting with Singapore's prime minister, Mr. Obama said Donald Trump lacked any of the right qualifications. [Barack Obama, President United States Of America:] I think the Republican nominee is unfit to serve as president. I said so last week. And he keeps on proving it. The notion that he would attack a Gold Star family that had made such extraordinary sacrifices on behalf of our country, the fact that he doesn't appear to have basic knowledge around critical issues in Europe, in the Middle East, in Asia, means that he's woefully unprepared to do this job. [Asher:] After that, Mr. Obama went on to question why Republicans continue to support Trump's campaign. Trump responded by saying it was Mr. Obama and the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton, who were unfit to serve. In a statement, he criticized their foreign policy record and called Clinton reckless. Two chemical attacks have been reported in northern Syria. In Aleppo, the Syrian government says rebels carried out gas attacks that killed five people. In Idlib province, opposition groups are accusing Syrian forces of using chlorine gas on civilians. They say 00:35:00 this video shows alleged victims being treated. Thousands of mourners have gathered in France for a funeral of a priest murdered last week in his church. 86-year-old Father Jacques Hamel was killed as he said morning mass in Normandy by two men who claimed the attack in the name of ISIS. Turkey has made a second request to the United States to extradite a powerful cleric. That is according to Turkey's Justice Minister. The Turkish government believes Fethullah Gulen is behind last month's attempted coup there. Gulen lives in self-imposed exile in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. India is rushing aid to thousands of its citizens in Saudi Arabia who are running out of food after losing their jobs. The layoffs come as Saudi Arabia grapples with low oil prices that have slashed economic growth. Here is our John Defterios with more. [John Defterios, Cnn Money, Emerging Markets Editor:] Thousands of laborers from India left in limbo. [Unidentified Male:] No salary. No food. No money. [Defterios:] They're stranded in Saudi Arabia after the plunge in oil prices sparked massive layoffs there. According to the Indian government, some 7700 Indian workers are stuck in 20 different camps across the kingdom. A CNN camera crew visited this camp in Jeddah. It was shut down months ago with no warning t workers. Now there's no water, no power, and nowhere to go. [Unidentified Male:] There's no water. No water. No electricity. No. no. How many months? Seven months. Seven months. [Defterios:] These construction workers tell CNN they haven't been paid for up to seven months. Over the past week, food rations are drying up. India's Consul General based in Jeddah calls it a desperate situation. [Muhammad Noor Rahman Sheikh, Indian Consul General:] The condition is not good, I mean this what we convey to the authorities here. I mean it is no just about food, it's about the livability of the camps as well. [Defterios:] The Indian community has rallied to deliver food to the workers, hoping it will last until the Indian government can obtain exit visas. But it's complicated. Nearly all of these workers have handed over their passport to the companies they work for. So trying to get them back is very difficult. Another issue, the Indian government is trying to obtain back pay for thousands of their workers, they are sending a top diplomat to Jeddah to lobby that cause. With an estimated 3 million Indian expats on the ground in Saudi Arabia, it could get much worse if oil continues to hover around $40 a barrel, which would likely lead to further cuts from the Saudi government and in turn cuts for contractors as well. [Asher:] And Oger's representatives were not immediately available for comment. Saudi officials contacted by CNN Money said they would look into questions about the situation. Earlier I asked John Defterios you saw in the package there what the challenges are for repatriating these workers. [Defterios:] The biggest challenge is that when they take a contract, and there's a usually a middleman involved in the process, they turn their passport over to the middleman and that goes to the contractor itself. So you have had a case here where projects have been squeezed because, don't forget, the government as part of this 2030 plan is trying to wean the society off of oil because of $40 oil at this stage. So the big projects have been stopped in many cases. The workers can't leave the country without an exit visa. And of course they don't want to leave the country unless they get their back pay. I think it's hard for us to understand, particularly in the West, but I'm sitting here in the Gulf, to have people in a country not being fed and having the local community kind of fill that void right now. There's going to be a negotiation between the Indian government and the External Affairs Ministry, the Labor Ministry in Saudi Arabia, and serious talks with the contractors themselves. How did you halt the project and get to such a dire situation over the last two weeks with no water in some of the camps and very little food if the Indian community did not step in? [Asher:] So if oil prices remain low. If they still continue to hover around $40 a barrel or even lower, what does the future hold for these workers, especially the ones who decided to stay? [Defterios:] Well, this is the new normal, Zain, if you will. What I mean by that is we were enjoying $100 a barrel for the better part of four years. That's what sparked this construction boom throughout the six Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia, over the last four years. The Saudi oil minister told me after the OPEC meeting in Vienna in June he thought we could get to $60 a barrel by the end of 2016. That looks very different from where we are now. Let's go back say even four months to April. We had a low of around $40 a barrel by mid-April, then a rally to $52 a barrel in early June. And then it's been a drip, drip, drip, lower to where we are today, hovering around $40 a barrel. Many thought this market would rebalance. There's a catch here, Zain. There is the goldilocks scenario. If I'm a Gulf producer and I can produce it for say $2 to $6 a barrel and shale producers in the United States are hovering around $35 to $45 a barrel, I don't want the price to go too high because it invites other producers back into the market. So they want to kind of keep this halfway point right now. But $40 is certainly not working for all the spending projects that we've had on the books going back five years when oil prices were much higher than they are today, that's for sure. [Asher:] John Defterios speaking to me earlier. Next on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS, IMAX rolls out even more big screens in China. We speak to the company's CEO about its biggest deal ever. That's next. [Paul:] Twenty-one minutes past the hour. And you are officially waking up to day one of the Olympics, opening ceremonies kicking off the 2016 games. It featured more than 5,000 costumes, spectacular fireworks, and guess who was there one Mr. Coy Wire gets to see it in person. Coy, how are you doing? It looks like a tough job. [Wire:] Hey, someone has to do it, Christi. I'll tell you, being there was surreal, because you grow up dreaming of being that cool some day. You watch the opening ceremony, and I was there feeling that energy and that passion. The Brazilian people, seeing the colors. It was outstanding. But let's talk about some of the highlights of the night, I was personally looked forward to the U.S. Olympic team coming out. And they sure did come out in full force, more athletes than any other nation in the games, led by Michael Phelps as the flag bearer, the most decorated Olympian of all time, got his 22 medals. Had some interesting outfits. The athletes say they love them, the ones I talked to at least, a lot of people making fun of the outfits online. But how about when Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen walks out, the wife of Tom Brady. She catwalks in front of about 3 billion people for the time this bossa nova song, "The Girl from Ipanema." Also, the star of the night had to be the guy from Tonga who made the internet tingle. Tae Kwon Do competitor, Pita Taufatofua, wearing that traditional Tongan and not much else. A whole bunch of oil, glistening body. Oh, people were having fun with that, got the party started for sure. Now, guys, I got an exclusive interview, U.S. track star Justin Gatlin, arguably the most popular event in the Summer Games, the shortest, ten seconds going toe to toe by Usain Bolt. I caught up with him to talk about their duel. Check it out. [Scholes:] I got to ask you about Usain. He said you're going to feel his wrath. What are your thoughts on this? [Justin Gatlin, 100m Gold Medalist In 2004 Olympics:] You know, I'm just going to come out here and just do what I do, which is, you know, run, enjoy myself. Make my way to the finals get on top of that podium and just represent USA. That's what I'm here for. [Scholes:] This may be the last time you after do face Usain Bolt. Does that cross your mind at all, I may get one more shot at taking this guy? [Gatlin:] You know, I haven't thought about it. I'm just going to get out and do what I need to do. It's Olympics, it's going to be special, I know everybody is bringing their A-game. So, I got to make sure that I'm ready. [Scholes:] Talking about this being special. You have already won the gold. Where are you mentally this time around? [Gatlin:] Hungry. You know, I'm just bring you know, this is my third Olympics, so I'm bringing the fun, carefree Justin Gatlin from 2004 and the honored to be here Justin Gatlin from 2012, putting the mix together, I'm going to celebrate and have a great time. [Scholes:] Some of the athletes have great ability, but they also have sustainability. And that's you. You've been doing this a long time. What has kept you going like a champ? [Gatlin:] I mean, the fans. You know, the fans you know, people haven't never seen me before, just giving me well-wishes throughout social media, and hoping that I come out here and do what I needed to do as American, as an athlete and that's what gives me the drive to keep going forward. [Paul:] Ooh, Christi, I cannot wait to see that one. Don't blink or you'll miss it. Twelve gold medals up for grabs today. That hard ware is going to start to be handed out. I'm excited about the swimming taken place tonight. I'm also excited about the paddle boarding and some of the cool things that I'm going to go, do and make you jealous of my assignment. But it's a beautiful morning here on Copacabana, the Rio Games are underway. All righty. I'm grateful that you are able to there be, Coy. I'm grateful for you, I promise. Thank you. [Wire:] Thank you. Thank you. [Paul:] Victor? [Blackwell:] All right. Let's turn now to the city of Phoenix on edge as police are searching for a serial sniper. Officers say the gunman has killed seven people and now has struck again. Plus, chances are you got one of those new chip credit cards in your wallet right now. You know, the ones where you never know whether to insert or swipe. They're a little annoying at this phase. Coming up, we'll hear hackers who say those cards are not as safe as you can think and you will not believe what they say they can do with them. [Paul:] And speaking of money, mortgage rates fell this week. Here's your look. [Keilar:] Our next guest is a professor by trade but he dabbles in the prediction business. Allan Lichtman likes to say that he can predict the outcome of any U.S. presidential election, and who can really argue because he has been right every time since 1984. But this year, even he is a little bit stumped right now. So, why is 2016 so unpredictable? Let's ask Allan Lichtman. He is a distinguished professor of history at American University, and he's joining us right now. OK, I do want to ask you about 2016, but first, explain this. It's 13 keys, basically markers that you came up with, conditions that will determine if the opposing party is going to thwart the incumbent party. How did you come up with this and just give us a sense of what these markers are? [Allan Lichtman, Distinguished Profession, American University, Presidential Historian:] Yes, I actually came up with it totally, of course, by accident. Back in 1981 when I was a visiting scholar at Caltech, I met another visiting scholar, Vladimir Keilis-Borok, the world's authority from Moscow on earthquake prediction. And we decided we'd apply the methods of earthquake prediction to elections to figure out if there'd be stability. The party holding the White House keeps the White House. Or an earthquake. The party holding the White House loses. And we looked at every election from 1860 to 1980 and we came up with 13 key factors, truefalse questions, which favor the re-election of the party in power. The basic theory is the American people are pragmatic. We're not driven by the ads, the speeches, and tricks of the campaign. We give the party in power four more years if they performed well enough and the 13 keys are designed to gauge that. If six or more go against the party in power, they lose. The party holding the White House, now the Democrats, otherwise they win. And we've since applied that, as you say, to every election ahead of time since 1984. [Keilar:] And we're looking at some of the keys now and some of these take a little bit of explaining. Like, you see party mandate and that's actually very scientific. It's that after the midterm elections you have the incumbent party that is holding more seats in the U.S. House of Representatives than they did after the previous midterm election. So you look at 2014, how that compares to 2010 and it's really scientific stuff here. In 2016, as we look towards November, you're unsure what's going to happen. Tell us why that is and tell us if you think when you think you'll be able to the call. [Lichtman:] Yes, this is the most puzzling election I've yet seen, and here's why. First of all, the Democrats are now down four keys. Remember, they're the party in power. Six keys and they're out. But, two keys are still hanging balance. Key number two is the internal party contest key for the party in power. Right now the best friend Donald Trump has ever had is Bernie Sanders. By protracting a nomination struggle that he cannot mathematically win, he has put that key in jeopardy and vastly increased the chances that Donald Trump is going to be elected president. If Sanders wants to see Trump stopped, he's got to unite behind the obvious nominee, Hillary Clinton. So, this critical contest key is right now in abeyance. The other key is key number 11, the foreign policy success key. You know, there have been a lot of initiatives on the part of the Obama administration that could be regarded as big successes. The Iran nuclear agreement, you can argue, averted a nuclear arms race in the most unstable region of the world, maybe even a nuclear war. The breakthrough with Cuba is historic but Obama hasn't sold it to the American people. So, here's my advice to President Obama. Forget conventional campaigning. The keys say conventional campaigning has never, ever made a difference in turning a presidential election. Instead, sell your accomplishments to the American people. You're the great communicator, you can do it. Secure key number 11 for your party and Hillary Clinton will be the next president. Otherwise, it could well be Trump. [Keilar:] The last key and this is pretty interesting to me about how you judge this because some of these are not how I would think that they would fall. But when it comes to challenger charisma this idea that the challenging party candidate is not charismatic or a national hero, or perhaps they are. How does Donald Trump shape up with that because I think a lot of people would say this is a guy who clearly has charisma? He is attracting people. There's almost even this sort of cult of personality that that is the reason why people are drawn to him. But how does this work out when you're scoring him? [Lichtman:] Brianna, when you buy my book and all your viewers buy my book you'll see how carefully these keys are actually defined. And while Donald Trump certainly does have a degree of charisma, the reason he doesn't win that key is his appeal is very, very limited. It's limited to a particular slice of the electorate. He has the highest negatives going into the general election campaign of any candidate in the history of polling. Whereas, the once in a generation kinds of candidates that have been tabbed as charismatic, like Franklin Roosevelt or Ronald Reagan, have had broad charismatic rather than narrow charismatic appeal. Sorry Trump, you don't get that key. [Keilar:] It's really fascinating stuff, Dr. Lichtman. Thank you so much for it. I really geeked out your keys here. I'm going to keep monitoring them as we move towards November. Thank you so much for being with us. [Lichtman:] Sure. Have me back when I make a final prediction. [Keilar:] Yes, we certainly will. All right, Dr. Lichtman, thank you so much. [Lichtman:] Thank you. [Keilar:] Now, we are following a lot of news, includingwhether or not the GOP can achieve party unity, so let's get to it. [Ryan:] I was very encouraged. [Trump:] I thought it was a great meeting. I think Paul felt the same way. [Ryan:] We are now planting the seeds to get ourselves unified. [Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee:] It's a positive first step toward unifying our party. [Unidentified Male:] This idea of the party coming together and uniting is crucial. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I certainly want to be delivering on the challenges that still lie ahead of us. [Sanders:] It is our campaign which will result in a Democratic victory in November. [Unidentified Male:] When Hillary wins the nomination I believe everybody will endorse her and embrace her. This is CNN breaking news. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Host, "the Situation Room":] Jimmy Kimmel has confirmed he is running for vice president. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Host, "the Lead With Jake Tapper":] With which candidate? [Jimmy Kimmel, Television Host, "jimmy Kimmel Live!":] Solo, or possibly with both candidates to maximize my chances. [Blitzer:] Jimmy, do you think you're making a mockery of this election? [Kimmel:] I think it's too late for anyone to do that, Wolf. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Cuomo:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Friday, May 13th, 8:00 in the east. Alisyn is off. We've got Keilar on the right, we've got Berman on the left, now let's get after it. [Berman:] And we're stuck in the middle with you. [Cuomo:] Very well done, very well done. Donald Trump and Republican leaders burying the hatchet, celebrating a move toward unity. The party's presumptive nominee, House Speaker Paul Ryan, RNC chair Reince Priebus, emerging from yesterday's high-stakes, high-power summit with a commitment to work together. No endorsement yet from Ryan, but it seems that everything for Trump and the party is moving the right way. He's even got a big donor on board. [Berman:] As for the Democrats, congressional leaders there are hoping that tying Trump to the Republican establishment will help them and, likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, in November. But Bernie Sanders say no so fast. He says he would pose as a tougher challenger to Donald Trump and he points at the polls to prove it. We are all over this, this morning. Let's begin with senior political reporter, Manu Raju, live in Washington. Good morning, Manu. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Hey, John. Donald Trump may not be the party establishment candidate but he is actually the last man standing so the Republican Party leadership knows that they have to put the full backing of the Republican machinery behind him if they want any chance to defeat Hillary Clinton this fall. Now, yesterday when Donald Trump met with House Republicans and Senate Republicans, he spent a lot of time listening on concerns over immigration, to judges, to abortion. He even promised to nominate conservative justices to the Supreme Court. [Blitzer:] We're only two days away from the next Republican presidential debate. Jeb Bush has been taking a closer look at his campaign in recent days, along with his father, his brother, both of whom, of course, are former presidents. Our special correspondent, Jamie Gangel, is still with us. Jamie, I know you're doing reporting on what's going on in the Bush campaign, these strategy sessions underway in Houston, Texas, right now. What are you hearing? [Gangel:] First of all, there's no question, Wolf, that they are shocked to be at this place in the polls at this point in the campaign. That said, the campaign is pushing back on talk about donors being panicked and this kind of talk. And this is what they say. What you heard from Jeb Bush this weekend, where he got out there and said he was frustrated, expect to hear more of that. There is going to be a new sheriff in town. Jeb feels empowered to speak his mind. And he's going to be speaking out a lot, speaking out more strongly on the stump and also spending a lot more time in New Hampshire and South Carolina. [Blitzer:] Are we going to see some of that come through in the next Republican presidential debate in Boulder, Colorado, on Wednesday? [Gangel:] I think that's absolutely correct. I don't want to say you're going to see fireworks but I wouldn't be surprised. I think they feel this debate look, every debate is important but this debate is critical. This is substance; that's his wheelhouse. They want him to take control of this debate. So I think you will see a much more vocal, strong Jeb Bush. [Blitzer:] And it's clear to me and I assume to you as well that the front-runner, Donald Trump, he gets under Jeb Bush's skin where he says, "This guy is low energy." The only one who has lower energy might be Dr. Ben Carson, according to Trump. It seems to resonate. It seems to deeply irritate Jeb Bush, based on those comments he made just the other night that, you know what, if this is going to get really, really ugly and I'm paraphrasing now you know, there are other things, there are better things I can do with my life. [Gangel:] Jeb Bush is a smart man. He's a decent man. He never expected to be campaigning against Donald Trump with this kind of back-and-forth. That isn't in his wheelhouse. He doesn't like doing it. That said, I think we're seeing unleashed Jeb here. I don't know that he will go directly after Donald Trump but I think you will see a much more outspoken candidate. [Blitzer:] Is he really frustrated, though, based on everything you're hearing, Jamie, at these low poll numbers in Iowa and New Hampshire, South Carolina and certainly nationally? [Gangel:] Absolutely. They are frustrated. They are shocked. But you know what, Wolf, everybody keeps saying in this campaign, how did we get here? I mean, it is very surprising. Nobody expected it. Nobody predicted it. And, you know, they just never thought they would be in this place. [Blitzer:] We'll see what happens next. They have got a lot of work to do. All the campaigns have a lot of work and they're getting ready for that next Republican debate. Jamie, thanks very much. Good work all around. For all the latest in politics and all the presidential contenders, by the way, head over to cnnpolitics.com. You get the best information right there. Also this just in with deadlines looming on the nation's debt ceiling and a possible government shutdown, the White House and Congress may be close to a new budget deal. We're getting new information. Stay with CNN for that. In the meantime, the news continues next on CNN. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] I mean, Mike Pence, he's on the Hill hour after hour after hour, they say they're making progress and very encouraging comments from Mark Meadows, chairman of the Freedom Caucus. We'll skip Easter break if we can get this thing done. What are you hearing? [Abby Phillip, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, one of the things I'm hearing from some of the conservative outside groups who help support folks like Mark Meadows is that they're very, very concerned that the details, that the text of the legislation is not going to fully repeal or allow for the repeal of some of the most onerous regulations in the law. That's the these are some of the things that they that allow health insurance or force health insurance companies to sort of charge people the same price whether they have pre-existing conditions or not regardless of their age and so on and so forth, and they're worried that the text of the bill isn't going to do that fully. So they're still concerned. There still is no text and until there is, I think we are going to see some of this holding back on the part of the conservatives because there is not as much trust with leadership and also with moderates and with the White House that whatever text that comes out of these negotiations will accomplish what they want. So I'm hearing a lot of distrust in this process. People are open to it. They appreciate Mike Pence's efforts here, but nobody is ready to come out and say this is the deal that we want, that we can agree to. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] No, we just spoke to Rodney Davis, a moderate, who sort of refused to commit until he sees on paper what exactly is agreed on. [Harlow:] Yes. [Berman:] Because what's on paper matters. John Phillips, one of the things you were a Trump supporter during the Trump campaign. Nice to see you again, by the way, John. During the campaign there was one thing that was crystal clear from Donald Trump, candidate Trump, was that he wanted to protect the provisions which allowed for the protection of people with pre-existing conditions. Well, now one of the things that's being discussed is doing away with the community rating which would mean that sick people could pay way, way more. That people with pre-existing conditions could pay way, way more. Can the president sell this after saying that he wouldn't touch pre- existing conditions before? [John Philips, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think there is a way to do it where you create something separate for the welfare cases and then you create a free market option for everyone else. This whole go- round the first time it didn't work. Reminded me of the Lyndon Johnson quote when he said, you can give a man a little bit of bourbon without getting him drunk, but if you hold his mouth open and you pour him a quart he's going to get sick on it. And the fact of the matter is, is you can only force people to vote for something they don't like so much. You have to go back to the drawing board. You have to come up with something that's simpler, that's more free market oriented, get the votes in the House, send this thing in the Senate and put the weight of the world on red state Democrats who are up for re-election. They did it the wrong way the first time around. They put pressure on the Freedom Caucus. That's not how you win these votes. You win these votes by putting pressure on the Democrats and I hope the second time around that's the strategy they employ. [Harlow:] Bakari, are you at all nervous that this is going to happen? That Republicans are going to get their act together and get this done maybe even before or right over the Easter break and then the president isn't going to work with Democrats like he was saying after the first failure the first time around? [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Political Commentator:] No, I don't have any concern. One of the things that Donald Trump has managed to do that Barack Obama did not do is make Obamacare popular. You mentioned the Gallup poll which headed at 55 percent. We're going around the country now and talking to voters in airports and everywhere else. What we understand is that people now understand what essential benefits are. People know that they can keep [Harlow:] Yes, but, Bakari, that same poll shows that only 26 percent of Americans want it to stay the way it is. [Sellers:] There's no question about that. But we're [Harlow:] Fifty-five percent like it but they want some changes. [Sellers:] But with all due respect, Poppy, those are two those are two vastly different things. Repealing and replacing Obamacare and reforming the Affordable Care Act are two distinct things. You will have me and every other Democrat come to the table talk about how we reform the Affordable Care Act, how we add to the stabilization pools, so you have more than one provider in these counties. You will have people come to the table to talk about reforming the Affordable Care Act. Repealing the Affordable Care Act, repealing Obamacare is something totally different and that's a non-starter. Mick Mulvaney and Mike Pence have failed on this since day one and I don't see that changing at any particular point, whether or not it's the Freedom Caucus or whether or not it's first Tuesday caucus or moderate Republicans or staunch conservatives. What people understand is that individuals in this country not only feel as if they deserve health care, but they appreciate the healthcare they get, and I can tell you that taking away the coverage that people with pre-existing conditions have is not only politically not prudent but it's also it's just humanely unsound. And so I think that they're going to run into a lot of problems on this, Poppy. [Berman:] So, John Philips, let me shift gears to Syria right now because the White House put out a statement, an official statement after more than 70 people were killed including children and the way it chose to address the crisis, the catastrophe was to blame the Obama administration for its policies in Syria over the last six years. Now look, there's plenty of blame to go around here and I think the Obama administration, you know, a magnifying glass does need to go over what they did and did not do in Syria. But the fact is, A, does blame help solve those people who die, help solve the crisis right now? And B, there were policies that citizen Donald Trump supported at the time. He didn't want to see military action. He didn't want to see the red line enforced. He wrote at the time, "To our very foolish leader, do not attack Syria. If you do, many very bad things will happen. And from that fight the U.S. gets nothing." So Donald Trump trying to have it both ways. Is this the right way to handle it? [Philips:] Well, unfortunately, this is not the first time that Assad has used chemical weapons on his own people and I suspect that if the world community doesn't come around and do something about it, it won't be the last time he does something like this, but this is not a United States problem. This is something that the international community has to get together on and, yes, that does involve Russia. That does involve putting pressure on other countries to put pressure on Assad, countries that have a better relationship with him than we do, but I don't think there is any appetite at all in the United States to go to war over this. People have had enough of it. I mean, one of the reasons that Donald Trump won the Republican nomination was he ran against the Iraq war. Especially, if you go back to that debate in South Carolina where he took the Bushes head-on on that subject. I just don't think the public has the appetite or the willingness or the desire to get involved in another boots on the ground war on the other side of the world. [Harlow:] All right. Guys, we're out of time. Abby Phillip, we will get to you first next time because you didn't get a second word in. Sorry about that. [Berman:] All right. Still to come, son-in-law in the spotlight. New questions raised over Jared Kushner's experience as he takes on an increased role in the Trump administration. One former employee is speaking out. We're going to talk to her. [Whitfield:] More firefighters and equipment are headed to Ft. McMurray, Alberta, as the devastating wildfire there threatens to double the size today, and force thousands of more people to flee for their lives. The fire is already as big as Hong Kong and smoke from it has drifted all the way to the southern United States. CNN's Dan Simon has more details. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Flames and smoke filling the sky as the convoy of desperate residents flee the danger zone. What have these last few days been like? [Unidentified Female:] Hell on earth. Just like hell. [Simon:] And the scenes are hellish. The fire that started five days ago is still out of control. And for the displaced, it's gone from bad to worse. Because food and water is running low, Canadian authorities moving some 25,000 people from camps, a double evacuation. What was it like being in the camp? [Unidentified Female:] Hard. They rationed food. Low water. People were upset because they don't know what's going on. [Simon:] The fire has burned nearly 250,000 acres, more than ten times the size of Manhattan. In one of the more remarkable surveillance videos ever captured, a homeowner could watching his own house go down in flames only 20 minutes after evacuating. Sixteen hundred structures, including homes and businesses destroyed. The heaviest damage in Ft. McMurray. A resident films his burned out neighborhood after seeing it for the first time. [Unidentified Male:] This is my house. It was my house. Ashes are cool now. Nothing left. It's gone. [Unidentified Female:] Oh, my God! Our house is going to burn down. [Simon:] In another video, we hear a woman's desperation as she drives by the flames destroying her community. As weary residents clear the area, they are greeted by fuel trucks with gas stations either destroyed or down due to power outages. Fuel is a precious commodity. [Unidentified Male:] Makes a guy feel good to help these people because they've been through so much loss and devastation lately. [Simon:] And you can see another one of these convoys fleeing the danger zone as more smoke comes behind us. We've seen a number of flare-ups all day long. This fire continues to grow. As a matter of fact, it may double in size by the end of the day, Fredricka. This remains a very fragile situation. We are told, though, that tomorrow, the temperatures may drop and there is a chance of rain, which would definitely help things. But even so, this fire is going to rage for some time, Fred. [Whitfield:] It's extraordinary. All right, thank you so much. Dan Simon, appreciate that. All right, still ahead, some Republican Party leaders are now actively looking for a conservative to mount a third party run to stop Trump. One of the leading one of those leading the search is a former GOP nominee. Details when we come right back. [Harlow:] Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is standing up for his former rival. He told our Jake Tapper on CNN "STATE OF THE UNION" earlier today, responding to a leaked audio recording from February where Hillary Clinton spoke about some of his own policy proposals. Here's what Sanders said. [Clinton:] There's a deep desire to believe that, you know, we can have free college, free health care, it's false promise. But I don't think you tell idealistic people, particularly young people that they've bought into a false promise. His ideas are indefensible. [Jake Tapper, Host, Cnn's State Of The Union:] What was your reaction when you heard that, calling your ideas indefensible, saying that you were selling them false promises? [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vermont:] Well, two things. If you listen to the whole discussion that she had, a very important point that she made is that a lot of young people who went into debt, worked very lard to get a good education, get out of school and can't find jobs commensurate with the education that they receive. And there's a lot of unhappiness about young people and this is an issue that we must address. But the bottom line here is that I think that what Secretary Clinton and I have done since the election, since the primary nominating process, we have worked together in a number of areas. Secretary Clinton has worked with me to make certain that public colleges and universities become tuition free for all families earning 125,000 or less, that we double funding for community health centers, which means that we'll have access to primary care for millions more Americans and, by the way, apropos to Donald Trump not paying any taxes, she has come up with a state tax proposal which will ask the very wealthiest people in this country [Tapper:] Yes. [Sanders:] wealthiest families in this country to start paying their fair share. [Tapper:] I get that, Senator, but she's calling other ideas you pitched, not the ones you two are working on tighter. But she called other ones false promises and said that what you were doing was indefensible. That must bother you. [Sanders:] Well, look, we were of course, it does. But we're in a middle of a campaign and I trust me, if you go to some of the statements that I made about Hillary Clinton, you could see real differences. [Harlow:] Bernie Sanders with Tapper there. Coming up next, "The New York Times" saying that Trump's tax documents were mailed to them anonymously, but they did say that they had a return address of Trump Tower. Of course, someone could have just written that it. We don't know. But you'll hear next from the reporter who got those records in her mailbox one day. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] I`m Carl Azuz. Welcome to all of our viewers worldwide. And if your school year is just getting started, we hope it`s going well for you so far. We`re back from the Labor Day holiday. It`s often viewed as an unofficial start to the presidential campaign season and the candidates were out in force over the weekend. Many are holding meetings, attending events, hosting fundraisers and they`re concentrating on Iowa and New Hampshire. Those are the two states where the first caucuses and primaries will be held early next year. They`ll help determine who each party`s nominee will be in next November`s presidential election. Five people are officially seeking the Democratic Party`s nomination. Seventeen people are officially seeking the Republican Party`s nomination. Across the Atlantic, Europe is dealing with its most severe migration crisis since World War II. Hundreds of thousands are crossing borders. Most of them are from Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq. Some are migrants looking for a better life in Europe. Many are refugees fleeing war-torn countries or the ISIS terrorist group. And some European officials are concerned that terrorists themselves might cross into the Europe with the asylum seekers. Austria and Germany say they can`t keep up with the influx of people. They want other countries to help more. France and Britain say they will. They`re planning to accept tens of thousands. Hungary has built a fence to prevent people from entering from neighboring Syria. Their journey is treacherous. It involves crossing nations on foot, walking dozens of miles. It involves crossing the Mediterranean on overloaded unstable votes. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Under the spotlight of a Turkish coast guard cutter [Unidentified Male:] You see you see the refugees? [Watson:] The silhouettes of more than 20 people stranded in a rubber boat. They are desperate, frightened, but tonight luckily saved by volunteers from the Bodrum Sea Rescue Association, who work alongside the Turkish coast guard. [Unidentified Male:] Not all together. Wait. Wait. [Watson:] Among the passengers rescued, five little children. Just four days after the world was shocked by photographs of a Syrian refugee toddler who drown at sea. These people have embarked on the exact same perilous journey. They set off from the Turkish resort peninsula of Bodrum in hope of reaching the Greek island of Kos. Instead of drifting at sea with a failed engine, these people will be brought back safely to Turkey. The beaches below Bodrum`s villas and posh resorts, an unlikely launching point for tens of thousands of refugees and migrants willing to risk everything to reach Europe. Under the light of the crescent moon, we witness another attempt at a crossing. It`s after 2:00 a.m. and we`ve encountered another little rubber dinghy loaded with people. They`re actually paddling in the direction of Greece. It`s incredibly overloaded, this little boat. It`s an accident waiting to happen. To make matters worse, some wear heavy backpacks over their life jackets. [Unidentified Male:] The coast guard is coming. [Watson:] Before possible disaster strikes, the coast guard comes to the rescue. Tonight, they fail to reach Greece but they will live another day. [Narrator:] See if you can ID me. I`m an organic compound that`s found in several of the foods we ate. I`m naturally better in flavor and well known for stimulating the central nervous system. I`m caffeine, a substance with several benefits and drawbacks. [Azuz:] A couple of things you might not know about caffeine. One, people can get physically dependent on it. It`s not considered as addictive as say illegal street drugs or alcohol, but people who are used to caffeine and suddenly stop drinking it can get headaches. They can become anxious or depress. They can have a hard time concentrating. Another thing about caffeine is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has a new warning out about it. The alert focuses on pure powdered caffeine, something so potent that small amounts can cause an accidental overdose. The FDA says it`s aware of at least two people who have died from taking it. Caffeine is everywhere in coffee, iced tea, sodas, even in some medications. It`s an stimulant that can make you feel more alert and give you that boost of energy. [Dr. Henry Spiller, Nationwide Children`s Hospital:] It increases blood flow to the muscles, opens up your lungs. It gives increased performance. [Azuz:] But when you consume too much of it, caffeine can cause major health problems. On average, most people can handle about 300 to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day. That`s about what`s in three to four six ounce cups of coffee. What`s concerning these days is more and more products contain larger amounts of caffeine. Energy drinks, supplements, even powdered caffeine contains way more of the substance than any cup of coffee. For example, the FDA warns one teaspoon of powdered caffeine is equivalent to 25 cups of coffee. [Spiller:] When they take what they think is a dose, it`s 10, 15, 20 times what they`re expected. [Azuz:] Consuming more than 1,000 milligrams of caffeine can lead to some serious side effects like an irregular heartbeat, nausea, tremors, insomnia, and in some rare situations, death. So, beware of what you`re drinking. Best way to avoid caffeine overdose is to check the ingredients just to see how much caffeine you`re taking in. "Roll Call" requests are coming in from all over the world at CNNStudentNews.com. Keep them coming. L`Anse Creuse Middle School Central made today`s roll. It`s in Harrison Township, Michigan, the home of the Lancers. In North Carolina, we`ve got the Raiders watching today. Hello to our friends at Southern Vance High School. And in Hsinchu, Taiwan, thank you for watching at the Pacific American School. It`s great to see you. Dr. David Sabgir is today`s study in character. While some physicians might keep extended hours or email their patients or even make house calls, Dr. Sabgir joins his for a walk. It helps them prevent heart disease, the number one killer in America. And his nonprofit Walk with the Doc now has more than 160 chapters around the U.S., with doctors and patients getting fit. [Amar Kumar:] I knew something had to change on my end to stay healthy. I would go anywhere between nine to 12 hours, all sitting at a desk. You may be working a lot, but you`re at the desk sitting. [Dr. David Sabgir, Cnn Hero:] How far do you think you could walk before you had to stop? The number one problem I see in my patients faces as cardiologist is a sedentary lifestyle. I was frustrated at my ineffectiveness to create change in my patients. [Unidentified Female:] Hello. [Sabgir:] How are you? [Unidentified Female:] I`m fine. [Sabgir:] So, I said how about if my family goes to the park, would you be interested in joining us. So see you tomorrow at the walk? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Sabgir:] The response was phenomenal. I wanted to talk about how easy taking care of ourselves can be. There`s no better way that you can show a patient that you care about them than by going the extra mile with them. There`s no wait in the office. There`s no fear of bad news. It`s just the patient and the physician talking about whatever the patient wants to talk about. [Kumar:] In the beginning I used to walk a mile or two. By the end of the year, I`ve completed a full marathon. I`m thinking of signing up for my second marathon. Dr. Sabgir taught me you can achieve things that are really big, but it all starts with small steps. [Sabgir:] How many miles do you have in already? [Unidentified Female:] Two-point-seven. [Sabgir:] Eighty percent of cardiac disease is preventable if we just go for a walk. If people just take that first step, they will never look back. [Unidentified Female:] High-five. [Azuz:] Before we go, two words: sky pool. Well, actually, it`s one word and it describes one awesome swimming hall or suspended pool between two apartment buildings in London. When it`s complete in three years, it will be 10 stories above the ground, 90 feet long, made out of see-through acrylic that`s eight inches thick, but it`s only four feet deep, so there won`t be any sky diving. Get it? Of course, other apartments could build something like this, they just have to pool their resources. Given critics might wonder water, they`re thinking building this way above ground pool, but it shows that when it comes to aquatic construction, the sky is not the limit. If you`re already on Instagram, you might like the "Roll Call" tip we posted last night. Instagram.comCNNStudentNews. END [Cristina Alesci, Cnn Money Correspondent:] And its leaders who are really bipartisan and what happened here is the president- elect called the president of the CEO and chairman of Blackstone Group, which is an investment firm, and said, look, I'd like to put a group of people together who can who can share their experiences with me on the economy, how to grow jobs, taxes, things of that nature, and I'd like you to put it together. And what we have here is a list of names, it's a who's who of CEOs from Mary Barra, who's the chairman of General Motors, Larry Fink, who is the chairman of Blackrock, Bob Iger, the CEO of Walt Disney Company. So what you're looking at is really power house group that will be available for the president-elect to turn to when he wants opinions and experience about these different industries and what we are seeing here is really historic. I don't think that I have ever seen anything quite like this before. But I'm told that the group will meet on a regular basis, about once a month, with the president himself to discuss very big issues and on the top of that list will be job growth and economic development. And like I said before, this list really represents a bipartisan group of people so he'll have some very diverse viewpoints to tap into Carol. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Cristina Alesci, breaking news for us this morning. Thank you. So with that said, emotions are still raw 23 days after the election. That was abundantly clear at a Harvard University event last night. Trump's campaign manager Kellyanne Conway and Jennifer Palmieri, Clinton's communications director, attended this forum meant to recount history. Instead it turned ugly. [Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clinton's Communications Director:] If providing a platform for white supremacists makes me a brilliant tactician, I am glad to have lost. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Senior Adviser:] Which is crap. [Palmieri:] I would rather lose than win the way you guys did. [Conway:] Do you think I ran a campaign where white supremacists had a platform? You're going to look me in the face and tell me that? [Palmieri:] It did. Kellyanne, you did. [Conway:] Really? [Unidentified Female:] Absolutely. [Conway:] And that's how you lost? [Palmieri:] It did. [Conway:] Do you think you could have just had a decent message for the white working class voters? Guys, I can tell you're angry but wow. I mean, hash tag, he's your president. How's that? Yes, he won. [Palmieri:] Hash tag, if he's going to be my president, then he needs to show me that white supremacy is not acceptable, doors just steps from the Oval Office. [Conway:] A million times, you know [Costello:] Ugly, right? With me now to talk about this is Tara Setmayer, a Republican and a CNN political commentator, Symone Sanders is a CNN political commentator and former press secretary for Bernie Sanders, and Scottie Nell Hughes is here, she's a CNN political commentator and a political editor at RightAlerts.com. Welcome to all of you. [Tara Setmayer, Cnn Political Commentator:] Thank you. [Symone Sanders, Cnn Political Commentator:] Thank you. [Costello:] OK. Going to be a tough conversation but we're going to get through it together. So, Scottie, was this just politics or does it reflect the two Americas that everybody says we live in now? And I ask you that first because you recently tweeted this. Quote, "I apologize if I ever said anything mean or caused hatred towards someone with courage to respectfully voice an opposite opinion." So why did you tweet that and what do you think about the top of my question? [Scottie Nell Hughes, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, Carol, this campaign season has taught me several things and honestly it's shameless book plug, I and others write about those in the December 6th release of CNN's "Unprecedented" which you can get in your local bookstore. But one of the biggest lessons that I was able to learn was it takes courage to continuously go into situations and environments where you know that the audience, the panelists, the people that you're going to be speaking to do not agree with you, do not like you and do not like what you stand for or the candidate that you represent. Exactly what Kellyanne did last night going into Harvard which not necessarily known to be the cheerleader of conservatism. My apology was to those who over the last 20 years of me being in this industry, if I was in a room where I was actually a part of the majority and this is in response to an interview I did this week on NPR, if I was in the majority, if I caused because of my words or action, caused hate to be directed at that person who had the courage to stand up and voice their opinion, even though I did not agree with me, we live in a country of diversity and freedom of speech. And as long as we continue to demonize those folks, those willing to stand up, then that does us no good in this country. I think that's a lesson that we need to learn going forward after this election. [Costello:] So, Tara, what do you think of Scottie's tweet and her words just now? [Setmayer:] Good for her. Self-reflection is always a good thing. If only the president-elect had similar self-reflection. You know, I think that watching what has happened since the election, obviously during the campaign, we have really seen some of the most divisive language, attitudes, campaign tactics, that we have seen in a long time and it is going to take a lot to heal this country. And it starts at the top. It starts with Donald Trump and it starts with who he surrounds himself with. It starts with his own attitude and how he conducts himself. You know, I appreciate that he last night during his rally rant, victory tour lap thing that he did in Cincinnati, I appreciate at least there was something written into his speech about rejecting bigotry and division and things like that but what troubles me is that it had to be written into his speech. You know, why doesn't he have that same level of passion and conviction off the cuff, when it comes to what has gone on and what has been associated with his campaign? [Costello:] Let me let me show our viewers specifically what you're talking about. Here's Donald Trump at the rally last night denouncing hate speech. [Donald Trump, President-elect:] We condemn bigotry and prejudice in all of its forms. We denounce all of the hatred and we forcefully reject the language of exclusion and separation. We are going to come together. We have no choice, we have to and it's better. It's better. [Costello:] You know, Symone, what he said on "60 Minutes," just stop it, somehow that was more effective than at last night's rally. [Sanders:] Well, I have said it before and I'll say it again. The people that needed to hear what Donald Trump said on "60 Minutes" aren't watching "60 Minutes." I believe, again, kudos to Mr. Trump for saying what was written into his speech last night but I agree with Tara here is that we need more. I wish that he would use those Twitter fingers that he has used to attack everyone else to put his message out there on everything else that he's really passionate about and speak directly to stopping the bigotry and the hatred and speak directly to denouncing the white supremacists, and saying that he does not want to associate himself with these type of things. But I also think actions matter, and I am sorry, Steve Bannon ran the white nationalist, white supremacist Web site Breitbart that has a section called "Black Crime" that has disparaged Jews and women. And he is now going to be in the White House. We have put white supremacy in the White House, thanks to Donald Trump. And that is something that is very jarring for millions of Americans across the country. So we need words but we also need actions. And clearly, Steve Bannon isn't going anywhere. [Costello:] And Scottie [Sanders:] So I'm just not sure what it's going to take to move Donald Trump. [Costello:] Scottie, I do want I do want to ask you a question about Steve Bannon because he was supposed to be at that Harvard event last night. There were students protesting outside. Steve Bannon canceled at the last minute. I don't know why. But would it have been better for Steve Bannon to be at that Harvard event so that he could answer all of these charges coming out against him? [Hughes:] He was walking into a hornet's nest. I mean, do we realistically think if Steve Bannon appeared that whatever he said, whatever he was able to the questions he was able to answer would actually help him, would actually help this situation? Of course not. Why go into a room that's already with the deck stacked against you? Kellyanne went in and she obviously even she had to become a little bit more defensive than I think we've seen her normally be. So why continuously go in and put yourself out? That becomes the story and takes away from what the primary mission is right now which is Mr. Trump and all of the good that he's trying to accomplish and trying to heal our country. [Setmayer:] But the problem already with that is the fact that you have someone in this position that feels as though they can't walk into a Harvard post-election symposium that's been going on for almost 40 years to be able to have this conversation because of what because of his history, because of his own words, because of what he's done with Breitbart. That speaks volumes in and of itself. And it's hard for a lot of the American people to reconcile Donald Trump's, you know, scripted discussions of let's come together and rejecting bigotry and all these other things when you have someone as your chief strategist who has a very checkered past in comments he's made, in claiming that the alt-right and Breitbart was the alt-right's platform. He brags about being a nationalist which is very dangerous. You know, there's a difference between being a patriot and being a nationalist. And being a nationalist creates a very us versus them power-hungry environment. You know, we've seen what nationalist movement have created history before from Germany, Japan and others. [Costello:] Well, I will say this. I will say this. [Setmayer:] And Steve Bannon embodies that and he has yet to come out and dissuade people from feeling what they feel. This is real. You can't dismiss the Trump campaign and his surrogates have dismissed these very real goings-on during the campaign. [Costello:] Well, let me let me get this question in. [Setmayer:] They can't do that. [Costello:] Because we're short on time. I want to get this question in to Symone. Because, you know, you heard Scottie at the beginning of this segment, she was saying, you know, if I hurt anyone, I certainly didn't mean it. And I think that many of Mr. Trump's supporters out there do not consider themselves racist. And they are really upset to be called that. And a lot of them that don't really understand why they are being called that, they just want some economic help. So Symone, what go ahead. [Sanders:] Let me that's a great question, Carol. So let me be really clear. I do not think that every single Trump supporter is racist. But it is we have to be real and understand that the populism around Donald Trump's campaign was intrinsically tied to racism. It was intrinsically tied to making people that were not white working class people the other. Make America great again takes us back people that look like me takes us back to a time when we were in slavery, when we were in chains, when we worked on plantations. Internment camps for the Chinese. So it is really, really important that if we want to heal, that if people want to get past, if Trump supporters want to say well, why are you calling me racist, that we have to understand that the populism was tied to elements of racism. And the last thing I would say is that racism is a racist, I think people think racism is dogs and white hoods and water hoses and the N word and that is not the only form of racism. There are micro aggressions. There are oh, I didn't you speak so well. These are micro aggressions that are forms of prejudice and discrimination that we have to address. [Costello:] Scottie, last word. [Hughes:] Carol, real quick. Real quick. The fact is more than 200 counties that supported Barack Obama actually went for Donald Trump. That's the reason why Mr. Trump won. And it wasn't because of racism. It was because people were hurting. The Democrats have lost being able to talk [Sanders:] That is the equivalent of saying I have a black friend. [Setmayer:] That's just mean [Sanders:] That is the equivalent of saying that I have a black friend. [Hughes:] I'm saying [Sanders:] Just because 200 counties voted for President Barack Obama doesn't mean that they don't have elements of prejudice, of discrimination, of racism. That is the equivalent of saying I have a black friend, and we just happen to [Setmayer:] I don't think we're saying that racism is why he won. I'm saying that there are elements of that that were very vocal and empowered and given a platform that we have not seen in a long time that was not resoundingly rejected by Donald Trump himself for a very long time. It gave them power. And to the point where you have seen them now having conferences in Washington, D.C. and people and because of Steve Bannon's like I said questionable history and things he has said in Breitbart, it's people who see this every single day, you can't tell me that the sky is purple when we see that it's blue. And that's what the Trump campaign has done. [Costello:] OK. Now seriously seriously, Scottie [Setmayer:] There needs to be acknowledgment of it and then to heal. [Costello:] OK, seriously, Scottie has to have the last word because it's been two on one this whole time. So, Scottie, go for it. [Hughes:] It's real simple. Racism is horrible. It's miserable. And unfortunately, those conferences have always been going on. Now unfortunately, though, the media is covering them, putting more of a spotlight on it which I don't think helps the healing process our country needs to be dealing with or dealing with the problem itself. [Setmayer:] Stop blaming the media. [Sanders:] Please. [Setmayer:] It's an excuse. It's a copout. [Hughes:] Blaming the media, but we're now covering a convention that they've had for the last 10 years. [Costello:] I've got to leave it there. I got to leave it there. Tara Setmayer, Symone Sanders, Scottie Nell Hughes, thanks all of you. I'll be right back. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Anchor:] Russia vowing serious consequences for Turkey shooting down its war jet. Will there be retribution? What will it mean for the international fight against ISIS? We have live team coverage ahead. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] Breaking news in Chicago. Protesters demanding justice after video of a white police officer shooting a black teenager is released. Good morning, and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik. [Sanchez:] Good morning, Alison. [Kosik:] Good morning. [Sanchez:] And I'm Boris Sanchez. It's Wednesday, November 25th, 5:00 a.m. on the East Coast. We welcome all our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. Happening now: world leaders bracing for possible fallout after Turkey shoots down a Russian bomber, a deadly move that could derail any chance for a true international coalition to fight ISIS in Syria. Turkey says the plane violated its airspace and ignored multiple warnings. Russia says its jet never strayed from Syrian territory. Russian news agencies reports one of the two pilots was killed as was a Russian marine trying to rescue them. A second pilot was rescued, and is with the Syrian army now. But Western leaders fear escalation. The head of NATO urges calm. That calm echoed by President Obama, expressing support for Turkey's right to defend its sovereignty. From Istanbul, let's bring in CNN's Ian Lee for the latest. Now, Ian, Russia is saying this was an operation targeting ISIS, but this area where it happened isn't an area known for ISIS activity, right? [Ian Lee, Cnn Reporter:] That's exactly right, Boris. We do not have any real evidence, proof of ISIS operating in the area, who is operating are Turkmen rebels. These are people who are ethnically have close ties with Turkey. Turkey has been backing them. Turkey has warned the government of Syria as well as the Russians from attacking them. They see them as their close relatives. Erdogan talked about this a little while ago. Take a listen. [Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish President:] We do not have any intention to escalate this matter. All we are caring for is a defending of security and the law and rights of our brothers. [Lee:] But, Boris, we really have two different narratives here, two different times of rhetoric from Turkey is one of conciliatory tone, where they're saying they don't want this to happen again they say there should be a dialogue to make sure that happens. While Putin has used fiery rhetoric, and he is going to ensure it doesn't happen again through still. There are surface-to-air missiles being deployed in the western part of Syria, near Latakia, near the area where this plane was shot down. He also said jets that are on bombing missions will have fighter escorts as well. So, it definitely seems like tensions are rising. But the international community is trying to do what they can to lower them. [Sanchez:] Now, Ian, we know, obviously, Turkey is a NATO ally. They called an emergency meeting yesterday. Do we know if they are making preparations militarily to prepare for any kind of escalation? [Lee:] It doesn't seem right now that there will be any sort of military escalation as far as any more direct action between the two countries. What we're seeing right now at least from Russia is punitive measures, going after the Turkish economy. We could also see Russia going after Turkish-backed rebels in Syria, pushing against them and trying to, and trying to destroy Turkey's ambitions within Syria. That is more likely. But, right now, this was the first time we've seen direct action between a NATO country and Russia. But both sides are calling for cooler heads. It is unlikely that this will escalate any further. [Sanchez:] We certainly hope so. Ian Lee, reporting in Istanbul, thank you. [Kosik:] Russian President Vladimir Putin furious, accusing Turkey, an important trading partner actually, its biggest trading partner of stabbing Russia in the back, even calling Turkey an accomplice of terrorism for financing ISIS through illicit oil sales. It's not clear yet how the shoot-down will affect Putin's meeting with the president of France which happens tomorrow. President Francois Hollande traveling the world, trying to build a coalition against ISIS. It's expected he's going to push for Putin's help, easing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad out of power, ending the Syrian war and refocusing all Russia's firepower on ISIS. Now, on Tuesday, Hollande met with President Obama. Afterwards, the president said Russian cooperation would be enormously helpful but signal that it's not essential. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We got a coalition. Russia right now is a coalition of two, Iran and Russia supporting Assad. Russia is the outlier. [Kosik:] With the latest on Russia's reactions, CNN's Matthew Chance joins us live now from Moscow. So, what do you think? What are the chances that this shoot down will destroy any chance of united front against Russia, meaning Russia joining in on this battle? [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It's a difficult question to answer, because despite the fact there is obviously a great deal of anger on Russia's side at this point one of its pilots, another marine killed on the ground as well during the rescue mission, there's still the underlying interest that Russia shares with many Western countries, if not Turkey, but another NATO countries, to destroy ISIS. And so, you know, it's difficult to say how this is going to advance. I expect some concern that made as well by NATO countries that Turkey acted so quickly to shoot down that Russian plane. I mean, the Turks, themselves say the Russian aircraft was only in Turkish airspace for 17 seconds. It took the decision for F- 16s to intercept it and to shoot it down. That seems to me to be an extraordinarily short time to take such decisive action. The Turks say they have their rules of engagement and that's that. But nevertheless, it's provoked inevitably consequences from the Russians which are going to make it difficult, like it or not, for the Western military alliance to work with the Kremlin in terms of cracking down on Islamist groups and ISIS inside Syria. Already, the Russians announced a number of measures, which indicate the difficulties to come. They've announced today Vladimir Putin sorry, the defense minister, Sergey Shoygu, announcing today that S-400 surface-to-air missiles are going to be deployed to Syria in the very near future. They're in some of the most if not the most sophisticated surface-to- air technology that exists in the world. They can shoot down anything over an area of something like 400 miles, you know, away distance. And so, you know, the Russians are very serious, it seems, about first of all continuing their air strikes on targets inside Syria. But also making sure that no one comes anywhere near their bombers again. They said all their bombers are going to have fighter escorts. They've got their S-400 they're deploying as well. And so, they potentially close off Syria's airspace, if they choose to do that to NATO countries. So, you know, yes, it could be a flash in the pan they could let this go. There could be serious military consequences on the days and the weeks ahead. [Kosik:] Interesting, though, Matthew, this is a situation even before the shoot down, where you look at all these countries with differing interests and little coordination when it comes to Syria. Thanks so much for your report. [Sanchez:] The latest now on the manhunt for a new suspect in the Paris terror attacks. He is 30-year-old Mohamed Abrini. And police believe he drove a key terrorist two days before the attacks. We are also learning more about the group's ringleader. Police say Abdelhamid Abaaoud, he returned to the shootings at the Bataclan concert hall where police were still battling the gunmen inside. Abaaoud has since been killed. This morning, the city of Brussels remains on high alert while trying to return to normal. After four days of lockdown, subway schools and businesses slowly starting to reopen now. Let's go live to Brussels and bring in CNN's Alexandra Field. Good morning, Alex. How are neighbors responding to things getting closer to normal? [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Boris. You know, for the first time in days, we are seeing people back out in the streets, but the streets are still full of police officers and military personnel. While these metro stations begin to open, they are being secured by hundreds of members of the military. And schools like this one behind me are also being patrolled by hundreds of police officers who have fan out around the city in a show of force intended to make students and parents feel safe as these students return to school for the first time. We have spoken to some of them who are returning to school today. They say they're putting aside whatever anxiety remains, but they feel they have no choice but to try to get back to normal in some way. This is what authorities have determined, that the schools would open, even though this city remains under the highest terror threat alert level until Monday at least, according to the minister of the interior, who says that operations are still ongoing to try to ferret out anyone who could be connected to the cell that perpetrated those attacks in the city of Paris. The Belgium part of this investigation has already netted the arrest of five people who authorities believe were connected to those attacks. And a new break in this case, we now that police are now searching for Mohamed Abrini, the person who they say was with Salah Abdeslam just two days before those attacks in Paris. They've gotten image of this person. It was taken by a camera that was at a gas station which both men were at prior to the attacks. They were driving a car police say that was used during those attacks. So this international manhunt continues while people here in Brussels say they have no choice but to get back to work and school, Boris. [Sanchez:] That will be a tough road back. Alex Field, thank you. [Kosik:] Amid the world wide terrorism alert from the State Department, President Obama takes in a briefing from his national security team. The White House says the national security officials believe there is currently no specific credible threat to the homeland from ISIS. The president also ordering his national security team to intensify efforts to degrade and destroy the terrorist group. [Marquez:] A bit of good news before the holidays. So many Americans traveling to major cities, watching big parades and big crowds. So, obviously something to be concerned about. [Kosik:] Yes, of courses. [Marquez:] Breaking news this morning, protesters marching throughout the night in Chicago, demanding justice after a video was released of a deadly police shooting. [Conan O'brien, Host, "conan":] When asked why, Trump said opposites attract. [Moos:] New York. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Are you're going to be so happy? You're going to be so happy. They said you're now the nominee. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] You have the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Will you support him? [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now. [Trump:] You don't have to vote any more. Save your vote for the general election, OK. Forget this one. The primary is gone. [Ryan:] I think that he needs to do more to unify this party, to bring all wings of the Republican Party together. [Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee:] They're both committed to sitting down and actually talking this out. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We can't have a loose cannon in the Oval Office. [Ryan:] No Republican should ever think about supporting Hillary Clinton. Let me make that clear. [Brown:] Well, good morning. Great to have you along with us on what's shaping up to be a very busy Friday morning. I'm Pamela Brown in for Carol Costello. And we begin this hour with a party at odds and efforts to make peace. We're learning House Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump will meet next week behind closed doors after Ryan told CNN he's not ready to back Trump. He dropped that bombshell on CNN. [Tapper:] So, Mr. Speaker, you have said throughout this process that you will support the Republican presidential nominee. Now you have a presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Will you support him? [Ryan:] Well, to be perfectly candid with you, Jake, I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now. And I hope to, though, and I want to but I think what is required is that we unify this party and I think the bulk of the burden on unifying the party will have to come from our presumptive nominee. [Brown:] And as you may have guessed, Trump punched back saying he's not ready to back Ryan's agenda in Congress. Even the unflappable Trump was caught off guard by Ryan's stiff arm. The party chairman Reince Priebus describing the aftermath. [Unidentified Male:] How quickly did Donald Trump call you? [Priebus:] Well, I had talked to him already once that day, but I had talked to Donald Trump and Paul Ryan multiple times yesterday afternoon. [Unidentified Male:] But Donald Trump called you within minutes. [Priebus:] You're pretty good. I can't lie. No, I wouldn't lie anyway. [Unidentified Male:] OK. That's right. OK. What was his mood? [Priebus:] You know, it wasn't like furious or anything. It was just like what do what do I need to do? I mean and so I said, listen, let me just you know, my view is just relax and be gracious, and I'll talk to Paul, and we'll try to work on this. [Unidentified Male:] And you are [Priebus:] And I kind of like don't get overly hot either quickly, so, I mean, I know Paul really well, and I know he's being honest, and I know how he feels. And so I'm comfortable with the idea that it's going to take some time in some cases for people to work through differences, and so we talked about it and talked about it multiple times, and they're very comfortable with sitting down with Donald Trump. And it may be at my office, it may be somewhere else, but we're going to have that meeting. Start the process of unifying. [Brown:] All right. Let's bring in CNN's Phil Mattingly in New York. Phil, just based on what Reince Priebus there, it seems like Donald Trump is sort of caught off-guard, shaken, by what Paul Ryan told CNN yesterday. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, no question about it, Pam. Advisers telling me that they gave the Ryan team gave no heads up to the Trump campaign whatsoever. The first he saw and learned about it was in the CNN interview, and obviously, as Reince Priebus recalling there, he called Reince Priebus shortly thereafter. And it's an interesting kind of place that Reince Priebus, the RNC chairman, stands in right now, essentially trying to broker the peace, if you will, between the top elected Republican and now the party's standard bearer. But it's also interesting to look at what the issues Paul Ryan has, Pam, and that is there are multiple and they are not just on policy grounds. Policy, there's major diversions between Donald Trump and Paul Ryan. Paul Ryan's agenda, one that many Republicans have staked their elections and campaigns on over the last couple cycles is one that Donald Trump largely disagrees with. But it's also on tone. And that's something Paul Ryan made very clear in his interview with Jake yesterday. Take a listen. [Ryan:] It's time to set aside bullying, to set aside belittlement, and appeal to higher aspirations. Appeal to what is good in us, but for this to work, our presumptive nominee, I believe, needs to unify the party for the party to be unified. [Mattingly:] And how Donald Trump defines unification of the party I think is an open question, and it's also when you talk about the tone issue one that Donald Trump has pushed back on saying multiple times both publicly and I've been told in private with advisers that what he's been doing has been working and working very well at least in a Republican primary. Listen to what he had to say. [Trump:] He talks about unity, but what is this about unity? And you know, with millions of people coming into the party, obviously I'm saying the right thing. And you know, the party was stayed, it had a lot of problems, whether it was the right or the wrong thing, whatever they were saying, wasn't doing it. And now the Republican Party is the talk of the world because there is no place and no party that is, you know, increasing its scope like we have. [Mattingly:] And Pam, the reality here is the Trump campaign has started to work very hard behind the scenes to mend fences on Capitol Hill, to get lawmakers more comfortable with the Trump candidacy, with the reality that Donald Trump is the presumptive Republican nominee, but Paul Ryan making very clear now more work needs to be done. The big question, though, Pam, is how willing is Donald Trump to do that work and to actually make changes in the campaign he's been running that so far, as he said, has worked. [Brown:] And we're going to discuss that coming up. Phil Mattingly, thank you so much. And Trump has to do more, as we know, than just win over the party's leaders. There are lots of lawmakers who worry that Trump and his fiery rhetoric could jeopardize their re-elections. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Why aren't you willing to support him as of now? [Sen. Jeff Flake , Arizona:] Well, some of the positions he's taken make it very difficult to support him. I hope that he I hope that he changes. [Raju:] What about on the wall with Mexico? [Flake:] Well, I mean, that's frankly, just in the class of kind of nutty things. You know, I don't know of anybody who really believes that. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] There will be a lot of people just vote straight ticket. We know that from past history, but also and that is going to make this an even more difficult election campaign for me. [Brown:] And with me now to discuss all of this, Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics. He's joined by CNN political commentator Ben Ferguson and radio talk show host John Phillips, a Trump supporter. Where to begin, gentlemen? Thank you so much for coming on. [Ben Ferguson, Cnn Political Commentator:] Good morning. [Brown:] I guess I'll begin just with [John Phillips, Trump Supporter:] Good morning. [Brown:] the general reaction, John, to you first on that. We heard through Reince Priebus what Trump's reaction was to Speaker Ryan withholding his support for now. What was yours? This is clearly a rare move. [Phillips:] Well, I think it says more about Paul Ryan and his ascent to power than anything else. If you look at how he's attained his leadership positions, it's because everyone around him has collapsed. It wasn't supposed to be him that was supposed to be Mitt Romney's nominee back in 2012. It was supposed to be Marco Rubio and then they found something when they were doing the background check, doing the vetting process they didn't like. Paul Ryan was the last man standing. He became the VP nominee. If you look at how he became speaker of the House, he was one of the young guns with Kevin McCarthy and Eric Cantor. Those guys were in better positions to be speaker of the House. They both collapsed and he became speaker of the House. So I think this is a political calculation from Paul Ryan where he's saying to himself, look, Donald Trump is the presumptive nominee unofficially. Officially he hasn't secured the delegates yet, the 1,237. If he does something to implode, I think Paul Ryan wants to leave the door open to launch a campaign for president himself at the convention in Cleveland. [Brown:] All right, Ben. You're laughing. [Ferguson:] Yes, let me jump in here. I think that's absolutely the most ridiculous thing I have heard since Donald Trump quoting "National Enquirer" saying that Ted Cruz's dad was connected to the assassination of JFK. I didn't know it could be topped, but congratulations, you just did it. The reason why Paul Ryan is withholding his support is very simple. People many people are concerned that Donald Trump is going to do something that will be toxic and it will hurt their re-election campaign. There are many congressmen, many senators, and many people on the state level that are afraid that Donald Trump is going to cross a line and it will hurt everyone who is on a ticket, on a ballot at the same time. What people need to understand about what Paul Ryan was saying this is, if you want everyone to get behind you, you are going to have to start acting like more of a statesman. You cannot quote the "National Enquirer," throw it out there two days ago and then expect everyone to get around you just because you're willing to go to the lowest form of politics to try to destroy other Republicans. That's why he said this. And so there does need to be a higher level of professionalism, of decorum from Donald Trump and not only Donald Trump but his campaign staff and others that support him to make sure that everyone is on the same team. Donald Trump supporters have been vile over the last 48 hours, trashing anyone who was not on the Trump train early on. That is not how you win a general election. I think Paul Ryan was standing up for many people that have been taking the heat saying, if you've got to set the tone, Donald, for your supporters, for your campaign, and you can't go to the "National Enquirer," the lowest form of politics, and expect everybody to jump on board. [Brown:] Right. OK. So, Larry, you know, on that note, Donald Trump has been able to get to this point, becoming the presumptive Republican nominee without Paul Ryan's support. How much does he need his support, though, in the general election? This is someone who is the speaker of the House, very powerful and well respected within the Republican Part. [Larry Sabato, Director, Center For Politics, University Of Virginia:] Well, the short answer is, of course, he can win without them again just as he won the nomination, but let's broaden this out, Pam, because what's happening is extraordinary. The last time that a former Republican president did not support the Republican nominee was in 1912 when former president Teddy Roosevelt ran against his successor, President William Howard Taft, both for the nomination and then as the bull moose independent in the general election and destroyed his chances of winning. Even in 1964 when Barry Goldwater, a very divisive candidate on the Republican side, was nominated, former President Eisenhower not only supported Goldwater, but appeared in his advertising. So it's not just Paul Ryan. It's President Bush 41 and President Bush 43 and the last Republican nominee for president, Mitt Romney. This is a problem for Donald Trump and the Republicans, and between now and the convention, they're going to have to find ways to fashion some sort of party unity that lasts until November or it is going to have an impact. [Brown:] Well, John, in order to get these people on his side, not just Paul Ryan but the others that Larry points out who are not throwing their support behind him, do you think Trump should bend on certain issues and his tone? Tone is something that we keep hearing as a concern from Republicans, including Paul Ryan. [Phillips:] Look, Trump is winning. Trump should keep doing what Trump is doing. I think for these people to come around, they just need to talk to their constituents. You played clips of Jeff Flake and John McCain earlier in the segment. Donald Trump won the state of Arizona and he won it going away. Larry brought up Mitt Romney. Donald Trump won the state of Massachusetts going away. So I think for these people to fall in line, they just need they need a little bit of time from the primary. It was a very tough primary, a lot of hurt feelings were out there. As soon as you have some separation, as soon as there's some daylight in between the primary and the general, and Donald Trump shifts his attacks from fellow Republicans to Hillary Clinton, they will find the common enemy and fall in line because he's the only game in town. [Brown:] All right. Larry Sabato, Ben Ferguson, John Phillips, thank you. [Phillips:] Thanks. [Brown:] And still to come on this Friday, the FBI nears the end of the investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mail server. Why the agency is honing in on Clinton's inner circle? [Blackwell:] All right. The Daytona 500 is just hours away now, and one driver to keep an eye on is this year's Mexican-born, Daniel Suarez. [Paul:] Andy Scholes has more in this morning's bleacher report. Victor did not read the part where it said, start your engines. [Blackwell:] Yes, I was skipping that. [Scholes:] Change gears but you wouldn't want to read it. All right. [Blackwell:] I can't I can't give you too much this morning. Change gears not start your engines. [Paul:] What are you doing, Andy? [Scholes:] I am not going to have any of those in my scripts today. We'll see. Maybe tomorrow. All right. Twenty-five year old Daniel Suarez yes, he's a rising star in NASCAR. He is actually the first Mexican-born driver ever to compete in the Daytona 500. And as you can imagine being the only Latin-American driver Suarez gets asked many questions about politics these days but he said he doesn't like to talk about it. Suarez does though make sure to always mention that Latin America is full of hard-working people like himself and he is proud to represent all of them on NASCAR's highest level. [Daniel Suarez, Nascar Driver:] To be part of the of the new generations of the drivers, and to be Latin-American and from Mexico, it's really a huge deal for me to be the face of Latin America in this great sport that is NASCAR. It's a big deal. I'm just sure excited to be here. [Scholes:] So Suarez will be starting 19th today. In the front row will be Dale Earnhardt Jr., and his fans extra excited to see him today because this will be the first race for Junior since last July. Junior was forced to miss the second half of last season. He dealt with the side effects from concussions. It was a period of time where Junior said he didn't know if he'd ever race again. So definitely good to see him back out there. This is also his 16th anniversary of when Junior's dad, Dale Earnhardt, died after a crash during the Daytona 500. All right. Bad news for Oklahoma Sooner fans quarterback Baker Mayfield was charged with public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing early Saturday morning. Now this happened in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Police say, Mayfield claimed he was trying to break up a fight but when an officer tried to speak with him he ran away. The officer then chased him down and tackled him. According to the police report, Mayfield had trouble walking and was intoxicated. Oklahoma University said they are aware of the matter and have no other information at this time. All right. Finally Auburn junior Ben Bode had the chance to win $5,000 towards his tuition, all he had to do is hit a layup, a free throw, and then a three-pointer. And then of course you have to top it off with the half-court shot. Look at him go, three for three. And this is the best part he gets to half-court, and he doesn't just shoot it, he goes granny style, guys. [Paul:] Come on. [Scholes:] Look at this. Nothing but net! [Paul:] Love it! [Blackwell:] Wow! [Scholes:] We've all seen this before. How many times has he had perfect form everywhere, and then goes granny style for half-court? [Paul:] Why is that called granny style? I think a lot of grannies out there going, what does that mean? [Scholes:] Well, it worked for him. That is incredible. It's the shorts or the sweat shirt too. It's awesome. [Paul:] That's impressive. Congratulations to him. That's awesome. [Scholes:] Well done. [Blackwell:] ... we caught that. [Scholes:] Yes. [Blackwell:] Thanks, for that... [Paul:] Thanks, Andy. [Blackwell:] ... Andy Scholes. All right. No matter how you slice the President Trump's favorite food, meat loaf, and he just has proven it once again. Here is CNN's Jeanne Moos. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn National News Correspondent:] No matter how you mash it, no matter how you shape it, it seems President Trump has yet to meet a meatloaf he doesn't love. His meatloaf arm-twisting has reoccurred. [Tom Barrack, Donald Trump's Friend:] His favorite dish was meatloaf. [Moos:] This time the president invited his friend, real estate investor Tom Barrack to dine at the White House. [Barrack:] The lunch was terrific. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] He made you eat the meatloaf? [Barrack:] The meatloaf is unbelievable. [Moos:] Previously, the designated meatloaf eater was New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. [Gov. Chris Christie , New Jersey:] He says, there's the menu. You guys order whatever you want. And then he says, "Chris, you and I are going to have the meatloaf." [Craig Carton, Host, "boomer And Carton Show":] It's emasculating. [Christie:] No, it's not. [Moos:] But Christie got dumped on. [Seth Meyers, Comedian/t.v:] The meatloaf was actually a second course for Christie after Trump made him swallow his pride. [Moos:] The last time Trump dictated the governor's diet, it was to boycott Nabisco. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Neither is Chris. You're not eating Oreos anymore. [Moos:] Oreos, no. Meatloaf, yes. [Jenny Jones, Host, "jenny Can Cook":] I touch a meatloaf like I judge most men. If they look good, smell good, and they're easy. I'm in. [Moos:] Meatloaf may not be for foodies, but it is the meat of the people. And the president loves populist food. KFC chicken, McDonald's, taco bowls. No wonder he has a soft spot for meatloaf. [Trump:] Everybody is saying I should run for president. Let me ask you a question. Meatloaf, should I run for president? [Meatloaf:] Absolutely. [Moos:] Trump once tweeted, "Mar-a-Lago has the best meatloaf in America. Tasty." Based on his mother's recipe. He and Melania even made meatloaf sandwiches with Martha Stewart. Famous germaphobe that he is, the Donald actually let Martha touch his meatloaf. [Martha Stewart, T.v. Personality:] My hands are clean. [Trump:] What am I going to catch? [Stewart:] Nothing. [Moos:] We can just imagine President Trump some night at the White House pulling a Will Ferrell. [Will Ferrell, Actor:] You hungry? Can we get some meatloaf? [Moos:] Jeanne Moos, CNN... [Unidentified Female:] Yes, please? [Moos:] ... New York. [Blackwell:] The woman there said if I judge my meatloaf like I judge my men. If they look good, they smell good, they're easy [Paul:] And that's what stood out to Victor in that piece. [Blackwell:] Thank you so much for starting your morning with us. I think if we take a step further we'll go too far. [Paul:] That's good. We'll be right back. [Whitfield:] Across the country today, people are showing their concerns about the future of Obamacare. Democrats have planned dozens of rallies on what they're calling a day of action. Earlier today Senator Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer and other law makers held an event in Warren, Michigan outside of Detroit. CNN national correspondent Jessica Schneider joins us live from Warren, Michigan, Jessica, you spoke with Senator Sanders and what more did he have to say? [Jessica Schneider, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well you know Fredricka, Senator Sanders said this could be just the first of many rallies. Of course we saw these rallies throughout the campaign season and now it seems they are taking center stage when it comes to going into Donald Trump presidency, right here in Michigan, there are about 8,000 people by organizers count. This isn't the only rally. There are about 40 happening all over the country from Maine to California. So hundreds of thousands of people making their voices heard, we heard people out here sharing their stories about the affordable care act, many people saying it saved their lives not an exaggeration they say, but many more people saying it saved them massive amounts of money. So when I talked with Senator Sanders, I asked him, will this rallies will be matter when it comes down to it, especially since Republicans are moving full steam ahead with repeal and replace. [Schneider:] You have become the leading voice for Democrats, particularly with this issue. You have thousands of people standing outside there. Will this message resonate? Will this get through to the American congress? [Bernie Sanders, Presidential Candidate:] Well I think it will. I mean the Republicans are going to catch on not only tens or thousands of people are coming out today on rallies from Maine to California, but millions of people think it is insane to repeal the affordable care act without having a replacement. You just cannot throw 20 million people off of health insurance. Raise the cost of prescription drugs for seniors, do away with very important patient protection, petitions, you just can't do that unless you have another plan in its place. And I think more and more Republicans are beginning to understand that. [Schneider:] We're in Macomb county, there's also a rally in your home state of Vermont, why here and especially the fact that this county did vote for Donald Trump. They don't usually vote for a Republican. [Sanders:] Well, you know Mr. Trump when he ran for president, promised the people of Michigan and the people of America that he was a different type of Republican. He was not going to cut social security, Medicare, or Medicaid. So part of what today is about is reminding Mr. Trump that he better keep his promises, because we're watching. [Schneider:] Last question, have you spoken with Hillary Clinton about all of these issues? [Sanders:] I'll be seeing her I think pretty soon. [Schneider:] Thank you so much, senator. So we haven't heard from Hillary Clinton since the election, Senator Sanders saying he expects to speak with her, but two people we have heard from quite frequently, President-Elect Donald Trump says he expects an immediate repeal and replace. Also House Speaker Ryan says it will be a simultaneous repeal and replace. But when talking with the Democrats who are front and center out here, and also the people gathered here, they say they're skeptical. They say they haven't seen any plan from the Republicans, they doubt there would even be one in the coming days and the coming weeks, so they want more answers Fredricka, that is exactly why they gathered all over the country today to send that message. [Whitfield:] All right Jessica Schneider thanks so much. Senator Rand Paul has aggressively pushing Republican to replace Obamacare at the same day they repeal it. He has even tweeted out an image of the cover page of the bill that he wants to replace the affordable care act with. This morning he gave CNN's Jake Tapper a preview of the plan. [Rand Paul, Representative Kentucky:] So one of the key reforms we'll do is we're going to legalize the sale of inexpensive insurance, that means getting rid of the Obamacare mandate on what you can buy, we're going to help people save, as well as a tax credit, we're going to allowing individuals to come together in associations to buy insurance. I understand as a small businessperson, I had a doctor's office with four employees, if one of my employees got cancer. It was devastating to the bottom line, not only to them, obviously but to the bottom line of insurance. But there's no reason why someone with four employees should be able to join with hundreds and hundreds of other businesses that are small to become a large entity to get leverage to bring your prices down, but also to get insurance that can't cancel you and guarantees the issue of insurance even if you get sick. [Whitfield:] Early I spoke with Texas Congressman Pete Sessions who was floating his own replacement plan for the affordable care act, Obamacare and we have Tim the differences between the plans. [Pete Sessions, Representative Texas:] Hearing Senator Rand Paul's there are many parts of that, the same as our plan, we also have a plan, it's called the world's greatest healthcare plan, and in fact it does many of the same things that Senator Rand Paul talked about. And Senator Paul has it correctly, we must first replace Obamacare with a better plan, Republicans have better ideas and much of it is through tax credits, it gives everybody in this country an opportunity to have the same tax advantage that everyone else does that works for a large company. We need to increase the number of people that are in our insurance pools, we need more people to want to pay in and have a lifetime insurance plan. But the world's greatest health care plan, says it at its very core that what we're going to do is to do away with the individual and the business mandate and the Cadillac tax. What we got to do is take away the parts that harm our economy and keep consumers from being consumers. This is where Rand Paul's plan, the world's greatest health care plan are very, very close and similar that the key component here is we must be able to sell the American people on what is better and pass that before we repeal Obamacare. [Whitfield:] And how do you do that? What do you mean? So it sounds like you're now trying to you have to first convince the American people that this is better and then you say that effort would be made to repeal and replace with this? [Sessions:] Well I think essentially there are at this point three or four competing plans, one is what might be called a better way that is not yet a bill, and we really don't know how it works, Paul Ryan is attempting to push that. We have Senator Rand's plan, we have Pete Sessions and Bill Cassid's healthcare plan, and we have Tom Price's plan, it's really going to come down to where members of congress, house and senate need to look and focus their activities on these four bills and then be engaged in the national, I guess, dialogue enabling Americans to understand why we need to change the rules of the game. I'm for making American health care better for everybody not just a new system. That is why I'm going to be for my plan. [Whitfield:] Ok. At the beginning of this conversation, it started to sound like you were presenting this in a very simplified manner. And the question would had been, you know if this is so simple, then why this has happened before. But now you're talking about a number of choices where congress and senate have to come together and come up with a better plan. So how far away are we talking and is it your view that it will be packaged in a much more appetizing way to the American public than what 30 million people are already enjoying, how do you offer those assurances? [Sessions:] What I would say to you is there was a discussion that was coming out of Washington saying we would repeal it and then replace it within a couple of years, that quickly became unacceptable to at least members of the house and the senate. And that changed the dialogue from two weeks ago, now we're on a dialogue that says let's have a messaging around one bill that we would pass and then we will repeal Obamacare, these are all positive signs that Republicans like Senator Rand Paul's arch conservatives will bring the best ideas to the table. I believe it will be somewhere between Senator Paul, and Senator Cassidy's plan, my bill, the world's greatest healthcare plan, the best ideas reside within that world, it's just a matter of us going to sell these and the American people recognizing we have to give every single person in this country an opportunity to have better health care than they have today. [Whitfield:] All right, still ahead, President-Elect Donald Trump's press conference this week fell victim to "SNL" that is ahead. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States Snl Program:] Who is quitted for my Inauguration Day, yes, thank you to those people over there, who I definitely did not pay to do that. [Cooper:] Join the national Wrestling Hall of Fame is considering whether to remove Dennis Hastert from its list of honorees after the former House speaker won second in line to the presidency admitted in federal court yesterday to abusing boys after denying the allegations for months. The judge did not hold back, calling Hastert a serial child molester. Now the abuse happened when Hastert was a wrestling coach at an Illinois high school in the 1970s, decades before he moved to Washington. Prosecutors detail allegations from four boys who are now adults. Yesterday the judge sentenced Hastert to 15 months in prison not for the abuse itself, because he is protected by the statute of limitations, instead Hastert pleaded guilty to breaking banking laws to pay out more than a million dollars in hush money to one victim. Now seriously the ugly truth in 1999, in 2007 United States had a child molester two heart beats away from running the country. A man that showed stunning arrogance, incredible hypocrisy, he actually often supported tough laws against molesters, releasing statements like this one in 2006 saying, "We've all seen the disturbing headlines about sex offenders and crimes against children. These crimes cannot persist." Three years earlier, he said, "It is equally important to stop those predators before they strike, to put repeat child molesters into jail for the rest of their lives. Talking a different tune now. Tough talk from a molester who escaped the law. Several of his former colleagues have come to his defense and wrote letters asking the judge for leniency. The question tonight do they still regret that or did they regret that support? Joining me with that is senior investigator correspondent Drew Griffin. Drew, given the now confessed allegations that he actually molested student athletes, boys, it is hard to believe he has any support in Congress at all. [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigator Correspondent:] Anderson, the case is stunning. He not only molested boys while he was a coach, he was able to keep it secret for decades. And the only reason he got caught was lying to the FBI over secret payments he was making to one of the victims to keep that victim quiet. So this former speaker of the House truly was leading a dual life, and he may have fooled these five Congressmen who wrote letters of support. That's because the reputation Hastert had while in Congress literally one guy referring in his letter to a federal judge, calling Hastert Mr. Main Street America. [Cooper:] But I mean, a lot of the secret life was known when these congressmen wrote these letters of support, right? So what did they actually say? [Griffin:] The five letters, all former congressmen, no current elected officials, were written in February, they were in a stack of the 60 letters sent to the judge on behalf of Hastert, they basically asked for leniency. But some passages really stand out. Porter Goss, former congressman, former director of the CIA, he's the one who said Hastert was known as Mr. Main Street America and that he was a rock solid guy with center of the country values. Goss even went on to lumen how much better things were with Hastert in Congress, sadly he wrote, "Without his good influence, today's House of Representatives appears diminished. But perhaps the most stunning letter, Anderson, is from Tom Delay, the former Texas congressman who had his own issues in Congress. Delay never mentioned the victims, the lies, the secret payoffs. He wrote this. "He, Hastert, has never disappointed me in anyway. He is a man of strong faith that guides him and then adds this. We all have our flaws, but Dennis Hastert has very few. He doesn't deserve what he is going through." [Cooper:] I mean, yeah. That boggles the mind, I mean that he's never disappointed Tom Delay in anyway? I mean he molested children. These letters were written in February. Now that Hastert has essentially confessed, do any of these former congressmen, you know, wish they perhaps had said something different, especially Tom Delay, saying Hastert doesn't deserve this? [Griffin:] Tom Delay wouldn't comment on the letter he wrote, so I guess he's sticking by it. But Anderson, we did heard from Porter Goss, he called me directly to say he is stunned by all of this. The former head of the CIA doesn't apologize for the letter he wrote in February, he said he thought it was important for the sentencing judge to weigh the good and the bad in Hastert's life, but concerning the details that have now come out, he said this. "I think everybody is recalculating their view of the speaker. He called Hastert's actions inexcusable, not acceptable to any of the parties involved." And I would say he is mostly shocked that none of this came out while Dennis Hastert was in office in such a powerful speaker's position, and therefore would have been such a huge target. Goss couldn't believe that secret could be kept secret that long. [Cooper:] At least Goss stepped up and calls you back and answered, I mean good for him. But these other guys, it is incredible. Drew, thanks [Griffin:] Thank you. [Cooper:] We'll be right back. [Amanpour:] And finally tonight, imagine a world of shocking statistics; almost 2 million refugees from Syria are children. Almost none of them are getting an education. Almost all of them will join a lost generation unless this London summit changes that with its ambitious target of getting all the refugee children into school by the end of the next academic year. And imagine, without education and protection and without hope for a future, more refugee parents are marrying off their young daughters to older men in those camps. So today, here in London, I heard how Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, and Muzoon Almellehan, 16-year-old Syrian refugee, who spent three years living and campaigning for Jordan's refugee camps and education there, how they have made their case. Welcome, Malala and Muzoon. You have brought your campaign for education here. What is so important about this conference for you? [Malala Yousafzai, Education Activist:] To me, the key message that I wanted to give today was that developed countries need to support the education of Syrian refugee children because this is the future generation that gives us hope, that the future of Syria will be better. And when we educate them, then we see a bright future. So my message today was that the developed countries need to announce $1.4 billion for education and some countries have made really big announcements, including the [U.k. Amanpour:] Let me ask you, Muzoon, because you were in a camp until recently. What was the state of education for people like you or younger children, even? [Muzoon Almellehan, Syrian Refugee:] I saw many girls and boys in my community not get education and not go to school. That's so bad because it will cause many problems to our future and our country because they started to encouraging them and make activities about education to get in good the future and can help in our community. [Amanpour:] And we heard that, because it was so difficult for kids, especially young girls in these camps, there's a lot more marriage going on amongst young children, like people like your age or younger. [Almellehan:] Yes. In fact, the early marriage is bigger problem. It is causes many problems to the girls and it's affecting their future and their education. And many girls lost education because marriage, the girls and their parents think that education not important. Their marriage is [Amanpour:] I mean, what do you think when you hear that? You obviously put your life on the line for girls' education. [Yousafzai:] So I met Muzoon two years ago in the Zaatari camp in Jordan. And it was completely shocking to see these young boys, Syrian refugee boys, and they were not going to school but they were rather doing child labor, earning for their families and it was really disappointing. But Muzoon tried to encourage girls in her community and she told them that they must go to school. And then I went and visited Muzoon in other camp as well because she moved to another camp. And there I met these lots of girls and one girl was telling me that, Malala, you're truly an inspiration and we admire you but the person who has really inspired me is Muzoon. So Muzoon is a real role model. She encourages girls to go to school and it's her voice that I want to we want to boost it and to go further and to reach world leaders. [Amanpour:] When you guys are in there with all these world leaders, I mean, are they listening to you? [Almellehan:] Yes. [Amanpour:] Yes, they are. [Almellehan:] Yes. [Amanpour:] Are they? [Yousafzai:] We feel we have Muzoon and her powerful voice and they have to listen to us. So the response has been positive. Looking at the U.S. announcement, $300 million and then looking at how Germany has contributed. So all these announcements made today give me great hope that more countries will be inspired and they, too, will contribute to education of Syrian refugee children. [Amanpour:] And what is it like, both of you now? You've been here longer; you've just arrived. Being a refugee, getting new life here in England because it's difficult to be a Syrian refugee in Europe today. [Almellehan:] Yes. It's good opportunity to get a normal life again and to continue our lives and our education. This is a chance to get in good the future and help ourselves to win. We always come back to our country can rebuild in it and help other in our community. So I hope many girls and boys in my community go to school and have a chance to go to school and get a normal life again. [Amanpour:] Can I ask you, Malala, I don't know whether you've heard about this story. It's a different story. It's in Afghanistan. But a young boy there was, a 10-year-old boy was trying to fight against ISIS. And the government showed him off and said what a brave young boy he was. And the Taliban assassinated him, basically executed him. I mean, you know, you've gone through a similar experience and you survived. What did you think when you heard about that? [Yousafzai:] Well, it's tragic and it's not just this one boy but it's happening to many children and many people in that region. And it's tragic that they do not have sympathy for children, for innocent children. And when I was attacked I was only 15 and like the only crime is that you want to go to school, you want freedom, you want to have the right to live in peace. That's the only crime. So it's tragic but I'm hopeful that if we have strong and young children like Muzoon who are who have this strength to stand up, then we should not be hopeless, we have great hope and we are going to do it. [Amanpour:] Malala, Muzoon, thank you very much indeed. Good luck to you. [Yousafzai:] Thank you. [Almellehan:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] Good to see you again. [Almellehan:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] Two determined young women. And that is it for our program tonight. Remember, you can now also listen to our podcast, always see us online at amanpour.com and follow me on Facebook and Twitter. Thank you for watching. Goodbye from London. And we leave you with some of the most striking faces of this refugee crisis. END [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] During a speech back in August, retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn compared Islamism to cancer. Listen to this. [Trump Advisor:] Islam is a political ideology. It is a political ideology. It definitely hides behind this notion of it being a religion. It's like cancer. I've gone through cancer in my own life. And so, it's like cancer. And it's like a it's like a malignant cancer, though in this case, that has metastasized. [Blitzer:] We're going to talk about Flynn's comments with a representative from the Trump campaign in a few moments. Meanwhile, there's other news. Trump supporters chanted, lock her up, during the campaign, but he, apparently, has decided to leave her alone. Donald Trump does not plan to pursue an investigation of Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server or the Clinton Foundation. That according to adviser former campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway. And on MSNBC earlier this morning, Conway said Trump's decision should send a message to other Republicans. [Kellyanne Conway, Former Manager, Trump Campaign:] I think when the president-elect, who's also the head of your party now, Joe, tells you before he's even inaugurated he doesn't wish to pursue these charges, it sends a very strong message, tone and content to the members. And I think Hillary Clinton still has to face the fact that a majority of Americans don't find her to be honest or trustworthy. But if Donald Trump can help her heal, then perhaps that's a good thing. I do look, I think he's thinking of many different things as he prepares to become the president of the United States. And things that sound like the campaign aren't among them. [Blitzer:] Trump's decision is a reversal of a major campaign promise. Here's a look back at some of the things he said he would do during his first 100 days. Take steps to withdraw from the trans-Pacific trade deal known at TPP. Protect the country's infrastructure from cyber attacks. Cancel regulations on shale and clean coal. And investigate abuses of federal worker visa programs. President-elect Trump is holding more meetings today before heading to Florida, his resort at Mara-a-Lago in Palm Beach, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Trump is working to fill key staff and cabinet positions at the same time. Let's get the very latest on the transition process. Our Correspondent Jessica Schneider is joining us from outside Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue in New York City. Jessica, Dr. Ben Carson's name, all of a sudden, has resurfaced. What can you tell us about that? [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, that's right, Wolf. The president-elect himself touting Dr. Ben Carson over Trump's favorite medium, Twitter. Just a little while ago, tweeting out this, saying, I am seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson as the head of HUD which is Housing and Urban Development. I've gotten to know him well. He's a greatly talented person who loves people. Now, interestingly, this tweet coming just about one week after a close adviser to Dr. Carson told CNN that Dr. Ben Carson had actually turned down an opportunity to become secretary of Health and Human Services. That close adviser to Dr. Carson saying that Carson just didn't feel comfortable with it. He had never led an agency. It just wasn't his strength. However, Dr. Ben Carson has been a very close surrogate to Donald Trump throughout this campaign, and he's been by his side throughout the election. So, could he now be changing his tune and could he, in fact, be considered, as Donald Trump has said, for head of HUD Wolf. [Blitzer:] We know he's announced some key national security choices. What about his economic team, Jessica? What are you hearing about that? [Schneider:] Well, we understand that Donald Trump is hammering out the final details and could be announcing his economic team soon. In fact, multiple sources are telling CNN that there are a few people in the running for both treasury and commerce secretaries. As it pertains to treasury secretary, the two names that are leading in the leading talks of this, Steve Mnuchin. He is, of course, the a former investment banker for Goldman Sachs. As well as Jonathan Gray, the head of global real estate for Blackstone Group. And as the leading contender, at this point we understand, for commerce secretary is Wilbur Ross. He's the billionaire investor. So, two names that have popped out. But, of course, we've been waiting for days to hear some key announcements, whether it pertains to personnel or cabinet. Waiting on that. Of course, we're getting closer to the Thanksgiving holiday. Donald Trump will be leaving New York City later today to head to his Palm Beach estate, Mar-a-Lago. But, yes, we are definitely for what could be some more key announcements Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Jessica, thanks very much. Jessica Schneider in New York for us. Let's bring in Boris Epshteyn. He's the director of communications for Donald Trump's Presidential Inaugural Committee. Boris, thanks very much for joining us. [Boris Epshteyn, Director Of Communications, 2016 Presidential Inaugural Committee:] Thanks for having me. [Blitzer:] Congratulations on your new title. [Epshteyn:] Thank you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Are you also working on the transition or just getting ready for the inauguration? [Epshteyn:] I'll be concentrating on the inauguration and all the messaging around that, the themes and making sure that all Americans and everyone around the world knows that we're here to unite the country and to lead the country as well as all those around the globe. [Blitzer:] I want to get your reaction, Boris, to comments that the K-File our K-File Edward Kosinski and his team have now come up with retired Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, who's going to be the president's national security adviser at the White House. Very strong words speaking of Islamism. He says it's a vicious cancer in the body of all Muslims and has to be excised. He said this. He said, we are facing another ism. Just like we faced Nazism, and fascism, and imperialism, and communism. This is Islamism. It is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised. This is what he said in a speech last August. Those are, you know, going to certainly enflame a lot of people when they hear that. [Epshteyn:] Oh, you'd have to ask General Flynn about those words. But I have gotten to know General Flynn personally. He is somebody who is, obviously, a great patriot. Someone who served this country bravely and has never afraid to speak truth to power. So, as far as those comments, those were likely taken out of context. But what we're talking about is somebody who is a patriot, is somebody who is going to serve this country extremely well, make sure that we are protected. And, again, you know, these sort of this sort of information, from my perspective, goes to divide the country further rather than unite the country. And that's what we're focusing on now with the inaugural committee and beyond. [Blitzer:] But it's one thing, and I think you'll agree, to say that radical Islam, Islamic terrorists, that's a cancer that has to be excised. But to lump 1.7 billion people. Most Muslims are most are decent, hard-working, wonderful people trying to just do the best they can. But to lump this into all of them, that is so, so derogatory. [Epshteyn:] Wolf, I'm not going to concentrate on one comment probably taken out of context. What I'm here to talk about is what we are as a country now. We're past the political stage. This is still, sort of, campaigning, right, from the folks who used to be with BuzzFeed, I believe, the K-File folks who've been always anti-Donald Trump, anti- Republican. [Blitzer:] But these are these are they looked at the whole speech he gave. He spoke for nearly an hour. There's a the video of it is right there. Let me play another clip and you'll hear and you'll hear retired General retired Lieutenant General Flynn. Watch this. [Epshteyn:] OK. [Flynn:] We are facing another ism, just like we faced Nazism, and fascism, and imperialism and communism. This is Islamism. And it is a it is a vicious cancer inside the body of 1.7 billion people on this planet and it has to be excised. So and we should not again, we should not fear this idea. We should define it clearly and we should go after it. [Blitzer:] Do you agree with him though? Because, you know, you've studied this closely. That this cancer exists inside the body of 1.7 million Muslims living here in the United States and around the world? [Epshteyn:] Wolf, that was actually the same clip you just read that I saw. [Blitzer:] I know. But I wanted you I wanted to play it for you to give you the context. [Epshteyn:] And my response is still the same that it's taken out of context. We're not talking about the whole speech here. And General Flynn is somebody who served this country greatly and will continue to do so. And, again, this is the kind of rhetoric that's not helpful. [Blitzer:] When you say the kind of rhetoric, from general Flynn? [Epshteyn:] No, what I'm talking about is these sort of stories that are coming out there that are taking comments out of context and trying to attack somebody who's going to be a really great servient for America. [Blitzer:] I'm not trying to attack General Flynn. And he did have a distinguished military, you know, background of service, rising to the ranks of three-star general, director of the Defense and Intelligence Agency. We're certainly not ridiculing him or anything like that. We're just taking his words and analyzing what he actually said not that long ago in August and he's going to be the president's top national security adviser, working in the White House. And I think you agree, it's fair for journalists and others to review what he has publicly said. [Epshteyn:] Well, General Flynn, President-elect Trump, the Trump campaign, the Inaugural Committee as well as the transition, we are here, again, to unite all Americans. Of course, not those Americans and those folks that want to cause anyone else harm. We are her to push forward with unity, to make America great which is not just a slogan. It's something that we're really going to do. And that's why the American people chose Donald Trump and Governor Pence to lead this country forward and that's exactly what we're doing. [Blitzer:] All right, let's talk about the other big story today. The decision by Donald Trump, according to Kellyanne Conway, his top adviser there, to say, you know what? He's not going to go ahead and try to prosecute Hillary Clinton for any alleged crime she may have committed while she was secretary of state. It's over. It's time to move on. What's your reaction to that? [Epshteyn:] This goes back to a similar point. The time of politics is over. Now it is time to govern. It is time to move forward as a country and make sure that this country is protected, that the folks in this country are employed. All of those parts of the 100-day plan that president-elect Trump laid out yesterday and talking about making sure TPP is not in place, talking about making sure that Americans are safe from attacks, cyber takes and other attacks. Making sure that illegal immigration is put to an end and we review the status of visas of those who are here illegally. So, that's what Donald Trump, Governor Pence President- elect Trump, V.P.-elect Pence will be concentrating on and that's what our whole team [Blitzer:] Because [Epshteyn:] is working on. [Blitzer:] some of this most ardent supporters, and they are already reacting negatively to word from Kellyanne Conway that he doesn't want to pursue criminal charges against Hillary Clinton. Because you remember what was said during the campaign? Lock her up, lock her up. We had the chants that were coming up at all those rallies. And listen to what Trump, himself, used to say. [Epshteyn:] Sure. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. Special prosecutor, here we come, right? If I win, we're going to appoint the special prosecutor. She deleted the e-mails. She has to go to jail. [Blitzer:] That's what he said then. But now, you're saying, it's time to move on. Because he has been elected president of the United States. She was defeated. Forget about all of that. [Epshteyn:] What I'm saying is it's all about priorities. And what do Americans care about in this country? What do people in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Florida, Washington, D.C., all over care about? They care about jobs, right? They care about making sure we don't have job-killing regulations. And those are the priorities that Mr. Trump is putting first and foremost. And everything else has to go to the you know, to the other side of the spectrum. Because, right now, you have to be focused on making sure this country is protected, making sure we have three percent GDP growth in this country and doing so in a way that United States the country. [Blitzer:] So, you're going to tell his incoming attorney general, assuming he's confirmed, Senator Sessions, that, you know what? Drop the whole Hillary Clinton. [Epshteyn:] I'm not I'm not here to talk about that. You'll, again, have to ask President-elect Trump what he's going to instruct his incoming attorney general. And you can to talk to Senator Sessions about that as well. But what is clear is that President-elect Trump is setting very distinct priorities. And those priorities the exact priorities he campaigned on. Making sure that Americans are protected. They're safe in their jobs and their homes. [Blitzer:] Boris, have a happy Thanksgiving [Epshteyn:] You, too. [Blitzer:] to you and your family. [Epshteyn:] Thanks. [Blitzer:] Thanks very much for coming in. Boris Epshteyn is the new director of communications for the Presidential Inaugural Committee. Up next, first it was on, then it was off, now it's back on again. We're talking about Donald Trump's meeting today over at "The New York Times." We'll check in and see what's going on over there. Also, a sobering message out of Japan today after Donald Trump vowed to withdraw from the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. But why the U.S. ally is calling the whole deal now meaningless without America. Stay with us. Welcome back. The president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump, laying out more clearly his agenda for the immediate first 100 days that he'll have in office, releasing a video on YouTube saying he will withdraw the United States from the TPP, the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. He will move to protect America's infrastructure from cyberattacks. He says he also wants to cancel domestic shale and clean coal energy restrictions put in place by the Obama administration. He wants to investigate possible abuses of visa programs among other things. Let's bring in our political panel to assess. Susan Page is the Washington bureau chief for "USA Today," Jeff Mason is the White House correspondent for Reuters, and A.B. Stoddard is an associate editor and columnist at Real Clear Politics. All right, so what did you think of this list, because it was limited, very limited. It was stuff basically that he could do by signing an executive order, does not need to go through Congress. [Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, "usa Today":] So, first, he let's talk about not just what he said but how he said it. He didn't come out and have a news conference, which is what we would have expected a president-elect to do, and take a couple questions. He put it out on YouTube. He went around the news media to make this announcement. None of the none of the things he said I thought were surprising or at odds with what he said during the campaign, but it did indicate his early priorities, for instance, pulling out the TPP right out of the gate. And in that way it was interesting. And I think I think he was also interested in projecting that he had some order, that he had control of this transition, that it wasn't in chaos, that he has a plan. [Blitzer:] Well, you know, because it was very specific, and he didn't get into some of the other major issues, like building a wall along the U.S.Mexico borders. Controversial issues like that, because he needs appropriations bills, funding, if he's going to do if he's going to do that. [Jeff Mason, White House Correspondent, Reuters:] Yes, absolutely. And he really, I think, started off with things that he knew he could get done. Withdrawing from TPP is certainly one of them. And the timing of that announcement is also interesting, coming just a couple days after President Obama was in Peru meeting with other countries that a part of the TPP. And you can just imagine how they felt when they saw that. But as Susan said, not a surprise, and that's something that those countries must have been preparing for already. [Blitzer:] He's going to get some resistance, A.B., from environmentalists who don't like some of those ideas that he wants to reverse, for example, the clean coal issue, the shale issue, that had been in place during the Obama administration. [A.b. Stoddard, Associate Editor & Columnist, Realclearpolitics:] Yes, you can see why he wants to do something right way where he doesn't have to fight with Congress over spending and the bottom line, like his costly infrastructure plan which is going to meet some resistance among Republicans. But he's also going to meet some resistance, not only in rolling back some regulations, like you mentioned, environmental ones, but also to the TPP. I mean the meeting in Peru, the feeling is that these countries are moving on without us. China is increasingly aggressive militarily right now in the South China Seas. They benefit the most if we're not in that agreement. And so there I think in the days and weeks to come, there will be some resistance, even from Republicans in Congress, to his move to do that on day one. [Blitzer:] He makes some good points, you know, Jeff. The markets, the Dow Jones Industrials today, for the first time ever, opened at 19,000. Clearly investors, at least in the stock market, they're liking they like what they hear. [Mason:] They do. And it's interesting that that's happening given all the projections ahead of the election that if Hillary Clinton lost, the market would tank, which didn't end up happening right afterwards and I think that they're also seeing perhaps the ability of a Republican president to work with a Republican Congress and actually get a few things done. [Blitzer:] What they like is that he says they're going to lower taxes, eliminate regulations. That's what investors like to hear, stuff like that. But on the trade issue, there's some concern. If there's a trade war, that could hurt. [Page:] Yes, true, but, you know, his position on trade seems very well set. One of the signature issues of his campaign. And, you know, it's not just investors who like what they're hearing. Your new CNN poll shows that almost two-thirds of Americans say they think the economy will be strong a year from that. That's a very high number. Very high expectations in your survey that he will succeed on the economic front, even among some American whose don't like other things that [Blitzer:] A.B., let me share some more numbers from our brand new CNNORC poll that just came out this morning. Fifty-three percent of those surveyed think Donald Trump will make a very good or fairly good president. There you see the number, 44 percent disagree, 46 percent say they approve of the way he's handling his transition so far. So should those numbers be encouraging to the incoming president? [Stoddard:] They definitely should. I think he's had a good transition so far, except I do believe he's hit sort of a wall on this issue about how to create the appropriate separation between being the leader of the free world and running that business. That said, he's looking like he's conducting a wide-reaching wide- ranging search for cabinet picks. He's open to talk to friend or foe, people in both parties, that he's series an substantive about this. So I think that that's promising and he's enjoying a honeymoon for that. And I think he needs to maximize that. You know, honeymoons don't last. It's very hard to be a very popular president these days, especially after an election like this one where she's won the popular vote and he has been a controversial figure. So he needs to really spend the 60 days of the transition and the first 100 days in office maximizing on that honeymoon and to do as much as he can to keep the momentum going. [Blitzer:] He's meeting right now, Jeff, with the editors, columnists, reporters from "The New York Times" in New York. Apparently an on the record meeting, answering their questions. You're in addition to being the Reuters White House correspondent, you're the president of the White House Correspondents Association. Here's what Maggie Haberman of "The New York Times" is tweeting as this meeting is going on. "Trump on alt-right supporters, "it's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized, I want to look into and it find out why"." Your reaction? [Mason:] Well, interesting because he certainly received some criticism for not coming out more forcefully and disconnecting himself from that connection for during his campaign, for not right away disavowing David Duke's support. So I think this is clearly a response to the fact that he has gotten some heat so far for that connection, and for the video that came out this week showing people at a meeting of white supremacists being very supportive of Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] Here's some more tweets from Maggie Haberman. She's tweeting live tweeting during the course of the Q&A. "Trump says no when asked if he's taking investigations off the table for Clintons, but adds he doesn't want to, quote, "hurt" the Clintons." [Page:] Yes. So what does that mean? I think investigating her might hurt her. [Blitzer:] Yes. [Page:] And a pretty clear signal, I thought, this morning from Kellyanne Conway that that even though he's not saying you shouldn't investigate her. He's saying he's got other priorities, other things he ought to do first. So this may be one of those campaign promises he doesn't deliver on. And there for some of his supporters, for the people who chanted "lock her up" at their rallies, this might well be a disappointment. [Mason:] That's muddied the signal that Kellyanne gave this morning, though, a little bit though. [Page:] Yes. I mean sure [Blitzer:] It does muddy it a little bit when he says "no" when he's asked if he's taking investigations off the table for the Clintons. She seemed to say earlier this morning when she was on MSNBC it's off the table, at least for now. [Mason:] Yes. [Blitzer:] A.B., another tweet from Maggie Haberman. Very interesting that we're getting these live tweets coming in. "I'd rather do the popular vote, Trump says. I think we'd do as well or better, says he was never a fan of the Electoral College." He won the Electoral College. That's why he's going to be the president of the United States. He's losing the popular by, I think, the last count by about a million and a half votes, popular. But his argument has been, you know what, I would have won the popular vote if I would have gone to California, I would have gone to New York. There's where so many people live. Gone to Texas. I never campaigned there. And as a result, the popular vote is not that important. [Stoddard:] Well, he can say that. He is going to probably lose by projections by a 2 million vote popular vote loss. And he won this vote I mean he won this election by 107,000 votes in three states. She literally lost by Jill Stein's margin alone. This is more a story of her epic defeat than it is really of him having a resounding victory. He won with 47 percent of the country in a four-way race. He is being told by the Democrats he doesn't have a mandate. So he's feeling a bit defensive about it. Yes, it's true, he could have campaigned for the popular vote. But the truth remains that he lost the popular vote and Democrats will treat it like it isn't a mandate for years to come. [Blitzer:] One final question, Jeff, because you're the president of the White House Correspondents Association. I take it there has been progress between the incoming Trump administration and the White House Correspondents Association, that there will be these tight pools, these travel pools, that there will be the traditional coverage that all presidents since the '60s have allowed the news media? [Mason:] So there is definitely some progress, but we're not all the way there. They have made some arrangements for the pool to travel for weekend, or today, I should say, for his Thanksgiving trip to Florida. But we're not in all the motorcades. We're still working on that. And it's something we just have to keep pushing for. But they have assured us that he will respect the traditions of a White House pool when he gets to the White House. So I'm cautiously optimistic about that. [Blitzer:] Susan and I covered the White House and we like we like those traditions, right? We like those as well. All right, guys, thanks very much and Happy Thanksgiving. [Mason:] You, too, Wolf. [Stoddard:] You, that. Thank you. [Blitzer:] Coming up, Donald Trump gives some unsolicited advice to the U.K. on replacing its ambassador to the United States and Britain immediately rejects that advice. We're going to London for the story when we come back. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Happening now, the art of the deal. The man who wrote the book on deal-making slams the Iran nuclear agreement. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated. [Blitzer:] Donald Trump and Ted Cruz lead a rally against the Iran deal, but can Republicans still do anything to stop it? Putin power play. Russia admits it's sending troops and weapons into Syria. Will they prop up a brutal regime? Will they fight against ISIS, and could they be drawn into a confrontation with the U.S.? And unleashed. As Kim Jong-un shows off his missiles and rockets, there are now new troubling signs North Korea is building up its nuclear program. So how great is the threat? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. It's been a day of important and dramatic action involving some of the most dangerous longtime adversaries of the United States. Demands for Congress to kill the Iran nuclear deal were loud and clear this afternoon at a huge rally outside the U.S. Capitol. Sarah Palin, along with presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, pulled no punches. [Trump:] We are led by very, very stupid people. Very, very stupid people. [Blitzer:] Beyond the threat posed by Iran, we're also learning new details today about Vladimir Putin's alarming military buildup in Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry is warning the Russians they're liable to make a dangerous situation even worse. Republican Senator Tom Cotton, he's a member of the Intelligence and Armed Services Committee, as well as an outspoken opponent of the Iran deal, is here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Our correspondents, analysts and guests, they're standing by with full coverage of all the day's top stories. Let's begin with our political reporter, Sara Murray. She was there at the rally up on Capitol Hill. She had a chance to speak with Donald Trump one on one. Sara, how did it go? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Wolf, today was sort of an epic political odd couple. We had Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, both vying for the Republican nomination for president, holding a rally today here in the capital to protest the deal with Iran. And as you might expect, Donald Trump found a way to bring it all back around to how he would do a better job negotiating this deal if he were the president. [Trump:] I've been doing deals for a long time. I've been making lots of wonderful deals, great deals. That's what I do. Never, ever, ever in my life have I seen any transaction so incompetently negotiated as our deal with Iran. And I mean never. We will have so much winning if I get elected, that you may get bored with winning. [Murray:] Now, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have very different approaches for how they would deal with the Iran deal, even though they both oppose it. Ted Cruz has said he would do away with it on day one, where Donald Trump said he would not do the same. None of those differences were on display today. The two gentlemen actually hugged quite a number of times before Donald Trump took the stage Wolf. [Blitzer:] So basically, it was pretty much of a love-fest up there between these two Republican presidential candidates. Is that what I'm hearing? [Murray:] There does seem to be a little bit of bromance brewing between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump. And they even went so far as to admit it. [Blitzer:] Sara, thanks very much. Let's get some more on what's going on. Joining us now, a key opponent of the Iran nuclear deal, Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas. He's a member of both the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees. He also served in the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. So you're with Donald Trump and Ted Cruz on this issue completely. Right? [Sen. Tom Cotton , Arkansas:] And with a bipartisan majority of the House and the Senate, and with a two-to-one majority of the American people, who think that this nuclear deal with Iran is dangerous for the United States and dangerous for allies and world peace. [Blitzer:] Because in effect you just heard him say the U.S. is now being led by very stupid people. He's referring, presumably, to the president of the United States and Secretary of State John Kerry. You know both the president and the secretary. Are they very stupid? [Cotton:] Well, I'm saying they've had a very ideological approach from the very beginning. The president said in his first campaign that he would negotiate without preconditions, that he would extend an open hand if Iran would simply unclench its fist. Iran never did that. Iran still has a foreign policy that's centered around death to America. Yet here we are, about to cut a nuclear deal with Iran that's going to put them on the path to being a nuclear threshold state in as little as a decade. [Blitzer:] You did your best to defeat it, but you failed, right? [Cotton:] Well, unfortunately even though a large majority of the American people oppose this deal in a bipartisan majority, both the House and chamber oppose it both the House and the Senate chambers oppose it. It looks at this moment, barring any new information in the coming days, that the president with a very small partisan minority, barely one third of the two chambers of the Congress, will move forward. And that makes this truly unprecedented in the history of American foreign policy. [Blitzer:] When you say truly unprecedented, you're not going to be able to block the deal, so presumably it will go forward. Anything else you can do now to try to kill it? [Cotton:] It's unprecedented because, in the past, presidents would have submitted an agreement like this as a treaty, and it would have required a two-thirds vote of the United States Senate. The president himself did that just less than five years ago, when another nuclear arms control agreement with Russia. And it was ratified, even though I opposed the substance of it. That's what our Constitution calls for. So it is truly unprecedented for an international agreement like this to have a majority vote against it in the Congress, majority opposition among the American people, yet still go forward. [Blitzer:] Because I don't know if you know, but on the House side, some Republicans now are saying that 60-day clock hasn't even started yet, because the administration has not provided all the details of this agreement to members of Congress. As a result, they want to delay this vote in the House of Representatives, and in effect delay the easing of sanctions against Iran at the same time. Where do you stand? Do you think that members of the House of Representatives will want to go with this procedural route, have a stand? [Cotton:] Well, it's correct that the administration hasn't turned over all the agreements. I went to Vienna as part of my oversight work in the Intelligence Committee to go to meet with the International Atomic Energy Agency, and they acknowledge that there are two side agreements: one about the Parchin military base where detonators for nuclear weapons may have been tested. Two, the much broader question of Iran disclosing the past military dimensions of its nuclear work. I don't think the administration has followed federal law, and submitted those agreements, because they had an obligation to obtain them and submit them. [Blitzer:] Have they submitted them in classified session, in executive session? Have you been briefed on those agreements? [Cotton:] We've been briefed, but only on the one narrower agreement about the Parchin military base. More importantly, though, we don't have the documents. They haven't been provided to us. The administration has said that they do not have them, as well. Nor are they going to push the IAEA to disclose them to us. So I don't think that we're in a position yet where that clock should have started or until federal law the president has the right to waive sanctions, but frankly, the president has disregarded federal law and the Constitution many other times. In the end, whatever the procedural mechanism for the vote here, the important thing to recognize, that a majority of the American people and a majority of the Congress opposes this deal. [Blitzer:] When you say the president has violated federal law in the past, what are you talking about? [Cotton:] Well, I mean, he issued a decree last November to grant amnesty to up to 5 million illegal immigrants, and that's currently been stayed by a federal trial court and a federal court of appeals. [Blitzer:] But that's in the courts now. So it hasn't been adjudicated. It was a violation. [Cotton:] Well, there's been several Supreme Court cases the president has lost. Lost on a 9-0 basis, for example, when he tried to install appointees of the National Labor Relations Board that he lost, because it was clear that he didn't follow the Constitution or follow federal law. [Blitzer:] That wasn't a violation. He didn't commit a crime. [Cotton:] Well, there's lots of ways you can violate federal law that's not criminal law. And I would say the illegal amnesty decree would be an example of that. And the fact that he's not submitting this agreement is a treaty and required the kind of broad support across the American people. Both parties across all regions, which our Founding Fathers warned us, does disregard our Constitution. [Blitzer:] Let's talk about North Korea, because you were recently in that part of the world, as well. The U.N. watchdog agency, the IAEA, says they're worried about what North Korea may be up to in the coming days, if you will. October 10, that's an historic day in North Korea. That's the day that the communist regime there, the communist party was founded. There's a lot of concern right now, I know, from what I'm hearing that the North Koreans might have a nuclear test, might launch some sort of ballistic missile. What are you hearing about October 10? What are you hearing about what North Korea may be up to? [Cotton:] The IAEA should be worried, as I am worried about it, because North Korea is now a nuclear power state with a ballistic missile program. In fact, I think this is a precursor for what we might see in Iran down the road. In 1994, with a very similar agreement with North Korea, to supposedly stop its nuclear weapons program. President Clinton and the Democrats at the time were saying all the things right now that President Obama and Senate Democrats are saying about this Iran deal. Yet a mere 12 years later, they developed nuclear weapons. We now believe they're developing new warheads every single year, and they have ballistic missiles capable of striking all of our allies in the region and much of United States territory, as well. And as you said, Wolf, coming up in early October there is a consequential date in the history of the North Korean Communist Party, which over the past several years has been a time when the regime takes aggressive provocative actions, as they did right before I got to North Korea right before I got to South Korea by installing landmines in the DMZ, which blew the legs off of two South Korean soldiers. [Blitzer:] Yes, a dangerous time indeed, but they calmed things down. Let's hope this October 10 date passes without any major developments. So Russia and Syria right now, what are you hearing about Russia's deployment of troops in Syria, presumably to back up Bashar al-Assad's regime? [Cotton:] Well, there's nothing good about Russia's activity in Syria. It's been a bipartisan foreign policy of the United States for 70 years to try to keep Russia out of the Middle East. Yet the president's inaction in Syria and his monomaniacal focus on this nuclear deal with Iran has helped encourage countries like Russia to take advantage of the situation. The president has largely taken a hands-off approach in Syria and granted it as a legitimate sphere of interest to countries like Iran and like Russia. This is very bad policy, and it's going to lead to very dangerous consequences for our partners in the region, which is why so many of them are so opposed to U.S. policies. [Blitzer:] Could it lead to, hopefully not, but some sort of confrontation between the U.S. and Russia? [Cotton:] Well, in a country like Syria, which is in, you know, a four- or five-way civil war, Wolf. There's no telling the kind of battlefield incidents you can have. The United States is currently conducting airstrikes with coalition in Syria. Of course, it's possible, but there might be a Russian member of the Russian military in an area where strikes were taken, or if Russia gets involved in shooting war. It's possible that it might hurt one of our coalition partners, as well. Where people that we've been training have gone to Syria. That's one reason why it's so dangerous that we've taken this hands-on approach and essentially invited Russia back into the Middle East. [Blitzer:] Senator Cotton, thanks very much for joining us. [Cotton:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Coming up, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin, they're giving it their all around the against the Iran nuclear deal. We have the highlights. [Sarah Palin , Former Governor Of Alaska:] I've always said, though, sweat is my sanity, so as I sweat, let's bring some sanity to this discussion about this insane treaty that's in front of Congress. [Speaker:] FORMER SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY RODHAM CLINTON, DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE [*] [Clinton:] Hello, Winston-Salem. If you believe that America should stand with those who's served because they served us, then you've got to vote. And so when you think about yourselves, your families, people you know who've worn the uniform of our country, the best way to make clear that we respect the military and we will do everything we can to make sure they and their families have what they need as they sacrificed for us is to show up and vote. She has spent eight years as our first lady advocating for girls around the world to go to school and have the same opportunities as boys. By any standard, she has been an outstanding first lady who has made us all so proud. Now, that honestly breaks my heart. We've got to make sure all of our kids know America has a place for you. The American dream is big enough for you. [Speaker:] FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA [*] [Obama:] Well... [Audience:] Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! [Obama:] yeah. That's right. Hillary doesn't play. [Romans:] Police say they are now looking for a woman wearing a black shirt in connection with this week's deadly Bangkok shrine bombing. Thai authorities say at least 10 people may have taken part in that bombing but the attack they say is not likely to be linked to international terrorist groups. CNN's Andrew Stevens, he is in Bangkok for us with the very latest. [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] Police in Bangkok now say they think at least 10 people were involved. And what they say is a well-organized team that executed the attack on Erawan Shrine on Monday evening. They say they've obtained evidence to suggest that several people were involved in plotting the attack and also acquiring the materials, as well as building the bomb. All done under the radar, of course. They haven't shared what that evidence is at the moment. At this stage, they also are pulling back on making any link with international terrorism. They say they've been talking to Interpol. They've also been sharing information with security agencies in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, and the consensus opinion is that it is not an international conspiracy which brings the focus at least somewhat back on to domestic issues. And they say they're not ruling anything out at this stage. They've meanwhile increased the reward for any information leading to the arrest of the man in the yellow shirt. The man they say they are now very sure is the bomber. Apart from the early breakthrough when they identified the man they think as the bomber, there's been very little else solid and concrete. They've actually ruled out two other suspects they thought were initially accomplices. And they are now saying that the network that was used may be more than 10 people. Very frustrating for the police, but also very frustrating and also very worrying for the people of Bangkok. Andrew Stevens, CNN, Bangkok. [Romans:] All right. Thank you, Andrew, for that. Breaking overnight. Emergency workers in China racing to put out four new fires at the site of last week's deadly chemical warehouse blast in the northern city of Tianjin. China state run news agency says one ignition point came from within an auto distribution point near the blast site. Look at those photos. This as investigators say high levels of dangerous chemicals remain on the site. Water tests also show high levels of sodium cyanide, an extremely toxic chemical that can kill humans rapidly. The contaminated water is being contained in a warning zone around the blast zone. The explosion killed more than 100 people. Breaking overnight. North Korea, North Korea readying its troops, threatening war after exchanging fire with South Korea. We are live with these new threats and these new tensions ahead. [Lu Stout:] Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you're back watching News Stream. Now, the U.S. and South Korea have a message for Pyongyang, stop all nuclear activity immediately. Now the warning came as Washington and Seoul conducted a review of their joint defense against North Korea. Pyongyang has said it is preparing to launch a satellite into orbit and will conduct nuclear tests. There appears to be remarkable progress in relations among China, Japan and South Korea. Now, Tokyo and Seoul have agreed to resolve the issue of Comfort Women, those forced to work in in Japan's war time military brothels. And over the weekend, leaders from the three Asian powers, they met for the first time in three years. they say relations have been completely restore. For more, let's go straight to Paula Hancocks. She joins us live from Seoul, and Paula, let's talk more about Sunday's meeting. We have China, Japan, South Korea claiming to have, quote, completely restored relations. I mean, giving the ongoing tension over the South China Sea and World War II, how can that be right? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, that's right, Kristie, there were no concrete actions that were enacted after this meeting. But the very fact the meeting took place is significant. As you say, it was the first time that these three leaders met in three years, so the fact that they did sit down and they did talk about these very thorny issues. There are still many historical issues and arguments to be ironed out. There are still those territorial disputes, nothing has changed there. But the fact that these three do appear to be willing to talk is what many experts are saying is a success. And the very fact that the leaders of Japan and South Korea managed to have a one-on-one summit, an official summit, the first since both of them took power is significant as well. So really it was the fact that they turned up to the meetings, the fact they talked, the fact that they came out saying they are willing to make changes. But the actual changes themselves we don't have details on that at this point. [Lu Stout:] Gotcha. And meanwhile, North Korea. Now that we have the three main Asian powers, they've resumed talking and they've claimed progress and relations, what does that mean for any attempt, any joint attempt to address and reign in North Korea and its nuclear ambitions? [Hancocks:] Well within it's vital to have China on board. China is really the only ally that North Korea has, maybe Russia as well. But in northeast Asia, China is the key. The fact that China as well is meeting with the leaders of Japan and South Korea before meeting with Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, is significant in itself. It shows where the allegiances lie with China. It's clear over recent years that they have not been happy with the way things are going in Pyongyang with the decisions that the young leader has made, most notably the most recent nuclear test which appear to take many of the Chinese leaders by surprise, as well as the rest of the world. So, I think the fact that China is on board in wanting to denuclearize North Korea is significant and the fact that they are willing to work with two other countries, its neighbors, which have not always been friends, South Korea and Japan, means that potentially they could put more pressure on North Korea. In that respect, something may change Kristie. [Lu Stout:] All right, many diplomatic developments in East Asia today. Paula Hancocks reporting live from Seoul. Thank you. Now as we've mentioned, South Korea and Japan, they have agreed to accelerate talks to resolve the bitter controversy over so-called Comfort Women, mostly Korean women forced into prostitution in Japanese brothels during World War II. And Will Ripley has more on that. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Her body is weak, her memories are strong. Kim Bok-dong, nearly 90-years-old, says she's still haunted, haunted by nightmares from five years as a sex slave of the Japanese army. [Kim Bok-dong, Former Sex Slave:] I can't put into words the scars it left me with. It still keeps me awake at night. [Ripley:] Kim says she was only 14 when the Japanese came to her Korean village, forcing her to leave her home, her family. So you thought you'd be working in a factory? [Kim:] Yes. There was no option not to go. [Ripley:] Instead of going to a sewing factory, Kim says she ended up in Japanese military brothels in half a dozen countries. She was told her job was to revitalize the soldiers. [Kim:] it went on for such a long time. by the time the sun went down, I couldn't use my lower body at all. [Ripley:] Kim says years of physical abuse took a permanent toll. [Kim:] In my old age I couldn't have a single person who can call me mother, I couldn't never have a child. [Ripley:] Her story matches testimony from other so-called Comfort Women. In Washington, this former Korean sex slave made a tearful plea to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, demanding an official apology. Critics say Abe has not been vocal enough. They fear his government is trying to whitewash the past to appease conservatives who feel Comfort Women were paid prostitutes, not victims of official military policy. [Koichi Nakano, Professor:] They have gone through tremendous trauma. And in a way, Japanese government risks committing second rape by discrediting their testimonies and treating as if they were lies. [Ripley:] Abe insists he and other prime ministers have made repeated apologies. [Shinzo Abe, Japanese Prime Minister:] I am deeply pained to think of the comfort women who experienced immeasurable pain and suffering. [Ripley:] But since Abe first came to office, his government has succeed in removing references to Comfort Women from many Japanese school textbooks. [Kim:] my only wish is to set the record straight about the past before I die. [Ripley:] Will Ripley, CNN, Tokyo. [Lu Stout:] And these women are still waiting for an apology. You're watching News Stream. And still to come on the program, Myanmar's election, it's a historic one, it's drawing near and some voters they've have waited a generation for the opportunity to cast their ballot. We've got a preview of the scene, next. [Tapper:] Russia called on Washington this morning to investigate a seemingly accidental strike that killed 62 Syrian troops instead of ISIS fighters lead by the U.S. The U.N. Security Council called an emergency meeting to discuss the attack which U.S. ambassador Samantha Power called a stunt given Russia's ties to the Assad regime and lack of action over Syria's strikes on its own people. But Russia's influence over Syria and the Olympics, and even the American campaign trail cannot really be denied. And that is the subject of this week's "State of the Cartoonion." Happy birthday, Moscow. The Russian capital turned 869 last week and President Vladimir Putin was spotted in Red Square celebrating. But while he may physically be in Moscow, Putin's fingerprints lately seem to be, well, everywhere. American gymnast Simone Biles found herself defending her gold medal after the World Anti-Doping Agency had its records hacked they say by the Russians. Although the Kremlin denies it. This week we also got to hear Colin Powell's unvarnished thoughts on the 2016 presidential candidates after will his personal e-mails were stolen and published on a website experts say is tied to Russia. Hillary Clinton did not weigh in on the content of the e-mails but pointed a finger at Putin. [Clinton:] What I think is really important about these e-mails is the chilling fact that the Russians are continuing to attempt or to interfere in our election. [Tapper:] It all leads many people wondering just where Putin might pop up next. Thanks for watching. "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" is next. [Whitfield:] All right. Welcome back. The hunt for a cop killer continues in Memphis hours after the officer is shot and killed during a traffic stop. The officer was shot multiple times. Still not clear why the routine traffic stop turned like this and became deadly. This is the third Memphis officer in four years to lose his life on the job. As CNN's Nick Valencia has details. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Fred, tragedy in Memphis overnight. Veteran police officer gunned down during a routine traffic stop. [Toney Armstrong, Director, Memphis Police:] This is just a reminder of how dangerous this job is. [Valencia:] An active search in Memphis for a murder. Saturday night just after 9:00 p.m., 33-year-old Sean Bolton, a veteran Memphis cop, is shot during a traffic stop. A citizen uses Bolton's radio to call in to police. But it's too late. [Armstrong:] The officer was transported to regional med in critical condition but later pronounced diseased due to multiple gunshot wounds. [Valencia:] Hours after the shooting Memphis police director Toney Armstrong visibly emotional. [Armstrong:] As a community we say so often, there's a theme that do black lives matter? And at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, do all lives matter? [Valencia:] Bolton was the third officer shot in Memphis in the past four years. Speaking to media, the Memphis mayor took the moment to address a rise in the city's gun violence. [Mayor Ac Wharton, Memphis:] This again evidences the fact that there are so many guns on our streets in the wrong hands. That's the key thing. [Valencia:] Police have not released details about the suspect. They say all resources will be used to find whoever was responsible Fred. [Whitfield:] All right, thank you so much, Nick Valencia. Joining me right now from Los Angeles, in California, there is retired LAPD police sergeant Cheryl Dorsey. Cheryl, good to see you. So have traffic stops become even more dangerous as of recent for police? [Cheryl Dorsey, Retired Lapd Police Sergeant:] Thank you for having me on. First let me express my condolences to the men and women on the Memphis police department and the family of Sean Bolton. And you know, police traffic stops have always been dangerous because it's something that we do quite regularly. And it's important that officers maintain diligence, that they don't become complacent in the stopping of motorists. And you know, we want to always let our partners know where we are. Telegraph your location. Go code six is what we say here in Los Angeles on that traffic stop and get out information about the plate so that in the event things go sideways you can have help coming pretty quick. It's always reactionary because we never know who we're approaching and confront being. [Whitfield:] So, it's likely those things happened because it seems like that is, you know, customary to routine. But I wonder also with surveillance cameras, with dash cams, help us understand the tools that will be used to try to find out who did this and how it happened. [Dorsey:] Well my hope is that the officer had an opportunity to broadcast through communications that he was about to conduct a traffic stop. And that he was able to provide them with some information that might help. And we don't know this, and I understand why they wouldn't want to say. But hopefully he was able to give out the description of the vehicle and the license plate number of the car that he was stopping so they could run that vehicle plate and see who it's registered to and follow up with the registered owner to see if that's the person behind the wheel or did they loan their car to someone else. [Whitfield:] And because of so much that has happened particularly in recent months, in recent years, do you believe that most police jurisdictions are changing the way in which they are training people, you know, with the potential dangers of traffic stops? How is that playing a role? [Dorsey:] You know, I don't know that officers or departments are doing anything differently. I would hope that they're doing everything the exact same. Because we understand that there are a couple of things that are inherently dangerous. Traffic stops and domestic violence calls. And so, it's important for officers to be well trained, and then to practice, because we play like we practice. And so, if you have an idea about how you want to handle a situation when things go sideways you rely on that training. And you don't have to think about what am I going to do. But there's some fundamental things that we should always do. And we should always let others know where we're located. That we're conducting a traffic stop. You should never just stop a car without communicating that to your dispatch. [Whitfield:] All right. Cheryl Dorsey, thank you so much. Appreciate it from [L.a. Dorsey:] Thank you, Fredricka. [Whitfield:] All right. Still ahead, two dozen wildfires in California forcing thousands to evacuate their homes. The largest of those fires nearly doubling in size. Will the weather capital? [Tapper:] Wow. What a great memory that was. Welcome back to THE LEAD. We've seen Prince command a lead like that one. We know he didn't particularly care for interviews. In fact, he described himself as shy. But in the last day or so, we're learning quite a bit about another side of Prince. Many of his friends described as hilarious. They say if he hadn't been a singer, he would have made an incredible comedian. One of my next guests found that out during a show of his own, Cedric the Entertainer joins me on the phone. Also with us, Chuck D., part of the legendary hip hop group, Public Enemy. Thanks to both of you for joining me. Cedric, let me start with you. Tell us how you came to know Prince. I understand, you told a joke about him during one of your shows. [Cedric The Entertainer:] Yes. He was a guy who loves all kinds of entertainment and so I was in Minneapolis early in my career, you know, smaller venue and I'm doing a joke about, you know, like how your relatives borrow your clothes and I said, Prince has got a nephew or niece, maybe get something out of your closet? He said, I have these pants with the butt cheeks out and he's like, nah, you can keep those. Everybody was laughing and it was a funny joke and then later on in my dressing room, Prince heard that joke and they sent this note and said he invited me out to Paisley Park. It was like crazy, like I couldn't believe he was sitting in the audience in the corner like and saw it and so since then I've been invited to the house several times. I was on stage with him in Los Angeles singing "Raspberry Beret" and stopped the music and said, do you know the words? I said, I know it my way. I worked at five and dime. My boss was Mr. McGee. I do it the way black people sing it. Any way that makes sense to them, we put it in the song. [Tapper:] Chuck D, you collaborated with Prince on an album and you perform together. What was it like to work with him? [Chuck D, Member, Public Enemy:] Maestro, like when you put it in the same vernacular, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, I mean, he made everything in the last 50 years for us, because he signified past, present and future. And I recorded with Prince in 1999 at Paisley Park and he had a garage sale on the lawn of Paisley Park. That's how community oriented Paisley Park was to the community. And I'm like, are you having a yard sale? Yes, I'm selling guitars and I'm like, dude. And basketball rims up in there. So, it was a mind-blowing experience and any time that he was on stage and I was in the audience, he would call me up to do what I do and I'm like, OK, I'm awe struck but I better get my head focus and do the thing. [Tapper:] So incredible. Cedric, in recent years, we've lost several icons, Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, David Bowie earlier this year [Cedric The Entertainer:] Maurice White. [Tapper:] Yes. [Cedric:] I mean, you think about it, just losing so many people that mean their music lives on, though. It's the thing about everybody has a great first story how it touches you, how his music made something very specific for you, you know. And I remember the song that came out and I lived in St. Louis and it was such a big hit. I remember that I radio played it like eight times in a row and nobody complained. Like people just people just let the radio play the song over and over again one night. It was just nobody worried about. We just loved that song when it came out and remember, you know, that was the effect that he had on people like that with his songs and his music. [Tapper:] I think I played "When Doves Cry" six times on my way to work six times today. What about you? What have you been playing, Cedric? [Cedric:] I'm doing dance music, "Sex for Romance," "Holding my Mead" and all those in the last few days and "Erotic City" is for the deep- voice brothers. That's a song I can actually sing in my range. [Tapper:] What about you, chuck? [Chuck D:] Yes. My radio rap station, "Dan Mr. Man," Sign of the Times," did a song called "Undisputed," "Let's Go Crazy." You know, another thing about Prince, remember the time recently that he revolutionized the MP3 movement and digital music and we ran toe to toe in trying to liberate music. And he doesn't get the credit that he deserves to make everybody get the music out or whatever and people also tend to forget when they say he was making too much music, that's impossible because now it's like Picasso. It's not enough and they will be minding his music for the next 50 to 100 years as long as they have players or ears to listen. Prince was always in the future. If you want to talk about anything from the past, I know you kind of remember this, Ced, being from St. Louis, Prince selling out eight in a row Jo Louis arenas on a concert in Detroit. I'm like, eight in a row? [Cedric:] Dude, he could sell out a show. He was so magical. Prince could sell out a show the day he's coming. You wouldn't even know he's coming. [Chuck D:] Right. [Cedric:] That's how quickly, it's gone, like everybody [Chuck D:] Before the internet, right? It was like, Prince was already on the internet before the internet took hold. How do people know about this gig? Prince sent it out. [Cedric:] And he would play these great late-night parties that everybody would talk about. He would have somebody cooking and people at his house, and Adam Levine singing and just crazy, like you had to be like breakfast and food and he would be walking around cool just like a regular dude. Amazing. [Tapper:] Chuck, was he like go ahead, Chuck. [Chuck D:] Well, another thing, Prince in the last 20 years was saying everything is very relevant to the environment and the world and social status thing, everything up to the last minute with a song called "Baltimore." And he's always liberating women to be musicians and it's like a world is missing a note when he actually, you know, transitioned. We salute him. We salute him with the utmost respect. [Tapper:] Such an honor to listen to you two. Such an honor to listen to you two, Chuck and Cedric, thank you so much. [Cedric:] Thank you, Jake. I appreciate it, man. Long live Prince. [Chuck D:] Yep. Thanks, Jake. Thanks a lot, Ced. [Tapper:] Thanks, guys. Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life, it means forever and that's a mighty long time, but I'm here to tell you there's something else, the afterworld. Powerful world from Prince's "Let's Go Crazy" being felt now perhaps more than ever. The world has got a look of Prince today. Emotional tributes unfolding across the performer's front gate in Minneapolis and coloring the world's landmarks thousands of miles away. In London, President Obama prepared for a meeting with the British prime minister by listening to a little bit of Prince. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] It so happens our ambassador has a turn table and so this morning we played "Purple Rain" and "Delirious" just to get warmed up. [Tapper:] Back home in the states, Niagara Falls roared into a new hue. At first, for the birthday of Queen Elizabeth and then for Prince. From the great wheel in Seattle to landmarks in San Francisco and Los Angeles, America turned to the color of rock royalty. New Orleans superdome alight, Baltimore beaming. The rapper, "The Gain" penned a new song in Prince's honor, "Rest in Purple" was posted on Sound Cloud mere hours after the news broke. Not only paying tribute to Prince but to the other icons lost. The song's title, a shared expression among Prince's fans who left flowers and messages at Paisley Park where Prince performed just a few days ago. Fans took Prince with them into the streets as well. Celebrating his life at iconic First Avenue in Minneapolis where he got his start. In Brooklyn, Spike Lee orchestrated a block party for the purple one, it drew thousands. [Spike Lee, Director:] Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today for this thing called life. [Tapper:] And for a star this bright, Broadway did not dim its lights. Instead, the cast of "Hamilton" concluded with a dance. And Jennifer Hudson in the cast to sing "What Else." We'll be right back. [Cooper:] Donald Trump is in Fort Smith, New Hampshire tonight, his first big campaign event since advocating a ban on Muslims entering the United States. He just finished speaking to members of regional New England police union who just endorsed him saying the San Bernardino killings validate the need to keep Muslims out. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] When I talked about what I said the other day, all of a sudden I'm watching the shows this morning and I'm watching the shows tonight, well, you know, Trump has a point. The visa system is not working. This woman came in on a marriage visa and she was totally radicalized. And she came in and all of a sudden they are saying it's not working. The visa system. We have got to get down to the problems. We can't worry about being politically correct. We just can't afford any more to be so politically correct. [Cooper:] Donald Trump tonight in New Hampshire. The larger backdrop, new polling that shows strong support for Trump and ideas within the Republican party whether the party leadership likes it or not. Our chief national correspondent John King looks at that and more tonight by the numbers. John, these new numbers, what do they show? [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] First numbers, Anderson, asking Americans what they think of Donald Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from entering to the United States. CNBC"Wall Street Journal" poll out tonight, 25 percent of voters support that. But look, nearly six in ten Americans say they oppose Mr. Trump's proposal that Muslim should be ban from entering the United States. However, 57 percent is among all voters. In the Republican primary, Anderson, look at this. A 38, 39 percent divide. So in a crowded field among Republicans in the short term"Wall Street Journal" also ask this. They said did Donald Trump's comments frequently insulting and he has the wrong approach on many issues? Forty-one percent agreed with that. But 24 percent agreed with this statement. Trump's manner and language bother me but he is raising important issues. And Anderson, another 22 percent said Trump tells it like it is and has the right approach on many issues. So they may oppose six in ten American may oppose the plan, but you can see from those other numbers, Trump still has considerable support. [Cooper:] Yes. Also some new changes in the Republican race. [King:] Some dramatic changes. And again, Trump is on top. This is from a CBS"New York Times" poll out today. Trump stays on top with 35 percent. But Cruz and Carson, especially if I bring in October numbers, you see the difference. Donald Trump up from October. Ted Cruz quadrupled up from 16 percent now from October. You see Ben Carson support is cut in half and Marco Rubio and Rand Paul finishing the top five here in the Republican race. But that's a pretty big shift there. But again in the national poll, yet another one, Anderson, showing Donald Trump remains with a commanding lead. [Cooper:] And I know one of the polls asked potential voters to describe their feelings of if Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton were elected president. What did they say? [King:] This one is interesting. Take a look at these numbers. Essentially, they were asked if there is a president Trump, if Donald Trump wins, would you be excited, optimistic, concerned or scared. Four in ten Americans they would be scared, 24 percent say they would be concerned and only 11 percent say they would be excited, 24 percent say optimistic. Let's have a little bit of comparison here to a president Clinton. Only nine percent say they would be excited. A smaller percentage say they would be scared, 34 to 40 percent, about the same were concerned, a little more people would be optimistic. But Anderson, when you dig deeper into these numbers, very much along partisan lines. Look at Republican voters. Would you want Donald Trump as president? Twenty-five percent of Republicans would be excited, 41 percent would be optimistic, only 10 percent of Democrats combined would be excited or optimistic. Republicans are less concerned and obviously Democrats are much more scared of Donald Trump, 63 percent of Democrat said they would be scared by Trump presidency. And here is the flipside, 65 percent of Republicans say they would be scared for the Clinton presidency and only six percent of Democrats. So, you look at those numbers, would you be scared and concerned? And guess what? Democrats don't like Donald Trump. Republicans don't like Hillary Clinton. Shocking. [Cooper:] Shocking. John King, thanks. [King:] Thank you. [Cooper:] More now on the problem that some of those numbers speak to the GOP may nominate someone that resonates with the current Republican base but who is out of the general election main stream. We just learned that the possibility of a contested convention was on the agenda at a party strategy meeting in Washington earlier this week. Let's get some perspective now from three conservative voices all whom could be called main stream. Former U.S. congressman Rick Lazio, who named his campaign bus the main stream express during his New York senate run in 2000, CNN political commentator and "New York Times" columnist Ross Douthat and "Washington Post" syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker. Good to have all of you here. Congressman, you see Donald Trump, you see those latest poll numbers. Is the Republican establishment out of touch with the Republican base? [Rick Lazio, Former U.s. Congressman:] There is a lot of fear out there, Anderson. There is a new poll also that came out today that says that the fear of domestic terrorism is an all-time high since 911. [Cooper:] Right. Number one issue more than [Lazio:] Yes. Number one issue. So his strength right now is his strength. It is the fact that tough talk equates for many voters to strength. And they are looking for somebody to help make them safe. The real story in my mind, though, and I think this will play out over the course of what maybe a relatively long nomination season is that his tag line is I'll make America great again. But what makes America great is, really, our values, our traditions, the things that we believe in. The greatest and most iconic to me as landmark in America is not Sing Sing, it is the Statute of Liberty. It is what inspires people to think that this country is great, not just here in the U.S., but overseas. So when he talks about using religious tests to block people from coming in, you can't imagine people like Abraham Lincoln, for example, or Ronald Reagan who apologized to the Japanese Americans. [Cooper:] Paid reparations. [Lazio:] Paid reparations. Interesting since Trump himself cites the FDR internment as sort of the benchmark or the baseline to justify using a religious [Cooper:] But Kathleen, I mean * [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] But, Kathleen, I mean, 35 percent of Republicans support Donald Trump. I mean, far ahead of anybody else. [Kathleen Parker, Syndicated Columnist, Washington Post:] Yes, they do. And I think that, you know, the party leaders are pretty worried about it. There are a lot of meetings going on and lots of high-ranking, not only the party members but the funders of various campaigns are looking to see what are we going to do? Are we going to let this play out and let him just see where he goes or are we going to take some more strategic action? [Cooper:] What more can they what would they do? [Parker:] Well, they can just condemn him generally and they will lose that percentage of voters who actually like him. I don't know that the 35 percent is representative of those who are actually going to vote for him. But they do support him at this point. I think there is a difference there. Still have a year to go. But if they did that, you know, there are some people making the argument that let's just go ahead and lose them. You know, if we lose the election, let's at least keep the let's keep the Senate, let's keep the House and let's focus on 2020. That's already on the table. [Cooper:] Ross, can the G.O.P. afford to do that? [Ross Douthat, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I mean, the secret here is that Trump isn't actually winning what people usually think of as the Republican base. I mean, he's winning some ideological conservatives, but a big chunk of the vote is self-described moderate and liberal Republicans, which doesn't mean that they are liberal necessarily in the way that, you know, maybe people who read "The New York Times" understand the term, but they are often working class and disaffected white men in the Midwest and the northeast, voters some of whom who stayed home in 2012 rather than voting for Mitt Romney. And they are not a constituency that the Republican Party has always done a good job dealing with and catering to and so it's not surprising that the party leadership is struggling to figure what they want. They didn't really know what these voters wanted in 2012 or 2008, either. But the one thing to your question about what they could actually do I mean, the one thing that hasn't really happened is there aren't major Republican organizations, forget the other candidates going after Trump on the air waves, running ads against him. I mean, there were some, you know, John Kasich ran this sort of over the top ad comparing Trump to Hitler in New Hampshire, but you know, the Koch brothers aren't funding massive ad by attacking Donald Trump in Iowa. You have some groups started to do that. But there hasn't been a full spectrum press against Trump because the assumption is that either he'll fade or it's not worth attacking him because you don't want to alienate his supporters. [Rick Lazio , Former U.s. Congressman:] I would say another thing here is that Donald Trump is really an attitude more than a plan. And, at some point, the party leaders need to press him for an actual credible plan, which I think he's largely lacking. [Cooper:] But, I mean, he's been pressed, you know, in countless interviews and his supporters don't seem to care so much about that a lot of the lines that, you know, aren't filled in exactly [Lazio:] Yes. But he needs to get he needs to grow his numbers and he's going to have a real challenge it seems to me if he does not have a credible plan and he hasn't come across as somebody who you can trust. And, by the way, the last cycle in 2012, Romney didn't take the lead permanently until February 28th. So we're a long way from that. I mean, we saw Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum. I mean, everybody had their time in the sun and so that [Douthat:] But in the last campaign at this point, we knew that Romney was going to be the establishment's guy, even though, he was only polling at 20 percent or so. And I think the challenge this time and I think what's panicking people is that it's not clear I mean, people assume now that it's going to be Rubio, but there isn't a candidate who has Romney's kind of position, and a lot of people in the establishment are saying well, you know, Trump is at 35 percent but Ted Cruz is behind him and Cruz is, you know, Cruz is an unacceptable alternative. [Parker:] You know, he can easily you know, we could see him moving into the number one position pretty easily because he does have [Cooper:] Numbers have gone up a lot last month. [Parker:] Absolutely and he's got the infrastructure in place. And he is well-organized and he's been building this sort of on the sidelines for a long time and suddenly moving up so, you know [Cooper:] I actually want to talk more about this. We're going to take a quick break and we're going to talk more about him and the others. Hold that thought. What Ted Cruz really thinks about Donald Trump? Some new remarks he made. We'll show you that. Also, our Randi Kaye is in New Hampshire. She spent the day talking to Trump supporters there asking them what they think of this so- called G.O.P. panic. "The Washington Post" wrote about and Mr. Trump's remarks about banning Muslims. We'll be right back. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn National Correspondent:] But Melania is climbing in the polls, her way. Jeanne moos, CNN, New York. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] And you can see a lot more about the first lady. CNN's Special Report, "Melania Trump: The Making of a First Lady." That is tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern only right here. The next hour of NEWSROOM is now. Good morning, everyone, I'm Poppy Harlow. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman, great to see you this morning. Any minute now, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, he holds a news conference to issue fresh attacks against the Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. But you know, maybe he should just cancel this appearance. Go to the ball game or something [Harlow:] Get some popcorn. [Berman:] Right, because Republicans are doing his work for him. This morning, Republican Senator Tom Cotton pleaded with his House colleagues to pause, start over. [Harlow:] In the meantime, 23 hours and counting, going, going, going, two House committees discussing this plan, debating it through the night. One of them is actually still going, making it almost a full 24-hour meeting, even as this House plan passes its first legislative test. The road ahead appears filled with speed bumps to say the least. Let's begin this hour on Capitol Hill with Sunlen Serfaty. What is the sense that you're getting there in terms of just how hard this is going to be for the White House? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, to give you an indication of how long a haul it's been up here on Capitol Hill, Poppy, over the last 24 hours, as you noted, those two House committees are working on marking up the bill. There was a small victory in the House Ways and Means Committee. They approved their portion of the repeal shortly after 4:30 a.m. this morning. But the Energy and Commerce Committee, they are still going strong. There have been pizza deliveries, snack deliveries. And again, it's an indication of how a haul this really has been. That meeting started yesterday morning, still going right now. And our reporter Lauren Fox just caught up with one Congressman who's running around in his socks. He said he simply had no chance to put back on his shoes after he took a shower for the first time in 24 hours, zipping away from that committee hearing just for a few minutes. But certainly as that painstaking process inches forward bit by bit, a major warning sign coming from a Republican Senator, Senator Tom Cotton who says in a tweet storm, essentially "slow this down." Cotton tweets, "House health care bill can't pass Senate without major changes. To my friends in the House, pause, start over. Get it right, don't get it fast." "GOP shouldn't act like Dems did in Obamacare. No excuse to release bill Monday night, start voting Wednesday with no budget estimate." "What matters in long run is better, more affordable health care for Americans, not House leaders' arbitrary legislative calendar." Now, meantime, the Republican leadership in the House is essentially arguing this process, the way they're bringing this forward through budget reconciliation, is actually the best chance that they have to pass this. And Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, really defending that it's been a rocky rollout. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] So, we are going through what I would call the sort of typical growing pains from being an opposition party fighting Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, to a governing party. What I think is happening is people are getting a little confused about what you can and cannot put in in what we call a reconciliation bill. [Tucker Carlson, Fox News:] These are members of Congress, so they know. They know what a reconciliation bill is. [Ryan:] Well, we are finding that some don't. [Serfaty:] And in just a few minutes, we'll hear from Senator Schumer and other Senate Democrats who are continuing their push against this bill, including importantly the branding of all of it. They're trying to push the White House to take ownership of this bill. They have taken to call it calling it Trumpcare. John and Poppy? [Berman:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty for us on Capitol Hill. Again, we're watching for Senate lead Democrat Chuck Schumer who'll be speaking any minute. We'll bring that to you when it happens. In the meantime, we have some new answers or I guess non-answers from the administration on President Trump's claim that President Obama ordered wiretaps on him. CNN's Sara Murray joins us live from the White House. Good morning, Sara. [Sara Murray, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Good morning. Well, if the president was hoping for some backup on these wiretapping claims, it doesn't look like Vice President Mike Pence is quite ready to give it to him. He was asked whether he agrees with President Trump that President Barack Obama spied on Trump when he was then a candidate for president. He did some interesting dodging here. Take a listen to how he answered it. [John Kosich, News 5 Cleveland:] Yes or no. Do you believe that President Obama did that? [Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] Well, what I can say is that the president and our administration are very confident that the Congressional committees in the House and Senate that are examining issues surrounding the last election, the run-up to the last election, will do that in a thorough and equitable way. [Murray:] So, an interesting response from the vice president there. Now, yesterday White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, they have no reason to believe that the president is the subject of any investigation. And the White House still isn't offering up any proof to support the president's wiretapping claim. Instead, they've taken it to Congress, asking them to investigate. And now, at least two senators in a bipartisan fashion say they're willing to take up that mantle. Lindsey Graham and Sheldon Whitehouse put out a letter to the FBI and the Department of Justice. Basically, asking them to come forward with any documents, any court order supporting the notion that there were wiretaps to try to get to the bottom of whether this actually happened. Back to you guys. [Harlow:] All right, Sara Murray at the White House. Sara, thank you very much. And let's go straight to Democratic Senator Ben Cardin, a ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee. It's nice to have you with us, Senator. Let's jump in on this wiretapping discussion and investigation that is to come. Let's listen to what Sean Spicer, the White House Spokesman said just yesterday. Let's play it. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] There is no reason that we should that we have to think that the president is the target of any investigation whatsoever. The one question dealt with whether or not the tweet dealt with wiretaps during the thing. The other is an investigation. They are two separate issues. And there is it no reason to believe that there is any type of investigation with respect to the Department of Justice. [Harlow:] OK. So, the first part of that, Senator, let's get to that, because the context here is that in your position as the ranking member on the Foreign Relations Committee, you requested before the inauguration from the State Department and received from the State Department these classified documents having to do with Russia's hacking of the U.S. election. So, what's your response to what Sean Spicer said? Do you have any reason to believe that he is wrong saying that the president is not a target of any investigation? [Sen. Ben Cardin , Ranking Member Foreign Relations Committee:] Well, this starts with the president's tweet in regards to being wiretapped. Wiretaps are not imposed unless there is cause. So there had to be some reason, if in fact it was a wiretap. There is no evidence that there was a wiretap. And the president's reputation here of using tweets without information raises major questions as to whether there's anything to this. Having said that, what the Judiciary Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee bipartisan members are asking bring us the information, give us what you have. What I've called for is an independent commission to look at all aspects of Russia's incursions into the United States, including these allegations of Americans being involved. We should have an independent commission as we did after we were attacked on 911. In regards to information that I received as Senate Foreign Relations ranking Democrat, that was in the normal oversight function, that information was made available to both the Democrats and Republicans on our committee. It was marked classified so therefore, I can't tell you the specifics. But most of the information we're talking about has been released publicly. The Intelligence Community has determined that Russia indeed did cyberattack us, they did try to influence our elections, and they tried to influence it in one direction. [Berman:] OK. So, based on what you know, without revealing classified information, just a couple of yes and no answers to some of the questions, including Poppy's. Do you have any evidence, any reason to believe that there is an investigation, or was an investigation into the president where he was the target, yes or no? [Cardin:] I would not have that information. So, I have no information in regards to that one way or the other. [Berman:] OK. And then the issue of collusion, which is in some cases, in some people's minds, the very number one issue in dealing with this, have you seen any evidence at all of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians? [Cardin:] Well, we do know what has we do know the statements made by the Trump campaign during the campaign itself, encouraging Russia to release more information. We do know the timing of a lot of the meetings are somewhat of concern. We need an investigation. I don't have that information. But the American people deserve an independent investigation as to what Russia was doing in the United States attacking us. And what contacts they had with Americans, whether it was collusion or innocence. We need to know what they were doing. [Harlow:] All right. Before we let you go, we do want to get your take on health care and what's going on right behind you now at the Capitol. The president met with a number of conservative groups last night, many of them was not happy with what your fellow Democrats are labeling Trumpcare. And what the president said to them, we've learned through our Jim Acosta's reporting, is if we can't get this one through, we're just going to let Obamacare fail and then blame the Democrats for that. What's your reaction to the president's apparent strategy here? [Cardin:] Well, I'm perfectly fine if the Republicans decide not to proceed the way they're preceding. I think that would be in the best interest of health care for Americans. I hope Democrats and Republicans can work together to improve our health care system. But the fundamentals are sound. The bill that was released by Republicans would cause major damage to our seniors both in the medicare solvency of the trust fund and in regards to long term care under Medicaid. It would cause cost shifting, uninsured, lots of problems. So, I'm very happy if they decide to go back and just scrap it. [Harlow:] All right. I will note, the premiums have gone up for a lot of folks. -And they're not happy about that. Stay with us, we're going to dip in and listen to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on this health care plan. Let's listen. [Sen. Chuck Shumer , New York:] Are you a senior? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. Are you a woman? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. Are you someone are you or someone in your family living with a disability? Trumpcare means higher costs and less coverage. In fact, Trumpcare is really a tax break for the rich, not a health care program. That's the real motivation of so many of our Republican colleagues, to take people whose income is above $250,000 and give them an average tax break, to take the top.01 percent and give them an average tax break of $200,000 while making these people pay more. It's horrible. President Trump has talked about helping working America. But the plan he has embraced, Trumpcare, helps the rich and hurts the average American. And that's not surprising given all the other things his administration is doing. This administration has developed a pattern. Health care is part of that. They talk like populists but act like those helping wealthy special interests time after time after time. Look, no one likes this bill, hospitals, doctors, governors, conservatives, liberals, nonpartisan groups, and most of all, the people who will no longer have affordable health care. So we, Democrats, are here today to tell our Republican friends, turn back, drop this irresponsible plan, stop this effort to repeal, and we'll work with you to improve the Affordable Care Act. But Trumpcare is a loser for just about all of America unless you're in the top 1 percent. Now I'm going to turn it over to Senator Stabenow or Senator King, because he has to go to a hearing. [Sen. Angus King , Maine:] I thought a lot about how to characterize this. By the way, it's not only Democrats. It is independents too, Chuck. [Schumer:] Thank you, Angus! [King:] A way to characterize this bill, because we've heard it being discussed so much in the last few days. I think, probably, the easiest way to characterize it is "repeal and wreck." "repeal and wreck." It basically undermines the premise of the Affordable Care Act which is to provide health insurance access, meaningful access. And you got to be careful when you hear that word "access" because lots of times, my colleagues, when they use that word, they mean, you can buy it. But they don't talk about whether it's affordable and whether you can afford to buy it. And that's what the problem with this bill is. If you were to designing a bill to hammer my state, it would be this bill. A citizen in the northern part of my state, called Aroostook County up near the Canadian border, a 60-year-old would see their support for their health care coverage diminish 70 percent. The average cut across my entire state for a 60-year-old is 48 percent, almost 50 percent in terms of the support for their ability to purchase health insurance. What this really is [Berman:] We're listening to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Angus King the Independent also some of Ben Cardin's Democratic colleagues, speaking out against the new repeal and replace plan from Republicans to replace Obamacare. Again, we are joined by Senator Ben Cardin, Democrat from Maryland, who is with us now. And Senator Cardin, we've been listening to your colleagues criticizing Trumpcare [Harlow:] Right. [Berman:] as they call it. The plan to repeal and replace, they say, it will wreck the health care system. They have a lot of problems with that. The flip side of it though, is how do you address some of the problems with Obamacare as it now stands? Because you do know that premiums are rising, in some cases by a lot in some parts of the country. You do know that insurers are pulling out of exchanges in some parts of the country, leaving few options. Do you have any ability at this point, as a Democrat, to stop that? [Cardin:] Well, as you point out, let me first point out, as President Trump said, there is a lot of people who have coverage today who didn't have coverage before the Affordable Care Act, people in the exchanges, people in the Medicaid system. We've reduced in Maryland our uninsured rates by half, from about 12 percent to 6 percent. That's critically important so we don't get cost shifting. So, the first thing we want to make sure is that we don't damage the quality coverage that we've been able to expand under the Affordable Care Act. The challenge with the Republican plan is that it very much affects Medicaid and it's very unlikely that the states will be able to continue the coverage under the Affordable Care Act. And then secondly, they jeopardize the individual marketplace, where healthy individuals are less likely to come into the insurance marketplace, raising the cost for higher risk pool. So, the fundamental fault that the Republicans have done is to jeopardize the progress we've made in getting people into the health care system, not using emergency rooms and not costing other people their extra coverage costs. [Harlow:] But Senator, before we let you go to John's point. Yes or no, do you think Obamacare needs fixing? [Cardin:] I think we need to improve the health care system in this country. We can make it better. There are areas that Democrats and Republicans should work together on, absolutely. [Berman:] Senator Ben Cardin, we're looking to you to get to work. Thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate it. Coming up, we just saw some of it right there, Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader, attacking the new plan for Republican leadership to repeal and replace Obamacare. One of the big questions is how much will this cost? [Harlow:] Indeed. Also, ahead for us, several hundred U.S. Marines in Syria right now, on the ground to support local forces in that fight against ISIS, trying to retake ISIS's self-proclaimed Capital of Raqqa. The latest on this offensive is ahead. [Burnett:] New video of a violent confrontation happening just hours ago. What you're going to see is a confrontation between a white high school security officer and a black female student caught on a cell phone camera. This happened today in South Carolina. Officials saying the student refused an order to leave the classroom for allegedly disrupting class. We'll show it to you now so you can see it in full. The school's resource officer was called, at one point putting his arm around the girl's neck and knocking her down. You can see that in the back corner of the room. There you go. You can see it there, lifting her up and then dragging her actually across the floor. As you can see, literally throwing her body there at the front of the classroom. Now, the officer eventually actually handcuffed that teenager. We have attempted to reach out to the officer multiple times. School officials and the sheriff's office are investigating tonight. Tonight, police afraid to do their jobs. The head of the FBI says violent crime is on the rise, thanks in part to countless videos of police allegedly using excessive force. [James Comey, Fbi Director:] I spoke to officers privately in one big city precinct who describe being surrounded by young people with mobile phones held high taunting them when they get out of their cars. They said to me, we feel under siege and we don't feel much like getting out of our cars. [Burnett:] Evan Perez is OUTFRONT. And, Evan, that's a pretty damning statement. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Reporter:] Well, it really is, Erin. You know, one of the things that the FBI director said he wanted to do was to start a conversation. I can tell you here at this police conference, police chiefs conference, in Chicago, it was the talk of the conference, simply because a lot of officers have been saying some of these same things privately, but they have not been wanting to say it in public. And here you have the FBI director saying it to the whole world. [Burnett:] Saying it to the whole world and really giving credibility to what they're saying. And as you said, maybe being afraid to say it in public. He didn't have that fear. The White House is not happy with the director's comments. There's no question about that. I mean, here's spokesman Josh Earnest today. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] I haven't spoken to the president about it, and I don't know if Director Comey has communicated those views to the president directly. I will say that the available evidence at this point does not support the notion that law enforcement officers around the country are shying away from fulfilling their responsibilities. [Burnett:] Is Director Comey reacting to those comments tonight? [Perez:] No, he's not yet, Erin. But one of the things that he's saying here is simply that we want to have a conversation about whether or not all of these viral videos and all this pressure on police is causing, at least in some places, to some officers to not do the things they normally do, get out of their cars and initiate some of these stops. So, that's the question he's asking. He says, look, the jury is out. We'll see what the numbers are. We'll see whether or not the crime numbers hold up later on. But he certainly says he doesn't want to wait to find out. [Burnett:] All right, thank you very much. Evan Perez reporting live from Chicago. And this really isn't a problem just for cops already on the street. Police departments across the United States now are struggling to find new recruits. Kyung Lah with an OUTFRONT investigation. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] The Los Angeles Police Academy where the next generation of cops learn how and when to fire. High-speed pursuit tactics. And takedown moves on armed suspects. [Unidentified Female:] Suspect, put your hands up! [Lah:] A tough job, yet recruit officer Asia Hardy longs to wear the badge, even if others around her don't support her career choice. [Asia Hardy, Lapd Recruit Officer:] I think it's not as easy for the people for family members or friends to actually accept the profession we're going into just because of the perception that African-Americans have towards law enforcement. [Lah:] A perception affected by high-profile officer-involved shootings from Ferguson, Missouri, two North Charleston, South Carolina, to Cincinnati, Ohio. Outrage leading to high-profile targeted killings of police officers. The fallout seen across the country as police departments struggle to attract new officers. In Philadelphia, the number of police recruits has dropped 47 percent in 2014 compared to 2008. Since 2013, New York, the country's biggest police force, applications are down 18 percent. In Los Angeles, 16 percent. Lieutenant Aaron McCraney joined the LAPD at a tough time for cops, the Rodney King era. He's now in charge of trying to convince future cops to join. [on camera]: When you go out and talk to recruits, potential recruits, are you hearing them mention news events? [Lt. Aaron Mccraney, Lapd Recruitment Section:] Sure. That's one of the first questions. They want to know, OK, why should I be a police officer when all of these bad things are going on? Why should I put myself at risk? [Lah:] Coupled with relatively low pay and tough entrance standards, and that chance that they could be hurt or killed. This is a hard sell, especially for women and minorities. But not for Asia Hardy. She wants to improve not just her community but how others view her and her brothers in blue. [Hardy:] Despite all of the backlash law enforcement is getting, this is a personal choice of mine. This is my passion. So, I'm just forward with it, despite this happening right now. [Lah:] A number of the police departments we've spoken with say it's not just public perception that's affecting applications. It's also the job market as well as the economy. They also say that these things are cyclical and they hope this is the bottom Erin. [Burnett:] Pretty interesting tonight that the FBI director weighing in aggressively and against the White House on this. OUTFRONT next, some of America's favorite foods, bacon, hot dogs and steak, a report linking them with cancer, putting them in the same category as smoking. And Jimmy Fallon's ongoing streak of painful bad luck. [Blackwell:] Police are trying to find a mother and her one-year-old child. They say Veronica Brown and her son could be in danger. Now according affiliate KPHO they were in a car when a man walked up and shot the driver then got in that car and drove them away. And police are not sure of the relationship between the shooter and the woman and they are asking for the public's help to find them. [Paul:] After 27 hours stuck in a sinkhole and two hours of digging by rescuers Maverick look at this little guy is back home with his family in Missouri. They spent days searching for the 12-year-old German Shepherd after they thought he had ran away when they heard a howl and saw that he had fallen into a hole. He was buried in the mud but he held on. After a few days recovering at the vet he was able to go home. [Blackwell:] Five people from the Czech Republic are dead after an avalanche in Western Austria on Saturday. 12 other skiers survived. Now this is the latest in the series of fatal avalanches in the French Alps. Last month two students and one adult died when they were skiing and the slopes closed. [Paul:] U.S. zoos are about to get new elephants from the Southern Africa. U.S. official say three male and 15 female elephants will soon head to Dallas, Kansas and Nebraska. Now the plan has sparked an outcry from conservationists who say relocating the giant animals will be detrimental to their health. However the zoo contends these elephants were going to be killed as part of a move to make room for rhinos so essentially they are saying they are saving their lives. We are always so grateful to have you with us. Thanks for starting your morning here. [Blackwell:] Of course we've got much more ahead on the next hour of your NEW DAY, that starts right now. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We begin with breaking news. As the clock ticks down to President Trump's 100th day in office, sources are now telling CNN there may be a possible breakthrough in the talks over health care. You'll remember just weeks ago, an agreement seemed dead and then some after the president and the Republican Party failed to get to yes on a plan to replace Obamacare. Never even taking the bill to the House floor for a vote because things unraveled so quickly. Well, now, signs of life. The White House pushing a new round of negotiations and the various factions within the Republican Party appear to be making some kind of progress. Is that what the president was hinting at when he said this Tuesday? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States Of America:] We are going to have a big win soon, because we're going to have health care, and I believe that's going to happen. And you know, there was no, like, loss with health care. This is just a constant negotiation and the plan is getting better and better all the time. [Bolduan:] Let's get to the state of play right now, though. CNN's national politics reporter, M.J. Lee is here with much more. So, M.J., lay it out for us. Where exactly is the compromise, if we can call it that, and who exactly is on board right now? [M.j. Lee, Cnn National Politics Reporter:] So, there are signs of a possible breakthrough on health care, emphasis on possible. What we know is that leaders of this Tuesday Group as well as the House Freedom Caucus have been in talks over the Easter recess to try to revive the first failed health care bill that was pulled from the House floor. Now, what the members are trying to work on now is a deal that could potentially bring on board 18 to 20 new yes votes from the House Freedom Caucus. Now, I just spoke a little while ago with Republican Congressman Tom Cole, and he tells me that the differences have narrowed, and this thing is very much alive. Now, just to walk you back a little bit, remember, it was exactly a month ago that the House bill was pulled from the floor because leadership could not get enough conservatives as well as moderates on board to get to the 216-vote threshold. Now, clearly, the White House's thinking at the time was that if we do not get it done this time, there will not be another try. That thinking has shifted and we know that Vice President Mike Pence has been very much involved in trying to have more conversations with members of the House Republican Conference. Now, there are some serious obstacles heading into next week. As you know, Kate, members have to deal with the problem of funding the government, and that is sort of their first priority. And we also know that the existing split between the conservative faction as well as the moderates, that continues to sort of be a problem as they try to get to the 216 votes. So, we'll see if any sort of real breakthrough comes before members come back next week Kate. [Bolduan:] Yes, where deadlines haven't helped them in the past with this new administration, it seems they're setting now more deadlines on themselves. Let's see where this goes. M.J., great to see you. Thanks so much. Things are moving rapidly on this, but they could also stop quickly. Let's talk about it. Jon Selib is here, former chief of staff to former Senator Max Bachus of Montana. He was a key player in writing and passing Obamacare way back when. David Drucker is also here, CNN political analyst and senior congressional correspondent for "The Washington Examiner," and Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator and Republican strategist. So, Alice, first to you. As you're reading the tea leaves and you're talking to all the whispers going on in Washington, are you ready to say you've got a breakthrough? [Alice Stewart, Cnn Political Commentator:] We certainly have some progress. I'll go that far. Look, right now there is a call going on between the more conservative wing of the Republican Party, the House Freedom Caucus, and the Tuesday Group, which is the more moderate, and they're trying to come to a consensus on this massive bill, and they feel as though they're closer. One of the key holdups is what is called the limited waiver, and this would be, if they come to agreement on this, it's great progress. This would allow states the option of opting out of certain aspects of this bill. There is also the overall marketplace, which continues what is very popular amongst people, which is allowing kids to stay on their parents' health insurance until they're 26 and also keeping in the pre-existing conditions option. And right now, from what I'm hearing, Mike Pence, while he's busy with foreign policy, he is really driving this train here, making sure that they get something on the table. They would like to have a victory or some signs of victory before they get to 100 days, and this would be a good step forward in that process. [Bolduan:] Right, but exactly, they wanted this victory back in March, though, Alice. I mean, David, isn't some of what we're laying out here as the possible points of compromise, aren't these the exact issues that tripped them up the last time? What do you sense is different? [David Drucker, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, what I know is different is that in talking to people that have been involved with this, they do believe that they are coming together around an emerging framework for a compromise. What they caution is that they don't know how this is going to be received by rank and file members within the various factions of the House Republican Conference [Bolduan:] Which is a huge deal, right? [Drucker:] Well, of course, once it's presented, because what Republicans are trying to do, and John will understand this, Alice will as well, of course, is they're trying to keep everything that people like about Obamacare and remove everything that people don't like, and that creates a real policy conundrum. We will know more on Saturday, possibly, after House Republicans convene in a conference-wide conference call a couple days ahead of returning to Washington from their spring break, and that may tell us where they are. But don't forget, Kate, if they're able to come together on this in concept, it's still going to have to go into legislative language. I'm sure a lot of people will want to see a CBO score, and we'll see if it's able to sort of survive all that and get to a point where they can actually vote on it. [Bolduan:] Jon, take us I don't know if you're having, again, some fun flashbacks here, but take me inside. You've got basically a couple members who think that they've reached some kind of formation, formulation that kind of, like, threads the needle, even though these are topics that were discussed that they could not get to yes on the first time around. How does this play out in your mind? You've got members talking to each other. Then they have to go back and talk to the various factions, and then they need to come back to Capitol Hill. There seems to be a lot of variables that could happen before they get there. [Jon Selib, Former Chief Of Staff To Senator Max Baucus:] I think that's absolutely right and look, let's go back to the fundamentals here. This bill, at least what's being discussed and what we know about so far, is fundamentally the same bill that was being discussed before. There are massive Medicaid cuts that are going to make governors very unhappy, including Republican governors [Bolduan:] Which are making some moderates very unhappy. [Selib:] And many moderates very unhappy. And actually something that a lot of very conservative members of Congress have gotten a lot of guff for when they've gone back and done town halls across the country. So, that's still a massive problem for them in gathering votes. And you know, allowing states to opt out of essential benefits, they can say that they want to keep protecting people with pre-existing conditions, but if you get rid of these essential benefits, you know, you're going to allow insurance companies to sell plans that don't cover things like hospitalizations or pregnancy or other things that [Bolduan:] Maybe, yes, I mean, maybe? [Selib:] Maybe. [Bolduan:] And that's part of it, right. But again, this is stuff that tripped them up. It's something if it isn't the details of the bill, it seems, Alice, something has changed here. Do you think that something is maybe what Jon was pointing to right there? Do you think that it's the pressure on them? Maybe did they go home to their districts and were scared straight by their constituents that they want to see them get something done? [Stewart:] There was a willingness on all sides, Kate, to get something done the first time, but it just wasn't right. I know that the House Freedom Caucus members, they campaigned and they promised all of the Republicans campaigned and promised on repealing and replacing Obamacare. They told their constituents, this would mean lower premiums and greater access to care. House Freedom Caucus members didn't feel that was part of this first plan on the table. The MacArthur amendment, which they're discussing now, they feel is a better step in that direction. They're not concerned about getting pushback here in Washington. They're not concerned about whether or not President Trump tweets angry things about them. They are concerned about going back to their districts and their constituents being frustrated. And what they heard when they went back, their constituents were thankful they stood firm against this first option, and they are encouraged by what they're seeing with this new amendment, and that's what their number one priority is. Everyone wants to come to yes. This is what they campaigned and won on. It's just a matter of how they got there. [Drucker:] Kate, I do think there is some outside pressure from the fact that the Obamacare health care system right now does have a lot of pressure on it where you have insurance groups pulling out of markets, you have premiums that are rising. Republicans are going to have to address that one way or the other, because politically, it no longer works to blame Obamacare now that they're in charge of all of government and they have campaigned on doing something about this. So, that is I think a pressure that is real, that could be driving this. [Bolduan:] And here's the other complicating thing. We have to leave it here. The complicating thing is when they come back, they've got other problems to deal with, keeping the government funded. So, where that plays into negotiations, they've got bigger problems because the Senate could be facing a bigger issue. I don't know if that's a bigger issue now that I think about it, keeping the government funded or getting their health care promise through. I'll leave that to you all to decide. Great to see you, Jon, David, Alice. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much. [Stewart:] Thanks, Kate. [Selib:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Breaking new details on Bill O'Reilly's exit from Fox News a day after Fox News fired him amid sexual harassment allegations. The question now, how golden is your parachute? That's next. Plus, how's this for irony? The judge that Donald Trump attacked during the election for his Mexican heritage, comments that even Paul Ryan called the textbook definition of racism, well, that same judge is now presiding over a major immigration case against the Trump administration. That's ahead. And President Trump continues to stare down North Korea. Startling, new images, though, are also coming out of a North Korean nuclear test site showing people playing volleyball. Not kidding. What does that mean? We'll be right back. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Massive sell-off. The Dow Jones industrials plunged more than 500 points. It's the worst week on Wall Street in years. Is this a so-called correction or something much worse for the markets and your investments? Brink of war. North Korea threatens new military action against the South. Tensions right now are soaring. A deadline is looming. Will either side back down? And Trump in the arena. He's holding a super-sized rally tonight and doing battle over a hot-button term to describe hundreds of thousands of American citizens. Are Trump's opponents fighting him? Or are they copying him? We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] We're following two breaking stories, sources telling CNN that a shooting on a high-speed train is believed to be an Islamist terrorist attack and the gunman appears to be sympathetic to ISIS. The alleged gunman is in custody tonight, accused of opening fire with an automatic weapon on a train from Amsterdam to Paris. Also breaking, Wall Street's biggest loss of the year, the Dow Jones industrials taking a nosedive of 531 points as new economic uncertainty rattles investors. Another major story this hour, we're standing by for a Donald Trump rally in Alabama. It may be the largest campaign event of this presidential primary season so far. It was moved to a football stadium to accommodate 35,000 people expected to attend. The Republican front-runner's popularity growing, despite controversy after controversy. I will talk with one of Donald Trump's rivals, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum. He's standing by to join us live here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Our correspondents and analysts, they are also standing by to cover all the news that's breaking right now. First, let's go to our terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank. He's more on that train attack from Amsterdam to Paris today. What are you learning, Paul? [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] Well, Wolf, a senior European terrorism official, counterterrorism official telling me this is believed to be an Islamist terrorist attack, that the Moroccan gunman was on the radar screen of European security agencies. The official also telling me that two U.S. Marines in civilian clothing surprised the gunman in the toilet of this high-speed train as it traveled between Amsterdam and Paris, that when they surprised him in the train toilet, that the gunman with a handgun managed to get a round off. He was loading a Kalashnikov at the time. But the Marines were able to overpower him, despite the fact one of the Marines was wounded, and they were able to prevent a massacre, in the words of this senior European counterterrorism official. So extraordinary events playing out on this high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris. This gunman had a lot of ammunition. He had several weapons. This could have been a truly horrible terrorist attack. [Blitzer:] Fortunately, those two U.S. Marines were there to stop it. Stand by. I want to bring in our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. She's getting information on what happened as well. What are you learning, Barbara? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Wolf, very sketchy reports arriving at the Pentagon. Officials tell us so far here at the Pentagon, they cannot confirm that these two individuals were U.S. Marines. They're not disputing it. They just don't have the information in hand to confirm it. But a short time ago, the Pentagon did put out a statement and let me quote. It says: "We are aware of the reports and can only confirm that one U.S. military member was injured in the incident. The injury is not life-threatening." They go on to say that they will monitor the situation. Now, if there were U.S. service members on board this train, they would not be traveling in uniform. They do not do that. That is standard procedure to be in civilian clothes. They would not have any military-issue weapons with them on board a civilian train. If they had personal weapons, that might be something else entirely. But, by all accounts, they certainly were not armed. This appears to be an act of extraordinary heroism to save civilians on a high-speed train in Europe. The Pentagon still, though, trying to put all the pieces together, one military member injured, non-life-threatening. They're looking to find out the rest of the details Wolf. [Blitzer:] Stand by, Barbara. I want to go back to Paul Cruickshank, who is working his sources on what's going on. This follows a series of terrorist incidents in France over these past several months. This individual, this alleged terrorist on this high-speed train from Amsterdam to Paris, we're told that and I think you reported it that he was relatively well known as some sort of ISIS sympathizer to French authorities? [Cruickshank:] He was on the radar screen for his radical pro- jihadi views. They believe that he was indeed sympathetic to ISIS, but they're still trying to sort through that to see exactly where his loyalties were. Not clear at this point whether this was a lone wolf terrorist, somebody inspired by a group like ISIS, or somebody that actually traveled to somewhere like Syrian Iraq and learned how to use these kind of weapons. He had a Kalashnikov here. He was loading this Kalashnikov as the Marines surprised him in the toilet on the fast- speed train. Presumably, the Marines feared something was up and felt that they needed to act to stop a lot of bloodshed on this train, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Could have been a huge, huge massacre. Fortunately, those two U.S. Marines were there. One of them injured, we hope not seriously. We will stay on top of the story. Guys, thanks very much. There's other breaking news we're following, including that huge sell-off on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrials plunging nearly 531 points at the closing bell just a couple hours ago. Our business correspondent, Richard Quest, is joining us now from New York. Almost 1,000 points down in the last few days alone, what's going on, Richard? [Richard Quest, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a question of serious selling, but no panic. I can make an argument either way, Wolf. But the best view seems to be, you look at China, which had bad manufacturing numbers. There are worries over the strength of the Chinese economy. Now, because China is for many U.S. corporations their profits and growth for the future, that is transmitting itself around the world. The reality is, we just don't know how good or bad the situation in China is at the moment. And that's the uncertainty. But one other important point, oil under $40 a barrel. That's great, Wolf, for consumers, for holiday-makers and vacationers driving on the summer vacation. But it's dreadful for oil companies, for North Dakota, for Texas, for out West, where the oil industry is such an important part of the economy. As I say, you pays your money on this one, you takes your choice. [Blitzer:] They're saying this is, what, a correction, not necessarily the start of a bear market, right? [Quest:] Well, at the moment, we're 10 percent down from the May high. So, yes, we are now officially in a technical correction sense. We'd have to go 20 percent lower before we were in a bear market. And it would have to be a series of sustained sell-offs to make a bear market. A bear market is when you get the feeling the market's going down and it ain't going to recover. Now, so far, yes, there are people out there who will say this looks like a bear market. But the people I have been speaking to today say, this is an overdue correction, it's 1,200 days since we had the last one, it's needed, there was way too much froth and frivolity in the market, and that's what's happened. It's been wiped away, brutally, in two short sessions, but it's gone. [Blitzer:] Almost 1,000 points at least 1,000 point in the last few days, four days in a row now. Thanks very much, Richard Quest. A lot of nervous investors over the weekend. Let's go to Donald Trump's big rally tonight, the newest uproar he's creating in the presidential contest. We have new reaction to Trump's use of a controversial term to describe the children of undocumented immigrants who are citizens of the United States because they were born in the United States. Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is in Iowa right now with the latest on what's going on. Jeff, what are you hearing? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Wolf, as Donald Trump's momentum continues to grow, he finds himself at the center of another immigration firestorm. And it's really triggered an extraordinary back and forth between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush that's only likely to intensify tonight. But not all Republican candidates are eager to weigh in on this Trump primary. We caught up with Ted Cruz today, who's smiling from the sidelines. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I will use the word anchor babies. Excuse me. I will use the word anchor baby. [Zeleny:] That single phrase that many consider offensive is now setting the agenda for the whole field. Ted Cruz, who hopes to siphon some of Trump's anti-establishment momentum, said today it was political correctness gone wild. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] The focus on language and P.C. and bickering back and forth, most people I think don't give a flip. They're interested in solving real problems. [Zeleny:] Cruz is holding a rally in Iowa tonight as he tries to tap into the Trump phenomenon. [Question:] Some of your rivals are trying to figure out how to run against Donald Trump. You seem to be running with him. [Cruz:] I am a big fan of Donald Trump's, and I think it is a mistake for other Republicans to try to take a stick to Donald Trump and whack him. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] Are we prepared to do what it takes to remain the greatest nation ever? [Zeleny:] For Marco Rubio, a candidate who the GOP hopes can repair its image with Latinos, the anchor baby fight is a chance to take a stand. [Question:] Anchor babies. People are talking about anchor babies. [Rubio:] Well, these are 13 million human those are human beings. And, ultimately, they're people. We're not they're not just statistics. [Zeleny:] And for Jeb Bush, the term became a problem of his own making after he used the phrase himself in an interview. [Question:] Governor, do you regret using the term anchor babies yesterday on the radio? [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] No, I didn't. I don't. I don't regret it. [Question:] You don't regret it? [Bush:] No. Do you have a better term? [Question:] I'm not I'm asking you. [Bush:] OK. You give me a better term and I will use it. I'm serious. [Zeleny:] Trump was quick to seize on what he called a Bush flip- flop, tweeting, "Jeb Bush signed a memo saying not to use the term anchor babies, offensive. Now he wants to use it because I use it. Stay true to yourself." But that tweet, not exactly true. This is the memo. It does say to not use the phrase anchor baby. But it's not signed by Bush, simply issued by a group he was co-chair of. So Bush fired back with his own swipe at Trump. "His massive inconsistencies aside, Donald Trump's immigration plan is not conservative and does not reflect our values." [Cruz:] I will not engage in the personal attacks. [Zeleny:] Cruz says he has differences with Trump, but now is not the time. He's waiting and watching, making sure no bridge is burned. [Cruz:] Do I want Donald Trump supporters to support me? Absolutely. [Zeleny:] Now, here in Des Moines, Ted Cruz is planning a rally of his own tonight. But it's hardly Trump-sized. Only 3,000 people or so are planning to attend. But I can tell you all eyes of the Republican Party are on Mobile, Alabama, tonight to see what Donald Trump will do next. Of course, that is a key primary state next spring. But people are more interested in what he's going to say tonight about the rest of this GOP field Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, he seems to be dominating and driving this Republican presidential discussion. Thanks very much, Jeff Zeleny. I want to show our viewers some live pictures outside Trump's rally tonight in Mobile, Alabama. People are lining up, about 5,000 people waiting in line right now. It's expected to be the largest campaign event of this presidential primary season so far. Maybe as many as 35,000 people will show up. Let's go to Ryan Nobles. He's on the scene for us. Set the scene for us, Ryan. [Ryan Nobles, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Wolf, right now, they just opened the gates here to this football stadium in South Alabama and the crowds are now starting to pour in. They're estimating somewhere in the range of 35,000 to 40,000 people will be here for this rally tonight. That will be the largest campaign rally of the cycle for any candidate, but even for Donald Trump, who's drawn big crowds across the country. This event will have all the trappings of a presidential visit. He's going to arrive in his private jet. He's going to come here by motorcade, riding with the mayor of Mobile. And he's expected to continue that fiery rhetoric that has drawn so many big crowds. Now, people were lined up out here as early as 6:00 this morning. And I talked to many of them, Wolf. And they weren't talking about coming here because they want to gawk or see a celebrity. Many of them genuinely believe that Donald Trump is the best candidate for president of the United States. Not all of them are necessarily Republicans. Many of them describe themselves as independents. But they want to see what he has to say today, take that home with them, and then perhaps sell that message to their friends and colleagues. This will no doubt be a big event tonight for Donald Trump Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Ryan, stand by. I want to bring in the Republican presidential candidate, the former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum, who's with me here in THE SITUATION ROOM. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. [Rick Santorum , Presidential Candidate:] Thank you, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Did you ever think that we'd be seeing this in this presidential campaign, what's going on, for example, in Mobile, Alabama, tonight? [Santorum:] Donald Trump is making an impact. And so, you know, it's good to see that he's energizing people and getting people talking about issues that frankly I care a lot about. I mean, the most recent issue set is one that I have been out there focused on for actually quite some time. It's part of a package of trying to get people back to work and have their wages go up and benefits go up, so they can live a better quality of life here in America. I think the immigration debate has too long focused on the people who are here illegally and not focused on the people who are impacted by the amount of illegal and even legal immigration that we have in this country. [Blitzer:] All right, let's talk a little bit about that. First of all, where do you stand on the use of the term anchor babies? [Santorum:] Yes, I mean, I don't use that term. Is it pejorative or not? I don't know. It's a term that I know is used and is often used. I try to call children children and not anything other than that. These are people who were born in this country. These kids are born in this country. And under the law right now, they're American citizens. They didn't do anything wrong. Their parents did. And their parents should have to pay a price for doing that. [Blitzer:] You think Jeb Bush, for example, should apologize for using that term? [Santorum:] No, I don't look, I don't think I don't see it as an offensive term. It's a common-use term. I have heard it for a long, long time. Up until last week, a couple of days ago, I should say, I never heard it anyone say it was an offensive term. I think it was just it was a term used to describe a phenomenon here in this country. But I think again, I think much has been blown up about this. I don't think it's offensive. I don't use it. [Blitzer:] You don't use it. All right. What about Donald Trump's notion that all 12 million, 11 million, 13 million undocumented, illegal immigrants need to be deported; the good ones, he says, can then come back? [Santorum:] Well, I would say this, that we have to go through a process of enforcing our laws. And the laws say that if you came here on a visa and you overstayed your visa, you need to go home. And that's roughly, according to the numbers, anywhere from 40 percent to 60 percent of folks who are here illegally came here legally and chose not to leave. They need to be removed. They need to go home. The people who came across the border illegally are in the same situation. Eventually, we have to go through an orderly pass of removals and enforce the laws of this country. [Blitzer:] What about the children, their children who were born here in the United States? [Santorum:] I look at it as the situation that confronted my father and grandfather. My grandfather came to this country right after my father was born, lived here for seven years, never saw his son, and had to wait until he became a citizen in order to bring them over. I asked my dad, were you ever upset with America that you had to live in fascist Italy and march as a Brownshirt in Mussolini's little Youth Corps? And he said, no, America was worth the wait. And I would just say that it's going to certainly put a strain on families, but they put themselves in that situation and they have to suffer the consequences. [Blitzer:] Do you believe the 14th Amendment to the Constitution guarantees citizenship to the children who are born in the United States whose parents are here illegally? [Santorum:] I don't. I think that that's a I think there is some controversy about whether it does or not. I know that currently we do grant citizenship to people who are born to illegal immigrants here in this country. But and I would actually want to change that. I think that we need to have the Congress has the authority, under the Constitution, to determine citizenship. It's very clear in Article I that they have the ability to determine naturalization. And so whether these children in the future will be considered citizens or not, I think, is under the purview of the Congress, and I would urge Congress to change that. [Blitzer:] You think Congress can do it without a constitutional amendment? [Santorum:] I do. I think it's clear in the Constitution. I think it's unclear in the 14th Amendment. The 14th Amendment doesn't say, if you're born here, you're a citizen. It says, you're born here, and you're under the jurisdiction of the United States. And I think the United States Congress has the right to determine that jurisdiction. [Blitzer:] Because children who are born in the United States of foreign diplomats who are serving in the United States, they're not... [Santorum:] They're not. And at the time the 14th Amendment was passed, Native Americans weren't considered citizens of this country, even though obviously they were born here. So there is a precedent to say that just because you're born here doesn't mean that you're... [Blitzer:] So, on this issue, you're with Trump? [Santorum:] On this issue, I agree with Trump. I don't know exactly I believe that people who are currently here in this country who were born here to illegal immigrants are citizens and you can't be retroactive. I don't think anyone's suggesting that people who are now citizens because of the way the law was enforced should be now stripped of their citizenship. I think we have to do this going forward. [Blitzer:] When you see tens of thousands of people lining up in Mobile, Alabama, tonight to listen to Donald Trump, we know the primary in Alabama I think is early in March. It's not that far away. [Santorum:] Yes. And I won that primary four years ago. [Blitzer:] So you remember that. [Santorum:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Have you at all campaigned, by the way, in Alabama yet? Have you been down there? [Santorum:] I actually have been down to Alabama earlier this year. Yes. [Blitzer:] So, when you see look at these pictures, what's going on right now. It's pretty amazing when you think about it. [Santorum:] Yes. Oh, it is. There's clearly a buzz out there. The media's focused on it. He's certainly developed continued to develop his persona. I just keep reminding everybody it's five-and-a-half months until the first votes are cast and we're working really hard in Iowa and we feel very good that we're going to do well. [Blitzer:] Very quickly, because I want to get to some substantive policy issues, but if Donald Trump were to win in Iowa, he's ahead in the polls there, New Hampshire, South Carolina, he's doing well in all of those states, do you think that automatically would set the stage for his winning the Republican presidential nomination? [Santorum:] I one of the things I found last time when I ran, it's a long presence. And if he wins some early states, I think there will be an effort to try to galvanize behind some other candidate, as what happened when Romney won some of the early states four years ago. And that galvanizing came behind me. We didn't quite pull it off, but I think there will be a similar effort. I don't think anyone, whether it's Donald Trump or anybody else, is going to skate through this by winning the first few primaries and having everybody say it's over. I think this is going to be a long process. [Blitzer:] All right, we have some issues to go, the news of the day, what's going on with ISIS, the Dow Jones of course taking a huge fall today. [Santorum:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Much more with Senator Rick Santorum when we come back. [Blackwell:] Breaking news in San Bernardino where investigators had been searching a lake for several days now. They've been hoping to find evidence left by the two killers who committed last week's terror attacks. [Paul:] CNN's Ana Cabrera joins us on the phone now. Ana, what are you learning today that may have possibly been found? [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Christi and Victor, I spoke with an FBI spokesperson here who tells me they did indeed find items in the lake in their search over the last day and a half or so. But she isn't able to confirm at this time whether those items are actually related to this case. She cautioned that, you know, typically when divers search a public lake they find all kinds of different items. And they obviously would err on the side of caution of taking items out that could possibly be linked to the case. But it requires further investigation to determine if that is indeed the case. So right now I can tell you investigators are back on scene this morning. And they are gearing up to go back into the water. We've seen them here since Thursday afternoon when they began the lake search and telling reporters that they had received a couple of tips that the shooters were in this area on the day of the shooting. And so that has led them to canvassing the neighborhood, canvassing the surrounding park, and now they are going through the lake bit by bit. They said they'll leave no stone unturned as they search for any kind of evidence that could be related to this investigation. We know they are looking for that hard drive. That has been missing from the couple's computer, and that could be a key piece of evidence. But they're still trying to piece together who kind of con tacks or who their connections may be with from these killers or perhaps other terrorists here in the U.S. or overseas. They're trying to put that all together still as they continue with this very massive investigation, Christi and Victor. [Blackwell:] Very complex in not only who they communicated with but when those communications were exchanged. Ana Cabrera there for us in San Bernardino. Ana, thank you so much. [Paul:] Let's talk to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. Peter, we know they were looking, as she mentioned, for that hard drive. We know that they have collected some items. How soon before they may make some of that information public? [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] I'm not certain because, obviously, if it's been at the bottom of the lake for some period of time, obviously whatever has been recovered, if it is related to the case, it's going to be quite damaged. Now, that said, the FBI unit at Quantico that works on electronics and computers can really work miracles. An example of this was the Mumbai attacks of 2008 in which 166 people were killed, the attackers left a GPS on a boat that they were taking between Pakistan and India. And the FBI was able to find a ghost image to show that the boat originated in Karachi, Pakistan, and gone across the ocean to Mumbai, which obviously was a very important piece of the investigation. So it's not clear how long it will take. But clearly the FBI has great capacity to find what's on those computers. Of course, Christi, the big questions are who was Syed Farook reaching out to? We know that he was attempting to reach Shabaab in Somalia, Nusra, the Al Qaeda affiliate in Syria. And what exactly were the nature of his relationship with a cell of four men in California who were attempting to join Al Qaeda and the Taliban in 2012? Those are two very big investigative questions that we don't know the answers to yet. [Paul:] That the hard drive may answer. [Bergen:] Yes. [Paul:] OK. I want to bring in other breaking news here and get your opinion on this. Swiss police officers arrested two terror suspects in Geneva. You know, we've heard about the U.K. We've heard about France. We've heard about even Italy possibly being a target for ISIS. But what if there is a terror cell in Switzerland? [Bergen:] Well, certainly Switzerland has not been a hotbed of jihadist terrorism. But that said if you look at the big cases of either attacks or plots that have been inverted, all in Francophone countries. So for instance, France, we had the Paris attacks twice in the past year. In Belgium we had the big cell broken up in January. And now we have what looks like an ISIS cell in Geneva. The ISIS the public officials in Geneva said they are concerned about an ISIS cell. And Nic Robertson has just reported that these two men have been arrested with explosives traces in their car in Geneva, which of course is part of Francophone, Switzerland. So you're seeing that France has the largest number of foreign fighters going to Syria, more than 1,000. And obviously these people are very comfortable in Francophone environments. We don't know exactly who these people who were arrested yet are, but my guess is that they are Francophone they are people who have gone to Syria or are related to Syria, and that are part of the ISIS cell that Geneva authorities have said publicly that they are concerned was planning to strike. [Paul:] so the fact that a cell has possibly made it to Switzerland, is that alarming to you in terms of how expansive ISIS may be at this point, more so than perhaps was ever estimated? [Bergen:] Christi, We know that 90 countries have seen members or citizens go to Syria to fight with jihadi groups. In some cases, in Finland, we're talking about a couple dozen people, whatever. So it differs in scale. But the fact is there are Swiss nationals that have gone to Switzerland. And I think that, you know, the fact that I think the common link here is the ability to speak French and communicate in French, and it is not necessarily surprising that they were arrested in Geneva rather than say some other part of Switzerland which isn't a French speaking part of Switzerland. [Blackwell:] Very good point. Peter Bergen, we so appreciate your insight, thank you for being here. [Bergen:] Thank you. [Blackwell:] Still to come, Americans are more fearful of a terrorist attack since any time since 911. What is the U.S. government doing to quell those fears? That's next. [Costello:] The State Department unleashes a new avalanche of e-mails that passed through Hillary Clinton's unsecured server. More than 7,000 pages in all. No bombshells and no evidence that secrecy laws were violated, but the State Department stopped short of exonerating the former secretary of state. [Unidentified Reporter:] Can you say from that podium categorically that Secretary Clinton followed the rules and the law? [Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesman:] I'm just not going to answer that question. It's not our goal, it's not our function in this regard in releasing these e-mails. Our goal and our sole purpose when we look at these e-mails is to decide well, first, to publish them according to the FOIA request that we've received, but in doing that looking at them and deciding whether any of that material needs to be redacted and subsequently classified. [Costello:] Elise Labott is CNN's global affairs correspondent. She's been poring through these 7,000 e-mails. She joins us live from Washington. What have you turned up, Elise? [Elise Labott, Cnn Foreign Affairs Reporter:] Well, Carol, we're hearing that 125 of these e-mails, of these 7,000 e-mails, have been upgraded to classified. Now the information wasn't classified at the time but it's since been upgraded to classified because it was released to the public. One of the things that really kind of comes out in these e-mails is Clinton's reliance on outside advisers, particularly Sid Blumenthal, who you remember was a former adviser to her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and has really become a subject of the House committee on Benghazi investigating the attack on the consulate. A lot of memos to Secretary Clinton. She had said that they were unsolicited but in one e-mail that he sent her in May 2010 following the UK elections and sharing his analysis, Secretary Clinton said to Blumenthal, "I shared your e-mails with Bill who thought they were brilliant, keep them coming." So obviously they weren't always unsolicited. She really in these e- mails shows that she relied on his advice and it wasn't just about foreign affairs. It was also about the political. In November 2010 Blumenthal sends a message to Secretary Clinton really slamming then House speaker John Boehner labeling it, quote, "post midterm strategy," showing a long list of information he got from some sources on the Republican side. And let me quote you from this e-mail. "Boehner is despised by the younger, more conservative members of the House Republican conference. They are repelled by his personal behavior. He is louche, alcoholic, lazy, and without any commitment to principle." So clearly even though Secretary Clinton you know, she says politics has always been in her DNA, still following the politics behind the scenes. There's also a memo, Carol, from her daughter, Chelsea Clinton, who seems to be also an informal adviser. She went to Haiti after the earthquake on behalf of the Clinton Foundation and reporting back her insights and her analysis about what she found on the ground. So there's a lot of things like that. There's some personal about how she likes her tea and charging her iPad but there's also some very sensitive information in those e-mails. A lot of it redacted. [Costello:] All right. Elise Labott, thanks so much. We appreciate it. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Right now in Miami the former Florida governor Jeb Bush is holding a town hall meeting with high school students. He seems to be taking a sharper edge in the presidential race these days and here is one reason. Listen to this Donald Trump ad attacking Bush and his views on illegal immigration. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Yes, they broke the law, but it's not a felony. It's kind of it's a it's an act of love. [Costello:] OK. But Governor Bush is fighting back. CNN's Athena Jones is in Washington with a closer look at that. Good morning. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. That was a tough ad from Donald Trump, a short video on instagram. It's one of his favorite social media sites to use, but Jeb Bush is firing back. Let's go ahead and play that and then talk about it on the other side. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I lived in New York City and Manhattan all my life, OK, so, you know, my views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa. [Unidentified Male:] Partial birth abortion. [Trump:] I'm very pro-choice. I am pro-choice in every respect and as far as it goes. As far as single payer, it works in Canada, it works incredibly well in Scotland. [Ravi Agrawal, Cnn New Delhi Bureau Chief:] Tim Cook has been to China eight times since he became Apple's CEO in 2011, but he hasn't visited India even once until now. India represents a major growth spot for Apple. In the last quarter Apple recorded its first decline in global sales in 13 years. India was a rare bright spot with sales up 56 percent. One reason is that India has a fast growing smartphone market. In 2010, only 100 million Indians were on the internet. In 2015, that number jumped to 300 million. Most of that growth is coming from Indians who are discovering the internet not on pcs or Macs, but on smartphones, and there is still a lot of room to grow. The world bank points out a billion Indians remain offline. That's why Apple CEO Tim Cook is bullish on India. But it's not all smooth sailing. Earlier this year, Apple sought government permission to sell refurbished iPhones to appeal to a broader section of the Indian market that permission denied. There is also the fact that while Apple has 32 of the flagship Apple stores in China, it has a grand total of zero in India. And that's because the tech giant has struggled to comply with regulations to source a certain percentage of each phone's components locally. Lots for Tim Cook to mull while he's in India. Among the people he's expected to meet are India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi has courted the support of top American CEOs as he tries to bring jobs and foreign investment to India. This is one meeting that any tech watcher would love to be a fly on the wall for. Ravi Agrawal, CNN, New Delhi. [Newman:] Now, China's tech scene still has a long way to catch up to the likes of Apple, but a new generation of entrepreneurs is looking to change that. Now as part of "CHINA'S TECH REVOLUTION," Matt Rivers visited a state sponsored hub for company start-ups. [Matt Rivers, Cnn Correspondent:] Playing the guitar is cool. And yet, Zhang Bohan calls himself a geek because he developed the app that helped teach him to play. The app is called "Poputar." The app is called "Poputar", think popular guitar. A series of lessons on your phone shows you what to play. The guitar that comes with it connects to the app and lights up spots where you're supposed to put your fingers. And voila, you're Jimi Hendrix. We met up with Zhang and his partner Zhao Yan in a cafE up the street from the office. Along with another partner, the trio hatched their plan back in 2014 around these tables. He says this is where people with an idea, but no money, connected friends, or resources meet up. The garage cafe, where the next big idea is just one espresso away, is an incubator where people rent small space to help launch their tech companies. It's one of forty or so on this street alone, called "Innoway", a 200-meter stretch in northwest Beijing. More than 300 start- ups call this area home. The Chinese economy is undergoing a broad transition, moving away from manufacturing and relying more now on services. In 2013, the Chinese government invested 36 million us dollars into this street, where startups dominate instead of, and say, steel. It's a sign that times are changing. Liu Wei is at the forefront of that change. He runs legend star, a company that specializes in seed investment, the first round of fundraising. In other words, he helps start-ups actually start up. He says 10 years ago, start-ups weren't big here because the investment community was very conservative. Few companies with the resources to invest in start-ups actually did so. But he says that's swiftly changing as more and more people realize that technology is the key to profits in the digital age. He thinks the startup scene here will eventually rival and perhaps surpass the success of Silicon Valley. Back at Poputar, it's an exciting time. The app just went live this week. Zhang says he's nervous but confident. Surprise, surprise, he plays guitar to alleviate stress. [on camera]: Teach me how to do this. Let's see if I can learn. [Zhang Bohan, Poputar Developer:] Yes, My pleasure. A few admittedly terrible notes later, it does get a bit easier. I might not be a star, but Poputar is aiming become one in the ultra-competitive app world part of a growing number of Chinese start-ups hoping to strike a chord with consumers. Matt Rivers, CNN, Beijing. [Newman:] Matt is clearly a braver correspondent than I. Now all companies start small. Some grow into behemoths and learn about China's tech giants and the Chinese Tech Revolution on CNNmoney.comChinatech. Now, back here in the United States, Amazon is proving that big tech still has room to grow. Company held an investor meeting today and shareholders had very little to complain about. The stock is up more than 64 percent over the past year. For years, Amazon invested at the expense of profits in cloud computing, in building its own devices and, of course, video streaming. It was all to get consumers into what it called the Amazon ecosystem. Now, the company's latest plans revolve around a little device that could bring that ecosystem into your home. CNN money Samuel Burke has more. [Samuel Burke, Cnn Money Correspondent:] Alexa, what time is it? [Alexa:] The time is 1:24. [Burke:] Alexa, when's the meaning of life? [Alexa:] The meaning of life depends on the life in question. [Burke:] Alexa, turn the lights on. Apple has Siri. Microsoft with Cortana. Google has Now. Those voice systems live in your phone or tablets. Amazon's Alexa lives in your home. She dwells in a series of amazon devices called Echo. Wi-Fi connected speakers with a microphone always listening for you to say the wake word. Alexa amazon's making a huge push into two different market trends with this device. Artificial intelligence as well as the internet of things. Projected to be a $14 trillion market by 2022. And even though Amazon doesn't disclose sales numbers investors are bullish on this sleeper hit. [Alexa:] Alexa, alarm off. [Brian Blair, Co-founder, Grays Peak Capital:] What's interesting about this product is that Apple doesn't have one of these yet. There's rumor that Google is going to actually introduce theirs in the next month or so, and Apple may end up doing something like this. but this is the truly first smart home hub that we have seen that people are using, and it's getting great reviews and it really just makes sense. [Burke:] What's unique about the Echo is you don't have to be nearby to hear you. You can be in another part of the house, or on the other side of the room and it will still pick up your voice. Alexa? Who won the Warriors game last night? [Alexa:] Last night the Warriors beat the Trail Blazers 125-121. [Blair:] It's making the home and the family more acquainted with everything that Amazon offers and so that's where the opportunity is. [Burke:] Alexa, I want to hear some Coldplay songs. [Alexa:] Shuffling Coldplay from Prime Music. [Burke:] Just like Amazon's other hardware products, they're always trying to entice you to pay for Prime. Alexa, turn the volume up. Placing an internet connected microphone in the middle of your house may leave some with privacy concerns. Amazon says echo will only start listening once you say, "Alexa" and the light indicates this it's all ears. Though a curious reporter with "Gizmodo" asked the FBI if it had ever wiretapped with the Echo. The FBI would neither confirm or deny that to "Gizmodo." Amazon told CNN it doesn't comment on speculation. And instead of apps, Amazon says the Echo has skills. Over 1,000 of them. And services from companies like Uber, smart home devices and news updates from CNN. Alexa? Who is CNN's Samuel Burke? [Alexa:] Sorry. I can't find the answer to the question I heard. [Burke:] Clearly artificial intelligence still has a way to go. [Newman:] Oh, you describe that as artificial intelligence too. Now, Samuel, you know that I'm a gadget phoebe and I'm holding a little speaker. I know. Look, look. I'm the skeptic here. You know that I'm always going to say Amazon is not at great at hardware like this. Why would this be any different? [Burke:] They've had a hit with the Kindle. Then a huge flop with the Amazon Fire phone. And usually when I report on the internet of things, Paula, internet connected devices, a lot of times I just find that they're useless. But this is actually useful and it actually started to make sense to me, a lot of other smart devices I reported on. For instance, the smart lightbulbs and never thought what will I do with a smart lightbulb? Why connect to the phone? But now that I connected lightbulbs to the Alexa and I can just walk in the room and say, "Turn on the lights," as you just saw. It really started to make me realize why the market has that huge trillion-dollar evaluation. A lot of other stuff starts to makes sense and this product really has a lot of room to grow in I think. [Newman:] Well, let's see what it actually does, because we're going to come right back here in a few years, Samuel, and we'll see if this gadget actually made it into people's homes. [Burke:] It going to have our jobs, Paula. [Newman:] If it tells me where my son's homework is, Alexa can have the job. OK. [Burke:] She'll do the homework for you. [Newman:] That's a good point too. Well, we'll get into that another day, Samuel. Appreciate it as always. Thanks, Samuel Burke. As fuel prices rebound, Delta says airfares may increase, surprise, surprise. We'll be back with more. [Robyn Curnow, Cnn Host:] Ahead at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, ISIS in Afghanistan. Why former Taliban fighters turned against the group. North Korea could be close to testing a new long-range missile. And we'll talk to the former Mexican president, who is in a war of words with Donald Trump. [Curnow:] Hi, everyone, welcome, I'm Robyn Curnow. We begin in Afghanistan, where just hours ago the Taliban began their spring offensive. It's an annual wave of attacks but it's just one factor of life there. The country has been at war for over a decade. And just last year ISIS took root. Their tactics are terrifying even to some of their own. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh talked to two former ISIS commanders, who chose to defect. He joins us now from Kabul. Hi, there, Nick. What did they say to you? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Sr. Intl. Correspondent:] Robyn, remarkable to see how hard a fighter who spent years with the Taliban could so quickly be repulsed by the savagery of ISIS. But it is one particular bright spot here in Afghanistan in the east, where ISIS has tried to take root. They are finding many Afghans, despite being immersed in decades of war, sickened by their ideology and tactics. [Walsh:] Looking for ISIS, in Afghanistan's east, ISIS'radio broadcast of hate was bombed off air recently by the U.S. But here it's been coming back in the past week. "It was there three days ago and it's gone again," says one man. "They were talking nonsense," says another. "They were asking people to pledge allegiance and march on Kabul," he adds. This is one broadcast they recorded earlier. ISIS is trying to put down roots here. But every day more Afghans want to tear them up. And that starts here with Arabistan and Zaitoun. Two months ago, they were [Isis. Unidentified Male:] They just like beheadings. Think they are good to do. [Walsh:] ISIS, they say, came from Pakistan, not Iraq, and promised guns and money to their struggling group of Taliban. Their agenda: black flags, killing and looting, which they did go along with at first. It went south fast. And they both remember the moment when. [Unidentified Male:] I remember when they beheaded seven people in the bazaar, including government workers and Pakistani Taliban. I saw the long strip of wood they did it on, covered in blood. They just threw the bodies away and buried. It was very un-Islamic. The worst memory was if you were killed fighting for them, they wouldn't hand your wife and children to your predators but put them in a camp. [Walsh:] ISIS recruit children here, their own videos show another reason the two men work with Afghan intelligence and set up our interview to get other locals to join an uprising program against ISIS. But they say they have lacked government protection and money and that's put potential defectors off. The fight is now just left to American drones, they say. [Unidentified Male:] Drones are doing a good job killing ISIS. They target them as soon as they leave their houses. The government hasn't made any progress in those areas. It's only the bombing that's effective. [Walsh:] You were in the Taliban. Then you were in ISIS and now American drones are bombing your own village. But you're pleased about it because they are killing ISIS. Is that not a strange feeling for you? [Unidentified Male:] It makes us happy. We want them wiped out. [Walsh:] They're killers themselves who know what they are talking about. Arabistan holds up his cloak. Holes from an American helicopter attack not long ago when he was Taliban. ISIS has shattered ordinary lives, too. Across town in a luxury village built for rich people who never came are hundreds of families who fled ISIS. Afghanistan, like many nations afflicted by ISIS basically have to battle an idea, a kind of virus that appeals to minds warped after decades of war. Those in the Taliban, as radical enough an idea, that no matter how hard you battle or bomb it, it's very difficult to completely extinguish. Many of their homes are still occupied and much damage is irreversible. They killed this man's brother and then shot him in the waist as he helped his family escape. He's left unable to provide for them and ISIS still live in their home. ISIS'savagery was first glimpsed in Afghanistan in this video, when they lined up opponents and then detonated a bomb below them. The man who speaks is survived by his nephew, Rustam. [Rustam, Isis Victim's Nephew:] My brother called our father to tell him the death was on Facebook. We couldn't bury him as we didn't have a body. Its pieces are probably still lying where he was blown up. [Walsh:] Decades of trauma here, yet somehow it gets worse. Now [Curnow:] OK. They have a few problems there with Nick's comments; of course he's coming from Kabul, but great reporting there. Thanks to Nick Paton Walsh. We're moving on to Brussels now, where police picked up three more people in connection with the Paris terror attacks. They have until Wednesday to decide whether to keep them in custody. Meantime, two more people have been charged in connection with last month's bombings at the Brussels airport and a metro station. The prosecutor says the two are linked to an address that was raided over the weekend, which may have been a safe house for some of the bombers. And North Korea may be preparing the launch of a mobile long-range ballistic missile. That's according to U.S. officials, who tell CNN it could be a type of missile that's able to reach parts of Alaska. Our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins us now live. Hi, there, Barbara. So what are U.S. intelligence satellites spotting here? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Good day, Robyn. Well, this is all very interesting. What they are seeing is evidence that North Korea may be preparing for the launch of a mobile ballistic missile. This would be a missile of a longer range than has been seen in the past. Previously they have just launched some short-range missiles. They have three versions of a mobile missile that has never been flight-tested before. These various versions could hit as far, if they work, as far as Guam, Alaska and the United States' Pacific Northwest. So that's an obvious concern. Now what they don't know if North Korea will proceed with the launch and which missile it might be. North Korea could still decide not to conduct the launch. They've never done this before. So if it happens, it really resets the table on what their military capability might be. That is why there is so much concern about this. Also to point out the U.S. isn't clear if those missiles really have the accuracy and the range as advertised. So if this happens in the coming days and weeks, they will be watching very carefully, trying to assess, how far, how complex, how sophisticated North Korea may be in this missile program. But the fact they are seeing the signs that it could be happening is a matter of great concern, obviously Robyn. [Curnow:] Indeed, and, Barbara, the fact that it's mobile is what is of concern here because North Korea has successfully twice launched a three- stage ballistic missile but satellites were able to watch all the preparations for that [Starr:] Right. [Curnow:] They weren't mobile; the fact that they were mobile is key. [Starr:] Absolutely right. This is the key issue for the for the U.S. military and the allies in the region. If you have that three-stage missile on a launch pad and it's stationary and fixed, you can keep an eye on it. You know when it's about ready to launch. With mobile missiles these are on these large essentially trucks that you see at these military parades. They move around; in the event of a conflict, North Korea could shoot at the missile, move the truck, shoot again, keep moving around, it makes it very difficult for spy satellites to chase them down in conflict. And makes it very difficult right now to know if and when they are going to launch. U.S. officials say they may not know until the last minute and it could all happen with very little warning Robyn. [Curnow:] OK. From the Pentagon, thanks so much, Barbara Starr there. Well, now to new fears about the Zika virus in the U.S. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the mosquito that spreads Zika is more widespread than they thought. It's in 30 U.S. states instead of 12. [Dr. Anne Schuchat, Principal Deputy Director, Cdc:] Everything we look at with this virus seems to be a bit scarier than we initially thought. And so while we absolutely hope we don't see widespread local transmission in the continental U.S., we need the states to be ready for that. [Curnow:] The CDC also warns Zika has been linked to more birth defects for a longer period during pregnancy. The main fear has been the defect called microcephaly, which affects the size of a baby's brain. And officials say in Puerto Rico, there may be hundreds of thousands of Zika cases affecting hundreds of babies. We're joined now by CNN senior medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, who's just back from Puerto Rico. I want to talk about your trip in just a moment. But first, really ominous warnings there from the CDC, saying it's scarier. Why? [Elizabeth Cohen, Cnn Sr. Medical Correspondent:] Well, Zika is a relatively new virus, Robyn. It hasn't really been with us for long. So as it spreads, we're learning more and more about it. So it may have always been this scary. We just didn't know it. You mentioned microcephaly, which is babies with these markedly smaller heads. And that was the concern. Months ago, that's really all anybody talked about when it came to babies. But now they are seeing babies born also with vision problems. They are also seeing stillbirths, babies who aren't even alive when they are born. They are also seeing other neurological problems, not just small heads but when they look at the anatomy afterwards, they see, oh, my goodness, there's problems even within this head which is too small. So these are all things that it's not just microcephaly anymore. There are many other concerns for babies. [Curnow:] And also just briefly, it's not just concerns about in the first trimester, either, which is very key for pregnant women traveling to these areas and potentially in the [U.s. Cohen:] That's right. I think that it's again, this is so new that no one knew for sure. But when I was talking to experts two months ago, they would say, well, Elizabeth, we think that this is an issue if you get infected in the first trimester. But now there are concerns maybe if a mosquito bites you and infects you even in the second or the third trimester, it could be a problem. And the issue is even if you are bit in the first trimester, often the problems won't show up until mid-way through pregnancy. So deciding whether or not to terminate a pregnancy when you're halfway through it is a horrific decision. [Curnow:] Horrible, horrible choice. With that in mind, tell us about your trip and some of the women that you met who were pregnant over there. [Cohen:] Right. I was with a woman named Zolmira Smolina, and she was getting an ultrasound. This was March 31st. She was 22 weeks pregnant. And so you can see that she went to the hospital; she got an ultrasound, 22 weeks pregnant, so just past the midway mark. Her ultrasounds at 18 weeks looked fine. The ultrasounds before that had looked fine. But when they looked at this ultrasound, they found that the baby's head, the growth was lagging, as her doctor put it. It might be a fluke. The next ultrasound, which is tomorrow, might be completely fine. But it was not good that it was in a certain percentile in 18 weeks and was in a much lower percentile at 22 weeks. And so she's going to keep this baby. She says no matter what they find, she's keeping this baby. Other women have made different decisions. In Slovenia, here in the United States, women have made decisions to terminate. [Curnow:] But still, the fact that you're having to make that decision and so many hundreds perhaps are having to make that decision so late in pregnancy is a real concern. Thanks so much, Elizabeth, appreciate it. Coming up, yet another Donald Trump feud. The former president of Mexico has been blasting Trump for weeks now. We'll talk to him live at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. And Brazil's president is closer to being ousted from power just months before the Olympics. We'll go live to Rio for the latest on the proceedings she calls a coup. Stay with us. [Bill De Blasio, , New York City Mayor:] Our hearts go out to the families of the individual who has been lost and to all those who have been injured. We're concerned obviously for everyone who lives and works in the area to make sure they'll be safe. The immediate concern relates to the fact that there has been gas leaks as a result of this incident. The crane was being lowered into the secure position and the construction workers were blocking off the area, so the danger to people on the street was lessened. Thank God we didn't have more injuries and we didn't lose more people. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] We are going to go to Miguel Marquez who is live at scene. Any word why this happened? What caused this? I know the weather has been rough today. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] The wind is high. It was snowing very heavily today, and all those factors may have something to do it. This was a very, very big crane but it was a crawler crane, not one connected to a building. You can't actually see it. It's down that street and goes all the way down the block where it fell. Lots of police and fire on scene here still. This is a crane that was 565 feet long. They had just added an extension to it. It could handle weights up to 330 tons. When they were lowering the crane this morning because the winds were high, about 20 miles per hour, the company that runs the crane says, at 25 miles per hour, they have to go into safety mode. They were lowering the crane into the safety mode, said the mayor, when it collapsed. One of those photographs that you can see, you can see a car clearly underneath that crane. One of the people who was killed was in a parked car. It's not clear that that was the car where that individual was killed. But just a massive problem out here. The people in the neighborhood said it felt like an earthquake. They could literally feel the ground move. It sounded extraordinarily loud. Four buildings were damaged as the crane came down. They have that block closed off right now and they'll try to figure out how to get that crane up and out. It's going to take several days before they'll be able to do that John, Kate? [Berman:] Miguel Marquez, down in lower Manhattan. Our thoughts go out to the people affected by that. Terrible picture. Thanks, Miguel. Back on the campaign trail, some familiar faces throwing their weight behind Jeb Bush, his mother, and even his brother. Will the family strategy pay off? A little history could be a guide. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Also ahead, New Hampshire's paper of record hitting Marco Rubio and hitting him hard just days ahead of the crucial primary will there. We'll tell you what the paper said. The executive editor of the paper will be joining us live. [Banfield:] We brought you the story the other day an unbelievable development we`ve got in a brutal rape and killing and dismemberment of a 14-year-old girl named Grace Packer. Jacob Sullivan, the boyfriend of Grace`s adoptive mom, Sara Packer, admitted to the authorities what their roles were in that brutal homicide. And it includes binding and gagging Grace in a hot attic of their Quakertown home and then Sullivan allegedly raped Grace in front of his mom, willingly, by the way, before suffocating that girl. [Matthew Weintraub, District Atrorney, Bucks County, Pa:] She was punched and then she was tied up, hog tied and sexually molested. She was raped. The defendant also prior to this committed an involuntary deviant sexual intercourse on her. [Banfield:] Did I mention that that rape was performed in the presence of her mother and that her mother watched? The mother, Sara Packer. That same mother who reported her little girl Grace missing a few days after all of this carnage, after she was last seen at a family picnic. While police were closing in, those two, Sullivan and Packer, stored this little girl`s body in cat litter because that apparently hides the smell. And they did so allegedly for months. They eventually dismembered her allegedly and buried her in the woods. But then hunters found Grace`s pieces on Halloween. And buckle up, now comes word that Sullivan and Packer, brave as they are, really decided they`d like the easy way out after Grace`s death. A suicide pact, but it didn`t work. Solomon Jones is the morning show host on WURD radio in Philadelphia. Where are they now, those two? [Solomon Jones, Wurd Radio Host:] So they are in custody in connection with this brutal crime. Really a crime they had planned for a year before they even embarked on this scheme. Just a horrible, horrible thing. The whole Philadelphia area really in shock over this. [Banfield:] And all of it apparently just fessed up to by Jacob on his sick bed in hospital once the suicide failed? [Jones:] Yes, absolutely. So, apparently during the overnight hours in Abington Hospital, which is right outside Philadelphia, he confessed to hospital workers and hospital workers believe he also confessed to family members. They saw them in an emotional scene together during the night. And then the next day he also confessed to police, just giving them hard details on how this whole thing came about. As you alluded to, the mother watched and apparently was in on it, was aroused by it. It`s sickening to really think about, but then after that, he comes back. They both come back, 3:00 in the morning, expecting her to be dead and he chokes the life out of her in a very physical, very time consuming painstaking assault that took longer, he told the police, than he thought it would. [Banfield:] Oh, dear God. Chief deputy Jennifer Schorn is with the Bucks County District Attorney`s office as she joins me live from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. I can only assume Ms Schorn that you have probably not seen a whole lot of cases this foul, grizzly, unbelievable. You can add in other descriptor that you want there. Is this a death penalty case? [Jeenifer Schorn, Chief Deputy, Bucks Countt, Pa:] Yes, you`re actually right Ashleigh. This case is unimaginable. I mean, the physical beating that Grace endured and then the sexual attack, the bondage, poisoning for hours and then ultimately was asphyxiated, and we know at least it lasted for approximately 15 hours so, on its face, yes. The fact that this was a premeditated murder and the fact leading up - [Banfield:] How do you know that? [Schorn:] We know that the evidence that we will present in court will clearly show that this was premeditated. And ultimately we certify a case in this jurisdiction by formal arraignment as a capital case if it`s appropriate. And I can assure you this case is appropriate. [Banfield:] I know you can`t yes, I know you can`t tip your hand up, but I was so curious when I saw that the planning had been upwards of a year for the rape and murder of this woman`s own daughter at the hands of her boyfriend. That`s very specific thing to say, a planning for a year. What evidence shows that? [Schorn:] I can`t speak to the specific evidence at this juncture. It will be evident in court, however. Grace was unwanted, I mean that`s a simple fact. And then there was clearly sexual deviance that was at play here, but it was clear she was unwanted. [Banfield:] So, there was something that was wanted Ms Schorn and that was her government assistance, and as I understand the allegations continue that this couple continued to pull her government assistance while her corpse was rotting. Will they be charged with that as well? [Schorn:] Yes, in fact they will. We know that Grace and her biological younger brother were the beneficiaries of social security income and obviously Sara Packer was she was the recipient of those funds and that those funds were to be spent for the children`s well-being. And so yes, obviously, they will be charged with that aspect as well of the case in the very near future. [Banfield:] Jennifer Schorn, I wish you all the best in 2017 specifically as you mount the case against these two, Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan, and thank you for your time tonight. I hope we can meet under different circumstances ma`am. [Schorn:] Thank you Ashleigh. I greatly appreciate it. You take care. [Banfield:] You too. The super max unit of a Chicago area jail turns into the scene of a melee. It is not a place you would want to be. Even the worst of the worst who end up in there don`t want to be there now. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. Today was supposed to see the start of the new Syria peace talks. But it's been delayed by posturing and arguments over who would represent the opposition. Invitations didn't go out. Now Friday is the start day, says the U.N. envoy, Staffan de Mistura, emphasizing the talks will last about six months and hopefully succeed where the last two attempts failed. [Staffan De Mistura, U.n. Special Envoy To Syria:] This is not Geneva 3. This is leading to what we hope will be a Geneva success story, if we are able to push it forward. [Amanpour:] And Turkey, a key player that bears the brunt of the refugee crisis, will surely be pleased with what the Italian prime minister just told me earlier on the program, that they'll finally start seeing the annual $3 billion euros that were pledged for refugees by the E.U. The U.S. vice president, Joe Biden, gave additional support, by Ankara's long by calling Ankara's long-time foes, the Kurdish PKK, terrorists, as officials in Europe complain that Turkey is focusing more on them than on daish. I put all that to Prime Minister Davutoglu when I spoke to him in Davos. Prime minister, welcome to the program. [Davutoglu:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] Iran seems to have gained a great victory in the nuclear deal. How does that make you feel? How does that make Turkey feel? [Davutoglu:] I am happy that now we reached an agreement on the nuclear program of Iran and of end of sanction is also good for not only for Iran but for all the economy. [Amanpour:] Do you see Iran as a rival, as a regional rival? [Davutoglu:] We don't see Iran as a rival. We are neighbors, historic neighbors. Throughout history, we have, we had a good and bad terms of our relations but at this moment, in the last 12 years, our relation has been a relation of good neighborhood. But we have difference of opinion in Syria, in Iraq. [Amanpour:] I have asked you many times and I've interviewed many of the key players about how we're going to end the Syria war. What do you say, though, about the Syrian Kurds, who occupy a certain part, who live in a certain part of Syria and who have been pretty much the only credible ground force against Assad and against ISIS? Will you accept them sitting at the table? [Davutoglu:] We want Syrian Kurds around the table, without Syrian Kurds, [U.s. Amanpour:] But again, you might call them terrorists and the E.U. might call them terrorists but the U.S. has been working with them. They are the ground force. So is it time to recognize reality? [Davutoglu:] Those who are recognizing them as a legitimate partner, they do not work they do not live in the reality of the region. Nobody can convince us that these people are for peace. [Amanpour:] What do you make of the Russian action? There's umpteen reports that Russian has, in its 3.5-month bombing campaign, significantly or at least enough bolstered President Assad's position, so that he could come to the negotiating table with a lot more bargaining chips he had 3.5 months ago. [Davutoglu:] For many years, Russia was against any foreign intervention to Syria. But now Russia itself is intervening in a very negative manner, in fact, occupying Syria. And all the Russians' operations until now, 90 percent are against civilians and moderate opposition Idlib, Aleppo as does Latakia. And against the schools, hospitals. We know this, because all those who were injured by Russian bombardment are escaping to Turkey. Only 10 percent of Russian airstrikes are against daish. But as P5, member of P5, of course, Russia, like others, can contribute to this to the peaceful to the peace process but we expect Russia to respect Syrian civilians and we expect Russia not to push Syrian civilians towards Turkish borders. [Amanpour:] Your mantra and your mantra, Mr. Prime Minister, even as foreign minister, when this war started, was that Assad must go. There's no negotiating, there's no transition with him. There's nothing, you keep saying, Assad must go. But Assad thinks he is winning right now, because he has the Russian air force and he has Iranian and Hezbollah ground force. And your lot don't have much. Is he winning? [Davutoglu:] No, he's not winning. No Syrian will go back if Assad sit continues to sit in Damascus. This is the criteria of peacefulness. And he's not winning at all. [Amanpour:] Your country has been attacked twice in the last several months, at least, by ISIS. You blame ISIS and hundreds of people have been killed, in Ankara and recently in the heart of Istanbul's tourist district. The president, when he spoke live to the nation about it, blamed ISIS, stayed on it for a couple of minutes and then spent the rest of his half- hour speech on the PKK. There are people who don't understand why Turkey today feels that the PKK is more of a threat than [Isis. Davutoglu:] Well, it is same [Amanpour:] It's not being treated as the same. The president and the prime minister and the government harp on the PKK all the time. [Davutoglu:] No, you cannot compare two evils. Evils are evils. [Pkk - - Amanpour:] But which is a bigger danger right now? [Davutoglu:] Both are dangers to Turkey. Both are ideological threats against democracy. [Amanpour:] You know, there are a lot of people who think that your government simply doesn't like criticism. They don't think it, they know it. Because, it is really difficult to criticize. And you're a democracy. You have journalists still in jail. You have editors on trial. You have, you know, academics who have written just a letter, criticizing the campaign against the Kurds, civilians and others, as they've written, who were threatened and accused of being treasonous and traitors. And people are trying to figure out, what is it with Turkey today? This was a robust democracy when the AKP came to power in 2002 [Davutoglu:] And today it's a robust democracy. [Amanpour:] Well, people are saying, is it going a little Putinista? [Davutoglu:] Those who are criticizing us from this perspective, they should know one simple reality. We had two elections last year, fair, objective elections, and there has been all type of criticism against the government in both of the elections. And many of the newspapers, TV channels, were against the our party. These statements recently by [Amanpour:] These academics are believed to have criticized an [Davutoglu:] They can criticize any issue [Amanpour:] and you conflate them with supporting terror. That is a tactic that's been used, you know, by many, many governments who are fighting [Davutoglu:] Christiane [Amanpour:] no, but seriously, U.S. ambassador to Turkey, Mr. Bass, has said and, of course, they know that the PKK is designated a terrorist organization. Nonetheless, quote, "We are concerned about the pressure having a chilling effect on legitimate political discourse." This is about the academicians. "Expressions of concern about violence do not equal support for terrorism. Criticism of a government does not equal treason." E.U. spokesman, "It's all extremely worrying." [Davutoglu:] It shows that there is freedom of expressions in Turkey [Amanpour:] Well, no [Davutoglu:] even foreign diplomats can criticize us and we are not saying anything [Amanpour:] That's foreign diplomats, that's not Turks. [Davutoglu:] no, no, any academician can criticize us. But I call academicians to have ethical responsibility, to see the reality on the ground. [Amanpour:] Why does President Erdogan need to try to get the constitution changed? Why does the constitution need to be changed in order to prolong the power of an individual? Why? [Davutoglu:] This is not any of debate. After this constitution was adopted in early 1980s by a military junta, that has been the agenda of Turkey. Now there is the need of a new constitution, based on individual freedoms, right and freedoms, checks and balances, separation of power. The substance, the spirit of the constitution is important. And if we can achieve to such a constitution, a civilian constitution, made by a civilian parliament, that will be the greatest reform we can achieve. [Amanpour:] Prime minister, thank you very much for joining us. [Davutoglu:] Thank you very much. Thank you. [Amanpour:] And while the politicians debate, the artists create. The anonymous British graffiti artist known as Banksy is once again letting the walls do the talking, this time taking on the refugee crisis and depicting Cosette from Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables," weeping and trapped in a cloud of tear gas. It's spray painted across the road from the French embassy here in London. And it's Banksy's art attack on the Calais police and their aggressive clearing of the refugee camps. When we come back, we imagine a world of some other British pioneers, the women who rowed across our planet's largest ocean in a tiny four-person boat. That's next. [Allen:] We continue here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, live from Atlanta. Hello, I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories. The U.S. President Barack Obama is going straight to the source for a briefing about terror threats over the holidays. He's visiting the National Counterterrorism Center outside of Washington. Joe Johns is live at the White House for us. And Joe, it's certainly been a violent month for the world as far as terrorism goes. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] It has, Natalie. And to tell you the truth, this is one in a series of attempts by the White House to appear active and engaged on the issue of terrorism, the president taking a rare visit to the National Counterterrorism Center and he's going to sit down and talk with some of the officials there. And after that, he apparently is going to give some type of a statement. They don't advertise when they're talking about intelligence but we do know the director of that center on Capitol Hill testifying as recently as October, among the many things they're concerned about is the ability of terror organizations like ISIS, Al Qaeda and others to communicate outside the channels where intelligence can pick up their signals. So there's a lot to talk about there, the president trying to get out in front of this in advance of the holidays, also in advance of his long 17-day vacation trip to Hawaii Natalie. [Allen:] And we know that before he gets to Hawaii he's going to be stopping in California. And that is in relation, this stop, to the terrorism we saw there. [Johns:] That's right. He's going to San Bernardino, California, the site of the latest terror attacks in the United States, the worst since 911. He's going to have a private meeting, we're told, with the families of the victims and possibly a statement from him there. But it does not sound like it's going to be a big media event for public consumption. It sounds sufficiently private. So he's going to do that. And I also have to mention that earlier this week he went over to the Pentagon to talk with his national security team and even in New York at the United Nations, the security counsel at the United Nations, the Security Council at the United Nations, the Treasury Secretary is talking to ministers of Security Counsel nations about cutting off the flow of money to ISIS. So a lot going on in this front, very concerned because Americans are concerned right now about terrorism Natalie. [Allen:] Absolutely. We'll wait and see what the president has to say. We'll bring our viewers that. Joe Johns, for us live at the White House, thank you, Joe. Up next here on the IDESK, Cuban baseball players smuggled into the U.S. years ago are getting a celebrity welcome back home by the next generation of Cuban athletes, who may find it easier to play in the U.S. That's ahead. [Berman:] The breaking news this morning, word that President-elect Donald Trump has selected Nikki Haley. He will nominate Nikki Haley to be his ambassador to the United Nations. Nikki Haley is the popular governor of South Carolina. This is the first woman or minority that Donald Trump has decided to bring in to his inner circle. While that's going on, Donald Trump sat down with "The New York Times" yesterday for an hour, and talked about a wide range of issues, talked about his positions on a wide range of issues. For reaction to all this, I want to bring in the CEO of the Heritage Foundation's political arm, Heritage Action. Michael Needham joins us. Mike, if you read the articles, the Heritage Foundation right now is key in helping Donald Trump through this transition process. So, we assume you are big on making all the decisions or you made them all yourself. What do you make of the Nikki Haley decision? [Michael Needham, Ceo, Heritage Action For America, Heritage Foundation:] Donald Trump is making all the decisions. We are trying to help him and offer our expertise as desired. Nikki Haley has been a phenomenal governor, she created jobs, did ethics reform down there, she's bright, a quick learner. She will be a fantastic representative of the United States. [Berman:] Do you need foreign policy experience to be ambassador to the United Nations? [Needham:] I think, as the governor of a state, you have foreign policy experience. She went overseas over a dozen times but she's also been an incredible governor. [Berman:] Would you say foreign policy is her main area of expertise? [Needham:] I think that running an administration has been her main area of expertise in South Carolina. And now as the president's representative at the United Nations, she will be involved in the exact same types of skills that she has been using running a state, interacting with people, and representing interests. [Berman:] We were talking during the break, and we were talking about Donald Trump's interview with "The New York Times" yesterday, the hour-long sit-down. You suggested it shows that he will stand up for the conservative principles that are so important to Heritage. Well, the flipside of that, a lot of people are reading this thing and noticing that in this sit-down with "The New York Times," he seemed to be open to at least not seemed to be open to the idea that climate change, the Paris Accord would stick. He seemed to be open to the idea that he would not waterboard. He seemed to be open to the idea of maybe not doing infrastructure spending he said before. It's hard to know where he is on the positions. [Needham:] I read the actual transcript of this thing. If you look at what he says on climate change, it's pretty much what we would have said at Heritage. He said there are questions that need to be looked at, there's research on both sides of the issue, this is not settled science the way some people on the left want to say. Once you figure out what exactly is going on with climate change, we need to have a conversation about what is man's role in it. Most importantly, what is the public policy response and does it cause more harm or [Berman:] Do you anticipate he will withdraw from the Paris Accords? [Needham:] He should. And I think when you look [Berman:] Will you be disappointed if he doesn't? [Needham:] Sure. I think when he looks at it, as he says in the interview, he will look at the merits, listen to a lot of people, and you will find the damage done to the economy by the Paris Accords does not in any way [Berman:] Do you think Donald Trump, the president-elect, has conservative convictions? [Needham:] I do. I think that, especially reading that interview with "The New York Times," you see and I don't know where his convictions were ten years ago, or five years ago. I think certainly over the course of this campaign, the experience of going around the country has made him more conservative. In virtually every single answer in that "New York Times" interview yesterday, I thought that his initial answer was something that shows a kind of deep understanding of conservative instincts. [Berman:] Is it conservative to not separate your business interests from the business of government? [Needham:] I think it's kind of a cheap shot on Donald Trump. This is the first businessman who has ever been in there. He has an incredibly complicated business. And it's a difficult business to sell off. As he said to "The New York Times," this is not just some stalk that he can go out there and sell. I think that what he's trying to do, it seems, is figure out what is the right way to take a complicated business, to kind of distance himself in a realistic way. It's just not realistic to sell. [Berman:] Does Heritage think he should create some distance between his private business and the business of government? [Needham:] I don't think Heritage has a position on that. What we think is that ending cronyism in Washington, D.C., is absolutely important. [Berman:] Does cronyism count for having your business profit while you're president? Because people could look at that and say that's cronyism. [Needham:] I think he's trying to figure out is he trying to figure out the right way to do this? It seems to me he is. We go forward, if this becomes a kind of cronyist administration, we are not going to be hesitant to criticize that. I think realistically if anybody has suggestions as to what he should be doing, that are kind of realistic to his circumstances, I would expect him to take them up. If he doesn't, they have a real issue. I'm not sure what he could be doing. I'm not sure what his critics are asking him to do that he's not currently doing. [Berman:] Michael Needham, from Heritage, great to have you here with us. Come on back. Interesting discussion. [Needham:] Appreciate it. [Berman:] Besides Michael Needham, we are talking about someone else now. He's young, rich, handsome, successful and normally quiet. We are talking about the son-in-law of Donald Trump, who is credited by many with helping him win this campaign. Now Jared Kushner, who says he doesn't talk, is talking. Hear what he has said about the campaign, everything from Chris Christie to McDonald's. Plus, I won. I have a countdown clock right now. You can see it there on the bottom of the screen. Three hours and two minutes until President Obama's final turkey pardon. Which turkey will he choose? Will it be Tater, will it be Tot? Three hours and two minutes until the turkey learns its fate. Stay with us. [Vause:] Some images there of the fires in Southern California and crews are continuing to work to try and contain those blazes. [Walker:] On Monday, another fire spreading out in the San Gabriel Canyon, quickly scorching about 1,500 acres. Stephanie Elam tells us what crews are doing to put out those growing flames. Our thanks to Stephanie Elam for that report. We're going to turn now to the Orlando massacre. Investigators say Orlando gunman Omar Mateen was inside the Pulse nightclub several hours before the terror attack. [Vause:] They think he may have been checking the club's security. Late details now from Ed Lavandera. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Omar Mateen was angry as he packed a bag with his guns and then made the two-hour drive from his home to the Pulse night club in Orlando. That's what law enforcement sources say Noor Salman, Mateen's wife has told investigators. Salman says she pleaded with Mateen not to leave and grabbed him by the arm. She says she didn't know he was planning to kill dozens of people at the club. She also never called police to report what was happening. Law enforcement also says the day before the attack, Mateen purchased three plane tickets for himself, his wife and child to fly to California. On Tuesday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch visited the shooting site but refused to say if criminal charges would be brought against Salman. [Lavandera:] Are you convinced that Omar Mateen's wife did not know about this attack, or should she have done more to stop it? [Loretta Lynch, U.s. Attorney General:] Well, we're not going to speak about anyone else's role in this right now while we are investigating the matter. We are trying to learn everything we can about Mateen and all the people in his ambit in the days and weeks and months leading up to this attack. [Lavandera:] The investigators are using Mateen's the cell phone and surveillance video inside the club to build a timeline of his movements in the hours before the deadly rampage. Law enforcement sources tell CNN, Mateen showed up at the Pulse Nightclub earlier in the evening, paid the entry fee and obtained a wristband. He may have been checking the building security that night. Mateen left the club, came back two hours later and unleashed the violent shooting spree. Investigators are trying to figure out what Mateen was doing during those two hours. [Ron Hopper, Fbi Orlando Assistant Special Agent:] That is why we're asking for anybody and everybody that had any contact with this individual to come forward [Hopper:] so we can piece that information together. [Lavandera:] Attorney General Lynch says investigators are still working to determine whether Mateen acted out solely as a self- radicalized extremist or if he was driven by homophobia. [Lynch:] We do feel that as we continue to build a timeline and a chronology and to build his life, that we will be able to determine this I cannot tell you definitively that we will ever narrow it down to one motivation. [Lavandera:] Investigators have finished collecting evidence at the Pulse Nightclub, the roads have opened up in a small memorial of flowers and tributes is already being left under the club's marquee Ed Lavandera, CNN, Orlando, Florida. [Walker:] An American teenager is under arrest for attempting to provide material support to ISIS and travel overseas to join the terror organization. [Vause:] FBI agents took 18-year-old Akram Musleh into custody in Indiana. They say he was trying to board a bus to New York, where he had a scheduled flight to Morocco and then head to ISIS-controlled territory. If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. [Walker:] Argentina is heading to the Copa America Finals. The top- ranked team defeated the U.S. 4-0 in the semifinals on Tuesday. [Vause:] Lionel Messi, who many consider the world's best player, set Argentina's record with the 55th career goal. Argentina will meet either Chile or Colombia in the Copa Finals on Sunday. [Walker:] All right. Coming up next for our viewers in Asia, CNN's "STATE OF THE RACE" with Kate Bolduan. [Vause:] For everyone else, when we come back, Donald Trump is getting ready to hit back at his Democratic rival. We'll look at his speech, which is planned on Wednesday, taking aim at Hillary Clinton. [Walker:] Also a heated debate ahead of Britain's biggest decision in a generation. See the fireworks and hear from people in coastal towns about a Brexit from the European Union. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Got some revealing new details about the death of Prince. CNN has learned that an addiction specialist was making plans at the request of Prince's representatives to admit the star to a clinic in California hours before Prince passed away. Specialist is nationally known. His name is Dr. Howard Cornfield. His program recovery without walls treats patients for pain and addiction management and Dr. Cornfield's son who initially took the red eye to Prince's compound at Paisley Park. He is the one who was in that building when he was found unresponsive in the elevator and he is the one who dialed 911. At a news conference today, the Cornfield attorney described the plan as a life-saving mission. [William Mauzy, Attorney For Opioid Specialist By Prince's Team:] That mission was to get Prince to a doctor in Minnesota on Thursday morning. He contacted a trusted colleague of his. That Minnesota doctor cleared his schedule for Thursday morning to provide privacy to Prince. The second part of Dr. Cornfield's plan was to send his son, a staff member, for recovery without walls. Andrew's purpose in being there was to describe the recovery without walls program to familiarize Prince with that. Prince could go there for pain management and any addiction issues. [Baldwin:] Joining me now, CNN's Stephanie Elam who attend that had press conference today and has some new details for us. Also here, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and criminal and civil attorney Eric Guster. So, a lot to get to. And Stephanie, first, to you. We now have information what about a Percocet addiction. What do you know? [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Right. And it's important to put this all in context here. What we're understanding from the lawyer representing the Cornfield is that this was an intervention being waged by Prince's camp. That they made the first call Wednesday night and that he was supposed to see this local doctor on Thursday morning. Obviously, we know now that he passed away. And this new revelation that CNN has learned from a lawyer who used to represent two of Prince's half siblings, both of whom are now passed away, in particular Duane Nelson who is the source of this information saying that according to this attorney had said that he had seen Prince use Percocet in the past, not just seen him use it, had helped procure it for him decades before the iconic singer lost his life. We do know also that Duane Nelson used to work for Prince. And that he worked for him at Paisley Park but then was fired, and then went on to sue his half-brother. But he said that Prince was using this Percocet to come down after performances. Now, this is according to Prince's half sibling who is deceased, but the lawyer who used to represent this brother is saying that he told him this before he died. So this is something that CNN has learned. And this is a new development in this case Brooke. [Baldwin:] OK. So, with that huge piece of news, Sanjay Gupta, the question is this, if this is, again, putting this on this attorney who represented these two half-brothers who are no longer with us saying one of them used to, you know, get the Percocet for Prince. He wanted, you know, the Percocet to come down and help him deal with the rigors of performing. It was said Prince was in no way just a recreational user. Have you ever heard of Percocet being used in this fashion? [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] No, not really. I mean, look. Percocet is a pain killer. It's an opioid narcotic. It is typically used to treat pain. What is being described as someone coming down after a performance, I don't know. You know, you think someone using an anxiety medication or something like that or a sedative or something. So I haven't really heard of it being used like this, but that's not its intended use either. [Baldwin:] Remind us what it is. [Gupta:] Well, it's a pain killer. Percocet is a pain killer. And, you know, if he was having pain for as long as Stephanie Elam was just describing over a decade or however long it was, you can be rest assured that Percocet probably wouldn't have effectiveness for that long. Typically these medications are used short term. So to to have been using it for a decade or so, it wasn't being used as intended by any means. I don't know if he was using it more as a sedative just because it can make you sleepy as well, but it certainly wouldn't be a medication of choice. The way that it was just described, Brooke. [Baldwin:] Right. Right. And it's also tricky because we don't know was he addicted according to this lawyer, according to the deceased half-brother? Were they using it for decades? Were they off and on using it for decades? Eric Guster, let me bring you in. Let's put the, you know, the nationally known doctor and son aside for a second. And the crux of this is how was Prince getting this, if it was Percocet or whatever the drug was, it was found on him and in Paisley Park the day he died, the DEA is in there, and they are going to figure it out. [Eric Guster, Criminal And Civil Trial Attorney:] This is almost deja vu with Michael Jackson's death. When you think about a performer who died at the hands of a doctor and someone who was giving them drugs. And Prince, if he had this addiction and he was he was getting these major prescriptions, someone had to supply them. Someone had to write prescriptions for him or his aliases or people to actually fill these prescriptions, and that's what the D.A. wants. They want to know who was providing these drugs, who was getting them filled, and who was basically overseeing all of this and who should have stopped it, because if someone was enabling this and writing these prescriptions illegally, then that doctor can be prosecuted, could lose his or her license as well. [Baldwin:] Obviously, somebody knew something was up. To pick up the call, to call this, you know, California doctor, Dr. Cornfield who is, you know, very well known in this kind of thing. They were going to bring him in and have around-the-clock nursing and care in California, you know, confidentially to improve his health. Still, it's like they miss him by hours. [Guster:] Yes. Literally hours. And the person who made the call, it may have been one of his one of his concerned family members. So it may not have been a person who was actually providing the drugs. It could have been a family member saying, look, Prince, we need to get you some help. We're going to call this specialist. They are going to come and see you and we're going to try to save your life because you're going down a bad road. But they just did not make it in enough time which is so heartbreaking. [Baldwin:] That is so sad. Eric Guster, thank you. We're also again waiting for the toxicology reports and all that's come back with the autopsy. That is all pending. Stephanie Elam knows that very well. Stephanie, thank you and Dr. Gupta, thank you as always as well. Coming up next, back to politics. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton both face unfavorable ratings like any other presidential candidates in history, the highest since I think the early '90s, but smart VP picks could help them turn it around. CNN is learning that possible candidates are being vetted. Find out who is on the short list next. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Also moments from now the family, of Keith Scott dead at the hands of a Charlotte police officer. You will hear what they have to say live next. We have breaking news from the investigation in New York and New Jersey. Authorities have pieced together a timeline. Evan Perez is with me. You've been on this since the news broke, since the bomb exploded this weekend. The focus is Rahami's wife and coming back to the United States. What do we know about her travels? [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] We know that now federal authorities have finally figured out where she was and they've talked to her, she's back in the United States, she returned yesterday, she was transiting through the United Arab Emirates, Poppy, when they the FBI contacted the UAE authorities and had her basically brought in for an interview. She told them she had no idea what was happening, she had no idea about this attack [Harlow:] It just happened to be she was out of the country? [Perez:] She left on a pre-planned flight, the FBI believes her. They think she bought tickets way in advance and she wouldn't have known. She was scheduled to be coming back at the time he was doing this, so she's back here and they say she's cooperating with them and they expect that this is going to continue. [Harlow:] But who is not cooperating is Rahami. And now he's intubated so he can't be questioned. [Perez:] We hear from the U.S. attorney's office in New Jersey that there will be time before they can ask questions of him. The thing with this case is that they have so much evidence against him, they feel that they can take some time to question him about it. They have spent the last couple of days building a timeline, they believe they have a very good idea of everything he has done since the night before the Seaside park bombing on Saturday morning. Figuring exactly where he has been all the way through to the time he was captured. There's a three-hour gap between the time of the first Chelsea bombing and the time he leaves Manhattan. They are still working on that, exactly what he was doing, who might he have been talking to? They found on his cell phone that he didn't have service so he was using Wi-Fi to communicate using encrypted apps, so that will be an issue. We have seen this in a lot of cases recently. [Harlow:] San Bernardino. [Perez:] San Bernardino and other terrorism cases where terrorists are using apps and the FBI can't get access to those communications. That is going to play a role in this investigation as well. [Harlow:] And the fight we saw between the FBI and Apple in the San Bernardino case [Perez:] Has not been resolved, right. [Harlow:] Has not been resolve, thank you very much, Evan, we appreciate it. To politics and the Donald Trump campaign now personally walking back comments that suggested the controversial policy of stop and frisk be widely expanded. This as the Republican candidate makes his pitch to African American voters. Listen to what he said this week during a town hall. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] I would do stop and frisk. I think you have to. We did it in the New York, it worked incredibly well. You have to be proactive. You really help people sort of change their mind automatically. You understand. You have to have in my opinion, I see what's going on here, I see what's going on in Chicago, I think stop and frisk. In New York City it was so incredible the way it worked. [Harlow:] But this morning both Donald Trump and his campaign clarifying saying he was specifically referring to Chicago. Well, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, blaming and blasting Trump's remark saying if the policy were reinstated tension between police officers and black communities would increase. So take a look at the stats and here's what the numbers show us. The numbers also show us this, let's pull up the other graphic. From 2004 to mid-2012, 4.4 million people were stopped in New York City. Black or Latino. Only 12% of them were charged. Those are the numbers from 2004 to 2012. Paul Ryan was asked about this, house speaker Paul Ryan was asked about this and his take on stop and frisk after Trump's comments. Here's what he said. [Paul Ryan, , House Speaker:] I don't have an answer for you because it's not something I've familiarized myself, the constitutionality of it, its efficacy, whether it worked well in New York City or not. That's my point. [Harlow:] Let's bring in chief political correspondent Dana Bash. He punted. He did not answer. And the fact that the matter is the data is out there. The raw numbers are out there. What do you make of his answer? [Dana Bash: Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Paul Ryan is actually has been relatively open to either agreeing or disagreeing and in many cases disagreeing with controversial things Donald Trump says. In this case he did punt. My sense is he has maybe one shot at punting, and the next time he's asked he won't have that ability to do it, or he shouldn't because now he has the opportunity to familiarize himself. He's a budget guy. He has a lot of strengths that he knows off the top of his head. Maybe this isn't one of them. But given what is happening in this country and in Charlotte over the past 24, 48 hours, everybody has to familiarize themselves with these stats, especially those running the country. [Harlow:] Let's talk about a volunteer in the key swing state of Ohio, a volunteer for the Trump campaign, Kathy Miller, who said something very controversial. Listen. [Kathy Miller, Volunteer For Trump Campaign:] I don't think there was any racism until Obama got elected. We never had problems like this, you know, I'm in the real estate industry. There's none. Now, you know, the people with the guns and shooting up neighborhoods and not being responsible citizens that's a big change and that's the philosophy that Obama has perpetuated on America. I think that's all his responsibility and if you're black and you haven't been successful in the last 50 years, it's your own fault. We have three generations of all still having unwed babies, kids that don't go through high school, I mean, when do they take responsibility for how they live? I think it's due time and I think that's good Mr. Trump is pointing that out. [Harlow:] All right, so she resigned, they've put out a statement saying they accepted her resignation. Your thoughts on that and how reflective that is of the Trump campaign. I mean they are clearly separating themselves right away from it. [Bash:] And you can see the reaction real time from that reporter looking and like saying, "Are you really saying this to me right now?" It's preposterous. Forget about the facts which are not on her side at all and we could do a show about how they're not on her side but also the politics of it which is just crazy for her to be saying something like that at this time. She wasn't just a volunteer. She was the county chair in Ohio, Ohio being an incredibly important state. [Harlow:] That county, too, is like key swing county with a ton of undecided voters. [Bash:] Exactly, exactly. And to people who are looking at the Trump campaign saying this is exhibit A of why they are intolerant and every other reason why people really don't like Donald Trump then they'll use it. But to people saying wait a minute, we're misunderstood, they're going to say this is exactly what is right with the Trump campaign, as soon as she said with what she said she resigned, she was dismissed. She not only separated herself from the campaign she made clear not participating in the electoral college process. [Harlow:] Dana, thank you for the reporting. [Bash:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Coming up, any minute now we'll bring you a live news conference out of Charlotte, North Carolina, we're just waiting for the family of Mr. Scott who was shot and killed by a police officer this week coming out to speak following a second night of violence and riots in Charlotte. We'll bring you that live as soon as it happens. Also a six-year-old boy's touching letter to president Obama makes its way to the floor of the United Nations. Why the president says we could all learn a lesson from what this little boy has to say about Syrian refugees. [Costello:] Just a couple of hours ago, we learned there is a major new player in Syria. That major new player would be Iran. Iran says it will send its foreign minister to peace talks in Vienna. Russia says it was the United States that invited Iran, which has now emerged as the major player in this conflict, on the battlefield. The U.S. says it has dropped ammunition to a new rebel alliance that includes Kurdish fighters taking on ISIS and who desperately need more weapons, armor and ammo. CNN senior international Clarissa Ward has been on the front lines. She joins us now from Erbil in Iraq. Hi, Clarissa. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Hi. Good morning, Carol. Well, we spent times in recent areas that have been liberated from ISIS. But you don't find people celebrating on the ground, and that's because the devastation the fighting has left behind is enormous and the future is still uncertain. [Ward:] Weeks ago, these dusty planes were held by ISIS. This is what's left of its presence now. The charred remains of a training camp hidden in a pine forest. It's where ISIS trained an elite unit of suicide bombers that attacked Kurdish positions with devastating effect. Kurdish fighters known as the YPG took this entire area from is in August, but holding it along a front line more than 400 miles long is a huge challenge. In the shadow of Mt. Abdulazeez, Commander Zinar told us he had lost 30 of his fighters in a recent battle when ISIS came down from the mountain. [Chief Zinar, Ypg Commander:] The enemy attacked us with a large number of fighters, using heavy weapons. They took control of three villages and after that, the clashes lasted for hours until we were in control again. [Ward:] Zinar is a battalion commander, but this is the size of his battalion, a handful of poorly equipped men. The nearest friendly forces are miles away. The cost of pushing ISIS out has been enormous. Streets here are draped of the flags of fighters killed in battle, along desolate roads, through abandoned villages, we saw scene upon scene of devastation. The wreckage of months of fierce fighting and relentless coalition airstrikes. [on camera]: Dozens of villages like this one that were liberated from ISIS months ago are now still completely deserted. [Keilar:] North Korea's communist regime is rocking out to an all-female pop band. It's hand-picked by the country's ever- cool and stylish dictator. I want to go live now to CNN's Kyung Lah in Seoul. This is pretty interesting, Kyung. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] Very interesting and gathering a lot of interest here among North Korea watchers. Whether Kim Jong- Un's embrace of some parts of Western culture might signal any sort of change of heart in the regime. [Lah:] Welcome to North Korea's hottest pop band, Moranbong. A violin-wielding, high heel-wearing, Kim Jong-Un-loving girl group. Formed, according to North Korea's propaganda, by the supreme leader himself. At this concert a long-range missile launches on the big screen behind them. Frenzied fans on their feet. The music crescendos as the missile strikes a picture of the United States. North Korea's age-old message delivered by women in a communist version of a Chanel suit. It is a modern, powerful twist for the repressive regime's brainwashing of its people. While Kim Jong-Un has reportedly executed members of his own family and inner circle, he's pitching himself as an exciting young leader, says North Korean Studies professor Yu Ho-yeol. [Prof. Yu Ho-yeol, North Korean Studies, Korea University:] He, Kim Jong-Un, is a leader who are familiar with such kind of a strange and new and otherwise cultural image. [Lah:] It is a calculated departure from the propaganda of his father's era. At North Korea's only airline, Air Koryo, flight attendants ditching the staid, Soviet-era uniforms, and replacing them with this, the leggy outfits gracing this month's cover of North Korea's magazine. The new North Korea spotted on Kim Jong-Un's very own wife, Ri Sol-ju. She is North Korea'Kate Middleton, spawning a Westernization of fashion in Pyongyang, down to the high heels. But nothing happens by accident on the hermit kingdom's propaganda TV. No citizens on earth are as happy as us, says North Korea's announcer, as Kim Jong-Un takes a ride at this brand-new amusement park. Pictures on his private plane show him as a progressive leader cementing his people's loyalty. North Korea watchers saying updating its propaganda from this to something more modern, more outside world, does have some political benefit. But there is some risk to the regime. The ladies of Moranbong perpetually in praise of Kim Jong-Un clearly got some ideas from their enemy on the other side of the DMZ South Korea's K-pop bands. Let in some new ideas? [Yu Ho-yeol:] They want to look beyond the screen. Maybe it's a risk to the regime itself. [Lah:] A challenge not on a military front but one of human curiosity. Here is the head-scratcher in all of this. That South Korean band that North Korea is copying, well, it is the very band, that very same song, that they objected to being played on the propaganda speakers that South Korea had erected on the DMZ. So, Brianna, they are willing to declare war over the message from the South, the music from the South, but are copying it themselves. So it's really something that is quite curious. [Keilar:] It sure is. Kyung Lah for us in Seoul, thank you so much for that great report. Coming up, frontrunner Donald Trump pledges allegiance to the GOP. He promises to support the Republican nominee, which he also promises will turn out to be Donald Trump. [Unidentified Female:] Oh gosh, New York has been cold this week, hasn't it? In fact, my head is getting a little chilly. I'd better put on my favorite hat that I've worn so many times over the years. Here we go. That will keep me warm while I eat my favorite dinner, a classic New York City street hot dog. What a delicious real bite that was. And for dessert, all you New Yorkers know that I am just nuts for nuts. There's my alarm. Time to turn my hat around. There we go. Ah, God I love those New York meats. [Berman:] Ah, that is one way, perhaps, to win the New York vote. If you're not going to go down that path, what do the Democratic candidates need to do to win tonight's debate and win in the primary on Tuesday? Let's discuss with Robert Zimmerman, his a Democratic Strategist and a Clinton campaign supporter, and Jonathan Tasini, he is the supporter of Bernie Sanders and the author of "The essential Bernie Sanders and his vision for America." Gentlemen, I want to keep this simple. [Robert Zimmerman, Democratic Strategist:] Good to be with you. [Berman:] Tell me one single thing that each your candidate can do to win this debate tonight. Robert. [Zimmerman:] Hillary Clinton has got to mobilize Democrats to focus on the real agenda here, which is beating Donald Trump or Ted Cruz, and making sure Democrats don't get caught up in all the side shows. Don't get on all the personal attacks she has to face. But focus on really what's at stake. That's what mobilizes Democrats. That's what mobilizes New Yorkers and that's why I think she'll win. [Jonathan Tasini, Author, "the Essential Bernie Sanders And His Vision For America:] I never worry about Bernie Sanders going into debates, because he is very consistent about what he talks about. Inequality, the billionaires taking over our election process, and I think the more he talks about that, the more he gets exposes that, those issues, and the fact that he wants a political revolution. He does very well in the debates. I think he's going to stick to that. [Bolduan:] In sticking to that, though, what is the tone going to be like? I mean, you know, you can either go on offense or defense tonight. Those are really the two options. You need to pick one. If you try both, it will end poorly. [Zimmerman:] The reality is, when Bernie Sanders began this campaign, he was focusing on issues and I think that was important and helpful to elevate the Democratic Party and engage supporters. But unfortunately, as his campaign has progressed and he sees Hillary Clinton winning the popular vote by 2.4 million, winning the elected delegates, he's started to attack her character, started to attack her personally and I think that's diminished his candidacy and diminished his message. [Berman:] Jonathan. [Tasini:] Well, I disagree slightly with my friend Robert. I think that what has happened is, as often happens in primaries, it gets intense because people are competing for different visions. Bernie wants to change the party. It is about the soul of the party. He wants to have a political revolution that's about taking on the big banks, taking on the billionaires. Hillary Clinton represents the status quo, moderate Democratic Party. [Bolduan:] Right. So is it bad if it gets intense. If it even goes negative tonight? Why not... [Zimmerman:] I f you think Hillary Clinton represents the status quo, I've got a bridge in Brooklyn I can get you a good deal on. [Berman:] I think this... [Zimmerman:] I'll take it. Going from Manhattan to Brooklyn. [Berman:] When you actually get money from Goldman Sachs, when you get huge amounts of money from the coal, gas and industry... [Tasini:] But to say let me, finish. That's the status quo. That's exactly the status quo that Bernie wants to stop. Because he thinks that's buying our democracy, it's taking away the rights of individual people to have a voice in the American political process. That's what he said from the beginning of the campaign. And I think he's going to continue with that line tonight and do very well. [Zimmerman:] But the problem is he they start making those kinds of false charges. When, in fact, I think Bernie Sanders got a coveted three Pinocchios from the "Washington Post" fact checker but making the claim that she was receiving money from the oil and gas." [Tasini:] Well, there are three. [Zimmerman:] And the point when you start making those kinds of false charges, you lose sight of the real issues that Democrats have to focus on if we're going to beat the Republicans... [Berman:] It's a teaser, it's an appetizer. Let's leave it there. Leave us from watching more. [Bolduan:] I love appetizers. [Berman:] Appetizers the ice. [Zimmerman:] And I'll get you the Brooklyn Bridge. [Berman:] Well have the survey. They will see Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton tonight. [Bolduan:] Probably cleanser. [Berman:] At 9:00 p.m. eastern time. Robert Zimmerman and Jonathan Tisini, thanks so much for coming. Appreciate it, [Zimmerman:] Thanks so much. [Bolduan:] Thank you guys we appreciate it. In a short time from now, a very big announcement coming very big announcement for Trump's campaign manager. Sources say the Florida State attorney will not move forward with charges against Corey Lewandowski. How the reporter at the center of this case is reacting this morning. That's next [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] You did say the crowds are already packing in. That is for sure. They stretch for blocks that way. And the ball drop isn't for 10 hours. And the ball drop will be a few blocks this way. So we have all of these people lined up here. These people camping out. I have talked to people who are way in the front here as we get closer to the ball. They have been here since 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. You guys, when did you get here to get these pretty prime spots? [Unidentified Female:] We've been down here since noon, and they opened up the gates at 1:00. [Schneider:] You had to go through security screenings to get in here, right? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Schneider:] What did they do? [Unidentified Female:] You unzip your jackets and you just, hopefully you make it through. [Schneider:] And you did make it through. You got a good spot here. And that is just part of the security screening out here. Police have really amped up their security this year because of some of the terrorist attacks overseas that have happened. In fact the new addition this year is 65 sanitation trucks that will be set up around the perimeter. Over on Eighth Avenue we have seen a few of them. They will be set up all over Times Square. They'll be filled with sand and they would act as a blockade. There are also 100 other blockade vehicles that will be used, double what was used last year. And then you've got some other numbers 7,000 NYPD officers that will be out throughout the city, including 550 who are newly graduated from the police academy. And then, you have the pens with all the crowds. There are 65 of these pens all over Times Square with many excited spectators. The police here expecting to fill these pens with about 3,000 people. So there is a lot of activity here in Times Square. You can see there is where the ball drops. And there are all the people here. There are also counterterrorism officials who will be out here monitoring 14 access points. Down at One Police Plaza, the headquarters just downtown, about 30 officials from city and state and federal agencies, they will be monitoring all of the video feeds that come in from all of the cameras here around Time Square. So a lot of security and preparation that goes into this huge event. This year, the security even more stepped up. But these people, they have gone through it. They are excited. And it just took about 10 hour toss go until this ball drops. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Yes. They are the lucky ones with a great vantage point. All right, thank you so much Jessica Schneider. We will check back with you. Now, to new tensions between Russian the Russian government and the U.S. government. We are learning the same malicious software used by Russian hackers to meddle in the U.S. election has been found on a laptop belonging to a Vermont utility company. Burlington Electric says the laptop was not connected to the power grid but did call this an attempt to infiltrate utility systems. Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin lashing out at Russian president Vladimir Putin, saying, quote, "Vermonters and all Americans should be both alarmed and outraged that one of the world's leading thugs, Vladimir Putin, has been attempting to hack our electric grid which we rely upon to support our quality of life, economy, health and safety," end quote. CNN's Polo Sandoval is following this story and joins me now live. Polo, the governments are trying to sort out how far-reaching this intrusion might be, and I mean U.S. government, local governments as well. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Fred. A lot of questions around this one, what is the scope of this, what was the intent, and, of course, was this an isolated incident? One U.S. government official told my colleague Jim Sciutto that those are questions they just don't have answers to, at least not yet, as an investigation presses forward. What we do know is that Burlington Electric, the company involved in this, apparently detected what is malicious software on one of their company laptop computers. It's important to note that computer, according to these officials, was not directly connected into the power grid that is crucial for about 20,000 people there in the northeast. And they also understand that their customer lists were not compromised either. So that's still a question as to what that malicious software was doing in that computer, the so-called Grizzly Steppe. And it sounds familiar. That is because that is that same malicious software that was reportedly used by Russian hackers to attempt to affect or at least sway the November election. While this is not expected to have extreme impacts, this is still causing several concerns, not just among the governor, which you mentioned a few moments ago, but also some lawmakers. For example, Patrick Leahy, senator form Vermont, released a statement after these developments came to light in which he says this is beyond hackers having electronic joyrides. This is now about trying to access utilities to potentially manipulate the grid and shut it down in the middle of winter. This is a direct threat to Vermont and we do not take it lightly." Fred? [Whitfield:] Polo Sandoval, thank you so much. Vladimir Putin stayed away from the allegations against Russia in his annual New Year's message. CNN's senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joining me now from Moscow. So Matthew, who does this message catered to? [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, there has been a couple of messages. There's been one message to the Russian people, congratulating them on the end of 2016. That message has already gone out on local television stations across eastern Russia where, of course, it is already a New Year. Here in Moscow it's not midnight yet. There has also been another message that went out as a written statement to world leaders congratulating them on the New Year as well, the queen of England, the president of France, the chancellor of Germany. One notable absentee was President Obama. He wasn't mentioned at all in that congratulations list. But Donald Trump was, the president-elect of the United States. And it again reinforces this idea that Vladimir Putin has been hammering home over the course of the past 24 hours is that he is ignoring what's happening with the Obama administration. He ignored the expulsion effectively of those 35 Russian diplomats by President Barack Obama in response to the allegations of election hacking by Russian hackers. And he reached out, instead, to Donald Trump, saying that the future of the relationship between Russia and the United States is going to be determined by the policy of the Trump administration. And for one, Donald Trump applauded that, of course, yesterday issuing that tweet in which he said it was a good move and that he always thought that Vladimir Putin was very clever. So I think Putin is probably very satisfied with that response, Fredricka. [Whitfield:] All right, Matthew Chance in Moscow, thank you. In the meantime, a fight is brewing between Republicans and the president-elect. Senator John McCain is holding a hearing next week on cyber-threats, all while Donald Trump refuses to criticize Vladimir Putin for the election hack. We'll look at what to expect next week. And the New Year is already here in parts of the world. This was the celebration in Taipei, Taiwan, about an hour and a half ago. A huge fireworks display over the Taipei 101 Tower, ushering in 2017. [Blitzer:] Welcome back. We're following the breaking news. CNN learning within the past hour that a nationwide operation is happening in France as we speak. Elite counterterror police units raiding neighborhoods in three major cities. A crack down coming as France is still trying to comprehend a Friday night massacre that killed 129 people. President Francois Hollande called the ISIS terror attacks an act of war and today French fighter jets retaliated and kind of unleashing a major bombardment in the ISIS strong hold of Raqqa, Syria. Meanwhile, world leaders are gathered in Turkey right now for the annual G-20 Summit with a renewed sense of urgency. Earlier a stunning moment when President Obama and the Russian President Vladimir Putin huddled for over half an hour in a hotel lobby. Look at this, these pictures. CNN's chief white house correspondent Jim Acosta is in Turkey for us at this G-20 Summit. He's following all the Developments. Jim, what's the latest? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Wolf, the battle against ISIS appears to be entering a new phase with France retaliating against the terror group and President Obama vowing to ramp up U.S. efforts and there's signs Mr. Obama could have a new partner in the war on ISIS, Russia's President Vladimir Putin. It was a moment of silence before a rare display of unity on the world stage that now is the time to stamp out ISIS. [Barack Obama, United States President:] The skies have been darkened by the horrific attacks that took place in Paris. [Acosta:] With his G-20 Summit sounding more like a war council than an economic conference, President Obama and other wold leaders vowed to intensify the battle against the terrorist army. [Obama:] We will redouble our efforts working with other members of the coalition to bring about a peaceful transition in Syria. [Acosta:] The Paris attacks may also be bringing together longtime adversaries during an intense 35-minute meeting in front of the cameras, President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a political transition process in Syria where ISIS has exploited a bloody civil war. After weeks of accusing Russia of acting in Syria on behalf of its leader Bashar al-Assad, the White House praised Moscow's strikes against ISIS. The soft and diplomatic language comes after Putin said and a message to the French people "for effectively fighting this evil, the entire international community should unite efforts." The White House is eager to show Mr. Obama on the move against ISIS after the president said days before the Paris attacks that the terror group had been contained. An assessment the administration defends. [Ben Rhodes, W.h. Deputy National Security Adviser:] What we've been able to do is stop that advance and reclaim territory, going on the offense with our partners on the ground. [Acosta:] There are also new questions about the Syrian refugee crisis after French officials determined one of the Paris bombers posed as a migrant fleeing the war-torn country. The Obama administration says those refugees must still be vetted and welcomed. [Rhodes:] We cannot close our doors to these people. [Acosta:] While the White House is promising to intensify the battle against ISIS, there is no major strategy shakeup under way. The Obama administration says it's still not considering expanding its ground game in Iraq and Syria saying U.S. Forces are not the solution to the problem. Wolf? [Blitzer:] Jim Acosta reporting for us from the G-20 Summit in Turkey. I want to get right to our global affairs correspondent Elise Labbott joining us from Washington. Elise, we know the U.S. has been sharing targeting data with France. The White House has also promised to intensify its own battle against ISIS. What does all this mean big picture as far as the U.S. is concerned? [Elise Labott, Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, wolf, when President Obama says he's going to intensify the campaign in Syria, I think it means that it's going to be a stepping up of what they already did. You saw about a week or so ago President Obama ordered about 50 special troops to special operations troops to Syria to work with Syrian Kurds and other Arab group as they launch their offensive on that ISIS stronghold in Raqqa, and they're also working with the Peshmerga. You saw the U.S. was involved in Sinjar Mountain the other day with the liberation of that mountain. They're trying to choke off these ISIS supply routes and try and make it dense against the group. As Jim said, you're also going to see I think an effort to deepen cooperation with Vladimir Putin. You know, ISIS Moscow is definitely in ISIS crosshairs now after the downing of that Russian airliner last week. So I think that there's an effort now to intensify on the ground in Iraq and Syria, but Wolf, as we've seen in Paris, in Egypt, also this week in Beirut, ISIS took responsibility for a number of explosions there. ISIS has already moved on in a little bit in effect from Iraq and Syria. They have their territory there but the new concern is this global rise of ISIS and these affiliates and I think that's what the U.S. is going to start focusing its attention on. How do they get more of a global handle on this group, Wolf? [Blitzer:] All right. Thanks very much, Elise, for that. I want to talk more about the evolving U.S. strategy dealing with ISIS. Joining us, are CNN National Security Analyst Peter Bergen and former National Security Council Official Farah Pandith. Farah, what about a no-fly zone? I know the debate is intense right now. Hillary Clinton, for example, the former secretary of state thinks the U.S. should impose one of the President of the United States, President Obama, is resisting. Would that make a major difference if the U.S. were to impose a no-fly zone? [Farah Pandith, Former National Security Council Official:] So whatever choices they make, it's about breaking the momentum. And they have to focus on that one. We think about the appeal of ISIS. So I know that there are a lot of varying opinions on what's going to work and I'll leave it to the military folks to decide on that. But what I know for sure is that the momentum has to be broken in both in the physical war and in the emotional and psychological war. [Blitzer:] Peter, these attacks, these ISIS terror attacks in Paris, they were clearly highly coordinated, nearly simultaneous, very sophisticated. Took materials that it took pretty intense logistical work to map it all out for all these targets. Have we seen this kind of planning from ISIS, not Al-Qaeda, but from ISIS before? [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] I think quite on this scale but I mean they have conducted multiple attacks and in other I mean, just the recent Beirut attack was double suicide attack. They killed 43 people. They conducted an attack in Ankara that involved probably more than one attacker that killed something like 100 people about a month ago. So I mean this is yeah, I mean this is something that's on a new scale but yeah, I think it's important to realize that they have conducted essentially mass casualty attacks outside Syria and Iraq already when, of course, the Russian attack against the Metrojet was, you know, somebody had to smuggle that plane, or the bomb, that's not an easy thing to do even in a place like Sharm El-Sheikh where the security was shaky. It was still you know, to get any bomb onto a commercial flight shows a level of sophistication. [Blitzer:] You know, I think it's pretty clear, Farah, that there is some level of cooperation with some of the moderate Arab states right now. I think it's significant, for example, that these French fighter jets took off from bases in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. Here's the question. How do you get all of these moderate Arab states more directly involved in fighting ISIS? [Pandith:] Look, I think this is about Muslims and Muslim majority countries as well as states in which Muslims live as minorities. You cannot look at this as if we just checked down a list of the nations that have the most Muslims taking part. Optically, it sounds really great but the fact is that this is a global war that we're facing. Both in the physical space and the ideological space. So what we need to see is the same kind of international effort that comes to the table. And by the way, ISIS is recruiting in every country in the world, so being able to convince a state to take part in this, just means we need to be looking at how that state thinks about their own populations and the vulnerability of their youth. [Blitzer:] You think what happened in Paris, Peter, will help ISIS in their recruitment of these young people? [Bergen:] I think basically, yes, because, I mean, many of the things that turn off anybody watching this show, any civilized person, are the very things that appeal to some of these ISIS recruits. The beheadings of people accused of sorcery. The throwing homosexuals off tall buildings to their certain deaths, the beheadings, all these things we find appalling are the very things that are attracting the relatively small group people who are joining I mean there are 1.5 billion Muslims in the world. 30,000 have come to join ISIS. It's a tiny, tiny number, proportionately, but not insignificant. And they are, you know, they're not turned off by the terror and the appalling tactics. [Blitzer:] Peter Bergen, Farah Pandith, thanks very much for joining us. Just ahead, as the French conduct a major anti-terror operation right now, throughout France, U.S. intelligence is working to uncover any new ISIS attacks that might be in the works in the United States. We're getting new details on what's going on. We'll also get some perspective from a former CIA insider. [Kinkade:] Welcome back. Support is growing for the theory that a bomb caused a Russian airliner to crash in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula just over a week ago. Russian state media say experts there are now testing wreckage for traces of explosives and results could come in a matter of days. The 224 people killed in that crash were mostly Russian tourists, heading home from the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. Russian experts are also conducting an audit of security at Sharm el-Sheikh's airport. Our Nima Elbagir is following developments there and she joins us now. Nima, for days British authorities have been working alongside Egyptians at the airport there. Now Russia has sent its own inspectors. Certainly this points to grave concerns about a lack of security. [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, especially when it's taken in tandem with the restrictions on taking on [Elbagir:] into the hold any luggage. This is something we've seen put in place by the Brits, by the Russians, in fact, by all the carriers flying out of this airport. So it does start to build a picture or consolidate further the possibility, the growing consensus, that was indeed an act of terror. But of course, until the investigation issues its findings, we won't know for sure and it's that investigation, the timeline of it, that's the current focal point. We've been hearing from the head of the investigations committee that there have been concerns about adverse weather conditions and how that's delayed investigators' access to the site. The ultimate hope is, Lynda, that they will be able to get the remains of the flight back to Cairo into more sterile and more controllable conditions and really be able to have a full look at them there to glean what they can. [Kinkade:] And, Nima, looking at this theory of a bomb, ISIS, of course, continues to claim that they are responsible but, unlike so many other acts of terror, they haven't posted one of their slickly produced videos showing how it was done. What can you tell us about its affiliate in the Sinai Peninsula? [Elbagir:] Well, they were very quick off the mark to claim responsibility for this and said that essentially they didn't need to post any evidence. And the Egyptian government has consistently refuted the likelihood that this was indeed an act of terror, let alone an act of terror perpetrated by ISIS in the Sinai. The concern is, though, that, given all reports the we're hearing and all the briefing from various Western sources that this that this picture that's growing, that it was an act of terror, is based on the interception of so-called chatter by the Israelis in the Sinai. Then you start looking at who could have possibly perpetrated that attack and be within the territorial lands of the Sinai Peninsula. And then ISIS looks like the most likely, the most likely possibility. But of course, nothing is for sure yet Lynda. [Kinkade:] That is true. Nima Elbagir in Sharm el-Sheikh, thank you very much. Two Americans and a South African are dead after a shooting spree at a police training facility in Jordan. The shooter, a Jordanian police officer, is also dead. Phil Black is following this story from London and joins us now. Phil, details have been trickling in over the last couple of hours. What can you tell us? [Phil Black, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Lynda, the death toll from this particular event has now gone up by one. So in addition to two United States civilians, the South African and the Jordanian shooter, the police officer responsible for this, another Jordanian civilian is listed among the dead as well. So those four victims were all civilian contractors working at this particular police training center. The shooter was a police officer and a former staff member at the training, at this particular training camp itself as well. At some point he's gone on a rampage. He's shot dead those four people. A number of other people have been injured. But the man responsible for these deaths was eventually shot by other Jordanian security forces there as well Lynda. [Kinkade:] And, Phil, what can you tell us about his possible motivation? What your learning? [Black:] According to U.S. sources they said this man had been fired recently, putting personal grievance at the center of a possible motivation. This is backed up by Jordanian government officials, who say that, yes, they believe personal motivations are at play. They do not suspect that he had any links to any particular known organization. That said, even if you put personal motivation at the front of any particular inquiry, it doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility that he's been radicalized or had some affiliation or sympathy for another group and there's a reason to keep open-minded about this and that is the day. Today is the 10th anniversary of what is often considered Jordan's 911, the coordinated suicide attacks against three Amman hotels that killed around 60 people. So that is being commemorated in Jordan today while that man, that former police officer, was going on his shooting rampage Lynda. [Kinkade:] A real shock there in Jordan today. Phil Black, thanks for bringing us up to date on that developing story. We will talk to you very soon. Still to come, a new twist on the issue of racism in America. Players on the University of Missouri football team are going on strike over some hate-filled incidents on the campus. Now professors and other academics could be joining them. [Lynda Kinkade, Cnn Anchor:] A startling admission, Europe's most wanted man admits the plan to blow himself up during the Paris terrorist attacks but changed his mind. Prosecutors now want to extradite him to France. Also ahead, a deadly suicide blast rips through a busy tourist area in Istanbul, sending Turkey is further down the path of instability. And making history in Havana we're hours away from the first U.S. presidential visit to Cuba in almost 90 years. Hello, I am Lynda Kinkade. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. [Kinkade:] The only known surviving suspect of the Paris terror attacks has already made a confession to authorities in Belgium. Saleh Abdeslam is now behind bars and his lawyer says he plans to fight extradition to France. Doctors had been treating him in a hospital for a minor leg wound he suffered during his capture in Brussels on Friday. As Nic Robertson reports, Abdeslam has been giving investigators details about his alleged role in the attacks. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] The Paris prosecutor telling us what many people have suspected, that Saleh Abdeslam had come to Paris, that he intended to blow himself up, he has told investigators now in Belgium that he did come here, intending to become a suicide bomber, that he was going to blow himself up at the Stade de France, where the football match was underway. He had already dropped off the other three suicide bombers there; he was going to be a fourth but he changed his mind. Now the prosecutor also detailing here just the level of planning and involvement that Saleh Abdeslam had in staging and helping carry out these Paris attacks. [French Prosecutor:] He seems at this point in the investigations that he had a central role in the constitution of building the commando teams for the logistical preparations of the attacks and himself being present in Paris on the 13th of November. [Robertson:] Now we've already heard from the Belgian authorities and from the French president that the extradition process is underway, the prosecutor saying that the extradition has a three-month deadline on it and he has no doubt in his mind that Saleh Abdeslam will be extradited to France. I spoke earlier with a lawyer representing the victims in that attack, the families of some of the people who died as well. She told me just how important it was for all of them that he does come here and face justice. [Paris Victims' Lawyer:] Not only families but victims themselves, they want and need and they will ask to have an answer. They have a lot of questions, many questions. They need to know every single thing happened on the 13th of November during this Paris attack, so, yes, they have a lot of questions and they want to have an answer. [Robertson:] More broadly as well, across France, across Paris, a sense of relief that he has been caught, that he will face justice and that he will be asked all those search detailed questions that many people here hope will net the other terrorists who may be out there hiding and planning attacks Nic Robertson, CNN, Paris, France. [Kinkade:] In Istanbul at least four people were killed after a suicide attack at a busy tourist area. Two Israeli American citizens and an Iranian are among the dead. The explosion wounded 36 people. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. Senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has the details. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Instead of the throngs of people both Turks and tourists who would normally be packing this street, now it has been almost entirely sealed off following a suicide attack. This street is one of Istanbul's main pedestrian thoroughfares. It's filled with restaurants and shops. It's located in the heart of the city. And this is one of the areas that the authorities had issued a warning about, saying that there was a fairly high potential that some sort of an attack would be taking place here following threats from a PKK offshoot, the Kurdish separatist group, that they would be carrying out more attacks after last Sunday's deadly and devastating bombing in the capital, Ankara. This explosion happening at about mid-morning at the entrance of one of the side streets that sells fish and other fresh produce. It was quickly almost immediately sealed off, ambulances rushing [Damon:] to the scene. Police pushing people as far back as they possibly could, concerned about a potential secondary explosion, helicopters, hours later, still buzzing overhead. As we were walking back down one of the side streets, we saw a woman who was desperately pleading with the police. She later told us that she was waiting for news of her brother. He was somewhere on the street when the explosion took place and she did not know what had happened to him. This type of violence has become, sadly, fairly routine, especially in Istanbul and in Ankara. This is a population that, at this stage, is feeling phenomenally vulnerable, facing threats on multiple fronts Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul. [Kinkade:] Preparations are underway in the Greek island of Lesbos to send thousands of refugees back to Turkey. It's part of a controversial new arrangement between the E.U. and Turkey to curb the flow of migrants into Europe. More than 4,000 migrants now on the Greek island of Lesbos. Greece is a major stopping point for refugees fleeing war-torn Syria. Almost 1,500 migrants arrived there from neighboring Turkey on Friday alone. That's according to Greek officials. Aid workers say returning them to Turkey is simply unethical. [Lucy, International Red Cross:] For me, the International Rescue Committee's perspective, the deal is only going to lead to more disorder and more lack of dignity, more chaos for the people who are already here in Greece. And the idea that you can base resettlement on conditions that people are returned from Greece to Turkey is unethical and will only will only ensure that desperate people will and it will only ensure that desperate people will only seek more desperate ways to come to Europe. [Kinkade:] ISIS has claimed responsibility for an attack in Asia that killed 13 police officers. It happened at a checkpoint in the Sinai Peninsula. The terror group says a suicide bomber blew up a car at the site and then militants raided it. Egyptian officials say government forces killed five of the militants. The Pentagon says an ISIS rocket attack has killed a U.S. Marine in Iraq. It happened Saturday morning at a base in Makhmur while the Marine was on security duty. Several other Marines were wounded in the attack. Sunday marks the 13th anniversary since the start of the Iraq War. Russia expects the investigation into Saturday's fiery crash of a FlyDubai Boeing 737 to take at least two months. Authorities have ruled out terrorism. Instead, they are focusing on three possible scenarios for the deadly disaster: severe weather, technical issues and human error. Matthew Chance reports. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] In the snow and freezing rain still pounding Southern Russia, emergency teams pick through the thousands of shattered pieces. The passenger airliner appears to have disintegrated on impact. It's barely recognizable now. The camera catches a reminder that the dozens of passengers and crew who lost their lives, the grim task of identifying their remains could be painstaking. [Unidentified Male:] Today at 2:50 am after the second [Chance:] It's now confirmed 55 passengers and seven crew lost their lives. Flight radar shows how the aircraft flew for nearly six hours from Dubai before aborting its first landing at Rostov because of bad weather. It then it circled the city for nearly two hours, waiting for a break in the storm to make its second and fatal approach. These images were caught on a security camera near the airport. The plane streaks from the sky, exploding in a fireball as it hits the ground. Airline officials say there was no distress call and that the plane was recently certified as airworthy. [Ceo, Flydubai:] I would like to express the devastation we all feel in relation to this morning tragic event in Rostov-on-Don. Our primary concern is for the passenger and the crew involved at this stage. Everyone in our company is in deep shock and our hearts go out to all loved ones of those involved. [Chance:] Inside the airport terminal, the shocked families and friends of those on board. Teams of counselors have been sent to support the bereaved and the Russian government has pledged financial assistance. But the question remains why this modern aircraft from an airline with a good safety record now lies scattered with all on board Matthew Chance, CNN, Moscow. [Kinkade:] Still to come, the U.S. president will make an historic visit to Cuba on Sunday. We will introduce you to the Cuban grandmother who received a letter from Mr. Obama after inviting him over for a cup of coffee. Plus chaos in two [Nobles:] American swimmers poised to win more gold on day four of the Rio Summer Olympics with Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky back in the pool. The women's gymnastics team looking to do something the U.S. has never done before. Win back-to-back team gold medals. Monday is another big night for the USA at the swimming venue, six medals, including two golds. [Kosik:] CNN's Coy Wire following the action. He's live in Rio. Good morning, Coy. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Good morning to you, Alison and Ryan. You could feel the intensity to the build up to the 100 meter breast stroke final. Here you have American swimmer, Lilly King, publicly condemning rival Russian Yulia Efimova who has been caught doping twice in her career. And the Russian swimmer getting booed big time last night by the crowd. Once they hit the water, King did exactly what she set out to do. The 19-year-old setting a new Olympic record. Efimova in the next lane takes silver. King afterwards says she hopes she made a big statement by completing clean and winning. How about American swimmer Ryan Murphy accomplishing his life long goal last night, winning gold in the 100-meter backstroke. Murphy knew he wanted to be an Olympian since the age of 8. He wrote a letter to his mom with a self-portrait saying, quote, "I home my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up. I hope I will break the world record. I want to be the best swimmer in the world," unquote. Now, that is calling your shot. Guys, listen, you heard of the saying don't poke the bear. Never a good idea to give a champion motivation if you are the competition. Check out the South African Chad le Clos before yesterday's the 200 meter butterfly qualifying. He is shadow boxing in Michael Phelps general direction. Phelps not impressed. Look at the death stare. I mean, it's just straight eyes, Star Wars or what? Phelps and Le Clos finished second and third qualifying heats. They face-off tonight to see who stands at the top of the podium. Don't forget, Le Clos actually beat Phelps in the last Olympics in this event. You know who probably will not get beat in the Olympics? The U.S. women's and men's basketball teams. I was at the men's game last night against Venezuela. You think Venezuela has a chance. Down only two with five minutes to go in the second half. But, no. Five minutes later, they were down 22. They rolled on Venezuela. They get Australia next. That could be their toughest opponent in the field. Let's take a little check into the medal count, guys. USA all day, leading all countries with 19. China is in second with 13. You also have Japan, Russia tied for third with ten apiece. It's going to be must-see TV tonight. America's sweethearts, the U.S. women's gymnastics team going for gold led by phenom Simone Biles. You have Aly Raisman. Those competing in the all around, names like Phelps and Ledecky letting it done in the pool. There's been some great competition, guys, and I love seeing a little trash talking and competiveness not hidden by these Olympians this year. [Kosik:] Oh, competition. [Nobles:] I was telling, Alison, I need my mother to find the letter I wrote when I was a kid that said that someday I'm going to be sitting in the anchor desk with Alison Kosik, and I called my shot as well. [Kosik:] She was already predicting. [Nobles:] I get my mom to find that. But, Coy, tell us about Lilly King's background? She's got a pretty amazing story. [Wire:] She really does. You know, when she was in high school, she had a dear friend competing in the Indiana state Special Olympics. Her name was Melanie. If you look at Lilly King's Twitter bio, it says melanieisthebum.com. that directs you to a web site that was set up that goes to support some of the charities that were near and dear to Melanie's heart. And then last night, after that gold medal and Olympic record-breaking swim, Lilly King tweeted out, she's been with me all the way. This one's for Mel. So, an incredible story, guys there. A back story, you hear about the things that inspire and motivate athletes to be the best. This is one heartfelt story from Lilly King. [Kosik:] You know, as we lose your signal, Coy, thank you very much. It is interesting to hear the back stories and find they are not there just to compete and trash talk each other. You've got inspiring back stories. [Nobles:] Yes, definitely, a lot of amazing and inspirational stories of the Olympic every year. [Kosik:] Of course. All right. The Zika virus may be spreading across a wider section of South Florida. Palm Beach County reporting the first suspected case that is believed to be contracted locally. The patient recently traveled to Miami-Dade County, but it's not clear yet where he acquired the virus. The total number of non travel related Zika patients in south Florida is now 17. With another 357 travel related cases statewide. [Nobles:] It's going to be a rough day ahead for air passengers flying on Delta. The Atlanta-based carrier announcing 100 flight cancellations today and at least 200 flight delays. And they are warning those numbers could go higher. Delta was forced to cancel over 1,000 flights on Monday because of the computer outage, stranding tens of thousands of customers. [Kosik:] All right. Heavy rain, flash flooding in the forecast this morning. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the latest. Good morning. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Hey, good seeing you, Alison and Ryan. This is a really story that's going to develop quickly over the next couple days and we've already seen what's transpired right over the open waters in the past several days, in fact the heavy rainfall the estimation have brought down at least 15 inches of rainfall right offshore of the big bend of Florida. So, the concern is that the storm system responsible for this rain meanders a little far to the north, the flood concern is going to be elevated very quickly across this region. In fact, the watches have already been issued across the area. Notice, there is the storm, it's forecasted to move back toward the west very slowly in the next couple of days. The gulf moisture begins really being pulled toward this region of the Florida panhandle. So, the models still want to bring down at least six to 10 inches in a pretty widespread area from say, work your way just east of Mobile, to Tallahassee, and certainly Pensacola, Panama City as well, even New Orleans, one of those areas that could see at least four to six inches of rainfall inside the next week. So, your temperatures, you look as such, will go with the upper 80s around Kansas City, around 90 degrees in St. Louis. Steamy conditions down around Nashville. New York City about 87. Boston not too bad at all, around 80, guys. [Nobles:] All right. Pedram, thank you. Safety concerns at a Kansas water park where this 10-year-old boy died on its tallest water slide. What police are saying next. [Sen. Jeff Sessions , Attorney General Nominee:] But there are times when objectivity is required and the absolute appearance of objectivity is required, and perhaps a special prosecutor is appropriate. The Attorney General Lynch, for example, did not appoint a special prosecutor on the Clinton matter. And I did criticize that. I was a politician. We had a campaign on. I didn't research the law in depth, just the reaction as a senator of a concern. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] All right, let's get back to the live coverage, Senator Sessions answering questions now, I think, from Senator Mike Lee of Utah. [Sessions:] It remains dangerous or endangers policy agendas getting embroiled in it. So, it's an important division that requires great integrity and ability, I believe, in the leadership with the Antitrust Division. [Sen. Mike Lee , Utah:] Thank you. Just a moment. Senator Leahy. [Sen. Patrick Leahy , Vermont:] Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The I listened to Senator Lee asking these questions, it occurred to me that you are one of a very, very small minority of members who oppose the USA Freedom Act that I drafted with Senator Lee. It passed a supermajority in both the House and the Senate. Even though you voted against it, and this of course topped the bulk collection by NSA that both Senator Lee and I opposed do you agree the executive branch has to follow the law, that they cannot reinstate the bulk collection of Americans' phone records without amending federal statutes? [Sessions:] Senator Leahy, that appears to be so. And I can't swear that that is absolutely, totally always true. But it appears to be show. [Leahy:] Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Either we passed the law or we didn't pass the law. The supermajority voted for the Lee- Leahy law. The president signed it into law. You voted against it. Will you uphold the law? [Sessions:] I will follow the law, sir. [Leahy:] And will you commit that you're not going to allow the NSA to engage in bulk collection of Americans' records, in violation of the USA Freedom Act, based on the theory that somehow whoever is president has the power to disregard the statute? [Sessions:] I do not believe that statute can be disregarded, and it should be followed. [Leahy:] Thank you. I appreciate that. We had a dust-up in the press, as you recall, when Mr. Trump bragged about how he had grabbed women and so on. You shortly after the tape came out and I realize there's an explanation here you said: "I don't characterize that as sexual assault." But then you said later, "'The Weekly Standard"s characterization of comments I made following Sunday's presidential debate is completely inaccurate. My hesitation is based solely on confusion of the content of the 2005 tape, the hypothetical posed by a reporter, which was asked in a chaotic post-environment post-debate environment. Of course, it is crystal clear that assault is unacceptable. I would never intentionally suggest otherwise." That's basically what you said after the confusion on your first comment. Is that correct? [Sessions:] I believe that's correct. [Leahy:] Thank you. Is grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent, is that sexual assault? [Sessions:] Clearly, it would be. [Leahy:] Thank you. If a sitting president or any other high federal official is accused of committing what the president-elect described in a context in which it could be federally prosecuted, would you be able to prosecute and investigate? [Sessions:] The president is subject to certain lawful restrictions, and they would be required to be applied by the appropriate law enforcement official if necessary if appropriate, yes. [Leahy:] And the conduct described, based on the description, would be sexual assault? [Sessions:] Well, the confusion about the question was a hypothetical question, and it related to what was said on the tape. I did not remember at the time whether this was suggested to be an unaccepted, unwanted it would certainly meet the definition. If that's what the tape said, then that would be... [Leahy:] My question is very simple. Is grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent, is that sexual assault? [Sessions:] Yes. [Leahy:] Thank you. Now, you were asked earlier about having call the NAACP and ACLU un- American. You said that was before you were a senator. But, as a senator, you have committed to you have continued to be hostile to them. You have criticized nominees for having what you call ACLU DNA. Now, I remember, when Republicans led the Justice Department, the inspector general found the Bush administration engaged in unlawful politicized hiring practices. That's the Republican administration's own inspector general. They said the Ashcroft Justice Department used litmus tests, whether applicants would be sufficiently conservative. If they were ever in the ACLU, they couldn't have a job. You said in a radio interview Justice has to be saved from secular progressive liberals. OK. Let me ask you a couple simple questions. Are an individual's religious beliefs relevant to their employment at the Justice Department? [Sessions:] Not unless it's such that they can't perform their duties in an honorable way, consistent with the law. [Leahy:] What would be an example of that? [Sessions:] Well, if an individual so strongly believed that abortion should be unlawful that they used their position to block constitutionally approved abortions, I think that would make them not subject to being employed in the Department of Justice. [Leahy:] Are you going to have a litmus test at the Department of Justice for people who have worked at civil rights organizations? [Sessions:] No. [Leahy:] Senator Graham mentioned you have long been a champion of states' rights. And certainly you and I have had enough discussions on that. And I realize those are deeply held beliefs. But states have also voted on the issue of marijuana and regulation. I believe your own state of Alabama permits the use of a derivative of marijuana known as CBD oil, legal in Alabama, illegal under federal law. If you are confirmed as the nation's chief law enforcement official, and you know that we have very, very limited federal resources in fact, we spend about a third of our budget now just to keep the prisons open because of mandatory minimums and whatnot would you use our federal resources to investigate and prosecute sick people who are using marijuana in accordance with their state laws, even though it might violate federal law? [Sessions:] Well, I won't commit to never enforcing federal law, Senator Leahy. But, absolutely, it's a problem of resources for the federal government. The Department of Justice under Lynch and Holder set forth some policies that they thought were appropriate to define what cases should be prosecuted in states that have legalized at least in some fashion some parts of marijuana. [Leahy:] Do you agree with those guidelines? [Sessions:] I think some of them are truly valuable in evaluating cases. But, fundamentally, the criticism I think that was legitimate is that they may not have been followed. Using good judgment about how to handle these cases will be a responsibility of mine. I know it won't be an easy decision, but I will try to do my duty in a fair and just way. [Leahy:] The only reason I mention it, you have been some very strong views. You even mandated the death penalty for anyone convicted of a second drug trafficking offense, including marijuana, even though mandatory death penalties are, of course, unconstitutional. [Sessions:] Well, I'm not sure under what circumstances I said that. But I don't think that sounds like something I would normally say. I will be glad to look at it. [Leahy:] Would you say that's not your view today? [Sessions:] It is not my view today. [Leahy:] Thank you very much. [Lee:] I perked up when he started talking about federalism. Of course, everything Senator Leahy said was interesting, but the federalism stuff is particularly interesting. [Leahy:] ... praising your legislation. [Lee:] Yes, exactly. I appreciated that, too. That was great. Federalism is an issue that's near and dear to many of us. And I know it's important to you. The notion that our federal government possesses powers that James Madison described as few and defined, and those reserved to the states are numerous and indefinite. We were supposed to be a different legislative body. Our federal government was always intended as a limited purpose national government, not a general purpose national government, one possessing complete police powers. We have seen a slow, but steady drift over the last 80 years away from this principle of federalism, such that powers exercised at the federal level today could no longer be described as few and defined, but more appropriately described as numerous and indefinite. And in light of the Supremacy Clause in the Constitution, any powers we do exercise through the federal government are by definition replaced from the states. In other words, when our action conflicts with state action, it's our action that prevails, in light of the Supremacy Clause. It's one of the reasons why federalism needs to looked out for so carefully, and one of the reasons why I think a view that I think you and I both share is that U.S. government officials in all three branches of government, whether they wear a black robe or not, are expected when they swear an oath to uphold the Constitution to look out for basic structural protections in the Constitution like federalism, so that we don't have an excessive accumulation of power in the hands of a few. The founding fathers set up the system in which we have these structural protections. We have the vertical protection we call federalism, which was just described, and the horizontal protection we call separation of powers. It says, within the federal government, in order to protect us against the risks associated with the excessive accumulation of power in the hands of a few, we have one branch that makes the laws, another branch that enforces the laws and a third branch that interprets the laws. As long as we keep each branch within the same lane, the people are protected from what happens when one person or a group of people gets too powerful. But over the last 80 years, just as we have seen a deterioration of federalism, we have also seen a deterioration of separation of powers. You have an interesting set of circumstances with our laws, our controlled substances laws, concerning marijuana, in that for the first time in a very long time, you have seen some attention paid to federalism, but in the limited area associated with marijuana. In other words, there are federal laws prohibiting the use of marijuana, the sale of marijuana, the production of marijuana that apply regardless of whether a state has independently criminalized that drug, as every state until recently had. Then you had some states coming along and decriminalizing it, sometimes in the medical context, other times in a broader context. The response by the Department of Justice during the Obama administration has been interesting and it's been different than it has in other areas. They have been slow to recognize, for instance, federalism elsewhere. They chose to recognize it here. My question to you is, did the way they respond to that federalism concern run afoul of separation of powers? Did what they did the department's approach to this issue that they identified as a federalism issue contravene the understanding that we are the lawmaking body, the executive branch is the law-enforcing body? [Sessions:] Well, I'm not sure I fully understand the point of your question. But are you talking about separation of powers within the federal government, the three branches of federal government? [Lee:] Yes. Yes. [Sessions:] And how does that implicate the marijuana laws? [Lee:] Yes. Are there separation of powers concerns arising out of the Department of Justice's current approach to state marijuana laws? [Sessions:] Well, I think one obvious concern is that the United States Congress has made the possession of marijuana in every state, and distribution of it, an illegal act. So, if you need if that's something that's not desired any longer, Congress should pass a law to change the rule. It's not so much the attorney general's job to decide what laws to enforce. We should do our job and enforce laws effectively as we're able. [Lee:] Thank you. I would like to get back to antitrust issues for a moment. In 2010, you co-sponsored some legislation that extended the Antitrust Division's leniency program and extended it all the way out to 2020. So, it was a 10-year extension at the time you helped move that through. The legislation provided that members of a cartel could receive reduced penalties if they reported cartel activity to the department and cooperated with any investigation the department had in connection with that antitrust cartel. Now, the Antitrust Division within the Department of Justice considers this tool quote "its most important investigative tool for detecting cartel activity" close quote, because it creates an incentive for cartel members to self-report, to come forward and to identify things that the Antitrust Division needs to be aware of. So, I applaud your leadership in this area, because it's been very helpful to the enforcement of our antitrust laws in the department. So, I have two questions related to this program looking forward. First, given its importance, do you think the program should be made permanent? And, second, are you open to any other ideas that might strengthen the program? [Sessions:] Senator Lee, I would not commit to use it. I haven't formed an opinion on that. These are very complex areas of the law. I'm not a member of the Antitrust Subcommittee, as a number of members of our committee are, and have achieved levels of expertise, like Senator Klobuchar and you and others. So, I would just have to commit to you that I'm open to hearing the views of this Congress and that subcommittee, and would try to work with you. But I do understand that antitrust policy is an important issue for America, and we need to get it right. And that would be my goal. [Lee:] Thank you. One important question that sometimes arises in the antitrust context relates to what role the Department of Justice should play in communicating with foreign authorities, authorities in other countries that deal with competition laws, deal with things analogous to our antitrust laws in this country. The Department of Justice has typically played a leading role. But in recent years, it's also allowed the Federal Trade Commission, the FTC, to become heavily involved. To my mind, this raises some potential concerns, because the FTC is an independent agency, as compared to the Department of Justice, of course, which is headed by a presidential appointee who with Senate confirmation serves at the pleasure of the president. Do you have any opinion on this, this point that the Department of Justice, which is more accountable to the president and therefore has some connection to the people, should be more actively involved in communicating with foreign antitrust or competition authorities? [Sessions:] I really wouldn't attempt to comment today on that. I would be glad to hear your thoughts on it. I think it can be problematic if U.S. officials encourage foreign officials to join with them to against an action of a private company. They could put so much excessive pressure on them, that they're not able to resist, and when they may have a lawful basis to resist. But so, these are big issues. And you have to be sensitive to the power that the Department of Justice has, the Antitrust Division has, and make sure that there is a principled policy and lawful basis for what is done. [Lee:] Thank you, Senator Sessions. I see our chairman is back. Oh, he's not back? Senator Feinstein. [Sen. Dianne Feinstein , California:] It's my understanding that Senator Durbin has not yet had his second round. And so I would like to defer to him. I'm going to defer to Durbin, because he somehow got missed. [Sen. Richard Durbin , Minority Whip:] Thank you very much. I want to thank the chairman and my friend Senator Feinstein. This morning, before the Senate Intelligence Committee, Director Comey of the FBI was testifying on the question of investigating the Russian involvement in this last election. And he was asked if there was any ongoing investigation about context between Moscow, the Russians, and any presidential campaigns. And he refused to answer, said he wasn't going to discuss any ongoing investigations publicly. I would like to ask you a question related to recusal. You stated earlier today that you had made the decision you haven't given us a real background on it, but made the decision that you would recuse yourself from any prosecutions involving Hillary Clinton or the Clinton campaign and e-mails. And then I understand I wasn't present, but Senator Blumenthal asked you for some other hypotheticals as to whether you would recuse yourself on an emolument question or some other things. And you said you would take it on a case-by-case basis. What if, hypothetical, same as Hillary Clinton, we are dealing with an investigation that involves the Trump campaign or anyone in the Trump campaign? Would you recuse yourself as attorney general from that prosecution? [Sessions:] Well, my response to the to my recusal issue was because I made public comments about it that could be construed as having an opinion on the final judgment that would have to be rendered. I don't think I have made any comments on this issue that go to that. But I would review it and try to do the right thing as to whether or not it should stay within the jurisdiction of the attorney general or not. [Durbin:] It would strike me that this is an obvious case for a special prosecutor if it involves the campaign leading to a candidate who selected you as the attorney general. Wouldn't an abundance of caution suggest that you wouldn't want any questions raised about your integrity in that type of prosecution? [Sessions:] Senator Durbin, I think it would be incumbent upon anybody who is holding the office of attorney general at that time to carefully think his way through that to seek the advice and to follow the normal or appropriate special prosecutor standards. And so I would intend to do that. But I have not expressed an opinion on the merits of those issues, to my knowledge. [Durbin:] Senator Sessions, there's been a lot of controversy about refugees. The United States had a dubious record on refugees during World War II, refusing to accept Jewish refugees who were then in some cases returned to Europe and the Holocaust and perished. After World War II, a new policy emerged in the United States, a bipartisan policy. The United States became more open, in some cases generous, to accepting refugees. The numbers I have heard various numbers, but 650,000 Cuban refugees who came to the United States during the ascendancy of the Castro regime, 125,000 or more Soviet Jews accepted in the United States, spared from persecution in the Soviet Union, 400,000 from Eastern Europe after World War II, 400,000 from Vietnam, 150,000 from the former Yugoslavia. In the audience is Omar Muqdad. I don't think if he could please stand here. Mr. Muqdad is a Syrian refugee. His story is the story of a journalist who for more than a decade publicized human rights abuses by the Assad regime, arrested seven times, imprisoned for two years. When he refused to stop righting after that, the prison guards broke his hands. After his release from prison, he continued to write about the abuses of the Syrian security forces, when he was again pursued by the regime and fled to Turkey. He was resettled in the United States by Catholic Charities after receiving refugee status. There have been some strong words spoken about Syrian refugees. In fact, during the course of the campaign, there were some who said we should accept none. And many have questioned whether we should accept any refugees from anywhere. Despite the lengthy vetting process and background checks, some have said no refugees, we're finished with that business. One of your responsibilities as attorney general will be the involvement of prosecutorial discretion, decisions that have to be made about the fate of men like Alton Mills I introduced earlier, who had served 22 years of a life sentence for the possession of crack cocaine, cases of Oscar Vazquez, a man who was a dreamer and wanted to serve the United States in uniform, in this case involving Omar Al Muqdad. The American Bar Association standards say the duty of a prosecutor is to seek justice, not merely to convict. It is an important function of a prosecutor to seek to reform and improve the administration of criminal justice. When it comes to cases like these, in your role as the leading prosecutor in the United States of America, what is your feeling about your discretion to make the decision as to whether or not to spare individuals like those I have described? [Sessions:] I have been made aware in the last several years how this process works. It's really the secretary of state, usually through consultation with the president, that decides how many refugees should be admitted to the country. And there's little Congress can do, other than getting into a funding argument with the president, about that. So, Secretary Kerry met with members of the Judiciary Committee to announce what he planned to do on refugees. That will be how it would be decided. And, legally, the president appears to have that power. But it would be my responsibility, I think, to make sure that it was exercised within the bounds of law. [Durbin:] But you have a responsibility, too. You oversee the Office of the Pardon Attorney, which recommends the sentences like those of Alton Mills of commuted. You oversee the immigration courts, which are responsible for interpreting how our nation's immigration laws apply to dreamers and refugees like Mr. Muqdad. So, this isn't another agency. It is the Department of Justice. And you will be the leader of that department. You will have the authority and prosecutorial discretion. You can't point to Congress and you can't point to the State Department. There is a responsibility within your own department. [Sessions:] Well, a refugee is admitted or not admitted to the United States on the approval or disapproval by the secretary of state and its consular officials. It's not a trial or not a litigation. So, that's how that would be on this determined. The gentleman from Syria that you mentioned should have be able to make a strong case for his acceptance as a refugee because he's been damaged and injured and attacked and at risk for his writings. So that would give him a proving that should give them put him at a higher level of potential acceptance. [Durbin:] Well, I you and I can disagree on this one point and your authority over immigration courts as attorney general. But I hope that we both agree that there are compelling cases of people who are victims around the world of terrorism, and war, discrimination, and maltreatment, men and women, and many of them look to the United States as the last possible place for them to find safety and security. I hope, after the heated language of this last election campaign, that we can come back to some of the standards that have guided this nation since World War [Ii. Sessions:] Well, we will not end the refugee program. I would not favor that. But we do have a responsibility to be careful and make sure those who are admitted have been properly vetted and are not a danger. [Durbin:] Thank you. [Sen. Charles Grassley , Iowa:] Before I this is what I would like to do. The votes kind of made this a convoluted rounds that we're in here. One person has had third rounds. We've got one person with no round. And then Senator Sessions would like to take a break. So, here is what I would like to do, Senator Sessions, if it's OK with you. I want to go with Senator Hatch, Senator Feinstein for their second rounds, and then Senator Kennedy for his first round, and give you a short break at that point. Is that OK? [Sessions:] That would be good. Thank you. [Grassley:] OK. And for the benefit of the rest of you, I kind of got lost out of this, but I have got to be here for the rest of the meeting, where maybe some of you don't have to be. So I will wait and do my second, third and fourth round when everybody else is gone. [Feinstein:] Isn't that nice? [Grassley:] OK. Now it's Senator... [Feinstein:] I think it's Hatch. [Grassley:] Senator Hatch, yes. [Sen. Orrin Hatch , Utah:] Senator Sessions, I think you have done a terrific job. I have known you all your 20 years. I have watched you work diligently on the Judiciary Committee and on your other committees as well. You're an honest, decent man. And you have tremendous abilities in law enforcement. And you have proven it here today and you're showing it here today. It's hard for me to understand why anybody would be against you. Let me ask just a couple questions. I want to emphasize that you have wide support for your [Costello:] The battleground state of Michigan is shaping up to be a supersized battle for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. And now voters get to have their say. Clinton and Sanders are locked in a war of words over the auto bailout. But with the general election looming, are the candidates possibly eyeing ways to bridge the divide in their bid to defeat the Republicans? Our senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta is here with me now with more on that. Good morning. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. That's right. It has been a tough battle between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders for this Democratic nomination. And, you know you know, this is making its way into the questions. Hillary Clinton today, town hall, yesterday, she was asked whether or not she considers Bernie Sanders an ally or an enemy, considering how nasty this fight has been between these two candidates over the last several months. And here's how she answered that question. [Unidentified Male:] Secretary Clinton, when you think of Senator Sanders, do you consider him an enemy or ally? [Clinton:] An ally, for sure. And here's how I think about it, Samuel. We have differences, and we are passionate about our positions and our differences, and, you know, like we saw in the debate last night, we air those differences about issues. I hope to win the nomination. If I am so fortunate, I hope to work with him. [Acosta:] Now why is this why is this so interesting, Carol? It's because, obviously, this conversation brings up the subject of the deep stakes. It may be early to be talking about this on the Democratic side, but the moderator of that town hall, Bret Baier over at FOX News, asked right after that response, you know, Madam Secretary, would you consider Bernie Sanders as your VP, and she said, oh no, no, let's not get ahead of ourselves here, but this is a conversation that is occurring in Democratic circles. I talked to several Democratic strategists this morning who said yes, it makes sense to consider Bernie Sanders as the vice presidential running mate for Hillary Clinton. He would bring a lot of enthusiasm to the ticket. One of the Sanders' top advisers, Tadd Devine, was saying to Politico earlier this week that, yes, maybe he should be on the ticket. Now when you talk to other when you talk to these Democratic strategists about this, Carol, they'll say yes, Bernie Sanders should be considered, but there are other names being floated out there, and the first among them it seems at this point is Tim Kaine, the Democratic senator from Virginia. Obviously the HUD secretary is being mentioned as well, Julian Castro. And so this is going to be interesting to watch over the coming months. But the Clinton campaign, they want no part of this. They don't want to talk about this at this point. They feel like that's getting ahead of theirselves, and it may just energize the Sanders campaign if some of these talks gets going. And so that is something they're trying to avoid at this point Carol. [Costello:] All right. Jim Acosta reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. Super Tuesday round two, just part of the big political week here on CNN. We'll have complete coverage all day of the primaries in four states. Tomorrow the Democrats will debate in Miami. On Thursday, the Republicans will also debate in Miami. You can see it all right here on CNN. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, new reports suggesting Iran has already violated that nuclear deal. So what happened? [Unidentified Female:] We were, like, seeing people. [Jonathan Mann, Cnn International Anchor:] Inside the horror of the Istanbul terror attack. A firsthand account from a woman who survived the shooting. Plus the latest on the manhunt for the suspect. Next we're live in Istanbul. Also, showdown on Capitol Hill. President Obama and Vice President-elect Pence are readying their parties for the looming battle over Obamacare. Can the Democrats defend the president's signature policy or will Republicans deliver on their promise and repeal the law? Coming up, we're live in Washington. And [Unidentified Female:] It was cruelty. This was cruelty against my son. What honor? [Mann:] A new law in Pakistan aimed at stopping so-called honor murders and making sure the victims get justice. Later in the program a report from Lahore. Hello, and welcome to CONNECT THE WORLD. I'm Jonathan Mann at CNN center in Atlanta. Thanks for joining us. Turkey has identified the gunman who killed 39 people in a shooting rampage at an Istanbul nightclub on New Year's Day. They're still not naming him, though, or revealing his nationality. Police also detained 20 suspected members of ISIS in connection with the attack. Our Sara Sidner reports the once glitzy Reina nightclub is now scarred by bullet holes and stained with blood. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] In order to get to the Reina nightclub from the Bosphorus, you of course have to take a boat. We're now entering where this massacre happened. It's truly in a beautiful spot. From the beautiful terrace, which is on the Bosphorus, you really can't really see any damage, but the moment you walk in, you can see the very first bullet hole that we've been able to see from this attack, that is definitely a high caliber weapon. Huge hole. That's blood from a victim on the wall right, beneath the large bullet hole. To get some idea of just how frightened people were, look at what they left behind. Shoes, coats, there are purses, there are glasses and scarves. We also see a hat and that is stained with blood. This is the bar and the dance club area where people would eat and drink, dance and enjoy themselves. This area is where people sort of trying to hide behind anything they could but in the end this place where we're standing was strewn with bodies. From what we can see this is the area that seems to have the most bullet holes and the holes are huge. But surprisingly, there aren't that many considering all the shooting that happened that night and that is because the terrorist was targeting them one by one by one. This is the view from the Reina across the Bosphorus and you're looking at the Asia side with its rolling hills and beautiful mosques. This is why people came here, it is incredibly picturesque. But now so many people will remember that a slaughter happened here. And the owner is really struggling with figuring out whether or not he will open up this club again. He says he'll leave it up to his employees who both saved people and died here. [Mann:] And Sara Sidner joins us now live from Istanbul. Sara, that nightclub has been turned into a killing field. It speaks volumes about what happened there, but you actually spoke to some of the survivors. What are they telling you? [Sidner:] Their story absolutely harrowing. We talked to a young woman who was married with a child. She's from Jordan. Her husband is from Saudi Arabia. The two of them inside the club looking to have a great time. They were away from home for the first time in a very long time and then the shooting began. The sound of rapid gunfire captured from afar, the moment of terror, as a gunman began massacring people inside Istanbul's Reina nightclub. Naef Zakaria Al Wazan and his wife were inside the Reina nightclub having dinner. Their video shows the excitement before the New Year arrived. It was supposed to be the honeymoon they never had. Instead, they both ended up pierced with bullets. Naef too exhausted to recount the story. His wife too shy to show her swollen face, speaks for the both of them. [Unidentified Female:] When the sound says, OK, let's go, after OK, let's go, after this statement, I hear, like shooting. [Sidner:] She says her husband begged her to crawl toward an exit. But it was difficult. A young woman had grabbed onto her shoe. [Unidentified Female:] She was dying, and she was like asking me, cover me, don't go, cover me. [Sidner:] Naef knew they couldn't stop. He was watching the gunman's every move. [Unidentified Female:] He said to me, don't say anything. He is going to every table and shoot the people. [Sidner:] Then a gaping wound appeared on her knee. She had been shot and Naef knew then survival meant running. They tried, but the gunman responded. Just as he had done outside the club, he aimed to kill. Naef was hit, a bullet entering his shoulder and exiting his back. He couldn't run anymore. [Unidentified Female:] He said to me, sorry, I can't. And he was like, saying, if I die, just be with my son until he gets older and after that, live your life. I love you, you know how much I love you, and he just give me his ring and and his ring were like filled with blood. And he just gave it for me. He said to me, keep it with you and remember me. If I hurt you someday, don't it's not me. [Sidner:] Her husband had surprised here with a trip to Turkey. They left Saudi Arabia with excitement. It was their first trip away from their young son. But their New Year's Eve was interrupted just one terrible thought inside that club, they may never see their son again. [Unidentified Female:] We were like seeing people, bodies and thank God, thank God, that's where like a dream, dream, that I was like saying to him, can you just catch my hand and told me if we are in a dream and we were going to open our eyes again, are we alive? [Sidner:] She began dragging her blood-soaked husband. They made it just outside the club. Finally relief. A taxi driver arrived and helped hoist them to safety. [Unidentified Female:] If he hear me now, that taxi guy, if he hear me, I say to you, thank you so much. I really appreciated everything you do you did for us. You saved my my life, me and my husband. [Mann:] It's horrifying and the killer is still on the loose. Sara, what are Turkish authorities saying about the investigation? [Sidner:] The number of arrests have doubled. There are now 20 people authorities say that have been arrested in Izmir. That is coastal town. And including in those 20 people, they're now saying and this just came in to us 11 of those were women. There were children that had to be detained or taken by authorities because there were so many women that were detained and there is so much more information coming out that perhaps this attacker was from the central city of Konya. It's also a very conservative place. But we really just still don't know the name of this attacker. Authorities say they think they have identified him but they certainly haven't given out any new information about him and his name and where he might be so the manhunt is still underway, Jonathan. [Mann:] Sara Sidner, live in Istanbul. Thanks very much. It's a battle royal on the U.S. Capitol Hill over the Affordable Care Act, Obamacare. President Barack Obama's signature legislation and a big part of his legacy. He's visiting Democratic lawmakers right now to sketch out a defense plan for Obamacare. Their strategy convinced Republicans a full repeal would hurt them politically. Meanwhile Republicans will get their own marching orders from Vice President-elect Mike Pence also visiting Capitol Hill. Donald Trump has vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare when he takes office. Phil Mattingly joins us now from Washington with a look at what we can expect today and in the months to come. Phil, we are talking about on one-sixth of the U.S. economy. The health of millions of Americans. It touches the country. It touches every family, every home. What are the two sides doing? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, I think that's a really important point as we go into this new Congress. Look, Republicans control the House, they control the Senate, in 16 days they control the White House. That doesn't mean this process is going to be easy, even though Senate Republicans have already started the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act. The repeal part might not be difficult, the replace part will be extraordinarily difficult. And that's where it comes to how these two sides are operating right now. Republicans know they want to repeal. They don't know an agreement on what a replace would actually look like and you kind of nailed it in terms of what Democrats are doing right now behind closed doors, making very clear that strategy, messaging, how they defend this law is incredibly important as we go forward, and one of their key kind of points that they want to make over and over again is what Republicans are going to do by repealing before they replace, send the market into chaos, send coverage into chaos, perhaps take coverage away from the 19 million to 20 million Americans who have gotten coverage because of Obamacare. They believe they have throw Republicans on the defensive and perhaps repeat what Republicans did to them in making Obamacare so unpopular in the first place Jon. [Mann:] Now, Phil, while you're talking to us, we are also looking at pictures of a room where we expect to hear from Vice President-elect Pence and Speaker of the House Paul Ryan when they finish their meeting, so we are expecting to hear more about this. But just to drill down a little bit more on the point you're making and the one they're going to have to address when they start speaking to the cameras, we have a majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives, majority in the Senate, and a president-elect who is a Republican, and there is no broad consensus on what they're going to do after making all these promises for all these years? [Mattingly:] It's a difficult issue. And I think you made the point. It's one-sixth of the economy, it's an incredibly complex system to begin with. Repeal is easy, and I think when you talk to Republican senior Republican aides, even lawmakers on Capitol Hill, they'd say look, that's the easy part. We can knock that out quickly. And there are top line agreements on some of the aspects of whatever the Republican alternative health care plan is going to be. But if you look over the last six, seven years, basically, Jonathan, there has been no central agreement, really no central plan for Republicans because it's a lot easier to oppose something that go on the record and support it. And whether exchanges to Medicare or Medicaid, or timelines for implementation of whatever a replace would actually entail, there are real disagreements, not just among kind of a few senators or a few House members, but real kind of core groups in both chambers right now, and as long as that exists, it is going to be problematic going forward. Because look, repeal, because of the mechanism that's being used on Capitol Hill, they can do that with just a simple majority. With just 51 senators. And Republicans currently control 52 seats. Not a problem. Replace, legislatively, they're going to need Democrats to move that forward. That changes the dynamic quite a bit and that kind of lays out why this is such a complex process. [Mann:] Once again to drill down on the details, because the headline is clear, it's get rid of it. [Mattingly:] Right. [Mann:] But in the absence of a plan, what are they telling the kinds of institutions that have to do long-term planning, insurance companies, hospitals, or doctors, and above all, patients, millions of Americans waiting to find out what's going to happen in the gap between repeal and replace? [Mattingly:] The final group is I think the one that they need to address quickly and forthrightly, if you. I think when you talk to insurance company lobbyists here on Capitol Hill, when you talk to hospitals here on Capitol Hill, there's a lot of I have no idea. When you listen to some of their earnings calls a couple of months ago as they started to try and map all this out, they don't exactly have a clear path forward and that's also the case with the individuals who have coverage through Obamacare. Now one source who's in the room at the Mike Pence meeting right now said one of the pledges that Mike Pence made to the lawmakers that are sitting there was there cannot be major disruptions in coverage. There cannot be chaos. Now that seems to imply that they're going to working on some type of timeline, that they will keep Obamacare in place even after its repeal until a full replacement plan is in place. But again, this goes back to the original problem, John. If they don't have a kind of central agreement on what a replaced plan will actually be, how are they going to repeal this and not cause chaos? [Mann:] Phil Mattingly in Washington, thanks very much. And once again, we are waiting for that news conference, the vice president-elect and the speaker of the House of Representatives talking about millions of Americans and a big chunk of the U.S. economy and what they're planning to do about it. We'll bring that to you live when it gets underway. Now to a case that's divided Israel between those who think they witnessed an execution and others who saw self-defense. Well, now a military court has made up its mind and found an Israeli soldier named Elor Azaria guilty of manslaughter for shooting and killing a wounded Palestinian suspect. Let's take it back to what happened. Have a look at Azaria at a settlement in Hebron in the West Bank back in March. You're seeing the scene just minutes after what the Israeli military says was an attack by two knife- wielding Palestinians on some Israeli soldiers there. They shot one alleged attacker, killed him on the spot. But only shot and wounded the other. He's in black on the left there. Still alive until Azaria cocks his gun and shoots him once in the forehead. The soldier's state of mind has been the main focus of the case but it's a lot bigger than that. Our Oren Liebermann has been following the trial for us from Tel Aviv and joins us. Oren, tell us about this. This has been a long, painful, careful case and it touched a lot of Israelis and obviously a lot of Palestinians in a very, very basic way. Walk us through what the courts decided. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, it played out very publicly because every witness, every statement, and there were dozens of witnesses on both sides here, all of that was carried in the media. And it wasn't just media commentary. Politicians regularly weighted over the course of a month's long trial here. You've described exactly what happened and what led up to this trial, the question was, what did Elor Azaria do? What was he thinking, right? The question was never, did he pull the trigger? We knew that from the very beginning. We saw the video and the Israeli military said there's no question there. It was, what was he thinking? Was he acting in self- defense or was he acting out of vengeance? The court, we know what they decided. A unanimous decision from the military court saying that he acted they said when he shot, he shot needlessly and they found him guilty of both manslaughter and of course that was the bigger charge, and improper behavior. But for much of this trial, it seemed like it wasn't Elor Azaria on trial, it was the values of the Israeli military. This happened back in March at a time when the Israeli military was facing increased criticism. Human rights groups saying Israeli soldiers were too quick to pull the trigger, using too much force against a wave of Palestinian stabbings and ramming attacks. Bigger picture, that was very much at the heart of this trial and that engendered stronger emotions on both sides. The Israeli military is supposed to be a unifier in society, transcending cultural differences, religious differences, differences in opinion. And this trial became the military versus one soldier. The Israeli leadership on one side saying that no soldiers accepted a lot of the break to Israeli military code of ethics. Some politicians on the other side standing by the soldier and saying no soldier should ever be on military trial. Jonathan, the consequences, the arguments about this trial will end long after will go on long after the latest appeal. [Mann:] What's going to happen to him now? Some politicians are already talking about trying to get a pardon for him. [Liebermann:] And we saw those statements come out very quickly. Some say he never should have been on trial. Now that he has been convicted, they're saying that he should be pardoned or at the very least his sentence commuted to a shorter sentence. His lawyers have promised to appeal. They say the military court and the judges there were biased from the very beginning. Now it's in the hands of the president. If there is a call for a pardon, that has to come officially from the minister of Defense and go to the president. And that's up to the president. We have seen no indication there. Speaking of the minister of Defense, he said we have to respect the military judge's decision even if there are those like me who like it less, so he coming out I wouldn't say in favor of the military court's decision but standing by and saying the Israeli society, the Israeli military has to respect the decision of a military court. [Mann:] I wonder if you could parse this for me because what seems to be emerging is that with a soldier on trial, you would expect that the Israeli military might feel targeted but in fact it sounds like most or much of the brass was harder on this young sergeant than civilian politicians were. [Liebermann:] Well, I would say some civilian politicians there. The Israeli military leadership from the IDF chief of staff to the Defense minister came out and said this was a breach of the code of ethics, this was a soldier who was not following orders. The Palestinian attacker was wounded. He was on the ground. He no longer posed a threat. In fact the IDF shortly after this happened, their first one of their first statements explaining this said 11 minutes passed between the stabbing attack and Elor Azaria cocking his gun and pulling the trigger and killing the wounded Palestinian suspect on the ground. That, the Israeli military said is simply what soldiers don't do. If there's no threat anymore, there's no for further action. Therefore they say was a breach of the Israeli military code of ethics. And that is what's so important to them and that is what every soldier needs to follow, that's especially important in a country where almost every Jewish youth serves in the military. So they see this as much bigger than one soldier on trial. The consequences of this affect every soldier who will serve from now on. It's a clear statement then. The Israeli military, the leadership that is very much standing by its code of ethics and saying there is no soldier who's not allowed to follow this. It's incumbent upon every soldier. As you pointed out some politicians have immediately jumped to the soldier's defense and said we can never put an Israeli soldier on trial, especially not when he shot a Palestinian attacker. That is the debate we'll continue to see. We may have a guilty verdict here and that verdict may be upheld or not upon appeal, that debate will continue to play out I suspect for a long time here. [Mann:] Oren Liebermann, live in Tel Aviv, thanks very much. You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD. We'll be back right after this. [Stelter:] The big winter storm is almost over but a new one is brewing. It's between the Republican Party establishment and Donald Trump. You see the cover of "The National Review" has been making headlines for days "Against Trump" it says. The magazine, of course, founded by conservative icon William F. Buckley reads in big bold gold letters, there are names of 22 editors, a who's who of conservative media makers all weighing in on this issue of the magazine. The editorial states the following, "Donald Trump is a menace to more than conservativism, who would take the work of generations and trample it underfoot in behalf of the population as heedless and crude as The Donald himself." All you can see his response on screen, calling "The National Review" a failing publication that lost its way. He calls it sad with an exclamation point. Now, while Trump is battling "The National Review", battling these conservative media elites, it looks like he's warming up to FOX News CEO Roger Ailes once again, calling him the greatest man in the history of television. That was at rally the other day. Of course, it comes before the next GOP debate. Now, what network is broadcasting that debate? FOX News. It's on Thursday. And Megyn Kelly is a moderator. But Trump is taking issue with that. Now, joining me to discuss all of this is Katrina Pierson, the national spokesperson for the Trump campaign. Good morning. Good to see you. [Katrina Pierson, National Spokesperson For The Trump Campaign:] Good morning, Brian. Great to be here. [Stelter:] I want to start with some news that broke in "Politico" playbook an hour ago. And I just spoke to David Brock about it. He's a Hillary Clinton ally, the founder of super PAC that supports Clinton and, of course, targets her opponents. He's telling me that, actually, Donald Trump is his new target. Let me put on screen what he's saying. He says, "I may have spoken too soon when I predicting in December that the Democrats would face Cruz in November. I believe the GOP nominee is likely to be Donald Trump. My super PAC is adjusting accordingly," that means he's going to attack you. "I don't agree with some Democrat thinking that Trump would be easy to beat. He's rewritten all the rules and I would expect a tough race with Hillary." Now, this is obviously big news because this is a very well-funded super PAC that's now taking aim at you and your candidate. Do you have any reaction to that? Are you surprised to hear that Hillary Clinton's allies are now preparing for a battle with your election in the general election? [Pierson:] Well, no, Brian. We're not surprised at all. I mean, as we have seen across this country, there's more and more support for Donald Trump and his candidacy. A lot of people believe in his vision and what he proposes to make America great again. When you look at his broad base of support, it is eating at the Democrat support out there. We're looking at even minorities and women that have supported Donald Trump's campaign and so, they should be very nervous. And that's why so many Republicans are coming to Donald Trump's aid because they know he's our best chance at winning in the general election. [Stelter:] You see Republicans coming to his aid, but obviously, that "National Review" cover must have been somewhat sad for you all to see such loud, vociferous opposition, right? [Pierson:] Well, no. Look, we've been dealing with oppositions since the beginning and you know that. Since Mr. Trump entered the race in June, there had been a lot of elite Republicans who claim to want to tell everything else what to think about Mr. Trump. But what they failed to realize is that the Republican Party primary voters have been watching the same people endorse in candidates in 2008 and 2012 that have lost the general election. Nobody wants anymore talking points from think tanks. They want action. They want someone that can get out there and get things done. And when Donald Trump says he wants to make deals, he means actually getting things one. Whereas, what we've witnessed in the past with some of these elite endorsed candidates is they just capitulate. They don't do deals at all. They'd just give in on everything and they fight for nothing. And that's different when it comes to Donald Trump. [Stelter:] Can you tell me whether he lobbied "The National Review" at all in the past few months? They've been critical to him all along. I wonder if he's ever reached out, maybe tried to woo them at all. [Pierson:] Mr. Trump really doesn't try to woo anyone. He's not that much of a panderer as many have noticed. But, you know, he has spoken highly of people until they come against him. [Stelter:] I don't know about [Pierson:] A lot of these people came to him asking for money. A lot of people have sent in their resumes even before. And Donald Trump really doesn't go out of his way to say bad things about people. [Stelter:] I don't know about the not wooing. [Pierson:] He tweeted in the past to help these publications. [Stelter:] You know, I remember when I was at "The New York Times", I write about "The Apprentice" ratings. He would send me article. He circled something he didn't like. He'd write a note to me. A lot of reporters have gotten those kind of notes from the Donald Trump in the past. Isn't that a form of wooing? You know, Megyn Kelly says that he used to do similar things with her. [Pierson:] I don't think that's wooing. I think he's just telling you what he thinks and feels, and what he thinks is fair or not fair. But he does that publicly as well. [Stelter:] Let me ask you about endorsements, because you mentioned the irrelevance you say of endorsement. "The Des Moines Register", of course, endorsed Marco Rubio last night. Do you have a view that endorsements, that newspaper endorsements simply do not matter anymore? Is he not trying to win over endorsements in key states like Iowa and New Hampshire? [Pierson:] I think if you look at the current political paradigm, the establishment endorsements don't matter. Whether it's a news outlet, a publication, or even a professional politician. Voters have been duped for so long in this country. They want to think for themselves. They want to get out there and meet the candidates and make up their own minds. [Stelter:] Well, what about your own endorsements? [Pierson:] Particularly when you endorse Hillary Clinton in the same way. [Stelter:] Sure. [Pierson:] When you have Hillary Clinton and Marco Rubio, that lets voters know a lot. [Stelter:] What about your own endorsements, because over the weekend, there's been a lot of attention about your past with Cruz. We can put on the screen, the Mediaite headline, one of your past comments about Ted Cruz. You used to work for him and then you switched sides. And a lot of people take exception to that. What do you say to them? [Pierson:] Well, first, I've never worked for Senator Ted Cruz. I did volunteer. I'm here in Texas. I'm happy to have him as my senator. But, again, this is a presidential race. And here in Texas, if you look at my seven years of history of grassroots work, immigration is my number one priority. And it has been very clear that Donald Trump's immigration policy is the best and also the best for Texas. [Stelter:] I understand you pivot from Cruz to Trump. When you said Cruz can be the next president, isn't that an example of the kind of, you know, commentary in the media and social media that people just don't trust anymore? [Pierson:] Well, not necessarily, because this was long before Donald Trump entered the race. Senator Cruz was the first one out, so I was definitely supporting my senator. But once Donald Trump entered in June and put out his immigration policy, you saw a lot of conservatives come out and support Donald Trump. We've seen Sarah Palin and people like Amy Cramer, all who supported Senator Cruz in his Senate run but are now supporting Donald Trump for president. [Stelter:] And your comment from 2012 has gotten a lot of attention this weekend. You tweeted about Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. You tweeted about how Obama's father was Africa. You said, are there any pure breeds left? Do you regret that? Would you like to retract that? [Pierson:] No, not at all. Look, these tweets, I'm an activist. And I am a half breed. I'm always getting a half breed. And on Twitter, when you're fighting with liberals and even establishment, you go back at the same silliness they're giving you. So, I myself am a half breed. [Stelter:] You're telling me that was just silliness? [Pierson:] Absolutely. [Stelter:] I'll take your word about that. [Pierson:] This is the thing, Brian, this is the thing. We have entered silly season. Donald Trump is up in the polls again. There's desperate campaigns out there. They can't take him down so they try to take down the people that are around him. And we're just not going to get distracted by all that nonsense. [Stelter:] I don't know about entered. I think we've been in silly season for a while. But let me turn to the next debate because I'm very interested on your take on this. Next Thursday, of course, FOX News, the final debate before the Iowa caucus. It's setting up as a rematch between Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly, since their first encounter from last summer. And you saw what Trump yesterday. Here's what let me put on screen. He wrote, "Based on Megyn Kelly's, quote, "conflict of interest and bias", she should not be allowed to moderate the next debate." Now, FOX is firing back, telling me last night that Megyn Kelly has no conflict of interest. Donald Trump is trying to build up the audience for Thursday's debate for which we thank him. Is there any possibility, Katrina, that Trump will boycott this debate on Thursday because of Megyn Kelly's role? [Pierson:] Well, he has not mentioned that at this point, Brian, but if he decides to that, he'll be the first one to announce it. There's no love lost between Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump after that first debate. That's been a very publicized disagreement. But I think it's going to be fine. Mr. Trump is set to win Iowa, win New Hampshire, win South Carolina and win the GOP nomination and we're going to focus on winning. [Stelter:] Is it do you think a disadvantage for Donald Trump to be on stage with Megyn Kelly just a few days before the key Iowa caucus? [Pierson:] No, not at all. I think we're at a point where you either like Trump or you don't like Trump. I don't think any minds are going to be changed. The people who are in the middle that are trying to decide which direction am I going to go, I don't think this debate is going to make that determination just because Megyn Kelly's on the panel. [Stelter:] Katrina, great to see you. Thank you for being here this morning. [Pierson:] Thanks, Brian. Great to see you. [Stelter:] Let's talk a bit more about this so-called rematch. Let me bring in Jim Rutenberg, the newly named media columnist for "The New York Times". Jim, good to see you. Congratulations on your new role. [Jim Rutenberg, Media Columnist, The New York Times:] Thank so much. [Stelter:] You wrote a big story in "The New York Times" about Megyn Kelly, a profile of her. So, I wanted to hear your perspective on this. I think from FOX's perspective, this is all just bluster from Donald Trump. He's preparing you know, laying the ground work for Thursday night. Do you think this is a difficult situation for Megyn Kelly to be in, this so called rematch? [Rutenberg:] I mean, for any journalist, it's a really hard situation because you have the front-runner for the Republican nominee coming after you. This is not a two-sided fight. Trump is the one instigating this. Megyn Kelly is not engaging. [Stelter:] Yes, you're saying it's not exactly a feud, because a feud requires both sides to be fighting. [Rutenberg:] Yes, she's doing journalism. From the beginning in that debate, she was doing journalism. Trump is maybe this is a "working the ref" thing. I'm trying to figure that out as I speak. [Stelter:] Do you think that Kelly's brand has benefitted from this? You know, in your profile, it's clear that she's thought about her image. She sought to be more of a newswoman than a commentary person the way maybe Sean Hannity is who follows her on FOX. Has this debate drama over the past few months played into that image as a newswoman? [Rutenberg:] I think it has. I'm sure she would rather not be quite playing out this way because it's so reality TV. But at the same time, it is you know, she showed that she was going to ask really tough questions. She angered a major candidate. And he in way, he's acting as if he's afraid of facing her on Thursday night, right? This is a way of, like, is he working the ref? [Stelter:] You think he's a little nervous about it? [Rutenberg:] Well, that's one possible motive because we haven't seen a front runner go after a moderator in this sustained of a way for this long. [Stelter:] There's so much curiosity about Megyn Kelly. Her star has been rising and rising and rising. I would argue she's now the biggest star of FOX News. Bill O'Reilly might disagree with me. What do you think has been the secret to her success? [Rutenberg:] I actually think that she has an amazing television talent. I think it's preparation. I think listening during interviews and I think it's being kind of doing the unexpected. Not playing to type. [Stelter:] Let me ask you, before we have to go to break here. You're replacing David Carr, our former friend, our late friend who passed away last February, as "The New York Times" media columnist. A lot of curiosity about when you'll be starting and how you'll be approaching the role? [Rutenberg:] At this point, I'm going to I'm planning to start in mid-March so I can do a lot of studying and preparation. I've been away from the media beat for, you know, more than a decade. But I follow it because as a political reporter, to me, the media is so central. So, you know, I haven't been absent, but I'm going to take some time to get up to speed, and, you know, following that act is a really hard thing to do. [Stelter:] What's the big story you think you'd like to tell with this prized media column at "The Times"? [Rutenberg:] There are 15,000. So, what I have to do is prioritize. I mean, to me, the change that we're experiencing is amazing. The media environment around Donald Trump is amazing. Our politics, media, tech, it's just a ton. [Stelter:] Jim, great to see you. Thanks for being here. [Rutenberg:] Thanks so much. Appreciate it. [Stelter:] Coming up on [Reliable Sources:] What's the one thing Trump and Bernie Sanders has figured out that this election cycle maybe the media has not. When we come back, we'll get into that, and the answer might surprise you. [Unidentified Female:] All we heard was behind us, the people behind us saying, get out the theater now. This is not a drill. [Unidentified Male:] Get the ambulances over here now. [Keith Patin, Council Member, Lafayette City-parish:] We're used to dealing with natural types of catastrophes, hurricanes, stuff like that. But nothing like this. [Unidentified Male:] We treat every day like [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Louisiana town devastated by a mass shooting at a movie theater. Gunman names John Russel Houser opening fire, killing two people, injuring nine before killing himself. And good morning to you. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. We have new details and chilling new images from last night's shooting spree inside a Louisiana movie theater. This is exclusive video capturing the immediate aftermath shot on a cell phone. It shows a police officer and a couple of civilians rushing to help one of the victims. And police say this is the gunman. He shot and killed two women and wounded nine other people. The Lafayette police chief publicly identified the gunman just a short time ago. [Chief Jim Craft, Lafayette, Louisiana Police:] The shooter is John Russel Houser. H-O-U-S-E-R. He's a white male, 59 years of age. He previously resided in the state of Alabama. He's kind of a drifter. He's been in Lafayette since early July as far as we can tell. [Costello:] CNN's Ed Lavandera live in Lafayette this morning with more. Good morning. And also I should mention Boris Sanchez is gathering information as well on the victims and some of those victims or heroes this morning. But I do want to start with you, Ed, and the latest on the investigation. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Well, here, investigators continue to do their work at a couple of different locations. Here at the theater, they're still inside going through and trying to gather as much evidence as possible and then just a couple of miles away from here at the motel where it's believed that John Russel Houser had been staying since early July. Authorities here say that he arrived in this area from Phoenix City, Alabama, in earlier this month so they are trying to piece together his movements and his whereabouts over the course of that time and what brought him here trying to talk to as many relatives and friends as possible. They have been doing that throughout the night. But they did reveal some disturbing clues and details of Mr. Houser's movements and his arrival here at the at the theater. Authorities say that he parked his car by an exit. That they believe that he was planning to try to get away alive. But it was the quick reaction of two officers who were able to get inside that theater before Houser turned the gun on himself. And also authorities talking about how they discovered wigs and disguises in the motel room where he was staying. [Costello:] Also, Ed [Lavandera:] So, Carol, that was [Costello:] Are police are police, Ed, still searching that hotel? [Lavandera:] That's my understanding, that that was going on and that's a short distance from this movie theater. But, you know, that's where they discovered the disguises and the wigs that was in kind of a disturbing detail that was released just a short while ago. And obviously, that's one of the reasons why I think authorities here are saying that they believe that Mr. Houser especially the way he parked his car next to an exit on the side of the theater that that's one of the reasons why they believe that he was intentioned to stand up, fire off the rounds that he was going to fire and then try to escape alive. [Costello:] All right. Ed Lavandera reporting live from Lafayette, Louisiana, this morning. Emerging from the horrors of that theater attack, tales of heroism. One features these two schoolteachers enjoying their last days of summer break. Listen to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. [Gov. Bobby Jindal , Louisiana:] Two teachers here on summer break, wanted to come see one final movie, come see a comedy as they were getting ready for school to start again. One teacher literally jumping over her friend, potentially saving her life. A second teacher thought that felt like that bullet would have hit her in the head if her friend hadn't jumped on her. The second teacher was shot anyway in the leg. Had the presence of mind to pull that fire alarm. Who knows how many lives were saved just by that presence of mind? [Costello:] An amazing story. CNN's Boris Sanchez is here with more details on the victims of last night's shooting. Good morning. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. We're learning the names of the two deceased victims, 21-year-old Mayci Breaux and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson. Mayci was from Franklin, Louisiana. That's about an hour southwest of Fayetteville or Lafayette, I should say. Jillian was a shop owner. She owned a boutique in Lafayette with her husband Jason. And sources tell CNN Jillian was sitting directly in front of the gunman when he decided to open fire. We're still waiting to learn about the nine other injured victims. Two of them as you can see have been released from the hospital. We know two of them were teachers, as you mentioned. Jena Meaux and Ali Martin. Witnesses tell CNN one of those women jumped in front of the other taking a bullet in the leg for her friend. Potentially saving her life. She also ran to a fire alarm pulling it hoping to alert others about what was happening. Clearly an incredible act of heroism. [Costello:] Absolutely. Boris Sanchez, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Want to bring you back to Lafayette, Louisiana, right now. Police Chief Jim Craft is with me. Good morning, sir. [Craft:] Good morning. [Costello:] I want to follow up on the victims first. Any updates on those victims in the hospital? [Craft:] We know that two of the victims have been released from the hospital. The remainder of the victims are still hospitalized and we have one in critical condition. [Costello:] All right. I just want to put up a picture of Mayci Breaux, one of the victims. This is the 21-year-old that was shot. We'll put up her picture momentarily. But were was Marcy [sic] and Jillian sitting right in front of the shooter when they were killed? [Craft:] We think that Mayci Breaux and her boyfriend were in front of the shooter. We're not sure exactly where Jillian was located. But the shooter wounded Mayci and her boyfriend and then began to just shoot randomly into the crowd. [Costello:] Do you know right now did he stand up at some point in the movie, 20 minutes in, I think? [Craft:] Yes. He stood up and began firing the weapon and the first two people he shot were right in front of him and then the rest of the people were seated in different areas of the theater. [Costello:] And then tell me a little bit more about these two teachers, the one who pulled the fire alarm. Did that stop him? [Craft:] It did happen we feel like that teacher along with our immediate law enforcement response probably prevented a number of people, you know, further casualties in this event. [Costello:] As far as the suspect, nothing about this makes much sense. First of all, he's a 59-year-old man. It's a strange movie for him to pick to see. "Train Wreck." It's a comedy, it's geared to a female audience. What do you make of that? [Craft:] We're not sure yet. You know, we're right in the beginning stages of the investigation. We're about 14 hours, 16 hours into this investigation. And so there's a lot of work left to do. And part of that will be to try and figure out why this city, why this movie, why those people. We haven't found any connections between the shooter or anyone who was attending that movie. [Costello:] Yes, he was from Alabama. Some people say that this is this is a copycat killing because he started shooting 20 minutes in just like the Aurora shooter did. [Craft:] Yes. We're looking at that as a possibility. But that's not something that we've come to a conclusion on yet. It's certainly at the very least it's coincidental that, you know, the Aurora shooter was just tried and recently found guilty. And so that's one of the things that we're looking at to see if there's any relationship there. [Costello:] You said you found wigs and disguises in the hotel room where this man was staying. Can you describe, wigs and what kind of wigs and disguises? [Craft:] I don't know if they were men's wigs or women's wigs. It's apparent to us that he was maybe trying to disguise his appearance, although we are told that when he purchased his ticket he was not wearing any type of disguise. And we didn't find any inside the theater. But he had changed the license plate on his vehicle. And he had parked it right outside the emergency entrance for that theater that particular theater. And so we think that he intended on leaving. He did exit the theater and try and blend in with the crowd who was also leaving very quickly. We think when he spotted law enforcement he returned back inside the theater and that's when he shot himself. [Costello:] OK. Can what can you tell me about the gun he was using? [Craft:] It's a semiautomatic handgun. ATF is running a trace on it as we speak. It was a 40-caliber handgun. We think he fired approximately 13 rounds but that hasn't been confirmed yet either because the crime scene is actually still being processed. [Costello:] Did you find any other weapons or ammunition in the hotel room? [Craft:] I don't know if ammunition was found. We did find a box for the weapon and some alcohol. And so we're going to try to determine if that played a role in his this event, as well. [Costello:] We heard rumors that this man has a criminal background. Can you confirm that? [Craft:] He does have a criminal history. It's like 26 years old is what I was told. And I think he had an arrest for arson at one time. And he had an arrest on a misdemeanor charge for I think selling alcohol to a minor. [Costello:] So are you still [Craft:] Nothing recently that we're able to find. [Costello:] And just a final question. Are you still searching the hotel? [Craft:] No. We executed a search warrant at his motel room at 4:30 this morning. That search was contained to that room. That was done with quite a number of law enforcement officers and federal and state agents and they completed that work there, seized several boxes of items and now we're sorting through that to determine if there are any clues in there that might help us determine why this took place. [Costello:] Thank you so much for joining me, Lafayette, Louisiana, Police Chief Jim Craft. I appreciate it. Of course, we'll continue to bring you the latest developments on the theater shooting in Louisiana. Up next, I'll talk with co-workers of one of the victims, Jillian Johnson. [Quest:] Welcome back to its Quest Means Business we are in Abu Dhabi this evening. To our top story of course, it's the worsening diplomatic military relationships between Russia and Turkey following the downing of the Russian warplane. Matthew Bryza, is a former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan. He's also a Senior Fellow at the International Affairs the Atlantic Council, who joins me now live from Istanbul. Matthew, the core crux of this is whether or not it is in Putin's or Erdogan's best interest to somehow bury this dispute or to let it fester or to make it worse. What's your gut feeling? [Matthew Bryza, Former U.s. Ambassador To Azerbaijanl:] My gut feeling is both leaders want to get this crisis past them. [Bryza:] And you can see that in the measured tone both have been following in Becky Anderson's interview of President Erdogan. But also in President Putin's own statements no Russian statements yet have been that the Turkey shoot down was considered an act of war. Putin has called it a stab in the back. The Russian military called it an unfriendly act. But the rhetoric has been remarkably restrained which shows to me, both leaders would like to move on. [Quest:] And if we put this in pardon since we are a business program, we need to put it in commercial trade terms. The multibillion dollar bilateral relationship, it has to suffer in some extent. There has to be an exacted price for what's happened by form of sanctions or some form of restrictions, doesn't there? [Bryza:] Yes, there does. President Putin, I'm sure, feels he has to look strong, has to look tough for domestic reasons so that so he continues to maintain his image as such a strong leader. And we certainly won't see any cancellation from the Russian side of the $20 billion nuclear power plant that Russia has won a contract for. So there'll be some reactions by Russia but I think they're going to be limited. [Quest:] Matthew, finally, one thing, when I heard about the Russian plane being brought down, the first thought was there was there was an inevitability that eventually either through friendly fire or some form of mishap, there are so many militaries now fighting over the scorched earth of Syria whether it's U.S., whether it's Russia, whether it's Turkish planes, whether it's the French, the British if they come along on board. Was it inevitable that something like this was going to happen? [Bryza:] I think you're absolutely right that the chances were high of something like this happening because of the crowded air space. However, Washington and Moscow have been working hard to try to de- conflict and to make sure or to reduce the chances something like this wouldn't happen. Let's broaden the scope a little bit. I think something like this was inevitable somewhere along the periphery of NATO because for the past year Russian military aircraft have been violating the air space of a wide range of NATO member states including the United States but also the United Kingdom, Norway and the Baltic states. And in one in a couple of cases, Russian military aircraft without their transresponders on almost collided with civilian aircraft over the Baltic Sea. So some sort of action like this I think was inevitable somewhere in the NATO space. It happened, President Putin has been poking and probing and let's just hope that this is the incident that finally convinces him to back off. And one more point I would add is NATO has said and the Turks have said that the Russian military aircraft was bombing Turkmen. These are ethnic Turks, on the Turkish, on the Syrian side of the SyriaTurkish border. President Putin understands how sensitive the protection of ethnic kin are because he has used that argument to justify the invasion of Ukraine. So I think President Putin knows he's probed too far. [Quest:] Sir, thank you for joining us. [Bryza:] Thank you. [Quest:] The British bank Barclays has been handed $109 million fine. It's the penalty so say the regulators for ignoring rules on vetting wealthy customers. Because it wanted to win what one Barclay's manager called, the deal of the century. The sum involved was nearly $3 billion. The deal that was involved was so secret that Barclays bought a new safe just to hold the paperwork. And that safe incidentally very few people knew its location in the Barclays headquarters. According to the British authorities, the Watchdog, Barclays didn't bother finding out the source of the money, they didn't do enough vetting. It opened and closed quickly offshore accounts to process the transactions. It didn't enter client's names on computers where they would normally be stored.. And remember banks are obliged to check the origin of large sums to detect possible money laundering. Barclay says there's no evidence any crime was committed, but if you look at the facts, they clearly didn't do the full due diligence on both the client or indeed where the money was coming from. Jeffrey Robinson, the British Banker's Association has called in the world's most important financial crime author. And he says that there's a problem with the fine even at this elevated level of $109 million. Which Jeffrey, which the FSA, the authority, they tripled the specifically because they said they wanted it to be a deterrent. And I can almost hear you gafforing and snorting, as I say that. [Jeffrey Robinson, Author:] Yes, you can, Happy Thanksgiving, by the way. Richard, the problem is the fine is lunch money for these banks, that's all it is. Now this is the seventh time that Barclays has been fined since 2009 by first the FSA, the Financial Services Authority and then now the FCA, the Financial Conduct Authority. When the FSA, which was completely useless, became the FCA, they covered it with a nice coat of paint and scotch taped up the holes in the walls and that's about all. Because the FCA has now proven to be equally useless than the FSA. When you fine these banks and they still don't get the message to stop, you've got to ask can yourself why. And the answer is because they are making so much money doing it. [Quest:] Now as I looked at this particular case, the worrying part is it comes after the great recession and the crisis. The dates involved 2011 and '12, this should have been time when everybody was more vigilant on questions of ethics. So in your view, Barclays are either stupid or they did it on purpose. [Robinson:] Well, of course. I mean Banks can make mistakes and they cannot check off all the proper boxes and you say, well, they should have known better. They made a mistake. They were stupid. No, they did this deliberately. Those bankers knew exactly what they were doing. But I ask other questions. I say who were those people who had the 1.9 billion pounds and why did they need to hide their money in such a way. Now if it's money laundering, that's one thing, if it's terror financing that's something else, if it's tax evasion, that's something else. But from the bankers' standpoint, it's aiding and abetting a crime. Because there's got to be a crime somewhere along the line. The FCA said no we're not charging criminally. [Quest:] So ultimately, I mean it's hard to suggest, and I'm going to argue against you here. It's hard to suggest that somebody should perhaps get locked up for this particular case when at best rules may have been broken, but there is no there is no evidence here Jeffrey of criminality. [Robinson:] Aiding and abetting. It's not the criminality of the bankers. What was where did the money come from? Was it corruption money? These apparently these were what's known as PEPs, Political Exposed Persons, which then the banks are not supposed to take. So what are they aiding and abetting? Is it money stolen from a national treasury someplace? Is it money that's been laundered through a nefarious thing. You know Richard it's a simple thing, seven fines didn't work because they are doing it. They did it again. When you take these bankers one by one and you put them in an orange jump suit and you put them in a 6 by 4 cell with a guy named Bruno who's got two fang tattoos on the side of his neck, that gets bankers attention very fast. That puts an end to it. [Quest:] And you, sir, have given us a Thanksgiving vision that I think most of us will take away. Have a Happy Thanksgiving Jeffery. [Robinson:] Thank you, sorry you're not joining us, there's always turkey at the table for you. [Quest:] I'm looking forward to it next year. When we come back, we will talk about that. A traditional parade in New York and then a shopping bonanza. In the U.S. Black Friday sales get underway on Thanksgiving. We'll show you how retailers have been getting ready. The stores in many cases will be opening within the next hour or two. Its Quest Means Business, we're in Abu Dhabi tonight, good evening. [Unidentified Male:] Without objection, the previous question is ordered. The question is on adoption of the resolution. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed, no. In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. And the resolution is agreed to. Without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. The chair would remind the hall that it's absolutely critical that we are able to discern the ayes from the nays. Those in favor of the rules package will say aye. [Audience:] Aye! [Unidentified Male:] Those opposed shall say no. [Audience:] No! [Unidentified Male:] In the opinion of the chair, the ayes have it. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] CNN's Dana Bash was on the convention floor when all of this erupted. It was very exciting for about an hour, Dana. It's all over with now. But tell our viewers how it went down. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Congressional Correspondent:] Well, first of all, this was very much a surprise. It was kind of brewing a little bit in the hours before, but it was very much a surprise by the Republican National Committee and the Trump campaign, who have been working hand in glove to try to kind of make things go smoothly during this convention process. They thought that they had kind of quelled two very strong forces during all of the debate throughout the week last week over the rules governing this convention and, of course, the rules governing the next primary process for the next nominating process in 2020. Those two forces were never Trump, people who wanted to have an ability to have a so-called conscience clause, so ability to get out of their being bound to vote for Donald Trump, but then others who are kind of core conservative conservatives, many supporters of Ted Cruz who wanted the rules to be change so that, the next time, the primary and caucus process would only allow Republicans to vote. Basically, it would effectively mean that the nominee, they hope, would be more conservative. Those two forces aligned kind of quietly before what was supposed to be rudimentary vote here, a voice vote to kind of just approve this large rules package. And so they went around quietly before this moment here, Wolf, and they got nine states, I believe, nine states to say that they were OK with a roll call vote. The rules here said that, if they had seven, they would be able to have a role call vote. Why would that matter? If they had a roll call vote, then it would open everything up. It would open up the ability for anti-Trump forces to try to push their kind of votes and also the conservatives to have their kind of amendments. What we saw here was a very concerted effort. Again, the Republican National Committee working hand in hand with the Trump campaign to try to quell that. They got three of those states to rescind their efforts. They were able to stop it. What you just played was a messy process. First, they tried to approve it by voice vote. It was unclear how that went down, even though the chair said the ayes had it. And I'm told the Republican chair, the party chair, said that he was worried that that didn't look good, so they came out and did it again. But you very much had a lot of delegates here who are very unhappy that they thought they were going to be able to get an open process and have their voices heard, and they weren't. The two takeaways here are, number one, it was kind of the last gasp of I think the never Trump movement, but also a very real conservative-Cruz aligned group of delegates who were trying to steer the party for the future into a more conservative lane Wolf. [Blitzer:] Dana, stand by. Dana is on the convention floor. It was pretty exciting. Thank you very much. That was just part of an eventful day here. Day one is certainly far from over. CNN's Jim Acosta is joining us now more with on the latest information that we're getting. Jim, this first day of the Republican Convention now officially under way. There were some notable party absences though, including the governor of this very state we're in right now. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Some of the biggest names in the Republican Party simply will not be on hand for Donald Trump's moment, becoming the nominee of this party. Former President George W. Bush will not be here. Mitt Romney, the last nominee of this party, will not be here. John McCain will not be here. In fact, the last nominee of this party who will be here will be Bob Dole. There will be a tribute for him later on tonight. I'm told he will be sitting in Donald Trump's VIP box for that. But you're right, Wolf. I don't think there's a bigger snub for this event, for this convention than that of Ohio Governor John Kasich. He's hosting this convention after all, you might say, because he's the governor of this state. I have been talking to a senior Kasich adviser today, Wolf, and the Ohio governor has been in Cleveland. He's been at different delegations talking to people, milling around Cleveland. But, according to this adviser, he's not going to set foot inside this convention hall for the duration of this convention. He feels that strongly that Donald Trump should not be the nominee of this party. [Blitzer:] It's interesting that the Republican governor, Jim, of Ohio, John Kasich, he will not walk into this convention center. But the Democratic mayor of Cleveland, he was here earlier today. He formally went up on the podium and welcomed all the Republican delegates here. Very interesting. There will be notable speakers tonight, but I guess some of the more anticipated speakers, one of the most anticipated speakers will be the wife of Donald Trump, Melania. What do we expect to hear from her? [Acosta:] That's right, Wolf. When you talk to people inside the Trump campaign and remind them about John McCain and Mitt Romney and George W. Bush being missing, they say there's one star of this convention and that is Donald Trump. To add to that star power, they are bringing in his family members. And Melania Trump will be going first tonight. She will be speaking to the convention hall here. In a very unusual, unprecedented move, Donald Trump is coming here as well. He's going to introduce Melania Trump to these delegates here. One thing that we have to look out for with introductions, Wolf, is just what Donald Trump is going to say. You will recall on Saturday when he introduced his vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence, that introduction went on for 28 minutes and veered into parts of Donald Trump's stump speech that had nothing to do with introducing Mike Pence. And so we're going to be looking for that as well. But Melania Trump is going to be talking about who Donald Trump is as a husband. As you know, Wolf, a key weakness for Donald Trump, if you look at the polls and if you look at the numbers, is how he's doing with women right now. These are almost radioactive numbers for Donald Trump right now when it comes to female voters. And so they're hoping that Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump will start to chip away at that at this convention this week, Wolf. [Blitzer:] That certainly is the goal. Jim Acosta, thanks very much Anderson, over to you. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Yes, Wolf, I'm here with the panel. Joined now by the senior Democratic Party official Donna Brazile, who has no doubt been watching this all with great interest. Donna, let's start off with you, since we're just hearing from you. In terms of what we witnessed a little bit more than an hour ago, there are some who say, look, it's a sign of disunity, others who say it's the sign of the death of the never Trump movement and a sign that this is Donald Trump's convention. [Donna Brazile, Cnn Political Analyst:] When you look at the substance of the fight regarding open primaries or closed primaries, there's clearly a need for the Republican Party to have this conversation. Unlike the Democrats, and we know this, we look at our rules throughout the four years preceding the convention. So, at convention time, we have an opportunity to have input from all of the states and all of the delegates. On the Republican side, they have this one opportunity, and you change that. But I do believe this fight was about 2020 and not just right here in 2016. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Contributor:] One of the things you got to be careful with, Anderson, if you remember, the Republicans changed the rule in 2012. I think it was 40B to zap Ron Paul and make sure his name wasn't placed in nomination. They get to 2016 and this backfired on them, as Rand Paul pointed out. You want to be really careful when you start doing this. [Mike Shields, Former Rnc Chief Of Staff:] That rule is actually one that the RNC negotiated with the Cuccinelli folks and changed for them because the grassroots the grassroots first of all, by the way, everyone claims to be a leader of the grassroots. Everyone who is on the RNC, every delegate is member of the grassroots, but they all try to own that. So, I shouldn't even use that term. But the Cuccinelli folks, they did win a concession. They got rule 40B changed back to five states. That was something that actually happened earlier and helped them. [Cooper:] And yet this isn't something that we have seen at a lot of conventions in recent memory, anyway. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] No. We had the Paul walkout, remember? And that was small. We took note of it. I think what's happening here is much more organic, actually. What we saw was the Republican National Committee really quash it. They kind of said this isn't going to happen at our convention and... [Cooper:] But you had the speaker walking off the stage at a certain point. [Borger:] Right. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] They sent that poor guy out there. This was a surprise, as Dana reported, the fact that they got all these signatures at the last minute, they want to pull this off. Should the organizers of the event, the leadership of the RNC they knew for at least a couple of hours this was coming. Should they have had a better plan at the moment? Clearly, there was a little chaos and how are we going to sort this out? [King:] Please. [Shields:] Well, first of all, they were going off the stage to figure out this happens in the House all the time. These are House rules, by the way. Steve Womack is a congressman from Arkansas, did a great job. That's why he is here. And it happens all the time. The parliamentarian wasn't standing next to him. You saw he came out and stood next to him. This stage is different than the House floor. For him to ask a question to the parliamentarian, he has to walk off the stage and ask the question. The optics of that didn't work out as well. [Scottie Nell Hughes, Donald Trump Supporter:] But here's my question. Why did they not already know they were going to win it? Once again, they have a loss. This is the third time they have lost. That's my thing. So, if you want to say, this was purely about embarrassment to the candidate, embarrassment almost to the party. That was their motivation. If they knew that they didn't have the solid win, why even bother? [King:] That's dead right. A lot of these conservative forces, they don't like Washington. Some of them still have grievances with Donald Trump without a doubt, but they have grievances with the party. This is the people to Mike's point, they consider themselves the true conservative grassroots and they have their agendas too, as does everybody in this room. We're at a political convention. Guess what? Some people have their own individual agendas and they're looking to make but, look, this is part of the challenge. The volume is a little higher here. There's tensions. Did all conservatives love John McCain? Did all conservatives love John McCain Mitt Romney? Jeff goes back to the Reagan days, when he had to reach out to the old moderate wing of the party with George H.W. Bush. It happens at every convention. The buy-in is a little higher here because Donald Trump was an independent not that long ago. He said nice things about the Clintons. It was a bit of a hostile takeover for the party. But he won. And he won today on the floor. But I want to say, to the point of what we're about to get to, there's always these two missions at the convention. One is to talk to the room. Yes, Donald Trump, there's a lot of skeptics in this room. Are you really a movement conservative? Will you really cut taxes and shrink government? Will you really stand up for the pro-life movement? Will you really be that person given his positions in the past, which he says he has changed? He does have a mission here. The bigger mission is to the country. I'm fascinated by Melania Trump tonight, in the sense the biggest challenge for Donald Trump in a sense is to convince people out there, like me more. Give me a second look. She's key to that. [Cooper:] It's not just Melania Trump tonight. First of all, you have Governor Perry, who, if you remember during the primary season, came out and blasted Donald Trump, was really the first candidate to come out and went after him on questions of faith. [Borger:] He called him a cancer on conservatism, if you recall. [Cooper:] And then you have national security people. You have Marcus Luttrell, who wrote the book "Lone Survivor," the movie "Lone Survivor." Rudy Giuliani. You have a number of people who survived the Benghazi attacks who were involved in Benghazi, and also a number of people whose kids have been killed in some way or other by illegal immigrants. [Borger:] That's right. It's national security, strength. And just like Melania is going to attract women, they believe in talking to people in the Trump campaign, they believe the strength argument will also attract women voters, because they believe women see a dangerous world and they're national security voters very often to protect their family. They believe this is also a way to get, to bring down those negatives. In March, he was 70 percent negative with women. It's important. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] That's the big challenge. Rebranding Donald Trump. They want a bump out of this convention. We haven't seen a lot of bumps come out of these conventions over the last couple of days. I think the biggest speeches we will see tonight, Donald Trump and Melania Trump. If you look back at what former first ladies have done, it's about humanizing the candidates and it's also, if you look at Michelle Obama's speech, for instance, she sort of acknowledged that she had this line in her speech that when I met him, he was a guy with a funny name and he was in Hawaii, but he had the same kinds of values that my family had as well. She was in some ways the translator of Barack Obama to the general public. [Cooper:] Michael Smerconish, that's one of the things. I talked to Paul Manafort last night, who was saying essentially that and that every night that's what they want to get out of this. And by the end, they want to show what Paul Manafort was saying the sort of side of Donald Trump the public hasn't seen in these primary battles, which is the person in the boardroom, the person in private meetings, the person with his family. We're going to be hearing from pretty much every member of his family, every one of his kids. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Contributor:] I thought Governor Romney had a beautiful family. They all spoke well. I remember those handsome sons. I also remember the testimonials from folks who were Latter Day Saints. They didn't play those cards. In fact, I even make it sound cheap when I say it that way. But they were very careful in how much of that they showed. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake. I thought the best moment Donald Trump had in the entire primary process was the CNN town hall where he brought his whole family and he said very little. It will be interesting to see if he can say very little tonight, and I think he's right to play that card. [Cooper:] We're going to take a quick break. We got a lot more to talk about as we await Donald Trump's arrival and Melania Trump's moment on the stage tonight. We will be right back. [John King, Cnn Anchor:] September 11th, 15 years later. A pause to remember, but only after escalating insults. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] You could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] She is the corrupt establishment. [King:] And in a fierce debate over being commander in chief. [Trump:] She is trigger happy and very unstable. [Clinton:] He is temperamentally unfit and totally unqualified to be commander-in-chief. [King:] Plus, Donald Trump's constant praise of Vladimir Putin draws Republican scorn. [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] Vladimir Putin is an aggressor that does not share our interests. [King:] INSIDE POLITICS, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters, now. Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. Thank you very much for sharing your Sunday morning on this special and solemn day. We'll have an abbreviated program today, just 30 minutes, so we can bring you some of the 911 events this morning. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is part of that, plan separate visits to Ground Zero this year and we will take you there when it happens. The 15th anniversary falls 58 days before Election Day 2016. Clinton and Trump both pulling TV ads for the day and promising no political attacks. But the tough and controversial tone of the rhetoric this weekend suggests the respite will be brief. Here is Trump in Pensacola, Florida, taking a detour from his scripted teleprompter remarks. [Trump:] Because she is being so protected, she could walk into this arena right now and shoot somebody with 20,000 people watching right smack in the middle of the heart, and she wouldn't be prosecuted, OK? That's what's happened. That is what's happened to our country. I never thought I would see the day when this is happening to our country. [King:] That would likely be driving the political conversation this weekend, except for this. Listen here as Clinton at a high-dollar New York City fund-raiser attacks not only Trump but his supporters. [Clinton:] To just be grossly generalistic, you could put half of Trump's supporters into what I call the basket of deplorables. [King:] A lot to talk about. With us to share their reporting and their insights, CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson, Jonathan Martin of "The New York Times", CNN's Jeff Zeleny, and Jennifer Jacobs of Bloomberg Politics. Let's get to the basket of deplorables and she could walk into and shot people in one second, but the context of this the context is we are 58 days away. Brand new polling this morning, here's a national poll from ABC and "The Washington Post" showing a 5-point Clinton lead. We have another poll showing Trump on top, a close race, but right there, 46-41, nine and two for the third party candidates. A very competitive election nationally. NBC"Wall Street Journal"Marist has released new polling showing in the four-way race, Donald Trump up two in Arizona. A dead heat. Donald Trump up two in Georgia. Dead heat. Donald Trump up one in Nevada. A dead heat. Hillary Clinton up two in New Hampshire. A dead heat. This on the heels of Quinnipiac polling in Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and Pennsylvania showing very close races, Clinton up five in Pennsylvania. The others closer than that. Fifty-eight days out, it's a tossup. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes, it's a tossup. And you can see that pressure, I think, on the different candidates with Hillary Clinton making the statement at that fund- raiser. It wasn't an instance where we saw before with the 47 percent remark or clinging to guns and faith from Obama. She was very openly doing that. I think she knows that there isn't a lot of enthusiasm for her candidacy and there is also the thought among a lot of Democrats and voters generally that she'll win. So, they very much need to gin up those supporters. And I think for Trump, he's got to do the same thing. [King:] I think the chip of complacency has fallen off the shoulders of a lot of Democrats in the last week or two as these polls have tightened, especially the last five or six days. But to this point, you're right, you're right, Mitt Romney, you should have known but it was a closed event. Somebody popped up and got him on a cellphone. Somebody recorded the president when he said in Pennsylvania, they cling to their guns their god and their guns. She knew she was on camera, but shouldn't she know better? Shouldn't she know better? If you want to say some of Trump's supporters or Trump has behind him or Trump panders to these people, that's one thing. But you're insulting voters there. You're insulting voters there. So, she, in a statement Saturday said, "Last night, I was grossly generalistic and that's never a good idea. I regret saying "half" that was wrong." She didn't say sorry. She said she got the math wrong. [Jonathan Martin, The New York Times:] Right, she still believes that some of Trump's voters have those views. I think the Clinton folks deeply regret saying "half," because that makes the story much worse for them. But I think they're actually okay having a larger conversation about race and Donald Trump in part because of what you mentioned. It's a motivational tool for their voters. The biggest challenge he has now is not Donald Trump. This race, to me, is not a tossup. She still has an advantage. The challenge that she does have, though, is motivating skeptical voters who hate Donald Trump but just aren't that into her. They're sitting on Gary Johnson or Jill Stein right now, or they're just claiming their undecided or soft Clinton. It's getting them to the polls. This issue, litigating this question is the kind of material that can get Clinton skeptics out to stop Trump. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspodent:] And it's also, though, I mean, we saw her act faster on this than we've seen her [Unidentified Female:] And Romney didn't. [Zeleny:] express her regret before. She has dug her heels in. It was clear she had to say something yesterday. But they do want to have a broader conversation on race. That is sort of the issue here. [King:] There is a way to do that without insulting voters. [Zeleny:] millions of Americans. [King:] Right. [Zeleny:] And doing it at a fund-raiser with Barbra Streisand here. So, that is her challenge, tone deaf, he tone deafness. [Jennifer Jacobs, Bloomberg Politics:] They asked all their surrogates today to refrain from doing any television or radio interviews out of respect for September 11th. And they said, if you go on social media, only tweet about our men and women in the military. So, they lost a day today to attack Clinton on this. They had to do a bit of a ceasefire, which, you know, hurt a little bit of their window for the attack, but they said this is not going away and this is going to be something that they're really going to be [King:] Before the ceasefire went into effect, Mike Pence was here in Washington yesterday for the Value Voter Summit and he seized on it. And listen to how he says because this is important to your point about where the Trump campaign is going with this. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Nominee:] The men and women who support Donald Trump's campaign are hard-working Americans, farmers, coal miners, teachers, veterans, members of our law enforcement community. So, let me just say from the bottom of my heart: Hillary, they are not a basket of anything. They are Americans and they deserve your respect. [King:] It's very similar to what the Obama campaign did with the 47 percent, essentially saying you are insulting, mocking, showing your elitist disrespect for hard-working Americans. [Zeleny:] And it shows, again, how I think a lot of Democrats and a lot of them on the Clinton campaign do not understand what is driving the Trump campaign. They, I don't think, have this whole time, and they don't understand, you know, some of his supporters and the frustration out there in the country. Now, granted, most of those people are not voting for her anyway. But that doesn't matter necessarily. There are going to be people in Middle America, some of the swing states, who will be offended by this remark. So, I think she'll have to address this directly this week as she is campaigning. But it is a fundamental misunderstanding of what is driving Donald Trump supporters. [Henderson:] They think they do understand, at least partly, what is driving these voters. She had that alt-right speech. If she is listening to any of the women I am listening to in the focus groups, these are Republican women who would say Donald Trump was a racist. If you look at the polls even, 30 percent of the Republicans feel like some of the words that Trump say appeal to bigotry, and certainly, 70 to 75 percent if you look at non-white. So, they want to keep driving the message with this sort of sorry-not sorry allows them to make that point that they think really binds the Obama coalition together. [Zeleny:] It's hard to imagine Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama saying something like that as Jeff pointed out in front of Barbra Streisand at a New York fund-raiser. It shows why a lot of Democrats fear this race is closer than it should be. [King:] And everybody, remember, we're at the point in the campaign where everybody, the candidates too, are exhausted. This is when you get tired and this is when you make mistakes. Up next the race as we know is trending Trump's way in several key states and the commander in chief test. Why isn't it just Democrats who are very alarmed by Trump's repeated praise of Vladimir Putin? [Michael Smerconish, Cnn:] The doc, now ahead of the Donald in Iowa. Well, in Colorado, pot has pulled out ahead of alcohol in tax revenues. I'll talk to its governor about this windfall. And with Benghazi seemingly in Hillary's rear view mirror, her campaign is about to unleash the big dog. Bill going back out on the campaign trail. And nobody knows his impact like Joe Klein who wrote "Primary Colors" and he'll join us. But first, even though no American will cast a presidential vote in the next 100 days, a lot of candidates are already out, Rick Perry, out. Scott Walker, out. Jim Webb, out, at least for now. Linc Chafeee, out, Jeb Bush just slashed his campaign staff. And "Political" reported this week that Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell is encouraging his fellow Kentuckian Rand Paul to s spend more time on his senate re-election next year instead of his presidential bid. At the last GOP debate, Donald Trump said Paul didn't deserve to be on the stage. So I asked Rand Paul about that. [Smerconish:] I was at the Reagan Library for that first GOP debate. I thought it was absolutely bizarre that the opening question is a question about whether Donald Trump is fit to handle the nuclear codes. Question goes to Carly Fiorina, she responds. Trump then gets a rebuttal. And he begins by talking about you. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] First of all, Rand Paul shouldn't even be on the stage. He's number 11, he's got one percent in the polls and how he got up here there's far too many people. Anyway. As far as temperament. And we all know that. I never attacked him on his look, and believe me, there's plenty of subject matter right there. [Smerconish:] Why is he obsessed with you? [Rand Paul, Presidential Candidate:] I think he was somewhat goaded into it. You know, for about a week before that debate, people kept asking me what are you going to say. And I kept kind of laughingly saying "you know I think I was a little easy on Donald Trump the first time, I guess I'll be harder this time." So I think he kind of felt like there's going to be some big, you know, getup or dust up here. But I think it also goes that I don't think there's a lot of important ideas for the country coming out of him. He's sort of king of the one-line insult. I just don't think vulgarity equates with insight. I think eventually, it will be an important question. Who do you want to be in charge of the nuclear codes? Who do you want to be in charge of nuclear weapons? Because temperament is important. Who do you want to be able to negotiate with Putin? Who do you want to be able to negotiate with all the world leaders? Someone who is somewhat sane in their world view or someone who thinks no, just give me power because I'm all-knowing and if I just have so much power I could fix everything because I'm winning and I think that kind of ludicrous notion of power, I think, is [Smerconish:] Ben Carson had said some out of the box things and seems to get rewarded for them. He's now leading the Des Moines Register poll in Iowa. What do you think when you see that? [Paul:] I think it's actually good news that we're having some rotation among leadership in the polls and it isn't so monolithic. I think ultimately when we come to January, when we're a week or two out to the primary, my prediction is you'll have five or six people that are within striking range of leading. That's where we want to be. [Smerconish:] Jim Webb is out, Scott Walker is long out, Lincoln Chafee is now out. Some people are now talking about Rand Paul getting out. I know you don't like that. It comes from the media. It occurs to me we're a long way from anybody casting a ballot. Give me a general take on this notion that candidates get out before Americans vote? [Paul:] I'm a big believer that in democracy part of it is voting and so I'm all for letting people vote. We're not getting out until someone votes. In fact, we think our fortunes are actually improving. We think we have a better ground game in Iowa and New Hampshire than any other candidate. We think we have a unique pitch. We think the government shouldn't collect your phone records. We think the government shouldn't put you in jail for marijuana. And we think the government shouldn't send you back to war in Iraq. That's a unique pitch in the Republican primary. I think there are enough Republicans that will be attracted to it. [Smerconish:] Is it true that Mitch McConnell was saying to you, you ought to focus on the Senate and not on the White House? [Paul:] Now, that's a completely false story. And I think it's funny that people will write things that are completely false. I don't think he's even been asked that directly. [Smerconish:] OK. Where's dad? I've always admired your father? I haven't seen him on the stump. Where is he? [Paul:] I'm a great admirer of my dad's. I think he's one of the most honest people ever to serve in office. The race has to be about those those running though. I mean, Jeb's dad isn't going to be out there too much, I don't think his brother is either. It doesn't mean that he doesn't have a great deal of respect for him. I think he does and so do I. The race ultimately has to be about the individual running. [Smerconish:] Senator Rand Paul has just published a book it's called "Our Presidents and Their Prayers: Proclamations of Faith by America's Leaders." Give me the thesis. [Paul:] We often talk about the separation of church and state. We haven't talked about how actually our religious belief and faith was a big part of our nation's founding. And really every president from the beginning to current times has talked about how their faith influences their philosophy and their beliefs on how government ought to be run. [Smerconish:] Do you think they're telling the truth? I ask that question, senator, because Pew Research came out with a survey this past spring. It said that 22 percent of Americans are now nones, n-o- n-e-s. Why is there not one single member of Congress, 535, House and Senate, who says I'm in that camp? [Paul:] I think what you find even among the president from the beginning to now is that you find some of them weren't as always so orthodox as we would sort of define orthodox Christianity now. They likely believe in the divine providence but they did also believe in something that I think is really important, that the people should have virtue. That the people should have some self-restraint and that it's an important civilizing force to not just say, "oh, well, you have your liberty, do whatever you want." Now we say you have your liberty but we also want the people to have some sort of underlying virtue that gives stability and sense of purpose to a country. [Smerconish:] Senator Rand Paul, thanks so much for being in the studio. [Paul:] Thank you. [Smerconish:] So you heard Rand Paul say that he's not getting out before people vote. Hear on that and more, independent political analyst Michelle Bernard, columnist and author Matt Lewis and Bob Beckel, he managed Walter Mondale's presidential campaign and has a brand-new book out. "I Should be Dead, my Life Surviving Politics, TV and Addiction." Matt Lewis, react to what you just heard from Rand Paul "I'm not getting out before people vote." [Matt Lewis, Contributor "the Daily Caller":] Well, I think he's probably right. I mean, I think he's right about something else is that we're all sort of assuming that the polls that we've seen for the last 100 days with Donald Trump at or near the top, that that's the new normal. Things really change when you go into Iowa. I would not be surprised if we're not surprised. Somebody that's fifth place right now could end up winning Iowa. [Smerconish:] As you know, we reference the "Des Moines Register" poll which shows that now Carson is in the lead ahead of Trump. Donald Trump had a very interesting reaction to it. Let's all watch. [Trump:] We have a breaking story. Donald Trump has fallen to second place behind Ben Carson. We informed Ben, but he was sleeping. [Smerconish:] Bob Beckel, it worked with regard to Jeb Bush. Is that going to work with regard to Ben Carson? [Bob Beckel, Managed Walter Mondale's Presidential Campaign:] No. And it's funny about Trump, Trump will talk about the polls. That's his justification for why he's the main man in the Republican Party. Because he's always ahead in the polls. He falls behind in a couple of very good good polls, all of a sudden, he's got to turn it into a negative attack on Carson. I'll tell you one thing, he's very lucky, that these Benghazi hearings were taking place on Thursday. Because that tweet he sent out about Bob Sanfield in Iowa and this poll was just outrageous. [Smerconish:] I'm going to show it. As a matter of fact, Michelle Bernard, take a look at this. This is the retweet from the Donald where he says "too much Monsanto in the corn creates issues in the brain." Then he quickly throws an intern under the bus when he realizes he's made a mistake. The young intern who accidentally did a retweet he or she, I guess apologize. Michelle Bernard, pretty stupid mistake to make for Iowa, right? [Michelle Bernard, Republican Strategist:] I think it's a hugely stupid mistake to make in Iowa, and as usual it is always the poor interns' fault. When it comes to the king of social media and politics, at least when we talk about 2016 presidential politics. Big mistake for Donald Trump. You know, if I were advising Mr. Trump, with regard to Iowa, I would really tell him that there's no surprise that Ben Carson is doing as well as he is in Iowa with Republican caucusgoers. He is deeply evangelical. He's quiet, he's soft-spoken. He speaks to the people of Iowa in a way that the other Republican candidates has not been able to do so. But most importantly, if you're one of the other people running behind whether Mr. Carson in Iowa, you have to remember that Iowa caucusgoers also picked Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee. [Smerconish:] And Mike Huckabee, right. Hey, I want to show you all three of you a montage of so-called gaffes by Dr. Carson. I have an observation that I'll share after we roll these 30 seconds. [Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate:] You know, Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery. A lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight and when they come out they're gay. I think the likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals would have been greatly diminished if the people had been armed. I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that. [Smerconish:] Matt Lewis, here's my theory. Ben Carson could pay for that commercial, roll it in Iowa and it would help him win the caucus. And then Hillary could run it in the general election and it would cost Ben Carson the general. Your thoughts? [Lewis:] I think you're exactly right. I'm writing a book right now called "Too Dumb to Fail" about the conservative movement. And that's what this is, right? It actually helps them in the primary. It's a perverse incentive but in the long run, in the general election, it's death. That is the fundamental problem right now that conservatives and Republicans have is that in order to win the primary, it helps to say things that will maybe cause you the general election. [Smerconish:] Bob, you react as well. Go ahead. [Beckel:] Listen, that those kind of comments, that's not just going to win your general election. It's New Hampshire. It's getting into Nevada, it's in these states that follow that find that kind of stuff crazy. One of the things about Carson, yes, he's soft-spoken and yes, he's evangelical. And they do vote in those caucuses. By the way, I looked at the polls on Trump in Iowa, at the cross hairs, to see who the demographics who were supporting him and a lot of those people don't go to caucuses. But leaving that aside, I think Carson's, what he says now may be a good Iowa ground game, but in the best of these states, even among Republican, it's not that strong. [Smerconish:] Michelle, before you react, I want you to hear a snippet from John Gibson's radio program where Ben Carson this week said something else that is controversial, listen. [John Gibson, Radio Talk Show:] Do you think Biden will win? [Carson:] Yes. [Gibson:] Why do you think he can beat Hillary for the nomination? [Carson:] Because Hillary could well be in jail and it's hard to run from there. [Smerconish:] Michele Bernard, you're an independent, you're the exact type of voter that I'm talking about when I say this is lethal in a general election. But I'm speaking for you. Go ahead and react. [Bernard:] Absolutely. Most independents, I would guess, are obviously going to think about every single candidate on an issue by issue basis. One of the things that I find most frightening about Ben Carson and what's happening in Iowa right now is that there's a reason I think BloombergDes Moines Register poll that shows on these comments, like what Dr. Carson said about Hillary Clinton, what he said about Obamacare and slavery, et cetera, et cetera. Iowans approve in large numbers, 70 percent, 80 percent, 88 percent agree with him. That's wonderful for him at the primary level. But I think it's also a way of handing the election over to Hillary Clinton, simply because Americans are going to hear those kind of statements. Independents in particular are sitting at home and they're saying "is this really who I want to be the next leader of what's supposed to be the greatest nation on earth." [Smerconish:] Matt, I keep expecting a billowing of the so-called maverick field that's the field of Trump and Carson and Carly and I keep expecting the emergence of someone from the establishment camp and yet Jeb financially is now struggling, got a lot of money in the back but cut 40 percent his campaign staff. Is he going to be around long enough to be the beneficiary if in fact the mavericks start to drop? [Lewis:] Well, look, I think if you compare and contrast the democrats, Joe Biden, Jim Webb, Linc Chafee, once they determine that they can't win the nomination, they sort of get out and clear the path for Hillary. Republicans are never going to do that because some of them think it's a wide open field they can win. I think others and what Fox News shows, whatever, a column somewhere, so they have an incentive to stay in the race. Jeb Bush, I think is a man as Winston Churchill said, had a brilliant future behind him. I think he would have been a great candidate in 1998. I don't think he's the right candidate for the Republican Party today. [Smerconish:] Well, here's what Governor Bush is saying, he sat down with Pat Robertson. Beckel, react to what he said in this clip. [Jeb Bush , Presiential Candidate:] This means lean and mean and means that I have the ability to adapt. [Unidentifed Male:] OK. [Bush:] And the circumstances when we started the election were different. I have not met a person that thought Donald Trump would be the front running candidate at this point. God bless him for success in that regard. We'll see how long that lasts but you have to adapt. [Smerconish:] You know, Bob, the most telling thing to me, is that if you're running as a Republican, you still have to sit down with Pat Robertson if you're seeking the nomination. [Beckel:] Well, the word adapt in presidential politics is [Smerconish:] Well I know that you, Bob, are looking at a potential Rubio-Kasich ticket, as being the most formidable. Me, I've been thinking Kasich-Rubio. I guess there's a debate, Matt, as to which of the two would get top billing. Do you think Beckel is wrong to think that that's the most formidable for the GOP? [Lewis:] Well, look, I think that maybe in a general election it would be but I don't think John Kasich can win a Republican primary. I think it's implausible. I do think Marco Rubio would win, who knows where he would go to for a running mate. [Bernard:] Can I just add, Michael, I really think we make a mistake by counting Carly Fiorina out. 2012 was really the year of the Republican women. If you look in Iowa, if you look at South Carolina, you look all over the country, Republican voters liked Republican female candidates in 2012. People who were "true" to the Republican message, who were true conservatives. And I think Carly Fiorina should not be counted out. I would bet the Donald has to be out before her. [Smerconish:] But, Michelle, what happened to her this week? She just took a hit in all of these surveys, what accounts for it? [Bernard:] Well, I think that what we see with her is a bump that every time there is a debate. I think the longer we get to see her in public, debating all of the men that she's running against, the higher her numbers will keep going. [Lewis:] She was really hurt by not having another debate. There's a month since that last debate, another one a week later. She had the momentum. [Beckel:] The problem is when you do really well in a debate like she presumably did, you usually sustain that momentum going into the following week. In this case, she fell of rather dramatically. Has anybody seen or heard from her in the last week? [Bernard:] I will tell you the mistake people make is when you do not, particularly with female candidates when you sort of write them off, and underestimate them. That's what the entire public has done with Carly Fiorina. I'm not saying she's going to be the Republican nominee. But I think we have not seen the last of her. And I would not be surprised if towards the end of the primary season, we're very seriously talking about Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton running against each other. [Smerconish:] Hey, gang, before we shut down. Wait, I want to give Beckel props. A couple of weeks ago, you were here I asked you about Vice President Biden. Here's our exchange. One word answer from each of you. Bob Beckel, does Vice President Biden get into this thing? [Beckel:] No. [Smerconish:] You know, Bob, the speech that he delivered in the Rose Garden, if you wipe out the first three paragraphs and replace it with "I'm a candidate for president of the United States," you don't have to change another word. But it's remarkable to study that document. Quick reaction from you before we go? [Beckel:] Well, I think I'm glad he did what he did. I don't think he could have run and listen, if Hillary didn't get into trouble with the IRS, he could get into this race anyway, [Smerconish:] The A-team, Bob Beckel, Michelle Bernard, Matt Lewis, thank you so much for being here. [Bernard:] Thank you. [Beckel:] Thank you. [Smerconish:] So what do you think? Tweet me @smerconish. I'll read the best at the end of the program. Coming up a new Gallup poll says nearly six in 10 Americans favor the legalization of marijuana. So why does Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper think other governors shouldn't rush to imitate his state's social experiment with pot. I'm about to ask him. [Tapper:] Moments ago, President Trump just tweeted his first public statement since the stunning press conference just hours ago here in Helsinki. President Trump writing, quote, as I said today, and many times before, I have great confidence in my intelligence people. However, I also recognize that in order to build a brighter future we cannot exclusively focus on the past. As the world's two largest nuclear powers we must get along, unquote. Let's talk about it with my experts here. Just to be clear, Susan, his full quote from the press conference was, I have great confidence in my intelligence people, but I have to tell you that President Putin was extremely strong and powerful in his denial today. That's the full sentence and you know, I come from a tradition where people say when you have a sentence in the word "but" in there, erase everything before the "but" and focus on what the meat of the sentences. [Susan Glasser, Staff Writer, The New Yorker:] Well, the editor and me is cheering you on. But I have to say, Jake, listen, what are we seeing with the street? We are seeing our president in cleanup mode as he flies back to Washington. I think you are seeing strong pushback from Republicans. Donald Trump has sort of gotten used to actually Republicans acquiescing in most of the things that he has been doing recently in recent months. And so, perhaps he's reacting to the criticism, even from some of his allies. You see both Speaker Ryan and leader McConnell coming out and saying we believe the intelligence community. You have this really remarkable statement by Trump's own director of national intelligence who certainly he didn't read it the way that the President of the United States read it because he felt compelled to issue a statement. So, I don't think it was ambiguous as Trump said it at the press conference. [Tapper:] I agree. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn Senior Diplomatic Correspondent:] This is all revisionism now. I mean, days ago, we saw President Trump criticizing the criticism that he gets over Russia. Then why do you have to say all of this stuff. OK, so, he starts this tweet by talking about how he did express confidence in the intelligence community. But he only went to that after he went on and on about Hillary Clinton's e-mails and where is the server and went on this rant about that. Then almost as an aside at the end of that he says oh, I do have great confidence in my intelligence people. Or something like that. So, it's not as if he went right to that. You know what? He had confidence in British intelligence over the poisoning of the Skripals and that's why the U.S. expelled 60 Russian diplomats. So, you're going to believe another country's intelligence on something Russia did, which you also did not call out today. [Tapper:] No. [Kosinski:] But then you are not going to believe your own country's intelligence on something you have refused to call out since the beginning. [Tapper:] Phil let's talk about director of national intelligence, Dan Coats. There's a lot of questions right now about how can he stay in this job after President Trump has so clearly undercut him before the world's stage siding with Russian President Vladimir Putin saying I don't know why Russia would do such a thing even though Coats told me they did. Do you think he should resign? [Philip Mudd, Former Cia Counterterrorism Official:] I don't think he should at the moment. I can see from the outside people saying, look he's being undercut by the President of the United States how can you have confidence in the President and stay in office. There's a different perspective, I mean, some of this is going to be his personal choice. But a different perspective is whether you're in the military, the intelligence community, the diplomatic service. You have to step back, and he's clearly sitting there saying, we have a President who sometimes take some liberties with the truth. Do you stay in he's a man who's had a storied career in U.S. government? Do you stay in and hold the president accountable or do you leave and potentially door open for the President to appoint somebody who's going to be a yes man? I can understand the debate within him saying, maybe I'm not saying he won't go but maybe I should stick around and make sure I hold the President accountable. [Tapper:] Everyone stay right there, I want to bring in Senator Jeff Flake, Republican, of Arizona. He's not running for re-election. He has been a critic of President Trump. Senator Flake thanks for joining us. How did it feel watching the press conference, watching President Trump next to Vladimir Putin essentially accepting Putin's denial that Russia did not launch the cyber-attack against the United States? [Sen. Jeff Flake , Arizona:] Well, I was just getting on a flight with a very sketchy wi-fi here. So, I'm getting bits and pieces for a while. But I have to tell you I was just floored by it. I mean, my expectations weren't that high. I worried about what the President might promise during the private meeting. But I certainly didn't expect to hear what we all heard during the press conference. [Tapper:] A headline in the "Washington Post" says that the press conference was everything Putin dreamed of. Where does this leave the United States Senate? What will you do in the Senate in terms of expressing in a tangible way, in an action, your opposition to what happened today? [Flake:] I haven't even arrived at the capitol yet. I'm still in route from the airport. But I'm certainly going the sit down with my colleagues and see what we need to do. Four of my colleagues and I visited the countries close to Russia. We were in Finland just a week and a half ago, and in Latvians. And the thing was what the Latvians told us they here as far as Russian propaganda, the station out of Bastia, with a population 40 percent Russian speaking, is that NATO is weak. That we're split. That the United States is an unreliable ally. And how much that echoes what the President is saying I can't tell you. And just it's disheartening to them, I'm sure. And certainly, ought to be disheartening to all of us. And so, we'll see. When I get in the capitol and talk to my colleagues where we go from here. [Tapper:] Do you think that what happened today is such a dark day, so disastrous for this country, that President Trump should be challenged for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2020? [Flake:] Well, I've said all along, I am probably not a good one to talk to on this, I felt all along that there ought to be a Republican primary just for no other reason, it's probably suicide mission for any other Republican right now. But it may not be a year and a half from now. But if nothing else, remind the Republicans out there what it means to be Republican and conservative. To be in favor of strong national defense and free trade and immigration. These things I'm afraid we're losing and that's so yes. Yes, I do hope that somebody runs. [Tapper:] All right. Republican Senator Jeff Flake, thank you so much for calling in. We appreciate your time. [Flake:] Thanks for having me. Bye. [Tapper:] Republican Congressman and former CIA officer, Will Hurd, joins me next with his reaction. Stay with us. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Let's talk about tonight. What's the tone going to be like? Bernie Sanders said this to us last night, that he wants to talk issues but will not tolerate being run down as unqualified. So what will Clinton bring tonight? Will she respond to Sanders' recent charges of her being too compromised to make real change. Let's hear from her team. Clinton press secretary for Hillary for America, Brian Fallon joining us now. Brian, always a pleasure. [Brian Fallon, Press Secretary, Hillary For America:] Thanks for having me. [Cuomo:] So, tonight, going into it, he's been saying things about her that are more edgy, more sharp. Your ties are too close to Wall Street. You can't turn around and make real change when you're so tied to the people who are the problem according to Sanders. Your replay? [Fallon:] Well, we've come a long way in this campaign. Senator Sanders started out at the beginning of this campaign saying he wouldn't resort to negative attacks. Now, in just the last five or six days alone, we've seen him question her qualifications, her fitness for office, her credibility. So if that doesn't add up to a personal attack, I don't know what does. But, look, I think that the contrast that you're going to see on display tonight on the debate stage is the one that will loom large in the minds of New York Democratic primary voters, which is, who can get the job done, who actually has concrete plans, achievable plans that can make a difference for middle class families. I think that when all is said and done with this race, we're going to look back at that "New York Daily News" editorial board interview that both candidates gave, both candidates sat for, answered the tough questions and it was clear in Bernie Sanders' interview that he just didn't come to play in terms of having the facts at his disposal. Hillary Clinton did and you saw that in the endorsement that they came out with yesterday. We think that that endorsement means a great deal. We're going to promote it as much as we can in these closing days. [Cuomo:] Now, the other way to look at it is, the reason that she got the endorsement from the tabloid was "The Daily News" was evident in how they conducted the interview with Sanders, that they were going after him in a way that they didn't go after Clinton, and that the Clinton campaign has spun his answers to make them look less competent than they were. He was just being too honest as opposed to not competent enough. [Fallon:] No. I think that, you know, the spotlight shines brightener in New York than anywhere else. You know, I think that he's gotten away with a lot of loose claims and "The Daily News" called him out on them. Anyone can read the transcript. Anyone can listen to the audio. I think the questions were fair and tough questions were asked of both candidates. And I think, quite frankly, he just wilted under the spotlight. He's not used to that level of scrutiny, but he's getting it here in New York. [Cuomo:] Sanders says, look at the crowd last night. Look how bigger than it was look how much bigger it was than Clinton's up in the Bronx. To be fair, the venues were very different. You probably couldn't have accommodated the same crowd. But, still, he has had bigger crowds consistently through. He says, that's why I'm going to win in New York, not do well, win. We're going to get a big turnout here and we're going to win. Your response? [Fallon:] Well, look, I've seen various estimates for the crowd last night, but there's no doubt he had a great event and he's bringing a lot of people into the process and that's a good thing overall for the party. So we tip our cap to him in terms of the enthusiasm that he's generating. But we're concerned with one crowd measure, which is who shows up to vote and in the highest turnout elections that we've had throughout this primary process, that's where Hillary Clinton actually tends to win. And if you look at the popular vote across all the contests that have taken place to date, she's beating him by about 2.4 million votes when you tab tabulate everything that's taken place to date. So that's the numbers that we're looking at. Crowd size is nice, but when it counts next Tuesday, we think we'll come out on top. [Cuomo:] How certain are you that you can close this out and go into a convention with the presumption, meaning you've reached the number of pledged delegates, not super delegates? [Fallon:] There is a zero percent chance that Hillary Clinton will not clinch this nomination prior to the convention. It absolutely will happen. Certainly after California, but possibly even before California, we will reach the number 2,383 delegates that you need to clinch the nomination. [Cuomo:] How can you be so sure? It would mean winning a percentage of delegates that she had not won often, and now all the way throughout. [Fallon:] Well, we think that we're actually on a trajectory, if we have a good outcome on Tuesday here in New York and then with the five states that are voting on April 26th, we think we could be approaching 90 percent of being the way there in terms of 2,383, the number of delegates that you need. And then at that point there's a few contests in May, and we may when you add up the pledged delegates that she's amassed right now, she's got a lead of about over 200 pledged delegates over Senator Sanders. We expect to gain even more delegates even in those contests in May, even if he wins some of them. And when you combine that with some of the party leaders and election officials that serve as super delegates where she also has a significant advantage, we think we'll reach that number probably, possibly by the end of May, if not after California. [Cuomo:] What do you do if you get to the convention, even if you do have a presumption as you're suggesting? What do you do with Bernie's movement? I mean, you know, he's not a fringe candidate. He's not a spoiler. He's in the thick of it. And these people feel that they have a very different agenda than the Clinton campaign is laying out. How do you incorporate that? [Fallon:] Well, I think that we're in the final phases of this nomination contest and the reality is starting to set in, in terms of the daunting delegate math that the Sanders campaign faces. And so feelings are raw at a point like this. But I think that it will behoove both campaigns in the closing weeks to come together and make sure that we recognize the high stakes that will be on the line in this general election. And I think that in general people will see, supporters of both candidates will see that we need to come together and elect a Democrat because the prospect of Donald Trump as president is just too much to take. [Cuomo:] Brian Fallon, thank you for being with us. [Fallon:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] See you tonight. [Fallon:] OK. I'll be here. [Cuomo:] All right, so we have another big story going on. As big as the election? No, it's up to you. Kobe Bryant is going out. And, boy, I've got to tell you, he went out in a style we've probably never seen before, capping off his 20 year career with 60 points. Probably had a lot of fans saying, why is he leaving? We'll tell you all the details straight ahead. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] All right, here's Thursday's edition of the five things to know. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders gearing up for tonight's CNN Democratic debate in Brooklyn. Those rivals facing off just five days before the New York primary. And on the Republican side, Donald Trump's campaign manager reportedly will not be charged for an altercation with a reporter. In a CNN town hall Ted Cruz accusing the Trump campaign of using intimidation tactics on delegates. The White House calling this buzzing of a U.S. Naval ship by Russian war planes a provocation. Those jets strafing a ship multiple times in the Baltic Sea. Officials say it mirrored an attack, only without the firing of weapons. An update. A Texas judge has sentenced the so-called affluenza teen to nearly two years in adult prison on manslaughter charges. This after Ethan Couch violated his probation and fled the country following a drunk driving crash that killed four people. How about this for a way to go out. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant capping his 20 year career scoring 60 points in his final game. Also last night, the Golden State Warriors broke the NBA single season record for wins, their 73rd victory. A big night for California. For more on the five things, be sure to visit newdaycnn.com. So, ahead, what can we expect when Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders go head-to-head tonight? That's coming up next here on NEW DAY. Also, adventure is changing. In a new video series, CNN Digital Studios dives into designs and innovations that let us experience the world in thrilling new ways that are changing our notions of adventure. Buckle up. [Unidentified Male:] The latest suit that we're building right now is called an Exosuit, like a crab shell, and all your soft meat inside it so it's kind of like Iron Man come to life. An atmospheric diving suit is nothing more than just a big camera case. Inside the suit, you're at the same pressure that we are designed to be at. The oxygen supply is built into the suit and the supply is about two full days. I want the pilot to accomplish the task, whether photography, welding, cutting, blasting, burning and not thinking about the suit at all. The more unremarkable the better. It's tremendous to go to greater depths than you have been to ever before. And when archaeologists and scientists are able to go down there, the deeper they go, the more things they find that they didn't even know existed. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] We are just over 12 hours away from the CNN Democratic presidential debate live here in Brooklyn and the stakes could not be higher. So joining us to discuss everything is our CNN political commentator, former South Carolina state representative and Hillary Clinton supporter, Bakari Sellers, and Bernie Sanders' supporters Jonathan Tasini. He is the author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America." Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here. [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Political Contributor:] Thank you for having me. [Camerota:] Let's start with something that happened last night because there's a little bit of breaking news about it. There was a speaker at this big Bernie Sanders rally. There was something like 27,000 people at this rally. Chris was there, Washington State Park. And one of the speakers is named Dr. Paul Song. He described himself as a healthcare activist. And he used really sort of overheated language that was profane and there was a dispute as to whether or not it was referring to Hillary Clinton. Let me play it for you. [Dr. Paul Song, Spoke At Bernie Sanders Rally:] I agree with Secretary Clinton that Medicare for all will never happen if we have a president who never aspires for something greater than the status quo. Medicare for all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the privacy insurance industry instead of us. [Camerota:] OK, he said "corporate Democratic whores," if we continue to elect them. He apologized after that. He said, "I am very sorry for using the term "whores" to refer so some in Congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive." Then just in the past hour, Bernie Sanders has put out a tweet about this. He says, "Dr. Song's comment was inappropriate and insensitive. There is no room for language like that in our political discourse." Bakari, is that too belated? Is this the end of it? Is that OK when somebody who gets up and speaks for you, using terms like that? [Sellers:] Well, I think that the language was inappropriate. As Democrats, we've come on many of these shows and railed against Donald Trump for his language and the Republican Party's language. I mean we want to have a discourse that a third grade civics student can watch. And last night when whomever you're talking about I have a hard time believing that he was talking about maybe the other presidential candidate. I mean I do think that he was referring to Hillary Clinton last night. And that's just it has no place in our political discourse. Is that an indictment on Bernie Sanders or his campaign and can we move forward? We should move forward. But I do think that the campaigns, and that campaign in particular, needs to simmer down just slightly. [Cuomo:] Tasini, dirty pool. [Jonathan Tasini, Author, "the Essential Bernie Sanders And His Vision For America":] Talk about talk about simmering down. Let's just say [Cuomo:] That's what you're being accused of. [Tasini:] Nonsense. Bernie [Cuomo:] This doctor, the Bernie bros, this website that's connected to supporters of Bernie Sanders going at super delegates. Is this the type of campaign that Senator Sanders says he wants? The answer is no, but is it happening anyway? [Tasini:] No. And actually Bernie Sanders came out right away with a tweet that Alisyn read and said it's inappropriate. And, you know, there's been heated language on both sides. It's a primary. People feel very passionately about it. The speaker I think was talking about congressional Democrats in general and about the influence of money in politics and the way it shapes health policy, which is actually one of the things that Bernie is campaigning against, getting establishment politics, defeating them and getting the money out of politics. The kind of thing that, you know, Hillary Clinton gets all the money from Goldman Sachs, pharma, the big gas, oil and coal industry. That's the money that's flowing to the Clinton campaign. But there's no place for that kind of language. And Bernie said, has no place in my campaign, inappropriate and let's move on. [Sellers:] And let and let me just let me just add the irony in this whole discussion, the irony if we have to add context to it because before it was Obamacare, the person who was fighting for single payer healthcare was Hillary Clinton. [Tasini:] She didn't that's wrong. [Sellers:] And the fact of the matter is and the fact of the matter is, if Dr. Song, or whomever else, want to talk about this, let's go back to 1992 when the first lady of the United States was actually putting this on the on her back. Let's talk about the CHIPs program, which is how [Tasini:] Factually incorrect, Bakari. [Sellers:] Well, let's talk about the CHIP program, which is how 6 million young people got the [Tasini:] It's factually incorrect. Hillary Clinton never Hillary Clinton never supported [Sellers:] How 6 million young How 6 this is the Bernie bro thing. How 6 million kids in this country got health care through the CHIP program. [Camerota:] OK. [Cuomo:] OK, that's the CHIPs program. Why is it wrong? [Tasini:] Hillary Clinton never supported single payer healthcare. That is absolutely false. One of the reasons Hillarycare failed, aside from it being secretive and not open, was that she and the same with Obamacare has its weaknesses, they refuse to basically get rid of the insurance industry and the drug companies. They would not battle them, and which is different from Bernie Sanders' proposal for Medicare for all, the single payer. It is just not true. Hillary Clinton has never supported single payer health care when she was in the White House. Bernie's proposal would, in fact, enact single payer and be built on the Affordable Care Act. [Camerota:] So what's the tone going to be tonight? Given that there's been these more heats policy discussions among surrogates and among the candidates, what are we going to see tonight? [Sellers:] Well, I think you'll see a third person on the stage tonight. I think that's going to be Donald Trump, andor Ted Cruz. I think that Hillary Clinton's going to direct a lot of messaging towards Donald Trump and Ted Cruz because I think that people understand that this now we're moving into the realm where this is a battle for the soul of this country and that's kind of the next phase in this race. So I do anticipate a lot of that focus in that direction. [Tasini:] Well, I think what this is first a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party. It's Bernie Sanders who wants a political revolution versus moderate Democrats who have supported the Iraq War, who support the death penalty, have been opposed to marriage equality. And one thing I hope that comes up is a reference to Goldman Sachs. Let's remember that Goldman Sachs was just forced to accept a plea, $5 billion for mortgage security fraud during the worst economic crisis we've had in our lifetimes. Hillary Clinton still is not willing to show the transcripts of her $225,000 per speech. Let's finally get those transcripts 70 days later. [Camerota:] Yes. [Tasini:] This would be a good time to get those [Sellers:] It's like those pesky tax return, I know. [Tasini:] Let's [Camerota:] Gentlemen, Bakari, Jonathan, thank you for previewing this for us. Great to have you here. We'll all be watching tonight. All right, that does it for us here. "The Good Stuff," next. [Pereira:] It's time for "The Good Stuff." A child with special needs, he has Cerebral Palsy and epilepsy, got something every other kid gets to do regularly, enjoy a bike ride. Six year old Maddox's mom entered a contest to win an adapted bike for him, but unfortunately the bike when to someone else that was also very worthy. A stranger stepped in and did something unexpected. [Jenny Acker, Purchased Bike:] Nobody wants to see a child want something that they don't have. And Maddox is close to my son Alex's age. So I thought, we should try to do something for him. [Pereira:] That's Jenny Acker. With her family business, she was able to buy Maddox his very own bike. [Beth Kipssner, Maddox's Mom:] We're so happy this summer taking bike rides. And just knowing that we can do that now is awesome. [Pereira:] It gets better. The community is now raising money to get another adaptive bike for a little girl in the neighborhood. That's "The Good Stuff" right there. All right, time for "Newsroom" with Carol Costello live from Brooklyn. Looking good, love. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Oh, it's so gorgeous out here, Michaela. You're going to have to join me later for some lunch. [Pereira:] I'd love to. [Gov. John Kasich, Presidential Candidate:] Some politicians say that America is losing on everything. What are you kidding me? [Sen. Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] America has been best when she is lying down with her map on the mat. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] It is about lifting each other up, not tearing each other down. [Unidentified Male:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, April 20th, 8:00 in the east. Alisyn is off. Brooke is here. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. [Cuomo:] With me and Michaela. And boy, do we have news for you. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump trouncing their competition in the New York primary. Clinton now on the brink of clinching her party's nomination. Trump certainly cementing his path, still has a little bit of a battle to reach the party's delegate threshold. [Baldwin:] All eyes now looking ahead to next week, super Tuesday. Five northeast states in play. Could it spell the end for the campaigns of Bernie Sanders, John Kasich, Ted Cruz, or will they battle on? We have the race covered the only way CNN can. Let's begin with John Berman here to break down the numbers and the delegate scorecard. John Berman, good morning. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Brooke Baldwin, the empire state, the empire strikes back for the home-towners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Look at this, Donald Trump, his high water mark in this campaign, 60 percent of the vote here, John Kasich in second, Ted Cruz all the way in third place at 14 percent. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton ended Bernie Sanders' winning streak. She was at 57 percent, Bernie Sanders at 42 percent, a 15 point margin, more than the Clinton campaign hoped, more than the Sanders campaign feared. What does that mean for delegates right now? Hillary Clinton picked up 139. Bernie Sanders picked up 108. She increased her delegate lead. On the Republican side, a much, much bigger spread. Donald Trump, he got 89 delegates at least. John Kasich picked up three. Ted Cruz with a grand total of zero, zero, in a state where he did campaign. This leaves Donald Trump in a stronger position to get to that magic number of 1,237 votes. He will have to use discipline, though, in the coming contest to get there or get close. Is close good enough? That is something that will be discussed. On the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton, she is now less than 500 delegate as way from the magic number. She holds a lead in the pledged delegates and the super delegates, and at this point what you're beginning to hear from the Bernie Sanders campaign, an acknowledgment that they will have to flip super delegates over the next several months to have any chance of winning the nomination. Michaela? [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] All right, an excellent breakdown for us, John. So Hillary Clinton has got to be feeling pretty good after yesterday. She is now pivoting to the general election after stopping Bernie Sanders winning streak. His focus shifting to next week's northeast primaries. Can he get so more wins? Senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar here with us now. That's the big question, can he? [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] That is the question. I think the Clinton campaign would say yes, he might be able to pick up a couple, but they think they are going to be doing a better job next week. We will stay tuned and see. This was a big night last night for Hillary Clinton. She continues to try to pivot to the general election. Victory is in sight is the word. Those are the words we heard from her. Those are the words we're hearing from her top aides, but not if Bernie Sanders has anything to say about it. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] In this campaign, we've won in every region of the country. But this one is personal. [Keilar:] Hillary Clinton with a big win in her adopted home state, addressing Senator Bernie Sanders' supporters with her sights set on the white hoe. [Clinton:] It's humbling that you trust me with the awesome responsibilities that await our next president. And to all the people who supported Senator Sanders, I believe there is much more that unites us than divides us. [Keilar:] Clinton ending Sanders winning streak where he took eight of the last nine contests. [Bernie Sanders, Presidential Candidate:] Today, we took Secretary Clinton on in her own state of New York, and we lost. I congratulate Secretary Clinton on her victory. There are five primaries next week. We think we're going to do well. [Keilar:] In New York, 3 million independents across the state did not vote in the state's closed primary. Sanders also railing against voter irregularities at the polls, with some 100,000 Democrats unable to vote because they were purged from voter registration lists in Brooklyn. [Sanders:] I am really concerned about the conduct of the voting process in New York state, and I hope that that process will change in the future. [Keilar:] Time running out for Sanders to catch up to Clinton's delegate lead. [Carlson:] The race for the Democratic nomination is in the home stretch and victory is in sight. [Keilar:] Listen for a refrain here in the coming days from the Clinton campaign, from Clinton backers as they call on Bernie Sanders to try to dial it down a little bit. He recently said that she questioned her qualifications. They're hoping that he is going to dial that back. But we also heard some pretty sharp words last night from Hillary Clinton's communications director, who said that some of what of Sanders and his campaign has said is destructive. She called them "false character attacks." That was from Hillary Clinton's communications director Jen Palmieri. [Baldwin:] Even as she offers an olive branch. [Cuomo:] As we all know but if she thinks Sanders is being tough on her, she ain't seen nothing yet. That's for sure, especially if Trump gets the nomination. Speaking of the man known as the Donald, he is back today, fresh off his landslide victory in the New York GOP primary. Trump certainly moving a lot closer to clenching the party's nomination, and, just as importantly, a different feel from him on the stump last night. CNN's Jason Carroll joining us now. It was more about what he didn't say, how he wasn't in his presentation than usual. [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. You're absolutely right, Chris. We didn't hear a lot of that name-calling. But what we did hear was a very enthusiastic Donald Trump saying last night in his victor speech that he is rocking it, predicting he will be heading into the convention as the winner, but he also cautioned those within the GOP establishment not to try to stop him by taking delegates. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] We can't be caught, it's impossible to catch us. [Carroll:] Donald Trump giving a rousing victory speech befitting his New York blowout win and signaling a new phase in his campaign. [Trump:] We don't have much of a race anymore. Senator Cruz is just about mathematically eliminated. [Carroll:] The billionaire frontrunner dropping most of the insults and sounding more presidential. [Trump:] Nobody should be given delegates, which is a ticket to victory. [Carroll:] Trump sharpening his focus on Ted Cruz, continuing to criticize his courting of delegates and the possibility of a contested convention. [Trump:] It's a system that is rigged, and we're going to go back to the old way. It's called you vote and you win. [Carroll:] With a shutout in New York, Cruz defending his delegate strategy. [Sen. Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] I cannot help the Donald Trump campaign does not seem capable of running a lemonade stand. If you lose, don't cry about it. Go back and learn how to win an election. [Carroll:] Cruz trying to look past his big defeat, debuting a new stump in Philadelphia. [Cruz:] This is the year of the outsider. [Carroll:] The self-proclaimed outsider calling for unity within the Republican Party. [Cruz:] We must unite the Republican Party because doing so is the first step in uniting all Americans. [Carroll:] Runner up John Kasich ready for a fight in Maryland, continuing to argue he is the strongest candidate to take on Hillary Clinton in November. [Gov. John Kasich, Presidential Candidate:] When you have these sky high negatives, nobody is voting for you. The delegates will look at that, and, you know, I think they're, going to make the pick my way. [Carroll:] So looking ahead, Trump has the momentum and he says Cruz cannot overtake him, but there's still that possibility Cruz can pull in enough delegates away from Trump to prevent him from reaching the nomination. Trump saying last night, he is heading to Indiana and Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania another state where Trump is polling very well. Brooke? [Baldwin:] Indiana, we're hearing a lot from Indiana from team Trump and team Cruz. We'll talk about that later. Jason Carroll, thank you very much. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump owning their home state of New York, but it may not be all smooth sailing for the two frontrunners. CNN's Christine Romans has a look now at some signs of trouble in the exit polling. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Hi, guys. Resounding victories in New York for the frontrunners. To keep it that way they have to shore up a few cracks. Let's start with Donald Trump, his well-documented trouble winning over the establishment. At play in New York, only 35 percent of primary voters say they would be excited if Trump is elected president compared with 22 percent who say they would be scared. Trump struggles with voters who say their most important candidate quality is someone who shares their values. Kasich wins overwhelmingly this category. Cruz follows with 27 percent. Donald Trump, just 24 percent breaking on the values front. We also asked what if Trump wins the GOP nomination. Just over half the Republican voters say they would definitely vote for him, 24 percent said they would not vote for Donald Trump. Turning to Hillary Clinton, a challenge has been with voters who find her untrustworthy. In New York, 60 percent of Democrats think she is honest and trustworthy. That's higher than the past primary states. But Bernie Sanders earned even better marks. An astonishing 81 percent think that Bernie Sanders is honest and trustworthy. We asked voters who is running the more unfair campaign. And 34 percent think that that is Hillary Clinton 46 percent, rather, say it is Hillary Clinton, 34 percent say it is Bernie Sanders on that one. Clinton has work do with independents as well. Those voters prefer Sanders, 72 percent. We have seen that again and again to Hillary Clinton's 28 percent. To be clear, guys, we asked a lot of questions in these exit polls. These are just the rare weaknesses in what was otherwise, frankly, dominating wins by those frontrunners, Chris. [Cuomo:] No question about it, Christine. Thank you very much. Hillary Clinton now on the brink of clinching the Democratic nomination. What does that mean for Senator Sanders? Let's discuss with Clinton supporter, Governor great state of Pennsylvania, Tom Wolf. Governor, thank you for joining us this morning. You are next up. The spotlight will be bright and shiny on your state. What do you believe last night means for Tuesday's prime in your state? [Gov. Tom Wolf, Pennsylvania:] Well, I'm not sure much has changed. I think Hillary Clinton was always going to do well in Pennsylvania, and I think she'll do very well. I still believe she'll do well here in Pennsylvania. [Cuomo:] Do you think it will the polling there, she is doing well, but not like she won last night. What do you think about the state of play between she and Senator Sanders? [Wolf:] Well, I think Hillary is going to do very well here. New York, after all, is her home state, but she was she has strong family roots here in Pennsylvania, the commonwealth, not the state of Pennsylvania. And she will do very well here. And I think we'll know for sure next Tuesday, but the polling looks good. And I think people are coming around to the idea that she is going to be the nominee. And I think as she said last night, it's time for the party to pull together and gather round and make sure we go into November united. [Cuomo:] What do you think Senator Sanders should do? [Wolf:] I think he has added a lot to this race and has brought a lot of fresh ideas and a lot of fresh, new people back into our democracy. And I think we ought to build on that, the Democratic Party. And I think he and Hillary ought to work together and make sure that moving forward we have a great Democratic Party that is united around great ideas, and active enthusiastic supporters. [Cuomo:] Do you agree with the Clinton campaign's suggestion that the senator is taking this campaign in the wrong way and making it too personal? [Wolf:] I think when you get into campaigning, that is part of the program. But I think at this point when you're in the middle of the campaign, but right now, at this point, I think I'm confident Hillary will win in Pennsylvania, I'm confident she'll be the nominee. And I think it's time we all gathered together, again, as she said last night, and remember all the things that bring us together, that unite us, rather than the things that the few things that divide us. [Cuomo:] What are you getting a feel for in your state? Donald Trump doing very well there in addition to Clinton doing well, as we saw in New York last night. Turnout is a big part of this story. Democrats, a flat to negative versus 2008, and I know it was a different race, but still, the GOP side, up at least 33 percent in voting in New York. Do you expect the same in Pennsylvania? Do you think you're going to get a GOP pop there? [Wolf:] We might. I think there is still some enthusiasm on the Democratic side. The Democratic registration edge is pretty substantial here. The numbers last night, both Hillary and Bernie I think out-polled Donald Trump in terms of the number of votes. So I think turnout is going to have to be a really, really high on the Republican side to make any real difference in Pennsylvania. There is a Democratic edge, and I think a lot of Democrats are interested in the race and will come out to vote. [Cuomo:] Both states share similar registration dynamics, though it is kind of apples and oranges. You have so many more Democrats there that getting more raw votes doesn't always tell the story. Even though he had two other people slicing into his pie, Donald Trump got a bigger percentage than Hillary Clinton did. Does that suggest a relative show of strength? [Wolf:] Well, as I said, I appreciate the your comments. But percentages don't tell the whole story. The numbers, I think, do. And, as I said, if you take, assume that there is some fallout on the Bernie Sanders' side in the general election and deduct that from his primary victory, Hillary still scored over 1 million votes if the rest of Bernie's votes go to Hillary in the general election. It's a big increase over the combined total of all the Republican candidates in New York. So the percentages are great. That's fine. I understand that. But when it comes to the vote and who gets the electoral votes in November, it's going to be the one person who gets more votes. [Cuomo:] Tell us about the registration dynamic in Pennsylvania. What's the deal with independents? What's the deal with when you have to register, can you do same day registration? Are the rules different in a meaningful way? There's a lot of criticism, especially from the Sanders side coming out of the New York primary that it worked against independent voters. It worked against late deciding voters. [Wolf:] Yes, and that's an issue in a lot of states. Pennsylvania is one, we have a closed primary here, we don't have same day voter registration. I've tried to make it easier to register, because I think the senator is right. We need to encourage people to participate in the democracy. Voting is the basic responsibility of citizenship. So, I've established online voter registration. I have a Republican Senate and the House, and I have not been able to move changes in voter registration. Other than that, because that's my interpretation of the statute, we've had hundreds of thousands of people register to vote that way. I think making it easier is a first step. But I think the senator is right. We need to open up our electoral process and do a better job of encouraging people to register and to vote. [Cuomo:] Well, April 26th, we'll be featuring five states, but Pennsylvania is the big ticket. So, all eyes will be on the commonwealth. Governor, thank you for joining us on [New Day. Wolf:] Thank you for having me. [Cuomo:] Mick? [Pereira:] All right. So, House Speaker Paul Ryan has been tirelessly denying rumors that he wants in to the presidential race. Well, last night, his presidential dreams were put to the test. How about some late night laugh? [Stephen Colbert, The Late Show With Stephen Colbert:] Yes or no, would you he accept the nomination? [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] No, Stephen, I have said I do not want, nor would I accept the Republican nomination. [Colbert:] Got it. So you're considering the nomination? [Ryan:] No, I'm not. [Colbert:] OK, I'll give you sometime to mull this one over. How about now? [Ryan:] Still no. [Colbert:] So, that's a maybe? [Ryan:] No. It's a no. [Colbert:] Like a no, no? Or one of those no, I don't want to be speaker of the House, but I'll accept it if you just give it to me noes? [Ryan:] It's a no-no. [Colbert:] And to two no-noes make a yes? [Ryan:] No, they make a firmer no, period. [Colbert:] OK. Period, but if I add two more periods, it becomes an ellipsis. So, possibly? [Ryan:] The nomination should go to someone who actually campaigned for it. For me, that door is closed. [Colbert:] Got it. But is the door locked? [Pereira:] Do you sometimes feel we kind of go there, sometimes? [Cuomo:] I wish. I wish I could go there. He is so quick. He is so smart. [Pereira:] He really is. [Baldwin:] That could be an ellipsis. [Cuomo:] Two noes make I mean, look, he's brilliant. I say it all the time, think he has created a great space there. Ryan has two problems. One is there was a little bit of this intrigue surrounding this speaker thing. [Badlwin:] Totally, totally. [Cuomo:] And the I keep thinking of Tim Russert, may he rest in peace. I don't have any plans right now or I think he'd be like, so you're considering. So you won't say there is no chance. He was brilliant at that. There is a little bit of that here as well. But it's nice to be wanted. This is a winwin for Paul Ryan. [Baldwin:] So, I don't think he wants to be president, are we clear on that? [Cuomo:] For now. [Baldwin:] At least for now. For now. Meantime, Donald Trump would like to be president, and by the way, he won the landslide victory in New York from the primary. And his speech, by the way, ripped into the election system again, said rival Ted Cruz is mathematically eliminated. What is the truth to that? Find out next. [Romans:] All right. The two frontrunners for the NBAMVP going head-to-head last night in Houston. [Marquez:] Andy Scholes has more from CES in Las Vegas in this morning's Bleacher Report. Good morning, Andy. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Hey, good morning, guys. You know, the Rockets' James Harden and Thunder's Russell Westbrook, I mean they're both just having incredible seasons thus far and if they voted for MVP right now it really would be a toss-up between these two. And they were going head-to-head last night and the Rockets' James Harden, he had them rolling early in this game. The Rockets opening up an 18-point lead in the third quarter. But Westbrook, he would lead the Thunder back. He had eight three- pointers in this game, on his way to 49 points. The game was tied in the closing seconds when Harden's going to find Nene. He gets fouled and he would knock down those free throws. The Rockets would squeak by the Thunder in this one, 118-116. Now, "INSIDE THE NBA, the entire crew they were out here doing their show live at CES in Las Vegas and they were having some fun trying out all the gadgets out here. The funny moment Ernie Johnson put this device on his head. It's supposed to help grow hair, so if we see Ernie next week with a full head of hair we will know why. Now, one of the coolest things I've been able to try out here in Las Vegas is all the new virtual reality products. You know, NextVR, it's an amazing new way you can watch sporting events. It puts you right there in the action. Right now, they broadcast one NBA game a week in virtual reality. And I sat down with NBA commissioner Adam Silver yesterday and he's really excited about the future of this technology. [Adam Silver, Commissioner, Nba:] This is the closest thing to being live in an arena and, of course, when you have global games like ours only a tiny fraction of our fans will probably ever be in the United States, let alone be in an NBA arena. And, therefore, we can replicate that experience, especially that courtside experience. Talk to fans on your left, talk to fans on your right, hear what the players are saying out on the floor, move around the arena. I think those are the kinds of things we're very focused on. [Scholes:] And NextVR is also in works with the NFL, providing highlights from some of their games, and they hope to do more in the future. And guys, don't forget, NFL playoffs they start tomorrow. You've got the Lions at the Seahawks and then in the "no one has a quarterback bowl" you've got the Texans hosting the Raiders. [Romans:] Oh. [Marquez:] Andy, $20 on red for me, $20 on red. [Scholes:] Twenty on red. All right, I'll do that, Miguel. [Marquez:] Thank you. [Romans:] Thanks. Nice to see you, Andy. [Marquez:] Now, four suspects will appear in a Chicago courtroom today charged with a hate crime following that gruesome beating of a special needs teenager streamed lived on Facebook. Police say this wasn't a premeditated attack, but the culmination of a weekend hangout gone terribly wrong. They say one of the suspects, Jordan Hill, was friends with the victim. Hill apparently drove the victim to Chicago in a stolen van where they met with the other suspects. That's when a day of roughhousing turned into abuse. The victim's family is absolutely stunned. [David Boyd, Tortured Victim's Brother-in-law:] We're overwhelmed and surprised. We're happy that everyone's concerned and yes, this should never have happened. [Marquez:] President Obama now weighing in, following the hate crime charges, saying race relations, in general, have not gotten worse, they're just getting more attention now thanks to social media. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We see visuals of racial tensions, violence, and so forth because of smartphones and the internet and the media. What we've seen is surfacing. I think a lot of the problems that have been there a long time, whether it's tensions between police and communities, whether it's hate crimes of the despicable sort that has just now recently surfaced on Facebook. [Marquez:] And on the video you can hear the suspects yelling anti- white and anti-Trump comments. Police say the suspects have not shown any signs of remorse. As for the victim, he is back home with his family this morning. [Romans:] It's hard to watch. All right, 56 minutes past the hour. Let's get a check on CNN Money Stream. A look at stock markets around the world right now. On pins and needles this morning ahead of the final jobs reports of the Obama presidency. It comes at 8:30 Eastern Time. Looking for a strong report 172,000 net new jobs. Eleven million jobs overall created from start to finish in the Obama tenure. New this morning, gutting key parts of Obamacare could cost millions of jobs. That's according to the Commonwealth Fund and George Washington University. Researchers assume that Congress will kill two key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. First, the subsidies that help low- and middle-income people pay for coverage. And second, a Medicaid expansion. That covers the poor. The federal government funds those two key programs, so if they disappear and Congress doesn't put in a replacement, this report says 2.6 million jobs wiped out in 2019, three million by 2021. Republicans are split on how to move forward here but a repeal vote could be stalled until some sort of replacement is put in place. That could avoid those job cuts and prevent enrollees from losing coverage. The best job in America for 2017 drum roll, please mobile app developer. That's according to this new list from "CNN MONEY" and our friends at Payscale. Risk management director is number two. This is someone who prepares a company for all kinds of risks from natural disasters to cyber attacks. Landman [Marquez:] Landman. [Romans:] is number three. It's basically a liaison between energy companies, private property owners, and the federal government. Number four, product analyst. They use data and research to improve online customer experiences. Number five, information assurance analyst. They run security programs to protect hardware and software systems. We've got a whole 100 jobs. You can see if your job made the cut at "CNN MONEY". Those are the best jobs. How about the first job? "CNN MONEY" asked some big names how they got started, including Dolly Parton, Sean Combs, Dan Rather. You can see that at cnnmoney.com. I worked at a pizza place. That was my first job. [Marquez:] Yes, and mine was [Romans:] You painted [Marquez:] painting trash cans at the New Mexico State Fair. [Romans:] The glamour. [Marquez:] The glamour. The absolute glamour. Yellow some pink and blue trash cans. Very sad. [Romans:] Happy goes the may I help you? [Marquez:] Can [I -- Romans:] That's what I was saying. [Marquez:] And I I'm going to call myself a landman from now on. Is that all right? [Romans:] Landman. You're a landman. [Marquez:] I like I like it. I love the name. [Romans:] All right. Thanks for joining us this morning. I'm Christine Romans. [Marquez:] And I'm Miguel Marquez. Donald Trump getting ready for his intelligence briefing on the Russia hack. "NEW DAY" starts right now. [James Clapper, Director, National Intelligence:] I don't think that we've ever encountered a more direct campaign to interfere in our election process. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] There are attempts to try and delegitimize this election. [Joseph Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] Grow up, Donald. Grow up. [Unidentified Male:] There is no truth to the idea of restructuring the intelligence community. [Trump:] We will build the wall. Mexico is going to pay for the wall. [Romans:] Trump's team now wants Congress to fund the border wall. [Ryan:] Planned Parenthood legislation will be in our reconciliation bill. [Unidentified Female:] What they're trying to do will drive up the rate of unintended pregnancies. [Unidentified Male:] This video is very disturbing. We've sought hate crime charges. [Obama:] What we've seen is surfacing. The problems that have been there a long time. [Boyd:] We ask for continued prayers. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Camerota:] We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. This is NEW DAY. It is Friday, January 6th, 6:00 here in New York. Up first, this morning U.S. intelligence chiefs will take their case against Russia directly to President-elect Donald Trump. The face-to-face meeting comes after the top spies told Congress that Russia's intervention went well beyond hacked emails and so-called fake news. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] It was a big day. GOP lawmakers, some of whom were very skeptical, sat in rapt attention. No one pushed back on the intel chiefs in any real way. There are also more details coming out this morning about what is in this classified report being presented to Trump today, that they have even detail. The question is, will the president-elect now tell us what other knowledge he has about the hacks or will he accept the reality? And think, we're just two weeks away from Inauguration Day. [Blitzer:] Tonight, Donald Trump is calling on several of his Republican rivals to simply drop out of the race. He says the candidates who are doing poorly in the polls, who are getting 1 or 2 percent, they are simply, he says, wasting their time. This as Trump's own poll numbers, they're softening a little bit. Dr. Ben Carson is emerging as the new frontrunner in at least two national polls among Republicans. Our political reporter, Sara Murray, is covering the Republican race for us. Sara, you were there at Trump's news conference today. Tell our viewers how it went. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] I was. And in addition to touting his new book out today, Donald Trump also had some sharp words for his rivals, everyone from Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush and even Ben Carson, the latest Republican frontrunner. [Murray:] Ben Carson tightening his grip on his frontrunner status. Twenty-nine percent of GOP voters nationwide support Carson in the latest NBC News"Wall Street Journal" poll, a six-point lead over Donald Trump. [Dr. Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] Our strength is in our unity, and we need to stop listening to the purveyors of division, who are trying to make us think that there's a war going on with everything. [Murray:] Taken together, the two outsiders dominate the field, drawing 52 percent support. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] If you add Ben and myself, we're beating everybody by a lot. That seems to be the big story. [Carson:] I've continued to do what I've been doing. [Murray:] Carson's gains coming as he travels the country promoting his book. Not to be outdone, Trump celebrated his own book release today and took a swipe at the man on top of the polls. [Trump:] He's a different kind of a person. My book is very hard- hitting. You look at Ben, he's very weak on immigration and he wants to get rid of Medicare. [Murray:] Training his fire on another rival, Trump predicted Jeb Bush doesn't have what it takes to win the White House. [Trump:] Can Jeb make a comeback? I think it's going to be very hard. [Murray:] And said it's time for some of his GOP opponents to give up the fight. [on camera]: Do you think it's time for some of the Republicans in the field to drop out? [Trump:] If a person's been campaigning for four or five months and they're at zero or 1 or 2 percent, they should get out. [Unidentified Female:] I'm going to go back, if I can... [Murray:] With the candidates now at odds with each other over how to move forward with their debates, President Obama is mocking the entire field. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] If you can't handle those guys? You know, then I don't think the Chinese and the Russians are going to be too worried about you. [Murray:] While Trump complains it's the Democrats that have it easy. [Trump:] Hillary Clinton, no tough questions. I mean, why didn't they ask about Bill? Why didn't they ask about all of the different things? Hillary had only softballs all night long. It was like this: "Here, Hillary, hit this one over the park." [Murray:] Now, it's worth remembering that in 2007, President Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards all decided to skip a debate that was hosted by FOX News. So, it's clear that complaints about debates really do work across the aisle Wolf. [Blitzer:] They certainly do. All right. Thanks very much, Sara, for that report. Let's bring in senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson; our Republican strategist, our CNN political commentator Ana Navarro, she's a Jeb Bush supporter, also a friend, by the way, of Marco Rubio; and our CNN senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein, he's the editorial director of "The National Journal." And Sara was right, Ron. You and I remember, President Obama back in 2007, when he was running for the Democratic nomination, he didn't want to do a debate on FOX News either. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Yes, and in fact, there was a big push from a liberal group in the Democratic coalition to kind of ostracize FOX. It was much about kind of separating FOX as it was kind of keeping the candidates away from the FOX anchors. Look, what the president said was a little unfair in that sense, but equally unfair was the underlying accusation that he was responding to, the idea that if we had a president with more backbone, that that by itself would change the way Putin behaves. Republicans think George W. Bush has a lot of backbone, but Putin invaded Georgia during his presidency. So, I think, you know, there's a little bit of a back-and-forth here. The larger point, though, I think, Wolf, is that this president has a lot at stake in the 2016 election. Every outgoing president has a big stake in the elections that succeed him, but if you think how Obama has been pursuing his goals in the second term, he's largely given up on working through Congress, he's pushed the boundaries on executive authority on climate, immigration, education and health care reform, and that means that all that he's much of what he's accomplished is pretty easy to reverse through the stroke of a pen of the next president. He wants to make sure a Democrat is controlling that pen in 2017. [Blitzer:] And Donald Trump, Nia, he came out swinging today against several of his rivals, including Dr. Ben Carson, for that matter. I think he sensed the fact that a "New York Times" poll, "The Wall Street journal" poll nationally among Republicans, Carson is now number one, Trump is number two. He doesn't like to be number two. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] That's right. [Blitzer:] So, presumably, he's going to get tougher. [Henderson:] That's right. And he's had trouble sort of figuring out what line of attack to launch against Ben Carson. Today, he talked about immigration reform. In the past, he's talked about him having a wrong temperament and low energy. He's also talked about his faith. He's a Seventh Day Adventist, Carson is. All of those, especially, the one, the attack on religion didn't work. So, he's got to figure out what he needs to do with Donald Trump. Part of the problem is that Donald Trump has lower approval ratings than Ben Carson. So, I think that affects what he's going to do. He doesn't want to come across as sort of Mr. Mean Guy when it comes to attacking Ben Carson, because a lot of people see him as Mr. Nice Guy. So, I think that's a problem for Donald Trump. He's not used to being in second place. He's in second place not nationally, but in Iowa as well, which matters more at this point than those national polls. [Blitzer:] And, Ana, your guy, Jeb Bush, in the NBC"Wall Street Journal" poll, he's not doing that great. Carson, we had him at 29 percent, Trump at 23 percent, Marco Rubio 11 percent, Ted Cruz 10 percent, Jeb Bush only 8 percent in this poll. For a guy who was once a front-runner, he's got a lot of work to do now, doesn't he? [Ana Navarro, Cnn Political Commentator:] He's got a lot of work to do. I think he's got to reset, rebrand, reboot, refocus, re- everything. And, you know, is it possible? Yes, I saw John McCain rise from the ashes of a campaign and defy the political obituaries that were written about him and go on to win the nomination. I know that Jeb is committed to it. I know he's got the humility, the discipline. I know he's got the backbone to do it. Now he just has to do it. I think, Wolf, the expectations on him right now are so low that, frankly, if he goes out on the debate stage in a week and shows a pulse, hits a triple, it but he has got to do it. He can't have another lackluster debate performance. And I think Jeb understands that. Jeb has got the, you know, wherewithal to hear the chatter around him, to hear those writing him, e-mailing him, talking to him. And I think he understands that he has got to project more forcefully than he has been doing in the past. [Blitzer:] He certainly does. And he knows that as he himself says. All right. Thanks very much, Ana, for that. Nia, Ron, guys, appreciate it. By the way, Donald Trump will be interviewed on CNN's "NEW DAY" tomorrow. Tune in during the 7:00 a.m. Eastern hour. Donald Trump on CNN's "NEW DAY." Just ahead, the newest information coming in to CNN about that Russian plane crash and the possible cause. Plus, does Jeb Bush feel as though he's disappointing his famous family as his presidential campaign stalls? Stand by for more of his interview with CNN's Jamie Gangel. [Bolduan:] Breaking news out of California. Investigators have found an ISIS connection. [Berman:] I want to bring back our CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, who broke the story; our CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank. Jim, gives us the details. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] John, here's what we know. Multiple officials telling CNN that as this attack was under way, the wife of the shooter, Tashfeen Malik, she posted to a Facebook account, a pledge of allegiance to ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al Baghdadi. They believe it was an account linked to her under a different name. To be clear, investigators looking at this as an ISIS-inspired attack. They have not established this was directed by an ISIS leader. In other words, that ISIS reached out and said, attack this target on this date. It looks more like something in terms pursuing their radicalization. In addition to that, they are still looking to see whether the workplace a dispute at the workplace, particularly over religion, may have played an additional role. But this firming up the idea that this was an act of terrorism with a direct link to ISIS. I should say this, posting a pledge of allegiance has precedence. You may remember the Garland, Texas, shooters. They as the same time or just prior to the attack posted allegiance, pledge of allegiance to the ISIS leader as well John and Kate? [Bolduan:] And, Paul, the fact the fee maim attacker posted this. Also this on top of we even heard from a coworker of Farook's, he raised possibility to CBS News that he thought it was the wife who helped radicalize Farook. What do you make of that? [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] Well, again, there's been some precedent for that. We all remember in January those that carried out their attack on the kosher market, some allegations she helped in some degree, radicalized him. There have been other cases of husbandwife teams carrying out Islam terror attacks. We saw a case of a Belgian couple in Iraq carrying out suicide bombings on the same day. In Holland, around that time, a husband and wife went to assassinate a Dutch politician that the Dutch actually thwarted that attack. Not unheard of, but not where you would there have been some where the female has been more radicalized, playing the Lady Macbeth role. I've seen that in cases I've studied over the years. I've interviewed some of these women over the years who have been encouraging their husbands to beunquote, "men" when it comes to jihad. [Bolduan:] Scary regardless. Paul, thanks so much. Jim, that's a huge line of questioning. I'm sure investigators are looking into the all digital, electronic evidence they're trying to gather and work though at this point. Jim, we'll look for you on more on that. Thanks, guys. Thanks so much. Coming up next for us, "unspeakable carnage," that's how one of the officers first to the scene describes what he saw. In his own words, ahead. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Confusion inside Trump's transition team. The president-elect denying any trouble. But the man who just got bounced, he is talking to [Cnn. John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] All right. The man in the middle is Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. He's said to be rubbing some team members the wrong way. [Romans:] This as the president-elect ditches the reporters who are supposed to cover him again. Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] Nice to see you. I'm John Berman. It is Wednesday, November 16th, it's 5:00 a.m. in the East. And new this morning, all is well in Trumpville, at least according to the president-elect and his transition team. The members of the transition who are left, that is, there have been reports of turmoil within the presidential transition and reports that Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is right in the middle of that infighting. Sources close to the transition tell CNN there's a battle between establishment Republicans and nontraditional conservatives. But a high-ranking Trump argues that the reports of infighting of are overblown and tells CNN that some lobbyists were fired, but there was no purge under way, and that this happens during a transition. Donald Trump himself tweeted overnight, he said, "Very organized process taking place as I decide on cabinet and many other positions." He added, "I am the only one who knows who the finalists are." One transition official who was let go is former congressman and CNN commentator Mike Rogers. He was dropped after months advising the transition on national security issues. CNN's Joe Johns now has the latest. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Mike Rogers, the former House Intelligence Committee chairman, is now out. He was seen as reassuring figure to many Republicans, especially on issues of national security and was thought on the short list for CIA director. He's gone. Of course, he was hired by Chris Christie, who, as well, was demoted. So, the question is why? What's going on with the transition? The story they certainly want to put out is this is all about a blending of the campaign staff that traveled around the country with Donald Trump and the transition staff that was put in place to figure out what was going to happen in the event he won. But there is also a question, as to whether all of this is part of a purge, in the continuing fight, the back-fighting, between the establishment figures who work with Donald Trump and the nontraditional figures, the insiders and the outsiders. Of course, they say no, it is not a purge. [Romans:] All right. Mike Rogers says there is some confusion about the chain of command at Trump Tower in New York where Vice President- elect Mike Pence, he is now chairman of that transition team. Rogers is former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and his presence on the transition was seen as reassuring to establishment Republicans. But Rogers told CNN's Anderson Cooper that it was, quote, "absolutely the campaign's prerogative" to let him go. [Mike Rogers, Former Member Of Trump Transition Team:] They wanted to go in a different direction. It was easy for me to hand it off to Mike Pence in his capable hands coming in. So, I think that was kind of a combination. I think there is some confusion going on about a chain of command coming out of New York. Hopefully, they'll get that settled pretty soon. I think they need to do it because as the clock ticks, all of these decisions become more important. And you have to make them sooner with a little more authority and forward thinking to make sure they don't bump into anything in the future. I think they're going to get there. I'm an optimist about that. [Berman:] All right. New signs that the president-elect doesn't have regard for the press and the important goal that journalists play in tracking his movements. An aide told reporters that Trump was done for the night, this happened last night, that he wasn't going out. But that turned out to be false. The president-elect showed up at a New York City steakhouse two hours later, without notifying a team of reporters on stand by. This team of reporters exists only to track the president-elect's movements. And the transition team is supposed to keep this press pool alerted as to when and where the president-elect is going. It is standing procedure for the president-elect to travel with a pool of reporters, just as the president does. The Trump spokesperson says she was not aware of the restaurant plans. It is her job to be aware of all the restaurant plans, and any movements, frankly. And the Trump transition team says there is now an effort to set up this pool. Again, this is not a partisan issue. We've had issues before with transitions in candidates and also, frankly, presidents. But the press pool exists to track the movements of the president-elect and the president, in case something happens to that person. In case something happens in the country, need to reach that person immediately. This is a matter of public interest. To have access, so the public can have access to these people. We don't want to order like drinks with the Trump family. We just want to know what building they're in. [Romans:] All right. We'll see if they get that protocol set up here, or if this is a new kind of maybe I don't know, signal to the press and role of the press. [Berman:] Well, it's a signal so far. They haven't gotten it right yet. [Romans:] All right. Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner could end up with top national security clearance. Kushner is expected to play a key role in the White House as an adviser to his father-in-law. Sources tell CNN clearance for Kushner is likely but hasn't happened yet. [Berman:] New roadblocks this morning for a leading contender for a key cabinet position. Rudy Giuliani, seen by many including himself, as a leading possibility for secretary of state. He's facing questions about legal work and consulting work and about high paid speeches he gave over the last 15 years. Critics say these pose potentially serious conflicts of interest. His former law firm, Bracewell and Giuliani, and other company, Giuliani Security, did work for governments across the world, including Latin America and the Middle East. Senator Rand Paul, a Republican who sits on the Foreign Relations Committee that will have a key role in confirmation process, he calls the former New York mayor's ties to foreign governments worrisome. [Romans:] All right. Guess who stopped by Trump Tower in Manhattan on Tuesday for a private meeting with the president-elect? Ted Cruz. Trump and the Texas senator were fierce rivals during their primary battle. It's not clear who initiated this visit. Not clear what they discussed. A Cruz spokeswoman would only say the Texas senator, quote, "looks forward to assisting the Trump administration." That's fueling speculation that Cruz might have a role in Trump's White House. [Berman:] Maybe in his Supreme Court. [Romans:] Interesting. [Berman:] But think about these young Republicans, the Marco Rubios and Ted Cruzes of the world, who run for president this time, but now maybe not able to run for four or eight years. Interesting. [Romans:] Interesting. [Berman:] All right. I want to talk about transition and all things going on with CNN political analyst Josh Rogin who's a columnist for "The Washington Post." Good morning, Josh. [Romans:] Good morning. [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] Good morning. [Berman:] Let me take the idea that there is transition turmoil. I covered the GoreBush election when George W. Bush only became the president-elect after a 36-day recount. They had a shorter time to actually get to the White House because there was 36 days receive count. And that wasn't a problem. So, what's the big deal over this turmoil? [Rogin:] Yes, I mean, I guess you're right that there is plenty of time. But that doesn't change the fact that there's been more turmoil in this transition that we typically see, right? Two reasons, one, the Trump transition didn't think he was going to win, right? So, what they had was sort of a skeleton outline of who they wanted to do what. And then when he did win, all of that was thrown in the garbage, right? They started from scratch, right? And then now, they face like a third problem that they're sort of clashing with everyone they're reaching out to one way or the other. That is disincentive for people around Washington to really sign up. I mean, sure, he's going to be president. And it's going to be a hugely influential administration, but these people also have to think about their long-term prospects. When I talked to Republicans, some who are with Trump or some who weren't with Trump even, they all say the same thing, if this is going to be a disaster, this is going to be a mess, I don't want to be a part of it, right? These are people's lives that they're changing in order to join this. So, it's not really were you for Trump or were you against Trump? It's the perception of just this disorganization and chaos. And if this is going to be the way that they're going to operate, a lot of people are not going to want to sign up. [Romans:] The question also, who is going to have Trump's ear? You know, who is going to be he's got this equal situation where he's got Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus who set up as equals. Mike Rogers talked to Anderson last night about this, about the chief of staff and what it's supposed to look like inside the Oval Office. Listen [Rogers:] I'm an old school guy, Anderson. I think, you know, your chief of staff has to be the one, or whatever title you want to give them, needs to be the one making decisions. They need to be held accountable for those decisions, but you need someone that can clearly make those decisions. If you make those decisions by a committee, I don't care how small it is, it just adds to the difficulty. [Romans:] Mike Rogers has been on the inside of that bubble for several months and now finds himself on the outside. [Rogin:] Right. Now, we're getting down to the ideological split inside Trump world. You've got these establishment mainstream moderate Republicans, many of whom were with Trump or at least amenable to Trump a whole time. And then you've got the loyalists, the Bannons of he world, and alt-right people and the more Islamophobic people like Frank Gaffney, according to "The New York Times" advising on national security, right? And they both can't win. One of these sides has to lose. What Trump has decided to do is let them fight it out, right? He's got the sort of inner working inside the Trump Tower that sort of, you know, tells people broad things. But then it's kind of like "The Hunger Games." And that is a recipe for confusion. That's what we're seeing. So, it seems like the moderates like Mike Rogers getting pushed out. It seems like they're losing the battle. In the end, you've got so many jobs, thousands of jobs. You're not going to be able to cut out an entire swath of Republicans. You're going to need people to do these jobs. But until they get the top people in place, the people of one or two levels down are not going to know what's going on. [Berman:] Can I ask about Rudy Giuliani who is seen by many, including himself, as the leading contender to be secretary of state? A whole bunch of articles that raise questions about whether he has conflicts of interest because of his business deals ironically his paid speeches over the years. I've been over the impression, Josh, that the idea that there'd be confirmation problems or betting problems for anyone that Trump wants is sort of balk. I mean, Trump goes in with an enormous amount of power right now, a Republican with a Republican Congress. I was thinking if he wants someone, he's going to get someone. The spate of articles this morning makes me think he's wrong. [Rogin:] Right. I wrote one of those articles how Giuliani got tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Iranian dissident cult group, right? That was on the foreign list of foreign terrorist organizations. That happened. I think the other problematic ones he did consulting for the Venezuelan governments oil and gas company. The government of Qatar which has been linked to all sorts of mischief. You know, the bottom line here is that he still needs 60 vote, OK? So, you're right, it's a high bar for not getting confirmed. But they don't want any problems. I mean, this is already going to be a speed up process. They need cabinet officials in place. So, the question really is, does the Trump transition team care about sort of ugly sort of confirmation process where people are people's, you know, conflicts are sort of aired. And then they get it anyway? Because that's what's likely to happen, you're right, John. They'll probably get who they want. But are they sensitive to the pushback and the blowback that comes from having these guys with all of these ties, which directly contradicts their sort of claim that they're going to drain the swamp. Rudy Giuliani is also a man who is really, you know, feared by the diplomatic community because has no diplomatic experience, he doesn't know the State Department. I mean, John Bolton is not exactly a popular guy in foreign policy circles. But he knows the building, right? He's seen as a professional with experience in doing this job. Whereas, Rudy Giuliani, you know, what diplomatic experience does he have? Really none. [Romans:] Josh Rogin, stick around. We'll talk to you again. President-elect Donald Trump will start reshaping America's trade policy on day one of his administration. That's according to this memo drafted by his transition team. A memo obtained by CNN. Now, this document lays out five main trade goals. These are supposed to be accomplished in the first 200 days in office. Renegotiate or withdraw from NAFTA. Stop TPP, it's basically all but dead anyway. Ban unfair imports, end unfair trade practices, pursue bilateral trade deals. That's basically a rejection of status quo of the past 30 years, bipartisan status quo of American trade with the rest of the world. Another big focus of the memo, retain and return manufacturing jobs. The Trump administration thinks it can achieve that by lowering the business tax rate, eliminating certain regulations, lifting restrictions on domestic energy. The memo itself says things could change. These points are for discussion purposes. Lots of great reporting on NAFTA and what it would take to kill it, right now, on CNN Money. Also, have a great story of a letter of IBM CEO Ginni Rometty sent to the incoming White House, saying, let's talk about creating new collar jobs. Not talking about changing our trade situation, but about new collar jobs. There are, I think, 6 million job openings in America. Companies complain they can't match the people who are out of work with the jobs that they need. So, where is that conversation? [Berman:] I hadn't heard that phrase before, new collar. You know, not blue collar, not white collar, but new collar. [Romans:] It's really interesting. [Berman:] Do something different. [Romans:] And IBM has been pushing on that. Actually, in high schools, trying to educate in high schools. [Berman:] All right. House Democrats, they were supposed to hold leadership elections this week. But now, the vote has been delayed. So, what does that mean for House minority leader Nancy Pelosi? Could this national figure be in trouble? [Pereira:] All right, investigators are set to examine debris that washed up off the coast of Mozambique that could be linked to the missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370. This plane debris was discovered by an American. It will be sent to Australia to be looked at by international specialists. You'll recall that flight disappeared nearly two years ago. Could this debris help lead searchers to its missing 239 passengers? CNN aviation correspondent Richard Quest has a brand new book out this week. It is called the "The Vanishing of Flight MH370" and he joins me now. Congratulations on the book. [Richard Quest, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Thank you. [Pereira:] Obviously, this has been sort of a life's work for you given this story and how big it has been here at CNN. Let's talk about this piece of debris. What exactly are we looking at? Is it easy to tell at first glance? [Quest:] No, because at first glance what they found just off the coast of Mozambique what they have found is what they believe to be part of the horizontal stabilizer of a plane. [Pereira:] Of a plane. [Quest:] Of a plane. Now, the reason there is some doubt in the last few hours because it's got the words no step. [Pereira:] No step. Right, yes. [Quest:] It's got the words no step, but the size of the font of that is perhaps more akin to a small plane rather than a large 777. [Pereira:] Very interesting. [Quest:] But, it's also got the rivets on it [Pereira:] OK. [Quest:] and we've managed to identify one of the rivets and we've been in touch with the company that makes those rivets and they say yes, it is the sort of rivet that does comes from an aircraft. But, obviously, the entire the nature of the item, the thickness and it's going to have to be looked at. It's certainly something from aviation. [Pereira:] It certainly is. That we can say unequivocally. [Quest:] There's no [Pereira:] It's not a boat, it's not any other cargo. [Quest:] Very little no, no. [Pereira:] OK. Now, this is the second piece [Quest:] Right. [Pereira:] that is suspicious, you know that is raising suspicions because we saw another piece found near the Reunion Islands, right? And that was, indeed, part of MH370. [Quest:] And that is why. If you look at this map you'll see you've got Reunion Island just over there, and this the length of this piece is only about 1,300 miles from that. It's entirely within the entire area where you would have expected the [Pereira:] Well, except for the fact that you've got Madagascar right in the middle. [Quest:] Correct. [Pereira:] Explain to us maybe a little bit about the current. [Quest:] Correct, and that is, perhaps, the difficulty in this. It isn't a straight line all the way from where Reunion Island or, indeed, from the Indian Ocean across. You've got to go around Madagascar. But the currents, we're told, and [Pereira:] It can work that way. [Quest:] Yes, absolutely. The currents could have taken it that way, we are told. [Pereira:] However, all of this all of this is a far cry thousands of kilometers away from the search zone where we know the task force is currently searching. They have been for some time. Does that fit their models? [Quest:] Absolutely. In fact, the ATSB, which is the search authority [Pereira:] Yes. [Quest:] and the Australian Transportation Safety Board they put out a statement overnight basically saying, yes, the drift models do concur. It could have gone, from where you can see over on the map, right the way across the ocean and that's exactly the sort of thing that would have happened. [Pereira:] This is fascinating. [Quest:] So, the circumstances the circumstantial evidence is correct. The issue is whether the factual evidence bears that out, and you won't know that until the part is sent down to Canberra where it will be investigated by the best in the business. [Pereira:] Now, you actually had a chance to speak to the man who was instrumental in finding this piece. [Quest:] Yes. [Pereira:] Let's listen to what he said about what he thinks. [Blaine Alan Gibson, U.s. Tourist Who Found Plane Debris:] I just knew when I saw it that it possibly could be, and that it was important to get it into the hands of the local authorities, and the authorities in Australia who are doing the search, and the Malaysians who are responsible for it. I just knew that it needed to be processed and it is being right now. It needs to be sent to the specialists to identify what it is. It could be from 370, it could be from any of those other planes that crashed in the area. [Pereira:] It's interesting to hear his perspective. [Quest:] Absolutely. [Pereira:] You know, obviously now, we know that in the books that you've written extensively about the aftermath of the crash and there was a lot of furor around this whole what are we going to do about aviation? How do we prevent this from happening again? What are the changes that need to be made? These were some of the suggested changes. [Quest:] Right. This one regular reporting of aircraft position, absolutely. The international authorities now say planes must report, or will do in the fullest of time, every 15 minutes. [Pereira:] OK. [Quest:] But, frankly, that's still not enough and many global carriers are down to two, three, and four minutes, but 15 minutes will be the limit. Triggered data transmissions that's if the plane does something unusual, the black box data is sent to the satellite. [Pereira:] Immediately. [Quest:] We're a long way from that. [Pereira:] Really? [Quest:] Yes. There's no real movement on that. Keeping transponders permanently on. [Pereira:] I think that surprises people that wasn't being done to begin with. [Quest:] You know, the reality is pilots many pilots, not all are against it. They like to have the ability to switch these things on and off in case they need to. My gut feeling is, though, this is the big one. This is the big one. Extend the life of emergency locator beacons. Look, Michaela, that has been in the rules coming down the road for years. [Pereira:] For years, yes. [Quest:] For years. They've got to get on and do it [Pereira:] All right. [Quest:] because then you don't have this ridiculous rush to hear the pings before the battery dies. [Pereira:] Many voices agree with you on that. Join us tomorrow night for a CNN special report, " [Vanished:] THE MYSTERY OF MH FLIGHT 370" at 10:00 eastern only on CNN. Thank you so much, Richard. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Mic. So what about Ted Cruz? Where is his opening to bite into Trump? To make gains? Does to start tonight at the debate? We're going to ask one of Cruz'top supporters if he can really catch Trump, and if so, how? [Blitzer:] We're following the breaking news out of the White House. An hour or so ago Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, goes on television, speaks with reporters and says President Trump has, quote, "full confidence" in the national security adviser, Michael Flynn. Now, within the last few minutes, Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, puts out a separate statement, very, very different, saying this, quote, "The president is evaluating the situation. He's speaking to the vice president relative to the conversation the vice president had with General Flynn and also speaking to various other people about what he considers the single most important subject there is, our national security." So all of a sudden, two top officials at the White House go from full confidence to evaluating the situation. We're going to find out what happened in the past hour. We're going to do some serious reporting on this and update you. In the meantime, we're back with Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. He's the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Chairman, we want to talk a little bit about the president's travel ban, now frozen by that federal appeals court. But first I want to bring in our justice correspondent, Pamela Brown. She's got some new developments to share with our viewers. What are you learning, Pamela? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Today the federal government filed a brief with Judge Robart, the judge in Washington state, asking for a delay in the proceedings, because it wants to let things play out in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals with the possibility of a larger panel looking at the case. The government did not provide any new information on what it plans to do next; but this is yet another signal that the administration will not seek an immediate stay with the Supreme Court as you reported last Friday. And sources are telling myself and my colleague, Ariane de Vogue, that top lawyers at the Department of Justice and the administration, Wolf, are huddling right now to figure out the next step forward after that stinging loss last week that keeps the travel ban on hold. Right now officials are crafting language for a potential new executive order that would make clear legal permanent residents and visa holders have due process rights. There was even a possibility of more than one order being issued, so that if one is challenged, the others could remain in effect. At this point, we're told the administration wants to continue to fight the lower court opinion but add new language that could clarify their position. As one source told me today, there is a lot of lawyering going on right now to figure out how to make all of this work Wolf. [Blitzer:] I assume there is. All right. Thanks very much. Let's bring back Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. Senator, the president told reporters he will, quote, "win the battle," talking about the travel ban executive order. Then said they were looking at all sorts of options, including a brand-new order. But if there is such an imminent threat right now that, in his words, bad dudes are rushing into the United States, should he just rewrite it and get on with it? [Johnson:] Well, first of all, I think the travel ban was a reasonable precaution. And, you know, the president has vast powers when it comes to refugees. For example, President Obama decide decided to let in 10,000 Syrian refugees just by consulting with the Congress. He made the decision, consults with Congress. Nobody challenged him. We might have said whether we thought it was wise or not, but we thought he had the legal authority to do so. Presidents are certainly charged with the legal authority to keep the nation safe. So I think we have to run this process up. We have to establish it's very important or any president has this power and authority. And so I'm a little concerned about what's happening right now through the legal system. But that's why I would certainly support a better crafted executive order, probably better implemented, because we have to establish, really, the president has to have this authority. [Blitzer:] Let me follow up. Because as you know, the president, he cites what he calls tremendous threats to the country right now. He said and I'm quoting him "We need speed for reasons of security." You are the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee. Is he citing new specific threats? [Johnson:] I know of no specific threat. But let's face it, Wolf, the threat of Islamic terror is real; it's growing. It's metastasizing and evolving. The fact of the matter is the Senate immigration studies did show that there are more than 70 people involved and certainly charged with, some of them convicted of basically fomenting terrorist activity here in the United States from those seven countries. So yes, this is a danger. We certainly need to continue reviewing our vetting process in terms of refugees, visa waiver program. But from my standpoint, if I'm concerned about ISIS operatives coming into America, I'm still concerned primarily about them coming through our very poor southern border, which also needs to be secured. [Blitzer:] What about the northern border with Canada? There's a what, a 3,000-mile frontier between the U.S. and Canada. [Johnson:] Well, it's certainly of the reasons we held a hearing on Prime Minister Trudeau's acceptance under very rough circumstances for exactly the same reason. But our primary concern is our very southern porous southern border. [Blitzer:] President Trump described these latest ICE raids. In his word, he called it a crackdown, saying today he said today at the news conference he said, "We will get the bad ones," but Democrats are concerned, as you know. California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein put out this statement: "These reports show the serious consequences of the president's executive order, which allows all undocumented immigrants to be categorized as criminals and requires increased enforcement in communities, rather than prioritizing dangerous criminals." Is that the case? Are all undocumented immigrants right now being categorizing as criminals and could be picked up and deported? [Johnson:] No, I believe the Trump administration, under the leadership of Secretary Kelly now is, again, still prioritizing gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, criminals. They are still prioritizing that. But they're just stepping up enforcement activity. I don't think the Obama administration did adequate enforced our immigration laws. This administration will. [Blitzer:] Senator Johnson, thanks very much for joining us. [Johnson:] Have a great day. [Blitzer:] Coming up, members of President Trump's team make new claims of voter fraud, but do they have any proof? We're checking the facts. [Church:] Myanmar is just days from a landmark parliamentary election. But pro democracy leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, says the process so far has not been free and fair. She says there have been irregularities in advanced voting, as well as fraud and intimidation. Despite this, Suu Kyi's party is expected to do well at the polls Sunday, but Western expectations for democracy in Myanmar, she says, are too high. [Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar Opposition Leader:] Let's wait to see whether that will be the case after the election. So far, I think it's still the case. I think there are other Western countries who have been overly optimistic about the so-called democratization process that's been taking place here since 2010. I would like to remind you since 2012, I have been saying what we need is a healthy dose of skepticism and all this over optimism is not helping. [Church:] And there's cautious optimism in Myanmar as the country prepares for the election, but many are questioning how far their limited democratic freedoms will go. CNN's Ivan Watson has the details. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Protesters rushed through the streets. [Watson:] They move swiftly, fired up with adrenaline, demanding the release of student activists stuck in jail. [Unidentified Male:] We want freedom. We want freedom. [Watson:] Police watch closely, but for the moment, they do not intervene. Last March, other demonstrators weren't so lucky. That's when police cracked down hard on a student protest. Activists were on a march to the commercial capital to demand changes to an education law. But police stopped the march, arresting scores of demonstrators, and released their furry on a protester's truck. [on camera]: Things like this police crackdown were supposed to be a thing of past. Four years ago, the military junta that long ruled this country made the decision to open up the country to reform to transition to a civilian government. But the prosecution of student protesters has led many to question the new government's commitment to democracy. [voice-over]: On a rainy day, supporters gather at a courthouse where dozens of the student activists arrested last March are now standing trial. This 28-year-old, a long-time political dissident, faces a possible sentence of nine years in prison for participating in an illegal protest. [Unidentified Political Dissident:] This is not real democracy. [Watson:] Human rights monitors argue talk of Democratic reform in Myanmar is little more than window dressing. [Unidentified Human Right Monitor:] I think it really shows that there are some people within the government, pro-military elements, that do not want to reform any further in the country, that this is the limit. [Watson:] This is another political dissident who spent four years in prison. She may now go back to prison again. [Unidentified Political Dissident:] I try to change our education, to get democratic education. After that, I was sent to the prison again. [Watson:] After the judge approves yet another delay in court proceedings, the prisoners march out, chanting defiantly. This dissident takes her place on a police truck back to jail. The prisoners sing a full-throated song of protests. Myanmar is in the midst of an historic period of transition but no one knows where this bumpy road will take the country next. Ivan Watson, CNN, Myanmar. [Church:] And the spokesman for Myanmar's president has defended the arrests. He told CNN the government has a responsibility to balance new freedoms with maintaining law and order during the difficult transition from decades of authoritarian rule. Well, there's growing concern over an increase in religious intolerance in the world's largest democracy and recent attacks on Muslims are at the center of it. As Sumnima Udas reports, opponents are blaming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what some are calling the rise of Hindu nationalism. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Every person has the right to practice their faith how they choose. [Sumnima Udas, Cnn Correspondent:] It's something even President Barack Obama alluded to during his India visit earlier this year. [Obama:] India will succeed so long as it's not splintered along the lines of religious faith. [Udas:] But today, religious decisions are dominating headlines. [Unidentified Female:] Even if it was this, do we live in a country where a man should be killed? [Udas:] On September 28th, a Muslim man is lynched after rumors he ate beef. October 9th, one young Muslim is set ablaze on rumors he was transporting beef. On October 15th, another Muslim man was killed for smuggling cows. Hindus believe cows are sacred. Slaughtering them has been banned for decades. But enforcement was lax. Now hard-core Hindu groups appear to be turning to taking the law in their own hands. Concerning to many who say they see growing intolerance and it goes beyond religion. This man was smeared in black ink last month by allies of Modi's Hindu National Party for organizing a book launch with a Pakistani politician-turned author. [Unidentified Male:] What outrages us, it seemed the design to subvert a pluralistic idea of India. [Udas:] This is one of more than 40 writers who returned their literary awards in protest of what they call an assault on India's diversity. [Unidentified Male:] In the great Indian tradition, there has always been space and respect for dissent, space for debate and discussion. [Udas:] What's at stake here? [Unidentified Male:] The entire concept of India. [Udas:] Violence along religious lines is not new to India. But the recent attacks on Muslims has sparked renewed debate over whether Prime Minister Modi's rise to power has emboldened his extremist Hindu supporters, looking to push a Hindu or religious agenda, and whether his government is doing enough to stop it. [voice-over]: But he rejects that criticism saying he has condemned religious violence. His spokesman says the criticism is manufactured by opposition parties and opponents. [Presidential Spokesman:] The propaganda happens. Everybody falls for the propaganda. To say one or two incidents here and there, are reflecting as intolerance. [Udas:] Propaganda or real protests, in the world's biggest democracy with the second-largest Muslim population, some worry the perception of growing intolerance may overshadow Modi's mandate for development and economic growth. Sumnima Udas, CNN, New Delhi. [Church:] And we'll take a very short break. Coming up, heavy snow is expected to hit eastern China. Around 20 centimeters of snow are possible in the mountains. We'll have that story when we come back. Stay with us. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you, Brooke Baldwin. Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jim Sciutto, in for Jake Tapper. And here we are again, breaking news just into CNN, ISIS now claiming responsibility for an ongoing terror attack in Bangladesh, this according to ISIS'semi-official news agency that is known as the Aamaq news agency. You're looking at live pictures there from just minutes ago out of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital, this just to the east of India, where police are trying to save hostages. They are still trapped in a restaurant there right in the middle of a terrorist assault. We were told by the cafe owner who managed to escape the site of this that is the Holy Artisan Bakery right in the middle of the Diplomatic Quarter in the Bangladeshi capital. We're told by the cafe owner who managed to escape that some six to eight hostage-takers holding perhaps 20 hostages or more. According to the police, at least 40 people have been wounded. We also have learned that two police officers have been killed in a shoot-out with the attackers there. Look at this map here, see just how close the site of this hostage-taking is to the U.S. Embassy there, the Diplomatic Quarter, hundreds of diplomats from all over the world living in this year, and it is among those diplomats that are being held now by these attackers. Earlier, police exchanged gunfire with the attackers, who threw explosive devices at them. Sources say, as I reported earlier, at least two of those officers are dead. As of now, the police say the terrorists have made no demands. Local Bangladeshi TV, they are not broadcasting anything of what is happening live now, that after officials pleaded with the media to go into a blackout. Understandably, they do not want to give away any operational details of the gunmen inside who could be listening, they could be watching. The U.S. State Department says that it's checked and all U.S. personnel in that city, Dhaka, the capital again of Bangladesh, are thankfully accounted for. We just learned that President Obama has been briefed on the situation. I want to again repeat our headline here. And that is the breaking news that we now have a claim of responsibility for this ongoing hostage situation in Bangladesh, that from ISIS, all too familiar. This claim coming from ISIS'own news agency, the Aamaq news agency, which is often the source of claims of responsibility for terrorist attacks carried out by the group. We have correspondents and terrorism experts across the world, here at home, to help us better understand what is happening now in Bangladesh. First, I want to go right to CNN's New Delhi correspondent, Sumnima Udas. Tell us, what is the latest we're learning about the situation there? It is still a standoff with those hostage-takers inside. [Sumnima Udas, Cnn Correspondent:] Very much an ongoing hostage situation there. Police have said that they have been trying to resolve this hostage situation peacefully. That's what they said earlier. But what they're saying now is the gunmen actually have made no demands at the moment. As you mentioned, Jim, the owner of the cafe had mentioned that there were about 20 people in that cafe. He managed to escape. About 20 people, some of them were foreigners. Now what the police are saying is that 40 people at least have been injured. We don't have a death toll at the moment. As you have been saying, this is a very affluent part of Bangladeshi, as some have called it, an epicenter of wealth really. There's a lot of embassies there, the Qatari and Iranian Embassy just yards away from this restaurant. There is also lots of cinemas, hotels, five-star hotels. And this is really the hot spot for expats and wealthy Bangladeshis, Jim. Now, this is exactly where a Japanese and an Italian expat had been killed back in September and October. Since then, there has been a huge security presence in that area. A lot of expats have been scared to go out. In fact, they used to jog around. There is a big lake and sort of a jogging area right in that area,so they have stopped jogging, many of them, they say. But a lot of locals continue to go out. Of course, this is the last Friday of Ramadan. So a lot of people would be in this area at the moment Jim. [Sciutto:] Sumnima Udas, please stay there. We're going to come back to you. I'm going to bring in Lori Ann Walsh Imdad. She is a principal at an international school in Dhaka. She is a witness to these attacks. Lori Ann, thank you for joining us. Tell us where you were when this all started. What did you see, what did you hear as this attack was happening? [Lori Ann Walsh Imdad, Witness:] I live about a block away from where the restaurant is located. So I could hear the gunshots. And I could see people running on the street. I didn't see actually anyone getting attacked, per se, because I'm far enough away from the situation that I can't actually see the restaurant, but I can see the police down on the street. I can see reporters down on the street. And once something is happening, I see people running. [Sciutto:] Lori Ann, please stay there. We want to get more of your view of just as this was happening. I want to briefly bring in our terror panel here. We have Peter Bergen, our CNN terrorism analyst, long experience of covering al Qaeda, ISIS and other groups, Phil Mudd, who is a former CIA counterterrorism analyst now with CNN as well. First, Phil, if I can, to you. ISIS now claiming responsibility for this. I imagine our folks at home are thinking, oh, my God, as we are, here we are again just a few days after Istanbul, a couple of weeks after Orlando, another ISIS or at least the attacker there claiming the attack for ISIS. What does this show us about ISIS'intentions, assuming it is proven to be their attack, and its capability? [Philip Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] I think if you look at what we have seen in Bangladesh and what we have seen in Turkey, we're talking about the loss of territory in Iraq and the loss of territory Syria, but we're too late. ISIS had an ideology obviously with thousands of Europeans and hundreds of North Americans traveling to join the organization that was attractive. Places on the planet like Bangladesh that have had militant groups in the past that are looking for a new sponsor will go to ISIS even if ISIS loses ground in Iraq and Syria. So, my point is we're trying to intervene. The Russians have tried to intervene. Too late. We're seeing what has happened as a result of that right now. [Sciutto:] Peter, this would be a change in tactics, at least in Bangladesh. They had a long history, a horrible year really of attacks, but all individual ones, horrible ones, hacking deaths in the street of bloggers. There was a Hindu priest killed just this morning there, another public and brutal attack. But this is different. Multiple attackers, hostages, multiple victims. What does that tell us about both capabilities, but also perhaps a change in strategy? [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] This is so-called fedayeen attack, fedayeen meaning those who are willing to sacrifice themselves. We saw this in Mumbai about a decade ago, where 166 people were killed. Unfortunately, the prognosis for everybody in this cafe is not good, because the people go in knowing they will die and take out as many people as possible. And this is also in the context of the Ramadan offensive that ISIS called for. Just this week, we have seen a terrorist attack by ISIS in Lebanon killing five, a terrorist attack in Jordan killing seven, the attacks at Istanbul Airport, now this, as you mentioned, the Orlando attack which was inspired by ISIS earlier during the Ramadan season, and also the attack in Paris where they killed a Parisian police official and his partner. So this is a real campaign. This is what makes this kind of worrisome. This is not, by the way, going to end today. Ramadan, depending where you are in the world, can go on to July 6, July 7. So, unfortunately, this may not be the last event. [Sciutto:] And as we know, sadly, there were attacks even before Ramadan. We were in Paris. We have been in Brussels. And I'm sure viewers at home have the same feeling in the pit of the stomachs, here we go again. Bob Baer on the line, former CIA, great experience in the Middle East, great experience covering these groups. Bob, if I could ask you this, as you're watching this, we understand the police, they had this initial exchange of gunfire with this group. Now they're back, they say there are no demands, they're attempting to contact the group inside. But knowing the M.O. of a group like ISIS, as Peter noted, the situation grave. If you're a hostage of ISIS, this is not a group that negotiates. Does it make sense? How can you explain the tactics now of trying to establish contact with the group? [Bob Baer, Cnn Contributor:] Well, first of all, I agree with Peter that this group is intent on killing these people. And so the prognosis is not good. And as far as the Bangladeshi police go, they're not used to these situations. They have been in denial for years about the individual attacks, this and the growth of the Islamic State and al Qaeda. I don't think there's going to be a good outcome to this. And I'm very worried about even more attacks in this offensive, including the United States. It's a very clear pattern, Yemen, Afghanistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Orlando, Istanbul, and now Dhaka, Bangladesh. I think we will see more of these. [Sciutto:] Phil, we were speaking this morning about terror and ISIS and what is happening, and you brought this up a bit. Oddly enough, ISIS is getting squeezed on the battlefield. [Mudd:] That's right. [Sciutto:] There's been progress against them in Iraq, Fallujah taken away by Iraqi security forces, progress in Syria. They are zeroing in on Raqqa, the capital of this putative Islamic State. In Libya, this has kind of happened in the background, but they have lost enormous ground on the battlefield in Libya. Battlefield successes, and yet, as that is happening, you have almost this explosion of violence elsewhere. Is that connected? [Mudd:] Sort of. I think you have to look at this in different categories. One is groups in places like Bangladesh saying, we want affiliation with ISIS, even if they don't have direct connectivity. I'm guessing that we will find the individuals in this club are from Bangladesh, they're not foreigners, like the individual we saw in the Turkish attack. That is different than what we saw in Turkey. A couple years ago, ISIS is moving on the offensive. We're seeing them take territory and claim success, beheading people to gather recruits from Europe. Now we're seeing defensive operations, going into places like Turkey to object to Turkish airstrikes. So, those are fundamentally different kinds of attacks. [Sciutto:] A statistic, Peter Bergen, struck me for the terror groups, the terror analysts that keep track of attacks. ISIS has claimed some 600 attacks just in the calendar year of 2016. That is a rate of almost 100 a month. This is a business of martyrdom. And many of those attacks are directed, but none of them are not directed. It's people in effect volunteering to carry out violence on their own. That is a pretty remarkable global capability that they're proving. [Bergen:] Yes, unfortunately. And picking up on what Phil was saying, some of these groups, these local groups are sort of slapping on the ISIS patch. And they may not have any real connections to ISIS. We have seen this in Afghanistan, where ISIS or a number of ISIS groups, they probably don't have much connection to Syria. We have seen this in Pakistan. So in South Asia, we're seeing quite a number of these groups just sort of saying, hey, we want to be part of ISIS because it's the biggest and baddest congregation of terrorists in the world. And, you know, I totally agree with Phil. Unfortunately David [Sciutto:] You kicked the hornet's net, in effect. [Bergen:] Yes. [Sciutto:] Peter, Bob Baer, Phil Mudd, please stay there, because we're going to speak now to Fayed Munaim. He witnessed the attack there on the ground in Dhaka. Fayed, thank you for joining us. Can you tell us where you were when this happened, what did it sound like and what did you see as the attack was under way? [Fayed Munaim, Witness:] Yes. I was two rows down, and it was around 9:00. And we heard three large bangs and it sounded like gunfire. [Sciutto:] Now, you're still close to the scene here. Can you see or hear what police are up to now? [Munaim:] Right now, I'm in my balcony. And I can see. Basically, it has gone complete quiet. There is a group people just loitering around at the end of the road. And the cops are just kind of just standing around. I'm not entirely sure what they're doing. They're not doing much. [Sciutto:] I want to note for our viewers that one reason we're not seeing live footage of what the police are up to now is that the police, the government in Bangladesh have requested Bangladeshi TV not to broadcast images live, because they don't want the attackers inside that restaurant to see and hear what the police response is. [Munaim:] Right. [Sciutto:] It is an understandable step and of course we're complying with that as well. I want to ask you, Fayed, while I have you, as this was playing out, how long was it under way? How long did you hear gunfire, those explosions? Was it minutes? Was it hours? How quickly did it unfold? [Munaim:] The first three happened at around 9:00. And then it kept going on for about a good half-hour. I think that's when apparently the cops were firing back and forth with them. And then within a half-hour, there was a pretty big explosion, which we have been told might have been a grenade or a handmade grenade. We're not sure about that. Can't confirm that. But most of it happened within like an hour, I would say, overall. [Sciutto:] And the reaction of the people around there. There has been, I don't know if I want to call it a wave of terror, but they have been terror attacks in recent months, but those tended to be individual attacks, individual targets, hacking deaths, horrible, but not as extensive or as broad as this one. Is this one and the style of this attack, as well as the target, is it a shock to the community there? [Munaim:] It absolutely is, because the general belief is like, there have been a lot of attacks in recent times, but, as you said, it's always been targeted at specific groups, but there's been nothing like this, and especially this is a very high-end area, with it's at a diplomatic area. Like so nothing no organization is organized know what to do [Sciutto:] Fayed Munaim, witnessed the attack, thanks so much for joining us. Please stay safe there. We know it is still an ongoing situation. Peter, Phil, Bob Baer, if I could bring you back, let's talk about the nature of this target. This is very much in the M.O. of terror groups like an ISIS or even al-Qaeda. It's international. You got a lot of nationalities. It's a sight of western, quote and unquote, "decadence". It's a night out Friday night out. Restaurant, et cetera, a pretty I don't know if it's standard, but it's understandable target, Peter, for a group like this. [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] Yes, I mean, go back to Mumbai attack. They attack hotels who are catering to foreigners, they attack cafes that were catering to foreigners. I mean, these scenes from that playbook. Now, that attack was carried out by the Kashimiri militant group. This is almost certainly but not I take this responsibility from ISIS seriously. I agree with Phil, these are likely to be local guys, not necessarily imported from some other country. But this is the easiest target in the world. So, to attack a place, you know, restaurant or cafe on a Friday night does not require any special skills. What it does require is recruiting six to eight people willing to die. That it isn't that easy, but clearly, this is what we're seeing unfolding. [Sciutto:] But there has been no shortage of it. Bob Baer, if you're still there. Phil Mudd said something interesting just a couple of minutes ago. He said that in effect, military action against ISIS in Iraq and Syria too late to some degree, because you've already created this enormous magnet. And even though they lost the ground there, you have all of these trained and hardened fighters who have to go somewhere and want to go somewhere to carry out attacks like this. Do you agree with that assessment? [Bob Baer, Former Cia Operative:] Well, I go further than Phil and saying that the retaking of Fallujah and soon Mosul will actually cause more violence because so many people across the Islamic world identify with that war. They look as this as a sectarian conflict, they're supporting the Shia in Iraq. We're in effect supporting the Shia in Damascus, the Alawites. And so, every time we drop a bomb on Sunnis, they look at it as some sort of you know, it's existential conflict for them. Now, we don't look at that way, but they do and it just draws more recruit. So, as we keep going north and take Raqqa, I think more and more of these isolated attacks, people have brand themselves as ISIS will occur all around the world, it's just inevitable and it's virtually impossible to stop it. [Sciutto:] That field moves to the streets. Bob Baer, Phil Mudd, Peter Bergen, please stay with us. We're going to keep on this. I just want to remind our viewers the headlines now. The breaking news, that ISIS has now claimed responsibility for what is an ongoing attack in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. A hostage situation still underway. Our reporting, as many or perhaps more than 20 hostages, six to eight attackers still inside that restaurant there. We're going to continue to follow this. Please stay with us. Welcome back. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. We continue to follow the breaking news. A hostage situation attack under way in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This is the Bangladeshi capital. This attack taking place right in the middle of the diplomatic quarter there, as you see from the map, very close, a little more than half a mile away from the U.S. embassy. We've been following this for a number of hours now. Police still surrounding a restaurant there that was busy on what was a Friday night in Dhaka. We also have a breaking news just a short time ago, ISIS claiming responsibility for this attack through its news agency. Still to be corroborated, but that is the claim of responsibility at this point. I want to go to my colleague, Brooke Baldwin. And, can you believe it? Just three days ago, another horrific attack at the Istanbul airport, and now, just 72 hours later, Brooke, here were are, talking about another major city, another attack. The sad fact that perhaps several people will die in this attack. Help us put this into context as we connect these two and particularly with where you are, standing at an airport, the location of the most recent attack, Brooke. [Brooke Baldwin, Anchor, Cnn Newsroom:] You know, Jim, I think you said it perfectly a minute ago. It is just pit in your stomach. I mean, that's exactly what all of us felt here when we were suddenly, you know, pivoting to the story in Dhaka over the last couple of hours. And as we were it was almost surreal for me standing here, talking about Dhaka in the wake of these triple suicide bombing here in the Istanbul airport, because then the evening call to prayer was ringing from this mosque. There is a mosque just outside of the Istanbul airport. So, we are very mindful here that we are in the waning days of Ramadan, a Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and we also know as we have been covering these terrorists have been calling for these attacks on the holiest of days. Someone pointed out to me, though, here at the airport, a couple of days ago, you know, the airport personnel all gathered around and it's really emotional memorial in this tribute. There were flowers everywhere, the pictures of the employees and the victims and they were reading the Koran. And that was explained to me pretty emotionally. That was their way of the Turks here saying, this is Islam. Not this crazy ideology that you are showing among these terror organizations, you know, whether you're here in Istanbul, or in Dhaka, but it does, to a degree, seem surreal, Jim. [Sciutto:] And a reminder, I remember being struck just a couple of days ago, Brooke, to look at the pictures of those killed in Istanbul attack. Of course, many, perhaps most of them Muslim, many of them young. And you can imagine in this attack, it's very like that many of the victims, assuming there are, we don't know yet except for the two police officers, would be Muslims as well. Just it doesn't make sense, but it's become something of a new normal. Brooke, please stay there. You're on the scene of the attack. We're going to continue to update on what we've learned about the Istanbul attack, horrible enough. But I want to go to Juliette Kayyem. She's former assistant secretary for homeland security here. Juliette, I don't want to make connections where there aren't connections. But the fact is, you have these attacks just leading up in the hours and days before the July 4th weekend here. We know that following Istanbul, the department of homeland security and other security organizations here, New York police department and others, said they were stepping up security, which is something they often do out of an abundance of caution. But there is no credible or specific threat, and I want to make that clear to our audience as well, to the U.S. But based on your experience, help people at home who are watching this, who watched Istanbul, who watched Orlando a couple of weeks ago, what should they be thinking as we go into the holiday weekend? What should they be concerned about, and should they not be too concerned or too scared about this? [Juliette Kayyem, Cnn National Security Analyst:] Well, look, there is always going to be concern. And I you know, as a mother of three kids, I get that. These are anxious moments. All of them abroad, at least the last two, and then Orlando. The challenge right now and this was just going through the list as Bob Baer was talking is what you're seeing in this, you know, new waves, it's Ramadan is, you have differing levels of sophistication. You have nationals and foreign fighters. You have east and west of the heart of Syria. You have suicides and now, something interesting in Bangladesh, a hostage-taking. You have them occurring in Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Some are ISIS-directed, some are ISIS-inspired, some are high profile targets and some are random cafes. So when you say, well, what's the threat? I say sort of reality, right? I mean, that is I sort of covered every place. I get the concern. What homeland security can do is ramp up a security presence, but we also need to do is engage the public in our own safety and security, because there is no way a safety apparatus is going to cover every scenario I just went through. That means "see something, say something". It means active shooter protocols. It means understanding the risk that we're at. But let me end on good news, which is I am not saying stay put, right? I mean, in other words, we are a vibrant mobile country without a without the kind of threat that we're seeing in Bangladesh or Turkey and I think we have to continue to behave that way. [Sciutto:] No question, and I speak to counterterror officials. I heard from no counter terror officials, and these are very conservative people who do their jobs well, who said, stay at home or you should be scared this holiday weekend. If you see something, say something, as you noted Juliette, but no one is saying, stay at home. It's an important time, be with your families. I want to go back to our panel now for a moment. Cedric Leighton joining us, long history in U.S. military intelligence. We have been talking about the broader context here, because we just spoke to Brooke Baldwin. There she is in Istanbul, three days ago, major attack. Now, here we are, another couple countries away, this attack. Is this the price to some degree for the military success we're seeing against ISIS in Iraq and Syria and Libya that, you know, you punch that hornet nest, right, that you have the violence spoiling over elsewhere? [Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] Unfortunately, Jim, I think it is in part because any time you breed military success, you achieve some type of military success, you are going to develop a reaction to it, and that reaction is manifesting itself often in attacks like the one we saw in Istanbul, and now, what unfortunately we're seeing in Dhaka. So these are the kinds of things that you can expect, and unfortunately, I think it does mean that we can expect more attacks like this in varying degrees of intensity in various places around the world. [Sciutto:] Phil, you said something arresting as we were speaking. We are calling this a hostage situation because there are, to our knowledge, people still alive inside there being held by these attackers. You were saying that that might be by design. Stretch this out. [Phil Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] That's right. I mean, when we talk about hostages, that suggestion is that there are people you want to trade for something. I think the trade here is not in a traditional sense of trade for money, a trade for some kind of political settlement. I think the folks in there, the handful of people who are the hostage takers, the terrorists, expect to die. They want maximum international attention. Attention on a cultural sight, drinking, dancing. Attention on, if you will, a diplomatic site where Westerners, including Americans, are. The longer they keep those hostages, the more they get that attention. [Sciutto:] Peter, I want to ask your thoughts, Bob Baer who's still with us. Peter, I've always hesitate to question police reactions to these things, right, because they've got a tough job there. They're in middle of it. But just we do know, when we talked about how the guidance for U.S. law enforcement has changed with these kinds of things, particularly when a group like ISIS in involved. They say, don't wait, go in, these guys are not going to negotiate. [Whitfield:] All right, welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Donald Trump has some harsh remarks about George W. Bush's handling of 911 and the war in Iraq during last night's Republican debate in South Carolina sparking a faceoff between candidates. [Bush:] I'm sick and tired of him going after my family. My dad is the greatest man alive, in my mind. And while Donald Trump was building a reality TV show, my brother was building a security apparatus to keep us safe and I'm proud of what he did. He has had the gall to go after my mother. [Trump:] The World Trade center came down -. [Bush:] He has had the gall to go after my mother. Look. I won the lottery when I was born 63 years ago, looked up and I saw my mom. My mom is the strongest woman I know. [Trump:] She should be running. [Bush:] It's not about my family or his family. This about the South Carolina families that needs someone to be a commander-in-chief that can lead. [Whitfield:] Boy, gloves were definitely off. Let's talk more about this. Republican strategist, Brian Morgenstern and Republican strategist, conservative columnist and Donald Trump supporter Kayleigh McEnany are back with me. All right. Brian, you first. You know, the boos in the audience when Trump referred to 911 happening on President George W. Bush's watch, Well, Trump said he said this before but the South Carolina debate audience didn't seem to like this. So was this a big risk for him in such a Bush friendly state? [Morgenstern:] Sure. Well, both politically and, you know, if you have any regard for the truth especially when you are talking about the weapons of mass destruction that he cited. Remember, in 1998, Bill Clinton bombed Iraq to target weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein gassed hundreds of thousands of Kurds because of weapons of mass destruction. At the time we went in, this was, you know, as George Tenant said, a slam dunk. So now, Donald Trump joining not just the Democratic party, but really like code pink activists and people who are way out of step with Republicans. That is a huge political risk especially, as you mentioned, in a state that loves the Bushes. [Whitfield:] And you know, Kayleigh, it doesn't seem as though people want to kind to re-litigate what happened or what led up to, but it's here and it is right back on the debate stage again. So Trump took it even further, you know, saying Bush lied leading up to the Iraq war. How does that potentially impact what has been his lead? [Mcenany:] You know, I don't think it's good. And Fred, as you mentioned, I'm a Trump supporter. I think he would be a great president. I think he won the debate last night. But I do wish he would dial back the criticism of George W. Bush because here is what Trump supporters are made of. It's partly conservatives but it's also independents and Democrats. And while what he said may play well among independents and Democrats, in South Carolina, 83 percent of voters have a favorable opinion of George W. Bush. So I wish he would rein that criticism in a little bit and just stick to the criticism of the war itself. [Whitfield:] And then Kayleigh, you said you thought he won the debate. Why do you think he won the debate? And on what points did he win, in your view? [Mcenany:] It is overall, the demeanor that he presented his closing argument I think nailed home why he is resonating so much in the hearts of voters. He said I am be holdings any political interest. I am here for you. And I think his populist message for instance on preserving Social Security in saying voters paid into this, they need to be able to take out of it. That's not a conservative point, but it is populist one and it is one that appeals broadly beyond the narrow conservative base. [Whitfield:] And Brian, do you agree with that, you know? Did it seem as though, you know, Donald Trump seemed particularly his feathers were ruffled last night? He seemed like he was about to lose his temper. [Morgenstern:] Yes. He was yelling into the microphone at one point. I will agree with Kayleigh on one thing and then vehemently disagree in another direction. On the one hand, that populist argument that he's beholden to no one and he has got his own [Whitfield:] Who? [Morgenstern:] with everybody screaming at each other, it wasn't a very high bar, but I think Rubio came out looking well because he had been so damaged to begin with, I think that exceeding expectations the way he did in this debate, he probably had the most to gain. [Whitfield:] OK. And then there was Marco Rubio who might, you know, who has been arguing that he is the one who looked most presidential. In fact, you know, he even tried to deflect Trump's blame on George W. Bush and instead said it was former president Clinton who failed. Listen. [Rubio:] The world trade center came down because Bill Clinton didn't kill Osama bin Laden when he had the chance to kill him. [Whitfield:] So Kayleigh, did we see a kind of more reinvented, more confident Marco Rubio last night particularly after the New Hampshire debate that did not go his way? [Mcenany:] I don't think so. Because everyone you know, this morning is touting his great performance but what comes to mind when I think about Marco Rubio last night is his spat with Ted Cruz over immigration and where he said Ted Cruz how do you know what I said on Univision, I don't you don't speak Spanish. And then Ted Cruz responded in Spanish. He really out of place in that encounter. And he looked like he was lying about Ted Cruz's record. So I don't think we saw a reinvigorated Marco Rubio. He did better than last time but the bar was kind of low last time if you ask me. [Whitfield:] OK. There was a lot of name calling last night and there were even those calling each other liars. Listen. [Trump:] You're the biggest liar. You're probably worse than Jeb Bush. You are the single biggest liar. [Rubio:] This is a disturbing pattern now because for a number of weeks now, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lies about marriage. He's lying about all sorts of things. [Whitfield:] So Brian, is this more of a display of desperation or down to the wire trying to stay out in front of what could be a very pivotal race in South Carolina? [Morgenstern:] I wouldn't call it desperation. I would say its crunch time behavior. This is how you do it. You go after the candidate sort of, you know, main brand, the theme of the brand. And Ted Cruz wants him brand of the reliable conservatism. The fact is that he has not necessarily been on a number of issues. And, in particular, with this immigration issue, the notion that Ted Cruz is this reliable conservative when basically everyone on the stage agrees that enforcement first is necessary. And then, you know, we'll talk about maybe legal status or citizenship depending on the candidate and that's where they disagree. But what he's trying to do is boil it down into who seems tougher, who can come off as the real tough guy and that I think is being dishonest. [Mcenany:] I just want to quickly respond. There's a difference in action, you know. There's no doubt when you looked at what happened in the Senate, Ted Cruz was on the side of Jeff Sessions fighting against the bill that Rubio was on the side of Chuck Schumer on. I mean, those are very different position. It's not just, you know, a difference in attitude, it is a difference in position. One was for the Schumer bill. One was against it. Those are the differences. [Whitfield:] All right, we will leave it right there. [Morgenstern:] But Ted Cruz was in favor of legal status increasing visas by 500 percent, something like that. He said openly fought passionately for legal status and now he's trying to [Mcenany:] Miss characterization. [Morgenstern:] Out Trump, Trump. [Whitfield:] All right, we will leave it there. \ Brian Morgenstern, Kayleigh McEnany, thanks so much to both of you. Appreciate it. [Mcenany:] Thanks, Fred. [Whitfield:] All right. Still ahead, remembering Justice Antonin Scalia. He has called a hero and mentor by one of his former law clerks. We'll talk about Justice Scalia, next. [Anderson:] You're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson, the top stories for you as ever at this time on CNN. Greece has formally requested a third international bailout. The government has asked for it to run for three years with a promise to introduce fresh economic reforms in exchange for the money. Greeks continue to queue at banks amid fears of what's known as a Grexit, or a Greek exit from the euro and the euro zone. Well, Greece isn't the only country with financial worries, China trying to contain a financial crisis that has wiped trillions of dollars in value from the country's stock markets. On Wednesday, the Shanghai composite dropped 8 percent on the opening and closed down 5.9 percent. Hong Kong has been hit as well. Reuters News Agency quotes an Iranian official as saying Iran has presented, quote, constructive solutions to resolve remaining disputes in the talks in Vienna. But that Iran won't back away from its own red line positions. A deadline for a solution in the talks has been pushed back again until Friday of this week. And Pope Francis wrapping up the first part of his South American tour in Ecuador. The pontiff expected to visit a nursing home and meet clergy members and then moves on to the next leg of his trip, which is in Bolivia. We're going to return to our top story today: Greece. Everyone, and not everyone in Europe agrees with austerity. One of Ireland's most well known politicians Gerry Adams says that Greece is being treated very unfairly. And he joins me now from Dublin in Ireland. Gerry, so how so Greece as the victim here. Explain your reasoning. [Gerry Adams, Sinn Feing Party Leader:] Well, hello, Becky. And thanks for having me on your program. Well, the crisis in Greece wasn't created by the people of Greece, it was created by previous governments, corrupt governments and by financial speculators, by the European and international banking sector. Same thing happened in the Irish state as well. The debt is not sustainable. The people of Greece had this private banking debt hoisted on them. The new government led by Alexis Tsipras is making a stand. He went to his people. I commend that. It's very much a battle between democracy and a neo-liberal market forces. It's a battle between whether citizens have the right to have democratic control over decision which affect them in their daily lives and the people of Greece have said no to austerity, yes to democracy and yes for a sustainable future. [Anderson:] Gerry, and I hear you. And I think there's a lot of politics involved here, perhaps moreso than economics at this point. I'm wondering whether you support a partial debt writeoff for Greece. And if so, why should debt relief for Greece be considered when Ireland, for example, had to swallow such harsh austerity measures. If Ireland could do it, why can't Greece? [Adams:] Well, Ireland hasn't done it, just part of Ireland didn't ask for a debt write down because of the nature of our government. It was elected to ask for a debt write down. It received a mandate to renegotiate. It didn't renegotiate. It didn't ask for a write down. This state has a population of less than 5 million people. In eight years, we've lost half a million, mostly of our young people, across scattered across the globe. We have as we speak hundreds of people on hospital trolleys in corridors in our main hospitals. We have a housing crisis. We have a low wage economy. And most pitiably in a modern western society we have a third of our children living in consistent poverty. And that surprise that people hear about to pay for a very, very bad decision and series of decisions by our government. The Greek government took a different tack. They stood by their election manifesto and they are looking for something, which I think is to the benefit of people right across the European Union, not just Greece, and including Ireland. [Anderson:] Yeah, your party Sinn Fein, has got very close links to Syriza. Just in March, the new Greek finance minister, in fact, came to address one of your meetings. I want our viewers just to listen to what he told you. [Euclid Tsakalotos, Greek Finance Minister:] Syriza and Sinn Fein, as well as others as [inaudible] are part of a great realignment in European politics that has become apparent over the last couple of years. That realignment is a necessity exactly because we have such a crisis in existing arrangements. [Anderson:] Yeah, but given how Greece has dealt with this crisis, is Syriza still the kind of government that you want to associate with, Gerry? [Adams:] Well, we associate with the people of Greece, we associate with working people everywhere. Sinn Fein is an internationalist party. But don't rely upon me, the IMF have intervened just recently to say that the people of Greece need a bailout, but they also need, and I quote what they say, "a 20 years grace period before making any debt repayments." So this is bigger than just parties of the broad left across the European Union. And incidentally, there's nothing wrong with parties of the broad left having a sense of solidarity one with the other because the right wing forces who cause war, who cause destruction, who are engaged in militarism, who push people downwards, who privatize public services, who destroy workers' rights, they very easily unite. So, it is important that those of us who have a vision of a social European Union, a European Union which is based upon equality, should send clear signals of our support. And I'm very pleased. I commend the government in Greece, but more especially I commend the people of Greece for taking a democratic decision on Sunday. [Anderson:] I wonder whether that social project that you want to see in Europe, though, involves the euro and the euro zone, and whether Greece wouldn't be better off out of the euro at this stage. Short-term severe shock, long-term though control over their currency. I've had it described to me as the euro zone and membership for Greece being the death knell for that country. Your thoughts. [Adams:] Well, first of all the government in Greece has made it clear that it doesn't want to leave the European Union, that it doesn't want to leave the euro zone. There's actually no way of putting it out of the euro zone. So I think in many ways that question is a distraction. We're part of the European Union, but the European Union according to the founders of the European movement was to be based upon solidarity, was to be based upon equality. Here we have an example of that being torn up completely, that a country on the periphery that didn't cause this problem I listened to your earlier broadcast with the shop owner and restaurant owner in Greece, they didn't cause the problem. They're 100 percent right. The problem, as in Ireland, was caused by the elites, by those who lease the people off, who speculated and were fueled entirely by greed, gambled in the private banking system, lost and then the people are expected to pick up the tab for that. You people in America, in the USA dealt with it in a different way, in a correct way. So, the issue is one of whether a citizen has the right to democratic control over a decision which affects his or her life or the lives of their family. [Anderson:] Gerry Adams with us tonight out of Dublin in Ireland. It's a pleasure, sir, thank you. United Airlines has resumed flights after they were grounded for more than an hour today, because of a computer operation problem. Large queues had formed at airports. And United had to hand write tickets for some passengers at airports. United have apologized for any inconvenience. Let's get you the very latest. Rene Marsh is standing by for you at the CNN bureau in Washington Rene. [Rene Marsh, Cnn Correspondent:] So, what we know is that 4,900 flights have been affected as a result of this very widespread computer issue that led to United Airlines having to ground their flights. As you mentioned, flights have resumed and they have addressed this computer glitch. But at this hour, we still do not know exactly what caused the computer glitch. The explanation from the airline is rather vague. They are only saying we experienced, quote, "network connectivity issue this morning that they're working to resolve." We received an updated statement from them that you're looking at on your screen there saying that they are recovering from the network connectivity issue this morning and that they are resuming regular flight operations and they also went on to say that passengers will be able to get a waiver on United.com. So essentially if you needed to rebook because the delays are just not going to work for your personal schedule, they are not charging you, they are trying to help flyers avoid those change fees. So they are awarding a waiver. But back to this issue that they've been experiencing again this is not just here in the United States, this was a worldwide problem, it affected their operations worldwide. And now we are all waiting to find out exactly what was behind that. [Anderson:] Rene Marsh is in Washington for you. Thank you. Well, to a stunning admission by the U.S. Defense Secretary. Ashton Carter says the United States has trained only about 60 so-called moderate rebels in Syria, far below the goal of several thousand. ISIS on the other hand has been very active in its recruiting of both young fighters and even jihadi brides, as you are well aware. The terror group waging a sophisticated propaganda war that has spread to all parts of the world calling for future jiahdists to fulfill their religious duty. Its main tool: social media. Now, an initiative to counter the ISIS media war has been launched by the United States and the United Arab Emirates. I sat down with U.S. undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, Richard Stengel, here earlier today and asked him if it's about countering ISIS's messaging or censorship. [Richard Stengel, U.s. Undersecretary For Public Diplomacy:] It's actually both. I mean, it's two sides of the same circle in the sense that some of it is countering what they're doing and just saying this is wrong. You say the caliphate is a paradise, it's not. The plumbing isn't working. You say you'll find a spouse here? No, you're not going to be able to. So some of it is directly undercutting what they're saying and saying it's a lie and it's false and how you are trying to lure these people is incorrect. On the other hand, we're also trying to promote a positive narrative, positive vision, a vision of mainstream Islam, a vision of moderate Islam as a much, much better choice. And by the way that is the choice that most young Muslims are making around the world. [Anderson:] I want our viewers to have a look at the introduction to the Saub Center one what is its YouTube channel today. [Unidentified Male:] Just as they have hijacked a religion, they have also hijacked the world of social media, using it to spread their malicious and destructive ideology. [Anderson:] Having looked at this introduction, can you and the staff at the center really replicate what these ISIS militants are doing? [Stengel:] Well, in fact we're trying not to replicate it. I mean, if you look at a recent Brookings study that showed basically there are about 500 to 2,000 of these hashtag jihadis, of people who are out there tweeting, who have followers and trying to marshal those followers, that isn't so many. So part of what we're doing in this actually great relationship between the U.S. and the Emiratis. And the Emiratis have stepped forward. The Saub Center will be a hub for the coalition eventually. So they've been very strong on that. So, we're not really trying to replicate that, but we're trying to get both the counter message and a much more positive vision out there that will then resonate with other people around the world and create other centers like the Saub Center. [Anderson:] Who is going to work at this center? I mean, if you've got young Arab speakers, young Arabic speakers, young Arab men and women who really understand the mindset of those who are... [Stengel:] You know, Becky, I just came from there. And it's you know, I was twice as old as anybody there. These are people it will mainly be in Arabic. These are people who understand your Arabic market. These are young people who devoutly believe in what they're doing and will look to create their own large supporters that they will have. [Anderson:] Let's take a look at what President Obama said earlier in the week. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] In order for us to defeat terrorist groups like ISIL and al Qaeda is going to also require us to discredit their ideology, the twisted thinking that draws vulnerable people into their ranks. As I've said before, and I know our military leaders agree, this broader challenge of countering violent extremism is not simply a military effort. Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they're defeated by better ideas. [Stengel:] And we are offering better ideas, that's one of the whole points of the Saub Center is that and this is an idea that Muslims around the world and I can't speak for them, but they understand from their daily life, this what I am living is a better alternative to what they are offering. What they're offering is a dark lying vision of what life can be. And I think we are offering those better ideas. [Anderson:] Fascinating. Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. Coming up for you, we turn to Morocco where authorities there are trying to give Islam a friendlier face with female preachers. That story is up next for you. And despite crippling sanctions, Iran's tourism sector is growing. I want to get you some of the main attractions of that, and that is in about 10 minutes. Back after this. [Cooper:] Well, for the first time, President Trump publicly and directly condemned the anti- Semitism today after weeks of growing pressure. One of the voices urging and speak out against surgeon anti-Semitic threats was his former rival Hillary Clinton. Jeff Zeleny tonight has the details. [Trump:] This tour was a meaningful reminder of why we have to fight bigotry, intolerance and hatred in all of its very ugly forms. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] President Trump speaking out today against the wave the anti-Semitism during a visit to the new Smithsonian Museum celebrating African-American history. [Trump:] The anti- Semitic threats targeting our Jewish community and community centers are horrible and are painful and a very sad reminder of the work that still must be done to root out hate and prejudice and evil. [Zeleny:] The President's condemnation of bomb threats and vandalism at Jewish site across the country came after days of injuring sharp criticism for virtual silence on rising anti-Semitic threats. His words came hours after his former rival, Hillary Clinton, called on him to act. "JCC threats cemetery desecration and online attacks are so troubling, they need stop," she wrote on Twitter. "Everyone must speak out, starting with the President." At two press conferences last week, the President stop short of denouncing the attacks of violence and threats. He'd berated a reported from a Jewish magazine for asking a question. [Trump:] OK. Sit down, I understand the rest of your question. So, here's the story, folks. Number one, I am the least anti-Semitic person that you've ever seen in your entire life. Number two, racism, the least racist person. In fact we did very well relative to other people running as a Republican. Quiet, quiet, quiet. [Zeleny:] At the White House today, Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended the President in the wake of the criticism. [Spicer:] I think the President's going do what he's talked about since election night. It's through deed and action, talk about how we can unify this country and speak out against, you know, hate, anti- Semitism, racism. [Cooper:] Jeff, you heard Sean Spicer talked about deed and action, it has the President directed the government to do something specific at this stage? [Zeleny:] Anderson, as far as we can tell there's been not much action. Of coarse, he did talk about this today, which was a step forward from being silent for so many days. But he now has the full grasp of the government at his reach, the Justice Department, other agencies. The White House has not said that he is directed any of them to look into any of these incidents of violence as hate crimes. Now they are of course watching this, and this is something the White House says that the President is keenly aware of and concern about, but no word tonight that he's asking his Justice Department to actually look into this as hate crimes or anything else, Anderson. [Cooper:] All right, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, thanks. Coming up, more on what President Trump said today and the very different reactions too. I'll be right back. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. The increasingly hostile relationship between Russia and NATO means the two sides haven't met face to face for nearly two years until today. But while exchanging views was constructive, there were no major breakthroughs. [Jens Stoltenberg, Nato Secretary General:] NATO and Russia have profound and persistent disagreements. Today's meeting did not change that. NATO allies remain firm that there can be no return to practical cooperation until Russia returns to the respect of international law. But we will keep channels of communication open. [Amanpour:] So those persistent differences, what do they mean on the ground? General Philip Breedlove is NATO's military chief and he joined me exclusively from his Belgium headquarters. General Breedlove, welcome back to the program. [Breedlove:] It's great to be back on your program, Christiane. [Amanpour:] General, can you give us a state of play? What is going on particularly with aggressive moves, as they've been described, by Russia? We see that, in the last few days, there's been a simulated attack pass as they buzz a U.S. destroyer in the Baltic, followed shortly by a barrel roll around a U.S. plane, I believe. How dangerous is this? How do you account for this? [Breedlove:] So you have it right, Christiane. We have seen a series of actions that are a little different, in fact, than we've seen over the past few months. And these have been actions that we have deemed dangerous in certain ways. Certainly we've had several interactions with our ships in the Baltic Sea. One series of interactions during helicopter landing training with one of our NATO allies and we had to suspend that helicopter landing training because the conditions were clearly not safe and conducive to getting good training. I believe that these actions were done deliberately. They were not an accident. [Amanpour:] Do you see Russia stepping up its provocation? [Breedlove:] So what I think we should start with is that we see Russia in a more broad sense, engaging nations along its periphery. And it's using all of the elements of national power. You and I have talked about this before. We use a very simple model based on the American coin, the dime: diplomatic, informational, military and economic. And we see Russia using its national power broadly in all of its categories to try to influence those nations on its periphery. In Ukraine, we could make some very straightforward examples. Intense diplomatic pressure to discredit Kiev and to bring discredit on those trying to make the changes in Kiev. An incredible information or, as I call it, a disinformation campaign to misrepresent what is happening. And as we have talked about in Syria, in the beginning of the Russian campaign in Syria, we saw that almost unilaterally their strikes were against the moderate opposition, not against daish or ISIL. Now we must say and we must report accurately that, as of late, the Russian strikes have been more focused on daish and ISIL. So that is a bit of a change in behavior from the first part. [Amanpour:] General, I know that you don't like to get into politics and I'm not asking you to talk about politics but I need you to respond to the notion by the leading Republican candidate that NATO is obsolete. And I would like to play this and have you react to that. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] Many countries are not paying their fair share. That means we are protecting them and they are getting all sorts of military protection and other things. And they're ripping off the United States. And they're ripping you off. I don't want to do that. Either they pay up, including for past deficiencies, or they have to get out. And if it breaks up NATO, it breaks up NATO. [Breedlove:] So, Christiane, I think I can speak to what you want me to speak to. But let me be very clear, I'm not going to address any political candidate's remarks specifically. What I would like to do is talk about what I think is the value of NATO, obviously as the commander but, as importantly, as a young man who served here in the early '80s, all the way now to the commander. I've been in NATO for almost four decades. And what I have seen is NATO bring peace to an area where there was a lot of problems before. What I've seen is this great alliance serve peace in this area. I've seen this great alliance serve for the reunification of Germany, a nation I've lived in five times and my two daughters were born in. And all of this goodness coming from an alliance that is very capable and performs well, 28 nations for 28 with partners, to bring this very peaceful situation. Now it hasn't been perfect. We've seen the Balkans. We've seen some of the other challenges but, by and large, the kind of wars that happened before, NATO has done a wonderful job of bringing peace, stability and prosperity to Europe Europe, which was torn apart in two world wars. So I disagree with the notion that this alliance holds no value. I think it holds great value. And I think that it will perform into the future as it has performed in the past. [Amanpour:] One of your big challenges is Afghanistan. And there has been a real spike in fighting there. And we've seen all sorts of attacks just this week. And you're facing a deadline for a withdrawal of troops and a drawdown of troops. Do you have enough time to do one of the things you really want to do and that is train the Afghan soldiers properly to be able to take over in the event that you actually do all pull out? [Breedlove:] And what we have talked about in relation to the mission is the need to remain for a certain amount of time, connected to these cores in the force folks that we have in Afghanistan and to continue to be able to train, advise and assist, TAA, these cores in the disparate parts of Afghanistan. And they are facing a tough challenge. I believe they continue to react well, not perfectly, but well. We still see the challenges that we knew they were going to have: to build an air force that is able to bring close air support, medevac, et cetera, to a nation doesn't happen quickly. I often joke when people ask me, how long does it take to build an aviator with 10 years' of experience? It takes 10 years to build an aviator with 10 years of experience. So we have work to do in some of these key enabling capabilities that we need to bring to Afghanistan. [Amanpour:] As things stand right now, the U.S. forces are going to at least due to be nearly halved to just over 5,000 from the current level of nearly 10,000. And this would be by the beginning of the next year, 2017. Now we understand that U.S. officials say that the training mission, if this happens, would not be able to continue. [Breedlove:] It would not continue in the same fashion that it's continuing in now. I think we would have to agree with that. If you take a fairly sizeable cut, the mission will have to change in some way. But we're looking at options now to retain that connectivity to the cores, providing enablers and possibly other nations providing more troops, et cetera, et cetera, all of these still very preliminary. But what we're looking at are those options to continue the mission which we think is important, which is to train, advise, assist to the core level in Afghanistan. [Amanpour:] General Breedlove, thanks for joining us tonight. [Breedlove:] Thank you, Christiane. [Amanpour:] And coming up, imagine a world where Cuba's towering political monument makes an exit while some of its cultural ones make a comeback. That's next. [Cooper:] We've reported today brought a new threat from ISIS, the terror group releasing yet another video threatening attacks on New York, nothing really new there. Security had already been increased in New York and other major American cities following Friday's attacks here in Paris. Congressman Adam Schiff is the ranking democrat of the house intelligence committee. I spoke to him just before the program this evening. Congressman Schiff, this new video threat from ISIS to New York previously obviously they've made a threat earlier in the week against Washington D.C., do you believe there is an imminent threat against the United States from ISIS? [Rep. Adam Schiff, House Intelligence Committee:] I don't think there's an imminent threat of the kind of attack that we saw in like Paris. We're a hard target to reach and ISIS has made it clear. They put a focus on attacking Europe because of its proximity and the number of foreign fighters that have gone back to Europe. But there is a risk in New York and elsewhere that people are inspired by the Paris attacks, home grown radicals heed the call to lash out, so that is really primarily the danger we're focused on right now. [Cooper:] In terms of cooperation between European intelligence agencies, European law enforcement and American, how close is it? Are you satisfied with the level of cooperation because clearly, there is problems within Europe, with data sharing between governments here. [Schiff:] There is a problem in sharing between governments. We have a very good relationship with the French. We have a very close relationship obviously with the British and others, nonetheless it can be improved. I think the level of cooperation with France is going to intensify in the wake of this, but it's a real challenge and I think even with the best of intelligence sharing, as long as ISIS is allowed to maintain that ground in Iraq and Syria as long as they have the luxury to plan and plot from there and have the resources to do it, even the best of intelligence isn't going to be enough to stop them every time and that's the real heart of the matter. [Cooper:] In terms of refugees, we've seen a number of governors obviously in the United States saying they do not want to accept and will not accept Syrian refugees inside their state. France's president despite all that is going on here has said that they will move forward to accept some 20,000 refugees from Syria over the next two years. Do you see a real security threat from refugees coming from Syria into the United States? [Schiff:] You know, I understand people's concerns about this and people watching in Paris are appalled at the level of violence and want to make sure we're doing everything possible to avoid any kind of repetition of that in the United States. But the refugee program has not been the problem for us. Among the 2,000 or so refugees we've taken over the last several years from Syria, not a single one of them has been arrested on a terrorism-related offense and in fact, of the 34 of a million refugees we've taken in since 911, a very few if any problems have occurred within that refugee population. For whatever reason, Anderson, the problem we've had here in the United States has been homegrown radicals inspired by ISIS, but the refugees who are fleeing violence or fleeing for their lives have not been the problem and frankly, there are much bigger security risks than that one and I hate to see us turning our back on this population that's so desperately in need. [Cooper:] Finally, the picture that was put out by ISIS of what they say is the device which brought down the Russian plane in the Sinai, how confident are you that TSA in the United States would be able to catch such a device that would whether or not that would show up on radar and screening by TSA? [Schiff:] Well, this is a grave concern of mine and frankly, I think it's a much bigger risk than anything having to do with the refugee program and that is when we test our TSA, all too often they fail and that is when we do blind tests of whether we can smuggle weapons or explosives in all too often TSA fails to meet those tests and that has to change. We have a new director of TSA and I think he's very well-regarded and respected and I think he is trying to change that but until I see different results, I'm going to continue to press on this because it remains, I think, a real vulnerability for us. [Cooper:] Congressman Schiff, I appreciate your time. Thank you. [Schiff:] Thanks, Anderson. [Cooper:] A real vulnerability he said, a grave concern. Those were his words according to Congressman Schiff. Let's take one more look at that image released by ISIS of the device that says brought down the Russian airliner over Egypt. A soda can and the components of a bomb ISIS says was inside. I want to bring in CNN security and intelligence analyst and former CIA officer Bob Baer. I mean, the bomb that they claim, you said it could be legitimate, it's a relatively simple device. It's I mean, not particularly complex, a small amount of explosives but do we have any idea if I mean, if it really is for real and I mean, I think a lot of people find it hard to believe that something that small could bring down an enormous aircraft. [Robert Baer, Former Cia Officer:] Well, Anderson, clearly a bomb of that size could easily bring down that aircraft, that airbus very easily and in fact, you could do with a lot less explosives. Frankly, I think what we're going to find out and it's just a guess is that they're going to find forensics on the ground that matches that can and the detonator. Let's wait and see on that. But that's a crude bomb and I think the TSA could probably catch it. It's the other ones that they failed at. As you've mentioned before, 95%, there are bombs that I've seen that you could get through TSA with 100% certainty. They're so well disguised, the wiring, the explosives. Even the explosives themselves are nearly undetectable and very small detonators. So aviation security is a real threat. Now the question is, does ISIS have this capability in this country or even in Europe, but for me, what bothers me now is the ground staff both in this country and Europe is not completely vetted and that's the easiest way to get it in and it doesn't matter how crude the bomb is, you can still bring an airplane down. [Cooper:] Yeah, and we've seen that in the United States. I mean, there was the case in Atlanta of a baggage handler who was shipping weapons around the country using his access to get cargo on to an aircraft, which is just stunning and if it was guns, it could have been anything else. [Baer:] And the young guy in Minneapolis who was a baggage handler who went off to Syria and was killed in a raid. Yes, so that's a real possibility at every airport in this country, you have unvetted people and, you know, it's aspirational at this point and clearly, if they were a threat, we would hear about it. What concerns me, Anderson, always is the continued violence in the Middle East increases the risk in this country and I'm not going to say they're going to eventually hit us, but the likelihood of it goes up by the day, more violence there is. [Cooper:] Bob, appreciate you being on. Just ahead, new details about the assault on ISIS in Syria. Adversaries and allies coming together to bombard a common enemy. Nick Paton Walsh got the reports on what he saw. [Blitzer:] "The reign of extreme terror," that's how some are describing the systematic disposal of senior North Korean officials by the leader, Kim Jong-Un. Now we're hearing one Kim's chiefs of staff, Ri Yong-gil, is dead. It's believed he was executed for misuse of authority and treason. South Korean intelligence believe at least 80 top officials have now been killed on Kim's orders. To talk about this and more, we're joined by "The Daily Beast" columnist, Gordon Chang. He's also the author of "Nuclear Showdown: North Korea Takes On the World." Gordon, what does this latest execution of this top military official tell us about Kim's control of the North Korean military? [Gordon Chang, Columnist, The Daily Beast:] I think it undermines the general narrative which has been maintained by South Korea and U.S. Intelligence communities that Kim quickly consolidated command of the army, as well as the rest of the political system, when he took over four years ago. I don't think you can maintain that now, because we have seen three four stars in the last 13 months either killed or disappeared. And that says there is fluidity in the political situation in Pyongyang. [Blitzer:] Does he run the risk of a coup? [Chang:] I think to a certain extent he does. The North Korean military understands that the regime's legitimacy depends on a Kim at the top. But nonetheless, this particular Kim has taken away their control of money, exports. And so that is a big deal. Plus, also, he's put party functionaries in key military posts. And along the way, he's killed military officers, which means that everyone knows they're playing for keeps. So in a situation where a senior officer thinks he's being targeted, he has very little to lose to go against Kim Jong-Un. So one of these days, I think that we will see the military try to move against Kim. [Blitzer:] He's also, Kim, ratcheting up tensions, last month, with the nuclear test, the test of a ballistic missile. South Korea suspending operations at the industrial complex inside North Korea, not far from the border. Today, the North announced it would expel all the South Koreans from the facility. This is usually a bellwether for relations on the Korean peninsula. And I suspect this deterioration is going to escalate. [Chang:] You know, it certainly will, because the industrial complex, very important for the North Koreans. You have about 54,000 North Koreans employed there. There's been an average of about $90 million a year in the last three or four years, $515 million since it was opened in 2004. So this is material for the North Koreans. And at this point, the Pyongyang realizes that because there's been what it considers to be such an affront to the authority of Kim Jong- Un by South Korea, by closing the zone, they've got to do something. You know, we saw six months ago what happens when you have some minor incidents in the demilitarized zone which separates the two Koreas. This is a much bigger deal so therefore the consequences, I think, are going to be much larger. [Blitzer:] Yeah, let's not forget nearly a million North Korean troops not far from the DMZ, nearly a million South Korean troops, some nearly 30,000 American troops right in between, along the DMZ, as well. A very, very tense situation that we're monitoring right now. Gordon Chang, thanks very much. [Chang:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Just ahead, countdown to a political showdown. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, they meet in a major debate tonight. Our political panel getting ready to examine what's at stake for both of these candidates. That happens when we come back. [Camerota:] 49ers and Chargers play their final preseason game tonight in San Diego. The focus, of course, on 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Coy Wire is live this morning with the "Bleacher Report". So, what's going to happen, Coy? [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] That's the big question. Good morning, Alisyn. By now, many of us are aware of Kaepernick's decision to sit during the national anthem in protest of racial injustice in our country. But despite what his objectors are saying, he said all along it was never his intention to disrespect the military. Tonight, if Kaepernick sits during the anthem, it'll be in front of hundreds of servicemen and women as the Chargers are having their 28th annual salute to the military game. They'll pay tribute to current and retired military personnel, Vietnam war vets, wounded warriors, and others throughout the night. Kaepernick has said he's going to continue to sit during the anthem until there's significant change in our country. Will kaepernick be booed? Will he be supported? Will he be joined in protest by any of his teammates? These are the types of questions that will likely be answered tonight. Now, kaepernick has received a lot of criticism. But he's also received a lot of support for his stance, even by veterans on social media, and yesterday a former NFL player and Army vet Nate Boyer pen an open letter on armytimes.com. He said in part, quote, "What you're doing takes a lot of courage, and I'd be lying if I said I knew what it was like to walk around in your shoes. I've never had to deal with prejudice because of the color of my skin. I'm just going to keep listening with an open mind. Forward to the day you're inspired to once again stand during our national anthem. I'll be standing right there next to you," unquote. So Chris, there you have not only a former NFL player but a former military veteran as well with a strong, strong statement. [Cuomo:] It was. The politics of this aside, that was a strong statement. You're right, Coy. Thank you very much for the report. Appreciate it. [Wire:] You're welcome. [Cuomo:] Let's take a quick break. When we come back, Donald Trump, tough talk on immigration. What did Latino voters think of the speech? A debate between two Latino Republicans next. [Marquez:] A gruesome discovery on a highway in Austria. The bodies of over 70 people found decomposing in the back of an abandoned truck. Three people arrested in connection with their death, all while top European officials are huddling in Vienna, trying to come up with the plan to cope with the largest influx of refugees pour into Europe since World War II. CNN senior international correspondent Arwa Damon has been traveling with a group of migrants. She joins us live near the Hungary and Serbia border. Arwa, 7.6 million displaced in Syria, 4 million in Iraq. The people that you are with and you have been following, are they seeking refugee status or just a better way of life? [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] They want to basically start over, absolutely no hope to go back to their home lands once again. And they are trying to reach Western Europe's wealthier countries. But this is the reception that they are getting at Europe's gateway, which is Hungary, the first country that they are entering. They are being held. It's a field that is very close to the SerbiaHungarian border. Many of them have been here since 2:00 in the morning, for around 10 hours at this stage. One woman who is pregnant and traveling with her 2-year-old was saying, where is the mercy? This is not what we expected Europe to be like. The group right there, they just came across. They have been traveling for two weeks. It has been a phenomenally difficult journey. It is one that they are struggling to make at every step along the way. Here they say they are not even being treated with a measure of dignity. Europe, where human rights are meant to be respected, they say they are being to feel like animals. And this is just one of the reasons why, Miguel, it is so critical at this stage that this various European that the leaders come together to find a solution, because these people are forced to make horrific decisions, decisions that led to at this stage that terrifying incident that saw those 70 plus potentially migrants and refugees die in the back of that cooler truck on the highway between Budapest and Vienna. They are force to because they can't take public transportation easily resort to smuggling, criminal gangs. They don't necessarily have their best interests at heart. And throughout all of this and following all of this, it's really been, one has to say, difficult to believe that they are going through some of what they are going through in Europe. One doesn't expect to see this kind of treatment here. One expects a certain level of humanity and compassion. It's really sad to say that throughout most of the route, that is not necessarily what they are finding. [Marquez:] Arwa Damon for us at the tip of the possibly enormous human catastrophe. Thank you, Arwa. [Kosik:] Some say Donald Trump is a man without a plan, but we're getting new details about his plan for the economy. What President Trump could mean for your taxes next. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Donald Trump launches a flurry of Twitter attacks to push back against reports that his all-important transition team is in turmoil. Here's one. Attacking the "New York Times" it was tweeted out just a couple hours ago, Trump says the transition is going so smoothly. Minutes ago I asked Trump's communications director about that Twitter outburst. He downplayed it. [Jason Miller, Communications Director Trump Transition Team:] I would describe it as this is the president-elect setting the record straight. And I think this is a part of the reason why he received such great support last week and why he won the election, because he's not this typical politician. He's not going to be confined by the media norms. When he sees something that's incorrect he's not afraid to stand up and set the record straight. [Costello:] But Trump's latest firing, adding to the concerns of establishment Republicans. Mike Rogers, the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, was booted from Trump's transition team. Rogers telling CNN, he was among several recent dismissals, all with ties to recently fired, Chris Christie. And sources say, Trump's son- in-law, Jared Kushner is at the center of all the infighting. All of this unfolding just 65 days away from Trump's inauguration. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is outside Trump Tower where the president- elect is back at work today at his transition headquarters. Good morning, Sunlen. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning too, Carol. Lot of pushback coming from Trump transition officials disputing the notion that this last week for them has been a turbulent time for their transition and joining in that chorus this morning is President- elect Donald Trump himself, taking to Twitter to tweet out this, "Very organized process," in talking about the transition, "taking place as I decide on Cabinet and many other positions. I am the only one who knows who the finalists are!" And as the process continues today here at Trump Tower, the team potentially zeroing in and making some final decisions on some of these top Cabinet posts, Eric Trump, Donald Trump's son, just entered Trump Tower a few minutes ago and spoke briefly with the press. [Serfaty:] Eric, what are you expecting for today? What do you guys have planned? [Eric Trump, President-elect's Son:] Good day. [Serfaty:] Good day? Are you guys planning on any more positions today? [Trump:] Likely. [Serfaty:] Likely, anyone in particular? What are you going to be working on today? [Unidentified Male:] Eric, how was dinner? [Serfaty:] Now, as many on Trump's team are very trying very hard to project calmness and steadiness amid all these reports, there has been turnover behind the scenes. Multiple sources I believe that we have, by the way, live pictures of Sen. Jeff Sessions arriving now at Trump Tower. He was also here for many hours yesterday. But back to the turnover, there are multiple sources that say that Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner is really at the center of much of this infighting going on. That he has really been pushing to purge many of the transition members that are closely aligned with former transition head Chris Christie and one of those who has been shown the door yesterday, was former Congressman, CNN contributor Mike Rogers, who was closely aligned with Chris Christie. Here's what he told Anderson Cooper. [Mike Rogers, Former Member Of Trump Transition Team:] Sometimes in politics, you know, in the palace intrigue there are people who are in and people who are out. And the people who have been asked to move on have some relationship with Chris Christie. In my case I was hired by him. And so there's a whole series of about five of them that fit that criteria that were asked to leave in the last few days. And you know what, that's the absolutely the campaign's prerogative. I think there is some confusion going on about a chain of command coming out of New York. Hopefully they will get that settled pretty soon. I think they're going to need to do it because as this clock ticks, all of these decisions become more important. [Serfaty:] And that word, Carol, confusion really caught my ear, because here we are a week a full week after Election Day and they are, you know, constantly plagued by the stories of infighting and turnover, certainly not the sort of image that you want to project at a time where you need to be making these big decisions. Carol? [Costello:] Yes and as I watch Sen. Jeff Sessions at the elevator, about to go up to meet Mr. Trump. Eric Trump said there might be some somebody named today to a cabinet position. Then we know that Sen. Sessions is up for attorney general. He is also being considered for Secretary of Defense. So, if you look into your crystal ball, Sunlen, do you see Jeff Sessions being named to a position sometime today? [Serfaty:] I really believe that there potentially could be some announcements coming up, potentially as soon as today. I know you talked to Jason Miller in the past hour and he didn't really show his hand but made clear that the final decision, of course, rests with Donald Trump. Sen. Sessions was here at Trump Tower for many, many hours yesterday. And as you noted, his name has been bandied about for a plethora of positions including Defense Department and attorney general. There seems to be a feeling within the transition team that he can play in many positions, potentially someone that could be easily conformable given that he is a senator well liked on Capitol Hill. So, we will see what position he potentially gets. Carol? [Costello:] All right. Sunlen Serfaty, I'll let you get back to it. Thank you so much. So let's talk about all of this. Larry Sabato is here. He's the director for the University of Virginia, Center for Politics. David Catanese joins me. He's a senior politics writer at "U.S. News & World Report." Patricia Murphy is here. She's a columnist for "The Daily Beast" and for "Roll Call." Welcome to all of you, so much to talk about this morning. So, Larry, Mr. Trump went on a sort of tweet storm this morning, pushing back against the "New York Times" reporting that his transition team is in turmoil. What do you make of that? [Larry Sabato, Director University Of Virginia Center For Politics:] Well, there'll be a lot of [Costello:] OK. So Larry, we will go on and we'll ask Patricia that question. So while Larry fixes his Skype, what do you think about Trump's tweeting this morning? He tweeted at least four times. [Patricia Murphy, Columnist "the Daily Beast" And "roll Call":] Well, it feels a lot like candidate Trump. It doesn't feel like a future President Trump. And I think what is so unusual about this transition process besides the infighting which you know, of course can occur, the information flow out of this process has been so bizarre. The fact the only information we are getting about the transition is from Eric Trump just shouting across Trump Tower lobby, from Donald Trump tweeting early in the morning, and then from unnamed transition officials and everybody else who got booted off. So it doesn't feel like there's transparency. It doesn't feel organized. It doesn't feel like they even had any of this in place before they won. It's just so unusual. And I feel like it does send a message that this is a group that didn't have their act together and wasn't ready to become the president. I think they need to certainly kind of button it up and it will be very helpful for members of the media to have a regular information flow. [Costello:] Yes. Good luck with that. I did talk to Jason Miller, however, this morning. He's Mr. Trump's senior communications director. And he told me there's no turmoil within the transition team. It's just a bunch of people who are kind of bitter about not being named to White House positions. So, let's listen to that. [Miller:] Well, I think it's important to keep in mind that he's actually putting this team together. He's working with the vice president-elect, with the executive director of the transition team. They have a very structured plan and are going through this methodically to make sure they get it right. And that's the important thing I think that people need to know is they have the plan in place, they're going to go through. They're going to do the due diligence to make sure they check people's backgrounds and make sure they are on the up and up and we have a very good team put together. And then, once he's inaugurated we're going to do some very exciting things. But there's a clear structure in place. I think some of this palace intrigue, really where I think this comes from usually as folks who either aren't up for jobs who maybe a little bit bitter or some people who are just maybe bitter that the election didn't go their way last week. [Costello:] So David, might this all be coming from people who are bitter and want to say bad things about Mr. Trump because they are petty? [David Catanese, Senior Politics Writer "u.s. News & World Report":] Yes, there's probably some of that. That goes on all the time in politics. It is not abnormal to have warring factions within campaigns, within administrations. That is actually pretty normal. I think the difference here with the Trump campaign is the outsized role of his family. I don't know if there's ever been a comparison where you have his family members, his sons, his son-in-law, his daughter, who are playing such an important role. I mean, you would have to go back to probably the Kennedys to make that comparison. And go to Jared Kushner, who obviously has a real problem with Chris Christie. Remember, Chris Christie put Jared Kushner's father in prison years ago. So he clearly doesn't like the guy. He's gotten involved in the vice presidential process in blocking Christie from ever having a real shot at that. Now he has ousted the Christie faction in the transition. So I just think we can, you know, underestimate the power of Jared Kushner and he's been a pivotal player through the Trump campaign. He's going to be a pivotal player through the transition and probably once Trump is in the White House. [Costello:] Well, here are two things that Jason Miller told me about Jared Kushner. And Larry, you can address this after I inform our viewers what he said last hour to me. He said that Jared Kushner is not behind the supposed bloodbath within the transition team. He's just trying to help out Mr. Trump in the best way possible. I asked him if a security clearance was requested for Jared Kushner and Jason Miller told me no. So it's unclear that Jared Kushner will have any role at least at this point going on down the line and according to Jason Miller he's not behind the bloodbath or the infighting or whatever. [Sabato:] Well, we really don't know one way or the other, but in listening to Mr. Miller and seeing President-elect Trump's tweet about how things are going so smoothly, I would hate to see what chaos is if this is smooth. And this is the easy part. The tough part is governing that begins January 20th. So look, people have all kinds of varying sources but it's pretty obvious from statements made by people like your contributor, Mike Rogers, the former Congressman, and others who have been involved in the process, that something's happening and basically the response of the Trump people is who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes. Well, I will take the lying eyes, thank you. [Costello:] So Patricia, so there's a little chaos maybe within the Trump transition team, but as long as he's named important positions by the time he needs to, what difference does it make? [Murphy:] Well, I think it makes a difference. It is sending a signal both to the American people as well as to people around the world, allies, what kind of a president, Trump is going to be. It's very, very important how he's going to run his administration. It's very important who he names to these posts. And it's really important how he names them. Is this a transparent process? Is this a process that's organized? Is it a process that's professional? Is it out of control? Is it run by rumors? Is it run by his family? So far were getting a lot of the latter, not a lot of the former because Donald Trump has so little experience because we don't know what kind of a person he's going to be in government. All of these are going to tell us what kind of a president we can expect. And so far it's not going well. He can certainly turn it around. He can professionalize it. He can start to have regular flow of information. But so far it's been a really bad week for them. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Larry Sabato, David Catanese, Patricia Murphy, thanks to all of you. Still to come in the "Newsroom," they're not just angry. They are fearful. Up next, we'll tell you about a new wave of anti-Trump protests expected today. [John Berman, Cnn Guest:] All right, welcome back to THE LEAD. Our top story, two senseless and shocking murders that happened this morning on live television; 24-year-old Alison Parker and 27-year-old Adam Ward, today, our thoughts and prayers are with their grieving friends and families. [Parker:] Hey, everyone. I'm Alison Parker. Photojournalist Adam Ward and I are putting the final touches on our special report. [Berman:] Their love of the job, their passion for their work, it leapt through the screen. [Parker:] Witnesses say that this is a day they will never forget. [Berman:] They informed and delighted a community. [Adam Ward, Wdbj Reporter:] In Salem, Adam Ward, News 7 Sports. [Berman:] A community now in a state of pure disbelief. [Unidentified Male:] This place is in shock, as you might expect. There's a lot of crying and hugging going on. [Berman:] Colleagues say 27-year-old Adam Ward and 24-year-old Alison Parker of Virginia affiliate WDBJ were unfailingly positive, relentlessly hardworking, and never shied away from a story. [Parker:] I wanted to go through a sleep study to see if my job impacts how I snooze. Adam and I work the same early morning shift. [Berman:] Or a changing. [Parker:] My hobby is white-water kayaking. [Berman:] In this profile from the station earlier this year, Parker spoke about her love of the outdoors and the arts. [Parker:] My dad was on Broadway back in the day. [Berman:] Her father released a statement today, saying: "I find my grief unbearable. Not hearing her voice again crushes my soul." Both Parker and Ward began as interns at the station, eventually becoming a morning show team, as staff reporter and photographer. [Unidentified Male:] Adam was the kind of guy who, if he were on the way home and knew of something that needed to be done, he would turn around and go do it. [Berman:] Ward was engaged to morning show producer Melissa Ott, seen here in a tweet this morning, celebrating what was reportedly supposed to be her last day at the station. Instead, she was in the control room when her future husband was gunned down. WDBJ's morning anchor, Chris Hurst, says he's numb after the news. Parker was his girlfriend of nine months and had just moved in with him. "She was the most radiant woman I have ever met," he posted on social media today, "and for some reason, she loved me back." Parker's last interview was with Vicki Gardner, the executive director of a local Chamber of Commerce. She was live on air when gunfire rang out. Gardner was shot in the back and is recovering at a hospital today. And, as this unfolds, WDBJ stays on the story, with a broken heart, but not broken, because there's no greater tribute to great reporters than to keep reporting. We're looking at live pictures of that station, outside that station, right now, the tributes pouring in. Joining us on the phone right now is Solina Lewis, a friend of the photographer Adam Ward and his fiancee, Melissa Ott, the producer of the morning show, who was at work in the control room as this tragedy unfolded today. And, Solina, I understand this was Melissa Ott's last day, supposed to be her last day at the station. [Solina Lewis, Friend Of Victim:] It was, yes. She had just been offered a great position in Charlotte as a producer. [Berman:] And Adam was going to move there with her, get out of the business; this was it for him? [Lewis:] Eventually. He was going to follow Melissa. I mean, they were just the most amazing couple. So they yes, they were getting married next year, and wanted to have a family. And they would have made the best parents together. And, you know, I just can't say enough how wonderful of a person both Melissa and Adam are. [Berman:] I'm looking at these pictures of Adam on the screen with the smile, and the goofing around with pizza and everything else. He just seems like such a charming guy with so much life in him. [Lewis:] Yes, I think that's what's really hard to use the past tense about him is, he's goofy and wonderful and just so considerate. You know, I told the story it feels like a million times today, but he helped me put together furniture because I couldn't figure out how to do it when I first moved down here to Roanoke, both because he is nice and really never said no, but also because I'm sure he knew, as Melissa's friend, it would make her happy to do that for me. [Berman:] They were good reporters, they were good journalists, good workers, but the more I hear about them, they just sound like good people, which makes this so, so hard. Solina Lewis, thanks so much for being with us. [Lewis:] Thank you. [Berman:] We're going to have much more from Roanoke just ahead. But, first, our politics lead, throwing reporters some his news conference, calling a major news organization on Twitter, people seem to like Donald Trump's nonpolitical approach. But can it carry him through the primary season? We're going to talk to his campaign manager next on THE LEAD. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Sit down, please. You weren't called. [Pinsky:] Time for "Click Fix," where my guest tell me what is trending on their Twitter, Facebook, andor Instagram feeds. And, Rolonda is up first. [Watts:] This is giving a whole new meaning to spice girls And scary spice, I mean is. Apparently, there was a woman who was might have been strung out on a new drug called spice when she went into this Subway restaurant in Anchorage, Alaska. Yes, it looks like an earthquake hit it, but actually a buck naked woman hit it. [Pinsky:] Oh my God! [Gonzaga:] Oh man! [Watts:] She went into the bathroom, the 35-year-old suspect, took off all of her clothes, came out into Subway and began to destroy the place, taking down the ceiling, throwing over computers, throwing over desks and tables. [Pinsky:] Wait. Wait. Wait. A naked woman? [Watts:] A naked woman. Destroyed the cash register. We are talking about $20,000 in damages. [Pinsky:] Wow. [Watts:] The eyewitnesses say she also smeared a bunch of feces everywhere. [Pinsky:] Oh! [Watts:] Yes. They better clean that place up. [Catherwood:] Awful move. [Watts:] She was taken into custody and transported to the hospital for extreme detox. But, this spice drug is apparently causing a lot of trouble in Alaska. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Watts:] It is a mix of cocaine and meth and ecstasy. [Gonzaga:] Spices! [Watts:] It is crazy. [Pinsky:] It got the spice and the bath salts and the flakka all that. [Catherwood:] Let me point out. [Pinsky:] What? [Catherwood:] By the way, Alaska is just frozen Florida. There is nothing but maniacs up there. [Gonzaga:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Florida with tundra. [Catherwood:] Yes [Pinsky:] All right, Mike. What do you got? [Catherwood:] The drama unfolding on the strong Islands. Staten island, New York. It all centers around boobies and the mafia. A boutique is selling t-shirts called boo bees, and they are marketed for pre-teen girls. And, they featured two bees wearing ghost costumes and their stingers appear to stimulate nipples. The shirt is reportedly angering local parents, but they are afraid to complain because they fear mafia retaliation. [Pinsky:] Oh! [Catherwood:] The boutique is apparently owned by the sister of "Mob Wives" star, Big Ang. [Pinsky:] Big Ang. [Catherwood:] Big Ang. [Pinsky:] Big Ang. Wait. Wait. So, Big Ang`s sister I have been to her bar in Staten Island, called the "Drunken Monkey." I have. You are laughing at me. She was on this show, years ago. [Catherwood:] What did you do? [Pinsky:] I went to visit Big Ang. [Catherwood:] You are a man you are a man of science, what did you do? [Pinsky:] Listen, October is breast cancer awareness month, buddy. Let us get into it. [Catherwood:] All right. Well, a quote from a local parent says, "I am afraid Big Ang may come after me." [Pinsky:] Big Ang will not come after you. [Catherwood:] The store is using the T-shirt to promote breast cancer awareness month. [Pinsky:] There you go. [Catherwood:] And it is donating 10 percent of the sale to the cause. So [Pinsky:] There you go. [Gonzaga:] OK. [Pinsky:] All right, stop right there. [Gonzaga:] Very clever. [Pinsky:] What do you got, Ginger? [Gonzaga:] All right, guys. A crazy bear is running through the malls of Russia and its name is not Vladimir Putin. This is lovely. You know, the bear, he does wanted to get some chilled products. He likes Gap as much as you. He is running through the mall. [Pinsky:] He is in the mall. [Gonzaga:] Adorable. Now, mind you, this is a 2-year-old to 3-year-old bear. So, that makes him a teenager. And, then you guys, he gets out. Everything is happy. We are having a good time. He is going back to the wilderness. He goes oh, wait, no. [Pinsky:] He is fast. [Gonzaga:] Yes. He is on his way home back to where he is supposed to live and then they shoot him. [Pinsky:] No. [Gonzaga:] There they go. They shoot him. [Catherwood:] You knew they would do that. It is Russia. [Gonzaga:] They could have just shot him with, you know, stunt pellets. [Pinsky:] It is a good thing Sam Schacher is not here. She would be sobbing. [Gonzaga:] It is very sad. You know, everyone loves a good bear to the mall video, but not good when it ends up dead. It is Russia! [Pinsky:] Great Russian bear. [Catherwood:] You knew that was coming. You knew they were going to shoot him. [Pinsky:] Next up, I am just thinking of something to say on the heels of that of what we know. [Gonzaga:] The right to "bear" arms? [Pinsky:] X-rated audios blared over a loud speakers at Target. Warning, what is coming up is a graphic audio piece. I know, not for Mike, but for the rest of us. We will get a look at it after this. [Gonzaga:] Yes! [Chief Jim Craft, Louisiana Police:] As quickly as our crime scene processor can get it to us but they have to be, as I said, very slow and deliberate and so that information is slow in coming. So now we've we'll really get into the nuts and bolts of an investigation and trying to put all the pieces together and hopefully we get a picture or more valid profile of who this guy is and why was he here. We know he had some contacts early on in the city with some businesses but, you know, nothing that would have alerted anyone to think maybe we need to call law enforcement about this fellow or anything like that. So it's going to be really slow now. Slow going from this point forward. [Unidentified Reporter:] Do you have a better picture of [Craft:] No, we don't. But we saw some stuff that was posted and we the Fusion Center is helping us get that information so that we can get an accurate picture. We're being very cautious with social media because of the amount of speculation and embellishment that sometimes takes place and of course anything we see on there we're going to have to confirm and make sure it's accurate. [Unidentified Reporter:] Do you know where he purchased the gun that he used? [Craft:] Not yet, but that is in process through the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms focus. [Unidentified Reporter:] Did we know if he had [Craft:] We don't think he applied for one in the state of Louisiana. We're not sure if he had one in the state of Alabama. [Unidentified Reporter:] Did he have a cell phone or laptop? Who, if anybody, did he communicate with? [Craft:] We found some cell phones in the theater. We're not sure if they're his. Cell phones did not have batteries in them and were not functioning. [Unidentified Reporter:] Did the officers that responded, were they on detail at the theater? [Craft:] No, actually the officers that responded were on duty, they just happened to be right here on this property and within 60 seconds or less we had four officers who made entry into the theater to engage. We feel that when he spotted those officers or exited out that door there was a place car parked right there. He retreated back into the theater and that's when he self-inflicted. Melinda, following up on that gun question, I think the concern as investigators is that was he by himself, was somebody else with him? Did somebody else buy the gun? All those things are important. We're trying to pull that together because that is indicative and we've got to look at some other things in this, that's why it's taken a little bit longer to actually find out how what were the particulars in the purchasing and what brought that gun to his possession. A lot of different things that could happen there. [Unidentified Reporter:] How will you determine where he purchased it? [Craft:] We got some information but not everything. Because of the brand of weapon it is, it's more difficult to trace that type of weapon than it is other types. [Unidentified Reporter:] If this were asked already, I apologize. Does the theater have surveillance? How much was reported? How much did that help your investigation? And his demeanor, if he was in [Craft:] The theater does have surveillance. It's near the ticket counter. He walked in just like any other patron, purchased a ticket to watch the movie and it didn't set off any alarms with anybody. He wasn't acting any different than any other person who was in line to get their ticket. [Unidentified Reporter:] Do you have an update on the conditions of the people that were still injured? We haven't gotten any updates. [Craft:] No, we have one in critical condition. We have two who were released and the other folks are still hospitalized. We have not identified those victims just for safety precautions and as soon as they are able to, we will be interviewing them and trying to obtain additional information. [Unidentified Reporter:] Including the person that's critical, how many victims are still in the hospital as we speak? [Craft:] Seven. [Unidentified Reporter:] Out of the 12 that were shot? [Craft:] Yes. [Unidentified Reporter:] Was he pointing the gun at anybody directly or was he just shooting aimlessly into seats at the theater based on witness statements? [Craft:] He did both. Because of the brand. The type of brand. I don't know if ATF wants to release that at this time. [Unidentified Reporter:] So there were 13 shots? They shot 12 bullets and then himself? [Craft:] That's what it would look like. We found 13 shell casings. But as I said the walls are carpeted. That makes it difficult to find bullet holes and other physical evidence so they have to go very slow. They've located at least 13 shell casings thus far. We don't anticipate having another update until later on this afternoon possibly around 5:00 p.m. We have some investigation activities that we need to do and that our crime scene people need to do and finish up so I want to let you all know that our next update will probably be some time around 5:00 p.m. And we will get that word out to you as soon as we decide on any exact time. Thank you. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] All right, I'm Poppy Harlow, this is LEGAL VIEW. I'm in today for Ashleigh Banfield. And I just want to recap for you what we just heard in this press conference held by Lafayette Police Chief Jim Craft. He said there were 300 people in that movie theater at the time of the shooting last night. To update you on the victims, he said one is still in critical condition, two have been released from the hospital, the others are still hospitalized. They are not releasing the names of victims at this point in time, of course. Two people were killed in this tragic shooting. Also 116 people have already been interviewed by the police since this shooting happened just around 7:30 local time last night. They are still searching for a motive. What could have driven this man to carry out this horrific act? They say his car was outside of the movie theater, the keys were on top of the tire, as you know, he had been planning to try to escape but then when authorities approached he went back inside the movie theater and took his own life. The fire alarm was pulled by a true hero after this shooting, alerting authorities to it. There is at this point no indication the authorities have any accomplices that this man was working with at with anyone else. They also gave us a little more detail about his life and what he was experiencing saying his mother had loaned him money to try to pull his life together. In terms of tips and what the authorities are working off of right now, they said they're being very cautious in terms of social media because of all the speculation out there. They are scouring any social presence that he had online for indications. They do say that he did have some contacts in the area, in the Lafayette, Louisiana, area, but nothing that would have alerted police, nothing that would have alerted police to be on the lookout for him. Again, just to recap, the victims right now, one in critical condition, two released from the hospital, the rest are still hospitalized, and those two people were killed in this shooting last night. We continue to follow the developments of this, yet another tragic mass shooting in this country. This one carried out by a middle aged Alabama man that police call a drifter who fired 13 rounds from a handgun in that movie theater last night. John Russel Houser, killing two young women, wounding nine other people, and though police say he apparently intended to flee, he did shoot himself as the officers arrived. He was 59 years old and within the past hour we've learned that he had been treated for mental health issues in 2008. He was also denied a concealed carry permit in 2006 and we've learned that he was evicted from his home in Alabama in March of last year. Police also searching this motel room that he was apparently staying in right there in Lafayette. They found wigs, glasses, other things meant to be a disguise. What they haven't found any indication of yet, though, is a motive or, frankly, why he was there in that city at all. Witnesses say the 7:10 showing of "Train Wreck" was just getting started when he stood up in the theater and he opened fire. Police say two officers happened to be on site at the time. Of course, many others quickly followed. Ambulances arrived in six minutes. [Unidentified Reporter:] Lafayette Police has the Grand 16 on Johnson Street on lockdown. And it's completely barricaded off and there have been multiple people transported via ambulance. [Unidentified Female:] We saw a lady with blood all over her leg. I just grabbed my child and then we just all ran. [Unidentified Male:] We heard three shots. Not very loud but it was definitely three shots, so like what was that. When we walked around to the front of the theater, there was a woman on the foot. She had been shot in the leg. Heard all the sirens and people coming out and chaos, basically. [Gov. Bobby Jindal R-louisiana:] Last night was a hard breaking night. I visited with family members who had rushed to the emergency room hoping and praying to God that it wasn't their loved one, it wasn't their child who had been shot. [Craft:] This is such a senseless, tragic act. Why would you come here and do something like this? [Keith Patin, Lafayette City-parish Councilman:] It's something that we see that happens somewhere else on the national news. [Unidentified Reporter:] Hard to make sense of it, isn't it? And I can see the emotion in your face. [Patin:] Sure is. [Unidentified Female:] How does the happiest place in the world produce somebody so full of, you know, hate and evil to just stand up in a movie theater and start shooting people? What provoked him that he did do that? [Harlow:] And that is absolutely the biggest question any time we see something like this. Why? Why did this happen? What sparked the rampage? Ed Lavandera is live in Lafayette outside of the theater with more and what we're learning to know. I mean, just in the last hour, Ed, we learned a lot more about this man. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, the initial pieces I think that investigators are that will send investigators down a path of trying to piece together this man's life to offer some sort of explanation for the motive in this attack. And what is interesting is just how very little information, even though they were able to quickly identified the gunman here last night in Lafayette, they had very little information. At about 4:30 this morning Central Time they ended up at a motel not too far away from here along Interstate 10 where authorities say that John Russel Houser had started to move into earlier this month. So he hadn't been in the Lafayette area very long but they were searching through there. That's what they talked about finding the wigs and disguises that obviously painted kind of a troubling picture of exactly what this man must have been up to or just trying to piece together just how much planning went into this attack. As you mentioned briefly there at the very beginning we're also from his hometown of Phoenix City, Alabama, which is just across the Georgia border from the city of Columbus, we have details about how he was treated for mental health issues back in 2008 and 2009. In the state of Alabama he had applied for a concealed handgun license which was denied because of an issue with a criminal charge of arson on his background. So clearly a lot of troubling details that are starting to emerge that investigators will be using to piece together the mental health of this gunman and just exactly what kind of details that might be able to offer them in putting together a motive. And one of the things I think I found interesting as well as going back to just how little information they really had about him. And putting out the calls as you heard some of these investigators talk about over the course of the last hour about how they've put owl calls and they've started receiving calls from area businesses and people in the area that have seen him. [Harlow:] Right. [Lavandera:] And we talked to one state police officer who said that one of the things that they'll be doing is going to some of these businesses looking at surveillance video trying to piece together who they were talking to, and what their movements were what his movements were like. [Harlow:] Yes. Absolutely. Ed Lavandera, thank you very much for the reporting. And I just wanted to read all of you some of the posts that have been found online from him on a political web site called "Political Forum." He says in his bio, quote, "believe us, we will be mad max in less than five years." He also writes this about family. "no family is safe in U.S. environment." Again, these are just early stages of the investigation. But as you can see that's sort of contributing to what sort of state of mind he may have been in. Of the two young women who were killed last night, police say one died instantly, the other one passed away at the hospital. CNN's Boris Sanchez here with me with much more on these two young beautiful lives. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Poppy, just such a tragedy. We're learning more about the two victims this morning, 21-year-old Mayci Breaux and 33-year-old Jillian Johnson. We're learning Mayci was from Franklin, a small town about an hour south east of Lafayette. She was at the theater with her boyfriend and officials confirmed to us this morning that they believe she and her boyfriend were sitting directly in front of the shooter before he decided to open fire. You mentioned Mayci died on the scene. Her boyfriend was also shot. He remains in the hospital. Jillian Johnson also shot there. She died at the hospital. She ran a boutique in Lafayette. And we're told she was a lively member of the community, someone who was a musician, had a local band, she ran the boutique with her husband Jason. In all this tragedy, though, some acts of heroism. [Harlow:] Yes. [Sanchez:] Two teachers who were on the scene, Jena Meaux and Ali Martin. One of those women diving in front of the other one, taking a bullet for her friend then running to a fire alarm and pulling the fire alarm trying to alert others. [Harlow:] Right. [Sanchez:] To what was going on. [Harlow:] And that's how the police said today that they learned about it. [Sanchez:] Right. [Harlow:] Thanks to that [Sanchez:] That fire alarm. Law enforcement officials telling us that likely saved plenty of lives in that theater. [Harlow:] That's amazing. All right, Boris, thank you very much. We always learn about those amazing people in situations like this. Coming up after the break, we are going to talk to Cammie Maturo, and she is a friend of both of those hero teachers, one a librarian, one an English teacher, gone far too soon. But we're going to learn more about them next. [Patrick Snell, Cnn World Sport Reporter:] Hi, there. I'm Patrick Snell with your CNN World Sport headlines. It really has been quite the year for British tennis player Andy Murray, he won his second Wimbledon title, added a second Olympic gold in Rio, and now he can proudly having to the New Year as the youngest featured world number one after beating Novak Djokovic Sunday at the ATP World Tour finals in England winning 6-3, 6-4. The Swedish golfer Henrik Stenson Sunday having quite the year too. He won the Open championship in July, he won a silver medal at the Olympics and Sunday was looking to win the European golf procedures and raced to buy crown for the second time in three years. Stenson doing what he had to do then to seal the European Tour Order of Merit after holding up his rival, the 40-year-ol closing with 7 under 65 to seal in his style to keep nearest challenge Danny Willet at bay and another triumphant to add to his 2013 title. And finally, we head to the top of the table in England Premier League a position where you'll now find Chelsea Football Club sitting pretty after the blues reported a slender 1-nil victory at Middleborough on Sunday. The only goal of the game coming just four minutes before the half time break and it came from Diego Costa, the Spaniard's tenth of the season, too. And as it turned out it was enough to send the men from West London home with at all three points at the Riverside Stadium on Sunday. Thanks for joining us. That's a look at your sports headlines. I'm Patrick Snell. [Howell:] Welcome back to CNN Newsroom. I'm George Howell. In India, an investigation is underway in to what caused the deadly train derailment in the northern part of that country. The death toll now stands at 142 people killed in the incident, 14 cars of the 23-car carriage train jumped the tracks early Sunday. Dozens more people were injured and what's become India's deadliest train wreck that happened in six years. CNN's Mallika Kapur is following the story live in Hong Kong this hour. Mallika, good to have you with us. If you could, just explain to our viewers around the world where things stand now when it comes to identifying the dead and also looking to see if there might be other survivors. [Mallika Kapur, Cnn Correspondent:] Authorities are saying that there are no more survivors. They have completed the rescue operation, the area of the train crash has been cleared. And as you mentioned, the death toll, unfortunately, the number is very grim, it is 142 people confirmed dead. Out of those 142 people, they have been able to identify most of the bodies. They have been able to identify 110 victims. This death toll, as high as it is, may continue to rise even further, George, and that's because many more people are in the hospital and being treated for their injuries. We did hear from authorities, 49 people are still in the hospital, some of them are seriously injured, so we won't be surprised if we do see this number of 142 people dead continuing to rise. So, the search and rescue operation has been completed and the death toll at 142. The question now turns to what caused such a horrible train crash to occur in the first place. Now, the junior railway minister he said a few hours ago that on preliminary investigation, it seems it may have been caused by a fracture on the tracks, a formal investigation has been ordered, but at the moment it does look like it could have been caused by a fracture on the tracks, George. [Howell:] Fracture on the tracks. You know, this reminds me just of the issue of transportation infrastructure in India. I think back just a couple of months back to the overpass that collapsed and so many people killed and injured in that situation. And now this train derailment. Talk to us about why these accidents like this train accident why they are so common in India. [Kapur:] Yes. Infrastructure does remain sort of the weakest link in India's growth story. And it's always been a recurring problem, you mentioned the highway, the overpass that collapsed in Kolkata just a few months ago, train accidents, like this, unfortunately are quite common. When you look at India's railway network, though, one of the reasons these train accidents are common is because of the sheer size of the network and also because of how old the network is. But if you look at the sheer size, if you took the tracks that make up India's railway system and you line them up one after the other, it would go around the earth equator one and a half times, that's how big it is. If you looked at the burden on this railway network, imagine the entire population of Australia, 23 million people, that's how many people are moved by the Indian railways every single day, that's a massive burden for this network to bear. And then on top of that, you add the problem of subsidies. Now the Indian railways which is state run has been subsidizing passenger tickets for years. So when you look at the revenue of this railway network, by the time the revenue comes in the chunk of it almost all of it really goes towards just the operational cost, and there was very little left over to use towards modernizing it. And the Indian railway system is in desperate need of an upgrade and it needs to be modernized. Prime Minister Narendra Modi just earlier this year during the budget has earmarked a chunk of money to modernize the Indian railway system so that accidents like this are not repeated again in the future. [Howell:] The great deal of concern, just given how extensive this rail system is, and just the difficulty in making sure that safety, you know, is maintained. Mallika Kapur following the story in Hong Kong. Thank you for your reporting. Moving on now o Dubai where a British woman who went on vacation there could end up in prison after telling police that she was gang raped. The U.K.-based legal advice group says that authorities have charged her with having extramarital sex. CNN's Muhammad Lila is following the story and joins us now live from Dubai this hour. First of all, what do we know so far about this, what are we hearing from the United Kingdom in response? [Muhammad Lila, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, George, we do have the statement from the consulate here in Dubai where the office says that they are providing assistance to this woman and they're hoping that this case can move very quickly through the UAE legal system. A lot of the information that we have on this comes from reporting from this NGO called detained in Dubai. Now they provide legal advice specifically to foreigners who were in cases like this, where they either visited Dubai or they're living here and they've been caught up in Dubai's legal system. And for those who were outside of Dubai's legal system, this clearly comes across as an outrage, in fact, in many ways it's a tourist's worst nightmare. What we're able to gather so far, what we've gleaned from the information is that this woman who was from the U.K. in her 20s was visiting here on vacation, when she reported she had been raped. She took that complaint to the police and she said she had been raped. Now, as part of the police investigating the case, they also turned around and detained the woman, the alleged victim in this case, was detained and her passport was confiscated and she was charged with having sex outside of marriage, which is a criminal violation here in Dubai. And so because her passport has been confiscated, she is now effectively trapped here in the country until this case gets resolved. As far as official comment goes, the Dubai government is not commenting on this, the Dubai police are not commenting on this because it's before the courts. And clearly, what we found here on the ground is that this has become a very sensitive case because it deals with foreigners and it deals with an image that Dubai really may not want to publicize. Dubai is a place of amusement parks and beaches and sky scrapers and business, and all of those other things that draw so many foreigners here. But when you have a case like this that runs counter to that narrative, it's something that people here like to keep under wraps and certainly treat very sensitively. [Howell:] And Muhhamad, when you consider the number of people that travel to Dubai, so many visitors and so many tourists, this is certainly a story that many people around the world will be watching closely. Muhammad Lila, live for us in Dubai, thank you so much for your reporting and we'll stay in touch with you. This is CNN Newsroom. And still ahead, an ice rink in Manhattan built by Donald Trump many years ago, how it's led to his plan to heat up the U.S. economy. Plus, the former French President Nicolas Sarkozy as his comeback at tenth stop. How his own prime minister edged him out. Still ahead. We are live in Atlanta broadcasting around the United States and the world this hour. This is CNN Newsroom. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Three o'clock Eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. We begin with breaking news. This just into CNN. The very first photo of a very grim scene where a Russian jet crashed killing everyone onboard. You can see the absolute devastation there. You are looking at images from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, chunks of debris strewn across the ground the Russian metro jet carrying 224 people slammed into that rocky terrain earlier today. Right now, the victims' remains are being rushed to a more grieving families are waiting in anguish. Authorities have recovered at 130 remains thus far. Russia state media reporting most passengers were returning from vacation. Of course, they were in the resort, part of the Sinai Peninsula, Sharm el-Sheikh filled with resorts, 17 children onboard that flight. Also just into us here at CNN, I can tell you that both of the data recorders, both of those so-called black boxes have been retrieved. That is according to Egypt's civil aviation minister in Cairo. Let's go straight to CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson. He is in St. Petersburg, Russia. Ian Lee is on the ground there in Cairo. Ian, to you first. Look, you've covered this area extensively. What can you tell us at this point about the developments of this early stage of the investigation? [Ian Lee, Cnn International Correspondent:] So, we are getting a lot of new information here, Poppy. I will to go over with you. We do know that the search area has the diameter of about five miles. When you look at these pictures that are coming in now, they were from the Egyptian government, a lot of them are what they show is really the terrain that they are dealing with. Earlier today, we were told by the government that it was a mountainous terrain. And as we can see there, there really aren't many mountains in the nearby facility which will make it easier for rescue crews, really, to go through and try to pick a part what exactly happened and get those bodies. We're hearing from the prime minister that 129 bodies have been recovered so far. They are being brought here to Cairo. And we're learning from the civil aviation minister about the final moments before the crash. He said which contradicted earlier reports that a distress call was issued. He said no distress call was issued by the pilot. That the plane was there one minute and then it disappeared. Now the Egyptian government is saying that no foul play is expected or suspected, rather, at this moment. We're also hearing that this plane underwent a routine check before taking off. And that nothing abnormal from radar as they can see. But those two black boxes very crucial have been recovered, they're on the way to Cairo where analysts will go over them, as well as we're hearing that a team from airbus is going to be coming to Cairo, as well from Russia. So a lot of different people coming in to really try to figure out what caused this tragedy Poppy. [Harlow:] Ian Lee live in Cairo for us tonight. Ian, stay with me. Nic Robertson in St. Petersburg. Nic, I know you just arrived on the scene. You have got these family members of 224 people they thought would be landing in St. Petersburg. What are you seeing around you? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, Poppy. This is where they were arriving through these doors just a few hours ago. They were collecting inside the airport. Now, it's a much more somber picture here now. These flowers are being laid here in tribute while we have been standing here the last few hours. You see the toys at the end there, a man came and laid that white and gray toy the a the end, the flowers people coming in and laying the carnations, the roses here, president Putin has declared a day of national mourning on Sunday. But already those families who gathered in here a little earlier waiting for their loved ones to arrive. They've been taken away to a nearby hotel. The authorities have already sent in 65 psychologists to help work with them. We're told that 100 people, 100 of those family members have met with a psychologist, already getting medical help. Also, the Russian authorities have taken DNA samples from 115 people already. They'll continue that process Sunday morning. And in two- hour's time, the first Russian aircraft will take off on its way to Cairo. We're told it's from the emergency ministry. And it'll be going to Cairo to pick up the first of the bodies and bring them back. So already, the analysis, the early work and beginning to identify the bodies is happening with the families. The grieving process, that is beginning with the families, the government giving psychologists to help them there. And then, of course, the retrieval of the bodies back to Russia here, 214 of the 224 people onboard were Russian. This is being felt deeply here. And this is a small expression of it so far, Poppy. [Harlow:] Nic Robertson in St. Petersburg for us tonight. Thank you very much. More now from our aviation panel. Boeing 777 captain Les Abend is with me. Also with us former FAA safety inspector David Soucie. Thank you, gentlemen, both for being here. I want to get Les, to you first. The civilian aviation minister saying that no distress call is made, and saying quote "there was nothing abnormal before the plane crash. It suddenly disappeared from the radar." As a pilot, what does that tell you? [Les Abend, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Well, you know, I was looking, Poppy, at the flight 24, the radar, the Internet site. And it is very disturbing to me what I found was that the airplane made it all the way up to 33,500 feet, and it attained normal speeds for crews. However, it got to very low air speeds which would indicate a stall, a stall situation. So that says to me the airplane wasn't under control. If you look at the crash site itself, there were big fragments there which would indicate to me the airplane came down in a big piece or possibly broke up prior to hitting the [Harlow:] So let's talk about this brand new video that we just got in from the Sanai peninsula. I mean, absolute devastation. Almost no piece of even the body intact. David Soucie, to you. When you look at these pictures, what does this tell you? [David Soucie, Cnn Safety Analyst:] Well, I'm not certain we're looking at the entire aircraft with these pictures to be honest with you. As Les said, the possibility that it hit in one piece and hit in several pieces. If it hits in more than one area, if there's more than one impact zone, then that means that there was some separation in flight. Too early to tell that right now. But from looking at the pictures, it doesn't look like a complete accident scene to me. There's no evidence of wings. Yet, there's no evidence of extreme burning from the wings either. So it appears to me as though preliminary, of course, that this is not the entire accident site. There are other places where there are pieces of this aircraft. [Harlow:] Les, it is very rare for a plane to have an incident like this in midflight. Usually you've got takeoff and landing is the most, you know, when you see it the most, this is extraordinary rare. But now, Air France and Lufthansa, two major global carriers are coming out and saying they're avoiding flying around this area right now. Does that surprise you? [Abend:] No, I applaud them. You know, they're exercising extreme caution. I mean, we are still at very preliminary stage of this investigation at this point. So, it's hard to say exactly what's happening. You know, Dave will back me up on this. You can't follow any particular path. I mean, we hear a lot. But at this point, you know, listen, if I was an airline like Lufthansa or Air France, I would do exactly what they were doing. I think it is [Harlow:] But why are they doing that? [Abend:] Well, it's possible that there was a missile strike. I doubt it very much from the preliminary reports we are getting. But, why wouldn't they [Harlow:] At 30,000 feet? [Abend:] Well, you know, we bring ourselves back MH17 whether that [Harlow:] Was that that high? [Abend:] Well, it was. I believe it was in the 30s. [Harlow:] OK. [Abend:] So this airplane, like I said, looked like it attained an altitude of 33,500 feet. So it's possible. [Harlow:] David, as we talk about this investigation moving forward, it is in the early stages, but look, you've got the Egyptian government involved because that's where the crash took place. You got the Russian government involved because this is a Russian carrier. You've got France and Germany involve in terms of the BEA. But ultimately who decides what happened here? [Soucie:] Well, at this point, the jurisdiction is being handled by the Egyptian government because IKEA rules said that it because it landed there and that immediate investigation is done by that country. However, because it's a Russian carrier, the Russian civil aviation authority is who will actually conduct that investigation. Now, you need to bring in France because the engine or because the airframe. You need to bring in the United States because of the engines, possibly. I'm not sure which engine this one had. But there is a lot of things to go together in an accident investigation. And that's the responsibility of the investigator in-charge who we don't know who that is at this yet at this point. But we will soon. Especially the fact that we have the two black boxes right now. Those need to be controlled, the custody, the chain of custody, where they go, who handles them. It all needs to be coordinated by the [Iic. Harlow:] Absolutely. And as we just found out in the last few moments, both of those data recorders, the two so-called black boxes have been recovered. Those will provide certainly a lot of answers. Led Abend, David Soucie, thank you very much. Next to politics we go. Jeb Bush was once seen as the possible favorite of the Republican presidential nomination. Now, he is fighting the perception that his campaign is in jeopardy saying it's not on life support. But are his supporters and major donors worried? We will take you live to Iowa next. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Senator Blumenthal said Gorsuch told him he found the president's attacks against the judiciary quote "as disheartening" and quote "demoralizing." Despite Gorsuch's spokesperson confirming that conversation, President Trump said this. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] You have misrepresented his comments totally. [Question:] [OFF-MIKE] ask you what your thoughts were, sir. [Trump:] His comments were misrepresented. [Baldwin:] So, let's first begin with our White House correspondent Athena Jones, because, Athena, listening to Sean Spicer in the briefing he was asked does the president have any regrets over he has characterized his comment about judiciary? And the answer was two letters, wasn't it? [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] That's right, Brooke. No. No regrets. Let's go ahead and play that sound and then talk about it on the other side, that sound from Press Secretary Sean Spicer. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] This is what Senator Ayotte said. Judge Gorsuch had made it very clear in all his discussions with senators, including Senator Blumenthal, that he could not comment on specific cases and that judicial ethics prevent him from commenting on political matters. He has also emphasized the importance of an independent judiciary and while he made clear that he was not referencing any specific case, he said that he finds any criticism of a judge's integrity and independence disheartening and demoralizing. So there's a big difference between commenting on the specific comments that had been made in a tweet and his general philosophy about the judiciary and his respect for his fellow judges. And I think the senator's comments were very clear about how those are two distinct issues. Senator Blumenthal characterized them. He was talking about the tweets and saying that he loses heart. That's not what the judge said. He was making two very complete distinct arguments how he views the comments that he should not be commenting on a political matter or on specific things. But as a whole, he doesn't like attacks in general on the judiciary. It was a very distinct argument that he was making. He was commenting in general about attacks on the judiciary. That was it, plain and simple. [Jones:] So, you heard all of that from the White House press secretary there trying to argue that Gorsuch didn't exactly mean what Republicans, Democrats, and the White House-appointed spokesman for Gorsuch said he meant. There hasn't been an argument made that Gorsuch was talking about the specifics of this case before the Ninth Circuit. He was talking generally about how he feels judges should be treated and not treated, so it was a little odd to hear Sean Spicer trying to argue something different there, Brooke. [Baldwin:] He's in a bit of a pretzel, I think. We will talk about that with my panel in a second. But let me also ask you, also from the Briefing Room from the White House, you have Kellyanne Conway this morning, who said this. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Senior Adviser:] They're using the most prominent woman in Donald Trump's most prominent... [Conway:] And they're using her, who has been a champion for women empowerment, women in the workplace to get to him. So, I think people can see through that. Go buy Ivanka's stuff is what I would tell you. I hate shopping. I'm going to go get some myself. This is just it's a wonderful line. I own some of it. I fully I'm going to just give I'm going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online. [Jones:] A free commercial there. So, two quick things, Brooke. One is the background. Kellyanne Conway, of course, the counselor to the president, was defending the president blasting Nordstrom for its decision to stop selling the Ivanka Trump brand, Nordstrom saying it's because of its sales performance, others suggesting that it's a political reason. So, Kellyanne Conway was on "FOX & Friends" defending that. And then you heard her giving a free commercial to the Ivanka Trump brand. Well, that's an apparent violation of federal law. Any public employee, federal law bars public employees from endorsing any product, service or enterprise for the private gain of friends, relatives or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a non- governmental capacity. So Sean Spicer responded to that. Take a listen to what he said. [Question:] Questions have been raised after Kellyanne Conway did an interview. I believe it was with FOX News this morning, where she appeared to, from the confines of the Brady Briefing Room, promote the products of Ivanka Trump. Do you believe that she crossed an ethical line? [Spicer:] Kellyanne has been counseled. And that's all we're going to go on. She's been counseled on that subject. And that's it. [Jones:] That's it. The White House counselor, the counselor to the president, has been counseled on that subject. That's all that Spicer would say Brooke. [Baldwin:] I love how Jeffrey Toobin was like, that's my new favorite new word, counseled. What does that mean? I'm sure we will find out. [Jones:] Exactly. [Baldwin:] Athena, Athena Jones at the White House, thank you so much. We have so much to talk about with CNN political director David Chalian, CNN political analyst and "USA Today" columnist Kirsten Powers, CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston, and CNN contributor Larry Noble, who is also the general counsel at the government watchdog group Campaign Legal Center. He's also the former general counsel for the FEC. Welcome to everyone. David Chalian, just out of the gate first to you, before I even get into statements and this and that. I thought how you characterized the situation with Neil Gorsuch and senators and the White House and Trump was brilliant. Talk to me about how Sean Spicer today in the briefing would have had to pull off some sort of Jedi linguistics to dig himself out of this. [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] I just think he was in a terribly tough situation, because he's trying to square what his own fellow colleagues at the White House put together as a strategy for Gorsuch to go to the Hill and let this be known, that he believes in an independent judiciary and sort of separate himself from the president's tweets. He had to square that with his boss, the president, who tweeted out that somehow it was mischaracterized, despite the fact that his own White House team had confirmed these events. That's just an impossible situation for Sean Spicer to be in and it just didn't serve him very well to try to perform all those contortions. That being said, I really thought this was a very smart strategy on the part of the White House to send Gorsuch up there with this separation, and I think it is very welcome words for Democratic senators to hear. And as they're trying to build a coalition of 60 senators and, as you know, they only have 52 Republicans to me, it was a pretty wise move. It is just that President Trump kind of undermined it with his tweet this morning. [Baldwin:] Kirsten, what do you think? [Kirsten Powers, Cnn Commentator:] I think what they were trying to do here was a little bit of a wink and a nod. And the point of the Ayotte statement, as I have been told by people who are working on the confirmation, that what it was meant to be was a clarification. [Baldwin:] Let me just jump in. Let me read it, because we have it. And I don't know if everyone has seen this. This is Senator Ayotte. She said: "Judge Gorsuch has made it very clear in all his discussions with his senators, including Senator Blumenthal, that he could not comment on any specific cases and that judicial ethics prevent him commenting on political matters. He also emphasized the importance of an independent judiciary. And while he made clear that he was not referring to any specific case, he said that he finds any criticism of a judge's integrity and independence disheartening and demoralizing." Go ahead, Kirsten. [Powers:] Right. That was meant to be not a confirmation of what Senator Blumenthal said, I'm told, but a clarification of what he said. I think it's really hard to a lot of people, it's a distinction without a difference because it sounds like they're saying the same thing. But here what they're basically saying is that he was making a general statement and he wasn't talking about President Trump. But let's just take that at face value and say that's true. It would still apply, right? If he makes the statement that it's disheartening and demoralizing, then you could apply that to what Donald Trump has done. It may be true that he didn't specifically say it about the specific tweets, but he certainly made a general statement that would apply to what President Trump did. [Baldwin:] And to David's point, Maeve, the notion that this could have in the end really benefited maybe not necessarily the White House, but Neil Gorsuch, in the sense that Democrats are seeing they need the magic number of 60 Democrats for that nomination Democrats are seeing, all right, this is a guy who might stand up to the president of the United States, which could help him officially make it to the highest court of the land. [Maeve Reston, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Right. I had exactly the same thought yesterday, that this was really smart strategy by the White House. Usually, the handlers for a Supreme Court nominee would not be that specific, as they were with our reporters yesterday, about what Judge Gorsuch had been talking about in these talks with senators. [Baldwin:] They confirmed it. [Reston:] They confirmed it. Jeremy Diamond got them to confirm it was exactly about the so-called judge tweet. So I think there's not any confusion on that matter there and it's just curious that Trump would draw more attention to this, unless that's a deliberate strategy on his part to keep us all talking about it and potentially get some more Democrats thinking about Judge Gorsuch. [Baldwin:] Larry, I promise I'm going to come back to you on this Ivanka-Kellyanne stuff. But, David, just looping back and I know someone brought this up potential precedence for a president clashing with judicial, we remember back to 2010, President Obama, State of the Union, when he criticized the justices in the chamber for their ruling allowing corporations to spend freely and influence elections, the Citizens United case. So, I remember State of the Union and you saw Justice Alito mouthing something like not true. But is that a fair comparison in this case? [Chalian:] Right. I think our history is littered with examples of presidents complaining about court decisions, like President Obama did there. And that got a ton of coverage when that was really awkward, seemed like a breach of protocol kind of moment that the president did that. And as you said, we saw Justice Alito's words mouthed there. But you could find tons of examples of where presidents disagree with the courts and say so about a decision. That's different than the president tweeting and saying so-called judge, or if something bad happens, blame him. This was about sort of overstepping that co-equal branch thing even before there's a decision about sort of going after the members of the judiciary itself. [Baldwin:] This is something perhaps he's been very comfortable with in being litigious in his private life, but it's a very different ball game when you're sitting in the Oval Office. Larry, to you on what Kellyanne Conway said this morning on FOX News, essentially this commercial for Ivanka trump's brand. Bottom line, did she break the law? [Larry Noble, Cnn Contributor:] Yes, the bottom line she did break the law. The law prohibits a government employee from promoting a product using government resources. She was in a government office. She was in a government position. And it wasn't even subtle. She said I'm advertising for the product. So this was a clear violation of the law. The problem now is, they seem to have admitted that by saying she's been counseled, but they won't tell us what she's been counseled on. They won't tell us if any action has been taken. So we don't really know if they get what the problem is. [Baldwin:] What's the ramification of this kind of thing? [Noble:] That's a good question. It's first up to the White House to decide what the ramification is, because she because they're her boss. And the ramification can be a letter of reprimand. It could be a suspension. It could be firing. That's what would happen to a normal government employee. But we don't know that in fact what the counseling was. What was she counseled? Was she counseled be more subtle next time? Was she counseled to do it more often? Do they understand that this is a problem? We have to actually bring it back from the day before, when President Trump took on Nordstrom's for dropping her line. [Baldwin:] And retweeted it from the POTUS Twitter page. [Noble:] Yes. And he's not subject to this law. But it just shows a lack of understanding of a line between what the government does and his private businesses. And this just carries through. And Kellyanne Conway did it, but she is subject to these laws. This is something that is not going to end here. If they don't get what's going on or why this is important, then they're going to continue to do it. And just telling us to effectively trust them that she's been counseled doesn't really give us a lot of faith. [Baldwin:] Kirsten, what do you think? Can you think of anything that has happened in the past that we could draw upon or how any possible ramification for this, breaking the law? [Powers:] I think there's a zero percent chance that Kellyanne didn't know that there would a conflict there. Kellyanne has been in Washington for as long as I can remember. She knows her way around very well. I think it was a intentionally provocative act. I don't think this law, as I understand it, has a lot of teeth. So, probably, she's willing to take the reprimand. And, again, you don't know. You can't get to people's intentions, but willing to take the reprimand to be able to do what she said. And I'm sure it made her boss very, very happy. Of course, he loves his daughter very much and is very protective of her. And I think this was something that she will get a slap on the wrist for. Perhaps if she did it again, she will get in more trouble, but I don't think there's a lot that can be done from a legal standpoint over one infraction. [Baldwin:] It was the Bowling Green massacre issue, which she came on with Jake for what was that, 25-minute interview and mea culpa, but then it was this. And even throw in Sean Spicer misstating I think it was three times the Orlando massacre. He kept saying Atlanta. Maeve, it's not been a great week. [Reston:] No, not a good week. I think a lot of people are watching the last couple of weeks and how quickly the Trump administration has moved on all of these executive orders. You have got protests in the streets. And now the spokesman and the counselor to the president really getting tripped up on their words. I think a lot of Republicans are watching this and distancing themselves a bit. We have already seen that today, for example, from Jason Chaffetz on Kellyanne Conway's comments. It's going to be interesting to watch what happens here. [Baldwin:] I thought Dana Bash I will just end with this made such an excellent point sort of juxtaposing the decorum on Capitol Hill, for the most part, and then just the opposite down the street at the White House, and her word was whiplash. Thank you all very, very much. We have more to talk about, coming up another, big headline out of the White House. President Trump sparring with Senator John McCain over that deadly U.S. raid in Yemen that of course included the tragic death of a Navy SEAL. Senator McCain has not at all sat quiet on this one, questioning why the White House labeled the raid as a "success." I have two military veterans who will join me to discuss this. We will be right back. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Right now the United States and its allies are stepping up the fight against ISIS. Militia groups backed by U.S. special ops have launched the push on the ground inside Syria. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is with me right now. What are you hearing, Jim? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, the effects of U.S. forces on the ground in Syria being felt very quickly. We've seen them very close to the ISIS capital of Raqqa along with Kurdish forces there and now with Syrian and Kurdish forces along the border with Turkey, arguably an equally important target, the main entry point for fighters into Syria for ISIS. [Sciutto:] These are U.S. backed Syrian forces taking on ISIS in a critical new offensive. The target, the area that of Manbij, ISIS'critical supply route to get arms and fighters into Syria and terrorists into Europe. [Col. Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] Once you cut off the supply line that ISIS has, you then make it very hard for ISIS to sustain its recruitment efforts, its current force levels, and its ability to carry out attacks. [Sciutto:] Some 4,000 Kurdish and Arab forces are joining the fight, backed by U.S. special forces. The offensive is part of a larger strategy to isolate the terror group in preparation for retaking ISIS'capital in Raqqa. U.S. special forces, seen here in rare video, are now embedded with Kurdish forces on Raqqa's doorstep. [Leighton:] The special forces that are working with Kurdish and Free Syrian Army and the similar organizations are basically teaching them how to stand and fight as well as providing them with the tactical wherewithal and how to actually prosecute these kinds of counter insurgency campaigns. [Sciutto:] ISIS is under attack in Iraq as well, where Iraqi forces are in the midst of a massive assault to re-take the city of Fallujah just west to the capital of Baghdad. The forces are potentially precarious combination of Iraqi military units, Shiite militias, U.S. air power and Iranian forces. With reports that the commander of Iran's Quds forces is on the ground near the front lines. With this new operation along Syria's border with Turkey, one coalition partner extremely uncomfortable with it, and that is Turkey. Wolf, as you know, Turkey considers these Kurdish fighters terrorist organization tied to the PKK, terrorist organization inside of Turkey. Part of the deal with this offensive is that as soon as ISIS forces are cleared from this key border crossing, those Kurdish forces will leave that area. It's hard to see how that happens quickly. It creates a huge sensitivity with America's allies. [Blitzer:] Yes. And with this Iranian leader, Qasem Soleimani, in Iraq right now, that's another serious issue that the U.S. has to obscure [Sciutto:] Strange bedfellows. Yes. [Blitzer:] It certainly is. All right. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. Faint signals from the depth of the Mediterranean are giving new hope right now to searchers desperately hunting for the black boxes from that downed EgyptAir flight. Our aviation correspondent Rene Marsh has been looking into all of this. Rene, dramatic developments. What's the latest? [Rene Marsh, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Wolf, a critical break in the search for EgyptAir Flight 804. Investigators have confirmed they detected signals from the plane's black boxes. This potentially brings them one step closer to unraveling exactly what caused the crash. [Marsh:] Distinct sounds coming from the floor of the Mediterranean Sea could lead investigators to the first substantial clues to what happened to EgyptAir Flight 804. So far searchers have only retrieved scattered aircraft debris and human remains, not the main body of the plane. But a French naval ship with three underwater listening devices detected sounds investigators say belonged to the cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder of the Airbus 320. That is a sample of what signals from black boxes sound like. Inside those boxes investigators hope to find answers to what brought down the plane. [Sarah Mccomb, Ntsb:] So these are the four different channels from a cockpit voice recorder. First officer's mic and one from a potentially if there's a third crew member. And then we also have the cockpit area microphone. [Marsh:] Sarah McComb runs the recorder lab at the NTSB. The agency is not a part of the investigation but is world renowned from its expertise in analyzing black boxes. This is the room where investigators listen to cockpit voice recorder audio. [Mccomb:] We certainly try to identify anybody who is speaking within the cockpit and whether or not that's another crew member from the back of the airplane who possibly comes in. And we all try and document any other sounds that the group can identify as part of normal cockpit operations. [Marsh:] Other sounds like a potential explosion. [Mccomb:] And listen to the recordings and then with the group around the table be able to start typing as the group agrees on what they're hearing and factually type the transcript of the recording. [Marsh:] That's one piece of the puzzle, the other is the data recorder which will detail the plane's altitude, speed, and how its systems were working. Together, the information is a huge part of the puzzle. EgyptAir Flight 804 from Paris to Cairo was at 37,000 feet when it lost contact above the Mediterranean early May 19th. Shortly before the aircraft was scheduled to exit Greek air space and enter Egyptian air space. It is still unknown whether a bomb or a catastrophic mechanical failure caused the plane to crash, killing all 66 people on board. To date, no terror group has claimed responsibility for bringing the plane down. And when the black boxes are retrieved, they'll be brought to Egypt. It is not sure if Egypt will ask another country for help in reading them out but the French aviation accident investigators say a specialized ship will be sent to the search zone next week with equipment to retrieve the black boxes. And Wolf, once they have them, it just takes a matter of days for them to download the information. [Blitzer:] All right, Rene. Thank you. Coming up, court papers bring fresh scrutiny to Trump University which former staffers say was a fraudulent scheme to prey on the elderly and uneducated. Donald Trump shrugs off the lawsuit but Hillary Clinton says Trump is using the same approach to, quote, "scam America." [Cloud Chief Of Police:] And I will defer some of those to the lead investigator on this case, Lieutenant Lori Elleri. So feel free if you [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] All right, sorry. But we lost that signal out of St. Cloud, Minnesota. But you heard there, the press conference unfolding, describing that there are now nine victims, stabbing victims, when this man who they are not yet ready to reveal the identity of, simply walked into a shopping mall in St. Cloud about 80 miles outside of Minneapolis, Minnesota and started stabbing people. Nine victims in all, two women, ages 15 and 50. Seven men ranging in ages of 20 and 53. There was no elaboration from authorities there as to the security, private security firm uniform, that was earlier reported, that this stabber was wearing. But we do know that investigators have said they have now found the vehicle that was parked in that shopping mall. They have looked through it and of course they have search warrants for at least one address. Let's talk more about this with my returning panel. Evan Perez is joining us out of Washington DC. Art Roderick, Matthew Horace, Shimon Prokupecz and Paul Cruickshank all with me now. All right. Let's talk about what we heard and what we didn't hear here. So Sir Matthew, we heard from investigators there that it's quite clear, this off-duty police officer really prevented the or saved the live of many by unloading on this stabber, he just indiscriminately walked around and stabbed nine people. What more needs to be determined in this investigation in order to figure out the motivation behind this assailant? [Matthew Horace, Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well I think the chief mentioned that they had done a couple of search warrants and there maybe many more to come. They're going to be checking social media, trying to determine what the suspect was communicating, who he was communicating to, who he was communicating with and what they were planning? And in the most recent cases, we've always going back and reviewed cell phone record, Twitter, other social media and it seems like they usually leave a path on social media. So that will be the first thing that they're focused on today. [Whitfield:] No further comment, Paul Cruickshank on ISIS claiming that this man was a soldier of the Islamic State. Obviously, investigators are going to look further into that but how will they be able to determine whether he was a lone wolf so to speak, whether indeed he was trained, directed by ISIS? Why ISIS would want to take credit for this? [Paul Cruickshank, Terrorism Analyst:] well, they're going first of all look, is he radicalized? Has he got a network of radical contacts? We already heard about that they will be going through all the social media history of this individual but the ISIS affiliated news agency, Amaq, just in the past few hours claiming that he was a soldier of the Islamic State answering their call for followers in the west to launch attacks. And just recently, one of their top commanders instructed followers to stay home, rather than travel to Syria and Iraq, stay home to launch attacks. But ISIS offering no proof that he was following their orders. They may be just opportunistic here, seizing on early media reports that he supposed to have said, "Allah" that he perhaps asked the religion whether they were Muslim, some of his victims or it might be that they do have some information that he reached out to them before giving them some confidence to claim that he was inspired by them. But ISIS are not saying he was recruited in Syria and Iraq and sent back. We got to make that make that distinction very, very clear. That just saying that he was inspired by their cause. [Whitfield:] OK. And Art, what are you hearing in this press conference that elicits more information for you as to whether indeed it looks like we're going to take you right back to St. Cloud there because they're now taking some questions. So let's listen in to what's being said here. [Dave Kleis, St.cloud Mayor:] prevented additional injuries and potential loss of life through his or her rouge action. [Unidentified Male:] Can you describe what you see in that video? [Kleis:] In that video, what I've seen in that video is the suspect is entering with carrying a knife into Macy's and that's where the video that I had an opportunity to see last night. Clearly, he has knives in his a knife in hand. You can certainly see the officer, Officer Faulkner, when he came in, clearly and from witnesses say, you can't hear the audio in video, but what I've heard from witnesses, he identified himself as a police officer. And asked him to you could actually see him going down by command and then immediately lunging towards the officer. And this is something, somebody, you know, I'm a layperson to law enforcement, but in witnessing, what may have been 20 feet or beyond covered in less than two seconds with the knife. So you saw him lunge at the police officer. The officer then fired a few rounds. You see him fall. And then you see him get back up. Again, fired upon, you see him fall. You see him get back up. Three times. And then even after that, to the point where he still was attempting to get back up again within the officer with fatal blow but and then you also see our officers, St. Cloud PD, entering the scene at that moment. [Unidentified Male:] Can you describe the knife, was it a large knife, a small knife or definitely a knife? [Kleis:] It was definitely a knife. You know, I would, from my vantage point, would be certainly something that would be more of a kitchen type knife that took away. Certainly, the type of knife that created injuries on nine individuals so it didn't really matter what the size of it, it was a knife that was dangerous and caused a significant amount of injury to a lot of people. [Unidentified Male:] How much distance was it at the end of [inaudible] ball park on the distance to did he get close enough to the person that [Kleis:] You know, I'm watching the video so what I see is, what I can look at, it looks like 20 feet from the first lunge and in each one getting closer, even to the point where close enough that the officer actually was almost to the point of falling backwards, he was that close if not there's clearly, clearly, the officer's life was clearly in danger and he made to me, in watching it, it looks like a training video for law enforcement, what law enforcement should do. Clearly, he made a decision. And if not for him being there, clearly, this would have been much worse than it was. [Unidentified Male:] And the officer [inaudible] he has some background in [inaudible]? [Kleis:] My understanding, he does. [Anderson:] a couple more questions, folks. And then at the conclusion of this, briefing, we will continue to disseminate information the old fashioned way, via our media releases. And so, if there's a need for us to convene you again, we will give you ample time to get here so. [Unidentified Male:] Was the [inaudible]? [Anderson:] Not to my knowledge. [Unidentified Female:] [Inaudible] show that he was carrying a bag [inaudible] carrying it inside the mall? [Anderson:] The video shows exactly what the mayor said. He's wielding a knife. And he closed the distance on that officer in the blink of an eye. [Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible] inside that all of suspects [inaudible] may have been living in our community or have you had contact with them in the past or [inaudible]? [Anderson:] We have had minor contact group. I believe we have three in-house contacts with this individual, nothing more serious than traffic violations thus far. How long this individual has lived in St. Cloud, I don't know that yet. [Unidentified Female:] Anything with the FBI? [Anderson:] I would refer that to the [Fbi. Richard Thornton, Fbi Special Agent In Charge:] So, at this early stage in the investigation, I'm not going to comment on that. You know, part of our process, again, is searching, you know, the entire repository of databases on, what we know about somebody, to include immigration records if they're applicable to include. Yes, as you mention, you have terrorism watch records, our own internal databases, criminal databases, that's an ongoing process. It just takes a little time to, you know, to kind of put together a definitive package on that. So I don't want to comment prematurely. [Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible] question about kind of [inaudible] terrorism aspect that you're looking, what initially [inaudible] in looking at [inaudible]? ANDERSON Well, first of all, there's a certain amount of irony given what else happened yesterday. Again, we don't know that there's any nexus between these events but that's a good start right there. One more question, you guys. What was the age of the suspect? [Anderson:] Not releasing any information about the suspect right now. We're deferring to the medical examiner on that. [Unidentified Male:] Yesterday's comments about what the suspect may have said in relation to Allah and in relation to asking people if they were possibly Muslim, can you clarify exactly what has been [inaudible]? [Anderson:] No. That's exactly it. That's all I know right now. I suspect I will get another briefing after we are done here. But what I said yesterday is all I know for right now that there was at least one victim who was asked if they were Muslim. And beyond that, I don't have any more information on that right now. [Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible] a guard at the mall [inaudible] has a gun. [Anderson:] To our knowledge, the suspect was not an employee of the mall. Suspect did have on a private security uniform and, again, we're in the process of figuring out if the suspect was actually an employee of private security firm or former employee or what. That's all I got you guys. Right now, unless, the mayor want to add something. [Kleis:] I just want to, just again, reiterate the response and I want to thank not only, you know, again, the St. Cloud PD, the FBI, the BCA, the other law enforcement in our area, our St. Cloud Fire Department, the Gold Cross, the ambulance, the EMTs and all the folks at a crossroads that came to here tremendously a rapid response, their efforts [Whitfield:] All right: Once again, we just lost that signal there out of St. Cloud, Minnesota but once again, we're not hearing a name, the identity of this now dead suspect, someone who stabbed nine people in a shopping mall there in St. Cloud, Minnesota just about 80 miles or so outside of Minneapolis. We also did hear a little bit more information from the heroism of the off-duty police officer who helped prevent anymore serious injury of the people there. He was described by the police chief and the mayor there. He saw this suspect stabbing victims in the shopping mall. He identified himself as a police officer. And then that suspect then lunged at him. And the mayor descried that three times, even after being shot by the off- duty police officer, that suspect lunge at him, tried to get back up and that he was using, in the words of the mayor there, it appeared to be a kitchen knife. Let me bring back my panel now to talk more about what we just heard about all that transpired in St. Cloud, Minnesota. One investigators are willing to share with us right now, Evan Perez in Washington, DC. Art Roderick, Mathew Horace, Shimon Prokupecz and Paul Cruickshank. All right. Welcome back to all of you. So, Art, let me go to you first. Because the mayor said it seemed insignificant, perhaps not important about the specificity of the knife, but perhaps learning more about the knife, the weapon used here, might be able to tell a little bit more about the sequence of events leading up to this. What other kind of information will investigators try to learn about this suspect? [Art Roderick, Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, I mean, where was he employed? Is he actually a security guard? I mean, as I have mentioned before, I think Bob had mentioned earlier too that this tactic, this stabbing tactic, was used over in the Middle East quite a bit and then Europe, where they couldn't get to a handgun or couldn't obtain weapon, so, where do they go? Well, they go to a knife. Where the knife come from? I think who has he associated with, where's his family members? I think Matt had mentioned something about the social media aspect of it, which is very key as to determining if he's been in touched with over the internet, been looking at Web Sites for inspiration or what were his associates right there in St. Cloud, Minnesota. Is he from the area there? How long has he lived there? So they've got a lot of information to go on and luckily enough, because Officer Faulkner's actions, they can now go back and take their time at piecing this together because you don't have an act of threat here because of Officer Faulkner's heroic actions in the particular event. [Whitfield:] This off-duty officer, Jason Faulkner, he's a part-time officer in nearby Avon, there's a former police chief of the Albany Police Force and you heard the mayor there say that he prevented loss of life. A pretty extraordinary instincts and his training really kicking in. The mayor even saying this really should be training video used here. So, incredible policing on the part of this part-time police officer. What more are you hoping to, you know, hear about the suspect, the motivation, what the inspiration, especially after ISIS claiming some responsibility that he's a soldier of [Isis. Horace:] Over the next several days, investigators are going to be working to validate or invalidate all that information. I still think this was an incredible act law enforcement bravery. And just like the chief said, exactly what we're trained to do, engage that suspect. He saved lives by his quick and decisive action. Amazing. [Whitfield:] Paul. [Cruickshank:] Yes. I mean, and just imagine if this perpetrator had a gun. I mean we could have been talking about an Orlando sort of sized event. I mean law enforcement have been very scared about exactly this kind of scenario, a shopping mall in middle America. I mean that's an attack on the everyday life of a lot of people here in the United States. But it's not clear at this point of the motivation whether this guy was motivated somehow by some kind of Islamist ideology or some completely different ideology or there's another set of explanations linked to mental health or so on. The authorities have really not revealed much at this point. [Whitfield:] All right. The police chief only really touching on the earlier reports that this suspect asked if you're a christian or if you're Muslim to at least one of the victims and even in the name of Allah, stabbing one of the victims. [Cruickshank:] Yes. And we've seen that in terrorist attacks from other groups in Africa, in the middle east before, where they've tried to single out non-Muslims and actually separated them out. So that remains to be seen if he was motivated by Islamist ideology. Certainly, on the face of it, according to those eye-witness reports, you kind of going in that sort of direction. [Whitfield:] Okay. [Horace:] I think from a law enforcement perspective though, we really don't care what the motivation is. When things come down to that level of violence, we're going to take the action and we're going to do it swiftly and that's exactly what you saw happened here today. [Whitfield:] All right. So, we're going to continue our conversation a moment. We also want to talk about the commonalities or lack thereof, whether this is purely coincidence to be investigating an incident that unfolded there in Minneapolis and now New York authorities and New Jersey authorities also investigating incidents so we're going to come right back and we will have discussion about all of those things. [Cuomo:] All right. Donald Trump has a lot of businesses in and a lot of different countries. That raises concerns about potential conflicts of interest between those dealings and his duties as president. Trump and his transition team says no laws are being broken. That's probably true because there are like no laws that apply here. This is about ethical standards. And as our new CNN poll shows, 59 percent of Americans do not think Trump is doing enough to prevent conflicts of interest as president. Let's discuss with CNN's senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Jeffrey Toobin. Always a pleasure, my brother. Now, a little bit of irony in here, he was crushing Clinton during the campaign about perceived conflicts of interest, and now we are dealing with a situation where we don't even know what we don't know. He has disclosed almost nothing about conflicts. How does this size up legally, ethically? [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] Well, I think it is, at this point, much more of a political issue than a legal issue, because, you said, every president in modern American history has put their assets in what's called a blind trust so that they don't even know what their assets are so they can't, you know, act to favor them. That's a tradition. It is not a law. There is no law requiring presidents to put an asset in a trust. [Cuomo:] It's also very traditionally easy, because we're talking about securities usually. They put them in a trust, they put them in a legal vehicle, so whoever is investing them does it on their own and you don't know. That's not his scenario. I don't know that a blind trust would work. [Toobin:] Well, the only way it would work is if you simply sold the whole company and then put the money in stocks or bonds, or something like that, which he said from the very beginning of the campaign, he was not going to do. But now that he's becoming president, the nature of the conflicts are becoming obvious. I mean, let's just talk about one thing. You know, he had a meeting with the prime minister of Japan. Ivanka is sitting right there. Ivanka is going to be one of the people managing the company. [Cuomo:] The poll also shows overwhelmingly the majority of Americans do not think the kids should be having a hand in the business and in the government. They shouldn't even have the security clearances, which is debatable. [Toobin:] But again, he promised that they were going to have a hand in the business and they were close advisers to him. So, his position is, look, I ran for president, openly saying this is what's going to happen. I won, so in effect, it's all grandfathered in. But now, it's becoming clear just how intertwined the business and the government are going to be. [Cuomo:] The allegations that foreign representatives are staying at the Trump hotel in D.C. and that there's some kind of encouragement of that, that he met with some of his Indian partners as part of his transition meetings about what's going on abroad. What's your read on these in terms of obvious conflict? [Toobin:] The hotel thing seems very minor to me. So what? You're talking about hotel rooms. The much bigger issue is, I think, what about his investments abroad? If he owes money, we think, to foreign banks, to sovereign funds, there you know, if you were negotiating with Russia and you owe Russia money, that's that is a position of real peril. It also goes back to the whole tax return issue. Because he never released his tax return, we don't know exactly. [Cuomo:] And his guy said he will not change his answer going forward. Every year, as you may or may not know, presidents put our their taxes and they get reviewed by all of us. We look at what they have. He's not going to do it. [Toobin:] Can I make a prediction? Those of us in the news business after this election shouldn't be making many predictions. We are never going to see those tax returns. Remember he said, it's going to be on when it's we are never going to see his tax returns. [Cuomo:] Do you think anybody can compel Trump to make more of his business dealings public, even if only to some congressional committee so that they ca get some comfort about who the guy is doing business with? I mean, on one level, it is a little absurd that nobody knows who his business dealings are with. It's a little absurd for president of the United States. It never happened before. [Toobin:] It is unprecedented, as you point out. But, I mean, remember, this is a political matter. You're talking about a House and Senate that are completely in Republican hands. They're partners with Donald Trump. You know, barring some sensational disclosure that we have not yet seen, what are the chances that the House Judiciary Committee, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which are partners with Donald Trump, are going to start insisting that he'd be more transparent. I mean, it just seems extremely unlikely to me. They're the only ones who remotely have the chance of doing it. The Democrats have no power to do it. [Cuomo:] The irony that he got so much currency during the campaign for crushing Clinton about the foundation and the money making and perceptions of conflict of interest that were vetted in large part by the FBI. Nothing every came from it. And with this man, we know nothing about it. [Toobin:] And, by the way, the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, he has never repudiated the idea that he's going to continue to investigate and perhaps even prosecute Hillary Clinton. [Cuomo:] Right. They're supposedly that's going away. [Toobin:] Supposedly? Do you think Jeff Sessions is desperate [Cuomo:] No, but there's word coming out of his transition it's not going to happen. You're right, we need official word. Let me ask you something while I have you here. Constitutional convention. You need two-thirds of the state legislatures to do it. You now have 32 of the state legislatures Republican. You need 34 to have two-thirds of 50. Do you think there's any chance that the Republicans get together from the state legislature base and have a constitutional convention, and if so, what could they change? [Toobin:] Well, the second question is t. What could they change? They could change the whole Constitution. I think there is a lot to worry about and be concerned about in this country. A constitutional convention is not one of them. [Cuomo:] Even though they're only two legislatures away? [Toobin:] You know, there are legal questions about whether each of those calls is actually binding because they have happened over many years. When you look at the fact that we have not had a constitutional convention since the first one in the 18th century, I think leaving the Constitution as it is, is a widely popular position. If you want to amend it, there is an amendment process. There had been [Cuomo:] That's hard because you have to go through Congress. [Toobin:] That's true. I just don't think we're going to have a constitutional convention. [Cuomo:] Only one convention [Toobin:] But another prediction [Cuomo:] Please? [Toobin:] I could be wrong. [Cuomo:] Only one convention, 27 different amendments. Jeffrey, thank you so much. [Toobin:] Yes, sir. All righty now. [Cuomo:] A lot of news coming out of transition committee, coming out of events around this country that we need to tell you about. Let's get to it. [Trump:] I want the next generation and production and innovation to happen right here on our great homeland, America. [Isa Soares:] Markets edge higher, and the winning streak continues on Wall Street this Monday, the 12th of October. Tonight, a $67 billion gamble. Dell seals the biggest tech deal in history. Plus, Christine Lagarde tells us difficult times may be ahead. And a price for tackling poverty. I'll speak to the winner of the Nobel Prize for Economics 2015. I'm Isa Soares, and like Richard, I too mean business. A very good evening to you. Tonight, Dell is getting itself an upgrade. The PC manufacturer has agreed to buy corporate data storage firm EMC. It is the biggest tech deal of all time, and it's worth $67 billion. By linking up with EMC, Dell is transforming itself from a PC and server maker to an IT service provider and will get its hands on EMC's 80 percent stake in VMware. And VMware's software helps companies use their servers, basically, more efficiently. EMC also owns security firm RSA and Pivotal, which specializes in data analysis and Cloud computing. Well Dell, it seems, is not alone in refocusing on the enterprise markets. HP, IBM, and Cisco, they've all made similar moves. They're all facing pressure from Cloud providers, as you well know, like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, as companies move to the Cloud rather than building their own data centers. Well, let's put all of this into perspective. Joining me now is our business correspondent Samuel Burke. And Sam, before we talk about the significance of this deal, let's talk a bit about EMC. What exactly do they do? Because to be honest, many people have never heard of them. [Samuel Burke, Cnn Business Correspondent:] So many people. All you really need to know about this deal is that a big name came in with some really big money [Soares:] Yes. [Burke:] and is getting big data. It's all about the big data, and if you just break it up into four different parts, that really shows what EMC is. So, on the one hand, you have data storage, Cloud computing, that's what we all call it. So, storing, whether it's emails, files. Then you have security software, and you know I'm doing reports on hacking almost every day, it feels like. So, security software brings in a lot of money these days. Then you have virtualization software. Don't think about virtual reality. It's not that. It's all the things that you used to do in real life, like meeting with face-to-face with people, making that all through conference calls, video conference calls. And then data analysis. If you're storing all this data, if you're tracking all this data, a company like EMC has to do the analysis of it. Those are the four major parts that Dell is getting in this gigantic deal. [Soares:] But looking at this, looking at the breakdown, if this deal's approved, Samuel, this looks very different from the Dell that you and I know, that you and I grew up with. But really, what it shows is Dell has no choice but to move because sales computer sales they're down, aren't they? [Burke:] This is going to be a completely different company. Just before we came on set, you and I were looking at the numbers for the market share when it comes to personal computers. Dell has just over 10 percent. Completely different from how they started. But let's just go back a little bit so we can figure out how we got here. Back in 1984, Michael Dell founds the Dell company. At that time, he's a student at the University of Texas at Austin, so he's trying to make a computer that can really compete with the IBMs that are the king of their time. Then in 1996, Dell begins selling computers via a website. That was revolutionary for its time. And eventually become very big with commercials like these. [Unidentified Male:] Getting a Dell is so easy. All you've got to do is call or go online, and the Dell folks will help you build the computer that's right for you. Yes, a Dell desktop for $799 or Notebook for $1149. Well, don't just sit there. At these prices, you can get a Dell with what you find right here. Dude, you're getting a Dell. [Burke:] Isa, I remember thinking how cool that guy was, and he could order a computer right from his couch using a computer. I remember for the first time buying a laptop over a website and you could customize it. But let's just get back to that timeline. In the year 2000, that's really when Dell peaked. It had a peak share price of $51. But then, you remember, the tech burst the tech bubble burst, and then by 2013, Dell goes private just under $14 a share. [Soares:] What is quite a corporate career, isn't it, right there? I've got a quote, though, from an analyst that really struck me. He says "Dell wants to become the old IBM corp" you mention it there "one-stop shop for corporate clients. That model fell apart a couple of decades ago. Reviving it would be a stunning coup for Dell." I mean, it's a lot of money, so does this make strategic sense here? [Burke:] Well, it's a huge amount of money, but they paid and yes, they paid a premium for the stock, but only 28 percent more than the market cap last week. Listen, Michael Dell built a very strong company. He knows the way it is right now, it cannot stay that way. He has to change gears, and so this is the way he sees to do it, and many other companies are doing it as well. So, yes, there's a lot of competition, but I don't think there was any other way to go for a company like Dell to stay in the technology industry. [Soares:] Absolutely. It just has to evolve at this stage, doesn't it? Samuel Burke, thanks very much, Samuel. Now, after meeting with leaders from around the globe in Lima, Christine Lagarde tells Richard her biggest concerns about the global economy. You'll want to hear them after the break. [Walker:] Donald Trump is lashing out at President Obama over his response to the Orlando massacre. Trump says, Mr. Obama can't effectively deal with ISIS and terrorism if he can't even utter the words radical Islam. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] And I watched President Obama today, and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter. And many people said that. The level of anger, that's the kind of anger he should have for the shooter and these killers that shouldn't be here. [Walker:] Mr. Obama is vehemently defending his choice of words and strategy for dealing with terrorists. Here is White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] President Obama this time confronting his critics head on. [Barack Obama , President Of The United States:] That's the key, they tell us. We can't beat ISIL unless we call them radical Islamists. What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction. [Kosinski:] Flanked by his National Security Counsel, including the non-partisan chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the President excoriated those who say he's not done enough to fight [Isis. Obama:] There's not been a moment in my seven and a half years as President where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn't use the label radical Islam. Not once has an advisor of mine said, man, if we really used that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around. Not once. [Kosinski:] The usually collected Obama lashed out at Republican rhetoric and Donald Trump in particular. [Obama:] And the reason I am careful about how I describe this threat has nothing to do with political correctness and everything to do with actually defeating extremism. And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists' work for them. [Kosinski:] In what appeared to be a carefully choreographed one-two punch, at the same time the President spoke, Hillary Clinton was using much the same language during a speech in Pittsburgh, calling out her Republican presidential rival by his first name. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] He is fixated on the words radical Islam. So if Donald suggests I won't call this threat what it is, he hasn't been listening. But I will not demonize and declare war on an entire religion. [Kosinski:] You know, on those highly controversial remarks that Donald Trump made, saying that President Obama is either not smart, not tough, or has something else in mind the White House hasn't really wanted to respond directly, saying only that it's important not to be distracted by things so small. But Hillary Clinton did respond, saying, even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said but someone running for president of the United States. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House. [Walker:] Next on NEWSROOM L.A., what should be done following the Orlando shooting massacre? A conversation with the former member of the band NSYNC, and gay rights activist, Lance Bass. That's next. [Cuomo:] All right. A situation that seemed to start as just one state making one decision now really is a flashpoint in terms of where our law and culture are going. North Carolina and the State Department really starting to get after it about this transgender bathroom law. So, let's figure out what the real issues are here and what could happen with CNN legal analyst, Mr. Paul Callan. Very good to have you with us, as always, Counsel. Tee it up for us. What is this really about in the eyes of the law? [Paul Callan, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Well, it's a very interesting situation, and I think, you know, a certain momentum has been set off by the gay rights movement and legalization of gay marriage in the United States. And now, we've moved on to this group, transgendered people, who suffered terrible discrimination and now they're seeking a remedy under existing laws and it's all come to head in North Carolina. [Cuomo:] Now, we had heard this would happen. When the gay marriage decision came out. People said, oh, it's over. Now LGBT is equal. Equal protection under the law. No, that was only with marriage. So, now, it was about how many different examples of this would come up and now, here where we are. [Callan:] And I think also, it's kind of hard to get into detailed discussions about this, but a lot of people mixed up a concept of somebody being gay and being transgendered. They're actually very, very different things. Of course, a transgender person is someone who anatomically may be a male or a female but feels that they are, in fact, the opposite sex. [Cuomo:] They identify with a different gender. [Callan:] That's very different from someone who is gay, who may be attracted to the opposite sex but it quite happy with their own anatomical sex. Anyway, so this has now come to a head in North Carolina, where the federal government has said, if you don't allow transgendered people to have equal access to rest room facilities among other facilities, we're going to cut off federal funding. [Cuomo:] And the state says they do have equal access. Go to a bathroom whenever they want. It's just for their designated gender? [Callan:] Exactly. And a governor has gone into court, federal court, saying that he wants a federal judge to rule that the state has the right to follow what has been existing law up until now, which has said it's perfectly okay to have a rest room for women and a rest room for men, and to restrict who is a man and who is a woman on the basis of their anatomy. That's traditionally how we define male and female in the United States. [Cuomo:] So, where does this head? [Callan:] Well, my own view is that they're going to lose in North Carolina. That is the governor is going to lose and I think the federal Department of Justice is going to win, and I say that because there was a case in Virginia called the Grim Case, which was handed down by the 4th Circuit Federal Court. Now, that's a court just below the U.S. Supreme Court, and it covers North Carolina. It involved I think a 14-year-old student in a Virginia high school, and this was a girl who perceived herself to be a male and wanted to use the boys' room. And the federal court in that case indicated very, very strongly that gender identity was protected under Title 7 and Title 9, which are civil rights laws, and sent a very strong signal to North Carolina that transgendered rights will have to be honored. So I think that's the court, that's the big court in that area. They're sent to the lower courts and I think North Carolina's going to lose. [Cuomo:] Do you need to have legislative change here to make it stick? The governor has said, well, what about Title 7 and Title 9, extension of the '64 Civil Rights Act and education amendment in 1972, do you have to amend those to include this definition under sex? [Callan:] Well, that's an interesting question, because when those statutes were passed, they included a specific provision that said, it's OK to have a separate rest room for women and separate men, segregated on the basis of sex. But I don't think you have to amend that law, because we're not changing the definition of sex. What has happened is that society now views transgendered individuals as actually female, regardless of their anatomy. So, you don't have to put in the word "transgender." Your sex is female, if you are, in fact, a true transgendered person. [Cuomo:] Is it fair to say a huge obstacle facing the state in this, what's the problem with doing it the way that the government, in this case, is asking you to do? The bathroom predator theory does not seem to have any merit to it? So, you think this is coming down to a judge's rendering. [Callan:] Yes. I think, of course, the unspoken thing is female fear that a predator's getting into a rest room. There's no statistical support for that. I can't think of a single case in American history where a transgendered individual attacked somebody else in the rest room. [Cuomo:] They're saying it will create a window of opportunity, but at this point, speculative. Paul Callan, thank you very much. Appreciate it, as always. This is a big issue in the news. We'll be telling you about it this morning. There are some big changes to the election as well. So, let's get right to it. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] Shows Trump with a more than 2-1 margin over his nearest competitors. Trump coming in at 35 percent while Ted Cruz is in second place with 16 percent. Ben Carson tumbling to third with Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush each in single digits. Trump solidifying his lead among the GOP as outrage about his call to temporarily ban Muslims in the U.S. grows. But as he told my colleague, Don Lemon, that ban is not rooted in bigotry. [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor, Cnn Tonight:] Here's my question. I asked you last time, I said, and some people were shocked, if you were racist. You knew why I was asking you that. Are you racist? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I am the least racist person that you have ever met. I am the least racist person. [Lemon:] Are you bigoted in any way? [Trump:] I don't think so. No. I don't think so. [Lemon:] Islamophobic? [Trump:] I'm the person no, not at all. I'm a person who happens to be very smart. And I happen to have a certain street sense and I know where things are going. I said, take out Osama bin Laden in a book written in the year 2000 called "The America We Deserve." I said you better be careful because I saw this guy Osama bin Laden probably on television. I said, take him out. He knocked down the World Trade Center. [Lemon:] So as I sit here with you, you've been very kind to me, right? Introduced me to your family. You've been very kind to me. It has to when people say that you're racist or homophobic or Islamophobic or whatever it is, that has to bother you. Or compare you to Hitler. There are newspaper covers [Trump:] Do you know [Lemon:] Does that bother you? [Trump:] No. If things are true, if that were true, it would bother me tremendously. OK? But of course, if you're a racist you probably wouldn't care. But if things were true, it would bother me. But if it's so false, and honestly, I don't hear it often. [Brown:] All right. And Don Lemon joins me now. Don, good morning. Very interesting interview there. [Lemon:] Good morning. [Brown:] So he's saying that he is the least racist person that you know and also said in the interview that he's good to Muslims. Tell us more about that, what he said about that part of things. [Lemon:] Well, he said that his Muslim friends and he hears people on the streets, people he talks to, his constituents, his supporters say, you know what, you're actually doing Muslims a service by discussing these issues and bringing them to light, much as they believe he did when it comes to the situation with Mexican immigrants and on and on and on. So he believes that he is on the right side of history with this. Not backing down. Again, he's saying he is not racist and he thinks that this is good for Muslim people. What do you mean when you say, if they break this pledge, that you'll break the pledge? What do you mean by that? [Trump:] Well, if they don't treat me with a certain amount of decorum and respect, if they don't treat me as the frontrunner, by far the frontrunner, if the playing field is not level, then certainly all options are open. But that's nothing I want to do. [Lemon:] That was in reference, Pam, he's talking about his possible third-party run, which you know the folks are in Washington have been reporting on a lot. He signed this pledge, saying, you know, I'm not going to run as an independent or third-party candidate, but he says now, if the party doesn't treat him with what he says is respect and decorum, and the frontrunner that he is, that he's going to have to do what he has to do, and that means break the pledge. But he's not the only one saying that. There are other candidates who are saying that they would do it, as well. [Brown:] Well, does he feel right now that the party is being fair to him? [Lemon:] No, he doesn't. And during the interview he you know, he kept mentioning the party and saying, you know, I have an issue with the party. I said, what is your issue with the party? It's almost you know, I said it this morning on "NEW DAY." It's almost like Rodney Dangerfield, you remember, I don't get I get no respect. He is leading in the polls, double-digits in front of all of the candidates. You could put two candidates together and still would not get the polling numbers that Donald Trump has. Yet and still the party establishment, they don't want him. They speak out against him. They look for ways to get him out of the race. They look towards other candidates to talk about in a positive light and to bring to the fore. So he does not believe that he gets the respect that he deserves. And if he's not treated that way, as a frontrunner, especially going in now to, you know, the first races and to Super Tuesday and all of that, he says he's going to have to do what he you know, what he must, and that may mean breaking the pledge and running as an independent. He'd like to run as a Republicans, he knows running as an independent would be tough, but if he has to do it, he's going to do it. [Brown:] All right. Don Lemon, thank you for that. Let's talk about those poll numbers that Don just mentioned. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny joins me now to discuss. So important to note this poll was taken before Trump's call for a Muslim ban. But, Jeff, it does show a double-digit surge in support from October. Look at the numbers here. And in those two months, there have been controversies regarding Trump, and a Black Lives Matter protester, as well as his mocking a disabled "New York Times" reporter that he disputed, as we near the Iowa caucuses. Is this an accurate picture of how Republican voters are thinking what their thinking? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well, Pamela, this is an accurate picture. That's a national poll, a snapshot of what the country at least Republican voters are thinking. But it is pretty similar in early state polls in Iowa and New Hampshire, although Ted Cruz is a little bit stronger in Iowa. Marco Rubio is a little stronger, as is Chris Christie. But this is a sense of where the party is right now. And one of the reasons that it is, when you talk to voters out there, and we do this all the time at rallies and campaign events, people like Donald Trump's strength. They like the fact that he is calling it like he sees it. That he is not that bought and paid for, as he says, by anyone. So those are the things driving him. But you also hear concerns from voters saying, you know, I don't like everything he says, but, you know, on the whole, we think he would do OK. But, Pamela, when you look into these numbers and this new CBS News- "New York Times" poll, one other thing really jumped out at me, it's a similarity between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Take a look at this. 24 percent of voters said that they are concerned about a Trump presidency. And 40 percent say they fear a Trump presidency. It's about the same for Hillary Clinton. 23 percent of voters say they are concerned about a Clinton presidency and 34 percent say they are scared of a Clinton presidency. So that shows you the polarization here on both sides. But going into this, Don is absolutely right, the Republican establishment is concerned and worried about him. The thing that I'm not as sure about is how committed Donald Trump would be to running as a third-party candidate. It's very expensive. It's very, very difficult. And most everyone believes that it would most certainly hand the presidency over to the Democrats because a third-party candidacy just doesn't generally work. Look at 1992, Ross Perot. That's one of the reasons Donald Trump wants to keep running as a Republican. [Brown:] Yes. And correct me if I'm wrong, but a third-party candidate has never won the presidency, right? [Zeleny:] You're absolutely right. And it's so difficult to do it given the party structure. So I think it's still very difficult to believe that Donald Trump would actually leave this party system and run as a third-party candidate. [Brown:] Interesting. Jeff Zeleny, thank you for that. [Zeleny:] Thanks, Pam. [Brown:] A reminder, you don't want to miss the last Republican debate of 2015 right here on CNN. Wolf Blitzer moderates the debate Tuesday night at 6:00 and 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Was their marriage a sham? That's one of the questions officials are asking in the investigation into the San Bernardino shooters. Sources now telling CNN that Tashfeen Malik was not asked about jihadist leanings during her U.S. visa screening. Meanwhile, officials are taking a closer look at the marriage between the two terrorists. They believe the marriage may have been set up to help them pull off an attack. The FBI now thinks both were radicalized before they even met. CNN's Ana Cabrera joins us now. Ana, tell us more about this. Why wasn't anything about jihad brought up during Tashfeen's interview? [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, we understand she had already made it through some security checks, background checks, multi- agencies, multi-checks and yet no red flags. But by the time it landed her application landed at the U.S. Consulate and she was doing this interview last summer, there were no questions that they felt they needed to ask about jihad. Now, of course, it would have been on her to be honest and to tell them her beliefs, but they really just focused the questioning on whether she had a legitimate relationship with Farook for her to come here on an fiancee visa and even after that interview we're told she went through two more security checks, her information was put through and again no flags. So unfortunately, this is one of those scenarios where hindsight is 2020. And now that officials have been able to access some of the electronic communication between her, Farook and, perhaps, others, they're learning more about the jihadi beliefs, about the radicalization that they now say dates back years prior to the two ever even talking to each other online Pam. [Brown:] Part of what is helping investigators piece together this timeline is that the former friend and neighbor of Farook, Enrique Marquez. What do we know about him? [Cabrera:] Well, again, he is the friend, the neighbor who provided two AR-15s that were used in this deadly killing. Now he knows Farook because they were next-door neighbors. He has been cooperating with investigators, we're told, in the questioning. He's waived his Miranda rights and he's been really giving them some chilling information, saying that both he and Farook have been radicalized as early as 2011, and that the two of them were plotting an earlier attack in 2012. Now he says that they had a target in mind, but they never went through with their attack because they got spooked. They got cold feet after learning about some other unrelated terror arrest in the vicinity, in the area, back in 2012. Now again authorities are still trying to verify his account. He did check himself into a mental facility following the shooting attack. And they believe that it's still possible he is telling them this story, trying to deflect any kind of responsibility for the current situation he may be in, having supplied the weapons to Tashfeen and to Farook Pam. [Brown:] It's certainly tough to verify those details from three years ago. Ana Cabrera, thank you very much for that report. And right now in Geneva, Switzerland, it is on high alert. Police there now searching for individuals who may be linked to the Paris terror attack. An official telling CNN authorities have gone from a vague threat to a precise threat. It's still unclear how many people authorities are searching for. An international manhunt has already been under way for these two men right here who officials believe are linked to the Paris attacks. And still to come right here in the NEWSROOM, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel apologizes. Citizens respond with angry protests. Today the city braces for more demonstrations. [Unidentified Protester:] How many shots? [Unidentified Protesters:] Sixteen shots. [Unidentified Protester:] How many shots? [Unidentified Protesters:] Sixteen shots. [Brown:] The Seattle Seahawks face the Carolina Panthers this Sunday in the NFL playoffs. But the Seahawks wouldn't have made it this far if it hadn't been for the bad luck of the Minnesota Vikings. Their kicker, Blair Walsh, missed a 27-yard field goal last week ending their hopes of a super bowl title. As the insults started flying from upset Viking fans, one first grade teacher in Minnesota saw this as a chance to teach her students a lesson in empathy. So she asked them to write letters to Walsh. [Unidentified Male:] Dear Blair, I feel bad for you. [Unidentified Female:] You are so, so good at football. [Unidentified Male:] Keep on trying. We love you so much. [Unidentified Female:] I know you can do it. You can win the game. [Unidentified Male:] You are the best. And maybe you need to practice. Love Cody. [Brown:] That was absolutely adorable. Local story about those letters went viral and Walsh was so touched he decided to pay a visit. [Blair Walsh, Kicker, Minnesota Vikings:] Thank you very much for all the letters you wrote and the cards. It is a very, very touching to me. It says a lot about you guys that you were willing to do that and to say such nice things. And that cheered me up a lot. And the fact you guys would do that for me, somebody you never met, somebody you don't know, that's huge. And it can help in certain times like these. [Brown:] All right. So joining us now live from her classroom in Blaine, Minnesota, is first grade teacher Judie Offerdahl. Thank you so much for coming on. I see your students very hard at work there in the background. First off, what inspired you to do this and make this a lesson of empathy for your students? [Judie Offerdahl, First Grade Teacher, Northpoint Elementary:] Well, we had been talking about empathy all year. It's something that we focus on. And on Friday we had football Friday. And a lot of my students are Vikings fans. And when I saw Blair miss that field goal, I knew that not only would he feel horrible but the kids would just be crushed. And I just thought we've been writing letters, we've been talking about empathy. What a great teachable moment right now to put in to affect our target of when someone is hurting you can make a difference. [Brown:] Absolutely. And also that, you know, mistakes happen. We all make mistakes in life. What was your reaction when you heard that Blair Walsh would be coming in to thank the kids in person? What was it like for you and for them? [Offerdahl:] Well, I was just overly excited for them. It was not anything that we even expected. We just really wanted him to get the letters and know that we had written things that might make him feel better and let him know that we had support. So when we learned that he was coming and then found out he made an exception to change his plans around, just so he could visit us, it was definitely phenomenal. [Brown:] Well, we saw a little clip there, but tell us what he was like. You know, after going through this experience and not making the field goal and then he comes in and talk to your students, what was he like? [Offerdahl:] He just seems like such a great guy, just very genuine and everything that he does it seems like he is just a great role model for kids. One thing that we really took to heart was the fact that he did say, you know, I'm accountable for what I'm doing. And this is what I'm going to do to make it better. I'm going to work and persist. And this is a defining this is not a defining moment for me. It's something that I know that I'm going to work past. And I think that's such a great lesson for kids also. [Brown:] Yes, sometimes out of failure comes success. So in this case do you think the lesson worked? Do you think your students have a better understanding of what empathy is? [Offerdahl:] Most definitely. I think that they do such a great job of that anyway. Kids in my opinion are just inherently kind. And when you give them opportunities to show their kindness, they really step up to the plate. So yes, definitely, I think this is an experience that will last and they will take with them. [Brown:] I think we could all learn from those kids. I just want them to wave if they can hear me. Hi, kids, before we have to go. I don't know if they can. Wave to the camera. All right, guys. We actually have to go. But, Judie, I really appreciate you talking with us. Thank you so much. And I'll see you later. That does it for me. "The LEAD" with Jim Sciutto starts right now. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Chief Washington Correspondent:] Thanks, Pam. To paraphrase field of dreams, is this heaven? No, it's Iowa, where I just sat down with Donald trump. "The LEAD" starts right now. Opening a rift as wide as Niagara Falls, the gloves come off between New York's Donald Trump and Canadian born Ted Cruz. I will ask the GOP front runner whether he came out of last night's debate even more powerful. They were told to act happy, brand new potentially aggravating details on the capture of ten U.S. sailors and the making of an Iranian propaganda video that followed. It turns out everything wasn't as hunky-Dori as it seemed. Plus, the Sean Penn interview about his interview with a sociopath drug lord on the run. Why he says it was not about himself at all? [Natalie Allen, Cnn Anchor:] Hillary Clinton proves her power among minority voters as she sweeps to victory in the South Carolina presidential primary. We'll look at what happens next. Sporadic violence in Syria but a cease-fire between the government and rebels appears to be largely holding. And Sly spies his first-ever Oscar at the age of 69. We have a preview of Hollywood's biggest night. And it is just hours away until the red carpet for the Oscars. Hello, everyone. We're live in Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Natalie Allen. [Allen:] And we begin with the U.S. presidential race. South Carolina voters boosted Hillary Clinton to a huge win in the Southern state's primary. [Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary Of State, Presidential Candidate:] Thank you so much, South Carolina. Thank you. [Allen:] The Democratic front-runner beat rival Bernie Sanders Saturday by almost 50 points. Despite his loss, Sanders said his campaign is just getting started. Clinton has won three of four Democratic nominating contests so far. [Clinton:] Today, you sent a message: in America when we stand together when we stand together, there is no barrier too big to break. We've now gone through four early states and I want to congratulate Senator Sanders on running a great race. And... and tomorrow, this campaign goes national. We are going to compete for every vote in every state. We're not taking anything and we're not taking anyone for granted. [Allen:] Clinton's campaign, as she said, now full steam ahead to Super Tuesday. While celebrating her win there in South Carolina she did take a shot at Republican front-runner Donald Trump. Here's senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar on the campaign trail. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] The Clinton campaign just relishing their big win here in South Carolina. Hillary Clinton's communications director, Jen Palmieri, is saying they did better than they expected they would. Campaign sources have been telling us they think Donald Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. It was significant that in Clinton's speech, she outlined what her argument in a general election would be against Donald Trump. [Clinton:] Despite what you hear, we don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. But we do need to make America whole again. Instead of building walls, need to be tearing down barriers. [Keilar:] Publicly, Clinton aides are striking a cautious tone, saying they still have 46 states ahead of them. They have a long way to go. But, privately, they're not as cautious. One aide telling me they think they'll have this wrapped up by March 15th. We'll see a series of contests then following those series of contests that we're going to see on Tuesday for Super Tuesday. By mid-March, almost 60 percent of delegates will have been awarded. By then, aides think it will be clear there is no pathway to the nomination for Bernie Sanders Brianna Keilar, CNN, Columbia, South Carolina. [Allen:] Yes, is there any hope for Bernie at this point? Well, earlier I spoke with Josh Kraushaar, political editor for "National Journal" about Hillary Clinton's big win there in South Carolina and her support among minority voters. [Josh Kraushaar, Political Editor, National Journal:] Boy, a 45-plus point margin of victory in South Carolina. And not only was the victory huge, but she won African Americans by over 80 percent of the vote according to exit polls. She even tied Sanders with white voters in South Carolina. This was a decisive victory. It's going to give her crucial momentum heading next week into the big Super Tuesday states. [Allen:] I was going to ask you, was it an issue primarily of geography, since he dominated in New Hampshire, but perhaps not then? [Kraushaar:] The big challenge for Hillary Clinton was showing and proving that she could dominate, not just win, but dominate among African Americans and among Hispanics. And she showed that she thoroughly won the African American vote in both Nevada and South Carolina. And she won Hispanics. If you look at the precinct data out of Nevada, she did very well with the Hispanic voters, too. For a Democratic candidate and a Democratic primary, if you're doing well with non-white voters as well as Hillary Clinton has done, it's a pretty sure path to winning the Democratic nomination. [Allen:] Well, she said in her acceptance speech, "We go national from here." So what must she achieve on the national stage come Super Tuesday? [Kraushaar:] She's got a win the vast majority of delegates in states on Super Tuesday. And, frankly, most are concentrated in the South. They have similar demographics to South Carolina. States like that and also Texas with its sizable Hispanic population. So, there's an opportunity for Clinton to do, again, very well with Hispanic and African American voters and do well with the overall delegate count. Now Bernie Sanders is going to make a showing in the caucuses next week, Minnesota, Colorado and Massachusetts primary, three of the big states that the Sanders campaign is counting on. But when you just look at the likely delegate count if the momentum continue for Clinton, she's going to start to build what's looking like an insurmountable lead for the Clinton campaign. [Allen:] What happened to the "Feel the Bern"? Where did that go? What turned it for Hillary? [Kraushaar:] Well, look, Iowa and New Hampshire were about as favorable states as you can draw for the Sanders campaign. They're very liberal and they have very young and white Democratic electorates. Once we get to the South and the more diverse Democratic states, it was a bigger challenge for Sanders. Sanders always had to prove he could expand his own coalition to winning more non-white voters, to doing well with African Americans, at least making some inroads with that constituency. As we are seeing right now in South Carolina, not only that he did not make inroads, but he got wiped out. If he doesn't make any inroads by next week, the game is over for the Bernie Sanders campaign. [Allen:] Well, there are certainly those that would want to trip up Hillary Clinton. I mean, from the emails, to Benghazi and now the speech transcripts, he still talked about that. Is there anything that he can say or that can happen that could trip her up at this point on her way to getting more delegates? [Kraushaar:] Well, look, Hillary Clinton is her own worst enemy. She's certainly improved her stump speech. She sounded more empathetic in her victory speech tonight in South Carolina. But it's really her issue is in the general election. I mean, she has poor favorability numbers in the general election. A lot of people in the country still don't trust her outside of the Democratic base. So her big challenge looking forward is to think about the general election. But she hinted at some lines preparing for a match-up again Donald Trump in her victory speech tonight. But this is someone who's going to be focused primarily on November and less toward Bernie Sanders and the Democratic primary. [Allen:] Well, it is Donald Trump and Hillary, she might need practice from Marco Rubio, maybe train with him, since he finally got his speed up there late in the game against The Donald this week. But we appreciate your thoughts. We'll talk with you again. Josh Kraushaar, political editor for "National Journal," thank you. [Kraushaar:] Thanks, Natalie. [Allen:] While Clinton extends her lead over Sanders with the victory, the Republicans are slugging it out, as always, on the campaign trail. And Marco Rubio and Donald Trump have definitely taken the gloves off. Well, Donald's always had them off but they've been going at each other non-stop since Thursday's debate, name-calling, insults, accusations. It seems like everything is fair game now and it's really getting personal. Here's what Rubio said about Trump Saturday. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Fla., Presidential Candidate:] He's flying around on "hair force one" and tweeting. Here's the one tweet he put out, a pictures of me having makeup put on me at the debate, which is amazing to me that a guy with the worst spray tan in America is attacking me for putting on make-up. [Rubio:] Donald Trump likes to sue people. He should sue whatever did that to his face. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] But I will address little Rubio. This guy has a fresh mouth. He's a very nasty guy. But I actually thought that Ted Cruz was a liar. But Rubio is worse. I mean, he's worse. This lightweight Rubio, total lightweight. And little mouth on him, bing, bing, bing. Bing, bing, bing, bing. [Allen:] We'll keep you posted on any more Rubio-Trump squabbles. There's sure to be a few more. We turn now to Ireland. Exit polls show Ireland's ruling coalition is not likely to be in power much longer. According to broadcaster RTE's polling, the coalition made up of Fine Gael- Labour got 32 percent of the vote in the national elections, that is far less than the 41 percent they need to be re-elected. Sinn Fein can you tell I have trouble with these could form a new coalition with a rival party, Fianna Fail, which would give them a majority or else a new election could be called. Iran's interior ministry says reformists are set to take over parliament perhaps even taking all 30 available seats in the country's first major election since last year's nuclear deal. The votes are still being counted. Former Iranian president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and current president Hassan Rouhani are leading in the race for the powerful assembly of experts. Senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more on the early results. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] If the early elections in Iran hold true then this could be a resounding victory for the moderates and the reform candidates here in this country. Now remember, there were two elections that took place, one of them was for the council of experts, which is a religious body that will vote for and elect the next supreme leader. So that election's very important. Here for the Tehran area, the votes have been counted. And of the 15 seats available, 12 have apparently gone to moderate and reformist candidates and only three have gone to conservatives. The picture looks fairly similar in the parliamentary elections, where, after about a third of the votes were counted in the Tehran area, it seems as though Mohammad Reza Aref, the head of the reformist movement, is on top. And of the 30 candidates for the seats available here in Tehran, at this point, the vast majority would also be moderates and reformers as well. However, the authorities here have warned that these results at this point are preliminary and it will take another three days for final results to come out. However, many people saw this election as a referendum on the policies of Hassan Rouhani and the centerpiece of those policies was, of course, the nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers that, on the one hand, put significant curbs on Iran's nuclear program but also gave Iran sign sanctions relief in return. Many Iranians hope that that will lead to big economic growth in this country. And while many Iranians haven't seen that economic growth yet if the results for this election holds true, it seems as though Iranians are giving Hassan Rouhani a mandate to accelerate those reforms in the future Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Tehran. [Allen:] An uneasy calm is stretching across most of Syria. Ahead here, we'll have the latest in a live report on the truce that's now in its second straight day. [Kosik:] Yes. [Romans:] A history-making weekend this weekend in Rio. Simone Biles on the balance beam today going for her number four gold medal after winning her third for the United States in the vault. And the sprinter Usain Bolt with a win for the ages, becoming the first man to capture gold in 100 meters in three Olympic Games. [Kosik:] Plus a close call for four U.S. swimmers including Ryan Lochte. They were robbed at gunpoint on Sunday and lived to tell about it. Let's go live to Rio de Janeiro and bring in CNN's Christina MacFarlane. Tell us more about this. [Christina Macfarlane, Cnn World Sports Correspondent:] That's right, Alison and Christine. Good morning. I'll get to Lochte in a minute, but I want to begin with the odyssey we saw. And you said Usain Bolt becoming the first athlete to win three 10-meter titles on Saturday, making it 1 of 3 for that triple-triple. It may have not been his fastest final lap with just 9.81 seconds. Nearly two-tenths slower than his win in London 202 but Bolt turned on the speed when it mattered. As you can see they're parring thorough the final 60 meters to edge clear the field and of American rival Justin Gatlin who finished in silver medal position. And while the cheers rang out for Bolt, Justin Gatlin was greeted by jeers from the waiting crowd, clearly voicing their disapproval with his doping past. Now the Lightning Bolt will return to the track this Tuesday to compete in the 200 meters. But while all of this was going on in the gymnastics arena, Simone Biles just keeps killing it. Having clinched the team and individual all-around gold in the gymnastics, the American superstar added another. Her score was 15.966. A winning margin of.7. So that's three down, two to go for Biles. She's got the beam on Monday and the floor exercise on Tuesday. She is on course for a remarkable five gold medal haul here in Rio. Elsewhere, though, it was a close call for the men's U.S. basketball team. Grinding out another win. This time against France. Now they failed to put away the game after taking a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter. Klay Thompson finally busted out of the shooting slump knocking down seven three pointers and scoring 30 points to lead the score, spurring them on to 100-97 victory. They now go 5-0 to lead group and clinched that first place. Their win marking the 22nd consecutive Olympic victory. Now as you mentioned earlier, Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte and three American swimmers are safe and said to be cooperating with police after being robbed at gunpoint on Saturday after leaving a hospitality house heading to the Olympic Village that night. Their vehicle was stopped by a group of men dressed like police officers who demanded they handed their money and their personal belongings. Now speaking to NBC, Lochte said he even had a gun put to his forehead by one of the men. Now fortunately they all walked away unscathed but without their wallets. And after the event, the Australian Olympic Committee announced it was banning its athletes from going to the beaches here in Rio in between the hours of 6:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. The Olympic Games heading into its second week here with a sense of unease and caution around the ongoing security concerns here. [Romans:] All right. Glad they're OK. Christina MacFarlane, thank you for that. [Kosik:] Boko Haram proposing a prisoner swap in a new video that was released on Sunday. A group of school girls abducted in 2014 appear in the background. The terror group wants Nigeria to release jailed fighters in exchange for the young women. The video also shows images of several dead and injured girls that Boko Haram claims were killed in Nigerian military air strikes. [Romans:] Every time I see those new videos I just feel like their families [Kosik:] It just your stomach. [Romans:] Scouring the pictures for signs of their children. It's tragic. All right. In this country, we're keeping an eye on Milwaukee. Dangerous protests intensifying overnight. We've got all the latest for you next. [Blitzer:] A cease-fire remains in effect in the Syrian city of Aleppo after it was extended a second time. Both the U.S. and Russia instrumental in trying to secure these truces, but questions remain about Russia's political motivation. In March, the Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the majority of forces in Syria to return home to Russia. But as senior international correspondent, Fred Pleitgen, found out, the presence of Russian forces is bigger than you might think. [Fred Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] This is the Russian intervention the world has come to know. But Russia's footprint in Syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets. There are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated. We caught one this first lieutenant during his boxing practice. "I'm glad to serve my country," he says, "and I'm not afraid. What is there to be afraid of in Syria?" The West has criticized Russia saying its air strikes target mostly moderate anti-Assad rebels. The Russians claiming they bomb only ISIS and other terror groups. But while Moscow says it's withdrawn most forces from Syria, on an embed we saw, what appeared to be several bases in western and central Syria with a variety of attack helicopters. Also a brand new base in Palmyra for its demining crews with dozens of fighting vehicles and even anti-aircraft missile systems. On top of it own assets, the military spokesman says his forces closely cooperate with Bashar al Assad's troops. "We receive a great deal of information from the Syrian general staff," he says. "They're on the ground and close to the rebels. As for the military technical cooperation, of course, we help them as well." [Pleitgen:] None of this seems to indicate a full Russian withdrawal from Syria anytime soon. And for many in the government- held parts of Damascus, that's just fine. [on camera]: The people here in the government-held part of Damascus seem to be very well aware of the extent to which Russia's military has helped Bashar al Assad's forces, but they also say that if there's going to be a solution to the Syrian crisis, it has to come from Syrians themselves and not from outside powers. [voice-over]: Violence still rages in most of the country. Reconciliation seems nowhere in sight, and neither is an end to Russia's involvement in the conflict. [Blitzer:] Fred is joining us live now from Damascus. Fred, Russians say they're the guests of the Syrian regime. Do they follow the lead of government forces, or do these Russian troops act on their own authority? [Pleitgen:] They absolutely act on their own authority, Wolf. One thing that struck us when we were going around Syria, they're with the Russians was ease with which they move there. They don't really ask the Syrians for permission to go anywhere. They might tell them they're going somewhere but they don't ask for permission. They fly wherever they want, drive wherever they want, and they have access to any sort of area that is controlled by the Syrian government at this point in time. And, you know, one of the big questions we've been asking is, why they have so many ground forces around the country. And some of it could be for force protection. But, of course, one of the reasons for that is that they have such a big footprint now. That new base in Palmyra is pretty big. It's state of the art, very well maintained, and needs a substantial force to be able to protect it, as well. A lot more hardware there on the ground, and the Russians. And one thing we didn't see, Wolf, an army that seems to be ready to leave very soon. In fact, the opposite seems to be the case. [Blitzer:] Do they release numbers? How many Russian troops are still on the ground? [Pleitgen:] It's impossible to tell at this point. There's no real numbers out there. There are some people saying they believe it's between 6,000 and 8,000 at this point in time, but it's difficult to tell. The U.S., for instance, believes that the Russians might be moving artillery into the Aleppo area. The Russians haven't confirmed that in any way, shape or form. So at this time, it's difficult to tell. But I would say from what we saw, it's at least several thousands on the ground there for the Russians in various parts of the country Wolf? [Blitzer:] All right. Fred Pleitgen, in Damascus for us, thank you. In North Korea today, hundreds of thousands flocked to the main square in Pyongyang for a highly choreographed parade. It's celebrating the end of the Workers' Party Congress, the first in decades. During the historic meeting, the leader, Kim Jong-Un, got a new title and a tighter grip on power. CNN's Will Ripley is inside North Korea. He was at the Congress for us Will? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, a dramatic finish to the first Workers' Party's Congress in 36 years. Two huge celebrations in the square. One in morning, attended by this country's supreme leader, Kim Jong-Un, and waving from the stands to hundreds of thousands of North Koreans who have been practicing for months to make sure every move is perfect. In the evening, the teenagers did the same thing, except they were holding up torches, they were dancing. And there was a huge fireworks display. All of this to celebrate what happened over the weekend at the seventh Congress of the Workers' Party of Congress. There is very little transparency in the North Korean government, aside from updates on state television. We in the media came here to cover it, pushing for access, and on the final day of the Congress, a handful of us were told to board a bus, put on suits, and bring our passports, but we didn't know where we were going. We passed the security check and rows of bodyguards and then we entered the venue where the Congress was being held. We walked in and, moments later, the leader and his highest-level party officials took the stage to thunderous applause. And that's when it was announced he has this brand-new title, created for him to give him even more authority, though it's hard to imagine him getting more power in a country where he already has absolute power. The vote, as you might expect, was unanimous, as the votes always are here in North Korea. Even though the citizens who were out celebrating in the capitol had no direct role in the political process the only people who had a vote were the 5,000 delegates in attendance, everybody else could only watch, listen and accept what the government was telling them. [Berman:] All right. This morning, the deadline to reach a final nuclear deal with Iran has been extended yet again. This time, there's no real firm end date at all. Secretary of State John Kerry is warning the U.S. would walk away from the negotiating table if Iran does not make the tough decisions needed for a final agreement. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] And the simple fact is, that despite all of the progress that we have made and it's real, some of the tough issues remain unresolved. [Berman:] CNN's Nic Robertson is live in Vienna with the latest. You know, Nic, a lot of people thought there would be a big announcement today deal reached. Where do things stand now? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] I don't think we will get that announcement today. All bets are off. Certainly, that's been the rollercoaster nature of the talks so far. What is happening specifically this minute, Secretary Kerry meeting with his Iranian counterpart, the foreign minister, along with the E.U. foreign policy chief. They have been in the meeting for about an hour. It's the first meeting of the day. Secretary Kerry late yesterday saying very clearly he is willing to walk away, not saying when that is. E.U. foreign policy chief, about 15 hours ago now, said the amount of time before they walk away would be a matter of hours. Now, did she actually mean 24 or 48 hours, what we call a couple of days? Or did she mean hours? It is just not clear. But what is clear is that both sides are very deeply entrenched in their position. We heard from Secretary Kerry saying the Iranians need to make the tough choices. I went to a briefing by a senior Iranian official last night who said the mirror of that, that is U.S. that needs to make those key decisions right now, the trust deficit is growing, that the U.S. he said is moving the goal posts on this agreement. So, you get the sense as we stand outside the meetings here. The public positions are that they are still apart. We heard this for months, that the key tough decisions have to be made. Yet, here we are and the senior Iranian official said we are in the 13th hour of talks, way past the sort of 11th or 10th hour, if you will. Those entrenched positions still publicly appear to exist, John. [Berman:] And the 11th hour was a long, long time ago at this point, Nic. And the acrimony seems to be on the uptick at least overnight. Nic Robertson for us in Vienna, thanks so much. All right. Jeb Bush says Americans should work more. We'll give you the facts behind the statement which is pretty controversial. That's coming up next. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln:] Five days after the terror attack in San Bernardino, Donald Trump proposed a plan to ban Muslims from entering the U.S. and since then, we have found ourselves talking about how Muslim Americans in this country might be feeling these days. And, tonight, we have invited an audience of Muslim-Americans to tell us for themselves. I appreciate you all being here. Thank you for taking time out and letting us hear directly from the community themselves how they feel. What is going on maybe there are some Trump supporters even amongst us. Maybe there are people that have very I do not know serious feelings about what is going on. But, it is time we talk about it. I am tired of people in this country just hunkering down into their camps. We are Americans first. Let us talk about it. Watch this. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. [Trump:] I have many friends that are Muslims. And, I will tell you, they are so happy that I did this, because they know they have a problem. We have to stop the Muslims until we find out what is going on. Does that make sense, by the way? I always say, they are not coming at us they want to kill us. We cannot worry about being politically correct. [Unidentified Female Interviewer:] Do you personally think that Muslims pose a danger to this country? [Trump:] I love the Muslims. I think they are great people. [Pinsky:] Joining us, Vanessa Barnett, HipHollywood.com; Alex Swoyer, reporter with BreitBart.com; Maz Jobrani, comedian, author of "I`m not a terrorist, but I played one on T.V."; Sara Azari, Criminal Defense Attorney and non-practicing Muslim, herself and Marwa Abdelghani, Youth Leader Muslim Public Affairs Council. All right, Maz, Trump`s friends say they are happy he has gone on the record saying this that he wants a pause in immigration. Are you and your friends is happy as his friends are? [Maz Jobrani, Comedian And Author:] No. I do not know who his friends are. I think he is making these friends up. I mean because he said, "My Muslim friends like this." They do not like this. You know, Trump is spewing a lot of hate speech. And, the problem is there is a lot of unstable people, who are looking for a leader to give them an excuse to do some violent acts. And, there is the leader of ISIS, who does it for the terrorists. And, we have got Trump, who is doing it for Americans. He is giving them an excuse to go out and carry out acts of violence against Muslims. [Pinsky:] Alex, you are grimacing. You are smiling. They are applauding you. They are applauding you. [Alex Swoyer, Political Reporter/attorney:] Well, I definitely do not think it is fair to equate Donald Trump to the leader of [Isis. Jobrani:] I think it is totally fair. [Swoyer:] I think there is definitely a difference right there, you know, in terms of, he might say something provocative, but we actually have the leader of ISIS burning people alive, beheading people. So, I do not think that is a fair comparison. [Vanessa Barnett, Social Commentator:] I do not think it is fair [Pinsky:] Vanessa, you settle the score. [Barnett:] I do not think it is fair to keep saying that he is just being provocative. No. These are fear-mongering bigotry kind of words that he is using. He wants to round up a group of people and ban them and push them away. And, what he is doing is he is labeling Muslims as terrorists. You cannot say that all Muslims are terrorists. You cannot point your finger. And, then you have elites who follow him that are saying, "Oh, you know what? He is right! Let us ban all Muslims. Let us treat people as if they are not Americans. As if they are not humans. And, let us just put a label on them and kick them out." [Pinsky:] Sara, what do you say? [Barnett:] That is not fair. That is not provocative. [Sara Azari, Criminal Defense Attorney And Non-practicing Muslim:] Yes. I mean, as a result of his dumb rhetoric, basically what has happened is that terrorism is equated to Islam, and Muslims are terrorists. [Pinsky:] Well, are terrorists from some other organization? [Azari:] Well, you know [Pinsky:] That is where people get into trouble. That is where they get weirded out. [Azari:] Right, but this Muslim-free zone, which by the way, I thought the stage was a Muslim-free zone until I saw Maz with it. You know, the Muslim-free zone I mean, what is that? I mean, he has created these crazy propositions about Muslim people and as a result incited horrible hate crimes across the nation. Kids are afraid to go to school because they are bullied. They are asking their parents these are Muslim kids, "Can I wear a black and white scarf, so I look like a nun rather than a Muslim kid." I mean, it is so damaging and it is so un-American. It goes right to, you know the reason I am a proud American is because of the freedom that this country offers. And, he has completely destroyed it. [Pinsky:] We got to hear from this from our audience. Yes. Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Hi. I actually wanted to address Donald Trump and the media coverage surrounding him. [Pinsky:] Uh-huh. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We need to know what Donald Trump is saying because people are voting for him. You know, they need to know what he stands for. [Pinsky:] Right. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But it affects how people think about the minorities that he is addressing and how do you think we should go about addressing that. Because he needs to be covered, but maybe there is a wrong way to cover him. [Pinsky:] Well, we sort of just the videos speak for themselves. And, now, we are trying on dig in a little deeper, hopefully. Maz? [Jobrani:] Well, you know, unfortunately, like Alex was saying, obviously, Donald Trump is not doing what the leader of ISIS is doing physically. But, the problem becomes what you were just saying is, that he when he speaks he is obviously a smart person. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Jobrani:] He is a smart human being. I am not as worried about Donald Trump. If I were sitting at dinner with Donald Trump and he says some of the stuff that he would say, I would be like, "OK, I think you are a little drunk, but that is all right." You know, "It is all right. Keep talking. Whatever. You and I, dinner, cool." But, once he goes in front of an audience and says that, and some of his followers Recently, there was that video of this guy that was protesting in one of his rallies and you hear off camera, somebody there was a black guy they were dragging off. Somebody goes, "Light him up." And, I am like, "Wait a minute. His follower wanted to lynch a black dude. That is scary. So, when you are doing that in front of a crowd and you are going, Muslim this, Muslim that, Muslim that, his crowd is not there sitting going like, "You know what? Probably 99 percent of Muslims are good people, even more than that. 99.9999 percent of Muslims are good people. And, there is a small percentage that are bad." These crowds are not making that distinction. [Barnett:] Right. [Jobrani:] And, that is the problem. Then they are going out and doing crazy stuff like, you know. [Pinsky:] Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Hello. I am actually a Media Studies Professor from Cal State San Bernardino. [Pinsky:] OK. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] And, I do a lot of analysis of representation of Muslims and Arabs in mainstream media. [Pinsky:] Great. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] And, I think I have two points to make here. The first one, and I will try to be very short, is that Donald Trump has been getting a lot of free space in the media. More than he should actually be getting. And, I thought I would never, ever see the day when I am actually excited to see the Kardashians all over the T.V. last night, because of the amount of media attention he is getting for a very negative hateful rhetoric. And, the second point is very related, which is the representations of Muslims and especially women, of course, in the media. We are almost framed Thank you for having us. But, we are always framed or shown or represented when there is a crisis. And, it is one of either two narratives. It is either the violence, terrorist narrative or the victim narrative. There is nothing in between. Like in regular days to show Muslims as they are, professors, scientists, you know doing very positive things as American citizens. [Pinsky:] Well, right. I mean that was thank you for saying that. I mean that was my purpose in bringing everybody here to sort of push the curtain back and realize we are all just people here, trying to understand this. But, let me sort of frame it this way. I would imagine let us put it this way. I am kind of afraid of these ISIS guys. Anybody else afraid? Hands. Show of hands? OK. Do you think you are more afraid than I am? Hands up, if you are more afraid. Do you think you are more likely to be an object of their violence than the average white dude? OK. So, I think you are right. I think the Muslim community is probably more afraid of ISIS than the average dude like me, the average privileged white boy. How about the average African-American female? You are pretty scared of those guys, right? [Barnett:] Yes, I think. [Pinsky:] Yes. Do you think this audience would be more frighten? [Barnett:] Absolutely. [Pinsky:] OK. [Barnett:] And, I am sure they are scared of the perception of it now too. [Pinsky:] Well so, you have two layers, right? You are afraid of them and afraid of other people reacting and you get being painted with the brush of ISIS, right? So, OK. So, that is what I thought. That is what I figured is the issue. My concern is in the solution. There is a lot of focus on Trump to get him to sort of cool his rhetoric. Oh, you have Let us get it from the audience. Yes. You jumped up. All right, we have no way to do it from there, unfortunately. We have just a few seconds here. I will let you make a comment and then we will go right to break. Go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] One of the biggest solutions is to stop equating ISIS with Islam. [Pinsky:] OK. But [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] It is not the same. [Pinsky:] It is not the same. And, I think that, that is sort of the problem Like you have a P.R. problem. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, you are saying terrorism, Islam. I mean a few weeks before [Pinsky:] Well, like Trump said, you cannot take terrorism sweet. And, it make sense. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But when you say he is saying San Bernardino and ISIS, but he never says a few weeks before the Planned Parenthood, that central got bombed as well or attacked. [Pinsky:] Ye, but listen. Domestic Domestic terrorism [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, it is not put in the same thing. And, it is not the same narrative. [Pinsky:] Domestic terrorism is a big problem. But, there is not an organization of domestic terrorists saying we are coming to get you. And, so that narrative [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] KKK is Christian. Does anyone say Christian or Catholic? [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] It is always No, they do not. [Pinsky:] And They did. And, the Christians and the Catholics are taking care of those guys and do not want them Like "We are going to crush them wherever we find them." Can we get a [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We are trying to get a platform where we are going to be listened to. [Pinsky:] That is what I want. That is what I want. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Thank you for having us. [Pinsky:] OK. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] So, we do not have much of a platform. [Pinsky:] Well, that is what I want to figure out, why not? That is what I like to know. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Because no one gives us the opportunity to speak. [Pinsky:] Hold on. I think I know what the next block is about, is how we can figure it out what that is. And, do you know what I am getting at, Maz? [Jobrani:] Yes, absolutely. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Jobrani:] Absolutely. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Absolutel. [Pinsky:] Am I making sense, Alex? [Swoyer:] Yes, absolutely. [Pinsky:] Am I building an argument that makes sense? [Swoyer:] Yes. I think we all agree. [Pinsky:] Go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] If you want to know, ask a Muslim. Like in my employers, they all have come up to me and they asked me. You are going to people who are like terrorists or they are doing acts that do not represent me or my children or anyone else. [Pinsky:] Absolutely. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, you are all giving us the opportunity to be attacked in our place of work, at school. My kids are afraid. I have to be asked to be like escorted to the parking lot. That is not fair. [Pinsky:] No. That is no good. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I am born here. [Pinsky:] That is no good. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] And, go back to my country? This is my country. [Pinsky:] Right. Stay. Stay. Please stay right there. So, you are making a point I am going to come right to you. You making the same point I am making. We are all Americans first, right? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] All of us. Yes. We are Americans first. Maybe, somebody feel different and I would like to hear from them. But as Americans, we need to solve this all together. As Americans, we need to solve this thing, not let this [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We need to have Americans want to work with us. [Pinsky:] I believe they in my heart I trust [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] It is true, but you have like someone said, there is a bunch of people watching T.V. and they get all their knowledge from T.V., Fox News and so forth. They do not want to take the time out to ask someone who knows [Pinsky:] All right. Well [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] or to actually Google or find out about Islam. [Pinsky:] We are going to do that. That is exactly what I want to do tonight. So, I want to ask someone who knows I want to ask a whole bunch of people who know it because I do not and I do not. So, here is what we are going to do, we will do a little more Trump. And, he, of course, has asked for there to be surveillance of Mosques in America. I want to hear how people feel about that. But, I want to build a solution. We are back after this. [Trump:] Are you ready for this, folks? Are you ready? Oh, they are going to make such a big deal. I want surveillance of certain Mosques. OK? In the Mosques, a lot of things are happening in there, folks. I know Muslim people. They are phenomenal people, but there is a problem in there. 51 percent is the Muslims living in this country want to be governed according to Sharia. You know what Sharia is? He said something so politically incorrect, that is why we are going to hell because he is so politically incorrect. [Pinsky:] Welcome back. We are here with a Muslim-American audience talking about Donald Trump and his plan to ban Muslims from entering the United States. Back with my panel, Vanessa, Alex, Maz, Sara, and Marwa. And, Alex, a couple things. You were saying that the reason Trump gets an extra time because he is excessful for you, guys. [Swoyer:] Right. And, I was going to say in terms of the person who was speaking about media, I cover all of the GOP candidates and the debates and he always comes in. He will sometimes come to the spin room twice. And, it is because he is a master at handling media. And, there are so many politicians that do not even appear. So, that can be an answer to one of the questions about why people feel feel like he does get more air time. At the same point, he is the GOP front-runner. And, that does mean something. That means more people want to ask him to come and be a part of the morning shows and get his opinion, because he is the front-runner. And, the majority, I think it is almost 40 percent now in the latest poll, do support him. [Barnett:] As a journalist, I have interviewed a lot of people that I have chosen not to put on air, not to put on the website that I worked for, because I feel as a journalist I have a responsibility not to promote hate, not to promote bigotry and to promote anything that is not American. I mean that is not an excuse. [Jobrani:] And, as a comedian, I got to tell you, it is hard to keep up with him. [Pinsky:] It is gold. [Jobrani:] Because he keeps saying [Pinsky:] Gold for you, Maz. [Jobrani:] Gold, but it is more outrageous stuff all the time. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Swoyer:] But, I think also as a journalist, you cannot sensor you have to report the truth. So, I would not just choose to report about a certain candidate, especially when he is the front-runner. Like I said, there is a large audience that does identify with him. A nd, he had a lot of backlash when he brought up the issue of illegal immigration and the way he decided to say that. The deepest issue was you know, we need to secure the southern border and that ended up increasing his percentage in the polls. And, actually, he has gone up 6 points since he made his comments about immigration, period from what happened in Paris and San Bernardino. [Barnett:] Playing to the cheap seats is not OK. It is not, "Oh, yeah. You got more points." You are playing to people`s fears and you are playing to the cheap seats. And, that is not I would not applaud that. I would not applaud that. [Pinsky:] Well, again, I have a problem when we Vanessa, I am going to take issue with that, because he is somehow the average American is responding to his rhetoric and to call them the cheap seats as you do, I think that is insulting. [Barnett:] I do not think they are necessarily cheap seats, but I would say the way he is talking to them, he is almost playing on the fact that they may not know a lot [Pinsky:] OK. [Barnett:] and that they may not understand what is happening. [Pinsky:] All right. I think it is a scapegoat. Scapegoating is a very primitive way to talk to an audience. Yes, sir. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. I have two points. One of them is like, it does not surprise me, what he said. What surprised me is how many people agree with him against the Muslim community. The second point [Pinsky:] But, this is what I am struggling with. He is not saying it feels like it is against the Muslim community, but he is talking about people immigrating and trying to fair it out extremist from amongst Muslims. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] I am with him. [Pinsky:] That is what I would think. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Let us secure our borders, but not against Muslims, against all acts of terrorism. [Pinsky:] Yes. So, how do we do that? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] And, the second point [Pinsky:] How do we do that, though? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] It is hard. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] It is hard. Everybody try to do it before him and they said about it, but they did not nothing. [Pinsky:] All right. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] So, this is a point for election. Now, the second part; we, Muslim community, we are part of the solution in this country. We cannot be marginalized. [Pinsky:] No. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] We have to be recognized. We are professionals. We are doctors and lawyers who teach your children. [Pinsky:] Absolutely. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] We are part of the community. We cannot be marginalized. [Pinsky:] Who is marginalizing you? Is somebody actually actively I mean you walk about in your professional life, is somebody actually [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] No. Personally, no. [Pinsky:] OK. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] But, the rhetoric on TV and the media - [Pinsky:] Yes. It makes you feel insecure. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] OK. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] And, I have to defend myself against those people who are criminals. They are not Muslims. [Pinsky:] They are extremists. Right. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] As we already established, you feel more in the cross hairs of those guys. So, you are in the cross hairs of those guys and in the cross hairs of people who are bigots. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] OK. All right. Maz, you want to say something? [Jobrani:] Yes. I was going to say that first of all, there are people that discriminate like after September 11th What is that job website? Is it Monster.com or what is it? [Pinsky:] Yes. [Jobrani:] Right? [Pinsky:] Yes. [Jobrani:] They actually were telling a lot of Iranian Americans, that given your names, where you cannot submit resume it will be hard for to you get hired with your names. They wanted people to change their names. [Pinsky:] Sara, did you have any of those issues back then? [Azari:] I am sorry. Your point? [Pinsky:] Your name sounds, you know [Azari:] Yes. Absolutely. When I I was 7 years old when we left Iran. And, I had to lie about my nationality, because it was during the hostage crisis, and because I was being bullied. And, now with the stigma that is attached to being Muslim I mean, I am a non-practicing Muslim. But, this is about all Muslims. [Pinsky:] Did you get stigmatized. [Azari:] You know, I do not specifically get stigmatized. I identify as an American. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Azari:] But [Jobrani:] I bet if you ask the ladies in the audience with their job, I am sure they get stigmatized. They get marginalized. [Azari:] Absolutely. [Pinsky:] I would be interested. Do you get more stigmatized since Donald Trump started rhetoric? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I would say that there has been a stigma for the past 15 years. [Pinsky:] OK. OK. Is that 911 that did that? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I would say yes. Definitely after 911. [Pinsky:] I am sorry, I keep interrupting you. But, were you the one telling me [Swoyer:] Yes. I was [Pinsky:] Because that is measurably true. [Swoyer:] Yes. I was going to say that there has been news report that there has been an increase in hate crimes against Muslims since Donald Trump made his comments. But, I actually saw an FBI report that this year, it has increased and that was reported on November 28th, 27 days before he even came out with his statement. [Pinsky:] But, the uptake is really since 911. Right? That is the real uptake. [Jobrani:] But, he is not but listen, he is not helping at all. I could tell you Let me tell you something. I came to America the same time that she did. I came in late right around the hostage crisis. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Jobrani:] I have been experiencing this for 30 some odd years. [Pinsky:] What? Experiencing what? [Jobrani:] Just the whole thing I grew up in Marin County, which is supposed to be a liberal place. And, I walk into a restaurant one night with my friends. We are speaking Farsi. And, this one big dude gets up, he goes this is America, speak American and he wanted to fight us. He wanted to fight us, because we were speaking Farsi. [Pinsky:] And, Vanessa, you thought only the black folks had that problem [Barnett:] No. I did not think that. I did not think that. I think Trump [Pinsky:] At the corner on it is crazy, right? [Barnett:] Negative thing about every ethnic group. He labels us the blacks, the Muslims. [Pinsky:] But, how crazy are we I doubt this is uniquely American. I think humans have a screw loose. [Jobrani:] But, then that is why you cannot have a leader like Trump spouting the hate. [Pinsky:] Go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] People are afraid. And, I would I say even just myself and people in the Muslim community are afraid. Just last week I was at a Chinese restaurant and someone looked at me. Just took one look at me and said, "Oh, do not blow us up." And, I turned around, and I used that as an opportunity to try to educate him. But, unfortunately, people are afraid. [Pinsky:] Did he respond? Did he respond? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] He, basically, turned around and said, "Oh, well, it is the media. It is the media. The media keeps telling us that." [Pinsky:] OK. Well, good. You turned one around. Well done. I mean that is what we have to do. One by one. But, go ahead. Please finish your thought. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, essentially, it is not a good time for Muslims because Muslims are afraid. They are afraid of [Pinsky:] I want to come I think there is a huge opportunity for Muslims, is not there? help us lead us out of this. Is not it? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] A lot of Muslims are speaking out. [Pinsky:] But, it is like you need a unified like somebody I guess there is there somebody, a PR that can [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We have a lot of organizations like - [Pinsky:] There needs to be you need your own Trump. You need your own guy that [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] That fear mongers? [Pinsky:] No. That is clear and loud and understood and accepted and get cuts through, and a third of everybody understands it and hears it. Do not you think? But, no one is listening. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Muslims have not for example, what I hear over and over again on the media, why are not Muslims condemning acts of terrorism? "Oh, this terrorist attack happened." [Pinsky:] Yes. Why not? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] "Oh, this terrorist attack happened." Why are not they condemning? [Pinsky:] Why? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Why are not they condemning, they are. They have been doing nothing but condemning it for the past 15 years. [Pinsky:] And, so, let me let me [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I personally have condemned it [Pinsky:] I have no doubt. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] in many conversations that I have had with people. [Pinsky:] But, why do people have that perception? We have to figure that out [Swoyer:] The CAIR is actually paying for the lawyers right now for the San Bernardino family. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] It is one way or the other. If you affirms what they already believe. If they find out something new about someone, they may believe that, that person to be the enemy, then they do not want to hear it. [Pinsky:] Right. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] They do not want to hear it if it goes against what they think. [Pinsky:] What do you want to do, Bert? We are going to switch the mics here. Hang on. This is we are live television and things are happening right under our feet here. So, I got to go break. You give your one thought, because you are the media expert. You are a professor of media studies. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] There is so much to say, but number one is access. We have charismatic outspoken leaders in the Muslim community who have been speaking for you know, for tens of years. [Pinsky:] But it is like stay right there. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] OK. [Pinsky:] I have to take a break. But, it seems to me like whenever people have a position that is clear and not being received, you call that a PR problem. So, something is not right. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Because we do not have access to media. [Pinsky:] Here we are. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] This is exactly what I talked about. This is exactly what I said. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] We thank you for it. [Pinsky:] All right. Well, here is the deal [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We thank you for it [Pinsky:] We will do more. We will do more. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] but it is not enough. [Pinsky:] I agree with you on that. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] It is always with a crisis. It comes with a crisis. We do not access [Pinsky:] Well, that is the way media is. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] We do not have access. [Pinsky:] You are a professor of that, you know how that works. All right. So, let me all right, here we go. So, I just want to keep this conversation going. We will just leave it at that. We got a lot more to say. We got a lot more to hear from this audience and my panel. We will be right back. [Trump:] We have to really be vigilant with respect to the Muslim population. [Unidentified Male Trump Supporter:] I do not want them here. Who knows what they are going to bring into this country? Bombs? Isis or what? They need to go. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] It is the first time that Muslims are fearing for their life, for their children. [Unidentified Female Speaker:] So, basically, like you are Muslim. They are like, "Oh, OK. So, they are terrorists." [Unidentified Female Reporter:] He is just saying, no Muslim should be allowed to enter the country right now. Do you agree? Yes or no? It is that simple. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] Yes. [Pinsky:] What it is like to be Muslim American when so many controversial and perhaps even offensive thing are being said about Islam, and about immigration and about your community. We have Muslim American studio audience today who is really letting us know, hearing from them. Back with Vanessa, Alex, Maz, and Sara. Now, in the audience, I have 21-year-old Marwa Abdelghani. She is a youth leader at the Muslim Public Affairs Council. And, I wanted to get your perception on Let us just start with Mr. Trump`s comments and how that has changed what you are have to deal with. [Marwa Abdelghani, Youth Leader At The Muslim Public Affairs Council:] Yes, you know, I think that we are all aware of how ridiculous his comments are. But, we are forgetting the fact that young Muslim Americans like myself are sandwiched between extremist politicians` comments, as well as the extremist ideologies overseas. And, so, we have to go through this identity crisis of navigating our life in America. [Pinsky:] Do you feel like do you feel like you have an eitheror sort of argument before you? Either I have to be all the way Muslim I got to have an extreme opinion or I am something else? [Abdelghani:] No. [Pinsky:] No. [Abdelghani:] Definitely not. Young Muslim-Americans go through the exact same experiences as any other young American person growing up here. We go through the same experiences in high school and in college and we are all aspiring journalists, aspiring doctors and lawyers and we are a part of American society. [Pinsky:] You know, it just it just occurs to me seeing Marwa, reminds me that all my Muslim friends are extremely community minded, right? A lot of time and energy giving back and building. And, I am sure that is everyone`s experience, right? And, the average American does not know that. [Abdelghani:] Yes. It is a part of our faith to be engaged in our community. And, to be a part of the change that is going to come about, all of our experiences. [Pinsky:] Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] What we need to remember today is that what we persist on the longest becomes the strongest. And, this is what is happening. Dr. King said, "I stand with love because hate is too much of a burden to bear." And, I tell Mr. Trump, I mean he must be a very smart businessman, but easy leaving his legacy or leaving his legacy? It is time that we came together and really build America with strong kids. Because we cannot mend broken men, but we can build strong kids. So, I stand here as a Muslim [Pinsky:] Go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I have done so much community work in 2007, my 7-year-old son was told he was a terrorist. [Pinsky:] What? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] 7-year-old? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] 7-year-old son in school. I picked him up. He was sobbing. And, that I realized I did not need a Ph.D., because I am a lawyer and I am a professional speaker. I realized I did not need a Ph.D. to teach my son to love one another. And, that is my message, we all need to rally around, to remember, why are we here? [Pinsky:] Does your one of the things that came out of a study in 2011, you are probably the perfect person to answer this, is that almost half of American Muslims believe that their religious leaders, here is the study up on the full screen here 48 percent. Their religious leaders were not speaking out strongly enough. Is that part of the problem or is that just a misperception? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] In my personal understanding, I think we have also leaders who are very conversant in the context in the text but not the context. And, we need that change and that is happening. We have some Islamic Universities who are training Imams. [Pinsky:] Let me add this. In the rhetoric that Trump was putting out, he said that there were a lot I forgot what the number he said, the thing about the Sharia thing. He did say, half of the [Jobrani:] 51 percent. [Pinsky:] 51 percent That scares people to death. Is that just wrong? [Audience Studio Members:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes. Absolutely. [Pinsky:] Yes. So, why cannot somebody stand up and go, "That is wrong. That is crazy." Do you know anybody that believes Sharia Law, yourself? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I do not know. [Pinsky:] Yes. Maz, do you know anybody? [Jobrani:] He spurts out stuff all the time without facts behind it. I mean the whole thing of him saying [Pinsky:] Well, but you should be responding to that, right? [Jobrani:] Yes. But, listen, there is a couple things. First of all, the Muslim community does not have an NAACP or an Al Sharpton. They could use one, absolutely [Pinsky:] Maz, appoint somebody. [Jobrani:] Yes, number one. Number two, though, the perception of Muslims in American. I am Middle Eastern. I was born in Iran. I grew up here. I am not that religious, but I do know that being an actor and a comedian, you do not see us represented in a positive light. Nine out of ten auditions I was getting were for terrorist parts, and that is when I stop. I stopped taking the auditions. [Pinsky:] And, Black-Americans are dealing with this longer other than any other population, I would say. Would not you [Barnett:] Absolutely. [Pinsky:] Is there a way you can help them lead out of this? [Barnett:] I would hate to presumptively, I have to say that we have the answer, because I think we are still fighting our same fight, a similar fight. But, I think that they have a voice and they have been trying to use that voice, but I do not think in the media, they are getting any cover as they were saying. [Pinsky:] All right. [Barnett:] So, you have these organizations. We have these people speaking out, but the media is not being balanced and fair and telling both sides of the story. [Pinsky:] OK. Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] You were asking, where are our leaders? [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] In fact [Pinsky:] Well, I said religious leaders with that study, the religious leaders. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] I also would like you to have a P.R. representative that everyone responded to, you know, in a way that they can understand, but go ahead. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, I will give you a little bit of both. I work for Muslims for Progressive Values. And, our president and founder, Ani Zonneveld, she is an Imam. And, she is actually in Geneva right now, advising Somalia on their human rights abuses in the name of Sharia Law. And, so, we do have leaders, who are on the ground on the policy level and on the grassroots level trying to make change. But, I also want to say that, why is it the Muslim`s responsibility to stand against a cult of death? [Pinsky:] Well yes, that is a great [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Is it Christians` responsibility when the KKK burned eight black churches? [Pinsky:] Yes. I believe it is. Absolutely, 100 percent. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, do we ask the pope to make a statement? [Pinsky:] Well, interesting. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] And, do we ask all the religious community to make a statement? [Pinsky:] Interesting. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Obviously, we are all against it. It is obvious. It should not be something that we need to question us on. [Pinsky:] Well, that is an interesting point. Yes, I will percolate on that for a few minutes. Go ahead, Maz. [Jobrani:] And, another thing, that have exactly what you are saying. Listen, Muslims in America are minority. There is a very small number of Muslims in America. So, even if Muslims got up and started screaming, "We condemn it. We condemn it." They are not getting the coverage. Whereas, what happened to sympathy rather than fear? Why do not Christians join with Muslims, join with Jews and let us condemn them together and call it an act of criminality? [Pinsky:] Yes, sir. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] To get back real quick to Mr. Trump and what he said about his question, I have two points to make with this. Number one, if is he going to ban- is he going to stop his money coming in from the investments he has made in the Middle East, in Dubai and in Iran. [Pinsky:] We have to go to break. Next up, talking about these acts of aggression against people of Muslim faith. A woman throws coffee in the face of two Muslim strangers. She tells us why she did it. I got to hear that, after this. We are spending the hour here with our Muslim American peers and audience about misunderstanding over Islam and hate in the country and trying to do something about it. Two Muslim men praying in Northern California Park were confronted by an angry stranger. [Denise Slader, Confronted Two Muslim Men In The Park:] You are very deceived by Satan. Your mind has been taken over brainwashed, and you have nothing but hate. Nothing but hate. [Unidentified Female Park Ranger:] It is not appropriate. [Slader:] You are right. For somebody to tape record me, it is inappropriate. [Unidentified Male Muslim:] This lady was talking about my God. She was saying he is that [Slader:] Get out. [Unidentified Male Muslim:] Do not touch me. Call the cop. Call the police. [Pinsky:] And, appropriately, that woman was charged with battery and violations of civil rights. Back with Vanessa, Alex, Maz, Sara, and Marwa. I want to get we have a lot of audience who wants to speak with us. So, yes, sir. [Azmat Mohammed , United States Veteran, Marine Corps:] Yes. I am an American-Muslim. My name is Azmat Mohammed, I am also a United States Veteran, Marine Corps. [Pinsky:] Thank you for your service. [Mohammed:] And, all I want to say is that Donald Trump is part of a secret society that really run America, just like the movie "1984," where they said, "War is peace and freedom is slavery." It is the same thing. They want to put everybody in a box. And, they want everybody in fear and everybody in control. Just like the movie "1984." [Pinsky:] Thank you, sir. We will keep hearing from our audience. [Gienen , Female Muslim Audience Member:] Hi, I am Gienen. I am Tyru, but I feel like Donald Trump yes, we are against him. But, we are also hypocrites as Muslims because we discriminate against each other. [Pinsky:] In other words, there are so many different types of Muslim Communities. [Gienen:] Yes. Ethnicities. [Pinsky:] You are African-Muslim. [Gienen:] Yes, I am African-Muslim. [Pinsky:] And, you feel discriminated against by? [Gienen:] Because right now, as I walked in here, some people did not believe I was Muslim. So, that is discrimination on its own. [Pinsky:] So, back to my question about there being a sort of unified P.R. message, is it because there is a splintered community, is that part of the problem? [Gienen:] Yes. If you look at the audience, it is pretty solid. [Pinsky:] Which is I love. [Gienen:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Which is wonderful. It needs to be celebrated, but it also need to [Gienen:] But, if we unify ourselves, then everybody will see that we are doing something about it. [Pinsky:] There you go. Thank you. Are guys, do you believe the way I do, that there is sort of like a I keep calling it a P.R. problem. That sounds crass. [Swoyer:] No, I agree. I get it. [Barnett:] I get what you are saying, but what you said at the top of the show is that we are all Americans first. [Pinsky:] I hope so. [Barnett:] And, so, it is all of our duty to combat this. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Barnett:] We cannot just Because there is such a small subset of people. Like you said, there is not many Muslim Americans here. So, it is really all of our jobs to ban together. [Pinsky:] Alex. [Swoyer:] And, I think one of the only organizations, I think someone cited it in the audience was CAIR. And, they have been in numerous headlines, where they have had links to Hamas and others that has it has been declared a terrorist organization by the FBI and the federal court. [Pinsky:] So, that is [Jobrani:] Yes, but Alex [Swoyer:] It actually has. [Jobrani:] Yes, but Alex Alex, listen. Listen [Swoyer:] In 2009, the federal court declared it a terrorist organization. And, just, I think it was Wednesday, BrietBart.com posted a chart from the FBI that they have released showing that its founder was linked to Hamas. [Pinsky:] But, let me just say, that therein lies the rub here, right? [Swoyer:] That is what I am saying. So, that is the only way [Pinsky:] So, we need a clear and distinct spokesperson that people listen to and believe. [Swoyer:] Absolutely. [Pinsky:] Yes, sir. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] So, I got a couple minutes, because the producer is going crazy over here. But, you were just telling us about, you know, how Muslims need to be talking more, so I am going to take the liberty to do that. No, I am just joking. I will not do that. So, there has always been a conservative element in this country that has been playing up to the fear of the other. [Pinsky:] That is human experience, right? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. So, you have that since against Japanese-Americans during, you know, the World Wars [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] And, then you have you know, that against Mexican-Americans, and you know, against black folks and by the way, a third of Muslim Americans are African-American. Geinen has a point. [Pinsky:] To be fair, though. But, would you agree, and I do not mean to interrupt. I am sorry. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] But, I just want to shape this conversation. We have limited time. A lot of people want to talk. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. [Pinsky:] But, is that America has not cornered that issue. It is just we live in a multiethnic, multicultural society, so it shows up in our culture a lot. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] And, it is the responsibility of the media, of our leaders to take a position and to take an approach that is honest. We have, you know, CAIR and MPAC are two organizations that have been working for this and addressing these issues condemning ISIS and the like. Last week, we just had a rally at city hall, which the mayor came out to condemning ISIS. We have had San Bernardino Muslims have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for the victims in San Bernardino. But, you know, these things are not being covered. And, what is being covered is, you know, CAIR is a terrorist organization that is sending money to Hamas and what not. [Pinsky:] So, what is the solution? We are looking for a solution tonight? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] It is exactly as what she was saying here. [Pinsky:] Vanessa. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] She was saying you know, our leaders and media heads, and instead of fear mongering and playing up this atmosphere of hate that is taking root. [Barnett:] Our president said it. He said the Muslims should be our allies. We should be working with them. Not banning them. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Bush President Bush said the same thing. [Barnett:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] Of course. We are not going to solve this without the Muslim community. That is for sure. [Jobrani:] Listen. It really is a number thing. If you look at Christians and Muslims If you are really religious, you have a lot more in common than not in common. So, Christians need to get with Muslims. Need to get with other religious type and we will fight it. [Pinsky:] OK. I have to go to break. I am running out of time. I will get to more more audience as soon as we get back. We will be, in fact, right back. Do not go away. We are back with our Muslim American audience. I got my panel here still with me. I want to get to as many of our audience members as possible. Let us go right through it. Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I just want to talk about how in public schools, when I tell people that I am a Muslim, they always immediately think, "Oh, she is a terrorist. Oh, she is going to bomb us." [Pinsky:] Do they say that? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes. They say that. Even my friends like as a joke, because it is so normal. And, for people to just immediately say that Muslims are terrorists. [Pinsky:] What do you do with that when someone says that to you? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I just tell them to be quiet. I usually just ignore them. I mean I am pretty confident, so it does not really affect me at all. [Pinsky:] We see that. But, is there any place you can go with that? Does it make you want to do anything? I mean you are the next generation. We are looking to you. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I tell them that it is not right. I always try to tell them that it is not OK. [Pinsky:] Not OK. Well, thank you. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] People will come up to me and say, "Oh, you should be deported." I always tell them like, "I was born in America. Where am I going to be deported to?" [Pinsky:] That is right. Thank you. Sara, you said you had some discrimination you dealt with as a young girl as well? [Azari:] Yes, but that was you know, that was not based on being a Muslim even though I am a non-practicing Muslim. That was based on my nationality. Same thing. I mean I think it is so difficult for children to deal with this. And, then what does a parent do when that kid comes home and says what happened to them in school? [Pinsky:] Yes, I mean did you ever have that? [Jobrani:] Absolutely. I mean that was the the hypocrisy of it, the ridiculousness of it was that I fled Iran to get away from that government. And, then you come to America and you will be calling, "F-ing Iranian." [Pinsky:] Right. Well, and you, guys, I mean that is the big complain about holding Muslim immigration, which is the very people that are fleeing what we are trying to fight are the people we are keeping away from the safety. And, I understand why somebody could say that. But, it is what we did during second World War to Jews who ended up dead. Yes, sir. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] So, Dr. Drew, you are talking about solutions in the earlier part of the show. And, I just wanted to mention that what is not going to be a solution is in 2016, we have a presidential candidate who becomes president of the United States, right? Who spews the kind of rhetoric that we have seen in the GOP, this election season. I promise you, as a student of Islamic studies, a Ph.D. student at UCLA, who understands religious symbolisms and understands how they influence people, right? That you will see an increase in Islamic radicalism across the country. [Pinsky:] What if he did something like this? What if he invited you in to have a conversation with him, to set him straight, to help him get rhetoric right? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] I mean, if he actually has an interesting in knowing about Islam, and I would be very interested. But, the fact, is that most republican candidates, do not I will be quite honest. Most Americans cannot tell difference between a Sikh and a Muslim. [Pinsky:] That is true. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] OK? [Pinsky:] It is very true. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] If you are trying to say if you are trying to say that we are your enemy and you do not even know the differences between Sunni or Shi`a, a Salafi or Sufi, right? And, you do not know where these people are in the world, how the hell are you supposed to tackle us? Right? You see, that is the problem, right? [Pinsky:] Yes. I see that. That is why we are trying to [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] And, I think it is a problem that also translates the average public, right? Even the people that are involved in media, right? So, you mentioned the word Sharia, right? But, as someone who studied it, I recognized that you do not know what it means, right? Or when Rick Santorum talks about Jihad, and he says that, "Oh, well, Muslims are all jihadists," right? Sorry. "All jihadists are Muslim," right? Does he not realize that there are people in Syria that have declared jihad against ISIS, and they believe it is the religious occupation [Pinsky:] Right. OK. So, here is what I want to do. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Fight that. [Pinsky:] I have to go to break. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] We are with you. [Pinsky:] I want to you stay with me after the show. We are going to reconvene on Facebook. I will be back after the break, but I want you to educate us about those things. We will have a Facebook After Show, where you are going to teach us those issues, OK? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Sure. [Pinsky:] All right. We will be right after this. I want to thank you for watching. I want to thank this audience for showing up today and spending their time and sharing their thoughts. I do not want to get this I do not want to allow this conversation to end. Thank you, panelists. Thank you in the audience as well. We need to keep doing this. We will do it in the New Year. And, I am sort of emotionally affected by all this. And, I have an overriding faith in American and Americans. And, I believe we can all get on this boat together. I believe it, deeply. Let us do this. We will see you next time. [Berman:] As we have said, President-Elect Donald Trump spending thanksgiving at his Mar-a-Lago Resort in Florida. This is his first trip to Palm Beach as president-elect. And the preparations for security, they've been intense. Here's Ed Lavendera. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Protecting President-Elect Donald Trump is a challenge unlike any other, from Trump Tower in New York to his private club in Florida. So, we're approaching Mar-a-Lago right here. It's a 20 acre water front estate in Palm Beach, secluded from the public but he also shares it with as many as 500 members who are willing to pay a hundred thousand dollars to join. [Rennie Rodriguez, Former Secret Service Agent:] Basically, it's a compound. And we have to treat it as such. [Lavandera:] Former Secret Service in ATF special agent, Rennie Rodriquez says, in many ways, it's ready made for presidential security. Behind this natural barrier here, which I assume there's a fence. [Rodriguez:] It appears as there's a wall back there. [Lavandera:] There's a wall, a tall wall. [Rodriguez:] Yeah. It's more than 13 feet, I believe, which is great for deterring anyone trying to come on the premises. [Lavandera:] Behind the wall, Trump keeps a residence that could become the winter White House. [Trump:] And I love here. This is my second home. [Lavandera:] Where presidents spend their vacations is a window into their personalities. George W. Bush like to spend the hottest month of the year on his ranch in Crawford, Texas. [George W. Bush, Former President Of U.s:] There's a wonderful spot to come up in here and just kind of think about the budget. I mean... [Lavandera:] George Bush Senior famously enjoyed the peaceful serenity of Kennebunkport, Maine. Mar-a-Lago stretches across a barrier Island cut down the middle by a two lane road nestled between a stunning stream of multimillion dollar homes. The best view comes from across the bay. Rodriguez says secret service teams are assessing threats that could come by land, sea and air. And standing outside of the club, it doesn't take long to see the skies above will be a major concern. [Rodriguez:] I mean, that plane's whether maybe a couple thousand feet over us. [Lavandera:] The Palm Beach International Airport is just a few miles west of Mar-a-Lago. [Rodriguez:] You can see the path for commercial aircraft. [Lavandera:] For years, Trump has waved illegal battle to keep commercial and private planes from flying over this estate. And now that he's president-elect, he might have just gotten his way. When he is on the property, Rodriguez says, the air space over Mar-a- Lago will be closed. [Rodriguez:] This will be a type of an aircraft that individual would use to drive this plane into on the properties. [Lavandera:] And in the waters around Mar-a-Lago, the U.S. coast guard is already setting up security zones. Some parts completely off limits, other areas that require permission before entering. Rodriguez says secret service agents will also conduct renewed background checks on every club member. And inside the club, they can also expect to see new levels of visible and invisible layers of security. Are they in for a bit of a rude awakening? [Rodriguez:] I think it depends, you know. Some of the neighbors may like it, others, you know, may complain because they don't like the intrusion. [Lavandera:] But life's going change around here for the next four years. [Rodriguez:] Yes it will. Most, definitely. [Lavandera:] Ed Lavandera, CNN Palm Beach, Florida. [Berman:] That was Ed Lavandera reporting. Now, as he mentioned it's not just Mar-a-Lago that's getting a security makeover. President-elect Trump is using Trump Tower as his transition base. His wife Melania and their 10 year old son, Barron plan to stay in New York for up to six months after President-elect Trump takes office. Let's just call it a challenge for the people-in-charge of presidential security. Mark Ambinder wrote about this in "The Washington Post". He's a fellow of the Annenberg School of Communications and Journalism at the University of Southern California. And previously covered national security in the White House for the "National Journal", I'd had chance to speak to him about this. So, Marc, we often hear about the presidential bubble. The secret service detail that surrounds the president at all times. You know, it's one thing within his house, when it's in the White House, when it's in the Washington, D.C. when you take that bubble and you move it to Midtown, Manhattan right on 5th avenue on a busy Manhattan Street. It's a staggering undertaking. [Marc Ambinder, American Journalist:] Well, it really is. And in fact, it gives lie to the metaphor that we use. It's not a bubble, because a bubble you can puncture. But this is an iron cast. I mean, the footprint that President-Elect Trump and then President Trump will take in New York is going to be significant and it's going to be larger than I think many New Yorkers realize even now. [Berman:] In terms of dollars and cents, just so we understand what this cost. Now cost, maybe not the issue here, but it is going to be extensive. [Ambinder:] Never had you have a president live among other people on a weekend. And that essentially means you have to duplicate the entire White House apparatus, not just the secret service, not just all the security features, but the entire White House apparatus. And import it into a busy city that is working in a building that other people live with rights that they simply can't be evicted, because Donald Trump wants them to be. It is a completely unprecedented situation. [Berman:] And you write extensively about this. And what's really interesting is a big chunk of this is the military office is ensuring that the president can do his responsibilities as commander-in-chief. [Ambinder:] Right. [Berman:] What does that mean? [Ambinder:] Well, I mean, the president has a number of significant responsibilities. They even go beyond being the commander-in-chief. Commander-in-chief is the one we all know. The president has to be able to consult with military leaders within moments for example of an ICDM watch. So, there has to be a secure infrastructure for him to do that. But the president also has to be able to communicate with the American people. He has to be able to communicate with foreign leaders. He has to be able to communicate with members of Congress and the Supreme Court. All of that is the responsibility of the White House military office. So, they're going to have to create in essence, an intranet within the internet of Trump Tower. They're going to have to create a secure compartment and information facility. They're going to have to create iron chambers if the president can go into when he needs to make these discussions. And they're going to have to replicate that at various points throughout the city when he travels. Just like the White House military office is able to do with Washington, D.C. which has a number of locations the president can go to, especially during emergencies. [Berman:] And this is something that we have to build. Physically build. Not just the technology, but also the human resources. [Ambinder:] Yeah. [Berman:] And that's a big deal. Marc, you also write as an example of how big this is about that one date night that the president and first lady had in New York City back in 2009 when they went to dinner on a broadway show. And just that alone was a huge deal. And now, you want to do it on a permanent basis, right? [Ambinder:] Right. I mean, if you are the secret service, you can do things, one of two ways, to ensure the safety of the person that you're protecting. You can do it stuffily if the world doesn't know that a protectee is going to show up at a certain place. It's easy to do with a small footprint because the threat is minimal. But if word gets out, you have to essentially send in the big guns. That's what happened with President Obama's date night back in 2009. They had to replicate the entire structure of the White House. They had to send everyone through magnetometers and turns out magnetometers malfunction because they replaced on top of a metal barriers so they had to send everyone through the magnetometers again. That's going to happen over and over and over again. And of course, even President Trump being someone who is not a first to publicity. And again, somebody likes to go out on the town in New York, I have a feeling that you're going to see it this happen a lot. And there will be times when entire parts of mid town of Manhattan are shut down because President Trump, within his rights, wants to have dinner at a steak restaurant. [Berman:] So, more, you are deeply source within the security apparatus of this country. Do you have any sense that the secret service is trying to talk Donald Trump out of spending so much time at Trump Tower? And if they wanted to, could they? [Ambinder:] I think they have impressed upon President-elect Trump the difficulty and some of the compromises he might have to make. But I don't get the sense at all if they're trying to talk the amount of it. I really don't. And that's not their job. Their job is to do what they've always done which is OK. Tell us what you want us to do and we'll figure out a way to do it. [Berman:] Make it happen. Marc Ambinder, fascinating discussion. Great writing on your part again. You are the expert on the subject, so thanks so much for being with us. [Ambinder:] Thanks John. [Berman:] Coming up. AAA says 43 and a half million Americans are hitting the road for Thanksgiving, more than 5 million others heading to the airports. We're going to have an update on your holiday travel. That's next. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Trump is voicing a growing number of grievances about their first showdown. How will his uneven performance impact his campaign? Tax and defense. Donald Trump tries to deflect questions about his tax returns, but says not paying taxes is good business and would make him smart. But even some supporters say Trump doesn't have a good answer on questions about his returns. Will he yield to growing pressure and release them? Racist behavior. Hillary Clinton accuses Donald Trump of having and I'm quoting now "a long record of engaging in racist behavior." But Trump misses a chance to change perceptions about his campaign and, instead, defends controversial police practices and abruptly shuts down a conversation about birtherism. How can he increase his weak support among minorities? And urgent protection 18 states now ask the federal government for help preventing cyber-attacks on their voting systems, following a series of online assaults. While Hillary Clinton points a finger at Russia, Donald Trump says other could be to blame. Is the Kremlin trying to sway the presidential election? We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following a new chapter in the race for the White House opened by the historic first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Both campaigns are now back in full swing mode, but striking markedly different tones, Clinton, the debate winner according to our CNNORC poll, is taking a victory lap and taking new swipes at Donald Trump, who appeared thrown off by some of her debate attacks. Tonight, Trump is voicing complaints about the debate, including what he calls hostile questions and a microphone he claims was defective. We're standing by to hear from Trump in a rally that is about get to under way in Melbourne, Florida. We're also following new concerns about cyber-attacks disrupting the presidential election. The Department of Homeland Security says 18 states are now asking for help securing their voting systems from potential online assaults, something that has already happened in both Illinois and Arizona. We're covering all of that, much more this hour with our guests, including the ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Congressman Adam Schiff. And our correspondents and our expert analysts are also standing by. Let's begin with our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta. He's over at Trump headquarters in New York City. Jim, Trump has a lot to say today about that debate. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. And the Trump campaign is offering evidence that they say shows Donald Trump won last night's debate. Donald Trump tweeted earlier this afternoon that he has raised $13 million in the last 24 hours. But when it comes to last night's performance, Donald Trump is pointing fingers everywhere but at himself. [Acosta:] The day after his fiery debate with Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump is declaring victory with a triumphant tweet, "The number one trend on Twitter right now is #TrumpWon. Thank you." [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It was a fascinating period of time. And I think we did very well. [Acosta:] But he is also making excuses, blaming a bad microphone and more for getting in the way of his message. [Trump:] I don't want to believe in conspiracy theories, of course, but it was much lower than hers. And it was crackling. And she didn't have that problem. That was, to me, a bad problem, because you have a bum mic, a mic, it's not exactly good. [Acosta:] Coming off a night of delivering her prepared one-liners, Clinton had a zinger for that too. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Anybody who complains about the microphone is not having a good night. [Acosta:] Trump, like many of his supporters the morning after, also complained about moderator Lester Holt. [Trump:] I give him a C, C-plus. I thought he was OK. I thought he was fine. He was nothing outstanding. I thought he gave me very unfair questions at the end. [Acosta:] Problem is, Trump... [Trump:] I thought honestly, I thought he did a great job. [Acosta:] ... and his own campaign manager praised Holt right after the debate. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager:] I thought Lester Holt did a great job as the moderator under tough circumstances. [Acosta:] But Trump had his share of tough moments as Clinton repeatedly baited her opponent. [H. Clinton:] Just join the debate by saying more crazy things. [Acosta:] On his refusal to release his tax returns. [H. Clinton:] The only years that anybody has ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax. [Trump:] That makes me smart. [Acosta:] Clinton returned to the issue today in North Carolina. [H. Clinton:] And I got to that point where I said, well, maybe he's paid zero. He said that makes him smart. Now, if not paying taxes makes him smart, what does that make all the rest of us? [Acosta:] On Iraq, Trump falsely insisted once again he opposed the war before it with began. [H. Clinton:] Donald supported the invasion of Iraq. [Trump:] Wrong. [H. Clinton:] That has absolutely been proved. [Trump:] Wrong. [Acosta:] The Trump campaign is offering different explanations for the GOP contender's past claim that climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese government to hurt U.S. factories, with his campaign manager saying one thing. [Conway:] He believes that climate change is naturally occurring. [Acosta:] And his running mate saying another. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Candidate:] Well, look, there is no question that the activities that take place in this country and in countries around the world have some impact on the environment and some impact on climate. [Acosta:] Now, getting back to those tax returns, Donald Trump did tell me last night in the spin room, Wolf, that he does pay federal income taxes, but he did not respond when I asked him, at what rate? What tax rate do you pay? He did not respond. Now, Rudy Giuliani was telling reporters that perhaps Trump should skip the next two debates. No word whether any of that is being considered inside the campaign, but I did talk on one Trump adviser who said he needs some work Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Jim Acosta over at Trump Tower in New York, thank you. Hillary Clinton is back on the campaign trail riding her debate momentum. CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, is joining us. Jeff, Clinton is keeping up some of the same attacks she used against Trump in the debate. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] She is indeed, Wolf, from those tax returns we just heard about to his business acumen, even to how he treated a Miss Universe contestant two decades ago. Hillary Clinton is trying to use his words and records against him. Now, one senior adviser told me today this is the best day of the campaign since winning the primary back in June. The smile on her face today seemed to indicate that was true. [H. Clinton:] Did anybody see that debate last night? [Zeleny:] There is a new spring in her step tonight. [H. Clinton:] Oh, yes. One down, two to go. [Zeleny:] Flying to a rally in North Carolina, Hillary Clinton reveling in the strong reviews from her first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump. [H. Clinton:] You should know by now, when I set my mind on something, I keep going. I don't quit, whatever the static, whatever the incoming is, and that's what I will do for the American people. [Zeleny:] The most watched debate in history, more than 80 million viewers on television alone, came just in time for Clinton. She is locked in a tight race with Trump nationally and on critical battlegrounds. On the campaign trail today, Clinton picked up where she left off on stage, from preparing for the debate and presidency. [H. Clinton:] He made it very clear that he didn't prepare for that debate. I did prepare. And I will tell you something else I prepared for. I prepared to be president of the United States. And I think that's good. [Zeleny:] To her charge that he has built his businesses by stiffing the little guy. [H. Clinton:] Stiffing people, dishwashers, painters, plumbers, architects, glass installers, marble installers, drapery installers across America. [Zeleny:] But it was this exchange about his treatment of women that is still reverberating. [H. Clinton:] And one of the worst things he said was about a woman in a beauty contest. He called this woman "Miss Piggy." Then he called her "Miss Housekeeping," because she was Latina. Donald, she has a name. [Trump:] Where did you find this? Where did you find this? [H. Clinton:] Her name is Alicia Machado. [Trump:] Where did you find this? [H. Clinton:] And she has become a U.S. citizen, and you can bet... [Trump:] Oh, really? [H. Clinton:] ... she's going to vote this November. [Trump:] OK, good. [Zeleny:] Alicia Machado, who grew up in Venezuela, won the Miss Universe Pageant in 1996, the Clinton campaign inviting her to join a conference call to talk about Trump. [Alicia Machado, Former Miss Universe:] For me, these elections are like a bad dream, watching this guy again doing stupid things and stupid comments. [Zeleny:] Two decades ago, Trump shamed her for gaining weight. Today, he made no apologies. [Trump:] She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was it was a real problem. [Zeleny:] Advisers to Clinton believe Trump's effort to win over independent and moderate women was set back by frequent outbursts and interruptions. [Trump:] I do not say that. I do not say that. [Zeleny:] A post-debate CNNORC poll shows 62 percent of viewers thought Clinton won the debate, while 27 percent said Trump did. Democrats spanned out across the country to pile on Trump, hoping to calm a sense of unease that has been sweeping across the party. [Bill Clinton, Former President Of The United States:] Did she have a good debate or what? [Zeleny:] From former President Bill Clinton in Ohio to running mate Tim Kaine. [Sen. Tim Kaine , Vice Presidential Candidate:] What he really showed is just how rattled he was. [Zeleny:] And in Pennsylvania, Vice President Joe Biden made the sharpest case of all. [Joseph Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] I'll tell you what, if this choice isn't clear, I don't know. Oh, my lord. [Zeleny:] But with 42 days to go, and the second debate less than two weeks away, Clinton made clear the fight was just beginning. [H. Clinton:] This election is going to be close. They all are these days. [Zeleny:] And, Wolf, we're getting word that President Obama is also going to be another Democrat adding his help as well, even more help. He has agreed to participate and star in television commercials the Clinton campaign will be airing in the final month of this race. They know that this is not a permanent dynamic. But, for today, at least, she will take it. [Blitzer:] She certainly will. Jeff Zeleny, thank you. Let's get some more on all of this. The ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff of California, is joining us. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. [Rep. Adam Schiff , California:] You bet, Wolf. Good to be with you. [Blitzer:] All right, so Hillary Clinton clearly had a good night last night at the debate. But she clearly also did not deliver a knockout punch. Why? [Schiff:] Well, I think it is hard to have a knockout punch in these kind of debates. Trump is a reality TV performer. That is his medium. I think actually the expectations for him were altogether too low, but, nonetheless, he didn't even meet those expectations. But, still, that is the environment in which he is the most comfortable. I think a knockout is hard to do. But I think the emotion from last night will be one that will help the secretary to go forward and will continue to be damaging to Donald Trump. And that is, he did not appear presidential. He didn't meet the threshold. He displayed, even as he was bragging about his temperament, really a lack of temperament, certainly a lack of grasp of the issues. And Secretary Clinton showed her command. And I think those impressions will stay, so not a knockout punch, but, nonetheless, I think that voter attitudes are going to start to begin to gel. [Blitzer:] Did she move the needle with voters, especially those undecided voters in the key battleground states? Because before the debate, more people thought Trump was more honest and trustworthy. That CNNORC poll, who is more honest and trustworthy, Trump 50 percent, Hillary Clinton 35 percent. That's a big problem for her. [Schiff:] It is a challenge. And I think that she did move the needle last night. We will see in the days to come what the effect or what kind of a bounce she might get from these polls. But I think that she came across very well. In fact, some of the favorite moments I had in the debate where when she was when she laughed, when she smiled at one particularly long and rather convoluted answer that Donald Trump gave, she said, boy, there's a lot packed into that and couldn't help but laugh. And I think people at home couldn't help but laugh with her. So, she really had a great presence. I think it was one of her best debate performances that I have seen, and she just needs to keep it up. [Blitzer:] He is painting himself as the change candidate. He tweeted this. "Hillary has been failing for 30 years in not getting the job done. It will never change." He is painting her as the status quo. He could change things. He could get things better. About 70 percent of the American public, according to polls, think the country is moving in the wrong direction. How does she fix that image that she is status quo? [Schiff:] I think it's a challenge for anyone who is running from the same party as the incumbent president, particularly a two-term president. But I think that Trump failed to make the case last night for a couple reasons. First, he failed to show that he would have done anything different. And a lot of the key issues, where had come out in favor of the war in Iraq initially, he could not distinguish himself on that. He couldn't distinguish himself on Libya because he had adopted largely the same position. On some of those key issues, he couldn't say that he had done something different, at least not credibly. And more than that, on the economic issues, he failed to point to anything I think that was persuasive to Americans that he would do differently going forward. The most he could say when he was asked, how do you bring jobs back, he goes, well, I wouldn't have lost them in the first place. But, of course, we're left to wonder, well, why is that is that and how would you have prevented that? The one thing I was surprised at, frankly, in the trade discussion was the secretary didn't bring out the fact that as much as he lambastes trade for outsourcing jobs, he's been guilty of outsourcing jobs in his own business. So, he has a lot of vulnerabilities. It is difficult, I think, with his background to make the case, even though he is a newcomer to the political arena. But he certainly didn't make it last night. [Blitzer:] Trump largely left personal attacks out last night. But he foreshadowed what could come in round two. Listen to this. [Question:] Anything that you wish you did differently? [Trump:] No. I'm very happy that I was glad I was able to hold back on the indiscretions with respect to Bill Clinton, because I have a lot of respect for Chelsea Clinton, and I just didn't want to say what I was going to say. [Question:] Which is? [Trump:] Which is, I will tell you maybe at the next debate. We will see. [Blitzer:] So, she clearly seemed to get under his skin. But will it be different, a different battle next time? Because you heard, he's threatened to hit her harder. [Schiff:] Well, and this was classic Donald Trump, to go to the spin room after the debate and say, I was going to bring up these really kind of mudslinging things, but I didn't. But you know the mudslinging things I am talking about, so actually I am bringing them up, but I want credit for not explicitly bringing them up. That's sort of vintage Donald Trump. It's the same way that he handled the birther stuff, by saying, now, some people are saying, some people are suggesting. He loves to campaign by negative innuendo. But I think you're right, weapon I think we will see a different Donald Trump at the next debate. I think he will be far more aggressive, and I think he will be far more ugly. He will be throwing the kitchen sink at Secretary Clinton. But he is going to have to careful how he does it, because his biggest problem is, he doesn't know when to stop. He is guilty of terrible overreach. And he is very easily needled and put off. I think those comments at the beginning of the debate about how he got this $14 million, what he considered a small loan from his father, really unnerved him. And I think, throughout the course of the evening, he became increasingly rattled. [Blitzer:] I need to you stay with us for a moment, Congressman. We're getting some breaking news on the FBI, getting information about yet another cyber-attack. Stay with us. We're going to update our viewers on that. We will discuss with you. We will be right back. [Hala Gorani, Cnn International Anchor:] Well, we begin this hour with major breaking news. Welcome, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. Fast-moving significant developments this hour out of Brussels, for months, this was one of Europe's most wanted men, Mohamed Abrini, the last known suspect linked to November's terror attacks in Paris which killed 130 people. Now, we have confirmation from the Belgium prosecutor's office that Abrini was one of two people arrested in Brussels today. Now, the question being asked out there is he the third unidentified suspect in the Brussels airport bombing? The man in white? The so-called man in white there, with two other men the morning of the attack, March 22nd. If that is confirmed and it has not been confirmed yet, it would mean he played a key role in both Paris and Brussels. We're awaiting a news conference that will take place in about half hour from now, 9:30 p.m., Belgian time. Let's go to CNN's Kellie Morgan, she is live in Brussels with more. Tell us about these arrests, two men arrested, one of them Mohamed Abrini, what's the latest? [Kellie Morgan, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, an extraordinary day and much- needed development in this investigation into the Brussels attacks. Much needed, and huge turn of events given that just yesterday, 24 hours ago, prosecutors released of the CCTV footage of the men, the third airport bomber, showing the route that he took after abandoning his suitcase bomb at the airport and then fleeing. They had released that footage to launch an appeal, reaching out to the public for more information and now, today, they have netted two of the most wanted men in Europe. Both of them with linked to Paris suspect, Salah Abdeslam. Both of them were named among eight suspects on a European security bulletin that was put out in the day after the Brussels attacks. Now what we know, of course, about Mohamed Abrini is that he grew up he was a childhood friend of Salah Abdeslam. They grew up here in Belgium. They were seen together in a car in just days before the Paris attacks. And also, now we know him by a different name as well, investigators believe that he is indeed the second Metro bomber that they were looking for. The man who worked alongside, the Metro station, Hala, so a big development. Two really big fish and European authorities will be delighted, really, to have netted these men as they tried to unravel this web of terror that clearly has tentacles stretching across Europe Hala. [Gorani:] And it's interesting this happened after the third suspect was shown. Though no confirmation certainly that Mohamed Abrini is the man in the hat seen in the CCTV footage. But can you tell us where were the arrests made? Were the two men arrested together? [Morgan:] Well, that's a detail we're hoping to learn a little bit more when the prosecutor holds that press conference in the next half hour. We don't know, we don't have an exact location of where the arrest took place, nor whether the arrest took place in the same location. So yes, waiting for some more detail. We're waiting to find out whether or not Abrini is the third airport bomber. That has been reported in by the local public broadcaster here. They say he is that man, we do not have confirmation of that, but this would be a huge break if indeed that is the case. What you have here, are two men who were wanted by police. The two men who were directly involved in the in those terror blasts on March 22nd, both men had abandoned the scene, and they were fears that maybe they were plotting yet another attack. Big day here in Belgium Hala. [Gorani:] It's certainly would be interesting if they were still together knowing that they were both being searched for. Thanks very much, Kellie Morgan in Brussels. Let's bring in our CNN terrorism analyst, Paul Cruickshank now. He joins me now live from New York is where Paul is. Let's talk a little bit about the significance of this and the fact that this comes a day after authorities released that CCTV footage of the man wearing the hat. All right, so let's talk about Mohamed Abrini and how important his capture is today Paul. [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] Well, Hala, it's a key breakthrough. He was one of the two most wanted men in Europe. The other most wanted man was also arrested, he'd be using the alias. These were two individuals who were deeply involved with the Brussels and Paris terror attack network and were urgently being searched by Belgian and European security officials, especially in the wake of the Brussels attack, a concern that these two men could be involved in future attacks. And the fact they have now been taken into custody mutualizes that threat, Hala, but there is still concern that there are more individuals still out there. And we understand that more than a dozen are believed to still be out there with some kind of connection to the Paris and Brussels playing a logistical support role in those attacks. The worry is still that some of those may move forward with terrorist attack plotting. It was just three weeks ago that Salah Abdeslam and a fellow accomplice were arrested on a Friday. The Tuesday after that we saw the Brussels attacks. What happened in that case was his fellow co-conspirators accelerated their attack planning. This is a big breakthrough, a big moment of success for Belgian authorities. That concern that others still out there could not accelerate their plans. Yet again. [Gorani:] That's the concern because as you mentioned, we were on the air for several hours when Salah Abdeslam was arrested three weeks. As you mentioned, just a few days later, the airport and Metro attacks took place. I guess and I wanted to show by the way to our viewers, we keep adding mug shots and photos to this very extensive network of terrorists across Europe, but this is basically the Paris terror attack suspects with Mohamed Abrini squarely in the middle there. We know he's in custody now. Everyone hoping now that this is it, Paul, right? That we've kind of caught the major players in this network, and that, you know, at least this particular cell has been dismantled. [Cruickshank:] We're not there yet, at this point. This is not it. There are others still out there as I said, they believe more than a dozen still out there connected to this same network. They've identified four of those individuals on the day after the Brussels attacks. There was a European security bulletin with suspects wanted in connection with Paris and Brussels attacks. Amongst the names on that list, a Dutch national, [inaudible], who went to join ISIS in Syria was believed to be connected to the plot. The plot that preceded Paris in Eastern Belgian. Also, another individual, [inaudible], a Belgian national, somebody who also believed to have joined is in Syria, one of the four that they've identified that they still want to get that they believe had a possible connection with the Paris and Brussels attack. A Turkish national who spent a lot of time in western Germany and who moved up the ranks with ISIS in Syria, called the same dealer, still at large unaccounted for. There was a picture posted of him and the Paris ring leader, Abdelhamid Abaaoud. And a Brussels resident of Malian decent, [inaudible], according to some reports had been killed in Syria, but now they fear he faked his own death potentially to come back to Europe. So just to give you a sense, Hala, that there are other names, other individuals they still want to find, they still want to get into custody before there can be more attacks. And beyond those names, ISIS is accelerating their attack plans against Europe, full throttle, trying to send recruits back from Syria to launch more and more attacks. [Gorani:] All right. Certainly that's one of the priorities now. They've succeeded in some attacks like Paris and Brussels. Thanks very much, Paul Cruickshank. We'll stay in touch as well for more on the breaking news story. And just to reiterate, in about 20, 22 minutes' time, we're expecting a news conference from the Belgian prosecutor. There hopefully we'll get more details on Mohamed Abrini and whether or not they believe he's the man in the hat seen in the CCTV footage on March 22nd. What about the other man who was arrested with him? Were they together? Were they arrested separately? How were they found? Are there other people out there? So many questions still that people have in Belgium, France, an around Europe with fears that more attacks are being planned. So, we'll get to that in a moment, but first let's talk about some major news coming from Pope Francis. He is today pushing open the doors of the Catholic Church just a bit wider with a sweeping declaration of policy meant to promote greater tolerance. He wrote a paper urging priests to be more accepting of gays and lesbians, divorced Catholics and others living with what he calls irregular lifestyles. While he still insists that the church must strenuously promote only marriage between a man and a woman, he says, quote, "There is no stereotype of the ideal family," unquote, and he says divorced Catholics who remarry should be welcomed in the church. But while the paper calls for the tolerance and flexibility, it does not change Catholic doctrine on homosexuality, marriage, birth control, or abortion. It doesn't go that far. So Pope Francis' paper contains ideas likely to make both liberals and conservatives happy, but not for both. It also may not go far enough. Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, joins me now from Rome with more. How I mean, how surprising, how is this revolutionary coming from a pope? [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] Well, there's a lot about Francis that is revolutionary and certainly it's a revolutionary shift in emphasis, Hala, what we see here is not a change in doctrine, but it is a change in the way the doctrine is put into practice. And a prime example of that is the question of divorced and remarried Catholics. That was one of the hot issues of this document and the pope resolved it in this way. We should explain that divorced and remarried Catholics previously from receiving communion. And they want there were those who wanted them to be allowed to receive communion as full participation in the Catholic Church. And others who said no, that's against the rules, can't happen. The pope says I'm not going to issue a blanket statement on that from Rome. That is something that can be divided, the individual consciousness of those people together with their parish priests reviewing the particulars of their situation. That is something that is relatively new to allow that responsibility to be put on the local priest on the individual consciousness of people involved to change the emphasis. It's not an entirely new statement, but it is saying, we're going to put the emphasis on the individuals now to think about in their conscious the particulars of their case, recognizing that not all divorces happen There are a lot of situations in family life that are very complex and we cannot do a one size fits all rule. That's what the pope is saying in this document Hala. [Gorani:] All right. Delia Gallagher, thanks very much for that. We reported over the last 24 hours that ISIS had kidnapped about 300 cement factory workers near Damascus this week. Well, they have been released for the most part. This is coming into us now. The terror group's online media wing claims that they released them today, Friday, Amak says the workers were released after they were determined to be Muslims who were not loyalists of the Assad regime. However, ISIS continues to hold 20 people because they are members of regime affiliated militias and that four others were executed for being ISIS says members of the minority Drews sect, unfortunately killed. Now to a high profile trip meant to shore up Iraq's fight against ISIS. The American Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Baghdad today. He met with the prime minister there making clear he has Washington's support as he tries to implement controversial reforms. But Kerry also stressed that Iraq's political crisis must not interfere with the war on ISIS. He says the top priority remains recapturing Mosul. That is the second largest city that ISIS controls. Let's bring in senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon. She has been filing exclusive reports from the front lines near Mosul all week and joins us now live from Erbil. Arwa, what were you able to see as you and your team approached Mosul as the army prepares down the line to try to retake it from ISIS? [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, Hala, from a number of fronts, the Iraqi army did manage to capture a handful of villages, but that is at the stage been paused. The Iraqis found themselves bogged down and after a series of missteps decided to wait for reinforcements. That is not the only challenge that is facing this nation, nor is it a battle against ISIS the only threat. There is one potentially that could be posed at the Mosul dam. [Damon:] It has been described by some as the most dangerous dam in the world. The Mosul dam, the largest in Iraq, which produced hydroelectricity is built on a foundation of soft rock, making erosion a constant challenge. We enter the underbelly of the dam to see how it is even still standing. Completed in the mid-1980s, what keeps it all intact is a process that needs to happen daily. Workers are drilling bore holes this one will go down 150 meters or around 500 feet. [on camera]: Drilling that particular distance takes about a week. And the machines go up and down along the length of the dam. Breaking up and then re-pouring cement to try to ensure this stability of the dam's foundation. [voice-over]: It's a process called grouting. When ISIS took over the dam in 2014, this was halted for 45 days. Intense around the clock routing reverse those weaknesses. The U.S. recently issued a stark warning describing the potential for collapse as, quote, "serious and unprecedented." A catastrophic event that would see Mosul, Iraq's second largest city and under ISIS control entirely submerged with flooding as far downstream as Baghdad. That warning set the lives of up to 1.5 million Iraqis would be at risk. But the dam's manager insists that disaster is not imminent. [Unidentified Male:] If the dam were to collapse when the water level is at 330 meters above sea water, then yes, Mosul would be flooded. But with current levels, there would be minimal damage. [Damon:] The seepage is one of the reasons why he says the U.S. is so concerned. But he claims his team has determined that it is not impacting the dam's foundation. Still last year, the U.S. installed an early warning system they monitor regularly and there is an urgent need for repairs. [on camera]: Millions of Iraqis are directly reliant on the Mosul dam in one way or another. But years of neglect by the Iraqi government due to politics, bureaucracy, and corruption, are already being felt. [voice-over]: Couple that with security concerns that for years kept international companies from taking up the job. An Italian company has just been contracted to repair and refurbish the dam, but work is yet to begin. And in Iraq where nothing is ever entirely predictable, it is always the best to plan for the worst. And that is why, Hala, the U.S. did issue that warning, trying to urge residents to stay away, also from the banks of the river if they can help it. Now the U.S. does not necessarily know when the dam is going to collapse. And at this point in time, this specific point in time, there are no indications that it is going to collapse. However, the U.S. says that anything could happen, it could happen within a week, a month, or even a few years, but regardless, it's not a risk that they are willing to take. [Gorani:] OK, Arwa Damon in Erbil, thanks very much. Back to our breaking news this hour, and I want to bring you dramatic new video just into CNN. This is the very moment that Belgian police made one of two arrests reported today. So you can see police officers there with a man clearly face down being cuffed. There's one police officer standing guard there. Another taking care of, mobilizing and cuffing the suspect. Now, the thing is we can't confirm who of the two is being detained there. It's either Mohamed Abrini or the man named as Osama Kraiam, the same as a man named as Naim Alhamad linked to the Brussels attacks because his DNA was found in the apartment of the bomb makers. I'm going to let this video run here. What's going to happen at some point, they're going to hoist them up and stuff him in the back of that car. So you have two officers on the suspect, one standing guard, and another one preparing. This is obviously amateur video. There you have it, one of the two suspects again not sure, this is one of the two. We know both men were arrested today and both are believed to have links to Paris and Brussels. All right, we'll have a lot more on Brussels and what happened later in the program. Still to come, the gloves came off, now the gloves are kind of coming back on. We'll see how the U.S. Democratic presidential candidates are dialing back a heated it row over qualifications. We'll be right back. [Cabrera:] The first major studio film about a group of hip-hop artists taking Hollywood by storm. "Straight Outta Compton," the biography about '80s west coast gangsta rape group NWA, broke box office records, breaking in more than 60 million in its opening weekend. [Unidentified Actor:] Hit that first beat hard. You're cruising down the street. All right. Hey, that was dope, dude. [Unidentified Male:] Compton's very own Ice Cube. Eazy-E and Dr. Dre. You are witnessing history. [Unidentified Actor:] They want NWA, let's give them NWA [Cabrera:] NWA, known for provocative songs about inner city lives, two of the biggest stars, Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. Critics say the movie glorifies the controversial group and glaringly omits its past, particularly the treatment of women. Joining me is political and social commentator, hip hop historian, Kevin Powell, author of "The Education of Kevin Powell: A Boy's Journey into Manhood"; and also with us, "Buzz Feed" entertainment reporter, Kelley Carter. Let's talk about the box office numbers, 60.2 million and counting, the tickets. NWA was the original face of it. Kelley, what do you make of those numbers? What does it say about the movie's resonance? [Kelley Carter, Entertainment Reporter, Buzz Feed:] I think it's interesting. You know, the same critics who probably panned this group 27 years ago are champing their biography which speaks to their dominance in the culture. Ice Cube and Dr. Dre have become major moguls in television and music and their presence is undeniable and to see the origin story of them is interesting and audiences couldn't get enough of it. [Cabrera:] Is that what you think, Kevin? Is that why people are so drawn to this movie because of its stars? [Kevin Powell, Political & Social Commentator & Hip Hop Historian & Author:] Well, that and the hip-hop you have to be honest, as Americans, hip-hop is the dominant culture in this country and on this planet in the last 45 years. It's been the number one album, Dr. Dre created, about Alexander Hamilton created by a writer immersed in hip- hop culture. When I saw "Straight Outta Compton," black, white, Latino, Asian, every generation was there. That's very different than when this film came out. This culture belongs to everyone. That's why this film is so popular. [Cabrera:] Critics, including you, have criticized the fact that the movie doesn't really get into some of the more I guess dark history of these groups and these people. The lyrics, treatment of women and instead, "Straight Outta Compton" glorifies its music and the stars. Why do you think that was left out? [Powell:] You know, I say it on my blog on my Facebook page. The film just very eloquently and powerfully deals with the issue of race and racial profiling correlates with the issues today. Dr. Dre and Ice Cube and the director did not see it fit to talk about the savage beating of Dee Barnes and the lyrics that depict women in very despicable way. Just like racism is alive and well in this country, so is sexism. It would have been a great film if it had the courage to deal with that but it did not. [Cabrera:] I see you shaking your head, Kelley. [Carter:] I agree. I think it's important to note that the culture of gangster rap was a very comfortable space for rape culture and homophobic slurs to exist. I don't think that we really challenged the group at the time they were making this music to really to really address those issues. I think that, you know, as much as great things as they did with their music and they did a lot of great things. They shed a lot on what was happening in urban neighborhoods that people weren't acutely aware of. We didn't really take them to task, I think, in a national conversation the way we probably should have. [Cabrera:] And, Kevin, "Straight Outta Compton" comes amid this Black Lives Matter movement. It bolsters the fact that policing tactics and the relationships that ignited NWA's rise, they remain emblematic today. [Powell:] Ice Cube was 19, 20 years old when he wrote the song "After the Police" and that's remained the anthem today. The Rodney King beating was 24 years ago. We now have a black president in the White House but still there are things that have not changed. There are things in the film that are relevant and powerful. I can't dispute the fact that this film wasn't important. I hope people see it as a place as a starting point about grace and gender issues and gender violence and not a film that we get caught up in the trend of and the context disappears. [Cabrera:] Maybe that's resonating so much because of the key issues we're still talking about today in the news cycle and on the street. Kelley Carter and Kevin Powell, thank you so much. [Powell:] Thank you. [Cabrera:] Good to have you. [Allen:] And welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. Here again our top stories. Syrian rebels are trying to break a government siege of Aleppo. They launched a major assault on the southwestern parts of the city. Syrian forces have the flash point city surrounded. Witnesses say people are setting fires to fill the skies with smoke so Syrian warplanes can't see their targets. The fight for Aleppo goes on. The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide truck explosion targeting a hotel in Kabul, Afghanistan. The militants say the truck exploded at a gate to the hotel. Afghan security forces have closed off streets around the site. No word on casualties or damage. With the Olympics starting on Friday, people in Rio de Janeiro are demonstrating in favor of making suspended President Dilma Rousseff's removal from office permanent. The country's political turmoil has long been a point of concern for the Rio games. South Korea is taking extra precautions to protect its athletes in Rio. They have designed special uniforms with built-in mosquito repellent. The idea to resist the Zika virus. CNN's Paula Hancocks went inside the factory in Seoul where the uniforms are made. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] The national flag, the team logo, and encouraging messages from people sewn into the lining. This is South Korea's Olympic uniform. 600 are being made here just outside of Seoul for athletes and officials to wear in Rio this August. And there is something else that makes this outfit unique. It is apparently Zika-resistant. But aside from the long sleeves and the long trousers keeping skin off-limits to mosquitoes, the rest remains a bit of a mystery. [on-camera]: The Zika-resistant part of this uniform is apparently top secret. All we've been told is that once the uniforms are finished, they're then shipped off to an unnamed company, and there they coat the uniforms with an insect repellent chemical. We're not allowed to film that part. [voice-over]: We're told it has been tested to repel mosquitoes and it works. No lab results or footage available, though. Designer Kim Su Chong says she was going for protection and comfort, and something truly Korean. "I wanted our athletes to look classy and stylish" she says, "as they're on a global stage." Next I wanted it to be in the unique Korean style. Lastly, it has to be functional and comfortable. South Korea's Olympic committee says so far no athlete has dropped out through fears of the Zika virus. But medicine, insect repellent and mosquito nets are being prepared as well as a uniform that leaves little exposed for the mosquitoes to bite. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul. [Allen:] Voters in Japan's capital Tokyo have made history, electing the city's first female governor. Former Defense Minister Yuriko Koike defeated her closest rival by more than one million votes. Anna Fifield joins me now. She's the Tokyo bureau chief for "The Washington Post." Anna, thank you for being with me. And how big of a deal is this, the first female elected. And she won by a wide margin. [Anna Fifield, Tokyo Bureau Chief, Washington Post:] That's right. I mean, it is a really big deal. And Yuriko Koike was leading in the polls in the run-up to this. But nobody expected the kind of landslide victory that she won. There were 21 candidates running, and Koike alone got 49 percent of the vote. So obviously it's a big deal that she is a woman, the first woman governor of Tokyo. But I think more of the support came to her not because she is a woman so much, because she presented herself as something of an outside candidate. Even though she has been around for a long time, she was an MP, she was briefly defense minister, she did not have the backing of the ruling liberal Democratic Party, and she beat the candidate who did. So she offered to mix things up a little bit after a series of scandals involving the previous governors. [Allen:] Right. I was going to talk to you about that. The scandals were related to the Olympics, correct, which Tokyo hosts in 2020. [Fifield:] Well, that's right. It was two previous governors had various financial scandals that they became embroiled in. But the Olympics themselves have just been one misstep after the other. There have been allegations of plagiarism, allegations of corruption, stadium designed by Zaha Hadid had the plans torn up and they started over again. So the first order of business for Yuriko Koike is to try and get the Olympic planning back on track, to instil some confidence in the people again about this. Because a lot of hopes are riding on the Olympic Games to inject some momentum back into the Tokyo and the broader Japanese economy. [Allen:] And is she going to Rio to spy on how Rio pulled it off? [Fifield:] Yes. She will be visiting Rio later this month, together with the prime minister. She will be representing Tokyo there, of course. So she will be getting straight on to that. But she also has a very busy agenda. She had pledged to try to create more day care facilities for children, more nursing care facilities for elderly people. So she has a big inbox to deal with. [Allen:] All right. We'll wait and see how she does. Anna Fifield from Tokyo for us with "The Washington Post." Thank you, Anna. A typhoon is headed for Hong Kong, but its track could prove crucial in terms of its impact on the city. Our meteorologist Karen McGuiness has been following this storm for about two or three days now. Hello, Karen. [Karen Mcguiness, Cnn Meteorologist:] Hey, Natalie, yes. There are some critical things, critical aspects to this typhoon. Aside from the fact that there is a typhoon that is bearing down on Hong Kong. But depending on where it makes landfall will significantly change what kind of storm surge, what kind of wind damage, what kind of rainfall amounts that you can expect. We were watching this as it was moving across the Northern Philippines. Staggering rainfall totals, but that's a tropical storm intensity. Now this is at typhoon intensity, supporting winds of 120 kilometers per hour. Looking better and better, at least as far as the typhoon is concerned. When it has a ragged eye, that tells us it's not very well-organized. But when you start to see that eye looking a little more symmetrical, that tells us it's winding up more and more. All right. Just generally speaking, here we have this cone of possibility of where this could be making landfall. And right now the computer models are saying right over Hong Kong. But maybe it will go a little bit further towards the east, maybe a little bit further towards the west. If it makes that more westerly landfall, that means there will be enhanced moisture, enhanced storm surge. That's going to present greater danger. Just because of where the winds are going to be rotating around Hong Kong. A little bit further towards the east, and we've got an offshore flow. A little further towards the west, and those winds will bring that moisture and pushes that wall of water into some of those beautiful bay areas. Maybe Victoria Harbor a little bit protected. Not entirely, though. So if you haven't battened down the hatches and there is a tropical cyclone, wind signal number three, which means some of the schools are not going to open for tomorrow, if some of the shipping vessels and the small craft have not taken shelter yet, that's what you need to do. Because fairly soon, there is going to be a signal 8 that's going to be issued for this region. How much precipitation Hong Kong is looking at the potential for, up and over 200 millimeters. So Natalie, we'll stay on top of it. And we'll bring you some updates. Back to you. [Allen:] Karen, thanks very much. More than one million young people listened to Pope Francis deliver a message just for them. How he told them to live their lives in a troubled world. We'll share that with you in a moment. [Unidentified Female:] Do you want me to get you water? [Jeanne Moos, Cnn National Correspondent:] No. I want you to get me some gravity. Jeanne Moos, CNN [Moos:] New York. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Wow. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. The rumble in Milwaukee or something like that. Last time it was who is the more progressive. Now it's who loves President Obama more. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders facing off in last night's PBS debate. [Bolduan:] In fact, Hillary Clinton seemed to be trying to set up the entire race as an Obama primary. And unlike New Hampshire, she is trying not to lose this one by 22 points. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] The kind of criticism that we've heard from Senator Sanders about our president, I expect from Republicans. I do not expect from someone running for the Democratic nomination to succeed President Obama. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, , Vermont & Democratic Presidential Candidate:] That is Madam Secretary, that is a low blow. One of us ran against Barack Obama. I was not that candidate. [Berman:] CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, is in Denmark, South Carolina, following the Clinton campaign. Good morning, Joe. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, John. It was quite a debate. Academic in some parts but there were some flashes there. Hillary Clinton speaking boldly to the Democratic base, aligning herself with President Obama, taking on Bernie Sanders for his suggestions that the president had let down the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. Sanders responded, in part, that as a member of the United States Senate, it's his obligation, essentially, to articulate when he disagrees with policies that emanate from the White House. I think another important moment was the discussion over Bernie Sanders' signature issue of Wall Street. Mrs. Clinton once again on the attack saying she's not a single-issue candidate. This is not a single-issue country. Bernie Sanders saying that in his view the voters are not fooled by the reasons why Wall Street puts so much money into American politics. There was also that interesting moment where they talked for quite a while about the pros and cons of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger under President Nixon. I think the take away from that, once again, if any, is another dustup over foreign policy and which candidate is more plugged in. So a lot to chew on there. Hillary Clinton coming here to South Carolina later today for an event on education. Bernie Sanders is out in Minnesota talking also about issues of race there along with economics. Back to you. [Bolduan:] Joe Johns, that's right. A lot to chew on. Joe, thank you so much. Let's continue the discussion and bring in "CNN Politics" executive editor, Mark Preston; and CNN political commentator, Van Jones. Van Jones worked in White House for President Obama as an adviser. Guys, great to see you. Van, first to you. It seems that President Obama was the topic, one of the big topics of the day at the debate. It was Obama, Obama, Obama. I love him more. No, I love him more. I'm going to carry on his legacy, no, you won't. What you make of that strategy? [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] It was amazing. They mentioned him 21 times. I mean, more than any other topic, I believe, was the Obama, but maybe Wall Street from Senator Sanders. Hillary Clinton is playing this so smart. She knows how beloved Obama is, especially for African-Americans. She's going to South Carolina. Now, she doesn't mention the fact that she actually disagrees with Obama on a number of things. She doesn't agree with his trade policy. She's against TPP. Obama is for it. She has critiques of his health care. She doesn't like the Cadillac Tax. She doesn't like his foreign policy. She wants a no-fly zone. All of that she put away and just hugged Obama like she was Hillary Rodham Obama and drove this wedge between Sanders and the president. She is very, very good when it comes to the smart politics inside of this party. It was on display. But the reality is she has critiques too. She didn't talk about them last night. [Berman:] Mark, not only did she say I'm with Obama, she said clearly that Senator Sanders, in many cases, is not. And she said outright there are times when Bernie Sanders sounds like a Republican in his criticism of Barack Obama, to which Bernie Sanders said that was a low blow. Was it a low blow? [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Yes, in many ways. To say Bernie Sanders is a Republican is absurd, unless you want to go full circle and come around with his policies [Bolduan:] So also before the debate, Van, we heard that Hillary Clinton was going to be far more aggressive. The Clinton campaign was going to be far more aggressive toward Sanders. You also heard repeatedly during the debate that she targeted Sanders for, again, not explaining how he's going to follow through on his promises. The way she termed it was we need to level with the American people. Listen here. [Clinton:] This is about people's lives. And we should level with the American people. You need to level with people about what they will have at the end of the process. I feel like we have to level with people. [Bolduan:] I mean, he has been vague on how he will pay for a lot of the programs that he is promising. Do you think this is going to catch up with him in Nevada, in South Carolina? [Jones:] It could be, but part of what you're doing here, she knows that one of her negatives when you look at the polling data, is trustworthiness, authenticity. I think Sanders was 91 percent of people, who were voting on trustworthy in the last contest, voted for Sanders. When she's saying level with, level with, she's trying to pull apart this idea that he's this authentic guy and trustworthy. He's not leveling with you. He's selling you soap bubbles and snow flakes. I'm telling you the truth. It's very smart of her to do that. She's negative on trustworthiness. She has to reassert herself as the real truth teller. [Berman:] A lot of what was happening on that state last night was reaching out to minority voters in Nevada and also South Carolina, which is why I want to ask you about something else that happened before the debate. It was during the show that the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee endorsed Hillary Clinton yesterday. A little bit later, Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights icon from Georgia, he had some pretty harsh words about Bernie Sanders, and Bernie Sanders saying he was part of the civil rights movement in the '60s. Listen to Congressman Lewis. [Rep. John Lewis, , Georgia:] I never saw him. I never met him. I was chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee for three years. I was involved in the Freedom Ride, the march on Washington, the march from Selma to Montgomery, and directed a voter education project for six years. But I met Hillary Clinton. I met President Clinton. [Berman:] Again, that's a civil rights icon and he's been in politics for a long time. And he knows how to be tough. [Jones:] I tell you what, John Lewis is a legend. He's an icon. He's the last living person who was on the stage with MLK at that march of Washington. I think that was a bit unfair on his part. First of all, as we know, Bernie Sanders was not a part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He was part of CORE, a different organization with different tactics in different cities. And number two, it's just this weird thing where even when Obama was running against Hillary Clinton, John Lewis was against Obama and for Hillary Clinton until the very end. So there's some real strong bond that they have, but it's very unfair to take away the arrest that happened with Bernie Sanders. Nobody can take that away from him. He was one of the few white males who was willing to take the fights on early. I think it was unfair for John Lewis to do that to him. [Berman:] All right. Van Jones and Mark Preston, thank you. [Bolduan:] Thanks, guys. [Berman:] Let's turn to the Republicans. You might say it was the only thing missing from this campaign, soft-core porn. No longer. The campaign ad controversy rated NP 17 at least. [Bolduan:] Plus, secret weapon or biggest liability. President George W. Bush joining his brother on the campaign trail next week. But Donald Trump isn't waiting for it. He's already on the attack. [Trump:] You know, I I am who I am. It's me. I don't want to change. Everyone talks about oh, well, you're going to pivot, you're going to I don't want to pivot. I mean you have to be you. [Tapper:] That was campaign trail Trump, but President-elect Trump also seems to be saying I've gotta be me. How will he change Washington's ways? Here with me, CNN's senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta; Salena Zito, reporter for "The Washington Examiner" and a CNN contributor; Abby Phillip, "Washington Post" national reporter and a CNN contributor; and CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. So you have traveled the country with Donald Trump. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Yes. [Tapper:] Do you think that there's going to be any pivoting at all or is campaign Trump going to be President Trump? [Acosta:] I think campaign Trump will be President Trump. Every time we get asked about a pivot, the pivot doesn't happen. There is an illusion of a pivot, but then it usually doesn't happen. I think back to some of those Thank You rallies that he was having toward the end of the year, and you would ask the people who work for Donald Trump, well, is he going to stick to the script? Is he should we hear some other things that we're not expecting tonight? And they say, well, no, he he'll stick to the script, but you never know with Donald Trump. So even after winning the election and in this transition process, his folks still consider him to be unpredictable. And that's how he's going to be as president. [Tapper:] And, in fact, Salena, one of the things Erik Wemple, who's a "Washington Post" media critic, noted that the new way of reporting on cabinet appointments is is along the lines of there's always a caveat that President-elect Trump has been known to change his mind at the last minute and this could all change. [Salena Zito, The Washington Examiner," Cnn Contributor:] Right. [Tapper:] That said, we think that so and so is going to be named to this agency. [Zito:] Right. I mean that's his style. If anybody ever read his book, "Art of The Deal," I mean everything that he did in this entire election in 2016 was right from that playbook. He has no problem changing his mind. In fact, he feels very comfortable and feels like it's a it's his obligation to relook at things and, you know, do something different if if either he's given the information or if the whim takes him to go in another direction. [Tapper:] But could that be dangerous, do you think? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well, sure, because circumstances change. And, you know, the presidency changes everyone, regardless of that. But I think Jim's right. I mean he has not changed as president-elect. At some of those same Thank You rallies in Des Moines, Iowa, late last year. And the crowd was the same. He was the same. But they I think the thing I'm watching for is to see how his supporters react to him becoming president, because there are some things that have changed. He's no longer talking about building the wall. That is no longer at the top of the list. The chants of "Lock her up!" have long gone away. And some of his supporters wanted that. So the voters that I talk to, these Americans now who will be judging his presidency, will be wondering, is he going to be another old politician or is he going to be the same old Donald Trump? So I think the challenge for him is to to keep it real, obviously, but he's going to disappoint some people. And so far, up until now, running for president, the last year and a half, he's not disappointed anyone because he has all had all these promises. The minute you become president, you have a record. And that is his challenge, to, you know, to keep his record square with his base and to keep some of them excited. [Tapper:] One thing he has not changed, obviously, is his use of Twitter. He has talked about we should let the Chinese keep that drone. He has sent some stocks into tailspins, going after Boeing, going after Lockheed Martin. I'm sure there are advisers around Donald Trump who want to change his password without his knowing. Obviously, Twitter can be an effective tool, but it also can be destructive. [Abby Phillip, Cnn Political Analyst:] And I think there are actually some Trump supporters who would like to see him rein that in a little bit, because you know, talking to some votes in the last week, many of them recognize that his use of Twitter in the campaign served a particular purpose, but that it actually kind of is unbecoming of of someone in the presidential office. And they recognize that because they understand there are consequences to what you do when you're president. And this is the one thing that for Donald Trump, once he becomes president, will change, whether he likes it or not. When you're in that office, when you do something, there is a reaction to it. And he's going to have to deal with that, probably for the first time since he jumped into this fray. And that will change his decision-making. He will no longer have free rein to just throw things up against a wall because there are potentially global consequences, economic consequences to the things that you do and the things that you say when you're in that office. [Tapper:] And he's obviously talking about doing things within the White House differently than they've been done before. Take a listen to Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff. [Reince Priebus, Incoming White House Chief Of Staff:] The traditions, while some of them are great, I think it's time to revisit a lot of these things that have been done in the White House and I can assure you that change is going to happen. [Tapper:] And Salena, one of the things that Reince Priebus pointed out might change is the daily White House briefing, that they might do away with that. [Zito:] I don't think that's a very good idea. That's a very important part not only for for the voters, for the American people to to hear what's going on within the White House, but it's also a great way for the White House to communicate what they are doing, what they are working on, what they are thinking about things. I think it's a bad decision and I hope it's something that they change their mind about. [Tapper:] I mean I always when I was the White House correspondent in the Obama White House, in the first term, I always thought it as a way that to hold them accountable... [Unidentified Male:] Sure. [Tapper:] for for on issues that they don't want to talk about, what about this incident that just happened? You know, what's your response? [Acosta:] It absolutely is the way to keep the White House accountable, but I don't think Donald Trump wants to play by that rule book. And as we saw throughout the campaign, he referred to the news media as the disgusting news media, the dishonest news media, called us crooks and thieves and so on. And so why why would he want to throw a spokesman out there every day and and hold a briefing with these reporters that he holds in such low regard? I I think that it's possible we'll see fewer briefings. Sean Spicer and Reince Priebus have talked about having these Facebook live chats with people and sort of democratizing the briefing, going around the filter of the press. He didn't hold a news conference after being elected president the way that President Obama did, three days after he was elected. And so I think that Donald Trump has sent all the signals that we need, that this is not going to be the same kind of presidency. [Tapper:] And he's gone after you by name, Jeff Zeleny, on Twitter. What was that experience like? [Zeleny:] Sure. It's like he was talking about the fact that he would have won the popular vote but not for millions of fraudulent voters. And we simply were asking, you know, to show us those fraudulent voters. Look, it is something that that we are just going to do our jobs. That is the one thing that reporters can do. It's the one thing that's expected of us. Going after us, look, a lot of his supporters also went after us, went after me. I'm certainly not alone in this. It happens to everyone. Jim has experienced this firsthand, people yelling at him at rallies, and I have. But look, I think that that is sort of beside the point. But he does carry this, you know, people believe him and will walk to the end sort of of the Earth with him. But the question, again, is when he becomes president, will that will he be able to keep everyone like that happy? I'm not sure. [Tapper:] My New Year's resolutions for you four, keep up the great work. Thank you so much for being here. Now hiring, leader of the Democratic Party who will take over next and what will it take to lead the party to victory? [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Former Presidential Candidate:] I think it's time to take a reassessment of the purpose of where the Democratic Party is and where it wants to go. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Excuse me. Olympic park. Olympic park. [Lynda Kinkade:] With the Rio games four days away, we navigate the city to see if Rio is ready to host the Olympic-sized crowds. Also ahead, did Donald Trump go too far? What some members of his own party are saying after Trump's controversial exchange with the Muslim- American parents of a U.S. soldier who died in Iraq. And a Russian helicopter shot down in Syria after an aid mission to Aleppo. How is Russia responding? We'll have a live report just ahead. Hello, I'm Lynda Kinkade sitting in for Becky Anderson. In just four days, the eyes of the world will be watching Rio de Janeiro, that's when the Olympic games will get under way. And as I'm sure you know by now, the lead-up to the games has been plagued by controversy. Despite the issues, final preparations are under way and athletes are arriving by the hour. Our team is stationed across Rio. First, I want to go to Shasta Darlington who is outside a new metro station that has opened for the games. Shasta, this line has been talked about for decades. Finally, it's off the ground. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Exactly, Lynda. At least it's off the ground for ticket holders. In fat, we went out and tested all of the different sections of the metro, the bus, the train, that ticket holders will have to use to get to their venues. Check this out. [Darlington:] It's a beautiful day. So we're going to head to some Olympic stadiums and test out the public transportation system, which is coming together at the very last minute. Olympic transport tickets cost about $49 for a week, or $8 for a one- day card. So for the first leg we're taking this journey underground on the metro. And here we go. So we're going to head up to the escalator and up to the train that will be our next leg of this journey. So there are no signs yet for the Olympic parks. A tourist is going to be pretty lost. They would probably head over here to the information booth. So we'll head over here. So let's ask security if they know. Excuse me, Olympic park? Olympic Park? Part two, getting on the train. [Unidentified Female:] Will depart from platform 8. [Darlington:] So this used to be the can of sardines train. Obviously it's looking better now. They've put more cars on the tracks, especially as we get close to the Olympics, and more security. So if you're coming to see track and field, this is your stop. And let's see if, if you calculate the time to switch trains, it's about 50 minutes from your hotel door to right here at the stadium. If you continue on to the Deodoro Park for BMX or Rugby, give yourself a good hour and 15 minutes from the hotel. You have just seen an equestrian even or maybe a canoe slalom, and you want to get to the main Olympic Park, you're going to take this dedicated bus line. Right now it's empty. In fact, it looks like they're still finishing it. But once the Olympics starts, this is going to be a really important trajectory. It's going to connect the Olympic Park right there the main one to all of the hotels on Rio's south side. The good news is this has its own exclusive lane. So hopefully we won't be sitting in traffic. That was fast, comfortable, and air conditioned. I'd be getting on the metro now, but the new line won't be open until four days before the Olympics start. For now stuck in traffic. So starting to day, all of that changes, Lynda. This is one of the new metro stops right behind me. It opens up to ticket holders and people with credentials the volunteers, the athletes, the journalists. We're going to check it in just a few minutes, but the idea is that it will cut what can be a two hour trip in congested traffic down to about a an half hour. We'll let you know how it goes, Lynda. [Kinkade:] Half an hour, that is incredible. All right, Shasta, stand by for us. I want to go to Amanda Davies now who is covering the Rio Olympics for us as well. Of course, a cloud still hangs over the Russian team amid the doping allegations. What's the latest on that? [Amanda Davies, Cnn World Sport:] Yeah, absolutely, Lynda, not what the IOC and Olympic organizers would have wanted at all. We know that 100 Russian athletes have been banned already from competing at this games because of either previous doping offenses or links with that pretty explosive McLaren report which talked about the systematic state sponsored doping of sport in Russia since 2010 all because of absences of trustworthy doping tests over the last couple of years. But there are about 270 Russian athletes who are here. They have been cleared to appoint by their international sporting federations. Of course, the IOC themselves, many people felt shirked the decision to issue a blanket ban. Instead, they put the focus on the international sporting federations. And now those athletes are being assessed by on a case by case basis, by a three-person IOC panel as to whether or not they will in fact be allowed to compete. The deadline for that decision is Friday's opening ceremony. But the Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, has spoken out saying he believes it will, in fact, be sooner than that. He hopes the decision will be told to himself, his team, his athletes by the close of play on Tuesday. Interestingly though, Lynda, the athletes village, which is up and running in Baja, which is at the end of that train line that Shasta was talking about, on display there is the biggest Russian flag you could really ever see at this Olympic games. They may have a diminished number of athletes here, but their flag by far is the biggest flying in the athletes village. A lot of the different teams display their national flag off balconies out of the windows to really identify their area of the athletes village. But the Russian flag is flying proudly, many of those athletes taking part in all the organized activities. But still at this point with just four days to go until the opening ceremony, don't know whether or not they will actually be allowed to compete. [Kinkade:] All right. Amanda Davies, we'll leave it there. Thanks so much for that. I want to go back down to Shasta Darlington now. Shasta, we've seen obviously so many concerns in the lead-up to these Olympics. I know just the not just the Russian doping scandal, but also obviously the Zika virus, political turmoil. Are people finally trying to get excited there? [Darlington:] Well, Lynda, people are start to turn towards these positive stories. You know, there was a rehearsal for the opening ceremony. Only volunteers were allowed in. We weren't allowed in. But that is getting people talking. It's building a bit of a bubble, some enthusiasm. I think the big question, though, is whether or not that will translate into ticket sales. They're still doing a more recent tally, but the latest figures we have show that 20 percent, more than a million tickets, are still available. This is a country of 200 million people. They thought these were going to sell out quickly. They're being priced at very accessible prices, cheaper than London. So the question is why aren't they being bought? And with just four days to go, will they finally sell out some of the tickets and fill all of the stands, Lynda? [Kinkade:] Absolutely. All right. We can only hope that is the case. Shasta Darlington, thanks so much. I want to go to CNN's Nick Paton Walsh. He is at Copa Cabana Beach. Nick, secuirty also a major focus with the Olympics, but already a security firm hired has effectively been sacked. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yes, and there are, of course, here on the area around me remarkable signs of how Brazil wants to show in great evidence the security measures it's taking. It's crazy. There are helicopters here, boats in the sea, troops all over the street. But there is one fundamental thing that appears to have been overlooked. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] You couldn't really get any more obvious when it comes to Rio trying to make you feel safe. Copacabana and almost everywhere you look here near the venue for the opening ceremony, there's someone smiling with a gun. But they seem to have missed something quite important. Well, it's one of the biggest challenges for organizers, security screening for the huge crowds that want to get into the venues. But the basic task of working out who's going to be banning the x-ray machines at the end of these lines has been left to the last minute. Just one month ago, they hired a contractor to man these machines. On Friday, it was announced the military police will take over as the contractor wasn't ready. But still, some employees of the contractor, not shown here, were being asked to come to work this weekend. One agreed to talk to us anonymously. He wasn't asked to provide a police criminal background check, he says, and only had to do a quick online training course. [Unidentified Male:] There are people who turn up for the job without any real training kind of work we're being asked to do. Our job is to look after people's security and some of the people doing the work, in my view, aren't up to that. The training course was very quick. There should have been more to it. [Walsh:] It's not clear with just days you can count on one hand to go whether he's needed again. [Unidentified Male:] Today, I was meant to do a six-hour shift but did eight hours. At the end, the supervisor came and said they didn't know when we had to come back to work again. [Walsh:] We tried to reach the contractor for comments. Olympic Chief Thomas Bach says he has total confidence in the security of the games. The government says they're drafting in thousands of retired police and firefighters to help. But away from the bright lights, some are asking what else has been missed? Now staggeringly, you can't think of a more important role in security screening herethan making sure that those who go into into the venues are safe when they're inside. That worker you saw there in that piece there still went to work this morning despite the fact on Friday the contractor here works for effectively being sacked. So, he says, did other of his colleagues presenting the idea that there is kind of chaos now at those x-ray machines to some degree, because it isn't quite clear who is meant to be there. That potentially is troubling such a visible effort here to make people feel safe. But this, so fundamental, it does seem with dealt in very much the last minute Lynda. [Kinkade:] Yes, certainly does sound troubling. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you very much for bringing us that report. Now for some other stories on our radar right now. Tokyo has elected its first ever female governor. Former defense minister Yuriko Koike received over a million votes more than her nearest rival who was backed by Japan's ruling Democratic Party. Uber is selling its China operations to homegrown ride hailing company Didi Chuxing. The move will give over a 20 percent stake in the new entity. The rival companies have been involved in a billion dollar battle for market share in China. In Kabul, Afghanistan, the Taliban have claimed responsibility for today's truck bombing at a fortified hotel which was used by foreign contractors. One police officer was killed and four others were wounded. Authorities say three attackers were also killed. In the U.S., the parents of a Muslim-American soldier killed in Iraq are asking Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to show some empathy. Speaking at last week's Democratic convention, Khizr Khan, the soldier's father, criticized Trump for his proposed ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Khan questioned whether Trump had ever read the constitution. Trump hit back questioning Mrs. Khan's silence at the event implying that she was not allowed to speak because she's a Muslim. Just a short time ago, Ghazala Khan did speak to CNN. Take a listen. [Ghazala Khan, Mother Of U.s. Marine Killed In Iraq:] I'm so happy to be saying that I am a Muslim woman, and Muslim women have all the rights that in the world. In the eyes of god, we are equal to our husbands. We are equal. And we are number one in the household in my family, in my culture, in my community. [Kinkade:] Trump doesn't seem willing to let the controversy die down, even tweeting his reaction during that interview. He said Mr. Khan doesn't know me, viciously attacked me from the stage at the DNC and is now all over TV doing the same. Nice. Well, for more on all this, CNN's senior reporter for media and politics Dylan Byers, joins me from Los Angeles. Good to have you with us. This is a story that surfaced back on Thursday when the Khans addressed the Democratic National Convention. It's now five days later. Is Trump digging his own hole? [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Politics Correspondent:] Yeah, he absolutely is. I would say there is a pretty simple and bipartisan playbook for dealing with the families of fallen soldiers. You honor them. You comfort them. What you don't do is try to attack them and pick public fights with them. And look, Donald Trump has very often thought that if he just goes after his criticizers and anyone who is speaking ill of him that he can somehow outlast them in the news cycle, that he can somehow rally support among his base and sort of dominate the news cycle. That's not what is happening here. What is happening is the news cycle is dominating him. And as you said, it's been dominating him for five days. Obviously, he is on shaky ground here when you get into the issue of veterans of fallen soldiers. And it's a problem that could continue to dog him for the rest of the week. [Kinkade:] And Dylan, Khan, of course, called on all Republicans to disavow Trump. We are seeing a lot of prominent Republicans, even Trump's own running mate for vice president at odds with Trump on this issue. [Byers:] That's true. And, look, since day that he announced his candidacy, Donald Trump has sort of been pushing the boundaries with his Republican colleagues and cohorts. And this is really when we look back on 2016 and the 2016 presidential campaign, it's really going to be a question about the Republican Party and where the Republican Party stood with or against Donald Trump. Now, there have been many things that Donald Trump has said over this 12 month period that have earned condemnation from other Republicans. But, of course, now that he is the nominee, we're seeing a lot for trepidation now. On the one hand, you have House Speaker Paul Ryan, you even have Donald Trump's own running mate Mike Pence coming out with statements that seem to be at odds with what Donald rump is saying here. But they have yet to issue, and of course, his own running mate won't do it, but prominent Republicans many of them still have yet to issue a sort of robust condemnation of what he said. Again, at the end of the day, I think this is going to be a question about how the Republican Party is branded and how it is seen in the eyes of the American voting public. [Kinkade:] And, of course, Trump does find himself at the center of controversy quite often. and more often than not, it doesn't affect him in the polls. Will he come out of this unscathed again? [Byers:] Well, you're absolutely right about that. Somehow he seems to be Teflon. I mean, he's upended all the conventional wisdom about politics and what should tank or be, you know, suicide for a candidate. This, again, this is a very tricky issue for him, because it does have to do with the military, it does have to do with the men and women who have sacrificed for this country. No issue is sort of closer to the hearts and minds of the American people and certainly for very long time to the Republican Party. Normally, the issue of soldiers and those who have sacrificed in the armed services, that's really been an issue that Republican Party has owned. If you looked at the convention in Philadelphia for the Democrats, that was really an issue that they came out and tried to own this cycle. So, no, I don't think this is one that he ends up winning. I think it's one, like I said, that continues to dog him for some time. And I think it's one that continues to affect him in the polls. And at the same time, that fallen soldier's parents have been making a very convincing case to Trump supporters or voters who are on the fence about Trump why they should abandon Trump and come over to the Democratic Party. [Kinkade:] Yeah, they certainly are very well spoken that couple. All right, Dylan Byers, good to have you with us. Thanks so much. [Byers:] Thank you so much. [Kinkade:] Well, still to come, one of the most brutal rebel groups in Syria trying to rebrand themselves. But what is behind the move? We'll take a look at that in just a moment. Also, thousands of Indian workers in Saudi Arabia are facing a food crisis. The reason why in about 15 minutes. [Foster:] Pope Francis left Rome a couple of hours ago for Nairobi, the first stop in his first ever trip to Africa. Pontiff will be addressing the continent's growing Catholic congregation and is expected to try and ease religious tensions between Christians and Muslims there. After Kenya, the pope will go to Uganda, wrapping up his trip in the capital of the Central African Republic. Also, authorities are tightening security measures in preparation for the Kenyan visit. Kenyan Catholic churches are getting ready for the occasion in their own way. Many of the celebrations draw on a mix of local culture and Catholic faith. Robyn Kriel visits one of these vibrant churches. [Robyn Kriel, Cnn Correspondent:] Bishop John Oballa Owaa is perhaps one of the Africa's busiest bishops. Today in one of the post-remote regions of his Kenyan diocese, he will marry nine couples, perform at 65 confirmations and preach for close to five hours to this crowd, many of whom have walked through the night to reach the church. It's a striking mix of cultures from the most modern wedding practices to the most traditional, all with the upcoming journal economy of one very important man in mind. [Bishop John Oballa Owaa, Catholic Bishop:] Both before the visit of the Holy Father and afterwards, there is quite an increase in the number of people who wish to embrace Catholic faith. The increase of vocations to priesthood, to sisterhoods, to brotherhoods, went to, you know, very high levels. [Kriel:] It's the shifting geography of the Vatican, Africa's Catholic population has more than doubled in the last 30 years. It's expected to surpass that of Europe by 2050. Much of this is due to population growth. [on camera]: Just take a look at the makeup of this service as an example. There are a few rose of adults, but the majority of the people here are children, hundreds of them. It's these stocked demographics that Pope Francis and the church will need to keep in mind going forward. [voice-over]: The church's commitment to reaching this site, a more than two hour drive from the closet town is where another one of Pope Francis' key messages comes into play, urging the church to reach the outer peripheries as a method of evangelization. [Owaa:] Getting to reach the people and smell, pastors must have the smell of the sheep. They must lead them there. They must reach them. They must access them and they must be accessible. [Kriel:] For what this church may lack in accessibility, it surely makes up for in vibrant devotion. [Foster:] Robyn is live in Nairobi for us right now. Robyn, all looks very joyful. I'm sure people are very excited. Huge amount going on behind the scenes to make sure there are no security problems, essentially. [Kriel:] Well, yes, Max, this is not a similar visit to say President Barack Obama who visited earlier this year, because there are thousands of U.S. security agents descending on Nairobi. There's a small Vatican security team. It's largely left up to Kenyan security service. They deploy 10,000 police officers, and another few thousand youth service officers who will be keeping the public safe. And we understand that, of course, as always, there are threats, because Kenya and Uganda both have trips fighting al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab just across the border into Somalia. So, we understand there are messages in place to disrupt any possible attacks that might be launched during this visit. However, we are told that they are trying extremely hard. They have a number of different international organizations working with them to try and make sure there are no security incidents and that the pontiff has a peaceful and, indeed, very exciting visit. [Foster:] It looks very exciting, indeed. Robyn, thank you very much, indeed, for joining us from Nairobi. We just got these into CNN in the wake of that downed jet on the Syrian Turkish border, Russia says it is deploying a missile-to-air defense system. Let's go into the Russian defense minister's Twitter account. The system will operate from an airbase we are told within Syria. Up next, testing the old saying that there is no such thing as bad publicity. Amazon is told to scrap Nazi-themed advertisements for its new television show. That's next. [Avery Boone, Flint Resident:] Why is it with two Democratic administrations and one Republican administration, almost 30 years, that these urban communities have not had any kind of help, service. You know, we've seen, you know, wars develop under both administrations, you know, things outside, but we don't see what's going on in these these communities, rustbelt communities any more, on the both Democrat and Republican. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Arlen [sic] Boone, just one of the folks I spoke with on the sidewalk downtown in Flint, Michigan, they have some very pointed questions that they have for the candidates, not just the Dems but Republicans, too. That said we are counting down to our Democratic debate. CNN hosting it. Going to be held right here in Flint tomorrow night and Flint of course, as you must know by now, has become a major issue in this political race, after the city used a tainted water source. It's right behind me. The Flint River. And it exposed all who drank it to lead. There's been a ripple effects since, there's been all sorts of other pieces in this puzzle but according to "The Detroit Free Press" the bigger ripple effect of the water poisoning could end up costing you, everyone across this nation, and the number is massive. It's an estimated $300 billion. All of that to do with the infrastructure upgrades to lead pipes all across the country. Other cities just like Flint. So if you think that this is just a Flint story, it is not. It is a money story and it is a danger story. Now look at the pictures on your screen now. This was the image yesterday as the city began to dig up the old lead pipes in some of the neighborhoods where the people are most at risk. Senior citizens, and the pregnant women, and then of course there are the children, specifically children under 6. Right now I want to take this focus to the children of Flint. Sara Sidner has been working hard to collect these stories and speak directly to these families who are dealing with kids. These kids not only are affected with what they're dealing within their homes right now, but there is a future coming down the pike and it is their future and it is not going away, even if they fix these pipes. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] It's true and it's bleak. If you talk to the children, we talked to dozens and dozens of people while we've been here. What comes out of their mouth is actually surprising, the things that they say do not sound like an 8-year-old or an 18-year-old, it sounds like a grownup who's been through a whole heck of a lot. [Banfield:] They know what's going on. [Sidner:] They know what's going on, and they see their town dying and they're really, really affected by it. [Banfield:] Let's take a look. [Dominique Absell, High School Senior:] First, I want to serve my country. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Dominique Absell is only 18 but his lifelong dream for his future is dead. [Absell:] That was my dream to go to the Army. And now that I can't. [Sidner:] The city he loves is now a source of anxiety, partly because of the water crisis and what has happened to his body since. [Absell:] I start by getting headaches and passing out, seizures. [Sidner:] His family says doctors can't pinpoint exactly why he began blacking out, sometimes several times a week. It means medically he can't qualify for the Army. He isn't even allowed to drive. His blood test showed very low levels of lead, convincing his mother the contaminants in Flint's water are to blame but there's no medical proof. [On Camera] You said you don't know if it's the water. What do you think it is? [Beverly Davis, Dominique Absell's Mother:] It has to be the water. He just stopped passing out because I just stopped cooking with the water. [Sidner:] Absell is one of the children who will inherit the city of Flint, a city that is now a shell of its former self Realty Track estimates 1 in 14 homes has been abandoned. For three consecutive years ending in 2013, Flint has had the most violent crimes per capita and about 40 percent of the residents live beneath the poverty line. Then came the decision by government officials to save money by switching the water supply. It ended up creating a major health hazard. The biggest potential harm hitting Flint's future generations. Like 8-year-olds Julian and Nadia, who play like children but speak in extremes about the water. [On Camera] What's wrong with the water? [Nadia Baylor, Flint Kid Resident:] They have lead in it and they have poison in it because the pipes are dirty. [Sidner:] Do you know what lead does to people who drink lead? At 8, they notice everything like the number of times it had to prep the sheltering in place in case there is a shooter. And the number of boarded up houses in their neighborhood. If it was up to them their future won't be in Flint. And what about you? Why would you leave Flint? [Baylor:] Because this water is poisonous. And if I drink it, I go to die and I don't want to die. Nobody wants to die. [Sidner:] From 8 to 18, many of Flint's children and their families worry the town is dying, and a really soft-hearted young man beside himself because he truly believes he has no future at all. [Banfield:] It is just a like a parade of one tragedy after another. And to hear a little girl at 8 years old say nobody wants to die, it's so sobering to realize this problem needs the focus of the country, it needs the focus of the candidates who are coming here and the Republicans as well who have talked about Flint, but maybe haven't visited as much if you ask the people on the street. I do want to ask you something. We spoke off camera. You mentioned that the class sizes in Flint are going up because schools are closing. And the significance of that for kids who have lead poisoning and the effects of it are massive. [Sidner:] It's huge because one of the things that they deal with is attention deficit disorder. So if you have a classroom of 34 children, and you have two or three or four or five kids who all have this issue and they're jumping up and down, and they're disrupting, then the other children can't learn, and neither can they. And so what's the future of children here if this issue isn't looked at, and then there has to be something in place to help these children get through what has happened to them. They have no part in it. And that's why the parents here are so incredibly angry. They cannot believe this was done as a cost saving measure at the expense of their health and their children's health. [Banfield:] If there was one no city deserves this, but if there were one city that couldn't take another hit, you know, after the mass closures of all of those the assembly plants, the auto industry just shrinking this city down. I went to Buick City yesterday. [Sidner:] Yes. [Banfield:] It looks like an air strip. There's nothing left there. And the decay that's going on around it is so sad. But it is having this additional effect, that the water crisis is having this additional effect of flight. People are running. I met a woman yesterday right across the street from Buick City said, I am going back to California Colorado. Colorado, she said. [Sidner:] People are leaving this town. It is shrinking, for the first time since the 1920s, in 2014 the numbers of people here dropped below 100,000 for the first time since the 1920s. This town is shrinking. But there are lots of people here who don't want to go. The parents of those children said I love this city, I want this city to do well, but this has just sent us into a panic. And now our homes are worth nothing. We can't leave. We are stuck here. We can't leave. So what has to happen? There has to be infrastructure change and there has to be attention paid to our kids to make sure that if they have been poisoned with lead, they can still learn. [Banfield:] Right. And the political gridlock needs to figure itself out because it does take money. They have to just do the work, spend the money. And who is going to OK it and who is going to be OK and on the hook for what it's going to cost. That's the big issue right now that the candidates by the way, I don't know how you feel. I did not expect to see the adorable town that I have arrived in. It is lovely. The downtown is lovely. The people are lovely. They're smart, they're astute. There were wonderful cafes. It's pretty. [Sidner:] They're really interested in what's going on. It's beautiful, but there are lots of people there talking about politics. [Banfield:] Yes. [Sidner:] When you go into a Starbucks or you go into a local cafe. [Banfield:] Number one conversation. [Sidner:] Everybody is talking about the candidates. [Banfield:] Sara Sidner, doing great work on the ground here. Thank you. And also our Sara Ganim. They've pretty much taken up residence here. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it. And by the way, CNN was really committed to doing this project. We did not come empty handed to Flint, Michigan. We brought a half million bottles of water, handed them out to residents. It was the convoy of hope. We had Sara and Martin Savidge, and I know that Anderson Cooper and Don Lemon are going to be taking part in this as well. A lot of our folks, our on airs, our off airs, going door-to-door literally, door-to-door, and dropping off the bottles. Also manning stations where we're handing out bottles of water as well to the people of Flint, Michigan. Please help out as well. There's our Van Jones doing this. You can do this from the comfort of your own living room. I promise you. Just go to CNN.comimpact. And you will find out a way how you can help the people of Flint, Michigan, your very self. They're your fellow Americans, folks, they need you. Also don't miss the CNN Democratic debate. Lots of critical issues that will be going on, on the stage here tomorrow night. Flint, Michigan, is the site. 8:00 p.m. Eastern, live. CNN. [Gorani:] Well, if you've ever been to Japan, you'll agree, its cuisine is among the finest in the world, from sushi to ramen, yakitori to tempura. Japanese dishes are nothing short of an art form and some take that literally. Will Ripley explains. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] Edogawa is a suburb, like many on the fringes of Tokyo, the kind of place we don't normally see much of in the movies, so different from the flashing lights and pulsing beat of Shinjuku. But lined on these unexpected streets, you'll find some of Tokyo's most promising culinary talent. And their customers are just as unassuming as they are. [Tomomi Maruo, Teaches Character Bento:] My name is Tomomi Maruo. I teach how to make kyaraben to the students. [Ripley:] Or character bento. [Maruo:] When you make it with rice, first, shape the rice and make face parts with seaweed or ham, and just put them into the rice bowl. [Ripley:] Intricately molding rice, building facial expressions with seaweed, using bits of ham to illustrate emotions all to bring her son's favorite characters to life, just in time for lunch. An art she's perfected over 13 years. [Maruo:] My kids like me to make people's face, like Michael Jackson or Obama, President Obama or Prime Minister Abe. [Ripley:] A bento box communicated love in a culture where people don't very often say out loud, I love you. So mothers can express that in the bento box that they make. And when kyaraben came along, they were able to do that and maybe take it to another level, you could say, because they were able to make images on the bento box that their children already had an attachment to. It's a practice that's become so widespread in the country, it's almost expected. But for Tomomi, it's the ultimate act of love. [Gorani:] Will Ripley reporting there. From love in your lunch box to love on screen, but not one that everyone is sharing. [Ariana Grande, Singer:] Barely even friends. Then somebody bends. Unexpectedly. [John Legend, Singer:] Just a little change. [Gorani:] It may be a tale as old of time, but some people won't be saying be our guest to Disney's new film "Beauty and the Beast." They're taking objection not to the relationship between a woman and a monster but because this character briefly dances with another man. Meet Lefou, sidekick to the villain, Gaston, the reason why a Russian politician wants the movie banned. Russian law forbids showing what it called gay propaganda to minors. Not just Russia. There's been controversy in the United States as well. Ever wondered what Russia and Alabama have in common? Wonder no more. A theater in Alabama is refusing to show the film, saying it goes against the Bible. You can decide what you think for yourself when the movie goes on release later this month. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. Thanks for watching. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully. Same time, same place. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next. [Baldwin:] We'll get you back to politics in a second. But just some troubling developments today about the Zika virus. Florida officials now confirming that for the first time in the U.S., it's likely been transmitted from infected mosquitoes to a number of people in the Miami area. [Gov. Rick Scott , Florida:] One of these four cases involves a man, the other three cases involve men. They are all active Zika cases and have not exhibited symptoms to be admitted to the hospital. Testing of mosquitoes in this area has been happening in this area where the small area for about two weeks. While no mosquito traps have tested positive for the Zika virus, the Department of Health is aggressively testing people in the affected area to ensure there are no other cases of this virus. [Baldwin:] So, officials believe all four people were infected. This is within a very small area north of downtown Miami. While most people with Zika never show symptoms, it can cause serious birth defects. So, joining me now, CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, who is there in Salvador, in Brazil, which we get into this, but could be sort of ground zero for Zika. But, Sanjay, two quick questions on Florida. A, how significant is this, and, B, how do they contain it? [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Well, it's significant in many ways. Obviously, these are the first now known cases where Zika has been locally transmitted. I want to tell you real quick what that means is that, you know, there have been cases of Zika infection in the United States. You've known that. You and I have talked about that. There's even been cases where it has been sexually transmitted within the United States. But what this now means is that mosquitoes likely bit somebody who had the Zika virus in their body, they got that Zika virus into the mosquito, then that mosquito went and transferred it to somebody else. That's what local transmission means in this case, and we suspected for some time this would likely happen because these same mosquitoes also carry other infections that they've been following. But it's now it's the first time. You know, like you've heard from the governor, they've been making sure, could this person have traveled or come in contact with somebody who traveled? The answers are no which means that Zika is now officially in the United States, Brooke. [Baldwin:] So that's what's happening here. You're in Brazil. What are you finding in Salvador? [Gupta:] You know, Salvador and this area of northeast Brazil was the first place that we started to notice not only the Zika infections but this connection to microcephaly. I tell you, they had no idea this was coming. You are talking about Florida? In many ways, we've known that was going to happen in Florida. But here, this was a big surprise. So, how do they first start to figure this out? How do they care for these children who have microcephaly and what does it mean going forward for obviously people here in this part of Brazil, but really for anywhere around the world, including the United States, if children are born with that microcephaly as a result of that Zika infections, what lessons have been learned here? That's what we're on the ground trying to do. But you can see behind me. That is Salvador. It's the third largest city in Brazil, it is also one of the poorest cities in Brazil. There seems to be a connection between poverty and how bad these infections are. It could be that there's other infections could be involved, could be the nutritional status, we don't know. But that's part of the reason we are on ground to investigate, Brooke. [Baldwin:] I mean, we've seen pictures, we've had crews in Brazil final question, Sanjay where you see these children with microcephaly. I'll never be able to unsee these children and can you just explain? If people don't know what that is or means for these babies, what is that? [Gupta:] Well, you know, microcephaly, the term micro, small, and cephaly is head, so these are children who have small heads. But it's not just small heads. It is small brains inside those heads as well, and many other neurological sort of problems. It's interesting. There are all sorts of reasons that children can have microcephaly, and even from some other infections. But with Zika in particular, this is new. I mean, this is happening real time, Brooke. They're trying to figure out exactly what the lives are going to be like for these children, how are they in their first year of life, how are they going to be in the years after. It is interesting. They're starting to find that there may be some children, despite the fact that they have this microcephaly, this small head. They may be doing much better than you would otherwise anticipate. Again, this is science unfolding, Brooke, in front of our eyes in this place just here behind me. But this is what they are starting to learn. [Baldwin:] All right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, be safe there. Thank you for going down and getting the story. We'll talk again. Thank you, my friend. Straight ahead, though, as we're talking Brazil, let's talk Olympics. The 2016 Olympic Games this summer begin in Rio in one week. There are multiple concerns. But one, how about the one you are looking at, how about the filthy water that can cause major health issues? What are the athletes saying? We'll take you live to Rio next. [Pereira:] This morning authorities in Atlanta are trying to identify two white mean captured on surveillance video leaving Confederate flags on the grounds of Ebenezer Baptist Church and at the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site. It comes a month after that horrifying church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina that killed nine and prompted the removal of the Confederate flag from around the state capital in Charleston. Joining us now is Pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church, Reverend Raphael Warnock. Pastor, really good to talk to you about this. I have to guess that your reaction yesterday I'm going to let you tell us about your reaction when you first were told or saw these flags around these significant sites. [Rev. Raphael Warnock, Senior Pastor, Ebenezer Baptist Church:] Good morning, Michaela. Good to be here with you. We discovered Confederate flags on our church campus yesterday morning. The staff had just arrived. And I was on my way to the office. And they called to tell me what had happened. And as you're seeing on the video right now, those flags were strategically placed on the church campus. One was placed in front of our bell tower where there was a sign that says "black lives matter." And beneath the sign that says "black lives matter," you have a Confederate flag. So, clearly those who left it there intended to send a message and that message clearly is not about heritage. It is a message about hate. [Pereira:] Well, and that's been such a discussion of late, hasn't it been? And it has been for many years about whether that flag represents heritage or hate. I know you gave a very impassioned press conference yesterday, in it you called this a terrorist act. [Warnock:] Yeah, it is a terroristic [SIC] threat. Let me be clear. I'm a child of the South, I was born and raised in Savannah, Georgia, serve at a church here in Atlanta and I know that, for many, this flag represents heritage. And not everyone who loves the Confederate flag hates black people. But the problem is this flag has been claimed by far too many hate groups. They now own the flag and I think we ought to let them have it. Since we are one people, we ought to live under one flag: the American flag. [Pereira:] Pastor, so what now? It's meant this kind of act is meant to intimidate. Many will wonder if it's meant to strike fear, given what happened in Charleston recently. I imagine you're getting calls to your office from the people in your church. And I know you're going to preach on Sunday. What will be your message to your church come Sunday? [Warnock:] Well, our message will be the same as it's been at Ebenezer Church since 1886. We're America's freedom church. We're committed to what Dr. King called "the beloved community." So I will say to my congregation and I say to others that we will not give into fear, we will not give into hate. Fear paralyzes you. Hate consumes you and prevents you from being able to see the humanity of others. And so this kind of crisis ought to cause all of us to rise up and not simply stand against the flag after all, it is a symbol but to resist the substance, that which the flag represents. We're in a fight right now on voting rights and we ought to be focused on that issue and so many other issues. [Pereira:] Absolutely. It's distracting from those key issues that are affecting the lives of thousands. So let me be a member of your flock for a second. And I come to you and I say, Pastor, how am I supposed to see the humanity in someone who is trying to strike fear in my heart, who is trying to intimidate me? How do I see their humanity? what would you say? [Warnock:] Well, that's the message of the gospel. And Michaela, I believe in that message. I see the humanity in all of God's people. Listen, these are tough times. I don't know what was in the mind of the persons who left those flags. But a lot of people are struggling, trying to make a way and many are frustrated. Sometimes that frustration is misguided. And I'd like to get a chance to talk to these individual. But meanwhile, we have to focus on building the beloved community on fighting for a country that works for everybody. [Pereira:] Right. [Warnock:] And so we'll move from this crisis. We'll stay focused on the work that we do week after week. And we'll transform our pain into power and all of us will be better because of it. [Pereira:] I appreciate you saying that. As my mother always said, sometimes the ones that need the love the most are the ones that are hardest to love. I appreciate that. I understand the timing of this is somewhat ironic. You have a leadership conference going on right now at your church? [Warnock:] That's right. We were gathering yesterday morning, a group of clergy all across the country. We convened them at Ebenezer, the house of Martin Luther King, Jr., to talk about mass incarceration. The president and others have been talking about this. America is 5 percent of the world's population. We warehouse 25 percent of the world's prisoners. We've got to make sure that our young people are not caught up in this pipeline that leads from the cradle to the prison system. The outcomes are terrible. And the good thing is that there is agreement on both sides of the aisle. Republicans and Democrats agree that this is unsustainable and so we have to fix it. [Pereira:] Well, it's good to know that we have some consensus right there, finally, from them on both sides of the aisle. Pastor, thanks so much. We wish you well. Thank you for joining us today on [New Day. Warnock:] Thank you so much. [Pereira:] We've got "The Good Stuff" coming your way. Stay with us. [Zain Asher, Cnn Newsroom Anchor:] Lord Sewel is leaving the British Parliament after being caught in a tabloid video, allegedly snorting cocaine at a sex party. [Errol Barnett, Cnn Newsroom Anchor:] Plus, a rare move from NATO in response to recent violence along the Turkey along Turkey's border with Syria. [Asher:] And the U.S. President Barack Obama takes aim at controversial comments made by some of the Republicans, hoping to replace him. [Barnett:] Hello there, and a warm welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. [Asher:] And I'm Zain Asher. I'm glad to be with you. This is CNN Newsroom I want to begin with breaking news out of London, where a top British politician embroiled in a sex and prostitution scandal has now resigned. [Barnett:] Yeah, this has been such an embarrassing course of events. Lord Sewel was once the head of the Conduct Committee for Britain's House of Lords. And now, as we've just learned in the past few minutes, he is leaving in disgrace. We're going to show you Max Foster's report on this. Put a heads up, it was filed before we learned of Sewel's resignation. [Unidentified Female:] So you want to get some coke? [Unidentified Male:] Well, I mean, if people would enjoy a little. [Unidentified Female:] Yeah. [Max Foster, Cnn International Correspondent:] The man appearing to enjoy himself is Lord Sewel, the Deputy Speaker of Britain's House of Lords, also in charge of upholding standards in Westminster. The video in sordid still pictures were published by the tabloids Sun on Sunday newspaper. He's seen allegedly snorting cocaine with two women. And what the paper says is a sex party in Central London. Each woman allegedly paid 200 pounds. [Unidentified Female:] 200 a day? What how that is... It's 200 a day to buy lunch? [Unidentified Male:] It's not lunch, lovie darling. It's paying for this. [Foster:] The paper says the party took place here in Dolphin Square last week, only a short-walk from the grandeur of Britain's at the House of Parliaments. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] These are very serious allegations. So, I think it's right that he stood down from his committee posts. So I'm sure further questions will be ask about whether it is appropriate to have someone legislating and acting in the House Of Lords if they have genuinely behaved in this way. Lord Sewel had choice words for the Prime Minister, David Cameron, on the undercover video, calling him the most facile, superficial prime minister there's ever been. The office... [Barnett:] We're jumping out of that report to make sure we bring you the most recent information, Lord Sewel having a much different tone now. Recapping our breaking news, he has resigned as he issues this following statement, "As a subordinate, second chamber in the House Of Lords is an effective, vital but undervalued part of our political system. I hope my decision will limit and help repair the damage I have done to an institution I hold dear. Finally, I want to apologize for the pain and embarrassment I have caused." So Lord Sewel, our breaking news, has resigned under a real shame and embarrassment. [Asher:] Yeah, certainly very embarrassing for him, especially in the context of what he said about other politicians in British Parliament as well, OK. I want to turn now to some other stories. We are following about two hours from now, Turkish officials were set to hold emergency talks of NATO to discuss the growing security threat from ISIS and Kurdish militants as well. This is after Turkey launched air strikes against ISIS in Syria for the very first time. [Barnett:] And the U.S. calls the offensive a game changer. And the two countries are separately working on a plan to create the ISIS-Free Safe Zone on the volatile Turkish-Syrian border. [Asher:] Our Jomana Karadsheh has been following these developments from Amman in Jordan. She joins me live now with the latest. So Jomana, what is Turkey's goal here? What do they hope will come out of these meetings with NATO? [Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Zain, we have to look at how Turkey called for this meeting. It was under Article Four of NATO- Washington treaty. And this usually happens when a NATO member feels that its territorial integrity or its security is threatened. And in most cases, it's for consultations with other NATO members, also to brief them on what action it's taking. And now, five meetings have been held under Article Four in the history of NATO, and four of them have been called for in the past by Turkey. We don't expect to see any sort of military action coming out of this. It's more likely, Turkey here is seeking the backing, the support of other NATO members when it comes to this aggressive action, this military action. We're seeing Turkey take over the past week, not just against ISIS, but also against Kurdish militants, against the PKK. So really no surprise, Zain, considering what events have been taking place in Turkey over the past few days in this real drastic change in the Turkish position when it comes to ISIS, that it would be calling for a NATO meeting, that it would want to discuss this with other NATO allies. And something else that might come up during these meetings is what with Turkey has been calling for that safe zone along the Syrian border, Zain. [Asher:] And Jomana, do you want to talk about that safe zone more specifically because Turkey is planning to create this, I guess, ISIS- free zone, a safe zone. It sounds sort of strike me as pretty ambitious. What details do we have on that in terms of how it's going to work? And also, what areas specifically are going to be included in that area? [Karadsheh:] Well, Zain, this is a very good question. Turkey has been calling for this so-called safe zone or ISIS-Free zones as some officials have called it for some time. It would be along in Northern Syria, along the Turkish border. It's a 90-kilometer stretch that is still controlled by ISIS in these areas. What Turkey aims to do with this creation of a safe zone is, one, most importantly for them is creating a buffer zone to protect Turkey from ISIS and other militant groups. And at the same time, they also want to create a zone where refugees, Syrian refugees fleeing, either the Assad Regime or ISIS can use it as a safe haven. But as you mentioned, it is quite ambitious. We've heard that Turkey and the U.S. have been discussing this ISIS-Free area, but it's not really clear how this is going to be implemented. While coalition aircraft will be providing the air power to oversee this area, to provide protection there, they're going to need ground forces. And it's not clear what ground forces are going to be used. There's no real one theory and coalition from moderate opposition that is there that can be use to patrol these areas to provide safety. Of course, other questions about how deep into Northern Syria will this safe zone stretch? And of course, also the issue of the Kurds versus Turkey here while the Kurds have been a very key like a key partner in the fight against ISIS with the support of the coalition. Turkey here while they have a common enemy, Turkey and the Kurds, in this case, they don't necessarily want to be friends. They don't want to really work together. We know there are issues there. So lots of complexities when it comes to that. And also, another question that has come up is what happens if the Syrian regime, in this case, Zain, is going after targets in this safe zone? What happens? Who response? So lots of questions, lots of challenges when it comes to the implementation of the safe zone. [Asher:] Right and Jomana and, you know, as you mentioned, it is certainly very complicated. I'm curious how the U.S. is going to ensure that Turkey going after ISIS, sort of translate into Turkey using that as an excuse to focus all of its attention on going after the PKK? [Karadsheh:] Well, of course, critics of the Turkish government, Zain, accuses saying that they are using this fight against the ISIS as a pretext to go after the Kurds here, in this case, whether it's the PKK or others. Of course, Turkey denies that saying they're only target is the PKK and this is only happening after several attacks have taken place on Turkish soil against the Turkish Security Forces. And this is their main aim. But, of course, critics say that Turkey is really concerned about the Kurdish autonomy here, what might be seeming like their ambitions to create a Kurdish states, that Turkey will be using this to crack down on the various Kurdish groups. It's going to be very difficult for the U.S., as you mentioned here, how does it guarantee that this is not going to happen. While the U.S. is calling for calm, they're also supporting the they do agree with Turkey's approach when it comes to the PKK. The PKK is considered to be a terrorist organization by the United States, as well as Turkey. But really, a very complex situation when you look at it here because the Kurds, as we mentioned, have been a key partner in the fight against ISIS on the ground. We have seen them making lots of progress on the grounds in Northern Syria specifically, Zain. [Asher:] Yeah. And when you think about that relationship between ISIS, the PKK, and Turkey as well, it just sort of emphasizes that old adage, "The enemy of my enemy," and certainly, especially in this case, "Is not my Friend." OK, Jomana Kadasheh, live for us now. We appreciate that. Thank you, Jomana. Errol? [Barnett:] Well, Zain, it's just after 10:00 a.m. in Ethiopia, where U.S. President, Barack Obama is beginning the final day of his African tour. In about three hours, he will speak before the African Union becoming the first U.S. president first sitting U.S. president to address the group. Monday night, he attended a state dinner in Addis Ababa, recapping the day of events including a meeting and a news conference with the Ethiopian prime minister. But what can we expect today? Let's bring in CNN Correspondent Robyn Kriel for more details. She is following the president's trip there in Addis. And Robyn, today, the African Union, for the first time will hear and address by a sitting U.S. president. And what we've seen is that terror networks, human rights, and Africa's potential have been the themes for the U.S. president over the past few days. So, what do we expect him to say today at the A.U.? [Robyn Kriel, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Errol, two key points that everyone expects the president to raise, the issue of terrorism, counter-terrorism efforts, and really what's become a model for that peace enforcement, we could call it, against terror group Al-Shabaab in Somalia. The African Union is joining together with several different troop contributing countries to fight Somalian surging group Al-Shabaab. And then the other issue is democracy. What would he have to say about, say, Al Burundi and President Nkurunziza's third-term win there despite the fact that the African Union refused to send exhibits and refused to, say, that it could that refused to allow it to happen, it is in essence, it still went ahead. And the president was reelected in a very controversial third-term bid. So the question will be just how much teeth does the African Union holds? Will it be able to put together, say, an intervention brigade sort of a force intervention brigade that we've seen as the U.N. mission going on in the DRC. Right now, we'll be able to put together a fast reaction quick brigades for, say, civil wars that are breaking out in, for example, the Central African Republic to be able to quell insurgencies, civil wars, rebels, those sorts of things and, of course, the issue of South Sudan as well. Hundreds of thousands of refugees seeking a shelter in Kenya and Ethiopia right here. President Barack Obama talked Barack Obama talks a lot about that as well. [Barnett:] And Robyn, as you know, besides the question of how much can the A.U. accomplish, you have the issue of how much influence can the U.S. wield on the A.U. these days at a time when really it's playing catch up in so many African nations to China in its aggressive investment and long term in infrastructure planning in so many African nations. What's the view on the U.S. really being a bit late on what even though Barack Obama is popular, his message is a bit late. [Kriel:] Yes. So, America is being described as being massively behind the curve when it comes to interest in Africa. You've seen Chinese roads, railways systems in Kenya and here in Ethiopia, many of the buildings including the African Union that Barack Obama will be speaking in, built by the Chinese. So how just how late to the party is the United States and how much can they regain if they want to do so in Africa? It definitely does seem, given the message that's coming through from the White House, trade not aid. That's what they're more interested in and not the policy that they want to take. Specifically here in East Africa, trade not aid being heard in many speeches, of course, as well as the issues of human rights and just how involved can the United States get with countries that do have human rights violations such as, Ethiopia, just how much do they want to become involved in issues of freedom of speech and do deals with countries who, perhaps, lock up journalist, call them terrorists, those sorts of things. So, that's really going to be a key issue they leave on the table for President Barack Obama as he goes forth and addresses the African Union and the commission later this afternoon. [Barnett:] All right, we'll be looking forward to those comments. And, of course, as you discussed last hour, the symbolism won't be lost on any of us. The African Union headquarters built by China, so certainly that will be something to consider. Robyn Kriel live for us in Addis this morning. Also, on Monday, the U.S. president responded to comments made by Republican presidential candidates. In an interview over the weekend, Mike Huckabee voiced his disapproval of Barack Obama's nuclear deal with Iran, linking it to the holocaust. Mr. Obama fights back, suggesting that Huckabee was playing politics. [Barack Obama, U.s. President:] The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are, I think, part of just a general pattern we have seen that is would be considered ridiculous if it weren't so sad. [Barnett:] He also weighed in on Donald Trump. Trump recently said Senator John McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam was not a war hero. [Obama:] When you look at what's happened with Mr. Trump, when he's made some of the remarks that, for example, challenged the heroism of Mr. McCain, somebody who endured torture and conducted himself with exemplary patriotism, the Republican Party is shocked. [Asher:] And now, a lot of people believe that Donald Trump is, of course, sucking all of the oxygen out of the runs, and especially when it comes to taking away air time from other candidates. And some believe that Republican candidates are now making outrageous comments to upstage Donald Trump But as he continues to rise in visibility in the polls, we are learning that some of his views on election issues have changed dramatically. Here's our Tom Foreman with more. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] He has big money, a big mouth. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate:] I wonder if the Mexican Government sent them over here. [Foreman:] And big numbers. He leads the latest CNN ORC Poll with 52 percent of Republicans, saying they want Donald Trump to stay in the race. Only 33 percent want him out, despite sharp attacks from Republican opponents. [Unidentified Male:] I don't want to be associated with the kind of betrayal that he is speaking out these days. [Foreman:] The Trump train is driven by fans who like the way he tells it like it is. The Trump's beliefs are hard to pin down. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] I know you're opposed to abortion. [Trump:] Right, I'm pro-choice. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] You're pro-choice or pro-life. [Trump:] I'm pro-life, I'm sorry. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] Pro-life. [Foreman:] On health care, for example, Trump in '99. [Trump:] So I'm very liberal when it comes to health care. I believe in universal health care. [Foreman:] The next year, he pushed the idea of government funding, writing, "We need, as a nation, to reexamine the single-payer plan." But now... [Trump:] We have a disaster called the big lie, Obamacare. [Foreman:] On illegal immigration, the turns took less time. Trump in mid June. [Trump:] I will build a great, great wall on our southern border and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. I actually heard... [Foreman:] Trump by June's end. [Trump:] You have to give them a path, and you have to make it possible for them to succeed. [Foreman:] And now... [Unidentified Female:] Are you still in favor of a wall? [Trump:] Oh yeah. In certain sections, you have to have a wall, absolutely. [Foreman:] And sometimes, the apparent contradictions may be a matter of nuance. Other times, listen to Trump on possible Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in 2007. [Trump:] And I think Hillary is very, very capable. [Foreman:] And now... [Trump:] Look, easily, she's the worst secretary of state in the history of our country. [Foreman:] Even his party affiliation is hard to pin down. Back in the '90s, Trump was a Republican. Then, he jumps to the Reform Party. Then, he shifted again. [Trump:] Well, you'd be shocked if I said that, in many cases, I probably identify more as a Democrat? [Foreman:] And now... [Trump:] Look, I'm a Republican. I'm a Conservative. [Foreman:] He might sum it all up in a phrase. [Trump:] But at least I'm consistent. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] Yeah. [Foreman:] Voters who love Trump insist he is consistent. He consistently shares the broad public contempt for Washington and consistently says plainly what he thinks with little worry about the fallout, but that is also precisely the trait that makes it easy to find inconsistencies that in the long run can tear even a popular candidate to pieces. Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington. [Barnett:] Next... [Asher:] Little that's something makes it quite entertaining. [Barnett:] Well, I'm going to say and it's all about the long run really when it's about a presidential race. Will Trump make it? [Asher:] Yes, exactly. He'll make it to the debate stage so we'll see what happens there. [Barnett:] Yeah. Fireworks for sure. Still to come here on CNN, the Boy Scouts of America makes a major decision regarding gay rights in its organization, details coming up. [Asher:] Plus, the U.S. issues, a report on the tragedy of human trafficking and then some controversy of how Washington is raising two countries in Southeast Asia, that's coming up. [Harlow:] Welcome back. Now, more of our interview with the parents of Alison Parker, the reporter who was shot and killed on live television earlier this week. Alison was a shining star at her station. We all remember her smile and her bubbly demeanor, but it was hard news that was her passion. She recently worked on the station's child abuse special, called "Childhood Lost," and that's where we pick up my conversation. I know that, you know, we see all these images of her on TV. She could have a lot of fun on morning television. Dressing up in costumes I mean but her heart lay with hard news, and she was working on a child abuse special called "Childhood Loss." [A. Parker:] Yes. [Harlow:] I wonder what she wanted to give the world, Barbara, with her stories. [B. Parker:] That story was especially important to her. She spent many, many hours with the little girl who was the feature that we call Hope and her adoptive mother, and talking about the things she'd gone through. And Alison knew that she was one of the lucky ones. She had a loving family. She grew up with a lovely home, and she had what so many people do not have. And she realized that. And for this little girl to be so eloquent and so beautiful in telling Alison her story, that it broke Alison's heart. But she felt like that story was so important to be told. [A. Parker:] And she was so she was so proud of it. [B. Parker:] Very proud of it. [Andy Parker:] She was so proud of it, and she said, Dad, you know, this could be, you know, this thing could win an Emmy. And so being the proud dad I am, you know, I posted, you know, the promo for it. And I said, you know, people watch this because it could be, you know this could be an Emmy-award winning piece. And she called me up immediately. She was sensitive about this stuff. She said, Dad, you can't say this. You know, this is making me look like I'm bragging on myself. Take that off of there right now. I mean, she was her ethics were, you know I was trying to, you know I was a proud dad, and still am a proud dad. But you know, she was so careful and so modest and humble. [Harlow:] Finally, I do want to also honor Adam's family, as well. [A. Parker:] Absolutely. [Harlow:] They are grieving in their own way, but I know you've been able to spend time with them. [A. Parker:] Yes. [Harlow:] Is there anything you'd like to say on their behalf or just about Adam? [B. Parker:] We are public people. For years and years, we've been in positions where we work with the public, we talk to the public. We're comfortable talking to the media. And this is how, in a large way, we deal with our grief, is by telling our story. Not everyone is like us. And we respect so much Adam's parents and his siblings, because they are much more private people, and they're grieving in their own way. So this site is for them, too. We are not only the spokespeople for Alison, we are the spokespeople for Adam, for the WDBJ family, for all of the people that are suffering because of this. And anything we do is in, not just Alison's name, but in their names, also. [Harlow:] Please tell me about the fund that has been set up at Alison's alma mater, where people can locate to help aspiring journalists. [A. Parker:] JMU set up a scholarship, you know, I guess it was Thursday. She and they said, you know, when it hits $25,000, one of their largest alumni or biggest donors would match it, if it was if it hit $25,000. Well, in less than a day, it was $25,000. Now, it's $50,000. And it is an endowed scholarship that will be there in perpetuity. But now, absolutely, keep contributing to that fund. There's also another scholarship fund for Patrick Henry Community College, where she got an associate's degree and was this year, she was named one of their distinguished alumni. The outpouring of love and affection has just been overwhelming, and we appreciate everyone's love and support. [Harlow:] I am so sorry that I never got to meet her. But I am so glad that she had such an impression on so many. Andy and Barbara, thank you both. [A. Parker:] Thank you for having us. [B. Parker:] Thank you, Poppy. [Harlow:] Many have asked, how can I help to remember the lives of Alison Parker and Adam Ward? Go to CNN.comimpact. Thereimpact. I do want to end this hour with some encouraging news about Vicki Gardner, the sole survivor of the shooting this week. She was being interviewed by Alison on the morning of the shooting. We are told that she has been up walking around in the hospital after undergoing two surgeries for that bullet wound in her back. Her husband says that bullet came within centimeters of killing her. We wish Vicki all the best in her recovery. And a personal thank you from me to Barbara and Andy Parker for taking the time to spend with us and to share those wonderful memories of their daughter. We'll be right back. [Berman:] This morning, Donald Trump going right after Jeb Bush, in fact, the whole Bush family. This, after the incendiary debate in South Carolina where Donald Trump flat-out said that George W. Bush lied. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] George Bush made a mistake. We can make mistakes. But that one was a beauty. We should have never been in Iraq. They lied. They said there were weapons of mass destruction. There were none and they knew there were none. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] I could care less about the insults Donald Trump gives to me. It's blood sport for him. He enjoys it. And I'm glad he's happy about it. [Bush:] But I am sick and tired of him going after my family. [Trump:] The World Trade Center came down in your brother's reign. Remember that. [Bush:] Hold on. Let me finish. [Berman:] CNN senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina, where Donald Trump is expected to take the stage shortly Jim? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, John. A couple of things we'll be listening for during this event here is whether or not he continues these attacks aimed at Jeb Bush and George W. Bush. He did that during the Republican debate here in South Carolina on Saturday night. It was widely regarded as, perhaps, a blunder on his part heading into this critical week. But as we've seen with Donald Trump, when he has a perceived blunder and he has the entire Washington press saying he went over the top going after Jeb Bush and George W. Bush on Iraq and 911, Donald Trump has been doubling down. That's what he tends to do when there are these perceived blunders that are going about inside the media. He talked about that in a tweet earlier this morning saying, "Oh, goodness, George W. Bush is in the state of South Carolina. Can I continue to talk about Iraq and the World Trade Center? Careful." That was one of the tweets he sent out earlier this morning. Obviously Donald Trump doesn't mind the attention generated by his debate performance on Saturday night. And when you look at some of the flash polls that were conducted, after that debate, it was fairly warmly received. I have to tell you, John, when I'm out on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, there is a different reaction when he goes after the Bush family. During the debate, you heard a lot of boos in that audience. But out on the campaign trail, when he goes after Jeb Bush, when he pats himself on the back and says, I was right about the Iraq war, he gets thunderous applause. So it is revealing, the split inside the Republican Party. Donald Trump is attracting a lot of new voters, a lot of disaffected Republicans, a lot of people who say they haven't voted before. When you see those people at the rallies, they don't mind these comments about the Bush family. But that is all going to be put to the test over this next six or seven days. Lindsey Graham, Jeb Bush's chief surrogate, has been saying people in South Carolina like the Bush family, like George W. Bush, but if Donald Trump wins in a landslide Saturday night, I think that conventional wisdom has to go out the window. [Berman:] All right, Jim Acosta for us in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Again, Donald Trump expected to speak there shortly. Also with a news conference. Curious to see what he has to say. We'll bring that to you live when it happens. In the meantime, joining us is Scottie Nell Hughes, chief political correspondent for USA Radio Network and a Trump support; Republican consultant, Bruce Haynes, who once worked for South Carolina Governor Carol Campbell, so he knows the Palmetto state well; and Bill Press, CNN political commentator, a Bernie Sanders supporter and author of "Buyers Remorse: How Obama Let Progressives Down." Bill is going to have an easy go of it because we're talking about Republicans today specifically, specifically what happened in South Carolina overnight. And if you missed it, let me give you some of the greatest hits. Watch. [Trump:] Two days ago, he said he would take his pants off and moon everybody and that's fine. Nobody reports that. He gets up and says that, and then he tells me, oh, my language was a little bit rough. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] If Donald Trump is president [Cruz:] your Second Amendment will go away. You know how I know that? [Unidentified Moderator:] Hold on, Gentlemen. I'm going to turn this car around. [Trump:] John Roberts Ted Cruz, with your brother, wanted John Roberts for [Cruz:] your principle, and I'll [Trump:] You're the single biggest liar. You're probably worse than Jeb Bush. You're the single biggest liar. [Cruz:] And Donald has this weird pattern. When you point to his own record, he screams liar, liar, liar. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] I don't know how he knows what I said on Univision. He doesn't speak Spanish. And second of all [Rubio:] the second point I would make For a number of weeks now, Ted Cruz has just been telling lies. He lied about Ben Carson in Iowa. He lied about He lies about marriage. He's lying about all sorts of things. Now he makes things up. [John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] I have to tell you, this is just crazy, huh? This is just nuts, OK. Geez. Oh, man. [Berman:] All right, guys. Bruce, let me ask you this. There was a time in politics, like in a lot of campaigns, you would say things about the people you were running against, but you wouldn't call them liars. That's a pretty big charge. We heard it from more than one candidate. Is this good for the Republicans running for president now? [Bruce Haynes, Republican Consultant:] Well, I think we're going to find out. I mean, our sense is that it isn't. I think when you talk to people who are in the debate hall that night, there was a universal word that I heard back, and that was "regretful." People weren't really pleased with the way that the Republican brand was presented. But, again, Jim Acosta said it really well, John, the Trump voters, they want Trump to take the fight to Jeb Bush. They tell me they don't want a fourth Bush term, and they really don't care how he goes about doing that. They're upset with the way Washington has worked. He's carrying that mantle forward for them, and more power to him. So it remains to be seen if that performance cost him a lot of votes or not. [Berman:] You bring up a good point. Bruce, you know South Carolina. We haven't had a lot of reliable polling in South Carolina over the last few days. I'm wondering what you're being told from your sources on the ground about the state of the race right now. Who the people voting are? [Haynes:] I think what we're seeing is that there's nothing that really happened in that debate to discourage the Trump voters from coming out. It may have made them some of the things we've heard about the language and some of the things that people are saying about Scalia may have reframed the choice for some of them. Now it's like, oh, there's a specific decision a president has to make, and here's one. And what kind of experience would Donald Trump have in really assessing a field of candidates and nominating someone to the Supreme Court. That's something some people are going to think about. This week is the week that other candidates, like Bush, Rubio, John Kasich and Ted Cruz, have an opportunity to kind of rise above the den and compete for any Trump voters who might be going wobbly and take voters. As far as the polls go, John, I think these debates have really been defining as to who the winners are. I personally, and the people I'm talking to, we want to see a couple more nights of calls and post debate. Kind of the two-night, three-night roll. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Great to have you back watching CNN STUDENT NEWS. I`m Carl Azuz. We`re starting with international tensions surrounding the Black Sea. This body of water is bordered by Ukraine, Russia, Georgia, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. Those last three countries are members of the NATO and the head of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization says stability around the Black Sea is important to the security of the whole region. NATO is concerned about several challenges. One, Russia`s involvement in the war in Ukraine. Two, terrorism like ISIS is bringing to countries south of the Black Sea. And three, the massive influx of migrants and refugees to countries in the region. NATO was created in 1949 to balance out Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe. The U.S. is a NATO member and America is working to support NATO countries by sending fighters to the Black Sea region. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] These Air Force pilots are preparing for a unique mission. They will be accompanying two U.S. fighter jets to Romania, a NATO ally on the Black Sea. It will be the first time America`s fearsome F-22 Raptor has landed there, an opportunity for the U.S. to show it is bolstering NATO defenses on Russia`s doorstep. Flying one of the two is squadron commander, Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Lehoski. He explained what makes the F-22 special. [Lt. Col. Daniel Lehoski, U.s. Air Force Squadron Commander:] A combination of stealth, super cruise, increased situational awareness that the aircraft provides us, which all that adds up to a unique asymmetric advantage on the battlefield. [Ward:] So basically, you`re saying this is the best fighter jet in the world. [Lehoski:] The aircraft is truly incredible and is indeed the best fighter aircraft in the world. [Ward:] The technology is so advanced that Congress has banned their sale overseas. En route to Romania, the jets must regularly be refueled. A delicate balancing act we got to see close up. A nozzle called a boom is lowered from the tanker. The jet then moves into place directly below it, and the gas starts pumping. [on camera]: Officially, this is a training exercise to move U.S. fighter jets from a fixed base to a forward operating base. But it`s the symbolism that is important here. This is intended as a show of force to an increasingly assertive Russia. [Azuz:] If you`re getting ready to fly somewhere, officials at Atlanta Hartsfield, the world`s busiest airport, say you should probably get there as many as three hours earlier. At Chicago O`Hare, workers from one airline brought out cots for people to sleep on, because hundreds recently missed their flights after getting stuck in TSA security lines. Airport and airline officials have been warning this could happen, security bottlenecks. The problem: the Transportation Security Administration doesn`t have enough screeners to check travelers. It says it`s limited in what it can do by U.S. government funding. But it`s trying to make changes. [Rene Marsh, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Well, TSA heard the call from passengers, airlines and airports. They must do better. This summer, air travel is expected to rise to the highest level ever, with 222 million people expected to fly. Now, we`re not even at that peak travel season yet, and for months, flyers have been dealing with strong security lines and missed flights because of it. [Unidentified Female:] We were just in security for almost two hours and run to our gate and it was three minutes shy of the doors closing. So, we got a hotel in our back and hopefully make this flight. [Unidentified Male:] I got here about three, two and a half hours early, and so, it wasn`t enough time. I had to go back to my friend`s place and try again this morning. [Marsh:] TSA immediately increased overtime for its officers last week and they`re speeding up their hiring process for 768 officers to get them on the job by June 15th. But the union representing TSA officers say that won`t be enough. Six thousand new hires are needed. They`re also deploying bomb sniffing dogs as a part of a way to cut the wait times. And now, things will not get better overnight. But the goal is to start getting passengers through those security checkpoints faster at least by June. In the meantime, some airports like San Diego International have hired entertainment to de-stress passengers while they wait, including stilt walkers, jugglers and clowns. I guess they figure if you`re going to be waiting in line for an hour or more, why not be entertained? Back to you. [Azuz:] Of course, you don`t have to worry about security checks if you`re a mosquito, but you should probably worry about Fort Myers, Florida. A group of entomologists and biologists is there to study what mosquitoes and an arsenal of 26 trucks, 11 helicopters and four airplanes is there to kill them. Warmer summer temperatures bring more mosquitoes. Some mosquitoes carry Zika, a virus that can cause birth defects in the unborn children of pregnant women. So, communities like Fort Myers are aiming to keep mosquito populations down. But not all cities have the budgets to fight on that scale, so the approach is different from place to place and the effectiveness of pesticides is too. [Subtitle:] Mosquitoes like these are to spread Zika in the U.S. We put 100 of them into bottles containing a common pesticide. [Elizabeth Cohen, Cnn Senior Medunidentified Female:] They are very much alive. [Subtitle:] The pesticide didn`t work. This summer there will be swarms of mosquitoes. [Cohen:] The weather is about to warm up. The mosquitoes are going to be swarming. How do we know what to spray them with? [Subtitle:] Many areas in the U.S. don`t know which pesticides will kill their mosquitoes. [Audrey Lenhart, Centers For Diseae Control, Entomologist:] At the moment, we don`t have a good way of knowing what their resistance profile is in the Continental [U.s. Subtitle:] Then we used a second common pesticide on 100 more mosquitoes. That one worked. Mosquitoes in different places can resist different pesticide. [Cohen:] In one state, you can have different pockets of resistance in different places. [Subtitle:] Knowing what to spray is a big challenge. [Lenhart:] Absolutely. It`s a big challenge. [Subtite:] Not all mosquito control programs routinely monitor pesticide resistance. Fighting Zika will require more areas to run tests like this one. [Azuz:] All right. How good is your geography? Think about the capital of Slovenia and see if you got it right for our third school today. We`ll start in the U.S. state of Michigan. Hello to the Cardinals. Legg Middle School in the city of Coldwater kicks off our roll call. In the Southeast, we`ve got the Panthers watching today from Lanett, Alabama. Welcome to Lanett Junior High School. In the capital of Slovenia is Ljubljana. And that`s where the British International School of Ljubljana is watching. Great to see you. It`s not hard to find well-documented tips on how to fall asleep faster. Turn off your electronics, call down your room, try a warm bath or shower before bed. For many people, it`s waking up that`s the hard part, especially if your alarm clock or more likely your phone interrupts your sleep cycle. Still, with or without a snooze button, the infamous alarm is something millions have been living with for 140 years. [Rachel Crane, Cnn Correspondent:] Steam engines, factories and spinning jennies get most of the attention. But there was actually something much more mundane that helped shape the world`s economy from agrarian towards industrial. And if you`re like 68 percent of Americans, it`s probably the first thing you interact with in the morning. I`m talking about the alarm clock. For thousand of years, people took their temporal cues from the sun. Sure, it might have made scheduling a meeting a little bit difficult, but then again, there weren`t many meetings back then. People tended to fend for themselves and their immediate community. But then, the industrial revolution changed everything. Workers had to be punctual. Time became money, so to speak. So, we became slaves of the ticking clock. None of this sunrisesunset scheduling that worked for the predictable rhythms of farm life. Plus, there weren`t any roosters to wake you. So, how did the workforce adjust to the new world order? At first, factories installed whistles or bells that sounded throughout the area to alert its employees that the workday was set to begin. Some companies even hired knocker upper to bang on windows and rouse their employees at their homes. Then, in 1876, an American company received the first patent for a mechanical alarm. Even though the concept and the crude models dated back to Plato, these were the first mass-produced alarm clocks and they paved the way for a huge improvement in personal and business efficiency. And then, also, why I`m so groggy all the time? [Azuz:] New Hampshire`s Mount Washington has observed a record wind gusts in its days, so this isn`t really unusual, but it is fun to look at. A pair of weather researchers recently braved gusts of 109 miles per hour and a wind chill of 20 degrees below zero to show us how wind is stronger than people. Getting blown over, literally sitting into the wind all part of the fun. The guy in your screen described playing like this as exhausting. So, you can say he got winded. But if you got wind of a wind with its windup that could take your breath away, wouldn`t you want to play wind definitely, you`d be winding all the day. I`m Carl Azuz with your ten-minute window of current events. Wishing you a windorful day. END [Sheryl Crow, Musician:] That there was a moment in our history where people didn't believe that this land was their land. And songs like "What's Going On" by Marvin Gaye, "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield, these were not just protest songs. They were actually songs that got played on the radio. They were part of our collective consciousness. And they lifted us up and they resonated with us and they galvanized us. "Blowing in the Wind," where you saw for the first time whites and blacks holding hands and singing, "We Shall Be Released." These were moments that were legacy-making moments that we look back on and we see the best of who we were, and music was there. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Ana Cabrera. Thanks for rolling with me into the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. With President Trump's 100th day approaching very quickly now, there is news the White House is nearing a breakthrough on health care. Two sources tell CNN a vote is possible as Congress returns to Washington next week, adding that the White House wants to get this done before Trump's 100th day. And that is next Saturday. We're also learning top House Republicans may be nearing some type of an agreement. Discord within the party was what put the brakes on this bill a month ago. Here we me, CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger and CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Gloria, you first. Congress has plenty on their plates already next week. You got the government shutdown is possible. Why push this now? [Gloria Borger, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Well, because there's something called the first 100 days deadline coming up, and every single Republican in Congress and the president of the United States campaigned on repeal and replace Obamacare. And that hasn't occurred. And they went back to their districts and they heard about it. And I think that the conservatives, particularly who let the president down and whom he criticized very vocally, would like to try and strike a deal. The problem is, they have got to walk and chew gum at the same time. As you point out, they have a government shutdown that they are confronting and they still have the same differences between moderates and conservatives, and nobody speaks for either group totally. So I think it's a very, very difficult job. And even if it passes in the House, there's no saying what would happen to it in the Senate, and we don't know what it's going to look like yet. I think it's still in the kind of dream phase right now. [Cabrera:] It seems, though, if they were going to vote on this next week, now by saying that even, isn't it just backing them into a corner? [Borger:] It might be. But I think they have to show that they are trying to do something, that they haven't given up. [Cabrera:] Sanjay, I know you sat down with Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price. Where does Price think the administration went wrong the first time around? [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Senior Medical Correspondent:] It's a big question mark, and everyone has an opinion on this, obviously, but, Ana, I asked him basically that exact question. Take a listen. [Cabrera:] Sanjay, stand by. We will get to that sound in just a moment. We actually have some live pictures. We do want to just let our viewers know what we are looking at. This is President Trump as he's greeting the Italian prime minister who is here visiting the administration, visiting the United States. You see them shaking hands. You see the Italian flag on front of the car and they are getting ready for a photo-op. We understand that they will meet and they are expected to address news cameras and crews here after their meeting some time in the neighborhood of 3:45, 3:50-ish. We expect that they will be talking about economic issues. We expect that they will be talking about security globally. And, again, this is the Italian prime minister just arriving to meet with President Trump. We're continuing to watch that situation. Sanjay, forgive me for that interruption. I want to get back to what you were sharing with us in terms of your interview with Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price. [Gupta:] Yes. One of the big questions is obviously, in the spirit of trying to move it forward, which Secretary Price very much says that he's committed to still, what did go wrong, what could be corrected, I asked him about that. Take a listen. When you look at the last few weeks with regard to this health care bill, AHCA, what went wrong? [Tom Price, U.s. Health And Human Services Secretary:] Well, I think that what happened is the compressed timeline for the sale of the bill, if you will, and the fact that there are a lot of competing parts in the area of health care. And so what I believe is if you talk about, as the president has, we talk want about the principles of health care, we want a system that is affordable for everybody, we want a system that is accessible for everybody of the highest quality and provides choices for the American people, empowers patients, if you will, if we concentrate and keep true to those principles, we will get to the right answer. [Gupta:] Sort of talking about they sort of rushed the pass a little bit, I think is what Secretary Price is saying. But he wants time to educate people. He's been at this for quite some time, because he's been releasing his own version of a bill for the last several years. And what he told me is, he wants to spend more time sort of on the retail politics side of things, actually sitting down with the vote, people who will be casting a vote on this and really explaining it to him. explaining it to them, rather, and having more time to do so. [Cabrera:] All right, well, we will see as this plays out over the next week or so. Sanjay Gupta and Gloria Borger, thanks to both of you. A controversial controversy from the campaign trail now coming back to haunt President Trump. Remember, last year, then candidate Trump panned a judge who was presiding over lawsuits against Trump University? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] He is Hispanic, I believe, and he's a very hostile judge to me, and I have said it loud and clear. I have a judge who is a hater of Donald Trump, a hater. He's a hater. His name is Gonzalo Curiel. This judge is of Mexican heritage. I'm building a wall. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] So, no Mexican judge could ever be involved in a case that involves you? [Trump:] I think he should recuse himself. [Cabrera:] Well, it turns out that same judge, Gonzalo Curiel, who was actually born in Indiana, by the way, is now hearing this case of what many believe is the first deportation of a dreamer under the Trump administration. A 23-year-old man from California says he was kicked out despite the fact he was protected under DACA, a program that gives some legal protections to undocumented immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children. Homeland Security officials say the man left the U.S. voluntarily. And now the attorney for this man, Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez, is asking Judge Curiel to force DHS to release some deportation paperwork. She spoke to reporters by phone. Let's listen. [Karen Tumlin, Attorney For Juan Manuel Montes Bojorquez:] What we're seeing here is a part of disturbing pattern and practice of a failure to tell the whole truth on the part of DHS. [Cabrera:] Joining me now, immigration attorney Cesar Vargas, who was also the first undocumented lawyer here in New York. Cesar, thanks for being with us on this issue. First of all, just your take, your reaction to this case happening to land on the desk of this judge. [Cesar Vargas, Attorney:] Absolutely. Well, frankly, it's alarming and scary to know that no one is safe anymore. Secretary Kelly and President Trump has said that they are going to focus all of their efforts on violent criminal records. And yet we have this case where a dreamer not only was deported, but he was just had no wanted to get his wallet to show that, and all of a sudden, three hours later, this student, this young person was detained and deported. It's very scary. And I think what we're seeing now is an aggressive, aggressive attack on immigrant communities and on American families to know that this president is willing to go after anyone. And I think that's alarming to not just undocumented immigrants, but to anyone. Who is next? [Cabrera:] You see this as a precedent-setting case? [Vargas:] Well, we have that, and we have not only that, but we have seen from January to March President Trump has amped up his enforcement on immigration, on immigrants, specifically has doubled the deportations of people with no criminal record, as opposed to last year under President Obama. So, this is a pattern, as Karen mentioned, of an aggressive deportation machine that we're now seeing realized and attacking immigrant families. [Cabrera:] And in terms of the fact checks, we did go back and look at the history under President Obama. What we're seeing this year under President Trump is similar in terms of percentages and numbers that we saw under President Obama back in 2014. But, to your point, there has been an increase over the past couple of years when you're looking at the same time frame, January through March or so. Getting back to the judge, Judge Curiel, now taking on this case, important for us to notify the viewers that this is not that the judge is not initially going to rule on this specific deportation and the fate of this dreamer, but rather is being asked to rule on getting access to the deportation processing documents. So how do you see this playing out? [Vargas:] Well, right now, we're seeing that a judge is obviously going to listen to the case, but it's what we have to focus in, that President Trump is misleading the American people on every issue, whether it's on him saying that he's not going to detain law-abiding immigrants, productive people, to also the fact that he's saying that we are going to buy American, and yet President Trump's businesses are buying from China. So, the concern is that he's misleading the American people. And right now, we're seeing a climate of fear from immigrant families who are afraid to go to school, who are afraid to go to the hospital, are afraid to and that's why it's so important for cities, New York, and states to ensure that they are pushing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, and specifically because they are interfering with processes that the state has to see, whether it's an immigrant who is afraid to just go pay a traffic ticket. And I think that's the concern that we're seeing, that we need to make sure that states step up to ensure that we resist Donald Trump's aggressive attack on immigrant and American families. [Cabrera:] All right, Cesar Vargas, thank you for joining us. [Vargas:] Thank you so much for having me. [Cabrera:] More breaking news at this hour, new evidence that China has put its forces on high alert preparing for an event involving North Korea. Details ahead. Plus, a state senator apologizing for a racist and sexist rant against two of his colleagues. Well, those colleagues who heard the rant join me live. And we are moments away from President Trump's news conference with the Italian prime minister. He will face reporters coming up. Stay with us. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] The deadliest mass shooting in American history. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] The deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the deadliest attack on U.S. soil since 911. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] Police say Omar Mateen carried out the massacre using an assault rifle and a 9-mm handgun. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] Once people started screaming, and shots just kept ringing out. [Unidentified Female Reporter:] The 29-year-old Omar Mateen opened fire inside an Orlando LGBT nightclub. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] The gunman called 911, 20 minutes into the attack to pledge his allegiance to ISIS. [Pres. Barack Obama, U.s. President:] This was an act of terror and an act of hate. [Ronald Hopper, Fbi Assistant Specal Agent In Charge:] The FBI first became aware of Mateen in 2013, when he made inflammatory comments to coworkers alleging possible terrorist ties. [Unidentified Male Survivro In The Orlando Mass Shooting:] All I know is that when I turned around, everyone was screaming and jumping. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Cnn Host Of "dr. Drew" Program:] Tonight we are holding a special town hall about the Orlando nightclub massacre. Our audience includes members from the LGBT community, obviously profoundly affected by this tragedy. Joining me, Mike Galanos, HLN Anchor reporting from Orlando; Jim Clemente, former FBI Profiler; Judi Ho, Clinical Psychologist and professor at Pepperdine University and Lisa Bloom, Civil Rights Attorney at the Bloom Firm and legal analyst for avvo.com. But first I have this. It is a chilling video that captures the horror that unfolds and it was supposed to be a night of celebration. A young woman, they are casually snap-chatting inside the Orlando nightclub, then shots ring out. Take a look. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] I am at the club. [gunshots] [Pinsky:] That woman, 25-year-old Amanda Alvear, fatally wounded. I am having as much trouble getting my head around this as anyone. The one thing I have noticed, though, is I am seeing a lot of helplessness and hopelessness amongst people, both the media and out, and we must stop that. That is not OK. It is time for action. It is time for understanding. Mike Galanos, give me the latest out there. [Mike Galanos, Hln Anchor:] Well, I will tell you, Drew, we will pick up the story from there and it cannot be understated when you talk about what is happening at 2:00 in the morning. It is a great night at Pulse, which is by the football field behind me. It is Latin night. Everyone is having a good time. People think those gunshots initially are sounds of a music beat pounding and thumping. Next thing you know and I am sure we are going to get in to more of the survivor stories. Bodies are falling around them, and they know now they are in a life and death situation. Moments later, at 2:09, Pulse, they tweeted out, "Get out and run. Get out of this building. At 2:22, you have the gunman, and think of what he is doing? He is not only continuing an attack, but he is calling 911 and pledging allegiance to an ISIS. A three-hour standoff and some survive. We are hearing survivor accounts where people are draping themselves in dead bodies to survive, entertainers are waiting things out. Police have to remove an AC unit, so they can crawl out. Finally, 5:00 A.M., and SWAT Team use an armored vehicle to blow open a hole, so 30 people can get out and escape. And, then a deadly confrontation ensues with the gunman. He is shot and killed and that is the way it ends. But now the beginning of the sorrow, and to your point, action that must happen moving forward, Drew. [Pinsky:] Mike, thank you. I want to show you, again, that timeline of precisely what went down. At 2:02 in the morning, this guy, Mateen, enters the so-called enters the nightclub, begins shooting. An off-duty police officer responds and engages in the battle near the entrance. Mateen evidently retreats to a bathroom there with hostages. At 2:22, so 20 minutes after getting into the club, he calls 911, makes these allegiances and pledges to ISIS. He mentions the Boston bombers. He is there for two and a half hours. At 5:00 A.M., SWAT enters the club, rescues 30 hostages, kills Mateen. Mike, do we have any sense of what was happening between 2:22 and 5:00 A.M.? Were they communicating with him during that time? [Galagos:] There are reports that there was some communication. And it is somewhat chilling that he is poised, and further speaking to that fact, poised that he can continued attacking and make a phone call. Very calm as he spoke, reportedly. So that is what authorities were up against. That is why they finally decided to act at 5:00 A.M., Drew. [Pinsky:] Judy, does this surprise you? This is a very different description than say the Virginia tech shooter, who was agitated, a manic and out of control. This is cold, calculated. It is different. The word bipolar has been raised a couple times today. This does not sound like a manic phase, or at least not typically so. [Judy Ho, Ph.d., Clinical Psychologist:] This is not a typical manic phase. And, as you mentioned, he was calm, he was collected, there was precontemplation. He was calm the entire time during the time that there was police swarming the outside, and when you see that very, very low reactivity, Drew, it makes me think of something completely different. I am thinking about psychopathy. [Pinsky:] Psychopathy with all sorts? [Ho:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Jim, how about you at profiling standpoint? [Jim Clemente, Former Fbi Profiler:] Yes, exactly. That is what I was going to say. It sounds like a psychopath. A psychopath does not have the same level of emotional range that we do. And basically, when things are going crazy, they calm down. They love the excitement. They live for this thrilling excitement, and especially to exert that much power over other people and to see the suffering, this would have turned him on. It is really a shame. [Pinsky:] I really want to throw up now. All the feelings I had Saturday night are coming back. All right. Now, we have a video shot by a man who lives next to the nightclub. It shows the moment SWAT stormed into the nightclub. Have a look. To me that is an unenlightened from law enforcement`s standpoint, that sounds like a lot of gunfire. [Clemente:] Well, it does not sounds like [Pinsky:] How did they save the people who ran out of the hole? [Clemente:] It sounds like multiple operators who are trained not to create crossfire. I think the reason why you had that three-hour delay was because they wanted to make sure that they were safely able to make an assault and not kill innocent people and only focus on the bad guy. [Pinsky:] How about why the bad guy chose that club. It was 120 miles from his home. I do not understand. They drove over an hour two hours to get there? Why that club in Orlando? [Clemente:] Well, I mean [Pinsky:] It is bizarre. [Clemente:] A mile away there are 17 nightclubs that were in full function that night. This was a gay club. It was by itself. It seems like it was a very goal-directed hate crime to me. Even though he maybe had some extremist Muslim leanings, I think that was the justification or the rationalization, so he could take out his hate against gays and lesbians. [Lisa Bloom, Civil Rights Attorney:] Well, let us be clear. This was a very crowded packed nightclub, about 300 people. [Pinsky:] You think that he picked it for that reason? [Bloom:] So if you want to take out the maximum number of people, you go into a place that is very dark and very loud, and you can start shooting with an automatic weapon and you can take out a lot of people. [Pinsky:] Lisa, we live, what? 90 miles from San Diego? Can you name a club that is crowded on a Saturday night in San Diego? [Bloom:] No, but I can go [Pinsky:] No. I cannot either. [Bloom:] But, I could go online and in about 1 minute tell you what gay club in San Diego is crowded. [Ho:] And, Dr. Drew, he did a lot of research before. And there was actually another night club owner in the same area saying that he tried to add him as a Facebook friend. But when he looked at him and realized it was nobody that he knew, he actually deleted that Facebook. [Pinsky:] Interesting. Now, we have an update from the Orlando Regional Medical Center, where most of the shooting victims had been taken. Six of them had been discharged, thank God. Twenty-nine remained hospitalized in good condition, 26 surgeries were performed. Five patients, however, are still in grave condition. A number of those critically ill and obviously in shock. Now, this dude made three 911 calls during the attack. He told the operator that he was doing this for the leader of ISIS. Jim, what is up? Help me. I cannot get my head around this. [Clemente:] I think this is sort of what we looked at with al-Qaeda earlier. I mean, it is basically like an organization. They will take credit for anybody who is successful at making terrorist claims. [Pinsky:] Yes, but here is the guy but obviously, he may contact with them beforehand. I mean, here he is in the club shooting people, making declarations to [Isis. Clemente:] Yes, but that may be that he never had any direct contact with ISIS. He could have self-radicalized. He could have wanted to be part of something whole, something bigger, something more grand than himself. Usually, these people have very poor self-images and basically they want to feel better by hurting others. [Pinsky:] And this is the thing that I wanted to get into later is, why our young men feel so disenfranchised, are not attached to anything bigger than themselves? There is so much to be passionate about and we have young men that are floating today. Next up, I have a young man who leaves the Pulse nightclub just an hour before gunfire breaks out. Tragically, he loses two of his friends in a deadly massacre. That is next. And later, the gunman, Omar Mateen; who was this mass murderer and why did he do it? [Paul:] An extraordinary moment in U.S.Russian relations. A conference call was arranged yesterday after Russian forces launched an air strike on an American backed Syrian rebels fighting ISIS near the Jordanian border late last week. Now a senior defense official tells CNN the incident quote "raises concerns about Russian intentions". In the meantime Russian president, Vladimir Putin, told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that U.S. the U.S. needs to back out of Russian affairs and stop meddling. [Vladimir Putin, Russian President:] The U.S. is a great power. At the moment it is probably the only super power and we accept this fact. We want to work with the U.S. and we are ready to do that. And no matter how these elections are held, eventually they will be held. There will be a new head of state, elected. They will have brought authority. I know that there are complex, economic and political processes in the United States, at the moment, the world needs a country as strong as the U.S. is, and we do need the U.S. too. But what we do not need is for them to interfere with our affairs all the time. To instruct us how to live, to prevent Europe from building relations with us. [Paul:] CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty, joining us now. Jill, good to see you this morning. So the air strike on American backed rebels telling the U.S. to stop meddling. These words from President Putin. The thing is, ISIS is not just a Russian affair. This affects the U.S. so how does he tell the U.S. to stop meddling? So what do you think Russia's end game is here besides getting a seat at the table? Is there more? [Dougherty:] Well there always is. But I think, you know, number one, there are very immediate objectives that Vladimir Putin has. Get rid of those economic sanctions. The sanctions that are hurting Russia, the sanctions that the United States is imposing, and the sanctions that Europe is imposing. That was really his mission when he was speaking to Fareed. He wants the United States and Europe to stop the sanctions, let's get back to business. He never mentioned reason that the sanctions were imposed, and that is Ukraine. So that's number one. And then longer, it really is his idea that Russia is back, and Russia is much stronger than it ever has been before. Russia is insurgent and wants a voice in almost any major issue around the world. [Paul:] He also talked about Donald Trump, saying that he welcomed Trump's wish to restore U.S.Russian relations. What do you make of that considering the fact that Donald Trump has not been elected? We haven't elected our next president yet. [Dougherty:] Yes. He kind of deafly turned that around. Essentially what he's saying is, look, Russia wants to get back to business. Let's forget all about this Ukraine stuff. Let's forget about these sanctions. Let's go back and work together. And so he is making an overture to whoever the new president of the United States will be, and trying, I think to show, and probably on some level, genuinely, he wants a good relationship. This is not been good for Russia. Oil prices are very low, and the sanctions are hurting. He does want to work with the United States on some level. But he doesn't want it on U.S. terms. He wants to be able to set some of that agenda too. [Paul:] Jill Dougherty, always so grateful to have your voice in these conversations. Thank you for being here. [Dougherty:] OK. [Paul:] And be sure to watch Fareed Zakaria's "GPS" special. It is this morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And later tonight you can watch the premiere of a new CNN series "DECLASSIFIED, UNTOLD STORIES OF AMERICAN SPIES," in what was then the Soviet Union, that's tonight at 10:00 p.m. Eastern here on [Cnn. Blackwell:] Can they do it? Now if you're basketball fan, you know what it is, and who "they are." I'm talking about LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Can they come back thank you, Ohio. Can they come back after being down 3-1 in the finals to win the championship? Game seven tonight. Melissa Knowles has more on the historic night ahead. [Melissa Knowles, Cnn Sports:] That's right. The Cavs are looking to make history, Victor. Basketball's two biggest stars, Stephen Curry and LeBron James, facing off tonight in the epic game that every player dreams about. We'll get you ready for tonight's CavsWarriors showdown. [Anderson:] I'm Becky Anderson. The top stories for you this hour on CNN. And a French prosecutor just gave an update on the suspect being questioned in Friday's train attack. Francois Molins said that Ayoub El-Khazzani had around 200 rounds of ammunition on him. And his intent his internet use, sorry, showed clear evidence of terrorist intent. Well, the Dow Jones is trading well into the green right now. It is a hard won recovery after Monday's huge drop. Let's have a look at those markets and its performance as it stands as we speak. As it is just a little after 11:30 a.m. on Wall Street. And a claw back from the losses Monday, not the picture, I've got to tell you, on China's close early on Monday, another vicious day there as we saw Chinese authorities slashing interest rates for the fifth time in 12 months in an attempt to stabilize this economy and stabilize these enormous selloffs on the Chinese, or Shanghai market. To another story that we have been covering for you, record numbers of migrants are making their way across the Balkans on an exhausting journey to find a permanent new home in Europe. Hungarian police say more than 2,000 migrants crossed the border from Serbia on Monday, the highest ever daily total. Now, many of them are refugees fleeing the war in Syria. And you can see how far they have traveled, crossing through Turkey and then on to Greece, eventually making their way to Serbia and to Hungary. Well, reaching Hungary is critical as it's part of the European Union's passport free zone, giving migrants easier access to Europe's wealthier nations. Well, some countries on that route want to block the influx of migrants, Serbia is welcoming them and promising to treat them well. Arwa Damon is live in Belgrade for you tonight and a park where refugees are taking shelter. And earlier on today and these numbers may have changed enormously since then, the UN quoting more than 7,000 migrants have crossed into Serbia from Macedonia since Friday alone. Arwa, what's being done to accommodate them short-term? [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, once they cross into Serbia, Becky, they are getting on buses or eventually finding their way from the border to Belgrade. This is one of the parks that they do tend to overnight and as they are waiting to take a bus that will take them to the border with Hungary, some are waiting for their families to send them money. Everyone who we've been talking to, Becky, says that here in Serbia, they feel as if the reception is much more compassionate, more hospitable. And a lot of the Serbians that we've been talking to say that, yes, it's because the people of Serbia remember what it's like to be a victim of war, they remember what it's like to lose everything often to violence that you can't control, that you can't understand. And one of the hotel workers here was telling us that she sympathizes with the plight of these refugees, because she remembers what it was like when the population here was in the same position, that they know that these are not bad people. They are simply trying to flee from a bad situation. And again, mostly Syrian refugees, Iraqis that we have been speaking to as well all with absolutely heartbreaking stories, Becky. One 30-year-old Iraqi we talked to said that he fled Baghdad because militias bombed his wedding, killing his 14-year-old brother. Many of them are also using the park here, the hospitality they're seeing here being treated by the medics. They've left now for the day, but they were here earlier because they feel as if they need to take this opportunity to rest up a little bit, because that transit into Hungary, that trek they're going to have to make is very difficult. They're going to try to be moving through the forested area along the SerbianHungarian border, and now, of course, the Hungarians have made it more difficult, because they have started building a wall along some parts of the border. All of the border, now, they have shut off with razor wire to try to funnel the refugees through certain particular entry points to make the situation for them a bit more manageable, but a lot of the refugees here want to also avoid being fingerprinted in Hungary, because they are worried that when they do reach their final destination further deeper into western Europe if they're applications for asylum aren't accepted there, they'll be returned back to Hungary and that is not necessarily where they want to stay. We also earlier met a Syrian family, the father there was strumming an old Kurdish song he used to play for weddings. His song, Becky was about feeling a foreigner in a land. Many of the people here are struggling with that and beginning to cope with the realization that they are going to have to be starting completely from scratch once they do receive asylum Becky. [Anderson:] Arwa Damon there in a park in Belgrade, tracking the route, it has to be said, of so many thousands, thousands of refugees trying to make their way into a [inaudible] country in Europe and then on to where they hope they'll find a better life. Well, Serbia is promising to take care of the migrants. It also says it's expecting concrete financial support from the European Union. Let's bring in Serbia's labor minister now, Aleksandar Vulin. He is live in Belgrade. Before we talk about what you are expecting to get from Europe, is it clear yet just how many refugees have been processed and how many more you expect? [Aleksandar Vulin, Serbian Labor Minister:] Since January 1 this year, we processing over 100,000 of migrants. And no one knows how many people we can expect more. Since Friday, we have only in one night, between the Friday and Saturday, more than 7,000 migrants. [Anderson:] How is Serbia coping, sir? [Vulin:] I think very well. We showed that we are compassionate. We show that we are good people, that we understand suffering of other people and more than that, we assure ourselves as organized state. We are most organized and most humane state on their journey. [Anderson:] As I understand it, once these refugees, as migrant people let's call them people have been processed, they have three days to reach northern Serbia on trains and buses. Is that correct? [Vulin:] Not the reach, not Serbia. Everyone who said that he's asylum seeker have three days to reach any of our centers for asylum seekers. So, that mean that in period of three days they can [inaudible] completely free all of our country, most of them choose that they go out and they try to find a life in Northern Europe and Western Europe. [Anderson:] It's clear that many of these refugees, and let's say some 80 percent of those that certainly had reached Macedonia until today are Syrians. We know hat they are trying to transit as quickly as they can through your country. And it seems clear that you are certainly helping that process. How concerned are you about a bottleneck in the north of the country as these people try to cross over the border into Hungary? [Vulin:] Yes. First of all, we absolutely have no legal means that we stop anyone who came out of our country or came in in our country if they if he's asylum seeker. Serbia will not be any ever concentrate camp for these people. These people have the rights and one of their rights is to travel freely. They are human beings who are just trying to find their part of something. So, yes, we have problem with the Hungarian friends, because our northern neighbors consider that that's the way that they protect themselves of migrants. But we consider migrants as a threat, as someone that we should fight for or the defense for. So, they came to a place called Karnija. And after that, they try to find the illegal way, unfortunately. We if we able that we stop them. We stop them. We will not allow anyone to cross out in front of our border illegally. But, you know, there's so many thousands of them and only thing that we can say in our defense is that we that we document any, any person, any migrant that came in Serbia and we have highest record in Europe. [Anderson:] You, I know, as a country have appealed to Europe for financial help. How much do you need and how quickly do you need it? [Vulin:] Right now. We need it right now. We need help for food. We need help in water, in supplies, in medicine. We need help in lot of money, because we need manpower. We need people who are on the street with the food, who will protect these people. We need to try to find a way how to protect and how to serve for these people. They write in they in Serbia for quite short period, but in that period they must be protected, they must be well fed, they must be [inaudible]. [Anderson:] Sir, we're going to leave it there. We thank you very much indeed for joining us. Aleksandar Vulin is the Serbian labor minister. You are looking at can only be described as quite distressing pictures of thousands of people trying to make their way over the MacedonianSerbian border, through Serbia and on to Hungary where they believe they will find a better life. This is Connect the World with me Becky Anderson. Coming up, hundreds of billions, hundreds of billions lost in global markets on Monday. What's the reaction today? Well, we've got a live update for you on that after this. [Lemon:] A wild, wild night in Cleveland because Senator Ted Cruz got booed for withholding his endorsement of Donald Trump in his big convention speech. The only person I can think to talk to is Billy Baldwin. He's an activist and a Ted Cruz expert and my political dream team is back with me, as well. Welcome, sir. [Billy Baldwin, Actor, Activist:] Thank you for having me. [Lemon:] Are you the second Baldwin? You're brother Steven was here the other night. [Baldwin:] I'm the anti-Steven. [Lemon:] We could I know. You guys are on opposite sides, polar opposites. [Baldwin:] My entire family is on one side and he is... [Lemon:] And then there's Steven. [Baldwin:] Yeah. And then there's Steven. [Lemon:] Is he the black sheep of the family? [Baldwin:] Actually, they call me the white sheep. My entire family is strewn with black sheep. But a couple of my friends refer to me as the white sheep. [Lemon:] So, what are you making? You said, you know, I saw you here last night. You've been here the entire time, right? [Baldwin:] I've been coming to the DNC since 1988 and the RNC since 1992. I've been to a lot of conventions. And I've never, ever, ever seen a spectacle like I've seen this evening and quite frankly all week. There's been yesterday in prime-time a lot of the seats in the upper bowl were empty. We had technical glitches that I've never ever seen before where the screens were going out. What I saw tonight with actually the assistant to the Trump family, that woman, that African- American woman, I've heard her referencing things that I've never heard uttered before the Republican Convention before. [Lemon:] Like? [Baldwin:] The LGBT community, black lives matters, there's a lot of cool stuff that she was discussing. And then of course Ted Cruz shoots his career in the foot and is booed off the stage. I have never seen. And he was actually doing quite well, I thought, up until then. And then he committed, I think you know, political suicide. [Lemon:] Do you think at that's my question at hand. Everyone says [Baldwin:] No, no, no, they don't think so because that's kind of his thing. [Lemon:] But let's create a scenario where there is a political future for him. Go ahead. [Dean:] I can do it. I think he could lead the country one day and that's the country of his birth place, Canada. I think there is [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] Donald Trump birthers, once again. [Dean:] We're not birthers [Carpenter:] Donald Trump's got in the political scene trusting Obama's Birth. [Dean:] Well, Obama is born in Hawaii in the United States. [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Contributor:] But you didn't live with that. [Dean:] I did. [Sellers:] Can we give a cry out? [Dean:] In Hawaii. But like Ted like Ted was born in Alberta, Canada which is a lovely place but it ain't United States. [Baldwin:] I will say a lot of people on the floor, whether they were Trump or Cruz or not are the delegates that run the Republican Party on the county level. And I just can't if this guy was opting for 2020, and punting as they say, for 2020 in hopes to take down Hillary for a second term, I don't think it is, but if that was the strategy, it's a failed strategy. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] You know one thing we know about Trump, supporters are there intensely loyal. This is the entire establishment crowd. Donald Trump won in even [inaudible] in almost every state. These are the people Ted Cruz hopes to support and hopes to have. And I don't see a scenario where they forgive him for this. [Baldwin:] And precisely. [Mcenany:] And then, then that, that Hillary Clinton. [Lemon:] Yeah, but interesting Let me know in this scenario again where about the political correctness. Donald Trump says, you know, in one of his saying, that I like being politically correct. Well you know, we got to stop doing it. Ted Cruz was politically incorrect tonight. Why wouldn't Donald Trump embrace that? [Baldwin:] I just think, you know, Jeb Bush had the decency to stay away from the convention. He didn't ask to speak at the convention in prime time. Ted Cruz wasn't going to endorse it. I think there's a lot of egg on Ted Cruz's, more than an egg on Ted Cruz's face. [Sellers:] Makes them look small. [Baldwin:] I there's a lot of egg on the Trump Campaign's face and on the RNC. How did they even get this in a way that guaranteed that this wouldn't happen to that look, the first night was Melania and now all we're going to talk about for the next two or three cycles is Ted Cruz and that's not what they wanted coming out of this. This I've never seen in a this is a debacle. If I were Hillary Clinton, I would not announce my running mate on Friday. I would let them screw this up day three and day four. And let it bake throughout weekend. [Sellers:] I can I knew you would worry about it. [Baldwin:] Oh you did? I'm sorry. [Sellers:] No, no, no. I was just saying that the best thing that happened to the Democratic Party for next week is that we got this exhibition this week. But I do have to caution Democrats around the country. I mean, what we saw from the first three days of this campaign outside of the distraction from Melania and Ted Cruz is this theme that somehow America sucks. You know, I mean that was the pervasive theme throughout the entire convention. [Lemon:] Yeah. [Sellers:] America sucks. [Lemon:] America is terrible. [Sellers:] So, next week I mean I caution my Democrats not to spend too much time talking about Donald Trump. We know enough about Donald Trump after this convention, not to talk about Chris Christie really [inaudible]. But talk about not what this country was or what it is, but what it can be. [Lemon:] Hold on. Hold on. I have to say. But right now, we're discussing this earlier and I used to be at least I'm not a political person. And I'd sit back and watch people wonder, are your liberal or conservative? Me, I'm neither. I was so depressed by watching the first night's speakers, the second night's speakers, the country is awful. We're not safe. We don't have any money. We don't listen, I am a gay black man on Television. That's the That doesn't happen in other countries. This country is not that terrible. I don't care which side of the political [Mcenany:] It's called reality. When you wake up [Lemon:] The reality is not that awful. [Mcenany:] When you wake up everyday and you see five cops dead here, three dead there, 83 dead overseas in Nice, and you see 143 dead this Paris. Things are not good. [Baldwin:] Where we were seven years ago compared to where we are today, we're in a much, much better place. There's a lot of problems. There's room for a lot of improvement. But we're lot [Mcenamy:] Thirty thousand dying at the hands of terrorism since of January 2015 and we're in a better place? False reality. [Sellers:] No, Kayleigh, Kayleigh, Kayleigh maybe you're very young, but some of us remember the 60's and the 70's. Some of us remember Vietnam, people coming home in body bags, our relatives coming home and not being the same. There's always been a strife, war, political strife. [Mcenany:] Some of us remember the days when you could go to work out in San Bernardino and come home alive. And you could go out through the night [Baldwin:] That's you're mongering. [Mcenany:] You could go to a night club. [Baldwin:] That's one isolated incident. [Mcenany:] One, no, no. [Baldwin:] How many of those were supported? [Mcenany:] In the last two weeks, we've had six incidences. There used to be a day when you could go out to a nightclub in Orlando and celebrate your lifestyle and you wouldn't end up dead. [Baldwin:] Let me ask you something. [Mcenany:] This is the world. [Baldwin:] This the kind of thing that goes on between the Palestinians and the Israelis that had gone on for decades. And the Palestinians [Mcenany:] And now it's happening here. [Baldwin:] And the Israelis have the best military and the best intelligence in the world right there with the United States. And it happens all the time there and it's been happening for decades. I've been wondering since 911, why that doesn't happen here more frequently. But clearly, that's not something that we want. But I'm wondering why that hasn't happened more frequently in the last ten years. I'm sorry, yeah. [Sellers:] I mean, no, no, no I just and I have to point this out. Because in Kayleigh's are very articulate sentiments that she just stated. She forgot to mention Alton Sterling of Orlando's. We're in the middle of the show, sir, hold on. [Mcenany:] Who were mentioned tonight. [Sellers:] And no but no, no, no, which you forgot to mention them in everything that's going on [Mcenany:] I have mentioned them publicly several times. [Sellers:] But my only point is that yes, and they were mentioned tonight. And the most amazing part about when Ted Cruz actually mentioned out Sterling. Do you know the crowd did tonight? They sat on their hands. You know what happened when he mentioned the men who were nine in Charleston? They sat on their hands. So yes, we had a problem in this country but we are a lot better off than we were seven years ago. [Baldwin:] Let me just say one thing. Watch the contrast between what happens at the Republican convention and what happens with the more policy, more specifics, more solutions, more hope. It's going to be a totally different [Mcenany:] You obviously slept during my [inaudible] of speech. [Lemon:] Even like this. [Baldwin:] Let me just finish. I am not hearing a Republican's say at this convention how awful this place is as much as they're attacking Hillary. It's a one-note attack. It's a recipe for disaster. When this convention is over I mean Hil1ary is sitting down with her campaign strategies right, and they were popping champagnes corks. Now listen, I expect that [Dean:] Guaranteed. I know it will be. Tomorrow will be optimistic. [Baldwin:] And that's what their job is. [Lemon:] Now I didn't expect this committee is going to be so negative about it. [Dean:] But it's not America's [inaudible], Barrack Obama's America. [Baldwin:] Well, that sort of thing. [Carpenter:] And that's part of the problem, there's not unity in the party. Everything is this, you know, Paul Ryan, another face, they're buying a new toy. You can choose Hillary or Trump and that's not [Lemon:] I think we've got a statement from Ted Cruz and we're going to do it after the break. [Mcenany:] Oh, no. [Lemon:] No one's going to stay with us. [Berman:] This morning, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is putting the world on notice. He claims Pyongyang is close to testing an intercontinental ballistic missile. CNN's Saima Mohsin live in Seoul with the very latest. First of all, you know, he's made these claims before, Saima. Do we believe this one to be true? And if so, what are the implications? [Saima Mohsin, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, a huge concern, of course, John. And we really need to separate the rhetoric from reality to know where we are heading with this claim. Very hard of course to independently confirm it. We have to rely on North Korea watchers and defectors who can give us some insight into their nuclear capabilities. What we do know, of course, is that North Korea does have nuclear weapons. Two nuclear tests conducted in 2016. A lot of them, the fifth and largest, as you know, in September which led yet to sanctions. But that doesn't seem to be stopping Kim Jong-un, as he mentioned in his New Year's Day address. Now the fear of whether he really does have an intercontinental ballistic missile and is progressing towards testing that is the fact that back in February 2016, they launched a satellite in North Korea. Now a lot of experts are telling us that that means that that could be a template to having a long-range missile. The next steps of course is having a miniaturize nuclear warhead to attach to that. But Kim Jong-un is saying that he's pushing forward. Now just a few days ago, John, a high-level diplomatic defector, the former deputy ambassador to North Korea's embassy in London said here in Seoul where he escaped to in the summer that Kim Jong-un is progressing with his nuclear ambitions. He wants to progress by the end of 2017 and he wants to time that, John, when President-elect Donald Trump will be in the White House, in Washington, D.C. There will after an election here in South Korea a new president in Seoul. And now he believes that Kim Jong-un, that is, believes that those two new administrations' hands will be tied and they won't be able to take action against North Korea John. [Berman:] And we have heard that President Obama has spoken to President-elect Trump about concerns over North Korea. This is something the two men have discussed. All right. Saima Mohsin, thanks so much. [Romans:] All right. Two Dakota Pipeline protesters making their voices heard at the Minnesota Vikings game. You can see they hang up a banner with #noDAPL. It also hung from what appeared to be a repelling gear alongside their banner. The protesters were eventually arrested after officers got them to the ground. The Vikings home stadium is named U.S. Bank Stadium. Protesters claim the financial institution has financial links to the controversial project. U.S. Bank declined to comment. [Berman:] The new year begins with a severe storm threat along the Gulf Coast with heavy rain expected. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us with the latest Pedram. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] John and Christine, good Monday morning to you both. [Javaheri:] Guys. [Romans:] All right. Pedram, thank you so much for that. All right. With his inauguration only 18 short days away, Donald Trump focused on repealing some of President Obama's key policies and questioning the Russian government's involvement in hacking Democrats during the election. We got more on that next. [Sciutto:] "BREAKING NEWS" now here on THE LEAD. After a two-week manhunt, police in Istanbul have arrested the suspected terrorist who killed dozens of people at a packed nightclub on New Year's Eve that, according to Turkish media. ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack that killed 39 people, injured some 70 more, including an American who was rushed out on a stretcher into an ambulance. You're seeing him there. He said that he was shot in the hip and played dead, fearing that the gunman might finish the job. And now, back here in the U.S. today, we are learning how a young woman started to figure out that she was kidnapped at birth, some 18 years ago. This as the woman she always thought was her mother, sits in a South Carolina jail, waiting to be taken back to where it all started in Jacksonville, Florida. The Sheriff there tells CNN the big break came when Kamiyah Mobley started applying for jobs. CNN'S Polo Sandoval joins me now. So Polo, this young woman finding herself torn between her newly discovered biological parents, but also the only family she's ever known. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, absolutely Jim. This has been an emotional weekend for this young woman. She faces a slew of very difficult questions, some of which include exactly how will she get to know this new family and where will she live, and then well, what actual name will she use next? [Craig Aiken, Kamiyah Mobley's Biological Father:] First meeting was beautiful. It was wonderful. It couldn't went no better. [Sandoval:] 18-year-old Kamiyah Mobley finally reunited with the birth parents. Investigators say she was stolen from in 1998. [Aiken:] We were trying to process it, man. 18 years. You know, it's going to be hard to make that up, know what I'm saying? I can't I can't like I said, I just can't describe it. [Sandoval:] Overjoyed that their child is alive and well after years of uncertainty. But 18 years after Mobley's alleged kidnapping from one mother [Shanara Mobley, Kamiyah Mobley's Biological Mother:] That would be that would be the happiest thing in the world to me right now is to hold my baby. [Sandoval:] The teen could now be separated from the only mother she's ever known, her alleged abductor. [Melissa Nelson, Florida State Attorney:] Kidnapping is a first-degree felony punishable by up to life. Interference with custody is a third degree felony with a maximum of five years. [Sandoval:] Investigator say Gloria Williams posed as a nurse and stole the hours-old infant from this Florida hospital before raising her as her own in South Carolina. [Unidentified Male:] She took the baby out of the room and disappeared. [Melissa Hiers, Friend Of Gloria Williams:] They were always happy, always together. Never anything I mean, negative, at all from either one of them. [Sandoval:] According to the Sheriff, Mobley only just began to discover her complicated past as she recently started applying for jobs. [Mike Williams, Jacksonville Sheriff:] She had fraudulent identification. So her Social Security card and her Birth Certificate were both, you know, fraudulent. And that began to raise questions. [Sandoval:] Now, apart from the daughter she raised into adulthood, Williams is awaiting extradition to Florida on kidnapping charges. [Williams:] As far as motive, I mean, that's something that we're still going to have to get into. This is still really in the early stages of this investigation. We have lots of questions left to be answered. [Sandoval:] Well, the Jacksonville Sheriff expects that that extradition will likely happen sometime this week. She faces life in prison if convicted. Legal experts are going to be very closely watching the prosecution of Williams. As the Criminal Defense Attorney that I spoke to tells me that this could be a textbook case of jury nullification, which would allow a jury to acquit even if the evidence clearly shows guilt. Defense attorneys could argue that Williams gave this young woman a normal childhood after the alleged kidnapping, Jim. So this will be obviously an interesting to watch an interesting case to watch if it makes its way to trial. [Sciutto:] No question. Remarkable argument there. Polo Sandoval, thanks very much. More than 30 days on the run. The suspected cop killer, Markeith Loyd, is still at large after allegedly murdering his pregnant ex- girlfriend as well as an Orlando Police officer. Investigators say that 17-year-old Orlando Police veteran, Debra Clayton, was killed as she tried to apprehend Loyd. Over the weekend, Clayton was laid to rest in an emotional funeral service where she received the final honor from the Orlando Police Department, a promotion to Lieutenant. Another funeral service was held yesterday for fallen Orange County Deputy First Class Norman Lewis, he was killed in a traffic accident while helping search for Clayton's killer as well. $100,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to Loyd's arrest. Just four days left until the inauguration, and there's still a lot of work to do. We'll talk to a member of the Trump transition team, that's right after this. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, live from Hofstra University where the first presidential debate of the general election gets underway in just over ten hours. You can watch it live, of course, right here on CNN. Thanks for joining on this beautiful morning. We're going to get back to our debate coverage in just a minute, but first, the 20-year-old Washington shooting suspect will be in court today. He is expected to enter a plea at his arraignment. Police say he shot five people on Friday. He was captured after a nearly 24-hour manhunt, and now investigators are working to find out why he opened fire. Stephanie Elam live in Burlington, Washington, good morning. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. The man that is suspected of killing five people is facing five counts of first- degree murder. His name is Arcan Cetin, and what we understand is that he was apprehended in Island County, which is about 20 miles from here, in the town where he lives, Oak Harbor. That happened on Saturday evening, a whole 24 hours after everything happened here at this mall. Just to give you an idea of what that was, we understand that he entered the mall and on surveillance video you can see that he enters without a weapon. About ten minutes later, he appears on camera again with a rifle. He then entered the Macy's makeup department, and that's where he shot and killed four women and then shot a fifth person, a man, who later died from his injuries. After that, police said he fled right across this parking lot and out to the Interstate 5 freeway which is right here. At that point, he disappeared, but by looking through surveillance videos in the area and through tips, they were able to track him down in Oak Harbor and get this, there was a police officer who had just seen the bulletin on his computer. He looked down, saw the image, and then was driving along and say Cetin walking on the street, did a quick u-turn, and apprehended him. He said he was almost "zombie-like" and they brought him in without any incident. What we know about this man is that he is a legal resident here. He immigrated from Turkey. We don't know how recently that was. We also know that he has an ex-girlfriend that used to work for Macy's, but it has now been confirmed that it was not this Macy's. We did go to the street where his parents live. We talked to a neighbor who told us that she was shocked and saddened by this, that when her kids were younger they used to play with Cetin, but she said nothing ever indicated that this could happen. She said they all seemed like good people, normal people. Carol. [Costello:] All right, Stephanie Elam reporting live from Burlington, Washington this morning. Houston police say the suspect who opened fire in a shopping center parking lot this morning has died. He was shot and killed by police after they say he shot several people. Police say he was a lawyer who lived nearby. At least six people are now being treated at local hospital at local hospitals, rather. The police department's bomb squad is now searching the suspect's vehicle. Still to come in the [Newsroom:] Hofstra, the epicenter of the political universe tonight, and imagine being inside that room. Two students and the school's president will be inside, watching the debate live as it happens. We'll talk to them next. [Kinkade:] Well, Australia is bracing for Tropical Cyclone Debbie. It is expected to be the worst cyclone to hit the country's northeastern region in years. Some low lying areas have been advantage evacuated and people are stocking up on water and other essentials. Well, meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm. And until now it had been a rather quiet cyclone season. [Allison Chinchar, Cnn Meteorologist:] And that's just it. And it is kind of ironic that it is happening outside of the peak of the season, too. This isn't usually it is still within the season, but usually our peak is January into February. We are nearing the end of March. So, again, not necessarily the peak time in which you would expect to see this. So, here is a look, this is from NASA, kind of showing the downward look onto this, a very impressive storm. The one ironic thing is even though it is rather large inside, it is incredibly slow moving. And that's going to cause some long- term problems with this particular storm. So, we take a look at what we have right now, winds right now about 110 kilometer per hour. They're gusting up to around 160 at the moment. Movement south by southwest again 7 kilometers per hour, not a fast mover by any means. Now, your short-term threats from this particular storm are going to be the very strong damaging winds and also your storm surge. But the longer term effects are actually going to be the flooding, because when the storms tend to move incredibly slow like this one is, it allows days upon days of very heavy rain. So, here's a look at the track. We do expect it to strengthen a little bit more, likely making it up to about category four by the time it makes landfall early Tuesday morning local time in Australia. And continues to weaken as it furthers itself in inland. Here is a look at the forecast radar. Again, as we got to see we really start to pick up a lot of those heavier bands of rain really within the next 24 hours as it gets a little bit closer to shore. Here's a look at forecast accumulations. Obviously the closer to that center of the storm the higher your amounts are going to be. But, Lynda, one of the things that is going be a concern as we talked about, it's a slow moving storm. That's going to allow this storm to drop in excess of 400 millimeters of rain or even higher in some of these communities. [Kinkade:] That is a lot of rain, hopefully all those communities are safe people are evacuating. All right, Allison Chinchar, good to have with us. Thank you. Well, a message of the world from a people forgotten. Thousands rallied in Yemen on Sunday in the rebel-held capital of Sanaa. A defiant marking of two years since the start of the Saudi-ld airstrikes against Houthi fighters, protests against the coalition bombings, which have killed thousands of civilians. Yemen is an impoverished neighbor of Saudi Arabia. And as our Nick Paton Walsh reports, the war there has pushed an already fragile country to the brink of disaster. A warning, that you might find some of this footage in the report disturbing. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Lynda, as the war in Yemen enters into its third year, such a lengthy conflict, particularly given the scale of the military firepower the Saudis are using against their adversaries, the Houthis here. As it enters its third year, there are some shocking figures that explain the scale of the humanitarian catastrophic we're seeing unfold. And one of the world's poorest countries. The UN believe 18.8 million people are in need of aid, just over 70,000 died in this war, 4,500 of them civilians, and 2 million people have been displaced. This is a desperately poor and troubled country where things, frankly, are just slipping from awful to worse. These are the drawn, deathly faces of a war the world forgot now in its third year that has fostered famine, geopolitical hatred and al Qaeda. You've probably heard little of Yemen's horrific conflict, but as with most problems ignored, it is not going away. Back in 2015, a rebel group called the Houthis seized the capital, causing the western-backed President Hadi to flee. We saw them swiftly kick out his forces from Sanaa's ancient streets, but Hadi came back with heavy firepower. Neighboring Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states saw the Houthis as too close to their foe Iran and intervened, pitching their well-funded army and firepower against the Houthis motley street fighters. Slowly, from the country south, the Saudi-backed government returned and pushed north kin bloody battles like this one [inaudible] town for the Hadi forces only recently, but often caught civilians in the crossfire. But, with Houthi territory and the capital Sanaa effectively besieged, a ghastly humanitarian crisis spread, unprecedented fears of famine, appeals for the roads closed by the fighting around the country to be opened so emergency food can flow. [Ertharia Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Program:] We have about three months stored inside the country today, but we don't have enough food to support the scale up that is required to ensure that we can avoid a famine. [Walsh:] These scenes have caused intense criticism of the Saudi- backed campaign and civilian deaths from Saudi aristrikes caused the Obama administration to ban some weapons sales to Riyadh. But the Saudis, determined to reduce Iran's influence, are persisting, saying they want to reduce civilian casualties. And in a vacuum, as before in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, terror is using the chaos to thrive. In the southeast, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, the group thought most advanced in plots to attack the homeland, is growing in the chaos. In this interconnected world, suffering and horrors continents away can still hit home. Now, Lynda, it is that point there, really, the instability is enabling al- Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula to have much more of a foothold there, too. That's passably behind the increase in intensity of U.S. operations against them in that country, too. But it also sits at the heart of the broader power struggle between Iranian influence and those of Gulf states in the broader region. It hasn't stopped. It shows no signs of doing so. It is for both all sides involved an absolutely vital that they achieve victory. And caught in the middle of that are millions of civilians, Lynda. [Kinkade:] Very tough situation there. And Nick Paton Walsh with that report. Well, now to Hong Kong where the incoming chief executive is promising to bring unity after a controversial election. Pro-democracy protesters have been calling for more of a say in the process. Our Kristie Lu Stout explains the new leader has her work cut out. [Kristie Lu Stout, Cnn International Correspondent:] Hong Kong has a new leader. [Unidentified Female:] Congratulations Mrs. Lam. [Lu Stout:] As expected, it's Carrie Lam, the first female chief executive in the history of the territory. Mayor cheers here in the public gallery, but according to the polls she was not the people's choice. Lam was selected by a near 1,200 member election committee, a committee that is said to be broadly representative of Hong Kong, but is dominated by pro-Beijing interests. Her appointment as chief executive will also be approved by Beijing. [Eric Cheung, Law Professor, Hong Kong University:] [inaudible] today tells the world that the election is not a genuine one at all, it is really an appointment in effect by Beijing. [Lu Stout:] Fighting for universal suffrage, that was also a key demand in the 2014 pro-democracy Umbrella Movement protest. Hundred of protesters out here today, because they are still frustrated at the stalled pace of democratic reform. Earlier today, we saw some key pro-democracy leaders in Hong Kong come out, including Joshua Wong, about one point was involved in scuffles with police. Managing a deeply divided society and anger over China increasing influenced in Hong Kong will be key challenges for Hong Kong's new leader, a challenge Lam was quick to acknowledge moments election victory was announced and yellow banners for democracy was unfurled. [Carrie Lam, Hong Kong Executive-elct:] Hong Kong, our home, is suffering from quite a serious decisiveness and has accumulated a lot of frustrations. My priority will be to heal the divide and to ease the frustrations and to unite our society to move forward. [Lu Stout:] Carrie Lam will take office on July 1 and serve five years as the leader of this global financial hub and home to 7 million people who had no say in electing her. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN, Hong Kong. [Kinkade:] Well, in your Parting Shots this hour, a pithy line from the American president is generating a lot of reaction. No one could argue with Donald Trump when he told Time magazine "I am president and you are not." But to some that comment sounds familiar. Jeanne Moos reports. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn Special Correspondent:] "TIME'" cover, "Is Truth Dead" pays homage to a 1966 big question cover, "Is God Dead?" But do you know what isn't dead? Donald Trump's ego. As we saw when he met with trucking CEOs, the president isn't shy about blowing his own or anybody else's horn. Consider how he ended the "TIME" magazine interview on the question of his credibility. "I can't be doing so badly." [Unidentified Male:] Because I'm president and you're not. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] I'm president, you're not. [Unidentified Female:] I'm president... [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] And you are not. [Moos:] The quote ignited Internet mockery. "I'm a narcissist and you're not. I'm rubber and you're glue." Some thought President Trump sounded Peewee Hermanesque. [Unidentified Male:] You're an idiot. [Peewee Herman, Comedian:] I know you are but what I am? [Unidentified Male:] I know you are but what am I? [Herman:] I know you are but what am I? [Moos:] But the president's supporters like a man who knows what he is. Alpha male president commented one. "Oh, Trump, this is why we love you." [On Camera] I'm president and you're not. Does that remind you of anyone? [Chevy Chase, Actor:] Good evening. I'm Chevy Chase, and you're not. Good evening. I'm Chevy Chase. [Crowd:] And you're not. [Moos:] One critic reacted to the "TIME" interview by tweeting, "Days without embarrassing the U.S.? Zero." But others brought up Barack Obama's presidential pronouncement on a Jimmy Kimmel "Mean Tweets" segment back when it looked like Trump would lose the then candidate tweeted, "President Obama will go down as perhaps the worst president in the history of the United States." [Barack Obama, Former United States President:] Well, @realDonaldTrump, at least I will go down as a president. [Moos:] Well, we all know who got the last laugh. Actress Sally Field captioned this photo "Eastbound and demented." But he's the trucker- in- chief and we're not. Jeanne Moos, [Cnn. Trump:] If I ever fell, would they be happy? [Moos:] New York. [Kinkade:] Well, that does it for this edition of Connect the World. I am Lynda Kinkade. Thanks so much for watching. See you next time. END [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. I'm Suzanne Malveaux in for Carol Costello. Thanks for joining me, Happy Holidays. We begin with sad news, however, the sudden death of pop singer George Michael, shocking fans and entertainers around the world. The wham singer shot to fame in the 1980s with this cult classic. Later in his solo career he went on to sell more than 100 million albums. Tributes now pouring in as fans learn the news. Our CNN's Ian Lee is live outside his London home with more. And Ian, I understand that there are people outside the home who really want to express their condolences today. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Suzanne. And you can actually see right here all these tributes that are coming, a lot of personal messages like one saying last Christmas, you gave us your heart, we give you ours this Christmas, a lot of people just devastated by this news. We are also hearing on Twitter from Ellen DeGeneres saying, "I just heard about my friend's @GeorgeMichael's death. He was such a brilliant talent. I'm so sad." And then, George Takei said, "Rest with the glittering stars, George Michael. You've found your freedom, your faith. It was your last Christmas, and we shall miss you." A lot of people in shock because he was so young, 53 years old, and it is being reported that it was heart failure was the cause of death. There are people here, you know, sharing personal memories and just sharing their thoughts about him as an artist. I have one here with me, Tonia. Just tell me what was George Michael, what did he mean to you? [Tonia Katsantonis, George Michael Fan:] George is everything to me. I loved George from when I was 7 years old, followed him for over 30 years of his career, went to countless tours, everything was George. My son was born on George's birthday. My second child was born on George's day. My connection to George and his music will go forever. [Lee:] This news, how shocking was it? [Tonia:] I thought it was a hoax. My phone was there was messages coming out of my phone every second. I genuinely believed it was a hoax. And then I got home and I just crumbled into a million pieces. I can't even tell you what I'm feeling. I have no feeling. [Lee:] You know, this is someone who also had an impact on people, not just through his music but he was a strong advocate for the LGBT community, as well as a strong advocate for AIDS awareness. Suzanne? [Malveaux:] Yes, Ian, I loved George Michael, grew up on him. And he certainly was courageous and soulful and just a wonderful talent. Thank you so much, Ian. Appreciate that. A blistering rebuke from Benjamin Netanyahu, threats by Republican lawmakers now to withhold U.N. funding and the U.S. ambassador summoned by Israel. This is just some of the fallout after the U.N. Security Council voted 14-0 to condemn Israel's settlements in the West Bank. Netanyahu, now, is accusing the Obama administration of coordinating that vote while the U.S. says it had no role in proposing or drafting the resolution. I want to bring in CNN's Oren Liebermann. He's joining us now from Jerusalem. And Oren, Israel is now voicing new concerns this morning. Why don't you lay out that for us and tell us where we are going with this, this morning? [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the new concern is that there could be another U.N. Security Council resolution, one that would try to lay out parameters or conditions for negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians. It would try to move forward the process on discussion of some of the most sensitive complex issues, borders, how to look at Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees. Israel is absolutely against this but fears it may happen either in the next week before the end of the year or sometime in the first two weeks of 2017 when there is supposed to be an International Peace Conference in Paris but Israel has said it will not attend. That resolution is Israel's greatest concern right now and yet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu very much not afraid to lash out at President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry. As you pointed out, he blames them pretty much directly for this resolution saying, he colluded on drafting it and getting it through. Those are accusations that Israel that the U.S. and even the Palestinians deny. Netanyahu summoned not only the U.S. ambassador but ten other ambassadors from countries that voted for this resolution. But those other countries, they met with the Foreign Ministry. It was specifically the U.S. ambassador to Israel, President Obama appointee, who met privately with Netanyahu. Netanyahu is expressing his anger not only in that meeting but as he has in so many other times over the course of the last couple of days. Netanyahu has left no doubt here. He's done working with President Obama and he's very much looking forward to working with President-elect Trump. Suzanne, as you pointed out, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham has said that the U.S. would consider cutting funding to the U.N., U.S. portion of the U.N. budget is quite high. Israel has already taken its own steps diplomatically against the [U.n. Malveaux:] Oren, thank you so much. This is a It's a lot to digest and of course, it's going to be a lot for Donald Trump to handle in the next administration. Well, Donald Trump also says that he is now closing down his foundation. This was a Christmas Eve announcement. The president-elect released a statement reading in part, "to avoid even the appearance of any conflict with my role as president, I have decided to continue to pursue my strong interest in philanthropy in other ways." But the New York attorney general's office is putting the brakes on Trump's plans. A spokesman says the foundation cannot legally close until an investigation into the foundation's charitable practices has been completed. Ryan Nobles is following the story from Washington. So, tell us where it stands from here. We know that there was a shakeup in the Trump communications team over the weekend. Tell us about that as well as what can be done with the foundation. [Ryan Nobles, Cnn National Correspondent:] Yes, well Suzanne, let's talk about the foundation first. And you know, logistically, it shouldn't really take too much to shut the foundation down. It currently has no paid employees and Trump himself hasn't raised any money for the foundation in some time. He hasn't even donated to the foundation since 2008. But legally, it's a bit of a different story. A spokesperson for New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman, he was a Hillary Clinton supporter during the campaign. He launched an investigation into the charity in the fall, and he said the foundation cannot dissolve until his investigation is complete. And Schneiderman has been investigating how Trump used the foundation to settle his personal business dealings. Democrats aren't very impressed with Trump's move. The Democratic National Committee releasing a statement that reads in part, "Trump's announcement is a wilted fig leaf to cover up his remaining conflicts of interest and his pitiful record of charitable giving." Of course, the much bigger chore for Trump is figuring out how to isolate himself from his vast business interests around the world in a way that avoids potential conflicts of interest. Now, Trump has said that he will outline that process but the details of that plan won't be revealed until after the New Year. And as you mentioned, Suzanne, this all comes at a time where Trump is dealing with a bit of a staff shakeup. He had intended to appoint Jason Miller, who worked for him during the campaign, as the next White House communications director, but Miller on Christmas Eve, putting out a statement saying, that he's decided not to take that powerful job because it would be too demanding for his young family. So, that among the many things that Donald Trump is being forced to deal with here as he prepares to take office in the next few weeks. Suzanne? [Malveaux:] All right, Ryan, absolutely a lot to deal with. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. With me now, to walk through all of this, Timothy Naftali, he CNN presidential historian, Errol Louis, CNN political commentator, Andre Bauer, former South Carolina Lieutenant Governor, he supported Trump in the 2016 campaign. Thank you all for joining us during the holiday. Appreciate that. Errol, I want to start with you here. I want to talk about the Trump Foundation we had just discussed previously. Trump says that he's going to dissolve it but the New York attorney general's office says that the Trump Foundation can't officially shut down until after this investigation is over. So, tell us about this limbo that we're in now. [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator And Political Anchor "spectrum News":] Well, I don't know if I would call it limbo necessarily. I mean, what happened, Suzanne, is if this foundation has collected money from people who then took tax deductions for those contributions, that's got to be looked at. If this foundation used foundation funds to settle business debts, private debts of Trump organization, which might be illegal, that's got to get looked at. There are transactions this foundation might have made that might have to be unwound, that might lead to sanctions, fines, reversing of the transactions or even criminal penalties. So, the attorney general is speaking the law as it stands when it comes to regulating nonprofits. That's what the New York attorney general does. For the Trump organization, I should say, for the foundation, they are trying to solve a political problem and saying that they clearly intend to wind down operations is a good first step toward trying to put this behind them. [Malveaux:] Yes, I know a lot of people think that at least they are going to start to figure out how to deal with the issue of conflict of interest which is something that they did not believe was going to happen previously. I want to switch gears here. Timothy, Netanyahu and other Israeli officials are now saying they have evidence that the U.S. orchestrated the U.N. Security Council vote which was critical of Israel regarding the settlements. And they say they will share this evidence with the incoming Trump administration. We see President Obama, Prime Minister Netanyahu historically have had this tense relationship. So, what do we make of what is happening now? How much of this do we think is personal, is perhaps positioning before President Obama leaves, and how does that impact the next administration? [Timothy Naftali, Cnn Presidential Historian And Former Director Nixon Presidential Library:] Well, the first thing is that the U.N. resolution will have has no practical effect for the next administration. It's just useful for Donald Trump, frankly, as a way of distracting people from his from the problems of his administration's links to Russia. As regards Obama and Netanyahu, that's a really fraught relationship. And the United States sort of quietly threatened to remove its diplomatic cover at the U.N. for Israel in 2014 when Netanyahu came to the United States to campaign against President Obama's approach to Iran. So there's a very personal element. But let's we got to put this in some context. Since 1977, since the government of 1977, there has been tension between the bipartisan tension between Republican and Democratic administrations and the government of Israel on the question of settlements. Some Israeli Prime Ministers, like Ehud Barak and Olmert, have both offered to give away most of the West Bank privately. But publicly, the Israeli government has been very tough on settlements. The U.S. government has tried to keep this dispute private. The difference here is the Obama administration has decided to show the world the frustration that Presidents Reagan, Carter and the first Bush had with Israel. That's what makes this unprecedented. The policy of being against settlements is actually not new for the United States government. It's just now very public and there may be a personal element to it in the fact that President Obama's leaving office and he wants the United States effort to be an honest brokering in Israel and in the Middle East to be one of his legacies. He's tried and he's failed. [Malveaux:] Andre, I doubt that Trump is going to be very private about some of these things in light of the fact that he does like to tweet. And Trump's choice for Israel's ambassador really very much more aligned with Netanyahu's policies and values. So, what does it say about his views on the U.N. where we might have a relationship, significantly different relationship with the United Nations? [Andre Bauer, Cnn Political Commentator And Former Lieutenant Governor South Carolina:] Well, I think you are going to see that. You know, Nikki Haley will go in there. She's a young aggressive person. I think they will have a pro-Israel standpoint like so many in this country have had, but to me this was a parting shot from the Obama administration against the state of Israel. We know we have had a special relationship with Israel for decades and I think you are going to see Donald Trump as a pragmatist take a much different approach in trying to he said, "direct negotiation between the parties." And I think you're going to see a businessman's approach, sit down with parties on both sides and try to come up with some type of an agreement that we can live by and move forward, but you are going to see a friend in Donald Trump to the state of Israel. [Malveaux:] Another question here. President Obama's time obviously up in office, almost over. Now, Trump has said he's going to establish peace but the choice for ambassador, again, is an opponent of Palestinian statehood, a supporter of Israeli settlement. So Errol, tell us, where does it go from here? Are we going to see a significant shift in U.S. policy regarding Israel? [Louis:] It seems hard to imagine that there would be a significant shift but you never know. Donald Trump of course is the exception to many rules. The reality is from 37 percent of Americans who opposed or who favored economic sanctions against Israel because of its settlement policy, that was last November, that's increased to 47 percent over the last year. We are talking about 350,000 settlers in a nation of eight million. The settlers are controversial within Israel. We should never make the mistake of thinking that Netanyahu speaks for some vast majority of Israeli opinion. He doesn't. In fact, two-thirds of Israelis say they would like him to reengage with Mahmoud Abbas and start a peace process again. So, these politics are not something that Trump is going to simply, I think, walk into and say, well, I'm going to stand with Netanyahu and come hell or high water, that's going to be what we do. That is not in keeping with Israeli public opinion, it's not in keeping with U.S. American public opinion and it's not in keeping with what generations of not only American but Israeli administrations have done. I mean, you've got to remember, everybody from Olmert to Sharon, dismantled settlements. You know, this is not something that's really up for a lot of discussion about whether we should have them or we should not have them. The Israeli Supreme Court has ruled that many of them are illegal. So, Trump is going to find a much more nuanced position. I'm pretty sure, the minute after he takes office. [Malveaux:] All right. We will see how nuance fits the next president, Donald Trump. Appreciate that. Timothy Naftali, Errol Louis and Andre Bauer, thank you so much and Happy Holidays. Still to come, the Democrats lost the White House. President Obama is confident his vision is what the American economy needs. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The Democratic agenda is better for all working people. [Malveaux:] So does he have a point? That's up next. [Harlow:] Welcome back. Throughout the day we've been reporting on the Dallas shooter Micah Johnson's path. And in doing so, earlier today, CNN aired a report about internet sites which Johnson the man who killed five Dallas police officers is believed to have visited. In that report we showed sites that are devoted to the experiences of blacks in America. We also reference sites that espouse hate and violence. In doing so, we inadvertently showed the names of some groups such as shifting your paradigm for optimal health and longevity which do not call for hate or violence and are not affiliated with any such groups and we apologize for that error. Let's talk more about this and make this reporting absolutely clear. I want to bring in CNN's Drew Griffin and Ed Lavandera. They're both outside of police headquarters. Also with us, CNN law enforcement analyst Art Roderick. And Drew, what can you tell us about these hate groups that Johnson was following. Now that we've made that correction. You've been doing a lot of reporting on this. What can you tell us about the groups that you discover that he was following online? [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigative Correspondent:] Well, he was following many, many different groups online, many of them innocuous, many of them acrocentric news sites, sites that dealt with black views on what it's like to be black in America. But there are a few sites that are considered hate groups by some which have even pronounced as the African-American defense league calling for attacks on police. This happened on Thursday after the killing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It even prompted the FBI to issue a nationwide alert to law enforcement. We know he visited and liked those Facebook sites. What we don't know, Poppy, is if he had any interactions with those groups or the frequency of which he was on those websites. [Harlow:] And I know, Drew, that you've learned that he had been practicing at some gun ranges. Is that right? [Griffin:] No. We only have assumed that from the law enforcement experts that we talk to about his marksman skills. Obviously had very basic, basic training in the army, nothing like the type of shooting that would have been required for what happened here tragically in Dallas. So the investigation is focusing on, where did he train? Where did he get the bullets? Where did he practice the maneuvers quite frankly that he used in this fatal attack on this fatal attack on the Dallas Police Department. [Harlow:] And Ed, to you, you're learning more details about the demands that he made during those negotiations which we certainly learned a lot more about this morning from Jake Tapper's interview with the Dallas police chief. But what else have you learned about those hours and those really desperate negotiations? [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the interview with CNN that the police chief of Dallas had was wide ranging, covered a lot of different ground. Really shed a lot of new light on the standoff moments leading up to the moment where Micah Johnson was shot and killed. A couple of things that stood out from that interview with the police chief. One of the things he had talked about was that Johnson had written in his own blood, the initials "RB" and perhaps some other wording there on the ground. Investigators are still trying to figure out what those initials might stand for, what the message might have been in all of that. But in those moments, in those moments before Micah Johnson was killed by that robot carrying a bomb, Micah Johnson and apparently as he was firing at officers, was acting very calm, according to the police chief, yet delusional. And the police chief talked about that with us this morning. [Brown:] For a long time during the negotiation, because of the negotiator's expertise, the suspect wouldn't believe he was black until they talked some more and but during that talk, it didn't matter whether he was black because he was shooting at us. So asking for a black negotiator didn't make sense to us. It didn't matter to us. And it shouldn't make sense to anyone because that didn't lead to any type of peaceful resolution. [Griffin:] And that's what the Chief is referring to there is that in the midst of all of that negotiation that lasted several hours, Micah Johnson was telling police that he would only speak with a black negotiator. All of this while the police chief says he was continuing to fire at the officers. [Harlow:] And Art Roderick, let me bring you in here because one of the things that we heard in this interview was a vehement defense by the police chief of using this robot bomb, if you will, to ultimately kill the gunman. And he said, I stand behind it. I did it. And I would do it again. From your law enforcement experience, what do you make of that decision? [Art Roderick, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, I think you've got an extraordinary incident here. [Harlow:] Right. [Roderick:] And a lot of times it takes extraordinary means to end this type of incident. The chief came out right away because I think he knew he was going to come under some criticism, the Chief Brown came out right away, right after the incident ended and basically described exactly how they ended the incident knowing that it would probably be some criticism. And I think the chief has handled it as the great leader that he is of a very professional and profound way. And I've got to tell you that these two interviews, both from Chief Brown and Deputy Chief Aziz are show that the extraordinary leadership and the heroism of this Police Department during this incident. But, you know, you can criticize the Chief, but I think he nailed it right there. That the arm chair quarterbacking is not what we need at this particular point in time. [Harlow:] And Art, just your reaction to the fact that we learned from the Police Chief this morning that every single officer reported for duty, reported to work on Friday morning, the day after this heinous attack. Not one person said, I'm going to sit this one out? [Roderick:] Well, that's what law enforcement looks like. I think the Chief reiterated several times that 98, 99 percent of what happens, that law enforcement does around the country is good. So, you're talking about a very small minority of individuals. And I'll tell you, you know, this cut me to my core when I saw this happen to these heroic men and women here at Dallas PD. But I also had to tell you that when I saw the video from Minneapolis and the video from Baton Rouge, that also cut me to my core. And I can tell you to a person that law enforcement around the country watching those videos that occurred in Baton Rouge and St. Paul asked the question of themselves, what would I do in that situation? Would I have reacted like that? And that's what law enforcement does on a daily basis. [Harlow:] Thank you so much, Art Roderick, appreciate it, Ed and Drew, thank you as well. Coming up next. Dallas takes the first small step for its healing after an unspeakable tragedy. [Unidentified Male:] When I look in your eyes and I see suffering, it's not black suffering and white suffering. It's just suffering. [Church:] E.U. leaders will meet with Turkish officials in the coming hours to tackle a migrant crisis at an emergency summit in Brussels. Turkey's prime minister met with the German chancellor and Dutch prime minister, ahead of Monday's meeting, to discuss ways to ease the influx of migrants arriving in Europe. [Barnett:] Now the summit comes after at least 25 more refugees were killed when their boat capsized off the Turkish coast. This was on Sunday. And keep this in mind. It's estimated that more than 134,000 migrants and refugees have crossed the Mediterranean in just the first few months of 2016. But Turkey's prime minister says progress has been made to solve the crisis. Listen. For more on the migrant crisis, we have team coverage for you. Our senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon is near the GreekMacedonian border. [Church:] And chief diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson is following the crisis summit from London. So, let's start with you, Nic. This joint plan appears to rely on Turkey preventing migrants from leaving its shores. Is that the answer, and how is this going to work if that's the case? How might Turkey be compensated, perhaps? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well, if you break it down really, really simply, Europe is looking to protect itself from this wave of migrants. And it's looking along the chain of how they get to Europe, to cut that chain. And they are sort of vocalizing it as a not so much putting the emphasis on the migrants themselves but the smugglers and the networks that get them across the Aegean Sea, from Turkey to Greece. So, they want to cut it there. So, they will have a discussion there and what they want to agree with the Turks is that anyone picked up in Turkish waters goes back to Turkey. And that Turkey does more to stop people trying to cross that short bit of sea, the Aegean Sea to get into Greece. Frontex, the European frontier agency and NATO have got or NATO at least have got warships in that area now to help both the Greek authorities and the Turkish authorities. That's one thing. But the next step in the chain is the so-called Western Balkan route. And this doesn't involve Turkey in so much as this stage in the process since beyond Turkish borders. But they want to close that Western Balkan route. That's all the countries that from Turkey to Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. They want them all to agree to host and take on the migrants that arrive in their countries as per the agreement, rather than waving them through. All of this is done to sort of cut the pressure on Europe. They want to give more aid to Greece, as well. But of course the biggest focus is at the beginning end of the chain, with Turkey. Turkey has received European Union funds. And the European Union wants to see Turkey doing more than it is already. [Church:] Yes. The problem here, it doesn't really get to the cause of it, does it? If the migrants and refugees can't leave Turkey at this point, where do they go? And what happens to them next? Now, on paper, it probably looks fairly simple. But the reality is the numbers that they're dealing with here. [Robertson:] The numbers are staggering. An estimated 1.3 million migrants coming into Europe last year. So far as we just heard there are over 134,000 deaths along the way. The idea here is that, the implication would be, is that Turkey would harden its external borders to take more effort to sort of give migrants refugees, inside Turkey, a better opportunity to stay. But it also says that what the European Union would do, would be to help Greece by returning sort of non-desperate, if you will, migrants that have no reason economic migrants, if you will, that are come trying to come to Europe, return them to their countries very quickly. But if we go back to September of last year, the European Union agreed to quote a system that said, you know, between Italy and Greece, where most of the migrants were arriving, that Europe would divide up and reallocate and allocate quota system. A 160,000 refugees would be sent. And the idea was that 160,000 would take care of the problem, which was 10 times that number almost. A 160,000 refugees would be spread out across Europe on a quota system will so far, less than 1,000 of those have been sent out. So, what Europe has decided among what the European Union nations have decided among themselves, hasn't been working out. The internal borders, the Schengen Borders are under a huge amount of pressure. And this is a struggle to keep Europe as a unified with free travel, for normal Europeans internal inside those borders. [Barnett:] And, Nic, based on what you've said there, we want to cross over to our Arwa Damon who is on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia. There is a growing humanitarian bottleneck there. Arwa, I'm wondering what the people you've talked to think of today's talks, if they they're going to go anywhere. And also psychologically, how do these families manage living in limbo after some of them fled from certain death? [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, there's a couple of things to highlight here, Errol. First and foremost, these brightly-colored tents you see behind us, they extend all of the way, as far as the eye can see. And this is because this was a transit point. And it could hold up to 1,500 people. But now, there are upwards of 10,000 individuals, including a significant number of women and children that are stranded here and talked to most of them. And they will tell you that they are feeling the effect of that crackdown along the Turkish shoreline. Many of them have tried anywhere between three, five, up to seven times to actually make it through Turkish waters to the Greek Island. But despite the crackdown, what we see there is a very evident, is that people will keep trying until they make it. The other issue is that, in Europe's effort to try to, as Nic saying they protect their external border on what they have. And this is the first physical border that people will reach, once they hit this West Balkan route, is effectively almost completely shut it down. Macedonia at this stage is only allowing at best a few hundred people to actually cross through. And that has resulted in this significant bottleneck. And in as many aid organizations have been warning, turning potentially turning Greece into a massive refugee camp. I speak to the people here and they have already been through so much, as we have been reporting for months now. In terms of what they've gone through in their homelands fleeing the wars of Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. But also having come this too far to have to wait to have to live with this uncertainty of not knowing how long they are going to be here, not knowing exactly what is going to happen. And a lot of them, yes, they are very aware that these meetings are going to be taking place today. They are placing hope on the fact that maybe are result of these meetings is going to be the borders opening. But the reality is that that is not going to be the case. Because Europe at this stage is not going to want to continue implementing this policy avoiding people through, rather they are going to be. It really seems continuing to try to shut down, to try to build more barricades to try to allocate blame and responsibility to other nations. Which is almost having the most catastrophic effect on those most in need. Because the measures to try to ease the burden of their journey throughout the various stages of this trip have not yet been put into place. [Barnett:] All right. Arwa Damon, live for us there on the GreekMacedonian border. And Nic Robertson joining us live from London as these talks get underway. Thanks to you both for joining us. [Church:] We'll take a quick break here. But still to come, the democrats came out swinging on Sunday night. The combative tone at the latest U.S. presidential debate. [Barnett:] Plus, nearly two years after the disappearance of MH370 a deadline is looming for families of the missing. [Church:] Plus, we will explain how NASA astronaut Scott Kelly grew taller during his year in space. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] leaders and candidates roundly reject him. Still he's made gains by bucking the norm in the past. Will it happen this time? [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Now, interestingly Trump's comments are drawing scorn from both sides of the political aisle with foes from Clinton to even Dick Cheney banning together to put a dent in Trump. They are following comments that many believe could put a dent in his frontrunner Secret Service, though that remains to be seen. Trump was steadfast in his belief that the ban is needed. Let's listen to what he told Chris. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] I have no doubt that we have no choice but to do exactly what I said until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on, because we have a problem in this country. You look at Paris. You look at the carnage that took place in Paris. But look at Paris beyond that. Paris is no longer the beautiful, gorgeous city. Paris has a tremendous lot of problems. They have areas in Paris that have been radicalized where the police refuse to go in and look at it. [Cuomo:] We are well aware. [Trump:] You look at London. You look at other places. [Cuomo:] We are well aware. But Mr. Trump here is the point. [Trump:] Wait a minute Chris. You're well aware, you say that so routinely, you're well aware. [Cuomo:] Because I've been on the ground. I've been in those communities. I've talked to the French authorities. [Trump:] total out of control, it's so dangerous. [Cuomo:] That's what you say. The police all over that country right now and they're doing a lot of policing. But more importantly to your point, I would say it is the opposite reality. You see the French being more embracing of people around them. You see them living their lives. You see them refusing to accept fear as a basis for behavior. Whereas here what you are doing in a country that is known as a symbol of freedom is saying we are too afraid to be inclusive. We are going to reject the promise of America and ban an entire religion even though we need to do things on a case-by-case basis. And it seems as though you are acting out of fear, not making us look strong, and rejecting what America is all about. [Trump:] I'm talking about a temporary situation until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. [Cuomo:] The timing is irrelevant. [Trump:] Listen, we had the World Trade Center number one. We had World Trade Center number two. We had many other things happen. Then the other day the California attack where these two animals, they're total animals that became radicalized, and they wanted to do far more damage than that. What's even more disturbing in terms of looking into the future is other people knew what they were doing. There were bombs, pipe bombs laying all over the floor. There were other people who knew what was going on, Chris, and nobody reported it. They used the excuse they didn't want to be racial profilers. They wanted to be politically correct. By the way, the people that said that, I think in their own way they're guilty. But the mother knew. The parents knew. Everybody knew. Now even the father is under watch. [Cuomo:] You just used politically correct. This isn't about being politically correct. [Trump:] and we should solve it because you can have many more World Trade Centers if you don't solve it, many, many more, and probably beyond the World Trade Center. [Cuomo:] I don't see the point of scaring people with the possible when the reality is we haven't had another World Trade Center. You and I both lived through it. We both lost people there. We know what the real deal is. We know who celebrated and we didn't. We know what's scaring people and what the reality is. We haven't had those kinds of attacks. The security network has held up. And one of the reasons is our unity as a people. And I don't understand how you can see banning an entire religion as a way of saying anything other than we are what ISIS says we are. We want a war against Islam. That is who America is. And as you know, or you should know, that is not who America is Mr. Trump. [Trump:] Chris, we are at war with radical Islamic terrorism. [Cuomo:] Right, not all Islam. [Trump:] Whether you like it or whether you don't like it. [Cuomo:] No all Islam. [Trump:] We have a president that made a fool out of himself the other night. He doesn't even mention the term. He refuses to use the term. Nobody understands why. Hillary Clinton because she's afraid of the president because of her e-mail scandal, Hillary Clinton refuses to use the term. If you are not going to even use the term you are not going to solve the problem. [Cuomo:] I don't get how you connect these dots [Trump:] Get it through your head, they are looking to do great damage. You look at what's going on in the Middle East. They are chopping off heads. They are looking to come over to other places, too, and they want the jihad. It's very simple. They want the jihad. [Cuomo:] What does that mean, "they want the jihad?" You can't just throw out notions without any kind of checking on them. This is what got you wound up on "The Philadelphia Inquirer" front page like Hitler. They've got you in a personage of Hitler right now, a characterization of that [Trump:] "The Philadelphia Inquirer," another newspaper going out of business. [Cuomo:] I know you're going to disparage them and criticize them. I'm waiting for that as well. But here the point [Trump:] The Center for Security Policy released data showing 25 percent of those polls agree, now, these are Muslims living in the United States, 25 percent of the Muslims living in the United States agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as part of the global jihad. [Cuomo:] Donald, we wouldn't even put that poll on the air. It's a hack organization with a guy who was dismissed from the conservative circles for conspiracy theories. You know that. [Camerota:] And joining us for reaction to that interview, Republican presidential candidate Senator Lindsey Graham. Senator, great to have you're here in studio. [Sen. Lindsey Graham, Presidential Candidate:] Good morning. [Camerota:] I know you're bemused and amused and annoyed, and what is your reaction to what Donald Trump says? [Graham:] Disgusted. I want to talk to the Trump supporters for a minute. I don't know who you are, and I don't know what you like about this. I think what you like about him is he appears to be strong when the rest of us weak. He's a very successful businessman and he is going to make everything great. He's going to take all the problems of the world and put them in a box and make them better. That's what he's selling. Here is what you are buying. He's a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot. He doesn't represent my party. He doesn't represent the values that the men and women who wear the uniform are fighting for. I've been in the Air Force for 33 years. I retired this June. He's the ISIL man of the year by the way. I just got back from Iraq a week ago this Monday. [Camerota:] I know. We interviewed you live from this there. You were with Senator John McCain and you were going into Iraq to get a status report. What were they saying there about all of this? [Graham:] The military leadership and the diplomatic corps. We have young men and women in harm's way all over the world, particularly in the Mideast. They were concerned about this rhetoric because the enemy will use it against us. So what was a concern last week has to be DEFCON four this week, because what Mr. Trump is doing, and I don't think he has a clue about anything. He's just trying to get his numbers up and get the biggest reaction he can, he's putting our soldiers and diplomats at risk. He's empowering the enemy. And this ban, if it's actually enacted, would take people who have been interpreters who came to our side in Iraq and Afghanistan who are under siege in their own countries and basically becomes a death sentence for them. [Camerota:] You're saying he's empowering the enemy. You draw a direct line between his rhetoric and what? Recruitment for ISIS? [Graham:] Yes, they use that to turn the region against us. Our diplomats and military commanders were very worried when the guy was going to burn the Quran. Remember that, the guy in Florida? I've been there 36 times. I can tell you most Muslims, most people in the faith reject this radical ideology. The reason we'll win is because very few fathers and mothers want to turn their daughters over the ISIL. The way you win the war, just don't kill terrorists. You invest in the lives of others. Young people in the Mideast are less sectarian. What's what we should be investing, giving a young women a voice about her children in the Mideast is the ultimate antidote to terrorism. That is how you win the war, a hopeful life versus a glorious death. And what Mr. Trump is doing is undercutting everything we stand for. He's undercutting how you win the war. He's empowering the enemy and he's putting people at risk who are serving our country. Now, he's never served. Going to a military high school, Donald, is really not military service. You have never worn the uniform. You have never been on a forward operating base. You have never been at a PRT as a member of the Department of Justice or the Department of State. You've never been a USAID worker going into some devastated, poor area in Iraq and Afghanistan trying to help our country by helping others. So knock out off. You're putting people at risk. [Camerota:] You say Donald Trump doesn't represent your party, but in fact he represents 36 percent of the people who plan to vote in your party. How do you explain if he is the frontrunner? If what you are saying is true and you have used the strongest language yet, and so if he is race-baiting, as you've said, xenophobic, as you've said, how do you explain it? [Graham:] A religious bigot. [Camerota:] A religious bigot, as you've said, how do you explain that 36 percent of your party are interested. [Graham:] Look at our history. Look at the history of America. There's always been a market for this. This is the dirty little secret. No Irish need apply. Cut their pony tails off. Put them all in jail after Pearl Harbor. We're not a perfect people but we're a good people. And the president of the United States needs to bring this together. The president of the United States needs to win a war that we can't afford to lose. He needs to understand the war, or she does. So what I'm saying, there is always a market for this. But I've never been more proud than I am right now of what my party chairman said in the deep, deep south. And I know there are people clapping when he says this kind of stuff, but if you are on the front lines of this war you are not clapping. You are ducking. [Camerota:] What does your party chairman say? [Graham:] He just renounced this as being un-American. I'd rather lose without Donald Trump than try to win with him. I wish he would leave the party. I don't care if he runs as an independent. If we lose the 2016 election, so be it. This is not about an election. This is about the future of the country and our party. And they will write the history of these times. And I want to be in a category of one percent who said, BS. This is not who we are as a party, who we are as a nation. And I'm calling on Ted Cruz. You're trying to have it both ways here. [Camerota:] Let me play for you what Ted Cruz did say about this, because so many people from Dick Cheney, as we've said, to Marco Rubio to you, you have used the strongest language against what Donald Trump has said in terms of the Muslim ban. Let me play for you what Ted Cruz has said and you can tell me if it goes far enough. Listen to this. [Sen. Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] Well, that is not my policy. I've introduced legislation in the Senate that would put in place a three year moratorium on refugees coming from countries where ISIS or Al Qaeda control a substantial amount of territory. I think that is the approach we should take. And we need a commander in chief who is focused on keeping this nation safe. [Graham:] This is not a policy debate, Ted. We need a commander in chief that would honor the 3,500 American-Muslims in uniform. When I was in Afghanistan in the second election I was escorted by a young sergeant in the army who grew up in Kabul, Afghanistan, became an American citizen. He took me to their old high school where they were voting. He was crying like a baby. All of us were crying like a baby because he was so proud of his new country and his old country. So what Ted Cruz did is ignore the moral imperative here to speak out. He's trying to get all the Trump people when Trump falls. He's trying to get all the Carson people when they fall. What I'm trying to do is be a president worthy of a great nation and a great party. So this doesn't cut it for me. This is not a policy debate, Ted. This is about you and us and our character as a party. Up your game. Condemn it because it needs to be condemned. [Camerota:] You feel so strongly about this, is there anything that you as the Republican candidate can do with your rivals so, I don't know, ban together? What is your suggestion for what you plan to do? [Graham:] To speak out not in a policy way but condemn this rhetoric as being un-American, not who we are as a party. And I want you to understand something. I go to the Mideast a lot, 36 times. Nobody is talking about this. He is helping the enemy of this nation. He is empowering radical Islam. And if he knew anything about the world at all, he would know that most Muslims reject this ideology and they have died in by the thousands trying to combat this radical ideology. You are undercutting their efforts. You're slanting their sacrifice. You are marginalizing what they are trying to do to make the world a better place. You know how you win this war? You side with people in the faith who reject this ideology, which is 99 percent. And do you know how you make America great again? Tell Donald Trump to go hell. [Camerota:] Senator Lindsey Graham, we appreciate being on NEW DAY. Thanks so much for coming in here. Let's get over to Michaela. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] All right, let's look at some other headlines for you're here. FBI investigators say the massacre of 14 in San Bernardino last week was well planned and that those attackers were well trained. The husband and wife killers honed their skills at nearby gun ranges even just days before that attack. Dan Simon is live in San Bernardino with a lot to get to, Dan. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi. Michaela, investigators say both of these shooters were radicalized. In the days before the shooting they went to a shooting range and practiced their aim. We also know that when authorities when to the home they found 19 pipes used to make bombs. That's up from the original number we were given, which was 12. We are also being told that in terms of the way this investigation is being carried out that hundreds of pieces of evidence have been collected, hundreds of interviews have taken place. This is how the FBI is characterizing the suspects, the shooters. [David Bowditch, Fbi Assistant Director In Charge:] As the investigation has progressed, we have learned and believe that both subjects were radicalized and have been for quite some time. Now how did that happen? The question we're trying to get at is, how did that happen, and by whom and where did that happen? And I will tell you right now we don't know those answers at this point. [Simon:] Well the FBI is working with their foreign counterparts to build out extensive profiles. One question that has emerged is whether or not this couple has received financing. And finally, in a very chilling twist, we know that county workers underwent active shooter training in the very same building where the shooting took place one year ago. We're not sure if the shooter Syed Farook took place or was part of that training. Chris, we'll send it back to you. [Cuomo:] Dan Simon, thank you very much. This morning, testimony resuming in the trial of William Porter. He's one six Baltimore officers on trial in the death of Freddie Gray. The state medical examiner testifying that Gray could have survived his spinal injury if he were given medical help when he asked for it. The judge also blasting the prosecution for failing to reveal Gray mentioned back problems to police after an earlier incident a month before his death. [Pereira:] For the first time ever, China has declared an air pollution red alert. That's the highest possible level. It will remain in effect until Thursday. The air quality is said to be so unhealthy in Beijing. Schools are closed. Outdoor construction projects are being halted. Limits are now being forced on car use and even some factories are being ordered to shut down. [Camerota:] We have to tell you about this very emotional moment. It was for the California rock band Eagles of Death Metal. It happened less than just a moment after their show in France was cut short by terror. They returned to the stage in Paris Monday night. [Bono, U2:] They were robbed of their stage three weeks ago. And we would like to offer them ours tonight. Would you welcome the Eagles of Death Metal. [Camerota:] That was Bono introducing the group. And together, they played Patty Smith's "People Have the Power" alongside U2. Of course, this is the first time the Eagles of Death Metal has performed since the terror attack. Listen to this. [Cuomo:] A lot more than a song going on on that stage. Really big moment. Gracious of U2 but also a metaphor for the Parisians there. We were talking about it earlier. They are refusing to live in fear. They are getting back to their lives. [Pereira:] And music is such a powerful tool for healing it, right? That is it always has been. It can soothe the soul in ways that the other things can. [Camerota:] Absolutely. And you know how much I love lyrics. I sing unfortunately all the time. [Pereira:] She does a lot. [Camerota:] And I looked up the lyrics to Patty Smith's song. It says the people have the power to redeem the work of fools. It's so it makes me so emotional actually that they made it back on stage. It's so great. [Cuomo:] And with that, we'll take a little break and then get back to Donald Trump's stunning proposal keep the Muslims out of the U.S. He was here defending on NEW DAY defending it. And now, we're going to test it as an idea and as an argument, ahead. [King:] Welcome back. It is hard to overstate the stakes for Donald Trump heading into night's second presidential debate. Even before his caught on tape crisis, the race was trending Hillary Clinton's way. Let's take a look. This our national poll of polls, an averaging of all the national polls conducted in recent days, these are all since the first debate. And, look, Hillary Clinton with a four-point lead over Donald Trump nationally. You see the third party candidates pulling a combined 10 percent. Now, you might say, four points that's not much, and you're right, it's not that much. But let's go back and look at time. Remember, 2012 was actually a pretty competitive race. Hillary Clinton today in better shape than President Obama was at this point in 2012. Thirty days out, that's where we are today, President Obama had a slim one-point lead over Mitt Romney. The day of the second debate the debates were later four years ago. It was October 16th. The two candidates were actually tied on the day of the second debate. So tied in this race a four-point lead in this race, no question, Secretary Clinton right now in a better position at this point of the race than President Obama was four years ago, especially when you go and take a state by state look. Now, this is our current electoral map. If the election were held today, we believe Secretary Clinton would win the dark blue and blight blue states, and had enough to be president. The gold states are the remaining tossup states. Even if Donald Trump won tossups, it wasn't enough. He would have to turn something on this map that is blue red. And guess what? Just in the last weeks, polls in Nevada showing Clinton ahead. Polls in Ohio, a tight race, but the latest has Clinton with a small lead. Polls showing Clinton pulling slightly ahead in North Carolina and in Florida. At the moment, Donald Trump needs to win them all, she's leading in them all. You cannot overstate the stakes tonight for Trump. His team scheduled a practice session the other day in New Hampshire. Trump insists that's not what it was at all. [Trump:] They were saying this is practice for Sunday. This isn't practice. This has nothing to do with Sunday. We're just here because we just wanted to be here and, you know, Hillary frankly they talk about debate prep. That's not debate prep. She's resting. She's resting. I want to be with the American people. I want to be with the people from New Hampshire. And she wants she wants to win. [King:] Now, let's remember that event was before this whole caught on tape moment broke, even before that, the stakes were pretty high tonight. What does Donald Trump say behind us on this stage tonight when this issue comes up? I assume it comes up out of the gate. [Reston:] Well, I mean that that's what they have been huddled trying to figure out over the last 24, 48 hours. But this is not an easy format. I mean, the town hall format first of all the town hall he had in New Hampshire the other night was not a town hall by any stretch of the imagination. You don't get like hand-fed friendly questions at a New Hampshire town hall. But there are so many things that you have to do in this kind of format. You have to appeal to the audience members. You have to show empathy. You have to at the same time land your attacks on your opponent, and Donald Trump has this whole overlay of potentially questions about this coming up throughout the entire course of the evening. [King:] Can he go where he's gone in some of these statements? In his first paper statement [Henderson:] Yes. [King:] issued by the campaign and then in the video he released and twice retreated retweeted excuse me a woman who says 30 plus years ago Bill Clinton sexually assaulted her. Can he do that? I understand some people feel past and everything, but the question before us today is his behavior. [Henderson:] I mean, he can do that, right? I mean, he certainly has done it off stage. The people around him, people like Roger Stone, people like Bannon, people like Rudy Giuliani, it seems like their instinct will be to go there. We'll hear from Rudy Giuliani later today. I think Kellyanne Conway hasn't been out in public talking about this. He's done things unexpectedly before, right? I mean, he's very unpredictable. But again, I think to Maeve's point, it's so hard to do that. It's also a matter of we're in a different time, right? Bill Clinton he was impeached. He was highly scrutinized. He paid something of a price for that and to bring that up now, it doesn't take away blame from Donald Trump. [Reston:] And think about all of those reaction shots in the town hall tonight. I mean, this is not a warm Donald Trump crowd. These are undecided voters who are coming there to pose questions to candidates. And the people at home, you know, if he were to go on that kind of an attack are going to be watching those people in the audience and what they're feeling, how uncomfortable they're feeling. I don't think that that can be discounted in terms of how that affects his performance. [Balz:] I don't think I don't think we should assume that he won't do it. [Reston:] Right. [Balz:] But I think that we should assume that if he does, it could cost him more support among the Republican rank and file as well as the rank the leadership. It's a very dangerous thing for him to do this. I know that they would like to do this. They clearly want to go in that direction. They want to turn this against her. Not just against Bill but against Hillary Clinton and talk about her as an enable of Bill Clinton's behavior. But it's so difficult for him to do that. I do think I mean, we have this notion that the town hall debates are constricting. I have a feeling that this will be less constricting in part because I think both Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz who will be moderating, they will be players as well as the people asking questions from the audience. [Thrush:] But I also think he is such limited political performer. I mean, we tend to sort of think of him as being this sort of consummate showman. But, you know, this is not an environment unless the rules have change where you can remove dissenters from the crowd necessarily, right? This was sort of his favorite technique to deal with that, and talking to the Republicans over the last couple days. There was feeling maybe 24 hours ago, before the cascade of defections, that if he really appeared on bended knee and really expressed deep contrition about this and had a more fulsome discussion of this, but that isn't who Donald Trump is. So, he cannot rebrand himself on the stage tonight. People won't let him do that. [Balz:] I think there's another aspect to this, that is what happened in the first debate. I mean, her ability to get under his skin time and time and time again, there's no reason to expect she's not going to try to do that same thing tonight and how will he be able to control himself to be more disciplined than he was the first time. There's so much in his head at this point. [Reston:] That's what his advisers have been trying to dos to to the extent they can get him to prep for debates is to try to get him to resolve not to go down those rabbit holes that she led him down so successfully in the last debate. [King:] To do what Pence did, when you ask him about something, you just turn pivot to e-mails, pivot to Clinton Foundation. The interesting thing also is that Hillary Clinton has not said anything publicly about this. All she has done she did do a tweet I believe it was Friday afternoon after the tape broke and said this is horrific. We cannot allow this man to be president. But her campaign made a conscious decision not to put her out yesterday, to not have her say anything, because they saw that Republicans were flailing their own nominee. There's not reason [Henderson:] And they also kind of cautioned Democrats not to get out there too far to let her have her first fulsome statement on this tonight on this stage. And in some ways that is what they've done all along, right? If you think about August, they kind of just let Donald Trump be out there and hang himself. Even in that first debate between the two of them, she hung back. I mean, she was almost operating about 30 percent and letting him just talk and talk and talk. [King:] Another quick point and we'll talk more as we go through the rest of the hour, but as we talk about the metrics of campaign and the nuts and bolts of campaign, 30 days, the election is 30 days from today. Now, Donald Trump's campaign promised well before all this happened, they were going to spend $100 million on television in the final days of campaign. Well, we can show you, they only reserved 45 million. They've actually pulled back in some markets. There is not a chance Donald Trump will be able to raise the money to be competitive on television unless he finds a way to put this behind him. You mentioned bended knee. I was e-mailing with a bunch of donors yesterday, including people who loved her. Now, some of his biggest that said, we're with him. We're gong to fight with him. But unless they're willing to put up a lot more money, Donald Trump's campaign was already in trouble with fundraising. And I can assume this is going to be a big problem. [Thrush:] She raised 150 roughly $150 million in the month of August. It was a high risk strategy. She really let him back into the game by going dark for most of the month of August. But, you know, for example I was in Colorado over the last couple of days and I had, of course, CNN on loop as always I do in a hotel room or [King:] Bless you, child. [Thrush:] And I saw a few Hillary Clinton ads and few generic GOP ads. I did not see a single Donald Trump ad. [King:] Everybody sit tight. Much more to talk about. Donald Trump says the reprehensible comments caught on tape are on aberration, not who he is. We go through the tape library and you make the call next. Please take our INSIDE POLITICS quiz this morning. Who do you think will do a better job in the town hall debate setting, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? Vote at CNN.comvote. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Fridays are awesome. Welcome to the week`s last edition of CNN STUDENT NEWS. My name is Carl Azuz. We hope your day is going well. Europe is a continent facing a crisis. Three thousand men, women and children rescued in the Mediterranean. Dozens of others found dead on boats or other vehicles. This happened over two days this week. Hundreds of thousands of people are fleeing their homeland, hoping for asylum, a safe and secure place to live in Europe. They`re living behind violence in Afghanistan, instability in Libya, a year`s long civil war in Syria, and some of the European countries they`re headed are feeling a strain on their borders. Hungary for instance says the flow of migrants is creating an emergency. Its government says 1,500 people are illegally entering the country daily. It calls that unacceptable. Hungary is sending as many as 2,000 police officers to help secure its borders. It`s also building a temporary barrier, a type of fence along its border with Serbia. Walls have been built throughout history to protect countries or to keep certain groups of people apart. The Great Wall of China, maybe the most famous example. There`s also Hadrian`s Wall, intended to shield Rome and Britain from what the Romans called Barbarians. Peace walls in Northern Ireland still separate Catholic areas from Protestant ones. Spanish territory in Morocco is fenced in. A United Nations buffer zone stretches across the island of Cyprus. The number of walls separating different parts of the world seems to be increasing. [Reporter:] Katrina formed on Wednesday, August 24th, 2005. [Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] Here`s the storm, as it moves on up. [Reporter:] It was just a tropical storm at first, off the coast of Florida, but the next day, it strengthened to a category one hurricane. [George W. Bush, Former President:] Yesterday, I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Louisiana. And this morning, I signed a disaster declaration for the state of Mississippi. [Reporter:] By Saturday, Katrina had doubled in size and was now a category three storm, a major hurricane. And on Sunday morning, August 28th, Katrina had strengthened to a category four, with New Orleans right in its path. [Unidentiifed Male:] Every person is hereby ordered to immediately evacuate the city of New Orleans. [Reporter:] That same day, the National Weather Service issued one of its strongest warnings ever. Persons, pets and livestock exposed to the winds will face certain death if struck. Roads jammed as thousands tried to make it out of the city, but the storm veered and New Orleans was spared a direct hit. Every seemed OK until later that night when water started toppling over the levees. [Unidentified Male:] When`s this thing supposed to stop? [Reporter:] By 7:00 a.m. in the next morning, the city is flooded. But New Orleans isn`t alone. Biloxi and Gulfport, Mississippi, are slammed by Katrina`s front right quadrant. [Unidentified Female:] Who was at your house with you? [Unidentified Male:] My wife. [Unidentified Female:] Where is she now? [Unidentified Male:] I can`t find her body. She`s gone. [Reporter:] Tuesday, August 30th, Katrina has weakened into a heavy storm over Tennessee. But New Orleans continues to flood from breaks in its levees. Hundreds of thousands are suddenly homeless, and it would be weeks before the waters finally went down. [Azuz:] More than 10,000 people sought shelter in the heavily damaged New Orleans Superdome after Hurricane Katrina. Tomorrow marks 10 years to the day that the storm roared ashore. It was blamed for the deaths of more than 1,800 people across five states. Katrina wasn`t the deadliest hurricane to hit U.S. shores, but the government says it was the costliest, estimating the damage at $108 billion. Waveland, Mississippi, about 50 miles east of New Orleans, was called "Ground Zero" for Katrina. More than 90 percent of homes there were destroyed. The main street, Coleman Avenue, was described was described as just dirt, mud and tents after the storm. But 10 years later, like parts of New Orleans, there are signs of recovery. Vikings and Pirates and Warriors, oh my, it`s time for the "Roll Call". Olathe Middle & High School is up first. It`s on Olathe, Colorado. The Vikings and the Pirates are watching there. W.P. Davidson High School is in Mobile, Alabama. That`s where the Warriors are watching CNN STUDENT NEWS today. And in the city of Sapporo, Japan, it`s great to be part of your day at the School for Educational Alternatives. Thank you all for your request at CNNStudentNews.com. If I were to say tallest mountain in the world, you`d probably think Everest. At 29,029 feet high, its altitude is tops. But from base to summit, the tallest mountain is actually Mauna Kea. It stands about 13,800 feet above sea level, but most of it is underwater. The total height of this Hawaiian mountain is over 33,000 feet. And though it`s a dormant volcano, controversy has erupted there for decades. [Rachel Crane, Cnn Correspondent:] Mauna Kea, which means "White Mountain", is one of the tallest summits in the world. It`s also home to 13 of the beast astronomical telescope in science. Astronomers believe this is the perfect location to study the stars. This summit is the darkest spot of Earth. [Prof. Paul Coleman, University Of Hawaii Institute Of Astronomy:] The darkest spot on Earth, incredible. It gives us nice dark skies and allows us to look at fainter and fainter things. [Crane:] Now, scientists planned to build a new 30 meter telescope on the summit. The TMT as it`s often called would be the most powerful and advanced telescope on the planet. Researchers say the 18-storey telescope would let them see up to 13 billion light years away. [Coleman:] The TMT represents jump of a factor of 10 that will be able to look 10 times further into our universe. [Crane:] But to native Hawaiians, this is the most sacred mountain on the island. It`s where their earliest ancestors originated and may consider it a temple. They do not want anymore construction here and have taken legal action to stop it. A group of opponents who also call themselves "Protectors" sued the state of Hawaii for granting the TNT Company a permit they say is inconsistent with the state`s conservation laws. [Kealoha Pisciotta, Suing To Stop Tmt:] You have to remember that Mauna Kea, in its entirety as a conservation district, and conservation districts are one of the highest protected levels and they`re it`s supposed to be no construction. [Crane:] The debate between astronomers and debate Hawaiians dates back to the 1960s, when the University of Hawaii first started plans to turn Mauna Kea into a leading site for astronomy. [Coleman:] We as Hawaiians, astronomy is so much a part of our life, of who we are, of what we were, that, in fact, it`s kind of crazy not to welcome it. [Crane:] Because of the historic controversy, it took several years for the $1.4 billion TMT Project to get approved by the state of Hawaii. In April, they finally started construction. But that all came to a halt just a few days later when hundreds of protesters showed up and shut down the project. More than 30 protesters were arrested that day on charges of obstruction. There have been several more arrests in the summit, because each time TMT workers tried to build, protesters stepped in. [Pisciotta:] We have reached the limit, and science has to accept that there are human limits also. [Crane:] The Hawaii Supreme Court has decided to take on the "Protectors" lawsuit. There, the final decision will be made on whether the permit to build this telescope is valid or not. In the meantime, the TMT Company has the legal right to continue construction at any point. But the "Protectors" say they`re ready to stop them. [Azuz:] Before we go, our mothers told us not to play with our food. At the annual La Tomatina Festival in Spain, that`s the whole point y`all. No one really knows how this tomatoey tradition got started, but it`s been going strong since about 1945. Today, it involves 20,000 people, about 100 tons of overripe tomatoes, the fruit fight last one hour and fire trucks sprayed down the streets afterward to clean up. People though are on their own. And they`ll need to shower from head to-matoes. Looks like they had fun but they all see red, they all bring excitement to the vegetable, and we`re betting none of them go home hungry. Hey, if you`re already on Instagram, find us @CNNStudentNews. Just look for the blue check mark. We`ll be showing some sweet behind the scenes stuff. We may even cook up some tips on how to get on "Roll Call". Instagram.comCNNStudentNews. And have a great weekend. END [Blitzer:] Getting ready for the round two of the Republican presidential debates tomorrow night at 6:00 p.m. eastern, and the first debate followed by the main event at 8:00 p.m. eastern. And one of the big factors in how the debate plays out could be the rules and how the stage is set. So CNN's Tom Foreman takes a closer look at what to expect when the bell rings for the main event. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] The same 10 candidates we saw last time around will be on stage with the addition of Carly Fiorina, who was in the earlier so-called happy hour debate, who's now jumped up to the bigger group. What are they going to have to work with in this contest? They can't bring any phones with them, no tablets, no notes, no props. Each candidate will have a pad of paper and a pen and a glass of water. And what will they be facing? Well, our panel will be comprised of our moderator, Jake Tapper, also CNN's Dana Bash, and Hugh Hewitt from radio. They will be posing questions, along with some confess that will be taken from social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and so forth. The subject matters are going to be foreign policy, domestic policy and politics. Big, broad topics. With so many people on stage, they will have narrow windows in which to answer. One minute per answer, 30 seconds if it's a rebuttal to something else that was said about you. And we will use timing lights to show the candidates if they are running out of time. Lest you think the people in the earlier debate are at a huge disadvantage, yes, they may very well have a smaller audience, but they'll have a whole lot more time to express their ideas. And under the rules, if one of them says something that's particularly sharp or interesting, that video clip can be played in the larger debate, and those candidates will have to answer to it. [Blitzer:] And, Tom Foreman, excellent explanation. The rules now set, the stage is set, and the candidates are making their final preparations for the debate. Let's talk about how the candidates are getting ready to talk about what is about to take place. Joining us from Washington is Greg Craig, a former White House counsel under Obama, and he's also, by the way, played John McCain in Obama's debate preparation. He played George W. Bush for John Kerry. With us here in Simi Valley, CNN political commentator, Kevin Madden, who was a senior communications strategist for the Mitt Romney campaign. All right, Greg, so tell us, now, what do you see going into the debate tomorrow night? [Greg Craig, Former White House Counsel:] Well, Wolf, as you know, getting ready for a presidential debate where it's two candidates versus each other, as opposed to a primary debate, where there are many, many candidates and very, very propositions. I think that when Senator Obama, when he was running in 2007, he found that getting ready for the multiple candidates debates was one of the most frustrating and difficult things in the experience, and participating was more frustrating. And you have three opportunities, and maybe a grand total of four minutes. You have no idea how it is going to go and what the flow will be. And so your preparation is largely coming into the segues of what you want to say, and selecting the three or four sentences in hoping that you will score. [Blitzer:] And a key issue and let me bring you in, Kevin Kevin, is how hard do you go against the Republican front-runner, Donald Trump? [Kevin Madden, Cnn Political Commentator & Former Debate Manager For Mitt Romney:] Well, not in a way that invites Donald Trump to do what he does best which is to punch and counter punch. Greg is right, that in the prep sessions, the candidates are boning up on the issues in the way they can crystallize the argument to the voters, and this is a rare chance to talk to tens of millions of voters to send the message of the candidacy. And many of them are thinking from the 40,000-foot level, what message do I want to send, strength, leadership, vision, and that is a lot of what they are trying to do. And it is really hard to try to pack it into the four minutes that you will get to do that. [Blitzer:] And they will get a little bit more than four minute because it is a long, long debate, the main debate and the second-tier debate. And, Greg, basically, your advice for the candidates, and specifically, the ones that are trying to break through right now, and for is several of the Republican candidates the last chance to make a positive impression on the Republican voters outs- voters out there, and do they hit Donald Trump the or not? [Craig:] They want something news worthy, and that gets attention. You can't ignore Donald Trump, and the candidate that calls Donald Trump a loser in November is going to get attention. And looking at 2007 as an example, it is not Senator the Obama's debate participation or the debate performances that made him stick out, but it was the campaign's events in Iowa and speeches around the country that made him a pull- away candidate rather than the debate performance. [Blitzer:] You know, the rules are pretty strict in these kinds of debates, Kevin, as you well know, and you helped to prepare Mitt Romney for these kinds of debates four years ago. And 60-second answer, and 30-second rebuttals, but what is to stop one of the candidates from interrupting, and raising a question, and screaming, and getting into the fight, if you will, and that is presumably going to happen. [Madden:] Well, you want to avoid some bad or awkward moments where you are interrupt org doing so in a way where, you know, you start to reinforce the attributes of being thin-skinned or something like that to be avoided. And another thing that the candidates have to be careful of is that the debates are performances, and the theatrics and the optics matter, and especially in a debate hall this small. As they do the walk-throughs, they will be looking at that and making note of it and the final preparations, of how to best take advantage of that and avoid the mistakes to turn in a bad debate moment. [Blitzer:] If, Greg Craig, Donald Trump called you up and I know he won't but if he said, one piece of advice going into the debate tomorrow night, what would you say? [Craig:] I would say do what you are doing, and the people are expecting that, and you are batting 1,000 so far in the public appearance. I would say, keep it up, and do the same thing. And the difficult thing is to take him on from the outside, these other candidates, and getting some traction with their positions. The point I would make [Blitzer:] And you would tell Donald Trump just be yourself, you are right. [Craig:] And the point I would make, with the other candidates, it is very hard for them to win it. What they can do, if they don't perform correctly or adequately, they could lose it. [Blitzer:] Thank you, Greg Craig. Kevin Madden, thank you. Much more coverage of the CNN Republican debate, that's coming up. But there's other news we're following right now. Russia is building up its military presence in Syria. The Kremlin insists it's providing support in the fight against ISIS. Why is the U.S. skeptical? Stay with us. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn:] As opposition mounts to the Republican plan for repealing and replacing Obamacare, how Sec. Tom Price forcefully defended it last night in CNN's town hall, promising it will increase choice and bring those costs down. But what is actually going to happen? What will it really mean for consumers if it is implemented the way it stands now? Joining us now, economics professor at MIT, Jonathan Gruber. He's one of the architects of Obamacare. Also with us in the studio, CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Gentlemen, very nice to have you here.And Sanjay, let me begin with you. One of the most poignant moments last night I love these town halls [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Yes. [Harlow:] because it's the real people [Gupta:] Yes. [Harlow:] asking the questions that their life sometimes depends on. [Gupta:] Yes. [Harlow:] This is case in point. A cancer survivor asking this question to Sec. Price listen. [Brian Kline, Cancer Survivor:] Medicaid expansion saved my life and saved me from medical bankruptcy. Now, I earn $11.66 an hour at my retail job and, obviously, I cannot afford to pay for my cancer care out-of-pocket. My life really depends on having access to my doctors and medical care. Why do you want to take away my Medicaid expansion? [Sec. Tom Price, Health And Human Services:] We have one-third in the physicians in this nation, Brian, who are not seeing Medicaid patients. And so, if we want to be honest with ourselves as a society, it's important that we step back and say why is that? Why are those doctors not seeing Medicaidpatients? And let me just suggest it's because the Medicaid program, itself, has real problems in it. [Harlow:] Sanjay, is that an accurate portrayal of Medicaid as it stands right now? [Gupta:] I think I think the first part is accurate in the sense that I think there are many doctors who do not accept Medicaid patients that's true. Probably about one-third do. The interesting thing is the sort of second point that he makes. We're going to fix it by taking away more money. I mean, look, part just simply, part of the problem part of the reason many doctors don't take Medicaid patients is because they don't reimburse as much and so, therefore, they think well, I'm going to get more money from a private insurer. Why would I take a Medicaid patient? Now you're going to take more money away from it. I mean, it doesn't take a lot to sort of figure out that that doesn't make a lot of sense in the in the overall scheme of things. So, they want to take away $1 trillion $880 billion dollars over the next several years. How that's going to solve that problem, I don't know. He was asked about that. Wolf and Dana asked him several times and he said well, look, it's not just about money, it's about individualizing care. I'm a doctor. I'm not exactly sure what that means. [Harlow:] So, Jonathan, given that you were one of the architects of Obamacare and you know the problems that exist within Obamacare of becoming increasingly not affordable for a number of Americans, one of the core arguments here is that if you give Americans more choice, right the private sector argument give Americans more choice you definitely get lower costs. Is that a guarantee? [Jonathan Gruber, Economics Professor, Mit:] No, it's not a guarantee. But, more importantly, there's nothing in the proposal that gives Americans more choice. This is simply taking away choice from the poorest, the sickest, and the oldest Americans who would pay five times or more what they're paying today. So I don't understand how charging poor, sick, and old Americans more is adding choice. There's choice, as a word, is the centerpiece of Tom Price's argument, but there's nothing in the proposal that actually promotes choice. [Harlow:] So I think they would argue that you get more young people in the risk pool and that gets more insurers back in who've pulled out, like a Humana, like an Aetna. But the argument they also make, Sanjay I'm interested in your take on that and the argument they say parts two and three will include, they say, buying insurance across state lines. Does that fix the problem? [Gupta:] Well, that's been a you've been hearing that for some time and, basically, it feeds into this idea that look, the free market can help solve these problems better than the government can solve these problems. You know, again, you know, allowing an insurance company to set up across state lines sounds pretty good. It's pretty hard to do. You have to develop relationships with the hospitals. It's longstanding, sort of, relationships. But the other point, and I think what Jonathan is saying about this more choice issue, you can get more choices and lower costs, I think, if you offer people plans that are just not that good a plan. I mean, you know, the nature of insurance is you don't really know how good your plan is, oftentimes, until you use it. [Harlow:] Until you're living it. [Gupta:] Many people, you know, they just don't know. They go I'm insured, I've got it. But they actually have kind of what's called a skinny plan, a so-called junk plan. A really low cap so that if you get sick it's not going to cover much. That's not what people really want and, you know, you worry if that's the choice, you know, people aren't going to be really happy with that in the long run. [Harlow:] Jonathan, to you. The president has said we know he said in the meeting he had at the White House with some of the folks not on board with this you know, if this doesn't make it through we're just going to let Obamacare implode and blame the Democrats. Can you talk to us about what an implosion of Obamacare would actually look like because there are liberal governors, including in my state of Minnesota, who have said this is unaffordable for American people at this point in time? What does an implosion look like? Are there failsafes? [Gruber:] Well, first of all, Obamacare is not imploding and it's not just my opinion. Actually, another aspect of the Congressional Budget Office report that was devastating for the Republican alternative was pointing out that Obamacare is fine. Indeed, the premiums are exactly where CBO projected they'd be. What happened [Harlow:] But it's not fine it's not fine for a number of American families who've told me they can't pay for it. [Gruber:] Absolutely. It is absolutely not fine for everyone but there's no risk of a death spiral. There's no risk that the exchanges are going away. The problem here is not solved by pulling money out of the program. The problem is that underlying health costs are too high for middle-class families, and the answer to that is not to pull away coverage from the poor, the sick, and the old. It's to try to address the fundamental problems for middle-class families by expanding the availability of these subsidies and by taking the next steps towards [Harlow:] Right. [Gruber:] cost control that are so important. [Harlow:] So, Sanjay, I mean, is there a failsafe? What happens, because there are increasing amounts of Americans who cannot pay for their Obamacare plan? [Gupta:] Well, when I think when you decide that you're going to provide more insurance for more Americans across the country, which is what, you know, happened over the last several years, that there was a belief that there was going to be that it was going to have a certain price tag to that. I think that that so, costs were, I think, always expected to go up. I think it's worth pointing out that the costs were going up for premiums, even before the ACA was implemented. Costs would go up even if the ACA is taken away. So people are looking at this as a as a point in time. Yes, I don't think it's perfect in that sense. I think that you have, as Jonathan points out, certain populations that have really shouldered much more of the burden of these costs. But still, this idea that it was going to cost a little bit more, I don't think that that's a surprise to people. [Harlow:] All right, guys. Thank you very much, Jonathan. Sanjay, nice to see you. [Gruber:] Thank you. [Gupta:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Thank you very much Chris. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] Good discussion there, Poppy. President Trump breaking his silence, doubling down on his wiretapping claim, except he says wiretapping now means a lot of things. Lawmakers say there is no proof of anything. The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, joins us next. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] Obsessive cravings and total loss of control, whether it's from a substance or a behavior, addiction is a disease. This is "Vital Signs." I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Today we're going to focus on behavioral addictions. One of the most well-known is gambling. It's not necessarily the act of gambling that's addictive but the way it feels. When the brain perceives a situation as stressful or exciting, like gambling, it sends a signal to the adrenal gland. The gland then releases adrenalin, a stress hormone causing a spike in blood pressure and a faster heart rate. Many addicted gamblers describe that adrenaline rush when they place a bet or play a slot machine. And when it comes to gambling, you might be surprised at the country that tops the list. Meet Kate Seselja. She's a loving wife, and a devoted mother to her six children. Now get ready to toss out any stereotypes you might have had about gambling addicts. [Kate Seselja:] People always say to me, you don't look like a mother of six. They were equally shocked when I came forward and said I had a 12-year gambling problem. [Gupta:] Kate lives in southeast Australia. It's the country with the highest rate of gambling in the world. She started gambling when she was a teenager. By the time she was 18, Kate was spending her monthly wage in just one day. [Seselja:] Once I had that first rush on a poker machine, it just did something to me brain. Looking back now I was just pushing money into it like I was pushing paper through a shredder. [Sally Gainsbury, Center For Gambling And Research, Southern Cross University:] Australians are actually the biggest gamblers in the world. We lose around $1,100 per person per year compared to less than $600 in the U.S. and less than $500 in Canada and Britain. [Gupta:] Sally Gainsbury is a psychologist in Sydney who studied gambling. She says in Australia there are 197,000 electronic poker machines or pokies. You don't need to go to a casino to find them, either. Pokies are in neighborhood bars and clubs, making it harder to escape them. [Gainsbury:] It's very easy to play, which makes them very accessible. Just put money in and press a button. You're unlikely to win the jackpot, but when you do play you do get very quick reinforcement in terms of small wins along the way that encourage you to keep betting even though in the long run you are losing. [Seselja:] I connected with the machine. [Gupta:] Kate got married and started a family, all while hiding the seriousness of her gambling addiction. Twelve years of her life controlled by this disease. During that time, Kate estimates she lost well over half a million dollars. [Seselja:] There were several times during that 12 years that I tried to get help, I guess not knowing who to turn to, feeling like I was such a failure. I felt by the end that I was profoundly broken and I didn't think there was any possible recovery. [Gupta:] Kate reached out for help with the support of her husband. [Seselja:] I tried to get help before, and it hadn't worked. But this time, this counselor, she saw straightaway that my self-esteem was destroyed. The counselor said to me, I want you to name 10 things that you like about yourself, and I just burst into tears, and said, can I list my children individually? And she said, no. You have to tell me 10 things that you like about you. And it took me a week. And I still have that list. [Kate Roberts, Executive Officer, Gambling Impact Society:] One of the challenges with problem gambling is that unlike drug and alcohol addiction, is you can't see it, you can't smell it. [Gupta:] Kate Roberts is the executive officer of the Gambling Impact Society. For the past year and a half, she's also been helping Kate share her story to help others. [Roberts:] The whole concept is the time on machine, there's a lot of design features now to envelope you into this world. And people are not aware of that, and, more importantly, there's a massive industry that is depending and building itself around that. And we need to get away from the idea that these are flawed people. What we actually have is a flawed product and a case of regulatory failure. [Gupta:] The Australian government estimates the cost of problem gambling to the country's public is $4.7 billion a year. The government has pledged $25 million to support programs for addicted gamblers. But they also collect roughly 10 percent of their tax revenue from gambling. [Roberts:] If it's going to be recreational, let's make it recreational. I don't believe a product that takes $1,200 an hour off you is a recreational product. [Gupta:] At part of her own recovery, Kate Seselja has started the Hope Project, and she still has the original list of 10 things she's proud of about herself. It's a reminder of just how far she's come and what she's doing now to help millions of others just like her around the world. [Seselja:] I want people to understand that we're human beings, and when did we lose sight of that? I really never thought I'd get to the point where I'd be thankful for the journey, but I am. I'm I wouldn't swap it. [Gupta:] Kate gambled on the electronic poker machines, but online gambling is now posing a new challenge for programs like the Gambling Impact Society. And as technology increases in all aspects of our lives, it's becoming a behavioral addiction all on its own. Thinking of all the technology advances just in the last decade our phones and our tablets, our powerful computers. They're almost always with us. Kids know how to use tablets from a very young ages, and video games are not more mobile than ever. So I think it's no surprise that technology and gaming addiction are combining to form a serious problem. Some researchers have shown that here in the United States as many as 3 million children are addicted to video games. The manual on mental health disorders in America now includes Internet gaming disorder as a condition warranting more clinical research. It's an important first step when it comes to taking gaming addiction seriously. [Douglas Gentile, Associate Professor Of Psychology, Iowa State University:] Scientifically documented real effects. So if they're on this side of the zero it means doing it gets you less of them. [Gupta:] It's a chilly day on the campus of Iowa State University. In room 225, Professor Douglas Gentile addresses his graduate students. [Gentile:] And that has led people to believe that maybe only certain time types of people are vulnerable to this effect. [Gupta:] They are here to study how media affects behavior and the impact of technology and video games. Gentile is one of the world's leading researchers on video games, and all that can come with them, including addiction. [Gentile:] Even back in the 1990s, parents were talking about their kids being addicted to games. And I thought that can't be true. I thought, all they mean is my kid spends a lot of time playing and I don't understand why. And it turns out I was wrong. [Gupta:] Gentile's research shows roughly 8.5 percent of kids gaming in United States show signs of addiction. Across the world, he found similar numbers. [Gentile:] One of the things we know that is a risk factor for addiction is access. So with greater access, we're going to see the problem probably increasing. How do we deal with that? [Gupta:] In southern California addiction to this virtual world is a reality for Noelle Mathieu's family. Her 16-year-old son Griffin was in treatment for Internet gaming disorder. He didn't want to be interviewed on camera but told his mother she could speak to us about their experience. [Noelle Mathieu, Griffin's Mother:] Griffin is very sweet, a very sweet boy. He's quite introverted. He is quiet. He's on the shy side. [Gupta:] When he was still a child, Griffin's parents divorced. His mom says he suffered from depression and anxiety. Around age 10 he started playing video games. [Mathieu:] Griffin is bright. He's quick to learn things so he did take quickly to it, and he became good. He's good at it. He's good at the gaming. [Gentile:] Sometimes parents what to know why are games so compelling to kids. What is it that is drawing them? There's a theory of intrinsic motivation. What is it that makes us excited to do something on our own, called self-determination theory. And basically it's an ABC of human needs. The A is autonomy. So we like to feel we're in control. The B is belongingness. We like to feel like we're connected to other people. And the C is competence. We like to feel that we're good at what we do. Well, games are fantastic at all three of these. There's nothing wrong with that initially, but over time it can start to get out of balance. [Gupta:] Over time Griffin's parents noted a shift in that balance and changes in his behavior. [Mathieu:] The isolation, the wanting to be with, playing more, so then that takes away from family time, it takes away from socializing with his friends. [Gupta:] This past summer, Griffin's parents sent him for treatment. They found a program called Outback Therapeutic Expeditions in Utah. Griffin would spend times outdoors, unplugged from technology and away from his games. [Mathieu:] I felt very strongly about him going, that we had no other options, our hands were tied. So I was like, you know what? We're doing this for you because we love you and we care about you and we recognize you need some help. [Gupta:] Griffin spent six weeks in treatment and returned home. His mom says he still has challenges with his tech use and his depression. [Mathieu:] It is a battle. It is so hard, because when look back with Griffin, I was the dealer. I was mom, there's this new game came out. My friends all have it. And I was like, sure, because he is a good kid. [Gupta:] Shortly after our interview with Noelle, Griffin sent us an e- mail. He wanted to share his message for anyone struggling like him. Griffin wrote "I want other kids to realize that the problems they are facing aren't because of what's going on around them, but also due to the fact that they won't stay inside and won't speak to anyone about them. Sitting inside and staring at a screen won't make it disappear." [Gentile:] Parents often feel powerless, but the reality is when you set your limits on how much time and what types of media your children can use, it actually has a powerful ripple effect out into the future across a wide range of health and wellness benefits. [Gupta:] Setting limits can work if you know what you're looking for. But what happens when the source of the addiction is hiding where you least expect it? Next, what we can all learn to protect ourselves from food. It is hard to combat an addiction when the temptations are all around you. Like technology, food addicts struggle with overwhelming access. And as more and more processed foods enter our diets, sugar consumption is on the rise. While we may not think of it on the same level as addictive substances like drugs, research has shown that sugar fires off the same reward centers in the brain as cocaine. Unlike co-cairn, we actually do need some sugar in our bodies broken down into energy for our cells. The issue is that we're eating too much of it, and it can be hard to cut back especially when hiding in foods you'd never think of. So this is a pretty standard grocery aisle. Tell me where your eyes go? Lisa Drayer is a nutritionist and a best-selling author. We've come to the best place we could think of to talk about sugar, a typical American grocery store. Everywhere you look there's sugars. And, again, not in the places you'd necessarily expect it. Spaghetti sauce, what would we find here? [Lisa Drayer, Nutritionist:] Exactly right. So here we're looking at tomato sauce, and we see that a half a cup, which is one serving, has 12 gram of sugar. [Gupta:] This isn't even sweet. The American Heart Association has set daily recommendations for sugar comp assumption. For women, know more than six tea spoons a day. One teaspoon is four grams of sugar, so that means roughly 24 grams of sugar in day. Men get a bit more nine teaspoons, or 36 grams. But on average, we're exceeding those numbers, big time. Here in the United States, the average adult eats 22 teaspoons of sugar a day. I think it's really striking to me that a lot of people think they're doing the right thing, they're led to believe I'm eating healthy, but in fact they're not. What are some of those misconceptions? [Drayer:] I think a lot of people that think just because something is natural it's healthy. So, for example, you know, honey is natural, but it's very caloric, and many people might even know a teaspoon of honey or agave for that matter has more calories than a teaspoon of sugar or sucrose. [Gupta:] Speaking of misconceptions, it is remarkable, and even I am stunned, and I studied this, but I'm stunned what you think you're eating and what you're really eating. So talk me through some of this. [Drayer:] Sure. Here we have a quarter cup of dried cranberries. [Gupta:] Perfectly healthy and good for you. [Drayer:] Exactly. Toss it on your salad, combine it with nuts. But in fact, it contains the same amount of sugar as a quarter cup of candy. Who would think that a quarter cup of each would have the same amounts? [Gupta:] I mean, again that is remarkable. And to take it a step further you put that on a salad. [Drayer:] Right. [Gupta:] You wouldn't put this on a salad, but you're essentially doing the same thing. [Drayer:] Essentially, when you think about sugar being sugar. Now that being said, dried cranberries do offer antioxidants which candy does not. So I just want to show you, this is actually the amount of sugar in one can of soda. One 12-ounce can. So you pretty much maxed out on your sugar intake for the entire day. [Gupta:] Sugar is hiding in many of our foods, and there's natural and added sugar. Natural sugars are found in foods like fruit and milk in the form of fructose and lactose. Added sugars are included during processing or preparation but are really empty calories that don't offer any nutritional benefits. There's also artificial sweeteners. Decoding the nutrition label can help identify the different types. But that's easier said than done. The label doesn't distinguish between added and natural sugars, but the FDA is currently considering a proposal to change that. However, the Sugar Association in the U.S. disagrees with the proposal, saying the FDA has not, quote, "provided evidence that added sugars labeling is necessary to assist consumers in maintaining healthy dietary practices." According to the Sugar Association, sugar, as in sucrose, not high fructose corn syrup or other sweeteners, is part of the healthy diet when consumed in moderation. So salads, what could be wrong with salads and salad dressing? [Drayer:] We think of salads as healthy and we certainly think of a fat-free salad dressing as very healthy, right? [Gupta:] Yes. You're doing this to help take care of your body and heart. [Drayer:] Exactly. We're going to save calories and fat. But in fact when we look here we see that one serving or two tablespoons has 10 grams of sugar. So that's for two tablespoons. If we're talking about a ladle, that would be double the amount or 20 grams of sugar. [Gupta:] So 20 grams of fat-free salad dressing. I mean, and in two servings you get 20 grams. [Drayer:] That's right, 20 grams. So that's actually [Gupta:] Like a doughnut. [Drayer:] more sugar, that's right, than four mini doughnuts. Four mini-doughnuts have 17 grams of sugar. [Gupta:] You're supposed to be doing the right thing here, fat-free salad dressing. People might think that doesn't even taste good. I'm punishing myself by eating this, but I'm doing something good for myself, but they're not. [Drayer:] This we expect. This we don't. [Gupta:] That's the crucial point. Yes. Too many sugar calories leads to weight gain and obesity, straining your heart and raising your risk for a stroke or an illness like diabetes. But there's more at play here than just your sweet tooth. You might be craving sugar because it's been shown to be addictive. [Drayer:] It seems to induce cravings and hunger that are comparable in magnitude to those induced by addictive drugs. Does that mean it's addicted? Maybe. I think one of the telltale signs is a loss of control. So if you feel like you can't stop eating the cookies, you have to finish the whole box, can't stop at one or two, you're obsessing about how you'll get your sugar fix and you simply can't focus on anything else, you have that psychological dependence, then I think you're probably talking about a food addiction. [Gupta:] Are there other little tips to cut down on your sugar consumption? [Drayer:] You want to look at the ingredient list. If sugar or any one of a bunch of terms are listed high on the label, you want to avoid that food. So we're talking corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, agave, honey, molasses, and anything ending in o-s-e, "dextrose," "fructose," "sucrose." So these are the code words for sugar. [Gupta:] All right, so here's something I think will astonish I can barely lift this. [Drayer:] That's 25 pounds of sugar. [Gupta:] It's 25 pounds of sugar. [Drayer:] Right. [Gupta:] And now I will tell you, and it would be still alarming if I told you ate this much in a year, but that's not even the case. [Drayer:] That's not even the case. Not only are we eating this much, but we're eating a lot more. We're eating five times this amount of sugar. So that's more than some people's body weight that I know. That's a lot of sugar. [Gupta:] Whether it's food, gambling, technology, or any other behavioral addiction, it's more than just will. It's a medical diagnose, and there is a thin line between doing something a lot and being addicted, a line even psychologists don't have a consensus on just yet. But the keys are awareness of the warning signs and acceptance of the possibility it's an addiction. Don't let the stigma of the word "addiction" hold you back from getting help. For "Vital Signs," I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta. [Whitfield:] Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitefield. A U.S. service member has died from wounds suffer in a raid against Al-Qaeda in Yemen. Three other service members were also wounded. President Trump authorized this operation and he released a statement say in part quote "Americans are saddened this morning with news that a life of a heroic service member has been taken in the fight against the evil of radical Islamic terrorism. My deepest thoughts and prayers are with the family of these fallen service member. I also pray for a quick and complete recovery for the brave service members who sustained injuries." I want to bring in CNN's pentagon reporter Ryan Browne. So, Ryan, what more do we know about this service member? [Ryan Browne, Cnn Pentagon Reporter:] That's right. This elite service member was fatally wounded during a gun battle as part of that followed a raid, a special operations forces raid on an Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula headquarters. This was a pretty intense firefight. About 14 Al-Qaeda fighters were killed in it. And it was part of a mission what's called, you know, it was attempting to gather intelligence that will that would allow for additional raids and drone strikes in the future. Now this raid also involved the crash of the U.S. aircraft, the B-22 Osprey that was forced to conduct what's called a hard landing and the U.S. Military had the to destroy it to prevent that technology from falling into enemy hands. This follows the first day of Trump's presidency we're they targeted al-Qaeda operatives in Yemen with drone strikes. We are seeing a lot of ramped up activity against in al-Qaeda in Yemen and something to watch in the future days. This is what's considered al-Qaeda's most capable affiliate, so we're definitely seeing a renewed focus on this terror group under the Trump presidency. [Whitfield:] All right, Ryan Browne Thank you so much. [Browne:] You bet. [Whitfield:] All right. Trump's immigration ban is not only generating strong reactions in the here in the U.S. People around the world are also responding. What they're saying next. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] It was a really broad range of discussion. You should go online to check it out. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] OK. Time for CNN NEWSROOM with Poppy Harlow. Good morning. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Do you know how many hours I was asleep before "Saturday Night Live" even went on, on Saturday? [Camerota:] Me, too. [Cuomo:] You've got the baby, you've got the new gig. But on the up side, at least you finally got rid of that sidekick guy. It's good to have you alone there. [Harlow:] Yes. Where did John Berman go? I guess he's taken the day off. [Cuomo:] Who? [Harlow:] My goodness. Who? What? Where? [Cuomo:] Never. He'll be on four other shows today. [Harlow:] Right. It's my little girl's first birthday, so happy birthday. [Cuomo:] Hey. [Harlow:] Happy birthday, Baby Sienna. [Camerota:] Yes, happy birthday to her. [Harlow:] Have a great day, guys. Let's get started. Good Monday, morning. This morning at the Supreme Court, history takes shape as Neil Gorsuch takes his seat as the junior most justice. At this very moment, he is behind closed doors taking a private oath of office in the first of what will be two ceremonies today. And President Donald Trump, peacemaker? The President forcing his top adviser, Steve Bannon, and Jared Kushner to broker a truce. But is the West Wing big enough for both of these men? And fractures in foreign policy. Just days after launching a military strike on Syria, the President's top diplomats offer very different views of the path forward. So which is it? Good morning, everyone. I'm Poppy Harlow. John Berman has the day off. We are now just a couple hours away of the Supreme Court being back to the full strength of a nine-person bench for the first time in 14 months. Right now, the widow of Justice Antonin Scalia is on hand for the private swearing in of the man who will replace her husband on the bench of the nation's highest court. Our Ariane de Vogue looks at how this morning is unfolding. Jeffrey Toobin is here with us as well. The preeminent scholars on the high court. It is nice to have you both here. Thank you for being with us. Just walk us through, Ariane, what's going to happen today. [Ariane De Vogue, Cnn Supreme Court Reporter:] Well, Poppy, you know, it's been more than a year since Scalia's death. And Neil Gorsuch will take two oaths, right? The first one is the constitutional oath that he'll take. He's probably starting it about now behind me at the Supreme Court. It will be administered by Chief Justice John Roberts. Gorsuch's family will be there. The Justices and their spouses have been invited to attend, and that includes Maureen Scalia. And then the whole party will move down to the White House, and there he will take the judicial oath. That's really for judges and justices, but what's interesting is Gorsuch asked for Anthony Kennedy to deliver that oath. And that's because Gorsuch is a former clerk of Kennedy, and what's a little bit symbolic here is this will be the first time that we have a former clerk serving at the same time as his boss. So, Poppy, a little bit of symbolism today. [Harlow:] Indeed. Jeffrey Toobin, just talk about how important the cases are that he's going to hear. Right away, you're talking about Second Amendment cases, separation of church and state, voting rights. This is big. [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] You know, Poppy, sometimes those of us on cable news, we're accused of over hyping events. You know, sometimes [Harlow:] Never you. [Toobin:] Sometimes we say breaking news when it's not exactly breaking news. [Harlow:] It never happens on this show. [Toobin:] Never happens. This is a very big deal, by any standard. You know, there have only been 112 people who served on the Supreme Court in the history of the country. When you look at how long Neil Gorsuch is likely to serve on this court, 2040 perhaps, it's just the magnitude of the issues that he will confront, we can't imagine them all of them right now. But right away, a lot of churchstate issues, a lot of how much the government can support religious institutions, how much religious individuals or companies can get out of obligations that other people have. Those are big issues. You know, gay rights, abortion rights, affirmative action all of these hot button issues will be before the court sooner rather than later. [Harlow:] He, on the Tenth Circuit, ruled, when it came to sort of the Hobby Lobby line of cases [Toobin:] Right. [Harlow:] what does what he wrote there tell us about what he may do here? [Toobin:] Well, you know, his decision in Hobby Lobby and it was a vote, you know. He votes in the three-judge panel there. And then the whole Tenth Circuit heard that case. It was upheld in a very narrow decision in Hobby Lobby. And that was one of those cases where religious people said we do not feel we can abide by what the government requires of us because it would violate our religious obligations. In that case, it was a company, actually very big company, Hobby Lobby, which said that we don't want to pay for birth control as the Affordable Care Act requires because certain forms of birth control, we feel, are tantamount to abortion, that they were allowed to get out of their obligation under the Affordable Care Act. That whole line of cases about religious people asking to be excused from government-imposed obligations, those cases are definitely going to be before the court. [Harlow:] Right. Another case likely to be before him is the President's travel ban, 1.0 now 2.0. This is going to be before him, Ariane. [De Vogue:] Right. Well, it will come. It is still percolating, right, at the Federal Appeals Court level, and it could come up soon on an emergency basis here. But that will be interesting, right, because President Trump is the man who put him on the bench, and one thing that he might look at pretty quickly is something that's very important to President Trump, Poppy. [Harlow:] And, Jeffrey, I mean, this is why a Supreme Court pick is why many reluctant Republicans voted for Trump anyways because they saw the pig picture. You have a fascinating new piece, a long piece, in "The New Yorker" just saying, you know, so many more Democrats issued calls against Attorney General Jeff Sessions than against Gorsuch, but this is a much bigger deal than who the Attorney General is for a much shorter period of time. [Toobin:] You know, it is interesting that one of the things the Republican Party has done much more successfully than the Democratic Party is focus on judicial appointments. You know, it is true that Democrats were very pleased, very happy that President Obama appointed Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court, but the focus on judicial appointments in the Republican Party is so serious. And, you know, as you point out, you heard it all the time during the fall where, you know, Donald Trump was a very unknown quantity and disliked by a lot of people in the Republican Party. But one of the things he did is he reached out to conservatives through the federal society, through Leonard Leo, who I write about in the current issue of "The New Yorker" and said, look, I am going to appoint these people to the Supreme Court. And Donald Trump did something that no presidential candidate had done before, he released the list. First 10 people, then another 10 people, of his likely appointments to the Supreme Court. By the way, we have three pretty elderly justices on the court, so that list is very likely to be returned to again in terms of who Trump may nominate if there are other vacancies. [Harlow:] And remember, his rollout of the nomination of Gorsuch, even if a few don't support the Justice, it was praised by how the White House rolled it all out. [Toobin:] Well, this has been, as you may have heard, a pretty rocky 81 days for President Trump. The nomination of Neil Gorsuch has been an unqualified success for this White House and for the Republicans in the majority in the Senate. There are not a lot of other big successes, but this is certainly one. [Harlow:] So far. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you so much. [Toobin:] All right. [Harlow:] You should read his piece. It was my early morning reading today. It's fascinating. Ariane, at the high court, thank you so much. We now turn to a show of force against North Korea. President Trump deployed a Navy strike group to the Korean Peninsula to tamp down North Korea's nuclear threats or at least try to, right? Certainly a show of force. It is on its way as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives next hour for the G7 meeting in Italy. He is expected to deliver more tough words on Russia and, of course, on Syria's chemical weapons attack. We have got live coverage this morning. Barbara Starr is at the Pentagon. Will Ripley is the only American journalist inside of North Korea. Let's begin with Barbara at the Pentagon. Just the significance of this move, Barbara, because it's not like a carrier hasn't moved to that region before. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, carriers do operate there pretty routinely, Poppy, but here's one of the big signals about why this is a message sending exercise, at least in large part. And that's because the Pentagon is talking about it. They issued a press release over the weekend detailing all of this. And when they don't want to talk about it, the answer you'll get from the Pentagon is we don't talk about where our ships are. This time talking about it, completely out in the open, very much sending the signal to Kim Jong-un that they are off shore. That if he engages in provocations, look at what happened in Syria. This could be a President who will responds. But does this carrier group really have that kind of response capability? The carrier actually, the "USS Carl Vincent," huge asset, ships on board pardon me, aircraft on board, but not terribly useful against the North Korean threat. Those aircraft aren't likely to go anywhere. There are missile ships along with the carrier out there. These are ships that have missiles onboard. They can shoot down North Korean missile launches, potentially. But if it gets to that point, there's pretty serious trouble. This is sending that message to Kim being very open about it. The national security advisor, H.R. McMaster, talked about some of the reasoning over the weekend. [Lt. Gen. H.r. Mcmaster, United States National Security Advisor:] North Korea has been engaged in a pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue regime that is now a nuclear capable regime, and President Xi and President Trump agreed that that is unacceptable, that what must happen is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. So the President has asked us to be prepared to give him a full range of options to remove that threat to the American people and to our allies and partners in the region. [Starr:] Very tough words from the White House. We'll see how the North Korean regime feels about it all, Poppy. [Harlow:] Barbara Starr, at the Pentagon, thank you so much. Let's go to will Ripley who is, again, the only American journalist inside of North Korea now. Will, for anyone not following your Instagram account, really real time with what you're seeing and hearing, tell us what it's like to be there and what reaction there is to this U.S. carrier clearly moving as a signal to Pyongyang. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, the North Korean government officials we're speaking with here, Poppy, say they are certainly receiving the message the United States and the Trump administration is sending. However, their response may not be what the U.S. is anticipating. They say, far from backing down, the deployment of the carrier strike group, I should say the redeployment because it was here in the region a few weeks ago for joint military exercises, only motivates them want to work harder to develop their nuclear weapons faster, because we know that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's ultimate goal is to have a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the mainland U.S. This country tells its citizens that they live under the threat of an imminent invasion by the U.S. And so, while a lot of news from around the world is kept hidden from the North Koreans, the state media here is reporting extensively about Carl Vincent carrier strike group threatening this country, they say, off the waters of the Korean Peninsula. They're reporting also about the missile strike in Syria, calling it basically a thinly veiled threat to the North Korea people. But they say the key difference between North Korea and Syria is, if the United States were to take similar action in this country, they promise to retaliate. So it makes it a much more tricky situation. We are talking about military action on the Korean Peninsula, given the fact, Poppy, that even if North Korea doesn't have a viable nuclear weapon just yet, they do have conventional weapons that can kill a lot of people and do a lot of damage in the highly populated area of Seoul, just 30 miles from the demilitarized zone, that border between North and South Korea. One other note, this is a big week for Kim Jong-un, a large political gathering tomorrow, the Supreme People's Assembly; Saturday, their most important holiday, the Day of the Sun. It's around these major political events and holidays in the past we have seen North Korea try to show force with very provocative actions. And U.S. officials, and South Koreans as well, believe they could push the button at any moment on their sixth nuclear test. What a way to send a message of defiance to their enemies in the U.S., Poppy. [Harlow:] Absolutely, no question about it. We do, though, have reporting this morning about China and South Korea being willing to take these increased steps, these increased sanctions, trying to get on board a bit more with what the U.S. has been calling for. Will Ripley inside of North Korea for us. Thank you so much for that. We have a lot ahead this hour. The Trump administration sending mixed signals as foreign policy techs mount. So what message does that send? Also, can the United States police the world when the President is trying to police his own White House staff? The latest on those clashes ahead. Also, the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal. A scathing independent investigation just concluding this morning. It is taking the former CEO to task, clawing back millions in pay. A live report on that straight ahead. [Jeb Bush , Former Presidential Candidate:] But the people of Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina have spoken and I really respect their decision. So, tonight, I am suspending my campaign. [Crowd Member:] No. [Bush:] Yes, yes. Thank you. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] Cheers there for Jeb Bush who's choking back tears last night after a disappointing fourth place finish in South Carolina. Once considered the front runner for the GOP nomination, it's now over. He's now stepped off the stage. CNN's Athena Jones joins us with more from Columbia, South Carolina. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Victor. It was an emotional moment. You could hear I don't know if you could hear the gasps in the crowd. People were very surprised to hear Governor Bush make that announcement. But his campaign wanted him to do much better. In fact, they were hoping that he could beat his former protege, Marco Rubio. In the end, Rubio bested him by more than a dozen points. Take a listen to what else he told that crowd gathered in a hotel bar room last night. [Bush:] In this campaign, I have stood my ground, refusing to bend to the political winds. We put forward detailed, innovative conservative plans to address the mounting challenges that we face, because despite what you might have heard, ideas matter, policy matters. I firmly believe the American must entrust this office to someone who understands that whoever holds is the servant, not the master, someone who will commit to that service with honor and decency. [Jones:] Now, both of those comments were not so veiled references to Donald Trump. We've heard Governor Bush say over and over on the campaign trail that Donald Trump does not see himself as the man of service. He's not thinking of this as the career of service. In the end as you mentioned, Governor Bush about this time last year was the presumptive front runner but no one predicted the entry in the race and the impact on the race that Donald Trump would have. And so he is bowing out heading home after having fought a tough campaign Victor. [Blackwell:] All right. Athena Jones for us in Columbia this morning thank you so much. Let's turn now to Senator Cruz, who was once boasted he was the ultraconservative, ultrareligious southern states that vote on March 1st were his firewall. But the question now, what's next for the Texas senator after his loss to Donald Trump in South Carolina, a state that seemed to have been tailor-made for the Cruz campaign? Could this be a signal that more defeats are down the road for the senator on Super Tuesday? Joining me now to discuss, Rick Tyler, the national spokesperson for the Cruz campaign. Rick, good to have you back on [New Day. Rick Tyler, National Spokesperson For The Cruz Campaign:] Good morning. [Blackwell:] So, I want to start by going inside the numbers here. Ted Cruz says he's the Christian conservative in the race who wants to break up the Washington cartel. But when we look at the numbers and let's put these numbers up on the screen for our viewers 72 percent of those who responded to our exit polls describe themselves as evangelical or born again Christians. Trump won them over Cruz, 33-27; 76 percent said it mattered the candidate that the candidates shared their religious belief, Trump won with them as well, 31-37. He lost with those who believe who angry the federal government. Those are dissatisfied with the federal government. I mean, this is not just a defeat. But is this not a defeat that jeopardizes Cruz's strongest rationale for being in the race? [Tyler:] Not at all. We're very comfortable where we are. We won Iowa decisively despite everything coming after us, including the establishment, including ethanol, including the sitting governor. In South Carolina, again we had the sitting governor against us, the sitting senator against us and a very popular congressman. So, the establishment rallied and they got behind Marco Rubio and we virtually tied him. Now the question is going to be who can actually defeat Donald Trump. And the only candidate who's beaten Donald Trump is Ted Cruz. So as we go forward, the dynamic will be changing. And March 1 states that especially the southern states are a little different than South Carolina. South Carolina has a liberal coast, that's where Marco Rubio did very well. They have a very liberal capital city, that's where Marco Rubio did very well. But as we go forward, a lot of the states, including Texas, the senator's home state, and Oklahoma and Arkansas, they are different from South Carolina. We have spent a lot of time in those states. We have the resources and we have the organization. We've got a candidate and we've got a message. So, we've left with a deal maker. That's Donald Trump. He wants to be the deal maker and then we have someone who already makes deals. And that's what people are tired of in Washington. Ted Cruz is not a deal maker. [Blackwell:] Rick, let me ask about your characterization that Marco Rubio it's correct. He had Nikki Haley. He had Tim Scott. He had Trey Gowdy. But that is how to Cruz campaign is structured is it not that he is going in to break up the establishment. So, if he is the outsider, you'd expect that in every state. Isn't that supposed to be baked into the bread here of your campaign? Shouldn't you have expected other candidates would get that endorsement and Ted Cruz would not? [Tyler:] He is the proven outside and Marco Rubio is the proven insider. The question mark is Donald Trump. He's neither proven to be an insider or outsider in Washington. What we do know is he's been the pay master for the establishment and not even the Republicans establishment. He's been the paymaster for the Democratic establishment. So, look, we're going to carry our message forward. We're well- positioned. We feel good about the March 1 states, because March 1 states are a lot of states, I think eleven going at the same time. And we're prepared to compete on all those states because we've got the resources, the money and the message to do it. And we believe that Marco Rubio does not have the money or the message. His candidacy remember what he's talking about in South Carolina. You know, he didn't really have a message. All he could do was whine about other campaigns. So, we believe we're well positioned to do that, do well on March 1. [Blackwell:] Let me ask you about Dr. Ben Carson who said last night he's not going anywhere, coming in last place here. The expectation would be some of those votes would go to Ted Cruz. At least that was your pitch in Iowa. How does that complicate things moving forward for you if Dr. Carson continues to take 6, 7, 8 percent moving through the next few states? [Tyler:] Well, he did take 7 percent and despite that, we still virtually tied for second. So, Dr. Carson will have to make up his mind about his own campaign, whether he wants to be to go on and take votes from the conservatives, or whether he would like to get out of race. But that is up to him. I do we'll work very hard to win over not only his supporters but the supporter of other campaigns. That is what this is all about. The dynamic is the going to change. And again, we've got the resources and the money, and we're prepared to compete and we'll compete hard. [Blackwell:] You know, something stood out to me last night from Senator Cruz's speech. He gave this lofty victorious speech after coming in third place and I thought back to Marco Rubio's speech after coming in third place in Iowa. And I want you to listen to what Senator Cruz said after Rubio's speech in Iowa. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] I mean, I was laughing watching some of the media coverage, some of the interviews afterwards where everyone was saying, what do you think about the amazing third place finish of Marco? And I just kind of laughed and said, gosh, is the media giving the tell there when the first thing you want to talk about is the amazing third place finish. You know, we've been joking that in media world, bronze is the new gold. [Blackwell:] There seems to be a goose and gander cliche here. Did Ted Cruz not give last night the best third place speech since Marco Rubio? It seems to be a similarity there. [Tyler:] I think he did a very good speech. He was rallying and thankful for his supporters, in South Carolina. But remember, Marco Rubio does not he has not won a state. We won Iowa. We came in third in a blue state, where Marco should have done well. He came in fifth, and we're virtually tied in South Carolina, where you do have a liberal contingent that helped, and we had other people in the race. So, we're in good shape. No one would have predicted we'd be in this position, even months and weeks ago, that we would have won Iowa. We would have cone done so well in a blue state. That we would come in the top three and almost virtually tied for the first three states. So, look, we're excited and we're ready to go forward. [Blackwell:] All right. Rick Tyler, I know you had a long a night. We appreciate you waking up early to be with us on [New Day. Tyler:] You, too. All right. Good. Thank you. [Blackwell:] Thank you, Rick. Now, this Thursday, it's the last debate before Super Tuesday. The narrowed field will be on stage together with Wolf Blitzer live from Texas for the CNN Republican presidential debate. That's Thursday at 8:30 p.m. right here on [Cnn. Amara Walker, Cnn Anchor:] All right. When we come back to NEW DAY, Trump and Hillary are the big winners this weekend. So, where does that leave their rivals? Rubio and Cruz in a virtual tie, and Sanders putting all of his focus on Super Tuesday. We'll discuss the takeaways when we return. Also, a gunman going on a shooting spree in Kalamazoo, killing at least six people including children. We're getting new details on who the suspect is. We will have a live report when we come back. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Guest Anchor:] It's a busy Saturday. Good morning and thank you for joining us this weekend. I'm Ana Cabrera in for Christi Paul. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. Always great to start a Saturday with you. We are starting this Saturday with breaking news out of Nairobi, Kenya. A seven-story apartment building there collapsed. Rescue workers and residents are working side by side. You see them moving the metal and rubble there trying to find anyone who may be alive. Just a short time ago, we got this video for you here. It is an incredible moment. A baby girl, you see her there dressed in pink, pulled out alive, hoisted there above the crowd. They started cheering and applauding. The collapse happened overnight when many people had already gone to bed. [Cabrera:] That's right. We know seven people are confirmed dead, dozens more are hurt. Fears now that other building could come down. Neighboring apartments have been evacuated. I want to get to CNN's Robyn Kriel following this story from Nairobi, joining us on the phone right. Robin, where do the rescue efforts stand right now? [Robyn Kriel, Cnn Correspondent:] At the moment the death toll is at seven. But the good news is that hundreds of people according to police, have been rescued from this. You can just see incredible pictures coming from this terrible building collapse that occurred at around 9:00 p.m. on Friday night inside Nairobi. Now just to give you a bit of context, Ana and Victor, it has been pouring with rain for days. It is rainy season in Kenya and there has been massive flooding across the city. People were killed in their cars, for example, once rivers overflowed. We do know that this particular area is quite low and it is quite prone to flooding and to landslides. In fact I have covered a very tragic landslide there a few years ago where a number of people were killed when rocks landed on their shacks in that area, low-income area. Just incredible pictures, as you can see. Seven stories and only seven dead thus far. We're hoping that the death toll does remain that low throughout the day. Emergency workers having to work through that torrential rain throughout the night and into the day. Kenyan defense forces also called in to try and help. They don't have the normal sort of thermal imaging or rescue dogs that you would use perhaps in the United States or if there was an earthquake in some countries that have that sort of equipment and disaster management. But what we do have here in Kenya is an enormous amount of heart. You see the Kenyan Red Cross working tirelessly to pull people from the rubble. Good stories, babies being pulled. The question is how many people are buried under this rubble and how long is it going to take rescue authorities to get to them. Apparently, they have been speaking on the phone to some people who are still inside and thankfully are still alive, but it is a race against time here in Nairobi. [Blackwell:] All right, Robyn Kriel there for us reporting live on these remarkable pictures and this rush to find survivors after this building collapse in Nairobi. Thank you so much, Robyn. Angry protesters outside a Donald Trump event. This is in Burlingame, California. You see here it gets physical, pushing and shoving between protesters and the police there. You can hear the chanting. Protesters saying "Dump Trump." All this forced Donald Trump's motorcade to pull over so he could sneak in to the hotel's back entrance. You see him here on the side of the road hopping over this pathway up the embankment and crossed the road to get into the back of that Hyatt hotel. And of course, Donald Trump took the opportunity to talk about what happened outside that meeting. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] That was not the easiest entrance I've ever made. My wife called, she said there following you and then we went under a fence and through a fence. Oh, boy, felt like I was crossing the border actually. You know? It's true. [Blackwell:] Let's bring in Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, and also a Hillary Clinton supporter, and Scottie Neil Hughes, CNN national political commentator for USA Radio Networks, radio commentator and Trump surrogate. Ladies, good morning to you. Scottie, I want to start with you. For those people who are undecided ahead of the next few contests, maybe even leaning toward Donald Trump, what do you say to those people who watched what happened Thursday night in Costa Mesa and yesterday in Burlingame? And we should say that these are the protests outside of the event, but believe that it will be difficult, if not impossible, for Donald Trump to go on for six months with these types of national aesthetics and win a general election. [Scottie Neil Hughes, National Political Commentator For Usa Radio Networks:] Well, it depends on who you're watching. Are you watching the maybe thousand or hundreds that were on the outside that were jumping on police cars that might have actual grievances on it? However, the way that they're choosing to voice those grievances and I have to tell you, sitting there and watching the Mexican flag being flown, I don't think they're taking the best way of putting their message forward. I think it actually might even backfire or are you watching the people inside, that peaceably are gathering and just want to hear from a potential candidate that they may vote for in the California election. So I think right now it just depends on who you are watching and who actually has a better way of delivering their message. There might be some actual grievances that the Latino community has with Mr. Trump's plan. However what we are seeing in these scenes right here are not the best way to get them across. They have the right to gather. They do have that freedom, but it's to peaceably gather, not to sit there and to cause physical or violent damage and attack Trump supporters, or those who might just be wanting to attend a political rally. [Blackwell:] Yes, let me bring that to you, Maria. Michael Smerconish was on live as this was happening yesterday. He said for many people when they see this happening outside of a Trump event and the attempt to stop him from speaking, that will embolden his message and help him. Your concerns there. [Maria Cardona, Cnn Political Commentator:] Sure, it will embolden his message and it will embolden his supporters. That's what we have seen from the moment that he jumped on to the political scene. But what it won't do, it won't bring people together and make them think that this is the best person to become our commander in chief. Our commander in chief, the president of the United States, should be somebody that is bringing people together, that is exactly the opposite of what Mr. Trump has done from the moment he came on to the scene, the day that he announced his candidacy, calling Mexican immigrants rapists. And I could go on from there in terms of the insults of the different groups of people that he has denigrated, that he has insulted. And so this is a huge problem I think for the GOP moving forward. There is a reason why there is a never Trump movement. Because they know that having Donald Trump as the standard bearer for the Republican Party, who is in desperate need of growing the demographics within the country to be able to support their party to be able to get to the White House. And I can name you Latinos, women, young people, African-Americans, multi-cultural Americans. These are the demographics that he has time and again insulted. There's no way that he has the path to the White House without growing. [Blackwell:] Speaking of insults, one of the person he insulted was Hillary Clinton and Hillary Clinton spoke with our Jake Tapper about some of those criticisms. Here's what she said. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I have a lot of experience dealing with men who sometimes get off the reservation in the way they behave and how they speak. I'm not going to deal with their temper tantrums or their bullying or their efforts to try to provoke me. He can say whatever he wants to say about me. I couldn't really care less. [Blackwell:] That was in response to one of Jake's questions about Donald Trump's characterization of Secretary Clinton as "crooked Hillary." We saw that low-energy Jeb Bush, little Marco, Lyin'ted, those things stuck. Is that the most effective response, do you believe, Maria, to ignore those criticisms? [Cardona:] I don't think she was ignoring them. I actually think she was answering them in a pretty direct manner, but in a way that makes her look above board and above the ugly, disgusting, divisive political rhetoric that he's using. He's she's using it to focus on her actual message because what she continues to say is that she doesn't care if he insults her. She can take it. She's been in this business for more than 30 years. She's a big girl. She's been knocked down and she's been getting up every single time. [Blackwell:] Gotcha. [Cardona:] But what her focus is, is that she will be there to speak up for all those women who he also speaks about and insults. And they're the ones who need a voice. [Blackwell:] I've got to get to Scottie very quickly here. Is this different because now you're dealing with Hillary Clinton? You're dealing with a female opponent? We saw what happened this week after his use of the word the phrase "the woman card." [Hughes:] That's the double standard Hillary Clinton's trying to invoke. Don't say you want to be counted equal as a man when you the first thing you do is pull this gender card, "I only deal with men." I would have a lot more respect for Mrs. Clinton's statement if she'd have set gender neutral and men and women have thrown temper tantrums. She's already attacking Mr. Trump as a man. That is exist which is what I think you're going to see her main type of deflection when it comes to any policy or criticism in rightfully so of her. It is the gender card she plays. Not necessarily Mr. Trump. [Blackwell:] All right, they are both turning toward the general election now. Scottie Neil Hughes, Maria Cardona, thanks so much. Up next, a milestone for Donald Trump and his delegates in the count surpassing the 1,000 mark. The focus is on Indiana. Why the Hoosier state is critical in this quest for the nomination and Ted Cruz says it could all come down to this state. [Cabrera:] He's calling it a cliff for his own campaign. Also people in the plains waking up to piles of debris. Lot of damage this morning after tornadoes ripped through the heartland last night. [Cooper:] About 40 minutes or so until the CNN Libertarian Town Hall. More now on the turbulence inside the GOP and the Trump campaign. Nearly Trump running mate, Mike Pence, is breaking with Donald Trump. He says with Trump's blessing endorsing House Speaker, Paul Ryan. [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Nominee:] I strongly support Paul Ryan, strongly endorse his re-election. He's a long-time friend. He is a strong conservative leader. I believe we need Paul Ryan in leadership in the Congress of the United States. [Cooper:] Trump, of course, I remember made a point yesterday of not endorsing him or Senator John McCain. Our Gary Tuchman caught up with Senator McCain and has this report. [Gary Tuchman, Cnn National Correspondent:] Right away, John McCain made it clear he preferred not to talk about issues involving Donald Trump. [Sen. John Mccain, Arizona:] Before you go any further I have said everything that I want to say. [Tuchman:] But there were certainly questions to ask Arizona Senior Senator after Trump said he would not support McCain in his primary raise later this month. And Mr. Trump said yesterday he will not support you. My question is, if presidential election were today, would vote for Donald Trump for president? [Mccain:] I have said that I would support the nominee of the party. And let me just say to you, that is the last time. If I change my view or my position, then you will be among the first to know, OK? [Tuchman:] Donald Trump has not treated John McCain with a lot of respect during this campaign. This past summer Trump said the former Vietnam POW was not a hero. [Trump:] I like people that weren't captured, OK? [Tuchman:] Many Republicans denounced Trump at the time for saying that and many of them are not supporting Trump, but John McCain, the Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee is not one of them, at least yet. Are you comfortable with Donald Trump possibly having control of the nuclear arsenal? [Mccain:] I anyone that the people of this country choose to be the commander in chief and the president of the United States, therefore, can lead this country and will lead in a responsible fashion, anyone who is elected president fairly of this country and that's the way that our democratic system works. That's the way our government works. The American people select the next president of the United States knowing full well what the role of the commander-in-chief is. Therefore, I have the utmost respect for the verdict of the people. [Cooper:] And Gary joins us from Chandler, Arizona. Did McCain have anything else have to say or anything else to say about the fact that Governor Pence and Trump don't always seem to be on the same page as we saw with Pence's endorsement of Ryan? [Tuchman:] Well, you can see Anderson, presidential politics was not John McCain's favorite subject today. [Cooper:] Yeah, clearly. [Tuchman:] We did ask him about Trump and Pence yeah, very much so. We did ask him about both the candidates. He said it's not his job to critique Trump and Pence. He did say, however, that it's his job to focus on the state of Arizona which is not an unusual thing for a senator or a congressman or a governor to say when they are running for re-election. I think it is important to tie though, Anderson, while he said nothing negative anything about Donald Trump today to us. He also did not say anything positive. [Cooper:] Gary, appreciate it. Thanks very much. Back with the panel. I mean, David, it's so interesting because when Donald Trump has continually gone after John McCain on the things John McCain is perhaps best known for I mean, his, you know, heroic service turning to be an amore is, you know, being held as a POW. And yet John I mean, I'm just how is it that John McCain can continue to say he will is it just politics? [Chalian:] It is, because John McCain needs Donald Trump's base of support to help him win this election... [Cooper:] Right. [Chalian:] ... for re-election... [Cooper:] But he's got a primary coming up for the... [Chalian:] He got a primary first but he needs it also in the fall. He needs that core base of support that his that are fans of Donald Trump. That's going to be part of John McCain's winning coalitions. He doesn't want to do anything to necessarily offend them. Now, you saw that Mike Pence came out to endorse Paul Ryan today. I don't if know that that will happen with John McCain also but you sort of see Mike Pence now playing the yin to Donald Trump's yang and doing sort of clean up. What he meant to say was that sort of it seems to be Mike Pence's job these days on the campaign trail. [Cooper:] If Donald Trump continues to have the kind of week that he had, Andre I mean, you're a supporter of Donald Trump, does that give cover to more Republicans to back away from him or yeah, does it give cover for more Republicans, do you think? Or do you think you're going to see more Republicans starting to back away? [Bauer:] If he continues and the media has pounded on him somewhat... [Cooper:] It's been a tough week. [Bauer:] ... he's taken a lot of hits. You know, the more hits you take, the easier it is for someone to get off the train. If he rebounds quickly and asserts himself as a real leader, it probably diffuses the last few days of bad days. But you can't continue like downward slope without pumping the brakes every now and then. [Cooper:] Do you think McCain is going to stand by his endorsement of Trump? I mean, at this point... [Bauer:] Probably, so. He McCain is a shrewd politician and he's been there a long time and he knows and I think he's held it he's done very well on how he handled himself. He's a gentleman. I have see endorsed him the first time he run for president. And, you know, he's in a tough spot, he's in a quagmire but he's kind doing it well. [Cooper:] Yeah I mean, he's got this tough primary Errol, on the August 30th. How does he continue to walk that line? [Louis:] Well, he has said, in fact, that it's going to be one of the hardest races he's ever had to run. There's no question about that. I mean, he and other down-ballot candidates have been trying to figure out a way to sort of rhetorically separate themselves from Trump. And I'll tell you, one thing that makes it a little easier for them is that the comments are so outrageous, and there's so distant from what any elected official would say or has said that it's believable when they say, this guy doesn't speak for me. You know, it's very hard to sort of find somebody who everybody could point to and say, that's a Trump Republican. [Cooper:] And Tara I mean, you're a Republican, you're not a Trump fan clearly, do you want to see others Republicans full support with Donald Trump? [Setmayer:] Yes. [Cooper:] You do? [Setmayer:] Absolutely. [Cooper:] Because? [Setmayer:] Because what do we stand for as a party if we continue to support what Donald Trump is doing. [Cooper:] So you're looking you think that for long term... [Setmayer:] Yes. For the health of the for the health of the Republican Party, for the conservative movement, Donald Trump doesn't represent anything for the conservative movement, even if he got for being gets elected. You can forget it because he's done after conservatives. He's shown that he has absolutely no respect in regard for what the what real conservatism means. And I've always said that people like Paul Ryan and others should have stood by and said he should earn our vote and unless he does, I'm not giving it to him. And here's a perfect example of that. [Cooper:] Andre, Governor Perry, you know, for instance says, the number one issue is Supreme Court that's why I'm going with Donald Trump, even though he was the first candidate entered for the primary season to blast Donald Trump on his face and things like that. As a Republican and as a conservative, do you worry about a long-term damage to the party if I know, Donald Trump continues if Donald Trump implodes in some way or does a bad job? [Bauer:] There is a double-edged sword. He's bringing new folks... [Cooper:] Right. [Bauer:] ... to the party which is what he tried to do. So he has a lot of new excitement in the party... [Cooper:] Right. [Bauer:] ... from folks that aren't involved and haven't been in the past but he is also alienating some of the core base that says these are two outlandish issues for me to digest. [Cooper:] Right. But you don't think it can do permanent damage? I mean, you think the party is stronger than that? [Bauer:] Oh, because we're really only a two-party system and the parties have gotten further and further apart. It's the identity is hard to leave the party. [Setmayer:] Let me say something really quick about that. CBS came out with a poll that showed only 55 percent of conservatives are willing to support Donald Trump where you had George Bush and Mitt Romney I mean, I'm sorry, McCain and Romney had up in the '80s or so, George Bush too. There are the conservative movement is being pulled apart by Donald Trump because there are so many of us that look at it, who character perspective. And as far as the Supreme Court is concerned, the Senate is the most important aspect of the Supreme Court. A president can nominate whoever they want, but they have to be approved by the Senate. [Cooper:] Right. Right. [Setmayer:] If the Republicans lose the Senate, we only have a four- seat means property, then it's a moot point whoever is the president. We can't trust Trump with anything that he says. [Cooper:] A lot more to talk about ahead, including the contingency plans. Some Republicans are actually mapping out just in case Donald Trump suddenly quits the race, if that's even possible. If that would happen, what would it take for a new nominee to be picked? Isn't even possible? Tom Foreman actually walks us through what the rules are. Coming up at the top of the hour, Gary Johnson and his running mate, William Weld, join me for CNN's Libertarian Town Hall. We'll be taking questions from the audience. [Inaudible] is going to be interesting. Please stick around for that. We'll be right back. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, Cnn Military Analyst:] a potential Saddam target when we got it but also during the Tora Bora fight in Afghanistan when we were just entering that battle field going after Osama bin Laden. It is, as Barbara stated, a concussive weapon which means the blast is what is the main effect of the weapon. It isn't like dropping a bomb and you're hoping to blow something up. You literally have the concussive effect of going into caves or into buildings where you have a very good analysis of the area and you know that it is a very large area that you want to destroy because of enemy activity there. This bomb has been tested. The air force has looked at it for over a decade, actually, John, and it quite frankly surprises me that they used it now. But it must mean that they had a very good target to use it against. And instead of using artillery where you have an area fire weapon and multiple rounds or you drop a lot of either dumb or what we call dumb bombs which are not guided tour to target or precision bombs which are guided precisely to a very small area, this is something you would use for a very large area like a camp or a building that has a lot of targets in it or something where you want to cause not only a destructive effect but a huge psychological effect as well. [John King, Cnn Anchor:] You said you were surprised, General Hertling. Explain that for us. If surprised because it just it has been in the inventory but hasn't been used or surprised because there's a certain threshold for using this particular weapon? [Hertling:] No. There's no threshold for using it. And again, it is a conventional munition. But you have to ensure when you drop it somewhere, John, that there is no potential for collateral damage. When you drop this thing, it is going to destroy everything in the what they call the circular area of probability. The place where you drop it and the radius around that place you drop it, you've got to make sure you don't have any kind of friendly collateral damage or any kind of civilian casualties. So they must have had the Air Force must have had a very good target based on special operations forces targeting this weapon. And the only reason I say it's a surprise is because normally artillery or more precise weapons can be used if you have a smaller target. This must have required a large piece of munitions for a very large target. And I would think it's probably some type of base camp or training camp or some type of facility that is doing something very unusual. [King:] General Hertling, stand by. I want to go back to this very point about the context. So just back to Barbara Starr, live of course at the Pentagon. Barbara, I'm sure there's new information about. Why this target? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Senior Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, I just wanted to point out as General Hertling knows a lot better than I do, he's absolutely right, of course. This is a weapon that would be used against a large footprint on the ground. We know there were tunnels there, likely other facilities. But it is the location also in Nangarhar, in eastern Afghanistan that is worth noting. This is very close to the Pakistan border. This is an area where after so many years of fighting and operations by U.S. forces, it's still a border that is not really controlled in a very substantive way. And they have seen ISIS develop along the Afghanistan side of this border. So I would think there would be some concern about people moving back and forth into Pakistan. Now, this is an ISIS affiliate, if you will. These are people who identify themselves as ISIS adherence, ISIS fighters in this very remote region of Afghanistan along the Pakistan border. But as again, I think General Hertling can explain probably better than I. This kind of fighters, they often identify themselves at different times with different loyalties. So the fact that they say they're ISIS, it's still going to be the case that the U.S. doesn't want these type of insurgents, these typical of terrorists going back and forth across that Pakistan border. So, they had been watching Nangarhar, and that's why you had troops up there over the last couple of weeks, and again where that special operations soldier died a few days again a gunfight, it's exactly why you have them up there. It may well be that this remote area, you know, you get to the point where operations on foot just aren't going to make it if the fighters retreat into their complexes, into their mountain hideouts, into the very, very remote areas. It becomes much tougher for U.S. and Afghan forces on foot to be able to operate up there over long periods of time. It may be the case that this may have just added up to they looked at it and decided this was the way they wanted to get rid of this target once and for all and it also, again, we've talked about it so much in Syria and Iraq, it sends a message, it sends a message to insurgent that the U.S. military will come after them, John. [King:] It certainly does send the message. Barbara, stand by if you can. If you need to sneak off to do some reporting, just let our producers know as we bring in the conversation. CNN senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh, he's joining us from Erbil, Iraq. But Nick, you're obviously very familiar with this region and more broadly with the fight against ISIS. When you hear Barbara Starr talk about the use of this weapon that the Pentagon has never used before, this giant bomb on what they believe to be a camp and tunnels of an ISIS affiliate, what does it tell you and what can you tell us specifically about this area of Afghanistan? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, I think it gives you a snapshot really of quite how desperate the fighting has got in Afghanistan. This is no small measure for the U.S. military and that price of collateral damage you heard must have weighed heavily on the minds of those deciding whether or not to use massive ordinance like this. Action in the area we're talking about has been populated, but it also a place that ISIS has moved into and kicked people out of their homes from as well. In fact, I actually interviewed a while back some Taliban fighters who had in fact been recruited by the Afghan government to fight ISIS in that particular area to kick them out. Now actually in this very remote, it's in one of the remotest parts of the world. Frankly Nangarhar is a place where the Americans tried desperately to hold bases at certain times some of the remotest parts of the world. An action itself has been the sort of main focal points and stronghold of ISIS since they sort of first raised their head about two years ago now. They kind of began it seemed to come across the border from Pakistan. Many Afghan analysts suggested they sort of harnessed some of the young angry energy in Afghanistan that was disillusioned with the Taliban insurgency. It's been going for years, decades now almost, and began to build up in numbers, to get a following, to get money too. They had a lot of cash to attract people to their ideas. Action became one of their key areas. They moved to other villages around there as well. They've been there long enough to potentially grow a ton of network. What we've seen here in Iraq how tunnels and in Syria as well is such a vital part of keeping away from the drones that the coalition or the U.S. and Afghanistan will fly to try and hunt them out. But last year, the Afghan army with an awful lot of U.S. support moved into action, did a pretty good job of kicking a lot of ISIS out there, put them on their back foot, but then ISIS have returned. And they're not just returned in terms of territory. They've returned as an ideological brand with some force in Afghanistan. So I say the Taliban isn't as popular as it used to be. It's broad, it's fractured, it's become more criminal to some degree. And I think perhaps to some wolf's minds the purity of the ISIS brand has appealed. And we've seen them attack a key hospital in Central Kabul right across from the U.S. embassy in just the last month or so and more recently a bomb near the defense ministry. They're probing into the capital. They're trying to show how powerful they are. As Barbara said, ISIS will there was different franchise. This is I.S. Khorasan, Khorasan being sort of historical name for Afghanistan and Pakistan where this extremist group wants to plant its roots. We don't always know who they are. They could be central agent figures disenfranchised from vital elsewhere. I should bear in mind too, there's an awful lot more Al-Qaeda concerns in Afghanistan than there were three or fours years ago. I remember back in 2010, 2011, the U.S. forces would try and suggested they got the Al-Qaeda under control. That's very different to the noises you hear now. Key Al-Qaeda sympathizer is now the pretty high level in the Taliban ranks, the military commander, Siraj Haqqani. And I think that's got many concerned that Al-Qaeda are getting breeding room again in there. So while we say ISIS, there may be other extremists in this, their brothers in arms so to speak. But the fact that such a massive bomb is being dropped in action presumably shows they felt they had little choice. It perhaps shows the nature and extent of a threat they thought this tunnel camp potentially posed. And it may be also shows as well how much are the gloves are off. But potentially ideas which under the painstaking rules of civilian casualties would have been inconceivable potentially three or four years ago. And I don't I must stress we don't know at this point any collateral damage but we do know if you a drop a bomb that size you don't really get to pick and choose who you hit. We do know that potentially this kind of firepower is now on the table as a weapon in a war as exhausting as fractured and staggeringly complex. And for the U.S. financially exhausting, emotionally exhausting in blood and treasure at Afghanistan has be. It is still their longest war, John. You have to remember combat operations haven't really ended there. [King:] Combat operations really haven't ended there. And President Trump, the new president of United States, Nick, as you all know facing big decisions about continued U.S. military presence, the NATO role in Afghanistan. I want to quickly recap for our international viewers who just joined us. Dramatic breaking news on CNN. First reporter, our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr, the United States has dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb. Its largest non-nuclear bomb dropped by the United Sates. Right there you see it in Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. It is an MOAB. It is a 21,600 pound GPS guided munition, most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. Air Force arsenal dropped down. What Barbara Starr tells us the Pentagon says is an ISIS camp complete with tunnels underground in this area of Afghanistan. We'll continue to gather new information on this dramatic breaking story. We're going to take a quick break "Inside Politics. We'll be back in just a moment. Breaking news here for you at CNN. In receipt hours, the United States air force has dropped its largest non-nuclear bomb on what's believed to be an ISIS camp. Right there you see the red drop, Nangarhar province in Afghanistan. A major escalation by the Trump administration. Let's go straight to our senior Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, you broke this news a short time ago. You've been doing some additional reporting on the targeting in the first ever use of this massive weapon. What's the latest? [Starr:] John, what we now know is the authority to conduct this air strike had to be approved at the four star level by General Joseph Votel, the head of the U.S. Central Command. Someone very familiar with Afghanistan. This area in Nangarhar, in eastern Afghanistan quite close to the Pakistan border, we now have additional information from the U.S. military. They went against a tunnel and cave complex in this remote mountain region that ISIS had basically retreated to. They were able to strike this tunnel and cave complex with this very large, the largest non-nuclear bomb the U.S. has in its inventory and they say still be assured that they weren't striking civilians or other Afghan or U.S. special operation forces still in the Nangarhar region. The U.S. has been up in that region for several weeks now trying to work to, as they say, clear out the ISIS forces there. It has been a deadly operation for them. So I think clearly the military objective was to drop this bomb and basically get it over and done with and get the ISIS forces killed off in that region. Not let them escape back across the border to Pakistan. A little bit unusual I still have to say. We have not ever seen this bomb used in combat. As General Hertling was saying a short time ago, this is something the U.S. had worked on for probably a decade. There's video of the extensive testing of it, but they've never used it. It had been secretly in Afghanistan for some time we are told. Our Pentagon reporter Ryan Browne finding out that it had been there. There had been an aircraft there. It had been stationed there waiting for the right target to come along to use it. And when they flew the mission just a few hours ago, it didn't come from overseas. It was a cargo aircraft and the bomb already located in Afghanistan that they used. So they obviously had in mind to keep this secreted away, if you will, and be able to pull it out of inventory and use it when they found the right target. Apparently a few hours ago they felt that they did. John? [King:] And Barbara, just from your experience or from what sources are telling you this afternoon, obviously you have to let the event clear and then you do a battle damage assessment to see what you've got on the ground, how success you were and what the follow-up challenges are. Any sense of how long it will take for that assessment to be made? [Starr:] Well, I think in the daylight hours, they will be flying and it's looking at the clock over here, it's nighttime now. Dark in Afghanistan. They will flying reconnaissance over the area, drones, aircraft. Some of them will have night time capability but they will want to take a very close look at it in the daylight hours and see the level of the damage that they were able to cause. I think for two reasons, John. One, to absolutely see that the target is destroyed and that they were able to destroy it. But again, because they've never used it in combat, this will be something that intelligence analysts will want to really pour over and make sure the weapon actually worked as designed and as expected. This is a first. So, they're going to want to take a very close look at it and get all the intelligence they can, analyze exactly what damage they were able to inflict. John? [King:] An important point. Barbara, thank you for the fabulous reporting. We'll get back you to as developments occur. I want to bring into the conversation our military analyst Retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Colonel, let's pick up on what Barbara just left off. If you're sitting there planning an operation and people are bringing you your options and you decide to use this, the mother of all bomb as it's known in shorthand, largest non-nuclear bomb the United State Air Force has in its arsenal. Take us through both the military implications of that, consequences of that and perhaps the psychological message you're sending in same time. [Ret. Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] Well, this bomb is 11,000 it's 11 sorry, 11 tons of TNT, so it's going to set off an enormous blast. It will feel like a nuclear weapon to those anywhere near the area. So there's the psychological thing. But you have to figure out what weapon you want to use when a target presents itself. And in this area, you know, mountains and caves and this tunnel complex that they're very concerned about, you want something that's going to be able to get a blast effect into those caves, into those tunnels and this is the weapon to do that. The overpressure from this weapon will send shock waives through this tunnel system and it will kill almost everybody in there. That's why you use this particular weapon. It is an untested weapon. We never used it before, so it will be interesting to see how it actually works in a combat environment. It basically pushed out the back of a C-130. I think it weighs out at about 25,000 pounds when it comes off the aircraft. [King:] And so if you're talking about a big underground tunnel complex, describe for me sort of if you're sitting in the room planning this out. You say if you're in a tunnel, no matter how far underground or how deep. I mean, what is the capacity if you have a large underground complex like this, you can kill everybody? [Francona:] Well, it depends on, you know, the proximity of the blast to the tunnels and how extensive the tunnel network is. But when you drop this thing in the middle of an area where you've got tunnel exits, that blast is going to ripple through this and cause such an overpressure that it will kill, you know, anybody within a certain range. We don't know what that range will be but it will be hundreds of meters. [King:] All right. Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, we appreciate your expertise and insights. I just want to come quickly into the room here. The dramatic breaking news changing our conversation today. What does it tell us about the new commander-in-chief and the questions he faces in Afghanistan? He just said yesterday he's sending his national security adviser to Afghanistan to make big choices about the continued U.S. military presence. [Julie Pace, Associated Press:] And really interesting because we actually haven't heard much from Trump both as a candidate and since taking office about Afghanistan. It's the country's longest war and yet one that hasn't gotten a lot of attention compared to ISIS and some of the other conflicts that he's talked about. But clearly it shows that he is as we know after the Syrian strikes, he is willing to use force in quite dramatic ways. [Abby Phillip, The Washington Post:] And one of the things the President has done according to folks in the Middle East region and also according to military officials is given the military more agency over combat decisions, allowing them to do more and not sort of holding back. I mean, the Obama administration really had a very high bar for engagement in part because what he wanted to do was withdraw from some of these wars. Trump is very much allowing the military folks on the ground to make decisions about what's necessary to defeat ISIS which he which in some ways you could look at this as a fulfillment of his promise to really prosecute that war in a more aggressive way. [Unidentified Female:] And he has surrounded himself by generals and there is significant for anything. He listens to them. It will be fascinating to find out in the coming days the conversations that were held in advance of this and who he was listening to and who was giving him recommendations. [Jonathan Martin, The New York Times:] And judging for an hour, if there's anything that Trump promised during the campaign that all those chemicals at this table that he was going to bomb the stuff out of ISIS. You know, he didn't use that word. This is not a kind of new occurrence here. This is something he's talked about. His policy views are often incoherent, but he generally does not like land wars and does prefer projecting American power when it comes to folks who are hard threats to this country. And if he can by, again, using you know, from the air, from the sea rather than boots on the ground and doing it in a very demonstrative way and clearly that's what's happening. [King:] Clearly that's what's happening today. If you're just joining us, dramatic breaking news, the Pentagon using for the first time its largest non-nuclear bomb dropped on the camp ISIS camp in Afghanistan. That's it for "Inside Politics." Appreciate your time today. So just breaking news. A reminder standing by for the White House press briefing, no doubt this will come up in Sean Spicer's briefing just moments from now. The dramatic move by the Pentagon in Afghanistan. Wolf Blitzer is in the chair. He'll pick up our breaking news coverage right after the break. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. We're following breaking news right now as we keep an eye also on the White House briefing room. At any moment, we expect to see the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer come to the microphone to brief reporters. There's a lot certainly for Spicer to sift through today for President Trump's of course change on NATO, the threat from North Korea and the expected cooperation with China. Plus the fallout from Secretary of State Tillerson's meetings with the Russian leader Vladimir Putin. And reaction to an interview released this morning with the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But first I want to go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. She's at the Pentagon. Also standing by our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh from Erbil in Iraq and our CNN military analyst retired General James Spider Marks. So Barbara we're now learning about a major change in U.S. military action in Afghanistan with the dropping of what's described as the largest non-nuclear bomb ever used in combat. You broke the story. Tell us about it. [Starr:] Wolf, quite an extraordinary and sudden turn of events here at the Pentagon today. We learned a short time ago for the first time in combat the U.S. military dropped a 21,000 pound bomb in eastern Afghanistan to destroy a complex of caves and tunnels it says was being used by ISIS fighters in this area of Afghanistan close to the Pakistan border in an area called Nangarhar province. Let's talk about this weapon for a minute. Its formal name is the massive ordnance air blast bomb, MOAB. But I will tell you, inside the air force, inside the military it quite seriously is referred to as the mother of all bombs. 21,000 pounds. It is an air blast weapon. It penetrates a little bit, but this is not the typical bunker buster that we've all known about for so many years. It basically detonates and the damage is caused by massive blast in the air. This bomb is so heavy. It is put on board a special operations cargo plane and basically pushed out the back. They dropped it. They've been looking at that target for some time. It's an area where U.S. and Afghan forces have been trying to get rid of, kill off the ISIS fighters in this area. A U.S. special operations soldier was killed there in combat just several days ago. This is an area they wanted to get after very badly. Very remote. Very mountainous. ISIS retreating into caves and tunnels, so it's becoming clear that this was a weapon they thought they could use here and get the effect they wanted. All of these, Wolf, comes as the Trump administration, in fact, is considering the possibility of sending additional troops to Afghanistan, U.S. troops to help train the Afghan forces even [Sciutto:] You're looking at live pictures of Marco Rubio speaking at a conservative forum in South Carolina where most of the republican candidates are on tonight. Donald Trump, originally scheduled to join them, cancelling at the last minute as a politically charge though, repeatedly debunked myth about President Obama was revived at a Trump rally last night. Let's start with some facts. President Obama is an American born here in the United States and a Christian. But seven years into his presidency, a significant number of Americans, especially Republicans just don't believe it. That startling contrast came into focus last night when Donald Trump faced a supporter who questioned the President's faith and birthplace. And Donald stayed silent. Why won't the questions dot? Jim Acosta is OUTFRONT. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] They are lies President Obama has heard before. They hounded his first bid to the White House, not they're back just as his approaching the end of his second term. This time, it was a false smear about the President's religion at a Donald Trump rally. [Unidentified Male:] We have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims. We now our current president is one. [Trump:] Right. [Unidentified Male:] You know he's not even an American. [Trump:] We need this question as the first question. [Acosta:] Trump's failure to set the record straight was no shocker to White House aides who heard the GOP front-runner repeatedly deny the truth of the matter, that the President is a Christian who was born in Hawaii. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] Is anybody really surprised that this happened at a Donald Trump rally? [Acosta:] But the White House did note, unlike trump, Mr. Obama's one- time rival John McCain made it clear seven years ago when false rumors first swirled in the heat of that campaign. [Unidentified Female:] He is not Arab. He is not? [Mccain:] No, ma'am. [Unidentified Female:] No? [Mccain:] No, ma'am. No, ma'am. He's he's a decent family man, citizens that I just happen to have disagreements with. [Acosta:] Colin Powell did the same just days later. [Colin Powell, Former Secretary Of State:] Well, the correct answer is, he's not a Muslim. He's a Christian. He's always been a Christian. But the really right answer is, what if he is? [Acosta:] Four years ago, it was Trump who led the birther movement, questioning the President's background. [Trump:] Very simple. I have people looking into it. [Acosta:] The President responded, posted his own birth certificate, dubbed Trump a carnival barker. [Pres. Barack Obama , United States:] We do not have time for this kind of silliness. [Acosta:] And then mocked him at the White House Correspondents' Dinner days later. [Obama:] For the first time, I'm releasing my official birth video. [Acosta:] Despite the President's numerous speeches about his Christian faith [Obama:] It led me to embrace Jesus Christ as my lord and savior. [Acosta:] Twenty nine percent of Americans still believe the President is a Muslim. As to 43 percent of Republicans and more than half of Trump's supporters, the lies live on in social media. Every time the President tweets, the smears are tweeted right back at him. The White House insists it's up to Republicans to stop it. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] This is a cynical strategy that too many republican politicians have doubled in because for some of them, it's proved to be successful. [Acosta:] The White House officials all but rolled their eyes after the Trump campaign claimed today that Trump did not hear his supporter calling the President a Muslim or doubting that he was born in the United States. Aides to the President are just not buying that. And Jim, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner did put out a statement lashing out at the White House saying that the White House crossed the line and tying Trump to Republicans. That's a sign that the speaker's office is not too pleased with all of this controversy that Donald Trump is causing, seemingly every day Jim. [Sciutto:] Jim Acosta at the White House. OUTFRONT now, democratic Congressman Andre Carson of Indiana. He's the second Muslim ever to be elected to Congress. First Muslim to sit on the House Intelligence Committee. Congressman Carson, thank you for joining us tonight. [Rep. Andre Carson , House Intelligence Committee:] Thanks for having us. [Sciutto:] So, it's been four years since the President has released his birth certificate. He's often spoke of his Christian faith, yet you still see these polls, 29 percent of Americans don't believe he's a Muslim. Forty three percent of Republicans. How do you explain these numbers? [Carson:] Well, I think it's clear that there's a deep level of anxiety in our country as it relates to race and even religion. President Obama has stated very explicitly that he is a Christian and what makes President Obama so great is that he, his life story, he has a global life story and he has a global vision. You know, the founding fathers, as imperfect as they were, as imperfect as we all are, they were at least visionary when they established in Article 6 of our constitution, that there should not be a religious test to hold a public office. And anyone seeking the presidency has to know that he or she will represent all of America, non-theists, Muslims, Christians, Sheiks, Jewish, brothers and sisters, this is a pluralistic society in a very diverse society and if he can't pass that test, Mr. Trump, then it's going to be a tough road for him. [Sciutto:] I want to ask you, we noticed the silence today, not just of Donald Trump but of most of the GOP candidates on this. Only Chris Christie and Lindsey Graham coming out to slam Donald Trump for those remarks. Senator Santorum actually said, it was not Donald Trump's responsibility to respond. A lot of silence there. You heard David Axelrod's called or rather Josh Earnest call this a cynical strategy by Republicans. Is it intentional to let these doubts and fears sort of live and hang out there, to appeal to a certain part of their base? Is that an intentional political strategy? [Carson:] Not only is it intentional, it's insidious. I think that David Axelrod was correct in saying that Trump did not want to incite his base. Let's be very clear, Mr. Trump is not an unintelligent man. I've met him before. And having said that, I think that there's a tendency, when you're looking at poll numbers each and every day, and you're being a even being provocative helps to push you in numbers and helps to increase your popularity, I think that often becomes confronties and solidified in a way that is hurtful and harmful because when the debate is closer and closer and there were fewer of people on that stage, he's going to have to delve deeply into the serious policy issues that deal with education, job creation and our broken infrastructure. [Sciutto:] I want to ask you this. Is there a positive responsibility from the candidates, such as in a situation last night, to knock this kind of speculation down, just as, you know, John McCain did in 2008? Did they have a responsibility not just to sit back and say, hey, the questioner can think what he wants to think but to knock it down? [Carson:] If they are seriously concern about keeping our republic, if I can quote Ben Franklin, then certainly they have a responsibility. There are nearly eight million Muslims in this country. Many of whom hold elective offices. I challenge anyone to go to any major hospital in this country and they'll find a Muslim position. There are Muslim attorneys, they're Muslim businessmen and women who were helping to put Americans back to work. There are Muslims who are in our intelligent services and law enforcement community who are helping to keep our country safe. Surely anyone seeking the highest office in the land must recognize that Muslims are not only here to stay but we are a critical and vital part of our society. [Sciutto:] Congressman Carson, fair words. We appreciate you taking the time tonight. [Carson:] Thank you for having us. [Sciutto:] And OUTFRONT next, we are standing by for Carly Fiorina in South Carolina. Her first public event since her strong debate performance. Will she take on Donald Trump again? [Sen. Elizabeth Warren , Massachusetts:] Trump is picking on someone who is ethically bound not to defend himself, exactly what you would expect from a thin-skinned, racist bully. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that Donald Trump does not become president of the United States. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] All of those Bernie Sanders voters, we welcome you with open arms. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. As you might have noticed last hour, John Berman was a little busy this morning. But thank you for joining us. What a difference a day makes. In the span of an afternoon, Hillary Clinton went from presumptive Democratic nominee to presumptive Democratic nominee with a whole lot of muscle behind her. The president, the vice president, the popular liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren all throwing their support behind Clinton. And speaking of Elizabeth Warren, she's just arrived, as you see here she just arrived at Hillary Clinton's home in. D.C., moments ago for a private meeting with the presumptive nominee, obviously, leaving speculation to run wild right now. What could they be talking about? A V.P. spot perhaps? Minutes, from now Clinton is expected to lay into her rival, Donald Trump, once again, this time, on women's issues in a speech that will be coming up next hour. Trump is also to be speaking next hour before an influential group of evangelicals. We'll be looking to see what he has to say about his rival. A lot could be happening today. First, let's get to CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Joe Johns, for much more on Joe is at the site of Clinton's speech next hour. Joe, tell us about what we're expected to hear from Hillary Clinton but also what you are hearing about this not-secret meeting with Elizabeth Warren. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] That's right, Kate. This is the ballroom of the Washington Hilton Hotel where we expect to hear from Hillary Clinton at the Planned Parenthood Action Fund. About 1,000 people here expecting her to talk about women's issues. She is expected around noon eastern time. The question is whether that timeline is going to change due to the fact that Hillary Clinton is said to be meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren at Clinton's home, which is just a short drive from here in northwest Washington. This comes just the next day after Senator Warren endorsed Hillary Clinton for president, fuelling speculation that she might be on the short list for Hillary Clinton's vice presidential pick. Clearly, Senator Warren helped herself in that situation last night in an interview with MSNBC suggesting she is ready and able to perform the job of commander in chief. So meanwhile, we also have to talk a bit about the Twitter war that continues between Elizabeth Warren and Donald Trump. Celebrated Twitter war, in fact. Just this morning, Trump, among other things, tweeting out once again calling Elizabeth Warren "Pocahontas," which is considered by some in the Native American community to be an ethnic slur, referring to the controversy over the Senator's heritage, if you will, and she essentially responded back, "Seriously, delete your account," which is an echo of something Hillary Clinton wrote just yesterday. So a lot to talk about here, and looking forward to hearing from Hillary Clinton. Not sure whether she's going to talk much about Elizabeth Warren today. Kate, back to you. [Bolduan:] Elizabeth Warren is doing a whole lot of talking herself and speaking out very forcefully, last night, and now taking to Twitter, of course, to take on Donald Trump. We'll see how that role for Warren does evolve as we hate to hear from Hillary Clinton. Joe, thanks so much. I want to turn to some breaking news on the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state. A law enforcement official tells CNN that e-mails dealing with a CIA drone program were sent to her private e-mail and that is at the center of the criminal probe right now by the FBI. Let's get over to justice correspondent, Evan Perez. Evan, you're picking up all this new information. What are you hearing? Put it in perspective for us right now. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right, Kate. This was a discussion around Christmas time in 2011 in which the U.S. ambassador to Pakistan at the time, Cameron Munster, started this discussion about what was a planned drone strike by the CIA in Pakistan. The CIA drone program is considered covert and classified the by the U.S. government. It's widely reported on in Pakistan when it happens. But it's still considered classified information and is improper for this discussion to have taken place on non classified e- mail system. And that's what happened here. The FBI is looking into it simply because the CIA flagged it as a classified set of e-mails that should not have been not only should not have been taken place on the low side, what they call the low-side non-classified e-mail system, but it also got forwarded to Hillary Clinton's private e-mail server in Chappaqua, New York. That is part of what's being looked at. It's still being investigated. As we previously reported here on CNN, the investigation is still ongoing. They're waiting to interview Hillary Clinton. We expect that no charge will be filed as long as that interview goes well Kate? [Bolduan:] All right. Evan Perez, breaking news and the latest on the e-mail controversy that's sure to fire up Republicans and continue to be a conversation, important conversation, on the campaign trail. Thanks so much. All right. Let's continue this. Let's talk about this and also kind of put the state of the race in perspective today. Let me bring in CNN political director, David Chalian, for much more. David, you have the latest of the e-mail controversy that is continuing that will continue for Hillary Clinton. But also if we can just take a moment and look at the state of the race right now. A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. Democrats lining up. Republicans surely do not look like the picture of unity at the moment. And new poll numbers coming out showing that Hillary Clinton is narrowly leading Trump in a FOX News poll, 42 to 39. What do you make of it? [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] Listen, it's a margin of error race. In May, he was up three points, now she's up three points. We should note, Kate, this poll does not capture everything you just unifying behind its nominee in Secretary Clinton. This was taken before the Obama endorsement, the Warren endorsement, the Biden endorsement, and the final results on Tuesday night with her big win. So that will have some effect the way it did for Donald Trump when he sort of wrapped up the Republican nomination. You should expect to see the same thing for her. She'll get a bit of a bump out of consolidating her own party now that the nomination season is over. Having said that, Donald Trump in this poll, in this FOX News poll, clearly has taken a bit of a hit since May, and specifically among Independents. I think he's taken an 11-point hit, slide from the May poll to now among Independents. Not the direction he clearly wants to be going in with this key voting group. And you mentioned the e-mail story to talk about the overall state of the race. I do think the frame is very clear of how each of these candidates are portraying the other. She in every speech, secretary Clinton raises questions about Donald Trump's temperament and whether he's fit for office, and in every tweet and in every narrative frame he builds around her, he says she's crooked and can't be trusted due to ethics issues surrounding the e-mails and the Clinton Foundation and what have you. So this notion of his temperament versus ethics questions around her is sort of how each side is building the negative frame that they're going to prosecute their arguments through from now through November. [Bolduan:] You can see we're seeing the playbooks laid out before us. David, thank you so much. Happy Friday, my friend. [Chalian:] Happy Friday. [Bolduan:] Thank you. Let's talk much more about everything that's going on right now. CNN political commentators, Kayleigh McEnany, Doug Heye, and Angela Rye are here with us. Also with us is Democratic strategist, Jonathan Tasini, author of "The Essential Bernie Sanders and His Vision for America," a supporter of Bernie Sanders. Kayleigh, first to you. David Chalian speaks truth. Everything David Chalian says is fact. One poll does not make a trend. Interesting though what you are seeing though in this new FOX News poll, it's not that it's a margin of error race. It looks like it will be a fight for some time. But it largely comes from Donald Trump's weakening support among Independents. You have said yourself often this is a very important voting block that Donald Trump will need to bring over that you think Donald Trump appeals to. This could be a problem though. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] Definitely was a hit this week, and I think you will expect to see that gap widen a little bit given that Hillary has clinched the nomination. I think David is absolutely right about that. But Donald Trump is still winning among Independents. I believe the poll showed by six points. It's a narrower win but he's still winning. I think he can still recover. I think his speech on Monday is very important. [Bolduan:] This is a speech that will be directly taking on both of the Clintons. [Mcenany:] Yes. And the numbers can change. It's early. They do change. They will fluctuate. We worry there's a sustained trend and at this point there is not that. [Bolduan:] It does seem right now, Doug Heye, a tale of two parties. You have got Democrats lining up and Republicans splitting up? I'm not really sure what's going on within Republicans right now. Here is Mitch McConnell. I want to play this for our viewers when he was asked about Trump's eventual running mate. Listen to this. [Sen. Mitch Mcconnell, , Senate Majority Leader:] You need somebody highly experienced and very knowledgeable because it's pretty obvious he doesn't know a lot about the issues. You see that in the debates in which he's participated. [Bolduan:] Mitch McConnell saying of the Republican nominee, it's clear he doesn't know a lot about the issues. Doug, how is this helping you guys? [Doug Heye, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it doesn't help, and, in fact, I would say Donald Trump even doubled down on that this morning when he said that his voters don't care about his lack of specifics. Now, the truth is Donald Trump is right about that. His voters don't care about that. You look at any Trump acolyte that goes on TV, any Trump surrogate, they will talk about Mr. Trump is great for this reason or that reason but not specifics. The difference is Hillary Clinton is going to outlay a lot of specifics. She's uniting the party. Donald Trump is still having a lot of trouble getting any Republicans together at the table and the Republicans that he does have aren't really his best advocates out there and so we'll see Hillary Clinton and her team after Donald Trump's speech on Monday with Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Bill Clinton, Joe Biden, start to dominate the media in a way that Donald Trump has had and maybe even tamp down on his speech which should have a lot of fireworks Monday night. [Bolduan:] Kayleigh, how do you respond to all the muscle that will be coming at him? [Mcenany:] There is going to be a lot coming at him. I want to take issue with something Doug said. He said you never hear specifics from surrogates but you hear a lot of specifics on trade, taxing imports from Mexico, his foreign policy vision, going after ISIS. I could go on and on and on [Heye:] I think, Kate, what we've heard [Mcenany:] tax rate for business approximates. [Bolduan:] Hold on, Doug. [Mcenany:] You hear a lot of specifics. You can generalize and say you don't but, in fact, you do. [Bolduan:] Go ahead, Doug. [Heye:] Kate, I think the specifics we heard over the past week was Donald Trump was right about a lawyer or a judge who was presiding over a case about his fake college. We didn't hear one thing from the Trump campaign or his surrogates about the dismal jobs report we had last week and that's another missed opportunity for the Trump campaign that just doesn't have the professional operation to do whether in the air or on the ground the things it needs to do to win right now. [Bolduan:] Regardless of if Donald Trump will apologize or whatever he's going to say about it, which he won't, it does seem all of Trump's statements of late seem to indicate that they do understand, Doug, that it has been a least. Let's look at the Democrats really quick. Angela, this meeting between Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren, the thing about meetings are if you want them to be secret, if you want them to be private, you can pull it off. I think there's a way to make a meeting not really public knowledge. Why do you think they want us to be talking about this so much? [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think a couple things. First, Kate, let's be a little more fair. We are inching a lot closer to a general election, and it is very tough when you have, whether there are folks inside a campaign or folks just on the periphery of a campaign, that want to keep their new sources happy so it makes it increasingly tough to keep something quiet. On the other hand [Bolduan:] If Hillary Clinton and Elizabeth Warren wanted this to be secret, I'm confident they could pull it off. [Rye:] I think maybe they could. But if we're going to if he Benefit of the doubt and say they wanted it out, this is a good one to leak. These are two women who are hitting Donald Trump so hard. Hillary Clinton it wasn't the endorsement of Barack Obama yesterday, it wasn't Joe Biden, it wasn't even Warren. It was deleted your account. She took the news cycle. This is great for her to be having this meeting with Elizabeth Warren. As you know, Hillary Clinton has had a little bit of trouble with women and some women and progressives in particular this cycle. Having this meeting with Elizabeth Warren, having her support, and having her strongly support her yesterday and then, of course, meeting with her today is great. I have said for some time I think it would be great to have both of them on a ticket. I don't know if I have enough buy in yet on that but I think this is a perfect meeting to leak for her and it just keeps the momentum going for her into the weekend. [Bolduan:] Jonathan, this is an important time for Team Sanders, an important time for Sanders supporters like yourself. You have Elizabeth Warren. She's come out to back Hillary Clinton now. You've been on Team Sanders the whole way. When you reflect on kind of everything that happened yesterday with all the big endorsements, are you ready to support Hillary Clinton? [Jonathan Tasini, Democratic Strategist & Author:] Well, let me start, first of all, if I can, Kate, with something that's happening in California. 2.5 million ballots, that's 40 percent of the ballots that were cast, have not been counted yet, which could significantly affect, I don't know about the overall, but certainly the allocation [Bolduan:] It won't affect the fact she's the presumptive Democratic nominee. [Tasini:] No. Wait a minute. I know that people want to say all that, but, look, until those super delegates vote at the convention, that will be the point at which we know who the nominee is. Yesterday, I was at a rally here in D.C., perhaps the final rally before the final primary in D.C. I can tell you there were thousands of people that are very, very enthusiastic about Bernie, and he gave the same speech he's given since the beginning of the campaign and people, not just here in D.C., but through my social media that I have been reading, they are still behind Bernie, whatever track he takes, and they to prosecute this political revolution, whether it happens at the convention or after the convention. [Bolduan:] Even though she does get the biggest name endorsements, she does have clearly work to do to get Sanders supporters behind them. [Tasini:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Thanks, guys. Really appreciate it. Coming up for us, Paul Ryan, he now calls Donald Trump's remarks about the federal judge, Paul Ryan calls them beyond the pale. Republican Party's chief strategist is joining us next to discuss. And later, the final farewell as thousands gather in Louisville, Kentucky, to pay their respects and celebrate the life of boxing great, Muhammad Ali. [Crowd:] Ali, Ali, Ali. [Howell:] Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. Well despite some rotten reviews for this particular movie the new movie "Suicide Squad" is expected to have a blockbuster opening weekend and Warner Brothers is hoping that will be the case after the underwhelming response to its Batman versus Superman movie. Some good news for the studio, the film already pulled in more than $20 million in preview showings. Here's Neil Curry with more on that. [Neil Curry, Cnn Correspondent:] Packed with characters from the D.C comic book world and boasting a cast of cinematic super heroes, including Will Smith, Jared Leto, Viola Davis, and Margot Robbie, "Suicide Squad" held out the prospect of a force to be reckoned with. The trailers have many film fans licking their lips in anticipation. The story concerns on the series of super villains rounded up and coerced into working as a fighting force against another evil enemy. As for the filmmakers, the critics may have appeared to be the true villains of the piece? [inaudible] plot, direction and characters alike. [Charles Roven, Producer:] The critics are individuals and they're entitled to their opinion. You know hopefully, you know the fans and the other people who see the movie, hopefully new fans as well as fans of the Suicide Squad will feel differently and maybe they'll reconsider. [Curry:] The previous release in the super hero franchise, Batman versus Superman, recovered from a series of crucial body blows to take on almost $900 million. Whether the dislocation continues a dream the critics on the one hand and the audience on the other, depends largely on fans like this here in London and around the world. Fans in 10 countries had an immediate opportunity to take part in the proceedings via a live link up between premiers in the U.K., Mexico, South Africa, UAE, Germany, Italy, Holland, Portugal, Ukraine, and Spain. With diversity still high on the Hollywood agenda and international markets to be reached, Will Smith described the cast as a rainbow embracing all races, creeds and colors, that's a view echoed by the rest of the cast. [Karen Fukuhara, Actress:] I'm getting a lot in social media responses and they've just been saying they're proud to see a Japanese woman play a Japanese role. [Jay Hernadez, Actor:] Hopefully, you know, this is a part of the you know, the change that's happening. Maybe the pendulum is swinging in the other direction. [Adewale Akinnuoye-agbaje, Actor:] It reflects on our society. You know me as a black man, it's always been tough to get those leading roles. [Curry:] Amid plans to release several more films over the next decade the D.C. franchise has engaged in an ongoing battle to conquer the critics and avoid cinematic suicide. Neil Curry, CNN, London. [Howell:] "Suicide Squad" we'll just have to wait and see. I didn't necessarily like how Batman versus Superman ended, I'm a superman, guy so. All right, Doctors in Singapore are getting help from a futuristic new assistant that is called Emma. What makes Emma a little different from your typical masseuse is the fact that Emma is a robot. The inventor of Emma says it wasn't designed to replace a massage therapist, rather, it's supposed to help people rather help with the more physically tiring part of the massage so the doctor can focus on engaging with their patient. That looks like a good idea. Thanks for being with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. I have more news from around the world right after the break, thank you for watching CNN, the world's news leader. [Whitfield:] All right, stunning new allegations in the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown. An amended wrongful death lawsuit now accusing Brown's boyfriend Nick Gordon of giving her a toxic cocktail that knocked her unconscious and then putting her face down in a bathtub. Brown is the only daughter of the late Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, died almost two weeks ago in a hospice months after she was found unresponsive in the bathtub of her Georgia home. Joining us right now from New York is CNN's Sara Ganim. So the suit makes claims of physical abuse as well. And how are these allegations being supported, do we know? [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. Really disturbing new details to support the allegation of physical abuse in their relationship and also very controlling behavior on the part of Nick Gordon. The lawsuit claimed that he installed cameras and audio recorders so he could watch and listen to Bobbi Kristina and what she was doing when he wasn't home. It also says in the days leading up to the incident, where she was found in the bathtub, that Nick Gordon beat Bobbi Kristina so badly in front of friends that he broke the couch that she was sitting on, also broke a tooth in her mouth, and then dragged her upstairs by her hair, that there was blood found on the walls of the home that they shared together. Then the incident on January 31st where she was found in the bathtub unresponsive. The lawsuit claims that earlier in the day, at around 6:00 a.m., that Nick Gordon had come home, that he had been on an all- night cocaine bender. They got into another argument. He was upset, and that the allegations in the lawsuit are that he gave her, quote, "a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face-down in a bathtub of cold water, causing her to suffer brain damage." Now the lawsuit goes on to say she had another broken tooth when she was found unresponsive in that bathtub and that there was also a dustpan at the bottom of that tub. And it says that afterward he got into bed and laid his head on a female guest's ankle and stated, quote, "Now I want a pretty little white girl like you." Of course, Fred, we know that Bobbi Kristina brown never woke up again after being found unresponsive in that bathtub. Doctors diagnosed her with, quote, "global and irreversible brain damage" and she died about six months later. [Whitfield:] Oh, my gosh, incredibly disturbing allegation. Thank you so much Sara Ganim. We appreciate that. Let's talk more about the legal implications of this case. Joining me right now is CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Phillip Holloway. All right, so this is a civil action, not a criminal complaint, and it's seeking $10 million. It almost seems premature that you have a civil case before you have a criminal case because we haven't heard anything about any criminal charges or allegations. Is this out of order or is this fairly typical? [Phillip Holloway, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Not necessarily. Keep in mind, this happened back in January. So the lawyers who are representing now the estate of Bobbi Kristina have had quite a long time to do perhaps their own independent investigations. They've alleged they have at least some evidence, we don't know what that evidence might be, but they've alleged that they at least have some evidence that he was culpable in her death. So it's not necessarily premature because there has been several months since the incident occurred and when the lawsuit was filed. [Whitfield:] OK. So, I guess the burden of proof, all of this is very different in a criminal case versus in a civil complaint. What is likely the pathway here? Would there still have to be a support of evidence, whether it be testimony, eyewitness accounts, or physical evidence in order to be successful in this suit? [Holloway:] Yes, you always have to have enough evidence to meet your burden of proof. And in a civil case, the standard of proof is the preponderance of the evidence, basically if you take the scales of justice and tilt one just slightly more than the other, that would meet the standard of proof. Of course in a criminal case, proof beyond a reasonable doubt is required. Take, for example, the O. J. Simpson case. He was found fought not guilty in the criminal case, but he was found civilly liable for wrongful death because of the lower burden of proof. So whether it's a criminal case or a civil case, there has to be evidence to support the allegations. [Whitfield:] OK, and these are very strong and disturbing allegations, and Nick Gordon's attorney has this statement saying "The recent lawsuit against Nick is slanderous and meritless. Nick has been heartbroken and destroyed over the loss of his love, and it's shameful that such baseless allegations have been presented publicly." How does the estate now move forward with its allegations and its suit? [Holloway:] They have to wait for Nick Gordon to file an answer. And he has an attorney in the civil case and they will have to file some type of answer. [Whitfield:] This statement is not that answer? [Holloway:] That's correct. This statement was from attorneys that would be representing him if there were any criminal charges that might come. But his civil attorney will have to answer the allegations contained in the lawsuit. And from that this case will move forward through the discovery process, potentially depositions, written interrogatories, things of that nature. [Whitfield:] How long does this typically take? [Holloway:] Years. This could take quite a long time if it ever even proceeds to trial. [Whitfield:] All right, Phillip Holloway, thanks so much. Always good to see you, appreciate it. All right, still to come, Congress facing a mid-September deadline to vote on the Iran nuclear deal. This week President Barack Obama learned Senator Chuck Schumer, a key Democrat, will be voting no. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Anchor:] Madison, take it away. Go. [Cheersquad:] Let's go Stanford. Let's go Stanford. [Christi Paul, Cnn:] There they go. Coy Wire, thank you so much. Good luck guys. Nice game today and just want to thank you so much. We appreciate the fact that you take some time for us on the weekends in the morning here. [Victor Blackwell:] Always good to have you with us. And there's much more ahead in the next hour of "CNN Newsroom". We are passing it over now to Fredricka Whitfield. Good morning Fred. [Fredricka Whitfield, "newsroom" Anchor:] Have a good day. OK. So do we see a picture of Coy as a Stanford player, in that picture? [Victor Blackwell:] No. No. [Christi Paul:] No. We need to do that. [Victor Blackwell:] Let's google it. [Christi Paul:] It's there. [Whitfield:] Google, I would say. [Victor Blackwell:] Coy with hair is a treat. [Christi Paul:] But now it feels there we go. It feels much more real when it's on your screen. [Whitfield:] Wait a minute. [Christi Paul:] There it is. [Victor Blackwell:] Still got the helmet on. [Whitfield:] That one in 22. [Christi Paul:] OK. Very good. The day is now made complete. [Whitfield:] There you go. All right. Thanks, guys. Good to see you. [Victor Blackwell:] Thanks Fred. [Christi Paul:] Thanks Fred. [Whitfield:] But we're going to start all over right now. How about that? OK? All right. It's the 11:00 Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "Newsroom" starts right now. Can you believe we are less than 17 days from election day and we are almost moments away from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump delivering his closing argument. Live pictures now from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, where Trump is expected to layout his plans for his first 100 days if in office in the White House if elected. Trump choosing the same city where Abraham Lincoln, Honest Abe, made his famous speech uniting the country during the civil war. Trump advisers tell us to expect this, "A lot more details on policy and an outline of the ten principles that Trump wants to get done in his first 100 days if elected." He doesn't plan to name any potential cabinet positions but voters can expect to see a, "real emotional connection with some policies that are near and dear to his heart like trade and sporting police." Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Sunlen Serfaty who is in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. So, Sunlen, do we know anything more about what might unfold today? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Fred, Trump campaign officials are billing this as Donald Trump's closing message, his closing argument of this long-fought campaign. And as you can see behind me, this is not a typical setting for a Donald Trump campaign event. This is a more intimate setting. Not a big booming campaign rally. Clearly, the Trump campaign trying to put him out in a more formal policy focused speech perhaps, trying to project a little bit of presidential tone as he works to really turn this race around for himself in the last 17 days. Now, we do know that the Trump campaign says he will be outlining what his priorities would be in the first 100 days if he were to go on and win the White House. He gave a similar speech in this summer back in June. He outlined about eight policy proposals talking about immigration reform, talking about repealing, replacing ObamaCare. It's not clear if he will be releasing additional policy specifics or if this will just be more detailed around those already outlined principles. So perhaps just a restructuring, representation of what he already has said. Of course, the setting here, very important. He is very close, Fred, to the Gettysburg battlefield where of course, President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. Something campaign aides, Fred, say Donald Trump will specifically mention in his speech later today, talking about how President Lincoln unified the country at a time that it was divided. Fred? [Whitfield:] And Sunlen, what can you tell us about the audience there? You can kind of hear a little hum in the air there seemingly from a lot of excitement. But what can you tell us about how people got their admission there. Who is, you know, making up that crowd, any kind of details like that? [Serfaty:] Yeah, and some people who live here in the area, as I said, it's very intimate setting. A very subdued setting. There's not loud music playing. There's not thousands of people here. Clearly, very intimate setting for today. People in the community I would say about 200 people here, Fred, certainly interested to know and what Donald Trump will have to say here today and hear his speech of course. You know, the theme billed as a major speech from the Trump campaign heading into the final stretch. This really potentially shaping his message going forward, Fred. [Whitfield:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. All right. So let's talk about Trump's closing argument with our political panel. Julian Zelizer is a Historian and Professor at Princeton University. Rebecca Berg is a CNN Political Analyst and a National Politics reporter for "Real Clear Politics." Also with us, CNN National Political reporter MJ. Lee. All right, good to see all of you. [Julian Zelizer, Historian And Princeton University Professor:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] Julian, let me begin with you. Is this kind of cart before the horse in terms of an address of ten policies or is this the kind of address or detail that people have been anticipating, wanting for a very long time? [Zelizer:] Well, I think they've been anticipating it at many stages including there in some of the debates and I think he and the Republicans certainly feel that this is the moment he has to show, A, he is a serious politician, B, he can actually grow the Republican Party rather than leading it into catastrophic election. And, C, with the site at Gettysburg that he can actually be a uniter in this country and not just someone who is divided. So I think it's a sense that this is essential he takes a step like this. [Whitfield:] And so, Rebecca, you know, just what, less than 17 days away now from Election Day. Is this a speech that could potentially sway any undecided voters? [Rebecca Berg, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, you know, I personally doubt it, Fred, because these are points that Donald Trump should have made over the course of this campaign and points that really should just be a reminder at this stage for voters, not introducing new ideas, not fleshing out new policy ideas. If as it sounds like he is actually fleshing out some of the policy that he would seek in his first 100 days as president, it's a really late stage to be making those arguments. And I would also be interested to hear in this speech today how he plans to get anything done with Congress when he's going out and actively attacking Republican leaders in Congress. It's not the sort of unity message that you would expect from a nominee at this stage in the election. And so I don't think that these messages are really going to be what sway voters at this stage and, frankly, Donald Trump has a very challenging path ahead if he's going to try to win the presidency at this point. You look at the polling across the country and it's very favorable for Hillary Clinton and as we saw in the debate in Las Vegas, he didn't do a lot to really shift the trajectory of the campaign at this stage. [Whitfield:] And so MJ at Pennsylvania, battleground state. How much went into, I guess, how strategic this might potentially be for Donald Trump to craft this speech there today? [Mj Lee, Cnn National Political Reporter:] Well, look, the entire focus r right now is the battleground state, especially because over the last couple of weeks we have seen the map really tilt in favor of Hillary Clinton in just a short span of time. We've seen states like Florida, states like Nevada really move more towards Hillary Clinton's column and then states like Arizona and Utah, which really should have been easier states for Donald Trump to win. Those states are actually become competitive. And that is why we are seeing really both candidates focus their efforts in the last 17 days on these battleground states. And this is also why we are going to be seeing an interesting split screen in Pennsylvania today with both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton campaigning in this very important state. [Whitfield:] And so Julian, what's the association that you see with Donald Trump's speech today about possibly outlining, you know, ten policies there at Gettysburg and the historical reference of being made Abe Lincoln's Gettysburg address at that city? [Zelizer:] Well, obviously, one is to associate himself with great leadership which has become a fundamental question that Democrats have raised about him for months now. The second, again, is to contradict what many people think of him. Most people including his supporters think of him as divisive figure. And some people love that, some people don't like it. But to speak in Ggettysburg is to evoke a different kind of leadership, a leader who wants to bring people together. But this comes so late in the campaign. In some ways he is desperately seeking to hold on to this state, to do well in this state where the polls don't suggest he can win it. So the math is very unfavorable. And it's doubtful a speech like this can really change the dynamics. [Whitfield:] And, Rebecca, are you in agreement with that, too little too late to change I guess the narrative, especially as he continues to talk about an election being rigged if he doesn't win? [Berg:] Absolutely. I mean, the fact of the matter is for Donald Trump that most voters have already decided how they feel about him and about this election. The polling shows now that the vast majority of voters feel he doesn't have the judgment, doesn't have the temperament to be president. Two categories I should note that Hillary Clinton has had some trouble with as well, especially on the honesty question that we see in so much polling. But she's at a point now in this election where she is consistently outpacing Donald Trump on all of these important metrics and for him now at this stage to change people's minds, change peoples' perceptions about him. It's really quite late to be doing that, especially if you don't have the organization in terms of grounds game or advertising to really re- enforce those messages and get your supporters to the polls. This is the part of the election where campaigns begin to focus on getting out the vote as opposed to persuasion. And if Donald Trump is still in the persuasion phase, that doesn't really bode well for his results on Election Day. [Whitfield:] And so, MJ, you're in Chappaqua which is, you know, where Hillary Clinton lives but she is going to be making appearances in Pennsylvania today. What do you know about her goal today and why Pennsylvania is a battleground state that she does not want to ignore at this juncture? [Lee:] Yeah, that's right. And first of all we should note, really without a doubt Hillary Clinton will mention Donald Trump in her speech in Pennsylvania today. She has been doing that in virtually every campaign speech. And in those speeches, in the portions where she mentions Donald Trump she is hammering home this message that Donald Trump is simply not qualified and doesn't have the temperament to be president. And I should also note when she talked about Donald Trump she's really trying to seize on sort of the vulnerabilities that have opened up in this race, whether it's because of the "Access Hollywood" tape where we all know that Donald Trump was heard making very lewd comments about women, whether it's the, you know, allegations that have come after that tape was released. She sees an opening and that is why she is really sort of hitting home this message that Donald Trump simply is not qualified to be president. And really we should be listening in her speech today to really make an appeal not just to Democrats but independents as well as Republicans. We heard her do this in Cleveland yesterday. She specifically said, if you are a Republican in this crowd and you still have questions for me but you are reconsidering your support for Donald Trump, I want to answer your questions and I want to earn your support. This is of course her recognition and her campaign's recognition that if she does want to expand her map winning over these undecided Republican voters could really be key. [Whitfield:] All right. So neither candidate feeling like it's too late to try to persuade voters just now 17 days away from Election Day. All right, MJ Lee, Rebecca Berg, Julian Zelizer, appreciate it. [Zelizer:] Thank you. [Berg:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right, coming up next. Red or blue in some states the political colors have not changed in decades but this Election Day things could be very different. [Alberto Mosqueda, Husband:] If it wasn't for the candidate that's running now I probably would have voted for the other candidate rather than Clinton. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] You would have voted a Republican? [A. Mosqueda:] That more than likely. [Whitfield:] Why one Republican state could be making a big switch, straight ahead. [Cuomo:] There's a real chance for change today. Every time there's a mass shooting, people focus on the gun, right? But mental illness comes into play, and often that is your opportunity to see expose the system that is not doing what it should to get people help. But again, that could change today in a big vote. Representative Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania joins us now. He is the co- chair for the Congressional Mental Health Caucus and chairman of the House Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. Congressman, I know this is a huge day for you. You've been waiting for it. I want to get in to the particulars of it but I do want to dispense with the news of the day. You have Paul Ryan, the Speaker of the House saying he wants the FBI director to come in and explain how carelessness wasn't enough to charge Hillary Clinton in the email situation. What's your take? [Rep. Tim Murphy, Pennsylvannia:] Well, I tell you, my phones are lighting up with people saying. One gentleman said, wait a minute, if I'm driving over the speed limit, can I just use the excuse for the placement that I didn't know what the speed limit was and the answer is no, you still get a ticket? And here is someone who repeatedly said, she didn't know there's a class that are top secret and Comey is saying that they were labeled as such that she should have known and yet saying that even though someone like General Petraeus is given $100,00 fine and a couple years of probation. She has left with just saying, well we're just going to let her off the hook. Those are questions the American people are demanding some answers to. But how could somebody has been secretary of state, a U.S. senator, first lady and running for President can use an excuse, I just didn't know. That's troubling with top secret and classified information specially given the kind of circumstances under which she was secretary of state. So, Comey has going to have to come and answer the questions of why what appears to be the selective enforcement of the law. [Cuomo:] Do you think what Donald Trump calls bribery will come up or do you think that that's a scratch? [Murphy:] Me, I don't know where that's coming from but I surely think that it is nonetheless a question or this a circumstances someone above the law giving someone that kind of excuse in the future. This is why we're just going to let you off because your intentions were not to do this for someone who should have known better. [Cuomo:] All right. So the matter of the day, something you've been working on for years. Actually you've been spending your whole professional life dealing with this issue. What is the problem and what does your bill propose to do to create a solution? [Murphy:] OK. So let me start up by thanking you personally for your advocacy for this important issue. We'll have in this country this year, 40,000 to 45,000 suicides, about 45,000 to 47,000 deaths from drug over dose who have homicides will have, you know, hundreds of thousands people die also from the slow motion sicknesses of chronic illness that comes with people who are seriously mentally ill. This is a devastating disease in our country. And what we've realized of our investigations, the federal government actually stands in the way with policies have been medicate affect the poor, with a person being 10 times more likely to be in jail then in a hospital if they're seriously mentally ill. Not enough hospital beds, not enough psychiatrists, not enough psychologists. Our system has failed in this area. Our bill changes many of those. It says that you can see two doctors in the same day if your pediatrician or family physician says you need to see a psychiatrist right now. This is urgent. We do provide more incentives there for more psychologists, more psychiatrists. We lift the 16-bed rule and work with CMS, Medicare and Medicaid to say that we'll have like a 15-day per month limit from now but move that up in the future. We change the structure of the way our government works by having an assistance secretary of mental health and substance use appointed to help coordinate 112, 112 better programs and agencies out there that the general accounting office says the coordination was absolutely absent and it's a disaster there. So this moves many things in the direction of saying, we're going to tackle this disease with the seriousness and the gravitize that it needs in order to help fight this insipidus disease that affects 10 million Americans with serious mental illness and upwards of 60 million Americans in any given year with some level of mental illness. We have to address it in a major way and this bill does that. [Cuomo:] Now, for you at home that it seems like the congressman has an unusual definology about this issue. It's because he does. He's the only licensed psychologists that you have in the House of Representatives. And this has certainly become a passion for you as well as a vocation. But one of the key elements that you and I started this conversation with long sometime ago, was you know that someone in your family needs help for mental, you know, mental help. But very often, you are not able to do enough for them. And that's the narrative that often pops up in these mass shootings. You know, you end up finding out the person was this affected, they weren't taking their medicine, they weren't getting treatment and the family was helpless. How real is that problem and is there a solution? [Murphy:] It's a very, very real problem. Your loving and caring family members who want to do something but HIPPA laws, confidentiality laws prevent it. Those laws were originally intended to prevent insurance records for being open by the next employer. And they more often to this position where a parent who have raised that child, who maybe the child the adult child is living with them, whether supporting them is basely told you can't find on anything. Even in circumstances where that adult was schizophrenia or bipolar illness. Maybe suffering from diabetes or cancer and lung disease, or infectious disease, the family just wants to help. So our bill is actually calling finance HHS to fix that rule. They told me multiple times, as Secretary Burwell said, we think it's OK if a doctor tells a family member under some circumstances were saying, no, that's not the way it works. So this bill very specifically lays out what they have to do and bring that rule back to us with a change. Because otherwise, you may have many family members who were just helpless and feeling hopeless in saving their own family member. And we don't want a cruel society here that does that. We still respect confidentiality records. We still respect the confidentiality of therapy records but we want to have a level of compassionate communication available for a caring and loving family member who can assist and facilitate treatment. [Cuomo:] Representative Tim Murphy, Republican from Pennsylvania, during an age when everybody criticizes the people in D.C. for doing nothing, you have worked for a long time to get something that matters done. Thank you for that, and it's good to have you here. I can't wait to see what happens with the vote. [Murphy:] Thank you. Vote this afternoon. We'll be able to save some lives when this is done. [Cuomo:] Alisyn. [Camerota:] All right. We will be watching that Chris. Thank you. Well, valuable intelligence from new raids against ISIS. What the U.S. and coalition partners are learning about possible future attacks, we have a live report from the pentagon next. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] We were looking at the people celebrating in the bar in Chicago. I'm sure they have been on a bender for the last several weeks. Andy Scholes thanks so much. The next hour of CNN "NEWSROOM" starts now. And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. The presidential race tightens as time runs out. With just five days to go, Trump and Clinton using very different tactics. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Stay on point, Donald. Stay on point. No side tracks, Donald. Nice and easy. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] Right now across country, people are doing just that. They are rejecting his dark and divisive vision. [Costello:] They do share one goal, though. Lock in those battleground states. Both candidates trying to clinch critical votes in places like North Carolina today. And the Clinton campaign rolling out major surrogates again, making crucial stops in places like Florida and Ohio. Donald Trump is looking to gin up support with a boost from his own kids in a rare stump speech from his wife, Melania. We are covering all the angles with our team of political reporters. But let's start with Jason Carroll. He's in Jacksonville, Florida. Good morning. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And good morning to you, Carol. You know, this is a state that this candidate, this campaign, must win. That's why we saw them making multiple stops here in Florida yesterday, another stop here today. This is a very tight race here in the state of Florida. And the campaign is encouraged by some of these numbers. Take a look at on poll, the CNN Poll of Polls, shows that it's basically a dead heat here in the state. Clinton at 45 percent, Trump at 45 percent as well. So, they know they've got to hit these battleground states hard. They also know that they have to stay on message. This is something that Donald Trump publicly reminded himself of yesterday telling the audience he's got to stay cool and stay on point. [Trump:] We have got to be nice and cool, nice and cool, right? Stay on point, Donald. Stay on point. No side tracks, Donald. Nice and easy. Nice. Because I've been watching Hillary the last few days, she's totally unhinged. We don't want any of that. [Carroll:] Donald Trump has had some problems, actually trying to stay on message throughout the campaigns, at times stepping on his own message. Now that we are in the final stretch, the campaign wants to see Donald Trump stay focused on the issues. Another thing they have to do, Carol, is make inroads into some of these blue states. They're going to have to flip a blue state in order to get to that magical number of 270. That's why you're going to see folks like Mike Pence and Ted Cruz for the first time out campaigning for the top of the ticket in states like Michigan. They will also be in Iowa. Melania Trump for her part, she will be doing her part for the first time in the state of Pennsylvania, campaigning later today. Trump says he will be watching from North Carolina. He's going to be making two stops in North Carolina later. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Jason Carroll reporting live from Jacksonville. Thank you. Chelsea Clinton, kicking off a busy day for the campaign and she's not the only one, major surrogates for Clinton, fanning out across the country. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] All of you are uniquely qualified to make sure this guy who is uniquely unqualified does not become president. You just got to vote. You just got to vote. [Chelsea Clinton, Hillary Clinton's Daughter:] Donald Trump consumes so much oxygen with what he is saying and in how he is demeaning huge swaths of our country. [Bill Clinton, Former President Of United States:] Our future is bright. But we can't get there if we choose anger over answers and if we choose fantasy over facts. [Costello:] So, our senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns has more on the Clinton campaign. Good morning. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Hillary Clinton's closing argument, to get out the vote in battleground states sounding much more somber than her campaign would have preferred. Though they say they are hoping to get back to talking about the candidate's vision for the country before it's all over. She is expected to have two stops in North Carolina today, wrapping up tonight with an event featuring Pharrell Williams and her opponent in the primaries, Bernie Sanders. Her top surrogates fanning out across the country including of course the surrogate in chief, President Obama. You just saw there, he was in North Carolina on Wednesday. He's going to be in Miami today. And as you listen to what the surrogates are saying, it's pretty clear they are pushing to try to get out the vote. Today, Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine is in Arizona. Bill Clinton is in Las Vegas. And Chelsea Clinton is in Wisconsin. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Joe Johns reporting live for us this morning, thank you. So let's talk about Senator Ted Cruz. Senator Ted Cruz is with him, the man who once called Donald Trump a pathological liar and serial philanderer, will hit the trail for Trump. That breakfast meeting back in July where Mr. Cruz refused to endorse Trump for insulting his wife and his father, you know this one [Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas:] I don't get angry often. But you mess with my wife. You mess with my kids. That will do it every time. Donald, you are a sniveling coward. Leave Heidi the hell alone. I'm not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. [Costello:] Oh, my, how things have changed. All is forgiven, apparently. Cruz will not only vote for Mr. Trump. But he will also campaign for him, actively campaign for him today in the state of Iowa. So let's talk about that and more. With me now, Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics and Patricia Murphy, columnist for "The Daily Beast" and "Roll Call." Welcome to both of you. [Patricia Murphy, Columnist "the Daily Beast" And "roll Call":] Good morning. [Larry Sabato, Director University Of Virginia Center For Politics:] Thanks. [Costello:] OK. So, just to further refresh our memories, Cruz's anger was sparked by a re-tweet from Mr. Trump, one that compared the looks of the two candidates' wives. Remember that? In an earlier tweet Trump threatened to "spill the beans on Heidi Cruz," whatever that meant. And of course, Mr. Trump also, seemingly accused Mr. Cruz's father of taking part in JFK's assassination. So Larry, this is quite an about-face on Mr. Cruz's part. [Sabato:] Well, that's a nice way to put it, Carol. You know, politicians are known for turning on a dime but this one has got to go into the hall of fame. What it's about, obviously, is that Cruz still has presidential ambitions. He hopes to run in the future, 2020, if Trump loses, and it's going to be very difficult for any candidate to do so, who has held out on Trump, who didn't support the Republican nominee in 2016, and there are people in and out of Texas in the Republican Party who are trying to produce a strong challenge to Cruz when he runs for re-election to his senate seat in 2018. So Cruz has lots of political motives to do this. But I just have to add one thing, Carol. You know, you studied the 1960s enough to know this. There was no greater crime really in the 20th century than the assassination of President Kennedy. And there is no question that Donald Trump essentially accused his father of having been involved in the assassination of President Kennedy. To forgive something like that when Trump, to the best of my knowledge, has never apologized or taken that back in any way, shape or form, is stunning. [Costello:] And plus, Patricia, the Republicans always call themselves, you know, they are way into family values. It just seems that Sen. Cruz, like, maybe sold out his wife and dad because he wants to continue his political career. [Murphy:] Yes, with Ted Cruz, there's kind of family and there's values and it seems like in this decision, the value is getting re-elected and reserving the right to run for president in the future. After Ted Cruz decided not to endorse Donald Trump at the Republican convention and that convention hall went absolutely bananas. And Heidi Cruz had to be escorted out by security. Ted Cruz's own approval ratings among Republicans cratered from about 60 percent to 35 percent among Republicans. I think it was a big risk for him. I don't think he anticipated the fallout of it and the backlash. And he's been trying to peddle his way back into Republicans' good graces ever since. But I don't think that laying down this moral obligation not to support a person and then reversing it. And never even explaining really why it's now OK that Donald Trump accused your dad of killing JFK. He's never really squared that circle. And I think it will continue to be a real significant problem for him in the future, with Republicans and anybody else who might be voting for him. [Costello:] So, Larry, does this mean that Republicans are coming home, as Mike Pence wants them to, because Sen. Mitch McConnell, he's been laying low, right? But just yesterday, he spoke out in favor of Trump. Reportedly telling Kentucky voters, "We need a new president, Donald Trump. We need Donald Trump to be the most powerful Republican in America and we must support him." So is that a sign that Republicans are coming home? [Sabato:] Well, Mitch McConnell is from Kentucky. And Kentucky will very predictably vote overwhelmingly for Trump. So, that's part of the calculation for Mitch McConnell. But yes, Republicans are coming home. It's a normal process. You have reluctant partisans. They are called reluctant partisans, for whatever reason they don't like the nominee and they tend to come home right at the end because partisan fervor intensifies in the final days of a campaign. And never has it been more true, that there are loads of Republicans who don't like Donald Trump. But at the end of the campaign, they also focus on the opponent and they don't like Donald Trump but they hate Hillary Clinton. Therefore, they reluctantly vote for Donald Trump. And that is the source of the tightening of the polls. It isn't so much that Clinton has dropped. It is more that Trump has consolidated that party base. [Costello:] Interesting. OK. So, in light of what you just said, Larry, what Mr. Trump said on the campaign trail about, you know, sticking to the script, kind of makes sense. Let's listen. [Trump:] And this guy is a liar. [Costello:] OK. So, anyway, let me paraphrase as much as I can remember. But Patricia, he said that he's going to stay on message. And he was sort of like, giving advice to himself at a rally. [Murphy:] I could almost hear Kellyanne Conway's voice saying don't go off script, Donald. Don't do it. Because you know that's what she's been saying to him for the last several weeks and whenever Donald Trump stays on script, his numbers improve. And particularly when you have so much ammunition against Hillary Clinton as the Trump campaign does, it has driven Republicans absolutely crazy when Donald Trump would go off on some weird tangent about a woman or somebody he did or didn't attack. He was his own worst enemy. And so he had certainly getting this kind of advice from Kellyanne Conway and from other Republicans. Even Mitch McConnell said, just get on script. Just stay on the prompter. He's doing it and it's working for him. But I think, we all know that the next five, six days are going to be an absolute eternity for anybody watching Donald Trump and having his eyes wander off the prompter and where is he going. He could still really blow it wide open for himself. [Costello:] OK. So Larry, Patricia, stick around because we have much more to come. Coming up in the "NEWSROOM," the polls are tightening. We'll take a deep dive to tell you what they really mean, next. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, new claims of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump. One accuser says the republican candidate was on her like an octopus. Back to diplomacy, the U.S. and Russia say they're willing to give the Syrian ceasefire another chance. And later, Janet Jackson expecting her first child at 50. Hello, everybody, thank you for being with us. I'm John Vause. The second hour of NEWSROOM L.A. starts now. Donald Trump is firing back against explosive new claims that he touched women inappropriately. Two women tell The New York Times, Trump groped and kissed them without their permission. Trump's campaign says the entire article is a work of fiction. His attorneys are drafting a lawsuit. A short time ago, they sent a letter to the Times demanding a retraction. CNN has not independently confirmed the claims reported by The New York Times. [Jessica Leeds, Claims Donald Trump Groped Her:] I started telling my story about a year and a half ago when it became apparent that Trump was actually running for president. And I started telling my friends, "Let me tell you what this guy is all about." I would like to think that sharing this story would make a difference both in the election and the society's view of women to change some of the behavior, the sexual behavior between men and women in both directions. [Vause:] Joining me now, Mo'Kelly, host of the Mo'Kelly Show, the Mo'Kelly Experience radio show. Also, Lisa Bloom, a victim's right attorney and legal analyst. And in San Diego, Gina Loudoun, a Trump supporter, and a behavioral and psychology expert and host of America Trends with Dr. Gina. Thank you all for being with us and sticking around for another hour. The latest news that we have is this demand coming from Trump's attorneys that they want this retraction, they've written to the New York Times, this is what they've said, "Your article was reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se. It is apparent from the timing of the article that it is nothing more than a politically motivated effort to defeat Mr. Trump's candidacy. We hereby demand that you immediately cease any further publication of this article and remove it from your website and issue a full and immediate retraction and apology." Lisa, from a legal standpoint, do they have much of a chance of making this happen, and where does this go from here? [Lisa Bloom, Nbc Legal Analyst:] So, I handle a lot of defamation cases, including a case against Bill Cosby right now in behalf of Janice Dickinson. That's defamation case. And this is a prerequisite to filing the case, the demand for the retraction. So, that's what they're doing. Anybody can file a lawsuit. They certainly can file it if they want against the New York Times, but this is an unwinnable case for Donald Trump. [Vause:] Why? [Bloom:] And that's because he's a public figure, which means that he would have to show malice, he would have to show that The New York Times knew that this was a false story and they published it anyway. In fact, The New York Times says that for each of these women, there are several people who corroborates the story that is that these women told in the past, years ago in some cases, that Donald Trump had groped them. That's clearly enough for them to get past any defamation case. [Vause:] OK. Let's hear a little bit more from Jessica Leeds who is one of the women who spoke to The New York Times about her experience with Donald Trump. This happened about 30-something years ago. [Leeds:] It was a real shock when all of a sudden his hands were all over me. He started encroaching on my space. And I hesitate to use this expression, but I'm going to. And that is, he was like an octopus. It was like he had six arms. He was all over the place. If he had stocked with the upper part of the body, I might not have gotten I might not have gotten that upset. So, when he started putting his hand up my skirt, and that was it. [Vause:] So, Gina, to you on this, when you when you hear her story and you read the other accounts, and it's not just New York Times, it's something like eight separate stories which have emerged just today alone of women accusing Donald Trump of some kind of sexual misconduct. Do you start thinking twice about the man that you support for the presidency? [Gina Loudon, Behavioral & Psychology Expert:] I tell you, I can't get past her saying that if he would have just if whoever this person was on the plane next to her would have just groped the top part of her, she'd have been hunky-dory with that. [Vause:] Yeah. [Loudon:] But I guess I this is weird, mixed messages for whoever the guy was, and the [Vause:] OK. Mo, that's obviously the opinion of Gina and a lot of other Trump supporters who say they weren't swayed by the "Access Hollywood" tape. And obviously Gina isn't too concerned about this. [Mo'kelly, Host Of The Mo'kelly Show:] Yeah. But this is not about right or left, this is about right and wrong. And these women are answering Donald Trump. When Donald Trump said to Anderson Cooper, "No, I did not kiss any women without their consent," that was a call out for other women to say, "Yes, you did, Donald Trump." And these women are answering that call specifically. So, if you ask, why didn't this happen a year ago? We weren't here a year ago, and that's why you're hearing from them now. [Vause:] And to the question of timing, there's a lot of people are saying why now? One reason is because of the debate on Sunday. But these allegations have been out there for a while made by other women, and you represent one. [Bloom:] Right. Yes, I represent Jill Harth who filed a lawsuit in 1997 for sexual harassment and sexual assault, Donald Trump immediately wanted to settle that lawsuit with her, and did settle it with her. She laid low all these years, she was turned the page, you know, put it behind her, moved on with her life. She didn't want to think about it. He was running for president, and 2015 news organizations started calling her, she still didn't want to talk about it. Ultimately, they ran pieces about her lawsuit anyway, and then he called her a liar. And that was a point where she said, "You know what, I was willing to keep my mouth shut, but when you call me a liar, all bets are off," and she has given interviews and talked publicly about her allegations which are completely corroborated by the tape. And I ask people who don't believe these allegations, what more do you need than a taped confession from the perpetrator, because we all heard it. [Kelly:] And John, this is about power or lack thereof. If you're a woman and you're trying to take on Donald Trump in the public forum a year ago, no one is going to listen to you, much less believe you. But a month before election when people are going to listen, pay attention, willing to take your viewpoint and what happened, then you have a little more leverage and there's also strength in numbers. You'll see more women coming out, tomorrow and the next day. [Vause:] OK. Gina's response to that, essentially with the timing, Gina, you know? [Loudon:] Yeah. We're 26 days from an election. This is when a smear campaign starts. Mr. Trump has taken on the entire establishment, the entire elite, and you know, he whiffed the side of public opinion here. There are a lot of people that don't like the republicans or the democrats, and a lot of them unfortunately for us, perhaps don't like the media. And so, the fact that Mr. Trump has taken on all three, he's going to get attack 26 days out. This is no surprise. This is an attempt at a smear campaign and an attempt by Clintons to capitalize on a smear campaign 26 days before an election. It's a distraction of things that they're really serious off, that has proven that it's factual that Hillary Clinton has done, such as all the WikiLeaks stuff and the 33,000 missing e-mails and all the rest of it. [Vause:] Well, as we've been saying, this all came out from the "Access Hollywood" tape which was recorded 11 years ago where Trump admitted that he, you know, groped and kissed women because he's a star. And I want to play that bit when Anderson Cooper specifically asked him about that during Sunday's Presidential Debate. [Cooper:] So, for the record, you're saying you've never did that. [Trump:] I said I said things that frankly you hear these things are said. And I was embarrassed by it, but I have tremendous respect to women. [Cooper:] Have you ever done those things? [Trump:] And the women have respect for me. And I will tell you, no, I have not. [Vause:] OK. So, with that in mind, the Clinton campaign put out a statement tonight, "This disturbing story sadly fits everything we know about the way Donald Trump has treated women. These reports suggest that he lied on the debate stage, and that the disgusting behavior he bragged about in the tape is more than just words. Liza, this is the question. This has now gone beyond locker-room talk. [Bloom:] Yeah, it never was locker-room talk, unless we're talking about what he said about going into the locker room where teenage girls are naked or half naked, and that's what the real Donald Trump locker-room talk bragging about ogling under aged girls as they're changing clothes. This has always been about actions, and he was talking about actions even on the Access Hollywood tape. Remember, he's putting a Tic Tac in his mouth, because he's thinking there's a realistic chance that he's going to go kiss some woman who has he hasn't even met yet, right? So, he's talking about actions, my client Jill Harth has been talking about actions that he took against her allegedly since 1997. There's eight women today, there may be eight more tomorrow and the day after. And at what point do we just decide to believe women. How many women have to come forward? I mean, do you believe Bill Cosby for example, now that 60 women have come forward, and if so, how many how did you come forward before you did believe the accusers against Bill Cosby. [Vause:] Gina? [Loudon:] But Bill Cosby wasn't running for president. And I'll tell you what I do believe, I believe for women like Juanita Broaddrick [Kelly:] I agree. [Loudon:] that were victimized by Hillary Clinton when she spent $100,000 on private investigators just to smear her. When Hillary Clinton called the victims of her husband, "bimbos" [Bloom:] She never did that. [Loudon:] She has never she has never come yes, she did she has never come to their defense, not ever. And when Hillary Clinton blamed a 12-year-old rape victim, saying that she probably did something to bring it on herself, a 12-year-old rape victim when Hillary Clinton defended a child sexual predator against that little girl who's still damaged today. [Bloom:] That didn't happen either. She was assigned as a young lawyer to represent a point. [Loudon:] Have you not heard the tape? I have all the sympathy in the world [Vause:] We had the little tape and [Tasha Dixon, Former Miss Arizona:] He just came strolling right in. There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything. Some girls were topless, other girls were naked. To have to owner come waltzing in when we're naked or half naked in a very physically vulnerable position, and then to have the pressure of the, you know, the people that worked for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him, get his attention. [Vause:] And this is a story from Miss Arizona which appears to be supported by Donald Trump himself. Listen to this. [Trump:] I'll go backstage before a show, and everyone is getting dressed and ready, and everything else. And you know, no men are anywhere, and I'm allowed to go in, because I'm the owner of the pageant and therefore I'm inspecting it. You know, I'm inspecting. I want to make sure that everything is good. [Unidentified Male:] You're like the doctor. You're there. [Trump:] Yeah, the dresses. Is everyone OK? You know, they're standing there with no clothes. Is everybody OK? And you see these incredible-looking women. And so, I sort of get away with things like that. [Vause:] So, Gina, regardless if you want to believe in that, Donald Trump would fall on Miss Arizona, would you say that appropriate that that behavior rather, is appropriate? [Loudon:] I think what's really important about the tape with Miss Arizona is that just prior to the part where you started the video, she actually said it was announced over a loudspeaker that Mr. Trump was going to come in. And so, that was people's cue, I'm assuming, to get dressed, which I would have thought she did. If she didn't, I don't know why she wouldn't. Again, I think that we if Mr. Trump were really this monster that the Clinton campaign and the media are trying to make him out to be, don't you think that somewhere, there would be some actual evidence more than words, more than allegations, more than more than hearsay. In that moment, I think a lot of opinions would change. But right now, the only real evidence we have is about Hillary Clinton victimizing women, and I don't understand why we're not having that conversation simultaneously. [Vause:] I want to get to the legal point, because that's actually a good point [Bloom:] Well, in the case of Jill Harth who I represent, we have her now ex-husband who corroborates all the important parts of her story that he was there for some of the incidents of sexual harassment and assault. And other times, she told him about it immediately. And the fact, they got out of Mar-a-Lago even though they're supposed to stay longer after one of the incidents. Some of the women in the New York or the two women in the New York Times today, both have people that they told contemporaneously, Donald Trump admits to bragging about sexual assaults on the "Access Hollywood" tape. That's about as good evidence that you're going to get in court. [Kelly:] I mean, you know, we just heard the audio of what he will want to do or does do when he goes backstage. Can't we just go ahead and believe Donald Trump? [Vause:] OK. OK. One last point which I want to raise because a lot of people are talking about the timing, because it was it was curiously almost simultaneously the New York Times story broke, there was a report which came out on Bloomberg, according to Trump advisors who say, campaign CEO Steven Bannon had told staffers, they're about to ramp up the attacks on Bill Cosby oh, Bill Clinton, sorry, former president Bill Clinton. They're going to make him into Bill Cosby. This is what they said, this is what Steve Bannon reportedly said to staffers, "This has nothing to do with consensual sexual affairs and infidelities. This is Bill, we're going to turn him into Bill Cosby. He's a violent sexual predator who physically abuses women who he assaults. And she takes the lead on the intimidation of the victims. That she, of course, is being Hillary Clinton. So, Mo, when you look at the timing of this story with all the New York Time story, we are [Kelly:] You can't have it both ways. If you want to say that we that unsubstantiated allegations are insufficient and a dirty-pool type way of playing, then you can't try to bring in Bill Clinton who is not running for president, and then tried to introduce his history as somehow sort of shaming element of Hillary Clinton who is the actually candidate for president. [Vause:] Gina, what's your take on that? How do you respond? [Loudon:] But you can win Hillary Clinton then followed up by shaming these women by hiring a private investigators, spending $100,000 to try and defame these women, who'd already been hurt by her husband. I would love to see Hillary Clinton today come out and apologize for the things she did to these women, for the things she called these women, for vowing to take them down, for going into their home and threatening their livelihood, their homes, their children, even their pets. [Bloom:] She didn't threaten anyone's pets. That's ridiculous. [Loudon:] Yes, she absolutely did. [Bloom:] I mean, I hate to I hate to interrupt you with the facts, but this is not sure, and as somebody who's been a litigator for 30 years, we hire private investigators in every case, the mere hiring of a private investigator is not anywhere close to defamation. Certainly, there's no facts that Hillary Clinton threatened anyone's pets [Loudon:] But it was supposed to believed [Bloom:] or anything else. I mean And by the way, she is not responsible for everything that her husband ever did. This is why we need more women in office. [Loudon:] Why women make an accusation and why does [Bloom:] Apply also to Hillary. [Vause:] OK. OK. We'll leave it there. Thanks. [Loudon:] If it were supposed to be all allegations, then why doesn't that apply to Hillary, too? Especially [Bloom:] Nobody said that But when you've got somebody's taped confession, we tend to believe them. [Vause:] OK. And we'll leave it at that. Gina London there in Loudon in San Diego. Thank you so much, Mo'Kelly. [Kelly:] Thank you. [Vause:] Lisa Bloom, we appreciate it. To leave this, you know, 20 what, 6, 7 days to go, God help us. OK. [Bloom:] Just a little bit just less than a month now. [Vause:] Thank you. OK. Well, we go to democrats' side of politics now. Hillary Clinton's campaign is scrambling to deal with WikiLeaks, the site released more stolen e-mails and is promising to release more. Jeff Zeleny explains the impact on the presidential race. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Correspondent:] Tonight, Hillary Clinton heading west, trying to keep democrats fired up and focused on the finish line. [Hillary Clinton, Democratic Presidential Candidate:] Now, I want to give you something to vote for, not just something to vote against. [Zeleny:] The Clinton campaign directly accusing Donald Trump of trying to turn off democrats with the scorched-earth campaign. [Clinton:] That's all they have left, pure negativity, pessimism, and we're not going to let Donald Trump get away with it, are we? [Zeleny:] But as she rallied, supporters in Colorado, another batch of stolen e-mails published today by WikiLeaks, offering an even deeper look at the calibrations of the Clinton campaign. It's a drip, drip, drip of distraction with Campaign Chair John Podesta's hacked e-mails now being released on a daily schedule by Julian Assange, trying to meddle with the U.S. Election. No bombshells but a revealing look at Clinton's strategy. Top aid Huma Abedin, trying to keep reporters away from Clinton, prompting the review glass chair from Podesta, he wrote, "If she thinks we can get to Labor Day without taking press questions, I think that's suicidal. We have to find some mechanism to let the steam out of the pressure cooker." Podesta is accusing Donald Trump of trying to turn off voters into press democratic turnout. [John Podesta, Clinton Campaign Chairman:] I think that this seems to be their strategy to disgust everyone with you know, sort of democratic dialogues, so they won't come out to the polls. [Zeleny:] Another top Clinton aid, Jennifer Palmieri, under fire from some Catholic groups for how she responded to another Clinton-allied mocking Catholics for being severly backwards. Palmieri wrote, "Their rich friends won't understand if they become evangelicals." Palmieri dismissed the criticism today, telling reporters, she is Catholic. As the Republican Civil War intensifies, the Clinton campaign is pushing to keep democrats engaged. One of the biggest worries, a false sense of complacency in the wake of Trump's spiral. So, Clinton visiting Colorado for the first time since August, she's leading in most polls but trying to remind democrats she's still needs them. [Clinton:] To reject the dark and divisive and hateful campaign that is being run by my opponent. [Zeleny:] Now, there are 27 days left before Election Day, democrats are increasingly growing confident but some Clinton advisers are also worried about complacency in the ranks of democrats. One of the reasons Secretary Clinton campaigning in places like Pueblo, Colorado right here, trying to urge voters to vote early. This is the first year that voters in Colorado can vote entirely by mail. She said simply today, "Send them in now." Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Pueblo, Colorado. [Vause:] We'll take a short break. When we come back, the U.S. says it has retaliated in self-defense, after American warship is targeted for the second time this week in the Red Sea. Also, pressure building on Moscow to end the offensive in Aleppo, coming up, what Russia's foreign minister had to say with Christiane Amanpour. [Don Lemon, Cnn:] This President's Day, the race for the White House is turning into a war. One that can tear the GOP apart. This is CNN TONIGHT. I'm Don Lemon. With just two days to go until the GOP presidential town hall, the republicans are taking aim at each other. Trump versus Cruz, Bush versus Trump and Rubio versus Cruz. Meanwhile, all of Washington preparing to do battle over the Supreme Court. What will all of this mean in November? A whole heck of a lot. Who better to talk about politics and the Supreme Court than Hugh Hewitt, the host of the Hugh Hewitt show. He's taught constitutional law since 1995 and is a veteran of the White House Council, Counsel's Office who also served two attorneys general. My goodness! I've gotten that out. I'm also very jealous that you're in California this evening. So, Hugh, straight to it. Trump and Cruz, Cruz and Trump, Valentine's weekend is over. But there is no love lost between those two. Here's what happened on Saturday night. Look at this. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] This guy will say anything. Nasty guy. Now I know why he doesn't have one endorsement from any of his colleagues. [Sen. Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] All right, Don, can I get to respond? [Unidentified Male:] Senator, stick from the buffet there. [Trump:] He's a nasty guy. [Cruz:] It is fairly remarkable to see Donald defending Ben after he called him pathological and compared him to a child molester. And Donald has this weird pattern. When you point to his own record he screams "liar, liar, liar." [Lemon:] So, Hugh, I mean, was it me or do you think Saturday night was a I guess little nastier than before? Was it new high new low for the GOP, what do you think? [Hugh Hewitt, Radio Hugh Hewitt Show:] New level of intensity. I will say this. Three polls came out today all allegedly taken on Sunday, which is a bad polling day, but nevertheless, the day after the debate. Donald Trump leads them all by double digits. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio in the second and third place. John Kasich came in fourth. Now former President Bush appeared on behalf of his brother Jeb and gave a great well-received speech. I watched I live on CNN earlier today as I was doing my radio show. So, things can change dramatically in South Carolina quickly. But it appears for all of the pyrotechnics on Saturday night the race hasn't moved much in South Carolina. Donald Trump is still ahead. [Lemon:] Well, let me ask you since you brought up Bush. Do you think having his brother out will change anything? And some people are saying if Nikki Haley endorses him, right, they're looking for that. That could actually really help Jeb Bush. What are your thoughts on that, Hugh Hewitt? [Hewitt:] Well, I think George W. Bush motivates the base. And therefore, a lot of people who might have been thinking about seeing it out and watching what happened will come out and one more time will fall the old man whenever he wants to go. White Christmas kind of thing. But what's really interesting is the Supreme Court battle has energized the republicans. And I talked to Trey Gowdy, he's a Rubio endorser. On my radio show today, he expects record break out. Huge turnout on Saturday new South Carolina primary. [Lemon:] You sound like Trump. [Hewitt:] I think this and I've been saying that this animates or if not galvanizes republicans more than democrats. Am I wrong? No, you're absolutely right. Look, on the one hand you got Hillary Clinton who is the Willy Sutton of the class finding information running for the opportunity to appoint the next justice of the Supreme Court. So, a person who wants standard of law applied to her. Getting to nominate the decisive vote on the Supreme Court. That will motivate republicans. And in fact, you saw Mitch McConnell take the lead yesterday and say there won't be any hearings. There's not going to be a vote. And today, Rob Portman of Ohio slings state Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, swing state Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, swing state Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, swing state. Four senators all came out and agreed we're not going to confirm President Obama's nominee. Yes. He's absolutely right to nominate whomever he wants. But I tell you what, he could nominate me, Don, and I would say no hearings, no vote. He could nominate friend, John Eastman, one of the most distinguished... [Lemon:] You just want the next president to get that, is that what you're saying? [Hewitt:] That's it. I want the election to focus on the court. [Lemon:] OK. [Hewitt:] I'm tired of the court deciding this. I think it's a great opportunity for Americans to have a discussion about what the court means in their life. [Lemon:] OK. Yes. Let's do this. Why play with photos, let's play this. [Trump:] I'm going to bring a lawsuit because in my opinion, based on what I've learned over the last two or three days from very top lawyers, he doesn't have the right to serve as president or even run as president. He was born in Canada. So, I will bring that lawsuit if he doesn't apologize. [Lemon:] All right. That's not what I want to talk about. But let's do talk about that. Because Trump is hitting Cruz now. [Hewitt:] Sure. [Lemon:] Now he's saying, you know, I think that they should intervene. That the Republican National Committee should intervene on this "birther" issue. Where is the RNC leadership right now? Should they be intervening on a lot of these issues? [Hewitt:] No. The RNC leadership Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer, and I always say my son works at the RNC. I want to clear the conflict. But the RNC is doing actually the right thing, which is to keep its hands off of this. Donald Trump is one of the few people who actually does have standing to bring that lawsuit about Ted Cruz. A Secretary of State could keep Senator Cruz off the ballot. I think they're wrong. I think he's eligible to run for president. I've never wavered in that. But Donald Trump has the right to bring that lawsuit, if anybody does. Because he would be adversely impacted by having an ineligible candidate on the ballot. But if he does bring that lawsuit I think he'll lose. What I think he is doing there is shrewd politics. Donald Trump is a very smart campaigner. He's keeping the attention on himself. He knew he had to do something today with George W. Bush in the Palmetto State creating an enormous amount of buzz. And so he did. He had a rather boisterous press conference, but that's just good politics. Good theater. Donald Trump has proven to us again and again he knows this game as well as anyone, better than most, than he played it well another good hand today. [Lemon:] Hugh, it is not just to Trump. By Ted Cruz is going after Marco Rubio. This is from today. Listen to this. [Cruz:] If Marco wants to stand up and say in-state tuition for illegal aliens is a good idea. And that's why I and Marco Rubio support it. Great, we can have that debate. I expect to have that debate with Hillary in the fall or with Bernie. But it is not being honest or candid for either Marco Rubio or Donald Trump to pretend that their records are different than what they are. [Lemon:] Hugh, is there an all-out war in the GOP right now? [Hewitt:] No. I think it's a great primary battle. Here's an interesting thing. Ted Cruz got a lift by the focus switching to the Supreme Court, which is his strong suit. He has argued nine times before the justices. He clerked on the court. He's a brilliant lawyer. Alan Dershowitz said in the last segment he had between you and the previous hour, that Ted Cruz was his law student. He's previously said he's his best law student. Marco Rubio got a big lift at a Saturday night debate. And he's campaigning with Tim Scott and maybe the most popular politician in South Carolina and Trey Gowdy, both of them endorsed him. Jeb Bush got his brother. Donald Trump has this extraordinary appeal to crossover voters who may have registered late in the process. John Kasich gets to play above it all and say I'm the guy who is not down in the mud. Not wrestling. Come vote for me. I'm the nice happy Reagan. Dr. Ben Carson playing that same card. It's not a war. It's primary. And I like primaries. This is what it's all about. We will nominate the strongest candidate to, again, I came up with this earlier. I want to repeat. Hillary Clinton is the Willie Sutton of classified information. She is falling like a rock in Nevada. There's a Wall Street story today that Bernie Sanders catching her. She is falling apart across the United States. So, I think come the end of this primary season, we will nominate the toughest, strongest most strategically place republican and we're going to win and we're going to get the next Supreme Court justice. Maybe two or three. [Lemon:] Well, let's talk about this. And what about what about September 11th? What is your reaction to Trump using it against Jeb and the former president. Because you mentioned that, you know, the former president was out there speaking today and gave a great speech, in your estimation. You were watching it during your radio show. What do you think of Trump using 911? [Hewitt:] Well, I was taken aback on Saturday night. But he walked it back on Sunday. And I like to be fair to candidates. Sometimes in the heat of a debate they say something or in an interview they'll say some little thing that they didn't mean and then they clarify the next day. Jeb Bush on CNN with Dana Bash when I was on State of the Union said he didn't really care about it. It wasn't a big deal to him what McConnell did in the Senate. He clarified that and make it clear that he was speaking too quickly and that it does make a great deal to him. Donald Trump came back and said on Sunday he didn't really mean lies as like he knew there were no weapons of mass destruction there. So, let's be fair to everyone. They all sometimes use catch phrases, as I do, as you do, that are misunderstood. I like to consider them complete candidates. And Donald Trump clarified, Jeb Bush clarified. And I think the voters in South Carolina, these record numbers of voters are going to give us a lot to chew on. And then we're going to have a debate on CNN on February 25th. I'll be a panelist down in Houston. We're going to another debate on March 10th. This is going to go a long time. And, Don, write it down, open convention. No one is going to have 1,237 delegates come the opening of the convention in Cleveland. So, buckle up, it's going to be one heck of a ride. [Lemon:] I think you've said that before. [Hewitt:] I have. [Lemon:] But more emphasize this time. This time you went like this. OK. Thank you, Hugh Hewitt. I appreciate it. When we come back counting down... [Hewitt:] Thank you. [Lemon:] ... see you later. We're counting down to a two-night republican town hall Wednesday and Thursday, followed by the GOP South Carolina primary. What do voters think of all-out war in the Republican Party? [Gorani:] Life under ISIS in Mosul is oppressive, of course. Defiance can seem unimaginable. As Iraqi troops move inch-by-inch to the ultimate goal of liberating that city, there are people working right now to undermine ISIS from within Mosul. In this exclusive report, CNN's Arwa Damon shows us a secret team of anti- ISIS fighters there. [Damon:] Operating deep within the shadows of ISIS territory in Mosul is a network so secretive, even its own members do not know each other's identities. The letter "M" spray-painted on Mosul walls "M" for Mokawa, the resistant. The message to ISIS, "We are here. We are among you." The Mosul battalions watch for weaknesses in ISIS'defenses, carrying out hit and run operations, or waiting for a moment to strike isolated targets like this checkpoint on the outskirts of the city. This man, Abwahali is one of their liaisons. How did the Mosul battalions even managed to initially organize themselves? The same happened elsewhere. And by the end of 2014, the Mosul battalions had formed. Their weapons are basic what they found and hid in the city or what they snatched from ISIS. [Isis. Damon:] They operate in two to three-man cells, independent of one another. No cell knows specifically of another. No fighter knows the name of more than two others. Abwahali calls the man he says is with the battalions in Mosul. He's speaking from an orchard just outside of the city. Talking on the phone is punishable by death. [Damon:] The distorted voice in this video says they assassinated an ISIS fighter. The images then show what they say is the dead man's I.D., pistol, and suicide belt. And Abwahali says, they are providing for intermediaries, intelligence, and coordinates to the coalition. Here is the aftermath of a strike they say was based on their information. And they are waiting for what they call zero hour, distributing leaflets warning ISIS its end is coming. They are ready ready for the day the Iraqi army breaches the city. And they rally the people to rise. Arwa Damon, CNN, Erbil, Iraq. [Gorani:] Fascinating to see these resistance fighters, essentially, inside Mosul. Now, to something completely different, many of you have iPhones. So you might find the very story the next story, I should say, very interesting. Apple is releasing an update to its phone. It happens every few months, usually nothing to be excited about generally speaking. This time, however, the new software contains a very big security fix. So you might want to update your software on your iPhone right away. Samuel Burke is here to explain why. So what are these vulnerabilities to the iPhone that we're just learning about? [Samuel Burke, Cnn Business Correspondent:] We're just learning about them. And if you only remember one thing from this report, go and update your iPad or your iPhone because security researchers at the University of Toronto have identified three major flaws that allow third parties to get some incredible access to your phone. I just want to put a list up on the screen so people can see. These flaws will allow this third-party software to track or record all of your text messages, your e-mails, your passwords when you type them in, the cameras. Of course, they could take video, your microphones that could include Viber and WhatsApp calls, your phone calls through your normal line, and user movement so there is a. [Gorani:] So your GPS basically. [Burke:] Exactly, so it could know exactly where you are. So there is a patch out right now. [Gorani:] Yes. [Burke:] And I would very much want to do that. The committee to protect journalists. [Gorani:] Yes. [Burke:] .is saying journalists should do it right away especially dissidents. [Gorani:] Let me understand this. So there are companies that sell software that allow any user with the software in hand to track phones, passwords, confidential information on an iPhone remotely? [Burke:] Just think about that case. [Gorani:] Is it remote or does someone have to have access? [Burke:] So it's remote but they get access to your phone and then they can use it remotely. Think about the FBI. All of a sudden, they drop their case with Apple and said, well, we've figured out another way in. And most security experts believe that it was software from a company in the Middle East that allowed them to get into that phone. So what this group at the University of Toronto is alleging is that an Israeli firm called NSO Group, in this instance, was selling software to governments all around the world some governments that some people may consider good and some governments that some people may consider bad. And that this Israeli firm sold this software and that software was what was allowing some of these governments to get in. And they're alleging that many dissidents have been targeted. Now, NSO, this Israeli cybersecurity firm, has responded to us. In a statement, they told me via e-mail, the following. They said, quote, "The company sells only to authorized governmental agencies and fully complies with strict export control laws and regulations. Moreover, the company does not operate any of its systems. It is strictly a technology company." [Gorani:] Yes. But then they sell the software. What about Apple, what are they saying? [Burke:] Well, it does seem like Apple is acknowledging this by the mere fact that you and I have both gotten the updates on our phones. And they say this in the following statement, a spokesman telling us, quote, "We were made aware of this vulnerability and immediately fixed it with iOS 9.3.5." That's what is available on your phone and your iPad right now. "We advise all of our customers to always download the latest version of iOS to protect themselves against potential security exploits." But again, what this does, it all comes back to this famous FBI case with the San Bernardino attacker and making you think, if a company can get into your iPhone or they can allow one government in, they might be allowed to they might allow any or every government in. [Gorani:] Well, certainly. All right, well, always these security and privacy issues with thought these devices, computers and the like. Thanks very much and to our viewers, update your software. [Burke:] Absolutely. [Gorani:] The man known as Mr. Brexit joins Donald Trump on stage, the U.K.'s Nigel Farage after the message of encouragement for Trump's supporters, coming up. [Grace:] After a judge lets her loose, she walks free on bond after she`s charged with murdering her first baby, 26-year-old Melissa Mitin gets pregnant again. Tonight in a shocking turn, another baby, a second baby is gone. Mitin`s brand new infant son goes missing. Mitin refusing to reveal where the second baby is and tonight, she`s caught on video flashing a big smile for the cameras. [Unidentified Male:] A mom accused of murdering her newborn is let out on a $5,000 bond, gets pregnant and has another baby that`s gone missing. She doesn`t remember. She didn`t know where the baby was. Now, Mitin is back behind bars but her newborn son is still missing. [Grace:] Okay, it`s hard for me to take in, Steve Gruber, host of the Steve Gruber Show, Michigan Talk Network. Steve, that she actually is charged. Okay, there is the smile. She`s ready for her close up. She`s actually charged with killing the first infant after giving birth. Then a judge lets her out. She walks free on bond. I can`t wait to hear who that judge was. Lets her walk free and she immediately gets pregnant again. I guess this is the one where she says, I didn`t know I was pregnant. You know what, I don`t know how that`s possible, but then the second baby goes missing, a little infant baby boy. What is going on, Steve Gruber? Not one but two infants dead? [Steve Gruber, Host Of Steve Gruber Show:] Nancy, it`s pretty clear here. This is a mom who didn`t want to be a mom. She was more interested in putting two babies in the garbage. I mean, let`s be honest here, she`s out like you said on bond for murdering her infant daughter who her mother, the daughter`s grandmother, finds in the trash can of their friend`s house upside down umbilical cord, placenta just a horrifying scene. And then she`s released on bond for $5,000 as you mentioned Nancy. While she`s out, they figure out she`s not acting quite properly and through the course of their investigation, to find out she`s pregnant in early December 35 weeks pregnant. A couple of [Grace:] Thirty five weeks pregnant. That`s kind of hard to believe you`re 35 weeks pregnant and you don`t know anything about it. What you`re seeing right there is the actual trash bin where the first baby was killed. Justin Freiman, how was the first baby killed? [Justin Freiman, Nancy Grace Producer:] Well Nancy, the first baby was killed and it was put in this trash bag in a can where family members were staying with a friend and the family members actually found it there and of course, as we know, down the road she`s accused of placing another baby in trash. [Grace:] Joe Scott Morgan joining me, certified death investigator and professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University. The first baby, the little baby girl was reportedly put face down and then smashed down in this trash can in these people`s home in their bathroom, that she gives birth, doesn`t tell anybody about it and murders the baby. Now, how does that work? [Morgan:] Well, the baby is placed face down in a trash can, Nancy, and the baby was breathing at the time. The child would have died as a result of what`s called positional asphyxia. That means literally, the baby was suffocated by its own weight being pressed down into the trash. As we all know, infants can`t move very well, wouldn`t have been able to move its head to the left or the right so that it could breathe. Horrible way to die. [Grace:] Everyone, you are seeing the trash can that was brought into court where the first baby was killed. Marc Klaas joining me, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. How did a judge let her walk on bond after murdering a baby? If she had murdered an adult that would never have happened. [Klaas:] Yeah, there`s no question about that, Nancy and I think this is more about murdering an individual than having a baby because there is a million ways that one cannot have a baby this. I mean you can start with an abortion. You can give it away for adoption. You can leave it at a police station. There is so many ways to deal with this. This woman simply wanted to kill someone and the easiest way for her to do that without even leaving her own bedroom was to give birth, twice. [Grace:] Unleash the Lawyers, Robin Ficker, defense attorney out of Maryland, Austin Dove, defense attorney out of L.A. First to you Mr. Ficker, at this point, she`s a serial killer. She is lying about the second baby, refusing to reveal where it is, claiming I don`t recall. How can you not recall where your second baby is after you`ve already been charged with killing your first baby? [Robin Ficker, Defense Attorney:] We need a psychological evaluation. Obviously, this is a case of postpartum depression. You see her smiling but she`s not smiling inside. She has a very serious psychological problem. It`s evident, I`m sure you can see it, Nancy. [Grace:] No, actually. I can`t see it. What I do see is a woman that has the blood of two infants on her hands. Okay Dove, what`s your defense? [Austin Dove, Defense Attorney:] listen, Nancy, any thorough defense goes back you have to rewind the clock and go back into what is inside of her mind? We conclude just by the presence of the baby and the circumstances that this is a foregone conclusion that is murder. We got to back the tape up and really look what was in her mind? Every defense [Grace:] That`s not true. [Dove:] as it happens, starts in the mind. We got to be yes, there are also... [Grace:] Hold on, Austin. Hold on. [Dove:] There are also outward manifestations but you got to look back and say what happened in her mind. And as my colleague pointed out, there could be something to do with postpartum depression... [Grace:] Could be. Okay, Austin. [Dove:] ... infirmities envision her mind that has this act to happen. The downside way before the... [Grace:] Austin, you`ve said the same thing like four times in a row, something about rewinding a tape. Okay, let me remind both of you of the law. Just because you want to be the way you`re saying, that doesn`t mean that`s what the law is. The law states in black and white that the state is not required to prove motive. That is the law. The law does not require anyone to get into the mind of a defendant and figure out why. As a matter of fact, Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist who I`m really worried about their state of mind is Judge Mark Bloomer, the magistrate that let this woman go on $5,000 bond, which equals in our world $500. She walks free, rushes out, there you go thanks, judge and she gets pregnant again. I guess she doesn`t know where babies come from because she says she didn`t know she was pregnant at 35 weeks. Okay, it`s just a big lie and now is refusing to reveal where the baby is. Patricia, did you see where she told someone behind bars about killing the baby? [Patricia Saunders, Clinical Psychologist:] Yes, I did. She`s lying through her teeth. You know, it`s embarrassing and absurd that a defense attorney would talk about this woman having postpartum depression. She shows no signs of it. We`ve read nothing about it. Her defense attorneys would trap that out immediately. She was also found competent to stand trial. The issue is [Grace:] I`m glad you brought that up, Dr. Saunders. [Saunders:] Yes. [Grace:] Competent to stand trial. That means her defense shrink, her psychiatrist or psychologist has said she`s competent to stand trial. The state has and probably a court-appointed psychiatrist has done the same. So, all this business about debilitating depression is not true. [Saunders:] No, it`s not and there is no way that they can try the Hail Mary pass of an insanity defense. [Grace:] You know, Steve Gruber joining me. Steve, why did a judge let her walk free on a $500 bond after killing the first baby only for her to get pregnant and kill the second baby? Why? [Gruber:] Well, you know, that`s going to be a hard question to answer and that`s a question that magistrate`s going to have to answer now in the light of this evidence. [Grace:] Let`s remember, American hero Army Private First Class Anthony Alex Gaunky, just 19 Sparta, Wisconsin, bronze star purple heart, loved Star Wars, Monty Python, and riding bike trails. Donated his organs so others can live including an 11-year-old little girl. Parents Lorrie and David, three brothers. Anthony Alex Gaunky, American hero. Thank you for being with us. Nancy Grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern and until then, good night friend. END [Howell:] There is a glimmer of hope from the Syrian peace talks that are underway in Geneva, Switzerland. The umbrella group representing Syria's rebels, now says it will join the negotiations with the U.N. special envoy. The envoy's goal, a nationwide ceasefire among all factions except ISIS and the Al-Qaeda affiliate al-Nusra Front. The rebels had earlier said they would sit out on the talks until the Syrian government agreed to stop attacking civilians. CNN's International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson is following it all and joins us now live this hour in Geneva. Nic, good to have you with us. So explain to our viewers what those demands are? You know, everything from stopping the bombing to just making sure that aid and food can get to people. What more are they asking for? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well they're asking for a prisoner release as well particularly focusing on women and children. The humanitarian aid access, we're told that they're up to 18 different communities inside Syria that are cut off, that are essentially being starved at this time and an end for the bomb problem. What the HNC, the High Negotiations Committee is saying this is the collaboration of opposition groups here that range from a former prime ministers, it's a hard core Islamic groups. They are saying that these issues were enshrined in the U.N. resolution that brought about these talks in paragraphs 12 and 13. That's what they say. They say that they come here to get involved in the political process but not to go into the U.N. building perhaps to get into the talks proper. So I asked one of their representatives here Salim al-Muslat. What happens if their demands to get these issues addressed before they're going to talks? What happens if they're not addressed? This is what he told me. [Salim Al-muslat, High Negotiations Committee Spokesman:] I cannot really, you know, say that we will walk away now until we see the answers from, you know, Mr. de Mistura and the countries that really promised that they will do something about it. But for us it's really important, you know, that, you know, to see this, you know, on ground. [Robertson:] So specifically so we understand. What precisely are you looking for on that language? And a firmness of guarantees that they can guarantee that the bomb problems can stop, that the food can get through, that the prisoners can be released. [Al-muslat:] These solve issues are very important to us. You know, they can I believed they can do it. That, you know, they're willing to do it, they can do it. [Robertson:] So what the High Negotiating Committee is saying is that there will meet this afternoon, they're expecting to meet with Staffan de Mistura the U.N. special representatives that mediate in the talks there. And then they going to face their decisions on what to do next once they heard from state heard from Himmler coming a seven members allegation as small group of people then they're sort of allotted 15 if you will. They're going to decide what to do after they had that first meeting which is likely to be off the U.N. campus if you will under the hotel around here. And of course the Syrian government has already meet with the U.N. representative Staffan de Mistura, they met for about two hours on Friday, so the talks just beginning if you will and they're not up and running properly yet George. [Howell:] And Nic, I want to push forward on that just a bit more so the talks or a meeting I should say set to happen which is very crucial which is very important. But help our viewers to understand because you didn't following this for quite sometime and understand that delicacy here. How delicate it is to get all these sides to come together and even have this round of peace talks. [Robertson:] Well I think we can see how delicate it is and how difficult it is that the last time they had peace talk was two years ago. They was here in Geneva and not failed after a couple of weeks the U.N. has special representative at the time said it failed because the Syrian government only engaged to talk about the issue of terrorist not to talk about the issues of transitional government that were important in the opposition. That's what these talks are about. It's talking the high negotiating committee. The opposition group here the past week to decide even if they would show up here they decided to show up and not actually physically go into the U.N. buildings for the talks. So it is delicate there is a possibility that this could break down in the beginning and even if they get passed this stage you still looking ahead to the next couple of weeks to come to see if there is any movement on from the Syrian government, if there is any compromise on the part of the opposition that they have six months for these talks to then get to a new constitution. They're even debating the language, they working to what the transitional government or a government of national unity. But that all of these things sound like demanding but they're very delicate. It's entering forward but its way, way, way too soon to see if there going to be success. And of course when you look at it, two years ago they were essentially on the same position on what is happens since tens of thousands more people that died and many and more than a million migrants fled that conflict and ended up in the surrounding areas. [Howell:] This is sort of a pie in the sky pictures. So pardon me for putting this forward. But Nic is there even a sense of optimism. Just about this talks even though that the sides have come together, is there a sense of optimism that something can be done. [Robertson:] You know, I think when we talk to Diplomat here about, you know, the aspirations and why they're doing this right now. They say, well look the Russians are now different though, two years ago. The other Russians are now signed up with political process, they were part of the U.N. Security Council but they called in to play the process that we're in right now. But, you know, they say look if we don't do something then that killing continues and also ISIS gets strong, ISIS and Al-Qaeda were taking advantages in Syria and getting strong. So you have to try and do something. That's a sort of Diplomatic view that surrounds the talks right now. It's not I think everyone knows how tough this is. But the belief is if you don't do something it will only continue and potentially get worst. And we see at the moment how this escalates you have a massive amount of migrants streaming into Europe. It's divisive in Europe, its causing problems there. And also the tensions escalate and ripple throughout the region. Sectarian tensions are much bigger across the region now. Then they were perhaps a couple of years ago, so all of this is at stake, George. [Howell:] There are so many people who are caught up in the middle of this. There's so much carnage, so much death and destruction, all resting upon whether these sites can come together and find peace in Syria. Nic Robertson following it all for us in Geneva. Nic, thank you. These peace talks are desperately needed for many of those people who are dying in Syria. As particularly true for the city of Madaya where the former resort town is now under siege. Doctors Without Borders says 16 people have starved to death there since the U.N. convoys brought food and supplies earlier this month. It also says there still are 320 cases of malnutrition, 32 of which are severe. The U.N. estimates 400,000 Syrians are in dire need of food. MSF says that critically ill people in Madaya should have been evacuated weeks ago. Our Nick Paton Walsh shows as the terrible situation inside that besieged Syrian town. [Nick Paton Walsh, Senior International Correspondent:] ISIS has now gripped the town of Madaya, adding to the siege and starvation gnawing away of what's left of life here. Aid came briefly along with global attention but now it's gone and the weak here are still said to be dying. [Unidentified Male:] [Speaking foreign language]. [Walsh:] This is Dr. Mohammed. He shows us Fawaz Saif Alden, age 50, so malnourished he can't cope with food, only drip feeds. Held here, almost a ghost, edging towards death. Like his granddaughter, Lama, just 9 months old, she seems dazed. "For more than seven months, we've not had electricity," explains the doctor, "we've nearly run out of wood." Now plastic is often burned. The weakest, immobile, activist Abdullah shows us. [Abdullah , Activist:] This child here is very ill. He eats leaves, tree leaves, and he get sick and ill and his stomach, his stomach is really, really hurting. He needs immediately go to hospital outside in Madaya. [Walsh:] The little food here probably won't save the acutely malnourished who need urgent medical help, but it is handed out slowly. [Unidentified Male:] And actually, if they don't bring food for people, the people here will die because of starvation. [Walsh:] Here, in a makeshift hospital struggling to keep the lights on, is where they come, hoping to find help. "In the past 10 days since the arrival of relief supplies," the doctor says, "there have been 10 deaths. Scores of people have arrived at the clinic unconscious. We have around 500 sick people in the town that need hospital treatment." Syrian rebels have said they won't talk peace until sieges like these by the government are lifted. The rebels, too, are besieging other towns in the north. Hunger, a weapon of war, leaving 400,000 Syrians without the food they need, neither truly alive nor dead. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Beirut. [Howell:] On to Turkey now, which is condemning what it calls a violation of its airspace by Russian warplane. The foreign administry says, the jet was warned in both English and Russian before it cross into Turkish airspace from Syria on Friday. Russia denies the allegations calling them "unfounded propaganda". Turkey's military shutdown a Russian plane as you all remember in November for entering its airspace killing one crew member. Turkish official say the plane ignored several warnings. They claim that Russia disputes. Now we turn to you Derek Van Dam, here and severe weather that is threatening the [U.k. Derek Van Dam, Cnn Weather Anchor:] Yeah, that's right George. The U.K. Met Service actually issuing AMBER Alerts for the north western sections of the North West of the United Kingdom for severe wind gust. And in fact Edinburgh had a wind gust of over 100 kilometers per hour on Friday and a series of storm that continues to impact the region. There's yet another one coming late tonight and end in today on Monday. Here someone who's enjoying the wind George. Yeah, I like this one. Dog gone windy in Scotland, that's the best way to put it, right. At least someone can enjoy it, of course for the rest of us, it quite amuse us. Downing power lines and just interrupting travel and transportation across to U.K. Guess what, there's another storm headed our way and it's going to bring the same concerns that we received on Friday with that strong are of low pressure that came through. Look at the forecast wind gust for the day on Monday, Dublin to Liverpool, even London and Edinburgh anywhere between 50 to upwards of 90 kilometers per hour. And of course you get those high elevations peaks and you could easily top 120 kilometers per hour. That's a the potential to have hurricanes force winds for those high elevation areas. Nonetheless, it is going to be blustery and it's all thanks to this deepening area of low pressure that is forward across the Atlantic. There will be a surge of warmth across southern sections of U.K. so if you're in London, enjoy a warm day. But of course it will be windy, maybe a few showers passing through and then a better drop in our temperatures because the cold front will pass through very quickly. Look at those of pressure grade, those white solid lines that's indicator of a meteorologist that there will be wind associated with the system and it will come in quite fierce. And there's the potential of even snowfall as well. So the only part of the world that's expected to see snow, we bring it to the United States now where we're focusing our attention on the Central U.S. not only for the Iowa caucuses taking place on Monday but the potential of blizzard conditions that will form. Thanks for the storm that is going to start to really develop just ease of the rockies. Denver to Kansas City and Chicago, you have the potential of heavy snowfall here it is forming across the four corners. Southern California also receiving rain on Sunday evening and then the cold air drops in behind it changes his precipitation over to the frozen variety. We could easily pick up anywhere between 8 to 12 inches or even locally higher amounts from the rockies through the planes and that includes Iowa. But let's time this out for us because we've got the caucuses on Monday. We do believe here at the CNN Weather Center that the snow will hold off until the polls close at midnight and then into the day and Tuesday. That's when the road starts to slicking up because of the fresh falling snow again 12 to 8 inches of snow possible. Take a look at this I'm going to leave you with this image. George, this is Mars Curiosity Rover taking a selfie. [Howell:] A selfie. [Van Dam:] A selfie, did you think that was possible... [Howell:] Got the angle, right... [Van Dam:] Here is the proof. Yeah, he is got it all figure it out. I thought this image was kind of cool so I wanted to share it with our viewers. And by that Mars Curiosity Rover by the way has been on the Martian Planet for 900 days now. [Howell:] Wow. [Van Dam:] Pretty cool. [Howell:] Derek Van Dam, thank you so much. [Van Dam:] You're welcome George. [Howell:] Now to the U.S. State of California where three inmates who broke out of jail are now back behind bars. This after more than a week on the run, two of the fugitives were arrested Saturday morning in the city of San Francisco. About 600 kilometers or 370 miles from the prison of which they escaped. They were found in the white van after a woman pointed out to police saying that it looked like the one that authorities were searching for. The third inmate turned himself in on Friday. Police say, the trio will be housed in the same jail but this time in a more secure unit. Coming up on CNN NEWSROOM, the White House hopefuls have been crisscrossing the State of Iowa for weeks now, while Hilary Clinton and Jeb Bush are familiar to many. Can you name the other candidates? We put Iowa a sort of test, next stay with us. [Unidentified Reporter:] Mr. President, how far are you willing to take your travel ban? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] We're going to take it through the system. It's very important for the country, regardless of me or whoever succeeds at a later date. We have to have security in our country. We have to have the ability. When you take some place like Syria, you take all of the different people. And if you remember, ISIS said, we are going to infiltrate the United States and other countries through the migration. And then we're not allowed to be tough on the people coming in? Explain that one. So we'll see what happens. We have a big court case. We're well represented. And we're going to see what happens. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is it going to go to the Supreme Court, do you think? [Trump:] We'll see. Hopefully it doesn't have to. It's common sense. You know, some things are law, and I'm all in favor of that. And some things are common sense. This is common sense. [Unidentified Reporter:] Mr. President, if it's unreported or underreported unreported is the phrase you used yesterday, but if it's underreported, why do you think the media is not reporting or America is [Trump:] Well, I happen to think I don't have to I have to know. Because I'm reported on possibly more than anybody in the world. I don't think you'll say anything about that. I happen to know how dishonest the media is. I happen to know that stories about me that should be good, or bad. You know, I don't mind a bad story if it's true. But I don't like bad stories that should be a positive story, when they make them totally negative, I understand the total dishonesty of the media better than anybody. And I let people know it. I mean, the media is a very, very dishonest arm and we'll see what happens. Not everybody. And I have to say that. I always preface it by saying not everybody. But there's tremendous dishonesty. Pure outright dishonesty from the media. Let's go into the [Harlow:] All right. There you have it the president as he meets with sheriffs from counties across the country taking a few questions from the White House pool there talking about and defending the travel ban saying he hopes it doesn't have to go all the way to the Supreme Court, calling it common sense. Doesn't even seem to understand why it's being debated. Also, once again, going after the media. Ryan Lizza is back with us, also Lynn Sweet. Ryan Lizza, common sense versus something that should be debated. Your take? [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] I mean, look, the question about this travel ban from the beginning is, is it targeting the right people? Right? I mean, since 911, there have been 396 terrorism cases. Right? Those are people in the United States or Americans abroad that the American authorities have gone after for terrorism related charges. 83 percent of those people this is according to the New America Foundation which tracks all this stuff. 83 percent of those cases were American citizens or permanent residents. So what you hear from and, you know, I spent the last couple of days talking to a lot of counterterrorism officials so I wrapped my hear around this. What you hear from the counterterrorism world is we don't understand why a ban on these countries is helps make us safer, right? And so that's I think the argument that they just haven't made to most people's satisfaction. [Berman:] It's one of the things the judges today, the federal appeals court in San Francisco may decide on. They may decide on other things including standing. But we also heard the president talk about how he will let this work its way through the system now. I mean, now federal judges will get to rule on this, it may go all the way to the Supreme Court. You talked to a lot of people on the Hill. He might have been able to avoid all of this had there been a greater level of consultation and maybe some more planning before signing this order. [Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief, Chicago Sun-times:] Yes, John, exactly. And it could have been made more it could have been made more legal bulletproof. But it didn't happen that way. So when the president said he's going to work let this lawsuit work through the system, at this point, it really is not up to him because the lawsuit exists. The arguments will be made. The case, I believe, will end up in the Supreme Court. Right now 4-4 divided. So then we add on top of this what will be the unfolding drama over the confirmation of President Trump's newly minted Supreme Court nominee. So this goes back to the goal is something everybody agrees on. You don't want a terrorist in the nation. How you then have the plan to make sure that happens is what's essentially and simply at issue here. [Harlow:] So one of the other things he did there in those brief remarks is that he attacked the media. He said, I don't mind fake stories. That is actually in opposition to the you know, what he tweeted yesterday. He said, I don't mind bad story, I should say. I mind them when they're good stories and the media purposefully turns them negative. [Sweet:] When it's about him. [Harlow:] Right. [Berman:] Look, I don't think there's any question that this White House, and I'm not being critical, they want cheerleaders. I mean, they want the media to be cheerleaders to their policies and proposals. And that's not the way it works. [Lizza:] Yes, look, there's always a certain amount of working the refs. You know, it's usually the phrase we use like the White House and campaign officials attacking the media, trying to get us to focus on things they care about. This is at a level, though, that is far different. And there is just this sort of obsession right now with trying to get us to focus on the issues that they care about to the point where they are just brow beating us every day. And, you know, I think that that is troubling, especially when you're doing it before a military audience as he did yesterday. [Harlow:] But, Lynn, as a tactic to get the media to do that, saying things like he said yesterday in front of the military audience saying the media doesn't cover terror attacks enough, which is completely just flatly false and then we're talking about that and perhaps not about this travel ban likely going to the Supreme Court? [Sweet:] It's a distraction. It's a tactic. It's a strategy. And I don't think I can say it enough. I think it will be hard to sustain because at some point he has to get more into the nitty-gritty of governing. On the other hand, of course, it's damaging to the press. Of course it's distrustful because you know, we have thick skins. Reporters can always take criticism, but when you say things that we don't report on terrorism, when you take that broad sweep from local to national to international, it's just not true. And the reporter who did the follow-up today, in the White House, had a very good question. Are you saying, sir, that it's underreported, which is, OK, we can debate, or not reported at all, which isn't true? [Lizza:] And just look, one other point, I have a piece that just posted on NewYorker.com. I talked to a number of counterterrorism officials, Bush administration, Obama administration, and the surprising thing that I heard from them is what they were worried about is if this is the atmosphere that the White House is creating now in a period of relative calm in this country where we are not under threat, where we are not seeing terrorist attacks in this country, what happens when there's an actual terrorist attack in this country? [Harlow:] Yes. [Lizza:] And if the White House is attacking the media and the judiciary for, in their argument, not focusing enough on this, what happens afterwards when the country is jittery and scared? [Harlow:] And needs to be brought together. [Berman:] Laying the groundwork right now for that. Ryan Lizza, Lynn Sweet, great to have you with us. Really appreciate it. Still to come for us, wicked bad weather in Boston, but that doesn't matter because they are wicked tough there. And they are there to greet the world champion New England Patriots home with their Super Bowl trophy and their many, many rings. Stay with us. [Maddow:] We have new details today on the investigation into the massacre at a gay nightclub in Florida. That just moments away. But first, a day of mourning in Orlando. Heartbroken relatives and friends gathering to say their final good-byes. A full five funerals today honored victims of the rampage. Cory James Connell, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Luis Vielma, Stanley Almodavar III, and Antonio Davon Brown. All laid to rest today in separate private ceremonies. Cory Connell, just 21 died trying to protect his girlfriend who was shot in the wrist inside the nightclub. She told him to run. Instead he turned back to yank her away from an open door way. That's when he was shot and killed. Connell was a college student studying to become a fire fighter. In tribute to his long-held dream, he was made an honorary firefighter during today's service. A senior firefighter presenting the honorary helmet as she paid her respects. [Unidentified Male:] I want to be a firefighter. I said, really? He said, I'm in school now, that's what I will be. I'm like, long hours and you miss holidays, you are not with your family all time. You don't get paid a lot. You sure you don't want to be a doctor or something? He says to me, he smiles with that smile that I will always remember about him, he said, mom, I don't care, I want to do it because I want to save people. I want to help people and I was like, that right there made me know that kid was going to be a firefighter one day. [Sciutto:] Nineteen shooting victims remain in the hospital tonight. Four of them still in critical condition. As for the investigation, sources tell CNN the terrorist may have been planning this attack for weeks. One possible sign the gunman recently added his wife to his life insurance policy and gave her access to his bank accounts. Let's bring in CNN's Ed Lavandera now who's in Orlando. Ed, FBI studying a critical clue in this case. What has their attention? What do they expect to learn from it? [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Jim, you can see behind me, despite heavy rains throughout much of the afternoon, investigators at the Pulse nightclub, have been working, continuing to collect evidence, and one of those pieces of evidence that we've learned they have been able to get their hands on is the under surveillance footage from inside the Pulse nightclub, obviously gruesome and difficult to watch for these investigators. But it will be crucial in piecing together the time lines and the behaviors of the killer as he moved through that nightclub for several hours last Sunday morning. So they will be taking a much closer look at that and dissecting that video very closely, looking for any more possible clues that might be able to help them in this investigation Jim. [Sciutto:] I can't imagine what it shows. Difficult to watch. What can you tell us more vigils planned in the coming days? [Lavandera:] You know, we have learned tomorrow night here in Orlando there is a memorial service planned in a church in downtown Orlando that will be followed up by a candlelight vigil. Preparations are already under way for all of that roads will be blocked off in this part of Downtown Orlando. So, the emotional outpouring continues. It will be exactly one week since the deadly rampage here in Orlando and obviously it's been a very difficult week for many members of this community, but everybody coming together, planning to coming together one more time tomorrow night here in Orlando Jim. [Sciutto:] Such a familiar scene, a vigil following a mass shooting. Ed Lavandera, thanks very much. The Orlando massacre has not only reignited a nationwide debate over gun control. Gun dealers say it is sparking a rise yet again in gun sales. CNN Money correspondent Alison Kosik breaks down the numbers. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Money Business Correspondent:] Hi, Jim. It's a typical pattern after a mass shooting. The massacre in Orlando triggered a spike in gun sales. Gun consumers worry that regulatory backlash like stricter gun laws will make it harder to buy firearms. Overall, consumers are actually buying more than ever. FBI background checks, the closest metric we have to gun seals in the U.S. hit a record high last year. And those checks are on track to be even greater this year, which is great news for the country's biggest gun manufacturers. Case in point, Smith and Wesson, it reported last week firearm sales increased 22 percent from last year. Shares of the company also spiked as executives projected sales will continue to grow. Stern Ruger, another gun manufacturer, also saw shares spike in the double digits right after the shooting. Gun stocks have outperformed the broader market over the past decade. Sadly as mass shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, Aurora, Colorado, Charleston, South Carolina, and San Bernardino, California, have led to calls for tougher gun laws. And just like with tobacco companies, there could be pressure on large money managers to sell off their investments in gun companies. But that could be a tough sell. Firms have every right to own gun companies. The business is legal and very profitable Jim. [Sciutto:] Alison Kosik in New York, thank you. We are continuing to keep a close eye on Phoenix, Arizona, where at any moment we expect Donald Trump to take the stage and speak. Meanwhile, outside, protesters are gathering, angry about the presumptive nominee's agenda. Stay with us. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Big names in the mix of President-elect Trump's cabinets. Who will be the next one announced and when? [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Anchor:] And the president-elect pulls back how Trump seems to be softening his stance on climate change and Hillary Clinton. [Romans:] Could Hillary Clinton have grounds for a recount? A curious pattern discovered in three key states won by Donald Trump. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Sanchez:] Always good to be here, Christine. I'm Boris Sanchez. We are 30 minutes past the hour. We're starting with an update that's expected this morning from the Trump transition team. They're scheduled to hold a conference call with reporters today. We'll also hear from the president-elect himself. He's set to release a Thanksgiving video message from Mar-A- Lago where he's spending the rest of the holiday week. Trump flew down to Florida after a wide-ranging, on the record sit- down with "The New York Times" reporters, editors and columnists. Among the news-making highlights, Trump backed off his promise to prosecute Hillary Clinton. This as sources tell CNN that Mitt Romney is thinking hard about taking the job of secretary of state if Trump should offer it to him. Let's bring in CNN's Jim Acosta for all the latest. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Boris and Christine, CNN has learned that Mitt Romney is seriously considering the possibility of joining Donald Trump's transition team as secretary of state. A source familiar with the transition discussion says it's likely the 2012 Republican nominee will be consulting with his family over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. The decision to select Romney would send a message that Trump is open to moderating the situation. Trump himself seemed to reveal he is open to toning down his positions in a wide-ranging interview with "The New York Times." The President- elect told "The Times" he is leaning against urging the prosecution of Hillary Clinton, something he vowed to do during the campaign. And his top advisers say it's a signal Trump is ready to move on. [Rudy Giuliani , Former New York City Mayor:] Look, there's tradition in American politics that after you win an election, you sort of put things behind you, and if that's a decision he reached, it's perfectly consistent with sort of historical pattern of things come up. We say a lot of things. Even some bad things might happen and you can sort of put it behind you in order to unite the nation. [Acosta:] As for the prospect of Romney joining the Trump administration, a source tells CNN a decision is not expected until next week Boris and Christine. [Sanchez:] All right. Thanks, Jim. A lot to mull over. [Romans:] Oh my gosh, right. All right. Trump's 75-minute with "The New York Times" yesterday was not televised or live-streamed. Instead, "Times" reporters blasted the remarks live on Twitter, 140 characters at a time. In many cases, Trump's statements came in in contrast to remarks that he made on the campaign trail on whether climate change is manmade. Trump said, "I think there is some connectivity. Some something. It depends on how much." On conflict in the Middle East, he said, "I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. That would be such a great achievement." He was a bit fuzzy on how exactly how to do that, but he did suggest his Jewish 35-year-old son-in-law Jared Kushner could help. [Sanchez:] And something on the headlines that white supremacist movement known as the alt-right celebrating his election, Trump disavowed them and added, "That's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized, I want to look and find out why." On his campaign CEO, a newly appointed top adviser Steve Bannon, Trump said, if I thought he was racists or alt-right, I wouldn't even think about hiring him." Keep in mind, though, Bannon is the former head of Breitbart News, a site that Bannon himself called the platform for the alt-right. And finally Trump swept aside any questions of conflicts of interest with his far-flung business empire. He said, quote, "The law is totally on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest." [Romans:] Interesting. Now, the Trump Foundation admitted violating IRS rules by improperly giving money to someone close to the organization. That's according to a recent federal income tax filing obtained by CNN a nonprofit watchdog Guide Star. On the return, a foundation checked the yes box when asked did the foundation transfer any income or assets to a disqualified person or make any other available for the benefit of a use of a disqualified person. Now, disqualified person is IRS speak for someone with significant influence over the activities of the organization, or someone related to those people. The filing did not disclose who that person was. The Trump team did not respond to our request for comment. Tax [Sanchez:] Unexpected by almost any measure. [Romans:] Absolutely. People kept saying that Donald Trump if you took him at his word, his policies for trade administration, had could be disastrous for the global economy. It looks as though global investors are not taking him at his word and they think the governing president-elect is going to be more market-friendly than the campaigning Donald Trump. [Sanchez:] All right. So far, so gad. One appointment that's getting some attention here, potential appointment, I should say, President-elect Trump tweeting that he's seriously considering Dr. Ben Carson for secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The former rivals met at Trump Tower on Tuesday. Dr. Carson's spokesperson tells CNN the retired neurosurgeon is honored by Trump's insistence that he'd take a cabinet post and that he's going to spend the Thanksgiving holiday thinking it over. We're also told Dr. Carson made it clear that he would actually prefer to advise Trump from outside the administration. [Romans:] All right. Michelle Rhee said she will not be pursuing the role of education secretary in the Trump administration. The former chancellor of Washington, D.C.'s public schools met with the president-elect last weekend, despite heavy criticism from the education community. On Tuesday, she tweeted, "I have appreciated the opportunity to share my thoughts on education with the president-elect of the United States. Our job as Americans is to want him to succeed." [Sanchez:] Jared Kushner revealing that he played a pivotal role in the stunning election for his father-in-law by setting up a sophisticated secret data operation. Kushner tells "Forbes" magazine he called some friends from Silicon Valley and they helped him develop a social media micro-targeting strategy that involved a 100-person team at a data hub in San Antonio, working to unify fund-raising, messaging and voter targeting to get the most out of the lean marketing budget. [Romans:] Do you remember all of that handwringing of how Donald Trump is not spending enough on television advertisements, Donald Trump is spending too much time on big rallies on social media, not on traditional ways of influence voters. [Sanchez:] He got the last laugh. [Romans:] He got the last laugh, for sure. All right. A group of top computer scientist are urging Hillary Clinton to demand a recount. The computer experts say they have found evidence that vote totals in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania may have been hacked. Now, they say Clinton performed 7 percent worse in counties that use electronic voting than in counties using paper ballots and scanners. Scientists have not told Clinton campaign officials they have not found evidence that proves hacking, but they say this is a pattern that needs to be investigated. Clinton would have to take all three states to change the results of the election. The deadline to file for a recount in Wisconsin is Friday. [Sanchez:] We've been following this heart wrenching story out of Tennessee. Five kids killed in a school bus crash. There are new questions this morning about the man who is behind the wheel. Should he have been driving that bus? [Berman:] If you've been watching CNN, you might have heard that Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary, but he did not only win the primary, he scored a couple of new nicknames thanks to a pair of news anchors who were either hungry or dreamy of the breach CNN's Jeanne Moos has more on the "Bernie bloopers" taking over the internet. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a pretty easy name to say. [Whoopi Goldberg, Television Host, "the View":] Bernie Sanders. [Moos:] Which makes a minor slip of the tongue by MSNBC anchor Chris Hayes all the more delicious. [Chris Hayes, Host, Msnbc:] Railing against pharmaceutical companies and the like. And Bernie sandwiches Sanders' message from the beginning. [Moos:] May I please have a second helping. [Hayes:] And Bernie sandwiches [Moos:] Next thing you know everyone was making Bernie sandwiches. Bernie and corn beef. Bernie on toast. Bernie between buns. Holding a sandwich aloft. Pulling one out of his pocket. #BernieSandwiches unleash tweets like "feel the heartbern" and comments like "Bernie Sandwiches. That's his mafia name." As for Chris Hayes... [Hayes:] Bernie sandwiches. [Moos:] He tweeted, "In my defense I was literally watching people being served dinner when I said Bernie sandwiches." And as if "Bernie sandwiches" wasn't enough for one election night, another anchor put her foot in her mouth. Though Megyn Kelly's blooper on Fox News wasn't quite so mouth-watering. [Megyn Kelly, Host, Fox News:] On the Democratic side, Bernie sandal Sanders. Sandals could catch on in the summer months. [Moos:] It's already caught on, Megyn. [Kelly:] Bernie sandal. [Moos:] The Bernie sandwich likewise already exists. "Food and Wine" magazine created sandwiches to represent various candidates. Hillary's sandwich was a Subway sandwich. [Unidentified Male:] A little bit of everything and anything anyone could ever want on it it will agree to put under that bread. [Moos:] While Bernie's was a Vietnamese sandwich. Spicy and obscure. [Unidentified Male:] Your hipster friends are going to tell you about it. [Moos:] Even Chelsea Clinton once misspoke while bringing up Bernie. [Chelsea Clinton, Daughter Of Hillary Clinton:] If President Sanders Excuse me Senator Sanders, I hope not President Sanders. [Moos:] Yeah, well how about "President Bernie Sandwiches?" [Unidentified Female:] [Chanting] Sandwich! Sandwich! Sandwich! [Moos:] Jeanne Moos, CNN. [Pereira:] You both want a sandwich now, don't you? [Berman:] I am kind of hungry. [Pereira:] I figured to would. [Berman:] I am kind of hungry. I just think You know, I feel for these because I've said much worse. [Pereira:] I know. Oh, we all have. [Berman:] On TV by mistake. [Pereira:] Yes. [Berman:] I long to say sandwich. I yearn to screw up like that because that's nothing. [Pereira:] Like sandal. That's not so bad. [Cuomo:] There is something more delicious, though, when it happens to somebody else. That's for sure. [Pereira:] Isn't it? [Berman:] A little bit. [Pereira:] Glass house and all that, right? Whew hoo hoo. All right I guess that is it for us. [Berman:] Yeah. [Cuomo:] Time for the "NEWSROOM" with Carol cookies and milk. [Pereira:] Okay. That's [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] I don't even know what that means so I'll just skip over that. [Cuomo:] It's positive. You can skip over it by the way. [Costello:] But you guys have a great day. [Pereira:] You, too. [Costello:] See you later. "NEWSROOM" starts now. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, July 6, 6 a.m. in the east, and we are going to be talking this morning about these protests that are erupting in Baton Rouge after a black man is shot repeatedly by police, killed during an altercation. The deadly encounter captured on cell-phone video. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] So police say they were trying to restrain the man they believed to have had a gun. And the chilling video is now going viral. The community is outraged; and his family, of course, is demanding answers. So let's begin our coverage with Polo Sandoval. He's live with all of the breaking details. What have you learned, Polo? [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Alisyn, first I do want to set the stage a bit here and offer a bit more context on this video that you're about to see, which by the way, is considered graphic by many. So now would be a good time to have your children leave the room if they are present. This video that you're about to see was actually shot by an individual who was sitting in a parked vehicle in the parking lot of a convenience store early Tuesday morning. And now, it's fairly short, but it is prompting some serious questions here on the ground in Baton Rouge. [Sandoval:] Hundreds of protesters taking to the streets in Baton Rouge after this graphic video circulated on social media of a deadly encounter between police and a man at a convenience store. According to police, two officers responded to an anonymous call just after midnight on Tuesday. The caller said a man selling CDs outside of the store threatened him with a gun. The officer attempted to subdue 37-year-old Alton Sterling. [Unidentified Male:] Get on the ground! Get on the ground! [Sandoval:] The store owner says that one officer used a Taser, but Sterling remained on his feet. Sterling is then tackled by an officer over the hood of a car. As officers wrestled to restrain Sterling, someone yelled... [Unidentified Male:] He's got a gun. [Sandoval:] Sterling was then shot several times at point blank range. [Abdul Muflahi, Store Owner Who Knew Sterling:] I was actually maybe two, three feet away when that happened. [Sandoval:] Muflahi says while Sterling lay in the parking lot, he saw officers pull a gun from his pocket. Sterling's family now demanding answers. [Unidentified Female:] I really want to know more about what happened about the whole situation, because my brother didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve it at all. [Sandoval:] CNN affiliate WAFB reports that the officers in question were wearing body cameras, but they apparently fell off at the alteration. Baton Rouge Police have placed the officers on administrative leave. [Corporal L'jean Mckneely, Spokesman, Baton Rouge Police Department:] We've got to review the video; we're going to review the audio. We have witnesses, non-biased witnesses here. We're going to bring them down to our station and interview them. [Sandoval:] The coroner ruling that Sterling died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back. [Muflahi:] God bless his soul. It could have been handled much differently. On both sides, it could have been handled differently. [Sandoval:] A local congressman now calling for the Justice Department to initiate their own investigation into Sterling's death. Meanwhile, that local affiliate that we just mentioned in the piece has reported that this is now the third officer-involved shooting that happened there in the east Baton Rouge parish. Chris, we are told that we are we expected to hear from the man's family later today as they are expected to speak to reporters in only a couple of hours. All right, Polo, thank you very much. Let's bring in some people to discuss what happened here. CNN political commentator Marc Lamont Hill, host of "VH-1 Live"; and CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander. He's the director of policy of public safety for the DeKalb County Police Department in Georgia. Gentlemen, thank you. Sorry this is for another one of these occasions. This is all going to be about the video tape, the cell phone video that was made. We have a portion of it that will end right when the gunfire starts, because from then on, it's not relevant for the analysis; and it's disturbing. So let's watch it here unedited, and then we'll discuss. [Cuomo:] Cedric, all the years on the job, understanding these incidents, understanding, more importantly, what the progression of the analysis will be in figuring this out. Help us understand what you see on this. [Cedric Alexander, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] You know, here's what's very key to this whole piece that we have here. It is certainly a pretty graphic video, as what we can see. But in all fairness, I think, to the community and to officers who respond to the call, this is still very early in the investigation. And I think what's going to be critically important is not just the video itself but other forensic evidence that is going to suggest how and why that shooting took place the way that it did. This is still very early, Chris. But to the average viewer that's out there in that community and the environment we're in today between police and community, it certainly does raise a lot of questions. Let me say one thing here real quick. One thing that's going to be very important, and you heard that from Baton Rouge Police Department, is that they're going to have to be very transparent in keeping that community in contact with them and sharing information as it becomes relevant to this investigation. That's going to be critically important, based on the video that we just saw. [Cuomo:] All right. Obviously the protests, the outrage are, for obvious reasons, you've got a guy on his back with some cops on top of him, and they still wind up shooting him multiple times. [Marc Lamont Hill, Cnn Political Commentator:] And that's the problem. And I agree with this. We need to look at as much evidence as possible. We need to look at forensics, and we need to talk to witnesses. But sometimes we can look at so much stuff that we forget what happened in front of our own eyes, which is a shooting of not an unarmed man but a man who was clearly subdued and was not accessing his weapon, according to witnesses and according to police as of yet. Of course, we still do more investigation to find out more information. But let's not confuse this. Because this is a very common ritual to have in an instance like this. We begin to dig into the person's background. What kind of person were they? We'll dig into their criminal record. You know, what did they do when they were 18 years old or 15 years old or 12 years old. We begin to then raise all these other questions that have nothing to do with what happened in that incident. There's a long pattern of black men in particular but also black women being killed by law enforcement. And in Baton Rouge in particular, we're getting we're seeing evidence that this is a pattern. We need to investigate this, but we also did not deny what's in front of our own eyes. [Cuomo:] Let's look a little bit of a shorter version here. First, we should remind Polo Sandoval, in his reporting, said that this is the third officer shooting in a relatively small amount of time. So that's one of the factors for this community. This is how they got him on the ground, OK? So, obviously, he wasn't the officers felt he wasn't responding to those commands, and they wind up getting into a tussle with him, putting him down. Now Cedric, this is where the analysis gets tricky for the layman, you know, for someone who, you know, doesn't have the forensic experience, because it's once he's on the ground, isn't it over? What is the standard for an officer? And what are the different variables for an officer, even when it seems like someone is subdued? [Alexander:] Well, you know, here again, this is what we see on the video from the angle that is being shot. We don't know from the other side of that car, which we cannot clearly see, and what was taking place, what was in officer's mind when he yelled, "Gun, gun, gun." It's our understanding, from the initial reports, that he did have a gun in his possession. And here's where I have to be very careful, and I think it's important that the community and the country at large be very careful, is that we will know more as more information is revealed; but we have a few seconds of a video that is very graphic to the average person that's watching it. But I think what's going to be very important here, Chris and I will reemphasize it again is the fact that, in this particular shooting, it appears that he was down. We don't know where his hands were. We don't know why that officer shot. But he's going to have to articulate and clearly articulate the reason why he took the shot. [Cuomo:] Well, it's going to have to come down it's going to have to come down to where his hands were. The... [Alexander:] And it will. [Cuomo:] Because the eyewitness testimony afterwards is that they saw the officers taking the weapon out of his pocket, right? That raised an interesting point. [Hill:] And that his hands were never near his pocket. Abdul Muflafi said that his hands were never at his pocket. [Cuomo:] But you have eyewitness testimony. You have two things here that are going to be impressive to people on both sides of the equation. This is my guess. And you guys say what you want about it. One is good thing you got videotape. We don't know if the body cams were working properly. The cell-phone video may be the only record of this. Without it, it's an entirely different analysis, certainly for the public. And on the other side it's going to be why did he resist? When they were telling them to get on the ground, why did he create a situation? You know everything goes against you once that happens. Hold on, Cedric. Let me hear from Marc, and I'll come right back. [Hill:] One, of course, yes, videotape is always great. If there's not a videotape, there's not a chance that we even have this conversation right now. Because the assumption is that police don't anything wrong unless we have video of it. It also helps the cops. Helpful for them to see it took two of them to put on the ground. All these prosecutions of police officers or attempted prosecutions of police officers only happen when we have videotape. So that... [Cuomo:] But I think it also helps the cops. And it's helpful for them to see that they're dealing with a big guy who didn't want to listen. Two of them who put him on the ground. [Hill:] Perhaps. And resistance, let's talk about that, because resistance is something that is not a lethal offense or shouldn't be a lethal offense. It's not a capital offense, right? Eric Garner has his hands up in the air. He still dies. Freddie Gray runs. He dies. Mike Brown approaches. He dies. You know, we could go down the list. Walter Scott runs away and gets shot in the back and he dies. And magically, these these body cameras don't seem to work when the cases seem to stack against the police with regard to culpability. So that also raises skepticism. So to Cedric's point, yes, we should look at the investigation; we should wait for the investigation. But the public has to have some sense of trust in the investigators. And for a long time we've had no reason to have that. In this case, there's nothing to inspire confidence. [Cuomo:] But Cedric, you made the most important point right out of the box, which is it's early. And I know it seems obvious from looking at the videotape, but things rarely are. Because obviously, these officers wound up doing something that they know was going to change their lives. You know, even if it's justifiable shooting, their lives were changed by the obviously, this man's life was ended by this. So as the facts come in, we'll do more analysis. But for now, as you said, it's early out of the box. We're going to have the attorney for the family on after this. Mark, thank you very much. Cedric, as always. Alisyn. [Camerota:] OK, Chris. Turning now to our other top story. Donald Trump accusing Hillary Clinton of bribing Attorney General Loretta Lynch after the FBI recommended not charging Clinton over her email practices while secretary of state. So we have the 2016 race covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with Sara Murray. She is live in North Carolina. Sara, give us all of the latest. [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, good morning, Alisyn. Donald Trump was trying to stay on message last night. He was trying to hammer Hillary Clinton, drive home the message that, in the wake of not of the FBI not recommending any charges, that the system was rigged in the favor of people like the Clintons, but he just couldn't quite stay all the way on message after making a passing reference and complimenting Saddam Hussein. [Donald Trump , Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] She lied. [Murray:] Donald Trump touching down in the stormy Tar Heel State to land a searing attack against Hillary Clinton. [Trump:] Stupidity is not a reason that you're going to be innocent, OK? It's not a reason. Today is the best evidence ever that we've seen that our system is absolutely, totally rigged. [Murray:] Trump attempting to cast Clinton as a corrupt politician, all after FBI Director James Comey said he won't recommend charges against Clinton for using private e-mail servers, while offering pointed criticism. [James Comey, Fbi Director:] There is evidence that they were extremely careless. [Murray:] Trump leapt at the chance to pile on. [Trump:] She sent vast amounts of classified information, including information classified as top secret. She was extremely careless and frankly, I say, grossly incompetent. She will be such a lousy president. [Murray:] Trump even suggesting Clinton may have bribed her way to this outcome. [Trump:] She said today that we may consider the attorney general to go forward. That's like a bribe, isn't it sort of a bribe? [Murray:] That's after a "New York Times" story, not Clinton herself, cited unnamed Democrats, saying Clinton may decide to keep Loretta Lynch as attorney general. But Trump didn't stop with Clinton. As she campaigned alongside President Obama, Trump took aim at Obama's penchant for golf. [Trump:] Golf, golf. More, more. Learning how to chip, learning how to hit the drive. [Murray:] The acronym he uses to describe [Isis. Trump:] He says ISIL. He says ISIL, and you know, it's almost like he does it to make people upset. [Murray:] And his demeanor in the White House. [Trump:] We've got a person in the White House that's having a lot of fun. A lot of fun. I watched him today. It's like a carnival act. [Murray:] But even as Trump tried to stay on the offensive, he again set off controversy by offering his accolades to former Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein, a man who maintained a vise grip on power, in part by financing terrorism, torturing opponents, and targeting minorities. [Trump:] We shouldn't have destabilized. Saddam Hussein was a bad guy, right? He was a bad guy, really bad guy. But you know why he did well? He killed terrorists. He did that so good. [Murray:] Now Trump's comments about Saddam Hussein were made all the more awkward, since he was campaigning alongside Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Corker. This is one of the folks he's auditioning for a potential V.P. spot. But overnight, Trump tried to turn the focus back to Hillary Clinton. Of course, he took to Twitter to do it. He said, "I don't think the voters will forget the rigged system that allowed Crooked Hillary to get away with," quote, "murder." Come November 8, she's out Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Sara. Thank you very much. No mention of emails as President Obama took the stage with Hillary Clinton at a campaign rally just hours after the FBI announcement. We have CNN's Michelle Kosinski, live at the White House with more. Michelle, good morning. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Chris. Right, the White House completely punted on this. They would not respond to the FBI's announcement, even though they weighed in before. So, why not say anything, of all day, yesterday? I mean, this good news for Hillary Clinton is hardly all good, but somebody had to say something about it. I mean, this happened. So, it was the campaign that did it as cleanly as possible. They put out this paper statement and then, boom, nobody needed to say anything else. Not wanting a shadow over this big day on the campaign trail. [Kosinski:] These are the pictures Hillary Clinton's campaign has been waiting for, arrival with the president on Air Force One. Then... [Music: "fight Song"] ... side by side on the stage. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Hillary! Hillary! Hillary! [Clinton:] This, my friends, is a president who knows how to keep us safe and strong. Compare that to Donald Trump. [Kosinski:] This is President Obama returning the favor after the rivals back in 2008, then united in New Hampshire. [Clinton:] We stand shoulder to shoulder. [Obama:] With this. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I believe in Hillary Clinton. [Kosinski:] Came after a surreal day in politics. You'd never know here that Hillary Clinton was now not facing criminal charges. Not a word mentioned of it, as if it hadn't been the story of the day or that the FBI announcement hadn't happened, coincidentally two hours before the two took off together. [Obama:] I'm with her. [Kosinski:] This appearance pure cheerleading. [Clinton:] He's made difficult, even unpopular decisions for the good of our country. [Obama:] There has never been any man or woman more qualified for this office than Hillary Clinton. Never. And that's the truth. I'm here today because I believe in Hillary Clinton. I want you to help elect her to be the next president of the United States of America. [Kosinski:] A chance, too, to hit Republicans plenty of times and once again, even now the president would not say Donald Trump's name. [Obama:] Even the Republicans on the other side don't really know what the guy's talking about. You ask them, they're all like, "I don't know." [Kosinski:] President Obama now out on the trail showing the energy he's known for. [Obama:] I'm ready to pass the baton. And I know Hillary Clinton is going to take it, and I know she can run that race. [Kosinski:] At times he was shouting in a hoarse voice, and he got everything in that speech. I mean, climate, energy, immigration, guns. It's just the beginning. He's expected to be very busy on the campaign trail from now on Alisyn. [Camerota:] OK, Michelle, thank you for all that reporting. You've given us a lot to talk about, which we will do coming up, as well. Donald Trump blasting the FBI, accusing Hillary Clinton of bribery, and singing the praises of Saddam Hussein. So, we will discuss all of it next. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We've got to unify our country. We've got to quit the divisiveness. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] We are not going to allow the American dream to die. [Clinton:] Help me start us on the path to the White House. [Sanders:] Lead this country into the political revolution. [Mike Glasgow, Former Laboratory And Water Quality Supervisor, Flint, Michigan:] I only did it because I was instructed to. [Unidentified Male:] These charges are only the beginning. You never want to see a situation like Flint happening. They failed Michigan families. They failed us all, I don't care where you live. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. [Cuomo:] Good morning. How are you doing? A little coffee, we're getting ready. Alisyn is off. Brianna Keilar is here with us this morning. Good to have you. [Keilar:] Good to be here. [Cuomo:] Good to have you. [Pereira:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] For now. Up first, Donald Trump back to his name-calling antics. The GOP front-runner resurrecting "Crooked Hillary" and "Lying'Ted" just hours after saying it's time to be presidential. Ted Cruz says the fight for the Republican nomination definitely going to a contested convention. This as Cruz and John Kasich are trying to woo RNC members at the party's annual spring meeting. [Keilar:] And as for the Democrats, Hillary Clinton hoping to clinch the party's nomination in next Tuesday's northeast primary. Still Bernie Sanders is not going down without a fight. He is back on the campaign trail today after a day of recharging in Vermont. And we've got the 2016 race covered like only CNN can, beginning with Jason Carroll Jason. [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Brianna, Donald Trump says that his when it comes to his campaign, it will evolve, but he says when it comes to his personal style, he's not going to change the way that he addresses the people who come out to support him at his rallies so it should be no surprise that the name calling is back. [Trump:] We've got Lying'Ted. We have Crooked Hillary. [Carroll:] Donald Trump back at it. [Trump:] I'd love running against Crooked Hillary. In the case of Lyin'Ted Cruz, Lying'Ted, lies. Oh, he lies. [Carroll:] Reviving some of his favorite nicknames less than 24 hours after delivering a more measured victory speech in New York. [Trump:] I thought it would be very undignified for me to get up at that particular moment. [Carroll:] The Republican frontrunner doing a victory lap in Indiana and Maryland Wednesday and continuing to rail against the Republican primary process. [Trump:] So it's a rigged system. It's rigged for the lobbyists. It's rigged for the donors, and it's rigged for the special interests. [Carroll:] Reince Priebus fighting back again. [Reince Priebus, Chair, Rnc:] It's not a rigged system. In fact, the rules are clear. I'm not going to do anything to help anyone, and I'm not going to do anything to hurt anybody. [Carroll:] Priebus insisting that he's enjoying preparing for a potential contested convention. [Priebus:] I think people assume you must be miserable. I'm not pouring Bailey's in my cereal. I'm not sitting here trying to find the Johnny Walker. I mean, this is this is fun. [Carroll:] Republican Party leaders sitting down with both Ted Cruz and John Kasich Wednesday night as Cruz's irritation with Kasich boiled over on the campaign trail. [Cruz:] John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination. Now, it may be that John is auditioning to be Trump's vice president, but a TrumpKasich ticket loses to Hillary Clinton. [Carroll:] Kasich defending his decision to stay in the race in an interview with [Cnn. Kasich:] If he's so sure of that, why is he attacking me all the time? All I know is, if we pick these two guys, according to virtually all the polls, we are going to get creamed. [Carroll:] And Trump making it very clear he does not believe Kasich or Cruz has a path to the nomination. You know he likes to tweet, Chris. He tweeted this morning let me read it to you "Senator Cruz has been mathematically eliminated from the race." He said, "Kasich should get out for the same reason. I think both should get out" Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Jason. Thank you very much. Let's bring in someone from the inner circle of team Trump: Michael Cohen, executive vice president for the Trump Organization and special counsel to the man himself, Donald Trump. Good to see you, Counselor, as always. So tweet seems pretty clear. Why should we get out of the race? Why should they not take it to the convention? [Michael Cohen, Evp, Trump Organization:] First runner up, second runner up. It's time to leave. They it's interesting that Ted Cruz would attack Kasich for well over a month, telling him he should get out because he's mathematically out of the race. It's not a bad thing that, what, we're 16, 17 to start. He made it as first runner up. It's great. Now it's time to get out, coalesce, stop the nonsense, let the people's will be the people's will, not the delegates' will, the people's; and let Mr. Trump end up being the nominee. Let them coalesce around him, because when he's the president. They're going to have to all work together and stop all the nonsense. [Cuomo:] He's coming at you with two "R's." He's coming at you with the realities, which is that you can't get there either. That's what Ted Cruz is saying: "I'm not getting out, because even though I may not get to 1,237, you ain't getting to 1,237, so we all have to go to the convention." Do you accept that? [Cohen:] No. Mathematically, Mr. Trump is at there's a number. Fifty-eight percent they claim that he needs to get in terms of the total delegates. [Cuomo:] That's what math claims. [Cohen:] That's what math claims. However, it doesn't take into consideration that there's also these unbound delegates. If he gets 75 percent of those unbound delegates, I believe he's down to 51 or 52 percent. [Cuomo:] Why would he get 75 percent of them? [Cohen:] The same reason he's drawing tens of thousands of people. The same reason he's three plus million people more in terms of votes. The same reason why he's drawing independence in Democrats to the Republicans' side, because that's Donald Trump. That's what he does. He's actually a tremendous unifier. [Cuomo:] The rules is the second "R" he's coming at you with. Sean Spicer came out and said, "Hey, you make it to the two-yard line you don't get a touchdown." [Cohen:] Right. But the team that lost in the quarter finals doesn't get the chance to come back and play either. Which is exactly what they're trying to do. Mr. Trump is the only guy that's still on. [Cuomo:] If you don't get to 1,237, why isn't that a fair thing for them to say? All right. Nobody got it done here. Let's go to the convention. That's what the rules say. [Cohen:] Because it should be the will of the people. It's the vote of the people, not the vote of the delegate. Here's the interesting thing, too. It shouldn't be about this delegate nonsense. What they're doing is distracting from Mr. Trump's message. Jobs, economy, international security. This is what he what he resonates best with the people. Why they believe Donald Trump would be the best president. He's the only one who's actually ever created a job. He's the only one that actually knows, really, how to run a budget. He's the only one that has ever actually done something other than be as, for example, Ted Cruz, he's been a government lawyer his entire life. [Cuomo:] But he's in politics now. He's running the most competitive kind of race that there is. There's this meeting going on down in Florida of the [Rnc. Cohen:] Chris, we're $20 trillion in debt. This debt hasn't been created by Donald Trump. It's been created by our so-called political elites in Washington. [Cuomo:] That's true, but to get a chance to fix the debt in any way or the deficit, he's going to have to win. This meeting going on down in Florida, we hear that Cruz, Kasich are down there. Their teams are down there, trying to influence it. Do you guys have a presence down there? [Cohen:] That's for the campaign to discuss, not for me. [Cuomo:] Because that's part of the criticism is that you've got to have the organization in place. [Cohen:] Like I said the other day to you, Mr. Trump will adapt and he will overcome whatever obstacle that's in front of him. Rest assured, they are out there speaking to the delegates, as well. That this whole notion of this courting of delegates, it's so wrong, if you look at what does the word "courting" mean? They're taking them out. They're wining; they're dining them. I mean, in essence, what are you doing? You're really bribing delegates with free rides and food and trips. That's not the American way. That's not how our democratic process should really be working. [Cuomo:] What if they're making the case to them that, look, you may like him... [Cohen:] You have to do it over you have to do it at a beach resort. You have to do it over wine; you have to do it over dinner. And then someone said to me, "Well, you know, what if it's not an expensive meal?" What does that mean? What does that mean? The whole notion here that it's OK to wine and dine a delegate, to steal him away from somebody that my constituents, if I'm the delegate and I'm representing an area, that my constituents want, it's wrong. This whole notion is wrong. They should allow Mr. Trump right now to talk about again, jobs, economy, national security. [Cuomo:] He can talk about whatever he wants. It's his choice to say "Crooked Hillary" and "Lying'Ted." [Cohen:] When Ted Cruz starts talking about "Donald Trump should debate me, Donald Trump" who's really whining here? It's Ted Cruz. Why should Donald Trump debate you? You're out. You're mathematically out. What's the point for Mr. Trump to sit on a stage with somebody who's mathematically out? Out of that group of 16 or 17 that started, the only one that's still standing is who? Donald Trump. [Cuomo:] Well, you've still got three guys in the race. You have three guys who could possibly get the nomination. [Cohen:] ... in the race Chris, they're not in the race for any reason other than they have a donor base that's still feeding them money. If they had to use their own money, if they had to like Mr. Trump is doing, they would be out of the race, one, two, three. [Cuomo:] But he's got that artificial boost of being a TV magnet, which helps him get a lot of stuff that they have to pay for. [Cohen:] He's Donald Trump. You can't change who you are. And he's the reason why, again, independents, Democrats, Republicans at massive amounts are coming out to these 10, 20, 30,000, you know, events. [Cuomo:] He's very popular. There's no question about that. [Cohen:] It's not popularity. It's the message that he's giving. The message is clear. He's the only one who knows how to create a job. He's the only one that will fix the economy. And he's the one who's saying the things that are on people's mind. He's just worried about this is why, for example, this National Diversity Coalition that I helped to form is so important. He's resonating, not just amongst the southern white Christian coalition. He's resonating among minorities. We have an enormous amount of African-Americans, Hispanics. He won in New York amongst Hispanics, male and female in New York. This notion that let's keep knocking Donald Trump. He's a racist. He's misogynist. He's sexist. None of them are true. [Cuomo:] Does it bother you, though, when you look at New York, that he didn't win where he lives? He didn't win in Manhattan? [Cohen:] Well, I think the area has become incredibly liberal, and that's OK. [Cuomo:] It was only GOP that were voting. [Cohen:] That's OK. There... [Cuomo:] Only GOP was voting. He lost to Kasich there where he lives. [Cohen:] There are very serious, incredibly liberal Republicans, as well. They don't have to be Democrats. There are liberals also, and that's OK. He took 91 delegates out of the 95. [Cuomo:] So now you're falling back on the system and not the will of the people? [Cohen:] That's a massive wipe. That's a small group. [Cuomo:] Part of New York didn't vote for him. [Cohen:] Ninety-one 91 delegates out of 95. [Cuomo:] So now you're backing up on the system; you're a system guy now. Not the delegates. [Cohen:] It's not system. [Cuomo:] You want the will of the people. [Cohen:] it is the will of the people. New York is not predicated on one block, the silk stocking district. It's predicated upon the entire state. [Cuomo:] The silk stocking district. I'm going to give you that last word. I haven't heard that since I was, like, 17. Michael Cohen, thank you very much for making a case as always Mick. [Cohen:] You're welcome. [Pereira:] Always great seeing two attorneys spar amicably. That was great, Chris. Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders is back on the campaign trail after regrouping, following his tough loss to Hillary Clinton in New York. As team Clinton tries to button up the nomination, revealing some intriguing new details about a possible vice president. Suzanne Malveaux live in Hartford, Connecticut, where Clinton is stumping today. A little early for this conversation, but putting it out there as a potential. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn Correspondent:] I know. It's a little early but hey, you know, we love to speculate a little bit. Of course, Clinton would say it is much, much too early. But it was actually her campaign chairman, John Podesta, who threw it out there that yes, there would be a female among the short list of V.P.s, possible running mates. Some people speculating what about Elizabeth Warren? She'd be good to bring over the liberals, the Bernie Sanders supporters. But today, we are hearing from both the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, both of them insisting, saying that there is still a vicious fight ahead for the nomination. [Malveaux:] Hillary Clinton wasting little time courting voters before the next round of Super Tuesday contests. [Clinton:] Here I am in Pennsylvania, because I really want to work as hard as we can together for the next week to get a good result on April 26. [Malveaux:] Protesters calling for Clinton to pardon all prisoners convicted of a result of a controversial 1994 Crime Bill, reaching out to African-American voters. Secretary Clinton boldly assessing race relations during a gun violence event at the historic St. Paul's Baptist Church. [Clinton:] We all have implicit biases. They are in, almost, the DNA going back probably millennia, times. And what we need to do is be more honest about that and surface them. [Malveaux:] Clinton is garnering high praise from the mother of Sandra Bland, who says she supported Clinton. Clinton reached out to her after Bland was found hanged in a Texas jail. [Geneva Reed-veal, Sandra Bland's Mother:] When you're openly grieving and the secretary of state steps to you, you better endorse her, because she already endorsed you. [Malveaux:] While Clinton forges ahead, rival Bernie Sanders seemingly at a crossroads, a 16-point defeat in New York sending the Vermont senator home to recharge for the day, but Sanders is not backing down. [Sanders:] We believe we have the momentum, and we believe we have a path toward victory. [Malveaux:] The question: will Sanders come out swinging or will he soften his attacks against Clinton during his first day back on the trail? [Hilary Rosen, Cnn Political Contributor:] Bernie Sanders is still going to be on the campaign trail, still going to be trashing her, doing a lot of things that will not be particularly helpful for Democrats, but I think he's going to do it anyway, because he really wants to win. [Malveaux:] And Hillary Clinton is going to be here at this YMCA later today. She is going to be meeting with the families of victims who have lost their lives to gun violence, including some of the parents who lost their children in the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. This is something that the Clinton campaign believes highlights the contrast when it comes to a policy, tough gun policy and laws regarding Senator Clinton and Bernie Sanders. As for the Sanders campaign, they believe that that is nonsense. Bernie Sanders going to be spending the day in Pennsylvania, making three stops. And Brianna, we have learned from his campaign folks that no, he is not going to be going lightly treading lightly when it comes to Hillary Clinton. He is still all in for the fight. [Keilar:] All right. Suzanne Malveaux in Connecticut, thank you. Two members of Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality and one city lab supervisor are all facing criminal charges and possible jail time for their alleged role in the Flint water contamination crisis. And the state attorney general insists this is only the beginning. CNN's Sara Ganim is live for us in Flint with more Sara. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right. Good morning, Brianna. The state attorney general's warning that there will be more charges coming and that their investigation continues. They are not afraid to go all the way to the top, if that's where the facts lead them, even if it leads them to the embattled governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder. Now, that being said, yesterday was a really significant day here for the people in Flint, who for 18 months were called liars and complainers and whiners when they voiced concerns about their water. However, many of those people who I talked to said that they believe they wonder why they went after seemingly low-level officials, especially one who worked at the water plant, who I sat down with a few weeks ago in his first sit-down interview. He told me that he was simply following orders when he altered a water test result report that would have raised red flags. Take a listen. [Glasgow:] I only did it, because I was instructed to. I just asked the question why and they gave they cited some, I guess, solidified reasoning to remove a couple items, so I didn't question it much further. [Ganim:] Now, the two other men who were charged yesterday are accused of deliberately not treating the water, leading it to become toxic, leading to the lead leaching into the water, the high levels of disease in the water. They both were in court yesterday and pleaded not guilty Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. Sara Ganim with that report. Thank you so much. A special birthday today, Queen Elizabeth II, Britain's longest reigning monarch, celebrating her 90th birthday. We're showing you live pictures where she is greeting locals on a royal walkabout around Windsor. Apparently, school children have been singing to her. Later this evening she'll light the first of more than a thousand torches or bonfires that will shine throughout the U.K. The royal family releasing this really lovely picture check it out in honor of the queen's milestone birthday, surrounded by her seven grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They also released this picture showing the line of succession. The images will be used for postage stamps. Tomorrow, she's got a busy schedule for a 90-year-old. She's hosting a lunch with President Obama and the first lady. And one little fun fact: for those of you like me obsessed with "The Great British Baking Show," a great TV show to watch, the winner of that this year baked her cake. What an honor. Can you imagine that? [Keilar:] That is so cool. Can you imagine having the same job for 64 years Chris. [Cuomo:] That is no job. That is a that is a life in and of itself [Pereira:] It is a lifestyle. It is. And I can imagine because we've heard people say that about living in the White House, it's like the nicest prison you've ever lived in. I could imagine living that life would feel restrictive, too. [Cuomo:] It is it's an amazing accomplishment, but I've got to tell you, that grandson of hers stole that photo. What a smile on that kid's face. [Pereira:] Isn't that great? [Cuomo:] All right. The Sanders' campaign insists there is no "Bern out" after losing New York. So what is Sanders' strategy moving forward? His campaign manager making the case on NEW DAY next. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Anchor:] Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle are backing the president's crackdown on Russia, though some Republicans say it doesn't go far enough. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham releasing a statement saying they plan to lead an effort to impose even stronger sanctions on Russia. And that is teeing up what could be a major battle for the president- elect when he takes over the White House in just three weeks. Will Republicans stick with their long time stance to stay tough on Russia or embrace Trump's calls for a better relationship with President Vladimir Putin? With me now is Ryan Lizza, CNN political commentator and Washington correspondent for "The New Yorker", and Jackie Kucinich, CNN political analyst and Washington bureau chief of "The Daily Beast". Good morning to both of you. Ryan, let me start with you. Trump's aide Kellyanne Conway suggests Obama trying to box Trump in with these sanctions. What do you think? [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think she's absolutely right about that. I think there is more of a focus at the White House on this, and doing it before Obama leaves office. If Hillary Clinton had won, there wouldn't have been such a rush they probably would have waited for Clinton to decide what to do. I do think there's a major disagreement about how to deal with Vladimir Putin between the outgoing White House and the incoming White House. And I think she's right they are trying to box him in. They're trying to put in place sanctions that will be very, very difficult for him to reverse. And he's going to have a big decision to make, you know, in January when he gets in there, because reversing them will run directly in to his Republican colleagues on the Hill who as you pointed out is setting this up, want even tougher sanctions. And most of the criticism from Republicans on the hill is that this is too late and Obama hasn't been tough enough on Russia. [Savidge:] Uh-huh. Jackie, is it possible for Donald Trump, say, to please Congress, and also to keep a good relationship with Putin? [Jackie Kucinich, Cnn Political Analyst:] It's a really good question. Right now, it really doesn't seem to. They're just kind of choosing to talk past each other, where Republicans are saying they want tougher sanctions and Trump is saying we should move on but I guess I'll talk to the intelligence guys next week. So, it really sets up this very interesting political dynamic. They have a veto-proof majority for if they send through sanctions and Trump vetoes them, they can get that through. So, he's going to get a very tough lesson in equal branches of government very quickly here if he tries to roll back some of these things on Russia. But it's interesting you do have some Trump loyalists in Congress. Duncan Hunter told the daily beast yesterday that these were stupid. It was stupid for Obama do this going out the door. So, it's not that there are he does have a couple bright spots for him in the Congress. But by and large, it's going to be a really tough fight for him. [Savidge:] Ryan, let me ask you this: could there be a back lash against Congress? And the reason I say that is that having talked to a lot of Trump voters, both before and after the election, nobody ever said we need to get tougher on Russia. Even with the knowledge that's been brought forward about possible hacking. [Lizza:] Yes. [Savidge:] Instead what they wanted was an administration focused internally, looking at domestic issues, especially the economy, saving jobs, creating jobs. Not a fight with Russia. [Lizza:] Absolutely. You're right about that. It was very clear that he wanted to reorient Republican foreign policy, be a more the Republican Party to be a more pro-Putin party. He changed the Republican platform to reflect that. He's been very up front about that. And the polls show that Republican voters are more favorably disposed towards Russia and Putin than they were before Trump came on the scene and started talking about this. This is going to be the first big test, Martin, of the ideological divide between Trump and the more mainstream conservatives. You know, on a lot of issues during the primaries and the general election, we saw big difference of opinion between Trump and his fellow Republicans, and this is the first test. Who's going to run policy? Is it going to be Congress? Republicans in Congress who are going to control both chambers? Or is it going to be the White House? And this is not just going to be on this issue but on a number of them. But this is the first one, and unusually it's foreign policy where the commander-in-chief has a much freer hand. So, if the Lindsey Grahams and John McCains of the world step up here and think that they can pressure the incoming Republican administration and have a louder say on foreign policy, that's going to put them in to direct conflict with the incoming president. And it's not just going to be on this issue, on a number of issues. [Savidge:] Yes, as you point out. I mean, Mr. Trump has been in conflict with some of the more conservative members of his party. And, Jackie, is it possible then this whole administration gets bogged down or gets misdirected right out of the gate on an issue they never really foresaw, and never really wanted to get involved in? [Kucinich:] This could be a big deal. Whether it is diversity in the entire administration it's too soon to tell. I mean, as we know, it moves pretty quickly around here. That said, I think we should keep a very close eye, as if we weren't already, on the confirmation hearings of Rex Tillerson because I think a lot of the questions he's going to get will reflect just how hard and just how serious Congress is going to be when it comes to Russia. He's going to have to answer a lot of proxy questions that I think a lot of senators and frankly Americans have with Trump about his warmer feelings toward the president. [Lizza:] That's right. First question he's going to get is, do you support how will you advise President Trump on these sanctions? Will you reverse them or not? So, they're going to have to have this policy worked out at least by Tillerson's hearing. [Savidge:] But, Ryan, has Ryan I should say that president-elect has said that he's now going to meet with the intelligence community. [Lizza:] Yes. [Savidge:] And I'm wondering whether that indicates all right, maybe he is going to listen a little more intently and perhaps more seriously? [Lizza:] Look, if you look at the series of statements Trump has made on this issue, they have always been very defensive, they have always been very critical of the intelligence community's assessment with this. They have always the undercurrent has always been that this is just an issue that is trying to delegitimize his election and he's not taking it very seriously. His statement he put out last night was a break with those previous statements, in that he was a little bit more conciliatory, and he said, OK, I'll listen to what they have here. It's a little surprising that, you know, we're this far into this far past his election. He's been getting quite a few intelligence briefings by now. It's a little surprising that he doesn't have that information already, and that suggests maybe a lack of coordination between the incoming and outgoing administration. But I think it's a you know, positive sign that he's at the very least keeping an open mind about this. Because, look, he's he may have been the beneficiary of this Russian cyber warfare campaign, but when he's president, he's going to be the target of it. [Kucinich:] Yes. [Lizza:] It's going to be a very different set of circumstances. So, he needs to the intelligence agencies need to get him up to speed on this and take it a little more seriously than he has. [Savidge:] And he may, in fact, be waking to that. Ryan Lizza and Jackie Kucinich, nice to see you both thank you. [Lizza:] Thanks, Martin. [Kucinich:] Likewise. [Savidge:] A new cease-fire is holding in Syria. Despite a few reports of minor clashes, the truce was brokered by Russia and turkey leaving the U.S. out of the diplomatic equation. Russian President Vladimir Putin called the deal fragile and said it would need special attention to maintain. CNN's Muhammad Lila is live in Istanbul, Turkey. Good morning, Muhammad. [Muhammad Lila, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Martin. I think fragile is the key word in all of this. You know, we're not even 24 hours into this cease-fire and as we know, sometimes those first few hours when a cease-fire is enacted are crucial. There are reports, as you mentioned, of some sporadic clashes happening around the country. It's not it's not entirely unexpected. But none involves turkey, Russia, Syria or Iran, saying that those clashes have been on a scale that would jeopardize the cease-fire. So, so far, it's holding and certainly a positive sign toward some sort of more positive and long-term arrangement. But, Martin, an interesting point yesterday. Syria's President Bashar al Assad gave an interview to an Italian TV channel where he talked specifically about the role that he's hoping President-elect Donald Trump might play in helping solve the Syrian crisis. And he said he was cautiously optimistic. This is exactly what he said. He was talking about if there are good relations between these two great powers, most of the world, including small countries like Syria, will be the beneficiary. Mr. Trump said during his campaign that his priority is fighting terrorism, and we believe that this is the beginning of the solution if he can implement what he announced. And, of course, that's key because yesterday offered President-elect Donald Trump an olive branch so to speak, something they hadn't offered to President Obama by the way, offering President-elect Trump a seat at the negotiating table at peace talks scheduled to take place next month. So, clearly, this might speak to the legacy of the Obama administration in Syria and the hopefulness here on the ground that perhaps under a new administration, the U.S. might play a more pro- active role in trying to set up some sort of peace deal to put an end to all of the fighting. [Savidge:] Yes, that would be a wonderful thing. But right now, we'll take the cease-fire one day at a time. Muhammad Lila, thank you very much. Still to come: major cities across the globe, they are ramping up security for New Year's Eve celebrations. CNN's Brynn Gingras is live in Times Square. [Brynn Gingras, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Martin, 2 million people are expected to come to New York City, in particular here in Times Square for the ball drop. You can imagine the security measures. The NYPD gives us a look and talks about new measures they're taking in light of the recent terror attacks. That's coming up. [Kristie Lu Stout:] Now, Iraqi troops fight to take back Fallujah, trying to drive ISIS out of a city just west of Baghdad. President Obama talks human rights in Vietnam, and calls for a peaceful resolution to tensions in the South China Sea. And an endangered fish prized in Hong Kong for its bladder. We talk to conservationists about how to save the totoaba. In Iraq, just an hour's drive from the capital Baghdad, an intense battle is being waged. Iraqi troops are fighting to retake Fallujah, one of two major Iraqi cities still under ISIS control. The army has been preparing for this for months. It has choked off supply routes into the city and U.S. warplanes have been pounding ISIS targets, but there are fears that civilians are being caught in the crossfire. The UN says that dozens of families have left in the past few days, but thousands more are believed to still be trapped, and many are starving. Now, those who live in Fallujah are no strangers to fighting. Two major battles took place there during the Iraq war in 2004. U.S. forces swept through the city hunting down jihadists door to door. Now, they were some of the bloodiest battles American troops had fought in Iraq, and the mission succeeded in clearing out insurgents, but Fallujah was left in ruins. It took years to rebuild. But in 2014 it fell once again to extremists, this time ISIS. Now, the terrorists have done whatever they can to keep Iraqi troops away. At one point, they flooded villages by opening the gates of a dam. And even now, as Iraqi forces are closing in, activists say that ISIS is barring civilians from leaving. Now, for more on the battle for Fallujah let's bring in CNN's Ben Wedeman. He has been reported he has reported extensively from Iraq. He joins us live now from Rome. And, Ben, with the offensive now fully under way, there is tremendous concern about the fate of the civilians in Fallujah. What do we know? [Ben Wedeman, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, what we know is that according to the United Nations, there are as many 10,000 families, the number perhaps 70,000 civilians still stuck inside Fallujah. Now, before the war it had a population of about 300,000, And, of course, the city has been surrounded by Iraqi forces for months now who have been trying to cut off supplies to the city, to ISIS, but, of course, effectively to the civilian inhabitants of the city as well. And so they've already been suffering from shortages of clean water, food and medicine. And now, of course, the city is going to be a full-blown battle zone. And ISIS has had two-and-a-half years to prepare for this battle. It took over the city in January 2014. And as we've seen in other urban areas in Iraq and Tikrit and Baiji and Ramadi and elsewhere, where ISIS has been in control, they've put a lot of time and resources into building tunnels, boobytraps and other ways to make it very difficult for any sort of offensive Iraqi force to move in. And with, of course, as many as 70,000 people in the middle of that, it's almost, unfortunately, inevitable that there are going to be civilian casualties. The Iraqi government has urged people to leave the city, but ISIS apparently isn't letting that happen. Those who can't leave have been advised by the Iraqi government to raise a white flag over their homes Kristie. [Lu Stout:] This is going to be a deadly battle. As you point out, Fallujah has been under ISIS control more than two years. It is one of the last two remaining ISIS strongholds in Iraq. Will Iraqi forces succeed here in retaking the city? How long could this operation take? [Wedeman:] It's fairly clear, Kristie, that they will eventually be able to retake the city. They've had trouble along the way when it comes to regaining territory from ISIS, but if you look at Tikrit, which is a city north of Baghdad, Saddam Hussein's home town, Baiji to the north of Tikrit, Ramadi, also in Anbar Province, last week Rutba which is on the road between Baghdad and Jordan, all of those cities have been retaken. But it takes a lot of time. As I said, ISIS, they are masters at IEDs and other boobytraps. So it's really hard going, and even after, for instance, it was late December when the Iraqi government announced that they had been able to liberate Ramadi, the other major city in Anbar Province, from ISIS, but it was for weeks afterwards that there was sporadic fighting, ambush of Iraqi army forces. So it's difficult. It takes time. And, of course, ISIS if nothing else, has proved to be very effective, albeit brutal foe Kristie. [Lu Stout:] As ISIS is under pressure with this operation underway in Fallujah, there is a lot of concern about the safety and security of civilians in the Iraqi capital. What's your thinking now about the fate and future of Baghdad? [Wedeman:] Well, one of the reasons why the Iraqi government has decided to push this offensive on Fallujah as opposed to, for instance, Mosul, is that they believe that many of the car bombs that have plagued the Iraqi capital for months, in fact, years, are being assembled in Fallujah. And in recent weeks as many as 200 people in Baghdad have been killed in these car bombs. So they're hoping that by eliminating ISIS in Fallujah, they will be able to eliminate that threat. But at the same time, there's a whole other dimension, as there always is in Iraq, to the situation, and that is the political unrest in the Iraqi capital. We've seen twice in the last few weeks where thousands of supporters of Muqtada al-Sadr, a Shiite cleric, have entered the once was the secure Green Zone where the Iraqi parliament and the prime minister's office are located, occupy those buildings. They're calling for an end to corruption within the government. So, the government may feel at the same time it has to show that it's strong by pushing this offensive in Fallujah Kristie. [Lu Stout:] All right, Ben Wedeman reporting for us live. Thank you, Ben. And now to the race to the White House. New polls showing Donald Trump gaining ground on Hillary Clinton in a potential U.S. presidential matchup. Now, the first from NBC News and The Wall Street Journal has Trump three points behind Clinton. Another poll, this one from The Washington Post and ABC News shows Trump ahead by two points. Now, the average of the two polls puts the candidates in a statistical deadheat. Our Phil Mattingly joins us from CNN New York for more. And, Phil, the attacks between Clinton and Trump are escalating in a big way. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, no question about it, Kristie. They are only increasing and only going to escalate even more in the weeks and months ahead. And part of the reason is those polls you cited. There is a recognition inside both of these campaigns that with the high negatives both candidates share, attacking is the only way to win. But it's also worth noting, now is the time to define your opponent. That's kind of tradition in politics and it's very clear Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both subscribing to that theory. [Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate:] We are going to unify the Democratic Party and stop Donald Trump. [Mattingly:] Hillary Clinton taking a new line of attack against Donald Trump, her campaign painting Trump as a greedy billionaire in a new ad. [Donald Trump, 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate:] I sort of hope that happens, because then people like me would go in and buy. [Mattingly:] Harkening back to Trump's controversial comments before the 2008 housing market collapse. [Trump:] If there is a bubble burst, as they call it, you know, you could make a lot of money. [Mattingly:] Clinton swiping at the presumptive nominee on multiple fronts before a union crowd Monday, issuing a warning about Trump's four bankruptcies surrounding his casino holdings. [Clinton:] He could bankrupt America like he's bankrupted his companies. [Mattingly:] And sticking with another tried and true assault, Trump's temperament. [Clinton:] the last thing we need is a bully in the pulpit. [Mattingly:] All as the billionaire continues to hound Bill Clinton's past infidelity, sending one of his top advisers to swipe at Hillary Clinton. [Ed Brookover, Donald Trump Senior Adviser:] She overregulates, she overtaxes, she overpromises and doesn't deliver. [Mattingly:] The hostility spreading with both candidates, facing record high negatives in the most recent polls, but Trump is getting new support from Capitol Hill in the form of Tennessee Senator Bob Corker. [Sen. Bob Corker, Tennessee:] His approach to foreign policy is something I want to hear more about. I heard more about it today, and I appreciated that. [Mattingly:] Though Corker is still downplaying talk that he may be high on Trump's VP list. [Corker:] I'm not angling for any job, I think the best way to not end up in a position like those is to angle for it. But I have no indication whatsoever that I would even be considered. [Mattingly:] So, Kristie, the intrigue over who will be Donald Trump's running mate, that's going to continue likely until July at Republican National Convention. But it is important to point out with Hillary Clinton Donald Trump both on the campaign trail today, those attacks are only going to escalate in the days, weeks and months ahead. [Lu Stout:] And, Phil, the attacks getting so ugly. I've heard that both candidates are getting record high negatives in recent polling. So, I mean, what are voters thinking now? What's their approach here as election day approaches? Will they vote for a given candidate or will they make a protest vote against a given candidate? [Mattingly:] It's early and it's important to note that it's early on these polls and they can shift. But at the moment, it's the latter, Kristie. More voters, I think more than 50 percent both supporting Hillary Clinton and supporting Donald Trump are voting against somebody, not for that particular candidate. And that's just something you don't traditionally see in politics. It shows how polarizing not just these two candidates are, Kristie, but how polarized the political system is on the whole. No longer are you searching out the candidate that talks about what you care about or that provides hope for you, now it's making sure the candidate you don't like doesn't get into office, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] The protest vote, as it were. Phil Mattingly reporting for us. Thank you. And you can get an inside look at America's remarkable race for the White House. You can check out our new program. It's called State of the Race with Kate Bolduan. It's happening weeknights, 7:30 p.m. in London, Tuesday to Friday at 2:30 p.m. in Hong Kong happening right here, of course, on CNN. Now, the U.S. president is on a historic visit to Vietnam as the former enemies now strengthen ties. He landed a short time ago in Ho Chi Minh City, arriving from Hanoi and paid his respects at the famed Jade Pagoda, a Taoist temple. Now, a day ago, Mr. Obama announced that the U.S. is ending its ban on selling weapons to Vietnam. He also called for a peaceful resolution to disputes in the South China Sea. Now, Mr. Obama has been dismissing suggestions that renewing ties with Vietnam is meant to counter China, but it appears the move could rustle feathers in Beijing. Now, right here on the front cover of today's China Daily a, quote, Chinese analyst is saying that the U.S. is indeed, quote, "charting a clear course aimed at containing China." Now, CNN's an Alexandra Field joins me now with more from Ho Chi Minh City. Alexandra, there in Vietnam, President Obama this day he's been bringing up sensitive topics like human rights and freedom of speech. How has that been received there? [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] You know, Kristie, We can't understate the significance and the importance of the fact that President Obama is talking about what you call these controversial issues while he is here in Vietnam, but what's equally significant is the fact that his remarks from Hanoi this morning, which were made in front of about 2000 people, including business leaders, government leaders and students were also broadcast live on local television in Vietnam which means that people across this country were listening in as the president of the United States addressed head-on the issue of human rights. This is something that a lot of people were expecting him to take on during his time here, frankly, and that is because human rights groups have closely watched and scrutinized the human rights record in this country pointing to issues like the jailing of dissidents and stalled political reforms. You did hear the president really use a large portion of his speech in Hanoi this morning to talk about that issue, talking about universal values that are shared, and shared values between Vietnam and the U.S. He said, look, Vietnam is a sovereign nation. No country can impose its will on Vietnam, but he returned to this idea of shared values saying that freedom of assembly, freedom of speech are values that are shared between the U.S. and Vietnam and he said that it was freedom of thought which fuels innovation, which creates job growth which boosts the economy. And we know that the explicit and stated purpose of this trip, Kristie, is largely about increasing and drumming up economic cooperation between these two countries as well as security cooperation. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, absolutely. Trade will be the focus there for the U.S. president in Ho Chi Minh City. We know that President Obama wants to boost support for his TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal which has been struggling on Capitol Hill. What's the outlook on that topic, on the TPP and on trade with Vietnam? [Field:] Yeah, look, he's making the case certainly for the TPP, taking every opportunity he has to continue to make the case for it and touting what he believes are the benefits to Vietnam. So we heard him when he arrived here in Ho Chi Minh City today. He went to something called Dreamplex, which is a place that fosters entrepreneurs and start-ups. And he talked to them about how the TPP would increase economic opportunities for entrepreneurs coming out of Vietnam. He also talked earlier in Hanoi today about how he believes the TPP would improve human rights by improving labor conditions in this country and contributing to a higher wage. So he is using these opportunities to tout what he believes are the benefits of the TPP not just to Vietnam but to the 12 nations that would be involved in this pact, and that is despite, or maybe because of, the opposition that he has run into in Washington, where this has stalled out. The president has expressed confidence that he will get TPP through. He wants it to be a part of his legacy, but the flip side of that, Kristie, we know is that the presidential candidates running for election in the U.S., Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, have both rejected this idea of the TPP. So, important for him while he's here on the ground to really sell this agreement, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] Absolutely. Alexandra Field reporting from the streets of Ho Chi Minh City, thank you so much, Alex, and take care. Now, rescuers are searching for two Indian climbers who are missing on Mount Everest. This comes after a deadly week on the world's highest peak. Since Thursday, four other climbers died in as many days. One person plunged to death while attempting to fix a route for future climbers, while two others suffered complications from altitude sickness and one had a heart attack on his way back from a climb. Now, these tragedies come as Mount Everest opens for the first time in two years after back-to-back disasters. Danger has long been part of the allure of climbing the world's highest peak. More than 250 mountaineers have died since the first official ascent back in 1953. But year after year, hundreds still attempt the perilous climb. Now part of what makes the ascent so treacherous here, at more than 8,800 meters, the air is so thin the oxygen level is a third of what's available at sea level. Now, the peak is even with the cruising altitude of a plane making it difficult to breathe. The winds are also fierce, the weather unpredictable, the terrain deadly. And temperatures at the summit can dip lower than minus 30 degrees. You're watching News Stream. Still ahead in the program, Bill Cosby is in court. The comedian is preparing for a pretrial hearing for indecent assault, which may bring him face to face with one of his accusers. Also ahead, a change at the top for the world's most famous football club. The question is, who will replace Louis van Gaal as manager of Manchester United? And lifting the lid on a lucrative black market in China, how the high-priced demand more this fish product is killing off an already endangered species. [Sesay:] Hello, everyone. A would-be suicide bomber in Cameroon is claiming to be one of the kidnapped Nigerian school girls. She was stopped by locals Friday. One escaped. Boko Haram militants kidnapped more than 200 girls back in May 2014. The Nigerian government will send a delegation to find out if the women are from that group. The delegation will include community members and parents of the missing girls. Now, a power struggle is brewing in the South China Sea. Several governments have long claimed different parts of that body of water. And now, a group of islands, rocks really, are at the center of the disputed claims. CNN's Ivan Watson was invited to one of the contested islands, which is guarded by Taiwan, but also claimed by China. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] The contested waters of South China Sea, seen from a Taiwanese military plane. This is what greets you when you land at Taiping, an island controlled by Taiwan. [on camera]: Taiping is a tiny island. It basically runs the length of this runway. The Taiwanese government first laid claim to this place more than half a century ago, but this is the very first time the government says that journalists have been invited to see it firsthand. It's at a time when tensions are ratcheting up here in the South China Sea. [voice-over]: At least six different countries have competing claims for this body of water but China claims almost all of it. And to cement China's claim, Beijing has been building a series of man made islands atop reeves and atolls in the hotly disputed Spratly Archipelago. It's making the neighbors nervous. [Unidentified Male:] We are opposed to militarization, military expansionism in the area. [Watson:] Enter the U.S. Navy. We caught up with the aircraft carrier "John C. Stennis" shortly after it sailed through the South China Sea, performing an unmistakable show of U.S. force. [Unidentified Male:] Just being there in the South China Sea shows we believe we have the right to operate in international waters all ships, not just military vessels, but civilian vessels. [Watson:] Washington calls these visits "freedom of navigation operations." They clearly irritate the Chinese. [Unidentified Chinese Military Personnel:] This is the Chinese Navy. This is the Chinese Navy. Please go away quickly. [Watson:] Last year, CNN accompanied a U.S. Navy spy plane that flew over China's manmade islands. [Unidentified Chinese Military Personnel:] You go! [Watson:] Beijing expressed outrage, issuing formal protests and calling these operations a very serious provocation. So where do smaller claimants like Taiwan fit in? On Taiping, officials showed off the island's chickens and goats as well as supplies of fresh water. If Taiwan proves Taiping can sustain human life, then the Taiwanese can make the case for a potentially lucrative 200 nautical mile economic exclusion zone around the island. [on camera]: Amid the contest for control of the South China Sea, Taiwan is trying to demonstrate that it, too, is a player and should not be overlooked. Meanwhile, other small countries like Vietnam and the Philippines are reaching out to the U.S. for help at counterbalancing China as it continues to flex its naval muscle in this contested body of water. [voice-over]: A place that feels like a tropical paradise is instead becoming part of a much bigger regional power struggle. Ivan Watson, CNN, Taiping Island, in the South China Sea. [Sesay:] Coming up, "Batman Versus Superman" is the newest superhero mega hit at the box office, but the reviews oh, dear, the reviews are anything but super. Why critics are slamming the tale of two comic book legends. We will explain, next. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Anchor:] We start with a surprising comment made by the president over the weekend. At the same campaign- style rally in Tampa, where the president slammed the media for spreading falsehoods, he made a common that's drawing questions about where he gets his facts and how he forms his world view. President Trump was trying to back up a claim that unchecked immigration poses a threat and then well, just watch. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] You look at what's happening last night in Sweden. Sweden. Who would believe this? Sweden. They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] The main problem with that claim is that there was no attack Friday in Sweden. Mr. Trump, in his remarks, also mentioned Germany, Brussels, Nice and Paris, so the context was clear. It turns out the remark came one day after Fox News aired an interview with a filmmaker who has tried to tie Sweden taking in refuges to an increase in violent crimes there. Well, Mr. Trump is now trying to clarify those remarks. The White House is trying to clean up the mess and Sweden is trying to contradict the president's claim. CNN's Athena Jones is traveling with the president and has more from Florida. Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Good morning, Ana and Boris. The president's comments at that Melbourne rally on Saturday suggesting there may have been some sort of terror incident in Sweden on Friday night left a lot of people all around the world scratching their heads. The president later Sunday tweeting that he was referring to a Fox News report that aired on Friday night. Here's some of what that report had to say. [Unidentified Male:] Perhaps no nation on earth is more committed to accepting foreign migrants and refugees than Sweden. In 2016 alone, the country accepted more than 160,000 asylum seekers, despite having a population of less than 10 million people. Only 500 of these migrants were able to get jobs in Sweden. But if these arrivals aren't able to work, they're at least able to commit crimes. There was an absolute surge in both gun violence and rape in Sweden once they began this open door policy. Yes. So they know that this crime has happened and they can feel it. The statistics are clear. But they would refer to what is the root cause behind it and say, oh, it's just more it happened to be more violence. It's men who are raping people, not the refugees. They'll make excuses for it. I think that's kind of what they're referring to, that the government has gone out of its way to try to cover up some of these problems. [Jones:] What's clear here is that the president is an avid watcher of cable news. It's where he gets a lot of his information from. And but this lack of precision, the fact that he said something that made it sound like he was referring to a terror incident left a lot of people scratching their heads. You had the former Swedish prime minister, Carl Bildt, taking to Twitter to say, "Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound." The fact of the matter is that the president often repeats things that he's heard or read without checking. And this has become a problem. It shows that the president's words matter and that a lot of people all around the world are listening very, very closely to what the president says. Boris. Ana. [Cabrera:] All right, Athena Jones reporting for us. It is worth noting, Swedish government figures show the overall crime rate there has changed very little over the last ten years. Something Stockholm, no doubt, had in mind when its embassy in Washington tweeting this, quote, "we look forward to informing the U.S. administration about Swedish immigration and integration policies." So, with us to help break down all the latest from Washington and Mar- a-Lago, CNN politics reporter Eugene Scott here with us in New York. Good morning to you, Eugene. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Political Reporter:] Good morning. [Sanchez:] Good morning. So, we have to ask about Trump's comments going into the weekend about Sweden. [Scott:] Sure. [Sanchez:] You heard the sound bite earlier. There was this back and forth kind of Twitter war. Then he acknowledges I believe we have the tweet. "My statement as to what's happening in Sweden was in reference to a story that was broadcast on Fox News concerning immigrants and Sweden." To be completely clear, he brought Sweden up in between a series of other terrorist attacks that he was talking about, right? [Scott:] OK. Sure. [Sanchez:] He was talking about Brussels, Nice, Paris. [Scott:] Right. [Sanchez:] He has clearly an issue here with facts in some way. [Scott:] Right. Right. [Sanchez:] We too many examples to cite where he says things that are demonstrably untrue. [Scott:] Sure. [Sanchez:] But it doesn't really hurt his credibility among his supporters, does it? [Scott:] It doesn't. And we saw it this weekend that he returned to the campaign trail in Florida specifically to be with his base, to be with the people that Kellyanne said gives him oxygen. But the reason why something like this is problematic, and we know the immigration ban he's going to reintroduce in a few days, one of his strongest arguments for why he needs to do what he wants to do is because of everything that's happening in Europe. When you're making up things that are happening in Europe, that does not help your case. [Cabrera:] Let's talk more about what's happening on the world stage here. We know there's been an increase pressure put on the U.S. to investigate Trump connections to Russia [Scott:] Sure. [Cabrera:] And what may have transpired before the election. [Scott:] Right. [Cabrera:] Results came in and before the inauguration of the president [Scott:] Sure. [Cabrera:] When Michael Flynn was eventually terminated because of what had taken place. [Scott:] Yes. [Cabrera:] I want you to listen to something that Lindsey Graham had to say about tightening the pressure on Russia itself. [Scott:] Sure. [Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] And I hope he will embrace the idea that as the leader of the free world he should be working with us to punish Russia. To our German friends, you're next. To our friends in France, they're coming after you. To my friend Mr. Lavrov, I hope you finally suffer some consequences for what you and your regime have been doing to democracies. And 2017 is going to be a year of kicking Russia in the ass in Congress. [Cabrera:] So he mentioned Germany and France because their elections are coming up next. [Scott:] Right. [Cabrera:] So going back to the last part of his comment about, you know, kicking Russia in the you know where in Congress. [Scott:] Yes. [Cabrera:] Talk to us about what is happening in Congress right now as it pertains to Russia. Where does this investigation of sorts stand? [Scott:] Sure. Well, it stands in different places for different people, right? You have the grand wing who want to approach this very aggressively, who are very interested in seeing what Russia has done. Even beyond the United States, Graham has said that he's concerned, as he just shared, about Russia's involvement in other elections internationally. And that's why it's important for the U.S. to respond to them appropriately. But there are also some Republican lawmakers who have come out and said, this is not where they want to spend their time focusing. They would rather focus on the fact that leaks are coming out of the intelligence community, which is illegal. But the reality is, many people want to know what all happened, even beyond Flynn. It's very concerning. And I think what's very interesting about this conference is you had Graham come out, you had John McCain, you have Mike Pence come and talk to world leaders and say that the United States will be hard on Russia. But world leaders would have liked to have heard that from Donald Trump himself. [Cabrera:] Are world leaders buying into what Mike Pence is saying? Are they seeing what he's saying and taking it that he has authority? [Scott:] I think some are, but the reality is, what we do know is that Mike Pence is not always known what was going on in the White House himself [Cabrera:] Right. [Sanchez:] Yes. [Scott:] Pertaining to Russia. So I don't know how much confidence everyone has. [Sanchez:] Yes, NATO's saying we want to hear this from the president [Scott:] They do. [Sanchez:] Not just the vice president. It's interesting what you said before about how some Republicans this issue of Russia kind of splits the party in some way because Reince Priebus also talked about the investigation this weekend saying there's nothing to see here. [Scott:] Right. [Sanchez:] I want to play that clip for you now. [Reince Priebus, White House Chief Of Staff:] Those are things that Richard Burr and that team have to do. And that doesn't mean that there's anything there. It just means they need to do some things that satisfy their committee, and they've looked into something. And as long as they do their job and we cooperate with them, they'll issue a report and the report will say there's nothing there. [Sanchez:] So, of course, as he says this, the Senate Intelligence Community is told anyone involved in the White House, if you have any documents pertaining to Russia, do not shred them. [Scott:] Right. [Sanchez:] Is that because there's a concern that they might be destroying evidence? [Scott:] Well it's really important to communicate that we don't know what's there. But to your point, the way we can know for sure is from an investigation and an investigation done well. The concern with Michael Flynn, people have to remember, isn't limited to Michael Flynn. It's about Trump associated broadly. And the reality is, we know that some Trump associates are lawmakers in Congress and in the Senate. So people want to know what type of conversations people had from the Trump team broadly with Russia. [Cabrera:] Back here at home, we're all waiting to see what's next with this immigration order. [Sanchez:] Sure. [Cabrera:] We know the original one is now kind of no more and President Trump has said he's going to have a new immigration order coming out this week. We're getting a little bit of a sense of what that may look like. Fill us in. [Scott:] I think one of the main things that we're going to see from the Trump administration is a clear argument that this is not a discriminatory ban against Muslim people because that was one of the main areas of attack that he had to face. We know that he believes he has the power to make this case and make this argument. But the courts say you have to prove that this is necessary. What we didn't see is any data proving that refugees pose a significant threat on national security because the data doesn't support that. But I think what people are hoping to see from Trump is something more analytical and something with more background beyond, I have the power to do this. [Sanchez:] All right, Eugene Scott, thank you so much for the time in respect to this morning. We'll see you in just a half hour. [Scott:] Thank you, guys. Sure. [Sanchez:] Thanks for getting up early for it. [Cabrera:] Time now for an early start on your money. A controversial pillar of the Republican tax plan might be dead in the water with President Trump promising a proposal in the next few weeks. What does it all mean for tax reform now? A central part of the House GOP's plan is a tax on imports coming into the U.S. Countries who relying on imports oppose it, including big retailers, many of whom met with President Trump last week. And reports suggest many Republican lawmakers don't want this import tax either. So, what's the problem? Well, the import tax would help pay for that proposed big corporate tax cut. Cutting the rate from 35 percent to 20 percent will cost an estimated $1.8 trillion. The import tax could offset that cost by $1.2 trillion and Republicans really have no back up plan. Now Trump has not said yet if he'll even including the import tax in his plan. However, his previous tax proposal did not contain it and experts estimated it would cost the U.S. $7 trillion. [Sanchez:] Surprising that you would have Republicans talking about an import tax. It doesn't really fit the traditional platform of the party, right, but nor does Donald Trump, of course. [Cabrera:] Well, anything's possible. [Sanchez:] Yes. Right. [Cabrera:] So that's why we watch and we wait. We wait for the facts. [Sanchez:] Well, the world tour continues. The secretary of defense lands in Baghdad for his first visit in the new administration. How will he try to ease concerns after the president famously said we would take Iraqi oil. A live report from the Mideast, next. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Let's head right to Capitol Hill for some breaking news. Senator Chuck Schumer elected Democratic leader. They're holding their Democratic leadership press conference now. Let's listen. [Unidentified Reporter:] Chair the next chair of the Democratic campaign committee and [Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] Stay tuned. [Unidentified Reporter:] Why [Schumer:] Stay tuned. [Unidentified Reporter:] Senator, what did you learn from the elections that is reflected in your choice? [Schumer:] We needed a much sharper, bolder, stronger economic message. And we needed to let the American people understand what we all believe, that the system is not working for them and we are going to change it. [Unidentified Reporter:] At the Supreme Court, where are you willing were you going to draw a line in the sand? [Schumer:] Again, first we're deeply disappointed the way our colleagues treated Merrick Garland. And I'll underline that we did not change the rules for Supreme Court because we thought on something as important as this, there should be some degree of bipartisan agreement. Last question. [Unidentified Reporter:] You talk about the merits of Feinstein moving to Judiciary, and what that means for future Supreme Court [Schumer:] Dianne Feinstein has huge respect in the caucus. She will be a superb ranking member and she's going to have a very important job. Making sure that every aspect of the president's nominee is explored and brought before the public. Thank you, everybody. [Costello:] All right. That was Senator Chuck Schumer, elected Democratic leader. All right. Even before Donald Trump was elected our 45th president the mere suggestion of his being elected and building his wall left thousands of immigrant families fleeing across our borders. The surge of immigrants crossing in the southwest so great this month, 150 more agents are now stepping up to handle the influx. CNN's Polo Sandoval in Mission, Texas, with more. Good morning. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Carol. Good morning. Consider the mounting numbers for a few seconds here. In August, about 37,000 people crossed the entire border illegally. In September, about 39,000. Last month, close to 46,000 people. Add it all up, and those figures have already exceeded what we saw during the last migrant surge about two years ago. We learned from government t officials that a bulk of some of those border crossings are happening on this stretch of the border. This right here is the Rio Grande that divides both countries. That land over there is Mexico. Many more families are expected to come today. But that lingering question, what could be behind this latest surge? Well, we came here to find out. [Sandoval:] It's the second south Texas border surge and there are hardly any empty seats on the unmarked buses that pull into McAllen Central Station. Thousands of undocumented Central American families fleeing crime and poverty are again saturating America's immigration system. They turn themselves in to authorities at the border, are processed, then released wearing an ankle monitor and the promise of returning for a court date. [On Camera] What is it that brings you to the United States? He says that the level of crime in his country is what brings him and his son Juan Carlos here. [Voice-over] Before heading north, Carlos Cardona and his 4-year-old son made a brief stop at a shelter that opened its doors during the immigration surge of 2014. It's run by Sister Norma Pimentel. [Sister Norma Pimentel, Humanitarian Respite Center:] The violence instead of diminishing they escalated and so we have families that fear for their lives, especially of their kids. [Sandoval:] Well, volunteers have been walking these families from the bus station to the shelter and back for already two years now. But what's new are the numbers that we are seeing lately. And if you hear from some of the officials here in South Texas they will also tell you that there is another reason why so many people are rushing to the [U.s. Mayor Jim Darling, Mcallen, Texas:] They all know about President Trump. They all know about a wall. When you talk to them, they know that. [Sandoval:] Mayor Jim Darling suspects it's no longer just violence and poverty in Central America fueling this wave. [Darling:] If you talk about building a fence, and we're not going to allow people in, I mean, you better get over here now before January and the swearing-in ceremony. [Sandoval:] Back in the shelter, these new arrivals are weighing in. [On Camera] So who comes here fearing that Donald Trump plan to build a massive border wall? [Voice-over] Among the crowds, we found this 17-year-old Diriam Fuentes and her father Neri. [On Camera] Now that you're here in the U.S., are afraid of the idea of mass deportations? [Voice-over] Fuentes tells me she fears being returned to her native Honduras. On the banks of the Rio Grande more migrants emerge out of the darkness and turn themselves in to authorities. It's a seemingly endless flow of families arriving night and day. [Pimentel:] There's a big fear in that community about what's going to happen. But ultimately, what we have to respond is to the fact that they are human beings. [Sandoval:] Carlos Cardona and his son are starting the U.S. stretch of his journey. Like so many others who are now in their shoes, they face an uncertain future. Those additional 150 border agents already working this morning, Carol. The focus of their responsibilities will be processing all of these new migrants in some of these detention centers so the local agents are right here on the border, really working on some of those apprehensions Carol. [Costello:] All right. Polo Sandoval reporting live from Mission, Texas, this morning. Coming up in the NEWSROOM, students across the country, you see them there, they are taking a stand. These pictures taken just moments ago. These high school students walking out in protest in Rockville, Maryland. They are from Richard Montgomery High School. And said they're very concerned about undocumented immigrants. We'll talk more about this next. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's noon in Mexico City, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington. Wherever you're we're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Take a look at this. Got some live pictures coming in from the Conservative Conference here in Washington. CPAC, as it's called, where we're expecting to hear, momentarily, from President Trump's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, and his and the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus. We're also expecting remarks from Trump's secretary of state Rex Tillerson who's in Mexico City meeting with leaders there. For the Republican leaders, it's all about CPAC, at least for the next few days. With thousands attending, it's the largest annual conference of conservative political activists from across the United States. Team Trump has a massive show of force. The White House counselor, Kellyanne Conway, predicting it will be called TPAC by tomorrow. At any moment, by the way, the heavy hitters, the president's chief strategist, Steve Bannon, the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, they will take the stage. They will sit together, answer questions there. We're going to bring that to you live as soon as it begins. Haven't heard much from Steve Bannon since he became the chief strategist at the White House. Reince Priebus, the White House chief of staff, will be appearing together with him. We'll have live coverage of that. But first, take a listen to some of the other speakers from earlier in the day. [Gov. Doug Ducey Arizona:] The victory is not on November 8th. That is an assignment for change and real reform. [Gov. Scott Walker Wisconsin:] My plea to you here today is to not get caught up in Washington, to not forget the voters, to not ignore the people who live in reality all across this country every single day. [Gov. Matt Bevin , Kentucky:] I wear this lapel pin. It's a pair of scissors cutting red tape. We need to cut red tape in America. [Jim Demint, President, The Heritage Foundation:] Obamacare has become a cancer on our health care system. We don't need to replace a health care system. We need to remove the cancer. [Gov. Sam Brownback , Kansas:] The welfare program that the left has put in place, since the great society of LBJ, have failed. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Texas:] From the left, their base there's a technical term for their base, Moscow. I was going a different direction which was bat crap crazy. [Blitzer:] Our Congressional Correspondent Phil Mattingly is over at the CPAC conference for us. Phil, there have been reports that Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus, they've been at odds on certain issues. Is there a joint appearance momentarily, a show of unity within the Trump White House? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Congressional Correspondent:] Yes, no question about it. And talking to people here at CPAC, they acknowledge that's the goal here to show a united front. Look, there's been no shortage of reports of aides coming out of the White House, talking about disputes over hiring decisions, policy direction, even proximity to the president. And I think if you look to the context here, Wolf, that, in some sense, makes sense. If you Reince Priebus, kind of an establishment figure, Chairman of the Republican National Committee. Steve Bannon, the chief of Breitbart News and, more or less, went after the establishment for years. Now, they're in the same, kind of, boat working together, working side by side. I think what we've seen, over the last couple of weeks, is as these stories of dissension or splits have come out, these two individuals have tried to confront that, try and knock it down. And never will be that that be more apparent than this appearance here at CPAC, Wolf. And what we've seen, really, is the entire Trump administration come out in full force and try and do something similar. Look back over the last couple of years. In 2015, Donald Trump came here, talking about the potential that he'd run for president. And was mocked a little bit by some conservatives who weren't comfortable with his candidacy. Last year, he skipped it all together. His concern about protest. Now, as you noted, Kellyanne Conway, this morning, saying CPAC is turning into TPAC. And that's the by design for the Trump administration, they want these activists not only to be on their side but, really, to be deployed in full force, Wolf. They recognize, they look across the country right now, see some of the backlash to some of their policy proposals, that they need the help of individuals like this. The active grassroots conservative base. That's why you're seeing them here today. It's, kind of, a joint effort to make sure they activate the activists, but also make sure they make clear, at least publicly, that their administration is all on the same page Wolf. [Blitzer:] You know, Phil, it's going to be interesting, the format. Matt Schlapp, he's going to be questioning Reince Priebus and Steve Bannon and going through, presumably, a whole bunch of issues. What are you hearing about what we might learn? [Mattingly:] Well, nothing is off the table. Look, this is a friendly stage and friendly territory for conservatives, no question about it. You can watch everybody that's come up, up to this point. The question and answer session with Kellyanne Conway earlier. These aren't exactly questions designed to pin them into bad positions. But, as you voted earlier, Wolf, anything Steve Bannon says is interesting. We just haven't seen a lot from him. There's a lot of talk, a lot of rumor about where he fits in the White House, his role, his power. We're going to see that live and in living color over the next couple of minutes. And I think that's going to be interesting for everybody who's been trying to read the tea leaves. You don't need to look behind the scenes anymore. It's going to be out in front. And what Steve Bannon says, how he, kind of, lays out what his role in the White House is, is it's interesting to everybody. Not just reporters, not just people watching from the outside. But I talk to Republicans on Capitol Hill, some of whom were attacked by Breitbart over the last couple of years. They, themselves, are not sure what the role of Steve Bannon is, how he interacts with Reince Priebus. So, this is going to be a very illuminating conversation no matter what topics they get into Wolf. [Blitzer:] And we'll, of course, have live coverage. We'll be anxious to hear what Steve Bannon and Reince Priebus have to say. Stand by for that. Thanks very much, Phil. I want to continue to watch live pictures also coming in from Mexico City, where the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has been meeting with Mexican leaders. Right now, he's meeting with the Mexican foreign minister, Luis Videgaray. Both will be speaking any moment now. They'll be speaking and making statements in Mexico City. I don't know if they're going to be answering reporters' questions, but we'll have live coverage of that. Just moments ago, President Trump addressed the Mexican visit by the secretary of state and the secretary of Homeland Security, John Kelly. He told business leaders that Tillerson's visit to Mexico, and I'm quoting the president now, "is going to be a tough trip." His words, a tough trip. We'll, of course, have live coverage of that news conference. The statements that will be made by the secretary of state and the Mexican foreign minister. That's expected very soon as well. As we await for all of these developments, especially the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and the White House chief strategist, Steve Bannon, to address that CPAC conference, a huge conference underway here in Washington, D.C. I want to bring in our panel. Joining us, our Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson; Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief for "USA Today;" A.B. Stoddard, Associate Editor and Columnist for "Real Clear Politics." And joining us from New York, our Senior Media Correspondent, the host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES," Brian Stelter; and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Gloria, this will be the first on-camera public comments from Steve Bannon since the inauguration. I think it's a pretty significant moment. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] It is. I mean, look, they have been going out of their way after initial reports that they weren't getting along so well, because after all they do come from two different political worlds. Reince Priebus, of the Republican establishment, and Steve Bannon, of Breitbart and the alt-right. That they've gone out of their way to say, they are actually working hand in glove. And behind the scenes, people are saying, well, they're not so sure. Is Bannon more aligned with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, or is he more aligned with Reince Priebus? I think it is no coincidence that they are out there together at CPAC. And I think one of the reasons is that Bannon wants to introduce Reince Priebus as somebody who should have credibility with these people. And I think that he's giving him, sort of, the good housekeeping seal of approval by sitting there on stage with him. And trying to let the folks at CPAC know that this administration is going to speak with one voice. [Blitzer:] And, Brian, Steve Bannon's got a long history in the media, before becoming this top strategist for the president in the White House. For our viewers in the United States and around the world, tell us a little bit about that background. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Yes, he was a he was in Hollywood working on films and T.V. shows. He had made documentaries, conservative-oriented documentaries. He had a credit on "Seinfeld" that made him a lot of money through that old sitcom. But more recently, running Breitbart, overseeing Breitbart, the far right Web site, a favorite of Trump loyalists. He left that job, of course, to help run Trump's campaign last summer. Now, of course, find himself as chief strategist in the White House. But as Gloria was saying, this is someone who has avoided the spotlight, who does not give interviews. While he may be a source for reporters behind the scenes, he doesn't speak on the record. And I bet some of our viewers have never heard his voice. So, it'll make for an interesting moment to see him on stage with Reince Priebus. [Blitzer:] It certainly will. And we'll, of course, as I've been pointing out, have live coverage of that. Nia, the president hosted a group of CEOs over at the White House today. I want you to listen to what he said, at one point, that involves more than just talking business. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I'm delivering on everything that we've said. In fact, people are saying they've never seen so much happen in 30 days of a presidency. With Mexico, we have $70 billion in deficits, trade deficits. And it's unsustainable. And we're not going to let it happen. Can't let it happen. We're going to have a good relationship with Mexico, I hope. And if we don't, we don't. You see what's happening at the border. All of a sudden, for the first time, we're getting gang members out. We're getting drug lords out. We're getting really bad dudes out of this country and at a rate that nobody has ever seen before. And they are the bad ones. And it's a military operation. And I actually said I was the best golfer of all the rich people, to be to be exact. And then I got [Blitzer:] That last comment, one of the guests there suggested reminded him he had a hole in a hole in one when they were playing golf. All right, let's talk a little bit about what the president had to say. He was I guess he was being pretty direct, blunt in talking about the U.S.-Mexico relationship. It could be tough. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] It could be tough. I mean, it already has been tough. The meeting, of course, that he was scheduled to have here with the president of Mexico was canceled because of the rhetoric that's gone back and forth. President Trump saying that Mexico was going to pay for the wall and president Pena Nieto, who had had low ratings. When he stood up to President Trump, his ratings are kind of creeping up. So, I think President Trump is finding out that the president of Mexico also has some cards to play, right? I mean, this isn't this isn't a zero-sum game, in terms of this relationship. Obviously, President Trump wants this wall. He wants some sort of cooperation from Mexico. They have said no. He's reviewing how much aid the U.S. sends to Mexico and whether that's part of the negotiation. So, when Tillerson goes, I mean, and we've seen this already with the secretary of state, when he goes abroad, he's essentially on a cleanup mission for this president. And you imagine some of that will have to go on there. Some tough talk back and forth between these two leaders. [Blitzer:] Rex Tillerson, we're going to be hearing from him, the Secretary of State. We heard from him during his confirmation hearings, Susan, and we got to know him a bit. But since he was sworn in as secretary of state, he really hasn't been all that visible, at least on television, speaking out. Now, we're going to hear what he has to say. He'll be speaking together with the Mexican foreign minister. And one subject one a few words, I'm anxious if they even raise the words, would be that border wall and who's going to pay for that wall. [Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, "usa Today":] The border wall, who's going to pay for it because both sides say the other side is going to pay for it if it gets built. Also, you know, the president's new initiative and policies' approach on immigration, on deportation, some of that involves the approval and cooperation of Mexico. For instance, the president wants to be able to deport people from Central America back to Mexico, not back to their home countries. That's a change in policy. You can't do that unless Mexico is really to go along with it. [Blitzer:] A lot of those home countries don't want to take these people back. [Page:] That's right. And Mexico may or may not be willing to take them back as well. [Blitzer:] Mexico says they'll take back the Mexican cities [Page:] Yes. [Blitzer:] which they have no choice. They have to take back Mexican citizens. But they're saying they don't want to take back someone who came from Central America or South America, [Page:] That's right. [Blitzer:] from other countries. [Page:] And that's consistent with the policy of the Obama administration which was that they were going to be deported. They had to be deported back to their home countries. The Trump administration wants to change that. But it does depend on the cooperation of some other foreign leaders. In this case, Mexico. It will be interesting to see Rex Tillerson speak. You know, he has been we haven't seen briefings press briefings by the State Department since he became secretary of state. We haven't seen him able to fill the jobs beneath him at the State Department, the appointed jobs. Lots of vacancies there that have been, I think, problematic for trying to institute the traditional role the secretary of state has played. [Blitzer:] It's hard, A.B., to be secretary of state if you don't have a deputy secretary of state or under secretaries of state or assistant secretaries of state. All of whom have yet to be named and then they have to go through Senate confirmation. [A.b. Stoddard, Associate Editor And Columnist, "real Clear Politics":] Right. Look, so far, it's no secret that Rex Tillerson has been, sort of, cut out of the usual role and influence of secretary of state. He was not on the stage with Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump. He was on an airplane somewhere when President Trump he could do said he could do a one-state, a two-state solution. Big decisions are being made. An emergency meeting in Mar-a-Lago, FL over the weekend with the Japanese prime minister to respond to a missile test from the North Koreans. The Rex Tillerson's counterpart was there for the weekend. The Japanese secretary of state, if you will. Rex Tillerson was nowhere to be found. He's not in the photos. He's not there in the moment. He doesn't have staff. Now, he's been sent down to, basically, hear the Mexican government say what they said out loud yesterday which is that this new immigration policy is hostile. That they've been vilified by this president. That they don't have to do this as a sovereign nation. So, it is going to be very interesting to see, as Susan says, what how Rex Tillerson describes it because he does not have the influence that secretaries of state and the command they usually have. And this is a very tense relationship. I don't think he's going to describe it as phenomenal which I think is the word that Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary, used yesterday. [Blitzer:] The phenomenal the U.S.-Mexican relationship. [Stoddard:] Yes. [Blitzer:] I was surprised to hear that as well, given some of the strains that have development on the Mexican president declining an invitation to come to Washington, as you point out. All right, everyone stand by. We're watching two big events. We're about to have live coverage from the CPAC conference here in Washington where President Trump's White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, they will be speaking, answering questions there. We're going to have live coverage of that. Haven't heard much from Steve Bannon over these past few weeks. We're also standing by to hear from the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, and the Mexican foreign minister. They're about to speak. You see the lecterns there in Mexico City. They're trying to smooth the U.S.Mexican relationship, despite serious tensions over the president's proposed border wall and who is going to pay for it. Our special live coverage continues right after this. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. It's been a slow start to the trading week in Asia. Let's check the numbers right now. As we can see, the Hong Kong Hang Seng down by almost 2 percent. Australia has closed low as well, down by almost 1.17 percent. The Shanghai Composite there at the top of your screen down by more than 3 percent. And the Shenzhen Composite down by more than 4 percent. So another bad day there for stocks on mainland China. [Sesay:] Well, let's bring in Andrew Stevens who joins us now from Hong Kong with more perspective. Andrew, we took a look at the numbers there. They're not pretty at all, the Asian market. Analysts saying this is largely due to fears about China's financial stability. [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] Yes. I mean, it's more of the same really, Isha. What we're seeing today is a follow on from last week. Remember $1.1 trillion wiped off the value of Chinese stocks last year. And that misery continues for shareholders in the China markets today. Important to note that those shareholders are Chinese. There's very little international foreign money in the Chinese markets. So that doesn't help alleviate the pain for those who are in the markets. And it is a continuation on the fears and the concerns about the authorities, can they get a grip on what's going on, on trying to manipulate the market, which is what they're doing at the moment. Very unsuccessfully. And also what's going on in the currency, which continues to weaken the Chinese the last two days have tried to strength it. They have had minimal success in strengthening that currency. So the thinking is that there is a concern amongst the policy makers in Beijing, Isha, that the economy is weakening and they are weakening the yuan to try and export their way out of trouble. The question is, just how weak is the economy. It's very difficult to judge at this stage. But certainly if you look at the markets, there's no confidence of investors in buying at the moment. In fact, there was a quote from shanghai this morning saying there's absolutely no reason to be buying in this market, no reason for this market to be going up, at least in the short term, Isha. [Sesay:] Pretty tense stuff. Andrew Stevens joining us there from Hong Kong. Andrew, appreciate it. Thank you. [Vause:] South Korea's Defense Ministry says it is in talks with the U.S. to deploy additional strategic assets to the Korean peninsula. The talks come days after North Korea reported it successfully completed a test of a hydrogen bomb. North Korean officials say there's been an outpouring of enthusiasm in the country ever since Wednesday's test. [Sesay:] But those claims have been met with skepticism abroad as well as a show of force in response. The U.S. coordinated with South Korea. The display of solidarity on Sunday, performing a flyover over the Peninsula. [Vause:] We're also following another big story out of the North. Authorities there have given CNN access to two men detained in the reclusive country. One is a Canadian pastor and he is serving a life sentence of hard labor. North Korea claims the other is an American citizen charged with spying. CNN's Will Ripley live in Pyongyang this hour with the details. So, Will, what more do you know about this latest prisoner that the North Koreans say they have? Is it possible to confirm that he's an American? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, John. We have not confirmed with the U.S. State Department that Kim Jong-chol is an American citizen, although he did provide us with a U.S. Social Security number. And we will also allowed to photograph and examine his passport. And while I'm no passport expert, it looks exactly like my American passport. He even had a Chinese residency visa and multiple stamps from entering back and forth into China, which makes sense because he was while he is a U.S. citizen, he's been living in China as president of a company that actually operates inside North Korea in what's known as a special economic zone in the far northern part of the peninsula right by the border. These special economic zones are basically businesses owned by foreign enemies that employ North Korean workers. And they exist so that the regime can make extra money. And so for quite a while for many years now, Kim has been commuting back and forth. And it is during these trips that he has confessed and the North Korean government has accused him of collecting information about North Korea's nuclear program and their military and then passing that information to conservative elements within the South Korean government. He says he did it by recruiting and bribing an ex-North Korean soldier. Listen to him describe how it all works. [Ripley:] How did it work? How did you pass on the information that you collected? [Kim Dung Chul, Detained In North Korea:] I bribed a local resident and had him gather important materials, such as military secrets, nuclear-related materials. I got these materials hidden in my car and secretly brought them to China where I handed them over or I would go to South Korea and deliver them directly. [Ripley:] And we have no way of knowing if Kim was speaking under any kind of duress. So we assume that our conversation was being monitored from another room in the hotel where we conducted the interview. South Korean authorities that we've been checking with call his claims groundless. And the U.S. State Department is refusing to comment or confirm if he is in fact a U.S. citizen John. [Vause:] And what about this Canadian citizen who is also being detained by the North? He has been sentenced to life in prison. He also spoke with you. What has he been saying? [Ripley:] Yes. This is Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim who has been detained here in North Korea for almost a year now. He was arrested in January of last year. He has made more than 100 trips to North Korea. But he was tending to a nursery a nursing home and an orphanage that his church based in Toronto had set up. And it was during that trip that North Koreans authorities arrested him. They accused him of using his religion to try to overthrow the regime here. Take a look. Thousands of miles from home, a world away from his old life, Canadian Pastor Hyeon Soo Lim lives under the constant watch of North Korean guards. No contact with his family or parishioners of his Toronto church. The 60-year-old works eight hours a day, six days a week, alone, digging holes in an orchard. At the labor camp where he's serving a life sentence, Lim is the only prisoner. The guards wait just outside. [On Camera] How are you feeling? [Hyeon Soo Lim, Pastor & Canadian Held Prisoner By North Korean:] Fine. [Ripley:] Are you OK? Are you in good health? [Lim:] Yes. [Ripley:] Lim speaks and understands English, but the authorities insist he answer our questions in Korean. We assume they're listening from another room in this Pyongyang hotel. "I wasn't originally a laborer, so the labor was hard at first," he says. "But now I've gotten used to it." Lim says he gets regular medical care, three males a day, humane treatment by a country the United Nations says has one of the worst human rights records in the world. Allegations North Korea strongly denies. At his trial in December, Pyongyang prosecutors argued Lim entered North Korea more than 100 times under the false pretense of humanitarian aid. They say he was really using religion to try and overthrow the atheist regime. Lim admits to openly criticizing North Korea's leaders, a severe crime in a country that forbids political dissent. "I admit that I violated this government's authority, system and order," he says. [On Camera] Would you say your biggest crime was speaking badly about the supreme leaders of this country? [Voice-over] "Yes, I think so." Kim says he has not been forced to study North Korean ideology. He's even requested a Bible, though he hasn't gotten it yet. He prays every day. [On Camera] What do you play about? [Voice-over] "I pray for the country and the people," he says. "I pray for North and South Korea to be unified so a situation like mine won't happen again." After about an hour, the guards return. It's time for this pastor- turned-prisoner to go back to a life of confinement. He never expected, but seems to accept. Lim waits and wonders if he'll ever see his family and parishioners again. He says no matter what happens, he's at peace. [Ripley:] I've spoken twice with Lim's family. We actually had him record a private message that we e-mailed so that they could see him in his own words and see that he appears to be healthy and in good spirits. They were grateful to the North Korean regime for allowing the interview to happen. And they also urged the Canadian government to do whatever it can diplomatically to try to encourage the Pyongyang leadership here to release Lim on humanitarian grounds John, Isha. [Vause:] Will, thank you. Will Ripley live in Pyongyang on your sixth trip to the reclusive country in the last year and a half. Thanks, Will. [Sesay:] Some great reporting there from our Will Ripley. [Vause:] Yes. [Sesay:] The Mexican authorities want to question actor Sean Penn about his interview with Mexican drug lord El Chapo. We'll have details on the actress, Penn says helped arranged the meeting. [Church:] A warm welcome back to everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. [Barnett:] And I'm Errol Barnett. We're half an hour into our two-hour block. Here are our top stories right now. [Church:] West Virginia and Nebraska are the next battlegrounds in the U.S. presidential race on Tuesday. Democrats Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are vying for votes in West Virginia. But Clinton may have a tough time winning in coal country after saying in March she was going to, quote, "put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business." [Barnett:] And on the Republican side, Donald Trump will be looking to pick up more delegates to help officially secure his party's nomination. [Church:] Joining me now is Democratic strategist, Chris Kofinis. He's also the former communications director for John Edwards, who ran for president in 2008. Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. Good to talk to you. [Chris Kofinis, Democratic Strategist:] Good to talk to you. [Church:] Let's start with Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton fighting for the women's vote right now. Trump accusing Bill Clinton of being an abuser of women. Hillary Clinton responding calling him reckless and dangerous. The polls show women not quite sold on Trump yet. So what's Clinton planning to do to exploit this and how might Trump respond? [Kofinis:] Well, I think you're seeing basically the opening salvo of what will be Trump's strategy. The simple demographic reality is you can't lose as he is in some of the polls at least at this point women by 60 percent to 40 percent. And have a chance to win in a general election. So he is clearly going to try to discredit Secretary Clinton. The problem is, it's not just her positions that Trump is wrong on. It's the misogynistic tone and the statements he's made over the course of decades, especially during this last year, that are going to be really difficult for him to walk back. [Church:] All this is playing out as Bernie Sanders remains in the race, insisting he will stay right up to the convention. But his tactics appear to be changing. Let's just listen to what he had to say at a rally Monday. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, , Vermont & Democratic Presidential Candidate:] The greed. The greed and the recklessness that we have seen from people like Donald Trump and Carl Icahn [Sanders:] Oh, you know Donald Trump. Oh, I get it. You don't think he is a brilliant successful business man who can bring the kind of prosperity to America that he has brought here to Atlantic City. Is that your point? [Church:] You get the message there. Does this perhaps signal he's going after Trump instead of Clinton from here on? And what does that tell you? [Kofinis:] He's clearly I think coming to terms with the fact that the numbers aren't there for his nomination. That being said, he clearly wants to be a positive force in the general election. And I think there's been a lot of debate particularly amongst pundits, where dot Sanders voters go. Can Donald Trump win some of them over? The reality is that's not going to be the case because these folks are far more progressive on almost every issue than Donald Trump could ever possibly be. So I think what you're going to see from Sanders, and imagine this is going to be a much more consistent message point, is to make it very clear to his supporters in a very vocal, clear way that Donald Trump is not an alternative. [Church:] Just finally, what's likely to happen in Tuesday's Democratic primary in West Virginia where the polls indicate a Sanders victory? That must be infuriating for the Clinton campaign. [Kofinis:] This has been a strange primary season on both sides. The reality is my guess if you had to bet today secretary Clinton would probably lose West Virginia. She may lose some states going forward. But the math just is no longer there. Even if she loses West Virginia by a couple points because it's proportional, it really doesn't change the fundamental position because she's so far ahead in pledged candidates as well as super delegates, it's just simply not mathematically possible for Sanders to win. [Church:] Chris Kofinis, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate it. [Kofinis:] Thank you. [Barnett:] North Carolina is in a legal showdown with the U.S. government over transgender rights. On Monday, the Justice Department filed a civil rights lawsuit over the state's so-called bathroom law. That law bans people from using public bathrooms that don't correspond with their gender at birth. The U.S. attorney general called it "state-sponsored discrimination that violates federal laws." [Loretta Lynch, U.s. Attorney General:] You have been told that this law protects vulnerable populations from harm. But that is just not the case. Instead, what this law does is inflict further indignity on a population that has already suffered far more than its fair share. It was not so very long ago that states, including North Carolina, had other signs above restrooms, water fountains, and on public accommodations, keeping people out based on a distinction without a difference. [Barnett:] Now, North Carolina is defending the law with a countersuit. In announcing that, the governor blasted the Justice Department's action as a "baseless and blatant overreach." [Pat Mccrory, , Governor Of North Carolina:] We believe a court rather than a federal agency should tell our state, our nation, and employers across the country what the law requires. The Obama administration is bypassing Congress by attempting to rewrite the law and set basic restroom policies, locker room policies, and even shower policies for public and private employers across the country, not just North Carolina. [Barnett:] Several entertainers, including Bruce Springsteen, have canceled concerts in North Carolina following the passage of this law. [Church:] We're going to take a very short break here. But still to come, in the Philippines, two presidential candidates have now conceded defeat, leaving a controversial mayor closer to winning the top job. We will have the latest on the election next on [Cnn Newsroom. Barnett:] Plus, Brazil is struggling with a number of crises as it prepares for the Summer Olympics and a possible presidential impeachment trial. An outlook from Rio is next. [Quest:] I guess the beleaguered shareholders of Yahoo will take whatever good news they can, and Yahoo is trading 1.5 percent higher after hours. The third quarter results beat Wall Street expectations. The future of Yahoo remains murky. I'm going to put this into context for you. Let's just imagine Yahoo's search history, which is riddled and shows the wronged turns and the missed opportunities. So if you look at Yahoo and the most recent search of course, is the data breach. One of the largest data breaches in history. Some 500 million user accounts stolen in 2014 that you can read about. Now the data breach puts Yahoo's Verizon deal into 4.8 billion into some doubt. Verizon can renegotiate or pull out. The Verizon general council has said there is a reasonable basis to assume the deal will be affected. But it is worth mentioning, there is not really a word about that in today's results. And to put it into context, whatever Yahoo may be suffering now, just remember back in 2008, do a quick search on that and you will see it comes up with the Microsoft deal. Microsoft offered nearly $45 billion, $45 billion in 2008. That is nearly ten times the current Verizon deal. And then Yahoo said the offer was substantially undervalued the company. Let's put this into perspective. Russ Gerber joins me now from Los Angeles. He's the president and chief executive of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management. Has long called for Yahoo to be broken up and sold off. Good to see you Russ. So these results are one can't say they're encouraging, you know they're better than expected. But we're not being given any more details about the hack or how it affects the Verizon deal. What can you tell us? [Russ Gerber, Ceo, Gerber Kawasaki Wealth Management:] I think there is a concerted effort to not have this be a big deal. Because Marissa Mayer is trying to get this thing sold and get out of there with her $100 million payout without a disaster. And the ship is so broken here at Yahoo, so they goosed earnings up as well as they can. They're down playing the issues they have to try to maximize the potential of getting this deal done as soon as possible. [Quest:] Right, but for somebody like yourself, who has long sought a breakup of Yahoo on behalf of other investors. I mean, at least she's selling it off. Which is exactly what people like you wanted her to do in the first place. [Gerber:] That's correct. And she is. The problem is that she's done it from a position of weakness versus a position of strength may be a few years back. And basically every attempt she's made to add shareholder value has actually decreased shareholder value. I think that company would have better served selling maybe a year or two ago. [Quest:] Right, but that a case, Ross, I'm not being difficult here, but that's a case of should of, could have, would have, and you didn't. So now you are where you stand. Do you believe that Verizon will progress with the deal? Or do you think they have a strong case either for abandoning it or going back and ask were something off the price? [Gerber:] No, I mean, Verizon is going to finish this deal and it would be hard for them to say that the data breach has materially affected the value of Yahoo. Because quite frankly, the value of Yahoo is pretty immaterial. So I think the real issue is, what can they salvage from this deal that will really benefit Tim Armstrong and the AOL team at Verizon. And I think that there's some value there. I just kind of feel like it's diminishing quickly. [Quest:] Where does Yahoo sit in the Verizon firmament? I mean, with all of the other things that it's got, whether it's Huff Post, all of the other bits of Verizon, the content rich everybody wants content. Where does Yahoo sit, do you think? [Gerber:] I think that that's the exact strategy they're trying to employ at Verizon, which is a pivot away from basically cell phone service, which is a very mature business. To services, video and ad content and generation. They're very, very focused on the video ad business and delivering the ads to their 100 million or so subscribers or whatever they have. So I think this is a good move for them, it's just a lot of pieces that have to eventually come together and I don't know if they're that good at doing this. [Quest:] One point though, we've trashed Yahoo to some extent, but if you actually look at the numbers, whether it be for Yahoo Finance, Yahoo News. Yahoo is consistently in the top three to five, sometimes like in Yahoo Finance, the number one visited site. So is not as if it's a basket case. It may be corporately or financially a basket case, but it's content is not. [Gerber:] Yes, I agree with you. And I do think the two most valuable areas are sports and of course finance. But the recent changes to the finance site I actually really don't like. And so it's not just about having the properties that are so visited today. Our people going to visit them in five years or three years from now and are they going to stay relevant in rapidly changing technology landscape. And that's what I'm worried about with them. [Quest:] We're very grateful, sir, that you came in this afternoon and this evening to help us understand it, thank you. [Gerber:] My pleasure. [Quest:] Commodity stocks helped European markets pushed higher. Take a look at the numbers and you will understand what I mean. The best of the day was in Germany where well actually it was in Paris, Germany and Paris was 1.32 and 1.22. It helps, Richard, if you read all of the numbers before you make a comment. And the FTSE eked out three quarters of a percentage point gain. It appears Europe's trade deal with Canada will not be getting approval, at least not today. EU ministers failed to come to an agreement a week before it was set to be signed during an EUCanadian summit. The protests are against the deal that have been held in the past week in Paris. Now last week Belgium was unable to get its approval after one of the Belgian regions Vilonia, voted against it. The EU Trade Commissioner says, failure to make this deal happen could have wide reaching ramifications. [Cecilia Malmstrom, Eu Trade Commissioner:] If we can't sign with Canada, of course the rest of the world will ask themselves is Europe a reliable partner? So we will have consequences for our trade policy. [Quest:] After meeting with the Italian Prime Minister, Matteo Renzi, in Washington, Barack Obama said, these kind of trade deals and other measures to boost growth are important to Europe's overall well-being. [Barack Obama, U.s. President:] My hope will be that the debate broadens as Europe moves forward around how to grow more quickly, put more people back to work, see incomes rise, create a greater momentum and optimism. Because I do believe that there is a connection between stagnation and some of the less constructive populist impulses that have been rising up. [Quest:] Now from Cambridge, Massachusetts, where joined from Harvard, Professor Ken Rogoff. Ken, how good to see you sir, nice to have you, thank you. So the Canadian EU deal, the Belgians looked like they were about to scupper that particular deal in some shape or form. If they do cobble it together as many suspect they will, the under lying antitrade trend continues, doesn't it? [Ken Rogoff, Professor Of Economics, Harvard University:] It absolutely does, I think president Obama hit the nail on the head with why deals like this are needed now. If you don't have them, there is a lot of backsliding. There is huge anti-trade, anti-immigration, very populist impulses. And if you don't have something like this creating a barrier to putting up more protectionism, you will get it. [Quest:] But if you have protests in Paris, and you have the government base which I saying we're worried about the protections in a certain deal with Canada, you see the elites may be ahead of the populous? [Rogoff:] It is never easy to get trade deals through. They're usually knife edge. And if you put them up to a vote it's very tough. We're talking about Canada EU, I think the U.S., the EU in this environment it will be harder given the campaign we have seen for president. [Quest:] Donald Trump is making huge scores in his debates about the extent of the U.S. trade deficit, $7-800,000 billion. He talks about it frequently. Is that a number that is of concern bearing in mind the dollar is very strong and the U.S. having no difficulty financing its current count? [Rogoff:] No, I don't think in itself, The U.S. deficits are a huge concern, I think the fact is the rest of the world is desperate to hold U.S. assets, considered relatively safe, and they lend the United States the money at phenomenally low interest rates. Yes, of course it is a concern that the quality of job growth has been weak and demand from overseas is not as strong as it is. I've got to tell you, we put up a wall of trade with China and it might make the trade deficit look better, but it will drive prices up massively. [Quest:] And while we're talking on the big issues of trade, The U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman speaking in Europe just this week, you may have seen what he said about how it is impossible for the U.S. to negotiate with the U.K. on a post-Brexit trade agreement, because no one knows that U.K. EU deal will look like. So how worried are you that the Brexit overhang on trade is just it just continues to pull down all of the various trade negotiations? [Rogoff:] I don't know that so much as that when the U.K. did this, the Brexiteers said don't worry, we'll get a good deal on all these trade negotiations. But I have got to tell now is a very bad time to be doing trade negotiations, the populism is very strong. The leadership against it is not strong. I would be very concerned about what the U.K. is going to get. I think the bigger problem for the U.S. is simply that even though a Europe-U.S. deal in some sense is very minor compared to the deal with Asia, because they're very similar economies, versus Asia which is a very different one. It is just toxic, the environment right now after Trump, after Sanders, very successfully campaigned against trade. And secretary Clinton has been just hanging on for dear life defending her early positions which were pro-globalization. [Quest:] Thank you, good to see you, sir. Nearly 80 years after Judy Garland danced up the yellow brick road, her ruby red slippers have fallen into some repair. And now the Smithsonian is making an appeal to save the world's most famous pair of shoes. We'll go over the rainbow after you enjoy some "MAKE, CREATE, INNOVATE". [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. I do want to start with breaking news. I want to take you back now to Lower Manhattan where a crane collapse has killed at least one person and injured two other seriously. Mayor Bill de Blasio on his way to the scene. It's 40 Worth Street and TriBeCa where that crane stretches across what appears to be a city block. CNN's Miguel Marquez joins me now with more. Miguel, take it away. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, you know, the mayor has arrived here on scene. He got here about 20 minutes ago. And we expect a briefing from him here shortly. The whole of downtown or this area of downtown New York is completely blocked off. This was a crane a drive-in crane, a very large crane that was driven into the block and parked in the middle of the block for about a week, say people who live in the neighborhood. They also say that it was they noticed in the last couple of days that one of the cables on top of that crane appeared to have snapped and they actually avoided this street because they were concerned. The crane was working on an existing building and adding some sort of a top to that building. It wasn't a new building under construction. This wasn't the sort of crane that you see construction bring you see attached to the side of the building. I have seen photos of the crane and the damage that it caused. It literally went lengthwise all the way down the block, a full city block, landing on some cars along the way. It is not clear where the person was killed, where they were in relation to that crane or those that were injured. But clearly a massive, massive failure with this crane. People who were in the neighborhood said they could not only hear it, they could feel it. It sounded like an earthquake they said and felt like an earthquake. Just very, very I think jarring morning for downtown Manhattan. Now dozens and dozens of police and fire officials here trying to deal with this and figure out if there are any other structural issues. But the good news is that it wasn't attached to anything. It's not like you have a building that may be structurally compromised. This is a crane that was it sounds like on its own that's been driven in, in the last week or two Carol. [Costello:] We understand the New York Law School has been closed and evacuated? Is that true, Miguel? [Marquez:] Well, there are the New York Law School is closed in large part because of you have so many emergency vehicles down here right now. It's very difficult for anybody to access the surrounding buildings. So they've closed off probably one, two, three, four, five about eight blocks around this building, around this collapse so that the emergency vehicles can get in. People who live in these buildings are still able to access their buildings if they are not immediately affected. But that block of Worth Street between West Broadway and Church is now blocked off and they are trying to figure out how they're going to move this crane to make sure that there's nobody else injured in this accident Carol. [Costello:] Yes. I hope not. We'll get back to you, Miguel. Thanks so much. Miguel Marquez, reporting live. On to politics now. Two candidates, a fiery debate and less than a week to go until the New Hampshire primary. Right now Democratic presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders is on the campaign trail in Manchester, New Hampshire. He's getting ready to speak at a Politics and Eggs event. This just one day after a heated debate hosted by MSNBC. Rival Hillary Clinton unleashing a series of stinging one-liners as she tried to defend her ties to Wall Street and her speaking fees. For Sanders, it was all about owning what it means to be a progressive. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not making promises that I cannot keep. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] Experience is not the only point. Judgment is, and once again, back in 2002 when we both looked at the same evidence about the wisdom of the war in Iraq, one of us voted the right way and one of us didn't. [Clinton:] We did differ. A vote in 2002 is not a plan to defeat ISIS. We have to look at the threats that we face right now. And we have to be prepared to take them on and defeat them. [Sanders:] Secretary Clinton does represent the establishment. I represent, I hope, ordinary Americans and by the way, who are not all that enamored with the establishment. [Clinton:] Senator Sanders is the only person who I think would characterize me a woman running to be the first woman president as exemplifying the establishment. [Sanders:] What being part of the establishment is, is in the last quarter having a super PAC that raised $15 million from Wall Street. [Clinton:] And enough is enough. If you've got something to say, say it directly. But you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received. So I think it's time to end the very artful smear that you and your campaign have been carrying out in recent weeks and let's talk let's talk about the issues. [Sanders:] On our worst days, I think it is fair to say, we are 100 times better than any Republican candidate. [Clinton:] I am the strongest candidate to take it to the Republicans in November. [Costello:] All right. So let's talk about this. Let's bring in CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny and CNN Politics executive director Mark Preston. Welcome to both of you. So, Jeff, Bernie Sanders appeared surprised that Hillary Clinton went on the attack. Was he? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Carol, I'm not sure he was surprised. I mean, this has been escalating privately really for weeks. And it's a sign that the Clinton campaign is, A, taking Bernie Sanders very seriously, but B, a sign that he has gotten under her skin. No question about it. They've been having conversations internally about how seriously they should treat him really for several weeks and months, but last night when you heard those two words, artful smear, it's clear that the Clinton campaign has reached a realization that she has to take him on directly. She has to call him out directly. Otherwise voters simply won't pay attention to this contrast they've been trying to subtly draw. Carol, there is no subtlety last night at all. I mean, it was clear that Secretary Clinton wanted to directly engage him on some of these issues. And it started with the definition of what is a true progressive. Let's listen to this. [Clinton:] I am a progressive who gets things done, and the root of that word, progressive is progress, but I've heard Senator Sanders' comments and it's really caused me to wonder. Who's left in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party? I don't think it was particularly progressive to vote against the Brady Bill five times. I don't think it was progressive to vote against gun makers and seller immunity. I don't think it was progressive to vote against Ted Kennedy's immigration reform. [Sanders:] The reality is that there has been trillions of dollars of wealth going from the middle class in the last 30 years to the top one tenth of 1 percent. The reality is that we have a corrupt campaign finance system which separates the American people's needs and desires from what Congress is doing. So to my mind, what we have got to do is wage a political revolution where millions of people have given up on the political process, stand up and fight back, demand a government that represents us and not just a handful of campaign contributions contributors. [Zeleny:] So, Carol, there you have it. The argument from both sides. And if you're already with Bernie Sanders, if you're a Bernie Sanders supporter, I think you agreed and his argument resonated with you. But what Hillary Clinton is trying to do is remind Democrats out there that she is the fighter for the soul of the Democratic Party. Throughout the course of the discussion of that debate it was clear that she was trying to remind people that she has been a Democrat her whole life and he of course is an independent, and what he calls himself a Democratic socialist. But, Carol, four days before the New Hampshire primary, he still has a commanding lead here. And it's a deep challenge for her campaign to try and regain some of that ground here. But this campaign will go on of course well beyond New Hampshire as will this fight that we heard last night Carol. [Costello:] Yes. So, Mark, will we see Bernie Sanders getting more caustic, battling back harder? [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Director:] Well, certainly he's going to have to because Hillary Clinton, what we saw last night not only were the words that she directed at him and right at the top of that debate, he said, if you have something to say, say it to me now. And she was looking directly at him. And if you were to look at the body language of Hillary Clinton, she was not staring straight out into the audience. She turned and she stared straight at him. And I think that was a little unnerving to Bernie Sanders. But as Jeff said, this is a long game. Let's look at this in terms of baseball. This is just the second inning. We've had Iowa. We're here in New Hampshire. As Jeff said, it looks like New Hampshire is a loss for Hillary Clinton. She was not speaking to New Hampshire voter per se last night. She was looking at the long game. And what she has in her back pocket are delegate votes. They're called super delegate votes. This is a game of math. And when she pulls those out, that is going to be a huge amount of support for her as she heads down into the south. Bernie Sanders needs to use his enthusiasm to generate more support for his campaign. [Costello:] All right. Mark Preston, Jeff Zeleny, thanks to both of you. So the pragmatist battle the idealist mano-y-mano, Clinton went on the attack and Sanders bit back. The thing is, there's really not a clear winner. Perhaps the actress and activist Mia Farrow put it best on Twitter. She tweeted this. "Now if they could just split the gig, Bernie would cover domestic, Hillary on foreign policy." With me now, Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist and Hillary Clinton supporter, and Andy Smith, director of the University of New Hampshire Survey Center. So, Maria, in your mind, who won? I know you're a Hillary supporter. So try to take it out of your mind and step back. [Maria Cardona, Democratic Strategist:] Sure. [Costello:] Who won? [Cardona:] You know what, Carol? I actually think the Democratic Party won and American voters won last night because as fierce and as passionate as it got, and I do agree that, you know, Hillary did win overall, I think she was better than ever in explaining all of the issues that Bernie Sanders had been going at her on, but overall I think they were both terrific. One of my favorite moments was when the moderators started talking about her e-mail issues, and turned to him to say if he was going to make this an issue, and he reiterated that he was not going to politicize it. And then they turned to her to see if she wanted to take 30 seconds to pile on, on some of the shenanigans that they had brought up that Bernie's campaign had been involved in. And she simply said no. And so I think that really demonstrated that the Democrats are the ones that are having a strong substantive, passionate, fierce debate about what are the issues and the solutions that this country needs from these kinds of leaders. [Costello:] Yes. But, Andy, that moment came at the end. The rest of the debate was contentious. [Andy Smith, Director, University Of New Hampshire Survey Center:] Well, certainly the first part of the debate was very contentious. In fact, I thought I turned on the wrong channel and was watching the Republican debate for a minute. But they did get past that early on. And I think they settled into more of what we've seen in some of the earlier debates between the two of them. And I think both of them were able to reemphasize the points that they've been making through their campaign. So if you want to look for a winner or a loser this debate, I think it's probably a bit of a draw. Maybe Clinton did better than Sanders overall because she's been very effective in these debates. But she has a lot of ground to make up. Certainly more than Sanders does. [Costello:] Yes. And especially on the Wall Street issue, Maria. In fact, she had a big fundraiser for Friday. She postponed that because a big bank was part of that fundraiser. So Bernie Sanders' attacks on her seem to be working. [Cardona:] Well, I think that she was very good at explaining and frankly at going back at him to say what are you insinuating? I thought that was a very strong moment for her. Because I think what she needs to do and is going to continue to do [Costello:] Yes, but she was booed at one point, Maria. She was booed when she said that Bernie Sanders was smearing her. [Cardona:] But I think the point is that she needs to explain to the American people that her record on Wall Street is stronger than anybody's. That whatever money she might be accepting in terms of donations from Wall Street, in no way, shape, or form, informs her votes, informs her reforms, informs her platforms which many economists and many and many economic analysts have said are much stronger than Bernie Sanders' . And so while I think that people continue to think that this is an issue for her, this is an opportunity for her to continue to explain that she is actually the one that not only is proposing much tougher standards for Wall Street, but she is also better poised to make sure that those platforms translate into real action for the American people. [Costello:] All right. On the subject of guns, Andy, you know, Bernie Sanders did vote against the Brady Bill, right? But there's a reason that Bernie Sanders is somewhat supportive of guns because the gun industry employs a lot of people in his part of the world, right? [Smith:] Well, not only does the gun industry employ a lot of people here in New Hampshire, you have manufacturers like SIG SAUER here. But you think back where Bernie Sanders is from, Vermont has one of the highest gun ownership rates in the country and it has some of the laxest laws regarding gun usage or gun carries. So Sanders in those votes was often voting in the interest of his constituents in Vermont. It certainly is an issue here in a much suburban state than Vermont, and I think Clinton is really effectively trying to get the votes of college educated women, particularly in the suburban areas of the state near the Massachusetts border who have very different views on guns than say somebody in rural Vermont. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Maria Cardona, Andy Smith, thanks to both of you. [Cardona:] Thank you, carol. [Costello:] You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald trump diplomat? Why he's backing off on a feud on a feud with Ted Cruz. [Paul:] Thirteen minutes past the hour right now. And some breaking news out of Tennessee this morning: there is a desperate manhunt underway as we speak here after a Memphis police officer was shot and killed overnight during what should have been, we're told, a routine traffic stop. Officers are mourning the death of this man, 33-year-old Sean Bolton. He died late last night, and they're doing this, of course, as they're hunting for the killer. Nick Valencia following the story. What are police staying to you because I know you've been in contact with them all morning? [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Christi. Yes, we have reached out to the Memphis Police Department. They aren't offering any new details up at this hour. They are saying, though, that search for whoever is responsible for the fatal shooting of this Memphis police officer is still active, is still underway. Thirty-three-year-old Sean Bolton, a veteran police officer with the Memphis police department, shot multiple times during a traffic stop. It was reported that a citizen used his radio to contact police to let them know that one of their own had been shot. He was rushed to the hospital in critical condition. He later died there at that hospital. Last night, the police director for the Memphis Police Department addressed the public. [Toney Armstrong, Memphis Police Department:] As a community we say so often there's a theme that do black lives matter? And at the end of the day, we have to ask ourselves, do all lives matter regardless of race, creed, color, economic status, what profession that person holds, all lives matter. [Valencia:] Director Armstrong went onto say that this is the third officer shot in the four years that he's been head of the police department there in Memphis Christi. [Paul:] Yes, he talked about how difficult this has been the last few years. What's interesting is we're not getting any description of a suspect as they're looking for this person, right? [Valencia:] No. In the press conference they held yesterday, Christi, they alluded to saying that we will find him, whoever is responsible for this. But, officially, we've reached out again this morning to the Memphis Police Department to try to get a description of whoever is responsible for this. They have not released that officially to the public. We'll keep you updated once we get information. [Paul:] All right. Nick Valencia, so appreciate it. Thank you. [Blackwell:] Drama erupts at the funeral for Bobbi Kristina Brown. A family member claims that she was kicked out of the services for the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobbi Brown. You're going to hear why she says she was booted from that service. Also, Cecil the lion's death prompts some big hunting changes as Zimbabwe now suspends hunting in certain areas. [Curnow:] Hi there, welcome to the "International Desk." I'm Robyn Curnow. Thanks for joining me. Here's the check of the headlines. Germany's Interior Minister said police have arrested three Syrian men suspected of working for ISIS and he says they may be linked to the November attacks in Paris. The Minister says the same forger apparently made travel documents for these men and for the Paris attackers. And despite a humanitarian ceasefire aid is still not reaching the parts of Syria that need it the most. The U.N. and the Red Cross say they will not go into besieged areas until they're sure their workers will be safe. Syria's state-run news agency also reports the aid from Turkey to Aleppo is being blocked unless it's coordinated with the Syrian government and the U.N. Hillary Clinton tells CNN she didn't think her pneumonia diagnosis was a big deal, but admits she should have gotten rest sooner. She spoke on the phone about her illness and she was saying that taking a break from saying that while she was taking a break from the campaign this week. Clinton was seen stumbling at a 911 memorial, Sunday. Critics say she should have disclosed her condition immediately. And now to a massive storm approaching Taiwan, super typhoon Meranti is closing in on the southern tip of the island. It is the strongest storm in the area since 1959. And it's expected to bring torrential rains and damaging winds. Well, Chad Myers joins us now live. I mean, this is certainly intense. This is packing some serious winds here. [Chad Myers, Cnn Weather Correspondent:] 295 kilometers per hour. I mean, that's only 10 miles per hour, or 10 kilometers per hour, pretty much in the rough, less than what Haiyan slammed into the Philippines a few years ago. So, yes, a violent typhoon at almost 300 kilometers per hour and that will push a lot of rain on the top of Taiwan. Taiwan is a very topographic area. We've seen with nine even in some spots we can go to 3,000 meters high in just about a nine mile, nine kilometer area. It could ramps up very quickly. And that ramping up of the topography is going to create significant mudslides. Remember, Nepartak hit this area just a little while ago. So it's already taken a smashing and this things, it haven't been put back together yet, you take another typhoon and hit some place that's already been hit, you really have problems. We're still seeing the significant winds of about 200 kilometers per hour Basel, even as it comes onshore here in China. It likely misses the southern tip, the eye, but not the effect. You have to think about the effect and the eye differently, because the eye is a little bit further apart. The eye may miss, but the outer eye will may hit. And that's going to hit some significant population there making the mudslides and then it moves into China and here where we really could get more in the way of significant damage because of fresh water flooding. Yes, we will get a storm surge. A storm surge possibly on that China Coast of 20 meters, everyone just evacuating the coast here to get away from that saltwater surge, the ocean surge. But and when you put all this rain into the mountains, you have the potential for a fresh water flood, a fresh water surge down those mountains. We saw what happened in North Korea from a dying Lionrock. This is much, much more intense that Lionrock was over North Korea. This could have a much larger effect on a population there, Robyn. [Curnow:] OK, we'll stay with that. Thank you so much, Chad Myers, there. Appreciate it and staying with that weather event in North Korea. The country is struggling to recover from severe flooding caused by a typhoon that hit a couple of weeks ago. But in a rare moment of openness, the nation revealed to the world the extent of the devastation. Kristie Lu Stout now, reports. [Kristie Lu Stout, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a country that rarely reports negative news about itself. But this week, North Korea admitted it needs help. Tens of thousands of house and public buildings collapsed in railways. Roads and other traffic networks and power supply systems, factories, company buildings and farmland were flooded or destroyed. State media reported the country's northeast on the border with China has been hit by the heaviest downpour in more than 70 years. More than 500 people are dead or missing and 140,000 are in need of urgent assistance. The head of the Red Cross delegation in North Korea describes what he saw first hand. [Unidentified Male:] People have lost everything. They've lost all of their belongings. They've lost their kitchen, gardens. They've lost their life stock, their chickens, their pigs. They've lost crops and all of that is going to affect how they live in the next weeks and months ahead. [Stout:] Observers say the flood-ravaged areas are known for being particularly impoverished. State media said a nationwide mass mobilization campaign originally aimed at boosting the economy has rapid redirect toward helping flood victims and concern is growing as winter approaches. Just days after North Korea rattled its neighbors by conducting its fifth nuclear test, it's revealed to the world how desperate its citizens are for help. Kristie Lu Stout, CNN. [Curnow:] More footage there. I want to take you now to Indonesia where a flight crew has made a very lucky escape after a pretty dangerous landing. This cargo plane skidded for an entire kilometer before coming to a stop. Friction tore for landing gear scattered debris, but the crew climbed out uninjured. The pilot said the lack of equipment at the airport forced him to land by sight and he sees low clouds then prevented a good view on Tuesday. Lucky indeed. Well, this is the "International Desk." Ahead, Facebook sued over a nude photo on its site. What Facebook is saying after a judge denied its request to get the case thrown out. This is an important talk. Samuel Burke joins me. [John Vause, Cnn Correspondent:] Terrorized by ISIS and now ready to fight back the Yazidi men forced to flee their home and Iraq about to go on the offensive to reclaim their city from the brutal Islamic militants. And Yemen braces for a natural disaster where a cyclone heading their war weary country into dumping a years worth of rain in just days. Hello and welcome everybody, wherever you are all around the world. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. begins now. [Vause:] And we'll begin with a homecoming which was not meant to be like this. Some of the passengers who died on Metrojet Flight 9268 now back in St. Petersburg. Russian state media reports a plane carrying 144 bodies touched down just a short time ago. St. Petersburg was going to be final destination for the flight which crushed Saturday in the Sinai Peninsula. Investigators say the plane broke apart in mid-air but they don't know why, this new information though little comfort for the families of the 224 passengers and crew who died when that plane came down. For the very latest we have Ian Lee standing by in Cairo, also Nic Robertson live this hour in St. Petersburg, we'll go to Ian. So, Ian, what is the very latest on the recovery and the search efforts at the scene of the crash? [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Well they're still looking for bodies out there, right now we're hearing from Egyptian state media that 187 bodies have been recovered, they're in Cairo, they're going through the identification process of the ones that are still here, they're are also going to be looking out at the scene of the crash where any more clues that could lead to what caused this plane to come down, we heard from the Russian officials that it broke up in the air, Egyptian officials further time have always been saying that this seems to be a mechanical issue, ruling out any foul play. Now this plane had in incident back in 2001 where the tail hit the runway, that's something that they're going to be looking into. But this goes along the line of what we're hearing from the co-pilot's ex-wife, take a listen. [Unidentified Female:] My daughter had a telephone chat with him just before the flight, he complained before the flight that one could wish for better technical condition of the plane. [Lee:] Well an Egypt civil aviation minister had said that before this flight took off that the pilot hadn't alerted anyone to any issues that they found and it passed a routine check, so these are all thing that they're going to be looking for when going through this wreckage. Also those black boxes we're hearing a team from Ireland is going to comment and help them with that as well. So, still a lot of questions remain, really trying to figure out what happened in those final moments. [Vause:] A lot of questions yet to be answered, Ian stay with us, St. Petersburg. We are now learning a little more about some of the passengers who were onboard this flight as those bodies arrive back there in St. Petersburg, what can you tell us Nic? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Correspondent:] Well the first of the bodies have now been moved to the airport to a nearby crematorium which is where the families will begin to be taken to identify in the families, who remember hotel close to the airport, they'll be driven from their bike up med officials to begin that identification process. But the youngest passenger to die aboard that aircraft is a 10-month old girl, Tania Gromova. And, although you can't see from where we're standing right now, there were candles over there just beside me and there were picture of her photographs of her [inaudible] has now before iconic for small trial standing with a hand on a glass window, looking out at the aircraft of the photograph taken from behind shortly before she was due to travel. We've been talking, we've heard from various family members as they've arrived here to become to become this difficult process of identification. And, her government officials are here ready to help them, but these are some of the things that they've been telling us. [Unidentified Male:] I watched where the plane was on, a radar, on the internet, everything looked normal, I came here around 11:30 but the plane didn't appear anywhere on the information screens. [Unidentified Female::] Yesterday my son called and said that the plane was landing around 11:40. He was on holiday with his family, a 10-month-old daughter. [Robertson:] So this identification process is expected to take quite a period of time obviously, a lot of families 144 bodies so far recovered and brought back today, more are expected, and also today we're expecting the press conference to be given in Moscow in coming hours, a press conference given by the airline metro jet. We're not sure what they're going what issues they're going to address at this stage but they are expected to at least give a first analysis from their perspective, obviously questions have been raised so far about the air worthiness of this aircraft, about the crashes that the airline has had in recent years. So, perhaps we may get more details on that, we'll wait and see. John? [Vause:] Nic, it seems this tragedy is being felt acutely not just here in St. Petersburg but all across Russia. It's being felt very widely, I mean we witness it here at the airport where every few minutes, people come out and need more flowers, an entire football team emerged from the airport a few minutes ago, there were people here now come to lay flowers, come to take photographs, come for a moment of silent personal prayer, I see a man approaching with a couple of coronations. And one of the things that you see here towards the back now is this pile of flowers grows and grows are a lot of toys that are being laid here. The reason for that is that there were children like 10-month old Tania onboard this aircraft but there's a also a growing realization here, there were quite a lot of parents that went on vacation to Egypt together leaving their children with relatives. So, this is left a large number of orphans now. Nobody has put a figure to that number at the moment, but there was a there was gather of people in St. Petersburg late last night, they stood with lights and spelt out the word "Mom" on the ground because there was just this connection for people here knowing that perhaps it could have been them, knowing that this is a terrible tragedy for the children. And as you say not just St. Petersburg, it's Moscow, it's across the country, people are onboard this aircraft, most of them from St. Petersburg but from we're told 13 other regions across the country as well John. And of course Nic, people are wanting answers, they have a lot of questions as to what happen, and with that we go to Ian in Cairo. Ian how will the Egyptian and Russian authorities be handling this investigation as it moves forward? [Lee:] Oh we were told that this investigation will be rigorous, that it could be while before they figure out exactly what happens, but they said they want to get it right. We know that Egypt, Egyptian officials, Russian officials are on the ground, they're searching for clues, and this is a large area, this is over 20 square kilometers that they're searching over, as this plane did break up in the air. So, they want to make sure that they have every piece, every little bit of evidence that comes to a solid conclusion and they say that could take some time. What they are bringing in other experts, they have a team from Air Bus which is also here, they're going to be helping out in this effort. So, the Egyptians are wanting to give the impression that they're in control of this, and with this operation going forward we're expecting more information and more bodies. We need to point out that about 40 bodies are still out in the desert, still uncounted for. So, they're still somewhat recovery effort going on as well this morning. [Vause:] OK. Ian Lee, live with us in Cairo, Nic Robertson also live in St. Petersburg with some very grim duty for both of you, we thank you for that. We also want to get more on the story. Our military analyst Rick Francona is also standing by, he is in Oregon. And also in Albuquerque, New Mexico Dr. Alan Diehl, Dr. Diehl is a former NTSB crash investor, FAA and USAF, air safety investigators using science to save lives, one crash at a time. Thank you both for being with us, Rick I would I would like to start with you. Let's talk a little more about this part of the Sinai Dessert, this is a dangerous part of the world, there's a lot of Islamic extremism going on there, there's also been warnings for commercial jets which pas s over this part of the world. So how dangerous is it and how dangerous is it right now for investigators on the ground? [Lt. Gen. Rick Francona , Cnn Military Analyst:] Well, let's just a second part firstly, I don't think the investigators are any danger there because, when this happened the Egyptian forces moved in there with such for that, I don't think the militants are going to mess around with them, because they were like the plan and operations if they were going to do it, attacking the Egyptian military where into such force probably not a good idea. So I think the investigators are probably OK there. Now as to this part of the world and you're right, the Sinai is a dangerous place, it's been very dangerous since 2011 when there was a militancy that started there, it got much worse after the overthrow of Mohammed Morsi as the president and Sisi took over. A lot of the people are the supported Muslim brotherhood moved to the Sinai and they become much more involved in the violence there. And then just last year as you know, they swore allegiance to ISIS. So now we've got an ISIS province declared itself into Sinai, well they've been quite active and they got a lot of weaponry, a lot of training and obviously an ongoing insurgency for at least three years. [Vause:] OK, we'll get to the [inaudible] when it comes to anti- aircraft reference in a moment, but let's go Alan. Officials are saying the fuselage of this plane disintegrated mid-air, what are the possible causes for that because there's some speculation maybe there was bomb onboard, you know, that an ISIS group has claimed responsibility for shooting this plane with some kind of missile, what's your take? [Alan Diehl, Fmr. Ntsb Crash Investor:] Well, it certainly could be any kind of explosive device or a missile. But there is also other possibilities, the aircraft do break up in flight if they're overstressed. And, what we know is they were climbing through 31,000 feet, there was data streaming that has been released, now this is not Egyptian ground radar, this is an onboard data link system that said they climbed a couple thousand feet then descended a few thousand feet, climbed back and then climbed five miles before they lost the data link at about 500 feet above the ground level. Now, and from the description of the wreckage pattern, John it sounds to me like the plan probably broke up closer to 5,000 feet than 31,000 feet. So, it sounds to me like it may will be the final distraction may have been due to aerodynamic forces or some other type of g-forces as oppose to a very large explosive device ala Malaysia flight 14. [Vause:] Yes, and so, Colonel Francona, piece together [inaudible] ISIS capabilities because they made they're claiming responsibility that they shot this plane down. But as Alan was saying, the plane was at 31,000 feed so is this even possible? [Francona:] Not with the group that we have in the Sinai operating there. We do know that they have the man pods, the man portable air defense system, the shoulder-fire rockets, the heat-seekers if you will. They've got those, they used them effectively, they've been able to down two Egyptian helicopters. But to take a commercial airliner down at that altitude just isn't possible with what they have, these systems top at about 14,000 feet. So the only way you would shot a commercial airliner down is in that transition from takeoff to flight and from the flight level down to landing. So, they don't have the kind of weaponry that we saw in Ukraine that brought down the Malaysian flight. So, I don't think we're looking at a service-to-air missile here. I do they released a video, they showed a video but that aircraft was certainly much slower than 31,000 feet. [Vause:] So how often do these groups like ISIS, you know, ISIS-lead groups put out these spurious claims that really they or they have a claim to I guess, that they make a lot of sense. [Diehl:] Well, they're very optimistic, we've seen this in other instance where an incident will happen and they'll immediately take credit for it, whether or not they were involved or not. You know the one that everybody remembers is the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris. They did claim these they're responsible for that, it turned to be there was a slight affiliation within al-Qaeda group and then later on they did attract some of the Hebdo shooters. But, it's just an opportunistic thing and I think we have to see that they've also claimed responsibility for attacks in the state. So, I think that we can expect that from [Isis. Vause:] Sure. Hey Alan the Russian has to be very quick to this, this terrorism, will we know for certain what exactly happen when they get the black boxes downloaded and look at that information. Or will the wreckage or the group be far more important in an instance like this? [Diehl:] Well, clearly the recorders should tell the story. And what's so interning John and Rick is that they they Co apparently said they had a technical problem, you know, that I would think if they have been hit by some kind of explosive they might have said and it could even heave heard it on the microphones so that they air traffic control takes will be kind of interesting, but the recorders, the onboard recorders should tell the story. Now of course, if it does look like this is some kind of terrorism then the wreckage will be key and people with Rick's expertise will be called in to look at the stifling and the patterns of explosives that we saw in the Ukraine in the Malaysia flight. But, at this point, I think the recorders are likely within hopefully several days to reveal at least basically what appears to have happen, of course the investigation will go on for months and probably up to a year before they reach a final conclusion. [Vause:] OK, Dr. Alan Diehl, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona, both experts on your field, we appreciate you being with us, thank you for you both. [Diehl:] Thanks John. [Vause:] Well a surprise comeback for Turkey's president and this justice and development party. They won an upright majority in snap elections on Sunday, the party lost that majority back in June but now the country's prime minister is urging Turkey's political parties to work together on a new constitution. The win will help Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan tighten his group on power. It comes after last month's suicide bombing which killed more as 100 people in Ankara. Well for more on Turkey's election we're joined now by CNN Turk Reporter Busha Aslantis and she joins us on the line from Ankara. So Busha, give the opinion polls that up to this verdict, it seems that this is a stunning result of President Erdogan and hi AKP party, how did he do it? [Busha Aslantis , Cnn Correspondent:] Oh yes John, it's true that there's also the vote came as a surprise to most people. And, actually this is a key question how apart he did that, what happens in the last past month heard about such a different result on political landscape, so these are the key questions and one is and will be discussing today and upcoming days, an effort that will change according to who you talk to, because, for example for according to some also show, say that, pending together in this result, and when we check the newspapers columns today, asking one point of view, do these people became annoyed with growing instability in the country in recent months, and the protocol and [inaudible] in the last past months we called it, that memory is after 1990s during which strictly have to be moved by unsuccessful coalition government. Another point is that, that is just influence is that, treaty were dropped, were two major treaty dropped in the [inaudible] you remember one of which in July and the other in October a few days ago. So, as [inaudible], and like that so, PKK's violent acts against the Turkish army and the police added additional deservant to the Turkish public opinion, the Turkish army having most the engagement against the terrorist have added additional support from the especially nationwide explaining to the needs of Turkey and some H.P., national party voters will happen to see government where getting also this also PKK heart which broke the in fact the ceasefire of three years and received a tax after the June 7th election. Then, according to some other comments today, the church has taken back their support from HDP for the AKP due to their disturbance with PKK-led efforts to create conflict. And so [inaudible] these regions in the South Eastern [inaudible] region... [OFF-MIC]... and President Erdogan during his campaign period when he compared the June 7th election campaign are the key other factors some in Turkey, I mean at least these are the point, [inaudible] stressed today. [Vause:] Busha, we appreciate you being with us, thank you for the update. Busha Aslantis said with the CNN Turk like in Ankara. A short break here, but when we come back, debating the debates, Republicans running for president aren't happy the rules, the format, the questions, the moderators, even their own party. We'll tell you what they want when we come back. Also head, a powerful cyclone heading for Yemen devastated by war braces for natural disaster. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump is seen as a riskier choice, and many economists feel his policies on things like trade and immigration would hurt the U.S. economy in the long run. But in the final hours until the polls open in the east, investors are cautious right now. Dow futures are basically flat. Shares in Europe mixed. They just opened. Modest gains in Asian stock markets overnight. Part of this too, everyone I talked to in the markets, they want to know what happens in the Senate, what happens to the balance of power of Congress. You know, that is how work gets done no matter who is the president. If the Senate flips, then maybe and it's a Hillary Clinton presidency, maybe they're not so optimistic anymore. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] We may not know the results of that until tomorrow. All right. EARLY START continues right now. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Let's make history together. Thank you and God bless you. [Romans:] At the finish line after an election year like no other, will Hillary Clinton make history today? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] And we will make America great again. Thank you very much, everybody. God bless you. [Berman:] Will Donald Trump make history today when all the votes are counted? [Romans:] The first results are already in. One candidate jumped out to a very early lead on this Election Day 2016. We love New Hampshire. Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] And I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, November 8th. It is 4:00 a.m. in the East. We do want to welcome our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. Welcome to Election Day 2016. This is political Thunderdome. Two will enter. One will lead. Four if you count Gary Johnson and Jill Stein. But one will still lead. That's the key message here, one person is leaving, and Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are working until the end and in some cases, the bitter end, to make sure they are the ones leaving. Rallies in key states until the wee hours of the morning and because the state of New Hampshire demands exalted status in any and all voting days, we have the first results from the state of New Hampshire. That in just a moment. [Romans:] OK. We are all over the Election Day with the battleground states and here in the studio. First, though, to CNN's Jeff Zeleny, just a short time ago, stepped the campaign blah, blah, blah. [Berman:] It's a tongue twister. [Romans:] The Clinton campaign plane after a very hectic final day of campaigning with rallies in four cities. Good morning, Jeff Zeleny. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, John and Christine. Hillary Clinton did touchdown here just a short time ago. You can still see the plane behind us. They are still taking things off it. The luggage off it. Her campaign chairman John Podesta moments ago I saw him just walking off the tarmac. So, Hillary Clinton now is heading home to her house in Chappaqua in Westchester County. And she's going to be voting later this morning. This really comes at the end of, A, an 18-month presidential campaign, but, B, a very long day campaigning, the longest she's had yet. She went from here to Pittsburgh to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to Philadelphia, to Raleigh, North Carolina and then back here again. Trying to give a sense of spirit and energy and she had a couple hundred people waiting for her when she arrived. Now, on this campaign flight from Raleigh, North Carolina, here to Westchester, she was speaking with her husband, the former president was on this plane with her and some aides. She did not come back and talk to reporters. But her aides say that she is in good spirits, and she is feeling confident about the results coming up throughout the day as Americans who have not already voted decide to vote today at the polls. And they believe that they have turned a corner from that tough stretch about ten days or so ago with that FBI bombshell. They believe they have turned a corner. But they are still eyeing some challenging states. North Carolina is the tightest of all of them, they believe. But Hillary Clinton was greeting supporters here and had a bounce in her step. She is a bit pessimistic and paranoid. So, one aide said she did not want to talk about anything with reporters on the plane because she wants to allow the election to happen here and get a bit of sleep and she will be voting here in a couple hours time John and Christine. [Berman:] Jeff Zeleny for us on the tarmac in White Plains, Westchester County Airport, on fumes. Jeff, always great to have you with us. Thanks so much. [Romans:] Get a few winks. It will be a long day and a long night, Jeff. Hillary Clinton's last rally of the campaign was in Raleigh, North Carolina where she was backed by some high wattage star power. In addition to Bill and Chelsea Clinton, Secretary Clinton was joined on stage by Bon Jovi and Lady Gaga. And CNN's Phil Mattingly was there. He has the latest on the campaign finale. Good morning, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Christine. I wasn't on stage with them. I think it was just a mishap in terms of communication. I called in. I thought I would be the third hand in "Living on a Prayer" duet. It just didn't quite fit in the schedule, something definitely is going to happen in the future. Look, Zeleny gave you kind o the map. I think another important element of the day and one shouldn't be overlooked is the message. And you saw a shift today from Hillary Clinton in all four of her stops. Gone was kind of the systematic dismantling of Donald Trump with the attacks. In its place was really trying to lay out the stakes and lay the path for the future if she wins. Take a listen. [Clinton:] When your kids and grand kids ask what you did in 2016 when everything was on the line, you'll be able to say you voted for a stronger, fairer, better America. [Mattingly:] Guys, underscoring the moment this actually is, but also talking a lot about healing and bringing the nation back together after this particularly divisive campaign. There's a shift and an intentional one, her aides say. In it very clear, if they win tonight, which her team, her campaign expects, they realize they've got to govern as president-elect and then as president on January 20th. They need to start laying the ground work to get the country back together again John and Christine. [Berman:] And not much Lady Gaga or Jon Bon Jovi can do to help with that. All right. Phil Mattingly for us in North Carolina, thanks so much. Donald Trump, he is back home this morning. He will cast his vote in New York. He hit five states in about 12 hours, finishing overnight in Michigan, declaring this is our independence day. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is here with us in New York, to give us a sense of what happened over those 12 hours. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Yes, and Donald Trump just wrapped up his last rally after 1:00 a.m. this morning, to indicate how long of a campaign day it really was. And he just arrived back here in New York, landing at JFK. Not the pomp and circumstance that we saw with Hillary Clinton landing though. But at his final rally, we did see a Donald Trump get a little reflective calling it quite the long journey indeed, 511 days since he declared his candidacy for president. What we got in the closing message was classic vintage Donald Trump. He argued against the rigged system. He attacked corrupt Washington establishment and, of course, he went after Hillary Clinton. But it did seem he made an effort to try to strike an optimistic tone at the end. Here is part of the closing message in Grand Rapids, Michigan. [Trump:] I'm asking you to dream big because with your vote, we are just hours away from the change you've been waiting for your entire life. So to every parent who dreams for their child and to every child who dreams for their future, I say these words to you tonight: I am with you, I will fight for you and I will win for you. I promise. [Serfaty:] Now, it is anticipated that Donald Trump will cast his vote later in New York this morning. He will watch returns from Trump Tower for most of the day and at some point move to his hotel in Midtown Manhattan where he has his watch party set up. Now, this is interesting, John and Christine, his watch party, Hillary Clinton's party only 1.5 miles away from each other. Certainly an interesting dynamic with the two candidates so close tonight in New York. [Berman:] You know, city officials were briefing people on security measures. It is all happening right here within a mile of each other. So, they've got to be ready for that. Sunlen Serfaty, great to have you here. Thanks so much. [Romans:] All right. The first votes of the nation have already been cast this morning in the tiny town of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire. Polls opened there at midnight. That lovely tradition, they closed at 12:01. It is a tradition dating back to 1860, excuse me, only in New Hampshire. Let's bring in CNN's Rachel Crane live from Dixville Notch. Good morning, Rachel. [Rachel Crane, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Christine. Well, it was in this room that those early votes were cast. Now, there are only eight registered voters here in Dixville Notch. So, it took minutes to tally up the votes. The results are in. Hillary Clinton receiving four of the eight votes. Trump just two. Johnson with one and actually one of the residents of Dixville Notch actually wrote in Mitt Romney. The reason that this midnight voting this takes place because New Hampshire has a weird law that Dixville Notch takes advantage of, saying that if the town has less than 100 people, the polls can close early if all of the registered voters have voted. And Dixville Notch isn't the only town that does this in New Hampshire. There is Hart's Location, as well as Mills Field. And, Christine. I should point out that while Clinton did win the vote here in Dixville Notch, Trump is actually beating her with these early votes. Trump has 32 votes, Clinton has 25. So, Trump, he has those bragging rights here in New Hampshire until the polls open in just two hours Christine. [Romans:] All right. Thanks for that, Rachel Crane only in New Hampshire. [Berman:] Only in New Hampshire, because they demand it. That's the way it works. [Romans:] I love it. [Berman:] They get really mad if you take it away from them. [Romans:] All right. It's in the hands of the voters now. Both candidates campaigning seriously in their final hours on the trail, making their case to the American people that they belong in the White House. The closing arguments in the race for the ages, ahead on [Early Start. Berman:] All right. You want a chance to be featured on CNN's Election Day coverage? Tag your voting Instagrams with #myvote, and let us know who you voted for and where. [Romans:] Do not take a picture of the polls in Ohio. [Berman:] Exactly. Like make sure you're not breaking the law because in some states, you can't do it. We're not encouraging law breaking, officially at least. We will show the selfies throughout the day here on CNN. [Camerota:] For the first time, we're hearing the frantic calls for help from inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando after that terrorist opened fire, killing 49 people and injuring dozens of others. Obviously, this is disturbing stuff. If you would like to turn the sound down on your television, now would be the right time. CNN's Martin Savidge is live in Atlanta with more. Martin, what's the latest here? [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Hello, Alisyn. Well, we've had transcripts of these 911 calls. In other words, you've been able to read the words of 911 callers. This is the first time you're actually going to be able to hear them. They are by no means all of the calls. But they do give us some very strong insight into the chaos and the confusion and the killing. Take a listen. [Caller:] My girlfriend is hiding in the club Pulse. [Savidge:] They are the first 911 calls to be heard from the Pulse nightclub attack. [Caller:] He's still in the bathroom and he's bleeding. He got shot. Nobody's going in for him. [Savidge:] Spanning three hours, beginning minutes after the first shots are fired. [Dispatch:] How many shots did you hear? [Caller:] More than ten. [Savidge:] None of these calls are from inside the club during the shooting. One is from a man who's just managed to escape. [Dispatch:] And you're not injured? [Caller:] No, no, no. I'm fine. We were leaving the club, and then as soon as we left, gunshots were just going like crazy. [Savidge:] Others from the family members and friends receiving desperate calls or texts from those inside, relaying to authorities a chilling glimpse of the unfolding horror. [Caller:] One of our friends sent us a text and said that he's been shot and he's in the bathroom and no one sees him. [Savidge:] One man overcome with fear and frustration after multiple calls, unloads on the operator, unable to understand why police have not rescued his girlfriend. [Caller:] There are now four dead in the bathroom and two shot. They're bleeding out. If somebody doesn't get there soon, they're going to die. [Dispatch:] OK, sir. [Caller:] And this is like [Dispatch:] Sir, we have people there. [Savidge:] These are the rollover calls, calls that went to the Orange County sheriff's department after the Orlando 911 call center became overloaded. Operators try to get information. [Dispatch:] Where is your brother located in the club? Did he say? [Savidge:] And try to console desperate family members. [Dispatch:] We are in the club. We're searching for everyone. We're pulling victims out. [Savidge:] It will be hours more before the world learns the extent of the mass killing. And again, just so people understand, these were released by the orange county sheriff's office. There are hundreds more of these 911 calls that the Orlando Police Department has. Right now, they're still tied up by the investigation and potential litigation. But again, just a sampling and they are deeply, deeply moving Chris and Alisyn. [Camerota:] They are. I mean, they are chilling and to know, because we were down there reporting. The frustration of everyone on the outside saying, why aren't police going in, why aren't they doing more? We're getting cell phone calls from everybody. And, of course, then the police have their side about how they were trying to methodically box in the terrorist, but it's just it brings it all back to hear the calls from that night. [Cuomo:] And, Martin, you did a good job with that. It's always a tough call because you're reliving people's worst moments and people will ask why. Again, it is important to remember what's happened. That gives you the momentum to make sure it doesn't happen again. All right. So, we're going to take a break right now. Donald Trump has a big meeting with Mexico with the president there. What a context after more than a year of heated anti-Mexico rhetoric. Who wins in this situation? What happens on the other side of it? We're going to ask a former Republican official who is supporting Hillary Clinton. Plus, Mike Pence and Vicente Fox coming up at 8:00 a.m. NEW DAY, not a show to miss today. [Howell:] The battle to retake Mosul, the fight there taking place street by street. Iraqi forces are trying to drive out ISIS out of neighborhoods in the eastern part of that city. Iraq's elite counterterrorism units were first to get inside the Mosul City limits. [Allen:] They are pushing in from the east in the heart of ISIS territory going house-to-house to clear the areas. Bear in mind, thousands of civilians are still living in these neighborhoods. CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is in Irbil in northern Iraq. That's about an hour's drive from Mosul. Nic, now that Iraq's forces are in Mosul, what are you hearing about ISIS resistance? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well, ISIS this morning claim in the hours to have launched at least one suicide attack against the Iraqi forces. We're hearing from the Iraqi forces yesterday, they were talking about advancing into six neighborhoods, raising Iraqi flag over those neighborhoods. The picture that emerges today is somewhat different. We're not hearing anything about advancing forces. More about regrouping. And we know that in at least one neighborhood, one of those districts that government forces were pushing into yesterday, they were hit by suicide bombers and they literally had to turn around and leave. And we certainly know that in other neighborhoods, the Iraqi army has become heavily bogged down, not able to move forward, and that the fighting sporadic fighting continues today. The impression that it's created while Iraqi forces moved into those places on the eastern outskirts of the city, they've met strong resistance. They talk about ISIS snipers on rooftops of buildings, of ISIS firing mortars, sort of short range. They fire these artillery pieces quite high in the air. They were over buildings, over a few streets and then dropped, intended to hit the Iraqi troops. But civilians are being killed and injured in the process. Food, water, electricity in very, very scarce supplies for the civilians now part of Mosul at the moment. So the picture that is emerging is one that you couldn't say at this stage that it was a stalemate. But given the sort of bravado and the intensity of yesterday, let's say the momentum has ground down significantly. And that's an indication the resistance that the Iraqi forces are facing Natalie. [Allen:] All right. Thanks so much, Nic Robertson, with the latest on that in Mosul. Thank you, Nic. [Howell:] Now to the issue of Brexit in the United Kingdom. The British prime minister is assuring the EU, the leaders there that it will go on as planned. This after a high court ruled Thursday that Theresa May needs the approval of parliament first. [Allen:] They probably knew that this wasn't going to be easy. [Howell:] Yes. [Allen:] Leaving like that. But she's confident, she says her government will win an appeal. Our Diana Magnay has more from London. [Diana Magnay, Cnn International Correspondent:] Victory at the high court for the champions of parliamentary process has not gone down well with the pro-Brexit press. The judges vilifies, called the enemies of the people. [Gina Miller, Investment Fund Manager:] The result today is about all of us. It's not about me or my team. [Magnay:] Gina Miller, the fund manager who brought the case against the government and her fellow plaintiffs called Brexiteers and the loaded foreign elite. There are many loaded foreign elite here in Romford. It's a market town east of London. And most people here voted for Brexit, mainly because of immigration. We head for lunch to the Tasty Bolle, a local greasy spoon, standard British fare, staple British reading. [Unidentified Male:] The people have voted. Everyone the largest votes ever out. People came out of their houses, took the time to go and vote to get out of Europe. And these people are coming along saying well, parliament's got a right to reverse it. No way. There's no way. [Magnay:] But it's not all rage against the remainers. [On Camera] "Loaded foreign elite defy will of British voters." Do you think that's fair? [Unidentified Male:] No, I don't. No. [Magnay:] I've been walking the streets of Romford this morning clutching the tabloid press, but actually the mood here in one of the most Euro skeptic towns in the whole of the United Kingdom isn't quite as sour as the paper would suggest. What is in your fish and chips? I mean, you couldn't get much more British than this. [Ian Clark, Store Owner:] Just try it. It's like chocolate. [Magnay:] Ian Clark is pretty sanguine about the mood in the country and the sentiment in the press. [Clark:] I think [Magnay:] So when it says now your country really does need you, we must get out of the EU? [Clark:] No. Get on with it. They need to sell their paper. [Magnay:] But hate crime since Brexit has had tragic consequences with the role that some of the press has played in inflaming toxic views under scrutiny. Pleas for tolerance made in the wake of politician Jo Cox's murder, constantly repeated with each twist and turn of the Brexit saga. Jo's husband Brendan tweeting after the high court ruling, "Whatever our view, I hope we can take a step back and debate it soberly. Inciting hatred has consequences." If the court's decision is upheld, that debate will move from the press to parliament where members will be under extreme measure to honor the will of the people. Diana Magnay, CNN, London. [Howell:] Diana, thank you. Japan has launched a new weather satellite that will continue to advance its meteorological agency. [Allen:] Derek is here to tell us about. Derek, I make sure that George has to say that. [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] That was a great lead-in, by the way. [Allen:] So I can [Van Dam:] Well done. At 4:15 in the morning. I applaud you, George and Natalie. [Allen:] Look at it. There it is behind you. [Van Dam:] Here it is. Actually yes. This is my best visual representation of this advancement in meteorological weather information. How about that one? All right, guys. I got to tell you about it because it's leaps and bounds from where we're coming from and where we're going to. Let me explain, satellites, their responsibility is to take a snapshot of the world's weather patterns. The clouds basically from about 22,000 kilometers into the atmosphere. That does it every 30 minutes or so. But in between that 30-minute time frame, in those images that are taken, there's crucial data loss that meteorologists like myself and other people who work at National Weather Services don't have the information and the ability to analyze because it simply isn't there. It takes 30 minutes to scan the earth. Now, with the new advent of this satellite, they're going to do rapid scan continuous monitoring of the earth's planetary weather systems so that means no loss of data and weather information so making our weather forecasts more timely and more accurate for you at home. So you have to benefit for this. Take a look at the video of the Himawari Satellite Nine actually launching into space. This is about three days ago, November 2nd, in the Kagoshima prefecture. That's the southwestern sections of Japan. This is a monumental step in their aerospace and meteorologist agency. And really it's going to help monitor tropical cyclones in the western Pacific, also make it possible to accurately study the distribution of volcanic ash and aerosols which you know is crucial for the aeronautics industry and airline industry. Volcanoes and volcanic ash can actually down airlines quite easily so we actually try to avoid those when we're flying. Interestingly enough, we have Himawari-8 in the sky right now monitoring the clouds across eastern Asia. Himawari-9 will actually take over from 8 so it's actually on standby until the year 2022. Here's an example of that rapid scan continuous monitoring. Do you see how quickly and how well-defined this latest typhoon is across the Western Pacific? You can see the little bubbles from the convection that's taking place. Those are the thunderstorm clouds. And that really helps meteorologists and scientists better understand what's happening in the atmosphere. So we're seeing these leaps in bounds in our understanding of what the weather's about to do. And it can only really mean better and more accurate weather forecasts for you and myself at home. Natalie, George, that's the latest we got. [Allen:] I love the fact that you gave that satellite the spin. [Van Dam:] Geostationary. [Allen:] You know, what was life like before iPhones and weather satellites? I mean, really. [Howell:] Really, yes. [Van Dam:] You had us, little Velcros and sunshines on the wall. [Howell:] Our best meteorological mind on the geostationary satellite, Derek Van Dam. [Allen:] Thanks, Derek. These are real science. You know. He just you know, he does not have a teleprompter. Some of us do. Still ahead, a Trump supporter interrupts President Obama as he campaigns for Clinton in North Carolina. You'll hear how the president handled that coming up. [Howell:] Also ahead, we show you how the U.S. electoral map is shaping up and changing as this race comes down to the wire. We're live from Atlanta. To our viewers here at home and around the globe this hour, you're watching CNN NEWSROOM. [Camerota:] Donald Trump attempting to look more presidential with a scripted speech outlining his "America First" foreign policy. Trump blasting the Obama-Clinton doctrine which he says "blazed a path of destruction." But, where do Trump and Hillary really differ on foreign policy?Let's dive into that with Aaron David Miller. He's vice president of New Initiatives and a distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center. Aaron David, great to have you here with us. Just to remind everybody of your phenomenal credentials, you, of course, have been a Middle East negotiator for lots of different presidential administrations, so it's wonderful to have you walk us through what we heard yesterday. What did you think of Donald Trump's foreign policy speech? [Aaron David Miller, V.p. & Distinguished Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center:] You know, the good news is, Alisyn, I think that on paper it creates a benchmark and a set of metrics by which to judge whether or not he will remain consistent non- contradictory in some of his positions. But I found the speech, frankly, in many respects, rambling and really incoherent. It was kind of a collection of bromide slogans, unrealizable objectives all tied together [Camerota:] What's that what part is unrealizable? [Miller:] I mean [Camerota:] What did he say that's undoable? [Miller:] What Donald trump seems to be saying, and remember, campaigning is like living in a galaxy far, far away. Meanwhile, back on planet earth you have to govern. So it's highly arguable whether or not any of the positions that Trump has advanced during the campaign would survive should he become president and have to deal a very imperfect world. But, what he essentially is saying is trust me. I'm the world's greatest negotiator. I know how to deal with Putin and I will deal with him. I know how to destroy ISIS. I won't tell you how or why or when, but I have the answers. And I'm the one who understands the economic realities of kind of a populous, protectionist economic policy. So, nobody was expecting a detailed roadmap but what we got, essentially, again, was a set of bromides and previously expressed campaign positions tied together into well-ordered paragraphs and, frankly, that's not enough. What I find so intriguing, though, is that there really is a common problem. Whether it's an R or a D, or a he or a she who sits in the White House in 2017, they're going to face a world. Trump or Hillary Clinton that's basically divided into migraine headaches and root canals. And the imperfect options that they're going to face, I would argue, on several key issues may well I know I don't want to break the bank of credibility here, but it may actually produce responses on several key issues that have Hillary and Donald Trump sharing some common ground. [Camerota:] OK, that's interesting. So where do you see their common ground? [Miller:] Well, I think there are three issues. One, of course, is what to do about the Islamic State. [Camerota:] OK, let me stop sorry, Aaron. Let me stop you right there because I want to juxtapose the things that Hillary and Donald Trump have said about that in just sort of a little nugget for you. Listen to this. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] It cannot be an American fight and I think what the president has consistently said, which I agree with, is that we will support those who take the fight to [Isis. Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We have to be unpredictable and we have to be unpredictable starting now, but they're going to be gone. ISIS will be gone if I'm elected president, and they'll be gone quickly. [Camerota:] OK, Aaron, so we need allies, Hillary Clinton says. We need unpredictability, Donald Trump says. What do you hear? [Miller:] Well, Trump says the same thing about allies. He's threatened to boycott Saudi and Arab oil if the Arab states don't deploy their own ground forces to combat ISIS. And Hillary Clinton seems to be saying not that she's going to boycott Saudi oil, but that the Arab states have to do more. On the unpredictability factor, that's fine. But, one of Trump's points yesterday was reassurance of allies and to maintain a certain level of consistency, so it was a contradiction. I mean, how unpredictable are you going to be? So, I don't think there's much that separates them. Both are against nation-building, both are against the deployment of scores of thousands of ground forces. And both, ultimately, I suspect, will see the Islamic State as counterterrorism problem, not as a trillion- dollar social science project in an effort to fix Iraq and Syria and their politics. [Camerota:] One last question about ISIS because Donald Trump said something that a lot of people like and respond to. He is uncomfortable with President Obama telegraphing plans to send more troops. Telegraphing plans to send 250 special ops soldiers to Syria. Is that fair? Is it possible to do these things in a more quiet way? [Miller:] I think if you're talking about discreet military actions to kill terrorist leaders, to rescue American hostages, yes, discretion and secrecy is critical. But you cannot sustain a policy in a Democratic polity with an intrusive media and a Congress, frankly, that deserves to be informed about what the executive is doing, by basically acting quietly when it comes to the deployment of thousands of American forces. [Costello:] All right, we have a little more information on that horrific school bus crash that killed at least five children in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The bus driver now charged with vehicular homicide. Martin Savidge, live on the phone with us right now. Hi, Martin. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Carol. You know, we've been hearing from the mother, the woman who's come forward and says that she is the mother of the bus driver. And that's Johnthony Walker, by the way, 24 years of age. She has been putting on a statement and she said a whole load of things to CNN but above all, she said that her heart goes out of course, to the families of the victims here. But she is also asking for compassion for her son. And several times, at least three times in the interview, she gave to CNN. She referred to what happened, this horrific accident, as God's will. And that certainly is starting to bother people as to what exactly does she mean by that. But she's also pointing out, that you know, she calls him a marvelous son. She said that he worked two jobs. He grew up in Chattanooga. And that everybody loves him here. And that he's never been in trouble before. So she's obviously coming forward as a mother to us, in support of her son. She also says that he called her right after the crash and said that he had been involved in an accident. He started to tell her more and she says the police took the telephone away from him. Well, now, as we know, authorities have charged him with five counts of vehicular homicide for the five children who died, also with reckless driving and reckless endangerment. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everybody. I'm Kate Bolduan. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman. This morning we know this campaign is no joke at least probably not a good one judging by the Al Smith dinner. More on that in just a moment. In just a few minutes, Donald Trump takes the stage in Fletcher, North Carolina, and then he's off to Pennsylvania for two events later today. This, as he says he will or won't or may accept the results of this election, an election where he's down by an average of eight points nationwide. Hillary Clinton goes to Ohio today where she's been trailing in some polls, although a new poll shows the race there even. [Bolduan:] But about last night, the two candidates were a little too close for comfort, both on the seating chart, and where their jokes landed, at the annual Al Smith charity dinner in New York City. As is tradition, the candidates traded jokes and jabs, but as is tradition for this election cycle, it was mostly jabs. Some were funny. Some were kind of not. Some may have gone a little too far. You be the judge. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate:] Hillary accidentally bumped into me and she very civilly said, "Pardon me." [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate:] People look at the Statue of Liberty and they see a proud symbol of our history as a nation of immigrants, a beacon of hope for people around the world. Donald looks at the statue of liberty and sees a four, maybe a five, if she loses the torch and tablet, and changes her hair. [Bolduan:] Hold your laughs, your boos, your judgment. Let's first get to the news. CNN's Jessica Schneider in Fletcher, North Carolina, where Donald Trump is about to take the stage. So, Jessica, are we expecting more stand-up comedy today? [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, Kate, you know, Donald Trump expected to touch down here in North Carolina shortly. And the question is, will he once again dig in on those rallying cries of a rigged election. We heard him yesterday digging into his plans to potentially protest the election if it doesn't comes out in his favor, in fact, saying yesterday that he would accept the results of the election, and adding a dramatic pause, if he won. Then he went on yesterday to clarify that he was reserving his rights to legally challenge the results of the election. Right here in North Carolina, there's at least one person not taking kindly to that rhetoric. It's the GOP executive chair here in North Carolina, Dallas Woodhouse. He put it quite bluntly yesterday, saying, "We at the North Carolina Republican party are not aware of the results being optional." Of course, other lawmakers also coming out. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham as well as Arizona Senator Jeff Flake, both of them putting it very bluntly as well, saying that Donald Trump is doing a disservice to democracy by repeating this rhetoric and casting doubt on the country's democracy. Well, the voters here are hyped up for yet another rally as we head into these final days of the election. Right here in North Carolina, the polls are showing this race neck and neck. In fact, the latest CNN poll that was released on Monday showed Hillary Clinton polling at 48 percent, Donald Trump at 47 percent. So a very close race here. We will see what Donald Trump has in store for us today. He was full of a lot of rhetoric throughout his rallies and, of course, and at that dinner yesterday Kate and John? [Bolduan:] Jessica, thank you so much. We'll be watching for Donald Trump to take the stage and what will come next. [Berman:] Was it comedy, was it cringe-worthy, was it a little of both at last night's Al Smith dinner, this is the annual white-tie fundraiser for Catholic Charities in New York City. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both told jokes or at least both tried. CNN's senior political correspondent, Brianna Keilar, joins us now. Brianna, I want to say highlights or lowlights, but give us the lights of the event. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senor Political Correspondent:] All right. I'm going to start off with a bit of low light. This is actually probably the thing that got Donald Trump in the most trouble last night. Keeping in mind, as you mentioned, this is to Benefit Catholic Charities. It's hosted by the archdiocese of New York. You had Cardinal Dolan as the one sitting between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton in this event to benefit needy children. Donald Trump said this, and it didn't go over too well. [Trump:] Hillary believes that it's vital to deceive the people by having one public policy and a totally different policy in private. That's OK. I don't know who they're angry at, Hillary, you or I. For example, here she is tonight in public pretending not to hate Catholics. [Keilar:] So the background here, he's referring to an e- mail, a hacked e-mail from WikiLeaks, not an e-mail from Hillary Clinton or to Hillary Clinton, but from one of her top aides that came years before the campaign started but, nonetheless, spoke disparagingly about Catholics, even though this aid was Catholic. This aide was talking about how conservatives are Catholics because they feel it's the most socially accepted conservative religion. So that didn't go over well in a room full of people there for a Catholic charity dinner, as you can imagine. The other thing that was sort of an interesting barb that I know you rather enjoyed, Kate. This was Hillary Clinton responding to this very weird statement by Donald Trump leading up to the debate that Hillary Clinton may have previously been on drugs at a debate and that they should do drug testing. Here's what she said. [Clinton:] Donald wanted me dg tested night's debate. [Keilar:] And prepare, she did. She spent five days preparing for that last debate. She spent several days preparing for each previous debate. Some observers, as you know, looked at that and thought it might have made her a little robotic, but it also helped her win because, according to our scientific instant polls, she won all three debates. [Bolduan:] Who won the Al Smith debate? We will find out. Brianna, great to see you. Thank you. So joining us now, Alex Burns, CNN political analyst and national political reporter for "The New York Times"; CNN political commentators, S.E. Cupp, a conservative columnist; Bill Press, a Hillary Clinton supporter and the host of the "Bill Press" show; and Kayleigh McEnany, Donald Trump supporter. Guys, thanks for being here. After last night, Cardinal Dolan, who had the most difficult seat in the house [Cardinal Timothy Dolan, New York City Catholic Diocese:] After the little prayer, Mr. Trump turned to Secretary Clinton and said, you know, you are one tough and talented woman. And he said, "This has been a great, a good experience, this whole campaign, as tough as it's been." She said to him, "And Donald, whatever happens, we need to work together afterwards." I thought, this is the evening at its best. [Berman:] Then there were rainbows and unicorns. [Bolduan:] Then we woke up from the dream. [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Cardinal Dolan has a great sense of humor and he's just adorable. But seeing him sandwiched between two people, who come in with really legitimately bad character issues, was odd to watch. I've got to be honest, I actually thought, I know these jokes were scripted for them, but I actually thought the front ends of Donald Trump's delivery, his jokes were funnier, and they were written by other people, I get it. They were funnier. Her delivery is not that great. But in typical Trump fashion, he took, I thought, the good will he had earned through some of those jokes and threw it in the dumpster and lit it on fire when he turns toward Hillary Clinton as so corrupt and Hillary Clinton is pretending not to hate Catholics. The room just sunk. It was a thud. And it's sort of typical of what he does. She, on the other hand, gave sort of a flat joke performance and then turned to, but let's all come together and we're better than this. And, of course, the room loves that. So it was sort of almost two different kinds of moments in both of their speeches. [Berman:] Alex Burns, at the risk of making too much of this, Chuck Todd said it's really hard to go in and lose the Al Smith dinner. But Donald Trump may have done that. Is that a fair analysis? [Alex Burns, Cnn Political Analyst:] I think it is. I think what make it sort of additionally a weird thing to see happen is that this should have been a room that Trump is pretty familiar with. It's a bunch of rich New Yorkers, including many in the real estate development business. This ought to have been something of a hometown crowd. Not that Trump is deeply involved with Catholic Charities in New York, but still, it was a room he should have been able to read. But I think S.E.'s point is right on. We have seen over and over Trump in this general election really struggle to read a room that isn't a high school gymnasium in central Pennsylvania full of cheering fans who are with him in the Republican primary. He's not a terribly maneuverable candidate. [Bolduan:] They can all put away the white tuxes and back to the campaign trail, Bill. [Bill Press, Cnn Political Commentator:] Right. [Bolduan:] So Donald Trump, on the issue of will he accept the election results when they come out, he went from holding voters in suspense yesterday afternoon, to making a joke about it, and then he seemed to back off of that in his speech even yesterday, backtrack, maybe clean it up a little bit. Listen to this. [Trump:] Of course, I would accept a clear election result, but I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result. [Bolduan:] If you listen to that one, and you forget everything else, that seems not unreasonable. Does it settle it for you now? [Press:] No. Just say he will accept the results of the election. I just have to say one quick thing. I wish the comments they made, according to the cardinal, privately, they had said publicly at the debate. I think the American people would have been [Berman:] We wish they shook hands at the debate. We got criticized for saying that. But they did shake hands last night. [Press:] They didn't shake hands at the debate at all. They did last night. I have to say, look, this whole thing about I have been a candidate. I have lost an election. It's hard to do, but it's what you have to do as a candidate. Richard Nixon did it when he could have challenged John F. Kennedy. John McCain, John Kerry could have challenged. They haven't. They accept the results and move on. That's what Donald Trump has to say, emphatically. I think it's wrong. And I think it's dangerous because I think the result is, not for him, maybe, but his supporters then will not trust the legitimacy of the Clinton presidency, which looks like we are going to get, so it will be Birther round two. [Berman:] Didn't he open up the door now to accepting it saying, if there is a clear result? Granted, it comes after everything else. [Press:] Stop playing games. Just say, yes, of course, I'll accept it. I'm an American. This is our democratic process. God bless America. I hope to win. But if I don't, yes, I will get behind, I will just accept the results. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think the apocalyptic reaction to what Donald Trump said is stunning and really overblown. The fact that he wants to wait and see what happens in two weeks on the heels of a video coming out where you have Democratic operatives talking about how to commit mass voter fraud, naming the states they want to do it in, I think it is entirely fair for him to say, one, be vigilant, and, two, I want to wait and see what happens. [Press:] There is no evidence, Kayleigh, zero evidence of any voter fraud. [Mcenany:] Except the video with Democratic operatives planning it out [Press:] That was not voter fraud. That was trying by the way, I condemn it. We all should. A couple of Democratic operatives, who have since been fired, who were trying to stir up allegedly some violence at a Trump rally. We could never support that. But that is not massive voter fraud on a national scale. It does not exist. [Cupp:] Can I just say I think on this issue, what Donald Trump is saying is horrific and dangerous. Kayleigh is right though. I talked to a lot of people around the country over the past couple of days. They feel this is an overblown issue. They feel this is fake outrage, like it's an academic sort of interpretation of what he said. [Bolduan:] Why? [Cupp:] Because they [Bolduan:] He doesn't even believe what he's saying or [Cupp:] No, they don't understand the consequences. When we talk about the consequences of that kind of language, really undermining democracy, and this idea of a peaceful transition of power and how terrible that is, they will say well, he doesn't have an Army. What's he going to do? They don't think that these sort of academic arguments [Berman:] No real people [Cupp:] It's not really working in the heartland. As much as I wish it were compelling argument, because I really do believe it's dangerous, I don't think this going to move people who aren't ready decided. [Burns:] I think that may very well be the case. I do think it's an issue that's important enough that we ought to be focusing on it, irrespective of whether the man in the street is that concerned about it. [Cupp:] Yes. [Burns:] I spent yesterday talking to a number of diplomats about what this conversation does to the image of American democracy internationally, and it's less a matter of Trump saying that he will wait and see, you know, what the results are before conceding, and more this constant talk that the system is rigged, you can't trust the result, it's all the fix is in from the elites on high, they have already sort of decided the vote tallies. For people around the world who see the United States as a beacon of democracy, that's really, really dangerous talk. [Bolduan:] I just want to get your take on one of the other big moments. This obviously was the moment that overshadowed a lot of the debate, post debate. Another moment that so many we are talking about I know you have been asked about it as well is when Donald Trump said Hillary Clinton was such a nasty woman. This has put a lot of Republicans in the position of being asked, do you agree, don't you agree. This is what Texas Congressman Ryan Babin said when he was asked about it. Listen to this. [Alan Colmes, Host, Alan Colmes Radio Show:] Do you think it's appropriate to call her a nasty woman? [Rep. Ryan Babin, , Texas:] Well, I'm a genteel southerner, Alan. [Colmes:] So that means no? [Babin:] No, I think I think sometimes a lady needs to be told when she's being nasty. [Bolduan:] This helping your cause, Kayleigh? [Mcenany:] I think he was trying to dispel any sense of this was some gender criticism, because I don't think this was sexism when Donald Trump said nasty woman. [Berman:] He said lady. He said lady there. I'm not sure that helps say it's there. [Cupp:] A lady needs to be told, Kayleigh. [Mcenany:] I think that's reading too much into that. Look, I don't think Donald Trump should have said the comment "nasty woman" on the stage. I don't think it helped him win voters. I don't think it hurt him. I do think he was speaking to a deep frustration of standing next to someone whose associates smashed Blackberrys with hammers, who got out of the Clinton quid pro quo allegations, and his deep frustration with the smugness and arrogance she had on that stage. He shouldn't have said it but I understand his frustration. [Press:] Here's why he was frustrated. He was frustrated because he knows he'losing this election and knew he had lost that debate and she had gotten under his skin. She was talking for god's sakes about the FICA tax and Social Security, the driest subject on the planet. She wasn't attacking him in any way. He could not [Bolduan:] She did get a dig in, right before that, about him not paying. [Berman:] One last point on this. Does this show the kind of bind Republicans around the country can be in when dealing with Donald Trump? This guy on the "Alan Colmes Radio Show," Congressman Babin, was asked about the nasty comment. Your choice is to either disavow the candidate or weigh in. He chose option three, which is make it worse. [Cupp:] Yeah. If are you taxed with the duty of defending Donald Trump, it's very difficult and you are that you have to get yourself into to put a positive spin on what is clearly indefensible. That's why a lot of Republicans have chosen not to defend him. [Bolduan:] Guys, great to see you. Thanks so much. [Berman:] Occasionally, Florida is an important state in presidential elections. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Can you feel the excitement? The electricity, perhaps, or is that just static? The biggest day of the 2016 race so far is upon us. Super Tuesday could reshape the presidential race or it could cement the trends that we've been seeing so far up to this point. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] CNN's special live coverage all day long. Martin Savidge in Tennessee. We'll start with Brian Todd in Virginia. Brian, you're at a polling station near Washington [D.c. Brian Todd, Cnn National Correspondent:] That's right, John and Kate. A real injection of voter energy here. This is the dominion trail precinct. A lot of first time primary voters we've talked to here. That's what's driving the morning here. On a paper ballot. This is a sample ballot, voting behind the partitions. Three people here voting. This young man will put his vote in the scanner. You'll see it going on there. Once that scanner takes his tabulation, it will tabulate that and print it out later in the day. Then they'll tabulate it and send the results to the central headquarters. Analysts are saying throughout the election cycle, as Virginia goes, often so goes the nation. The front runners, the people who could win this state, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, likely to win, they can say I can win in the general election. That's why we're watching Virginia so closely John and Kate? [Bolduan:] Absolutely. Brian Todd laying it out for us. Thank you so much. Let's bring in Martin Savidge in a poll place in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Martin, polls have been open since 9:00 a.m., I believe. This is one of the open primaries where people take part in either primary? [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, they can, and they have been voting like crazy, whether it's in the early voting or the real voting. We're just to the West of Chattanooga. It's a fairly conservative area. They have shattered all the previous records, up 17 percent for early record. You would think that means voter turnout today one low. Oh, no. They're seeing numbers they haven't done seen in a long time. We'll wait to see the tallies. But here's a potential problem with the ballot. Here's a sample of the ballot. Say you want to vote for Trump. You think you cast your ballot there, but if you did that, you actually voted for Rick Santorum. The circle doesn't necessarily closely coincide with the name. Then you can vote for all the delegates. That's confusing. And there are a number of soiled ballots. We'll see how that plays out throughout the day. Back to you. [Bolduan:] That's something to watch this evening. Martin, thanks for laying it out. Keeping an eye on it. New polls out this morning also fascinating. They show Hillary Clinton losing to Rubio and Cruz in head-to-head matchups, but it has her beating Donald Trump by eight points. [Berman:] And Bernie Sanders goes three for three against the Republicans. He beats Rubio, Cruz, and Donald Trump all in a hypothetical general election matchup. Joining us now is California Senator and Hillary Clinton supporter, Barbara Boxer. Senator, thank you for being with us. [Sen. Barbara Boxer, , California:] Thanks for inviting me. [Berman:] I know the Clinton campaign is expecting a good day today. They feel good about the polls. They feel good about the states that are voting today. My question to you is about Bernie Sanders. He just said this morning that he's going to take this race all the way to the convention in July. If Hillary Clinton does do as well as you hoped she does well and picks up the lion's share of delegates and continues to do well over the next week or so, what do you think Senator Sanders should do? Should he think about not taking it all the way to the convention? [Boxer:] I don't think so. I feel this way. I think that Bernie had played a very positive role in this campaign. I think because he's so strong in certain parts of the country Hillary had to deal with the fact that she had to really step up her pace and game. People saw that she could be knocked down and that she was tough and she was graceful at it. She could get back up. Of course, Bernie has important issues in the mix, and I think that if you look at our side and the positive steps that we want to take as Democrats to make life better for all Americans versus the other side, just beating each other up in some ways that are I had a friend say today she had to pull her kids away from the TV set as we saw Rubio going after Trump and vice versa. I think we look good, and I think Bernie is going to answer to his own conscious, to his donors, and I don't see anything wrong with it. We're focused on winning this primary and getting ready for the general. I think what Bernie does is up to Bernie. [Bolduan:] You talk about the general. I want to ask you about the new CNN polls. In hypothetical matchups, Sanders beating all the top Republicans. Hillary Clinton does beat Trump but loses in the hypothetical matchups to Rubio and Cruz. Is there an electability issue here? [Boxer:] No. Here's the deal. Everyone knows everything about Hillary Clinton. People have been beating up on her for months and months. From the time that there were 18 time there's a few of them left. And, of course, Bernie in his way, in a nice way, so the fact that Rubio and Cruz who are way less known than Trump are beating her, it doesn't mean anything. People don't know, for example, how right wing they both are. My colleagues on a woman's right to choose, they'll force a woman to carry a pregnancy to term if she's a victim of rape or incest. People don't know that. I don't think the polls mean much right now. We have to look at the election results. They're coming today. Let's see how my candidate does, Hillary. Let's see how Bernie and Trump do and Rubio and Cruz do and the rest. Because it's hypothetical matchups. These are real matchups. My focus is on that. And what I love about my candidate, Hillary Clinton is she was knocked down. She got back up. She's strong. She's tested. She's probably the most qualified person. She's going to make history and work hard, and it's all about the American people. And she's right. America has always been the greatest country in the world. The question is, how do we make America whole again? Meaning, that we fight for everybody, and that's her message, and it's inclusive. [Berman:] Senator, there are a lot of stories today that the Hillary Clinton is turning its focus to Donald Trump in the fall. Quickly because we're almost out of time, what is the one thing that concerns you most about running against Donald Trump? [Boxer:] I don't have many concerns. Here's my deal with Donald Trump. And by the way, I spoke to the campaign today. It's just not true. Some of the people are looking at it, but they're focused on winning this primary. Hillary takes nothing for granted. Here's my theory on Donald Trump. If you look at everybody he's insulted whether it's women, or veterans or Hispanics, and I could go on and on and on with the list, if every one of those groups both Democrats, we will win in a landslide. You cannot be the president of the United States and insult more than half the country. That's what he's done. And maybe it's doing well in a narrow section of the Republican Party, but that is not going to sell well, in my opinion, in the general. [Bolduan:] Senator Barbara Boxer, great to have you. We'll watch the results come in with you. We appreciate your time. [Boxer:] Thanks so much. [Bolduan:] Thank you. [Berman:] Any moment, Donald Trump holds a rally in Ohio. You can see the crowd right there getting warmed up. Ohio is not a Super Tuesday state, but it is the home state for Governor John Kasich. Is Donald Trump already looking past today's contest? [Bolduan:] Also, Senator Ted Cruz will be casting his ballot live in Houston, Texas. He's also expected to speak to reporters. We'll see what he has to say on this fine Super Tuesday. We'll take you there. [Baldwin:] As many of the Republican establishments continue to try to, you know, figure out a way to ultimately support the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump, the candidate is hitting the books this week. CNN has just learned presumptive nominee is due to meet tomorrow with former secretary of state Henry Kissinger presumably to develop his foreign policy agenda. Meantime, top aides to Mr. Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan are due to meet this week to hash out the party platform. But where does Donald Trump stand on issue like abortion, immigration, guns, especially in comparison with the Republican Party platform? For that, Tomorrow Foreman is going to walk us through it. Hi, Tom. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Brooke. It's kind of hard to sometimes pin down where Donald Trump is between the conservative orthodoxy and liberal orthodoxy. But look at several issues here and let's consider. On taxes he seems to fit pretty firmly up here into the conservative side. For a period of time, you might have put him more down here because he was talking about more taxes on the wealthy. Now, though, he seems to have cheated more up this way to say firmly on the conservative views. Immigration, we know, he started way up here and he has stayed there. So far, into this area that even some conservatives are uncomfortable with his views on that. LGBT issues. This is a tricky one because in Donald Trump's life he has fit very neatly in some ways into the more liberal camp, he's been involved with numerous fund-raisers for AIDS Research. He has been very open in his relationships and friendships and welcomingness of gay and lesbian couples and all these rights. However, you got to move it up here and you have to recognize the concern of many LGBT people because even though he says the courts have ruled on same-sex marriage, he says he still thinks marriage is between a man and a woman, so we have to move it more toward the conservative side to be sure. Abortion, also a little bit complicated here. He one time said he felt that abortion rights should be guaranteed across the board. Now he says, they should not be, and yet, he continues to say positive things now and things about planned parenthood which very much concerns conservatives. We have to put sort of in this area. Entitlement programs. This also an interesting area because he has basically said he doesn't want to touch entitlements. That moves him out of the position of conservatives, more into the liberal side. However, he has allowed, once elected maybe, maybe there will be some fudging on that so we put that more in this category. On gun control, yes, very much on the conservative side. He not only feels that gun rights, the Second Amendments rights should be completely protected. He believes things like concealed carry laws should apply across the country. So if you have a concealed carry law somewhere, you can go wherever you want with it. Not a perfect measurement, Brooke, but it gives you an idea of where he actually fits in his ever-changing stances between conservative and liberal views. [Baldwin:] Thank you for walking through the key issues. Tom Foreman, I appreciate that. In the meantime, its website bio says it brings together the country's most influential conservative leaders, but its membership has been a secret until now. CNN has obtained a copy of the Council for National Policy's membership list and directory. This group is an umbrella in that work of conservative activists and our Chief Washington Correspondent host of "THE LEAD" and "STATE OF THE UNION" Jake Tapper with me now with exclusive reporting on this secret group of conservatives slow walking. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Host, "the Lead":] Yeah. Slow walking their way to Donald Trump support. Look, a lot of these grassroots conservatives had serious concerns about Donald Trump and how legitimately conservative he is. But they are slow walking in the words of one of them, Ken Blackwell, former secretary of state of Ohio, slow walking towards support for Donald Trump. And we got our hands on a copy of this membership directory which has been secret the holy grail for political reporters for years and years because nobody has known who the members of this group were, but we got our hands on a copy, I got my hands on a copy, and with us, Stephen Collinson, one of our great reporter at cnn.com. We started calling some of them and there are some holdouts amongst this group who will never support Donald Trump, they just do not buy it. But, most of them are making peace with it. They supported Ted Cruz a vast majority of them during the primaries, but they dislike Hillary Clinton much, much more than they dislike Donald trump and they feel like Donald Trump and they feel like Donald Trump will likely support the kind of Supreme Court justices and at least be at least somewhat aligned more so than Hillary Clinton. [Baldwin:] But on some of the holdouts looks, I was reading a piece this morning talking about looking ahead to Cleveland and how, you know, they're looking into some conservatives looking into last- ditch efforts, changing the rules, discussion of unbinding delegates, you know, whatever they can do to stop this. [Tapper:] Yeah, that's where The Washington Post report in this morning and great report. We did not find the same level of discontent. [Baldwin:] You didn't? [Tapper:] We didn't find any people strategizing. Everybody, pretty much, accepted the fact that Donald Trump was going to be the Republican nominee in terms of whom we spoke with. But, those who were against him will probably just vote third party or not vote at all, certainly not going to go through Hillary Clinton. These are very, very die hard conservative activists. But, the ones in The Washington Post story that I read about, they are still hoping upon hope that they will be able to prevent Donald Trump from getting the nomination. [Baldwin:] Tapper, what point are they going to say, okay, it's Trump? [Tapper:] Yeah. In some ways they're almost like those Japanese soldiers found on those islands a couple years after World War II who did not know, did not realize that the war was over and they have lost. That is the case. The republican party is coalescing around Donald Trump. Speaking Paul Ryan is not there right now, but I suspect very strongly that he will be before he gravels in the convention in Cleveland and I do think that you're going to see the Republican Party come around him regardless of the dreams and aspirations of these boys and girls out there with dreams of stopping Donald Trump. I don't think it's going to happen. [Baldwin:] Jake Tapper, we'll see you, special coverage top of the hour on The Lead. Thank you. [Tapper:] Thank you. [Baldwin:] Very much. What were you doing when you were 25? Maybe starting your first job, maybe living with mom and dad. What about running to be the youngest woman elected to Congress? My next guest is taking on that challenge, she will join me live next here on CNN. [Blitzer:] Let's get back to the breaking news. There you see him. Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, the Republican presidential candidate, about to announce that he's suspending specific legal words suspending his race for the White House right now. A line in his prepared speech says he has made this decision. We're going to stand by. We'll hear exactly what he has to say. But let's bring back our political experts, including S.E. Cupp. S.E., you know, Rick Perry on paper, he had a lot going for him. And recently, he decided to make that move, really going directly after Donald Trump. I remember he came to Washington. He was giving a speech blasting Donald Trump, thinking maybe that would help him. It clearly did not. Trump sort of basks in the fact that Rick Perry's ratings, or poll numbers, went down after he directly went after him. What do you make of that? [Cupp:] Yes. It was almost this perfect storm for Rick Perry. Here comes Donald Trump encroaching on one of Rick Perry's signature issues, immigration. And I think he thought rightly that it was safe to go after this businessman who was speaking very offensively about this issue and bring his record to bear and his experience to bear. Obviously that backfired. I'm not sure that's exactly why or the only reason that Rick Perry's campaign can't go any further, but it reminds me a little bit of 2012 and Tim Pawlenty. You know, Tim Pawlenty got in in May of 2011. And by August, mid-August of 2011, he ended his campaign. And I remember seeing him a few months later socially and I asked him, you know, knowing what you know now, do you wish you had stuck in a little bit longer? Because at that time Republicans were not enthusiastic about Mitt Romney and they had Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, and had maybe Tim Pawlenty stuck around and the field had cleared, he might have been the viable alternative. There's not much you can do when you run out of money, but I'm wondering if Rick Perry, once this huge field whittles down, if Rick Perry thinks, maybe I got out a little too soon. [Blitzer:] Tim Pawlenty was the governor of Minnesota and there were high expectations for him that didn't exactly work out. [Cupp:] Yes. [Blitzer:] And you're absolutely right, he dropped even before that first contest. The caucuses in Iowa. And Nia-Malika Henderson, it's still important to know that this is the first casualty of this race for the White House among the Republicans. Presumably fairly soon there are going to be some more. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] That's right. Because as S.E. said, it takes money to run for president. You can't just sort of live off the fat of the land because you've got to pay people in these different states. You've got to try to build an infrastructure. And one thing that would be interesting to see is who gets Rick Perry's people. He had a pretty good team in South Carolina, people he hadn't been paying for awhile. Do people start to try to poach those folks that he had, particularly in South Carolina, some top folks there who really know the state, who starts to encroach on what Perry had tried to lay down in South Carolina. We have to see who drops out next. I mean there are so many people who are really at the basement in terms of these polls. They're going to be featured in our CNN debate, but again, can they just continue to live off the fat of the land rather than seeing some increase in their poll numbers. So we'll have to see who's next. I mean, you've got people like Gilmore, even Jindal. He is not doing too well in the polls. People like George Pataki, again, great resumes. These people, in a prior field, they might have been standout candidates, but in this field, it's not so much experience that a lot of these voters are looking for. They're looking for attitude, they're looking for this populist rhetoric that Donald Trump really has mastered so far. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] It really is amazing what a difference, Wolf, four years make in this. [Blitzer:] All right. [Keilar:] An d- sorry, Wolf? [Blitzer:] Hold on for a moment, Brianna. I want to get to you but he's getting ready to announce that he's suspending his campaigns. Rick Perry at the Eagle Forum in St. Louis. [Rick Perry , Former Texas Governor:] An extraordinarily powerful economic place. From 2007 through the end of 2014, 1.5 million jobs were created in that one state. While the rest of the country collectively lost 400,000 jobs. Those are conservative policies. It is a place where life was protected and people flocked there. They came in droves. We added some six million people to our populations during that decade. And in case you're asking, are you thinking it wasn't because the weather is so great in August that they came? [Perry:] They came there because they there's still a place where freedom matters, where freedom reigns. For me the message has always been greater than the man. The conservative movement has always been about principles, not about personalities. Our nominee should embody those principles. He or she must make the case for the cause of conservatism more than the cause of their own celebrity. I still believe in the power of that message, a message that offers hope, redemption and solace in the midst of storms. When I gave my life to Christ, I said your ways are greater than my ways. Your will is superior to mine. Today I submit to you his will remains a mystery, but some things have become very clear to me. That is why today I am suspending my campaign for the presidency of the United States. We have a tremendous field of candidates, probably the greatest group of men and women. I step aside knowing our party is in good hands, as long as we listen to the grassroots, listen to that cause of conservatism. If we do that, then our party will be in good hands. And I want to share with you I give you this news with no regrets. It has been a privilege for me. It has been an honor to travel this country, to speak with the American people about their hopes and their dreams. To see a sense of optimism being prevalent, despite this season of cynical politics. And as I approach the next chapter of my life, I do it with the love of my life at my side, Anita Perry. We have a house in the country. We have two beautiful children, two absolutely adorable, beautiful, smart granddaughters, four dogs and the absolute best sunset you have ever seen from the back porch of that house. Indeed life is good. I am a blessed man. [Blitzer:] All right. So there you have it. Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, three-term governor of Texas, the Republican presidential candidate, announcing he's suspending his campaign right now. The word "suspend" is a legal word. They can't just say they're dropping out because there's some technical money issues that have to be followed. You suspend a campaign, you can continue to fund raise a bit. If you cancel it right away, presumably you can't, so the lawyers always tell these candidates who are dropping out, use the word "suspend," don't say simply dropping out. But it's clear he no longer is a candidate for president of the United States. We'll take a quick break. Much more right after this. [Grace:] Did a Navy vet, a former fireman, cardiovascular specialist at the Mayo Clinic, shoot his beautiful wife and slit the throat of his two young children and wife in their own beds, burning down the house to destroy evidence after he has a one-night fling with a hooker, a prostitute? A "loving dad," 6`1", a big game hunter who goes to church, changes the oil in his Dodge Ram, does home repairs. Well, tonight, the FBI says Robert Fisher is heavily armed including a high-powered rifle. He`s got ties to New Mexico and Florida. Investigators break down on the crime scene when they find the gasoline poured around the children`s beds to burn their bodies. [Unidentified Male:] Police say husband and father, Robert Fisher, vanished after killing his wife and two children and blowing up the family home. Found within the home is what is believed to be an adult female and two children. Authorities say Fisher slit all three of their throats from ear to ear, shot his wife in the head, then poured accelerant over the bodies and caused the house to explode. [Grace:] Oh, Robert Anglen, with "The Arizona Republic" investigative reporter, why? Why? Slit the throats of your own children, your wife? Pouring accelerant around their beds, even on the children`s bodies? Why? What was the motivation? So what if he spent the night with a hooker? I mean, why this, Robert? [Robert Anglen, "the Arizona Republic" Investigative Reporter:] Well, he didn`t kill the family dog. But he apparently had a pathology. He was living a dual life and he had control issues. [Grace:] What do you mean "he was living a dual life?" Everybody, that`s an ATM shot of him the night of the murders. And we believe by looking at the timeline, there he is in the family vehicle, that he killed them, staged the scene, lit a candle and when a candle would reach a certain point, the whole place would blow up. So at that moment, we believe when he is at the ATM withdrawing money to go on the run, he was waiting for his home to blow. Robert Anglen, what do you mean "he had a double life?" [Anglen:] Well, he portrayed himself as a family man, a church-going family man. But he also, according to relatives and people who knew him best, said he was often around his family, he had serious control issues, lorded over his children, so there was a facade. And when his wife called him on it, he killed her. [Grace:] You know, Matt Zarrell, isn`t it true that, according to reports, he repeatedly would humiliate the wife? Like one time when she disagreed with him about something, he took the garden hose and sprayed her, ruined her hair and her clothes and everything because she`d spoke up and disagreed about something? [Matt Zarrell, Nancy Grace Producer:] Yes, they would often fight about sex. He would tell the whole family what time to get up, what time to go to bed, what clothes to wear, what to eat. He`d only let his wife paint the walls white. They couldn`t paint it anything else. There were no pictures, only very few pictures allowed on the walls. And yet he was very awkward with his children. He complained about how his son didn`t know how to fish, because Fisher was a big fisherman and he complained numerous times about the relationship with his children. [Grace:] Joining me right now is a special guest, Special Agent Robert Caldwell, former FBI case agent on this investigation. Agent Caldwell, thank you for being with us. I know he`s a big outdoorsman, a hunter, a fisher. Do you believe he could survive in the wild and escape police? [Special Agent Robert Caldwell, Former Fbi Case Agent:] Initially, when the investigation began, yes. But due to his back issues that he had, by now, obviously, he is going to need help, whether hooking up with somebody or getting a prescription for medication to help the pain in his back. He is going to need some kind of help to be managing that, but to be living in the woods at this stage of the game, I would be very surprised if he... [Grace:] I want to ask you this. With me is a special guest, special agent, Robert Caldwell, former FBI agent on this case. What is the FBI profile on this guy? [Caldwell:] You know, we put together, not knowing him at the beginning, and we went out and interviewed all his friends, family, associates, church members, anyone who had any contact with him, and it basically was a Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hyde, Mr. Fisher. He was different ways with different people. To the family, he appeared to be a good, loving family man. To co-workers, he was very egocentric and [inaudible] at himself tying to make himself to be the big man, and to other friends, he was very awkward. He kind of alienated his friends after a while. He was very difficult to get along with. [Grace:] We want to catch this guy, 1-800-CALL-FBI, 1-800-225-5324, $100,000 reward. In Richmond, nearly 40 percent of children are in extreme poverty, facing violence and drugs. This week, CNN Hero has become an unlikely father figure, teaching children in Richmond`s public housing the sport of mountain bike racing. [Craig Dodson, Nominated 2016 Cnn Hero:] What a lot of people can`t see is that our kids have the equivalent of 10 suitcases each of baggage that they are carrying on that bike. These kids can tell me to piss off at any time but what am I going to do? There are connections being made. This is a war to me. It`s me against the circumstances that these kids live in. [Grace:] To see is full story, go to cnnheroes.com., nominated 2016 hero. [Harlow:] We are three days away from the college football playoffs and Clemson not holding back when talking about its matchup against Ohio State. Andy Scholes has more in this morning's "Bleacher Report". Good morning. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Good morning, Poppy. You know, the last thing any of these coaches ever want is for their opponent some bulletin board material ahead of their game. Tigers Dabo Swinney not thrilled that one of his players did just that. Clemson safety Jadar Johnson was asked a question about Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett. And Johnson was non-impressed from what he's seen from Barrett on tape. [Jadar Johnson, Clemson Safety:] We've played better quarterbacks than him. You know, I'm not taking anything away from him. I don't think that he's a bad player. He's definitely a good player. But, you know, he just doesn't stand out as one of the best quarterbacks we've played this year, you know, as a defense. [Scholes:] Barrett will get his chance to impress Johnson in person on Saturday. Clemson and Ohio State playing in the night game on New Year's Eve. Alabama and Washington getting things started at 3:00 Eastern in the Peach Bowl. You can add Buffalo Bills in the market for a new head coach. The team firing Rex Ryan yesterday after a disappointing 7-8 season thus far. The Bills also firing Rex's twin brother Rob who was on the team's staff. Ryan went 15-16 in 31 games in his two years in Buffalo. You know what, Don, if we don't see Rex on the sidelines coaching next year, I am guessing he won't have too hard of a job finding a TV job with his personality that he is always using and talking in the media with. [Lemon:] I think he'll be just fine. Thank you, Andy Scholes. [Scholes:] All right. [Lemon:] See you soon. How worried should the U.S. be about North Korea's nuclear program? One high profile North Korean diplomat who defected had some clues on Kim Jong-un's plan. We discuss, next. [Burnett:] New tonight, President-elect Donald Trump pushing back against reports that he thought he lose the election, Trump tweeting, "Various media outlets and pundits say that I thought I was going to lose the election. Wrong. It all came together in the last week and I thought and felt I would win big, easily over the fabled 270 when they cancelled fireworks, they knew and so did I." Trump continued on Twitter, stating, "When they cancelled fireworks, they knew, and so did I." Of course, this comes after Trump spent days calling out President Obama for saying he would have beaten Trump. So much for a calm transition. Michelle Kosinski is [Outfront. Michelle Kosinski, Cnn Correspondent:] President Obama with only days remaining in office looking to preserve his legacy in any way possible taking to YES Twitter while on vacation and out of sight to defend his work on job creation, healthcare and energy. This week he'll head to Capitol Hill to meet with democrats trying to protect at least parts of Obamacare. [Barrack Obama, President Of The United States:] Another busy day. [Kosinski:] At virtually the same time Vice President-elect Mike Pence will be meeting with republicans on repealing it. It was only weeks ago that first face-to-face meeting show a good will [Obama:] Well, I just had the opportunity to have an excellent conversation with President-elect Trump. [Trump:] I very much look forward to dealing with the president in the future. [Kosinski:] It didn't take long for the winds of politics carrying plenty of thorns to blow straight from the campaign trail into this transition. [Obama:] Ronald Reagan would roll over in his grave. [Kosinski:] Just in the last few days president Obama saying he thinks he would have beaten Donald Trump in the election. Trump responding by tweet, he thinks he would have against me, he should say that but I say no way. And another one, doing my best to disregard the many inflammatory president O statements and road blocks. I thought it was going to be a smooth transition, not- [Michelle Obama, First Lady:] Because he thought- [Kosinski:] We heard from the first lady. [Obama:] We're feeling what not having hope feels like. [Kosinski:] We've seen top democrats blast the head of the FBI over the e-mail investigation. Obama administration standing by its expressions of deep concern and believe that Donald Trump is unqualified hitting his campaign picks, excoriating the Trump team for denials and doubts that Russia hacked democratic websites trying to influence the election. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] The Republican nominee for president was encouraging Russia to hack his opponent, because he believed that would help his campaign. [Trump:] Make America great again. [Kosinski:] Despite this very public clashes Trump speaks of a, quote, good relationship with the outgoing president whose legacy is already under fierce attack. The two spoke again by phone Friday. [Trump:] I'm getting along very well other than a couple of statements that I responded to and we talked about it and smiled about it. [Kosinski:] So, yes. This is a white house winding down. But it's very clear they're trying to get in as much as possible. I mean, in a short amount of time, we have seen President Obama sanction Russia, take various executive action, ban some offshore drilling, transfer prisoners from Guantanamo and commute many hundreds of drug sentences with likely more of this action to come. Also we're going to hear him talk in his own words about his own legacy when he gives the farewell speech in Chicago, Erin. [Burnett:] Right, right. All right. Thank you very much, Michelle. And OUTFRONT now, the host Ben Ferguson show, Ben Ferguson and former Clinton White House aide, Keith Boykin, he's a regular on the show and as of tonight, a new CNN political commentator. Welcome to the family, Keith. We appreciate it. So let me start with you. President Obama going to head to Capitol Hill this week on Wednesday to meet with democrats and the whole goal here is how they can stop this repeal of Obamacare, right? How they can block it. That is the goal. This is an aggressive play to block his successor from carrying out a core campaign promise. Is Barack Obama going too far? [Keith Boykin, Cnn Political Commentator:] No. I don't think he is going too far. I think this is a standard move for any president in a situation where you are being followed by a successor who has threatened not only to repeal your signature piece of legislation but has threatened to upend the basic norms of decency in government. And I think President Obama is wise to take these measures. I think that we are going to see a great deal of resistance on the part of a lot of democrats in the next four years or longer if necessary to fight against any sort of encroachment to the constitution in violation of law that might be coming as a result of the Trump administration. So, I think this is an appropriate first step for the president as he goes out of office and moves into his transition as a private citizen. [Burnett:] Appropriate and wise then? [Ben Ferguson, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't think it is appropriate. I also don't think that it's wise either. There are many parts of Obamacare that have been failures and that's one reason why Hillary Clinton lost this election. This was a major issue for many Americans who've forced into exchanges and they have seen not only their doctors disappear but they've also seen premiums sky rocket, they've seen their choices even for coverage disappear. We only had one choice for my family this year. It was a bronze plan. There wasn't a silver plan, there wasn't a gold plan and our family would be up $13300 before any insurance would kick in. And that was the only option on the Obama plan on their website. So, for him to somehow come in and say I got to save this now is just tone deaf. There are people that like certain things about Obamacare. I am in favor and many republicans are in favor of saving parts of it. One of it is those would be those preexisting conditions. But what President Obama is doing is he's putting his own name and legacy about this bill in front of what actually the American people need. It needs to be overhauled, it doesn't need to be saved and it's lost- people have lost faith in the system. [Burnett:] Now, one small part of this-you talk about Obamacare, right? This country is incredibly split on it. People who think it needs to go farther towards that universal care and trying sort of what people who think that it goes too far. But those people who like Obamacare or think it needs to go farther are people who are scared of Donald Trump. Then Bruce Springsteen is one of them. He performed obviously at President Obama's inauguration. Campaigned for him and Hillary Clinton. He is speaking out today and of course he's got that best-selling book. A lot of people are listening of what he's having to say, he was on a podcast with the comedian Marc Maron. Here is what he said. [Bruce Springsteen, American Singer-songwriter:] I felt disgusted before but never the kind of fear you feel now. It's as simple as the fear of, is someone simply competent enough to do this particular job. Forget about-where they are ideologically. Do they simply have the pure competence to be put in the position of such responsibility? [Burnett:] And you're talking about disgust and fear regarding Donald Trump but questioning the issue of pure competence. Does he have a point? [Ferguson:] I'll take Bruce Springsteen and ask him to throw his resume on the table next to Donald Trump let's compare degrees and see who has a higher level of education. And then whoever doesn't have a bigger set of degrees gets to shut up and eat their own words. I mean, this is nothing but- [Boykin:] OK. Ben, if you're going to go by that logic, then you should shut up because I have a bigger-higher degree than you do. That's just-that's just foolish. [Ferguson:] No, my point is for him to say-for him to-no, for him to say- [Boykin:] You know- [Ferguson:] -let me finish, let me finish, let me finish. [Boykin:] Your point-your point is to dismiss what he just said. [Ferguson:] Let me finish. You have-no, Bruce Springsteen is a guy that's really good at music. Stick to it. And when you don't get your way, respect the will of the American people. This is what the left does, they say, be tolerant of my ideas but they're completely intolerant to them losing. And when they lose they act like crybabies and think everybody else is stupid and they are smart. [Burnett:] Go ahead, Keith. [Boykin:] OK, Ben. Ben, you know what, this is the President-elect of the United States here we are talking about. He is not competent. He was a reality television star before he was elected. He has no experience in government. He's appointed people who have no experience in government, he is not going to intelligence briefings. He is showing no interest in the basic workings of government. He thinks he knows more than the generals. He is a guy who has the potential to disrupt the norms of political discourse in the-in the country and disrupt the political establishment in the country in a negative way. Even Mitt Romney said just a few months ago that Donald Trump is a-is a conman, a phony and a fraud. I think the American people will start to see that after January 20th because he doesn't have the [Ferguson:] He won-he won the election. [Burnett:] Did Bruce Springsteen go too far, you know, using words like disgust and fear? [Boykin:] No, no. No. There are a lot of people who are fearful about Donald Trump and a lot of people who are disgusted and Bruce Springsteen is a private citizen, he has a right to say whatever he wants. But the reality is that Donald Trump is behaving like a child. He is behaving like a mentally unstable child right now. And I think that that's a very dangerous situation for our country. [Ferguson:] And Bruce-and Bruce Springsteen is acting like an adult? [Burnett:] So Ben-so Ben, let me just ask you this point-on this point- [Boykin:] Donald Trump is the President-elect of the United States and he's posting tweets about North Korea threatening a nuclear war. [Burnett:] So, hold on. I want to ask to this point about the tweets. Different tweet, we are talking about that later in the show. But Ben, Trump over the New Year, Happy New Year to all including to many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly, they don't know what to do. Love. Exclamation point. One could laugh at that, one could also say, really? Even on New Year, you couldn't just say Happy New Years, everybody? Is that petty? [Ferguson:] Because when you have-when you have people that are coming after you in this way, Bruce Springsteen or every other liberal that lost this election that has no respect for the fact that the American people chose someone that they didn't like. It doesn't mean that everyone that voted for Donald Trump is ignorant or stupid or a racist or a bigot or a dumb or incompetent. And that's what-that's the reason democrats really need to look at this. Walk away from this for a moment and look at why you lost. It's because you basically looked at half the American people and said you guys are idiots if you don't do what I tell you to do. So when Donald Trump tweets that I'm fine with it right now. [Boykin:] Let me just say this. [Burnett:] All right. I will leave it there-I will leave it there tonight. Thank you both. You'll be back tomorrow. [Ferguson:] Thank you. [Burnett:] And tonight, Fareed Zakaria is talking with President Obama about triumphs and struggles during his time in the White House. That's our CNN special report. The legacy of Barack Obama tonight at 10:00. And next, Donald Trump calling out the Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel obviously of Obama thing over Chicago's epidemic of gun murders. Will Trump send in the feds? And breaking news, Trump caught on tape at his New Year's party. We got that tape tonight. [Trump:] I want to thank my members. I don't really care too much about their guests because the ones I really care about members. I don't give a [bleep] about their guests. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:] Well, the Chinese are called Chinese because they come from China. The Japanese are called Japanese because they come from Japan. Well, Jews are called Jews because they come from Judea. This is our ancestral homeland. Jews are not foreign colonialists in Judea. So unfortunately, the Palestinians not only denied the past, they also poisoned the present. They named public squares in honor of mass murderers who murdered Israelis and I have to say, also murdered Americans. They fund they pay monthly salaries to the families of murderers, like the family of the terrorist who killed a Taylor Force, a wonderful young American, a West Point graduate, who was stabbed to death while visiting Israel. So this is the source of the conflict. The persistent Palestinian refusal to recognize a Jewish state in any boundary, this persistent rejectionism, that's the reason we don't have peace. Now that has to change, I want it to change. Not only have I not abandoned these two perquisites of peace, they've become even more important because of the rising tide of fanaticism that has swept the Middle East and is also unfortunately, infected Palestinian society. So I want this to change. I want those two perquisites of peace, substance, not labels, I want them re-instated. But if anyone believes that I, as prime minister of Israel, responsible for the security of my country, would blindly walk into a Palestinian terrorist state that seeks the destruction of my country, they're gravely mistaken. The two perquisites of peace, recognition of the Jewish state and Israel security needs, western to Jordan, they remain pertinent. We have to look for new ways, new ideas, on how to re-instate and how to move peace forward. And I believe that the great opportunity for peace comes from a regional approach from involving our new found Arab partners in the pursuant of a broader peace and peace will the Palestinians. And I greatly look forward to discussing this in detail with you Mr. President, because, I think that if we work together, we have a shot. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] And we have been discussing that and it is something that is very different, hasn't been discussed before. And it's actually a much bigger deal much more important deal in a sense. It would take in many, many countries and would cover a very large territory. So, I didn't know you were going to be mentioning that, but that's now [spa] that you did. I think it's a terrific things and I think we have some pretty good cooperation from people that in the past, would never ever have even thought about doing this. So we'll see how that works out. OK. Katie from town hall, where is Katie? Right there. Katie? [Question:] Thank you, Mr. President. You said in your earlier remarks that both sides will have to make would compromises when it comes to a peace deal. You've mentioned a [inaudible]. Can you lay out a few more specific compromises that you have in mind, both for the Israeli and Palestinians? And Mr. Prime Minister, what expectations do you have from the new administration about how to either amend the Iran nuclear agreement or how to dismantle it altogether? And how to overall work with the new administration to combat Iran's increased aggression, not only in the last couple of months, but the past couple of years as well? [Trump:] That's actually an interesting question question. I think that the Israelis are gonna have to show some flexibility, which is hard, it's hard to do. They're gonna have to show the fact that they really want to make a deal. I think our new concept that we've been discussing actually for a while is something that allows them to show more flexibility than they have in the past, because we have a lot bigger canvas to play with. And I think they'll do that. I think they very much would like to will make a deal, or I wouldn't be happy and I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be as optimistic as I am. I really think I can tell you from the standpoint of me being from the standpoint of Israel, I really believe they want to make a deal. And they'd like to see the big deal. I think the Palestinians have to get rid of some of that hate that they are taught from a very young age. They're taught tremendous hate. I've seen what they're taught. And you can talk about flexibility there too, but it starts at a very young age and it starts in the schoolroom. And they have to acknowledge, as you know, they're going to have to do that. There's no way a deal can be made if they're not ready to acknowledge a very, very great and important country. And I think they're going to be willing to do that also. But now I also believe, we're going to have Katie other players at a very high level and I think it might make it easier on both of Palestinians and Israel to get something done. OK? Thank you. Very interesting question. Thank you. [Netanyahu:] You asked about Iran. One thing is preventing Iran from getting nuclear weapons, something that President Trump and I, I think, are deeply committed to do. And we are obviously going to discuss that. I think beyond that, President Trump has led a very important effort in the past few weeks, just coming into the presidency. He pointed out there are violations Iranian violations on ballistic missile tests. By the way, these ballistic missiles are inscribed in Hebrew, "Israel must be destroyed." The Palestinian rather, the Iranian Foreign Minister Zarif said, "Our ballistic missiles are not intended against any country." No, they write on the missiles in Hebrew, "Israel must be destroyed." So, challenging Iran on its violations of ballistic missiles; imposing sanctions on Hezbollah, preventing them, making them pay for the terrorism that they foment throughout the Middle East and beyond, well beyond, I think that's a change that is clearly evident in since President Trump took office. I welcome that. I think it's let me say this very openly I think it's long overdue. And I think that if we work together, and not just the United States and Israel, but so many others in the region who see eye to eye on the on the great magnitude and danger of the Iranian threat. And I think I think we can roll back Iran's aggression and danger. And that's something that is important for Israel and the Arab states. But I think it's vitally important for America. These guys are developing ICBMs. They're developing they want to get to a nuclear arsenal, not a bomb; 100 bombs. And they want to have the ability to launch them everywhere on earth, and including and especially, eventually the United States. So this is something that is important for all of us. I welcome the change. And I intend to work with President Trump very closely so that we can thwart this danger. [Question:] Mr. President, since your election campaign and even after your victory, we've seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitic anti- Semitic incidents across the United States. And I wonder, what do you say to those among the Jewish community in the states and in Israel and maybe around the world who believe and feel that your administration is playing with xenophobia and maybe racist tones? And Mr. Prime Minister, do you agree to what the president just said about the need for Israel to restrain or to stop settlement activity in the West Bank? And if we could follow up on my friend's question simple question: Do you back off from your vision to the [inaudible] conflict of two-state solution as you lay out in [inaudible] speech? Or you still support it? Thank you. [Trump:] Well, I just want to say that we are, you know, very honored by the victory that we had 316 electoral college votes. We were not supposed to crack 220. You know that, right? There was no way to 221, but then they said there's no way to 270. And there's tremendous enthusiasm out there. I will say that we are going to have peace in this country. We are going to stop crime in this country. We are going to do everything within our power to stop long simmering racism and every other thing that's going on. There's a lot of bad things that have been taking place over a long period of time. I think one of the reasons I won the election is we have a very, very divided nation, very divided. And hopefully, I'll be able to do something about that. And I, you know, it was something that was very important to me. As far as people, Jewish people, so many friends; a daughter who happens to be here right now; a son-in-law, and three beautiful grandchildren. I think that you're going to see a lot different United States of America over the next three, four or eight years. I think a lot of good things are happening. And you're going to see a lot of love. You're going to see a lot of love. OK? Thank you. [Netanyahu:] I believe that the issue of the settlements is not the core of the conflict, nor does it really drive the conflict. I think it's an issue that has to be resolved in the context of peace negotiations. And I think we'd also we also are gonna speak about it, President Trump and I, so we can arrive at an understanding so we don't keep on bumping into each other all the time on this issue and we're going to discuss this. On the question you said you just back with your question to the problem that I said. It's the label. What does [inaudible] by two states, OK? What does he mean? A state that doesn't recognize the Jewish state? A state that basically is open for attack again Israel? You know, what are we talking about? Are we talking about Costa Rica? Are we talking about another Iran? So obviously, it means different things. I told you what are the conditions that I believe are necessary for an agreement. It's the recognition of the Jewish state and Israel's Israel's security control of the entire area. Otherwise, we're just fantasizing. Otherwise, we'll get another failed state, another terrorist Islamist dictatorship that will not work for peace, but work to destroy us, but also destroy any hope for a peaceful future for our people. So I've been very clear about those conditions and they haven't changed. I haven't changed. If you read what I said eight years ago, it's exactly that and I repeated that again and again and again. If you want to deal with labels, deal with labels, I'll deal with substance. And finally one if I can respond to something that I know from personal experience, I've known President Trump for many years, and to elude to him or to his people, his team, some of whom I've known for many years too can I revealed, Jared, how long we've known you? Well, he was never small, he was always big. [Trump:] Thank you very much. Very nice. I appreciate that very much. [Question:] Are you gonna answer any questions about your [inaudible] contact with the Russians during the campaign? [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] President Trump, Prime Minister Netanyahu, wrapping up their joint news conference in the East Room at the White House. Going through a lot of issues involving the Middle East peace process, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, trying to get it started once again. Also, the president interestingly, blaming the leaks for all the troubles involving his national security advisor whom he fired earlier this week. He basically said that the that Michael Flynn was fired. It was totally unfair. He is very, very good man. He didn't explain. Didn't go into details, why he actually went ahead and fired Michael Flynn. The two questions from American journalists this time from town hall media and the Christian Broadcasting Network. Two questions from Israeli journalists. John King, if he was treated so unfairly, Michael Flynn, in this process and he's such a good man, why did the President fire him? [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] Well, it would be nice, it would be nice, if the conservative outlets, the President is calling on would ask him tough questions, and they would actually instead of trying to curry favor with this President, they might do him a favor by letting him answer these questions because until he answers these questions, this story is not going to go away. He just made it more complicated by saying that. Because yesterday the White House said the national security advisor was fired. And the President asked for his resignation after his he'd eroded trust. He had lost the trust of the vice president first and then the President. Mr. President looked into this. And then the president of the United States just told the American people and the world something quite different. An unfair media attacks on his national security advisor, led this man to unfairly be run out of the White House. Well, who is telling the truth? Who speaks for the President? Who should we believe? The President? His press secretary? Other people around the President? Because they did different accounts. You have a White House now that is in crisis, and calling on conservative news outlets, fine. But it doesn't answer the questions that the American people should have. Not just the news media. I will also say this. You just had the president and this is his right quite casually throw years of U.S. foreign policy down the drain. And I don't care if it's a one-state or two-state solution. This is up to the parties. The United States came up with the two-state solution because it knows the parties are in intractable positions. It knows the parties were unlikely to negotiate peace. And it was part of the United States effort to push them. Yes, you negotiate the details. But we want to give you a broad framework. It is remarkable that even before the first official meeting with the Israeli prime minister, the president of the United States just ripped up the Bush administration, the Obama administration, U.S. policy and said I don't care. You guys figure this out. [Blitzer:] He said whatever the Palestinians and Israelis want. You want a one-state, that's fine. You want two-states, that's fine. Jim, Sciutto, you wanted to make a quick point. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Listen, this week Russia is the story. His national security advisor forced to resign, pushed out because of communications with Russia about sanctions. Last night and today, you have our reporting, "New York Times" as well, on tremendous evidence of contacts at the highest level, constant contact between his campaign and the Russians in the midst of an unprecedented attack on the U.S. electoral process. First of all, he's not asked about that. That's an issue with who he asked and the folks who ask their questions and why they did. His only answer to it which he gave an answer to another question, one he said, he focused on the leaks. He actually didn't challenge the merits of these contacts. He just said its leaks they're illegal, blah, blah, blah, a point he has made before. And then he said something that he repeated on Twitter this morning that it's all about people trying to cover up for the terrible loss of the Clintons based on what, I don't know. I mean who is trying to cover up for the terrible loss? And his national security advisor just got drummed out of the White House because of contacts intercepted by U.S. intelligence. That's just it's the reddest of red herrings [David Chalian, Cnn Poltical Director:] And there's the cover up for that. [Blitzer:] I want to quickly go to Jim Acosta. He's in the East Room. And Jim, we've got you who shouted out a question to the president at the very end which he ignored? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Wolf. Guilty as charged. That was me. I tried to ask that question there as President Trump was leaving the room. It got quiet for a few moments. And when those moments come, you take full advantage. I tried to ask the president about his associates' contacts with the Russians during the campaign. He seemed to pause for a moment as if perhaps he wanted to answer the question. But then he turned to Prime Minister Netanyahu and left the East Room. Just to pick up on what you were saying a few moments ago, yes, what President Trump said during this news conference about Michael Flynn being treated unfairly by the "fake news media," that is not consistent with what his own officials said yesterday in the White House, the White House briefing room. White house Press Secretary Sean Spicer said, that the National Security advisor, who is now gone, misled the vice president of the United States about his phone conversations with the Russian ambassador. And so that is not something that Michael Flynn was treated unfairly about. He did this and he had to pay the price. Now, the President is obviously very upset about leaks coming from the intelligence community or the law enforcement community to the news media, but these are questions that are being asked, and they're being answered by officials in this government. That is something that has gone on long before Donald Trump occupied the Oval Office. I think one of the thing we want to comment on very quickly, Wolf, just because you mentioned this a few moments ago. Yes, the two questions that were asked or called upon from the President in this news conference went to a Christian Broadcasting Network which is obviously owned by Pat Robertson, the televangelist down in Virginia. It's a very conservative broadcasting network, and town hall.com, which is a very conservative news Web site. And so in the last three news conferences, Wolf, all of the questions to the American news media have been handled by conservative press. And I think, Wolf, there's no other way to describe it. But the fix is in. This White House, this president, does not want to answer questions, critical questions, about his associates, his aides' contacts with the Russians during the course of that campaign just as his National Security advisor is being run out of this White House on a rail. And so I think that this only, you know, they may think that this is being cute or they think this is strategic in terms of trying to shield the president from questions. But those questions can only be shielded for so long, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes. An important point. And David Chalian, just to summarize what the President said about Michael Flynn, the man he fired as his national security advisor just three weeks into his administration. Flynn was treated very unfairly by the fake news media. This is sad. Treated so badly. Sensitive papers were leaked. This is a criminal act. It's all part of a Democratic cover-up. Very, very unfair. These were all illegally leaked. He says all that, but then he doesn't say what we heard from Sean Spicer, the press secretary, yesterday that the president lost confidence, lost trust in his national security advisor because he misled them on his conversations with the Russian ambassador of the United States on sanctions. [Chalian:] He also called him a wonderful man. Now, I don't know. But if I had a spokesman, I don't. But if I had one, and I sent them out to the briefing room and said that there was an eroding and evolving trust factor over several weeks due to several circumstances. I don't think I would go out and then be like he's a wonderful man. I'd ask for his resignation. I got it. It makes no sense. It's it actually here's what it makes sense. It gives us the real insight into how Donald Trump thought about this entire scenario. He didn't think what Michael Flynn did was so bad because what he really believes is that it got out in public, in the newspapers and it was exposed that he was lying to Vice President Pence. And because of the exposure of that fact, he had to go. That is what Donald Trump showed us today was he's real thinking which is not the thinking that his spokesperson put forward yesterday in the briefing. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Can I just say this is the third press conference. We've talked about how he's calling on conservative media. This is the third press conference with a world leader that this situation with Russia is dominating the news. It's distracting from his other foreign policy agenda. This is a very important meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, a good story for Donald Trump to talk about, rekindling this relationship with Israel after eight years of acrimony. This could be a good press story for him. But yet this story continues to dog him. And it continues to distract his entire administration. [Blitzer:] I want to get some analysis from our CNN Global Affairs Analyst to distinguished scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center Aaron David Miller who served now for multiple U.S. secretaries of state, was intimately involved in the peace process. You heard what both of these leaders said, the President of the United States making new policy, the two-state solution, fine, if that's what they want. One-state solution, fine, if that's what they want. But the bigger issue the President and the Prime Minster said, Israel now has an emerging relationship with a whole host of other Arab countries, presumably referring to Jordan or Egypt or Saudi Arabia or United Emirates, Bahrain, other countries. And Israel-Palestinian deal with the President now suggesting could be part of a regional peace agreement. What do you make of that? [Aaron David Miller, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] You know, as a "Star Trek" fan, Wolf, I haven't seen this is nothing short of a Vulcan mind meld on so many issues. Clearly, each leader was determined to improve fundamentally and drastically improve the personal relationship and they allotted one another. Particularly the Prime Minister's comments about laying to rest any sense that the President or anyone in his immediate circle was anti-Semitic or anti-Israel. Second, on the Iran issue, they both hate the agreement. They didn't talk about details. But it's clear they're going to be operating in a much closer way in that. And finally, on the issue of Israeli- Palestinian peace, if they didn't completely close the door to the notion of a serious two-state solution, which at the moment is going to be almost impossible to implement, they almost completely buried it. Both of them talked clearly and the President was surprised that the Prime Minister raised the issue of broadening the circle and involving co-Arab states. But the Prime Minister talked about new avenues. And the all three things, I think you're going to see at least for now a profound improvement in both the personal and the substantive relationship between these two. One additional point, it is striking that the President of the United States said how important the pursuit of peace is to him. And the signaling out of Jared Kushner by the Prime Minister excuse yes, by the Prime Minister, also suggests that for the first time that I know, in my long experience, the con for this, the control for this is repositive not just in the White House, but in the hands of a man who is not only a family member of the President, but deemed to be one of the his closest personal advisers. That's good news if you found a serious approach to Arab-Israeli peacemaking. It may not be such good news if you wonder off the highway and approaches that don't have a stand a chance of working. [Blitzer:] Oren Liebermann is in our Jerusalem Bureau. He's our Correspondent over there. Oren, now we also did hear the President say something that the prime minister presumably was not that excited about when he said to the prime minister, as far as Israeli settlements on the west bank are concerned, hold back. I'd like to see Israel hold back. He then went on to say, well, I think we're going to make a deal. But he was pretty precise in telling the prime minister, he's not very enthusiastic about Israel's going ahead and building more settlements. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Especially after we saw the few announcements right after the election of Donald Trump, more than 6,500 new settlement homes approved by Netanyahu in the first days of the Trump administration. That prompted President Trump when interviewed when Israel Hayom, one of the local daily's to say settlement expansion is unhelpful to peace. So making it clear here, hold off on this a little bit. You're absolutely right. That's not what Netanyahu wanted to hear. When he was asked about that in a follow-up question, he said we'll come to some agreement. It will be interesting to see if they do come to some agreement, perhaps one of the options floated by the defense minister here and the transportation minister is expansion and settlement growth within the settlement blocks and freezing them outside of the settlement blocks. Although, thousands of settlement homes is a large number, it's the largest settlement approval we've seen from Israel in years. It's not enough for Israel's right wing government and many in that government who want to see not only thousands of settlement homes, they want to say annexation of all or parts of the west banks. In fact, one of the most outspoken right wing politicians in the government Naftali Bennett, the education minister tweeted right after the end of this conference and here's what he said. "A new era. After 24 years, the Palestinian flag has been taken down and exchanged with an Israeli flag. I commend Prime Minister Netanyahu for showing leadership and looking for Israeli's security." He clearly heard what Netanyahu said, which was dodging the question of a two-state solution. Netanyahu refused to commit to it dodging that question. He looked that as Netanyahu backing away from that commitment a few years ago to a two-state solution. So, it will be interesting to see how this plays out. There weren't many details here. But Netanyahu looking for some sort of wriggle room perhaps Trump as well as his administration figures out the Middle East policy. [Blitzer:] All right. Everybody, stand by. There's much more of our special coverage coming up. More on President Trump's meeting with the Israeli prime minister, this amid new questions about the Trump camp's ties to Russia. We'll take a quick break. More on the BREAKING NEWS right after this. [Rosemary Church, Cnn:] Message to Trump. New satellite pictures show stepped-up activity at a North Korean nuclear site. Comforter in chief. Barack Obama tries to soothe the nerves of those still worried about the incoming president. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] At my core, I think we're going to be OK. [Church:] And free for now. The head of Samsung avoids an arrest warrant on bribery charges, triggering outrage across Seoul. Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church, and this is CNN Newsroom. North Korea will likely test-fire two new intercontinental ballistic missiles in the near future. South Korean military officials also told Yonhap News Agency that Pyongyang may be looking to send a message to the incoming Trump administration in the United States. Meanwhile, a group that monitors North Korea says it's seeing renewed activity at the country's main nuclear facility. Analysts at 38 North say these satellite images show an uptick in work around a plutonium reactor. So, let's turn to Paula Hancocks, who joins us live from Seoul in South Korea. Paula, what is going on here? Could this just be a strategic message to Donald Trump during his transition to power, or might we actually see the launching of these intercontinental ballistic missiles? Just how concerned should everyone be? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Rosemary, everyone I speak to points to the New Year's address from Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader. They say you have heard it from the very top of North Korea that he is close to test launching an ICBM, an intercontinental ballistic missile. He has said that he would do it, and officials and experts say that he should be taken at his word. Now, Yonhap News Agency is citing unnamed military sources, and the defense ministry at this point is not willing to say anything on the record. [Roh Jae-cheon, South Korea's Office Of The Joint Chiefs Of Staff Spokesman:] There are reports that show recent signs of a possible North Korean missile launch, but there's nothing we can confirm at the moment. As you all know well, judging it can be launched at anytime and anywhere once North Korean leadership decides, we're on alert to maintain our readiness. [Hancocks:] And that's the line that the South Korean officials have had the entire time, for many months. They have said this is possible. We are just waiting for the green light from Kim Jong-un. We have heard that about a nuclear test as well. In fact, after the fifth nuclear test last year, almost the day after South Korean officials were saying, well, there could be another one soon. We are waiting for it. So they are on constant alert for this. The timing will be crucial, though, whether or not the North Koreans decide to do it just after the inauguration. We've heard from North Korean officials, a director at the foreign ministry just last November after the election, saying that they weren't going to do anything. They're going to wait and see if they could have a different kind of relationship with president-elect Donald Trump. But that may have changed at this point. Rosemary. [Church:] Yes, and, Paula, another reason for concern is news of renewed activity at North Korea's main nuclear facility. Satellite images apparently showing activity around a plutonium reactor. What could this all mean? [Hancocks:] This is another thing that North Korea said it would do. It said it would restart the reprocessing of plutonium at the Yongbyon nuclear complex. Now 38 north, this U.S. think-tank that monitors these satellite images, has said that there appears to be some buildings within this complex that don't have snow on the roof, which effectively means it could be heated from inside. So there could be activity although they say they see no steam in the satellite images between October of last year and January of this year. Roads, they say, appear to have been cleared as well. But of course they are the first to admit this isn't an exact science. They are studying satellite images, but just another concern that there could be some move back to reprocessing plutonium. Rosemary? [Church:] Our Paula Hancocks, keeping a very close eye on this developing story, joining us there from Seoul in South Korea where it is just after 5 o'clock in the evening. Many thanks. Well, a possible crisis in North Korea comes at a crucial point of transition in the White House. And as our Jim Sciutto reports, there's growing concern that Trump's team is not quite up to speed. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn's Chief National Security Correspondent:] Tonight, multiple officials tell CNN the crucial transition between the outgoing and incoming security teams focused on the most sensitive threats facing the nation has been slow and uncertain as first reported by the New York Times. The White House says it is unsure the Trump team has read the thousands of classified documents provided to them, focusing on threats ranging from North Korea's nuclear program to the fight against ISIS, to the disputed islands in the South China Sea. And while the current national security adviser, Susan Rice, has interacted with retired general Michael Flynn, Trump's pick for her replacement, the teams have, quote, "begun engaging at the staff level only recently." This, according to a source close to the transition. It's an account that Trump's incoming press secretary disputes. [Sean Spicer, Incoming United States Press Secretary:] K.T. McFarland, the deputy national security adviser has met with her counterpart countless times. There's been reams of briefings that have been sent over. I think there's a big different in how they judge things. [Sciutto:] However, several State Department officials have also described very little interaction with the Trump team although the department has produced dozens of briefing papers. Earlier this month, Rice kicked off the transition with this vow. [Susan Rice, United States National Security Advisor:] Our entire national security team has been working for months to prepare for and facilitate a smooth transition. This goes beyond party or politics. This is what the American people expect and deserve. [Sciutto:] For which Flynn thanked Rice. [Michael Flynn, Incoming United States National Security Advisor:] I want to personally, again, thank Ambassador Rice and her entire team for their preparation, the transition materials as ambassador highlighted that they've provided to us. [Church:] Let's bring in CNN national security analyst and security consultant Juliette Kayyem. She joins us via Skype. Good to see you, Juliette. So, there are of course a lot of concerns, especially when it comes to foreign policy. How ready do you think the Trump team is to deal with a crisis, one perhaps posed by North Korea because indications are that that could very well be his first big challenge? [Juliette Kayyem, Cnn National Security Analyst:] So, I think there's legitimate questions now as we are less than 48 hours away at the preparedness, in particular of the national security staff. At the agency level, State Department, Defense Department, CIA, the only picks that we've heard of are the agency heads, the cabinet secretaries. At the lower levels, the levels where work gets done, deputy secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries, there's not even names let alone confirmation hearings, vetting, or security clearances. At the White House, which is very different, Michael Flynn, who is the national security adviser, only has one of two deputies. And there's no names for senior directors in areas like North Korea or nuclear proliferation. So, in terms of just the body count, this administration, this transition is very far behind than either Obama or Bush before him. [Church:] Yes. I was going to ask you that because just how does his team compare to previous transition teams beyond President Obama when it comes to readiness for anything that might occur? [Kayyem:] So, look, I mean it's not like there's not people there. There's, you know, career deputies. There's bureaucracy that knows how to function. But if the whole idea of having a peaceful transition is that Donald Trump, the President on Friday, will have his team in place, that's not only there physically but actually has been well versed on the issues, knows what to do, knows what the options are, that there's certainly no evidence that that is actually occurring. They're very far behind on personnel issues, on substantive issues. And what we do know is that enemies are certainly likely to use this transition as a time to sort of strut their stuff, make themselves known, whether it's Russia, which we tend to talk a lot about, but as we're seeing North Korea is North Korea planning an inauguration surprise for a new president? Obama will be long gone by then. [Church:] And given what Trump has said about Russia, Germany's Angela Merkel, NATO, and Brexit, do you think he's in possession of all of geopolitical knowledge necessary for the leader of the free world? [Kayyem:] Well, I think that information is available to him. I certainly know that there's career staff at these agencies that know a lot. The question is just simply how receptive is Donald Trump and his team to new information? I think what you're seeing is Donald Trump views the world transactionally. He likes Russia. He doesn't like North Korea. You know, he sort of views international relations as the deal. But what we know in the real world is many countries are sort of "frenemies." Take a country like China. You know, you know, we agree with it on some issues. We disagree with it on others. And you can't really take a transactional approach to a country like China, which has its own interests. Sometimes they align with the U.S. Sometimes they do not. And so we're going to see whether he's willing to absorb that information, his team is willing to absorb that information. [Church:] And Juliette, this is what Trump told the Times of London. He said and I'm quoting here "Day one, which I will consider to be Monday as opposed to Friday or Saturday, right? I mean, my day one is going to be Monday because I don't want to be signing and getting it mixed up with lots of celebration," end of quote there. So, Trump is being inaugurated on Friday. Isn't that day one? And how laudable does that leave him and indeed the country if he is declaring to the world that he is taking the weekend off? [Kayyem:] It was a very odd statement. Even if you're going to do it, just do it. Don't say it because it is a trigger to those who may want to act up this weekend that President Trump views it as a celebratory weekend. You know, look, the party's over. He is president. There is no vacation. There might be, you know, resort getaways, but you're never on vacation. It was a very odd and, I think, discomforting thing to say given the intensity of essentially what's going to be happening Friday at noon. I served on the transition for Obama. Our job started at 12.01 that day. There was no vacation that weekend. [Church:] Yes, that is day one, it seems. Juliette Kayyem, many thanks. [Kayyem:] Thank you. [Church:] Well, Friday marks a big change for the U.S. President Barack Obama will be turning the country over to Donald Trump. The president- elect has been working on his address ahead of Friday's swearing in. He shared this photo on social media showing him writing the speech last month. Meanwhile, Mr. Obama used his last presidential news conference to make remarks pointed at his successor while trying to reassure Americans about the transfer of power. Michelle Kosinski has more. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] President Obama opened his final press conference as president by thanking the press corps, telling them they make the White House work better. [Obama:] You're not supposed to be sycophants. You're supposed to be skeptics. You're supposed to ask me tough questions. America needs you, and our democracy needs you. [Kosinski:] And he defended his decision to commute the sentence of Private Chelsea Manning, convicted of stealing and leaking sensitive military documents to WikiLeaks. [Obama:] Let's be clear. Chelsea Manning has served a tough prison sentence. You know, I feel very comfortable that justice has been served and that a message has still been sent. [Kosinski:] The president promised that fundamental democratic principles are undermined in the days ahead, he will not remain silent. [Obama:] There's a difference between that normal functioning of politics and certain issues or certain moments where I think our core values may be at mistake. [Kosinski:] And the president offered up advice he gave to President- elect Trump, cautioning him on who he surrounds himself with. [Obama:] This is something I have told him, that this is a job of such magnitude that you can't do it by yourself. You are enormously reliant on a team. [Kosinski:] As the first black president, President Obama said he expects he won't be the last to lead the nation. [Obama:] I think we're going to see people of merit rise up from every race, faith, corner of this country because that's America's strength. When we have everybody getting a chance and everybody's on the field, we end up being better. [Kosinski:] And finished this last gathering by expressing his optimism for the future of the country. [Obama:] At my core, I think we're going to be OK. We just have to fight for it. We have to work for it and not take it for granted. And I know that you will help us do that. [Kosinski:] This is a president leaving after eight years very popular, but his candidate didn't win the election. He ran his historic campaign on hope and change, but he ends with a message, "I think we're going to be OK. We just have to fight for it." I mean, that is not a very optimistic attempt at an optimistic final message. It's clear, though, he also didn't want to be critical even though he has been in the past. He wanted to frame his points as sort of warnings or advice, and he also wouldn't weigh in at all on all the democrats in Congress who are now boycotting the inauguration. There are dozens of them. His administration has said that they don't think that they're harming a smooth transition or contributing to division in America. But this was President Obama's chance to weigh in on that, but he chose not to comment at all. Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the White House. [Church:] And CNN has unique access to Barack Obama's final days in power. Tune in for The End, inside the last days of the Obama White House." it airs Thursday at 5 p.m. in Hong Kong, 9 a.m. in London. Several E.U. leaders are taking issue with Donald Trump's comments that other countries would follow the U.K. and leave the alliance. Austria's chancellor says he doesn't see that future. [Christian Kern, Austrian Chancellor:] We are not concerned about a breakup of the European Union or that other countries will join the United Kingdom, because I think what somebody has to accept and also the president of the United States is that Europe is not only geography. It's not a business model. It's a community which is based on values, respect for human rights, democracy, rule of law, social justice, equal rights for women and men. And so, that's a which is something which is important, precious, but it's fragile, that's true. But I don't have any doubts that every party who is a member of the union today knows how important that is for the whole continent, for our welfare and for the political setup of Europe. [Church:] And later this hour we will talk with one of Angela Merkel's confidants about what the German chancellor think of Donald Trump. Well, now to a breaking news from central Italy, Reuters says local media is reporting that many people are feared dead inside a hotel that was hit by an avalanche. There were 20 people staying at the hotel plus staff. The area was hit by a series of earthquakes on Wednesday triggering the avalanche. Emergency officials elsewhere say at least one person was found dead in a building that collapsed in Teramo. Inauguration plans are set in Gambia, but it's uncertain whether the man who won the election will actually take office. And Samsung's vice chair avoids arrest in South Korea's corruption scandal. Why prosecutors say they're not letting up on the case. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] However, there's a very obscure I think it's 1923 or 1925 act against chemical weapons that all nations were signatories to after the great World War I, where chemical weapons were used en masse where nations basically signed up to say we'll never allow this to happen again. If we see it happening we will step in and stop it. And I think that's what Ambassador Haley [Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] Right. [Hertling:] was citing in the U.N. the other day. There's a third piece, though. Russia signed an agreement in 2013 when they did take responsibility for Mr. Assad, saying we will contribute to assisting getting rid of the last remaining chemical weapons inside of Syria. They did not do that. Secretary Tillerson used that against them last night, basically saying they were incompetent or complicit in not doing that. So all of these things will contribute to the debate in Congress. There was not a War Powers Act, certainly, which sometimes ties the hands of a president. All of those things are going to be factored. But you do have a Republican Congress and Senate that are both going to be supporting President Trump on this, as well as the support on the world stage. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn:] We will get the answers to how Congress is feeling for everyone on NEW DAY. Coming up on NEW DAY we'll have several members of Congress on to discuss these strikes Congressman Seth Moulton, senators Ben Cardin, Marco Rubio, Tim Kaine, and Cory Gardner. [Cuomo:] All right. We have a lot more breaking news coverage. We're still getting information about what was the effect of these 59 Tomahawk missiles launched to get a specific Syrian airbase. When this special of edition of NEW DAY returns we'll have more information. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Camerota:] We are following breaking news for you. Leaders around the world responding to the U.S. missile strike on a Syrian air base in retaliation for Assad's deadly chemical weapons attack on his own people. The strikes targeted an airbase that housed war planes, airfields, and supply bunkers. It's the first direct military action taken by the U.S. against the Syrian regime in the country's six-year civil war. Russian T.V. releasing this video of the damage left behind the strikes. Russian President Vladimir Putin calls the strikes "Trumped up." He has suspended a 2015 agreement preventing mid-air incidents between coalition and Russian air forces. France and Germany issuing a joint statement moments ago, saying Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears full responsibility for the U.S. airstrikes. Joining us now is CNN chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. She is live in London. Christiane, tell us the world's reaction thus far. [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] Well, it's really significant. Obviously, the allies are supporting President Trump. In fact, in the words of the British Defense secretary, he basically called it as it is. This is the first major test confronting President Trump. The Assad regime's use of chemical weapons, i.e, weapons of mass destruction, which are banned under international law. And, therefore, President Trump's reaction was to deter any further use of such weapons and that they would continue, altogether, to try to change the situation in Syria to make sure that those kinds of weapons are not used again. And the allies are beginning to, once again, talk about Assad must go. Not the same kind of chorus that we heard years ago but all of a sudden, as Tillerson has said the U.S. Secretary of State that somebody who does this kind of thing to their own people has no role in future government. Interestingly, though, is the Russian reaction because while they're angry, while they've called it, you know, illegitimate, while they've called it an act of aggression, the Russian Foreign Ministry minister, himself, has said this will not lead to an irreversible situation. And the Chinese reaction, again, very, very important as well because President Xi is sitting there with President Trump in Florida right now, even as this attack and response by President Trump was being launched. The Chinese have said that we condemn the use of chemical weapons. Again, why is this significant? Because both China and Russia have been the main obstacles to any resolutions in the United Nations Security Council and Russia, of course, the main enabler for Syria's Bashar Assad. [Camerota:] Christiane, what do we think we this means for the future of relations with Russia? You know, we have word that the U.S. did alert Russia shortly before these strikes as an international courtesy. They know that Russians could have been around that area. And then, as you say, the language coming out of Russia is very interesting. What do we think will happen if and when Rex Tillerson does fulfill that promised visit next week to Moscow? [Amanpour:] Well, first and foremost, we hear from Russia that that visit is going to go ahead. We've heard I mean, not formally from the president, Putin, or elsewhere, but people in Parliament have said there's no reason to cancel that meeting and, therefore, that will be a very, very important meeting. And hopefully presumably, those people sitting around a table are going to try to figure out whether, in fact, you know, there's a new chapter in this effort to contain and to stop the Syrian war. And whether Moscow can be persuaded, as Rex Tillerson has said, to stop supporting Bashar al-Assad when, let's face it, Assad's use of chemical weapons, even though Russia denies it, violates Russia's deal with Assad on this issue as well. So it's not just a violation of what the West and NATO think. So I think that's really important. What further will happen? I don't think anybody believes that this is the beginning of a massive invasion of Syria of any major attempt in terms of, you know, with military, to oust Bashar Assad. But I think it's concentrated in the international community's mind, again, that he is the main obstacle to any kind of resolution in Syria. Yes, ISIS and that fight will continue because both Russia and the United States want to do that and the U.S. is already maneuvering to fully encircle Raqqa and it's got, as you know, some 900 forces on the ground. It's supporting local forces and they've got heavy artillery and they're really getting ready to do in Raqqa what they've been doing in Mosul, so that, presumably, will continue. The question, though, is to try to neutralize the major threat that's posed by Assad because it's Assad who's using the chemical weapons. And even without chemical weapons, who's been responsible for the deaths of, you know, 400,000-plus civilians in Syria over the last six years. [Camerota:] And Christiane, what about the allies? What about France and the U.K. that had condemned the chemical attack? Now where are they in terms of next steps with or without the U.S.? [Amanpour:] Well, you know, as you said, Russia was informed through the deconfliction channel that this was going to happen. Also, NATO was informed. They knew within a good amount of time what was going to happen and they all have supported what's happened because of Syria's unacceptable use of these kinds of weapons. But it's still very unclear as to where this is going to go in a broader strategy because while they're saying Assad must go, there's no room for Assad in any political future, there's no real plan at the moment and there never really has been, to either get him out politically or militarily. And the political talks that have been continuing occasionally are convened in Geneva and elsewhere honestly, they go nowhere because the U.N. and everybody else basically says that Assad and his representatives are just not serious. They just are not serious. They won't negotiate with the opposition, even the moderate opposition. And Assad, himself, in a published interview just two days ago said we have no option but to continue this war. So he's sitting there thinking that he's got Russia and Iran and he's going to go for total victory around Syria. That's his mindset. Whether they can break him of that, whether he understands the significance of the U.S. response remains to be seen. [Camerota:] Christiane, thank you for all the context and please stick with us through our special coverage and breaking news throughout the morning. We'll be back with you. Let's get to Chris. [Cuomo:] All right. It was just one step perhaps, as Christiane says, but it was a major step. Imagine the shift. You had the U.N. just last night they couldn't even come to a vote on this. They had three different proposals about what to do and now we've had missile strikes. Now, let's take a look at the state of play, what's happened, what could happen next. We have CNN military analyst and advisory board member for Academy Securities, Major Gen. James "Spider" Marks. Always good to be with you on the map, sir. [Maj. Gen. James "spider" Marks, U.s. Army , Cnn Military Analyst, Advisory Board Member, Academy Securities:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] All right. So now, as we're looking we're standing in the water. We kind of roughly represent the two U.S. destroyers. [Marks:] Right near the border on the Ross. [Cuomo:] All right. So where were we positioned and where did these missiles go? [Marks:] We were positioned about here in the Eastern Med. We launched the 59 missiles to the airfield right here, al-Shayrat. The intent of that strike was very narrowly focused in on the airfield to eliminate aircraft and the capability of that airfield to launch strikes again. This is where the chemical strike in Idlib took place. This is where it started from excuse me -this is where it started from. [Cuomo:] This is where we believe by best proof from radar and otherwise that the ships that were used the airships the planes that were used to dump the chemicals, they took off here. [Marks:] Correct. [Cuomo:] So that had [Marks:] Our intelligence [Cuomo:] That had a message and a strategic component. And how the U.S. did this, there was a risk assessment in that as well, right? No sorties, no fighter planes [Marks:] No manned aircraft. [Cuomo:] No manned aircraft from the ships. And the use of the Tomahawks? What does that say to you? [Marks:] Well, what it does is it really minimizes the risk as you described it. If we were to put manned aircraft over this airspace, we would the United States would have to take out all the air defense capabilities that are on the ground. That's a significant endeavor and that's a significant [Cuomo:] And would have involved Russia in a different way too because a lot of air-to-ground you know, ground-to-air defenses are theirs. [Marks:] Absolutely, and that was the purpose of this deconfliction charter that's been in place, delegated down to those military commanders on the ground, Russian and U.S., saying I'm about to fly, don't fly. I don't want to bump into you, you don't want to bump into me. So that's I mean, that was critical for us to do that so TLAMs were the perfect weapon system because they're also incredibly precise. If you want to put it through the upper-right window of a building, it will go through the upper-right window of the building. [Cuomo:] So, in terms of let's go to the next slide, can we, and show what the U.S. has in the area because if you're not going to use planes from bases you have to think about timing a little bit in terms of your assets. [Marks:] Right. [Cuomo:] The ships are fast but it still takes time to get them places. What do we have and where? [Marks:] Yes, well, what we have is we had as a matter of routine we have ships that are positioned in the Mediterranean and are available for use. In this case, the Porter and the Ross. We also have over in the Persian Gulf we have an aircraft carrier. Now, aircraft carriers don't routinely want to be in the Gulf because that's pretty restrictive, but we have one, and from that platform we could launch similar types of capabilities to include manned aircraft. And the closure time is a little bit greater but it gives us an enhanced capability. Bear in mind also, Chris, that we have forces in Turkey as well and, periodically, some forces in Syria. [Cuomo:] So, in terms of next steps we have to we're a long way from that. We have to see what happens with the political will in the U.S., the rights of law in the U.S. in terms of what can be done, and then what the Security Council wants to do, and the allies. But, in terms of if you wanted to stick with your capabilities right now, how many how broad is the range of options about other strategic strikes that could be done? [Marks:] We have we have forces in Turkey that we could include in the additional effort in Syria, itself, and we could do a repeat of what we just saw against other targets, or to completely go after some similar targets. [Cuomo:] So there's no reason to have boots on the ground. You can do plenty the way things are right now. [Marks:] Right now, that's correct. That's right. [Cuomo:] All right. General, thank you very much. Stay with us. [Marks:] Thanks, Chris, sure. [Cuomo:] We have a lot more breaking news coverage when this special edition of NEW DAY returns. Stay with CNN. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now in the NEWSROOM, battle ground Iowa. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] You stand up for me on caucus night, I will be back here in Iowa. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] We are locked in a very, very close race right here in Iowa. [Costello:] One week to the first of the nation votes, hours to CNN's Democratic presidential town hall. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Whoever the nominee is, is going to need the other person supportive hand. [Costello:] The future of the party could hang in the balance. Also, Trump spends Sunday at church. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We talk about humility at church today. [Costello:] And he spends the night at a Holiday Inn Express. Normal guy stuff for the billionaire GOP frontrunner. Plus buried by the blizzard. [Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-blake, Baltimore, Maryland:] This is a complicated snow removal effort. [Costello:] D.C. shut down trying to dig out after a storm for the record books. Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Millions of Americans are buried under snow this morning after a record-breaking storm slammed the East Coast. New York seems to be getting back to normal, but Washington, D.C. is another story. It is still shut down today. People there working to dig out from almost two feet of snow. The D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser expected to speak at any moment now. In her city the federal government is closed. Schools are closed. And only five Metro trains and buses are running. Five. So we will monitor the mayor's comments and bring you any developments when she begins speaking. Of course the danger from the storm is far from over. Roads refreezing overnight and officials warning drivers of icy patches. Side streets still impassable. In Arlington, Virginia, the National Guard was called in to help the stranded EMT truck. More than 1200 flights cancelled. A look at the snow totals. And it's not hard to see why. More than 30 inches falling at JFK. 29.3 at Dulles. Baltimore, LaGuardia and Philly all above or near two feet of snow. Nick Valencia is in Washington, D.C. He kicks off our coverage this morning. Good evening, Nick. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. We are right smack in the middle of the cleanup here in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C. Just crippled by that brutal storm over the weekend. Three days of nonstop snowfall. More than 34 straight hours. More than 20 inches here measured in the district. And we're going to show you something we haven't actually seen in the last three days. Look at that. There's traffic. Despite the shutdown, people are still trying to test the limits of these roads, probably not recommended. Of course government officials would rather prefer that you stay home. Many government officials are staying home. Federal government, local government, as you mentioned, Carol, shut down today. Schools also closed. Let's introduce you to some of those folks that are making sure that these roads stay clean. James, my man, how are you doing? [Unidentified Male:] How are you doing, sir? [Valencia:] Good. Good. So tell me about what did you guys been through the last couple of days. [Unidentified Male:] Been through everything. We've been through basically a lot of salt, a lot of snow, a lot of shovels and a lot of socks. [Valencia:] Walk me with here. We want to show our viewers exactly what kind of conditions you're dealing with. So when we showed up here at this live shot location, you were trying to dig out this car here. What's going on? [Unidentified Male:] It's basically just a government vehicle basically for the agencies that's just been parked there. Just got to move so we can effectively plow all the snow the right way. That's all. [Valencia:] So you are from the area. You've been through this before. You're a resident of Virginia. I mean, what kind of storm is this? How does it compare to the storms that you've been through growing up as a kid? [Unidentified Male:] This takes it, right here. [Valencia:] This one is it? [Unidentified Male:] Next to 2010, this takes it. [Valencia:] Wow. [Unidentified Male:] Yes, sir. [Valencia:] Well, we've been hearing a lot of comparison to 2010. Thank you so much for taking the time and all the work that you're doing out there. James Mills, taking the time with CNN this morning. Carol, this is a deadly storm after all. We just heard last hour from the Virginia State Police, six people now confirmed across the river at the Potomac, five from hypothermia, one from a fatal car accident. We are reaching out to the Maryland medical examiner as well to try to see if any of these figures here, fatalities, have gone up. Already one confirmed dead. The sun is shining but tomorrow the forecast looks bleak. Rain is in the forecast. The snow is everywhere. Tons and tons of snow. Really nowhere for it to go. This thing is far from over Carol. [Costello:] Those are government cars parked on the sidewalk there? Interesting. [Valencia:] Yes. You'd think that they would have moved it. You'd think that they would have known to get out of here, but this is what James is having to deal with this morning trying to find the owner of that car so they can get back to work here Carol. [Costello:] Kind of what I was thinking, Nick Valencia. Thanks so much. All right. In New York City, a very different story from D.C. Practically back to business as usual. The recovery process seemingly much smoother and New York saw even more snow than D.C. 26.8 inches. Train spotters reporting 22.4 in Washington. Jason Carroll is outside of Penn Station this morning. Hi, Jason. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And hello to you, Carol. And here's one sign that things are getting back to normal here at Penn Station. That is the iconic spot right outside Penn Station where you see folks lined up, getting into their cabs between huge mounds of snow on this particular morning. But earlier this morning, it was empty, and that's because, as you know, Carol, Long Island railroad really struggled to get back online this morning. They expected to have full service sometime around 5:00 a.m. That was pushed back to around 7:00 a.m. Then pushed back again simply because some of the lines refroze overnight. They had to get out there, fix those lines so they could get things back up and running again. So as you can here now, folks are getting back in line, getting back out into the streets. And when you consider how much snow fell here, that's pretty incredible that New York City is doing as well as it's doing so far today. 26.8 inches fell at Central Park. Putting that into perspective, Anchorage, Alaska, so far this season has received 25.8 inches. So that gives you some perspective for those watching how much snow actually fell here in the city. And considering that schools are open, government offices open, city seems to be faring pretty well. [Costello:] Good news. Jason Carroll, thanks so much. All right. Let's talk about politics now. One week from the Iowa caucuses, and now just hours from the last faceoff of the three Democrats. Tonight only on CNN, they'll field questions from Iowa voters at a town hall meeting. Bernie Sanders is about to host his own town hall in Iowa Falls. With only seven days left candidates are racing to win over Iowans. And Sanders seems to be riding some momentum into tonight's showdown. Our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny live in Des Moines with more for you. Good morning, Jeff. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning. It is a deadlock contest as this race enters the final week here. Spending the weekend with both candidates, you can tell by the urgency in their voices there, they're trying to move from persuading voters to mobilizing their supporters out to those caucus sites a week from tonight. But our CNN poll of polls is showing just how close this race is in Iowa. Let's take a look at these numbers. Bernie Sanders, 46 percent, and Hillary Clinton 44 percent. This is a poll of polls of the latest four top polls so it gives you a sense of the how tight and urgent this campaign is for both sides here. But let's take a listen to the closing arguments from each candidate as Bernie Sanders is addressing his supporters across the state and Hillary Clinton is doing the same. [Sanders:] We are locked in a very, very close race right here in Iowa. And if we have the kind of turnout that I hope we can, we're going to win here in Iowa. And if we win here in Iowa, I think we're going to do very, very well in New Hampshire. [Clinton:] Why? The stakes in this election are so high and we have to start to move toward nominating and electing a president and commander-in-chief who will continue the progress we've made, make sure it is not ripped away, forcing us to once again be disappointed. [Zeleny:] So Secretary Clinton there clearly making the argument that she is the candidate to continue the legacy of this president. She is the candidate with the experience here. She had a big crowd last night in West Des Moines, Iowa, a lot of enthusiasm on her side. And, Carol, this is a as close of a race as we've seen in recent cycles here. So the town hall forum tonight which also includes Martin O'Malley, the former governor of Maryland, he has some supporters here as well, will be the last good shot for Iowa voters to see exactly what these candidates have in mind. And from there, seven more days until the Iowa caucuses Carol. [Costello:] All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks so much. As Jeff alluded to, the fight for Iowa is intense. Clinton and Sanders locked in a statistical tie. And with that the Sanders campaign has turned negative. Bernie Sanders came out swinging and resurrected Clinton's devastating loss in Iowa in 2008. [Sanders:] Eight years ago, Obama was being attacked by everything. He was unrealistic. His ideas were pie in the sky. He did not have the experience that was needed. But you know what? People of Iowa saw through those attacks then, and they're going to see through those attacks again. [Costello:] Sanders also pointed to a "Wall Street Journal"-NBC News poll showing he would beat Donald Trump in a president run by 15 points to Clinton's 10. With me now to talk about this is Brian Fallon. He's the press secretary for Hillary for America. Welcome, sir. [Brian Fallon, Press Secretary, Hillary For America:] Hi, Carol. Thanks for having me. [Costello:] Hi. Thanks for being here. So Hillary Clinton is running on experience. But Democratic voters seem to want passion. Did the Clinton campaign miscalculate? [Fallon:] Oh, Carol, I think Hillary Clinton has, over the course of her career, poured her heart from the progressive causes that you hear her talking about throughout this campaign. If you look at the first job she took after law school, she went to work for the Children's Defense Fund. She knocked on doors in New Bedford, Massachusetts, and exposed how children with disabilities were being shut out from public schools. She went door-todoor in Alabama and exposed how local authorities there were thumbing their nose at court order desegregation in the schools there. She went across Texas and enrolled Latino voters that had been disenfranchised across that state. And ever since then she has made these progressive ideals the cause of her life. She has actually lived them in practice not just in principle. And I think that Iowa caucusgoers are increasingly finding that if you want somebody in your foxhole, if you want a proven fighter that will get results in your day-to-day life, Hillary Clinton is the candidate for you. [Costello:] But but Bernie Sanders seems to be saying, look, he has progressive ideals, too, and he's willing to give it a go. Hillary Clinton is talking about practicality. She's calling his ideas fairytales and he says that's backfiring on her. [Fallon:] I don't think so, Carol. I think that what Hillary the point that Hillary Clinton is making is a very apt one, which is that both Senator Sanders and Secretary Clinton share many of the same progressive values. But as President Clinton President Obama, I should say, himself said today in an interview with Politico, Hillary Clinton has proven throughout the course of her career that she knows how to translate those progressive values into the hard work of governing. And with the high stakes that we're looking at today where you have Republicans threatening to rip away the gains we've made over the last seven years under President Obama, we need someone who can protect those gains and go further. We need someone like Hillary Clinton that knows that progress often comes through the three yards and a cloud of dust, rather than a hail Mary pass. [Costello:] Well, well, oddly enough, you mentioned that Politico interview with President Obama, and he was very complimentary of Hillary Clinton. He talked about her experience. So let's listen to a short bit of that interview now. [Obama:] Look, I've gotten to know Hillary really well, and she is a good, smart, tough person who cares deeply about this country. And she has been in the public eye for a long time and in a culture in which new is always better. [Unidentified Male:] Right. [Obama:] And, you know, you're always looking at the bright shiny object that people don't haven't seen before. That's a disadvantage to her. [Costello:] The president went on to say you know, he was talking about Clinton's weaknesses as well. He said she's better in small groups. That she appeared rusty at the start of her campaign, that she's been way too cautious. Is he right? [Fallon:] I think I saw the comments that the president made. And there were a lot of gracious compliments that he paid to Hillary Clinton which I think is a testimony to the fact that they have a deep running, mutual respect and admiration for each other that dates back to that spirited 2008 contest that they ran. Look, I think that in actuality Senator Sanders has been in Washington longer than Hillary Clinton. But like I said, Hillary Clinton has devoted her career to these causes. She has the calluses to show for her work to put these progressive ideals into action dating back to her work at the Children's Defense Fund, as first lady of Arkansas where she led a legal aid clinic that helped represent poor people in Arkansas. And in 1993, as first lady of the United States of America, when there was an effort made to achieve universal health care and Republicans in Congress blocked it, she dusted herself off, picked herself up and helped pass the CHIP measure which insured eight million kids. [Costello:] Right. [Fallon:] I think that's a testament to the fact that she has overcome adversity before. She's been through the ringer. With Senator Sanders, he's just starting to encounter some scrutiny over the last couple of weeks, and as a result we've seen him shifts some positions and walk some comments back. [Costello:] OK. Last [Fallon:] Hillary Clinton is the tested candidate in this race for the Democratic Party. [Costello:] Last question for you. Do you expect President Obama will endorse Hillary Clinton soon? [Fallon:] Well, actually, I think that the White House has said that he wants to let the primary process play out. So I'm taking them at their word that that's their intention there. But I think as those comments that you saw said, there is a deep admiration and respect between senator President Obama and Secretary Clinton, and she was very honored to serve under him as secretary of state. And she frequently goes around in campaign trail events and evokes the fact that under President Obama we've made great progress improving the economy. He doesn't get the credit he deserves. I think voters are increasingly recognizing that she's the one to help protect against the Republican efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act, repeal Dodd- Frank, repeal his executive actions on immigration, and go further on each of those issues. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Brian Fallon, thanks for stopping by. [Fallon:] Thank you, Carol. [Costello:] You're welcome. [Fallon:] All right. Appreciate it. [Costello:] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, they say everything is bigger in Texas. But what about endorsements? Ted Cruz just picked up one in his state. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn:] Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. It is 1:00 a.m. here in New York. I'm Poppy Harlow live with you this evening. We have CNN's special coverage of the most spectacular and stunning political shakeup in modern history. Tonight, mass demonstrations in New York, Oakland, and Portland, and other major cities across the country, the fallout from an election shocker. The democrats, not to mention many republicans thought was impossible, and then polls said was improbable. Crowds chanting Donald Trump is not our president speaking [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, there is about 1200 protesters, they've scattered throughout downtown. If you look over here, they are basically chanting all kinds of things including Trump excuse me, love Trumps hate. Now, they're chanting one person, one vote. Many of the people in this crowd have expressed to us that they fear that some of their relatives or friends might be deported under a Trump presidency. Also tonight, many people expressed to us, as Californians, they feel that their votes didn't matter in this election because the Electoral College and some of them went so far as to say that they thought that California should secede from the union. So, a lot of different experiences and a lot of people here rather spirited, Poppy. Earlier by the way, they burned a Trump head in effigy and now they're chanting "Not our president!" [Crowd:] Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! Not our president! [Vercammen:] All right, Poppy. It's going to be difficult for me to hear you if you try to fire away a question. So, I'll toss back to you right now the scene in Los Angeles. This has been peaceful. The L.A. Police Department has been taking a hand's off approach. And at one point, one of the protesters got on the bullhorn and thanked them with the hands off approach and for protecting them. And again, they are chanting "Not our president" back to you, Poppy. [Harlow:] Paul Vercammen, live for us in Los Angeles. Let's take a look at what Paul was talking about, and pull that up for our viewers to see, one of the things that was burned tonight, earlier tonight. Jean Casarez is in New York City. And Jean, you're with a crowd of protesters. It's past 1:00 in the morning here in New York. They're in front of Trump Tower. We've learned from the police, 15 people have been arrested for disorderly conduct. What are the protesters saying tonight about what they want to see happen. I hear their frustration. What is the action that they would like to see? [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] It's anger and it's hatred and ironically they're saying the same thing we just heard in Los Angeles that Paul Vercammen was telling us they were saying. But the crowd has really dispersed here as you can see behind me. There a lot of New York police officers, because they started telling people through a recorded message that they were beginning to block the sidewalk, and if they didn't disperse, they would be arrested for disorderly conduct. And as you said, 15 of them were arrested throughout the evening. But at the height of this today, remember we started in Union Square and walked 40 blocks with them here. And what their saying is it's hatred. It's hatred against Donald Trump. It's hatred against Mike Pence. It's hatred against the system in general. With some of them, signs saying that America has never been great. At the height of this, the New York Police Department said there were approximately 5,000 people. I want you to listen to what one protester said to me at the right at the height of everything tonight. Listen. [Unidentified Male:] Part of it was a deep fear of a racist reaction that Donald Trump will re-enact harsher stop and frisk laws that will wind up putting so many people back into prison. Also, a deep fear at the sexism that will be bubbling up through the United States, because you saw this incredibly qualified woman to be president being superseded by a man who has no qualifications at all for the office. [Casarez:] And so what it really got to tonight before they dispersed was they just started chanting different things and they started clapping their hands, one was "Pay your taxes," one was talking against the tower saying "New York hates Trump." They said that a lot. So, I think anything that they could get their message across, a message of really hatred, not only upset that he was elected last night as our next President of the United States, but just a passion just a passion to as you can see, there's some volatile people here. So, I'm going to send it back to you. [Harlow:] All right, Jean Casarez reporting for us. Thank you very much, Jean. And Ryan Young, to you in Chicago, you're at the protests there. I wonder if you're hearing anything else from the protesters there just in terms of what they want to see happen now? Are there any solutions or any talk of unity? [Ryan Young, Cnn Corrspondent:] No solutions so far. A lot of people hoping far last ditch effort where maybe somehow, Trump doesn't become president. I can say the group actually split into three different groups and walked down the street just a few minutes ago. And in fact, I just heard one of the police radio say there are only group of about 200 left. But this is the scene where everybody was outside the Trump building here in Chicago. We had several thousand people have been marching since about 5:00. And one of the things I want to show you, Poppy, is this blockade that they have right here. This is what they had set up so no one could get across the bridge to the hotel and the residences of Trump Tower. That's where they wanted to stop. We heard a lot of people wanting to scream a lot of vulgarity. And getting on top of city buses as well. In fact, we talked to one of the passing man in the street about what he would like to you see happen in the next few days. [Unidentified Male:] They're blocking the street, they're burning flags, they're standing on buses, they're writing swear words all over buses. It's not helping. This isn't this is not helping. I wanted Hillary to win more than anybody. Anybody. And to stand out here and to not have a call to action and not be specific, that's why we're that's why we're here where we are now, because we haven't been talking about policy, because we haven't been being specific. Because we've been talking about the things that don't matter. [Young:] So you heard that anger. You can hear his frustration. A lot of people were upset with the idea that people were blocking streets. Look, look. People were saying it's too late for some of these. I want to show you some of the destruction that happened out here as he was talking about what he didn't want to see any more of the fact that people were doing spray painting, they were jumping on city buses. That was what something that he was like, "Hey, let's channel this anger and move it in a different direction, maybe get more people mobilized to vote for the next election." We heard that over and over from people as they were walking by. Again, about 200 protesters left. But at one point, this swelled to about 3,000 people. So, a big difference in the last few hours, Poppy? [Harlow:] Yeah. Ryan Young, thank you so much for that. Jean and Paul as well. I want to take you also on the west coast tonight to Oakland, California, where police say about 6,000 protesters are on the streets there. J.R. Stone is with us with us tonight with our affiliate in Oakland, KRON. J.R. what do the streets of Oakland look like this evening? J.R. Stone, [Kron Anchor:] Well, I can tell you the message first of, from the streets of Oakland and from the protesters, is quite simply "Dump Trump!" That is a phrase that we have heard over and over again. And you see these streets in Oakland, right now, the crowds have dissipated. But more than 6,000 people were on the streets at some point this evening. We're talking about fires that were in the streets. And I think we have video of that as well. Now, at one point within the last 45 minutes, police actually moved in. Tear gas was used, because at one point some of the protesters began sending and throwing bottles, rocks and firecrackers towards some of these police. I got a word a little while ago that fire actually broke out inside the Chamber of Commerce building, a small fire at that. So, certainly have had a busy night. Multiple agencies have responded to this one. We've heard a lot of phrases out there. We've heard the quote, "Not my president." We've heard "Trump says go back, we say fight back." We've heard, "Si se puede," which means, "Yes, we can" in Spanish. So it has been one of those nights. At one point, there were two groups within the city, they met together. But then when that tear gas was dispersed, it appeared that those numbers came down dramatically. We might be in the hundreds right now. Now back to you, two in the studio. [Harlow:] All right. J.R. live with us. J.R. Stone in Oakland, thank you very much. All right. Just to go through some of what he was saying, is some of what's trending tonight on social media, #notmypresident, number one on Twitter, #heisnotmypresident, number one on Twitter in the United States and around the world, and #istillwithher also trending on Twitter tonight. Let's talk about all this with our panel. Where we go from here? Julian Zelizer's a historian and a professor of Princeton, Andre Bauer, Trump supporter and former Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Our CNN Political Commentators, Alice Stewart, former Communications Director for Ted Cruz, who supports Donald Trump, CNN Senior Media Correspondent, Brian Stelter, and Hilary Rosen, a Hillary Clinton supporter. Andre, let me begin with you. Listening to Donald Trump in the wee early morning hours, he said, "I pledge to every citizen of our land that I will be president for all Americans." Now, what should he say or do to unite the people that we just saw in these four big American cities with him? [Andre Bauer, Former South Carolina Leiutenant Governor:] If I were him, I'd sit down with Bernie Sanders, and try to have a meeting and try to say what can we do to have some find some common ground and the first things I would pass as president would be things that unite so many of the different factions that could bring them together. [Harlow:] It's an interesting proposal. Like what? [Bauer:] Infrastructure. [Harlow:] OK. [Bauer:] Go after infrastructure, jobs, creating new opportunities, for employment and creating some our bridges and roads that need to be addressed. I think everybody can unite behind that. Right now, it's a cheap time to borrow money. [Harlow:] It is and I think that's a really interesting point, Alice, because the immediate thing that the most people would think of Trump is build the wall, repeal completely Obamacare, and, you know, deport millions of undocumented people in this country. Do you agree with Andre that if he wants to be united, if he wants to be the president for all Americans, perhaps he should start with something that both sides agree on like a big infrastructure project? [Alice Stewart, Cnn Political Commentator:] I mean, that certainly would be a good first step for sure. Because, as we're seeing a lot, especially with that in California, the big concern is what's he going to do about immigration? We heard some them say that they're worried that their friends or family are going to be deported. That's a big concern. Others, we know, some of the protester are the LGBT community. They're concerned about what kind of appointments he'll make to the Supreme Court. But then again, he's made commitments saying he will have conservative justices in the Supreme Court. One of the things interesting earlier, we saw one of the signs that said "They tried to keep us silent, but little did they know we were seeds." And, what they're basically trying to say is like "We have a voice, we want to speak, please listen to us." So, maybe it's just a matter of Bernie Sanders and some of these leaders of these organizations getting them together, giving them the opportunity to say what's on their mind and let them speak. [Brian Seltzer, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] This is not about infrastructure on the screen. This is [Harlow:] But, Brian to Alice's point about, you know, we have a voice hear us. The one thing that Donald Trump has tweeted since becoming president is that those men and women who were unheard in America, and I'm paraphrasing here, has been heard. [Stlelter:] Yes. The forgotten man [Harlow:] Right. [Stelter:] Forgotten woman will never be forgotten again, he said. By the way his most re-tweeted comment he's ever had. And we know he's a Twitter pro. These people here, they are fearful. Jean was talking about hate, people hating Trump and Pence. But what I've heard walking through the streets of New York tonight was fear, fear of many different kinds. And infrastructure spending is not going to solve that fear. This maybe the beginning of an important new left-wing movement in the [U.s - Harlow:] You said to me [Stelter:] It might not be, but this could be a new occupy? [Harlow:] You said to me, Brian yes, is this a new occupy. [Stelter:] You know, and what occupy was there was no specific agenda to occupy. It was about being present and being seen. I do wonder if we're going to see encampments near Trump buildings that will be one to get his attention. And he has an opportunity here if he chooses to speak right now, to talk about this, try to speak with these protesters. [Harlow:] Hilary Rosen, to you, there are pictures we are seeing them on our screen all throughout the evening of protesters hanging an effigy of the president-elect in front of Trump tower, one of the those actually, is this hanging model of Trump above a sign that says "Love Trumps Hate." Clinton called for unity today. Her words were that Americans owe Donald Trump, quoted, "Open mind and a chance to lead." What do you want to see tonight as a Clinton supporter? [Hilary Rosen, Political Consultant:] Well, I guess, I know what I'd like to see but I don't expect much. I think that, you know, Trump has never been particularly open and interested in protesters. So, I can imagine he will be this time again. We've seen the most aggressive actions against the protesters in New York City, right in front of Trump Tower where, you know, you can see now the police force of hundreds of New York City cops going in there to clear the streets. So, I don't think he particularly is interested in these voices, but what I guess I would hope his supporters here is real fear among people about what he does with the social compact that many people feel like that the U.S. has turned into this coalition of minorities and women looking for a recognition of equality. And I think what's happened is that the effort that he has made has kind of conflated into an economic protest, an economic agenda. And I do agree with Brian that I don't think those two things are going to collapse very easily together. I don't I don't think Bernie Sanders is the leader, Andre, of the community that doesn't want to be assured that they're not going to be deported, that they're going to want to feel that the Supreme Court will continue to recognize their rights. That's it's not that's not it. I think you will see President Obama be more aggressive in that area. But I think that look, Donald Trump has already said he's going to erase, you know, President Obama's executive orders on deportation, and that is scary to families. Yes, he doesn't he's not an antigay person I believe as people think that. I haven't seen that. But he's promised to appoint Supreme Court justices that are anti-gay and have a proven record of it. So, you know, I think the problem now is that we've empowered in this election and he will empower a very, very conservative congress who will be in charge. Mitch McConnell today has already [Harlow:] Julian Zelizer, to you, Hilary brings up a really interesting and important point. Is there going to be a difference between rhetoric and reality? The rhetoric of the campaign, the reality of the governing. How will Donald Trump actually govern? Will he actually carry through on all of the very drastic measures that he has put forward, which by the way, much of the country supports and made that very, very clear. This is we're seeing democracy play out in the streets of America tonight. You're looking at pictures from earlier in New York City. And right now, those are live pictures from the streets of Los Angeles tonight where it's just past 10:00 in the evening. Julian Zelizer, to you, you wrote about this today and you said what Trump taught us is that you need to speak directly to the people. He did that in his massive rallies, he did that on Twitter. How does this change American politics going forward? What are the lessons from history that were missed here? [Julian Zelizer, Princeton University Professor:] Well, he's obviously broken some of the traditional forms of communication and opened new ones. And I think you can make comparisons with FDR and "Fireside chats," or the way that Newt Gingrich used television and cable television to communicate directly. He has some of that. I don't know how he will use it in the governing process. The governing process is very different than the campaign. It requires different kinds of rhetoric. It requires different kinds of negotiations, and there'll be new kinds of restraints imposed on him. What he has, though, is a united congress. And so, the incentives will not be toward bipartisanship. The incentives will not be to work with Bernie Sanders, in my opinion. The incentives will be to please a republican majority that's very conservative and that now sees an opportunity to do what Obama did in 2009 and 2010. And the protests, I don't know how long these will last. And the only issue so far, is Electoral College reform that I've actually heard people talking about. I don't think that's going to go very far. [Harlow:] You know what's interesting in 2012 after Mitt Romney lost, Trump said that the Electoral College was, quote, "A disaster for a democracy." The final vote tally isn't in, but right now, Hillary Clinton, Alice, is leading when it comes in the popular vote. If that continues, he will have only won, because of an institution that he called the disaster for democracy. [Stewart:] That has been around since our founding fathers put it in the constitution. Right now, you're correct. Hillary is about 0.2 percent ahead in the popular vote. Obviously, Trump won the Electoral College. And here's the thing, this is what are the way our founding fathers wanted to do it. It's kind of a compromise in electing the president by having the will of the electorate along with the popular vote of the people in order to elect our president, and has worked fine for all these years. A similar situation, as we all know, in 2000 as we had Al Gore winning the popular vote, and yet Bush winning the Electoral College. We didn't see this type of activity but there are going to be flaws with all aspects of this. But it's part of this process and has worked well for many years. And I don't see I don't see any changes. [Harlow:] My panel will be with me throughout the next two hours, stay with me. But before I go to break, and just look at what you're seeing play out in your screen. This is live footage from the streets of Los Angeles tonight. Chanting, burning some Trump you know, burning effigies of the president-elect. You see, tossing around like a pinata. Profanity written on some of the signs here, people voicing their displeasure with what has happened through, you know, the process that this country goes by. Much more of this ahead, Donald Trump spent the past year slamming President Obama. Later today, these two men will meet together at the White House to talk about that peaceful transfer of power. We will look at this extraordinary meeting that is ahead. Also, could Rudy Giuliani be the next Attorney General? What about Newt Gingrich as the next Secretary of State? New details about what's a Trump administration could look like. An election night triggered a wild ride for world financial markets. We will look ahead at what this all means for global exchanges. You're live in the "CNN NEWSROOM." [Anderson:] Well, our top story this hour is the battle for Mosul where the fighting has been going all out now for a week. Let me break down what you need to know so far. Iraqi forces claim they have freed dozens of towns and villages, but many were already empty and are booby trapped. CNN reckons that an area a little over half the size of Lichtenstein has been clawed back. In doing that, almost 800 terrorists have been reported killed. But, Iraqi forces aren't saying how many of their own troops have lost their lives. Running from that fighting, the UN says thousands of people have trickled out to refugee camps, but it's expecting that to turn into a flood of 1 million souls or about twice as many people who live in Scotland's capital Edinburgh. Just to give you a context, I'm pleased to welcome back a good friend of the show, Fawaz Gerges, who is here with me now. He's chair of contemporary Middle East studies at the London School of Economics, and as I say, a regular guest on this show. You wrote ISIS are history. It's an excellent read. Is ISIS now, well, history? [Fawaz Gerges, London School Of Economics:] No, I don't think so, not yet. ISIS sadly is going to be with us for many years. The loss of Mosul, though, which really represent a turning point. It would mean the beginning of the end of the territorial caliphate, the territorial Islamic State, as opposed to the end of ISIS as a terrorist organization, or as an insurgency. So ISIS will be with us for many years. But if and when Mosul falls in the next few weeks, this really would be a turning point in the caliphate in the Islamic State. So the effort to defeat ISIS in Iraq is a multipronged attack. The Turks would like to be involved in that. They say they are Iraq and Turkey though are at odds over Mosul because Turkey as I say wants to jump into the fight and Iraq wants it to sit on the sidelines. Here's why Ankara is so keen, Fawaz, and I want you to provide some context for this, like Turkey, most people in Mosul are Sunni Muslim, so Turkey wants to protect them, along with ethnic Turkmen, mostly from powerful Shiite groups backed by Iran. Now, Turkey worries Iran could turn Mosul into an outpost for its influence. Then there are the Kurds. While Turkey is on good terms with some of them around those parts I'm talking about the Kurds in Iraq it wants to keep others, like the PKK, in check. Plus, Ankara wants to use Mosul as a platform to make sure it has a say in other Iraqi cities like oil rich Kirkuk. Can Turkey achieve its goals in Iraq at this point? [Gerges:] Again, it's a very, very difficult situation. Iraq is a very complex country, is deeply fragmented. There's a great deal of opposition to Turkish involvement in Iraq. The Iraqi prime minister has come from under tremendous pressure from inside Iraq to really refusing any kind of support from turkey. The Iraqi government accuses the Turkish government of basically turning a blind eye to the flood of ISIS supporters into Mosul. But as you've suggested, I mean, Turkey has a particular grand ambition, not only in Mosul but also in Aleppo. It wants to be the leader of the Islamic world. It wants to come across as defending the Sunni community. [Anderson:] It could do that should these ISIS fighters be leaking out of Iraq and into Raqqa in Syria, for example. Turkey could end up being a hero to a certain extent in all of this so far as the coalition is concerned, if it would help to rid ISIS there shortly. It's complicated, isn't it? [Gerges:] It's very complicated. My take on it, and you have already suggested, Becky, that Turkey wants a voice in the post ISIS Iraq and Syria. It also, remember, there is oil in Kirkuk and Mosul, big oil, and Turkey is really starved for economic and oil resources. It wants also to have good relations with the Kurds in Iraq, the Kurdistan, the Iraqi Kurdistans as a counterweight to the PKK. So it has multiple aims at the reality is much more complex as we've seen in Syria. And finally, I would argue, at the end the day, the United States realizes how difficult this particular situation is trying to mediate between Turkey and Iraq. So far, this will not involve any military. Basically, I mean, attacks between Turkey and Iraq, it's positioning. Those sides are trying to appeal to domestic constituencies in Turkey and Iraq and also in the region as well. [Anderson:] Turkey will say it's got support on the ground for this coalition effort, and that's what the Americans will say about how its troops on the ground are involved as well as from, of course, though, as air force from a U.S. coalition which is helping support this effort towards Mosul. Donald Trump took to Twitter to share his opinion on the fighting, saying, quote, the attack on Mosul is turning out to be a total disaster. We gave them months of notice. The U.S. is looking so dumb. Vote trump and win again. Months of notice to ISIS that is, he's saying. Trump promising an amazing plan, an amazing plan, he says. I'm going to say that again, an amazing plan, to defeat them, but he won't tell anyone because you know it's a secret. U.S.-backed campaign is going well, right? Or not? [Gerges:] What Donald Trump has said is rubbish. And I say it with all fairness to Donald Trump. He doesn't know much about either Mosul or Aleppo. He says the battle in Mosul is a disaster. It has not started yet. This is the first phase, even the Americans and the Iraqis are saying the second and third phase will be more difficult. And guess what, the American man in charge of the operation has said that the campaign has met all its objectives and more. Plus so the reality is, what I'm trying to say, Trump has politicized the Mosul campaign. He does not have the knowledge. He does not have the wisdom, he's incoherent and he's trying to appeal to his basically deluded supporters, look, our government is a disaster whether it's Aleppo, whether it's Mosul, whether it's ISIS, you name it. [Anderson:] I love it when you're sitting on the fence. [Gerges:] And I said I was fair. [Anderson:] Listen, let me read you and this is obviously a very important conversation we are having. Let me read you this from the Jordan times newspaper. I noticed this today, and it's quite an interesting column there. The columnist Amar Al Sabaleh wrote, quote, "the message is that the current administration plays I'm talking about the U.S. plays a role in the liberation of Mosul, demonstrating the success of President Barack Obama's second term, much like the elimination was used to demonstrate the success of his first time." Amar talks about the Hollywoodesque narrative at play here. You are an expert of western foreign policy in this region. Do you worry that this Mosul offensive is turning into a battleground to win voters back in The States? In fact, and again I know quite a bit about the battle for Mosul, it was the Obama administration who has delayed the battle for Mosul for many months. In fact, it was the Iraqi government that had been pushing for a quicker date for the start of the battle in Mosul. The Obama administration said the Iraqi government was not ready. It took a great deal of time to train 30,000 forces. And guess what, Becky, President Obama will not, might not witness the liberation of Mosul during his tenure in the White House. In fact, the liberation of Mosul will not, and might not take place until the end of the Barack administration. This military man, both in Iraq and the U.S. determine the date and the logistics of the battle. Of course if I were Barack Obama I would love to see the liberation of Mosul. That's not how battles like Mosul, complex battles. Mosul is a city of 1.2 million men. ISIS has two years and half to entrench itself in Mosul. It has between 5,000 and 8,000 fighters. This battle is going to be complex, bloody, prolonged, in blood and treasure. And no administration, including Barack Obama, would basically risk any kind of amateurish relationship in Mosul. Farwas Gerges, always a pleasure. Thank you. [Gerges:] Fine. Thanks. [Anderson:] Well, we have heard a lot of bitter and divisive rhetoric in this U.S. presidential campaign. Donald Trump, in particular, has been accused of hate speech for his remarks about Muslims and Mexicans amongst others. You may remember when he called for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. He said some Muslims hate America calling it a, quote, dangerous problem. Trump also came under fire for suggest a judge couldn't be fair because he is Mexican. That judge was actually born in the U.S. leading even some fellow Republicans to accuse Trump of textbook racism. And the list goes on. [Trump:] They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They're bringing crime. They're rapists. And some, I assume, are good people. But we have some bad hombres here, and we're going to get them out. I promise, we will build a wall, I promise. [Cristina Alesci, Cnn Correspondent:] We all heard about the possibility that this has increased, this political rhetoric that Donald Trump is putting out there, has increased the amount of bullying and racist attitudes inside schools. But honestly, I went into this story thinking bullying has been around in schools, at least here in the U.S., since the beginning of time and I'm sure around the world. So I went to this the school outside of Seattle, Washington, which you could argue is probably one of the most tolerant schools in the country, 90 different languages spoken, lots of immigrants, some refugees, and what I found was not just run of the mill bullying, I found something way more disturbing. The question, of course, is is it Donald Trump's fault. [Shukri Diriye, Student:] I've never heard anyone call me a terrorist until this year. [Cristina Alesci, Cnn Money Correspondent:] Shukri Diriye is an American. She was born in Colorado. [Diriye:] My parents are immigrants from Somalia. They left it because of the civil war. [Alesci:] Now, she's a middle schooler in Tacoma, Washington, in one of the most diverse school districts in the country. [Diriye:] There's people from a different background. You never feel left out because there's always someone that looks like you. [Alesci:] Students here say they used to feel safe and welcome. But rhetoric on the campaign trail has changed that. In a nonscientific survey by the Southern Poverty Law Center, one-third of educators reported an increase in bulling and Muslim or anti-immigrant sentiment in schools. [Debbie Aldous, Teacher:] I think the main difference I've noticed the last year and a half, has been the tone. Now, they have words that they are throwing around, labeling other kids. [Alesci:] Like what? [Aldous:] Things like towel head or you should run back to the border. These are things that we hadn't been hearing before. And our population hasn't changed. What has changed to me is the political rhetoric. [Alesci:] Is it all Donald Trump's fault? Not necessarily. [Jonathan Zimmerman, University Professor:] These metaphors and these ideas and these fears predated Trump and are extent in a much bigger swath of our population than just the people who are going to vote for Donald Trump. [Alesci:] Polls show half the U.S. population supports a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S. Yet... [Zimmerman:] The Trump candidacy has obviously played a large role in triggering these episodes. It's made lots of people and their kids feel more free to express certain bigoted ideas. [Alesci:] For Shukry, the bullying has shaken her confidence. [Diriye:] Even for me, like, I had my doubts. What if I'm the bad person in this situation? What if I tonight deserve to be in this country? I felt like that sometimes. I knew I was accepted. But he kept saying those things, I thought, well, I'm not American. I'm not from this area. Even though I was born and raised here, I'm not someone that deserves to live here. That was really, like, Somalia never had a civil war. I wish I could have stayed there, with people that look like me. I wouldn't be the different person. [Alesci:] The studies show there's definitely an increase in depression and anxiety with kids who are bullied, but what hasn't been studied is this specific kind of bullying. But clearly a lot of pain is being felt right now. [Anderson:] Yes, absolutely, good reporting, thank you. Remember, you can get an update on the presidential race in its entirety around the clock on the website. Florida in the headlines today as early voting, of course, gets underway there. CNN's political director explains why it's such a critical battleground state in what is his daily podcast. That and much more on CNN.com, definitely worth a listen, that. Live from Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World. Coming up, the president of The Philippines trying to clean up some controversial comments, but is the damage already done? A report from Manila just ahead. [Nancy Grace, Hln:] Breaking news tonight. The search turns desperate for a missing 9-year-old Florida girl. Tonight, police have the alleged perp. But where`s the girl? [Unidentified Female:] They caught the guy, but they don`t know anything about where Diana could be. Deputies tracking down and detaining 28-year-old Jorge Guerrero, who`s suspected of taking the child. Little Diana Alvares is still missing. [Grace:] Stanford University ex-champion swimmer gets a slap on the wrist for raping an unconscious co-ed. Slap on the wrist? Six months, six months in the county jail after a jury finds him guilty on three felony sex attacks on an unconscious girl outside a campus fraternity party. And to top it all off, after he gets a sweetheart deal, his dad, his father, writes, Going to prison is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action. Action? He calls it action? I call it a felony! [Unidentified Male:] The judge`s decision to sentence former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to just six months in county jail and probation for sexually assaulting a woman who passed out drunk. [Unidentified Female:] I`d be livid. I`d be furious. [Unidentified Male:] A light sentence, she said, would make a mockery of the seriousness of his assault. [Grace:] A distraught dad leaps over the pews in a crowded courtroom, attacking the brutal serial killer that murders his daughter. But tonight, is the father being charged with a crime? Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. The search turning desperate for a missing 9-year-old Florida girl. Tonight, police have the alleged kidnapper, but where is the little girl? They can`t get anything out of him? And sadly, Bob Alexander, news director at Fox News, in our jurisprudence, we can`t use sodium pentothal to shoot him up with a shot and make him tell the truth. Right now, this girl`s life is hanging in the balance, a 9-year-old little girl. That`s a 3rd grader. Look at her. Look at her in her little side pony. We don`t know where this girl is. We don`t know if she was sold. We don`t know if she`s being prostituted out. We don`t know if she`s dead. We don`t know if she`s alive. We don`t know if she`s locked in some basement of a home or an apartment, starving dead. We don`t know anything. Is she tied up. Is she in a closet? Is she even alive? That`s where we are tonight, Bob Alexander. First of all, how did the whole thing go down? Let`s start at the beginning. The little girl lives with the mom and the stepfather and the family, the siblings. And the mom wakes up early, early on Sunday morning to get the children ready to go to church, and she sees immediately that the 9-year-old daughter, Diana, is gone. Now, their home very, very small. There`s no indication that there was a break-in, nothing. Take it from there, Bob Alexander. BOB ALEXANDER, 92.5 [Fox News:] Well, Nancy, in those early morning hours back on May 29th, Diana was discovered missing within a three-hour period of the mother waking up to fix a bottle for the little baby and then trying to get her up to prepare for church. It was then reported to police, who then began an exhaustive search with seven different law enforcement agencies. And then the attention turned to Jorge Guerrero, who had been living at that mobile home for about nine months and had some kind of an attraction with Diana. And that`s when the search began in earnest to try and find this guy, Guerrero, who had moved out several weeks earlier. [Grace:] Well, and another thing about that. Another thing about that, the reason the mother kicked him out, Jorge Guerrero, is because she did not like the connection he seemed to have with her daughter. Now, this is how they knew each other. Correct me if I`m wrong, Bob, the mother knew him from work. And when he was looking for a place to stay, she let him move in, I assume for rent, into their home. And he would talk all the time about how cute the girl was, how pretty the girl was to a point where the mom didn`t like it and said, You know, you shouldn`t be talking like that about a 9-year-old little girl. You need to leave. And he left. And he`d been gone for about a little over three weeks. And all of a sudden, she pops up missing. So immediately, suspicion was on him, Jorge Guerrero. But the police find him. Where do they find him, Bob Alexander? [Alexander:] Nancy, they found him in Okeechobee County, which is about an hour and 20 minutes to the north of the Ft. Myers, Lee County area. He was chased down after that Amber Alert. They took him into custody. They brought him back here to Lee County, where he appeared before a judge today. But according to family members of Diana Alvares, he has been unwilling to even discuss Diana, leaving everyone even more frustrated and worried. [Grace:] Isn`t it true, Justin Freiman, they`ve got his vehicle? But what I notice, I notice a discrepancy, Justin, because he had a van at the family home, at Diana`s home. And from what I can tell in the police documents, they found a car. I don`t like that. Does that mean he ditched the van or I don`t know what it means. It may mean nothing. But wasn`t there also a delay in issuing the Amber Alert? [Justin Freiman, Nancy Grace Producer:] That`s right, Nancy. There was a delay. [Freiman:] And that delay might have made things worse because a person that Guerrero actually stayed with in Orlando for a few days said he didn`t know of any Amber Alert because it hadn`t come out yet, and had it have already come out, he would have spotted the guy even sooner. [Grace:] Oh, this is just killing me. This is just killing me. Marc Klaas, president, founder, Klaas Kids Foundation. Think about it Marc. You remember the early days of having children when you`re up all night. This mom gets up in the middle of the night. I`ve been there, been there, been there. You get up 2:00 o`clock, 3:00 o`clock, 4:00 o`clock to make a bottle for one baby. The other baby, you check on it. Can you even imagine? I guess you can, Marc. Your child not being in her bed. I mean, I can`t even imagine, Marc. And now this guy Marc Klaas! This guy has been apprehended for child porn on a cell related to him. That was Marc Klaas`s daughter who went missing and was killed, OK? Marc, I mean, can you even imagine? Now, I`m wondering, the child pornography that Guerrero has on his phone I wonder, is it related to this girl? Did that mother have just an instinctive knowledge that something was horribly wrong, Marc? [Marc Klaas, Klaas Kids Foundation:] Well, she very well may have, Nancy. And I think that the pornography obviously raises too many red flags in this case. You know, I`ve been a vocal opponent or a vocal critic of the Amber Alert ever since it turned into a national project for the very reason that it failed this little girl in this instance. The kids that need it the most, the kids that are taken in their bed in the night their abductors don`t leave a calling card. They don`t leave their vehicle information. They don`t leave their license plate. But we know that there`s a little girl that looks like [Grace:] But what`s bothering me right now hold on, guys. I`m hearing in my ear we are now being joined by Nancy Martinez, the cousin of little Diana. Nancy, thank you for being with us. [Nancy Martinez, Cousin Of Missing Girl:] You`re welcome. [Grace:] Nancy, what first of all, we, all of us, are praying that Diana comes home, all of us. [Martinez:] Thank you. [Grace:] And I want to know what, if anything, police are telling you or your family tonight? [Martinez:] That`s the thing. They`re not telling us anything. They`re keeping us in the dark about everything. [Grace:] Tell me this. When Diana`s mother forced this guy out I mean, she knew him from work. She had worked with him. She had no idea there was anything wrong. He needed a place to live. She says, Sure, you can rent a room with us. When what led her to kick him out? It had to be some kind of intuition. Something made her kick this guy out. And tonight, he`s not saying a word about where Diana is. And he holds all the keys, the key to crack this case in his hand. And he`s not talking. [Martinez:] When she noticed that he was getting very attached to Diana, that`s when she decided, you know, to confront him and tell him that it wasn`t right, that she didn`t see it, said that he was getting too close to her daughter. She asked him to move out. He moved out the following day. [Grace:] In what way? When you say getting too close to her, what do you mean by that, spending too much time with her, talking to her on... [Martinez:] He was spending way too much time he was spending way too much time with her. He would look for any excuse to take her out to the park or to take her out to eat, any excuse to be alone with her. So when she noticed that, she immediately put a stop to it, and she asked him to move out. [Grace:] And you know, Nancy, we are brought up to believe the best, good, about everyone. And when it`s somebody you`ve been working with for a period of time, you think you know them. Sure, fine, go take her to the park. That`s but then over and over and over, suddenly, it hits her something is wrong. Nancy Martinez, relative of missing Diana, just 9 years old. Tonight, we don`t know where she is. We have no clue. But I can tell you this. Jorge Guerrero knows something. They get him, they get his cell phone, and they find child pornography on his phone. Now, another thing, Nancy Martinez. There was no sign of forced entry in their home. I`m wondering, did he have a key made? Did he still have the key? They also have a pitbull, I think it is. The dog didn`t bark. That dog barks at everybody. It had to be somebody that dog would not bark at. [Martinez:] That`s when we noticed something was wrong. Again, we handed this information to police officers the first day that Diana went missing, and according to a source that we have, the officers went to Okeechobee that same Sunday that she went missing. So neighbors were interviewed. [Grace:] ... and they find his car. What did the neighbors say? [Martinez:] The neighbors said that they didn`t know anything about a little girl being missing, that they were just there to ask question ask questions about Guerrero. So they were never informed that Diana was missing at all. [Grace:] Has anybody reported seeing Diana? [Martinez:] We`ve had various leads from a lot of people here in Florida that claim to have seen Diana with Guerrero. So at this point, officers are looking into it. They`re pulling footage. Hopefully, we can, you know, pinpoint exactly where he might have dropped her off, if that was the case. [Grace:] Everyone, tonight, prayers are going up. But we need your tips 1-800-780-TIPS, 1-800-780-7477. And you may fault the mother for taking in a renter, but not everybody can afford to pay their house payment, to pay a mortgage on a condo like a lot of people who go to college and they get their grad degree and they get a good job. This mother brings somebody in she thinks she knows from work, OK, as a renter. Now her daughter is gone! Please help us find this girl! [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. NATO, the EU and former U.S. commanders including the former CIA Director David Petraeus among others are warning about Russia's assault on western democracy itself, accusing President Putin of waging an unconventional war with fake news, trolls and bots as frontline forces. European countries facing elections this year are worried enough not just to call out this phenomenon, but to take action against it. The Netherlands says it will hand count every vote in next month's general election to prevent hackers from influencing the outcome. And in the Czech Republic, where hackers suspected of working for a foreign power have recently breached dozens of government e-mail accounts. Our Isa Soares in Prague gets a look into a new special unit that's been set up to tackle the tsunami of disinformation. [Isa Soares, Cnn International Correspondent:] Prague's heart may lie in Europe, but the ghost of a Soviet past still haunts the Czechs. 27 years on since the fall of communism, the Czech government says their fight is now online accusing Russia of waging an information war. [Tomas Prouza, Czech State Secretary For European Affairs:] The ultimate Russian goal is to again bring us back into the Russia sphere of influence. They want to weaken Europe. They want to make sure that Western Europe is not able to stand up to them. [Soares:] In the last few years Czechs have seen a rise in anti-U.S., anti- NATO and anti-EU rhetoric. [on-camera]: Direct links to Russia may be hard to prove but one government source tells me there are as many as 40 pro-Russian Web sites operating within the country. So to counter this, the Czech government has set up a specialist unit to tackle what it calls hybrid threats and disinformation. And it's happening in the building behind me. [voice-over]: Managed by the Ministry of Interior, they've been countering these apparent falsehoods since the beginning of this year, flagging on Twitter story they say are hoaxes. The manager of the unit tells me it's a team of 14 young computer analysts and seasoned intelligence experts. [David Chovanec, Czech Interior Ministry Official:] The objective of the disinformation is to somehow disrupt the social balance in the country. We don't want to be just pessimistic, sitting down and waiting. We want to take a pro-active approach. [Soares:] He has reason to be wary. According to this report by Czech's domestic security agency, there is little doubt of Russia's involvement. It accuses Russia of infiltrating Czech media to sway perceptions of creating tensions within the Czech Republic and spreading alarming rumors about the U.S. and [Nato. Prouza:] We follow the money and how some of these alternative Websites are financed. This links to people that are connected to Russia. [Soares:] How real is the threat to Europe? [Prouza:] It is the biggest threat Europe has been facing since 1930s. [Soares:] The fear is very palpable here. At this school in Prague, they now teach 17 and 18-year-olds how to spot Russian propaganda. [Unidentified Female:] Media, traditional media and social networks are influencing the results of elections. [Soares:] Crucial given that most of its class will be voting for the first time in Czech elections in October. Elections some here fear could be manipulated by their former foes. Isa Soares, CNN, Prague, Czech Republic. [Amanpour:] And when we asked about the Czech Republic's allegations, the Kremlin declined to answer CNN's questions. And President Putin and other Russian officials have consistently denied accusations about spreading fake news and attempting to influence elections in the U.S., Germany and other countries. My next guest, Pankaj Mishra, is the author of "Age of Anger", a history of the present and he joins me now. Welcome to the program. [Pankaj Mishra, Author, Age Of Anger:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] What do you make of that? Age of anger, I get it. But others malevolently trying to influence western democracy. Do people understand what's going on despite their anger? [Mishra:] Well, I think, I mean, something like fake news, for instance, I think is very much seen and has been noticed by people in Russia. If the Putin regime is indeed behind it, their very lies, this reflects the big crisis in legitimacy within Europe, within America. Not just politicians and businessmen but also of media. And they are very shrewdly moved to capitalize on this and to flood public spaces with fake news because the all media the conventional media, traditionally get like you and I have been working for, faces a crisis of legitimacy. As we know public trust in the old media is at an all-time low and this vacuum of the fake news comes flooding in. [Amanpour:] So now let's talk about people who've got to figure out when they cast their vote, you know, what is fact and what is fake. We have some sound bites from supporters of Donald Trump about the latest Muslim ban. We'll play those and then we'll talk about it. [Michael Fitzgerald, Trump Voter:] I'm glad to see our president taking the actions he needs to take to provide the highest degree of security for the American citizenry that he possibly can. [Kristina Twitty, Trump Voter:] Because I walk that same street in Nice, where the truck ran over all those people. So I'm aware that we're just a few steps from terrible things that could happen. And I'm OK with a temporary stop so that we can re-evaluate where we are. [Amanpour:] When you hear that, what do you think? I mean, America is the land of immigration, of tolerance, of all the values that we could endlessly quote under the constitution. What do you think and what has driven ordinary men and women to have those views? [Mishra:] I think anger. And that's where I think we are wrong when we think that, you know, just providing people with the facts will allow them to make rational decisions. I think so much of politics today is being driven by anger. And that anger is a result of feeling powerless over a long period and feeling that a minority has monopolized not just, you know, opportunities, highest levels of income but also social and country capital. And now I think, you know, there's a big backlash under way and demagogues, bigots, scoundrels of various sorts are beneficiaries of that. [Amanpour:] So where does this end? Because you've just mentioned demagogues, bigots, scoundrels and there are certainly many of them on the horizon in Europe and further a field in the Far East and et cetera. What do you think is the next step? Will it be a counter backlash when they see the policies that are implemented or where does this anger end? [Mishra:] Well, the history that I describe in this book doesn't offer too many reassuring lessons about, you know, de-escalation, for instance. It doesn't offer too many consoling stories about effective resistance. But I think, at the same time, you know, what we've seen in the last ten days since the Trump administration was sworn in is really an admirable degree of resistance, political participation by ordinary citizens especially in the United States, which I think is hugely, hugely heartening. [Amanpour:] So it is almost like a jump start to civic sort of activity? [Mishra:] I think people are awakening to the ethical responsibilities as citizens, which is the most important thing to have happen. I mean, I think we should be grateful to Trump for inciting that. [Amanpour:] Do you think, do you think on the other hand, people like Angela Merkel, I'm just taking she's one of those under assault, but the more mainstream defenders of the liberal world order that America has led for the last 70 years, do you think she and her cohorts have perhaps failed to tell the story of 70 years of mostly peace in Europe, of a massive, you know, raising out of poverty of millions, hundreds and millions of people around the world and of all of the good news that's happened over the last 70 years? [Mishra:] Well, if you're a white working class man in America, I think the narrative of general progress, general improvement is no longer persuasive. You know, you're looking at your own life and thinking I'm actually suffering a huge loss in my opportunities and my income. My social mobility is being blocked so, you know, for some people in other parts of the world. And even there, you know, a lot of people in India feel that their social mobility is blocked. They've been lifted out of poverty, but for them there is, you know, for a lot of them, there's nowhere to go after that, you know. So I think what we are sort of witnessing is a kind of universal rage at this point at people finding the horizons blocked and that is taking very toxic forms. And it doesn't matter what narrative you present, you know. You can present any kind of narrative and you can save about 70 years of peace, but you know, people have come back and say that 70 years of peace is exceptional, was exceptional because we just emerged out of a destructive war, but everywhere had been level apart from America, Europe and Asia were in ruins. [Amanpour:] Well, we really are at the dawn of a new era. We'll see where it leads. Pankaj Mishra, author of "Age of Anger", thank you very much indeed. [Mishra:] Thank you. [Tapper:] Welcome back. For such a complicated process vice presidential vetting often produces relatively uncomplicated choices. Take current House Speaker Paul Ryan, Governor Romney's 2012 running mate. He was squeaky clean. But things get tricky as they did with Sarah Palin in 2008. There are nonstop stories about candidates past, family and every skeleton real or imagined hidden away. So why is Governor John Hickenlooper, a guy who admits to getting high, taking naked pictures, and being arrested for drunk driving potentially on Hillary Clinton's VP list? He sat down with Jake to talk about it. [Jake Tapper, Cnn:] Governor, thanks so much for being here. [Governor John Hickenlooper , Colorado:] Yes, glad to be on. [Tapper:] Now we should explain your life in beer. This is not because you have a problem. This is because you started your career in brewing and as a restaurateur. [Hickenlooper:] I started out as geologist and had five great years in the gas business and then the price of oil collapsed, the company got sold. And for a couple of years, I was out of work and ended up starting a brew pub in this old abandoned warehouse in lower downtown Denver back when the rent was at $1 per square foot per year. [Tapper:] That was a long time ago. [Hickenlooper:] Yes. [Tapper:] So and then from there to mayor of Denver to governor of Colorado. I have to say, for a politician, if you'll pardon me, for a politician's memoir, it's a rather jarring beginning. You start off basically talking about the end of your first marriage and you come to Washington, D.C., and you and your wife go to the hotel and there's a bed and you haven't $ slept in the same bed for a long time. It's a very unusual way to start a book. [Hickenlooper:] Yes. It was actually my ex-wife's idea to make that the first chapter. She helped write part of the book. She came to my wedding a few months ago. We're very we're still family but a different kind of family. You know, it was I got into public life because I wanted people to believe in government. I thought people in small business should bring some common sense to government. We hate government. We hate ourselves. America, they are us. So I thought if I was going to write a book like this, I had a story that might matter to other people, I should be authentic. I should be flat out tell the truth. To reveal not just the good stuff I'm proud of, but some of the stuff I'm sorry that I did. [Tapper:] So the first sentence of the book, publicist's pitch to us. I realize you didn't write it. The first sentence of the pitch is you are a solid contender to be the next vice president. Obviously Hillary Clinton should she get the nomination is going to be looking for a vice president. Is a job you would be interested in? Would you submit? Is this book the submission? Here's all warts and all? Here's everything [Hickenlooper:] If I was auditioning for a VP slot, I probably a lot of things I probably should have left out of the book. But I love being governor. Colorado right now is at the nexus of a lot of great things that are going on. Our unemployment is down to 3 percent. We have job growth. We're transforming our education system, our health care. I think we're finally getting our arms around bending down the cost of health care. It would be tough to walk away from a place like Colorado. It's pretty beautiful to live there, too. I don't mind point out. [Tapper:] There is a lot of, I should say, when you say warts and all. You're not kidding. There's a thing about a drunk driving arrest, smoking marijuana, and a nude self-portrait. [Hickenlooper:] Long ago. We are talking college, just to be clear. [Tapper:] I want to ask you about Colorado. It is a battle ground state. Will Donald Trump, should he be the nominee, will he be able to win that state do you think? [Hickenlooper:] I think it's going to be a pitch battle, but I don't think he'll win. I think that Colorado is very independently minded, independence in almost every sense. I think they care a lot about character. I think they are faced with the prospect of their children looking up. Kids look up to the president of the United States. That's who they model themselves. He's been such a bully. I think he's a blow hard. I think the people of Colorado are going to that's going to repeal them I think. [Tapper:] Governor Hickenlooper, it's great to have you here. Thanks so much. The book again, "The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics." Thanks so much for joining us. [Hickenlooper:] You bet. I appreciate it. [Sciutto:] That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jim Sciutto. I turn you over to Pamela Brown. She is in " [The Situation Room." Pamela Brown, Cnn Guest Anchor:] Happening now, third party threat, a leading [Kosik:] An historic morning unfolding in the United Kingdom. Just hours from now, David Cameron will leave Downing Street for the last time as Britain's prime minister. He's going to head straight to Buckingham Palace to tender his formal resignation. Cameron's replacement, Theresa May, will then be granted an audience with the queen. Let's go live to London and bring in CNN's Robin Oakley. You know, something tells me that Theresa May is going to have little breathing room here, no honeymoon period that many other newly elected officials enjoy. Am I right about that? [Robin Oakley, Cnn Political Contributor:] Absolutely so, Alison, yes. And she's facing the difficult task that we expected a leadership contest for the conservative party leadership carrying with it the job of prime minister to last nine weeks, through to September 9th, when her main opponent dropped out of the contest earlier this week, that left Theresa May with a coronation instead of a contest. It also left her with just two days to put together a new cabinet team to replace the one she's been working in with David Cameron, Alison. [Kosik:] So, what kind of timetable is she working on? Because at some point, the official process instilling Article 50 of actually having a separation of the U.K. from the E.U. has to be put into play. Is there any indication she's going to do that right away, or will she wait or there's talk that may never happen? [Oakley:] No, it's going to happen. But it's not going to happen quickly. Theresa May has indicated that she's not going to activate Article 50 beginning those negotiations with the European Union until the end of this year at the earliest. So, January 2017 is the earliest we'll see action on that. She will try and have contacts, I think, with other European leaders before that. Although they said no talks until she activates Article 50. There's a bit of a standoff there. But there's one key question to settle, that is 3 million E.U. citizens work and live in Britain. And Theresa May has so far said, well, their future she can't guarantee. They'll have to be part of the negotiations. But there are also 1 million Britons in E.U. countries. So, maybe they can cut a deal on that before the formal talks on Britain's withdrawal begins, Alison. [Kosik:] So many unanswered questions, so many question marks with this, because, of course, the Brexit is unprecedented. CNN's Robin Oakley, thanks so much. [Marquez:] Now, no arrests as police revealed plots to attack officers in Baton Rouge, a city divided by protests in last week's deadly police shooting. What we've learned overnight, coming up next. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. We're live in Las Vegas, outside the Venetian, the site of tonight's CNN Republican presidential debate. The candidates will start to arrive any minute now. What could be a make-or-break moment for many of them is just hours away. [Berman:] New this morning, Donald Trump domination. A new poll showing him more than 20 points ahead of the rest of the Republican field. This is his biggest lead yet. We're going to go inside the debate hall, the Venetian Theater behind us, in just a moment. But first, we do have breaking news out of Los Angeles. The second- largest school system in the country has been shut down over a threat, over half a million students. [Bolduan:] Huge and very scary moment for everyone involved. Just moments ago, the superintendent of the Los Angeles schools, he explained his decision to shut down the entire school district. Now, we will say this. A lot of details are not have not come in yet. This is a developing situation. But the superintendent did say it was not just one, but many schools that received threats. Listen here. [Ramon Cortines, Superintendent, Los Angeles School District:] Some of the details talked about backpacks, talked about other packages, and after talking with him, also with the board president, I made a decision to close all of the schools. [Bolduan:] Joining us now for more on this as we continue to wait and get more developments and details in on the situation, CNN national security analyst, Juliette, also a former top-ranking official at Department of Homeland Security. Juliette, you hear from the superintendent, he said it was not one, it was not two, it was three schools not three schools, but many schools that received threats, an electronic threat. What do you make of this? Do we have Juliette? [Juliette Kayyem, Cnn National Security Analyst:] I'm here. [Bolduan:] We're having a hard time making go ahead, Juliette. [Kayyem:] John, sorry about this. Listen, this is unprecedented. In my history in Homeland Security, I have never heard anything like this, the magnitude of the closure. People who don't know the L.A. school system, it's hundreds of schools across miles and miles. This is incredibly disruptive to the school system and, obviously, the trickle-down effect. As anyone who has kids knows, if your kids are home, then you are home. My guess is, and this is supposition based on my experience, but also what we've heard is the superintendent simply had no time to assess the veracity or validity of the threat at this stage, and made a judgment call that may have been too cautious, but nonetheless one he felt was necessary. And that is all we have to go on right now. I have to say, I went through this with my school district last week. Cambridge Public School Systems decided not to close. Felts these call-ins will continue to happen in the threat environment we're in. Instead, notified parents and give us information about increased police presence. That's a sort of counter narrative to what L.A. just did. [Berman:] Interesting, Juliette. You think it's a timing thing and not a severity thing. As you said, I can't remember a shutdown like this. You're talking about more than 600,000 students. [Bolduan:] 900 schools. [Berman:] What they say they to want do right now is search these schools with expert personnel. For what, unclear. The superintendent said some type of unspecified threat involving backpacks and other unspecified you would think, to make this kind of decision, they need some kind of information to indicate that they need to exercise this sudden caution. [Kayyem:] John, it's curious. The superintendent was talking about "I." "I made the decision, I made the decision." I think we will hear over time where the mayor's office was at this stage and also where the L.A. Police Department was. The school district has its own police department, own security apparatus, given its size and diversity and the urban nature of the school district. But based on solely specified schools across a school district that, as you said, includes almost 1,000 schools, I'm not seeing it yet. I'm not seeing what would have triggered this except the timing issue. That's my only explanation at this stage, that they wake up in the morning, they have no way to assess what the threats are and decide to be utterly cautious. You will remember when we were with the Boston Marathon, some universities closed, but that was during a hunt, right? That was during a specific terrorist incident. This is really unprecedented. And I think we have I think we will learn a lot in the next couple of hours. [Bolduan:] Absolutely. And the superintendent says he's going to be making another statement later in the day. They need to though. He says he wants every school checked and cleared before he makes the decision and the call to allow students back in. Juliette, stick with us. Stand by for us. Let's get over to Paul Vercammen. Paul is in Los Angeles, outside the school where that press conference was held just moments ago. Paul, you heard it in the superintendent's voice. He was very serious and he understood the gravity of the decision he had to make. [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] He did. That was echoed by the Los Angeles Police Department. I talked with a spokesman there and they were saying they are on a level-one alert. They're not on a tactical alert yet but they want officers to be extremely visible today. The ripple effect in all of this, as we speak right now, 8:00, traditionally, a time schools start in L.A., so from what we understand, people are greeting students at the school right now. We talked about the buses, but many students walk to school and get there by other means. They were trying to lay out through a phone tree that went out early this morning that everybody should be aware, if they can, do not go to school today, trying to get that message to friends and other people in the district. You are right. There's a high level here. Again, the LAPD confirming that they're at a level-one right now and not on tactical alert. We'll have to wait and see what the next moves are. I should also tell you that private schools are still in session, at least some that I talked to, as this you can imagine the tension and the heightened sense of tension throughout Los Angeles this morning. As it was said, this large school district, as you pointed out, 900 schools, 640,000 students, the second-largest in the country, the L.A. Unified School District shut down this morning amid this threat. [Berman:] Paul, stand by. The superintendent also said he made this decision in the wake of what happened in San Bernardino, which is very nearby Los Angeles, and also what's going on overseas. I'm sure he's talking about what's going on in Paris, and what's going around the United States and I imagine he's talking about shootings at schools like Oregon and the like. I want to bring back Juliette Kayyem, Homeland Security expert. Juliette, you mentioned that you wonder if this superintendent you expect he made the decision in conjunction with the mayor's office and local authorities. What about federal authorities? What about the investigations going on in nearby San Bernardino? What about the FBI? Do you imagine they were consulted before a decision of this scope, immense scope, 600,000 students, was made? [Kayyem:] One would hope so. There's a Joint Terrorism Task Force, very vibrant in Los Angeles. I actually grew up there and spent a lot of time there. On the joint terrorism task force will be federal officials as well as local officials representing the school district. What I am wondering, when I keep talking about timing is what time did the threats come in and what were they able to pull together in terms of coordination and cooperation. The Department of Homeland Security would never advise a school system, based on at least what the superintendent is saying, to close down the entire school system. This is clearly coming from local officials. I just to want make one thing clear. As a parent and a mother, I know people are very worried. There's a large you know, there's a lot going on and there's a big threat environment, but in the absence of that threat environment, we would not close down an entire school system like this based on a few phone calls. We have to remember that, because, you know, this threat environment could last for some time. I think we have to recognize some of it is background noise. Secondly, as a counterterrorism official, we know none of the scary things that happened recently were called in before. There are people that do hoaxes that feed off fear. I suspect that's what's happening here. [Bolduan:] So unsettling for everyone watching, second-largest school district in the country shut down, 900 schools. Juliette, thank you so much. Paul Vercammen, thank you so much. We'll get back to you. Joining us right now, I want to bring in Kenneth Trump, president of the National School Safety and Security Services. He's a school safety expert. Kenneth, are you with us? Are you with us? [Kenneth Trump, President, National School Safety And Security Services:] I am. Good morning, John and Kate. [Bolduan:] Good morning to you. Thanks so much for jumping on the phone. You were involved in the school system in Cleveland, as I was reading, and you what do you make of the fact that this school system is shut down. What does that say to you? [Trump:] Well, we actually did a study of more than 800 violent school threats as part of our consulting with schools across the nation. Having been in the field for more than 30 years, it's quite concerning when you see the scope and magnitude of this. Juliette brought up a number of important points. In our study of more than 800 violent threats, we found out 37 percent of those were sent electronically. Many times, the impact to social media phenomenon known as SWATing, making calls to schools for massive police response, is another phenomenon we're dealing with. Out of that study, more than 30 percent shut down of the schools had evacuated, 10 percent shutdown, and many of those unnecessarily. What we're preaching today Kate, we're trying to get schools to focus on not reacting and then assessing, but to assess and then react. What you may have in the L.A. case, though, is a scenario where the superintendent and their law enforcement authorities did not have adequate time to assess and made this decision. There are some challenges that come with making a shutdown like this because you have to make sure this does not become a routine process, that you have a threat-assessment protocol in place, teams that are trained and you evaluate. Oftentimes, the best thing for children is to continue on under heightened security as these investigations go on. It's a challenging situation. I suspect one of the possibilities, again, is they did not have adequate opportunity to do a thorough threat assessment. We would hope that once they do that they return to normalcy under heightened security, unless their threat assessment shows there's a clear and imminent threat. The situation in San Bernardino may bring proximity to it because of the location, because it's caught some of our attention in the school security field about the shooter having a public employment role where he had access to schools, inspecting cafeteria and also, according to news reports, had photographs of the exterior of at least one other high school on his phone, raises concerns. This is something we've talked about. I testified to Congress and the House Homeland Security Committee in 2007. It's a challenge. You want to keep some perspective and context. I'm a parent as well. We don't want people across the nation fearful. It's a tough balance. [Bolduan:] That's absolutely right, Kenneth. It's a very tough balance. A very difficult situation. We still don't have all the details up. You raised a lot of important questions that need to be answered as we continue to follow this breaking news. Kenneth Trump, thanks so much for calling in. [Berman:] Obviously, the back drop of this stunning decision to close the Los Angeles school district comes when there are these national security concerns. That will be the theme of the debate here tonight in Las Vegas at the Venetian Theater. Candidates have begun to arrive. We have one candidate next to us. We'll discuss this new threat with him in just a moment. [Bolduan:] Also ahead for us, in moments, President Obama will be welcoming two dozen new U.S. citizens, including a refugee from Iraq. Will the president take a shot, and that opportunity to take a shot at Donald Trump and other Republicans who now want to ban refugees from the United States? This is CNN's special coverage, live from Las Vegas. We'll be right back. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Trump made this decision on his own, and Donald Trump now making clear that he is in control of his campaign. He's the one in control completely of his campaign especially with this new staff shake-up. Now the way all of this shake-up was set in motion was yesterday. In fact, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law, Ivanka's husband, actually flew back to New York after a family vacation, cutting it short, coming right here to Trump Tower. He was part of an emergency meeting at 2:00. And we understand that Jared Kushner was actually the messenger to Paul Manafort, letting Manafort know that things were going to be changing and that his role actually might be diminished somewhat by the appointment of Conway and also Steve Bannon. So Donald Trump actually began that message last night, talking about how he is going to be his own man and really go back to the way he was in the primaries and dealing with some of these distractions. But Donald Trump said he wants to make it clear that he is now in charge and in control of his campaign. Take a listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I am who I am. It's me. I don't want to change. Everyone talks about, oh, well, you've got to pivot. You've got to I don't want to pivot. I mean, you have to be you. If you start pivoting, you're not being honest with people. And because I've heard this over the years and, you know, with politics. With general politics. Also having to do with me. No, I am who I am. I've gotten here in a landslide. And we'll see what happens. [Schneider:] And Donald Trump, feeling that this is the way things were done in the primary, listening to his instincts and going back to that way of doing things. Also, all of this, you know, coming on the heels of that law and order speech in West Bend, Wisconsin, last night, and this shake-up could possibly serve as another distraction for the Trump campaign. But the Trump team not touting it that way. They say that this is not a shake-up. They're actually touting this as an expansion of the team, releasing a statement, Donald Trump saying that he's brought in extremely high quality people who love winning, who know how to win. Paul Manafort also saying in that statement that this is an expansion of the team adding highly qualified people. Now in addition to the shake-up, Donald Trump will also be getting his first national security briefing. It will happen today. It's the first time he will be getting classified information. We've already seen a flurry of activity here at Trump Tower. In fact, just a few minutes ago, we saw Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions coming in. And he talked to talked to us very briefly saying that this shake-up was a very good thing Carol. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Jessica Schneider, reporting live from Trump Tower this morning, thank you. Bloomberg once described Trump's new chief executive as the most dangerous political operative in America. Steve Bannon runs Breitbart News, a conservative Web site that often features partisan click bait like this for example. Here's headline, "Bizarre Behavior, Seizure Allegations, Raise Doubts About Clinton's Health." An intriguing headline, but not true. Breitbart was in the news earlier this year following an exodus of staff, angered after the site and its leader did not stand up for reporter Michelle Fields after she was allegedly grabbed by then campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. Editor-at-large Ben Shapiro left Breitbart and explained his departure this way, quote, "Steve Bannon is a bully. He has shaped the company into Trump's personal Pravda. To that extent he abandoned and undercut his own reporter in order to protect Trump's bully campaign manager who allegedly assaulted her." Lewandowski, as you know, was later clear of assaulting Fields but the Trump campaign eventually fired him. Mr. Lewandowski is a contributor now for CNN. I'm joined now by host of CNN's "RELIABLE SOURCES" Brian Stelter. Perhaps the most surprising thing about Steve Bannon is he has no experience running any sort of political campaign, yet he has this powerful position within the Trump campaign. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] That's right. What he has had over the years are media megaphones. He's hosted a talk radio show for Breitbart. He's interviewed Trump repeatedly for Breitbart's Web site, so he has that kind of expertise. You know, Ben Shapiro said bully, others would say street fighter, master of the political dark art. But clearly what we're seeing here is a shift by the Donald Trump campaign, by Trump himself, wanting people around him who support his no holds barred, anything goes style. That's what this is signaling I think that Bannon, Roger Stone and Roger Ailes were advising him. [Costello:] So when you say no holds barred, anything goes, what do you mean by that exactly? [Stelter:] Well, you were describing examples of Breitbart's far right position on the Internet. This is a site I would say in many ways to the right of FOX News. In some ways is supportive of the Tea Party movement. I would also say it oftentimes supports fringe political views. Far-right political views. Conspiracy theories about Clinton and Obama and things like that. What we're seeing here is kind of the conservative media echo chamber at work. Ideas that start on fringe Web sites make their way to Breitbarts of the world, the "Drudge Report," the "Sean Hannity" talk shows of the world, and then eventually to Donald Trump. Trump then echoes some of these views and the Web site like Breitbart celebrate that and applaud it, and say they're glad that Trump is echoing them. So I suspect we're going to see more of that for the next three months. [Costello:] So word is that Roger Ailes will also be advising Donald Trump about his debate performance. Tell me about that. [Stelter:] Yes, Roger Ailes, the ousted CEO of FOX News. Of course, he left last month amid a cloud of sexual harassment allegations against him, and has been friends with Trump for decades. And so they communicate regularly. They were together over the weekend at Trump's golf course in New Jersey according to our colleague Dylan Byers. So there's this long relationship and it makes a lot of sense they'd be talking on the phone helping each other through this pivotal moment in their careers. And seemingly Ailes can help Trump with debate strategy. Ailes is a master of television and he knows how these things are staged. So he'll be a great resource to Trump even though there is this controversy involving the harassment allegations which Ailes has denied. [Costello:] All right. Brian Stelter, thanks so much. I appreciate it as always. [Stelter:] Thanks. [Costello:] So let's talk about this. I want to bring in Donald Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson along with CNN political commentator and Hillary Clinton supporter Maria Cardona and the political editor for the Root.com, Jason Johnson. Welcome to all of you. Good morning. So, Katrina, Mr. Trump made this decision to shake up his campaign on his own without his children's advice. Does that mean they're out? [Katrina Pierson, National Spokesperson, Trump Campaign:] No, not at all. In fact, earlier reporting on CNN is that it was his children who made the decision. Look, Mr. Trump has discussed [Costello:] Initially we thought that. [Pierson:] Yes. [Costello:] But we got I just want to clear. We got new information that this was Mr. Trump's decision, not his children's. [Pierson:] New in every decision is Mr. Trump's decision and that's what seems to be lost in translation here. These individuals were not just brand new people that have been brought into the campaign and Kellyanne Conway has been around for a very long time and has a relationship with Mr. Trump. She was a fantastic addition to the team. There is no shake-up. No one is out. Everyone retains their position. He's just adding to the campaign which is something that we've been doing all along the way. We needed someone to fill the campaign manager position and Mr. Trump chose Miss Conway. [Costello:] OK, so, Maria, you heard our earlier reporting on Steve Bannon in particular, so the attacks on Mrs. Clinton are sure to escalate. How might the Clinton campaign react? [Maria Cardona, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think they need to be ready for what is going to be, I believe, one of the nastiest, most rabid, scorched earth campaigns that we have seen in our lifetime that is going to leave nothing but a wake of negativism, rancor and divisiveness in the country. And the Clinton campaign needs to be ready for that. And I think clearly they have been because they've seen from the beginning that the only thing that Donald Trump has to serve up are those kinds of negative divisive rhetoric. And we have seen how that has been very negative for him in the polls. Clearly, it worked for him during the primary. But what I don't think he understands and what he's doubling down on with these changes, especially with Steve Bannon, is that it worked for him to get 14 million votes during the Republican primary season. It's going to do nothing to add to that base of support and in fact, what he's been doing is he's been losing support among key demographics that he desperately needs in order to win. [Costello:] OK. So let's talk about this change in demographics. [Cardona:] And these changes do nothing to help him. [Costello:] I want to pose this question to Jason Johnson. So Mr. Trump reached out to African-American voters last night, right? He's having problems with women. Do any of the additions in your mind to his campaign help with those key demographic groups? [Jason Johnson, Politics Editor, Theroot.com:] Well, no, and this is the problem, it's classic Trump. It's a good move on the surface but right as you kind of open up the trunk, you're like, oh, my gosh, this is this is going to be a mess. You know, Bannon is a good selection. Kelly these are smart people, these are capable people. They're going to help in the media. The problem is, the Breitbart site itself. This is a site that's been under hate watch. This is a site that's been known to have racism, provocative things. One of their writers was kicked off Twitter for attacking Lesley Jones for being the black "Ghostbuster." And once those things come out, this move that may be smart on the surface is going to end up harming him again with Latinos and African-Americans, and young people, so Trump has taken five steps forward and seven steps back. [Costello:] And Katrina, Mr. Trump has to do better among Republicans. And I just want to run this by you. The Resurgent, which is a conservative Web site, the writer, Jason Taylor, is aghast at the changes in the Trump camp. He writes this, this morning, quote, "Go flat out crazy, have those big rallies, spew B.S., toss out the teleprompter, good times. Once again the GOP doubles down on the stupid and now the crown car has run off the tracks. The implosion of the conservative party continues in an unstoppable chain reaction." So Trump being Trump is not even winning over a good number of Republicans, so how can this be a good move? [Pierson:] Well, because the media and many on the right who have always been vocal against Mr. Trump have been writing this campaign's obituary for over 400 days and it hasn't worked yet. Now the thing is when we are talking about campaign additions, and I know CNN is focusing on Bannon for whatever reason, he's not in charge of communications, he's just the CEO. He's run several successful companies in the past. He's running it as a business, which people also complain about. But we never [Costello:] But he has a prominent role in the Trump campaign. [Pierson:] even talked about Hillary Clinton. [Costello:] He has a prominent role now in the campaign. [Pierson:] Of course he does. [Costello:] So it's not like he's just like [Pierson:] But that brings me to my next point, Carol. But that brings me to my next point. We have not spent nearly as much time talking about Hillary Clinton's campaign infrastructure, particularly Huma Abedin and her dual role at the State Department and the Clinton Foundation. [Costello:] She didn't go to another [Pierson:] And not only that it doesn't matter. [Costello:] OK. I know you want to deflect and I appreciate that because that's your job. [Pierson:] John Podesta and his brother, and their direct ties to the Russian government? We spend so much time talking about Russia. There is no question to Mr. Trump [Costello:] Wait a minute, whose direct ties with the Russian government? [Pierson:] with Hillary Clinton. Yes, let's talk about John Podesta. Let's talk about his brother Tony. Let's talk about the banks that they're involved with. Let's talk about the boards that they sit on. We're not talking about that here on CNN because we just want to focus on Mr. Trump. [Costello:] That's because Donald Trump just shook up his campaign for the second time in just two-month period. [Cardona:] Yes. [Pierson:] No, he didn't. He added Donald Trump asked people to his campaign. [Costello:] Oh, come on, Katrina. [Pierson:] No one's out. When you shake up your campaign that usually means someone is out, Carol. This was announced as an expansion. I can point to several messages. We have sent out on the campaign Web site under press releases. We've had multiple expansions of this campaign. But for some reason, CNN is probably the only one reporting that there's some shake-up that's happening. [Costello:] Well, I dare to [Pierson:] No one was out, we just added. [Costello:] I dare to suggest this, I dare to suggest this, that no one was ousted simply because Mr. Trump didn't want this to appear to be a shake-up. [Johnson:] Right. [Cardona:] Carol, if [I -- Pierson:] Not at all, not at all. [Cardona:] If I can jump in here, anybody who knows anything about presidential politics and how campaigns are run knows that this is a shake-up. And that sure, they're not calling it a shake-up. They're calling it an expansion. Call it whatever you want. It is absolutely a shake-up because Donald Trump is terrified of the polls. He knows he is losing. But here's the problem. He's doubling down on a strategy that focuses on subtraction as opposed to addition. Forget African-Americans, forget Latinos, let's talk about college-educated white women. [Johnson:] Right. Right. [Cardona:] Which Hillary Clinton is now winning by 23 points and Mitt Romney won them by 14 points and lost the election. There is no path right now. There's no credible path to 270. And what he has done today makes that path even more narrow. [Costello:] Well, I have to bring up Roger Ailes at this point. [Johnson:] And Carol, I'll say this. You know if you [Costello:] I have to bring up [Johnson:] If you had an Olympic relay team and you said suddenly we're bringing in people at the last minute, you would think there was something wrong with Michael Phelps. And that's pretty much what's happening here. When you're adding this many new people this late in the game, it's a bad sign. We said the same thing about Hillary Clinton when she started adding people after losing to Bernie Sanders. Those are just the facts of how a campaign operates. [Cardona:] Yes. [Costello:] So going back to [Pierson:] People have been complaining that the infrastructure was small. We've had holes in there. Corey Lewandowski was gone. We simply filled that position. We brought on a CEO, something we didn't have before. This is not something that people are being replaced. This is an expansion of the team. We're getting ready to run [Costello:] Even FOX News is calling this a shake-up, though. Even FOX News is calling this a shake-up. [Pierson:] But that's what I'm saying. It's not a shake-up. This is simply an expansion. We can ignore what the campaign is actually saying and make all the inferences that we want. That seems to be what is called news today. But the facts are, we simply added to the campaign team. There's nothing new there. [Costello:] OK, let's talk about Roger Ailes. He's going to advise Donald Trump on the debates. As you know, he left FOX News under this cloud of controversy. 20 women came forward and accused him of sexually harassing them. Donald Trump is having a major problem with women voters. How can Roger Ailes' advice possibly help him? [Pierson:] Well, first, that reporting is also false. Roger Ailes does not have any role, formal or informal, with the campaign or with the debate process. As mentioned before, they have been friends for a very long time but he has no role in this. [Costello:] But he is offering Donald Trump advice on his debate performance. [Pierson:] I don't know what they're talking about in private conversations but he's definitely not playing a role, informal or formal, in the campaign. There's a lot of people that give Donald Trump advice but that doesn't mean they're part of the campaign. [Costello:] Jason, does any of this help Donald Trump? Because, you know, if you're losing like 70 percent of women, you're not going to win. [Johnson:] Right, and this is what we're talking about. This is like saying Obama started ISIS last week. He just needs to face facts. Roger Ailes is going to help. He should. He ran a multibillion dollar news station that millions and billions of Americans believe in. There's no shame in saying that he's going to help Donald Trump. It's probably not going to help you with women but Donald Trump wasn't doing well with women to begin with. [Cardona:] Certainly not. [Johnson:] So that's the kind of issue that we're talking about here. The Trump campaign's greatest weakness from my perspective have always been, hey, just own up to stuff, work with who you're working with, and go forward, because when you backtrack like this, and if you barricade, and you dance, and you sing and dance, it makes you seem less authentic. And that's the one thing Donald Trump has always been able to sell. [Costello:] Well, I will say that, Katrina [Pierson:] But no one's backtracking. Obviously they're friends and they have discussions but he's not a part of the campaign and it's being reported that way, so I'm simply correcting the record. [Costello:] No. No. Let Katrina have her say. Please let Katrina have her say. Go ahead, Katrina, last word. [Pierson:] I was just simply correcting the record. This is being reported that somehow Roger Ailes is a part of the official campaign team and he's not. If they talk, they talk. They have been friends for decades. But he is not formally or informally involved with the campaign. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Katrina Pierson, Maria Cardona, Jason Johnson, thanks to all of you. [Cardona:] Thanks, Carol. [Johnson:] Thanks, Carol. [Costello:] You're welcome. [Pierson:] Thank you. [Costello:] Still to come in the NEWSROOM, team Clinton takes aim at Donald Trump, hitting her Republican rival on his tax policy and for spreading debunked rumors about her health. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] It may have been the first Democratic debate, but it was clear it was not Hillary Clinton's first rodeo, running down a debate checklist with surgical precision. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I would not ask anyone to vote for me based on my last name. [Berman:] Her name, check. Her appeal to the grassroots and pragmatic wings of the party, check, check. [Clinton:] I'm a progressive, but I'm a progressive who likes to get things done. [Berman:] Her gender, check, check, check. [Clinton:] I think being the first woman president would be quite a change from the presidents we've had up until this point. [Berman:] Even apparently joking about an extended trip to the bathroom during commercial. [Clinton:] You know, it does take me a little longer. That's all I can say. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] That's right. [Berman:] But on what might have been the biggest must-do on her list, addressing the questions surrounding the use of her private e-mail for national business, she had a surprising assist from her leading opponent, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails. [Clinton:] Thank you. Me too, me too. [Berman:] Even earning a smile and a handshake. Clinton didn't exactly return the favor, in one of the sharpest exchanges in the night, when asked about Sanders' record of voting against certain gun control measures. [Cooper:] Secretary Clinton, is Bernie Sanders tough enough on guns? [Clinton:] No, not at all. I think that we have to look at the fact that we lose 90 people a day from gun violence. [Sanders:] What I can tell Secretary Clinton, that all the shouting in the world is not going to do what I would hope all of us want. And that is keep guns out of the hands of people who should not have those guns. [Berman:] Sanders, the self-proclaimed democratic socialist, touted his battle against income inequality. [Cooper:] You don't consider yourself a capitalist, though? [Sanders:] Do I consider myself part of the casino capitalist process by which so few have so much and so many have so little, by which Wall Street's greed and recklessness wrecked this economy? No, I don't. [Berman:] Former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley, looking for a breakout moment, hit hard on foreign policy. [Martin O'malley , Presidential Candidate:] Leading us into Iraq under false pretenses and telling us, as a people, that there were weapons of mass destruction there, was was one of the worst blunders in modern American history. [Berman:] As for former Virginia senator, Jim Webb, polling in the single digits and barely campaigning, he fought to be noticed. [Jim Webb , Presidential Candidate:] I've been trying to get in this conversation about ten minutes. I've been waiting for ten minutes. I will say this... [Cooper:] You're over your time. [Webb:] Well, you've let a lot of people go over their time. [Cooper:] Former Rhode Island governor, Lincoln Chafee, seemed to struggle to answer questions about his record. [Lincoln Chafee , Presidential Candidate:] The Glass-Seagall was my very first vote. I'd just arrived. My dad had died in office. I was appointed to the office. It was my very first vote. [Cooper:] Are you saying you didn't know what you were voting for? [Berman:] Perhaps the most telling moment, maybe aspirational, was when Hillary Clinton was asked to list her enemies. [Clinton:] Well, in addition to the NRA, the health insurance companies, the drug companies, the Iranians, probably the Republicans. [Berman:] You know, quite a few times during the debate, you know, even when it was in some tough spots, Hillary Clinton tried to turn the focus to the Republican Party, to the general election. More than any other candidate, she did a little bit of looking forward. Although she has to get through the primary process first, to be sure. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] True, but this was the first step last night, being measured against everybody else. Stay with us. Let's get some analysis going on now. Now we've got CNN political reporter Maeve Reston. We have CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny; and in New York, Mr. Errol Louis, CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York One. So what was the perspective from New York? We were out here in Vegas. Berman was gone most of the night. Nobody knows where he was. Errol Louis, when you looked at it last night, what was the bar for success? Who made it? Who fell short? [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, the bar for success was really the burden of success where the breakthrough moments that we all were watching for and didn't quite see from O'Malley and the other candidates. And O'Malley in particular, I was a little surprised by. I thought the most obvious thing that he could have said is that it's time to turn the corner, and he represents a younger generation. He came across as old and almost stiff. He came across as sort of almost solemn in his approach. And I don't know that that's really the right way to break through. I mean, I was waiting to hear from him about what it was like to be a young vigorous executive who had run around outside of Washington, you know, trying to get things done and trying to make some change. He didn't he didn't use that opportunity. Lincoln Chafee had just an awful night. He's not somebody who has been a Democrat for very long. I think that that showed. He is not somebody who has debated or campaigned much. And the same was true for Webb. So I thought of this as really sort of a one-on-one debate between Clinton and Sanders. And it looked like the others were sort of trying to get in and you were kind of waiting, in my case almost hoping that they were going to bring something new to what has been a debate that is sort of locking into a pattern. And we didn't see that last night. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Jeff, do you agree with Errol's assessment that the other lower three-tier candidates had sort of a lackluster performance? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] I don't. I think that Martin O'Malley had a good performance. And I think that he was trying to use this as an opportunity to introduce himself to the biggest audience that he's had. Now, we I hate to keep going back to 2007, that campaign. But by this point, there had been so many debates. So this is the first one here. So he was just introducing himself. So I think Martin O'Malley actually did pretty well. He did himself a lot of good. You do not want to introduce yourself by being the angry person, sort of taking down Hillary. [Camerota:] You were saying by being youthful, that he should have been more... [Maeve Reston, Cnn Political Correspondent:] He did make that generational argument, you know, that which was a soft blow, you know, against the Clinton candidacy. I mean, I really do think that when it's your first introduction he really needed to hit all the points on his record, and he did that. There was not necessarily a big breakthrough moment for him, but it was a smooth, even performance. [Cuomo:] Well, you've got do no harm versus you don't get a second chance to make a first impression. You know, you think of Marco Rubio. He talks about being generational with every answer he gives. Martin O'Malley did not do that last night. Is that an unfair critique? [Berman:] You know, I think Martin O'Malley has got a hard job. Martin O'Malley was Hillary Clinton's biggest supporter on the campaign trail in 2008, something she was only too happy to point out on the campaign trail. [Cuomo:] He said things change. [Berman:] He did. And he has to explain why things change in a clear, concise way at the same time that he's presenting himself to an America that hasn't seen him before. I think he Jeff has got a point. I think America saw him last night, like oh, there's this guy from Maryland that we're going to look at. They're going to give him a chance, but he's got to seal the deal and he's got to do it soon. [Camerota:] Errol, Hillary Clinton's challenge last night was to seem approachable, to seem sort of spontaneous. We played that moment where she was asked she couldn't have known that she was going to be asked about who her enemies were. And she seemed to almost relish it. She sort of took her time. She smiled and then she gave the zinger, "The Republicans." There was another moment that she couldn't have predicted. And that was when Lincoln Chafee talked about her character; and Anderson asked if she wanted to respond. Watch this moment. [Chafee:] I think we need someone that has the best in ethical standards as our next president. That's how I feel. [Cooper:] Secretary Clinton, do you want to respond? [Clinton:] No. [Cooper:] Governor... [Camerota:] Errol, what did you think about her performance overall? [Louis:] Well, I mean, it was a cutting moment, of course. She essentially was saying, "You don't belong on this stage with me. I don't have to answer these kind of questions." On the other hand, Lincoln Chafee, you know, put his finger on something that that is important. And one of the issues about Hillary Clinton and so-called Clinton fatigue, is that she's been involved in a number of sort of ethical scrapes that go back decades at this point. It's a real turnoff, we know, for independent voters. There are some core Democrats who are also feeling as if, you know, they've heard too much of this stuff. And there are too many instances in which you have to deal with it. But Hillary Clinton knows how to deflect that stuff. And she did it right there with one word. [Cuomo:] So how did so how did she do with the Hillary bar? Because it's specific to her. No less than Carl Bernstein wrote a book about her relationship with the truth. And it really came down like a hammer. So did she check the box of how she deals with the negatives, Jeff? Bernie gave her the gift last night. [Zeleny:] Right. [Cuomo:] Did she check the box of being able to inspire people? You know, that's a big thing. [Zeleny:] That is a big thing. And that has been one of the central frustrations of her candidacy, that she's been unable to spark this enthusiasm that really should be out there for someone who's you know, who's in the best position to be the first woman president. So I think she tried to do that last night. We heard her a few times trying to say that she would be different from Barack Obama, because she would be a woman in the White House. But there are some moments from the debate last night that are going to live on for her, specifically Keystone. That position, Republicans are just chomping at the bit to use that against her. She said, "I didn't give a position on Keystone until I gave a position on Keystone." That really sounds like it came from the heart. You know, I mean, it's like... [Camerota:] It sounds a little bit like "I was against it until I was for it." [Berman:] Totally. That John Kerry moment, right. [Reston:] It was like that Clinton that Clinton legalese that a lot of Democratic voters you know, Jeff and I have been out on the ground in New Hampshire and Iowa a lot. That's what they bring up a lot. They don't like that legalese. The fact that she often seems kind of in a defensive crouch, certainly on the e-mail issue, for example. But I did think that, you know, to the enemies moment, for example, that was the point in the debate where you were, like, she's having a good time. [Camerota:] Drop the Mike moment. [Reston:] She knows... [Berman:] Last round. Last call. [Reston:] Yes, exactly. I mean, she seemed very comfortable in a way that she hasn't a lot of times during this campaign on the trail when she's been defending over and over again e-mails, Benghazi, et cetera. [Zeleny:] It was a bit of a Xanax moment. One of her supporters told me that, wow, she's back. She has this. Because they've been worried all summer. I think now she reassured her supporters. Did she win over any new people out there, inspire any new people, like you asked? I'm not sure she did. [Berman:] How could she? This is why, again, Hillary Clinton's graded on a different curve. She's been in the public eye for 24 years. If you don't have an opinion on Hillary Clinton already, where have you been? So where she is... [Zeleny:] There's a whole new generation of young voters. And that's when I see these young voters at Bernie Sanders rallies, young women. I'm like "Why aren't you with Hillary Clinton?" They're like, "I don't know." They're looking for someone new. So I think she still has to inspire people, and I think that's what her challenge is, going forward. [Camerota:] Errol, did Bernie Sanders win over new people last night? [Louis:] I think he might have, to tell you the truth. I mean, he's really been mostly a name that's floating out there for those who don't follow politics closely or who haven't had a chance to see him on the campaign trail, which is most voters. And I thought he made a very strong case for what he believes in. Now, there are some who are going to say it's pie in the sky. We're never going to get a $15 minimum wage. We're never going to get free college tuition for everybody who goes to a public university. But there are also those who say, well, at least that's the right idea. And whether or not he can pull it off is a question that maybe we'll tackle later on in the campaign. So I thought he did himself a pretty good he had a pretty good night. And he did himself a really good service by letting everybody know exactly what he stands for, including not ducking his very unpopular title of socialist. I thought that was the right thing to do... [Reston:] But... [Louis:] ... not to play games with it but just to say this is what I believe. And if you like it, then, you know, give me give me a try. [Camerota:] All right. We've got to leave it there. Errol. Maeve, hold that thought. John, thanks so much. Panel, it's great to talk to you. We'll have much more coming up on NEW DAY. Coming up in this hour, stick around, because we have Democratic candidate, former Maryland governor, Martin O'Malley. He will join us to answer even more questions. Also, Bernie Sanders' campaign manager, Jeff Weaver, joins us to tell us what he thinks the big moment was last night. We will also speak with Hillary Clinton's campaign chair, John Podesta. We have all that coming up. Stick around. He's next. [Camerota:] Three days until inauguration day and the outgoing administration is scolding Mr. Trump on foreign policy. Secretary of State John Kerry speaking out in an exclusive CNN interview with chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour. Listen. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] Well, I thought, frankly, it was inappropriate for a president-elect of the United States to be stepping into the politics of other countries in a quite direct manner, and he will have to speak to that. As of Friday, you know, he's responsible for that relationship. But I think we have to be very careful about suggesting that one of the strongest leaders in Europe and most important players with respect to where we are heading [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] You are talking about Angela Merkel. [Kerry:] make one mistake or another, I don't think it's appropriate for us to be commenting on that. [Camerota:] Christiane Amanpour joins us now morning from London. Good morning, Christiane. So, great interview there. Very insightful. What Secretary Kerry was talking about was Mr. Trump talking about Angela Merkel, calling her refugee policy catastrophic. Mr. Trump also talked about NATO and he called that obsolete. What did Secretary Kerry say about that? [Amanpour:] Well, this was a lot to digest for Europe, you know, here in Europe, people have been reacting, quoteunquote, "with astonishment and agitation," that was the word from mainland Europe after this interview was published, because it was taking aim at Europe's strongest leader in terms of calling the refugee policy catastrophic. Before, he had called it insane. He hasn't even met these people yet and is considered unusual for a president-elect to take such specific language and policy sort of directions without even coming into office. So, another thing that was really irritating to the Europeans was what seemed to be a predictionunquote, "a call" for more European nations to leave the E.U., just as Britain had done and calling NATO obsolete. And it caused a pushback, immediately, the NATO secretary- general, you know, said, no, we believe the U.S. is committed to NATO in defense of all the alliance and we will make sure and work hard with it. Angela Merkel said, look, I've heard this before. He has his ideas. I have mine. Europe has control of its own destiny, and the French immediately, including the person pushing back and saying what we need is to defend ourselves, our unity and we don't need any help or comments from outside. But it really has put European allies on a state of anxious, awaiting this next administration, because it looks like certainly from the words that the entire post-World War II raison d'etre of America and its alliance and liberal, economic political world order that was created is about to be turned back, and that is what they're worried about. [Camerota:] Christiane, I've also just been handed out this bulletin out of Davos, Switzerland, where the World Economic Forum is meeting. I know you've been monitoring that, and Mr. Trump, of course, has been very outspoken about China. So, the Chinese president has spoken. What are his response? [Amanpour:] Well, imagine this. This is truly an amazing and epic situation right now. You have the president of China for the first time coming to Davos. So, this is a communist country, and the world's second biggest economy. And he's there in Davos talking and defending globalization and free trade. [06:40:001] He said no one will be a winner from a trade war. He also got a lot of applause from that and obviously that reflects and responds to what Donald Trump on the campaign has been talking about, and that is punishing with tariffs. He has even said up to 45 percent on Chinese goods. So, Xi Jinping said nobody would benefit from a trade war. And then he also said, and this again in response to Donald Trump China has no intention of boosting its trade by devaluing the currency, the renminbi, unless by launching a currency war. So, putting himself on the record about that and defending the Paris climate accord which again Donald Trump has called into question, saying that this is a time where we must not walk away from it. And all of those statements won big applause. So, you've got China standing up for liberal trade, capitalist free trade and globalization at a time when in Europe, in Asia, people are wondering whether the leader of the biggest democracy, the world's biggest economy, might turn towards protectionism and nationalism as an economic and political project. So, that's what's going on as we wait another two or three days before the inauguration. [Camerota:] So many shifting stands as you've just pointed out. Let's quickly touch on Russia. Mr. Trump gave an interview to "The Times of London" yesterday. Here's a little bit about what he said about Russia. "They have sanctions on Russia. Let's see if we can make some good deals with Russia. For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially. That's part of it. But Russia's hurting very badly right now because of the sanctions, but I think something can happen that a lot of people are going to benefit." What's been Russia's response? [Amanpour:] So, we have to break a lot of that down. First and foremost, the idea of removing sanctions is something that neither the Europeans abet because it's all about Crimea and about the annexation of Ukraine. In other words, Russia violated the whole, you know, raison d'etre of international relations, which means a big country doesn't march in and invade and annex a little country. So, that's what those sanctions are about, and Europe and Angela Merkel has been with the United States on putting those there. And then, Donald Trump talked about a nuclear accord and lifting sanctions, the American sanctions in return for that. But the Russians are saying that we don't quite know what that means. There isn't any nuclear accord up for grabs at the moment or any work to be done in that area right now. So, that remains a mystery. Then, Europe got very upset because in that interview and, by the way, let's not call it an interview, it was a conversation with a politician, Michael Gove, who is the leader of Brexit. It was two aligned politicians, Donald Trump and Michael Gove, talking to each other. So, it wasn't an interview. It was a conversation about what he would like to see going forward. But what he said in that conversation was that for the moment, he would trust Angela Merkel, the U.S. main and most robust ally on the continent of Europe, with Vladimir Putin, the current biggest adversary of the United States and the west. So, that got people very upset. [Camerota:] Christiane, thank you very much. Always great to get context from you. Thanks for being here. Let's get over to Chris. [Cuomo:] All right. The ice storm that paralyzed parts of the Midwest and the Plains now heading east. Is it going to affect the inauguration? We have answers, next. [Blitzer:] Breaking news, a desperate manhunt is underway right now for a surviving suspect in the bloody Paris attacks. The ringleaders are thought to be top ISIS figures in Syria. The CIA director John Brennan says ISIS likely has more attacks in the pipeline. And the terror group is warning of more to come. In fact, in a new video it says it will strike right at Washington, D.C. Let's bring in our justice correspondent Pamela Brown. Pamela, what are you learning about this investigation? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] We're just getting some new information, Wolf. Multiple officials telling CNN that none of the bombers identified so far in the Paris attacks have been on any U.S. watch list, raising new questions about how the U.S. and its allies were able to track Syrian foreign fighters. [Brown:] The attacks, French officials say, were plotted well in advance from inside Syria. What remains a mystery tonight is how three teams of terrorists were able to launch coordinated attacks under the radar of Western intelligence. An international manhunt is underway for Salah Abdeslam. Sources say the 26-year-old French national was stopped by police just hours after the attack and then released. Investigators say his brother Ibrahim blew himself up at a cafe in Paris. [Mohamed Abdeslam, Brother Suspected Of Terror Attacks:] We did not think for a moment that one of our brothers was related to these attacks. [Brown:] A third brother, Mohamed, was arrested after the attacks then released in Belgium. He spoke to reporters saying he does not believe his brother was involved in the attacks. We're also learning more about the other attackers, French national Bilal Hadfi, one of the alleged suicide bombers at the soccer stadium, and Ismael Omar Mostefai, one of the suspects at the Bataclan concert hall. Officials say a man using the name Ahmad al-Mohammad entered Europe through Greece posing as a refugee and blew himself up at the Stade de France. Samy Amimour who detonated a suicide belt at the Bataclan had been a subject of an international arrest warrant since 2013. [John Brennan, Cia Director:] This was something that was deliberately and carefully planned over the course, I think, of several months in terms of making sure that they had the operatives, the weapons, the explosives with the suicide belts. [Brown:] Six of the attackers spent time training in Syria. Belgian authorities confirmed they lost track of some of them. [Koen Geens, Belgian Justice Minister:] We were not aware that some of them already returned. [Brown:] Tonight intelligence sources tell CNN at this point of the investigation it does not appear any of the attackers were known to the U.S. Today, Attorney General Loretta Lynch addressed potential risks of foreign fighters launching an attack on U.S. soil. [On Camera] Do you feel that there's adequate intelligence sharing with our European counterparts to prevent people like the Paris attackers who we know went over to Syria and trained from boarding a plane and coming to the U.S. given the visa waiver program? [Loretta Lynch, Attorney General:] Our relationship with our European counterparts in this area is robust. And it is strong. And we are always working to make sure that not only we but they also have the information that they need. [Brown:] And U.S. investigators are increasingly convinced the attackers used encrypted communications to evade French intelligence. One U.S. official describing that as an educated presumption in part because some of the attackers who French authorities already had information on before the attacks were known to have used popular encrypted apps. In addition U.S. analysts have been combing through signal intelligence including e-mail and other communications, and have turned up very little, Wolf. Still very early on in this investigation. Yes. Hopefully they get some progress and they'll find all these guys and find them quickly. Pamela, thanks very much. We're following the breaking news in a newly released video. Members of ISIS now threatening attacks in Europe and in Washington, D.C. The Department of Homeland Security and the FBI now say there's no specific credible information of an attack on the U.S. homeland. Not so long ago ISIS fighters were concentrated on capturing territory largely in Syria and Iraq. Brian Todd is looking into this apparent change in their strategy. What are you finding out, Brian? [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, tonight we're getting new information about the shifts in tactics by ISIS. The coordinated assaults in Paris we're told coming in the wake of the Beirut suicide attacks and the downing of the Russian passenger plane together signify game changing measures from the terror group which have put Western intelligence on its heels. [Todd:] The moment inside the Bataclan Theater when terrorists unleashed their Kalashnikovs. Coordinated suicide bombers detonate outside the packed Stade de France. The carnage in Paris leading U.S. and European officials to warn tonight that ISIS is turning a page in its strategy. [Brennan:] ISIL has developed an external operations agenda that is now implementing it is implementing with lethal effect. Their agenda is to kill. Pure and simple. As referred to them as murderous sociopaths. [Todd:] Paris was hit the day after ISIS claimed responsibility for twin suicide bombings in Beirut. An ISIS affiliate is believed to have brought down a Russian passenger plane with 224 people on board. Three devastating terror hits in less than two weeks. [Thomas Sanderson, Center For Strategic And International Studies:] ISIS is clearly emboldened by these attacks. I've seen this sort of damage and destruction that is created. [Todd:] But why now when a principal goal of ISIS to this point has been to capture and hold territory in Iraq and Syria? [Michael Weiss, Author, "isis: Inside The Army Of Terror":] As ISIS loses terrain, particularly in northern Syria, they want to increase, escalate the number of attacks that they wage abroad because, again, this is the way that they sell themselves. [Todd:] The Paris attacks bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda, coordinated cells, well-planned, high profile, designed to inflict mass casualties. And there's growing evidence tonight that ISIS'central leadership in Iraq and Syria is calling the shots in these as asymmetric attacks. Sources in France tell CNN two prominent ISIS members thought to be in Iraq or Syria may have masterminded the Paris onslaught. One of them, Abdel-Hamid Abu Oud, is, according to a source very close to ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. The source says Abu Oud would certainly be in contact with Baghdadi in planning an attack like this. What is ISIS'goal in launching mass casualty attacks on soft targets? [Sanderson:] I think their goal in conducting these attacks is to push back those who are pushing against them and to make sure that people feel vulnerable at home such that they will maybe not engage in the kind of counter ISIS activities that we've seen of late. [Todd:] And more asymmetric attacks could be on the way from ISIS. CIA director John Brennan says given the resources devoted to the Paris assaults, the weapons, the explosives, that probably wasn't the only operation ISIS had in the pipeline. And in a new propaganda video put out since the Paris attacks, ISIS has threatened to hit Paris again, to attack Rome and Washington, D.C. Wolf. [Blitzer:] And U.S. officials are taking those threats seriously. Brian, thanks very much. Let's bring in our experts, former congresswoman Jane Harman, she was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, she now heads the Woodrow Wilson Center here in Washington. Also joining us our national security analyst Peter Bergen and our counterterrorism analyst Phil Mudd, a former CIA official, as well as CNN military analyst, retired Lieutenant General Mark Hertling. Guys, we have a lot to assess right now. Let me take a quick break. We'll gather the information. Much more on the breaking news right after this. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Some rivers are still rising this morning. Still treacherous times there in North Carolina. Good morning, everyone. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman. It is Tuesday, October 11. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. Four weeks until election day. And be honest when you woke up this morning, did you grab your phone to see what other political bombshell had dropped in just the last few hours, after a day which many thought it was some kind of moral victory that his running mate did not flee and he only lost the active support of the House Speaker. Donald Trump is headed to Florida today as is Hillary Clinton. Trump seems to sticking to his attacks on Clinton over her husband's long-ago sex scandals. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] If they want to release more tapes saying inappropriate things, we'll continue to talk about Bill and Hillary Clinton doing inappropriate things. There are so many of them, folks. [Berman:] New polls show that Trump could be in serious trouble after the release of the "Access Hollywood" tape where Trump bragged about his ability to grab a woman's genitals and get away with it because he's famous. A new NBCWall Street Journal poll shows Clinton with an 11-point lead. This poll was conducted after the tape came to light but before Sunday's debate. They're in the field again today, or were yesterday. We're going to get those results today. It'll be interesting to see. Overnight, Trump was in Pennsylvania. That is a battleground state that could be looking tougher and tougher for him. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is there. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning, John and Christine. Donald Trump, as he campaigns throughout Pennsylvania, is keeping up his defiant tone, this scorched earth strategy as he tries to rehabilitate his campaign, lashing back at Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, who held a conference call with Republican lawmakers telling them that he would no longer defend Donald Trump. He would no longer campaign with Donald Trump, although he is not revoking his endorsement of Donald Trump, and also telling Republican lawmakers it's up to them to do how they see fit. Donald Trump lashed out in a tweet, and also at his rally here in Pennsylvania where he mentioned Paul Ryan, just not by name. [Trump:] Isn't it too bad that we don't have stronger leadership on both sides? I mean, you know, you have people that can't fix a budget, but then they start talking about their nominee, but they can't fix the budget. Isn't it really sad that we don't have stronger leadership on both sides? But that will change if we win on November 8. [Serfaty:] This us versus them mentality, Washington establishment versus him mentality, is something that Donald Trump has used and leaned on many times in the past, especially during the early days of his campaign, certainly now, it potentially helps remotivate his tried and true core base of supporters. John and Christine [Romans:] All right, Sunlen, thank you for that. So what else is out there? Is there something else out there? A former "Apprentice" producer has tweeted that quote, far worse video exists than what has already been leaked from "Access Hollywood". But "Apprentice" creator Mark Burnett says he does not have the legal right to release footage from the show. He is barred by certain contracts, he says, but he denies he threatened to sue any employee who might be thinking about leaking video. [Berman:] Both Bill and Hillary Clinton will be in Florida today. The former president with a series of voter registration events across the state. Secretary Clinton with a big rally in Miami. She's going to be joined on the trail by former vice president Al Gore. Now he has devoted himself to climate change over the last several years. He hasn't been that deeply involved in politics, but his presence there today intended to send a clear, clear message. Remember, it's Florida. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has a preview. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washingto Correspondent:] John and Christine, Hillary Clinton is heading to Florida today and she'll be joined on the campaign trail by someone who we've not seen in the political sphere for years. That is former vice president Al Gore. He will be making the case at his first stop for Hillary Clinton, focusing on climate change. Also focusing on some millennial voters and others who may not be quite yet on board with her candidacy or enthused about her candidacy. Now when she was campaigning in Michigan and Ohio yesterday, she was still talking about Donald Trump and all of his locker room talk. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] And last night, he doubled down on his excuse saying that well, it's just locker room banter. You know what's happened today which is so interesting is that a lot of athletes and coaches from the NBA, from Major League Baseball, from the NFL, and more, have been coming forward tweeting, they've been saying, no, that's not what happens in our locker rooms. [Zeleny:] Now that is a confident Hillary Clinton. She was making that case before one of the largest audiences yet of her campaign. Thousands upon thousands of people gathered on the campus of the Ohio State University to listen to Hillary Clinton speak. But they were also there for another reason. Today is the deadline for voter registration in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and other battle ground states. So when Secretary Clinton and Al Gore appear later today in Miami, that will be also their central focus, getting people signed up to vote. We're also getting word Bill Clinton also heading back to Florida for now the final day of voter registration, now with 28 days to go before the election. John and Christine [Romans:] All right, Jeff. Thanks for that. 2,000 more e-mails have been posted online, apparently from the hacked account of Hillary Clinton's Campaign Chairman, John Podesta, the second WikiLeaks dump in four days now. It covers a wide range of strategy sessions from 2015, including how to handle the release of the book "Clinton Cash" which alleged illegal activity at the Clinton Foundation. In another e-mail, a longtime Clinton aide refers to Chelsea Clinton as a quote, spoiled brat. The Clinton camp is slamming Donald Trump for cheering on an e-mail release they claim was engineered by Vladimir Putin. They say the focus should be on who's behind the hack, not what's in it. [Berman:] All right. Let's discuss now. CNN Politics Reporter Eugene Scott is here. Eugene, it's great to see you this morning. Over the last 24 hours [Romans:] Nothing has happened. [Berman:] Nothing's happened. Nothing's happened at all. Let's start with this war of words between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump says he can go way dirtier than he has already. He'll dredge up the past. Hillary Clinton says, essentially, go for it. Listen. [Clinton:] On the day that I was in the situation room watching the raid that brought Osama Bin-Laden to justice, he was hosting "Celebrity Apprentice". So if he wants to talk about what we've been doing the last 30 years, bring it on. [Berman:] Bring it on. She says, and the Clinton campaign likes what they're doing right now, or how they're doing right now. But 28 days in the gutter is a long time. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Yes, very much so. And you have to ask both campaigns, what is the ultimate goal right now. I am under the impression that people want to get undecided voters and independent voters to make a decision. I don't know if talking about what happened in these candidates' personal lives will get people off the bubble to make a decision. I think both of them have to focus on issues that voters say matter to them most right now. [Romans:] You know, Donald Trump last night really he was in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, really ramping up his attacks. He is no fan of the media. Even as he watches the media [Berman:] Good morning, Donald. [Romans:] Right. And tweets to the media and consumes the media and uses the media, he he's really playing into this, that we are biased, that the media are in the tank for Hillary Clinton. Listen to him last night. [Trump:] And this crooked media. You talk about crooked Hillary. They are worse than she is. I'm telling you. They are so dishonest. Without the media, without the media, Hillary Clinton couldn't be elected dog catcher. I mean that. It's true. It's true. [Romans:] John Berman says 28 days in the gutter is a long time. 28 days trying to cover a campaign that hates you is a long time, too. This is do you think he's going to continue this sort of just war with journalists? [Scott:] Probably, because it works very well with his base. You see they respond very well to it, but I don't know that it helps him and that it gets the issues that he says matter to him to take front page of these publications that he says don't favor him. I think this would be a great time to get the ideas out there that he's hoping will show that he could be a better president than Hillary Clinton, but that doesn't seem to be the focus. [Berman:] So I had some Democrats familiar with the Clinton campaign tell me yesterday they're thinking about expanding their map, looking at places like Arizona and Georgia. The main point isn't to win those states necessarily, but help out with senate elections. Arizona Ann Kirkpatrick is running against John McCain. Could be a pickup. She's pretty far behind, but John McCain is in a tough place, right. He has said he will no longer vote for Donald Trump. He made that clear. But he needs Trump supporters still, theoretically, to win that election, and a debate overnight, you could see how he was trying to sort of thread this needle. Let's listen. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] I just worry, frankly, and this probably has nothing to do with this debate, but I worry about the future of the Republican Party. We're going to have a lot of work to do after this election is over. [Berman:] So Eugene, you can see now a lot of Republican candidates are having to deal with this, and they will have to deal with it every day for the next month. [Scott:] Right. Well, I covered politics in Arizona and many people on the right are really frustrated with Donald Trump and they are pressuring their senators to make a better decision for the future of the party. And that's not just in Arizona. That's across the country. And so we're seeing people have to approach this in a way that they weren't going to, maybe even at the beginning of last week. [Berman:] There's a lot of anger, though, for some of the candidates who have cut and run from Donald Trump, too. They're getting it on both sides, to be sure. [Romans:] Can we talk about the last night, the comedians had a field day with everything that happened Friday, they missed from last week, the big comedians. So let's listen to a little bit of some, I guess some late night laughs making fun of Donald Trump and the [Stephen Colbert, Comedian:] What gym does Donald Trump belong to? In my locker room, we are just trying to avoid eye contact and gently encourage old man Wallace to put on a towel. [Unidentified Male:] People didn't know what was crazier. His excuse or the idea that Trump's ever been to a gym. When guys go in a locker room women don't know this. We go nuts. We start using curse words, we look at pornography, we throw up on each other. It's disgusting. [Romans:] There was a lot where that came from. But it's so interesting to me, because a lot of women and a lot of men have been saying this whole locker room banter thing I mean, it wasn't a looker room. He was miked for an interview. He was actually on the job. And something interesting too. In "The New York Times" today, [inaudible] had a piece about how this is like an HR nightmare, when you think about that was a workplace. That was a workplace where all of this was happening. [Scott:] Yes, and very much so. I can't help but to wonder if that shaped in part why NBC responded the way they did with Billy Bush in terms of workplace concerns and creating an environment that does not allow for this type of conversation. [Romans:] Well, one employee gets sidelined, the other one can still run for the biggest, most important job in the nation. [Berman:] Seth Meyers on NBC last night made the comment that, you know, Billy Bush may have lost his job as a third hour anchor of "Today Show", but Donald Trump is still running for president. Eugene, we will see you again shortly. Thanks so much. Hundreds of people stranded by flood waters after Hurricane Matthew. The only way out, a boat or a helicopter. We'll show you the rescues. That's next. [Lynda Kinkade, Cnn Anchor:] An absolute commitment to stand with NATO. U.S. Vice President Pence delivering that message at the Munich Security Conference. We'll have a live report from Germany just ahead. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] And the U.S. president left Washington, D.C., for the weekend but it is the vacancies in his administration that are triggering concerns. [Kinkade:] Also this hour, powerful storms turn deadly in Southern California. We'll have the latest from that region. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and right around the world. We are live in Atlanta. I'm Lynda Kinkade. [Howell:] I'm George Howell from CNN World Headquarters. NEWSROOM starts right now. It is 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. Just under an hour ago, the Vice President of the United States, Mike Pence, spoke to U.S. allies in Europe, assuring them the U.S. is unwavering in its support of NATO but there was one caveat. We'll have more on that ahead. [Kinkade:] Well, of course, the vice president is at the Munich Security Conference to soothe the European fears over Donald Trump's month-old administration. In the past, the U.S. president has dismissed the long established alliance. However, Pence has repeated some of Mr. Trump's words saying all of the allies needed to pay their share if NATO is to succeed. Pence says the fate of Europe and the United States are intertwined. [Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] Today on behalf of President Trump, I bring you this assurance. The United States of America strongly supports NATO and will be unwavering in our commitment to this transatlantic alliance. [Pence:] And as you keep faith with us under President Trump, we will always keep faith with you. Now the fates of the United States and Europe are intertwined. Your struggles are our struggles. Your success is our success and ultimately we will walk into the future together. [Howell:] CNN is live in Munich, Germany, our international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson following the story this hour. Nic, great to have you with us. It seems the vice president offered assurances to allies but also suggested for the U.S. to be there, they'll need to pay up. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Yes, this message, I think the European leaders will be scratching their heads a little bit, saying, well, is this is the real message from President Trump, what was all this before that we heard about NATO being obsolete and ambivalent towards the unity of the European Union? So you know, I think while this is being well received, there's still a relatively cool reception. Although that was a generous round of applause. But the expectation here was that Pence was going to come and say these things. He talked about how, on the issue of Russia, which is a great concern for the European Union, a concern that President Trump will sort of reach over the heads of European concerns to strike a deal with President Putin. He says the United States will hold Russia to account. But he also added to that a caveat that, you know, the United States will look to do make agreements, deals with Russia where appropriate. And that President Trump still believes that is possible. So, you know, keeping up that, keeping up the possibly that the United States may still do something that concerns the Europeans. The idea of paying their way for NATO, that's something that obviously is a message that does resonate here. We certainly we heard Angela Merkel talking about the power and strength of the United States being required to tackle global terrorism, the threat of global terrorism. It's really at the borders of Europe. So their help is needed. So there is, you know, there is a feeling in Europe that they do need the support of the United States. But, you know, the message that's being delivered, you know, by Mike Pence for President Trump, people are still going to be wondering, why have we gone through all of this so far and what's to come next? [Howell:] This issue of allies, as the Trump administration is suggesting, not fulfilling their commitment, it's not a new issue that's come up. But it has certainly been highlighted and put in the forefront by the Trump administration. What would you say the reaction has been of allies, just from conversations, if you had the opportunity, to hear anything from people there, about how this message was delivered and that this is now front and center? [Robertson:] It is. And there's you know it's not just that they need, the other NATO nations, only five of the 28 so far paid that 2 percent of GDP. And there is a lot of details in that as well, I fact, 2 percent of GDP that you are supposed to spend on defense 20 percent is supposed to be on sort of big ticket development items, not just troops. You know, what we heard in Wales back in 2014, when this aspiration was laid out, was an idea that the NATO nations would get to it sometime. What we've we heard from Secretary of Defense Mattis in the past couple of days is, you know, any time is not good, is not good enough. We need to begin to see resource by the end of the year. That sounds very much like President Trump. It sounds a lot like pressure to the leaders here. But there is an understanding that some countries have paid less than was required and were perhaps slower than others to move forward. The countries that are really the most worried, the Baltic States, probably when those that are sort of on the front line of what is concerned about sort of Russian potential aggression with going into those countries in the same way went into Ukraine, they have been some of the first to sort of and among the strongest to step up with those payments. But the concern here going forward is that this is, you know, an expectation to turn around economists to focus on defense and such a big change, some countries only putting in 1.2 percent GDP. So that is a big step for people to make in a short space of time. So they are going to want more detail. How much, what is that level of commitment is going to need to look like? And what are the punishments for not doing it? You know, that you have faith, if you continue to have faith in us, we'll continue to have faith in you. It does put the emphasis very much on Europe to do its part first. [Howell: 11:] 06 in Munich, Germany, our international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, following the story, thank you so much for the reporting. We'll stay in touch with you. [Kinkade:] Well, the theories of provocative actions from Russia seem to concern just about everybody, except the U.S. president. Donald Trump, instead, blaming the media. Mr. Trump accuses the media of spreading fake news. That makes it harder for him to strike a deal, to have better relations, as he says, with the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. CNN's Michelle Kosinski has this report for us. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Tonight, this Russian spy ship works off the American East Coast. U.S. Defense officials telling CNN that someone is testing the new administration, to see how it will react. That's different from what President Trump believes is Moscow's motivation, in part, blaming the press. [Trump:] The false, horrible, fake reporting makes it much harder to make a deal with Russia. And probably Putin said, you know, he's sitting behind his desk. And he's saying, you know, I see what's going on in the United States, I follow it closely. It's going to be impossible for President Trump to ever get along with Russia because of all the pressure he's got with this fake story. OK? And that's a shame. [Kosinski:] But at his epic news conference Thursday, Trump said he still thinks he can work with Vladimir Putin. [Trump:] The greatest thing I could do is shoot that ship that's 30 miles offshore right out of the water. Everyone in this country is going to say, oh, it's so great. It's not great. That's not great. I would love to be able to get along with Russia. [Kosinski:] He didn't dismiss Russia's provocations... [Unidentified Male:] This spy ship off the coast of the United States. [Trump:] Not good. [Unidentified Male:] There was a ballistic missile test that many interpreted as a violation of [Trump:] Not good. [Unidentified Male:] between the two countries and a Russian plane buzzed the [U.s. -- Trump:] Not good. [Kosinski:] At the same time, though, Defense Secretary James Mattis now meeting with NATO counterparts in Germany is taking a much more definitive line. [Gen. James Mattis, U.s. Secretary Of Defense:] We do not, are not in a position right now to collaborate on a military level but our political leaders will engage and try to find common ground or a way forward [Kosinski:] And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson isn't letting Russia off the hook. [Rex Tillerson, U.s. Secretary Of State:] The United States will consider working with Russia, where we do not see eye-to-eye, the United States will stand up for the interests and values of America and our allies as we search for new common ground, we expect Russia to honor its commitment to the Minsk agreements and work to deescalate the violence in Ukraine. [Kosinski:] Russia would not comment on President Trump's unexpected words, saying they had more important things to do than watch his news conference. But a prominent Russian lawmaker himself had pointed tweets aimed at the White House. "Trump hopes to make a deal with Russia. Mattis thinks in vain that he can put pressure from a position of strength. Tillerson is playing a second Kerry. Three lines from one administration." You heard the secretary of state there. He didn't say, we would love to do a deal with Russia. He said the U.S. would consider working with Russia if certain conditions were met. What we have been hearing lately, this backing away, a harder line coming from both sides, analysts are now wondering, is that just reality intruding on the original optimism or is it because of the politics right now? Russia says that it's too early to tell what exactly this relationship will be. But they say they are still working on setting up a date and time for President Trump to meet face-to-face with President Putin Michelle Kosinski, CNN, the State Department. [Kinkade:] Well, President Trump has also dismissed allegations of frequent Russian contacts with his administration, calling it "a ruse." Russian interference in U.S. politics is being taken seriously on Capitol Hill. On FBI on Friday, FBI director James Comey briefed U.S. senators in a closed door meeting about what Russia has been up to. At least three official investigations are expected. Well, for more on their reaction out of Russia, let's go to CNN Clare Sebastian in Moscow. Clare, before we get to that I just want to focus a bit on the contradictory statements we seen from the Trump team on Russia. What did Moscow make of it? [Clare Sebastian, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, you know, I think we're increasingly seeing an incredible sense of resignation, this hoped-for deepening of ties, at least in the short term, might not be happening. Certainly the immediate reaction to Mike Pence's speech just today or anything just go about, just want to read you a couple of those tweets from a high-ranking Russian senator, Alexei Pushkov, just in the last hour or so, he said Mattis has already assured the Europeans the U.S. will be faithful to NATO. Now Pence has repeated it. So I think Trump, the U.S. administration is returning to traditional politics. So you see then that they're this might not be that different from the relationship they had with the Obama administration which, as we know, was extremely strained. Another quick reaction from the head of the foreign affairs [Kinkade:] All right, Clare Sebastian, we'll have to leave it there. We are having a few satellite issues. [Howell:] Thank you so much. President Trump is returning to a rather familiar setting after what has been a rocky and very busy first few weeks in office. He set the headline, a campaign-style rally in the state of Florida. [Kinkade:] That's right. The president is spending the weekend at his Palm Beach resort, Mar-a lago. His aides say he will be working on the effort to repeal ObamaCare and finding a new national security adviser. Athena Jones has more on the names in the mix. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, there. The president is spending a third consecutive weekend here at Mar-a-lago in Palm Beach. A senior administration official says it will be a working weekend. All kicking off with the rally on Saturday afternoon at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport. It will be a campaign-style rally, according to the White House, paid for by his campaign and something aimed at getting around the media filter that we've heard the president talk so much about and being able to talk directly to the people. He's also going to spend some time meeting with potential replacements for his now former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. He is slated to meet with former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton; also with Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster and with the acting national security adviser, Keith Kellogg, who is a retired lieutenant general. The president's top aides are down here in Florida with him for the weekend. They will be joined by the newly confirmed Office of Management and Budget director, Nick Mulvaney, and also by the Health and Human Services secretary, Tom Price, to talk about next steps when it comes to repealing and replacing ObamaCare and tax reform. So that senior administration official making it clear that the president will not be vacationing here at his vacation home. Back to you. [Howell:] Athena Jones, thank you. So you will remember, just a day ago, we had that marathon combative news conference with the President of the United States, where he was really focused on the media. [Kinkade:] The media. [Howell:] Yes. [Kinkade:] And he continued to tweet about the media. And I want to bring the tweet up. He says, "The fake news media, failing "New York Times," NBC News, ABC, CBS, CNN, is not my enemy, it is the enemy of the American people." [Howell:] The question is does the president knows that the media, we are here to ask the questions for the people. Let's bring in Scott Lucas. He is live in Birmingham, England, with us. Scott, so just to start, first of all, it is important to point out that there were two ways of viewing this news conference there. There were those who were scratching their heads about it. But there were also people who really like seeing the President of the United States take it to the media. The president has set up and as Steve Bannon has pointed out, the media is the opposition party, in their view. So this was sort of a show called "beat the press," I think, as one of the Trump surrogates suggested. [Scott Lucas, University Of Birmingham:] Well, a significant minority of Americans have been with Trump through the primaries, through the campaign and even now. And Trump continues to count on that minority by framing this as a battle between him and you are not just the opposition folks, you are the enemy. So the idea is, if he can keep those Americans thinking, no, it's not really the question or the issues, you know, maybe the ties with Russia, maybe the question about domestic approaches to health care, maybe about questions about his tax returns, which have never been released. If he can just say media, media, media, it's the hope that that distraction continues to keep give him an advantage. Now, the problem is, is that, of course, the media will not be silenced. And that there are a lot of Americans who don't actually believe that it is all just fake news. So this is a contest which is going to run and run. And I should add it's also one within the administration. Trump's approach is one that is favored, I think, by some of his hardline advisers, Steve Bannon, [Kinkade:] President Trump is due to return to the campaign trail this weekend. The election campaign is over. He's four weeks into his administration. Why is he going back on the campaign trail? [Lucas:] Oh, because this is where Trump feels comfortable. Trump does not feel comfortable, one, in Washington. He doesn't like being amidst a mix of people who might criticize him. Two, he doesn't really feel comfortable dealing with the nitty-gritty of policy. He would much just rather speak to a large group of people and sort of feel the love of the Trump die-hards, who will show up today. It gives him a bit of a break from what he's going to have to face when he comes back on Monday morning. And, again, you have the questions which are going to occur, which now include probable congressional investigations, which are going to be building on the Hill as well as, I think, a real question, which is, all right. You say you are going to replace ObamaCare. How are you going to do it? Oh, and remember that Muslim ban that the courts threw out, are you going to reinstitute that Muslim ban, despite the confrontation it might cause? [Howell:] Scott, just going back on the theme that I set up earlier, that there really are two bubbles here. There is one bubble that views Trump with a great deal of skepticism. There is another that has a long leash and is expecting change. These are the many people, millions of people, who voted for the president. With that scenario in place, with the president going back on the campaign trail, some have suggested that this is him reconnecting with the people who put him in office, the people who believe in what he's doing. Is that something that would benefit this president? [Lucas:] Well, look, first of all, this isn't news; as much as we focus on Trump. You remember a guy named Nixon, who used to talk about the silent majority and they would keep him in office? Well, the problem for both Nixon and for Trump is that reality bites. Reality caught up with Nixon because of Watergate. In this case, if Trump doesn't revive the economy, if he continues to make a mess out of foreign policy, if he is not seen as being reliable indeed, perhaps, unstable, as many people saw on Thursday that reality is the one that will challenge his fake news and all the rallies that he seeks to hold. [Kinkade:] A very valid point. Scott Lucas, great to have your analysis on all of that. Thanks so much for joining us. [Howell:] Thank you, Scott. [Lucas:] Thank you. [Kinkade:] Still to come, a new arrest in the mysterious death of the North Korean leader's half-brother. What we know about the latest suspects, just ahead in a live report. [Gorani:] Welcome back, everybody. A new development there in southern Israel. Israel is saying that it is going close border crossing between southern Israel and Egypt at Taba until Passover, so just about until mid-April, because of some sort of ISIS threat, they're saying, directed at Israel. You see it there on the map, the southern part of Israel where it connects to Egypt there in northern Sinai. So that is going to be crossed for about a week closed, I should say, for about a week. All right. Let's turn our attention from the Middle East to France and those controversial remarks by Marine Le Pen with some historical revisionism, refusing to acknowledge the French government's responsibility in the deportation of some Jewish children during World War II. Melissa Bell joins me now live from Paris with more reaction to that. So she said this over the weekend. Today is Monday. What are people talking about? What's been the reaction in France to all of this? [Melissa Bell, Cnn Paris Correspondent:] Hala, there's been a great deal of reaction. What we're talking about is 1942. You have to cast your mind back to when the French government from G.C., the collaborationist government, decided to deport from France some 13,000 French Jews, including, Hala, thousands of French children. Now, over the course of the last few decades, successive French presidents have recognized that this was something that the French state needed to apologize for, Jacques Chirac and all of the presidents that succeeded him. That Marine Le Pen has been drawn into sort of a revisionist theory of this is surprising at this stage and, of course, is drawing reaction from all of her opponents in this very volatile, very competitive, very uncertain presidential race. Until now, she's really tried to put a huge amount of space between herself and her father, going so far as to expel Jean-Marie Le Pen, the man who founded the party that she now leads back in 1972, precisely because he had been accused of denying the Holocaust. He described the gas chambers as a footnote of history. Now, Marine Le Pen has not gone that far. But to doubt that the French state, the French government, was responsible for the deportation of those Jews in 1942 has, of course, proved hugely controversial and is a massive blow to her campaign. She was, in a sense, drawn into this controversy with less than two weeks to go before the French presidential election. Now, for her die-hard supporters, one of the strengths that she has is that she has these voters, Hala, who are going to vote for her whatever. She has one of the most solid groups of voters in the election. It is those undecided that she's been trying to reach that we'll have trouble with what she's had to say over the course of the weekend. [Gorani:] Right, we'll see if that has an impact. All right. I know you have some reporting from the French suburbs where there is a lot of disaffection, lots of sort of economic depression, high unemployment as well. In just a few weeks before this crucial election, it's kind of interesting to take the temperature there of what's going on in that part of France. Tell us more about what you saw. [Bell:] Well, it is important to take the temperature there, Hala, because it is one of the main problems facing France, that in France's urban centers, you have these huge French satellite towns that are essentially disenfranchised, that have huge levels of unemployment, that consider themselves sort of outside of French society. How is the French election going down there, especially when with less than two weeks to go before the first round of voting, we have historically very high numbers of people who have yet to make up their minds, hence the volatility in this election? So we went out to have a look at what the people in what the French call the banlieues had to think about what was happening. Far from the glamour of Paris, this is what the French call the banlieues, suburban towns made up of tower blocks that are synonymous with poverty, crime and exclusion, and where unemployment is twice as high as other parts of France. Our journey begins in Gennevilliers, then further out to Argenteuil, and finally on to distant Grigny. [Hassan Ben M'barek, President, Banlieues Respect:] Public authorities are partly responsible for what has happened in the French banlieues these last 20 or 30 years. They're just reaping what they sowed. [Bell:] Hassan Ben M'Barek is our guide. He spent 30 years trying to get successive governments to help the banlieues. Here in Gennevilliers, social housing was put up in the early 1970s. Hassan shows us a spot where a tower block once stood. It was pulled down to make the area less fortress like, but, Frederic, who's lived here all his life, says it still feels like a jail. [Frederic Robin, Resident:] They put bars everywhere. We're in cages, you've seen how it is. So our freedom has been restricted, and we've abandoned the young people. We must give hope to the young people, to give them a goal in life. I am 51 years old this year, what's my purpose in life? I don't have one, I have no goal. My goal is to survive. That's not a goal, it's an obligation. You have to survive. [Bell:] A little further out of Paris, about a 20-minute drive, lies Argenteuil. It was made famous by Nicolas Sarkozy back in 2005. [Nicolas Sarkozy, Former President Of France:] You've had enough, haven't you? You've had enough of this scum. Well, we're going to get rid of them. [Bell:] Just days later, the deaths of two teenagers who've been running from police would set the banlieues alight. Sarkozy's use of the word "scum" would not be forgotten. Twelve years on, the relationship between the police and locals here in Argenteuil remains tense. [Djenna Diarrassouba, Resident:] Instead of calming everyone down, the police gets confrontational. They insult and hit, and it doesn't calm the situation at all. [Bell:] Grigny is further out still, about a 45-minute drive from Paris. Hassan says it's all been forgotten altogether. [M'barek:] We have problems of delinquency. And the public authorities have not carried out any actions, whether it's do with urban planning or social care to try and address all the problems that exist inside. [Bell:] As we arrive, so too do riot police and their helicopter. Locals tell us they come every day. [Unidentified Male:] When the cameras are gone, they corner us. They insult us, they charge us. Respect is a two-way street. If they give us no respect, we do not respect them. [Bell:] CNN reached out to the police to get their response, but they declined to comment. The young here complain that they see too many policemen and despite the selection period, too few politicians. [Golo Diarra, Resident:] They go to centers for the disabled. They visit farms. They visit places that mean nothing at all. Why don't they come to our neighborhoods? We're not animals. If tomorrow, a guy participating in the election came here, I would love it. Just to see him, to speak to him, to say, sir, we are here at the Grand Borne. This is how it is. That would be amazing, but that'll never happen. [Bell:] All of those we spoke to in Grigny said they would voting but many explained, with little real hope of change. It is a reminder, Hala, all those many issues that the next president of France will have to deal with and yet, issues that really have yet to become part of the presidential election with so little time to go. These are young people who really feel that these candidates really have yet to reach out to them and offer them any hope for the future, Hala. [Gorani:] OK. Thanks very much, Melissa Bell, in Paris. Quick break, we'll be right back. [Whitfield:] Welcome back. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. So ISIS is now telling its wounded fighters they can get out of Mosul as Iraqi forces prepare for a major battle to retake the city. The city has been in ISIS hands for the last two years and is the terror group's last stronghold inside Iraq. CNN's Ben Wedeman is near Mosul. So Ben, how close are Iraqi forces to moving in on that city? [Ben Wedeman, Cnn International Correspondent:] Fredricka, it appears that the day of reckoning for ISIS is Mosul, Iraq's second largest city, is perhaps only days away. Iraq has mustered tens of thousands of troops as well as Kurdish forces. There are American forces in the theatre as well. Paramilitary units seem to be all primed for this offensive, and many with Mosul are getting the message. We're hearing from sources inside the city that there are ISIS fighters who are starting to panic, apparently expressing concern that perhaps maybe they can take advantage of an amnesty offered by the Iraqi government. Others are simply getting out of town. We heard from sources inside Mosul today that six buses full of men as well as women and children left the city, and that 14 ISIS members apparently who were fleeing without permission were executed including two leaders among them. In the meantime we understand that ISIS has released prisoner, people being held for minor offenses like not cutting their beards properly, wearing clothes not approved by ISIS, smoking cigarettes. They've been leased from prison to dig tunnels and trenches around the city. So the city is bracing for this onslaught, which could happen anytime, Fredricka. [Whitfield:] All right, Ben Wedeman, thank you so much from near Mosul. All right, back to politics and the race for the White House in this country. Donald Trump refusing to back despite facing multiple accusations about his behavior towards women. None of the accusers filing formal complaints that we're aware of. Straight ahead, the legal ramifications Trump could face, this as we wait for him to speak live in Bangor, Maine. We'll be right back. [Howell:] Welcome back to our viewers around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Good to have you with us. I'm George Howell. [Allen:] And I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories this hour. The king of Saudi Arabia promises a speedy investigation into the deadliest tragedy at the Hajj in 25 years. At least 717 people were killed in the stampede near the holy city of Mecca. It happened during a ritual known as the "Stoning of the Devil," and it was tremendously hot at that time. We have this live video to show you right now from Saudi Arabia. People continuing to gather in Mina for the final day of the Hajj pilgrimage. We are also expecting Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam's holiest city. [Howell:] Pope Francis is in New York City. The second stop in his six-day U.S. tour. In the coming hours he will speak to the U.N. General Assembly and visit the 911 Memorial Museum. He will also celebrate mass at Madison Square Garden and meet with families of migrants in Harlem. [Allen:] Take you out now to Washington state in the U.S. and this scene on a bridge there. Four international students were killed in Seattle, Washington, after their tour bus and a tourist vehicle called a duck boat collided. Nearly 50 people were hospitalized. Two of them remain in critical condition. The tour company has pulled all of its boats from city streets. [Howell:] Volkswagen's Supervisory Board will meet on Friday to appoint a new chief executive. Martin Winterkorn stepped down on Wednesday. Volkswagen admitted last week that it cheated on emissions data for as many as 11 million diesel vehicles worldwide. Media reports suggest the CEO job may go to Mathis Mueller who currently is the head of Porsche. [Allen:] The brother and father of one of Mexico's best-known film directors have been found dead after they were kidnapped and held for ransom. It happened in an area known for violence between rival gangs. [Howell:] While the overall murder rate in Tamaulipas has fallen in recent years, families are still losing loved ones. Our Rafael Romo has this report. [Rafael Romo, Cnn Senior Latin American Affairs Editor:] A father-son moment shared on Instagram. Mezcal in their cups and kind words on their minds. Alejandro Gomez Monteverde calling his father his best friend, his mentor, and the wisest man he knows. That was nine months ago. Now the sweet snapshot taking on a somber meaning. This weekend, the bodies of his kidnapped father and brother were found in Pueblo Viejo, Mexico, a tiny coastal town on the border between Tamaulipas and Veracruz States. The pair had suffered apparent head trauma and had been dead for several days. The Veracruz attorney general says they were discovered Saturday night, more than two weeks after being abducted while leaving their home in Tamaulipas. The deaths are under investigation. And CNN affiliate, Telavisa, reports the family paid a ransom. Police have also found the car they believe is connected to kidnappers. It has Tamaulipas plates and is being tested for evidence. The region, which borders the United States, is among the most violent in Mexico thanks to ongoing disputes between rival gangs over lucrative drug trafficking routes, though it's not yet clear if gangs or cartels are involved. Monteverde is married to Ali Landry, an actress, model and former Miss USA. He most recently directed the drama "Little Boy," which stars Eduardo Verastegui. The actor shared his condolences on Twitter requesting prayers for his friend. [Allen:] Raphael Romo now joins us live from Mexico City. And hello to you, Rafael. Let's talk about violence and crime in the states of Veracruz and Tamaulipas where the victims lived. How prevalent is it? What's the root cause? You mentioned the drug situation, the drug cartels. And how often do you see kidnappings related to the violence and ransom? [Romo:] It's very important to understand their location. And we just saw on the map a moment ago that Tamaulipas is just south of Texas, and right next to the Gulf of Mexico, and has been traditionally a transit point for a drug cartel known the Gulf Cartel. In the late 2000s, that cartel split and their former enforcers, Los Zetas, began finding Gulf Cartel and that thus started creating all the violence that we now see. The problem was that not only that fighting fragmented the cartels, but also the Mexican government sending soldiers to the region. And crimes that we didn't used to see before, like kidnapping, the one we're talking about, but also extortion, prostitution, criminal gangs, stealing cars, all kinds of different crimes. That started appearing a number of years ago. And that's the situation right now. Just a couple of days ago the State Department issued a travel warning saying that Tamaulipas has the highest rate of kidnappings in all of Mexico. So definitely a place to avoid and a place that has been mired by violence for the last seven years or so Natalie. [Allen:] All right. Thanks for putting it in perspective. We certainly hope that they can find the killers in this particular case. Rafael Romo, joining us from Mexico City, thank you. [Howell:] Straight ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM, it looks like a rocket and it's fast it could travel 80 kilometers by the time we get back from this commercial break. Meet the Bloodhound, next. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, Fareed Zakaria Gps:] GPS, the Global Public Square. Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world. I'm Fareed Zakaria. We'll begin today's show with a crazy week in world affairs. The White House accused Great Britain of spying on Trump Tower. Rex Tillerson said US policy towards North Korea has failed for 20 years. And Angela Merkel met with President Trump, a man who once accused her of ruining Germany. How did that go? Then, President Trump this week slashed budgets for agencies trying to tackle the global warming crisis. I'll ask President Obama's Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, an MIT physicist, what he thinks of the energy challenges we now face. Also, Amal Clooney is taking on ISIS, trying to fight the terrorists the best way she knows how, not with a gun or a bomb, but with a legal brief. [Amal Clooney, Barrister:] This is global threat. It needs a global response. And part of that response must be a judicial one. It cannot only on the battlefield. [Zakaria:] Clooney and her client join me to explain the horrors of ISIS'crimes and how justice can be served. Finally, 75 years of world history told through CIA maps, from the Eastern Front to Cuban missile, central Moscow to central Baghdad. But, first, here's my take. We do not yet have the official agenda for next month's meeting at Mar-A-Lago between Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping, but it might well be remembered as the beginning of a handover of power from the United States to China. After 75 years of American leadership on the world stage, Trump seems determined for America to retreat, opening a space that will eagerly be filled by the Communist Party of China. Trump railed against China on the campaign trail, bellowing that it was raping the United States. He vowed to label it a currency manipulator on his first day in office. But in his actual first interaction with Beijing, he caved. Weeks after his election, Trump had speculated that he might upgrade relations with Taiwan. In response, President Xi froze all contacts between Beijing and Washington on all issues, demanding that Trump reverse himself, which is exactly what happened. The Trump administration's vision for America's disengagement from the world is a godsend for China. Look at Trump's proposed budget, which would cut spending on American soft power, diplomacy and foreign aid, funds for international organizations by 28%. Beijing, by contrast, has quadrupled the budget of its foreign ministry in the last decade. Just tallying some of Beijing's key development and aid commitments, George Washington University's David Shambaugh estimates, that total adds up to $1.4 trillion compared to the Marshall Plan, which in today's dollars would cost about $100 billion. China's growing diplomatic strength matters. An Asian head of government recently explained to me that, at every regional conference, Washington sends a couple of diplomats whereas Beijing sends dozens. The Chinese are there at every committee meeting and you are not, he said. The result, he explained, is that Beijing is increasingly setting the Asian agenda. The Trump administration wants to skimp on US funding for the UN. This is music to China's ears. Beijing has been trying to gain influence in that global body for years. It has increased its funding for the UN across-the-board and would likely be delighted to pick up the slack as America withdraws. Of course, in return for this, China will gain increased influence from key appointments to major shifts in policy throughout the UN system. The first major act of the Trump administration was to withdraw the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a treaty that would have opened up long closed economies like Japan and Vietnam, but also would've created a block that could stand up to China's increasing domination of trade and economics in Asia. with Washington's withdrawal, even staunchly pro-American allies like Australia are now hedging their bets. Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has raised the possibility of China joining the TPP, essentially turning a group that was meant to be a deterrent against China into an arm of Chinese influence. One more gain for Beijing. The Trump administration does want a bigger military, but that has never been how China has sought to compete with US power. Chinese leaders have pointed out to me that this was the Soviet strategy during the Cold War, one that failed miserably. Their implication was let Washington waste resources on the Pentagon, Beijing would focus on economics, technology and soft power. Donald Trump's new National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster once remarked that trying to fight America symmetrically, tank for tank, was stupid. The smart strategy, he thought, would be an asymmetrical one. The Chinese seem to understand this. For more, go to CNN.comFareed and read my "Washington Post" column this week. And let's get started. The White House had quite a week on the world stage. So, let's get right to the discussion. Richard Haas is the President of the Council on Foreign Relations and the author of a World in Disarray: American Foreign Policy and the Crisis of the Old Order. And Antony Blinken was the Deputy Secretary of State under President Obama, now a CNN global affairs analyst. Richard, let me ask you. You've been in these kinds of meetings before. Angela Merkel and Donald Trump seem to have sort of kissed and made up. But Trump had mercilessly attacked her last year for her policy of letting refugees in. Do you think that the things are all better now or do those tensions linger? [Richard Haas, President, Council On Foreign Relations:] I wouldn't say the tensions have all gone away. They've clearly got a very different fundamental view of trade. Unless, I missed it, Fareed, the president didn't mention the words European Union in his remarks. It's, obviously, central to Germanys foreign policy. They didn't really talk about Russia, little bit about Ukraine. So, we don't know how much of a meeting of their minds there was and whether this president, for example, is going to go ahead and continue the strengthening of NATO. So, I actually think there's a lot of questions out there. The one thing I like was perhaps overlap this issue of worker training, the German apprenticeship programs. This might be an interesting way to finesse not just the trade debate, but the larger debate about how do we make sure that workers can cope with the pressures of robotics and artificial intelligence and driverless vehicles. This is actually something Germany and the United States could take the lead on and perhaps this could be a centerpiece of the G20, which, as you know, the Germans host this year. [Zakaria:] Tony, what did strike me about Donald Trump was that focus on worker training apprenticeship, but the odd thing, of course, is that Germany has all those programs and has maintained its manufacturing capacity not because it has practiced any kind of protectionism in fact, it's very open to trade but because it has very intrusive government policies, high tax, high regulation, what we would call socialized medicine in this country, which provides workers with a kind of base, an insurance that allows them to move forward. [Antony Blinken, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst And Former Deputy Secretary Of State Under President Obama:] Yes, Fareed. I think it's exactly right. But, look, if you put their personalities and profiles and policies into a computer, they would be about the last pair that matchmaker.com would spit out. They couldn't be more different. And Richard alluded to some of this. But when it comes to the most basic things, you now have Chancellor Merkel who seems to be the last champion of the liberal international order, the rule of law, transparency, the institutions that back it, the values that back it, and President Trump, unfortunately, who seems to be more in favor of something approximating a liberal democracy. So, this meeting was bound to try to put a positive gloss on things. But these are two very different people with two very different approaches. [Zakaria:] Richard, when you think about where a meeting like this goes from here, shouldn't Rex Tillerson, the Secretary of State, have been there. I'm a little puzzled by the just the sort of staffing of this kind of these kind of these things to ensure that there would then be follow-up and the policies that are talked about by the two heads of government actually happen. [Haas:] Someone said that about 80 percent to 90 percent of life is implementation. So, what happens after these meanings is often more important than what happens in it. And often, the sides turn out to actually agree on things they never quite manage to agree on during the meeting itself. I don't quite understand I'll be honest, Fareed why Rex Tillerson, the new Secretary of State, is traveling. It's very hard for him to represent administration policy towards Asia because there really isn't much in the way of policy towards Asia. There still isn't an inter-agency process. I would think he would be wiser to essentially stay home, focus on getting his building staffed up, which is essentially empty, protect the resources for the State Department, diplomacy, foreign aid in the budget, which have been decimated, and really develop his personal relationship with this president. At the end of the day, a Secretary of State is only as effective as his relationship with the president. And, clearly, here, I wouldn't say there's a divide so much as there just isn't that kind of closeness. [Zakaria:] Tony, if he had to go somewhere, though, Asia was the right place and North Korea probably the right topic, right? [Blinken:] Yes. I think that's exactly right. It is if he's going to travel and not be at this meeting, this is the right place at the right time. And there is a looming crisis in Asia, represented by North Korea's relentless attempts to get a nuclear weapon that they can put on a missile capable of reaching the United States. Administrations, going back to the 1990s, have tried to curb their nuclear ambitions without success. But over the last year, this effort to get a missile that can hit us with a nuclear warhead has accelerated and they are getting closer to the day when that capability is put in the hands of a leader who acts, at the very least, impulsively and maybe even irrationally and is not bound by the rules of deterrence. So, the question is, what to do about it? And here, bringing the South Korean and Japanese allies together with China on some kind of united plan is exactly what needs to be done. Hopefully, that's what the secretary is working on. [Zakaria:] I have to ask both of you finally. This crazy situation with the accusations from the White House toward the British government, the United States' closest ally since 1941, in which Sean Spicer said that essentially or implied that British intelligence was spying on Trump Tower. The Brits then come forward and say this is nonsense. What they are referring to is nonsense are the words of the White House press secretary. Tony Blinken, can you ever remember anything like this happening? [Blinken:] I can't. I think the word the Brits used was rubbish. But here's what I think happened, Fareed. Unfortunately, President Trump seems to have become the leading consumer and purveyor of fake news. And so, he reads this nonsense in Breitbart and other publications about the alleged wiretaps by President Obama and he reacts and puts it on his Twitter feed. And then, they find out, of course, that it's wrong, never happened. But they're incapable apparently of acknowledging a mistake, and so the typical modus operandi is to just double down. But having falsely accused the president to now rope in our closest ally and impugn it at the same time is really turning this into not just a domestic problem, but an international one. And ultimately, what's so troubling about this is that it undermines the credibility of the president and of the United States. Who is going to listen to him or believe him when he continues to put out these false allegations? [Zakaria:] Richard, the part that strikes me as also being a kind of sad degradation is all these people from Sean Spicer to presumably McMaster the national security advisor Tillerson, they all have to in some way pretend that these are all serious allegations or accusations. Charles Krauthammer, the conservative commentator on Fox said, there isn't a person in Washington who believes that Obama wiretapped Trump. But they all have to pretend because the president said it that there's some credibility to this that perhaps some investigation will show something. [Haas:] Well, you're right, Fareed. It diminishes the president, it diminishes those around him. No good can come of it. As Tony correctly pointed out, it ends up devaluing the most important currency a president has, which is his word, which is his credibility. It also ends up hurting our relationships with some of our most important partners. We already had the rough conversation with Australia. We talked about Germany before. Now, the British. We've gotten off terribly with Mexico. And these are the relationships that in many ways are the foundation of what the United States does in the world. If we're not careful, we're going to turn America first into America only and we simply can't succeed in this kind of a global world without being able to leverage our relationships with our traditional friends. [Zakaria:] And all the ones you mentioned, of course, are our closest allies. Richard Haas, Tony Blinken, pleasure to have you both on. [Haas:] Thanks, Fareed. [Blinken:] Thank you, Fareed. [Zakaria:] Next on GPS, snow or sleet, hot or cold, floods or droughts, scientists do agree human activity is changing the climate. But the Trump administration isn't so sure. I'll talk about the White House and climate change with Ernest Moniz, president Obama's energy secretary. [Feyerick:] And happening today, there's new video of the fierce battle to retake Ramadi's city center from ISIS fighters. And video of the constant bombing that has left the city in ruins. Iraqi officials say progress is slow because ISIS fighters have left behind booby traps and IEDs, improvised explosive devices. They predict Iraqi troops are very close to re-taking the city completely. So how crucial is the fight for Ramadi? Earlier I spoke with Lt. General Mark Hertling. He's a CNN military analyst and a former U.S. Army commanding general. I also spoke with CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. He's also a former Defense intelligence officer. I began by asking General Hertling why retaking Ramadi is so crucial. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, Cnn Military Analyst:] Many more reasons than Robyn just stated, Deb. I think what you're also talking about is a resurgence of the Iraqi Security Forces. It has shed itself of some very poor leaders that it had had during the final days of the Maliki regime. And it is also showing that the Baghdad government is supporting those other than the Shia militias. So that's very important in Ramadi. So it is somewhat of an operational victory, as it will be once they finish going through this particular town. [Feyerick:] And also interesting is sort of the makeup of this, because you do have the Iraqi forces. You also have the Sunni tribesmen, who are going to maintain control of the land that they get. But the Shia militias are nowhere, and that's important because that's a fundamental shift to allow the Sunnis to feel OK, we're back in the game. How do you see it, Lieutenant Colonel? [Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] Yes, that's exactly right. It's important that the Sunnis are seen as involved in this. And this is very reminiscent of the Anbar awakening back in 2007, where the tide of battle was turned by those Sunnis joining forces with the Americans at the time, and now you see the Sunnis joining with the Iraqi forces. This is critical. And this is going to this will spell a really good omen for the future. Once they take Ramadi, they've got to hold Ramadi, and you have to have the Sunnis to do that. The Shia can't do this. What we're seeing now is, I think, a dress rehearsal for what's going to happen in Mosul. [Feyerick:] Which is where they're going to move to next. A very interesting thing, also, is there are a lot of citizens that are in Ramadi, and those citizens are really being used by ISIS as fodder. And that's one of the reasons that, I guess, the troops have been sort of slow to move. How did they play a role in all of this, General? [Hertling:] This is very tough, Deb. I saw this when I was in Iraq in 2008, where al Qaeda would come in and actually repress the local populous, use them as shields, kill them off, use them to bargain. And this is exactly the same thing ISIS is doing. The new soldiers you've got to remember, too, these the majority of the forces going into Ramadi right now are relatively Green troops. These are folks who have just come together in those new brigades. Even though they do have the golden division with them, most of the forces have recently been trained by the coalition. So these are Green troops going against an enemy that is using their fellow citizens as shields. That's extremely difficult to face as a soldier, when you see perhaps neighbors and friends and fellow tribesmen being held hostage or being put up in front of you as shields. [Feyerick:] Right, ironically [Hertling:] A tough decision call for some of those soldiers. [Feyerick:] Yes, and ironically, ISIS using the very citizens that technically they are trying to recruit to their caliphate. Colonel, the coalition and Iraqi forces have been working to disrupt ISIS supply lines. Today we're hearing that one of the major roots into Raqqa, Syria, is being disrupted. How effective do you think that will will be effectively this strategy? [Francona:] Well that is effective, and we are seeing this. This is a long-term strategy, and this goes through the retaking of Mosul which we know is the key to Iraq getting rid of ISIS. So they are trying to isolate Mosul. They are going to cut those supply lines. The fighting at Sinjar earlier, Tal Afar, just a few weeks ago, and now cutting the supply line between Raqqa and Mosul, that is critical to isolating that, because once you isolate Mosul, then you can surround it and go in and take it. Very much let's remember, Mosul is a huge city, a scale of magnitude much larger than Ramadi and we've got long supply lines. So this isn't going to happen in the next few weeks but we are starting the process, and cutting the supply lines is crucial to that. [Feyerick:] Do you think, just very quickly, gentlemen, that this sort of chokes ISIS in a way, at least here in Ramadi, and then perhaps even in Mosul, or do those who leave Ramadi go to Mosul to defend it there? I'll start with you, General. [Hertling:] Yes, it certainly does, Deb. And this has been the strategy all along. When many people were saying there wasn't a strategy, this was part of it, to cut the supply lines, cut the logistics, take out and destroy the leadership, make the population give the population a chance to rise, and at the same time, provide time for the Iraqi Security Forces to build up. Mosul is key, as Rick just said, but there are going to be a lot of other fights before Mosul. They have to take the Iraqi Security Forces have to take a city called Shirkat, another one called Hawija on the way to Mosul, all to establish the base for resupply. So I agree completely with what Rick said. This is not going to take days or weeks. This is probably going to continue to take months before Iraqi Security Forces can get to the north and take this final city. [Feyerick:] And the war on ISIS has dominated international stories this year. The rapid spread of the jihadist group and the attacks in Paris are changing the way the U.S. and other countries are fighting ISIS. Some of CNN's top foreign correspondents gathered for a look at the war on ISIS and what we can expect in the year ahead. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Paris has been such a game changer because as closely as I've been following the sort of reach of militant groups like ISIS in Europe and in the West, I had never expected them to be able to pull off something this organized, something that's well orchestrated. [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Did you think it was that organized and that well orchestrated? No, I don't think it was. [Ward:] The main thing that didn't go as well as they were hoping were the vests, the suicide vests. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] They accomplished their goal. [Elbagir:] But they accomplished their goal [Damon:] It has us talking about it. Yes. [Elbagir:] Yes. But there's a difference between extraordinarily complex, well-organized attacks that need an infrastructure and eight guys with some vests [Damon:] Oh, no, I think they had an infrastructure. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] What surprises me a little bit about this is I think the lack of a short-term memory. I mean, it was a decade ago that we were looking at al Qaeda carrying out massive attacks, which killed scores of people. [Ward:] Yes. [Watson:] And we kind of forget the fear and panic of those days. [Ward:] Well, also, the whole nature of recruitment was different. [Watson:] Yes. [Ward:] Like al Qaeda was recruiting in the [Watson:] In the mosques. [Ward:] And it was an entirely different prospect. Jihad was very abstract concept. [Watson:] And now these are Facebook jihad. [Ward:] Now these are like your own friends. [Watson:] Who are doing it in their bedroom, yes. [Ward:] each other in their bedrooms. So it's a completely I think for intelligence authorities, it's a very frightening prospect. [Elbagir:] But this kind of, I know he grew a beard, he started going to the mosques, these are the telltale signs of radicalism, that entire landscape [Watson:] He started drinking. [Ward:] Yes. Changed. [Elbagir:] has changed now. [Damon:] But that also all that goes to the greater underlying issues that we have in society and what ISIS has now done for people that are even slightly so inclined is give them that sense of purpose. [Elbagir:] And the question is [Damon:] So the next question is, it's not just in terms of intelligence, how do we fight this, but how do you actually fight that ideology? How do you revamp society where these kids have a different sense of purpose? [Watson:] All of these kids, their parents came to Europe for a better life. And the sad irony is that their offspring grow up into people who attack Europe. [Ward:] And we have this misconception that ISIS is all about radical Islam. ISIS is a product of like a bunch of very complex geopolitical historical trends that have been brewing for years. It's not just about Islam. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It's also terrifying that some guys who clearly aren't particularly mentally well configured, in San Bernardino, can go and shoot some coworkers with a lot of assault weapons and put something on Facebook and that somehow joins a global movement. [Elbagir:] And there's almost like a wave of hysteria, you know, that's building on each other. You know you saw Paris happened and then you saw San Bernardino kind of crest off it and then crest it's like a contagion in a way. [Damon:] But I there needs to be not hysteria, but, like, let's not underestimate the threat, either. [Ward:] Yes. [Damon:] I mean, it is huge. [Feyerick:] And coming up, the science behind the NFL's biggest problem. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Correspondent:] Part of this is responding to the hurt that's out there. None of the Senate Democrats certainly Harry Reid and others don't believe Donald Trump will follow their advice in terms of who he hires or not, but this is just the beginning volley of what is sure to be a long running conversation between the Democrats and who he puts in his cabinet. But interestingly how Harry Reid is differing from most other Democrats, he's preparing to take his leave after being up here on Capitol Hill for so long, Brooke. I'm told his speech won't hold back at all. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] I bet it won't and we'll take it live. Jeff Zeleny, thank you on The Hill for us. Coming up, Donald Trump as compromise- in-chief? My next guest, CNN's very own Michael Smerconish will explain why he thinks the nation perhaps just elected that very notion, a compromiser, and whether President Obama is being too soft on the President-elect. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Moscow. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. Right now, we're keeping a close eye on the White House. Later this hour, the press secretary, Sean Spicer, will brief the press, take questions on Russia, Syria, reported troubles inside the president's inner circle. We're going to bring that to you live once it gets underway. Among the questions on Syria, whether the U.S. is changing strategy and the feelings on regime change. The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, says regime change in Syria is inevitable, while the secretary of state Rex Tillerson, he's a bit less direct. Tillerson is now, by the way, in Italy getting ready for the G7 meetings but will head to Moscow tomorrow to talk about the role of both Russia and the United States and Syria and the administration's ideas for the next steps there. Let's bring in our Senior White House Correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's over at the White House. Jeff, the action on Syria, the action with Russia clearly over shadowing what was supposed to be a victory lap of sorts for the president. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Indeed, Wolf. Foreign policy is still center stage here in this administration, this president with his challenges, sort of, stacking up one on top of the other. But there is a bit of misdirection and it sounds like a lack of cohesion between some members of the president's top advisers. The U.N. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, she was pretty blunt over the weekend, Wolf, saying, here on CNN and elsewhere, that, look, regime change is essentially going to happen. The secretary of state who is traveling in the region and heading to Russia tomorrow, he was less direct on that. He, you know, said that the focus is still the fight against ISIS. Now, we talked to a senior administration official earlier this morning who said, look, there's not as much difference there as you might think. And Nikki's Haley is being more impassionate in the words of this official and the secretary of state is being more reserved. But there's no question that the challenges there are something in the wake of the strikes last week in Syria that are weighing heavy on this president and this administration. But we saw the president, earlier this morning, Wolf, trying to take that victory lap of sorts with his first appointment to the Supreme Court in the rose garden here at the White House. Let's watch. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I've always heard that the most important thing that a president of the United States does is appoint people, hopefully great people like this appointment to the United States Supreme Court. And I can say, this is a great honor. And I got it done in the first 100 days. That's even nice. [Zeleny:] So, Wolf, you get the sense that the first 100 days, that marker that new presidents are always judged by, clearly on the mind of this president here. And that is likely to be his biggest accomplishment, at least in Washington here, as they look for that date at the end of the April. But, also, these foreign policy challenges now weighing on the president. I expect Sean Spicer, at the White House press briefing, will be asked a considerable number of questions about those. It's his first briefing, Wolf, since those strikes in Syria last week. [Blitzer:] Yes, I'm sure there'll be a whole bunch of questions. We'll have live coverage this hour. That's coming up. Jeff Zeleny, thank you. One consequence from the U.S. air strikes on Syria has been an end to cooperation with Russia on military flights over Syria. No longer is there a system in place to make sure there are no close calls in the air as both countries fly various missions over Syria. Let's go to our Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen. He saw this first hand. He's joining us now for a CNN exclusive. Fred, what was it like flying over Syria? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, we did that today, Wolf. And we saw the operations against ISIS there firsthand. And, of course, right now, there is a degree of uncertainty there in the air for the U.S. forces that are flying there. Because, of course, before that, you had a system in place. That system of deconflicting where the Russians said, look, we're operating here. The U.S. said, we're operating there. We're going to stay out of each other's way. Right now, it's not clear whether or not that system is still in place. It's not clear whether or not there is going to be communication again. Of course, that bears a lot of risks to what you were just talking about, possible midair collisions. But at the same time, the folks on this base, the folks in the U.S. Air Force, say the fight against ISIS has to continue. So, they are still flying missions inside Syria. They are still fighting ISIS both in Iraq and in Syria. Especially in light of the fact, Wolf, that, of course, there are ground forces there, some of them U.S., that are in harm's way. So, they say the fight against ISIS has to continue at full steam even though there are these political tensions right now between the U.S. and Russia. But certainly very interesting to see that firsthand and to see the amount of air power that the U.S. still brings to bear on ISIS, despite everything that's going around here Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Fred, thank you. Fred Pleitgen on an exclusive assignment for us. Appreciate it. Meanwhile, the U.S. is monitoring a show of force in another part of the world. Right now, a U.S. Navy strike group led by the USS Vinson, the aircraft carrier, is headed to the waters off the Korean Peninsula. The move follows the recent missile test by North Korea. The national security adviser, Lieutenant General H.R. McMaster, spoke about the deployment this weekend. [Lt. Gen. H.r. Mcmaster, U.s National Security Advisor:] It's prudent to do it, isn't it? I mean, North Korea has been engaged with in a pattern of provocative behavior. This is a rogue, a regime that is now a nuclear-capable regime. [Blitzer:] CNN's Will Ripley is the only U.S. journalist in North Korea right now. He's joining us from Pyongyang with this latest report. Lots going on Will. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, we've been speaking with government officials Pyongyang, and they tell us they certainly are receiving the message, the strong message, that the U.S. is sending. But their response may not be what the Trump administration is anticipating. I was with the officials when word came in over the weekend that the carrier strike group, the Carl Vinson, was being sent back to the waters off the Korean Peninsula. We were talking about the Syrian missile strike, at that time, and the official said that these are just examples of what they feel is provocative behavior on the part of the United States. They think the United States is an aggressor. They think it's hypocritical for being the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons on another country. And they believe they have a right. In fact, it's written into their constitution to develop nuclear weapons here. And so, these actions, by the United States, North Koreans say will only encourage them to speed up the development of their nuclear weapons and missiles that could potentially carry those warheads to the mainland U.S. They said they are not afraid of increased sanctions from China. They're not afraid of international condemnation. They say even if this country were to hurt more economically, as a result of their weapons' programs, the nuclear programs, the nuclear program and the missile program would be the last things that would receive spending cuts. North Korean mayor, Kim Jong-Un, has told his people that they live under the imminent threat of invasion by the U.S. and this behavior by the United States reinforces that narrative. There's a lot of news that is kept hidden from the North Korean people, but the state media here is covering, extensively, the carrier strike group and also the Syrian missile strike and telling people that this is why they sometimes have to go without electricity and go without food. This is a big week for North Korean leader, Kim Jong-Un. The supreme people's assembly is happening on Tuesday. It's a major political gathering. And, on Saturday, North Korea's most important holiday of the year, the day of the sun. It's around major events like this that, in the past, North Korea has done something provocative to try to show strength, not only here at home but also to their enemies around the world. And U.S. and South Korean officials, Wolf, believe this country is ready, at any moment, to push the button on its sixth nuclear test. What a way to send a message of defiance to the Trump administration Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Will, thank you. Will Ripley with an exclusive report from Pyongyang inside North Korea. The U.S. says the missile strike on Syria was a warning to North Korea. The Syria strike also represents a sharp reversal for President Trump and his administration. And his larger strategy for dealing with Syria right now still remains murky. Listen to what top members of his administration are saying. [Nikki Haley, U.s. Ambassador To The United Nations:] So, there's multiple priorities. It's getting Assad out is not the only priority. And so, what we're trying to do is, obviously, defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out. And then, finally, move towards a political solution. [Rex Tillerson, U.s. Secretary Of State:] And once we can eliminate the battle against ISIS, conclude that and it is going quite well, then we hope to turn our attention to achieving cease-fire agreements between the regime and opposition forces. And it is through that political process that we believe the Syrian people will ultimately be able to decide the fate of Bashar Al Assad. [Lt. Gen. H.r. Mcmaster, U.s. National Security Advisor:] Well, both Secretary Tillerson and Ambassador Haley are right about this. I mean, it's what we really need to do and what everyone who is involved in this conflict needs to do is to do everything they can to resolve this civil war. [Blitzer:] All right, let's bring in our panel. CNN Political Analyst Kirsten Powers, columnist for "USA Today;" Retired Army Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, former assistant secretary of state for political and military affairs; and Robin Wright, a Fellow at the Woodrow International Center here in Washington, and a contributing writer for "The New Yorker" magazine as well. So, General McMaster, the National Security Adviser, says they are both right, even though they're stressing different parts. Who's right? [Robin Wright, Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Internation Center For Scholars:] Well, look, the Trump administration's big flip flop on any policy, domestic or foreign, was last week, when it turned about and said there was no role for Hafezalaz or Bashar Al Assad in the future of Syria. Now, they are beginning to take a softer tone. But this comes in the critical week, the most important meeting that the Trump administration has had with a foreign official and that's with the Russians. This was a government with which they talked about bettering relations, resetting relations and getting together, particularly on the issue of Syria. Now they are deeply divided. And so, I think Tillerson was trying to indicate, look, we want to find common ground, some way to end the fighting. So, I think he softened his language a little bit over last week. But I think the administration is now taking a very tough line and knows that it can't flip flop, yet again, and go back to accepting offset as part of a political transition. [Blitzer:] Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., General Kimmitt, very, very tough. Also, warning more could be done and probably will be done, suggesting more military action. Is that realistic? [Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, U.s. Army:] Oh, I think it's very realistic. At this point, we've already seen the Russians and the Syrians start to fly their planes from that very air field that we bombed. It is clear what the Syrians are trying to say is that we will continue these operations. We may not use chemicals, but you've drawn an upper line on what we're prepared to do and we're going to operate underneath that. We're going to continue the bombings. We're going to continue the killings. [Blitzer:] Russia is reacting very negatively to the U.S. tomahawk cruise missile strike. Putin says it was an act of aggression. I don't know if Putin is going to meet with Secretary of State Tillerson when he's in Moscow. He'll meet with Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister. But this as we as we all suspect, this could be a critically important session. [Kirsten Powers, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, right, it's a major shift from the administration, certainly in a way they're talking about Russia. And I think that if you look at what McMaster said is he basically was saying that, sort of, to take if you take all their statements together, right, Nikki Haley used a, kind of, passive language in the way she was talking about it. What he and it seemed that he was, sort of, building on that and essentially saying that Russia needs to do some sort of soul searching and decide that they don't want to be supporting this murderous regime. But one has to, sort of, ask, like, why would that suddenly happen? This is not news that Assad is doing this. This is not, obviously, the first time Assad has killed people with chemical weapons. You know, and as we remember as a candidate before he was even a candidate, I guess he was, you know, criticizing Obama for even thinking about going after Assad. So, it's not clear why they think Russia is going to suddenly shift and realize Assad's a bad guy. [Blitzer:] Because the Russians insist Robin, you know that Putin insists and others that, you know what? They the Syrian regime of Bashar Al Assad is not responsible for the chemical weapons killing of all these people, the civilians. The opposition was responsible. They bombed some storage facility there at Idlib and that's why all those people were killed. That's the Russian line. [Wright:] It's the Russian line, but I'm not sure the Russians really believe that themselves. I think they have enough intelligence on the ground and they will know what the United States knows. I think the bigger question, when it comes this meeting, is the Russian prism on this conflict is very different from ours. They will look at Tillerson and say, OK, you don't like Assad. Who are you offering as an alternative? In the six years since this grisly conflict has gone on, there has been no rebel movement that has emerged viable back by the west. No political figure who's emerged as an alternative, viable, credible alternative. The political opposition has been feckless. And so, I think one of the big stumbling blocks is at they look at what can you do, how can they come together? What is the alternative to Bashar Al Assad? And that's where I think the United States its allies are going to come up short. [Blitzer:] General, you wanted to weigh in? [Kimmitt:] Yes, I think that actually what we're looking at is Secretary Tillerson going over, trying to tell the Russians, look, you've been you've been backing the wrong guy for the last few years. You can achieve your goals which is not to keep Bashar Al Assad in power, it is to keep Syria together as a unitary state. But when your proxy, when you're the guy you're backing, Bashar Al Assad, starts using chemicals, that's not a winning hand. You've got to see another alternative. We want to keep Syria together. You want to keep Syria together. The best way to do that is not necessarily with Bashar Al Assad. [Blitzer:] As you know, Kirsten, the president, as a candidate, as a private citizen, he says, don't telegraph what you're going to do. [Powers:] Right. [Blitzer:] Keep them all guessing. I assume that's part of his strategy right now, not to announce what he's about to do. [Powers:] Yes. Oh, no, I definitely think that's true. That's something he probably said more than anything during the campaign and certainly even when people tried to press him on what his plans were. He always was claiming that he had these secret plans that he didn't to let anyone in on. So, yes, I think that he likes to operate in that way. I think, if you look at the Syria strike, also he moved very quickly. And he wasn't you know, he's not somebody who's going to want to go to Congress or really spend his time thinking about it and talking about it the way President Obama did. [Blitzer:] So, Robin, you've spent a lot of time in Iran. The Iranians are deeply involved in supporting Bashar Al Assad as well through various militia groups, including Hezbollah. The Iranian government put out a tough statement saying that the U.S. must not carry out anymore strikes, anymore aggression in Syria. They didn't say what they would do, but it's a factor the U.S. has to consider. [Wright:] Well, it's important in this because it's lost a huge number of fighters, well over 1,000, well over eight generals. Its ally, Lebanon, Hezbollah has lost over 2,000 and 10,000 injured. It really feels invested. And for both Russia and Iran, the issue is not Bashar Al Assad. It's some kind of access to the most strategic geo-strategic property in the Middle East that borders all the other conflicts, all the other major countries in the levant, near the gulf and so forth. And so the game is less about the immediate political future and more about the long-term stakes. And that's where the Russians and the Iranians are going to play hard ball. OK, so they get rid of Bashar al Assad. They want to make sure their interests are represented long term and that that's a country in which they can rely as, whether it's a weapons purchaser or political ally. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Yes, they want to make sure they go through that that arch that they went through from Iraq through Iraq, through Syria into Lebanon. That's what the Iranian goal has always been and they've succeeded to a certain degree. All right, guys, thanks very, very much. Robin Wright, General Mark Kimmitt, Kirsten Powers, appreciate it. Coming up, President Trump justifying his Syrian strike in a letter to Congress. Democratic Congressman Ted Lieu, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, he's standing by to join us live. There he is. Plus, we're standing by to hear from the White House press secretary, Sean Spicer. He'll be giving his first on camera briefing since the president ordered those tomahawk cruise missiles to strike various targets at the air base in Syria. We're going to have live coverage of that. That's coming up. [George Howell, Cnn:] A community is in mourning after yet another shooting incident, this one happened on live television. How the families are pledging to honor the victims. Desperate journeys. Dangerous threat that thousands of asylum seekers are taking to get in to Europe. And hurricane Katrina ten years on. We look at how the storm changed the way New Orleans teaches its kids. From CNN world headquarters here in Atlanta, I'm George Howell. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Good day to you and welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. We start this hour with the very latest on the two murders, two journalists in the United States. It happened on live television, rattling the nation and sparking renewed debate over gun control here in this country. A few hours ago, a group that is working to end gun violence held a vigil for Alison Parker and Adam Ward. The gunman, Vester Flanagan, a former coworker at Virginia news station WDBJ then killed him on Wednesday during a live broadcast and later killed himself. The woman Parker was interviewing at the time of the shooting, Vicki Gardner, was also shot during the attack. We understand that she is in good condition. More on the victims, 27-year-old Ward had just gotten engaged to a producer at that television station. And 24-year-old Parker had just celebrated her birthday and had moved in with her boyfriend who is an anchor at WDBJ. Earlier, he shared more about Alison Parker and the journalist that she was. Listen. [Chris Hurst, Alison Parker's Boyfriend:] She was a nerd at heart and yet displayed a beauty that I had never seen before in person and I was lucky enough that she loved me back. She was also a fantastic journalist, an excellent storyteller and she had so many more stories to tell that unfortunately won't be able to be told. So now, we have decided that we need to share her story and Adam's story needs on the shared, as well. [Howell:] Exactly 24 hours after this double murder, the morning news crew at WDBJ paid an emotional tribute on air to Parker and Ward. [Unidentified Female:] Approaching a moment that none of us will forget. It was yesterday around this time that we went live to Alison Parker and photojournalist Adam Ward. They were out in the field. The story was like so many others that they did all the time. They were reporting on our hometown at bridge water plaza near Smith Mountain Lake to report on a happy event, the 50th anniversary of the lake, just a feature and it was during their conversation with Vicki Gardner about another reason why we love living here when the peacefulness of our community was shattered. As we approached that moment, we want to pause and reflect and we want to share with once again what made these two so special, not just to us but to all of our hometown for WDBJ 7 serves. Please join us now in a moment of silence [Howell:] The anchors thanked viewers for their support and they shared stories about their colleagues. The station's news director later spoke explaining how the staff there is dealing with the deaths. [Kelly Zuber, New Director, Wdbj:] I have watched anchors and reporters half an hour before a newscast be crying in the newsroom and get on that set and deliver the news to the people of southwest and central Virginia. They have had to talk about their colleagues and, you know, deal with some difficult situations. I will give you an example of our meteorologist this morning found a candy wrapper while on the air that Adam Ward had always eaten and had left somewhere. And it's those kinds of little things that are just kind of getting to us now. My sports director just said to me I lost it when I saw walked out and saw his car in the parking lot and had saw clothes in there. Every little thing, it's not the big things that get to us, it's the little ones. [Howell:] Station lost family members. Our hearts go out to the families involved in this. Now for some information about the shooter. New information has emerged. The former co-workers are giving us insight in to his hirings and his firings and his angry outbursts at work. Also, investigators now have reason to believe he had planned a getaway after the shooting. CNN's Brian Todd has the story. [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Police found a wig, sunglasses, a shawl, three license plates and six glock magazines inside of Vester Flanagan's rental car. A search warrant reveals that Flanagan he had a to do list along with the book bad with assorted handwritten letters and notes. It is unclear what was on that to do list. But we are learning new details of Flanagan's career troubles. [Unidentified Male Reporter:] County official say there [Todd:] As far back as 15 years ago, there were signs Flanagan had problems at work. [Unidentified Male:] He was in yelling incidents. Again, this is stuff that is normal, you know. There were with times when he probably misread something and became frustrated with himself. Here in the state of Georgia. [Todd:] Flanagan moved from Savana, Georgia to Tallahassee, Florida for his first big anchor job for WTWC. According to his former news director, Flanagan's contract was not renewed in Tallahassee. Flanagan sued for racial discrimination alleging that a producer called him and another employee who was African-American monkeys. The case was settled and dismissed. [Unidentified Male:] I can't say there was any racial discrimination. [Todd:] Flanagan was hired by WDBJ in 2012 where he reported under the name Bryce Williams. He was fired in 2013, roughly a year later. The station's general manager said the day he was let go he became agitated and threatening. Police were called. Flanagan was escorted from the building but Roanoke police say no arrest was made. WDBJ's station manager says Flanagan was asked to seek mental health assistance and he complied. [Jeffrey Marks, General Manager, Wdbj:] We made it mandatory that he seek help from our employee assistance program. Many employees have them. They provide, you know, counselling and other services and we made it mandatory that he do that. [Todd:] The station's former news director said Flanagan handed him a wooden cross in 2013 saying quote "you'll need this." WDBJ is over there. This is the apartment complex where Vester Flanagan lived, just a block away. Right now it is under 247 security. His neighbors didn't want to go on camera but said after the shooting they were made to evacuate their units as police in bomb squad teams moved in. Brian [Unidentified Male:] He got so irate, walk withed in to the woods and stayed out there for like 20 minutes. [Todd:] He outlined his frustrations in a 23-page manifesto that he faxed to NBC news. CNN obtained a copy where he writes quote "in the final weeks of my life I put on a smiley face to disguise what was to come. Around town, I told some random strangers or people I interacted with at various businesses how I hated people, but I would often say it with a smile on my face." In that manifesto, Flanagan writes about his admiration for Virginia tech shooter [Howell:] 24-year-old Alison Parker, she was doing her dream job reporting when she and Adam Ward were shot and killed. Her father, who is grief stricken by his loss has been talking to CNN and he vows he will not let her death be in vain. [Andy Parker, Alison Parker's Father:] I'm really trying hard I have been trying hard all day to keep this together. But, you know, as you can imagine, my heart is broken and my soul is crushed. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Host, Ac 360:] Yes. I mean, I wish there were words that could all make it better but obviously there aren't. [Parker:] I understand. [Cooper:] Let me ask you about what you want to do now. About where you want to go with your grief, with your anger, with all of the emotions you must be feeling. I mean, you talked already publicly about that shootings like this have to stop and that you want to do something to change things. What do you think needs to change? What do you believe can change? [Parker:] Well, I think what can change is we need more help from you guys that is in the media. Because you just lost someone in the fraternity. Alison was one of your own. And with the crews that I talked to and the other reporters that I've spoken with today, you know, they have all been shattered because they realize and they all have been it struck a chord because they realize that could have been them. And so, you know, what can't happen is, you know, here's another tragedy. Sandy Hook, you know, after Sandy Hook and the theater shootings, everybody thought, God, this is terrible, you know, Virginia tech, we've got to do something to keep people that are mentally disturbed we have to keep them away from guns and having the ability to get guns. And then what happens is obviously this story, yes, it is gone international. I've done interviews with Canadian television, with the BBC today, you know, with Spanish language stations, with German television tomorrow, you know. I didn't really intend to be a media star or whatever you want to call it, but here I am. But, you know, this can't be about 15 minutes of gee, this is a tragedy and we need to do something about it. And then next week somebody's talking about what Donald Trump's talking about, you know. What's he doing? There's got to be pressure and there is got to be continued pressure on with the media going after politicians and affecting a change. I want to look I want to address the members of the committees involved in the Virginia general assembly. I want them to look me in the eye and say, gee, you know, we can't support any kind of other measures with regard to gun control. I want to see them do that. [Howell:] Coming up, we will have more from Andy Parker and two other fathers who have lost their children to gun violence. As CNN NEWSROOM continues, we also follow refugees making a dangerous journey from their homelands in to Europe. That story next. [Curnow:] Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. Here's a check of the headlines. Turkey has confirmed 18 Turkish contractors were kidnapped in Baghdad. Syrian officials say the group was working in Iraq for a construction company. Right now Turkish authorities say they don't have many details on how it happen or who may have been responsible. Syrian state television is reporting at least 10 people have been killed in a car bomb attack. It happened in the government stranglehold of Latakia, which has largely been spared the violence that is ravaging other parts of the country. State media blamed the attack on, quote, "terrorists," Syrian officials' term for anti-government forces. U.S. secretary of state is about to lobby for the Iran deal in a speech in Philadelphia in the next hour. The White House just secured the final vote is needed to prevent Republicans in the U.S. Senate from scuttling the agreement. Congress votes later this month. Hungary's prime minister will meet with European Union officials Thursday to talk about the growing migrant crisis. Hundreds of migrants hoping to board trains to Germany and Austria remain stranded in Hungary's capital, Budapest. Hungary insists they need valid passports and, in some cases, visas to travel. The migrant crisis has thrown the Schengen agreement into the spotlight. The decades-old pact allows open travel within most of Europe and it's considered one of the cornerstones of the E.U. But some European politicians want the Schengen scaled back as Isa Soares now reports. [Isa Soares, Cnn Correspondent:] They've escaped the horrors of war and persecution on rickety boats, on crowded trains and on all fours, crawling throughout the night, all in the hope of reaching the safety of Europe. For many, Hungary is the entry point to Europe's borderless zone, the Schengen area. But as the number of migrants reaching the Union increases daily, some have questioned the very purpose of this European project. [Andrej Babis, Czech Finance Minister:] We really need to close the Schengen area, which means we need to protect Schengen, we need to prevent the immigrants from coming here. [Angela Merkel, Chancellor Of Germany:] I am simply saying that if we are unable to agree on a fair distribution of refugees within Europe, then some people will start to call Schengen into question. We do not want that. We want a fair [Merkel:] distribution of refugees and then we won't need to discuss Schengen. [Soares:] Implemented in 1994, the Schengen agreement eliminated internal border controls, which allowed citizens from 26 member states to travel freely around most of Europe. Twenty years on, and Schengen remains fundamental to the very idea of the European Union. And it covers 7,721 kilometers of land borders. And what it does, it allows some 400 million E.U. citizens to work, to travel and to live in any of these E.U. countries without the need for special formalities and by that I mean visas and paperwork, really no red tape. Trade and security between these countries also shared. And as you can imagine, they benefit greatly from it. But some argue that with the rise of ISIS and with large numbers of migrants arriving in the bloc from Africa as well as the Middle East, a borderless Europe is exacerbating the crisis. [Richard Ouklis, Director, The Brugers Group:] There is actually sort of growing pressure that's welling up from some parts of the population, but also amongst various politicians, that say that the ideals of the European Union, the ideals behind the Schengen agreement, are actually causing problems and will create difficulties. So in time this could be one of the issues which really does shatter elements of the European unity. [Soares:] At a time when Europe is calling for more integration, physical divisions are going up from Hungary, Bulgaria, Calais to Malia, fences or walls of barbed wire are being built. It's an image that takes a continent back to 1999, when the last border fell right here in Europe Isa Soares, CNN, London. [Curnow:] Well, we want to talk more about Europe's dilemma with Iain Begg, the professor at the London School of Economics. Thanks so much for joining me. We heard there Isa's package and there seems to be this very stark choice between fair distribution or breakdown of Europe's borders. Is it that stark? [Iain Begg, London School Of Economics:] No, I don't think it is. What we're really seeing here is an extremely unprecedented flow of migrants coming principally from three countries, Eritrea, Syria and Afghanistan, trying to arrive in Europe as asylum seekers or refugees. And that's been compounded by a number of economic migrants coming from a number of African countries. The sheer volume is more than the entry points Hungary, Greece and Italy can cope with. And that's why they're asking the other parts of the European Union to share the burden. Now Schengen may be a complicating factor in this. But those migrants will be arriving regardless of whether Schengen was in place or not. And that's an illusion that's being fostered, that somehow Schengen is to blame for this. It just means that people can more rather more freely from one country to another than they would if strong borders exist, let's say, between Italy and France or between Hungary and Austria. [Curnow:] You talked about the burden, particularly being faced by Greece, Italy and Hungary. Hungary's being very vocal. They've been on this program, the spokesman saying they're doing what is expected of them under E.U. rules and regulations; however, many people have expressed disgust at the way Hungary is treating these migrants. What's your view on all of this? [Begg:] My view on it is that it's correct to say that Hungary's doing what it should do, which is to try to process asylum seekers in the country in which they first enter the E.U. That's a convention that's been in place for a good 20 years inside the E.U., known as the Dublin convention. Hungary is implementing it. Because of the numbers in Coventry Station in Budapest, they're having to do this in a rather harsh manner. And that's where some of the objections are coming in. They're also policing their border with Serbia, which is the point of entry, much more strictly than many other countries do; that, too, is consistent with E.U. rules, which is that you should have a strong external border and no borders inside, a bit like the U.S. has with the Rio Grande as the border between Mexico and the United States. You don't blame Texas for this. It's a policy of the states as a whole. [Curnow:] So there's been a lot of talk about a unified strategy. But Germany does seem to be taking the role, a leadership role, in the face of what seems to be inertia or, at least, confusion in Brussels. What do you expect is going to come out of that might in the next two weeks? And do you think anything concrete is going to be decided? [Begg:] I think there will be a huge amount of pressure coming from Berlin for other countries to share in absorbing the number of migrants that's coming in and specifically the asylum seekers. We must distinguish here between asylum seekers and the economic migrants, which is never an easy boundary to cross. And there, I think, the Germans are saying we are taking large numbers and we're welcoming Syrians. You other countries and here they're talking about Slovakia. They're talking about the United Kingdom you're not taking your share of this. And unless you do so, we will have ways of persuading you that you won't like in other circumstances for example, David Cameron is trying to renegotiate Britain's position vis-a-vis the E.U. Without German support, he's not going to get very far on that. [Curnow:] So there's been and trying to put this into perspective, into historical perspective, people have said this is the greatest human migration within Europe since World War II. Does this does what we're seeing now have the potential to shatter the E.U.? [Begg:] No, I don't think so, because it's not a problem caused by the E.U. nor by the free movement inside the E.U.; it's one which has landed on the E.U.'s doorstep because of failures of foreign policy. The medium- to long-term solution is to deal with the difficulties in Syria and Eritrea, two of the countries which are the main sources of the migrants. And that cannot be done overnight because of it's such an intractable problem. But that's one solution to it. A second one is better security. Better security leads to precisely the sorts of pictures we see in Hungary and Greece of difficulties in absorbing the migrants and being harsh with them when they arrive. So there is a tension here about how to deal with it. The third angle to it is going to be dealing with it, once the migrants arrive, and that's where the German approach of burden sharing has to be the basis for a true answer. [Curnow:] OK. Iain Begg, thank you so much for giving us your perspective from London. Thank you very much. [Begg:] Thank you. [Curnow:] Well, you're watching CNN and we're keeping an eye on Philadelphia. There you can see U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is waiting to take the podium. He is going to address the American people. He's going to try and lobby again for the Iran deal. He spoke to our Christiane Amanpour just a few moments ago, saying that in the speech he would deal with a number of myths out there about the Iran deal. We're going to go now to break. But we will take you to that speech as soon as he takes that podium. Thanks so much for watching. [Howell:] Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. We continue to follow breaking news, a Russian passenger plane traveling from the resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh to St. Petersburg, Russia, has crashed in the central Sinai Peninsula. This is according to a statement from Egypt's prime minister. A source in Russia's federal air transport authority tells Russia state-run news agency that Kogalymavia Flight 9268 was carrying 217 passengers and it was carrying seven crew members on board. It reportedly vanished from radar about 23 minutes after taking off from Sharm el-sheikh. Sinai state-run newspaper reports there are 20 ambulances presently on their way to the crash site. We are expecting more information this hour and will bring to it you as we learn more on CNN. Let's turn to our meteorologist Derek Van Dam who has been checking the weather situation in that region. Derek now joins us at the weather center. Derek, what have you learned? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] George, I think it's very important as sparse information that we have at the moment, we start to eliminate all the possibilities including the weather at the time of the last point of contact with Flight KGL 9268. So, what we use at these moments in time is a service called flightaware.com. It tracks the worldwide flights, including this particular airliner. Just to put this into perspective, where we are geographically, this is the Gulf of Aqaba, this is the Sinai Peninsula. We have Israel to the north and east, the Red Sea to the south. You can see the last point of contact and the actual plane's path for that brief 23-minute flight. Now, when we talk about the weather patterns across that area, I look at lower-level winds and upper-level winds. Remember, airliners typically fly anywhere between 30,000 and 40,000 feet above the sea. Looking at all possible weather scenarios across that region, it appears that upper-level winds were near normal with what we would expect for this part of the world, and at the surface. So you can see very calm winds across the Sinai Peninsula. In fact, Cairo only reporting winds sustained at about 10 to 11 kilometers per hour, so roughly 5 to 7 miles per hour. Now, in terms of cloud cover, not much in that region as well. Remember, we're still tracking a major tropical cyclone across the Arabian Sea, but you can see that is far away from the Sharm el-Sheikh region in the Sinai Peninsula where the last point of contact with this particular plane is. This is a satellite image. In fact, I went to NASA's world view website. This is a high-resolution satellite image of this particular region. You can see very little cloud cover over this region. So, from my professional standpoint as a meteorologist, it does not appear, George, that weather was a factor within this plane's disappearance or crash. But, of course, all the facts still need to be found out. But from my standpoint, it looks as if the weather was not a factor. Back to you. [Howell:] Covering all angles on it. Derek, of course, thank you so much for the insight there on the weather front. And also our own Nic Robertson just a short time ago told us in a report that as Russians wake up and turn on the televisions, as they look into media reports, many are hearing from Russian state media that one of the pilots or both pilots may have contacted the ground to report technical issues. Again, that is according to Nic Robertson's reporting of what is being said in Russian state media. CNN is continuing to gather information and confirm facts as we know them and we'll pass that information along to you as we get it. Now, we move on to the war in Syria. Diplomats from the United States, from Iran and Russia and other countries, have agreed on a new peace effort after meeting in Vienna on Friday. The talks led to an understanding on key points, including rights for all Syrians. But the leaders are still very far apart on the future of the Syrian President Bashar al Assad. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more from Vienna. [Fred Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] The meeting in Vienna by itself did not produce a political solution that could pave the way for peace in Syria. However, all sides that were involved did say they find the meeting was very important, also of course, because, for the very first time, the Iranians were at the table. Now, Secretary of State John Kerry said afterwards that he believed there were many points that the international community does agree on that are important to try and stop the fighting in Syria. He says all sides agree on the fact that Syria needs to be preserved as a unified and secular state, that the Syrian government institutions need to remain intact, that the priority has to be to defeat ISIS, and also that there needs to be a transitional political process, at the end of which there needs to be elections that include all facets of Syrian society. Now, of course, the big question is how could elections be possible in a country that first of all, to a very large part, is occupied by ISIS forces, but also one that is very much ravaged by fighting? I spoke a little earlier to Staffan de Mistura, who is the U.N. envoy for the Syria conflict, and he explained how he believes it can work. [Staffan De Mistura, U.n. Special Envoy To Syria:] Elections can take place only at the later stage. But they need to be seen being ready for the later stage. The first thing will be the meeting between the opposition and the government. In order to come up with a form of governance which is actually all-inclusive, that one can propose a new constitution and a new constitution can prepare for the elections. All that in a rather short time. [Pleitgen:] There was a big point of disagreement and all sides talked about it, the future of the Syrian president. How can you narrow it down? How can you get either side to budge on that? [De Mistura:] First of all, by not talking too much and openly in discussing that issue, which is clearly an issue of contention. [Pleitgen:] Now, of course, that point, de Mistura was talking about was probably the largest point of disagreement among all of those in the room today. And that is, of course, the future of Syria's President Bashar al Assad. On the one hand, you have the Russians and Iranian hot say they believe if there is a transitional process in Syria that Assad needs to be part of that process, and also should participate in any elections that could happen in the future. Whereas the United States, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey say that Assad has no place in Syria and needs to step down if there is going to be any sort of meaningful reconciliation in that country. Now, the meeting here in Vienna is one that produced some results, however, of course, Secretary of State Kerry said he believes this is only the beginning of the diplomatic effort to try and stop the crisis in Syria and the parties did agree to meet again in about two weeks. Fred Pleitgen, CNN Vienna. [Howell:] The Vienna talks wrapped up as news broke out Friday that the U.S. will deploy some Special Forces troops to Syria. The White House says the plan is to send fewer than 50 Special Forces personnel to northern Syria to help train and advise rebel groups that are fighting on the ground against ISIS. Not for a combat role put we're told they will defend themselves if necessary. But CNN intelligence and security analyst Bob Baer says the U.S. isn't sending enough troops to make a difference. Listen. [Bob Baer, Cnn Intelligence And Security Analyst:] The president's policy had been, you know, hands-off, pull our troops out of the Middle East, it will take care of itself. What he didn't count on was the refugees and the fact that Syria, even Iraq, would even get worse. You know, and right now they're casting around for anything. This is the best they can come up with. Because the Kurds are fairly good fighters and their feeling is with enough weapons and enough training they might be able to make some inroads into the Islamic state, and it collapses. But I think frankly it's a Hail Mary pass. [Howell:] And that reference, a Hail Mary pass, is a reference to American football play when the quarterback throws a long pass in a desperate effort to score a touchdown but the completion of that pass is likely unsuccessful for the touchdown. Friday also brought a devastating attack on a market near Damascus. A Syrian activist group says dozens were killed when regime rockets slammed into a crowded street in Duma. ITN reporter Dan Rivers has more. And we do warn you, parts of this report contain graphic images. [Dan Rivers, Itn Reporter:] On a day when peace was being discussed in Vienna, war was being waged with all its hideous consequences in Syria. The day had barely begun when the missiles slammed into the market in Duma. Amid the smoldering wreckage, more than 40 bodies. "Duma is destroyed," shouts this man. "Where is the world?", a question Syrians have been asking for four bloody years. Across the front line in government-held territory, we can just pick out Duma and the other besieged suburbs. Sign posted by pools of smoke. The war has reached such levels of depravity that a massacre on today's scale is now routine. A jet circles overhead. Fatima watches and prays. The neighborhood has been destroyed in this war. Her family has been ripped apart. She's been left to look after her grandchildren while her four sons fight in Assad's army. She hasn't seen them for two years, but it's the fate of her parents that troubles her the most. Both died in I.S.-controlled territory. She says, "I wasn't able to pay my last respects, I don't know where they're buried." Her husband Mahmoud shows me the upper floors of their home, what's left of it. [on camera]: What's your message to the West? [voice-over]: "My message is to let them see the Syrian people as human beings like any other citizens, people are dying, we need humanity, we need them to stop supporting terrorists." [on camera]: Over the last four and a half years, Mahmoud and his family have lost much of what they own. This is what remains of their house. It used to be three apartments but it's been heavily damaged, all the power cables have been looted from it. Look at the state of the neighborhood in which they live. How many more years of this can they and all the other people in Syria take before finally some sort of political solution is found? [voice-over]: And even if that distant dream is realized, Syria will take decades to recover a shattered country with a generation whose childhoods are defined by war. Dan Rivers, ITV News, Damascus. [Howell:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. And we continue to follow breaking news: a Russian passenger jet traveling from Egypt to Russia has crashed, possibly killing more than 200 people that are said to be on board. We continue to follow this story as the news continues around the world this hour on CNN International and CNN USA. Stay with us. [Lemon:] Tonight about the moves that Donald Trump the moves he's making to shore up to some credentials with the conservatives. Back with me now to talk about that, Jeffrey Toobin, Dana Bash, Margaret Hoover, and Stephen Miller. We were talking about his picks for or just, you know, suggestions for a new justice. And he's gotten so much criticism for not being specific. Now he's giving specific examples or names, at least, Jeffrey Toobin. [Toobin:] Absolutely, they are specific, but, you know, one point that hasn't been made in this conversation yet, is, you know, by laying down so clearly that you are going to pick anti-abortion rights, anti- gay rights, Supreme Court justices... [Lemon:] Is it too obvious? Is that what you're saying? [Toobin:] No. That that's not necessarily... [Lemon:] No? Trying too hard? [Toobin:] ... a political winner for you. There are a lot of people in this country who think the states should not be allowed to ban abortion. There are a lot of people here who think the Constitution should protect equal rights for gay people and for transgender people. And by embracing legal conservatism so emphatically and so clearly, you risk losing votes as well as gaining them. [Lemon:] Turning some people away. [Toobin:] Absolutely. [Lemon:] You believe that vast majority of the electorate. [Toobin:] I don't know about vast majority, but I know these are not necessarily political winners for the Trump campaign to be known as the anti-abortion candidate. [Bash:] In the just in the general electorate, you know, obviously, there is a strong possibility for that. But it also, I think, shows you a lot about how much the Trump campaign feels like they have to really shore up their conservative base. [Miller:] There's a general election message here, too, that's very important, which is that crime is rising in major cities all across the country. That the second amendment is a huge issue for conservatives. And Americans reject abortion on demand, as just this sort of unfettered concept, where you can have a bible who doesn't... [Lemon:] So, here's the I think I know where you're going. the second amendment is never going away and abortion... [Miller:] Not if Donald Trump is elected. [Lemon:] Jeffrey, will these things ever change? [Toobin:] You bet they will. [Miller:] If you switch D.C. versus Heller you risk gun run. [Lemon:] You think the second amendment. [Toobin:] Gun control used to be constitutional. Now it's unconstitutional. Abortion rights have been hanging by a thread for years. [Lemon:] I stand corrected, then. I didn't think that they would ever... [Toobin:] States are all but banning them in the south and Texas and Louisiana, Mississippi are passing laws that are forcing basically every abortion clinic in those states to close. That is a change. Now, whether it's good or bad is up to everybody to decide. But certainly, the laws have changed. [Lemon:] Well, Stephen, finish. Go ahead. [Miller:] I was going to say that, I mean, if you go to the American people and you say, do you want judges who are going to invent fake constitutional rights for criminals? The answer is no. Do you say do you want judges who are going to overturn D.C. versus Heller on the right to own a private gun? They'd say, absolutely not. If you'd say, do you want judges who will uphold President Obama's illegal executive amnesty, they will say no, no, and no again. [Toobin:] Because you are asking them ridiculous questions. These are not what these cases are about. [Miller:] No, these are well... [Bash:] I know that is what the election is going to be about. But I know this is going to sound, again, you know, going back to the darkest we're having over here. It matters. I mean, it matters so much and, again, you know this better than anybody, maybe no more so than this year, where it's not hypothetical whether or not the next president is going to pick somebody on the Supreme Court. [Toobin:] Of course. [Bash:] It's real. [Toobin:] There's a vacancy now. [Bash:] And it's going to be immediate and it's the seat that tips the balance. It is so real and so tangible on so many issues. [Lemon:] Let's move on now and talk about foreign policy, because he met he paid a visit to the former Secretary of State under Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger. Can you tell us, Dana, about that meeting or why now? [Bash:] I think it's fascinating that Donald first of all, the logistics of it, that Donald Trump went to pay a visit to him. It's a sign of respect. You know, he's in his early '90s. 92, 93, and he's an icon among republicans in foreign policy. You know, and if you are somebody who wants to get a better sense of the world and get a better sense of policy, who else are you going to meet other than Kissinger? Now, Kissinger has said a few things, maybe not outright concern about Donald Trump, but noting very explicitly, how unusual it is for somebody who has no government experience to be this close to getting the presidency. [Lemon:] I want to talk about because he's been really, you know, on the defensive this week, talking about taxes, talking about North Korea, his treatment of women. Today, his daughter Ivanka, was forced to defend her father's behavior towards women. I want you to listen to this. [Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's Daughter:] I'm not in every interaction my father has but he's not a groper. It's not who he is. And I've known my father, obviously, my whole life. And he has total respect for women. [Lemon:] It has been said that publishing this list today and also maybe the release of, you know, how much he is worth was to sort of move the news on, away from his treatment of women. Does anybody here agree or disagree with that? [Miller:] I can categorically say that's not true. But the like I said, this has been months in the making. And I do have to say this, because I will not even be able to go to bed tonight if I don't say this, which is that there is absolutely a Supreme Court case that will decide whether or not we have borders anymore. And the American people will vote for borders and they'll vote for Donald Trump. [Toobin:] OK. [Lemon:] We're glad that you can sleep tonight. Yes. [Miller:] I don't know what but, OK. [Lemon:] I'm not even we're glad that you can sleep tonight. But go ahead. [Hoover:] I think the Kissinger meeting was incredibly important. Donald Trump clearly trying to communicate that he's willing to be schooled up on foreign policy. I think nobody, I mean, everybody goes to Donald Trump, but Donald Trump went to Kissinger, which is like Dana said. I think it was a gesture that he needs to get briefed. Hopefully he got brief why no U.S. president has ever talked to or met with the chairman of the working people's party of North Korea. There's a very good reason. You don't sit down one on one meetings with the President of the United States with the chair of North Korea, because North Korea has made many, many promises about nuclear weapons and hasn't met a single one of them. Continues to test nuclear weapons in defiance of the six-party talks of the DPRK deal of the many, many promises they've made. And to be part of a civilized world and a civilized society, a world of nations, there's it's unfathomable that this individual has so little understanding of international foreign policy. [Lemon:] OK, so, I've got to run. But you've mentioned Henry Kissinger in that meeting. It didn't mean that you didn't think that the women thing wasn't important, that Ivanka. Do you think it's... [Hoover:] I think Ivanka I think Ivanka is one of Donald Trump's best female surrogates and she should be on the trail every single day because she's going to need to be on the delegate for that. [Lemon:] The women's issue for Donald Trump, do you think that's as big a deal as will it... [Hoover:] I think it's going to be an incredible Achilles heel for him in the general election. [Lemon:] OK. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate it. Tomorrow, CNN's Chris Cuomo sits down with Hillary Clinton, that at 1 Eastern, 1 p.m. Eastern. Make sure you tune in for that. When we come right back, Bernie Sanders about to speak to a cheering crowd in California. He says he's staying in the race until the last vote is cast. But what's his end-game here and could it hurt the democrats can? We'll be right back. [Costello:] Police are now looking into what happened at the Cincinnati Zoo before the little boy fell into the gorilla exhibit. Investigators are focusing on the boy's family that day. We don't know much about the boy's family except that the boy's mother is daycare worker who wants to remain anonymous. The family did, however, the family released a second statement. It reads in part, quote, "some have offered money to the family, which we do not want and will not accept. If anyone wishes to make a gift, we recommend a donation to the Cincinnati Zoo in Harambe's name," the name of the gorilla. The family's new statement coming amid ongoing scrutiny of what the boy's mother was doing before the little boy fell into the exhibit. A witness who filmed this video you're looking told CNN what she saw. [Kimberley O'connor, Witness:] The little boy was a typical little boy at a candy store. Can I get this, can I get that? And he was jokingly and bantering to go in and see the monkeys. The mother was, no, you're not, no, you're not. And I think as they got ready to leave, that to tend to the other children, gather them up, get them in the stroller and move everyone along, I think in the 60 seconds, he got away. [Costello:] And CNN's Jessica Schneider live in Cincinnati with more. Good morning. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. And that woman will certainly be a key witness in this police investigation. There's been intense scrutiny surrounding this incident and a lot of internet backlash. A lot of people are wondering, what were the parents doing in the minutes before the 3- year-old boy got into the gorilla enclosure? That will be what police hone in on. They want to learn about the parents' action or potential inaction in all of this. Now, the family did release a statement this morning and they talked about the welfare of their child. They say that he's doing okay. And they said, in part, "Our child has a checkup by the doctor and is doing well. We continue to praise God for his grace and mercy and to be thankful to the Cincinnati Zoo for their actions taken to protect our child." But people really want to know, how did that child get into the gorilla enclosure? We heard from the woman who filmed it all and said, where there's a will, there's a way. [O'connor:] I think there was some level of difficulty. If he was adventurous enough and really motivated, he could have gotten in with fairly ease at that point. But I think, with the amount of people that were around, you would think that he could have been caught. Or somebody would have seen him. Somebody would have pulled him back. But with some relative ease, he could have gotten in there if he really wanted to. [Schneider:] Now the zoo has stressed that the barriers are secure. They have never had an incident since the gorilla world exhibit has been opened. It opened in 1978. As for the zoo itself, police have stressed that the zoo is not a focus of this investigation. In fact, the zoo falls under the purview of the USDA last here to check the zoo for an inspection in April Carol. [Costello:] All right. Jessica Schneider reporting live from Cincinnati. With me now to break this all down, CNN legal analyst, Paul Callan. Hi, Paul. [Paul Callan, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Good morning.] [Costello:] OK. So, the Cincinnati police are reviewing this case. What do they need to find in order to file charges against these parents? [Callan:] Well, they would have to find that the parents committed a form of child abuse or child endangerment under Ohio law. And most of the statute has to do with torturing a child or depriving him of food, that sort of thing. There is a general provision that if you create a substantial risk to the welfare of the child, by placing him in a dangerous situation, that can be child endangerment. But is bringing your child to the zoo child endangerment? I mean, I think a lot of parents would assume that these exhibits are secure enough that a 3 12-year-old couldn't figure out how to get into the place where they keep a 450-pound silverback gorilla. So, I think when I look at this pattern, I don't see the parents being charged. I see on the other hand the zoo better have a better look at how to get into these exhibits. [Costello:] So unless the mother picked the child up and put him on top of the gorilla enclosure of the wall and said, hey, climb over, would it have to be that extreme? [Callan:] Well, it wouldn't have to be that extreme. Obviously, if the mother just forgot about the kid and was wandering around the zoo for 15 to 20 minutes, you could make an argument there that that was child endangerment. And remember these other cases we covered last year? Leaving a baby in a hot car, a clear-cut there, that would be child endangerment. [Costello:] A lot of people likened this to leaving a baby in the hot car, you're not paying attention to them, you're leaving them. [Callan:] I was watching the witness and I see this happening in court so often. She said, you know, the mother's attention was only diverted for 60 seconds, she said. Thinking, and I can tell she's thinking that is a short period of time, well, 60 seconds is a long period of time. I'm betting it is probably going to turn out to be 30 seconds or something while putting another kid in a stroller. And a toddler running around at high speed, they are hard to keep track at a zoo. So, easily 30 seconds, maybe the toddler is out of your sight. [Costello:] The other curious thing is once the kid got up on the wall, why didn't anyone reach over the wall and pluck the kid out? Why didn't that happen? [Callan:] I don't know. It's shocking. And, you know, you watch the film and the bystanders are they are watching the child and yelling down into the enclosure. All of this time goes by, there was so much time he could have been killed. It's really a miracle the child is alive. [Costello:] OK, let's talk about the couple at the zoo itself. It's under the purview of the USDA, right? So, the Cincinnati police wouldn't investigate the zoo. But what could happen to the zoo? [Callan:] I don't think you'll see very much happen to the zoo, even if there's a finding that they could have done a better job in setting up this gorilla exhibit. The reason I say that is, one, there's a tendency in zoos nationwide to create a more natural environment for the animals and to look more like their natural environment. Now, to do that you can't have barbed wire and huge fences and everything else. This particular exhibit has been in place since 1978. It's been inspected by outside agencies. And the zoo says it always got a clean bill of health. So, this is the first time they became aware that this sort of breach could happen, particularly with such a young toddler. [Costello:] But it is curious that 38 years this has never happened before. Maybe this kid was incredibly clever or incredibly fast or [Callan:] It could be. And there are complaints of a couple other incidents at the Cincinnati Zoo. I saw one where a couple polar bears got loose. But that seem to be somebody left the door open in their enclosure which is an entirely different thing as opposed to designing a secured facility. [Costello:] It didn't danger the public but the zoo workers, right? [Callan:] Yes, it did. [Costello:] So, my last question because I'm curious about this. At first, there seemed to be no interest in investigating the family for what happened at the zoo. But now, Cincinnati police are investigating. So, what do you think changed? Was it public pressure? Or do they really think that there's something there? [Callan:] Well, you know, you have to I always look at the craziness of social media. Immediately, you know, thousands of people were signing a petition that when I went to sleep last night, I think there were over 100,000 signatures indicating that, you know, the parents should be investigated, and people you know, they should go to jail. And, you know, a lot of the animal rights activists are saying. I think that maybe public pressure had a little bit of influence. But on the other hand, I would just expect in a situation like this, the police would have a look at it. I'll be shocked if any charges brought against anybody. I think it's a sad situation. But we got out of it fortunately without the child being killed. It's a tragedy we lost the gorilla, but it is just one of those things that happened. [Costello:] Paul Callan, thanks so much. [Callan:] Thank you. [Costello:] Still to come in the [Newsroom:] a major discovery in the search for EgyptAir Flight 804. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] A surprising invitation, given Nieto's previous comments about Trump rejecting the Republican nominee's promise he'll make the Mexican government pay for a 1,000 mile border wall. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] I will build a great, great wall on our Southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. [Unidentified Male:] Under in circumstances would Mexico pay for that wall. There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that. [Carroll:] The Mexican president likening the billionaire's rhetoric to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. [Unidentified Male:] Whoever speaks badly of Mexicans doesn't know Mexicans. [Carroll:] Nieto saying, he extended the invitation to both presidential candidates tweeting, the reason behind Trump's visit is to, quote, "promote the interests of Mexicans worldwide and mainly to protect Mexicans wherever they might be." During a North American Summit with President Obama in July, Nieto promised a frank, open dialogue with whomever is elected. [Trump:] Tomorrow night in Arizona, big speech on immigration. [Carroll:] Trump is set to unveil his long awaited immigration plan, but details remain vague. The big question is whether Trump will soften his hardline position to use force deportation to remove an estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. [Trump:] Eleven million people in this country that came in illegally. They will go out. [Donald Trump, Jr., Son Of Donald Trump:] We have to have baby steps first. [Carroll:] Well, Trump has not used the term baby steps in relation to his approach to immigration policy. So we'll have to see how that works out. Later, we will see what steps he will take. The Clinton camp, for their part, weighing in on Trump's meeting with Mexico's president, the campaign released a statement saying what ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Jason, thank you very much. But this is significant move. And you're going to see it echoed now by the campaign, namely Donald Trump, Jr. coming on television defending his father's immigration policy against accusations that he's flip-flopped on his central campaign issue. Tough spot for the son who sat down with Anderson Cooper last night to drill down on specifics. Here's a taste. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Tomorrow your dad is giving a big speech on immigration. A, have you seen the speech? Do you know what it is? Have you talked to him about it? And if so, is there going to more clarity on exactly what his policy is? [Donald Trump, Jr:] Yes. There's going to be more clarity. I've seen parts of it. You know, they're still finalizing aspects of it now and they're going to continue to lay out things, you know, in the coming weeks and months as that expands. You're going to see a lot more detail, but you're going to really see the fundamental principles that we have to do. And we have to secure our border. We have to start implementing an e-verify system. We have to let ICE do their job, enforce the existing laws on the books. I mean, some of these is a rocket times. I mean, these are laws that are there today. They've been on the books for years. They've been expanded. And these guys are basically told that they can't do that. So, you know, we have to have baby steps first. We have to let ICE do their jobs, and we have to do this for the benefit of the American people. [Cooper:] Your dad was very clear during the primaries about his policy. It's obviously build a wall, have Mexico pay for it, go after the criminals, the 11 million undocumented immigrants who are here. They've got to go, good ones can come back. It will be done humanely. There will be a deportation force. He's used to be de-emphasizing that or at least focusing, trying to focus more on build wall, the e- verify, go after the criminals. And now we're hearing from someone from the campaign just the other day, well, on the 11 million, we'll figure that out down the road. Is there going to be more clarity on that tomorrow? [Donald Trump, Jr:] Well, I think the 11 million is one thing, but when you take out, you know, again, the criminals, when you take out the people who have committed felonies and you send them back home, I mean, that's actually millions of people. That's a big portion of that group. And without doing that, everything else is irrelevant. I mean, you have to take those steps first. [Cooper:] That was pretty much Jeb Bush's policy. That was pretty much, a lot of other Republicans' policies. Even your father have acknowledged that under Obama they've been deporting an awful lot of people. So, I guess what people has and you know this better than anyone, what has concerned particularly the Republicans just in the last week or so is some of your dad's statements about softening. [Donald Trump, Jr:] Anderson, I was there. Because you're obviously referring to the Hannity thing. I was there with them. I did a segment, you know, for the next day, you know, five minutes after that. He wasn't softening on anything. He didn't change his stance on anything. What he did was and what he's done all along is he's speaking with the people. He's not lecturing them like most of the politicians you see. He's actually having a conversation. He basically surveyed the room and asked, hey, what are your thoughts on this? I want to take that because I want to take into account what the people say, unlike our opponents who basically will take into account only those who, you know, contribute millions and millions of dollars to her campaign. He's actually having a conversation with the people of this country, the hard working men and women who made this country great. He's giving them a voice. He asked an opinion. He didn't say, well, my policy is now changed. He didn't say that. Now, the media will run with it however they want. That's not what happened. And I was in the room. [Cooper:] It did seem some viewers though who we talked to that, it seemed like he's polling the room, he's not quite sure, what his own policy is. [Donald Trump, Jr:] You know, he was asking for an opinion. His policy has been the same for the last six, seven, eight months. [Cooper:] They all got to go. [Donald Trump, Jr:] That's been the same, correct. But again, you have to start with baby steps. You have to let ICE do their job. You have to eliminate the sanctuary cities. You have to get rid of the criminals, certainly first and foremost. You have to secure the border. These are common sense things, Anderson. These are things that every other country in the world has done. And those who haven't and those who have gotten lackadaisical about it, look at what's going on. And perhaps Europe is the best example of that right now. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] All right. So let's discuss Trump's surprise trip to Mexico and his big speech tonight with CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston, CNN political analyst and national political reporter for Real Clear Politics Rebecca Berg, and Latin American political analyst and radio host Ana Maria Salazar. Great to have all of you with us this morning. So Mark, how is this going to work today with this meeting between President Nieto and Donald Trump? Donald Trump who has called Mexican immigrants rapists and President Pena Nieto who has called Donald Trump, he has likened him to Hitler and Mussolini. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Right. So, look, I think that we would expect there would be a lot of fireworks going into this meeting. However, I don't think that's going to happen. I mean, you have two men. They know what they need to do. You have a president of Mexico right now whose favorability rating is in the 20s. Somewhere right there. You have Donald Trump back here talking about this populist message about how he's going to force Mexico to build this wall. What I do think is going to happen is that you're going to have Donald Trump go to this meeting, get back on an airplane, fly to Arizona, talk about how well things went and how well he'll be able to work with Mexico, and I think you'll probably have the Mexican president say, we're still not going to pay for that wall. [Cuomo:] Ana Maria Salazar, what's your take on what would motivate the Mexican president in a meeting like this and where he needs to be on the other side of it? [Ana Maria Salazar, Latin American Political Analyst:] I don't think anybody understands what motivated the President to accept this meeting. I mean, literally everybody is in shock down here because this meeting is going to take place. And it's hard to foresee any results from this meeting that could benefit Pena Nieto or the Mexican people or Mexicans who are living in the United States or Mexican- Americans. It's very perplexing. It's very difficult to understand why he accepted the meeting. And this could have repercussions in Mexican politics. There are a lot of questions in regards to the sanity of this meeting taking place in Mexico by the Mexican president. [Camerota:] Rebecca, let's remind everyone of what President Pena Nieto said about paying for the wall, which has been one of Donald Trump's main campaign promises, when the President of Mexico sat down with Fareed Zakaria. So, listen to this. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump's main policy proposal, the one he began his campaign with, is that he intends to build a wall between the United States and Mexico along the border, and he intends to get Mexico to pay for it. [Enrique Pena Nieto, President Of Mexico:] There is a way to help Mexico pay the wall, but any decisions inside the United States is a decision of its government. [Zakaria:] But under no circumstances would Mexico pay for that wall? [Pena Nieto:] There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that. [Camerota:] That's what he says, there's no way that they can pay for a wall like that. So Rebecca, what do you think is going to happen on that topic when these two men finally talk? [Rebecca Berg, National Political Reporter, Real Clear Politics:] Well, I don't think, Alisyn, that we can expect any sort of down payment on the wall from this meeting today. But I think it will be an opportunity for both of these men, Donald Trump and the Mexican president to talk tough and represent their stances to each other and then be able to go back to their supporters and the Mexican president back to his countrymen and say, look, we made clear where we are on these issues, we stood our grounds and that would I guess be beneficial to both of them in the long run. But of course, as Mark said, this is important for Donald Trump because it gives him some context for his immigration speech later today. It gives him an opportunity to say, I've seen on the ground what's happening on the border, and now also met with the Mexican president and expressed my concerns and expressed what I want to do if elected. And that gives him sort of some credibility with this issue, whereas he doesn't have, as we know, foreign policy experience, like Hillary Clinton. This is one of the major concerns among voters when you look at public polling. And so any opportunity that he has, especially outside of the spotlight in terms of the American press. He's not bringing reporters with him on this trip. So it gives him a very safe space to say, look, I am bolstering my credibility on this issue. [Cuomo:] It's absent and ugly incident with Pena Nieto. This is a home run for Donald Trump. Because it sets him up a statement. It has him doing something that a president would do. And there's almost no chance that he can't come out of it saying that he got his message across. So, that's all good. The downside is, going into this speech tonight, they haven't figured out how to finesse a change in their position. I'm no big fans of kids and campaigns. But Donald Trump, Jr. isn't a kid. He's 30-something years old. And there's a difference between confidence and competence. The idea that well, baby steps. He never said baby steps. [Preston:] Right. [Cuomo:] That idea that let ICE do its job. Who's keeping ICE from doing its job? You know, is that going to get past scrutiny, that kind of argument? [Preston:] It certainly will with the supporters of Donald Trump. You're right. I mean, we're talking about very muddy waters right now. [Cuomo:] But he is changing his position because he wants to move beyond the base. He wouldn't change it all if he's only worried about his base. [Preston:] Because there's no way that he can win in November if he doesn't change his position and move beyond the base. [Cuomo:] Right. [Preston:] No question about that. But they really are muddying up the waters and making a confusion about where does Donald Trump stands on everything, whether it's deporting 11 million, whether it's getting the bad guys out of here which I think everybody wants to get out of here, about continuing on with policies that are already in place by Barack Obama. But to your point, who is stopping ICE from doing their job? I mean, there's nobody out there, stopping them from doing their job. So, it will but do I think for the supporters of Donald Trump, regardless of what his position is, and to your point softening, which I agree with absolutely, some would say evolving on the issue, his supporters are going to stay with him. I think that Republicans who are concerned about Donald Trump, about his stand on immigration, and certainly voters who don't like the way his rhetoric has been directed at his Hispanics are going to embrace this. [Camerota:] Ana Maria, let's talk about the mystery as you've been alluding to, about the timing of this. And the motivation for this. Because President Pena Nieto invited Donald Trump and invited Hillary Clinton. So why wouldn't he wait until there was a U.S. president elect, until the American voters had decided on one of these people to then meet with them? [Salazar:] That's why that's what's been the Mexican tradition. And the Mexican tradition has been not to show any preferences for any of the candidates who are seeking to be the next president of the United States. That's why it's astounding that he's meeting with Donald Trump the same week where the President Pena Nieto is supposed to present his version of the state of the Union in Mexico. It's kind of the State of the Nation Address. That's supposed to happen on Thursday. And he is being bombarded by a lot of questions in regards to ability to govern. So this meeting is probably taking place the worst week that could possibly be for the president in political terms. And of course, those who want to be potential candidates for the 2018 elections here in Mexico already tweeting and sending out messages and telling Donald Trump that he's not welcome. So it will be used against the President, against the President's party, and ultimately Donald Trump is despised in Mexico. And regardless whatever the outcome is of this meeting, it's perceived like all of you have said. The only one who can really benefit from this is Donald Trump. So, I'm not you know, to think that Donald Trump meeting with the Mexican president could potentially even benefit him with Hispanic or Latino voters in the United States, Mexican-American voters, is not going to go very far. So, I could almost bet that this meeting is going to be considered one of the historical mistakes of this president and that, yes, Donald Trump is going to use this means to somehow justify him being a bully or speaking strongly against the Mexican people, against the Mexican government. And three, and no one has really mentioned this, the Hillary Clinton campaign is probably pretty angry about this. And it is very unlikely that she would come and visit Mexico, especially after this meeting. And I would even say when she becomes president of the United States, it's very unlikely that she'll be that one of the first countries she'll be visiting will be Mexico. So, it could also have repercussions in relation in the MexicoU.S. bilateral relationship even after the elections. [Camerota:] Ana Maria, such a fascinating perspective from you to talk about the ripple effect that today's meeting could have on everything. Thank you for all of that insight. Rebecca and Mark, stick around. We have more questions for you coming up in our 8:00 hour. We will talk to Trump's running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, in his first interview since this Mexico trip was announced. [Cuomo:] We'll also get reaction from the former Mexican President Vicente Fox. Hear what they both have to say. That will be in the 8:00 hour. [Camerota:] OK. Two big GOP establishment senators fighting off primary challengers and keeping their bids for re-election alive. Arizona Senator John McCain, a day after his 80th birthday, beating his 47-year-old opponent, who called him old and weak, by more than ten percentage points. McCain goes for a sixth term against Democratic Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick in November. And Florida Senator Marco Rubio cruising to a victory with the decisive win, nearly 72 percent of the vote against a millionaire who spent his own money trying to knock out Rubio. The one-time presidential candidate will now face off against Democratic Congressman Patrick Murphy. They're expected to run a tight race with Republican control of the Senate on the line. [Cuomo:] All right. So now the FBI is set to make public its report that recommended no charges against Clinton over private e- mails. The question is, what will this do to the campaign? What could be in there? We'll give you a good hint. Next [Blackwell:] Well, the killings of two women allegedly at the hands of undocumented immigrants over the last month have now given more prominence to the issue of immigration, elevated the issue. The most recent woman who we just talked about was Margaret Kostelnik. And the case that started the conversation was that Kate Steinle killed by undocumented immigrant Juan Francisco Lopez Sanchez in San Francisco. Now Donald Trump highlighted that and he's continued to make it an even larger part potentially of the first GOP debate we'll see this Thursday. Listen to what Trump told our Max Foster this week. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I will build a wall and Mexico is going to pay for it and they'll be happy to pay for it because Mexico is making so much money from the United States that that's going to be peanuts. And all these other characters say they won't pay, they won't pay because they don't know the first thing about how to negotiate. Trust me, Mexico will pay for it. [Blackwell:] Joining us now to talk about this, Democratic strategist Maria Cardona and Republican strategist Lisa Boothe. Lisa, I wonder if and I'd like to hear what you think about this if the other candidates will engage Donald Trump in a serious back and forth over immigration or if they will try to speak past him on this considering all the backlash he's received about his comments in his launch speech. [Lisa Boothe, Republican Strategist:] Well, I hope they engage because this is an important issue. But I think it is important to differentiate between immigration and illegal immigration. Look, America, we allow one million people to come here per year legally, which is more than any other country. That's a great thing because we are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. So it's important to look at the louder point of illegal immigration and these deaths in Ohio and California really put that to the forefront. And look, if you look at sanctuary cities in the first nine months of last year, sanctuary cities denied 9,000 requests from ICE to detain illegal immigrants in local police custody. 62 percent of those individuals were either previously charged or convicted of a crime. So I think we do need to look at the aspect of illegal immigration in this country. [Blackwell:] Maria, Secretary Clinton said that there seems to be a full and equal path to full and equal citizenship. Governor Chris Christie said just yesterday that it's pandering and, quote, "a path to citizenship is garbage". He was at this pizzeria when he said that. [Maria Cardona, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I hope he continues to say those things, Victor. Because we have seen that the issue of immigration has been nothing but quicksand for Republican candidates in the past two presidential elections. And it will continue to be that because they will sink if they start talking about immigration the way that Chris Christie is. The fact of the matter is that the majority of Americans understand that immigration is a huge problem in this country. They also understand that the way to fix it is by passing a comprehensive immigration reform legislation that includes tough border security as well as a pathway to citizenship for those undocumented the millions of undocumented immigrants who have done nothing but support their families in this country, contributed to the economy in this country and contributed to the fabric of what our country is, which is a country of immigrants. [Blackwell:] How big of a deal is this? Because this recent CNN poll shows that the issue voters care most about is the economy. Immigration policy here falls in third place. Lisa first and then Maria you finish up. How big of a deal is the discussion over immigration this cycle? [Boothe:] Well, look, even Hispanics in this country care about jobs. Everyone cares about jobs. That's at the forefront of everyone's mind. So that's obviously the most important issue heading into the 2016 elections. But look, I think the difference between what Maria just said is differentiating between immigration, illegal immigration. Immigration is a great thing. We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws and what we have seen with these recent deaths in Ohio and California is the breakdown of our nation's laws, the breakdown in communications between local and federal authorities. And I think we need to take a real hard look at the laws and those broken aspects of the laws before we discuss comprehensive immigration. And look, if you look at the comprehensive immigration bill last year, that would do nothing to address the illegality at the border. That's the big problem here. [Blackwell:] All right, Maria finish it up. 30 seconds. [Carodna:] So two things, first of all the immigrant population is much less likely or the undocumented immigrant population much less likely to commit a crime in this country than Americans are. So let's just put to rest the idiocies that Donald Trump has put out there. And Republicans would do well not to repeat those claims and to focus on a real solution because if now, you're going to see them sink yet again the way that John McCain did, they way that Mitt Romney did after they turned their backs on a real solution which includes comprehensive immigration reform. [Blackwell:] Maria Cardona, Lisa Boothe always good to have both of you. Thanks. [Boothe:] Thanks so much. [Cardona:] Thank you Victor. [Paul:] Well, women coaching men. It's rare in men professional sports but that may be changing, Coy Wire. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports:] Outstanding, commanding, demanding women have made a huge splash in the men's sports world this summer. One of those women, Nancy Lieberman, became just the second female coach in NBA history. She joins us live after the break. [Newton:] Now, a big rally today for European shares, and that's thanks to a message from the European Central Bank. After its first meeting following weeks of market turmoil, the ECB said it will continue to be supportive. [Mario Draghi, President, European Central Bank:] The governing council emphasized, as I said a moment ago, the willingness and ability to act if warranted by using all the instruments available within its mandate, and in particular regarding the asset purchase program that provides myself sufficient flexibility as far as the horizon, the size, and the parameters. [Newton:] ECB president Mario Draghi there. Today, he did, indeed, mark his 68th birthday by making it clear There it is, the birthday party boy. He made it clear the central bank could prolong the program known as quantitative easing if necessary. So, he kind of threw his own party, because he announced the ECB is cutting its forecasts for eurozone growth for this year and the next. The ECB also slashed projections for inflation, saying consumer prices may only rise by 0.1 percent this year. And a reminder that the target for inflation is 2 percent. Now, just about everyone talks about stimulus. The ECB has been buying $67 billion worth of government bonds and other assets since March, effectively printing money. Draghi went on to talk about risk, pointing a finger squarely at the slowing growth in China. [Draghi:] We are observing a weakening of the prospects for the Chinese economy. This has two effects, substantially. One is through the trade channels for weakening the economies of other of the rest of the world. Because China by now is a large share of the world economy, and has a confidence effect, as we've seen, on the stock markets and all the other financial markets, which is also operating on the negative side. [Newton:] Ken Rogoff, Harvard professor and former chief economist at the IMF, joins me now, live from Cambridge, Massachusetts. And Ken, to give you credit yet again you seem to be doing this a lot you were very prescient about your warnings about China. And despite what Mr. Draghi said there, do you really think this is top of mind for him right now, that China is really worrying all central bankers around the world more than it would have a few years ago? [Ken Rogoff, Professor, Harvard University:] Oh, I don't think there's any question about that, that China's gotten bigger. Germany sells a lot to China, Europe does, it's a very important market. So, given that they weren't growing that fast to start with, to have Chinese check in. And as Mario Draghi said, it's both the trade and royal financial markets. Yes, it's unpleasant, and it's no surprise they've talked up their easing more. Although it's unclear how much the ECB alone can do at this point. [Newton:] And many people were happy, obviously, to see him talking about that quantitative easing again. We'll remind everybody that they were late to the party. [Rogoff:] Indeed. [Newton:] Many people thought he should've done it sooner. Again, we will point, Ken, to I was re-reading I re-tweeted your book a few weeks ago, "This Time Will Be Different," and it talks a lot about the financial crisis and debt. A lot of that in Europe having to do with Greece right now. Ken, when you look at this whole situation, how much do you think Europe can hold it together in the next year or two to come, given all the adversity? And we have to mention, even the migrant crisis. Because while it may not affect the economy head on, it certainly does provide another level of political discord, which can also affect things in Europe. [Rogoff:] Well, I think Europe is healing, and Europe actually, believe it or not, has been one of the bright spots on the global economy. It's one of the few places that's doing better than the IMF had thought a year or two ago. Low oil prices, the euro has gone down. The migrant crisis, of course, is a profound humanitarian crisis, existential crisis. But you know, it could work out that it helps unify Europe. It could tear it apart, but it could help unify it. It's certainly very distressing. [Newton:] Yes, absolutely distressing. Ken, thanks so much. We appreciate you talking to us today, and we want to go now to that stimulus message that we were just talking about from the ECB president also helped reassure investors on Wall Street. That gain was hard-fought today, I have to tell you. They were in negative territory twice. The US stocks closed mostly higher for a second day. The Dow was off session highs after weekly jobless claims rose to a two-month high. On Friday, investors, though, will be watching for the key US monthly jobs numbers. Now we know for sure. France says it is now certain that debris found in July is from missing Malaysian Airlines flight 370. What this means for the investigation, that's up next. [Cuomo:] The man suspected of killing his pregnant girlfriend and an Orlando police officer is now in custody after a week long manhunt, police capturing Markeith Lloyd at an abandoned house. Police say the suspect carrying two guns and dressed in body armor did try to escape. Officers say Lloyd suffered facial injuries when he resisted arrest. [Camerota:] Texas law enforcement mourning the loss of one of their own who is shot and killed after a suspect barricaded himself inside a home and began firing at police. Forty-eight-year-old detective Jerry Walker was killed in this standoff Tuesday. Walker and other officers responded to a 911 call about an armed man in the backyard. The suspected gunman was later found dead inside the home. [Cuomo:] All right. Take a look at your screen. Two University of Florida students competing in a fishing tournament in Georgia, going 50, 55. All of a sudden, boat suddenly veers to the right. The two were sent into the water. What was the problem? Maybe malfunction in the boat's steering system. The passengers banged up but okay. Thankfully, both were wearing life jackets. You fishermen out there, you hear that? Wearing their lifejackets. [Camerota:] All you boaters. I mean, this is actually a great video to see, to see how quickly something can happen where your [Cuomo:] Those boats go very fast, that means bad things happen very fast. [Camerota:] OK, meanwhile, President Obama commuting the sentence of former Army soldier Chelsea Manning from 35 years down to seven. A court convicted Manning of stealing troves of secret government documents and providing them to WikiLeaks. Joining us this morning from both sides of the debate, we have investigative journalists and a co-founding editor of "The Intercept", Glenn Greenwald, and CNN military analyst and former commander general for Europe in the Seventh Army, Retired Lt. General Mark Hertling. Gentleman, thanks to both of you for being here. Glenn, I know you have called for this, for the release of Chelsea Manning. For years, you have been lobbying for this. What was your reaction when you heard the news? [Glenn Greenwald, Co-founding Editor, The Intercept:] Well, I was thrilled. Remember, she received by far the largest sentence in the history of the United States for somebody who leaked the documents not to a foreign adversary or sold them to spy agencies but leaked them to the public. She was kept in very harsh conditions for several years. The U.N. found her treatment was abusive and inhumane. And what she leaked to the public the U.S. military admits harmed nobody. But it constitutes probably the most journalistic archive, or one of them, that we have as reporters to tell the American people of what's taking place. So, I think it's an obviously just outcome. [Camerota:] General Hertling, you have a different take. What was your reaction? [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] I do, Alisyn, and I have to first say that I'm extremely conflicted about this commutation for three different reasons. It's because I'm looking at it from three different perspectives: one as a soldier, one as a former commander, and one as a human being. I'm not sure Mr. Greenwald is correct saying that it harmed no one. Private Manning released three-quarters of a million documents which was a crime. It hurt the standing in the international community. It affected other soldiers and intelligence officials and it was disrupted to good order and discipline in the military. Now, Private Manning is an extremely troubled young person. He has been all of his life. So, from a soldier and a commander perspective, I want to see Private Manning locked away for a very long time. But from a human being perspective, I can understand he has, she has served seven years of her sentence and she again was very troubled and has a torture us personal life and has actually admitted to the crime and served seven years. So, I'm not sure how I fall out on this, quite frankly. It's very troubling. [Camerota:] Glenn, what about that? We have we heard from other military members they believe the information released by Private Manning did compromise national security and, in fact, could have gotten people killed. Maybe even did because there were sources that were then identifiable? [Greenwald:] First, it's totally reckless for you to suggest that it's a possibility that people got killed when even the U.S. military [Camerota:] This is what other military members had said, Glenn. [Greenwald:] No, you are absolutely wrong. The U.S. military testified at her court martial hearing that they have searched and investigated and not a single person was harmed as a result of the release of this material. [Hertling:] It has a direct result, Mr. Greenwald. It has a direct result. We don't know about indirect results in military operations. [Greenwald:] That's not possible. So, that's what the U.S. military says. Actual journalists who investigated things rather than repeat what military officials say such as McClatchy, says there is zero evidence that anybody was harmed. And I think this idea of calling her troubled continually as though she were mentally completely distorts what happened. This is somebody who volunteered to go to the Iraq war believing her government's claims about what her government was doing there only to get there and find the reality was much different. She saw atrocities and war crimes and believed that in good conscience, just like Daniel Ellsberg before her with the Vietnam War, like Edward Snowden with the surveillance age, she had to let the American public know, in a democracy that what the government and military were telling the public about the Iraq war was actually not an absolutely lie. [Camerota:] Hold on, Glenn, for one second, because I want to get General Hertling to talk about this, because correct me if I'm wrong, you knew private manning, is that why you use the term troubled? Because you have insight into this, General? [Hertling:] I didn't know Private Manning personally. But Private Manning was one of the soldiers that replaced, was a part of the unit that replaced one of my units in Iraq. Now, what I will tell you, all you have to do is understand Private Manning's history and you can say that she was tortured throughout her entire life in terms of her personal history. That's not inconclusive. I mean, there are the history of her life from birth until she joined the army was troubling, for anyone that takes a hard look at it. And from the standpoint of whether or not someone was harmed, there were there was testimony that says there was no direct harming of an individual. But you can't talk about indirect because it did affect military operations. It did affect our standing in the world and agents were moved because the WikiLeaks documents identified people by name. And many people in the government were concerned about their well-being. [Camerota:] Glenn [Hertling:] And it cost the government a great deal, too, by the way, too. So, again, from a human being perspective, I can understand the president doing it. It was a compassioned move toward a troubled individual. I will say that again. But from a military perspective, it is disheartening to see this. Seven years, is it enough? I don't know. [Camerota:] Glenn, what does this mean for other high profile people like Edward Snowden? Julian Assange had tweeted that if Chelsea Manning were the sentence were commuted, that he would come back and face justice? [Greenwald:] Well, the reality is that there is no justice here. It's a total double standard for like people who have no power, like Chelsea Manning. If you look at David Petraeus who actually leaked top secret information among government's most sensitive material unlike Chelsea Manning who released no top secret documents, he didn't spend a single day in prison. And unlike Chelsea Manning who leaked in order to inform the public, David Petraeus leaked top secret sensitive material to his mistress so that she could write autobiography about him. But he has power in Washington. So, he doesn't go to jail for a single day. Chelsea Manning goes to prison for seven years, like they want to put Edward Snowden in prison for decades as well because that's the double standard that the U.S. military and government uses for people who leak classified information. If are you powerful, you are permitted to do it. If you are not, you go to prison and are treated in a way the U.N. itself concludes constitutes torture. And I think that's the real issue here. [Camerota:] Generally, I'll give you the last word. [Hertling:] That's a lot of hyperbole. Private Manning leaked three- quarters of a million documents, more than just what would be considered whistleblower activity. There were cables directed at the entire world. I'm not going to defend General Petraeus. I think what he did was also wrong. But I don't think you can conclude that one was like the other. It would be really spurious to do that. I think Mr. Greenwald has the wrong view of this entire thing. It isn't about power versus non-power. It's about the vast extent of documents that were leaked, how they were leaked and what it did. And again, I would suggest Private Manning probably has served the right amount of time and because of her past, she needs to be released. But that shouldn't be compared with General Petraeus or anybody else. [Camerota:] General Hertling, Glenn Greenwald, thank you very much for this debate that we will be having all day long. Thank you both. Thanks also to our international viewers for watching. CNN "NEWSROOM" will begin for you in moments. And for our U.S. viewers, NEW DAY continues right now. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] Things will be done beautifully but they'll be done differently. [Mike Pence , Vice President-elect:] When the elections are, we all serve people. [Trump:] We have to have a smooth transition. President Obama understands that very well. [Unidentified Male:] I couldn't be there to celebrate his inauguration. [Trump:] We have a divided country and it's not divided because [Unidentified Male:] I have serious concerns about equivocating sentences when national security is at stake. Chelsea Manning was found guilty. She acknowledged wrong doing. Mr. Snowden fled into the arms of an adversary. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vermont:] Do you think if your family has not made hundreds of millions of dollars of contributions to the Republican Party, that you would be sitting here today? [Betsy Devos, Secretary Of Education Nominee:] As a matter of fact, I do. [Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] No wonder they want to rush it through. They don't want people to get a good look at this people. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hillary Clinton hoping to gain some of those anti-Trump Republican votes in the general election. But Bernie Sanders not letting her get ahead of herself, pledging to stay in the race until the last vote is counted. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Huge wildfires consuming hundreds of thousands of acres of land. 90,000 people evacuated. Firefighters hoping for a change in the weather to help combat these flames. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] I'm John Berman. Nice to see you. 30 minutes past the hour right now. Kicking off a big unexpected week for Republicans this morning. Six months to go until election day. Mark your calendar for that November day. Tomorrow when no one else in the race it is all but certain that Donald Trump will sweep primaries in Nebraska and West Virginia. But no competition does not mean no drama. Trump now says he will not rule out an effort to dump House Speaker Paul Ryan as chairman of the Republican convention if Ryan fails to endorse him. The two rival leaders of the party, they meet on Thursday. No doubt on their agenda, Trump policies that Ryan says are at odds with Republican dogma like two things he seemed to shift on this weekend. The issue of raising taxes on the wealthy and perhaps a higher minimum wage. Let's get the latest from CNN Politics reporter Eric Bradner in Washington. [Eric Bradner, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Good morning, John and Christine. The GOP civil war is raging on ahead of a big meeting this week between the party's highest ranking official, House Speaker Paul Ryan, and its presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump. Here is what Trump told ABC on Sunday about that meeting. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] He wants to meet. He'd like to meet and I think we are meeting on Thursday. And we'll just see what happens. It's just more drama. But I think it's a mistake not to do this. We want to bring the party together. Does the party have to be together? Does it have to be unified? I'm very different than everybody else perhaps that's ever run for office. I actually don't think so. [Bradner:] But the meeting might not heal many wounds. Ryan wants Trump to adopt more conservative policy positions. But Trump broke from the right in two big ways on Sunday. He said he wants to support higher taxes on the wealthy in exchange for a deal that would see Democrats give him a cut in business taxes and a cut for the middle class. And he also said he's open to a minimum wage increase even though he wants that to come from the states. Now all of this is happening against the backdrop of a big threat by a Trump supporter. The 2008 Republican vice presidential nominee, Sarah Palin. Palin told CNN that she is going to support Ryan's primary challenger. [Sarah Palin , Former Vp Candidate:] I will do whatever I can for Paul Neelan. This man is a hard-working guy, so in touch with the people. Paul Ryan and his ilk, their problem is they have become so disconnected from the people whom they are elected to represent as evidenced by Paul Ryan's refusal to support the GOP frontrunner that we just said he's our man. [Bradner:] It's the first threat of retaliation against the Trump opponent within the party that we have seen so far and it could deepen the divide Christine, John. [Romans:] All right, Eric, thank you for that. John McCain who picked Sarah Palin as his running mate echoed her claim that Ryan and other top Republican leaders reluctant to back Trump are out of step with voters. The former Republican presidential nominee defended Trump as a strong and capable leader especially on foreign policy. And McCain offered the presumptive nominee advice on who to pick as a running mate, someone who could unite the party suggesting Senator Joanie Earnest who's tremendous and remarkable. But McCain also urged Trump to retract his slam against prisoners of war. [Sen. John Mccain, Arizona:] What he said about me, John McCain, that's fine. I don't require any repair of that. But when he said I don't like people who are captured, then there's a great there's a body of American heroes that I would like to see him retract that statement. Not about me. But about the others. [Berman:] Donald Trump will be on CNN live this morning. He joins "NEW DAY" during the 7:00 hour. [Romans:] All right. Donald Trump is ramping up the rhetoric against Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, saying she is, quote, "married to a man who got impeached for lying." Trump accused Mrs. Clinton of being a, quote, "enabler" and added for good measure that she wants to abolish the Second Amendment. The Clinton campaign responded with a tweet that said, "It must be liberating to just have no regard for facts whatsoever." And Clinton herself responded as well. Listen to this. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I think saying that he's a loose cannon really focuses on some of the statements he's made, which I find concerning. Going back to torture, killing terrorists' families, which would be a war crime. And those are just some of the concerns that I hear people talking about, which I think does fit the definition of a loose cannon. [Berman:] The FBI sorry. Hillary Clinton says the FBI has not yet contacted her to set up an interview about her use of a private e-mail serve while she was secretary of state. [Clinton:] It's a security inquiry. I always took classified material seriously. There was never any material, marked classified, that was sent or received by me. And I look forward to this being wrapped up. [Berman:] In recent weeks, investigators have interviewed top Clinton aides including her longtime close adviser, Huma Abedin. Officials tell CNN that so far investigators have found no evidence proving Clinton willfully broke the law. Happening this morning, Bernie Sanders holds a rally in New Jersey trying to capture a state where Hillary Clinton holds a pretty big lead in the polls. In Piscataway on Sunday, Sanders was defiant, showing no signs of giving up. He slammed both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. CNN's Rachel Crane was there. She has the latest. [Rachel Crane, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine and John, Sanders was greeted by about 7,000 passionate supporters on Sunday in New Jersey. One particular point that got a lot of love from the crowd, when Sanders highlighted the fact that he performs better against presumed Republican nominee Trump than his opponent Clinton. Now he also highlighted the fact that he is well aware that this is an uphill battle. He even got specific. Take a listen. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] We have still won as of today over 45 percent of the pledged delegates. But as all of you who are good in arithmetic know 45 percent is not good enough. We've got to make 50 percent. And that is what we intend to do. [Sanders:] So from now until the last primary which will be in Washington, D.C. on June 14th, we are going to fight for every single vote. [Crane:] Now we had a chance to speak to some of his supporters and we pressed them that if in fact Hillary Clinton is the nominee, if they would back her. And we got a mixed response. Some of them said it would be incredibly difficult for them to back Clinton if she wins the nomination. Now Sanders is back on the campaign trail today. He'll be in Atlantic City. This is of course all leading up to the New Jersey primary which is on June 7th. Same day as the California primary John and Christine. [Romans:] Rachel Crane. Thank you, Rachel. New this morning, Uber and Lift slamming the brakes on rides in Austin, Texas. And the move could spread to other cities. Residents voted 56 percent to 44 percent against an ordinance called Proposition 1. So now to keep operating Uber and Lift would have to use fingerprinting and other background checks to hire new drivers. Now the companies argue fingerprinting relies on out-of-date databases, makes it difficult to hire enough drivers quickly, and says that's why they'll stop rides in Austin. Advocates say fingerprinting is more effective at screening out potential criminals. Uber stopped serving the Houston area after the city cancelled their passage of similar measure last month. And Uber recently paid out $25 million to the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles for misrepresenting its background check system. [Berman:] All right. Wildfires bigger than New York City. Just hammering parts of western Canada. The fight to contain these flames, that's next. [Blitzer:] Tonight, ISIS continues to plot new attacks against the West, even as the terrorists are losing territory in their home bases in both Syria and Iraq. There are now grave concerns that defeats on the battlefield there are driving the leaders of ISIS to flex their muscles in new acts of terror overseas. And it's a dangerous dynamic, as the United States and its allies plan their next military moves. Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr. She's got new information. What are you learning about the situation, first of all, Barbara Starr, on the ground? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Wolf, tonight, the U.S. military ISIS targeting very crucial, very specific areas around Raqqa and Mosul. But as the old saying goes, it's getting complicated. [Starr:] On the battlefields of Iraq and Syria, ISIS is losing key ground, suffering crucial setbacks. [Ashton Carter, U.s. Defense Secretary:] In recent weeks, coalition forces have severed the main artery between ISIS power centers in Raqqa, Syria, and ISIL in Northern Iraq, and begun the early stages to collapse ISIL's control over Mosul. [Starr:] The U.S. exploiting what advantages it can, like the daring killing of ISIS finance chief Mustafa al-Qaduli. CNN has learned that in broad daylight U.S. special operations forces on helicopters flew at a very low altitude in front of Qaduli's car, firing warning shots to stop. When an occupant leaned out to fire with an AK-47 back at the helicopters, the U.S. team quickly obliterated the car. [Gen. Joseph Dunford, Joint Chiefs Of Staff Chairman:] The pressure we put on ISIL in Syria has degraded their capabilities, limited their freedom of movement, and reduced their resources. [Starr:] But there are still huge problems to resolve. [Dunford:] In Iraq, we have a partner, but the relationship is complicated by the political landscape, sectarianism and Iranian influence. [Starr:] Iraqi forces are fighting to retake villages west of the key city of Makhmour. But once again, U.S. officials say there are isolated instances of Iraqi troops running when they come under fire. The area is a critical approach to Mosul, Iraq's second largest city. The Pentagon is sending President Obama recommendations for possibly hundreds of additional U.S. troops to help train and advise Iraqi forces for that fight. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] The number of Iraqi units it will take to get into Mosul, to secure it, to surround it and then to dig out ISIS, you're talking about between 12 and 16 Iraqi army brigades. [Starr:] It could mean more than 25,000 Iraqi forces are needed, trained and willing to fight. In Syria, after bloody fighting and with Russian help, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad retook the area around the ancient city of Palmyra. Those regime forces are now moving north. The U.S. watching to see if they fight all the way to Raqqa, the ISIS stronghold the U.S. wants local forces to capture. Now, the fight ahead in Syria is getting very complex. A defense official tells me tonight that the Russians have stopped their withdrawal from Syria, that there are still dozens of Russian aircraft there, tanks, artillery and Russian fighters on the ground Wolf. [Blitzer:] Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, thanks for that report. Joining us now, President Obama's special envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS, Brett McGurk joining us from the State Department. Brett, thanks very much for joining us. [Brett Mcgurk, Special Presidential Envoy For The Global Coalition To Counter Isil:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] I want to get to the war against ISIS. But, as you know, there are these reports out right now there that the ISIS leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, may have been arrested, may have been picked up. What, if anything, can you tell us about that? [Mcgurk:] Wolf, we have nothing on those particular reports. But I will say that Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi's days are numbered. We just targeted and killed, as Barbara just mentioned, one of his key deputies, a terrorist named Haji Imam. And we're going to continue to unravel a network that leads to Baghdadi. So, we're after this. We're after it every single day, but I have nothing on those specific reports. [Blitzer:] Yes, these unconfirmed reports suggest that Syrian troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad's regime backed by the Russians may have grabbed him or picked him up. There's been no official confirmation either from the Syrian regime or from the Russians right now. But once again, you have heard those reports. Do they have any credibility at all? [Mcgurk:] I have seen absolutely nothing to support that. I would say, we're getting closer to him every day and we're going to stay at it. Our forces are focused on this every single moment of the day. [Blitzer:] Is he in Iraq or is he in Syria? [Mcgurk:] He's probably in Syria, Wolf. [Blitzer:] In Raqqa, the capital of the so-called ISIS caliphate? [Mcgurk:] Most likely. Look, he used to be in a town called Shadadi. Shadadi is a town in Northeastern Syria. He used to be based there. And we, of course, worked with the coalition of Syrian Kurds and Arabs, a force 6,000-strong. It was about 40 percent non-Kurdish force, a very inclusive force. And they took Shadadi from ISIL. ISIL was prepared to defend that town. They dug tunnels. They dug trenches. They tried to reinforce it. We thought it would take about three weeks. Actually, we thought it would take about six weeks. Excuse me. It took about six days. And their leadership is really dispersing. And it's not a surprise that we were able to target and kill the overall military emir of ISIS, Omar Shishani, just south of Shadadi. So, places for him to go are increasingly limited. So, I would suspect one of their strongholds, most likely Raqqa. [Blitzer:] All right, let's talk a little bit about the setbacks that ISIS is suffering on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq. Some are suggesting they may now further step up their attacks, their terror attacks, in Europe and maybe even here in the United States. Is that the U.S. assessment right now that as they lose ground there, they may launch new terror strikes in Europe, let's say? [Mcgurk:] Well, Wolf, if you track what Baghdadi has said for years, you go back to his writing from many years ago, he's always wanted to attack the West. That's always been an aspiration for him. And they have had external plotting networks in place for many years. The attacks we have seen recently in Europe, it's a network; it's a network led by one of Baghdadi's deputies, Muhammad Adnani. And they train operatives in Syria to plot and then they send them out of Syria into Europe. We think the Paris attackers probably came through that network last summer. So this is something that they have been trying to do for a long time. We believe that, to get after it, we have to work with our European partners. We were of course just in Brussels last week with Secretary Kerry, not only to pay our condolences to the victims of that attack, but also to talk to the Belgian authorities about tightening up some of their networks. I met here with the head of Interpol today at the State Department about drying up the foreign fighter networks. But, most importantly, Wolf, we have to shut down this territory that they still control in Syria. There's just no substitute for doing that. And that is why we're so focused on the heart of this phony caliphate in Syria and Iraq. [Blitzer:] There's a lot of concern, as you know, and you have seen the reports, that ISIS may be trying to obtain what is called a dirty bomb, some sort of radiological dirty bomb that would wind up killing a lot of people, poisoning a lot of people. How concerned are you about that? [Mcgurk:] It's a concern of ours. It's also something that we're focused on every single day, particularly around Mosul, where we know that they have had a chemical weapons network, trying to produce chemical weapons. They have, of course, launched chemical munitions and mustard gas at our colleagues the Peshmerga fighters, who are those heroic fighters on the front lines there. We're actually doing a pretty good job of unraveling that particular network. But it's something we're focused on every day. That's why President Obama is bringing together almost 50 countries here in the nuclear security summit to talk about not only protecting nuclear materials all around the world, but also that very dangerous intersection between chemical weapons, nuclear materials and terrorist groups, one of, of course, is ISIL. We're focused on this on a global scale and we're focused on it particularly in Iraq and Syria. And I will just say, the more we operate, the more information we get, the more our special operators are out there, the more we learn about the networks and the more we're able to unravel them. And one of the networks, in addition to the external plotting network I mentioned, is this chemical weapons network that ISIL has, particularly inside Iraq, particularly near Mosul. But we're uprooting that network as we speak. [Blitzer:] Can you blow it up using airpower, destroy that chemical weapons factory? [Mcgurk:] Yes, it's a great question. We're very careful about that. Our targeters who do this, I defer to my colleagues in the Department of Defense, but they look at everything from the way the wind is blowing and everything else to make sure that we're able to destroy those facilities without undue harm to the civilian population. We're being very precise about it. But we're not we will not allow a terrorist group like ISIL to experiment with these types of lethal munitions when we find out what they are doing and where they are doing them. [Blitzer:] Because what really worried me was that video that they found, what, hours of ISIS terrorists in Europe monitoring some Belgian nuclear scientist, monitoring the Belgian nuclear reactor. They had to shut it down in Belgium out of concern. How close are they to getting their hands on some sort of dirty bomb? [Mcgurk:] Yes. I think, look, our colleagues in Belgium have really advanced security protocols around those sites. But we want to have security protocols that advanced all around the world. And that's why we have more than 50 countries here this week in Washington and President Obama will be leading that very important summit meeting. But, look, it's an aspiration of ISIL. They're a global terrorist network. They don't only want to expand their territory in Iraq and Syria. They want to attack us at home. They want to attack our partners. It's something they have talked about for years. And if they can get hands on munition like that, they wouldn't hesitate to use them. That's why it's so dangerous. That's why we have built this coalition of more than 60 countries to go at it on a global basis, not only in Iraq and Syria, but also the foreign fighter networks, the propaganda networks, the financing networks. But this intersection of chemical weapons and weapons of mass destruction and terrorism is something, of course, we have been concerned about since 911, and we're working to make sure that groups like al Qaeda and groups like ISIL cannot get their hands on these materials. And that's why so many heads of state are here in Washington this week to focus on that very issue. [Blitzer:] It's a huge issue, indeed. One final question right before I let you go. Donald Trump says he would fight ISIS by going after their oil, destroying their oil revenue, if you will, asking Saudi Arabia to do the fighting on the ground. He also says he would favor going back to using water- boarding against ISIS terror suspects. What's your reaction when you hear that kind of talk? [Mcgurk:] We're going after their oil. It takes intelligence. This is really hard, complex work. You don't just go after and bomb oil facilities. You have to find out, how are they getting the oil? How are they producing it? Where are the trucks going? What are the networks? Who are the leaders? And then target them and root them out. And that is exactly what we're doing. And that information came from a raid by our special forces about eight months about against Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist who was one of Baghdadi's deputies running their financing network. We got more information out of that raid than we have in any special forces raid in history, just our heroic operators out there. And because of that, we're able to fuse the intelligence and then destroy the networks. So, ISIL is now paying their fighters about 50 percent of what they were paying them only months ago. And that's going to continue to go down. So, we're completely uprooting their financial infrastructure, and we're going to continue to do it. [Blitzer:] Brett McGurk, thanks very much for joining us. [Mcgurk:] Wolf, thanks so much. [Blitzer:] Brett McGurk is the special presidential envoy for the global coalition to counter ISIS. Just ahead, has Donald Trump defused his explosive new comments about abortion and the prospect of punishing women who get them? We will have much more on that. Also, Hillary Clinton hitting Donald Trump hard on their mutual home turf. We're talking about New York. Is it part of her primary strategy or an early general election attack? [Sciutto:] Welcome back. The death toll in the Italian earthquake is rising. At least 250 now dead. Nearly 400 others injured. Just a day after a powerful 6.2 magnitude quake hit strong aftershocks still rocking the already devastated areas of central Italy. Search and rescue efforts are intensifying with every precious minute and just when you think it could be hopeless, a miracle arises from the rubble. Take a look here. Dramatic, really. An emotional rescue. Emergency crews lifting a 10- year-old girl to safety nearly a full day after that massive quake. Want to go to CNN's senior international correspondent Frederik Pleitgen, he's right in the middle of it, near the epicenter, in Amatrice. Fred, a big question here is how many people are still missing. Give us a sense of how and whether the death toll could rise. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, the Italian authorities, Jim, certainly believe that the death toll can still rise and will still rise. And they say that they believe that there still could be quite a few people actually buried underneath the rubble, possibly trapped underneath the rubble. However, they also say they can't really put a number on it and the reason for that is, of course, that this is a tourist region. They believe that many people may have been here visiting their families when this earthquake struck. Of course none of them really registered here when this disaster unfolded. And at the same time it also happened in the very early morning hours when these people were asleep. And so they basically had no chance to escape. Now throughout the day you're absolutely right. We have seen the rescue efforts here intensify. The crews have been bringing in more heavy equipment but it is those aftershocks that just keep making life so difficult for the crews here on the ground. We experienced one that was quite scary, actually, when a lot of buildings started shaking, the ground was trembling, and there was one building that had already been damaged by the original earthquake that just absolutely crumbled. And the rescue workers who were nearby, all of them, had to evacuate that area immediately. It took about half an hour before they could start again. So they are working under very, very difficult circumstances. And at this point in time, they're not really finding many people alive under the rubble any more. However, so stories like the one you just showed, that little 10-year- old girl, that really keep moral high, keeps these guys going. They're in for another very, very long time, as they're continuing to work but they they're not letting up until they've gone through this entire area. Of course, Amatrice, the town that by far is hardest hit of the 250 people who are known to have died in this disaster, more than 190 were killed here Jim. [Sciutto:] Let's hope for more signs of life. Fred Pleitgen, thanks so much. For some parents, it's become a choice between paying the bills and buying a potentially life-saving device for their child. Now after widespread outrage, the makers of EpiPens are offering a coupon, but there is a catch. [Romans:] All right. All the candidates in last night's debate, they seemed to agree on at least one thing. Taking issue with the moderators. Highly critical of the CNBC team during and after the debate. [Cruz:] The questions that are being asked shouldn't be trying to get people to tear into each other. It should be what are your substantive solutions. [Christie:] What we should do is to be investing in all types of energy, John. All types of energy. I've laid out [Harwood:] In government? [Christie:] No, John. John, do you want me to answer or do you want to answer? Because I've got to tell you the truth. Even in New Jersey, what you're doing is called rude. [Harwood:] Is this a comic book version of a presidential campaign? [Trump:] No. It's not a comic book. And it's not a very nicely asked question the way you say that. [Bush:] It didn't control the debate. Plain and simple. It was not the it was not a fair debate in that regard. [Romans:] Let's bring in Brian Stelter, CNN senior media correspondent and host of "RELIABLE SOURCES." That plays well with the Republican base to attack the questioners and say, look, this is the mainstream media. They were asking questions that weren't there. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] For sure. The most effective line about that was it was Marco Rubio who said the Democrats have the best super PAC of all. The mainstream media. Now there are cases where there are questions that might have some liberal bias coming in. I thought there was more of an issue last night, though, with the management of the time, with the management of the candidates. Yes, some of the questions might have seemed staged and might have seemed too personal, they might have been too much about getting candidates to fight with each other. But there was also this chaos, a sense of chaos throughout the debate. It was unclear who was in charge. And that's a big difference from the FOX and CNN debates. Tapper was in charge of that GOP CNN debate on CNN. Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, they were in charge of the FOX debate. You knew who was leading the show. Last night you didn't know who was leading the show. [Berman:] No. There's really two separate issues here. The tone of the questions and to whom and how often the questions were going. [Stelter:] That's right. [Berman:] We have I think the debate time. Who got the most talking last night. [Stelter:] It is revealing. [Berman:] And Carly Fiorina spoke the most last night. She had more than 10 minutes of talk time, depending on how you measure it. Jeb Bush and Rand Paul had the least amount of time. [Stelter:] Fiorina was very effective about jumping in. [Berman:] She was. [Stelter:] And then making sure the moderators didn't cut her off. [Berman:] It was interesting, you don't see this much. I guess Jeb Bush's campaign manager, Danny Diaz, was banging on the control room door during the debate. [Stelter:] Yes. [Berman:] During the debate, essentially saying, this isn't fair. You're not asking, you know, fair questions and distributing fairly enough. [Stelter:] And they're not given enough time. You know, there are 10 candidates on the stage. They wanted a two-hour debate. CNBC would like it to go on a little bit longer. Of course CNN's was three hours long. The candidates didn't like that. I honestly wish they had gone on longer, on the one hand. On the other hand, it was so chaotic that it was good it ended at two hours. You know, in a perfect world, I think we wouldn't have 10 candidates on that stage. [Romans:] Right. [Stelter:] Because it can create such a difficult situation. If you can split it up with seven and seven, seven earlier and seven later, randomly, to me that will make a lot more sense. But obviously the top ranking candidates like Donald Trump don't want that to happen. And they do have a lot of leverage in these situations. [Romans:] One of the big criticisms this morning, you know, of so many of those candidates about the mainstream media, this is a typical mainstream media, it sort of struck me. I don't think of CNBC as, like, quote-unquote, "mainstream media." It's a niche business and economics platform. And that's what they presumably were going for, to talk about the economy. [Stelter:] With many conservative commentators. [Romans:] Right. [Stelter:] I think of them as a red network in many way like FOX News. [Berman:] The founding party of the Tea Party. [Stelter:] That's right. Rick Santelli who was up there asking questions last night. The network quickly was portrayed as being part of this liberal bias problem but that is not what it normally is. I think the moderators could have been more prepared for that line of attack. They could have pushed back more on it and expected it more. [Romans:] Let's show the statement of the network. [Stelter:] Yes, let's put on screen. CNBC's one-line statement. They say, "People who want to be president of the United States should be able to answer tough questions." That's their one-line response to all the criticism. But frankly the criticism goes beyond the issue of tough questions, it also goes to the overall management of the stage and the pushback. [Romans:] And the follow-up. Let's talk quickly about this. [Stelter:] Yes. [Romans:] Becky Quick, a fantastic reporter and anchor, she asked a question to Donald Trump about his position on h-1b visas and immigration, whether he criticized Mark Zuckerberg and Marco Rubio. And he completely disavowed his own platform on immigration and she didn't push him on it. [Stelter:] That's right. She in fact kind of acknowledged, kind of, I'm not sure where I read that. Instead of pushing back, showing the evidence that she was right, that she was right to ask the question. It goes to show that being on these stages, moderating these debates is extremely difficult. And frankly, I came away even more having more respect for the Jake Tappers and Megyn Kellys of the world because we see how hard it is. And I have a feeling we're going to see changes in the future debates as a result of this. [Berman:] Right. Yes. [Stelter:] I think we're going to see more pushback from the campaigns. They want to have more control of the debates in the future. [Berman:] Reince Priebus is not happy at all. [Stelter:] Yes. [Berman:] Brian Stelter, great to have you with us. Thank you so much. [Romans:] Nice to see you. [Stelter:] Thanks. [Berman:] Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY." Alisyn Camerota joins us now Alisyn. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor, "new Day":] Hey, good morning, guys. We will have much more analysis of last night's Republican debate. Which candidate won, which candidate lost, and which candidate had the best zingers. We will speak with many of the candidates, including the man who some people believe won last night. That's Senator Marco Rubio. We will also have on "NEW DAY" Carly Fiorina and Governor Chris Christie as well as former governor, Mike Huckabee. What did they think of their performances and where does the presidential race go from here? We have so much to discuss, me and Michaela will see you in about 13 minutes. [Romans:] Can't wait. [Berman:] Where, oh, where does it go from here. Alisyn, great. See you in a few minutes. Bernie Sanders. His position on marijuana changing. What he is saying now. That's next. [Blitzer:] President Obama just announced new measures aimed at helping former prisoners build new lives by making it easier for them to find jobs. The president is making his push for criminal justice reform very personal, but he's getting pushback from the New York City police commissioner. Our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is joining us now with more. The president spoke just moments ago in New Jersey. Tell us what he said. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Just as the Obama administration is speeding up the release of federal prisoners who are serving harsh drug sentences, the president wants companies across the country to start hiring many of these former inmates and not hold their past crimes against them. [Acosta:] It's an image of a president that's rarely seen, visiting a halfway house in New Jersey, shining a light on a program that transitions former prisoners back into society. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Part of our goal here today is to highlight what is working. [Acosta:] In the fourth quarter of his time in office, President Obama is making criminal justice reform a top priority. [Obama:] There but for the grace of God. [Acosta:] And it's personal. Earlier this year at a federal prison in Oklahoma, Mr. Obama candidly admitted he could have ended up behind bars after using drugs in his youth. [Obama:] These are young people who made mistakes that aren't that different than the mistakes I made. [Acosta:] Now, the president wants to make it easy for ex-inmates to find jobs. He's calling on Congress to ban the box in federal hiring, as in eliminate that section on job applications that asks about criminal records, encouraging employers to seek that information later on. Former prisoner Samuel Hamilton says the box is a barrier to a better life. [Samuel Hamilton, Former Inmate:] It's been my experience, and individuals who I know that you find yourself not getting the job just because of your criminal history. [Acosta:] That change could be crucial to thousands of federal prisoners just released over the weekend after many have their drug sentences reduced. [Obama:] We've got to make sure that Americans who paid their debt to society can earn their second chance. [Acosta:] But some top law enforcement officials like New York Police Prisoner Bill Bratton warn, quick, feel-good prison releases could backfire. [William Bratton, Nypd Comissioner:] Somebody that is in jail that seems they're nonviolent drug offender may in fact have crimes of violence in their record. So, we have to be very concerned about who were letting out. [Acosta:] Still, criminal justice reform is all of a sudden in vogue in both parties. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] Incarceration in New Jersey has fallen by nearly 10 percent. [Acosta:] GOP presidential contender Chris Christie says he's done it in New Jersey while respecting law enforcement. [Christie:] The other thing that the police officers know is that the governor supports them. This president has not supported law enforcement in this country. [Acosta:] Now, the White House has responded to Christie's swipe on criminal justice reform by saying the governor is desperately trying to boost his poll numbers. When politicians are fighting over an issue like this, Wolf, it usually has some staying power, and I suspect this one does as well Wolf. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] You're probably right. All right. Jim Acosta, thanks very much. Let's talk about this with our CNN anchor Don Lemon, and former federal prosecutor, our legal analyst Sunny Hostin. Sunny, you heard the New York City Police Commissioner Bill Bratton says violent offenders could slip by the radar, be released on the streets, could pose a danger. Do you agree? [Sunny Hostin, Cnn Legal Analyst:] I don't agree. I actually think that's a pretty irresponsible characterization of this program. We know that the sentencing commission recommended these reductions the reduction in sentencing in 2014, and federal judges, Wolf, have to carefully examine all of the petitions before them. And in fact, in that examination, about 26 percent of those petitions by inmates have been denied by federal judges. So, there's sort of definitely a built-in system of checks and balances. These aren't violent offenders that are being released. These are nonviolent drug offenders that were incarcerated for really long periods of time under the federal sentencing guidelines. And I know this because as a federal prosecutor, I was beholden to sort of those, you know, federal sentencing guidelines. So, I think that the real question is, rather than be worried about the recidivism rates, which is about 40 percent of people that are released, we've got to who worry about whether or not they have treatment for a lot of their addictions. We've got to worry about training. We've got to worry about certainly sort of this ban the box so there are job opportunities, and we should be worried about housing. So, that those are the real issues. This other issue that the commissioner is talking about is really a red herring. And I think it's really irresponsible to sort of panic the public like that. [Blitzer:] Don, the president spoke to NBC News today about shaping his legacy, what he wants to see from the next president. Watch this. [Obama:] I'm very proud that my presidency can help to galvanize and mobilize America on behalf of issues of racial disparity and racial justice, but I do so, hoping that my successor, who's not African-American, if he or she is not, that they'll be just as concerned as I am, because this is part of what it means to perfect our union. [Blitzer:] It's interesting, he speaks just as this new NBC News"Wall Street Journal" poll comes out showing that among Republicans nationwide Dr. Ben Carson has taken the lead, 29 percent, Donald Trump at 23, second national poll to do so. Last weekCBS. Very interesting a very interesting take, and, of course, Dr. Ben Carson is African-American. [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Yes. And at this rate, could. I mean, you know, he could end up being the nominee. If that does happen, there will be a general election. There's still a long way to go until then. But I think it's interesting because I remember back to the beginning of this presidency, Wolf, both of you and covered this. We covered both inaugurations together, and when people would say, you know, President Obama is not doing enough to help African-Americans. Some people still say that, he's not doing enough. Well, I think the president said I represent all Americans. But now, I think he is concerned with legacy and I think he is, as he said, a new person and he's more competent in his second administration, and I think part of his legacy, he wants to deal with racial injustice. And I think that's very good, and that's good on him. And when you're talking about the people who are many of them released from prison, many of them are black and brown people who go, have to go back into society, who won't be able to vote and possibly won't be able to get a job, and I think he's right to be concerned about that at this point in his presidency. [Blitzer:] Don is going to have a lot at 10:00 p.m. Eastern, "CNN TONIGHT", later tonight. We'll be watching. Don, thank you. Sunny, thanks to you as well. Just ahead, we'll get back to the plane crash history. Stand by for new information coming in to CNN about the possible cause. [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Anchor:] An awkward moment between Donald Trump and Angela Merkel as the U.S. president joked they were both under surveillance by the Obama administration. And there's still no evidence to support Mr. Trump's claim that he was indeed wiretapped. A classified report from the Department of Justice does not confirm his allegations. Plus America's top diplomat says 20 years of efforts to denuclearize North Korea have failed and U.S. patience is running. We'll get into what a new approach might include. Hi, everyone, thank you very much for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta and CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. [Vanier:] U.S. government officials tell CNN the Justice Department does not confirm President Trump's claim that he was spied on last year by his predecessor, Barack Obama. A classified report on the matter was delivered to Congress by the Justice Department on Friday. Officials familiar with the report say it found no evidence to back up Mr. Trump's assertion that he was wiretapped last year at Trump Tower. We get the latest now from CNN's Jim Acosta. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Sr. White House Correspondent:] It was an opportunity for President Trump to withdraw a baseless accusation that former President Obama wiretapped him and apologize. But for a president who never admits mistakes, it was an opportunity missed. [Question:] Are there, from time to time, tweets that you regret? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Very seldom. [Question:] Very seldom. So, you would never wish... [Trump:] Very seldom. Probably wouldn't be here right now but very seldom. [Acosta:] At a news conference with German chancellor Angela Merkel, the president refused to back down, pointing to past reports that Merkel was once surveilled by the U.S. intelligence community during the Obama administration. [Trump:] As far as wiretapping, I guess, you know, this past administration at least we have something in common, perhaps. [Acosta:] The White House is digging in even after press secretary Sean Spicer sparked a diplomatic uproar defending the president's comments. [Sean Spicer, White House Spokesperson:] You also tend to overlook all of the other sources that I know you want to cherry pick it. But, no, no, but you do. But where was your concern about "The New York Times" reporting? [Acosta:] And to back up the president's wiretapping allegations, Spicer cited an unsubstantiated report from a FOX News commentator. [Spicer:] Last on FOX News on March 14th, Judge Andrew Napolitano made the following statement, quote, "Three intelligence sources have informed FOX News that President Obama went outside the chain of command. "He didn't use the NSA. He didn't use the CIA. He didn't use the FBI and he didn't use the Department of Justice. He used GCHQ." What is that? It's the initials for the British intelligence spying agency. [Acosta:] The British government was outraged, "utterly ridiculous, should be ignored," said the British signal intelligence agency, GCHQ. The British prime minister's office added, "We've made clear to the U.S. administration that these claims are ridiculous and should be ignored. We have received assurances that these allegations won't be repeated." But during the news conference, the president said no apology was necessary. [Trump:] All we did was quote a certain very talented legal mind, who was the one responsible for saying that on television. I didn't make an opinion on it. That was a statement made by a very talented lawyer on FOX. And so you shouldn't be talking to me. You should be talking to FOX? [Acosta:] After the press conference, Spicer told reporters he was just passing on news reports from various outlets. "I don't think we regret anything," he said. For the president, the Merkel visit was a chance to mend some fences. In late 2015 he tweeted about Merkel, "I told you @TIME Magazine would never pick me as person of the year, despite being the big favorite. They picked person who is ruining Germany." Tensions Merkel appeared to acknowledge. [Angela Merkel, Chancellor Of Germany:] Is that I've always said it's much, much better to talk to one another and not about one another and I think our conversation proved this. [Acosta:] And as for a response to the president's latest remarks at the news conference, a spokesperson for the British government offered no comment Jim Acosta, CNN, the White House. [Vanier:] Joining me now is CNN political analyst and columnist for "USA Today," Kirsten Powers. Kirsten, you have been covering and following this press conference for us, the meeting between Angela Merkel and Donald Trump. There are two aspects of it and I'd like you to touch on both of them. One that's more important I think to the U.S. audience and that is the wiretapping, even though I think the rest of the world is also looking at this with interest. Once again, Donald Trump was given this opportunity, as Jim Acosta just said, to, you know, roll back his comments. And he didn't. [Kirsten Powers, "usa Today":] Yes, well, not only did he not roll them back, he sort of doubled down on them, right. He said essentially in a quip to Angela Merkel, suggested they had something in common and that they were both wiretapped, referring to an incident that happened on President Obama's watch of surveilling her phones. So that also suggested [Powers:] that Donald Trump still believes that he has somehow been under surveillance and, you know, that Barack Obama probably did it, even though there is no evidence whatsoever to prove that. And he then reiterated what Sean Spicer had said at the podium, that we should look at this FOX News report by a legal analyst there. He's not even a reporter, a legal analyst there. [Vanier:] Yes, he deflected blame towards FOX News, which is amazing for the president of the [U.s. Powers:] FOX News then came out and, through Shepard Smith, one of their hosts, and said that FOX News cannot confirm that the President of the United States was ever under any surveillance at the behest of Barack Obama. [Vanier:] Yes, and let me just remind our viewers that the information is piling up against Donald Trump's claim of having been wiretapped by the former president, Barack Obama. CNN reported earlier we did so at the top of this show that two government officials have told us that the Department of Justice report that was handed to Congress today doesn't support that claim, either. I'd like to move to the other part of this story, which is very important to the rest of the world, which is how Donald Trump gets along with the rest of the world's leaders and whether that matters. There were some sort of contentious moments between Donald Trump and Angela Merkel. I'd like you to listen to how Angela Merkel responded after Donald Trump said that immigration was a privilege, not a right, and the safety of our citizens must come first. Listen to this. [Merkel:] We have to protect our external borders because and there we have to work in the basis of mutual interests with our neighbors. Migration, immigration, integration has to be worked on, obviously. Traffickers have to be stopped. But this has to be done while looking at the refugees as well, giving them opportunities to shape their own lives where they are; help countries who, right now, are not in an ability to do so, sometimes because they have civil war. I think that's the right way of going about it. And this is obviously what we have an exchange of views about. But my position is the one that I have just set out for you. [Vanier:] "My position is the one I've just set out," a very polite way of saying we disagree. [Powers:] Right, yes, I think it's fair to say that they do not have the same world view on this or probably most things, frankly. And that she recognizes that he is the President of the United States and that she needs to have a relationship with him. She reportedly was studying his speeches and his remarks and trying to get a sort of sense of him. Good luck with that. And, you know, she's trying to figure out a way to have a relationship with somebody who I think who doesn't seem to have a lot of concern about maintaining good relationships with world leaders, is very happy to alienate, for example, the U.K., one of the the U.S.'closest ally, I guess you could say. So I think she's got her work cut out for her and that was the most diplomatic way that she could say that. But they disagree on so many things. And I don't think she particularly if you looked at the body language of when he made his joke about her being [Vanier:] Yes, she was poker-faced. [Powers:] I don't think she really found that that funny. [Vanier:] No, she did not laugh. She looked down. She wouldn't even look at him. You say that he doesn't mind alienating allies and the common view is that that is it a problem. Is it, though? When you are the world's only superpower, can't you afford to some extent to be uncouth or rude sometimes to your allies and still get away with it? [Powers:] I don't think so. And I think, look, we are dependent on other countries. If you want to just take one of Donald Trump's key issues he's concerned with, it's radical Islam, it's ISIS. The U.S. can't fight that battle themselves. They need the help of other countries on a lot of different levels. We need to work with other countries and maintain good relations with them just for our own security. There is just so much cooperation. So I think that he has this idea that it's fine; he is a disruptive force and somehow the United States is getting pushed around by all these other countries, Mexico being an example of an ally and a neighbor that he feels somehow has pushed the U.S. around. But in fact there are a lot of countries that really hate the United States and really want to harm the United States. So it doesn't make sense to alienate people who actually like you and want to have a relationship with you and we have these long-standing relationships with. [Vanier:] All right, Kirsten Powers, thank you very much for your time. [Powers:] Thank you. [Vanier:] America's top diplomat just landed in Beijing for meetings with China's leaders. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is seeking Chinese support to rein in North Korea's weapons program. His visit follows a stop in South Korea where he said the U.S. would consider military action against Pyongyang if Kim Jong-un threatens either his neighbors or U.S. forces there. CNN's Alexandra Field has more on the tensions. [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] Kim Jong-un's nuclear ambitions are fueling Fast and Furious developments, putting South Korea under mounting pressure. The U.S. is racing to deploy THAAD, a missile defense system, on South Korean [Field:] soil, insisting it is purely about protection from North Korea. U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korea's acting president say it must be installed as quickly as possible. China demands they stop and Korea is stuck in the middle. [Unidentified Female:] I think when I see people discuss about the THAAD deployment issue, people also worry about the escalating tension in the Korean Peninsula and also in Asia. [Field:] South Korea is in the throes of a political crisis; protesters demanded the impeachment of disgraced conservative president Park Geun-hye. Now some want to push pause on THAAD. They want the next president, to be elected in May, to have the final say. [Unidentified Male:] I read the Trump's the autobiography, "The Art of [Field:] "The Art of the Deal." [Unidentified Male:] "Art of the Deal." It is very impressive. [Field:] But Songyung Yo, who represents a presidential front-runner for the Democratic Party, says... [Unidentified Male:] We can't decide our destiny, our problem. The United States and President Trump needs to should respect our the democratic government, new government. [Field:] He says Seoul is too close to North Korea, that THAAD can't protect it. The system is designed to intercept short- and medium-range missiles. But the reach of its radar raises concern for countries in the region. Russia and China say the U.S. could use it to monitor their own missile launches. Now China appears to be pushing back. China says they haven't taken any official action against Korea. But South Korea says there are signs of retaliation for the installation that are hitting the country in the pocket, like cancellations of Chinese tours, leaving local businesses to feel the effect. "The popular shops are a little emptier in this tourist neighborhood," she tells us. "Shop owners are out in the streets, trying to attract customers." Older conservative party voters, proud proponents of the U.S. alliance, support THAAD. Liberals pushing for more open dialogue with North Korea fear it could keep everyone away from the negotiating table. Six-party talks, which involved Russia and China, broke down in 2009. [Unidentified Female:] North Korea has developed their nuclear power during the period where the six party is not working properly. And we actually gave them an opportunity. While we're not actually talking to them, they used that moment to develop their nuclear weapons. [Field:] Kim Jong-un is once again upping threats, promising this year to test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead to the U.S. Alexandra Field, CNN, Seoul, South Korea. [Vanier:] Let's get more from Will Ripley. He's in Beijing, following U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's visit to China. Will, how does Rex Tillerson get Beijing to lean on North Korea? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, there are a number of different strategies that we believe he's going to use. Number one is and this was leaked to CNN through State Department sources but not yet officially confirmed by Secretary Tillerson that he may threaten to sanction Chinese companies that violate U.N. sanctions by trading with North Korea in prohibited areas because, of course, China's North Korea's primary trading partner. Also, you know, just the simple language that no option is off the table, that the strategic patience of the Obama administration is over, might leave China wondering, would the United States actually consider military action against Pyongyang, which of course would be incredibly destabilizing for the Korean Peninsula? It's something that China does not want to happen. It's why they trade with the North Korean regime. It's why they are continue to be an ally with the North Korean regime because strategically China doesn't want to see a U.S. allied control over the entire Korean Peninsula. And so if China does believe that the Trump administration is serious about possible military action, perhaps then they will step up their own enforcement of the U.N. sanctions and take other measures to try to slow down the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un. [Vanier:] But look, Will, Tillerson was essentially saying we are looking at what other avenues might be in order to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions. They've already tried diplomacy. They've tried economic sanctions. Reportedly they've tried the U.S. has tried cyber strike. What could be a plan D or F here? [Ripley:] Well, the economic sanctions the U.S. has long believed have not been fully implemented here in China and they do feel that, if they are fully implemented, that they will have a very serious effect on the North Korean regime. Perhaps not on the leader, Kim Jong-un himself, perhaps not on his inner circle, because they would still be able to hoard, if you will, what little resources remain in the country but many others might feel the effect. And they certainly hope that the nuclear missile programs would feel the effect of heightened sanctions. Also there is talk of really expanding the pressure on North Korea from mainly a regional approach right now involving China, Japan, South Korea, to a more global approach, very similar, by the way, to the strategy that the Obama administration used before signing the Iran deal, which Trump has very vocally criticized. So that will be interesting to see if the State Department is considering an Iran-style approach in dealing with North Korea which is something that has been reported, again, leaked from the State Department but yet to be confirmed by Secretary Tillerson. [Vanier:] All right, Will Ripley, reporting live, thank you very much. We'll continue crossing to you in the coming hours. Look forward to speaking to you again. Thanks a lot, Will. Stay with CNN. We're going to take a very short break. When we come back, one football player says it's time for South Sudan to find peace and reconciliation. We'll tell you how a recent sports day is involved. [Blitzer:] We're following the breaking news this afternoon, very dramatic failure of the Republican effort to repeal and replace Obamacare. The bill was pulled from a vote on the House floor just a little while ago, because Republicans didn't have enough votes to pass it. Joining us now Republican congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia. He's a member of the House Freedom Caucus. He was going to vote for the bill. Congressman, thanks for joining us. [Rep. Morgan Griffith , Virginia:] Glad to be with you. [Blitzer:] So, the Republicans, they control both Houses of Congress. They control the executive branch, the White House, the presidency. What does this defeat and it's a significant defeat say about the ability of Republicans right now to govern on such a critically important issue? [Griffith:] Well, surely, we can govern today as a stumble, obviously, but the bottom line is that the legislative process is supposed to be a rough-and-tumble process. We're not just going to put a bill on the table and say, here it is, you can pass it now and read it later, we'll find out what's in the bill after we've passed it. We're not doing that. And as a result of that, there were a lot of questions coming from members of the Republican conference on both the left and the right of that conference. Everybody is conservative, but within the spectrum. And the bottom line is that the votes were not there. That does not mean that we cannot govern. It means that we're using the process the founders set up the way it was was supposed to be set up. All members have a vote and we have to bring it together over consensus. We're going to take a break over the weekend. And hopefully we can come back and try and do something on Obamacare. The whole system is collapsing and we've got to do something I believe for the American people because we cannot let this thing get worse and it's already going to get worse no matter what we do. We were trying to find a fix for it. It's not easy because while we had a number of plans, we didn't have agreement amongst all of us as to what the right plan was. And so, we're going to work on that and see what we can do to move forward. [Blitzer:] Who do you blame, Congressman, for the defeat? Would you blame the speaker, the Republican leadership in the House? Would you blame the president who maybe could have done more? [Griffith:] I don't know that you can assess blame as such. This is the way the process was set up. You're going to have polls and times things don't work as smoothly as you want. They're not supposed to be smooth. We're not in a dictatorship. We're in a republic based on democratic principles, which means there's all kinds of competing ideas. And we know Obamacare is a failure. What we have to do is figure out how to go forward with American health insurance and make sure that we can do something that's good for the American families out there, because they're suffering with high deductibles, high copays and high costs that make it hard for them to afford that insurance. They may have a piece of paper that says they're insured. But that doesn't mean they have the ability to go use that insurance in any meaningful way unless they have a catastrophic injury. [Blitzer:] You're a member of the House Freedom Caucus. It's a group type of rigid conservative ideology, except you weren't going with the House Freedom Caucus by and large, you were supporting this legislation. Here's the question. Is that rigid ideology hurting your party's ability to enact its agenda to get compromise, if you will, something that can pass? [Griffith:] No, I don't think it is. I mean, we didn't come here to be robots and do whatever the leadership said on any particular measure. I agreed with leadership on this one; I may not agree with him on something else. And we had members from the center and the right who were opposed to the bill, for different reasons. So it's one of these things where we'll have to take a deep breath. We'll come back to it. But I don't believe it's the House Freedom Caucus being very conservative that's causing the problem. It's a matter of we have to bring everybody in the room and try to figure out how we move forward to replace Obamacare. Everybody was for repealing it. The question was what do we put in its place. And it is complicated and it is difficult as we learned today and we'll move forward. [Blitzer:] Hillary Clinton just tweeted this, and I'll put it up on the screen. "Today was a victory for all Americans," a short tweet from the former Democratic presidential nominee. Your quick reaction? [Griffith:] Well, that's just not true. The truth of the matter is my constituents are suffering under Obamacare. They have a hard time paying their copays, they have a hard time paying their deductibles. They're spending more money on their insurance than they were promise the under Obamacare. It would go down $2,500. The president made that promise in my district at an event a number of years ago. It wasn't accurate so we're trying to figure out what we can do to bring down costs of health insurance and make sure the American people get an insurance policy that actually means something as opposed to, well, you have a piece of paper but you really are going to spend a lot of out of pocket money before you ever get to use that insurance. [Blitzer:] Congressman Morgan Griffith of Virginia, thanks very much for joining us. [Griffith:] Thank you. Have a geed evening. [Blitzer:] We're going to get reaction from Democrats. Senator Chris cools is standing by. Much more on the breaking news. The Republican last minute decision to pull the health care bill, not even allow it to come up for a vote on the House floor. [Chris Frates, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] Now Priebus is known in the beltway and has good working relationships with Republicans on Capitol Hill. People like Senator McConnell who is the Senate Majority Leader, and House Speaker Paul Ryan, who's been a longtime friend of Priebus. Those relationships and Priebus' knowledge of how Washington works could be key in helping Trump pass his legislative agenda through Congress. Now Bannon, who is the Trump campaign CEO, also ran Breitbart news. That news site has been accused of catering to racist, sexist and anti-Semitic audiences. Bannon has also been critical of the GOP establishment. Now both men will advise the next president, President-elect Donald Trump. Victor, Christine, back to you. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Chris, thanks so much. Hate watch dog groups slamming Donald Trump's choice of Breitbart boss, Steve Bannon, as chief strategist and senior counselor. The Anti-Defamation League released a statement saying, "It is a sad day when the man who presided over the premier website of the alt-right, a loose-knit group of white nationalists and unabashed anti-Semites and racists is slated to be a senior staff member in the people's house." [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] The Southern Poverty Law Center scolded the president-elect for the hire in this tweet, "Trump should rescind this hire. In his victory speech, Trump said he intended to be the president for all Americans. Bannon should go." [Romans:] And retiring Senator Democratic Leader Harry Reid escalated his attacks on the incoming president with this new statement, "President-elect Trump's choice of Steve Bannon as top aide signals white supremacists will be represented at the highest level in Trump's White House. [Blackwell:] And the fear of racist harassment following Trump's election appears to have become reality in some communities, one of several incidents reported across the country happened at an episcopal church in a heavily Latino neighborhood just outside of Washington. Graffiti reading Trump nation whites only discovered Sunday morning on a wall and on a sign advertising Spanish language services. Washington's episcopal bishop, Maryanne Buddy, called on Donald Trump to speak out against this vandalism. [Romans:] Pretty much what Trump did on Sunday, this first sit-down television interview since becoming president-elect. On CBS's "60 Minutes," Trump addressed directly acts of violence, harassment and vandalism that his supporters have reportedly committed in his name. [Donald Trump, U.s. President-elect:] I would say don't do it. That's terrible. I'll bring this country together. [Unidentified Female:] They're harassing Latinos and Muslims. [Trump:] I am so saddened to hear that. I say stop it, if it helps. I will say this, I'll say it to the cameras. Stop it. [Blackwell:] All right, let's break down the latest on the Trump transition with CNN politics reporter, Eugene Scott. Eugene, good morning to you. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Good morning, Victor and Christine. [Blackwell:] OK, so, you know, we heard from the Tea Party activists over the weekend before this announcement was made, do not put a Washington insider in as chief of staff. He chose Reince Priebus, someone who is obviously a Washington insier. But he picked Steve Bannon. Does this satisfy those activists who wanted someone from the outside in the White House because this will be his Karl Rove? This will be his David Axelrod. [Scott:] I think they will be somewhat satisfied because they really do respect Steve Bannon and he definitely play a role in getting Trump pass some of those hard weeks, see what's happening following Hillary Clinton nomination. Bannon came on, I believe, in August. But the reality is this group is not the only group that helped Donald Trump win. We know from the exit polls that he did get some more mainstream Republicans to help him be victories. Reince Priebus is responsible for that to a lot of people. [Romans:] Priebus is also close with the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. So a lot of people are wondering if this is going to be an administration you kept hearing this weekend comparing this is a transactional president. This is somebody who wants to get stuff done. Reince Priebus can help you do that. We also heard yesterday on "60 Minutes." This "60 Minutes" interview, you know, a lot of takeaways from that interview. One of them in particular about what are his policies going to look like. We are seeing who he's appointing, what are his policies going to look like. If he was asked about Obamacare, I want you to listen to this exchange. [Unidentified Female:] When you replace it, are you going to make sure that people with pre-conditions are still covered? [Trump:] Yes, because it happens to be one of the strongest assets. [Unidentified Female:] You will keep that? [Trump:] Also with the children living with their parents for an extended period. We will very much try to keep that in. It adds cost, but it is very much something we will try to keep. [Unidentified Female:] And there is going to be a period if you repeal it and before you replace it where millions of people [Trump:] We will do it simultaneously. It will be just fine. [Romans:] So we are going to get rid of Obamacare, get rid of Obamacare, get rid of Obamacare, except what I'm hearing there is the things that make Obamacare Obamacare are staying. He will get rid of the thing that has the president's name on it, but he's going to put the same pieces back in, at least some of them, the most important. [Scott:] Yes, nearly a week ago today, Trump was calling Obamacare a disaster saying that he was going to get rid of it immediately. But since then, he's made it very clear that there is some aspects of it that he likes and thinks are good and are helpful. That he's going to keep. [Romans:] You wonder how much of that was the president talking to him in the oval office when they sat down and said let me explain to you what is so important about Obamacare. Please don't undo these parts of it. [Scott:] Yes. The president asked him to consider not repealing everything. The president-elect said he would think about it. I think one could argue that perhaps he was thinking about it even before like that he recognized that so many of his supporters relied on some pieces of it. [Blackwell:] Let's talk about this exchange of Leslie Stahl over his now former opponent, Hillary Clinton, and we remember, of course, that really heated rhetoric. It seems like it was long ago, but it was a couple days. One day seems like a week in this transition. Let's watch that part of the interview. [Unidentified Female:] You called her Crooked Hillary, said I wanted to get her in jail. Your people and your audiences kept saying lock her up. [Trump:] She did some bad things. [Unidentified Female:] I know but a special prosecutor? [Trump:] I don't want to hurt them. They're good people. I don't want to hurt them. I will give you a very, very good and definitive answer the next time we do "60 Minutes" together. [Blackwell:] Now the chant at the rallies was not they're good people. It was lock her up. I would imagine would be a surprise to some of his supporters who expected he would hold to that promise. [Scott:] Absolutely. Literally. They're good people is not something we would have heard a week ago. Also if you recall right after the meeting with President Barack Obama, he wanted to seek counsel from the president. These are things that we would not have expected. But I think it gives people an idea that being a campaigner is very different from actually being in the seat. You really do want to work with people on the other side who may have expertise in areas that you do not. [Romans:] That is what is interesting I think about the transition because, you know, there is a former steel executive that's on there, Peter Thiel, [inaudible] is on there, sort of like a contrarian investor and a billionaire in Silicon Valley. Also the Trump children, some of the Trump children on there. We have been hearing that he was going to turn his businesses over to the kids. He would focus on governing the country. If the kids are on the transition team, does that suggest they are going to have a different or tighter role in the governing? What does it mean? [Scott:] A federal statute was passed in 1967 when JFK came to the White House that does not allow presidents to officially hire their children. So the Trump Organization said they were vetting business structures to see how they can transition management over to the kids. But the reality is we all know that you don't have to have an official staff position to be a highly influential adviser. Some of his children like Jared, his son-in-law, has been very influential. We should really expect them to be around even more. [Romans:] And Jared Kuschner had his ear on the campaign and a lot on Israel policy and business policy as well. [Blackwell:] Dennis McDonough took that walk around the White House grounds. He didn't go with any other person. He went with Jared Kushner. [Scott:] We saw that right? Yes. [Romans:] All right, thanks. We'll talk to you again very soon. [Blackwell:] This afternoon, President Obama will hold his first news conference since Donald Trump was elected to succeed him. Now this comes just before the president embarks on his final foreign trip in office looking to reassure anxious allies about the stability of U.S. foreign policy despite Trump stated an intent to undo some of the Obama initiatives. The president will travel to Greece, Germany and Peru. [Romans:] The Dow is set to open at a record high after a string of big gains boosted by Donald Trump's presidential victory. I want you to check out the Dow over the past five days. It is up 5.3 percent or almost 1,000 points. Remember all those predictions of a big drop if Trump won the election? Dead wrong. Investors now focusing on pro-business policies like tax cuts and deregulation. The Republicans sweep of Washington means they think that stuff can get done. This will be a transactional president. You can expect more gains today. Dow futures probably higher. The S&P 500 is 1.1 percent away from a record of its own. In fact, markets in Europe rising. Shares in Asia finishing mixed overnight. One big loser has been gold. It's down 8 percent over the past few days and investors are dumping the metal, dumping gold and buying stocks. This market reaction coupled with stronger economic growth and solid jobs data over the past month likely give the Federal Reserve the go ahead to raise interest rates in December. I've also been watching the bond markets, bond yields have been moving higher. That means things like mortgage rates could start to move up a little bit. But it's a sign that people think, investors think the economy is solid. [Blackwell:] Donald Trump has also said that he plans to renegotiate some of these trade deals. Though, let's talk about trade essentially with China. You'll remember during the campaign, Trump said that China is raping the U.S. What he told China's president during their first call since the election. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Polo Sandoval reporting live for us. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM starts now. [Costello:] Happening now in the NEWSROOM, today is the day. GOP candidates steamroll into Super Tuesday. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] He knows the American people are angry. He knows Americans are frustrated. He knows Americans are scared. And he's preying on that. He's tapping into that in a very negative day. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Are you from Mexico? Right smack in the middle of my punch line. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Marco Rubio is losing his home state of Florida by 20 points. That is a real problem. You can't beat Donald Trump if you can't win your own home state. [Costello:] CNN crew spread out across America. Will Trump and Clinton dominate or will Super Tuesday change everything? Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. It's the most critical day of the election so far. Super Tuesday is upon us. The polls now open. Candidate Bernie Sanders casting his vote a few hours ago in his home state of Vermont. And former President Bill Clinton showing support for his wife just moments ago outside of a polling place in Boston. In the fight for the Democratic nomination more than a third of the delegates needed are up for grabs. For Republicans the stakes are even higher. About half of the GOP delegates needed will be doled out today. And while no one will clinch today, frontrunners Clinton and Trump could jump out to a lead that would be almost insurmountable. George Howell is outside the polling location in Marietta, Georgia. CNN's Jim Acosta is in Columbus, Ohio, following the Trump campaign. But, George, let's start with you in Georgia. Good morning. [George Howell, Cnn Correspondent:] Carol, good morning to you. A very busy day here at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. Now the rules prevent me from taking you inside to show you what's happening there as this building also doubles as a daycare for children. But I can tell you I went inside and the lines are steady. As of the last 10 minutes, 322 people have voted. Keep in mind, some 3,000 registered voters in this particular polling center. It really represents Cobb County in the sense that it has shown. Just in 2012 the voters here they chose Mitt Romney, they chose Barack Obama in the two primaries. And this country also represents the state of Georgia. The latest polling showing that Donald Trump is ahead of his rivals, far out ahead of them, and also it shows that Hillary Clinton is ahead of Bernie Sanders. So, you know, what we're seeing right now, a steady stream of people that continue to come into this building and people are coming out with that sticker that says that they voted and we expect the lines to get longer as the day goes on, Carol. [Costello:] All right. George Howell reporting live from Marietta, Georgia. Let's head to Columbus, Ohio, now and check in with Jim Acosta. Good morning. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Donald Trump is looking inevitable, on a roll heading into Super Tuesday. His nearest rivals are showing no signs they can stop him and more top Republicans are rejecting him, pointing to the daily firestorms ignited by his campaign and warning he will be a disaster for the party come November. Consider the last GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, tweeting some stinging criticism aimed at Donald Trump and also some top Republican senators coming out of the woodwork up on Capitol Hill saying that Donald Trump cannot be the nominee for their party. It will be a bad sign for other Republicans on the ticket heading into the fall. Donald Trump is rejecting all of this. He's even saying he can expand the party, bring in new voters, and perhaps even beat Hillary Clinton in places like New York, other traditionally Democratic strongholds in the general election coming up in November. Here's what Donald Trump had to say about that earlier today on "Good Morning America." Here's what he had to say. [Trump:] I haven't even focused on Hillary Clinton yet. And I can tell you, the one person that Hillary Clinton doesn't want to run against is me. And I have that on good knowledge. I will defeat Hillary and we're going to take a lot of Democrats and a lot of independents away and we're going to possibly win places like Michigan, New York, states that are not even in consideration. And by the way, these aren't things that have been taken advantage of in the poll. I will beat Hillary Clinton much more easily than anybody else. [Acosta:] Now there is a latest CNN-ORC poll that shows that Donald Trump does not do as well in a head-to-head matchup with Hillary Clinton as Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio do in similar matchups. Now, as for Super Tuesday, Carol, we should point out Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, they are feeling very strong about what they're going to see later on tonight, but he is managing expectations somewhat about the state of Texas, the home state of Ted Cruz. He is saying it will be tough to beat Cruz in his home state, comparing that to defeating the New England Patriots on their home turf. And we should point out Donald Trump doing something that frontrunners do at this stage, and that is starting to look ahead. He's got an event coming up here in Ohio in just the next couple of hours. That's not even voting today, Carol. That's how confident the Trump campaign is right now about its prospects Carol. [Costello:] All right. Jim Acosta, reporting live from Columbus, Ohio, thank you. Perhaps the daily news sums it up best for those who fear Trump. Here you see it. See the headlines here. Trump 49 percent of the vote. It's a sign of the apocalypse. Senator Marco Rubio doesn't use the word apocalypse, but he does say if Trump wins, Republicans will lose the presidency to Hillary Clinton. That's not all Rubio said about Trump. [Rubio:] As I walked in I saw a sign, and I'm going to show the sign. Can I show the sign? All right. This is the sign, and it reminded me of this has been a tough election. Can you hand me the sign for a second? All right. So this is how tough this election has gotten. It says, "My boyfriend prefers Trump. I'm single now." [Costello:] Seriously, though. Can Rubio or Ted Cruz for that matter stage a comeback and knock Trump from the top spot? Joining me now to talk about this, former Colorado congressman and Ted Cruz supporter, Tom Tancredo. He's now president of the Rocky Mountain Foundation. I'm also joined by Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger, he supports Senator Marco Rubio. Welcome. [Rep. Adam Kinzinger , Marco Rubio Supporter: Unidentified Male:] Hey. [Costello:] Nice to have you here. Tom, I just wanted to start with you because you changed your party affiliation from Republican to independent. I just wondered why. [Tom Tancredo, Ted Cruz Supporter:] Well, because, frankly, it goes back quite some time. Even when I was in Congress and I recognized that the Republican Party generally was not the party that I thought I was in, in terms of its conservative nature. It had lost it. And things got worse over a period of time, and finally during my last run here in Colorado as for the Republican Party nomination for governor, the Republican Party actually under the head of the Republican Governor's Association, a guy by the name of Chris Christie, actually came into this state the last week of that primary, spent a quarter actually, laundered a quarter of a million dollars through a different organization against me. So I figured it was a mutually beneficial arrangement that we leave each other. [Costello:] So why are you supporting Ted Cruz over Donald Trump then? [Tancredo:] Well, because from my point of view, I enjoy that outsider thing. You know, I am against the establishment. Drives me crazy like so many people. But, you know, people like Carly when she was still in it and Dr. Carson, these people are outsiders, and Donald Trump. They are outsiders. It's true. But it's easy for them to be an outsider. It's easy for them to criticize the establishment because they're not in it. You criticize the establishment while you're in it, you stand up on the floor of the Senate and call the majority leader a liar, and I'm telling you, that takes guts. I appreciate that. He's a man of principle. He has got a lot of courage, and there's substance behind him. So I like him a lot, and certainly I support him. [Costello:] OK. So, Adam, you support Marco Rubio. He's got kind of a strange strategy because he's not slated to win any states on Super Tuesday. That would be today. But he's waiting for his home state of Florida to pull out his first win. So how can he possibly think he can beat Donald Trump when Donald Trump will probably have a number of wins under his belt? [Kinzinger:] Well, look, yes, I mean, Donald Trump is definitely in the cat bird seat right now. There's no doubt about it. But Marco Rubio is a strong second in most of these states. May win a state or two. We'll see. Probably it will definitely be a strong Trump night, but what's going to happen is people are going to realize Donald Trump cannot be our party's nominee. I mean, he is he's a fourth grader in terms of how he talks, how he debates, how he talks about people. And they're going to coalesce behind Marco Rubio, the guy that unites his party. Look, Ted Cruz, probably a wonderful person but at the end of the day very divisive. You do stand on the floor and call the majority leader, you know, bad names and call your colleagues, bad names, that's not a way to unite a party. So Marco Rubio is definitely the guy that's going to do it. And I think at the end of the day, look, Donald Trump cannot beat Hillary Clinton. It's very obvious. All you have to do is look at the polls. All you have to do is look at the people he associates with. You know, he has a hard time disassociating himself with David Duke and then blames is on an earpiece which is ludicrous. He can't be our party's nominee and I'm going to scream as loud as I have to, to say, he's not the guy. [Costello:] On the other hand, let's talk about Ted Cruz. I know he won Iowa. He's ahead in the state of Texas. But what if Donald Trump gets very close and beats Ted Cruz in Texas, Tom? Does that mean does that spell the end of Ted Cruz? [Tancredo:] Well, yes. Probably so, frankly. I don't know how anybody really survives Super Tuesday if they can't win their home state. I think it's pretty much over with, but here's the thing to be aware of and mindful of. Donald Trump's major support, 29 percent of his actual support base comes from Democrats and affiliates. OK. Great. And in you know, it's ironic because during the intro there, when we were talking heard him talking, he was talking about that as being a great strength. And indeed it is in a general election. However, there are 31 states coming up, primary states, in which the primary is closed. That is to say, only Republicans can vote in those primaries. And in those states where only Republicans can vote, actually, believe it or not, Ted Cruz has an advantage or did up until a couple of days ago. I haven't seen anything very recent. Because, you know, it's just a strange kind of anomaly in terms of the primary process. But it's not over with. If Ted wins today in Texas, Oklahoma, a couple of other states, I assure you he's still in this race, and in fact, it could easily go to a brokered convention at the end of the day because of these 31 states that have closed primaries. [Costello:] And Congressman Kinzinger and I hear you, Tom. But I want to but both it sounds like such pie in the sky from both of you. You don't think it is? [Kinzinger:] No, look look, I think obviously Trump is in the best position. I mean, we'd rather be in his seat. But look, at the end of the day, people are going to realize this guy can't be our nominee. He's going to fail in the general election like many of his businesses. Trump Mortgage, Trump College, Trump Vodka which tasted so bad nobody bought it, by the way, and some others. And so I think they're going to realize that he can't be our nominee and they're going to see Marco Rubio in a very strong position. An optimistic guy, by the way. Somebody who talks about a vision. United the party. And I think they're going to get behind him. We've got a lot of time. Super Tuesday is obviously a big chunk of the delegates but it's proportional, keep in mind. You know, you got the primaries beyond including March 15th in Illinois. I think Rubio is going to be sitting in a very strong position and be the guy that overtakes Donald Trump eventually. But it's a lot of real estate ahead. [Costello:] Yes, you're right about that. Congressman Adam Kinzinger, Tom Tancredo, thanks to both of you for being with me this morning. [Kinzinger:] You bet. [Tancredo:] You bet. [Costello:] You're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Virginia, a critical swing state. Trump and Clinton leading in the polls there. But it ain't over until it's over, right? Brian Todd is out talking to voters. [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Carol, talking to a lot of first-time voters here in northern Virginia, and they're bringing a ton of energy to the primary. Just ahead, we're going to tell you why northern Virginia is so critical for the primaries. And why the state of Virginia could determine how the whole country goes in November. That is just ahead. [Barnett:] U.S. President Barack Obama says a smart approach to terrorism is needed to defeat it. He made those comments during an interview with FOX News, while criticizing the strategies of candidates running for his position. Listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] When I hear some candidates saying we should carpet bomb innocent civilians [Chris Wallace, Fox News Anchor:] Ted Cruz. [Obama:] that is not a productive approach to stopping terrorism. When I hear a candidate say we should ban all Muslims from entering the country, that is not a good approach to countering terrorism. Our approach has to be smart. [Barnett:] Meanwhile, U.S. Republican presidential hopeful, John Kasich, says Americans need to calm down. On the CBS program "Face the Nation," the Ohio governor reacted to two so-called religious freedom measures passed in North Carolina and Mississippi that protect the rights of gay and transgender people. [John Kasich, , Ohio Governor & Presidential Candidate:] Why do we have to write a law every time we turn around in this country? Can't we try to get along and respect one another? That's where I think we ought to be. Everybody chill out. Get over it, if you have a disagreement with somebody. So that's where I am right now, John. Unless there's something that pops up, I'm not inclined to sign anything. [Church:] Espionage Charges against a U.S. Navy officer are coming to light months after his arrest. Nick Valencia reports on what's now considered a national security case. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] The violations are wide ranging, everything from adultery and espionage and attempted espionage. They were first made public over the weekend when the suspect had his preliminary court appearance. And some these accusations include failure to safely secure classified material. Also accused of information related to national defense, possibly giving advantageous information to a foreign nation. He's also accused of trying to hide foreign travel, and lying on an electronic document about where he was traveling to. There's also a failure to report foreign contacts charge and two other charges, bringing discredit upon armed forces by patronizing at least one prostitute, and an adultery charge related to that extramarital affair. A U.S. official tells me this investigation had been taking place for months and that the suspect was caught, back last year, at the end of summer beginning of fall, but this information only made public during that first court appearance. A couple things we don't know and still outstanding, exactly how long this lieutenant commander accused of espionage, how long he was in the Navy. We also don't know and U.S. officials are not disclosing which foreign nation he's accused of being in contact with. This case will now be sent to the four star admiral, Phillip Davidson, because it is a case of national security, and that four-star admiral will decide whether or not to refer the charges to court-martial. It's very important to realize exactly what information he had access to, because depending on the sensitivity of the information and what he passed along, this crime could be punishable by the death penalty. Nick Valencia, CNN, Atlanta. [Church:] Conjugal visits and trips to the sauna, just some of the freedoms el Chapo had an inmate in a high-security federal prison in Mexico. Now one of the few people who ever questioned him is revealing the extent of el Chapo's control. Rafael Romo reports. [Rafael Romo, Cnn Correspondent:] Barrel after barrel of drug-making chemicals, nearly 52 tons all together, plastic containers with toxic chemicals totaling over 19,000 gallons, it was seized by authorities last week in the mountains of northern Mexico, turf of the Sinaloa drug cartel. The leader, Joaquin Guzman, better known as "el Chapo," or "Shorty" in English, is behind bars, but it seems his cartel hasn't stopped making meth. [Romo:] It's no surprise to this attorney. Jose Antonio Ortega is one of a handful of prosecutors who have ever interrogated the drug lord. [Jose Antonio Ortega, Prosecutor:] "El Chapo means hatred. He means death," Ortega says. "He poisons people not only in Mexico but in the United States." Ortega interrogated el Chapo when suspect in the year 2000 as part of an investigation into the murder of a Mexican cardinal. His first shock, the suspect arrived almost 13 hours late. The explanation from el Chapo himself made him furious. He said, "Look, today I had my conjugal visit. Afterwards, I went to the steam room and then I went to take a nap so that I could greet you as you deserve." "He didn't behave as a prisoner," Ortega says, "but as the man in charge. Custodians acted as his personal assistants." "El Chapo was the prison owner at that point. It was as if he were someone inviting us to his house," Ortega said. The attorney gave us a copy of the deposition he took that day, March 16, 2000. This is el Chapo's signature. Right above that, Ortega's. El Chapo would escape twice in the next 15 years, including his breakout last July using a mile-long tunnel fitting with a motorcycle on tracks. [on camera]: Guzman remains behind bars. Mexican officials have indicated multiple times that they have every intention to extradite the drug lord to the United States, but the process may take anywhere one to five years, and some fear el Chapo may escape again. [voice-over]: El Chapo faces multiple murder and drug trafficking charges in Mexico and in several U.S. jurisdictions. So Ortega must wait his turn to finish the interrogation he started years ago. Rafael Romo, CNN, Mexico City. [Church:] We'll take a short break. But still to come, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they're each looking to stake a claim on New York voters. [Barnett:] That's right. The response the Democrats are receiving, still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM. [Baldwin:] We are getting some breaking news just in to CNN. A controversial new bill is headed to the desk of the Tennessee governor. Just one of a swath of similar protection bills being passed and rejected across the country. It would essentially allow therapists and counselors to legally refuse service to LGBT people based upon religious objections. As soon as we have more, we'll bring it to you on CNN. Video may provide key new details of the moments just before former NFL star, Will Smith, was shot and killed. Here is the new surveillance video. Shows this New Orleans street just before the shooting. Appears to show a Mercedes SUV rear-ending a Hummer. Just as the Hummer starts there to pull off the road, the Mercedes drives away. Then a short time later, police say a Hummer, driven by the shooting suspect, Cardell Hayes, rear-ends Will Smith's SUV. They say Hayes shoots Smith multiple times, kills him, and then shoot's Smith's wife in the leg. Now, the suspect's lawyer is drawing attention to another new video in which a witness claims there was a second gun. [Unidentified Witness:] He starts freaking out on this guy like, get out, I have a gun. Then he's like, I get one, too. [Baldwin:] It is important to note, police only found one gun at the scene. I'm joined by Sonny Lee, the founder of Son of a Saint, an organization in New Orleans that provides mentoring and support service to young boys whose fathers have died or been jailed, also the chief aide to Tom Benson, who owns the New Orleans Saints. Sonny, I know your dad played for the Saints as well, so wonderful to have you on. [Sonny Lee, Founder, Son Of A Saint & Chief Aide To New Orleans Saints Owner Tom Benson:] Thank you for having me. Good afternoon. [Baldwin:] I was texting and this is how I got connected to you, a current player of the Saints who was drafted with Will Smith in '04. He says the whole thing has been horrendous and awful for the team and the community. You're there in New Orleans. Tell me what the reaction's been like. [Lee:] First, I'd like to give my condolences to the Smith family but also the family of the accused shooter. But you know the community it just really hits home for us. We have a lot of violence in our city. But somebody who plays for the New Orleans Saints, you know, it's a little close to home. A lot of people are going to wake up and actually do something. [Baldwin:] Well, I want to get to the "do something" bit in a moment, but, you know, talk about a visceral reaction. We've heard from the Saints Head Coach Sean Payton, he talked to "USA Today," railed against guns. This is what coach said. "200 years from now, they're going to look back and say, what was that madness about? The idea we need them to fend off intruders, people are more apt to draw them. That's some silly stuff we're hanging on to. I hate guns." My question to you, as you work with young men in New Orleans and we talk about, you know, in some pockets of violent culture, you know, what are the young men telling you in terms of what's happened with this former player and just in terms of settling an argument with a gun? [Lee:] Well, my boys have actually been called in and asked if kids were going to be in the program along with the accused killer's sons, because in our program, that's what we have, boys who have lost their fathers to violence or long-term incarceration, majority of our boys. So we're dealing with a bigger issue and this is the symptom of it that's been going on for a long time in a lot of urban cities. We're dealing with poverty and we're dealing with lack of education, lack of opportunity, broken homes. So this is nothing new. And so, you know, now we need to act on it and focus on the solutions. [Baldwin:] Talk about what you've done so far with, you know, your organization in terms of solutions, in terms of helping these young men not turn to violence. [Lee:] Well, for us, focusing on getting the boys at about middle school age and the boys are with us until they got their college acceptance letter. We provide hope, vision and opportunity for the boys. These are boys that come in our and we also they've also had a lot of trauma. And we provide a safe and secure place for them at our clubhouse in New Orleans. We have about 45 boys in our program. Our oldest boy is actually at Xavier University. The next graduate just got accepted to the University of Tampa. So we feel that our formula is working. Our boys, they receive counseling, tutoring. They get exposed to a variety of things that they otherwise probably wouldn't. It's really consistent and positive messaging is what we're giving them. [Baldwin:] We were talking in the commercial, you know, I don't know if you will be in touch with Will Smith's kids or the kids of Mr. Hayes, but if you advice what would you say? [Lee:] Well, for me personally when I first heard about it, I immediately thought about the kids, specifically the boys, because it's what I went through. My father died when I was 3 years old. And so, you know, there are going to be a lot of questions you know from the boys, you know, what if they dent go out that night or what if they made a left turn versus a right turn. They're going to see pictures of them, video. A lot of his teammates are going to talk about how great of a guy he was. These are things that are going to be hard to hear. You know, it's really letting them to grieve over there, really understand it. I feel they will need counseling. But really it's the support of the city and understanding from their friends that they're going to need. We just need to be really patient and let them digest this just as much as we are in the community. So, yeah, I mean, we're there for them. We welcome them, and want to be a part of the change. [Baldwin:] Our hearts are with all of you in New Orleans. Again, Sonny Lee, thank you. If you want more information in New Orleans, the organization is Son of a Saint. Thank you. [Lee:] Thank you for having me. [Baldwin:] Hour two. Here we go. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Good evening. It is 6:00 Eastern, 3:00 p.m. Pacific. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Poppy Harlow joining you from New York. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Harlow:] We begin with breaking news. Severe weather in the Carolinas, sudden rush of high water that is not only causing tremendous damage, but it is also taking lives. The hardest hit area right now were triangle between Charleston, Columbia and Georgetown, South Carolina. Two separate weather storms, one of them a hurricane crashed together dumping two feet of rain on a part of the state called the Low Country. The impact of the disaster reaches far outside of South Carolina. You are looking at live pictures right now. What you see is in part parts of I-95. There is literally nothing moving in one direction. A 70-plus mile stretch is closed down. Parts of I-95 are deep under water. It is not safe. And the governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, issuing a press conference just a short time ago. Her message to the people of South Carolina very, very straightforward stay home. [Gov. Nikki Haley , South Carolina:] Where you see this deep water it's got bacteria in it. So, stay inside and don't get in there. We've seen areas of the interstate that are right now clear, but there will be a patch where it goes and gets real deep. You're going to have to turn around. It's not worth doing it. We are in the process of closing all of the interstates around the Columbia area. That is changing literally as we go. It is not good to get outside. You will see. We are going to have another meeting and conference call at 5:00. I will be encouraging county offices to close tomorrow, which automatically we're going to suggest schools close. And the main reason for that is this is not going to clear up until at least Tuesday or Wednesday. [Harlow:] It will not clear up until Tuesday or Wednesday. Look at those images from Charleston, South Carolina, low-lying Charleston. It is hard to tell where the road ends and the floods and the flood rivers begin. Forecasters say heaviest rain has moved to the northwest, but that Charleston could still several more inches of rain today and tonight. [Angela Williams, Escaped Flood Waters:] We have lost everything. What I got on my body is what we have, pretty much everybody down that hill there has lost everything this morning, vehicles, clothes, our everything. But the best thing is that we still have our lives. We still have our lives. [Harlow:] Yes, absolutely. Boris Sanchez is live for us in Georgetown. You look at that and you look at her saying, at least we have our lives because there have been deaths already because of this flooding. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Poppy. We know of at least five weather-related traffic fatalities between the Carolinas over the last several days. As a matter of fact, we just confirmed moments ago with the Office of Emergency Management that about 15 minutes from here, there is a vehicle submerged on the highway and we believe there may be people inside. So, obviously, the danger still high here in this area especially here in Georgetown, an area that's surrounded by bodies of water. We have seen the water come rising from an inlet over here. It is also difficult to drive in this area because so many roads are scattered with debris and they have damage to them. We actually spoke with a veterinarian who was trying to get into Georgetown earlier to an animal hospital just down a street from us, and she was trying to rescue an animal that had been left inside a hospital. She talked to us about the trouble she had trying to get in. [Sheri Duncan, Harborwalk Veterinary Hospital:] I think God was looking out for us because it actually did not get up high enough to damage much. So but it is very stressful that your whole business and livelihood. Thank God I didn't have animals here. [Sanchez:] Now, fortunately, she got help from a gentleman that runs a water extraction business here. You can see some of the businesses here, you see the high water mark is. They've all been flooded. He was here trying to get water out of some of these businesses and he rushed to the animal hospital when she gave him a call to try to help. He was lamenting how he couldn't get to the animals faster. Here is what he said. How much water have you pumped out? [Unidentified Male:] Right now, we are at 1,000 gallons and we're not even touched the top of it. [Sanchez:] You can hear the animals? [Unidentified Male:] Oh, yes, we can hear the cats in the back. I don't want to walk in the water because we don't know if the power is still on or anything. So, we're just pumping. [Sanchez:] That was a few hours ago. The good news is they were able to pump out 11,000 gallons of water from that anima hospital and save a cat named Tink. She's doing OK. So, things are relatively calm right now. And again, you can see behind me, the water has receded, but because this is kind of geographically a bucket, water is just going to keep flooding in as it keeps raining today, Poppy. [Harlow:] Wow. Thank you very much, Boris Sanchez. Appreciate the reporting. I do want to go to Tom Sater at the CNN severe weather center, just for what people are still supposed to expect. Because we just heard the governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, say, look, this is going to go on until Tuesday or Wednesday. [Tom Sater, Ams Meteorologist:] Well, I think the rain, Poppy, is going to continue at least for a good 24 hours. The problems, the rivers are going to continue to rise for several more days. Now, my big fear was and the last time that we had a little chat was that some of the water treatment plants have been submerged and, of course, with that, a breach of fresh water. The mayor of Columbia just a little while ago issued a boil water advisory. I believe that is the first of many communities that have been completely submerged. The rain totals from the last three days more than just a one day rainfall record, a two-day rainfall record, the greatest three-day rainfall record, the greatest rain for any day in the month of October or any month. This is a one in 1000 year event. Purple is easily 10 to 20 inches, which is inundating most of South Carolina and it's now getting into areas of North Carolina. This was Joaquin. Remember when it was a category 4 over Bermuda last Wednesday, the forecast wanted to carry that into the Carolinas after this rainfall. All of the moisture that is spinning in South Carolina is actually a field of moisture that is coming off the rear quadrant of our hurricane. This now is a 36-hour radar. Georgetown, which is south of Myrtle Beach, completely submerged. They have been pumping water back in the ocean, but high tide is every six hours, 2:00 was the last one. It comes in again at 8:00 on shore. It will try to push it back on shore. Flash flood warnings, numerous rescues and evacuations continue to take place and that will continue into the outer banks as another six to ten inches is possible as now our moisture field continues to flow across the northern counties. This is going to go on for a couple of days at least, Poppy, with the rivers continuing to rise. [Harlow:] No relief in site. It has been raining there for two weeks now. All right. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. I also want to give you an update on the story we have been tracking very closely within the last hour. The U.S. Coast Guard confirms a large debris field has been located near the last known location of that cargo ship you see there on your screen. The ship's name El Faro, it went missing on Thursday when it sailed right into Hurricane Joaquin. During a routine trip from Florida to Puerto Rico, the coast guard sent out a tweet a short time saying that a 225 mile area of the ocean littered with Styrofoam, wood and cargo and other items has been located. A Coast Guard spokesman says the debris was found about 88 nautical miles northeast of Samana Cay in the Bahamas. Earlier, divers did recover a life ring bearing the name of that vessel just about 70 miles northeast of the ship's last known location. Rochelle Hamm's husband Frank is one of those 33 crew members. She wants to know how on earth was the ship allowed to sail into the path of the storm. Other family members say they are holding on to hope. They hope their loved ones will be found. [Michael Denton, Father On Lost Cargo Ship:] You don't say anything. You don't stop hoping. Just keep it up. [Reporter:] Are you hopeful? [Denton:] Yes, yes, yes. Man, you got to be. It's very stressful, you know? So, just hoping everything will be better tomorrow. [James Hatch, Son On Lost Cargo Ship:] Praying. Yes. [Unidentified Female:] God is in the midst and we know. They will come home safe. They will be safe. [Harlow:] One Coast Guard cutter will reach that search area tonight. It will be joined by a second search and rescue vessels tomorrow. We'll keep you posted as we learn more on that. Straight ahead, though, inside a classroom of that Oregon mass shooting this week. What the youngest survivor is telling her family and how playing dead very well saved her life. Then, air strikes at a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. Doctors Without Borders saying this may be a war crime, talking about the U.S. military's role. We will talk about all of that next. [Brown:] Word tonight from people close to President Trump. That it's not the most comfortable weekend to be a senior White House staffer. The President were told is more upset than many people have ever seen. And he's aiming that anger at everyone from the Chief of Staff down. It all since from a very roller coaster week at the White House a short time ago. I got the full story from CNN's Jim Acosta. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Chief White House Correspondent:] We can tell you that President Trump was very frustrated with his Senior Staff and Communications Chief. On Friday morning, just before he departed for Mar-a-Lago, according to one source that I spoke to quote "nobody has seen him that upset" and quote. Feeling being inside of the Oval Office and we had a camera there that was rolling where you can see officials having a heated conversation with one another. The feeling inside the Oval office according to sources we're talking to is that the communications team and the press team of the White House had allowed the news of Jeff Sessions recusing himself from the Trump campaign and Russian investigation that sort of overtaken the narrative of the week.They were feeling very enthusiastic after the President's performance at that speech to a Joint Session of Congress on Tuesday. And from what we're hearing from sources the President was very upset that Sessions had even recused himself from the case. That was something according one source said that the President thought was hasty and over kill. He was hot, he was exasperated over this because he felt that basically they were just giving their adversaries up on Capitol Hill more ammunition by having Jeff Sessions recuse himself. The other thing that we are hearing from sources close to all of this is that Reince Priebus, the White House Chief of Staff and Stephen Bannon, the Chief Strategist who were the President will both scheduled to go down with the President yesterday but those plans, those travel plans abruptly changed. Now, we should point out while Priebus did not make trip, Steve Bannon did go down today and he's having dinner right now along other top officials with the President there at Mar-a-Lago. Jeff Sessions, Attorney General, Homeland Security Kelly, and so on. But Pamela, no questions about it, this breaking news we saw late in the week where Jeff Sessions recused himself because he did not accurately talk about his having met with the Russian Ambassador to the U.S. and that entire story just infuriated the President. And in the words of one source that I talked to, the President basically told his team that the staff fumbled on all of this, Pamela. [Brown:] All right. So that was Jim Acosta. I want to get to Andre Bauer now, he is the former Republican Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina and CNN Political Commentator, and Democratic Strategist Keith Boykin. Thank you both for coming on. Andre, I want to start with you. This anger at the President's staff, does it seem misguided to you. Would you expect him to be more angry at Jeff Sessions? [Andre Bauer, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well number one, I'm angry and I'm sure he's angry that somewhere along the line, someone in his staff as has let this get back to ABC. And there used to be absolute stop hole that when express to something if in fact he did express this, that he doesn't leave that room. So he's got a problem somewhere along the line if this is in fact true of loyalty and loyalty is a big thing with Donald Trump. And so, I would say, first off, he's got to find that and stop it if in fact that's true. But look, if people are lying about your friends or saying things that aren't true about someone you revere, you're going to be upset. You're going to be agitated. And when he had the biggest week was probably was President seen unifying in bold statement in the State of the Union that was received overwhelming by the Business Committee and the American people to derail that with this continuing drumbeat of almost [Brown:] Just I just want to understand. You said when someone lying about your friend, what do you mean by is that? [Bauer:] Well, we may continue to say Jeff Sessions met with you know, with the Russians. Well, he met with different capacity. He thought he was answering to the questions [Brown:] Well, he did. He met with Russian. He did. He met with the Russian officials and that was the Russian Ambassador of the U.S. Kislyak. I mean, that's true. [Bauer:] Of course. Kislyak is [Keith Boykin, Democratic Strategist:] He met [Bauer:] I'm sorry. Go ahead. [Brown:] Keith, did you want to say something. [Boykin:] I was going to say he met with Sergey Kislyak two-times. Once in Cleveland and once in his own office in Washington D.C. and he denied having met him. When he was asked the question by Al Franken, he practically said he had no idea who the person was. He said he had no contact with Russia and he considered himself a surrogate. I think that's a that's a that's a misleading statement at best. I think some people would consider that a lie. And it's definitely worthy of an investigation. But here again, we have a problem with Donald Trump not taking responsibility. I mean, he's trying to blame everybody but himself for the problems he is facing. He's blamed Hillary Clinton, he's blamed Barrack Obama, he's blamed the media, he's blaming his staff, he's blaming the communications, he's blaming Sean Spicer, he blaming Jeff Sessions. What point will Donald Trump finally wake up and accept responsibility. the buck stops here in the Oval Office with the President of the United States not with everybody else. It's time for him to man up and be the President, not the blamer and chief. [Brown:] Andre? Do you have a point? [Bauer:] These were two public meeting. No he does it. These were two public meetings. If he were trying hide something, it would be a meeting held in some private ally. It would be he met in his United States Senate office with the ambassador. That's not something anybody can hide. I mean, there's press everywhere, there's staffers everywhere, there's senators from other party everywhere. That's not something you lie about under oath. And what he meant to absolutely he just probably forgot about it. He meets with so many people. It was an inconsequential meeting. But this [Boykin:] You don't forget a meeting with [Brown:] So let's [Boykin:] the Ambassador to Russia when the company is in the midst of a discussion about Russian interference in the election. That's an implausible scenario, Sir. I'm sorry Andre, that's not [Bauer:] I know [Boykin:] that's not that's not a tenable answer to that question. [Bauer:] I know you love to beating this Russian drum, as if he only met with him.. But he met with the democrats, he met with the President. This is a continuing drumbeat, instead of tackling the issues that affect American lives and improve American lives that the people who voted for Donald Trump want to see happen. This is just that continual beat, did not have anything happen positive but just try to beat down the guy that is now the Commander in Chief of this country. [Boykin:] But this [Brown:] Let me ask you this Andre. Hold on, let me ask this. I mean, did the President sort of add to that drum beat by tweeting out today that President Obama was wired you know, wiretapped his phone during the campaign as part of an investigation. I mean, did Trump fuel that fire, Andre? [Bauer:] He controlled the narrative. Which he does most of the time. But he's almost now dictating the media where they go with their stories. But he didn't like evidently he feels like, most I would say this, most of the time when he has pointed this out, he's been right. He's been able to back it up. As the stories progress, they went "wow, he actually he knew what he was talking about." And that happens [Boykin:] No. That's not true. That's not true. [Brown:] Keith, go ahead. [Boykin:] When did he when did he back up the three to five million illegal votes? [Bauer:] But that's going to be too much [Boykin:] When did he back up fact the he was the largest of all the [Brown:] Andre? [Bauer:] So, Detroit didn't have more votes that people that showed up? Are you denying that? [Boykin:] See, again, this is what happens with Donald Trump: he puts out a tweet or a false statement, there's no evidence to back it up including a three to five million vote allegation. And then his surrogates like Andre, go on television and defend the indefensible. This is as impossible to have intelligent dialogue with people who won't stand up, and hold their own President accountable. [Brown:] Let me ask you this. OK. Andre. [Boykin:] Andre, this is unacceptable. This is just unacceptable. You should be ashamed of yourself for defending this. [Bauer:] There is not [Brown:] OK. Let me just ask you this. Because, it appears that the President relied on right wing media allegations about President Obama, and spying on the Trump campaign [Bauer:] How do you know that? [Brown:] That's what I said, White House officials White House officials speaking to my colleague Jeff Zeleny, has said this Breitbart report circulated. Now, we're waiting to hear more from the White House. I mean, we would like a full statement to understand a little bit more about what was behind this tweet. But presumably, Andre, the President wasn't being briefed before dawn on a Saturday morning on intelligence. For a President to make an allegation like that against the former President, that he was wiretapping, I mean what kind of proof would you want burden of proof before a President go out two tweet like that? [Bauer:] Well, the New York back in January January 19th, they reported interception of Russian communications as part of an inquiry to Trump associates. I don't know if you remember that story so. The New York has already said, that several of his contacts have actually had intercepted communications. So, he feels like he already being wiretapped and they've reconfirmed that. [Brown:] But [Boykin:] But Donald Trump this morning, at 6:00 a.m. or some time like that, sent out sent out a series of tweets accusing President Obama of engaging in behavior that was illegal. He said it was a low blow. He said the President Obama was a sick person. This the President of the United States at 6:00 a.m. in the morning; getting up today, yes, he's he's defining the narrative but not in a positive way. He's an embarrassment to our country, and an embarrassment to the world to have this man as the leader of the free world, who can't control his impulses early in the morning. He needs to have some sort of restraint and discipline, he's incapable of doing that. And you, Andre, as a Republican should have the have the gall and no, maybe not the gall but just the courage, the courage to speak up to him. At least someone should have the courage to speak truth to power. No one right now is doing that in the Republican Party, and that is the real crisis in our country. [Brown:] Quickly, final word Andre. [Bauer:] Look I'm on a very OK. And so, you keep hammering. I know you like to be the Vice, and then keep hammering me as a Republican. I'm on America [Boykin:] The President is divisive. The President is the one [Brown:] Let's listen to what Andre says. [Boykin:] My gosh! [Bauer:] I mean, it's it's again, it's a continual drum beat and try to make it partisan. The American people want change. They elected him. I know you don't like that. I know you wish there was somebody else in there but, get used to it. You're not going to like it. He's going to do things you that don't agree with. He's the President of the United States. And he's going to fight the media when he doesn't believe what they're saying are disagreeing with him. It's refreshing to me and a lot of Americans that he's not backing down, and he's got some enough gumption to say, I'm not going to take it anymore. Because I'm one of the people that had the media beat on me, and I would immediately back down because it was powerful. This guys has enough backbone to say, I believe in what I believe in. And I would say stay tuned, that if he tweeted that this morning, he's probably got a way he's going to back it up. And people go, oh, wait a minute. And he'll going to be back in [Brown:] We would all we would all want to know, what he was basing that on? And then again, we're still waiting for the official White House response on that. Andre Bauer, Keith Boykin, thank you to you both. We do appreciate you coming on the show for that lively discussion there. [Bauer:] Thanks. [Brown:] And coming up right here on this Saturday: I'll speak with Republican Steve King, a Congressman who did not want to see Attorney General Jeff Sessions recuse himself. Does he know anything we don't know about President Trump's stunning allegation today against President Obama. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Baldwin:] Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin, live at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul, where we now have an update on the death toll. It is up by one now standing at 44 people. Getting new information from a senior Turkish official here that these three bombers were directed by ISIS leaders. Just in to CNN also, Iraqi military saying it destroyed more than 700 ISIS vehicles and killed hundreds of fighters in airstrikes over the past couple of days. Keep in mind, that's in addition to more than 170 vehicles destroyed by coalition airstrikes. They were carrying as many as 250 ISIS militants. For that, let's go to CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman. Ben, this all comes just after what? Just days after actually, we're going to go to Jeremy Courtney. We going to Jeremy Courtney right now? Jeremy Courtney is with a humanitarian group. We'll get you to Ben in a second. We have Jeremy here on Skype. He's with a humanitarian group, was right there near Fallujah as missiles were flying over their heads. Barely missed those airstrikes aimed at ISIS. Take a look. That is video from the group Preemptive Love Coalition. As the airstrikes were happening, they got caught in the middle of this fighting between these coalition forces and ISIS. Mentioned Jeremy Courtney, he is the CEO of this humanitarian group. He joins me from Iraq tonight. Jeremy, my goodness, I am so glad you and your team is OK. Can you talk to me about exactly what happened or what you saw? [Jeremy Courtney, Ceo Preemptive Love Coalition:] Yeah, thanks, Brooke. So our team was taking 100,000 pounds of food out to some of the 86,000 people from Fallujah who have been stranded out in these desert camps. On the way out to take our food to them, two of our huge trucks broke down. We were stranded in the desert overnight. Our team did. In the middle of the night an ISIS convoy rolled up on our team. Our team was laying low, flat in the dirt, undressed in their underwear to blend in, hoping to blend in and not be spotted by ISIS. Close enough to hear these ISIS guys talking on their phones. Thankfully, ISIS ended up moving on. Airstrikes started pursuing them, blowing them up. Many eventually, the footage that you've seen. But half of our team was in a different location and those airstrikes ended up hitting our team, hitting the car, causing damage to the car and laying some of our guys flat onto the ground. Everyone survived but it was a very harrowing nightmarish night. [Baldwin:] Take me back to part of your team. That is unthinkable. On the ground, in their underwear, trying to blend in with the soil. They're hearing these ISIS militants before they move on. How long were they laying there? [Courtney:] Hours. Throughout the night they were hiding out because we knew that there was this ISIS convoy in the region. And eventually when the ISIS cars started coming down the road at our position where these huge trucks were, they stopped at our huge two semi-trucks, got out and formed a bit of a meeting point. Our team overheard them talking on the phone and said we're here at the trucks. If you see the trucks, that's where we are. They may not have known they had stumbled across 100,000 pounds of food meant for Fallujah survivors. Or they may just have had bigger concerns on their minds running away from these airstrikes that were in hot pursuit. [Baldwin:] Jeremy, tell me why you and your team are there. You're risking your lives to help these people. What are you doing? [Courtney:] Well, Brooke, when I was with you a couple of years ago after this ISIS crisis broke out the first time, we talked about this whole concept of going to the hard places, going to the places that no one else will go, to love the people that no one else will love. We talked about even loving our enemies. That's really what's driven up here and keeps us here. But it's not to say everyone here is our enemy. These 86,000 people, men, women and children and elderly who are starving in the desert, they're not our enemies. We're out here trying to get them the food, water and shelter that they desperately need. The same things you and I would want if we were driven from our homes and forced to live in these nightmarish situations. [Baldwin:] It is extraordinary. And an extraordinarily close call for your team. Jeremy Courtney, thank you so much, from a location there in Iraq tonight. I appreciate you and your time. Let's go back to Ben Wedeman. Ben, we have you know. Talk to me about we know about the strike. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, there are airstrikes in two separate convoys between Tuesday and Wednesday, Brooke. We just got a statement from the Iraqi government. The numbers are quite fantastic. They say that the Iraqi armed forces were able to destroy 507 ISIS vehicles in these two strikes, killing tens of ISIS fighters. They go on to say that coalition aircraft destroyed 177 ISIS vehicles, killing 349 militants. Now it's impossible to verify these numbers, but clearly there was a large number of ISIS vehicles with militants trying to leave the vicinity of Fallujah. We understand, having covered that battle for the five weeks that it went on, that in the final stages, the leadership of ISIS fled the city and essentially abandoned the rank and file to the battle. And therefore, there was a lot of unhappiness, a lot of resentment against them. It's understood that it is possibly that the leadership and possibly these convoys as well were heading west towards Syria, or perhaps to Raqqa, to get as far away as possible, because it was clear, even when we were in Fallujah, that it was only a matter of time before the city would come completely under the control of the government. What we also saw was the government forces don't have a lot of mercy for ISIS Brooke? [Baldwin:] Ben mentioned Raqqa, the unofficial capitol of ISIS. Bringing it back here to Istanbul, how this is all interconnected, where they were apparently from. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that. At least two strikes here. But back here in Turkey, we are telling the stories of those who managed to survive in this massive attack at the Ataturk Airport. A couple on their honeymoon, trapped inside the airport in the midst of the attack, and lived to tell their emotional story. We will hear exactly what they saw, what happened to them, coming up next. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. Ahead this hour, the mother of all bombs. The U.S. military drops its most powerful non-nuclear weapon on Afghanistan. The passenger dragged off a flight, plans to sue United Airlines and he says this moment was more horrifying than his escape from the Vietnam war. And later, the new "Fast and Furious" movie is opening around the world and hoping to smash international box office records. Hello, and thank you for joining us. I am Isha Sesay, this is NEWSROOM L.A. For the third time in a week, the Trump administration has resorted to a dramatic military show of force to send a vid message to the world. This time, that message was delivered by MOAB, nicknamed: "The Mother of All Bombs." It's the most powerful non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. Arsenal. The ten metric ton behemoth was dropped on a cave and tunnel complex used by ISIS in the rugged frontier of Eastern Afghanistan. It was also the first time the weapon had ever been used in combat. We get the latest now from CNN's Tom Foreman. [Tom Foreman, Cnn International Correspondent:] The enormously powerful Massive Ordinance Air Blast bomb or MOAB went off more than an hour after sunset in Eastern Afghanistan, in the Nangarhar province. An ISIS stronghold where a U.S. special forces soldier was killed less than a week ago. That was the target for the big bomb which was being used in combat for the first time. An ISIS camp in the remote area not far from the border with Pakistan. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] We targeted a system of tunnels and caves that ISIS fighters used to move around freely, making it easier for them to target U.S. military advisers and Afghan forces in the area. [Foreman:] The region is home to the [James Marks, Cnn Military Analyst:] It's a concussive blast. So, everybody underneath that thing is either obliterated, ears are bleeding, or they're completely destroyed. [Foreman:] So, how did this weapon actually work? If I had a MOAB in the room with me here now, this is about the size of some 30 feet long, about 22,000 pounds. This is actually pulled out of a back of a C-130 by a parachute and then cut loose to free-fall to the Earth, somewhere around three miles being guided by GPS along the way toward its target. And then, just before it reaches the ground, that's when about nine tons of explosives detonate here with devastating effect. First of all, there's the shrapnel from this. It is driven with so much force, it can penetrate hardened concrete and dig deep into the earth. Secondly, there is the blast wave from this, which is so strong, it scorches and scours the Earth in all directions for thousands of feet, and then everything comes rushing back into the vacuum it creates doing even more damage. And lastly, military leaders talk about the shock and awe effect, saying that this is so overwhelming to be close to. If you survive it even, you have a different impression of the kind of power that the U.S. military can project onto the battlefield. So, obviously, troops now want to get to the blast site of this weapon to see if this real first use on the battlefield; it lived up to expectations. [Sesay:] Tom Foreman there with that report. Well, it would be normal for the U.S. President to give the "OK" in a situation like this. But when asked directly, President Trump ducked the question. [Unidentified Male:] Did you authorize it, Sir? [Donald Trump, United States President:] Everybody knows exactly what happened. So and what I do is I authorize my military. We have the greatest military in the world and they've done the job, as usual, so we have given them total authorization. And that's what they're doing. And frankly, that's why they've been so successful lately. [Sesay:] Well, this is the President's third show of force in a week. Mr. Trump recently authorized a cruise missile assault on a Syrian airfield, and he ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail toward North Korea. Let's bring in CNN Intelligence and Security Analyst Bob Baer, he joins us now from Newport Beach, California. Bob, good to see you. So, this bomb, as we pointed out, targeting a complex of ISIS tunnels and caves. What more can you tell us about this complex, and the operations of ISIS was running from the space? [Robert Baer, Cnn Intelligence And Security Analyst:] Well, the Islamic State in Eastern Afghanistan is fairly small compared to the Taliban. We're talking about maybe 500, we're not sure, fighters. And there's been an offensive in that area of the last couple of weeks. This administration would like to drive them out of Afghanistan. The Afghan army has been up there and wasn't able to get into the mountains very far. And they are the ones that asked for, you know, this bomb, or something, or some sort of big bombing there to see if they could continue this offensive. You know, the President has promised that he's going to bomb the Islamic States into oblivion and that's what he's doing. [Sesay:] Bob, the Afghan President, Ashraf Ghani, tweeted a message in support of the strike. But let me ask you this big picture, and as you look down the road I mean, is the day America dropped the mother of all bombs on your country actually a good day? [Baer:] No, it's not a good day. Well, the fact is that the Taliban is contesting half the districts in Afghanistan. It controls many of them. And in the south, the east and other parts of Afghanistan, they are gaining ground, the Taliban. So, we have to resort to air power. And no, it's not a good day. Ideally, you'd like to have the Afghan army up there, reasserting sovereign control, but the Afghan army simply can't do it alone and there aren't enough American troops to turn back this tide. And frankly, we're much worse than we were in October of 2001. The Taliban is I wouldn't say they're winning the war, but they're slowly clawing back territory and which has disturbed Washington for the last couple of years. [Sesay:] So, the strategy going forward on the part of the Trump administration, what is it? Does the dropping of this bomb give us some indication of what that is going to look like? [Baer:] Well, that's the problem, Isha. There is no strategy there's no strategy in Syria, there's no strategy in Iraq, and there's no strategy in Afghanistan. You know, ultimately, you need a political solution to these wars, and there isn't one on the table. And the administration is stuck with the same problems the Obama administration had. The only thing they're changing is they're using more air power. And of course, there are more civilians dying. And that's when it becomes a problem. [Sesay:] Is it the absence or let me phrase it the other way, how much of the absence of a strategy in these places is contributing to these, these massive grand shows of force if you will? [Baer:] Well, Isha, you know, it's frustrating for the American military. The American military knows what it's doing, but it hasn't been given a strategy. It hasn't been given a strategy in Iraq. It's just, you know, keep on fighting and it's a war of attrition. And you know, there's sectarian differences, there are religious differences, there are competing interests, whether it's Iran or Russia and we do not have an end game. You know, there isn't an end game or without an end game, these wars will go on forever. [Sesay:] As you talk about the lack of an end game and the lack of a clear strategy, it would appear though as much of the optics is in play here for the administration, it's also about sending a message to nations like, Russia, sending it to Syria, sending it to North Korea. I mean, is this an effective those whether or not it's an effective message, I mean, how is it going to be read in those places? And is there really a message that will bring about deterrence? [Baer:] Well, looking at Moscow, or Pyongyang, I don't they read the messages differently than the ones we send. I mean, will this deter North Korea sending a strike force to ensure? I don't think so. The Russians have continued the bombing. The Russians are devilling down against us in Syria. And I guess, it's either supporting the Taliban in Afghanistan, at least indirectly. So, you know, will this be a deterrent, this air strikes, or a strike force by North Korea? Let's wait to see, but I don't think so. [Sesay:] Bob Baer, joining us there from Newport Beach, California. Bob, always good to talk to you. Thank you. Well, the bombing in Afghanistan is sending a message to countries around the world. President Trump is not afraid to use his military might. Reporters are asking specifically what it says to North Korea. [Trump:] I don't know if this sends a message, it doesn't make any difference if it does or not. North Korea's a problem. The problem will be taken care of. I will say this, I think China has really been working very hard. I have really gotten to like and respect, as you know, President Xi is a terrific person, we spent a lot of time together in Florida, and he's a very special man. So, we'll see how it goes. I think he's going to try very hard. [Sesay:] Meanwhile, in Pyongyang, North Korea is preparing to celebrate its most important day of the year: "The Day of the Sun." The reclusive country often marks the occasion with a show of military force. CNN's Will Ripley is in the North Korean capital. [Will Ripley, International Correspondent:] With the looming threat of a nuclear showdown, new images of Kim Jong-un guiding a special forces operation. North Korean Commandos jumping out of planes. Their leader, all smiles. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe warns, North Korea already may have the capability to deliver missiles equipped with deadly Sarin nerve gas. "The security situation around our country is getting increasingly severe," Abe said. President Trump praising Chinese President Xi Jinping for turning away coal-carrying cargo ships from North Korea. Coal, a major source of revenue for Pyongyang, believed to help fund its missile and nuclear programs. [Trump:] President Xi wants to do the right thing. I think he wants to help us with North Korea. [Ripley:] But Chinese Customs officials say, overall trade between China and North Korea jumped by nearly 40 percent in the first quarter of this year. We got the call before 5:00 a.m., we were told to dress up and leave our phones behind. We went through a couple of hours of security, and now we're here on this street. It's completely closed off. Tens of thousands of people are moving in here. Raising questions about how far China's willing to go to rein in its unpredictable neighbor. We saw North Korean leader Kim Jong-un making a rare public appearance in Pyongyang. Not a military event, but a ribbon cutting of a new high-rise apartment complex. An attempt by the regime to show economic growth despite heavy sanctions over their nuclear program. The message from the North Koreans seems to be that they want to move forward with their military programs, but they also want to grow their economy peacefully. But they say, if they are provoked, they are not afraid to go to war. North Korean officials tell CNN, it's a touch-and-go situation that could escalate into an all-out conflict. Think tank 38 North says, new satellite images show North Koreas Punggye-Ri nuclear site "primed and ready" for North Korea's sixth nuclear test, just days before North Korea's most important holiday of the year. Holidays are a time when Pyongyang has been known to project power through military force. With tensions on the Korean Peninsula at their highest level of years, nobody knows what Kim Jong-un's next move will be. And threatening to push tensions over the tipping point, this news out of Afghanistan that the U.S. dropped the mother of all bombs on ISIS tunnels. Is this a veiled threat for North Korea given that they conduct their nuclear test underground? And the big unknown right now, how will North Korean leader Kim Jong-un respond? Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang. [Sesay:] Well, Syria's President is calling the report of last week's chemical attack "100 percent fabrication." This is despite eyewitness report and independent analysis that contradict his assertion. During an exclusive interview with AFP T.V., Bashar al-Assad said the Syrian military does not possess chemical weapons and that it would not use them if it did. He also accused the west of helping terrorists. [Bashar Al-assad, Syrian President:] The west, mainly the United States, is handing [Sesay:] Well, Assad's comment to our departure from the Syrian omni- statement 14:05 following the chemical attack, they blame terrorist groups for the deaths. One other important note to share with you, AFP T.V. was not allowed to film the interview with Assad. That was done by Syria's Presidency. But we're learning more about contacts between President Trump's associates and Russia. Multiple sources tell CNN, intelligence officials outside the U.S. have been finding their own information related to the allegations. CNN Jim Sciutto has details. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] CNN has learned that British and European intelligence intercepted communications between Trump associates and Russian officials and other Russians known to western intelligence during the U.S. Presidential campaign, and shared those communications with their U.S. counterparts, multiple U.S. and western officials tell CNN. These sources stressed that at no point did western intelligence, including Britain's GCHQ which is responsible for communication surveillance, target these Trump associates. Instead, their communications were picked up as "incidental collection" during routine surveillance of known Russian targets. The U.S. and Britain are part of the so-called five eyes agreement, along with Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, which calls for open sharing among member nations of a broad range of intelligence. This new information comes as former Trump Foreign Policy Adviser, Carter Page, provides a confusing, even conflicting story about his contacts with Russian intelligence. He has denied that he was a foreign agent. [Carter Page, Former Trump Campaign Foreign Policy Adviser:] This is it's just such a joke that it's beyond words. [Sciutto:] Page told CNN's Jake Tapper that when he visited Russia last July, he never discussed easing sanctions on Russia related to the seizing of Crimea. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Chief Washington Correspondent:] Did you ever talk with anyone there about maybe President Trump, if he were elected, then-candidate Trump, would be willing to get rid of the sanctions? [Page:] Never any direct conversations such as that. I mean it -look, it's [Tapper:] What do you mean direct conversations? I don't know what that means, direct conversation. [Page:] Well, I'm just saying, no, that was never said, no. [Sciutto:] But interviewed on ABC News, Page could not provide a clear answer. [Page:] Something may have come up in a conversation I have no recollection, and there is nothing specifically that I would have done that would have given people that impression, George. [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News Chief Anchor:] But you can't say without equivocation that you didn't discuss the easing of sanctions? [Page:] Someone may have brought it up, I have no recollection and if did was it was not something I was offering or some always that someone is asking for. [Sciutto:] These intercepted communications certainly to be of interest to the House and Senate Intelligence Committee investigations of Russian influence in the U.S. elections as well as the FBI investigation. A source close to the Senate investigation tells me that if it is relevant to their probe, they will certainly examine this intelligence. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington. [Sesay:] Now, Senior U.S. official is slamming WikiLeaks, CIA Director, Mike Pompeo, taking aim at the organization Thursday. Here's what he said at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. [Mike Pompeo, Central Intelligence Agency Director:] WikiLeaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service. It has encouraged its followers to find jobs at the CIA in ordered to obtain intelligence. It's time to call out WikiLeaks for what it really is an on state hostile intelligence services often vetted by state actors like Russia. [End Videoclip] [Sesay:] Well, Pompeo lash with post comments by U.S. President Donald Trump. Mr. Trump praised WikiLeaks during his Presidential campaign. He even said he loved the organization after it released hack e-mail tied to Hillary Clinton's campaign. Well, time for a quick break now and President Trump flip-flopped on some significant issues this week. We'll look back on a few more, like this one. [Donald Trump, United States President:] Number one, NATO is obsolete. Number two, the countries in NATO are not paying their fair share. I said it was obsolete. It's no longer obsolete. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] I call it the failing "New York Times." [Unidentified Female:] He's declared it's not possible for the president to have a conflict of interest. [Sean Spicer, Chief Strategist/communications Director, Rnc:] He's going above and beyond what the law requires. He's going to make sure that there is a wall between his business and the way he governs. [Sen. Lindsey Graham , Former Presidential Candidate:] I do hope, with all the things that Donald Trump said about how crooked she was, that we just don't let it go. [Trump:] I don't want to hurt them. They're good people. [Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor Of New York City:] After you win an election, you sort of put things behind you. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Mitt Romney is seriously considering the possibility of being secretary of state. [Rep. Adam Kinzinger , Illinois:] It would be great. [Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker Of The House:] I could think of 20 other people who are more compatible with the Trump vision. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Camerota and Alisyn Camerota. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, November 23, 6 a.m. in the East. Up first, President-elect Donald Trump facing real questions from the media and backing off some of his most extreme campaign promises. Trump now dropping his threat to jail Hillary Clinton and also changing his tune on waterboarding and maybe even climate change. All of this in this big interview with "The New York Times." [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Mr. Trump also addressing hot-button issues like denouncing support from the hate groups, as well as conflicts of interest. The president-elect is now in Florida for the Thanksgiving holiday, but we're told we could get more cabinet announcements as early as this morning. So we have it all covered with you. Let's begin with CNN's Sara Murray. Good morning, Sara. [Murray:] Good morning, Alisyn. Well, you're right. Donald Trump is showing a little bit more flexibility on some promises that were really calling cards during his presidential campaign. And as for the support he's been getting from some white supremacists, he says he doesn't want to be the candidate who's energizing these groups. President-elect Donald Trump now suggesting he won't push for Hillary Clinton to be prosecuted over her private e- mail server or dealings within the Clinton Foundation. In an interview with "The New York Times," Trump saying, "I don't want to hurt the Clintons. I really don't. She went through a lot and suffered greatly in many different ways." And while it may be up to Trump's Justice Department to make the final call on the matter, the tone is a sharp departure from the one he struck on the trail. [Trump:] She deleted the e-mails. She has to go to jail. If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. [Murray:] Trump also hinting he has changed his mind on waterboarding and now says he might not abandon the International Climate Accord, saying he has an open mind to it. Trump trying to brush off repeated questions about how he'll ensure his actions as president won't benefit his businesses, saying, "In theory, I could run my business perfectly and then run the country perfectly. There's never been a case like this." Refusing to concede that he should sell his businesses and adding, "The law is totally on my side. The president can't have a conflict of interest." Trump reiterating that he will step back, leaving the Trump Organization for his children to run. [Trump:] I don't know if it's a blind trust if Ivanka, Don and Eric run it. But is that a blind trust? I don't know. [Murray:] But that, too, pose a problem since his daughter, Ivanka, has already been part of the meetings with foreign officials, since her father became president-elect. Trump complaining, "If it were up to some people, I would never, ever see my daughter, Ivanka, again." And making the case for his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to have a role in his administration, maybe as a special envoy to the Mideast. Trump boasting, "I would love to be the one who made peace with Israel and the Palestinians. That would be such a great achievement." Trump also trying to distance himself from the support of neo-Nazis after this video surfaced of white supremacists cheering him on with Nazi salutes, just blocks from the White House. [Richard Spencer, National Policy Institute:] Hail Trump. Hail our people. Hail victory. [Murray:] Trump denouncing the group, saying, "Of course, I disavow and condemn them. It's not a group I want to energize. And if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why." Now, in addition to this, Donald Trump found himself yet again defending one of his first picks to go with him to the White House, chief strategist Steve Bannon, telling "the New York Times" he would have never chosen him if he felt like this was a person who does have ties to the alt-right movement, if this is a person who is racist. Those are all critiques that have been lobbed against Bannon since he's been named. [Cuomo:] Also sounds like what Trump said about Manafort before everything came out about him. "I would never have Manafort if he was really" and then he wound up leaving. All right, Sara, stay with us. Let's bring in the rest of the panel. CNN political analyst and "New York Times" presidential campaign correspondent Maggie Haberman, who was in that interview, tweeting for the rest of us to get our information. Thank you, thank you. And CNN political commentator and political anchor of Spectrum News, Errol Louis. Good to have you all here. Maggie... [Maggie Haberman, Cnn Political Analyst:] Hi. [Cuomo:] ... so you were in the room where it happened, in the room where it happened. [Haberman:] Right. [Cuomo:] What was it like? [Haberman:] It was very tense initially. When Trump came in, you know, he shook everyone's hands; he moved around the table. There were, I guess, about 20 people there. He sat down sort of very stiff. He had his arms folded, almost like he was waiting for either some kind of blowback or waiting to say something. And he did criticize our coverage pretty forcefully. It was not nasty in tone; it was not aggressive, but he did say he thought that "The Times" had been incredibly unfair to him, the most unfair of anyone. I had heard him, to be clear, make that kind of accusation against "The Washington Post," as well, at various points in the campaign. And then he basically moved on, and he took a number of questions. The most surprising thing that he said was on climate change, where he appeared to at least be open to the possibility of the Paris Accords, where he said he thinks that there's, quote unquote, "conductivity between humans and a change in environment." [Camerota:] That's very different. He had tweeted that global warming was a hoax. [Haberman:] And on a range of other issues, you know, I asked him about torture, which he enthusiastically advocated in the form of waterboarding during the campaign. And his exact quote in South Carolina was "Torture works." When I asked him about waterboarding specifically, he sounded as if he was backing off a bit, essentially after a conversation with General Mattis, who he's considering very seriously. He left me with the impression that he's likely to be named for Department of Defense. I asked him about his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and what role he will play. Trump clearly wants him involved in some way, but possibly in an outside role where it wouldn't face the nepotism laws. Trump was adamant, and this was the most striking, that a president can't have conflicts of interest. We asked him about his business entanglements, and he essentially said that's not definitionally possible, because everything essentially would have been a conflict. [Cuomo:] Should have been a lawyer, because that's very clever reading on the absence of law. There is no real conflict law set up for the president. So he's using that as a construction that a conflict is impossible, which is clearly not the case. [Haberman:] Right. And that literally was his argument. So "In theory I can do these two things simultaneously." He did not use the words that we heard during the campaign, "a blind trust." As we know, a blind trust run by his children is not, in fact, a blind trust. But he didn't even go there yesterday. He literally just said, "I'm going to, you know, have my children, primarily Ivanka, run the business." He said he was stepping back. He did not say, "And I will have nothing to do with it." [Camerota:] Very quickly, before we get to our other panelists. What did he say about that alt-right, white supremacist let's call it what it is conference just blocks away from the White House that is energized, because he is now president? People have been wanting him to give a very full-throated denouncement. What did he say? [Haberman:] He did denounce it. He said that's not, you know, something that he's looking to energize; that's not support he wants. He was asked specifically about Steve Bannon, who has come under heavy criticism, primarily from Democrats for running Breitbart and, you know, comments he's alleged to have made. Trump defended Bannon very, very strongly and essentially said, "This is a good man" and said, "If I thought he had any connection to the alt-right movement, as you said, I'd never let him in the administration." [Camerota:] Steve Bannon... [Haberman:] He has said it correct. [Camerota:] He created the platform at Breitbart for the alt-right. How can there be no connection? [Haberman:] Right. So that, I think, will be one of the many things. [Cuomo:] Same thing same thing happened with Manafort. The alt- right stuff. I mean, the conclusion is pretty simple. Errol, he does not deny this group the way he does other things he doesn't like. Why he doesn't remains a mystery. Go ahead. [Camerota:] Let's just read what he said to Maggie and everybody else at "The New York Times." I don't want to energize the group. I'm not looking to energize them. I don't want to energize the group, and I disavow the group. And the next sentence he said, it's not a group I want to energize, and if they are energized, I want to look into it and find out why. [Haberman:] Let me just say one thing that I was struck there, too. Elizabeth B. Miller, our White House, our D.C. bureau chief, followed up and tried to ask it again. She hasn't she came in the room late, hadn't realized that he'd addressed it already. But he got annoyed when he got asked about it, again. He said something like, "Boy, you're really stuck on this" or something like that. And that is the kind of reaction I would get throughout the campaign when I would approach them about, you know, David Duke praising him. [Cuomo:] Because he knows it's bad for him. And that's why he wants to deny the connection, and he wants to be as subtle about this for Trump as he can be. He's just not like this about anything else he doesn't like. [Haberman:] No. And he wants to he wants to excoriate people for asking about it in the first place, which is the other thing. He didn't the first time. But he did... [Cuomo:] He got that talking point yesterday. One of his supporters kept saying, "Do you think he's a racist? Do you think he's a racist?" which is an obvious distraction, getting around the issue. So Errol, how do you decipher these big changes by Trump? Is this a positive sign, because it shows it can be more open-minded, or is this a negative sign, because it shows what he says ultimately means nothing? [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it's really both, right? If you were concerned, and some people were very, very concerned, about some of these statements that he's made around climate change, around jailing his opponent and so forth, you maybe have a little reason for hope. You know, I mean, there's some reason for hope even in that statement, that, "Well, I want to find out why they're being energized by me." OK, so that's a little bit of curiosity, and that's probably not a bad thing. On the other hand, I take it as him being Trump. Meaning these are his commercial negotiating skills. Nothing is final until the deal is done, and as we're going into sign, you know, maybe I've got a couple of clauses I want to slip in. This is how he's operated throughout his business life. This is how he operated, frankly, throughout the campaign, if you think about it. He really has sort of migrated on a number of different issues. He says complete and total shut down of Muslim immigration. That migrates into, "Well, just from the regions where there's a terrorism problem." That, in turn, has changed into, "Well, just Syrian refugees are going to be extremely vetted and so forth." So he puts a lot of different statements out there. Lets lets it wash around and then tries to see what... [Cuomo:] For a guy who's not a politician, he seems to do what's worst about politicians, saying to your own advantage, Sara, "I'm going to find you. I'm going to put you in jail. I'm going to appoint a special prosecutor. You must go jail. You must go to jail." And then, "You've suffered enough." Yes, at his hand you suffered enough. [Camerota:] Let me read let me read exactly what he said so you can respond to it. This is about Hillary Clinton and not wanting to now appoint a special prosecutor. "I don't want to hurt the Clintons." [Cuomo:] Any more. [Camerota:] "I really don't." [Haberman:] You're ad libbing. Here a little. [Camerota:] He's ad libbing. "I really don't. She went through a lot." Go ahead. "She suffered greatly in many ways, and I'm not looking to hurt them at all." It is hard to get your mind around that after everything that was said on the campaign trail. [Murray:] Well, the other thing he said during this interview which is so striking to me is that he said he doesn't feel very strongly about it. Well, you know, I went all over the country with Donald Trump while he called her Crooked Hillary and said he was going to lock her up. But I do think that you have to remember that the people who supported Donald Trump and the people who voted Donald Trump into office see him differently than we do. They see him as a vessel for a lot of different feelings and a lot of different positions. And even talking to them on the campaign trail, a lot of them would say, "I don't necessarily believe Donald Trump is going to build a wall. I don't believe he's going to deport everyone who's here illegally. I don't even believe he's going to throw Hillary Clinton in jail. But I like that he sounds tough when he's talking about it. And I like that, you know, he would put out a very tough stance as a starting negotiating position." That makes it really difficult for us to say how he's actually going to govern as president, and that means that he's sort of taken different sides on every single issue. But for his core supporters, I don't necessarily think a lot of them will be surprised to see him begin to change. [Cuomo:] They don't have any choice now, because they're with him. I'll tell you, a lot of my friends who voted for Trump wanted the walls, wanted these things, believed in it, believed there was finally going to be a check on corruption in government that they saw Hillary Clinton as the face of; and they're disappointed by this. [Haberman:] The question that I didn't get to ask him that I did want to ask him yesterday and we just were out of time in a crowded room, was "How is what you are saying about your business as president, that a president cannot definitionally have a conflict of interest, how is that different than had Chelsea Clinton been running the Clinton Foundation while Hillary Clinton was president?" Which he railed against. And he talked about, you know, how the e- mails from her server showed or the WikiLeaks documents all showed some kind of overlap. And there's no huge difference, as best as I can tell here. [Camerota:] We are going to talk a lot more about that and the conflicts of interest. So coming up, more of "New York Times" interview with Donald Trump and those growing concerns about his business ties and his children's business ties. Trump says the law is on his side. He says presidents cannot have a conflict of interest. What does that mean? We dig deeper. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] And while we're on the subject of fantasies, counselor of the President Kellyanne Conway dropped a giant implication bomb, at a minimum, a rhetorical link between the President's claims and new CIA surveillance methods just revealed by WikiLeaks, again, evidence-free. Just a few minutes ago on CNN, Kellyanne Conway suggested that is not what she said or meant, even though it is what she said. It is that kind of morning. Let's bring in CNN's Senior Washington Correspondent Joe Johns at the White House this morning. Joe? [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, John. The House Intel Committee wants to know if there is any there there, but there is certainly a lot of doubt and skepticism this morning across Washington as to whether the Justice Department is going to come up with anything responsive on their request for more information about the President's claim of President Obama's wiretapping, essentially. The reason why, of course, is because there are a lot of people in Washington, even some past and current government officials, who said President Trump was incorrect at the very least, including a former Director of National Intelligence. On the Senate side, Senator John McCain is skeptical as well. Let's listen to what he said. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] The President has one of two choices, either retract or to provide the information that the American people deserve because, if his predecessor violated the law, President Obama violated the law, we've got a serious issue here, to say the least. [Johns:] A serious issue indeed. And if nothing else, today's deadline, certainly, will go to the credibility of the President and his tweet on the weekend a couple weeks ago. Back to you, John. [Berman:] All right. Joe Johns at the White House. But wait, there is more. While we await evidence from the White House, the President's counselor Kellyanne Conway is suggesting other ways that the campaign could have been kept under close watch. Who knew the President even had a microwave? [Kellyanne Conway, Senior Counselor To President Donald Trump:] There are many ways to surveil each other now, unfortunately. There was [Mike Kelly, Columnist, The Record:] Do you believe that was [Conway:] There was an article this week that talked about how you can surveil someone through their phones, certainly through their television sets, any number of different ways, microwaves that turn into cameras, et cetera. So we know that that is just a fact of modern life. [Kelly:] Sure, sure. [Conway:] What the President has asked is for the investigation into surveillance to be included in the ongoing investigation. [Berman:] I want to bring in Mike Rogers. He's a CNN national security commentator, former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. Mr. Chairman, last week, you said you believe these wiretap claims from the President, again, evidence-free, are feeding the conspiracy parking meter. Well, Kellyanne Conway, did she just make like a Fort Knox-like deposit in that conspiracy theory parking meter? [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] This all makes me scratch my head. They just bought themselves another week of this story that just seems an odd place for them to put their energy and interest. You know, listen, when they have the Director of National Intelligence under Barack Obama for eight years, Director Clapper came out and said two important things. He said, one, there was no FISA warrant against the campaign or anyone at Trump Tower or anything like that, which is plausible to me only because there's a pretty high threshold. The government would have to go to a judge and convince them in the middle of a presidential campaign that they had probable cause to believe someone there was committing a crime. I just find that would be hard to swallow. The second piece was that there was no collusion with the Russians. So the longer they talk about this, the more they're stretching out this story that just doesn't seem to be plausible. What is plausible to me, the former FBI guy, is there may have been incidental collection of a wiretap somewhere. Meaning, they had a FISA warrant on someone else and a person at Trump Tower may have contacted them, maybe innocent, maybe no criminal intent whatsoever, but that contact would be registered in the way that they collect information and noting. And that's the only thing I can think of right now where they could get confused about there might be a wiretap on Trump Tower or their phone. But again, I don't get this. I don't know why they don't just stop talking about this, let the investigation do its thing. [Berman:] Let me play you how Kellyanne Conway explained or justified those comments. She was on "NEW DAY" just a few minutes ago. Listen to this. [Conway:] I was answering a question about surveillance techniques generally. I was reflecting what people saw on the news last week. I'm not Inspector Gadget. I don't believe people are using the microwave to spy on the Trump campaign. However, I'm not in the job of having evidence. That's what investigations are for. [Berman:] Now, she wasn't answering a question about surveillance. She was asked a question about the President's evidence-free claims about wiretapping on Trump Tower. And, Chairman Rogers, you're answering the question, talking to me about it being politically inexpedient for Kellyanne Conway to be talking about this. It may be more than politically inexpedient if President Trump is making this stuff up, in charging the former president with a felony. You worked in the intelligence committee for a long time. Does it shake the very foundations of the credibility, not just of the intelligence community, but also the office of the President? [Rogers:] Well, I mean, he certainly needs to get this corrected if, in fact, there is no criminal act there. And, you know, there's two possibilities in this well, three really. But if he was right and the President had ordered some kind of surveillance, which I'm not sure how that would work you'd have a conspiracy line that would be a mile long of FBI agents and technical agents and all of the things that it would take I find that just not to be plausible. Oh, the other thing is, there is a criminal warrant andor a FISA warrant that was used to intercept something which means it went through a process, a due process, and some judge believed it was credible. I just don't know how either one of those are a good conversation for this President to be having right now. [Berman:] No. [Rogers:] He needs to correct the record. I think it's wrong for a sitting president to accuse a former president I don't care what political stripe of a criminal activity. I just don't think that's right. He ought to correct it and move on, call it the new guy thing and get about the business of the day of America. And there's plenty of those issues to deal with. [Berman:] Well, we'll see, yes, if, in fact, that happens. Your old committee, the House Intelligence Committee, has asked for evidence by today from the Department of Justice. Again, you know, you ran this committee. What happens if, by the end of today, that evidence isn't handed over? [Rogers:] Well, there's lots of ways that the Committee can actually get that information. You know, this contempt charge, you can do that. You can take it to the House floor. It's a longer process. Actually, Eric Holder was voted to be in contempt by Congress by withholding information. The real way that the Intelligence Committee has power is by withholding funds. They can start drying up certain funds as a way to get compliance, and I imagine all of those things are being considered right now. Certainly, as chairman, that's where my head would be because I think it's a quicker way to get what they need. The Department of Justice should absolutely cooperate with this investigation. There shouldn't be a delay, unless there's a legitimate reason they can't give it to you quite today. But they need to be up talking to the investigators on the committee to make sure that they're in compliance with what the committee needs to do. It's important and it's a separate but equal branch. And the Department of Justice does not have the right not to comply with these kinds of investigations. [Berman:] Barring a legitimate reason, whatever that might be, would the Department of Justice be in contempt if it does not turn over that evidence today? [Rogers:] Well, they can ask for a contempt, you know, to go through the House process. In order for them to be in contempt, there's two ways to do it. They would refer to the Justice Department you can kind of know where that one is going [Berman:] Right. [Rogers:] or you can take it to the House floor and have an official vote to hold the Attorney General in contempt, which, you know, just certainly would be kind of a big and ugly process. I hope it never gets that far. Again, they should just comply, both by courtesy and by law. [Berman:] Chairman Mike Rogers, always great to have you with us. Thanks so much for your help on this. [Rogers:] Thanks, John. [Berman:] All right. It's a jam-packed morning here. Any moment now, we could get the price tag of the Republican health care overhaul from the Congressional Budget Office. We're already seeing some prophylactic medicine here from Republican leaders saying that this anticipated important estimate should not be so anticipated or important. Listen. [Rep. Paul Ryan, Speaker Of The United States House Of Representatives:] The one thing I'm certain will happen is CBO will say, well, gosh, not as many people will get coverage. You know why? Because this isn't a government mandate. [Mick Mulvaney, Director, White House Office Of Management And Budget:] Sometimes we ask them to do stuff they're not capable of doing, and estimating the impact of a bill of this size probably isn't the best use of their time. [Berman:] It is exactly what the Congressional Budget Office does, though, however. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Suzanne. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, John, as you know, there's a big fight ahead and everybody is waiting for that CBO score. House Republicans are really trying, they're racing, to push this through Congress. I believe the CBO score is really going to slow down this process. It is going to reveal the impact on the premiums. It's also going to reveal the cost and the estimate number of Americans who are impacted by this legislation. It is estimated, John, that it could be at least 15 million people over the course of 10 years who'll lose their health care insurance under this new plan. Now, this is something that many Republicans are anticipating. They are trying to play it down, as you saw the House Speaker Paul Ryan. And there are also Senators who are weighing in, Republicans, who are panning that argument. One of them, Rand Paul, essentially saying President Trump as well as many of the House Republicans are not living up to their bargain. [Sen. Rand Paul , Kentucky:] If we get what we've got from Ryan, ObamaCare Lite, he will not have the votes, and we have to get to that point before true negotiations begin. Right now, I think there's a charm offensive going on. Everybody's being nice to everybody because they want us to vote for this, but we're not going to vote for it. [Malveaux:] And, John, people are going to start taking off the gloves, everybody not so nice to each other. What Rand Paul and some others are expecting is that they possibly have an ally in President Trump in terms of negotiating at least on one point, and that is the speed of rolling back the Medicaid expansion. Conservatives want that to happen faster than some of the moderates, and that is something that President Trump is very much aware of. Tomorrow is when he's going to be hosting a group, about 40-plus, of those House Republicans to the White House for a pizza and bowling party to try to woo them to figure out how they can work that out. This is also something that the presidency is quite flexible tomorrow not tomorrow, but actually Wednesday. What's going to happen is the House Budget Committee is going to take a look at this bill and see what can be worked out and whether or not there is any point of negotiation as the President believes, John. [Berman:] All right, Suzanne Malveaux for us. Ten minutes after 9:00 and we are waiting for those new CBO numbers. We'll come back to you if we get this them this hour. Thanks, Suzanne. All right. There was a backlash this morning after a Republican congressman tweeted, "We cannot restore our civilization with somebody else's babies." What does that mean? Well, this morning, he responded. Plus this. [Dmitry Peskov, Press Secretary For The President Of Russia:] The fact that Russia is being demonized in that sense comes very strange to us, and we are really sorry about that. [Berman:] Russia says nothing to see here when it comes to charges of campaign spying, but Senator John McCain says there is a centipede on the loose with centipede shoes that will still drop. What does he mean by that exactly? And who needs flowers and leaves and grass this spring? And by the way, what spring? Tens of millions of people on the path of a severe storm getting ready to hit the northeast. [Blackwell:] Adopting a child is a great way to grow a family, but the process can be draining emotionally and financially for some. Well, a Los Angeles man has found a way to save money, and his inspiration comes from his own very large family. [Hank Fortener, Founder Of @adoptt & @worldadoptday:] I grew up with a brother and sister, then, we had 36 foster kids over a seven-year period. And then my mom and dad adopted four boys and four girls from five different countries. In the morning, you didn't know who was going to be at the breakfast table but there was always one more seat. [Unidentified Male:] Did you have this pillow with you? Yes. What a cool idea. Who's this right here? Daddy. [Matt Riehm, Adoptive Father:] Tracy, came to me and said she wanted to adopt. I was really concerned about the cost. And oftentimes, a family is looking at a bill of $30, $40, or $50,000, and so many families would adopt if they could eliminate this financial barrier. Then, what if we could carry the burden together? adopttogether.org is designed as the first ever crowd funding platform for adoption. We're raising funds to pay for those bills. That's when your friends, and family, and co-workers gets to be part of your adoption story, simply by donating to your process. [Tracy Riehm, Adoptive Mother:] We aren't anything crazy special. We're not rich. We and the community brought him home. [Fortener:] adopttogether.org has helped over 2,400 families raise $10.5 million to bring their kids home. And it's so rewarding for me to get to do this work because I get to continue in the family business of helping children come into families. [Unidentified Male:] Nice. Nice one. [Unidentified Female:] Tornado right there. There's a tornado right there. Oh, my god. Oh, oh, it's coming at your backyard. Oh, my god. [Paul:] Step away from the window. That is a possible tornado forming there. This was part of a severe storm system that tore through Virginia Beach. We know at least a dozen homes were destroyed. Two dozen others have been damaged. Thankfully, no injuries reported, but a local pastor says the storm threw a big chunk of his church into a field across the street, collapsing the auditorium and peeling that metal roof right off the building. [Blackwell:] Three people are facing charges this morning after a massive fire caused part of an interstate in Atlanta to collapse. Investigators think one of the suspects set construction materials on fire under Interstate 85. That was Thursday. It grew into this enormous fire that eventually caused a piece of the Interstate to crash to the ground. Repairs to the major artery in and out of the city could take several months. [Paul:] New details in the manhunt for that missing student and teacher from Tennessee. Want to share with you some of these new images that were released. They show them at a Walmart. This is in Oklahoma City last month, two days after they disappeared. Now, this is the first confirmed sighting of the two since 50-year-old Tad Cummins, who you just saw there, allegedly abducted this girl, 15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas. The teenage girl has been missing since March 13th. Now, investigators say they found romantic e-mail messages between the two on Cummins' school account. According to authorities Cummins is armed with two guns. He was added to the state's top ten most wanted. [Blackwell:] All right. Coming up in the 10:00 hour of "NEWSROOM", President Trump's agenda overshadowed by Russia. Can the administration shake that cloud of controversy that continues to hang over the White House? [Lemon:] Breaking News Tonight, in a report released today, the U.S. Intelligence Community concludes Vladimir Putin ordered a campaign aimed at hurting Hillary Clinton and helping Donald Trump. Let's discuss now with CNN Chief National Security Correspondent, Jim Sciutto; CNN Senior Political Analyst, David Gergen; Bob Cusack, Editor-in-Chief of The Hill; and CNN Political Analyst, Josh Rogin. Good to have all of you. On Mr. Sciutto, let's break this down the declassified version. This is the classified one. The classified version of the intelligence report on Russian hacking has been released and among the conclusion is this, it says, we assess Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. Presidential election. Russia's goals were to undermine public fate in the U.S. Democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Donald Trump. It's pretty clear there. It's unequivocal that Russia did it and they did it in part to help Donald Trump. What kind of evidence did they have? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, I think this report it laid out the assessments, the conclusions. Frankly, it didn't lay out a lot of the evidence the explanation it gives which is expected. It gets to sources and methods. It gets to some of the most sensitive intelligence gathered by U.S. Intelligence Agencies. There's only so much they can show to the public. The headlines though and imagine yourself in the room there Don between Donald Trump and the four most Senior U.S. Intelligence Officials in the country including the Director Of National Intelligence, James clapper having to deliver that line that you just read there that the Russians interfered in this election with the intention of helping you win the election, a difficult message to deliver. The other headline I would get from this report is the agencies concluding that the Russians didn't just hack the Democrats, they hacked the Republicans as well. You've heard from Donald Trump and other of his supporters that the only reason this information came out about the Democrats is that the Russians only hacked the Democrats. In fact the U.S. Intelligence Committee says Community rather says that they hacked both parties and yet they only released material targeting one party and that is one of the main reasons that they assess that the intention here was to help one party that is the Republicans, that is Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. [Lemon:] And I'll put it mildly. That's just one of the shall we say misstatements coming from... [Sciutto:] Yes. [Lemon:] ...the incoming administration because Bob Baer, the Intel Chief said high confidence that Russia interfere with the election. But here is this is the official statement in part from the Trump campaign or the Trump Administration. While Russia, China, other countries outside groups and people are consistently trying to break through the cyber infrastructure of our governmental institutions, businesses and organizations including the Democratic National Committee, there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines. That's not exactly true because if you read the report and I've read it, page six says specifically we did not make an assessment of the impact that Russian activities had on the outcome of the 2016 election. The U.S. Intelligence Community is charged with monitoring and assessing the intentions, capabilities and actions of foreign actors. It does not analyze U.S. Political Processes or U.S. Public Opinion, so what's the truth here, David? [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Listen, I don't think we I think we do know that the basic truth here is that this report has taken us further than anything we've seen so far. It pins responsibility directly and personally on Vladimir Putin for ordering a massive interference in American election trying to denigrate Hillary Clinton and at the end trying to help elect Donald Trump president. And we've had various reports about the celebrations on Moscow's part since the results came in. It's totally understandable that Donald Trump would be very angry at all of this because it does it does undermine the legitimacy of his election and I think he appropriately said it didn't change the outcome but even so the way this is unfolded, it has been very painful to watch. We just never had a president-elect have so little confidence in massive intelligence operation. We pay billions of dollars for and he basically is saying, you know, OK, I respect what you say but I really don't believe in it. And by the way, I told the "New York Times" just before you released it this is a political witch hunt. [Lemon:] Yes. But again for me, I mean Josh for me for what it says there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines and then the report says itself that it did not make that assessment. [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] Right. So, Donald Trump has now gotten all of the information that the U.S. Government has and decided that he still doesn't believe it and he's putting out information about that meeting that is incorrect and has nothing to do with... [Lemon:] That is a lie. I mean we've been nice here that it's in fact a lie because that's not what the report said. [Rogin:] It's just unprovable that there's no evidence of it, right. Yes, you can call it a lie. You can call it a mistake. It's spin, whatever it is, it's not part of what he heard in that briefing and he said he said to AP afterwards, I learned a lot and they did too, OK. So, he still thinks that it's his job to tell the intelligence community what they're supposed to be telling him and I mean let's take a step back here. Now, we're he's going to be president. He's going to have the power to tell that Intelligence Community to do whatever he wants, right. And what does he tweeted today that he's going to the first thing he wants them to do is to do a leak investigation but who leaked the details of this report, right. [Lemon:] Who leaked the details to another news organization... [Rogin:] To another news organization... [Lemon:] ...which is a declassified report which is meant for public consumption. [Rogin:] So, his priorities are totally out-of-whack here and he's working on, you know, an agenda that has nothing to do with what's good for our national security, what do we do to make sure this never happens again and what do we about the fact that the Russians according to this report are doing this all over the world? [Lemon:] Bob, you know, Donald Trump has been questioning the Intelligence for months and hours before he was briefed. He told the "New York Times" his rivals are behind the whole investigation. He's concluded they've got beaten very badly in the election. I won more counties in the election than Ronald Reagan. They are very embarrassed about it. To some extent, it's a witch hunt. They just focused on this, is he still questioning the Intelligence Community's motives here? [Bob Cusack, Editor-in-chief Of The Hill:] Well, yes I think so. I mean I do think that maybe he changes his tune when he gets his guys in there. Mike Pompoe has picked for the CIA as his confirmation hearing next week, that's going to be a fascinating hearing because he's going to be overseeing officials who help put this report together. So, it is really unusual and I do think that maybe after Trump is inaugurated the talk of well, they're trying to take away my victory will go away. But at the same time, you know, Don these investigations are they're ongoing. I mean The House and the Senate are doing investigations. We're going to see a lot of data and get information leaked or not over the next six-nine months to year. [Lemon:] OK, I want to get back to Jim Sciutto because Jim this report pointed a finger straight at Vladimir Putin that says Moscow will apply lessons learned from its Putin ordered campaign aimed at the U.S. Presidential election to further influence efforts worldwide including against U.S. Allies and their election processes. So, Trump has said, you know, very flattering things about Vladimir Putin wants to reset the relationship, does the report undercut that now? [Sciutto:] Well, it's up to him frankly. I mean from his own party, we know that there's enormous trepidation about the idea of becoming friendlier with Vladimir Putin. Russia, you have many Republican Senators pushing not just for sanctions but for tougher sanctions even than President Obama ordered. So, you're going to have a clash within his own party if he holds to this line. Couple other takeaways, one you reference there Don, I mean the intelligence community said Russia learned from this. In fact that they can have an effect on an election and the U.S. Intelligence Community expects them to do it again. In Europe, you've got big elections coming up in Germany but also here in the U.S. because in effect it worked. And this is a point... [Lemon:] Yes. [Sciutto:] ...that Senators Graham and McCain have made. Listen, you know, it was the Democrats this time. It could very well be the Republicans next time and that's the attitude they have. To this point, that's not that's not a step the president has taken to say this is attack an attack on the country. We have to come together and defend against future attacks. He's taking it as a personal attack against him it seems and therefore it seems very reluctant to accept those conclusions. [Lemon:] It says a lot about the person, the current president, President Barack Obama saying, "Vladimir Putin is not on our team". Thank you. I appreciate it gentlemen. Recon my back, much more on our two Breaking News stories tonight, Donald Trump's reaction to today's report on Russians election meddling and the latest on the investigation to the deadly rampage shooting at Fort Lauderdale Airport. [Harlow:] All right, however you want to say it, the Republicans have a tough road ahead in terms of selling this health care plan as it exists, not only to Democrats and to some of the American public, to their fellow Republicans, especially in the Senate. Let's got "The Bottom Line" with CNN's senior political analyst Mark Preston. All right, the CBO says 24 million more Americans will not have health care. Next year, just next year, 14 million more won't have health insurance. I mean how devastating overall is this? Because Mick Mulvaney just told Chris, you know, you've got it totally wrong. This isn't devastating. [Mark Preston, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Right, so let's look at two tracks, right, there's a political tract and then there's the human factor, right? The human factor is just unbelievable. The fact that you're going to have folks out there who have coverage right now that are not going to have coverage. They're not going to be able to afford coverage. And, quite frankly, if you look at some of the models, some of the coverage outpaces what some of these people actually make. The political track now, though, is Republicans who are pretty well positioned right now to take really full control of Washington in 2018 right now are going down this really slippery slope where they could have a lot of problems in the mid-term elections. And then Donald Trump is running for re-election in 2020. Can you imagine what his prospects are going to be if more people are off of the rolls? [Cuomo:] And they have a little bit of a tough sell, I think, Pop, with the good and the bad news that's good news, which is part of that won't have insurance number are young people who don't have the mandate anymore and so they don't have to buy anything and the Republicans are using that [Harlow:] And are probably proud that they're not forced to pay a penalty. [Cuomo:] Right, and the Republicans are saying this is good news. [Harlow:] Yes. [Cuomo:] But that also adds to the bottom line on this because those young people are what bring costs down by spreading the risk in the in the pools for coverage. [Harlow:] That was the big problem with Obamacare. [Cuomo:] And that's why they put in the mandate. So even the good news [Preston:] Right. [Cuomo:] Could play as bad news. How do they deal? [Preston:] Right. And go one step further on that. What if you're a young person, 23 years old, who gets in a car accident without insurance. [Cuomo:] God forbid. [Preston:] Who's going to pay for that, right? Who's going to pay for that? Well, that's going to fall on our backs, right, because, I mean, the person needs to get coverage no doubt. But you're but you're right about the fact that the coverage could be good newsbad news. I think what was devastating was the Chase analyst that you had today, not Democrat, not Republican, on air today saying that this bill is absolutely flawed. There are some good parts to it, but it needs to be fixed. I think what's lost in all this white noise right now is that the current system is flawed as well and it needs to be fixed. [Harlow:] Yes. [Preston:] And I think that [Harlow:] It is that is lost. [Preston:] Right. [Harlow:] I mean the fact that Aetna calls it a death trial. Humana is out. A lot of people only have one provider to choose from. [Preston:] Right. [Harlow:] They can't afford it. They're not getting covered. I mean that that has been lost. The onus also on Democrats, what are they going to do to fix the existing plan. [Preston:] Right. And they haven't offered any solutions. [Harlow:] Right. [Preston:] You know, that's you've got to wonder where the anger towards Washington is where we know it is very intense and fierce right now, when is that anger going to turn on both parties and say, you know what, we're sick of politics, we're sick of the fact that you folks are only trying to take care of yourselves and keep your office for another two years, another six years and get something done for us. [Cuomo:] Well, what they say is, well, we have a plan. Our plan is the ACA. But they are watching and enjoying right now the difficulties that the Republicans are having. [Preston:] Right. [Cuomo:] But you're saying the onus will be on them to step up and say, we're not just going to say, you didn't fix it well, we must be productive in finding a better way than what exists right now? [Preston:] Well, they're elected to do so. And you have to wonder, with all this anger, though, Chris, at some point, are people going to say, you know what to the Democrats, you need to work with the Republicans to get something done. [Cuomo:] Obstruction [Preston:] But correct. But if you're Donald Trump, you can't go out there and say, you know what, let's let this all just collapse and then and then we'll do something. [Cuomo:] But he did say exactly that. [Preston:] It's exactly what he said and that's not the way how Washington should work. But, unfortunately, it's the way it does work. [Cuomo:] Which gets us to another point, right? This is a big point where the word of the White House matters. [Preston:] Right. [Cuomo:] And they are at best tap dancing on things and at worst just flat out misleading people on a regular basis about things that don't matter. [Preston:] Right. [Cuomo:] Now this does matter. How big a deal is credibility? [Preston:] Huge, but it's but it's normally just on this issue. To your point, Donald Trump, you know, for, what, the 50 days he's been in office, 60 days he's been in office, it seems like every day he says something that's misleading. [Harlow:] All right. [Preston:] Unfortunately. [Harlow:] Mark Preston, nice to have you here. [Preston:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Getting ready for the big town hall tomorrow night with HHS Secretary Tom Price. We'll be watching. Thank you. [Preston:] Thanks. [Cuomo:] What do you say, time for a little bit of "Good Stuff"? [Harlow:] I could use that. [Cuomo:] All right, coming up, next. [Nancy Grace:] Breaking news tonight. A mom of three, Missy Bevers, at the local Creekside church, 4:00 AM, to teach Gladiator boot camp aerobics when Missy is murdered in cold blood in the church, surveillance video inside the church catching the murder suspect in full police SWAT gear. Arriving just before Missy does, he kills her and leaves, face hidden. Bombshell tonight. Is the killer a woman? Tonight, focus shifting as police now claiming it is absolutely possible the killer is female. Tonight, we bring in experts to analyze newly obtained murder scene video. Missy`s autopsy done, but police refusing to release cause of death. And tonight, we reveal the believed murder weapon, a crowbar, as Missy`s husband insisting, My wife was not targeted. [Unidentified Female:] Who killed a popular personal trainer? This surveillance video... May hold the key... [Unidentified Male:] A very distinct walk. [Unidentified Female:] A mom with three kids found dead inside the Creekside Church of Christ. Police released a second video today of the suspect, he or she. The suspect`s gait could be a familiar trait. [Grace:] Country music star and the star of the hit show "The Voice" Blake Shelton suing for $2 million over booze and rehab claims! [Unidentified Male:] Country superstar Blake Shelton scores a big legal victory in his $2 million defamation lawsuit against "In Touch Weekly." The magazine published a cover of the star with the headline "Rehab for Blake." [Grace:] That`s from "The Voice" from 19 Entertainment, Freemantle Media North America. Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. A mother of three, Missy Bevers, there at the local Creekside church, she`s there at 4:00 AM to teach a Gladiator boot camp aerobics class. Missy is murdered in cold blood there in the church that morning, surveillance video in the church catching the killer, decked out in full police SWAT gear, arriving just before Missy, kills her and leaves, face hidden. Tonight, focus shifting. Bombshell tonight. Police claiming it is absolutely possible the killer is female. I want to go on the scene to Lisa Pineiro joining us, investigative reporter. Lisa, can you describe the scene for us? [Lisa Pineiro, Investigative Reporter:] You know, first I need to say, being here on the ground in front of this very quiet church in this extremely rural community, it feels almost eerie thinking about 45-year-old Missy Bevers, who came to this church early in the morning to conduct her exercise class that she`d been doing many times before, thinking that she was safe inside this church. Nancy, a couple new developments in the case, as well. Police are now saying they`re not sure if the suspect is a man or a woman. I think initial reports said that it was a man. Certainly, if you look at the video, it`s very hard to tell. This person in their police tactical gear could very well be a man or a woman. So police are now not saying specifically if they are looking for a man or a women. Another development was Missy`s autopsy results. Police are keeping those results extremely private. They say right now, authorities and the suspect are the only ones who know exactly what happened to Missy. [Grace:] Everyone, joining us at the scene, Lisa Pineiro, investigative reporter there in Midlothian. We have obtained the new surveillance video. Back to Lisa Pineiro at the scene. Lisa, surveillance video is absolutely critical to cracking this case. It`s all we`ve got. What do we know? [Pineiro:] Nancy, you`ll see part of the crime scene behind me. There`s a door with a window broken out, and also the door latch has been broken, windows broken out here on the side of the church, and then also on the back of the church. The police are saying that the suspect was likely inside the church, wrecking the place, vandalizing everything for a full 30 minutes before Missy ever showed up. One of the other more interesting things about the case is, of course, the video that we`ve been looking at and the way that the suspect is walking, a very distinctive gait. And so authorities are calling on members of the community to really look at that video and see if it perhaps matches anyone they might know. [Grace:] I am looking at the video, and I have been looking at it since police backpedalled a little bit. Now, watch this move when the killer backs up and swings out the left hip. Please keep the video going as heshe backs away from yes, OK. There you go. Let`s watch it like that. That`s much easier to see. Watch. Something about the movements. The uniform is so bulky, I can`t tell a lot. Watch the movements. And we have new video that we`re going to incorporate with what you`re showing now. Liz, please roll the new video, as well. Now, watch the gait. Watch how the person is walking. Watch this. Very often, you`ll see the toes pointed, the swinging back of the hip, standing on watch the gait. That`s what cops are saying. But my question, Robyn Walensky, senior news anchor with The Blaze Network I`m telling you, it`s not just the gait. They know something else. Something is making them question was the killer a woman. Robyn Walensky, The Blaze, what do we know? [Robyn Walensky, The Blaze Network:] I`ll tell you, Nancy, I have looked at this, like you have, 100 times. The person does have a distinctive walk. But you know what it really reminds me of? A little kid, you put them in a snowsuit and a heavier outfit, and it`s hard kind of to maneuver. Perhaps it is a woman wearing heavier clothing, and the walk is because it`s too heavy or the outfit doesn`t fit right. [Grace:] You know what I was thinking, Robyn Walensky? It seemed to me like a woman dressed up in a Halloween outfit that they`re not used to wearing. It reminds me of dressing my children up in an astronaut outfit we got down at the Kennedy Space Center, and they walked around crazy. They just couldn`t make it work for them. Something about this is making cops believe the killer is a woman. Who would kill Missy Bevers? Now, another thing that has developed, the husband of Missy Bevers has come out and said his wife was not targeted and he let it slip that he does not believe the killer had their car near the church. So Liz, let`s pull up an overhead or any video you can of the scene because I want to see where somebody could have parked. Is there a place there`s the husband talking. Is there a place in the nearby woods? What do we know about businesses nearby? How far away are they? Take a look at this. There`s the entrance to the church. There`s highway 287, parking lot, parking lot, but look at all the heavily wooded area around there. Lisa Pineiro, have cops looked for tread marks? Has somebody parked their vehicle in these woods and walked up to the church? Could that be? [Pineiro:] You know, Nancy, that`s a good question, and I would assume that police are investigating the area. Now, [Grace:] I would think that the perp would have parked away so their car wouldn`t have been seen by chance by one of the women coming to this exercise class. Joining me right now, body language expert Susan Constantine. Susan, I know you have viewed over and over and over the person`s gait and their mannerisms because you know what struck me is when that gait when that - there you go. Something about this, something about opening those cabinets and then sauntering off. My first thought was saunter. Now, it`s so bulky, it could very well be a man. But I want to hear you`re the expert. Take a look at it. What do you see, Susan? [Susan Constantine, Body Language Expert:] OK, I looked at it several times myself, Nancy. One thing that I want you to really point to is when you see where the left foot, the knee kind of collapses into the other knee? That`s a feminine movement, OK? When you also see the shift of the hip generally, women do that. Coming out of the gait, this suspect started off with the left foot moving forward. And you can see the left foot kind of dragging along, which tells me again that there was either the fabric or whatever was underneath it was very heavy, and they were trying to pull it along. I think there`s a lot of effeminate qualities in the stance, the gait and the stride. [Grace:] You know, I remember, Susan Constantine, when I was in court and I`d be arguing in front of a judge or a jury, I very often would just naturally stand on one leg, and you know, stand over, like you`re saying. And I noticed none of the men were doing that. They`re all standing up like they`re about to engage in a fistfight. So I started standing up like I was going to engage in a fistfight and kept doing it for the next 10 years. I`m seeing what you`re saying. Hey, Liz, could you start it at the beginning again like you just did? Charles let`s see what Susan`s saying. She said the left leg knee collapses in. And this is what I saw, although I`m no expert. I saw the hip swivel out. Yes, right there, that move, I`m telling you! What do cops know? Listen to what Susan`s saying and watch the video. At this hour, police backtracking, now saying it is absolutely possible this killer who brutally bludgeoned Missy Bevers dead could be a woman. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] Look, he does not have the temperament. Is it possible that something will get him angry and he may want to get us involved in a war? Yes, I think that is a possibility. [Donald Trump , Presumptive Gop Presidential Nominee:] We're building a war. He's a Mexican. This judge is giving us unfair ruling. Now I say why. Well, I'm building a wall. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Donald Trump's not just wrong about Judge Curiel. He's wrong about America. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello and welcome to election night in America. I'm Wolf Blitzer in the CNN Election Center. Thanks very much for joining us. The polls are closed in Puerto Rico. And we expect to have the first results from that Democratic presidential primary at any minute. With them, potentially we could learn that Hillary Clinton has secured the number of delegates she would need to clench the Democratic nomination for president of the United States. Sixty delegates are at stake today in Puerto Rico in the Democratic primary. That's the exact number Hillary Clinton must have to reach that magic number. After a blowout win in the U.S. Virgin Islands last night, Hillary Clinton is sitting squarely at 2,323 delegates with the super delegates factored in. Senator Bernie Sanders right now has 1,547 also with the super delegates factored in. And while he's vowing to take it to this race all the way to the Democratic convention in Philadelphia, in July, and try to flip those super delegates, what happens in the coming moments potentially could change this race as we know it. We're covering this critical moment from every possible angle. We have reporters standing by live in Puerto Rico. In Super Tuesday's big price of California, here at the CNN Election Center as well. Our entire team of political analysts are also standing by to break down the results as we get them. And we should start getting results very soon. Let's go straight to Puerto Rico first. CNN's Dania Alexandrino standing by in San Juan. Dania, walk us through Puerto Rico right now. What are the folks there saying to you? Are you getting a sense of how they voted? [Dania Alexandrino, Cnn Correspondent:] Good afternoon, Wolf. Yes, as a matter of fact, I got a pretty good sense of how voters were leaning towards, who they were leaning towards. And surprisingly, besides the fact that Hillary Clinton has been favored dramatically in the past here in Puerto Rico, today, there when were at the polls, they were quite lot of people supporting Bernie Sanders. I have to say people of all ages. A lot of youngsters. A lot of our college A students. A lot of students who were actually casting their first votes. There was a family, an entire family, a mom with her twin daughters. Her twin daughters were voting for the first time and it was actually Senator Sanders that dragged them out to vote. They were convincing their mother in line to change their vote from Hillary Clinton to Bernie Sanders. It was quite interesting to see the dynamic at the voting polls today Wolf. [Blitzer:] Dania, is there is big turnout, a modest turnout, what anecdotally are you seeing? [Alexandrino:] Well, I have to tell you, I've actually covered Democratic primaries here on the island in the past, in 2012 and in 2008. And I can compare on both occasions and this turnout has been in my experience covering elections, has been bigger. Obviously, you know, we were at three different polling stations because we also had local primaries. So there were quite a lot of people out voting today. Again, I have to reinforce the fact that we had local primaries as well. So in comparison to other times, yes, it seemed like there were more voting participation. And in terms of presidential primaries, it seemed to me like there was more. For example, the line for the Democratic primary, it was about an hour and a half wait. And people were patiently waiting. For local primaries, the wait wasn't that long. So, I have to say that in comparison to other times, it was a pretty good turnout. [Blitzer:] All right. Dania Alexandrino, we're going to stay in close touch with you. We expect to start getting results very soon from Puerto Rico. Hillary Clinton says, after Tuesday's big round of primaries she's going to do everything she possibly can to try to reach out and unify the Democratic Party. Right now, polls in California show the Democratic contest there neck and neck. And even though Hillary Clinton may be on the brink of clenching the Democratic nomination, a loss in delegate rich California could slow down momentum, hurt her going into the Democratic presidential convention. Let's bring in our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's on with the campaign trail with the Clinton campaign right now. And our CNN correspondent Chris Frates, he is covering the Sanders campaign. Jeff, first to you, what is Hillary Clinton talking about today? Is she focusing in on Bernie Sanders and the big contest coming up Tuesday in California, or is she already looking ahead to Donald Trump and a general election? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Wolf, Secretary Clinton throughout her weekend campaigning here in California has been talking about Donald Trump. She's been focusing squarely on Donald Trump, what she says you know, talking about his leadership, talking about other things she's not talking about Bernie Sanders. But her campaign behind the scenes is working to get out the Democratic vote. That is what's so important this weekend, Wolf. The reason is, she does not need the she does not need to win California. She's already has, you know, is on the cusp here of clenching the nomination. But the popular vote, she wants to build that up so at the end of all of this contest, they can say that, you know, she has x number of millions of votes more than Bernie Sanders here. The reality is, the Clinton campaign, she's working very hard here over the final 48 so. But Wolf, I was struck by one thing she said yesterday. She talks very seldom about the historic nature of her candidacy. About how she would be the first woman president, but that's what she did last night. Let's listen. [Clinton:] I know we've never done this before. We've never had a woman president. [Zeleny:] So, Wolf, you could tell there, Secretary Clinton talking about her experience, trying to contrast that with Donald Trump Wolf. [Blitzer:] Stand by, Jeff, for a moment. I want to bring in Chris Frates. He is covering the Sanders campaign today for us. Chris, what are the Sanders folks saying about their chances of actually winning over enough of those so-called super delegates to become the Democratic nominee by our estimate right now, Hillary Clinton has 547 super delegates, Bernie Sanders has 46 super delegates. [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, that's exactly right, Wolf. And so, Bernie Sanders is making the case that this really is an uphill climb. And as you take a look at that math, Hillary Clinton with more than 500 super delegates than Bernie Sanders and Bernie Sanders only picking up about four or five new super delegates in the last few days. The bulk of those super delegates still committed to Hillary Clinton. But Bernie Sanders saying about 400 of those super delegates committed to Hillary Clinton before he was even in the race. And he says no matter what happens on Tuesday, he wants the next five or six weeks before the convention to make his case to the super delegates about why they should switch and support him. He makes the case citing polls showing that he does better against Donald Trump than Hillary Clinton does. That he would be a better Democratic standard bearer. Although, yesterday during a press conference, he even made, he made the case that Hillary Clinton made a similar argument back in 2008 when she was taking on Barack Obama, that she would do better against John McCain. That didn't work out for Hillary Clinton. It still remains to be seen if it will work out for Bernie Sanders. And if you take a look at the fact that he continues to say he's going to have a contested convention, it really will depend on how well he can do here in California. He's been hitting Hillary Clinton very hard here across the state. He's had about 30 events in California. Brought out about 250,000 people. You can see behind me. He's going to do an event here today. Well, it looks like about five or six thousand people are going to come out. They really hope that turnout translates to votes on Tuesday, that he gets a big bounce, he wins California, and they could continue to make that case to the super delegates, although it's got a very, very tough case to make. I asked him yesterday, what happens if Hillary Clinton gets more pledge delegates after Tuesday, she'll have more pledge delegates, then she'll win the majority of pledge delegates, she'll have more super delegates, how can you make that case. Bernie Sanders says that's unlikely and he's going to continue to fight all the way to the convention. Although as you know, Wolf, things could look very different on Wednesday morning. So, Tuesday night, very crucial, we're watching it very closely here, Wolf? [Wolf:] We'll certainly will. Chris Frates for our reporting. Don't go too far away. Jeff Zeleny, we'll get back to you as well. Once again, any minute now, we're expecting the very first results of the Puerto Rico Democratic presidential primary. You remember, 60 delegates are at stake in Puerto Rico. If Hillary Clinton were to win all 60 of those, she would go over the threshold. That would be a big win in Puerto Rico. Potentially could push her to clinching the Democratic Party nomination. But it's a big, big challenge for Hillary Clinton would be relying on the support of the super delegates to be sure. Remember, though, super delegates, they can always change their minds about which candidate to support. Let's discuss what's going on with our political panel. Our senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson is with us. And the "INSIDE POLITICS" anchor John King, our chief national correspondent. John, so, our estimate, when you add the pledge delegates and the super delegates, she needs 60. That is the exact number of delegates available in Puerto Rico tonight. In order for her to win 60, she has to do incredibly well and Bernie Sanders has to come in under 15 percent. [John King, Cnn Anchor, Inside Politics:] I think the under 15 percent is unlikely for Bernie Sanders. You heard from our correspondent on the scene there, at least there seems to be that's anecdotal. But there seems to be at least some turnout of young voters. Some energy for Bernie Sanders. So, I think let's assume until we see otherwise. Bernie Sanders did not meet that threshold yesterday in the Virgin Islands. But Puerto Rico is a larger electorate. There's been more focus there. More resources spent there by the Sanders campaign. So let's see. Let's certainly gets over the 15 percent threshold. But Hillary Clinton won Puerto Rico in 2008. She won it quite convincingly in 2008 against Senator Obama. She is favored to win. Wolf, even if she gets 30 the Clinton campaign thinks she will do better than half. That she will get maybe 40 and perhaps, even higher than that. Is there any doubt that they have if they wanted to enough super delegates in their back pocket? There are super delegates who have not publicly announced who they're for yet. And we know many of them who are Clinton people. They just haven't publicly said so yet. There she have would she have enough to do that late tonight or tomorrow? Maybe. Would they do that? That's a different question. Would you prefer to let the voters do this, not to do it with super delegates? Because that would infuriate the Sanders campaign at a time they're trying to get Senator Sanders to dial back the rhetoric. But is there also any doubt that within minutes after the polls close Tuesday night in New Jersey, we will know that unless there is a super delegate revolt, she's the Democratic nominee. She'll get very close tonight, perhaps knocking on the door tonight, and then Tuesday night as we start counting the votes, New Jersey's first on the East Coast. A hundred plus delegates there. Hillary Clinton is favored to win. She's going to get what she needs out of the state of New Jersey. Again, barring a super delegate revolt. The Sanders' campaign says, they can flip. Senator Sanders says he's going to focus on them. But also remember what he's been doing for the last month or two. The party establishment has against me. The party chairwoman has rigged the system. The party chairwoman is trying to deny me this nomination. He's attacking the super delegates. He is attacking the establishment. The very people he says, I need you to flip and come over to me. He's been attacking. They're not going to change. [Blitzer:] First thing. Because we're looking at the super delegates and I know that Sanders' campaign doesn't like to look at the super delegates. But right now, by our estimate 547 for Hillary Clinton, 46 for Bernie Sanders. And what's interesting for the last several months, it's been very similar. Hillary Clinton's numbers have actually gone up. His numbers have gone up very, very modestly as far as those super delegates are concerned. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] That is right. And for weeks, he has been saying that his ultimate play is to get those super delegates to flip in a rush at the convention. We haven't seen any proof so far that any of these folks are willing to do that. Because they have looked at the two candidates whenever they did it. Some of them did it before Sanders was in the race. A lot of them have done it since then. They looked at these two candidates and judged that they think Hillary Clinton would be a stronger candidate, would be a stronger president. So, the argument that he's going to have to make is really based on polls, at these hypothetical matchups that he has with Donald Trump showing that he is stronger candidate. But let's keep in mind that most of those polls also show that Hillary Clinton is a pretty strong candidate against Donald Trump too. I think what's challenging for him at this point is that, by every metric, Hillary Clinton has won. I mean, she's three million voters ahead in terms of people who actually have gone to the polls and again made that decision on who to vote for. She's ahead in the pledge delegates. She's won most of the large states that have voted out of the nine big states that have voted so far, she's won eight of them. So, it's really hard I think for Bernie Sanders to make a compelling case to these super delegates that he hasn't already made. [Blitzer:] And by our estimate John, in order for Bernie Sanders after Tuesday, or even a week from Tuesday, after the District of Columbia, Democratic contest, in order for him to have more pledge delegates than she has, he would need to win almost 70 percent of all the remaining vote. [King:] Right. Between 68 and 69 percent. And again, what Senator Sanders has done in this campaign. Think about the ads at the beginning of the campaign, what he has done is nothing short of remarkable. And it's actually bigger than remarkable. He's a little pithy vote who has put a lot of dents in the aircraft carrier that is the Clintons. Hillary Clinton, the Democratic establishment. The history of Bill Clinton. However, can he win New Jersey? Maybe. Can he win Montana, South Dakota, North Dakota, probably? Can he win New Mexico? Probably not, but let's say he does. Even if he won them all, is he going to win them with 68 percent of the vote? That's just not going to happen. It's not going to happen. The question is, can he get close to that? The main point is he has to win California. If he loses California by one vote, it takes away whatever leverage, whatever moral argument he thinks he has left that he's coming out of the primaries with momentum, that he headed to the convention, you know, stronger than Trump in the general election polls, like beat you in the biggest state. So California is the key here. Now, to the point Chris Frates made, he made the point of the next 72 hours. You can expect, a lot of Democrats are mad about this. But you can understand why Senator Sanders would keep his foot on the accelerator right up until the last votes are counted in California. Because why would you just losing your supporters? Why would you say, I'm probably not going to win and risk deflating your own turnout. The question is, what does he say late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning if Hillary Clinton, not only to Nia's point, Senator Sanders likes to say this is about the super delegates. Why would those 400 people come out for her even people before well, indeed, because she has been a Democrat for 40 plus years, and he just became a Democrat. She is been helping the party including her rival Senator Obama in 2008. She's been helping the party for years. Senator Sanders tried to recruit a challenger for President Obama in 2012. So, as he says, why would they do that? He should remember his own history. [Henderson:] Yes. [King:] They are Democrat. And she is a Democrat. But the only argument here is for him to win California. Then the question is, what is his tone Wednesday morning if it's overwhelming. She's won 28 to 21 right now in contest. Pick your sport. If the score is 28 to 21, the person with 28 wins. [Wolf:] And she's got, as you point it out earlier, she's got about 55 percent of the popular vote, three million more votes than he has got received in all of these primaries and caucuses today. All right. Stand by. Everyone stand by. Up next, did Donald Trump cross a very clear line into major no-no territory? The man who is this close to the White House tears into a federal judge calling him a hater, knocking his ethnic heritage. Across the board, top Republicans are calling that a very bad idea. I'll ask a Trump campaign insider to explain. And we're standing by also for the first results coming in from the Democratic primary in Puerto Rico. [Brown:] Top Donald Trump babe Kellyanne Conway deflecting questions this morning about the Intel report, detailing how Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered cyberattacks to hurt Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump during the campaign. And here she is on "STATE OF THE UNION with Jake Tapper. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Senior Advisor/gop Pollster:] I don't want any of your viewers to be misled into thinking that somehow the Kremlin and the Republican Party that they had the Kremlin was dealing with any of the hackers in bringing that information back to Moscow and that somehow anybody who allegedly attempted to interfere our elections actually did. [Brown:] So while it is unclear whether it is actually swayed the election in anyway. The Intel report did make it clear that was the intention on the part of Russia. Joining me now, the former U.S. ambassador to NATO and former undersecretary of state for political affairs Nicholas Burns. Thank you, ambassador, for coming on. [Nicholas Burns, Former U.s. Ambassador To Nato:] Thank you. [Brown:] What do you make of the reaction to this report from the president-elect and his inner circle? [Burns:] I don't think that this is not a smart strategy by the Trump team to try to disavow the report or argue with the main conclusion because it's an extraordinary report. When you have the FBI and all the major intelligence agencies of the United States government agreeing that Russia did interfere with the election, I think the far smarter course for the Donald Trump and his team is to accept it and to agree that there should be further investigation by the Congress and by the U.S. government. And there has to be some response by the United States. President Obama has expelled 35 Russian intelligence agents from our country. Donald Trump ought to want to strike back at Vladimir Putin in a way to gain the advantage over Putin as Trump takes office. [Brown:] What do you say to this argument though from some in your world who say, maybe Donald Trump, maybe this is a strategy, he as helping Vladimir Putin save face so that perhaps the two countries could work together and he will not continue the same kind of behavior moving forward when Trump is in the White House. [Burns:] Well, I would say, the first thing you have to understand about Vladimir Putin. He is not sentimental. He's not just going to try to get along with Donald Trump and suddenly disavow position that the Russians have taken, say I'm Ukraine or Crimea or NATO. And certainly you can't expect honesty from Vladimir Putin about his open interference in our election. So I think the smartest strategy here would be to do in George W. Bush, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan did, Republican presidents, that's strengthen NATO in Europe, make sure that the United States is superior militarily, politically, economically as we are to Russia and deal from the position of strength, but not a weakness. And I fear that the Russian government probably sees Donald Trump as rather weak right now. And that is no position that you want the American president to be in. [Brown:] In your view, because the report made clear that Vladimir Putin had a grudge against Clinton going back for years, why do you think that Russia would want Donald Trump in the White House beyond is claim that you're making that you believe they view him as weak? [Burns:] Well, Secretary Clinton had been very tough minded with president Putin over the issue, certainly of Ukraine, she spoke out against the invasion of Ukraine and the occupation and annexation of Crimea in 2014. When she was in office prior to that, she dealt in a very tough way with the Russians and they remembered that. And then, they saw this American presidential candidate Donald Trump who refuses to criticize Russia under any circumstances, not even for their barbaric bombing of civilians in Aleppo. Not for the theft of Crimea. He didn't even speak up for the NATO ally. So I think the Russians looked at these two candidates and saw a completely different set of situations with Donald Trump than with Hillary Clinton. And that appears to be part of the motivation what the Russian government did when they interfered in our election last autumn. [Brown:] And here's what President Obama had to say ambassador about his handling the Vladimir Putin in an interview with ABC this week. Let's listen. [Barack Obama, Former President Of The United States:] You know, I don't think underestimated him, but I think that I underestimated the degree to which in this new information age. It is possible for misinformation, for cyber hacking and so forth to have an impact on our open societies, our open systems to insinuate themselves into our democratic practices in ways that I think are accelerating. [Brown:] So what do you think Ambassador? Do you think that the president underestimated Vladimir Putin? And do you think he should have come out earlier waited publicly and send a stronger warning to Russia rather than waiting until after the election months after he knew Russia was behind it. [Burns:] Well, I think President Obama made an interesting point there in the clip you showed. And a very interesting part of this intelligence community, FBI report, was this wasn't just Russia hacking the Democratic National Committee's email server. It was also a very sophisticated planning of fake stories and news reports, in Russia television, which is shown in the United States on cable, spreading absolute bald faced lies about the United States, it was a very sophisticated and comprehensive operate. President Obama said has said that he didn't want to, in essence, interfere in our election by making these statements about Russia during the election. He is taking action. And now I think is incumbent upon Donald Trump to defend our country. If you think about it, the most important responsibility of our president is to defend the United States. We have been attacked in cyber war by the Russians and therefore we have to respond to make sure that it doesn't happen again. [Brown:] But you make the point and President Obama said, look, he didn't want to interfere in the election, but if the Russians have this massive operation to push out fake news to sway the outcome, why wouldn't the administration come out more strongly earlier to alert the voting public about this? And point the finger directly at Russia, we know there was a statement made October 7th, but shouldn't this have come out sooner? [Burns:] Well, this was done by General Clapper, the director of national intelligence. The most senior intelligence official in the government actually made a press statement on October 7th to warn the American people that the Russian government was trying to interfere. I think that was probably the right call. For the president to have come out, I think were subjected to President to charges that he was in essence favoring Hillary Clinton, as of course he was in the election, but trying to tip the balance by using the presidency in the oval office. And I think he made the right call. But the pertinent question now is not to replay what happened in October is to think about January 20th and Donald Trump taking the oath of office. He needs to defend us. He needs to speak up for NATO. He needs to criticize the Russian government for what it did. And not think as to somehow an attempt to delegitimize his election. He won the election fair and square. He is going to be our president. But he now needs to act presidential and he needs to rally the west, because the Russians are going to try to interfere in the French elections in April, and the German elections in September. And we have a responsibility to those allies as well as to all Americans to protect our democracies from an anti-democratic country and authoritarian government, the government of Vladimir Putin. [Brown:] OK. Former ambassador Nicholas Burns, thank you very much. [Burns:] Thank you very much. [Brown:] Coming up, spotlight time for several of the president-elect's top cabinet picks. Democrats on Capitol Hill have a long list of complaints, but are any in real danger of not winning confirmation? We will discuss it live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] And thanks to everyone across the globe for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. [Errol Barnett, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Errol Barnett. We are your anchor team for the next two hours. This is [Cnn Newsroom. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Church:] Breaking news at this hour, in Afghanistan government officials say a suicide car bomber was behind a deadly explosion in central Kabul. The Afghan president says a number of people were killed and injured in that blast. A U.S. embassy spokeswoman told CNN it was heard near the embassy compound. [Barnett:] Now, this compound is also home to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan. Journalist Sune Engall Rasmussen joins us from Kabul with the latest on all of this. This explosion took place just in the past hour. Tell us what you know about how it unfolded and what took place. [Sune Engall Rasmussen, Journalist:] The explosion took place more or less an hour and a half ago. This is in an area, like you said, a kilometer away from the American embassy. It took place in an area which is home to government ministries and some intelligence headquarters. But we don't know yet what the exact target was. The authorities here are being very scarce in details when they tell us about this attack. The presidential palace has put out a statement saying that a number of civilians were injured. We don't know what that exact number is. We don't know how many civilians or casualties or how many security forces. But there is a fear that casualties might be quite high as this area is crowded around 9:00 in the morning local time on a Tuesday. That's the fear. [Barnett:] As you're speaking to us, we're seeing some footage of Kabul, our first glimpse of the scene and some of the activity there. Is there still ongoing gunfire or do you get the sense that the situation has ended? [Rasmussen:] The latest I heard was that there was still gunfire in the area. But I have to say it's difficult to confirm this because the security forces have cordoned off a very large area around the site, so it's difficult for journalists to come close to the area. This is something security forces tend to do when there's an attack like this in Kabul, both to have the peace to work but also to prevent other attacks from making a follow-up attack. But from what I heard most recently there, was still some gunfire in the area that also corresponds with the fact that the ministry of interior, the ministry of defense, the normal sources on this are not really issuing any statements at the moment. [Barnett:] One witness has been sharing some images on social media he saying the windows of his room were blown out from the blast. There have been attacks like this in Kabul in the past. Typically the Afghan Taliban claims responsibility. If we pursue that theory of who may be behind this, could it be connected in any way to the government's springtime offensive in the West of the country? [Rasmussen:] The springtime offensive is a Taliban offensive. It was announced last week. This is an annual occurrence. The Taliban always announce an annual spring offensive where they're going to increase attacks across the country. So yes, this could be part of the spring offensive which the Taliban claim responsibility. That's what they're going to say. But attacks in Kabul have happened independent of the spring offensive. Attacks over Christmas season or in December close to Christmas, which were also quite serious. So we'll have to wait and see if the Taliban claim attacks among militant groups that conduct attacks from time to time. [Barnett:] We could be witnessing the Taliban's spring offensive under way or could be another militant group. All of this still unfolding. Sune Engall Rasmussen joining us from Kabul. We will reconnect with you in the hours ahead as we get more information. Thanks very much. [Rasmussen:] You're welcome. [Church:] We turn to Ecuador, and it's reeling from Saturday's earthquake. The death toll has soared to 413. Another big jump as more bodies are pulled from the debris. [Barnett:] Damaged roads, heavy rain and power outages are slowing the rescue and relief efforts, but there are some signs of hope. Three people were saved in Manta when firefighters cut a hole in the ceiling of a collapsed building to get people out. You see it unfold there. [Church:] And more police are being deployed to the hardest-hit areas along the coast. But it's time, of course, that poses the biggest threat right now. Our Rafael Romo has the very latest. [Rafael Romo, Cnn Latin American Editor:] In the city of Pedernales a ray of hope. Rescuers pull a 7-year-old girl from the rubble. Nearly 27 hours after the earthquake hit. In the coastal city of Porto Viejo, one of the hardest-hit areas, relatives of the victims pleaded with the Ecuadorian vice president. "They are still alive," this man said, pointing to the mounds of rubble all around his neighborhood. Moments later, a woman breaks into tears, saying "She badly needs help." In Guayaquil, Ecuador's largest and most-populous city, rescue crews and passersby join efforts to pull out people in a car under a collapsed bridge. "The situation is very serious, but we will recover from this," the president said. "The only things we can't recover are the lives that have been lost. The sorrow is immense." [Unidentified Male:] The situation is grave. Six provinces have been declared as an emergency. Two of the provinces most hit are Esmeraldas Marabi along the coast. These are poor and vulnerable areas of Ecuador. [Romo:] The 7.8 magnitude earthquake hit Saturday just before 7: 00 in the evening. People were shopping at a busy supermarket in Guayaquil when the floor began shaking and they had to run for their lives with merchandise falling off the shelves and lights going off. This is Ecuador's deadliest earthquake since 18987 when a 7.2 magnitude temblor killed about 1,000 people. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta. [Barnett:] Japan is also struggling with the aftermath of earthquakes. In fact, we have this drone footage we can show you revealing the long cracks in the ground caused by landslides. At least 44 people have been killed in the two earthquakes there which struck Kyushu Island Thursday and on Saturday. [Church:] And more than 1,000 injured rescuers are battling aftershocks as they search for survivors. Officials warn of more building collapses and landslides. About 180,000 people have fled their homes. [Barnett:] Consider this. In less than four months, Brazil will host the Summer Olympics. Local officials and the International Olympic Committee are happy with the preparations. [Church:] But there's some uncertainty in the air, of course. Brazil's president may soon have to step down to defend herself in an impeachment trial. President Dilma Rousseff describes the situation as a coup. Shasta Darlington has more. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn Correspondent:] Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff speaking out for the first time since a crushing defeat in the lower house of Congress where lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to push forward with her impeachment. They accuse her of breaking budgetary laws to hide a budget deficit. Rousseff told journalists at the presidential palace on Monday that she hadn't committed any crimes or broken any laws. [Dilma Rousseff, Brazilian President:] The acts that they accuse me of, they were practiced by other presidents in the republic before me, and it wasn't characterized as being illegal acts or criminal acts. They were considered legal. Therefore, when I feel injustice, it's because with me I was treated like no one else was treated. [Darlington:] Now, there's no doubt that Rousseff is a very unpopular leader. She's got an approval rating down near 10 percent, thanks in large part to a prolonged recession, to a corruption scandal that has implicated many in her own party. But when speaking to journalists, Rousseff pointed out that she herself hasn't been implicated in the corruption scandal or accused of socking away money in Swiss bank accounts. She accused those driving the impeachment effort of really carrying out a coup d'etat, especially since so many of the lawmakers behind this effort have been accused of the very same crimes. And she said she's going to fight it's same way she fought the military dictatorship back when she was a young guerrilla. [Rousseff:] In my youth, I faced the dictatorship with conviction, and now I face with conviction a coup, a coup that is not only a traditional coup from when I was young but, unfortunately, this is a coup that is traditional of my maturity. [Darlington:] In the meantime, the impeachment motion moved on to the Senate on Monday. The opposition only needs a simple majority for it to be approved there, in which case an impeachment trial to be launched. Rousseff would be forced to step down for 180 days to defend herself. All this could happen as early May while Brazil gears up to host the Summer Olympics in August. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Brasilia. [Barnett:] All right, Rosie, check your watch. Are you wearing a watch? [Church:] Check, check. [Barnett:] OK. The polls open in less than four hours in New York, where Democrats and Republicans will cast their votes in that state's presidential primaries. Now, for the Republicans 95 delegates are at stake, and for the Democrats, 247 delegates, plus 44 of those super delegates. [Church:] It's worth noting the state has voted Democratic in every presidential election since 1988. Donald Trump, though, is a heavy favorite to win the Republican contest. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Tomorrow, we're going to show Ted Cruz, who hates New York. Hates New York. When you look at that debate and you see the way he talked about us and New York values, no New Yorker can vote for Ted Cruz. [Barnett:] And on the Democratic side, Hillary Clinton has consistently topped Bernie Sanders in the polls in New York. But Sanders has a message for his supporters that he says could lead to an upset. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] We win when the turnout is high. We lose when the turnout is low. Tomorrow, let us all do everything we can to make sure that New York State has the largest turnout in a Democratic primary in its history. [Barnett:] Joining me now from New York is CNN political commentator, Angela Rye. She's a Democratic strategist and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. Angela, thanks for joining us today. What do you make of this new national poll taken by "NBC News" and the "Wall Street Journal," which finds Hillary Clinton is only two percentage points ahead of Senator Bernie Sanders nationally, 50 percent to 48 percent, essentially a statistical tie? What do you make of that? [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think it's very interesting given the fact that so far Hillary Clinton's math is not aligning with what folks are calling Bernie Sanders' momentum. So while Bernie Sanders has done very well in the last eight states, of course he's won eight of the last nine contests, these numbers would be on par with that. However, the trouble is the mathematics when it comes to delegate count and of course the super delegate count, it's not in alignment at all. [Barnett:] Should Bernie Sanders still have his eyes set on the nomination or should he now be looking for a second best option, perhaps a change in caucusing rules, some more independents can participate in the nomination process, something more long-standing like his legacy? Or is that too soon? [Rye:] Well, I think a couple things. One is I think that to Bernie Sanders' campaign to decide. I'm certainly glad that he continues to be in the race. It makes our side of the equation a little more exciting. Nothing can beat the reality show of the Republican Party right now. But I would certainly say I'm glad he's in the race. He's made his imprint already. His legacy is clear. Wall Street has become a key focal point of this particular election. Middle class and low-income voters have become a key focal point of this election. And that would not be the case if Bernie Sanders was not in the race talking about citizens united and its impact on campaign financing and the election. What wages should be, he's talking about $15 an hour. What the impact on Wall Street has been, and of course again talking about black voters and other people of color, we were hit the hardest with that particular crisis, with the mortgage crisis. So he's been speaking to issues that a lot of folks in this country wouldn't be hearing if he hadn't been in the race thus far. So it's very important that he's here. [Barnett:] And some people complain that oh, he's only been striking this one note. But it resonates and it continues to resonate nationally. Who knows? New York may have another surprise in store for us. We shall see. Angela Rye, CNN political commentator. Thanks for joining us today from New York. Appreciate it. [Rye:] Thank you. [Church:] Israeli police are investigating an explosion that engulfed a bus in flames during Jerusalem's evening rush hour. [Barnett:] They say at least 21 people were injured when a device went off, setting this bus and other vehicles there on fire. [2:14:44] [Church:] Investigators have not ruled out terrorism but are calling this attack deliberate. Even so, the Israeli president and prime minister are calling the blast a terrorist attack. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:] We will locate those who prepared this terrorist bomb. We will reach those who dispatched them. We will also reach those who stand behind them. [Barnett:] This incident comes amid a seven-month-long wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis throughout Israel and the West Bank. Now, a town in Iraq has suffered chemical attacks from ISIS. We'll look at the aftermath and see what it means about the group's growing capabilities. [Church:] And the latest strain on U.S. relations with Saudi Arabia as President Obama heads there. [Barnett:] Plus, another big-time rock band raises its voice against a new law in North Carolina. We will tell you who. [Costello:] Turkey has grown so alarmed by ISIS attacks along its southern border that it's asked for an urgent meeting with NATO. NATO says the consultations will begin tomorrow. The hastily-called meeting follows a string of deadly attacks that Turkey blames on ISIS and it wants help in establishing a buffer zone between Turkey and the terror group. Let's bring in Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr to tell us more. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Good morning Carol. The U.S. will be at the table tomorrow in Brussels when all of the NATO nations sit down to talk about this. Turkey making its case that ISIS now presents a security threat to that country, which is a NATO ally. Right now what U.S. Officials say is now that they have access to air bases in southern Turkey, closer to the Syrian border, they will start talking to the Turks about some sort of cooperation, some sort of arrangement not very specific yet about establishing some sort of ISIS-free zone along the TurkishSyrian border. Not clear that this is going to be an official no-fly zone with U.S. military patrolling the skies all the time. And, of course, the U.S. has really pressed Turkey in recent months to crack down on its own border, to stop fighters and weapons from flowing across into Syria. By all accounts the recent ISIS attacks have unnerved the Turks, but they are also going after Kurdish forces. These are units that the Turks believe are terrorists and separatists. The U.S. believes that some of them are very effective fighters against ISIS. So it's becoming a complicated battlefield but the bottom line is it looks like the U.S. involvement, the U.S. military involvement is set to increase Carol. [Costello:] All right. Barbara Starr, reporting live for us this morning, thank you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Chrysler is finding out screwing up recalls is dangerous and very, very expensive a record fine for the automaker. [Pereira:] It's been a really special week here at CNN. We've been sharing stories about the people who had an incredible impact or influence on our lives. It all culminates in a two-hour special this Sunday hosted by a guy you may have heard of, Anderson Cooper, and myself called "The Person Who Changed My Life." This morning, guess who is in the hot seat? CNN anchor Don Lemon. [Cuomo:] There he is. [Pereira:] I cannot wait to hear this story. [Camerota:] I can't wait to hear it either. [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] We're going to church. We're going to church. You know, sometimes in life you go through some things. And I went through some things. And I am a loner. Chris knows. Chris and I hang out. [Pereira:] You're a social butterfly. [Lemon:] No, I am. People think that I am. [Cuomo:] Makes me feel good as your friend when you call yourself a loner, by the way. [Lemon:] I'm pretty much a loner. I've been a loner for most of my life. So it shouldn't be surprising as you'll hear in the piece that the person who changed my life They had no idea that they did and I didn't even really know him personally. So here it is. It might sound strange, maybe even impossible, but the person who changed my life is someone I've never even met. [Unidentified Male:] Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah... [Lemon:] Through the power of his voice and his message, Bishop T.D. Jakes pulled me out of a crisis more than a decade ago. And I wouldn't be where I am today if I hadn't heard for his words. [Bishop T.d. Jakes, Person Who Changed Don Lemon's Life:] I hear it in my spirit. Somebody say I hear it in my spirit. You should hear things in your spirit that contradict what you hear with your natural ear. You have got to be willing to be criticized because you are hearing on a level that other people don't hear and you are seeing on a level that they don't see and you are building for things that they don't even understand because it hasn't appeared yet. But it's Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying? [Lemon:] Do you know how much I listen to you? [Bishop Jakes:] No. I'm shocked. [Lemon:] You are the voice in my head. You are the voice in my head. In many ways you have changed my life. [Bishop Jakes:] Wow. When I got the letter that you could have picked anybody as a hero, as a mentor, and that you chose me I was like I thought it was a joke. But what I am so grateful for is that I could say anything that made anybody's life better, you know. That I could do something that other people would find useful. Because I grew up not thinking that I had anything at all to offer to anybody. [Lemon:] This is a story about dreams. For as long as I can remember my dream was to be a journalist. So I worked my way up, all the way to NBC News in New York City. [on camera]: It was very exciting. But I was never at home. So I took a chance. I believe in taking chances. I took chance for my big network gig. And I went to Chicago to become a local news anchor. They told me when I came there I would do the big stories and specials and that I would be the anchor. And then I ended up knocking on people's doors and doing local how how do you feel about your child who's dead? And I said I don't want to do this. I took a stand for myself. And I got suspended and almost got fired. So I went to this really low place. And I had to reach and find something to keep me alive. And at that low point I found T.D. Jakes. [Bishop Jakes:] Look at your neighbor and say, neighbor... [Crowd:] Neighbor. [Bishop Jakes:] You don't have to believe... [Crowd:] You don't have to believe. [Bishop Jakes:] This is my dream. [Crowd:] This is my dream. [Lemon:] There was a sermon that resonates with me that saved my life. I could probably repeat it by heart. [Bishop Jakes:] Wow. [Lemon:] Yeah. [Bishop Jakes:] You probably do it better than I do. [Lemon:] But it's called "My Dream." [Bishop Jakes:] But to all of you that have a dream that's bigger than you. To all of you who have a dream and it looks like the people don't want to get with the program, I want you to say it. Say hey neighbor. [Lemon:] Hey neighbor. [Bishop Jakes:] You don't have to believe, in my dream. [Lemon:] You don't have to believe in my dream. [Bishop Jakes:] Wow. [Lemon:] And I do that in the gym. I look at people on the next machine. [Bishop Jakes:] Oh really? [Lemon:] Or I'll be running [Bishop Jakes:] They're going to lock us both up. [Lemon:] And they just look at me and laugh and I just keep moving. [Bishop Jakes:] Look at your neighbor and say I don't have time to wait. I don't have time for you to figure who I really am, what I really meant, understand my true heart, take into account how I was raised, where I came from or what I've been through. By the time you get through that I'll be an old man and be dead. [Lemon:] That was all I needed to hear. He had me right there. So my dream wasn't to go to a poor mother's house and say how do you feel about your kid who's dead. My dream was to make people in the world better through my work. You have to be fearless. How you do it? I think you just do it one step at a time. When I'm going when I went through what I went through in Chicago, as I would run on that path, I would just say one foot in front of the other. [Bishop Jakes:] You thought I wasn't gonna survive? Ha, ha, ha. Girl, please. Let me [Lemon:] Listening to T.D. Jakes, I came to realize that I had the power to change my situation. [Bishop Jakes:] I can [inaudible] because I got something. I'm not intimidated by any man because I got something. [Lemon:] That we all have the power to control our own lives. [on camera]: The difference between negativity and positivity is just [snaps] that. [Bishop Jakes:] Absolutely. [Lemon:] You've helped flip that switch for me. How do you do that? [Bishop Jakes:] Well, I think if there's something unique about me, I have been down. I have been broke, I have been depressed, I have been suicidal. I have had my car repossessed. I know what it is not to have all my utilities or I know what it is to use my neighbor's phone. So when you've seen life from down under and you finally get up over where you can talk the fuel that pushes me comes from where I came from, not where I'm going to. [Lemon:] After I came to CNN, I interviewed Bishop Jakes about his work, his books, and the news of the day. But I never told him how much he inspires me or what he means to my life. [on camera]: Most of my adult life, the father figure that I've had in my head is you. [Bishop Jakes:] That's amazing to me. [Lemon:] So thank you for the tough love, the inspiration, for understanding me when I didn't even know you and now that I know you for understanding me even more. [Bishop Jakes:] To know that I am helping you gives my life meaning. My destiny is to help you reach yours. And the one thing that I know for sure, when you started talking a moment ago, I heard your heart speak. And hearts don't lie. Hearts really don't lie. [Lemon:] When someone changes your being and the way you look at the world and life, that is invaluable. [Pereira:] Hearts do not lie, Don Lemon. He was a light, a beacon in your life. You two are a mess over there. Aren't you? [Lemon:] Yes. [Camerota:] That was beautiful, Don. [Cuomo:] That's why I carry the handkerchief. [Lemon:] Thank you, Chris. [Camerota:] I know. Thank you. [Lemon:] Yes. He makes everyone feel as if he's speaking just [Pereira:] To them. [Lemon:] To them. And [Pereira:] It comes through from the television, doesn't it? [Lemon:] He is. But here is the thing that I want everybody to know. People wonder why I do what I do and I give the commentary that I give and I have the point of view that I have. I came from nothing. Nothing. And if I can do it, you, little black boy or little black girl at home, can do it as well. There are no excuses of where you came from. And so if I can do it, you can do it. We all can do it. And then I said the difference between positivity and negativity is that. It is all how you look at your particular situation and how you react to it. [Pereira:] But it also sometimes takes somebody else. [Lemon:] Somebody else. [Pereira:] Yes. [Lemon:] Like a T.D. Jakes to show you that and that's why I would like to lead the way to show people that. And sometimes it comes off as people don't understand. They think that, you know, you're judging, you think you're better or whatever. Sometimes people say I think that I'm white. I know who I am. I'm a black boy from Louisiana, a little black boy, who had big teeth and big ears who grew into it, thankfully. And who grew up with a single mom who taught me that you go out there, I don't care what people tell you you can do. She would tell me, quite honestly, if this person can do it, you can do it. If that white kid can do it, you can do it. You just work your ass off, she says. And that is how you are going to do it. And don't let anyone tell you who you are. You decide who you are. You are not the "n" word. [Pereira:] That is why this has been such an interesting process for all of us. It's been really revealing to each one of us, but also for you at home. And you can get more on some of our pictures, you will see some video, you will see some bad hairdos. Go to CNN.comlifechangers. While you're there also tell us who changed your life. You can tweet us using the #MyLifeChanger. And as we mentioned, catch Anderson and I this Sunday. It's all of the pieces together. It's a two-hour special. Bring your Kleenex box. "The Person Who Changed My Life," 8:00 p.m. Eastern. It's really inspiring. [Lemon:] Thank you, Bishop Jakes. Thank you so much. [Camerota:] That was great to hear from him. [Pereira:] Up next, guess who? [Lemon:] Oh, Ms. Costello. [Pereira:] Yes. Because she's going to share her story in the 10:00 hour of "NEWSROOM" which conveniently starts right after this short break. [Camerota:] Perfect. [Pereira:] That was beautiful, Don. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] In just six hours, Hillary Clinton will face tough questions on Capitol Hill over the Benghazi terror attack. Were early call for more security ignored? [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Paul Ryan, he can be speaker of the House if he wants to be. New support overnight from a group of some of the most conservative Republicans. [Romans:] How Biden got the know and how this changes the race for president. That was quite a day in news, after we left here yesterday. [Berman:] Yes, a lot going on. [Romans:] Good morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, October 22nd, 4:00 a.m. in the East. And it all happens this morning, Hillary Clinton goes before the House Benghazi Committee, questions and answers that could last eight hours. This will be a long day. The committee says its focus will be the 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi in Libya. The attacks that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. The Republican- led committee is expected to ask then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about what she knew of reported security problems at the compound. [Rep. Susan Brooks , Indiana:] I'm particularly focused on the security incidents and the posture of the State Department with respect to the security requests. We have learned through emails and through documents. But there were hundreds of mentions about security incidents particularly in 2012. So, we have questions for the secretary about what she did with respect to those security requests. [Berman:] So, there are huge political stakes as well. Hillary Clinton, you may have heard, is running for president. Many Democrats say this is all about the campaign. CNN's Elise Labott has the latest from Washington. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, John, Christine, after months of anticipation, the day is finally here. It's going to be a long day. We understand there will be four two- hour rounds of questioning of Secretary Clinton, with breaks. Aides to Clinton say she's ready. She's spent the week preparing with policy and legal teams, going over potential questions and studying up on the events leading up to and following the Benghazi attacks. It was a long time ago, after all. Now, there have been more than a half dozen congressional investigations following the attacks. But there has been a greater political tone to this one. Democrats, of course, maintain it was designed as a takedown of Clinton. And you have a string of comments recently by Republicans almost backing up those accusations. But Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy says he will prove the committee is not about politics with a hearing that is respectful of Clinton and focuses on the facts surrounding the Benghazi attacks. Democrats, Republicans, the State Department, all will be watching this hearing, putting out their own spin, or their own talking points. But for Secretary Clinton, this is really a chance to defend her record at secretary of state and argue that this committee is retreading old ground here. And, you know, in some ways, it's a chance to lay out her foreign policy as she campaigns to be commander in chief. So, clearly, this hearing a key moment for the presidential campaign the future of this committee John, Christine. [Romans:] All right. Elise Labott, we know we'll be covering it for us this morning. Thank you for that. Breaking overnight, Congressman Paul Ryan clearing a major hurdle in his reluctant bid to become speaker of the house. Last night, a supermajority of the House Freedom Caucus of hard right Republicans, they voted to back Ryan. Not quite enough for a formal endorsement. [Reporter:] The Freedom Caucus supports him but didn't fully endorse him. What does that mean in practical terms? [Rep. Mick Mulvaney , South Carolina:] Well, practical terms means we couldn't get 80 percent as our rules require. But we got more than two-thirds of our group saying they want to support Paul for speaker. So, if Paul really has the votes that we all think that he has in the other portions of our conference, he's got enough votes to be the speaker of the House. [Romans:] Ryan had earlier said a formal endorsement as a condition of his bid. But by last night, two-thirds was enough for him. Ryan tweeted, "I'm grateful for the support of the supermajority of the House Freedom Caucus. I look forward to hearing from the other two caucuses by the end of the week, but I believe this is a positive step toward a unified Republican team." You called his negotiating tactics muscular. His politics, muscular [Berman:] Yes. [Romans:] Muscular moving in here. So interesting that he came in, you know, much like you would in corporate America, if you're in demand for a hard job, you go right in there, you say, this is what I need to do this job. Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom and we'll see if he gets all of his conditions. [Berman:] He also came in a little bit like Michael Corleone, whacking the heads of the other five families. You know, I mean, he went in strong and he's getting what he wants and it may make it easier for him to govern as speaker. [Romans:] One of the things he also, a lot of people talking yesterday, one of the things he said he wanted was family time. He said, the last condition was, you know, I'm not going to sacrifice time with my family. Interesting it's a gen-X guy who is out there changing the conversation about worklife balance, huh? [Berman:] Dude is my age. I know what he's just talking about. Seriously. [Romans:] Right. [Berman:] All right. New details this morning about Joe Biden's decision not the run for president. The vice president ended months of intense speculation, much of it wrong, with an announcement in the Rose Garden. [Joseph Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent. I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party, and where we need to go as a nation. [Berman:] This is, of course, big news for Hillary Clinton. Polls show she is likely to benefit most from the absence of the vice president. Let's get more now from senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning. In the end, Joe Biden followed his head not his heart, as he decided to back away from what is surely his last chance at the presidency. In closing the doors to weeks of self-induced speculation about joining the 2016 presidential race, he opens the door to the rest of the Democratic campaign. So, was he ever serious at all? Several advisers and friends insist that he was. I'm told the more he knew about the race, the more exploring he did in calls of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, the more daunting his path to victory actually seemed. So, over the past several days, when he was out calling Hillary Clinton for saying Republicans are the biggest enemies, he wasn't firing a warning shot as much as offering a lesson in bipartisanship for how he thinks Washington should actually work. Now, Hillary Clinton is surely relieved. Bernie Sanders is now the leading alternative if Democrats are still looking for one. Now, Biden made clear he would not remain silent in the race going forward, urging Democrats to embrace President Obama and his legacy tightly. But his endorsement may depend on which candidate listens John and Christine. [Romans:] All right. Jeff Zeleny, thanks for that, Jeff. Other presidential candidates, Democrat and Republican, quickly weighed in on Biden's decision. Hillary Clinton tweeted, "The VP is a good friend and a great man, today and always, inspired by his optimism and commitment to change the world for the better". She signed it "H," so you know she wrote that. Well, others expressed their sentiments on camera. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] He made a difficult decision, based on the needs of his family and his view of his future. And I respect the decision that he made. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] I was actually I'm kind of surprised. I thought he was going to run. I thought he would have been a competitive candidate in the Democratic nomination. [Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] It pretty much guarantees that Hillary will be the person that we're running against. [Reporter:] What about Bernie Sanders? [Carson:] It pretty much guarantees that Hillary will be the one we're running against. [Mike Huckabee , Presidential Candidate:] I think I given the field, it looks like Hillary Clinton is on her way as I always felt would be the case. And, you know, the Democrats have a candidate under extraordinary scrutiny. [Berman:] I know what you're thinking. What did Donald Trump say? Well, he managed to compliment Joe Biden for his decision while taking a shot at Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump is also marking a personal milestone in his presidential campaign. CNN's Sara Murray has the very latest from Iowa. [Sara Murray, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Good morning, John and Christine. Donald Trump took the stage here in Burlington, Iowa, last night, celebrating his 100th day leading the GOP field. You can count on Trump to give the people what they want, a dose of conservative red meat delivered in entirely unscripted manner. But, first, he had a message for Vice President Joe Biden. You did the right thing in deciding not to run for the presidency. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] So we had some news today. That Biden is not running. [Murray:] And, of course, there's a reason Donald Trump would prefer to run against Hillary Clinton. Polls show that in a head-to-head matchup, he faces a much tougher fight if he's up against Joe Biden than if he's up against the Democratic front-runner, Clinton. But, of course, that's a matchup that will never come to pass. Back to you, John and Christine. [Romans:] All right, Sara. Thank you. Security in Afghanistan will be at the top of the agenda as the President Obama meets with the Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at the White House today. Just last week, President Obama announced 5,500 U.S. troops would remain in Afghanistan until 2017 to help stabilize the region. The U.S. wants Pakistan's government to convince the Taliban to participate in peace talks. Also on the table, sensitive nuclear negotiations. Sharif plans to tell President Obama that Pakistan will not accept limits on its use of small tactical nuclear weapons. He claims they are vital to deterring neighboring India from attacking. [Berman:] All right. Concerning news for the CIA director this morning. WikiLeaks vowing to publish personal information hacked from John Brennan's personal email file. On Wednesday, Social Security and passport numbers belonging to the director and his family, they were revealed online, causing a great deal of consternation at the agency. Though we are told no classified data was stolen. WikiLeaks is promising another data dump today. Posting this tweet Wednesday, "Tomorrow, we continue our CIA chief John Brennan e-mail series, including on U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and Pakistan." [Romans:] All right. Time for an early start on your money this morning. Stock futures pointing higher. Companies opening books this morning. Earnings reports from McDonald's, Southwest, United Continental and many others. Yesterday, stocks fell. The Dow dropped 50 points, investors cautious as earnings expected to show companies have contracting profits for the first time since 2009. It means profits falling. Donald Trump's billionaire friend will spend $150 million to fight Congress. Hedge fund manager Carl Icahn announced he will use his substantial fortune to form a political action committee and it will have one goal in mind: force Congress to get its act together. He wants major corporate tax reform, so companies will stop moving overseas and will bring back profits held abroad. Icahn, one of Trump's biggest supporters and his pick for secretary of state if elected. [Berman:] All right. 1908 just got one year further away. The New York Mets swept the Chicago Cubs. That means they won each of four games in a row to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2000. Didn't take long last night. The Mets led 4-zip after one inning, 6- zip after two. The final score was 8-3. In the four games, the Chicago Cubs, they never led once. So, Daniel Murphy, who is sort of like an average player during the year, maybe a little better than average, he's been playing out of his mind. He was named the series MVP. He set a new record with a home run in his sixth straight post-season game. You cannot defeat Daniel Murphy. Now, the Mets will face the winner of the American League Championship Series. That was sent to a sixth game because Toronto beat Kansas City 7-1 last night. Thought the Royals still lead that series, 3-2. Game six, tomorrow. [Romans:] Can I just you know, unbelievable. I feel bad for my Cubs. I know Mets fans are very happy this morning. I just misspoke. I said that Carl Icahn would be the pick for secretary of state. I meant treasury secretary. [Berman:] Good God. I'm glad you fixed that. [Romans:] Let's have Wall Street running foreign policy. [Berman:] I'm just glad we cleared that up. [Romans:] Breaking news this morning: Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with Israel's prime minister, hoping to halt rising tensions and violence with Palestinians. We are live. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] with love. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman is off today. The pledge is over, it seems. And arch rivals, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, holding rallies in Wisconsin. That's the next big battle ground in the race for the White House. Live pictures of both. On your right, the Trump event. And on your left, Ted Cruz is set to roll out His Women for Cruz coalition. He's expected to be joined there by his wife, Heidi, and his mother, as well as Carly Fiorina. In the meantime, all eyes are on the Trump event after his campaign manager is now facing a battery charge for manhandling a reporter at an event earlier this month. Trump is standing by his man, though. And all of it is happening as all of the Republican candidates are backing away from a pledge to support the party's eventual nominee. We have reporters at both events covering this, now, especially after last night's CNN's town hall. Let's go to CNN's Phil Mattingly who is live at the Trump event. Phil, what are we expecting this morning? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Kate, if you had any expectation that the Trump campaign was going to reverse course or not be on offense or even apologize in the wake of what happened to Corey Lewandowski, the Trump campaign manager, you were wrong. You had to watch the town hall last night. Take a listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I stick up for people when people are unjustly accused. And, in my opinion, unjustly accused. She's grabbing me, he walks in to stop it, she walked through Secret Service, had a pen in her hand, which would have been a knife. She should not have been doing that. [Mattingly:] Kate, obviously Donald Trump nothing if not consistent. There's not an assumption he'll ditch Corey Lewandowski. It's the opposite of what we've seen over the entire campaign, but certainly sticking by his campaign manager now. And in Wisconsin a big push for the Trump campaign. 42 delegates at stake. A very tight race with Ted Cruz. So a lot to keep an eye on Kate? [Bolduan:] A lot to keep an eye on. We can hear the crowd behind you. As well, Donald Trump will be taking the stage. You mentioned consistent on that issues. None of the candidates consistent on the issue of the pledge if they would support the eventual nominee. Everyone listening to hear what will happen to that. The loyalty pledge has been thrown in the trash. Phil Mattingly is at the Trump event for us. Now let's go now to CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, at the Cruz event in Madison, Wisconsin. Sunlen, the war, the feud has gotten worse and now we're watching feuding rallies as they are about to get under way. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Kate. Ted Cruz is holding a different sort of event. This is solely focused on women's issues. They're rolling out in a formal capacity this Women for Cruz coalition for Ted Cruz. He'll be joined on stage, notably by his wife, Heidi Cruz, and his mother, Eleanor Cruz. She has been seen but not really heard on the campaign trail. There's will be a sort of a free flowing discussion up on stage discussing women's issues. We've spent a little bit of time before this event started talking to some of the women the tone and tenor of this campaign, mostly Cruz supporters. There's some undecideds here. [Unidentified Female:] I'm old fashion enough to believe in good manners for everybody and I would love to see a little more civility among everybody, and every candidate and every issue, including women. I was anxious to see Ed Cruz and he never mudslings and he's a Christian man. I'm a Christian so I support Ted because of that, too. I don't think Donald's lifestyle supports him as being a Christian. He's been divorced and married I think three times. He talks I don't know. His past history of the things he said has been degrading to women. [Serfaty:] Now, the timing of this event is certainly notable given this is just one week after the fierce battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz over their spouses, so certainly making a very optic message here, displaying Ted Cruz's wife and mother. The Cruz campaign admitting and acknowledging that this draw as clear contrast with Donald Trump. It will be interesting to see how he addresses that on stage tonight Kate? [Bolduan:] Absolutely. We'll keep an eye on both of these events and we'll dip in when they start. Sunlen is there for us. Phil Mattingly following the Trump event. As we are waiting to hear what the candidates say, let's discuss what they've already said, and that's a lot, especially after last night's CNN town hall. Joining me now is senior adviser to the Trump campaign, Barry Bennett, formerly the campaign manager for the Ben Carson campaign; and CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist, Donna Brazile; Republican strategist, the former chief of staff for Senator Mitch McConnell, Josh Holmes; and CNN's chief political correspond, Dana Bash, live in Milwaukee. Guys, it's great to see you. Barry, let's begin where Phil Mattingly began for us this morning, Donald Trump standing by his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski. When you look back in not so recent history when similar things have been aided by other candidates and similar things have happened, Donald Trump has jumped all over it. When Ted Cruz followed Rick Tyler over what he circulated about Marco Rubio, Donald Trump was feverishly tweeting about it. He tweeted this, this December: "Wow, Ted Cruz falsely suggesting that Marco Rubio mocked the Bible and was just forced to fire his communications director. More dirty tricks." Why, then, Barry, are you surprised that other candidates are jumping on it and Donald Trump should do the same. [Barry Bennett, Senior Advisor, Donald Trump Presidential Campaign & Former Ben Carson Campaign Manager:] I think if the sun rose three hours late, it would be Donald Trump's fault. This whole campaign is getting silly. Everyone in this town has been a press. They're dangerous places to be. But Corey Lewandowski has ran a campaign that has more votes than anybody else. He's going to be the campaign manager, period. Mr. Trump has spoke on it, asked and answered, time to move on. [Bolduan:] Josh, you were a former chief of staff for Mitch McConnell but you were also his campaign manager. Do you think it's silly and it's time to move on? [Josh Holmes, Republican Strategist:] Look, I'm not a defense attorney. I don't know what constitutes assault. What in the world is the campaign manager doing on the floor of a rally trying to peace with a press scrum. I've managed campaigns before and everybody part of a campaign will tell you, if the campaign manager is more than six inches away from their desk at any point in the day, it's a problem for everybody. That seems to me like the biggest problem. [Bolduan:] Donna, you've also ran a campaign. We have several campaign managers right here. You ran Al Gore's campaign. Have you ever grabbed anybody? What is your view on this? [Donna Brazile, Cnn Political Commentator:] Kate, I don't like to touch people I don't know and, let alone, touch reporters, especially when they are doing their job. Yes, reporters can be aggressive. That's their job. Dana can also attest to the fact that when you're trying to get to your source to get the information, to get the feed. That's what reporters do. And I do believe at the time that this incident occurred, the right response from the campaign manager should had been a, sorry, I didn't mean to do that, and this matter might have been settled differently. Now you have a situation here the campaign manager might become the story. And what happens in a campaign when it becomes a process story and I think all of us can agree your candidate cannot get out his message. I do believe it's a problem for Mr. Trump. It's not just a legal issue that the campaign manager now has to figure out in terms of going back to Florida and all of that other stuff. I'm not an attorney. But it's really an issue now about his message and overall tone that is being set by the campaign itself. [Bolduan:] Dana, I want to get your take on the impact. But real quick, Barry, on what Donald is talking about here, the message that it sends here or the fact that Corey Lewandowski has become the story, do you like how Donald Trump has handled this, the fact that he said last night that she was she touched me first, she was carrying a pen, I don't know, it could have been a bomb? [Bennett:] I think that this whole portrayal of, you know, assault and battery and all of this stuff is crazy. Those of us that have been in these scrums, it's every man for himself. It's crazy. Do I want to get on to talking about building a wall, creating jobs and fixing this cesspool of Washington? Absolutely. That's what we're going to talk about. [Bolduan:] Dana, he says that it's time to move on. Are Wisconsin voters ready to move on or do you think it will have an impact there? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] You bet you, no question they are ready to move on. And I think at a certain point there's going to be drama fatigue. The convention the campaign manager being the story or process being the story is necessarily bad for him. It's obviously not good. I'm not saying that he would want this to happen or want his campaign manager to be arrested but with the way that Donald Trump is playing it, does speak to those core supporters. Number one, you know, we're just doing what we can and somebody tried to come up to us and we're going to fight back and we're going to defend ourselves, sort of the brute strength he tries to portray in every facet of the campaign. He uses the media brilliantly and also uses them to his benefit and as a foil. So that certainly is not a hindrance for him. [Bolduan:] Another big thing that happened last night I want your take, guys, is this bombshell where are three candidates came out and said what pledge? I'm not signing on to support the eventual nominee. Josh, any concept of unity, coalescing around the candidate, everyone coming together in this bear hug moment, that seems to be out of the question at this point. Let's show our viewers and listen to what they said last night. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not in the habit of attacking somebody who attacks my family and wife. I think that is going beyond the line. [Gov. John Kasich,, Presidential Candidate:] I've been disturbed by some of the things that I have seen and I have to think about what my word and endorsement would mean in a presidential campaign. So I want to see how this thing finishes out. [Trump:] No, I don't anymore. Look [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] You don't? [Trump:] No. We'll see who it is. [Cooper:] You won't promise to support the eventual nominee? [Trump:] He was essentially saying the same thing. [Bolduan:] Josh, when you watched this last night, what were you thinking? [Holmes:] I'm not sure that loyalty pledges are significant at the time that we give it. We seem to talk about this once a month since the beginning of the campaign, whether this candidate or that candidate [Bolduan:] Only because they change positions on it once a month. [Holmes:] That's true. That's true. It does break news every time. But I think look, I ran a campaign last cycle where our primary opponent, very contentious primary and our primary opponent never endorsed and we won the general election by 16 percent by 90 plus percent of Republican voters. If I'm in these campaigns, I'm worrying a lot less about whether or not I can consolidate a Republican Party than I am about whether anybody else in the electorate is even interested in voting for us. I mean, I think at this stage the campaign has gotten to a point where you're appealing to nothing but straight core supporters and I realize it's the primary but they are doing damage well beyond party politics at this stage. [Bolduan:] One of the things that Trump pointed at, Barry, the reason why he wasn't going to support an eventual nominee that is not himself was that he is being mistreated by the RNC and the Republican Party. This has been part of the conversation from the beginning. He wouldn't run third party or be an Independent if they played nice, and last I thought everyone was friends at least as it relates to the RNC. What mistreatment is he talking about? [Bennett:] I think he's just talking RNC but the state parties like what happened in Louisiana and some of the shenanigans that are starting to unfold around the country where they put their will in the place of the will of primary voter. That kind of stuff is a little alarming, the backroom smoky deals. That's what he's concerned about the most. [Bolduan:] Go ahead, Dana. [Bash:] Kate, if I could add to that, the way I took what Trump said about the party and the way that they've been treating him was as much of a warning shot as anything else, where we are in the campaign now is all about not just trying to gobble up as many candidates as possible but doing so that there isn't a floor fight at the convention and that's obviously, as we've been talking about, increasingly likely to have that fight. To me, it's a warning shot. There are all kinds of discussions, Reince Priebus, the RNC chair, told me a couple of weeks ago, remember the rules at the convention from 2012 are going to be different this year because every convention has different rules. And, you know, it could be that, for example, something that Ted Cruz brought up, right now, the rules that say that you cannot get the nomination unless you've won eight states. Well, it is entirely possible that the RNC, the rules committee at the convention, could change that and make it possible for John Kasich or somebody else to get the nomination. My sense is that that is what Trump was warning about. Don't pull that stuff, even though it's technically legal and allowed within the bounds of the Republican Party, when it comes to the sentiment out there, basically, don't tempt me. [Bolduan:] Let's talk about that, guys. Stand by. We need to go to a quick break. We're waiting for these live events to happen. But let's continue that conversation. Barry Bennett calls them shenanigans. Ted Cruz's campaign will say we have better ground game in places like Louisiana. Let's discuss this. And also I want to talk about Donald Trump's head- scratching answer on nuclear weapons last night and what that means for the conversation going forward, and also why Donald Trump seemed to some to sound more like a Democratic than a Republican front-runner on another very important question. We'll be right back. And we're also speaking of Democrats, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are holding dueling rallies. A lot going on this hour. We'll dip in live to Hillary Clinton as she confronts Trump on her home turf in a brand-new ad. [Costello:] Just weeks to go until the first votes are cast in the Iowa caucuses, and it looks like Democrats are in for a major fight, among themselves. A new poll from Quinnipiac University showing a stunning reversal. Bernie Sanders now leading Hillary Clinton and the sentiment in Iowa seeming to echo across the nation. A CBS"New York Times" poll shows Sanders closing the gap with Clinton, now down by just seven points. That's compared to a 20-point gap just last month. So, what does Hillary Clinton make of it numbers? She talked with my colleague Alisyn Camerota about that and more. Alisyn joins me now. Good morning. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. And also she used her sort of usual line of "polls go up, polls go down". [Costello:] I'm not even paying attention. [Camerota:] I'm not paying attention to that. And then, she explained her plan. Secretary Clinton, thanks so much for sitting down with us here in Iowa. [Clinton:] Thank you, Alisyn. [Camerota:] We are in Ames, Iowa [Clinton:] Yes. [Camerota:] where the temperature as we speak is one degree. [Clinton:] Uh-hmm. [Camerota:] And I know that you have been going to countless campaign events here. And I'm wondering when you get up in the morning in Iowa if there are ever times you question your life choices? [Clinton:] Actually, no. You know, I grew up in Chicago. I'm used to cold weather. It doesn't bother me. In fact, I'm somewhat reassured that there is a real winter, that we are actually seeing snow and lower temperatures. But I get up every day, whether I'm in Iowa, in New Hampshire, wherever I am in the country, and I really look forward to the day because I find the opportunity to go out and listen to people, hear their stories, give them my views about what I think the next president should do. Very energizing and very, you know, reinvigorating all the time. [Camerota:] So, let's talk about the tightening race between you and Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders is speaking to reporters on Monday night here in Iowa. And he said that your campaign is in, quote, "serious trouble". Is that how you feel? [Clinton:] Not at all. In fact, I have always known that if you are going to run to be president, particularly in the Democratic Party, it's a long, hard, challenging road. And so, I've been in these elections before. They always tighten up as people begin to make up their minds, as they look at the candidates, totally predictable. I feel really, really good about the campaign organization that I have. A caucus is different from a primary. It takes a lot of intensive work to convince people to come out on a cold Monday night, spend a couple of hours in order to stand up for your candidate. But I'm asking Iowans if they'll stand up for me on caucus night, I will be standing up for them all through my presidency. [Camerota:] There is a new Quinnipiac poll in which Bernie Sanders is now beating you in Iowa. It is 49 percent to 44 percent. It's the first time that this has happened that he's been beating you in Iowa since September. We are 20 days out. Does he have more momentum than you? [Clinton:] Well, the funny thing, Alisyn, is, after that poll came out, about an hour later there was a PPP poll where I was leading him by the same margin about six points up. I don't pay any attention to this. I don't feel that it's a good reflection about who will actually come out on caucus night. I can only tell you that the energy, the enthusiasm, the excitement of my volunteers, my organizers, the voters who come, who sign up on commit to caucus cards is just building. That's my experience. So, I'll let people poll and try to figure out who is going to show up. I'm looking at people who are showing up, making up their minds and trying to, you know, convince them to come out and caucus for me. [Camerota:] Why don't you feel that the polls are good reflection of what's going to happen in the caucus? [Clinton:] Because they are so unpredictable. And it's gotten increasingly difficult to poll. And I think you would have to add a degree of difficulty to polling for a caucus. So, that's been my experience. I've watched this a long time. I've had a prior election where I campaigned in Iowa. So, I just put that aside. I'll let pundits and others worry about who's up and who's down. I just get up every day like we were saying, going out there, making my case, drawing the contrast because I have the highest regard for my two opponents, but there are real differences. And we need a spirited debate, because after the first of the year, a lot more people start paying attention. And now I know it's, you know, the make or break time. People make up their minds. [Camerota:] Bernie Sanders is also winning in New Hampshire. Not surprising. He is from a neighboring state. Have you considered what would happen if he wins in Iowa and New Hampshire, what your plan is? [Clinton:] I don't think about that. I'm going to do everything I can to win as bigger margin as possible in the caucus and then go to the primary. But this is a national campaign. We've been organizing in South Carolina, in Nevada, a lot of the March 1st states, the March 15th states. Remember, I campaigned all the way into June last time. And I have always thought that given the unpredictability and the, you know, changes in people's concerns going into this election, that we wouldn't know exactly how the outcome would be for, you know, a couple of cycles of these primaries and caucuses. So, I'm going to do my best to convince more Iowans to come out and caucus for me. And even though as you say, Senator Sanders as a neighbor and a neighbor never lost in New Hampshire, I'm going to take that challenge on and do the best I can to get people in New Hampshire to support me, as well. [Costello:] One of the things I really notice about that interview is Hillary Clinton seems much more energized in your interview than she has in interviews in the past. [Camerota:] You know, Carol, as you know people are different. Politicians are different in real life than they sometimes seem on television and that's why the Iowa voters know and the New Hampshire voters, that's why they go see them in real life. And I thought that way too. She came out. She did seem energetic. She just had a morning campaign event. She seemed comfortable. She seemed confident. Now, behind the scenes, her campaign may be nervous at the poll numbers and they certainly didn't seem as comfortable as she was yesterday, but nationally, she's still doing well. So, maybe she has reason but that was my read on her yesterday. [Costello:] It is interesting, you know, because a lot of people are confused about the polls this time around, right? Nobody knows which poll to believe. So, does she have a point? Or is she just like, you know, painting a rosy picture? [Camerota:] They do fluctuate. That's true. She's right about that. The polls fluctuate. However, the momentum seems to be with Bernie Sanders. Her poll numbers are declining, while his are ascending and that's not a good sign. [Costello:] And exactly the right time, right? [Camerota:] Yes, it's true. [Costello:] The caucuses are just around the corner right now. [Camerota:] Right. [Costello:] Alisyn Camerota, thanks for stopping by. [Camerota:] Thanks so much. [Costello:] All right. With me now to talk more about this, Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and editorial director of "The National Journal", and Donna Brazile, CNN political analyst and Democratic strategist. Welcome to both of you. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Political Analyst:] Good morning. [Donna Brazile, Cnn Political Commentator:] Good morning. [Costello:] Good morning. So, Ron, why is Bernie Sanders resonating and Clinton kind of fading? [Brownstein:] Yes, it's good question. I mean, I think, look, there are reasons for concern for the Clinton campaign, but not yet panic. The reasons for concern is that Bernie Sanders is clearly expanding his base. When he started, he was very much what I could call a wine track candidate, almost entirely dependent on support from white upper middle class liberals. If you look at this new polling from Quinnipiac in Iowa, also from MaristNBC"Wall Street Journal" in New Hampshire, he is now competitive and even ahead in some of the polls among blue collar whites as well. In addition, Hillary Clinton is facing a significant gender gap in the wrong direction in the Democratic Party. She's looking at big deficits among men in both Iowa and New Hampshire. Those are both reasons for concern, Carol. The reason it isn't at the point of panic is because Bernie Sanders has not yet shown he can crack Bernie Sanders' domination among minorities, African Americans and Hispanics, who probably be about 40 percent of all the voters in the Democratic primaries. Iowa and New Hampshire are virtually all white states but if Bernie Sanders does as well as he's doing there in the biggest diverse states later, she'll lose them. So, until he shows that he can break into that minority stronghold for Hillary Clinton, I think she still has the upper hand clearly in this race, even though it could get very bumpy if she loses Iowa and New Hampshire. [Costello:] Well, Donna, it is clear the Clinton camp is a little worried because it's on the attack against Bernie Sanders. Take a look at the latest Clinton ad. [Begin Video Clip, Hillary For America] [Clinton:] An average of 90 people are killed by guns in this country every single day. It has to stop. President Obama wants to make universal background checks the law of the land and he wants to make sure gun manufacturers can finally be held accountable when their guns are used to kill our children. It's time to pick a side. Either we stand with the gun lobby or we join the president and stand up to them. I'm with him. Please join us. I'm Hillary Clinton and I approve this message. [Costello:] Donna, not only is Clinton attacking Sanders on guns, but she says Sanders wants to dismantle Medicare, Obamacare, Medicaid, and the CHIP program. All not exactly true, but will that sort of thing work? [Brazile:] Look, I think you have to have a really strong closing argument in order to motivate people who might not be so incline to go to the caucuses to come out and vote for you. I do believe although she came into a close third place finish in 2008, she has a tremendous organization, she has lots of volunteers and she has resources. So, that will help her in the end. Look, if you have a strategy to win these caucuses to come in first place I they think that strategy should continue to hold although those polls go back and forth. As to the policy differences, there are some major ones and there are some minor ones. I think we'll hear this weekend in the debate in South Carolina just if Bernie Sanders has moved on the gun lobby on the gun liability issue and we'll find out if Hillary Clinton has a better answer for Wall Street. So, these are issues that animate Democrats, progressives and others, and I think we're having a very competitive debate within the Democratic Party. And it's good thing for the country as well. [Costello:] Yes. OK, so going back to South Carolina and the minority vote you were talking about, Ron, Sanders seems to be setting his sight on South Carolina and those important minority voters. He's launched a Feel the Bern campaign to woo minority voters within South Carolina. So, he's on to what you said, Ron. [Brownstein:] Oh, right. Well, there is no avoiding it. Iowa and New Hampshire are anomalous in the Democratic context because they are basically states where over 90 percent of the voters will be white. And as a result, they have also often been very receptive to these kind of outsider and surging candidates. But to ultimately win the nomination, very quickly, you move to South Carolina with a large African-American population. Nevada with a large Hispanic population, and then as you move into the big states New York, California, Illinois, New Jersey, there is no way to win the Democratic nomination without appealing significantly to minorities. And so far in the polling in most places, Hillary Clinton has been up six, even seven to one, for example, among African-Americans in South Carolina. So, until Bernie Sanders shows he can make the cultural connection that goes beyond his class-based economic argument, which is really is more comfortable, I think it is still an uphill climb for him. But again, if he does win both of these first contests, there will be a lot of disruption in this race. [Costello:] Donna, is it possible that Bernie Sanders could take the minority vote away from Hillary Clinton? [Becky Anderson:] After airstrikes, now Russian naval strikes: missiles rain down on Syrian rebels from warships in the Caspian Sea. Tonight, this hour, we're live in Moscow for you and in Turkey. Also ahead... [Dr. Joanne Liu, President, Msf International:] Today we say enough. Even war has rules. [Anderson:] The controversy over a deadly U.S. airstrike in Afghanistan is not dying down. We speak to a former U.S. diplomat about signs America's longest war isn't nearly over after all. Plus, fighting back: we meet the women taking on ISIS in Iraq. That special report coming up. [Announcer:] Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson. [Anderson:] A very good evening. Just after 7:00 here in the Gulf. On the ground, in the air and from the sea, acting in concert Russia and Syria have launched attacks in Hamaa and Idlib provinces. Now Russia is providing air support for Syrian forces on the ground. Sanaa, the official Syrian news agency is reporting a coordinated campaign targeting ISIS and other rebel groups the government considers terrorists. Well, Russia has been in the skies over Syria for the past week, as you know. This level of coordination between the two countries is new. And now, Russian warships are launching strikes on targets in Syria from the Caspian Sea. This video is from the Russian defense ministry and it shows Russian warships launching missiles and the distance they traveled to reach their targets. The Russian defense minister Sergey Shoygu says 26 long range missiles have been fired and have hit 11 targets. The missiles traveled a total of 1,500 kilometers. Well, for the latest on what is happening on the ground in Syria, I'm joined now by Arwa Damon who is in neighboring Turkey, Matthew Chance in Moscow for you. Let's start with you, Matt. What is Moscow revealing about its strategy at this point? [Matthew Chance, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, it's very interesting, isn't it, because it said at the outset that it was striking at ISIS and other terrorist groups that it designated as terrorist. But in fact it's been pretty clear all along, Becky, that what Russia has really been doing is attacking the groups that pose a threat to Bashar al-Assad doing whatever it can to support the Syrian government in holding on to the territory that it's got and perhaps even expanding the territory and retaking some of Syria that it's lost to those various rebel groups. It's really important to see what's going on here, because Russia is bringing an unprecedented level of firepower now to the conflict in Syria. Nobody has been throwing anything like this at the Syrian rebels really for the past four years. And it's going to be really interesting to see how long these ragtag rebel groups can last against such an onslaught. As an illustration of that, we're not just talking about airstrikes, but today Russia further dramatically escalated its campaign in Syria, introducing naval power into the equation as well. You mentioned that a minute ago. Its ships in the Caspian Sea, which is some 1,500 kilometers, 1,000 miles away from Syria, launched multiple airstrikes, 26 long-range cruise missiles, the first time ever, by the way, that Russia has used conventional cruise missiles in a battle. It launched these missiles into Syria over that 1,500 kilometer area through Iraq and Iran, Iranian airspace and Iraqi airspace as well. So, this would have been, according to the defense ministry officials, planned several days in advance, striking 11 targets on the ground. And so again, Russia putting a lot of commitment into its battle against these ISIS and other terrorist groups, as it calls them, or other opposition groups fighting Bashar al-Assad. And so you know that's the strategy, it seems, as we move forward on the Kremlin's part. [Anderson:] Right. And I want to bring up that video from the Russian defense ministry again. And as I said and you've been eluding to it shows Russian warships launching missiles and the distance they traveled to their targets. And just how significant is this? And Matthew, the U.S. has responded by calling Russia's strategy tragically flawed. Is there any coordination or cooperation between Washington and Moscow at this point? [Chance:] Well, on that last point, I think the coordination exists only at a very low level to make sure that there are military to military talks, to make sure that the two very powerful air forces that are operating in the skies over Syria, or more than two, in fact, there's a U.S.-led coalition, which involves 60 countries that he's already bombing ISIS positions, adding into that mix the Russian air force as well. There's obviously a massive risk of some kind of unwanted confrontation. So, there's military to military cooperation in terms of that. What we're not seeing, though, is any sharing of intelligence, any coordination of what airstrikes to carry out by which air force. And one of the reasons for that is there's essentially a disagreement between Washington and Moscow over what should be his. Washington has been focusing its airstrikes pretty much on ISIS. As I've been mentioning, Moscow lumps ISIS along with the al Nusra Front along with every other rebel group opposing Bashar al-Assad into the same pot and he's just hitting all of them. And so that's why there's this fundamental disagreement between them. In terms of how important these missiles strikes are from the naval ships in the Caspian Sea, I think they're highly significant. First of all, they're very expensive. Each one of these missiles costs a million dollars. That shows a certain financial commitment to this fight. And it also had shown that the Caspian Sea can emerge as an important launchpad for strikes not just in Syria, but also in ot her areas of the Middle East is it's called upon by other countries, as Russia would say, to take action there as well. [Anderson:] Matthew is in Moscow for you. I want to bring in Arwa who is in Turkey, neighboring Syria, of course. And you've spent many week or month in Syria since the civil war started there, Arwa. These Russian naval strikes now providing cover for Syrian regime ground forces, as we understand it. What do we know about what's happening on the ground? [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, it's not just the naval strikes, Becky, you also have various different reported airstrikes as well as artillery being launched against a series of anti-regime positions. It took out took place throughout the course of the day. And according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, those strikes that especially were happening in Hamaa and Idlib province really resulted in some areas in the fiercest clashes that have taken place there for months between anti-regime forces and Assad's own military. You also have the Syrian news agency reporting openly that this is a coordinated campaign between the Russian support that it is seeing at this stage and its own abilities to advance its own fighters into key areas that up until now it has not been really able to significantly gain ground in. You also have even bigger problems being posed for Turkey, which over the last few days have been dealing with several violations of its own airspace and also recently announcing an incident that took place yesterday where eight Turkish fighter jets were, quote, being harassed by Syrian surface to air missiles. So it seems that this not only is potentially going to alter the battlefield dynamics, as many activists and rebel leaders have been saying in favor of the Syrian regime, but also perhaps the regime feeling confident enough to be able to send these types of warning signals to Syria. And as we have been mentioning, not just perhaps sending these signals to Syria, but also to the U.S. and the U.S.-led coalition with Syria's foreign minister, Walid Muallem coming out over the last few days and saying that Russia is going to be the winner of this race. And when you look at it broadly speaking, when Russia came out and not just announced its support for the Syrian regime in terms of these various different forms of airstrikes, but also formed that very critical intelligence sharing initiative between itself, Syrian, Iraq and Iran, it really positioned itself as a very solid ally as opposed to the U.S.-led coalition which when it began its campaign of airstrikes was, yes, targeting ISIS, but did very little to significantly alter the battlefield dynamics. And of course the big question right now is what is the U.S. and its coalition going to do to try to respond to this military push advancement strikes by Russia? Are they going simply to allow it to happen? Are they going to allow Russia to openly as it would seem support regime forces? What is it going to do if the regime begins to make significant moves against these various different rebel positions? Because at the end of the day, the U.S. and Russia are on opposite sides of the conflict in Syria. And it just creates a phenomenally messy and violent situation in what already is a country that has seen too many deaths and too many of its own people forced to flee the violence, Becky. [Anderson:] The latest on the ground in Syria from Arwa Damon and from the air and from the sea, Matthew Chance in Moscow for you. Guys, thank you. I want to get you to a controversy that won't die down for the United States, an airstrike on Medecins San Frontiers hospital in Afghanistan. Now, U.S. military officials say it was a mistake, but the charity has once again raised its voice demanding answers for the deaths of 22 people, including 12 of its staff. [Liu:] This is unacceptable that the bombing of a hospital, and the killing of staff and patients, can be dismissed as collateral damage or brushed aside as a mistake. Today, we are fighting back for the respect of Geneva convention. As doctors, we are fighting back for the sake of patients. We need you as members of the public to stand with us, to insist that even wars have rules. [Anderson:] Well, pictures have now emerged of what the clinic looked like before it was bombed. These images from earlier this year show far more peaceful scenes. This was, remember, the only hospital of its kind in the region treating thousands of people, many of them injured in the war. Well, fast forward to Saturday and you can see its charred remains. The shell of the building still stands, but the hospital no longer operates. Well, let's get you to the Afghan capital now, Kabul, where our man Nic Robertson is standing by for you What's the latest, Nic, as we know it? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Correspondent:] The spokesman for police chief in Kunduz says that they're in better control of the situation today, but there are still Taliban hiding out in houses. It does sound rather as like it did yesterday, that there is still fighting in Kunduz and the situation very fluid. All the NGOs and groups like Doctors Without Borders, they've all left. There's no international staff left there at all, working on humanitarian projects. Many of the citizens have been forced out. The roads are controlled in and out of the town by the Taliban. I talked to a group of people who have been forced out of Kunduz, many of them had had to sort of pick their way through mountains by foot to get out of there. This is what they told me. [Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Chased out of Kunduz, the city's lawmaker comforts residents. The government doesn't have any plan to help these people, she tells me. They have nothing. They left it all behind in Kunduz. In protest, they set up a makeshift camp outside Kabul's Ministry of Power and Water. It's not their only complaint against the government. They tell me they saw soldiers running away from the Taliban. Residents left to fend for themselves. My father was shot by the Taliban, he tells me. We couldn't get to his funeral. [Robertson:] Is the Taliban getting stronger these days? [Unidentified Male:] No. Taliban not strength. But government... [Robertson:] Is weak. [Unidentified Male:] Supported there, yes. Some. Some government supported... [Robertson:] The Taliban. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Robertson:] His Parliamentarian has suspicions about how they entered and captured the city. Ethnic divisions may have played a role in helping the Taliban. How were the Taliban able to get into the city and take the city so quickly? "Lawmaker Aziz tells me that Taliban captured it easily within two or three hours. The government," she says, "did nothing for three days, allowing the Taliban to loot stock piles of tanks, vehicles, weapons and ammunition." Whatever the facts about how the Taliban took Kunduz, right now the people of the city are vulnerable. They feel let down by their government. I asked if they want American help. The Americans, they hit the hospital but they're supporting the Afghan army. Do you want the Americans to continue to help the Afghan Army "Yes, we do. He says. But if they hit more hospitals, then no. Do you still want American forces here to help the government? Do you still need American forces to help the Afghan Army? She tells me, the Afghan Army are not really capable of stopping the people she calls terrorists at the moment. We need help. But please, please, she adds, stop killing civilians. And of course all of this weighing in to the decision that will have to be made by President Obama shortly about the U.S. troop drawdown here. Is he going to stick to original plans, down to 1,000 by the end of next year? Or will he decide he needs to keep more here to keep supporting the Afghan army Becky. [Anderson:] All right, thank you very much indeed. That is Nic Robertson with the very latest. We're going to do more on this in the hour to come before we take a short break. Still to come tonight, we visit the world's largest refugee camp housing thousands of Somali refugees. Hear why they are growing increasingly desperate. [Church:] Police in Texas will charge two suspects with capital murder after a shooting at a shopping mall in San Antonio left one person dead. Officers say it was a robbery gone wrong and that the person killed was a Good Samaritan trying to intervene. [Howell:] Another person with a concealed carry permit shot at the suspect, injuring one of them. Six people were wounded in the shooting. The suspects also face aggravated assault charges. [Church:] People in parts of the southeastern U.S. will be in recovery mode Monday after severe weather over the weekend. [Howell:] The storms have killed at least 14 people right here in the state of georgia and leveled several areas. CNN's Polo Sandoval went to a georgia neighborhood that was hit incredibly hard. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Authorities have now been able to complete the search-and-rescue recovery efforts yet because of the ongoing threat of severe weather. As a result, what is perhaps the hardest hit neighborhood, that you may be able to make out behind me remains closed off. Because of the darkness, because of the distance, you might not be able to see too much. So, take a look at some of the pictures shot in the region. You can see the widespread devastation. The Sunshine Acres neighborhood, a mobile home park, according to authorities, is where at least seven people lost their lives. The owner and the manager of that property are posting a statement online for his residents saying, quote, "It is with deep sorrow that I write this. The majority of Sunshine Acres is no more due to a tornado. The majority of Sunshine Acres was destroyed. Most everyone is OK. There are still some missing." That manager referring to what are at least five people that are still unaccounted for. So, there is concern and the death toll could rise. And know we're hearing some of the remarkable stories of survival, including a 24-year-old husband and father that I spoke to here who says, after he rode out the storm, he joined rescue efforts and helped rescue at least three children from the rubble. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Adele, Georgia. [Howell:] Polo, thank you so much. Let's get the very latest on this unusual deadly weather. [Church:] We turn to our Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri who joins now with more on this. It's shocking at this time of year, isn't it? [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorolgoist:] It absolutely is. This time of year, I always talk about the third week of January. If you were to ask me when is the coldest time of year across north America, I would tell you, pick between the third to fourth week of January, and that's precisely where we sit. You see what has occurred so far in January 2017. Almost 100 tornadoes have been reported across the United States. 36 is what is considered normal. You run the numbers, that's over 260percent of what is considered normal for this time of year. Certainly, I did not expect to be standing up here talking about a widespread severe weather outbreak in this portion of the year. But certainly, it's taking place, and that is where this active weather pattern rolled right across the southern portion of the United States. An 800-mile stretch, that is precisely where the thunderstorms are in place this morning. Almost seven million people across southern Florida still underneath a tornado watch, meaning conditions are favorable for tornadoes as we know of course the history of tornadoes with this line of active weather. A severe thunderstorm warning approaching Fort Lauderdale. Storms overnight, it makes it more dangerous to be a part of. Well, over 300 reports of severe weather just in the past three days alone. I want to show you just what has occurred across the southern portion of the U.S. because we talk about getting these tornadoes and getting it, in particular, this time of year. Of course, in the past three days alone, we've seen a report of at least 41 tornadoes coming down across the United States. Now, no other country in the world averages over 40 tornadoes in an entire year besides Canada. They sit around 100. The United States sees around 1,100 tornadoes per year. That's one and two, and then you see over 40 coming in, in just one weekend across the United States. Of course, it is well into the off-season, the quietest time of year, climatologically speaking. Look at the number of fatalities that we're seeing so far, and that's what's most remarkable to me. Last year, in 2016, we came in with only 17 fatalities. It was the quietest year in the past 30 years. Then you look at what happened in the past few days. We're up to 22 fatalities. A few years ago, we had a major tornado outbreak across the state of Alabama and parts of the southern United States that led to over 500 tornadoes to be reported and also fatalities to be seen. Notice the storm system itself pushing off to the north and east where we have tremendous rain, tremendous wind in the forecast. Over 20 million people underneath a high-wind threat with 60-mile-per-hour winds. Along the coastal areas, we now have a hurricane-force wind warning in place there just off the coast of Long Island where winds could reach 80 miles per hour come Monday afternoon. Seas as high as 23 feet. So, officials there saying stay off the waters. Mariners also to stay alert because the storm system has everything going for it as far as the severity we've seen so far guys? [Howell:] Strong winds. [Javaheri:] Absolutely. [Church:] Thank you. [Howell:] Thank you so much, Pedram. [Javaheri:] Yeah. [Howell:] So if you are a passenger on United Airlines, some good news this hour. The airline has resumed its flights in the United States. This after a communications glitch temporarily grounded departures Sunday night. [Church:] Sources say planes already in the air were in no danger, and the issue did not affect communication between those planes and air traffic control. The airline has apologized to customers for the inconvenience. Well, the stage is now set for Super Bowl LI. For one team, it's just their second appearance. The other will be there for a record ninth time. We will have the highlights from Sunday still to come. Stay with us. [Lu Stout:] Welcome back. You're watching News Stream. Now, let's show you the azure window. The jewel in Malta's tourism crown. But overnight, it collapsed when a powerful storm sent the limestone arch just straight into the Mediterranean sea. Now, Malta's prime minister posted a photo of what it looks like now and called the scene heartbreaking. Now, the arch, it may look very familiar to you if you are a Game of Thrones fan. In fact, it was the backdrop in the very first episode and it was also featured in the movie The Clash of the Titans. And finally, and a Japanese family has been making a special candy for six generations. It involves sculpting massive slabs of taffy into tiny works of art. Here's CNN's Will Ripley. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] This is the whimsical land of Watanabe-san. His family started this candy shop more than 140 years ago. Since then, he's the fifth generation to sink his hands into this: larger than life pounds of clumps of massive globs of sugary candy that almost magically turns into what they have affectionately called Kintaro Ami. [Ripley:] Watanabe's great-grandfather made a way to make a candy with the face of a folk hero inside of it. As legend has it, Kintaro had superhuman strength. He was so strong as a child he wrestled a bear and won. For decades, he's been Japan's sweetest superhero. Among those trainees is the next heir to this candy factory. From father to son, the tradition continues. It takes about 25 minutes to go from this Play Doh-like sculpture to pieces of hard candy. But within those minutes, the stakes are high. But that doesn't stop this duo from getting a little creative with their edible portraits. It's difficult but not impossible. Now the leader of the free world is crystallized into one sugary bite. [Lu Stout:] I want to visit that candy factory. That is it for News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. World Sport with Patrick Snell is next. END [Zain Asher, Cnn Anchor:] Our breaking news this hour, airline debris is discovered in the Indian Ocean. Why experts believe it could help unlock the mystery of Flight MH370. [Barnett:] Plus, new protests inside the United States after a white police officer is indicted in the shooting death of a black suspect. [Asher:] And Donald Trump gets in another public spat this time over a breast pump. [Barnett:] Hello. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and those tuned in from around the word. I'm Errol Barnett. [Asher:] I'm Zain Asher. Glad to be with you for the next hour and this is [Cnn Newsroom. Barnett:] We begin this hour with breaking news out of Reunion Island in the far western Indian Ocean. That is where investigators are headed to get a closer look at this piece of airplane debris that could be a part of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. A source tells CNN it appears to be part of a Boeing 777, that's the same model as MH370. Australia's deputy prime minister spoke with reporters moments ago. [Warren Truss, Australian Deputy Prime Minister:] Yes, this is obviously a very significant development. It is the first real evidence there is a possibility that a part of the aircraft may have been found. It's too early to make the judgment. We are treating this as a major lead and seeking to get assurance about what has been found and whether it is indeed linked to the disappearance of MH370. [Asher:] Now just to put this in context for you. Reunion Island is near Madagascar. That is a very long way from the area where search crews were looking for the missing jetliner, some 2,500 miles. In fact, it vanished March of last year on a flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with about 239 people on board. [Barnett:] Now CNN's Robyn Kriel has just arrived at Reunion Island and she can join us now on the phone. Robyn, I understand that you literally just got there. Bring us up to speed. What's the latest from the ground and how exactly did this piece of debris turn up? [Robyn Kriel, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the piece of debris was picked up by initially, by the sighted by locals then the police were brought in and they were seen dragging it on to the beach. What we can tell you is that the French Air Force has now, is now investigating into those to see if there is any more debris. Of course, the Australian Transportation Safety Board will become involved as well as Malaysian Airline has indeed confirmed to be part of MH370, which it has not been, rather, as of yet. A key part to this story is the serial number or whatever that number is etched in on the wing fragment. It is BB706. Now this could be anything. It could be what experts tell us, it could be a serial number, aircraft log from maintenance or it could indeed belong to a Boeing 777, which is consistent with the missing airliner MH370. As of yet though, no information is indeed the 777 and indeed, if it does turn out to be a 777. We don't know if there has been another 777 aircraft crashed in this area. It does not appear to be. So it is unlikely that it would belong to another aircraft other than MH370. [Barnett:] Right. Deputy prime minister saying that that number possibly could be some kind of maintenance number which they can cross reference and check. That will take some time. But that also speaks to why this moment is so difficult. The Australian deputy prime minister calling this a credible and significant lead, but until all of these different agencies can get this information confirmed, we won't be able to help alleviate those concerns of relatives of victims on this aircraft that this is in fact a piece of MH370. What have you heard from some of the relatives of victims on this development? [Kriel:] Well, a lot of people said that they're cautiously optimistic. They had so many false hopes raised from false information. But one family member did say this was a thread of hope. Fining a piece of debris like this would, if it does indeed turn out to be part of MH370 would make this disaster tangible. It's been a roller coaster. A number of family members have a very hard time believing that the aircraft could have traveled as far away as the Reunion Island. It is very, very far away from where the plane was originally meant to be on course. As you say, the Australian deputy prime minister saying this is, this is, could be rather a major development or lead, but they're very cautious as well. Just to give you a breakdown, Errol, of the nationalities on board, MH370, 239 passengers in total, 152 of those were Chinese, six Australians, three Americans, and 50 Malaysians. Fifteen different nationalities represented in total on board. So a number of family members obviously anxiously waiting to find out what this wing fragment could be and if it is indeed consistent with MH370. [Barnett:] So there you have it. Officials are cross referencing all the information they have and even going as far to look at the barnacles on this piece of debris. Robyn Kriel with what I believe is CNN's first live report from Reunion Island. She is just one of a number of teams we have who arrived there as we try to gather more information on what the deputy prime minister of Australia calls a "credible and significant lead" in finding this piece of debris Zain. [Asher:] Errol, I want to go now to our Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens. Andrew has been covering the story from the very beginning since the plane vanished March of last year. He is joining us live on the phone from Kuala Lumpur. So Andrew, as we heard Robyn Kriel mentioned there are a lot of people around the world especially Malaysia and China anxiously waiting for what the flaperon could be, is it part of MH370? I've want to ask you, can we really learn anything new from this particular piece of debris do you think? [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] Well, at this stage it is certainly the strongest lead that the investigators have had in the last 16 months looking for this plane. No doubt about that. The Australian deputy prime minister actually said in the press conference with the photos, mostly the photos. The photo at the top, which are being dragged out of the sea, they're not inconsistent with a 777. If you talk to and listen to the experts here so far on those photos, they are all saying the same thing. Excuse me. This could actually in form part of the flaperon, which is the second part of the wing that keeps the plane stable in flight. It could actually be a flaperon of a 777. Robyn was saying, there is only one 777 which is unaccounted for at the moment. There is a very, very strong lead at the moment. That's all it is. They're still a long way to go to actually get this confirmed properly. Errol mentioned barnacles. Australians are analyzing the barnacles to see how old they are, essentially, had they been in the water 16 months. That would be a clue. We don't know how long it is going to take to get a positive id with that maintenance number. The Australian prime minister said it could take some time. We can't be any more specific than that at this time. [Asher:] It could take some time. You know, it's important to be, I guess, cautiously optimistic. Want to talk about Malaysia's role in the investigation. The piece was found in a French territory in Reunion. It's an American plane. It was made by Boeing. The Australians have said that they will be in charge of the black boxes. What will Malaysia's role specifically be in piecing together this mystery do you think? [Stevens:] OK, they will be across all four process of the investigation and at this point, it is complex with a number of countries that are now involved with this, the French, and the Malaysian have sent a team away, dispatched a team to Reunion Island to work with the air investigators, French air investigators on that debris. So they are across all aspects of this has been involve in the search, which has been led by Australia because the plane was believed to have gone down in waters, which is closest to Australia. So the lead investigator not yet clear where parts of the plane will be taken for to try to reconstruct what happened to find out exactly the last few minutes of flight and why it did what it did. So, Malaysians saying [inaudible] particularly in the [inaudible] family, this is obviously a very sensitive time for the family at the moment. They have been hearing the same things we have been hearing. They're living in hope. They're also torn saying that one way they want closure. They need closure to what happened to their family members. The other one is facing up to what is going to be possibly a very, very grim truth. It's going to be very difficult so they are absolutely torn at the moment. [Asher:] Absolutely. Yes, they want closure, but the reality of what could have happened to this plane, certainly very difficult to swallow. OK, Andrew Stevens live for us there on the phone from Kuala Lumpur. Thank you so much, Andrew Errol. [Barnett:] Well, Zain, we want to figure out what we are dealing with here. So we are bringing in Geoffrey Thomas. He is the editor-in- chief and managing director of airlineratings.com joins us via webcam from Perth, Australia. Thanks for your time, Jeffrey. We are trying to be careful because of relatives of victims not to confirm this, but it appears this debris is a flaperon of a Boeing 777 in a location consistent with Indian Ocean currents and Australia's deputy pm moments ago saying this is the first credible lead in the search for MH370. Do you think this is MH370? [Geoffrey Thomas, Editor-in-chief, Airlineratings.com:] Look, all of the evidence is certainly pointing that way and while officials are not saying so, within the industry there is a lot of dialogue in the last 12 hours discussing the various technical aspects of the piece found. It does point very strongly to it being from a 777 although we must be cautious here because a Yemeni airbus I310 crashed in that vicinity in 2009. There is a possibility that it could be from that. All technical evidence, discussions from engineers today around the globe is focusing on the fact that it is from 777. [Barnett:] Talk to us more about the technical discussions I guess happening behind the scenes among those who are really experts in all of this. The item, the debris we are all looking at now appears to be a flaperon. It appears to have some damage around some of the edges. Just explain to us what it is and based on how it looks now, what happened to it? [Thomas:] A flaperon, there is two of them, one on each side, that midway, midway along the wing, trailing edge of the wing. They're used to roll the airplane from the left to the right. There are sections of those, of the flaperon that you can see in the imagery which are consistent with a Boeing 777 flaperon. That's what everybody is focused on. That's what leads them to believe it is from a 777. [Barnett:] Now you did mention a Yemen airbus crash in 2009 in the vicinity of where this piece of debris was found, any possibility that those types of models would have this similar piece? [Thomas:] They have a similar piece, however, and this is the big however, the Yemeni Airbus A310, its flaperon is made of aluminum, this piece is made by composite material, which what the Boeing 777 flaperon is made from. There is a big difference between the two particularly with respect to damage. They both they exhibit very different sort of profiles when damaged and this one is consistent with a composite structure. [Barnett:] OK, so even with that possibility the big money I guess is on this being part of a Boeing 777. Geoffrey Thomas, editor-in-chief at airlineratings.com. Thank you for joining us from Perth Zain. [Asher:] We previously thought that it would be the serial number on this piece of flaperon. Investigators are saying that it's possibly a maintenance number. So hopefully we'll be able to confirm sometimes soon. Many of you, wondering if it is possible for debris from MH370 to drift thousands of kilometers across the Indian Ocean. Our meteorologist, Ivan Cabrera, is joining us now. Ivan, we have been speaking before about the Indian Ocean, gyres, currents that move counterclockwise. That may possibly explain how this piece of debris could have drifted that far? [Ivan Cabrera, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, it certainly consistent with the currents in the Indian Ocean. No question about it. Break that down for you. Show you what we're talking about. The search area by the way continues to beep just west of Australia. We are talking about a distance now, 2,600 miles or 4,000 kilometers here. You are wondering how debris made it all the way to this island which is 2600 miles away here. Well, that could be explained by ocean currents. Likely the debris also hit some storms along the way. This is a very slow process. Debris getting lofted back towards the east, the north, but generally the current is toward the west. And that is because the debris would have been under the influence, what we call the Indian Ocean gyre here. We essentially have five major gyres across the planet because of global circulation. The wind moving the ocean basically what we are talking about here in the first 100 meters here. You recall in 2011, we had the Japan tsunami. The north pacific gyre got debris from the tsunami. It moved it from Japan all the way across the north pacific. And it ended up on some of the shores across northern America here. So certainly possible especially if the debris has enough area to it, if it is light enough, can be carried by the ocean current. So we'll focus in on the Indian Ocean gyre because in the southern hemisphere it moves counter clockwise here. So again consistent on the northern side of that to have any debris that is buoyant enough to be pushed towards the west so you think, well, we could just follow the debris from the island, further to the east. Not that easy. It doesn't move in a direct line here. In fact, I will be able to show you the ocean currents. They undulate and they are very complicated here, so yes, the movement is generally from Australia heading towards Reunion Island here. But if you are trying how to get debris and trying to trace it back, a very complicated process. They're going to be using very complicated drift modeling to see if they can trace the debris back, but it is going to be very difficult because again. It has gone through a lot from what we think is the original crash site here. So one clue at least at this point here and that is better than what we have had in a very, very long time. But as you saw there are upwards of 16 months at this point. The thing has been out in the Indian Ocean making it ashore to Reunion Island quite a long ways away. [Barnett:] When you break it down like that, it's incredible that we even have this one piece of debris if in fact it is MH370 considering it had to get through all of that. [Asher:] Right. Some people were cleaning up the piece of coastline on Reunion Island and happened to discover it. But it's one clue, but doesn't necessarily piece together what went down. We will have much more on Flight MH370 ahead this hour, but first [Unidentified Male:] I've been doing this over 30 years. This is the most asinine act I have ever seen a police officer make. [Asher:] Strong words there in a community rallies and an officer faces a murder charge in the shooting death of an unarmed black man. [Barnett:] Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, a lawyer says Donald Trump lashed out at her during a deposition. He says she was being unprofessional. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] She wanted to breast pump in front of me and I may have said that's disgusting. I may have said something else. I thought it was terrible. [Andreson:] You're watching CNN and Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson. Welome back. And if you're just joining us, you are very welcome. A child prodigy, a Julliard graduate, a classically trained world-renowned cellist with over a dozen Grammy's. Who am I talking about? Well, the legendary Yo-Yo Ma. He has been sharing music with the world since he picked up a musical instrument at the age of 4. Well, now he's traveling the globe with a new sound and a new message that matters today more than ever before. I caught up with Yo-Yo and clarinetist Kinan Azmeh at the Abu Dhabi festival. And we started talking about the mission of their ensemble, which is known as the Silk Road. [Yo-yo Ma, Cellist:] The Silk Road was founded on an idea that people can actually get along through working together deeply. For example, at this festival, we have the theme is tolerance. We're trying to work towards tolerance, not only amongst ourselves, but much even deeper than that, so we can really do great work coming from different perspectives in such a way that those perspectives make us stronger and the creativity greater. [Anderson:] How disappointing is it that this current administration has what many would just call outright a Muslim travel ban. You've been caught up in that yourself. [Kinan Azmeh, Clarinetist:] I mean, what I went through was four days of me not knowing whether I would be able to go home or not. But also putting into perspective, I mean, me not being able to go back to my apartment in New York is really nothing in comparison to people who lost their lives, or you know, the lives of the people who they love. I mean, I've been always taken aside at the airports because of the passport I hold. It's hard to really relate that a signature, one signature can change the lives of so many people in a second, you know? I don't have an emotional action. I think how can I be proactive doing this? The best thing to do is you continue to do what you do and you play, whether you're playing in New York or elsewhere, you have to keep addressing these issues by doing music. [Anderson:] In February, you did publish a message in which you spoke of your deep concern, your disappointment and your sadness over this executive order. Do you continue to be concerned. [Ma:] It's not about ideology, it's not about you're right, I'm wrong, but it's like, OK, we have a difference in opinion, why is that? How can we actually take that and move towards something and not have the certitude of this is right and this is wrong, period. [Unidentified Male:] Recognized as one of the world's greatest musicians, Yo-Yo Ma's talents know no boundaries of genre or culture. [Anderson:] You have been described as a child prodigy. How was that? Were you a happy child? Were you harangued into music, for example, or did you just have a passion for it? [Ma:] I was born in 1955 in Paris of Chinese parents. And part of my early life consists of living in France, moving to the United States, having Chinese parents and having everybody around me telling me this is the best place on Earth. I realized that everything that I was interested in had to do with my love of people and trying to figure out what people did, why they did it, and who they were. Being the slow person that I am,it wasn't until 49 that I thought, I could be a musician. [Anderson:] Does how Yo-Yo Ma explains his young life and where he was at growing up sound familiar to you? I mean, you were born in Damascus, playing musical instruments from a very, very young age. [Azmeh:] My dad used to pretend to be a conductor. He used to make my sister and I sit in the living room while he conduct Mussorgsky Night on Bald Mountain. We believed him, you know, because he knew where the tympani are coming from, from which speakers. So I grew up listening to lots of music growing up. And then the clarinet wasn't additional homework, it wasn't pushed that I have to become a musician. I did a double degree in music and electrical engineering. I'm an electrical engineer, I don't know if you knew that. [Ma:] ...a couple of interviews with you. I learn more and more things about your life. [Azmeh:] Yeah, I did both. And then when I finished from both, I found myself applying for grad schools only in music. So, it was a natural, you know, development. [Anderson:] So, the clarinet wasn't your first love necessarily, nor Yo-Yo was the cello for you? MA; Right. I just wanted something big when I was born. [Azmeh:] My preference was something light that I can travel with, because when they suggested that I switch to an even handed instrument, the options were a clarinet or a piano. And I immediately the piano was ruled out, because I was thinking I would like to travel with my instrument. [Ma:] That's why he's smarter than I am. Already then he wanted something light. [Azmeh:] From the first year, I remember my dad telling me and he said Kinan, you know, this is something that you should keep an eye on. [Anderson:] What do you want its message to be? [Ma:] Only through multi perspectives can you get something strong enough to withstand scrutiny from different outlooks. [Anderson:] And it couldn't be more important now, given the roiling conflicts in this region, particularly that of Syria. Can you just explain or express, if you will, a man who was born and brought up in Damascus, what this conflict means to you. [Azmeh:] You know, we're witnessing one of the biggest human tragedies in recent history. Half a million people killed, half of the country's population has been displaced, more refugees in surrounding countries. It makes you question, why do you do what you do? In the beginning, since 2011, you know you start, I hold my instrument and I think, what can I do? And I realize, you know, it cannot stop a bullet, it cannot free up a political prisoner, it cannot bring refugees back home, it cannot do all of these things. But what it can do, and I realized later, that it can inspire. It can bring hope, you know, sometimes. And for me now making music is an act of freedom. And I want to hold on to that. You know, if one has to think about what happened in Syria in 2011, people wanted to express an opinion. I mean, I have the luxury of holding a tool that can be loud at times, being able to not only express your own opinion, but also share other opinions. And being part of the ensemble is a great platform for that. [Anderson:] You're watching Connect the World. Coming up, they are all- American, head scarves and all, the photographer keen to provide a platform to celebrate Muslims in America. That's next. [Lu Stout:] Now voters in Iran's capital are ushering in a new era of reform, electing moderate candidates to the national parliament. All 30 seats up for grabs in Tehran's province were won by reformists. They also secured all but one of the seats in the all important Assembly of Excellence [sic] that chooses Iran's supreme leader. And those election results continue to filter in. CNN's Fred Pleitgen is in Tehran monitoring results. He joins us now live. And Fred, reformists there are making gains in this election. And I know it's very early, but it is also raising the question what does this mean for the future of Iran and its relations with the world. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Internaitonal Correspondent:] Well, what it doesn't mean, Kristie, is that there's going to be largescale, or very fast reforms here in this country. We have to keep in mind that the reformists that were voted into parliament and also into the Council of Experts, that they are very moderate reformists. They still are very much in line with Iran's policies. However, if you look at President Hassan Rouhani and his policy so far, he has of course started to open up Iran very slowly towards the west on the one hand with the nuclear agreement, but also of course by letting companies invest here with that sanctions relief. Now, one of the things that people that we spoke to on the street told us is that they believe that the election results that they have received now will be very good for Iran's economy, but they also say they want to see the benefits of the nuclear agreement, of sanctions relief, of investment here in this country very quickly. Let's have a look. [Unidentified Male:] A lot of people voted and they gained a lot of votes to get into parliament. So we expect them to work hard and to fill their promises. And they should work hard so that that can be an answer to the conservatives. We were not satisfied with the last parliament. And I hope that both parliament and the Assembly of Experts think and do something, especially for the young people. [Unidenified Male:] I think 100 percent there's going to be lots of changes. With my friends, we were partying. And we all believe that this is the best parliament that has ever been elected. [Pleitgen:] So as you can see, some very mixed results there when we were on the street. But what we can expect now is for these reforms to continue, for them to possibly accelerate somewhat, but not for very fast and very strong reform process to all of a sudden take place here in Iran. And one of the interesting things that's also happening, Kristie, is that even with these election results the way they are, and it looks like the moderates here in this country have indeed scored a lot of seats in parliament and also on the Council of Experts, the conservatives are saying not so fast. They say that in the rest of the country outside Tehran they think they are still pretty much even with the reformers. So there is sort of a back and forth. There is still this some controversy. Certainly we also haven't seen any celebrations here in the street yet. But by all accounts, it does appear as though this was a very, very important election for President Hassan Rouhani and the moderates here in this country. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, and some push back on the election results coming in so far. Pivotal elections under way in Iran as we wait for the final, final outcome. Fred Pleitgen reporting live from inside the country. Thank you, Fred. Now, China appears to be again tightening its grip on political dissent. The government has deleted the popular social media accounts of a real estate mogul. Now Ren Jia Chiang is reported to have posted messages criticizing Chinese news media. He has long been known for his blunt comments on everything from property prices to politics. Nicknamed the Cannon, he had more than 30 million followers online. Now, CNN Money Asia Editor Andrew Stevens joins me now with more on the story. And Andrew, why did China feel compelled to silence this individual? [Andrew Stevens, Cnn International Correspondent:] This individual who has, as you say, have been controversial. Interestingly, he is a veteran member of the Communist Party itself. And what he has done with his microblogs is basically to force the authorities to say he is sending illegal messages, which is having, quote, a vile impact. I mean, this is really strong language from the central authorities, to a Communist Party member. It all stems, Kristie, from the Chinese President Xi Jinping going to the state media, Xinhua, CCTV the television operator and the People's Daily Newspaper. He went late last week. And he had a very, very clear message at the end of his meetings with the editors there, which was the first and foremost, is you support the Communist Party no matter what. This is what he actually said. All news media run by the party must work to speak for the party's will and its propositions and protect the party's authority and unity. Now, Ren Jia Chiang had the temerity, if you like, to say in a very interesting quote what he says to his 38 million followers. News media is supposed to serve the people, not the party. It's is funded by taxpayers, it should be for taxpayers. And that has what has got him into very, very hot water. It's not only officially, unofficially supporters of the Community Party have been vicious in their attack of him, and as you say those blogs have been taken down very quickly. We don't know what's happened to him personally, but certainly he's he's not the most popular person in the Communist Party at the moment. [Lu Stout:] Now Ren Jia Chiang is the tycoon likened to the Donald Trump of China for his outspoken views now silenced on social media. Andrew Stevens, we'll leave it at that. Thank you very much indeed for your analysis and the update on that story. Now, coming up here on the program, U.S. war veterans wounded in combat are now using their skills to take down child predators. We'll bring you that CNN Freedom Project report straight ahead. [Burnett:] All right, live pictures out of Florida. As you can see there with the Merry Christmas USA, that is Donald Trump's theme right now. The president-elect will be at that podium in the moments. That's in Orlando, Florida. Vice President-elect Pence will be joining him. This comes just hours after President Obama's final press conference of the year in which he said it is the sobering process when you're walking to the Oval Office. He hopes that Trump will change his behavior. Now, as we await Donald Trump because, obviously, he could respond here, Trump with a lot of very harsh words here related to Trump and the Russian president. Jim Acosta is with us at that rally. So, Jim, do you think the president-elect will respond to President Obama tonight? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That is the question, Erin. I did talk to an aide to the president-elect who said he is expected to stick to the script that we've been hearing over and over again at these so called thank you rallies and he has one coming up here in Orlando in just a few moments. There are Christmas trees behind me. It's decidedly warmer down here that it is New York, but you're right, there has been some frostiness between the incoming and outgoing administrations over the last 24 hours and it was last night that one of this rallies in Pennsylvania where Donald Trump went after the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest called him foolish after Earnest earlier in the day went after Donald Trump and said that he shouldn't be attacking the intelligence community. Flash forward to today, though, Erin, and you have President Obama turning down the temperature really just urging the president-elect to get on board with this probe of Russian hacking into the American political process. And it's interesting to note, Kellyanne Conway, top adviser to Donald Trump earlier this morning was saying, "Well, President Obama loves his country he'll shut all of this squabbling down. Later on in the afternoon she talked to full reporters in Trump Tower and said that President Obama and his team have been incredibly helpful during this transition process. So you do get the sense that they are all trying to turn down the temperature after things got very testy in the last 24 hours. And speaking of Kellyanne Conway, one final, very interesting though to past along, Erin. [Burnett:] Yeah. [Acosta:] She called me within the last hour sitting next to the president-elect to confirm to us that South Carolina Congressman Mick Mulvaney has been chosen as President-elect Trump's Budget Director, the director of the OMB. So that is something that the president- elect is confirming to CNN through Kellyanne Conway. And it's a real gesture to the House Freedom Caucus, you know, the group of very conservative Republicans up on Capitol Hill that Mulvaney is getting the spot, so sending a signal to Republicans, conservative Republicans in that Donald Trump likes having one of them inside his administration, Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Thank you very much, Jim Acosta. That's something, of course, that could help him considering up the city, independent estimates are for some significant borrowing to fulfill his economic promises. "OutFront" now, former Reagan White House Political Director Jeffrey Lord and former Clinton White House Aide Keith Boykin. So, Keith, let me start with you. President Obama said today that the White House changes people, which I guess it sort of definitional, but it's impossible for any of us to truly understand the magnitude of those moments. But here is how President Obama put it. [Obama:] When Donald Trump takes the oath of office and is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States then he's got a different set of responsibilities and considerations. And I've said this before. I think there is a sobering process when you walk into the Oval Office. [Burnett:] So, are we going to see a different Donald Trump? [Kieth Boykin, Former Clinton White House Aide:] I don't think so. You know, I work in the White House for President Clinton and I've known Barack Obama for years and I just don't think that Donald Trump is the type of person who will be changed by the Oval Office. I think he's shown who he is throughout his term as a candidate when he ran for office and during the transition. He's on Twitter every day. He's attacking "Vanity Fair" and "Saturday Night Live." He's attacking reporters. He's attacking union bosses and anyone who disagrees with him. He's a thin-skinned very troubled person. And I don't think he's going to be any different as president of the United States. [Jeffrey Lord, Former Reagan White House Political Director:] I think he's the president-elect of the United States with reason. Last night I had the opportunity to be in Hershey at that rally that Jim Acosta was just talking about [Lord:] And I can tell you, he was himself and the people in that room, it was about 12,000 people, that's exactly what they want to see of their next president that is why he is president in the first place. Now I mean, do I think that he's got a sober understanding of what goes on in the Oval Office? Sure, sure. Every president goes through a situation where everything is new to them and they get adjusted to it. He will go through that, too. But this is a serious man. This is a serious executive. This is a man who built this global company. This is a man who's now been elected president. You don't get there without being a serious man. [Boykin:] You know, I agree with what you're saying Jeffrey that he spoke to his crowd last night and that's what they wanted to hear. But that's not what the president-elect needs to do. [Burnett:] Is he a serious man? [Boykin:] No, he's not a serious person. No one seriously believes, except for maybe Jeffrey and a few of Trump's supporters. No one seriously believes the Donald Trump is a serious man. [Lord:] And that's why he's president is because you underestimated him, totally. [Boykin:] It's very troubling hearing, though, because the reality is he's still on Twitter. He's still attacking people. He still not taking intelligence briefings. He still he hasn't had a press conference in 142 days. He hasn't released his tax returns. He is violating every norm, traditional norm of politicians who've been elected president in modern political history. [Lord:] The world is changing. The world is changing, though. [Boykin:] Yes, the world is changing, but there are some norms, basic acts of decorum that this president-elect hasn't even begun to attempt to try to do to bridge that gap. There is a chasm in our country, a chasm, a deep dividing chasm because of this election that just took place and Donald Trump is not doing anything to correct that. [Lord:] Well, of course, he is. Of course, he is. But he was elected to lead the country in a specific direction and he's going to do that. And as to some of the things you're talking about, you know, the whole release the taxes thing, only people like us cared about that. I mean, the American people, those people that were in that room last night they could not have possibly cared. [Burnett:] Wow. I mean it looks frankly voters overwhelmingly in this country. That was an issue that people in Washington cared about, people in the media cared about, people in this country did not seem to care about with taxes particularly. But, Keith, you know, obviously there is no love lost between President Obama and President-elect Trump and that's very clear. But today, Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager as with him on that plane, your Jim Acosta say side by side tonight. She said President Obama could end dispute between the two of them, that it is on him, particularly over whether Russia have the election shift. President Obama needs to step up. Here's how she put it. [Kellyanne Conway, Senior Adviser To President-elect Trump:] If you want too shut this down and you actually love the country enough to have this peaceful transition in our great democracy between the Obama administration and the Trump administration, there are a couple of people in prominent positions, one is named Obama, one is named Hillary Clinton since this people are trying to fight over her election still. They could shut this down. [Burnett:] Is she right? [Boykin:] Of course, she's not right. You know, I could give a lot of words to describe that, but I won't use any of them on televisions. Let me just say this, President Obama had to sit through five years in the Oval Office while Donald Trump question his legitimacy as president of the United States and never apologize for it, by the way and still has not apologize for. If there's anybody who has anything to do to try to bridge that gap, it is Donald Trump. He is now supposedly the president-elect, there will be after Monday if the electorates vote for him and I think that he has the responsibilities to try to do something, he is not doing that. [Burnett:] Shouldn't he take the high road and say, "Yes, I trust the intelligence communities," instead of saying, "No, that's people trying to say that I illegitimately won [inaudible]." [Lord:] Well, I think there are people that trying to do that. And look, let's be very candid. When you listen to President Obama today, when you listen to Hillary Clinton in the speech where she said, "Well, Putin doesn't like her." The fact that matter is those people in that hall last night didn't vote for Donald Trump because of some Russian hack. The state of Michigan and Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Florida did not vote for Donald Trump because of some dumb hack. What was there a hacking? Sure. Should it be investigated? Yes, but if we're going to have... [Burnett:] But he hasn't said that. [Lord:] What I'm saying to you is this is not why he was elected. He wasn't elected because of the Russians... Height of absurdity and that is exactly why he got elected because these elites believe this kind of stuff. [Boykin:] Well, two things, first of all he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million votes. [Lord:] Not in my state. [Boykin:] Well, he lost the popular vote by almost 3 million. Secondly, this is exactly the problem right now. Jeffrey, the campaign is over. [Lord:] Yes. [Boykin:] And Donald Trump if he wants to be president, he can't just talk to those people in that hall. He has to talk to all the American people. He can't just be the president of his supporters. [Burnett:] Final word, Jeffrey. [Lord:] Yeah, of course, he's talking to all the American people. You know, what he has to do is bring this country together. He is doing it. He is out there thanking people. [Boykin:] Give me one example, one example. [Burnett:] All right. [Lord:] The speech that he's been giving. [Boykin:] Oh, yeah, yeah. [Burnett:] Thank you both. And next, Electoral College voters getting death threats, hundreds of harassing letters in one day, the message, "Don't vote Trump." Is it working? They do vote this weekend. And Michelle Obama coming out swinging in a new interview today with Oprah Winfrey. [Michelle Obama, U. S. First Lady:] Now we're feeling what not having hope feels like. [Harlow:] You're looking at live pictures out of Phoenix, Arizona, where we are waiting, hearing from Donald Trump, who will be making a speech at that rally where his team says 10,000 to 12,000 people have gathered. We earlier heard from Sheriff Joe Arpaio, of Maricopa County. We will bring you Trump's remarks as soon as they begin. I also do want to focus I do want us to focus on another very important story right now, because the man who confessed to shooting nine people and killing them in that church in Charleston, South Carolina, was never supposed to have a gun. Dylann Roof was never supposed to be able to buy a gun. The FBI says they made a mistake. There was a clerical error that allowed him to buy that gun. Dylann Roof has a prior arrest record that would have kept him from legally buying a gun. But he managed to do it anyway because the process failed, the background check process failed. Let's talk about this with legal analyst, Mark Geragos, joining us from Los Angeles; and in New York, Danny Cevallos. Guys, we just obtained this statement from the attorney for Reverend and State Senator Clementa Pinckney, who perished in that horrible mass shooting. He spoke to our Sunny Hostin today, the attorney for the estate, and said the family is concerned about the FBI's revelations about the gun and what happened and that they made a mistake. Part of the statement reads this, quote, "The FBI says it's a glitch. But it's an error, but for this, nine people may be alive today. As the attorney for the estate, it is my fiduciary duty to explore all legal options available." Mark Geragos, to you first. It sounds like, potentially, they will sue. Do they have grounds? [Mark Geragos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] He's right. He's got a fiduciary duty to explore it. If you're talking about is he going to sue some clerk or the FBI and get anywhere with that, no, they're not. There's immunities for that and that's a fool's errand in terms of a lawsuit. [Harlow:] Why? Why is it a fool's errand? [Geragos:] You're not going to get anywhere. [Harlow:] Why is it a fool's errand? [Geragos:] Because the government has created the government has created all kinds of immunities and they claim they're qualified, but most federal district court judges will kick out cases like this or such as this and say that there's immunity and that you can't do this and that the government is not going to be held responsible. It's one of the things that drives you crazy as a lawyer, but that's the reality of it. [Harlow:] Danny? [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] He's absolutely right. Qualified immunity in the executive context will protect officials and clerks from performing their discretionary activities. Liability is theoretically possible if they violate some constitutional provision or clearly established law, but that is probably, in the vast majority of cases, as I'm sure Mark knows, that just doesn't happen. Interestingly enough, while somebody injured by or killed in a situation like this will find it exceedingly difficult to sue the government. In fact, prospective buyers can sue the government if they are denied a gun that they believe they are entitled to purchase. So in theory, Dylann Roof, had he been denied and believed that was done so improperly, there is actual federal law granting a prospective buyer the right to sue in federal district court and the federal government does not have immunity in that situation. [Harlow:] I'm interested, Mark, on this point, whether or not it's interesting that the FBI came out and said this openly. James Comey, director of the FBI, came out and said it was heartbreaking to discover that this was an error that they made. Are they legally obligated to do that, to come out and say this is what happened, or did they you would hope that any government agency would always say when we made a mistake but I don't think that's always the case. [Geragos:] Yeah, I was going to say, it's that old joke with the government knocking on your door, "Hey, we're the government, we're here to help." They are not legally obligated to. I'm not the only one. Several of us commentators here on CNN, several, at least a couple days ago, maybe a week ago, said he shouldn't have had a gun. He had that arrest. That should have triggered something. So I think what they're doing now is they realize that people have done the research and are getting out ahead of it. You can either applaud them or not for at least owning up to it. But my experience with the federal government is that they rarely own up to anything unless they have been caught. [Harlow:] They certainly did in this case. And, Danny, just so people know, the clerical error here was that the person, the FBI sort of runs the background check program and the person who was doing the background check on Dylann Roof in that three-day waiting period did not find that he had been convicted of a drug offense in the county which he's within. Mistakes do happen but what can spur change? [Cevallos:] People are always surprised when something like this happens. The reality is law enforcement is vulcanized by design. They are separated by many different agencies. And just, if you wondered how this can happen, pick up the phone, call Mark Geragos, call any defense attorney and ask them, has a clerical error, a semicolon in the wrong place by a judge, a court, a law enforcement agency or a prison, ever caused havoc for your clients or their families, and the answer will uniformly be yes. These agencies in communicating with each other, every communication creates the opportunity for some clerical error. It happens, all the time. [Harlow:] Yeah. So incredibly unfortunate in this situation. We'll see what happens. Again, the estate for Clementa Pinckney saying they are exploring their legal options. Danny Cevallos, Mark Geragos, thank you both so much. Coming up any moment, in front of a very large crowd, Donald Trump speaks in Phoenix. We will take you there as soon as it starts. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We have to be smart enough to recognize who those groups are, who those people are and not help them. And we must only be generous to those that prove they are indeed our friends. We desire to live peacefully. And in friendship with Russia and China, we have serious differences with these two nations and must regard them with open eyes. But we are not bound to be adversaries. We should seek common ground based on shared interests. Russia, for instance, has also seen the horror of Islamic terrorism. I believe an easing of tensions and improved relations with Russia, from a position of strength only, is possible, absolutely possible. Common sense says this cycle, this horrible cycle of hostility must end and, ideally, would end soon. Good for both countries. Some say the Russians won't be reasonable. I intend to find out. If we can't make a deal under my administration, a deal that's great, not good, great for America, but also good for Russia, then we will quickly walk from the table. It's as simple as that. We're going to find out. Fixing our relations with China is another important step in really toward creating an even more prosperous period of time. China respects strength. And by letting them take advantage of us economically, which they are doing like never before, we have lost all of their respect. We have a massive trade deficit with China. A deficit that we have to find a way quickly, and I mean quickly, to balance. A strong and smart America is an America that will find a better friend in China, better than we have right now. Look at what China's doing in the South China Sea. They're not supposed to be doing it. No respect for this country or this president. We can both benefit or we can both go our separate ways. If need be, that's what's going to have to happen. After I am elected president, I will also call for a summit with our NATO allies. And a separate summit with our Asian allies. In these summits, we will not only discuss a rebalancing of financial commitments, but take a fresh look at how we can adopt new strategies for tackling our common challenges. For instance, we will discuss how we can upgrade NATO's outdated mission and structure grown out of the cold war to confront our shared challenges, including migration and Islamic terrorism. I will not hesitate to deploy military force when there is no alternative. But if America fights, it must only fight to win. I will never send our finest into battle unless necessary, and I mean absolutely necessary, and will only do so if we have a plan for victory with a capital V. Our goal is peace and prosperity, not war and destruction. The best way to achieve those goals is through a disciplined, deliberate and consistent foreign policy. With President Obama and Secretary Clinton, we've had the exact opposite, a reckless, rudderless and aimless foreign policy. One that has blazed a path of destruction in its wake. After losing thousands of lives and spending trillions of dollars, we are in far worse shape in the Middle East than ever, ever, ever before. I challenge anyone to explain the strategic foreign policy vision of Obama-Clinton. It has been a complete and total disaster. I will also be prepared to deploy America's economic resources. Financial leverage and sanctions can be very, very persuasive. But we need to use them selectively and with total determination. Our power will be used if others do not play by the rules. In Other words, if they do not treat us fairly. Our friends and enemies must know that if I draw a line in the sand, I will enforce that line in the sand, believe me. However, unlike other candidates for the presidency, war and aggression will not be my first instinct. You cannot have a foreign policy without diplomacy. A super power understands that caution and restraint are really truly signs of strength. Although not in government service, I was totally against the war in Iraq, very proudly. Saying for many years that it would destabilize the Middle East. Sadly, I was correct. And the biggest beneficiary has been Iran who has systemically taken over gained access to their very, very rich oil reserves. Something it has wanted to do for decades. And now, to top it off, we have ISIS. My goal is to establish a foreign policy that will endure for several generations. That's why I also look and have to look for talented experts with approaches and practical ideas rather than surrounding myself with those who have perfect resumes but very little to brag about, except responsibility for a long history of failed policies and continued losses at war. We have to look to new people. We have to look to new people because many of the old people, frankly, don't know what they're doing, even though they may look awfully good writing in "The New York Times" or being watched on television. Finally, I will work with our allies to reinvigorate western values and institutions instead of trying to spread universal values that not everybody shares or wants. We should understand that strengthening and promoting western civilization and its accomplishments will do more to inspire positive reforms around the world than military interventions. These are my goals as president. I will seek a foreign policy that all Americans, whatever their party, can support, so important, and which our friends and allies will respect and totally welcome. The world must know that we do not go abroad in search of enemies, that we are always happy when old enemies become friends and when old friend become allies. That's what we want. We want them to be our allies. We want the world to be our we want to be bring peace to the world. Too much destruction out there. Too many destructive weapons. The power of weaponry is the single biggest problem that we have today in the world. To achieve these goals, Americans must have confidence in their country and its leadership. Again, many Americans must wonder why our politicians seem more interested in defending the borders of foreign countries than in defending their own. Americans must know that we are putting the American people first again. On trade so true. On trade, on immigration, on foreign policy, the jobs, incomes, and security of the American worker will always be my first priority. No country has ever prospered that failed to put its own interests first. Both our friend and our enemies put their countries above ours. And we, while being fair to them, must start doing the same. We will no longer surrender this country or its people to the false song of globalism. The nation state remains the true foundation for happiness and harmony. I am skeptical of international unions that tie us up and bring America down and will never enter and under my administration, we will never enter America into any agreement that reduces our ability to control our own affairs. NAFTA, as an example, has been a total disaster for the United States and has emptied our states, literally emptied our states, of our manufacturing and our jobs. And I've just gotten to see it. I've toured Pennsylvania. I've toured New York. I have toured so many of the states. They have been cleaned out. Their manufacturing is gone. Never again. Only the verse and I have to say this strongly, never again, only the reverse will happen. We will keep our jobs and bring in new ones. There will be consequences for the companies that leave the United States only to exploit it later. They fire the people. They take advantage of the United States. There will be consequences for those companies. Never again. Under a Trump administration, no American citizen will ever again feel that their needs come second to the citizens of a foreign country. I will view, as president, the world through the clear lens of American interests. I will be America's greatest defender and most loyal champion. We will not apologize for becoming successful again but we'll, instead, embrace the unique heritage that makes us who we are. The world is most peaceful and most prosperous when America is strongest. America will continue and continue forever to play the role of peacemaker. We will always help save lives and indeed, humanity itself. But to play that role, we must make America strong again. And always, always, always, we must make and we have to look at it from every angle and we must make America respected again. We must make America truly wealthy again and we must, we have to and we will make America great again. And if we do that, and if we do that, perhaps this century can be the most peaceful and prosperous the world has ever, ever known. Thank you very much, everybody. I appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] There he is, Donald Trump, speaking here in Washington, delivering his vision for a foreign policy, if, if he were elected president of the United States. Right now, he is the Republican presidential front-runner. A blistering attack on the Obama administration's policy but also going back, very critical of the Bush administration policy as well. As far as the Obama administration, saying it's a policy of weakness, confusion, disarray, in his words, a mess. He says U.S. allies no longer respect the United States and rivals don't respect the United States either. Let's get a quick reaction from all of our analysts and our reporters. Fareed Zakaria, you listened very carefully. He spoke for almost 40 minutes. What did you think? [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, "fareed Zakaria Gps":] I thought, in the main theme, he really stuck to his guns which was it was populist, nationalist, protectionist. You know, I will look after America first. The trade deals were at the center of it. That was all familiar. But he expanded. It was sort of rambling to the point of being incoherent. I mean, he contradicted himself several times, it struck me. He said, we're going to get out of nation-building but we are going to create stability. Well, how do you do that? You get out of nation building in Afghanistan, you'll get more instability. If you got out of nation building in Iraq, you got more instability. He said the allies can rely on us but be completely unpredictable. He said we will spend what it takes to rebuild the military, but we're going to pay down the debt. We're going to spread western civilization, but we're not going to spread democracy. And he ended with a truly bizarre statement about the greatest problem in the world is that we have too many weapons. And, once again, a strange place where you might find he and Bernie Sanders are one. So, I thought that when he tried to flesh out an actual foreign policy, it was pretty incoherent. He was very strong on his protectionism, anti-trade, American unilateralism. He was very strong on attacking the ObamaClinton legacy. And as you say, really that's mostly the Bush legacy when he talks about the trillions of dollars spent trying to nation build in the Middle East. That's the Iraq War. That's the Afghanistan War. Both of which were initiated by President Bush. So I don't know that it's going to convince anyone. Certainly it didn't strike me as a careful analytic laying out of a Trump foreign policy. Mike Rogers, you're the former chairman of the House Intelligence Committee. What was your reaction? [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] A bit of the same. I was not exactly coherent. I think he was trying to go do three things in this speech, talk to the establishment national security type Republicans to say, listen, I can be presidential. And then he threw a lot of red meat for the base. He took care of that going into states like Indiana. He threw he mentioned Benghazi hit a national foreign policy speech. A little odd. And then lastly he did a in Michigan we'd call it putting bondo on the car, trying to keep that thing together, by repairing I and the biggest part I noticed was his NATO trying to repair his remarks on NATO about being irrelevant. He was basically going back to what is a common theme of, we need to get all the NATO nations paying at that 2 percent GDP and I'm going to bring them in a room and I'm going to tell them, if they don't, we won't play along. And I think that covered both ends of that spectrum [Blitzer:] He said the NATO mission is outdated, but it does have an opportunity to rethink its mission. Let's go overseas to London. Nic Robertson, I know people all over the world are watching. They're very anxious to hear what he said. He basically said and I want to get your reaction that the administration's policy on Egypt, on Syria, on Libya, on Iraq has been a total disaster. Maybe well intentioned, but things turned out to be a disaster. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Yes, and I think a lot of what we heard there, generally, you could say painted this with broad brush strokes, will warm him and endear him despite his statement sort of really riled people in the Middle East about not letting Muslims into the United States and casting some of the countries there as sponsors of terrorism, some of the Sunni countries, that is. I think you will find a warming to a good part of his rhetoric when he talks about Iran taking advantage in Iraq. The need to deal with Iran. This is something that's going to warm him to the Saudis, to their gulf allies. I think when you look at Europe here, however, I think there are things in there that will cause the Europeans to worry, not just that there's going to be a demand that they make that 2 percent GDP spent on NATO and the type of equipment that they need to spend it on, big ticket equipment is what the Obama administration has talked about. So not just that, but the fact that he's talking here about really perhaps looking at the relationship with Russia. What does that mean in Europe? Does that mean he is going to blink and forget about what's happened in Ukraine and what's happened in Crimea? That's what the European nations are going to worry about. But, you know, they see they see their alliance with the United State as being critical to their defense there. You have, just in Munich, a few months ago, General Philip Breadlove, the U.S. military commander of NATO, saying that Russia is the biggest threat right now that we see and the United States sees. So the Europeans are going to worry that there might be a shift away from that kind of vision on what the compromises might be. So I think you will see a worry in Europe and perhaps a warming to him, a little, in the Middle east, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, I suspect, though, the Saudis probably were very happy with what he had to say about Iran. I assume the Israelis would also be very happy what he had to say about Iran as well, some of the gulf states, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and some other countries as well. Nick Paton Walsh, you're there in the Middle East for us. You're joining us now live from Beirut. Let's talk about what he suggested, that the policies of the Bush administration and now the Obama administration over the past seven and a half years in Iraq, in Syria have basically laid the groundwork for the establishment, the creation of ISIS and this threat that now exists in the region and outside of the region. You cover that story for us. What did you think? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, it's interesting. I mean his grasp of the Middle East in history seems to sort of stop in about 2000, then pick up again in about 2008. If you'd look at why he thinks ISIS came into being, it's because Obama wasn't strong enough. Yes, there's an argument that perhaps a continued U.S. military investment or presence in Iraq could have helped the country perhaps weather the arrival of ISIS. But, remember, ISIS came into fruition as the Islamic State of Iraq during the insurgency against the American presence, against an American presence that was devised and implemented by George W. Bush, between, as we well know, after 2003 and 2008 when he left the presidency. So there's a great deal of desire to say that it's basically Obama's weakness that has caused us to be in the state where ISIS came into existence, completely failing to look at the fact that actually they sprang out of a Sunni insurgency against the American presence there. Some other interesting points he had to make too suggesting that, in fact, ISIS in Libya now are, quote, "making millions" by selling oil they've got their hands on to, to part of Libya. Now, that's a huge exaggeration to say the best ISIS'current tactic is to disrupt the Libyan oil system. They've scared some platforms out of existence or operation. They've take control of others. They may be selling some oil on the black market, but it's certainly not a millions strong daily trade. And it's the black market, definitely. It's a concern. But he went on to say that the U.S. is doing nothing about it. Well, that's not true. We do know special forces are getting involved there. We do know there's a lot of surveillance over that country and there have been U.S. strikes there too. So a great simplification, but also one very dismissive take on the entire Arab Spring, where he basically said that many of the countries involved were countries that, quote, "had no interest in becoming democracies." Well, we saw ourselves the great groundswell of people in the streets demanding change. Yes, it did not turn out the way that people had hoped and perhaps history will say Barack Obama should have been more callous in backing Hosni Mubarak, perhaps in power there. But, frankly, to suggest that people weren't interested in democracy is a slight simplification. And one other quote really suck out at me, and Fareed's already mentioned it, but to say the power of weaponry is the single biggest problem we have in the world today. Well, that, to some degree, was staggering because you may argue much that the taunt in the world now is because of nuclear weapons held by larger states would halt series of much smaller weapons around the world, make the world a safer place. It was somewhat confusing and I think somewhat emblematic of the simplification here and really too how we couldn't bridge the contradiction between saying, we're going to be less involved as a power and only fight when we know we can win, victory with a capital v, he said, while at the same time to not necessarily put ourselves out on the front line as much before. So a huge confusion, I thought, between wanting to say America's going to get more involved around the world and bring peace, bring peace to the world, he said, while at the same time, too, not extend itself further than necessarily needs to or perhaps even withdraw at times and get others to do the fighting for it. Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes, he said the military option would be the last option, the very last option. He would want diplomacy. He'd want economic power. All sorts of things before the U.S. commits troops. He made that point very strongly. Let's talk about the political fallout right now. Remember, this is in the middle of a political campaign. Dana, he was clearly appealing to a big chunk, not only of the Republican conservative base, but the American public right now. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] No question. [Blitzer:] Which is sick and tired of the United States going around the world spending, as he says, trillions of dollars losing thousands of lives, building, nation building in parts of the world while so much of the U.S. infrastructure is crumbling. [Bash:] All I was thinking about listening to him was the evolution of the Republican Party, if you in the form of the standard bearer. Whether it was the Republican president, George W. Bush, who I've covered in the run-up and during the Iraq War, to John McCain, who was the next nominee. Mitt Romney maybe a little bit less, though. But how much things have changed for various reasons with regard to the approach that the Republican base clearly wants its leadership to take. Because George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, obviously, they were all about, as he said, trying to not necessarily nation build but democratize. And they were all about trying to get democracies in the Middle East, insisting that history will prove them right and then maybe it's messy now but in 30 years it will be OK, to where we are now with Donald Trump saying, that's a terrible idea. Who are we to enforce that kind of will and, by the way, instead of spending all that time, money, blood treasure over there, we need to be focusing more on making ourselves great again. And it just, again, just strikes me as, if I had a time machine and put myself back covering the George W. Bush White House in 2002, 2003, you would have been laughed out of [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Sure. [Bash:] You know, of the country basically by anybody who considered themselves a real Republican. [Blitzer:] His basic point, though, Gloria, was America first right now. [Borger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] And that's that's the theme. [Borger:] Which he said. [Blitzer:] He's laid out his vision and it may not necessarily be attractive to all the think tankers, the elite foreign policy establishment here in Washington, but for the public at large, here in the United States, the vision he laid out is going to resonate. [Bash:] Without question. [Borger:] Well, I think the think tankers would agree with America first, it's just that they would engage and describe it differently. One thing that struck me about Donald Trump was him saying we have to be unpredictable starting right now. And, you know, everybody who runs for president is a reaction to the current president. And the rap on this president is that he is too predictable because he wants to engage, negotiate, he's talked about constructive engagement since he first ran for the presidency, and, you know, the sense about Barack Obama is that he is too willing to negotiate, not willing enough to walk away from the table as Donald Trump was talking about. So what he is saying is, I'm not going to be predictable. In a way, I understand what he's saying, but that isn't going to give any comfort to your allies who would like somebody they know can be a predictable ally. I get what he's saying, as a negotiator, but as a leader of a country, there's a question about [Blitzer:] He's made the point, Nia, repeatedly, and he made the point once again today, if the U.S. is going to deploy 50 or 250 or 1,000 troops to Syria or Iraq, don't make big announcements, just do it. Get the job done. Don't give your adversary, don't give your enemy all the information they need to target these American troops. Go ahead and just do it and get the job done. Bring them home as quickly as possible. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes, and that's something you have often heard from sort of armchair pundits, talk show hosts and folks in Congress as well. You know, in some ways, I thought much of this speech was sort of boilerplate, you know, put America fist, blaming Obama for being feckless, protecting the veterans. He talked about rebuild rebuilding the military, but also wanting to save money while doing it. But there was that moment when he essentially said, to hell with all of you, foreign policy experts in Washington, including you, Mike Rogers. [Rogers:] I felt very hurt by that. I really I really did. [Henderson:] Yes. Yes, that none of you guys have gotten us to where we need to be on the world stage. And we need new voices and we need new vision. And I'm here, Donald Trump, to articulate that. And I think Dana's exactly right. I mean the difference between even Mitt Romney, right, and Donald Trump. [Bash:] Exactly. [Henderson:] Mitt Romney saying the biggest geopolitical faux is Russia. [Bash:] Right. [Henderson:] And Donald Trump here saying, you know, I can work with Russia. In some ways, he is parroting Hillary Clinton. Sort of, you know, let's reset this relationship. So a lot there, I think. A lot to chew on. A lot for people to like. [Blitzer:] Let me bring in Fred Pleitgen, one of our senior international correspondents, who was listening very carefully. Fred, I assume people all over the world were listening. They're intrigued by Donald Trump. And I assume a lot of foreign leaders, international leaders around the world, are beginning to take him much more seriously now, now that he is potentially poised to be the Republican presidential nominee. What's the likely reaction in Moscow, for example, to his reaching out saying, I want to work with the Russians. Also to the Chinese, I want to work with the Chinese, but they're going to have to work with us as well. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, it's interesting, Wolf. And I think after hearing this speech by Donald Trump, the Russians most likely are going to be almost ecstatic by what they heard because, on the one hand he said, he said, yes, he wants better relations with the Russians. He believes that something like friendship is actually possible. And then on the other hand, he really didn't point out anything that he believes that the Russians need to do to actually get there. Like, for instance, mentioning the situation in eastern Ukraine and possible political movement there, possible movement on the Minsk agreement to try and get things on track there. So certainly no mention of that at all. And I can tell you, Wolf, I was out earlier today on the streets of Moscow here and I was querying people about the presidential candidates and literally everybody that we spoke to here in Moscow on the streets likes Donald Trump and wants Donald Trump to become president because they believe that Donald Trump would mesh well with Vladimir Putin. Both of them have shown admiration for each other, have made very positive statements about each other. It's interesting, there's a poll that was done of G-20 nations and in every single G-20 nation polled, the people there said that they believe Hillary Clinton would make the best president, except in Russia, where Donald Trump is ahead by a landslide. So he certainly has a lot of admirers here. And statements like the one he made today in that speech will certainly do a lot to fortify that position. It's one of the things that the Russians have been talking about again and again and again. They feel that they're being singled out by the west. They believe the west should drop their sanctions. They believe the west should work more closely with Russia on foreign policy, specifically on fighting terrorism. And one of the things that Trump said in his speech is he said the Russians themselves have also witnessed the horrors of international terrorism. Therefore, he believes that there could be a mutual understanding there. I think there's going to be a very positive reception to the things that Donald Trump said in his speech about Russia here in Moscow, specifically in the Kremlin tonight, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Interesting. I want to go to CNN's Latin American senior Latin American affairs editor, Rafael Romo, who's joining us right now. Rafael, it was very interesting. He spoke about strengthening the borders. He spoke about immigration. He spoke about making America secure and all of that. Did you hear anything specific about the wall and that Mexico would pay for it? [Rafael Romo, Senior Latin American Affairs Editor:] Well, that's the thing, Wolf, for the last few months we've heard Donald Trump talk about building a wall with Mexico, making Mexico pay for the wall, [Vause:] Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now. Manchester United Football Club was at the center of a bomb scare on Sunday. Police evacuated the home stadium, but it later turned out to be a false alarm. The suspected explosive device was accidentally left behind by a private company after a training exercise. Christina Macfarlane reports now from Manchester. [Christina Macfarlane, Cnn Correspondent:] Fans arrived here at Old Trafford on Sunday expecting to see drama on the pitch with Manchester United took on Bournemouth in the final fixture of the season. But instead they were disrupted by events off it, after a suspicious package was found in the northwest corner of the stands. After 75,000 fans were evacuated from the stadium here and sent home, a bomb disposal team was sent in to conduct a controlled explosion of the device, which is said to have been very life-like. But later on Sunday night, it was confirmed that the package was in fact a training device, which was left behind by a private firm following a training drill. While this isn't an ideal situation for Man United Football Club, there is a great deal of relief that the situation wasn't as dangerous as first suspected and there is reassurance that the fans and the security staff here dealt efficiently and swiftly to the incident. The premier league have announced that the match that was due to take place here today have now been rescheduled for Tuesday, the 17th, where it will draw a close to the premier league season. Christina Macfarlane, CNN, Manchester. [Vause:] Retired special FBI agent and CNN law enforcement contributor, Steve Moore joins us now to talk more about exactly what happened, and what didn't happen at Old Trafford on Sunday. I mean, we've had these reports that after the Paris terrorist attacks, and their attempt to detonate an explosive at a football stadium, given that, how surprising is that this device was left there on a Wednesday and not found until a Sunday? [Steve Moore, Cnn Law Enforcement Contributor:] It is astounding. And it is not in keeping with any kind of elevated security or even mildly elevated security. Before you go to the extent of having a playoff game, you are going to have the entire stadium walked, looked at, and you're going to probably run dogs through it. So that should have been found about two or three times before the event. [Vause:] OK, like in the days before, the morning of? [Moore:] At the latest the morning of. [Vause:] OK, so you had the situation where they had this training exercise and apparently had people rappelling out of helicopters, a big training exercise. Wouldn't someone have informed the local authorities in Manchester, hey, hang on, we have this going on. We had a training exercise there on Wednesday. [Moore:] You would think that, but they said it was a private company. Maybe it wasn't as [Vause:] Elaborate, I guess. [Moore:] Yes, as elaborate as you thought, but what gets me is the Old Trafford people, they had to allow this training to happen, so why didn't anybody at Old Trafford say, Wednesday, I'm astounded. [Vause:] OK. The situation that they say this fake bomb seemed to be incredibly realistic. It was a cell phone strapped to pipes that sort of bomb if it was a bomb, not a timer, remotely detonated. [Moore:] Right. [Vause:] So assuming this was a real world situation, they found this bomb and you have a situation with 75,000 fans now putting on the posting on social media, sending out tweets, the stadium is being evacuated. There is a security scare we got to go, would the police, the authorities have this 90-minute long period to basically disarm this bomb, which is what they had, at 3:00, it wasn't exploded until 4:30. [Moore:] If a terrorist is going to take the time to put a cell phone detonator on it, as soon as they get indication that the bomb might be disrupted, they're going to be probably detonate it. They wouldn't have had 90 minutes. [Vause:] So given that, evacuate the stadium, everyone agrees it is the right thing to do, what else can you do? Any other option here? [Moore:] The time if this was a real bomb, by the time it is right there, if it is a remotely detonated device, your time is over the minute you find it because somebody will be watching that bomb, even if they're not going to be the ones who call to detonate, they're going to be in touch with the people who will. You don't put a a remotely detonated bomb in a stadium and not watch it. [Vause:] OK, so essentially what we're saying is that they would have had a lot less than that 90-minute window. [Moore:] They would have it about a minute after somebody said, look. [Vause:] Yes, exactly, OK. So we have a situation with increased security. There's obviously been attacks in Paris, attacks in Brussels, are we now in a situation where somebody, if they wanted, this wasn't the case here, but let's say they could build a realistic looking fake bomb and essentially disrupt the lives of 75,000 people like what happened here in Manchester. [Moore:] That's how terrorism works. They make our lives worse this way. They make it to where people are so on edge that anything like this, it doesn't even have to be that realistic. People are getting thrown off planes for speaking different languages. So yes, this is now the world we live in. [Vause:] The new reality. [Moore:] It is. [Vause:] Steve, thanks for coming in. [Moore:] Thanks a lot. Appreciate it. [Vause:] A series of attacks by ISIS have killed dozens of people in Yemen and Iraq. Yemeni security officials say a suicide bomber struck a southern military base on Sunday. The blast killed at least 30 troops and left 29 others wounded. An hour later, another suicide blast targeted the convoy of a Yemeni security official killing two of his guards and injuring four others. And in Iraq, a car bomb struck just south of Baghdad on Sunday killing at least two people, wounding almost a dozen more. There was violence also which erupted just north of the Iraqi capital on Sunday when ISIS militants attacked a natural gas plant killing at least ten security personnel. The deadly assaults sent plumes of smoke into the air and left several storage tanks ablaze. Ian Lee has more on the attack. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Fireballs lit up the early morning sky north of Baghdad after ISIS launched a deadly attack at a gas plant. Two attack helicopters from a nearby base helped repel the attack more than ten guards were killed. This attack sparked harsh criticism from Baghdad's governor, Ali al- Tamimi, he slammed the chief of the plant for failing to provide adequate protection. He pointed to the inappropriate number of guards and their light weaponry, no match compared with ISIS'firepower and tactics. He called for an overhaul of the plant security to protect the facility, which is important economically for the services it provides and geographical location. The plant is north of the capital, along the road that leads to the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. Another failure of the attack, was the delayed response by Iraqi security forces especially forces. The governor called for security leaders to be replaced after it took the forces two and a half hours to respond. This latest attack underscores two important points. First a change in ISIS tactics, while the terror group faces battlefield losses over the past few weeks, sleeper cells have increased the number of attacks in territory controlled by Iraqi security forces. Second, highlights the failure of security forces to root out is in that area. Ian Lee, CNN, Cairo. [Vause:] More on the surge of ISIS attacks joined by CNN military analyst, Retired Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Colonel Francona, thanks for being with us. As ISIS moves to this sort of insurgent like attacks, very good question, are the Iraqis capable of adapting to that? Because up to this point, it sort of been more conventional war if they were the frontline. Now they have to adapt to these tactics, these changing tactics, are they up to the job? [Lt. Colonel Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] Well, they have done it in the past. The problem, John, is that they're spread very thin. If you look at Iraqi Army collapsed, two years ago, when Mosul fell to ISIS, and it is never really recovered, we're starting to get there, but it is not there yet. So you got the Iraqi security forces, which includes the police, Special Forces and the Army. And there is just not enough of them to handle all of what they're trying to do. They are trying to fight in the Euphrates Valley and cut the supply lines there. They are trying to get ready to push up the Tigris Valley toward Mosul and also provide security to this large area around Baghdad and they're just stretched so thin. So as they concentrated one area, ISIS nearly attacks another. It's just typical asymmetric warfare. ISIS is very good at. They are reverting to the old tactics that worked for them before. I think we're going to see more of this. Ian brought up a very good point. This is causing a lot of problems for the government because the Shia population of Baghdad is complaining that you cannot protect us and they're more concerned with their own safety than the liberation of Mosul. [Vause:] Do you think there should be now a reassessment there by officials in Baghdad to secure the capital than more about everything else later on? [Francona:] That's the goal. That's what ISIS would like to have them do. ISIS would like to have them pulled back, reassess what is going on and say, you know, maybe we don't need to go to Mosul just yet. Maybe go to Mosul at all because the Iraqi government has its own problems. As you know, there have been all these demonstrations by Moktad al-Sadr and his group demanding a complete change in government, the end of corruption and the Baghdad government is very corrupt. And they want to make these changes and ISIS would like to see them focus on that and leave them alone. I don't think that's going to work but that's the goal. [Vause:] Well, you mentioned the amount of territory, which ISIS has lost and how the Iraqi government and the Iraqi military is trying to take back this territory from ISIS. During a briefing in Amman, Jordan, U.S. President Barack Obama's special envoy, Brett McGurk, he did talk about the territory which ISIS has lost in Iraq. This is what he said. [Brett Mcgurk, U.s. Special Envoy For Coalition Against Isis:] And now the caliphate as they call it, perverse caliphate, is shrinking. So they're very much on the defensive. They have not any territory really since their operations in Ramadi going all the way back to May. [Vause:] This is the flip side of the coin here. The Iraqi military has taken with the Iraqis with the support of the U.S. and other allies have taken back a lot of territory. What is the strain now? Are ISIS under, I guess when you look at from a propaganda point of view, financially, psychologically, that kind of stuff? [Francona:] They're under pressure in both countries, both the main enclave in Syria, Iraq, other self-declared capital and Mosul. The Iraqi Army with the Kurdish support and with the American air power has been able to pretty much isolate those, not quite all, but the goal is to cut these two enclaves off and surround them so that there is no escape. Remember what happened in Afghanistan, the al Qaeda was able to escape into Pakistan. We're trying to prevent that from happening again by completely surrounding them in that way we can destroy them in place. Otherwise, we're going to see what we're starting to see the beginnings of and that's ISIS moving to Libya, to Yemen and setting up enclaves there. So if the military plan holds, as Mr. Berger mentions, we're going to keep pushing ISIS from all sides and roll them up into these cities and eventually Mosul and Raqqah are going to have to be taken. [Vause:] You mentioned something interesting when it came to social media and propaganda, and ISIS is being squeezed on that front as well. [Mcgurk:] They had free reign in the propaganda sphere. They had millions of Twitter and Facebook pages pumping out these lies every single day. We have now worked as a coalition to counter that. For every pro Twitter handle, there is now six calling out its lies and countering that message. That's very important. [Vause:] How important is this part of the strategy and how will the U.S. and its allies know if it is working? [Francona:] Yes, I think this is one of the success stories of what we're doing. Our cyber capabilities are quite good and they've zeroed in on ISIS and they've really had an effect. You look at the recruitment numbers and that's a good metric for how effective they are. It's down about to a third of what it's used to be so instead of 3,000 fighter showing up, we're seeing about a thousand. Of course, a lot of it also has to do with the effect of the air campaign and the ground campaign. But we don't see as much effect of this propaganda onslaught that we saw, you know, even last year. So I think this is a success story and good thing, but it has to continue. But it's not over yet. I don't think we're counting the death nail of ISIS just yet. There is still a lot of fight left in these guys. [Vause:] Yes, we're seeing it every day, over and over again from Iraq to Yemen to Libya, of course, in Syria as well. Colonel, thank you. [Francona:] Always good to be with you. [Jones:] The leading figure in the campaign for Britain to lead the European Union says the E.U. is following a doomed path by trying to create a European superstate. Former London Mayor Boris Johnson told the "Telegraph" newspaper, Napoleon, Hitler, various people tried this out and it ends tragically. Adding that the E.U. lack democracy and a unifying authority. Johnson's comments drew criticism from those who want Britain to remain in the E.U. ahead of a referendum next month. The foreign affairs spokeswoman for the opposition Labour Party said this. "After the horror of the second world war, the E.U. helped to bring an end to centuries of conflict in Europe and for Boris Johnson to make this comparison is both offensive and desperate." Donald Trump says Britain won't be worse off in trade negotiations with the U.S. should it leave the European Union. President Barack Obama has warned Britain would move to the back of the queue in U.S. trade deals if it does in fact exit the E.U. In an interview with [inaudible] Piers Morgan, Trump insisted it wouldn't happen if he was president. [Unidentified Male:] If you become president, and we come out of European Union, what would your view be about where Britain should sit in priority terms with trade deals with the United States? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I don't think they'll be hurt at all. They have to make their own deal. Britain has been a great ally. To a point where they [Unidentified Male:] front of the queue. [Trump:] Britain is such a great ally that they went into things they shouldn't have gone into, like as an example going into Iraq, OK. With me, they'll always be treated fantastically well. [Unidentified Male:] We'd be front of the queue with [Trump:] Well, I don't want to say front or anything else. I'll treat everybody fairly. It wouldn't make any difference to me whether they were in the E.U. or not. [Unidentified Male:] We wouldn't be back of the queue. [Trump:] You would certainly not be back of the queue. That I can tell you. [Vause:] Donald Trump may win some British support with his Brexit position, but at home, he's facing some big challenges with women voters. Coming up, the "New York Times" has an in depth report in his past relationships with women. Plus, the men some call the Donald Trump of the east strikes again. We'll tell you what he's saying now about capital punishment. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] Good evening. Tonight, there are new developments in the story of this little girl. She is known only as Baby Doe. This is a computer rendering of what authorities think she might have looked like before her body tragically turned up on a Massachusetts coastline. Randi Kaye is working her sources. She is joining us soon with her new reporting about the case. But we begin tonight with breaking news out of Mexico City. We are expecting any minute now to hear from Mexico's interior minister with late developments in the hunt for Joaquin Guzman, El Chapo, head of Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel. Before he was captured the last time around, about 18 months ago, he held a dubious distinction of being both America and Mexico's most wanted and one of Forbes magazine's wealthiest people. A man with a billion dollars to his name and the blood of thousands of people on his hands. Until this weekend locked up in a prison not far from Mexico City, a maximum security prison or so it seemed until El Chapo apparently just crawled and then walked out right out. Nick Valencia joins us now at outside the prison with more on the search for him and for answers. What's the latest, Nick? [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, whether out it is out of embarrassment or because of their ongoing investigation, officials are not saying much. As it seems, Anderson, this escape was planned not only in plain view of the prison officials and federal police, but also the military. We spent our day outside of the rural home where it said El Chapo escaped and we saw a heavy military presence, federal police there as well. We couldn't get any more than 50 yards to that front door. The tunnel was not accessible just yet. No one has gone in there, except for the PGR, the attorney general's office and some other officials. So, it seems that they are looking for him still in this area. The locals that have spoken to, they say, given El Chapo's pass, they think that he is long gone Anderson. [Cooper:] Mexico's president had staked an awful lot on this. Had said, you know, if he was able to escape again it would be a huge embarrassment. I'm wondering, what kind of reaction has this been getting in Mexico not only among officials but people you talk to? [Valencia:] He called it in an interview with the local press, unforgivable, the second escape from El Chapo. And that is exactly seems to be the situation he is dealing with. Much criticism from the locals I spoke saying the president hasn't returned from his trip to Europe. He was in France when he heard the news. Back to this conversations with the [Cooper:] Nick, appreciate your reporting. Nick Valencia. Now, whatever role at any guard or other insiders played the tunnel itself is an El Chapo signature. In his prior 13 years at large he equipped many of his hideouts with tunnels. As "60 minute's" Bill Whitaker discovered, he lifted the bathtub from the sand and discovered a hatch way underneath. The digging often went on for miles, sometimes tying into local sewer lines or connecting up with another safe house tunnel. This time, though it was built straight into and straight out of a maximum security prison. Tom Foreman takes us inside. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] Anderson, this prison had plenty of security measures in placed above the ground. They had ways of blocking cell phone signals. They had heavily armored vehicles to repulse any sort of ground assault. They had three foot thick walls so rockets could not break in. And yet, for all of that, El Chapo found a way to burrow out under the noses of Mexican authorities and get to this freedom tunnel off in the distance here. And go completely free. How did he manage to do that? Well, first of all, he tapped into the expertise of his gang which has been known to build all sorts of tunnels for transporting drugs and eluding their enemies. And they started beneath a shower. One of the few places where he wasn't being monitored by video 24 hours a day. He went 33 feet straight down and then when you look at the details of this tunnel you see an engineering marvel. This thing was five-and-a-half feet tall, his height. Same as his height, almost two-and-a-half feet wide. So he could simply walk through it. It was reinforced with wood so they can keep track of all the structural integrity, whether or not ground water were seeing in there, a lighting system through it so they could see what they were doing. A ventilation system so that there will be no gasses that could possibly overcome anyone there. They even had a track along the bottom of it so they could transport out on some sort of cart or motorcycle. It is not clear what they were doing. What we do know is that in the end this thing was a mile long. And over that distance it could have taken a year to build easily. And yet, one of the most wanted drug dealers in the world was able to walk out there in what would have been ten minutes or less, Anderson. [Cooper:] Tom, we have covered drug tunnels extensively from Mexico to the U.S. I've been inside of them. We heard about new technology that will supposed to help find the tunnels. Could that have helped here? [Foreman:] YES. You stood down there, Anderson. You wonder, how could they not hear this going on? I talked to a geophysicist with the Miter Corporation, which is contracting with the government to help develop better systems like this. And she told me it is just not that good yet. This is a difficult task. You have three stories down. Even though you have devices listening for digging. Maybe trying to measure anomalies in the earth. They have to be really close before they can tell that something is going on here. Bigger question though is how come nobody noticed the dirt. We said this is a mile long here. Think about this. If it is a mile long, you are taking a lot of dirt away. In fact more than 200 big dump trucks full. And it is hard to imagine, Anderson, that for all that going on, nobody out here seemed to have noticed anything Anderson. [Cooper:] There was the construction site this tunnel emptied out into. So perhaps they were masking it with some of that construction work. It is incredible though that this happen. Tom, appreciate the reporting. Thank you. Well, it is an extraordinary development. We know we just learned that the press conference in Mexico City just got pushed back slightly. We'll keep an eye on it. Bring you any late developments from it if there is news from there that we have learned. Our next guest has devoted a major part of his career to catching El Chapo, working with his Mexican counterparts, former ICE officials, James Dinkins spent a decade learning his moves and finally tracking him down. Jim, you were head of homeland security investigations at the time that El Chapo Guzman was captured. You were involved in the hunt for, for, over a decade. When you heard that he had escaped this time. What did you think? [James Dinkins, Former Head Of Homeland Security Investigation:] I was really shocked. You know, but quite frankly, not surprised. You know, he is a very elusive character. And not only hard to track down but as we are finding out, hard to keep in captivity as well. [Cooper:] Is it so much that he escaped or that he was allowed to escape? It seem s impossible that there wasn't collusion of people inside this prison. [Dinkins:] Well, you know, this one I think it relies less on bribing his way out. And a lot more this traditional means. You know, this is somebody who really perfected the tunneling system as not only to bring drugs into the United States, but that's how he evaded being captured for ten years was through tunnels. And so, it's not surprising that you know, in a second captivity, maximum security prison that he resorted to what he knew best. And that was heavily engineered construction tunnel. You know pop right up underneath the floor of his cell. It is quite amazing. [Cooper:] I have been in a number of these tunnels on the border that have been discovered. And just the intricacy of them, the elaborate, you know, ventilation system, electricity, but even to be able to you need a lot of technological know-how in order to be able to dig a tunnel from the outside that gets you that gets right to the exact spot in the prison that is necessary. That's, that's a complicated feat. [Dinkins:] Yes, it is. And Anderson, I know you have been down on the southwest border and you see some of the tunnels we have seized over the years. And you often see that they get off track in different areas and have to kind of adjust. That often even come up, two, three, meters from where they originally intended to. This was one was very, very precise. [Cooper:] So now does he just go into hiding? Do you think he tries to maintain an operational role? [Dinkins:] Yes, you know, he will start influencing things immediately. The one thing is with this is that he had a year to plan not only as he is planning his escape through the tunnel. But also, how he was going to avoid being arrested again and assume control. So he has really got a head start on everybody in the search for him now as well as ability to directly start influencing the cartel once again. [Cooper:] There were a number of people who flipped, gave information, I mean, do you think he will look for retribution? [Dinkins:] I think down the road he will. Right now, he is his main focus is his escape and his continued freedom. [Cooper:] Was it worth capturing him in 2014? [Dinkins:] Absolutely. You know, this is something that you can never predict. It definitely sent a signal that the cartels in Mexico that Mexico and the United States would cooperate and share information. And at the same time, Mexican military and law enforcement would risk their lives to go after the baddest at all cost. And they demonstrated that and I think that they will continue to demonstrate that as now they hunt for him once again. [Cooper:] Jim, thanks so much for talking to us. Appreciate it. [Dinkins:] My pleasure, Anderson. [Cooper:] And as I mentioned, we are waiting on that press conference from Mexican authorities looking for new information about the massive manhunt now under way. And also more information about exactly how this happened. How the number one person on the radar of law enforcement, the number one drug runner that they had in captivity was able to escape yet again from a prison. We are also we are going to take you inside one of the sophisticated drug tunnel next, show you what it is like. And we'll visit Sinaloa where Guzman is both feared by many and practically worshipped by others. Also tonight, Donald Trump who has been tweeting about the escape and continue to ramp up his rhetoric on border issues. The question is he gaining popular traction even as his party tries to get him to tone it down. Later, you will hear from a young man who nearly lost his life to a shark. This is an incredible story in the waters of North Carolina. You have heard about that uptick in shark attacks. Well this 16-year- old talks how he survived the encounter and the recovery that is now ahead of him. [Savidge:] President Obama is getting rave reviews not everybody loved him, but a lot of people did for his performance at the final White House correspondents' dinner. This so-called nerd prom is Washington's yearly meeting of the political insiders and the press and of course the president and president for him it was his last chance to take a few shots media. Take a listen. [Obama:] I don't want to spend too much time on the Donald. Following your lead, I want to show some restraint because I think we can all agree from the start he has gotten the appropriate amount of coverage, befitting the seriousness of his candidacy. I hope you all are proud of yourselves. I would be remiss, let's give it up for our host Larry Wilmore. Also known as one of the two black guys who's not Jon Stewart. You're the South African guy, right? I also would like to acknowledge some of the award winning reporters that we have with us here tonight. Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Maria Shriver. Thank you all for everything that you've done. I'm just joking. As you know, Spotlight is a film, a movie about investigative journalists with the resources and the autonomy to chase down the truth and hold the powerful accountable. Best fantasy film since "Star Wars." That was maybe a cheap shot. I understand the news business is tough these days. It keeps changing all the time. Every year at this dinner somebody makes a joke about Buzzfeed, for example, changing the media landscape and every year the "Washington Post" laughs a little bit less hard. Key staff are now starting to leave the White House. Even reporters have left me. Savannah Guthrie, she has left the White House press corps to host the "Today Show." Nora O'Donnell left the briefing room to host CBS "This Morning." Jake Tapper left journalism to join CNN. [Savidge:] I'm joined now by historian and Princeton University professor Julian Zelizer and "Washington Post" columnist Alexandra Petri. Julian, let me start with you. High expectations placed on President Obama after his previous showing. So how would you say he did? It was the last one. [Julian Zelizer, Cnn Contributor:] It was very good. He was very skilled at these events. He took some good shots at, you know, Republicans and he took some shots as we just saw at the press, which is something I think actually matters for him so the jokes were laced with a little anger as well. But I thought he was very effective. [Savidge:] Alexandra, you know, President Obama took a few shots not just at the media but also your newspaper in particular. So how did they go over with the reporters at the "Washington Post" at the table? You know, you were looking at these reporters. You see people laughing but you wonder, do they really think that's funny? [Alexandra Petri, Columnist, The Washington Post:] Well, I have to clarify. I was not at the table but I believe the Post knows how to laugh at journalism as sort of dying relative rolled out at the dinner table. The newspapers gets skinnier and skinnier each morning as we are watching it [Savidge:] Yes. I do find that his sense of timing and his ability to deliver a line is not just they are written for him, his delivery is phenomenal. Julian, this has become a marquee event in recent years with the public paying a lot more attention to it. So how has this dinner evolved over the years? Originally, it was just supposed to be the press and president and, you know, sort hang out and have a few drinks. [Zelizer:] It was. First, it was the press and president. It was all male event and that changes in the 1960s. But since the 1980s it's been a little bit Grammy and Oscar more than politics. You have the mix of celebrities there, including celebrities who play reporters, the press and president. This is all covered. So I think it become a high profile event. It certainly not informal. And that's why the jabs that he took on Republicans like Trump, even a little on Hillary Clinton and on the press actually, you know, might resonate and gets some airtime out there. So this is an event now that matters. [Savidge:] It does. I mean, I enjoy it because I get o to see a different side of the president of the United States I don't normally get to see. Alexandra, you know, the other person up there was the comedian Larry Wilmore. I got to say, you know, of course it's a tough act to follow the president of the United States. But he did not get a very good reception, did he? [Petri:] Well, the poor room was full of groaners. And I think the president, he is hard act to follow as I'm sure Donald Trump will discover ultimately. But I always wonder who is sitting in the audience because back in 2011 when Seth Myers was, grilling Donald Trump so [Savidge:] Well, I'm just shock at how many correspondents who are apparently covering the White House these days because that place was packed. Who all is there, Julian? [Zelizer:] Well, you know, the press right now, which we talk as the singular thing is quite vast from the internet to cable to the newspaper. So just packing all the White House correspondents from the various outlets there already takes up a lot of room. You have guests but now you also have celebrities. So you have, you know, people from television shows that play politicians like the president on "Scandal" or who played reporters. And so, you know, again, as this becomes an elevated event, more people are coming into this beyond the White House correspondents. [Savidge:] Well, I'm with you, Alexandra. I think that maybe President Obama should just become the annual host. Julian Zelizer, thank you very much. Alexandra Petri, thank you for joining me. [Petri:] Thank you. [Zelizer:] Thanks. [Savidge:] Good to see you. Donald Trump's expected to hold a rally in Indiana. That will be at the top of the hour. We're there and we'll take you there live so stay here. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Hey, everyone. It`s great to have you watching CNN STUDENT NEWS this Tuesday. This is our last week on the air for 2016. We`ll be here through Friday. And the first story we`re looking at: U.S. President Barack Obama has ordered a full review of hacking related to U.S. elections going back to 2008. But a lot of the focus is going to be on the 2016 presidential election. For months, the U.S. government and several parts of the intelligence community have accused Russia of hacking into American political systems and trying to meddle in or influence the U.S. election. Russia has denied any wrongdoing and demanded that U.S. official prove it. And while a bipartisan group of four U.S. senators called for a congressional investigation into the alleged Russian hacking, what they don`t all agree on is what Russia`s motive might have been. Some members of the U.S. intelligence community have suggested that Russia wanted to give Donald Trump an advantage over Hillary Clinton. Others say that`s not certain. And the U.S. presidential administration disagree over this, too, with the White House suggesting that President-elect Trump did benefit from Russian meddling, and the incoming Trump administration saying it hasn`t seen proof of that and suggesting that U.S. politics are motivating the accusations against Russia. They`ve also been international hacking allegations on the Korean peninsula. South Korea recently accused North Korea of hacking into its military computer systems and then leaking the South`s confidential information. It`s had to stay on guard against the North, even as South Korea has been dealing with its own political upheaval. Late last week, South Korea`s lawmaking body voted to impeach President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal. South Korea`s first female leader had admitted to sharing confidential information with a close friend who doesn`t hold elective office. The nation`s constitutional court will decide on the next step of the impeachment process. Even with that going on, though, many government officials have their attention focused on the North. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] North Korea has been remarkably quiet as of late, but is that all about to change? North Korean state-run television on Sunday out some fresh photos of a military drill targeting the Blue House, the mock-up of the Blue House. That`s the South Korean presidential office. North Korean special forces are seen parachuting down to the replica of the Blue House before storming it. Heavily camouflaged paratroopers the dragged a figure out of the building, into a helicopter, which takes off. The anchor says they are capturing the enemies that need to be put on trial. We then see heavy artillery which destroys the presidential office in a blaze of fire and smoke. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un himself directed the exercise, according to the state-run media KCNA. And he`s quoted as saying, "Well done, the enemy troops will have no space to hide themselves, far from taking any counteraction." Now, these dramatic images clearly intended to provoke a response and they did. The South Korean Unification Ministry said that this was a childish act, and also the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that if North Korea strikes, they will strike back and the leadership will suffer a fatal blow. Now, it is worth mentioning the timing. It could well be that this drill happened on Saturday, although KCNA never gives a date of any events that Kim Jong-un attends. But if it were Saturday, that is just one day after the impeachment of South Korean President Park Geun-hye by lawmakers. This is a saga that North Korean media has been reporting on religiously. Experts say, also, the relatively restrained behavior we`ve been seeing from North Korea recently, certainly in recent weeks, could be because of the U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. Experts say that Kim Jong-un is unlikely to push too hard until he has a better idea of what he`s up against. Paula Hancocks, CNN, Seoul. [Azuz:] Three world cities suffered three deadly terrorist attacks over the weekend. The first was in the Turkish city of Istanbul. On Saturday night, after a crowded soccer game, there were two explosions, one from a remote-controlled car bomb, another from a suicide bomber. At least 44 people were killed and 150 wounded. The group that said it was responsible is known to target the Turkish military and police, but a CNN military analyst says it commonly kills civilian in the process. On Sunday morning, in Cairo, Egypt, an explosion at a Coptic Christian church killed at least 25 people and left dozens of others injured. There were no immediate claims of responsibilities for this bombing. But Egypt`s Coptic Christian minority has been attacked repeatedly in recent years, often by Islamic militants. Also on Sunday, in Mogadishu, the largest city in capital of Somalia, a car bomb rammed the entrance of a port claiming at least 20 lives there. Al- Shabaab, an Islamic terrorist group linked to al Qaeda, said it was targeting police officers. [Jeison Aristizabal, Cnn 2016 Hero Of The Year:] My name is Jeison Aristizabal. I have cerebral palsy. A doctor told my mom that I would amount to nothing. All these difficult circumstances pushed me to be independent. I learned that I would be able to accomplish everything I put my mind to. I lived in the district of Aguablanca. It`s one of the poorest areas in Cali. Many children with disabilities in Aguablanca grew up with no type of opportunity, because families don`t know how to take care of them. They think that it`s God`s punishment. It`s very important to change that way of thinking. Hello, Julian. Great. Let`s go to physical therapy. I began doing therapy out of my parent`s garage. The foundation now has its own location. We have therapy services, medical treatment, school. Our greatest interest is for the children to be happy. They sing. They play. They dance. We have transformed the lives of thousands of children. The message I want to give people with disabilities is: yes, you can. Never give up. Always fight for your dreams. [Subtitle:] CNN STUDENT NEWS is changing, January 2017. [Azuz:] All right. Now, you know changes are acoming and we are getting flooded with questions about them. If you`re on social media and you want to know more about what`s ahead in January, we are going to be giving you some good, solid info online for our Facebook followers at Facebook.comCNNStudentNews. Also for our Instagram followersCNNStudentNews. So, log on if you`re on social media. More exciting coming our way. There`s house hunters, fixer upper, tiny house nation, house hunters on vacation, let`s call this gingerbread house hunters. For the Annual National Gingerbread Competition -yes, that`s right. It`s in Asheville, North Carolina. Almost 200 competitors spend months deciding, designing and decorating their own gingerbread houses. They have to be totally edible. Mostly gingerbread, and the grand prize is $85,000. Now, for some, that`s just the icing on the cake. For others, this is a cottage industry. They don`t need a tooter to make their Tudor. This is like the ultimate bake sale where the first prize is some serious bread. It`s not to be taken gingerly. I`m Carl Azuz and we hope you`re hungry for more news and puns tomorrow. END [Soares:] Welcome back. We are following new developments out of Malaysia. Police there say Kim Jong-Nam was poisoned with VX nerve agent. The half-brother of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong-Un, was killed at the Kuala Lumpur airport. At least two women are in custody. Authorities have asked Interpol to issue an alert for four other suspects. Let's get more on the story. Alexandra Field joins us from Kuala Lumpur. Alexandra, what more are authorities telling you regarding this highly toxic nerve agent? [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] This is the first time they've identified what they believe killed Kim Jong-Nam, calling it an internationally banned chemical weapon. It's a lethal weapon. It's something that was first used in the 1950s. In very small amounts it can be lethal. See onset of symptoms within minutes or even up to 18 hours after exposure. Essentially, experts say it paralyzes your breathing. We know Kim Jong-Nam reported feeling dizzy after he was approached by two women in Kuala Lumpur airport. Police in Malaysia say the women were trained to apply a poison to his face and it appears that's what you're seeing in the TV video reported inside the airport when you see a woman approach him from the front and also the back Isa? [Soares:] We have these two women. We're looking at a photo of them. These two women held in custody. What about the other man? I know there are other people involved here. [Field:] This continues to widen and expand. At this point, officials in Malaysia have the women in custody, and then another man. They're looking for three more North Koreans who they believe are in country. They've asked North Korea for help in finding the people and speaking to them. They're also looking for four North Korean man who they think may have provided the chemical weapon. It's believed they have actually returned to Pyongyang at this point. As far as how anyone would have been able to get that chemical weapon into the airport, police have not said how they believe it arrived in this country or at the airport, but only a small amount is needed. So it could have been difficult to detect while it was being transported. [Vause:] In the meantime, do we know what will happen to the body of Kim Jong-Nam? It's waiting for next of kin to arrive? [Field:] Yeah. It's really at the center of what is an increasingly tense diplomatic fight between Malaysian officials and North Korean officials. Malaysian officials have said they'll keep the body here in the morgue at this hospital until a family member arrives to provide a DNA sample. North Korean officials say this is somebody who was found with a diplomatic passport on his bodies and the Malaysians are acting in violation of diplomatic international norms. They want the body back. Malaysia is not giving it up. [Vause:] Alexandra Field, thank you very much, in Kuala Lumpur. Another day of mixed signals from the Trump administration, this time on the relationship with Mexico. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with senior officials in Mexico City on Thursday. Kelly praised the trade relation between the two countries, calling it dynamic. He said there would be no mass deportations and the military will not be used as part of a crackdown on illegal immigration. Earlier, though, at the White House the president called the trade deficit between the United States and Mexico unsustainable and he said the deportation of undocumented immigrants would, in fact, be a military operation. [Soares:] I'm joined by Jorge Castaneda, the former Mexican foreign minister. He joins me from Mexico City. Senor Castaneda, thank you for joining us this hour. [Jorge Castaneda, Former Mexican Foreign Minister:] Thank you. [Soares:] We heard there the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly say there won't be massive deportation. Instead, the U.S. will be focusing on the criminal element. Do you believe what you heard? How do you view the discussions? [Castaneda:] I'll believe it, Isa, when Secretary Kelly changes the drafting of the guidelines he made public two days ago with a series of measures that imply inevitable mass deportations. If he changes the guidelines, I will believe him entirely. Until he does that, I will believe not a word of his, and nobody should. Because what he says in Mexico City is absolutely irrelevant as long as the guidelines that were published two days ago in Washington, D.C., continue to say that they will hire 15,000 more CBP and ICE agents as long as those guidelines say that they will deport anybody all over the U.S. territory, not just within 100 miles of the border, and not only those who are in the U.S. For 14 days but for two years, and also those who can be suspected of having committed a chargeable act whatever that means. So I don't care what Kelly says. I'm interested in what the executive degrees and guidelines issued by the government a couple days ago. [Soares:] You don't care what Kelly says, you care with the president says. Meanwhile, in Washington, we heard President Trump talk of a military operation of bad dudes. Those were his words. How does Mexico make sense of the mixed messages and perhaps of the inconsistencies from this administration? [Castaneda:] I think in this case they're not mixed. Degrees are decrees. Guidelines are guidelines. They are written texts. These are not statements by either President Trump or by Secretary Kelly. These are guidelines issued by Secretary Kelly to the ICE and CBP agents in the field. If he wants to change them, he can. The guidelines say that the U.S. will try to send non-Mexican nationals back to Mexico to await asylum hearings. Secretary Kelly says no, we're not going to do that. Well, then change the guidelines. I am interested in what's written. I don't care what he says. And I think this is the hypocrisy of this American administration. They are not mixed messages. It's one message. What we're not learning to do is to listen to the right one. [Soares:] OK. Give me the view of Mexico. You were talking there about potentially sending thousands of Central Americans into back into Mexico. How does Mexico view this? If this does happen, what how can Mexico handle this? [Castaneda:] Well, I think on this account, I agree completely with President Pena Nieto and his foreign minister who stated clearly yesterday that under no circumstances will Mexico admit any refugee, my deportee anyone from the United States who is not a Mexican national. If they are from another country, the United States has to send them back to their countries. Not to Mexico. That's the U.S. problem. And I think on this, all Mexicans grew there is no way we are going to admit anybody back to Mexico who is not Mexican. [Soares:] Very quickly, what leverage is Mexico have on this front? [Castaneda:] It has enormous leverage which is to open the southern border to tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people from other countries, fleeing from the violence in their country and going north, trying to reach the United States, entering the United States, and then being apprehended and asking for asylum. We have enormous leverage on this account, and I think we should use it. [Soares:] Jorge Castaneda, the former Mexican foreign minister. Mr. Castaneda, thank you very much. Great to talk to you, sir. [Castaneda:] Thank you. [Vause:] Coming up to 11:27 here in Los Angeles. We'll take a break. When we come back, a transgender woman and activist says Candidate Trump said one thing to American voters but now President Trump has done the opposite. [King:] Welcome back. President Obama on Monday ends his post-election hibernation or you might say his post-election series of really excellent vacations. The 44th leader of the free world makes his first public appearance since leaving office. It will be at the University of Chicago wherein his previous life he was a law professor. The event is being built as a conversation on community organizing and civic engagement. We will see the president on Monday. In his absence, Democrats have, to put it modestly, struggled to find a person who can lead the party out of the wilderness. Yes, it's early, 2018, not sure quite yet, 2020, still a long way off. But, what's old is not new again. [Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary Of State:] I know the election hit a lot of us hard. But I can tell you this. Even when it feels tempting to pull the covers over your head, please keep going. [Rep. Nancy Pelosi , Minority Leader:] A great Texan, Ann Richards, used to say, "You can put lipstick on a sow and call her Monique, and she's still a pig." That's what this bill is. It's the same terrible bill. [Chris Hayes, Msnbc Anchor:] Do you consider yourself a Democrat? [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vermont:] No. I'm an independent and I think if the Democratic Party is going to succeed and I want to see it succeed. It's going to have to open its doors to independents. [Off-mic) King:] Yes. We spent a lot of time earlier in the program on the, you know, on the Republicans having a hard time getting the governing act together. The Democrats had their own set of dysfunction and disarray. And I don't mean to beat up on the public service of Secretary Clinton nor leader Pelosi or Bernie Sanders being an independent while he's out on tour trying to help the Democratic Party rebuild [inaudible]. But if you look at the leadership of the party, who is the State Senator Barack Obama? Who is the new face? [Bacon:] To be fair, in 2005, I don't think I knew Barack Obama will be president four years later so I think it is hard [inaudible] to know who the leader is. They're doing well right now in part of the Democrats because they're opposing things. They're good at blocking Obama of the new ObamaCare bill there. It's [inaudible], they're having these marches and you know, anti-Trump is a great organizer function. [King:] What about the Republican little tea party. [Bacon:] Yes. Exactly. So the main work but at some point there will have to be a voice of the Democrats. You still have to win those who voted for Trump to sort of moderate the more swing Trump as we still not sure if they're going to vote for the Democratic candidate in 2018 [inaudible] particularly in 2020. I think you still have to find those the positive vision of the Democratic Party still. [Kucinich:] But their auditions are open. And you are seeing some of these folks particularly in the senate, Elizabeth Warren, [inaudible] for example, Kirsten Gillibrand. They are auditioning, there are books coming out. They are promoting the books and but they don't no one writes books for their health. [Bacon:] But little right [inaudible] [Ball:] But I do think where at this point the leader of the Democratic Party is Donald Trump because it is the anger at him that is really energizing there their base. The question is that anger going to stay at its current fever pitch. And you know, the results out of Georgia in the special election this week were very much sort of tea leaves for that and the result was I think sort of middling You know it was very to tell because, you know, he didn't win out right which would have been an enormous signal in favor of the Democrats as anti-Trump party. But he also did better than you probably would have expected for someone in that district. [King:] You mentioned that race, the Georgia's special election. Now, it's in a two month runoff to see what happens and the Republicans are happy, they got a runoff. They think they can hold the seat now but they did get a scare. In part of their way to go against Jon Ossoff, who was the Democratic candidate, now he will be the Democratic candidate to run where he's trying to get a 50 percent. We just showed Nancy Pelosi, Leader Pelosi, she is now the boggy woman if you will for Republicans. A, trying to raise money, and B, when they're trying to take down a candidate. Look at these ads. [Unidintified Male:] Ossoff lived and worked with the liberals in Washington. That's why Nancy Pelosi and her allies are pouring millions into his campaign. The truth is Nancy Pelosi's friends are bank rolling Ossoff's campaign because Ossoff will [inaudible] for liberal agenda. [Ball:] And this is not a new strategy. Republicans have been doing this since 2010 making Nancy Pelosi the villain. But they wouldn't keep doing it if it didn't work and it really does get their base out. [Lee:] That's right. And he's trying and the candidate is trying not to get sucked into that. He's talking very much about compromise and you know. [King:] Local issues and the like. And that race was as you mentioned, had the Democrats won, it would have given them some confidence heading into 2018 even though we often over read the results [inaudible] special election or not. But if you want to take Nancy Pelosi wants to be speaker again. She wants to be speaker again. Can she get there? Does the math work? She thinks maybe. [Evan Smith, Texas Tribune Ceo:] Are there enough winnable races in 2018 around the country to take back the House? [Pelosi:] Yes indeed. If it were today I feel very confident. It's not today. [Smith:] Not today. [Ball:] This is also not a new talking point for Nancy Pelosi who said the Democrats were going to win the House in 2012 and 2014 and 2016. [Kucinich:] Hopes spring eternal. [Ball:] all of which but in every instance it was almost impossible for that to happen. So, I wouldn't necessarily take that as a statement. [Bacon:] The president with a 40 percent approval rating, he's easy to runs against. She stands at a 40 percent [inaudible]. [King:] But in any other organization with that track record, you would have a new leader. But they have their own dysfunction in the top and plus she's the one who can raise money. She's the only who can raise money on the scale that she does. [Ball:] And that's why they keep her. But there are a fair number of Democrats in the House to and she got quite a lot of votes against her in fact to be leader remarkably this time. And there are a fair number of Democrats in the House who do wish she would move on and allow a new generation just to start taking it. [Kucinich:] But a lot of the new generation has taken to the exits. Look at Chris Van Hollen, he's in the Senate now, Xavier Becerra is now back home in California. So there is a little bit of brain drain going on in the Democratic caucus. [King:] That looks for other opportunities not in the House at the moment. We'll watch this one. Everybody sit tight again, please. Coming up, he loves them, he loves them not. President Trump loved WikiLeaks on the campaign trail but his White House says Julian Assange maybe should go to jail. [Anderson:] Oh, the good life. Less than two weeks out of the White House, and Barack Obama clearly trading up, swapping freezing Washington for the Caribbean where he is hanging out on the billionaire, Richard Branson's private island. Of course, with everything that is going on in Washington, it is easy to see why Obama might just want to forget about it all for a while. But for Muslims across America, it will be much harder to get all the uncertainty off their minds. That's something almost half of all Americans who have never met a Muslim may not understand so well. But one woman, well, she is trying to change all of that. These are your Parting Shots this evening. Meet Moina Shaiq, she's a Muslim woman from Pakistan. And on this day, she is speaking with a church group in Atlanta. A U.S. resident for 38 years and a mother of four, since 911 she has been on a mission to combat misconceptions about Muslims. [Moina Shaiq, Muslim-american Activist:] For the most part, Muslims got underground, basically, because they were very scared. I decided that I'm not going to do that. I'm going to get out and educate my fellow Americans about who Muslims are. Because I realize for the most part, people in America don't know Muslims. [Anderson:] There are 1.8 million Muslim in the U.S., but nearly half of U.S. adults say they don't personally know any. Shaiq says, because of that, there are many misconceptions about Islam, which is why she began touring the country with her "meet a Muslim" initiative. [Shaiq:] Why are women oppressed in Islam? What is the difference between Shia and Sunni. What is Shariah law, you can ask all these questions. [Anderson:] She says she has conducted over 50 of these discussions since January, 2016. [Shaiq:] I started doing "Meet a Muslim" conversation after the San Bernardino shootings. And so I thought, I will go and put an ad in the paper, in a local paper, and go sit in a coffee shop and see if somebody comes. There were over 100 people at the first event. [Anderson:] She says, no question is off the table. [Shaiq:] ISIS is the same as KKK, it is exactly the same thing. Now, would anybody call KKK Christians? No. Nobody in the right mind would call them Christian. The same thing, ISIS is doing things in the name of Islam, but it is completely contrary to the teachings of Islam. [Anderson:] She questions the true faith of those who have been classified as radicalized. [Shaiq:] The concept that people who are getting radicalized are very Islam observant, I think it is the contrary of that, because when you make connection with god five times a day and you pray, and you repent and you ask for forgiveness, you can't be radicalized, you can't hurt people. [Anderson:] After the hour-long discussion, Shaiq spends more time greeting the people who came today. And her message is simple. [Shaiq:] Just get to know a Muslim. If you have never met a Muslim, make an effort to get to know one. [Anderson:] What a very busy hour for you today. Let us know what you thought of today's show. Lots going on. You can browse over to Facebook.comCNNconnect. You can get in touch with me @Beckycnn on Twitter. I'm Becky Anderson. That was Connect the World. From the team here, it's a very good evening. We will be back at the same time on Sunday. CNN goes on right now. END [Errol Barnett, Cnn International Newsroom Show:] Jerusalem on alert, as assailants target Israeli civilians in deadly attacks. The government takes action. [Rosemary Church, Cnn International Newsroom Show:] Plus, an American basketball player and reality TV star is on life support after he was found passed out in a brothel. [Barnett:] And later, you will not believe what you're looking at now, a bee, a mouse, and a plant. We'll show you the winners of Nikon's Small World photo competition. [Church:] Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. [Barnett:] And I'm Errol Barnett and this is CNN Newsroom. As Israel's government rolls out tighter security measures, the unrest continues in the West Bank with a fresh wave of attacks. A 72-year-old woman was stabbed near Jerusalem Central Bus Station on Wednesday. Israeli police later shot the alleged assailant. In a separate incident, Israeli police shot a Palestinian man near the entrance to the Old City. Israeli investigators say he was armed with a knife and lunged at police officers. [Church:] Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas blamed Israel for the violence and for what he called extra judicial executions. Former U.S. Special Envoy to the Middle East tells CNN, peace talks must resume. [George Mitchell, Former U.s. Special Envoy For Middle East Peace:] I believe that all sides should take strong steps, including the right words to tamp this down. I think President Abbas should, and I think Prime Minister Netanyahu should, and I think it's imperative that the United States and its allies under take another effort to try to bring calm and hopefully get some process going again. Because the history of the Middle East, Anderson, is that when there is a peace process in place, the parties tend to be stable, although still very hostile toward each other. When it appears that it's breaking down or broken down, as is now the case, then violence occurs. [Barnett:] Our Erin McLaughlin is covering events for us from Jerusalem and joins us now live. Erin, give us a sense of the fear everyone is feeling as they try and go about their daily lives amid all of these violent attacks. [Erin Mclaughlin, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Errol, people here are on edge. Israelis and Palestinians are feeling scared. Exempt, there's a sense of anxiety. They're apprehensive. And to illustrate that, this morning, there was an incident that happened on a train to Haifa, according to Israeli police, a group of soldiers were onboard the train. One of the soldiers, they say saw someone they thought looked suspicious. The soldiers screamed out on the train, "terrorist." An Israeli police officer also on board that train fired a shot. The train pulled up to the station in Haifa, everyone got off, and they then searched the train. Israel security forces, and found absolutely nothing. I saw I just saw a social media video of that incident. You can hear the fear in the passengers' voices, and it really illustrates just the anxiety people are feeling here. Israelis, more and more Israelis, authorities say, are carrying weapons, applying for gun licenses. They're avoiding public transportation networks, instead, choosing to drive, not as many people out on the streets. And Palestinians that you talk to say, they're also scared. There are checkpoints that now have been set up in predominantly Arab neighborhoods, throughout east Jerusalem. They're being stopped and checked and they're apprehensive about what could possibly happen if something they do is misinterpreted by Israeli forces, if they reach for their cell phone and that's perceived as something else. So there's a real sense of fear on both sides as the violence continues and really shows no signs of stopping. [Barnett:] And Erin, what you just talked about there, speaks to some of the risks that this new security climate brings. You know, some Palestinians have criticized it as collective punishment, checkpoints closing off entire neighborhoods. Is there not a fear of backlash or that, you know, all of these efforts to make things better may actually worsen the situation? [Mclaughlin:] Well, that absolutely is a concern that the measures that have been put in place will serve to fuel the violence even further. But I also think, you know, there is a concern that this violence, these acts don't show any signs of stopping. Yesterday, in the face of increased police on the streets, more security guards at public transportation points, we saw two separate stabbing incidents. One outside the Damascus gate of the Old City, Israeli police said they shot a Palestinian man dead because he had attempted to stab a group of Israeli officers. And they also inadvertently shot a tourist as well as an Israeli, a local Israeli. And then at a Central Bus Stop in Jerusalem, police say a Palestinian man stabbed a 72-year-old woman. CNN spoke to an eyewitness following that incident and describes the chaos. You could really see the panic that people were feeling. So I think the question becomes, what more can authorities, Israeli and Palestinian officials do to stop these incidents, the so-called Lone- wolf attacks? So far, there are no clear answers. [Barnett:] And as we heard Senator George Mitchell refer mentioned a few moments ago when he's speaking to our Anderson Cooper earlier, without a peace plan in place, there's very little that these security measures can do as far as addressing the underlying issues. Our Erin McLaughlin, giving us the latest information out of Jerusalem, where it's just past 10:00 in the morning, Erin, thanks. [Church:] The Iraqi military has launched a new campaign to take back the northern city of Baiji from ISIS control. A spokesman said army troops supported by U.S. and Iraqi air strikes, managed to fight their way into the city center. [Barnett:] Now this area is home to the country's biggest oil refinery and has changed hands several times over the past year. We move next door to Syria now where a major assault aimed at recapturing the country's largest city, maybe in the works. Around semi-official TASS news agency cited intelligence sources can say Syria, Hezbollah and the Russian air force are gearing up for an assault on Aleppo. Other media sources report hundreds of Iranian ground troops may take part. [Church:] Aleppo is currently split among various rebel groups and militants, as well as government forces. The sources [inaudible] Russian planes are now carrying out their final reconnaissance flights in preparation for the attack. Well, Russia is downplaying the latest close call between its fighter jets and U.S. planes over Syria. [Barnett:] Chief U.S. Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto has more. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Correspondent:] U.S. and Russian military officials meeting for a third time, Wednesday. Saying they're close to an agreement to avoid risky contact in the skies over Syria. But their warplanes are already coming dangerously close. Two U.S. and two Russian aircraft came within miles on Saturday, so-called visual range, before they moved away. [John Kirby, U.s. State Department Spokesperson:] You need to make sure that you can continue to answer all bells, as we say in the navy, and that means having an assurance of safe and professional conduct, in this case, by the Russian side. [Sciutto:] Russia insists its fighter jets intended no harm. MAJ.GEN. IGOR KONASHENKOV, RUSSIAN DEFENSE MINISTRY SPOKESPERSON The close encounter comes as Russian aircraft continue to shadow U.S. drones, monitoring the border with Turkey, amid a massive expansion of Russian air and ground operations inside Syria. [Ash Carter, Secretary Of Defense:] We've seen some unprofessional behavior from Russian forces. [Sciutto:] Defense Secretary Ash Carter calls Russia's actions in Syria, a mistake. Saying that of the 80 air strikes the Russians have conducted so far, only a fraction have struck ISIS targets. [Carter:] Russia has chosen to double down on their long-standing relationship with Assad, committing additional military hardware, capabilities and personnel. We have not, for our part, and will not, agree to cooperate with Russia as long as they continue to pursue a misguided strategy. [Sciutto:] Relations with Moscow made more tense with a new Dutch investigation concluding it was a Russian-made and supplied missile system that shot down the Malaysian passenger jet MH17 over Ukraine last July. [Church:] And that was CNN's Jim Sciutto reporting. [Barnett:] And some other stories we're following for you, the Philippines says it will not negotiate with kidnappers who abducted four people in the southern part of the country. [Church:] The hostage-takers are demanding an end to government military operations in the region. Michael Holmes, reports. [Michael Holmes, Cnn International Correspondent:] A new video posted online purports to show four hostages kidnapped from a Philippines vacation resort last month, pleading to their governments to help save their lives. The video, too disturbing to show, but reveals that the hostages are alive, at least, at the time of its publication. [Col. Restituto Padilla, Spokesperson, Armed Forces Of The Philippines:] The positive thing that we derived from this video is that the kidnap victims are in good health, appear seems to be, and that is as far as we are concerned, part of the good news that we got out of it. [Holmes:] The hostages, two Canadians vacationers and Norwegian resort employee and a Filipino woman were abducted at gunpoint from the ocean view resort on Samal Island on September 21. Authorities don't know for sure who the kidnappers are. But in the video, the hostages are surrounded by mask, armed militants, and what appears to be the well known black and white flag of jihadists. The hostages are saying their kidnappers are demanding the Canadian and Filipino government stop military operations that affect the province of Mindanao, or they will be killed. [Padilla:] There is no negotiation that can be made with any of those who are perpetrating this crime. [Holmes:] Canada, Norway and the Philippines have acknowledged the situation, but officials have said little else so not to further jeopardize the lives of the hostages. [Padilla:] We cannot, as of the matter discuss operational details, but we can assure you that the safety of the hostages is always foremost in our minds. [Holmes:] The southern Philippines have been plagued by stand-offs with Islamic militants in recent years, including the taking of foreign hostages. Authorities are hoping to locate the ocean view hostages alive. Michael Holmes, CNN. [Barnett:] We have some Breaking News just coming into us here at CNN. Germany is forcing Volkswagen to recall 2.4 million vehicles in that country. Reuters says it's confirmed a report in build magazine that the motor transport authority is ordering the recall. [Church:] Of course, you would remember that Volkswagen admitted last month that its clean diesel vehicles have software installed to cheat emissions testing. Europe's biggest automaker has said up to 11 million vehicles worldwide were affected. And coming up next here on CNN Newsroom, Lamar Odom, once battled on the basketball court, now he's fighting for his life in a Las Vegas hospital. More on the star's condition when CNN Newsroom returns. [Barnett:] A warm welcome back to our viewers watching in the U.S. and those of you tuned in around the globe. This is CNN Newsroom. I'm Errol Barnett. [Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. We'll check the headlines now. Forty two senators in Brazil say they will vote to hold an impeachment trial for Dilma Rousseff that would give the president's critics in the legislature a majority. The lawmakers have been debating the measure all night and are expected to vote in the coming hours. Now if they start impeachment proceedings, Mrs. Rousseff would have to leave office for up to six months. [Barnett:] Donald Trump is under fire for refusing to release his tax returns. Trump says he will make his taxes public once his audit is complete. But that's unlikely to be before the November election. Trump meets in the coming hours with top republicans in the U.S. Congress. [Church:] A magnitude 5.8 earthquake struck the east coast of Taiwan on Thursday. This video shows the aftermath inside one store. One eyewitness says tremors in Taipei lasted about 10 to 15 seconds. So far, there are no reports of any casualties or major damage. Now we are getting new details of the investigation into the death of music legend Prince. Officials want to know how he got the painkillers that were found in his home. [Barnett:] Our Sara Sidner reports, investigators are looking for answers in Prince's inner circle, including his doctors. [Unidentified Female:] They're asking for a medical at Paisley Park [muted]. Person down, not breathing. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] That was the 911 dispatcher sending paramedics to Prince's a compound the day he died. Now new details have emerged about that day, and the days leading up to Prince's death. The details revealed in a search warrant published by The L.A. Times and star tribune. The search warrant request was filed May 6, and eventually served on this medical center, which is about 23 miles from Prince's Paisley Park compound. In it, it asks for any and all of Prince's medical records. Dr. Michael Todd Schewelenberg shown here in unrelated video on YouTube worked at the facility and was treating Prince. A detective notes Dr. Schewelenberg said he did prescribe Prince's medication, and the prescriptions were to be filled at Walgreens. The warrant said the doctor saw Prince on April 7th and April 20th, the day before Prince died. And it states that Dr. Schewelenberg was actually at Prince's Paisley Park compound to drop off test results the day prince's body was discovered in an elevator. We checked on Dr. Schewelenberg's medical license, and there were no complaints against him. It was clean. We also called North Memorial Medical Center to try and talk to him, but we were told by a spokesperson that he no longer works here. So far, no one has been charged in this case. But the investigation is still going full throttle. On Tuesday, the DEA and sheriff's deputies were back inside the Paisley Park compound, executing another search. Sara Sidner, CNN, Chanhassen, Minnesota. [Church:] The U.S. is facing a massive epidemic of painkiller overdoses. So, CNN hosted a special town hall on prescription drug abuse. [Barnett:] Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Anderson Cooper joined experts and recovering addicts. We want to show you to some of the highlights here. [Unidentified Male:] This is a public health epidemic. But it is completely manmade. [Unidentified Female:] How can we get the doctors and hospitals to stop overprescribing these addictive drugs? Doctors have to own the problems and we have to be careful ourselves about prescribing medication. [Sanjay Gupta, Cnn's Chief Medical Correspondent:] These are designed for acute intervention, not for chronic use. And if it's going more than two weeks both doctor and patient that are really think hard better about it. [Unidentified Male:] Ninety one percent of people who overdose and survive are given another prescription for those opiates. [Unidentified Female:] We have this culture of giving a pill for every problem, this culture of a quick fix. And that's something we have to change. At 16 he began experimenting with opioids with friends, and we saw nothing. So, what are what are we missing? [Unidentified Male:] Opiate addiction, opiate misused is something it's not always obvious. I was a functioning addict. [Cooper:] You could function? [Unidentified Male:] Functioning addict. My family was greatly affected by my addiction. [Gupta:] The one thing I would tell family members is, don't go it alone. [Unidentified Female:] I've been on daily opioids that have given me a very full and productive life. [Unidentified Male:] Opioids have a real role in the management of pain. But sometimes they're overprescribed. And sometimes alternative therapies will do. Even if someone is not breathing, you still put this in their nose and go ahead and spray. And that's the medication that comes out. And within just a couple minutes it can reverse an overdose. [Unidentified Female:] The shame and the stigma is a huge blocker to patients and families seeking health. [Unidentified Male:] It's a brain disease. I think more doctors say that out loud, the more that stigma goes away. [Barnett:] And you can see the entire town hall later today, Prescription addiction, made in the USA, as noon for those of you watching in London, at 7 p.m. for those of you in Hong Kong. [Church:] And abuse of prescription painkillers is not just an American problem. In fact, researcher says Canada has the highest per capita use. The U.S. is number two followed by Denmark, Germany, Austria, and Australia. [Barnett:] By one estimate, the U.S., Canada, and countries in Western Europe consume 95 percent of the global opioid supply, but make up less than 20 percent of the global population. That leaves just 5 percent for all other countries combined. Same sex civil unions are now legally recognized in Italy, the last major western country to do so. Gay rights groups gathered outside parliament in Rome on Wednesday as lawmakers adopted the bill. Same- sex couples can share a surname and inherit each other's assets. [Church:] Still, critics they are limits. The law does not recognize gay marriage. Many Catholics oppose it. And conservative lawmakers say they'll try to repeal it. Another lawsuit has been filed over North Carolina's controversial bathroom law. A group called North Carolinians for privacy claims that the federal government is bullying the state by threatening to take with to take withhold education funding. [Barnett:] Earlier this week, the Justice Department filed a suit calling the law a civil rights violation. But North Carolina's Governor rejects that statement. [Pat Mccrosy, North Carolina Governor:] It's an insult. It's a political statement instead of a legal statement that it's an insult toward our state and 10 million people that has no relevance to this issue regarding whether a gender identity individual or a boy could go into a girl's rest room. To correlate that to the Civil Rights marches in the '50s and '60s is totally irresponsible of our chief l [Church:] The latest bathroom law complaint is the fifth suit seeking judicial input. [Barnett:] Now severe storms on Wednesday produce so much hail in one U.S. city that snowplows had to be called out. It's likely there will be more wild weather across the country today. [Pedram Javaheri, Cnn Meteorologist:] Yes. [Church:] That's ridiculous. [Barnett:] Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us now to give us all the details on that. [Javaheri:] Yes. [Barnett:] Snowplows. [Javaheri:] Snowplows. Yes. In the month of May. This is in Omaha, Nebraska. So, they had upwards of 30 centimeters on the flip of hail accumulate on the roads in the morning hours. So, snowplows literally had to be brought out and clear the roads. And the temperatures made it up to 70 Fahrenheit, 20 Celsius or so. So, incredible to see this much hail accumulate. And the video pretty impressive as well to show what folks were dealing with across this region. So, we'll put the maps in motion to show you what's happening. Here is the scene of folks literally digging out of the hail that accumulated across this region. Right before sunrise, of course the temperature is pretty mild you. And then you begin to see this melts rather quickly and it becomes a flooding concern so the snowplows again come right through and try to move some of the hail out of the way. but for the first time since last Friday, actually the United States did not see a report of a tornado. And that was excellent news. But of course, almost 100 reports of damaging hail, about 84 reports of damaging winds across the area. And you go just north of St. Louis, the town of St. Charles, one of the northern suburbs there, hail the size of grapefruits. Four inches in diameter reported across this region. So, you don't get tornadoes, but it get something this destructive certainly could be a big story if it impacts you. And you notice 21 million people across this region. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Nashville, Memphis. Some of these cities in line for severe weather. On a scale of 1 to 5, a 2 for the likelihood of the severe storms across this region. But the hail and damaging winds really the main concern. Still could see some isolated tornadoes pop up across this area. I'll you up towards the Western United States, summer-like heat coming in. About five weeks early. Temps soaring into the 80s and 90s over the next of days. Look what happens in Seattle. It could be the record high temperature there tying a temp of 84 which occurred on that date in 1973. That is 20 Fahrenheit above what is normal. Portland is getting up to 90 degrees with a 67, which is what is normal for this time of year. I want to show you something here. Because we know Death Valley, California among the hottest places on our planet. Yesterday, they reach the high of 99 Fahrenheit or 37 Celsius. Oftentimes when I go to schools and talk to kids about weather, one of the interesting stats they're always surprised by is California is one of the most extreme places in the United States when it comes to temperatures. Not because of the hot temps in Death Valley, but look what happened that same day yesterday, just about 170 miles to the north that was the national cold spot in Bridgeport, California, in the mountains and Sierras, 18 Fahrenheit, 170 miles away, almost 100 Fahrenheit. California always impresses when it comes to extreme temperatures. [Barnett:] Yes. JAVAHERIL And a lot of people are interested to hear that because you think of California and tranquility. Right. [Javaheri:] But the temperatures are as extreme as anywhere else. [Barnett:] It's a huge state as well. [Javaheri:] It is. [Barnett:] As all that topography, you've got the coastline you've got mountains, you've got kind of everything in between as well. [Church:] Yes. [Javaheri:] Absolutely. [Barnett:] All right, Pedram. [Church:] Thank you so much. [Barnett:] Leave it to the kids. Heading out of school. Good to hear. Thanks, Pedram. [Church:] Thank you. Well, pay really close attention. Because if you blink, you'll miss it. [Unidentified Male:] Three, two, one. [Church:] Blink a few times. So, just what is this speeding object? Coming up a little later, find out why this could be the future of transportation. [Barnett:] Plus, Donald David Cameron is about to host a summit against corruption. We're going to do that. But first, the British leader is explaining why he called two countries fantastically corrupt. Stay with us. [John King, Cnn Anchor:] Thanks for sharing your Friday with us. It's another busy day here in Washington, one full of change. President Trump trying to shake off a slump and returning to an issue that helped him turn blue states red, signing two executive actions today designed to crack down on unfair trade. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] It's a new surge in optimism which is sweeping all across our land. [King:] Syria's Basher al Assad has slaughtered his own people with Russia's help, but the new administration says it's dropping the U.S. demand for regime change. [Rex Tillerson, Secretary Of State:] The status and the longer term status of President Assad will be decided by the Syrian people. [King:] Plus, as the president stokes a Republican family feud on Twitter, some not so friendly advice here from a top Democrat. [Joe Biden, Former U.s. Vice President:] Grow up. Stop tweeting, you know, and start focusing. The words of a president matter. They have enormous, enormous, enormous reverberating sounds around the world. [King:] This just in, Joe Biden still doesn't like Donald Trump. With us to share their reporting and their insights, CNN's Nia-Malika Henderson, Margaret Talev of "Bloomberg Politics," CNN's Manu Raju, and Carol Lee of "The Wall Street Journal." In a moment, the president's message on trade. Why he thinks it might help him get back a little momentum. But, first, spy games. There are a million careful cliches about organized around the idea that loose talk might come back to bite you tomorrow. [Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn , Former National Security Adviser:] The very last thing that John Podesta just said is no individual is too big to jail, that should include people like Hillary Clinton. I mean five people around her have had have been given immunity to include her former chief of staff. When you are given immunity, that means that you've probably committed a crime. [King:] All right, President Trump echoing that same message back there in the 2016 campaign. Well, that was Michael Flynn, the Trump campaign adviser, who later became national security adviser. And then, of course, had to resign because, among other things, he lied to the vice president about conversations with Russia's ambassador. Flynn now wants you to ignore those words, that if you want immunity, you're probably guilty. Wants you to ignore President Trump said that too. He wants you to ignore that because, yes, Flynn now wants an immunity deal from the FBI, from the House and Senate Intelligence Committees. Now, the president has also has a new on this new take on immunity, tweeting this morning, Flynn should ask for it because, quote, "in that this is a witch hunt of historic proportions." Now if you read the president's entire tweet, you see there he blames the media and the Democrats for this. For the record, Republicans control the congressional committees investigating this. And FBI Director James Comey was a federal prosecutor and Justice Department official appointed by Republican presidents before he took over the FBI under President Obama. Just a little bit of a fact check there. Carol Lee, you were part of the team that broke this story first yesterday. Michael Flynn says he has a story to tell through his attorney, but he says he wants immunity first. So far no takers. Do we know, A, what story he wants to tell, and, B, why they're so cool to taking this? [Carol Lee, "the Wall Street Journal":] We don't. We know that he has a number of stories that he could tell. We don't know whether it's his story about his time on the campaign. You know, he's one of the few officials who was on the campaign. He was on the transition and he served in the White House and he was by the president's side almost every day during the campaign. And so he's very close to Donald Trump. So there's that piece of a story he could tell. Michael Flynn also has a number of engagements that he's had in the past with the Russian government. He has been paid tens of thousands of dollars for by the Russian by Russian companies, by news organization that's state run, by Putin and he was at a dinner where he gave a speech and he sat next to President Putin. And so there's a number of different stories that he could have to tell. We don't know which one. And we also don't know what he's telling them that he has that would give them any incentive to give him immunity. And nobody seems, so far at least, to be willing to take him up on that. The other thing is that if you're going to get immunity, you have to prove that you're going to be truthful. And so he has not shown a track record of that so far. And so there may be some skepticism there too. [King:] Skepticism and I think the key point is the incentive is sort of what's the gain for whether it's the House and Senate Intelligence Committees or the FBI? What's the gain? If we're going to give this up, because you lose some leverage, you give a witness immunity, but hopefully you get more candor. So when you think about this in the process of the reporting on the House Intelligence Committee, process and reporting on the Senate Intelligence, they clearly want to talk to Michael Flynn, but they don't think they need to give him immunity to come in right now, right? I mean among the questions, you know, what did the president know, if anything, about those election year and then transition contacts with the Russian ambassador in which sanctions came up, including on the very day the Obama administration was imposing sanctions? That's what the committees want to know. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Reporter:] Yes. They yes, among that, among other things. It's way too early for the Senate or House Intelligence Committees to say that they'd be willing to accept such a deal. The Senate Intelligence Committee in particular, right now they are in a fact finding mission. They're trying to gather evidence. They're interviewing analysts, witness, other people who are part of the intelligence community. What they're not doing yet is talking to those Trump associates, people like Michael Flynn, like Carter Page, like Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, who they do intend to talk to. So they don't they're nowhere near the point where Michael giving Michael Flynn immunity. Plus, it would have to this would have to be in conjunction and in coordination with whatever the FBI is doing as part of their own criminal probe. And if the FBI is willing to give him immunity, maybe that would affect how what he tells the House and Senate Intelligence Committee. It's much too preliminary, but a lot of skepticism. Democrats certainly, on the House Intelligence Committee, do not want to give him any immunity. It's unclear what Devin Nunes wants to do at this point. It's probably unlikely and there's certainly there's no no one's rushing to embrace this on the Senate side either. [Margaret Talev, "bloomberg Politics":] I do. And I think that's really the start of what you just said, that if you were looking at the one decision point for how serious to take an immunity request, it's Senate Republicans. If you're a Democrat, in either the House or the Senate, you see no incentive to do this. If you're a House Republican or the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, you're that program has been so compromised with the kind of loop de loop that just happened where it appears entirely likely that it's the White House asking you to come and get information that you can give the president, that they could have given the president. So how would immunity work? Is immunity an effort to shield yourself from the actual real investigation by going over willingly taking part in a light investigation? Or is it more about saying, I want to be helpful, but I it would be stupid for me to put myself in jeopardy? That explanation would be completely plausible if everything else up until now had been credible. But it's all but it's so compromised and it's just very murky. [King:] Right, and before I got taken hostage here in Washington, I actually covered the courts for a while back in my prior life. And you grant immunity in search of a bigger fish. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Politics Reporter:] Yes. [King:] If you're going to give somebody immunity, that means you think that person has information that even if they're a subject or a target or a person of interest in an investigation, they have something that's more valuable to you. And the only way you're going to get it is to grant immunity. If you're if you're thinking about this we can't get inside the FBI investigation [Henderson:] Right. [King:] But if you're thinking about the congressional investigations, which are in part political, even though they say they're bipartisan, they're being done by a bunch of politicians, are you going to do that now? You would only do that if you were stalled and need to jump start. [Henderson:] Yes, I think that's right. And you think about who the bigger fish is here? Is it Paul Manafort? Is it Donald Trump? And so you have Donald Trump out there seeming to say, Michael Flynn, I'm still on your side. It's still us against the Democrats. Still us against the media. And you saw that evolution I think in the White House, the keeping him on staff there for, you know, 18 days or so, even after they knew what Michael Flynn had done in terms of big dishonest, in terms of his dealings with the Russians. So I mean it still seems to sort of like keep your enemies close thing going on from the White House in terms of how they are framing this, at least Donald Trump so far. We'll see what Sean Spicer says today in the briefing. [King:] And so the only thing we know for certain right now is Michael Flynn has a good lawyer [Henderson:] Yes. [King:] Who's trying to get him immunity. That's you mentioned it. I'm sure you learned that in high school, loop de loop. The highly technical [Talev:] A term of art [King:] The technical term of art about this about Devin Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, who's been in hot water for the past week plus because and we still don't know we still don't know the critical important details as in what's in the documents we're talking about here. But Devin Nunes went to the White House and CNN has now confirmed reporting by "The New York Times" and "The Washington Post" that at least two Trump administration officials on the White House complex helped Devin Nunes get access to these documents. He studied them at the White House. He went home for the night. Then he came back and next day and briefed the president on documents that apparently he got assistance from Trump administration officials to see. Figure that one out at home. Why couldn't they just share it with the president? Key to this is, a, what's in the documents? Also the reasons Democrats are upset is he told no one else on the committee about the documents, Democrats or Republicans, before he went down and briefed the president. But listen here as we try to learn more about this. This is Devin Nunes talking to Wolf Blitzer last week, being pressed on, where did you get this information? Who helped you? [Wolf Blitzer, Anchor, Cnn's "the Situation Room":] Did you meet with the president or any of his aides while you were there that night? [Rep. Devin Nunes , Chairman, Intelligence Committee:] No. No. And, in fact, I'm quite sure that I think people in the West Wing had no idea that I was there. [Blitzer:] By holding the meeting on the White House grounds, it makes it appear that someone in the administration was coordinating the release of this information to you. Is that not the case? [Nunes:] No, it's not the case. [King:] Now, we can have a semantics battle here, as we often do, when we have sensitive intelligence matters and lawyers involved and everything else. He's going to say the people in the West Wing didn't know I was there. I was across the driveway in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. Wolf asked him specifically, Trump aides. Now he can he can rationalize if he wishes the people who work on the National Security Council staff or this staff aren't presidential aides per say. That's Washington speak. If they work in the White House, they work for the president, and their office is across look at your car out in the driveway. That's how wide it is between the West Wing and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. How does he get away with this. [Raju:] It's very, very difficult. I mean he even told a Bloomberg reporter also that his source was an intelligence source, not a White House source. And it appears that it was there were two White House sources and I [King:] Who may work in intelligence matters. But, again, this is this is [Raju:] He can so he can play this game. [King:] Right. [Henderson:] Semantics, yes. [King:] Right. [Raju:] But I asked him many questions this week. I was pushing him on whether or not anyone in the White House was involved. And Thursday night or Wednesday night, before this story broke in "The Times," he would not rule out it came from the White House. His story continually shifted and he continually dodged. He kept saying to me, I've answered the question over and over again. I'm not going to answer this question again. But he has not answered the question and it's a real concern for his own credibility and running this investigation that now is looking into Trump campaign associates. How do you do that while also not being [King:] And how do you do that I want you to jump in but as you do, how do you do that when you mentioned his credibility's at stake and the democrats see this opening. Whether it's fair or unfair, they see Devin Nunes has gotten everybody trying to figure out, what is he up to, who is he trying to protect, the president or follow the facts. So, Nancy Pelosi deciding, maybe he got played by the White House. [Rep. Nancy Pelosi , Minority Leader:] He was duped. Now, let's just give that's the most innocent, most benign characterization, that he was duped, but he should have known better. I mean you're chairman of the committee. This is you know, again, the Intelligence Committee is a small committee with a responsibility to the caucus, to the Congress, to the country, to protect force protection of our troops. It's about having intelligence so that we can protect the American people, not protect the president. [King:] There's so much we don't know here. We don't know if he was duped. But it's hard to argue with Nancy Pelosi saying he's the chairman of the committee, he should have known better. [Lee:] Look, this is it's just such the layers in this that we keep learning. I mean if you step back, you have the president kind of telegraphing that something was going to happen two weeks in advance. The press secretary giving similar kind of statements. Then you have, you know, what we now know is a staffer who and I spoke to someone yesterday who was talking about the staffer who works for the National Security Council on intelligence but is a White House staffer who apparently you know their story is that they he took it upon himself to do research on wiretapping. And, I mean [King:] That's what you do in the first 60 days of a new administration. [Lee:] Yes, obviously, of course. [Henderson:] Yes. [Lee:] After the president's tweet, he just, you know, freelanced this. And then comes up with this, starts finding things and then he hands it to another staffer who used to work for Nunes and he then calls Nunes and gives it to him. And it's like and so then and it's and all of that is a White House inserting itself in an investigation that they potential lily could be part of. And it's just sometimes I watch this story and I'm like, can you imagine if this was happening under the Obama administration [Henderson:] Obama, right. [Lee:] If somebody had come down and given Benghazi report or, you know, during the Hillary Clinton investigation. And it's just it's really a remarkable thing. And I think it's going to be very hard for them to get out of. [King:] It's like the caboose taking over the locomotive of the train. [Talev:] And I think it explains entirely why you saw Senate Republicans kind of rally together this week and say [King:] Right. [Talev:] We're going to start acting like this is in our hands now. [Henderson:] Yes. [King:] Yes. [Talev:] We're taking this over. And it's only partly OK that they want to do the right thing, but like they need to insulate themselves from all of this. Turn the narrative around. What's happening in the House bleeds over, you know, across the down the hallways of the Capitol into the Senate chambers and they made a concerted effort from top to bottom to put an end to it there. [King:] Yes, the Senate Republicans essentially in a sense were trying to say, OK, Washington looks like a day care center right now but there are some adults. There are some adults. [Henderson:] Yes, [King:] All right, everybody, sit tight. Up next, President Trump using the power of the pen once again today to take on unfair trade. [Bolduan:] Everyone remembering, thinking back to their favorite Bowie songs. It's a shocking headline to wake up to. David Bowie dead at 69 after a battle with cancer. News of his illness came as a surprise to many. A post on his Facebook page said that he had passed away surrounded by his family. [Berman:] Truly one of the all-time greats, a visionary writer, musician, performer. And with every success you saw it on the screen there came reinvention. Nearly 50 years in the business and he was still creating right up until the end. His final album released Friday. He collaborated in an off-Broadway musical as well. I want to talk about David Bowie and the contribution he made. Joining us now, film critic, writer, columnist, Kurt Loder, also a long-time editor at "Rolling Stone." You talked to David Bowie many times. [Kurt Loder, Film Critic, Writer & Columnist & Former Editor, Rolling Stone Magazine:] We interacted over the years many times. He's a very interesting guy, very intelligent and very, very consumed with music. He knew the history of music really well. And music was his life. His enthusiasm for it and his authenticity was really moving. A cheerful guy, loved art, loved movies. [Berman:] We talk about all the changes he made. We talk about all the songs he made. Was he aware of his role, his sort of position in our culture? [Loder:] I'm sure he was aware to it, right down to the ground. He was aware of media. He used media really well. We remember all the various guises he went through and how he changed things around as a culture. But I think the basic thing about him was he wrote great songs, made great records. Had 27 albums over the course of 50 years. The remarkable thing about them is how remarkable so many of them were. They are classics. [Bolduan:] You talk about he was good at writing music, making music, but he also had a lot of people talk after folks pass about their impact on their industry and culture, but he really did. He changed things. [Loder:] He really did. Starting with the glam rock thing, moving up through sort of taking the euro synthesizer thing, blending it with punk. The really interesting thing about him, I think, everybody misses someone whose music they grow up with, but David Bowie wasn't a relic of an earlier era. He released one of his most probing records three days ago. It is one of the most experimental albums he's ever done. The opening track "Blackstar" is just astonishing. [Berman:] I have to admit I have not had a chance to listen to it, but so many people are talking about it. When you hear this new album that he wrote, you know, at 68 years old, because his birthday was Friday also, do you hear in the album the knowledge from David Bowie that he knew he was about to die? [Loder:] You get the feeling, I think, from the second video he did. It starts out with him in a hospital bed. You sort of get for the past 12 years since he had a heart attack on stage at a festival in Germany, and he never performed again, you knew something was going on. He strictly did music. And I think for this album he just stopped into a jazz club in New York one night, saw some guys playing, some really known jazz guys, and said, let's make this record and brought them in. He's very open to experimentation and I assume he's always writing. [Berman:] What do you miss most? [Loder:] What do I miss most? [Berman:] What will you miss most? [Loder:] Fortunately, he left all the records behind. All the music is still here. He's gone. It's a shame that we won't see new things. He was still doing new things but all the great things are still here. [Berman:] Kurt Loder, thanks for coming in. [Bolduan:] Thank you. [Berman:] It's great to talk to someone who actually spent time with David Bowie and got to know him firsthand. Appreciate it. [Bolduan:] Thank you. Coming up, could Sean Penn face legal trouble? That's the key question for a secret meeting for one of the world's most-wanted fugitives. We have new video in of what el Chapo told the actor before that drug lord's capture. We'll be right back. [Costello:] Forget who are you wearing. Last night's Oscars was all about what do you stand for, and we know where comedian Chris Rock stands. The host bringing the Oscars' so-white controversy center stage at the Academy Awards. [Chris Rock, Host, The 88th Academy Award:] Well, I'm here at the Academy Awards. Otherwise known as the white people's choice awards. You realize if they nominated host, I wouldn't even get this job. So you all be watching Neil Patrick Harris right now. But here's the funny thing, this is this is the wildest, craziest Oscars to ever host because we got all this controversy. No black nominees. You know? And people are like, Chris, you should boycott. Chris, you should quit. You should quit. You know, how come it's only unemployed people who tell you to quit something, huh? The big question, why this Oscars? Why this Oscars? You know? It's the 88th Academy Awards. The 88th Academy Awards, which means this whole no black nominees thing has happened at least 71 other times. I'm sure there were no black nominees some of those years. Say '62 or '63, and black people did not protest. Why? Because we had real things to protest at the time. You know? We had real things to protest. Yes, we're too busy being raped and lynched to care about who won Best Cinematographer. [Costello:] So let's talk about this now with cultural critic and writer Michaela Angela Davis and CNN's Stephanie Elam. Welcome to both of you. So, Stephanie, you're out there in California. You were on the red carpet last night. How did the actors react to Chris Rock's monologue? [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, I think a lot of it, when you look at it, Carol, it was expected. Right? We all knew that Chris Rock was going to go in, and he was in his element. It was almost a complex of perfect timing to have this Oscar so-white scandal happening and to have Chris Rock host it. Because you know he's going to go at it direct, he's going to go about it and call it as he sees it. And he didn't leave anything alone. He touched everybody. I mean, he went after Jada Pinkett-Smith. He also went after the Academy a bit. He also talked about the people who are in decision-making positions. So he did do all of that and I think people expected that. If you didn't expect that, you were coming from a different planet. So most everyone expected that. And I think because he did it with humor that it made people uncomfortable but happy that he was the one who was at the at the, you know, at the command center at that point to make it happen. Over all I think [Costello:] Some people looked really, really uncomfortable. [Elam:] Uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. But a lot of people are uncomfortable talking about race in this country so as soon as they hear it they get frazzled, but I think for a lot of people, they were happy with the way it went. And overall, I've heard people say that they were happy with his performance. [Costello:] I think the moment that I realized how uncomfortable some members of the audience were was was I ecumenically correct, Michaela was when Chris Rock singled out Leonardo DiCaprio, and there was a close-up shot of Leonardo DiCaprio's face, and Chris Rock was saying, you know what, Leonardo DiCaprio was offered great roles every year. Black actors are not. [Michaela Angela Davis, Cultural Critic/writer:] Yes, you know, it's interesting. That opening clip, what was it was just an awkward night. It was Oscars so awkward. But you know, when he said when you said, what do you stand for at the same time Ava DuVernay and Ryan Coogler were raising money for poor people in Flint. Right? So some of Hollywood's biggest stars were somewhere else doing something that we were really standing for. So that was an awkward like the opening was awkward because a lot of black folks are thinking, should we be watching this or should we be watching Flint? And so everyone on different levels felt awkward and the lens of the whole night changed. And that's what activism does. Right? Because I was watching it, and the actresses seemed extra white and extra skinny and some of the black people seemed extra tokened. You know, I feel like, you know, they were wheeling black people out for gratuitous things. So it was a very weird night, but that's what change is. Right? I think people felt like they should be happy, but they also felt really uncomfortable, and some of it went too far, and some of it didn't go far enough. [Costello:] Well, I want to I want to [Davis:] It was weird. [Costello:] I want to continue on that vent because you're right, Michaela, it went on the entire night. [Davis:] The entire night. Yes. [Costello:] They shad sketches. And after a while, it was like, please stop and let me enjoy this for just a moment. Stephanie, did you get any sense of that from people? [Elam:] But yes, it did go a long time. But I think also if you have Chris Rock as your host, you should know that that is what you're going to get. That, to me, is not a shocker. Also when you take a look at this whole conversation about diversity, with Chris Rock he kept it very specific to black actors, but a lot of the conversation about it has been wider than that. And what I also saw, I saw some Asian actors who were coming out on stage. You saw but the problem is they're not nominated. Right? You have Alejandro Inarritu, the director who won for "The Revenant." He was also talking about it because, obviously, he's Hispanic, and talking about the fact that he's put into this category as well. So you have to look at this diversity conversation as being whiter than it is, and at the same time, while it makes a lot of people uncomfortable to talk about race, it makes a lot of people uncomfortable that they can't get roles. And one movie that actually did better about this was "The Martian." You just have Martinez who just happens to be Hispanic in the movie. You had, you know, and Donald Glover who just happens to be the truly great mathematician who happens to be black. And I think that's where the conversation needs to go, not necessarily casting the black guy to be the black guy, but maybe this is just a good character and he's a good actor who could be in that role. And that's the change that [Costello:] Well, I think [Elam:] They're saying isn't happening. [Costello:] I think change is happening, but at a you know, at a smaller level. Like if you watch shows on Netflix, there's a lot of diversity in roles on Netflix. Even if you watch television, Michaela. It's just not happening in movies. [Davis:] Television, Broadway. But change is awkward. And Hollywood has been so white, so male, so straight for so long that this is the process. Right? Like from one night you can feel awkward in your designer clothes. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Michaela Angela Davis, Stephanie Elam, thanks to both of you. [Davis:] Thank you. [Costello:] Coming up in the NEWSROOM, he seizes the spotlight and loves playing to the crowd. So what does Donald Trump like behind closed doors? I'll talk to a Trump biographer next. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Ahead this hour [Sesay:] Hello, and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. [Vause:] I'm John Vause. We're now into the third hour of NEWSROOM L.A. The U.S. coalition forces in Iraq have killed up to 900 ISIS fighters in the offensive to retake Mosul. They are gaining significant ground and liberating villages along the way. [Sesay:] Listen to those cheers as Kurdish fighters freed the northern Iraq city of Fadalia. Some celebrated by passing around cigarettes. Under ISIS, they could have been publicly whipped for that. A Peshmerga captain says the operation went smoothly. [Unidentified Peshmerga Captain:] We liberated this village in a short period of time. Thank god, no Peshmerga were harmed. We liberated the whole village of Fadalia. The residents are happy and welcoming the Peshmerga with joy. We have been victorious over Daesh. God willing, no Daesh will remain this country. [Sesay:] Michael Holmes is in Irbil, Iraq, and joins us now live with more. Michael, what's the state of progress on the battlefield right now? [Michael Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] The Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, Isha, are continuing to press toward Mosul. Some are within one Iraqi counterintelligence unit is within sight of the city. The Peshmerga unit to the north, about four kilometers out. What they are trying to do is bring up the units to within the same distance of Mosul so they are in position to make a coordinated entry when that time comes. They are not going to be in a hurry to do it because of the precarious situation for civilians inside of Mosul. There's some units that are, for example, surrounding a town 15 kilometers south of Mosul near the Tigris River. We were near Bashiqa yesterday that is getting pounded. A couple of 500-pound bombs dropped on that, artillery fire coming in, and that's two kilometers outside of Mosul. Progress needs to be made by Iraqi and Peshmerga forces to get up close to the city, clear those towns and villages to the south and east, some to the north, as well, so they are in a uniform position around Mosul. But it is still, according to Iraqi and Kurdish and, for that matter, U.S. officials, going ahead of schedule Isha? [Sesay:] Let's talk about ISIS resistance. Up to 900 ISIS fighters have been killed. What are we learning about the state of the terror group and who's in and around Mosul? [Holmes:] It is interesting. We are getting more snippets out of Mosul about the preparations that ISIS is making inside. For a start, we are hearing some of the villages closest to Mosul, ISIS is rounding up civilians and bringing them in to Mosul so join other civilians in there. We know there are up to 1.5 million civilians inside of Mosul, which makes any assault on the city a dangerous affair. We're hearing of a network of tunnels inside the city from moving ISIS fighters around, and perhaps for ISIS leadership and fighters to escape when things get too hot. We know about the suicide squads that have come in. We know about truck and car bombs prepositioned. We have heard of a neighborhood in the east of the city, an entire neighborhood that locals say has been booby trapped to stop any advance from there. We mentioned a couple of days ago, you'll remember, Isha, a local resistance movement that took on ISIS in one small neighborhood in Mosul. Killed five ISIS fighters and the resistance group escaped across the closely-packed rooftops in the neighborhood. We are now getting word that 600 civilians have been rounded up by ISIS as retaliation for that attack from within. Up to 50 people have been summarily executed, some in front of their own homes. A terrifying situation for those civilians in Mosul. It makes the assault by Iraqi forces and police, when it does come, that much more difficult. ISIS doesn't care about civilians but the Iraqi military and police will have to Isha? [Sesay:] Terrifying, indeed. Michael Holmes there in Irbil, Iraq. Take care, my friend. Thanks. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is appalled at repeated attacks on a school compound in northern Syria. A bombing on Wednesday in Idlib killed at least 20 children. [Vause:] UNICEF's secretary-general took it a stop further. He said, in part, "This is a tragedy and outrage and, if deliberate, it is a war crime." The latest atrocity may be the deadliest attack on a school since the war began more than five years ago. Here's Ivan Watson. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Rescue worker and activists are describing a horrific bombardment of an opposition- controlled village in northern Syria near the rebel-held city of Idlib. And video shows what appears to be an explosive device floating down over the village, hanging from a parachute, and detonating with a terrible mushroom cloud. Members of the White Helmet rescue workers say at least 35 people were killed in this series of air strikes, which hit a school. Among those killed, at least 20 children. Some of the video from the scene shows children's' backpacks next to the demolished shell of the school building. This isn't the first time we've seen atrocities like this committed in Syria throughout this five-year civil war. In fact, a top United Nations official, he testified in front of the United Nations Security Council this week, and he basically denounced both Syrian rebel groups, as well as the Syrian government and its Russian allies for a breakdown in negotiations over the course of the last week for the evacuation of some of the tens of thousands of civilians trapped in besieged eastern rebel-held Aleppo. Take a listen. [Stephen O'brien, United Nations Under-general-secretary For Humanitarian Affairs & Emergency Relief Coordinator:] The offensive has been the most sustained and intensive aerial bombardment campaign witnessed since the beginning of the conflict more than half a decade ago. The results in human terms have been horrific. Aleppo has essentially become a kill zone. I cannot help but be incandescent with rage. Month after month, worse and worse, and nothing is actually happening to stop the war, stop the suffering. [Watson:] Stephen O'Brien said that air strikes had killed at least 400 people in a month in rebel-held east Aleppo, and that rebel mortar attacks had killed perhaps 100 additional civilians on the Syrian government-controlled side of the front lines. Ivan Watson, CNN, Istanbul. [Sesay:] The U.S., France and international forces say Syria or Russia are behind the attack. Russia denies responsibility. [Vause:] President Vladimir Putin is blaming the U.S. president for not reaching a ceasefire in Syria, saying the Americans are shooting themselves in the foot. Mr. Putin also said that Russia is holding back in Syria for now. [Vladimir Putin, Russian President:] if there's an agreement, it should be observed. Or in any case, don't blame or accuse us of all mortal sins. This is simply indecent. For now, we exercise restraint and don't respond to our partners in such a rude way but everything has its limits. We may respond. [Vause:] In Venezuela, protesters clashed with police for a second day. The opposition blames President Nicolas Maduro for the country's brutal economic crisis. [Sesay:] Most people can't find food or can't afford it because inflation is extremely high. Our Shasta Darlington has more. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn Correspondent:] A day after Venezuelans flooded the streets to protest their government, President Nicolas Maduro had announced a 40 percent increase in minimum wage and a 20 percent wage hike for public servants, including the armed forces. It's the fourth wage hike this year and, no doubt, will temper some of the anger and frustration that sparked the massive demonstrations on Wednesday, and images like this one, a man shouting at riot police, "Go ahead and shoot me. I'm just hungry." Some of the protests turned violent. The defense ministry addressed that on Thursday. [Vladimir Padrino Lopez, Venezuelan Defense Minister:] Other serious things also happened. The killing of a police officer and other things, the burning of tires, streets on fire, police cars lit on fire and attacks against National Guard troops. [Darlington:] The opposition had been trying to organize a recall referendum that could have seen Maduro voted out of office. But last week, his government blocked the efforts to organize that referendum and now the opposition says it will march on the presidential palace next week unless the government reverses its decision. The opposition has also called for a general strike on Friday, but Maduro's announcement of an increase in wages could temper support. The opposition has also finally agreed to sit down with the government on Sunday in a national dialogue. The Vatican is going to mediate those talks, but at this point, there's little hope it will come up with a solution to solve this standoff. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro. [Vause:] Now to Yemen and the civil war that began last year when Houthi rebels overthrew the government. Since then, ore than 10,000 Yemenis have been killed, most of them civilians. The U.N. says more than three million have been forced from their homes. [Sesay:] Roughly half of the population doesn't have enough to eat, including hundreds of thousands of children. They could suffer severe malnutrition. And the World Food Program says it needs more assistance to keep millions from starving to death. Abeer Etefa joins us from Cairo, Egypt, with the spokesperson for the World Food Program. She was in Yemen and saw how dire the situation is there. Thank you for being with us. An estimated 14.4 million people in Yemen are considered food insecure. The pictures out of the country in recent days are shocking. Explain what day-to-day existence is like for many people there right now. [Abeer Etefa, Spokesperson, United Nations World Food Program:] I just returned to Yemen and visited a number of over a period of ten days. What we have seen was heartbreaking. We have been to so many family homes and they are surviving on dried pieces of bread, and a family of nine, maybe one cup of cooked rice if they are lucky. Families are prioritizing the children but there's too little for everyone to eat that we are seeing is increased rates of food insecurity and malnutrition. Many mothers at nutrition centers and hospitals, who have traveled from far and beyond, borrowing money from neighbors so they can bring their malnourished children to receive treatment. We just worry about the many in remote and mountainous areas that cannot make the journey. It is a dire situation. [Sesay:] Abeer, as people hear the numbers and see the pictures, the question that arises is, why hasn't the World Food Program declared this is a famine? [Etefa:] There's a systemic way of declaring a famine. We have Integrated Food Security Classification System where we monitor everywhere in the country. Right now as we speak there are nine governments in Yemen which are classified at the Emergency Food Level. That is one step below famine. There are certain criteria for declaring, including child mortality, in addition to the percentage of food insecurity among the people. At this point, we are trying all our best with the program, NGOs, other U.N. agencies, UNICEF, everyone is trying their best so we don't reach this stage. [Sesay:] How much is World Food Program able to do at this point in time? [Etefa:] WFP has provided food for three million people every month. However, in recent months, we had to split food rations to six million people as needs are increasing and portions are diminishing. It is very difficult to fund this operation because the resources are not going as the needs are. We need help to stabilize the situation. The conflicts in Yemen, persistent ties to security and hunger, that many families do not know where their next meal is coming from. The World Food Program needs $250 million to provide much-need food assistance until March. [Sesay:] Any sign that money is forthcoming? [Etefa:] Well, we hope that the focus and highlight is on Yemen for the last few days. We hope this will trigger more support and resources. And we acknowledge that some donors have given to the World Food Program like the government of Germany, United States, Japan, Canada, but we look for more that will provide life-saving food assistance. [Sesay:] It's critical. The pictures are truly shocking. Abeer Etefa, we appreciate you joining us to give us a sense of how bleak the situation is on the ground in Yemen. We wish you the best with your efforts with [Wfp. Etefa:] Thank you. [Vause:] We will take a short break. When we come back, the race for the White House. New stolen e-mail released by WikiLeaks painting a not-so-flattering picture of former President Clinton. [Sesay:] Plus, police move to shut down a Native American protest against an oil pipeline. Details when CNN NEWSROOM comes back. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn:] It's getting scary out there. Is this a presidential race or uncivil war? In Chicago last night, angry confrontations between supporters and protesters at a Donald Trump rally, things quickly spiralled out of control. Police had to intervene. The event postponed. And now, you're looking at a packed Trump rally in Ohio that begins in about an hour, unprecedented heavy security, five law enforcement groups represented. Is this the new normal? When the dust settles, do or die week for Marco Rubio and John Kasich, both have to win their home states, Florida and Ohio and that's just to thwart Trump's nomination. Things have gotten so crazy that Rubio's team has been asking Rubio supporters in Ohio to vote for Kasich and wait, there is more, a ground swell of Democrats are switching parties so that they can vote for Donald Trump, but is it because they believe in him or because they see him as the weakest candidate to face on general election day. As I mentioned, another Trump rally scheduled to start in the hour within near Dayton, Ohio. Thousands have shown up for a rally in an airport hanger. Can things stay calm? Mark Preston joins me, from Vendalia. He is the executive editor of CNN Politics. I think, mark, everybody wants to know, is there any presence of protesters in ohio akin to what there were in chicago last night? [Mark Preston, Executive Editor, Cnn Politics:] Well, Michael, certainly not at this moment right now. This is a very secure area we are right now. We're right next to the Dayton International Airport. As you said, unprecedented amount of police activity around here. This place is pretty locked down. Having said that, there are thousands of people going inside this hanger right behind me who knows who is a protester and who is not. I have to tell you though there is a level of support that I haven't seen for Donald Trump in the past few weeks, certainly the past few months of seeing him on the campaign trail and a lot of that is probably going to be based upon what we saw last night in Chicago. These Trump supporters, Michael, are very frustrated by these protesters that keep on interrupting these Donald Trump rallies. [Smerconish:] It's so interesting that you say that because it's a subject I'm about to pursue with other guests. Mark Preston, a bright bulb politically speaking especially, you think this plays to his benefit? [Preston:] Look, it does if you are a hardened Trump supporter, Michael, what happened in Chicago last night is only making you even more supportive of Donald Trump. Several people I spoke to today in the line said they say "listen, Donald Trump is going to say what he wants to say and if you don't like it, that's too bad. You have a right to protest, sure, what you don't have a right to do," the said "is to interrupt these presidential rallies." One gentleman in particular, who said he's a retired police officer said to me "listen, if you get in my face, I'm going to get in your face." So there is this level of anger right now that is percolating certainly something I haven't seen in the several presidential campaigns that I've covered but again, as you said, is this the new norm? [Smerconish:] But all of the behaviour that we witnessed at these Trump rallies is just a Hillary or a Bernie commercial waiting to happen in a general election. Mark, you can see that loop already. [Preston:] No question. You know, it's interesting even behind me you look behind me right now and it doesn't look like there's a lot of people here. They have moved several thousand people probably into the hanger behind me but I have to tell you, right off, to the side off camera, there is a line of cars that is stretched right out, people still trying to get into this rally right now. People, Michael, started coming here in the middle of the night just to get in line to see Donald Trump. It's really an amazing scene. [Smerconish:] Mark Preston, thank you. We'll come back to you later, OK? [Preston:] Thank you. [Smerconish:] I want to tell you what I think. What happened last night in Chicago was a Republican [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, my rebuttal is this is what the American left does. You know, I am writing a column at this moment and I looked at video from Occupy Wall Street, from Black Lives Matter, from the Chicago Convention of 1968, the democratic convention. This is what the American left does. Donald Trump has nothing to do with it. Donald Trump is an excuse. At one point it was Hubert Humphry. You know, as they say, there is a video out there going through downtown Seattle smashing windows. A video of the Black Lives Matter people silencing Bernie Sanders at one of his own rallies. This is the American left in action. It's just that Donald Trump happens to be the target of it right this minute. [Smerconish:] No, Jeffrey, respectfully, I've already read what you pen for the "Spectator" and it's very well done but what you failed to show me is where Hubert Humphry stood up and said "I wish I can punch that guy in the face. Get him out." There is no behavior like that from the elected officials that you cite but where you can draw a causal connection but there is here. [Lord:] But Michael, we have free speech in this country. Candidates can say anything they want. You can't blame this kind of stuff on the candidate. Hubert Humphrey used the Secret Service to get protesters out. He ordered them out. He did the same thing as Donald Trump. You can't blame Humphrey, you can't blame Trump. You can't blame some merchant in Seattle. You can't blame Bernie Sanders. These candidates have first amendment rights. They can say anything they choose to say. You can't blame them. [Smerconish:] Crystal Wright, what I am blaming Trump for is creating an environment and let me say to Jeffrey's point, I don't think it's fair to interrupt these candidates and I recognize the free speech rights that exists on both side of the equation but when you see the old- timer who could cocked that guy run that footage if you would in Fayetteville. Isn't Donald Trump enciting that kind of a response, when Donald Trump says I wish I could punch him in the face, do we have that footage? Can we put it up on the screen of what happened in Fayetteville. African American guy walking out of the place. Here it comes. A white guy with a cowboy hat, boom. Isn't he doing what Donald Trump said he wished he could do? [Crystal Wright, "black Chick" Blog:] Isn't it interesting we're missing a lot of facts when we talk about Chicago and we talk about Donald Trump's rallies? It's interesting that Donald Trump is the only candidate who has protesters show up by the thousands. A friend of mine was in Chicago, she brought her teenage daughter who was about 13 or 14 and got her out of school early at 1:30 to go to stand in line for hours to hear Donald Trump speak, and Bernie Sanders supporters had a calculate coordinated effort on social media to have protesters sneak into Donald Trump's event last night, get in Trump supporter's faces and ripped up signs and they achieved what they wanted. But nobody is blaming the liberal protesters for stopping free speech and nobody is telling Bernie Sanders to calm him people down and another unreported fact at these rallies, Donald Trump is actually playing over a loud speaker before each rally there is an audio recording telling his supporters not to get into fights with protesters. [Smerconish:] Wait a minute but Crytal [Wright:] No, no, let me just finish here. Let's wait a minute here. Donald Trump is one man. He is not I think the blame is on the protesters, even some of the protesters. There is an article in the "Washington Post" this morning, the protesters are on record saying that it's not Donald Trump's fault. They go in there with specific purpose [Smerconish:] Crystal, you have to let me respond. Wait a minute. [Wright:] You have to be fair, Michael. [Smerconish:] Being fair, I'm not being asked to vote for any of these protesters for president of the United States. I am being I am being asked to vote for Donald Trump. And respectfully, you're both comparing apples and oranges when you reference Bernie and the left, I want to say this [Wright:] OK. [Smerconish:] You can't give to me the litany I'm about to give to you. I want to show you Jake Tapper [Wright:] You're giving a free pass to Bernie Sanders [Smerconish:] No, I'm not giving a free past. WRIGHT liberal protesters. If you shut down free speech last night and you know what Crystal, no I'm talking about the candidates. I'm not defending the behaviour of the protestors [Wright:] You're [Smerconish:] You're defending I'm going to show you something. Here is Jake Tapper in the debate. Roll it. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Some of your critics point to quotes that you made at the debates, at these rallies including February 23rd, "I'd like to punch him in the face" referring to a protester. February 27th in the good old days they would have ripped him out of the seat so fast, February 1st, knock the crap out of him. Seriously, just knock the hell, I promise you I will pay for the legal fees, I promise, I promise." [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidates:] We have some protesters who are bad dudes. They have done bad things. They are swinging. They are really dangerous and they get in there and start hitting people and we had a couple big, strong, powerful guys doing damage to people, not only the loudness the loudness I don't mind but doing serious damage and if they are going to be taken out, I'd be honest, I mean, we have to run something. It's not me. It's usually the municipal government, the police because I don't have guards all over these stadiums. I mean, we fill up stadiums. [Smerconish:] Jeffrey, what I'm saying is that there is nothing you can show me from any of the other candidates where they made similar statements to Donald Trump. I abhor incivility. I'm not about that. I don't like the fact these protesters have interrupted your guy but other candidates have done nothing like he has done. You get to respond. [Lord:] Michael, I love you but what I hear you saying is the political equivalent of the woman who was asking to be raped because she wears short skirt. This is wrong. This is wrong. Candidates can say anything they please, anything they please, they do not deserve to be [Wright:] Michael, look, I think that showing that clip you raise an important point, Michael. No other candidate is being heckled and havig protesters disrupt his rallies with the intent purpose of getting into inciting fights with supporters. And I agree with what Donald Trump said, you have one protestor after another do I think these people should be punched in the gut? No. I'm with you, Michael. I think on both sides, the violence is not acceptable but to blame it on Donald Trump when you have him being gang banged by protesters and his supporters, I don't think that 75- year-old man should have sucker punched that young black kid, at the same time, we have to ask ourselves a question. Why are so many liberals coming out in hordes in Donald Trump's rallies? Shouldn't they focus energy on supporting their candidate, Hillary or Bernie? Isn't that what democracy is about? I don't like the violence, Michael. I agree with you. [Smerconish:] I get the final word. I don't see correlation, I see causation. I see a direct connection between fomenting the seeds of discontent and telling an angry white middle class, that the others could be Barack Obama without a birth certificate or the Mexicans who are the rapists or the Muslims that we need to keep as a religion out of this country and then to act like you're surprised when people go crazy at these rallies. I'm sorry, guys. [Wright:] I'm not white and I agree with them. The Muslims, we need a temporary moratorium on Muslims coming into the country and get a handle on illegal immigration. I'm not white. I agree with Donald Trump. [Smerconish:] Next time you come on, don't hold back and tell me what you really think. Jeffrey Lord and Crystal Wright, thank you. How will voters react to last night's clashes? What does the rest of the path to the convention now look like? Joining me three smart individuals, Dr. Terry Madonna, director for the Center of Politics at Franklin and Marshall College, Michael Waldman, former speech writer for Bill Clinton, democratic strategist, Bob Beckel. Dr. Madonna, Terry, I want to begin with you. Politically speaking, who benefits from what we saw last night? [Dr. Terry Madonna, Director, Center Of Politics, Franklin And Marshall College:] Well, I think Donald Trump support just hardens. Remember, he had it early and it's firm. Nothing he has said and done has diminished that support. He is now about a third of the way towards the magic 1237, barring something in this sort of almost insane presidential nomination contest, I think it's going to be very difficult to stop him. We're going to know a lot more Tuesday in Ohio, Florida, and Illinois. But the facts are his support is firm. It's been consistent. His rallies will only grow. You hit the nail on the head. We are seeing the culmination of these deep divisions, polarization that has come to grow and enlarge over the last decade and a half and it's being crystallized in the candidacy of Donald Trump. [Smerconish:] Michael Waldman, I see part as a part of the continuum that's been building for the last 30 years, I've spoken extensively on the past, the polarization, I believe, emanates from some of the conservative influences in the media because the GOP has abdicated its leadership to them and this therefore shouldn't be a surprise. [Michael Waldman, Fmr. Speech Writer For Bill Clinton:] Well, it comes at a period of economic change and stagnating wages for many people. Significant demographic change and yes, a lot of voices in the media and conservative media telling people this is the fault of the others. And you need to go out and do something about it. Anybody who pretends that this is a surprise, that a major candidate likely to be the nominee of one of the two parties who gets up and speaks in such incindiary and racial terms, anyone whose surprised that violence erupted at these rallies is faking it. The fact of the matter is, this is an inevitable consequence of this kind of language and while it's not the first time in American history that we've seen this kind of think play out in an election but it's been the first time in a long time not since George Wallace's presidential campaign in 1968 and he used code words, much more than Donald Trump does now. [Smerconish:] Hey, Bob Beckel, I want to show you how some of the other candidates are handling this, Trump's opponents. I'll begin with Ted Cruz. You tell me if he is striking the right chord with an eye Tuesday. Roll that. Do have [Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] The campaign bears responsibility for creating an environment, when the candidate urges supporters to engage in physical violence to punch people in the face, the predictable consequence of that is that it escalates. [Smerconish:] Bob Beckel, Marco Rubio said words have consequences and John Kasich said Trump has been sowing the seeds of this for a while. How should they respond? [Bob Beckel, Democratic Strategist:] Well, they responded the right way because once again, Trump captured the entire news cycle. So the only way you're going to get in is somehow comment on what happened last night. Look, I was at the Chicago convention in '68. I was there as a marshall. You don't know fear until you see a horse bearing down on you at 12:00 at night. But this was not comparable to Chicago but the seeds are. Trump has a responsibility. Certainly he should have been allowed to speak. He had a responsibility to set the tone. He had a perfect opportunity last night to say when Don Lemon asked him this that we should all come down here, I ask my supporters not to engage. I asked those who want to protest to please do it in the areas they are supposed to but this will in the short run certainly help him probably in Florida and [Smerconish:] Hey, Terry, you've been focused on some of the strategic implications of what's going on out there. Two things I want to ask you about, quickly, a fusion ticket. Might the net of this be the two candidates on the Republican side pair up and there is a lot of strategic voting taking place in this cycle. I get phone calls on a daily basis on my radio show from individuals who say I just want out and voted for Donald Trump. Half the time it's because they are for him and half the time it's because they want to elevate him as a weak candidate. [Madonna:] Yes, we'll first of all, there is almost no way I think to stop Trump barring something that we don't know and in this campaign that could occur tomorrow. The fact of the matter is that three of these other candidates are not going to be the nominee, they could put a fusion ticket together, a kind of unity ticket, you know, you pick it, Kasich-Rubio, Rubio-Kasich. Mathematically, it looks like that Cruz has the outside chance to stop Trump win the nomination as this whole process moves forward. That was done, of course, in 1976 when Ronald Reagan picked democrat United States senator, a Republican named Richard [Smerconish:] Strange bedfellows coming [Madona:] Yes. [Smerconish:] Hey, guys, gents, I have to move. I want to say this, Michael Waldman, I just read "The Fight to Vote," your new book. It's terrific. Thank you all three of you for being here, I really appreciate it. [Waldman:] Thank you. [Smerconish:] What do you think? Tweet me your feedback @smerconish. I'll read some of them later in the program. Still to come, waiting on the rally in Ohio and Trump's tactics on terrorists and their families have put him at odds with a former general, one-time head of the NSA and CIA, Michael Hayden, General Hayden is about to join me. And it wasn't just Chicago. Several Trump rallies are now turning into scenes of confrontation and outright brawling. It is it his fault? [Baldwin:] In a fight to save her own life, an escort in West Virginia says she believes she saved others from a serial killer. [Unidentified Female:] I know he was there to kill me. I could tell that he had already done something because he said that he was in prison for a long time and that's when I knew that he was going to kill me. [Baldwin:] So this woman goes by the name Heather. She seemed pretty calm there. But I want to play you something. This is the 911 call she made back from July 18th. This was moments after she shot and killed this man, Neil Falls. She arranged to meet him from a website called backpage.com. [Caller:] There's a lady in an alley here. She's saying that some guy tried to rape her and she had to defend herself and he's on the kitchen floor. [Unidentified Female:] He pulled a gun on me. [Caller:] He pulled a gun on her. She's got cuts and stuff all over her. [Operator:] Does she know who the guy is? [Caller:] Do you know who the guy is? [Unidentified Female:] No. [Caller:] She said no. [Unidentified Female:] I opened the door and he said, "Live or die," and the to me, and I wrestled him and he was going to kill me. [Operator:] Did he try to rape her? [Caller:] I'm not sure. [Operator:] Was she able to injure him in any way? [Caller:] Yeah, she shot him. She said he's on the kitchen floor. [Baldwin:] After police arrived, they found in his car what they called a kill kit. In it, some hand cuffs, shovels, bleach. You can see what they found. Heather says she could tell Falls knew what he was doing as he tried to strangle her. [Unidentified Female:] He had it down pat. He said, you're going to be quiet. I'm going to call the orders. He was saying everything. You could tell he was comfortable with what he was saying. When he strangled me, he just wouldn't let me get any air and so I grabbed my rake and when he laid the gun down to get the rake out of my hands, I shot him. I just grabbed the gun and shot behind me. [Baldwin:] Well, investigators in West Virginia believe Falls could be connected to women's murders in Las Vegas, in Illinois, and in Ohio. In Ohio alone, six women have either vanished or turned up dead in the past year or so. And in Las Vegas, four escorts were found dismembered. Joining me on the phone, I have Lieutenant Steve Cooper, who is leading the investigation in West Virginia. Lieutenant, are you with me? [Lt. Steve Cooper, Chief Of Detectives, Charleston, West Virginia, Police Department:] Yes, I am. [Baldwin:] Thank you, sir, for jumping on the line. Before we get to this kill kit, can you just tell me, first, why you think these cases in Las Vegas and Illinois could be connected to this guy? [Cooper:] They could be connected because the cases in Illinois and Nevada are connected. There was dismemberment involved in those cases. All of the victims were escort. In the case that happened in Charleston, the victim was an escort and the items that we found in the vehicle, that you have photographs of, included machetes, axes, box cutters, bleach, trash bags. And some of the body parts were found in trash bags in the Illinois and Las Vegas cases. Again, he had four sets of handcuffs in his pockets when he attacked our victim and, of course, the.9 millimeter firearm. [Baldwin:] Oh, my goodness. As you it's gruesome to talk about. But when you describe these items as a kill kit that was in his car, the kill kit for the purpose of dismembering, which then would be the key piece in tying a lot of these women together, correct? [Cooper:] That's right. We are suspicious that it could be connected to a Las Vegas case. Certainly, at age 45, it's unlikely this is his first violent crime. And he brought four sets of handcuffs into the home. That's a pretty sinister combination when you take all of it into account. [Baldwin:] Lieutenant Cooper, I don't know how long you've been in law enforcement but have you ever come across this kind of discovery in someone's car? [Cooper:] No. We run across a lot of interesting and strange and scary stuff. This one is right up there. The facts that he had so many knives and a machete and that many sets of handcuffs and the bleach and the trash bags, it all just taken it all together, again, it's pretty scary and we're glad that our victim survived and that Mr. Falls came out on the losing end. [Baldwin:] Let me end on Heather. How is she doing? I know she's not being charged with anything, acting there in self-defense. How is she? [Cooper:] She had a broken vertebrae, a separated shoulder, and, of course, a lot of mental trauma. She's doing better. She's recovering mentally and physically and there are people trying to help her get into a new lifestyle. [Baldwin:] To think that she acted as quickly as she did. If this is the serial killer, she potentially saved a lot here. It's tremendous. Lieutenant Steve Cooper, in Charleston, West Virginia, thank you. Appreciate it. [Cooper:] Thank you. Thank you. [Baldwin:] Just ahead here, President Obama calling out Republican front-runner Donald Trump and also Mike Huckabee from his state visit to Africa. His stern words for the Republican presidential candidates, that's ahead. While he was in Africa, the president spent a lot of time there with his sister, Dr. Auma Obama, who I happened to spend half a week with just recently in Kenya ahead of her brother's visit. What she remembers about the president's first visit to Kenya. That's next. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Hi. I`m Carl Azuz. Thanks for taking ten minutes out of your day this December 5th for CNN STUDENT NEWS. Big vote yesterday of the European country of Italy. Significant changes have been proposed to the country`s constitution which dates back to 1948, and voters were given the choice to accept or reject them. Italy`s parliament has two chambers, the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies. Both houses have to approve a bill before it can become law. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi wants to reduce the number of people serving in the Senate. This would weaken that chamber. And Prime Minister Renzi says it would make it easier and faster to pass laws. But critics say this could get rid of an important check on the government`s power and give too much power to the prime minister instead. What further raised the stakes in this referendum, this vote is that Mr. Renzi says he`ll step down as prime minister if Italians don`t vote to reduce the size of the Senate. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It`s all about cutting down the powers and the size of the Italian senate, basically making it a much smaller body. Instead of 315 members, it will go down to 100 and they will be appointed and they`ll have very little in the way of decision-making power. The Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says this is a good way to stream-line a very cumbersome political process but his critics say that this really poses the danger of giving dictatorial powers or rather too much power to whoever is in the position of prime minister. Many people harking back to the days of Mussolini, who was one of the reasons why the cumbersome political system exists here in the first place. The problem is, of course, Matteo Renzi has said that if Italians reject these constitutional changes, he will resign. So, many of his opponents have turned this simply into a popular contest for Matteo Renzi. He`s the 41-year-old prime minister who has been in power for the last two and a half years. He came to power promising to get the Italian economy, which hasn`t really moved since the late 1990s, moving again. It has moved from negative growth to very anemic progress or rather positive growth. But for many Italians, that`s simply not enough. [Azuz:] In Central China, more than 20,000 people were stranded at an airport over the weekend. Flights were cancelled or delayed in the city of Chengdu. The reason, an extreme combination of fog and smog. The airport called the conditions the most disruptive in years. The world air quality index is one measurement of pollution levels. When it`s between zero and fifty, air quality is good. Pollution isn`t the problem. In Chengdu, the air quality was recently measured at 280. That puts pollution levels in the index`s very unhealthy category, an emergency level which advises everyone to either limit their outdoor activity or avoided entirely. The pollution is the side effect of the major industrial growth seen in some Chinese cities. It`s especially dangerous for people with asthma or respiratory infections. In the U.S. state of North Dakota, today is the deadline for thousands of people protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their main camp is on government land. And last week, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer said that activists who refuse to leave could be arrested starting Monday. But the government also said it won`t force people to leave and many demonstrators say they`re staying put. This is over a controversial pipeline that would connect oil rich areas of North Dakota to Illinois, where oil could then reach additional markets. It`s a $3.7 billion project. Its developer says it will create thousands of jobs, generate millions in tax revenue, and make the U.S. less dependent on foreign oil. But it`s being built near a reservation for Native Americans, and they say the pipeline threatens their environmental and economic well-being. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] This is truly very, very large, large group of people who have come to stop the North Dakota Access Pipeline. I want to give you an idea of just how big it is. We are giving you a kind of a look of Oceti Sakowin Camp. It is the largest camp. But there are other camps that are here and inside this camp alone, the estimates are somewhere between 5,000 and 8,000 people who have come in support of the indigenous people who are here and planning to stay on this land. And what you`re seeing is really a work to try to be sustainable, to stay here for a long time because no on plans on leaving unless the North Dakota Access Pipeline is stopped. Now, I want to show where the work was being done on that pipeline. If you look far over my right shoulder, you see some lights that are shining there and above that, you`ll see some military vehicles, and that`s the Army Corps of Engineers sitting there. Beyond that, that`s where the pipeline is being done. So, it`s not more than a couple of miles away from this camp. The camp is not physically in the way of the pipeline going forward, but people say they are here because they want to be a presence, they want to get people to understand what their worry is, and their worry for the most part is the water, worry that the pipeline that`s supposed to go underneath the Missouri River is going to at some point rapture and ruin the water, and the water that people drink, 18 million people drink that are living on the land along the Missouri River. So, that is one of the biggest fights here. [Subtitle:] CNN STUDENT NEWS is changing, January 2017. [Azuz:] According to Encyclopedia Britannica, there is not much that`s not known about the life of St. Nicholas, except that he probably served as a Christian bishop in the fourth century A.D. He had a reputation for helping others though, and that helped get rise to our modern view of Santa Claus. His popular image today owes a lot to the 19th century Clement Clarke Moore poem, "Twas the Night Before Christmas", and to illustrations by the Coca- Cola Company in the 1930s. It`s an image that takes a lot of training for modern Santas to maintain. [Crowd:] Santa Claus is coming to town. [Unidentified Male:] Ho, ho, ho. [Reporter:] Welcome to the ultimate Christmas in July. Santa University a four-day training camp in Colorado where professional Santas come to hone their craft. [Unidentified Male:] It`s more of a calling than it is a job. And a little boy with no hesitation said that`s Santa Claus. She said your nose, your nose is like a cherry. Ho, ho, ho. That`s when I knew that I probably was Santa Claus. [Reporter:] Spreading holiday cheer is serious business. It takes the right look, months of dedication and more hair care products than you`d expect. [Unidentified Male:] That all the women say it`s miracle stuff. [Reporter:] But aside from some extra hold air spray, what does it take to be the perfect professional Santa? The experts all had the same answer. [Unidentified Male:] You got to have that Christmas love. Having the curing heart. First the heart and then all of the other things will fall in to place. [Reporter:] Heart is something that can`t be taught, but the rest of it, that`s why Noerr Program put Santa University together in the first place. Every year the Santas come together to train at the company`s headquarters called you guessed it the Noerr Pole. [Judy Noerr, Noerr Programs Chief Executive Officer:] People are amazed that there are four days of classes for Santa University but it`s true. We have everything from ethics of Santa, how to dress and look your best. How to stay healthy as a Santa and many, many more things. [Reporter:] Classes teach everything from beard grooming, to suit fitting to sign language. There are charity toy drives and sing- alongs. It`s four days of fun and festivities. Then, when the holidays roll around, these guys are all Santa all the time. [Unidentified Male:] I work at Orleans Square mall about 30 miles southwest of Chicago. And I`m from Duluth, Georgia, that`s about 750-mile trip every year. It`s a very demanding job if you do it like you should do it. We are on the set many hours a day. So, you pretty much sleep, eat and work, and you want to stay focused so that you can be all you can be when you are on the set. And be there for the children. And if you are at home, you allow too many other distractions. And so, by traveling I feel I can stay focused at what I`m doing. [Reporter:] For these Santas, the months of preparation and work are worth it. For them, being Santa Claus in the eyes of a child is the ultimate gift. [Unidentified Male:] I get far more than I unfortunately can give. If you can say anything every day to try to uplift a child and their family then you go home with some accomplishment. We all want one thing, the joy and happiness for children. [Azuz:] So, you can see it`s for a good cause, that they trained hard for their ho ho holiday work and to keep their tidying a beardance. And even if their suits get a little tarnish with ashes and soot, who is not in chimneyed of a little good cheer? The extra effort can make a difference between Santa and santastic. I`m Carl Azuz at CNN STUDENT NEWS. We`ll see you tomorrow. END [Don Lemon, Cnn Tonight Show:] Breaking news, new video of the traffic stop in Texas that landed a 28-year-old woman in a jail cell. Three days later, she was dead. This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Thanks for joining every one. It starts like a routine traffic stop. [Unidentified Male:] Give it to me. Are you OK? [Sandra Bland:] Actually, no. You, this is your job. [Lemon:] But it quickly turns into this. [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car. [Bland:] And you don't like me. [Unidentified Male:] I will light you up. Get out. [Bland:] Wow. [Unidentified Male:] Now. [Bland:] Wow. [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car. [Bland:] For a failure to signal? [Lemon:] And it ends with Sandra Bland in a cell. The cell where she died three days later. What happened? And who is to blame. Also, tonight, Donald Trump topping the polls and talking tough about his opponent. And it's working. Tonight, we're going to talk to some of his supporters who say Trump is just what America needs. But I want to begin with our breaking news right now. Dash cam video released today by the State of Texas. It shows what happened on July 10th when 28-year-old Sandra Bland was pulled over for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. Bland was about to start a new job at Prairie View A&M University for alma mater. And what should have been the kind of routine traffic stop, the stop that happens all the time across this country every day, quickly, went horribly wrong. Take a look. [Unidentified Male:] Are you okay? [Bland:] Actually, no. You, this is your job. I'm waiting on you. What do you want to say? [Unidentified Male:] You seem very irritated. [Bland:] I am. I really am. But I feel like stop because what I'm getting typical and I'm getting out of your way. You were speeding up, tailing me, so I move over and you stop me. So, yes, I am a little irritated. Well, that doesn't stop you from giving me a ticket. [Unidentified Male:] Are you done? [Bland:] You asked me what was wrong, and I told you. [Unidentified Male:] OK. [Bland:] So, now I'm done, yes. [Unidentified Male:] OK. Do you mind putting out your cigarette, please, if you don't mind? [Bland:] I'm in my car. Why do I have to put out my cigarette? [Unidentified Male:] So, you can step on out now. [Bland:] I don't have to step out of my car. [Unidentified Male:] Step out of the car. [Bland:] Why am I no, you don't have the right... [Unidentified Male:] Step out of the car. [Bland:] You do not have the right to do that. [Unidentified Male:] I do have the right. Now, step out or I will remove you. [Bland:] I refuse to talk to you evident tonight. Then from myself... [Unidentified Male:] Step out or I will remove you? [Bland:] I am getting removed for a failure to signal? [Unidentified Male:] Step out, or I will remove you? I'm giving you a lawful order. Get out of the car now or I'm going to remove you. [Bland:] And I'm calling my lawyer. [Unidentified Male:] I'm going to yank you out if you don't. [Bland:] OK. You're going to get me out of my car? [Unidentified Male:] Get out. [Bland:] OK. All right. [Unidentified Male:] You don't have to if you have listened to me. [Bland:] Let's do this. [Unidentified Male:] Yes, and I'm going to. [Bland:] Don't touch me. [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car. [Bland:] Don't touch me. I'm not under arrest; you don't have the right to touch me in my car. [Unidentified Male:] You are under arrest. [Bland:] I'm under arrest for what? [Unidentified Male:] 2527 on 10-98. Just send me our 297 unit. Get out of the car. Get out of the car, now! [Bland:] Why am I being apprehended? You're trying to give me... [Unidentified Male:] I said get out of the car. [Bland:] Why am I being apprehended? [Unidentified Male:] I am giving you a lawful order. I'm going to drag you out of here. [Bland:] So, you're going to drag me out of my own car? [Unidentified Male:] Get out of the car? I will write you up. get out, now! [Bland:] Wow. [Unidentified Male:] Get out. Now! Get out of the car. [Bland:] For a failure to signal. You're doing all of this for a failure to signal? Right, yes, let's take this to court. [Unidentified Male:] Go ahead. [Bland:] For a failure to signal. Yes, for a failure to signal. [Unidentified Male:] Get off the phone. [Bland:] Oh, that's cool. [Unidentified Male:] Get off the phone. [Bland:] I'm not on the phone. [Unidentified Male:] Put your phone down. [Bland:] I have the right to use my property. [Unidentified Male:] Put your phone down right now. Put your phone down. [Bland:] Sir? [Unidentified Male:] Put your phone down, right now! Put your phone down. Come over here. Come over here now. [Bland:] You feeling good about this? [Unidentified Male:] Stand right here. [Bland:] You feeling good about yourself? [Unidentified Male:] Stand right there. [Bland:] For a failure to signal. You're feeling real good about yourself, don't you? [Unidentified Male:] Turn around now. Turn around now. [Bland:] I'm trying to tell you. Do I feel like I have anything on me? It doesn't have... [Unidentified Male:] Come over here. [Bland:] You have no right on me. You're about to break my wrist. Can you stop! [Unidentified Male:] Don't do this. [Bland:] You done broke my wrist. Stop! [Unidentified Male:] Stop, now. Stop it. [Unidentified Female:] Stop resisting, ma'am. [Unidentified Male:] If you would stop, then I would tell you. Now stop. [Bland:] You are such a [muted]. You are such a [muted]. For a traffic signal. [Unidentified Male:] You're getting around. [Bland:] For a traffic signal. [Unidentified Male:] You are getting around. When you pull away from me, you're resisting arrest. [Bland:] This makes you feel real good, doesn't it? A female for a traffic signal. [Unidentified Female:] I got her. [Bland:] That makes you feel good, officer, doesn't it. [Unidentified Female:] OK. I know you make serious stuff. [Bland:] I know it makes you feel real good. You're a real man. Now you slam me. Knocked my head into the ground. I've got epilepsy. [Unidentified Male:] Good. Good. [Unidentified Female:] You should have thought about that before you start resisting. [Bland:] All right. All right. Yes, this is real good. Real good for a female. Yes. [Lemon:] CNN's Ryan Young live for us Prairie View, Texas tonight. It's unfortunate, Ryan. What do officials say about this encounter that we just saw on video? [Ryan Young, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Don, first off, I know you've watched the video a couple times yourself. We've watched it a couple times. The attorney for the family gave us a preview yesterday. He talked about what we would see on this video. And he told me yesterday, he said, look, this is going to shock you when you see it and you're not going to understand why she was ever pulled from the car. When you watch it, that's the kind of impression sometimes you get from the moments from what happened. I can tell you, officials weren't happy with what they saw, either. That officer has been placed on administrative duties right now because they say there were several violations involved in this traffic stop. And people have been talking about there could have been chances for de-escalation involved in this, especially since it was a failure to show a signal when changing lanes. And then all of a sudden, that conversation really turns very quickly. And then the next thing you know, a lot of the action happens outside the view of the camera. And of course, when that cell phone person shows up and starts filming this and has that cell phone so you can see some of the other side of this. But you don't get that full moment of when this tussle started, Don. [Lemon:] So, I think it's interesting that you went inside the county jail, inside this cell 95 where Sandra died. What did you learn from that? What did you see? [Young:] OK. So, there are several things and I'll break it down for you, Don. First of all, we were standing in the hallway. The hallway, I would say, is about five foot wide. And the sheriff took us through and said, that cameras are actually a motion activated. So, he said they came in with investigators and tried to see if they could duck down, slide by or gain access to a cell without the cameras being tripped. And honestly, he said, the investigators could see that there was no way to get inside her cell without tripping those cameras. That's what he said investigators found. Maybe when they went on the inside. And he said, pretty much, they hadn't touched a lot of that room since Sandra Bland's death. The sandwich that she was supposed to eat was still in the corner. It actually had started growing mold on it. We could see that trash can there where there was one of those liners that were put in, the plastic liner, they said she may have used to hang herself. That was the part that everyone has questions about. How could you use that thin plastic liner to hang yourself. And what the sheriff explained to us is that it was twisted and then it was then turned up on that metal rod on the top half. And he was like, don't forget, you don't have to have your full body weight for suffocation to happen. But, obviously, Don, a lot of questions. When you look at the video, which is separate than everything else and then the fact that she was inside this cell for three days by herself, she was having trouble contacting her family. Yes, she did have a phone inside the cell. But apparently, the pin number that she had, she was having trouble getting in contact with family members, she did talk to her sister. But she was in that room by herself. And then something happened in that hour where there was no contact with her and then somebody walked by, looked in the slit and saw it. But to be in that room was just a little breathtaking from the moment of fact that she was there by herself during those last moments. [Lemon:] Ryan Young, I appreciate your reporting. Joining me now is Sandra Bland's family, Pastor Reverend James Miller, a senior pastor at DuPage AME Church. Thank you. Our condolences to you and to the family, sir. I appreciate you joining us tonight. [James Miller, Dupage Ame Church Senior Pastor:] Thank you, Don. [Lemon:] Thank you. What is your reaction to this dash cam video this footage that was just released tonight? [Miller:] Well, I haven't seen it. I listened to it. And I'll just tell you, for knowing Sandra since she was 9 years old, growing up through the youth departments, one of the active young adults in our church who I just saw the fourth Sunday in June. And to know her family and to hear her in pain from that arrest was difficult. [Lemon:] OK. So, let's talk about it because you know her. You're a man of candor, I can tell here. So, what do you think? Because people say there were things going on with her that she was going through some things. But we don't know. What was happening in her life? Was there anything that was happening in her life that would lend to her taking her own life inside of this cell? [Miller:] Don, I knew her to be a mature person. A person who is always thinking reconciliation with others. I think her blogs and her videos on her Facebook page will give us clear characterization that she was strong willed and outspoken. But she was a Christian woman. And to have a new job with a new beginning and finishing a graduate degree, a new start on the one hand, and an arrest that has been designated out of compliance, a jail out of compliance, staff out of compliance and a sheriff who was out of compliance several years ago with a record that doesn't add up. [Lemon:] Well, let's look at one of the videos that you mentioned from her Facebook page, from social media page. This is March 1st of this year. [Bland:] I am suffering from something that some of you all may be dealing with right now. It's a little bit of depression as well as PTSD. Depression and post-traumatic stress disorder are things that affect everyone. Black, white, it does not matter. We all deal with them. [Lemon:] So, what do you think, reverend? What happened? Was this enough do you think that she was dealing with that caused this? [Miller:] Well, that is out of context, first, because that's a part of a clip of a presentation. [Lemon:] It's not the whole thing. [Miller:] It's not the whole thing. [Lemon:] We have to look at it in context of the whole thing. Go ahead, explain. [Miller:] Yes. And, yes. There's no doctor's diagnosis. No medication. A young person. PTSD, how much you know, it sounds, you know, interesting to hear, but she didn't blog for a few days. I think there's a lot of that depression going on that I don't... [Lemon:] Do you think it was just normal people going through some things? Everybody goes through things, because she wasn't diagnosed with clinical depression. That was just her terminology, that was not a medical doctors or a psychiatrist's terminology or correct? [Miller:] You know, that that's what to my knowledge, yes. [Lemon:] Yes. So, what reverend, what do you think and what does the family think happened inside of that cell? [Miller:] Well, I tell you. The investigation has been taken from the beginning because you just don't give a conclusion before you had. And then so now, it's turned into this treated like a murder investigation with the forensics that we haven't touched the room much since we, you know, I just what happened is that she died in custody. And the persons who have custody have some responsibility. I would think. [Lemon:] Because she died under their she was under their care, so to speak, and she died while she was in custody with them. I have to run, pastor. But how is the family? And how are they doing and what are they saying? [Miller:] That's a strong family. It has a lot of faith and they are just want answers and we all just want to know the truth of the situation. And not the truth that will support our opinion or our side. [Lemon:] Yes. Reverend Dr. James Miller, I appreciate your time. And again, our condolences to you and the family. Thank you. [Miller:] Thank you, Don. [Lemon:] Thank you very much. We've got a lot more to come on this case. When we come right back, will Sandra Bland's death suicide? And what happened during the three days she was in police custody. Plus, Donald Trump surging in the polls and taking on his rivals. I'm going to talk to some of his supporters who think Trump's tough talk is just what the country needs right now. [Nancy Grace, Hln:] Breaking news tonight, caught on video. Shocking footage captures a 30-year-old perv stalking, then suddenly grabbing a little girl, dragging the girl across the floor of a Florida Dollar General store, when suddenly, her mother catches on and tries desperately to stop him. [Unidentified Male:] Shopping with her mom one minute, terrified by a crazed man bent on kidnapping her the next. You can see him attack from behind, grabbing the girl`s arm and pulling her with him. Her mother soon joins in, and the three are launched into a violent tug-of-war. [Grace:] Did 37-year-old yoga guru Alexandria Duval intentionally drive her gorgeous identical twin sister off a 200-foot cliff, plunging their Ford Explorer onto a rocky shore? [Unidentified Male:] The two girls were sitting in a car together. One was driving and one was a passenger. The sister was pulling her sister`s hair, apparently. And when she took off, it was in a rage. [Unidentified Female:] Plowed through the rock wall, falling 200 feet to the shoreline below. [Grace:] Stanford University ex-champion swimmer gets a slap on the wrist for raping an unconscious woman, a slap on the wrist six months in county jail after a jury finds him guilty on three felony sex attacks on an unconscious girl outside a frat party. To top it all off, the perp`s dad writes, "Prison is a steep price for just 20 minutes of action." We dig up the champion swimmer turned rapist`s original mugshot, and it`s not the glamour shot he wants you to see, this as a move afoot to get that judge off the bench. Bombshell now. The Good Samaritan grad student who saves the victim says she was unconscious the entire time, even breaking down in tears as he recalls the moment they saved the girl. Can the judge`s slap on the wrist actually be thrown out over allegations the rapist actually lied to the judge? We learn reports of drug and alcohol abuse allegations and uncover this judge allowed scantily clad photos, underwear photos of an alleged gang rape victim to be shown in court. What was he thinking? Ladies, do you want a shot of you in your underwear in front of a jury during a rape trial? Think about it! Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, caught on video. Shocking footage captures a 30-year- old perv stalking, then suddenly grabbing a little girl, dragging her across the floor of a Florida Dollar General, when suddenly, her own mother catches on to what`s going on and fights tooth and nail to stop the guy. First of all, let`s take a look at the video from the get-go. Here he is. OK, now, that`s the end of the video. There he is, going up and down the aisles as if he`s shopping. Oh, yes, there`s a fake yawn and a stretch. What he`s actually doing is scoping out the little girl. Keep looking. Keep looking. He`s trying to get closer to her. All of a sudden suddenly, there, between two aisles, he grabs the girl. He`s got her by her clothes and he`s dragging her out the door. The girl can`t get loose. Finally, the mother throws herself throws herself on him in a desperate attempt to try and save the little girl as she`s being dragged out the door. To Ray Caputo, reporter, WDBO Ray, where was this? [Ray Caputo, Wdbo:] Oh, Nancy, this is absolutely ridiculous. It happened just before noon yesterday. The suspect, Craig Bonello, was in a Dollar General store along with this mother and her daughter. This was in Hernando County. It`s a rural town. This sort of thing doesn`t happen. [Grace:] Rural? A rural town? That, in itself, is highly unusual, that a stalker, a kidnapper, a child predator would appear in a rural area at this Dollar General. Long story short, that`s almost unheard of where the crime rates are so low. Back to you, Caputo. Where, again, is this? [Caputo:] It`s north of Tampa. It`s a small, little rural town called Hernando. You know, it`s near a state park, near the coast. You know, and you know, this sort of thing doesn`t happen there. And out of nowhere, this explosive video of this guy attacking this young girl is so out of the ordinary and so shocking. [Grace:] Take a look at what he`s doing. He is very intentionally following them around. As he just goes out of sight there he goes! Did you see that in the corner? That`s when he grabs her between two aisles. Here you go. Thanks, Liz. Take a look at the little girl trying to get away. The mom is trying to stop, but she can`t. She can`t get his hands off her little girl. Look. Look. He`s dragging the two of them straight to the door. So Ray Caputo, who is this guy? Who is Bonello, a 30-year-old man? Who is he? What do we know? [Caputo:] Well, Nancy, he`s had several run-ins with the law. You know, his neighbors have said he`s a strange guy who keeps to himself. His own uncle has said that Bonello has some issues and needs to get help. You know, the bottom line is the guy`s a bit off. Especially after seeing what he did in the video, you can kind of make that assessment. [Grace:] Well, hold on. Look, everything`s always been dropped, disorderly, intoxication, resisting an officer, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. I mean, his history goes back, what is this, seven years, when he was in his early 20s. And he clearly knows what he`s doing. Look. Look! He`s stalking. He`s been following them around the whole time they`ve been in the Dollar General. From the very beginning, he`s only been one aisle away from the little girl. At first, the mom didn`t even realize what was happening. Look at that! The mom screaming, chasing him, but she could not get the little girl away from him. So Ray Caputo, when you say he`s a little off, I mean, I guess the fact that he tries to kidnap, does kidnap a little girl from a Dollar General in plain view, he wants the little girl so badly if you call that "off," fine. I call it a child predator. So I guess your argument, Ray Caputo, would be what, every child predator has a mental defect? [Caputo:] No, Nancy. Well, here`s the thing is that he`s not a sex offender. You know, he has had several run-ins with the law. He`s no altar boy. His most serious charge is battery on a law enforcement officer. You know, his charges, trespassing. It`s lot of misdemeanors, but certainly nothing like what he`s accused of doing here. [Grace:] Hold on! Ray Caputo, you say he`s no sex offender. Can I ask you this? What do you think he was doing, taking her out for an ice cream? [Caputo:] Well, Nancy, it`s clear that he did not have good intentions and you know... [Grace:] No, break it down. Break it down! When you say he did not have good intentions, what else would he be doing with the little girl, taking her out to either molest her or kill her. He`s already, under the law, kidnapped her, end of story. And he`s caught on video. But you say he`s no sex offender. OK, then let`s follow through the logical end to your statement. What do you think, Ray Caputo? Why else would he drag her out, being attacked by the mother, and actually, the mom can`t stop him why do you think he`s taking her out? [Caputo:] Well, Nancy, again, I think that he has the worst intentions in mind. But you know, also, there`s another side to it. I mean, he`s a bit off, and he could be doing this for attention. I mean, nowadays, when these videos he had to have known that there`s videos in this store. This is in broad daylight, mind you. I don`t know what`s going through this guy`s head, but there`s... [Grace:] Wait a minute. So you`re saying that you believe there`s a chance he did this for attention because he must have known there was a videocamera. Ray Caputo, you don`t really believe that, do you? You`re just arguing for argument`s sake, right? [Caputo:] My job is to present all sides of the story, Nancy. [Grace:] OK, you`re right, Ray. You`re right. Unleash the lawyers, Janet Johnson, veteran defense attorney out of Jacksonville, Jeff Gold, defense attorney out of New York, and also joining us out of Phoenix, certified child welfare law specialist Ashley Willcott. To all of you, thank you for being with us. All right, Janet Johnson, I`ll let you take the first crack at it. What could possible be his defense? Because he does not have a mental defect, OK? [Janet Johnson, Defense Attorney:] Well, how are we eliminating that? I mean it`s just as obviously as a mental defect as evidence that he`s perverted. There was nothing sexual in that video. It was off. And I think, you know, I`m agreeing with Ray on this, he clearly has a mental health problem. He batters cops. But he has not been a known pervert. And just because she`s a little girl does not mean his intentions were to molest her... [Grace:] Look at that big, fake yawn and stretch as he`s stalking her. He stuck with them one aisle away the entire time. Watch this! As you`re watching it, Janet Johnson, who says he`s not a perv, give me one good reason, one legitimate reason he would kidnap this child. Give me one! [Johnson:] He`s delusional. Maybe he doesn`t even know that he`s kidnapping a child. [Grace:] Oh. OK. May I ask you, Janet Johnson, are you privy to some document that says he`s ever been treated for a mental illness ever? Because I don`t have that. [Johnson:] Well, but you know, when you say his charges were dropped... [Grace:] That`s a yesno. [Johnson:] I`m not privy. [Grace:] ... a no. [Johnson:] ... face that his charges are dropped well, maybe. Maybe. That`s an answer, too. [Grace:] Maybe you know something, but what, you`re not telling? You`re keeping it a secret? [Johnson:] Well, in Florida, where I practice, sometimes they don`t bother to get an evaluation. It`s too expensive. And they just drop the charges when there`s mental health problems. [Grace:] I`ve never heard of Lady Justice dropping a charge because to get a mental health evaluation is too expensive. Ashley Willcott, certified child welfare law specialist, you and I have seen this over and over and over and over. The only thing they can argue, Ashley, is that there must he must be insane. You know why? If it weren`t caught on video, they`d say it didn`t happen, there`s no proof. It`s the little girl`s word against his. But since it is caught on video, their back`s against the wall. They`ve got to argue something, so what do you think, Willcott? [Ashley Willcott, Certified Child Welfare Law Specialist:] Right, Nancy, I completely agree. But listen, just because he is not listed as a prior sex offender does not mean that he`s never done this before. He might have done this to other children before. It might have not have been recorded. He might not have been prosecuted. He may not have been convicted. So it`s not fair to say, just because he`s not a registered sex offender, he`s never perped on a child before. [Grace:] Yes, I find it very difficult to believe to Dr. Charles Sophy, psychiatrist out of LA that this is his first time at the rodeo, you know, that suddenly, he goes from I mean, he`s got a criminal history that he goes from no sex offenses to kidnapping a little girl in broad daylight. [Dr. Charles Sophy, Psychiatrist:] I fully agree. I mean, if you look at the way he goes about all this, it`s way too premeditated. He`s yawning. He`s scoping out the area. He doesn`t have a mental illness per se. He has a premeditation and thought process going on. He`s looking to attack for a reason. [Grace:] You know, Jeff Gold, you`re a JD. Sophy`s an MD. Do you take issue with what he said? [Jeff Gold, Defense Attorney:] Look, this is the craziest video I`ve ever seen. I don`t know if he`s crazy, but if I`m a defense attorney, that`s where I`m going to go because I it`s broad daylight. He knows these stores have video. He`s grabbing from the mom! And it`s not like the mom resists and he goes, Oh, OK, I`m leaving. He`s trying to pull that kid! It`s ridiculously crazy. I don`t know if he`s insane legally, but that`s where you got to go. [Keilar:] The presidential candidates are back on the campaign trail and, in Donald Trump's case, slinging mud. If his latest tweets and interviews are any indication, Trump's upcoming rally tonight will include sexism taunts aimed at Hillary and now Bill Clinton. I want to bring in CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash with this story. They are getting into it. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] They sure are. And we learned today, Brianna, that one week from today will be Bill Clinton's 2016 debut on the campaign trail for his wife. That is, of course, the state that made him the comeback kid back in 1992. But Donald Trump isn't waiting until next week to pull the former president and all of his baggage into Hillary Clinton's campaign. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] She's playing the woman's card, and it's like give me a break. [Bash:] The way Donald Trump sees it, to be a winner you have to act like one. So he's ending 2015 as if he's already won the 2016 GOP nomination, attacking Hillary Clinton. [Trump:] I've had so many women come up to me, say, "You've got to keep her out. She is just terrible." [Bash:] Trump's anti-Hillary rants have been nonstop since before Christmas when she returned fire. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] It's not the first time he's demonstrated a, you know, penchant for sexism. [Bash:] Now Trump is bringing Bill Clinton into it, the latest on Iowa radio this morning. [Trump:] With all of her past and her past dealings and frankly, she's been involved in it with her husband as much as anybody for her to be discussing that, I think is out of bounds. And I've let them know that. [Bash:] Trump is doing well with Republican women. In the last CNNORC poll, a whopping 69 percent of female GOP voters said they have a favorable view of Trump. But it's almost the opposite when all female voters are included: 61 percent view Trump unfavorably. The only Republican woman running for president is trying to capitalize on the Trump-Clinton war of words. [Carly Fiorina , Presidential Candidate:] Look, how about an honest woman? How about a competent woman? How about a qualified woman? But I'm never going to ask for people's support because I'm a woman. I'm going to ask for their support because I'm the most qualified candidate to beat Hillary Clinton. [Bash:] As for Trump, his campaign insists he'll win by bringing new voters into the GOP fold, which is why he's lashing out at Virginia Republicans for a new requirement. To participate in its GOP primary voters must sign a party loyalty pledge. One of Trump's many tweets said, "Straighten out the Republican Party of Virginia before it's too late. Stupid. RNC." Meanwhile, in New Hampshire the conservative "Union-Leader," which endorsed Chris Christie, unloaded on Trump today for, quote, "bathroom humor and verbal bullying." [Thomas F. Wilson, Actor:] You got my homework finished? [Bash:] Comparing Trump to the bully Biff in the movie "Back to the Future." [Wilson:] Hello? Hello, anybody home? [Bash:] The editorial saying, "We trust New Hampshire Republicans will send Biff Trump back to somewhere, anywhere but on the road to the most important elective office in the United States." Despite having his harsh critics, Donald Trump has admirers, too. In fact, Gallup came out today with its most admired men of the year list. Trump tied with the pope as the second most admired man in America. Both were behind President Obama. And what about the most admired women woman, by the way? That is Hillary Clinton. In fact, this is the 14th straight year she's topped Gallup's list, 20th overall. And, Brianna, Gallup says that is more than any other man or woman since Gallup has been doing this since 1948. [Keilar:] Wow. That's pretty amazing. And Pope Francis and Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump, that's fascinating. All right, Dana, you're going to stay with us as I bring in CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju; and "Washington Post" assistant editor, David Swerdlick. You hear Donald Trump saying, David, that Bill Clinton is fair game. He's different than the average candidate spouse, for sure. I mean, what do you think of that? [David Swerdlick, Assistant Post, "washington Post":] Yes, I think Bill Clinton is fair game. And I think that when Secretary Clinton went and made her comments, she actually kind of made a messaging mistake by making this broad statement that Donald Trump has a penchant for sexism. Donald Trump is a sexist, but if she had instead sort of attacked him specifically for what he said, saying that she had gotten schlonged in 2008 or saying that, you know, Carly Fiorina, saying things about her face, she would have gotten more traction. Instead the way she said it kind of opened her up to Trump's rebuttal, and now they're in this back and forth. [Keilar:] So you see it as this mistake. And it sort of begs the question, if Hillary Clinton is going to engage on this, I'm hearing from a lot of people, you know, maybe she's not going to. Maybe that's not smart. But if you know, we're going to see Bill Clinton, Manu, here out on the trail. We've seen him be a liability. We've seen him be an asset. So what is it going to be this presidential cycle? [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] We've always seen bad Bill come with good Bill. And that's one thing the Clintons are concerned about. Remember in 2008 he certainly said things that took the Clinton campaign off message. He criticized the Obama campaign for this fairy tale campaign. [Keilar:] People thought that interjected race into the debate. [Raju:] Absolutely. And that's the concern whenever Bill Clinton is speaking. But at the same time, look, there's nobody that can galvanize Democratic voters the way Bill Clinton can. He can really rally the base in a way Hillary Clinton cannot. So he does fill that gap. And despite all the baggage that comes with Bill Clinton, he did leave office with very high approval ratings. At a similar time in his presidency he had 57 percent approval rating. Barack Obama right now at 47 percent. It shows that he can still do a lot of good for the Hillary Clinton campaign. [Bash:] But for all of the decades now that we have been kind of witness to some Clinton drama we're talking about Bill Clinton now it's mostly been with traditional politicians as his political foes. Donald Trump has no filter. We know that. He will say things. [Keilar:] It's like guerilla politics. [Bash:] Exactly. He will say things about Bill Clinton, if pushed, that nobody else has been able to say, which will take this into a very, very different dimension that we dealt with in the '90s or even in 2008. And that clearly is, I think, what Donald Trump has been warning about on Twitter and in these radio ads. [Raju:] I don't think the Clinton people want to have to respond to him... [Keilar:] What does that look like, though? If he sort of says over look, you look at Jeb Bush; you look at what Donald Trump did with Jeb Bush. He just hammers over and over on a certain narrative. It's not a bad thing for him with the folks he's trying to appeal with. Then you see it sort of playing out like that. [Bash:] It could. It just depends if he wants to go there. I mean, look, they do have a history. A good history. I mean, Donald Trump and Bill Clinton, remember, like way back in the day, like, I don't know, six months ago when they were really good friends. [Raju:] When Trump used to be a Democrat. [Bash:] Remember that? That was, like, so maybe seven months ago. But you know, it just sort of depends. But he has the he, Trump, has the capacity to be incredibly unfiltered, politically incorrect, as his supporters like to say. And who knows where that's going to take us when it comes to Bill Clinton and his past? [Keilar:] Let's talk money now. Because there are reports that Donald Trump's campaign is going to put some money out there, that they're preparing to launch an ad blitz. And we haven't seen him do this yet. Why would he do this now, do you think? [Rau:] Well, at a minimum I think he would do that, because now we're not just talking at polls. In a few weeks we're talking about actual voters, and so it's not just enough for Trump to get out on the campaign stump and say, "Hey, I'm leading in the polls, so that means I'm great." He has to actually come out, get voters out, get caucus- goers out in Iowa and get primary voters out in New Hampshire. And so someone like him, who now is sort of in this thing, it's not a fluke anymore. He's got to sort of backstop himself because he wants to back up the talk that he's going to run the table. [Keilar:] And it does seem that he's I mean, obviously, he's getting a lot of enthusiasm at these rallies. He is getting names, information about people so that they can be contacted. But it also seems like maybe the folks that he's attracting don't tend to be the people who are really fluent in the caucus program, which takes a lot of investment of time and, you know, being well-versed on issues and on your candidate, right? [Swerdlick:] Yes. I mean, again, I think Trump has to sort of demonstrate now that he's serious and not just appealing to the cameras. Whether or not he wins Iowa I don't think is a make or break for his campaign. But he certainly can't come in second or third in Iowa, second or third in New Hampshire, second or third in South Carolina and expect people to take him as seriously as we're taking him now. And I think that's a hitch. [Bash:] And one thing just to add on the money front, I was talking to a Trump source today who said that they had $25 million set aside for ads that they never had to run. They didn't spend one penny of it, because he's gotten all of this free media, what they call earned media in the biz. And he's been able to get his message out in how much is Twitter, 140 characters? [Raju:] Yes, yes. [Bash:] It's kind of amazing. Without spending a dime when you have all of these other, you know, candidates who have had to spend. [Raju:] It will be interesting to see how much money he spends on the air attacking his foes in addition to his own positive messaging. Will he go after his best friend Ted Cruz? Or Ted Cruz wants him to be his best friend. [Keilar:] Will the bromance be over? We'll see. Manu, David, thanks so much for being with us. Dana, thank you. And we are following some breaking news. Coming up, officials will explain why a grand jury decided not to indict the police officer who shot and killed a 12-year-old boy outside of a Cleveland recreation center. We're also keeping an eye on some dangerous storms that are forming after a deadly weekend of tornadoes, flooding and blizzard conditions. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] It is 6:00 here in New York, 3:00 p.m. out in Las Vegas. I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much for being with us. We begin with that little clock you see in the corner of your screen. The last Republican presidential debate of the year is less than 48 hours away and will air right here on CNN. We now know what the lineup will be for Tuesday's showdown at the Venetian on the Las Vegas strip. Nine candidates making the main stage with Donald Trump center stage. He is, of course, the front- runner. He will be flanked by his newest, closest rival Ted Cruz and also to his other side, Dr. Ben Carson. Two major polls show that Cruz is mounting a major challenge to Trump in the early, critical state of Iowa, where Cruz now leads, beating Trump 31 percent to 21 percent in a "Des Moines RegisterBloomberg politics poll. Nationwide, Trump is still on top but Cruz is biting at his heels. Trump at 27 percent"Wall Street Journal" poll. We have the best political team in television covering the story for you live from Las Vegas. That is where we find my friend and colleague, John Berman. Hi, Berman. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hi, Poppy. So much to talk about out here. As you said, the last debate, the last Republican debate of 2015, with the race changing so much right in front of our very eyes. Ted Cruz vaulting up into first place in Iowa. You talk about the main stage debate. There was also a debate that begins at 6:00 on Tuesday night. Some people call it the undercard. George Pataki, Mike Huckabee, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum, and the current senator from South Carolina who cares a lot and talks a lot about national security, Lindsey Graham. That begins at 6:00 p.m. I want to discuss both debates with our CNN political team here, Paul Begala, S.E. Cupp, Michael Smerconish. S.E., I want to start with you here with the newest dynamic in the debate which is the CruzTrump dynamic. Cruz has moved to the center stage right next to Donald Trump. They have been friends and friendly up until this point. What does Ted Cruz need to do on Tuesday? [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't think they're actual friends when it comes to Donald, right? I mean, you may not be an enemy today. I don't know that that means that your friends. I think Ted Cruz is starting to get a hint of what's it like to go after Donald Trump and threaten Donald Trump, at least in Iowa where he's up in the polls. But Ted Cruz needs to have a big night. If we're going to be talking about one thing for the next few days, who has the most to lose, who has the most to gain. I think that's very clearly Ted Cruz. He's had this strategy that he's been very open about, suggesting he's going to bear hug Trump and Carson and hope that when they collapse, those voters go to Ted Cruz. That's worked with Carson's voters to a certain extent. It hasn't worked with Trump yet because Trump hasn't collapsed. [Berman:] What about Donald Trump? How does he deal with the new person next to him? [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think the pressure is on. It's interesting, John, because you just showed those two surveys, one that shows Ted Cruz ahead in Iowa and other that shows Donald Trump ahead nationally. I bet there might be consensus among the four of us, which would you rather be? I think you'd rather be up in Iowa so that you could win Iowa. The cards then get shuffled. And if Donald Trump doesn't win Iowa after having led 100 days thus far, I think he's the one that's in a far more precarious position. [Berman:] I vote option C, I want to be ahead of both. But you didn't ask me that. I want to read a Twitter exchange that's been going on the last several minutes, because it's truly fascinating and it's between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is the story that came out this week that he was meeting with some donors behind closed doors and questioned whether Donald Trump was fit to be commander in chief. [Paul Begala, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, just his judgment. It wasn't very [Berman:] It was just a judgment, right. [Begala:] By my standards. [Berman:] Donald Trump tweets this out just now, a few minutes ago. It says, "I was disappointed Ted Cruz would speak behind my back, get caught, and then deny it. Well, welcome to the wonderful world of politics." So, we see Donald Trump taking on Ted Cruz a little bit there. Now, Ted Cruz has responded. I need to call this up right now because I have to do it justice. He writes, "In honor of my friend, real Donald Trump and good-hearted maniacs everywhere," and then he links to a YouTube video of "Maniac" from "Flashdance". Now, I think for rights reasons we can't actually play this for you. I wish we could. Perhaps we could sing it for you. I think Ted Cruz just called Donald Trump a maniac. [Begala:] Well, Mr. Trump used that phrase about Senator Cruz the other day. He said Cruz goes on the Senate floor like a maniac [Berman:] OK. [Begala:] and calls people liars and he won't be able to get anything done. Trump is a phenomenal politician, right, a great attacker. But we're seeing Ted Cruz here, a great counterpuncher. He was a champion debater at some little college called Princeton, right? He was an outstanding law student at Harvard Law. He's they don't get any smarter than Ted Cruz. And Trump is going to have his hands full with this. Cruz is now going to watch in the debates, if Trump repeats this attack, oh, you can't get along with your colleagues and make deals and get things done, Cruz is going to embrace that. He's going to say, well, I consider that a badge of honor that the Washington establishment, the corrupt Senate leadership on both parties doesn't like me. I mean, he will jujitsu Donald very effectively. [Cupp:] Yes, and tonally, you can tell, Ted Cruz is trying to make light of this, you know, the back and forth but he doesn't want [Berman:] I hope you're not calling "Flashdance" a joke. [Cupp:] I know some [Begala:] I don't have rights but it's playing in my head right now. I have to go to confession. It's a Sunday, I can't have [Cupp:] He's going to have to get tough. I mean, Donald Trump just name checked Ted Cruz out of nowhere as an evangelical from Cuba, where apparently evangelicals don't exist. Meanwhile, there's over a million evangelicals in Cuba. It's tripled since the 1980s. But it doesn't matter. Facts don't matter. But he's trying now to take on Ted Cruz in Iowa where he is doing well among evangelicals and he's trying to do it by saying this guy is a scary foreigner, essentially. And it's going to be interesting to see whether Ted Cruz voters, whether evangelicals like that Trump rhetoric or kind of break finally and say, no, no, Cruz is our guy. [Smerconish:] Can I also add that I think that there are many on that stage Tuesday night who could rightfully question Ted Cruz as to whether he has the temperament to get along with colleagues and get things done. I don't think Donald Trump is the one who can rightfully lay claim to that mantra. [Berman:] This morning, Donald Trump said, "I have the temperament to be president and Ted Cruz doesn't. Ted Cruz can't get along with anyone. I can." That's Donald Trump [Smerconish:] The name-calling that he's engaged in in the last 100 days that he should therefore assert he could go on and work with both sides. I mean, who is not laughing when they hear that? [Berman:] It is interesting, Michael, it's one thing having the "Flashdance" exchange over Twitter right now. But when you're standing next to someone on stage with the cameras on, it's a different dynamic. We saw, you know, Scott Walker who was next to Donald Trump that first debate withered. [Smerconish:] Right. [Berman:] You know, we've seen Jeb Bush withered in that moment. There's going to be interesting [Smerconish:] I don't think Ted Cruz will wither. I do believe he'll continue to try and play nice with Donald Trump. It's also amusing to me Trump still maintains he's a counterpuncher and that he never throws the first blow. I think he threw the first blow with regards to Ted Cruz as soon as that Monmouth University survey came out which showed Cruz leading Trump. [Berman:] All right. Michael Smerconish, S.E. Cupp, Paul Begala, and the men and women of "Flashdance", we're going to have much more live coverage from Las Vegas a little later this hour. But for now, let's go back to Poppy Harlow in New York Poppy. [Harlow:] All right, guys, thank you very much. We'll be back to John in a moment. What you do not want to miss, the Republican debate, it is just two days away, Tuesday night, in Las Vegas. It is the last GOP debate of the year and it is only right here on CNN. Next up, two significant developments in San Bernardino, California, in the ongoing terror investigation there. We have new information about the FBI's search of that lake near the site of the terror attack. Also, we are learning more about the disturbing red flags that were missed when it comes to the female shooter. Stay with us. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. Now some latest news into CNN's Jim Acosta about the presidential transition: we understand that Vice President-elect Mike Pence is going to be leading the Trump transition system as it goes forward right now. And the New Jersey governor, Chris Christie, will be the deputy chairman of that effort. Now as angry crowds or pockets of them in the United States protest President-elect Donald Trump and what they fear could lie ahead, 5,000 miles away, Moscow sees the Trump win as an opportunity. The Kremlin says it is ready to restore full-fledged relations with the United States after years of being at loggerheads with President Obama and his administration. Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin's spokesman, says that Trump's foreign policy appears phenomenally close to Putin's and even that Trump's victory speech had striking similarities to speeches by the Russian president. Many high-ranking U.S. officials are troubled by the seemingly cozy relationship between the president-elect and Putin. Few people, though, are as close to him as Peskov, who joins me now. Welcome to the program, Dmitry Peskov. [Dmitry Peskov, Putin Spokesperson:] Yes, hello, Christiane, hi. [Amanpour:] Hi. There's a bit of a delay; so let me ask you, because everybody is interested in the new Russia relationship. When you say that Trump's policy is phenomenally close to President Putin's and that even elements of Trump's speech mirrored some of Putin's speech, what precisely do you mean? What are you hoping for? [Peskov:] Well, actually, there, they seem to be very pragmatic, both of them. They point out, as a main objective, to protect national interests; we've heard Mr. Trump mentioning overwhelming priority of America's national interests. And the same is being proclaimed by President Putin. He is very consistent in that, saying that Russia and Russia's peoples' prosperity and their national interests are the main objective and the main priority. But at the same time, they both expressed a readiness to develop good relationship with other countries in the world, as far as countries are ready to go. So and this is really, this is a very good, very positive coincidence, in my opinion. [Amanpour:] Dmitry Peskov, it's absolutely a given that Donald Trump was the Kremlin's favorite candidate to the point that we've even seen a deputy in the Duma, Mr. Nikonov, who talked to me the other day, basically congratulating members of the Duma, saying, this is your victory, congratulations to you. Sergei Markov, who is, as you know, a pro-Kremlin analyst, said that he anticipates Donald Trump having much more support for the Kremlin, for the president, Putin's agenda. Is that what you are hoping? [Peskov:] Well, I would like to remind you that President Putin did his best in order to stay neutral in this story, despite the fact that personally he was playing an overwhelming role quite unexpectedly for us in American election campaign. But nonetheless, he never he never pointed out his favorite candidate. And he was very careful, saying that Russia would welcome any choice of American people and we cannot afford interfering into America's domestic affairs. You know, again, President Putin is very consistent in that. And he is strictly against someone's interfering in our domestic affairs and he's very careful in order not to do it in the domestic affairs of countries, including the United States. [Amanpour:] But let me [Peskov:] So no country, including yes? [Amanpour:] Well, I just want to follow up, because President Putin did actually say that it was in the public interest and a public service, that all these Democrat emails were released. And Sergei Markov, that analyst who I was saying, said maybe we helped a bit with WikiLeaks. So that's from your own side, giving a nod and a wink to accusations by the American intelligence community that actually Russia, in some form or fashion, was behind this. And there is motivation, as you say. You know, President Putin believes that Donald Trump's policies are more aligned with him than Hillary Clinton and had and actually tried to defend Donald Trump against criticism at the United Nations. [Peskov:] Well, no one expects that the relationship will improve in a fortnight between Moscow and Washington. We have a very heavy burden of disagreement on our shoulders. But, nonetheless, if our two leaders I mean, the current Russia's leader, President Putin, and President-elect Trump are wise enough to have a political will to talk to each other and to try to solve problems, not by confronting each other, not by using, let's say, a language of sanctions or other illogic things, hurting both sides, then we'll really have a chance to at least to talk and to try to solve the problems being constructed. Then we'll have a whole bet list because what we have currently is a very lousy relationship, let's say, a minimum possible level of our relationship, for last decades. [Amanpour:] Yes. Can I ask you, because you mentioned a few of these issues, you know, Donald Trump has threatened to tear up or renegotiate or get rid of certain deals that the United States made. One of them is, with Russia's help, which was the Iran nuclear deal. Do you think it was the worst deal ever, as Donald Trump says, and that it should be torn up or somehow metaphorically cast into the dustbin of negotiations? Is that what Russia would like to see? [Peskov:] Well, Russia would like would like to be constructive anyway. And Russia is ready to take into account concerns of its partners. But, of course, we feel ourselves in a right to expect that our partners are also ready to take into account our current concerns. And we're very strict in fulfilling our international obligations. Russia is extremely careful and is a very responsible international player in that sense. But at the same time we're, we're insisting all the time that our counterparts are fulfilling their obligations. It's a very important balance and yes? [Amanpour:] No, no, sorry; I don't mean to interrupt you. But what about Syria? Obviously, you've had a great deal of diplomacy but a great deal of acrimony with the United States over Syria. Donald Trump seems to suggest he's much more aligned with the Russian view of Syria. So what are you expecting to be the end result in Syria under a new American president? [Peskov:] Well, I would say that Syria is a burning issue. And we cannot afford a pause of a couple of months. So we have a couple of months ahead and we'll continue to work with an acting administration in Washington. And Putin will continue to work with Mr. Obama. We cannot afford waiting for a couple of months. What we have to do now, we have to ensure that yes. We have to ensure that promises to deter terrorists from other positions will be realized into life. But after that after that, of course, what we expect on Syria is a real cooperation, not just exchange of information. This is not sufficient. And this, unfortunately, thus, we cannot be effective in combating terror there in Syria. [Amanpour:] So you say you have these two months before the next president takes office. What is your aircraft carrier doing there? Many, many people feel that President Putin felt that there was going to be a Hillary Clinton victory, wanted to get in with the aircraft carrier and deliver a final blow to Eastern Aleppo. Is that still your plan? [Peskov:] Well, you know, Russian air force is continuing to perform its duties in order to support activities of Syrian army against terrorists. And this operation is being continued, although in accordance with the order of Russian chief commander, President Putin, they are still holding fire. And they're not using military jets in order to bomb terrorists targets in Eastern Aleppo. But, in general, operation is going on. [Amanpour:] Can I ask you finally, you have said and I just wanted to you confirm to me that Russian experts were in contact with some members of Trump's staff during the campaign. Just describe your contacts with the Trump campaign. [Peskov:] Listen, Russian experts are in permanent contacts with their counterparts, with experts on Russia-U.S. relationships, with specialists in politology. It's a normal exchange of views. It's a normal exchange of visits. And then, of course, among those people, there could have been someone interconnected with the election campaign. But, again, I just want to repeat that we cannot speak about any official context or contacts orchestrated or initiated from Kremlin. We haven't had any official contacts with them. [Amanpour:] All right. Lots more to discuss. We hope you'll join us as this transition goes ahead. Dmitry Peskov, thanks very much for joining us from New York today. [Peskov:] Thank you, it was my pleasure, thank you, goodbye. [Amanpour:] Thank you. And coming up, we imagine a world next without the musical mastery of Leonard Cohen, the Canadian pioneer, whose poetry, much like Bob Dylan's, changed songwriting. That's next. [Zakaria:] Did you know that 11 percent of America's working-age population works for the government? Federal, state and local governments combined employed more than 23 million people in 2014. And those governments spent $5.4 trillion. That's a 5, then a 4, then 11 zeros, for those of you following along. My next guest is a billionaire. That's fewer zeros. And he wanted to spend some of that money examining the U.S. government like one examines a business. Steve Ballmer made billions for himself and for his company, Microsoft, by scrupulously looking at balance sheets, head counts and where the money went. So what happens when you do the same to government? Welcome, Steve. [Ballmer:] Pleasure to be here, Fareed. Thanks. [Zakaria:] The let's start with that first statistic, the number of people who work for the government. Did that surprise you? And do you think it's too high? [Ballmer:] Well, it did surprise me. Now, it's an amalgamation of a lot of things, some of which people think about government formally, but it also includes teachers, who obviously work for government. It includes people who work at hospitals that are operated by the government. When you look at it in aggregate, you wind up saying there's a lot of good things that come from that group of people. And, you know, people can have their own judgments as to whether some of these things should be done by government or done privately. But I was impressed that such a low percentage of people were doing the work that typically people call bureaucrats, if you will. And so I I noted that with great interest. [Zakaria:] Expand on that. That's a very interesting point, you know, that the part that people think these kind of vast, faceless bureaucrats sitting in offices, you know, passing memos there's not a lot of people doing that. There's a lot of, as you say, people working in hospitals, nurses, park rangers, that kind of thing, right? [Ballmer:] Exactly right. And, you know, if you look at the top I don't know eight or nine areas that involve government workers, that's what you're going to find. You're going to find police; you're going to find firemen; you're going to find people who work in correctional facilities, in hospitals, in government businesses like water and sewer and the like, obviously teachers and professors and the people who work in schools and universities, the military people who clearly don't look anything like this popular conception of the bureaucrat. [Zakaria:] When you look at health care, the data you provide to me tells a kind of sad story about American health care. And it goes back, really, decades. If you look at you know, I look at three or four decades of the numbers and basically the story is costs have gone up, way up. Outcomes, health care outcomes, really haven't improved very much. And you don't provide this data, but you know, if you look at it compared to other countries, it's striking how poor U.S. outcomes are, particularly compared with the soaring costs. Again, what do you see in that data? [Ballmer:] Well, I think there's a couple things I'll note what we should do, maybe, somewhat different. I think it is interesting that, over the period of time, which I think goes back 2000, 2005, that the government has mentioned it, we looked at the average age of death, as opposed to the average life expectancy. In my opinion, advances in health care and increased health care spending in the last 15 years should better be reflected in the average age at which people die, frankly, than almost anything. And it's moved up, but it's moved up maybe.8 years. If you look at the public health statistics, the percentage of people with diabetes, depression and other, you know, sort of public health characteristics, those numbers, other than smoking, have not come down. And at least as I look at the numbers, those public health statistics, to me, seem very material and very interesting as it relates to health care in this country. Another sad statistic in some ways the one that should worry us all the most is the lack of economic and social mobility. You have this interesting block chart which shows essentially what is the chance of a child exceeding the income of the family he grew up in, the parents that he was born to. And it looks much worse today than it did 30 years ago. And it doesn't look very good. That seems to me, in some ways, the you know, the meta-problem, which is the sense that the American dream that your children will do better than you is is under greater stress. Well, the American dream is interesting. What is the American dream? Is the American dream the dream that kids can advance, sort of, statistically versus their parents economically? That might be the dream. And the dream might be can people live better than their parents, which is slightly different. And to me, the thing that's striking in the data is there are groups of people who have a very low probability of moving up the economic ladder. In the documents we show that, for white kids, it's about 27 percent chance that, if your parents are in the bottom 20 percent, you wind up in the bottom 20 percent. Perfect, of course, would be 20 percent so 27 percent to 20 percent. For African-American kids, that number would be 50 percent chance of staying in the bottom 20 percent, obviously a much more, sort of, constrained set of economic mobility criteria for African-American kids versus white kids. [Zakaria:] When you look at all this data, what I was wondering I was constantly thought about the fact that I would love to see comparisons to other countries. So, for instance, on this economic mobility data, European countries, particularly northern European, do much better. Canada does better. Have you thought about maybe providing international comparisons so that people can understand where where America stacks up? [Ballmer:] Well, I think it would be a great thing to do, but it would start with trying to prepare something equivalent to USAFacts for Canada or the U.K. or France. There's a lot of things that would need to be in place for us to do an equivalent piece of work. Would I like to do that? Yes. Is that probably our very next step? Maybe not. But we've had some approaches from at least people in Canada to say is there are a way to do equivalent at work? I think it would be cool as heck if we can find somebody to partner up with in a couple of countries. We're not up to taking on that work ourselves right now. There's still a lot to be done in the United States. [Zakaria:] Fascinating stuff, a data-driven view of politics. Thank you, Steve Ballmer. [Ballmer:] Thanks, Fareed. My pleasure. [Zakaria:] Next on "GPS," many parts of the world are on the march, moving en masse from the countryside to cities. We have the satellite pictures to prove it. We'll show you one shining example in a moment. [Rex Tillerson, Secretary Of State Nominee:] They have broad networks obviously putting in place. And that's what we have got to disrupt. We have got to disrupt their ability to reach large numbers of people who could be persuaded. And that's what I have spoken to earlier with new tools to advance our ability to do that. [Sen. Cory Booker , New Jersey:] Clearly, sharing intelligence with other Muslim majority nations, cooperating with them, creating those relationships that you said are so important, it's important to counter ISIL. But if you're insulting and demeaning their very faith, not only does it make it probably difficult to deal with your allies, but it might even cite more radicalism, potentially, correct? [Tillerson:] My expectation is that we're going to be able to reengage with our traditional friends and allies in the region, not just in the Middle East. But I think, as you pointed out, there are large Muslim population in Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Malaysia, other important countries in that part of the world where we have serious issues of common interest as well. [Booker:] Again, there is much about our conversation privately that I appreciate and there's much about your testimony I appreciate as well. But one thing we discussed was how important USAID is when we were together. I have real concerns, now having been out around the globe, seeing the powerful impact USAID is making for really asserting human dignity. I really worry that its budget has been cut. The base international affairs budget, which includes funding to State and USAID, has been repeatedly cut about 30 percent, adjusted for inflation, since fiscal year 2010, despite the fact that across multiple bipartisan administrations, there's always been a broad agreement that supporting both USAID and the State Department is a moral, economic and strategic perspective. I just want to just hope that you will be especially I have read a lot about the way you ran your business, streamlining and the like. But I hope that a priority for you is a more robust USAID program. Is that something I have could you give me reason to hope? [Tillerson:] I think I hope what you're after is more effective programs with better use of the taxpayers' dollars. And to the extent we are good at that and we have even greater opportunity, then we should seek additional funding. But there will be a complete and comprehensive review of how effective we are with the dollars over there. USAID, as I said, is an important part of the projection of America's values around the world. We're going to have I think there is a joint strategic plan that is required between the State Department and USAID in fiscal year 2017. That's going to be a perfect opportunity for me and those who will be working with me, if I'm confirmed, over at the State Department to take a comprehensive look at the effectiveness, and what our what are our ranges of opportunities out there that might argue for greater funding. So, I want to be effective with the program and make sure that, as we are using the taxpayers' dollars, they're delivering a result that we're proud of. [Booker:] And that's something I respect. I was a mayor. Our chairman was a mayor. We know that spending more money on a problem doesn't necessarily mean that you're dealing with it more effectively. But if you have effective evidence-based programs, investing more resources is a strategic, as well as human rights advantage. Sir, I'm a low man on the totem pole, and I am done with my time. I do want to say this to the chairman. [Sen. Bob Corker , Tennessee:] You had an extra minute this morning, so go ahead. You're high man on the totem pole now. You have the mic. [Booker:] If only people told me this committee was so magnanimous as it is. Sir, I'm just going to use my last few seconds. I'm not sure if we're going to have another round. We're not. My ranking member is not. So, I just want to just... [Corker:] Just by agreement with others, if I could, there's been, I think, a request to all members asking. I know there are some members that want to go another round. And we're going to make that available to them today. [Booker:] I have expressed my thoughts to my ranking member, and I will wait for his instruction. But in the few seconds I have left, I just want you to know that this is probably one of the more important positions on the planet Earth, the one to which you are nominated for. It's not just about always it is obviously always looking for America's interest and strategic advantage, but also it's about American values, values of human rights, values of taking care of poor and marginalized people. And I expect that you at some point will be confirmed. And I look forward to working with you to asserting those values of human dignity, as well as American interests abroad. So, thank you, sir. [Unidentified Male:] I might, Mr. Chairman, before you call on the next witness, for my members, there are some additional questions that members have asked second rounds wanted to ask, and we're going to try to be able to give you the time. But it is possible, if we all cooperate, we might be able to complete this hearing this evening and not go into tomorrow. So, that's what we're trying to do. Obviously, we have to complete it by 6:00, because we have business on the floor at 6:00. [Corker:] I saw the look of disappointment on Mr. Tillerson's face. As I understand it, Senator Rubio will have additional questions. Senator Menendez, Senator Shaheen has a little bit, little bit. For those members who Senator Risch. So, we may be here tomorrow, but it looks like we're going to try to finish this evening, if everybody can cooperate. And, again, if that's not the case, as we all know, we're perfectly willing to come back tomorrow. We're really trying to accommodate... [Unidentified Male:] And I appreciate the chair. He's been very open about that and it's been very helpful. But we also have some members that have not had their second rounds yet, remember. [Corker:] Yes. And now to Senator Portman. [Sen. Rob Portman , Ohio:] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, again, Mr. Tillerson, thanks for your willingness to be patient and answer the questions, as you have, with candor, and appreciate your willingness to serve. One thing we didn't talk about this morning in my questions was the Middle East. And I know you have had a lot of experience in the Middle East, particularly you have done business in many of the Arab countries. We talked about this a little in our meeting, but this relationship we have with Israel is a special one, of course. It's a cornerstone of our strategy in the Middle East. They are our greatest ally in the Middle East, the one true democracy. I want to talk to you a little about our views of Israel and the U.S.- Israel relationship. One important issue for me, as you know, is this issue of boycott, divestment, and sanction movement, the so-called BDS movement, which is a global movement targeting Israel. I have been concerned about this for a while, introduced some legislation on it. In fact, Ben Cardin and I have not just introduced, but passed legislation in this regard to try to push back against the BDS forces. Recently, of course, with the consent of the Obama administration, the U.N. Security Council passed this resolution condemning the settlements and demanding Israel cease all activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem, is the way the resolution reads. I think this will no doubt galvanize additional BDS activity. And, so, here's my question to you. Would you make it a priority to counter boycott, divestment and sanctions efforts against Israel, make sure Israel is not held to a double standard, but instead treated as a normal member of the international community? [Tillerson:] Yes, I would. [Portman:] Any preliminary thoughts as to how you would do that? [Tillerson:] Well, I think just by raising it in our interactions with countries that do put in place provisions that boycott whatever elements of activity or business with Israel in their country, that we begin by highlighting that we oppose that and just expressing that view, and that those countries need to understand that it does shade our view of them as well, then. One of the things that would, I think, help change the dynamic obviously would be if there were a change in the dynamic regionally. Today, because of Iran and the threat that Iran poses, we now find that Israel, the U.S. and the Arab neighbors in the region all share the same enemy. And this gives us an opportunity to find to discuss things that previously I think could not have been discussed. [Portman:] Do you find more support among the Sunni countries in the region for Israel as a result of that new dynamic? [Tillerson:] I don't want to speak to them, Senator, but I think clearly there is much more sharing going on between the leaders of those countries as they confront this singular threat to the whole region. [Portman:] That's my sense, and I think it's an opportunity. On BDS, we do have legislation that ties trade negotiations to dismantling BDS. Would you support that legislation? It's the law of the land. And as we conduct trade negotiations, would you support using those negotiations to help dismantle the BDS efforts in those countries? [Tillerson:] From the standpoint of the State Department's view, if confirmed, I would advocate for that position as well, recognizing there's other agencies that would really have the purview over that. [Portman:] What attitude do you take toward the U.N. initiatives regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? Is it your intention to press the Palestinians to resume negotiations with Israel, rather than seeking to negotiate through international bodies such as the U.N.? What's your position on that? [Tillerson:] I think, as I have expressed in answers to a couple other questions and I want to be brief because I realize we're trying to get through questions quicker. This issue has to be settled between the Israelis and the Palestinians. And no one can be coerced into coming to the negotiating table. That will not lead to a solution. So, I support the parties being allowed to deal with this, speaking for themselves. [Portman:] With regard to Syria, complicated, obviously, in my view, it's been made worse by our inaction and specifically drawing red lines and not honoring them, but also not establishing safe zones and no-fly zones. And, as you know, Russia's entry into Syria's civil war has helped turn the tide decisively. So, Iran was strongly backing Assad. And now you have Russia more involved. And this Assad-Iran-Hezbollah access has been strengthened. And yet, as an indication of how complicated it is over there, an enemy of that axis of course would be ISIS. One of my questions for you is, would you under any circumstances advise any sort of cooperation with Iran where we might have a confluence of interests, namely in confronting ISIS? [Tillerson:] That is an area that requires exploration. I think earlier I indicated that that's where we have got to find a way to engage in the overall peace process or the cease-fire process that's been agreed by Russia, Turkey, Syria and with Iran's involvement as well. Can we get engaged in that? Can we at least stabilize the situation regarding the rebel activity with the Syrian government and turn all our attention on ISIS? That remains to be seen, and that will involve, obviously, the engagement of others as well and input from others as well. [Portman:] Do you think Russia has an interest or desire in this counsel inflict to push back against ISIS, or do you think they are simply in Syria to help Assad's regime? [Tillerson:] I think it has provided a convenient open door for Russia to now establish a presence in the Middle East, a region that it has long been absent from. Having said that, though, there are common threats that Russia faces because of terrorist organizations and radical Islam themselves. I have seen statistics that are significant. Significant fighters in ISIS are all speaking Russian as a language. That indicates Russia has got a problem as well in terms of where those people came from and where they may go back home to. So, I think there's scope for discussion. This is what I alluded to earlier. We will have to see what Russia's posture is. And are they looking for a partnership with us where we can try to reestablish some type of a positive working relationship, or are they uninterested in that? [Portman:] Again, an incredibly complex situation in a difficult part of the world. But my sense is that Russia has not followed through on its statements with regard to pushing back on ISIS in Syria, and, in fact, have focused on simply protecting Assad's regime. Again, thank you for your willingness to step forward into some of these complicated situations. We are looking forward to the opportunity to working together with you going forward, and I wish you the best of luck. [Corker:] Thank you. Senator Merkley. [Sen. Jeff Merkley , Oregon:] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I have 10 articles, I mentioned one or two earlier, that I would like to submit for the record related to Exxon's involvement regarding sanctions and Russia's activity in Ukraine. [Corker:] Without objection. [Merkley:] Thank you. I wanted to turn to climate, the environment. And, of course, you have received many, many questions today and we talked about this some in my office which I think is a reflection on how important it is. As we look down a few generations from now, people will say, here was a major threat to the planet. What did you all do? And you noted earlier in your conversation with the chairman that our ability to correct the impacts of climate change are very limited. But I believe that, when I met with you, you indicated that, but you also indicated that while we can't model with certainty, that shouldn't bother people too much the fact that we have a risk and challenge, we shouldn't let that go. And I think my view has always been it is a serious risk, and we need to take steps to address it. Is that a fair recounting of how you view it? [Tillerson:] Yes, sir. I think the fact I think what I said is the fact that we cannot predict with precision and certainly all of the models that we discussed that day, none of them agree, doesn't mean that we should do nothing. [Merkley:] One of the things I have seen in my time here in the Senate is, we have gone from talking about models in the future to talking about what's happening on the ground right now. In my state, the forests are burning at a much faster rate due to pine beetle expansion and the additional heat and dryness. And over on the coasts, the oysters are having trouble reproducing because the ocean is 30 percent more acidic than before we started burning fossil fuels. In Senator Shaheen's state, the moose are dying because the ticks aren't killed off during the winter and they're transmitting disease. And along the coasts, with Senator Coon's state, there's I think the accurately, the lowest average land level in the country, and very concerned about the advancing sea level and storms, and experienced that in Hurricane Sandy. And so every one of us in our states are seeing seeing effects on the ground. And, as we see that, we know we're just at the beginning of these impacts, that they're getting worse each year. But we are also viewing often climate change as a national security issue, and since you believe so, I wanted to ask, do you see it as a national security issue? [Tillerson:] I don't see it as the imminent national security threat that perhaps others do. [Merkley:] You know, one of the things that's noted is how the changing climate in the Middle East concentrated Syrian villages into the towns and sparked the civil war that has now produced something like 4 million and counting refugees, having profound impacts on European security, and that would be an example. Is that is that something you've looked at or considered to be real, or perhaps misleading, or any thoughts in that regard? [Tillerson:] The facts on the ground are indisputable in terms of what's a happening with drought, disease, insect populations, all the things you cite. Now, the science behind the clear connection is not is not conclusive. And there are many reports out there that we are unable yet to connect specific events to climate change alone. [Merkley:] What we're seeing are a lot of scientific reports that will say, we can tell you the odds increased. We can't tell you any specific event was the direct consequence. For example, Hurricane Sandy might have occurred in a 100-year period, but the odds of it happening are higher with the higher sea level, a higher energy in the storms. So, do you agree with that viewpoint, that the that essentially the odds of dramatic events occurring, whether it's more forest fires or more hurricanes with more power is a rational observation from the scientific literature? [Tillerson:] I think as you indicated that there's some literature out there that suggests that. There's other literature that says it's inconclusive. [Merkley:] One of the things we I'm sorry to hear that viewpoint, because it's overwhelmingly the scales are on one side of this argument, and I hope you'll continue to look at the scientific literature and take it seriously. One of the things that you mentioned was it was impressive that so many countries came together in Paris as a part of a global effort to take this on. And that was an important outcome, that there's a global conversation. I just want to make sure that I'm capturing correctly your impression of Paris. [Tillerson:] As I've stated before in my statements around climate change and responses to it, that it will require a global response in the countries that attempt to influence this by acting alone, are probably only harming themselves. So, the global approach was an important step, and I think also, as I indicated in response to a question earlier, I think it's important that the U.S. maintain a seat at that table, so that we can also judge the level of commitment of the other 189 or so countries that are around that table, and again, adjust our own course accordingly. [Merkley:] Is this a case where, really, American leadership in the world matters? We rarely see big efforts to take on global problems unless America is driving the conversation. Do you think it's important for America to drive this conversation? [Tillerson:] Well, I think it's important for us to have a seat at the table. But I also think it's important that others need to step forward and decide whether this is important to them or not. If it only take if America is the only one that's willing to lead, then my conclusion is the rest of the world doesn't think it's very important. [Merkley:] We saw on the sanctions on Iran, it was America that led and then we brought the rest of the world to the table. We also saw that leading up to Paris, China is committed to produce as much renewable power as our entire electricity production in the United States. And we've seen India now, talking about how to shift, providing electricity to 300 million people who don't have it, and doing it primarily, or shifting from primarily a coal strategy to primarily renewable energy strategy. So, we're seeing big countries with big populations that have far smaller carbon footprints than the United States stepping up, and shouldn't we step up as well? [Tillerson:] I think the United States has stepped up. And I as I indicated earlier, I think the United States has a record over the last 20 years of which it can be quite proud. [Merkley:] Thank you. And it sounds like that means you think we should keep, not just being at a table, to be at a table you can be table silent, but a table on active, participant, and taking on this challenge? [Tillerson:] I think it's important that we are engage in that same conversation, as I said, so, we have a clear view of what others are doing and actions they're taking. [Merkley:] Thank you. Am I out of time? [Unidentified Male:] You are, if you would like to take 30 seconds. [Merkley:] Earlier thank you. I'll take those 30 seconds. Earlier, we've talked about the Exxon working with a subsidiary to bypass American sanctions and do business with Iran. And you said you didn't have knowledge of it, hadn't heard about it, have you participated in any Exxon meetings in which you strategized or individual strategized to find a legal path to do business with nations on which we had sanctions? [Tillerson:] No. [Merkley:] Thank you. [Corker:] Thank you. Senator Risch? [Sen. James Risch , Idaho:] Thank you. Mr. Tillerson, several questions ago, in an answer, you stated and I was delighted to hear that, that you had reservations occasionally when the United States asked about what was going happen afterwards if a regime changed. Let me tell you that that's a refreshing view up here. I sit on this committee, of course, I set on the Intelligence Committee, we hear proposals all the time, and we hear of actions people want to take all the time, but they can't answer the question of, "OK, what's going to happen next?" And that is something I hope you will remain committed to while you're at this job, and when you're sitting at that table, and those decisions are being made. I hope you'll insist that the people tell you what's going to happen next because we have we have been very, very short on strategy after being able to topple a regime. We're, you know, if we want to do it, we can do it. We've got the power to do it. But then what comes next? And everyone for a long time around here, I heard, well, you know, we're going to do nation building and everything is going to be wonderful, it's going to be a new America, when we're done with them. Well, you know, the nation building was a was a great strategy in the World War II area era, and it worked. That strategy isn't working any more. We have been notoriously unsuccessful in attempting in attempting to do nation building, and part of it is because there's a lot of reasons for it. But obviously, one of them is that we're operating in countries where the culture is so much different than ours, very different from the from the landscape in World War II and after World War II. So, I again, I want to I want to encourage you to take that question to the table, every time, say, "OK, guys. I see what you've got planned. I think it's going to work. What happens next?" Because that is an incredibly important decision when we decide what we're going to do. Let me shift gears here for a minute. I want to talk about the Iran situation. As you know, there are a lot of us up here that were very much opposed to the deal that was cut by the current administration with Iran. There's a lot of us up here that believe, we're not done yet. This thing has set us set Iran on a path towards having the nuclear weapon. Now, it's going to be some time, I couldn't agree more, that it's going to be a further down the road as a result of the deal. But it gives them, in my judgment, a legal path forward if they continue to do all the things that they're required to do in the in the agreement, and take it step by step and year by year, and then the agreement expires, and they're going to say, "OK, we're done. We did everything we said we're going to do. Now, we're going to build a bomb." And if people object, they're going to say, "Wait a second. You know, we negotiated in good faith. We did everything we said we were going to do." Why you know, so, that's not over. But what's more concerning is the more instant question, and that is a lot of us at this table, particularly on this side of the table, urged the administration in very clear terms, both in open hearings and in closed hearings, to push the Iranians to behave themselves, to change their conduct. Not just not just not quit fiddling with enrichment and what have you, these people are the primary sponsor of the greatest sponsor of terrorist activity in the world. When they were talking about giving them, however, many billion dollars it was on pallets, we said, "Look, these people have been financing terrorist activities when they were broke. What do you think is going to happen when we make them rich?" And they said, "Well, you know, we don't want to do that because it will interfere with what we're talking about on the nuclear deal." And to me, it wasn't worth the deal at all, when they limited it just to that. When it comes to the U.N. sanctions or the U.N. resolutions that have been passed, that said, you got to behave yourself, or that you can't launch missiles anymore. I mean, one week after the thing went into effect, they were launching missiles. There's a lot of us here that want to re-impose sanctions, in fact, ratchet sanctions up for their activities on terrorism, for their failure to obey the U.N. sanctions on missile activity. And the Iranians are saying, "No, you know, you can't you can't do putting more sanctions on us." In fact, some people up here are arguing that that's not the case. We believe that that look, the administration themselves said that it didn't cover those activity the agreement didn't cover those activities, it was limited to nuclear. Do you have a view on that? Because I think you're going to be dealing with that sooner rather than later. There's a lot of us who feel very strongly about that, and if we're going to change these people's attitude about joining the world stage with the rest of civilized society, we're going to have to curtail their activities, not just in the nuclear area, but in these other things that are that are just despicable acts that they committed. Have you got some views on that? [Tillerson:] I think I may have commented earlier that one of the unfortunate effects of all the attention placed on the Iran nuclear agreement, I think I've heard, at least I've heard this expressed by others, that resulted in a bit of a down focus on the real immediate threat today and that's Iran's continued sponsorship of terrorism and terrorist organizations there in the region, most particularly support for Hezbollah and Hamas. So, I think we do have to keep what's important in front of us and what's imminent in front of us. As to the nuclear agreement itself, I do look forward of confirm to taking a comprehensive look at that, along with the side agreements, to see what are all the elements available to us, to enforce, stay informed on their activities, and are they complying with all the inspection requirements, and confirming that they're meeting the agreement. But back to your point of what happens next in the case of taking certain regimes out, the same thing is true here with this agreement it's what happens at the end of this agreement, is really the important question we've got to be asking ourselves, because the objective has not changed. Iran cannot have a nuclear agreement. What happens at the end, as you point out, is they go right back to where they were, and we've not achieved our objective. So, my intention is to use the elements of this agreement that may be helpful to us in addressing the what comes next when this agreement is over, or what replaces it, which has to be we have once and for all blocked Iran's path to a nuclear weapon, because they've agreed that they are no longer going to pursue one because they have no reason to, because we changed behaviors, or because we have mechanisms in place that are going to prevent them from pursuing that. That is that will be a difficult negotiation because it is in the context of their continued sponsorship of terrorism around the world. And we can't we can't just work this and turn a blind eye to that. And it is a complicated discussion, but I think we do have to take that approach with them. That we're not going to do a one-off deal with you, knock all of these stuff over here is not happening. It has to be looked at in full view, and we just have to be honest and acknowledge it. [Risch:] And that's exactly what happened. I'm encouraged to hear you say that. Let me let me warn you about one thing. When I sit on this committee, I sit on the Intelligence Committee, and I have not seen the side agreements, nor has every any member of the United States Congress seen the side agreements. I've traveled to the U.N. operations in Vienna and met with the IAEA. They will not let you see those side agreements. So, these people we're voting for the people who voted for that Iran agreement did so, on an agreement that, part of which we weren't able to see. So, I wish you well. I've we've had one witness who said she was in the room where they have the side agreements and they were passing them around and she touched them as they went by, but did not read them. So, she wasn't able to tell us, either, what was in the side agreements. I wish you well. If you get your hands on the side agreements, give me a call, would you, because I'd like to join you and have a look at them. Thank you, Mr. Chair. [Corker:] No, thank you. Senator [Unidentified Male:] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you, Mr. Tillerson, for your fortitude and patience. It bodes well for what I think are the rigors and demands of services as Secretary of State. Senator Risch has taken us on a guiding tour of the JCPOA. I just thought I would start by going back to an important point that you referenced in passing. I believe, earlier today, you said one of the one of the failings of the deal is it does not deny Iran the ability to purchase a nuclear weapon, and my very diligent staff has reminded me that the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty does prohibit the purchase of a nuclear weapon. But more importantly, the JCPOA, which I have in provision three of the general provisions at the very front, says, "Iran reaffirms that under no circumstances will Iran ever seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons." My general approach to this agreement has been distrust and verify. I couldn't agree with you more that Iran's [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn The Situation Room:] I'm CNN's Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're watching the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. [Cuomo:] All right. A headline that needs unpacking from the "Wall Street Journal" this morning, the U.S. has sent around $1.3 billion in foreign currency to Iran. This is the first real accounting of how much money the U.S. has sent on to that country. Why? What effect could it have? And what could it mean to the war on terror in a bad way? Tony Blinken, the deputy secretary of state, joins us now. Tony, great to have you on the show. [Anthony Blinken, Deputy Secretary Of State:] Chris, thanks for having me. [Cuomo:] First, $1.3 billion. Can you verify that number? Is that how much has been transferred to date? [Blinken:] Well, I haven't seen that report. But here's what's going on, we achieved a nuclear deal with Iran to prevent it from getting nuclear weapon. That's made us safer, made countries around the world safer. Part of that involved lifting sanctions on Iran, and that freed up money that had been frozen around the world that Iran had in bank accounts that it couldn't bring back to Iran. Now as part of the deal, Iran is bringing back some of that money. But the overwhelming majority of that money is going into their economy which is in dire straits. It's not going to the military. [Cuomo:] How do we know? [Blinken:] We know. We've seen it. We see what they're saying. We see how they're spending it. And what they've told us, but also what we see, is that instead of going to the military, the money is being poured back into the economy, because this is an economy that was suffering terribly. [Cuomo:] Do you think that you could guarantee from the State Department to the American people that this doesn't get filtered into groups like Hezbollah and other terrorist allies that Iran has, and not one dollar of it can go there? Do you think we could really know [Blinken:] We can't say that not one single dollar would go there. What we can say, based on what we've seen so far, is that virtually all of it is going into the economy, not into the military. And the bottom line is this, this agreement that we've reached has made us safer. It's put far into the future the day when Iran could get enough material for a nuclear weapon. [Cuomo:] The perception is, the politics of this has never played as well, as the administration wanted them to, that you gave them everything and they can still do things that we can't uncover here. They haven't treated the deal with full respect the way they were supposed to. They haven't given back those three joint citizens. The Iranian-U.S. citizens and yet, they're getting their money. Fair criticism? [Blinken:] First, the deal was not going to solve every problem. It's focused on one thing. That is the nuclear program that was growing, and growing and growing. Countries around the world are getting tired of the sanctions. We acted in a way that put far into the future the day where they could get enough material for a bomb. Second, the IAEA, the organization that's been monitoring this, has told us that Iran is making good under its commitments on the deal. And indeed, our own sources tell us that Iran is making good on its commitments under the deal. So, they're living up to their side of the bargain. Our side of the bargain was to release some of the sanctions and so, some of the money is going back. But again, it's going into the economy, not into the military. [Cuomo:] Was any of the money that's been sent to Iran a quid pro quo to get those Americans freed? [Blinken:] No. [Cuomo:] You're 100 percent sure of that? [Blinken:] Absolutely. [Cuomo:] So, all of these discussions about the planes and the money, that's just spin? [Blinken:] Absolutely. We were in an environment when having getting this deal done, it was possible to see if we could get some other things done. We owed Iran a lot of money from way back when. We had sold them weapons. This is during the shah, before the revolution. The revolution happened. We kept the money. We didn't send them the weapons. There was an arbitration that President Reagan backed to decide what to do. And we were able to conclude a deal in way that actually saved us billions of dollars. [Cuomo:] The what do you make of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies? It's a right-leaning group, politically in its disposition. American courts have found Iran liable for tens of billions of dollars for victims of Iran-backed terror. Should we have used the money that they're supposed to get back to give to those victims? [Blinken:] This deal hasn't solved every problem. We've remained absolutely focused on a lot of things that Iran is doing around the word, including support for terrorism, that continue to pose a threat to our security, the security of Americans, the security of people around the world. We're focused on that like a hawk. But taking this nuclear problem off the table was a big deal, and it also took away from Iran for feeling that it could act with total impunity knowing that it was backed by a nuclear program. [Cuomo:] The administration, different military sources, you all bristled when Donald Trump said, I'm going to get a 30-day plan for how to beat ISIS? Why? Why is that such a bothersome proposition? [Blinken:] Look, I'm not focused on Mr. Trump's plan or anyone else's plan. I'm focused on the strategy that we're implementing that is succeeding to taking to ISIL and succeeding in winning. By every single measure that we look at this territory, leaders killed, propaganda on the Internet, the flow of foreign fighters, the flow of financing, by every single measure this strategy is succeeding. [Cuomo:] So, the idea you that don't have a plan, because that's what he means, within the month you don't have a plan, you reject that? [Blinken:] It's absolutely wrong, and it's actually dangerous to say that, because here's what happens, ISIL feeds off the impression it gives, the perception it creates that it's 10 feet tall. That's how it attracts foreign fighters from around the world. And as we have a strategy that's working and succeeding, we're taking away that narrative. The message is going out, no, they're not 10 feet tall, in fact they're losing. They're falling back. They're losing territory. They're losing leaders. So when anyone says, ah, the administration doesn't have a plan, it doesn't have a strategy, it's not succeeding. That actually goes right to the narrative of ISIL, that's what they use to attract foreign fighters. That's exactly what we need to stop. [Cuomo:] Quickly, as a diplomat, you use the word "dangerous" a lot. WE hear about the whoa, what, Trump does is dangerous. He goes down to Mexico, he has his meeting, we hear that word "dangerous" again. What is it about diplomacy that people are missing in a meeting like what happened with Trump and going to Mexico? [Blinken:] Look, I think we're at a time, Chris, when and it's understandable because so many people feel left out and left behind with so many of the changes that are happening around the world. And part of that results in an instinct to pull back, to come home or to act and go it alone, not to work with others, not to work cooperatively. But we can't advance our interests, we can't protect our people if we're not actually acting with others, working with others. We can't build a wall high enough to stop the seas from rising, the planet from warming. We can't lock the door tight up to prevent disease from coming into the country or terrorists for that matter. The best way to do it, the most effective way to do it, is to work with alliances, to work with partners, to work with others. That's what we're trying to do, and that's the art of diplomacy. [Cuomo:] And but the criticism on the other side is, America seems weak. America doesn't enforce its will on people anymore. ISIS attacks here, attacks all over the world seemingly with impunity, and people are afraid, and that's why in polls you see Trump, on national security, he's down to Hillary Clinton, but on fighting terror, he's up. What does that tell you about the perspective on the administration? [Blinken:] Look, I can't speak to Mr. Trump, but I can say this. Again, there is a sense out there of chaos and confusion. So much information is coming at people every single second. They're trying to make sense of it. But what I do know is this, when it comes to ISIL, we are succeeding. We are pushing them back. We are actually on the road to defeating them in Iraq and in Syria. And around the world, American leadership is bringing countries together, 65 countries now in a coalition to deal with ISIL, rallying countries in Europe to deal with Russia's aggression in Ukraine. This climate agreement, which is going to be remembered far, far longer than any of the things we're talking about today, that we reached with China and other countries around the world, that's the best we have at for protecting our planet for decades to come. That's American leadership. [Cuomo:] Tony Blinken, thank you very much for coming in, making the case for America. [Blinken:] Thanks for having me, Chris. [Cuomo:] Appreciate it. Alisyn? [Camerota:] Well, a major settlement in the sexual harassment suit against disgraced former FOX News chief Roger Ailes. Why the network is apologizing to a former anchor and what the big settlement could mean for this presidential race. That's next. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] The administration, it seems to be speaking with one voice saying all options are on the table. The VP's visit coming amid growing tensions with North Korea and hours after the regime's failed missile test launch. With the U.S. pressing China to get its [inaudible] state under control, Pence echoes Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's words from one month ago today. The era of strategic patience is over. Listen to this. [Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] We seek peace but America always has always sought peace through strength. The people of North Korea, the military of North Korea, should not mistake the resolve of the United States of America. Stand with our ally. The alliance between South Korea and the United States is ironclad. We will continue to stand strong to achieve our shared objective across this region and across the world of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. [Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] The official message from the Trump administration on that failed missile launch once again is deliberately low key. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis put out a very brief statement, quote, "The president and his military team are aware of North Korea's most recent unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment." The blown launch not easing concern over Pyongyang's aggressive work on ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons. At a weekend parade, North Korea showed off some very new military hardware. For the latest, we turn to CNN Paula Hancocks live in Seoul, South Korea where Mike Pence has some very strong words indeed for North Korea. Good morning to you, Paula. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, there, Dave. That's right. There was one part of his statement when he was standing next to the acting president of South Korea that really stuck out for me. When he was talking about President Trump himself, he pointed out that there have been some military actions in Syria and in Afghanistan. And he had a very thinly veiled direct warning for North Korea saying, quote, "North Korea would do well not to test his resolve." So really a much stronger statement than we have heard from many of the Trump administration officials in recent weeks. We had the secretary of state coming here and the defense secretary coming in here and now of course the second in command, the vice president of the United States. The fact he went to the DMZ was symbolic. It was significant in the way that he wanted North Korea to know that he was there and very close to the border with them and of course, if he came out then the North Korean soldiers came out and took photos as they often do with these VIPs. But he did specify that all options are on the table as we keep hearing from Trump administration officials, but did specify that that obviously the preferred option would be the peaceful option. Also mentioning negotiations. The acting president of South Korea standing next to him said they both agreed that the U.S. missile defense system would be deployed as soon as possible, would be operational as soon as possible. We know parts have been arriving over the past month and a half, maybe two months here in South Korea. Something which China doesn't like but Pence said would go ahead Dave. [Briggs:] Paula, thank you. A May 9th election there for a new president in South Korea. Thank you. [Kosik:] China is a critical wildcard in the North Korea equation. The vice president had this to say about China and they're willingness to cooperate on North Korea. [Pence:] It is heartening to see China commit to these actions, but the United States is troubled by China's economic retaliation against South Korea for taking appropriate actions to defend itself. The better path would be for China to address the North Korean threat that's make such defensive measures necessary. [Briggs:] All right, so where does this go next? With all the latest news in the Korean Peninsula, let's welcome in CNN political analyst, David Drucker, to break this all down. Good morning to you, David. [Kosik:] Good morning. [Briggs:] So the line we're hearing from everyone in this administration is the era of strategic patience is over. Is that in a sense the Trump foreign policy as we know it? [David Drucker, Cnn Political Analyst:] Who knows what the Trump foreign policy is yet. I mean, who knows what Trump does, what the Trump policy is yet. I do think, though, that the president to his credit has approached the Korean problem with a sense of urgency and an understanding that his predecessors, both Republican and Democrat, have tried various things to try and get this wacky regime in line, and nothing has worked. And Bill Clinton engaged the administration, sent Madeline Albright, the secretary of state there, but I still remember Madeline Albright toasting with Kim Jong-Il. That didn't go over so well. George W. Bush brought in China. We had six-party talks. They took sort of a tougher rhetorical line. That didn't work and so I think the Trump administration is trying to do things a little bit differently. We don't yet know exactly what the strategy is. We do know that they're trying to put some pressure on China, both friendly pressure and not so friendly pressure to try to use China with China's leverage to bring the North Koreans to heel. [Briggs:] Is it working though? [Drucker:] Well, let's give it some time. As the president said in a recent interview, he thought, as he said during the campaign, that it's easy. China snaps it's fingers and North Korea does whatever it says and he says, he now understands that that was a misguided opinion. So I think that we have to see what this whole, the era of strategic patience is over thing because in a sense we are being patient because we don't have a lot of good options there because Seoul, the capital of South Korea and the metropolis of 20 million people is just across the border. And so any action we may be compelled to take in the future and we might and I don't think any president should take anything off the table just as a matter of policy but that could have an immediate military impact on Seoul. Millions of lives could be in jeopardy and it's a very difficult situation. [Kosik:] OK, so if you look at what President Trump is doing on the world stage and what Vice President Pence is doing on the world stage, the U.S. seems to be showing its muscle talking tough talk. Case in point, the vice president in Seoul. Listen to what he had to say about not testing Trump. [Pence:] Just in the past two weeks the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region. [Kosik:] And then you have H.R. McMaster saying all options are on the table. This is some tough talk toward North Korea. Is the U.S. at risk maybe of miscalculating this whole equation and instigating something that's already there but ratcheting it up to the point of no return? [Drucker:] Well, look, I mean, I think the vice president does a little bit too much look out for Trump talk for my taste. Basically you want to do it in terms of the United States. I remember when Republicans used to criticize President Obama for using "I" far too much and my team as opposed to us and our team. So they might be careful there not to make it this sort of mano-a-mano thing. But let's remember for the last 20 years, we have tried all sorts of different tactics with North Korea, diplomatic. We bought them turbines and reactors. [Kosik:] We've made all sorts of agreements they never stuck to. [Drucker:] And I think that President Obama tried to do things differently and saw the limits of walking softly without threatening a big stick. I mean, diplomacy often doesn't work unless it has military teeth behind it as a threat. So I don't think there's anything wrong with talking tough. North Koreans are the ones here that are in the wrong. Clearly, you don't want to instigate where nothing is necessary, but these guys are threatening us for the potential for eventually, you know, being able to fire ICBMs that could reach the U.S. mainland. We have to try and do something. [Briggs:] What about the domestic agenda? I mean, look, his hands has been forced in this regard, but where is the Trump domestic agenda moving at this point. [Drucker:] Let us know what the domestic agenda is and I'll tell you where it's moving. There are so many [Briggs:] What's the focus? [Drucker:] I don't know. There may be a lack of focus at the moment. I do think there are some things that are being done that aren't getting attention. They have been repealing a lot of Obama air regulations through this congressional review act. This is actual legislation that is passing through the Congress, the president is signing. He is undoing a lot of the Obama regulatory regime. So where is he falling down on the job or not getting it done yet? The major campaign promises repeal and replacing Obamacare for one. What's the tax reform plan? We don't know. [Briggs:] Infrastructure. [Drucker:] Well, in the infrastructure was really not supposed to be until next year, now it might be until this year so a lot of lack of focus. A lack of a plan. I don't know if the president knows what his plans are other than getting things done because the president didn't come to this job except for an issue like trade with a sort of underpinning value system that kind of told you what he was about and where he was going. They have to fund the government. That's coming up in a few weeks, and so, you know, we'll see where all this goes, but I think you're correct in saying that it's, you know, kind of like a bunch of confetti right now, some of it looks really good, but you can't yet sort of a pattern of what exactly it is. [Briggs:] We want to know about a special election in Atlanta and why this matters nationally. We'll talk to you about that at 5:30. [Kosik:] Thanks so much. See you in a bit. [Briggs:] All right, breaking news, police may have a clue in their search for a suspect authorities say made a video of himself killing an elderly man in Cleveland and then posting it on Facebook. Authorities earlier said Steve Stevens may have left Ohio and now we have learned a ping was detected from Steven's cell phone in Eerie, Pennsylvania. That's according to the Eerie Police Department and Pennsylvania State Police. Stevens was last seen driving a late model white Ford Fusion with temporary plates. Officials say Stevens is armed and dangerous. [Kosik:] His mother, Maggie Green, tells CNN she spoke to her son Sunday and that he said he was shooting people because he was, quote, "mad with his girlfriend." Authorities say hundreds of leads have poured in. They are urging Stevens to surrender. [Calvin Williams, Cleveland Police Chief:] We need to bring this to a conclusion today. We need to get Steve off the streets. People later on can dive into exactly why this happened but there needs there's no need for any further bloodshed in this incident tonight. [Kosik:] Stevens also claimed to have committed multiple homicides but Cleveland police are saying so far Godwin is the only known victim. OK, a referendum with major implications for a big player on the world stage. Turkey voting to consolidate powers for its president. How does this impact a key NATO ally in the war on terror? We're live in Istanbul, next. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, once again, thanks very much for joining us. Right now, we're following several major developments, including this. Take a look at the live pictures coming in from the White House briefing room. Sean Spicer, the press secretary, about to take questions from reporters this hour and there will be plenty of questions. He'll likely be asked about today's comments from President Trump, promising major increases in U.S. military spending, and questions about his own push to find the source of White House leaks. We're going to go there live as soon as the press secretary shows up. That should be later this hour. The White House, meanwhile, says the meanwhile, says the magic number in the upcoming budget is $54 billion. That's the amount for the proposed defense and security spending increase as well as proposed budget cuts. Listen to this. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] My first budget will be submitted to the Congress next month. This budget will be a public safety and national security budget. Very much based on those two, with plenty of other things, but very strong. And it will include a historic increase in defense spending to rebuild the depleted military of the United States of America at a time we most need it. [Blitzer:] Joining us now, the from the White House, our White House Correspondent Sara Murray; from the Pentagon, our Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr; and our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto. A major increase in military spending, Sara. Will that be the first topic presumably for Sean Spicer at the briefing today? $54 billion, that's a 10 percent hike in defense spending. [Sara Murray, Cnn White House Correspondent:] I certainly think that'll be a big focus, Wolf. And not just this increase in defense spending, but also how do you offset that. That would those are pretty severe cuts in discretionary spending. They've mentioned things like foreign aid, cuts to the EPA. These will be very significant cuts, and you would have to go much further to other agencies if you want to offset that spending. But I think the other thing that people are going to be questioning Sean Spicer about and looking at tomorrow from the president is what he actually says about health care and the steps going forward to repeal and replace Obamacare. We've seen the president pay lip service to this issue, but we haven't really seen him go out with any specifics or even fully embrace the Republican plan that they're pushing on the House right now. That's certainly something that Republican leaders are going to be looking for Trump to do when he speaks to the Joint Session of Congress tomorrow. [Blitzer:] Tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern. I want to play, Barbara Starr, you're over at the Pentagon, something else that the president said today about the United States military. Listen to this. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Now, we never win a war. We never win. And we don't fight to win. We don't fight to win. It's either we've got to win or don't fight it at all. [Blitzer:] How's that going to sit over at the Pentagon Barbara? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, I think there's going to be a lot of questions about what the president means. I mean, he said he was taking this from watching the military during his days back in high school and college, in his words, when perhaps it was a much more clear time for military victories, World War II, Korea. You know, you had major tank battles, major air battles and the U.S. had overwhelming firepower. That is not the way the world exists today. The fight against ISIS, the fight against Al Qaeda is a fight against a spreading ideology that, indeed, has spread across many countries. And, you know, the president has this new plan sitting on his desk today about options for defeating ISIS. And it includes diplomacy at the very time he's cutting the State Department. It includes financial options. It does include some military options. But you're not going to bomb ISIS out of existence. I don't know a single U.S. military commander that thinks that's feasible. [Blitzer:] Stand by, for a moment, because I want to bring Jim Sciutto in. Jim, we heard today from Devin Nunez, he's the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, in a lengthy briefing, a Q and A with reporters. You were up there. He was answering questions about the pending Russia investigation, contacts between Russia and officials in the Trump campaign, the Trump administration. Listen to what he said. [Rep. Devin Nunes , Chairman, House Intelligence Committee:] since the election, that we've broadened the scope of that investigation to include any involvement in this in our elections here. And, of course, any ties that there might be to any government officials at any level, so it's not just not just here in Washington but governors and others. If there's anything out there, any American citizens from political campaigns coordinating with the Russian government, we clearly would want to we'd want to know that and we would want to investigate it. [Blitzer:] He also said there's no need, at least yet, for a special prosecutor. So, what stood out in your mind, based on what you heard? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, two things. One, he effectively contradicted himself because, as you heard him say there, they're broadening the investigation. Part of that investigation will be contacts between Americans and Russians. But later, and we pressed him repeatedly, he said that he's been told, in effect, there is no evidence of Trump campaign contacts with the Russians, or at least he has been given he says he hasn't seen any. And then, when we pressed him, he said, well, he seems to have gotten some message that there is no there there which has been a consistent talking point from Republicans and the administration. So, the question is, are they actually going to investigate that or has he already made a conclusion? And that, frankly, was a question that wasn't answered. The other thing that struck me, the first words out of his mouth were that major crimes had been committed. And we pressed him and said, are you talking about Russian interference in the election? No. He's talking about leaks, echoing the president's point that they want a very aggressive look at who's been leaking what they said are classified is classified information about the investigation into these contacts and elsewhere. That appears to be, if not the major, a major focus of his investigation, at least from the GOP leadership of the committee. Of course, you get a very different view from Democrats on the committee, as well as some Republicans, such as Senators Graham and McCain in the Senate. [Blitzer:] You also, you and your colleagues, pressed him on these reports that the White House reached out to him, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, to speak to reporters and shoot down, knock down, that report in "The New York Times" about extensive contacts between Trump officials and Russian intelligence officials. And he explained his position. Go ahead and tell us what he said. [Sciutto:] So, he seemed to downplay that there was anything wrong with this. He said, listen, the White House might have given me a phone number of a reporter to talk to. I talk to reporters all the time. This is just normal back and forth. And he said, in fact, it's an example of greater transparency. I mean, let's put that through something of a smell test here. I mean, based on you are on own reporting, we know that this was coordinated from the White House. That the White House reached out to members of the Intelligence Committee in the Senate, in the House, and it appears as well the CIA who were friendlier, to their point of view, to go out and give a point of view to reporters. When we know, from our own reporting, Wolf, that there are differences of point of view on the analysis as to how serious these communications were. We know that the FBI, we know that both the House and Senate intel committees, at least they say, they are still investigating the significance of these communications. So, to say that this is just a, sort of, normal back and forth with reporters doesn't really gel with what we know about how this was a White House very concerned about reporting of contacts between Trump advisors and Russians during the campaign and made an effort to push back. And we know that it was a significant enough effort that the FBI said, no, it's not going to do it. [Blitzer:] All right, Jim, stand by. Barbara Starr, Sara Murray, we're going to get back to you. The president clearing laying out some budget priorities today, including increased military spending, law enforcement spending increases, big spending increases of infrastructure and substantial tax cuts. Let's discuss with Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. He's a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressman, thanks very much [Rep. Adam Kinzinger , Illinois, Foreign Affairs Committee:] You bet. [Blitzer:] for joining us. [Kinzinger:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] Who's going to pay for all the spending increases in defense, law enforcement, huge tax cuts? Where is all this money coming from if you want to have a balanced budget? [Kinzinger:] Well, I think a couple of things are going to have to happen. Number one, obviously, he's going to put out his budget within a couple of weeks, so we're going to see more details there. I think in his address tomorrow night to Congress, there should be some details on that. In terms of an increase in spending, there are areas where we can cut on the domestic side that we should look at. Obviously, a government should be able to operate with less money and do what it needs to do. But we want to make sure it can function obviously as it needs to. I actually, personally, think we have to take a long-term look at the idea of entitlement spending and Social Security and Medicare. [Blitzer:] Not touching he says he's not touching it. [Kinzinger:] Well, I hope [Blitzer:] He is not touching it at all. He says he made that [Kinzinger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] campaign commitment throughout the campaign, and he's sticking by it. No cuts in Social Security, Medicaid and Medicare. [Kinzinger:] Yes, and I don't think he will for anybody that's in or nearing retirement, and I'm not even sure if he's explored this yet. What I think is, frankly for younger people like myself, you can make some changes to Social Security that can, frankly, solve and save that program for the future and current seniors. So, there's a lot of and in tax reform, you know, we're obviously working through that process. That is not going to be easy. But I think through that, we're going to see increased economic growth. [Blitzer:] He wants to increase defense spending [Kinzinger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] $54 billion, a 10 percent hike. As you know, the United States already spends more on defense than the next seven or eight countries combined, including Russia, China, Iran, [Kinzinger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Britain, France, all these other countries. At a time when the U.S. has so dramatically reduced foreign military involvement, going down from a couple of hundred thousand troops in Iraq and Afghanistan to 5,000 right now, why does the U.S. need to dramatically increase defense spending? [Kinzinger:] Well, I think it's a couple reasons. Number one, with sequester, we dramatically cut military spending. Keep in mind, too, with the amount you're spending on the military, personnel costs increase every year. As we give people pay raises and benefits and things like that. You have to uncap that and grow, just to keep up with the investments. The other thing I think to keep in mind, though, is that Dick Cheney actually said, after desert storm when we obviously, it was a very one-sided victory. He actually thanked President Reagan for his investments then that led to the win now. So, these investments today are not just for the operations that we're doing today which are very important, but it's also investing in the next generation of body armor or MRAPS or aircraft so that we can fight and win the next war that comes inevitably. [Blitzer:] It's funny you say fight and win because you heard the president of the United States says the military no longer wins. [Kinzinger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] In effect, what he's saying, they're a bunch of losers. You heard that clip and I asked Barbara Starr how that's going to play at the Pentagon. You served in the U.S. military in Iraq and Afghanistan. When you went there, did you just want to sort of hang out or did you want to win? [Kinzinger:] No. And I as a military guy, I bristle at that, obviously. I think, you know, the military does fight to win. We do it very well. But the nature of warfare is very different today. We're not fighting, you know, the Nazis where you can take out their war machine and then they have nothing left so they surrender. You're fighting an ideology right now. And an ideology doesn't go away simply if you destroy fighters or you destroy equipment. They go away once the next generation rejects their principles. So, we have two wars on terror. We have the current war on terror, and what I call the next generation of war on terror which isn't about guns and airplanes. It's about winning that next generation over so they reject those principles. [Blitzer:] Do you want the U.S. to dramatically increase troops on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan to destroy ISIS? I raise the question because the president is getting a report now, recommendations how to beat ISIS from his military advisors. [Kinzinger:] So, I don't know about dramatically increase. I think we have to use whatever is necessary to win. And it looks like we have some good progress right now in Iraq. The areas where we're hurting is in Afghanistan or, I'm sorry, in Syria. So, the question is, how do you liberate Raqqa? You have the issue with the Kurds and the Turks who, obviously, don't like each other. So, if it takes some ground troops to do that, we ought to be willing to do whatever is necessary to win. But nobody is calling for another, you know, 250,000 troops or anything like that. And I you're not going to see that come out of this administration. [Blitzer:] The new national security advisor, General H.R. McMaster, says, you know, he does he's not comfortable using a phrase the president uses all the time, radical Islamic terrorism. And he's told his aides, I don't like that phrase. It's not helpful. Where you do stand? [Kinzinger:] So, I use it, and I use it because I've talked to people, and I've talked to presidents of the region and kings. And they say it's actually not a big deal to them. It's not offensive. They're, like, look, it is Islamic terror. What you don't want to do, and I respect the general for his thought on this, you don't want to make it look like you're labelling the entire religion as that. Because right now, we're fighting a very small section of a broad religion. What you don't want to do is inherit more enemies than we have. [Blitzer:] Because it'll create a lot more enemies down the road if it's not handled in the right way. On Wednesday, the president is going to release, you know, his revised version of his travel ban, part two. First one got rejected by the by the judiciary, by the courts. Seven countries, Muslim majority countries, presumably will still be banned from sending people over here to the United States. You're opposed to that, right? [Kinzinger:] Well, I think the president has a lot of leverage. I didn't like his first executive order. We'll see what this one looks like. What I am uncomfortable with is Iraq being on that because Iraq right now is our chief ally in fighting ISIS. And you have the Iraqi translators. Frankly, their vetting standards for who gets passports are really good. When Mosul fell, all those passports were canceled and now put on the terror database. So, I'm uncomfortable with Iraq being on it but I don't know about the [Blitzer:] What about the other six countries, Syria, Afghanistan, Somalia, these countries. [Kinzinger:] I'm worried about the message, but I also think the president has a lot of leverage to do this. And I think any new administration ought to look at our vetting standards and make a decision. So, I want to see what this actual executive order says before I say yay or nay to it. But I do give a lot of leverage to the president in these areas. [Blitzer:] As you know, there was a U.S. Navy SEAL who was killed in an operation in Yemen. And the father of this Navy SEAL did not really want to sit down and meet with the president of the United States, when the body was returned at Dover at the U.S. Air Base at Dover. He wants a full-scale investigation right now. Do you believe there should be a full-scale investigation? What these Navy SEALs were doing in Yemen? Why they're in Yemen? Why is the U.S. deploying troops there to begin with? [Kinzinger:] Well, I think there can be questions asked, in terms of any military operation that's done. Warfare is inherently very dangerous. And this operation had been on the books. The president came in. The military said we want to go ahead. And he gave the go ahead to do it. And we got, we think, some pretty good intelligence out of it. But in war, you know, obviously a plan never survives first contact with the enemy, and that's what we had, an unfortunate situation where a Navy SEAL was killed. And I'd never question the decision of a father to not meet with the president. I can't imagine what's going through his heart. And so I just have a lot of sympathy for that. [Blitzer:] And he wants him he's probably got a lot of questions why his son was there. [Kinzinger:] Sure. [Blitzer:] What were they doing? How important was this mission? And did it achieve anything? The administration says they got a lot of good intelligence, but that's what they you know, that's what they say. Have you confirmed that, that they really did get intelligence that potentially could save American lives down the road? [Kinzinger:] I've heard I've actually heard people say, in the administration, that this was a treasure-trove of information that could lead to future action. In terms of any you know, any kind of classified setting where I got anything, I haven't, so I don't know enough. But I can tell you again, war is inherently dangerous. You're going to be going to places where people don't like you. And Yemen especially is a very rough place. But it's also where al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is right now and is planning threats against the United States and our allies. [Blitzer:] Congressman Adam Kinzinger, thanks very much for joining us. [Kinzinger:] Any time. [Blitzer:] Just want to alert our viewers, it's your birthday today. [Kinzinger:] It is. [Blitzer:] So on behalf of all of them, happy birthday. [Kinzinger:] Thank you. Thank you. [Blitzer:] Coming up, President Trump will deliver his first address to Congress tomorrow night, and he'll detail his agenda for the first year. What do we anticipate? Stand by. We're also moments away from the White House press briefing. The press secretary, Sean Spicer, he'll take lots of questions from reporters there. This will be the first time since excluding some news outlets, including CNN, from an off camera briefing he held on Friday. We'll have live coverage of Sean Spicer's briefing. That's coming up. [Foster:] Well, days after the Brexit vote, far right politicians across Europe are calling for their own countries to follow in Britain's footsteps. On Saturday, French President Francois Hollande met with various political parties. [Ward:] Among them the National Front is one of the loudest voices calling for France to have a referendum of its own. Its leader, Marine Le Pen, says she raised the issue with President Hollande and here's how she said he responded. [Marine Le Pen, Leader, National Front:] To the question about a referendum taking place, he answered no. It's as if we had used a swear word, as if the people came last. [Ward:] OK. Well, let's talk more about the fallout of the Brexit vote. Joining me to talk about it is Vivien Pertusot, he is the head of the Brussels office for the French Institute of International Relations. Let me start by asking you, is it possible that we could see a Frexit? [Vivien Pertusot, French Institute Of International Relations:] It's very unlikely. It's true that there is a lot of love-hate in France regarding the E.U. at the moment and it's true that the E.U. has probably never been as unpopular as today in France. But at the same time, the debate has never been very hostile regarding the E.U. and the French have always had this ambiguous relationship with the E.U., loving the loving many things about the E.U. on the one hand and feeling that the E.U. is not French enough to a certain extent on the other. So it's true that there is call for a referendum and you just had Marine Le Pen on. This is one thing and you can see this growing. But I don't think that we can expect a Frexit anytime soon. [Foster:] But it does strip from her cause, doesn't it, and she's consistently growing over time and that narrative is growing in France. As you think Brexit ultimately will have an influence on that movement in France and pushing it towards not independence but coming out of the [E.u. Pertusot:] Well, it's certain that Brexit is and will be a boost for most eurosceptic parties across Europe and it's true for France as well. France is also quite particular because the eurosceptic movements or at least the eurocritical movements come from the far right and the far left. So you have on both sides you have very critical voices against the E.U. at the moment. But when it comes to the National Front in particular, it's true that Marine Le Pen's calls to have a referendum and even maybe to leave the E.U. has been boosted by Brexit. But and that this cause is becoming ever more popular in France but, at the same time, I don't think that if the French were put in front of the choice of leaving or remaining in the E.U., you'd have a majority of people saying we want to leave the E.U. For many reasons, but one of them is that there's still this sense of responsibility of ownership in France regarding the E.U. It's a little bit our project to a certain extent and this is not always true in some other countries and certainly not in the U.K., clearly. [Ward:] When you talk to people on the streets in Paris and Brussels, do you get the sense that, amongst most people, there's resentment against the U.K. for opening Pandora's box, if you will? [Pertusot:] It's I mean, the French have been there have been a few polls and you can hear that as well on the street and in conversations, that the French have been the most ambivalent regarding the U.K.'s remaining with the E.U. And in the past few weeks you had polls saying that the French were among the few Europeans saying, well, maybe Brexit is a good thing. But at the same time, there is this feeling of not believing that the U.K. could actually leave the E.U. And I was in Paris, actually, on the day of the referendum and the day after and all the conversations that I had, all the people that I talked to were quite baffled really by the result and they went to bed with the first results or at least the first expectations, saying that it will be Remain. And they were quite confident and then they woke up and it was a Leave vote. And all of the people that I talked to were very surprised because they thought that, in the end, the British voters would say, yes, we want to remain. [Foster:] I think a lot of Brits felt that way as well. Vivien, thank you very much indeed. Let's talk about independence proper now then. Scotland's first minister saying the country will likely seeing independence from the U.K. again. And Nicola Sturgeon says a second referendum is very much an option as the government considers its next move following the Brexit vote. We're going to go to David McKenzie. He's in Edinburgh, Scotland. And you got a you got a good perspective on this, David, because you've flown into Scotland. People there are very much caught up in independence, it's been you know, they've grown up with that debate. And it's grown with them. But you're going in there and getting a taste of what it's like today. How palpable is it? [David Mckenzie, Cnn Correspondent:] It's very palpable, Max. And here at the Edinburgh Kiltmakers, it's a shop that sells kilts, Scottish wares, mostly for tourists. And I have to point out this is the McKenzie tartan. And what we have here is really a sense of some of the struggles of Scottish and people who live in Scotland are having, both from a business sense and just a personal sense. I'm here with David, who works here on the weekends but is also an entrepreneur in the tourist industry. So David, some of your E.U. citizens you employ, how are they feeling right now? [David, Tourism Entrepreneur:] So we are a company which we work with locals or people who live here on the [Mckenzie:] And now you're and the people you work, are they worried that there's an eventuality they might have to leave Scotland? [David:] Yes, there's a problem of uncertainty and, myself, we're not sure if it will affect the travel, affect the airlines or the visas. In my mind, in that case, it means there will be less people coming into Scotland or into U.K. And what Scotland will be independent from the U.K. And that's how it's going to affect it because the internal travel within the U.K., it's also quite massive. [Mckenzie:] So a lot of people are feeling the uncertainty. That's not good for business generally. But then also, I mean, the sentiment from the Scots you talk to, they all most of them voted to remain in the E.U. What's the feeling right now? [David:] Everyone is confused. That's the feeling. That's the exact feeling. Yes, currently we are doing really good. We're doubling our the number of tourists every month. However, it does not have kicked in yet. As soon as the rules and regulations will kick in, we don't know what's going to happen. And the Scots will be Scotland also doesn't know and there's a referendum probably come in, second one, as the leader of Scottish Party said. We're not sure. Everyone is confused. Everyone is stressed. [Mckenzie:] And there also there's a sense that, well, of betrayal might be too strong of a word, but that the English has made the decision for the Scots. [David:] I am not sure if that will be strong or not or if it will be the correct terms to use. But obviously, I think no one was expecting and no one in England and there are a lot of people who wanted to leave now, they want to change their votes because that was as an expression of themselves but not actually wanting to leave the [U.k. Mckenzie:] Excellent, Thank you so much, David. There you have it, Max. David here, who works here on the weekends but runs a tourism business that employs a lot of E.U. citizens, they're worried both for now in terms of themselves and their kids maybe, but also for the future business of travel in and out of Scotland. That uncertainty is one of the key factors now that people are dealing with in Scotland. And they're trying to politically push through remaining in the E.U Max. [Foster:] David, thank you, having his own agenda, just flying in. In a matter of hours, he finds his own tartan. [Ward:] His own tartan, unbelievable. [Foster:] Really, unbelievable. [Ward:] Well, Northern Ireland voted to stay in the E.U. by a wide margin. Now there have been calls there to hold a referendum to unite with the Republic of Ireland to the south. Now we're very lucky. We have Brian O'Connell, he's a U.K. consultant director with the British Irish Chamber of Commerce. He joins us now. Could Britain's loss be Ireland's gain? Will the Brexit be a boon for Ireland potentially? [Brian O'connell, British Irish Chamber Of Commerce:] Yes, there has been talk about the possibility of increased foreign direct investment, particularly with parts of the city moving to Dublin and that kind of thing. But, overall, it probably would not be that much of a bonus for Ireland if you also take into account the trading losses that would occur between Britain and Ireland if Britain were outside the European customs union. And then suddenly there were tariffs and duties and that kind of stuff and all those sort of impediments to trade. Trade at the moment between the two islands is worth about 1.2 billion euros a year, around about 1 billion sterling every sorry, every week I beg your pardon 1 billion sterling every week. That's a huge amount of money for both countries. Britain is Ireland's biggest trading partner. Ireland is Britain's fifth biggest trading partner. Britain exports more stuff to Ireland, including financial services and all that kind of stuff, than it does to India, China, Brazil combined. [Foster:] There has been a bit of a precedent, though, with us, hasn't there, a lot of technology companies keeping the bulk of their staff in the U.K. but having their headquarters in Dublin. Could that be a model for a future setup as Britain leaves the European Union? [O'connell:] It possibly could. What makes Ireland attractive, for particularly American companies, is its low rates of corporation tax. But if Britain were outside the E.U., they could certainly compete with Ireland for that sort of investment. There's no there will be nothing to stop them doing that. But certainly for the next couple of years, as we go into this Article 50 negotiation, exit negotiation process that everybody is talking about at the moment, there's going to be a lot of uncertainty. And uncertainty generally in any country is bad for business. It puts off investors. Everybody just puts the brakes on whatever they were going to do. We've seen that in the city in the run-up to this referendum. That's bad for business, certainly as far as the British Irish Chamber of Commerce is concerned, as we shift into new regulatory environments, whether it's corporation tax or anything else. We're going to have to work our way through that. And that's what the British Irish Chamber of Commerce is about at the moment. [Foster:] Yes, keeping everyone busy. [Ward:] Absolutely. [Foster:] Thank you very much. The world is coming to terms with this new reality in the U.K. and it's been rough on the trading floor as we've been hearing. We'll discuss how the U.S. is reacting to the Brexit vote next. [Ward:] Plus: the flood devastation in the U.S. state of West Virginia is just coming into view. That and much more when we come back. [Blitzer:] We're covering today's breaking news, the death of the music legend Prince. He was only 57 years old. You're looking at live pictures of Paisley Park, the studio outside of Minneapolis. The sheriff's department statement says he was unresponsive when discovered in an elevator at that studio in the state of Minnesota. First responders were called. They attempted CPR, but they could not revive him. There will be an autopsy. We're back with Kerry Gordy, the former executive vice president of Prince's company, Paisley Park. You've got a lot of history in this business. Your father, Berry Gordy, it's fair to say founded Motown. And all of us have enjoyed all of that music over these many, many decades. [Gordy:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] Talk a little bit talk a little bit about how he emerged from Motown as a new generation, a new generation R&B star. [Gordy:] Well, Prince wasn't with Motown. Prince was with Warner Brothers. [Blitzer:] I know he wasn't with Motown, but he was influenced by that music. [Gordy:] There's no question about it. It was really funny, because when I met Prince and I was going to become the person that was running his company along with John Dukakis, he actually looked up to me because I was the son of his idol. [Blitzer:] Right. [Gordy:] So it was a really interesting paradigm, because everyone else who worked for him, he had this thing of where he would look at them like, "OK, you work for me." But in my case, he was like, "Oh, my gosh, you're the son of the man who I've looked up to for my whole life." Right? So yes, he's definitely looked up to everybody. I had a chance to I was really good friends with Stevie Wonder and I still am and Stevie was the one person that Prince would say, you know what, that guy I'm not I'm talented but I'm not as talented as that guy, right? I mean, he looked up to Stevie. He looked up to Smoky Robinson for his song-writing ability. So he really looked up to those Motown artists and, of course, Michael Jackson was one of his idols as well as his major competition. And at one time, I managed Rick James and Prince opened for Rick James and Prince actually started doing some of Rick James' show where he would go, ooh, ooh. And Rick got so mad. He's like, that guy's stealing my show. And Prince was like, hey, listen, you can't copyright ooh, ohh. So anyway, it goes, it was great and yes, Motown did have an influence on Prince. [Blitzer:] It certainly did. Kerry, can you stick around or you got to run? Because I got some other guests, they may want to ask you a question or two. Can you stick around? [Gordy:] Sure. Sure. I can stick around. [Blitzer:] All right. Good. I want to get some more now on the life and career of Prince. Joining us, Brian Monroe. Brian Monroe is a former CNN.com specialist, he's now a professor at Temple University in Philadelphia. Also he's the former vice president editorial director of Ebony and Jet magazines. Also with us Stephen Thompson, NPR music editor and reviewer, and Don Lemon, our anchor. When was the last time, Brian, you had a chance to speak with Prince? [Bryan Monroe, Former Vice President And Editorial Director, Ebony And Jet Magazines:] Well, we were very fortunate. Almost eight, nine months ago, in August 2015, I was in Minneapolis along with the National Association of Black Journalists and the convention was there. The last night of the convention, we got a surprise call from Paisley Park. Prince wants us to come on out. So he we loaded up the buses, brought 1200 people out there to a private event at Paisley Park, big sound stage as well as a studio and part of the residence. And then got a little tap on the shoulder and said, Prince wants to sit down with just a handful of you. There was like eight or 10 of us. And we're exported backstage up to his studio, you know, really working hands-on working studio. We all kind of crammed into the studio room. And he said, no, it's just too tight in here. He led us out up the stairs, past all of his golden and platinum records. Up the stairs to his conference room. We sat down. Had he two gorgeous assist they looked like they're twins. They were dressed out in the same outfit. And we sat down, and so the next hour, hour and a half, we had a one- on-one conversation with Prince, an interview where he was talking a lot about the music industry or fairly about how important the industry was to him and how much he fought against a lot of the royalties and how the business was structured. You know, he was off Warner Brothers for 18 years before he finally got his catalog back. So he talked about that. He looked great, energetic, you know, he had the nice hair and was thin and was eager and excited to talk to us. [Blitzer:] Stephen Thompson, you've studied Prince, you listened to him, you've enjoyed him, he had a concert, what, it was the last concert, the FOX Theater in Atlanta just last week, the president of the theater said this, and I'll put it up on the screen, "Prince was a music pioneer, innovator and cultural icon. His music moved and inspired many including the fans that were able to join him as he took the stage for his final performances last week at Atlanta's FOX Theater. We along with the world mourn the loss of a music legend." What did Prince mean to be a world of music pop culture? [Stephen Thompson, Editor And Reviewer, Npr Music:] I mean, I think that, first of all, you look at this absolutely towering collection of music and it's so important and we're going to spend the next weeks and months and years picking it apart and studying it and celebrating it, but I think there are other sides to his legacy that we should also be looking at. I think he didn't get enough credit for being an incredible collaborator and an incredible supporter of other musicians. I found myself from when I first discovered him as a kid in the '80s, I was always fascinated at how he would bring other musicians up with him up as much as possible, particularly women. He was an incredible and prolific songwriter and wrote the signature songs for a lot of for a lot of other artists. You think about "I Feel For You" by Chaka Khan, and that that's one of her signature songs. Prince wrote it. Think about "Manic Monday" by the Bangles, you know, this classic pop rock song, Prince wrote it. Obviously people know about Sinead O'Connor, her her cover of "Nothing Compares to You," that's a Prince song. And he you know, he also was always bringing up musicians in his band, so like I said, particularly women. Wendy and Lisa who performed in his band, performers like Vanity who sadly died earlier this year as well. Apollonia 6, you know, he was always nurturing other talents and seemed to be celebrating that as much as, you know, working as his own towering artist. [Blitzer:] Yes. Those are excellent points. Don, I know he had a huge impact on you. What set him apart, from your perspective, from other artists? [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] Well, to be honest, as I've been saying, his individuality but there are lots of things. Let's look at this. Let's break this down. So you have lots of entertainers who are great lots of artists who are great entertainers. You know, you will say this person is a great dancer. This person is a great singer. This person is a great musician. This person writes. Well, guess what, Prince was all of those. Prince was a great writer. He was prolific. He was a great singer, he had a voice. At 57 years old, you know, he's doing falsetto and hitting every note as if he was 19 when he started back in the '70s. He could dance, he could play the hell out of a guitar. He could he knew music. But here is the most interesting thing, he was also a great businessman. So he was the threat across the board. I can't even say for how many numbers. Across the board. Because as your previous guest was saying, he really sort of upset the music industry because he wanted to own his own stuff, his own music. And, you know, record companies don't like that. They want to own it because that's where the money is. So if you own your own catalog, you make money. Lots of entertainers go to their grave broke because they sing, they perform, they do concerts, they make the money and then when that's done, it all dries up. And so where you have Whitney Houston who made a lot of money in her time but then lost a lot of it. Dolly Parton made a lot of money for "I Will Always Love You" because she wrote it. So Prince wanted to own his own catalog and then just bought his own catalog and owned it. So now the Prince estate, billions of dollars. So he was the overall artist and business person and the kind of person that most people in the music industry aspired to be. [Lemon:] Do you mind, Wolf, if I ask a question to Kerry? [Blitzer:] I want you to ask. Go ahead. Go ahead. Ask Kerry a question. [Lemon:] Kerry, a question. Here's what I want to know. Everyone is asking me on social media, we keep talking about Paisley Park and that compound. What is inside of that compound? Either Bryan or Kerry, what's in that compound? What's in Paisley Park? [Gordy:] Oh, my gosh, it's the most amazing compound for an artist because there is a studio, a recording studio. There is an actual stage that has a stage that he can actually perform his show, you know, get his shows together on. It's a real stage with real lighting and it's amazing. He doesn't have to go outside to do that. And he's got a little apartment up there, which is amazing, and so and all- inclusive facility that has everything that one could need to do everything that you would do in the entertainment business. [Blitzer:] All right, guys. Everybody, stand by for a moment. We have a lot more coming up. I want to remind our viewers, a special note, an important one, Don Lemon will host a special edition of " [Cnn Tonight," 10:] 00 p.m. Eastern through midnight, right here on CNN. You're going to want to see that as well. Let's take a break. In the meantime, let's listen a little bit of "Purple Rain." [Blitzer:] Donald Trump met with congressional Republicans today as he attempts to unite his party before the convention. Our national correspondent Jason Carroll is joining us now with details. Jason, what's the latest? [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, Donald Trump did make up some of that ground with one of his former rivals, Senator Ted Cruz. The two had a, quote, "good meeting," according to the Cruz camp. Trump asked Cruz to speak at the upcoming GOP convention and to advise him on judicial nominations. Cruz agreed to both. But Trump still not able to patch up some of his disagreements with other members of his own party. [Carroll:] Donald Trump huddling with House and Senate Republicans today seeking to ease concerns from some in the party over how he is running his campaign. [On Camera] After this meeting were there any converts, any people who were sort of on the fence but after this meeting now feel as though they can support him? [Sen. Bob Corker , Tennessee:] I don't think there was any question. But there were a massive number of converts. [Carroll:] But sources tell CNN that Trump's meeting with Senate Republicans also included tense exchanges. Trump reportedly told Jeff Flake, who's been critical of Trump, that he would work to defeat the Arizona senator if he didn't change his tune. Flake responding that he isn't up for reelection until 2018. Senator Flake lashed out at Trump to CNN's Manu Raju. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] It sounded pretty tense. [Sen. Jeff Flake , Arizona:] It was a bit tense. He started out saying that I had been critical of him, and I have been, frankly, on the comments that he made about those crossing the border or rapists. You know, just in Arizona doesn't play well and it shouldn't. And as a party, you know, public officials I think have a responsibility to stand up and say that's not our party. [Carroll:] Trump also telling never Trump Republican Ben Sasse of Nebraska that he, quote, "must want Hillary." Sasse'spokesman characterizing the exchange between the two as gracious but saying the senator, "continues to believe that our country is in a bad place and with these two candidates this election remains a dumpster fire." Trump also met with more than 200 House Republicans with Speaker Paul Ryan giving the presumptive nominee favorable reviews. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] We had a very good exchange on just lots of ideas and lots of policy issues. So I thought it was a very good meeting. And it's very clear that he is working on putting together a strong general election campaign. [Carroll:] Trump tweeting afterward, "Just leaving D.C., had great meetings with Republicans in the House and Senate. Very interesting day. These are people who love our country." Trump's outreach to Republican lawmakers comes as some in the party seek to introduce new rules to deny him the nomination at the Cleveland convention in less than two weeks. At his Ohio rally Wednesday night Trump dismissed the never Trump efforts. [Donald Trump , Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] Never Trump is disappearing rapidly. [Carroll:] Trump also doubling down on his comments praising former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. [Trump:] And I don't love Saddam Hussein. I hate Saddam Hussein but he was damn good at killing terrorist. [Carroll:] Trump lashing out at the press for its coverage of his tweet calling Hillary Clinton corrupt that featured piles of money and a six-pointed star that resembled the Star of David, a graphic that appeared 10 days earlier on an Internet message board filled with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. [Trump:] Have you all seen this? It's a star. And it actually looks like a sheriff's star. But I don't know. And behind it they had money, but there is money behind it. So actually they are racially profiling. They are profiling, not us. Because why are they bringing this up? [Carroll:] Trump also telling his critics to let it go, tweeting a photo of a star on a sticker book for the Disney movie "Frozen." Writing, "Where is the outrage for this Disney book? Is this the Star of David also?" But team Clinton played the Elsa card right back at him, tweeting, "Do you want to build a strawman?" So still some work to do to get some members of the GOP on board with the Trump campaign. But Trump has said in the past that endorsements are good but he says he can do this with them or without them Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jason Carroll, reporting. Let's get back to our political experts. David Chalian, you think he is making serious progress uniting House Republicans and Senate Republicans? [Chalian:] I think he is making some progress. I think that he is in a better place than he was a few weeks ago. And I think that nothing unifies the party more than the opportunity to take on Hillary Clinton. And so this week with Comey out in the headlines like this, this was a real opportunity for Republicans to rally around something even if it's not the Trump candidacy, it is the effort to defeat Hillary Clinton and that is a rallying cry. So I think it was a good week for Trump to be in town and to meet with all these Republicans because of what is going on with the Clinton e- mail scandal. He clearly has some work to do with some factions of the establishment but quite frankly they may never come around. And what he needs more than establishment office holders are, you know, grassroots supporters. [Blitzer:] The fact that Ted Cruz is not going to appear and speak at the convention, what does that say to you? [Berg:] Well, it's probably a positive sign for Donald Trump. I mean, his campaign obviously wants Ted Cruz to speak on his behalf because the never Trump movement was driven in large part by Ted Cruz supporters and his wing of the party as a very conservative wing of the Republican Party who many of whom still don't accept Donald Trump and don't think that he's a Republican. I would be very surprised if Ted Cruz necessarily gets up there on stage in Cleveland and gives his full-throated support for Donald Trump. But at the same time just the image of him up there on stage at the convention will really settle down a lot of this angst about Trump's candidacy. [Blitzer:] I think at least their convention speakers list, they're supposed to do it yesterday, today what are you hearing about that? [Lizza:] They said that it would come out today. We haven't seen it yet but piece by piece we are getting some of these names. I think it's very curious that Cruz is speaking at the convention but has not officially endorsed Donald Trump. Is that the situation we have right now? That is very unusual. Which Donald Trump said that if they want to speak at the convention they're going to have to endorse him, right? I mean [Chalian:] They have to endorse. So this I mean [Berg:] So this is a detente of sorts. [Lizza:] Yes. Well, but I think politically it's a big mistake by Donald Trump. If you were the nominee of the party you don't let someone speak at your convention unless they have endorsed you. Now Cruz is in a position where he can do whatever he wants. He can say whatever he wants [Blitzer:] And the notion of a coup at the convention, is that going away? [Chalian:] Listen, they to get a minority report out of the rules committee on to the floor, they need 28 votes inside that rules committee. They are within reach. But they've got more work to do. So the Trump folks think they have it locked up. We'll see. It might get a little messy. [Blitzer:] All right. Guys, stand by. More news coming up. Also there is breaking news, the governor of Minnesota now says he's appalled by the shooting of an African-American man by a police officer. We're going to bring you the latest details. [Gov. Mark Dayton , Unidentified Male:] Would this have happened if those passengers were white? I don't think it would have. So I'm forced to confront, and I think all of us in Minnesota are forced to confront that this kind of racism exists. [Hala Gorani, Cnn Anchor:] Tonight, Trump's crowning moment, the Republican presidential candidate is set to become his party's official nominee, but his big day was being overshadowed by controversy over his wife Melania's speech. The Trump campaign denies that it's plagiarized from Michelle Obama. We'll let you be the judge. Also, ISIS releases a video purporting to show a teen who unleashed an axe attack on a train in Germany. We'll get to the bottom of that. And CNN gets a tour of the damage in Ankara after an attempted coup in Turkey. Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani, we are live from the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland, Ohio. This is a special edition of "The World Right Now". After a long, hard fight that deeply divided his own party, Donald Trump is now just a few hours away from officially becoming the Republican presidential nominee. We will not be calling him presumptive anymore if everything goes according to plan. Let's get you up to speed on a busy day at the RNC. A state-by-state roll call vote on Trump's nomination will get underway soon here in Cleveland. Day two of the convention is focusing on the economy. You remember yesterday was "Make America Safe Again", today is "Make America Work Again". Some highlights of the speaker line up include two of Trump's children, Tiffany, whom he had with Marla Maples, his second wife and Donald Trump, Jr. Two of his former presidential rivals, Chris Christie and Ben Carson will also make an appearance. If you were expecting drama on the opening night of the convention, Donald Trump did not disappoint. [Gorani:] Ever the showman, he made a grand entrance, his silhouette back lit as he walked onstage to the song "We are The Champions". By the way, Queen has said they don't want Trump to use that song anymore. Trump made a brief appearance to introduce his wife, Melania, who was the headline speaker. There is no doubt that she stole the show, perhaps not though in the way intended. Phil Mattingly tells us about a plagiarism controversy now dominating the headlines. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] These similarities are startling. [Michelle Obama, U.s. First Lady:] You work hard for what you want in life. [Melania Trump, Donald Trump's Wife:] That you work hard for what you want in life. [Obama:] That your word is your bond, that you do what you say you're going to do. [Trump:] That your word is your bond and you do what you say and keep your promise. [Mattingly:] Melania Trump's big moment on the national stage overshadowed by an unexpected moment. Trump delivering a speech with plagiarized passages of Michelle Obama's speech from the 2008 Democratic National Convention. [Obama:] We want our children and all children in this nation to know... [Trump:] Because we want our children in this nation to know... [Obama:] ... that the only limit to the height of your achievements is the reach of your dreams and your willingness to work hard for them. [Trump:] ... that the only limit to your achievements is the strength of your dreams and your willingness to work for them. [Mattingly:] And that's not all. [Obama:] That you treat people with dignity and respect even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them. [Trump:] That you treat people with respect. [Mattingly:] Under a firestorm of criticism online, the Trump campaign issuing this statement overnight, saying, "Melania's team of writers took notes on her life's inspirations and in some instances included fragments that reflected her own thinking." But the statement doesn't acknowledge the allegations of plagiarism, mention who helped Mrs. Trump write her speech or explain where those fragments came from. In an interview shot before her big speech, Melania seems to take most of the credit for the content of her remarks. [Trump:] I wrote it and with a little help as possible. [Mattingly:] Donald Trump's "Apprentice"-like entrance to introduce his wife onstage. Yet another moment that has everyone talking about this unconventional convention. [Gorani:] Trump's campaign does not plan, they say, to fire anyone or take any kind of disciplinary action over Melania Trump's speech. It just wants the story to go away. But campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has had to answer repeated questions about the controversy. Here's what he told us here at CNN. [Paul Manafort, Donald Trump's Campaign Manager:] There's no cribbing of Michelle Obama's speech. These were common words and values and she cares about her family that things like that. I mean, she was speaking in front of 35 million people last night. She knew that. To think that she would be cribbing Michelle Obama's words is crazy. I mean, it's so I mean this is, once again, an example of when a woman threatens Hillary Clinton, how she would try seeks out to demean her and take her down. It's not going to work. [Gorani:] All right. Paul Manafort there. Let's bring in Dylan Byers, the CNN Senior Reporter for media and politics. We're also joined by CNN Political Analyst and Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Beast John Avlon. Thanks for being with us. John, you were a speechwriter for Rudy Giuliani when he was mayor. Is it not speech writing 101 that you don't copy and paste entire paragraphs from the speeches of well-known former or current first ladies? [John Avlon, Cnn Political Analyst:] Yeah, this violates speech writing 101, it also violates speech writing 201 and 301. And... [Gorani:] Right. [Avlon:] ... this is plagiarism... [Gorani:] Yeah. [Avlon:] ... pull up, straight up. And Paul Manafort this morning tried to deny it but he's asking us to deny what we're seeing with our own eyes and ears. This clearly was a copy and paste job by somebody, who then edited the remarks subtly. They thought they'd get away with it, they didn't. I think it's significant that the campaign is saying they're not going to fire someone, given that that's Trump's default public reputation. And it has been a major destruction from the row out to the first. [Gorani:] It was a very bad day one for the Trump campaign here at the Republican National Convention. But would it be as big a story if we had not heard Melania Trump tell Matt Lauer of NBC, "I basically got as little help as possible from other writers, I don't really need to practice that much because these are my words." [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Reporter For Media And Politics:] Yeah. That obviously adds fuel to the fire, but I would say this would be a big story no matter what. I mean, plagiarism is a really big deal. And I think the Trump campaign's theory of the case, every time a sort of controversy or scandal comes up and has come up over the last year, theory of the case is, look, deny, deny, deny, it'll go away, say you didn't do it, whatever, it doesn't matter, sweep it under the rug and the news cycle will move on to something else. That doesn't apply here because what plagiarism about, it's about honesty, it's about credibility. Trump's entire campaign, so much of his campaign, has been based on calling Hillary Clinton a liar. The whole point of bringing Melania Trump out onto stage was to have her sort of speak to her, you know, the personal side of her husband, his credibility, that he's a good person. And yet if she can't even come up with words to do that on her own... [Gorani:] But she didn't really come up with any personal stories about how he seduced her, how he romanced her, et cetera, et cetera, that's what you want. You want those kind of stories that humanize the candidate, right? We didn't get that. [Avlon:] Absolutely. No, and that's one of the things that's very strange about the speech, the plagiarism-gate aside is that, normally when someone speaks from the heart, you know, that by definition doesn't need to be scripted. [Gorani:] Right. [Avlon:] But this is an opportunity to say, "Look, you all know my husband from "The Apprentice," you know him from a bruising primary campaign, let me tell about you him about you as a husband I know, the father, the man." And there were no anecdotes and the kind which are typical to a speech like this that really bring alive the human being. And that itself is incredibly odd. [Gorani:] But let me ask you also about the denial from the campaign. Because it is very difficult to understand how a strategy that it basis itself on denying something that is right in front of your face can work. But it has worked in the past. Why? [Byers:] Well, it's worked in the past oftentimes because it's a matter of piece that she said or because we've been able, you know... [Gorani:] Yeah. But here you have two paragraphs that we've compared word for word. [Byers:] It's not just that you have two paragraphs. What's really powerful here and we've been running it on CNN all day and all night last night is the two videos side by side, cut to one statement, cut to another statement. And that's why when, you know, Sean Spicer, the spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, goes on and says, "Look, they didn't plagiarized, they just borrowed ideas, you can borrow ideas from anywhere, these are familiar scripts." It's like no. When you look at it face-to- face, any American president, I don't care if you're a Republican or Democrat or an independent, you see that, you know that's plagiarism. [Gorani:] But Katrina Pierson who's on our air a lot, who's a surrogate, a supporter of Donald Trump said, this concept that Michelle Obama invented the English language is absurd. [Byers:] She didn't use the word imagine and not attribute it to John Lennon. [Avlon:] Yeah. [Byers:] She took entire paragraphs that were subtle, I mean, not she, but the speechwriter. [Gorani:] Yeah. [Byers:] But there were subtle, you know... [Avlon:] Moreover, she said that she'd taken the laboring word in the speech and maybe that's just affection that gets perpetrated. But, what the Trump campaign is trying to do is dismiss this despite what we see with our own eyes. The way Katrina Pierson said in that comment is fundamentally disingenuous. And the fundamental truth of any campaign in any organization is the tone comes from the top. The impulse was to lie about this, the impulse remains to lie. [Gorani:] The big question is, what impact will it have. We know that in a state like Ohio, there are there's a big chunk of undecided voters. But today, of course, the and they're rehearsing now, they're doing audio checks, the campaign is really hoping that people will move on from this. They've got Paul Ryan, the House Speaker, Chris Christie, the New Jersey Governor. We have Tiffany Trump, the daughter he had with Marla Maples, Donald Trump, Jr. his oldest son, and Ben Carson. What to expect? [Avlon:] Well, the theme of tonight is "Making America Work", would strike to me is that there are a lot of congressmen and professional politicians on the stage. They need to cast a vision for the Republican Party under Donald Trump that can build off his reputation as successful businessman and build on the edge she has in some polls of Hillary Clinton on being someone who could steward the economy. They need to shift to policy beyond just empathy to actually actionable items. That is something that is ground the campaign has not dared to tread to date. They've been very policy-light. [Gorani:] But this could help them, right, yesterday because even before the Melania Trump speech yesterday, every single speaker addressing the crowd here and the millions and millions of people at home was essentially saying, "You must be afraid, we're under constant threat, every minute of every day." In this case, today, they might be capitalizing on Donald Trump's success as a businessman. [Byers:] Right. There was no morning in America yesterday or last night, it was all sort of it's midnight or 3:00 a.m. in America and you need to be very terrified. [Gorani:] Yeah. [Byers:] I mean, John's point politically about when this happen tonight is spot on. But from a media perspective, when he's when we're thinking about the Melania Trump speech and that controversy, someone, probably Christie, some because it's not going to be Paul Ryan, someone needs to come out and deliver like a headline speech. [Gorani:] Yeah. I mean, even maybe make a, you know, a less significant controversy to get out and sort of put this plagiarism issue... It's the whole point of the convention is to introduce the candidate on another level and on a more personal level. Do they have anyone in this lineup who can do that because some of the speakers, Rick Perry, for instance, of Texas, didn't even mention Donald Trump by name. Yeah. [Byers:] But I think I mean, Ivanka I mean, they're looking to Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, to speak... [Gorani:] Yeah. [Byers:] ... to be... [Gorani:] But they have Tiffany and Donald Jr. tonight. [Avlon:] Right. And look I mean, they can actually just saw the unfinished business from last night which is talk about their dad as a dad, by all intent, by all reputation, a very loving, supportive father. But they also need to go further. This is about winning over, not only solidifying the base, but winning over swing voters in swing states. That means reaching out beyond the base. And last night's comments which have been overshadowed by the speech were so hitting the fear card, you know, call and responses from the crowd saying Hillary Clinton ought to go to prison. That's not normal, just a reality check, folks, that is not within the normal rounds... [Gorani:] In U.S. politics. [Avlon:] ... of American politics. [Gorani:] All right, John Avlon, Dylan Byers, thanks to both of you, I really appreciate it. Thanks for being on the program. We'll have more politics in a moment. This story, though, we're getting more details about the man who attacked several passengers with an axe and a knife on a train in Southern Germany Monday. A news agency linked to ISIS released video, it said showed the attacker. German prosecutors say they're investigating the clip and trying to confirm the identity of this young man whose picture you see there on your screen. Bavaria's interior minister has confirmed that the attacker was only 17 years old, originally from Afghanistan. Now, he was shot and killed by the police. But he did seriously injure four passengers on the train. Let's get more now, we course over to our Atika Shubert, who's been following the story live from Germany. What more can you tell us, Atika? [Atika Shubert, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, Hala, two of those passengers are actually still fighting for their lives. It was a brutal attack. But as you point out, investigators are still trying to piece together exactly what happened, and how apparently this young refugee was able to make contact with ISIS. He's a 17-year he was a 17-year-old Afghan refugee, arrived here about a year ago, was living with a host family when he carried out the attack. You know, he was described as a quiet loner, didn't really stand out in any way and certainly didn't express any extremist views. But clearly, as we've seen from this video, he was somehow in touch with ISIS. In the video, he brandishes a knife. He also claims to be a soldier of the caliphate on a "martyrdom mission". Now, investigators are looking at that video. They also went into the home and in his room, they found a hand paint of flag of ISIS as well as letters written to his family in Pashto, in Arabic, and even some Latin text, basically saying farewell and that he would be carrying out this mission, as he calls it. So the bigger concern here for investigators is that they are now treating this as a terrorist attack, they see a clear political motive. That is what the director of criminal investigation said. So they've got to now look at whether he contacted ISIS online or whether there is a wider network here in Germany. [Gorani:] All right. And Atika, I know you were just in this reporting on the attack there. This, now authorities are saying, attack was carried out by a refugee originally from Afghanistan. I wonder, is this altering the mood at all, altering public opinion in terms of how people in Germany who've taken in so many refugees over the last year, with how they are reacting toward this refugee influx? [Shubert:] Hala, taken in more than a million refugees in the last year alone, I think this plays into those fears of more terror attacks, of a possible rise in crime. But I think that's also why officials here have been very cautious before defining it as a terrorist attack. They're really trying to make sure that they take careful steps to figure out what the motivation was, whether or not he had a wider network. I think there's a different mood here than we saw in France, for example, where the anger on the streets is very palpable, especially during the memorial. I really felt a difference there in France. But it's interesting to note that in that video, the attacker apparently cited the French attack. He said, you know, "I will carry out an attack that will make the French attack pale in comparison," essentially. So, it's interesting that he said that he also cited that. We aren't getting the same public reaction here as you're seeing in France. [Gorani:] All right, Atika Shubert in Berlin, thanks very much. There is a lot more to come from Cleveland this hour. Trump supporter and former David Cameron director of strategy, Steve Hilton, will join me live. Also ahead, today's other news, including a shocking story from India as a woman who says she was gang raped says the same men had raped her three years earlier. Much more on that report coming up in a few moments. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] The frantic effort to contain this wildfire in Fort McMurray in Canada. An emergency official says they may be turning a corner in this battle right now thanks to the hard work of the fire crews and some help from cooler, more humid conditions. CNN's Paul Vercammen live for us now from the fire zone in Edmonton. Paul, what's going on there? [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, on cue, John, it is really cooling off. You can tell it's just slightly damp here, starting to drizzle. That should really help out, because actually there's 34 fires burning in all of Alberta. You've got 1,500 firefighters on the line trying to knock down those blazes. So far they've burned 400,000 acres. You also have 1,600 structures damped, almost all of them in Fort McMurray. That's the oil sands capital in Alberta. Now, where's the fire burning towards? The Saskatchewan border but that's forest. That's good news. They are focused on defending property and people and so far so good. As we've been pointing out this weather, this dampness is going to help. Those firefighters have got to be tired. Officials say they need to get a lot of them rotated and off the line and help is on the way. More firefighters going to arrive here in Alberta from Quebec and New Brunswick. There is already firefighters on the ground from Ontario. All of this should help out, more firefighters and damp, cool weather as we go forward, and this fire has slowed down Chris. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Slowed down. Not nearly enough. Thank you very much for staying on the story for us. We'll check back with you in a little bit. Let's take a quick break. The notorious drug kingpin, El Chapo, when we come back, we are going to talk about this surprise transfer of the drug kingpin to a new prison near the U.S.Mexico border. Now, he had said through counsel, I want to be extradited. Is that about to happen? What would happen here in the U.S.? Next. [Kosik:] Welcome back. A final farewell today for the greatest, Muhammad Ali. It begins with a 16 to 18 car procession through the streets of his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. That will be followed by a huge celebration of Ali's life. An interfaith service with Bill Clinton and Billy Crystal, among others, delivering eulogies. President Obama remembering the champ, reflecting on a pair of Ali boxing gloves he has displayed at the White House. [Obama:] I don't know how good of a boxer I am. I have had to slug it out a little bit here in Washington. And there have been times where I've been the underdog and just like the champ, there have been times where I got beat up a little bit and had to come back, and that says resilience. That's what these boxing gloves represent to me. [Kosik:] Join CNN at 1:30 this afternoon for live special coverage of this. "The Greatest: Remembering Muhammad Ali" anchored by Don Lemon. On Thursday, thousands attended a Muslim prayer service where Ali was memorialized as the people's champ. [Romans:] All right, new outrage this morning over that sentence a former Stanford student-athlete received for raping a woman who was intoxicated and unconscious. More than one million people have now signed online petitions calling for the judge seen here, Aaron Persky, to be removed from the bench. The vice president, Joe Biden, adding his voice in an open letter published on BuzzFeed. On open letter to the victim expressing his furious anger and thanking her for speaking out. For having the courage to speak out, saying she has already touched and potentially saved countless lives. Defendant, Brock Turner, got six months in jail. Three felony rape convictions just six months in jail. Now it appears he'll spend even less time behind bars. We get more from CNN's Dan Simon. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] We are at the Santa Clara County Jail, where the former Stanford athlete is serving out his short jail term. We are told that Brock Turner is in protective custody, given the high-profile nature of the crime. He was originally sentenced to six months in jail, but now we know it's just going to be three months. Oftentimes, California inmates are released early as long as there aren't any behavioral problems, and they get released because of jail overcrowding. As you can imagine, people on the Stanford campus are outraged over this. We talked to several students. Here's a sampling of what some of them had to say. [Unidentified Female:] A lot of people say it's white privilege, and I would agree. But I also think it has to do with class and money, and the resources that people have here, so I don't think it's fair. [Unidentified Male:] After reading the letter from the victim it really sounds that it's not really like giving her justice in that sentence, and that's really sad. [Unidentified Female:] I think, in general, justice is not served when it comes to this issue. It's just that this is bringing that to the limelight. [Simon:] This is being felt so widely on campus that graduating seniors are planning some sort of demonstration during this weekend's commencement. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Well, I guess the bromance is over. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Trump and Cruz's birther battle plays out in primetime. But who came out on top? Also, Chicago bracing for protest. After the release of another police shooting video. An unarmed black teenager shot while running away. An officer standing over him, a foot on his bleeding body. [Unidentified Male:] For him to essentially step on him, on top of it, it's just totally unreasonable. [Costello:] Plus, face-to-face with Mexico's most notorious drug kingpin. Why does Sean Penn think he's in danger after interviewing El Chapo? Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good morning. I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. It is official. The bromance between Republican presidential candidates Donald Trump and Senator Ted Cruz is over. With less than three weeks until the Iowa caucuses, Trump and Cruz stole the show with the first GOP debate of 2016. Both candidates taking off the gloves, hitting each other hard. Today Trump says Cruz's attacks, though, were inappropriate. [Trump:] He came at me last night. It was inappropriate. And I hit him very heart. But, I mean, I had no idea that he was going to take it that way. He's got a problem. He's got to straighten out the problem. I don't know that he's a nice guy. I think he hurt himself last night. You know he's a good debater but he's very strident. And a lot of people aren't going like that. He's a very strident kind of a guy and I thought it was inappropriate. [Costello:] Even though there were seven candidates on stage it felt like more like a two-man show as Trump and Cruz went head-to-head. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not going to use your mother's birth against you. [Trump:] OK. Good. Because it wouldn't work. You have a big lawsuit over your head while you're running. Who the hell knows if you can even serve in office? [Cruz:] I'm not going to be taking legal advice from Donald Trump. [Trump:] You don't have to. [Cruz:] Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan. I'm just saying. [Trump:] That was a very insulting statement. [Costello:] Today it is back to business for the Republican rivals. Two hours from now Trump holds a town hall in Iowa. And Cruz heads to South Carolina. We're also keeping an eye on Senator Marco Rubio. Right now he is rallying voters in New Hampshire. Let's get right to CNN's John Berman now. He has a more in-depth report on the big debate last night. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] You know, Carol, you put it great. I mean, the "Wall Street Journal" wrote this morning, the problem with the other guys on the stage is they were the other guys on the stage. I mean, there was so much energy, so much conflict between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump and they really gave us something in this campaign they haven't before. [Berman:] In the race between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, the current Republican frontrunner, two things now abundantly clear it is truce off, it's game on. [Cruz:] Back in September my friend Donald said that he had his lawyers look at this from every which way. And there was nothing to this birther issue. [Berman:] Cruz mocked questions Trump is now raising about the fact he was born in Canada and whether he is even eligible to run for president. [Cruz:] But since September the Constitution hasn't changed. But the poll numbers have. [Berman:] Trump acknowledged yes, that is part of it. [Trump:] Because now he's doing a little bit better. No, I didn't care before. [Berman:] But if their most pointed exchange in this race so far he said there is more. [Trump:] Here's the problem. We're running, we're running. He does great. I win. I choose him as my vice presidential candidate and the Democrats sue because we can't take him along for the ride. I don't like that. OK? [Cruz:] Well, listen, I've spent my entire life defending the Constitution before the U.S. Supreme Court. And I'll tell you, I'm not going to be taking legal advice from Donald Trump. [Trump:] You don't have to. [Berman:] The battle moved from Canada to New York in the charge from Ted Cruz that Donald Trump represents what he calls New York values. [Cruz:] Everyone understands that the values in New York City are socially liberal or pro-abortion or pro-gay marriage, focus around money and the media. Not a lot of conservatives come out of Manhattan. I'm just saying. [Berman:] Trump responded uncharacteristically somber by invoking September 11th. [Trump:] We rebuilt downtown Manhattan and everybody in the world watched and everybody in the world loved New York, and loved New Yorkers, and I have to tell you, that was a very insulting statement that Ted made. [Berman:] For the most part the other candidates focused their fire on the president. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] This guy is petulant child. [Berman:] And Hillary Clinton. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] She's under investigation with the FBI right now. If she gets elected her first 100 days, instead of setting an agenda, she might be going back and forth between the White House and the courthouse. [Berman:] Though Chris Christie unleashed on Marco Rubio for dodging a question on entitlements. [Christie:] Now you had your chance, Marco. You blew it. [Berman:] And Marco Rubio with just a few minutes to spare in the debate did some unleashing himself on Ted Cruz. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] Ted Cruz, you used to say you supported doubling the number of green cards. Now you say that you're against it. You used to support a 500 percent increase in the number of guest workers. Now you say that you're against it. You used to support legalizing people that were here legally. Now you say you're against it. You used to say that you were in favor of birthright citizenship. Now you say that you are against it. [Berman:] Cruz fought to respond. [Cruz:] At least half of the things Marco said are flat-out false. They're absolutely false. [Berman:] Now, Carol, we have some breaking campaign news this morning. My all-star at this hour, co-anchor Kate Bolduan confirms that Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina will endorse Jeb Bush this morning. Now, true, Lindsey Graham never exactly, you know, knocked everyone out in this campaign when he was running for president. But he's the first former candidate this race to endorse another candidate. He is a senator from a key early voting state, South Carolina. That could matter. And he worked very closely in the Senate with Marco Rubio, the Gang of Eight. The immigration bill. So he worked with Rubio yet he's still endorsing Jeb Bush. So could be seen as the snub there. [Costello:] Well, we'll see if it matters. John Berman, thanks so much. After the debate Donald Trump sounded off on Ted Cruz and the controversy surrounding his Goldman Sachs loan and more in this interview with CNN's Dana Bash. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Do you see Ted Cruz as your biggest competition right now? [Trump:] No, not really. I mean, we're going to see what happens but certainly I don't see him as my biggest competition. I see him as competition. Certainly he's competition and others are competition. All smart people up there. [Bash:] On the question about his loan that he got from his wife's bank, Goldman Sachs, do you think it's a nonissue as he was saying because it was the "New York Times" who first reported it? [Trump:] Well, you're going to have to figure that one out. That's a different issue. I mean, that's something that's very easy. I mean, they're not making it a nonissue. He's had a million dollars. He got it from Goldman Sachs. Don't forget, Goldman Sachs loaned him money. When Goldman Sachs asks for a favor, do you think possibly he's going to do it for them? I think so. So that's a problem right there. That's why I'm self- funding. I'm putting up my own money. I'm not borrowing any money from Goldman Sachs. I put up my own money. I'll put up a lot. I'll be putting up I'll be putting up probably $30 million, $40 million before the primaries are over. [Bash:] If you take it the whole way, you could have the potential to need to spend more than that. What's your ceiling? [Trump:] Oh, I'll spend more than that. I have unlimited. I have a lot. [Costello:] All right, joining me now with her perspective on the latest Republican face-off, Rich Galen, a Republican strategist, and Katrina Pearson, national spokeswoman for the Trump campaign. Welcome to both of you. [Rich Galen, Republican Strategist:] Nice to be with you, Carol. [Katrina Pearson, National Spokeswoman, Trump Campaign:] Hi, thank you. [Costello:] Nice to have you both here. So, Rich, Trump and Cruz dominated. No doubt about that. Did anyone else break away from the pack, though? [Galen:] No, and one of the problems I think everybody had was somebody needed to do that. Certainly somebody among the I mean, forget about Carson. But one of the other ones needed to do that. One of the other four. And I thought they all did pretty well which isn't good enough. I mean, if the you know, when the river is rising everybody rises with it. That doesn't get you away from anything. And I thought somebody needed to make a breakout. Everybody had their moments because here's one of the things we know. That when you get deeply enough into the campaign, these debates become easier. You're used to your rhythms, you're used to your opponent's rhythms. And the big thing is, and especially in a two and a half hour debate, is that you learn how to pace yourself so you have the energy to go through until 11:30 at night. So I thought everybody did pretty well. [Costello:] You did? OK. Well, let's center on Ben Carson because you did bring up his name. Katrina, Ben Carson's star seems to be dimming. He talked last night about the X-O atmosphere and dirty bombs. It was kind of confusing. Is Carson over? [Pearson:] Well, I think Dr. Carson has had a splash and you know, I'll just I'll go back to what you started out earlier, Carol, and say this is a two-man race at this point, and everybody else is competing for the number three spot. You know, Mr. Trump did very well last night and I can tell you a businessman that has never run for office before, to get this far in a presidential primary and hold his own against a Harvard trained litigator, I can tell you today Team Trump is very proud of their candidate. [Costello:] All right. So along those lines, Rich, you heard what Donald Trump said about Ted Cruz and we heard Ted Cruz brushing off allegations that he did not disclose a loan from Goldman Sachs as is required by law as a simple filing error. He even tried to raise money telling supporters that the "New York Times" launched a, quote, "all-out assault" designed, in his words, to discredit and destroy his campaign. But is this more than that? [Galen:] Well, it depends on who's side you're on obviously. [Pearson:] Well, it might be. [Galen:] The I mean, what the Cruz team says that he did file on his personal filings that he had to file with the Senate while a candidate. So it's not like nobody knew about this. They didn't understand all the rules, they say, about how to file. But let me go back to something else. Being a two-man race isn't terribly helpful. It doesn't hurt but it is not as helpful to Donald Trump as this being a three or a four-person race where the other three or four people are all fishing out of the other side of the pod. So that the one of the things about going into Iowa and New Hampshire is that Christie and Bush and all the other establishment candidates are all trying to go after the same voters. That's good for Trump because it splits their votes. So I think the Trump team needs to re-jigger their talking points this morning. It's not terribly helpful to be a two-person race. Better that it be a six-person race with Donald Trump 30 points ahead. That's the comfort [Costello:] OK. So going [Pearson:] But if you look at the numbers in the polls, the Republican primary voters are definitely saying we don't want an establishment guy. The only guy that's gained any traction in the last month or so has been Marco Rubio. [Galen:] I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. [Pearson:] So it essentially is a two-man race. [Galen:] I'm just telling you that's where you did wrong. [Costello:] OK. So let's talk about how Donald Trump scored when he stood up for New Yorkers. He told MSNBC he could win states Republicans have never won before like New York state and New Jersey. Katrina, is that his strategy? [Pearson:] Well, I think he's felt that way all along and that was an amazing response last night and we were very proud of him for saying that. Everyone's hearts went out to the people of New York and the way that they handled that. And I think that was very clear what New York values were. [Costello:] Rich, do you think that Donald Trump has a chance of winning New York state? [Galen:] No. But he doesn't need it. I mean, if he's the nominee he can win the presidency without New York state and you know, it's his home state so he would I suspect put some effort and money and resources into it. But the electoral map can be won by a Republican without New York and California. And it's because they have done it. The last time somebody a Republican won New York was probably back in the Rockefeller era. But, you know, it's his home state so I think you've got to say those sorts of things and I think he's correct in at least putting it in play because what you do then is you make either Hillary or Sanders you make them spend money on New York that they didn't think they were going to have to spend because that was off their checklist. We got that one. So Trump is saying things like that. I think if he's the nominee is very helpful. [Costello:] All right. Rich Galen, Katrina Pearson, I have to leave it there. Thanks to both of you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Sean Penn speaking out about his controversial meeting with drug kingpin El Chapo. What he says his biggest regret about the whole ordeal is. [Quest:] Euro 2016 and the Olympics. A new study from Oxford University says this summer's Rio games are running vastly over-budget. Costs are expected to reach $4.6 billion, that's an overrun cost of $1.6 billion. If you remember when they got the Olympic games, they had an extremely low budgetary level. So it's 51 percent over budget. But its overall cost is still cheaper than the recent games. London actually went even more over- budget, London games 76 percent, because of the extra security costs ramped up at the last moment. London was 67 percent. Rio is only 51 percent. The protests against spending in Rio have continued on Wednesday. Public sector workers were out on the street, saying they're unhappy that the money is being spent on Olympics rather than schools and healthcare. Remember, the Olympics are just weeks away until the opening ceremony. And security is one of Rio's main concerns. Brazilian authorities, which have given more money, by the way, the federal government has given more money to the municipality of Rio only in the last couple of weeks because Rio itself is just about broke, are preparing for the possibility of a terror attack during the games. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh is in Rio. [Nick Paton Walsh, Senior International Correspondent:] Rio dealing with the unthinkable. A terror attack on the subway. Brazilian special forces move in. The gunman taken down. This drill bolstered by training from French SWAT team specialists. And a little drama. [on camera]: They're hoping this won't happen but preparing in case it does. The threat against the Brazilian Olympics always hanging somewhat in the background. On display to the media to show that a country with virtually no history of dealing with terrorism is vigilant enough to hold a safe games. [Lt. Gen. Luiz Linhares, Brazilian Ministry Of Defense:] There is not a specific threat. And you have to prepare for a great spectrum of threats. [Paton:] are you screening the names of people who bought tickets? [Linhares:] Always. Not just us. We have relations with the other countries. They're helping us about this. They are screening the names. They're screening the people who are visiting us. [Walsh:] this is the contradiction here in Rio. With just weekends to go until South America's first Olympics, one western counterterrorism official told us that yes, the games are a target because they're a huge international sporting event. And ISIS do have foreign fighters still on the loose. But at the same time also maybe they're not. Brazil lacks of extremists networks that terrorists rely upon to launch such an attack. There has been one odd threat, however. One French ISIS fighter tweeting after the Paris attacks that Brazil was next. Several ISIS fighters seen in their propaganda speak Portuguese and they've launched an internet program speaking that language spoken in Brazil. Brazil's intelligence agency said in April that the threat and the number of Brazilians influenced by ISIS ideology had increased in recent months, whilst also insisting the games were not threatened. A country struggling with a difficult balance between vigilance and a warm welcome, headed into the unknown. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. [Quest:] Keep an eye on this group of people. This is one of the fan zones, as the extra time is ticking away in Marseille. France appears about to defeat Germany to advance to the Euro 2016 finals. Germany has dominated much of the first half until their captain was booked for a handball in the 45th minute. I'll get out of the way so you can enjoy this. It's going to be any second now. This match is over. According to the clock we weren't quite expecting to see that. It looks like it's over. Everyone gets over excited. That is the wimpiest celebration that I have seen. Oh, maybe that's a bit better, they're getting more excited now in Paris. They certainly don't look jubilant beyond belief that they've just got through to the finals. Amanda Davies, I couldn't even tell when the match had finished, looking at those fans. You know how normally there's kissing, cheering, people start doing silly things with their clothes off. There was none of that in these pictures. What's going on? [Amanda Davies, Cnn World Sport:] Richard, I think that might well be, because it's been so loud, that perhaps nobody could tell that the final whistle had actually blown. It's looked for the last 20 minutes or so that France would be going through to the final. I know you love a party. You might want to make a quick pop over here to Paris this evening, because you can probably hear the sirens behind me, the people will start piling out of the bars and the restaurants, and this is where the party moves from, from the fan zones it comes here. If Sunday's victory over Italy was anything to go by, anyway. So France coach, Didier Deschamps, has called on side there to write their owned chapter of history when they were taking on Germany this evening. He was part of the last French team to win a European championship in 2000. He's now the coach. It looks like the party is about to start as they put their place in Sunday's final against Portugal. [Quest:] We could hear you beautiful. Thank you, Amanda Davis, who is in Paris. They must be why we couldn't see the fans getting themselves all beside themselves. A profitable moment after the break. Good evening to you. [Sesay:] Hello, everyone. In just a few hours a Jetblue flight will take off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Destination? Cuba. It will be the first commercial flight between the U.S. and Cuba in more than half a century. CNN'S Patrick Oppmann reports. [Patrick Oppmann, Cnn Correspondent:] That is colonial [old town is,] full of music. And increasingly, visitors from United States. [Oppmann:] Just two years ago, Americans visiting Cuba without special permission from the U.S. government face the prospect of [hefty fines,] even prosecution. But the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations and loosening of restrictions on travel to the communist-run island has led to a surge in u.s. visitors. Up 93% from last year, according to Cuban government figures. Many Americans say they want to see Cuba while the island remains stuck in a cold war time warp. [Unidentified Female:] Our friends have been here, and so they said "Let's go why don't you go to Cuba before it becomes too westernized?" [Oppmann:] Too westernized? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. Before you see McDonald's and Walmart and all of the other U.S. companies here in cuba. [Oppmann:] Cuba's largely state-run tourism industry is already buckling under the increased demand. Tourism will likely continue to boom. Soon it will be much easier for Americans to fly to the island. Up until now, the only way that Americans could come to Cuba was via third countries or on expensive inefficiently run charter services. But that's all changing now that direct flight service is being restored between the U.S. and Cuba after more than 50 years. The first direct flight will land here in Santa Clara, Cuba where revolutionary icon Che Guevara is buried. Even though he was tracked down and killed with help from the CIA, Cuban officials say Guevara would have agreed with the opening to the [U.s. Josefina Vidal:] So, I would say that he was not different from us thinking that even with the kind of differences that we have it's beneficial for Cuba and the United States to have normal relations. [Oppmann:] Benefits that can be seen on Havana Streets already packed with U.S. visitors. As Cuba's economy continues to struggle, the boom in U.S. visitors is a rare bright spot that's only expected to grow. Patrick Oppmann, CNN, Havana, Cuba. [Sesay:] But keep in mind, American tourism to Cuba is still illegal on the U.S. law. Some in the tourism industry believe that up to a million visitors from the U.S. could eventual eventually rather, travel to Cuba each year. Earlier, John Vause spoke to John Kavulich, President of the U.S.-Cuba trade and economic council. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] John, you're among those who floated that number of a million visitors. But you i think are among the first to admit there is still a long way to go before that happens. And also how did you get to that 1 million number? [John Kavulich, President, U.s.-cuba Trade And Economic Council:] The U.S. Airlines that applied for routes to Cuba, specifically Havana, there were going to be 20 routes that the U.S. and Cuba agreed to. The U.S. carriers asked for 70. And in terms of actual seats, the number of seats that were going to be available were 1.2 million. And the airlines asked for 3.4 million. So that gives you some idea in terms of what the airlines feel the demand is. But they are constricted by the realities of Cuba's infrastructure. [Lu Stout:] Welcome back. Now an American team has won the biggest prize in competitive video games, scooping up more than $6 million at The International. Now the team called Evil Geniuses, they beat the Chinese team Sedeck in the final. Now the tournament pits the best teams in the world at the game DOTA 2, it's a multiplayer battle arena game that's a little like chess crossed with capture the flag. Even Geniuses are the first team from North America ever to win The International. Now one of the stars at The International was 16-year-old Pakistani Said Hassan, also known as Sumail. He is the youngest player on the Evil Geniuses team, and the least experienced. He only rose to prominence earlier this year, helping his team to victory in the DOTA Asia championships when he was only 15. Now, he is the youngest ever champion in The International history. Now living in Pakistan Sumail actually grew up without his own computer and even sold his bike so he can keep gaming. And it paid off. Again, they earned $6.6 million as the winners of The International. And take a look at how that compares to other sports right here on the chart. Australia earned under $4 million for winning this year's cricket World Cup. The U.S. team earned just $2 million for winning the women's World Cup in football. And Jordan Speith, he took home just under $2 million for winning the masters. And what makes this even more impressive is that The International is only in its fifth year. So the prize may only increase in the years ahead. Now, there's now less than one year to go until the start of the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Now golf and seven a side rugby are both being added to the program for the first time in years. However, the organizers passed up the chance to include some of Brazil's favorite sports. Shasta Darlington has more. [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] Jumping into the abyss and harnessing the wind currents. It may not be an Olympic sport, but it's all the rage in Rio. So, maybe against my better judgment, I give it a try. Oh my gosh, all right. Oh my god. OK. OK. Once the shock wears off, amazing views of Pedro De Gavia and San Cohado beach. And according to my guide Eddie Colliveda, Brazilian paragliders have proposed to include it in the Olympics. If this were an Olympic sport, we would be traveling 50 kilometers from one city to another. I'm loving it, but I don't know if I would want to go 50 kilometers. That might be too much. Finally, a smooth landing. It was amazing. It was amazing. Once you get up there, you feel like a bird. And we soon discover other wouldbe Olympic sports like footchu volley, kind of like beach volleyball, but played without using hands or arms invented in Rio when football was banned from the beach. "We're fighting to make it an Olympic sport," he says. "It's beautiful to play and to watch." Of course, it's obvious which country would win. Another uniquely Brazilian sport Capoeira invented by African slaves to disguise martial arts as a dance, always to the twang of [inaudible]. Maybe not an Olympic sport. "It's difficult to imagine a competition with points for this or that, who wins, who loses," he says. "But it's part of our culture." Culture that will be on display across the city in 2016. Shasta Darlington, CNN, Rio de Janeiro. [Lu Stout:] Oh, great color there from Rio. And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere, World Sport with Christina McFarlane is next. END [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. I want to take you right back out to the Iowa state fair. There you see candidate Jeb Bush. He's on a literal soap box. He's talking about several things, about his standings in the poll, about Cuba, about the Iran nuclear deal. He also has talked about ISIS. I want to play a bit for you of what he had to say. Let's listen. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Today the FBI director says the thing that keeps him up at night are home grown terrorists. They're inspired by ISIS. We should be taking out ISIS. We should have a strategy to deal with ISIS rather than admit that we don't have one. Each and every day that they exist they gain more power. They recruit more people. The next president of the United States, if I'm president, we will have a strategy on day one to take out this grave threat to our national security and to the world. I promise you that. [Costello:] All right. He says we will have a strategy on day one but not right now. Sara Murray and David Chalian standing by in Des Moines to talk more about what Jeb Bush is saying to the crowd. Good morning. So I'll start with you, David. Actually, I got notes for when Jeb Bush was walking through the crowd and as he was talking to voters he was quite effective, right? [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] Yes, listen, Jeb Bush it is a comfortable atmosphere for him to talk to voters. This is actually I think where Jeb Bush is best on the trail, when he's sort of able to sort of tell his story small group by small group. Much better than we saw him on the debate stage perhaps last week. But listen, when he got up there on the "Des Moines Register" soap box, Carol, and you just played a little bit of it he gave a red meat speech to this crowd. He just did. He wanted to make sure to do a complete take down of the failures of what he sees as the failures of Barack Obama's leadership. I think he said no more "dog ate my homework" excuses. We need real leadership. That's exactly what this kind of Republican caucus going crowd here in Iowa wants to hear from Jeb Bush. [Costello:] But Sara I think the man they really want to hear from is Donald Trump because what Donald Trump has a lot more support in the polls today than Jeb Bush has. Jeb Bush only comes in at what 5 percent in Iowa? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] Yes, so Jeb Bush sort of dismissed his standing in the polls this morning saying polls are kind of irrelevant at this point. It's still very early. But look it was a pretty big mob scene following Jeb around between the reporters and the supporters. And we're expecting it to be even crazier when Trump gets here on Saturday. Like you said he is the top of the polls here in Iowa. Plus it's a Saturday. There's more people with free time, more people, you know, got time to come out to the fair. And Trump is going to be giving away those free helicopter rides after all nearby. Not within the fairgrounds because they put kibosh on that. So I think you can expect quite a spectacle tomorrow from Donald Trump. [Costello:] Oh my goodness. Ok, so while we're talking about Donald Trump, I have to bring up former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura. He was on "NEW DAY" this morning. And he talked about how we would just love to be considered as Donald Trump's running mate. Let's listen. [Jesse Ventura, Former Governor Of Minnesota:] I think Donald Trump is wonderful that he's shaking the system to its core. Could you imagine the Republican Party with the candidacy of Trump and Ventura, the ultimate Independent joining forces? I mean that would be very, very interesting. [Costello:] David that would be interesting, right? [Chalian:] To say the very least Carol. It would be fascinating. Listen, that Jesse Ventura win, when he won the governorship in Minnesota, that was a big shock and surprise. And I think not completely unfamiliar to what Donald Trump is tapping into right now that outsider status. We see it on the Democratic side a little bit with Bernie Sanders as well. So I do think that the one thing that a Trump-Ventura ticket would have is like no relationship with the establishment, which is what some voters are very excited about right now. [Costello:] I'm loving those old picture we're putting out. Sara, Jesse Ventura also spoke glowingly of Bernie Sanders. So it was equal opportunity love fest. [Murray:] Who knows? Maybe it will be a Bernie SandersJesse Ventura ticket. Who can say? I mean as David points out the one thing these guys all have in common they're not the establishment candidate. And the polls are showing that's what voters want right now. That's what they are into at this moment. [Costello:] That's what they're into at this moment. But everyone says their bubble is soon to burst, David, but it doesn't seem to be bursting any time soon. [Chalian:] No, I don't think it's going to burst any time soon Carol. I think that Donald Trump is here to stay for a while. And I think that we see no matter what comes his way in terms of media criticism or a criticism from his opponent or the Republican establishment, it doesn't stick because he has identified this group of supporters that are with him and love to see him under attack like that. It rallies them to his cause. Now, listen, we've got a long way to go here. Here at the Iowa state fair, Carol, they have a little stand with popcorn kernels for people to put their kernels in and reflect who they would vote for if the caucuses were held today. Jeb Bush cast his kernel for himself today. Donald Trump's jar is quite full and reflects what we're seeing in the polls right. [Costello:] All right. Well, let's just talk a little bit more about Jeb Bush because he said something yesterday that caused critics to pause. He said that it was actually a good thing to have invaded Iraq and overthrow Saddam Hussein. Is that the message voters want to hear Sara? [Murray:] Well, I think that the message is different when it comes out of the lips of a guy named Bush versus President Obama who has also said that it was the right thing to overthrow Saddam Hussein. The problem, of course, for Jeb Bush is George W. Bush and how is he going to be different from his brother. That's what a lot of voters want to know. And I think people have not been very impressed by the way he's navigated these questions. I think they want him to be able to answer more directly how his policies would be different. That's a very difficult issue for Jeb Bush because he does love his family. It's awkward to throw your brother under the bus, to throw your dad under the bus. And he doesn't really want to do that. But, you know, it's something that he's going to need to work out. It's not a question that's going to be going away. [Costello:] All right. Sara Murray, David Chalian thanks to both of you. I appreciate it. And you don't want to miss the second Republican debate on September 16th on CNN. That will take place at the Ronald Reagan Library in California. CNN will also host the first of the six Democratic debates October 13th live from Nevada. I'll be right back. [Blitzer:] We checked. New York state, the Democratic primary is closed. Only registered Democrats can vote two weeks from tomorrow. Potentially good news for Hillary Clinton. Other important news we're following right now. Following the ISIS massacres in Paris and Brussels, there's now an urgent manhunt under way and it's now stretching to dozens of terror suspects. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has been looking into this for us. What are you learning, Barbara? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, the bottom line tonight, the hunt is on for dozens of suspects. No one can say where they are, or what they might be up to next. [Starr:] The terror attacks in Brussels and Paris have European and U.S. security officials chasing dozens of ISIS operatives and terror suspects identified as part of a wider terror web stretching from Europe to the Middle East, including at least eight suspects they believe are linked to the ISIS attacks in Paris and Brussels. About 18 additional jihadists not directly linked to specific attacks, but tried in absentia in European courts also on the run. Their whereabouts is unknown. The manhunt underscoring the reach of ISIS permeates base in Syria to direct attacks in the west with operatives train in bombings and weapons tactics. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We need to do even more to prevent the flow of foreign terrorist fighters. After the Paris attacks, the United States deployed search teams to Europe to bolsters these efforts and we'll be deploying additional teams in the near future. [Starr:] Those teams working on border and aviation security in Europe. [Col. Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] ISIS is able to place people wherever and whenever they want to. They are able to in essence create cells when and where they need to create those cells. They are also operationally capable of hiding under the radar. [Starr:] President Obama will begin reviewing options for increased efforts in both Syria and Iraq as the U.S. looks to accelerate its campaign against ISIS. The U.S. recently bombing a suspected ISIS chemical weapons laboratory at Mosul University, targeted air strikes increasingly going after top ISIS leadership. U.S. operations looking for Fabien Clain, a senior operative involved in planning external attacks. He is believed to be in and around Raqqah. One military option, additional U.S. Special Forces inside Syria to help local fighters take more ground back, including Raqqah. [Peter Cook, Pentagon Press Secretary:] The big focus would be in Syria, particularly as you look towards Raqqah, is doing what we can to enable those local forces to make them more effective and to be able to provide even more pressure on ISIL as those forces isolate Raqqah. [Starr:] Another new effort tonight. A U.S. military training program restarting to train Syrian rebels Wolf. [Blitzer:] Very important stuff going on right now. Barbara, thank you very much. That's it for me. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in THE SITUATION ROOM. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. [Blitzer:] International condemnation and concern over North Korea's launch of four ballistic missiles early this morning. Officials say the intermediate-range missiles traveled more than 600 miles toward the Sea of Japan. Three them landed inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, 200 nautical miles from its coastline. CNN also learned U.S. Intelligence is watching underground test site to see if they are preparing for another underground test. CNN's Alexandra Field is joining us live from Seoul, South Korea. Alexandra, what do officials think precipitated the launch of these four missiles? [Field:] Well, look, Wolf, timing is everything. And the launch of these missiles doesn't come as a surprise to anyone in South Korea or frankly in the U.S. because it seems that this launch was clearly intended to send a message to the governments of both countries. This launch of these four missiles sent to the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, comes at the same time that we are seeing the begin of the annual joint military exercises between South Korea and the U.S. These are very involved operations that last for about two months. And every year, these operations really rankle the North Koreans. Earlier this year, Kim Jong-Un again demanded these countries put a stop to these exercises, threatening action if they didn't. What you have seen now is this firing off of these four ballistic missiles at this time. These exercises are seen by Pyongyang as evidence of preparation for an invasion. Kim Jong-Un has said he is protecting and defending his missile and his nuclear program because of what he sees as the U.S.'s hostile policy toward his country. If the past is a precedent, we can remind viewers North Korea took similar actions just a year ago, when these exercises kicked off also launching missiles at that time. [Blitzer:] Alexandra, what does this launch tell us about North Korea's missile program. [Field:] You do learn a little more about the program in that reclusive country every time you see a launch like this. What is interesting is the fact that this launch has come so quickly after the last launch, which was just a month ago, when the North Koreans tested a new intermediate range missile that's able to be fueled up a bit for quickly. Five months prior to that launch, there was another launch of three missiles. What the analysts are saying is it certainly appears that North Korea's missile program is becoming more sophisticated. They need less downtime between the launches. We have had 20 missile launches in the last year. That part is significant to the international audience. What is also significant, Wolf, is the fact we have now seen two tests, one why they launched three missiles, this most recent, they launched four missiles. Some are saying this is a possible sign that they are preparing for how they could invade THAAD, the South Korean missile defense system set to be deployed later this year. So there's some theory here that North Koreans are looking at their capacity to multiple projectiles at the same time to see if that would be an effective way to get around the THAAD system Wolf? [Blitzer:] Quickly, Alexandra, the reaction where you are, in Seoul, South Korea, only 30 miles or so from the [Dmz. Field:] They look at this as business as usual to some extent. The missile launches are not uncommon. That's why you have got U.S. officials saying they expect to see more launch in the future. They are observing signs of activity at a launch site, and also, as you mentioned, at an underground nuclear site Wolf? [Blitzer:] Alexandra Field, in Seoul, South Korea, thanks very much. That's it for me. Thanks for watching. I'll be back at 5:00 eastern in "The Situation Room." The news continues on CNN. [Dana Bash, Cnn Anchor:] Good afternoon. I'm Dana Bash, in for Brooke Baldwin. Thanks for joining me. [Lemon:] Donald Trump declaring himself the presumptive GOP nominee following his big sweep in the five northeast primaries. Yet, Ted Cruz makes the unusual move of naming Carly Fiorina as his vice presidential running mate. I want to talk about this now with CNN political commentator Jeffrey Lord, who is supporting Donald Trump, he is with us via Skype, also here Ron Nehring, California chairman for Ted Cruz, and Matt Lewis, senior contributor for The Daily Caller who is the author of "Too Dumb to fail." Good evening to all of you. Ron, you first. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commetnator:] Good evening. [Ron Nehring, Ted Cruz's California Chairman:] Hello, Don. [Lemon:] Ted Cruz, you know, picks Carly Fiorina for a running mate. Why Carly Fiorina and why now? [Nehring:] Well, boy, Carly Fiorina is a real superstar. You know, she ran for the U.S. Senate for California when I was the state party chairman there in 2010, and she really electrifies republicans. She connects really, really well. She's a very, very solid on all of the issues that republicans are concerned about today, that the country is concerned about today. And once Senator Cruz made a decision to choose Carly Fiorina, there was no real reason to wait on that decision. Let's get that information out there, let's have the announcement today and let the voters decide. She's only going to strengthen the ticket and provides another person to go out and campaign, you know, very, very strongly for Senator Cruz's leadership and now voters know who they'll get when Senator Cruz is the nominee. [Lemon:] I want you to take a listen to this. This is Donald Trump reacting tonight to Ted Cruz's V-pick. [Trump:] On television they say it nicely. "He has no path to victory." That's a nice expression, right. No path to victory. He's got no path to victory. He's mathematically eliminated. It's like if you're playing in the World Series and your team loses a game, a certain game he's mathematically eliminated. He has set a record, though. He is the first presidential candidate in the history of this country whose mathematically eliminated from becoming president who chose a vice presidential candidate, OK? [Lemon:] I mean, he said no path to victory here, Ron? Is it time to throw in the towel? Because many say he's just trying to change the narrative here and get some good news on his side. [Nehring:] Well, you know, as for Donald Trump who models himself as being the most unpredictable guy out there, the great negotiator, the flexible guy, he seems to react really predictably to every single thing that happens, which is to throw, you know, insults out there and, you know, highly personalize everything and go on some kind type tear. So, that's not really surprising at all. Look, Donald Trump is going to be mathematically eliminated from this race on or before, you know, June 7th because this is going to a contested convention, there will be multiple ballots. And there will be no nominee that will come out in the first ballot. But we're going to have Ted Cruz the nominee on the second ballot. That's where this thing is heading. He knows that. And if he didn't you know, if he really was on a pathway to become the nominee, he wouldn't flip out the way that he does. He wouldn't you know, he would just blow it off and so on. But instead he goes on this tear because he knows he's not getting the altitude. Because every other republican nominee in recent times has been able to consolidate the republican base by this time. And he can't do that because he winds up insulting everybody and alienating those... [Lemon:] Well, I think Jeffrey Lord probably disagrees with that. As a matter of fact, Jeffrey, do I see you laughing? [Nehring:] I would be stunned if Jeffrey Lord disagrees with that. [Lord:] Well, look, Gerald Ford didn't agree with this kind of thing either. And he had not consolidated the base by the time he got nominated in 1976. Look, I would actually, I don't want to make Ron faint but I would agree with this description of Carly Fiorina. She's terrific. I mean, I have no bones to pick with Carly Fiorina. It's just the simple math fact that Senator Cruz, whom I also like, is losing. That's just that's the fact. He lost here in Pennsylvania. As a matter of fact, I'm writing a column this minute, this is the first time in history that I can I can research that anybody of either party has carried all 67 counties of Pennsylvania in any election. And Donald Trump managed to do that. [Lemon:] Yes. [Lord:] Not to mention all the states and all the counties he carried in all these other states. [Lemon:] Yes. [Lord:] What this says is that Senator Cruz, God bless him, just has not been able to strike a chord here in the northeastern United States and he needs this to have an election victory, as did Ronald Reagan, who did carry Pennsylvania. [Lemon:] Yes. I was waiting to see how long it would take for to you bring up Ronald Reagan, since he's right there over your shoulder. But I hate to tell you, Jeffrey, but you're on television right now. You're not writing a column this moment. But when we... [Lord:] But that's still historical fact, Don. [Lemon:] I know. I'm just messing with you. [Lord:] Those who carried 67 counties period in modern history that I can find period. [Lemon:] So, Matt, to you now, you say that this move with Carly Fiorina is both a smart pick and an act of desperation. Why do you say that? [Matt Lewis, "too Dumb To Fail" Author:] Well, look, they're not mutually exclusive, you know. If you're down by you're down by a touchdown and time is running out, you throw a Hail Mary, that's not dumb, that's smart. That's what you do. I actually wrote a column over a month ago saying that Ted Cruz should have picked Carly Fiorina as his running mate back then. And I think had he done it back then, he would be in better shape today, but better late than never. [Lemon:] Yes. Hey, I want to ask you, you also wrote something today on Twitter. You wrote quite a lot on Twitter. You said, here's what you said oh, Eric Trump did, not you. Donald this is what the critics took to Twitter right away. I'm sorry, not you. And here's what Eric trump said. [Lord:] Don't confuse that, it's Donald. [Lemon:] Yes. He said, "This is truly one of the greatest acts of desperation I have ever seen." Hash tag, Cruz, hash tag grasping a throat. And then there is one. It's from john Brabender. He said "If Donald Trump wins Indiana next week, does Ted Cruz then announce his cabinet picks? Just curious." So, I was just talking about this, Matt, with Gloria and Mark. [Lord:] That's good. [Lemon:] The math really is against Cruz at this point. How can he change the outcome here? [Lewis:] Well, look, I think he has to win Indiana. And the interesting thing is that I don't know that Carly Fiorina, for all the guide things I think she can do, and I think she could help. Look, you know, having her go against Donald Trump every day, baiting him potentially into mixing it up with her would not be good for Trump. And then she can go after Hillary Clinton in a way that I'm not sure a man can. She's tough. She can take the fight. But I don't know that it helps him i Indiana. And that's the bottom line Cruz has to win Indiana. If he doesn't, then I think it is game over. [Lemon:] All right. Everyone stay with me because we have lots more to talk about for the race in the race for the White House. We'll be right back. [Zakaria:] My next guest, Leon Panetta, has had a front row seat in the war in terror having directed both of the top American agencies responsible for executing that war. Starting shortly after President Obama was inaugurated, Panetta spent four years in the administration, first as director of the CIA, then as secretary of Defense. I spoke with him earlier this week about the state of the world 15 years after 911. Secretary Panetta, welcome on the show. [Leon Panetta, Former Director, Central Intelligence Agency:] Nice to be with you, Fareed. [Zakaria:] Where do you think we stand 15 years after 911? [Panetta:] I think 15 years after 911 has marked a period where the United States has really developed the capability of dealing with threat from terrorism. I mean, we during that period of time, we've improved our intelligence capability. We've improved our ability to be able to track and do surveillance on terrorists. We have improved our ability to work with the military on counterterrorism operations. I think we've done a great job at being able to go after the leadership, particularly of al Qaeda. So we have developed some remarkable capabilities and I think the bottom lines is we've been able, as a result of that11-type attack on this country. Doesn't mean that we've resolved all the issues terrorism has continued to metastasize, we're dealing with ISIS, we're dealing with Boko Haram. We're dealing with al-Shabaab, we're dealing with the threat of lone wolf attacks in this country. All of that remains. [Zakaria:] We heard a very spirited and interesting critique of the the Obama administration's approach, also really the Bush administration's support, from the Republican nominee this week. Donald Trump says that the United States has been intervening too much in the Middle East. It's been trigger happy. And he says we would have been better off if we hadn't done anything at all or we hadn't gotten involved. What do you make of that critique? [Panetta:] If only the world were as simple as that. The reality is that when you are confronting the threat from terrorism when al Qaeda was able to strike at this country, kill over 3,000 people and devastate not only the World Trade Center but hit the Pentagon and try to hit even other targets in Washington, there was no question that the United States had to go to war against terrorism. We had been attacked and I think for that reason, it was important for this nation to go after aw. And we did. And obviously President Bush began that effort. Some policies we can agree with, some we can disagree with. But the reality was that he knew we had to confront that threat. And President Obama understood that we had to confront that threat as well. [Zakaria:] Donald Trump calls Hillary Clinton trigger happy and unstable. You worked with Hillary Clinton. What do you think of her temperament and would she make a good commander-in-chief? [Panetta:] Well, Fareed, from my from my experience having worked with Hillary Clinton for over 25 years as first lady, and then when she was U.S. senator, and then in particular when she was secretary of state. I always found her to be extremely careful and thoughtful, someone who understands the world and the challenges that we face in the world. Who understands the nature of the crises that we are confronting. But more importantly, wants to exercise thoughtful judgment in the approach that we take. I think she does have the right temperament to be commander-in-chief. I think she is somebody who can provide the kind of experience and the kind of diligence and care that a president has to use in dealing with a lot of threats that we are confronting in the world. I want to have somebody who understands the nature of those threats and how the United States should respond. And that's what Hillary Clinton can do. [Zakaria:] Let me ask you about a specific foreign policy challenge that you would be consumed with while you're still in your old job, which is the battle against ISIS and particularly the efforts now under way to retake Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq, the most dramatic gain that ISIS had, which it is hoped will be reversed. General Petraeus had a very interesting, I thought very smart column in the "Washington Post" in which he said, "The U.S. is winning its battle against ISIS. The Iraqi army with the help of the U.S. military will almost certainly be able to retake Mosul." But the real challenge is, what happens next? Who governs Mosul, will there be a political sentiment there which will allow it to include the Sunnis so that they don't feel excluded and go join ISIS again? What is your sense of whether or not it would be possible, not just militarily to defeat ISIS, but to create the kind of political settlement that will keep ISIS defeated? [Panetta:] Fareed, I think that is the that's the most important challenge we face. I agree with General Petraeus, that, from a military point of view, I think we have the capabilities to defeat ISIS in Mosul and ultimately to defeat is in Raqqa as well in Syria. We have great special forces. We have great military capabilities, we're working with the Iraqis., we're working with others. I think we are making progress on that front. One area we have not been as effective as we should be is in providing the support system that will ensure that if we defeat terrorism that Iraq, and Syria, and Libya and Yemen and other countries that went through the Arab spring are able to govern themselves and establish the institutions to be able to govern themselves and provide stability in the future. That is the one area, frankly, where we need to devote a lot more attention both diplomatically, economically and we also need to consider the root causes that have produced terrorism, which, frankly, we have not done enough to confront. [Zakaria:] Secretary Panetta, a pleasure to have you on. Thanks so much. [Panetta:] Nice to be with you. [Zakaria:] Next up here on this special edition of GPS, marking the 15th anniversary of 911. I will talk to the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. He is the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital. I'll ask him about the recently ramped-up backlash against Muslims in his country, in America, elsewhere, when we come back. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] The university professor in Mississippi suspected in two murders has been apprehended. We will have the latest on the campus shooting. Also ahead, Australia's new leader Malcolm Turnbull sworn in as prime minister and Tony Abbott has one last swipe at the media. And thousands pack an arena for Donald Trump. Hundreds rally to dump Trump. [Vause:] Hello. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and ALL around the world. Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. The second hour of CNN NEWSROOM begins right now. We will begin with that breaking news which we have been following in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The hunt for a university shooting suspect is now over. The Delta State University president confirmed on Twitter that police apprehended Shannon Lamb late Sunday night. Lamb had been on the run all day since police found a university professor shot to death in his office. Lamb is a teacher at the school and by all accounts a friend of the victim Ethan Schmidt, seen here in Facebook photos. Lamb is also accused of killing a woman named Amy Prentiss about 300 miles, or 480 kilometers, away from that school. It happened earlier in the day. Lamb and Prentiss apparently lived together. Police have not disclosed a motive or what connection if any there was between Prentiss and Schmidt. OK, we move on now. It is 3:00 p.m. in Canberra, Australia, where the country now has a new prime minister. [Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Prime Minister:] I, Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, do swear that I will well and fully serve the people of Australia for the office of prime minister and that I will be faithful to their true [Vause:] Well, Malcolm Turnbull there taking the oath of office just a short time ago, sworn in as 29th prime minister by the Govenor-General there. He won that position after ousting Tony Abbott from the leadership on Monday. Mr. Turnbull had been serving as Communications Minister; he says the government has not been successful in providing the economic leadership which Australia needs. Let's go to CNN's Asia Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, live for us this hour in Hong Kong. And, Andrew, as we look at the job ahead for Malcolm Turnbull, he's got to unite what has been a pretty divided party. [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia Pacific Editor:] It's a pretty divided political landscape generally, isn't it? That's the fifth time we have seen a swearing in of a new Australian Prime Minister in some five years, John. So it has been an absolute roundabout at the top for Australia. Yes, Malcolm Turnbull does now have a big job of reuniting the party. There are leading members on the right wing of the party that do not trust his politics or his leanings, if you like. He's in support of action on climate change, he's in support of gay marriage; he's a small-L liberal when it comes to social issues. That is what he has to do, Malcolm Turnbull, has to do to pull the party together to present a united front as they go forward and basically set themselves to be elected at the next general election that has to take place before the end of next year. And this is the underlying cause of all this political skullduggery, John, is that the Liberal Party, which in Australia is the conservative wing of politics, the Liberal Party did not think Tony Abbott was electable at the next general election. They think Malcolm Turnbll is. Whether they like him or not, he is gold dust as far as the electorate's concerned. At least that's their reckoning. So that is what they're going to do to go forward. Tony Abbott after that vote in which he lost the prime ministership yesterday, a dramatic five hours in Australian politics, left parliamentary HQ without saying a word to reporters. He has been speaking today; he's been defending his record, saying he's been proud of what he has done in the two years he's been Prime Minister and looking at his record to say he's done a good job. But he did have a swipe, as you say, at the media. He had a lot of criticism of the media. There have been so many leaks during the Abbott reign, so many negative stories about him in the Australian media. Listen to what Abbott said. [Tony Abbott, Former Australian Prime Minister:] Mostly sour, bitter character assassination. Pall-driven panic has produced a revolving- door prime ministership which can't be good for our country. And I fear for our media culture has developed that rewards treachery. [Stevens:] That treachery is him referring to the number of leaks from his senior members of his cabinet about dysfunction within the cabinet, John. So, yes, he's got a big job ahead of him, Malcolm Turnbull. He's already faced his first Prime Minister's Question Time; it looked like it was softball stuff for him at the beginning, but it's certainly going to get harder as the opposition starts aiming for them as an election approaches. [Vause:] Andrew, is it a problem for Malcolm Turnbull that he is essentially the richest politician in Australia? He's worth almost $200 million; he already has this tag of being an elitist. [Stevens:] It doesn't seem to be a problem at the moment. He is popular, broadly popular, but some people say he has shown his mettle in the real world, if you like, that he's not a career politician, that he actually got out there. He did, all his own, make a large fortune. He grew up in he was basically raised by his father, so a single parent family there. He won scholarships to go to elite schools. He won a major scholarship to go to Oxford University to finish his law degree. So he certainly has the smarts and he's made a very successful for himself in politics sorry, in the private sector. So now moving into politics, some people say, John, there's a grown up in charge. I've heard that line used. [Vause:] Yes, OK, obviously the markets like it. The Australian dollar rose by 1.5 cents on the news that Turnbull was the new leader, so we will see where it goes from here. Andrew, thank you. Andrew Stevens live for us this hour in Hong Kong. We will go to U.S. politics right now, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is rallying in Texas, trying to cement his lead in the latest polls. Trump told supporters in Dallas on Monday that he would keep jobs in the U.S. and keep illegal immigrants out. The billionaire real estate developer says he knows he will be the prime target for these Republican challengers in Wednesday night's debate right here on CNN. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] So, the debate. I hear they're all going after me. Whatever. Whatever. The polls come out and we're really killing it. We are killing it. The silent majority; it's back. And it's not silent. I think we should call it maybe we should call it the noisy, the aggressive, the wanting to win, wanting to win. [Vause:] Hundreds of protesters rallied outside the event. They marched from a nearby church to where Trump was speaking. One protest organizer called him a clown and they made pinatas for the presidential hopeful. Trump's supporters waited for hours outside that arena in Dallas for a chance to see the candidate. Gary Tuchman asked some of them what they find so appealing about Donald Trump. [Gary Tuchman, Cnn Correspondent:] 75-year-old Carol Kohankie voted in her first presidential election in 1964. But she's never been as enthusiastic about a presidential candidate as she is about Donald Trump. And that's why she showed up incredibly early, waiting in the hot sun, to see him. [on camera]: You came about ten hours early to see Donald Trump. Have you ever waited in a line this long in your life? [Carol Kohankie, Trump Supporter:] Once when I was 22 to see the Queen of England with the King of Norway Scotland. I was on a travel grant. Have not done it since. [Tuchman:] Hundreds of Trump supporters joined Carol hours early so they couldget good seats. People like Gene Lizco and his son Robbie. GENE LIZCO, [Trump Supporter:] He's a man. This country needs a man to run it. He speaks the truth. You know, he speaks the truth. [Tuchman:] And people like John Roves. [on camera]: Before he announced his decision to run, who did you want for president? JOHN ROVES, [Trump Supporter:] Previously we probably were looking at Rubio. [Tuchman:] And what understand to Rubio in your mind? [Roves:] Donald came out; just, we liked his message better. [Tuchman:] This 18,500 seat arena is the home to basketball's Dallas Mavericks and hockey's Dallas Stars. It's also a busy concert venue. [on camera]: But never before has a billionaire real estate tycoon and former reality show host who wants to be leader of the free world been the headliner here. This is a mega event and whether you think that's a good idea or not might have a lot to do with how you feel about Donald Trump. [voice-over]: The people here overwhelmingly think it's good. [Unidentified Male:] This is not fired. He's hired. [Tuchman:] To add to the festive atmosphere, one-wheeled Trump supporters rolled up. [on camera]: Are you spreading the word on your unicycle? [Unidentified Male:] Yeah, there you go. I guess so. Big wheels for Trump. [Tuchman:] Lisa Shedd brought her 15-year-old son. [on camera]: So some of the stuff that Trump says bothers you. LISA SHEDD, [Trump Supporter:] Yes. [Tuchman:] But you're still supporting him for president. [Shedd:] I am supporting him for president because I think he'll turn the country around. [Tuchman:] But you'd like him to be more kind to certain people? [Shedd:] Yes, I do. [Tuchman:] Who are those people you think he needs to be more kind to? [Shedd:] Women. [Tuchman:] What do you think about what he said about certain women? [Kohankie:] I'm not happy with him with him for that, but I'm not going able to change his response and nobody is perfect. [Tuchman:] So you're willing to forgive that? [Kohankie:] Yes. [Tuchman:] And you will support him for president? [Kohankie:] Yes. [Tuchman:] Unequivocal? [Kohankie:] Yep. [Tuchman:] And after hours of waiting, Carol is one of the first let inside the stadium to see her candidate for president. Gary Tuchman, CNN, Dallas. [Vause:] Donald Trump was also the topic of conversation during Sunday night's question and answer part of the Miss America pageant. One of the judges asked Miss Alabama, Meg McGuffin, why Trump was leading by such a large margin. McGuffin used her time to issue a warning to the Republican Party. [Meg Mcguffin, Miss America Contestant:] I think Donald Trump is an entertainer and I think he says what's on a lot of people's minds, but I think that the Republican Party should be absolutely terrified of all the attention that he's taking from incredible candidates like Jeb Bush and Chris Christie who could absolutely do the job as President of the United States. And if I were a Republican I would absolutely be terrified of that. Thank you. Thank you so much. [Vause:] A short time ago, I spoke with CNN political commentator Tara Setmeyer and asked her if the Republican Party really should be terrified. [Tara Setmayer, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't know if it's at a terrified. I think it should be a wake up call. It really should. For the people in Washington and what they've been doing and are the lack of leadership and the disappointment that the American people who voted these folks I,n in a wave election you know, the American people voted in Republicans because they were upset with the disaster of the Obama administration and what the Democrats have done in power, and what has the Republican leadership done? They've rolled over, and they haven't stood up for anything, and they have not lived up to the any of the promises that got them elected. So the electorate is upset with them, and they're just fed up. And they're so fed up that they've allowed someone like Donald Trump, who is an entertainer I agree with Miss Alabama and I agree with Carly Fiorina and a lot of the other folks who say this guy is not a serious politician; he's an entertainer. Just look at the rallies. Look at the way he speaks. He speaks in platitude, in generalities. He says call people names and people love that because it seems to breathe kind of the lowest common denominator of some things, like a talk show. And they want to see what he's going to say next versus will this guy be a good legislator? Will he be a good executor? Will he be a good president? [Vause:] You may not have heard this, but we're actually hosting the Republican debate on Wednesday, and so be sure to tune in to watch it as they face off. Watch that debate live Wednesday night starting at 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time here in the U.S. and 11:00 p.m. in London. You can get up early 6:00 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong and you will find it only here on CNN. Meantime on the Democratic side, front-runner Hillary Clinton made an interesting comparison of all the Republican candidates. On Monday she was speaking at a Women for Hillary organizing event at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, when she remarked there's really no different among any of those Republican candidates except for maybe one little feature. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] It is somewhat entertaining. Their flamboyant front-runner has grabbed a lot of the attention lately. But if you look at the policies of all of them running, they're pretty much the same. They're Trump, just without the pizzazz and the hair. [Vause:] Clinton's main Democratic rival made the rounds in Virginia Monday. Bernie Sanders is trying to improve his lead over Clinton in states besides New Hampshire and Iowa. During a sit-down university at interview, rather, at the University of Virginia, Sanders gave an interview to explain the differences between himself and the Democratic front-runner. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] Hillary Clinton and I have some strong disagreements. I mentioned a moment ago, I want to see the minimum wage raised over a period of years to $15 an hour. She has not been clear on that. I am opposed to the construction of the Keystone Pipeline. Hillary Clinton has not voiced an opinion on that. I believe we should expand Social Security benefits, not cut them. Hillary Clinton doesn't have a position on that. So I think it is fair to say that we like each other, we respect each other; we have different opinions on some of the major issues facing our country. [Vause:] In the latest CNNORC poll, Clinton leads with 37 percent with Sanders 10 points behind on 27. Now to renewed fears over North Korea and its plans for long range missiles. North Korean state media is saying, quote, "The world will clearly see a series of satellites soaring into the sky." South Korea, it says, it is watching closely. And the U.S. State Department says any satellite launch with ballistic missile technology would violate U.N. Security Council resolutions. Kathy Novak is in Seoul, South Korea; she joins us now live with more on this. So Kathy, what is the evidence they have and how can they tell if North Korea is actually inching closer to this launch? [Kathy Novak, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, these are the latest reports coming out of the state news agency, KCNA, quoting an unnamed senior official with the a senior aerospace official, John, as saying that North Korea is in the final stage of developing the satellite. Now, North Korea says that any satellite development would be for peaceful purposes, but analysts widely say this is often a very thinly veiled test of ballistic missile technology, which you as you mentioned would be in violation of United Nations sanctions against North Korea. And the fears are around the fact that a major anniversary is coming up next month in North Korea on October 10th. It marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Worker's Party of Korea and there are wide speculations that it will take some kind of provocative action, be it a long range missile launch or even another nuclear test. I just spoke to the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Mark Lippert, and here's a little bit about what he had to say about it. [Mark Lippert, U.s. Ambassador To South Korea:] We will remain vigilant. We are always working with the government of South Korea to provide a robust deterrent, to remain vigilant on threats, and to ensure that other allies in the region, as well as the U.S. homeland, are protected by threats posed by North Korea. [Novak:] Now, South Korea says it is watching the situation closely and neither South Korea nor the United States will comment specifically on the intelligence that they have around the possibility of a rocket launch. But analysts at the organization 38 North have been analyzing their own satellite imagery and have been pointing to upgrades at the launching station in North Korea and saying that North Korea is has upgraded that launching pad, that there is some support structure that it has finished, but also saying that there no concrete signs that a rocket launch is expected on October 10th. John. [Vause:] I mean, what are the options here if this test launch does go ahead? Because, you know, they have launched these ballistic missiles in the past and there has been a lot of tough talk and there has been sanctions put in place. And the North Koreans go yeah, whatever, and they keep doing it. So is there anything that the west, the South Koreans and the Americans, could do differently this time? [Novak:] Well, that's the big question, and we heard Mark Lippert there saying that both the United States and South Korea remain vigilant, that they have this strong alliance in place. But if we just look to last month, John, we had this escalation in tensions on the peninsula where North and South Korea went as far as to exchanging artillery fire across the border and that led to high-level talks that ultimately were able to diffuse the situation. But part of the fear around the fact that this anniversary is coming up and that some kind of provocation is expected is that, if that happens, that it's likely to derail any of this progress that has been made in these recent talks. Out of the talks, we heard that family reunions are due to take place at the end of October. Now, you can imagine, if North Korea does take any provocative action, the United States and South Korea indeed will be under pressure to respond, and that may derail any of these plans for family reunions. So that's part of the fear, John. [Vause:] OK, Kathy, thank you. Kathy Novak live for us Seoul, South Korea. Official break here on CNN NEWSROOM. When we come back, Hungary taking a hard line against refugees. This is a live look at the scene right now at the HungarianSerbian border where there's tough new measures for anyone who tries to get through that new border fence. That's up next. [Gorani:] America's FBI director has confirmed there is an investigation underway into possible coordination between Trump campaign officials and Russia. James Comey also told the Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill, there's no evidence to support the president's claim that Barack Obama wiretapped him. President Trump's Supreme Court pick, Neil Gorsuch, has wrapped up the first day of his confirmation hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Democrats began by venting their anger at the Republican-controlled Senate that refused to even consider President Obama's nominee last year. Gorsuch promised that if confirmed, he would serve patiently and impartially. The British prime minister will formally start the process of the U.K. leaving the E.U. in nine days. Theresa May will trigger Article 50 next Wednesday. It's expected the negotiations over the terms of Brexit will take two years to complete. America's FBI director, James Comey, has confirmed there is indeed an investigation underway into Trump campaign officials' communications with Russia. That, alone, is huge news. Intelligence officials are not known for revealing many specific details in a public setting. But House Intelligence Committee members are delving deep into media and other reports to shape their questions. The top-ranking Democrat, Adam Schiff, referenced several reports, including the Steel dossier that everyone's been talking about. But hasn't been fully substantiated to make his case for why Americans need this hearing. Listen to Schiff. [Schiff:] In early July, Carter Page, someone Candidate Trump identified as one of his national security advisers, travels to Moscow on a trip approved by the Trump campaign. While in Moscow, he gives a speech critical of the United States and other western countries for what he believes is a hypocritical focus on democratization and efforts to fight corruption. According to Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer, who is reportedly held in high regard by U.S. intelligence, Russian sources tell him that Page has also had a secret meeting with Igor Sechin, CEO of the Russian gas giant, Rosneft. Sechin is reported to be a former KGB agent and close friend of Putin's. According to Steele's Russian sources, Page is offered brokerage fees by Sechin on a deal involving a 19 percent share of the company. According to Reuters, the sale of a 19.5 percent share of Rosneft later takes place with unknown purchasers and unknown brokerage fees. Also, according to Steele's Russian sources, the campaign is offered documents damaging to Hillary Clinton, which the Russians would publish through an outlet that gives them deniability, like WikiLeaks. The hacked documents would be in exchange for a Trump administration policy that de- emphasizes Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and instead focuses on criticizing NATO countries for not paying their fair share, policies, which, even as recently as the President's meeting last week with Angela Merkel, have now presciently come to pass. In the middle of July, Paul Manafort, the Trump campaign manager and someone who is long on the payroll of pro-Russian Ukrainian interests, attends the Republican Party convention. Carter Page, back from Moscow, also attends the convention. According to Steele, it was Manafort who chose Page to serve as a go-between for the Trump campaign and Russian interests. Ambassador Kislyak, who presides over a Russian embassy in which diplomatic personnel would later be expelled as likely spies, also attends the Republican Party convention and meets with Carter Page, and additional Trump advisers, J.D. Gordon and Walid Phares. It was J.D. Gordon who approved Page's trip to Moscow. Ambassador Kislyak also meets with Trump national security campaign chair, and now Attorney General, Jeff Sessions. Sessions would later deny meeting with Russian officials during his Senate confirmation hearing. Just prior to the convention, the Republican Party platform is changed, removing a section that supports the provision of lethal defensive weapons to Ukraine, an action that would be contrary to Russian interests. Manafort categorically denies involvement by the Trump campaign and altering the platform. But the Republican Party delegate who offered the language in support of providing defensive weapons to Ukraine states that it was removed at the insistence of the Trump campaign. Later, J.D. Gordon admits opposing the inclusion of the provision at the time it was being debated and prior to its being removed. Later in July, and after the convention, the first stolen e-mails detrimental to Hillary Clinton appear on WikiLeaks. A hacker who goes by the moniker, Guccifer 2, claims responsibility for hacking the DNC and giving the documents to WikiLeaks. The leading private cybersecurity firms, including CrowdStrike, Mandiant, and ThreatConnect, reviewed the evidence of the hack and conclude with high certainty that it was the work of APT 28 and APT 29, who are known to be Russian intelligence services. The U.S. Intelligence Committee also later confirms that the documents were, in fact, stolen by Russian intelligence and Guccifer 2 acted as a front. Also in late July, candidate Trump praises WikiLeaks, says he loves them, and openly appeals to the Russians to hack his opponent's e-mails, telling them that they will be richly rewarded by the press. On August 8th, Roger Stone, a long-time Trump political adviser and self- proclaimed political dirty trickster, boasts in a speech that he has communicated with Assange and that more documents would be coming, including an October surprise. In the middle of August, he also communicates with the Russian cutout, Guccifer 2, and offers a Breitbart piece denying Guccifer's links to Russian intelligence. Then later in August, Stone does something truly remarkable, when he predicts that John Podesta's personal e-mails will soon be published. "Trust me," he says, "it will soon be Podesta's time in the barrel #CrookedHillary." In the weeks that follow, Stone shows remarkable prescience. "I have total confidence that WikiLeaks and my hero, Julian Assange, will educate the American people soon," he says, "#lockherup." "Payload coming," he predicts, and two days later, it does. WikiLeaks releases its first batch of Podesta e-mails. The release of John Podesta's e-mails would then continue on a daily basis up until the election. [Hala Gorani, Cnn Anchor:] That was Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff, discussing media reports about alleged Trump campaignRussia ties, clearly saying, look, we need to look into this. Something, you know, doesn't sound right. It's possible something went on. The Trump campaign staffers colluded with Russia. CNN Political Analyst and "Washington Post" Columnist Josh Rogin joins me now from Washington with more. What did you make of this first day of testimony by the FBI Director and the Director of National Security Agency? [Josh Rogin, Columnist, The Washington Post:] I think most of us in Washington were surprised by how much FBI Director and NSA Director said at today's hearing. They revealed that there was an investigation ongoing. They revealed that it began in July of 2016. They talked about that it does examine people who are currently serving inside the Trump administration as well as some who are not. They dismissed the wiretapping claims, said they had no evidence of that. They dismissed the White House's claims that there was any involvement by British intelligence in that story. And they actually talked a lot about what they know about Russian interference in the U.S. election. So, you know, over the course of these six or seven hours, we got a lot of new information. Despite that, the White House had a press conference immediately after, saying that there was no new information, that nothing was learned. [Gorani:] And in fact, Donald Trump tweeted, saying that James Comey had confirmed, you know, something that he had not confirmed [Rogin:] Well, that's right. [Gorani:] which is that there had been no interference. Right. And then, in fact, Mike Rogers or I should say, James Comey, when asked, said, I cannot make that statement. I can't take that position. [Rogin:] Well, it was more that. There was a series of tweets from the official POTUS account, that's the government account, not Donald Trump's personal account, in real time, that were misleading about the things that Comey and Rogers were saying. Trump's Twitter feed said that the officials had said there was no evidence of Russian interference in the political process. That wasn't true. They said that James Clapper had said that there was no collusion. That wasn't exactly accurate. So we saw a real time spin effort from the White House that continued into the press conference that sought to sort of shape the coverage. I don't think it was really that successful. [Gorani:] I mean, what impact would this have on the White House, I wonder? Because do they care, really? I mean, does the Trump White House care when, really, they're talking directly to their base, whether Trump makes, you know, these outlandish accusations directed at former President Obama, that he wiretapped Trump Tower or not? It's out there. He's talking to his base, and his base is still very much liking what they're reading and hearing. [Rogin:] Well, that's true. I think it's clear that the White House does care about these allegations. They talk about them all the time. They're very active in pushing against them. They can no longer state that they're unaware of an investigation. That's a big change that will force them to change their talking points. They're confident that their base will continue to support them. What they're not confident about is where Republicans in Congress will fall down. We saw a lot of Republicans at these hearings, defending the Trump administration, focusing on the leaks rather than on the substance of the leaks. But in the end, even top Republicans are forced to acknowledge now, on the record, that there's no evidence of wiretapping claims, especially no evidence that they're attributable to President Obama or his administration. So we see a widening gap between what congressional Republicans are willing to say and what the White House is willing to say. And that's certainly a concern for the White House. [Gorani:] And, Sean Spicer, the Press Secretary, was asked about all of this. This is what he said today in the briefing room. [Unidentified Female:] Does the President stand by his comments that he's not aware of any contacts that his campaign associates had with Russia during the election? [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] Yes. [Unidentified Female:] And the second one is, has anyone from the White House [Spicer:] Well, can I just amend the first? [Unidentified Female:] Sure. [Spicer:] Obviously, just to be clear, I know that I'm trying to think through this for a second because, obviously, General Flynn [Unidentified Female:] Right. [Spicer:] But, again [Unidentified Female:] We're talking during the campaign, before the election. [Spicer:] Right. And I'm not aware of any at this time. But even General Flynn was a volunteer of the campaign. And then, obviously, there's been discussion of Paul Manafort, who played a very limited role for a very limited amount of time. [Gorani:] I mean, Sean Spicer there is having to really just kind of jump through hoops here. He says, yes, the President is standing by the claim that, you know, there was no contact. And then, wait, wait, wait, hang on. Actually, Flynn, and also, there was you know what I mean. Gosh, he's got a tough job. [Rogin:] Yes. I mean, he's spinning as hard as he can. It's really quite misleading. Paul Manafort was the campaign chairman. He was heavily involved in the campaign. General Flynn was the top foreign policy adviser to Trump during the campaign and became his national security adviser, so to dismiss him as a volunteer is kind of ridiculous. Overall, what we see the White House doing is cutting bait with anyone they can cut bait with. The people who they can't cut bait with are the people who are still in the administration. And we also saw an effort by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes today to focus on those people. So they're trying to draw a distinction between those who were involved before Trump took office, and those after. But for the FBI, that distinction is a lot less meaningful because their investigation spans the time before Trump was elected and after he took office. [Gorani:] Right. Since July, in fact. [Rogin:] That's right. [Gorani:] Thanks very much, Josh Rogin, in Washington. And joining me now from Washington, as well, with more on the House hearing is CNN National Security Analyst Steve Hall. He's also a retired CIA operations officer with the head of the Russia operations. Thanks very much for joining us. One of the things that the FBI Director, James Comey, didn't want to be drawn in were comments on specific individuals. He was asked about Paul Manafort. He couldn't talk about whether or not current members of the administration were being looked at, et cetera. So we got generalities, but we did learn new things. What did you think was most interesting? [Steve Hall, Cnn National Security Analyst:] Hala, I drew two things. Obviously, a lot of information and Josh is right. There's a whole lot of things that happened in the six hours. But one of the things that was important to cut out with was that Director Comey did indicate and confirm that this is a counterintelligence investigation that's been going on for a while. Counterintelligence investigations are really, really sticky because you've got a lot of classified, a lot of secret information that is being used during the course of the investigation. And of course, as you mentioned, it also can pertain to some of the people or it might pertain to some of the people that came up during the course of the discussions today, people who had been members of the Trump campaign or the Trump team. So that's going to be complicated and it's going to slow things down, even though, towards the end of the hearings, we got the clear indication that the committee really wanted things to move ahead as quickly as possible because of the political pall that this sort of casts on the situation. But the second thing that struck me, Hala, was, you know, I had hoped that there had been a possibility, at least, for more bipartisanship. And pretty early on, it became clear, as more and more chaff came up, to, in my view, direct attention away from the central question, which is, was there contact, cooperation, collusion, whatever you want to call it, between the Trump campaign and the Russians? [Gorani:] Yes. [Hall:] So that's going to be a tough row to hoe. And I wonder whether we're just going to require an independent mechanism to continue on with this. [Gorani:] You could clearly see the partisan lines drawn there during that hearing, but why aren't some of these individuals being questioned by the FBI as part of this investigation? I mean, wouldn't you expect then, I don't know, Mike Flynn or Paul Manafort to be summoned, to talk to FBI agents and officials about what they knew, didn't know or where they were at any given time? I mean, isn't that something you would expect? [Hall:] Yes, absolutely. And that's clearly in the FBI's charter. It's got a big piece of the lion's share of the counterintelligence investigation charter. And when that part of the investigation, when it reaches that point in the investigation, I think that they are going to want to talk to those people. Timing in these things is of utmost importance, again, because on the counterintelligence piece, you know, if you're going to act on a piece of information that you're acquired, perhaps clandestinely, you've got to be careful when you decide to call somebody in and ask them about it. It can have impact on other parts of your investigation. It adds a whole another layer of complexity on to what is already a very complex criminal or could be a criminal investigation. And it's just going to take a lot of time to unwind it, which is politically unfortunate for those who have now fallen under this sort of cloud. [Gorani:] But when you say a lot of time, because, I mean, obviously, American people, many of whom have been hearing these allegations float around, and this investigation has been ongoing since July. We're only hearing it publicly confirmed today, even though James Comey went very publicly on the record about an investigation that was sort of reactivated into the Hillary Clinton e-mails but said nothing of this one. So the question is, what could it be, months? Could it be years? [Hall:] Well, there are two things there. I mean, it could easily be months. It could be longer. You know, years would be a little long, but I've seen counterintelligence investigations that have gone on for a long time due to their complexity. But to add insult to injury or to pour salt in the wound, a lot of it is so sensitive and so classified that it's not like a normal criminal type of thing, which the FBI and the DOJ, the Department of Justice, could be perhaps, more open about. So it's going to be long and it's going to be secret. And that's going to be really hard for an open society like ours to deal with. [Gorani:] All right. Steve Hall, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate your time on CNN. We will be right back after a quick break. Stay with us. [Newton:] Very historic moment for the United States and Havana. You do hear protests though as Cuba's foreign minister, Bruno Rodriquez Parrilla, raised the flag in Cuba's embassy in Washington on Monday. With that, the U.S. and Cuba resumed diplomatic ties after 54 years of Cold War animosity and distrust. [Barnett:] Parrilla met with Secretary of State John Kerry who welcome what he called a new beginning. And while some are praising this milestone, other's remain critical. [Unidentified Male:] I would argue that our policy for the last 50 years has been a miserable failure and made no difference in Cuba. I believe having normal diplomatic relations gives us an opportunity to communicate our concerns about human rights or drug interdiction or environmental issues. [Orlando Pardo, Cuban Blogger:] I was there in the State Department today. And the secretary of state of the U.S., John Kerry, and it was changeful, the Cuban councilor was saying that Cuba has gained in many ways and the U.S. has to give back Guantanamo and for so many decades of U.S. embargo. When he was asked by a correspondent about the freedoms in Cuba, and he said that freedom in Cuba arrived in 1959. [Newton:] In Havana, the U.S. embassy was opened on Monday. Kerry will raise the American flag in Havana next month. [02:20:] [Barnett:] We have a few new wrinkles to tell you about in the prison escape of Joaquin "el Chapo" Guzman. He escaped his cell through an elaborate tunnel a week ago. [Newton:] The pictures were incredible. Officials now believe that his accomplices used a global positioning system, or GPS, to help with their plan. And as CNN's Polo Sandoval reports, they may have even done a dry run at another prison. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] 14 months before Joaquin Guzman pulled off his escape from a prison, his organization may have been rehearsing with a separate jail break. A Mexican newspaper snapped these photos of a tunnel leading to a prison in el Chapo's home state of Sinaloa. Mexican officials say it was used in the escape of three inmates accused of trafficking weapons and drugs, at least one with ties to the Sinaloa cartel, a drug organization notorious for subterranean smuggling. This 2014 jailbreak and this month's el Chapo escape are similar. They started at construction sites and ended behind prison walls. This engineer has worked on some of Mexico's largest tunneling projects and says digging such a precise path takes manpower and technology as well. [Unidentified Civil Engineer:] The first thing was they must do is get the location and then start digging in that location with topographic equipment that is so accurate. [Sandoval:] So el Chapo had to do was find the exact coordinates of that shower and the experts would do the rest? [Unidentified Civil Engineer:] Exactly. [Sandoval:] The civil engineer says the easiest part of the dig probably came at the end. [Unidentified Civil Engineer:] They have all the plans they could find the pipeline who goes right under the el Chapo shower. [Sandoval:] And Mexican authorities are interviewing the supervisor of the prison. Investigators believe he may have given away unauthorized access to the prison plans. But he has been added to the list of seven prison employees connected with the escape. Polo Sandoval, CNN, Mexico City. [Barnett:] Outgoing FIFA President Sepp Blatter is setting up a special task force to deal with corruption and bribery allegations. [Newton:] Before he could make that announcement, a British prankster threw a stack of fake cash. Blatter made it clear there is a lot he wants to get done before his time is up. [Sepp Blatter, Fifa President:] My duty and mission now is to defend the institution, FIFA and not to defend myself. I can defend myself. I don't need help with that. But FIFA and I'm happy today, the executive committee together with the confederation they have said, yes, president, we will help you. [Barnett:] Now Blatter also announced his replacement will be announced in a special legislation on February 26th. Four of the six football confederations have asked him to consider running but he hasn't made a decision just yet. [Newton:] In China, a top aide to former Chinese President Hu Jintao is facing prosecution over alleged corruption. Authorities arrested Ling Jihua after expelling him from the Communist Party. [Barnett:] Accepting bribes and trading power for sex are some of the accusations against Ling. The arrest comes amid current President Xi Jinping's crackdown on corruption. Our senior international correspondent, Ivan Watson, joins us live from Beijing with details on this. Ivan, President Xi Jinping's anti-corruption sweep continues. What is Ling Jihua accused of doing? [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] He's accused of violating Communist Party discipline and rules. He is accused of accepting enormous bribes through his family. He's accused of seeking benefits for his wife's businesses and then in a bit of a contradiction here he is accused of, quote, "committing adultery with a number of women and trading his power for sex." So he has been under investigation since December but now stripped from the Communist Party and under arrest. He could have been described under President Hu Jintao as being a chief of staff. This is a formerly immensely powerful Communist Party official at the top of the Chinese pyramid of power brought down and facing perhaps a life sentence or worse in Chinese prisons as a result of this anti-corruption drive led by the current leader, Xi Jinping. [Barnett:] Let's talk about that. Ling was Hu Jintao's right hand man and observers wonder if it is more about Xi Jinping's consolidation of power than stamping out corruption. [Watson:] There have certainly be there's been speculation and suggestions and accusations from some observers this is more of a witch hunt and an example of Xi Jinping going after rivals and basically trying to remove them. But the fact is that the anti- corruption drive is popular with many Chinese who have seen the leadership in this country, top officials amass enormous wealth and corruption is something that he bangs on about. In the case of Ling Jihua, this is somebody who was behind the scenes a lot in the previous administration but he gained notoriety in 2012 when his son crashed a Ferrari in Beijing and ended up killing himself and severely injuring two women and it was very clear that any reports about this deadly accident were then scrubbed from the internet and from media reports as well. It's almost impossible to find a picture of this mangled Ferrari. That has become one of the many symbols for some Chinese of the huge wealth that some of these so-called tigers in the Communist Party, the wealth they amassed for themselves and their families. Another thing, his wife ran what was described as a non- governmental organization called youth business China. She was the founder of it. We have called a couple of the offices around the country and at least two of the offices say their offices have been suspended. Perhaps another casualty in the anti-corruption drive that ended in her husband's arrest Errol? [Barnett:] Ivan, live in Beijing. Ivan, thanks. [Newton:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still to come, British Prime Minister David Cameron has a message for anyone even think about joining ISIS. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] If you are a boy, they will brainwash you and strap bombs to your body and blow you up. If you are a girl, they will enslave and abuse you. [Cuomo:] Remember that is a person that you were talking to, who may or may not have hair. [Pereira:] Absolutely. [Cuomo:] Who are these kids? Who are their parents? [Pereira:] I know. I know. [Cuomo:] I hope that kid's school, I hope that community is watching this piece. [Pereira:] That's right, Uncle Mo. [Camerota:] There you go. Keep us posted when we get a picture of her. [Pereira:] Yes. Wouldn't it be nice? [Cuomo:] Done. [Camerota:] Time more "NEWSROOM" with Carol Costello. Good morning, Carol. [Pereira:] Good morning. [Cuomo:] Costello attacked by a wombat in 1987. [Pereira:] That is not true. [Cuomo:] Barely escaped with her life. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] You are such a ridiculous man, Chris Cuomo. [Cuomo:] She still can't talk about it? I understand. [Costello:] Yes. Yes. All right. Have a great day. NEWSROOM starts now. [Cuomo:] You can see the scar [Costello:] Happening now in the NEWSROOM, Trump towering in New York. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Talking about New York values with scorn in his face, with hatred, with hatred of New York. [Costello:] Defending his home turf against Ted Cruz. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] The people of New York know exactly what those values are. [Costello:] But the Bronx not rolling out the welcome mat. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] I don't believe that she is qualified. [Costello:] Sanders questioning Clinton's cred. The frontrunner on the offense. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Well, in a number of important areas, he doesn't have a plan at all. [Costello:] Get ready, New York. Plus Ray Lewis' controversial question. [Ray Lewis, Former Nfl Star:] I'm trying to figure out if black lives really matter. [Costello:] The former NFL star asking the e movement to tackle black- on-black crime. Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. No more Mr. Nice Guy. Bernie Sanders slams Hillary Clinton, accusing the former secretary of state of being unqualified to be president. You are looking at live pictures out of Philadelphia, where Sanders is getting ready to hold a news conference. We're going to keep an eye on it, but bottom line this race is getting ugly. CNN's Brianna Keilar has more for you. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Carol, this just shows you how high the stakes are as we head towards the New York primary on April 19th. And Bernie Sanders is clearly not taking kindly to the Clinton campaign's new strategy to go after him more aggressively. [Sanders:] I don't believe that she is qualified [Keilar:] Bernie Sanders lashing out at Hillary Clinton. [Sanders:] I don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC. I don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq. [Keilar:] The war of words between the two presidential Democratic candidates escalating. Sanders claiming [Sanders:] She has been saying lately she thinks that I am, quote- unquote, "not qualified to be president." [Keilar:] But Clinton's campaign denies she ever said he wasn't qualified. [Clinton:] The presidents who are successful know what they want to do and they know how to do it. [Keilar:] Clinton is pointing to an interview Sanders did with the "New York Daily News," where he struggled to identify how his administration would break up the big banks, elaborating in an interview with Chris Cuomo. [Clinton:] I was, I think, a little bit, you know, surprised that there didn't seem to be a lot of substance to what he was saying. [Keilar:] Clinton now taking this line of attack on the campaign trail, pinning Sanders as unprepared to be president, and even questioning whether he's a Democrat. [Clinton:] He himself has said that he never was. He never ran as a Democrat until he started running for president. [Keilar:] And Carol, I was at this rally last night in Philadelphia. This was red meat for Bernie Sanders supporters, about 10,000 of them at Temple University. They were eating this up. And it is important to note both of these candidates fundraising now off of this back and forth, Carol. [Costello:] All right. Brianna Keilar reporting for us this morning. Thank you. You can see that podium there. Bernie Sanders is about to hold another event in Philadelphia like I said at the top of the show. Joe Johns is monitoring that. Good morning. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. We're waiting for this news conference here in Philadelphia. After that Bernie Sanders is going to go over and address the AFL-CIO here in Pennsylvania. That's something Hillary Clinton did just yesterday. One of the questions we might want to get to Bernie Sanders at this point is whether when he talked about Hillary Clinton not being qualified, he was actually conflating something that the Hillary Clinton campaign had put out just yesterday. What the campaign had said was that in the run up to the New York primary, they wanted to disqualify Sanders, then defeat him, then unite the party. Not exactly the same thing as saying Bernie Sanders is unqualified for president. So a question about whether he conflated those remarks. What all of this points to however is the notion that the run up to New York and also here in Pennsylvania is a very hot time on the campaign trail for these Democrats, both turning up the heat. Both with real ties to New York state, making this a very competitive and perhaps a nasty race for that state which almost anybody could have predicted, Carol. [Costello:] All right. Joe Johns reporting live from Philadelphia. And when Bernie Sanders begins speaking, we'll dip in again for you in the city of brotherly love. As for the Republicans, take a look at the "New York Daily News." Senator Ted Cruz isn't exactly getting a warm welcome. His New York values attack not going over well. And that is not lost on Donald Trump. Trump attracting 10,000 supporters last night in Bethpage, New York, and using Cruz's words against him. Phil Mattingly is covering that part of the story for us this morning. Good morning. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Three words uttered as an attack line in a January debate, this is before the primaries even started, now roiling the New York primary. 95 delegates at stake. An opportunity for Donald Trump to recover from one of the worst weeks of his campaign, and he is making sure to deploy attacks on Ted Cruz and that attack line over and over again. [Trump:] I love these people. These are my people. [Mattingly:] Less than 24 hours after a devastating Wisconsin defeat, Donald Trump looking to regain his footing in familiar territory, his home state of New York. [Trump:] You know, Lying Ted Cruz came today. He couldn't draw 100 people. A hundred people. [Mattingly:] Trump making no mention of his bruising Wisconsin loss at a rally in Long Island, but wasting little time criticizing Ted Cruz, the Texas senator. [Trump:] I've got this guy standing over there looking at me, talking about New York values with scorn in his face, with hatred, with hatred of New York. I think you can forget about him. [Mattingly:] The rally coming just hours after Trump huddled behind closed doors with one of his top advisers, frustration over strategy, direction, even staffing, according to sources, all roiling the campaign. Ted Cruz also campaigning in the Big Apple, doubling down on his past criticism of, quote, "New York values." [Cruz:] Let's be clear. The people of New York know exactly what their values are. If you want to know what liberal Democratic values are, follow Donald Trump's checkbook. [Mattingly:] Cruz trailing badly in early New York polls, but predicting a big move in the state, much like in Wisconsin. [Cruz:] Well, you know, the interesting thing about polling is it can change and it can change quickly. We just won a landslide victory, winning by 13 points, sweeping the state. [Mattingly:] John Kasich, hoping to stay alive, coming in second in the latest poll, continuing to fight off calls for him to drop out of the race. Now it's very clear that John Kasich and Ted Cruz have a lot of ground to make up in New York but if you want to know what they are actually trying to do here pay attention to where they are going in the days ahead. The reason is this. Donald Trump will likely win New York. Both campaigns are willing to cede that at this point. But the delegates are allocated in a way that doesn't go to winner-take- all. That means John Kasich and Ted Cruz can focus on very specific congressional delegates and try and pick up delegates, just a few perhaps, to keep Donald Trump's total down. That is the crucial issue of this race. That is what gets them to Cleveland and an open convention Carol. [Costello:] All right. Phil Mattingly, reporting live for us this morning. Thank you. I want to dip back in to Philadelphia and that Bernie Sanders campaign event. It's beginning to fill up with supporters as you can see. But Bernie Sanders has not taken the stage yet. We'll continue to monitor this for you. Also still to come in the NEWSROOM. [Unidentified Protester:] Ted Cruz has no business being in the Bronx. To receive this right-wing bigot is an insult to the whole community. [Costello:] Yes. Up next, how Ted Cruz is responding to that angry protester and his rough welcome to New York City. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] All right. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being with me. We're watching CNN's special breaking coverage of what brought down EgyptAir flight 804. There's a lot to get into. We can tell you that the families have just been told that the plane has crashed. The question at the moment, was it terror? The jet vanishing with 66 people on board more than 16 hours ago now. It traveled from Paris en route to Cairo. We know radar contact lost two minutes after crossing into Egyptian air space and this frantic search launched over the Mediterranean Sea. Just a short time ago, we had a huge announcement from the vice president of EgyptAir right here on CNN. [Ahmed Abdel, Vice President, Egyptair:] First of all, our heart goes out for all the families and friends of all involved in this terrible incident. As I can tell you now that we have found the wreckage. We confirmed that the wreckage has been found and the search and rescue teams are now it's turning into a search and recovery. [Baldwin:] Egypt says chances are the plane was brought down by terrorists and not a mechanical issue. And we now know the weather was clear at the time. Greece saying the plane swerved before it plunged from 37,000 feet, the safest of cruising altitudes. And we are now also getting word from U.S. officials saying that early theory is that the bomb, indeed, took the plane down. For more on this revelation, let's go to our justice correspondent, Evan Perez. Tell me why, Evan, U.S. Intel believes that was likely an act of terror. [Even Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, Brooke, it's partly because of things they're not seeing. You know? This is one of a theory that's based really right now on a lack of information. They don't have a lot of information to go on. But I can tell you this. They've looked at the idea of perhaps some kind of mechanical failure and given the fact this is a fairly new aircraft, it appears very well maintained. The fact there was no SOS. No call for help from the aircraft this is a very sophisticated aircraft, very difficult I'm told by authorities that it's even difficult for someone to intentionally try to ditch it. The plane is designed to keep flying. Certainly, 37,000 feet there's the expectation. There's suspicion because of the circumstances we're talking about. Not only the security situation in e gyp but the rise of an ISIS affiliate there. But also, the increased security concern in Western Europe. We have had multimillion terrorist attacks there and Paris airport and it's viewed as a secure place but that is most likely where investigators are going to start. They'll start looking at the people who had access to this aircraft, people who are working on the ground there. And, frankly, the Egyptians will have to take a closer look at the crew, the 10 crew members who were on the plane, and the three security officers and the two pilots on board as well reviewing the flight manifest. We are told, Jim Sciutto told by one of his security source, that the U.S. has begun looking at the flight manifest and, so far, they have seen no red flags running the names against U.S. terror watch lists. And so one of the things now that has to happen is we have to recover the wreckage and begin searching for signs of perhaps a bomb, or if they can find the black boxes, then they can perhaps hear conversations and see what might have been going on in that cockpit before this plane went down Brooke? [Baldwin:] Yeah. According to the V.P. of EgyptAir, he believes they will pretty quickly find the flight data recorders, which gets to the crux of the issue [Perez:] That's right. [Baldwin:] what brought this plane down. Evan Perez, thank you so much. Let's bring in the panel of experts here. Les Abend, CNN aviation analyst; Michael Weiss, CNN contributor; and Tim Taylor, sea operations and emersion specialist, president and CEO of Tiburon Subsea; and Mary Schiavo, CNN aviation analyst and former inspector general for the Department of Transportation; Shawn Pruchnicki, flight 5191 accident investigator, air safety expert, Ohio University; Juliette Kayyem, CNN national security analyst and co-author of "ISIS; Inside the Army of Terror, and senior editor of "The Daily Beast." Mega panel, but need you all on a day like this. We'll talk with you, take a commercial break and then we'll continue the conversation. Shawn Pruchnicki, to you, first. I want to post the same question I posed to Evan, which is, you know, if there's not a smoking gun here with U.S. intel, why would the U.S. come out and say they believe it is likely a trough attack? They believe it is likely there was a bomb on the plane? [Shawn Pruchnicki, Air Safety Expert, Ohio University:] Well, you know, I think the reason somebody, you know, any government or any group would say that is because they have information that they're not sharing with us yet. That's a bold step to make that declaration and we are interested the see what they say to back that up. [Baldwin:] Mary Schiavo, to you. Let's take this all back five steps. Right? So we know this plane took off from Paris en route to Cairo. Before then, this was in Africa. 24 hours before, Tunisia. And then according to the vice president of EgyptAir, a full sweep at Charles de Gaulle involving personnel on board, involving maintenance crews. What would the sweeps have entailed to make sure the plane was clean and good to go? [Mary Schiavo, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Well, you know, I just had one of my staff who's fluent in French translate the reports on the sweep and here's what happened. So after the attacks and about the time of the attacks in Paris and Brussels last year, they went into the airport and they searched the lockers, and they searched the lockers looking for terrorist-related materials. Of course, the airport, they had a background check. The background check consisted of them checking with local or provincial, local authorities. It doesn't say they ever did a background check, for example, using Interpol or any checking against any international lists of suspected terrorists, et cetera. So they looked and searched in the airport lockers to see if anyone brought terrorist materials to the airport. And those people were stripped of their security badges, but if they worked for a subcontract and the airport is run by a subcontractor, I think it's ADP. It's not our agency but a different, a French company. And if the company, the subcontractors had jobs outside the secure areas, these workers had to be given jobs in the non-secure areas. So they weren't all first, which is a shocking development. [Baldwin:] Wow. Let's come back to that. I remember being in Paris last fall and this was an issue. Fears of radicalization within some of these, you know, airport and public transportation personnel. That's been an issue for a couple of years. Juliette, let me pick up off of something that Shawn mentioned off the top. If we're talking terrorism and a possible bomb, according to the U.S., you know, he made the point that the U.S. authorities must have some kind of information that the rest of us don't have to make such a bold declaration. What kind of information could that be? [Juliette Kayyem, Cnn National Security Analyst:] I'm not convinced that they have new information but let's there's a world of the obvious explanation and there's only a limited number of explanations for why a plane falls out of the sky, mechanical failure, pilot error or a disruption. And so, given that a lot of the data suggests something very catastrophic happened, there's no SOS, no bad weather, the plane is erratic at last moments, that suggests something purposeful happened. And given the threat environment we are in, it is not a huge jump to say it might be terrorism. But what we have to be clear is whatever we're hearing all pieces of that investigation are going forward equally. In other words, we don't want to close off anything because we may miss something. The most important thing is picking up on what Mary said, the planes have to keep flying. Right in they have to be safe and can't close airport, all these airplanes and while you figure this out. That's what's going on right now in terms of the three piece of that investigation. [Baldwin:] All right. Let's bring in our 777 pilot. I'm turning to you, Les Abend. As we talk about the twists and turns, right, so the flight appeared normal as it was cleaving Greek air space and Athens trying to communicate with the pilots before switching to Cairo and went fro 37,0 some point and then 15,000 to 10,000. Planes don't just drop out of the air. Made twists and turns. 90 one way, 360 the other. How do you read owl that have? [Les Abend, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Gut reaction, Brooke, is not something catastrophic happened. What caused it? I'm not ready to say terrorism. But I mean, there's a lot that leads to that. By virtue of the fact, yes, not a lot of other information out there and seemed like a normal flight, communications and so on and so forth. An Airbus, I'm not sure where the data is coming from. Is it radar data from the last minute or pieces of that airplane coming down? But if it was a whole, intact airplanes making the turns, very erratic, and very difficult for an Airbus to do. The systems are designed in the airplane to prevent the pilot from for instance overbanking the aircraft. [Baldwin:] If you look at the tick tock, 1:48 in the morning, the pilot checked in with Greece and described as cheerful. Fast forward, Athens contacted the pilots, didn't respond. What would protocol be in that time and that time is significant? [Abend:] Well, it's significant I mean, it may or may not be from the standpoint of there was nothing else going on. They knew they would go to the next boundary. [Baldwin:] Cruising along presumably fine. [Abend:] Until until whatever happened. We had an Air Asia flight and weather had a lot to do with it, but the crew reacted, unfortunately, not appropriately to what the airplane was doing and the airplane fell out of the sky because of a stall as a result of a mechanical issue. We don't know yet. We are trying to draw parallels and let's take it a step at a time. Even if this is a potential explosive device, there's got to be something different about how did it get there and where did it get on the airplane, if that occurred. But, you know, that drop in altitude plus that the turn, the 360 and so on [Baldwin:] Suspicious? [Abend:] Well, I mean, that's pretty radical. Pretty radical for an airliner. [Baldwin:] Charles de Gaulle. Many of us have flown in and out of Paris. In the wake of what happened in Paris last fall, and then Brussels this year, and also to Mary's point about I think like 4,000 lockers looked into within personnel. [Michael Weiss, Cnn Contributor:] Right. [Baldwin:] Tell me more about the airport. [Weiss:] Security amplified, particularly after the Paris airport. My colleague lives in Paris and flew out of there very recently to come to New York and said the security protocols like never before. [Baldwin:] Really? [Weiss:] So, look, again. This is all speculation and let's not jump to conclusions but if it was an act of terrorism, a bomb, chances are strong it was placed from Charles de Gaulle Airport, and in that instance, look, what are we talking about here? A passenger through the security checkpoints? Possibly with a clothing. Remember the Khorasan group in Syria? The U.S. going after them saying these guys were trying to smuggle clothing, shirts, doused in an explosive chemical about commercial airliners and get them on board? Could it have been a device, like this soda can IED that ISIS put into [Baldwin:] Sharm el Shaikh. [Weiss:] MetroJet at Sharm el Shaikh. If that's the case, then Charles de Gaulle is infiltrated by terrorists. There are people working in the airport as flight crew or I think the pilot, but is unlikely given the cheerful mood as they say. But this is a dreadful state of affairs. And I have to say I reported a few weeks ago the new head of is' foreign intelligence there are four branches they use like security service modeled on Arab totalitarian regimes. The new head is a French national. He was born in Paris. He's of North African descent. This comes from a guy who defected from ISIS via informants currently in the organization. What does this tell us? ISIS is leaning heavy on the Europization of their foreign operations. They are not just looking to attack the West, but to make native sons of the West, people in Belgium and France, Great Britain, and Germany, senior ranking officials in their security apparatus to perpetrate and plan these kinds of attacks. So it is not implausible to me, Brooke, this could well have been somebody born in France and working for the airline or the airport and then some way managed to do this, assuming this was an act of terror. [Baldwin:] We'll come back to that point. We have a correspondent at Charles de Gaulle. Atika Shubert is standing by. Atika, can you talk about the current state of security with the plane disappearance and crash? And also, to the point of radicalization of, you know, airport personnel over the years there. [Atika Shubert, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Absolutely. This is a problem that the Paris investigators have been looking at now for years. But more recently in December. They actually released dozens of people from their jobs both here at the Charles de Gaulle Airport and at another airport for fears that they may be linked to radical Islamists, took away their security access. That is concern and since the terror attacks in November and the Brussels attacks, they stepped up security quite a bit even today now we have seen armed security patrolling the airport, making spot checks o4 passengers. So the airport is at its highest state of alert. Operating as normal and absolutely a security concern here and Charles de Gaulle with some of the tightest security in western Europe but, you know, short of sealing, you know, sealing off the airport and doing security checks a mile away there is no way to 100 percent secure an airport Brooke? [Baldwin:] Atika Shubert, thank you so much. We'll check back with you. We're continuing the breaking covering of the disappearance, the crash of EgyptAir flight 804 in the Mediterranean Sea in just a moment. [Burnett:] Breaking news tonight. Ted Cruz announcing Carly Fiorina will be his running mate. Obviously, something that never happens at this point in the cycle unless you are at a do or die moment coming into what you hope is a contested convention. Ted Cruz's situation. Sunlen Serfaty is traveling with the Cruz campaign. She's OUTFRONT from Indianapolis. Sunlen, you just actually spoke to Carly Fiorina, and you know, she's defending this, right? She's saying this is smart, not a Hail Mary pass? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, that's right. She is clearly defending this move by the Cruz campaign this very unusual, and nontraditional move. And what it reveals about the state of the Cruz campaign right now. If it's trying, just a move trying to refocus attention, kind of give them a boost of momentum. And right after she stepped off stage here today with Senator Cruz when he announced that he has chosen her as his vice president, I talked to her, and I asked her specifically about this criticism today, that this move is seen as desperate. Here's how she responded. [Carly Fiorina, Ted Cruz's Vice Presidential Choice:] Everything about this campaign. Everything about this election, is unprecedented. Let's face it. These are unprecedented times. And we face unprecedented challenges and dangers. I think this is a confident leader who knows what he wants to do for this nation. And who wants the nation to understand who he is, what he believes, and who he wants by his side to fight this fight on behalf of the American people. [Serfaty:] So Carly Fiorina really trying to brush the criticism today aside, for what it reveals about the Cruz campaign and the status of their campaign right now. You know, describing it just as this being an atypical election. And Fiorina really also pushing back on Donald Trump's specific criticisms today that he says that Senator Cruz is wasting his time in choosing Fiorina or making any sort of vice presidential pick given that he has no path to the nomination before a contested convention. And Carly Fiorina coming back with a very appointed I should say, in sharp rebuttal, see you on the campaign trail, Donald Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Sunlen, thank you very much. And back to my panel. Mark, what do you say? I mean, this is a Hail Mary pass. The question is, does it possibly have a chance of working? [Preston:] I mean, look. If I was a betting man, which I am. If you were to bet on this race, I mean, you would put your money on Donald Trump. I mean, this was a Hail Mary pass. [Burnett:] Right. [Preston:] I mean, there's no question about it. The question is, what does Carly Fiorina bring him? I mean, she is well-liked by conservatives. But so wasn't he? You know, does she serve as a very effective attack dog? In many ways, probably so. But is it too late for that to work? And I think at this point, you know, he had to do anything that he could do to try to stop Donald Trump. So you can't fault them for at least trying to do something. [Burnett:] Right. Kellyanne, here's the thing. Eric Trump tweeted Donald Trump's son this move is, quote, one of the greatest acts of desperation I have ever seen. Certainly, Carly Fiorina, by virtue of her gender, you could see that's part of this, right? You go after the fact that Donald Trump has such huge unfavorables with women. But is that enough? You're going to see women suddenly flock to Ted Cruz because of Carly Fiorina? [Conway:] Well, I didn't look at Carly Fiorina just as a woman. And I think if the Trump camp really thinks that it's just desperate, just ignore it. I mean, they're really making a lot of hay about it for people who think it's a nonstarter and it's irrelevant, it's not going to work. They sure got under their skin a little bit. Look, of course, she's a woman. And she's proven herself a very formidable, fearless defender of conservative values. But I think, more importantly, Carley are force a two-way conversation on abortion. You know, Hillary Clinton tries to own that, that Republicans are these White men are anti-women and anti-choice. I think Carly Fiorina will get in there and say, you're really extreme on abortion, Hillary and the Democrats because you're for partial birth abortion, sex-selective abortion, tax fair funding abortion, fetal pain abortion, abortion anyone anytime anywhere. That's not something I don't think Donald Trump or Ted Cruz are going to do as comfortably. Secondly, let's give Carly Fiorina her due. Whether it works is a separate question. This woman calling her calling it a desperate move after she was the first Fortune 20 CEO. She's got a resume outside of politics that Hillary Clinton would dream of having. She is now we have a true feminist back in the race. [Burnett:] She does. She has got a very strong resume, but a very controversial one in the business world to be honest. [Preston:] But it's not about her. It's not about her. It's about the acts. It's not about whether she has the qualifications to be. It's about their decision to do it at this point in the campaign. [Burnett:] Should it even a double down? [Mcenany:] No, it won't help. This is unprecedented. You don't name a VP pick until you are the nominee or presumptive nominee. And you look Ted Cruz is desperate to get in the news. That's why Sunday night he leaked the story about the Kasich alliance. That's why he tried to do that silly basketball stunt last night, which fell flat. That's why today he's doing this VP pick. He's trying to get in the news, because he knows this is a Hail Mary. It's the last thing he can do. It won't work. [Burnett:] Unusual press conference. For many ways. Carly Fiorina came out, she had the cheers, she had the crowd. And then there was this one rather strange moment. Let me just play it. [Fiorina:] We've been traveling. Around the country. And I've come to know Ted and Heidi and Carolyn and Kathryn. I know two girls that I just adore, I'm so happy I can see them more because we travel on the bus all day, we get to play, we get to play, I won't bore you with anymore of the song. [Preston:] She's a better singer than I am. I mean, no question about that. Listen, she is trying to soften a persona of Ted Cruz, who is seen as very rigid and doesn't seem like he has a whole lot of emotion inside of him. I mean, that's clearly what happens. [Mcenany:] She beats screaming at the podium like Hillary does. [Setmayer:] Right. And it also beats barking which Hillary Clinton did. At least there wasn't that. Listen, Carly Fiorina is brings a political upside for Ted Cruz. I don't believe this is an act of desperation. I think it was smart politics. That's right. This is unconventional. This election, there's nothing traditional about this election. It actually has been done before. Ronald Reagan did it. It didn't work for him. But it has been done before. So why not? This way, the American people can see a stable ticket. You see what you get. Not, you know, behind closed doors on one way and in front of people I'm a different way. And this week, I'm going to act one way and next week I'm going to act a different way. You have no idea what's going to happen every time he steps in front of a television camera. Ted Cruz is trying to show that this is a mature race and that we're serious about running for president. And this is what we bring to the table. She's an effective attack dog. And it did get under Donald Trump's skin for sure, Kellyanne, because let's not forget, Carly Fiorina is the only one who really smacks Donald Trump around on the debate stage when he tried to go after her looks. And she cut him down to size. And you know he didn't like that. So that's another reason why. [Kellyanne Conway, Keep The Promise, Super Pac Supporting Ted Cruz:] The primary in California. I mean, she won over 4 million votes. Remember, California, is the big prize, 172 delegates. Republican primary voters. [Burnett:] All right. Thank you all very much. Of course, California so crucial with its delegates, coming up on June 7th. Tonight, Donald Trump is bashing U.S. foreign policy. Today, he actually with a teleprompter laid out his own vision in a speech, all part of the major policy address by the frontrunner. Here's part of what he said. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Our foreign policy is a complete and total disaster. No vision, no purpose, no direction, no strategy. If President Obama's goal had been to weaken America, he could not have done a better job. The legacy of the ObamaClinton interventions will be weakness, confusion, and disarray a mess. [Burnett:] Chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, is OUTFRONT. And, Jim, this is a major foreign policy speech for Donald Trump. He did it with a teleprompter, obviously edited himself that had some of the trademark phrasing. But this was very much a formal prepared speech. How was it received? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] It was prepared and more yellow in tone, no question, but very familiar positions. Listen, there was tremendous amount of criticism, but also praise from people like Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the house. He talked about how, yes, he mispronounced the word Tanzania, but he pronounced America right. Earlier, he said he started a profound rebellion. Ari Fleischer coming out in support of him. And let's be honest, Erin, we know there are critics even within his own party of Donald Trump. Many of the positions he laid out today, even though they had that characteristic Trump brashness, are familiar Republican Party establishment positions. For instance, criticism of the Iran nuclear deal. So, a lot of this was not out there at least from a foreign policy perspective. [Burnett:] Now Trump mentioned radical Islam several times today, Jim. Used it as a way to go after President Obama and Secretary Clinton. He said, look, they are afraid to use the word. He's not. Here's how he put it. [Trump:] We're in a war against radical Islamic, but President Obama won't even name the enemy. Hillary Clinton also refuses to say the words "radical Islamic", even as she pushes for a massive increase in refugees. We must stop importing extremism through senseless immigration policies. A pause for reassessment will help us to prevent the next San Bernardino, or, frankly, much worse. [Sciutto:] A pause for reassessment there, Erin. That's really referring to his ban on Muslims coming to the U.S. he didn't say it in so many words but in effect doubling down on that position. And at the same time, hitting on points that really have resonated with many of his supporters, this idea of calling it radical Islam, which the president has been reluctant to do, saying it's not the faith, it's a bastardization of the faith. But these are positions that resonate and that as you know, many people said, when he for instance mentioned the Muslim ban, that he couldn't survive this, and yet he is the presumptive Republican nominee at this point. And perhaps taking that in, these again are campaign-tested positions. He's sticking with them. [Burnett:] All right. Jim Sciutto, thank you very much. And this was such a crucial speech. I want to go now OUTFRONT to the man who introduced Donald Trump today, Zalmay Khalilzad. He is the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Afghanistan and Iraq and the author of "The Envoy". Ambassador, thank you so much for being with me. Look, just to be very blunt here, you are the highest-ranking Muslim ever to hold office in an American administration. You introduced Donald Trump today. As you are well aware, you were immediately criticized on social media. Why did you do it? [Zalmay Khalilzad, Introduced Trump Durign Foreign Policy Address:] Well, first, I'm glad you called me by my name because I thought you may continue to refer me as "the Muslim man". But I did it because I'm on the board of the National Interest Foundation, and that foundation hosted Donald Trump to give his speech. And they asked me to chair it, and I did, and I'm glad that I did it. [Burnett:] Let me ask you, though, because I understand your frustration. Look, you don't want it to be about your religion, but nonetheless, the fact that you were the highest-serving Muslim. A lot of people when you look at Trump's proposed policies, that's a significant thing, to be, to go ahead and announce him. He said, today, if there were a pause in allowing Muslim immigration into the United States, it could prevent the next San Bernardino. You heard that little clip there in which he said that. By your introducing him, given your faith, are you saying that he's right? Do you think that there is something to that policy? Or no? [Khalilzad:] Well, I think we as Americans, irregardless of what religion we have, what our faith is, should support policies that can protect America. And if we don't know who is coming in, whether that person regardless whether he's a Muslim or she's a Muslim or from another faith, then not allowing the person to come is not a bad idea until we can figure out to know who we are admitting to the country. So I think I don't see it so much as a ban on Muslims as a ban, as he explained it if he meant something different, I would disagree with is that we should know who we are admitting so that that person doesn't pose a threat to U.S. security. [Burnett:] Right. Of course, he had proposed a temporary ban on Muslims, because, you know, he says that Muslims [Khalilzad:] He doesn't say that today. He didn't say that today. [Burnett:] So you think today was a change, then, in his policy, but the way it was originally put forth, you would not agree with if it was specifically a ban on Muslims. [Khalilzad:] I agree with you that if it was a ban on all Muslims, I would disagree with because we need Muslims, moderate Muslims, anti- extremist Muslims, to defeat the extremists. We by ourselves cannot defeat extremism. Muslims generally have to defeat them and we have to support those moderate Muslims. [Burnett:] So, would you serve in a Trump administration? [Khalilzad:] Well, if I thought that I could make a positive difference, to help U.S. national security, I would do so. But I would also serve in an administration that was led by someone else, as well, including by Hillary Clinton. I have benefited from this country. I love the United States. And I will do what I can to help the United States. So [Burnett:] OK. [Khalilzad:] But today wasn't I wasn't there to endorse him. [Burnett:] OK. [Khalilzad:] I was there to introduce him. [Burnett:] Right, right. And, of course, it sounds like you at least disagree with the way he has put forth the policy in the past. Have you had a chance to speak to Donald Trump about his comments on Muslims? [Khalilzad:] Well, I met him for the first time today, before the speech. So I have not had the opportunity to discuss it in detail. But I was encouraged by the evolution in his approach, given what he said before. [Burnett:] All right. Well, Ambassador Khalilzad, thank you very much. I appreciate your time and certainly in making it very clear, far from an endorsement, to stand there and introduce Donald Trump today. OUTFRONT next, more breaking news. The Sanders campaign announcing tonight, they are laying off hundreds of workers. We have that report ahead. And Donald Trump charging Clinton is playing the, quoteunquote, "woman's card". Clinton firing back. We have a special report. [Blitzer:] Stolen e-mails are raising questions about Hillary Clinton's views on wall street regulating big banks, and who's to blame for the financial crisis? The hacked document released by WikiLeaks suggests Clinton expressed different views in private and in public. Our business correspondent, Alison Kosik, joins us from New York with details. Alison, wall us through what the e-mails show. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Business Correspondent:] OK, the reality with hacked or stolen e-mails, no big bombshell, no smoking gun. As I've gone through the hacked e-mails, it quickly became apparent that Hillary Clinton said certain things in public, and said them differently in private when haven't been TV cameras rolling. Case in point, regulation on Wall Street. Tough regulations put in place after the financial crisis. Listen to how talked about them on the campaign trail. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate:] Trump would roll back the tough rules that we have imposed on the financial industry. I'll do the opposite. I think we should strengthen rules so Wall Street can never wreck Main Street again. [Kosik:] But here's the thing. These hacked e-mails show that in October of 2013 at a speech she gave to bankers paid by Goldman Sachs, she takes a very different tone. Look at this. It's more of a softer tone, saying, "There was a lot of complaining about DoddFrank" that huge piece of regulation put into effect after the financial crisis but she says, "There was also a need to do something because, for political reasons, if you were an elected member of Congress, and people in your constituency were losing jobs and shutting businesses and everybody in the press was saying it's all the fault of Wall Street, you can't sit idly by and do nothing, but what you do is really important." Notice that she isn't holding Wall Street accountable. She's only holding them accountable for political reasons, especially when you look at this next excerpt, she actually empathetic to the banks. She says, "There are so many places in the country where the banks are not doing what they need to do because they're scared of regulations, scared of the other shoe dropping." So here she's actually empathetic about regulations possibly hurting banks. And on the several excerpts involve the middle class and really call into question her sincerity about how she feels and sincerity. Case in point, on the campaign trail, she said, "The economy should work for everything, not just those on top." You look here, she says, "Now, obviously, I'm kind of far removed from the middle class because of the life I've lived and the economic fortunes that my husband and I now enjoy but I haven't forgotten it." So she shows she is removed from the middle class and even acknowledges, though, Wolf, that she does take two sides when it comes to politics, saying this, "It's unsavory, but it always has been that way, but everybody is watching, you know, all of the back-room discussions and deals, then people get nervous, to say the least. So you need both, a public and a private position." So you've got Hillary Clinton admitting she does say something differently in public than she says in private Wolf? [Blitzer:] How are people on Wall Street, folks you've spoken to, reacting to the release of these hacked e-mails? [Kosik:] A lot of the bankers and the investors and traders I've talked to are not surprised by the fact that Hillary Clinton apparently says, as in these hacked e-mails, shows she talks differently in public than in private. One investor saying this, "She may be a lot of things, but she's not stupid when it comes to raising money and currying favor with those who have it." They acknowledge that Hillary Clinton is a politician, and at least one of them did say to me that if she is elected they believe she will move towards the center Wolf? [Blitzer:] Alison, thank you. Alison Kosik reporting. Coming up, the Clinton campaign is sending one of its biggest surrogates out there, the first lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, to a state that voted Republican in presidential elections for decades. Our political panel is standing by. We'll break down the race to 270. That's coming up. [Harlow:] The opening ceremony for the Rio Summer Olympics just hours away. It all happens tonight. Athletes from 206 nations will compete in dozens and dozens of sports. Five of those athletes are some pretty amazing women. The women's gymnastics team for USA looking to defend America's title as the reigning all-around champions. Joining us live, someone who's a big part of that legacy, 2008 gold and silver medalist gymnast, Shawn Johnson. I am I'm like starstruck talking to you, my friend, because I used to be a gymnast back in the day. Nowhere near your level at all, but idolized you and everything you guys have done. So, first of all, it must be amazing for you to be there. Thank you for being with us. Why don't you take us into the mind of this women's team because the expectation is so high for them. What are they going through right now? [Shawn Johnson, Former Olympic Gymnast:] The expectation is so high. I feel like every single person in the world is expecting nothing but every gold should be taken by the USA team and I would have to agree with them. I feel like we have probably the strongest team our country has ever seen. [Harlow:] Wow. [Johnson:] I think the ability and the capabilities of these girls is untouchable and if they have a good night, not even a great night, we should walk away with most of the gold medals here. [Harlow:] Wow. So we know of the Magnificent Seven and we know of the Fierce Five. If you had to give a name to this women's gymnastics team this go-around, what would it be? [Johnson:] I have no idea. The Gold Five? I don't know. [Harlow:] The Gold Five. [Johnson:] That's really a bad name. It needs to be a lot better than that. [Harlow:] It's pretty good. Well, we'll let you keep thinking. You can come back to that at the end. Simone Biles getting a ton of attention for the accomplishments she has already made on the world stage in gymnastics. But as you look at her, she is favored to win multiple gold medals this year. There was this cute moment at the P&G Championship where she sent a wink your way. I think we can also pull that up. But tell us about her and he incredible story and what you think it is that's made her so successful. [Johnson:] Simone Biles is just pure talent. I mean, I feel like when you look at gymnastics as a sport we always have these girls that are incredibly talented but it comes more from work than just pure talent, and Simone is just pure talent. We've never seen a girl throw her difficulty, her execution, her grace. And I think the thing that makes her and separates her from everyone else is she just loves it. She's just a little kid out there playing around and you can tell it's easy for her, which is kind of comical because she throws the hardest skills in the sport, even comparing to men, so it's impressive. If she just goes out and has fun she should do the same thing here. [Harlow:] At such a young age now, you 24, I think I mean, correct me if I'm wrong. [Johnson:] I'm 24. [Harlow:] You are a gold medalist, a silver medalist. You're now a correspondent down there covering this, you've got a best-selling book, you won "DANCING WITH THE STARS". As you look back at your time getting the gold what's the advice you would give these girls? A lot of people say I wish I would have enjoyed the ride more. [Johnson:] I tend to say the same thing but when I look back on itI feel like had I enjoyed it more I would have been more distracted and not as focused, and probably not a successful. So I feel like for these girls being so young, like every gymnast is I feel like just stay focused, enjoy it, have fun, but do what you do best and just be your 16-year-old self. So I think all the fun stuff and all the excitement comes after. [Harlow:] This team has two 2012 gold medalists on it, Aly Raisman and also Gabby Douglas. What's the biggest advantage for this team heading into the games? [Johnson:] I feel like the biggest advantage, especially with those two girls, is that they just have experience under the belts. They have someone kind of coaching them through and guiding them through all of the kind of chaos and telling them what to do and what not to do. [Harlow:] All right, so I do want to ask you this, as well, since we have your perspective on this morning. There is a report out this weekend in "The Indianapolis Star" saying that USA Gymnastics, the entity, basically did not do enough to follow up on allegations of sexual abuse by coaches. And I want to read you the statement from USA Gymnastics in full here responding to this "Indianapolis Star" report. They wrote, "USA Gymnastics has, in the strongest terms, encouraged anyone who believes abuse has occurred to contact law enforcement and frequently works with law enforcement community on these matters. USA Gymnastics provided The Indianapolis Star with substantial information on its policies and procedures to demonstrate the organization's commitment to the safety of its athletes within the scope of its jurisdiction and governing structure. We feel the Star left out significant facts that would have painted a more accurate picture of our efforts." As a veteran of the sport reading this report this week, Shawn, did it concern you and what are your thoughts? [Johnson:] I mean, personally, I have no experience. I don't know enough in this area to be able to speak on it. I know it is heartbreaking for it to come out and all the allegations around it. I know USAG is doing the best that they can and right now it's just trying to focus on the athletes. But I truly have no experience or knowledge of any of it. [Harlow:] So it sounds like you were very surprised to read this report, even given your lengthy experience with USA Gymnastics, but this report came as a shock to you. [Johnson:] It came as an incredible shock. I mean, I had nothing but great experiences in my career and I feel like I have so many teammates and friends who would say the same. So it is unfortunate but, again, no personal experience. [Harlow:] Let's talk about tonight. You get to be there as a spectator -way less pressure. You get to enjoy it and you're reporting on it. What are you looking forward to most tonight as the opening ceremony gets underway? [Whitfield:] South Carolina Governor, Nikki Haley, says it is a new day in her state. This is why. The confederate flag was removed from the South Carolina state capitol grounds on Friday triggering a roaring, emotional reaction from the thousands of people that turned out to witness this historic moment. This after state lawmakers voted overwhelmingly to remove the confederate flag from the state grounds. It is now in the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. The call to remove the flag was sparked by the killing of nine people at a historic African-American church in Charleston. The confessed shooter, Dylann Roof, was photographed with the confederate flag. Joining me right now is Bakari Sellers. He is a former representative of South Carolina State House and was born and raised in the state. Good to see you, Bakari. So the FBI, before I ask you about the confederate flag and what that means to you, particularly as a native son of South Carolina, let's talk about the FBI and its response saying that the background check of Dylan Roof, the confessed killer, was not thoroughly completed. He should have never been able to purchase that gun. What's your reaction to that? [Bakari Sellers, Former South Carolina House Representative:] Well, an apology is not enough. We had a travesty, a failure in our bureaucracy that allowed this to happen. I saw the FBI director stand up and say that he apologized and it tears his heart up, but we need more than that. We need more action than that. This cannot happen again. We had a failure by our government that allowed nine people to die and I think anyone with common sense can tell you that someone out on bond who previously admitted to a drug offense should not be allowed to get a gun. That's common sense. So the fact that the system failed, it didn't just fail me or those nine families, but they failed the entire country. We were on the brink of something very, very bad in South Carolina and Charleston. But as a community, we were able to turn it around. That mistake should have never happened and we are going to make sure that mistake doesn't happen again. [Whitfield:] And in turning history around, the flag would be removed from the state grounds. As someone who is born and has been raised in South Carolina, you have seen that flag, you know, throughout your lifetime on state grounds there. What did it mean to you to witness it being brought down? [Sellers:] Well, when the flag came down, tears came down. In my 30 years of being on this great earth, I have never lived in South Carolina when that flag has not flown. For me, it is a personal my father was shot February 8, 1968 and imprisoned after the massacre. I knew Clementa Pinckney very well serving with him for eight years in the General Assembly. So I'm very familiar with the blood that runs through the soil of the state and I know what it means when that flag came down. It was one of relief, it was one of joy, and my tears were tears of optimism as well. And so I look forward to a new day in South Carolina, beginning of a new healthy conversation, and not just in this state but throughout the country. [Whitfield:] What does it mean to you that the catalyst of this change, there have been so many debates over the years. There have been other votes prior to last week. But the catalyst of change of bringing down the flag would be the deaths of nine people, including your friend, Mr. Pinckney? So how do you process that? [Sellers:] Well, for me it goes back even further to be completely honest. For me it goes back, and I think about the sheroes like Sarah May Fleming who sat down on a bus before Rosa Parks. Jessica Simkins and the three young men killed in the Orange Road massacre. I think about 40 years ago when Jean Tul and Kate Patterson filed a bill to remove it. It does bring you great sadness that Clemen and eight others had to die for this flag to be brought down. But I know those nine are joining hands in heaven today looking down upon us and saying job well done. [Whitfield:] Bakari Sellers, thanks so much for your time today. [Sellers:] Thank you for the opportunity. Have a great day. [Whitfield:] You, too. All right, still ahead, outrage over a doctor who got rich by treating hundreds of patients for cancer, even though they didn't even have the disease. Details on the doctor sentenced, next. [Berman:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm John Berman, in for Jake Tapper. The national lead: a new worldwide travel alert from the State Department with concerns over the possibility of a Paris-style attack. Americans are being warned to be on the lookout for suspicious activity, especially as they crowd airport terminals and train stations for holiday travel this week. CNN's Rene Marsh joins me now. Rene, so, is this related to a specific terror threat? [Rene Marsh, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Well, John, when you really look at this big picture here, you have a Russian passenger plane that's blown out of the sky, and attacks in Beirut, Paris, and Mali. So, absolutely, the increased terror activity triggered this new State Department travel alert, this happening just as millions of Americans are traveling for the holiday season. They are being told to remain on alert and avoid large crowds. Now, we've seen this alert issued for a specific region. But what's different here is this is a worldwide alert. Meaning, there's a potential for an attack wherever you travel. It is important to note, though, this does not mean people shouldn't travel, but it does mean you should be vigilant, because the threat is real. We do know that airlines continue to fly to places like Brussels and Paris, John. [Berman:] Rene, so I'm sitting here in New York, just outside where I am right now, Macy's parade goes right by here, thousands of people lining the streets, maybe millions of people lining the streets. One of the plans to keep this city safe during the parade. [Marsh:] Well, they are expecting record breaking crowd and that's all because of the weather. It's going to be pretty warm. But NYPD Commissioner Bill Bratton said, just said, there is no direct, credible threat against the Thanksgiving Day parade. That said, there will be a show of force like never before. Take a listen. [Unidentified Male:] We employ counterterrorism overlay that includes elements of visible police presence at and around the Thanksgiving festivities. This will include extra uniformed police officers and traffic agents, plus additional mobile cameras, helicopters, canine, mounted units. [Marsh:] All right. And specially trained dogs will sniff for traces of explosives in the air. Radiation detectors will be used to find any evidence of a dirty bomb. Meantime, NYPD is boosting the number of detectives assigned to investigating a flood of suspicious incidents reports, this happening in the wake of the Paris attacks. They are saying that reports are 200 percent the volume of a normal week. [Berman:] And, Rene, I understand the New York Police Department is sharing what kind of tips they're getting. What are they hearing? [Marsh:] Well, they say some of the tips, they're coming in on tonight 911, others flagged doing key word searches on social media, on the Internet, they're ranging between someone reporting a man abandoning a car on a bridge, to someone posting video on the Internet, posing with guns. It really runs a wide range here. The NYPD is saying some of these will be credible, may be credible, some may not, but the bottom line is they are checking all of them out, John. [Berman:] All right. Rene Marsh for us in Washington thank you so much. I want to talk about the threat here in the United States and across the globe with CNN terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank, and former assistant director of the FBI, Shawn Henry. Shawn, let's first talk about this global warning, this travel warning out from the State Department. What goes into making that decision to issue that? And what is the FBI doing behind the scenes right now to help keep things safe. [Shawn Henry, Former Executive Assistant Director, Fbi:] You know, John, it is the totality of what we're seeing throughout western Europe and through the Middle East. The FBI working with state and local law enforcement agencies through the Joint Terrorism Task Forces. There are more than 100 JTTFs around the country that are staffed with multiple federal, state, local agencies. They're going out now and they have really turned up the heat in the course of their investigations. While they're investigating terrorists, jihadists and those that they believe are aligned with terror, they're pretty passive. They're collecting intelligence. They're trying to determine the full scope of the organizations that somebody might be involved in, if they're planning a threat. But now, sense what we've seen in Paris, they're out there being much more proactive, much more aggressive, really turning over every rock, trying to develop credible intelligence to help them assess if there's a pending threat. [Cooper:] In the election year done, the presidential politics, candidates go toe-to-toe with each other all of the time. What we don't often see is a candidate railing so hard against a journalist or network or magazine or microphone or any of the other foes who've incurred the wrap of Donald Trump and in some cases it's just seems merely by existing. The bizarre vendetta that Trump is wielding against Megyn Kelly in Fox News took another strange turn just tonight we went on Fox News. Here's more of what he said on Bill O'Reilly's show just a short time ago. [O'reilly:] The terrorists are going to come match it and it's going to be personal. They're going to do everything they can to diminish you... And you hope, as president, you have to rise above that, all right? And do what's best for the country. And this exposition that we're talking about today, people are going to say, you know, Trump, he's just too self absorbed to be president. [Trump:] There's got to be something because you set the all time record in cable history and so did CNN. [O'reilly:] They want to know you. They want to know you. [Trump:] No you're trying. [O'reilly:] You're not giving them the opportunity to know them as well as they would like. [Trump:] I'm not walking away. [Cooper:] Joining me now, CNN Senior Reporter for Media and Politics, Dylan Byers and CNN Senior Media Correspondent Brian Stelter, host of "Reliable Sources". Brian, I mean, it's interesting, you guys Donald Trump not backing down to O'Reilly, who's basically kind of admonishing but also at times almost pleading with him to come back to the debate. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Yeah. It was an extraordinary lobbying effort by Bill O'Reilly on behalf of Fox News and Trump is not giving one inch. This is all about a paradynamic, I think, between these two men and between this campaign and this network. They should be natural allies, talking about the GOP frontrunner and the GOP's favorite channel. But to see them at logger head and to see Trump really coming out ahead here and not giving one inch, it's extraordinary. [Cooper:] Dylan, Fox has canceled interviews with Trump before during this campaign. Why has this interview moved forward after all he said and tweeted about the network and Megyn Kelly the last day or so? [Dylan Byers, Cnn Media And Politics Senior Reporter:] Well two reasons, I think. And you're absolutely right, Anderson, that Fox News has canceled interviews with Donald Trump before, although that's certainly not the way Donald Trump would spin it. But two reasons here. One, Fox News is declaring that it is still going to treat Donald Trump fairly, that it will have a podium for him on stage, if he wants to show up at the debate. And in the same vein, it will have a chair for him if he wants to sit down for an interview. But there's a second calculation here, as well. And that calculation is obviously ratings. We're on the eve of this debate, this has become the sort of most highly anticipated moment in the 2016 campaign so far. If you're Fox News, if you're Bill O'Reilly, why aren't you going to take that interview? Why would you give that interview to another network? [Cooper:] It's interesting I mean, Brian, Trump has been publicly reigniting this feud with Megyn Kelly. [Stelter:] Yeah, yeah. [Cooper:] You know, kind of in the run up to this. And privately, at least according to Fox News, his campaign manager was making threats to actually get her removed. And they released a statement, Fox saying in part, Lewandowski, the campaign manager, was warned not to level any more threats but continued to do so. We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. He obviously denies making any kind of threats. [Stelter:] Right. [Cooper:] I mean, was do you think Trump was looking for a way to get out of this debate or? [Stelter:] There were couple of times even tonight even this O'Reilly interview where Trump does refer to the high number of debates or his six debates so far. He comment to about how at some point we're going to stop debating and do other things. However, he says, he enjoys the debates he was up for it. So there's a kind of two different stories here. I think there might be some truth in both. Certainly some of Trump's rivals believe he was trying to avoid this debate. Cruz tonight, Ted Cruz in a campaign trail is calling Trump, "Gentle Donald, poking fun of the Donald that way". I'm sure we'll hear more of that tomorrow night as all these other candidates try to take up some of the oxygen that Trump won't be taking up in the room. [Cooper:] Dylan, who do you think has more to lose here, Donald Trump or Fox News? [Byers:] Well, that's the million dollar question, right? I mean, Donald Trump's gamble here is that he is bigger than the Fox News Network, that he can drive the media story tomorrow night. And that he'll get a lot of turnout and he won't lose supporters. Now, of course, Fox News is a cherished network among many Republicans and many conservatives. But, you know, there's a growing trend here happening and its part of the larger sort of civil war taking place on the right. I've spoken to a lot of conservatives, sort of die hard conservatives, talk radio folks here in Iowa, who don't feel that Fox News sort of adequately represents their views. They don't feel like Fox News has been a fair home to Donald Trump or a candidate like Ted Cruz. And so that is sort of enabled Donald Trump to sort of take this risk and sort of, you know, make the gambit that he can actually convince these conservative voters to go over to his show instead of the Fox News show. [Cooper:] Interesting. Dylan Byers, great to have you on the program, Brian Stelter, as well. Just ahead, Hillary Clinton counting on strong support from women obviously to help her clinch the nomination, but does she have a trust problem? Randi Kaye talks to a group of women in Iowa who did not mince words. We'll be right back. [Lu Stout:] Welcome back. Now, Vietnam's app scene is just developing, but young entrepreneurs there, they're hoping to hit it big. One couple created a platform designed to helping travelers connect with local tour guides. George Cramer is here in Vietnam for the very first time. [George Cramer:] We're bound and determeind. We don't have much money, we are students, and we stay at cheap hostels, we like to go out, meet new people, get internationals. [Lu Stout:] So he signed up with trip meet, a platform connecting travelers with locals. [Unidentified Male:] We like Uber for our local experience. [Lu Stout:] These locals are essentially freelance tour guides who create their own tour experiences to give to travelers. [Unidentified Male:] If people go to Paris, they go to Eiffel tower, they go to Hanoi, they go to the lake everybody goes to the same place, but what if we open up everybody in the city? [Lu Stout:] It began as a university student club. Members would help show tourists around Ho Chi Minh city for free in exchange to get a chance to practice their English. Nearly a decade later in 2013, husband and wife team Ha Lam and Hai Ho turned the project into a business. [Ha Lam, Entrepreneur:] We want to build the happiest community where all the travelers and local experts can very easily become friends and share their memory, their happiness on the way they travel. [Lu Stout:] The platform is growing. It's now available across dozens of countries, but it has not been an easy journey. Ha Lam and Hai Ho had to sell their house in order to fund its launch, and even with that, they consider themselves the lucky ones. [Hai Ho, Entrepreneur:] Obviously, not everybody has a house to sell. The key for Vietnam is to have more [inaudible] investor. Because you got an idea like us, you can do a team, but you don't have enough money to grow it. [Lu Stout:] The app business here in Vietnam is comprised of a small but growing community of tech start-ups looking to make it big. [Bobby Eiu, Entrepreneur:] I tell new founders, if there's any opportunity, go out, leave the country for a few months, or even a year, just to experience and to really see the needs of the region rather than looking just into Vietnam. [Lu Stout:] Bobby EIU rents a start-up incubator in Vietnam. He says creators need to look beyond its borders in order to face regional and global competition. [Eiu:] As an initial market, if you look at us here, well, you say 600 million. Look at ASEAN as a region, we are at least able to compete with Eastern Asia as a bloc. I think it's able to create the kind of viability in terms of marketplace [Lu Stout:] For trip meet, it is a marketplace filled with new local experiences for tourists from ASEAN and all corners of the world. Now the South Korean author, Han Kang, has won the prestigious Man Booker international prize. Now this prize recognizes non-English books translated and published in the U.K., and her novel, "The Vegetarian", is about a woman who rejects society's norms and eventually becomes a tree. Now, the book was translated into English by a 28-year-old Briton who decided to learn Korean because she says there weren't a lot of Korean translators out there. And finally, the Berlin wall the mall there is usually shoppers' paradise in Germany, but it became much more than that on Monday. About 1,000 musicians gathered to play in a symphonic flash mob including many amateurs. Scores were available for download ahead of the event and the musicians played for about 1,500 spectators, what an orchestra spokesman called an overwhelming success. Now that is NEWS STREAM. I'm Kristie Lu Stout, but don't go anywhere. WORLD SPORT with Alex Thomas is next. [Cuomo:] Trump looms large over all the Republican races this cycle. Certainly in Florida, as voting begins in the state's high stakes primary in just minutes. One-time presidential hopeful Senator Marco Rubio will likely face off with Democratic rival Patrick Murphy in November. Now, the outcome could have a very big impact on Capitol Hill. Covering this for us, CNN senior political reporter Manu Raju, live in Orlando with more. Tell us about it, my friend. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Hey, Chris. Florida once again at the center of the political universe, not just for Donald Trump's chances of winning the White House, but also Republican chances of keeping control of the Senate majority, which is one reason why Republican leaders essentially begged Marco Rubio to run for re-election and change that mind and do that, and he eventually did. And now that Marco Rubio is in the race, he has to navigate the cross currents caused by Donald Trump who won this state's Republican primary by nearly 20 points in March. [Raju:] Marco Rubio used to be Donald Trump's harshest critic. Now, Rubio is on Florida's ballot in today's Senate primary and he is giving the GOP presidential nominee a lukewarm embrace. Rubio is open to campaigning alongside with Trump, and he won't take the GOP nominee to task for calling Hillary Clinton a bigot. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Florida:] Democrats have been calling Republicans a bigot for a long time. I think Hillary Clinton has a lot of problems. I think she is corrupt, she is dishonest. I do think some of the policies she stands for do harm minority communities, absolutely. [Raju:] Too far to call her a bigot, though? [Rubio:] Well, I'm not you have to ask other campaigns about the terms they use. I'm not I can tell you I don't want Hillary Clinton to be our president. [Raju:] After ending his presidential bid, Rubio decided to run for re-election after the GOP lobbied him to break his pledge to run for the Senate. And he won't be making anymore pledges, not even to serve out his full six-year term if he wins this November. [on camera]: Could you now commit to voters here in Florida that you'll serve an entire six years if you're elected? [Rubio:] No one can make that commitment because you don't know what the future will hold in your life personally or politically. I can commit to you this, and that is that if I am running to be a U.S. senator, I am fully prepared to allow the U.S. Senate to be the last political office I ever hold. [Raju:] To keep control of Congress, Republicans need Trump to stay competitive with Clinton in battleground states like Florida. That means Republicans like Rubio need to court Trump supporters, as well as independents who may be turned off by the GOP nominee. Polls now show Rubio edging his likely Democratic opponent, Congressman Patrick Murphy. [Rubio:] Florida cannot afford a hyper-partisan liberal in the United States president. [Raju:] But while Murphy is a staunch Clinton supporter, Rubio has done battle with Trump. [Rubio:] He will be a disaster for America. [Raju:] You said a lot of things about Trump during the primary that you have not taken back yet. You call him a con artist. You call him a sham artist. You still don't you're not taking that back. [Rubio:] The primary is over. No, but the primary is over. Right now, the primary is over. The Republican voters have chosen a nominee and we have a choice between two feel. I do disagree with Donald on a number of things. I disagree with Hillary on everything. [Raju:] You said that he's too erratic to be trusted with the nuclear [Rubio:] The primary is over. I'm not focused on the primary argument. [Raju:] How could you support someone you still have not [Rubio:] How can Patrick Murphy support Hillary Clinton? How can he stand with Hillary Clinton when over and over again, she's proven to be untrustworthy? [Raju:] Murphy, who's facing progressive firebrand Alan Grayson in today's primary, says he trusts Hillary Clinton, despite polls saying most voters feel the opposite. [on camera]: Do you trust Hillary Clinton? Do you 100 percent trust her? [Rep. Patrick Murphy , Florida:] Yes, I do. [Raju:] What issues do you disagree with her on? [Murphy:] Yes. Well, you know, look, I her support of the Iraq war early on. [Raju:] But Murphy is eager to tie Rubio to Trump. [Murphy:] I was shocked, there's a lot of people I spoke with were shocked about the support Marco Rubio has given to Donald Trump. Donald Trump is perhaps the most racist, bigoted person ever make this far. [Raju:] Yet, Rubio's primary challenger Carlos Beruff says GOP voters are frustrated that the senator has not embraced Trump tightly enough, while adding this attack on Rubio. [Carlos Beruff , Senatorial Candidate:] I don't respect the guy. [Raju:] Trump is slated to give a major speech on immigration Wednesday. But despite their contrasting views, Rubio hold his punches. [on camera]: Do you hope that he reverses his position to deport the 11 million undocumented [Rubio:] Well, I consistently said that that's not I don't think that's a realistic approach. [Raju:] Is it realistic to build a wall on the border of Mexico? [Rubio:] Sure. Not I mean, you don't need to have a wall across the entire border. But key sectors of the border, absolutely you need a wall. [Raju:] Force Mexico to pay for it? [Rubio:] Well, Mexico will not pay for it. I've already said that. But we should that's our national security interest. [Raju:] Should Donald Trump soften his rhetoric? [Rubio:] Again, you'll have I'm more focused on the Democrats rhetoric on this issue. [Cuomo:] So, again, the good example there, Manu, of the tough line for him to walk. As you said, the political crosswinds. Now, another race, there's going to be an echo effect in is going to be out there with John McCain. In his primary today, the latest CNN polls show him ahead, probably not by as much as he wants. But what affect have we seen Trump have on his race? [Raju:] Pretty significant because lot of those Donald Trump supporters in Arizona simply don't like John McCain because of his incumbency and because of his role in immigration. John McCain like Marco Rubio trying to cut a big immigration deal and a lot of those folks do not like that in Arizona. But the real challenge for John McCain is in November against a well- funded Democratic candidate, favored by the establishment, Ann Kirk Patrick, because John McCain would not only need those Trump supporters to come to the polls but also Hispanic voters in that state who have been turned off by Donald Trump. So, also a fine line for John McCain to walk and not just today in today's primary but also in November Chris. [Cuomo:] Big contrast in styles, though, between McCain and Rubio. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, transition turmoil. Sources tell CNN that Donald Trump's transition team is like a knife fight. After a key national security official gets pushed out, Mike Pence comes in with his own list of names. As the delays build up, is the transition already in trouble? Can't stop the tweet. Trump can't contain himself, taking to Twitter to say he could have won the popular vote if he had tried, and praising the Electoral College, which he once called a disaster. Seats at the table. Trump's grown children and son-in-law heavily involved with the campaign and now in the transition. Will they get top-secret security clearances even though they're already involved in his business empire? And threatened by Trump. Shocking new revelations as Megyn Kelly, in her own words, describes how Trump tried to bully her before the first presidential debate. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We're following new developments in the Donald Trump messy transition operation. Vice President-elect Mike Pence arrived at Trump Tower today in New York to take charge and stop what multiple sources described as infighting over top jobs in the new administration. Today Trump received his first briefing about the nation's most important secrets. The president-elect also resumed tweeting today, calling the Electoral College "a work of genius" and boasting he could have won the popular vote if he had campaigned in California and New York. Nationwide, Trump is almost a million votes behind Hillary Clinton right now. We're also following journalist Megyn Kelly's new allegations of a Donald Trump vendetta against her. Kelly now says Trump threatened her only days before the first presidential debate. A lot to talk over with Republican Congressman Ted Yoho. There he is. See him? He's standing by. And our correspondents, analysts and guests, they will have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's beginning with our political reporter, Sara Murray. She's in New York City for us. Sara, what are you hearing? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, while you certainly wouldn't expect a president-elect to have their entire cabinet filled out by now, it is unusual to see all of the different changes we're hearing about within Donald Trump's transition team, to see Chris Christie ousted and Mike Pence taking over and now to see some jostling among lower level staffers. Now, it is clear that Donald Trump and Mike Pence want to sort things out and get them moving on a glide path today. And that's why they've been huddled in Trump Tower for most of the afternoon, going over potential cabinet picks and trying to find a way forward from what you called a messy transition. [Murray:] Tonight Donald Trump and his V.P., Mike Pence, huddling at Trump Tower to bring some order to a transition team already facing signs of disarray. Sources involved in the transition telling CNN there are internal disagreements over some top-level cabinet positions. Adding to the confusion, lingering questions about who's calling the shots, as newly-named chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, all weigh in on the transition process. As Trump received his first presidential daily brief today, a national security roundup of threats and intelligence developments, he'll have one less experienced hand to turn to. Former House Intelligence Committee chairman and CNN contributor Mike Rogers, who served as a national security advisor on Trump's transition team, was ousted on Monday. The ouster of Mike Rogers, the second major shakeup for the transition team after New Jersey governor Chris Christie was demoted on Friday. [Donald Trump , President-elect Of The United States:] I want to give a very special thanks to our former mayor, Rudy Giuliani. He's unbelievable. [Murray:] One area of contention, secretary of state. Sources say former New York mayor and close Trump confidant Rudy Giuliani is a leading candidate for the job. But others are pushing for former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. [Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor Of New York City:] John would be a very good choice. [Unidentified Male:] Is there anybody better? [Giuliani:] Maybe me. I don't know. [Murray:] Giuliani is hardly keeping his ambitions hidden, but his international business ties, like doing business with Qatar and lobbying Citgo, a U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil conglomerate, could complicate his confirmation hearing. Meanwhile, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is already under consideration for a high-profile position, such as secretary of defense or attorney general. [Giuliani:] Well, first of all, I won't be attorney general. [Unidentified Male:] You won't be attorney general? [Giuliani:] So good. I won't have to decide that one, thank God. [Unidentified Male:] You made that clear. [Giuliani:] I can escape I can escape that one. [Unidentified Male:] I should ask Jeff Sessions that question, should I? [Giuliani:] Wouldn't be a bad idea. But I don't know who's going to be attorney general. [Murray:] He spent 13 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and was the first senator to endorse Trump for president. [Sen. Jeff Sessions , Alabama:] At this time in Americans' history, we need to make America great again. [Murray:] Another name Pence is looking to add to consideration for defense secretary, Arkansas senator and U.S. Army combat veteran Tom Cotton. Today Trump is also turning his eye to who should serve as treasury secretary. Trump campaign finance chair and former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin; Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling; or perhaps J.P. Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Amid transition planning, Trump's still finding time to troll his opponents on social media, tweeting about losing the popular vote: "If the election were based on total popular vote, I would have campaigned in New York, Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily." Trump then calling the Electoral College genius, after he tweeted just four years ago, "The Electoral College is a disaster for a democracy." One of the interesting things about some of the names that the Trump transition sources are floating is that they want to make it clear that they are not just looking at people who have previously served in government. They are looking at people in the private sector and even that they're looking at people who have been critical of Donald Trump in the past, even Republicans who have said that they voted for Hillary Clinton. Now, whether any of these people actually end up in top cabinet positions, that is still an open question, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Sara Murray in New York City for us. Sara, thank you. Our chief political correspondent, Dana Bash, has been working her sources. She's here with me. Dana, what are you hearing about all the jockeying going on underway in Trump Tower right now? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] It's intense and, in many ways, it's expected. You have a person who has never been in public office trying to put together a government in under 70 days and trying to not just put together a government but pick people who are going to represent an ideology and a world view that isn't completely hammered out. So these are big, big decisions to make. Certainly, there is there is jockeying to the point of some infighting. I was told by a couple of sources that much of that at this point is some hard feelings by people who Chris Christie, who was the head of transition during the campaign, he had put in place and are no longer part of the transition. Some of that is because of the fact that Chris Christie is being pushed aside by team Trump. And some of it also is because that was planning for the maybe hypothetical, and this is reality. So there's a lot of that going on. I was just told that we should not expect any big announcements for the rest of the week, that they're still trying to, you know, meet and talk and try to put all of the pieces of the puzzle, at least the big names, together. Hopefully, they hope, by the end of the week. [Blitzer:] Yes. Secretary of state... [Bash:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] ... secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, CIA director. Big names like that. The vice president-elect, Mike Pence, he's there in New York today. So has he really taken charge? Because he replaced Chris Christie. [Bash:] He has. He was in New York today, last night and today, having meetings with the president-elect, with the transition team. And I was told that they met for several hours today, that it was a productive meeting and that things are falling into place. And the thing to keep in mind, I'm told and you know this, Wolf. You've covered transitions before. You know, let's just say, for example, our reporting is that Rudy Giuliani really wants to be the secretary of state. Well, that might happen or it might not, depending on the other pieces of the puzzle that fall into place. Jeff Sessions, another person, by the way, who like Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump feels like, whatever they want, they get because they were so loyal from the get-go, is said to, according to several sources, Sara Murray's and mine, actually prefer the attorney general slot over the secretary of defense. But now I was just told, well, maybe he will be willing to do secretary of defense if they need somebody else for the attorney general slot. So it's it's personnel, you know kind of a personnel checkerboard figure out. And again, they need all the pieces to fit together. [Blitzer:] And they're watching that lobby over at Trump Tower very closely to see who's walking in, who's walking out. [Bash:] They are. There is somebody who came in today who has had a storied and troubled relationship with Donald Trump, Ted Cruz. He came to New York. He met with the president-elect. His spokesman just pulling it up here just released a statement saying that he was happy to meet with the president-elect to talk about issues like draining the swamp and Obamacare and filling the Supreme Court. But it is, I think, note-worthy that he, who is now going to be a senator and, he says he hopes, a partner of Donald Trump, went to meet with him to talk about legislative agenda, a whole other host of things. Because he could be a partner; he could be a thorn in his side. And an early meeting is quite notable. [Blitzer:] Yes. Interesting. All right. Dana, thanks very, very much. Joining us now, Republican Congressman Ted Yoho of Florida. He's a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Congressman, thanks for joining us. [Rep. Ted Yoho , Florida:] Sure, Wolf. Great to be here. [Blitzer:] So what do you think about some of these names that have been suggested so far for key positions in the Trump administration? [Yoho:] Well, he's developed a short list, and I'm very excited about it. And I think you're going to see some jockeying. And what I would tell people is just step back, take a breath, calm down. He'll work through this. I mean, this is a guy that came from zero to win the presidency of the United States. He's built successful businesses. He knows how to put teams together. And I think you're going to see him come together, and things will fall into place. So I have a lot of confidence in his ability and the team he's putting together. [Blitzer:] What do you think about John Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. during the Bush administration, becoming secretary of state? [Yoho:] I'm excited about that. I know Mr. Bolton. I've got a lot of respect for him, as he does around the world. And I think he would represent America well and the ideologies not just of Mr. Trump but the people that sent Mr. Trump up there as the next president of the United States. And I look forward to working with him. As you know, I sit on Foreign Affairs, and we've seen him multiple times. Very smart, very astute ambassador. And he'll represent America great. [Blitzer:] He doesn't have it yet. We'll see if he does. Rudy Giuliani clearly is very interested in becoming secretary of state, as well. [Yoho:] Yes. [Blitzer:] There are some concerns, though, because his law firm had consulted, done business for foreign governments. Should he be nominated for the job, given that issues some of those the contacts he had with some of these foreign entities? [Yoho:] Well, Wolf, I mean, that's something that would have to go through the vetting process. And if there's no doubt that what he's done is OK, I say move forward. If there's any doubt, yes, we don't want to cloud an administration. But that's in the working process. And that will all come out, and that will be vetted out and flushed out. [Blitzer:] Congressman, we're getting some new information on this entire transition process. I want you to stand by. We're going to take a quick break. We'll resume our coverage right after this. [Sesay:] A source close to Kanye West's family says the rapper is in the hospital being treated for exhaustion. He canceled the remainder of his show Sunday after he had a colorful rant about the election on Thursday. One fan recorded West's rant at a show in San Jose. [Kanye West, Rapper:] I said something that was Mr. politically incorrect. I didn't vote. But what I didn't tell you, if I would have voted, I would have voted for Trump. [West:] Black people, stop focusing on racism. This world is racist, OK? Let's stop being distracted to focus on that as much. It's just a [Sesay:] West then had a similar meltdown Saturday night in Sacramento, stopping the show after two songs. We'll talk more about West shortly. Donald Trump is not letting go of his latest feud against members of the hit show "Hamilton." Brian Stelter reports. [Brandon Dixon, Actor:] Conversation is not harassment. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent & Cnn Host, Reliable Sources:] That is "Hamilton" star, Brandon Dixon, responding to Donald Trump's Twitter fight with the most acclaimed show on Broadway. [Stelter:] Trump lashed out at the cast, tweeting that they "harassed" future V.P, Mike Pence after Dixon delivered this message following the performance on Friday night with Pence there in the room. [Dixon:] We are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us. [Stelter:] With the president-elect back in firm control of his Twitter account, he is not letting go of the perceived sleight, saying that. "The cast and producers of "Hamilton," that I hear is overrated, should apologize to Mike Pence for their terrible behavior." [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] It was very inappropriate. [Stelter:] And Trump's ire is not just reserved for "Hamilton." [Alex Baldwin, Actor:] Google, what is ISIS? [Stelter:] After "SNL" portrayed him as "in over his head," he tweeted, "It is a one-sided biased show. Not funny at all. Equal time for us?" Alec Baldwin, who plays Trump, responded, "Equal time? Election is over, no more equal time. Now you try to be president and people respond. That's pretty much it." Trump's former campaign manager says his tweeting is a non- issue. [Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump Presidential Campaign Manger:] Why do you care? In other words, who is to say he can't do that, make a comment, spend five minutes on a tweet. You are assigning malice or wrong doing where it doesn't exist. We should have learned that that doesn't fly with the voters. [Stelter:] Some media watchers are worried that Trump's tendency to lash out could hurt free speech. Others say a thicker skin would just serve him well. [Unidentified Male:] He is going to be made fun of, as he should be. Any president will be and should be. And he's got such a thin skin he can't shrug it off. [Stelter:] Shrug it off is exactly what Mike Pence did after the stars of "Hamilton" spoke up. [Mike Pence, , Vice President-elect Of The United States:] I wasn't offended by what was said. I'll leave to others whether it was the appropriate venue to say it. [Stelter:] Whether Trump can take a cue from his V.P. and tone done his reactions remains to be seen. Brian Stelter, CNN, New York. [Sesay:] Segun Oduolowu is back with us now, an entertainment journalist and pop culture contributor to "Access Hollywood, Live." Whatever you were doing just now, dropping your cell phone. To pick up on the "Hamilton" line what do you make of Donald Trump's reaction to something his vice president elect shrugged off? [Segun Oduolowu, Entertainment Jounalist & Pop Culture Contributor, Access Hollywood, Live:] This is why the people who are protesting Trump are doing it so loudly. Are you kidding me? If the vice president wasn't offended and they were talking about him, why is Trump, the president-elect, going on Twitter and castigating actors? This is theater. This is the home of satire, comedy, drama. And they were very respectful. This is the Trump bully. This is why people make fun of Melania and her whole anti-bullying [Sesay:] What about those who say that's not the place to do it? [Oduolowu:] It is the place to do it. They were respectful. They said he actually said no disrespect and they talked. Here's what bothers me. When Republican Representative Joe Wilson called Obama a liar on the floor of Congress in 2009 where were all these people saying that's not the place to do it? This is a man calling our president-elect a liar. These were actors in a politically satirical play asking the vice president, you guys ran on a divisive platform, just represent all of us. That's all we're asking. I don't think there's anything wrong with that. [Sesay:] President-elect Trump said they should apologize and some are wondering whether this points to a narrowing of freedom of speech down the line. Do you have such concern? [Oduolowu:] I have every concern with him. This is subterfuge. This is to avoid the fact he paid $25 million for his university. This is him throwing, you know, a bunch of junk and being David Blaine. Look at the magic over here while you forget I just paid people off for fraud. Look at my stuff over here while I bully people on Twitter and calling women these names and making fun of handicapped and disabled people, when I'm calling Mexicans rapists and murderers. Look over here while I'm mad at actors doing their job and actually bringing attention to social injustice. Look at that on Twitter while I do these horrible things over here. Don't pay attention to it. It's subterfuge and it's wrong. And if you come after free speech, are you seriously going to say in theater people don't have the right to speak their mind and ask of the audience. He wants to be an emperor, it's Trump everything. Even in ancient Rome you could go to the theater and they would talk to the audience. How dare he? [Sesay:] We'll leave that one alone because I'm sure that's going to rumble on. [Oduolowu:] We're going to be here for a long time. [Sesay:] Let's talk about Kanye West hospitalized. Some might say that the rants of the weekend point to something not being quite right and now we're hearing he's in hospital you say? [Oduolowu:] Everybody that is watching pray for him. Listen, I've done a lot of television work with Dr. Drew. I'm an advocate for mental health. You can see Kanye was in trouble. But please do not believe any of the people that say they are around Kanye, are saying, hospitalized for exhaustion? He was handcuffed. So, if you are tired, they don't the police don't handcuff you for your own protection. [Sesay:] Let's play some of what he said over the weekend. Here he is talking about Hillary Clinton and her connection to middle America or her lack of connection, for want of a better world. Let's listen. [West:] It's a new world, Hillary Clinton. It's a new world. Feelings matter. Guess what, everybody in middle America fell away and they showed you how they felt. [Sesay:] Don't have a lot of time left in the show. But do you think these comments, you know, him supporting Trump, as he said, and what he said about Hillary Clinton, will they be held against him? [Oduolowu:] Do you hold the actions of a person who is mentally unfit or mentally diminished against them? I hope we would not to. But a billionaire just convinced poor people he is one of them. Who knows? We pray that Kanye gets better and mental illness is a real thing. [Sesay:] It is, indeed. [Oduolowu:] But when they handcuff you that is not exhaustion. There is something wrong with Mr. West. [Sesay:] We hope he recovers. It is a very troubling situation, all of it. [Oduolowu:] Absolutely. [Sesay:] Segun, always a pleasure. Thank you for being so forth right. [Oduolowu:] Thank you for having me. [Sesay:] You are watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. I'll be back with another hour of news right after this. Stay with us. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause, with the headlines this hour. Doesn't of Russian athletes are on their way to Brazil but many don't know if they'll be allowed to compete. The team left Moscow just a few hours ago. More than 100 Russian athletes are banned from the Olympics after an investigation found widespread evidence of doping. We're joined now by Clare Sebastian, live from the airport in Moscow. Clare, given the cloud of controversy over the Russian team or the entire team, this was a fairly subdued sendoff. [Clare Sebastian, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, John, there was a celebratory mood here today at the airport. The flight took off about an hour and a half ago. But despite that mood of celebration, it's still unclear just exactly who will be competing. Some have been cleared, but the full list has yet on to be published. And so the question remains, is Russia doing enough to fight against doping, to crackdown on it, to show the world that it is ready to do the right thing. We know the Russian Olympics Committee have set up a special commission to investigate this. Work, apparently, has already started. But I asked the head of the Russian Olympic Commission today, Alexander Zhukov, he was here and was talking to the athletes, and I asked him to explain exactly why they efforts should be seen as effective. Take a listen. [Sebastian:] Why should we believe that Russia is willing to change and fix the problem with doping? [Alexander Zhukov, Director, Russian Olympic Commission:] I have no idea why you should believe. Because of [Sebastian:] Are you worried that situation that [Zhukov:] I think now that the Russian team is the cleanest team in the world. And this team is just going today to Rio. [Sebastian:] Are you worried that the uncertainty has [Zhukov:] Thank you. [Sebastian:] So there you have it, John. The cleanest team heads to Rio today, fighting talk there from the head of the Russian Olympic Committee. I spoke to some of the athletes today, as well. Just a week ago, Russia didn't know if any of its athletes would get that chance. But they feel the weight of that extra pressure to win now since so many of their colleagues aren't going to be able to go John? [Vause:] Clare, thank you very much. Clare Sebastian there with the latest. And, of course, security at the Rio Games is always an issue. For more on that, Bobby Chacon joins me now. He's a former FBI special agent and spends part of his time living in Rio. It's a great city, but it's also a very violent city. If you find yourself in the wrong place at the wrong time, you can be in a bet of a tricky situation. If you are going there, what's your biggest concern, your being mugged or being hit by a terror attack? [Robert Chacon, Former Fbi Special Agent:] I would say the street-level crime is going to be the most prevalent risk you'll take in Rio. And probably the one you can take most precautions against. It's much hard to anticipate where a Paris-style attack might take place, for instance. But if you're going and you're worried about the street- level violence, then you practice some operational awareness, you know where to go, where not to go. And in Rio, while we are some dangerous areas, and I've lived there for two years now, those areas are pretty obvious, and it's pretty telling where to go and where not to go. During the Olympics, it'll be easier because it will be [Vause:] The neighborhoods change quickly. You know when you [Chacon:] Very quickly. They mark it. [Vause:] One thing, though, is that we have the situation with the police. The police haven't been paid for a great period of time. So clearly, you know, they had their own concerns. I was telling people, don't count, it's too dangerous. If you don't have the support of the local police I know they've brought in the military and other law enforcement as well. But if you don't have on-the-ground support from the local police, is that a big concern? [Chacon:] It was a big concern until several weeks ago when the mayor of Rio declared a state of public calamity. And that basically asked the federal government for several millions in aid and they released these monies so the police, the fire, the first responders got their back pay. They're paid up now. What will happen post Olympics is any [Vause:] Another story there. [Chacon:] But I think through the Olympics, they have a satisfied police force right now. [Vause:] One of the criticisms, one of the concerns about Brazil and I guess Rio as a whole is that it doesn't have this post- 911 mentality when it comes to security. I guess in particular at the airport and there has been some issues with the security arrangements at the airport, not necessarily of the Brazilians making it, but of the International Olympic Committee. [Chacon:] And I think it's because South America has been, in a sense, far removed from all of the terrorism. When I was working counterterrorism at the Athens Olympic, for example, I live in Greece for about a year prior to the games, and we had the Madrid bombings in March, and we had the Olympics in August in Greece. If was very close in time. The Greeks woke up, if you will, in March when that happened. I don't think Rio has had the same type of, you know, event, thankfully. And they're too far removed I think from what is happening in Europe to give them that wake-up call. But I think the military and police are so used to dealing with violent level drug issues, if a Paris-style attack happened where you had coordinated gunmen moving through the streets, I think the operational and tactical events of the Brazilian units are capable of handling that. [Vause:] And, you see what's already happened in Brazile, in Rio, they had the World Cup two years ago, the fact that conferences are there, and apart from the logistics and other things working out organizationally, at least security-wise, they've gone off without a hitch. [Chacon:] They did, they did. In 2009, they started their pacification program. And I think they've had a very large experience in dealing with street-level crimes and shoot-outs in the streets and things like that. So I think if there was going to be a coordinated attack like happened in Paris, I think the police would be able to put it down fairly quickly. [Vause:] OK. Bobby, thanks for coming in. [Chacon:] Thank you. [Vause:] Appreciate it. Enjoy the games in Rio. [Chacon:] Thanks. [Vause:] OK. And this just in. Australian officials have confirmed to CNN that the pilot of Malaysia Airlines flight 370 had plotted a course to the southern Indian Ocean on his home flight simulator. That's the general area where officials believe the Boeing 777 disappeared more than two years ago on its way from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. This confirms what "New York" magazine had reported a few days ago. Officials stress the news does not reveal what actually happened to the plan, which still has not been found, despite an extensive and very expensive search. We'll bring more details on that as we get them. A short break. When we come back here on NEWSROOM L.A., FOX News host, Bill O'Reilly, under attack because of some criticism he made of Michelle Obama's convention speech. [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Anchor:] A new test for Italy and the E.U. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi says he will resign after a lopsided defeat of the polls. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] A painful search. Investigators looks for answers after warehouse fires kills dozens of people in Oakland, California. [Vanier:] And on the attack. Donald Trump launches the fresh Twitter assault on China just days after diplomatic breach on Taiwan. Welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Cyril Vanier. And I'm Rosemary Church. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Populism has been on the rise in European politics and its supporters are declaring victory in Italy. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi was on the losing end and he's preparing to leave office now. But the populace movement suffered a setback in Austria. Voters rejected a far right candidate electing a pro-E.U. veteran instead. We'll get to that part of the story in just a few minutes. [Church:] All right, So, let's start in Italy with the prime minister's position up for grabs. The country is at a political crossroad. Metteo Renzi says he will formerly resign in the coming hours. [Vanier:] He promised that he would step down if he lost this weekend's constitutional referendum which he did and by a wide margin. However, Renzi seemed gracious in defeat. [Church:] Well, there's fear of financial fallout from this vote and we may be seeing that very soon. Let's turn in to Nina dos Santos in Milan. And Nina, markets are opening very soon, how are they likely to respond to this vote in Italy? [Nina Dos Santos, Cnn Corresppondent:] Yes, the stock market right behind me here in the financial capital of Italy, Milan, well, that is expected to open around 2.8 to 3 percent at the point. In fact, we're seeing the early trades, trading down in negative territory. I'll give you the numbers when we manage to get them. But, Rosemary, it's not just markets here in Italy that are going to be affected the reverberations of what's happened overnight in Italy. It is a period of great uncertainty. And what many people across financial markets around the world are trying to get to grips with, is where you put your money during these uncertain times when it's really difficult to get exactly how populism and politics that is currently dominated by populism in this part of this world it seems is playing out. So, the real crisis here in Italy is not just a political one, it is an economic one as well. And in many ways, that is what people wanted to be heard on more than the constitutional reforms that Matteo Renzi proposed. So, what you'll often hear from people in the streets from Milan, Rome, and Venice and other parts of Italy is that this was a protest vote. Matteo Renzi chose to make this personal and that is one of the reasons why he had to fall on a sword when he chose to say that he would resign if he were to lose this referendum. He lost by a wide margin. And as you and Cyril quite rightfully pointed out, he had to go and he went very swiftly. So, from here a political uncertainty looms and that there may be various options for the president on the table. We'll have to see over the next few days how that pans out. And that's something that people in their stock market behind me will keep a close eye on, as well as across board rooms and banks across this country. [Church:] And Nina, while we're chatting, let's just bring out those numbers again. Because we do have them. You can see there that Milan is down just over 2 percent. The FTSE 100 down just over.3 of a percent there. But let's just go back to the reasoning there, why Italians would vote against reform and downsizing the Senate and it's powers for some that is hard to grasp. [Dos Santos:] It's a good question, isn't it, Rosemary? Because in the face of things what Matteo Renzi was trying to propose here streamlining the bureaucratic system, streamlining the system of Senate and the upper and then the lower House of Parliament, the chamber of deputy so that we didn't have bills constantly going back and forth between one and another to empower the politicians in this country to actually take the economy into action. It seemed like a great idea on the face of things. But the problem is, is that people seem to be spoiling for a fight here, especially the populist five-star movement of Beppe Grillo spent a lot of money in his big media machine to try and campaign to get out there, to try and get this party supporters and other people across the country to vote. It seems as though that message has gone down loud and clear. Sixty percent of the Italian who voted in this referendum decided to reject to Beppe's proposal. Then 40 percent of them voted yes. A lot of those 40 percent you can imagine are in rather richer more affluent parts of the country that are pro-business like hire in Milan. In fact, the business community was very much in favor of what Renzi was proposing here. But the turnout was also significant and we shouldn't ignore that. The turnout of over 70 percent is larger than some of the general elections that I've covered here in Italy. So, it does go to show that these were measures that were ejected soundly, not just when it comes to the Constitution, but also when it comes to Matteo Renzi having gambled on this personally and lost in spectacular fashion. [Church:] yes, indeed. Our Nina dos Santos joining us there with that live report in Milan just after 9 o'clock in the morning. We saw there in Milan the markets dropping 2 percent, just over 2 percent. We'll keep a very close eye on that. Many thanks to you, Nina. [Vanier:] Let's look at the other key election that took place in Europe on Sunday, and that in Austria. Voters there have chosen a left wing candidate to lead their country for the next six years. [Church:] Yes, Alexander Van der Bellen won decisively. His opponent was looking to become the E.U.'s first far right of head of state. [Vanier:] Senior international correspondent Atika Shubert joins us now live from Vienna with more on these results. Atika, the polls in the run-up to this election, made it look like the far right candidate had a good shot at the presidency. I mean, after all they came very, very close last time. But in the end this result wasn't particularly close. [Atika Shubert, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] No, in fact. It was a decisive win with last time, you know, with won just by a few thousands votes, tens of thousands of vote. Now it was very clear that Van der Bellen he seems to have won over voters with his message of a stable and open Europe. The first time far right candidate Norbert Hofer ran for Austria's presidency in May, he lost by just 31,000 votes. While this time, it was a clear defeat that could not be contested. Alexander van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economist, backed by the Green party beat him again by a decisive margin. Exit polls showed 53 percent for Van der Bellen, 47 percent for Hofer. Behind me now you can see both candidates, Norbert Hofer, and Alexander Van der Bellen giving interviews to state broadcaster ORF, explaining exactly why they believe voters chose the way they did. [Alexander Van Der Bellen, Austria's President-elect:] I think it's a historic day for Austria for several reasons. For the first time a presidential election had to be repeated and it was not just a repetition, in fact, it was a new election. Because, you know, conditions change, the world around us has changed. We had the Brexit vote in Great Britain in United Kingdom. We had the election of Donald Trump in the United States and so on, in six months many things happened. [Shubert:] Voters were worried and anxious, but not just about immigration, which Hofer railed against. But also Austria's place in the E.U. and fears that the so-called Trump bump would bring populace and isolationist parties into power, seems to have pushed voters the other way. "My gut tells me to be worried," this woman said, "and I'm scared, I really fear that my daughter won't have the same opportunities as I did." [Unidentified Male:] Yes, finish. [Shubert:] This man told us, "I am worried about Austria, I hope it doesn't go the way at the U.S. or the U.K. and that it will be an E.U. for us all, and continues to be that way and not destroyed by some people." Immediately after the polls, a resigned Hofer insisted to CNN that he was working to unify Austria after a divisive and prolonged campaign season. [Norbert Hofer, Austrian Presidential Candidate:] I don't want to divide the country. Now it's me and Mr. Van der Bellow to tell the people who supported us that it's important to see that we are one country. We're all Austria and we have to work together. [Shubert:] Does this put an end to the sort of populist, nationalist surge we've seen in Europe. [Hofer:] I can't say always, I have to say always the same thing. I'm not a populist; I don't want to be a populist. I'm a pretty normal guy a level-minded man. Yes. And I just want you to believe me. I'm really I'm right, but I'm seen right, I'm middle right. It's so important for me to show that I'm not an extreme man. [Shubert:] Now, the Austrian presidency is a ceremonial but highly symbolic role. Hofer's loss has dealt Europe's popular surge a blow, and now the professorial Van der Bellen, a self-described child refugee is being held as a defender of an open liberal Europe. But Austria is just the first of a string of election challenges in the year ahead. I think the key here was Van der Bellen said earlier that piece, is that a lot changed in the last six months. You had Brexit, you had Trump, and what voters are really voting for was stability. This is the one thing in exit polls, they said they expected Van der Bellen to basically stay the course, keep Austria in the E.U. and keep an open open Europe and open Austria. [Vanier:] Our CNN senior international correspondent, Atika Shubert, thank you very much. [Church:] A fire at hotel in Karachi, Pakistan has killed at least 11 people. The blaze broke out at region plaza hotel. Karachi's mayor says there were no fire exits or fire alarms going off to alert people inside the hotel. At least 75 people were injured. Firefighters rushed to the scene and officials say the fire has now been contained. They're investigating what could have caused it. [Vanier:] At least 33 people are now confirmed dead in Oakland, California after fire tore through a dance spot in a warehouse. These images show the building before Friday night's place. It was known as the ghost ship and it housed artist studios. Authorities say, however, it does not have permits for people to live inside. And the building's owners had been notified of hazardous trash and debris violations. [Church:] As officials comb through what's left of that building, Oakland's fire chief described the blaze as among the worst in the city's history. Here's what Oakland's mayor said is being done to recover victim's remains and comfort their loved ones. [Libby Schaaf, Oakland Mayor:] But it is with so much grief and so much compassion that we, as your city family share with you this horrific news. And as this tragedy continues to unfold, I want you to, again, reassure of what our priorities are as the city of Oakland. Our first priority is the humane and compassionate removal of the victims of this tragedy. And I want to assure you that we are continuing to operate a 247 recovery operation to effectuate that removal. Secondly, we are focusing on supporting the families and the loved ones, some who are coming from very far away. [Vanier:] The District Attorney's office in the Oakland area has activated a criminal investigation team to look into the deadly fire. [Church:] CNN's Stephanie Elam is in Oakland with more on this tragedy. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] The officials here are saying it's too early to determine what caused this fire, but what they have said is as they've gone through the building they've broken it up into quadrants, and they're saying they have found victims in all four of the quadrants of this building. There is no one place that the victims were found. They're also saying that some of the people that lost their lives were juvenile, 17 years old, some young adults in their early 20s, and some 30 plus, they're also saying that they're in touch with embassies who are people who were from other countries, that also lost their lives in the fire. At this point, they've reached out to some of the families, but they're still working to identify some of the people who died here, that's because they're saying some people, it's evident who they are, if they had their I.D. on them, they can match it with fingerprints. But for others where there is nothing there to identify them, they're having to get some source of DNA. So, they're asking family members if you think you lost someone here, to preserve a toothbrush or to preserve a hair brush and put it into a paper bag, a clean paper bag and hold on to it so that they can get to them. But at this point, they're saying they would not be surprised that they actually do expect that the number of people who died here in this Oakland fire, will increase. [Church:] Stephanie Elam with that report. Construction is stopping, at least for now, on a controversial pipeline project in the U.S. State of North Dakota. [Vanier:] The line is finished, except for a segment that was originally planned to run under a lake, that sits near tribal land. The standing Rock Sioux tribe and supporters have protested the project for months. Sara Sidner reports. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Celebrations, tears of joy, chanting, and drumming, that's what the initial reaction when the folks here found out that the army corps engineers was going to stop this pipeline by asking the Dakota Access Pipeline to be rerouted, rerouted away from the thing that has caused the flash point here, rerouted and kept from going underneath the Missouri River. It is a very big victory for the standing Rock Sioux and all of the people who have been here many months trying to stop this pipeline from potentially going under the water and one day leaking. However, what we have also heard from the tribe is that there are concerned that this may not be permanent depending on which administration is in place and worried about Donald Trump's role in all of this when he takes the presidency. [Unidentified Male:] Today's decision from the army corps of engineers to not allow the pipeline company to drill underneath the river and violate our treaty rights and to put our children's health at peril from cancerous waters is a victory. But it's short-lived, one that we need to dissect, one that we need to analyze, we need to make sure that President-elect Trump can't over ride this decision here today when he takes office. [Sidner:] We're hearing that from other members from the tribe that even though this is truly a victory and people feel relief. There is also worry about what happens next. Right now this camp is filling up. No one seems to be living. [Church:] Sara Sidner with that report. And the company building the pipeline says it remains committed to seeing the project through to completion without rerouting. [Vanier:] And coming up when we return, Syria is calling on civilians to return to east Aleppo. And our Fred Pleitgen goes to the war-torn city for a look at resident's grim homecoming. Also ahead, Donald Trump turns up the rhetorical heat on China, alleging Beijing is manipulating its currency unfairly against the U.S. We'll take a look at that. Back in a moment. [Whitfield:] It's been a week of emotional Town Halls with a lot of passionate pleas to save Affordable Healthcare. CNN's Boris Sanchez has a firsthand look at the fiery meetings across the country. [Rep. Gus Bilirakis, Florida:] They do. Yes, they do. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Tension is running high and emotions boiling over. [Bilirakis:] My party had virtually no input. No input. Well, OK. So, that's OK. That's OK. [Sanchez:] The crowd at the Town Hall in New Port Richey, Florida not holding back, pushing hard against indications from Republicans that a repeal of the Affordable Care Act is looming without a unified plan for a replacement from the [Gop. Unidentified Female:] What's your plan? What's your plan? [Sanchez:] Town Halls like this one have been organized across the country by Republican lawmakers to better communicate their positions on health care to constituents. But in the past week, protesters have swarmed to these venues, giving lawmakers in both chambers of Congress an earful. [Unidentified Male:] Do your job. Do your job. Do your job. [Sanchez:] On Saturday, Representative Gus Bilirakis from Florida's 12th District faced them, too. Some shared deeply personal stories. [Unidentified Male:] My daughter has a genetic disease called Gitelman syndrome. Now before the ACA, we spent thousands of dollars. We spent tons of time, because she had a preexisting condition, and nobody would touch her. We talked they were talking at one point $10,000 for one year's worth of insurance, OK. So now she has the ACA, since 2009 and she is now able to get the medication she needs to save her life. [Sanchez:] Others were more forceful. [Unidentified Female:] Do not get rid of the ACA. You will have so many big problems. It's not funny. [Sanchez:] A handful of Donald Trump supporters also got to voice their concerns. [Unidentified Male:] Yes, yes, yes, yes. [Unidentified Female:] Ladies and gentlemen [Unidentified Male:] So you need to find out the facts before you start complaining. [Bill Akins, Pasco County Republican Executive Committee:] Here's the problem I have with the Affordable Healthcare Act. Number one, there is a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel. Yes, they do. Yes, they do. It's in there, folks. You're wrong. [Unidentified Female:] I am 77 years old, and I think it's unconscionable for this politician to tell me that at 74 I will be facing death penalties. That's wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. I have [Akins:] You misunderstood me. I'm on your side. [Unidentified Male:] They're angry with this particular plan, not because of the plan itself, but because who is proposing the plan. [Sanchez:] Representative Bilirakis who was reelected in a landslide last year assured constituents that he planned to take their stories back to Washington. The congressman has voted to defund the ACA in the past. A spokesman says he considers it his duty to take input from all of his constituents, though, not all of them believe that he's going to actually change his stance. [Dr. Peter Riquetti, Physician:] I think hearing personal anecdotes is something that plays well on news bites and sounds like you are invested in the community, but I think in reality it's a show. [Sanchez:] As for the increased interest and public outcries at Town Halls, one Democratic activist says that we should expect more. [Ivana Sheppard, Local Activist:] So I don't see that passion and that anxiety and that fear dissipating unless we see some real change. [Sanchez:] Boris Sanchez, CNN, Newport Richey, Florida. [Whitfield:] And these Town Halls are ongoing. They continue to happen this afternoon all the way from California to Rhode Island. We'll monitor and bring you any headlines at what happens. We'll be right back. [John King, Cnn:] Pretty good way to talk about it, didn't talk about it. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Unbelievable, he's also been talking about term limits, and other things, always a good buzzword out there, he didn't talk about it. So it gets back to preparation. It just is not a good model for him I guess. But he missed opportunities throughout all three debates to prosecute the case. I thought last night in that moment was the strongest as you said. I mean he clearly practiced some but never brought it home, almost like he's afraid to in some respects. [Jackie Kucinich, The Daily Beast:] But, you know, Chris Wallace really had Hillary Clinton in a bind at one point. Explaining the Clinton Foundation, I mean, some of their donors. And he cut her Trump cut her off. And she was really struggling with the question. And it was a weaker moment for Hillary Clinton, in that debate. He cut her off and mentioned his own foundation which "The Washington Post" has been digging into and finding all sorts of not regular things about it. So it was just watching it was just perplexing. I mean, exactly, he saved her essentially from that moment. [Reid Wilson, The Hill:] And then of course Clinton was able to bring up the fact that Trump's foundation has bought a what is it, a ten- foot tall portrait of him and she got in the good line "Who does that" which I thought really stuck. [Sara Murray, Cnn Politics Reporter:] I was surprise that she didn't actually have a better answer when it came to the Clinton Foundation. I mean I think we all are aware that the foundation has done good work. But that doesn't mean, those two things are not mutually exclusive. You can do good work as a foundation and you also accept money from donors you shouldn't accept money from. And to see her continue to struggle with that even at this point in the campaign, I think that highlights why no one really feels like even though these battleground maps look so treacherous for Trump, nobody's going to feel like this race is put away until it's actually put away because there are such inherent weaknesses in both candidates. [King:] Right. And the volatility of the race too, but there was, you know, if he watches the news all the time, DVR if he watches again, if he didn't read the documents himself, his campaign team has read them. That was the perfect opportunity to say, "Madam Secretary, why did your daughter write an e-mail saying there are all sorts of conflicts interests, people taking banking in your husband's name?" There was a great opportunity there for him to come at it. But he didn't do it. Another one was, when he criticizing her record as secretary of state. Essentially saying she's a failure. And everything she touches as secretary of state. The issue of China came up. And Clinton swung it back. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] One of the biggest problems we have with China is the illegal dumping of steel and aluminum into our markets. I have fought against that as a senator. I've stood up against it as secretary of state. Donald has bought Chinese steel and aluminum. In fact, the Trump hotel right here in Las Vegas was made with Chinese steel. So he goes around with crocodile tears about how terrible it is. But he has given jobs to Chinese steelworkers, not American steelworkers. [King:] His answer to that was, "Well, you didn't change the laws so I did it." [Murray:] That's not a really good... [Wilson:] Which is what has provoked the gasps from focus groups in previous debates, when he said that not paying taxes makes him a good businessman, that was when a bunch of I think that was a "The Washington Post" story. A bunch of up decided voters in North Carolina actually gasped. This sort of shows this candidate not only didn't necessarily prepare well enough for the debate last night, he also didn't prepare to actually run for president, which is when you start paying your taxes and making a bunch of charitable contributions and things like that because your tax returns are going to be in the public eye until we get to Donald Trump and then somebody sends them to "The New York Times." [King:] On this on the issue you brought up. And we talk about for this, ways Trump could have better prosecuted the foundation argument, the politician argument that change Washington argument. Again, the WikiLeaks questions came up. And there's a lot of embarrassing things potentially embarrassing things, at least the things that have to be explained for Secretary Clinton to be fair, we don't have the full context of the e-mails. But at least what we do have, some very interesting questions about whether she says one thing in public and then tells a bunch of bankers in private for a lot of money something else. But when it came up, she did what we expected her to do, pivot, say, "Well, wait a minute, never mind what's in the e-mails, where did they come from." [Clinton:] You are very clearly quoting from WikiLeaks and what's really important about WikiLeaks is that the Russian government has engaged in espionage against Americans. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] That was a great pivot off the fact that she wants open borders, OK. How did we get on to Putin? [Zeleny:] Fine, but then he didn't follow up. [King:] Right, yes. [Zeleny:] I mean he was right, it was a great pivot. I'm surprised that she was able to get away with it. But she was. Again, if you as we near the twilight of this campaign, it is amazing how many questions, as Sara was saying, and controversies still linger on the Clinton campaign. She's not answered or quieted many of these from e-mail to the foundation, other things. But she's running against Donald Trump. So it really hasn't mattered. If she was running against a tougher candidate, she would be in a world of hurt because of those WikiLeaks e-mails. [Kucinich:] And they knew it. The campaign knew it. In those e-mails, not because of WikiLeaks, you can see them because of WikiLeaks. But they were talking about Marco Rubio. They were worried about Jeb's economic message. And I'm sure the people on those campaigns, a little part of them died when they read that. [King:] Early in the Republican primaries we would say, "You know what, give Donald Trump a little grace, he's never done this before. When he did have some moments where he fade in the debates. It's also an effective debates. But there were times especially where he would just fade away. But he's been at this long enough now. And if you're going to do the thing just to your point when the issues came up, you know, he couldn't just turn and say "Fine, fine, let's talk about WikiLeaks. But what about the substance of the e-mails, why won't you answer the question about this? You can do things with one line to force that he never did. [Wilson:] But these are two different sort of sets of debates that we're talking about here. In the first one, he got to pick two or three moments with a stage full of, you know, 11 people and make his statement or, you know, essentially pick his spots. Here, he's got 90 minutes. Its two people. He's got to split the time with somebody else who is a very good debater. And he's got to be versed on things that they're not talking about in the Republican primary. The thing that strikes me is Donald Trump is still running a Republican primary campaign and we're 19 days before general election. [Murray:] And they knew this was obviously a different debate format going into the series of general election debates. And what is striking is if you then look at that full interaction about WikiLeaks and about Putin and about Russia, what I came away with, and that was Donald Trump still insisting that Russia, you know, has nothing to do with it. [King:] Well, let's see what Donald Trump takes away from the debate last night. He's speaking live right now in Delaware, Ohio. [Trump:] Ladies and gentlemen, I want to make a major announcement today. I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States, that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win, all right. Seriously, the debate last night was amazing. And everybody said I won. Including every single online poll and some had it at 90 and close to 90 percent so let's put it that. The question of voter fraud came up during the debate. We want fairness in the election. This is having nothing to do with me. But having to do with the future of our country, we have to have fairness. John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, was quoted in WikiLeaks is saying "Illegal immigrants could vote as long as they their driver's license." What I'm saying is don't be naive, folks, don't be naive. One of the big issues that came up last night was the fact that the Clinton campaign has paid people to disrupt violently our rallies and to insight absolute total bedlam. [Crowd:] Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up, Lock her up. [Trump:] It's so bad, so bad. And, you know, I've had occasions where we've had rallies and it was so incredibly violent. I said, "What's going on over here?" These were paid people by the Clinton campaign. And it just came out. And I give, a lot of credit to the people that brought this out, believe me. This is criminal behavior that violates centuries of tradition of peaceful Democratic elections. A campaign like Clinton's that will incite violence is truly a campaign that will do anything to win. And a candidate like crooked Hillary Clinton who will lie to Congress, lie to the FBI, destroy 33,000 e-mails, put her office up for sale and put our confidential information into reach of our enemies is a candidate who is truly capable of anything, including voter fraud. In addition, it was just learned that Hillary Clinton was given the exact questions to a previous debate. Word for word by Donna Brazile, who is now under tremendous pressure to resign from the DNC and she should be. She should resign. How can a woman do that? That is cheating at the highest level. But I ask you, why shouldn't Hillary Clinton resign from the race? She was given think of it. She was given these questions. She used these questions, studied the questions, got the perfect answer for the questions and never said that she did something that was totally wrong and inappropriate. Hence the name crooked Hillary. Years ago, there was a show called "The $64,000 Question." A contestant got the questions in advance. And his life was ruined. They found out about it. Remember? Anybody remember his name? Come on. Van Doren. Very good. You look younger than that. Charles Van Doren was his name. He got the questions. And his life was ruined. But Hillary Clinton got the question. Think of it. Forget Donna Brazile. She should resign. She looked like such a fool last night on television, trying to say, well, she didn't know what was going. She had no idea. She said, "Get me out of here." She got the questions. She got the questions. She gave them to Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton didn't say, "I'd like to announce that a mistake was made and I can't take these questions." I mean look, how many questions are there, right? Can you imagine, if I got the questions? They would call for the re- establishment of the electric chair. Do you agree with that? Right? She got the questions and she didn't report it. She went out there knowing the questions. She didn't report it. That is very dishonest. She's a very dishonest person. This is even bigger because we are going for the presidency of the United States. So this is very important. Hillary Clinton is t most corrupt and dishonest person ever to seek the office of the presidency. So it's in that context that I was asked the question about whether I would agree in advance to concede the results on election night if for some reason we should lose, which we're not going to lose. And that was sort of an unprecedented question. If Al Gore or George Bush had agreed three weeks before the election to concede the results and waive their right to a legal challenge or a recount then there would be no Supreme Court case and no Gore versus Bush or Bush versus Gore. And there have been numerous other cases. In effect I'm being asked to waive centuries of legal precedent designed to protect the voters. But listen to this, according to pew, highly respected, there are 24 million voter registrations in the United States that are either invalid or inaccurate, OK. I think the people in this room understand it more than our leaders. Although maybe our leaders understand more than we think they understand. Listen to this. 1.8 million people are dead. But they're registered to vote. Some of whom vote, even though they are dead which is really a hard thing to do. But it's easy a fraud is involved, right? So you have 1.8 million people who are dead who are registered to vote and some of them vote. One was a Republican. And after death became a Democrat. It's true. 2.8 million people are registered in more than one state. So you got 2.8 million people they can vote in Ohio and some place else. And 14 percent of non-citizens are registered to vote. And then I hear we have such a beautiful everything is so wonderful. You understand where I'm coming from I think, right? Now, I am not a politician. So I can say it like it is. But those are terrible and frightening statistics. America is a constitutional republic with a system of laws. These laws are triggered in the case of fraud or in the event of a recount where it's needed. Of course I would accept a clear election result. But I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result, right? And always I will follow and abide by all of the rules and traditions of all of the many candidates who have come before me, always. Bottom line, we're going to win. We're going to win so big. We're going to win so big. November 8th. We're going to win. Together we are going to deliver real change that puts again America first. It's going to be America first. [Crowd: Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa, Usa. Trump:] Thank you. Boy, you people have spirit, so early. Beautiful. It's beautiful thing to see. All over the country, it's the same. The spirit, it's a movement like they've never seen, the dishonest media. They've never seen anything like it. They've never seen, they've never seen anything like it. They've never seen anything like it. We are going to renegotiate our terrible trade deals and illegal immigrations. Stop the massive inflow of refugees. Reduce surging crime. Cut taxes and regulation. Unleash job producing energy, American energy. Rebuild our military. And take care of our vets. Now, our vets our great veterans have not been taken care of the way they should be taken care of, that I can tell you. Our vets are treated oftentimes, not as well as illegal immigrants and we're going to change that very fast. Our vets are going to be treated properly and with great respect. That's not happening now. And we are going to repeal and replace Obamacare. Just in case you haven't noticed, rates are going up 60 percent, 70 percent, 80 percent, next year is going to be worse. It's a catastrophe. It's dying anyway. But we're going to repeal it. Replace it. You're going to have great health care at a fraction of the cost, OK. Your jobs will come back under a Trump administration. Your jobs are flare. Your incomes will go up under a Trump administration. Your taxes will go way down under a Trump administration. And Hillary Clinton is going to raise your taxes. She's going to raise your taxes. Your companies won't be leaving Ohio under a Trump administration. Right now, our economy isn't growing practically at all. Last quarter, it was only around 1 percent GDP. People have hardly ever heard of numbers like that. If in China it goes to 7 percent or 8 percent, its like considered a national catastrophe. Here, we're 1 percent, isn't everything wonderful. Everything is not wonderful. And if it was wonderful, we wouldn't have packed auditoriums no matter where we go, believe me. I'm going to get us to 4 percent growth and maybe more and create 25 million jobs for our country over the next ten years. Many workers are earning less today than they were 18 years ago. They're working harder. They're working longer. But they're making less. And in some cases, they're working two and three jobs, but still taking home less money. It's ridiculous. They're getting older. They're working harder. And so am I. I'm working harder. And I'm getting older too. It was harder. Believe me. I'm working harder. Companies like Carrier are firing their workers and moving to Mexico. Ford is moving all of their small car production to Mexico. When I'm president, if a company wants to fire their workers and leave for Mexico or other countries, then we will charge them a 35 percent tax when they want to ship their products back into the United States. [King:] We're listening to the Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump there live in Delaware, Ohio, right at the very end. They're talking about a proposal, he's talked about before. U.S. base companies ship jobs overseas. Donald Trumps says he'll penalize them. But the bigger news at this event, first, at the top, a bit a joke and then a bit later, Donald Trump addressing the big controversy out of lt night's final presidential debate when he said he was not sure if he would accept results of the election. At the top of his remarks, joking a bit, Trump said "I will of course accept them if I win." Later in his remarks, well, let's just listen. First, let's listen the very beginning when Donald Trump tried to make light of a controversy that has a lot of Republicans mad at him. [Trump:] I would like to promise and pledge to all of my voters and supporters and to all of the people of the United States, that I will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election, if I win, all right. [King:] Clever line there. It would be funny if it is a little bit funny, amusing. But if not for the controversy stoked last night that has Republicans across the spectrum including some Trump supporters and most of the non-Trump Republicans saying, "You can't do that, you can't essentially insult and question America's democracy." We'll turn the sound in a minute. A bit later he did say if there's a clear election result, I will accept it, but of course I'm going to keep available any legal resource, recount, recourse, court recourse, in case you get a 2000-like election Bush V. Gore. Clearly, they woke up this morning in the Trump campaign and realize they needed to fix this. [Zeleny:] I'm not even sure if it was this morning, I think it was in real time last night because you saw them trying to. But he have answer that last night that would've been a good way to say it. The parallels to 2000 are entirely different, as we've said earlier. I mean predicting it in advance versus if something happens. But as things are going now, unless something massively changes here, this is not going to decided on a couple votes here. But I think, you know, if he didn't clean this up it will probably be a little more Zen type for some Republicans out there. But, you know, perhaps too little too late. But I think this is progress. He's now in line with his surrogates. So last night they all were out line with what he actually said. And now everyone's on the same page. [Wilson:] All before lunchtime. [Murray:] But I do think, you know, this kind of thing is going to come down to a candidate's judgment and his aide's judgment on election night. And we thought it was Mitt Romney in 2012, when they had planes ready to go to battleground states and it was the candidate who said, "This isn't going to happen, like, we're not going to take this extra step. We're going to go out there, I'm going to give my concession speech and we're going to move on." And at that certain point, you'll have to trust that, if that is a scenario that Donald Trump would make the same move. [King:] And it's interesting, listening to him, says, Donald Trump didn't say, "You know, this came up last night and I didn't answer it just right or I didn't, you know, fully," he doesn't try to explain, "You know, here's what I said before and I'm sorry or I didn't get it right or get the context right." He just says, "Here's my new position, take it." [Wilson:] Donald Trump has not apologized for even something minor like this where clean-up would involve exactly what you said, "Hey, look, I didn't say it exactly right. Here's what I meant." He's not that type of person. When parties get towards Election Day, everybody has planes on the ground ready to go to battleground states, say to the Senate, Democrats, and Senate Republicans will to go to whatever close Senate races is in balance. The House Democrats, House Republicans will, just because he says he will accept an election result doesn't mean there's no implicit statement there that he won't make whatever legal challenges are legitimately available to him. But there's a larger point here that, you know, seven Republican secretaries of state from around the country have called these kinds of comments irresponsible. That was just over the last Monday and Tuesday. I haven't checked in the last 24 hours or so if anybody else has. But the fact is questioning the integrity of American elections undermines the very foundation of the thing that we've been relying on for 224 years. [King:] Now, let's quickly because words matter, last night he said he wanted to keep the suspension. Let's listen to exactly what Donald Trump said when he just come out in again, Delaware, Ohio, and tried to clean it up. [Trump:] I would accept a clear election result. But I would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result. [King:] Let me ask this final question, we have about 20 seconds in this context. Last night's debate was dominated by this. Now today, 19 days before the election, be dominated by Donald Trump's clean-up, not about doing the business of trying to win the election, correct? [Zeleny:] No doubt about it. In the meantime, early voting starting in North Carolina today and personally voting, that's the issue here, so many ballots being casts as we speak. [King:] And? [Wilson:] Literally millions of people have already voted in this election. Those are the die-hard partisans. The people who are just starting to vote now or will be voting on Election Day are the people who are undecided. Those are the folks who were watching last night looking for the candidate to be behind. [King:] We watched Donald Trump on the road of important context, he's in the state of Ohio today. He's way behind the electoral map. Ohio's a big one. Republicans need it. A 5050 tie, if not 5045. And our brand new poll out today, interesting to watch, 19 days to go. Thanks for joining us today, "Inside Politics." We're back here tomorrow, noon eastern. Wolf's ready to take over after a quick break. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello. I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. We start with Donald Trump, he's holding a campaign event in Ohio right now. [Allen:] And welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. This is CNN Newsroom live from Atlanta. I am Natalie Allen with our top stories. U.S. President Barack Obama spent more than an hour Thursday night, laying out his case for stricter gun laws. Gun rights advocates pressed the President on how he's working to make America safer. Mr. Obama said he's not trying to take guns away from law-abiding owners. South Korea is now blasting propaganda broadcasts at the DMZ directed at North Korea. This in response to Pyongyang's claim it detonated a hydrogen bomb this week. The south has also increased its military defensive posture. The north has at times, reacted to these broadcasts with artillery fire. At least 50 people are dead in a truck bombing in western Libya, the town's mayor said the vehicle plowed into a group of about 400 people at a police training center and then exploded. Authorities say they don't know yet who's behind it. New video and pictures from Syria are disturbing and they're reminding people of World War II concentration camps. The images we'll show you are graphic, but they're important to understand the crisis and what people left behind and cut off are going through. They show victims of starvation in the town of Medaya which has been under siege by regime forces for months. But soon a U.N. convoy will bring needed food and supplies. Here is CNN's Arwa Damon. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Correspondent:] The children of Medaya are starving. The voice begs, the baby's eyes seeming to echo that desperate plea for help. A little boy said he hasn't had a real meal in seven days, and this baby, according to the video hasn't had milk in a month. CNN cannot independently verify these accounts or the stories emerging, under siege by regime forces since July. The last time aid reached the area was in October. They saw hunger in the eyes of its residents. Doctors Without Borders says 23 patients in the center have died of starvation, including six babies. But in the twisted reality of Syria's war, it does have to get this grim for help to arrive. The U.N. said that the Syrian government has agreed to allow aid convoys into Medaya and two other towns also under siege. [Unidentified Female:] This is an area that's completely besieged and surrounded by mountains covered in snow, so it gets through tunnels and it's extremely expensive. We expect also irreversible damage to the children who have witnessed some of the worst weapons of war which is starving them. [Damon:] Syria's cruel and harsh war now into the fifth year has seen scenes like this before and worse. These stills are being circulated by activists set to show children eating leaves, and it's hardly the only portion of the population severely suffering from the war, hardly the only atrocity, Arwa Damon, CNN, Istanbul. [Allen:] Heartbreaking images there from Syria. If you want to know how you can be of assistance, logon always to our special impact your world website at CNN.comimpact. We'll find links to groups working to help those devastated by the warimpact. Saudi Arabia says it will investigate claims that its warplanes launched an intentional strike on Iran's embassy in Yemen. The accusation comes from Iran which says the building was damaged and several embassy personnel were wounded. CNN can't independently confirm the embassy was hit. Residents in the area reported a small explosion but no obvious air strike. Tensions between the two countries escalated when Saudi Arabia announced it executed 47 people last week including a Shiite cleric Nimr Al Nimr. CNN's Nic Robertson met exclusively with Al Nimr's brother in Saudi Arabia to get his perspective on what has been happening. Robertson said visiting him in his hometown there required heavy security as you'll see. [Nic Robertson, Cnn Correspondent:] The police tell us it's not safe for us to drive in here by ourselves. They're bringing us in one of their armored personnel carriers. [Allen:] Nic will have more about his trip and his interview. He'll join us live in the next hour with more of his exclusive report. We invite you to watch. We're learning more about the series of assaults on women in Cologne, Germany, during New Year's Eve celebrations. German media reporting that groups of men prevented police from reaching people carrying out crying out for help that night, and those men threatened anyone who might try to identify them, one man is sited "I am Syrian. You have to be nice to me. Ms. Merkel has invited me." That comes from an internal federal police report obtained by German media. Authorities have not confirmed the identities of the suspects to CNN, but the assaults have fueled a political firestorm over immigration and victims rights in Germany. Here is CNN's Michael Holmes. [Michael Holmes, Cnn Correspondent:] In Germany, angry demonstrators take to the streets to protest violence against women, as police face mounting pressure from the handling of numerous reports of sexual assault during Cologne's New Year's Eve celebrations. The week after the incident, German Chancellor Angela Merkel finally speaks out. [Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:] What happened at New Year is completely unacceptable. Those are despicable, criminal acts which the state will not accept, including Germany. That's why an intensive investigation by the relevant institutions is under way. This investigation must be supported. The feeling women had in this case of being completely defenseless and at mercy is for me, personally intolerable. [Holmes:] Cologne Police received more than 100 criminal complaints from women who say they had been sexually assaulted or robbed by gangs of men of Arab or North African descent during the celebration outside the city's main train station. [Unidentified Female:] The men surrounded us and started to grab our behinds and our crutches. They touched us everywhere. I wanted to take my friend and leave. I turned around and in that moment someone grabbed my bag. [Holmes:] Victims say there wasn't enough security at the event and felt they had no one to help them. [Unidentified Female:] We ran to the police, but we saw the police were so understaffed. They couldn't take care of us. We, as women, suffered the price. [Holmes:] Police continue to go through large amounts of cell phone footage from that evening, saying they've identified several suspects but have made no arrests. Germans are furious with Cologne's mayor who suggested women protect themselves from men on the streets by keeping them at arm's-length. And German broadcasters apologized on Facebook for not reporting the story earlier. A country already overwhelmed with the influx of more than 1 million refugees, now dealing with fear and anger as the search for the perpetrators continues, Michael Holmes, CNN. [Allen:] In just a moment here, air pollution levels in New Delhi are spiking to a dangerous level and CNN's Sumnima Udas is there. [Sumnima Udas, Cnn Correspondent:] Pollution levels have increased to hazardous levels here, Natalie, more on that after the break from the city with the most toxic air. [Soares:] Welcome back to Connect the World. Now U.S. President Barack Obama is on his way back home after a five day visit to Africa. He closed out his trip a few hours ago by becoming the first American president to address the African Union. Mr. Obama told the roomful of African leaders gathered in Ethiopia's capital. They have a strong partner and friend in the United States. But he urged them to respect democracy and step aside when their term ends. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Thank you. Look at Nelson Mandela. Madiba, like George Washington, forged a lasting legacy not only because of what they did in office, but because they were willing to leave office and transfer power peacefully. [Soares:] Now the chairman of the African Union commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma introduced President Obama ahead of his speech you saw there. Now Nkosazana, she joins us now. Madam, thank you very much for joining us. President Obama's speech touched on democracy, governance and human rights. How was it received by the African Union? [Nkosazana Dlamini-zuma, African Union Commission Chairperson:] Well, I think it was well received, because the African Union is not is in favor of democracy, a lot of our countries are now democratic. And in fact using the most as they shows the many more countries and many more people are better governed today than they were two decades ago. And Africans also are in favor of human rights. So, I think it was well received. [Soares:] Chairwoman, tell us a bit from your personal experience sitting there having introduced him what stood out to you, what was what did you find most inspiring? [Dlamini-zuma:] Well, I think first of all it was just inspiring that the president of the United States of America was at the African Union Commission at the African Union headquarters. And of course that he is also of some heritage African heritage. His father is African. So the combination of the two was very inspiring for us. And of course we also know that he's made it, and it wasn't easy, but obviously was very focused and became the president at a young age. And I think that inspired a lot of young people. But also the fact that he's paying some attention to Africa. As we know when he came in, he talked about agriculture and that Africa should be able to feed itself. And today he's talked at length about skilling young people, giving them job opportunities, giving them opportunities to innovate and also women, the fact that it is important to give girls equal opportunities as boys. And to allow women to reach their full potential. So that also to us was very important, because as you know in our Africa, a gender 2063 the Africa we want our most important priority is our people, investing in our people. We have decided that we need a skills revolution. So for us it was very important that he touched a lot on that. [Soares:] Yeah, he was very inspiring, but he also threw some almighty swings at some African leaders, in particular, it seems, of Burundi who recently won a controversial third term as president. How was that received? I mean, from seeing I remember that being the loudest applause, basically telling people that leaders have got have to step down when it comes to their term. Do you think that was well liked? Do you think that was important he made that point there? [Dlamini-zuma:] Well, I think it's important for Burundi because it's important to ensure that the situation in Burundi does not escalate into an open conflict. Because I don't think that people of Burundi can afford another conflict. Their government had done well for 10 years, and we hope that thy will find a solution amongst Burundians helped by the east African community to ensure that stability remains returns to Burundi. So, I think we, ourselves, as the AU, had not gone to the to monitor the elections because we felt that the environment wasn't conducive. So but our main concern is that there must be peace in Burundi, yes. [Soares:] Thank you very much. Chairwoman of the African Union Commission Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma taking the time to speak to us today. And Mr. Obama said African leaders should respect their constitutions and step down when their term ends. He said, quote, "nobody should be president for life." Madam, Chairwoman, thank you very much taking time to speak to us. I want to return you now to another one of our top stories. The son of former Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi has been sentenced to death. This is Saif al-Islam Gadhafi four years ago parading through Tripoli in Libya. He seems confident that the regime supporters surrounding him with crush Libya's Arab Spring revolution. Here is some of that fighting that erupted after. Large parts of the country were devastated, and estimates for the death toll in the tens of thousands as government forces try to keep power amid civil war and NATO air campaigns. The International Criminal Court claims jurisdiction claims in the case against Saif al-Islam and has repeatedly demanded that he be turned over to The Hague for trial. Joining me now is Saif al-Islam's lawyer in that case John Jones. He's joining me now from The Hague. Mr. Jones, thank you very much to take the time to speak to us. Let me first get your reaction to the trial and the sentence that was handed down today. [John Jones, Said Al-islam's Lawyer:] Well, the trial was clearly show trial from start to finish. It's really a kangaroo court, which lacks any legitimacy, which has passed these sentences. And that's been clear for a long time. And indeed Libya's own minister of justice has condemned the trial as being utterly unlawful. So, it comes as no surprise that the court has preemptorally handed out death sentences to several accused who had not even a semblance of a fair trial. [Soares:] Let me ask you this, John. I mean, I know you represent Saif al-Islam at the International Criminal Court, but do you know speaking to your client how testimonies were conducted here or how evidence was obtained? How difficult it was to just kind of follow proceedings? Can you give us a bit of color on that? [Jones:] Well, I should say as you've said I represent him in relation to the International Criminal Court proceedings. And I wasn't involved. And I would not be involved in the proceedings in Tripoli because of that - lack of legitimacy. And I'm not in contact with Saif Gadhafi because he's being held in solitary confinement incommunicado detention. But nonetheless, I'm following the proceedings have been following proceeings in Tripoli to the extent that independent monitors have been able to follow parts of it. And what emerges is a very clear picture of abuses across the board. First of all, the detainees have complained of being tortured, Abu Zaib Doda said in open court at obvious risk to himself that he had been tortured. The court didn't look into it. Another detainee General Karabi died recently of as result of inadequate medical treatment. In terms of the actual evidence which has lead, the prosecution hasn't brought any witnesses who could be cross examined and have their evidence tested. The prosecution has relied on confessions, clearly obtained by torture or certainly under duress. It's a sort of Medieval approach to trials that you rely rather than on evidence of witnesses you extract confessions. And for the defense, they don't have any adequate legal representation. There are lawyers who have been appointed, but then they come and go seemingly between each hearing. They were only allowed, each defendant, to call two witnesses. And there were no measures for witness protection. So, in circumstances where in Tripoli there are killings every day, there's the trial themselves being held at gunpoint under the Libya Dawn militia who control the whole thing, no chance really of the defense putting any sort of case forward. So really it was a fore ordained conclusion that there would be these convictions and these death sentences. [Soares:] OK, let me ask you this in that case John, you call it a show trial, a kangaroo court I believe is what you said in the last few minutes. Where does this leave what options are there left for Saif al-Islam, because you have Libya in a state of chaos split between two rebel governments, which much of the country controlled by local militia groups. So where does this leave Saif al-Islam? [Jones:] Well, I should say fortunately for him he's in Zintan, not in Tripoli. And Zintan, like the Tobruk government, doesn't recognize Tripoli as having any legitimacy and they've made clear that they are not going to deliver him to Tripoli. And indeed during the proceedings they put a sign up at one video link hearing to say that they didn't recognize the court. So fortunately for him, he's not at risk currently of being delivered to the militia in Tripoli and therefore not risk of being executed. But obviously for those there, there is that real risk. I see it as a major setback not just for the defendants, but for ordinary Libyan people who have the right to live under the rule of law, that the country is, as you say, entirely divided between the international recognized government in Tobruk and Libya Dawn in Tripoli. And so really it's for the international community to make plain that these verdicts are not accepted, that this is not the way that you transition to a new society. But as you say, Libya is in a state of chaos, and until that's resolved nothing can be resolved. [Soares:] John Jones, thank you very much. He is Saif al-Islam's lawyer in the case. They've been following the case in The Hague. Thank you very much. Important to point out, too, the International Criminal Court, the ICC, had wanted to try Saif al-Islam in The Hague, but in 2013 granted Libya the right to do so. Now, we've been covering every angle, as you can see, of Libya's uprising since the very beginning for you. We're going to keep following that very story. You can find the latest on Gadafhi and what's happening in Libya by heading over to our website, as you can see there, CNN.com. Well, Live from London, this is Connect the World. Coming up in 10 minutes, outrage in the West Bank as another Palestinian teenager dies after an altercation with Israeli forces. But first we are off to Argentina where an industrial zone in Buenos Aires is getting a new lease on life. That's on One Square Meter next. [Cooper:] More breaking news tonight. A big surge for Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire. New CNNWMUR poll that has just come out shows Sanders' lead over Hillary Clinton growing. When it comes to amorphus yet ever so political concept known as the favorability rating, Sanders is off the charts compared to Clinton. The new poll was mostly conducted before Sunday's Democratic Debate. CNN "Inside Politics" anchor John King's back to break down the numbers. Just how big of a lead does Bernie Sanders have in New Hampshire according to this poll? [John King, Cnn Inside Politics Anchor:] Anderson, you don't need a calculator. We'll just take a pick at this. These numbers are stunning. Bernie Sanders now up according to our numbers by 27 points. 60 percent Democrats and Independents who say they're likely to vote in the Democratic primary in New Hampshire, 60 percent now for Sanders, 33 percent for Hillary Clinton. Look at this. This compared to just a month ago when Bernie Sanders was at 50 percent and Hillary Clinton was at 40 percent. So Sanders still leads. And with growing momentum, one top Sanders' ally in New Hampshire joked with me tonight, "Can you please just say it's 15 or so," because they don't want their team to get over confident. But 27 points according to this poll. Now, there are others showing a closer race. But there's no question at the moment that Bernie Sanders has momentum. Why does he have that momentum? Look at his issues portfolio. 26 percent of Democrats in New Hampshire now say jobs and the economy are number one. 10 percent now say income and equality. Those are big issues for Bernie Sanders. Let's compare this to a month ago when important policy was the number one issue. So the economy is now back at number one. Income inequality has gone from 3 percent to 10 percent in just a month, Anderson. So the issues portfolio among New Hampshire Democratic likely voters has tilted in Bernie Sanders' way. And no surprise the economy is the number one issue to voters and by 57 percent to 33 percent they think Bernie Sanders is better able to handle the economy. So you do see Secretary Clinton maintains her edge on foreign policy but jobs and the economy. Now if she won, and the voters the Democratic voters in New Hampshire think Bernie Sanders is the guy to handle that. [Cooper:] And the Sanders have other things working in his favor in New Hampshire beyond just sort of economic issues? [King:] Yes, and that is a key factor in his momentum as he makes the case that he's a movement candidate, that he's the change candidate. Hillary Clinton is has been trying to say "I'm a better president, more electable. I don't need the tour of the oval office," for example. But New Hampshire Democratic voters, those likely to vote in the Democratic primary, where asked who has the qualities you want in a president? The personal characteristics, look at this 58 percent. Nearly six in 10 say Bernie Sanders. Only one third say Hillary Clinton. So New Hampshire Democrats are now viewing the upstart candidate, the underdog candidate at the beginning of this race, Bernie Sanders as more as a president. That's helping him quyite a bit in these polls. Also favorability, likability matters in politics. And look at this. There's no question, New Hampshire Democrats, that's two-thirds, they like Hillary Clinton. But 91 percent have a favorable rating of Bernie Sanders. They love Bernie Sanders in New Hampshire right now among the Democratic electorate. And here's one other thing to take a look at. Democratic voters were asked "Of your candidates who is the least honest?" 55 percent said Hillary Clinton. Only 2 percent said Bernie Sanders. 5 percent say Governor Martin O'Malley. Again, this is not Democrat saying Hillary Clinton 's dishonest but they're saying she's least honest of their candidates. No question, Anderson, not only the Sanders Attacks but remember, a lot of those Republicans were in New Hampshire all the time, attacking Hillary Clinton. [Cooper:] Right. [King:] It's taken a toll. [Cooper:] Yeah, John, thank you very much. Fascinating numbers. Joining us now to talk about this, CNN political commentator and the New Yorker's Washington correspondent Ryan Lizza, also Paul Steinhauser political director and anchor at New Hampshire 1News. Ryan, I mean this poll the Clinton Campaign I saw on Erin's Show, you know, were saying "Look, this is an outliner but you an outlier. What do you make of it? I mean Secretary Clinton has half the support Senator Sanders has which is three weeks to go. [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yeah, look. As John pointed out you don't want to look at one poll. You want to look at the trend. But it is eye popping, right? Now, he has some built-in advantages in New England. He's from neighboring Vermont so voters in New Hampshire know him. But that favorability rating is suggests that the Clinton campaign, by not going after him, by allowing his favorability to be in the high 90s among democrats and by not giving New Hampshire voters alternative information about Bernie Sanders, to raise some questions about him, you know, to go negative, as the political consultants would say, may have been a big mistake, just as a lot of Clinton veterans thought it was a mistake not to go more negative in Barack Obama in 2008 until it was way too late. And I wonder in the final stretch here if they're going to start to, you know, bring out the go a little bit harder against Bernie Sanders. They have to do something to bring his numbers down. She is in danger of losing Iowa and New Hampshire at this point. [Cooper:] And, Paul, in terms of New Hampshire voters, I mean you pointed out in the past that they don't necessarily make up their minds until closer to the actual vote. Could the end result end up being much different than we're seeing now? [Paul Steinhauser, Anchor, New Hampshire 1news:] It could be dramatically different. That's the history up here, the tradition. We've got three weeks to go, Anderson, until the primary. You look at the Exit polls from 2008, the last time we had a contested Democratic Primary up here, almost half the Democratic Primary voters didn't make up their minds until last week. That's kind of the tradition up here on both sides, both the Republican and Democratic Primaries The big question, you had a lot of Independents in your poll. Where are the Independent voters here in New Hampshire? They make up 40 percent of the electorate. Where are they going to go, are they going to go? Are they going to vote on the Democratic Primary or Republican Primary? And, Anderson, I was talking people close to both the Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders campaigns tonight in New Hampshire. And both were saying that they thought it was the poll was an outlier, that it was too big a lead. So Both campaigns are saying that they don't believe the numbers. But I will say, Anderson, on a very bitterly cold night in New Hampshire, your poll is making a lot of hot news. [Cooper:] Ryan, again, the numbers, 58 percent of those polled said Sanders had presidential qualities. He got much higher marks on handling the economy than Clinton. His favorability 91 percent. [Lizza:] Yeah. [Cooper:] Granted he has the advantage of being, you know, as you said, from a neighboring state. These numbers, do they point, do you think, to specific weak spots that Clinton has in the minds of voters? [Lizza:] I think two things. One, the trust question, of course, suggests that even Democrats have questions about her trust, even Democrats that like her. The second thing is, as you point out, people are starting to see him as presidential material. That was a big hurdle starting off in this race. He's an independent. You know, he's self-identifies as a socialist. You know, he's an older candidate. All these things that were sort of burdens at the start of the Sanders' campaign that he is overcoming. Now, remember, he is the kind of candidate that matches up very well with a certain type of Democrat, right? [Cooper:] Right. [Lizza:] Liberal, white progressives, upper midwest in New England. They're plentiful. Once the race leaves New Hampshire and gets to the south, conventional wisdom has been, well, nonwhite voters, Latino voters, African-American voters, they have never shown an inclination to support Sanders. And the next thing is to watch for those numbers change. Does Sanders break through that wall? And then Hillary Clinton has a very big problem. [Cooper:] Yeah. I kept wondering what Joe Biden thinks, looking at this poll in particular. Does he regret not jumping in the race? [Lizza:] Absolutely. It's showing some real Clinton weakness. [Cooper:] Yeah. Exactly. And, Paul, just quickly, I mean if you look at the democratic makeup in New Hampshire, it doesn't really represent democratic makeup of the rest of the country, 94 percent white. How accurate of an indicator is it in terms of how the rest of the race will play out? [Steinhauser:] Well, you know, you make a good point. But the first two states, Iowa and New Hampshire, are overwhelmingly white, and that plays to Bernie Sanders' advantage. So momentum matters, Anderson. So if he does well in Iowa and does well in winds here, momentum could make a difference. [Cooper:] It is, again, just fascinating numbers. Ryan Lizza, Paul Steinhauser, good to have you on. Just ahead, this week, we're bringing you stories from CNN anchors and correspondents about the people who changed their lives. Up next, Dr. Sanjay Gupta introduces us to his mentor and tells us how she's made a lasting impact on his life and career. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] NEWSROOM starts right now. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Are you're going to be so happy? You're going to be so happy. They said you're now the nominee. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] You have the presumptive nominee, Donald Trump. Will you support him? [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] I'm just not ready to do that at this point. I'm not there right now. [Trump:] You don't have to vote any more. Save your vote for the general election, OK. Forget this one. The primary is gone. [Ryan:] I think that he needs to do more to unify this party, to bring all wings of the Republican Party together. [Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee:] They're both committed to sitting down and actually talking this out. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We can't have a loose cannon in the Oval Office. [Ryan:] No Republican should ever think about supporting Hillary Clinton. Let me make that clear. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] Well, good morning, happy Friday. I'm Pamela Brown, in for Carol Costello. Thanks so much for being here with me. A political bombshell and a party at odds. We are learning House Speaker Paul Ryan and Donald Trump will meet next week behind closed doors after Ryan tells CNN he is not ready to back Trump. And Trump punched back saying he is not ready to back Ryan's agenda in Congress. Even the unflappable Trump caught off guard by Ryan's stiff arm. [Trump:] I was really surprised by it, and it's fine. He could do whatever he wants to do. It's fine. But I was surprised by it. And by the way, many other people were surprised by it. And some were really surprised by it and not happy about it. I will tell you, I have many endorsements from yesterday. They're coming in left and right. He is one of the only ones that really was surprising. [Brown:] And the head of the Republican National Committee says the Trump-Ryan meeting was already planned. And Reince Priebus downplays the spat as just a bump in the road to victory. [Priebus:] We're prepared to keep the Senate, keep the House and win the White House. And if you look at Hillary Clinton, look, I would rather take a few elbows being thrown than, you know, the director of the FBI interviewing your top aides and potentially the Democrat nominee. [Baldwin:] Well, the bickering between Trump and Ryan underscores a somewhat uneasy alliance between the party and a standard bearer who has often criticized its leaders. Let's bring CNN's Phil Mattingly in New York. A lot of developments here, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, no question about it, Pam. Look, there have been a lot of endorsements, even some that were unexpected even if they were a little bit tepid. You have Rick Perry, the governor of Texas, coming out yesterday, Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, saying he would support the nominee. But Paul Ryan, deciding to break at least for the moment, with Donald Trump and his candidacy, causing major problems, not just for Donald Trump, but for the party on the whole. [Priebus:] They're both committed to sitting down and work and actually talking this out. [Mattingly:] RNC chairman Reince Priebus in the middle of the fight to unite, confirming Donald Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan will meet face-to-face next week. [Ryan:] I'm just not ready to do that. [Mattingly:] Only hours after Ryan told CNN's Jake Tapper that he's not ready to back Trump. [Priebus:] And what he's saying is, look, I want to get there. I think I will get there, but I want to talk to Donald Trump and I want to work with him. [Mattingly:] Priebus, trying to explain why Ryan and some in the Republican Party are so reluctant to back their new standard bearer. [Priebus:] For some people, an endorsement is a full embrace, and so for some people, it takes a little bit of time to get to a full embrace. [Mattingly:] The chairman, not promising 100 percent of the party will fall in line, but optimistic that there won't be a contested convention come July. [Priebus:] The platform of our party will be written in Cleveland, and I think you're going to get another very conservative platform out of our party. [Mattingly:] But not so fast. Trump firing back at Ryan in a statement saying, quote, "I'm not ready to support Speaker Ryan's agenda. Perhaps in the future, we can work together and come to an agreement about what is best for the American people." [Trump:] You know that thing, never Trump? You know why it's never Trump? Because I'm going to stop the gravy train for all these consultants and all of these people. [Mattingly:] Ryan making clear that his focus is on one thing, protecting the party's House majority, something some analysts predict could be in jeopardy with a Trump nomination. [Ryan:] My focus this fall is, has been and will be the House majority. [Mattingly:] And warning the fight for unity rests mostly on the shoulders of the nominee. [Ryan:] I think what is necessary to make this work, for this to unify, is to actually take our principles and advance them, and that's what we want to see. Saying we're unified doesn't in it of itself unify us. [Mattingly:] And Pam, Donald Trump saying this morning on FOX that he expected the meeting would be on Wednesday between he and Speaker Ryan. A Ryan aide telling me that the general outlines of the meeting have been agreed to. The specific logistics are still being worked on right now but what we all know and what we're seeing right now is this underscores that between the party and their presumptive nominee, there are still major issues to work out before they can focus solely on whoever their Democratic challenger will be, Pam. [Brown:] That's right. And a lot of anticipation for this meeting next week. Phil Mattingly, thank you very for that. And meantime, Donald Trump also questions Ryan's call for unity as we just heard in Phil's report. The billionaire says he has been uniting the party actually with an energy that was sadly lacking. [Trump:] He talks about unity, but what is this about unity? And you know, with millions of people coming into the party, obviously I'm saying the right thing. And you know, the party was stayed, it had a lot of problems, whether it was the right or the wrong thing, whatever they were saying, wasn't doing it. And now the Republican Party is the talk of the world because there is no place and no party that is, you know, increasing its scope like we have. It is a big story. Millions and millions of people have come into the party. I mean, when you're looking for unity, unity is winning, too. We have to win. [Brown:] So let's bring in our guests to discuss. John Avalon is the editor in chief of the "Daily Beast" and a CNN political analyst, and Jeff DeWit is a Trump supporter and Arizona state treasurer. Thank you both for coming on. So much to discuss here. And Jeff, I'm going to start with you here on this notion that Trump is saying, look, he is revitalized the party and that right there is unity as we heard him say. But how can there be unity if rank and file Republicans, including the speaker of the House, aren't throwing their support behind him? [Jeff Dewit, Trump Supporter:] Well, as everyone is shocked by this news that he would not throw his support, which is why we're all talking about it, it makes no sense. Here, Donald Trump is bringing millions more voters and you have the speaker of the House saying he is not sure he's going to get behind him. And then, you know, other people saying, well, they're not sure that he is going to help or hurt the down ballot races. Donald Trump is going to bring so many more Republicans over the line, and for them to say that he won't help the down ballot races is like saying, you know, we're going to invite millions of people to our birthday party but we're not sure if we're going to get more gifts. This is going to be the greatest thing that happened to the party. And Paul Ryan, you know, the only thing that Paul Ryan is doing is fueling the speculation that he might still be considering a run at the nomination himself because he was the one that was rumored they were going to parachute in at the convention. Now that there's not a contested convention, it obviously is going to fuel speculation that he's trying still some games like that. And it's going to cause a rift in the party unless he gets on board. He is the speaker of the House. Everybody is looking to his leadership, and it's time for him to get behind Donald Trump so we can move forward and beat Hillary. [Brown:] And obviously, John, Donald Trump has not needed Ryan's support to win the primary. He is the presumptive Republican nominee, but what about the general election? How much does Donald Trump need the support of rank-and-file Republicans, particularly Paul Ryan, in the general? [John Avlon, Cnn Political Analyst:] Look, it's a totally symbiotic relationship. Donald Trump, it's incumbent upon him to try to unite the Republican Party which has been in warlord status for some time. But of course the problem is that Donald Trump's deep negatives with huge swaths of demographics in America not named white men, let's be real about that, presents a real problem for the Republicans holding on to the Senate and the House. Now the rigged system of redistricting means that the House is probably pretty safe. But for a party or a person like Paul Ryan who believes deeply into the conservative philosophy and principle, right, the catechism that "National Review" and other folks have stood for, they really need to understand a little bit more how Donald Trump and what he has proposed lines up with the constitutional conservatism they believe in and limited government because it largely doesn't. This is these are policies that are largely based on bluster, many of which are deeply expensive, and invasive. So Donald Trump needs to assure those folks that he could be their standard bearer come the fall and not be political kryptonite when it comes to swing voters and swing states, which right now he is. That's just the reality. [Brown:] So with that point in mind, Jeff, we have this meeting next week between Trump and Paul Ryan. Will Trump be willing to bend at all on any of these issues that John discusses in order to garner support from Ryan? One in particular, we know that Ryan has come out condemning Trump's proposal to ban Muslims from coming to the United States? Is Trump willing to bend at all? [Dewit:] Well, again, everybody is behind the Trump policies, and so, you know, what everyone is not behind are the [Brown:] Well, that's not that's not true, Jeff. That's not true, Jeff. [Dewit:] Omnibus voting bill that Paul Ryan pushed through. [Brown:] Paul Ryan has come out condemning that particular proposal about [Dewit:] Oh, no, I'm saying let me clarify. [Brown:] Go ahead. [Dewit:] I mean, the millions of voters that are voting for Donald Trump are fine with his policy. And so that's what I mean by that. [Avlon:] So that's not everybody. [Dewit:] And so yes, Paul Ryan [Brown:] That's not everybody. [Avlon:] A little early in the morning for Kool-Aid. [Dewit:] Look, Donald Trump has promised to reduce the national debt. Paul Ryan passed the Omnibus budget. They have differences of opinion and it's just where you place the importance of that. I know for myself, as a treasurer, I'm very concerned about the national debt and I'd prefer to see us lower it. So, you know, I think Paul Ryan needs to give on some things here. I don't think at all it's incumbent on Donald Trump. You know, and for the other guest, keep in mind that, Donald Trump beat Ted Cruz in every demographic, including Hispanics, even though Ted Cruz is obviously of Hispanic heritage. Donald Trump wins with all those groups. And so to say that he is not going to do well with groups, that ignores all the math and the data and the exit polls that we have from all the way [Avlon:] Well, Jeff, no no, it doesn't, Jeff. Hold on. Jeff, this is actually really important for folks to understand. Donald Trump did incredibly well with the low turnout base of the Republican primary voters. That does not translate to the general electorate, which the general election is now on. So if we're going to talk about the fact he is underwater by 70 percent, 80 percent with Hispanics or African-Americans or women, you've got to deal with that and not just hide behind the rhetoric of bringing millions of people into the process. You've got to deal with the larger electorate now. And look, you know, Paul Ryan's commitment to fiscal discipline has been very well- detailed in his VP run and other things. The problem is the devil is in the details. You know, Trump can say that he wants to reduce the deficit. As a treasurer, I'm sure you'll appreciate the question is how. How does it line up with the various plans that had been in place? The reality is the Republican Party is divided into two broad camps right now. The grandstanders and those who are interested in governing. And Donald Trump is going to have to try to figure out how to become a little more interested in governing and less in grandstanding to unite the party. [Brown:] But, John, I have to ask [Dewit:] Well, again, let's correct the low turnout claim [Brown:] Go ahead, Jeff. [Dewit:] The low turnout claim because he you know, to correct the low turnout claim because Donald Trump has brought the biggest turnout we've ever seen in history to the Republican Party and has more votes than any [Avlon:] A low percentage of the electorate. [Dewit:] It's not a low turnout. [Avlon:] It doesn't even represent a majority of Republicans. [Brown:] But the bottom line is, John, that the voters did make their voices heard. [Avlon:] Yes. [Brown:] That now Trump is the presumptive nominee. And some may question whether Ryan made a tactical mistake here by airing his concerns in light of the fact that these voters, you know, supported Donald Trump to get him to where he is now. Do you think that the two of them should met quietly with little fanfare before he came out to say he is not ready to endorse Trump? [Avlon:] Look, I think Paul Ryan is a man of principle and he was saying what he felt was right. I mean, Mitch McConnell realizes the deep drag that Trump potentially is on a lot of swing state senators as they try to hold on to the Senate. But I think Paul Ryan was laying out a marker. He is simply on the opposite end of the spectrum from Donald Trump when it comes to conservative philosophy you know, policy and ideas. Now they may be able to triangulate that problem away behind closed doors, but it's perfectly reasonable to air concerns in public based on the very public nature of this entire campaign and I think Paul Ryan was motivated at least as much by principled politics when he made the statement yesterday. [Brown:] All right, John Avlon, Jeff DeWit, thank you very much for that. [Dewit:] Thanks, Pamela. [Avlon:] Thank you. [Brown:] And we're following some breaking news right now on the economy. A little rough patch in the recovery. Take a look, 160,000 jobs were added last month. That is the lowest number reported in the last seven months and well below estimates as well. Christine Romans is here to break down these numbers Christine. [Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] Hi, there, Pamela. Well, as you know, job creation has been gunning around 200,000 plus every month for the past five years on average, so this is a pause here in that trend. 160,000 net new jobs created in April. The jobless rate held steady near that seven or eight-year low of 5 percent, however, and wage growth ticked up a little bit to 2.5 percent. You still want to see that number even higher. A lot of anger in the American electorate because they're not feeling a pay raise anywhere. 2.5 percent you'd like to see that get a little bit better but that has been picking up. Let me put it in perspective. It is the weakest job creation since last September, but you can see, the trend has been pretty friendly for job creation overall and even at 160,000 net new jobs, it's still enough to absorb all the new entrance into the labor market. Here is where there were job gains, business and information professional services, that was 65,000 new jobs there. Health care, Pamela, every month for years, we've been seeing health care jobs. Everything from home health aides to pediatric nurses, to surgeons, a lot of demand in health care. Mining, however, lost 7,000 jobs. Manufacturing was pretty flat. That mining number is almost certainly because of the crash in oil prices. Here is where the politics come in. You've been hearing a lot about how so few people are actually participating in the labor market. You will hear conservatives say that the job market is really much weaker than expected. They're talking about the labor force participation rate. It dipped a little bit lower, meaning there are millions of people who are not even in the labor market. Millions of people who are not even in the labor market, those are people who are discouraged. There's also stay-at-home mom, retirees, that number is something you'd like to see improve as well Pamela. [Brown:] All right, Christine Romans, thank you so much for breaking it down for us. We do appreciate it. And still ahead right here in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy back in the spotlight. Why the FBI is honing in on her inner circle. We'll be back. [Berman:] The family of a pastor who committed suicide following the Ashley Madison scandal is speaking out today. Pastor John Gibson was married with two children and he took his life six days after the hackers exposed the names of millions of people who had signed up on the website, and that website for those seeking affairs. [Bolduan:] Gibson's name was on the list. And Laurie Segall spoke to his wife and children, listen. [Laurie Segall, Cnn Correspondent:] A pastor, a husband, and father of two, a seminary professor with a sense of humor. [Trey Gibson, Son Of John Gibson:] My dad was a great man. He was a great man with struggles. My dad reached a point of such hopelessness and despair that he took his own life. [Segall:] It was just six after hackers exposed the names of those on Ashley Madison, a website for people seeking affairs. Gibson's name was on the list. [Christie Gibson, Wife Of John Gibson:] I came home from work and I began to notice that there were clues around the house that things were not what they were supposed to be. I eventually discovered him, and that was a moment that I've that life doesn't prepare you for. How do you tell your kids that their dad is gone, and that he took his own life? [Callie Gibson, Daughter Of John Gibson:] I think that the hardest thing for me to deal with was that he honestly doubted the fact that we would love him enough. [Segall:] In the suicide note, he wrote about being on Ashley Madison. [on camera]: Do you mind sharing a little bit of what he put in the note? [Christie Gibson:] He talked about the depression, and he talked about having his name on there, and he said that he was very, very sorry. He poured his life into other people, but somehow he could not extend that into himself. [Segall:] And facing the harsh reality of loss, there is also forgiveness, Christie says. [Christie Gibson:] It wasn't so bad that we wouldn't have forgiven it. And so many people have said that to us. But for John, he carried with him such shame and he couldn't see that. [Segall:] When the hack left 32 million potential adulterers exposed, Christie has a message for those grappling with infidelity. [Christie Gibson:] Don't underestimate the power of love. Nothing is worth the loss of a husband and friend and father. It just didn't merit it at all. [Bolduan:] And Laurie is with us right now. And they are so eloquent, and strong and speaking about the pain, which is still very fresh, and this just happened. [Segall:] Yes, yes. [Bolduan:] And what more did they say, because they said that he mentioned Ashley Madison, and what more did they say about it? [Segall:] Well, they spoke, and she was very compose and what she said is that you don't see me at 4:00 in the morning, and I was OK in speaking about it, but it is so difficult for her, and she spoke about the infidelity, and she said that this infidelity breaks a family, and it hurts in a way that you can't understand, but nothing is worth losing the life of a father and husband and she wishes that he had known that there is another type of forgiveness. [Bolduan:] Wow, the strength and ability to forgive is so important. [Berman:] And the repercussions of this story is amazing. [Bolduan:] Amazing. [Berman:] Thank you, Laurie Segall. [Segall:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Thanks, Laurie. [Berman:] And now, one week from tonight, CNN hosts the second Republican debate. And Donald Trump has written my boss, the president of this network, with a special request. Details next. [Bolduan:] Also ahead, it is a song is 30 years young. And today, it's making very big news. [Unidentified Male:] Please help me to welcome to the stage Kim Davis. [Bolduan:] The unmistakable chorus of "Eye of the Tiger" by the band Survivor for the Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis, right there. She was introduced at a rally with that song. And the band is not happy about that walk-up song. We will speak to one of the men who wrote that song, next. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Anchor:] You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington in tonight for Poppy Harlow. A brand new terror recruiting video focuses on Donald Trump's proposed ban on Muslims travelling to the United States. The Republican front- runner announced that plan, saying that if he was president, it was something he would put in place and he did that in the wake of the San Bernardino shootings last month. The video was apparently released by Al Shabaab, this is an al Qaeda affiliate based in Somalia and the video labels the U.S. as a racist society that will turn against its own Muslim communities. Trump is just hours away now from a crucial appearance in the Deep South. Thousands of supporters are expected to rally tonight in Biloxi, Mississippi. Some Trump fans may be driving to Biloxi from nearby states participating in the influential SEC primary that takes place on March 1st, that's when voters in Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia will all cast primary ballots. And Phil Mattingly is joining me now from Biloxi, Mississippi. How is he resonating there, Phil? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Well, people are excited and look, that's not really a surprise when it comes to Donald Trump events. But if you look behind me, that's the convention center. To my left is the coliseum. The convention center is actually the overflow for this event. The coliseum holds more than 13,000 people. Lines have actually formed. Parking lots have filled up. So, people here are clearly excited, Brianna, but I think one of the interesting things we wanted to find out was twofold. One, what people thought of the Al Shabaab video that was released today, the recruiting video. And also, what they thought about Donald Trump's repeated attacks on Hillary Clinton when it came to what Bill Clinton did in the Oval Office or allegations otherwise. Take a listen to what we heard. [Unidentified Male:] I think that's fabricated. [Mattingly:] You think the video is made up? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. Sure, it was. [Mattingly:] How did you know? [Unidentified Male:] Well, because you can see where it was cut in. At least that's my opinion. I think that was strictly, I may be wrong, but I think that was a made up deal there. [Mattingly:] Now, does it make you guys uncomfortable at all when he attacks Hillary Clinton about some of the stuff that Bill Clinton did? [Unidentified Female:] No! No! No! [Mattingly:] So, Brianna, obviously, fairly set. Both on the video and on the Clinton allegations. When it comes to the video, multiple people I've talked to here say, they think it's fabricated, it was not something that was made up by a terrorist group. It's something one person actually attributed to the Clinton campaign, this is all coming after Hillary Clinton in December during a debate saying that the terrorist groups were using videos to recruit. Now, there's concrete evidence of that, people of this rally, not really believing it so far Brianna. [Keilar:] And just to fact check, we do believe it is an authentic video. Phil Mattingly, thank you so much for that report from Biloxi, Mississippi. Record high floodwaters are receding in the St. Louis, but the danger is far from over. Surging water is flowing downstream. It's putting millions of people in communities farther south on alert for flooding. Missouri's governor just wrapped up a tour of the damage. I spoke to him a short time ago about what he saw and what the first step is to rebuilding. [Gov. Jay Nixon, Missouri:] The River here went up 35 feet, Meramec River tributary to the Mississippi, it's now going down and there's a lot of debris. So, we're here with the locals working through a program in which we're going to get a disaster declaration and get this long debris field cleaned up over the next few weeks. [Keilar:] Are you getting or do you expect you'll get the federal help you need? What do you need? [Nixon:] Well, we're asking for expedited disaster declaration so that we can access folks who are already on contract out there. Much like we did down in Joplin so that we can get debris moved quickly. It's hard to rebuild while you still have all of this stuff here. In order to get out the damaged stuff, we need to move quickly. So, we'll be working with the FEMA as well as the corps of engineers and our National Guard to make sure we get a program to move this out of here quickly. [Keilar:] CNN's Dan Simon is joining me now from Eureka. This is one of the hardest hit towns in this entire disaster. Tell us what you're seeing, Dan. We can always see just a mountain of debris behind you. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. Hi, Brianna, this is what you might call debris central. This is where people have been dropping off their damaged goods. You can see an old television right there. This is an old washer over here. What people have been doing is basically taking all their flood damaged stuff, putting it in their driveways and then it's being collected and ultimately brought here. Eventually, if will be taken to a landfill, but in the meantime, they just need a place to put all of this stuff. And so that's worth winding up. So, what we learned today is that the Governor of Missouri Jay Nixon, he asked the Obama White House to issue a federal emergency declaration so they can speed up the debris removal process. He said ultimately what it's going to take to get this community back on its feet is really to get everything cleaned up and he's hoping that will be honored in quick order. This is what the Governor had to say just a short time ago. [Nixon:] I'm from this part of the state. I mean, quite frankly, it's almost hard to believe. When you see the levels of where water was. When you're coming over historic highs, I mean, from the beginning of time, we kept records by four and five feet. I mean, when you're seeing 55 close, when you're seeing a house that's floated, a full house that's floated into the highway 30 bridge and blowing up, it's almost as if you're living on some other planet. [Simon:] And back here in Eureka, you can see another truck here dropping off a pile of debris. We've seen it grown all day long. And so, really, the next step in this is just to get everything cleaned up. Fortunately, Brianna, the floodwaters have receded. So now what you're just left with is the damage and the destruction and the effort to get it all cleaned up Brianna. [Keilar:] We were happy to learn earlier, Dan, that the community actually does have safe drinking water. I know that was a concern because some of these waste water plants had flooded. What about their homes though? Are they livable? What proportion of this area are people able to return and go back and stay in their homes? [Simon:] Well, in Eureka, there are dozens of homes and businesses that are significantly damaged throughout the state, it's really in the hundreds. What we've seen in terms of the damage is that most of the damage occurred in basements where they took on several feet of water. The upstairs for the most part, the living areas of the home seems to be undamaged, so that is good news in terms of, you know, people being able to continue to live in their homes. But now, it's just really the aggravation in dealing with the insurance companies and things of that nature to try to rebound Brianna. [Keilar:] Yes, that is so aggravating. I know. All right. Dan Simon, thank you so much, live for us from Eureka, Missouri. And then as the flooding eases there in the St. Louis area, people points south of there are hoping to avert a similar disaster. We have meteorologist Allison Chinchar with what's in store down river. [Allison Chinchar, Cnn Meteorologist:] We still have 16 states that are dealing with flood watches or warnings and the reason for that is all of the rivers locations that we still have that are either at or above their flood stage. That number, over 270 of them. And you can see it's spread all across the Midwest and also, parts of the southeast. Now, this entire gray shaded area is the basin we've talked about for days now. All of the rain that has fallen in this area has to go somewhere and it ends up in the Mississippi River. Whether it comes from Missouri River, the Arkansas or even the Ohio rivers, they all at some point funnel back into the Mississippi. St. Louis crested yesterday, which is good news. The water has started to recede, but it's a different story. A little bit farther south. Take a look at Cape Girardeau, not expected to crest until January 3rd and Cairo, not expected to crest until January 4th. We already have one levy that overtopped near Miller City, just on the east side of the Mississippi River, that south of Cape Girardeau. And again, it's possible we could have more Levis that get overtopped over the next several days. And again, as we noticed, a lot of these areas aren't expected to crest for several more days. Greenville and Vicksburg, not for another ten to 14 days. The problem with that is, any rainfall that we get the next ten to 14 days could make these crests even higher depending on that amount of water. One good news is, we do expect the Bonnet Carre Spillway to help alleviate some of the flooding problems downstream in New Orleans. [Keilar:] Allison Chinchar, thank you for that. Coming up, crunch time for the presidential candidates with a months to go. Not even until the all-important Iowa caucuses. Some GOP campaigns are making last minute changes hoping to cut into Donald Trump's lead. We'll check in with Chris Frates and the state of the race, next. [Costello:] If you thought the battle between the GOP candidates was heating up, the political punches, they just keep on coming. Senator Marco Rubio now accusing rival Ted Cruz's campaign of posting a fake picture online there it is that shows Rubio shaking President Obama's hand. It's on a Web site called The Real Rubio Record a Cruz campaign site intended to paint Rubio as the, quote, "Republican Obama". Phil Mattingly has more on this. He's on the trail of Rubio in Greenville. Good morning. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. The Rubio campaign is urgently trying to get the message out about this Web site. Now, they look at this photo and they say according to senior advisor Todd Harris, Rubio doesn't own that suit, he doesn't own that tie, he doesn't own that watch. This is a fake photo being circulated on a Web site paid for by Cruz's campaign. Now look, Carol, Web sites created to attack candidates is not a new thing in politics. Just about every party committee does it. A number of candidates do it as well. What the Rubio campaign is seeing on this though is an opening to continue to attack Cruz on deception, on dishonesty a theme for the campaign really since Saturday's debate in South Carolina. Now, Ted Cruz spokesman Rick Tyler told our colleague Sunlen Serfaty that he didn't believe that the campaign would use any fake photos and then quickly tried to spin it himself saying that the Rubio campaign is the one using smears and lies and said quote, "This is pathetic this late in the campaign to be doing this." Carol, obviously, as you know and we've seen over the last week, this battle between these two campaigns and even Donald Trump coming in and calling Ted Cruz a liar is only heating up as the race gets closer to when voters actually get to go to the polls. This is not going away any time soon. I think you're going to hear a lot from the Rubio campaign on this going forward. [Costello:] Although it may seem a little silly that we're all fighting about a picture showing Marco Rubio shaking hands with the President of the United States. We must hearken back to Chris Christie, right, who hugged President Obama when he came to the state of New Jersey to offer financial aid to that state, and Chris Christie could never recover from that image. [Mattingly:] Every single time, Chris Christie seemed to talk about Sandy somebody seemed to bring up the hug. And it should be noted that he said over and over during his campaign in New Hampshire before he dropped out of the race, that he did not in fact hug President Obama. It was just a bad photo. But look, another kind of interesting element to the photo of Marco Rubio shaking allegedly shaking President Obama's hand, it it's a left-handed handshake which isn't exactly the norm in society that we've seen here. I think the Rubio campaign clearly they want to push back on this Web site. It's kind of a detailed attack on all of Marco Rubio's positions paid for by the Cruz campaign. But again Carol, they also like that this easily fits into the narrative of the attacks the Cruz campaign has been leveling at Marco Rubio and they're going to try and exploit this I think over the next couple of days Carol. [Costello:] All right. Phil Mattingly thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the saga of a lost wallet sparks lots of laughter in New York City. You'll want to see this story next. [Quest:] Here on QUEST MEANS BUSINESS we do a lot of thinking and quite a lot of laughing. Well, the IG Nobel prizes honor achievements that make people do exactly that. They laugh and then think. And we wanted celebrate with them also after the 2016 winners were announced last night at Harvard, the IG Nobel. These were our favorites. In the field of economics, Sarah Forbes and Mark Avis for their work on assessing the perceived personalities of rocks. From a sales and marketing perspective. Them you have the field of chemistry, slightly more tongue in cheek, Volkswagen for solving the problem of excessive automobile emissions by producing fewer emissions when the cars are being tested. I am sure they weren't laughing about that in Germany. It is either magic or cheating depending on your point of view. And then the field of biology. Thomas Thwaites for creating prosthetic limbs that allowed him to live with and understand the movement of goats. And for that he won the IG Nobel award. And the IG Nobel award winner Thomas Thwaites joins me now. Sir, I mean, congratulations. [I -- Thomas Thwaites, Ig Nobel Prize Winner, Biology:] Thank you. [Quest:] Why did you want to live as a goat for three days and what did you learn? [Thwaites:] It is not as strange of a thought as it sounds. [Quest:] I assure it is, sir. [Thwaites:] Maybe we need some introduction. I think we may have all had a thought like that, you know, certainly when I was a child, I can remember wanting to be the pet cat or something so I didn't have to trudge off to school. I think at root it was this, I was going through a bit of a slump, a down patch in my life, and I guess that thought recurred, wouldn't it be lovely to take a holiday from all of this become a goat. [Quest:] Of all of the animals you choose, why a goat? [Thwaites:] Actually, I started off wanting to become an elephant, but after a bit of research, it became clear that I mean, it became clear that elephants, I don't know, they're almost a bit too human. They eat with an appendage, so I wanted to get away from that experience, and also they sort of seem to understand their own mortality, they're kind of I wanted to escape from those thoughts on my own mortality. I just wanted to be. [Quest:] So my final question, sir. What did you learn from this? Because the IG Nobels have a serious underlying point to them. Besides the good laugh that we had. What is did you learn? [Thwaite:] I think it was a philosophical investigation. I think it was more a kind of a reminder that we are nothing but animals, ourselves. Despite all of our kind of wondrous sort of our wonderful minds, or wonderful brains. We are at root animals as kind of fallible and irrational as any other of the creatures on the planet. So possibly more of a philosophical investigation, but if you want something a bit more kind of factual, well, I learned all about the tastes of different kinds of grass in a pasture and I learned to be a bit of a grass connoisseur. [Quest:] Sir, we're very grateful that you're back on two feet. Congratulations, on your IG Nobel. Next time I'm in the U.K., I insist we get together to discuss more about living as a goat. Thank you, sir, good to have you on the program. We'll have a Profitable Moment after the break. [Grace:] And breaking tonight. An arrest goes down in the murder of an FSU law professor, and the alleged murder mastermind is a seemingly unconnected woman. But why? [Unidentified Male:] The FSU law professor Dan Markel was gunned down in his own home. Shooting him in the side of the head through the window of his car. The driver`s side window is all bashed in and he`s got blood all over his head. [Grace:] Straight out to Roger Schulman, news director at the AM 860 The Answer, WGUL. Roger, thank you for being with us. Okay, so a Florida law professor gunned down in the driveway, there at the home. Who is the woman that`s been arrested? She has nothing to do with this guy. [Roger Schulman, News Director Am 860 The Answer, Wgul:] Well, Katherine Magbanua had a relationship with the brother-in-law, the former brother-in- law of the dead professor. [Grace:] Wait, wait, let me let that sink in. So this woman, very pretty lady. [Schulman:] Yes, very pretty. [Grace:] . seemingly unconnected to the FSU law professor, Dan Markel, father of two, had nothing to do with him, but is connected to the law professor`s wife`s brother? [Schulman:] Brother, and she had two children with one of the alleged killers. [Grace:] One of the trigger people? Okay, this is a flowchart, guys. Here`s the dead guy in the middle, FSU law professor, he`s the father of two little children. Now, the wife, Wendi Adelson, is not a suspect. Has not been arrested, declares her innocence. Her brother, not a suspect. He declares his innocence. Somehow, this woman, Katie Magbanua, has been arrested for murder. The trigger people, we believe, are Tato Rivera and Tuto Garcia. Now, what is the connection? Matt Zarrell, how do I know the mastermind, the female mastermind is connected to the dead guy`s brother-in-law? [Matt Zarrell, Nancy Grace Producer:] Well, you have to look at evidence from before the murder and after the murder. Because before the murder, we`ve got. [Grace:] Put up that flowchart, please. Sorry, Matt, go ahead. [Zarrell:] Okay, so, before the murder, we got cellphone calls showing Magbanua had multiple conversations with Charlie Adelson and at the same time was talking to Sigfredo Garcia. [Grace:] Wait, wait, wait, Matt, hold on, hold on. So there`s the dead guy, the father of two. There`s his estranged wife, not a suspect. Now we know, according to police, the murder mastermind, Katie Magbanua, has all these phone calls to the brother-in-law, not a suspect. What about money, Matt Zarrell, did she make any money suddenly showing up in her checking account? [Zarrell:] Yes, so now we look at evidence after the murder. So after the murder, she received several things including $56,000, over $56,000 in cash deposits. Police believe that the brother-in-law, Charlie Adelson, paid for half of her breast augmentation surgery. [Grace:] Wait, wait, wait, Matt Zarrell, how does that happen? You pay for what, one breast? [Zarrell:] Apparently, the police have subpoenaed the medical records from Magbanua`s breast surgery, as they believe that the brother-in-law did pay for half of that procedure. [Grace:] Okay, Matt Zarrell, actually that was not really a serious question. What about the car, isn`t whoa, whoa, whoa, keep that up for me, please, Justin. Unleash the lawyers, Mindy Smith and Alex Sanchez. Please look at your screen. Garcia`s purchases. A Chevy Monte Carlo, a Nissan Maxima, a Honda motorcycle, a Suzuki motorcycle, breast implants and $56,000. please put the lawyers up. Now, again, the brother-in-law of the dead guy, this is the dead guy`s wife`s estranged wife`s brother, is not a suspect. So why the breast implants, Sanchez? Why is he paying for her breast implants? [Sanchez:] Let me understand this. [Grace:] Okay. [Sanchez:] The brother-in-law is not a suspect. [Grace:] No. [Sanchez:] . according to you and the police. [Grace:] That`s right. [Sanchez:] .. and yet the police are trying to use evidence that the brother- in-law paid for breast surgery and somehow gave her money. [Grace:] Exactly. [Sanchez:] So either he`s a suspect in a conspiracy or he is not a suspect in a conspiracy. [Grace:] That`s your answer? [Sanchez:] Yeah, that is my answer. [Grace:] Okay, you know what? And I hear you, Mindy Smith, second verse same as the first. Daniel Bober, let me see if I can get straight answer from you. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, what about it, Bober? [Bober:] It seems I mean, it seems like he seems like a suspect to me. I mean, based on the information that you provided. I mean, it seems like there is some level of involvement if the police were looking into it. I mean, it seems like a mixed message. [Grace:] It is a mixed message but the police are firm that the wife, estranged wife and the brother, her brother, are not a suspect. To Dr. William Morrone, forensic pathologist, renown medical examiner. Dr. Morrone, let`s bring it home. Describe to me what this law professor went through, dying on the ground in front of his home in his driveway. [Morrone:] Here`s what it breaks down to. This was described as an execution- style killing, which is synonymous for a Chicago-style killing from the `30s. That has three elements. Number one, it has to be close range. Number two, the victim has to be totally conscious and they know it`s coming. And number three, they are fruitlessly unable to resist. There`s nowhere for them to go, and they see it happening. Those are the three classic signs of an execution-style or Chicago-style killing. [Grace:] An FSU law professor gunned down in the driveway in front of his own home. You know, Dr. Morrone, you were just talking about the gangland kind of murder that went down on him. Tonight, what`s breaking now is a female murder mastermind has been named that seemingly is totally unconnected to the murder victim, has nothing to do with him. Dr. Morrone, you know how many times I guess after the murder of my fiance it`s normal, but I think now that I have the twins, if someone tried to kill me, who would take care of the twins? I just wonder if that was his dying thought, that he would never see his children grow up or try to help them grow up. I mean, he had time to bleed out, right? [Morrone:] Yeah, your whole life has got to run in front of you, and if you`re a person of substance and character, you worry about caring and protecting for the people that you`re aware from, what are you going to do? [Grace:] Matt Zarrell, what more do we know? [Zarrell:] Hours after the murder, the wife told police that her brother joked about hiring a hit man to kill Markel, but right now he`s not arrested or a suspect. [Grace:] Not a suspect? Let`s remember American hero army chief warrant officer Keith Mariotti, just 39, Plattsburg, New York. Loved flying helicopters, dreamed to fly since a little boy. Parents Nancy and Dilio, widow Denise. Keith Mariotti, American hero. And happy birthday, third birthday to superstar twins, Ella and Joseph, children to our superstar producer, Phil and his wife Christina. They love singing, dancing, and dog jazz. Now Phil and I went on a mission trip to Biloxi after Katrina. Little did I know this will produce a beautiful twins one day. Thanks for being with us so much. Nancy Grace signing off. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp eastern. Until then, good night, friend. END [Costello:] And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Welcome to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where CNN's big Democratic debate will soon takes place. It's beautiful here but it's time to talk to the Republicans for just a bit. Because Donald Trump is, you know, he's really mad with his own party over delegate rules. He's actually promoting a protest. Overnight, Donald Trump tweeted, "Big protest march in Colorado on Friday afternoon. Don't let the bosses take your vote." And by bosses, Mr. Trump is referring to GOP bigwigs. But Ted Cruz referring to a decidedly different kind of boss when asked about Donald Trump's campaign tactics at CNN's town hall last night. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Donald and his team, it's almost like they are subjects in a clinical course in psychology. In the last few weeks, Donald's team, Roger Stone, his chief political advisor, was threatening to out the hotel rooms of delegates whose dared to cross Trump so they could be intimidated. They're acting like union boss thugs. [Costello:] Cruz not the only one concerned this morning. Colorado's GOP chairman says he's been getting death threats. Indiana party leaders also getting some scary messages after they said they saw no reason to help Trump supporters win delegate spots. One reads, quote, "You know, traditional burial is polluting the planet. Tom, hope the family is well. Your name and info has been given me on a list that's about to go public. We are watching you." The Trump camp is denouncing those threats but let's talk a little bit more about that and more with CNN's Sara Murray. Good morning. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] Good morning, Carol. Well, it is pretty clear that Donald Trump and his supporters are not backing off of their complaints on this process. And look, the Trump campaign has a full plate right now. They are staffing up. The candidate is at war with the RNC. But they have at least one less distraction to worry about, and that is their campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. It looks like he will not be prosecuted in that run in with a female reporter. [Murray:] Sources confirmed to CNN Trump's campaign manager will not be prosecuted for battery following this altercation with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields back in March. Fields, who could seek defamation charges against Corey Lewandowski, tweeting, "Office of prosecutor asked two weeks ago if I'd be OK with an apology from Corey. I said yes but haven't heard back about it." On the campaign trail, tense moments outside a Trump rally in Pittsburgh as hundreds of angry protesters clashed with Trump supporters. Police in riot gear tried to keep the peace. Inside, the frontrunner intensifying his war with the [Gop. Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It's a rigged system folks. The Republican system is a rigged system. [Murray:] And doubling down on claims his party is conspiring to block him from the nomination. [Trump:] The bosses and the establishment and the people that shouldn't have this power took all of the power away from the voters. [Murray:] Republican Party chairman Reince Priebus firing back. [Reince Priebus, Chairman, Rnc:] The rules are not being changed in order to injure or benefit anybody. They are what they are. [Murray:] At CNN's town hall, Trump's main rival Ted Cruz railing against Trump's tactics and accusing his supporters of threatening delegates. [T. Cruz:] They're acting like union boss thugs. Well, I spoke yesterday to the chairman of the Republican Party in Colorado. Trump supporters put out his home address, put out his phone numbers. He got thousands of phone calls. He got death threats. Trump supporters were telling the supporters go to his house and bring their guns. Look, violence doesn't belong in democracy, and the Trump campaign encouraging it over and over again. [Murray:] And on a lighter note, Cruz's wife shared how the couple met. [Heidi Cruz, Ted Cruz's Wife:] It was really love at first sight. [Murray:] But it was their 5 and 8-year-old daughters that stole the show. [T. Cruz:] Caroline's daddy-daughter picnic at school, which featured all the dads running and playing games, and... [Caroline Cruz, Ted Cruz's Daughter:] My favorite. [T. Cruz:] Your favorite was that she got to dress up Daddy in, like, this pink boa and these, like, big goofy-looking... [Caroline Cruz:] Underwear. [T. Cruz:] ... underwear... [Caroline Cruz:] And actually that was on a videotape the whole time. [T. Cruz:] Uh-oh. [Caroline Cruz:] And now it's a class video that they're sending out to all the parents. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] Oh really? [Murray:] Now, Carol, we got to see a softer side of the candidates in these CNN town halls. But today it is back to politics. All three Republican candidates will be speaking at the same dinner in New York tonight. So it will be interesting to see how much they want to contrast with each other when they're all going to be sharing the same stage and revolving through there tonight, Carol. [Costello:] Oh, it will be interesting. Sara Murray reporting live for us this morning. Thanks so much. So let's talk about all this and more with CNN'senior political analyst and senior editor of "The Atlantic", Ron Brownstein. Good morning, Ron. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Good morning, Carol. [Costello:] OK, first off, I want to talk a little bit more about Ted Cruz's daughters. Because they really did steal the show. Especially Caroline. So I want our viewers to listen to a bit more of that. [T. Cruz:] And indeed, just, what, a couple of days ago, I was back for Caroline's daddy-daughter picnic at school, which featured all the dads running and playing games, and... [Caroline Cruz:] My favorite. [T. Cruz:] ... your favorite was that she got to dress up Daddy in, like, this pink boa and these, like, big goofy-looking... [Caroline Cruz:] Underwear. [T. Cruz:] ... underwear... [Caroline Cruz:] And that's, FYI, that was on a videotape the whole time. [T. Cruz:] Uh-oh. [Caroline Cruz:] And now it's a class video that they're sending out to all the parents. [Cooper:] Oh, really? Hmm. [T. Cruz:] But it does... [Costello:] OK, it was so good, we had to show it to you twice. What a lovely moment. You know, we know Ted Cruz has problems with the likability factor. Does this help? [Brownstein:] Well, I think the town halls have been an absolutely great addition to the presidential campaign dialogue. And in this further inundation of having the family come on with him has really been extraordinary this week. And, sure, it helps but only so far. I mean, I think voters kind of assume as a baseline that you, as the candidate, that you are nice to your family and your family likes you. I think that takes you so far. But ultimately you're being judged on your public life. And on that front, Cruz has struggled. But these were these were I thought not only charming moments, but very revealing moments. And, Carol, how long until that video makes it onto the Internet? That's what I was wondering, listening to that clip. [Costello:] Exactly. That's what I'm wondering too, Ron, to be quite frank. OK, well, let's get serious now. Because Senator Cruz accused Donald Trump of union boss thuggery. You know, he got a dig in at the Democrats at the same time he could dig in at Donald Trump, so it was a good line, right? [Brownstein:] Right. [Costello:] But is it true? [Brownstein:] Well, look, there has been an air of violence around many of the elements of the Trump campaign. I mean at the rallies I've been to it was not shocking to me that it kind of took the turn that it did in march with what we saw in North Carolina and Chicago and again last night in Pittsburgh. Tough for Trump, by the way, to go into any big city at this point and not face major protesting resistance. I do think that this is part of the problem Trump has and why he is facing this kind of unprecedented resistance. As we've said in times before, given the states he won early on in the process, almost in any precedent, what you'd be seeing at this point is the party consolidating around him and his vote moving towards 50 percent. He might hit 50 percent in New York, but except for that, it's just not happening. He hasn't 50 percent anywhere else and party leaders are kind of redoubling their efforts to stop him to reaching that first ballot majority. And I do think this is one of the reasons why, because the campaign has had this tone of if if we don't win, we are going to tear down the party by any means necessary. [Costello:] So in any way could this backfire against Mr. Trump? Or will it only make his supporters more passionate about their candidate? [Brownstein:] Well, the answer is both, right. Because I think what we've seen very clearly from the beginning is that Donald Trump has the biggest piece of the Republican coalition. There is no question he has a bigger, broader base of support than Ted Cruz, who has struggled among voters who are not evangelical. John Kasich really has not been able to get out of that very narrow, moderate, white collar wing. Trump has the biggest piece of the party, but it is not a majority piece. He is a plurality frontrunner, winning about 40 percent of the vote. You got to guess he'll do better in the northeast; when you get beyond that, there's probably where he's going to revert to as it goes forward. And many of the same things that he's done that inspired such passionate support from his supporters have deeply alienated anyone else. The "Washington Post" is out again today, his national negatives continue to be unprecedented and his negatives among Republicans who are not voting for him, two thirds in the last CNN poll. The Republicans who are not voting Trump say they view him unfavorably. So he has been on a treadmill where what he has done to deepen his support has also tended to narrow his support. [Costello:] All right, Ron Brownstein, thanks so much. Always glad to have you. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump not the only candidate that has a beef with election rules. Why Bernie Sanders is sounding off too. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's noon in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 11:00 p.m. in Islamabad, Pakistan. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] Up first, the breaking news, the price of oil is dropping so is the stock market. The Dow Jones plunging more than 400 points in early trading. Right now, it's down. You can see about 456 points. Let's bring in CNN Business Correspondent Richard Quest. He's the host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS." He's joining us from Davos, Switzerland where world leaders are now gathered. Richard, as you know, this is the worst start to the year on record for the U.S. stock market. How worried are investors right now? [Richard Quest, Cnn Business Correspondent:] They're going to be increasingly worried. On the one hand, Wolf, they always like to tell you they're in it for the long haul, that they know that the fundamentals of the global economy are sound. But the truth of the matter is when you see a seven percent drop in the price oil, now under $28 a barrel, and you do not see any reason for that to stop, coupled with a market which seemingly has decided to go completely on a frolic of its own. Last week, the Dow Jones down 300, then down 400, then you got a bounce back on Monday. And, all of a sudden, today. I think once you start going over 500 points, you start seeing losses of more than three percent at any given time. It gives people pause for thought. And they realize, one, Japan's Nikkei index is now in bear territory. It's now a bear market. Two, oil prices are low and the pressure is down. Three, China's growth is OK, moderate, not good, but it's likely to get worse. And, four, investors are saying, we need safety, security. The market is not there. [Blitzer:] Yes, the good news for consumers, the price of oil, gasoline is way, way down. The bad news, the markets are really going down at the same time. Richard, we'll get back to you. Richard Quest joining us from Davos, Switzerland. Other news we're following. Under the cover of heavy fog, gunmen stormed a university in Pakistan killing at least 19 people and injuring many others. It happened at the Bacha Khan University at Bacha where the attack coincided with a campus ceremony catching so many people off guard. A Pakistani Army spokesman says the attackers first threw grenades then opened fire. A battle broke out between the gunmen and security forces. By the time it was finished, the four attackers were dead. Our Senior International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is tracking the developments. He's joining us live from Beirut. Nick, do we know specifically who is responsible? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We know who's claimed it and we know who said it's not them. And that actually is both of the same group, the Pakistani Taliban. Officially, their statement says, that was not us. And they called the attack against innocent civilians like this not according to Sharia or Islamic law. But one of their leaders, a man called Umar Mansoor, who was also the man said to be behind the Peshawar attacks in December 2015 against another school there in which over 130, often very young children, lost their lives, he said he did do it. And he blamed the Pakistani military for provoking the attack saying it was a response to military operations in those tribal regions, some of which, in fact, came down heavier after that Peshawar attack I just mentioned. So, clearly, a split in a fractured Taliban here, although some, perhaps, suggesting they're officially denying it and not kind of lose sympathy with those parts of society that still assist the Pakistani Taliban while one of their more radical leaders stepping forward and claiming full responsibility. But certainly well planned here. We are hearing from Pakistani military in a press conference that on the bodies of the four attackers, they found Afghan SIM cards. So, it's suggesting, perhaps, they have come from Afghanistan or been in touch with people in Afghanistan during the attack. That's unclear at this stage. They say all four attackers were, in fact, alive when security forces stormed in and it may well be that the death toll, often as it is, of course, for those loved ones, could have been higher. They chose a time when there are many more students there than normal. And it does appear that apparently a bit of intelligence tip-off earlier enabled a higher security presence that meant when the attackers got there, they were contained mostly in two buildings on one side of the huge university campus. But still, educational institutions, the innocent here targeted, yet again, by a Pakistani Taliban. It's being hit hard by the Pakistani military and gone across the border from Afghanistan where it's wreaking havoc against the Afghanistan government Wolf. [Blitzer:] Horrible situation in Pakistan right now. Nick Paton Walsh joining us from Beirut. Thank you. Turning now to Iraq in a death toll that the United Nations calls staggering. As the country battles ISIS, a new U.N. report just released says this, nearly 19,000 civilians have been killed in a 20- month period in Iraq. More than 36,000 were injured and about 3.2 million Iraqis have been displaced. For more about the U.S. involvement in the fight against ISIS in Iraq, we're joined now by Colonel Steve Warren. He's the spokesman for Operation Inherent Resolve. Colonel, thanks very much. You're in Baghdad right now. You're right in the thick of things. What is your assessment of this fight against ISIS right now in Iraq? [Col. Steve Warren, Spokesman, Operation Inherent Resolve:] Well, this is a brutal and evil enemy that we're fighting and that's very well known. We have seen progress, though. The Iraqi security forces have taken back 40 percent of the land that ISIS once held. So, that's progress. We've seen news about Ramadi, and we've seen news about Sinjar, we've seen news about Baji. So, this Iraqi security force is beginning to get better and, of course, the power of our devastating air strikes has been significant. [Blitzer:] There's a report now that one major monastery, a Christian monastery in Iraq, St. Elijah's Monastery, 1,400 years old, probably the oldest monastery in Iraq, has been leveled by ISIS, completely destroyed. Is that true? [Warren:] We can't confirm it yet. We are we are looking into it to try and determine using some of our overhead surveillance assets. But if true, it would yet, again, verify how genuinely savage this group really is. [Blitzer:] Because there have been reports that ISIS is specifically going after Iraqi Christians. Thousands have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have been forced to flee. There is legitimate fear, you're there in Baghdad, that the long history of Christians living peacefully, productively in Iraq is coming to an end. How worried should we be about the Christian community in Iraq? [Warren:] Wolf, it ISIL doesn't care if you're Christian, if you're Muslim, if you're Turkmenistan, if you're anything. This is a brutal, savage organization who is going after everyone who doesn't align up specifically with them. We've seen those specific evidence of a specific targeting towards Christians or any other group. This is a terrorist organization. It's a proto state who wants to kill everything that they see. [Blitzer:] There are about, what, 3,000, maybe a little bit more, U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq right now. Is that enough? [Warren:] Yes. So, the troops that we have on the ground now are here to train, advise and assist the Iraqi security forces. The Iraqi Army had trouble a year ago where we saw them collapse but they're getting better. We've seen success in several cities. So, they're getting better and we're going to stick with them. [Blitzer:] Any chance that Mosul, the second largest city in Iraq with nearly 2 million people under ISIS'control right now, and any chance that is about to be liberated any time soon? [Warren:] It's going to be a while, Wolf. We'll be honest with you. We have to generate combat power. We have to set battlefield conditions. We have to isolate that city. And then, only then, we'll be able to move in and liberate it. So, it will take a long time. We haven't really established the time line yet, but we know it's going to take a while. [Blitzer:] Colonel Warren, good luck over there. Thanks very much for joining us. [Warren:] Thank you very much. [Blitzer:] Colonel Steve Warren is a spokesperson for Operation Inherent Resolve. That was the view from the U.S. military in Baghdad. Let's focus in now in the effort to protect the United States from an ISIS attack. Joining us are the Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. He's the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. He also serves on the Foreign Relations Committee. Senator, thanks very much for joining us. First of all, your reaction to what we just heard from Colonel Warren. Give us your reaction when you hear that kind of assessment he provides. [Sen. Ron Johnson , Wisconsin, Chairman, Senate Homeland Security Committee:] Well, it's obviously good news we're making some progress. But certainly the hearing we held today, talked about the importance of the territory for the establishment and the ongoing fact of the caliphate. And as long as that caliphate holds territory, they're generating revenue, they're also generating additional recruits and more adherence to the barbaric ideology. So, the fact of the matter is we actually have to defeat them. But defeat means denying them all of their territories, so that caliphate actually is defeated [Blitzer:] You're hear [Johnson:] and no longer exists. [Blitzer:] you're hearing today, and it was an important hearing entitled "Inside the mind of ISIS, understanding its goals and ideology to better protect the homeland." What was the most important conclusion that you heard? [Johnson:] Well, it's really pretty interesting, and, again, I hit on it in terms of the importance of the territory and the fact that that caliphate exists, that that sets in motion, you know, Sharia Law, and it just you know, for those who adhere to that, that ideology, they have a duty to support the caliphate whether by traveling to Syria and Iraq to join the fight or kill in place. And so, that is why it's so important. You know, the other thing we pointed out is there are 1.6 million Muslim or billion Muslims in the world. A very small fraction, let's say one percent, is still 16 million, potentially, adherence to this ideology. And I'm not nobody now can tell you what that is but a small percentage is still a really big problem. The other thing we learned is because what the other part of our hearing was, you know, what attracts people? You know, is there is a typical, basically, background of somebody who's attracted to this ideology? And there is none. The diversity of people who have actually joined this fight makes it very difficult for us to really identify those and prevent it. So, that's why you get back to the main goal initially with ISIS, they have to be defeated. We have to actually accomplish President's Obama's stated goal of defeating [Isis. Blitzer:] And related to this, an important vote on the Senate floor coming up in the next hour or two on Syrian refugees allowed to come into the United States. Tell us about this vote and how you will vote on it. [Johnson:] I'm going to vote yes because I think it's pretty reasonable to hold this administration to defeat the fire. They have this administration has the legal authority to let in basically any refugee from wherever. And so, we have responsibility to make sure that they do not take any short cuts. They don't short circuit the process. And so, this is just kind of kind of like under Sarbanes-Oxley, we require CEOs to certify that their financial statements are accurate. You know, why not have the director of Homeland or the secretary of Homeland Security, the director of the FBI and our counterterrorism center certify that we have not taken any shortcuts in the vetting process. And so, the people we let in really don't pose risk to this country and to our homeland. [Blitzer:] So, no refugees will be allowed to come in from Syria if this vote were to pass. No refugees would be allowed [Johnson:] No, [I -- Blitzer:] hold on a second, unless the director of the FBI and the secretary of the Homeland Security certified that there is they've thoroughly been vetted. Is that right? [Johnson:] Yes, I think that's a pretty reasonable proposal, quite honestly. And, Wolf, you cited earlier statistics in our hearing. We talked about the State Department's start report. It started in 2012. And just from 2012 to 2014, the number of terrorist attacks worldwide have gone from 6,700 to over almost 17,000. The number of people killed have gone from 11,000 to almost 44,000. A four-fold increase of people killed in terrorist attacks in just a two-year time period. The threat of Islamic terror is real and is growing. [Blitzer:] Do you have the 60 votes needed to pass this legislation? [Johnson:] I hope so. You know, at least to proceed to the consideration of a debate. I mean, what would be wrong with that? I hope Democrats in the Senate to, you know, provide us that vote so we can at least discuss this on the floor of the Senate and offer it up for amendments. [Blitzer:] Senator Ron Johnson is the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. We'll follow the vote. We'll update our viewers, obviously once it takes place. Thanks, as usual, for joining us. [Johnson:] Have a great day. [Blitzer:] Thank you. Up next, Sarah Palin is back on the campaign trail after endorsing Donald Trump last night. She's now joining him on stage in Oklahoma this hour. You're looking at live pictures from the event. We'll go there live. And Governor John Kasich is focusing his entire presidential campaign right now on the first primary in the United States, New Hampshire. That's coming up in a few weeks. He's doing well in the latest polls. Can he catch up, though, to Donald Trump? We'll speak with John Kasich live. That's coming up as well. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] It is the second spacewalk of its kind in two weeks. These are live pictures from space. Pretty cool, right? Part of their job includes installing HG-TV cameras that will be used to monitor activities outside the station. Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts right now. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate:] We will build a great wall along the southern border. [Trump:] And Mexico will pay for the wall. [Unidentified Correspondent:] President Enrique Pena Nieto disputes that, tweeting, quote, "I made it clear, Mexico will not pay for the wall." [Trump:] We did discuss the wall. We didn't discuss payment. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate:] You don't build a coalition by insulting our friends. [Trump:] There will be no amnesty. [Clinton:] Say one thing one day and something totally different the next. [Trump:] Maybe they'll be able to deport her. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm John Berman. Kate Bolduan is off today. We begin with breaking news out of Florida, a huge explosion rocking Cape Canaveral just a short time ago. It happened on the launch pad used by SpaceX. We know they had a launch set for Saturday. Look at these pictures just coming in. Response teams are at the site. At this point, no injuries are reported. Our reporters are gathering details and we'll get you the latest in just a moment. In the meantime, one battleground, two dueling rallies about to begin. Any minute now, Vice President Joe Biden will be campaigning for Hillary Clinton in Warren, Ohio. You can expect a sharp rebuke of Donald Trump's big immigration speech in Mexico moment. We will take you there live. Also Donald Trump, he is in Ohio today. He's got a rally in Wilmington, immigration speech, fresh off his trip down south, way down south, to meet with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto. One thing Trump and Pena did not agree on, paying for the wall, and whether that was even discussed. Trump says it was not. The Mexican president says it was. Hours later, in Phoenix, Donald Trump reiterated that Mexico will pay for it, 100 percent of it. He also outlined what Hillary Clinton called Trump's darkest speech yet, a deportation task force, no legal status for undocumented immigrants unless they returned home and apply for re-entry. Want to get to CNN's Phil Mattingly. He's live in Wilmington where Donald Trump will hold a rally in just a short time. Phil, the Trump campaign, how do they feel about how everything transpired yesterday? It was sort of everything. A lot going on. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Keep in mind, they're biased. It looks like they're very happy with yesterday. One Trump adviser explained it like this, yesterday showed Trump's ability to straddle both sides of things. Donald Trump, the diplomat, standing side by side with the leader of Mexico, and Donald Trump who can come back and talk policy and not move that far off what has been a permanent hard- line stance over the course of his campaign. We've heard what the Clinton campaign has said in response. When you talk to Trump officials, they felt a little bit like the trip, particularly on such short notice, was a bit a Hail Mary, and they felt like they completed that pass John? [Berman:] Phil Mattingly for us in Wilmington. The issue in politics at this point in the campaign is about addition, did you add any voters. Joining us now to examine that is Anthony Segura, a military veteran, an NRA firearms instructor. He supported Donald Trump beforehand, but was keenly interested in what Trump would say in this immigration speech. Anthony, thanks so much for joining us right now. Anthony, you listened to the speech. Give me your general thoughts. [Anthony Segura, Nra Firearms Instructor & Military Veteran & Trump Supporter:] I did. I thought it was very good. I agreed with probably 90 percent of it. There's a few issues I take exception to. I would actually like to talk to him about it. I thought the speech was very good. [Berman:] Donald Trump made clear there will be no legal status for any undocumented immigrants, any of the 11 million undocumented immigrants in this country, unless they leave. This is exactly what he said. I want you to listen. [Trump:] For those here illegally today, who are seeking legal status, they will have one route and one route only, to return home and apply for re-entry, like everybody else, under the rules of the new legal immigration system. There will be no amnesty. [Berman:] Now, I understand you support some kind of legal status for undocumented immigrants here. So how do you respond to that? [Segura:] I do. Yes, well, my wife is a Mexican immigrant who came here illegally, and now she's a brand-new U.S. citizen, is going to vote for the first time. And, you know, we have a lot of friends. She works a lot with the Mexican community. Well, more than just Mexican, immigrants. And there's a lot of hard-working immigrants that are here, that have family here, their kids are here. And I think and Donald Trump has said this. He wants to look at some of this stuff, case by case basis. I think that needs to be looked at. I believe Donald Trump, once he becomes president, will actually look at that. [Berman:] Well, he didn't say that. What he said was no legal status for any of them. So his current position is any one of them could be deported. Joining us with a different perspective is Artemio Muniz. He is the head of the Texas Federation of Hispanic Republicans. Artemio you were a "not sure yet" before this speech from Donald Trump. Where are you now? [Artemio Muniz, Director, Texas Federation Of Hispanic Republicans:] Well, you know, I was in the not sure and I was going to leave my the slam blank. But at this point, with what I heard last night, I can't support Trump. I can't sell the product he's trying to give to the Hispanic community. Pretty much he's doubling down on the same losing strategy that has cost us three elections now, with the presidency, with McCain, with Romney, and Romney's self-deportation. Romney has admitted that was a mistake. So, yeah, at this point, I can't support what he's selling. I think he doubled down on a losing strategy. [Berman:] Is that decisive at this point, nothing else he says can win you over? [Muniz:] I can't support the removal of DOCA, telling children who right now are going to school and can't be deported that I can't knock on their door as a Republican and say, hey, vote for us, we're going to deport you. It just doesn't make sense. Also, you know, again there are hard-working people here who are allies, they're wealth creators. George W. Bush understood this, and that's why he was able to win 40 percent of the Hispanic vote. We're going back on that legacy. I heard the gentleman talk about how his wife was a legal immigrant. My parents were illegal immigrants. I'm proud of that. Because they did what they had to do to give me a shot. Now I just graduated law school. We have one of the largest manufacturing plants in Texas. I say that with pride. Trump should know, of all people, you do what you have to do to make a dollar in this country. I feel the Republican Party is betraying that legacy. We're party of the entrepreneurial spirit, of capitalists. You do what you have to do to make a better life for your family. We're losing allies today. I want Republicans to be sure when they hear this that they understand, if we do lose, why we lost. We're throwing away the battleground states of New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado. We have a huge opportunity. Hillary is so vulnerable on immigration. We can really beat her up. And right now, I don't have anything to say to win those hearts and minds. [Berman:] Just to be clear, you are a Republican, yes? [Muniz:] I am Republican. My first I ran a presidential campaign for Alan Keyes, of all people. I'm hard-core conservative. I've run races in an 80 percent Hispanic majority district, a battleground states. Gave the Republican Party its first ever Hispanic state representative. I am as hard-core Republican as you can get. Look, at the end of the day, the party has to decide, are we going to follow the big-tent compassionate conservative point of view or go with this divisive strategy. I hope we win. I really do. I hope Hillary has some kind of meltdown because that's the only thing that can save us now. [Berman:] Well, you say we hope we win but you don't want Donald Trump to win, that's what you're saying? [Muniz:] That's right. Well, no, what I'm saying is I can't advocate for him in the Hispanic community. His strategy, he thinks he does not need the Hispanic vote. Unfortunately, I think the Hispanic community is going to deliver that desire. Trump's strategy is to win the a historic number of Caucasian votes. You know, that's the losing strategy. I really believe it's the best strategy from the beginning. He still has a few days. I hope he's listening to this. He can change his mind. But at this point, you're not going to win the Hispanic vote. [Berman:] You think that speech last night again was a turning point? [Muniz:] It was. It was. Because, you know, a lot of people were watching. The build-up, the marketing of this event. A lot of people were wondering. When he visited with the president of Mexico, I was getting text messages, I was getting phone calls, like from people who have not voted Republican in a while. They were asking me, wow, is he really going to do this, is he really going to soften, is he really going to pivot. And I kept saying, look, let's wait for the speech. We did wait for the speech. And what he said, unfortunately, is the same old tired losing strategy since McCain and Romney. At this point, the only thing we can hope for is for Hillary to meltdown. [Berman:] And, Artemio, Donald Trump says he did soften. He just said that this morning. He had a radio interview with Laura Ingraham. Let me read you what he said. He said, "Oh, they're softening. Look, we do it in a very humane way." He talks about deporting people, I image. "We're going to see with the people that are in this country, we've got a lot of people in this country you can't have. Those people will get out. Then we're going to make a decision at a later date once everything is stabilized. I think you're going to see there's really quite a bit of softening" You're not convinced there's softening? [Muniz:] Absolutely not. Three of my friends on the council have resigned from the council. These were guys that were hard-core Republicans. They were ones that helped Trump. They resigned this morning. It's not softening. It's doubling down. He's going to remove DOCA. We have millions of children who can't be deported, are going to school, are working, they're contributing. Now he's proposing taking that away and only addressing their situation until he does all these 10 steps. We're talking about years. We're talking about leaving people in the shadows. We're talking about being deported any moment. So, you know, the Hispanic community and those that care about immigration, they know what it adds up to. You can't spin it. I mean, it's simple. Everybody knows what's going on here. Unfortunately, these guys that are in this campaign that went with fair numbers, you would say, it's the same old losing strategy. These guys have cost us three elections. I want Republicans to know, if we do lose this election, this is why, because we give away traditional battleground states. [Berman:] Anthony Segura, let me ask you, you've been listening to what Artemio has been saying about this, why he did not like Donald Trump's speech tonight. Convincing? [Segura:] Not for me. I believe that his speech was right on. We do have to have a path for legalization. But if it means that they have to leave, then they have to leave. We have to take back our country. That's what Donald Trump said last night. We need to take it back. We have so many criminals here. [Berman:] Take it back from whom? Anthony, take it back from whom? [Segura:] Take it back from the criminals. We need to stop the illegal immigration. We need to stop the drugs. You go to northern New Mexico, northern New Mexico is one of the hubs for overdoses of heroin. We need to stop that. I don't know how else we're going to do it, unless we build a wall, and we have to stop the immigration. [Berman:] Artemio, last word? [Muniz:] If he wants to take back our country, he can start by digging up the bodies of American soldiers, who were illegal immigrants, who died in Iraq and Afghanistan for this country. Illegal immigrants have been painted with this brush and, at this point, I think the Hispanic community is fed up with it. You have people who have served this country. And I want to know how much that was. I heard Corey Lewandowski yesterday say some things about illegal immigrants, a Marine who died in Fallujah. These are guys who have served our country. We have guys building, creating wealth for this country. At this point, we better change our rhetoric. If not, we're going to lose the presidency again. [Berman:] Anthony Segura, Artemio Muniz, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate your perspective guys. [Segura:] Thank you. [Berman:] Any minute now, Vice President Joe Biden will hit the campaign trail. What will he say about Donald Trump's speech last night? My bet, he didn't like it. We'll bring you the remarks live. And then breaking news this morning, a big explosion on the SpaceX launch pad. This is at Cape Canaveral. Response teams just arriving on site of the blast. We have details ahead. Plus, other breaking news, just moments ago, a brand-new forecast for the tropical storm heading to Florida and perhaps the entire northeast. This is expected to become a hurricane very, very soon. We'll give you the new forecast next. [Grace:] A gorgeous mom of three shot dead in front of her children by her formerly loving husband. Now hallucinating, high as a kite, after he eats marijuana candy. Mommy calls 911 begging, begging for help for nearly 15 minutes before dispatch sends the cops. And it`s not the first time. [Unidentified Female:] ... domestic violence in progress. RP versus her husband... [Unidentified Male:] It took police 13 minutes to get here. And by the time they did, they were too late. [Unidentified Female:] ... who`s been smoking marijuana. [Unidentified Male:] Inside, sources say Richard Kirk ate edible marijuana and was hallucinating. He asked his wife to shoot him. [Unidentified Female:] Male had a gun... [Unidentified Male:] When she refused, police say her husband pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. We need an officer... [Grace:] This woman murdered by her husband in front of her children after he ingests edible pot? Let`s take a listen to the dispatch call. [Unidentified Female:] Report of a domestic violence in progress. RP versus her husband, who`s been smoking marijuana. Advised they do keep a handgun in the house, but it`s not in anybody`s possession. Report of a domestic violence in progress. [Unidentified Male:] We need an ambulance code 10 for party down, we`re going to need homicide. [Unidentified Female:] Wife on an open line claiming that a male had a gun. All we have is the screaming in the background. [Unidentified Male:] Is the victim from St. Paul being transported? And who`s going to be the IC on St. Paul? [Grace:] Joining me right now, Norm Kent, the former president of Normal, to legalize marijuana. Brad Lamm, Addiction Specialist and Founder of Breathe Life Healing Centers. But first to Dr. William Morrone. Dr. Morrone, what is edible pot? What are we talking about? [Morrone:] They extract or they use parts of the plants and put it in candy, muffins, brownies, anything that`s edible. Instead of smoking it, you eat a product that`s made from parts of the plant. [Grace:] Norm Kent and Brad Lamm joining me. Norm Kent, you want this legalized, and this formerly loving husband eats edible pot in candy form, whips out a gun, threatens to kill himself and ends up murdering his wife as the two children are right there? And you want to legalize that? [Norm Kent, Former President Of Normal:] Nancy, what do you want to do, put warning signs in the cookie aisles in supermarkets? Do you want to lock up pig farmers because people eat too much bacon? Of course... [Grace:] What are you talking about? [Kent:] ... this is a nonsensical lawsuit. [Grace:] Wait, what, what, what... [Kent:] I`m saying the scene is ridiculous. [Grace:] ... what is this have to do with pig farmers? Help me. What are you talking... [Kent:] You don`t, Nancy... [Grace:] First of all wait, let`s just get it out there, Norm Kent. [Kent:] Because you this is a lawsuit... [Grace:] Are you high right now? Are you high? [Kent:] Nancy, me being high... [Grace:] Did you eat edible pot... [Kent:] I don`t have to be high, Nancy. [Grace:] ... on the way to the studio? [Kent:] Because me being high, I still make more sense than you do sober. Let`s deal with that reality. [Grace:] Really? Really? OK, because... [Kent:] Yeah, my dear, really. [Brad Lamm, Addiction Specialist And Founder Of Breathe Life Healing Centers:] So, Nancy, this is what happened in Colorado. There was a race to legalize, there were no legal limits on the amount of THC and edible, so the edibles that are fro sale in Colorado are very, very high. They`re toxic, if animals eat them, they can die. And two out of 10 people that use THC or pot will have a negative reaction to it. So when Norm says pot is no big deal, it is a big deal to those that it`s a big deal for. So two out of 10 will get... [Kent:] They`ll have a worse reaction listening to you. [Lamm:] ... will get paranoid and delusional, Norm. So when you downplay it... [Grace:] That`s when you pot... [Lamm:] ... it does a disservice to every family out there who has a loved one that`s struggling with pot. [Grace:] So... [Kent:] NO, not at all, Brad. [Grace:] ... let me understood the lawsuit. [Kent:] You do a disservice by misrepresenting good qualities of marijuana and THC, their medicinal qualities, their healthful qualities... [Lamm:] You`re the one. I think it`s I think it`s amazing for many people. For some, it`s just like a drink of wine after work. For my brother, Greg, who has a stage 4 cancer, it`s the thing that`s helping him eat and stay alive. So, look, I`m not against it... [Kent:] Thank you, I agree. [Lamm:] I`m certainly not against medical marijuana, but you`re so shrill on the pro side, it`s ridiculous. [Grace:] OK, Brad, I don`t think... [Lamm:] Yes? [Grace:] ... anyone has any disagreement with medical marijuana to ease pain and nausea and suffering of people, for instance, that have stage 4 cancer or whatever... [Lamm:] Yeah, it`s awesome. [Grace:] ... is causing them pain. [Lamm:] Yeah. Yeah. [Grace:] So that`s not what we`re talking about. What we are talking about is legalizing recreational use of marijuana in the degree to the degree that it was in this case. Unleash the lawyers. Randy Kessler, Alex Sanchez. Alex, now there is a lawsuit suing the store that sold the edible pot. What about it? [Alex Sanchez, Defense Attorney:] I think they might have some merit. I think the government is responsible for highly unregulated industry. I think the store that sold the marijuana is responsible for not properly labeling their products and I think the state police are responsible for not responding to this emergency in time. [Grace:] What about it Kessler? [Randy Kessler, Defense Attorney:] Maybe the government, but there were no warnings regulated. Maybe we need regulation. We need some regulation... [Grace:] Maybe, maybe, maybe. I`m talking about a real case right now, and I want answers. Two children see their mother gunned down by their father, high on pot. There was too much THC in there, but Norm Kent, you`re still advocating it be legalized. What is wrong with you? [Kent:] I`m saying that I`m saying that this person should be charged with first-degree murder. He`s asserting a defense of insanity, so clearly, it`s a lot more than marijuana that`s the issue here and yes, we believe in the responsible regulated use of taxable marijuana in our communities. Twenty-four states have been doing it now. We have planes flying on time, trains getting to places on time, and people doing it well. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] So Trump made those claims for two days in a row. He did in in Florida and then he did it in Maine at his campaign rallies. His campaign came out yesterday, issued a correction, but Trump doubled down even after that. Today, he is walking it all back. Our Jim Sciutto is live with us this morning in Washington with all the details. Good morning, Jim. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn National Security Correspondent:] Yes, Poppy, you know, you look at the words here. I'm not so much it is as a correction as revisionism. Let's look at the tweet that Trump sent a short time ago on this video. It says "The plane I saw on television was the hostage plane in Geneva, Switzerland, not the plane carrying $400 million in cash going to Iran!" Let's now listen to his comments that have been repeated over the last several days about what he saw, what he says he saw in that video originally. Let's have a listen. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] The tape was made, right. You saw that with the airplane coming in. Nice plane. And the airplane coming in, and the money coming off, I guess, right. That was given to us, has to be, by the Iranians. And you know why the tape was given to us, because they want to embarrass our country. They want to embarrass our country. [Sciutto:] So two stark differences there. His comments there on tape compared to the tweet. One, he says there was cash coming off the plane, not just the hostages, as he said in the tweet. And also he said that Iran somehow shared this secret video with U.S. as opposed to what he now says and what his campaign had said yesterday, that it was just plain old b-roll, as we call it, that aired on television, and there is that picture of the plane right there, and those are some of the American hostages, prisoner who were released from Iran. So you can say getting caught up in a small issue, as there is the bigger issue, the question we've been talking about these last couple hours as to whether there was a connection between this repayment of Iranian funds, this was Iranian money going back to the '70s, at the same time as those Americans were released. Does that amount if not technically to a quid pro quo, does it amount to a quid pro quo at least in spirit. And that's the larger question here. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Jim Sciutto, stick around. President Obama unloading again on Donald Trump. The president dismissed Trump's claim that the November election will be rigged. He called that claim flat out ridiculous. CNN's Phil Mattingly joins us now with the details. Good morning, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, John, if anybody had any questions going into this week what President Obama thought about Donald Trump, well, the president has gone a long way and put a lot of effort into answering those questions, doing exactly that yesterday in a news conference where he criticized, critiqued, warned, and even mocked the Republican nominee. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Of course the elections will not be rigged. What does that mean? [Mattingly:] President Obama outright ridiculing Donald Trump's warning to supporters that the presidential election could be rigged. [Obama:] If Mr. Trump is suggesting that there is a conspiracy theory that is being propagated across the country, that's ridiculous. It doesn't make any sense. I've never heard of somebody complain about being cheated before the game was over. If Mr. Trump is up 10 or 15 points on Election Day and ends up losing, then you know, maybe he can raise some questions. That doesn't seem to be the case at the moment. [Mattingly:] Trump firing back on Twitter, saying "President Obama should ask the DNC about how they rigged the election against Bernie." But Obama didn't stop there. The president doubling down on his charges that Trump is unfit to be commander in chief, questioning whether he can be trusted with the nuclear codes. [Obama:] Just listen to what Mr. Trump has to say and make your own judgment with respect to how confident you feel about his ability to manage things like our nuclear triad. [Mattingly:] The president conceding that no matter what happens in November, he will help his replacement. [Obama:] If somebody wins the election and they are president, then my constitutional responsibility is to peacefully transfer power to that individual. [Mattingly:] On the campaign trail, Trump insists it's Hillary Clinton who lacks the judgment after her private e-mail controversy. [Trump:] Hillary Clinton, furthermore can never be trusted with national security. [Mattingly:] Despite the nasty campaign rhetoric, President Obama says Trump should receive national security briefings afforded to nominees, but warned him to watch his words. [Obama:] If they want to be president, they got to start acting like president. And that means being able to receive these briefings and not spread them around. [Mattingly:] And really, when you talk to Democrats who are familiar with how the president has been approaching the Donald Trump Republican nominee issue, there are two things they really point to. One is the clear political motive behind what we saw yesterday, guys, and that was he wants to, much like the Clinton campaign is doing, paint him as simply unfit for office. But there's also a personal motive here, and that is that he looks at Donald Trump, according to his advisors, as somebody who is dangerous and somebody who would be dangerous to the legacy of really the time he has put together over the last eight years. [Harlow:] All right, so Phil, stay with us. Let me bring back in our national security correspondent Jim Sciutto as well. A lot to parse through this morning, including all these new polls. But just to get to what Jim called revisionist history, which I think is the best way to describe it, Phil, do you think that this is coming, this about face is coming because finally he is listening to his team and he's seeing it in the numbers? He is seeing polls where he is as much as 15 points behind Clinton, and for the first time, listening to them? Remember, he didn't revise his response to the Khan family last week despite all of the drama that ensued, but now he is. [Mattingly:] I would preface with I don't have specific reporting that advisors were the ones who told him to do this. But I do think that there is a recognition over the course of the last three or four days inside Trump's senior team, a senior team that I would note is actually fairly united despite all of the incoming fire they've been taking from the outside world, that Donald Trump needed to make some changes, and those changes were primarily on just getting on to message. Now, this isn't new. People have been telling Donald Trump to do that for the last 13 or 14 months. What they impressed upon me and they impressed on a lot of people that in the rallies you are going to see, Donald Trump is going to be more on message. Donald Trump has been more on message, and I think on this issue specifically, because he repeated it over and over again, there was an emphasis on, look, let's just stop doing stuff like this. These are simple mistakes that can be corrected. [Harlow:] But he might be listening this time? [Mattingly:] The numbers, the numbers are such a huge part of what his campaign has been all about. What has been amazing over the last three weeks has been kind of the rare window into Donald Trump being like, I don't understand why I'm not winning. He has actually said stuff like that. Or in Florida, I don't know why I'm not winning by more. This is a key 10-15 minute element of his stump speech that he can no longer talk about because the numbers aren't going in his direction. I think there's no question about it, that reality is certainly setting in. [Berman:] Just to be clear, you don't get some kind of gold medal for admitting or revising what you're saying about a video that you made up that doesn't exist, Jim. I mean, you've been talking to diplomatic, Secretary of State and John Kerry, they almost don't know how to respond to this because Donald Trump invented a scene that never happened. [Sciutto:] You don't want to overstate the trend. We're talking about a 24 hour turnaround here, and this is a campaign more than a year old. And keep in mind, it happens, I mean, you have Mike Morell, the former acting director of the CIA today writing in "The New York Times" that Donald Trump cannot be trusted with national security. There's this really remarkable line in this editorial saying that in the intelligence world, we would say that he has been recruited as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation. I mean, so you have, you know, connecting to a larger position, not just about whether a video exists or not, but to the bigger picture or questions here, how do you handle Russia, how do you handle Iran negotiations? So the question will be, is there a change not just on the factual issues, not making up a video anymore. Will there be a change, and this is something you hear from both parties, frankly, on the bigger national security and foreign policy and domestic policy issues? [Berman:] All right, Jim Sciutto, Phil Mattingly, thanks very much. [Sciutto:] I think that's what he is talking about, the pivot. [Berman:] The pivot, we keep hearing it. [Harlow:] The word we use far too often. All right, guys, thank you very much. Joining me now Republican lawmaker, Republican Congressman Jim Renacci of Ohio. He is supporting Donald Trump for president. Thank you for being here this morning. Let's just get you to jump right into that. This may be the first time that Donald Trump has walked back change, revised, what have you, a statement of fact. Are you happy to see it this morning? [Rep. Jim Renacci, Ohio:] Well, again, Donald Trump is a businessman. I was a businessman before I got into politics. It is tough when you get into politics and sometimes you do have to say some things or backtrack. I'm glad to see that he's, again, doing that. But I also believe he really just needs to get back on track, and on track is talking about what I hear every day with my constituents about jobs and the economy and national security. That is the key to this race. That's what he has to continue to talk about. [Harlow:] How far off track do you believe he has gotten? [Renacci:] Well, I don't believe he has gotten off track that far. Look, the media keeps picking on individual items he says and he does, and then they talk about those, and [Harlow:] I mean, with all due respect, congressman, he said a video existed twice in two days that never existed even after his camp said it didn't exist. [Renacci:] I understand, but [Harlow:] That's not cherry picking by the media, is it? [Renacci:] But Hillary Clinton also said she didn't lie, and then we [Harlow:] And we've covered it extensively. [Renacci:] I know. So that's what I'm saying. These are the issues. And what I really wish we could start talking from both sides is what the candidates are saying. We heard Hillary Clinton say the other day she is going to talk about infrastructure. I want to hear how she's going to pay for it. This is the stuff that drives me crazy. I am a business guy. I've seen the numbers in Washington. We can keep talking, but let's talk about how we're going to pay for it. Let's talk about how we're going to get the country back on track. [Harlow:] So your candidate, Donald Trump, has at this point not agreed to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan in his own race. And John Berman, my colleague, pointed out a fascinating mailer that went out. Let's pull it up on the screen, from Paul Ryan. "If we fail to protect our majority in Congress," talking about these down ballot elections, "if we fail to protect our majority in Congress, we could be handing President Hillary Clinton a blank check." That at the same time that he said this. I want to play some sound for you, Paul Ryan talking about whether his endorsement of Trump will stick forever if it is a blank check. Let's roll that. [Rep. Paul Ryan, Speaker Of The House Of Representatives:] None of these things are ever a blank check in any kind of situation in any kind of race. But right now, I just think it is important that the voters, you know, he won the delegates, he won the thing fair and square. It is just that simple. [Harlow:] How do you read that from Paul Ryan in the statement saying we would be handing President Hillary Clinton a blank check and saying basically he doesn't Trump doesn't always have my endorsement, if things change? [Renacci:] Well, first off, what I believe Paul Ryan is doing is he's acting as speaker, saying he wants to continue to keep the majority in the House of Representatives and not hand Hillary Clinton blank check or anyone a blank check. That's one issue. I'm appreciative that he is doing that. On the other side, again, I think we're reading into this. Paul Ryan has endorsed Donald Trump, and I believe he'll continue to support Donald Trump. He's going to do that because he is looking at what Hillary Clinton is saying and he realizes that's not the direction that 70 percent of Americans are saying they don't want to continue to go down that road, and I know Paul Ryan believes that. [Harlow:] You don't see that as a swipe to Donald Trump after Trump not saying he would endorse Ryan? Sending out a mailer that says we would be handing a President Hillary Clinton a blank check? [Renacci:] I know Paul Ryan. I know that he wants to change America in the right direction. I know he knows that 70 percent of America does not like the direction we're going. You're talking about a campaign flyers and fundraising flyers. Fundraiser flyers are always going to use the opponent in them. that's the reason it's a fundraising flyer. But again, I'd really like to get back to those issues all the time. And if it is an issue about the direction our country wants to go, Paul Ryan knows the direction we need to go. He knows that 70 percent of Americans are not happy with the current direction and we need to change. [Harlow:] Right, and I think all the voters want to hear more about the issues as well, but one thing that Donald Trump has been very vocal on this week, outside of any issue, is rigged. He says that the election very well may be rigged. And Obama responded to that in a press conference yesterday, saying I'm not sure how you can say that this far out. What did you make of that when Donald Trump said this election may very be rigged, and what do you think he meant? [Renacci:] I'm still not sure why a sitting president continues to get into an election. I think he should continue to be president and do what he is doing and not worry about this election. When Donald Trump says those things, he is concerned that the electorate voice isn't being heard, and I think that's what he is trying to get at. [Harlow:] Do you think he is actually saying that the voting process will be unjust? [Renacci:] Well, I think what he is looking is the Democratic voting process, he is looking how Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sander, now, Hillary Clinton took the election because of these delegates, these super delegates, and it was rigged. [Harlow:] Even Bernie Sanders has come out and says that's not the case. [Renacci:] Well, I've got to tell you, I've had Democrats in Congress tell me that we should have a system with super delegates because that's how they make sure they get their individuals elected. So, again, it is interesting how we twist, we keep going down this road. But the answer is, it is the electorate. We have to start worrying about the people, we've got to start worrying about their issues and their concerns and making sure their voice is heard. That's why they're so frustrated. That's why Bernie Sanders got so many votes. That's why Donald Trump has received so many votes. People are frustrated with the system, and the establishment. [Harlow:] All right, congressman, appreciate your time this morning. Jim Renacci, thank you. [Renacci:] Thank you very much. [Berman:] All right, a cash transfer that did exist, a video of it that does not. Controversy over $400 million given to Iran the same day that hostages were released. Our Fareed Zakaria weighs in next. [Richard Quest, Cnn Anchor:] The bell ringing on Wall Street, the Dow is at a record, they like the sound of what they're hearing and what they're seeing on Wall Street. We are getting to why the Dow is so strong on today, as trading comes to an end. Oh, look at this. They've clearly got the bit between the teeth. A robust gavel on Thursday, the 9th of February. Airline executives land at the White House, but Donald Trump promises a phenomenal future. Kellyanne Conway is now in trouble after she advertises for Ivanka Trump. And economic freedom fighters land a few punches on the floor of South Africa's Parliament. A real thrasher. Will have the details. I'm Richard Quest, tonight, coming to you live from CNN Abu Dhabi, where I still mean business. Good evening. Donald Trump has promised to do phenomenal things for U.S. airlines. Indeed, for business, generally, as he welcomed aviation executives to the White House. Now, Mr. Trump wants to help airlines compete, and he said that he was planning to do, in his words, something phenomenal in terms of tax. Which for the first time, we got some sort of dates, some sort of time scale. He expects an announcement in two to three weeks. As for the industry, itself, he wants to overhaul the obsolete U.S. airport's infrastructure, and he began by acknowledging that there's trouble brewing with foreign carriers. [Donald Trump, U.s. President:] I know you're under pressure from a lot of foreign elements and foreign carriers. I've been hearing that a little bit. At the same time, we want to make life good for them, also. They come with big investments. In many cases, those investments are made by their governments. [Quest:] Donald Trump now, what we are appropriately tonight in the capital, and in the country of two of those airlines, those foreign carriers that he was talking about, Etihad and Emirates. You're going to hear from the chief exec or the chairman of one. And you're also going to hear tonight from the chief exec of Qatar airlines. So, we are well positioned to give you the other side of the airline story tonight. Both sides, in fact. At the White House, Donald Trump was joined by the who's who of aviation executives. In terms of the chief execs, there was Delta's CEO there, United, JetBlue, Southwest, Alaska, FedEx, U.P.S., and Atlas. Doug Parker of American was absent due to a scheduling clash. The representatives of airports from Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Nashville that were also present. Athena Jones joins me from the White House. Athena, fascinating, because they have although there are many areas of controversy, they really needed to stick today to those areas that the industry could unite behind, not, for example, the issue of open skies and Gulf competition. [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Richard. That's exactly right. The president signaling that he wasn't really prepared to get involved in those issues U.S. airlines have with those three-big Middle Eastern airlines you mentioned. Qatar Airlines, Etihad and Emirates, that are heavily subsidized by governments, because the president is arguing, that look, they make big investments in America. They buy jets and jet engines from American companies like Boeing, like General Electric, and United Technologies. And that produces thousands of jobs. And so, while you hear a lot of talk about America first, I think the White House would argue that this is putting American jobs first, not getting too involved on that front. What he did do is make a lot of the same promises we've heard him make to in his other meetings with business leaders, promising to slash regulations, make the biggest cuts in regulations anyone's ever seen. Promising to invest in infrastructure. I know from my colleague, Rene Marsh, aviation correspondent, that infrastructure was discussed quite a bit. He mentioned at least four times the need to rebuild America's airports. And so, those are areas where there is going to be agreement. Investing in infrastructure, updating airports, improving air traffic control systems. President Trump, of course, used to operate his own east coast shuttle airline, some years back, before it went into bankruptcy. But aviation experts who were there in that meeting said he appeared knowledgeable about the topic, and he complained a great deal about U.S. airports, how they used to be the best in the world, but now they're on the bottom rung. So, those are the areas of agreement in that meeting. Richard. [Quest:] And indeed, he talking of air traffic in the U.S., he referred to his own pilot, Donald Trump has his own 757, and he sort of said I mean, listening to the way he was quoting his own pilot, you know, I sort of felt that his pilots who believed that much of the procurement of new equipment was obsolete. It was almost policy making. How did it strike you? [Jones:] It is interesting, the kinds of details that he was able to offer in this meeting. He called his personal pilot a, "real expert." He said he's a smart guy who knows what is going on. And President Trump said that this pilot of his said that the government had been buying the wrong equipment. Now, I'm no expert. I don't know exactly what equipment he is referring to there, but that is what he told these aviation execs, when it comes to some of the things he thinks need to be done to improve the U.S. airports and air traffic control system. Very interesting comments. Richard. [Quest:] Athena Jones, thank you. The chief executive and the chairman of Emirates, has been speaking exclusively to CNN. Sheikh Ahmad says the airline makes an enormous contribution to the U.S. economy, as it helps to create thousands of jobs. Emirates has spent billions of dollars on planes made by Boeing. Now, Emirates, you can see the airline, Emirates is the world's largest operator of the 777. It has a variety of variants, the 200, the 300, it's bought be 8 and it's bought the 9X. So, it's about 161 of the 200s and the 300s in service at the moment and 174, including the newest variants later. Emirates' chairman told me he's not worried about the uproar over open skies. [Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman And Ceo Emirates:] We signed a bilateral with the U.S. in 1999. It was actually the Americans that were pushing for this agreement to be signed as an open sky policy, which we did. And since then, I mean, we've been operating to the U.S. as of next March, we'll be operating about 18 flights daily to the U.S. and that's really a big contribution in terms of sums and also, we should be ready to forget that Emirates had the biggest order on its 777. We nearly invested now over $140 billion in total. That really has created a big number of jobs within the U.S., when it comes to Boeing or the [Ge. Quest:] So, you're not worried, or are you worried, that Donald Trump will decide to reopen the issue of open skies? [Sheikh Ahmed:] No, I'm not worried. I think the case, they should look at it in a very open way. I think we've been always transparent, in terms of the financial that we really put out every year, looking at Emirates and what we've been doing over the years since it started in 1985. [Quest:] Was it wise to announce the launch of the fifth freedom fight over Athens? You may be legally entitled to it, under the treaties with the EU and the U.S., but it's a bit like poking the bear to sort of just at the wrong moment, isn't it? [Sheikh Ahmed:] No, it's not really about poking the bear at the wrong time. As I said, you know, we have a bilateral and this is the way. [Quest:] Well, it's provocative, some would say. [Sheikh Ahmed:] No, I don't think so. [Quest:] You don't? [Sheikh Ahmed:] No. [Quest:] What about the wider issue now, the immigration ban against the seven countries and the change in the refugee policy. It's been described, although the administration refuses, as a Muslin ban. How do you see it? [Sheikh Ahmed:] You know, when we talk about any country banning people to come in, and not really going into religion here, our service, if we're talking about the airline, always when people book to us, we don't say what religion you are. You know, our purpose is to take people from point a to b. You know, I think that's always up to the administration and also to the government of the U.S. and the people of the U.S. it is their decision, whether they will be coming in or out. [Quest:] Do you think there are going to be some very difficult times ahead for Emirates in the United States? [Sheikh Ahmed:] There shouldn't be. I mean, we do have a good relationship with the U.S. for a long period of time. When it comes to business, tourists, we've really supported the business. And we always want to see more people going to the U.S., and also vice versa. [Quest:] Now, the lobby group, Partnership for Open and Fair Skies, argues fiercely that state-owned airlines from the Gulf are exploiting their access to the U.S. market. Joining me from Washington is Jill Zuckerman, the chief spokesperson for the group. Jill, good to see you and thank you for joining us to talk these matters over. Jill, you know, I don't really want to get into a he saidshe said on the question of subsidies, because that argument is we're not going to make ground on that argument, frankly, since you have a diametrically opposed point of view. But answer the point that they are making, the Gulf carriers at the moment, that they do contribute sizable sums to the U.S. economy through the purchases of tens of billions of aircraft and avionics and engines? [Jill Zuckerman, Partnership For Open & Fair Skies:] Well, Richard, thanks for having me on, and I would love to address that point. But first, I just want to say how much American, United and Delta appreciated President Trump taking on this issue and expressing his willingness to help. He's clearly very knowledgeable about the aviation industry and he understands this issue in particular. I have to say, it's getting a little tiresome to keep hearing the Gulf carriers say they spend billions of dollars on the U.S. economy, on hiring Americans, on buying Boeing aircraft. The fact of the matter is, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar employ 1,300 people in the United States. The U.S. carriers employ 300,000 people in the United States. We are customers of Boeing. We have 585 aircraft on order. The Gulf carriers only have about 500 on order. And if the Gulf carriers continue to undercut us and to take away international routes from the U.S. carriers, then we won't be able to employ as many people in the United States, and we won't be able to buy as many aircraft from Boeing. [Quest:] Right, but do you the argument of jobs, they obviously point out that there is an economic benefit to the places where they bring passengers, if, for example, in the case of Orlando, Emirates quantifies that as $200 million a year. [Zuckerman:] Well, Emirates is using, you know, euphoric figures. Those passengers are our passengers. Those passengers would still get to Orlando, if Emirates wasn't flying that route. But the real issue is these fifth freedom routes they're flying from Milan to JFK, and now they're saying they're going to go from Athens to Newark. And they announced that on the third day after President Trump went into office. It was not just a poke at the bear, it was a sharp stick in the eye. [Quest:] Now, hang on a second, Jill. No U.S. carrier offers year-round service from Athens to the United States. The seasonal service. The carriers that do are Greek carriers. The law is quite clear that they can do it. The Milan route has been a success. Are you not pointing at a -? [Zuckerman:] Richard, these are subsidized carriers. Let's talk about Athens to Newark. The reason a U.S. carrier doesn't fly year-round is because it's a money loser. And the reason Emirates is able to do is because it's massively subsidized by the UAE. It doesn't matter if they lose money. They're happy to lose money, as long as they're able to push the U.S. carrier off the route. That's the scheme by the Gulf carriers. [Quest:] Not necessarily. Not necessarily. The fifth freedom route allows you to hop from one to the other. And by definition, a U.S. carrier could fifth freedom over Athens on to somewhere else in Europe and make money. [Zuckerman:] Let's be honest. The flights from Dubai to Athens to Newark, nobody's flying from Athens to Dubai. They're just going to use the Athens to Newark part, or just the Milan to JFK part. They not actually going to Dubai. And the problem is with the whole scheme. The Gulf carriers are so massively subsidized, we've documented $50 billion, which nobody is disputing, except the Gulf carriers. And it allows them to do things that are not economically feasible. It's a violation of our open skies agreement, and we're really appreciative of the fact that President Trump has said he will enforce our international agreements. [Quest:] Jill, thank you, as always. You've come on and gave a robust argument, of which we are grateful. And I know we'll be talking more about this in the future. Thank you, Jill. [Zuckerman:] Thank you, Richard. [Quest:] And you'll be hearing from the Qatar Airways chief executive a little later in the program. Twitter's CEO says the whole world is watching the company and today on Wall Street, they may have been watching, but they witnessed a major sell- off. Talk about that after the break. [Lemon:] We have some breaking news to tell you about tonight. Former Oklahoma City police officer, Daniel Holtzclaw has been found guilty of rape and forcible sodomy. He was charged with 36 counts of sexual crimes against 13 African-American women while he was on the job. Holtzclaw will be sentenced next month and faces more than 200 years in prison. We'll follow-up on CNN. Following the deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, Americans are more afraid now than at any other time since September 11th of another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. That is according to a New York Times CBS poll which shows one in five believe it's most important the most important issue facing the country. And among the republican voters 40 percent say that they are very confident in Donald Trump's ability to handle terror threats. So, joining me now is Bob Baer, intelligence and security analyst, and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin, a correspondent for Vice on HBO. Gentlemen, good to have you here. Mr. Baer, starting with you. The San Bernardino attack has sparked real fear in people and each new development in the investigation seem to point to a wider, deeper plot. Where do you think this is all going? [Bob Baer, Cnn Intelligence And Security Analyst:] Not a good place. I think Americans this came as a surprise to them. You know, they thought we went into Afghanistan and Iraq to stop this. Fourteen years later we've got the same problem, a big attack. And it's worse in a way because it's Americans involved and there are so many converts to this, to this cult, and it is a death cult and the police are worried. I talked to law enforcement a lot and they said, well, what does a single officer do, who arrives with an active with an active shooter with automatic weapons? What's a training? Do they use flash bang grenades, do they use concussion grenades? I mean, they are they are the police who are ready to go to war and the FBI right now is all over San Bernardino and Riverside afraid that it's a bigger network out there and they don't know for sure and that's they are they are on this, they are very, very anxious. [Lemon:] I want to bring in Ahmed now. Despite being afraid, and here is the new poll, OK, so afraid. A new poll by NBC to Wall Street Journal, shows a big majority of Americans, 57 percent oppose Trump's plan to ban Muslims. But when you break it down by party, Ahmed, 42 percent of republicans, 30 percent of independent support it. Are you worried about how Muslims in this country will be affected by this? [Ahmed Shihab-eldin, Vice Correspondent On Hbo:] Of course, I'm worried. Trump's comments are divisive, they're disgusting and they're very dangerous. And, you know, sadly, this shouldn't come as a surprise. I mean, he is simply channeling a pervasive perception that's existed since 911 and continues to get worse that Muslims are something to be feared, that they are incompatible with the West. Then we've seen hate crimes rise against Muslims. We've seen hate speech drive against Muslims. [Lemon:] The CAIR was evacuated today, there have been attacks against mosques around the country. You're expecting a backlash. [Shihab-eldin:] Yes, of course. There was a pig's head put there. And you know what's really troubling about this... [Lemon:] Can you blame Trump for that do you think? [Shihab-eldin:] I don't know I don't know whether that's really important. I think what we can blame Trump for is to continue to create this illusion and perpetuate this notion that ISIS is actually perpetuating which is that we are at a clash of civilizations, that the West is at war with Islam. And what's really, really frightening about this is that a majority of republicans, as you just mentioned agree with him, one in five democrats apparently are behind this new proposal. And this is nothing new. You know, for 15 years, we've been waging war against Muslim majority countries and it's kind of troubling that this is... [Lemon:] When you say one in five democrats, I mean, you know, because democrats are the liberal party, right? [Shihab-eldin:] Right. [Lemon:] That he has to... [Shihab-eldin:] Well, there is a lot of ignorance around what is Muslim what is, you know, Islam and what it actually means. [Lemon:] And what it means to be a Muslim. [Shihab-eldin:] And I think that, you know, the real issue here is that this is not just an embarrassment for us as Americans, but it's really troubling that he is gaining so much traction and that it seems as though, you know, he is exploiting and capitalizing just like ISIS is, this false notion that we are, you know, at war with Islam with 1.5 billion people. [Lemon:] All right. I want you guys to listen. This is what Donald Trump said to me yesterday about San Bernardino, the terrorists. Listen. [Trump:] The public agrees with what I said. They saw those two animals last week go out and shoot people and the husband and wife, the wife came here on a phony visa, on a visa that frankly it's disgraceful that she was able to come in and she radicalized, probably radicalized him. [Lemon:] Fiancee visa. [Trump:] She had a fiancee visa. [Lemon:] Yes, fiancee via. [Trump:] And a disgusting, disgraceful thing. So, the people that are with me a 100 percent are the people and that's frankly all that matters. The politicians look, the politicians are very upset. They haven't caught on. I don't think they will catch on. [Lemon:] So, Bob, he says the people are with them. Let me but he calls terrorists animals. And frankly, a lot of people agree with him. Do you think this kind of language will help the cause, his cause, maybe? [Baer:] Well, I mean, clearly, those people were savages in anybody's definition. But there are couple of things we can't forget is that more Muslims are dying in this war than anybody else. You look at Syria and Iraq. You know, and the second thing is, you know, having spent my entire life in the Middle East is we need these people, we need the Muslim that countries to turn on this cult, these radicals that which are not really accepted in Islam and I say that in all belief. And we need Saudi Arabia, we need Pakistan, we need them to close down these madrasas. We need to close down Wahhabi Islam and that's strain, which gears people up for these attacks. And this is all through history, this has happened where Islam has turned against the militants and destroyed them. And they've never been destroyed from the outside. It's always been... [Lemon:] OK. Go ahead. [Shihab-eldin:] And Bob, I mean, Bob, to your point, I mean, I don't mean to interrupt. But you bring up Saudi Arabia and it's just, you know, it's really heartening that we keep having the same conversations about, you know, whether or not Islam is inherently evil, whether or not, you know, Muslims should be condemning this rather than talking about the hundred billion dollars and arms that we have sold to Saudi Arabia in the past five years. The fact that Saudi Arabia has been exporting Wahhabism which is, you know, the premise that, you know, all these groups, these extremist groups based a lot of their ideology on. And this really points to the power... [Baer:] Exactly. [Shihab-eldin:] I think, to your point, I mean, it points to the power, Don, you know, of terrorism. It points to the main weapon of fear that we've seen time and time again be used to first paralyze the public herein America and across the world. And then provoke... [Lemon:] OK. [Shihab-eldin:] ... propitious reactions that really only lead us to the cycle of violence, the cycle of politics and frankly, the media and their... [Lemon:] But before you get involve point taken. But when you're talking about the United States and someone who is running for president here in the United States who says and you are talking about, you know, what the United States has done... [Shihab-eldin:] Right. [Lemon:] ... to perpetuate terrorism worldwide. [Shihab-eldin:] Right. [Lemon:] But when you're talking about here in the United States he is running here. People aren't going to vote for him overseas. The American people are voting for him. And he is finding... [Shihab-eldin:] But, Don, but, Don, what about our moral standing? What about our reputation? [Lemon:] Listen, I don't disagree with you. But what I'm saying is, there is an issue here in the United States that we're discussing on this program that we're talking about a presidential election in the United States. [Shihab-eldin:] Right. [Lemon:] Those issues should be dealt with and can be dealt with. But here, listen, let me do this let me do this and then you guys can respond because I want to get to this before we ran out of time. I just want to put this up of Muhammed Ali. [Shihab-eldin:] Sure. [Lemon:] He's a remarkable man. He put the statement out, I think it was yesterday he said. He says "We, as Muslims have to stand up to those who use Islam to advance their own personal agenda. Speaking as someone at someone who has never been accused of political correctness. I believe that our political leaders should use their position to bring understanding about the religion of Islam and clarify that these misguided murderers have perverted people's views on what Islam really is." Go ahead, Ahmed. [Shihab-eldin:] Right. But shouldn't we also as Americans stand up to people like Donald who are aiding and abating terrorism and terrorist. [Lemon:] I thought that's what I said to you. [Shihab-eldin:] Right. But this is what I'm saying, it's not just that we should stand up against, you know, the extremists. There are extremists on all sides. [Lemon:] Yes. [Shihab-eldin:] Here in America and France, Marine Le Pen, I mean, people are exploiting and capitalizing this situation and this dichotomy by actually adapting ISIS'script and trying to drive a wedge... [Baer:] Exactly. [Shihab-eldin:] ... alienate Muslims in order to, you know, create a rift in the American society. [Lemon:] Bob, I'll give you I'll give you the last word. I'm out of time. [Baer:] Ahmed is exactly right. [Lemon:] And that's the last word. [Baer:] Look, the problem is going back to 2003, the government has been wrong about the conflict in the Middle East and the Americans don't trust the government, whether it's republican or democrat and that's why they're looking to Trump as somebody who appears to speak truthfully. You know, I don't think he does. But Americans are frustrated with this war. It's gone on forever... [Lemon:] That's got to be the last word. I'm sorry, Ahmed. We're out of time. Thank you, gentlemen. I really appreciate it. Great conversation. Up next, the man who is called the Jon Stewart of the Middle East. What he thinks about Trump's call to block Muslims from entering the U.S. There he is, right there. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln:] Another well, should we call it outrageous statement from Donald Trump launches him further ahead in the polls. And, tonight, we get some insight from voters who are willing to follow him, follow him even away from the Republican party if they necessarily need to. Listen to why Trump thinks he stays on top. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] I am a person who happens to be very smart, and I happen to have a certain street sense. And, I know where things are going. [Don Lemon, Host Of "cnn Tonight" Program:] Why not just sit on your big lead and just let it ride? [Trump:] Because, Don, I have to do what is right. We need a dialogue in this country and throughout the world. We have a big problem. I want safety for our citizens. They deserve it. They deserve it, and they are not getting it. I am leading in every poll by a lot. It looks like I am going to win. My whole life has been about winning. I am not like so many of the other people that you talk to that are essentially losers, OK. I know how to win. I intend to win. [Pinsky:] Joining me our friend, Jane Velez-Mitchell, author and founder of Janeunchained.com; Loni Coombs, former prosecutor, author of "You`re Perfect and Other Lies Parents Tell"; Mike Slater hosts of "The Mike Slater" show at KFMB radio; Christine Choe, Police Psychologist and Ernie White, Civil Rights Activist. Trump`s plan to ban well, he claims to put a stay on Muslims entering the United States but has been met with outrage throughout the world. Here, though, how he clarified this plan to Don Lemon. [Lemon:] Are you racist? [Trump:] I am the least racist person that you have ever met. If it is not Muslims, if it is another group, I would look at them too. I am about safety. I want safety for this country. I want safety for our citizens. All it is a break until our politicians, who are grossly incompetent, by the way, can get their act together. [Lemon:] Figure out what? What is there to figure out? [Trump:] Why is there such hatred and such viciousness. Where does this hatred come from? Why does it come? We have to figure it out. [Pinsky:] And, Trump supporters seem unfazed by this plan for the Muslim immigrants. One more tape. Listen to this. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Host Of "new Day" Program:] He did not say terror suspects, he said Muslims. What do you think of that? [John Hikel, Donald Trump Supporter:] I do not think that is unreasonable to do, because we need to make sure that the people here are safe. [William Baer, Donald Trump Supporter:] It is not like due process or constitutional rights apply to people outside of the country coming into the country. [Josh Youssef, Donald Trump Supporter:] Immigration is not a right. It is a privilege. And, you have to meet certain criteria in order to be able to emigrate to the United States. And, it just seems that the majority of terror activities that have taken place over the past couple of decades and more specifically since 911 have been perpetrated by people of the Islamic faith. And, so, I would say that when you see the propensity of terrorist attacks being committed by Christians or Buddhists and we start blocking them as well. [Gerry Delemus, Donald Trump Supporter:] When Jews come to America or Christians come to America, they are not trying to reinvent America because they meld in. We are a Judeo-Christian nation. Islam, if you read the Quran or the Hadith, they are in conflict with our constitution. [Pinsky:] All right, Jane. Safety, safety, safety, but are they sacrificing our values on behalf of that safety? [Jane Velez-mitchell, Founder, Janeunchanged.com:] Well, you know who is in conflict with the constitution? Donald Trump, because what he is suggesting is totally unconstitutional. This man is frightening. He is a bigot. He is a xenophobe. And, you know, he does not have all the support that everybody is saying he has. Two-thirds of Americans just polled said they are frightened or concerned about the prospect of a Bush presidency. What he has [Pinsky:] A Trump presidency? [Velez-mitchell:] Sorry. Maybe that was a Freudian slip. Maybe that was a Freudian slip. A Trump presidency. What he does have is the support of approximately 35 percent of republicans. Republicans are only 25 percent of the electorate. You are talking about a relatively small group of people. [Pinsky:] Mike, what do you say? [Mike Slater, Conservative Talk Show:] Jane, do you really think the U.S. constitution applies to Muslims in Pakistan? [Velez-mitchell:] It applies to people coming into the United States. [Slater:] Why? How? Based on what? [Velez-mitchell:] We are a nation of immigrants. OK? Give me your tired, your hungry, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free [Slater:] You want to blow people up? [Velez-mitchell:] You know what? There is more than one mass shooting every day in this country. And, the majority of those mass shootings are not Muslims. Take a look at Adam Lanza. OK? A privileged Connecticut boy living with his mom. He was not a Muslim. He killed 27 people, including 20 children. [Slate:] What I am hearing is we have enough of our own problems. We do not need to be importing more. [Velez-mitchell:] Yes, our problem are guns. [Pinsky:] Wait. [Velez-mitchell:] Guns are the bottom line here. [Pinsky:] Hang on. We are not jumping into guns. But, Loni, let us get back to the constitution. [Loni Coombs, Former Prosecutor:] Right. Right. [Pinsky:] You are nodding your head at constitution, but we have done this before. We have restricted immigration in the past. [Coombs:] Right, we have. [Pinsky:] And, sometimes ignominiously so. Sometimes we wish we had not, like Jews in the second World War. [Coombs:] Absolutely. That is exactly right. [Pinsky:] Those people went back to the camps because of us. [Coombs:] That is right. We got the Japanese camps [Pinsky:] Yes. [Coombs:] Internment camps here in America, which Donald Trump is citing as a wonderful example backing up his proposed ban here. Look, I find it so ironic that Donald Trump is going, "Where is the hate coming from? Where is the hate coming from?" Look in the mirror, buddy. Everything you say is hate speech. And, he just picks one group after another to pick, to marginalize, to stigmatize. And, then, they are the ones that are going to be banned, that are going to be kept out, that are going to be kicked out. And, it is extremely frightening. It has nothing to do with safety. That is not going to make this country any more safer. [Pinsky:] Well, he thinks as well. [Coombs:] He thinks, and that is the frightening thing is he thinks in his mind that if he bans big groups of people that will somehow make this country better. There is no evidence of that. [Jane Velez-mitchell:] The shooter was born in Chicago. [Pinsky:] And, Ernie That is right. And, Ernie, though, is not the problem that, you know, in the past we have had countries with governments that were coming after us were the enemy. Now, we are talking about a people, a certain religious you know, a sacred sort of thing in this country is religious freedom. Now, we are signaling out people of a certain religious faith and saying, "Well, those people cannot immigrate." Is not that the hot button we are getting into here? [Ernie White, Civil Rights Activist:] It may be the hot button, but there are a lot of Muslims that agree with Donald Trump, and I will tell you why. This is about Sharia Law. And, Sharia Law in the Middle East is a lot different than Sharia Law here in America. Sharia Law is the law of Islam. And, they cannot have another law, which means you cannot even have a constitution. [Pinsky:] But, Ernie, but you are saying then the people that would flee that are the very people we should not let into the country. [White:] But, here is the problem. When you are talking about ISIS, when you talk about al-Qaeda, look what happened in San Bernardino? What do they look like? We do not know. But, what we do know is when you import Sharia Law from the Middle East, pure Sharia Law, not the softened Sharia Law you see here in America, pure Sharia Law, there is no in between. It is either Sharia or nothing else. [Pinsky:] And, Christine, are we I get so I have a strange feeling through all this. I feel lost. I feel like I do not know what is good, and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong, what is a reaction to something that we are overdoing or what is something that a reaction that we need to have to the world situation we are in. How do people navigate through this? [Christine Choe, Police Psychologist:] I think people are stressed. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Choe:] For a good reason. [Pinsky:] But is it out of fear that somebody is going to put a vote down for Donald Trump, or is it out of reason? [Choe:] I think the overarching question is safety. I think when we see tragedies like the San Bernardino shootings, the overarching question is can that happen to me? Can that happen to my family? Can that happen to us? And, that is a scary thought. [Pinsky:] But, Mike I mean, Mike. Yes, Mike. [Slater:] Yes. [Pinsky:] The question is, are we then reacting out of fear? And, is that how we should react or are we being irrational? [Slater:] Totally. [Pinsky:] Do you understand the question I am asking you? [Slater:] Absolutely. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Slater:] So, you mentioned the qualifier that Donald Trump put on until our country`s representative can get their act together. Did you know there are 72 employees at the Department of Homeland Security, who are on the terror [Velez-mitchell:] That is nard, yes. [Slater:] Jane. Jane, Jane, come on now. [Velez-mitchell:] That was actually disputed [Slater:] The Department of Homeland Security could not even vet their own employees and you think we are going to properly vet refugees? [Velez-mitchell:] I am not saying the government is competent. [Slater:] There you go! [Velez-mitchell:] No. No. Wait a second. Instead of doing a mass sweep and stereotyping and condemning a large group of people in and an entire religion, let us talk about why they did not catch this one woman. And, what is wrong with our government. And, I will tell you what it is. Mass surveillance. Because they are so busy listening to all of our phone calls that they did not catch the one person they should have caught. [Pinsky:] All right. [White:] But, you just made a clear point. If they could not catch that one person, how are we going to catch 200,000? [Pinsky:] All right. We are going to stop. We are going to stop. We got to stop, because we are going to get into details about this woman, about the couple and some other plans that they had at least the husband had to kill. Back after this. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Poppy Harlow, in for Carol Costello. She's back tomorrow. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Another wild ride on Wall Street. This time investors shrugging off problems overseas and head back into the market big time. And Jeb Bush is trying to clarify his comments about so-called "anchor babies." In doing so, he finds himself in even more of a mess. Presidential hopeful, Senator Lindsey Graham, is here to weigh in on that and some surprising new poll numbers. And also new this morning, chilling details about the final moments of a Louisiana state trooper's life and the Good Samaritans who tackled the suspect as he tried to flee. I'm going to speak to a friend and colleague of that trooper this hour. Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. John Berman is off this morning. Thanks so much for joining us. We begin with the presidential blessing and the prospect that Joe Biden may soon jump into the race for the White House. The vice president last night reportedly holding had close friends and political operatives over to his home at the Naval Observatory to chat about what a campaign might look like if he decided to seek the Democratic nominations. A lot of caveats there. CNN has learned that talk came hours after President Obama gave Biden his blessing of sorts. A senior Democrat saying that the president made clear he would not stand in Biden's way if he chose to run and he wouldn't advise him against a run. Biden, of course, doesn't need the president's permission, and the president's blessing should not be read as an endorsement we're told. At the White House briefing, Press Secretary Josh Earnest was asked about Biden. Here is what he said. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] I think the president's view about Vice President Biden's performance as the vice president of the United States should give you a sense of the president's belief in his aptitude for the top job. [Bolduan:] There you have it, I guess. So is Biden in? Is Biden out? What does it mean for President Obama who may be stuck in the middle? Joining me is CNN political analyst, John Avlon; and CNN political commentator, Margaret Hoover. I have the better half with me in studio. [Margaret Hoover, Cnn Political Commentator:] While Obama's sort of blessing is important, Joe Biden, in my view, has two women to thank for this moment. One is Hillary Clinton and the second is Elizabeth Warren. If it were not for her softening poll numbers, this question about her trustworthiness, fundamental question about her integrity in office, we wouldn't be here right now, he wouldn't be here right now, he wouldn't even be having these thoughts. If it weren't for the possibility that Elizabeth Warren might endorse him or join his campaign or effort in some way that could really change the dynamics of the Democratic race, this wouldn't be serious either. This is more than Joe Biden has been able to do for himself as a candidate the times he's run. Remember in 1988, he backed out because of plagiarism charges. In 2008, he only won 1 percent of Iowa and had to step down himself. So really he has not just President Obama but Hillary Clinton herself and Elizabeth Warren to thank. [Bolduan:] Sometimes, often times it is better to be lucky than good, at least in the news business. John, the blessing should not be read as an endorsement, we're told, but he has said, being the president, that picking Biden was the best political decision that he has made. Of course, in that implicitly is he's not saying that his appointment of Hillary Clinton for secretary of state was the best decision he has made. Should people are reading into that? [John Avlon, Cnn Political Analyst:] I would not read too much into that. Of course he's going to say that. Of course he feels that way. The president is in sort of a double blind here. The party has been previously very united around Hillary Clinton. I think Margaret makes great points about the circumstances. Some of them which have led to Joe Biden's rise. I think the other factor frankly is Donald Trump. Joe Biden has always been considered a bit gaffe-tastic but he's triangulated between Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton seems inauthentic, but he likes positively presidential next to Donald Trump. The president and the White House are in a double blind here because they're not going to stand in anyone's way. They're not going to throw Joe Biden under the bus. Of course, he's a valuable partner in the administration. But the numbers show Joe Biden is not as compelling a general election candidate as Hillary Clinton, and that's got to weigh heavily on Democrats' minds as well as they view this possible. The fight could be fun. It could be invigorating but will it lead to an outcome that has the most competitive nominee come the fall of 2016? [Bolduan:] But, Margaret, let's continue to focus on President Obama then. What position does this put him in if Biden jumps in? The first word that comes to mind is awkward. [Hoover:] I actually think for President Obama, look, he's on his way out, thinking about his legacy, who is going to carry on his legacy. Right now he has one choice, Hillary Clinton. She's the only person in the race that sort of viably could win and she does have this argument of a historic candidacy behind her. But if, for example, Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren were to get in, and they were to shake up the field, then actually if you're President Obama looking at who is best to carry on my legacy, who is going to fight for Obamacare, the middle class, the little guy, gives him a choice at least. [Bolduan:] Do you give any credence to the fact that the press secretary yesterday said it is possible that the president could endorse in the primary. Do you think that's possible? [Hoover:] Anything is possible. Look, I think more than anything that says that Mr. Earnest has been in a terrible position having to defend the Hillary e-mail situation behind the podium every day for the last two weeks. I think he would be delighted to not have to answer those questions. [Bolduan:] One thing I find fascinating, and I think you will as well, John, he's huddling with key Obama advisers, he's meeting with fund- raisers, he has this meeting with Senator Elizabeth Warren. Yes, Washington is leaking like a sieve. But why are we learning so many details of what is considered to be a secret process when you're considering it? [Avlon:] I wonder how that's happening because the Biden team obviously is leaking. It's part of the drum beat of speculation they've benefited from and, you know, really in the wake of his son's tragic passing, there's an additional halo effect. But obviously, this is being pushed out as a way of increasing speculation. I would just say that the people most excited about this are Republicans because they recognize that if Hillary Clinton is not the nominee, their chances of winning a general election goes up whether it's Biden or not. The ultimate legacy for any president is being succeeded by a president of your own party. But Republicans have a real interest in both weakening Hillary Clinton through investigations and innuendo and then seeing a vibrant fight that could possibly leave her damaged or not the nominee. They realize that, too. Where you stand is a matter of where you sit on this one. [Bolduan:] That's right. And I sit right in the studio, which means nothing. Great to see you, John. [Avlon:] Sure. [Bolduan:] Coming up, another wild ride on Wall Street, but today things are looking up. The Dow surging after a day of really what a lot of folks described as sheer panic. So what should we make of it this time? And risking their lives. Two heroes jump in and wrestle a shotgun from an armed man just after he shoots a state trooper during a traffic stop. The latest on that investigation ahead. And dramatic escape. We'll take up inside the tunnel two killers used to make their brazen break out of prison. How they inched their way underground to freedom. [Erin Burnett, Erin Burnett Outfront:] OutFront next. Breaking news. Exclusive, CNN reporting the White House asked the FBI to knock down media reports. What was the FBI's response? Plus Senator Bernie Sanders ready to launch more than 100 rallies across the nation. He talks President Trump and the GOP town hall outrage. He's my guest tonight. And Trump's right-hand man Steve Bannon making a rare public appearance. The adviser once portrayed as the Grim Reaper, breaks his silence. Let's go OutFront. Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett. OutFront tonight. The breaking news. We have exclusive new reporting tonight that the White House asked the FBI to knock down media reports about contacts during the presidential campaign between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to U.S. Intelligence. Pamela Brown and Evan Perez broke this story along with Jim Sciutto, Shimon Prokupecz, and Manu Raju. Pamela and Evan are OutFront. And Pamela, let me start with you. What are you learning tonight? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, Erin, CNN is told that the FBI rejected a recent White House to publicly knock down media reports about communications during the 2016 presidential campaign, between Donald Trump's associates and Russians known to U.S. Intelligence. Multiple U.S. Officials telling CNN that the White House sought the help of the bureaus and other agencies investigating the Russian matter, to say that the reports were wrong and that there had been no contacts whatsoever. You'll recall CNN and the New York Times first reported that just over a week ago, the reports about these contacts that were made during the campaign. And Erin, so far the White House has not commented. [Burnett:] Yes. And this was a very significant report. I mean, Evan, this is not a typical request. I mean, it's pretty stunning when you hear it on the face of it. How did it start? EVAN PEREZ, Well, Erin, a U.S. Law Enforcement Official tells us that this began when the FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus on the sidelines of a separate White House meeting on the day after those stories were published. A White House official says that McCabe told Priebus that the New York Times story vastly overstated what the FBI knows about the contacts. The White House official says that Priebus later reached out again to McCabe and to the FBI Director James Comey asking for the FBI to at least talk to reporters on background to dispute the stories. But a law enforcement official says that McCabe didn't discuss aspects of the case, but we don't know exactly what McCabe told Priebus. And I should add that the FBI has declined to comment on the story. So, Pamela, the White House Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus, Evan, so I think about him, he denied the story. This is what he said on Fox News Sunday earlier this week. [Reince Priebus, White House Chief Of Staff:] The New York Times last week put out an article with no direct sources that said that the Trump campaign had constant contacts with Russian spies, basically, you know, treasonous types accusations. We have now all kinds of people looking into this. I can assure you and I've been and I've been approved to say this, that the top levels of the intelligence community have assured me that that story is not only inaccurate, but it's grossly overstated and it was wrong. And there's nothing to it. [Burnett:] So, Pamela, is the investigation still going on? [Brown:] It is going on and the FBI's Counterintelligence Division, also several members of the house and senate intelligence committees tells CNN that congress is still investigating those alleged contacts. That has begun and they are starting to collect documents and records as well, Erin. [Burnett:] Which is obviously important. That's just going to determine what really happened here an answer all the questions so many have. Evan, this is not a typical back and forth though between a White House and the FBI. There may be disagreements, but this is not how it usually plays out, right? [Perez:] That's right, Erin. The communication between the White House and the FBI is unusual because of a decade-old restriction on such contacts. The request of the White House is technically a violation of these procedures that were meant to limit communications with the FBI on pending investigations. Now, the Trump administration's efforts to Press Comey to run contrary to justice department procedure memos that were issued in 2007 and 2009 that limit direct communications on pending investigations between the White House and the FBI. The FBI Director Comey rejected the request that came from the White House according to sources we talked to because the alleged communications are still the subject of an ongoing investigation, Erin. [Burnett:] All right. Thank you both very much. [Brown:] Thank you. [Burnett:] Also breaking tonight, CNN learning that the White House asked for an intelligence report to prove the security threat for the seven countries in Trump's travel ban is substantial. But some in the intelligence community are concerned. They're worried about what they're being asked to do to prove this. Jake Tapper broke the story. He's OutFront now. And Jake, what are you learning tonight? [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor And Chief Washington Correspondent:] Erin, this temporary travel ban is on individuals from seven Muslim majority countries, those countries being Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Libya, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. A Senior White House Oofficel tells me that the Department of Homeland Security and justice department, "Are working on an intelligence report that will demonstrate the security threat from these seven countries is substantial and that these seven countries have all been exporters of terrorism into the United States." The situation has gotten more dangerous in recent years, the official says. And more broadly he says, the refugee program has been a major incubator for terrorism. Now, this report was requested in light of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 's conclusion, you might remember, Erin, that the Trump administration, " Has pointed to no evidence, that any alien from any of these countries named any order has perpetrated a terrorist attack in the United States." But CNN has also learned that, as you mentioned, some current intelligence officials are concerned about this assignment. [Burnett:] Jake, when you say that, I mean, you know, when you're talking about that White House official, you said that person told you the refugee program has been a major incubator for terrorism. These are things they're asking intelligence officials to corroborate, right? To say this is true. What are the concerns from the intelligence community about doing so? [Tapper:] Well, first of all, some in the intelligence community disagree with the Trump White House position, sources telling CNN that the Department of Homeland Security's in-house intelligence agency, which is called the Office of Intelligence and Analysis or I&A, that they filed a report disagreeing with the Trump White House view that blocking immigration from these countries strategically makes sense. Some DHS officials have said they do not think nationality is the best indicator for potential terrorism. Now, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security confirmed our report saying, "While DHS was asked to draft a comprehensive report in this issue, the document you're references was commentary from a single intelligence source versus an official, robust document with thorough interagency vetting." And the Department of Homeland Security went onto on the record disparage its own intelligence division report. It's quite remarkable saying, "The I&A report does not include data from other intelligence community sources. It is incomplete. Pointed internal discussions about the merits of various intelligence products and whether they have sufficient supporting data from the broader intelligence community is an integral part of developing any official DHS intelligence assessment." [Burnett:] I mean, it's pretty stunning, you know, intraagency sniping like this, public. I mean, that is -that is troubling on so many levels. You're also reporting, Jake, on concern within the intelligence community that the White House is going about this entire premise, right? The wrong way. [Tapper:] That's exactly right. The notion of the Trump White House seeking an intelligence report to fit its pre-existing policy instead of the other way around, is an issue for many in the intelligence community, sources are telling CNN. Sources also telling CNN's Pamela Brown there are those within the Department of Homeland Security who have concerns that intelligence at the department might be politicized. But a department spokeswoman called that accusation absurd and not factually accurate. Now, according to the Senior White House official we should point out, the president and his team are determined no matter what to prove that the Ninth Circuit argument is wrong as are any of those in the media and democrats who have made the same argument. For instance, Congressman Jerrold Nadler who appeared on CNN last month. [United States Representative For New York:] The various people who have in fact committed terrorist acts in this country from 911 onward, none of them came from any of the seven countries that are the subject of the president's executive order. [Tapper:] This is what the important thing is for the White House, the Senior White House official telling me that that argument is using the most narrow definition of the term committed a terrorist act that you can use. It means that the definition of a terrorist attack is only those attacks in which an innocent civilian has been killed. And for instance, that definition would not include, you might recall, the Ohio State attack last November when a Somali born student, Abdul Razak Ali Artan, he arrived in the U.S. in 2014, he attempted to run over and stab 13 innocent people on campus. He did not succeed. That would not fit in the definition of the Ninth Circuit or Congressman Nadler. But the White House hoping to bolster its case for the ban is using a broader definition which would include non- lethal failed terrorist attacks, investigations and convictions of any individual attempting to join or support terrorist groups. [Burnett:] All rightr. And certainly one that may convince many out there. Jake Tapper, thank you so much. [Tapper:] Thank you. [Burnett:] And OutFront next, breaking news. You're looking at live pictures of town halls under way or about to start across this country. Protesters and angry constituents are lining up. What are they accomplishing? My next guest will answer that question, Senator Bernie Sanders is OutFront. Plus, deportation stoking fear in the immigrant community, now growing underground network of safe houses, basically an underground railroad. We're going to take you inside. And Steve Bannon, a top Trump adviser rarely heard from, speaking out today about the president. [Steve Bannon, Whte House Chief Strategist:] He's laid out an agenda with those speeches for the promises he made and he's man moniachly focused on that. [Camerota:] Throughout the morning we asked you, our viewers, what you think President-elect Trump's number one priority should be when he takes office. We received hundreds of your responses so far on Twitter. You want to guess what the overwhelming response is? [Cuomo:] Make NEW DAY seven hours. [Camerota:] No. No. That will be his second priority. [Cuomo:] There it is. [Camerota:] The first priority is unity. You can see that in the big red letters. Also topping the list health care, fighting [Isis. Cuomo:] ISIS, jobs. [Camerota:] Jobs, immigration, and building the wall. [Cuomo:] So I'm still looking at the words up there on your screen right now. All right. So let's bring in our panel and let's talk about this idea of unity and what Donald J. Trump, our next president, can do in his first inaugural address. CNN presidential historian and former director of the Nixon Presidential Library, Tim Naftali is here. Executive editor of Bloomberg View and author of "Trump Nation: The Art of Being the Donald," Timothy O'Brien. And author of "Democracy's Big Day," inaugural historian, Jim Bendat. All right. So, Jim, this is the day that you live for. The inauguration. You have all the fun facts. And we've been reading in and you do get overcome with the history that falls on your head in this town on this day. What are some of the big ones that pop out to you about what makes the inauguration such an amazing historical event? [Jim Bendat, Inaugural Historian:] The fact that our inauguration day makes our country stand out from so many other nations. They don't do it that way. We have one day every four years. Other nations, they might have military coups, they might have monarchs who reign forever. So we have our unique way of doing things. [Camerota:] You only get your moment in the sun once every four years as an inaugural historian. [Bendat:] The way I like to put it is every four years I get my 15 minutes. [Camerota:] That's right. So let me stick with you, Jim, for a second. What are you looking for today? [Bendat:] Well, I'm always looking to see if the traditions will be followed. We know that a lot of them will be. We know that Trump is going to be going to the church services. He'll be going to the White House. There will be the procession to the capitol. We know that. But we already know also there are going to be some differences. He's going to set a record today with six religious prayers as part of the ceremony, three invocations, three benedictions, that's a new record. During the inaugural parade we know that unfortunately a tradition has been lost. Trump fired Charlie Brotman. [Camerota:] The announcer. [Cuomo:] The announcer. [Bendat:] The announcer who's been doing every inaugural parade since 1957, covering Democrats and Republicans. He's a part of my book. I wrote the chapter in my book is called "The President's Announcer." He's a gregarious person, he's still up to the task, he shouldn't have been fired. [Cuomo:] So what do you think about the walk of the inaugural parade? Who was it, Carter, walked the entire thing? He was the first one to do it? What's the most common protocol there and what are we expecting today? [Bendat:] Well, Jimmy Carter and Rosalind Carter are the only ones to actually watch the entire distance. [Cuomo:] What is it? Like a mile and a half or something? [Bendat:] Yes. But many other presidents since then almost all of them have gotten out of the car, generally toward the end of the parade, although Barack and Michelle Obama got out a couple of times, but definitely toward the end of the parade route in front of the supporters right near the White House you can generally expect almost all presidents to do that. [Camerota:] Tim, as presidential historian, what has what are you keeping your eye on? What has jumped out at you so far? [Tim Naftali, Cnn Presidential Historian:] I'm going to watch how Mr. Trump uses words. One of the things that presidents learn is that words matter, that they can change the stock market, they can change the value of the U.S. currency. They can send signals to our foreign allies and adversaries with words. How will Donald Trump introduce himself to us as a president? He's introduced himself to us many times in other forms, but today he is a president. [Camerota:] We know a few things about the inaugural address. They say it will be shorter than usual. I think that they're saying about 20 minutes long. And that we heard yesterday from the head of the Inaugural Committee that it will be a collaboration between he, his ideas and his speech writer. [Naftali:] Well., I there are always collaborations. And that's traditional. The key is this, the issue of unity. He becomes president of all of us. He's not just president of the people who voted for him. He's president of the people who didn't vote for him. He's president of the people too young to vote. How is he going to talk to all of us and what is the vision he's going to share with us about where we go from now. That's what I'm looking for today. [Cuomo:] So these two have gotten to bask into the possibility of the moment. You, Tim O'Brien, you have a different task. You and I are members of the fraternity now of people who have investigated Donald Trump. You are a senior member of that fraternity. And the question that you can answer best is, do you think the man has it in him to surrender the me to the we, that when the grace of this moment comes upon him and he realizes his power and his position, do you think he has it in him to say, I don't come first anymore? [Timothy O'brien, Executive Editor, Bloomberg View:] I think we all have to hope that he does. I think it's important for the country. I think it's important for the presidency. It's important for good governance that Donald Trump embrace this moment and rise to the occasion. I think that will require things of him we have not seen in him historically. It will require emotional, intellectual and strategic discipline. It will require generosity of spirit. It will require enormous self-restraint. We've seen since the election that on Twitter he's demonstrated no self-restraint. And I think it's a wait-and-see. I was thinking about this yesterday, Chris, during the ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial. Jon Voight gave a very confrontational opening speech in that moment. It wasn't about unity. It was about Trump got smeared and God put him here to save things. So I think it's in Trump's court now. [Camerota:] Jim, I was struck reading through the history of all of the inaugurations. How often weather plays a role? Sometimes things are canceled if it's too cold. Sometimes it's been too snowy, I think with John Kennedy's inauguration. Today it is going to be a light drizzle. What do you see for how all of this unfolds compared to past years? [Bendat:] Well, weather is often a big deal in Washington here at this time of year. The last time that it rained was for George W. Bush in 2001. Actually that day George W. Bush had planned to use the original George Washington bible when he took the oath, but because of the weather the powers that be who look after that bible decided not to bring it outdoors. So we've had rainy days in the 1800s quite often. Snow has been more of a problem since inauguration day got moved up from march to January. [Cuomo:] They have only had a couple got canceled, though. Reagan had it canceled I think this is the second one, right? Because of how cold it was. [Camerota:] Yes. Sometimes the parades are moved or the parades are cancelled. But even in March when the inauguration used to be in march, I was struck by how often snow played a role here in Washington, [D.c. Bendat:] The last time that happened was 1909, William Howard Taft. It was so snowy that a lot of stuff got canceled. [Cuomo:] So how big a deal for you when it comes down to just one moment, right? Boon on January 20th, 20th amendment of the constitution puts that as when the job begins. Do you feel anything in that moment happen in this kind of ceremony? [Bendat:] Well, a lot of people are going to feel a lot this year. You're going to have people who are going to be jubilant and you're going to have lots of people who are very depressed. So we're a divided country and whether Donald Trump will be able to do anything about that remains to be seen. I don't think it will be decided during his inaugural address. I don't think we can expect much from that. We'll find out a lot in the days ahead. [Cuomo:] President Obama, the outgoing president, is doing everything he can in terms of tradition, he's spend all the time with him, traveling there, they're you know, every box you could check as peaceful transition seems to be getting done yes. [Bendat:] Definitely. He's been very gracious just as George W. Bush was gracious to him. [Camerota:] Gentlemen, thank you very much. Thanks for sharing all of the historical facts with us and the perspective. Great to talk to you. [Unidentified Male:] Thank you. [Camerota:] We have much more of our inaugural coverage starting right now. Donald trump, president-elect: We're going four incredible years. It's going to be something special. [Zain Asher, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. So glad to be with you. I'm Zain Asher. Let's get you straight to your top stories. An Indian man convicted of brutally raping and murdering a woman when he was a teenager is now about to be released from a juvenile detention center. The victim's mother is now saying that crime has won. The man was 17 when he participated in the gang rape of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in New Delhi. An Indian court rejected an effort to keep him in custody longer than his original three-year sentence. Our New Delhi bureau chief Ravi Agrawal joins me live now from the Indian capital. So, Ravi, this is a case that really stunned the world. It was in international headlines everywhere. The young man has been released rather quickly. What's been the reaction there in India? [Ravi Agrawal, Cnn New Delhi Bureau Chief:] The reaction has really been one of surprise, shock also. A number of the Indian TV channels, which I should remind you, where the ones that first brought this to light, ran the story for months and months, really bringing attention to this very important story here. Well, they're the ones who are now saying, well, what happened? How did he get released so quickly? They're running interviews with the victim's parents, with commentators, with legal analysts. This is big news in India. You said it's big news around the world but it's much bigger news here in India. It was back then and it is right now and it will be over the weekend, especially leading up to Sunday, when this juvenile rapist will be released. So it's a shock here and I should add, though, that the reason why he is being released is that he has served his three years and, according to Indian law, a juvenile, for almost any crime that one could commit, the maximum amount of time that you can be held is three years. He served those three years and today what we saw at the high court in Delhi is the judge is essentially saying that government may want to keep him in, the police may want to keep him in but we can't change the law so we have got to let him go. [Asher:] Right, and Ravi, what do we know about this convicted rapist? Because we still don't know his name. But what happens to him now? Does he go into hiding? [Agrawal:] We actually know very, very little about this particular rapist. So there were six rapists involved in this absolutely heinous and disgusting crime. Of those six, five were adults. After they were named guilty, we learned their names. They were outed, their pictures were all over the Indian media and on CNN because we did a documentary on this very story. But the sixth rapist, because he was a juvenile, and only by a few months; he turned 18 just a few months after the events of December of 2012, simply because of that, he has enjoyed the protections of Indian law, which means that his name is not allowed to be disclosed. We don't even know what the name is. So very little is known about this person. And on Sunday, he will be free even then; as of now we know very little about where he's going to go, what he's going to do. It may be that the police could say that they need to keep an eye on him. There is a what is known as a management committee here for juveniles. They will be monitoring this person. But we don't know if we're doing to see this person, if we'll ever even learn his name. [Asher:] And the fact that we don't know his name is a topic we're going to explore a little bit later on in the show with an Indian legal expert. But it's interesting because we don't know the identity of the attacker but we do, however, Ravi, know the identity of the victim. How common is it in India to have a rape victim named publicly? [Agrawal:] It's rare. There are instances when there are rape victims who are alive and come out openly and talk about their experiences. They write about it, they come on Indian TV and talk about it. And those are the instances where you learn of the names. But if the victim does not want to disclose her name or even his name I should say then that's the way it is. The media cannot do so. The police cannot do so. And so it's all kept a secret. In the case of Nirbhaya or Braveheart as she came to be known, her own mother outed her name on Wednesday. Wednesday was the it marked three years since the events of that horrific day in 2012. And her mother came out and said, quite publicly, that it is not our family that should be ashamed. It is not I who should be ashamed but it is the rapist should be ashamed. Their names should be named and for what it's worth, she went out named her daughter's name. Indian media has been also running with that name. So it is now well in the public domain across Indian media, on TV, on newspapers and also the international media. We can now name her as well. Her name is Jyoti Singh. [Asher:] Right, a courageous act for the mother to name her own daughter in all of this. But I do want to ask you, after the victim died, India actually passed the 2013 anti-rape bill, basically to change the way sex crimes are punished. So that aside, how much have things on the ground there actually changed in India? Is that enough of a deterrent? [Agrawal:] Well, you know, we see rapes here all the time. So clearly, it is not enough of a deterrent. There are you know, the sheer number of rapes that you see here, living here, it's in the newspapers every single day. A few measures have been taken by the government, as you say. It has sort of increased the scope of the definition of rape. It has made the punishments tougher. The government says that it is making it easier to process these crimes to make the police more aware of how to treat victims with a bit more kindness and compassion. There are GPS monitoring services on buses, on auto rickshaws but you have got to ask the question, is it enough? Rapes still continue to take place here at great rates. And that continues to be a reason of great shame for New Delhi, the city that I live in, and for India at large. [Asher:] And, Ravi, the anti-rape bill is just one step in the right direction. As I mentioned, we will have a lot more on the legal aspects later a little bit later on in the show with a lawyer there in India. Ravi Agrawal, thank you so much. Appreciate that. The U.S. and Russia the U.S. and Russia in New York are in talks to try and end the war in Syria. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and several foreign ministers are joining U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry in New York. Today's meeting comes a few days after Kerry's trip to Moscow, where he offered hints of compromise from the U.S. on the future on Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott, joins me live now from New York, where the talks are taking place. So Elise, one of the big sticking points in all of this, as you know, has been what is going to happen to president Bashar al-Assad. Even though Washington has been very clear in the past they want Assad to go, they have toned down their rhetoric in recent weeks. Does that mean that U.S. and Russia are now more aligned in their objectives, do you think? [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, I think, Zain, a couple of things going on. First of all, you have to consider where Secretary Kerry was, he was in Moscow and I think a lot of that rhetoric to placate a little bit his Russian host. But the U.S. position on Assad has been evolving. I mean, the U.S. ultimately feels he has to go. But realistically, they know that that's not going to happen any time soon. And that's why there's this real urgency to try and get this political process going between negotiations between the regime and the opposition groups on a political transition. And the hope is that Bashar al-Assad will be gone at the end of that transition. Certainly that's not a guarantee. You know, the Russians are making a little bit of signals that they may be open to that towards the end. But certainly that's the elephant in the room. But today, there certainly is some momentum on this political process. You saw in Vienna last month this 17-nation international Syrian support group endorsing this plan. A six-month negotiations on cease-fire, that would lead to more talks led by the U.N. on negotiations for drafting a new constitution and also towards electing a new government. They hope later to enshrine all of these talks, all of these plans into a U.N. Security Council resolution later today, which would also be very significant because you know U.N. Security Council has taken action on chemical weapons, on ISIS, on other things but has never been able to agree on a political process. So if they were to agree on a resolution today, certainly it's not going to end the bloodshed any time soon but it definitely would be a significant step in the right direction. [Asher:] Yes, the goal as you mentioned in all of this is a cease-fire, certainly very ambitious when you consider that you can't exactly bring ISIS and Al-Nusra Front to the table. Elise Labott, thank you so much, live for us in New York. We appreciate it. Russia has granted CNN extraordinary access to its military operations in Syria. Today our Matthew Chance toured a camp near Russia's air base in Latakia, where thousands of displaced Syrians are now living. He tells us how they ended up there and why they don't want to leave. Take a listen. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] In the game for Syria, Russia's Putin and Bashar al-Assad are on the same side. "This is thanks to Russia," the poster reads. We were brought to this, the "Sport City" camp in Latakia to see how the Syrian [Chance:] government and Kremlin backers say they give refuge. One government sanctioned aid worker told me how and why these people are here. What have these people been through, to drive them to become refugees? [Zen Hasan , Aid Worker:] These people just don't have any homes. They don't have any families. So horrible stuff. Kids here, I hear stuff from kids about killing, about death about you know? It's really hard on them. They live horrible, you know. They're just pretty safe here. They don't want to leave the land. And they don't have the money to pay for the trip to Europe, which anybody can do. It's not the other side. [Chance:] Is that why these refugees are here, being protected essentially by the by President Assad? Because they couldn't afford to go to Europe? [Hasan:] No, no; I'm not saying they want to stay here there with President Assad, you know, but they just didn't want to leave. [Chance:] Well, the authorities tell us that housing at least 5,000 or 6,000 people in this one camp, just a fraction, of course, of the millions made refugees by Syria's brutal civil war. One of the reasons we have been brought here is to illustrate that not every Syrian wants to escape the clutches of the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad. Some feel much safer under his control. Some like Aisha Adbulraheem and her family, who fled Aleppo earlier this year. Her husband is in the Syrian army, she told me. Rebels behead family members of Syrian soldiers, she says. For some, the choice between the evils of Bashar al-Assad and the rebels who oppose him is simple to make Matthew Chance, CNN, in Latakia, Syria. [Asher:] Russian Investigators are analyzing the flight recorder from the warplane shot down in Turkey last month. The Russian defense ministry says the memory card is damaged but experts are still able to retrieve information from it. Turkish officials say the plane was warned repeatedly over airspace violations. Moscow denied it crossed into Turkish territory and Russian president Vladimir Putin has lashed out at Ankara over the incident. The number of people forced from their homes by violence is now reaching record numbers. We'll tell you about a new report from the U.N. Refugee Agency and why the agency's leader says now is a time for compassion, tolerance and solidarity. Also ahead, what's described as miraculous news from the Vatican about Mother Teresa. We'll explain coming up. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. Now thousands of Israeli settlers living in illegal outpost in the West Bank could be allowed to stay if Israel's parliament gives them the go ahead next week. Many say that would bury any hope for the two states solution. Supporters of the bill have been emboldened by the recent election of Donald Trump and they believe he could be their chance to carving out a new map for peace. One settlement, though, that likely won't survive is Amona. Our Ian Lee reports it could be the sacrificial lamb. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Within days, life could change dramatically for the settlers of Amona. The Israeli high court has ordered this illegal West Bank outpost demolished. Manya Hilal spent almost 15 years here raising her six children. [Manya Hilal, Amona Settler:] These are people. There are 200 children living here. You know how devastated children area when being torn from their home, having their life destroyed. [Lee:] A few hundred people called this hilltop home, raising families, working the land. Hilal points to the biblical book of Joshua as her land deed. [Hilal:] It's time to declare these lands belong to us. It's time to say enough. No Jewish settlements should be evacuated. No child has to lose his life and his home and his friends for nothing, for nothing. [Lee:] The government tried to remove the Amona's settlers 10 years ago. The violent clashes left a nation traumatize. [on-camera]: This is all that is left from that day. Some twisted rebar and concrete. As for the settlers who are living here, they didn't have to move far just up the hill. [voice-over]: Palestinian Ibrahim Yacoub knows how the settlers feel. [on-camera]: Which part is your land? [Ibrahim Yacoub, Palestinian Landowner:] My land is where is the trees? It is behind the trees immediately. [Lee:] Yacoub tells me his family worked this land for generations, nurturing the harvest, camping under the stars. Then in 1996 he says, the settlers illegally seized it. [Yacoub:] I want you to see and imagine how you feel when somebody come to your house and he takes from you your car and your house and you cannot do for him nothing. [Lee:] The high court ruled with Yacoub and declared Amona must go. Israel's right wing Jewish home party saw an opportunity setting in motion legislation to save Amona and legalize more than 50 other West Bank outpost at the same time. Palestinians and the outgoing administration in Washington are deeply concern seeing even the idea of a viable Palestinian state now on a point of collapse. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] There's a basic choice that has to be made by Israelis. Is there going to be continued implementation of settlement policy or is there going to be separation and the creation of two states. [Lee:] In Amona, Manya Hilal and her community have a decision to make. As some built shelters for supporters they hope will defend them, the people here are under growing pressure to leave peacefully. December 25th is the deadline to clear the outpost. A move that could mark the end of one of legal settlement, but have far reaching ramifications across the rest of the West Bank. Ian Lee, CNN, Amona in the West Bank. [Amanpour:] And I've been speaking to two opposing Israeli party leaders. Tzipi Livni who opposes this move. She was the main Israeli negotiator for a two-state solution, but first Naftali Bennett, leader of the Jewish Home Party who is pushing for the outpost to be legalized. Naftali Bennett, welcome to the program. [Naftali Bennett, Israeli Education Minister:] Great to be here. [Amanpour:] Let me ask you, because clearly, you want the court case to rule in your favor. But Amona, like many of the outposts, is illegal, not just under international law, but also Israeli law, since it sits on private Palestinian land. What are you expecting to happen? Are you expecting the settlement to remain? [Bennett:] We'll abide by the law. Whatever the Supreme Court will decide at the end, we will certainly abide. But I'll tell you that international law or I I would say more accurately, the nations of the world, many of them don't recognize Jerusalem as our capital. In fact, I think most of them don't. Yet Jerusalem is our capital. So, you know, we can't act only by what the world will say. [Amanpour:] But you've also said that you believe this whole situation is and I'll quote "the first step to extending Israel's sovereignty over Judea and Samaria," which is what you term the West Bank. Are you expecting all these outposts to be approved in terms of being annexed? [Bennett:] What you call outposts are, in fact, communities pretty big communities, in some cases. Absolutely. My vision of the future is separation where we would apply Israeli law on the Israeli controlled areas in Judea and Samaria, where there is roughly half a million Israelis and only about 70,000 Arabs who would be granted Israeli citizenship, full Israeli citizenship. And the rest of the area, what's called Area A and B, would become an autonomy a self-governed area because the Palestinians already have a full blown state in Gaza. So that would be the end game. Separation they have an autonomy, a state, and we apply law on the Israeli areas. [Amanpour:] Well, I I know you say that. However, it pits you against your current prime minister, at least that's what I understand from his latest interview with "60 Minutes." And I'd like to play that for you. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:] Two states for two peoples. That's where I'm focused. Yes, I'd like to help to have President Trump when he gets into the White House help him work on that. I'd like to see if the Arab states can help me achieve that. It's a new reality, new possibilities. [Amanpour:] So he's claiming that his government still abides by the internationally accepted two state solution in which the West Bank, you know, most of it, with the Palestinians, would be part of that. [Bennett:] I respect Prime Minister Netanyahu, but I profoundly disagree with that vision and what I am trying to do in Israel is garner more and more support for my vision, which is an autonomy and a strengthened area in Judea and Samaria. And I'll tell you more and more Israelis and more people around the world are understanding that, you know, if you try something once and twice, and a third time, and each time, it fails, you've got to try something new. [Amanpour:] The only thing is. [Bennett:] I come from the business world. If a manager of mine would come and say that three times I failed, I'd fire him. [Amanpour:] Here's the thing, though. You may be on the verge of committing national suicide. And I say that because even the Palestinians are now coming to talk about potentially a one state solution. But you know what that means for you, don't you? It means demographically, because of the birth rate, it would eventually be a Palestinian state or it would not be a democratic Jewish-Israeli state. So I guess what I'm saying, if you get what you want, isn't that the end of the dream as you see it? [Bennett:] Quite the contrary. My approach is of separation, the sort of the Puerto Rican model, so that the Palestinians would live in their autonomy. They would elect and vote for their government. They would govern themselves. Everything barring one main thing, which is an army. The second thing is they won't be able to flood Israel with six million great-grandchildren of '48 refugees, 1948 refugees. [Amanpour:] Naftali Bennett, education minister in the current government, thank you very much, indeed for joining us. And now we're going to move on. As much as we've tried to get a debate on these issues, we could not convince either side to do that. So we are going now to Tzipi Livni, who is former justice minister, and she is also one of the leaders of the opposition. Tzipi Livni, you have been hearing and listening to this part of the conversation. What is wrong with Naftali Bennett's suggestion to have some kind of separation in the heart of the territory there? [Tzipi Livni, Former Israeli Justice Minister:] Bennett and I represent completely different visions for the state of Israel. While he's speaking about the land of Israel, and I do believe also in the right of the Jewish people on the entire land, my vision for the state of Israel is keeping the values of Israel as a Jewish democratic state and therefore, separation from the Palestinians means that it should be based on two states for two peoples, when each state gives an answer to the national aspirations of different peoples. And the only way to do so is by hopefully reaching an agreement or taking some steps forward. By the way, I heard that Bennett is saying that more and more Israelis support his vision about greater Israel, which is wrong. [Amanpour:] OK. But there's a new poll from the Israel Democracy Institute, which, last week, polled and said 44 percent support annexing the West Bank while 38 percent oppose it. That's of Israelis. Doesn't that concern you? [Livni:] Yes, it is. What concerns me is the future of Israel as a Jewish democratic state. Basically, it's about us, it's not only about us and the Palestinians or us and the international community. It's about the nature of the state of Israel. It's about the values of the state of Israel. It's about Israel as a democracy and keeping the Jewish values, as well. It is true that less and less Israelis, and unfortunately Palestinians also, believe in the idea that we can reach an agreement and there is more and more despair, less and less hope. And part of our responsibility as leaders is to recreate this hope. [Amanpour:] Then, in that case, Miss Livni, obviously this current government has not rekindled that hope and does not in hasn't seemed to take any proactive measures. [Livni:] No. [Amanpour:] And nor have previous governments [Livni:] No, it's not. [Amanpour:] And nor has the opposition been able to rekindle this hope. In other words, the narrative of the international community, the the vision of a two state solution is being allowed to die. What are you going to do about it? [Livni:] As I said before, it's about us. It's about a decision that Israelis need to make. It's not a favor to the Palestinians. It's not even a favor to any president of the United States or the international community. But first and foremost, I believe that this is something that we need to decide. We need to do decide here in Israel where are we going, what is the vision for the state of Israel, how do we keep these values? It's not a it's basically should be and it is a an internal debate here in Israel. This government represents a different vision. Prime Minister Netanyahu still speaks about two states for two peoples, but I believe that this is also his test, whether he's willing to move forward on the basis of two states for two peoples. And I hope that having a new President-elect, this is a moment in which the vision and the policy should be defined between Israel and the U.S. [Amanpour:] What do you expect, because, there may be they pride themselves as businessmen, as does Naftali Bennett, who are able to make deals. And you've seen populist sentiment not only in the United States, but in Europe. And you've seen in your own country the settlers movement move from the fringe to mainstream. [Livni:] I believe that annexing the entire territory, the West Bank, Judea and Samaria, this is a lose a lose situation. This would bring a clash between the values of the state of Israel as a Jewish democratic state and therefore I believe that this is the worst case scenario. [Amanpour:] Tzipi Livni, thank you very much for joining us. [Livni:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] And when we come back, imagine a world of dangerous ignorance. It is one that some U.S. government scientists are going to desperate measures to thwart. We find out what they are up to and what they are up against next. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] It is not God's plan that I be president in 2016. Today my campaign is suspended. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We're going to make our country rich again. We're going to make our country great again. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] I will not take the low road to the highest office in the land. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] Don't let people tell you that you can't think big. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Now is the time for Republicans to unite. [Rubio:] Do not give into the fear. [Trump:] We're going to win, win, win, and we're not stopping. [Clinton:] Our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning, and what a morning it is. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It's Wednesday, March 16, 6 a.m. in the east. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton taking big steps towards their party's nominations. Strong performances on Super Tuesday the third. Trump capturing three more states, including a rout in Florida that sends Marco Rubio packing. John Kasich, keeping his slim hopes alive with a big win in hometown Ohio. Missouri, still too close to call for both parties. Donald Trump is coming up on the show live to make his case, as a unifier. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] On the Democratic side, a slam dunk night for Hillary Clinton. She's captured four states, and as Chris said, Missouri is still too close to call at this hour. So Bernie Sanders' momentum seems blunted for now, but the Vermont senator says he will continue on. He says the map gets better for him. We have the race covered the way only CNN can, starting with John Berman, with the Super Tuesday scorecards and the new delegate totals John. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Alisyn, let's start with overtime in the state of Missouri. Show me a close race in the Show Me State. Donald Trump just 17 votes 1,700 votes ahead right now of Ted Cruz. They're going to count the absentees and provisionals there. We're not ready to call it just yet, but you would rather be Donald Trump there. Just as you would rather be Hillary Clinton in Missouri right now. She's ahead by 1,500 votes, but again, they're still going to count the absentees and provisionals. We'll get back to you on Missouri. Let's look at the Republican race as a whole. In Ohio, John Kasich finally on the board. He wins his first state and 66 delegates in his home state of Ohio. But the home-town discount did not work for Marco Rubio, not at all. He was crushed by Donald Trump in his home state of Florida. I want to show you something here in Florida. If you look over here, the only county Marco Rubio won, Dade County. That's where he lives. If he didn't live there, he didn't win it. Let's look at the other Republican states right now, starting with North Carolina. Donald Trump won there, proportional delegate allocation there. Illinois, Donald Trump edged out Ted Cruz there, as well. He's going to win the lion's share of these delegates. And in the delegate race, Donald Trump stretched his lead 640, 405 for Ted Cruz. You can see Marco Rubio and John Kasich behind there. Let's look at the Democratic race right now. Huge wins for Hillary Clinton in Florida. Huge moral victory for Hillary Clinton in Ohio. This one, the Bernie Sanders' campaign thought it would be close. In Illinois, Hillary Clinton wins there, as well. And in North Carolina, a big win for Hillary Clinton there, too. Let's look at the delegate math. This includes super delegates: 1,500 for Hillary Clinton, about 800 for Bernie Sanders. Without super delegates, Hillary Clinton still leads by more than 300. And she did extend that lead last night Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. Thank you so much for that, John. At least three more states in the win column then for Donald Trump, but the coveted state of Ohio goes to governor John Kasich. Will Kasich's hometown win create a problem for Trump? Our Sara Murray is live from Miami with more for us. Hi, Sara. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. Donald Trump proving once again that he can win all over the country, and raising the question whether anyone can stop him. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We're going to win, win, win. [Murray:] Donald Trump celebrating another big primary night. [Trump:] I'm having a very nice time. But you know what? I'm working very hard. And there is great anger. Believe me, there is great anger. [Murray:] The Republican front-runner racking up victories in three more states, bringing his total now to 18. The race so tight in Missouri, Trump leading Cruz by less than 2,000 votes, that a winner hasn't yet been declared. Cruz insisting the race is down to him and Trump. [Cruz:] Only two campaigns have a plausible path to the nomination. [Murray:] But Ohio Governor John Kasich is still keeping hope alive, clinching his first win of the race in the winner-take-all state of Ohio. [Kasich:] I have to thank the people of the great state of Ohio. I love you, is all I can say. I love you. [Murray:] And in Florida, Trump putting a nail in the coffin of establishment darling, Senator Marco Rubio. [Trump:] I want to congratulate Marco Rubio on having run a really tough campaign. He's tough, he's smart, and he's got a great future. [Murray:] Rubio ending his presidential ambitions after a bruising double-digit loss to Trump in his home state. [Rubio:] While it is not God's plan that I be president in 2016 or maybe ever, and while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that I've even come this far is evidence of how special America truly is. [Murray:] Now down to a three-man race, Trump continues to call for unity. [Trump:] We have to bring our party together. We have to bring it together. [Murray:] While Kasich and Cruz make a pitch to Rubio supporters, both pledging to take this fight all the way to the convention. [Cruz:] To those who supported Marco, who worked so hard, we welcome you with open arms. [Kasich:] Thank you from the bottom of my heart. But I want you to know something. We're going to go we are going to go all the way to Cleveland and secure the Republican nomination! [Murray:] Now, we're hearing a lot of this talk about a potential contested convention. And if you're Ted Cruz and you're able to keep winning some dates further down the line, there might be a shot there. But I think the big question for John Kasich is where else does he have a chance to win beyond his home state of Ohio? His campaign says they're headed right to Pennsylvania, so we'll see how he fares there. Back to you, Chris. [Cuomo:] Sara Murray in Miami. As John Berman poignantly pointed out, the only place that Marco Rubio won in Florida. All right. Let's shift over to the Democratic race. Hillary Clinton closing in on a sweep, stopping Bernie Sanders in his tracks. She bounced back, you could say: four big wins. Maybe, maybe she's going to win in Missouri, as well. Too close to tell right now. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny live in Chicago with more. What's the word, my friend? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. Hillary Clinton didn't just win; she won big. The margin of 14 points in Ohio is the shot in the arm, the boost that the Clinton campaign was looking for. Even here in Illinois, the home state of Hillary Clinton, which she was worried about going into it, they won by two percentage points. You could hear it in the sound of her voice last night in Florida, that she's ready to turn the corner. [Clinton:] We are moving closer to securing the Democratic Party nomination and winning this election in November! You know, because of all of you and our supporters across the country, our campaign has earned more votes than any other candidate, Democrat or Republican. [Zeleny:] Now, if it was mathematically impossible in terms of delegates for Bernie Sanders before, it is going to become politically all but impossible for him. Start waiting for Democratic senators and others to start encouraging him to reassess this. His campaign, of course, says he's going to stay in this race, but he does become more of the message candidate here. Even though he wins delegates going forward in some of those western states, the party now is ready to start taking on Donald Trump. So that is why this moment is so different, Alisyn. That's why last night, such a big, big night for Hillary Clinton. [Camerota:] Absolutely. OK, Jeff, thanks so much for all of that. As we've been hearing throughout this race, Republican voters are angry, a clear majority of them saying that they feel betrayed, even by their own party. So our Christine Romans joins us now with more of the deciding factors last night. What are you seeing, Christine? [Christine Romans, Cnn Correspondent/anchor:] Well, we're seeing the Republican voters are mad at their party, and they're mad at the federal government. I want to start in North Carolina. Fifty-three percent of Republicans say they are dissatisfied. Forty percent say they are angry with the federal government. And of those who are angry, they favored Donald Trump. Ted Cruz, a distant second. That gap was even wider in Florida, with 59 percent voting for supporting Donald Trump. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, well behind him in that category, in that state. Another issue: where Trump is dominating, an issue he basically created in this election cycle, dramatic GOP support across all five states for Donald Trump's proposed ban against Muslims entering the United States. Look at this. In Missouri, 73 percent of Republican primary voters support banning Muslims from entering the U.S. Of that large swath in Missouri, Donald Trump gets the most votes. But Ted Cruz was not far behind there. In Illinois, 68 percent 68 percent support a ban on Muslims. Twenty-eight percent oppose it. Trump is their pick for president, as well. He earns 48 percent of the vote in that category. Look, there is this issue here, this ban on Muslims, is a category he essentially created, right? He created this question that we ask now for exit polls. Of all those five states, dramatic support for that Donald Trump proposed ban. [Pereira:] All right, Christine. Thank you so much. Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz doing all he can to paint the Republican field as a two-man race now, despite John Kasich's win in the key state of Ohio. John Berman spoke with Ted Cruz, and he joins us now with more. [Berman:] Yes. Ted Cruz wishes this was a two-man race. I wish I could dunk a basketball. Neither things are true as we stand here today. John Kasich still very much in this race. And Ted Cruz overnight used some of the sharpest language I have heard yet about John Kasich. Senator Cruz, thanks for being with us. What's your best assessment of this final Super Tuesday? [Cruz:] Well, I think Tuesday night was a good night. What we saw Tuesday night is the field has continued to narrow even more. And we now have a clear one-on-one choice between me and Donald Trump. There are only two candidates that have any plausible path to winning the Republican nomination. Only two candidates that have any plausible path to getting the 1,237 delegates. And so I think that was very beneficial. And head-to-head, directly with Donald Trump, we beat Donald Trump [Berman:] I can't help but notice you call this head-to-head and one-on-one. John Kasich won Ohio. [Cruz:] Yes. [Berman:] John Kasich is staying in this race. [Cruz:] Yes. [Berman:] What is your message to John Kasich? [Cruz:] Well, listen, I congratulate John Kasich on winning his home state, but it's mathematically impossible for John Kasich to become the nominee. At this point, he had lost 20 states before Ohio. And it's mathematically impossible for him to go forward. And so if you actually want to defeat Donald Trump, there's only one campaign that has done so over and over and over again. Nine different times, all over the country, we have beaten Donald Trump, all the way from Alaska to the other side to Maine and states all in between. [Berman:] Your message to Governor Kasich is "get out"? [Cruz:] Well, I think any candidate, if you don't have a clear path to winning, it doesn't make sense to stay in the race. And I would note, every day John Kasich stays in the race benefits Donald Trump. [Berman:] You've made a career in Washington of sometimes fighting against Washington. Is it time now to reach out, perhaps, to some of the senators, even Republican senators, who you may have alienated in one way or another over the years, including the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell? [Cruz:] You know, we are welcoming support from across the Republican Party. We have seen Republicans coming together and unifying the past week. Carly Fiorina endorsed our campaign. We saw Mark Levin endorse our campaign. We saw Senator Mike Lee endorse our campaign. We're going to continue, though, to keep the focus of the campaign exactly where it is, that has gotten us to this point. Head- to-head with Donald Trump. And that is focused on the American people, not on Washington. Listen, people are frustrated. Washington has betrayed them. Career politicians in both parties have lied to them, have made promises, and then not done what they said. And I believe this Republican primary will come down to who people trust to stand up to Washington. [Berman:] Senator, I read your campaign memo tonight. I know you still think you have a path to get a majority first ballot delegate count. You think you can go to the convention with more delegates than Donald Trump, but if that doesn't happen, right now, Donald Trump has the delegate lead. A pretty significant delegate lead. If Donald Trump goes to the convention with a delegate lead but not a majority, are you prepared to fight on the floor for the nomination? [Cruz:] Well, No. 1, I believe we're going to win 1,237 delegates. And win the majority and win it outright before the convention. Going forward, each of these states will have a clear choice. Do you want Donald Trump? Do you want... [Berman:] But Senator, if you don't... [Cruz:] ... a candidate who funded the Gang of Eight... [Berman:] But if you don't but if you don't have the most delegates, will you fight it out? [Cruz:] Well, look, there are many in the Washington establishment who are right now having fevered dreams about a brokered convention, about a deadlock convention, where they parachute in an establishment candidate who suddenly saves all of the fears of the lobbyists. I think that would be an absolute disaster. I think the people would, quite rightly, revolt. I think the way to beat Trump is at the ballot box. That's what we've been doing. Beating him all over the country. And the way to beat him is get to 1,237 delegates. Now, if it ends up happening that we get to Cleveland and nobody has 1,237 delegates, that Donald has a whole bunch of delegates, and I've got a whole bunch of delegates, and we come in neck and neck, then it's up to the delegates to decide. [Berman:] Senator Ted Cruz from Texas, thanks for being with us. [Cruz:] Thank you, John. God bless. [Berman:] So just to be clear, Senator Cruz opposes the idea of a contested convention, unless he is contesting the convention Chris. [Cuomo:] Well-played! Well-played! He can dunk a basketball, by the way. Lots to discuss. Let's bring in CNN national political reporter Maeve Reston. We have, of "Meet the Press" fame, David Gregory and CNN political commentator and senior contributor to "The Daily Caller," Matt Lewis. David Gregory, let's vet what Senator Cruz just said to J.B. He says, "Look, we're going to beat him, we're reaching out. We're getting a big tent, and then he names Carly Fiorina and Mark Levin. Is that part of the problem for him in terms of being a consensus candidate? [David Gregory, Former Moderator, Nbc's "meet The Press":] Right, I don't think he's a consensus candidate. He's got a lot of work to do. And if he's getting any establishment support in Washington from the likes of Lindsey Graham and others in the Senate, it's because they're so afraid of Donald Trump, not because they love Ted Cruz. The problem for Cruz, who wants so desperately to have this one- on-one matchup, is that he's not consolidating parts of the party that he should. You know, unless he pulls out Missouri, of all the states that are heavier on evangelical voters, he's not winning those. Didn't win those last night. And now the map, I think, gets more formidable for him, more blue states, where he's had a harder time even hitting, I think, 30 percent among non-evangelicals in other contests so far. So I think that's a difficulty for him. And the fact that Kasich is still in does hurt. Because Kasich is doing well in the more moderate wing of the party among highly- educated people within the Republican Party, it does split up that anti-Trump vote. And Trump wants other people out of the race, because he wants to lock this thing down. But having both Kasich and Cruz helps him at this point. [Camerota:] Matt, Trump had a huge night, as we've been saying, and he talked about how he did it despite everything that was thrown at him, despite all the negativity and the negative advertising from super PACs. So let me play what he said last night. [Trump:] Nobody has ever, ever, in the history of politics, received the kind of negative advertising that I have. Record, record, record. By the way, mostly false. It added up to over $40 million. And you explain it to me, because I can't. My numbers went up. I don't understand it. Nobody understands it. My numbers went up. [Camerota:] There you go, Matt. I mean, that is true. [Matt Lewis, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, his numbers went up. It's too dumb to fail, you know? That's basically what we have. I think Donald Trump, first of all, has enjoyed all sorts of free media attention. We know that. Even at a time when he didn't deserve it, right? When he was this summer, before he was the front-runner, he really dominated the airwaves, because he's so compelling; he's so charismatic. And his message, you know, really does resonate. I think that's the big takeaway for me right now, is that this is an angry time. Marco Rubio's a candidate of optimism, and Donald Trump is a candidate of pessimism and a vessel to express our anger. And that's what's happening right now. I would also say, yes, a lot of money has been spent against Donald Trump in recent days, but he really enjoyed months where Republicans, the anti-Trump Republicans, were attacking each other, and mostly leaving him alone. So, yes, it's a great talking point, but I think that, if you put it in context, you know, Trump has done pretty darn well in terms of the way he's been treated. [Cuomo:] You have a screen of nodding heads coming at you right now, Matt Lewis, especially when you talk about that they waited too long. Maeve Reston, there's an old expression: scared money never wins. And you had people who didn't want to go after Trump for a long time. And now they're trying to disqualify him after he's already the front- runner. Not working too well. He's now saying his task is to unify. How do we see that happening, Maeve Reston? [Maeve Reston, Cnn Political Correspondent:] I don't I think that's going to be a very difficult task for him going forward. And it's exactly right, what you said. I mean, you have Donald Trump, who's been building a brand for decades. And these anti-Trump forces came in. There was kind of a siren call to donors a couple of weeks ago. And they had a window of just a couple of weeks to try to change all of that branding that he's been working on for so long. I think, you know, the fact that we saw a closer contest in Missouri than some people were expecting was, you know, a little bit of a win for them there. But it does tell you how difficult that is going forward. And Donald Trump as a unity candidate, I just have a really hard time wrapping my mind around that. I think we all do. His rhetoric has been so divisive. He has such high unfavorables, even within his own party, which is why, when you look at this general election matchup with Hillary Clinton, other candidates like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio were actually looking stronger up against her. So, I think, actually, you know, maybe the story going forward, over the next couple of weeks, is how much work he will have ahead of him, if he does actually make it to become the nominee. [Camerota:] David, let's talk about John Kasich. He long promised he was going to win Ohio, as Marco Rubio promised he was going to win Florida, but John Kasich delivered. He won. He won big. And he was feeling very exuberant last night. So let's listen to his win. [Kasich:] We want to bring the country together and not divide this country anymore. That's why this was such a big victory tonight, because what it does is it says, you want to go and divide 'em? OK, you came to Ohio, you threw everything you had at me, and guess what? It didn't work. Because we know that we need to unite this country and be Americans and not spend our time dividing people in this country. [Camerota:] OK, so his argument has always been that it's not just Ohio; now this will give him momentum. [Gregory:] That is the argument. You know, it's interesting how the contrast with Marco Rubio, who talked last night about, he rode into Washington, rode into Washington on a Tea Party wave. The problem is the extension of that Tea Party populism is ultimately what crushed him; and that wave was a bigger wave and it was Donald Trump. Kasich is on a different part of the beach here. He's playing to more moderate voters within the Republican Party, but that's really his problem. A lot of that momentum that he argues that he can win in states that might be winner-take-all or even proportional, states that are bluer in nature, more Democratic, where he can get more of the moderate vote, the difficulty is it's very hard in a Republican primary to win without having more of the bedrock conservatives; and that's what he up against. [Camerota:] All right, panel. Thank you very much. Great to get your perspective. We have a big hour coming up, as well. [Cuomo:] And this turn in the narrative that's coming up with Trump saying, "We're got to unify. Now we've got to get the party together," that's new talk from him. He's going to come on the show this morning and make the case to you for why Donald Trump means unity Mick. [Pereira:] All right. Meanwhile, on the other side, Hillary Clinton is celebrating a dominant performance on Super Tuesday. So is her path to the nomination now set in stone? We'll take a closer look at that ahead on NEW DAY. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Sources telling CNN at Billy Bush could be out at NBC by the end of the week. But while the morning news team may be getting ready to show him the door, the joke writers on the "Tonight Show" seem to be welcoming him with open arms. [Jimmy Fallon, "the Late Show Starring Jimmy Fallon":] What is this thing here? A new national poll found that Democrats now have a significant lead over Republicans in the congressional races. Republicans said, and there's only one man to blame for this. And Donald Trump said, exactly, Billy Bush. [Costello:] Brian Stelter is following this story. And I'm not going to laugh because this man's going to lose his job and I guess a part of me is surprised by it and another part and a bigger part of me is not because what he what he did with Donald Trump was inexcusable, right? But, you tell me. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Well, it's a business calculation, isn't it? [Costello:] Yes. [Stelter:] And it's the only logical business calculation for NBC given that Bush's reputation has been tarnished by this. It's been stained. And if you see him on the air, if he was to be on the show tomorrow, you would see him and all you would think about is Donald Trump. A person who is close to him, who spoke with him last night said, Billy Bush knows this is an unsurvivable perfect storm. There's no way for him to stay at NBC right now. But this is all about the election context, isn't it? This audio tape, this videotape that aired in 2005, the year it was taped, it would have been a very different reaction. It still would have been disturbing, it still would have been uncomfortable, but right now the election context is what's causing NBC to have him head toward the exit. [Costello:] Well, but let me ask you this because I never got the impression that the folks at NBC, especially on the "Today" show, were especially happy that he was coming to the show, especially during the Olympics, right? Billy Bush said that stuff about Ryan Lochte and he got into a fight with Al Roker and things were not all like fabulous between right? [Stelter:] And that's always the factor. That's right. You know, morning TV, it's all about chemistry. There wasn't a lot of chemistry early on between Billy Bush and his colleagues. So that was sort of the subtext of this decision. He didn't have a lot of fans internally and he wasn't he wasn't established enough internally in order for anybody to be rooting for him to keep him there. So there's that there's that element as well. I think really it's a business calculation by NBC. The viewers might be turned off seeing him on the air. Meanwhile, of course, Donald Trump, you know, is is continuing to fight on. There's an interesting contrast between Bush and Trump in this situation. But, obviously, there's no business that Donald Trump reports to right now except sort of the voters. [Costello:] Brian Stelter, many thanks. [Stelter:] Thank you. [Costello:] OK, so she is Donald Trump's top surrogate. She's often in the spotlight. And she's even been praised by Hillary Clinton. But Donald Trump's daughter, Ivanka, has been at the center of some uncomfortable moments with the candidate. Deborah Feyerick has more for you. [Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's Daughter:] Thank you, everyone. [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Donald Trump has every right to be proud of his daughter. Ivanka is a successful Ivy League educated businesswoman, author and mother. She's now helping run his campaign and introduced her father at the Republican Convention. Yet at times his fatherly praise is downright cringe-worthy, like on "The View" in 2006. [D. Trump:] I said that if Ivanka weren't my daughter, perhaps I'd be dating her, you know. [Unidentified Female:] Oh, it's so weird. Stop it. You know what you are Moving on. [Feyerick:] Far from protecting his daughter from being talked about as a sex object, he has encouraged it multiple times. On Howard Stern's radio show in 2004, and then again in 2006. [Howard Stern:] And, by the way, your daughter [D. Trump:] She's beautiful. [Stern:] Can I say this? A piece of ass. [D. Trump:] Yes. [Stern:] She looks more voluptuous than ever. [D. Trump:] She's actually always been very voluptuous. [Stern:] It's unbelievable. [D. Trump:] She's tall. She's almost six feet tall. [Feyerick:] In May, Ivanka described herself as a feminist, while defending her father on CBS after a scathing "New York Times" article about his alleged negative treatment of women. [Unidentified Female:] Is there unending commentary on the female form? [I. Trump:] No. No. I've known my father obviously my whole life, and he has total respect for women. [Wendy Williams, Talk Show:] Please welcome the lovely Ivanka Trump. [Feyerick:] Still, even Ivanka seems confused when talk show host Wendy Williams asked about things the two have in common. [Williams:] What's the favorite thing you have in common with your father? [I. Trump:] Either real estate or golf. [Williams:] Donald, with your daughter? [D. Trump:] Well, I was going to say sex, but I can't relate that I can't relate that [Feyerick:] Donald Trump has always been proud of his daughter. [I. Trump:] I'd call collect to his office. I was probably, you know, ten years old. He would pick up the phone every single time. And he'd put me on speaker phone. Wouldn't be a long conversation. He'd introduce me to whoever was in his office. [Feyerick:] And he was front row which Ivanka took to the cat walk during her short-lived career as a fashion model. Still, Donald Trump repeatedly points out how hot his daughter is, saying last year in a "Rolling Stone" article, "yeah, she's really something and what a beauty that one. If I weren't happily married, and, you know, her father." [D. Trump:] My daughter Ivanka. [Unidentified Female:] She is, yes. [D. Trump:] She's six feet tall. She's got the best body. [Stern:] Yes, she's hot. [Feyerick:] Ivanka continues to defend her father and has said he's not sexist. Earlier her Twitter account showed a little heart liking an article about her father's decade old comments to Howard Stern. The Trump campaign referred us to Ivanka's brand managers and a source there tells us it wasn't Ivanka herself who liked the article, it was a simple mistake by a staff member. CNN has reached out to the Trump campaign for a response to the comments themselves. Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York. [Costello:] We'll be right back. [Carl Azuz, Cnn 10 Anchor:] Hi. I`m Carl Azuz for CNN 10. A congressional meeting leads off this week`s coverage, but it`s not a gathering of just a few hundred lawmakers. The National People`s Congress has thousands. It happens every year in China, the world`s most populous country. The 3,000 politicians who will be under one roof will be hearing about the communist government`s priorities, its policies, its trade relationships, its territorial claims in the South China Sea, its plans for dealing with a new U.S. president. China has the world`s second largest economy. The congress will hear the government`s plans for growing it and reducing poverty. Another topic, which we talked about last week, the calls for independence in the special autonomous region of Hong Kong. China`s highest ranking politician said they would go nowhere. He also spoke out against independence calls in Taiwan. The National People`s Congress usually lasts a week or two. It doesn`t have a specific schedule. And unlike the U.S. Congress, which is responsible for America`s legislation, the Chinese Congress has less governmental power. It is required to, quote, "unswervingly adhere to the leaders of the Communist Party of China". Our next topic today is slavery. Experts estimate there are more slaves today than there`d been at anytime in history. Forty-eight-point-five million people currently live in some form of bondage, according to the global slavery index. This includes people who are forced to work, forced in a marriage, bought and sold as commodities. The United Nations says human trafficking affects almost every country on earth. As part of CNN`s Freedom Project, which aims to draw attention to modern day slavery and expose the criminals who trade in it, we`re taking a look at a program that gave some students a sense of what force labor is like. [Matt Friedman, The Mekong Club:] I need you to take a bolt, slower. Another row here, five in a row. [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] It`s 8:30 in the morning at this Hong Kong high school. But this is not a regular day. [Friedman:] My name is Mr. Friedman. I run a company and our company makes nuts and bolts. And you have one of them in your hands. [Field:] Classes are cancelled, Mr. Friedman says, their labor is his for the next five hours. [Friedman:] And you`re going to take the nut, you`re going to put it on the bolt, you`re going to take the nut and put it on the bolt continuously. I do not want you to talk to anyone else. I don`t want you to even make eye contact with me. [Field:] The minutes crawl by. The students look bewildered, confused, even angry. [Unidentified Male:] Hey, you. Come over here. You`re not doing it faster. Stand over here and do it faster. Time is money. Come on. Faster. OK, give her a detention right here, just because. Don`t drop the bolt. Give her a detention. [Field:] The teenagers struggled the process is painfully slow. [Friedman:] You`re done. [Field:] Then, Mr. Friedman reveals his true intentions. [Friedman:] This was a simulation. It was to give you an opportunity to experience what it`s like for a short period of time to lose control of your life. [Field:] To help them understand what it`s like for the millions trapped in forced labor. [Unidentified Female:] When I was doing it, my hands started sweating. I was sweating. So, I can`t basically imagine how people would do it for like 14, 15 hours every day. [Friedman:] Do you think it was fair? [Unidentified Female:] No. [Friedman:] Did you like me? [Unidentified Female:] No. [Friedman:] OK. Thank you very much. [Unidentified Male:] I was pretty close to walk out of the room, like I felt very disoriented when I thought, you know, punishment. [Field:] Just an hour from their school day designed to drive home the realities of modern day slavery, an experience intended to motivate young people to try and make a difference. [Unidentified Male:] I would definitely feel more sympathy for those who are like in slavery. [Unidentified Female:] I feel like as students, we can actually raise awareness about this issue. [Students:] Join us on March 14 to stand up to slavery. [Field:] Alexandra Field, CNN, Hong Kong. [Azuz:] Ten-second trivia: Which of these includes more than 1.8 billion people? McDonald`s daily customers, population of China, Facebook`s monthly users, or population of India? The social networking website Facebook says it has 1.86 billion people who actively use it every month. And what`s amazing is what Internet experts can learn by people`s activity on social media. It`s been said that anyone who wants true privacy should avoid the Internet, whether it`s connected systems in your home that don`t just answer questions or do your shopping, but here, everything you say or know when you get back from work, or the political leanings of people you follow online, everything that interests us has the potential to be tracked. Can this make life more convenient? Yes. Could it get people into trouble? Absolutely and especially in countries where your freedoms could be limited by your likes. CNN`s Fareed Zakaria talks to the man who pioneered a model to determine your personality traits based on your online activity. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, "fareed Zakaria Gps":] Taking just 68 of your Facebook likes, Dr. Michal Kosinski`s model can accurately predict your skin color, sexuality, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican. Using a certain number of things that we all do on the Internet, what songs we buy, what Amazon books or products we look at, you can predict things that are much deeper and don`t seem necessarily associated, right? Explain some of that. [Michal Kosinski, Asst. Prof., Stanford Business School:] If you look at my Facebook profile or my Twitter profile, you would probably not have much trouble figuring out what my political views are or what my personality is. Now, a computer can do the same thing. Basically, by analyzing large amounts of data from your Twitter profile, your e-mail, your playlists, your Facebook profile and so on, it can create a very accurate and intimate psycho-demographic profile of yourselves, of you and other people. And now, this information can obviously be used in marketing and specifically in political marketing. If I have a detailed knowledge of psycho-demographic profiles of a large number of people, I can use this information to craft individual messages and speak individually to each of those people and try to make this message as convincing and relevant to them as possible. But also, a computer can utilize, can use information that perhaps, for humans, would not be very informative, right? So, if you see me following Obama or Bernie Sanders on Twitter, it`s not a complicated task to figure out what my political views would be. But, now, if you see that I listen to Lady Gaga or Simon and Garfunkel, that`s a piece of information that humans would struggle to interpret simply because both Republicans and Democrats listen to Lady Gaga. Now, what a computer can do, a computer can go and look at this data in much more detail. It can look at millions of people, and I bet that there would be a small difference between how likely the Republicans are to listen to Lady Gaga and how likely Democrats are to listen to Lady Gaga, something that, for a human being, is not perceptible. Now, does it mean that, if you listen to Lady Gaga, you`re a Republican or Democrat? Not at all. It`s there`s just this little, tiny, bordering on insignificant, amount of information in each digital footprint like that. But now, the algorithm can aggregate information from thousands or millions of crumbs of information and then create a very accurate prediction. [Zakaria:] What are the ethical dilemmas of wading into these waters? [Kosinski:] Well, we have to remember that governments, companies and organizations can use the very technology that can be used for your good; they can turn it against you. Now, how they can turn it against you? Well, they can, behind your back, without you knowing, try to infer your intimate traits, such as your political views, your sexual orientation, your personality and intelligence. And, now, actually, in a country as free and open-minded as America, it`s probably not a big issue today. Maybe you`ll get some creepy marketing. But we have to remember that the same technologies are being used by governments in way less liberal countries, where revealing your political views or revealing your religiosity or your sexual orientation can be really a matter of life and death. [Azuz:] We showed you a backyard loge earlier this winter. But with the official beginning of spring exactly two weeks away, this is more of a three-season thing. A Navy pilot built it for his 3-year-old son. The father was deployed when the boy was born, so he did this as a way to spend more time with his family. It costs him about $1,300 for tools and materials, mostly PVC pipes and two-by-fours, and it took him to three months to build. I guess it`s symbolic of a dad`s help through all the ups and downs and twists and turns and the rollercoaster of life. We give the man six flags for the effort. It`s a great way to turn a backyard into a magic kingdom. You can easily see their point of the universally amusing project, who Dolly-wouldn`t want a great adventure just outside their doorstep. I`m Carl Azuz. We`ll get things back on track tomorrow. END [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. In other world news, an effort today to portray collegiality as President Obama sat down with one of his least favorite allies, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with whom Obama has enjoyed a famously frosty relationship. The two leaders met face-to-face at the White House for the first time in more than a year. This comes, of course, after the passing of that controversial nuclear deal with Iran which Netanyahu strongly opposed. And amid continued violence between Israelis and Palestinians with no peaceful resolution in sight, Israeli officials releasing today graphic video showing a knife wielding Palestinian woman stabbing a security guard in the West Bank before she was shot. Let's get right to CNN's Michelle Kosinski. She's live at the White House. Michelle, obviously, no love lost between these two leaders. What was the mood like when they spoke with reporters? [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yes, that's right. I mean, that's why everybody wants to see what this was like, I mean, considering that in 2011 when Benjamin Netanyahu was in that Oval Office lecturing President Obama very uncomfortably on history and the relationship between these two countries. And then coming here just a few months ago not even meeting with President Obama but railing against the Iran nuclear deal before Congress. So this is the first time that they're meeting face-to-face in more than a year. And it could not have been more different than those prior times. I mean, we saw this exuberant handshake multiple times. Netanyahu offering an effusive thank you to the U.S. for its generosity and supporting Israel's security. And President Obama also offered this strong statement, again in support of Israel. Listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I want to be very clear that we condemn in the strongest terms Palestinian violence against innocent Israeli citizens. And I want to repeat once again it is my strong belief that Israel has not just the right but the obligation to protect itself. [Kosinski:] Interesting no mention there of it being both sides' responsibilities to contribute to peace, no mention of continued Israeli settlement activity which the U.S. believes contributes to tensions. That meeting was to be all about building the relationship, moving beyond the Iran nuclear deal and trying to build security and just continue the relationship since those tensions. It's also really interesting though to hear the prime minister say that he's committed to a two-state solution. Well, that's quite a bit different from some statements he made while he was running again for office. But, you know, outside of that meeting the White House says it trusts in the relationship. But there needs to be follow through to statements like that. It wants to hope for the best. Looking for some ideas or concrete steps toward building trust and building peace there if there's not going to be a two-state solution any time soon, Jake. [Tapper:] Michelle Kosinski at the White House thanks so much. In our national lead, football players leading a revolt against their university for its handling or lack of handling racial issues. Today, a key resignation may have the team back on the field. That story next. [Sesay:] Hello. And welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I am Isha Sesay. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Great to have you with us. I'm John Vause. NEWSROOM L.A. begins right now. Our top story this hour, recovery efforts are underway in South Carolina after days of unrelenting rain across the state. Historic flooding has caused 11 deaths. Two others were killed in North Carolina. [Sesay:] At least one dam has overflowed leading to mandatory evacuation. Officials say so far 18 dams have breached or failed. CNN's Martin Savidge reports. [Martin Savidge, Cnn National Correspondent:] Desperate days. A man in Columbia clings to a tree as floodwaters rivet his waist and threaten to wash him away. In South Carolina, the rain may be easing but not the danger. In many areas, the water continues to rise and so does the death toll. Many of those who have been killed died trying to cross through rushing water. [Unidentified Male:] Yes, they just made a mistake. [Savidge:] This man nearly met the same fate when raising waters threaten to carry him and his truck away. It would become one of many dramatic rescues. Just outside Charleston, a mother and her 15-month-old baby had to be rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter after floodwater surrounded their home. Officials say there have been so many rescues like these, they've lost count. South Carolina's governor is warning people not to let down their guard as waters recede. [Gov. Nikki Haley, South Carolina:] This is not over. Just because the rain stops does not mean that we are out of the woods. We very much still have a vulnerable situation that's out there. I'm still going to ask citizens to please stay inside. [Savidge:] The greatest danger is south of Columbia whereas much as two feet of rain has fallen since Friday. Several area dams are overflowing or giving way. [Wyatt Coleman, Chief West Columbia Fire Department:] We have probably about 10 dams that broke in Lexington County yesterday. [Savidge:] Late this afternoon, a CNN crew and a National Guard helicopter flew above Overcreek Dam shortly after it breached. Warnings of the breach sent reporters and emergency crews rushing to get out of the water's potential path. Meanwhile, some 1300 National Guard troops have been called in to help hundreds of troopers and state workers. Residents are being asked to stay off the roads to allow emergency crews through but it's still not easy. More than 500 roads have been closed due to high water or damage, including 100 bridges in and around the state capital. In most areas, it's too early to begin assessing the damage but many residents already know the cost is high. [Angela Williams, Flood Victim:] What I've got on my body is what we have. Pretty much everybody on that hill has lost everything this morning, our vehicles, our clothes, our everything. But the best thing is that we still have our lives. We still have our lives. [Savidge:] Martin Savidge, CNN, Columbia, South Carolina. [Vause:] In just three days the city of Charleston received almost a half year's worth of rain. At one point, tens of thousands were without electricity and hundreds of others were evacuated from their homes. And while the situation there is bad, it's not as bad as it was just 24 hours ago. Mark Wilbert is the director of Charleston's Department of Emergency Management. He joins us now on the line. So, Mark, there is still trouble ahead. What is your biggest concern now in the coming days? [Mark Wilbert, Director, Charleston's Department Of Emergency Management:] Well, I think the biggest concern in the coming days is to begin to understand what we don't currently know. As the water recedes we'll begin to get an understanding of what kind of damage may have been done to infrastructure, roads, and then we'll get first real good looks at what happened to people's houses as we begin to deploy our damage assessment teams and they begin to actually get out and survey the damage. [Vause:] How long before schools and government services all return to normal? [Wilbert:] Well that's a good question. Schools here in the county are closed again tomorrow. And a lot of that is because many of the neighborhoods throughout the county, the schools the buses it's just not safe for them to go in. There's a lot of standing water left. They do need to get in and survey all the schools to make sure that the schools are safe for the students to go to the schools. [Vause:] And Mark, you've had these amounts of rain which have fallen over the past... [Wilbert:] Just did not want to stop. [Vause:] OK, Mark, good to speak to you. Mark Wilbert, there on the line from Charleston Department of Emergency Management. Thanks for being with us. [Wilbert:] Thank you. [Sesay:] Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is following this for us. Pedram, the hope now is of course that the residents of South Carolina are over the worst of all this rain. How's it looking? [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, it looks like the rain should be all done in the next couple of hours. We did get sunny skies across the region so good news there. But you see some of these images come out of the state of South Carolina, the capital of city there, Columbia, and just incredible to compare the before and after perspective when it comes to what transpired over this region. Well, I can see, you only need 30 centimeters, about 1 foot of moving water upon the order of about six miles per hour to give about 500 pounds of lateral force. It does not take much water to cause substantial damage. And want to lay the land across the state of South Carolina, show you what you're dealing with here across the Palmetto State because we know the northern portion of the state, we have the Appalachian mountains, rise up to about 3500 feet. We go farther to the south, you bring in the hundreds of rivers, there are tributaries, you get to the low country you have the marsh land here. All of this water and rain up stream but will eventually come down into the Atlantic Ocean downstream. Now we know about a dozen or so dams have been jeopardized over this region and levees as well. And you look at the situation when it comes to dams and the amount of stress that is involved, and in the United States typically 30 percent of dam failures are because of over topping that occurs over this region. So of course you get extra water that goes over the banks of the dam itself that causes problems what we saw across the state of South Carolina in the Columbia area in past several hours. You also have failures that take place where fractures occur because of tremendous amount of stress on the water. And about 90 percent of dams and 2,400 dams across the state of South Carolina, but you look at the numbers, the vast majority of them are all privately owned. So certainly some of them been outdated, some of them not having the regulations in place that would be able to withstand historic events that take place, one that you would see one in a thousand years. And that's why we get problems that come down with tremendous rainfall in place. But again drying in the forecast. Look at the long term, guys. We look at where Joaquin and its remnants are slated to go. Western Europe could get in on awesome heavy rainfall in the upcoming weekend. So a story we're still following over that region as well. [Sesay:] Pedram, appreciate it. Thank you so much for the update. [Javaheri:] Thanks, guys. [Vause:] OK. Thanks, Pedram. We move on now. Turkey's Foreign Ministry is condemning Russia over a weekend airspace violation. Turkey says a Russian warplane flew over a southern province on Saturday and air force jets intercepted the plane. The Russian jet continued into Syria where it went on to conduct airstrikes. [Sesay:] Well, Turkey says there was another violation on Sunday. Turkey and Russia don't see eye to eye over Syria. Russian officials say there is nothing corrupt about what happened. Well, top NATO official says the airspace violation is unacceptable. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will do whatever it takes to end what he calls a wave of terror. On Monday, he lifted restrictions on the Israel Defense Forces which he says will allow soldiers to protect themselves and civilians. [Vause:] The IDF says it fired on people throwing rocks on Monday in a West Bank refugee camp killing a Palestinian. One man there says a 13 his 13-year-old nephew was shot and killed. But the IDF has the not commented on the deceased's identity and is promising to investigate. Mr. Netanyahu says Israel is now struggling with it's a difficult struggle but rather will win. To Afghanistan now where the commander of U.S. forces is clarifying what led to the air strikes on a hospital in Kunduz on Saturday. Twelve medical staff and at least 10 patients at the Doctors Without Borders Hospital were killed. [Sesay:] Three separate investigations are under way to determine what went wrong. [Gen. John Campbell, Commander, Resolute Support Mission:] We have now learned that on October 3rd, Afghan forces advised they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces. An airstrike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidentally struck. This is different from initial reports which indicated that U.S. forces were threatened and that the airstrike was called on their behalf. As has been reported I have ordered a thorough investigation into this tragic incident. And the investigation is ongoing. The Afghans had ordered the same. If errors were committed we will acknowledge them. We will hold those responsible accountable. And we will take steps to ensure mistakes are not repeated. [Sesay:] Well, Nic Robertson joins us now from Kabul with more in all of this. Nic, U.S. officials now saying the Afghans asked for air support because they were taking fire. But then unanswered question remains, what rules where the U.S. operating under? [Nic Robertson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, the U.S. general in charge, John Campbell, you just heard him speaking there, was asked the question. Precisely what, you know, when you are calling in helicopter air support, or an aircraft air support, that had heavy machine guns on the AC-130 compared to calling in a fighter jet with a bomb or a drone, with a guided munition on it. What different rules of engagement are coming into play there? He said he didn't want to get into those kinds of details until the investigation is carried out. But what we do know from U.S. officials, they say, whether or not air support is called for by U.S. forces under fire or Afghan forces under fire. It goes through a very strict vetting procedure. There are target, there are buildings, rather, or locations, such as the hospital, where the coordinates are known. That would be off-limits. The explanation that of what happened here absolutely isn't clear at the moment. But what we understand there's rules of engagement would require buildings like this hospital to be placed off-limits. [Sesay:] MSF, Nic, as you well know strenuously rejecting the Afghan claims that Taliban fighters were on the hospital grounds which takes us to the heart of one of the key issues here, the reliability of the Afghan side in this counterterrorism fight? [Robertson:] That has been called into question before over the years. And again, the U.S. checking before they conduct airstrikes is part of that process to make sure that every piece of information they get is reliable. And that they can be held to account on it later. There have been instances where questions have been raised over what the government says has transpired and what we later find out has been transpired. But at the moment we're not hearing criticism from the United States or from the special forces on the ground, saying that they were that they were given erroneous information. That's not what's being presented at the moment. But certainly that has been a question in the past and certainly one can imagine investigators will look very closely at those kinds of details in the situation. [Sesay:] Indeed. Nic Robertson, joining us there from Kabul, Afghanistan. Nic, appreciate it. Thank you. [Vause:] You are watching NEWSROOM L.A. When we come back, California's governor signs a landmark right-to-die legislation. And coming up we will speak with a terminally ill woman who celebrated the news. [Sesay:] Plus 12 countries and years of negotiation have paved the way for a trade agreement that could affect the prices of things you use and eat every day. The details are just ahead. [Baldwin:] Breaking news, here's what we have out of the Pentagon. The defense department is considering sending proposing combat forces into northern Syria for the very first time with the aim of speeding up the fight against is. I have Barbara Starr standing by, our Pentagon correspondent, as well as Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and contributing editor that focuses on national security. Barbara Starr, first to you. This is huge, huge, huge news. Where is this coming from? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, Brooke, hi there. What we now know and have learned here this afternoon is the pentagon is looking at this idea because, as you will recall, President Trump has given the military until the end of the month to come back with some ideas how to speed up the fight against is. This is one of many ideas. It is not fully baked yet. We want to emphasize that. They have not yet proposed it to the President by all accounts, but it is significant that they are talking about it. What they're talking about is the notion of sending, for the first time, conventional ground forces into northern Syria. This is something the Obama administration had always rejected. It's a very high-risk idea. If you're going to put U.S. ground troops into Syria, you have to be able to protect them on the ground and from the air. It is a very risky idea. But would the Trump administration be willing to take that risk on? That may wind up being the key question now. President Trump has wanted to speed up the fight against is, but almost any direction you turn in with a new military option, you are looking at increased risk to U.S. troops. So, where are we right now? The pentagon looking at it, looking at several additional ideas, but this may be the most controversial one. If President Trump goes for it, it will fundamentally alter the risk. It will fundamentally alter how the U.S. is prosecuting the war against is. Brooke? [Baldwin:] Barbara, just quickly following up with you, and again I know this is, to quote you, not fully baked, how many troops potentially, or how soon? [Starr:] Well, you know, it could we are being led to understand that actually it could happen relatively soon after this sort of deadline at the end of the month when the military and the pentagon are supposed to go back to the white house with their ideas. What could happen, we are led to under, which may give us an indication of how far along this is, you could send some troops, for example, into Kuwait. You could send them with some additional ground weapons, that kind of thing, and then they could move from Kuwait into Syria. At any point at which the proposal would be approved by President Trump. So, what the military is looking at right now is do they want to proceed with this, are they comfortable with the level of risk, what they might precisely recommend to the President, and how they could be ready to move fairly quickly if a decision were to come. But there's other pieces that would have to be put into place. You know, are you going to start cooperating more, for example, with the Russian military in Syria? Again, both on the ground and in the air. That is another huge if. That would be a very fundamental shift for the U.S., Brooke? [Baldwin:] OK, Barbara, I'm listening to you. I've also got a military voice on the other end of this. Let me put a button on this Andrew Puzder story. He has officially withdrawn. He was President Trump's pick to be the labor secretary. His whole confirmation hearing was set for tomorrow so, there you have it, officially withdrawn. Back now to the other breaking story, though, with the defense department considering, considering, considering sending conventional ground combat troops into Syria to fight ISIS. Barbara start just perfectly laid it out for us. It could be one of the options. She points out it hasn't been taken to the President yet. Gayle, stay with me. I have Rick Francona. What do you make of this possibility? [Rick Francona, Cnn Military Analyst:] Oh, this is a big step. This would be a major shift in our policy and it really gets into a political nightmare. If you look at what's going on in Syria right now, you've got a conglomeration of the Syrians. That means the Syrians are supported by the Russians, Iranians and Hezbollah operating. You have the Free Syrians backed by the Turks and this American backed organization called the Syrian Democratic forces. If we're going to go in there and work with them, that's going to put us at political odds with both the Russians and the Turks. So, this is going to be not only a military problem, but it's going to be a huge political mountain that we're going to have to climb. We have tried to take a hands-off approach with the Turks so far, but this will put us in direct confrontation because we're going to want to put American troops there to take Raqqa, that's the big key there who takes Raqqa. The Turks want to do I, the Syrians want to do it and we would rather have our forces do it. [Baldwin:] Gayle, you heard the colonel. What do you think? [Gayle Tzemach Lemmon, Senior Fellow, Council On Foreign Relations:] I think this is a policy discussion that's been going on since 2013, you know, at the latest. I think you have the foreign policy of unpredict ability from the Trump administration meeting the reality of the complicated nature of the Syrian war which has killed already the equivalent of Oakland, California. Left homeless and without their country, the equivalent of Los Angeles. So, you see the Trump administration trying to figure out what is the way forward, every single policy option that, as Barbara Starr reports with great skill, has already been examined by the Obama administration which really felt that it was elected to end wars in the middle east, not to start them. And, so, the question now is what they do going forward from the Trump administration in order to fight ISIS and how willing are they to take on the Russians and the Turks. [Baldwin:] Barbara, I have 40 seconds to hand the show over to Washington. Do you have any idea when they would take this to the President? [Starr:] Well, they're going to have the deadline at the end of the month when they owe him the answers he wants. It has been held up most likely to some extent by the turmoil at the national security council. You get a new NSA advisor in there and you are going to start begin to see some of this moving forward. [Baldwin:] OK. Barbara Starr, thank you so much. Gayle, thank you. Lieutenant Colonel Francona, thank you so much. Again, on the breaking news from the D.O.D. considering proposing conventional ground troops into northern Syria. This would be a first. We know President Obama has opted not to do this, special forces yes, but conventional ground troops no. So, that's a possibility that could be taken up to the President. I am Brooke Baldwin. Thank you so much for being here with me today. We're going to send things from New York to Washington. "The Lead" starts now. [Blitzer:] We're keeping an eye on Hurricane Matthew right now, a powerful category 3 storm that could make landfall on Florida's east coast Friday morning. Right now, four states on the southeast United States are under a state of emergency. Florida's Governor Rick Scott saying 17 deaths reported across the Caribbean. Jennifer Gray is at the CNN Weather Center in Atlanta now. Jennifer, where does Matthew appear to be heading as far as we know right now? [Jennifer Gray, Ams Meteorologist:] As far as we know now, the next step is the Bahamas and it is going to roar through there as a strong category 3 or strengthen to a category 4 once it gets to the northern Bahamas, which is extremely dangerous. We're also possibly going to see a category 4 storm either just off the shore, off the coast of central Florida or making landfall, and that is going to be the big question mark, because, Wolf, those strongest winds are right around the center of the storm. Of course, they weaken as the storm goes out, but if that tracks on shore or very close to shore, you could have some pretty devastating consequences along the coast and Florida. And then is supposed to bend back up to the north and east, possibly a category 2, off the Georgia coast, South Carolina coast. Some models take it out to sea. Other models, Wolf, drag this back around and make a second landfall across Florida. It is going to be something to watch extremely closely. Let's go to here on the floor. I want to show you, if I can oh, the graphics are not working. Never mind. We'll come back here, Wolf. It is going to be extremely important for folks in the Bahamas to be on the lookout. We're talking about 10 to 15 inches of rain, storm surge 10 to 12 feet on top of that, very, very high waves, 12-foot waves. We are going to experience catastrophic consequences across the Bahamas, as well as this to the north and west, and the next stop being Florida. If you're in the evacuation zones, I can't stress enough, get out, especially if we could possibly anticipate a second landfall across Florida by next weekend Wolf? [Blitzer:] Yeah. That would be awful indeed. Thanks very much, Jennifer. We'll stay in close touch with you. Coming up, as the fighting rages on in Aleppo and Syria, the talks about a ceasefire between the U.S. and Russia come to stop. We'll take a closer look at what's being done right now to try to get that process back on track. The State Department spokesman standing by to join us, live. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Angela, thank you very much. Mike Rogers, of course, Tom Fuentes, thanks to you as well. I've got to leave it right now. But our special coverage continues right here on [Cnn. Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Wolf, thank you very much. I'm Don Lemon, in today for Brooke Baldwin. We're going to begin with five police officers dead, a national tragedy at the hands of a mass murderer who, according to police, went on a hunt for white officers. The killer's name, the police chief says, is Micah Xavier Johnson, an Army reservist who served in Afghanistan. They say he used sniper tactics and killed five Dallas police officers as they were downtown protecting protesters. The gunfire sent demonstrators and others scattering. One man began live streaming the chaos just as some officers were shot. [Unidentified Male:] They're shooting right now and there's an officer down. It's coming from the right over there, from around these buildings. I don't know where. Main Street and Lamar. This is Main Street and Lamar. Don't worry, I'm behind a I'm behind a tree. I think another officer's down around the corner over here. They got SWAT over here. I can't really I can't really get any closer. So they just dragged one of the officers Get out of there! Get out of there! [Lemon:] It's so unbelievable, even watching it today, and I saw it all last night. A total of 12 officers were hit. So far, just a few of the fallen have been identified. And here they are. Transit officer and war veteran Brent Thompson, just 43 years old. And then there is Patrick Zamarripa, who is a member of the Dallas force. He was a father of two and so a war veteran. In police audio you can get a hint of the danger he and his fellow officers were facing on the scene. [Unidentified Male:] Officer down. You know, we've got a guy with a long rifle. We don't know where the hell he's at. Parking garage. [Unidentified Female:] 69, we have got to get DOD down here now. We are [Unidentified Male:] They're on the way. Rifle, possibly in the El Centro College building. Suspect is inside the El Centro building. Inside the El Centro building. [Lemon:] This is the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since September 11th. Since the September 11th attacks. And, today, the Dallas police chief said the shooter told negotiators he acted alone. The chief said after negotiations failed, tactical teams sent in a robot with a bomb and detonated it to kill him. And according to the chief, during negotiations, the mass killer revealed he was angry over the very reason that inspired the protests his violence cut short, the recent shooting deaths of African-American men by police. [Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter. He said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. [Lemon:] I want to go now to CNN's Ed Lavandera, who is in the hometown of the gunman, that's Mesquite, Texas. Ed, he served in the military. He's a war veteran. Tell us about that. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, he served six years in the U.S. Army, serving a year in Afghanistan, with decoration. He was discharged from the Army in April of last year. But we are here in the neighborhood where he lives, the house behind me, with his mother. And it was here, neighbors tell us, about just after 1:00 in the morning that a squadron of officers started arriving here in the neighborhood, and that's when many people around here started figuring out and drawing the connection between what was happening about 30 miles away in downtown Dallas. Mesquite is a suburb of Dallas, just east of town. And this is where the suspect, Micah Johnson, grew up, graduated from high school here in the area, and has been living in the house behind me. Up until a short while ago, Don, investigators were inside that house throughout the morning. We saw them pulling out bags of evidence. One bag in particular appeared to be a long rifle or a shotgun. It's unclear exactly what. But it was being gripped by one of the agents here at the scene as if it were some sort of weapon. We couldn't see it. Obviously, it was bagged inside one of these brown bags. But a number of ATF federal agents inside the home wearing bulletproof vests were inside, as well as Dallas Police crime scene investigators. And they left the home here just a short while ago. Don. [Lemon:] And what are neighbors saying? They're saying is it the same sort of scenario that we hear, Ed, quiet and kept to himself, or was he a guy who was known about the neighborhood and known about town? [Lavandera:] Well, a couple different stories. A lot of people who didn't really see him around all that much. We did speak with one neighbor who described him as someone who changed dramatically after returning from Afghanistan, was reclusive. Other neighbors who say that they saw him interacting with black and white people. So, because of that, they were surprised by the comments that he that the Dallas Police say he was making during that standoff in the early morning hours a short while ago. And then we talked to one resident as well that said that Micah would often talk about how many weapons he had and at some point had become would talk about that weaponry that he had inside of his home. So many people around here say they've kept to themselves. And a lot of what we see now is a lot of these people trying to piece together the bits and pieces of information that they've seen him over the last couple of months and year trying to trying to figure this all out at this point. Many people you talk to simply stunned in disbelief that someone from their neighborhood would carry out this horrible attack. [Lemon:] Yes, and rightly so. Ed, I just have one question for you before I let you go. You said he lived there with his mother alone. Has anyone seen the mother? Have you been able to talk to the mother? [Lavandera:] We do know that there's someone inside the house. We haven't been able to confirm whether that is the mother. We've made there are a couple of people who showed up here at the house a short while ago. We put in a request to see if anyone would talk to us, but they would not answer any of our questions. So it's unclear whether it's a relative, friend, the mother, we just don't know at this point. We do know that there are some people inside. That after the officers arrived, we had seen some movement inside the house, but no one has come out and shared any kind of comments or answered any of our questions so far, Don. [Lemon:] Ed Lavandera at the home of the gunman where law enforcement there are taking out, as he said, bags of evidence and materials. Twenty-five-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson. Ed Lavandera, we'll get back to you, in Mesquite, Texas. Thank you very much for that. In the last hour, the city of Dallas has been holding a multi faith prayer service. You can see the crowds there from this aerial shot. The event was to honor the five officers killed, the seven others wounded, including this transit officer, Misty McBride. Two civilians were also hurt. Misty McBride's husband was outside the hospital last night with their daughter and we got a short heard a short snippet during our live coverage last night from him and the daughter. They were happy that she was OK. You know, the chief is urging Dallas citizens to show its police officers the support that they need now more than ever. [Chief David Brown, Dallas Police:] In the police profession, we're very comfortable with not hearing "thank you" from citizens especially who need us the most. We're used to it. [Crowd:] Thank you. Thank you. [Brown:] So today feels like a different day than the days before this tragedy, because you're here, because Dallas is a city that loves. Our officers want to say that we're hurting and we need this community. [Lemon:] There's a whole lot here to unpack. So I want to bring in now Nick Selby, who works as a police detective in a town near Dallas and often consults with the with the force. Also here, CNN law enforcement analyst Art Roderick and CNN national correspondent Sara Sidner. Sara is actually in Dallas now. She's been there all day and all night and police are on the ground telling you, giving you information. What are they going through right now? [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Look, you're hearing directly from the police chief. They are in mourning. They are thinking not only about the colleagues that they have lost and the fellow officers, but the families who are now going through the devastation of having to deal with the aftermath of that loss and those who are watching their loved ones who are injured, who are trying to heal, who are trying to get through it, who are trying to survive. And this city is certainly mourning. We watched as they lowered the flags, one by one. First, the city of Dallas flag. Then, the state of Texas flag. Then, the United States flag. Giving you some semblance that it's not just the city of Dallas that's in mourning, it's the nation that is trying to come to terms with all of this. And so at this point in time, there's both the mourning and the investigation that still has to happen. Police officers, detectives, they still have to go to work. They still have to collect evidence. They still have to find out if there is anyone else who may have been involved in planning this or helping this happen in any way. And the police chief very clear about it, that if there is someone out there who has taken part in this in any way and been involved in this devastating deadly shooting, that they will be brought to justice. So there's work being done. And at the same time, there is mourning, not just among officers, but the city of Dallas itself. Don. [Lemon:] Yes, absolutely. And among the country as well, Sara. Nick, you know, you work in this area. Did by the way, did you happen to know any of the officers who were injured or hurt? [Nick Selby, Detective In Dallas Area:] I didn't. I was very, very lucky. [Lemon:] What are your colleagues telling you? [Selby:] I think that actually you sort of captured it, it's mourning and it's shock, but I also think that there is a a very palpable pride amongst all of us. We all were all of us who couldn't be there last night were on the phone and on text and FaceBook, and we were speaking with one another and talking about just the bravery and the honor that these officers showed as they as they charged exactly towards the danger, as we always hope that we can do. And they actually did it. They did an absolutely fantastic job at every stage, from being transparent, to actually running into harm's way and getting that job done so effectively. [Lemon:] Yes. [Selby:] I think that the communities, you know, the community has been thanking us throughout the mid-cities, you know, all of the cities between Dallas and Ft. Worth, the communities have been stopping in with everything from cakes and iced tea, to just people saying "thank you." And it's been absolutely a wonderful turnout. [Lemon:] Yes. As I was speaking to witnesses last night until 2:00 in the morning, they were saying that the police officers were running towards the danger. They were running away from the danger. And, Art Roderick, I spoke with a witness who saw the murder of one of those officers. Listen to this. [Ismael Dejesus, Witnessed Dallas Shooting:] Basically came out to the balcony, did hear some popping sounds. I did think it was fireworks at first. Came out. Man had a rifle. An AR-15, clear as day. A pretty big magazine. And you could see [Lemon:] This is him behind the railing. This is him behind the railing next to the column, correct? [Dejesus:] Yes, this is him right here to the right of that white pillar. You know, shooting to the left, goes ahead, turns around, shoots to the right, shoots on the other side of the pillar. He, honestly, he was shooting at something and aiming at somebody. Then he, you know, turned around, checked his, you know, his back, make sure there was no one coming. But the officer did come across the right side of the screen to that pillar to the right and tried to take him one-on-one in a firefight and it didn't it didn't end very well. And it was it's just very tragic. [Lemon:] And that's the officer getting shot right there? [Dejesus:] No, I didn't get I didn't get the video of the officer getting shot. [Lemon:] OK. [Dejesus:] That is the officer down right there. It was he it looked like an execution, honestly. And he stood over him after he was already down, shot him maybe three or four more times in the back. So at that point, I didn't know if he was confirmed dead or anything, obviously, but he was down for about five more minutes until anybody could come get to him. [Lemon:] Unbelievable. Art, you can see the shooter there. We heard that he has he was in the military. He had some sort of training. As you're looking at this video and this background, what does this tell you about this gunman? [Art Roderick, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, it's quite obvious he had some form of training. I mean basic training will give you those types of skills, that will at least allow you to fire a firearm in that type of mode, even with iron sights at that close range, you'd be able to do the damage that he had done. Obviously, he had a lot of ammunition on him. You heard the witness talk about him dropping magazines, dropping rounds. And I think when you when you look at this particular video, this is a stark reality of what actually was occurring at that site last night. [Lemon:] Yes. And it's also a stark reality of just the sort of firepower that we talk about out on the streets. And as I speak to law enforcement, you know, chiefs, even officers from around the country, they say they are often outgunned. These officers were outgunned by this man. [Roderick:] Absolutely. You're not going to win a firefight when you've got a pistol that has a.9 millimeter or a 40 caliber round, against somebody that has an AR-15 that's shooting.223 caliber rounds. It's just impossible, the amount of firepower that that weapon can put out against somebody holding a handgun. [Lemon:] How will listen, these are professionals, Nick. These officers, again, put their lives on the line every day. And the question is, how are they going to treat protesters from now on? Not just Black Lives Matter activists, but any protesters? I would imagine they will continue to treat them with the utmost respect and they will do their jobs. [Selby:] That's exactly right. And I and that actually went out this morning to most of the officers in the area that we are expecting more protests and that these officers died protecting the citizens' right to protest how they're being policed and that we are there to defend those rights. And that is exactly what we're going to do. There's not going to be any kind of crackdown on protests because we simply won't allow these people to win. This is something about freedom of expression and the police are there to help the citizens do exactly that. [Lemon:] Yes. Sara, the mayor, I understand, you know, lauded the officers and the police for being best in class. It's a very diverse police force. The chief is African-American. It represents the ethnicity of the community. But they are best in class according to the mayor. [Sidner:] Yes. I'm I'm having a little bit of trouble hearing you. I did I did want to mention this, Don. There's a real juxtaposition here. You talk to that witness, right, that saw this officer being gunned down right before him. There was a 13-year-old who was in the hotel above that area watching the same thing and taking video of it. We spoke to him and his father. Both African-American. And his father was saying, I'm trying to teach some lessons here, and was going to take him down to the protest where people were marching against police brutality, and suddenly I find myself in the middle of this and wondering what lesson I can can let him learn about this. And he said, ultimately, it was a lesson that violence begets violence. It doesn't solve anything. And he started talking to his son about that. I do want to mention this to you, too, and I think it's something that we're going to have to delve into more and more. The American population has now seen in the past 72 hours three deaths happening live, no filter, nothing to stop them from seeing the absolute reality of what happens when someone dies, watching and seeing that before their eyes. We've seen that just in 72 hours, and this is going to keep happening again and again because of these. People are watching it on small screens and big screens and I think it's going to really have a deep impact on the American society. Don. [Lemon:] I think it's and on the American psyche, you bring up the very good point because unfiltered and watching this. And if you have children at home, I would if I had a child, I don't, I would not want them to see these images. And we cannot, you know, become used to seeing these images because it's it's reality. It's reality. It's not just something that's on the television. Thanks to all of you. If we can get the pictures of those officers up, I would like the producers to do that because we are honoring these two officers and mourning the death of five police officers. So far, we have heard the fallen transit officer and war veteran Brent Thompson, 43 years old. There he is right there. And then there's Patrick Zamarripa, a member of the Dallas force, a father of two, also a war veteran. These two gentlemen, two of the five we know who were killed in Dallas last night. And we'll continue to honor them today. I'm also going to talk to a resident of downtown Dallas who thought that the gunshots were fireworks before she picked up her camera and documented what she was seeing. You're watching CNN's special live coverage. Don't go anywhere. [Lemon:] Republican leaders urging Donald Trump to get back on message now and to focus on Hillary Clinton's record. I want to talk about this with Matt Schlapp, he is the chairman of the American Conservative Union who is a former political director for President George W. Bush; and Bill Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard. Gentlemen, thanks for coming in this evening. Matt, you first. It's been a rocky few days for the Trump campaign. The poll numbers in key battleground states show it Clinton now leads Trump point by 9 points in Michigan, 13 points in Pennsylvania, 15 points in New Hampshire. There's 96 days to go. How does he turn this around? [Matt Schlapp, Former George W. Bush Political Director:] You know, I'm a veteran of two presidential campaigns. You have times when you just have terrible weeks and I think it's fair to say Donald Trump has had a bad seven or so days. And at these moments people start to panic. You have to field all these phone calls when people saying oh, my God, oh, my God. And I but I think it's fair to say that every poll shows the same thing, which is the number one issue for the American voter is jobs and the economy followed closely by the fact that they're concerned about our national security with the rise of Islamic terrorism. And the third problem is I think Washington is broken. And what's funny in a lot of these polls that have happened over the course of the last three months is Donald Trump often leads in all three of those important issue areas. And what he did over the course of the last seven days is he didn't talk about those three issues, he talked about all these other extraneous issues. And when you do that in politics, you send confusing messages to voters. And now we're seeing it play out in these polls. If he gets back on the main message of the economy, fighting terrorism, taking on a broken Washington, explaining how Hillary Clinton is not equipped to fix any of those problems... [Lemon:] He can turn it around. [Schlapp:] ... I still think this is a race that he can win. [Lemon:] OK. Bill, you're out with a new article for the Weekly Standard, it's titled "Panic among chickens." Here is what your message is to your GOP brethren brother and now panicking over Donald Trump. You say, "They should get no credit for whining to the press and complaining to their peers so long as they continue to support for president the individual who is the very cause of their whining, their complaining, and their panic. The only act they should get credit for is withdrawing their support for the candidate. If they were to do so, as late in the day as we are, many things are still possible." After this week are you saying to your party I told you so? Is that what's going on? [Bill Kristol, The Weekly Standard Editor:] No, because I still think there's hope. I mean, I think, look, Matt is right. That if you just look at the issues there's plenty of room for republican to win this year. People aren't happy with the economy of President Obama. There's plenty of criticism we made of his foreign policy to Secretary Clinton. But, Matt is wrong. The top issue when you vote for president is the candidate I'm considering voting for capable, qualified, fit to be president? And the voters are concluding correctly, unfortunately, that Donald Trump is not so qualified. And therefore, that they can dislike Obama's economy, that they can dislike Clinton not telling the truth about the e-mails, they can just throw all sorts of things about the democrats; they're not going to vote for Donald Trump. And they're right not to vote for Donald Trump. Because the number one thing you do have to think about when you go into the voting booth is this person I'm voting for qualified fit and fit to be president of the United States. That's what's so disappointing for a conservative republican like me about this year. Was it a winnable election, it's not winnable under Donald Trump. I say that with some I think that's true. And I'm reassuring that the American public seeing the real Donald Trump, that's what we've been seeing for the last week. It's not like he's off message. This is the message. Donald Trump is Donald Trump. He is the message and he is an unacceptable message. [Lemon:] Matt? [Schlapp:] The problem with what Bill is saying is that we went all across this country and had primaries and caucuses, and I'm a conservative like Bill is a conservative and conservatives dominate these that the primary process on the republican side. And they gave Donald Trump more votes than anybody anybody who has ever run for the republican nomination before. I have to have some humility over the fact that this is the choice that republicans made. And I don't think that qualifications... [Kristol:] They made a horrible mistake, Matt. They made a horrible mistake. [Schlapp:] ... I think that, but I think that qualifications come down to very basic questions about the Constitution, and then after that we're having an ideological conversation about the direction of the country. I don't know how you could do anything that helps Hillary Clinton get into that Oval Office. [Kristol:] Because Donald Trump is more dangerous. I'm not for Hillary Clinton; I'm against both of them. And I think we'll still see a chance hopefully to have other candidates emerge. It's not too late. It's getting awfully late. And it would have been a lot less late two months ago if all these cowardly and pathetic republicans hadn't decided... [Lemon:] So, who is it's... [Kristol:] Oh, gee, I know better, I know better. But privately talking to you, guys. [Lemon:] So, Bill, if it's not too late, then who? [Schlapp:] Right. I mean, come on. [Kristol:] It's a big country, lots of people can come forward, they can still get on the ballot in some states and... [Lemon:] Like who? I mean, do you have a name? [Kristol:] I know of a couple people who are very seriously considering it but I'm not going to I let them out. I wish Mitt Romney would do it, I wish senior people would do it who don't need who wouldn't have such difficulty getting publicity. [Schlapp:] But we had 17. Here's the thing. [Lemon:] And we had Mitt Romney. Mitt Romney, back in 2012. [Schlapp:] I'm sorry, I'm sorry. We had 17 we had 17 and Donald Trump this is what's fundamentally flawed here is that... [Kristol:] There's nothing flawed here. [Lemon:] One at a time, please. Go ahead, Matt. [Schlapp:] ... we went all around the country with 17 candidates and Donald Trump beat them all, Bill. And so, why would we at the very end say, oh, my God, this is some kind of a fluke. [Lemon:] Let him respond. [Schlapp:] ... that happened out of nowhere, we got to find someone new? It would be interesting... [Lemon:] Go ahead, Bill. [Schlapp:] ...it's a fundamental screw you to the voter if you do that. [Bristol:] It's a fundamental mistake for the Republican Party, not a majority for a plurality of the republican voters to nominate Donald Trump. People are seeing that now. It's a free country. People are entitled to run as independents. But again, let me talk why do this republican office holders. Obviously Trump is the nominee. I'm not challenging that. Why did this republican office holders still they had to do what they know is wrong and that you what's wrong in private. But in public they felt they had to go along, they had to bend the knee. Paul Ryan, a man I respect very much. Why is he even pretending to support Donald Trump? [Lemon:] Hey, quickly, let me get this in there. [Kristol:] He doesn't think Donald Trump should be president of the United States. [Lemon:] Hold on, I want to play this. This is Paul Ryan today. Listen to this. [Rep. Paul Ryan , U.s. Speaker Of The House:] None of these things are ever blank checks. That goes with any situation in any kind of race. But right now I think it's important that the voters you know, he won the delegates, he won the thing fair and square. It's just that simple. [Lemon:] He's also suggesting that his endorsement is not concrete as well. But, go on. [Kristol:] He won the delegates, fine. He's the republican nominee. Paul Ryan is an individual, he's an American. He has to make a decision. Am I comfortable, do I think it's the right thing for the country to support Donald Trump. [Lemon:] Yes. [Kristol:] I believe Paul Ryan in his heart believes Donald Trump should not be president. But he's made a bunch of calculations some of them for good motives. [Lemon:] I've got to go. [Schlapp:] But he also knows that Hillary Clinton shouldn't be president. [Lemon:] Thank you both. [Kristol:] That's why we need a third choice. I got to have to. [Lemon:] Coming up, Clinton Eastwood known for his bluntness both on screen and off but what he says about the American society and the November election may still come as a surprise. We'll be right back. [Mike Shields, President, Congressional Leadership Fund & Former Chief Of Staff, Republican National Committee:] She's going to announce something today on gun control. In 2000, she was for gun control. In 2008, she was against gun control. Now again, she's for gun control. And what we know is like within 14 hours, that story will be out of the news anyway because there will be another e-mail revelation that comes out. I'm sure she's going to try to lean into this. She has to keep coming up with answers for Benghazi. But the fact is, this is damaging to her campaign. The polls you just talked about reflect how poorly her campaign is going. I think the only people that see Hillary Clinton as a good candidate are the people in her campaign and all the Democrats in Washington that seem to be blindly following her. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] She's leading in every national poll. [Shields:] Right, right. [Berman:] So the people that think she's [Shields:] Well, she's leading, but when you add up the numbers, when you add up the numbers look at one of the polls, she has 33 percent. Sanders has 28 percent and Biden has 22 percent. That's 33 percent for Hillary, 50 percent for someone not Hillary. [Brad Woodhouse, Former Communications Director, Democratic National Committee:] Biden -Joe Biden's not in the race. Joe Biden's not even in the race. Look, on this Benghazi thing [Shields:] Not yet. [Woodhouse:] this is an abomination what the Republicans have done. The Republican Select Committee in the House has become an annex of the Republican National Committee. Seven previous congressional investigations found no wrongdoing but they had to set up one more to try to go after Hillary Clinton. Kevin McCarthy said what it was about. It was about to bring her about bringing her poll numbers down. It wasn't about substance. [Bolduan:] Mike, what do you say about that? That's a pretty strong charge. [Shields:] Well, look, the fact of the matter is, that committee was set up because the administration and Hillary Clinton weren't answering questions. We find out about these e-mails. This is a perfect example. Hillary Clinton believes those are her e-mails. When you work for the government, those are not your e-mails. Those are the people's e-mails. And the people get to decide whether they get FOIA'ed. They get to decide whether or not they're classified. She violated all those rules because she plays by her own rules. [Woodhouse:] You know what? Mike, that is wrong. [Shields:] So [Woodhouse:] The Justice Department said that she, like every public employee, gets to decide what names are personal, what are business. She turned over [Shields:] She's never explained why she did it. She's never explained. We know why she did it. We know why she did it. She doesn't want people to see her e-mails. [Berman:] Look, if there's a political argument like this before that committee, then I think Hillary may have a point there, right? [Bolduan:] But, Brad, what is Hillary Clinton what your advice, if you're advising her, what's your advice when she goes in before that committee? Because after this debate, that is a huge moment for her when she goes before this committee. [Woodhouse:] I think she should continue to be transparent. She's been more transparent than almost any public official has been with respect to releasing e-mails. We didn't get a single e-mail released from either secretary of state in the George Bush administration. She's released 33,000 pages. I think, be transparent, be forceful, you know, be contrite. She's apologized for the confusion it's caused. But don't let these people play politics as they have with the lives of four dead Americans. [Bolduan:] Mike, she just turned her biggest liability into a big net positive for her. Because how are Republicans going to combat that charge if she levels it at them before this committee? [Shields:] I think you'll see a committee trying to get to the truth about what happened in Benghazi. You'll see it isn't political. All the political stuff we're talking about is not what's going to be in front of that committee. This is an investigation to find out exactly who knew what and what happened when an ambassador and four Americans were killed in Benghazi. We still haven't gotten to the bottom of that. There's been stonewalling. There's been obfuscation. The administration has not been transparent on this. This committee would not have any ground, it would have Democrats on it, working with Republicans, if they had actually told the truth and we got to the bottom of what happened. So I actually look forward to seeing the committee proving it's not political because they're going to ask substantive questions. And the last time she went in front of a committee is when she said, "What difference does it make." So Hillary's performance in front of these committees is not what I would call transparent. [Woodhouse:] Kate, they cannot prove it's not political because by the time this hearing takes place, the Republicans will have a speaker of the House that said that's what it was entirely about. [Shields:] We'll see. [Woodhouse:] So they can't disprove [Bolduan:] We'll see. [Woodhouse:] that it wasn't political. It absolutely was political. [Berman:] Brad Woodhouse, Mike Shields, we'll have to see, because that charge has put Kevin McCarthy in hot water and perhaps won him a new challenge from Jason Chaffetz. Gentlemen, thank you much. [Woodhouse:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Great to see you both. Thank you. A reminder for all of you, the first Democratic presidential debate airs one week from tomorrow, Tuesday, October 13th right here on CNN at 9:00 p.m. eastern. [Berman:] Very exciting. Any minute now, we'll hear from South Carolina's Governor Nikki Haley on the flooding there. The one in a 1,000-year rainfall. Desperate rescue efforts under way. First responders searching for people that could be trapped by these waters. We'll speak to a storm chaser who filmed just a stunning rescue ahead. [Bolduan:] And a face-off on Capitol Hill as the battle for speaker of the House heats up. Will anyone have enough votes to win the position? [Harlow:] President Trump telling FOX News in a brand new interview, he respects Russian president Vladimir Putin. That's not new. Here's what is new. The president acknowledges Putin may be a killer but adds "we've got a lot of killers." listen. [Bill O'reilly, Fox News:] Do you respect Putin? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I do respect him. [O'reilly:] Do you? Why? [Trump:] Well, I respect a lot of people, but that doesn't mean I'm going to get along with them. He is a leader of his country. I say it's better to get along with Russia than not. And if Russia helps us in the fight against ISIS, which is a major fight of Islamic terrorism all over the world, that's a good thing. Will I get along with him, I have no idea. [O'reilly:] He is a killer, though. Putin's a killer? [Trump:] A lot of killers. A lot of killers. What, you think our country's so innocent? [Harlow:] With me on the phone, our chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. Also with us, CNN former Moscow bureau chief, Jill Dougherty. Jim Sciutto, where do I begin? This is seemingly the president of the United States standing up for Vladimir Putin. How do you read this? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] Listen, you know, the word, unprecedented, has been overused, right, including CNN. Look, this is unprecedented by U.S. president speaking about his own country, that kind of moral relativism with not just a U.S. adversary but an authoritarian state that is well known, documented, for enormous examples of mistreatment of its own people at home and abroad. You can certainly say un-presidential. At least if you're talking about being president of the United States to describe your country in that way. And let's listen, I have traveled a lot in countries like Russia, China, elsewhere, that will often use this moral relativism as a propaganda talking point that, well, the U.S. has done just as bad as we have. Listen, you and I know, Poppy, Jill knows, the U.S. has made many mistakes. But the question is, putting it on a par with a historic authoritarian state such as Russia is, one, just not factually true. And two, just a remarkable thing for American president to say, and just let's just throw out a couple current examples, OK? Russia deliberately bombed civilians in Syria. Yes, U.S. air strikes have killed civilians. U.S. military takes enormous steps to avoid civilian casualties. Russian deliberately bombed civilians. Russia has annexed land in Europe. Annexed Crimea. Violation of multiple international treaties and international law. That's something the U.S. doesn't do. Russia supplied weapons to separatists in eastern Ukraine that shot down a civilian airliner over Europe and killed nearly 300 people. Russia poisoned with the radioactive substance a dissident on the streets of London. I covered that story several years ago. And has killed, murdered journalists, critics of the dissidents of the state. That's just at the top of the list. These are things Jill knows better than any. [Harlow:] Right. [Sciutto:] Of the way this government acts. So it equate the two is, one, wrong. And two, just remarkable to hear out of the mouth of an American president. [Harlow:] And Jill, to build on Jim's point, you know, case in point, one of the biggest and most vocal opponents and critics of Vladimir Putin, Borris Niemsov. [Jill Doherty, Global Fellow, Woodrow Wilson Center:] Yes, and there others. I mean, right now we have [Sciutto:] Jim, to you, twofold question here. Well, just a point, as Jill says, this isn't the first time that Donald Trump has said this. However, it's the first time as a sitting president that he has said this and makes it different this time than in 2015. A, do you think this just gives cover to Vladimir Putin. And b, how will his fellow Republicans on both sides of the aisle, do you believe, react, many of them who are calling for tougher sanctions against Russia in response to the hacking of the election, now this? First question first. Listen, this is enormous ammunition to a Russia, but not just Russia, to other countries who seek to undermine U.S. soft power, just as Donald Trump's claim of three to five million false voters, right, again, factually untrue, but you have an American president giving ammunition to folks who will say the U.S. democratic system is not what it's cracked up to be. So this has become a pattern from a President Trump. So that's one. You know, from the Republican side, I have been spending the last hour reaching out to a number of Republicans for their reactions. I don't have on-the-record reactions yet. If it fits previous patterns when the president has said things like this, you will have many Republicans who will say nothing, you may have a handful who will stand up and maybe a McCain, maybe a Graham, who have been particularly vocal, one willing to criticize the president, particularly vocal on Russia. And, again, you know, this is not a view that is held by Democrats or Republicans that Russia is not so bad, that Putin's a great leader to be admired, well, what they do is not much worse than what we do. It's not a view you hear from Americans, right? So, so it's it will be interesting to see who is willing to go On the Record criticizing the president's comments. [Harlow:] Jill Dougherty, what should we expect from President Trump and president Putin going forward, given the fact that the first time it's believed that the two men even spoke was just last week? [Dougherty:] You know, I think it's very hard to predict exactly what will happen because if you examine what the president said today to Bill O'Reilly, he was kind of on autopilot I think. He said the same thing, President Trump said the same thing he always says, I respect Putin, doesn't mean we are going to get along, but if Russia helps fight terrorism, that's a good thing. I mean, he said that a million times. And yet, at the very moment that he said that, or day before, his representative to the United Nations is slamming Russia for its actions in Ukraine and calling for an end to the occupation of Crimea. So already you have a very disorganized and unclear approach to Russia. I mean, this is this is loose thinking and it is loose talk. Really what I think the president has to do is buckle down, get a policy and not make these kind of I would call them kind of pandering remarks meant to kind of say, well, I understand, this is how the world works. When you're the president of the United States, you cannot do that. It's not, you don't speak loosely about something like murder and assassination. You simply don't. So until we can actually see a real policy by President Trump, then I think, you know, it's fair to criticize to say show us what you really are going to do. [Harlow:] As you know, this is a president who has said I don't want to show my cards. Jim Sciutto, Jill Dougherty, we will leave it there. I appreciate all your analysis tonight. Stay with me because straight ahead my political panel weighs in. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Blitzer:] Breaking news. An intense manhunt under way in Orlando, Florida, after a police officer was shot and killed. CNN's Polo Sandoval is following the story. Polo, there was some emotional reaction to today's killing from police officials. Update our viewers. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Corerspondent:] Wolf, there are at least three reasons why this search for Markeith Loyd is personal for police officers in Orlando. Not only is he suspected of shooting and killing a Sergeant Clayton this morning, but the pursuit also resulted in the death of a motorcycle sheriff's deputy who was involved in a traffic accident. A third police officer, a police captain, was slightly injured as he tried to confront this individual. As a result, officials in Orlando now offering a $60,000 reward for this 41-year-old suspect, who is considered extremely dangerous. Here's a little bit about what we understand took place this morning. This 17-year veteran of the force, Sergeant Debra Clayton, apparently tried to confront this individual, possibly recognizing him as an outstanding suspect for a murder last year of a pregnant woman. That's when this female officer was reportedly shot several times. The identity of the second deputy that was killed today in the accident, that hasn't been released. Here's what we know about this police officer. She was a wife, a mother of two, someone who gave back to her community. And now police officers in Orlando are torn between honoring her and trying to track down the suspect cop killer Wolf? [Blitzer:] Polo Sandoval, reporting for us. Thank you, Polo. That's it for me. I'll be back at 5:00 p.m. Eastern in "The Situation Room." For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next. For our viewers in North America, NEWSROOM with Brooke Baldwin starts next, right after a quick break. [Blitzer:] We continue watching as a climber makes his way up the outside of Trump Tower in New York City. Stay on top of this story, update you with more. But we're also following some other new developments in the presidential race. Hillary Clinton this afternoon slammed what she called Donald Trump's casual inciting of violence saying his remarks about Second Amendment people crossed the line. But Trump is on the attack as well today. He says newly disclosed e-mails reveal what Trump calls a pay-for-play scheme involving the Clinton Foundation and the State Department. The campaign strongly denies any wrongdoing by Hillary Clinton. Let's bring in our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny. He's got more on the on this e-mail story that has surfaced. What is the latest, Jeff? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Wolf, the Clinton campaign is denying that there was any impropriety between the secretary of state and any of these friends and donors. But this latest group of e-mail really shines the light on how closely connected all of the contributors and old friends of the Clintons' actually were with the State Department. And, Wolf, frankly it's the last thing that the campaign wants to be talking about now. They prefer to keep the focus on Donald Trump. [Zeleny:] Old e-mails causing new trouble tonight for Hillary Clinton. As she campaigns in Iowa, a new batch of messages from her time as secretary of state is raising fresh questions about the influence and access donors to the Clinton family's charitable foundation had on the State Department. The e-mails released Tuesday after conservative watchdog group Judicial Watch filed suit. It's adding new fuel to a controversy hanging over her campaign. [Clinton:] I know people have raised questions about my e-mail use as secretary of state. And I understand why. [Zeleny:] In one exchange, a long time aide to President Clinton, Doug Band, lobbied Secretary Clinton's aides to find a job at the State Department for someone who was important to take care of. The name of the person Band is trying to help is redacted. He made the request to Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills, two top Hillary Clinton aides who remain among her closest advisers. Abedin reassures Band personnel has been sending him options. There is no indication he was a donor. It's the latest chapter in a long saga over the Clinton Foundation and her e-mails particularly her decision to use a private server as secretary of state. The FBI did not file charges but it's taken a toll on her credibility. [Clinton:] And I want to be as transparent as possible. [Zeleny:] In another e-mail, Band tries to connect a Clinton Foundation donor, a Lebanese Nigerian billionaire, with the State Department's substance person on Lebanon. "As you know, he's a key guy there and to us is loved in Lebanon. Very important," Band wrote. Donald Trump is seizing on the disclosure calling it an example of a cozy and corrupt relationship between Clinton donors and the State Department. [Trump:] It's called pay-for-play. And some of these were really, really bad and illegal. [Zeleny:] A Clinton campaign spokesman brushed aside the criticism, saying, "Hillary Clinton never took action as secretary of state because of donations to the Clinton Foundation." Campaigning in Iowa today, Clinton kept her focus on Trump. [Clinton:] Yesterday we witnessed the latest in a long line of casual comments from Donald Trump that crossed the line. [Zeleny:] Her campaign is raising money from his incendiary comments Tuesday, asking supporters to have her back. [Trump:] If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks. Although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know. [Zeleny:] Trump's rhetoric is turning more Republicans against him. The Clinton campaign unveiling a new list of GOP supporters, including former Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, former director of the National Intelligence John Negroponte, and former Connecticut congressman Chris Shays. [Christopher Shays , Former Connecticut Representative:] I'm going to vote for Hillary. I didn't I didn't imagine that, but it's frankly it's become an easy decision. Trump lost me months ago. [Zeleny:] Now Hillary Clinton is doing extensive outreach to Republicans, including, Wolf, writing an op-ed in the Salt Lake City newspaper, reaching out to Mormon voters there, talking about religious freedom, and how Donald Trump simply isn't acceptable. And, Wolf, she's headed to Michigan tonight. She'll be giving an economic address tomorrow. Right in Mitt Romney's old backyard. Those Reagan Democrats she's after. The Clinton campaign clearly wants to put this e-mail controversy aside and focus back on the economy where she's leading Donald Trump in most polls. [Blitzer:] Jeff Zeleny, reporting, thanks very much. We'll continue to monitor this climber going up Trump Tower. Much more on that. All the day's important news right after this. [Barnett:] Half an hour into this two-hour block, a welcome back to our viewers in the states and those of you tuned in around the globe. I'll Errol Barnett. Let's update you on our top stories right now. We move our focus back to the race for the White House. Democrats and Republicans are blazing a trail across Iowa. And with just hours to go before the caucuses and there is not a moment to lose. CNN's George Howell has more. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] We want to make America great again. That's what we want to do. [George Howell, Cnn Correspondent:] Time is running out before the critical Iowa caucuses, and candidates running for president pulled out all the stops to try to get voters' attention. Donald Trump's wife, Melania, took the stage. [Melania Trump, Wife Of Donald Trump:] Hello, Iowa. It's great to be here. He will be unbelievable, the best deal maker, the best master negotiator. [Howell:] And rival, Ted Cruz, relying on the support of "Duck Dynasty" star, Phil Robertson, taking a jab at the front-runner. [Phil Robertson, Reality Star:] For all you ladies, there will be a duck call. So how many out here have duck calls? [Robertson:] So let's try one more time to get Trump. It's called Donald duck to come meet with Cruz and debate. [Howell:] From celebrity endorsements to grassroots support, this woman traveled halfway across the country in what she calls the Bernie bus to get Iowa voters to turn out for Bernie Sanders in a tight race against Hillary Clinton. [Unidentified Female:] I'm going to feel it out and see where the campaign thinks I need to go. And wherever I need to go, I'll be going. And I definitely plan on hitting all of the big states in terms of where the delegates are the most to inspire people. [Howell:] Recent polling by the "Des Moines Register" and "Bloomberg Politics" shows Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders with 42 percent of the vote. Not far behind, Hillary Clinton, at 45 percent. In the crowded Republican field, that same poll gives Donald Trump a 5-point lead over Ted Cruz. Marco Rubio, third at 15 percent, and Ben Carson fourth. But with so many others polling in the single digits, there is still a large percentage of voters who, if swayed, could turn the tide for one of the front-runners. Marco Rubio turning his attention to New Hampshire and trying to turn over moderate supporters who otherwise would support Jeb Bush. [Sen. Marco Rubio, , Florida & Presidential Candidate:] I don't just want to bring the conservative movement back together. I want to grow it. I want to convince more Americans that conservatism is the right approach for them and for this country. That will mean taking our message to people that have not voted for us in the past. [Howell:] But before the New Hampshire primary and before the next round of debates, a win in Iowa matters because it means momentum moving forward. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] We've run a terrific campaign from the grassroots up. Of course, it's close. It's competitive. That's why I hope everybody who has decided to caucus for me will be sure to come out on Monday night. [Howell:] Hillary Clinton focused on the race and off the recent questions raised about her controversial use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state, an issue that Bernie Sanders has refused to challenge her on during debates. But just recently, he described it as a, quote, "serious issue." It all comes down to what voters decide in this first state to weigh in on the 2016 presidential race. George Howell, CNN, Atlanta. [Barnett:] It is tight on both sides. And now snow could play a major role in how these caucuses turn out. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam is here to explain that this. Adds to the uncertainty, doesn't it? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] It is. Timing is everything. We've advertising this blizzard that will eventually impact Iowa. It is a just about when it will reach the state. I'll break it down for our viewers. Let's look at this. We have got a wide variety of watches and warnings across the country. The storm still well out to the West, in fact, across southern California. But that shading of green throughout Nebraska and Iowa that is a blizzard watch. This is the setup. A low pressure system ejects from the Colorado Rockies, eventually gathers a lot of moisture and strength and continues to deepen as it does so. It's going to have a trek that will bring it right across Iowa. As I mentioned a moment ago, timing is everything. Let's look at our computer models here at CNN. Tuesday evening, local time, central standard time, we are anticipating perhaps a rainsnow mix into the extreme western portions of Iowa. It is a really early Tuesday morning, basically, from 4:00 a.m. onward where we expect the roads to really become extremely thick as the bulk of the storm, the fiercest part of the storm travels across the state. The majority of the caucuses should run without a problem. But that extreme western section could be an issue. Here's our snow model forecast. We anticipate anywhere between 20 to perhaps upwards of 40 centimeters of snowfall for the extreme western sections just north of Des Moines, maybe just a little bit less than that. Nonetheless, enough to impact travel conditions across this area. So timing it out, the Western precincts of Iowa, we could, could start to see late snow showers by late Monday evening just as the polls start to close. By midnight, we'll into the overspreading of snow from Waterloo, Cedar Rapids and patio the Davenport region by Tuesday morning. And you can see the snow totals across the area. The Iowa Department of Transportation has a great plan, over 900 plows in force. They have got over 14,000 kilometers worth of roadways to handle. And this is an interesting statistic, Errol. They studied this on presidential election days. If there is one inch snowfall above the normal for that particular day, Republicans see an uptick in votes by.6 percent. [Barnett:] Really? So snow is good for the Republican turn out. [Van Dam:] So snow is good for Republican turnouts. [Barnett:] Very interesting. I wonder what rain would do for Independents or for Democrats. Interesting stuff, Derek. Thanks so much. See you next hour. [Van Dam:] OK. [Barnett:] Appreciate it. U.S.China trade relations are an important matter for Iowans and many Americans voting in the coming election. It's harder to get much closer to what that really means than from the deck of a giant cargo ship that will soon set out for California from China. Matt Rivers joins us from aboard the "Benjamin Franklin." Matt, I hope you don't get seasick easily. Explain to us, how representative is this vessel of the demand in trade between the U.S. and China? I know there has been a drop in demand for many goods from China at least. [Matt Rivers, Asia-pacific Editor:] You talked about how big this ship is. We are actually in the bridge of the ship, above all these containers. 18,000 containers can fit onto this ship at its most full capacity. And so it really is a true mega container ship. As for how representative it is, when you doctor company that built this is an international shipping company, they do this have done this for a very long time. They have been all throughout the world. It's not really an "if you build it they will come" situation. These are executives who are not going to invest the incredible amount of money into this ship if they weren't convinced they would be able to fill the ship up with container after container. That being said, it's a challenging environment here. Exports are down here in China. The economy is slowing down. In speaking with executives with the company, they have told us it is something they think about quite a bit and they have to adapt continually to the changing tide here in China's economy. [Barnett:] Matt, global cargo capacity, I understand, is actually surpassing demand. And some in the industry worry that massive vessels, like the "Benjamin Franklin," may put the small guys out of business. What's being said about that? [Rivers:] There is no question that part of the reason that these mega container ships are being built because they are more efficient. It takes a lot more money. It takes a lot more expenses to continually take smaller ships. You know, you still need to crew those. You still need to fuel those ships. If you can do that with relatively the same amount of crew members but you have a bigger ship that can take a larger load of containers it end up being much more profitable. But, Errol, it takes a capital investment to build a ship like this. And there is no doubt that the ship builders who are able to build ships like this in today's environment are going to be able to do better than their smaller competitors. [Barnett:] Interesting stuff. Matt Rivers aboard the "Benjamin Franklin." 3:40 p.m. there at the port. Matt, thanks very much. Now to another ship, but this one is in serious trouble. A badly listing cargo ship adrift in the Atlantic Ocean could soon run aground in southwest France. Officials will make an effort to tow it to port on Monday. If that attempt fails, the vessel will hit the coastline. The ship's cargo is thought to have shifted in rough seas causing it to list dangerously to its starboard. The crew was airlifted off the ship last week. Another grisly attack carried out by Boko Haram militants, leaving a village in ashes. A live report on this next. [Blackwell:] There's a good chance you'll be having a big dinner today. So, let's look at this week's staying well. It looks at ways to control your salt and sugar cravings for better health. Here it is. [Stephanie Mansour, Health And Fitness Expert:] Your cravings could secretly be telling you what your body needs. If you're craving salt, you could be stressed, but you also may be dehydrated. So, get a bottle of water and set the alarm on your phone for ten minutes. Drink the water during that time and then see if that salty craving subsides. If not, opt for a healthy snack such as edamame with some sea salt. If you're craving carbs or even sugar, you may be low in protein. So, take a few slow deep breaths in through the nose and out through the nose. During that time, think about when it was last that you ate protein. If it was more than three or four hours ago, you may need a protein-packed snack. After eating that, move on and see if you still want the carbs or sugar. Next, place some reverse psychology on yourself. So, if you don't like chocolate cake but if I tell you, you have eat chocolate cake, you want it because psychologically, we want what we can't have. So, give yourself permission to eat whatever you want when you want and see if that helps with cravings. [Blackwell:] So, if you went to bed early, I did, show started at 6:00 this morning, you missed the thrilling NBA playoff game between the Jazz and the Clippers. [Marsh:] Kristina Fitzpatrick has more on the buzzer beater in this morning's "Bleacher Report". It was close. [Kristina Fitzpatrick, Cnn Sports:] Yes, close, day one of the NBA playoffs already some action. It's been five years since the Jazz made it into the playoffs and they're making up for lost time but, of course [Blackwell:] We got a little audio issue there. I think we fixed it. [Fitzpatrick:] All right, [Blackwell:] No. All right, we got an audio issue. You know what? This is live television. Pull it out just a bit. [Fitzpatrick:] All right, how about i, does that help out? [Blackwell:] Can we use that? [Fitzpatrick:] Testing one, two. [Blackwell:] Good, let's do it. [Fitzpatrick:] Let's roll, OK. I guess we will move on to, stick with the NBA playoffs and take a look at what was going on. A lot of action here. It's been five years since the Jazz made it and they're trying to make a run. L.A.'s Chris Paul ties it up with 13 seconds in regulation off the glass. The Jazz elected not to take a timeout. That allows Joe Johnson to take the inbound pass and with all the time in the world makes his way down the length of the court, splitting the defenders along the way, finds an opening, delivers the game winner at the buzzer. The Jazz take game one, 97-95. Now, after the game a reporter asked Clippers coach Doc Rivers about his strategy. Doc didn't take it very well. Listen to his answer. [Reporter:] You could have held up and tried to run the clock down to the final you know, when you were down [Doc Rivers, L.a. Clippers:] Who would do that? Like why would you ever do that? [Reporter:] Like maybe five seconds. [Rivers:] So if you miss, the game's over. [Reporter:] Right. Well, no, like five seconds [Rivers:] That makes no sense. [Reporter:] Right, I'm just asking. [Rivers:] No, that is like the dumbest thing I've ever heard. When you're down two [Reporter:] Right. [Rivers:] You try to score. [Fitzpatrick:] Yes, tell us how you really feel, coach. Maybe not the best question there, but a heated moment. We have a lot of playoffs games going on, four to be exact. Three on our sister station TNT. And Saturday was Major League Baseball's annual Jackie Robinson Day, honoring the hall of famer for his impact on the game, breaking through the color barrier. Every member of every team in the league along with the umpires donned number 42, a tradition started back in 2009. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and in honor of the legend, the Los Angeles Dodgers held a ceremony to unveil a new statue at Dodgers stadium. His family, along with other legendary Dodgers, were on hand for the event. Fans took home a little replica of the statue. This has been going on in baseball, Jackie Robinson Day, since 2004. And out to Fenway, sticking with baseball, just before the Red Sox set to take on the rays the ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Boston marathon bombing survivor Roseanne Sdoia, alongside fiance, Mike Materia, so happens to be the firefighter who rescued her on that fateful day. The two developed a relationship during Roseann's hospital recovery after losing her leg. And now, they're set to be married soon, guys. So, happy, good story there. And it is the 121st running of the Boston marathon tomorrow, Patriots Day in Boston. [Blackwell:] All right. Great story there. Kristina, thanks so much. [Marsh:] Thank you. Thank you so much for joining us this morning and thanks for having me. [Blackwell:] Good to have you. "INSIDE POLITICS" with John King starts after a quick break. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] Breaking overnight, new explosions in China. Reigniting fires and sending black smoke, again, billowing into the air. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Honestly, I think we are led by stupid people. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] How do you really feel? Donald Trump blasting members of his own party and Hillary Clinton in his latest campaign stop, but with all eyes on Iowa this morning, which candidate is coming out fighting? [Blackwell:] Plus, seemingly a first for ISIS. The terror group using a mustard agent as a weapon and at least one attack in Syria and that has the U.S. and others extremely concerned. Good morning. Good to be with you this Saturday morning. I'm Victor Blackwell. [Paul:] I'm Christi Paul. Always so glad to have your company. [Blackwell:] All right, it's said to be a big political day as presidential hopefuls, including a pair of frontrunners, descend upon the Iowa State Fair. Now among those said to attend, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Senator Bernie Sanders and the GOP frontrunner, Donald Trump. Now the mogul expected to make a grand entrance arriving in the G- Trump here, his helicopter. This comes after a big rally in another key state. The first primary in the country, New Hampshire, that is where he took shots at rivals, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. He also gave a little more insight into the policy he might roll out. Joining us now to discuss is CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. Sunlen, what has been the reaction this morning to Trump's speech, a little meteor? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Victor. We talked to a lot of voters here in New Hampshire, who specifically came out to hear Trump speak last night. There was really broad consensus among them. They want to hear more specifics. They want to know what a potential President Trump would do in office and certainly this had been a major constant criticism of Trump and his campaign that he speaks in broad strokes, but he doesn't offer up the policies in specific to back them up. So certainly here this is a big stay tuned coming from Donald Trump. In an interview with "The Washington Post" promising that he will release specific policy papers the first part of September starting with his immigration policy and moving to his tax policy. And this comes at a time where the campaign really seems to be trying to take themselves more seriously and trying to dig in a lot of the early states and notable that also in that interview, Trump is saying he is reaching out to some senators in help in writing policy. Saying he specifically reached out to Senator Sessions as he writes his immigration plan. Here is Donald Trump last night in New Hampshire. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] It will be very soon. I have some of the most brilliant people in the country working on tax, which I'm involved in very much because I understand the system very well, probably better than anyone who has ever run for office, if you want to know the truth, because I am part of the system. But we have some amazing people working on immigration, so I would say over the next two or three weeks, probably sometime during the September. [Serfaty:] Meanwhile, Donald Trump continuing to go after his opponents really not lighting up and honing in on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her use of her private e-mail server when she was secretary of state. Here is more of Donald Trump. [Trump:] I think, at some point, she perhaps is not able to run and have to end her campaign. That seems to be the thinking by so many. General Petraeus, his life was destroyed with a tiny fraction of what he has done. So it's very unfair to him if they are going to destroy him over doing, by comparison nothing, I don't see how she can run. I think she has got much bigger problems than running for office. [Serfaty:] And Trump does head to Iowa for the Iowa State Fair today and it also comes at a time where the campaign there is really beefing up their staffing during the early state. Victor, another sign that the campaign is moving towards potentially a longer campaign, they are in it potentially for the long haul. [Blackwell:] All right, we will see. Sunlen Serfaty, thank you so much. [Paul:] Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton unleashed her harshest attacks on the Republicans yet. In 20-minute speech before 2,000 people at the Iowa Democratic Wing Ding Dinner, Clinton blasted several GOP contenders by name and brought one rowdy crowd to its feet. Listen to this. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Now, I know most of the attention these days is on a certain flamboyant frontrunner. But don't let the circus distract you. If you look at their policies, most of the other candidates are just Trump without the pizzazz or the hair. Yes. Mr. Trump says outrageous and hateful things about immigrants, but how many of the other candidates disagree with his platform? None of the leading candidates support a real path to citizenship when they talk about legal status that is code for second-class status. The same when it comes to women's health and women's rights. [Paul:] Clinton also addressed the e-mail scandal saying she had provided her server to the Justice Department and that she would not play politics with national security. We want to get to the breaking news out of China right now, new explosions rocking that same site where we saw that massive blast that killed dozens of people earlier this week. Flames now reignited, we understand, and black smoke once again in the air. Look at the pictures we are getting here. Will Ripley has been at the site since the first explosion Wednesday. Will, what can you tell us what is happening there right now? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] There have been a lot of developments. Several explosions were heard here prompting the evacuation of this emergency shelter that we have been reporting from. We saw busloads of families with children being taken to a safer location farther away downtown and earlier in the day, we were wearing our masks while reporting here, but just within the last few minutes the government telling us, in fact, the evacuation was false. That the air they say is safe, and even though deadly sodium cyanide has been detected near the site of this chemical explosion along with a long list of other toxic along with some other potentially explosive and dangerous toxins, they say air quality shows things are back to normal here. Although you can see some people are still choosing not to be photographed, but use face masks as well that's a decision we are constantly evaluating. The families of some of the missing firefighters stormed a press conference this morning. We were there and locked in the room by government officials trying to prevent us from talking with these families who say that their loved ones are still missing and they were in the first wave of firefighters. The firefighters who the government now says used water on that chemical fire Wednesday, unaware that water, when being mixed with those chemicals, would create explosions like the ones that we saw here. It seems as if these first responders were unaware of the danger and they were running to try to put out the fire, but by using water, that triggered these blasts and that is where the investigation is taking us right now. As we were trying to report about that very topic earlier from a different location, a plain clothes officer shoved our camera and put their hands in front of it and pushed us into our vehicle while we were live telling us to get out of the way. So it just goes to show, Christi, how China the increasing sensitivity and the suspicions here of some sort of government cover- up, that why was this facility allowed to store these chemicals so close to where families and children were living? Meanwhile, you see people are now returning to this emergency shelter, getting water and other needed supplies. There are still thousands of people who are homeless here right now as a result of this disaster and they are not sure when they will be able to go home Christi. [Paul:] All right, Will Ripley, great report. Thank you so much. We appreciate the update. [Blackwell:] Imagine this, a man in New York saw more than 100 patients and had an office, but authorities say he was no doctor. Before he actually was caught, he acted like a doctor for three years! We will tell you how he got away with it. That is still ahead. Plus, ISIS is taking its attack to a new level. More on what the terror group is using that has U.S. military leaders so concerned. And look at this, a volcano erupts, sending ash three miles high and igniting several explosions. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] Outrage after the U.S. bombed a Doctors Without Borders hospital in Afghanistan. Now the group is demanding a war crimes investigation. [Errol Barnett, Cnn Anchor:] Plus, 18 dams have breached or failed in the wake of historic flooding in South Carolina. And the death toll is climbing. [Church:] And later, California's Governor Jerry Brown signs a controversial Right to Die bill into law. [Barnett:] Lots to get to in the next two hours. But first, we want to welcome our viewers here in the states and those of you watching from around the world. I'm Errol Barnett. [Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM. More questions are being raised about the deadly air strike on a hospital in Afghanistan. The U.S. commander there says Afghan forces requested air support during their battle against Taliban militants in Kunduz. [Barnett:] But there are still no answers on how a sustained attack on the hospital took place at all. Three separate investigations are now underway. Our Barbara Starr filed this update. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] International outrage after a hospital in northern Afghanistan was struck from the air by the U.S. The U.S. is investigating its role in the attack that left 12 medical staff and 10 patients, three of them children, killed, another 37 wounded. The hospital is it run by the aide group Doctors Without Borders, a global charity that works in war zones. They call the attack a war crime. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] Well, again, I wouldn't use a label like that. This is something that continues to be under investigation. [Starr:] Survivors described the horror to the BBC. [Unidentified Bomb Survivor:] There were flames all around me. I saw patients and doctors burned to death. There was no place to hide. [Starr:] The damage massive. An A.C. 130 gun ship like this struck the hospital with its onboard guns. [Gen. John Campbell, Commander, U.s. Military, Afghanistan:] The Afghan forces advised they were taking fire from enemy positions and asked for air support from U.S. forces. An air strike was then called to eliminate the Taliban threat and several civilians were accidently struck. [Starr:] Doctors Without Borders says it gave the military the exact location of the hospital weeks ago. Furious with the Pentagon, saying, "They're description of the attack keeps changing, from collateral damage to a tragic incident, to now attempting to pass responsibility to the Afghanistan government. The reality is the U.S. dropped those bombs." Defense Secretary Ash Carter trying to reassure the group. [Ash Carter, Defense Secretary:] We've been in touch with them to assure them that a full and transparent investigation will be held. [Starr:] Doctors Without Borders' general director says the Taliban were not at the hospital. [Christopher Stokes, General Director, Doctors Without Borders:] If there was a major military operation ongoing there they would have noticed. That wasn't the case actually when the strikes occurred. [Starr:] Contrary to first reports, U.S. forces were not under attack, just Afghan forces. But nonetheless, a senior U.S. official says all strikes the Afghans asked for have strict approval procedures. Not all are approved. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. [Church:] And Sune Engel Rasmussen is a reporter for "The Guardian" newspaper, and he joins us now live from Kabul. Sune, initially, this deadly attack was described as collateral damage, then a tragic accident, and now the U.S. commander in Afghanistan says Afghan forces called for air support while battling the Taliban, so when will we likely get some more answers from the NATO investigation, on how this hospital was attacked? And why has the Afghan president been silent on this matter? [Sune Engel Rasmussen, Reporter, The Guardian:] That's right, Rosemary. The explanations keep changing a bit, and the coalition forces are saying they expect some results of this inquiry in a matter of days. How long that will take a matter of days is what they say. Now, there are a lot of questions that remain to be answered, and from the statements that U.S. General John Campbell gave yesterday is not completely clear what actually what it means he said the Afghan forces called this an attack. That doesn't say anything about what the role of the U.S. Special forces on the ground was. This kind of power, military expression is very rare for this kind of military power to use as only after fighting in Kunduz, a hospital like this. Everything you just mentioned, they also said that the main building of the hospital was precisely and repeatedly hit, indicating that this was not an accident. Now, we don't know if the military knew it was a hospital they were shooting at. They were indicating they hit the building they were targeting. [Church:] Yes. So many questions to be answered here, so what impact will this deadly and tragic impact have on the draw down of U.S. troops in Afghanistan. [Rasmussen:] It's a good question. President Obama as plans to withdraw almost all U.S. troops by the end of next year, he will keep around 1,000 troops to be housed in the U.S. embassy in Kabul. Now, there is word from Washington that there may be reconsidered. Some media reported today the president is considering sending around 5,000 troops. It's a sign that the Afghan forces are containing the insurgency on their own. It's a sign that the training mission, the NATO right now is conducting in Afghanistan, has some difficulties, maybe not as thorough as complete as some people would hope, and that all leads to questions about how long the forces should stay, and when the Afghan security forces will take full responsibility of security in their own country. When that is, is still a little unclear. The Afghans would like that withdraw to be solved. [Church:] Sune Engel Rasmussen, keeping us up to date on the latest information. Bring us up to date there from Kabul. Sune, many thanks to you. [Barnett:] Other stories we're following. Officials in Yemen say at least a dozen people are dead after a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a hotel. This happened at the Al Casa Hotel in the port city of Aden. [Church:] Pictures show smoke coming out of the hotel which is used by government officials. The prime minister lives there, but it's not clear if he was actually in the building at the time. It's also not clear who's behind the attack. Well, Turkey has summoned the Russian ambassador over air space violations this weekend. Turkey says a Russian war plane flew over a southern province on Saturday and its air force intercepted the jet. [Barnett:] The Russian plane continued into Syria and conducted air strikes. There was another incident on Sunday. On Monday, Turkey's prime minister said Russia blamed bad weather. [Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish Prime Minister:] What we have received from Russia this morning is that this was a mistake. And that they respect Turkey's borders and this will not happen again. Turkey's rules of engagement apply to all planes, be they Syrian, Russian or elsewhere. Turkey's armed forces are very clearly instructed. [Barnett:] Everyone has different views on this. Turkey and Russia don't see eye to eye over Syria. But Russia insists there was nothing sinister happening. NATO, on the other hand, called this incursion unacceptable. [Church:] The U.S. Coast Guard says it's focusing on the search for survivors, from a cargo ship that went missing near the Bahamas. Searchers have found debris from the vessel including a life boat and unidentified human remains. [Barnett:] 33 crew members were on board when the el faro disappeared in the midst of Hurricane Joaquin, they're no longer looking for the ship itself. We turn now to recovery efforts in the U.S. state of South Carolina. Historic flooding has caused at least 11 deaths. Two others were killed in North Carolina. Officials say, so far, 18 dams have breached or failed. The rain has stopped, but as CNN's Boris Sanchez reports, the threat of rising floodwaters remains. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] We're standing on Highway 301 in Manning. If you look behind me, there is water as far as the eye can see. This is a major highway that leads all the way to Florida, but we can see water at least for a mile, covering this entire stretch of road. There are businesses all around, cars submerged as well. Officials tell us they don't know exactly when this water will recede, likely in the coming days if not the coming week. [voice-over]: More rain pounding parts of South Carolina. Officials are warning residents the danger is not over yet. [Nikki Haley, , Governor Of South Carolina:] People are off the roads. They have really listened. But those that didn't listen, this is dangerous. This is very real. [Sanchez:] Governor Nikki Haley said today there could be more evacuations, floodwaters likely to arise. Crews across the state have been working around the clock, rescuing people from their homes and cars as floodwaters rise. In Georgetown County, the fire chief tells CNN, one man was found clinging to a tree after his truck was swept away by an overflowing river. [Unidentified Male:] A witnesses saw the truck pulling around the barricade, and he was pulled into the ditch in strong water. I hope it sends a strong message. This guy could have lost his life. [Sanchez:] The call to stay on the roads, echoed by officials across the state. [Haley:] This is not the time to take pictures. We have enough media out there that you can look at to see the pictures and see the views of what's happening in South Carolina. [Unidentified Male:] Don't be stupid? I mean, that's the thing we keep saying, don't try to drive through flooded areas, you don't know how deep they'll be. [Sanchez:] Crews are not only having to get to residents cars, but also, if you take a look behind me, that's a National Guard vehicle that came down as this bridge went out underneath it, is actually a car, just another sign of how powerful these floodwaters can be. [voice-over]: According to the governor, about 550 roadways and bridges are closed. Some completely washed out. In Clarendon County, dozens of streets are impassable. In Georgetown, along the coast, business owners rushed to pump water out, even with the threat of high tide looming. Thousands of residents in pockets of the state are also dealing with power outages and contaminated water due to sewage overflow. [on camera]: Despite the obvious problems here, there are some signs of progress. The lights are back on in town, and the water is slowly but surely receding. Again, we're not sure whether or not it's going to be raining in the coming days and making this situation possibly worse. Boris Sanchez, CNN, Manning, South Carolina. [Barnett:] Joining me on the phone from Columbia, South Carolina, is Derrec Becker, the information officer for South Carolina's Emergency Division. Derrec, thanks so much for your time. I know you're busy. Let's get right to it. What's the latest assessment of the dam failures at breaches? And how much of a risk do they pose right now? [Derrec Becker, Information Officer, South Carolina Emergency Management Agency:] Absolutely. We've received several reports of some localized voluntary evacuations issued by our local public response agencies in communities around the Columbia area due to dam concerns. We have reports of one dam being intentionally breached so it doesn't break further and they can control the water flow. The president has declared a disaster for several counties in South Carolina. That will free up many programs to be made available to the citizens who were directly affected by this storm. [Barnett:] I should let our viewers know we have a bit of a distortion on the line, but we're going to power through this with you, because it's important information we want to get. These floodwaters we're seeing some footage of it now they're projected to move southeast ward from the Carolinas down toward the Atlantic coastline. Five of the deaths so far are as a result of people trying to drive through these waters. How long do you think that flooding threat will remain? [Becker:] Everything we've been told by the state's hydrologist is that the flooding throughout the river system, unfortunately, is going to continue for at least the next couple days. The good news is, that tomorrow is the first time in weeks we've had no precipitation, no rain predicted for the state, anywhere in South Carolina, so that's the good news. The bad news is, the water that is here, will still be here. And many more communities further down the river could be put in harm's way, particularly homes, residential areas that are on waterways that are in the middle or next to smaller localized lake fills or dams. So we're not out of this disastrous situation yet. We'll have many more emergency response activities to take place, but we are starting to transition into longer-term recovery operations. [Barnett:] And the top priority right now? [Becker:] Top priority is going to be life savings. We're encouraging people to stay home, to not go outside or get on the roadways, unless they absolutely have to. Save 911 for life, safety or- life- threatening emergencies only, I should say. This is still going to be a hazardous situation. There's going to be sporadic road closures into tonight and tomorrow. It's all going to be based on rapidly changing conditions. As some of the waters recede, they will start to rise elsewhere further down the water system. [Barnett:] Of course, do not try to drive through any of those flooded roads. Derrec Becker, on the line with us from Columbia, South Carolina, the information officer for the Emergency Division there in the state. Thanks so much for your time today. [Church:] And our meteorologist, Pedram Javaheri, joins us now. As we've heard there, just because the rain has stopped doesn't mean the danger is over. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] That's a serious note to make. It will be sunny on Tuesday afternoon across South Carolina. It's rained tremendous amounts upstream as well. The way the land is, the water will want to flow downstream, we saw this in 2010 in Pakistan, it caused many fatalities downstream, in Thailand, 2011, we had upstream flooding down by the sea level area, a lot of that water flows downstream. The rain has stopped, it's going to stop here shortly at least. The conditions are not going to improve in the immediate future. Before and after images we're getting across the state capital of Columbia, South Carolina. You see the significant damage done to the property with the water coming in. I often talk about getting one foot of moving water the lateral force of that is 500 pounds. 220 kilograms, the amount of weight associated with the amount of water here's the rain at this hour. The last bout of what is left with the storm system, the drying condition goes to push into this region, it looks like conditions will want to improve, and certainly, psychologically at least, people finally see some sunshine over the region, the Appalachians get up to as high as 3500 feet. Roughly 1,000 meters. We have hundreds of rivers and tributaries. We're down to sea level. all of that water wants to flow, make its way into the Atlantic ocean. We know there's been so many blockages, so many areas where property is locking up, some of the rivers and dams. They have been jeopardized as well. It's a recipe for trouble if everything doesn't go perfectly well. Look at Joaquin, the remnants will become an extra tropical storm, meaning it loses tropical characteristics, and could impact portions of Western Europe by later this weekend. So the rainfall not done for just about everyone. And you know, it always comes back to this climate change, related to what's happening here. What I've been telling people recently, we know our planet is warmer than it was in the 1970s. We have more water vapor, the more heat we have. We've seen on the order of 5 to 10 percent increase in the amount of rain we're seeing in any particular extreme rain event. Just about every single weather event, in some way, is related to climate change. You can't pinpoint a specific one. [Barnett:] Get used to storms like this? [Javaheri:] The data supports more water coming down from storms. [Barnett:] All right. [Church:] But not in the right places a lot of times. [Javaheri:] Unfortunately. [Church:] All right, thanks, Pedram [Barnett:] Pedram, thanks California's governor signs landmark Right to Die legislation. Coming up, we will hear from one opposition group that calls the new measure flawed. We're back in a moment. [Lemon:] A deadly weekend in Chicago. Dozens of shootings. And at least eight people killed. One of them, one of them tragically a young mother, the cousin of NBA Star Dwyane Wade. And I want to talk about this now with basketball Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas and friend. Thank you very much. [Isaiah Thomas, Nba Hall Of Famer:] Good to see you. [Lemon:] Good to have you. You doing okay? How's your wife, family? [Thomas:] Everybody's doing good. Thank you [Lemon:] Everybody's good. Dwyane Wade, good friend of yours. [Thomas:] Yes. [Lemon:] His cousin, her name is Nykea Aldridge, a mother of four, pushing one of her children in stroller in Chicago, shot on Friday night and killed. How is the family? How is Dwyane doing and the family doing tonight? [Thomas:] Well, surprisingly they're doing quite well in terms of I spoke to his agent, Henry Thomas. And, you know, Dwyane has been on the forefront of this type of movement in terms of police brutality, speaking out against violence in all communities for a long time. He and his mom, they're pillars in community along with father Pfleger. So, to have this hit so close to home, particularly on a night right after we had such a positive coming together and talking in Chicago about police violence, about community violence, and about trying to come together. To have this hit so close to home, we all feel for him, but knowing Dwyane and his family the way we all do, we know that they're going to take this and lead from it and bring our community closer together. [Lemon:] And there's a foundation in Chicago. I remember years ago, right, as I was leaving Chicago, I was an anchor there and coming to work with CNN, I emceed one of his foundation events and they do really great work in Chicago. It's been a number of years, but I do, you know, we're talking about lives. I'm just let me give you some of the numbers here, OK? What makes all of this worse is this tragic shooting this weekend. And Chicago P.D. says there were 72 shootings, 8 fatalities, and as of midnight Sunday, there were 459 murders so far this year. How do we fix this, Isaiah? [Thomas:] You know, there's this has been a problem in all communities for a long time, particularly in poverty-stricken communities. And how do we fix it? We always talk about the need for jobs, the need for an employment, the need for, you know, adequate food, and just opening up recreation centers where all kids can come and play, get to know each. When you look at the educational system, some of our educational systems in terms of the schools are broken. They need to be fixed. So having access to just quality of life and a lot of our kids in these communities, they're just asking for a chance, they're asking for hope, they're asking to be able to see and live that American dream that we all talk about. And, you know, just to give you an example, my first 10 years of life on the west side of Chicago, in '66 Martin Luther King visited Chicago and my mom marched with him in the Cicero March, and in '68 Martin Luther King died, right? The Chicago riots break out. And I remember we were on congress in Homan and the military tank pulled us off the expressway and we were occupied for, you know, two to three days. In '69, Fred Hampton gets killed. [Lemon:] Right. [Thomas:] So, those were my first 10 years of life dealing with Chicago and the Chicago police and policing in that community. So what happened now, I believe, under Superintendent Johnson is that, you know, now you're getting feedback, now you're getting community relations, now you're getting people to talk. And in the same situation, in the same environment, my brother became a police officer. I got two nephews that are police officers now. So when we when the community continues to ask for people who look like us, who grew up in our communities, who can police our communities, then we can start having communication and we can open up the dialogue. And when we started opening up the dialogue and people communicate and talk, then we move our country further. [Lemon:] There's not a lot of that going on lately because even when you want to talk to certain members of law enforcement, they become angry and, you know, defensive, which is just surprising to me, especially considering the environment that we're in, it would seem like it would be open to suggestions and doing what you said. And because of the political environment, here is what republican presidential candidate Donald Trump tweeted out about Nykea Aldridge's death. He said "Dwyane Wade's cousin was shot and killed walking her baby in Chicago. Just what I have been saying, African-Americans will vote Trump." I've heard that before from him, from law enforcement. Oh, I predicted this. I knew this is going to happen. You're like is that how you respond to this? What's your reaction to this? [Thomas:] We need compassion and leadership in these difficult times. And what where we need to go from here is the understanding of family, forgiveness, and also how do we move forward. We don't need to politicize these murders. We don't need to politicize this event. But we do need to show leadership and lead from this in how we bring this country together, in how we keep giving people the opportunity to really live this American dream. [Lemon:] Do you think trump can fix this? Do you think he's the one to show leadership? [Thomas:] I see where I need to be careful here. [Lemon:] You're a straight shooter but... [Thomas:] Yeah. But, no, I'll be straight and I don't know if he can. I know Hillary's record in terms of what she's being done in the forefront of African-American issues for a very long time. It's documented. It's there. You can go back and you can look at what she was doing in the '70s, in the '80s, in the '90s, what she was fighting for. Trump is new on the scene so we have to see what he's saying and really listen to what he's saying. [Lemon:] That's a very diplomatic answer but it's real. [Thomas:] Yeah. [Lemon:] Thank you. Always a pleasure. [Thomas:] Always. [Lemon:] I appreciate you coming on. [Thomas:] Thank you. [Lemon:] All right. My regards to your family. Thank you. Up next, the firestorm over NFL star, Colin Kaepernick's protest. I'm going to talk with one of the men who raised his fist to protest at the Mexico City Olympics back in 1968. [Costello:] With just days to go until the Pope's historic visit to the United States, excitement is building but so are security concerns. In an interview over the weekend with ABC's "This Week", the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Congressman Mike McCaul, said officials have already intercepted at least one threat against Pope Francis. [Rep. Mike Mccaul , Chairman, Homeland Security Cmte:] The Pope is a very I'm Catholic, by the way. He's a very passionate man. He likes to get out with the people. And with that comes a large security risk. We are monitoring very closely threats against the Pope as he comes into the United States. We have disrupted one particular case, in particular. But as that date approaches, I think we're all very be very vigilant to protect him as he comes into the United States. [Costello:] The Pope arrives next week. First on his agenda, to meet with President Obama and address a joint session of Congress. And count yourself lucky if you live in one of these cities. In addition to Washington, the Pope will also visit New York and Philadelphia. Despite security concerns, the Pope will mingle and maybe, just maybe, he'll get out of his Popemobile and touch the faithful. Many here in New York City are praying he does just that. I talked with one family who passionately believes that Pope Francis can perform miracles with one touch. And they're not alone. believes in miracles. Some say he is a miracle worker himself. Back in March, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe handed the Pontiff a vial of dried blood, a saint's blood. As the Pope kissed the vessel, the blood partially liquefied. A miracle, he said. A miracle. Some in the crowd we want because they believe, as do many Catholics here in New York. [Luz Garcia, Harlem Resident:] When I heard he was coming, that was the first thing I thought about it. Maybe I have the opportunity, and my children too, so that the Pope can bless them, can touch their belly and cure them. [Costello:] Luz Garcia and her sister Vianel Henriquez will spend the night at Vianel's salon, praying that Pope Francis will stop by when he visits a school across the street. [on camera]: So, the night before the Pope arrives, what will your salon look like? [Vionel Henriquez, Manager, Vianel Beauty Salon:] Wow, it's going to be a lot of people because we're going to wait for the Pope to come the next day. We have my family, friends, a couple of clients. [Costello:] Some people might be a little skeptical that the Pope can heal or perform miracles. [Garcia:] You know, God can do a lot of things. And he uses him to do and accomplish a lot of things that cannot be done without the faith. [Costello:] So, these are your boys. Tell us about your boys. [Garcia:] He's Javier. He's 7 years old. He has Type 1 diabetes. And he is Jarel, he is 14, and he also has Type 1 diabetes. [Costello:] Do you hope that you'll get to see the Pope? [Jerel Garcia, Harlem Resident:] Yes, I hope I get to see the Pope. It would be an honor to see the Pope. [Costello:] So if he would walk in right now, what would you say to him? [J. Garcia:] I love you. Because I feel it would be a blessing to be in his presence. [Costello:] Do you think that he can cure your diabetes? [J. Garcia:] Have I no doubt in my mind. Yes, I believe 100 percent that he could. [Costello:] I know, seriously? But my mother believes, too. When she was a girl, she visited a girl named Rhoda Weiss who lived in Canton, Ohio. Mrs. Weiss had the stigmata. On holy days, she bled as Jesus did on the cross. My mother swore Mrs. Weiss laid hands on her and saved her from becoming blind in one eye. [on camera]: Will you sing on the night the Pope, the night the Pope will come to this neighborhood? [J. Garcia:] Maybe. [Costello:] I think that's terrific. [J. Garcia:] I will survive, I will survive, oh, oh [Costello:] If you want to continue this conversation, head on over to CNN.com. A little later this afternoon, my op-ed will be posted, Mysteries of Faith. You can follow me on Facebook and Twitter and tell me what you think. Can the Pope perform miracles? Can other people of faith perform miracles? I'd love to know what you think. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, some drama, history and lots of hard hits. CNN's Coy Wire has more on the first Sunday of the NFL regular season. Hi, Coy. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports:] Hi, Carol. For a lot of NFL fans, yesterday was one of the greatest days of the year. Football is back. Satisfaction, a lot of action. We'll take a look after the break. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Breaking news: FBI and ATF investigators in Chattanooga, Tennessee, they're working Thursday's shooting rampage. They are combing at this hour through two crime scenes. One where officials say 24-year-old Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez sprayed bullets at a military recruiting station and another, a naval installation seven miles away where officials say he shot and killed four marines and injured at least three other people before being killed by officers. Now, we have new details on the shooting overnight. Law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation tell CNN Abdulazeez was armed with an AK-47 style weapon. He was carrying 30-round clips. One source tells CNN the gunman was able to keep police at bay for some time in a, quote, "harrowing" gun fight with the amount of ammunition he had. The federal investigation really is just getting under way now. For more on this, CNN's Victor Blackwell is in Chattanooga with the very latest. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine, investigators at both scenes worked late into the night trying to collect the physical evidence. But, of course, the most difficult part of this investigation is answering that the single question: Why? Why 24- year-old Mohammad Youssuf Abdulazeez would start out by peppering military recruitment center with bullets, injuring one, and then drive seven miles to a naval reserve center and kill four marines. Right after interaction with police, Abdulazeez himself died. Here's what we know about the investigation: the feds have taken over. FBI, the ATF leading this investigation. One special agent telling CNN that they have not determined if what happened here is an act of domestic or international terrorism or if it was just a criminal act. But they say that they will treat this as a terrorism investigation until it's determined that it is not. Now, what do we know about Abdulazeez? Well, he was born in Kuwait, was a Jordanian citizen, but most recently was a naturalized U.S. citizen. A former wrestling coach called him humble and smart. So, as this investigation continues, Christine, they, too, would like an answer to the question: why? Back to you. [Romans:] And why, Victor, thank you, is the core of the investigation. High school classmates of Mohammad Abdulazeez are asking the same question. They are stunned. They are shocked this morning. They were calling him as popular, a good student, who was well-liked, someone who fit in. [Kagan Wagner, Went To High School With Alleged Shooter:] He was kind. He was funny. He always had the witty comment. He liked to laugh. But he's really smart even though he was kind of like a jokester. He did not let it affect his grades at all. I distinctly remember in the sixth grade, we studied bible history together in middle school. He had one of the highest grades in the class. He just he was a good guy. He just you wouldn't think that he would do something like this. [Romans:] That classmate remembers his yearbook, quote, "my name causes national security alerts. What does yours do?" She said it was only a joke. [Wagner:] It's ironic now, morbidly so. But at that time, we didn't think anything of it. We thought it was just it was just a joke. You know, a stab at, you know, being named Mohammad Abdulazeez and living in the South, you know? That's not something that is really going unnoticed. [Romans:] Another acquaintance called him a typical Tennessee country boy. We also know now that Abdulazeez was an athlete. In addition to high school wrestling, he also competed on the local mixed martial arts circuit. After high school, he earned an engineering degree from the University of Tennessee. We also know the gunman's family was religious. Friends of Abdulazeez say the women in the family wore traditional Muslim garb. And his mixed martial arts coach says he was told Abdulazeez had moved back home to the Middle East for a time. [Almir Dizdarevic, Suspect's Former Mixd Martial Arts Coach:] His demeanor was nothing on him that would show me that he was upset about something. You know, I know he moved out of the country a year or two ago and went back home and stayed overseas. I asked his dad where's Mohammad? You know, I didn't see him. He said he moved back home. But I saw him a couple times when he visited. Now, I'm not the one to speculate. But what happens overseas in a certain different environments, I don't know. [Reporter:] Where was overseas? When was he overseas? [Dizdarevic:] You would have to ask his family about that. I mean [Reporter:] You say he went overseas for two years? [Dizdarevic:] A year or two ago when he actually went back, I think after he graduated at UTC or so. [Reporter:] He went back where? [Dizdarevic:] Jordan, Yemen? I'm not sure. [Reporter:] You're sure he was in the Middle East? [Dizdarevic:] Well, that's what I was told. [Reporter:] His family told you that? [Dizdarevic:] So, that's what I was told and that's what I went by. [Reporter:] Did you ever talk to him about being in the Middle East? [Dizdarevic:] I asked how is everything, what you're doing? He said he's teaching kids. He's teaching wrestling and doing, you know, just so how you're doing? Is everything OK? He said, I'm doing well. I'm doing well and good. [Reporter:] When so, what year are we talking about? [Dizdarevic:] You mean when I talked to him? [Reporter:] No, when you think he was in the Middle East? About what time? About what time period? [Dizdarevic:] I'm telling you when I talked to his dad, a year or two ago is when he went back. But he I have seen him several times when he came back here. So, in the last two years, I'm sure that he was overseas somewhere. [Romans:] Also, we are learning that investigators are looking into a blog that seems to belong to Mohammad Abdulazeez, although CNN cannot independently confirm that's the case. This blog consists of two religious fables, one rewarded in the afterlife for devotion, and another, a story of three blind men and an elephant use to make a point about those whose view of Islam is too narrow. Thursday's attack is heightening terrorism concerns around the country. Authorities say they have no reason to believe there is any further concern connected to the Tennessee attack. But even so, security is being tightened at sensitive locations in New York and at federal facilities around the country. With the very latest on the federal government response, senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Christine, President Obama vowed the FBI will conduct a prompt and thorough investigation of the shootings down in Tennessee that left four marines dead. Just as he returned from a trip in Oklahoma, the president rushed to the Oval Office for a statement to the country about the attack. He said he received a briefing from FBI Director James Comey. At this point, the president said it appears this was a work of a lone gunman, but that it is too early to say what the motive was behind these shootings. He added he had been in contact with the Pentagon to make sure all facilities run by the Defense Department are being vigilant as investigators sort out what happened, and the president expressed his sympathies to the families of the fallen marines. Here's what he had to say. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] My main message right now is, obviously, the deepest sympathies of the American people to the four marines that have been killed. It is a heartbreaking circumstance for these individuals who have served our country with great valor to be killed in this fashion. And although the families are still in the process of being contacted, I want them to know that I speak for the American people and expressing our deepest condolences and knowing that they their full they have our full support as they try to overcome the grief that's involved here. [Acosta:] The president stressed that because this was an attack on a military facility, he wants his administration to have all of the information necessary to make an assessment about any motives. In the meantime, he is asking the entire country to pray for the marines and their families Christine. [Romans:] All right. Jim Acosta, thank you for that from the White House. Now, federal investigators are so firmly avoiding any comment on the motive, the Chattanooga gunman's motive. But with Abdulazeez dead, motive has to be a central question in this investigation. Joining us talk about this and other aspects of the case, Will Geddes, managing director of the International Corporate Protection. Thank you for joining us. I mean, just the picture that is emerging of this 24-year-old raised in Tennessee, friends shocked. High school friends shocked. College friends shocked. A guy who wore Tennessee orange and tailgated, and then, suddenly, something happened over the past few years. Investigators are saying they're this is a terrorism investigation, either international or domestic or could still be a criminal act. [Will Geddes, Security Expert:] It's a curious one and they are increasingly curious. These lone actor attacks as they're determine exactly what were the motivating factors. Certainly, again, reports coming out and always in the wake of an instance, certainly the most immediate period are always a little bit sketchy. So, one has to be careful how one speculates some of these things. But from what is being led to believe, this individual wasn't on the radar of the intelligence agency. It wasn't someone that is being picked up as being one of those being radicalized remotely. And we do know the government agencies are trying their best utmost to intercept some of the social media platforms that groups like ISIS are using. But it's again always a concern when you have an individual that's fundamentally is quite normal in every other shape and form and then for them to simply turn around and ultimately carry out something so horrific and unimaginable, one has got to ask how effective are the intelligence agencies succeeding in trying to intercept these radicalizations that are being undertaken perhaps remotely. [Romans:] They'll be looking for a digital footprint, no question. When you talk to people who knew this man, they do not see that, you know, lost purposeless person who then gets filled with a jihadi narrative. What investigators need to look now is for the digital footprint to see if that jihadi narrative somehow became part of this man's story. [Geddes:] Absolutely. I think we cannot revert to the cliched assessment which is, you know, you have the individual that becomes a loner within the community that extracts and withdraws from their social circles. In some many recent cases, we've seen individuals even into the perpetrator of the Tunisian attacks, that this person in all shapes and forms seemed to be quite normal within their friends up to the time of the actual attack taking place, which is what's making it so incredibly difficult. If you think of it as a fuse, it's a very, very long lead-up before the actual attack materializes. And whereas conventionally certainly in the past, where counterterrorism efforts would be placed on trying to pick up the early reconnaissance and certainly when, originally, al Qaeda would carry out the spectacular types of events and plots, there would be a period of planning beforehand. What we're seeing here is someone that ultimately has obtained a weapon, obtained the ammunition and selected the target and potentially could have gone out that morning and no notice given. [Romans:] Two targets actually here, and I want to get your thoughts on that. You know, we're just showing pictures of this rented silver Mustang. He shows up to the first location, a recruiting and training facility, and just starts spraying with bullets. Either never leaves or stays in the car, goes to another location seven miles away, another military installation, a naval operations center. And that's where that naval reserve center there. And that's where he really did a lot of damage, ramming through the security gate on the way in. We are told he had a harrowing, harrowing gun fight with police. What kind of sense do you make of the two different locations? After the first location, he could have he could have disappeared. There could have been a manhunt. But he went on to another location. [Geddes:] Well, it would appear and again until we find more information from the investigation, it would appear that he had a fairly finite agenda. He picked two very particular targets, both specifically military. He would no doubt prior to launching his attack, anticipate that he would have some aggressive response and defense by those targets. So, ultimately, this individual probably went there with an end game that didn't mean it was going to turn into a manhunt. He was probably going to finish his whole act in the process of undertaking these attacks. So, again, it's going to be interesting to see certainly from the further information that the authorities are going to release. Picking up certainly from CCTV, certainly tracking him back to when he hired the vehicle, looking at some of his actions beforehand, when did he obtain and where did he obtain the firearm and ammunition used for this particular time. There are a lot of component parts that they have to look at over and beyond obviously the digital footprint of what or who or where were influences that drove this individual that seemed quite normal to carry out this horrific attack. [Romans:] Meanwhile, authorities trying to find a motive, trying to label this either international terror or domestic terror, or criminal act. Four the fact is, four families, four marine families are suffering greatly this morning. Thank you so much, Will Geddes, for that analysis. We are following latest on the Chattanooga shootings all morning long. But first, the gunman in a Colorado movie massacre found guilty. We tell you what comes next for him after the break. [Harlow:] So in just 18 days, President Trump hits a historic milestone, of sorts, 100 days in office. And inside the White House, officials, we've learned, have been holding very urgent meetings with their whiteboards and big pieces of white paper, drafting down what the plan is going to be to message the 100 days. [Berman:] Joining us now to discuss, David Drucker, CNN political analyst, senior Congressional correspondent for the "Washington Examiner," and Salena Zito, CNN contributor and reporter for the "Washington Examiner." Welcome to you both. I think we'll get to the 100-day discussion in a little bit. But first, if we can stay on Syria for one minute and clarity of message, Salena. Because again we heard Sean Spicer briefing people, talking about what we thought the new lines were from this White House when we might see further military action. He said, "If Syria uses barrel bombs," well, Syria has been using barrel bombs, a lot of them. Hundreds and hundreds every month. I think we have a graph to show how many hundreds Syria has been using every month. It's a lot, right? And then the White House said, backtracking, clean it up, and say, we weren't talking about barrel bombs, exactly. We were talking about chemical weapons. But, look, if things are as tense as they are between the U.S. and Russia, if things are as tense as they are in Syria, how much more clarity do you think we need from this White House? [Salena Zito, Cnn Commentator:] Well, I think we need a lot of clarity. This is a very serious situation. Having said that, you know, there were a lot of people in this country that applauded what the president did last week, in taking, in using the missiles and taking that message that, you know, we are not going tolerate that kind of action against your own people. But up until that moment, we really didn't understand sort of what the administration's foreign policy position has been on Syria. And I think we're still unclear as to what it is today, you know, four or five days later. So I think that's an important thing for them to get out. I think that we will see a more clarity after Tillerson returns for his meetings over there, but right now, we're kind of unsure. [Harlow:] And one of the reasons, David, that we are unsure is because no one has heard directly from the president on what the strategy is going forward, after his statement announcing the air strikes. A new CBS News poll shows how Americans feel overall. You've got about 60 percent of them supporting the air strikes, but then they're very divided when it comes to what do we do after? Look at these numbers, 18 percent of Americans do favor the use of ground troops, 30 percent say air strikes, but no ground troops, 26 percent want only diplomatic talks, and 15 percent want to more U.S. involvement. Is it time that we hear from the president tonight go- forward plan? [David Drucker, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, I think for the president to prosecute a successful strategy in Syria and in Asia, and we're seeing how complicated this gets, because this involves the Russians in the Middle East and in Asia, it involves China. He's going to have to be more clear and more vocal so that both our allies and our adversaries know what to expect. I know the president likes to rely on this notion of unpredictable. And unpredictability in terms of tactics is a good quality, but unpredictability in terms of values and frameworks is problematic. Because if the Syrians and the Russians and the North Koreans don't know what the line is and what the line isn't, then they're apt to test the president and see what they can get away with, and their tests could be the kind of provocations that make things even worse. And I think, then in this vein, it's also important for the president to talk to the American people because if we're going to be more active overseas and potentially militarily, and there's a good argument to make that this is something that really needed to be done, the way you bring along the American people is to explain it to them and justify it and ask for their support. You're likely to get it in cases like this, because I think even though there's a lot of hesitancy in terms of more military involvement in terms of boots on the ground, I think Americans understand that the U.S. needs to be a leader, but they're not going to be with you if you're not willing to sell it. [Berman:] Let's talk about the 100 days. We're 18 days away from the 100 days. The White House having meetings because it wants to sell that the first 100 days have been these great things. They're going to point to the confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court, point to rolling back TPP, point to the Keystone pipeline and things like that, but they've had a lot of other things not go their way. There's no health care bill or travel ban. They've already lost the national security adviser. I'm kind of struck by the fact that they're already having message meetings to how to sell these first hundred days in a positive way Salena. [Zito:] Well, I mean, first of all, one of the biggest problems the White House had, for half of these, you know, for 40 days is that they didn't have a central person as their communication person and you need that kind of person to help keep the team on message. So they lost half of their time right there. I think it's I don't think it's unusual to have a messaging meeting, especially with a president that's this different, unpredictable, disruptive and, you know, sort of outside the lines, but, you know, they certainly have their work cut out for them. As you said, they have had some successes, but they've also had some battles, especially over health care and over the travel ban. I think what's important for them is just to say, hey, you know, this is what Washington is like, this is what we have to fight against. And you know, and we're doing our best, but, you know, those kinds of meetings, I think, are important. What I thought was fascinating was is that with less than an hour after they have the meeting, somebody leaked it out of meeting. I mean, wow. [Berman:] Yes, close up those leaks. All right, Salena Zito and David Drucker, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. The issue of management, press management. The stock market opens in just a few minutes and shares for United Airlines, they're going to take a nosedive after this video of a passenger being dragged off an overbooked flight. [Harlow:] All right, we're going to have a lot more on that a little bit later this hour. First, though, our chief business correspondent, Christine Romans is here. This is United in damage mode. A PR nightmare. The stock taking a hit. [Christine Romans, Cnn Chief Business Correspondent:] Yes, about 2.5 percent, we think. It had been down 6 percent so it's moderated from those losses. But look, this is a company with huge plans for expansion in China, where this video has been seen 100 million times. So that's a number that really matters here. You talk about trying to get the support of the American flying public. This is an international story, at this point here. Look, the CEO has to come out and has come out and supported his employees, but a lot of people thought that was tone deaf. He apologized for having to re-accommodate these customers, didn't apologize for the fact this man was dragged off a plane and is bloody. So there could be some better messaging from this company. We have a "CNN Money" story about how this has turned a bad situation into a PR disaster for this company. Overall for the stock market, we're expecting a little bit lower today. A lot going on, bank earnings coming up later this week, we've got earnings, I think, are really going to drive this overall. And still, again, you're talking about the hundred days and the checklist of what has been accomplished, elite infrastructure spending, infrastructure plans still need tax reform and the president's meeting with a bunch of CEOs, the really important CEOs later this morning. [Berman:] You know, United Airlines, you called it damage mode, not damage control mode. I think [inaudible] has to be true. They are in damage mode. They're still damaging themselves by making it worse. [Harlow:] Yes. [Berman:] All right, Christine Romans, thanks a lot. A lot more to come. We'll be right back. [Cuomo:] President Trump has said surprisingly little about Michael Flynn. In fact, the last time he was asked on Friday aboard Air Force One, here's what he said. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I don't know about it. I haven't seen it. What report is that? [Question:] There are a number of [Trump:] I haven't seen [Question:] "The Washington Post" is reporting that he talked to the ambassador of Russia before you were inaugurated about sanctions. That he tried to [Trump:] Look, I haven't'seen that. I'll look at that. [Cuomo:] All right. So the president, who watches more TV and reads more articles than any of his predecessors in all likelihood, didn't know about something that was all over the media for days. OK, let's get "The Bottom Line" with senior congressional correspondent for "The Washington Examiner," David Drucker. The president will get multiple chances to answer questions about it today. He has been ducking this. The White House has been spinning in gross fashion. One of his advisers this morning refusing to answer questions about who knew what and when about this situation, saying, we can't get information about who knew. That's not going to cut it. [David Drucker, Sr. Congressional Corr., "washington Examiner":] No, it's not, and I think that the president really does need to talk about this because the essentially firing the national security adviser is such a big deal, the position is so important. We know from news reports I know from talking to people in Washington that the National Security Council has been dysfunctional. Michael Flynn was not able to get one of his top deputies confirmed. And the president has really not spoken about any of this. And, Chris, as you mentioned, we know he watches the news. We know that political organizations that run ads that want to reach the president monitor the television shows that we know that he watches. So he had to know about this. I think the question is, how much did he believe and what did his subordinates in the administration tell him? [Camerota:] Well, there you go, and therein lies the rub. We know that Sally Yates, the acting attorney general, did report to the White House Council at the end of last month. We don't know exactly what date, but a couple of weeks ago, what they had learned about this conversation between Michael Flynn and the Russian ambassador and that they had discussed easing sanctions. So there are only two options and they're both bad. Either the White House Council kept it from the president and the vice president, or the president wasn't telling the truth when reporters asked him and he didn't move with alacrity when he learned to get rid of Michael Flynn. [Drucker:] So those choices, Alisyn, are both possible. I I also say that it's a it's you know, it's amazing how difficult management of a White House can be for presidents and their underlings and they don't always do things that would appear to be logical. So when Sally Yates and others briefed aides to the president about this, the first thing they should have done was run it up the chain and figured out what was going on and briefed the president. That doesn't mean that that didn't that is necessarily what happened. I also think the other thing going on here, and I can't stress this enough is, I think that the administration and the president constantly attacking reporters for producing news that they believe is not real is something that they believe wholeheartedly. And so I think that unless we know exactly how and when the president was confronted by people he trusts and said this happened with Mr. Flynn, what do you want to do about it, it's hard to know exactly when he knew, what he knew. [Camerota:] Yes. [Drucker:] And we still don't actually know I mean, look, we still don't actually know what his reaction was. Did he talk to Michael Flynn? What does he want to do about it? [Camerota:] Right. [Drucker:] And who, as a consequence, is he going to bring in to set things right? [Camerota:] Sure. Sure. And all of that will come out. But I just to be clear on what you're saying, you're saying that there's a third possibility, and that is that though Sally Yates told the White House Council, that it didn't make it up the chain because of disorganization basically? [Drucker:] Yes. And I think what we've seen with this White House so far is a lot of chaotic management. All right, they haven't gotten their feed underneath them. I think the president and his team are still adjusting to what it means to run a government versus a business and a campaign. [Cuomo:] David David, hold on a second. It's not making sense. You're right to give the benefit of the doubt in the absence of facts from the administration. People will criticize that suggestion. But if we don't know, you should give some deference to the unknown in this case. However, we do know. It cannot be true that the White House can be upset about this reporting in any real way because this is about their dissembling, their refusal to bring out facts that would have never come to light without journalists doing their job. They ducked this information. The White House Council, not passing it on, short of that person deciding to resign for malfeasance, right, because keeping material information about national security from the president of the United States would make no sense as someone who could stay in that job. So we'll wait on that. But they are not answering the questions this morning. That's what you do when a story is fake, as they love to say. You correct it. [Drucker:] Right. [Cuomo:] You say, well, here's the real answer. There's none of that. The president said he hadn't even heard of this story. That's almost impossible to believe. Kellyanne and other advisers are out there talking. Chris Collins, one of his surrogates, came on here this morning, the congressman, and suggested that the GOP leadership isn't talking about this because they're having Valentine's Day with their spouses [Drucker:] Yes, well, that's that's ridiculous. [Cuomo:] It is about fake, but not about the media. It's about fake responses in light of real questions. [Drucker:] Well, I look, I agree with you in that regard. What I'm saying is that sometimes the logical answer in these cases is not always correct because I don't think that they know that one side knows what the other side is doing necessarily. There are a lot of fiefdoms in the White House. [Camerota:] Yes. [Drucker:] There's a lot of competition. And I don't think that they have figured out yet how to run things smoothly. [Camerota:] David Drucker, thank you very much for "The Bottom Line." [Cuomo:] Manafort, Flynn, both involved with Russia, both now out. CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow and John Berman begins right after this break. A lot of news. A lot of questions. Stay with CNN. [Kathy Lanier, Chief, Metropolitan Police Department, Washington, D.c:] Things like gun control laws are just a small part of all of the things that are coming up here today in terms of accountability for violent offenders and those repeat violent offenders is a key part of this. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Anchor:] So when you talk about that, Chief, accountability for violent offenders, how are they being treated now and how do you think they need to be treated? [Lanier:] Well, you look at the statistics that come out city after city after city in Atlanta, St. Louis, Washington, D.C., our top 50 violent gun offenders account for 847 arrests. That's a staggering number. We're hearing it from city after city after city. And when you hear about the high numbers with gun offenses, the percentage of those persons that spend time in jail is hovering between 2 percent and 6 percent. So clearly there's a disconnect. When you have that small number accounting for that large number of violent crimes and such a small amount of time or percentage going and spending time in jail, there's a problem. So I think that is one of the big focuses for today. [Keilar:] I imagine, suspect, it's quite an experience to get together with other people in your position as you're dealing with similar problems. What do you think can done, Superintendent, in terms of working together to find a solution to this problem? [Gary Mccarthy, Superintendent, Chicago Police Department:] First of all, we do this frequently. We're all members of something known as Major City Chief's Association. What we did differently this time was we convened the individuals having this problem right now and we brought we invited elected officials. We only got the mayor St. Louis to come because of their schedules but we have prosecutors in the room speaking the same talk, if you will. And what we hope to make a point is that, like Kathy points out, it's not just happening in Chicago or St. Louis. Until the priorities of the criminal justice system come in line with what the policing world is doing, this is going to continue. So we have to get some solutions out there that are practical. We have to have middle-of-the-road conversations and, at the end of the day, we can improve our police performance. As I talked going into the Fourth of July weekend, I was able to put a third more police officers on the street. People asked what was going to happen, I said we're going to seize more guns and nothing is going to change. And guess what? I was correct. [Keilar:] That's a lesson for all of you at this conference today. Thanks to both of you for joining us, Chicago police superintendent, Gary McCarthy; and Chief Kathy Lanier, the Metropolitan Police Department here in Washington, [D.c. Mccarthy:] Thanks, Brianna. [Lanier:] Thank you. [Keilar:] Up next, he arrived relatively late to the presidential race and he won't be part of prime-time debate on Thursday night or of this GOP forum going on tonight. So we'll ask former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore how he plans to compete for the Republican nomination for president. We have him live with us next. [Don Lemon, Cnn:] You know, it is hard to imagine a more pivotal week in the presidential race than this one right now. Super Tuesday tomorrow, democratic debate Wednesday, GOP debate Thursday. This is CNN TONIGHT, I'm Don Lemon. Super Tuesday, round two, big states up for grabs, Michigan and Mississippi. Ted Cruz nipping at Donald Trump's heels, but tonight, Trump fighting to hold him off, rallying his supporters in Mississippi. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Raise your right hand, everybody. Do you swear that you're going to vote for Donald Trump tomorrow? Raise that hand. I love you! I love you! [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] How are you? I'm good, how are you? [Lemon:] I'm great as well. So, Super Tuesday, number two, round two, tomorrow. Is Donald Trump poised to slam the door on this nominating contest or have the attacks begun to works? [King:] We're going to get good answer tomorrow. There's some crumbs that the attacks are working. Ted Cruz won two of the four states on Super Saturday. The margins in Kentucky and Louisiana were pretty small for Donald Trump and some conservatives think there's a sign of weakening. Let's see what happens, Don. The big prize is tomorrow, Mississippi and Michigan. If Donald Trump can shut Ted Cruz out again in the south, if he can win Mississippi, that's supposed to be Ted Cruz's Evangelical base. If Donald Trump can win there, and then if he can win in Michigan, in the industrial heartland, a state Donald Trump says he would contest against the democrats in November, then Trump will say, hey, I took a punch but I came back in the next round and I won the round. So, tomorrow's voting matters a lot. [Lemon:] OK. Let's show the numbers here. As you say, Michigan, big prize with the latest poll of Monmouth University that it shows there. Well, Donald Trump is in the lead by 13 percent here, John. But in the last two days, John Kasich appears to be on the rise. Do you think either John Kasich or Ted Cruz have a shot at winning? [King:] Well, that gap would tell you no, but the pollsters did say in the last couple days of the poll, the race was much tighter. Trump was still in the lead, but the race was tighter. So, again, is that one of the crumbs that suggests there's a moment of pause in the Republican Party? That either voters are thinking, are we sure we want this guy to be our nominee, or that all the attacks on Donald Trump are beginning to have some effect? Michigan's a diverse state, it's an interesting state. You have a little bit of an Evangelical base. You have more suburban republicans, as well. Remember, Rick Santorum almost caught Mitt Romney there in 2012. The Romney name people thought was the gold standard in Michigan. Santorum almost caught up with a mix of Evangelical and also blue- collar economic appeal. Trump has that blue collar economic appeal. Let's count the votes tomorrow. Again, if Trump can hold Michigan tomorrow, especially if he also holds Mississippi, he will stabilize heading into March 15th, which is another huge test. But tomorrow's a very interesting test. [Lemon:] All right. Let's talk about delegates, John. I mean, if you look at it, Donald Trump and Ted Cruz aren't far apart. So, what's at stake tomorrow in terms of delegates? Does the math really work for all the candidates? Does it still work here? [King:] Well, it works easier for Trump and easier for the rest of Ted Cruz. That's the main delegate total. That fact that Ted Cruz is now within 87 delegates is a pretty big deal. Marco Rubio, a distant third. Marco Rubio, one-word answer, he says can he survive and that is Florida. And that's a week from Tuesday. Don, Marco Rubio has to win his home state. But if you look at that lead right now, so project this forward. Again, tomorrow will tell us a lot about whether Trump is actually weakening or if he just took one punch and he can come back and do it. But look at the percentages here. Donald Trump has won 44 percent of the delegates in the republican contest to date. He has to win 53 percent for the remaining contests to clinch. Ted Cruz you see what the percentage he's won, 34. He needs to win almost 60 percent. And then for Rubio and Kasich, the hill is much steeper. It's almost impossible to see Rubio or Kasich actually clinching. You can only see them being in play if there is that, you know, fabled open convention. But for Donald Trump, even if you see that 53 percent, you say, that's a steep number, can you reach it. Remember, we go through this week, Don, and then we get to next week and it's winner take all. You win Florida, you get 199. You know, you win Ohio, you get a bunch. So, once we get into winner take all, that math, the 53 and even the 59 percent for Cruz is not so daunting. It is possible. It is possible. That is why the next 10 days, the next 8 days, really, are so critical in this race. Number one, can Donald Trump get back on track tomorrow or is he weakened further in the tomorrow contest, and then you get to the big winner-take-all March 15th where you're looking at Illinois, you're looking at Ohio, you're looking Florida, the biggest prize there. And so, tomorrow is a huge test, then going into what could be the deciding week. I think this is a defining week. Next week, potentially, could be the deciding week. [Lemon:] If Rubio and Kasich, if they don't win their home states, the question is, can day go on? But what I'm wondering, though, is what if Trump loses both or even if it's very tight. Is that a game changer? [King:] Yes. Well, he would still in the he's still likely to be in the lead. He's certainly to be in the delegate lead, even if he loses both of those. But that's when you get in, Don, to this conversation about, stay in the race, everybody stays in the race. But if Rubio wins Florida, he'll stay in. If Kasich wins Ohio, he'll stay in. And then you get into the thing the idea of can Donald Trump get to 1237? The answer is he can. But the math becomes very, very difficult. If he loses both Florida and Ohio, we're likely to have a war of attrition through the end of March, into April, into May, perhaps through California in June, and we could go to a convention. Now, remember, this story changes every day or every week, this story changes. What I like to say is, we're in the middle of a great drama. This chapter is pretty exciting. Let's not try to write the last chapter yet. But I do think look, tomorrow is key to test Trump's momentum and his ability to rebound from taking a punch. If he can rebound from that, then next week is hugely important in the sense that Rubio and Kasich, life or death in their home states. They have to win their home states or else they're done. If they win their home states, they're in and we've got a really interesting ride. [Lemon:] I'm going to call you the John-ac, like the great Carnac. All that magic word stuff is in your head. You don't need those thinking magic well. It's all in your head. Thank you very much. [King:] Most of it. [Lemon:] Most of it. Thank you, sir. See you soon. [King:] All right. [Lemon:] I appreciate you coming on. Now I want to bring in Hugh Hewitt, the host of radio's Hugh Hewitt show. Hugh, good to have you on as well. So, what's your prediction for tomorrow? Who comes out the big winner? [Hugh Hewitt, Radio Hugh Hewitt Show:] Well, I have no predictions on Michigan, because the polling is problematic at best and it's an open primary and they have a great race on the democratic side, as well as on the republican side. But I'll say this, Donald Trump has been losing altitude for 10 days. I don't think he's crashed, I don't think he's in a nosedive, but he's been losing altitude. So, Michigan, he needs a good double-digit win in Michigan to regain that momentum. And if it's single digits, I think you'll hear the chatter that John was just referencing about Marco Rubio coming back, the early numbers out of Florida from Monmouth poll, very good for Marco Rubio. He's winning the actual vote. The election is underway in Florida. There's early voting. People are casting ballots every single day. And so, I think Rubio's got a little wind at his back. Cruz had a great weekend for Cruz, and Donald Trump hasn't crashed it's a... [Lemon:] So, why is he losing altitude, what's going on? [Hewitt:] ... I will predict that. Well, he had two bad debates in a row. He had the KKK imbroglio that he had to break free from, he had to clarify his remarks on torture and families of terrorism. He just had a bad 10 days. Now every campaign has bad patches. And I think you could look back to Ted Cruz's bad patch right before Donald Trump started to slip on the ice. So, I think we're going to a contested convention, Don. I've been saying that since 2014 with different rules. [Lemon:] You've been saying that. Yes, you have, you have. [Hewitt:] And I think today, Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post, Jay Cost in the Weekly Standard, other analysts up and down the network dials have been looking they've been looking at the map, it's very hard to get to 1,237, especially this is really in the weeds 9 percent of the republican convention delegates are by state law uncommitted. And you take that 9 percent, you allocate the other delegates, and I don't think see any way anyone arrives a to the shores of Lake Erie with a Peyton Manning-led Cleveland Browns doing anything other than arguing on the floor that they ought to be the nominee. [Lemon:] You got... [Hewitt:] Peyton Manning, by the way, that's the big story of the day. [Lemon:] It is, but I mean, it was expected and he's going out on a high note. We're really going off the rails here. But he's going out on a high note. I think it's a perfect time for him to, you know, to retire. But I have to ask you I think what... [Hewitt:] And a bit of the Cleveland Browns. [Lemon:] Yes. [Hewitt:] And to go run the Cleveland Browns. That's what he's going to do. [Lemon:] Yes. Listen, I've got to ask you, though, I think in the crosstalk, I cut you off. People couldn't hear you but you said you think John Kasich is going to win Ohio, because if he doesn't this is life-or-death for his campaign, right? [Hewitt:] Well, I from Warren, Ohio, and I have known the governor for a long time and he has a great organization and he has a couple of conservative critics who make a lot of noise, but John Kasich is going to win Ohio. He's a very popular, very successful governor in the buckeye state. And I think that's going to throw us into a contested convention, in which he's in a very, very good position. If he doesn't ramp up in Illinois and other places to nevertheless say, hey, I should be the vice president. I think Marco Rubio is going to make the same case if he wins Florida and that looks to me to be increasingly likely. Nevertheless, Donald Trump is the leader. He is by far the most popular with democrats who cross over and vote in the Republican Party primary. And so, as John King just said, you can't beat John King, you're right, he carries it around in his head. I've sat in green rooms with him when he reels off precinct totals from 25 years ago. [Lemon:] He talks about differently, you know, different district and counties that I'm like, how do you know this stuff? [Hewitt:] Yes. [Lemon:] Yes. [Hewitt:] Because he was an A.P. reporter back in the day. He was covering Dukakis in Western Pennsylvania during the 1998 campaign. So, John knows his stuff and I tend to trust his on this. [Lemon:] Let's talk about Florida. Trump is airing a new commercial in Florida, let's listen. [Unidentified Male:] Rubio's been a total no-show in the U.S. Senate with the very worst voting record of all. Marco Rubio, another corrupt, all-talk, no-action politician. [Lemon:] So, we haven't seen too many Trump ads. What does that tell you? [Hewitt:] Well, it tells me he's playing to win and he's got a good argument that he's making repeatedly. But I have been in Miami for one day, Don, and I've probably seen 40 ads. Most of them are anti-Trump ads. Some of them using his own language run by super PACS. And I it's a 10 major media markets. [Lemon:] We have one. Do you want to listen? [Hewitt:] Yes, please. [Lemon:] All right. Let's play it. [Unidentified Male:] When I heard Donald Trump insult my fellow prisoners of war from Vietnam by calling us losers, that was the most infuriating comment I think I've heard from a politician in my entire life. Trump would not have survived a POW experience. He would have been probably the first one to fold. Learn about Donald Trump. He is not what he appears to be. Donald Trump is a phony. Stop him now. [Lemon:] How effective is this? Continue your thought. [Hewitt:] It's very effective in Florida. This is probably the state with the most active duty military registered to vote, because, it is, of course, military can register to vote anywhere they can declare their residence. There are a lot of them in Florida. If you remember the recount in BushGore in 2000, the absentees that came in from the military, that is a devastating ad. And I expect Donald Trump to be up responding with his long-standing support of veterans groups for a long time. But nevertheless, an air war is how you win Florida, and Rubio's got the turf at this point. I'll watch every day and new ads will arrive between now and next Tuesday. And I have so say, Don, I think that Thursday night's debate and I'm pleased to be a part of that one, is going to be the most significant primary debate in the history of television. Not like a presidential debate, but I've never seen a debate with higher stakes than Thursday night. [Lemon:] Yes, OK. Well, we all will be watching. We'll be watching you. Thank you, Hugh Hewitt. I'll see you soon. [Hewitt:] Always a pleasure, Don. [Lemon:] Make sure make sure you yes. Mae sure you stay with CNN. March madness on the campaign trail. We're going to have all the day's coverage tomorrow. Super Tuesday, round two. Wednesday night, we're simulcasting Univision's democratic debate from Miami. It's at 9 Eastern. And on Thursday, CNN's republican debate from Miami, 8.30 p.m. Eastern Time. And up next, the move to stop Donald Trump and draft House Speaker Paul Ryan as the republican nominee. I'm going to talk to the man who is leading the charge and get reaction from Trump's campaign. Also ahead, which candidate is best at getting the last word in this race? [Costello:] Dylann Roof convicted on all charges in last summer's massacre inside the Emanuel AME Church. Roof standing silently as each verdict was read, guilty, 33 times over. This crime shaking America's core, shooting at point-blank range nine African- Americans who moments before had been praying with him. Next month a jury will decide whether he gets life behind bars or death. I talked with one victim's brother last hour. [Malcolm Graham, Brother Of Victim Cynthia Hurd:] If there's any case in America where the death penalty is deserved, it is this one. He's a coward. He's a racist. And as I said earlier, there's no place in a civilized society for him and there's no place in America's smallest jail for him. And so I believe as the attorney general has recommended this case to be a capital case, that he ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. [Costello:] CNN's Nick Valencia live in Charleston with more. Hi, Nick. [Nick Valencia, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Six days of testimony, nearly two hours of deliberation for the jurors, unanimously to find Dylann Roof guilty on all charges. It was a very emotional day in the courtroom yesterday, as you can imagine. I was standing two rows behind Dylann Roof. His hand noticeably fidgeting, his ears turning red as each of those counts was read back-to-back, guilty on all counts. Perhaps the most emotion coming from the family members of the victims, those that had to stand and watch the prosecution in their closing arguments, the defense in their closing arguments, painting him as a loner, a white supremacist who was inspired by the Internet. The prosecution simply saying that there's hatred in this courtroom. Those family members as they heard the guilty verdicts, some of them wiped tears from their eyes. Others bowed their head in prayer. But perhaps the most emotional moment came during the closing arguments for the prosecution, when they unexpectedly showed a photo of the bloody crime scene, these bloody bodies of the worshippers lying down at that bible study. [Unidentified Male:] Love heals, love destroys, just like in this particular situation. He thought he was starting a race war but look at what love conquered. Look at the unity and how Charleston came together. [Valencia:] The penalty phase is next. That will happen on January 3rd. Dylann Roof is expected to represent himself during that penalty phase against the advice of the judge. Roof asked yesterday if he understood what this meant. He says yes, he had spoken to it with his family and he still plans to represent himself when court reconvenes next month Carol. [Costello:] All right. Nick Valencia, reporting live from Charleston this morning, thank you. Checking some other top stories for you at 49 minutes past. The youths accused of starting those wildfires in Tennessee could spend the rest of their lives in prison. That's if they are convicted of first-degree murder. The juveniles haven't been named. It's not clear if they will be charged as adults but a local prosecutor tells CNN, quote, "Everything is on the table." Those fires left 14 people dead and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses. Effective immediately, the state of Michigan will have self-driving cars on the road. General Motors is the second car giant to fully test autonomous cars on public roads. Ford began testing its cars last year. GM will test their modified Chevy Bolt around the Detroit metro area in the next few months. Bundle up because, man, it's freezing outside. And I mean that literally. Nearly 80 percent of the country faced with below freezing temperatures today and those temperatures will continue to be frigid into the next week. The northeast is under a deep freeze advisory with wind chill warnings that could cause travel delays. In the meantime, the northern plains into the Great Lakes is expected to get smacked with nearly one foot of snow. And just think, I'm going to Detroit in just a few hours. First Lady Michelle Obama now opening up in a candid conversation about Donald Trump. In a sit-down with Oprah, Mrs. Obama for the first time revealing her feelings about the man set to assume her husband's role as commander-in-chief and what our country needs from him. [Michelle Obama, First Lady:] Having a grown-up in the White House who can say to you in times of crisis and turmoil, hey, it's going to be OK, let's remember the good things that we have, let's look at the future, let's look at all the things that we're building. All of this is important for our kids to stay focused and to feel like their work isn't in vain, that their lives aren't in vain. [Costello:] CNN's Suzanne Malveaux at the White House with more on this. Good morning. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn National Correspondent:] Yes, good morning, Carol. Well, it's just a couple of days after the election that I covered Michelle Obama hosting Melania Trump here at the White House and unlike her husband, there were not live cameras capturing the moment but rather a White House photo that was released of the two of them having tea. Carol, it is obvious here that the first lady is going through a process, if you will. She put in a lot of sweat equity on the campaign trail, and spent a lot of personal and political capital, often calling Trump, excoriating Trump's character, often not even by name but saying we don't need somebody who's going to pop off at the White House. We need a grownup. She's said that numerous times. And I think what you are seeing here is a first lady who is profoundly disappointed and is willing to show openly, publicly, her feelings about it. Take a listen to this. [Obama:] We are feeling what not having hope feels like, you know. Hope is necessary. It's a necessary concept and Barack didn't just talk about hope because he thought it was just a nice slogan to get votes. I mean, he and I and so many believe that if what else do you have if you don't have hope? What do you give your kids if you can't give them hope? [Malveaux:] And Carol, obviously Trump supporters would say that the new president gives them hope, speaks to their dreams and aspirations, but First Lady Michelle Obama leaves the White House with an approval rating close to 64 percent, according to the latest Gallup poll. It's led many people some people to ask her, call her to run for president herself. And to that she says no, thank you Carol. [Costello:] And I understand why. Suzanne Malveaux, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Hillary Clinton called it an epidemic. Now Facebook says it's taking steps to wipe out fake news. We will tell you how. [Allen:] In Canada, an official says Alberta's most threatening wildfire could double in size in the coming hours. Emergency crews worked all day on Friday to evacuate thousands of people to the provincial capital, Edmonton. If conditions are safe, a convoy will start up again in just a few hours to help thousands more people escape the flames. The fire has scorched more than 1,000 square kilometers and distraught residents are trying to come to terms with their staggering losses. Our Dan Simon is there. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Flames and smoke filling the sky as a convoy of desperate residents flee the danger zone. [Simon:] What have these last few days been like? [Unidentified Female:] Hell on Earth. Just like hell. [Simon:] And the scenes are hellish. The fire that started five days ago is still out of control. And for the displaced, it's gone from bad to worse. Because food and water is running low, Canadian authorities moving some 25,000 people from camps, a double evacuation. What was it like being in the camp? [Unidentified Female:] Hard. They rationed food. Low water. People were upset because they don't know what's going on. [Simon:] The fire has burned nearly 250,000 acres, more than 10 times the size of Manhattan. In one of the more remarkable surveillance videos ever captured, a homeowner could watching his own house go down in flames only 20 minutes after evacuating. Sixteen hundred structures, including homes and businesses destroyed. The heaviest damage in Ft. McMurray. A resident films his burned out neighborhood after seeing it for the first time. [Unidentified Male:] This is my house. It was my house. Ashes are cool now. Nothing left. It's gone. [Unidentified Female:] Oh, my God. Our house is going to burn down. [Simon:] In another video, we hear a woman's desperation as she drives by the flames destroying her community. As weary residents leave the area, they are greeted by fuel trucks with gas stations either destroyed or down due to power outages. Fuel is a precious commodity. [Unidentified Male:] Makes a guy feel good to actually help these people because they've been through so much loss and so much devastation lately. [Allen:] Always to see Good Samaritans stepping in. You know, Derek Van Dam's here with us now. We've seen the video. But that woman right there, crying from her car, that's just an audio a very powerful little clip of what they're dealing with [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] the pictures, they speak 1,000 words. We just keep going back to that dashcam footage of the embers and the ashes falling from sky as that convoy of cars tries to leave Fort McMurray. That is really compelling visual and the stories are harrowing coming out of that area, communities coming together to try and help each other evacuate as quickly as possible. Really, our hearts go out to those people. Hey, I got a question for you, Natalie, to try and put this into perspective. Have you ever been to Rome? [Allen:] I have not. [Van Dam:] OK. Well, I've been there; it's a very large place. A lot of our viewers are from Rome or have traveled there. And the size of the Fort McMurray fire, as it stands right now, is roughly the same size as Rome. It's huge 25 percent bigger than New York City. It's even bigger than Hong Kong. And these are just massive wildfires out of control. And it doesn't appear that it's going to get any better at least for the next 24 hours. We do have some relief in sight for the end of the weekend. More on that in just one moment. Large area of smoke still battering parts of the United States. In fact, this has been seen from a NASA Modus satellite image. We'll bring up this a little bit closer for you so you can see it. Natalie, you may have noticed a bit of a haze over the skies today in Atlanta. That's actually the smoke that caught in the jet stream, all the way from Alberta, Canada, right into the southeastern United States. [Allen:] Yes, and it brought our Canadian cool weather here, too. [Van Dam:] Yes, it sure did and it brought a nice sunset as well. [Allen:] All right, Derek, thank you. We want to turn now to Venezuela. Of course the people there have been hurting; the economic crisis there is getting worse. The country is a major oil producer and has been suffering all the more from declining oil prices. The opposition is trying to remove President Nicolas Maduro. Rolling blackouts are making life in Venezuela even more miserable. Our Paula Newton reports from west of Caracas. [Paula Newton, Cnn Correspondent:] For months now in Venezuela they've been rationing basics. People line up for hours just for food. Hospitals are rationing medicines and supplies and now everywhere, except in the capital Caracas, the energy superpower is rationing electricity, too. We travelled to the industrial heartland in the city of Valencia, where scheduled blackouts are the new reality. From bakeries to small businesses to families, no one is escaping a daily dose of power rationing. Julio Perez walks us through his blacked-out bakery. Every day for at least four hours, the power is cut, he complains, and his business takes a hit. "Besides not having supplies," he tells me, "now I have to deal with the power rationing." He says the already precious products he has are at risk of spoiling. He can't make coffee for customers, can't tell them when he will have bread. "It's the same for salon owner, Alison Vandez, no power. No customers." City counselor Manuel Molina walks us through what was a busy business area, now nearly shuttered. [Newton:] What's the situation right now in Valencia? How critical is it? "The situation in our country and our city is critical right now," he's explaining. "We have seen 30 percent of our businesses close." Molina blames the government mismanagement for the crisis but the Venezuelan government calls this a natural disaster. El Nino, it says, has deprived the Guri Dam of water and it produces most of Venezuela's electricity. Gladys Ocai isn't buying any of it. "My blender is broken. My refrigerator is broken," and she walks me over to show me. "I have meat in here and, you can imagine, this goes bad. I have to keep it closed." "El Nino" she says, "forget El Nino." She, too, blames the government. No matter who is to blame, there is no quick solution and it's taking a toll on communities and families. The Ocais never thought life could get tougher. Now every day when the lights go out, they know it will Paula Newton, CNN, Valencia, Venezuela. [Allen:] Well, back in the U.S., West Virginia residents hope U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump can make their state great again. Coal production in this mining state has been plunging. And as CNN's Martin Savidge reports, many West Virginians hope the presumptive Republican nominee can turn things around. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] At Big Daddy's off highway 50 outside Grafton, it's open mike night. And they're singing the blues. It's no secret Donald Trump is the favorite here. During a break, John Haddix tells me why. [John Haddix, Retired Aircraft Mechanic:] I think he can change things. I think he can make things better for our town, for our state. [Savidge:] Look around the clock. It's a microcosm of West Virginia. Overwhelmingly white, mostly older, less college educated and earning less than the rest of the country. [Scott Crisholwo, Political Science Expert, West Virginia Univ:] We fit Donald Trump's demographics to a T. And in terms of his message, his message is about turning back to a greater America. And a lot of West Virginians do feel like they haven't gotten a fair shake. [Savidge:] It's all about coal. West Virginia coal helped to make America great the first time. [Diana Bartley, Business Owner:] Because our coal is what fire manufacturers. It's what lights up our cities. [Savidge:] That business is... [Bartley:] It's decimated. [Savidge:] Concerns over climate change have the EPA cracking down on coal's use. As a result, according to a study by West Virginia University, coal production here has plummeted by more than one-third in just seven years, with some counties seeing job losses of 25 percent to 33 percent in just the last three to four years. The latest state economic numbers show West Virginia back in recession. No wonder Trump's promise for a return to past greatness means so much here. [Tony Ujhelyi, Donald Trump Supporter:] We always were a powerful nation in the world. We need to be and we need to be a leader in the world. [Savidge:] Coal's decline not just changed lives. It's changed politics. Time was West Virginia's coal fields were some of the most consistently Democratic voting areas in the country. In 1992, Bill Clinton won the state with 48 percent of the vote. In '96, 51 percent. Twenty years later, campaigning in the state for his wife, this is what Bill Clinton got Many here blame the party they once loved for turning its back on coal. And when Hillary Clinton outlined her clean energy policy on CNN, well, this is the only part many people in West Virginia heard. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We're going to put a lot of coal miners and coal companies out of business. [Savidge:] Clinton has since said her comments were taken out of context but the damage was done. [Haddix:] When you come out and say you're going to close the coal mines, it's not been received too well. [Savidge:] These days in West Virginia, there are two kinds of trains, coal trains and the Trump train. And for the latter, it's all aboard because, in this state, they're tired of the blues. [Allen:] Well, finally bad news for fans of Boaty McBoatface. That name was selected over thousands of other choices in an online vote to name this new British research vessel. It earned more than 120,000 votes last month but now the U.K.'s Natural Environment Research Council has rejected the name, instead opting to name the ship after Sir David Attenborough, a legendary British broadcaster who inspired a love of nature. So much for Boaty McBoatface. Thanks for watching. I'm Natalie Allen. We've got much more on the U.S. presidential election right ahead with "POLITICAL MANN" and your top stories. [Harlow:] A Syrian refugee family is calling the Vatican home. It is the first of two families that Pope Francis vow to house at the Vatican after personally requesting that parishes and families take in refugees. Nearly half a million refugees across the Mediterranean Sea and flooded into Europe. Nearly 3,000 have died just trying to make the journey. That is according to the U.N. refugee agency. The United Nations world food program has been providing assistance to millions in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, but it is struggling to continue. Many of those refugees are now living on just 50 cents a day. Ertharin Cousin is the executive director of the world food program and her role often poster at the center of the crisis zone. She joins me now. Thank you for being with me. [Ertharin Cousin, Executive Director, World Food Program:] Thank you so much, Poppy, for having me. [Harlow:] You and I have spoken extensively in the past about this. Can you take us into these camps and what these refugees are going through? I think it will help people understand more why they are fleeing and risking their lives. [Cousin:] Well, the reality of it is we have been feeding people who have been fleeing the conflict inside Syria for over four years now. And inside Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq, and Egypt, there are over four million refugees who have been the host of those countries, or the guests of those countries for all of that time. [Harlow:] Yes. [Cousin:] And throughout that period we have provided them with food assistance. This year the contributions aren't coming in, so at the level that's required. So what that means is it has forced us to reduce the amount of food assistance that we are providing people. The voucher that gives people the ability to purchase their own food, we have cut in half. And as you said, what we are giving now is an average of 50 cents per person per day. But the saddest part is that we've actually cut off 360,000 people since September. Those are people who are living in host communities in both Jordan and Lebanon. Those are people who now no longer have access to food assistance. [Harlow:] Ertharin, you had the unique experience, you are based in Rome. And you met with the Pope. And you briefed him on the situation with Syrian refugees. What was that like? [Cousin:] It was a humbling experience. To sit with someone who has the Grace of the Pope and explain to him and explain to him at his request what we were doing inside Syria, trying to feed four million people every month. Outside Syria, working to go feed 1.9 million people. And hearing him talk about his commitment to making hunger, the reduction, the elimination of hunger and peace part of his mission. For someone like me who spends all of their time trying to bring attention to those who the 60 million refugees who are now trying to find homes across the world, that was heartwarming. And as I said, it was gratifying and humbling. And I believe when you have the Pope on your side, we can begin to make a difference in the lives of people who require so much from us. [Harlow:] We have also seen what this my grant crisis, refugee crisis has done in terms of politically dividing an ideologically dividing people within Europe. We heard the president of the European commission recently [Cousin:] What's needed is peace. So that people can go home and find their opportunities back in their own country. But until there is peace, until there is opportunities, until there is safety in the places that are driving out these 60 million people, then we as a global community have a responsibility to embrace those who are refugees. That is part of the partnership that we make as a community of nations. And we cannot change that those requirements as we are seeing more people coming to the different countries, whether it's Europe or Jordan or Lebanon. Jordan and Lebanon have kept their borders open for the Syrian refugees, for over four years. Jordan now runs two shifts of schools in order to attempt to accommodate children from Syria in schools. So if we as a global community share this responsibility, we must all live up to it. [Harlow:] You have told me before what gets you out of bed in the morning is knowing that you can make a difference. I think we all know refugees a difference. Where can people go to help, Ertharin? [Cousin:] People can go to www.wfp.org and or any of the UN agencies. Children need education. Families need medicine. And of course people need food. But more importantly, we need to ensure that refugees from wherever they come, wherever they go, that we recognize our responsibility, and our humanity requires us to continue to serve for those who are just like us, who just want safety, security, and opportunity for their children. [Harlow:] I think you said it very well. Humanity requires us. Ertharin Cousin, executive director of the U.N.'s world food program. Thank you so much for this and for all that you do. We appreciate it. And for all of you watching, I want you to go to CNN.comimpact, againimpact for more ways to help. We'll be right back. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] The search for debris from MH370 could soon expand to nearby island, and testing will begin in the coming days to match a piece of wing with the missing airliner. On the eve of the major announcement from the White House on climate change, flooding leaves dozens dead in Asia. And wild fire swift across California and Australia. And officials in China are taking a closer look at the safety of escalators of yet another serious accident. Hello, everybody great to have you with us I'm John Vause and this is CNN Newsroom. This week experts will try to determine if newly recovered airplane debris belongs to the missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Malaysian officials say the wing piece called the flaperon is from Boeing 777, the same type of plane used by MH370. It was found last week on Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean. Investigators will start analyzing the part on Wednesday in France. Teams from Boeing and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will also help. Meantime, search teams and civilians just scouring the beaches on Reunion Island for more wreckage. They find a number of objects but so far nothing link to an aircraft. MH370 disappeared in March last year with 239 people on board and a leading theory is that someone deliberately took the plane of course. But now we're hearing another possibility. A security bridge which could have happened right under the pilot's fate Kyung Lah explains. [Kyung Lah, Cnn National Correspondent:] The washed up debris still brings pilots no closer to a consensus on the greatest mystery of their profession. CAPTAIN ROSS AIMER, [Ceo Aero Consulting Experts:] There's all kinds of theories. Everybody has a different theory. [Lah:] U.S. Intelligence Agencies believe it's likely the plain was deliberately stirred by someone on in the cockpit. But retired United Airlines pilot Ross Aimer flew the 777 and trained pilots on the jet at Boeing. He says the debris launch a new round speculation among his fellow pilots. Among the theories a section of the aircraft known as the E.E. Bay or the Electronics Bay may have been breached. What's in the Electronics Bay? [Aimer:] This is basically the brain and heart of an aircraft. In case of the 777 which is very highly electronic aircraft, all the electronics that control the entire airplane are in that Electronic Bay. So this is the most important part of this aircraft farther than the engines. And so, every pilot that flies a 777 knows how to get down there. [Lah:] Its design for maintenance access but here you can manage all flights systems, taking total control of the plane. We're not going to show you where the access is on the aircraft. But we will show you what's widely available on the internet. In this aviation video view of thousands of times on line you can see in the bay various electronics, wires, and green tanks. That concern floated by some pilots they say Boeing manufactures and delivers the 777 within unsecured access store. Most of the airlines add a lock and the access is hidden. So only crew and perhaps some aviation enthusiast would know how to get in, that's why a breach abort MH370 as something that pilot says it's possible but unlikely. Investigators around the world found no immediate red flags from anyone on board. More likely believers Aimer a catastrophic fire or even that one of the crew perhaps Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah or co pilot Farid Abdul Hamid were somehow involved. [Aimer:] One of the things that investigators do they never leave any stone unturned. They look at just about any possibility. [Lah:] Kyung Lah, CNN, Los Angeles. [Vause:] Right now the CNN's David Molko is been following developments from Hong Kong. So David, so far just that one piece of airplane debris that's been found on Reunion Island, but that might change because it seems the searching may be getting a little bigger. [David Molko, Cnn Correspandent:] That's right John this is the only thing they have to go by. Remember that in 500 days the only piece of physical evidence. The Malaysians are now asking for help from with its surrounding saying, "Can you help us with your experts, can you help us look out for debris so that something washes up we can identify it?" Now, it's going to be interesting to see what kind of foreign mistakes in countries like the Island of the Mauritius on Madagascar maybe even down the coast of Africa, Mozambique, South Africa. Will we see a search like we saw in the initial weeks after the plane disappearance where there will be boats on the water, or plane and planes in the air? Could it be more grassroots with communities combing the beaches looking for a sign of anything at this point? John, know, all they have to go on right now is this flaperon which is now in Toulouse. [Vause:] One of the problems for investigators here is what Malaysian officials have described as a treasure hunt mentality. What does that mean? [Molko:] I don't know if treasure hunt is the most sensitive way of putting it this when we're talking about potentially, you know, 239 people losing their lives. But I think what he's getting at here is this idea that there had been so many false alarms in terms of sighting, not only early on in the investigation but on this island. Remember, John, Reunion Island, tiny island, now at the center of this international search. We heard in the past 24 hours, upwards of 10 or a dozen objects are being turned into police by curious islanders, people out trying to help or actually just trying to get some attention for themselves. Take a listen to what one man there says he found. [Unidentified Male:] Maybe a stick, the edge of a staircase to access the cabin. I don't know. [Unidentified Female:] Where did you find it? [Unidentified Male:] On the sea front, not far from where they found the other bit of debris. [Molko:] Nothing conclusive at this point, John, except for that flaperon, that piece attached the wing which Malaysia now has confirmed it's been officially from a 777. [Vause:] And with regards to that piece of wing, the flaperon. The French have no plans to take a serious look at it until Wednesday. That's a week after it was found. Why so long? [Molko:] John, that's at least what they're saying publicly. Just remember how many different parties are involved in this into this investigation. The Malaysians are running the investigation, it was found in French territory. The Americans are involved, China is involved as well. What we know of what will happen in the coming hours is French and Malaysian investigators will sit down with the judge in France. That's because this is now part of a criminal investigation. They're going to lay this out, how they plan to proceed. They're going to do this by the book carefully. Everybody wants to be on the same page. And critically, John here, they can't make a mistake. There's no room for error here. The families have said, 99 percent isn't good enough. They want to know conclusively, 100 percent, whether or not this piece is from MH370. [Vause:] Yeah, OK, David, thank you. David Molko, there reporting live for us in Hong Kong. Thanks David. Now to a migrant crisis in Europe, more than 360 African migrants arrived at a Sicilian port on Sunday. According to Reuters, about 1,800 migrants were rescued by the Italian cost guard just over the weekend. A U.N. refugee agency says Italy has received about 90,000 migrants by sea just this year. Meantime in France, Reuters also reporting that police blocked migrants trying to access the Euro tunnel on Sunday night. Migrants desperate to reach Britain have stepped up attempts to cross the tunnel in recent weeks. French and British officials have pledged nearly $11 million to improve security around the tunnel. Monsoon flooding is inundating parts of Asia. A local news reporter in Myanmar stood in chest deep waters to show just how bad it is. The U.N. says at least 27 people have been killed. More than 150,000 people displaced so far. Consistent rain is also a problem in northern Vietnam. Reports say at least 17 people killed in mud slides and flooding. Thousands, again, have been displaced. Environmentalists are concerned about water contamination as thousands of tons of coal may have been swept away in the floods. A tropical cyclone, responsible for this relentless rainfall is slowly moving across central India and also bringing a threat to other parts of Asia being flooding as well. Maybe listen to Derek Van Dam is with us. So, what's the forecast here? What are we looking at? [Derek Van Dam, Cnn Meteorologist:] Well, John, unfortunately more rainfall. We're starting to measure rain in meters and not millimeters any longer. This is serious stuff. It's a slow moving storm system. And unfortunately, this tropical cyclone has spawned off landslides that have swept away entire villages across India's most northeastern state that's Manipur in the Chandel District. Take a look at some of the visuals coming out of that area. And you can see people just trying to deal with the inundation of heavy rainfall. And it has been intense. You can see just how difficult that makes life there. Unfortunately, there were 20 fatalities with this particular landslide that swept through this region. You can see with the graphics behind me. If we come back to my weather graphics, you'll see the large area of low pressure that's in question here. This is just drawing in moisture from the Bay of Bengal. It's brought the heavy rainfall to Myanmar as well as Bangladesh. And we mentioned some of the landslides and mudslides that have inundated villages. Look at this. This is flooding from the Myanmar region. And I mentioned also, rainfall being measured in meters, not millimeters. This is impressive. This is mind boggling. I have not seen something like this since working at CNN for the past year. Over 1,000 millimeters of rainfall, that's a seven day total by the way. But nonetheless that is still very, very impressive. We have Odisha State currently with very severe monsoon rains. And that stretches towards the north and west as well. You can just see this large circulation pattern across central India that will continue to bring the heavy rainfall to that area. This is part of a bigger storm system. If you just look, you can see this troff that extends all across Bangladesh into Myanmar as well as Vietnam. You saw some of that video footage coming out of that region, with some of the motorcycles being washed down the stream in city streets. That is all thanks to this large tropical troff that will continue to bring heavy rainfall to the cost of Vietnam. In fact, I've traveled to this region, Hanoi, Ha Long Bay. This is a beautiful part of the world. But it is being shoved in with heavy rainfall and the possibility of more flooding exists. You can see rainfall totals in that area exceeding 150 millimeters on top of what we've already experienced. This is serious stuff. And flooding like this will be catastrophic for some of those smaller villages and the smaller communities. So, people are really bonding together to try and do what they can to protect themselves. [Vause:] And we have a lot of weather to report this hour. So, we've got the flooding there. But we also have fire supposedly raging across a lot of homes. So, let's get to that right now. There's been some major fires that are having a huge impact with southern Australia. Firefighters are battling a huge bush fire in the Blue Mountains. That's in New South Wales, just west of Sydney. Some rain there helped crews get the upper hand. But the rough terrain, gusty winds could keep this fire burning for days. We go to the United States now. At least 21 wildfires are raging across California forcing about 12,000 people to evacuate their homes. The rocky fire in the northern part of the state has swelled to 47,000 acres, more than 19,000 hectares. It's destroyed dozens of structures and is threatening thousands more. And people in a suburb in Jerusalem are returning to their homes after a forest fire. Local media say about 700 people were evacuated. The possibility of arson is being investigated. But the area has recently been hit with searing temperatures. But to the Middle East, is sweltering under those high temperatures. And on top of that, Jordan's capital was hit by a massive sandstorm on Sunday. This is Amman covered by a huge dust cloud. The entire city was engulfed by it all. The storm disrupted air traffic in and out of Amman forcing some flights to be diverted. And today, the United States will unveil a sweeping action plan for tackling climate change. The proposal will set the first ever standards to limit carbon pollution from coal burning power plants and aims to reduce emissions by 32 percent over the next 15 years. This move is likely to draw fire from Republican law makers as well as the coal industry. But president Barack Obama says this action cannot wait. [Barack Obama, President, United States Of America:] Climate change is not a problem for another generation. Not anymore. That's why on Monday, my administration will release the final version of America's clean power plant. The biggest, most important step we've ever taken t combat climate change. [Vause:] CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein joins us now from Los Angeles. Mr. Ron this rather plan is described as an all out push by Obama to spend a legacy as the first president to real action on climate change. But the reality is it will be up to his successors to implement it. And President Donald Trump doesn't even believe in climate change. [Ron Brownstein, Senior Political Analyst, Cnn:] And that's a real challenge. I mean, and I think there is a key development here or key the turning point here is whether he is able to get the rule in final form before he leaves office. Because what we saw at the Bill Clinton administration is that, it was much easier for a successor administration to undo regulations that were in process than those that were completed. Once it's completed, environmentalists can go to court to try to defend it with a stronger hand than if it still on process. So, you know, he's had a real sense of urgency. I remember him once, you know, telling to people that I've talked to that he once said in a private setting that he kind of operates with a backward clock from the last eight administrations. Thinking what it would take to put this regulation in the most ironclad position. We'll see, as you said, if Donald will potentially be the next president. But it is something that may be stronger than it looks if he can get it into final form before he leaves office. [Vause:] You know, climate change hasn't really been part of the presidential campaign so far. Does this announcement coming Monday, change that dynamic? [Brownstein:] You know, I think it does in the long run. Because one of the striking things about the climate change debate is that it reinforces the existing red-blue political divide that we have in the U.S. By and large, the blue democratic states are less dependent on coal for their electricity, less integrated, and more generally into the fossil fuel economy. And the red states are the ones that rely more on coal which of course is the big loser in his regulation and more integrated to into the fossil fuel economy more generally. Four fifths of the states that voted for Mit Romney in 2012 emit more carbon per capita than the national average. And in perfect symmetry, four fifths of the states that voted for Barack Obama emit less. And so, what I think this regulation does as it becomes an issue and it will be. A big point of contention both in Congress and the courts is reinforce this political divide that we're living in the [U.s. Vause:] This measures alone, as tough as they are, if they're fully implemented, even the White House they're not going to do a lot to reduce global temperatures world wide like 0.01 percent, I think. But this is all about symbolism. It's all about this meeting coming up on climate change in December. It's about the United States setting the way for other countries to follow. [Brownstein:] Right, and that's why I don't think I would use the word symbolism. It really is about, kind of, reciprocity. I mean, certainly Obama taking these steps. Not only this of course but what he did in his first term in breaking a decades long stalemate over increasing fuel economy standards for automobiles and light trucks gives him more credibility to other countries and make the case that we are taking difficult steps and you need to do the same. You know, the way that Paris talks are structured for this all. They are no longer trying to get some global sweeping international agreement. They are tying to get each major country to set its own targets. And then have a, kind of a verification system for that. And certainly in the agreement that Obama was able to announce last year with China, the fact that he was moving forward on this front gave him more leverage to seek their won changes which really could be the key to, kind of broader movement across the international community. [Vause:] OK, Ron. It's good to speak with you. You know, it will be an interesting one to watch. I think, they're talking at one stage is that it's going to be two hot, possibly, to have this announcement outside. That's quite an issue. [Brownstein:] Yes, it's striking. [Vause:] Quite striking, absolutely. Ron, thanks a lot. We appreciate you being with us. Lots of researchers tracking Jericho The Lion has confirmed the animal is alive and well. Oxford University tweeted a photo out of Jericho, was taken on Sunday morning. The Zimbabwe consolation task force told CNN on Saturday that a hunter illegally killed Jericho. Later the group's chairman told our Fredricka Whitfield, they've now confirmed Jericho is in fact alive. [Johnny Rodrigues, Chairman, Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force:] I had received a message from people on the ground, in the wide key area, that they said that Jericho was shot and he was dead. So, we were concerned if it was the same repetition on the on Jericho which happened to sizzle. And we thought we'd actually publish it and tell people. Because I had confirmed from three trustworthy people and it wasn't true. Jericho was actually seen this morning. Because anybody can shoot a lion and take the belt and move around, put it on a dog or any other animal. So, we had one of the investigators that got in. And they confirmed that Jericho was alive and the cubs are alive. [Vause:] Jericho was said to be caring for the cubs. As Cecil the Lion who was killed in an alleged illegal hunt and that has caused international outrage. Jericho and Cecil had actually called brothers. But the director of the wildlife conservation unit officer had actually told us that they weren't related. This is disturbing, a janitor at a shopping mall in Shanghai lost his foot after it became stuck in an escalator. It was amputated. Surveillance footage shows one of the steps flipping up the employee tried to mop the escalator. He was able to hit the emergency shut off button. It all happened Saturday evening and all this, less than one week after a mother saved her young son but was herself killed in a similar escalator accident in Central China. Safety officials tell Chinese state media that an increasing number of aging escalators and elevators in the country need to be reviewed. We'll take a short break but when we come back, outrage and sorrow across Israel after a teenage girl's stabbed at a gay pride parade, died of her wounds. Those details still to come. Also, comrades pay their final respects to a British citizen who died fighting ISIS. [Costello:] Donald Trump knocks Ted Cruz out of the presidential race, but it was how Cruz elbowed his way out that has the Internet lighting up. Here's more from Jeanne Moos. [Jeanne Moos, Cnn Correspondent:] When fans of Ted Cruz say "cruz'n for a bruisin'", they do not mean bruising Cruz's wife. But when Ted announced he was suspending his campaign, his wife Heidi was the one he poked and then elbowed in the head, inspiring headlines like, "love means not accidentally elbowing your wife in the face." The video went viral as a guilty pleasure, slo-mooed and made into countless gifts with sound effects added, even a wrestling announcer's voice. Tweeted one critic, "why would Ted Cruz notice he accidentally bashed his wife's head in? He didn't notice when another woman fell off the damn stage." That would be his short-lived running mate Carly Fiorina. [Carly Fiorina , Former Presidential Candidate:] Ted Cruz. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Okay, here's Pope Francis making history in Havana, Cuba, looking at the motorcade right now. The plane landed, he and President Raul Castro gave remarks. President Castro obviously is more political than Pope Francis. Pope Francis meeting children saying, he's here for the people, saying that he extends blessings to those he cannot meet, a little bit of a nod to somewhat of the culture of oppression here in Cuba. And now, here he is, the streets lined by not just the faithful, but the hopeful here in Cuba. Our Patrick Ottman, who lives here in Cuba saying that the enthusiasm he hears from the crowds here is genuine and that not always the case. The Pope keeps getting hit by his frock, which is not unusual, and the way he deals with it so nonchalant about the ceremony of it is one of the things that endears them to the faithful. And he's joined in this modified Pope mobile by Cardinal Ortega, he's very important in what is believed to be the active negotiation by the Vatican between Cuba and the United States to help a re-rapprochement of relations. So, this is the scene here in Cuba. We are joined by the host of the Catholic guy on Sirius XM. Lino, let me ask you, this is cool, this is the ceremony and the celebration, but for the significance, what does the Pope need to do here to satisfy the faithful Catholics, the hopeful Cubans, and the media? [Lino Rulli, Siriusxm Satellite Radio, "the Catholic Guy":] Good question, and I think in a way, believe it or not, the Pope doesn't care. And I know that sounds not flippant [Cuomo:] Probably shouldn't, right? On some level. But why do you say that? [Rulli:] Oh, I say it because, you know, I've been lucky enough to travel with the Pope around the world, whether it be South Korea, or Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and there are many expectations and there are hundreds of thousands or millions, depending on where these places are, and politicians want to use him for this and maybe people on the right of the church want to say one thing and people on the left of it everybody wants to use him for one thing or the other and I think the best expectation he can have when he goes to a place, keeping in mind he's never even been to Cuba before. He had a layover once. That doesn't exactly count, right? Here's a man who is 78-years-old, his first time coming to a country that he's never been to before and to try to reach out with a message of let me help you build a bridge, let me help make friendships, let me do what I can, but don't put so many expectations on me that I can fix everything. So when I come to South Korea and I talk to the people of Seoul, I can't fix everything, but I'll do what I can in the few days I'll have. [Cuomo:] And he's picking areas in the interior, right? That's where the poverty is the hardest. And we're here in Havana, this is right on the coastline, this is the port, this is about as good as it gets in Cuba, but he's going to places that are not just indigenous, but impoverished in that matters. Tomorrow night he's meeting with 2,000 kids and on the table, Wi-Fi and encouragement of sending social media messages, unheard of in this regime. [Rulli:] Especially considering unheard of and he calls himself a dinosaur when it comes to social media. And so that the idea the Pope says, it's very important that the younger people do this. Cuban government doesn't want it, the Pope doesn't even do it himself, but understands the significance, but he also when you talk about not just being in Havana, but other places, somebody asked, why are you going to some of the other places. One place, he said, no Pope has been there before. So it's reaching out to people who might feel excluded by government, by church, by anybody. Especially the poor, the Pope shows up to say I care about you. Not just I care about you, but God cares about you and I don't want you to forget about it. [Cuomo:] Lino Rulli, Sirius XM, "The Catholic Guy," it's great to have your perspective. I appreciate it. Poppy, let's get it back to you. Here history is being made before our eyes, the motorcade, obviously, the Pope on his way to the nunciary here, it's kind of like the consulate for the Catholic Church here. And that's where he's going to stay and we'll keep our eyes on the situation for you. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Just remarkable what we have seen take place in the last hour as the Pope landed for a historic visit to Cuba. I'm Poppy Harlow, you're in the CNN Newsroom, just past 5:00 Eastern. I want to welcome our viewers both here in the United States and around the world as we continue to follow the Pope's historic visit. Chris Cuomo live for us in Havana, as well. We will get back to Chris in a moment. First, though, to politics here in the United States. Donald Trump is standing by his decision to keep quiet when one of his supporters outright called President Obama a Muslim and not an American. Today, Trump is taking to Twitter about the controversy, tweeting a number of times one of the things he said on Twitter, "If I would have challenged the man, the media would have accused me of interfering with the man's right of free speech. A no-win situation." I want to go straight to MJ Lee, he joins us from Iowa, that is where a number of the candidates are speaking at this freedom and faith forum tonight. Donald Trump expected to speak just around 7 p.m. Eastern. But MJ, let's go through some of these tweets. You talked about a moral obligation, whether he has to defend the President or not. [Mj Lee, Cnn Politics Reporter:] That's right, Poppy. After being uncharacteristically silent, he broke that silence today releasing a number of tweets basically defending his decision not to correct a supporter, who as you mentioned, referred to President Obama as a Muslim and referred to Muslims as being a problem in this country. Here's one of the tweets that Trump released today. He said, "Am I morally obligated to defend the President every time somebody says something bad or controversial about him? I don't think so!" Exclamation point. He also said it was probably one of the first times that he had created a controversy by not saying something rather than by saying something. [Harlow:] I know there's been a lot of response, not only from Democrats, as you would expect, but also from his fellow Republicans. What are we hearing? [Lee:] That's right. Trump's arrival both Democrats and Republicans on the campaign trail are being asked to respond to Trump's decision not to correct this supporter and Democrats and Republicans are having to address this issue. Democrats are, obviously, finding this an easy opportunity to pounce on Donald Trump, whereas Republicans are giving a series of mixed answers. They seem a little more hesitant to go after Trump, saying that it's not always the candidate's responsibility to correct supporters in what they say. [Harlow:] All right, we'll be following it again, hear what Trump says in person tonight and in tomorrow morning, he will be on CNN's "State of the Union" with Jake Tapper. MJ Lee, thank you very much. Let's talk more about the republican race for the White House, a newest controversy surrounding Donald Trump. Marc Lamont Hill is with me, Matt Schlapp also here. Marc is a professor at Morehouse College. Matt is chairman of the American Conservative Union, he was political director in the George W. Bush White House. Thank you gentlemen for being here. Marc, let me begin with you, Trump tweeting also that basically if he would have challenged the man, the media would have accused him of interfering with the man's right of free speech, calling it a no-win situation. What do you make of whether this can hurt test one Trump? [Marc Lamont Hill, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it absolutely can hurt him. I mean, whenever you say things that are considered this objectionable to large sector of a voting block is problematic. I mean, whether his base cares about it is a different story. I think what makes him look weak at this moment though is the fact that he's pivoted so many times. I mean, his camp said they didn't understand what the person was saying. [Harlow:] Right. [Hill:] Now, we heard it but we didn't want to interfere with his First Amendment rights. [Harlow:] Right. [Hill:] The truth is, there's no evidence of that. John McCain interrupted a woman who was saying negative things about President Obama on the campaign trail, and McCain was applauded for it, he was looked at as a hero by Democrats and Republicans. This was an opportunity for Donald Trump to look presidential, to look above the fray and I think he made a bad choice. Not just the person who misidentified President Obama's religions, but they used the word Muslim as if it were a slur, he said the problem with America is Muslims and we need to figure out how we get rid of them. And in some sense, he may have been complaining terrorism with Islam, which is the most generous interpretation. But either way, it was problematic, it was dangerous and he should have said something. [Harlow:] Matt, to you, you're someone who likes that Donald Trump is in this race. You've said a number of times, including here on CNN, he is good for the political process, good that he is in this race, you're a republican and conservative and you've said we need to hear people in a bit more bold strokes, right? From our candidates in this campaign. What do you think about these remarks and now him coming out with these five tweets today defending them? [Matt Schlapp, Chairman, American Conservative Union:] Well, I mean, we've seen this before and when he said things that were over the line. He has come back and pulled back. Doesn't necessarily apologize. I think it's important to remember in this case he didn't say anything that was over the line. Somebody else said something. I do agree with Marc that it was an opportunity that if he really heard the man and his full question, it was an opportunity for him to delineate between, you know, the extremist radicalized element of Muslim terrorists that are threatening America and, you know, devout Muslims who are not and that's an important delineation, it's incredibly important delineation, because we have the freedom of religion in America. So, when you run for president, it's different than anything else you might do. [Harlow:] And you have eight million Muslims in this country. [Schlapp:] That's right, that's right. And by the way, I'd like them to vote for Republicans. So, I don't think we want I think we have to be careful in the tone here and the approach is important, but it's important to remember, Donald Trump is not the one who said this. Let's be clear. [Harlow:] And it's a question of, is it as important what you don't say as what you say, and that's what the American voters are going to have to decide ahead of the RNC Reince Priebus saying, you know, a week with Jake Tapper on "State of the Union," you know, people, the candidates are accountable for their words. We'll see what effect this has. Matt, Marc, please stay with me. Got to get a break in here. We're going to be back with you. More on the other side and we'll going to hear more from Donald Trump tonight. He will make a few campaign appearances in Iowa, including at the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition at that annual fall banquet trying to get those critical evangelical votes. We'll be right back. [Lemon:] Tonight, you saw Fareed Zakaria's special report on the terrible toll of the Iraq war. War that many reshaping the 2016 company. Fareed is here with me. And also with us special correspondent Jamie Gangel news on the republican who the might be biggest threat to Jeb Bush's presidential ambitions. Fareed, I'll start with you. It's good to have both of you. [Jamie Gangel, Cnn Correspondent:] Thank you. [Lemon:] Fareed, I'll start with you, is it good, do you think, for the country that we are re-litigating the Iraq war right now? [Fareed Zakaria, Fareed Zakaria Gps:] Well, we're not really re- litigating it, but you're certainly right, we're reanalyzing it because there are lots of people at this point, you know, Donald Trump has said on 60 Minutes, he wants to go into Iraq, put boots on the ground and fight ISIS there. So, in a sense, there is a call for a major new intervention. And one of the questions we have to ask is why did the last one not work? Unless we can learn the lessons from that. We're not talking this time about, you know, a far distant country that's very different. We're talking about going into the same country fighting the same war. Again, surely, we want to learn something this time around. [Lemon:] Yes. I was wondering, I was sitting there watching it with one of my producers and we were all in and be seeing it and saying, this is so fascinating because we lived it, but it's fascinating because when you consider the information that we have now that we didn't have then, and now that Jeb Bush is, he's having to defend his brother. Tony Blair apologized, you saw, and in your interview. Si this, what does this mean for his campaign that he's having to defend his brother? Can he live this down, so to speak? [Zakaria:] I think it's very tough. I think that, you know, people say that Bush George W. Bush is popular in the republican base. He's popular amongst some republicans, but there are an awful lot of republicans who are embarrassed by, you know, by watching this and there's a sort of a series of so many errors. that when they want to then say, you know, Obama is incompetent or something, this is a very tough period to have to go through because it reminds you of how many mistakes you say those photographs of how order just collapse in Iraq. Donald Trump has told the military do not do anything. And then, when people would ask, he'd say, stuff happens, freedom is messy. To have to watch that again, I think it's very tough for somebody to come out of that thinking, oh, yes, the Bush administration made all the right decisions. [Don Lemon, Cnn Tonight Show:] Listen to what Donald Trump said to Jake Tapper on State of the Union. [R) U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Right now, Iraq is a training ground for terrorists. Right now, Libya nobody even knows Libya. Frankly, if there is no Iraq and there is no Libya. It's all broken up, they have no control. Nobody knows what's going on. [Jake Tapper, State Of The Union Show:] So, the world would be better off with Saddam Hussein... [Trump:] A 100 percent. [Tapper:] And Gaddafi in powers. [Trump:] And as far as Assad is concerned. [Tapper:] What about the human rights abuses? TRUMP; Let's talk you don't think they're happening now? They're worse now than they were ever were, people are getting their heads chop uo, they're being drowned, they've right now, they're far worse than they were ever under Saddam Hussein or Gadhafi. [Lemon:] There are plenty of voters who agree with Donald Trump. [Zakaria:] There are plenty of voters and of course there were plenty of republicans voters at the time. Remember, George Bush's Secretary of State, Collin Powell, basically had a view not so dissimilar. Which was these guys are bad guys, but they're in a box. Keep them in a box. He went out for a two or three-hour dinner with Bush and tried to convince him. It didn't work out. And that's why I think this is important. Becaue if Collin Powell was not able to convince Bush at the time, we have all this history, we say we all this knowledge. The next before the next guy wants to jump in, we should at least be sure we understand what happened, why it didn't work, what could be even if we're going to do stuff, at least how to do it better the next time. [Lemon:] Jamie, do you want to comment on that or but I also want to go on and talk about the refugee crisis. [Jamie Gangel, Cnn Correspondent:] Go ahead. [Lemon:] OK. All right. Let's talk about it because Donald Trump made some comments about the refugee crisis that got my attention and raise my eyebrows. Take a look at this. [Trump:] Would we be better off, as an example in Iraq, what are we doing? What are we doing? The migration was caused by Iraq, by Libya, by this. We want to give people freedom? We're not going to have our own freedom pretty soon if we keep doing this. We're not going to have our own freedom. They don't want freedom. It's like I saw somebody I won't even say because it's embarrassing. We want it with the women over there don't have to wear the you know what. And then I said, well, that makes sense. That's nice. Then I saw women interviewed. They said we want to wear it. We've worn them for thousands of years. Why would anybody tell us not to they want to. What the hell are we getting involved for? The fact is it's easier. You don't have to put on makeup. Look how beautiful everyone looks. Wouldn't that be easier? Right? Wouldn't that easy? I'll tell you, if I was a woman, I don't want to, I'm ready, darling, let's go. It's true. [Gangel:] We're sitting here laughing at it and I ask Marco Rubio in the interview because Trump had also said that this line about the Hispanics love me. And Rubio said, this is Donald being Donald. And what you just don't know is when does it end? When does he cross the line? When isn't it OK anymore? Or is he like an entertainer or a comedian... [Zakaria:] But to be fair, isn't there there is an element of real intelligence to what he's saying. There are a lot of people who say those are far distant cultures, why are we coming in there and imposing our values? I'm not saying it's right or wrong, but I'm saying as with everything Trump says, there's always a cross of intelligence... [Lemon:] A certain grain of this, and it's probably one of the most interesting things you've ever heard about foreign policy because he inserts some sort of humor in there. [Gangel:] Right. But if any other candidate said that, they would be out. [Zakaria:] By the way, the one thing I would correct him is under those burkas, the women have a lots of makeups. They're really Donald. [Lemon:] So, let's talk about Jeb Bush's adviser, Jamie, they gave him a PowerPoint presentation to donors today, as I understand. [Gangel:] Right. [Lemon:] Listen, Marco Rubio, in one slide as a GOP Obama. [Gangel:] Right. [Lemon:] You caught up Marco Rubio own in the campaign trail. [Gangel:] So, look, two things happen today. The one is, the Jeb Bush folks they're looking at one number, 8 percent, sometimes, 5 percent. [Lemon:] Right. [Gangel:] They are shock and they are shaking things up. I was told today by sources very close to the campaign that they're ripping up the playbook, they're starting again, they said they had nothing to lose. And in the Bush family there is an expression they used for sports games which is "unleash chang," I think they are unleashing Jeb, at that's the plan. Let's see if it works, he's going to be very outspoken. [Lemon:] Here, listen to what he had to say. [Gangel:] So, if some might see, look, Jeb was your friend, he was your mentor, he helps you get elected, he helps you raise money. Some might say this is a betrayal. Couldn't you have waited for another election? [Marco Rubio, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Well, I don't see the presidency that way. I don't see there's a line where we all waited just to presidency off to each other just because you've paid your dues. I'm running for president because I don't see anyone else on either side whose campaigning on the agenda and the views that I have. I don't view the president as some sort of honorific office that you just step aside and let someone else move forward. This is not that kind of thing. We've got to move forward in this country and turn the page. [Gangel:] Jeb has suddenly not so veiled, painted you as Barack Obama 2.0. That you're young, inexperienced, first term senator. Is Jeb Bush more experienced than you are? Is that fair? [Rubio:] Well, I think there are people who are running that have more experienced on the issues we faced 35 years ago, 25 years, or 15 years ago. When it comes to the issue before America and the 21st century, there's no one running that understands or perhaps has shown better judgment on them than I have. And so, when people run for the presidency or any office, they will say things because they think it gives them a competitive advantage. And that's fine. I understand the politics of it. But that's not what the campaign is about for me. [Gangel:] He's rising in the polls, but the gloves are coming off on both sides. [Lemon:] Yes. And he didn't seem to he didn't like those questions so much. [Gangel:] No, I don't think so. [Lemon:] But he answered it. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you, Fareed. I appreciate it. And I want to tell you the Fareed Zakaria special report "The long road to hell America in Iraq" re-airs tonight at midnight, 9 p.m. on the West Coast. Make sure you tune in. It is fascinating. Again, or thanks to Jamie and Fareed. Up next, good news for Dr. Ben Carson in Iowa. Could spell trouble for Donald Trump, though. [Kate Riley, Cnn World Sport Anchor:] Two years we're meeting in the Champions League final round, Real Madrid will yet again face local rivals Atletico in European football showcase event. Real and Man City played out goalless rule in the first leg of their semifinal, and there would be only one goal in this one. Twenty minutes in Gary failed the strike deflected off Fernando for what would be proving to be the winning goal. Real will hope to replicate that success against Atletico in the Champions League as they beat them in the final two years ago and knocked them out of the 2015 quarter finals. Chelsea and Tottenham have both been charged with England's Football Association for failing to control their players and staff. It follows the ugly Melee at the end of Monday's match at Stanford Bridge. Spurs threw away a two-goal lead to concede the title to Leicester City. Tottenham fielder Mousa Dembele is the only individual name after replay seem to show poking Diego Costa in the eye. And we're now just three months away from the opening ceremony to the Rio Olympics and there is more bad news for the credibility of drug testing facilities across the world. South Africa doping control laboratory has become the fourth lab in the last month to be suspended. An appeal can now be made within 21 days of the lab being notified. And that's a look at all your sports headlines. I'm Kate Riley. [Church:] Strong winds are making it hard for firefighters in Canada to battle a huge wild fire. Authorities have put the province of Alberta under a state of emergency. And here's a look from above. You can actually see a smoke cloud enveloping a community with flames close behind. CNN meteorologist, Jennifer Gray has the latest on the evacuations. [Jennifer Gray, Cnn Meteorologist:] Big flames tower over residential area in Alberta, Canada. Instead of welcoming people to Fort McMurray, authorities are scrambling to evacuate the city's 80,000 residents. The uncontrolled wildfire has already consumed some 10,000 hectares of lands, businesses and homes. [Joanne Bates, Fort Mcmurray Resident:] While it's a disaster and I find that it's not fair. They didn't even let us take our things and when we ask so we lost everything there. [Gray:] It's the largest fire-related evacuation in Alberta's history. At least one suburb is believed to be 80 percent destroyed, consumed by flames. [Darby Allen, Wood Buffalo Regional Fire Department Chief:] It's been the worst day of my career. And I am you know, the whole the people here are devastated, everyone is devastated, the community is going to be devastated. This is going to go on. This is going to take us a while to come back from. [Gray:] The blaze began Sunday, fuelled by high temperatures and winds. It quickly became an inferno. More than 100 firefighters and emergency workers are working to contain the fire. But weather conditions making it upheld battle. [Scott Long, Alberta Emergency Management Agency Executive Director:] Bad news does not get better with time. It's based on the wild fire reports, the conditions and we don't want that to happen, obviously we're working towards that, preventing that but it is a possibility that we may lose a large portion of the town. [Gray:] It's too soon to know the full financial impact the fire will have on the community and the government. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau promised his support. [Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister:] I want you to know that our government and all Canadians will stand by you and support you now and when it is time to rebuild. [Gray:] Support that will likely be needed for months to come. Jennifer Gray, CNN, Atlanta. [Church:] And our meteorologist, Derek Van Dam joins us now to give us an idea of whether there's any relief in sight with the weather. [Derek Van Dam, Cnn Meteorologist:] Well, earlier this week, temperatures were 16 degrees Celsius above average for this time of year with strong gusty winds, prime condition for brush fire like this. There are cooler weather there is cooler weather coming their way but into the end of the weekend, it heats right back up again, Rosemary. We'll give a full forecast for Fort McMurray. But I want to first show you what social media has been lighting up with in terms of media pictures. Take a look at this. This is coming from Fort McMurray. Terrifying moments for the residents starting to seek refuge and evacuate. Remember, almost 90,000 people. But let's put it in perspective using Googler and look how cozy. This is a three-day time span using Google earth and some GIS software. Just how quickly this fire engulfed Fort McMurray. This is the city right here. And one thing I want you to notice, if we can get it a little closer, this is Highway 63. And notice how that's also been cut off near Fort McMurray, that's where the fire over spread that region. So, really the residents only had one option and that was to travel north away from the city. So, time will tell if that wraps around over that northern section of Fort McMurray. And if that will cut off that one lone remaining evacuation route for this region. This is an aerial image of the fire just to give you an idea just how expansive this is. And you can start to see how the smoke cloud starts to reach a level where it starts to spread out in all direction. That's actually the stratosphere, believe it or not, 45,000 feet in the air, 13,000 kilometers in the air that as high as some of highest volcanic ash plumes ever recorded. So, this is major fire, it's significant for Canada. They are calling it one of the worst. And even to put this into further perspective, they've already burned 10,000 hectares. That's comparable to the size of Hong Kong Island or even half of Manhattan. That's about 100 square kilometers. So, what is causing the heat and the wild fire conditions while it's this ridge of high pressure that's bringing warmth north. We've even had record highs into the Seattle, Washington area. Now take a look at this. Overnight hours, we think temperatures should cool off quite dramatically and they have. But at this moment in time, Fort McMurray is actually warmer than Los Angeles and here at the CNN World Weather Center. On Tuesday, May 3rd, and they were 33 degrees. That is 16 degrees above where they should be. Now this starts to break down. We got some relief. So, I think the narrow window of time for the firefighters is within the next 24 hours. But unfortunately, the four-day forecast shows a warming trend. We do have temperatures rebounding. And to the upper 20s, if you see Fort McMurray they are 28 degrees by Saturday. And that's when we expect the winds to pick up once again. So, there's that very narrow window of time for them to execute and try to get a handle on this fire as quickly as possible. [Church:] Hopefully they can do that in that little bit of time they have. [Dam:] I agree. [Church:] All right, Derek, thanks so much. I appreciate it. Well, the crisis over potentially deadly airbags has increased into the largest recall in U.S. history. Coming up, how long it will take until the faulty devices can all be replaced? We'll have a live report. Stay with us. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] A bomb scare at the White House. A man drove up to the White House checkpoint, claiming to have a bomb. He is now in custody. And we have details ahead for you. Plus getting some answers. The FBI director James Comey set to testify Monday on the possible connection between the Trump campaign and Russia during the election. And "Roll Over Beethoven," fans and celebrities say goodbye to rock "n" roll legend Chuck Berry. From CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. [Howell:] It is 5:00 am on the U.S. East Coast and in Washington, D.C., The situation there around the White House is returning to normal after a security scare. Officials tell CNN that a man drove up to the White House in the vehicle that you see right there late Saturday night. He told a guard that he had a bomb. CNN's Ryan Nobles has been on this story and has the very latest for us. [Ryan Nobles, Cnn Correspondent:] This all started just after 11 o'clock Eastern time here in Washington. That's when a man driving a vehicle pulled up to a security checkpoint on the east side of the White House near the Treasury Department. He told the guard at that checkpoint that he had a bomb. That started a security situation which lasted for more than four hours. Secret Service agents and bomb technicians methodically checked the vehicle from front to back, bringing in a robot to pull items out of the trunk and a bomb technician in full bomb gear to go through those items. After that long search, the Secret Service agents declared the situation cleared and re-opened a series of roads that had been shut down near the White House for several hours. This marks the third security incident here at the White House in just a little more than a week, including one where a man jumped over the fence and was on the White House grounds for more than 16 minutes. Then earlier on Saturday a man jumped over an extended barrier, attempting to get over the fence on the North Lawn but was stopped by Secret Service agents. The president was not here at the time. He is at his Resort, Mar-a- lago in South Florida. So he was never in any danger. But you can bet this is going to start yet another debate about security conditions here at the White House over the next couple of weeks Ryan Nobles, CNN, Washington. [Howell:] Ryan, thank you for the reporting. Also in Washington, Monday will mark one of the most crucial days yet for the new president and his administration. That's because the FBI director James Comey is set to testify publicly before the House Intelligence Committee. The focus: possible Russian meddling in last year's election, especially any Russian connections with the Trump campaign. CNN presidential historian Timothy Naftali says that it could be a revealing moment, even if the director is short on details. [Timothy Naftali, Cnn Presidential Historian:] I suspect that Monday, we will hear a little bit about the extent to which the FBI has undertaken a counterintelligence investigation about possible U.S. assistance to the Russian active measures or deception campaign. I don't expect a lot of detail because that's highly classified information. But I suspect we will learn a little bit about the extent of the investigation. [Howell:] Now we get some insight on how the Kremlin will view what comes ahead on Monday. Clare Sebastian is live in the Russian capital. Clare, first of all, let's talk about what we know. The FBI director set to testify publicly. This will be an opportunity for many people around the world to hear what he is focused on, if there is an investigation, what might have happened between the Trump campaign or the administration and Russia. On that side of the world, though, is this a major story? [Clare Sebastian, Cnn Correspondent:] It's interesting, George. The Kremlin publicly is saying that they are very busy with their own work, they don't follow these hearings, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov telling us Friday he doesn't expect to hear anything new, using the colorful phrase, that this is a, quote, "broken record with futuristic songs," essentially making the point that these accusations against Russia keep coming, despite the fact that Russia has strenuously denied that it was ever engaged in any meddling in the U.S. election and has insisted that any contacts between Russian officials and the Trump campaign, now Trump administration, were nothing more than the day-to-day business of diplomacy. But I think it's fair to say, when you have the FBI director testifying under oath on Capitol Hill [Sebastian:] about Russia, we understand that Russia will be watching. Certainly this is an uncomfortable moment for the Trump administration. But also perhaps for Russia because, over the last two months, we've gone from a situation where many of those high up political circles, certainly the media, were engaged in a frenzy of enthusiasm toward potential improvement in the relationship with the U.S. under Trump. And those hopes have been repeatedly disappointed. We're now at a stage where there's a realization really that Russia, it may be Trump's biggest Achilles heel. And I think that's why you see these kind of offhand dismissals from the Kremlin and why you've seen here in Russia a marked reduction in the amount of media coverage of the Trump administration. They are very much trying to distance themselves from these accusations against Russia that are coming out of Washington George. [Howell:] Clare Sebastian live in the Russian capital with perspective, Clare, thanks for the reporting. Let's get some perspective now on Monday's upcoming hearing with Scott Lucas, he is a professor of international politics at the University of Birmingham in England. Scott, always a pleasure to have you with us here on CNN. Clearly this could be a telling moment when we see the FBI director speak publicly about whether there was any sort of connection between Russia and the election. [Scott Lucas, University Of Birmingham:] Well, I think it's just the opening. We've got a long play ahead of us because, while the FBI director, I think, will come out and say, yes, there is substance to the investigation; otherwise, they wouldn't be pursuing it, he's got to be cautious because substance doesn't mean proof. And you don't go in with all guns blazing unless you have all the evidence assembled. And that's going to take some time. I do expect him to say however, first of all, there's no truth to the allegations the Obama administration wiretapped the Trump campaign, thus clearing away this diversion and then emphasizing, yes, we do have a serious situation here, with which the FBI is justly engaged and, therefore, giving substance to those who say there has to be a significant independent investigation of these claims. [Howell:] Director Comey has come under fire in the past, how he handled issues, like the Clinton e-mail situation, for one. Is his credibility in question here? [Lucas:] I think people do remember what happened last October, that he really went against protocol when he said that the investigation into Clinton's e-mails had been reopened only days before the election. And that's going to reinforce his caution that, on the one hand, he's got congressmen on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, that will look at any point where they think he stepped over the line. And then on the other hand, he's got to defend the independence of the FBI because Donald Trump has tried to push back and tried to contain the FBI and, indeed, other intelligence agencies by saying they're not legitimate. Well, it's not just Comey but the FBI, whose reputation is on the line, just as Trump's reputation will be on the line in the weeks to come. [Howell:] And when it comes to the United States and dealing with intelligence, certainly there has been that wiretapping claim, did get the ire from the United Kingdom. How does that play out with the president continuing to double down on these unsubstantiated claims with no evidence to back them up? [Lucas:] Just when I think our jaws have dropped as far as they can go, he comes out with something and there's just they sink even further. The willingness by Trump to alienate America's closest allies the British, the Germans in recent days simply because, one, he cannot stand any criticism; two, I think he's justifiably worried about the exposure of possible links to Russia, and three, just because he's unpredictable and has no filter on his thoughts, that's a really toxic combination. And we see it in very serious areas. We've seen it in terms of NATO, we've seen it in terms of the position versus the Russians on key foreign policy issues. But Trump's, as it were, Twitter tirades, they're sort of like the tip of an iceberg that is, I'm afraid, is going to sink America's reputation if it continues. [Howell:] Scott Lucas, live for us in Birmingham, thank you so much for your insight. And we'll be back with you, I'm sure, to continue talking. [Lucas:] Thank you. [Howell:] Another provocation from North Korea. The nation now claiming to have made a great leap forward in their rocket development. Reports on state media say the regime has successfully tested a powerful new rocket engine. Earlier, CNN spoke with our military analyst Mark Hertling about the technological significance of this test. [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, Cnn Military Analyst:] Some of these technologies which the North Koreans are including in their rocket expansion program actually have to do with a covert method of firing missiles without being detected in advance of actually exploding the devices. So that's part of the issue. The other piece is, when you are talking about an intercontinental ballistic missile, the types of warheads and the amount of weight that are in the missile itself have to be launched off of a pad. And the better they can improve their technology to do that, the more accurate these systems are going to be, not only from leaving the pad but also going into the atmosphere and then hitting the target on the other side. So all of these things are steps in a grogram that continue to advance their technology. [Howell:] CNN's Will Ripley is live in Beijing, where the U.S. secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, just met with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. And, Will, I have a feeling that what we just talked about was certainly on the table. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Oh, absolutely. Secretary Tillerson has said repeatedly during this Asia trip, George, that North Korea is the most pressing concern that he faces right now. So that it has really dominated conversations in Japan, South Korea and here in China. Yesterday he met with China's two leading diplomats. And while it was very pleasant statements that were made publicly, behind closed doors, very frank and candid exchanges. And China and the United States have very different opinions about the best way to deal with North Korea. China would like to see the U.S. discontinue military exercises with South Korea that are ongoing right now. Pyongyang always gets very angry and we often see missile launches and these tests during those joint military exercises. But the U.S. says these exercises are conducted in full transparency; they're a necessary part of two militaries learning how to work together and there is no plan to discontinue those exercises. What the U.S. thinks China needs to do is to more heavily sanction, more heavily penalize North Korea for their ongoing nuclear and missile activity. There was a United Nations report that showed that the North Korean regime, led by Kim Jong-un, has really found a way to get around sanctions and continue doing business with companies, including entities here in China in defiance of those U.N. sanctions. So Secretary Tillerson was actually expected to say that if Beijing was not prepared to rein in North Korea, the U.S. could start slapping unilateral sanctions on these companies that are doing business with Kim Jong-un, which is certainly something China would not be happy about. [Howell:] Will, this is a very important story. It's good to have you there in Beijing covering it. But I do want to pivot and kind of talk about the process for which it takes for a reporter to be there to cover the secretary of state. I know that he only traveled with one reporter on the plane. Explain, the situation for journalists trying to travel, trying to follow and report on news with the secretary of state on big stories like this one, where the world wants information. [Ripley:] It's been a very frustrating situation for the diplomatic press corps, which is accustomed traditionally to traveling with the secretary of state on a larger plane, allowing them to have access, conversations with staffers. And in a country like China, where it's very difficult for journalists to get a visa to work on the ground here, traveling with the secretary of state would have allowed these seasoned diplomatic reporters to be able to cover the trip more extensively. Thankfully, CNN has a bureau here. Other networks have managed to squeak out coverage in China and in South Korea and Japan. But it has been very frustrating. A lot of the diplomatic press corps have felt that it's been a struggle to uphold the right to freely report about the secretary of state. So that's certainly something they are hoping the administration will re-examine, the State Department, moving forward. [Howell:] CNN international correspondent, Will Ripley, live for us in the Chinese capital, Beijing, Will, thank you for your reporting. We'll stay in touch with you as well. Japan is not taking any chances when it comes to North Korean aggression. That country is used to preparing for natural disasters. But now children are being taught how to react to a potential North Korean missile attack. Our Ivan Watson has this report. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Japanese schoolchildren at play, overseen by teachers who sometimes join in the fun until they're suddenly interrupted. At the sound of the siren, children hit the deck and wait for further instructions. "This is a drill," a loudspeaker announces, "a missile has been launched." This is Japan's first missile evacuation exercises, a simulation preparing people for the threat of a possible North Korean missile strike against this country. [Watson:] The Japanese government is trying to demonstrate that as North Korea's missile program grows more sophisticated, communities like this could become a target. When it's all over, a government official thanks the volunteers and promises the Japanese armed forces will do all they can to shoot down North Korean missiles. But earlier this month, neither Japan nor its U.S. and South Korean allies could stop North Korea from successfully firing at least four missiles in a single day, three of them landed in the sea less than 200 nautical miles from the small coastal town. In this sleepy fishing port, locals are waking up to a growing threat. "It's scary," says this fisherman who'd just hauled in freshly cut octopus. "You never know what the North Koreans might do next." For some here, the missile exercise brings back painful memories. "During World War II, we performed evacuation drills," 89-year-old Reinosuke Ishigaki tells me. "We put on gas masks and dug tunnels to hide in and in the future, we might have to do that again." The principal of the main elementary school here says his students need to be prepared for a manmade disaster. "Usually we perform drills for natural disasters," he says. "But the potential threat from a missile is beyond imagination." In addition to its fresh air and sea foods, this remote corner of Japan is famous for Namahage, a fairytale monster that kept kids awake at night. But now, there's a very real threat that may leave everyone here losing sleep Ivan Watson, CNN, Oga, Japan. [Howell:] Ivan Watson, thank you. Some sad news to report, a big loss to the music world. The father of rock "n" roll has died. [Nischelle Turner, Cnn Correspondent:] Chuck Berry was one of the pioneers of rock "n'roll. His powerful guitar licks fueled hit songs such as "Johnny B. Goode" "Maybellene" and "Roll Over Beethoven." During the '50s and '60s, Berry's music signaled a new era in rock 'n" roll. The singer's owes ability to seamlessly blend R&B and rock music made a strong impact on the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, to name a few. [Unidentified Male:] It's very difficult for me to talk about Chuck Berry because I lifted every lick he ever played. [Turner:] Berry experienced a career resurgence in the mid-'80s and "90s. His music re-entered pop culture in films such as "Back to the Future" and "Pulp Fiction." In 1984, Berry received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a year later, he became the Rock 'n" Roll Hall of Fame's first inductee. [Unidentified Male:] Mr. Berry. [Chuck Berry, Rock Legend:] God Almighty. God Almighty, thank you. [Turner:] On the heels of his induction, the Stones' Keith Richards invited a roster of great musicians to celebrate the rock icon's 60th birthday and then in 1987, Berry was humbled to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. [Berry:] I cannot describe, I don't have the voice, I don't have the wind, I don't have the spirit, but believe me, I'll remember it the rest of my life. [Turner:] The married father of four repeatedly had trouble with the law. He was behind bars three times for charges ranging from attempted robbery to tax evasion and convicted of transporting an underage girl across state lines. However, Berry's career was not derailed. [Berry:] That margin of glory is not too high. That margin of defeat then is also not too low. So I lived right through it without any pain. [Turner:] Berry received the Kennedy Center Honor Award in 2000 and continued to perform well into his 80s. His remarkable contributions to music will forever remain a part of rock "n" roll history. [Howell:] Chuck Berry dead at the age of 90 years old. NEWSROOM we'll be right back after this. [Whitfield:] Welcome back. Nearly 10,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan won't be coming home next year as planned. In a major reversal, President Barack Obama delayed the anticipated troop drawdown, deciding to keep those American troops in Afghanistan through next year. Seth Moulton is a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. He also did four tours in Iraq as a U.S. Marine. Good to see you! [Representative Seth Moulton , Massachusetts:] Thanks for having me on. [Whitfield:] Great. I wonder, Congressman, do you believe the president had no choice, but to do this or do you believe it's a mistake? [Moulton:] I think it's the right decision. I think it was a difficult decision, but the right decision. And the most important thing is, we cannot repeat the same mistake we made in Iraq. We're just five years after we triumphantly brought the last troops home, we've had to send the troops back again to quell the chaos. [Whitfield:] But at the same time, are you now seeing them, parallels between Iraq and Afghanistan in the making? [Moulton:] Well, I'll tell you, that's my concern. And when the commander in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, came and testified before the House Armed Services Committee last week, this was the subject of my questions. I said, how are we going to make sure we don't repeat the same mistakes that we made in Iraq? And I think it really boils down to two things. The first is we've got to bring the troops out when conditions on the ground warrant, not based on some arbitrary timeline. The second thing is that we've got to talk about a long-term political solution to ensure the success of the Afghan government. Because, what ultimately happened in Iraq is the Iraqi government fell apart. It got so sectarian that its own army didn't even trust the government to do its job. And so, that political vacuum is really the enemy to peace in the Middle East. [Whitfield:] And why will keeping U.S. troops make a difference, help change those dynamics, impact those dynamics? [Moulton:] Well, the point is that it's both things. You know, we have to maintain some degree of security to help the Afghan government do its job. But what concerns me about the president's announcement is that he really just talked about the military presence, and not about what he's going to do to ensure the continued political success of the Afghan government. And let's not forget, it was a political vacuum in Iraq that allowed the rise of ISIS, and it was a political vacuum in Afghanistan in 2001 that allowed the base of terrorist camps that ultimately resulted in September 11th. [Whitfield:] Wouldn't this administration or any other administration worry that if the U.S. were so hands-on in the forming or the reinforcing of a government, then there would be, you know, global outrage of, you know, the U.S. overreaching, imposing itself on other countries. [Moulton:] That's I mean, that's a great question and of course, you have to strike that balance. But I think we really came up short in Iraq. And we can't repeat that mistake in Afghanistan. In Iraq, you know, John Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker came back from the surge, and they said, we've made tremendous military progress, but we haven't achieved the political success that we need. We built the largest U.S. Embassy in the world in Baghdad, so we could have some sort of political diplomatic surge, but then we left it half full. And that's the piece that I think we can't forget in Afghanistan. The president made the right decision to extend the stay of the troops. But we've got to hear about the political plan as well, because that's what ultimately will lead to a success, and ensure that once the troops do come home, they never have to go back. [Whitfield:] All right, Congressman Seth Moulton, thanks so much for your time. Appreciate it. [Moulton:] Thank you. [Whitfield:] All right, still to come, Hillary Clinton seems to be getting a boost after the first Democratic boost. She's now neck and neck with Bernie Sanders in a key primary state. [Sesay:] The image of a special baby is filling news feeds on social media. Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and his wife, Priscilla, are now proud parents of a baby girl, their first child, born early last week. The couple said they plan to donate 99 percent of their Facebook stock to charity during their lifetime. They say they want to leave the world a better place for their daughter and all children. Their shares are currently valued at $45 billion. Wow. Well, joining me to discuss Zuckerberg's generous donation is Kim Lachance Shandrow, a senior writer at entrepreneur.com, and often writes about technology and social media issues. Kim, thank you so much for joining us. This donation, this pledge by the Zuckerbergs is in line to be among the world's largest. Put this in context for us. [Kim Lachance Shandrow, Senior Writer, Entrepreneur.com:] Well, I think what they're looking to do is to inspire other young entrepreneurs, but particularly the sort of elites in silicone valley that are in a position to give to the level that they have. I think they're making a statement. They're very young. Zuckerberg is 31. His wife is 30 and they're looking to basically show the world that you can make a statement and give at a scale that hasn't really been seen before with people this young. So they're looking to inspire a future generation. [Sesay:] And this is the perspective that he was a member of the Gates and Buffetts giving pledge where he said he would give most of his money but now they've stepped it up to this 99 percent of their shares. I think it is interesting in the way they've chosen to distribute their money through their own personal foundation. What do you make of that? [Lachance Shandrow:] Well, actually, they have more control over how the money is disbursed in that case. It's not a nonprofit. So what they can do is they can do investments with companies. They can lobby this way with legislation and they can also basically disperse it in a way that will let them impact public policy. So they have more control and they have more control over how often they give. So they're looking to do 10, 25 and 100 year increments. [Sesay:] Very interesting. I have to say, when I went online and looked at the reaction to the announcement, there is some cynicism in some quarters. You know, surrounding the fact that when rich people give money to charity, the point cannot be ignored that they also benefit by the tax deductions. [Lachance Shandrow:] Yes, absolutely. They are going to be saving a lot of money in taxes by doing this. And I think they also took advantage of it being Tuesday and of a press moment. They were able to sort of polish their brand, but it was also a little bit some of the timing as one of my colleagues pointed out today in entrepreneur.com, the timing was a little bit it left a little bit of a bad taste in several people's mouths today because they showed their daughter so publicly, max, born a week ago and the first image of her out there in the world is essentially at the top of what amounted to a press release about the Zuckerberg Foundation. So it was odd in how it came out. [Sesay:] You mentioned the personal brand. The personal brand is boosted by acts of philanthropy. What about the business side of things? Is there a boost to business? Does it burnish the Facebook brand and anyone else at that level who has a business and gives at this level? [Lachance Shandrow:] I think definitely. I think, you know, social good is an important it's important to show the world that you care for others. It's also very convenient, though, to spread experience access across the globe, which has been something that Zuckerberg has been championing for so long. So I think this makes it extends his business brand, but I think it might have turned off some of the users in the way this all came to light today. [Sesay:] One last question to you, as someone who watches the scene, it seems to be, you know, quite commonplace, so it's happening with some regularity, if you will. That people or wealthy people are giving big. Let's just put it that way. [Lachance Shandrow:] Absolutely. [Sesay:] Why is that? What's going on? How do you read the times we're living in? [Lachance Shandrow:] Well, sometimes I feel it might look on the outside like they're trying to outdo each other, we have a lot of money and they lived big. So I think there's a lot of sincerity behind Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla. I think being bill gates is one of his mentors, I think he was inspired by him. I think they're close with the gates. I think this is extending that theme out to other people and letting them know that, yes, if you have the means, you should give. But it certainly doesn't hurt that you're going to get a tax break at the same time, and lest we should forget that. [Sesay:] Lest we should forget that. Kim Lachance Shandrow, thank you for coming in. Thank you. [Lachance Shandrow:] Thank you, Isha. It's been great. [Sesay:] And you are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. For our viewers in the U.S., "Amanpour" is next. Everyone else, the news continues with Rosemary Church right after this. [Banfield:] A Russian fighter pilot who survived being shot out of the sky says "Turkey never sent any visual warnings. It never sent any radio warnings. It sent nothing before firing a missile." We first showed you these incredible images yesterday, the jet free falling to the earth with flames shooting out the back of it. The pilot's account reported by Russian media contradicts what Turkey is saying happened, that the Russian jet was violating its air space. And was only shutdown after receiving repeated warnings over five minutes. Here's the deal, whatever did happen, we know that the pilot was rescued. And that happened by Syrian soldiers. After Russia's attempt to find him went terribly, terribly wrong, I have the pictures, and I want to show you. This is the dramatic video showing the moment when a Syrian rebel launched a missile at the rescue helicopter, there is the effect. Blew it up. And inside that helicopter or possibly very nearby was one Russian marine who was there to find that downed pilot. That marine is now dead as well, so two. Two dead pilots, one rescued, one of them talking, one of them saying we were never told at all that we were in that air space that we were violating Turkish air space. Does that change the dynamics? CNN Senior International Correspondent Matthew Chance, joins me live now from Moscow. That has got to have the people of Russia seething mad, and is that going the change the Russian response after we're hearing there won't be escalation, now that we're hearing the direct account from the pilot? [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, I mean you're right about the Russians being seething. In fact, today in Moscow outside of the Turkish embassy, there was a huge crowd there chanting for the diplomat that they were murderers and throwing eggs and rocks at the embassy. They had to be held back by the Russian police. And that fury is reflected also in Russian government. They said they don't plan to go to war with Turkey over this, they're not talking about, you know, striking at Turkey or anything like that. But, you know, Putin is not going to let this slide. You know, there's a Russian plane been blown out of the sky. Two of its servicemen, one navigator who was on board sorry one pilot on board who was killed, one of the marines as you mentioned on the ground trying to rescue them killed as well by rebels that were firing at them. I mean, you know, there's obviously going to be military measures and other measures that the Russians are going to take in response to this. I mean United States would, you know, you can imagine what they do, if they were in their situation. What the Russians have said so far, is that first of all the bombing missions in Syria whether attacking ISIS or other rebel groups, that's going to continue. What is going to be different though, is they going to have fighter plane escorts. So if they are approached by any Turkish F-16 in the future, they'll be the ones to get shot out of the sky. The other issue is that they have deployed S400 missiles to Syria that world most sophisticated service to air missiles. It basically gives Russia once they're operational almost complete command over to the air space above Syria. So it means that no airplane whether it's Turkish or American or French or anyone else is going to be able to fly in Syria unless they get the tacit approval of the Russian military. And that's a major escalation, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Matthew Chance, live for us in Moscow. Thank you for that. I want to bring in our CNN Military Analyst Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, a Retired Former Commanding General in Europe for the Seventh Army. I've got to ask you about the mechanics of how this rescue went down, because the Russians tried to rescue their downed pilot, and you saw the result of what happened to the helicopter. It was blown up by the rebels on the ground. It was the Syrians who came to the Russians' aid and rescued their guy. All of this at a time when globally, very few people want this alliance between Russia and Syria to be a kneeled, to strengthened. If anything, they want the opposite. Will this small act, General Hertling, play a big role in concreting that relationship between Syria and Russia and make things very difficult in this war against ISIS? [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, Cnn Military Analyst:] Well, the soldiers on the ground are always going to cooperate like this, there were Syrian Special Forces, the army Mr. Assad's Special Forces that's the critical point the people who're protecting the regime working with Russians Speacial Forces, and the CSAR mission the Combat Search and Rescue mission with the helicopter that was destroyed by Syrian rebels. That is the important point. That also was destroyed the picture that you showed a minute ago, Ashleigh, was a U.S. TOW missile, to belongs optically tracked wire guided missile which is very accurate outwards to 3,000 meters. Frankly when I saw that video yesterday, I was surprised, because it takes a long time to set that system up, that was a lucky shot that that aircraft, that helicopter landed and shutdown in an area where they could be engaged by that TOW missile. But what I think you're going to see is there's already a coordination between the Syrian army under Mr. Assad and the Russian army. They know that are Russian army is there to help them, they know Mr. Putin has been provided support with his aircraft. So that's certainly cemented. The thing that is going to become very tenuous now is the movement of ships into the Eastern Mediterranean by Russia that have air defense missiles. The missiles that are going to be placed around Latakia air base and to support the skies. That's going to passively cost some challenges to the coalition forces that are going against the ISIS targets in Northern Syria. [Banfield:] Yeah, more surface to air missiles being moved into Syria could spell more downed jets, and certainly that's going to be something Turkey is worrying about. General Hertling, thank you very much for your insights, and happy Thanksgiving to you. [Hertling:] And same to you Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Thank you. I appreciate it. Coming up, some very graphic video has been streaming across your T.V. screen, just released more than a year, a year after a Chicago police officer actually shot a 17-year-old boy 16 times. Why did it take so long to see that video? Why did it take so long to see charges? Is there anything to the fact that the charges and the video came on the very same day? You will see Laquan McDonald's final moments, and you'll hear the officer's attorney explain the reason that officer shot him dead. [Blitzer:] Live pictures coming in from Tybee Island in Georgia right now, updating the "BREAKING NEWS" this hour. A Hurricane Matthew slamming the eastern coast of Florida. Take a look at some of these live pictures. We got these live pictures from Tybee Island in Georgia right now. President Obama warns that Hurricane Matthew is still a very, very dangerous storm. The Florida's Governor says the worst may be yet to come for his state. Georgia and South Carolina, they are very much in the storm's path right now. Here are some other late-breaking developments involving Hurricane Matthew. It's located about 90 miles right now southeast of Jacksonville, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 120 miles per hour. Forecasters say the storm surge along the Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina Coast, could reach nine to eleven feet, that's a major concern in low-lying areas like Jacksonville as well as the historic cities of Savannah and Charleston. Utility crews in Florida are dealing with massive power outages, more than 800,000 customers right now without electricity that number could go up. Officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security, have just briefed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on the hurricane's impact and the federal government's response. The response neither candidate is out there on the campaign trail today. We're told they're both preparing for the Presidential Debate, just two days away, Sunday night. Many saw Trump's last-minute town hall last night as a practice of sorts for Sunday, but Trump insists it was not, and the pre-screened questions seemed to prove that. Listen. [Howie Carr, Town Hall Host And Trump Supporter:] After the first debate, the media and even some within the party suggested that you should have gone after Hillary more. Did you hold back and do you plan on criticizing her more this weekend? What would you say to convince Hispanics who are deceived by Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and the biased media to vote for you? When you become President and you can you assure the American people that you are going to clean house from the top at the FBI, Justice Department, State Department, and the V.A.? And then what order would you start? [Blitzer:] I want to bring in Mark Preston, the Executive Editor for CNN Politics, he's already in St. Louis where Sunday night's debate will take place. So Mark, listening to those questions that were posed to Donald Trump last night, do you think that town hall really helped him prepare for Sunday's debate because the questions from people at that debate are going to be obviously very different. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Yeah, no doubt, Wolf. I mean, look, the only question he didn't get last night is, "Why, Donald Trump, are you such a great person? And we're looking forward you to becoming the next president." Look, we were told going into this town hall that his campaign setup, that it was going to be a practice of sorts to get him used to being able to interact with the audience. I don't think we necessarily saw that last night. He did interact a little bit, made some jokes, but we didn't see that personal connection that you really need to do in these town hall settings. There is so much on the line, Wolf, for Donald Trump on Sunday night in this debate that's going to be moderated by Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz. He did so poorly in the previous debate, he needs to make up ground. I don't think that last night was a really the testing ground that he needs heading into Sunday, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Based on what we're hearing, Mark, is he doing the practices, you know, sort of having those mock rehearsals, if you will, with stand-ins that Hillary Clinton, for example, has been doing? [Preston:] So what I've been told as well as Sara Murray, who's traveling with the Trump campaign, is that he is taking questions from Reince Priebus, the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Chris Christie, who ran against him for the republican nomination and really tried to base his campaign around town halls is doing the follow-ups, trying to ask him hard follow-ups, but certainly not the traditional sense where you have the candidate in a mock situation up against somebody playing Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump doesn't like to do that. In fact, today he met with his national security round table and talked to them. Tomorrow, we're going to see him in Wisconsin at an event that has been really created by Reince Priebus. He'll be with speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin, one day before the debate. Wolf? [Blitzer:] Reince Priebus is from Wisconsin, so is Paul Ryan. All right. I'll see you in St. Louis. Thanks so much for that, Mark Preston. That's it for me. I'll be back 5:00 p.m. Eastern in THE SITUATION ROOM. Our coverage of Hurricane Matthew continues with Victor Blackwell, he's on the ground. That starts right after a quick break. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Breaking news here once again on this Wednesday. Great to be with you. I'm Brooke Baldwin. And we have our special live coverage of several major breaking stories. The first, this desperate manhunt to find three men suspected of killing a police officer. We have brand new developments. We're going to take you there. Also, in the city of Baltimore today, protests are growing outside of a courthouse where right now a judge is getting ready to rule during a pre-trial hearing involving the police officers accused in Freddie Gray's death. Important movement on that story today. And any moment a news conference is set to begin on the death of a man who had at least one of his hands raised up in the air when deputies opened fire. But first, our breaking news from the suburbs of northwest northwest of Chicago, just shy of that Wisconsin border. The ground search there for three suspected cop killers has closed in on one area. But as authorities just explained in the news conference minutes ago, this manhunt, it's far from over. [George Filenko, Lake County, Illinois, Major Crime Task Force:] We've been following up on leads since yesterday through tonight last night, and still continue following up on leads. We have a lot of social media leads coming in. The community has been fantastic in phoning in tips and leads. [Baldwin:] Detectives have obtained surveillance video that may help them learn how Lieutenant Charles Joe Gliniewicz was murdered early Tuesday morning. He was one month away from retirement, one month, after 32 years on the force. And while there is much to say about how beloved this officer was, we also know very little about who cut his life so short. The lieutenant's last calls on police radio revealed he was chasing three individuals. He described them only by race. And when a backup officer finally arrived on the scene, Gliniewicz, a 52-year-old father of four sons, had already been shot. Here's how it sounded on dispatch. [Dispatch:] Could you start for Fox Lake for an officer down, 128 Honing Road. We'll create the call? They were responding to a report of a suspicious. A male black and a male white. It appears the officer's gun is missing now. All the county units are responding to officer down, Fox Lake, subjects are to be considered armed and dangerous. Air one has been advised. [Baldwin:] First, let me bring in our correspondent, Deborah Feyerick, who's been all over this since this really broke yesterday. Tell me what, if anything, investigators have been able to glean from surveillance video from the area? [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, one of the things they're doing, Brooke, is that they're trying to get as much surveillance video as they possibly can. They're going to businesses. They're going to homes that might have private security systems. They're trying to get any sort of image of these three individuals. And but what we do know, according to the commander of the major crimes task force, is that, in fact, they are getting some good leads. There is some forensic evidence that was recovered from the scene, the crime scene, specifically as part of the autopsy, and they're expediting lab analysis of anything that they are finding at the scene. The commander referenced fingerprints and DNA, that kind of detail that perhaps will help them narrow the identity of these three individuals. [Baldwin:] Deb, forgive me for interrupting. Forgive me for interrupting. Juggling a couple of major stories this afternoon. Let's go straight to San Antonio here. A news conference being given in the wake of that man who was shot and killed by a police officer this week. [Sheriff Susan Pamerleau, Bexar County, Texas:] And our hearts also go out to the deputies and their families who were involved in this incident. As I mentioned at Friday's news conference, the video is just one piece of evidence that we're evaluating in this investigation. There's no doubt that what's shown in that video is of great concern to all of us. But we also want to get this right, as is our purpose in every investigative case. We want to emphasize the importance of being calm and patient as we work through all of the evidence, witness statements, audio of 911 and radio calls, as well as piecing all of this information together. We want everyone who has seen this video to understand that a thorough investigation is taking place. We continue to work closely with the Bexar County district attorney's office to make sure that they will have everything they need to ensure they can make the right decision and the right action that are based on the facts of the case. As you heard this morning, the FBI has opened a case which allows them to ensure the integrity of the investigation as it goes forward. We have already been working jointly with the FBI, and they are seeing everything that we have. They have provided valuable assistance to us, and we have welcomed them and welcomed their involvement this investigation. As I've emphasized, we're working this as diligently and expeditiously as we can, but also to assure that we consider all of the evidence to determine the facts of the case. And that's what our role is in this process. So the question is, what's next? At the conclusion of our investigation, all the information will be turned over to the district attorney's office for further review and action. And I will leave further discussion of that part of the process to the district attorney's office. And I'm glad to take your questions. [Question:] Do you plan on releasing the second video [Pamerleau:] You know, it is part of the investigative process. What I would say, you are aware of this additional video that we have, and it covers a longer period of time prior to the shooting. It also shows it from a different angle. We have submitted that video to the Texas Department of Public Safety's crime lab, and we've asked them to review it to determine if it's possible to enlarge and slow down the sequence so that we have a much more clear view of what happened during those minutes. [Question:] But does it show whether he was Mr. Flores was holding a knife right before he was shot? [Pamerleau:] And the we believe that Mr. Flores had a knife in his hand and that video will help us have a better idea of exactly what he had in his hand. [Question:] Sheriff, have you seen the video yourself, and can you tell us whether or not you saw Mr. Flores with a knife in his hand or [Pamerleau:] I have seen the video. It appears that he has something in his hand. And, again, that's why we've asked the Texas DPS crime lab to review it with an aim to try to enlarge and to slow down that sequence so we have a better idea of that. Yes. [Question:] Sheriff, there have been reports about this gentleman possibly looking at suicide by cop. Does any [Pamerleau:] I think you're also aware that separately, apart from us, an organization called Broadcastify provided a what appears to be audio of multiple scanners which has some information on it. We've not had time to validate that or compare it to 911 and radio calls that we have officially. But certainly that information has been provided to one of the media outlets, and that is out in public domain. [Question:] Sheriff, I have a question. If the gentlemen, Flores, was holding up a knife and the officers were talking to him, why did they shoot him in the chest instead of somewhere else when they were trying to arrest him? [Pamerleau:] You know, in terms of you have to think about one, the adrenaline, because this situation had been going on for quite a while. But there's also a lot of force science that addresses a lot of those kind of issues. And when individuals qualify, do weapons qualifications, it's pass or fail. And the issue is, and someone could be an expert in handling weapons, but under certain conditions they may or may not hit a target or and that's why that and I can't talk for that individual as well. [Question:] Sheriff, was a [Pamerleau:] You know, off hand, I I don't recall what's in the I don't have that information right now. [Question:] Sheriff, did deputies use a Taser and did that Taser hit Mr. Flores? [Pamerleau:] There was they used attempted to use non-lethal force, a Taser, and the probes did not make contact with the individual. [Question:] Can you give us some idea, sheriff, of how many shots were fired and how many times Mr. Flores was shot? [Pamerleau:] You want to comment on that? [Unidentified Male:] I don't think we should probably give it to them. [Pamerleau:] Yes, and that's in the investigation, and that information will come out. [Question:] Sheriff, the community in the country is really concerned about what is happening here. What is your message? [Pamerleau:] Yes. Certainly. And and thank you very much for that question. The important thing is to get this right. It's important to get this right for the Flores family. It's important to get this right for the deputies involved. It's important that we get this right for all of our community and nationally. And that's what we are endeavoring to do to make sure that we're able to get all of the evidence, all of the facts, review those, put those pieces together so that we have a clear view of what happened. [Question:] Sheriff [Pamerleau:] And, you know, this [Baldwin:] All right, so you've been listening to the sheriff here in Bexar County, Texas. This is a story that we're been covering here. This involved this was something that initially began as a domestic phone call and there are now, as we've learned, two two pieces of video shot from different vantage points of an individual who was ultimately shot and killed by police officers who arrived on the scene. You can see from this one video that one of his hands was up and, according to police, he had a knife in his other hand. Again, the question, what led up to the shooting? What happened during this lengthy confrontation? And why shoot and kill him? A lot to go through. Hearing a little bit more from the sheriff. I've got former law enforcement coming on, lawyers coming on to weigh in on a story that has everyone talking here. We'll be right back. [Cuomo:] A California judge is going to decide today whether to release Donald Trump's video deposition in the Trump University fraud case. Trump was recorded answering questions about Trump University as part of a lawsuit. Now, it's just one of the suits that alleged, despite promises, Trump University was not a university. The school did not teach Donald Trump's real estate secrets and teachers and mentors were neither real estate experts nor handpicked by Donald Trump. This morning, you're going to hear from one of those so-called experts. Decide for yourself. CNN senior investigative correspondent, Drew Griffin, invited the man who helped bring in the money for Trump University to chat, and he did. Drew, thank you. [Griffin:] Thanks, Chris. James Harris is his name. He claims to be a real expert and for Trump University. He claims he was one of the best salesmen there. The real estate seminar business for Trump raked in an estimated $40 million from people who thought they would be taught Donald Trump's real estate secrets. James Harris is one of the people who sold them on that dream. [Harris:] We were bringing in the money. [Griffin:] A lot of it. [Harris:] A lot of money. [Griffin:] Were you you said you were the top guy? Were you the top guy? [Harris:] I don't know if I was, I just know I'm really good at what I do. [Griffin:] You've said you were the top guy. [Harris:] OK, so maybe I was the top guy. I don't really know if I was or not. I just know that my numbers were one of the from week, to week, to week, my numbers were in the top one or two. [Griffin:] James Harris' job was to get people to believe they, too, could be as successful at real estate as Donald Trump and to reel them in, sign them up, get them to pay as much as $34,000 on the promise that the next seminar, the next class would teach them all they would need to know. What do you know about real estate? [Harris:] Real estate is a very wide, huge business. I got involved in real estate, personally myself, in the 90's. [Griffin:] And if you attended a James Harris, Trump University seminar you would hear a lot more about Harris' claims of success and experience in real estate, claims made in this verbatim transcript of a Trump seminar he gave in San Bernardino, California. Do you remember when you said this? "I'm a former licensed agent broker. At 29, I became the top one percent broker in the country. I build homes in Atlanta, Georgia and Iused to live in Beverly Hills." [Harris:] Yes, if I said those things they are true. I did live in Beverly Hills and [I -- Griffin:] We have no record of you ever living in Beverly Hills. [Harris:] OK, well [Griffin:] We can't find your broker's license anywhere. [Harris:] OK. [Griffin:] And I have no idea what homes you built in Atlanta, Georgia. Did you build homes in Georgia? [Harris:] I'm not prepared to answer those questions today. [Griffin:] This is part of your pitch. Is any of that true? [Harris:] Again, I'm not going to answer those questions because I haven't seen that. [Griffin:] Well, you certainly know what you've done in your life. [Harris:] Well, I don't know if I I don't know where that's coming from. I don't know [Griffin:] This is a transcript submitted in court [Harris:] I've never seen it. I don't know what [Griffin:] out of the taped [Harris:] I don't know if that's a court document. [Griffin:] presentation that you gave [Harris:] I don't know if that's a court document or not. [Griffin:] in San Bernardino, California. [Harris:] I've never seen it. [Griffin:] It's a court document. [Harris:] OK. [Griffin:] Well, what do you know about real estate? [Harris:] Again, I'm not prepared to answer those questions today. This is about Trump University. [Bob Guillo, Former Student, Trump University:] He kept walking up and down the aisle flashing his Rolex in our faces. [Griffin:] Bob Guillo was one of James Harris' students. He is part of a lawsuit trying to get back his $34,000. He says the school was a fraud, so was his teacher. [Guillo:] He bragged that he had dinner with Donald Trump. [Griffin:] Did you ever have dinner with him? [Harris:] I never had dinner with him. [Griffin:] Hmm, Bob Guillo was in one of your conferences and you said you'd just had dinner with Donald Trump at one of your speaking engagements. [Harris:] I don't have any recollection of that. [Griffin:] James Harris admits his main job wasn't to teach real estate, it was to sell real estate seminars, always with the goal of hooking his audience into buying more classes. [Harris:] I was told to promote and sell the Trump University packages and the programs that they were offering, and that's what I did. They had to pay a fee to come to further their training at the next event, so it was you know, it went from event, to event, to event. [Griffin:] Is that step-by-step, as it's been described? Upsell, by upsell, by upsell? [Harris:] Kind of, sort of, yes. It's a little upsell from, you know, well, if you pay this amount we're going to teach you this much. If you pay this amount, we're going to go further with you. [Griffin:] Here's an email you wrote. "I just spoke to Austin and Irene, the older retired couple who had to pull the $30,000 balance for the gold and she said it's done and should be in Monday, so that will be another $35K. We will easily have another $100K hit by Friday. Yahoo!" Your associate, Brian, responds, "We've always been a dangerous team, brother man. These peeps don't have a chance against us [smiley face]." [Harris:] That's called sales. [Griffin:] Is that called ripping off an old couple [Harris:] Absolutely not. [Griffin:] named Austin and Irene [Harris:] Absolutely not. [Griffin:] of $30,000? [Harris:] Again, I never saw that email but that is sales. That's a typical sales email between two sales people working on a working on a deal. I don't know if those people had the money or not. They could have they could have been putting up their last dollar, I don't know. All I know is that [Griffin:] Do you care? [Harris:] Of course, we care, but I was doing my job. We did our job. [Griffin:] Regardless of if they could afford it or not? [Harris:] Regardless if they could afford it or not. I didn't know if they could afford it or not. That was not my position. That was not my job. Other people did that. I don't know if they could afford it or not. We were told to show them all the ways that they could afford it and could come up with the finances to get into the business, period, end of story. [Griffin:] Chris, did Donald Trump even know James Harris? The answer seems to be no. Trump couldn't recall a single name of his live events instructors when he was asked under oath, even the self- described salesman who claims he was Trump's number one. As for James Harris, he has moved on to a new venture posting easy money work-from-home videos on the internet. And, yes, he is touting his success at Trump University as one of the reasons you can continue to trust him Chris. [Harlow:] You had all of us silent watching that entire thing, Drew, and I kept asking myself why did JamesHarris talk? Why did he talk to you? [Griffin:] You know, he is all over the internet. He calls himself "Uncle Jim" and he likes to sell this idea that you could make so much money from home. I think the guy just has a huge ego. He didn't understand what was about to be happening in that CNN interview and many of us thought he would just get up and walk out. He stayed there and he answered the questions, sort of. [Harlow:] We just think of the people the $35,000 that couple, and how many more. [Cuomo:] You asked all the right questions, all the rights questions. And often, some of the best answers are the questions that they can't answer or won't answer. Drew Griffin, thank you very much, and we know there's a lot more reporting to be done there so we'll stay with you. All right, there's a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to it. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I have spoken at too many memorials, I've hugged too many families. [David Brown, Police Chief, Dallas Police Department:] These five men gave their lives. [Obama:] We ask the police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves. [George W. Bush, Former President Of The United States:] We are grief- stricken, heartbroken, and forever grateful. [Hillary Clinton , Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] These tragedies tear at our soul. [Donald Trump , Presumptive Republican Nominee:] I am the law and order candidate. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] It is either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Former Presidential Candidate:] Hillary Clinton will make an outstanding president. [Trump:] Bernie Sanders' people, they're going to be voting for Trump. [Clinton:] We are joining forces. [Ryan:] I'm just as anxious as the rest of you are on who the V.P. pick is. [Trump:] I don't know whether he's going to be vice president. Who the hell knows? [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Cuomo:] Good morning, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Wednesday, July 13th, 8:00 in the east. Alisyn is off. Poppy Harlow and I are here for you and we're talking about Dallas this morning. [Baldwin:] Welcome back to our breaking news. We are live at the Tampa Museum of Art in Florida. We'll talk the significance of Florida for both Donald Trump's and Hillary Clinton's path to the White House through this state. But first, the breaking story from the FBI today. FBI Director James Comey is reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private e- mail server. He's allowing his investigators to review e-mails we don't know whose e-mails they are, by the way to determine whether they contain classified information and assess their importance in the investigation. It's unlikely we will get any his investigation before Election Day. Reminder, it's 11 days away. Michelle Kosinski is our White House correspondent. She is standing by. Also a reminder to everyone, the president of the United States will be back in this crucial battleground state of Florida in just a couple of hours from now. Obviously, stumping for Hillary Clinton, and I'm sure he'll mention the Senate race as well. But, Michelle Kosinski, on this breaking news, the president himself has said Clinton has flaws. How will he address this? [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yeah, that's the big question here. You know the White House is working on how to respond to this. They haven't said anything yet. they're not responding to requests at this point. President Obama just left the White House en route to Florida. Reporters were yelling a barrage of questions at him on the subject and he didn't answer them at this point. But you know, this reminds me of the first time he appeared on by side with Hillary Clinton. It was in North Carolina. And that, remember, was on the very same day that James Comey announced his findings of that initial investigation. Neither the president, nor Hillary Clinton mentioned any of that in their address to the crowd that day. And it could be a similar situation today. It's interesting to look out, though, how the president has spoken about this as recently as yesterday. Not specific to her emails, but he said, yes, Hillary Clinton the way he framed this, this was on a radio show, he said she gets a bad rap but that she has flaws. Quote, "She's made mistakes in the past just like everybody has, but these are nothing," he said, "compared to the daily ongoing transgressions Mr. Trump engages in." And he said, "Whether it's cheating people who work for him by not paying them, his attitudes towards women, his attitudes towards minorities, his attitudes towards civil rights, and his attitudes toward Muslim Americans." So it tells you a lot about how he could frame his response to the news that everybody knows is out there as he's campaigning for her in Florida today. So he needs to make a strong case for her and for the good qualities she has. And you know he's going to want to hit upon hardworking and honest and having the best of intentions. And he wants to make, as bad a case as possible, against Donald Trump. In fact, he was in Florida just about a week ago and that's where we heard one of his most energetic takedowns of Donald Trump, using words like "crazy and "toxic, erratic and dangerous." And the president has sort of become looser on the campaign trail speaking what seems to be more from his heart, wanting to say what's on his mind. So it will be interesting to see how he, without addressing specifics related to Hillary Clinton's e-mails, that's likely going to be the case, but how he addresses the entire situation through the words he chooses to say Brooke? [Baldwin:] Michelle, thank you. Michelle Kosinski. On Hillary Clinton, you're looking at live pictures. She is speaking at her rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We have a lot of ears listening in. As soon as she mentions or addresses this breaking news that we've been discussing from the FBI, we will take it live. Carl Bernstein Carl Bernstein is on the phone with me. Carl, we have been talking for months and months and months about the election. You wrote the definitive book on the Clintons, on Hillary Clinton. You've been saying that this is drip, drip, drip that could ultimately haunt her. [Carl Bernstein, Cnn Political Contributor:] Well, there's no question that the e-mails have always been the greatest threat to her candidacy for president, that her conduct in regard to the e-mails is really indefensible. And if there was going to be more information that came out, it was the one thing, as I said on the air last night, actually, that could really perhaps affect this election. We don't know what this means yet except that it's a real bombshell. And it is unthinkable that the director of the FBI would take would action lightly, that he would put this letter forth to the Congress of the United States saying there is more information out there about classified e-mails and call it to the attention of Congress unless it was something requiring serious investigation. So that's where we are. Is it a certainty that we won't learn before the election? I'm not sure it's a certainty we won't learn before the election. One is it's possible that Hillary Clinton might want to on her own initiative talk to the FBI and find out what she can, and if she chooses to, let the American people know what she thinks or knows is going on. Because, obviously [Baldwin:] But, Carl [Bernstein:] people need to hear from her. [Baldwin:] Carl, I'm sitting here in Florida and reminding myself that early voting has begun here. And this will be, for folks paying attention to this campaign, or folks who are either undecided or not, this will be a big early voting weekend here in Florida. What can, what should Hillary Clinton say to address this for voters in these key swing states? [Bernstein:] I think if she has information available to her from the FBI or any other source as to her knowledge of what these e-mails might be, hopefully. she will let us know what they are and what is under discussion here. Right now, we're all talking in a vacuum. But I want to add here that in the last, oh, 36, 48 hours, there has been an undercurrent of kind of speculative discussion among some national security people that something might surface in the next few days about e-mails. And I think the expectation in this chatter and I took it as just chatter, but informed chatter, to some extent was that it would relate to another round of WikiLeaks e-mails, which our Justice Department people seem to be saying is not the case. But there has been some noise in the national security community the last day or two of this kind of possibility of some kind of revelation. [Baldwin:] OK. [Bernstein:] But this is her Achilles heel and we have to remember that it also comes on the back to the word heel of the revelations about the Clinton Foundation. So the confluence of all of this is bad for her as it stands now. But with some knowledge, she might be able to stop, turn things around, and give us some idea of what's going on in a way we might not otherwise know. And also, it's very possible that some members of Congress very quickly are going to get an idea of what these e-mails are and what this is all about and, for whatever purpose, put some information out there. [Baldwin:] All right. We will see because, thus far, we don't know a heck of a lot. Just to be clear, we don't know if these are even Hillary Clinton's own e-mails in question. We just know Director Comey said these are pertinent to the investigation. Carl Bernstein, thank you so much for calling in. Always love having your voice in these sorts of conversations. Next, we are getting breaking information on how the State Department is reacting to this news from the FBI. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Just into the newsroom, copies of the suicide notes left behind by former NFL star Aaron Hernandez have just bye-bye handed over to his family. This is all happening on the same day as the funeral after he hung himself in prison. Deborah Feyerick has been following the story for us. [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] The family was told the notes existed but didn't have the notes until today. The reason for that is they asked a judge to get them to the family. The judge ordered the notes should be turned over. What we do know is there were three notes. They appear to be some sort of suicide note. Some are to the family, but at least one is to somebody other than the family. Nobody knows who that is. The name has not yet been released. We do know that his fiance was very moved by happened and she's at the funeral home. Also, several NFL players have also attended the funeral including Mike Pouncey, who played with Aaron Hernandez at the University of Florida and now with the dolphins. But there's a lot of controversy because he seems to have killed himself in a flamboyant way blocking access to his cell once he was discovered. The suicide notes were confiscated as part of an ongoing investigation into the death because any unattended death in prison has to be investigated. Although they have ruled this a citizen, they are doing due diligence. But with respect to the suicide notes, it's generated a lot of speculation as to who they were to. Some were to his immediate family. But it's that note that was to somebody else that is the subject of all this attention. [Baldwin:] Thank you very much for that. President Trump will face a nuclear armed North Korea with missiles capable of striking the U.S. homeland. That is the grave warning coming from the head of homeland security to CNN. [John Kelly, Homeland Security Secretary:] The minute I would tell you North Korea gets a missile that could reach the United States and put a weapon on that missile, a nuclear weapon, the instant that happens, this country is at grave risk. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] How far away do you think that is? [Kelly:] Trump will be dealing with this if real terms before he starts his second term. [Baldwin:] Joining me now is Jim Walsh, international security analyst and a senior research associate at MIT. Good to see you. Here the warning about the President in his first term dealing with the capable North Korea. How does that jive with intel you may have? [Jim Walsh, International Security Analyst And A Senior Research Associate At Mit:] We don't have to wait until North Korea has a ballistic missile to see that there's a threat right now. That missile isn't going to be done for years. They have yet to flight test a reentry vehicle. But today, North Korea, we have more than 20,000 U.S. troops in South Korea. Tens of thousands more in Japan. Both those countries are treaty allies. We are sworn to defend them. So, the problem is not four years from now. We're confronting it right now and we don't have to wait to be worried about it. [Baldwin:] What about this under additional provocative measures from North Korea over the weekend. They threatened to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier. So, President Trump spoke with China's President Xi and the Japanese prime minister Abe and in terms of the President's personal diplomacy, do you think that that is helpful? [Walsh:] Of course, I think it's helpful, but I also can tell you what I don't think is helpful. That's a lot of bluster on both sides. We have the administration giving mixed signals. We had the ambassador saying we would use military force if they even tested and ballistic missile. Mike Pence said something else. You don't wave a gun around unless you're prepared to use. It it's a good thing to consult allies, but the chair is empty in one. There's no elected President in South Korea. It's South Korea that would bear the brunt of any conflict that broke out. Let the South Koreans hold their Presidential election before we make big threats we may or may not follow through on so we can consult with our partners. That's the more prudent way to go. [Baldwin:] Back on the ambassador, that's what she said, but she also said To Kim Jong-Un is paranoid. Do you think he is? [Walsh:] I'm no fan of North Korea. But when you're trying to understand an adversary, it's best to look through their eyes. They are surrounded. Japan is a great power. The U.S. hates them. There's this idea they basically feel isolated and threatened. Now they are their own worst enemy ask causing all sorts of problems and not to mention the human rights record that they have and all the other things they do. The use of VX and bizarre things they do. [Baldwin:] I'm sure you heard this upcoming Wednesday there's this rare briefing specifically on North Korea so everyone is on the same page. You have the secretary of state, defense secretary, joint chiefs chairman as well as the entire Senate. Imagine the busses and the vans going from Capitol Hill all the way to the white house to so everyone is informed with regard to this increasing threat that is North Korea. What do you make of that? [Walsh:] I've tried to make a few calls. Everyone is pretty tight lipped about it. Let me say we have a super busy week this week. We have the possible budget shutdown, health care, tax reform, 100 days. Why would you call for a meeting you have never had before when all 100 senators on this Wednesday? Maybe, it's because you think there might be a test later tonight between 7:30 and 10:00 p.m. of either a nuclear test or a missile test and you're confronted with that the next day. Here's a way you can look like you're on top of it by calling a big meeting like this. [Baldwin:] Are you telling me you know something that may be possible? [Walsh:] I think all the watchers not just me expect something tonight. It's the armed forces and the people's army. Typically, something does. Happen around here. They conducted 26 tests last year. They are not going to stop on a dime. And they have been e ready to conduct a nuclear test for at least a month. All the indications are they are ready to go. The question is whether they are going to pull the trigger or not. My thinking is, and this is speculation, if you're having a big meeting, it might be because something big is going to. Happen the night before. [Baldwin:] I guess we'll see. Jim Walsh, I appreciate your intel. We'll loop back and have a conversation on the other side of this big meeting. I appreciate it. Coming up next, the first daughter taking up an unofficial diplomat role? Ivanka Trump set to make her debut on the world stage. Also, CNN talks with the alert driver who slammed on his brakes and rescued a 4-year-old girl who tumbled out of this moving bus. His reaction, and police weighing in. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. One of the most talked about moments from last night's debate had nothing to do what either of the candidates said but rather how they shared the stage. You know, physically. Donald Trump standing directly, only three to five feet behind Hillary Clinton, for one entire answer. That move on Donald Trump's part went viral. One tweet, "why does he keep lurking behind her?" Another tweet, "this looks like a poster for a 1970s horror movie." And others just took it there. Check out this screen grab from "Halloween." Mrs. Clinton later, though, laughed off the close encounter. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] I could tell, yes. I could. [Clinton:] Well, you know, it was a very small space and I tried to give him space when he was talking to people. I would go back and, you know, lean up against my stool. But, he was very present. [Costello:] With me now is Fred Malek, the BushQuayle campaign manager back in '92. Welcome back, Fred. Thanks for being with me. [Fred Malek, Former Bush/quayle Campaign Manager 1992:] A pleasure, Carol. Thank you. [Costello:] So, Donald we'll just start with the optics of this thing. Your take on where Donald Trump stood through most of the debate? He also paced a lot on stage. You could always see him kind of over Hillary Clinton's shoulder. He never sat down when she answered questions. [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] Your thoughts? [Malek:] Well, I think both both candidates kind of were a little bit odd. I think Trump's pacing, standing behind her was a little bit off putting, frankly, and I wondered what he was doing. At the same time, though, Hillary continued to kind of laugh and smirk every time Trump talked, like kind of, well, what is the village idiot going to say next? And I thought that was a little bit contrived and off-putting as well. So I think both of them looked a little bit a little bit strange on that stage. [Costello:] And and this was a town hall. [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] This was supposed to be an intimate gathering where where voters were supposed to feel closer to the candidates. Sometimes I forgot it was a town hall, frankly. [Malek:] I did too. You know you know, Carol, if somebody is awoken from a coma of two years and seeing this debate, I think they would wonder, is this the best our great country has to offer? Because neither one of them really looked that great. All the focus was on mistakes, on character flaws and the like and I think our our person out of the coma would have said, I I really don't think I want either one of them. It was not it was not the best moment for either. But by the same token, they scored some real points. [Costello:] They did. And before we get there, I want to talk a little bit more about the optics because they were so very strange. [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] So before the debate, the candidates did not shake hands, right? [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] I think we have pictures of all of this to show our viewers. [Malek:] Yes. Yes. [Costello:] So they didn't shake hands before the debate, but after the debate, they did shake hands. You could see the spouses shaking hands before the debate. And they're going to get these pictures up. So I'll just ask you about the shaking of hands. Why not come out and shake one another's hand? [Malek:] I can't imagine why they didn't shake hands. It's clear that they don't like each other. It's clear that there was more fisticuffs to come. But, nevertheless, even in a prize fight, when people are battering each other, they shake hands before the fight. And I kind of expected them to shake hands and I was noticed it and wondered why they didn't. Was it deliberate? Was it planned in advance? Did one of them just not approach the other? I don't know. They should have shaken hands in my opinion. It was nice that they did so afterwards, but, of course, they knew that families were coming up and they wanted to, I think, part on a reasonable note. [Costello:] OK. So we're getting more images in. [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] These I don't know if this really shows it, but I'm going to do my best here. So, Chelsea Clinton had her arm around her mother coming into the debate, and then you could see her sitting in the VIP box with her father, with her hand on her shoulder. There's the image I'm talking about. So you'll see Chelsea Clinton get out and, there, arm around her mom, right? And [Malek:] Carol, you know [Costello:] Uh-huh. [Malek:] Carol, I've I've been involved with a lot of presidential nominees and candidates. I've worked very closely with with both Bushs. I've worked very closely with John McCain. And let me and Mitt Romney too. And let me tell you, these are real people. They don't they're not just caricatures. They're real people and they suffer from this and their families, most of all, have to bear the brunt of it because when you hear your spouse, or your father, being attacked and pilloried in any kind of in a way that they are, it's very humiliating and debilitating for these families. It's tough on them. And I think most of them handled themselves very, very well. And I'm glad that they mingled it afterwards and didn't show the effects of it. [Costello:] Yes. Just watching the Trump family sitting there, especially Melania, you know she wears this shockingly bright pink outfit as if to say, you know, I have nothing to be ashamed of. But she sat stony through the entire debate. And but but she did shake hands with bill Clinton, which I thought was was a fabulous move, because because why not? [Malek:] Sure. It's a classy thing to do. And I think it was the right thing to do. And I don't think families have an animosity toward one another. They understand the battle that they're in. But it still stings when you hear your father, your wife, your son, your husband attacked in the way that they are. Look, all of this debate was about character flaw. Very little of it was on vision and policies for the country. That was a flaw of the debate in my opinion but it also affected the families. [Costello:] So what should voters take away from this? Because I reached out to my Facebook followers and asked them who won. [Malek:] Yes. [Costello:] Most of them said Hillary Clinton. But I think many of them felt slightly ill after watching the debate. [Malek:] Well, look, that's what I said a little while ago. I mean if somebody came down from Mars or out of a coma they would say, is this the best we have to offer? This is it really wasn't so much a debate as it was an attack on each other. My opinion is, Hillary won the debate on points. She was so articulate and well prepared. But at the same time I think Trump won the night because he did what he had to do to deflect and defray despite the disgusting comments on these tapes and he lived to fight another day. [Costello:] Have you decide who you're going to vote for? [Malek:] I haven't. I focused on the governors, with the Republican Governor's Association, on the House of Representatives, through my chairmanship of the Congressional Leadership Fund, and I'm going to do everything I can to protect down ballot races. [Costello:] Fred Malek, thanks for joining me this morning. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the debate hadn't even started, but the battle had already begun. Several of Bill Clinton's accusers sitting with Donald Trump hours before the town hall showdown. [Unidentified Male:] Emmanuel Serrano Rosado, 35 years old [Cooper:] Reading of the names of the dead outside the Stonewall Inn in New York, live pictures. [Unidentified Female:] Gilberto Ramon Silva Menendez, 25 years old [Unidentified Male:] Simon Adrian Carillo Fernandez, 31 years old. [Unidentified Female:] Oscar A. Aracena-Montero, 26 years old. [Cooper:] As I mentioned at the top of this broadcast, we are not saying the name of the shooter or showing his picture, others will, others have and will continue to, but we won't. The focus is on those who are killed and injured, those who survived as well. We do want to update you on what we're learning about the shooter, the Orlando Sentinel, the "L.A. Times" are both reporting tonight that this was not the first time the shooter was at Pulse Nightclub. They say regulars had seen him there before. The "Times" also reports the shooter had used a gay chat and dating app or the several of them perhaps messaging a Pulse Nightclub regular on and off for a year. Drew Griffin has more on what we know about this killer. [Drew Griffin, Cnn Senior Investigative Correspondent:] It was 2007, the shooter here in the back row in a baseball cap was attending the Indian River State College law enforcement training academy and about to attend a post practice barbecue. That's when he took one look at all the meat being grilled and walked away. [Unidentified Male:] A lot of the guys, you know, said oh, it's because probably a religious thing. And so I said, "What are you, a Muslim?" And he says, you know, "Yeah." And I said, "OK." And I, you know, and we just left it at that, you know. He didn't seem mad. He turned around and, you know, walked away, didn't talk to anybody, kind of sat by himself. [Griffin:] According to this fellow student who does not want us to use his name, it was the first time anyone new the shooter was even a Muslim. A day later he says, the shooter failed to show up for class, instead administrators came and he says chastised the academy cadets for teasing someone about religion. Several days later he says, the shooter did pull up to the academy parking lot and was met immediately by administrators before he could even leave his car, as if he says school officials were waiting for him. [Unidentified Male:] His car comes in the parking lot and like they rush his car. We didn't see him or hear from him after that incident, so we have no idea of what happened. [Griffin:] Details of what happen next have not been confirmed by the school, but a source tells CNN, the Orlando shooter for some reason was removed from the class and around the same time fired from his job at the Florida Department of Corrections. One thing we do know before he left or was kicked out of the school, the shooter had extensive training in firearms, spending nearly a month in the classroom and on the firing range. Instead of graduating in law enforcement, the would be Corrections Officer became a security guard. And in 2013 while guarding the St. Lucie County Courthouse, it was the FBI that became interested in his actions. [James Comey, Fbi Director:] He said he hoped that law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so he could murder himself. After 10 months of investigation we closed the preliminary investigation. [Griffin:] Two months later as CNN first reported, the FBI found another concern, another possible terror connection. An American suicide bomber killed in Syria had been attending the same tiny Florida mosque as the Orlando shooter. Again, the FBI investigated and again found nothing to make an arrest. According to the shooter's father, his son did become upset after witnessing two men kissing in Miami. And in his bizarre announcement of his son's death, the father apologized to the people of Afghanistan saying, homosexuality is something that those that do it are accountable to God, it is not up to human beings to punish them. [Cooper:] Drew joins me now along with CNN Counterterrorism Analyst Philip Mudd, who is also a former Senior Official with the FBI and with the CIA. First of all Phil let's talk about what the FBI did. I mean what is the obvious question is was something missed? Was the ball dropped? [Philip Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] I don't think so, I mean, if you look at this, I think we have to frame this differently. We're looking at one case and trying to build out what should the FBI have done. I would go the opposite direction, what a day looks like at the Bureau. You're looking at kids who are going over to Syria, hundreds of them maybe. There's more than 100 who come back, so that's a batch of people to look at across United States. You look at people who are communicating with ISIS via Twitter or Al- Qaeda and Yemen. And then you add into that, cases like this where someone calls, a friend, a family member and says, "I think somebody might be radicalized." So before we jump to judgment about a gap, I think you need to look at this from a different perspective and say, how would you weigh it if you were the investigator against these other priorities. [Cooper:] Drew. I mean there's obviously the question how effective the job the U.S. is doing even you know, when these kinds of individuals are on their radar? [Griffin:] Yeah, I think Phil is correct, but I think we also have to look at what is being done to make this better. I mean we've seen this same scenario with the it with the Tsarnaev brothers in Boston, Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood, now this guy here on the radar, investigated, we know there's some kind of problem. But the FBI, I mean they're kind of stuck. They can't just glue an agent onto these people for the rest of their lives. So what do you do? I think that is a big, big dilemma that law enforcement is facing. [Cooper:] You know, Phil, in terms of motivation, I mean it's not by chance he picked the gay club. And now there's reporting he had been there many times, he's actually talked to people on gay hook up apps and stuff like that. [Mudd:] Yeah. [Cooper:] How much of that you think is inspired by his radical Islamist beliefs and how much by hatred of gays because if his dad said he saw two men kissing and that angered him and infuriated him. [Mudd:] I think we're making a basic mistake here and that is we are living in the past. We're remembering for example the 911 attack where you have an organization ideologically, Al-Qaeda, who not only trains people, it selects a target for them. Transition 15 years ahead, you have people self radicalizing who are looking for an excuse. I am angry at gay people. I'm angry at tourists. I'm angry in Paris, at rock venues because that's western culture. So whatever I'm angry about, ISIS gives me validation. I don't think we should think about this as a target selected because someone was radicalized by ISIS. I think it's someone who thought he was angry about something and ISIS gave him the validation to act. [Cooper:] Well it's also interesting, Drew, I mean you played that video of his dad saying, you know, gay people will be punished, it's heaven's job to punish people. I mean and yet his father is saying, well I don't know where he got these ideas. If his father is spouting those kind of ideas at home, it's not that big a stretch to imagine his son might go to a club and do something like this. [Griffin:] Yeah and there might be a major mental internal struggle going on inside this guy's head. At one point, he is visiting these clubs supposedly, attending these clubs. And at the next point, he's shooting them up. You know, he might be struggling between his view of his faith and what his personal urges are. You never know what's going on in these people's heads. That's why these lone wolves are so hard to nail down. [Cooper:] All right, Drew Griffin. Thanks Philip Mudd as well. Lot's more on scale, just ahead, what Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump said today about the massacre at the Pulse nightclub and how their words hold up to the facts. We'll be right back. [Cooper:] Today, President Obama was asked whether Bill Cosby's medal of freedom will be revoked now that dozens of women said he raped them and documents have been released showing Cosby admitted under oath that he had Quaaludes to give to moment he wanted to have sex with. President was ask about Cosby during his press conference today. He said there is no precedent or mechanism for revoking a medal of freedom which was given to Cosby. But he made it pretty clear what he thinks of Cosby's admission. Take a look. [Obama:] If you give a woman or a man for that matter without his or her knowledge a drug and then have sex with that person without consent that's rape. [Cooper:] Well after that press conference, one of Cosby's alleged victims, model Beverly Johnson wrote this on twitter. President Obama states on TV drugging and having sex with a woman after is called rape. Beverly Johnson joins me now on the phone. I am wondering when you heard the president actually say that, weighing in against Bill Cosby, what went through your mind? [Beverly Johnson, Cosby's Accuser:] Well, Anderson, I am in D.C. presently at a speaking engagement. And I was in the hotel room when the television was on CNN as I normally have it on CNN. And so, I was my heart was beating really fast. I believe that the President Obama has his finger on the pulse of this nation. And what he said was very profound and very powerful. And much needed. [Cooper:] The fact that it was the president of the United States speaking from the podium, does it give you a sense that the tide has really turned now here? That so many people now based really particularly on once they saw the deposition that Cosby gave, in which he admitted to buying Quaaludes, with multiple prescriptions from the going back to the 1970s. Do you think the tide has turned? [Johnson:] I think the tide has turned with the fact that there is a rape culture in America. And you know, on the college campuses, on the work place and also with this Cosby situation. So I really feel that it even has a more, it has more impact than just this Cosby situation. [Cooper:] The president said that there is no precedent or mechanism for actually revoking Bill Cosby's Medal of Freedom, which we just saw him getting there. Did you do you accept that? Does it matter to you that he has this? [Johnson:] For me what matters is that's we are having a conversation about violence on women. In a way from the highest office in our nation and that's, you know, President Obama. For me that matters. [Cooper:] And that conversation is certainly going to be had a lot of places tonight as it has been for many nights since all of this broke. Beverly Johnson, I appreciate you being with us. Thank you very much. [Johnson:] Thank you for having me. [Cooper:] Joining me now, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos, also attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin. Areva, you believe that President Obama weighing in on this controversy is a big moment for survivors of abuse? [Areva Martin, Cnn Commentator:] Absolutely. When you have someone in his position, the president of the United States saying that if a woman is drugged and you have sex with that woman that constitutes rape. I think women who have come forward with respect to the allegations against Bill Cosby will feel a sense of vindication. I think those women who are fearful of coming forward when they have been in similar situations will also be empowered by the words of the president. So, I think it was a good moment for survivors as well as advocates. [Cooper:] Mark, does it seem to you that President Obama is now kind of weighing in on controversial topics that maybe earlier in his presidency he didn't? [Mark Geragos, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Precisely. I think that you are seeing Obama 2.0 in terms of these things. Today it's weighing in on, you know, what the, kind of a professorial definition of rape. Yesterday it was talking about the criminal justice system is broken. You know, something that is obvious to those of us in it. But to have the president say that is spectacular. And I think that there has been kind of an unleashing if you will of him and what he wants to say. Although, I will give I'll temper that with when he says there is no precedent for revoking the Medal of Honor, you know he could set that precedent. [Cooper:] Medal of Freedom we should point out. You think... [Geragos:] Medal of Freedom. [Cooper:] You think he could put in some sort of a way to revoke it? [Geragos:] Absolutely. Look, if with one stroke of the pen this week he could get rid of 47 federal criminal convictions. One stroke of the pen he could get rid of the medal or revoke the medal as well. And as Areva says, you know, this is an important moment for women who are victims to, kind of rejoice in, and somebody recognizes this. Whether it is the women who are victims of Bill Cosby, or, you know, and the victim of Dr. Luka, this is a monumental moment for a lot of victims in this country. [Cooper:] And Areva, you really believe, I mean you sort of alluded to this, that the more attention this Cosby case gets that the greater the likelihood that women will come forward whether it's about directly related to Cosby or other cases, other forms of abuse? [Martin:] Absolutely, Anderson. You know, I've been saying this on your program since the story broke. That this is important. For those people who keep saying, why are we talking about this, the statutes of limitation have run. And there is nothing that can be done. I say that is absolutely false. That by talking about it and pushing the story as much as possible. We are giving permission to those women who are often afraid to come forward. And who knows. There are maybe women who were subjected to Bill Cosby's, you know, drug and drug induced sex, that is rape, that happened within the statute of limitations. And they haven't been willing to come forward. Because they were afraid. Because he is powerful. Because he is rich. Because someone may not have believed him. Because they didn't think that they could have a platform from which to speak. So I think the more we talk about it, the president, shows like yours, national shows, the more it is written about, the more we are going to start to see a shift in what we call the rape culture. And women feeling as if they have a way to come forward and their voices are going to be heard. [Cooper:] Mark Geragos, Areva Martin, thank you very much. Coming up, breaking news in Washington State, where a 16-year-old girl hiked her way to safety after the plane crash that killed her step grandparents. The wreckage of that plane we've just learned has now been found. Full details coming up. And later, we'll take you inside the tunnel that drug lord El Chapo used to escape from a maximum security Mexican prison. We've also got new surveillance video just before he escaped. That's next. [Quest:] This time yesterday, you and I were talking about the 8 percent rise in the price of oil. A barrel of West Texas is up some 30 percent over the last several sessions. Well, today, it was a wild day for crude oil. At one point, prices plunged more than 7 percent. Have a look at the map not the map, the graph. This is how it's gone. So, we've seen this nice rise, and then, take a look at how it fell off in US Brent Crude prices. Just a week ago, Light Sweet Crude hit $38 a barrel, that's WTI. Meanwhile, since prices have started to recover, climbing 30 percent in three days. Today, the dived once investors caught wind of that weak Chinese manufacturing data. All this week, we're going to be looking at the global price war surrounding oil. CNN's John Defterios spoke exclusively to Iran's oil minister, who says Tehran wants to start exporting oil as soon as sanctions allow. [Zangeneh:] After one year, the reaction of the market and shale oil producers means and shows us that it has no important effect. And I think we are going to the point, as I said, to decide how to manage the market. [John Defterios, Cnn Emerging Markets Editor:] Some are suggesting that Iran's poised to kill the market, though. You're planning to come by the end of March with another million barrels a day. That would take the oversupply to a 17-year high, and they're pointing the finger at Iran as spoiling market even worse than we've seen over the last 12 months. [Zangeneh:] Can we wait and not produce after lifting the sanctions? Who can accept it in Iran? Do you believe that the nation of our country will accept it, not to produce to secure the market for others? The first oil producer in the Middle East, can we lose our share in the market? It's not fair. [Defterios:] By 2020, the combined production of Iran and Iraq will be about level with Saudi Arabia. This will change the dynamics within OPEC and the OPEC leadership. How will it change, do you think? [Zangeneh:] We with all difficulty that we had, it's the history of OPEC that we should cooperate with each other and to go ahead with each other. It's very, very important. We should cooperate with each other. It's an organization, it's a signal to the market that we want to be with each other. [Defterios:] You're producing about 2.8 million barrels a day right now. Your pre-sanctions peak was around 4.2 million barrels a day. Realistically, how long will it take to get back up to 4.2, 4.3 million barrels? [Zangeneh:] We are trying. Around end of the next year, we'll be close to distribution. [Defterios:] By the end of 2016? [Zangeneh:] Yes. [Defterios:] Most people don't think you can add more than 600,000 barrels a day. I've spoken to six different sources, and they said you'll be lucky to add 600,000 barrels [Zangeneh:] Yes. Yes, they should wait some month. [Defterios:] You can get up to 4.2 by the end of 2016? [Zangeneh:] I wish. [Defterios:] The German delegation, the French delegation, Italian delegation, British delegation. Is there space for the Americans to come in? It seems like the Europeans are rushing to get to Iran to get a head start on the Americans. [Zangeneh:] I hope US administration not to put sanctions against them to come to Iran. From the Iranian side, we have no objection, no difficulty. We are open to receive them, and they are welcome if they want to come to us. And only US companies lose in that market. Now I hope they don't lose in this new stage of the development of Iranian oil projects. [Defterios:] You share the largest gas field in the world with Qatar. Most of that territory is actually Qatari. Will it create a problem as you ramp up your gas production? Because Qatar doesn't want to increase production. It wants to last 100 years. Is it a political problem? [Zangeneh:] No. We have no political no dispute with Qatar. And also, Qatar has reached to the highest level of production that they can for from many years ago. And we should accelerate our activities to reach to the level that Qatar has produced before. [Quest:] A short time ago, oil and gas exploration firm ConocoPhillips apologies announced it's cutting its global workforce by 10 percent. CNN Money's Paul La Monica is here with me. Well, yesterday up 8 percent, a 30 percent gain over the last week, and now down 7 percent. Is this just reflecting the same sort of volatility in commodities that we're seeing in equities? [Paul La Monica, Cnn Money Digital Correspondent:] I think it is, and it's all tied to China. The concern about China's economy slowing down, that has led to the volatility in the stock market and also with oil prices. [Quest:] But this volatility and this sort of reaction, this isn't suggesting a slowdown, this is almost suggesting a calamity in China. And we're not seeing as far as I'm aware, nobody's suggesting that China is about to go into recession. [La Monica:] No. China the fear may be a hard landing, which is obviously not a recession. But I think right now this is just an environment where investors are selling first and asking questions later. If you take the longer-term view, we still have very strong gains going back to when the market bottomed in 2009. A lot of people may be looking at this as an opportunity to say, you know what? We've got to cash in a little bit. China is a big mountain of uncertainty right now. Until we have more evidence of whether or not it is just [Quest:] Ah, but what sort of evidence is it going to take to get that, do you think? [La Monica:] I think with China, the hope is that the numbers that come out for the third quarter, obviously the caveat being can we believe them? Do they show a change in this path of the numbers being worse than expected? Now, that's [Quest:] You were telling me about the S&P and the number of stocks. [La Monica:] Yes, there were no places to hide today. That really shows how nervous investors are. Before the market closed, there are only two or three stocks that wee actually higher today, which is just stunning. Usually on days like this, you'll find some safe havens, be it utilities, consumer staples. Everything went down today. [Quest:] Cheerful. [La Monica:] Very cheerful, unfortunately. [Quest:] Good to see you, sir. [La Monica:] Thank you. [Quest:] There what you need, Paul La Monica. Now, after climbing in the opinion polls with his hard stance against illegal Mexican immigration, Donald Trump is holding a private meeting today with Hispanic leaders. So, what did Mr. Trump say? In a moment. [Baldwin:] U.S. secretary of state John Kerry making official what many have believed for a long time, the actions of ISIS, the terror group also known as Daesh, constitute genocide in Iraq and in Syria. [John Kerry, U.s. Secretary Of State:] Daesh is genocidal by self- proclamation, by ideology and by actions in what it says, what it believes, and what it does. [Baldwin:] That's the reality that our own CNN photo journalist, correspondents, producers, have been seeing firsthand, CNN's gripping coverage, undercover in Syria, takes us to the provincial capital of Idlib today. Where the rebels took control, they saw opportunity, but relentless bombardment from the Russian air force. And the regime of Bashar al-Assad has hits schools, courthouses, even hospitals. I have to warn you, though, before you see these some of the footage you will see is entirely graphic but we think it's important to share this exclusive reporting from our own Clarissa Ward. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It is an all too common sight in rebel-held parts of Syria. The moments after an airstrike. Dazed survivors stagger from the rubble. Those still trapped call out for help. The target this time, the courthouse in Idlib city. Activists say the bombs were Russian. When rebels took the provincial capital of Idlib, they saw it as a crucial opportunity to demonstrate that they could build their own state. And they believe that's exactly why the Russians bombed this courthouse, to undermine that effort. Any civilian infrastructure is a potential target, including hospitals. Last month, four were hit in a single day. One in the city of Maretoman was supported by doctors without borders. This is what remains of it now. At least 25 people were killed. [Ward:] Dr. Masen el-Sued was the general manager. He told us that Russian and regime forces target hospitals cynically and deliberately. [Unidentified Male:] They want to kill the maximum number of people. Also, they want to forbid the area from having medical service. If there's no doctor, no nurse, no hospital, then there is no health care for the people, and people will flee. [Ward:] Is it possible that they did not know that this was a hospital? [Unidentified Male:] Everyone knows this is a hospital. There was even a sign that said this is a hospital. But if they didn't know, this is an even bigger disaster. Because if you were bombing a building like this without knowing it's a hospital, it means you are hitting totally indiscriminately. [Ward:] Against the backdrop of this vicious war is Islamist factions who have gained the upper hand here. Among them, Al Qaeda affiliate Jabat al-Nusra. The landscape is peppered with signing shunning western democracy and urging all men to join the jihad. One encourages women to cover up completely. Dr. Gindi works at the only hospital still standing in Maretoman. He's no militant but sees this conflict in black and white. [Unidentified Male:] The whole of the Syrian people is against ISIS and against extremism. But we see that the Russians are bombing far from ISIS, and they're focused on civilian areas. [Ward:] I asked him why he doesn't leave Syria. [Unidentified Male:] If I did that, I would abandon my conscience. This is our country. We can't desert it. If we left, then we have sold our morals. Who would treat the people? I can very easily leave, but we will remain steadfast. I am prepared to die rather than to leave. And I will carry on no matter what. [Ward:] Carry on in the faint hope that for the next generation of Syrians, it will be better. [Baldwin:] And Clarissa Ward, our senior international correspondent with yet another gripping piece. I mean, to hear you ask him, you know, after the hospital was hit is it possible that perhaps they didn't know. And then he said, well, it's impossible because there was a sign or even if not, that was an indiscriminate hit. I mean, what is the regime saying? What is Russia saying? [Ward:] Well, Russia no. No, they are not. We reached out specifically to the Russian ministry of defense. They told us they have never targeted civilians, they have never killed any civilians. The regime of Bashar al-Assad also for years now has been denying any targeting of hospitals. But we did manage to get our hands on a report that was put out last year by doctors without borders that details how many hospitals were hit in rebel-held areas. And just in 2015, 82 medical facilities were hit, 82. Twelve of them were completely destroyed. And if you look at the breakdown month by month, there is a huge spike in the month of October. That of course is the month after Russia began its military intervention in Syria. So I'll leave it to our viewers to decide for themselves. But certainly, we can categorically say that civilian infrastructure and civilians are paying a huge price for this war. [Baldwin:] Just the picture of the baby at the end of your piece and who knows what he or she will face and their generation moving forward and whatever Syria will look like, but this notion of peace, right, the peace talks in Geneva, I mean, the doctor you spoke with, is peace on the horizon for him? [Ward:] Well, I think we should say that this story that we shot happened it took place before the cessation of hostilities began and there has definitely been a dramatic decrease in the amount of bombardment since the cessation of hostilities. And certainly people on the ground welcome the idea that Russia is now talking about withdrawing its military, although they are still skeptical about what realistically that would look like. And I do believe that there's a certain these peace talks in Geneva. But there is still a fundamental disconnect between people like doctor [Baldwin:] Clarissa Ward, thank you very much. [Ward:] Thank you. [Baldwin:] Next, the president trying to give the Democrats a jump start on Donald Trump. Find out what he is reportedly telling donors behind closed doors. [Romans:] Donald Trump opening up a fresh new can of foreign policy worms, announcing if he becomes president, he would have no problem sitting down with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It's a radical departure from current U.S. policy. Trump says he would try to convince Kim to kill his nuclear weapons program. I want top bring in CNN's Paula Hancocks. She joins us live on the phone this morning from Seoul. Good morning. What's the reaction there? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Christine, there has been some surprise at what Donald Trump said, but it's not the first time that what he has said has surprised South Koreans. Remember, he's also said he thinks U.S. troops could be pulled out of the country, and they could be allowed nuclear weapons. So, there's certainly surprise that he's so willing to step into the arena with Kim Jong-un, but others have said the current policy by the Obama administration doesn't appear to be working, that strategic patience that even though progress in the nuclear missile program may have slowed down somewhat, he's still made progress. And we've seen over recent months the intense nuclear missile tests. So, there is a school of thought that, why not. Maybe this could be the way to go as the current policy is not working. And also remember that Barack Obama actually said something very similar nine years ago when he was campaigning to become president. He said at a CNN Democratic debate that he would meet with the leaders of Syria, Iran, North Korea, other countries that were hostile to the U.S. He would be willing to engage with them because he thought that it was important to try and move the relationship forward. So, it's not dissimilar to what Donald Trump is saying at this point. But certainly Donald Trump has enjoyed talking about Kim Jong-un. In the past, he's also, remember, called him a maniac. He also said that he does deserve some credit as he manages to eliminate his rivals so well. Christine? [Romans:] Paula, he also said in that interview with "Reuters", Donald Trump said China can solve this problem with one phone call. The United States has tremendous influence over China and should push China to with one phone call end North Korea's you know, the problems with North Korea. If China had that kind of influence, wouldn't it have already done that? [Hancocks:] Well, it's a good point. The fact is we have to remember why China has this relationship with North Korea. They are the biggest trading partner. They are certainly pretty much the only ally that North Korea has. But China does not want North Korea to collapse. They do not want 25 million refugees coming across their borders. And also, if North Korea collapses, then they have a U.S. presence on their border. So, China has many reasons for wanting to keep the North Korean regime going, but certainly you can see they have lost patience with them recently as they have agreed to go along with those much stronger sanctions passed by the United Nations in March. Certainly, the relationship between North Korea and China is frosty at best. The leader of North Korea hasn't even met the leader of China yet. [Romans:] Interesting. Paula, thanks so much for that from Seoul for us this morning. [Sanchez:] The Senate defying the White House and giving unanimous approval to legislation that would allow the families of 911 victims to sue Saudi Arabia if the kingdom is found to be liable in the terror attacks. The Obama administration has lobbied against the bill, and the Saudis have threatened to sell off billions of dollars in U.S. assets if it does pass. We get more now from CNN's Michelle Kosinski. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Boris and Christine. Right, this was remarkable. I mean, look at the message that this sends. What could be more clear than this? That not single Democrat in the Senate voiced opposition to this bill, despite the way the White House obviously feels about it. I mean, they've issued several strongly worded warnings basically against this legislation, saying it could hurt national security. Dangerous was the word they used just yesterday, saying this could open the door for the U.S. to be sued in what they called kangaroo courts. But, clearly, the Senate wasn't buying these warnings. At least these senators put the interests of the 911 families ahead of the potential risks that the White House has been citing. So, what's the possibility of this bill ultimately passing? The White House has said several times it would veto this bill. But Senator Chuck Schumer has said he would vote to override that veto. He feels other Democrats would do the same. Now, just because you vote for a bill doesn't necessarily meant that you would take it to the next level and vote again to override a veto and oppose the White House. But given the sentiment in the Senate during the voice vote yesterday, there's a thought that could happen. First, it has to pass the House, though. That's where things are a little less clear. We know there's some opposition in the House. We heard House Speaker Paul Ryan just yesterday say he feels consequences to this bill, let's let it move through the process. Let's everyone take a very close look at it. Given that this was a unanimous voice vote in the Senate, though, there's a thought that this could well pass the House also Boris and Christine. [Romans:] All right. Michelle, thank you. Stocks dropped yesterday as a new round of worries hit Wall Street. Fed, Fed, Fed. We'll tell you what they are when we get an early start on your money, next. [Savidge:] Weather is a pretty deciding factor in how long it will take most people to get home from the holidays. Let's bring in CNN meteorologist Tom Sater. How is it looking, Tom? [Tom Sater, Cnn Reporter:] In most cases, Martin, it's really looking better with each hour. There are some problems as winds kick up. And obviously the blizzard conditions in the North. But overall, we've got is rain in Seattle, in Portland, snow in the mountains. We've had a number of high temperature records that were set just a year ago on Christmas or broken yesterday on Christmas from Tallahassee to Paducah. But the colors of purple and blue, this is it. Blizzard conditions have shut down highways in North and South Dakota into Minnesota all way to the Wyoming line. Three foot snow drips power lines are down. It's just too icy you can't see what wide condition so stay home for dawn. Rainfall is now east of Chicago but winds will be picking up, could cause some delays. Sprinkling of some sleet freezing rain in New England will quickly change to rain so no big problems there as well. All of the warnings in the Northern Tier states, we do want to give a big thank you and holiday wishes to the tens of thousands of road crews and power crews that are working in about 26 states right now. Blizzard conditions still in effect parts of North and South Dakota, again, travel is advised against. Could see an inter rain in Minneapolis. Look for the winds to kick up causing some air delays there as well. There it feels like 2, but Chicago it feels like 50 degrees. The records will continue to be set on the East Coast, maybe looking at another 32 high temperature record. So all in all, travel is getting much better, slowly but surely. [Savidge:] All right. Good to hear. Tom Sater, thank you very much. Fifteen month year old twins, Jadon and Anias McDonald have captured the world's hearts. The two brothers were born conjoined at the head. This holiday season, their family celebrates the success of the surgeries that separated them. CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta has been following the story exclusively. From surgery, from separation and now, under rehab. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Medical Correspondent:] Jadon and Anias. Jadon means God has heard. Anias, God has answered. And for mom and dad, Nicole and Christian McDonald, their prayers have been heard and answered. [Nicole Mcdonald, Mother:] I never doubt that they are a miracle. Not just that they were miraculously separated, it's been the miracles that took place every step of the way. [Gupta:] Miracles like Jadon's first tastes of peas. [Christian Mcdonald, Father:] Are you excited for peas? Say, hey, we're learning. There we go. [Gupta:] Or first words. [N. Mcdonald:] Da-da-da. [Gupta:] And the simple miracle of the entire McDonald family, mom, dad, 3-year-old Aza, and his two little brothers, Jadon and Anias, being able to all spend time together as a family. [Aza Mcdonald:] Oh, baby. [Gupta:] Conjoined at the head, Jadon and Anias were born sharing 1.5 centimeters of brain tissue fused together. But they defied the odds. They've endured four different operations. The most recent lasting 27 hours to separate the two of them. I came to visit them one last time at their hospital before they moved to a children's rehab facility. Hi, guys. [N. Mcdonald:] Hi. [C. Mcdonald:] Doctor, how are you? [Gupta:] And you, hi. [C. Mcdonald:] For sure. [Unidentified Male:] Good to see you here. Yes, yes, go, go. I'm up here. [N. Mcdonald:] Pretty sure. [Gupta:] You guys have changed a lot already, just a few weeks. So Jadon was starting to talk, babble before the operation. I remember you mentioning Anias liked to look at these books, to read books and think? [N. Mcdonald:] Yes. [Gupta:] Do you think they're sort of back at that? Sort of leveled from before the operation? [N. Mcdonald:] Yeah. I mean, Anias has been my talker. [Unidentified Male:] He's got it. [N. Mcdonald:] He talks all day. [Gupta:] It is two months to the day- [N. Mcdonald:] Yeah. [Gupta:] they've been separated. Does that surprise you? Christian, did you have any expectations to how long that part was going to take? [C. Mcdonald:] I didn't have any expectations, you know. I knew it was going to kind of depend on them and depend on God. Doctor Guro said they have, you know, came back from this quicker than any set of twins. [Gupta:] I heard that. [C. Mcdonald:] They have recovered quicker than any sets of twins. They said they have defied all the textbooks. They said thankfully they didn't read the book. So, you know, they are doing they're flying. They're doing really well. [Gupta:] Are you nervous to leave? [N. Mcdonald:] Yes. [C. Mcdonald:] I'm excited. [N. Mcdonald:] It's I'm excited. They are different things. They are separate twins. A new set of people to teach other a new ones, you know. I know that they're going to take care of them, but I just after reinforce the trust, but a whole new group of people also. [Gupta:] And now this. [N. Mcdonald:] And now this? [Gupta:] Separated, doing well, breathing, interacting. [N. Mcdonald:] Yeah. Poking each other in the eye. Poking in each other. [Gupta:] They're going to be true brothers. I love how Jadon smiles after he gives his brother one poke in the eye. [N. Mcdonald:] Yeah. Yeah. Hey, yeah. Can't you pick out there. [Gupta:] Don't tease me, mommy. When the boys were first born, Nicole and Christian would take them for rides around the hospital in a red wagon. And now they're leaving side by side in another red wagon. For the McDonalds, goodbye is bittersweet. [C. Mcdonald:] Thanks for everything. I'm sure we're going to see you again, but it's been great. You have known the red wagon. [Gupta:] The whole world is watching you guys. [C. Mcdonald:] The whole world. I know that for a fact. [N. Mcdonald:] Hi, hi little Jadon. [Gupta:] And now it's time to say goodbye to their adopted family and adopted home. [N. Mcdonald:] Are you ready? Let's go for a ride. [Gupta:] But it's also hello to a new home. [N. Mcdonald:] Do you see your new home? [Gupta:] And hopefully to some more miracles. [N. Mcdonald:] What do you see? Look here. Your eyes are everywhere. [Gupta:] Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, New York. [Martin:] That is a marvelous story to end on. I'm Martin Savidge. THE LEAD with Jake Tapper, starts right now. [Sciutto:] We have new details today on the investigation into the massacre at a gay nightclub in Orlando. That is just moments away. But first, it is a day of mourning. One more day of mourning in Orlando. Heartbroken families and friends are gathering to say their final good-byes. Five funerals today honoring victims of the rampage at the Pulse nightclub. Cory James Connell, Joel Rayon Paniagua, Luis Vielma, Stanley Almodovar III and Antonio Davon Brown. They're all being laid rest today in separate private ceremonies. Right now, some victims wounded in the attack or still fighting to stay alive. Here is the update from the Orlando Regional Medical Center. Nineteen injured people remain hospitalized, four of them still in critical conditions. Three victims in guarded condition. Twelve of the wounded are in stable condition. Since the attack, surgeons there have performed some 54 operations to try to help these victims recover. Now, on to the investigation. The FBI is questioning a friend who called the Orlando shooter during the rampage, while it was underway. We know the two discussed at the time medication. But it is not clear whether the friend knew that the massacre was underway. Also new evidence suggests that the killer made financial provisions for his family in the weeks leading up to the attack. And he bought his wife a very expensive piece of jewelry. I want to bring in Ed Lavandera, he's covering the investigation today from the ground in Orlando, Florida. Ed, we hear the FBI is now scrutinizing what could be a crucial clue from inside the nightclub. Tell us what they have in their hands now. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] Right. A crucial piece of evidence. And it's probably excruciating to watch. But it is surveillance video from inside the Pulse nightclub. And as rain falls here in Orlando, those investigative teams continue to work the scene. This area still blocked off to traffic as investigators have mobilized here in this block. And they continue to do the forensic work inside of that nightclub gathering all the clues and evidence that they can possibly gather. And one of the key ones we are learning about today is that surveillance video. Jim, it is hard to imagine that this kind of video would ever see the light of day. But investigators need to take a look at that video to kind of see for themselves exactly how everything played inside that nightclub during those horrific three hours last Sunday morning. [Sciutto:] So, Ed, we are learning now about the killer's spending habits in the weeks leading up to the attacks. I mean, it looks like he was making preparations to die. [Lavandera:] Right. Investigators have been saying that this wasn't an attack that was quickly carried out or was a spur of the moment decision by Omar Mateen to attack this particular nightclub last Sunday morning. And they point out to a series of clues, evidence like having visited this area, driven up to this area in the weeks leading up to the attack as well. Looking at financial documents in the family that Omar Mateen had changed bank accounts to include his wife's name on those accounts as well as documents related to his life insurance policy as well as the thousands of dollars that he spent on the weaponry that was used in the weeks leading up to this attack as well as you mentioned off the top there buying a very expensive piece of jewelry for his wife as well. So, the point to all of those clues as evidence that this was a premeditated attack. [Sciutto:] Premeditated mass murder. Ed Lavandera in Orlando right from the scene there. Next live, in the CNN NEWSROOM. The Orlando shooter pledged his allegiance to ISIS in the middle of that bloody massacre and he warned of fresh ISIS attacks upcoming on the U.S. soil. Coming up, we'll talk about the terror group's ability to inspire often troubled young men without even speaking to them or contacting them. [Soares:] Welcome back to the International Desk. A large anti-terror operation has been under way in western Germany. Police raided homes and businesses on three people suspected of recruiting fighters for ISIS. Two people we've been told have been arrested. Our Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen joins now from Berlin with the latest. And Fred, I understand the raids are still ongoing. Of course, the situation is very fluid. What are you learning from authorities at this hour? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yeah, you're absolutely right, Isa. The situation certainly is one that is very fluid and does also extend over a large area in Western Germany as well as in Central Germany as well. The latest that we're getting from the police and other authorities here in this country is they say that these raids started in the early morning hours in at least five cities. The four of them the State of North Rhine- Westphalia, in the west of Germany, among them a Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Duisburg and a place called Tonisvorst which is a much smaller town. And these raids apparently targeting three individuals, their home addresses as well as their business addresses also, and these three individuals are accused by Germany's general prosecutor of having recruited both supporters as well as members for ISIS here in Germany. And at least one of them is also accused of having provided both logistical as well as financial support for that organization as well. Now, in these specific raids that happened this morning, no arrests were made in those. However, there were two other arrests that were made both yesterday both today, I should say and on Friday in a separate case of someone who apparently is also a member of ISIS, who the German authorities believe may have been plotting terror attacks here in Germany. They are still looking into that. But certainly all of this, of course, comes with a situation where there's great concern about the security situation here in this country after you've had several attacks that took place here in the southern part of the country over the past couple of weeks. And Germany's interior minister, came out earlier today and gave a press statement saying that said that the raids that happened today were part of a new strategy. And he said, "There is an understanding between the federal and the state governments that they will that we will act early and be tough and energetic in our searches in order to protect our population from threats." Of course, a lot of that also in reaction to some of the security incidents that have happened here in this country over the past weeks and, of course, the grave concern with the fact that Germany took in about 1.1 million refugees last year from countries like Syria and Afghanistan. And with that, of course, the security concerns that large parts of the German population have at this point, Isa. [Soares:] Fred Pleitgen for us there Berlin. Fred, as soon as you have more on those raids do come back to us. I want to move to France because the country has been waging its own fight against terrorism. But authorities have not been able to keep Jihadist organizations from recruiting within the country. CNN Nima Elbagir, has been reporting in the story and she joins me now. And Nima, you and I covered the Paris attacks. We were also in Nice. And the questions that we keep being asked is, why France? What makes France such a recruiting hub, I should say, for this Jihadist? What have you found? [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] And absolutely, why does it keep happening? How does it keep happening in a first world G-7 country with all the resources that France has? Well, we have learned these figures that CNN has obtained that in spite of the heightened policing, in spite of the French president saying that his country is effectively at war those numbers keep going up, and as we understand that that is down to the propagandizing of one man. Take a look at this, Isa. [Elbagir:] A tent in Syria. Home to what French authorities are calling one of the most successful Jihadi recruitment campaigns. Overseen, they say, by Omar Diaby AKA Omar Omsen, dubbed by his followers the Super Jihadist. When Fouad El Bathy 15-year-old sister Nora went missing two years ago he documented his search for her using hidden cameras. A search that took him across Turkey's border with Syria where he learned Omar Omsen personally recruited her. [Fouad El Bathy, Brother Of Jihadi Recruit:] We couldn't stop hugging each other. She kissed me here, here, here. She even kissed me on the mouth by mistake. I told her, "Let's go home." But she said she couldn't. [Elbagir:] Fouad said he found his sister in a villa where Omsen and his French Jihadi brigade were based, an entire fighting force from Omsen's hometown of Nice. This rare footage obtained by French documentary maker showcases Omsen's messianic fervor. It's this charisma that authorities tell us has made him so successful. Responsible for an estimated 80 percent of the French-speaking Jihadis flanking to Iraq and Syria. Fouad said he witnessed Omsen's effect firsthand. [Bathy:] When Omar was speaking all the guys were looking at him like he was god. He made me think of a guru, they were venerating him. [Elbagir:] And promenades in the southeastern of France feel a world away from Syria and Iraq. But Omsen's childhood home of Nice has proved particularly fertile recruiting ground. His neighbor Aman describing it as an epidemic. [Boubekeur Bekri, Imam In Nice France:] They're transformed in a few weeks. It's like a bomb goes off. [Elbagir:] You have described the way that extremism is taking hold in this community as a virus. [Bekri:] When a virus infects a lot of people, it's a pandemic and you can't use regular pills to cure it. You need bigger resources. [Elbagir:] Through intelligence sources CNN obtained the latest ministry of entire figures for French national involved in Jihad. Between May and July the biggest rose to 67 people 2,147. This at the height if what authorities call an all encompassing security response by the French State. CNN reached out to the French government for comment but receive no response. Even as Fouad and others like him bravely speak out. Authorities say Omsen and his propaganda team continue to lure in French in citizens at home and abroad. [Soares:] Listening to your piece we heard that Imam, they're saying we need more than just a pill to fix this epidemic, he called it, or pandemic. What can France do? [Elbagir:] I mean, that is absolutely the root of the issue, is that there doesn't seem to be any agreement inside France about what should be done. So you have deradicalization programs that open and seemingly overnight closed. You have the justice minister spearheading a campaign to combat deradicalization of prison which is a huge funneling point of Jihadi recruits. That then is now in disarray over this proposal, which just shut down by the French parliament to strip dual nationals suspected involvement in terror of their French citizenship. So you have this jostling for what is exactly the right solution while the root addressing of these causes isn't actually given the proper amount of funding, the deregulation programs. Meanwhile, you have the elections next year and you have a political discourse that is moving ever further right, and the Islamophobia only further feeds that sense of alienation that people like Omar Omsen prey on. [Soares:] Nima Elbagir there with an incredible report there, thanks very much Nima. Now, a blistering report accuses the Baltimore Maryland Police Department of unfairly targeting African-Americans in ways that that violate the U.S. constitution. Statistics show a disproportionate number of stop, searches as well as arrest. U.S. Justice Department blames what it calls zero tolerance enforcement practices. The report does not reference Freddie Gray whose death you may remember in police custody, sparked to outrage and protests but of course no convictions. Well here in Britain, there's an inquiry into the death of a woman killed in a crush during a police chase. At that time police were also investigating a low-flying drone near a prison. Samuel Burke joins me from outside, Wandsworth prison in South London. And, Samuel, what have you learned about this incident? Any nefarious reasons for these drones being used? [Samuel Burke, Cnn Correspondent:] Isa, this incident all started Tuesday night in the dark skies right over me at this prison, the largest in the U.K. In fact, police were here a few minutes later, and then they saw a car leave the scene and they pursued that car. It crashed. The female in her 20s pronounced dead at the scene. A male driver is still in the hospital in critical condition. But just a few months ago, there was also a drone spotted at this very prison. And this whole situation underscores the serious situation that prisons face with drones. Look at this incredible footage, Isa. Here in Wandsworth prison in May, you see a drone entering the prison grounds, a bag being carried by that drone approaches the cell. A male prisoner reaches through with a stick trying to bring the contraband into his prison cell. Authorities later say that that bag contained drugs and a smartphone. So what this all shows, it's not just airports and airliners that are facing problems with drones, prisons as well. They need new laws and they need more investment to try and prevent contraband from... [Soares:] I believe we have lost are you still with us? No? I think we've lost Samuel. We'll try and reconnect and of course will come back to him as soon as we have it. Now, Delta passengers are still feeling the effects today of the catastrophic computer failure three days ago that grounded the airline's entire fleet. Right now 155 flights have been canceled as Delta works through the backup of stranded passengers, as well as crews, the airline says it hopes to have all the operations back to normal later on Wednesday. Delta CEO has publicly apologized for the delays and inconvenience saying this isn't who we are. Now, there's a damning new report about the treatment of people at Australia's off-shore detention center for asylum seekers. Documents leaked to the Guardian Newspaper highlight more than 2,000 cases of abuse at the center on the Pacific Island of Nauru. CNN can not there authenticity but the nature of the allegations matched those made recently human rights watch and Amnesty International. A guardian journalist in Sydney told us children are bearing the brunt of the city, let's take and listen. [Paul Farrell, Reporter, Guardian Australia:] One of the things that is really striking about these reports, is that even though children only make up 10 percent of the population on Nauru. They make up 50 percent of the reports of serious incidents contained in these reports. I mean, that's massively disproportionate. And it shows that there are very serious incidents of sexual assaults, of self-harm and abuse happening to these children in Australia's care. [Soares:] The Australian government says many of the reports reflect unconfirmed allegations and one of the companies that provides detention services on Nauru told CNN that it's dealt appropriately with all the allegations. No response yet from the second provider. Still ahead right here on the show, deadly wildfires in Portugal burned everything in their path and leave anxious tourist stranded on the island of Madeira. We have the latest after this. [Curnow:] Well, this doesn't sound like fun, does it? Passengers who spent a night stuck in a cable car high up in the French Alps are now speaking out about their experience. 33 people including three children were finally brought to safety, Friday morning. They'd spent the night dangling high, high, above the ground after the cable cars came to a halt on Thursday. We're going to get more now from our Ben Wedeman, he joins us from Chamonix in France. Hi there Ben. Tell us about this ordeal. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, harrowing is the only way to describe it. But, you know, when you think about it they are very lucky that in this case nobody was hurt. But for 33 people, they spent 16 very long, cold and anxious hours up in those cable cars. [Wedeman:] Visibly relieved to be back on the ground. It was supposed to be a beautiful day out at Western Europe's highest peak. But it turned into a nightmare. 33 people stuck in several cable cars overnight in the French Alps, suspended at over 12,000 feet. There were among 110 initially trapped after wires carrying the cars tangled in high winds. The experience left many shaken. [Unidentified Male:] You try to clear your mind as much as you can, but it's very difficult. Very difficult. I had to close my eyes during a good amount of time to try to think about something else. [Wedeman:] Rescuers raced against the nightfall using the helicopters to evacuate as many as possible. When fog rolled in they used a rope to lower some riders to the ground. [Unidentified Female:] They tried to take us with a helicopter but the fog came in so the two rescuers stayed with us. And then we did a belay after we decided there was no other way to get down. [Wedeman:] Those stuck overnight had to use blankets, water and cereal bars and survival kits found in each cabin. As morning broke, the final 33 people were freed after first responders managed to restart the cars. Now heading back, relieved it's over and that no one was hurt. And it really was a heroic effort by the French and Italian rescue teams. They were essentially lowered from these helicopters to the cable cars and then pulled one by one the people who they were able to rescue yesterday. Today, those cable cars were put back into action and simply rolled down the cables to the station. But now, the French authorities have launched an investigation into this incident, no doubt, to make sure it doesn't happen again. But I imagine for some of those 33 who were stuck overnight in those cable cars, they probably never want to step foot in one again. Robyn? [Curnow:] No. I know. I mean, it gives me the chills just watching these pictures. So on one hand, they were lowered down. They managed to get these cable cars working this morning. But the people who had initially been rescued, and as you said, an extraordinary rescue effort. Sometimes at 12,000 feet, literally individually pulling people out of these cars, that in itself is an extraordinary piece of drama. [Wedeman:] Yes. And you have to keep in mind, of course it's a 12,000 feet, but the cable cars themselves were anywhere between 10 meter and 200 meters above solid earth. But still, you can imagine that especially if you have children in a situation like that, to say, to describe it as nerve-racking is an understatement. But fortunately when it all is said and done, nobody was hurt, but clearly fairly traumatized by the experience. Robyn? [Curnow:] Certainly a lot of questions to be asked on how and why this happened. Ben Wedeman, thanks so much. Well, French police have arrested three women said to be planning an imminent and violent attack. The arrest in connection with gas cylinders found in a car outside the Notre Dame Cathedral this week. Our Jim Bittermann has been following the story all week for us from Paris. And these new details deeply concerning about three suspected female terrorists. What do we know about them? [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Absolutely. Quite unusual. There's three women, the one, the oldest one, 39 years old, the next one 23 years old and the last one 19 years old. And I just take them one by one. The 39 year old, mother of four, nothing unusual according to her neighbors, except that a year ago she did start addressing in a more Islamic way. She apparently is thought to be a person who just gave lodging to the other two. The other two are a different story. They're both known to police. The 23-year-old apparently had romantic ties to two other terrorists in France. According to reports here, she was planning on marrying a terrorist who killed the two police officers out in Magnanville in the month of June and then fell in with another terrorist. By the way, that one, the first one was killed. Fell in with another terrorist who is the guy who assassinated the priest during mass just a few weeks ago and he was also killed. And police now have picked up her current boyfriend and he is being questioned at this time. The 19 year old was the daughter of the owner of the car that was parked next to Notre Dame and apparently according to reports she tried twice to ignite the gas cylinders in that car but failed both times and left in frustration. Robyn? [Curnow:] And tell us what their plan was? Because I remember you reporting earlier on in the week that there wasn't really a detonator in the car. So was she trying to use the whole car and these gas cylinders with the gas cylinders inside as a bomb? What was her plan? [Bittermann:] Apparently so. Apparently that was it. We also were speculating earlier that maybe this was some kind of a test. But I don't think that's what police think now. We're going to know more by the way in about two hours because the Paris prosecutor is going to talk about this. But in any case, they it looked like she tried to set off those gas cylinders in the car and wasn't able to do it, kind of an amateurish approach. And in fact one of the things that the president, President Hollande indicated in his speech to or his remarks to journalists this morning from Athens was that he believes that they were self-radicalized on the internet. In fact, he is going to raise this issue about self- radicalization through the internet at the upcoming European summit in Venezuela. And going to talk about ways to make internet providers more responsible or to say go after internet providers who may be somehow enabling the radicalization process. Robyn? [Curnow:] Inspired by or directed by ISIS. Still a deep concern there to French authorities. Jim Bittermann, appreciate it. Well, you're watching CNN. On Sunday, it will be 15 years since the 911 terror attacks here in the U.S. Images like these ones of the aftermath in New York will forever be etched into the minds of Americans and people around the world. Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives that dayORC poll shows that half of Americans thinks acts of terrorism are likely to happen around the anniversary this year. And then its current climate of increased global terror, that number is up from 39 percent of feared attacks on the 10th anniversary which was of course, five years ago. And now we're getting also a closer look at what it was like inside the World Trade Center towers during the attacks. It's part of an award- winning documentary called "911" recently acquired by CNN films and updated for this anniversary. We want to show you some of it but we also want to warn you that the images are intense and disturbing even 15 years on. [Unidentified Male:] It was just before 10:00. A little over an hour since the first plane hit. Firefighters from all over the city were inside those towers. Hundreds of them. I remember I'm filming Chief Pfeifer, and he's on the radio. [Curnow:] Now the movie just fades to black. That documentary, "911, 15 Years Later" will air this Sunday here at CNN. And a couple hours from now here on the Idesk, I'll interview the child of a firefighter who lost his life in the attack. Stay with us. [Blitzer:] President Obama spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin today, hoping to solidify a new cease-fire in the Syria's bloody civil war. Syrian civilians are living under constant bombardment and many are on the verge of starvation as aid groups struggle to reach war-torn cities. Our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr is tracking the late-breaking developments for us. What are you learning, Barbara? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Good evening, Wolf. Well, a cease-fire may well be in the works, but there's a long way to go to make it really happened. We want to warn our viewers. Some of the scenes you're about to see are very graphic. [Starr:] Suicide bombers striking in Damascus, the Syrian capital. Scores killed, nearly 200 wounded. And a massive bomb attack in Homs where the Assad regime is supposed to be in control. ISIS claimed responsibility for the devastation. Now, the U.S. and Russia announcing a plan for a cease-fire, but not with ISIS. President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke on the telephone about the agreement scheduled to go into effect this weekend. Questions already about how secure the deal is. The U.S. warning it may be tough to get all sides to adhere to the agreement. [Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesman:] You can't just flip a switch, it is going to take a little bit of time for us to actually implement it. [Starr:] And an extraordinary admission on how the U.S. will keep tabs on the agreement in part by watching aid groups. [Toner:] There's not going to be any monitors on the ground to look at this other than where we get information from in terms of intelligence but also through NGOs reporting on the ground and journalists, frankly, who get feedback as to who is being hit by whom. [Starr:] At stake, the immediate fate of tens of thousands of Syrian civilians bombed by Russia and the Syrian regime, starving and lacking medical care. Russia currently is dropping about 100 bombs a day, claiming it's bombing ISIS. The U.S. says Moscow is bombing civilians and Bashar al Assad's opposition forces with help from Iran and the regime. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] Russia has to talk with Iran and with the Syrian regime, and we have to talk with the opposition. [Starr:] Putin saying he will get his side on board. [Vladimir Putin, Russian President:] We will do whatever is necessary with Damascus, with the legitimate Syrian authorities. [Starr:] Assad told the Spanish newspaper he definitely supports the deal, but warns that could change if others try to improve their battlefield positions. ISIS and al Qaeda are not party to the agreement. U.S. airstrikes against ISIS will continue and nobody expects ISIS to stop its attacks. And while all of this is going on, the U.S. is still keeping a very sharp eye on Libya in North Africa. The estimate there now in terms of ISIS'strength, Wolf, the U.S. believes there could be somewhere between 5,000 and 6,500 ISIS fighters in Libya. They are tracking ISIS camps across that country now, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Libya becoming a major base for ISIS right now. What else are you learning about these foreign fighters in Libya? [Starr:] Well, I talk to U.S. officials today who said they believe right now that ISIS is recruiting inside Libya. They are recruiting fighters from other places in Africa. They are recruiting fighters essentially who have tried to go into Syria through Turkey, but can't get into Syria. So, they're diverting them to Libya. And ISIS fighters on the run from airstrikes in Syria and Iraq. Libya very much a new front for ISIS, a big worry for the Obama administration, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Clearly, it looks like it has become for all practical purposes a failed state. All right. Barbara, thanks very much for that. That's it for me. Thanks very much for watching. "ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now. [Whitfield:] Welcome back. We're continuing to following breaking news out of Washington state where a massive manhunt is still underway for a man police say opened fire at a mall, killing five people. We have brand new surveillance photos of that man. Police have not identified exactly who he is, but they say he entered the shopping mall without a gun, then 10 minutes later showed up with a rifle inside of a Macy's store where he unloaded at a makeup counter, started shooting, five people in all killed. The gunman still on the loose. CNN's Jessica Schneider is following the story for us and joins us live with more on this, Jessica? [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Fredricka, this manhunt continues, and making it more difficult is that police have not been able to positively identify the gunman. They're now piecing together all that surveillance video from inside the mall so they can distribute it to ask the community for help. Based on all of this video, police now say that the gunman is a teen or teen to his 20s. Police say the video shows the suspect entering the mall without a gun and then 10 minutes later walking into Macy's with a rifle. It's unclear where he picked up that gun. He did shoot and kill four women and one man. More than 200 officers converged on that scene, searching for the suspect with canines and getting people out of the mall safely. Police now say it appears the gunman left the mall before police even arrived and headed towards Interstate 5 on foot. This morning Burlington's mayor did not hold back when he talked about his contempt for this gunman and that deadly attack. [Mayor Steve Sexton, Burlington, Washington:] I know that now our support is with them to help them extend the long arm of the law to bring the son of a bitch to justice who did this to our community. And our community comes together in times of tragedy, and we're going to do it again. And I just want to let everybody out there know any information you may have on who might have done this, please contact the authorities. And again, thoughts and prayers to the families as their lives are changed forever. [Schneider:] One thing complicating the investigation is police say they do not have surveillance footage from outside the mall, only inside. So it is unclear exactly how that gunman got away. But the FBI today stressing at this point there's nothing to indicate that this was an act of terrorism. Fredricka? [Whitfield:] Jessica Schneider, thank you so much. Just a little more than 48 hours until the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton here on the campus of Hofstra University. How much will it impact the race overall? We'll talk to representatives from both parties next. [Banfield:] Just about an hour ago, South Carolina's state senate passed a bill to remove the confederate flag from the statehouse grounds. [Gerald Malloy , South Carolina Senate:] And what we have done is that we have spoken, one voice here, with unity. And we are not being divisive and we are not I told them, there is no time for victory laps. There is no time there's no winners and losers. We're just trying to end up making sure that we move this state forward. [Banfield:] It was an emotional session as the widow of the late Senator Clementa Pinckney received hugs from every member of the senate. Reverend Pinckney was among the nine shot and killed at Charleston's Emanuel AME Church during Bible study last month. The bill passed 36- 3. But now it goes to the state house where it's unclear how much opposition it might face. I'm joined now by Dan Rice. He's a graduate of West Point, as well as an Army veteran, and he's written extensively about the history of the confederacy. Dan, I wanted to bring you in on the whole discussion of history versus the confederate flag because there are vocal opponents as we go into the house vote, you will probably hear some of the vocal opponents of getting rid of the confederate flag who say it's about preserving history. And you have a very, very interesting take on preserving what happened, when Lincoln looked at a divided nation and wanted reconciliation. [Dan Rice, Author, "west Point Leadership: Profiles Of Courage":] Yes. It's a it's a fascinating subject that's been ongoing for 150 years, reconciliation, basically. And in Lincoln's second inaugural address he said "with malice towards none," basically trying to bring the country back together. And this is another step forward in the removal of that flag, the confederate battle flag, from state grounds. [Banfield:] Which is interesting because effectively what Lincoln and other leaders wanted to do and you're great at how you position this thinking is that there was a need to honor those who were lost on the confederate side. [Rice:] Yes. [Banfield:] Honor the generals. Name those bases after the generals. There's a nuclear sub named after [Rice:] Yes, the Stonewall Jackson. [Banfield:] The Stonewall Jackson. [Rice:] Yes. [Banfield:] And try to be as inclusive as possible. You hit a nail with me where you said, "I went to Iraq and preached reconciliation to the Iraqis among Sunnis and the Shia and realized [Rice:] Yes. [Banfield:] We haven't done it at home. [Rice:] No, not at all. It's still 150 years later, it's still a very passionate subject for Americans. And for us to be in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Lebanon, places I've been to all of them, and and it is a very difficult subject. It's very passionate. If it's in the immediate present to have it 150 years later in the U.S., it is still a very passionate subject. And it took 100 it took 99 years for us to have civil rights after the after the civil war, let alone removing the battle flag. So it's just a progressive step towards reconciliation. [Banfield:] So some will say, well, then that's the argument for the confederate flag representing history and, you know, why tear down this history? But you look at it differently. You say, honor the fallen. [Rice:] Yes. [Banfield:] Honor the soldiers who fought valiantly, perhaps. Perhaps not the politicians. Perhaps not the leaders. [Rice:] Yes, absolutely. [Banfield:] And the flag may represent that. [Rice:] Absolutely. The soldiers that fought on both sides fought valiantly. And the way we reconciled as a nation after the war, to recognize those who fought for the confederacy, those who fought for the union, we have bases named after confederate generals like Fort Hood, Fort Bragg, Fort Polk. Bases where Americans soldiers were staged to go to World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, and the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And they were brought together under the premise that if we if we honor the soldiers that fought from both the south and the north, the Stewart Tank, the Stonewall Jackson, that we will reconcile as the group. Now, the politics behind the war, the reason that we had a divided nation, slavery, right, state's rights versus federal right, all of those issues we should not honor, especially in a federal or a state courthouse, in my opinion. And that's why removal of these these symbols and the flags represent they symbolize things. And so they symbolize their values. And so removing them from a lot of the state pictures is one issue. The other issue is freedom of speech and being allowed to hold the flag up. There's 400,000 reenactors in the United States that go out and reenact civil war battles. And that's a great way to remember history, to remember the issues, because those who forget history are bound to repeat it and [Banfield:] Yes. Always always important to remember reconciliation takes all sides. [Rice:] It does. [Banfield:] And if someone's in pain, that needs to be reconciled, you know, as well in this whole debate. Great to have you. Thank you for coming in. Appreciate it. [Rice:] Great great to see you again. Thank you. [Banfield:] Dan Rice for us. [Rice:] Thanks. [Banfield:] And we just learned, by the way, that Dylann Roof, the man accused of killing those nine people at that South Carolina church, is going to be facing even more charges now. The South Carolina solicitor has released a statement saying that Roof has been indicted for three attempted murder charges. That's for those who survived the attack. And it's also in addition to the nine counts of murder, as well as weapons charges that Dylann Roof will be facing. Can the six Baltimore police officers who have been charged in Freddie Gray's case get a fair trial in their hometown? Their lawyers say, not a chance. So what is behind their fight for a change of venue? [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] He claims the homeland security chief's account also has been breached. And, tonight, we're learning about the motive behind the attack and the threat to go public with stolen secrets. Iran connection some of America's most dangerous adversaries are now teaming up for a major military offensive. Now a ruthless Iranian commander appears to be on the ground near the battlefield with American blood on his hands. And 911 war of words. Donald Trump is adding new fuel to his feud with Jeb Bush over the attacks on America and whether George W. Bush could have done more to keep the nation safe. We're standing by to hear from Donald Trump live this hour. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in [The Situation Room. Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. Breaking news tonight, an alleged hacker tells CNN he's preparing to leak information stolen from some of America's top national security officials. The U.S. is investigating his claim that he broke into the private e-mail accounts used by the CIA director and the homeland security secretary. We're also told high-level Cabinet members could be next. Also this hour, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump asking for Secret Service protection and guess what? He's likely to be getting it soon. His top rival, Dr. Ben Carson, also has asked for federal security as well. We're waiting to hear from Donald Trump. He's on the campaign trail in South Carolina this hour. Our correspondents and analysts, they are also standing by, along with Senate Intelligence Committee member James Risch. I will ask him what he knows about any e-mail security breaches. First, let's go to our justice reporter, Evan Perez. Evan, what are you learning about these alleged breaches and the motive? Do they have classified information? [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Wolf, we're told this alleged hacker claims to CNN he's part of a group that broke into private accounts of CIA director John Brennan and Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson to protest U.S. foreign policy on Israel and the Palestinians. And on recent days, he's posted taunts on Twitter at the CIA and DHS officials and he's published information he says he stole from Brennan's AOL account. One document is a list reported to be members of the Senate intelligence community with security clearances and another document he claims he stole is the government form Brennan would have filled out in order to get his top security clearance. Brennan would have provided this while he was still a private citizen and before he took a job with the Obama administration. We have a statement from the CIA that says: "We're aware of the reports that surfaced on social media and have referred the matter to the appropriate authorities." Wolf, as you said, the FBI and the Secret Service are both investigating this because they consider this to be a serious case. [Blitzer:] How are the CIA and Department of Homeland Security reacting? [Perez:] They are not confirming yet that this has actually happened, but just from talking to officials, it's clear they are taking this very, very seriously. We're talking about like you said, the instances of some of the documents that they have posted that may include people who were members of the intelligence community and this hacker claims that he has data on other Cabinet officials. [Blitzer:] How sophisticated was this operation? [Perez:] We're told not very sophisticated. Even the hacker himself says he frankly just tricked someone into changing and resetting passwords. This is a very common tactic people use to break into accounts and to take over people's Twitter or Apple iCloud accounts, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Evan Perez, very disturbing information. Thanks very much. There's more breaking news tonight. CNN has learned that U.S. pilots have been told not to engage Russian jets making aggressive moves in the skies over Syria. Syrian government forces are waging a new offensive against rebel fighters around the city of Aleppo with air support from Russia and ground support from Iran. Tonight, another dangerous complication, a shadow Iranian commander appears to be on the ground right now in Syria. Brian Todd is looking into this for us. Brian, what is happening on the battlefield? [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, tonight, a U.S. intelligence official tells us Iran's military support to the Assad regime on the ground in Syria continues to grow. There are strong indications Iran's partnership with Vladimir Putin is getting stronger tonight. Sources say these recent images of a powerful and notorious Iranian general apparently near the battlefield in Western Syria reinforce our recent reporting that Iran is doubling down in Syria and putting its top commanders at risk. [Todd:] His reputation for ruthlessness is legendary, his military skill unquestioned and he's now regularly being spotted on key battlegrounds in Syria, this picture from Iran's semi-official news agency showing Iranian General Qassem Suleimani seemingly posing with troops in Syria the latest evidence of Iran's growing involvement with Russia there. Other photos posted on social media have captions which claim Suleimani was in Western Syria in recent days speaking not only to Syrian troops, but to fighters from Hezbollah, considered a terror group by the U.S. CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of these photos or when they were taken. But if Suleimani is in Western Syria, experts say it foreshadows danger. [Patrick Clawson, Washington Institute For Near East Policy:] It would be another piece of evidence that the Iranians are planning to be heavily involved in what appears to be a planned major offensive in the area. [Todd:] U.S. officials tell CNN there could be more than 2,000 Iranian troops, up to 6,000 Syrians and more than 2,000 Hezbollah fighters on the ground near Aleppo in an offensive aimed at recapturing that city from anti-Assad forces. It's a dangerous alliance that has Washington worried. [Faysal Itani, The Atlantic Council:] It's quite significant. This has been an escalating trend we have seen over the past year in particular. As the regime's performance militarily has faltered, the Iranians have stepped in to fill that role and actually have established a strong political and military presence in the country. We have gotten to a stage where essentially these battles are being planned and led on the battlefield by Iranians. [Todd:] Suleimani leads the elite Quds Force of Iran's Revolutionary Guard. He's a shadowy commander with a lot of American blood on his hands from the Iraq War. [Clawson:] He spearheaded the effort to build bombs that were very effective killing American forces and used advance explosive devices. [Todd:] U.S. officials say Suleimani was also involved in a notorious plot on American soil overseeing Quds Force operatives who in 2011 tried and failed to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States at Washington's upscale Cafe Milano. Iran denies involvement. Despite his reputation for commanding operations from afar, there are strong indications that Iranian commanders right under General Suleimani are vulnerable in Syria. The Iranian government recently confirmed that this man, General Hossein Hamadani, a top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, was killed by ISIS near Aleppo. A U.S. intelligence official called that a psychological blow to forces fighting for Bashar al-Assad, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Brian, the Iranians have also lost some other key military leaders there as well and not that long ago. [Todd:] That's right. Wolf, right around the time that Hamadani was reported killed, there have been reports that Iran lost at least four other commanders in recent days. That's a sign that Syria could be turning into a real quagmire for the Iranians. [Blitzer:] Brian Todd reporting, thank you. Joining us now, a top member of both the Senate Intelligence and Foreign Relations Committee, James Risch of Idaho. Senator, thanks very much for coming in. Can you confirm for us that Suleimani is now in Syria, this top Quds commander? [Sen. James Risch , Idaho:] Well, I would only confirm it from the open sources that you have. I really can't go there as far as the intelligence information we have, but this should come as a surprise really to no one. He has been heavily engaged. As you know, one of the first red flags that went off was when he made the trip to Moscow. And it was shortly after that things really started to happen. I know the report that you said your reporter said that this has been a troubling trend for the last year-and-a-half. That's true, but it is really, really ratcheted up over the last couple of months. We're seeing what is happening here. And this alliance between Iran, Russia, Hezbollah and Assad's forces in Syria, first of all, it is a powerful coalition that's coming together here. No one is opposing them. No one is doing anything about it. They are obviously preparing the attack on Aleppo, as you reported, and that's going to be a tough situation for the people trying to defend Aleppo. [Blitzer:] General Suleimani, who was directly involved, you heard Brian's report, in going after U.S. military personnel in Iraq working with Shia militia, creating improvised explosive devices, and apparently he's got a lot of American blood on his hands. As far as you know, is he on the U.S. target list right now? Is the U.S. trying to either capture him or kill him? [Risch:] To my knowledge, I would say no to both of those. Right now, the current administration has been doing the things they have been doing with Iran, negotiating with them, entered into this agreement that just happened. And just from watching administration, I believe that they just put Iran on the shelf and are going to let things go from here, which is to a lot of us who were against the whole thing from the beginning, it's very troubling. [Blitzer:] Are there 2,000 Iranian military personnel in Syria right now? [Risch:] Wolf, I can't give you the exact number for obvious reasons. That's classified. I would say this. Open sources have reported that there are at least that many in Syria right now. That shouldn't surprise anyone. The more troubling thing for us is, as we all know, there are billions of dollars that are about to change hands and go to Iran. What troubles me is that that money, not all of it, of course, but a very substantial amount of those billions that they are going to get, are going to be used to put more people on the ground in Syria, put more weapons on the ground in Syria. And it is simply not a good situation. As you know, Syria as you know, Iran is in control of Hezbollah and the same thing is going to happen there. [Blitzer:] And there are about 2,000 Hezbollah troops inside Syria as well? That's what we just reported. [Risch:] Right. There are at least 1,500, maybe more than that, maybe even more than what you reported on. And with this growing threat on Aleppo, one wouldn't be surprised to see that number grow more. [Blitzer:] You're talking about those billions of dollars in frozen Iranian assets that are about to be unfrozen because of the Iran nuclear deal and you're saying they could do with that money whatever they want to do. [Risch:] Exactly. Those of us that were critical were pressing the negotiators to say, look, get some sideboards on this money. And they said, oh, don't worry about it, things are so bad in Iran that they are going to use it for social purposes. Look, when they were broke, they were funding these operations in Syria and putting substantial amount of money in there. That is obviously a high priority for the Iranian nation. What are they going to do when they got real money in hand? [Blitzer:] Senator, stand by. We have more to talk about, including the very disturbing reports that the director of the CIA, the secretary of homeland security may have had their private e-mail accounts hacked. Much more with Jim Risch when we come back. [Pinsky:] Tanyalee, you were married, though, to a six foot tall man. [Tanyalee Davis, Born With Diastrophic Dwarfism:] I was. [Davis:] We actually met over the internet. I was actually a seven foot blond. [Hattie Wiener, 76-year-old Woman Who Prefers Lovers In Their Twenties:] There are a lot of people who use the word "Cougar." [Pinsky:] This 76-year-old woman wants men in their 20s and loves sex on the first date. [Wiener:] Maybe I do not get an orgasm as quickly as I used to, but I get them. [Pinsky:] If the snake starts to tighten up around your child, do you have some mechanism or device that will stop the snake? [Jamie Guarino, Filmed Baby With Python:] No. There is no tools used to stop that. [Pinsky:] Pauline Potter weighs about 700 pounds give or take a few. [Pauline Potter, 2012 Guinness Record Holder, Almost 700 Pounds:] I do not want to have to sit in the back seat of my own car, you know? I want to get in the front seat and drive. [Sheilla Shea, A Mother Who Killed Her Own Son:] And if somebody had told me, you know, Sheilla, you are going to go insane and you are going to kill one of your kids, I would have told them they did not know what they were talking about. [Pinsky:] This is our five-year anniversary. We debuted five years ago today. And, man, we have covered territory as you see there. In our first year, we looked at a medical mystery. This was a really interesting story we followed carefully. You guys will remember it. Twelve girls of the same Upstate New York High School suffering spontaneous tics, twitches and then this happened. Uncontrollable twitches and ticks developed overnight and no one knows why. [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Lydia Parker. [Lydia Parker, Suffers From Unexplained Tics And Twitches:] The last time I went to the neurologist, they said that they are not sure and that they will keep looking into it. [Pinsky:] Thera Sanchez and her mother, Melisa, Melisa Philips. We also have Lydia Parker. She is a friend of Thera and also suffers from this condition as well. Thank you all for being here, first of all. [Thera Sanchez, Suffers From Tics And Twitches:] I am not good, not today. It has not been for a while. My tics got worse. [Dr. John Sharp, Psychiatrist, Harvard Medical School:] Biofeedback is good, EEG biofeedback. [Pinsky:] OK. [Sharp:] Physical therapy is good. [Pinsky:] Oops. Thera is having a little bit of a reaction there. Thera, are you all right? Mom, what is going on there? [Melisa Philips, Thera Sanchez`s Mother:] She is not. She is having a seizure. [Pinsky:] So, as dramatic as that was, seizure disorder, Tourette`s, Lyme Disease, post-strep PANDAS, all ruled out, this was allegedly now conversion disorder, which is what Dr. Sharp was summarizing right there in that studio at that time. Conversion disorder. Sam and Mike are still with me. I am joined by Lisa Bloom and Loni Coombs. And, you guys Loni, back then we brought in Erin Brockovich. And, there was this intrigue about what might have been going on. And, the neurologist there, locally, said, "Well, this is conversion. We ruled everything else out. Still does not mean there were not some bad things happening. [Loni Coombs, Former Prosecutor:] Right. That is right. Then, what is so interesting about this show is you look at these potentially legal issues but you also see this other side to it. And you open up the possibilities of how to handle these things, how to treat them, perhaps in the best way possible rather than just reverting to, you know, just lawsuits and things like that. [Pinsky:] And, you guys, Lisa, have been a critical piece of our legal squad here, you two. Mike, you are giving me the strangest look. What are you thinking? [Catherwood:] What is that? Come on. [Pinsky:] I am trying to read your mind. [Catherwood:] I am enjoying this nice anniversary show. [Pinsky:] OK. Good. I am afraid of [Catherwood:] Not only beautiful but professional and intelligent ladies like this. [Pinsky:] That is right. That is exactly right. [Catherwood:] I am enjoying the moment. [Lisa Bloom, Attorney:] I do not think that is what was in his mind. [Pinsky:] No. well, that is where the story is actually going as I am afraid if I went there, God knows where he would take us. So, I am just saying. You, guys, have been [Coombs:] Pull it back. [Pinsky:] But, think how I mean we have just had stuff that I did not know anything about. Without you guys I would have been a fish out of water. I really again appreciate you making it digestible for our audience. Now, in October, Lamar Odom apparently overdosed on cocaine and prescription medication. He was still fighting for his life. And, Mike had a reaction to it. Take a look at this. [Catherwood:] He is not putting a gun in his mouth and committing suicide but when you get to that level of addiction, I know it very well. [Pinsky:] Is it hard for you to talk about that? [Catherwood:] Yes. It is really, really difficult. One thing I do know, as much as I know this guy, that he was suffering very badly. The unfortunate aspect of the disease of addiction, it does not matter if you are a streetwalker, or if you are, you know, Robin Williams or Lamar Odom, the pain is very similar. It is very universal. [Pinsky:] Yes. Yes. [Schacher:] Thank god we have people like you, people like you who can educate the masses about how this really is a disease. [Pinsky:] It is just this incredible cycle that people get in. [Schacher:] Painful. Can I give you a hug? [Catherwood:] Yes. [Schacher:] Yes. It breaks my heart. [Catherwood:] Can you take your top off? [Pinsky:] Can we recreate that hug a little more you forgot that? [Schacher:] I remember saying, "Can I give you a hug." I do not remember the take your top off part. Now, I do. I do. [Pinsky:] Before we heard that one little last tape, I am going to as Lisa, now you feel that. See, Mike is a sensitive guy. [Bloom:] He is underneath it all. [Pinsky:] Oh, yes. He is sensitive. And, of course, Lamar is now out and he has been seen out and about, although recently he was seen in a bar. [Catherwood:] Yes. If you are going try to blend in, and you do not want people to know you are drinking again, do not be a seven-foot black guy at an Irish bar. [Pinsky:] Yes. On Sunday morning or something, right, allegedly? [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] All right. Now, our story was on a breast milk baby doll. It was controversial. Take a look. Look at this video from the BreastMilkBaby.Com. Pretty much shows you all you need to know and whatever you do not get from this commercial. Lisa is going to demonstrate in just a second. [Bloom:] I think breastfeeding is a wonderful thing. I breastfed my children. And, you know what? Little girls like to emulate what they see their mother is doing. So, you put the little bib on. [Pinsky:] No, I did not say make a big deal [Bloom:] No. You put the little bib on. You put the doll not to the little child`s breast and it makes a little suckling noise. [Pinsky:] Joanie in Nevada, you want to say something here? [Joanie, Nevada:] I have 12 grandchildren. [Pinsky:] Congratulations. [Joanie:] I am astonished. Is the next thing going to be pretend period? And, it is going to give you a calendar. [Pinsky:] So, Lisa, obviously, an enthusiast and an apologist for this product, but Loni not so much. [Coombs:] No, no. I agree with the call or I just do not think there are little girl need to reenacting that thing so early on. [Bloom:] This is the natural function of the female body actually. And, you know, when it comes to the news I like to stay abreast. [Pinsky:] I did not hear a lecture on that one. There should have been an enthusiastically behind you. [Bloom:] No. Look, why not? I mean she sees her mom breastfeeding. She wants to do it. [Pinsky:] A breastfeeding? Lisa, from the old south here. [Catherwood:] I do declare. [Pinsky:] We got to get out. We got, again, I have got to get to the trials. I have got to get, you know, more of our guests to join us here. You are going to see all of our best and greatest hits after this. [Isha Sesay, Cnn International Anchor And Correspondent:] Congratulations, Dr. Drew, on notching up five glorious years with the show. Wishing you many, many more. [Mark Eiglarsh, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Drew, my brother, just wanted to co congratulate you and your spectacular staff for five amazing years on HLN. It has been a lot of fun. Love you, man. Congrats. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Guest:] the time for clowns is past. Supreme fight. President Obama jabs back at senators for refusing to consider anyone that he nominates to the Supreme Court. Tonight an intriguing new twist. Could he nominate a Republican? Plus, nuclear nightmare. Pentagon planners consider the deadly possibility of Kim Jong-un lashing out with nuclear weapons if he feels threatened. Could he hit the U.S.? Wolf Blitzer is on assignment, preparing for Thursday night's Republican presidential debate. I'm Brianna Keilar, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. And as we count down to CNN's Republican debate here in Houston, Texas, Donald Trump is looking ahead to Super Tuesday. His chance to deliver a series of knockout blows to his remaining rivals. Now, Trump is also starting to answer questions about who he might pick as a running mate. The biggest hint so far: Trump says he's looking for a political insider. Pretty interesting. And as for Trump's opponents, well, they're scattered across the country. They're attacking one another, and they're trying to convince Republican voters they have the best chance of taking Trump down. Our correspondents, analysts and guests, including Senator Tim Scott, who is backing Marco Rubio, have full coverage of the day's top stories. And we begin with CNN's Jim Acosta. Jim, can Donald Trump make the case that three straight wins makes him the inevitable nominee? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, that is the question everybody is asking, Brianna, and the answer is quickly becoming possibly yes. Donald Trump is savoring his big victory here in Nevada, and he's predicting more wins next week on Super Tuesday. Even though he only has a fraction of the delegates needed to capture the GOP nomination, Trump is sounding like he's already measuring the drapes in the Oval Office. [Acosta:] Donald Trump's first campaign event after his win in Nevada says it all. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Thank you, everybody. [Acosta:] Eyeing the Bible Belt states up for grabs on Super Tuesday next week, Trump appealed to Christian conservatives by sitting down with televangelist Pat Robertson. [Pat Robertson, Televangelist:] You inspire us all. [Acosta:] Trump talked about forgiveness, perhaps even for his arch- rival Ted Cruz. Maybe. [Trump:] I can forgive. Every once in a while there will be somebody that went too far over the last few weeks, and you know, things were said that were lies. But I've got to be a good person today, at least for the next hour. I'm sorry. [Acosta:] But Trump isn't spending much time talking about his opponents, he's busy envisioning his days in the White House. The ultimate political outsider saying he would likely want a political insider as his vice president. [Trump:] I do want somebody that's political because I want to get lots of great legislation that we all want passed. [Acosta:] And strong conservatives for the Supreme Court. [Trump:] Pro-life. Starts with that. Starts with that. Very conservative. Very, very smart. I mean like Judge Scalia. He was a perfect representative. On day one of the Trump administration, the GOP front-runner vows he'll scrap Obamacare, improve veterans' health care and end the president's executive actions to slow deportations of the undocumented. Especially the one on the border where people are allowed to come in and just pour into our country like Swiss cheese. [Acosta:] Trump is heading into Super Tuesday with a lead that is ballooning quickly, five times the number of delegates as his nearest rivals. [Trump:] The establishment, the media, the special interests, the lobbyists, the donors, they're all against me. [Acosta:] Trump is also running a new ad warning the D.C. establishment is out to get him, and he's making the case Republicans should consider how he's expanding the party and get on board. [Trump:] We won the evangelicals. We won with young. We won with old. We won with highly educated. We won with poorly educated. I love the poorly educated. We're the smartest people, we're the most loyal people. And you know what I really am happy about, because I've been saying it for a long time. Forty-six percent with the Hispanics, 46 percent. No. 1 with Hispanics. [Acosta:] The contenders vying to be the anti-Trump insist the race is far from over. [Cruz:] We can't get this wrong. We can't be fooled by P.T. Barnum. The time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed. [Acosta:] Cruz went back to delegate-rich Texas to secure the endorsement of that state's popular governor. [Gov. Greg Abbott , Texas:] Ted is a constitutionalist whose judgment I trust to appoint the right judges to the United States Supreme Court. [Acosta:] Marco Rubio is urging supporters to pick a candidate who can actually win in November. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] We can't just elect someone that's angry. [Acosta:] And John Kasich said maybe a fight at the GOP convention won't be so bad. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] If we end up at a brokered convention, I can't think of a better way better city to have one in than Cleveland, Ohio, so we'll see. [Acosta:] Now, he may he may be way ahead, but Donald Trump is not slowing down. He's got a bunch of events lined up through the South and Southwest to set the table for Super Tuesday next week. And all of the early polls indicate, Brianna, that Trump has the potential to clean up on Super Tuesday and force some of these other rivals to drop out of the race Brianna. [Keilar:] All right, Jim Acosta for us in las Vegas. Thank you. And as Jim mentioned, Senator Ted Cruz is campaigning in his home state of Texas. It is the biggest single prize among next week's Super Tuesday states. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty is covering the Cruz campaign for us. So Sunlen, the senator is predicting that he's going to have a very good night next Tuesday. What do you think? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, he absolutely could, Brianna. The stakes are incredibly high for him. He has done absolutely nothing to tamp down expectations, and it is going to be a tough slog for him. And I think that's part of the reason why we've really seen Senator Cruz ratchet up the rhetoric of how pivotal a week this is for him, saying things like this will be the most important day of the election, referencing Super Tuesday, of course. Today the Cruz campaign, they rolled out a big endorsement, that of Texas Governor Greg Abbott. His support will have an incredible boost of momentum going forward here on the ground for Cruz in Texas as they inch towards voting on Tuesday. And of course, a lot of delegates here in Texas on the table, something that Senator Cruz referenced here earlier today. [Cruz:] Texas has 155 delegates. It is the crown jewel of Super Tuesday. Texas has alone almost 15 percent of the delegates you need to be the Republican nominee. And as the men and women know here, Texas has a history of standing and leading the fight. [Serfaty:] And Senator Cruz had something of a combative press conference with reporters afterwards, where he was peppered with questions over what his path would be forward if he doesn't perform on Super Tuesday. Here's how he responded. [Cruz:] I believe we are going to do well. [Unidentified Male:] Better than 50 percent? [Cruz:] I believe we are going to do well. That is going to be up to the voters. You know, I would note, I'm curious how many reporters ask Marco Rubio, after losing four states in a row, so when do you drop out when you haven't won a state? To win, you've got to you've got to win states. You've got to win delegates. [Serfaty:] And it can't be overstated how much the Cruz campaign strategy hinges on doing well on Super Tuesday. Senator Cruz today says that he will campaign hard. He will campaign aggressively this week going forward Brianna. [Keilar:] All right, Sunlen Serfaty for us here in Houston. Thank you so much. And joining us now, we have Republican Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina. He has endorsed Marco Rubio for president. Senator, thanks so much for being with us. These endorsements for Rubio, who you have endorsed, they're piling up now. He's seemingly gotten the establishment's blessing here. Is he able to convince voters, though? [Sen. Tim Scott , South Carolina:] I think he will be very effective and convincing voters in this cross-country run. The key for us is to keep gaining and accumulating more delegates. We're in a good position right now, especially when you look at where we've come from to where we are and where we're going. We're excited about the future. We're excited about this race. The longer it goes, the better it is for Marco Rubio, and I think it's going to be a cross- country run. We'll have to continue to do well, and we will. [Keilar:] He comes into this, obviously, with a record as a freshman senator. Let's talk about that. I know you two have worked together. He says that he understands the national security challenges that our country faces more than any of the other GOP candidates in this race. But can you name something that really stands out to you that he has done in his time as senator that you think will make him the best prepared, as he says that he is? [Scott:] Well, I think if you look at his service on the foreign affairs committee or the intel committee, his knowledge on our challenges in the Middle East, his understanding and appreciation of the challenge with North Korea, his understanding and appreciation for China. I also look at some of the accomplishments. He's led the way for reform at the V.A. He's been very successful in getting sanctions done on Hezbollah. You look at the impact of eliminating the slush fund or the bailout fund for insurance companies and Obamacare. Here are three clear examples of where Marco has taken the lead and done very well for the country. And that's that's good to have those legislative victories. What's more important is he inspires a new generation of voters to take a look at the conservative principles that have undergirded the success of this nation. As long as we continue to campaign on the conservative principles that have made us successful for more than two centuries, I look forward to another American century. [Keilar:] It seems like some of the things that you name are sort of his experience that he has serving on committees, which, you know, not to say that that isn't important. That certainly is, but you named the V.A., for instance, which a lot of people look at Congress; and they say that, you know, on the V.A. issue, you know, a lot of senators this is even a criticism leveled at Senator Sanders that they sort of missed this crisis. You know, I guess specifically, is there something to you that just that really sort of stands out as sort of the primary legislative accomplishment for him or even just really leading the way on a certain issue? [Scott:] One of the things that he did, without question, is he was one of the first folks who said that the president's characterization of ISIS as the J.V. team was inconsistent with the reality that was coming our way. He was one of the first to start voicing the concerns that ISIS was more than a J.V. team, that it was actually perhaps the greatest threat that we have from a militant jihadist perspective in the last five to ten years. He proved to be right there. But let's think about the V.A. reform that was passed. We were talking about the fact that we gave the new secretary of the V.A. the power to fire employees. Now, what you need is a chief executive, a president who will make sure that his secretary actually uses the power of the legislation that was given to him. When that happens, when Marco Rubio is our president, we'll see more accountability in the V.A., because he helped lead that legislation past the finish line, and then we'll have a commander in chief that will actually use that legislation, and that's good news for our veterans. We owe so much to our veterans, and yet the V.A. has been a broken, fragmented system that has not successfully taken care of our vets. We can change that and the legislation that we passed that he led on actually gets that accomplished. [Keilar:] Looking at his strategy, for instance, when it comes to foreign policy, as he is touting his creds here, when you look at his proposal combatting is, Senator, do you see something that is different from what the Obama administration is pushing as the solution to combatting ISIS? [Scott:] Well, the Obama administration really has not had a plan to combat ISIS. It really has not had a plan for us to not just reduce or destroy, but to eliminate ISIS as we know it. The fact of the matter is that having a specific plan that encourages the military leaders to be a part of that plan and part of the process, to understand and to delineate delineate those necessary steps for success, we haven't seen that out of President Obama. We would see that clearly under President Rubio. [Keilar:] All right, Senator Tim Scott, stay with me. We have many more questions for you as you back Senator Marco Rubio in this race for the GOP presidential nomination. We'll be right back. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Our other national lead today, 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis was laid to rest this afternoon in Louisiana nearly a week after two police officers shot and killed the first-grader with autism while they were chasing his father's car. The same day he was buried far too soon is the day we may finally get some answers about just why this happened. Why officers fired 18 bullets into the vehicle when it was stopped at a dead end, with both officers facing the judge. Nick Valencia now join uses from Marksville, Louisiana. We're hearing that one of the officers may have known the boy's father. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Certainly a bizarre set of circumstances surrounding this case, especially after what we're hearing from a source, Jake. A source close to the investigation who tells me that Norris Greenhouse, one of those charged in the murder of that 6-year-old, actually knew the victims prior to the shooting. While he knew them, how the extent of how they knew each other that's being investigated by the Louisiana state police, a big part of their investigation. And now this, the city's mayor telling me there's corruption in this city that he's been trying to get to the bottom of. [Valencia:] Outside the detention center the local sheriff announces the judge's orders for the two officers charged with the murder of a 6-year-old. [Sheriff Doug Anderson, Avoyelles Parish Sheriff's Office:] The judge set the bond. Set at $1 million. [Reporter:] For each officer? [Anderson:] For each officer, correct. [Valencia:] The officers were moonlighting as city marshals in Marksville, Louisiana, last Tuesday night when they opened fire on a car driven by this man, Chris Few. Inside, buckled to the passenger seat Few's son, Jeremy Mardis. The officers fired 18 bullets. The little boy is hit five times, killing him instantly. The father is injured. He was unarmed. Almost a week since, investigators still have not said why they believe the officers pursued the car or why they used lethal force. [Col. Michael Edmonson, Louisiana State Police Superintendent:] Jeremy Mardis, 6 years old, he didn't deserve to die like that. And that's what's unfortunate. [Valencia:] The incident is caught on police body cameras. The footage has not been released to the public, but Louisiana state police superintendent says the video played a major role in the arrest. The arrests didn't come as a surprise to Marksville resident Patrick Jeansonne. In January, he won a lawsuit against Derrick Stafford for false arrest when trying to get his dog to the vet during a July 4th parade in 2012. The city is now appealing the decision. [Patrick Jeansonne, Filed Lawsuit Against Stafford:] When I said I knew he had some play in it one way or another. [Valencia:] Why is that? [Jeansonne:] It's just the city of Marksville how they are. They're going to cover for each other. [Valencia:] This small town now the target of new allegations of corruption. Something even the mayor acknowledges. [on camera]: Is this city corrupt? [Mayor John Lemoine, Marksville, Louisiana:] Depends the way you look at it. I think to an extent it is. And there are some things that need to be taken care of. And there's some things that need to be looked at very seriously. [Valencia:] How do you address that as the mayor? Even the mayor of this city is saying there's potential corruption in this city. [Lemoine:] I plan on meeting with the colonel from the state troopers, and to get and sit with us with the police department and see if we can iron things out. [Valencia:] Just shocking, Jake, when you consider how casual the mayor was talking about corruption in this city. He went onto tell me that he was actually thrown in jail, arrested based on false accusations from Derrick Stafford, who, of course, is one of those officers charged with the murder of the 6-year-old, Stafford has been an issue and problem here in this police department, and he's been trying for quite some time to try to get him kicked off the force without any luck Jake. [Tapper:] Nick Valencia with a bizarre and tragic story thanks so much. The sports lead now it's being called the residue leftover from the old Soviet Union, a doping scandal that could keep Russia off the track and at the next Olympics. The World Anti-Doping Agency today recommending that Russia be banned from international competitions because of widespread doping. An investigation uncovered a deeply rooted culture of cheating at all levels within Russian athletics, including corruption and bribery. The report even accused Russian intelligence, the FSB, of being involved. The Olympics governing body is now considering sanctions against Russia in advance of the next Olympic Games scheduled for summer 2016 in Brazil. You used to go to SeaWorld for one reason, to see Shamu and to watch him do all kinds of tricks. But after some of the killer whales killed sea world trainers and after the CNN documentary "Blackfish," exposed just how brutally parks treat these animals in captivity, today the company says it is now doing away with its main attraction. SeaWorld's CEO promising a new orca experience, one focused on a strong conservation message, he says. But it's only at this one park. The other 10 SeaWorld locations in the United States will keep running the show. The animal advocacy group PETA says the move will do little to improve life for the whales. In our pop culture lead, from a chemistry teacher turned drug lord to a blacklisted Hollywood writer Bryan Cranston now receiving reviews for his latest portrayal. The actor joins me, knocking at THE LEAD, next. [Tapper:] Obviously, law enforcement officials tasked with protecting this nation from terrorism have an extremely, impossibly difficult job and it only takes one slipping through the cracks to cost lives. But that said, a review of the Orlando terrorist attack and several others in recent years raising some uncomfortable questions about whether current methods for screening are effective because numerous red flags have been missed. Is this incompetence? Is it common human error or is it a reluctance to be seen as overly judgmental, as bigoted, as Islamophobic? Omar Mateen who murdered 49 at Pulse Nightclub Sunday morning had been interviewed three times by the FBI between 2013 and 2014 over possible terrorist views and ties. He had been put on a watch list for ten months, but was removed due to lack of evidence. In November of 2009, almost immediately after Army Major Nidal Hasan murdered 13 people and injured more than 30 in a shooting rampage in Fort Hood, an FBI agent said to a law enforcement colleague, "you know who that is? That's our boy." That's because the FBI knew Hasan and knew he had been communicating with al Qaeda cleric, Anwar al-Awlaki. Boston marathon bomber, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, was also known to the intelligence officials. In March 2011 two years before the attack, Russian security services told their American counterparts that Tamerlan Tsarnaev was a follower of radical Islam and planning to travel to Russia to fight alongside Islamic extremists in Chechnya. The FBI investigated Tsarnaev and his family and found no, quote, "link or nexus to terrorism." In 2014, Ali Muhammad Brown was charged with murdering four people in a nationwide killing spree including two men who were gay outside a gay nightclub in Seattle. Brown said he did this to protest U.S. foreign policy. He wrote in his journal that he planned to, quote, "learn the way of Jihadis." According to federal prosecutors, he had been on a terrorist watch list. In 2009, Abdul Hakim Muhammad, a Muslim convert, killed a soldier and wounded another at an army recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas. He, too, was known to the FBI after being arrested in Yemen with a Somali passport and investigated for extremist leanings. But upon his return to the U.S., Muhammad was not placed under surveillance. What's going on? Joining me now is a man with plenty of experience trying to piece together intelligence information, former director of the CIA and National Security Agency retired four-star general, Michael Hayden. We should point out we invited the FBI to come and answer these questions, they declined. What do you make of these instances where individuals were known to have terrorist views or ties or possible leanings and yet the FBI looked at them and concluded they were not threats and, you know, flash forward, fast forward, people are dead? GENERAL MICHAEL HAYDEN [Principal, The Chertoff Group:] The natural instinct, Jake, quite understandable is one of disappointment. Before people make a final judgment on that, let me as an intelligent professional offer a few other facts. All right, number one, you mentioned half a dozen cases. All of them ended up very sadly. That's the numerator. What's the denominator? How many cases did the bureau have to investigate over that period of similar people? [Tapper:] Thousands, I would guess. [Hayden:] Actually, tens of thousands. So that's one. Second, Jake, we have to understand the reality that when they investigated these people, these people may not have been in the place that they finally ended up in when they committed these acts. And then, finally, and we knew this when I was in government as we turn to the bureau to be a domestic intelligent services, says it must be. That's a change in culture for the bureau. You're taking what is largely a law enforcement agency, Jake. And now making it, the phrase we used, they needed to investigate the spaces between cases. They had to investigate and gather information without a criminal predicate. Number one, that's a culture for a law enforcement agency and number two, out of the gate, it begins to bump up a whole lot of political cultural questions in the United States with regard to the authority of any police force. [Tapper:] And civil liberties. [Hayden:] Absolutely. [Tapper:] Your second point was about interviewing people before they had maybe become radicalized. Take a listen to FBI Director James Comey earlier this week. [James Comey, Fbi Director:] Our work is very challenging. We're working for needles in a nationwide haystack, but we are also called upon to figure out which pieces of hay may become needles. That is hard work. If we can find a way to do that better, we will. [Tapper:] Look, I agree with everything you're saying. It's an impossible job. I wouldn't want to be given that task. Let me also ask, is it possible that people are being politically incorrect? You look at the Fort Hood case, when the Army knew that Nidal Hassan had become extremist and whitewashed his reports to make is sound as though it's a good thing he had all this knowledge. The FBI knew he had been talking to and e-mailing with Anwar Al-Awlaki, is there a hesitance to be branded a bigot? [Hayden:] Well, knowing what I know in the public record about the Major Hassan case, I tend you to agree with you. I think the Army backed away from this for want of a better term I'll use yours, political correctness. They didn't want to bite off the issue that they might have gotten into had they gone after Hassan given his religious leanings. Look, we are all sensitive about religious liberty. In that case, Jake, I'm with you. I think we clearly did not do some things that we should have done. [Tapper:] Obviously, we don't want to paint with a broad brush, the millions of peaceful American-Muslims or the 1.5 billion throughout the world. Obviously if they are extremist leanings indicated, that's a whole different thing. Here's another question. Does law enforcement have the tools it needs? Does the taxpayers give enough money? Are there enough men a women on the ground? [Hayden:] So right now, the bureau is under resourced to handle that number of cases that you and I discussed, thousands to tens of thousands and then what do you do after you've let someone go, saying he's not a danger at this time. If you had more resources, you might be able to check in every now and again. So number one, the bureau probably needs more resources if we want them to do this and that's a separate question. Beyond that, the bureau probably needs more tools if we want them to do this. They made more authorities to use the whole rack of things that they are allowed to do in a criminal case, in a case that I described before to you, Jake, is not a criminal case. It's an American about whom they have suspicions. So how far do you want the bureau to go in terms of invading that individual's privacy? Do you want them to go into the Facebook account and e-mails and so forth? I mean, these are very serious questions. Let's me give a real world example, recall Christmas day 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab [Tapper:] Sure, the failed underwear bomber. [Hayden:] The plane went over Detroit. Jake, up to Christmas Eve, there was a national outcry that the National Counterterrorism Center had far too many people on the no fly list. By Christmas night, the national complaint was there was not enough people on the no fly list. So when this dies down, you're going to have someone else in this chair complaining about what the Federal Bureau of Investigation is doing. [Tapper:] Fair point. Former NSA, CIA Director, General Michael Hayden, thank you so much for your analysis. I'm sure the FBI appreciates your standing up for what they tried to do and they work hard to do. [Hayden:] They do. [Tapper:] That's it for THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Turning you over to Wolf Blitzer in "THE SITUATION ROOM." [Burnett:] And OUTFRONT now, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton together on the stage talking politics. One is the husband of a democratic presidential candidate, the other the brother of a republican candidate. Let's listen in. [George W. Bush , Former U.s. President:] Even those who are less likely to vote for you to I mean, one of the most unique relationships I had was with Ted Kennedy. A lot of it had to do with you. And there were some issues we could agree on. A lot of issues we didn't agree on. But I knew when to I tried to convince him on what issues. You have to know the people you are dealing with. Republicans were generally easier for me to work with, particularly when I was riding high. A little more of a challenge after '06. But it turns out that if you are polite, kind, considerate to people, they are a lot more likely to listen to you. [Unidentified Female:] Give an example of that on the international stage. That more of persuasive. We are watching the debate, the negotiations on the deal right now. The talk about use of that persuasive style in an international setting. [George W. Bush, Former President:] Well, by the time the issues get up to the president, there has been a lot of persuasiveness going on. That's what you have the secretary of state for and the National Security Council for. And, generally, the issues are pretty cooked by the time you get there. And always I know Cuba knows this. Never negotiate principal to adviser unless you are the one providing the adviser. You always want somebody playing their hand and person has to go back and say, well, I got to make sure Bush OKs it. So, I never got myself in a position where I have to get back to my principal. So, always go principal to principal if you are negotiating. Never go, you are the principal with a non-principal. I don't know if I confused that or not. Do you understand? [Moderator:] Yes. [Bush:] You need to understand it. [Moderator:] Yes. [Bush:] And so, I'm kind of avoiding your question. [Moderator:] OK. I will move on then if you would like me to. [Bush:] I got to know, this look, I spent I had 26 meetings with Putin one on one. More or less, I think. And every one of them started with, how is your family? So, Laura and I went to his house, met his little girls. And, you know, dad loves to talk about his kids and his daughters. So, I started off, how is your daughter doing? No matter how difficult the subject would be. The whole purpose was to try to create a human bridge, a connection. Then we would get to the issues at hand. [Moderator:] So, one of our scholars observes that obviously, you have an authentic friendship. You spent time together and really enjoy it. I know you know some of the folks that are running for president. And so, the question is, what are your thoughts on the way that they, the candidates, can elevate the discourse so that it's foundational for governing and then tell a few stories from the campaign trail. You have been on it for many years, both of you. [Bush:] Yes. [Moderator:] President Bush, you want to start? [Bush:] Well, you know, I think the discourse generally is lowered by surrogates. And the Internet is a brutal place these days for political figures because there's a high degree of anonymity. There's no personal responsibility whatsoever. People say whatever they want to say. It kind of becomes currency. I suspect I know Jeb and I'm confident Secretary Hillary will elevate the discourse. I can't attest to their surrogates. I can attest to this surrogate. I'm not going to be a surrogate. But it's You know, look, I really I think American people expect to be some sharp elbows in a campaign. I think what really discourages them post-campaign, the inability to govern in a way that is congenial. And hopefully, that will change. It goes in cycles, by the way. [Moderator:] President Clinton, then we will [William J. Clinton, Former President:] I may be naive. They say you get naive when you get long in the tooth. But, you know, I think they ought to have these debates both in the Republican primary and in the Democratic primary. And I think that I expect it to be very vigorous in the primaries. And then, whoever wins the two primaries will have a hard debate. But they need to keep in mind that what we are trying to do is to take the advantages America has and Mark Cuban say, we talked about it. We're well positioned. But we haven't proved yet that we can solve the problem that's bedeviling the world. That is that we can create jobs, that we have a large percentage by workforce and we can have shared prosperity. We ought to show respect for the debate by trying to be as specific and clear as we can about the policy choices before us. And we can trust the American people and enable the process just by saying, look, it's not that simple. If it were simple, we would have already done it. But these are the five things we think are most important. This is what I would do about them. I think the more we can keep on that and the less we can just do what I see and so much in the media today is this sort of culture of anger and resentment. We got to rise above anger to answers. Rise to a real response, because if you get this job, I can tell you, the next day it doesn't matter what was wrong with your opponent in the election. Next day, you are on your own. You walk in there and you don't have somebody with you, whichever desk you pick. You got to show up for work and make decisions. So, that's all I hope. I hope we clarify for the American people that this is a big bunch of choices, they're not simple, but we are we can do it. Look, the quality of these young people proves and the assets and the system of freedom of choice we have proves it. But we got a lot of tough decisions to make. That's all I really care about besides I know who I would like to win. But the more important thing for America is that we know what the heck we're deciding on and we make a pretty good decision. [Moderator:] So this is the we're back to graduating the scholars. What advice do you have for them as they return to their communities and, you know, obviously, you heard Jake's call to action? What is your advice for them? [Bush:] Don't watch a lot of [Tv. Moderator:] Read like Mark Cuban. [Bush:] Actually, act. Do things. Don't be afraid of failure. I'm not worried about this crowd. [Moderator:] President Clinton? [Clinton:] I agree with that. You know, the only thing I would say, if it whatever it is, doesn't work out, get up. I lost two elections. I was the youngest former governor in American history after the Reagan landslide. I had one guy appointed to the cabinet walk across Main Street in Little Rock to avoid being seen shaking hands with me for fear that the guy that beat me would fire him. That was a humbling experience. And I think you got to realize, there's no personal ambition you have which can be extinguished by anybody else. Only you, by giving up your dreams, can extinguish them. And if it doesn't work out exactly like you intended, it will still take you some place interesting and you will make a difference. So, my advice is, what George said, don't be afraid to fail. But you probably will whether you are afraid to or not. And it's scary. You just got to get up. The world belongs to tomorrow, not yesterday. Don't give anybody else permission to take your life away. Just keep living. And keep giving. And never make the perfect enemy the good. Never think that what I'm doing is too little to make a difference. That's not true. That's not true. Do something every day. Someday, for all of us, it will be our last day. What will matter were all the steps we took along the way and what they amounted to. Not the home run we hit on day X. And I wish you well. [Moderator:] President Bush Do you want to add to that? [Bush:] I was stuck on the some day may be your last day line. I thought that was pretty profound. [Moderator:] So, this is maybe a good setup for this question. Are scholars have said they were surprised by both of you, that you were not what they expected. They thought what they read [Bush:] One thought I couldn't read. [Clinton:] The other one thought I could. [Moderator:] How do you react to that with respect to the filter of the media and how to what that means for them as they try to present their true selves and have people understand who they are, know their heart and so forth? [Bush:] You know, I don't know. I mean, I think we're both pretty confident people. And if people don't get us, what we're all about, then you just got to keep moving on. I try not to worry about it. I can't tell you the number of people who have told me that say you are taller than I thought you were. [Moderator:] I'm not sure that's exactly what they meant. But [Bush:] I'm 5'11" since I was 18. I don't know. I mean, image is image. You have to be confident of what you believe. If you have a set of believes you are willing to defend, image doesn't matter. And yes, you get people say things about you all the time. If that's the criteria for success for you, then go into the fetal. [Clinton:] I would also say, if you cover political news, you have to realize that it's in the nature of things conflict is better news than concord, even though cooperation works better than conflict. If that's all you put on the evening news at night, you'd go broke. So, the nature of evening news will be to make people into two dimensional cartoons instead of three dimensional people. It's just the nature of the beast. And I think you just need to always keep your caution light burning in the back of your head on that. I also think the nature is suppose we were in a campaign against each other. He would have narrative and I would have mine. We would try to convince you that our narrative was better than the other. That's OK. But the people covering the campaign, they develop a narrative, too, a story line. It's almost impossible for the real story to be the same as the story line. It's very hard for the American people to be well informed if the story lines swamp the real story. You just have to keep all that in mind as you try to be good citizens. And still show up. Most important thing is showing up. [Moderator:] So, we want some people to show up for the second class of scholars. We're launching the recruitment today. And people can apply, those who are watching livestream at presidentialleadershipscholars.org. So, for those who are pondering [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] All right. So, you have been listening live to George W. Bush and Bill Clinton talking together. I joked at the beginning that they were close enough to hold hands. They did hold hands for a moment. Ari Fleischer is back with us, knows George W. Bush better than anyone, was the White House press secretary. I watched you every day live giving those updates on the war, Ari, like many Americans. And CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Paul Begala, who served in the Clinton administration as counsel to the president. So, you know Bill Clinton incredibly well. And, of course, you are senior advisor to Hillary Clinton's super PAC. So, you are watching your friends, your former bosses on stage there. What do you make of what he had to say, Ari, when George W. Bush said, I know Jeb and I'm sure Secretary Hillary, that's how he put it, will elevate the discourse? [Ari Fleischer, Former White House Press Secretary:] Well, it goes back to our earlier segment, Erin, when Governor Bush, Jeb Bush was asked about Donald Trump and he didn't take the bait and didn't want to get into the issue with Trump. Jeb does not like to throw the elbows. Jeb is much more of a wonk, a policy person, a serious minded governor. And that's going to be an issue he will have to deal with in the campaign because as President Bush said, campaigns are about throwing elbows. The trick in the campaign, though, as Paul knows, you have to throw the right elbows in the right manner and not too tough, because the American people get tired of it. They do understand there are differences between candidates. And it's the articulate candidate who can do it well who can make the difference and establish who they are. [Burnett:] And, Paul, what is your take on what they had to say? I mean, you know, what is so captivating about watching these two talk is that they at one point probably hated each other. They are not really good friends. They are genuine friends. Yet, they couldn't be on more opposite sides of this election now. [Paul Begala, Cnn Political Commentator:] Let me tell you something, this will surprise Fleischer. I hope he's sitting down. When I was banging on George W. Bush and I think history proved me right when I was a professional Bush basher. Bill Clinton at one point told me, be careful, he has a lot of street smarts. [Burnett:] Paul, you know what? I'm going to interrupt you for one second. I'm going to come back to you. They are talking about their granddaughters. So, let's jump into that. [Moderator:] So, I think that's the end of the program, I think. Everybody, please join me in thanking the two grandfathers. [Burnett:] We will get the sound bite turned around. Obviously, I just missed it. But continue your point as you were saying. Paul was always right, proven right in every point he made against Ari Fleischer. Continue your point. [Begala:] I was a big Bush basher and I don't make any apologies for that. As President Bush himself said, surrogates are often much tougher than the principals. I was a surrogate. I was happy to be a tough guy on president bush. Even at the time, even in the campaign, even with his Vice President Al Gore running against George W. Bush, I remember president Clinton saying to me, be careful, Paulie, this guy has got a lot of street smarts. Don't underestimate him. He's always President Clinton has always loved the Bush family ever since when he defeated President Bush Sr., President Bush Sr. was so gracious to him. He did not need to be. George H.W. Bush was such a class act and had a profound impact on President Clinton. He authentically likes George W. Bush and I think you saw it there. [Burnett:] You definitely did. [Begala:] It's maybe difficult for people to understand. But I do think there's something about sitting in that Oval Office and being one of four people alive and only 43 in our entire history who have had that responsibility, I think it does give you respect for folks who have served there, too. [Burnett:] All right. Both of you stay with me. We're going to take a pause. When we come back, you're going to hear what they had to say about their granddaughters. I promise. I'm not going to leave you hanging on that, as well as what George W. Bush had to say about the election and losing the election. Those comments coming up right after this. [Quest:] In the air, it's a combination of the old and the new. Alaska Airlines has now completed its $2.6 billion acquisition of Virgin America. It sounds straightforward enough but what is going to happen is a clash of cultures that might work like some other unlikely combinations these days. Take for example bacon and doughnuts, now bacon and doughnuts might sound like a disgusting mix by some people. But other people swear by the idea of having one following the other at breakfast. Or you could have salt and creamy caramel now I know lots of people who adore that particular combination. It sounds like a culture clash but it is a foodie phenomenon that you could have salted caramel. Both salted caramel and bacon doughnuts are on the menu of passengers of the new airline on Wednesday. It was the company's own way of admitting that the two airlines are an unlikely combination. The merger is creating the fifth largest airline in the U.S. that is a long way to go to catch up with the four, the top ones which control 84 percent of the market. Alaska Airlines chief executive Bradley Tilden told Maggie Lake deal will help expand the company's reach. [Bradley Tilden, Ceo, Alaska Airlines:] What this merger will do is it will bring together Alaska, and we fly over the country but we are really strong in the Pacific Northwest and the state of Alaska. It will bring us together with Virgin America and they are really strong in California. So, we will have an airline with a national footprint we will fly all over the country but we will be a very good airline for anyone who lives anywhere up and down the West Coast. And both airlines are well known for low fares and for customer service and we are really excited about all the great things that we are really going to bring to our customers. [Maggie Lake, Cnn Correspondent:] Do you think that you're going to be able to marry these two cultures? Because you are right both airlines are known for being very cost-effective but Virgin also has the sort of fun lively culture around it, the in-flight experience, entertainment, some of the visuals. Is that going to stay, are you going to adopt that or are we going to gradually morph more to the Alaska? [Tilden:] I think that is a really, really good question. And what I would say is that what we have in common is both airlines are really focused on customers, both airlines do a terrific job with customers. And both airlines are also really focused on our employees, we both have a mentality of that we are going to win together working with our employees. And sort of putting them in the position so they will deliver great service to our customers. You are right Alaska is probably more what we would say is sort of genuine and caring service, Virgin a little bit more hip and more flair. And we will be working to merge sauce. And to answer your question directly I think we do want to move the company a little bit towards the really special culture that Virgin has created while maintaining the great things that Alaska is known for. [Lake:] So, where do you see the growth opportunity? You mentioned that your desire is to sort of be a power house in the West, are you going to really refine that and try to own that. Or would you look to expand beyond that? [Tilden:] So, with the merger we will actually have 1200 daily flights. We will have almost 300 airplanes. We will fly to almost 300 city pairs. Certainly, anything that we can grow in Seattle and Portland and Anchorage will always do that. We've always done that but we will have a lot of additional growth opportunities in the state of California. In that market, there is 39 million people, the size of that market is three times the size of Alaska, Washington and Oregon combined. So, that is a terrific opportunity for the company to grow. It is something that we will be a little girl for many, many years going forward. [Lake:] But we are looking at a situation where oil prices are creeping back. If OPEC has its way they want them to keep going north of $50. Does that present a challenge now? [Tilden:] The airline business always has something. Whether it is the economy or oil prices or what have you, you always have to compete. In our mentality is that we are out there competing against some really good airlines. We have just got to be the best airline that we can be. And we sort of believe that industry conditions are better and if we are competing in this industry and doing as good as we can, and leading the industry and whether it is on-time performance or customer service or low fares or our cost structure, we think we would be good. And we think our investors will be good. But you are right we don't know which economy is going to throw at us. We do not know what fuel prices are going to be. But our job is to do as good as we can no matter what hand we are dealt. [Quest:] CEO of Alaska which now owns Virgin America. The website Ashley Madison admits it cheated customers who wanted to cheat on their spouses. What more can one say? Except a highlight from the Make Create Innovate. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] We're following breaking news. Stepping down. The woman in charge of the Democratic Convention leaving her role after e-mails surfaced suggesting a plot against Bernie Sanders. But Debbie Wasserman Schultz isn't going right away. She'll be here this week. Exploded accusations as Donald Trump taunts Democrats over the email firestorm. The Clinton campaign now blaming the Russians for the leak in a sinister effort to actually help Donald Trump. And hitting Trump. New attacks from President Obama against the Republican nominee. Why he says Trump isn't prepared to be commander in chief. I'm Wolf Blitzer. We want to welcome our viewers in the United States and around the world for CNN's live special coverage from Philadelphia. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. [Blitzer:] Happening right now: it's the last thing the Democratic Party wants on this, the eve of what's supposed to be a triumphant and solidifying and unifying national convention. Confusion and uncertainty and an upset in the highest level of party leadership. Long-time chair of the Democratic National Committee, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she is out, resigning that position, not immediately, but as soon as this convention wraps up here in Philadelphia Thursday night. Its fallout from a mountain of leaked e- mails that appears to show the committee and the chair showing bias toward Hillary Clinton over Senator Bernie Sanders. CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash is on the convention at the site of the convention, inside for us. Dana, a Democratic source says Wasserman Schultz spoke to both Hillary Clinton and President Obama before she announced her resignation. What else are you hearing? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Well, I'm told by somebody who is close to the situation that the president himself did call her to thank her for her service, for her time leading the Democratic National Committee, really, during his tenure in the White House. But that leading up to that, there was a scramble of full- court press. This is according to a source I'm talking to, Jeff Zeleny, John McCain, that they wanted it do before the gavel went down tomorrow to actually start the proceedings at the convention, on the floor behind me. And when I say "they", my understanding is it was the Clinton team as you can imagine, the Sanders team and even the White House, that it was pretty much universal, that the Democrats did not want this cloud over their convention for lots of reasons, primarily because it completely feeds into the notion that Bernie Sanders supporters came out in droves for him about, which is, the system is rigged, that Washington is broken and the whole idea on the floor here, if you're Hillary Clinton, is you want the Sanders people who are coming to get behind you, and this doesn't help. [Blitzer:] As you know, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, she still may open the convention, close the convention, hit that gavel. What's likely to happen if she does make even a brief appearance like that? [Bash:] Well, we don't know. We do know from talking to sources around this that Debbie Wasserman Schultz feels she has worked incredibly hard for the party for many years now. She worked up to this moment at this convention, and that she wants her due. She wants her chance to speak to the delegates. To answer your question, obviously the concern, not just from people who are aligned with Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, but people who, like Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is they want her to be in a position of concern out there. Let me just read something very briefly, the end of Bernie Sanders' statement on this. And this kind of, again, illustrates why this is so tough for her and for the party. He said, "The party's leadership must always remain impartial in a presidential nominating process, something which did not occur in the 2016 race." For delegates coming here who voted and worked so hard for Bernie Sanders, to see that kind of statement coming from their candidate who just a few weeks ago stood with Hillary Clinton and said, "It's time to get behind our nominee," that is going to make things very difficult for them, because we've already seen, and I'm sure you have, wolf, lots of Bernie Sanders signs and buttons and people still outwardly supporting Sanders in and around the streets of Philadelphia. And so, it's not so easy for them to turn that off. One other thing I wanted to say to you is that the Trump campaign is stoking it is stoking the notion of the system being rigged. Paul Manafort, the campaign chair of Donald Trump, put out a statement just simply saying just that, that this proves not just the DNC is rigged, but also Hillary Clinton. And he said that this proves her e-mails are a problem and that she should get out of the race Wolf. [Blitzer:] Let's not forget, Bernie Sanders got 13 of the votes in the caucuses. And he's got a lot of supporters here. I just arrived this morning. You see a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters out on the street and a lot of them will be inside the convention as well, at the Wells Fargo Center. All right. Dana, thanks very much. I want to bring in our panel to weigh in on all of this and more. Joining us, our senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, our CNN political commentator, and Democratic strategist Hillary Rosen, also with us, our senior political reporter, Nia-Malika Henderson, and the executive editor of CNN Politics, Mark Preston. Jeff, you've done a lot of excellent reporting on all of this. There are words she may gavel that convention to order tomorrow, but you're hearing there's possibility she may also speak? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Yes, I'm told she is going to speak, actually. Probably tomorrow, I'm told that is not set exactly, but at the beginning of the convention which would make sense. She wouldn't want to wait until the end of the week to speak. I'm told it will be a very short speech, potentially three to five minutes or so, and really wants to address a lot of the delegates and Democrats in the room. I mean, as Dana was just saying, she has been working towards this convention. So, the interesting thing is there was a period of time this afternoon where it seemed the Clinton campaign did not want her to speak, because they, A, one person said they wanted to save her any embarrassment, and really avoid any type of Cleveland situation. But it seems that either, A, that was wrong, or B, that was changed. She is likely to speak. And I'm told Bernie Sanders actually offered assurances that their supporters and delegates would be respectful of her if she speaks tomorrow afternoon or early evening. [Blitzer:] Hillary, you're plugged in with these Democrats. What are you hearing? [Hilary Rosen, Cnn Political Analyst:] I can tell you, with all due respect to my bestie, Dana, that report is wrong. [Blitzer:] Which report? [Rosen:] That Debbie was somehow forced out. She was not. There was she woke up this morning, met with the Clinton campaign, saw that the story wasn't going away, affirmatively told them that she had this decision, that she wanted to step down, but that she also wanted to see through the work she was doing at the convention. There was no opposition from the campaign on that. There had not been a back and forth today about whether or not she would speak or wouldn't speak. She was always planning on speaking tomorrow, gaveling in the convention on and closing it on Thursday. And she will have things to say to the delegates. There is a lot at stake for Democrats around the country. [Blitzer:] You know, a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters on the floor won't be happy if she speaks, and they'll start booing her. [Rosen:] You know, here's the thing: Democrats like Debbie Wasserman Schultz. She has traveled this country for the last five and a half years for this president. She will get many more cheers on the floor tomorrow than she will get boos. There may be a few assorted boos, but I think it's true that the Sanders campaign is not going to put out any sort of word to trash her down. She will get a lot of cheers tomorrow. This panel, this audience, is going to be surprised if that's what you think. [Zeleny:] Another reporting that Dana mentioned is also things that all of us have heard. So, you were saying today, I know you spent the day with her, that she was not in any way reluctant to step down, that that was her decision from this morning. [Rosen:] So, there was significant discussion. But the discussion that she always had was, does me stepping down do what I would have wanted to accomplish? Which doesn't make this story go away, because Debbie Wasserman Schultz doesn't want to be that story. Hillary Clinton is the story this week. This campaign is about demonstrating for the country that Hillary Clinton is the right alternative to Donald Trump. And I think she thoughtfully came to the conclusion that this story was not going away and the best thing for her to do would be to assure people that after this convention, she would step down. [Blitzer:] Nia, what are you hearing? [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Well, similar, this I think debate these two, in some ways mirrors the debate that's going on outside in terms of Bernie Sanders supporters. They want her to step down now. They don't want to necessarily see her in that convention gaveling in, and they do expect some boos. I do think this idea of whether or not this story goes away is of real concern to a lot of Democrats. Her there in the convention hall gaveling in her speaking, that gives this more kind of legs. They want this to go away, a lot of Democrats do, and move forward. I mean, you imagine by the end of the day tomorrow, once they have Bernie Sanders speaking, Elizabeth Warren speaking, Michelle Obama is speaking tomorrow, you can imagine that there will be a different story come Tuesday morning and the Debbie Wasserman Schultz story will be put behind them. But again, you've got this is an opening for Trump, also to say, look at the Democratic Party. It is rigged in Hillary Clinton's favor. He's been tweeting about that for some time. [Blitzer:] He tweeted he tweeted this, Mark. This is Donald Trump. "I always said that Debbie Wasserman Schultz was overrated. The Dems convention is cracking and Bernie is exhausted. No energy left." [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] You know, I could probably go back and find a statement from Donald Trump four weeks ago where he was trashing Reince Priebus. Unfortunately, for Reince Priebus, in some respects, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, still a little bit different, that they've become punching bags in many ways. Reince Priebus with his own candidate. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, with all due respect -I mean, the Sanders campaign has been complaining about her for over a year. There was always bad blood. We didn't see anything in her statement where she apologized for the acts that had happened. If she was going to step down, because I was talking to the Sanders folks all day today, why did it take until late this afternoon for it to happen? It really bubbled up really fast. It's unfortunate it's come to this because she has been working, you know, towards this goal. But for her to go on stage tomorrow, as we expect her to do, and if she does get booed, I was told by a senior Sanders person, we can't control our delegates. We're going to try, but we can't control them. She's running for reelection, and, you know, I mean, that becomes a television ad. [Blitzer:] Those e-mails were very, very, very embarrassing. When you have top officials of the DNC, and she's the chair, saying, maybe you should raise questions about Bernie Sanders who is Jewish, whether he believes in God. In some states like West Virginia or Kentucky or Tennessee, that will resonate with voters out there. When you hear top officials of the [Dnc -- Rosen:] She made sure that he apologized for that email and there was an apology. [Blitzer:] But is an apology enough? Should these people go? [Rosen:] Well, look, you know, you could you could argue that he should go, but she is now taking responsibility. She is leaving. She's saying, you know, the staffer who worked for me apologized. I'm going to leave. And, you know, this notion that somehow the Bernie Sanders people still need more red meat, I think we're going to see a lot less action on this than people believe. Look, we have come into this convention now. We have a unified rules program. We have where we're going to have a unity reform commission. There is a unity on the platform. The may be some additional floor amendments there. But for the first time, there is a huge amount of togetherness here on this platform. I just do not think that the Sanders first of all, there is no one Sanders view, right? So, we saw the senator today say, you know, she deserves thanks for what she did and we're moving on. [Blitzer:] You spent time with her today. How is she holding up? [Rosen:] You know, look, she's got her big girl pants on. You know, she understands this is a rough and tumble, and I think she believes that they ran despite their personal feelings, which everybody knew, a neutral process going forward in this campaign. Both sides got mad at her as these emails will a close reading of these e-mails will show. The Clinton campaign was mad at her sometimes, the Sanders campaign was mad at her sometimes. That's how you know you've done a good job as [Blitzer:] And she's made it clear. She may be resigning as chair of the DNC, but she's going to continue to seek reelection in her congressional seat. [Rosen:] Very important. [Blitzer:] Thanks very much. We have a reminder. Don't miss CNN's live coverage of the Democratic National Convention. Our live special coverage will begin tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern. Up next, President Obama aiming new attacks squarely at Donald Trump. Is this a preview o what we're likely to see when the president takes the stage at the convention this week? We're back live in Philadelphia in just a moment. With her team now in place, Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, they're more clearly laying out their strategy for hitting back at Donald Trump. [Interviewer:] He calls you crooked Hillary. What do you call him? [Hillary Clinton , Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] I don't call him anything. And I'm not going to engage in that kind of insults fest that he seems to thrive on. So, whatever he says about me, he's perfectly free to use up his own air time and his own space to do. I'm going to talk about what he's done, how he has hurt people in business time after time after time. [Sen. Tim Kaine , Presumptive Vice Presidential Nominee:] She's done a good job of letting the water go off her back on this. That's not the way I feel. When I see this "crooked Hillary'or I see the "lock her up," it's just ridiculous. It is ridiculous. It is beneath the character of the kind of dialogue we should have because we have real serious problems to solve, and most of us stopped the name-calling thing about fifth grade. [Blitzer:] I want to bring in our CNN political commentators. Bill Press is with us, Hilary Rosen, S.E. Cupp. Also, and former the governor of South Carolina, Donald Trump supporter, Andre Bauer. To all of you, thanks very much for joining us. Andre, you heard that exchange over there between the Democratic president and vice presidential presumptive nominees. Your reaction as a Donald Trump supporter when they say he's acting like a fifth grade. [Andre Bauer, Former Lt. Governor, South Carolina:] Well, I actually would take her advice in the fact that I think he ought to stay on message and excite people to come out and vote for him. I don't want him to say I'm going out to vote for somebody other than Hillary. I want him to be excited about the future of America and the message and what he can do to improve their lives. So, I hope he'll stay on message and he talk about his vision for making America better. [Blitzer:] Is this the good cop, S.E., bad cop that Hillary Clinton would be more level-headed, even, if you will, but Tim Kaine would be the attack dog? [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it's an amazing reversal of the way I think most people see Tim Kaine who is incredibly kind, nice and polite. And Hillary, who I think a lot of people would think has gotten dirty, can get dirty, can get down in the mud and get her hands dirty. But it's a good look for that team, for her to sort of rise above and say, I'm focused on what he's done that's hurt people and what I'm going to do to help people. And for Tim Kaine, who is a credible voice for a lot of Democrats to say, well, I'll take on that fight. He has nothing to lose by doing that, and I think he can do a very effective job at that. But everything you have heard from Democrats since the second he was announced was what a nice guy he is. So, it will be interesting to see how he changes in that tone. [Blitzer:] Hilary Rosen, Hillary Clinton has a tough mission right now, because you know Donald Trump. When he is hit, he hits you right back. He likes to hit you back ten times as hard as you would. We saw all that during the Republican primaries. So, what's going to unfold in the coming weeks and months? [Rosen:] You know, here, though, is the first thing that's going to unfold. We are going to see a convention week where Hillary Clinton and Democrats are going to talk much more about her positive vision for this country than about Donald Trump. Last week, the only thing everybody in the room could agree on was that they didn't like Hillary Clinton. They didn't all agree that they liked Donald Trump. You're going to see Democrats in a very different place. First of all, get positive. This is her chance to introduce herself anew to America with the convention starting this week. Second of all, I think S.E. is exactly right, which is now that there is somebody else campaigning with Hillary who will have a microphone almost as big as hers, or almost as big as hers, couple that with the president of the United States who is now willing to engage, Hillary can be much more about her vision. She can say, I'm not going to go there. I'm not going into the insults fest. Let these other guys do it. [Blitzer:] Let me play a clip for you, Bill. This is President Obama speaking on CBS earlier today. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] This is somebody who knows as much about domestic and foreign policy as anybody, is tough as nails, is motivated by what's best for America and ordinary people, understands that in this democracy that we have, things don't always happen as fast as we'd like, and it requires compromise and grinding it out. She's not always flashy, and there are better speechmakers. But she knows her stuff. [Blitzer:] All right. You're chuckling, Bill Press. [Bill Press, Cnn Political Commentator:] I was chuckling at the speechmaker comment. But first, I've got to say, just quickly, what a contrast watching Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine on "60 Minutes" with watching Donald Trump and Mike Pence last week where Pence barely got a word in, and Donald Trump is on and on and on. It showed that they were a really good team, making of a good team. The president's comments, look, this is personal for President Obama. I mean, other presidents might sit on the sideline, but he feels he's done a really good job, worked as hard as he can for the last eight years. He really cares about what happens to the country and who continues that flow. He's been chomping at the bit to get out and campaign for Hillary Clinton, but it's not just that he sees Hillary Clinton as the best one to continue his legacy and complete his programs. But he sees it. Donald Trump would just be bad for the country not bad for his legacy. Bad for the country. And he just he'll be doing more I think than any incumbent president has ever done to make sure that does not happen. [Blitzer:] Andre, if President Obama can help Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine recreate that Obama coalition that got him reelected twice, Donald Trump is going to be in deep trouble. [Bauer:] Well, this is the same guy that in 2008 said she'll say anything and do nothing. So, I'm not sure how great he is to be as a cheerleader for her, because again, when he was fighting with her, he said some not so nice things about her and she did about him. So, I'm sure he's going to be working as hard as he can for her, but part of that is a convoluted message. [Rosen:] Well, he worked side by side with her for five years after that, so he really does know her. And I think Bill right. But, you know, but there is no question that the primary sell here has to be Hillary Clinton's, and she knows that. This is her week to prove that. [Bauer:] She started the week poorly, though. [Blitzer:] It's awkward. [Cupp:] Can I just say something about Tim Kaine as a pick? I think he's the right pick for her, but I think it just shows how incredibly political she is. She needed progressives in the primary. She knows she doesn't need them in the general. Tim Kaine is the exact right pick for her in the general election rather than another progressive, and I know Bernie Sanders fans and progressives are upset about that. But she is political above everything else. It's something I wish Republicans would remember sometimes, that winning is how you get your ideas and your principles into legislation and action, and that winning has to be a priority. She clearly showed that winning is a priority. [Blitzer:] Bill Press, you're a Bernie Sanders supporter. Do you agree that she needs to move to the center now, and that's why she picked a more moderate Democrat like Tim Kaine instead of going with, let's say an Elizabeth Warren, that the progressives would have loved? [Press:] I think that's why she said. Let me just say, I am underwhelmed by Tim Kaine's selection. He was not certainly my first choice. But I know why she did it. It's a very safe choice for her. Again, I'd prefer to have a bolder choice. But Tim Kaine is a good man. He brings a lot to the ticket. And, certainly, when you compare the two of them against Donald Trump and Mike Pence, for progressives like me, there is no place else to go. It's unheard of. What, Jill Stein or no. [Cupp:] I can see them on a bumper sticker, "No place else to go." That's real inspiring, Bill. [Press:] I'm just saying this is a safe choice for her, right? [Cupp:] Yes. [Press:] And the idea that Tim Kaine people like me are going to be so upset about Tim Kaine, we're going to go for Jill Stein or for Gary Johnson, it's crazy. [Rosen:] This was a government choice. This wasn't a politics choice. There might have been other ways to energize a base, to get out votes, but she clearly made this as a governing choice. [Blitzer:] Well, politics were important. Virginia is a key battleground state and he can help her in Virginia. He speaks Spanish. He can help her in Florida. So, politics [Cupp:] He can help her win that's why she goes [Rosen:] I'm not saying politics played no part of it. But, really, what she was focused on, and you could see even by that good chemistry there, was who am I going to be happy seeing every morning coming into the Oval Office? Well, look, Elizabeth Warren is a friend of mine, and I think she would make a great vice president. But as a woman, the sexism that Hillary Clinton has already endured, honestly, I think that might have been too much straw on that camel's back to run two women. [Cupp:] I think they probably could have handled. [Press:] I think America is ready for two women in the ticket. But [Rosen:] I understand why that was not a safe choice. [Blitzer:] We've had two men on the ticket for a long time. [Rosen:] It's too safe to say. Now, everybody could say, sure, we would have been fine with two women. But you know what? [Press:] I'll take my job [Rosen:] I didn't have that experience. [Blitzer:] It didn't happen this time. All right, guys. Thank you very much. Up next, amid all the DNC drama, some good news for Hillary Clinton. A high-profile endorsement. We're going to tell you who has come forward. Plus, why the race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton maybe a lot closer than ever. John King is standing by. He'll break down the numbers we're getting right now at the magic wall. You're watching our live special coverage ahead of the DNC. [Banfield:] The Pulse Nightclub in Orlando Florida is still closed even though the owner insists that the doors someday will open again in some form. Earlier this month, a man with links to ISIS killed 49 people inside that club. The representative of the club now is telling CNN that a special biohazard cleanup team has actually made contact in present earlier this month. You will know that these were the images that were all across your screen after 49 people were gunned down in that club before the police were able to respond and kill him. Today, we know a lot more about what happened that night thanks to a massive document dump by the Orlando officials, telephone logs and text messages and hundreds of detailed police records. And CNN's Miguel Marquez has been looking through them all to package them up for you to see. Have a look. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] Starting at 2:02 a.m., dispatchers began relaying a scene of horror. 2:02:57, shots fired. 2:03:35, still shooting, a half minute later multiple down. The chaos, confusion and enormity of the Pulse massacre captured in real time, the shorthand notes 911 operator sent to officers descending on the club. 2:05:35, desk can hear shooting in the background. 2:08, someone screaming help and then this chilling description. My caller is no longer responding, just an open line with moaning. [Miguel Leiva, Orlando Shooting Survivor:] People started running out panically and he just started killing people right there in the hallway. [Marquez:] After 16 minutes, no more reports of gunfire in the log. But inside, the horror continues for hours. Dispatchers tell officers there may be two shooters and can't get the shooter's description or exact location from the callers. And this 2:26:49 subject in restroom whispering "Please help." At 2:40:12 caller advice shooter is in the restroom with the victim saying, he pledges to the Islamic state. At 2:51:47, victim sees subject with the bomb strapped to him. All these as police are trying to get into the club and stop the shooter and help the wounded. [Omar Delgado, Eatonville Police:] We're trying to go in while we got people coming out at us there's this chaos. [Marquez: 4:] 12, victim with two gunshot wounds losing blood from leg and ribs. Three minutes later, 15 people in second mens bathroom near bar, nine in the dressing room. [Leiva:] So many people are choking on their own blood and people are just getting dehydrated and sweating and bleeding out. [Marquez:] Finally, three hours after it started, police get the upper hand. 5:02:12, SWAT breached. 5:14:58 shots fired, north bathroom. 5:15:53, subject down and, finally, 5:17:52, bad guy down strapped. [Banfield:] And our special thanks to CNN's Miguel Marquez for that report. I want to talk with our law enforcement analyst, Cedric Alexander right now who is joining us live on the story. So much uncertainty, so much chaos, the police records Cedric giving us some insight at into the real time communications. But what I'd like to understand from you, in your law enforcement background is coming upon a scene like that where there are a lot of dynamics playing out, people are bleeding to death instantly, people are possibly in the line of fire, police could be in the line of fire, what's the priority? Save the ones you can save. Take the bad guy out while others might die in the process. I'm really not sure how you prioritize in the heat of the war. [Cedric Alexander, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Put yourself in this position for one moment, Ashleigh. You're in your radio car, you get the call, shots fired, you respond. You're receiving limited information. You reside, you go arrive to that scene within probably two, three minutes, maybe earlier. You know that there may be an officer that was on the scene working off duty. There's a lot of radio transmission. You get to the scene, you hear shots fired. You go in. Rather you go in with others. And I think this case in which Orlando did. You're walking into an environment which you know nothing about, the schematic layout. You have in there shots fired, smoke filled room, low lights, people running in and out and they're bloody, they're screaming, they're in pain. You don't know good guys from bad guys. It was had to be a chaotic scene. You're trying to assess as much information as you can to protect the injured and wounded but also staying alert to the fact that you could get hurt yourself. The officers that responded that night to that location did an absolutely tremendous job. There is so much training that you can do, Ashleigh. And they do train under these types condition particularly in the environment we live in today. But what's critically important here to remember is no matter how much you train, when that call is made under a live situation, the variables can change. They may not go the same way the exercise went. So but they have some familiarity with each other, how they're going to respond, how they're going to enter, how they're going to locate a target, neutralize that target. That had to be a horrific scene that night. But the heroism that was demonstrated by those officers at that scene should not be questioned because there is absolutely no textbook way in which you're going to arrive at that type of chaotic event, protect the lives of the innocent, protect the lives of other officers who may be on the scene and at the same time trying to identify a bad guy. [Banfield:] Cedric Alexander, I really appreciate your insight. And hopefully at the lessons learned from this can help in the training as they go forward. Thank you so much. We appreciate it. [Alexander:] We all hope so. Thank you, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] And just as a reminder to as well, one of the things that is unique about what's happening right now, is we're several weeks out from what happened in Orlando and there's a biohazard team on location right now actually working on the cleanup as those in Turkey now face the same reality. But seem to be doing it so incredibly quickly. We're going to continue to follow the story on CNN. Thanks so much for watching. Brianna Keilar is in for Wolf. And starts right now. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln:] Tonight, Bill Cosby, his drugs, cheating exposed, yet he is still embraced by the public and his wife. Plus Donald Trump doubles down. The Billionaire candidate goes off on a name-calling rampage. But we start it all off right now with the top of the feed. A thousand pages of graphic detail about sex, drugs, cheating. Some people still defending Bill Cosby. Watch this. [Vanessa Barnett, Social Commentator:] I think he felt like these women want me anyway, so if we dabble in drugs or dabble in alcohol or dabble in whatever, I do not think he even thought this was remotely close to rape, at all. [Michael Catherwood, Co-host Of "love Line" And Kabc Radio:] it does not seem like he really is even in the same ballpark as rape. Like he feels like he is just doing what Bill Cosby does. [Unidentified Female Audience:] I do not think Bill Cosby did it. I think that it was consent. [Dondre Whitfield, Actor, "the Cosby Show":] You During those times, you know, people were using some drugs in some strange ways for some very strange. [Lisa Bloom, Trial Attorney:] He gave her a pill. He said for menstrual cramps. [Unidentified Female Audience:] No. [Bloom:] She wakes up in a hotel room [Unidentified Female Audience:] She took the pill! [Bloom:] having been raped, she alleged. [Unidentified Female Audience:] She is an adult. If somebody give me a pill, I am not taking it. [Unidentified Male Audience:] No, I do not think it is rape. I think they willfully went to the hotel room [Unidentified Female Audience:] There will still be gold diggers and opportunists. I mean we have start stop taking away I mean women, we are very smart and we know what we are doing. We know sometimes we use what we have to get what we wan Leave Bill Cosby alone. That is all I have to say. Leave Bill Cosby alone. [Bloom:] Can we stop giving Bill Cosby the benefit of the doubt? [Pinsky:] Joining me, Samantha Schacher, host of "Pop Trigger" on Hulu.com; Areva Martin, attorney and legal consultant; Mike Catherwood, "Love Line" and KABC Radio Co-host with myself. He is also the host of "Chain Reaction on GSN. And back in our audience, Lisa Bloom, trial attorney at the Bloom Firm and legal analyst for Avvo.com. [Areva Martin, Attorney And Legal Consultant:] This man has an incredible legacy. And, I think we are seeing this despite all of this evidence, thousand pages of deposition where he is so cavalierly talking about having sex with five different women, cheating on his wife [Pinsky:] Taking Quaaludes. [Martin:] Taking Quaaludes, using prescription drugs to give to women or getting them for the purposes of giving them to women and people keeps talking about how wonderful Bill Cosby is. [Samantha Schacher, Host Of "pop Trigger" On Hulu.com:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Well, but not just wonderful, Sam, but how women are [Schacher:] Are blaming the victims? [Pinsky:] Well, not just blaming the victims. I know Lisa has strong feelings about this. But it is more sort of women bashing like, "Hey, man. We know what we are doing as women, and we have some personal responsibility to bear here. Because if we go into a hotel room with some celebrity, we know what that means. That means we are going to be raped." [Schacher:] Yes. First of all, it is not all women. It is not all women, because a lot of women are supporting these 40-plus victims out there. I cannot wrap my head around the fact how people can still support Bill Cosby. Yes, we all once loved and admired him. I did, too. I watched rerun after rerun, but after 40 plus women are giving the same story [Michael Catherwood, Host Of "chain Reaction On Gsn:] Rerun was on what is happening. [Schacher:] Quick. Quick. [Catherwood:] Thank you. That is all. [Schacher:] But after all of these women are giving the same testimony who did not know one another, and they were also given a pill and then we find out that he admits to these prescription of Quaaludes, how can people not connect the dots? [Pinsky:] That is it. [Martin:] But I think it is important that we talk about the fact that these I think these women are in the minority. [Schacher:] Yes. [Martin:] We see them on your program. We see them on, you know, some shows, but far in Most women are saying it was reprehensible conduct. He should be punished criminally. He should be sued civilly and everything about him. T.V-wise, money-making-wise should be cut off. [Pinsky:] Mike. [Catherwood:] I think Areva and Sam are right that if minority of women but it is a very vocal minority. I think it is all they about leave Bill Cosby alone. [Schacher:] Me too. [Pinsky:] And, Lisa, it is a surprising. I know you were doing battle with them right here yesterday. Does it surprise you? [Lisa Bloom, Trial Attorney At Bloom Firm:] Yes. It does given the huge amount of evidence, but denial is what I am up against in all my case. And, by the way, I am doing my part on the civil litigation side, because we have sued him. But, you know, this what is you are up against. People do not want to believe it is real. They want to believe in the mythology of Bill Cosby, that he was our dad, that he is the Cliff Huxtable that we all saw, but then he is an actor. [Pinsky:] But Lisa, that I can be sympathetic to people confusing the actor and the character and that the man and the actor, that sort of thing. But, several women stood right next to you there and said, "Oh no! Women, they need to be held accountable. Women are up to something." [Catherwood:] There is also an idea that this is some type of witch- hunt. [Martin:] Yes. [Catherwood:] As if it is not, you know, a movement by women who truly have been affected, that there is some larger conspiracy to bring a guy down. [Pinsky:] Let me bring in on the phone. I got Horace Cooper. He is from Project 2, the national leadership network of black conservatives. And, what I want to ask you is, I think you have an issue with not that this happened or not about his guilt or innocence, but the fact that the law was applied to him in a what shall we say, injudicious manner given his celebrity status and his moralizing? Is that a reasonable way to say it? [Horace Cooper, Co-chair Of Project 21, The National Leadership Network Of Black Conservatives:] Well, that is exactly what the judge, who issued the opinion said was a contributing factor to the decision. That he was able to review the materials, and he saw a side of Bill Cosby that contradicted what he called the public moralizing role. [Pinsky:] BUT thereby his deal that he had made was somehow undone. So in much like, Areva, it reminds you of the Ashley Madison situation. These people like I would love to have these people exposed; but you know what? They have a right to privacy and they made a deal with the website to keep these things private. [Martin:] Well, I think we should be clear about what the judge said when he released excerpts from that lawsuit. What he said was that Bill Cosby stepped into the public domain beyond being a comedian and entertainer when he became this moralist and when he went into churches and community halls and, you know, used his platform to address issues like education and child rearing and parenting. And, so he was no longer this private figure. But let me say this, Dr. Drew, about these women. You know, I have represented women in similar lawsuits. And, often women become you know, they get the blame when they stand up to men like Bill Cosby [Pinsky:] Yes. [Martin:] That is an unfortunate thing. But, I think the more programs like this, the more we talk about it [Schacher:] Yes. [Martin:] people will start to realize the women are not gold diggers. They are trying to get some form of justice, because they have been victimized. And, I think that is important to keep talking about the victims, the victims, the victims. [Schacher:] And, here is the thing about [Cooper:] Well, I want to interject for a second. I want to interject for a second. [Pinsky:] Go ahead, real quick. Horace? [Cooper:] The standard is not whether Bill Cosby is public or private. The real question is under what circumstances legally were they allowed to unseal those documents and his public status or his private status was not actually a factor. And if the judge said, "I am doing it because of that," that would have been procedural error that could have gotten the decision overturned. So, like or not like his public status versus his private status, but that is not the appropriate standard for review. [Bloom:] Well, it actually is the standard, because our court records in the U.S. are presumptively open. We do not have secret courts. We do not have things hidden. It is very unusual that something would be under seal. And when someone is a public figure, they lose the right, and that is why it was all revealed. And, by the way, 47 women call him a rapist. [Schacher:] Yes. [Bloom:] I do not think rapists should have a right of privacy. [Schacher:] Yes. Absolutely. [Cooper:] Wow. [Schacher:] Hold on. [Cooper:] Now, that is dangerous. That is very dangerous. [Bloom:] I will tell you why, because that secrecy allow them to continue [Cooper:] If there were only three accusers then you get your right, but if there are 50 accusers, you lose your rights? So, that anytime, any litigation is occurring, we just ramp up accusers [Bloom:] I did not say anytime. [Cooper:] and that would determine whether you get your rights? Very dangerous. Very dangerous. [Pinsky:] Horace, a question from the audience. Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience:] No. I just do not agree with it. It was a long time ago. I heard a lot of these women took cash from him. [Pinsky:] See. Here it is. [Unidentified Female Audience:] I feel like they I mean I am not just going to take some pill like and just go to some celebrity`s house. [Catherwood:] But he has admitted himself that he had these weird like roofie caddies that he would bring in and slip pills in women`s drink without them knowing. [Unidentified Female Audience:] So, what took them so long to come forward? [Schacher:] Oftentimes oftentimes because of the victim blaming and because of the stigma, it takes women victims, men too, sexual assault, rape, whatever those victims are [Unidentified Female Audience:] 15 years? [Schacher:] Yes, it could take forever. They could go to the grave with that because they are afraid of being blamed. [Unidentified Female Audience:] I think they just jumped on the bandwagon. [Schacher:] No. [Unidentified Female Audience:] They just want some money. That is all. [Schacher:] Really? Why? [Ok -- Catherwood:] They are not standing to get any money now. All they have gained the courage of having the numbers behind them, because finally one, two, maybe three women had the courage to come forward. Now, they unseal these documents. And, now, they say, "Hey, maybe I can actually come forward without being publicly ostracized or abused by a lot of the people we are hearing from, right now." [Pinsky:] And to sort of hang on. To put it in historical context too, some of these women did step forward at the time. And, because of the way we treated women 20, 30, 40 years ago, they literally were told to shut up by their bosses and people they spoke to. And, they were threatened with losing their job. They were told these was an important man for their employer, in that case well, the case I am thinking of was the "Playboy Club." She was told to shut her mouth. [Schacher:] Yes. [Pinsky:] There is a lot going on. And, by the way, it must have been confusing. Maybe something did not happen. He is such a great guy. And, he is Mr. Huxtable Dr. Huxtabel. It got to be very confusing for them at the time. [Martin:] And, you should know that a lot of these women even went to the police. They went to the prosecuting attorney. They filed complaints and their complaints were not acted upon. So, these are not women that just sat on their rights. These are women that took action, but the system shut them down. [Unidentified Female Audience:] I just feel bad for him. [Schacher:] Hold on. Why do you feel bad for him? Because a serial rapist aside, let us even take away that allegation. [Pinsky:] Listen. [Schacher:] This is a really crappy person. Did you hear him in his deposition casually talking about all of the extramarital affairs that he has had? This is not a good guy. [Unidentified Female Audience:] I am not judging his morality like, yes, he can be a crappy person. I just think this was just so long ago. [Schacher:] I feel bad for the victims. I feel bad for the victims. [Catherwood:] Do you understand he did not have [Pinsky:] Guys, I got to go to break. I may have to go to the camera here and just speak directly to you guys. We will continue this. You stay right there. No, no, do not move. Do not move. Hold your thoughts. Later on, Donald Trump`s rampage continues. He is taking heat for revealing that a fellow candidate actually giving out a fellow candidate`s cell phone number live to the world. We are back after this. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] That everything went fine, the prognosis was excellent, but it was just last week, Carol, as you know, that he said there's now evidence that the this cancer has spread throughout my body. It's going to affect my schedule, and, Carol, I can tell you, I don't know if you can see this, but the president is walking in now. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] I see him. [Gupta:] He's walking by himself, wearing a pair of jeans going over to the podium. Rosalynn Carter right behind him and many members of his staff. So he's very punctual, as I said. There's some pictures of him recently as well you may have seen from last week in church looking very vibrant. He said he's going to teach Sunday school next Sunday as well. So we know where his mindset is a little bit in terms of his activities upcoming but we're now going to hear for the first time exactly what this is that's been ailing him. [Costello:] Exactly. [Gupta:] And what he plans to do about it. [Costello:] All right. Well, let's pause, Sanjay, to listen to President Carter. [Jimmy Carter, Former President Of The United States:] to talk to you right now. And to all the folks at the Carter Center, my Emory doctors and literally hundreds of well- wishers who have called in or sent me letters or emails. And I've tried to answer as many of them as I could. I think what I'll do this morning is just outline what's happened so far with my medical condition. And then toward the end, I will give you a brief rundown of what I plan to do in the future, and then I'll answer some questions from the news media. In May, I went down to Guyana to help monitor an election, and I had a very bad cold. And I left down there and came back to Emory so they could check me over. And in the process, they did a complete physical examination, and the MRI showed that there was a cancer, or growth a tumor on my liver. And they did a PET Scan, and that kind of lights up a bad place, and it lit up. So they were pretty sure that there was a cancer before they operated on August the 3rd and removed it. The tumor was only about two-and-a-half cubic centimeters, but they removed about 85 cubic centimeters, which is about a tenth of my liver, and they did a biopsy and found that it was, indeed, cancer and it was melanoma. And they had a very high suspicion then and now that the melanoma started somewhere else on my body and spread to the to the liver. The doctors tell me that about 98 percent of all the melanoma is skin cancer and about 2 percent of the melanomas are internal. So then I came back up here after that, and they did a biopsy and found that they did an MRI and found that there were four spots of melanoma on my brain. They are very small spots, about two millimeters if you can envision what a millimeter is, and I'll get my first radiation treatment for the melanoma in my brain this afternoon. And then I understand I'll have four treatments scheduled at three- week intervals. In addition to that, yesterday, they treated me with a mask to hold my head perfectly still while the radiation goes in to the right places, and I've [inaudible] prepared for that to take place this afternoon. In addition, they have given me an IV with 30 minutes of Tempo Lysobat and this is a medicine that they use for melanoma that enhances the activity of the of the anti-immune system. And this is a medicine that's been approved in the United States. There are similar ones that have also been tested in Europe. My doctors are and they will also continue to scan other parts of my body with MRI and CAT Scan and PET Scan to see if and where the melanoma originated, and so that'll be an ongoing examination of my body for the next number of months, I presume, if it if it goes on that long. Dr. Juan Sarmiento is the doctor at Emory that did the surgery on my liver, Dr. David Lawson is a specialist on melanoma and Dr. Curran, who's here, is a specialist on radiation treatment, and he's in charge of the Winstrop Cancer Center. And they're working very closely with other cancer centers around this nation, in particular, MD Anderson Center in Houston, Texas, the National Cancer Institute, Sloan- Kettering and others. [Carter:] I've had a lot of people call and recommend different places, and I referred those offers of help to the doctors to get their acquiescence of approval of what they decided to do in my treatment. For a number of years, Rose and I have planned on dramatically reducing our work at Carter Center but we have not done it yet. We talked about this when I was 80 when I was 85, we talked about it again I was 90, this is a prodigious time to carry out our long- delayed plans, so I will cut back dramatically on my obligations at Emory, at the Carter Center. As you know, the Carter Center has a full legal partnership with Emory, half of our trustees are selected by Emory, and we approve them and vice versa. The president of Emory University is on our board of trustees, as are Rose and I. And we have built up a very substantial endowment to tide the Carter Center over when I am no longer able to raise funds. We have no a little over $600 million in our endowment. But I will continue to sign letters requesting contributions and making key calls to people that might need prospects for funding. So, I will continue with the funding, the trustee meetings at the Carter Center, I will continue attend those. I would also like to schedule the regular meetings with our fellows and directors as they give detailed reports quite regularly, on what we are doing with the fight against Guinea worm and our peace programs and other health programs, and so forth. I cannot really anticipate how I will be feeling, obviously. But I will have to differ quite substantially to my doctors in charge of treatment. I understand that they the radiation treatments and also the injections, will be every three weeks, for four times, and they will stop and take a look at what the results might have been. And I will try to adhere to that schedule as much as possible. The Carter Center is well prepared to continue on without any handicap, if Rosa and I do back away from a lot of the activities that we have been doing. We have decided last March that our grandson Jason will take over as a chairman of the board, replacing Oz Nelson, which is Oz Nelson's suggestion. And the board of trustees made that decision March, to be effective at our meeting in November. So, Jason will be the chairman of the board of trustees of the Carter Center, which is the body that makes the ultimate decisions about what projects the Carter Center works on, and budget matters and things of that kind. Of course, if he wants me to give advice, I would be delighted to do it as I have done some other people in the past. I was chairman for a while, but I step down a number of years ago to give other people a chance to work on it. So, I will try as best I can to continue my work as a professor at Emory, and to attend some of the meetings. But I would say that the rest of my plans would be determined by my consultations with doctors in what I needed to do to get adequate treatment for the melanoma that exists at least, has existed in my liver. They think they got it all, there, but has shown up now in four places in my brain, and it is likely to show up other places in my body as the scans detect it in the future. So, that's all wanted to say to you, but I will be glad to answer a couple of questions if you have them. [Question:] [OFF-MIKE]. Good morning, President Carter. Lorie Gurie, with WSBTV. Just want to get what was your initial reaction, when you heard the c-word, the cancer word, and what doctors have said about your prognosis. You have seem very optimistic, your spirits are very good. [Carter:] Well, at first, I felt that it was confined to my liver, and that they had the operation had completely removed it, so I was quite relieved. And then that same afternoon, we had an MRI of my head and neck and it showed up that it was already in four places in my brain. So I would say that night and the next day until I came back up to Emory, I just thought I had a few weeks left. But I was surprisingly, at ease. You know, I've had a wonderful life, I had thousands of friends, and and I've had an exciting and adventurous, gratifying existence. So I wasn't surprisingly at ease, much more so than my wife was. But now I feel, you know, it's in the hands of of God, whom I worship, and I'll be prepared for anything that comes. [Question:] Thank you. [Carter:] Thank you. [Question:] Mr. President... [Carter:] Yes, [inaudible]. Hi. [Question:] Mr. President, you've just said that you expect that there will be further cancers diagnosed. [Carter:] Yes. [Question:] So was it at all difficult given the fact you also just said that you thought maybe it was a matter of a few weeks, was it difficult at all to decide to go ahead with treatment? I mean, does your faith play any role in the fact that you did that, or did you consider at any time not doing anything at all? [Carter:] No. I never have doubted that I would carry out the recommendations of Emory doctors. And so when they said that they wanted to go ahead and find out other places that might show cancer and treat them, I'm perfectly at ease with that. And I'm perfectly at ease with whatever comes. I do have deep religious faith, which I'm very grateful for, and I was pleasantly surprised that that I didn't go into an attitude of despair or anger or anything like that. I was just completely at ease. I suppose I would testify it, I think, if you have any doubt about my veracity. But but I've just been very grateful for that part of it. So I'm I'm ready for anything and looking forward to a new adventure. [Question:] President Carter, Katie Foody with the Associated Press. You just said that you felt at ease. Can you tell us a little bit more about your discussions with your doctors, with your family and how you came to decide that you did want treatment and you wanted to pursue anything that your doctors did recommend would be appropriate for you. [Carter:] That never was a difficulty for me, because I don't think I've ever deviated from a commitment to do what my doctors recommended. So I that was not a big decision for me. I I decided that to begin with. And so Dr. Curran here, and I understand, if you have any technical questions, [inaudible] medical questions, he'd be willing to answer any questions that you might have later on. But I've the three doctors that worked in close harmony with me and the surgeon who did the operation on my liver, Sarmiento, and and Dr. Curran, who is a specialist on on treatment of of cancer and also Dr. Lawson, who is a specialist on melanoma itself so they have been like a team, working very closely with me, and I have complete confidence in them. And they've been gracious enough to reach out to others who have volunteered to consult with them, and I understand they've shared even the MRI with with some others. So they're consulting, I guess, with the best cancer treaters in the world. I'm very grateful that Emory is in charge. [Question:] Lynne Anderson with Atlanta Journal Constitution. First of all, President Carter, I'm I'm so sorry and sad to hear this news. And I just have a basic question: How are you feeling? [Carter:] I feel good. I haven't felt any weakness or debility. The pain has been very slight. Right after the operation on my liver, I had a little bit of pain in my stomach that was [inaudible] operation [inaudible] made two three very tiny incisions in my stomach. I had some pain in my right shoulder, strangely enough, but the doctor said that's expected, just kind of resonating pain that goes from your liver and internal organs up to your right shoulder if you have if you have liver problems, and I think if you have a heart problem, it goes your left shoulder. So I survived that. I only took the pain medicine for a few hours, and then I didn't have to take it anymore. I had a slight reaction last night to the first treatment of the [inaudible], and I I was I had a little bit of pain in my shoulder, and and I went to bed about 6 o'clock and slept until 8:00 this morning. I think that's the best night's sleep I've had in many years. [Question:] Mr. President, Tom Jones from WSB TV. You've mentioned all the well-wishers. Has there been any one correspondence or call that really touched you? [Carter:] Well, both of the former President Bush had called me at one time, and then George H.W. Bush, Bush Sr., called me yesterday afternoon again. I think I appreciated that very much, and their wives were there on the telephone with them. President Obama called, the vice president called, Bill Clinton called, Hillary Clinton, the secretary of State called; the first time they've called me in a long time. [Question:] Thank you. Hi. Jonathan Karl with ABC News. Two questions. First, I saw a report that you told Habitat for Humanity that you would still like to go forward with your trip to Nepal in November. Do you still hope to make that trip? And [Carter:] That that's I would still hope to go. It would require an airplane flight from Kathmandu to the Chitwan area, which is south down toward the Indian border. And if I do that, I understand I haven't talked to the doctors yet but I understand from my schedule that it would require a five-week postponement of my last treatment. So that's what I'm going to have to consider. But up until this morning, I was completely committed to go to Habitat. But if I don't go, I the rest of my family will probably go to take my place. [Question:] And if I can ask, you have really re-defined what it means to be a former president. Can you reflect on the work you have done since you left the White House and what you hope to still do? [Carter:] Well, the work of the Carter Center has been, I'd say, more personally gratifying to me because, you know, when you're president, you have a responsibility for over 350 million members and 3,000 members of the Armed Forces and budgets and Congress and so forth. And I was able to a number of good things when I was president, for which I'm very grateful, and that was the high point of my life politically speaking, and I would say that my having been president of the United States, a great country, has made it possible for me to have the influence and contact with people and knowledge that has been the foundation for the Carter Center. But the Carter Center has a completely different approach. We deal with individual people in the smallest and most obscure and suffering villages in the desert and in the jungles of Africa, and we've had programs in 80 different countries on the Earth for the poorest and most destitute people in the world. And that has been, I'd say, far more gratifying personally because we actually interact with families and with people who are going blind or who have lymphatic filariasis, which is elephantitis, or who have Guinea worm and so forth and going into villages and learning about them and what their needs are and then meeting those needs with the superb Carter Center medical staff I think has been one of the best things that ever happened to me. I said several times that my life since the White House has been personally more gratifying, although the presidency was obviously the pinnacle of my of my political success and also has laid the groundwork for my work at the Carter Center. [Question:] Do you still feel you have a lot of work left to do? [Carter:] Well, I do. And within the bounds of my physical and mental capability, I'll continue to do it. But I'm going to have to give the treatment regimen, I think, top priority. [Question:] Thank you. Good morning, Mr. President. Hallie Jackson, NBC News. Given your current cancer diagnosis, given your family history with this disease, what message do you have to other cancer patients who are watching you go through this now? [Carter:] Well, I've learned a lot about cancer with the death of my father and my only brother, but both my sisters from pancreatic cancer. And for a long time, my family was the only one on Earth that had as many as four people who died with pancreatic cancer. It's a very rare thing. I think now they've found two or three other families with it. After I left the White House and my brothers and sisters continued to die, then they did some special checks on my blood samples and things of that kind and some scans of different kinds. So pancreatic cancer is, I understand, does have some genetic cause that's what I've read some of the scientific documents but it's exacerbated by smoking cigarettes, which I've never done. And so, the melanoma is completely different. And it may be in the future, the melanoma will show up on my pancreas, but they have not found that to be true in the last few weeks. They examined the pancreas quite closely. And so, so far, the only place they've known about the cancer has been in my liver and my brain. So, I would say that one of the greatest scientific developments in the last five years has been with two kinds of cancer. One is lung cancer, and the other one is melanoma. So, the treatment for melanoma, in addition to radiation and chemotherapy, has been the giving of these medicines that exacerbate, or enhance, I'd say is a better word, that enhance the function of your self-regulating aspect, the auto immune system. So, they make your auto immune system more active. And so, that's a basic approach. But there are several of these medicines. [Question:] So, the message to other patients. Is your message one of hope, it is acceptance. [Carter:] It's one of hope and acceptance, yes. Hope for the best and accept what comes. You know, we I think I have been as blessed as any human being in the world. Becoming president of the United States of America, and governor of Georgia, and worked at the Carter Center, and big and growing family, and thousands of friends. So I don't think and living to be 91 years old, 1st of October. So, I've had everything has been a blessing for me. So, I'm thankful and hopeful. [Question:] President Carter, Cain Farwell with Voice of America. [Carter:] OK. [Question:] I wanted to ask, what has been you said that you sort of take a pragmatic approach to the treatment and the news, but what has been the most difficult part about the news for you in the past couple of weeks? [Carter:] Well, I haven't had any difficult treatment aspect, yet. You know, the the liver surgery was very extensive but it removed about one-tenth of my liver, I understand. But it healed up quickly and I had minimal pain. And the first treatment that I had yesterday, will be followed this afternoon by the radiation, and that will be every three weeks for four times, and then they'll reassess. So, I haven't had any unpleasantness yet. [Question:] Is it difficult to step away from all of the busy activities? [Carter:] Well, that's the bad part. I really wanted to go to Nepal to build houses. This would have been our 33rd year, Rosa? Thirty-third year of going without fail, and I was very hopeful about that. But if it interrupts the straight treatment regimen, then I think I need to get the treatment. [Question:] Thank you. [Carter:] Having a lot of people. [Question:] Hello, President Carter. Karen Grier, CBS 46 News. And just wondering, you touched upon it a little bit. In your illustrious career, as you said, governor here, president, even as husband, father, grandfather is there anything, or tell us, share with us, what you're most proud of? And is there anything you might have done differently or thought, maybe I wish I had not done that? [Carter:] Well, the best thing I ever did was marrying Rosa. [Question:] And anything you wish I'm sorry that you had not done, or that you had done differently? [Carter:] I wish I had sent on more helicopter to get the hostages, and we would have rescued them, and I would have been reelected. But that may have and that may have interfered with the foundation of the Carter Center. If I had to choose between four more years and the Carter Center, I think I would choose the Carter Center. [Question:] Thank you. [Carter:] It could've been both. [Question:] President Carter... [Carter:] I don't think there's any doubt that my descendants have some genetic challenge from the pancreatic cancer and my melanoma. So whatever the doctors recommend for you know, for blood tests or things like that, that's a precautionary measure for the other family members. I think that will probably be put into effect. But I haven't discussed that with them, and I don't know the answer to that. I'll get two or three more questions. Go ahead. [Question:] President Carter, Greg Bluestein with the Atlanta Journal Constitution. I wonder, how did you break the news to your family? [Carter:] Well, I found out toward the end of May that I have a spot on my liver that was suspect. I think I might in my diary that I didn't tell Rosalynn until about the 15th of of June. And then when I found out I had definitely cancer, key members of my family came in to the Carter Center, and I gave them a briefing and gave our chief executive officer a briefing that what the prospects were. And so and then I put out a statement, as soon as I knew about it, to the public that I did have cancer, and when we found out that it had metastasized, we also put out a press conference on that. I didn't say what kind it was. I didn't say it was melanoma. I didn't say it had spread to my brain; I just said, to other parts of my body. So as quickly as I could, I I've I've said I've told the public and my family the things about which I was absolutely certain, rather than just guessing what might happen. [Question:] President Carter, thank you. Sanjay Gupta with [Cnn. Carter:] Yeah, I know. [Question:] Well, I have a couple of questions a little bit more specific about the the medical aspects. You you became ill, you said, in May and came back early to the United States. They had an MRI at that time that showed this liver mass, but it wasn't until two months later, my understanding, from your comments that you had the operation. [Carter:] That's right. [Question:] I'm wondering about that time period. Was there was there a was there a consideration not to do anything during that time period? [Carter:] No. [Question:] And also, just just quickly, the the medications, you said you're following the recommendations of your doctor. Were you given options, and how did you weigh those options? [Carter:] I was given a complete rundown on the options that were available, and when they made a recommendation the particular kind of medical treatment I had an I.V. yesterday I took their advice. And we knew, I would say, the end of June that I had to have an operation on my liver. But I had an extensive book tour scheduled on 14 or 15 cities, and I wanted to do that, and the doctors told me that it was a very slow-growing cancer apparently. It wouldn't make any difference between the middle of July and and the 3rd of August, so we scheduled it when I got through with the book tour. And coincidentally, a lot more importantly, my surgeon was had scheduled a vacation trip in Spain, and so the combination of all those things just caused me to wait until everything was ready. So I stayed very busy during that time, and I didn't tell anybody much about it, except Rosalynn. [Question:] Thank you. [Carter:] Did you have another question, Sanjay? [Question:] That's it. [Carter:] OK, thanks. [Question:] President, Wright Gazaway with WALB in Albany. You mentioned Plains there. Talk a little bit about the support of them and what that's meant to you. [Carter:] Well, Plains is is my home. I was born there. My wife was born there, and I know Rosalynn when she was born. I was three year older. I still am. [Bolduan:] So Donald Trump does not seem to have woke up happy today. Ted Cruz and John Kasich are now friends, sort of. So how did we get here overnight? The surprise divide-and-conquer agreement between Ted Cruz and John Kasich has the potential of reshaping this entire race. Trump calls it desperate and collusion. Cruz and Kasich might see it more though as survival. [Berman:] A pretty big shift in the tone between the two candidates who have taken some serious shots at each other over the last several weeks. [Cruz:] At this point, Kasich's role is essentially as a spoiler. A vote or John Kasich is a vote for Donald Trump. [Kasich:] A vote for Cruz or Trump, frankly, is a vote for Hillary Clinton. [Cruz:] As we stand here today, there are two people and only two people that have any plausible path whatsoever to winning the Republican nomination, me and Donald Trump. As I said, plausible path. [Kasich:] Ted, Senator Ted, the smear artist, you know, they're attacking me. [Cruz:] John Kasich has no path whatsoever to the nomination. [Berman:] Well, now the spoiler has a deal with the smear artist. The smear artist has a deal with the spoiler. As Kate said, dogs and cats living together. Let's talk more about it, senior adviser to Donald Trump's presidential campaign, Barry Bennett is with us; and Ted Cruz surrogate and chairman of the conservative advocacy group, ForAmerica, Brent Bozell. Barry, we have not yet heard from the Trump campaign on this deal. Your reaction? [Barry Bennett, Senior Advisor, Donald Trump Presidential Campaign:] I thought we'd seen it all, but apparently we haven't yet. I'm going with smoilers. That's what I like. [Bolduan:] Smoilers? [Bennett:] Yeah. [Bolduan:] That does not have such a ring to it though, Barry. [Berman:] Barry, Donald Trump says this deal, it's a horrible act of desperation. Is that how you see it, Barry? [Bennett:] Yeah, it is a desperate act. Last week they both said, both of them in their own words, said that Donald Trump had no chance of getting to 1,237. And then obviously they believe he does. Because he does. Five states vote tomorrow. Ted Cruz is going to finish last in all five, maybe not one of them, but at least four of the five. And then we go to Indiana where we're up in fact, I think we're up in every state remaining. So, you know, I think this is a desperate attempt. Kasich is running out of money. That's really the root of all this. He can't afford to keep his offices open in Indiana. He's going to go to New Mexico and Oregon, which are proportional states, which makes absolutely no sense. Bad strategy, bad theater, stupid deal. [Bolduan:] Stupid deal, desperate. Brent, what say you? [Brent Bozell, Chairman, Foramerica & Ted Cruz Presidential Campaign Surrogate:] Well, let's start here, the idea that Kasich and Cruz, who have criticized each other, now coming together is some kind of novelty. Look, what did Donald Trump do to Ben Carson? He ripped the hide off of him. What did he do to Chris Christie? He insulted him at every opportunity. Christie and Carson are now supporting him. That's called politics. But here is the reality. Yes, they're joining forces in these three states. It's a smart move to make, and what they're also saying to the Republican Party and saying to America is Donald Trump simply cannot win the presidency. He cannot beat Hillary Clinton. With the 65 percent disapproval rating, where he's shown his strength is in northeastern states like New York, and she's going to take all those states, what they're saying you better look at us because, if not, you're going to sit in on the inauguration of Hillary Clinton next January. [Berman:] Barry Brent, you make a fair point about politics. [Bolduan:] It is, yeah. [Berman:] Ben Carson is now supporting Donald Trump and they said nasty things about each other before that. However, you know, couldn't you also say that Ted Cruz is now effectively saying I can't win Indiana without John Kasich getting out? I mean, he's been saying that John Kasich, you know, was the standing between himself and the presidency. Now he says he needs John Kasich's machinations to beat Donald Trump at the convention. [Bozell:] I think that Ted Cruz has been saying since this whittled down to a three-man race that he hoped John Kasich would get out because he going one-on-one can beat Donald Trump. And in the Indiana situation, that's exactly what he's saying. [Bolduan:] Barry? [Bennett:] Oh, my. [Bolduan:] Barry, does this also mean you already kind of said that you're ahead, you're ahead, you're ahead, but if they really work together, if Kasich voters go to supporters go to Cruz, you have problems in Indiana, man. [Bennett:] But this is just it. This is something Washington doesn't understand about politics. Nobody's supporters 100 percent go to anybody, and to assume Take California, where we're 27 points ahead, Ted Cruz is not going to get 100 percent of John Kasich's supporters. That's lunacy. It's just not going to happen. It never happens. They just don't this is really pathetic. They both understand they're not going to go to the convention with enough delegates to win and now they're trying everything they can to stop somebody else. It's just crazy. [Berman:] Brent, is [Bozell:] But, Barry, can I ask a question? Barry, would you be willing to concede and maybe even crazy enough to apologize for once more Donald Trump lying through his teeth by saying that this is collusion when the definition of collusion is that it's a secret deal and this could not be more public. Would you be willing to concede your guy has lied once again? [Bennett:] Will he release a transcript of what happened last night? Will you release a transcript Would you? Come on, it's a secret deal. It's not a secret deal. It's public. You guys won't release this transcript, what went on, what were the negotiations, what donors were involved, were there any super PAC donors involved in the deal? [Berman:] Go ahead, Brent. [Bozell:] Then so long as the Donald "New York Times" editorial [Bennett:] We don't have it to release. You know that. [Bozell:] where he said to them, don't believe anything I'm saying to these conservatives right now. I think both sides would be very, very it would be very interesting if both sides agreed to release those transcripts. [Berman:] All right, guys, I think we're not getting any transcripts. Let's leave the transcripts discussion there. But, Brent, I want to ask you this. Is Governor Kasich doing this deal the right way now? Because we just heard him on TV a few minutes ago. He was asked would he tell his [Bolduan:] What would you tell voters in Indiana? He said, I never said they shouldn't vote for me. They ought to vote for me. [Bozell:] Honestly, I don't know the answer to that. You're going to have to ask him. I honestly can't answer that question. [Romans:] A South Carolina jury has convicted Dylann Roof on all charges in the shooting deaths of nine people inside Emanuel AME church. Jurors will decide next month if the 22-year-old should be sentenced to death. CNN's Nick Valencia has more outside the courthouse in Charleston. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Alison and Christine, it came as no surprise to those in the courtroom, Dylann Roof guilty of all charges in the murder of nine people in June of 2015 at the historically black Emanuel AME church. As the verdict was read out loud, Roof stood silently. His right hand noticeably fidgeting, his ears turning as the guilty verdicts were read one count after the hour. Jurors unanimously deciding that Dylann Roof was guilty in the murders of those nine people. There was little emotion shown by the defendant. The most emotion came from the family members of the victims. Some bowing heads, seemingly in prayer. Others wiping their brow and others wiping the tears from their eyes. Thursday, it was quite emotional. The emotion punctuated by an image of the bloody bodies of those worshippers lying down on the floor of that bible study. Dylann Roof accused of shooting those victims 77 times in all. The prosecution in their closing arguments saying that Dylann Roof should be held accountable for every single one of those shots. For the defense's part, they said they hope the jurors took into consideration that their client might be delusional and that there was something skewed about his perception in reality. The next part of this sentence, of this trial I should say is the penalty phase. That's expected to pick up on January 3rd Alison, Christine. [Romans:] All right. Nick Valencia in Charleston, thank you, Nick. Hundreds of protesters at the North Carolina state capitol building Thursday after Republicans made an unprecedented move to strip the new Democratic governor of some of his power. Governor-elect Roy Cooper now vowing to fight the Republican power grab in court. This comes after that bitter governor's race that saw incumbent Pat McCrory wait through weeks of vote counting before conceding he had narrowly lost. [Kosik:] Longtime Turner Sports broadcaster Craig Sager has died after a long battle with leukemia. The iconic sideline reporter, he's loved across the NBA by players and by fans and colleagues. He was best known for his warm personality, his professionalism and, of course, his colorful and at times fluorescent wardrobe. Sager died just days after he was inducted into the sports broadcasting Hall of Fame. He leaves behind his wife and five children. Sager was 65 years old. You know, it's interesting to hear the legacy will be carried on now he is gone. All of these people in the sports world coming out and talking about what joy they brought to his lives. He continued working many months after his illness took a turn for the worse. [Romans:] Our best to his family here as they cope. All right. Fifty-six minutes past the hour. Little treat for you. Dolly Parton, she seems like she's everywhere. Fifty years into the music business. She was just on "The Voice" singing with Miley Cyrus. She ran a telethon. Brought in $9 million for the victims of the wildfires in Tennessee, a fire that came dangerously close to the theme park she owns, Dollywood. New album, pure and simple, wrapping up her biggest tour in decades. And on that tour, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Dolly Parton. You may see rhyme stones and sequence, I see a business mogul. Listen. When you were starting, did you think, look, if I am going to last and if I'm going to make sure that the music business doesn't take advantage of me, I have to be in control of my image, my sound, my business, every angle of it? [Dolly Parton, Singer & Music Mogul:] You said it when you said the business. It is called the music business. My dad told me that when I let home. He said don't let people steal your money. You pay attention to your things. So, as soon as I could, I started my own publishing company, got my own record label now. I think it is important if you can as soon as you can to keep all of your goods close to home where you can control it and know what is happening. My dad had 12 children. He just managed everything. In fact, that's where I like to think I get my business sense. He was a great barter, he was a horse trader as they say. [Romans:] Yes. [Parton:] Street smart, horse smart. [Romans:] I bet along the way, people said no to you. I bet you have been sitting across the table from a fat cat executive who said, no, we're not going to do it that way. And you had to really hold your ground. [Parton:] Oh, yes. I can do that. Like I said, I am an easy going. People say, do you ever lose your temper? Well, I lose it, but I use it sometimes. [Romans:] Yes, I mean, that's one of her sort of I call her the Dolly MBA. The MBA in Dolly, you know, use your temper. Hire good people who you trust and let them do what they do well. If you want to see more in the business advice from Dolly Parton, anybody in business should listen to this, you can check it out at CNN Money. [Kosik:] She doesn't just sing. She doesn't just perform. She's had a lot of fire and passion in that little lady. I love her. [Romans:] She is a titan. She's a mogul. And she has made a lot of choices and done deals that people around her said, no, no, and she knew she wanted to do it, and she did it surrounded herself by people who would get it done. And you know, she wouldn't confirm or deny her net worth, but it's big. [Kosik:] She's certainly inspiring. All right. EARLY START continues right now. [Romans:] President Obama is saying the U.S. will take action against Russia after high level politicians, likely including Putin himself, meddled in the U.S. election. [Kosik:] Hillary Clinton and her campaign chair both weighing in. John Podesta issuing a scathing criticism of the FBI over their handling of the hacking. [Romans:] Fast moving developments in Aleppo right now. Syrian state TV reporting evacuations are suspended in Aleppo. Another truce broken. Thousands of people stuck inside the war-torn city. Good morning, everyone, this Friday morning. Welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Kosik:] Good morning. I'm Alison Kosik. It's Friday, December 16th. It's 5:00 a.m. in the East. And new this morning, President Obama vowing to take action in response to Russian hacking of the U.S. election. In an interview with NPR, the president said he is directly confronted Vladimir Putin warning the Russian president of a potential U.S. response. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I think there is no doubt that when any foreign government tries to impact the integrity of our elections that we need to take action. And we will. At a time and a place of our own choosing. [Kosik:] And President Obama wasn't specific about what kind of form a U.S. response might take or when something like that would happen. But he did say some of it may be explicit and publicized. And some of it may not be. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Rich, talk to me about when you got the call. [Richard Martinez, Son Killed In Gun Violence:] My son, Christopher Martinez, was shot and killed in Isla Vista, California, 9:27 p.m., in 2014. And Karen, his mom, was talking to a detective and she was asking him whether he was alive or dead and the detective didn't want to tell her and she insisted and I could tell from her reaction that he was dead and, you know, it's bad to lose a child but it takes you down to a place you've never been before. [Baldwin:] Ronnie, what about you? [Ronnie Phillips, Daughter Killed In Gun Violence:] I was asleep when Sandy got the call. The call came from inside the theater. The screaming was still going on. And it was Brent who was Jesse's best friend. He called her and said that had he been talking to Jesse just minutes before. So when she got the call from Brent, she knew something was wrong. So she asked Brent, where was where's Jesse? And Brent said, I tried. She said, Brent, please tell me she's not dead. And Brent said again, I tried. So the scream woke me up. I thought somebody was in our house attacking my wife, the scream was so horrible. And when I got to her, she was sliding down the wall telling me Jesse was dead. And I said, no, no, you're mistaken. She said, no, she's dead. Brent said she was dead, and Brent's a paramedic so he knows she's dead. [Baldwin:] This is so hard. Pam? [Pamela Bosley, Son Killed In Gun Violence:] My name is Pam Bosley from Chicago. My son was Terrell Bosley. On April 4th, actually that morning, I had got up and given Terrell a kiss before I went to work and he went to church and the next call I got was from his girlfriend. She was screaming on the phone saying that Terrell had been shot and I'm like, shot? He's at church. So before I even got to that I had spoken to Terrell and our last conversation was, Terrell, a man got shot, so be careful. Don't argue with anybody. He said, mom, I'm at church. That's where I'm at. I'm not going to argue with anybody. That was my last phone call with him. It was a phone call that changed my entire life and since then it tears you apart. You don't go it's nine years for me and I'm still suffering every single day. You don't get through this. You don't get over this. And I don't care that I have two more children. I still don't have Terrell. [Baldwin:] And that was just the beginning of an evening of stories and conversation. We have so much more from my interview with these 40 people. Their powerful stories, the connections they've made with one another through grief and loss, that is next. Also, this [Rev. Sharon Risher, Mother, Cousins Killed In Gun Violence:] I jumped on the phone and we started to cry and it just seemed like our souls came together in a commonality that I can't even explain. [Baldwin:] Wow, reading all of your tweets. This is overwhelming. If you're just joining me, I'm Brooke Baldwin, and I'm sharing my exclusive interview with, well, they call themselves The Loneliest Club, 40 men and women who have lost people to gun violence. And there's something that exists in this club that I actually never knew about. And no one really knows about it unless you, too, have been affected by a shooting, if you've had a loved one who has been taken, as they say. A connection some described it as a calmness and understanding between one another, not having to explain the severe pain they carry with them every day, every hour, and every moment. It's these connections you all have made, right? You all had no idea this would be happening to you. You had no idea you'd end up with this commonality with people sitting next to you. So beginning with the two of you, Tom and Jane, I want you to tell me about your connection. Who reached out to whom? How did you all connect? [Tom Sullivan, Son Killed In Gun Violence:] Down at the state capitol testifying, you know, over some of the commonsense gun bills that have been passed in the state of Colorado in the three years, you know, since the massacre at the movie theater. So Jane has been down there, I've been down there. We've done other speaking events and that type of stuff. So we're constantly in contact with one another. And so then when you have those abilities to connect with somebody when it's supposed to be a happier time in your life, it makes it so much easier and especially, you know, there's that unset, you know, kind of calmness that you can have between the two of you because you don't have to explain, you know, where you've been. She already knows and so we can just move on. [Baldwin:] And I want you to tell me about the wedding dress. [Jane Sullivan, Son Killed In Gun Violence:] Well, I work out of my home and I've been in bridal for a very long time. But I never thought that this would be a connection in the world of bridal, which is a fairy tale land. I was working on wedding gowns when I got the call. My husband called me and said there's been a shooting and I'm aware of shootings. I live in Littleton, Colorado. I pulled my children out of locked down schools at Columbine. And when he said that, it was like lightning bolt went through me. And I met Megan at one of the dinners, Tom's daughter. About a year later she posted on Facebook that she had not had a good experience at a big-box retailer and that she was, you know, unhappy. And I just posted, remember, I'm in bridal and this is the shop I work at and please come see me if you haven't bought your dress. And then they made appointments with me and customized it and it has the buttons on the back that were from terry's dress. And I was just so honored to be a part of that and so thrilled to see her smile. And it made a little bit happier connection for me knowing what they were going through with the trial because the trial was happening at the same time. [Baldwin:] Coming to the two of you, seeing your hands locked. In the Charleston church, you lost your mother and two cousins. [Risher:] Yes. I was at work when my nephew called and said, Auntie, there was a shooting at the church. And I said, what church? And he said, granny's church. And nobody had heard nothing. I called my ma's phone. I did everything I could. No answer. So but I knew she was gone because there would have been no other place in the world she would have been. So I knew either my mother would have witnessed this terrible thing or she was one of the people that died. I couldn't even drive home. And I didn't know yet officially but I knew in my heart, I had to stop my car twice because I was so nervous, I couldn't even drive. And to then find out everything, you know, Cousin Susie, and it was too much for two days. I'm in Dallas, Texas. Two days. I've wandered around in my pajamas watching the news because I couldn't take missing anything because I was hoping beyond hope that somehow they got it wrong, but I knew it wasn't wrong. I knew that she was gone. [Baldwin:] Sorry. Give me a second. With the Charleston story, the world watched that courtroom. I want to say it was the day after, whenever he was taken in, you saw family member after family member forgiving him. We just learned last week that the prosecutor is, indeed, going to seek the death penalty. [Risher:] Yes. [Baldwin:] I would be remiss not to ask you, do you forgive him, and how do you feel about that? [Risher:] I don't forgive him yet. Being a pastor and a reverend, I know that forgiveness is a part of life and what we do as a world to get past. But I'm not there. I don't want to forgive him. I don't want to have to say, I forgive you for killing my mother. I don't want to have to say that. And I know that the process will have to take place and there's no time limit on that process but I'm just not there yet. I'm not there yet and I believe the god that I believe in is patting me on the back saying, you take your time. [Baldwin:] When you heard about what happened at that church in Charleston, Lucy, what was the first thing you did? [Lucy Mcbath, Son Killed In Gun Violence:] I was weeping. I weeped, literally, on my knees for a good hour and a half, two hours. Because I felt like the last bastion of safety is a church. The next day when I was asked, what are you going to do, do you want to go to Charleston? I was like, yeah, I need to go to Charleston. Because I know firsthand what those people are feeling and I wanted to go there and I wanted to pray for them and I wanted to offer them the same very same support that I know those family members in that church prayed for me and my family when Jordan was murdered. [Baldwin:] How did you meet her? [Risher:] I received a bag full of cards and I was going through things and I came upon this envelope that had the address and then had my name written on the side so my curiosity says, open this. And then I open it and here's a two-page letter from Lucy. She left me her phone number and I didn't think about sending an e-mail. I jumped on the phone. And we started to cry and it just seemed like our souls came together in a commonality that I can't even explain. As far as the question of peace, it will only be three months, so I am raw. I am new to this cause. Peace will come. [Brown:] An attorney for Dennis Hastert is addressing the shocking new sexual abuse allegations surrounding the former House speaker. The details in court documents in the last 24 hour show federal prosecutors believe Hastert sexually abused at least four boys in the '60s and '70s while he was a high school wrestling coach. The disturbing revelations come just days before he is to be sentenced for financial violations. Investigators say those violations involve hush money Hastert paid to one of his accusers. Our Nick Valencia joins me now for more on this. Nick, what are Hastert's attorneys saying in light of these new allegations? [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Pamela, we should start saying this is the first time we've seen Dennis Hastert mentioned specifically, these allegations of sexual molestation, child molestation. Up until now, he has not mentioned anything or said anything, addressed them, nor has his attorney. Even in this statement we received a few hours ago from Hastert's attorney, there was no admission of guilt. I'll read that statement. "Mr. Hastert acknowledges that as a young man he committed transgressions for which he is profoundly sorry. He earnestly apologizes to his former students, family, friends, previous constituents, and all others affected by the harm his actions have caused. The profound humiliation and public shaming Mr. Hastert has and will continue to experience coupled with the resulting isolation and abandonment he has endured are already significant punishment and have undoubtedly contributed to his fragile medical condition." Some would ask, what about the fragile medical condition of those he is allegedly abused 30 years ago while he was a high school wrestling coach in Illinois. These federal court documents, 26 pages, go on to say that these young men, now grown men, are still dealing with the emotional scars of having allegedly been molested by the former speaker of the House Pamela? [Brown:] The abuse allegations are not new, but the extent of this alleged abuse is, and they details these boys, now men, give are disturbing. [Valencia:] They are disturbing, they are stunning, they are just plain and simple disgusting, as laid out by federal prosecutors. We're about to read one of those instances. There were four young men in all, actually five, but they couldn't get testimony from the fifth young man. He died years after the alleged molestation happened, but they did get testimony from his sister. This statement, part of the court documents that I'm about to read, could be considered uncomfortable for some but we think it's important to hear. "Individual "B," who was a minor at the time, was a wrestler at Yorkville High School for the defendant, Dennis Hastert. One day during his freshman year, when Individual "B" was 14 years old, Individual "B" was alone in the locker room with Hastert after Individual "B" has worked out. Either just after he showered or while he changed by his locker, Hastert told Individual "B" to get on the table so Hastert could, quote, "loosen him up." Individual "B" lay on the table face down. The defendant started massaging him. Defendant had Individual "B" turn over so he was lying face up on the table. Hastert then performed a sexual act on the teenager." Much of these allegations, these accusations, I should say, listed out in these court documents, start the same way. In a similar case, Hastert offers to massage these teenagers who were wrestlers for him on this high school team and that it evolved into an alleged sexual misconduct Pamela? [Brown:] So these men have now come forward, they've testified to federal prosecutors, prosecutors clearly believe them, but why aren't there any charges on that front? Is it because of statute of limitations? [Valencia:] Yeah. The statute of limitations is past. It happened 30 years ago. And prosecutors aren't going after him for this. But they think it's germane to him breaking banking laws. If you remember, he was taking out $50,000 increments at a time. That drew the attention of the feds. The FBI and IRS started to investigate. Hastert had initially said he was the victim of extortion. When they recorded conversations between one of these individuals and Mr. Hastert, they realized that it was no extortion attempt but really hush money, as the feds have put it. They think that the sentencing should reflect the seriousness of the crimes. That's why these documents have come out, since Hastert is schedule to be sentenced April 27th. And they believe that the sentence of that should fit the crime. Right now, it's only zero to six months. That's what the defense is asking for. Jail time is not mentioned. But it's clear the federal prosecutors are laying out their case that they're trying to get Mr. Hastert behind bars Pamela? [Brown:] All right. Nick Valencia, thank you for that report. [Valencia:] You bet. [Brown:] The brutality of ISIS is in full display in Iraq. Families unable to flee the terror group now say they are being used as human shields. People have been forced into their homes and held captive. Their stories will make your skin crawl. CNN's senior international correspondent, Arwa Damon, reports from Iraq Arwa? [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] The Iraqi army has managed so far so capture a handful of villages from ISIS, Pamela, and once they did that, the people from those areas were sharing the most horrific of stories. [voice-over]: The latest arrivals at this refugee camp are not those who fled ISIS. They are those who say ISIS used them as human shields and didn't let them leave. They're from a handful of villages the Iraqi army recently recaptured from ISIS. The men are kept at the camp's mosque, a security precaution amid concerns ISIS is in the village. "Isis put my family into each home in the middle of the village," Abu Sarat recalled. Like many here, he does not want his identity revealed. He still has loved ones at the mercy of ISIS and has already witnessed and lost too much. Abu and his family could hear the army's advance and hoped finally that they would be saved. But in the fierce clashes, Abu's younger brother was hit as he pulled his niece away from the window. "He shouted, I am shot, get me," Abu Sarat says. The memory of that movement so painful, he can no longer control his emotions. "He said, I don't want to die. But he bled out in our arms." With us, Abu is able to leave the mosque grounds, and we head to see the rest of his family. He says they did not flee when ISIS first arrived nearly two years ago because his elderly mother could not run away, a mother who has buried her son. "What is left," she now questions. "At least God spared the rest." Their stories of life under ISIS make your skin crawl. Abu worked at a hospital in Mosul. "I was forced to keep working. He said, if you don't, I will leave your head on the hospital gate," he tells us. Once, he was stopped in the street and forced to witness a public mass execution. In another instance, on the way to the market, he says, "We saw people hanging from the electricity pole. We asked why. They said they were trying to leave. If you try to escape, this will be your fate." The women also hide their faces. But little can hide the lingering fear, the overwhelming psychological trauma or the pain. This woman says the house ISIS held her family in as the Iraqi army advanced was hit by a mortar. She was injured. Her 15-year-old son killed. Her last image of him, with blood coming out of his eyes, nose, mouth. "It's all memories," she says, before it becomes too much and she walks away. [on camera]: And concerns for the civilian population, Pamela, are only growing. When one looks towards the city of Mosul, there are potentially 1.5 million to two million people there, and in its surroundings, and ISIS could very well be intending to use them, too, as human shields. [Brown:] So disturbing. Great report there from our Arwa Damon, an important report. We're continuing to watch live pictures from a Hillary Clinton campaign stop in Brooklyn. Stay with us. We'll be back. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] You know, we have a big night tomorrow night. It's going to be good. This will not be like an evening in paradise for me. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Debate day in America. And this is where it is all about to go down. Good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The stage is set and the stakes are very high. The Republican presidential candidates face off tonight in their final debate of 2015. You are looking live at the Venetian Casino in Las Vegas. This is where the CNN debate will begin to unfold. Less than nine hours from now. And swaggering to the middle of the main stage, none other than Donald Trump. The longtime frontrunner now holds his biggest lead yet in the Republican race. According to a new "Washington Post"-ABC News poll, Trump now commands support from 38 percent of the GOP leaning voters. But he faces a new challenge. Ted Cruz has surged to second nearly doubling his numbers from last month. Trump says make no mistake, everybody is gunning for him. [Trump:] They are all coming after me. I heard today, I'm watching, I'm saying, man, this is like crazy. Who's going to attack Trump first? Will it be this one? You know, he's taken down seven so far. You know if you look, so far everyone who's attacked me has gone right down the tubes so that's good. [Costello:] All right, let's take you center stage and show you around the venue for tonight's debate. CNN's Athena Jones is in Vegas. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Just a few hours from now nine candidates will take the stage for the last GOP showdown of the year. You can see Donald Trump will be here at center stage. He'll be flanked by Ben Carson and Ted Cruz. And if you look over here, CNN's Wolf Blitzer will be standing here as the moderator. Just on the other side of the stage, CNN's Dana Bash and Salem Radio host Hugh Hewitt will be seated also asking questions. And this grand theater, the Venetian Theater, will be filled by an invite only crowd of about 1400 guests for the big night. All this comes as Trump's national poll numbers are reaching heights many political pundits thought they'd never reach, making him a top target tonight. He was also a target of protesters last night. [Jones:] Outrage overnight during Donald Trump's rally in Las Vegas. Tensions high just hours before tonight's final GOP debate of 2015. Multiple protesters forcibly removed while trying to interrupt the frontrunner's speech. [Trump:] Get them out. [Jones:] Trump taking shots at his Republican competition. [Trump:] The other candidates should be thankful. Because I'm giving them a chance to make total fools of themselves. [Jones:] And bashing the media. [Trump:] I've learned two things, more than anything else. How smart the people are and how bad and dishonest the press is. Because it is really dishonest. [Jones:] Trump's GOP rivals going after the billionaire businessman who for the first time has topped 40 percent in a Monmouth University poll of likely GOP voters. That's more than the next three competitors combined. And Trump towering 23 points above his closest rival in this new "Washington Post"-ABC poll. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] I cannot imagine Donald Trump becoming president because he would never win. He would never win. Hillary Clinton would clean him. [Jones:] This as Texas Senator Ted Cruz surges into second place in national polling and tops Trump in several polls in Iowa. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] God bless the great state of Iowa. [Jones:] Which means all eyes will be on center stage to see if the two former allies will go after each other. [Sarah Palin , Former Alaska Governor:] They are both strong and very decisive and someone who would take the initiative. That is what we need today. And both those candidates fit that bill. [Jones:] Tonight's debate is the first for the GOP contenders since the Paris and San Bernardino terror attacks, and comes about a week after Trump called for a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. The debate will keep national security at the forefront. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] The vast majority of people that are trying to come are people that we just don't have information on. This is an issue that you have to be right 100 percent. [Jones:] And Marco Rubio is another candidate to keep an eye on tonight. He's performed well in past debates and his team is hoping for another strong night tonight. Their view going into tonight is why try to fix what isn't broken. When it comes to Trump and Cruz, the question isn't so much whether Trump will try to hit Cruz but whether and how Cruz will hit back. And I should mention, Carol, the security sweeps are just now beginning in and around this theater. So it's just one more sign we're getting closer to the main event. Back to you. [Costello:] We certainly are. Athena Jones, thanks so much. So the stage is set, the anticipation is building. Donald Trump ready to rumble. And maybe he ought to be. Ted Cruz has questioned his judgment. Marco Rubio says Trump is not qualified to be president. And Jeb Bush, remember him? He says Trump is not serious enough to be president. So let's talk about all of this. Mercedes Schlapp is a former Spanish language media spokesperson for President George W. Bush. She joins me. And in Las Vegas, Kayleigh McEneny, who's a Republican strategist. Welcome to both of you. [Mercedes Schlapp, Former Spanish Media Spokesperson For George W. Bush:] Thank you. [Kayleigh Mceneny, Republican Strategist:] Hey, Carol. [Costello:] Thanks for being here. So Trump launched a preemptive strike against Cruz by citing his poll numbers. But I don't see Ted Cruz eager for a fight with Trump. Do you, Kayleigh? [Mceneny:] No, I don't. You know, Ted Cruz has played this so wisely. You look at all of the candidates who have been, you know, on Trump's heels and he smacked them all down very successfully. Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina, Ben Carson, and they all to some degree fought back. Ted Cruz had not fought back, and Donald Trump is going to have a very hard time attacking Ted Cruz because Ted Cruz's record is stellar. As a conservative candidate, his votes are on par. He's one of the most conservative candidates in the race so Trump may have a hard time attacking him and Ted Cruz is brilliant by not striking back. [Costello:] So, Mercedes, will Ted Cruz just stand there and and will bit a big love fest between the two men? [Schlapp:] Well, I don't think it will be a love fest. But what I think you're going to see from Ted Cruz is the fact that he understands that he is the one to gain the most if Trump were to fall. What we're seeing right now is a divide in the conservative party. Where you have a portion of the voters going to Trump. And the other portion going to Cruz. And so I think for Cruz he's going to say we're going to be focusing on policy, he's going to focus on his character. He doesn't want to go into, as he tweeted out, the cage match with Donald Trump. And I think that's a very smart strategy because all the other candidates that went after Trump, obviously they failed. [Costello:] OK. So let's talk about one candidate that many analysts say is on the rise. And that would be Chris Christie. So, Kayleigh, might Chris Christie take on Donald Trump? Because he's just as combative. [Mceneny:] You know, I think he could. And it's interesting because you're right to point out that they have very similar personalities. They're both very strong. They're both dynamite personalities on the stage. But Chris Christie is going to have a hard time because if you look at the tempo of this race it is a conservative race. It's one like we've never seen before. A John McCain couldn't win in this climate. A Mitt Romney couldn't win in this climate. A Jeb Bush couldn't win in this climate but a Ted Cruz can. And if Chris Christie, although he's very strong when it comes to foreign policy, is going to have a hard time catering to that conservative base that is eager for a true conservative candidate. [Costello:] OK, so, Mercedes, we have to talk about the Muslim question. Mosques across the country are being vandalized. Muslim Americans are scared. Who might criticize Donald Trump for his rhetoric on Muslims? [Schlapp:] Well, I think you're going to see a number of candidates basically say we don't support what Donald Trump is mentioning. I mean, they have already gone on the record basically like Bush said Trump has been unhinged on this policy. And the fact that in many cases they are viewing it as unconstitutional. So I believe you could see a bit of these other candidates maybe piling on Trump. The problem is, is when you're looking at these poll numbers, Republicans, as close to 59 percent support this man. So this is going to be an interesting and important conversation to have this evening because obviously it's a very divisive policy nationally, although for the most part you're talking that over majority of Republicans support it. [Costello:] So, Kayleigh, Mercedes mentioned that Well, let me just run this by you because Mercedes mentioned that "Washington Post"-ABC News poll. Six in 10 Republicans agree with Trump's ban on Muslims. So, Kayleigh, wouldn't it be dicey for the other candidates to come out strongly against that ban even though they may even though they may not support the ban? [Mceneny:] Carol, no doubt about it. You know, most Republican voters are scared. We saw someone get here on a fiancee visa that was screened with a background check three times. And the folks who were doing that did not catch the fact that she had radical extremist views publicly out in the open. So Republican voters want this problem to be fixed. And we know who's going to have to explain himself tonight is Marco Rubio because Rand Paul last week put a bill on the floor that ban immigration from 30 countries that are hotbeds for terrorism. Ted Cruz voted for that bill, Rand Paul voted for that bill, Marco Rubio did not. So Marco Rubio may be the one to attack Trump on this but I think it would be very unwise to do so. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Mercedes Schlapp, Kayleigh McEneny, thanks to both of you. You can only see the fifth GOP presidential debate right here on CNN. Moderated by Wolf Blitzer, the first debate starts 6:00 p.m. Eastern tonight. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, the polls show Trump surging but that's not all they're saying. Is the picture as rosy as you think for Trump? [Costello:] Can an alpha male lean in? Secretary of Defense Ash Carter is counting on it. But after what I witnessed, I have my doubts. There is an all-out push to recruit more women into the military. Soon, most, if not all, combat roles will be open to women. And not everyone is happy about that. So the Department of Defense recruited Sheryl Sandberg, FaceBook's COO and feminist author of "Lean In," to open a dialogue about gender bias. Sandberg delivered a speech at the Air Force Academy. I was in the audience for that speech and sat down with Sandberg after. Let's just say her message on equality was not exactly met with open minds. [Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook Coo:] I love being here. [Costello:] FaceBook's COO Cheryl Sandberg on stage at the Air Force Academy. Thousands of cadets, the majority young men, seemed prepared to lean in. [Sandberg:] Women and minorities face barriers that white men don't face. [Costello:] At times you could hear a pin drop. [Sandberg:] And the veil of silence, pretending this doesn't exist, does not make the playing field even. For women in the military, there's a special challenge because you have to be tough enough to fit in. [Costello:] But as Sandberg leaned in further [Sandberg:] I have never met a man who was asked, "should you be working?" I can't tell you how many times in my life I have been asked, "should you be working?" [Costello:] Some in the audience, both men and women, appeared uncomfortable. It came to a head after the speech in a Q&A session. [Unidentified Male:] I feel like even the work at home is so important and it can't be underestimated. So what is the ideal balance between that? And is it more important that it's equal or that the work at home is done as well? [Sandberg:] It's a great question and beautifully asked. The work at home is just the work at home the work at home is just as important. [Costello:] At times the crowd reaction resounded with skepticism. After Sandberg left the stage, a cadet leader scolded his classmate's behavior. [Unidentified Male:] We can fix this problem. We can be worthy of respect. We can hold each other accountable and love on one another and treat each right and treat the people who take their time to come and care about us right, or we can try and get our friends to laugh at us [Costello:] I sat down with Sandberg and Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James. That was one of the most fascinating speeches I think I've ever seen from an audience perspective because at times it seemed like you were in the lion's den, Cheryl. [Sandberg:] I think there were people in the audience today who really believe that an equal world would be a better world, and there are people who believe that this is meritocracy and in a meritocratic system more men will naturally be at the top. And [Costello:] Some men in the audience, though, they looked like they were physically uncomfortable during your speech. [Sandberg:] Well, societal change and cultural change is not always uncomfortable. Here's what we know. We know that women have 5 percent of the top jobs in corporate America. We know women make up 9 percent of the generals in the U.S. military. And that's not reflective of the population. [Costello:] It's why the armed services partnered with Sandberg to create "lean in circles" or peer to peer groups that empower women and give men a way to lean in and support their female colleagues. [Danielle Kaufman, Air Force Cadet:] This is something we don't regularly discuss both, you know, here at the United States Air Force Academy, as well as other colleges, other universities. It's something that society needs to talk about, not only in these forums, but in our classrooms, in our dorm rooms. [Costello:] The Air Force hopes opening a malefemale dialogue about unconscious bias will attract more women and pave the way for more female cadets to choose non-traditional roles like fighter pilots. [on camera]: Why don't they want to be pilots? [Deborah Lee James, Secretary Of The Air Force:] I think they don't see enough role models so it's a self fulfilling profess. We don't have enough in the role who are there today and there aren't enough role models for the young ones coming up through the through the line. [Costello:] And it doesn't help when a U.S. Congressman and former Army Ranger questions the ability of women who do find the courage to compete. Steve Russell is demanding proof that three women pioneers who graduated from the elite Army Ranger school didn't get special treatment. In a letter to Army Secretary John Mchugh, Russell wrote, quote, "The training of our combat warriors is paramount to national defense. In order to ensure that the Army retains its ability to defend the nation we must insure our readiness is not sacrificed." [on camera]: So what do you say to those men who really think that women can't handle the job. [Sandberg:] The evidence shows otherwise. That when we have women and men in leadership roles, when we have women and men in fields, performance goes up. Similarly there isn't a job out there that women can't do. And there aren't leadership that women can't take. We just need to help them get there. [Costello:] But how? [Unidentified Female:] During your speech, you could hear people who weren't accepting the facts, who weren't accepting the data behind things. How do you stand up and counteract that bias and that unwillingness to open their mind? [Sandberg:] Stereotypes are deeply they are just deeply reinforcing, and they are deeply reinforcing because of the way humans process information. The other thing to understand is that I'm not standing on this stage and saying that the white men in audience have biases that other people don't have. I want to be really clear on that. The white men have the biases all the women have and all the minorities have. We all have the same biases. There's only two options. One is that men are far, far, far more talented than women and deserve 95 percent of the top jobs, or the second is that there is systematic bias. Those are the options. Pick one. [Costello:] OK, the good news. The incoming class at the Air Force Academy is 30 percent women. And that is impressive. It's also impressive the Air Force is willing to hold these kinds of forums. It provokes conversation and that's a good thing. One more bit of good news. I talked with General Jeffrey Snow. He's in charge of recruiting for the U.S. Army. He tells me that, last year, 17 percent of those who were recruited were women. One of the better years they've had on record. If you want to hear more about the Air Force Academy and Sheryl Sandberg, check out my op-ed on CNN.comopinion. [Romans:] Now to the bloody struggle to liberate Fallujah. The Iraqi military releasing new video of air strikes pounding ISIS targets. But the ground offensive to retake the city has now been halted. More than 50,000 civilians caught in the crossfire. ISIS using many of them as human shields. Military officials in Iraq are struggling to come up with a plan that doesn't result in a massacre. CNN's Ben Wedeman tracking the latest developments live from Baghdad. And Ben, from the beginning we have been concerned about the civilians there. We have been concerned about ISIS using them as human shields. Some thousands of children there. And these reports that ISIS is threatening to execute men who don't fight for them. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Now we just got off the phone with an official from UNICEF show says that as many as for basically the last five days about 900 people have been coming out of Fallujah. Civilians also from the center of the city. They say that their condition is really terrible. They're described as exhausted, pale and dehydrated. Many of the children are suffering from malnutrition because of the lack of food within the city. And of course, the situation all the more complicated as the Iraqi army, it hasn't halted its military operations, it seems to have sort of halted on the edges of town. But they continue to bombard the city with artillery. There continue to be air strikes on ISIS targets within the city. But at this point it's not at all clear when they're going to go into Fallujah itself. They've already run into a lot of resistance from ISIS. ISIS of course has been in control of Fallujah now for two and a half years. The Iraqi army started deploying outside of Fallujah in September of last year. So ISIS has had plenty of time to dig trenches and tunnels, rig booby traps, roadside bombs, prepare for exactly this eventuality. Now the Iraqi army, when it began its operation, declared it was establishing humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave the city, but what we're hearing from the people who have been able to flee, ISIS has set up sniper areas. So this may just really a unilateral humanitarian corridor. ISIS is not respecting it. As you mentioned, they are executing those who are trying to flee. They are also trying to force some of the children, the teenagers, to fight on their behalf against the Iraqi army. So very difficult, delicate and unfortunately increasingly bloody situation. [Romans:] And now a situation that's sort of on hold as authorities try to figure out how to proceed. Ben Wedeman, thank you for that. [Marquez:] Now they are bracing for the worst in France and Germany where deadly flood waters continue to rise after days of torrential rain. Thousands of people near Paris are being evacuated by boat. Workers at the Louvre are scrambling to move art work to higher ground. Look at that. It's unbelievable. At least 10 people are now dead, most of them in Germany. Forecasters expect downpours throughout the weekend. That's Paris. Unbelievable. [Romans:] Honestly. Moving things from the Louvre to higher ground. Remarkable. [Marquez:] Incredible. [Romans:] All right. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton attacking each other like we have not seen before in this 2016 race. A new Hillary Clinton potentially on the stump. Point by point tearing down Donald Trump. We've got that next. [Sciutto:] Donald Trump will take charge of the U.S. war on ISIS in just a few weeks. And there are many unanswered questions about his strategy, even as dozens of additional U.S. troops prepare to deploy on the ground. Let's go to our Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr. Barbara, we heard tough talk from Trump about ISIS. But what do we expect in the days ahead, and particularly after inauguration? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, you are right, Jim. You remember during the campaign, he said he had a plan to fight ISIS. After the inauguration, once he is the president, what will he do? Will he go all in with more U.S. firepower? Or might he turn the ISIS fight over to somebody else? [Starr:] U.S.-backed fighters near Raqqah, Syria, preparing to attack, hoping to drive ISIS out. CNN cannot independently verify this new video. Getting to Raqqah has been a tough U.S. military priority. Now, Donald Trump is inheriting an ISIS war that just got even more dangerous for U.S. troops since his tough campaign talk. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] We got to get rid of ISIS, quickly. Quickly. [Starr:] The first of two hundred additional U.S. troops authorized by President Obama to go into northern Syria will begin moving in and out of Syria in the coming days, a U.S. official tells CNN. But the region is so perilous American troops will only stay for a few days at a time. Training local forces no longer a main focus. U.S. troops will have orders to help Turkish and Kurdish troops who are close to outright war between themselves, focus on ISIS. The Pentagon is concerned that as the Turks approach the town of al Bab, they fight Kurds instead of ISIS and may turn towards Manbij, a hard fought victory for the U.S. backed forces. It is Raqqah to the south that the U.S. wants everyone to head for. The Turks want U.S. support, even air strikes. The U.S. ground forces could call those strikes in for Turkish President Erdogan. [Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesman:] We're talking to them about how we can help them in their efforts. [Starr:] One U.S. official tells CNN the U.S. troops "will not initiate combat but may well find themselves in a combat situation." The Pentagon believes the risk is vital to stop future ISIS attacks in the West. [Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, Commander, Combined Joint Task Force:] We know that central to external operations plotting is the city of Raqqah. And that's why we need to get down there and isolate that city as fast as we can. [Starr:] U.S. officials say there are specific buildings where they believe top ISIS operatives may be hiding. U.S. drones and communications intercepts are gathering intelligence on those targets, waiting to strike them when civilians are not there. The big unknown, will Trump hand over the Raqqah fight to Russia and the Syrian regime? [Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling , Cnn Military Analyst:] If you pull completely out you watch focus drift away from defeating ISIS and recapturing Raqqah and eliminating the terrorist threat that emanates from that city. [Starr:] And so, if you turn the Raqqah fight, the ISIS fight in Syria over to the Russians, there is a lot of concern at the Pentagon that they will not have the same focus about the danger there and the threat that the U.S. believes ISIS inside Raqqah poses to the United States Jim. [Sciutto:] Barbara Starr, thank you very much. Just ahead, a day after the death of Carrie Fisher, disturbing news about her mother Debbie Reynolds. The details just after this. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Ahead this hour, Donald Trump takes aim at Hillary Clinton again. Critics saying he's gone too far this time. Trump says, "Give me a break." [Sesay:] The most decorated Olympian ever, does it again, Michael Phelps, wins his 21st gold medal. [Vause:] And later, an inside look into France's so-called super jihadis and the network which is recruiting young Europeans to fight for [Isis. Sesay:] Hello and welcome to our viewers around the world, I'm Isha Sesay. [Vause:] I'm John Vause, great to have you with us, Newsroom L.A. starts right now. Well, his poll numbers had some good news to Democratic Hillary Clinton in two wing states. First, state of Florida where their race remains tight. Quinnipiac University has Clinton with 46 percent of likely voters to Republican's Donald Trump's 45 percent. [Sesay:] She has more of an edge among Ohio voters, leading Trump's 49 to 45 percent there and she's got a solid 10 point lead over Trump in Pennsylvania. Well, those numbers comes as Trump is the center of another controversy. It began when he attacked Clinton's stand on gun control but then took it a step further. [Vause:] Sara Murray has what he said and the outrage sparked. [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Donald Trump setting off controversy with another off hand comment when some believe amounts to a violent threat against his political opponent. [Donald Trump, U.s. Republican Presidential Candidate:] Hillary wants to essentially abolish the second amendment. If she gets to pick her judges nothing you can do folks. Although the second amendment people, maybe there is I don't know. [Murray:] Trump suggestion that second amendment voters have the power to stop Clinton instantly raising questions about what the candidate meant, whether he was simply looking to coalesce gun supporters behind him or is he meant something more nefarious. The Clinton campaign quickly seizing on Trump's comment as a sign that GOP nominee is inciting violence. Saying in a statement, "This is simple, what Trump is saying dangerous. A person seeking to be the president of the United States should not suggest violence in any way." The Trump campaign swiped back, billing the issue as a media driven controversy, and insisting Trump was simply trying to rally gun voters. In a statement the Trump camp says "It's called the power of unification. Second amendment people have amazing spirit and are tremendously unified which gives them great political power. And this year they will be voting in record numbers and it won't be for Hillary Clinton. It will be for Donald Trump." But Trump's latest off-the-cuff comment on a week when he was striving to stay on message is exactly the sort of flair up giving members of his own party pawn. The latest defector, Senator Susan Collins of Maine, who appended an op-ed saying she will not vote for Trump. The GOP senator even telling Jamie Gangel that Trump poses a risk to the nation. [Susan Collins, U.s. Senator Republican:] Donald Trump, in my judgment, would make a perilous world even more dangerous. [Murray:] Her announcement coming soon after a group of 50 GOP national security official said they can't back Trump either. Arguing he would put at risk our country's national security. Trump quickly dismissed the snub. [Trump:] These are 50 people that have been running our country forever and they said we can't support Donald Trump. The reason they can't. You know why because I'm not going to hire these people. I don't want these people. [Murray:] But as he struggle, to keep his party in line and logs in the polls, Trump says the key to victory is more the same. [Trump:] I've always had a good temperament and it's gotten me here. We beat a lot of people in the primaries and I certainly don't think it's appropriate to start changing all of the a sudden when you've been winning. [Murray:] As well as finding opening to handler his Democratic opponent. Today, mocking Clinton for saying she short circuited her handling of the e-mail issue. [Trump:] Could you imagine if I said that I short circuited? They would be calling for my execution, electric chair. They'd bring back the electric chair. It's one thing to make bad decisions, it's another thing to be wacky and make bad decisions. [Murray:] Now, Donald Trump's second event of the day in North Carolina, he made no mention of the earlier controversy instead just saying the second amendment is under siege. But in a few interviews, he made it clear that he was talking about the political power of second amendment voters, brushed aside the notion that he was talking about violence towards Hillary Clinton or whatsoever. Sara Murray, CNN Fayetteville, North Carolina. [Sesay:] Well, two more gold to the most decorated Olympian of all time. U.S. swimming superstar, Michael Phelps, led his team to victory in the 4x200 meters freestyle relay, taking home his 21st Olympic gold medal. [Vause:] Know the bad holes. The big win came soon after Phelps won gold in the men's 200 meter butterfly that was one of his personal to him. Phelps faced off against Chad le Clos, the South African swimmer who beat him at the same event four years ago in London. This time le Clos finished fourth. [Sesay:] Well, Christina Macfarlane joins us now live from Rio. Christina, good to have you with us once again. You know it's hard to actually fathom the success of Michael Phelps, but more gold and I mean such a special achievement and this time he came with, with some emotion. [Christina Macfarlane, Cnn World Sportcorrespondent:] That's absolutely right and just an indication as to what, what such a big night this was. In the stands watching on this race last night was half of the men's U.S. basketball team, some of the biggest athletes in the world, some of the most highest paid athletes in the world, Draymond Green, waving their American flags, taking poses on their camera phones and looking like a bunch of school kids out for the day. And it was such spectacle Michael Phelps, the redemption race of his life coming back beating Chad le Clos but being such a big moment in the pool because of where he's come from to get here. Remember back in London 2012, he retired from the game, he said he no longer wanted to swim. He hated getting in the pool and then, on the years that passed after that and have a very turbulent time away from the pool, he had two arrests drunk driving and he was in a really bad place. But now he's turned his life around. He has a new born baby boy and he's back in the pool. And he says when he came here to Rio that he wanted to enjoy it. And that is what we saw last night becoming the oldest individual gold medalist in Olympic swimming history. And when he won that gold in the 200 butterfly last night, he sat up he pointed his finger at the crowd. He indicated that he was number one. And then he came back 15 minutes later and did it all over again with the men's 4x100 meters relay team a superb performance by all full members of that team. Michael Phelps having a slight scary moment when he snapped his swimming cap just before getting in the pool. He quickly managed to grab another one. By this time he completed his fourth lap, you know, the race was over one the many times so well Phelps was so far ahead that he just had to swim home for glory and then the 21 gold of his career really was an exciting scene. [Vause:] Yeah. You would imagine it will be a long time before someone beats that record. There is also good news for the U.S. women's gymnastics team. Not only are they still the best in the world but they had a best by country mile. [Macfarlane:] That's absolutely right, John. And the proof of that came last night of course when they obliterated the field in the team event. They actually won clear of by eight points over its nearest rivals Russia who's ended up in silver. That's the biggest margin in open era. And they were faultless. They won every single event, so, so much to say that by the time the star of the team, Simone Biles came out to do her floor teammate, the team that already wraps up gold that Simone Biles of course, looking to become the first gymnast to wins five gold medal in one Olympic games. And this U.S. team now, they've become the first U.S. gymnastics team to win back to back gold medals since Romania did it in 2000 and 2004. And we're going to see plenty more from them of course, because we got all the individual results events to come later this week. But it was so fun to watch them. The gymnastics is one of the true spectacles of the Olympic Games and these ladies are taking it to another level. [Sesay:] Fantastic stuff, and Christina for the U.S. Olympic glory and also Olympic despair, I'm talking about Serena Williams who was wiped out a match against the Ukrainian. What a shocker. [Macfarlane:] Absolutely, there's something strange going on down at the tennis this week. You know, we saw Novak Djokovic the world number one out of the completion yesterday and now Serena Williams out. This is not the Serena Williams we know as well. She hit 37 unforced errors earlier, just yesterday and five double faults in one game. I can't remember a match where I've seen her do that. So, she did seem to be clutching her shoulder and indicating to her coach that maybe there was something wrong there. She was of course knocked out to the competition by the world number 20 Elina Svitolina. Svitolina not the type of player who is seen to be causing upsets with many of the women in the top of the game. So Serena Williams is out, that means that she won't become the first player to defend her Olympic gold medal in the Olympic tennis. But Andy Murray is still aiming at the chance of doing that of course, he's still in the competition. And it also means that we won't see the golden slam, which is also a grand slams and the Olympic gold hasn't been done since Steffi Graf back in 1988 and it's not going to be done now. [Sesay:] Another time maybe. [Vause:] Yeah. We shall wait. Christina, thank you. [Sesay:] Thank you. [Vause:] What's the name of that Ukrainian tennis player again? [Macfarlane:] Elina Svitolina. [Sesay:] Elina. [Vause:] Oh, there we go, that was the one. [Macfarlane:] Elina Svitolina. [Vause:] Thank you. [Sesay:] There you go. [Vause:] Yeah, it's difficult for me. [Sesay:] Thank you Christina. Let's take a quick look at the medal count after the fourth day of competition. The United States is in first as you see there, with nine gold medals. China is close behind with eight gold, while both Hungary and Australia, John that one is for you. [Vause:] Yeah, what's that? [Sesay:] Was being top 4. [Vause:] At the early days. Running at the top six Russia and Italy, with three golds each. The U.S. also lead to the eternal number of medals 26 so far. Japanese gymnast Kohei Uchimura competes Wednesday in the men's individual all round event, he lead Japan to the gold in the men's team all-around. [Sesay:] And he said team gold is what he really wanted and his inspiration sprang from a devastating tragedy that struck his country. [Kohei Uchimura, Astistic Gymnast:] My name is Kohei Uchimura. And I am an artistic gymnast. [Unidentified Female:] Nearly 24 hours after a record earthquake and terrible tsunami, we're getting a closer look at the incredible devastation... [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] The devastating water up to 30 feet high... [Unidentified Female:] It's a sea of liquid destruction outer devastation, mud and debris... [Sesay:] We'll have more Olympic news as the games go on. Time for a quick break now. French jihadists are flocking to Syria and Iraq. And authorities say this man "the super Jihadist" is mostly responsible. Details on his recruitment campaign next. [Vause:] Also ahead details on yet another sexual harassment claim against former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes. [Blitzer:] Law enforcement now averaging more than one arrest each week on of suspected ISIS supporters here in the United States. Four people arrested just this week alone in separate cases. Let's get some more. Peter Bergen, Tom Fuentes, Phil Mudd. Phil, how do we combat the spread of ISIS ideologically online? [Philip Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] You got to go to the source in Syria and you got to go to the recipients here in the United States, Wolf. There is way too much focus in the national debate in America about bombing our way out of this problem. As long as everybody's got a dog in this fight that is, the Russians, the Americans, the Turks, the Jordanians, ISIS will benefit from that chaos in Syria and they'll be propagating propaganda, there's got to be a more of a focus from Secretary Kerry and he's been accelerating the focus on a ceasefire in Syria. So everybody focuses on the common target here. Here in the United States, let me give you a simple message. For too long, the Americans, the American government in particular, has been trying to have an effort inside government to fight ISIS propaganda. You cannot have U.S. government officials competing against 22-year-old ISIS individuals, I'd say farm it out, pay college students 15 bucks an hour, you get online, you fight them, you're the tech savvy group. The government has to be more agile and faster against the ideology, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Pretty good idea. Tom, does the FBI have the tools to monitor all of these ISIS recruiters and sympathizers here in the United States? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, there's a couple parts of that question, Wolf. One is the tools including the manpower, the number of agents, analyst [Blitzer:] Start with manpower. [Fuentes:] Well, manpower, when they know of the cases, they have 900 investigations that they're saying in all 50 states right now. When you hear a case with one person arrested or one group of persons a week being arrested, I've run cases like that. I know the manpower that takes, the analytical support, the clerical, technical, everything that goes into that. So, there's a tremendous amount of manpower already being devoted, but then, when you add encryption to it, that's the one tool they don't have to be able to penetrate the encryption. And some of these politicians stating that the FBI should've just asked Silicon Valley after 911, that's ridiculous. They have been trying to recruit the best mathematicians, cryptologist11, and it's just nearly impossible task to defeat really well-done encryption. [Blitzer:] Peter, does the ISIS recruit these young Americans or do these young Americans just go after ISIS who want to support, sympathizers join ISIS? [Peter Bergen, National Security Analyst:] Almost invariably itself for recruitment, Wolf, but you k now, ISIS has a kind of two-step process which is if you look at their English propaganda online, they will give Twitter accounts for people and direct message them privately, once people have got kind of interested in the general message. So, there's some kind of public, kind of, back-and-forth amendments like encrypted back and forth as Tom mentioned. [Blitzer:] Phil, we know that the model of ISIS is if you could come to Syria and fight with us, that's great. But if you can't come to Syria and fight with us, the ISIS model, then go ahead, carry out attacks at home. How much harder does that make it to stop these kinds of attacks here in the United States? [Mudd:] It's not just harder, Wolf. It's a totally different game. Think of speed, simplicity, isolation, back 10, 15 years ago when Al- Qaeda was developing a plot, it was slow, it might take years, it was complicated, which increased the likelihood that they need to either be detected and the plot would fail, and it was network. That is, Al- Qaeda central is communicating which offers an opportunity for intelligence and law enforcement. Look at the California attack, speed and simplicity. They didn't need a lot of time or a lot of complexity to pick up the target at the County building and think about isolation. They didn't have to communicate with a network that allowed the government to find a vulnerability to intercept communications. The world has changed so fundamentally. It's almost like we're in a different terror game. It's not just an evolution of the game. It's a changed game. [Blitzer:] Tom, we heard President Obama in his news conference today, making comparison between the terror attack San Bernardino, the killing by terrorist, and mass shootings that have been going on in the United States. He didn't mention specifics, but assuming Sandy Hook or Charleston, making that comparison, there's been some criticism of that. I guess criticism is these are very, very different kinds of killings that are going on in the United States. Your analysis? [Fuentes:] Well, I think the effect of the killing is the same if you kill a large group of people with automatic weapons, but you know, getting to the ideology we have our garden-variety psychopaths in this country that go into elementary schools and slaughter two dozen four- year-olds then we have white racists that are inspired by the KKK or other neo-Nazi groups, go into a church in Charleston and kill black people. And then we have these, the jihadist that are in sympathy with ISIS or Al-Qaeda or Al-Shabaab or any one of the many variations of extreme Islam that are doing this. So, yes, there is a point that we have a lot of people being slaughtered in this country for a lot of different reasons by a lot of different people. [Blitzer:] Could these ISIS terrorists be sort of inspired by mash shooters that have mass shootings that have been taking place? [Bergen:] Well, we know from school shootings, that people who engage in school shootings, studied previous school shootings as a sort of inspiration. We just [Blitzer:] Phil, there was a Kurdish official who saw a drone flying over. They didn't think it wasn't a Kurdish drone, it wasn't a U.S. drone. He suspected it might be an ISIS drone. Do you believe ISIS now has drones? [Mudd:] Absolutely. If you look at the availability of drones on the retail market in United States where you can give one to your kid for Christmas, that drone has a visual capable in other words, it's got cameras on it that can surveil a target as easily as it can surveil a location, a house in suburban America. So, if I were an ISIS, you just look on Amazon, you can find what you want. I would be using that every day. It's simple. It's cheap. [Blitzer:] Do you agree? [Bergen:] Totally. And in fact, we know that ISIS is they're not but it's more sophisticated than the things they're finding on Amazon. They are they could using sophisticated surveillance drones. [Blitzer:] All right, guys, stand by. We have a lot more coming up. Also, President Obama admits it's very tough to detect lone-wolf or husband and wife terrorist. We're learning new details about an alleged plot involving a friend of the San Bernardino killers. And Bernie Sanders versus the Democratic National Committee, why his campaign is now suing the Democratic Party leadership. [Tapper:] Welcome back. Our money lead now. A new tweet from President Trump is the subject of today's conflict of interest watch. Last week, the department store chain Nordstrom announced it is dropping the clothing and shoes line of the first daughter Ivanka Trump, citing declining sales that came after boycotts such as the "grab your wallet" campaign which asks consumers to avoid brands owned by the Trump family. Today, Nordstrom repeated this was strictly a business decision. The product wasn't selling. Earlier today, however, the president tweeted from his own account and then retweeted from the official POTUS account that you pay for, quote, "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by Nordstrom. She is a great person. Always pushing me to do the right thing. Terrible." Let us place to the side for a second the president of the United States has now spent more time dressing down a clothing retailer than he has Vladimir Putin. Several ethics experts worry about President Trump using the power of his office to go after any company that made a fiduciary decision simply because it impacted his daughter and he doesn't think it's fair because she's a great person. Today, the White House responded saying the president had every right to slam Nordstrom. [Spicer:] This was less about his family business and attack on his daughter. For someone to take out their concern with his policies on a family member of his is just is not acceptable. [Tapper:] Even though the brand still carries her name, Ivanka last month announced she is taking a leave of absence from her apparel and accessories brand and the Trump organization. Oh, and by the way, Nordstrom stock today was up 4 percent. So, let's talk about this all with our panel. Alex, let me start with you. The White House said President Trump had every right to do this. I suppose in the sense of the First Amendment he does. But there are certainly ethical concerns here. [Alex Burns, Cnn Political Analyst:] There sure are. And, Jake, actually, this is sort of the rare Trump action where you can't say this is exactly what he said he would do during the campaign. That's what the White House has defended virtually everything he's done since taking office, is that the voters knew what they were getting. This is what he promised them. He actually promised them over and over on the campaign trail, if I become the president, my business, my family's business, that is all peanuts by comparison to what I want to do for the country. And so, the shift there, I think it's really alarming both to ethics experts and to people in his own party who do just see this as an ongoing source of tension and drama that will just drive them away from the policy goals that they want to move on. [Tapper:] Charles? [Charles Cooke, Editor, The National Review Online:] I agree with all of that. And it does show that he's as petty as he ever was. I think I dislike it more than anything else is just the ongoing politicization of everything. I really wanted a president after Obama who was a little quieter, a Calvin Coolidge type, just so that we could calm down a few years. But now, we're dragging every single pop culture, every single business question into politics. It seems to be getting worse, not better. [Katrina Vanden Heuvel, Editor & Publisher, The Nation:] I mean, I think there is a serious issue of conflict of interest here. He walked into the administration a walking conflict of interest. We've learned about the Emoluments Clause and he's in violation of the Constitution. But what saddens me is less what Charles said. But this country has serious problems. We're looking at a world aflame. We may go to war with Iran. You know, we may have a new Cold War. You know, this an escalating arms race. We need jobs, we need health care. And instead he's spending time doing something by the way which I guess his daughter has separated from her own business. But why can't a woman stand up for herself? Why does her father need to do that? So, I think it's a politicization in a terrible way which distracts us from the real politics. [Tapper:] One of the things that every president says is the moment they start getting the national security briefings as the nominee of their party, and even more so when they become the president, you find out about a whole bunch of things that you can't even imagine. You couldn't have even imagined how great the threat is in terms of terrorism. President Trump addressed that today. Take a listen. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Believe me, I've learned a lot in the last two weeks, and terrorism is a far greater threat than the people of our country understand. [Tapper:] Now, he's using this, Katrina, to make the argument that his travel ban on seven countries as well as the refugee ban and on Syria are all needed and necessary. [Vanden Heuvel:] Right. And he's also using it to, again, delegitimize the media and saying that the media has not given adequate coverage to terrorist incidents, which is ludicrous. In fact, one could argue that the media has overplayed terrorism. [Tapper:] That's what we always used to get, yes. [Vanden Heuvel:] Which is the saturation coverage. And as you pointed out the other day, this administration had no use for the white supremacist incident of terrorism in Canada. But I think this is an administration that unlike Roosevelt and we're in the first 100 days, thrives on fear. So, they have everything to fear if fear declines. But the delegitimization of the media, Jake, I think is a very serious issue and, of course, he's doing this preemptively, as you said, to justify a travel ban which is in fact alienating allies, possibly hurting our very fight of counterterrorism fight which should be recalibrated anyway. [Tapper:] I've heard, Charles, that a lot of legal experts think the president's lawyers have a pretty good case to make, that he actually might have the authority to impose this travel ban given especially that the longest one in it well, except for the Syrians is 120 days. [Cooke:] I think there may be a good case. I mean, constitutionally, Congress, the executive branch, has been given plenary power over immigration. There is a statutory question. Is he acting within the laws from 1965? And I think it was 1952. I'm not quite sold on that, but I'm open to being so. And today, he stood up and read the law out which was I thought quite a good move. He's quite the show man. Unfortunately, he's accompanied that with attack being judges, with criticizing the court. Now, Obama criticized the court, too. He was no angel in this way. I think Trump went a little further because he singled out the judge and essentially said he was incompetent. To me, that was a mistake. The idea that this is prima facie illegal is not convincing to me at all. [Tapper:] And you heard Jeff Zeleny earlier in the show saying the president's own lawyers both in the White House and at the Justice Department are cringing when he does this because this doesn't help him win the case. [Burns:] No. And we've seen this sort of over and over again with Trump. I was talking to one of the state attorney generals who is suing him over this ban and they were saying, look, the last time he attacked a judge he paid $25 million for the privilege in that Trump University case. [Tapper:] Right. [Burns:] This is not no lawyer would advise someone who is a party to litigation to behave this way towards the judiciary, let alone the president of the United States, let alone on an issue like this. And to Charles' point, I've certainly spoken to lawyers who said there is probably a version of this ban, a version of this order that would, you know, pretty quickly stand up to scrutiny. It doesn't happen to be the one that they actually issued. That they got this one out so quickly they probably left themselves more vulnerable than they needed to. [Vause:] Ikea will settle a wrongful death suit paying $50 million to families whose children were crushed to death by faulty designed furniture, which toppled over. The deaths led to the recall of millions of Ikea dressers, like the one shown here. The victims were all just 2 years old. The company will also donate a quarter- million dollars to three childrens' hospitals and a child safety charity. If you want to put the happy in holidays, stay off Facebook. A study in Denmark confirms what other studies found: Facebook makes you depressed. To explain more, i'm joined by Dr. Judy Ho, a clinical and forensic psychologist. Judy, thank you for coming in. So, the bottom line here is it's all about comparing your life to everybody else. Is it just comparing up and I guess comparing yourself to people you know? [Dr. Judy Ho, Clinical & Forensic Psycologist:] No. So, earlier studies said it was the comparing up, comparing people to people you think are better than you, it doesn't matter what kind of comparison as long as you are someone who checks in with other people to decide what you're going to the. [Vause:] I assume people who post the happy pictures on Facebook, the Martha Stewart Perfect Home scenes. I think they are axe murders or something and the photos are hiding a deep, dark secret. [Ho:] That's right. Why are you tailoring your image online? [Vause:] There's something weird about people that do that, right? [Ho:] Yeah, but it's one of the ways that people try to gain self- esteem through putting stories up. But it really does a lot of detriment to other people. [Vause:] The trick here is the point is not to lurk, just to go through and everything and just engage. That is sort of what? [Ho:] Because when you just scroll through the feed and doing this passive reviewing on Facebook that's what depresses people. You are not actively socializing. Online socialization is the same as in person. If you are scrolling that is not interaction. You need to set a time limit for Facebook so you are only on Facebook for 20 minutes and shut it off. Set a timer for yourself. [Vause:] No one likes posting that mundane stuff all the bad stuff but that can be emotional good in one way? [Ho:] It captures what our life is about. We have mundane moments and horrible moments. You don't want to be the one always posting horrible moments but post a mundane moment. He's me just hanging out at a coffee shop working late. I'm going to start doing that next month. [Vause:] Is it wrong to look for people you went to school with and lost their jobs and put on weight and lost their hair just hypothetically speaking here? [Ho:] No. That's not good either. [Vause:] Why? [Ho:] That's bad, too, because there's something even when you are comparing down you feel a bit of a guilt i'm happy this person is not doing well. That messes with you. [Vause:] There's guilt? [Ho:] Do you not have it? [Vause:] I'd never do that. [Ho:] Me either. [Vause:] The solution to Facebook depression is to get off Facebook. [Ho:] But if you have a black-and-white view of life. Somebody's going to have social media and the results of Facebook don't just apply to Facebook. They can apply to Twitter and Instagram. So, I think it's just limit your time, stop posting the highlight reel and don't passively watch feeds. Engage. [Vause:] And get a real life. [Ho:] And get a real life. Hang out like this in real person. [Vause:] Exactly. Judy, thanks so much. [Ho:] Thanks, John. [Vause:] Appreciate it. Up next, if you are annoyed by Christmas carols and tired of holiday cheer, you will like Festivus, the celebration for the rest of us. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] Daring new video shows the moment U.S. and Kurdish forces freed 70 hostages from inside an ISIS prison in Iraq. A Canadian whale-watching tragedy. At least four people are dead. Many more missing after a boat sinks off the coast of British Columbia. And staggering new reports about the number of migrants reaching Europe by sea. And perhaps the new face of this desperation, a toddler and his dramatic rescue. Hello, welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. NEWSROOM L.A. starts right now. EU foreign ministers are expected to meet in Brussels in the coming hours to discuss Russia's involvement in the Syrian conflict. There are several reports claiming Russia could begin airstrikes against targets in Iraq. Meanwhile, the Pentagon has released video of a coalition airstrike destroying an ISIS prison in Iraq where hostages were being held. And as Nick Paton Walsh reports another video provides an incredible inside look at the rescue operation that happened just before the prison was hit. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Very secretive world you're about to get a very rare and intimate window into. The U.S. Special Forces working with the Kurds, the Kurdish Peshmerga Special Forces, well, they've always on an advise and assist mission. No one really knew quite what that meant they were involved in the fighting. But in this video, it's pretty clear they're right up front the tip of the spear. [Voice-over] You're now right inside the jailbreak that revealed America's changed role in Iraq. They think they're rescuing Kurds from this ISIS jail but look who staggers out. Terrified Iraqis. Even their eyes lit up by fear caught on the Kurdish soldier's helmet camera. It's edited but U.S. officials tell CNN it's genuine. More cells opened, it seems, and the Iraqi soldier and civilian hostages keep coming. An office, an ISIS flag; more cells and perhaps a target through the light of the door. Then a quick close-up, likely of an American commando. "Don't be afraid," he cries, as they search the prisoners. Remember, they were expecting Kurds. Perhaps these men are ISIS, have guns or bombs. It's the Americans who seem in charge here. The captives' relief palpable, U.S. officials saying they faced imminent execution. It's unclear when, before or after this footage, the Americans here learned one of their own was gunned down. But their mission went on to rescue 70. That first combat death since 2011 in Iraq, forcing public acknowledgement American commandos were now boots on the ground. [On Camera] When the last hours the Pentagon through CENTCOM have released what they say is cockpit video of an airstrike that destroyed that particular compound in which you've just seen the intense fighting, laid to waste really by that explosion and it brings perhaps an end to that chapter there in which the United States lost one of their commandos, Master Sergeant Joshua Wheeler, age 39, a veteran of 14 tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, remarkable figure. And it reminds you, really, of the depth of involvement the United States have had in what used to be called the war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq and how that has now morphed into the extraordinarily messy and complex task of taking on ISIS, one which the White House does not want to send ground troops in to do. But at the same time recognizes increasingly day by day will require people to actually do the fighting, to do the jailbreaks, to release the hostage. And this footage such a close-up view of quite how much tip of the spear these American commandos were. Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Southern Turkey. [Sesay:] Well, Tony Blair tells CNN he's sorry about mistakes in the Iraq war. As British prime minister, Mr. Blair was one of the strongest U.S. allies in the war. In an interview with CNN's Fareed Zakaria, he says he still feels he made the right decision to back the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 despite bad intelligence on Iraq's purported weapons of mass destruction. [Fareed Zakaria, Host, Fareed Zakaria Gps:] Given however that Saddam Hussein did not prove to have weapons of mass destruction, was the decision to enter Iraq and topple his regime a mistake? [Tony Blair, Former British Prime Minister:] You know, whenever I'm asked this, I can say that I apologize for the fact that that the intelligence we received was wrong because even though he had used chemical weapons extensively against his own people, against others, the program in the form that we thought it was did not exist in the way that we thought. So I can apologize for that. I can also apologize, by the way, for some of the mistakes in planning and certainly our mistaken in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime. But I find it hard to apologize for removing Saddam. I think even from today, and 2015, it is better that he is not there than he is there. [Sesay:] Well, tune in for Fareed Zakaria's special report, "Long Road To Hell: America in Iraq." It airs Tuesday at 1:00 in London right here on CNN. Staying in the Middle East where the bloodshed between the Israelis and Palestinians shows no sign of stopping. At a West Bank checkpoint, Israeli officers shot and killed a Palestinian woman. Police say she approached them screaming and wielding a knife. A Palestinian witness said there was no knife and described the woman as a 14-year-old girl. Over the past few weeks eight Israelis have been killed after being stabbed, shot or run over by Palestinians. Israel Security Forces have killed at least 45 Palestinians, some of them during attacks. Well, a rescue effort is under way off the coast of Canada's Vancouver Island in British Columbia after a tour boat carrying 27 people sank. Officials say the boat was a whale watching vessel owned by Jamie's Whaling Station and Adventure Centers. Officials say at least four people are dead and CBC News reports at least nine have been rescued but it is not clear if all passengers and crew have been accounted for. Meanwhile in Hong Kong at least 120 ferry passengers were reportedly injured Sunday evening while returning to Hong Kong from Macau. They were hurt when the high speed vessel hit an unknown object. Reports say the ferry took on water and lost power after the collision. And some passengers were bleeding and stumbling around in the dark. The cause of the incident its under investigation. Authorities are investigating a fire that killed at least 12 people and injured dozens at a crowded karaoke club in Indonesia. Police say all the victims died from smoke inhalation after flames engulfed the building's second floor. The incident happened just after midnight Sunday on Sulawesi Island. Witnesses say some employees tried to put out the blaze but couldn't. New numbers from the International Organization for Migration are startling. The monitoring group says almost 700,000 migrants have arrived in Europe by sea so far this year. And one of them is 18- month-old Mohamed Hassan. He almost didn't survive the journey. Amara Walker reports Turkish fishermen plucked his tiny body from the water and he saved his life. We want to caution viewers some of these images may be difficult to watch. [Amara Walker, Cnn Correspondent:] Baby Mohamed Hassan clings to his mother in Turkey. Their journey to get here a harrowing one. Their survival, miraculous. Just days ago, fishermen off Turkey's coast spotted the 18-month old and others floating in life jackets in the Aegean Sea. Video of the rescue shows a fisherman rushing to pull the bodies from the cold water. The boy is brought into the boat. The fisherman tries frantically to clear the water from the boy's lungs. He is barely responsive. But he is alive. Fearing hypothermia, the fisherman proceeds to remove the child's wet clothes and wrap him in a warm blanket. The fishermen were able to pull some 15 refugees from the water, including baby Mohammed and his mother. They were among 30 refugees aboard a small boat headed for Greece, a boat they hoped would take them to a better life, but capsized before reaching shore. More than 500,000 people have arrived by sea in Greece this year, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq. Thousands have died. But to Mohammed and his family, lucky to have made it to solid ground, these fishermen are heroes. [Unidentified Female:] You both gave him a second life. We are grateful to you. May God bless you. [Walker:] Amara Walker, CNN. [Sesay:] Meanwhile, E.U. and Balkan leaders have reached agreement on managing the flow of migrants. Leaders have been meeting in Brussels. The 17-point plan includes reception centers along the route the migrants take from Greece, through the Balkans and Germany. An EU border agency will work to ensure registration of migrants at the Greek-Macedonian border. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the agreement was a building block and that many more steps need to be taken to address the crisis. It looks like eight years of centrist rule in Poland is now over. The country's conservative opposition is declaring a huge win in Sunday's parliamentary election. Exit polls indicate the Law and Justice Party won 242 of the 460 seats. The party opposes joining the EU or having migrants relocate to Poland. This will be the first time in Poland's history that a single party has won a majority. Ukrainians went to the polls on Sunday to vote in local elections. It was seen as a test for support of the ruling coalition. There was wide participation in the capital Kiev. But in the city of Mariupol voting was called off because mostly the ballots were defective. Turning to U.S. politics now. And the top Democratic presidential contenders spent the weekend trading barbs in Iowa. More than 6,000 people turned out for the big Jefferson Jackson Dinner. It's a milestone event in the key state's Democratic caucus race. Bernie Sanders went on the offensive implying that Hillary Clinton takes positions for political expediency. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] And I pledge to you that every day I will fight for the public interest, not the corporate interest. I will not abandon any segment of American society whether you are gay or black or Latino, poor, working class, just because it is politically expedient at a given time. [Sesay:] Well, Clinton only hinted jab at Sanders' electability during her otherwise standard stump speech. Instead directing much of her criticism at Republicans. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not running for my husband's third term. And I'm not running for Barack Obama's third term. I'm running for my first term. And I'm running as a proud Democrat. [Sesay:] Meantime, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden raised a few eyebrows when he criticized the idea of looking at Republicans as the enemy. But in an interview with U.S. news show "60 Minutes," Biden said his comments were not geared towards Hillary Clinton. He also made it clear that his decision not to enter the 2016 presidential race had nothing to do with the Democratic frontrunner. [Joe Biden, Vice President Of The United State:] I like Hillary. Hillary and I get along together. The only reason I would run, is I still think I could do a better job than anybody else could do. That's the reason to run. I wouldn't run against Hillary. [Sesay:] Well, the vice president said he would have run if he thought he could win. But he believed he'd run out of time to mount a winning campaign. Biden admitted that the mourning process had held him back from making a decision earlier. His son beau died of brain cancer just a few month ago and the family is still hurting. [Biden:] At one point, late summer, I thought, well you know I think we can do this. Now I forget my little granddaughter were down by the swimming pool. Mom says time for dinner, everybody. And everybody goes up. And she's lying between my legs, head on my chest. And turns around and puts her arms around me. And starts sobbing, says, Pop, I see daddy all the time. I see daddy all the time. Pop, you smell like daddy. You're not going to leave me, are you, Pop? Well, when that happens, you go, I don't know, man. [Sesay:] Well, Biden says one thing he will work on during his remaining months as vice president is pushing for more cancer research. Witnesses say the scene of a car crash looked like a bomb went off. Now the woman accused of driving into a crowd in Oklahoma is facing murder charges. That story is next. Plus, Hurricane Patricia is over. The remnants of the storm are still battering parts of the southern U.S. Do stay with us. Welcome back, everyone. The driver accused of plowing her car into a crowd of people in the U.S. state of Oklahoma has been charged with murder. Cell phone video captured the first moments of the crash. Police say Adacia Chamber was driving under the influence when she hit spectators at a university's homecoming parade. Three adults and a child were killed. Dozens more injured. Chambers could face life in prison. Let's bring in Darren Kavinoky, a criminal defense attorney, to discuss this. Darren, great to have you with us. [Darren Kavinoky, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Thanks for having me. [Sesay:] You say you are surprised that she's now facing four counts of second-degree murder. Why? [Kavinoky:] Yes, well [Sesay:] Explain that to us. [Kavinoky:] Typically in a murder case you either have somebody who manifests an intention to kill or highly negligent reckless conduct. So obviously here or at least I'm guessing based on what we know now, we're talking about the latter. We're talking about an extreme degree of recklessness. But generally speaking in Oklahoma the original notion was that she was under the influence. And in Oklahoma to elevate a charge from manslaughter to murder, generally, it requires a prior conviction for a DUI kind of arrest. So it is a little unusual to come out of the gate with a murder charge unless there is more to this picture that we don't know. In terms of prior record, and the big question is [Sesay:] Was she on yes. [Kavinoky:] Was she under the influence? What's in the toxicology report? [Sesay:] Which we don't know. We have no details yet about the toxicology report. But her attorney has already floated this idea that it is not a case of intoxication but perhaps mental health. [Kavinoky:] Right. [Sesay:] Let me ask you this, first and foremost, does that sound credible to you? Are you aware of mental health episodes leading to something like this? Let's start with that big picture. [Kavinoky:] Well, certainly I am well aware that mental health episodes can often appear just like people that are impaired. So I understand at the time of the arrest, when she was arrested under suspicion of DUI, I really get why if it really is a mental health issue and not an impairment issue how that can show up in very much the same way. But certainly this could be where the defense is when it comes to mental health issues and U.S. courts. There is really two issues that can arise. Number one, somebody's sanity or consciousness at the time of the crime itself. And then the other is their competency to stand trial because if she has ongoing mental health issues that prevent her from being of assistance to her attorney then that can cause significant delays in the judicial process. [Sesay:] So let me again stress, we don't know the results of the toxicology reports. [Kavinoky:] Right. [Sesay:] We don't know if indeed she has any mental health issues. This is just something her attorney put out there. [Kavinoky:] Yes. [Sesay:] Just want to stress that for our viewers once again. But to dig a little bit deeper into this issue of how the case would differ in terms of the way it was prosecuted if it was, a case of intoxication versus a case of mental impairment. [Kavinoky:] Right. [Sesay:] Talk to me about how the prosecution would go about it. [Kavinoky:] Well, we are obviously at a very early stage in all of this. [Sesay:] Very, very early stage. Yes. [Kavinoky:] When we are talking about prosecution for impairment cases, frankly there is a lot more that the prosecution has in their tool belt because people, especially in a situation like this, where we're talking about a homecoming event, a parade, I mean, in Oklahoma, this is about as Americana as it gets. And so the idea that somebody would be under the influence of something and cause this kind of carnage is a very powerful argument for a prosecutor to make. The kind of recklessness that would and disregard for human welfare and safety. It gets a little bit trickier when we're talking about people with legitimate mental health issues. You don't get to point that same accusatory finger as a prosecutor. There is not that same culpability and blame that you get to cast when you're talking about somebody who's voluntarily consuming alcohol versus somebody who has a legitimate mental health problem. And what's so fascinating about this is I did see some reports where apparently some folks had spoken to her employer. And some other folks at her job that morning. [Sesay:] Absolutely. [Kavinoky:] And said that she didn't appear to be under the influence of anything. She appeared to be upset but not intoxicated at the time that she left. So one of the big questions that investigators will need to tackle is what happened in between the time she left and the time of this horrific incident. [Sesay:] Yes. Sentencing. How does it differ? How does it differ? [Kavinoky:] Yes. [Sesay:] Intoxication? Mental impairment? [Kavinoky:] Right. Well, ultimately, if she's convicted of murder, she's looking at life in prison a few different ways. Each of these, it's a second-degree murder charge or at least that's what's been discussed so far. And that carries a term of 10 years to life, but that can be stacked. Because sentencing and American courts can either be concurrent, meaning you do all your sentences at once or they stack one on top of each other. And we haven't even begun to discuss [Sesay:] A long way. [Kavinoky:] the people that are seriously injured. There's a whole bunch of counts that I would expect we're going to have. [Sesay:] Civil case on top of this? [Kavinoky:] Well, both. Well, first of all, we haven't even talked about the civil case yet. For sure, many civil cases coming. But there are potential criminal charges for each of the injured parties, too. [Sesay:] Wow. [Kavinoky:] It's not just the folks that unfortunately have lost their lives. But there are dozens of people who suffered serious bodily injury as a result of this incident. So those could all be potential criminal charges, too. [Sesay:] Darren, fascinating insight. We are so grateful you could join us. [Kavinoky:] Happy to be here. [Sesay:] To share this perspective. Thank you so much, Darren Kavinoky. Thank you. [Kavinoky:] A pleasure, yes. [Sesay:] Thank you. Moving on now, what's left of Hurricane Patricia is drenching parts of the southern U.S. In Texas Patricia added to the days of heavy rain that triggered massive flooding making roads look like rivers. Look at these pictures with me. Just incredible. The high waters shut down all exits into downtown Houston along one interstate highway. Patricia hit Mexico Friday as the most powerful storm ever recorded by the U.S. National Hurricane Center. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri joins us to talk about what's left of Patricia, where she is headed next and what kind of punch does she have left. Pedram, she's been a nuisance to date. What's she doing now? We'll keep watching this. Pedram Javaheri, thank you so much. [Javaheri:] Thank you. [Sesay:] now China's party leaders are gathering this week to lay out plans for the next five years. And they're facing some new economic challenges. We will bring you a live report. That's coming up. Plus there are elections being held in at least half a dozen countries. We'll have the latest results from Africa to South America. Stay with us. You're watching CNN. [Curnow:] Well, after almost two years in a Russian prison, a Ukrainian pilot is back home. Nadiya Savchenko has long maintained her innocence and critics have called her trial a sham. She was released in a prisoner swap with Moscow. Our Matthew Chance is in the Russian capital. He joins us now. She's just been awarded a commendation. She's made comments a hero, a hero's welcome. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] That's right. She got something of a hero's welcome when she flew back into the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, within the last couple of hours on a presidential aircraft. She was greeted by crowds of media, crowds of supporters as well, she's had a joint press conference with President Poroshenko of Ukraine as well. And she got off that airplane after two years almost in captivity, behind bars in Russia, and she was still very defiant, even very angry, when she made her comments, her address, to the crowd that was waiting for her at the airport. Take a listen to some of the stuff she had to say. [Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian Pilot:] The first thing I want to say is I am free. I would like to apologize to all mothers whose children could not come back. [Savchenko:] But I am still alive. I would also like to apologize to those mothers whose children are detained. But I am free. [Chance:] Well, there is Savchenko there, sort of basking, if you like, in her heroine status that she's acquired since she was captured by pro- Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine, is actually she was captured inside Russia and was accused of illegally crossing into Russia from Eastern Ukraine. She was convicted in a Russian court of directing the mortar fire back in June 2014 that killed, among other people, two Russian state television journalists. Vladimir Putin, who is the Russian president, of course, has said that he only agreed to issue the pardon for Nadiya Savchenko after he had consulted with the widows of those two Russian journalists and that they had personally appealed to him to set her free. He also said that he hoped that her pardoning and the prisoner swap deal would do something to ease the tensions in the conflict zone as well. And so Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, saying, look, I only did this for the family members of the Russian journalists who were killed Robyn. [Curnow:] Will this ease tensions? [Chance:] It's unlikely to go very far in that regard, to be honest, although it closes a very difficult and acrimonious chapter in relations between Russia and Ukraine. Nadiya Savchenko has become something of a cause celebre here in Russia. Many foreign leaders as well as the Ukrainians, of course, have strongly criticized her trial as politically motivated. At the same time, there were a couple of Russian citizens who had been held and tried and convicted inside Ukraine as well, sentenced to 14 years in prison for terrorism, on terrorism charges. They confessed when they were in custody of being members of Russia's special forces, although Russia of course denies sending any of its troops to Ukraine. And so as part of the prisoner swap, Russia gets back those Russian citizens as well, which, again, is it goes some way towards decreasing the tensions between the two countries. [Curnow:] In Moscow, thanks so much, Matthew Chance there. Still ahead, this climber said reaching the top of Mt. Everest would prove that vegans aren't weak. Now her family is mourning her loss. We'll speak to Marisa Strydom's mother that's next. [Lemon:] Political reactions to the Dallas ambush shootings is coming from all fronts. President Barack Obama called the attack vicious and calculated. And comments he delivered in Warsaw, Poland, where he's meeting with European leaders. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We still don't know all the facts. What we do know is that there has been a vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement. Police in Dallas were on duty doing their jobs, keeping people safe during peaceful protests. I believe that I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas. Justification for these kinds of attacks. Or any violence against law enforcement. The FBI is already in touch with the Dallas police, and anyone involved in these senseless murders will be held fully accountable. Justice will be done. [Lemon:] So let's talk about this now with CNN political commentator and former South Carolina lawmaker Bakari Sellers. Bakari, hello to you on this really, really sad afternoon here. The president used the word horrified after an attack on major U.S. cities, a major U.S. city's police force by an American vet politically. What happens next? [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Political Commentator:] That's an interesting question. I think that over the past three days, our country has been gut punched, not once, not twice, but three times. And we have to do what we have been known to do, which is stand up right. But w, have to deal with some of the troubling issues that we have in this country. I was speaking to a good friend of mine who is a lawyer, a Republican in Pennsylvania, who said she felt like we were sliding back into 1968. And that's not where we need to be going. You know, for me, I'm of the impression that we have seven funerals over the next week. And if you can't mourn for Alton Sterling, I mean, excuse me, if you can't mourn for Alton and Philando and the five officers, all, then you're a part of the problem. [Lemon:] Yes. Each of them is just as tragic as the next, and all appears just unnecessary. Unnecessary. In the wake of this Dallas ambush, Bakari, the congressional black caucus held a news conference today. Paul Ryan, also, the house speaker, commenting from the house floor. Let's listen to it. [Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee , Texas:] My heart is broken and we will pray this weekend in Houston, marching for peace, nonviolence, and the action of the United States Congress to take violent guns and violent people off the streets of this nation. [Rep. Cedric Richmond , Louisiana:] We again today call upon Speaker Ryan, chairman Goodlatte, to convene an adult conversation about the use of deadly force, the need for AR-15s on our streets, the needs for high capacity magazines, no fly no buy. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] A few perpetrators of evil do not represent us. They do not control us. The blame lies with the people who committed these vicious acts and no one and no one else. [Lemon:] Bakari, I thought the speakers, his speech was very compelling. And I thought, to me, you know, I felt like he was sort of reaching and trying to appeal to people on the other side of the aisle. And the congressional black caucus, is this a direct appeal to him? And do you see any common ground between these two sides worked out? Any policy solutions that can be worked out? [Sellers:] Well, I'm hopeful. I think we all are hopeful. And I think that, you know, the black caucus and I think speaker Ryan have all realized that it's time for leadership in this country. It is not time for politics but time for true leadership. As a Democrat, I have been on your show many times and I have blasted Paul Ryan. I have blasted Donald Trump. I have blasted the NRA. But even today, just recently, the NRA came out with a statement talking about the shooting in Minnesota. Paul Ryan's comments from the floor today. Donald Trump's statement this morning. All of those things struck a tone. [Lemon:] Let me read the statements. This is what Donald Trump tweeted. He said prayers and condolences to all of the families who are so thoroughly devastated by horrors. We are all watching take place in our country. And this is what Hillary Clinton said. I mourn for the officers shot while doing their sacred duty to protect peaceful protesters and for their families and all who served them. By the way, we are waiting for an interview with her just moments away. But again, continue. I'm wondering if there is any consensus that could be met from the two side. [Sellers:] Well, I think there is consensus, Don because at the end of the day, look. I'm tired of the violence at theaters in Aurora. I mean, I'm tired of the violence at schools in Sandy Hook. I'm tired of African-Americans getting gunned down at traffic stops. And I'm tired of officers who were out there protecting our sacred first amendment right and getting gunned down by snipers. I mean, it's all been too much. I mean, this last day, I saw you last night on TV. And the anger that you felt. I mean, I was hopeful that white viewers who were looking at that were able to understand that anger. I mean, I understand my passion last night when talking about these issues. I was hopeful that white viewers would be able to understand that because this morning when I woke up and realized that five police officers were gunned down and 12 total were shot, I mean, I cried those same tears and I'm hopeful that if you did not cry those tears for those officers this morning, you were part of the problem as well. I mean, we have to begin to come together in this country. We have to. [Lemon:] I've got to go. But I was just as angry and it was breaking news last night, though, about the five officers but hi to keep it together. But, today, I find myself just being its just sad and this is just sad. Thank you, Bakari. I appreciate it. [Sellers:] Thank you, Don. [Lemon:] Listen. At any moment now, Hillary Clinton is going to be weighing in on the issues live today in an interview just moments away so don't go anywhere. We will have that for you. [Unidentified Female Speaker:] " Hackers said that they hacked into the site. They had the data and that they were going put it out there if Ashley Madison did not shut down. [Dr. Robi Ludwig, Psychotherapist:] Well, they had it coming. These are cheaters. They deserve to be outed. They were doing something wrong. [Unidentified Female Speaker:] Personal information, e-mails, phone numbers, user names. Now you have a bunch of sites where all you have to do is put in an e-mail address and you can find out if someone was on that list. This is a huge black eye for Ashley Madison, which really sold itself on being 100 percent discreet. [Dr. Ludwig:] Anything that anybody puts online can be made public, and so that is what is really scary. [Unidentified Female Speaker:] Ashley Madison is still up and running, probably not going to get a lot of business. [Pinsky:] And they may not be attracting new clients but millions of old ones are in danger of being exposed. I am back with Sam, Vanessa, Mike and Loni. And, we just mentioned, I asked Mike, you know, why are not people really cluing in to the unethical hacking, the illegal hacking and [Catherwood:] that is the point. Yes. [Pinsky:] I mean it is sort of weirdly, moralistically satisfying these people, who were outed. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] But, thousands of millions of lives [Catherwood:] If this was like your Amazon account, no there would no controversy here. We would be like, "We must catch these hackers. They are going to bring us down." The fact of the matter that, you know, Ashley Madison is devoted to cheating. Sure, a lot of us morally do not agree with that. It does not change the fact. It is a legal business. It is a very legitimate business. [Pinsky:] They did not break laws. [Catherwood:] And, they did not do anything wrong in the eyes of the law. And, the hackers, like aggressively, broke the law. And, we I mean, I think reporting on and then promoting the idea that they are going to expose all these people who have accounts on Ashley Madison, you are an accomplice to these hackers. That is all you are doing. You are promoting someone who broke the law and then really could only expose how unsafe we are in anything we do on here. [Schacher:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Which is not a bad thing to be reminded of. Yes, sir [Lamar Turner, Male Audience Member:] Mike, initially, you say you were one of the horniest 14-year-olds. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Barnett:] Jesus! [Turner:] I beg to differ. [Catherwood:] OK. [Barnett:] Oh! [Pinsky:] One of. One of. One of. [Barnett:] Random facts. [Turner:] My name is Lamar Turner. [Pinsky:] Hello, Lamar. [Truner:] I know two gentlemen, who are locally where I live at and they are part of like a cheating marriage group. [Pinsky:] Are they swingers or they cheaters? [Turner:] No, they are cheating on their wives. [Pinsky:] And, the wives do not know about it, do not sign of it. [Turner:] Wives do not know about it. [Barnett:] And they are your friends? [Turner:] Well, I know them. I grew up with them. [Barnett:] Ah. [Pinsky:] OK, yes. [Turner:] I am college educated and I respect the sanctity of marriage. This is hurtful. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Turner:] So, we talk to them well, I talk to them all the time, and they are like, "Oh, you know, should check it out." Well, first of all, I am not married. Secondly, I would not do it. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Turner:] I would do it. Why get married and then cheat? [Pinsky:] Why get married why get married especially if you have kids. It is an attack on the person you say you love most in the world and an attack on your kids. You are attacking, directly harming putting them in harm`s way. What the hell is the matter with people? Well, I got someone on the phone. Her name is Marie. She found a partner for we are going to call her Marie. She found a partner on Ashley Madison for extra marital affair. [Catherwood:] Call him Donnie. [Pinsky:] Donnie and Marie, yes. [Catherwood:] What? [Pinsky:] Marie, what motivated you to go on the site? [Marie, Had Extramarital Affair On Ashley Madison Site:] Well, actually, I was planning on getting divorce anyway. And, I happened to hear about Ashley Madison on one of the radio stations, so I checked it out. And, at the time, I was honestly looking to sort of friends with benefits and it was the perfect site to go on. [Pinsky:] And, as opposed to other dating sites because those [Marie:] Well, of course, because the other dating sites had single men, who would want to attach themselves to you if they supposedly fell in love with you, and that is definitely not what I was looking for. [Barnett:] I do not think it is hard to find a man who just want I do not think that is a difficult task. CATHERWOODL Yes. [Marie:] And, to tell you the truth, back then, because that was over six years ago, and I have since gone on Match.com and some of the other sites, and there are just as many men married or with partners on those sites. [Pinsky:] Wow. But, what about like Tinder, places like that? [Marie:] Of course, of course. [Cathewood:] I know from my experience [Marie:] Yes. And, they will specify right in their profile. [Catherwood:] From my experience on Grinder, you know, I found that [Pinsky:] You are a grinder. Is it did not you feel guilty going on a site, which you knew the men were married. It was not like it was possibly they were married. You knew for sure these were married men. [Marie:] No, because I was not out to destroy anyone`s family. [Pinsky:] Yes, but [Marie:] It was strictly for sex, and that is what most of these guys are for. They want to get laid. [Catherwood:] Mary or Marie, you said at the beginning of the interview that you were definitely planning on getting divorce. Why not just follow through with it or be separated and then, you know, behave like a grown adult, do what you want to do? [Barnett:] The big question is, where were you getting divorce? Did your man cheated on you? [Marie:] Because at the time well, fortunately, for me I have a very high sex drive and nothing was happening at home. [Catherwood:] No. No. My point being is then, if you were definitely planning on getting divorce, why not just separate and then bang whoever you want and not have to go on Ashley Madison? [Marie:] Because it is just, you know, like what everyone else does, like living on the edge, something different. Everyone else do. [Pinsky: Ok -- Schacher:] I think my concern here is Marie, as you said earlier, just a few seconds ago, that you did not think it was destroying a family by sleeping with a married man. That right there, that statement just kind of underscores everything in my book. Why do you not see it that way? [Barnett:] The disconnect. [Schacher:] Yes. [Marie:] Because I was not going out to intentionally take that man away from his family. It was strictly sex. [Pinsky:] But, you see, people have a weird sometimes thinking about this, Loni. [Coombs:] Yes. [Pinsky:] That somehow it is just sex, "Oh, that is no big deal." [Coombs:] Well, yes. [Pinsky:] For men, by the way, the way we are evolutionary wired, men, if a female spouse is having just sex that is the end of the game for men. [Coombs:] Yes. [Pinsky:] I should be often for women, the same thing. [Coombs:] Yes. And, you know, people assume it is all just the guys that, you know, who want to cheat. But the women are out there in the numbers, too, at 40 percent. Then, you know, people who are cheating, they have a lot of different ways to rationalize it. You know, it is selfish reasons. I do not think about the family, so they must not really be impacted by this. [Pinsky":] Right. [Coombs:] It is two consenting adults. We both want to do it. So, they do not think about the little kids at home and what the other spouse is going to feel. [Pinsky:] They are compartmentalizing it. [Schacher:] Or when you get caught, which people do more oftentimes than not. [Barnett:] Exactly. [Pinsky:] Let me ask you this. Is anybody tempted to look there is a site now where you can look to see if your spouse`s email is there [Barnett:] No. [Schacher:] No. I do not even think to find it there. No. [Pinsky:] I mean I think people should check if they have any question. [Barnett:] No, you should trust the person you are with. [Schacher:] I do not think for a second that my husband is on that. [Pinsky:] No. I am not saying he is. [Barnett:] Absolutely not. [Pinsky:] I mean just [Schacher:] Put your e-mail in there, no! [Pinsky:] That is the point. If you have any question, put it in there. [Coombs:] I do think it is important, though, that people before they go, if they are going to check, they have to understand it is not automatically they cheated. I mean they logged on to the website [Pinsky:] Yes. [Coombs:] or somebody might have used their email. There is some fraudulent use of e-mails on there. And, some went on and never made contact. [Schacher:] That is like my dog ate my homework. [Coombs:] And, I think it is important for people to go on before they ruin their lives that they actually find out that is why a lot of people are hiring private investigators to find out, exactly, what it means the e-mail is on there or the spouses are coming forward and saying I am just saying, before somebody goes on there and starts, you know, throwing the clothes out the window, and finds [Schacher:] Yes. [Coombs:] Let us figure out what exactly happened. [Schacher:] Right. [Coombs:] We do not need more marriages broken up. [Pinsky:] I am going to put the they are telling me to hang on something. I want to talk about Jeff Ashton, who is the prosecutor the prosecutor in the [Schacher:] Casey Anthony trial. [Pinsky:] Casey Anthony. We actually interviewed him on the program. And, he is now the state attorney in Florida, and he had a case on it. [Catherwood:] That is a job. [Pinsky:] Yes. Well, take a look at this. [Jeff Ashton, State Attorney For Orange And Osceola Counties In Central Florida:] While I indulged my curiosity about the site, it never went beyond that. While no laws have been broken, these were incredibly stupid choices. Those choices have had absolutely no impact on the performance of my official duties. [Barnett:] You got the nerve of live crying now. You were not crying when you were trying to hook up with these women. And, everyone keep saying, "Oh, I did not meet anyone in person." It is such BS. It is totally your dog ate your homework. I am so old for this. [Catherwood:] You know, in my opinion you know, I am not trying to sell this guy out or anything, but if you get an account on Ashley Madison, you have already cheated in my opinion. [Schacher:] Yes. [Coombs:] Yes, absolutely. [Catherwood:] If you are a married man and you expressed curiosity in Ashley Madison [Schacher:] You are looking. [Catherwood:] you have gone through far, you know. [Schacher:] You are hunting. [Pinsky:] Where else are you looking, too [Coombs:] Yes and I agree. If that is where you draw the line, that is where you draw the line. But, if you look at the numbers, there is actually in 2014, I believe, there is like 9,000 people who went to the website but only 2,000 went further than that and paid because you actually have to pay fees as you go along to actually make contact. So, you could look at those records. But, like you said, if it is a matter if they went on the website, that to you breaks your trust then that is [Schacher:] This is so sad. [Pinsky:] It is sad. [Schacher:] The only people that are happy are divorce attorneys. I am sure they are celebrating. [Pinsky:] Listen, I did that and I did that [Schacher:] Right? [Pinsky:] I am curious that divorce court documentary about the amount of money spent on divorce. Do not get married if you do not want to get married, do not have to get married. [Schacher:] Yes. [Pinsky:] But, do not have babies out of wedlock either, which is well, somehow, people feel like that is what the alternative is. Look, take your time. Pick somebody you want to spend the rest of your life with, who you actually love, whom you would not treat somebody you love like this. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Barnett:] Yes. [Pinsky:] You would not do that. So And you would not attack your kids who you also claim to love. Stop it, everybody. Be adults about this. You make a sanctifying vow in front of God and everybody and then you just crap all over them. Really, is that the world we live in now? All right, next up, a Facebook post about Black Lives Matter enrages the online community. We will see about it after this. [King:] Welcome back. Hillary Clinton is banking on a big night Tuesday in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware vote. And if she can win four out of the five her pledge delegate lead, which is about 253 right now, could be in the ballpark of 290, maybe more when the votes are counted. Now, she has an even bigger lead, first, let's project out Tuesday night. That's the wrong race. Democrats here, Hillary Clinton thinks she'll win four out of the five, stretch out to here. Now, much bigger lead if you bring in the superdelegates, gets Hillary Clinton way out here, even close to the finish line, right? You see that? Senator Sanders back here unless he has a big night on Tuesday. But let's forget the super delegates for a moment, set them aside. If her pledged delegate lead is in the 290, 300 ball park, Wednesday morning, Senator Sanders would then have to win about 63 percent of the remaining pledged delegates to catch Clinton on that count. Now, that's an unlikely scenario. One of the things Senator Sanders doesn't like, like in New York, four of the five states voting Tuesday are so-called close primaries. Only in Rhode Island can independents vote. Senator Sanders doesn't like that. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I don't mind losing, but 3 million people in New York state, 3 million people who registered as independents did not have the right to participate in the Democratic or Republican primary. [King:] Not in Senator Sanders' view democracy but it is the Democratic Party and the party as we've seen on the Republican side with Donald Trump complaining about a rigged and a crooked system, the parties make their own rules, and in this case, the closed primaries not good news for Senator Sanders, had a tough time in the campaign. [Pace:] Yes, this is a tough moment. He's making a similar argument in different words to what Trump is saying, the system is disenfranchising a lot of American voters. I think there are merits to that. We go through this every four years parties realize, remember what their rules are. But the math is just incredibly difficult for Sanders. He's learning what Hillary Clinton learned in 2008, which is based on the way that Democrats run their primaries, once a candidate pulls out to a fairly good sized lead, it's really difficult to catch up. And he is continuing to make the case there is a pathway to him. His campaign manager is talking about flipping super delegates. But there's no sign that super delegates are looking to move away from Hillary Clinton toward Bernie Sanders and that's really his only option at this point. [King:] And when she went through this in 2007 and 2008 ultimately, I think most people in the party knew she was a lifelong Democrat, that as hard as it was, she was going to figure it out, that she was going to find a way to embrace then-Senator Obama and try to bring the party together and she did that, and Obama was grateful enough to make her secretary of state when he won the election. It's more of a question mark for Bernie Sanders because he was an independent before he became a Democrat. A lot of the Clinton people are suspicious or skeptical that he's ready to be a big "D" Democrat. And they also see this online stuff, where supporter of both campaigns are in a nasty world in the social media. And sometimes the surrogates at events, what is the calculation Wednesday morning for Bernie Sanders if he has a 290, 300-pledged delegate lead and the math is, frankly, it's hard as it is to understand for the Sanders people, impossible? [Balz:] I think there's two calculations. The first is what kind of a campaign does he run between now and the end of the primaries? Everybody knows he's going to run through California and the District of Columbia on the last day of the primaries. But what does he say about her? How does he prosecute the case? Eight years ago when she was in a similar position she told her aides I'm going to run to the end but I don't want to do anything or say anything that would make it more difficult for Barack Obama to become president in November. That's a question for him. The second thing is what does he want at the convention? What does he want in terms of the platform? What does he want in terms of how the system will work going forward? Will there be rules changes? And then the third is, what does he do and say to his supporters to make it clear that he wants to win in November and have a Democrat in the White House? [King:] So, what is if Senator Sanders, and you could tell he's starting to think about this, been a bit of a divide publicly in his campaign. Tad Devine, the campaign strategist, is saying, let's see how he do on Tuesday and we think about it, the Jeff Weaver, the campaign manager, saying we're going full bore to the end, it's up to the candidate in the end. If Senator Sanders moderates his tone, if Senator starts thinking about what I want in the platform, starts being a big "D" Democrat what is the burden on Hillary Clinton to reach out to his people? The younger ones say never vote for Clinton. [Parker:] I mean, there is some polling and evidence that shows if Hillary Clinton is the nominee, that those Sanders supporters in that progressive wing of the Democratic Party will come over and support Hillary especially if she's running against some like Donald Trump. There certainly is sort of an impetus on Hillary to reward him in some way especially if he stops persecuting sort of the personal case against her, which is sort of the nightmare scenario for Democrats, right? Because he's going to say something the Republicans can use against her in the fall, we already saw that happen with Donald Trump. Donald Trump the other day stood up at an event and he said Bernie Sanders says that Hillary Clinton's not qualified to be president. Not me, Bernie. So now I'm going to say it. So, I think if that stops she'll be grateful and going to need to find a way to repay him. [Raju:] And one of the things we've seen so far is that a lot of the Hillary supporters who are party establishment types and Democrats have not really pushed Bernie to get out of the race because they don't want to alienate his legions of supporters, but at the same time, he's not really said a lot of things sharply barbed attacks until the unqualified line. If he continues that aggressive line of attack after a bad day on Tuesday and if he loses Pennsylvania in particular, that's going to be a problem for him from his colleagues, who are going to come after him pretty hard and how does he deal with that pressure. I think he'll have to consider that going forward, given that he says something strongly, sharply worded against her, it's going to probably come back and bite him. [Balz:] You know, we talked about this every time there's a competitive primary, what will it take to bring the party back together. But there does seem to be something about this year in which you've got different kinds of an electorate and I think we've reached the point in the Democratic race where it might be difficult, it might take time, by November maybe they'll all be back on the same page, but I think it's incumbent on both sides to work to make that happen. [King:] She has for the most part dialed back her criticism of him. She was tough in Connecticut this week, which if you look at the demographics of the states Tuesday, Rhode Island and Connecticut, probably the toughest for Hillary Clinton and she brought up the gun voting record in Connecticut because of Sandy Hook. She brought up his gun voting record there. But more and more, she's trying to focus on Donald Trump. Listen to Hillary Clinton here. We heard Ted Cruz earlier in the show saying when Donald Trump's campaign manager says it's an act or it's a performance, Ted Cruz says don't believe anything he says. Hillary Clinton take is different. Don't let him get away from what he says about the wall, what she says about Muslims because he means it. [Clinton:] Trump keeps saying things like well you know, I didn't really mean it. It was all part of my reality TV show, running for president will be on your screen. Well, you know what? If we buy that, shame on us. He's already showed us what he believes and he's already said what he wants to do, and he wants to go after every one of the rights we have. [King:] To Ashley's point, Julie, a lot of Democrats think if Trump rater for party unity even if you don't like Clinton and you're for Sanders and disappointed that Trump is the motivator. In the Clinton campaign do they believe that's enough or she has to do more than just saying I want to you join me, to say something about campaign finance reform to be more direct about political reforms and Wall Street reforms? [Pace:] They definitely see Trump as a motivator, something they could go to young voters could you stay at home and let Donald Trump be president but they also know they can't spend the entire summer and the entire fall campaign talking about Trump, responding to him. There has to be some proactive message from her, some vision of what she would do but how to do that especially in this environment where Donald Trump is so skilled at controlling the narrative and being at the center of attention, it's really an unanswered question. It's actually I think one of the biggest questions they face going into the fall campaign how she carves out space for her own message but doesn't let his attacks on her go unanswered. [Raju:] And how to define Donald Trump, that's one of the things that Republicans are realizing they tried to define him early this election season, didn't quite work and for Democrats, when do you begin that effort to truly try to define him in the eyes of general election voters. [King:] General election voters run in a general reaction, you need a running mate, right? ClintonWarrenRubio? Ready or not, the veep stakes buzz is ramping up, the reason it isn't all idle speculation, well, that's next. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. We're following breaking news. The president of the United States firing back against critics of his strategy of on fighting ISIS. Those critics led by the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump. The president fighting back. The accusations that he's refusing to describe the terrorism that's coming against the United States, including in Orlando the other day as Islamic terrorism, radical Islamic terrorism. And the president passionately, very movingly responded to those critics. Watch this. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] For a while now, the main contribution of some of my friends on the other side of the aisle have made in the fight against ISIL is to criticize this administration and me for not using the phrase, radical Islam. That's the key they tell us. We can't beat ISIL unless we call them radical Islamists. What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction. Since before I was president, I've been clear about how extremist groups have perverted Islam to justify terrorists. As president, I have repeatedly called on our Muslim friends and allies at home and around the world to work with us to reject this twisted interpretation of one of the world's great religions. There's not been a moment in my seven and a half years as president where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn't use the label radical Islam. Not once has an advisor of mine said, man, if we really use that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around. Not once. So, if someone seriously thinks that we don't know who we're fighting, if there's anyone out there who thinks we're confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we've taken off the battlefield. If the implication is that those of us up here and the thousands of people around the country and around the world who are working to defeat ISIL aren't taking the fight seriously, that would come as a surprise to those who have spent the last seven and a half years dismantling Al Qaeda and [Blitzer:] Very strong words from the president of the United States. Jake Tapper is still with us, our Chief Washington Correspondent, the anchor of "THE LEAD." When he says, Jake, politicians who tweet and appear on cable news shows, basically suggesting they don't know what they're talking about but going further saying what they are suggesting is really dangerous to the United States, to U.S. national security, everyone knows who he's referring to. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Chief Washington Correspondent:] Yes, and let me just say, very clearly, President Obama thinks that Donald Trump, in his rhetoric and his tone this not my opinion. This is the president's opinion. He thinks that Donald Trump is chasing people who might be wavering into the hands of extremism. He thinks that. He thinks very strongly that the rhetoric from Donald Trump, especially what we heard in New Hampshire just yesterday, the in the national security speech that Donald Trump gave. That that is bad for the United States, bad for national security because it alienates Muslims and might even chase some into the hands of extremists. Let me also make one observation which is obviously President Obama is very eager to get into this political debate. He's very eager to defend himself but also to do what we can to stop Donald Trump from becoming president. He feels very strongly that that would be bad for the country. I can't help but observe that if he thought Hillary Clinton was doing a good job or an effective job making the case against Trump, maybe he wouldn't go to the east room and make it himself. So, in a way, while this is completely a condemnation of Trump and everything Trump stands for, I wouldn't say that President Obama, entering the presidential race this way, exactly expresses a huge vote of confidence in the way that Hillary Clinton is rebutting Trump and making the same exact points that the president just made. [Blitzer:] Yes, he's trying to back her up. He really wants Donald Trump to be defeated in the presidential election. And he thinks he whatever he could do to help Hillary Clinton win, become the next president, would be good for his legacy. He also makes the point that he has ordered thousands of terrorists to be wiped off the battlefield over the past seven and a half plus years right now. And his aides have said to me, if you take a look at the drone strikes and how many terrorists the U.S. has killed and during the Obama administration, it's more than were killed during the Bush administration. [Tapper:] Not to mention the innocent civilians killed by the drone strikes that President Obama has ordered. Look, there's no question that President Obama has sent U.S. service members around the world, into Africa, into Afghanistan, into Iraq, into Syria now, and other places that we don't even know about, to kill radical Islamic terrorists. There's no question about that. There are some serious criticisms being made right now about how the war against ISIS is being fought, and whether or not there is an actual strategy, and what the end game looks like, or whether president Obama is just buying time with various missions so that it's a tactical war right now but with no overall strategy. But that said, it cannot be debated that president Obama is responsible for the deaths of thousands of radical Islamic terrorists. [Blitzer:] And this speech that he just delivered and it surprised us. We knew he was going to deliver remarks on the Orlando terror attack. We didn't know he was going to in depth and directly respond to the criticism he's getting from Donald Trump and others. You have to take a look at where the U.S. if this Orlando terror attack is going to be a turning point in the overall struggle, the effort to destroy [Isis. Tapper:] Yes. And let me make one other point about the point that Donald Trump and others, including Rudy Giuliani this morning, talking to Chris Cuomo on "NEW DAY." About this argument about whether or not the president uses the term, radical Islamic terrorists. I think that the concern that these critics have, Trump, Giuliani, others is that by not labeling it, you are, perhaps, suggesting that you don't fully understand the nature of the threat. That this is, in fact, not just a few miscreants here and there. But there is a poisonous theology, a perversion of Islam, that is spreading throughout the world and is responsible for the deaths of people in Paris, and Belgium, in Orlando, in San Bernardino, and to not recognize that, that is the problem. It's not the words so much. Now, that said, President Obama made the point very forcefully, we know who the enemy is. We know what's going on. But it's really not just about semantics. Both the critics of the president and President Obama, I think, understand that. [Blitzer:] Yes. When the and when the president said politicians who tweet, we know who he is referring to. And I anticipate we will get a tweet from Donald Trump reacting to what we just heard from the president. [Tapper:] You will never go broke if you bet on Donald Trump sending a tweet. [Blitzer:] All right, Jake. We'll see you at 4:00 p.m. Eastern [Tapper:] OK. [Blitzer:] on "THE LEAD." Jake Tapper helping us appreciate the enormity of what we just heard from the president of the United States. Thank you. Let's bring in our Chief National Security Correspondent Jim Sciutto. He's covering the fallout from the Orlando terror attack in Orlando. He's on the scene for us. Jim, what was the main thought that emerged from your perspective from what we just heard from the president? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, let's set aside the politics of the phrase, radical Islam, for a moment. But to this broader point of this view of the religion itself being in conflict with the west. This is a view that has enormous support in the Muslim world today and that was something the president was trying to address there. It is a real problem. And to Jake's point earlier. There is a portion of the world, and I've of the Muslim world. And I've interviewed many people there, people on the street, but also Jihadis and people considering it, people arrested for it, people who have joined the cause. They look at this conflict as a fact. Now, many of them are lost for good. No matter what the president or Donald Trump might say, they're already lost. But there are others who are in the middle, to Jake's point. And these are the ones that the president, these are the ones that law enforcement, that counterterrorism experts, frankly, that the military is concerned about that could go either way. And that need to hear a different message from America so that they don't enter that camp. That is really the target group. And this idea of Muslim, Islam in the west, being a conflict, that's not some ethereal idea. To them, they believe it. They're susceptible to it. And, sadly, a certain percentage of those will choose to act on that thought with violence as we saw here in Orlando just two days ago. That is the real conflict. And that is why, when you hear the president, but not just the president, not just politicians, military commanders. They say that a key part of this battle is not on the battlefield. That's essential but a key part of the battle is for minds, hearts and minds. That phrase we heard so often throughout the Iraq War and still, to this day, in the Iraq in Afghanistan, that battle is still underway every day. And that's why words do matter in that battle. And when you speak to folks, the angry young men as some have described them in the Middle East, they're very susceptible to that message. And that's where the real battle is going to be playing out. [Blitzer:] Stand by, Jim. Barbara Starr is over at the Pentagon, our Pentagon Correspondent. Barbara, you make the point that the president was there in the East Room at the White House delivering the speech, surrounded by some significant advisors, including military commanders, Barbara. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Well, indeed. General Joe Dunford, the four star Marine chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was at the president's side. Now this, by all accounts, was supposed to be basically a routine meeting, an update of the Orlando situation. That's why General Dunford was there at the president's, obviously. Something that General Dunford would routinely participate in. But, as you said, Wolf, it took a turn. The president's remarks took on an enormity, as you said, and became very political. Very unusual to have a four star there during such a political statement. The Pentagon, by tradition and especially this year, has been doing everything it can to stay out of politics. You know these General Dunford, other top officials constantly getting asked by reporters like me, what do you think about what Trump said? They won't answer anything about what Trump said and yet you have the chairman standing there because the president has taken a turn in his remarks. I think what the president was in an enormous statement to make is that the U.S. military is in fact one of the most diverse organizations in the United States. Everyone is welcome. All of the people in the U.S. military fight on behalf of all Americans and everyone in the United States to defend their freedoms. The president making a case that the military is a pluralistic organization in itself, in a pluralistic country. Problems, yes, working to diversify it more, yes, but it is a pluralistic fighting force today working against ISIS. And this puts the military in a very interesting position because if Donald Trump gets elected, they will be fighting to protect whatever policies he tries to put into place as president of the United States. They may not be so pluralistic. It may be a very tough road ahead for the U.S. military as it exists today. That perhaps an undercurrent of the president's message, Wolf. [Blitzer:] And you heard, Barbara, the president say the same U.S. special operations forces who killed bin Laden, they are now on the ground in both Iraq and Syria. What can you tell us about that just very briefly? [Starr:] Well, you are going to have upwards of 300 U.S. special operations forces inside Syria. We were there just a couple of weeks ago meeting some of them. This is going to be the most dangerous work. In the weeks ahead, these special operations forces will get closer to the front lines. And some cases, not in all, there is a good deal of concern that they can maintain their safety, that they do not become involved in direct combat. But both in Syria and Iraq, it is U.S. special operations forces right now doing some of the most dangerous work, trying to track down ISIS terrorists. And I can tell you, as recently as yesterday, they are looking for Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, around the clock. Wolf. [Blitzer:] Yes. And if they find him, they will kill him. That is clear. All right, Barbara, thanks very much. Up next, Hillary Clinton talking about Donald Trump and his response to the Orlando terror shootings. Stay with us. Much more of our special coverage coming up right after this. [Blitzer:] While Republican frontrunner Donald Trump faces a revolt within the party establishment, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton faces a problem of her own making. The inquiry into her e- mails as secretary of state. Bernie Sanders is trying to gain ground ahead of Sunday's CNN Democratic presidential debate. Our senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny is covering the Democratic campaign for us. What's the latest out there, Jeff? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Wolf, I can tell you Bernie Sanders is traveling to a collection of states that are trying to make up for some lost ground earlier in the week. He held a rally a short time ago here in Lincoln, Nebraska. That's a place where Democratic presidential candidates seldom visit. He did not stop drawing contrasts and distinctions with Hillary Clinton. Did not make up any comments about her e-mail, but he's all after one thing, Wolf. The state's 25 delegates on Saturday. [Zeleny:] Bernie Sanders had a message today for Democrats. The primary isn't over yet. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] What a fantastic turnout this afternoon. Thank you so much. [Zeleny:] Yet the campaign trail to himself from Michigan to Nebraska to Kansas, hunting for delegates in his uphill fight with Hillary Clinton. After basking in the glow of Elton John and Katy Perry Wednesday night at one of the Clinton campaign's biggest fundraisers. [Katy Perry, Musician:] This is it. [Zeleny:] She spent the day out of public view as questions about her e-mail returned. A former aide was granted immunity and will talk to the FBI about the private server she used as secretary of state. It became instant fodder today for Republicans. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Assuming she's not arrested for the e-mail situation, which is so terrible. [Zeleny:] Again and again, Clinton has defended how she handled classified information. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] It is just not something that, you know, is going t have any lasting effect and I'm not at all worried about it. [Zeleny:] But the Justice Department inquiry still hangs over her campaign. Sanders once again steered clear but he wasted no time going after other parts of her record, starting with the Keystone Pipeline, which would run straight through Nebraska. [Sanders:] There is a candidate out there running for the Democratic nomination who was a little bit wobbly about the Keystone Pipeline. [Zeleny:] And on trade he called her positions a disaster for Michigan. [Sanders:] She was very, very wrong and millions of families around this country have been suffering as a result of those disastrous trade agreements. [Zeleny:] He told CNN he has no time for Democrats who say he should tone down his rhetoric against Clinton. [Sanders:] In many ways Democrats can say what they want. We're in this race to win it. I don't run negative campaign ads but I do think it is appropriate that in a campaign you distinguish your differences with your opponents. [Zeleny:] He's fighting to win the Nebraska and Kansas caucuses on Saturday and Maine on Sunday. [Sanders:] On the other hand, maybe Nebraska is not quite so conservative. [Zeleny:] Still it's an uphill climb for Sanders. In pledged delegates he has 405 to Clinton's 606. But when you factor in super delegates, Clinton's support soars. 1,074 to 426. And Wolf, when we talked to Senator Sanders this afternoon, he said he has no intention of either lightening up and certainly not leaving this race. The Sanders campaign believes by the end of this week, and they will have three more states in their win column. The Clinton campaign does not disagree. She believes she will only win the Louisiana primary on Saturday. Wolf, of course this is a race about delegates and these states are all small numbers of delegates but we are entering a very busy stretch here. That key debate on Sunday in Flint, Michigan, followed by another debate next Wednesday, this could be one of the most important stretches of this Democratic campaign Wolf. [Blitzer:] You're absolutely right. Jeff Zeleny, reporting for us, thank you. Coming up, 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney slamming 2016 presidential frontrunner Donald Trump as a phony and a fraud. Does Romney have a secret plan to deprive Trump of the nomination? And breaking news. A day after the United Nations imposes tough new sanctions, North Korea fires off a salvo of missiles and Kim Jong-Un orders nuclear warheads be ready for use. [Cabrera:] Before the break, we showed you that anger that was shown toward a GOP lawmaker over the proposed repeal of the health care law, Obamacare, without a clear plan to replace it. What you heard at that Florida town hall is being echoed across the country as Republicans meet with their constituents. Here's another look. [Unidentified Male:] Shut the hell up. Shut the hell up. I have to have coverage to make sure that I don't die. [Unidentified Female:] Everyone here has had great points. We all want health care. [Unidentified Male:] Here's the problem I have with the Affordable Health Care Act. There's a provision in there that anyone over the age of 74 has to go before what is effectively a death panel. Yes, they do. Yes, they do. [Unidentified Female:] I am 77 years old and I think it's unconscionable for this politician to tell me that, at 74, I will be facing death panels. Wrong, wrong, wrong. [Unidentified Male:] If you'll be quiet and give me an opportunity, I'll speak. Or would you rather just yell and scream and holler? Is that what you want? OK. Every American should have health care coverage, would you agree? OK. You're wrong. OK, children. All right, children. [Cabrera:] So a lot of that is what happened today in Florida. J.D. Vance joining me again. He's the author of "Hillbilly Elegy, A Memoir of the Family and Culture in Crisis." But we also show clips, J.D., from Utah and Tennessee this week. It's not just limited to Florida. First, your reaction to the anger we see at those town halls? [Vance:] It reminds me of something a friend of mine said earlier on in the health care debate in 2009, which is once you grant an entitlement to health care, to anything else, it's hard to take it away legislatively. What we're seeing is, despite the fact people have concerns and reservations with Obamacare, fundamentally, it extended health care to a large number of people, and those people don't want to see it go away. And so, the Republican strategy has to be about not just taking the law away, it has to be about how do you reform it successfully. And as they're finding out, it's a lot harder to do when you're the party in power and not just in opposition. [Cabrera:] Some would say, they've had six years to figure it out. They're been talking about repealing Obamacare all this time. [Vance:] It's obviously very hard to repeal a law of that magnitude. And I think one of the issues that Republicans are facing is that they can accomplish a lot of things through what's called the budget reconciliation process that only requires a simple majority in the Senate. But to make significant reforms to the American health care system, you need 60 votes in the Senate. And the simple fact is either they need to bring Democrats along or they need to wait a couple of years until they have more Senators. But their current strategy, I think, reflects something that we saw during the 60 years in opposition, which is it's easier to say no to things and more difficult to come to a consensus about what that replacement should be. I think, as a matter of politics, they may well face some backlash if they're unable to enact a significant form of the health care law, which, like I said, is tough for reasons of strategy in the Senate. [Cabrera:] J.D., come to me to Utah. We'll play a clip with Utah's Jason Chaffetz. Remember, this is Utah, a predominantly Republican state. I want to talk about this on the backside. You hear them chanting, "Do your job." Chaffetz has said he doesn't buy much into or read much into what they're saying. He believes these protesters at the town hall are perhaps agitators and he thinks they may simply be Democrats upset over Trump's win and Hillary Clinton's loss. Now, as their representative as well, should he be valuing their input? [Vance:] Well, he certainly should be. And I don't doubt there's at least some retroactive anger, some folks just upset about the fact they lost the election. But if you think about what Jason Chaffetz is saying there, it's similar to what some said about the Tea Party in 2009, that they're a bunch of people paid by the Koch brothers, they're political agitators. The simple fact is that there's real concerns about how we reform the American health care system. I was not a defender of Obamacare. I felt Obamacare had a lot of issues, but it did solve a very important problem of access. And folks have got to realize that you're not going to be able to take health care away without really upsetting a lot of folks. The answer is not repealing Obamacare and not having a replacement, but actually doing the hard legislative work to come up with something better than Obamacare and reforms Obamacare. And unfortunately, if we get trapped in this debate about whether these folks are just upset about the fact they lost the election, we're going to be missing a lot about policies decisions that need to be made over the next few years. [Cabrera:] I want to ask you a personal question, because you're moving back to Ohio to start a non-profit to help battle the opioid addiction issue. I know in Louisville, Kentucky, authorities handled more than 40 overdoses in one day recently, Thursday, also 22 in a day in January. So, what's the number-one thing because I know this issue is important to you. What do you think can be done to help this crisis? [Vance:] Well, I'm going to say there's a couple of things that have to happen. One, there is a health care-access problem, a problem of how you treat people once they're addicted to these really terrible drugs. And unfortunately, we haven't really figured that out in the state of Ohio or anywhere else. It's really hard to treat people who have opioid addictions, but it's something we've got to do and we've got to get better at it. There is an enforcement problem, too. If you look at the biggest drivers, maybe the biggest driver of all of these overdose deaths, it's fentanyl. And it's incredibly in some cases, they're like rhinoceros' tranquilizers, incredibly potent opioids, that coming in either through the southern border or through China. Unfortunately, I think no matter how much you treat addiction effectively, if you continue to have people taking drugs meant for rhinoceroses and elephants, you'll have a significant health problem. We have to deal with the fact that these really, really destructive chemical agents are coming into the communities in the first place. [Cabrera:] In the first place though, people are getting addicted oftentimes prescription drugs coming out of the doctor's office, which leads them to street drugs. J.D. Vance, thank you for your thoughts there. We appreciate it. [Vance:] Thank you. [Cabrera:] Up next, a major player in foreign policy plan, U.S. national security advisor, Michael Flynn, now under fire over revelations he discussed U.S. sanctions with Russia's ambassador. And now there are new details about what he said and when, next. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Cuomo:] There is a superpac. There are meetings and there is a formidable man in the middle of it all. Vice President Joe Biden. Third time a charm for Joe. Running for president again, is he? Mary Foley has been Mary Carey Foley has been friend of the Biden's since the '80s when he was a presidential candidate by then, then she joins us now. Mary Carey, I see the tide rushing in behind you in the picture this morning. Possible metaphor for momentum gathering for Joe Biden. Do you think he will run, Ma'am? [Mary Carey Foley, Longtime Friend Of Joe Biden And Biden Family:] Chris, if he if he follows his heart and he does do what Beau wanted him to do, I believe he will. But, at this point, I really don't know. As close as I am to him, if he will run or not. [Cuomo:] I see you have your American flag on. I can only say that you are in a political mode. I have to suspect that you are lobbying him to run. Mary Carey, why are you lobbying your friend to run third time for president? [Foley:] I'm not really lobbying him to run because I don't want to, you know, push him in any way. You know, anyway. But, I am here I am here for Bo. I'm happy to be here for Bo. And I believe I'm a real good judge of character. I'm an excellent judge of character, Chris. From the first moment I met the vice president back in '85- '86, I believe that he is a man of character. His honesty, his love for this country. His love for his family, which I have admired so much since all this time. [Cuomo:] Now, Mary, obviously my tone is belying the pain that so many of us are feeling who know the Biden's and who know Bo. As the vice president himself says, a man, a woman, as a parent is judged by their children. And you could have no better testament than Beau Biden. We are not lionizing this young man. People think that when you die, everybody only says the good things, he was special. Who knows how far he would have gone. He was deep in his father's hearts. His wants will be just reverberating around Joe Biden's head and heart. How true is it that Beau Biden wanted his father to think seriously about making another run and why? [Foley:] I sincerely believe Beau Biden had that discussion with his father. Maybe Beau worried that his father, after leaving the White House would not find something challenging for him. He worried about his father, maybe mourning him and I know that Beau and I and Hunter and the entire family. My bucket list, which is supposed to be for me. On my bucket list is Joe Biden being president of the United States. My passion for that is so strong. I can't write him a big check, if he decides to run, but I'll match my passion for that money any day. [Cuomo:] Why Joe Biden. Let's put up the numbers with Hillary Clinton. She's got the money, she's got the political leaders, she's got the momentum. Many feels that it's a coronation on that side of the ball. You're looking now, I'll show you the numbers, it says, favorable, unfavorable for Clinton, 40 favorable and 51 unfavorable. Joe is 49-39, they say the key issue could be she's struggling with trust. He's got trust coming out of his ears. What do you think is the key to why he could be successful? [Foley:] His trust. I mean, I would Hillary does have a problem with trust in this country right now. I do believe, when and if he decides to run, Joe will add a new dimension to this race that lacks certainly the trust and the honesty and the character to be president of the United States. I know him that well. I hope he runs, if that's what he wants to do. I am ready to certainly elect him as president of the United States. [Cuomo:] What does your gut tell you, Mary? Does he have the fire in the belly? Is it too much pain that he is dealing with? Has he been in the game too long? Where do you think he is heading his heart of? [Foley:] There's fire in that belly. He's connected. His head is connected to this. To connect the heart and the head. His heart and his head. You know, I spoke to him briefly a few months ago. Certainly well before, you know, Beau passed away. He had the twinkle in his eye. I believe then quite possibly, he was going to throw his hat in to be president. But... [Cuomo:] But of course that was before the family loss Beau and now he is dealing with that. Mary, I appreciate you coming on to explain it at this point. We know you don't want to pressure him. You went on "New Day" on national television so the pressure is implicit. So we'll see what happens. And Mary, we'll back in to you, thanks for being with us. Send our best to the family. [Foley:] OK. Thank you very much, Chris. Bye-bye. [Cuomo:] Mik. [Pereira:] Gun violence is spiraling out of control in Baltimore leaving it in the deadliest month in decades. There's now plan to put federal agents on the street with Baltimore cops. Is that the answer? We'll take a look. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] President Trump says he's almost ready to announce his choice to fill a vacancy on the United States Supreme Court. Here's what he just said a little while ago. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Sometime next week. I'll be making my decision this week. We'll be announcing next week. We have outstanding candidates. And we will pick a truly great Supreme Court justice. But I'll be announcing it sometime next week. [Blitzer:] Sometime next week. Our senior White House correspondent, Jim Acosta, is standing by over at the White House with details. Jim, picking a Supreme Court nominee would be one of the most enduring legacies, considering the nominee is confirmed, of a Trump presidency, which could be four years, eight years. A Supreme Court justice could spend 20, 30, maybe even 40 years on the Supreme Court. It's a life- long position. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Wolf. Courtesy of Republicans in the Senate who blocked President Obama's pick, Merritt Garland, to replace late Justice Antonin Scalia, who died almost a year ago. It was February 13th when Antonin Scalia died. And, Wolf, from what we understand at CNN, talking to sources, there are a couple of pretty conservative judges on his list. William Pryor, who is a judge who said abortion is abominable, he would be a pick that would likely overturn Roe versus Wade. That will send up a big fight with Democrats. Judge Neil Gorsuch is also taking on some interest in the SCOTUS betting pools. He has not weighed in on the abortion fight, which might be something that could work for both Democrats and Republicans. Wolf, we should point out, we're told by the White House that President Trump will be meeting with Senate leaders later on this afternoon, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, and then Senator Chuck Grassley, who is on the Judiciary Committee, along with Dianne Feinstein, who is the ranking Democrat. This is going to be a big test for President Trump. Does he pick someone who can get through the Senate without a huge confirmation fight, or does he want to rumble? That's something we'll find out next week. [Blitzer:] The president also this morning signed more executive actions or orders, including reviving the Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. That clearly puts him on a collision course with environmentalists. That was a campaign commitment he made. Now he's living up to a promise, right? [Acosta:] That's right, Wolf. This is a product of the election. President Obama, as we all know we covered this pretty thoroughly he blocked the Keystone Pipeline, even after the State Department said the project would not contribute significantly to global warming. Donald Trump said during the campaign that he was going to get that project going again. And also, the Dakota Access Pipeline, which has been the subject of numerous protests. There are still protesters out there to this today. President Trump saying he's going to get that project moving. He signed executive orders this morning. He told reporters in the room that he wants to build pipes. "The way they used to back in the old days," is the way he described it. He wants American workers working on these pipelines, building these pipelines, and he made that pretty clear when he signed those executive orders this morning. [Blitzer:] Jim Acosta, we're going to get back to you. We're standing by. Sean Spicer, the White House Press Secretary's briefing is about to begin. We'll have coverage of that. I quickly want to get back to the Senate Finance Committee. Claire McCaskill is asking some tough questions of Congressman Price. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] As you know, we've had a tremendous amount of activity here in the last 24 hours. Really focused on the American worker, buy America and hire America is at the core of the president's plan to create an economy that works for everyone. And I think by every indication, you've seen that focus in the past 24 and 36 hours. Before we begin going through the events of today, I wanted to start off with a quick rundown of all that the president and his administration have done with just one official working day under our belts. I don't know about everyone else, but I think it's been a pretty impressive first and second full days here. President Trump's meetings yesterday with top business and union leaders, including frontline union workers, went very well and I think was a signal to every American worker that jobs and the economy are truly the president's top priority. A few of the participants noted afterwards in each one of these groups that we meet with that this was the first time, in some cases ever, that they've been reached out to. In almost every case, the first time they were invited into the Oval Office. And I really think that when you look at the level of concern and interest that he has in the American worker, it's been clearly on display in the last 24, 36 hours. In addition to these productive meetings, the president also took major steps towards fulfilling some of his biggest campaign promises to the American people. He ushered in a new era of U.S. trade policy by withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement and restored respect for taxpayers by instituting a hiring freeze on the executive branch. He also reaffirmed his commitment to life by re- establishing the Mexico City Policy. And the president ended his day yesterday with a bipartisan, bicameral meeting of congressional leaders where he made it clear that he expects there to be no delay in getting an agenda his agenda through Congress and action out of Washington. This morning, the president began his day with a breakfast listening to key automobile executives. They spoke about the importance of increasing manufacturing capabilities specific to the automotive industry. They touched on the need for regulatory reform and modernized safety standards, which will advance the industry leading technology and job creation here in the United States. I think you've been briefed on the attendees, but real quickly; Mary Barra was the is the head of General Motors was here; former Governor Matt Blunt, president of the American Automotive Policy Council; Mark Fields of Ford; Craig Glidden of General Motors; Roger Carr of Fiat Chrysler; Sergio Marchionne of Fiat Chrysler; Zio Jockey, the head of Government Affairs for Ford. And then from the administration, Jared Kushner was on hand, Reince Priebus, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller, Gary Cohen and Hope Hicks. Then the president signed a series of executive actions that will move our country towards energy independence, but more importantly, really continue to get Americans back to work. The president started by signing a memorandum to fulfilling a major promise to secure swift approval for the Keystone pipeline. The memorandum invites TransCanada to resubmit their proposal, and directs agencies to approve it without delay. There's an energy revolution that's going to happen in this country. And in spite of the bureaucratic and political barriers that have been in place in the past, we're ready to move forward. Oil and gas production is up significantly in the last decade, and our imports have been cut in half. The president's actions today will create tens of thousands of new jobs for the American workers, and move us greater toward energy independence, while at the same time ensuring that we keep the environment as a top priority. The president also signed in a memorandum regarding the Dakota Access pipeline. This memorandum directs agencies to expedite reviews and approvals for the remaining portions of this pipeline, which the previous administration held up for political reasons. The $3.8 billion pipeline, already 90 percent complete, will carry over 500,000 barrels a day of crude oil from areas in North Dakota to oil markets in the U.S. And in both of these areas, as the president remarked this morning, he's going to ensure that we continue to negotiate both areas to provide the best deal for the American taxpayer. The president signed an executive order establishing a framework for expediting environmental reviews for high-priority infrastructure projects, delays in other inefficiencies in the environmental review and permitting process are severely impeding critical important projects that will help us re-modernize and rebuild our nation's infrastructure. This order will help put an end to the crippling delays caused by bureaucratic red tape. The president also signed a memorandum requiring the Commerce secretary to submit a report recommending how best to streamline manufacturing permitting. The president has been hearing from manufacturing manufacturers, rather, that excessive regulation are driving them out of the U.S. As part of his commitment to making America work again, the president has directed the Commerce secretary to reach out to manufacturers and the public to identify regulations that are hurting them from moving forward. The president also signed a memorandum directing the Commerce secretary to lead a study looking into building the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines, as well as any other future pipeline with U.S. made steel and pipe and accessories. This is the first step, and the president really delivered on his campaign promise to put American steel back at the backbone of the U.S. economy. The U.S. has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing base since 1997. Even though the country's population has increased by 50 million people. We're going to rebuild our infrastructure, and we're going to do it with American workers and with American resources. As many of you recall, the buy American theme was a major part of the president's inaugural address. This is clearly an immediate action and extension of that promise that he made to the American people last Friday. We sorely need these infrastructure jobs. According to the National Association of Manufacturers, without improvements to our transportation systems, "the United States will lose more than 2.5 million jobs by 2025." Creating jobs and boosting wages is the president's top priority and it has been made very clear over the past 36 hours this is an area where he's taking immediate action. At 1:00 the president will is was speaking with Indian Prime Minister Modi. We'll have a readout as soon as that's available. If we can get it to you during the briefing, we will. This afternoon the president will hold a bipartisan meeting with key Senate leadership, including the majority leader, the minority leader, the majority whip and the minority whip to discuss his nomination for associate justice of the United States Supreme Court. As he noted earlier today, he intends to have a decision by the end of the week and an announcement early next week. The president has made it incredibly clear that he will appoint justices who protect our liberty and hold the highest regards for the Constitution. He continues to carefully consider potential future justices based on the commitment to upholding these principles. This meeting is an important opportunity for the president to consult with Senate leaders from both sides of the aisle on his potential choices for the bench. As you may have heard, Speaker Ryan extended an invitation to the president to address a joint session of Congress on Feb. 28. I'm pleased to inform you that the president has accepted that invitation, and he looks forward to sharing his plans for moving the country forward. I have a feeling by the time we get to Feb. 28 we will have a lot to talk about. It was great to see the nominations of Dr. Carson, Sec. Chao, Mr. Ross and Gov. Haley were advanced out of committee today. Just as a reminder, by the end of the first week of President Obama's first week in office he had 12. So, Senate's got a little catching up to do. And I hope the Senate Democrats do their job and help us catch up to that number. One quick follow-up on our storm relief efforts that have plagued the Southeast, White House staff is in touch with officials in the states, and will continue to provide assistance to the recovery. A FEMA team is on the ground in Atlanta, Georgia to support response and recovery activities. FEMA liaison officers have been deployed to emergency support centers in both Mississippi and Georgia for response activities. With that, I'd be glad to take a few questions. Jim Stenson, [inaudible]. [Question:] Today immigration enforcement organizations and activists expressed concern that they haven't seen immediate action on EACA and EHEA, and I was just wondering that was a key campaign plan of President Trump on the campaign trail. When can it when can the people expect action on on that? It wouldn't require it would only require stopping to renewing the applications. It wouldn't actually be retroactive in this, anyway. So what's the holdup? [Spicer:] Well, as I think I mentioned yesterday, I think when it comes to immigration and the promises that the president made during the campaign to both ensure that we build a wall and enforce our southern border, as well as reform our entire immigration system, his priority is first and foremost focused on people who pose a threat to people in our country, to criminals, frankly. And that's where he wants ICE to focus their efforts. With respect to DACA, I think he's continuing to make sure that his cabinet level team starts to organize and create a plan to move forward with respect to that issue, and that's that's where we are right now. David Jackson? [Question:] Sean, there's a there are stories out there that the EPA officials have been gagged from talking to the press, talking to the media. Basically it's the gag order. It's the same kind of thing we had from the interior department over the weekend. First of all, is that true? And secondly, why is that being done, if it is? [Spicer:] Well, I don't know. That story, literally, is breaking as we were entering the briefing room. We're looking into it. I don't think it's any surprise that when there's an administration turnover, that we're going to review the policies. But with respect to the question you're asking, I don't have any information at this time. We asked the team to go look into it as we were entering the briefing room. If I have an update while we're here, I'll be glad to get back to you. [Question:] What about the interior department? Did they have the same kind of thing over the weekend? Supposedly, they were banned from tweets? [Spicer:] I I I read that. My understanding is, is that because they had inappropriately violated their own social media policies, there was guidance that was put out to the department to act in compliance with the rules that were set forth. Steve Holland. [Question:] Oh. In signing the orders on Keystone and Dakota access this morning, he said he would like to renegotiate some of the terms. What exactly was he talking about there? [Spicer:] That's a great question, Steve. I think one of the things that the American people clearly know about Donald Trump is he's a successful businessman, and a successful negotiator. And as he looks at these deals, what he's trying to ensure is that these these projects that are great in the sense they're going to create jobs and help our economy, but in a lot of cases, they're going to make these organizations a lot of money. And what he's ensuring is that the American taxpayer gets the best deal possible. So he's asking his team to review those deals, and to make sure that if we're going to do all of these things to expedite these projects that go over or under a piece of, you know, U.S. soil, that the American taxpayer is considered in this process, and that we get the best deal for our country not just in terms of jobs, and future economic growth, and a little bit more energy security, but also in terms of making sure that the taxpayers at large who own some of these lands or access to these lands and waters and rivers, in case of Dakota are get [sic] the best deal possible. Charlie Sparing. [Question:] As you know, the March for Life is on Friday, and President George W. Bush had a tradition of addressing the marchers through a phone call on the mall. Will he be will the president be continuing that tradition on Friday? [Spicer:] I know Kellyanne is going to attend the event. I think we're still working through details, but we'll we'll have further for you on the president's potential participation in that. I think it's no secret the president has campaigned as a pro-life president. It's something that is very important to him, as evidenced by the Mexico City policy reinstatement that he issued yesterday. Obviously, we're going to have heavy administration presence there. It's no secret that that this administration and this president are going to do what they can to fight for life. What the exact participation level of the president we'll we'll find out whether it's a greeting of some sort, or a call. I'll have a further optic for you. Cecilia? [Question:] Does the president believe that millions voted illegally in this election? And what evidence do you have of widespread voter fraud in this election, if that's the case? [Spicer:] The president does believe that. He has stated that before. I think he's stated his concerns of voter fraud, and and people voting illegally during the campaign, and he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence that people have presented to him. [Question:] But exactly what evidence? [Spicer:] I I feel [Question:] Even Ryan said there's no evidence. The National Association of Secretaries of State say that they don't agree with the president's assessmen. What evidence do you have? [Spicer:] As I said, I think the president has believed that for a while based on studies and information he has. John Roberts? [Question:] In the waning hours of the Obama administration, they quietly transferred a lot of money out of the country, including $221 million to the Palestinian Authority. Does the president is the president OK with that transfer? And if he is not, would he seek to claw-back some of that money? [Spicer:] Well, I think when it comes to how U.S. taxpayer money is spent in general, whether it's overseas or here at home, you've seen through the hiring freeze and other actions that he's going to take you know, I just mentioned to Steve, I mean, he is very concerned about how taxpayer money is spent; whether it's sent overseas and what what we get for it in terms of the relationship or our support for democracy or aid to another country for their defenses. But he's going to be examining all aspects of the budget and how we look at all money. Because I think that there is a new-found respect for how the American people's tax dollars are spent in this administration. And I think with his background as it is as a businessman, and one who scrutinizes projects to bring them under budget, on time, he's bringing that business acumen to the White House to the benefit of the American taxpayer. [Question:] Is he OK with that particular... [Spicer:] I I don't think I want to go any further, to say that he is going to make sure that every deal, every dollar that is spent on behalf of the by the government is done in a way that respects the American taxpayer. [Question:] Sean, when you were talking about that voter fraud, are you going to ask for an investigation? Is the White House going to formally ask for a probe into [inaudible]? [Spicer:] I think we he won very handily with 306 electoral votes, 33 states. He's very comfortable with his win. But I think... [Question:] ... trouble him if he's bringing it up... [Spicer:] I think he was having a discussion with some folks and mentioned something in passing, which has been a long-standing belief that he's maintained. This isn't the first time that you've heard this concern of his. [Question:] It's not, but I think it's worth clarifying were there illegal ballots or illegal... [Spicer:] I think there's been studies. There's one that came out of Pew in 2008 that showed 14 percent of people who voted were non- citizens. There's other studies that have been presented to him. It's a belief he maintains. I mean... [Question:] ... counted improperly, as Dick Durbin said the president personally told him last night. It was that the people who voted... [Spicer:] ... an answer. It's a belief that he's maintained for a while, a concern that he has about voter fraud. And that's based on information that's provided. [Question:] Thanks, Sean. Following President Trump's executive actions earlier today, is he concerned about large-scale protests around the construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, like we saw at Standing Rock? And how will he address the concerns of those who oppose those plans? [Spicer:] I think he is going to make sure that he is looking or working with all parties involved. That's part of to Steve's question there's a way that you can continue to negotiate that, whether it's the Native Americans, concerns that they have on some of the lands in the Dakota pipeline. You're 93 percent there with Dakota. And I think that the president has shown through his business life that he knows how to negotiate a great deal where parties come out ahead. And he's willing to sit down with all of the individuals that are involved in the Dakota pipeline to make sure that it's a deal that benefits all of the parties of interest, or at least gets them something [inaudible] we want. So that's part of it. We'll stick with the M's for a while. [Question:] I'd like to ask you about Jim Comey, but I also very quickly want to follow up on [inaudible] question about the pipelines and the renegotiation. The president I think sort of suggested that some of those renegotiations might renegotiations might already be happening or that they would start happening. And I'm just wondering if you can clarify, like, are the mechanisms for that set? Have those discussions already begun? [Spicer:] Well, he just signed the executive order today. And part of it was that as he moves these things forward, he wants to make sure that he gets the best deal for the American taxpayer and works with the parties involved to ensure that people who might have concerns have an opportunity to come back to the table and see if there's there's a way to... [Question:] ... still being fleshed out... [Spicer:] Yes. [Question:] ... the negotiations have not started again? [Spicer:] Yes. That's correct. [Question:] ... what I wanted to ask was, could you make it official what has been reported by U.S. officials all day long, which is that the president has asked [inaudible] wants Jim Comey [inaudible] and that Jim Comey has told him he will stay on. Did they discuss kind of the Russia investigation and the parameters of that? [Spicer:] I don't have anything for you. I don't know what the status is. I'll have to follow up with the president. [Question:] OK. Just a question about the executive the hiring freeze yesterday. [Spicer:] Yes? [Question:] It doesn't exempt the V.A. And there are 41,500 unfilled medical jobs at the V.A., which is really an extremely large number. [Spicer:] Right. [Question:] The V.A. is one of his top priorities. [Spicer:] Right. [Question:] So... [Spicer:] Remember, it's a freeze. And part of it is to ensure hold on. But part of it is to get our V.A. secretary in there and to figure out how we can best because hiring people when you have a system that's not working, and then just going out and hiring additional people, doesn't seem to be the most efficient way of solving the problem. [14:00:] [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Ahead this hour, firings and infighting. Turmoil within the Donald Trump transition team. [Sesay:] Barack Obama tours Europe for the last time as president. And he has a warning about the politics of fear. [Vause:] And the hunt for al-Baghdadi. New clues in the search for the elusive leader of [Isis. Sesay:] Hello, and welcome to our viewers around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. [Vause:] I'm John Vause. Great to have you with us for the third hour of [Newsroom L.a. Sesay:] U.S. president-elect Donald Trump is disputing allegations of turmoil among his transition team. He tweeted Tuesday the process is, quote, "very organized," and only he knows who the finalists are for top Cabinet posts. [Vause:] Sources tell CNN Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner is at the center of the infighting. CNN's Sara Murray has this report. [Sara Murray, Cnn Politics Correspondent:] Tonight Donald Trump and his VP Mike Pence huddling at Trump Tower to bring some order to a transition team already facing signs of disarray. Sources involved in the transition telling CNN there are internal disagreements over some top level Cabinet positions. Adding to the confusion, lingering questions about who's calling the shots, as newly-named chief strategist Steve Bannon, chief of staff Reince Priebus, and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, all weigh in on the transition process. As Trump received his first presidential daily brief today, a National Security roundup of threats and intelligence developments, he'll have one less experienced hand to turn to. Former House Intelligence Committee chairman and CNN contributor Mike Rogers, who served as a National Security adviser on Trump's transition team, was ousted on Monday. The ouster of Mike Rogers, the second major shakeup for the transition team after New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was demoted on Friday. [Donald Trump , President-elect Of The United States:] I want to give a very special thanks to our former mayor, Rudy Giuliani. He's unbelievable. [Murray:] One area of contention, secretary of state. Sources say former New York mayor and close Trump confidant, Rudy Giuliani, is a leading candidate for the job. But others are pushing for former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton. [Rudy Giuliani, Former Mayor Of New York City:] John would be a very good choice. [Unidentified Male:] Is there anybody better? [Giuliani:] Maybe me. I don't know. [Murray:] Giuliani is hardly keeping his ambitions hidden, but his international business ties, like doing business with Qatar and lobbying Citgo, a U.S. subsidiary of the Venezuelan oil conglomerate, could complicate his confirmation hearing. Meanwhile, Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions is already under consideration for a high profile position, such as secretary of Defense or attorney general. [Giuliani:] Well, first of all, I won't be attorney general. [Unidentified Male:] You won't be attorney general? [Giuliani:] So good. I won't have to decide that one, thank God. [Unidentified Male:] OK. You made that clear. [Giuliani:] If I could escape I can escape that one. [Unidentified Male:] I should ask Jeff Sessions that question, should I? [Giuliani:] Wouldn't be a bad idea. But I don't know who's going to be attorney general. [Murray:] He spent 13 years in the U.S. Army Reserves and was the first senator to endorse Trump for president. [Sen. Jeff Sessions , Alabama:] At this time in Americans' history, we need to make America great again. [Murray:] Another name Pence is looking to add to consideration for Defense secretary, Arkansas senator and U.S. Army combat veteran Tom Cotton. Today Trump is also turning his eye to who should serve as Treasury secretary. Trump campaign finance chair and former Goldman Sachs banker Steven Mnuchin, Texas Congressman Jeb Hensarling, or perhaps J.P. Morgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon. Amid transition planning, Trump's still finding time to troll his opponents on social media, tweeting about losing the popular vote, "If the election were based on total popular vote, I would have campaigned in New York, Florida and California and won even bigger and more easily." Trump then calling the electoral college genius after he tweeted just four years ago, "The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy." [On Camera] Now yet another high-ranking source in the Trump transition effort insists that everything is organized, everything is going according to plan but Donald Trump continues to write his own rule book when it comes to transition. The president-elect actually going missing on Tuesday night as he ditched his press pool and decided to go out to dinner without really letting anyone know. Sara Murray, CNN, New York. [Vause:] And as you heard in Sara's report, former U.S. congressman Mike Rogers is no longer part of the Trump transition team and he spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Chairman Rogers, I mean, there are differing accounts as to what led your to your exit from the transition team. There some who are saying it was your choice, others are saying you were forced out. Can you explain what happened? [Mike Rogers, Cnn National Security Commentator:] The timing was probably right. If they wanted to make a change, they clearly wanted to make a change in this regard, and so it came down that it was time they wanted to go in a different direction. It was easy for me to hand it off to Mike Pence and his capable hands coming in. So I think that was kind of a combination. I think there is some confusion going on about a chain of command coming out of New York. Hopefully, they'll get that settled pretty soon. I think they're going to need to do it because as this clock ticks, all of these decisions become more important and you have to make them sooner with a little more authority and a little more forward thinking to make sure that they don't bump into anything in the future. I think they're going to get there. I'm an optimist about that. [Cooper:] When you talk about confusion coming out of New York, what do you mean? I mean, is it a difference of kind of vision? There's obviously, you know, Steve Bannon kind of wing, I guess, you could say, there's Reince Priebus as chief of staff. I mean, there's can you define the sort of the various arms here or kind of perspectives? [Rogers:] Well, I mean, I'm an old school guy, Anderson. I think, you know, your chief of staff has to be the one or whatever title you want to give them, needs to be the one making decisions. They need to be held accountable for those decisions, but you need someone that can clearly make a decision. If you make those decisions via a committee, I don't care how small it is, it just adds to the difficulty. And I think they're going to get through this. Again, remember, this is all kind of new. There's a lot of folks that don't have any experience in what this might look like. And that's no fault to theirs. As a matter of fact, in many ways, it's a plus coming into Washington, D.C. But that's what the problem is. There's a little bit of a vacuum in clear chains of command. That will get fixed. I think this is just growing pains. I think people are saying it's in turmoil and collapsing. I don't believe any of that. I do believe that they just have to fix this chain of command, who's making the decisions, and make the decisions on behalf of the president-elect and nothing more than that. [Sesay:] Mike Rogers there trying to [Vause:] He was being very diplomatic in the words that he was using. [Sesay:] Yes. [Vause:] Which is understandable. [Sesay:] Let's see what happens. U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan is back in the good graces of President- elect Donald Trump and rank-and-file Republicans. His party nominated him for re-election Tuesday. They will vote in January. [Vause:] Ryan butted heads with Trump repeatedly during the presidential campaign. Now he says he's ready to work together. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] We're on the same page with our president-elect. I talk with Donald Trump virtually every single day. I spoke with Mike Pence this morning. We are on the same page. We're working hand in glove and we're going to make sure that this is a very successful administration. But more importantly, we're going to make sure that the voices we heard from this election from the American people are acted upon. [Vause:] Meantime, U.S. House Democrats are delaying a vote on their leadership for another two weeks. The party is trying to figure out why they lost the presidency and came up short in Congress. That means Nancy Pelosi's job as House minority leader could be in jeopardy. [Sesay:] She has held the job for more than a decade, but she downplayed the delay, saying it doesn't mean very much. So far no one has challenged Pelosi's leadership. [Vause:] The Senate's top Democrat Harry Reid is joining the long list of critics blasting Donald Trump for choosing Steve Bannon as White House chief strategist. [Sesay:] On Tuesday Reid called the former head of the far-right Breitbart news a champion of white supremacy and is urging Trump to rescind his appointment. [Sen. Harry Reid , Majority Leader:] Healing the wounds he'd inflicted will take more than words. Talk is cheap and tweets are cheaper. Healing wounds is going to take action. But so far, Mr. President, rather than healing these wounds Trump's actions have deepened them. If Trump is serious about seeking unity, the first thing he should do is rescind his appointment of Steve Bannon. Rescind it. Don't do it. As long as a champion of racial division is a step away from the Oval Office, it will be impossible to take Trump's efforts to heal the nation seriously. [Sesay:] Well, U.S. president Barack Obama is inviting world leaders to heed lessons from the presidential election. [Vause:] At a news conference in Athens he said Trump used what he called troubling rhetoric about which stirred anxiety about globalization. Mr. Obama also warned against populist movements based on fear. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I do believe separate and apart from any particular election or movement that we are going to have to guard against a rise in a crude sort of nationalism or ethnic identity or tribalism that is built around an us and a them. [Sesay:] Well, CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is following President Obama's trip, he joins us now Athens, Greece with more. Nic, good to have you with us. Nic, talk to us about how the election of Donald Trump is changing the tone of President Obama's last foreign trip. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Yes, it's certainly changed the perception of it. Particularly among the sort of White House press team traveling with him. And also perhaps the European leaders that he was expecting to meet. This trip has been on the books before the outcome of the election last week. So the original expectation was that President Obama would come, it would sort of you know, he's coming here to Greece, the seat of democracy, to talk about democracy and applaud Greece for helping with refugees and chide other European leaders into doing more as well to support Italy and Germany to take on more of the refugees streaming out of the Middle East, particularly Syria. But what it's turned into is something where President Obama finds himself explaining Donald Trump, explaining why he believes if you will he lost the election or at least Hillary Clinton lost the election, and explaining what he understands about what Donald Trump's future relationship President-elect Donald Trump's future relationships will be with European countries. European leaders are very concerned and worried about what to expect from Donald Trump. So I think that explains why you heard some of the language that we heard yesterday, you were just playing right there. President Obama is saying that he understood the fears and concerns but he felt Donald Trump had or Republicans in particular had tapped into those fear and concerns using less than truths and that the path he wants to put the country on or some Republicans want to put the country on is potentially divisive. And that's not what he believes the future of the United States should be or will be in the long term. So you sort of found him there almost being on the defensive and people looking to pick up on what he can say about Donald Trump less than what he might have said here to the Greeks about debt relief, which of course is a big issue for them. [Sesay:] Yes. Indeed. And President Obama also saying on Tuesday we are proud to count Greece as one of our closest allies and one of our greatest friends. Are there concerns in Greece about what the U.S.- Greek relationship will look like under a Trump administration? [Robertson:] There are concerns at multiple levels. Certainly what President Obama heard from the Greek prime minister yesterday was, you know, a hope and a desire that the United States, President Obama when he goes to Berlin later this week, will speak strongly with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, who many Greeks see as really the sort of strength behind the architecture of the of Greece's debt payback plan and pitch that there should be more debt relief. There will be a concern going forward that Donald Trump wouldn't act in the same way, wouldn't have the same instincts over the European Union importance of Greece. Greece also concerned about the future of NATO, you know, Europeans' relationship with the United States as part of NATO going forward. It is, if you will, a fully paid up member. It's one of only five of the 28 NATO nations that spends as they should, as is mandated, 2 percent of GDP on defense. It's very important given their relationship and history with Turkey that NATO is strong. That's a concern. And also the concerns economically going forward that the United States shares that they don't want to see too much outside investment from Asia, from the gulf, into Greece as Greece has been forced to sell off some of its sort of larger state assets, ports and such like, that that would be detrimental to the EU, detrimental to the U.S. interests. Are they going to get that same level of understanding and therefore help on the European stage from Donald Trump? And the concern is the answer might be no. [Sesay:] Nic Robertson joining us there from Athens, Greece with a view of President Obama's trip to that country. Nic, we appreciate it. Thank you so much. [Vause:] Well, East Aleppo is again being hit by heavy air strikes, leaving hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped and running out of supplies. Details just ahead. [Sesay:] Plus militia forces in Iraq say they know where a high-profile ISIS leader is hiding. The search for Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, next. [Paul:] Rest this weekend for Bernie Sanders. He is campaigning hard for the biggest prize, [Blackwell:] Yes. Sanders holds two rallies today in the Golden State. His focus lately has been less on Hillary Clinton and more on Donald Trump including how and why Trump backed out of Sanders' debate challenge. Our Dan Simon has more for us. [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Bernie Sanders doesn't seem to care that Hillary Clinton has what appears to be an insurmountable lead when it comes to the delegate math. He is campaigning hard in California. He had this event at Santa Barbara City College. He is calling California the most important battle in this primary season. Right now the polls show a statistical dead heat. Secretary Clinton's lead has now essentially vanished. Now, one of the lines that seem to draw the biggest applause had to do with Donald Trump. As we know, Bernie Sanders challenged Trump to a debate. Trump seemed open to it then changed his mind. This is what Sanders had to say. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] Trump initially said yes. Then he said no. Then he said yes. Then he said no. So I think for a guy who changes his position so many times, I would hope he would change it one more time and say yes. [Simon:] Now, if somehow Sanders can win the primary on June 7th in California, it would certainly strengthen his argument that super delegates should come over to his side. Of course that is a far- fetched scenario. The more realistic scenario is that it would give him more leverage when it comes to the party's platform at the convention in Philadelphia. [Paul:] So let's about what's happening with Harlan Hill, democratic strategist and Sanders' supporter. And Kevin Scott, republican strategist and Trump supporter back with us here. So I want to talk first about, Kevin, about this tweet from Donald Trump, one of the latest where he writes, "Don't believe the biased and phony media quoting people who work for my campaign. The only quote that matters is a quote from me." So we've heard, you know, Donald Trump say he's going to appoint some of the best people, some of the smartest people to be in his administration, are we going to if, hypothetically, Trump does win and he's in the White House, are we going to hear from those people? Are they going to have some sort of a voice or are they going to be, we have to wait to hear from him? [Kevin Scott, Republican Strategist:] Well, I think the truth is we don't know because it really depends on Donald Trump rewriting the rules as he has continued to do. I mean, when his spokespeople says what he likes he says that what they say is right and then when they don't he says only listen to him. I think when he's president, if he is, things will have to be different. He is going to have a cabinet. He's going to have people speaking on serious issues. And I think that's some of the things we were talking about a few minutes ago. Bob Dole is pressing him to change a little bit because some of the tactics that have worked on the campaign trail this far will not work if he's the president ultimately. [Paul:] Do you agree with that as a supporter of his that there are going to have to be some [Scott:] Well, I think absolutely. I mean, the tone and tenor of the campaign is going to have to shift a little bit. [Paul:] And do you trust that it will? [Scott:] I think that's up to the American people to decide. And I think you're going to see right now he is surging in polls as I don't think people ultimately love Donald Trump that much. I think they dislike Hillary Clinton so much, they don't trust her. They're looking at what's happening on the Democratic side and saying their process is rig and that really is helping Donald Trump. [Paul:] We're going to talk about that in a minute. But I do want to talk about Bernie Sanders here too this morning. He's on the "Meet the Press" and he's warning Hillary Clinton that her pick for running mate will be critical for winning over his supporters. Listen to this. [Sanders:] That means having a candidate who can excite working families, excite young people, bring them into the political process, create a large voter turnout. And when we do that we're going to win the election. So I would hope if I'm not the nominee, that the vice presidential candidate will not be from Wall Street, will be somebody who has a history of standing up and fighting for working families. [Paul:] OK. So obviously credit where credit is due, he was asked a question and he answered it. For that certainly kudos. But Harlan, I'm wondering. For a man who has vowed to stay in this race all the way through the convention, he is not backing up why would he have a conversation and give thoughts as to who the vice president should be if Hillary Clinton is the nominee? [Harlan Hill, Democratic Strategist:] Well, I think he's actually is really speaking to a screen of thought amongst the Democrats, non- Clinton Democrats, that Hillary Clinton needs to really pay more than just lip service to Sanders supporters and people who are discontent with the establishment. I mean frankly we remember that she has a 30-year track record of lies, deceit and fraud. She's an incredibly flawed candidate. That people just don't trust when you look at the polling. You know, we remember her stance on NAFTA and TPP before he changed it. We remember that she enabled a sexual predator, her husband, for decades and his misbehavior and mistreatment of women. And so it's more than [Paul:] So there are a lot of people that support her too. It's not as though he has this thing wrapped up. He has this nomination wrapped. [Hill:] Yes. Sure. Absolutely. [Paul:] He's vowed to fight to the end. So I'm just wondering why he would even entertain that thought. [Hill:] Well, to be honest I mean, he continued to fight to the end. And I think that he is he may be the last man standing if she's indicted which is not a foregone conclusion, but we'll see. [Paul:] Well, yes no. [Hill:] No. I mean, it's certainly possible you know [Paul:] It's OK. [Hill:] At this point I think that she [Paul:] At this point anything is possible, isn't it? I think a lot of us would say that. Hey, I do have some sound I'd like both of you to listen to. [Hill:] You just really glossed over that. I mean, this is like a central issue in this campaign. Donald Trump is going to make it. I mean, make it won in the fall. And so as Democrats I think that we should be talking about that. She has the blood of the American ambassador on her hand. [Paul:] Nobody has glossed over it. It has been talked about. I want to make sure that when I I've got some sound I want to get to and I want to get your opinion on this too before we run out of time. Last night in Florida the libertarian party candidates held a debate. Listen to the moment when they were asked which is the lesser of two evils, Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. [Unidentified Male:] As between the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, which is the most anti-freedom, anti-libertarian or put in another way, from a libertarian point of view, which is the lesser of two evils? [Gary Johnson, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] That's a slam-dunk. No. They're both equally you know, they equally have their warts. [Kevin Mccormick, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] They're really just two wings of the same bird. And one wing loves war and socialism and stimulus and bailouts. And the other one who loves welfare and corporatism. [Marc Allan Feldman, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] Hillary Clinton said that Donald Trump was not qualified to be president. Donald Trump said that Hillary Clinton is not qualified to be president. For the first time I think they're both right. [John Mcafee, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] The lesser of two evils is still evil. What we are dealing with what we are dealing with are two machines. That's all they are. They have no heart. They have no soul. [Darryl Perry, Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] Both equally evil. And to ask which one is the lesser of two evils is like asking which is my favorite STD. I don't have one. [Paul:] OK. Your reaction, Kevin, first of all to that. [Scott:] Yes. I mean, obviously they're not a big fan of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. Here's the truth. You would think with such my negatives for both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump that a serious third-party challenger would have a shot. Right now the libertarian front-runner is looking like Gary Johnson. This is a guy that on paper should be a great candidate but in all practicality he is politically unpopular. He just doesn't have what it takes to be president. And even though you would think they could have a serious shot this time I think you're going to see the libertarians fall flat again. They've got one percent nationally last time, maybe two or three percent at best this time. They just don't have the candidates and the charisma that it takes to really to run on the national [Paul:] They are pulling much higher though this time around than they were before. Harlan, I want to give you a chance to react to that and to the polls that we know show unfavorables in the 50th percentile and above for both candidates. [Hill:] Without question, I mean, it'not a good place to be in if you're Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. I'm looking at the distrust numbers too equally bad for them. But you know, to Kevin's point, I mean, there really isn't a viable third-party option. And if there's not a viable third-party option this go around, I don't see when it ever happens in American politics. [Paul:] All right. Harlan Hill, Kevin Scott, appreciate both of you being here with us this morning. Thank you. [Hill:] Thank you. [Blackwell:] Former presidential candidate Marco Rubio said he might have to run for re-election for the Senate if his close friend former lieutenant governor had not entered the race but he would have. In an interview with "STATE OF THE UNION" host Jake Tapper, Rubio also spoke about Donald Trump. Jake? [Jake Tapper, Cnn Host, State Of The Union:] Victor and Christi, just a few weeks ago former presidential candidate Marco Rubio was still unsure whether he or not he would even attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland this July. He earned 167 delegates during the primary this year. And he still holds them until he officially releases them. In an exclusive interview with "STATE OF THE UNION" he tells me his plans for Cleveland and the convention. [Tapper:] When you last spoke, you said that you were not yet sure what you were doing, if you were even attending the Republican Convention in Cleveland. Have you made a decision? [Sen. Marco Rubio , Florida:] Yes. My sense is I'm going to go to the convention. [Tapper:] You are? [Rubio:] And I'll I don't know if I'll have a role in the convention, but I have a lot of people going there that were supporters [Tapper:] But if Donald Trump asked you to speak on his behalf, you would do so? [Rubio:] Yes. I want to be helpful. I don't want to be harmful, because I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president. Look, my policy differences with Donald Trump, I spent 11 months talking about them. So I think they're well understood. That said, I don't want to be I don't want Hillary Clinton to be president. If there's something I can do to help that from happening and it's helpful to the cause I'd most certainly be honored to be considered for that. [Tapper:] Are you planning on releasing your delegates? [Rubio:] Yes, in fact, we basically, technically have already, because Donald is going to have the majority number. And at a point it will be irrelevant. So if we haven't done so already we will. [Tapper:] Rubio obviously mincing no words with me about Trump despite misgivings on some policy and politics and the candidate's temperament, but he will certainly stand with his party this fall perhaps with an eye on his own future within the GOP, Victor and Christi. [Paul:] All right. Hey, Jake, thank you so much. [Blackwell:] And catch Jake Tapper's full interview with Marco Rubio this morning at 9:00 Eastern right here on [Cnn. Paul:] A key American ally accused of beating two Americans held in prison, a judge is due to reveal their fate tomorrow. Jon Jensen is in Abu Dhabi following this story. Hi, John. [Jon Jensen, Cnn Producer:] A father and son in prison in UAE for nearly two years and now claims of torture and forced confessions. [Blackwell:] Plus, we speak to one of the first combat wounded veterans to summit Mt. Everest why he took on that challenge. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] From CNN world headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. A very good day to you. We begin this hour with the race for the White House and the political storm that is brewing in the United States. With less than a week before voters cast ballots in the states of South Carolina and Nevada, presidential candidates from both parties are very busy on the campaign trail trying to sway voters in contentious races. And now the death of a Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, it has raised the stakes, with both parties keenly aware that filling this vacancy could tip the balance of the court. Democrats are vying for support from African-American voters. Republicans continue courting evangelicals. Now the big question that is looming over the campaigns: Who will President Obama nominate for the court? And what will Republicans do about it? That is especially true in the state of South Carolina where Republicans have just come from a very contentious debate there. Phil Mattingly reports from the primary battleground. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Marco Rubio, one of the only candidates on the trail here on Sunday, just a little bit after that rousing debate that was equal parts brawl and exchange of ideas. Rubio's team thinking he did very well in that debate. That's no small thing in the wake of New Hampshire where a disappointing fifth- place finish was due in part to a very poor debate performance. The issue on the campaign trail on Sunday, no different than the leading issue in that debate, who will be the next Supreme Court justice and who will get the pick? Here's what Rubio said in South Carolina. [Sen. Marco Rubio, , Florida & Presidential Candidate:] There is no way the Senate should confirm anyone that Barack Obama tries to appoint in his last year in office to a lifetime appointment. [Rubio:] So the next president of the United States will fill that vacancy. [Mattingly:] Rubio sounding just like the rest of the Republican Senators in his conference, saying President Obama will get no chance to move his nominee, whoever that may be, through the United States Senate. Now Rubio has a very important week of campaigning ahead. The South Carolina based campaign team, a lot of pros according to South Carolina analysts down here. Still a lot of ground to make up. Donald Trump with double-digit leads not only in South Carolina but across the country. Rubio hoping to cut into the lead this week. A strong performance in South Carolina his team hopes will bolster his campaign forward as this campaign moves along. Rubio trying to get back the momentum he had in the wake of the big Iowa finish. [Howell:] That was Phil Mattingly reporting for us. As for the Democrats, even though the president says he will nominate a replacement for Antonin Scalia, the issue will still play a very heavy role in Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy moving forward. CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen, reports. [David Gergen, Cnn Senor Political Analyst:] It's the responsibility of both branches of government to move quickly to fill a vacancy in the Supreme Court. That's what's been done in the past. It should be done again. There is no reason for delay. He is going to find the best qualified person to do it and he is going to put it up there and he's going to fight for that person and he's going to try to win. And he ought to go for the victory. If he doesn't get the victory, though, he wants the issue in the campaign. In other words, you either get the victory or you get the issue, one or the other. That has to be the president's strategy so he can use it to add let's say, Hillary Clinton has an enthusiasm gap and she is the nominee of the Democratic Party. What the president wants is something that will draw a lot of people out to the polls because they think it's important to vote for the Democrats in order to make sure the Supreme Court doesn't remain and become more heavily conservative. That could be an issue that brings out voters, especially when you're trying to close an enthusiasm gap. [Howell:] That analysis from CNN's senior political analyst, David Gergen. It's still not clear who the president with nominate to take over Scalia's vacant seat but Republicans have made no secret about their strategy, a strategy to delay or possibly block the nomination. We get more from CNN's Manu Raju on the Republican game plan. [Manu Raju, Cnn Political Reporter:] President Obama said he would wait until next week potentially or maybe after to choose the replacement to Justice Scalia. But that doesn't mean the battle lines aren't already being drawn, particularly in the United States Senate. On Saturday night, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who sets the schedule, decides which nominees will be voted on and who will be confirmed, decided the next president should nominate the replacement, not the current president. Clearly, the current president, President Obama, did not listen to Senator McConnell and is planning to move forward. Now the big question for Mitch McConnell and the rest of the Republicans is will they allow a vote on the floor of the Senate and the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm or deny the next Supreme Court justice. This is something they have not fully decided yet, largely because Senator McConnell wants to take the temperature of his conference. You have various camps forming. You have Republicans who are dead set against any nominee being confirmed right now. Then you have moderates who are uncertain about what to do. Then you have probably the most influential group, members of the Senate Republican conference who are up for election in blue states and purple states. At the end of the day, those members, how they do, will determine whether the Republicans will stay in the majority next year. Those Republicans will be targeted aggressively by the Democrats, by the White House, by groups on both sides to vote the way that they want them to. We'll watch Senators from Ohio, Wisconsin, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, and so forth. Those are the key to going forward. Right now, if you are the White House and you are the Democrats, you know you have a very uphill battle to climb to get your nominee confirmed. [Howell:] CNN's Manu Raju reporting for us. Much more ahead here on NEWSROOM on how the fight over the Supreme Court is reshaping the race for the White House. CNN political analyst, Ron Brownstein, will join us in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. International diplomats are pressuring Russia to end its air campaign inside Syria but there is no indication that that pressure is achieving results. While delegates debate the terms of a ceasefire agreement, new video on social media purported to show more bombs falling on Sunday. You see it here. At the security conference in Munich, U.S. Senator John McCain accused Russia of using Syria as a live-fire exercise for its military. The Kremlin revealed that Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama held a, quote, "frank and constructive phone conversation" on Sunday. Each side underscored their very different points of view about the Syrian conflict. CNN international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, reports many delegates in Munich feel that Moscow is in the driver's seat. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] That phone call between President Obama and President Putin seems to highlight sot some of the concerns expressed here in Munich. The Kremlin focusing on one aspect of the call, the White House focusing on another aspect. The Kremlin saying it's important for the United States and Russia to work together to fight terrorists. Of course, it's the definition of terrorists that has been at issue here. The Kremlin seems to consider anyone that's against President Bashar al Assad, considers them a terrorist. The White House, for its part, takes a different view. It's ISIS and al Qaeda that are the terrorists inside Syria. The White House, for its part, emphasized in the phone call that Russia should stop bombing the moderate opposition. We've certainly heard from the moderate opposition here saying they are monitoring the situation very carefully, though they are prepared and, of course, this is all about getting those peace talks up and running again they are prepared to get back into those peace talks if they see that Russia stops the bombing. But the leader of their delegation here, a former prime minister of Syria, spoke to what he saw is actually happening on the ground, Russia creating facts on the ground. This is what he told the conference in Munich. [Unidentified Male::] Since its intervention in January of this year, I ask you that we have 58 clear massacres committed by the Russian military against Syrian civilians alone. In the last 10 days, the Russian air force and its army have intensified and maximized their attempts to punish the Syrian people for their position in demanding their rights. Even before I came here today, I have news that they are seeking to extend Assad's rule south to the Jordanian border. [Robertson:] So President Obama and President Putin's phone call is really to try to move towards this cessation of hostilities that was agreed a couple of days ago. It's now less than five days away to when this is supposed to be happening. The United States and Russia are supposed to be leading a taskforce to create the modalities to make this happen. But I have to say listening to the delegates here at the security conference in Munich, there is concern here. They don't see the United States has leverage over Russia at the time. They see Russia creating facts on the ground, Russia in a position where it can push its offensive mode not only in Aleppo but also in the south of Syria. And really, the delegates here at the conference consider that really the peace can only come when Russia has done essentially what it wants to do on the ground in Syria. Then maybe says it's time for peace. The United States at the moment still a big hope that's the words at the conference here a big hope that peace talks can get up and running. But a lot of people concerned and doubting that actually can happen. Nic Robertson, CNN, Munich, Germany. [Howell:] You have doubts about the fact that the Russian air strikes have shifted the momentum in favor of the Syrian regime, the army says Russian support has helped to push back ISIS militants. We take you to the regime's front line against ISIS in Syria. CNN's Fred Pleitgen was given exclusive access. [Fred Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] In the eastern Syrian Desert, on the fringe of ISIS'self declared caliphate, the Syrian army readied its artillery cannons, tanks, and armored personnel carriers have dug in. [on camera]: We are on the front line in the Syrian military's battle against ISIS. The soldiers tell us that ISIS positions are literally only a few miles away from this position. [voice-over]: The top commander for this area tells CNN his forces constantly clash with ISIS here. He didn't want to appear on camera because of Syrian military rules, and instead designated a civilian working with him to speak on his behalf. "Over there is the village of Gerbaht," he says. It's considered to be the alternative capital of ISIS. [Pleitgen:] The Syrian military recently launched a major offensive in the north of the country, winning back some territory, but also causing tens of thousands to flee towards the Turkish border. The U.S. says Syrian forces, mostly combat moderate rebels, have put very little effort into fighting ISIS. But the troops here say that is not true. "For three months now, ISIS has not been advancing," he says, "they have only been retreating." And Assad's army acknowledges that Russian air power has had a big impact. "Everything is much better since our Russian friends came in," he says. "They gave us the capability to conduct preemptive strikes and also aerial surveillance to warn us in advance about ISIS attacks." And they vow to continue their push eastward, deeper into ISIS heartland. [on camera]: The commanders here say they are on the move forward. And one of their predictions is that if nothing else goes wrong, they think they can be in Raqqa by the end of the year. [voice-over]: But they are still far away from achieving that goal, and in the past, ISIS has shown it can rebound after being pushed back. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, eastern Syria. [Howell:] Moving now to Israel where the former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is headed to prison this day to serve an 18-month prison sentence. He was convicted on bribery charges in 2014. Olmert, who led Israel from 2006 to 2009, will be the first former Israel prime minister to go to jail. We go live to Jerusalem this hour. CNN's Oren Lieberman is covering those developments for us. Oren, good to have you. So this is the man who held high office in Israel, who knows government secrets. Will he be mixed in with the rest of the prison population? Are their special plans for him? [Oren Lieberman, Cnn Correspondent:] Because of him holding the high office, in fact, the highest office, he will be kept separate in what's known as Ward 10, a recently renovated section of the prison, which is actually fairly close to Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport. We just saw that he left his home outside of Jerusalem. It's a about a 45 minute drive to that prison. He has to report by 10:00 this morning, according to the Israel Prison Authority, so he should be there just a few minutes before this deadline. As for Ward 10, it is a small ward. It has room for 18 prisoners. But with Olmert it will only hold four prisoners and that's because they need to be separated from the general population. Olmert, as a former Israeli prime minister, has state secrets, so the prison service won't allow him to be mixed in with people who come from backgrounds of organized crime or other criminals. That's why he will be kept separate. Other than that, the Israel Prison Authority says he will be treated like any other prisoner, given the same allowances, the some allotments of items he is allowed to bring from home. He will have a TV and a desk in his cell. Other than that, he will be treated like any other prisoner. But because of his states a former Israel prime minister, the first Israeli prime minister to be in prison, he is separated from the rest of the prison population for his prison sentence George? [Howell:] And, Oren, as we see there, 9:15 your time. And Olmert is set to turn himself in before 10:00 a.m. local time there. He was originally sentenced to six years for bribery charges but this was reduced to 18 months. Can you explain to our viewers how he ended up in this situation? [Lieberman:] Absolutely. And this all goes back to what's known as the Holyland Affair. This has been more than a decade in the making and in playing out. It goes back to the mid '90s when Ehud Olmert was the mayor of Jerusalem, a position he held for years. There was a real estate developer working on the Holyland development that got a false assessment on the value of the land he was building on to give him tax benefits. That all led to an investigation. And years later, Olmert was finally charged along with a number of others for taking bribes essentially for corruption. The legal process drew out and just recently wrapped up in December, going all the way up in the Israeli legal system. That's when his sentence was knocked down from six years to 18 months. Olmert released a video this morning before leaving for prison saying he insists he is innocent, insists he did nothing wrong, saying he made mistakes but those mistakes were not criminal, and he has paid a heavy price for those mistakes. He suggests, perhaps, too heavy. He does insist he made no mistakes or didn't do anything wrong during his time as the prime minister. This goes back to his time as a mayor of Jerusalem. Now he could serve even more time in prison and that's because of what's known as the Talansky Affair, where he took envelopes full of cash as a bribe. That is still dragging out in the legal system. That could lead to another eight months prison. So, George, before all is said and done, the former prime minister may spend more than two years behind bars. [Howell:] His legal problems far from over. Oren, as you point out, due to turn him in by 10:00 a.m. your time there. We'll stay in touch with you. Oren Lieberman live from Jerusalem. Oren, thank you for reporting. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, Pope Francis, he is in Mexico bringing his message of hope to the nation during his trip there this week. He is also planning to visit one of the poorest regions of the country in the coming hours, even getting some personal encouragement along the way. We'll explain that. Plus, bitter cold weather, it is gripping parts of the United States. We'll check the effects of what it's doing to temperatures, how low they could drop. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Anchor:] Happening now, deep anger. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu lashing out at President Obama after the U.S. refuses to veto a U.N. resolution condemning Israel's settlements. Tonight the fallout is going global. Air war. The battle against ISIS from the skies over Syria is expected to heat up as coalition forces look to retake Raqqa, the city that ISIS calls its capital. How long will it take? And run again? President Obama tells CNN he could have won a third term if he could have run for president again. Just now, Donald Trump responded on Twitter. Wolf Blitzer is off. I'm Jim Sciutto, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Tonight we're following a very unusual and bitter split between Israel and the United States. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today defending his scathing criticism of President Obama, saying the world respects strong leaders who stand up for themselves. Netanyahu says there is deep anger and dissatisfaction, because the U.S. allowed the United Nations Security Council to condemn Israel's continued building of settlements in the West Bank. Instead of vetoing the resolution, the U.S. abstained. Israelis also announced they are suspending working ties with nations that supported that anti-settlement vote. In politics, President Obama tells CNN's David Axelrod that he could have beaten Donald Trump, if he'd been able to run for a third term. Donald Trump just fired back on Twitter, quote, "No way." Tonight top Palestinian diplomat Maen Areikat is in THE SITUATION ROOM to give us his perspective on the U.S.-Israeli split, and our correspondents, analysts and guests have full coverage of the day's top stories. Let's begin with Israel's continuing anger at the U.S., as well as major countries in the United Nations. CNN's global affairs correspondent, Elise Labott, has the very latest. Elise, tell us more about this Israeli reaction. Angry? [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Well, Jim, you saw after the vote that Israel recalled its ambassadors from New Zealand and Senegal, those countries that put the resolution forward. Now Israeli officials tell us that they are limiting working ties with the 12 nations that also voted for the measure. The prime minister of Ukraine, who was scheduled to travel to Israel in the coming week, that visit has been canceled. Other foreign ministers will not be able to meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu, and ambassadors from those countries will not be welcomed at the foreign ministry as, you know, the normal type of business between the embassies will be curtailed. Now, it's a temporary move. It's not cutting of diplomatic ties, but it is a show of force, if you will, to demonstrate Israel's displeasure with those countries that voted against them in the U.N. Security Council. But, you know, interestingly, Jim, Israel did not take any action against the United States, which abstained from the resolution and let it pass. But certainly, Prime Minister Netanyahu has not been quiet about his fury for the United States for what he called a shameful ambush against Israel at the U.N., Jim. [Sciutto:] He know we'll have a new president soon enough with perhaps a different view. Elise Labott, thanks very much. Let's get more on the acrimonious split between the governments of the U.S. and Israel. Oren Liebermann, he is in Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, he certainly isn't backing down. Is this largely for domestic consumption? [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, he's certainly sending a statement, not only to his voters and to Israel but also to the United States and other countries that voter for this resolution. We saw the first statements come out right after this vote, and they have continued, perhaps even getting angrier. Netanyahu tonight backing up what he's done so far, calling it responsible and a vigorous response to this, what he calls a shameful vote at the Security Council resolution. Here's what he said at this week's cabinet meeting. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister Of Israel:] Over decades, American administrations and Israeli governments have disagreed about settlements, but we agreed that the Security Council was not the place to resolve this issue. We knew that going there would make negotiations harder and drive peace further away. And as I told John Kerry on Thursday, friends don't take friends to the Security Council. I'm encouraged by the statements of our friends in the United States, Republicans and Democrats alike. They understand how reckless and destructive this U.N. resolution was. They understand that the Western Wall isn't occupied territory. I look working with those friends and with the new administration when it takes office next month. [Liebermann:] And Jim, there were the words, "new administration." Netanyahu has made it blatantly obvious he's looking forward to working with President-elect Trump and effectively done working with Obama over these next few weeks. [Sciutto:] Oren, now the Israeli government making what you can call an explosive charge. That's that the U.S. didn't just let this resolution go through the U.N. They say that the U.S. behind the scenes orchestrated the whole thing. [Liebermann:] And at first this was whispered quietly. It was at first off the record, and then it was Israeli officials. And now it's an accusation that's coming from Netanyahu and its top officials, both here and in the United States. Here is the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Ron Dermer, making the accusation. [Ron Dermer, Israeli Ambassador To The U.s:] The reason why the only ambassador that the prime minister of Israel met with was the American ambassador, is that's the only country where we have any expectation to actually stand with us at the United Nations. Look, it's an old story that the United Nations gangs up against Israel. What is new is that the United States did not stand up and oppose that gang-up, and what is outrageous is that the United States was actually behind that gang-up. We have clear evidence of it. We will present that evidence to the new administration through the appropriate channels. And if they want to share it with the American people, they're welcome to. [Liebermann:] We've pushed Israeli officials both here and there on what is this evidence, what is this information? So far as we've gotten no response on what that information is. Normally, both the U.S. and the Palestinians have denied there was any sort of collusion behind Israel's back on putting this resolution together and getting it passed at the U.S. at the U.N. Security Council. [Sciutto:] Oren Liebermann there in Jerusalem, where Donald Trump wants to move the U.S. embassy in Israel. President Obama is vacationing in Hawaii, but one of his top aides says the U.S. isn't backing down on its opposition to new Israeli settlements. This has been a longtime view of multiple administrations. Let's go to CNN's Athena Jones in Honolulu. What are you hearing in reaction to Israeli Israeli step today, Athena? [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Jim. That's right, this has been a position of multiple administrations. The White House is not responding to this move by Israel to cut ties with the countries that voted against it in this U.N. vote, but the message the White House was sending in abstaining from that U.N. vote last week is that the Obama administration agrees with much of the international community, that the continued construction at the building of these Israeli settlements in disputed lands is not helpful to the peace process, not helpful to any eventual two-state solution. The White House is stressing that this is not a new position. It's not something that should have been a surprise to the Israeli government. Here's more of what national security advisor Ben Rhodes had to say about this in an interview on Israeli TV. [Ben Rhodes, National Security Advisor:] It's not an ambush when President Obama and Secretary Kerry have been saying in hundreds of conversations and in public comments that Israeli settlement activity was pushing into the West Bank in a way that was making the two-state solution unachievable over time. When we see laws that aim to legalize outposts, when we see rhetoric that suggests that this is the most pro-settlements Israeli government in history, and when we see the facts on the ground, again, deep into the West Bank beyond the separation barrier, we feel compelled to speak up against those actions. [Jones:] Compelled to speak up, Rhodes defending the White House's moves on this. Meanwhile, President-elect Trump is weighing in with a tweet not long ago, saying, "The United Nations has such great potential, but right now it is just a club for people to get together, talk and have a good time. So sad." And you'll remember that tweet after the U.N. vote last week where Trump said, when he's president, things will be different with the U.N. These are the reasons, or among the reasons that you're hearing Prime Minister Netanyahu saying he's really looking forward to working with the next administration, not this one Jim. [Sciutto:] That word "sad" a favorite jab from Donald Trump in tweets. Athena Jones, thanks very much. I want to get now a very different, very necessary perspective on the settlement controversy as well as this IsraelU.S. split. With me now is Maen Areikat. He's the chief Palestinian representative to the U.S. Mr. Areikat, thanks very much for taking the time. [Maen Areikat, Chief Palestinian Representative To The U.s:] Thank you very much. [Sciutto:] First of all, if I could get your reaction to Israel's move today. You had a lot of angry rhetoric over the weekend against various folks who voted for this resolution, but particularly aimed at the U.S. and the Obama administration. Now you have this diplomatic step. What's your reaction? [Areikat:] Well, I think the Israelis are trying to ignore the fact that they have been warned many times over by the Palestinians, by the United States, by the international committee that they cannot have both land and peace. The settlement policies of the current Israeli government clearly indicate that this government does not have any interest in ending the conflict with the Palestinians. They want to continue to grab Palestinian land. They want to continue to build illegal settlements, and they don't have any plans in the near future to put an end to this conflict. [Sciutto:] Did you welcome the move from the U.S., abstaining from this vote? [Areikat:] Well, we have been hearing a lot of encouraging statements from the current U.S. administration, and we have been urging them to translate those statements into action. The United States did what conforms with its long-standing policy, since the days of Lyndon Johnson, 1967. Ronald Reagan, the Republican president, used abstention seven times during his two terms as president of the United States to allow resolutions at the U.N. and to condemn settlement activities. So the U.S. is doing just what they have done all the time. [Sciutto:] I want to ask you, because of course, you have a new administration coming in, in about three weeks, with what appears to be a very different view. You look at Donald Trump's selection for ambassador to Israel. He is someone who has said that the idea of a two-state solution is over, in effect. Are you concerned at all that this hard push from the Obama administration on the way out will put you in a weaker position as the new administration comes in? [Areikat:] No, I think I think what the administration is trying to prepare the ground for the next administration, that there are certain issues that they need to be given the right attention. We are not going to anticipate what the new administration policies would be. However, we will be more than willing to work with them. We hope the next administration will understand that, in order to end this conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis, these settlement policies must end. Israel must end its occupation, which is approaching the 50th the 50th anniversary next June. And there is only one way out: end the occupation, provide peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians. [Sciutto:] We had the Israeli ambassador to the United States, Ron Dermer, on our air a short time ago with my colleague Jake Tapper. And he accused the Palestinians of having missed opportunities in the past. He claims, for instance, to have done that Israel did a ten- months moratorium, but that didn't get Israel any closer or bring the Palestinians any more to the negotiating table. What's your response to that criticism? [Areikat:] Ron Dermer wasn't there when I was there in September of 2010 when that so-called moratorium ended. The moratorium was done in the West Bank but did not include settlements in East Jerusalem. I remember when the administration, when Secretary Clinton urged the Israeli prime minister to extend that moratorium for two or three more months to allow for the Israelis and Palestinians to continue negotiations, and the Israeli prime minister refused. So I was in those meetings. I don't believe Ron Dermer was in those meetings. [Sciutto:] Let me ask you this. Because there's been a lot that's been made of the idea that has been a campaign promise of Donald Trump to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I don't think a lot of folks in the audience know why exactly that's important from your side. Can you explain that? [Areikat:] Jerusalem is important not only to Israelis and Jews. It's important to Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims and Christians around the world. It's a city that is important to all these religions and to all these peoples. Any move to give one party monopoly over such an important city is going to escalate tension in the region. I strongly believe that the next administration will be wise enough to understand that Jerusalem is going to be a sensitive issue, must be negotiated between the two parties, and no unilateral action should be taken by anybody, including the United States. [Sciutto:] And as you referenced, in peace negotiations, it's been said by many involved that you need to share Jerusalem between the sides because of its historical ties to multiple religions. But the fact is, is the Israeli government is based in Jerusalem. The Knesset is there. Parliament is there. It's effectively based there, even if the U.S. embassy is in Tel Aviv. What practical difference would it make if Trump follows through on what he says he will do? [Areikat:] The partition plan of 1947, which allowed for the creation of the state of Israel, provided that Jerusalem should be a corpus separatum, which means a separate entity and that neither side should claim monopoly over the western or eastern side of the city. After the 1967 war, Israel occupied the western side, and Jerusalem fell under Arab control. Israel today has its offices in West Jerusalem, but no country, including the United States, does not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of the state of Israel. [Sciutto:] Have you or your team reached out to the Trump transition team to express your views? Have they accepted an offer to express your views? [Areikat:] Well, we are we are reaching out. We're trying to reach out. We understand the president-elect and his team are busy with a lot of appointments and a lot of domestic issues. And again, we are very much receptive to starting a dialogue, a communication with the new administration. I hope they will give us the opportunity to express our views, the same way they are giving the Israelis... [Sciutto:] So just so I'm clear, you have reached out to express those views, but that that invitation has not been accepted? [Areikat:] It's in the process, in the process. We are trying to work some kind of an arrangement, but we are hopeful that this will happen in the near future. [Sciutto:] And has the Trump administration says it's open to hearing your views? [Areikat:] I would expect them to say so, because if not if they don't want to talk to the Palestinians, they want you know, President-elect Trump said that he would like to see a deal done between the Palestinians and the Israelis. How can you make a deal if you don't talk to an important partner? [Sciutto:] You've been involved in negotiations for a number of years. Jared Kushner, who I'm sure you know of this is Donald Trump's son-in-law, the husband of Ivanka, he Donald Trump has said he's going to have a potential lead role in the negotiations. Very young man, as you know, not a particular amount of experience on the ground there. How would you react to that? Would you would you be willing to sit across the table? [Areikat:] We would be willing to sit across the table with anyone that the new administration chooses as its representative. We are again once again receptive as long as the new administration is willing to listen to our views, our opinions, and our positions. [Sciutto:] Maen Areikat, we appreciate you taking the time today, and we wish you the best of luck. [Areikat:] Thank you very much, sir. [Sciutto:] Thank you. Next, coming up, the war on ISIS. How much can President Obama accomplish in the few weeks that he has left before handing off the fight to his successor? [Gorani:] If you're in Venezuela and trying to watch our partner network CNN en Espanol today, well, you can't. Not on T.V., anyway, because the Venezuelan government has pulled it off the air. It comes, this move, just days after the network aired an investigation into the alleged fraudulent issuing of passports and visas by authorities in Venezuela, possibly to people with ties to terrorism, which would not be a good thing. Venezuela's foreign minister accused CNN of conducting a, quote, "imperialistic media operation" against her country. CNN en Espanol is now instead being streamed live on YouTube, if you'd like to catch it there. Let's bring in Paula Newton. She spent a lot of time reporting from Venezuela. Let's first talk, what more are we learning or hearing about the government's plans with regards to CNN en Espanol? [Paula Newton, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Nicolas Maduro, the President there, had said, I want CNN out, and he certainly got what he wanted when it comes to cable. Now, they have threatened this very many times, calling CNN en Espanol a puppet of the United States. At this point, though, it's been really interesting to see on social media, people posting pictures of them being able to get it on the internet, and that's been quite heartening for many people. This is so crucial, Hala, because, you know, opposition newspapers, radio stations, and T.V. stations have been shut down systemically by the Maduro regime over the last few years. CNN en Espanol did a lot in terms of coverage not just in Venezuela, but in the region to also analyze what was going on in places like Colombia, when the border was open or closed, and I think a lot of people in Venezuela turned to it. I mean, for CNN's part, they say, we believe in the statement that we believe in the vital role that freedom of the press plays in a healthy democracy, and CNN stands by our network's reporting and our commitment to truth and transparency. [Gorani:] And what's been the relationship? Has there been any contact between the Venezuelan government and the Trump administration in its early days? [Newton:] This has been so interesting. There wasn't a lot of contact until just the other day. Secretary Mnuchin, the Treasury Secretary, one of his first acts was to put the Vice President of the country on a so-called name him a so-called narcotics kingpin. And they sanctioned him, froze tens of millions of dollars for his accounts, and that's not all. What was so interesting was, the other night, Donald Trump tweeted this picture of himself with Marco Rubio and Lilian Tintori. Lilian Tintori is the wife of Leopoldo Lopez. This is an opposition leader who's been in prison now for nearly three years, and there has been a concerted effort on the part of many to try and get him out in prison. The government said he was inciting violence during protests. The opposition says no such thing, that these are trumped up charges. What is so interesting here, though, Hala, and you know we'll continue to watch it, is the fact that this actually gives the Maduro regime a lot more ammunition. And they will use that for their own purposes against Trump to say, see, they want to invade us, and they want to interfere in the business of Venezuela. [Gorani:] Thanks very much, Paula Newton. Tweet us, by the way, @halagorani or check us out on Facebook and tell us, especially if you're in Venezuela, what the situation is like there or from anywhere else in the world, your reaction, comments, and questions on our top story today. And that is the Donald Trump news conference in Washington. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] As President Obama chooses his replacement for Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, he is also scolding Senate Republicans who say they will block whomever he nominates. But some are calling the president a hypocrite, pointing back to 2006 when then-Senator Obama supported the filibuster against confirming conservative Justice Samuel Alito and also voted against the nomination. Just today, about an hour ago, the White House came out and said the president regrets supporting that filibuster. [Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] As the president alluded to yesterday, he regrets the vote that he made because, frankly, I mean, as we've discussed, Democrats should have been in the position where they were making a public case. That's what Democrats should have done. And they shouldn't have looked for a way to just throw sand in the gears of the process. And frankly, looking back on it, the president believes that they should have just followed his own advice. [Harlow:] Republicans showing no sign of backing down from their threats over Obama's nominee. But is there a person who could force the GOP's hand on this? My next guest says yes. He names the person. It is someone extremely familiar with the high court because she sat on it, former Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. Joining me William Blake, assistant professor of political science at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. He floated this idea in an op-ed in the "Baltimore Sun." Thank you for being here. [William Blake, Assistant Professor Of Political Science, University Of Maryland, Baltimore:] My pleasure. [Harlow:] Let's get your reaction to what Josh Earnest just said, basically, came out and said the president was wrong, he admits it. He shouldn't have, as he put it, thrown sands in the wheels of the way government should work. What's your reaction? [Blake:] Well, every Supreme Court confirmation since Robert Bork's failed attempt has been markedly different. Justice Scalia liked to point out that he was confirmed unanimously. [Harlow:] Yeah. [Blake:] But we're in a different political environment now. And if President Obama is worried about a Senate filibuster, I think the single best way for him to minimize the chance of a filibuster is to put forward just O'Connor's name. [Harlow:] All right. So she's 86 years old. Obviously, you write about that as an asset in this piece, in this light. At the same time, doesn't the president want to nominate someone and get them confirm who will sit on the court for a long time? [Blake:] Sure. Ideally, that's what any president would like to do, especially when the justice he's replacing had been nominated from the president of the opposite political party. But President Obama is in the last year of his term. The Senate is controlled by an increasingly polarized Republican party. I'm not sure how much he can steer the court significantly to the left and have that legacy last for 20 or 30 years. So in the meantime, he could keep the court fully staffed. I think an O'Connor nomination would sail through. And that would serve the Supreme Court in the short-term. In the long run, whoever wins this coming presidential election will then have the chance to really shape the long-term direction of the court. [Harlow:] Your argument here about the president nominating Sandra Day O'Connor, it could happen. It would be a huge surprise if it happened. I'm interested, I mean, you studied this stuff, who else do you think he could nominate that would be just a shock to everyone? [Blake:] I think that my suggestion from my op-ed that I co-wrote with my friend and colleague, Hans Hoccer, from Arkansas State University I think that we've been sort of criticized for being too out of the box on this one. I'm not sure what direction President Obama is going to lean towards. It really depends on whether he wants a fight with the Senate this year or not. [Harlow:] Look, I think it's really interesting what you point out, the fact that, you know, this is a woman who was nominated to the court by Ronald Reagan. If we've heard one name more in this election on the Republican side than anyone outside of the candidates, it's been Ronald Reagan. That makes it tough for Republicans in the Senate to try to block it? [Blake:] I think you are absolutely right. As we argued in our op-ed, a vote against reconfirming Sandra Day O'Connor is an admission that the patron saints of the modern-day Republican Party made a mistake. I think Republicans would be in a very difficult position justifying keeping Justice O'Connor off the court. Again, this is where her age comes into play as a potential asset. Because nominating a nearly 86-year-old is certainly unorthodox. And so Senate Republicans would not be able to go to their base and say, we are fighting over the future of the court for the next 25 years. Instead, they would really be fighting over what happens in the next year or so. [Harlow:] William Blake, a fascinating read in the "Baltimore Sun." Thank you very much. We appreciate it. Erin, back to you. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] All right, Poppy. As Republicans get ready to face voters during our CNN town hall here, where I am in South Carolina tonight, it has arguably been the nastiest day on the campaign trail. Incredibly nasty. Fights erupting. Ted Cruz calling Donald Trump's bluff over a lawsuit threat. Just moments ago, a major endorsement. Someone backed Marco Rubio who could move the leader. And in Nevada, Hillary Clinton's lead, it was a stunning lead, gone, evaporated into thin air days before the caucus there for Democrats. What Bernie Sanders is doing in the 11th hour to pull off a major momentum-building surprise. We'll be right back. [Romans:] Authorities are investigating the family of the 3-year-old boy who fell into a gorilla habitat at the Cincinnati Zoo. There's growing outrage over the decision to shoot and kill the silverback gorilla, Harambe, in order to save that little boy's life. Animal rights activists and some everyday Americans are calling for criminal charges against the little boy's mother. The online outrage has been just really, really interesting. We get more from CNN's Jessica Schneider this morning. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, Cincinnati police are delving into the details about what transpired on Saturday. Specifically, they say they're investigating the parents and the mother to find out what happened in the minutes before that child came face-to-face with that gorilla. The mother, in particular, has come under intense scrutiny on the internet. Twitter abounds with criticisms about her, saying she should have kept a closer watch on her son. There's also a petition circulating online that's garnered more than 400,000 signatures. People saying that she should be investigated. Now, at this point we don't know a lot about the family. They've only released a statement saying that their child is safe and that they're grateful to the zoo. We also know that the mother works at a daycare right here in Cincinnati. Now, as for the zoo, itself, police say they are not investigating it because it falls under the purview of the USDA. The zoo was last looked at and inspected by the USDA in April. They did have a citation in March for leaving a door open. A polar bear then got out and went into an employee room. But there has never been a citation against the zoo concerning that gorilla enclosure Christine and John. [Berman:] All right, Jessica, thanks so much. Doctors in New Jersey confirm the birth of a baby girl who is suffering from microcephaly caused by the Zika virus. The unidentified 31-year-old mother came down with the virus in her home country of Honduras. Doctors say she came to the United States in hopes of getting medical care for the baby. She was taken into the emergency room at Hackensack University Medical Center on Friday. The child is the first to be born in the New York region with the Zika-linked brain disorder. [Romans:] The Transportation Safety Administration, the TSA, taken to task over potential security flaws at America's airports. TSA data shows an average of 2,500 security breaches a year at airport perimeters and key access points. The government accountability office blames the TSA for failing to update security standards for the airports to follow. [Berman:] Mandatory evacuations are underway this morning after seven people were killed in record-breaking floods that hit parts of Texas. [Video playing] Look at this video right here. The rain just coming down in sheets. Local authorities in San Antonio say the storm system dumped up to 22 inches of rain in just a few hours. You can see what it did to the streets there, submerged in water. The swollen Brazos River in Richmond has risen to levels not seen since 1913. Officials in Fort Bend County, just southwest of Houston, say they have made more than 120 water rescues. The rain and potential flooding not over yet. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam has more. [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] Unfortunately, John and Christine, the forecast calls for more rain for central and eastern Texas. The upper-level pattern drawing south from the four corners region, eventually making its way towards the Gulf of Mexico, really tapping into that moisture-laden air. That is going to allow more showers and storms to form today and through the rest of the work week. The National Weather Service has flood watches and warnings, likely to be expanded across much of Texas. Look at our high-resolution radar imagery. You can see the thunderstorms really firing up, thanks to the daytime heating from the sun. This is a very saturated environment. Additional rainfall of three to five inches could lead to more flooding today, and again, through the rest of the work week. The rest of the country lots of sunshine across the New England coastline. It's starting to warm up over the interior western half of the U.S. Take a look at the temperatures today for the Big Apple, 81, Detroit, 84, Charleston, 88, Atlanta, a sizzling 92 back to you. [Romans:] All right, on the first day of June. OK, thanks for that Derek. Let's take a look at what's coming up on "NEW DAY" this morning. Alisyn Camerota joins us. Hi there. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor, "new Day":] Hey, guys, great to see you. We have a lot to talk about in this show today. We're going to have much more on Donald Trump's epic rant against what he called the dishonest, sleazy media. The media that dared to scrutinize his fundraising for veterans groups. Hillary Clinton says Trump was shamed into giving the almost $6 million to vets and that her record is better. So we have lots of reaction to that on both sides. Also, new polls show where the race stands between Clinton and Trump today. We're also following new developments in the death of the gorilla at the Cincinnati Zoo. Police are now investigating the parents of the little boy who got into that animal's enclosure. What consequences could they face? That's still a big conversation happening across the country guys, so we'll talk about that, too. [Romans:] It sure is. All right, thanks, Alisyn for that. Fifty minutes past the hour. ISIS is turning to taxes. Why the terror group is forced to impose heavy fees on its own followers. We've got that next. [Chris Cox, Nra Lobbyist:] It's not Hillary Clinton who says women should have that choice. It's Donald Trump. Donald Trump is a life member of the National Rifle Association. Sore his sons, Don and Eric because we're the largest and oldest civil rights organization in America. We fight for the rights of all Americans regardless of race, religion or sexual orientation, because the right to protect your life is the most precious right you have. Friends, the five million men and women of the NRA will fight without apology for your right to protect your life, but we're on the cusp we're on the cusp of losing this great American freedom and with it, this great nation. The only way we save it the only we save it is by electing Donald Trump the next president of the United States. Thank you and God bless you. [Unidentified Female:] Please welcome Professional Golfer, Natalie Gulbis. [Natalie Gulbis, Professional Golfer:] Thank you. I appreciate this incredible opportunity to speak to you about a man I greatly admire. A man I found to be gracious, generous and inspiring. I must begin, however, by saying there is a great deal of irony that I'm speaking to you tonight because when I earned my tour card 16 years ago, I was told there's only two things you don't talk about in public, faith and politics. Well tonight, I'm prepared to violate both those admonitions. As I stand before you at the Republican National Convention as a Christian woman. I believe that God's timing is perfect and he puts people in our lives to help make us a positive impact on those around us and it helped us achieve our goals. One of those people for me is Donald Trump. The first time I played golf with him in 2005, I shared two things. I had told countless CEOs, billionaires and politicians before him. One, I had a dream to open up my own boys and girls club. And two, I was deeply frustrated about being treated differently as a woman. Overlooked and underpaid in business. These words previously fell on deaf, all being well-intentioned ears, but that day was different. They finally fell on ears that cared enough to take action. I am proud to tell you that with Donald's help, I opened up "The Natalie Gulbis Boys and Girls Club". And in response to my frustration about being treated unfairly as a woman, he adamantly rejected the notion and instead offered me a simple idea that changed my life forever. Never fear challenging the status quo. He encouraged me to think of myself not as a female athlete, but as a businessperson. In everything you do, be fearless. He reminded me, be fearless. As an athlete, fearlessness came natural to me, but as a businesswoman, I faced challenges that weren't always on a level playing field. Even today, I face challenges and Donald remains a consistent voice, encouraging me to stand up to gender injustices and to lean in to any professional challenge that comes in my way. I hope you take these principles about generosity and fearlessness and that they can have a similar impact for you in your life like they've had in mine. Ronald Reagan said, status quo is Latin for the mess we're in and while I believe that this is the greatest time to be a woman in the greatest country in the history of the world, I have no delusions, that there isn't a mess to clean up and we desperately need someone to clean up that mess. That person is Donald Trump. And if one's history of fearlessness and challenging the status quo is an indicator for meaningful change, then Donald Trump is the person to bring that to America. Thank you. [Donald Trump, Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] Good evening. Are you having fun? Melania and I had such a great time last night, an unbelievable evening. Today has been a very, very special day, watching my children put me over the top earlier. The party seal I mean, what we did, getting the party's nomination, I'll never forget it. It something I will never, ever forget. A little over one year ago I announced my candidacy for president and with your vote today, this stage of the presidential process has come to a close. Together, we've achieved historic results with the largest vote total in the history of the Republican Party. This is a movement, but we have to go all the way. I'm so proud to be your nominee for president of the United States. I look forward to sharing my thoughts with you on Thursday night on how we build a brighter and more hopeful future for all Americans. It's an honor to run on a ticket with Governor Mike Pence, who is an incredible man and who will make a great, great vice president. I'll be with him in Cleveland tomorrow night and we'll be together again on Thursday night. And by the way, we are going to win the state of Ohio and also, of course, we're going to win the presidency and bring real change and leadership back to Washington. This is going to be a leadership by the way that puts the American people first. We're going to bring back our jobs. We're going to rebuild our depleted military and take care of our great veterans. We're going to have strong borders. We're going to get rid of ISIS and we're going to restore law and order. We have to restore and quickly, law and order among many and just so many other things. And I'll be discussing with that Thursday night, we'll be talking all about it. But together, most importantly, we are going to make America great again. Have a fantastic evening. I'll see you tomorrow night. I'll see you on Thursday night and we will win in November. Thank you. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] At the second time Donald Trump has made an appearance at this convention so far. Last night introducing Melania Trump was obviously the first time, both unconventional appearances by a presidential candidate. Usually do not actually hear from the candidate until the night the candidate makes their speech. Jeffrey Lord, clearly it's something on this room came to a complete standstill to watch this candidate. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yeah. Yeah. Well, they like him. Lots of these people do, most of these people do. He is very unconventional. These appearances were he sort this one where he sort of beams in from Trump Tower, he's unusual. [Cooper:] There was talk about tonight being focused on make America work again. Last night, make America safe again, but it does seem like a number of the speakers have basically repeated the themes that were spoken last night, national security, about Hillary Clinton, about e-mails, about mentions about Benghazi and others. [Lord:] I am assuming we're going to hear more here as the evening goes on. I hope it doesn't go on all night, but hopefully we'll be hearing about that because that is his in part I think what helped get him here. [Cooper:] It's also interesting, Kayleigh, because it's a mix of I mean, we're going to hear from Donald Trump Jr., we're going to hear from Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump's children, again that idea of sort of personalizing him which is what Paul Manafort said he really wanted people to get by the end of this convention. But we've heard a mix of sort of practice politicians not some of them haven't even mentioned Donald Trump by name and then also sort of celebrity golfer. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Trump Supporter:] Yes. And what's interesting and I think Donald Trump Jr. kind of gave us some insight into that. He said, you know, I wish I could stand on this stage tonight and talk about my father and it would be a warm, fuzzy kind of speech and we'll hear part of that. But the stakes are too high in this country which is why we've heard along with the make America work again night, a consistent theme of prosecuting a case against Hillary Clinton and highlighting the crossroads this country stands out as we face terrorism, as we face our law enforcement being targeted. Donald Trump Jr. is highlighting the importance of the crossroads and the choice we face in November. [Cooper:] Is there a danger, S.E. though and you're not a Trump supporter in prosecuting a case against Hillary Clinton night after night without sort of saying what you're for? [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Not in this room. You know, you can't talk about Hillary enough in this room. And I will I do think that having Dana White, the UFC President, Natalie Gulbis, who can speak to a working relationship with Donald Trump and Donald Trump helping build their businesses. That to me felt personal. I thought those were two related moments. As to Don Jr., I talk to him earlier were friendly and I said, are you going to go personal today or more politics and as he said to Dana, he said, there's too much going on in the world for me to just get up there and talk about my dad. And I said, but you do it so well and no one is more qualified to talk personally about your dad than you. Please do that a little. And he said, he promised it would be a mix. So I'm hoping to hear and from Tiffany as well, I'm hoping to hear those stories about their dad. That doesn't mean they don't talk about the state of the world as well. But I want those personal kinds of anecdotes and moments that I know the Trump kids can do really well. [Cooper:] It's interesting really, Van, because, I mean, Paul Manafort specifically was saying that's what this convention is about, getting to at the end sort of showing that side of Donald Trump. [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yeah, but I'm baffled by what I'm seeing. So far, this is all anger and no answers, if what you are trying to figure out is what is all Trump is going to do. [Cupp:] Dana White and Natalie Gulbis weren't angry. [Jones:] Well, fine. There were two people who weren't, but basically, that I think the main emotional tenor of this is Hillary Clinton is a horrible person. Hillary Clinton is a horrible person. All anger, no answers. I thought we were going to talk about his economic ideas. I thought we're going to talk about how he was going to put America back to work. We haven't heard a single thing about that yet. I'm concerned about that. Also, if you take the two nights together, you have at a night where you are attacking Muslims, Mexicans, Black Lives Matter, et cetera, now you're attacking Hillary Clinton, I still haven't heard a single answer for how specifically he's going to get a job in this country tonight. Not so far. Have you? [Mcenany:] It's what the [inaudible] for us are going. Yes I have and that is what the Democrats are trying to do. They are completely misreading the mood of this country. There is fear. There is anxiety. In the last two weeks, we have seen Nice. We have seen Baton Rouge and we have seen terror across this world and in this country, in Orlando, people are scared. They are nervous. It is not hate Donald Trump is proposing. It is reasonable solutions to the problem... [Jones:] I haven't heard a solution. Listen, I would love to debate with you about the solutions that were proposed tonight. There have not been any proposed tonight and there weren't that many proposed last night either and that's the problem. [Cupp:] But, Van, can we hold you can we certainly talk to you about that again at the DNC? [Jones:] Of course. [Cupp:] Because I loved, you know, these are not places where people list off policy ideas and the intricacies of those policy ideas. If they do it at the democratic convention in detail, I'll be very surprised and it will make for a pretty boring convention. [Jones:] I think I don't think we are talking about needing to hear a, you know, dissertation on economics in high fear. How about one proposal to put veterans to work? How about one proposal to build a bridge? How about one proposal to do anything at all except to bash Hillary Clinton? [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Because that's not what unites the Republican Party what because they all disagree about the solutions to these problems. In fact, Paul Ryan on one side, lots of people on the other and including maybe Donald Trump. What unites the Republican Party is the anti-Hillary sentiment and everybody tonight did what they did last night, just in a little bit of a different way. [Cooper:] Yeah. I mean, usually you had Michael Mukasey, the Former Attorney General there... [Borger:] Right. [Cooper:] ... and David, you pointed out he didn't mention Donald Trump. [David Axelrod, Cnn Senior Political Commentator:] He didn't mention Donald Trump and everybody has talked about him recently. He said, we don't need a president who summons applause with tantrums and homicidal fantasies and he called those comments about Judge Curiel baseless and squalid. So he didn't mention Donald Trump tonight. He delivered this indictment of Hillary Clinton. And that underscores the problem with the Republican Party right now in that you have large elements of the party who aren't comfortable with their candidate. [Borger:] You know, there are a couple other things tonight that I thought were interesting was both Chris Cox and the golfer were talking of women. Chris Cox, you know, made the point that American women are the fastest the largest group of gun owners, right? [Cupp:] You bet it. Yeah. [Borger:] Growing group of gun owners. That appears directly to the problem that Donald Trump has. [Cooper:] Let's get back down to Wolf. Wolf? [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] We're about to hear from 10 freshman U.S. Senators, Mitch McConnell the senator majority leaders up on the stage as well. Two possible Senators Ben Sasse, of Nebraska, Cory Gardner of Colorado, with Jake, are not here to participate in the so-called show of unity. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Ben Sasse was going to take his children on a tour of dumpster fires in his home state of Nebraska because they are better than either Trump or Hillary Clinton. The other 10, most of them are from Solid Red States. [Blitzer:] Dan Sullivan, the freshman Senator from Alaska will be speaking on behalf of these 10 freshmen senators. Several of them have already spoken here including Tom Cotton of Arkansas. Let's listen in. [Unidentified Female:] David Perdue from Georgia, Michael Rounds from South Dakota and Thom Tillis from North Carolina. [Sen. Dan Sullivan, Alaska:] Hello, Republicans. I'm Dan Sullivan from the great State of Alaska. And I'm proud to be standing here tonight with my fellow freshmen senators. This is who we are, governors and doctors, educators and ministers, CEOs and hog farmers, moms and dads. We have served in the United States Army, in the United States Marines, and now we serve in the United States Senate. In 2014, you made this happen, Republicans all across the country coming together who wanted new energy in the Senate and who wanted to fire Harry Reid. And that's exactly what we did. In 2016, we need to keep that momentum going. We need to keep the Senate in Republican hands and win back the White House. We will put coal miners and oil drillers back to work, not target them for extinction as Hillary has promised. We must, we must re-ignite economic opportunity and the American dream for everybody. And when we do this, when we do this, together, we will make America great again. Thank you. [Unidentified Female:] Please welcome back the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. [Rep. Paul Ryan, House Speaker:] Everybody, hey, thank you all very, very much. I'm Wisconsin. Delegates, friends, fellow citizens, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the privilege of addressing this 41st convention of the Party of Lincoln. And as part of my chairman duties, let me thank all of the people of this beautiful city for looking after us this week. And above all, above all, I want to thank the men and women who are here from law enforcement for your service. You know, standing up here again, it all has kind of a familiar feel. Students of trivia will recall that last time around, I was your nominee for vice president. It was a great honor. It was a great honor even if things didn't work out quite according to the plan. Hey, I'm a positive guy. I found some other things to keep me busy. And I like to look at it this way, the next time that there's a State of the Union Address, I don't know where Joe Biden or Barack Obama are going to be, but you'll find me right there on the rostrum with Vice President Mike Pence and President Donald Trump. Democracy, democracy is a series of choices. We Republicans have made our choice. Have we had our arguments this year? Sure we have. You and I call those signs of life, signs of a party that's not just going through the motions, not just mouthing new words for the same old stuff. Meanwhile, what choice has the other party made in this incredible year filled with so many surprises? Here we are at a time when men and women in both parties so clearly, so undeniably want a big change in direction for America, a clean break from a failed system, and what does the Democratic Party establishment offer? What is their idea of a clean break? They are offering a third Obama term brought to you by another Clinton. And you are supposed to be excited about that. For a country so ready for change, it feels like we have been cleared for takeoff and then somebody announced we're all going back to the gate. It's like we have been on hold forever, waiting and waiting to finally talk to a real person and somehow we have been sent back to the main menu. Watch the Democratic Party Convention next week. That four-day infomercial of political correct moralizing and let it be a reminder of all that is at stake in this election. You can get through four days of it with little help from the mute button, but four more years of it, not a chance, not a chance. Look, the Obama years are almost over. The Clinton years are way over. 2016 is the year America moves on. From now until November, we will hear how many different ways progressive elitists can find to talk down to the rest of America, to tell the voters that the Obama years have been good for you, that you should be grateful and well, now it's Hillary's turn. The problem is really simple. The problem here is very simple. There is a reason people in our country are disappointed and restless. If opportunity seems like it's been slipping away, that's because it has. And Liberal progressive ideas have done exactly nothing to help. Wages never seem to go up. The whole economy feels stuck and millions of Americans, millions of Americans, middle class security is now just a memory. Progressives like to talk like our president like to talk forever about poverty in America and if high-sounding talk did any good, we would have overcome those deep problems long ago. This explains why under the most liberal president we have had so far, poverty in America is worse, especially for our fellow citizens who are promised better and who need it most. The results is a record of discarded promises, empty gestures, phony straw men arguments, reforms put off forever, shady power plays like the one that gave us ObamaCare, constitutional limits brushed off as nothing and all the while, dangers in the world downplayed even as the threats grow bolder and come closer. It's the last chapter of an old story. Progressives deliver everything except progress. Yet we know better than most, we know better than to think that Republicans can win only on the failures of Democrats. It still comes down to a contest of ideas which is really good news, ladies and gentlemen, because when it's about ideas, the advantage goes to us against their dreary backdrop of arrogant bureaucracies, pointless mandates, reckless borrowing, willful retreat from the world and all that progressives have in store for us. The Republican Party stands as the great enduring alternative party. We believe in making government as Ronald Reagan said, not the distributor of gifts and privilege, but once again, the protector of our liberties. Let the other party go on making its case for more government control over every aspect of our lives, more taxes to pay, more debt to carry, more rules to follow, more judges who just make it up as they go along. We in this party, we are committed to a federal government that acts again as a servant, accountable to the people, following the constitution, and venturing not one inch beyond the consent of the governed. We, we in this party offer a better way for our country, based on fundamentals that go back to the founding generation. We believe in a free society, where aspiration and effort can make the difference in every life, where your starting point is not your destiny and where your first chance is not your only chance. We offer a better way for America with ideas that actually work, a reformed tax code that rewards free enterprise instead of just enterprising lobbyists. A reformed health care system that operates by free choice instead of by force and doesn't leave you answering to cold, clueless bureaucrats. A commitment to a renewed commitment to building a 21st century military and giving our veterans the care that they were promised and the care that they earned. And we offer a better way for dealing with persistent poverty in this country. A way that shows poor Americans the world beyond liberal warehousing and check writing into the life everyone can find with opportunity and independence, the happiness of using your gifts and the dignity of having a job, and you know what? None of this will happen under Hillary Clinton. Only with Donald Trump and Mike Pence do we have a chance at a better way. And last, last point, let the other party go on and on with its constant dividing up of people, so always playing one group against the other as if group identity were everything. In America, aren't we all supposed to be and see beyond class? See beyond ethnicity? Are all these other lines drawn to set us apart and lock us into groups? Real social progress is always a widening of the circle of concern and protection. It's respect and empathy overtaking blindness and indifference. It's understanding that by the true measure, we are all neighbors and countrymen called each one of us to know what is right and kind and just, and to go and do likewise. Everyone, everyone is equal. Everyone has a place. No one is written off because there's worth and goodness in every life. Straight from the declaration of independence, that is the Republican ideal and if we won't defend it, who will? So much, so much that you and I care about, so many things that we stand for in the balance in this coming election. Whatever we lack going into this campaign, we should not lack for motivation. In the plainest terms I know, it is all on the line. So let's act that way. Let's act that way. Let's use the edge we have because it is still what earns the trust in the votes. This year of surprises and dramatic turns can end in the finest possible way, when America elects a conservative governing majority. We can do this. We can earn that mandate if we don't hold anything back, if we never lose sight of the stakes, if we never lose sight of what's on the table. Our candidates will be giving their all. They'll be giving their utmost and every one of us has got to go and do same. So what do you say? What do you say? What do you say that we unify this party? What do you say that we unify this party at this crucial moment when unity is everything? Let's take our fight to our opponents with better ideas. Let's get on the offensive and let's stay there. Let's compete in every part of America and turn out at the polls like every last vote matters because it will. Fellow Republicans, what we have begun here, let's see this thing through. Let's win this thing. Let's show America our best and nothing less. Thank you. Thank you, and God bless. [Blitzer:] The House Speaker Paul Ryan. Coming up, Donald Trump's son, Donald Jr. and daughter Tiffany. They will speak about their dad. Plus, Trump's former rival, the New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. More convention coverage, straight ahead. [Gorani:] Every so often, we bring you the story of a person who's touched the life of one of our correspondents, whose positive impact on the world has left a lasting mark. This week, Will Ripley tells us about his hero. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] I've interviewed a lot of people, but nobody has ever inspired like Jia Jia, the Chinese orphan that I mean while on assignment in Beijing. I was doing a story about Chinese abandoned children and I met Jia Jia at this orphanage. He's nine years old. He'd been waiting for a family to adopt him. He watched all his friends go to homes and nobody came for him. What really touched me about him was that he was a big brother to the other kids. He would take care of them, even though he needed to be taken care of as well. And his dream was to have a family. When we met him, we found out that there was a family in the United States that wanted to adopt him, but they didn't have the money. We did a story about Jia Jia and eight hours later, the family had raised enough money from our viewers to adopt him. I knew that Jia Jia was my hero because he has endured things that I can never imagine, most people can never imagine. His birth parents abandoned him. He had a botched spina bifida surgery, has no use for his lower legs, but he doesn't let the disability slow him down. He doesn't let his circumstances keep him down. He kept smiling. He stayed optimistic. And now, he has a family in the United States. And he's inspiring all of them too. So to see somebody with that much strength, at such a young age, it's one of the most incredible things I've ever seen. And recently, I was able to visit him in his new home in Kansas City, Missouri. To see him in his classroom learning English, out on the playground during recess [Jia Jia, Chinese Orphan:] How can he do that? [Ripley:] with his family, with his friends, smiling and laughing, and to see where he came from, was one of the most powerful moments of my life. [Gorani:] Great story there. This has been THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. I'm Hala Gorani. I'll see you same time but not same place tomorrow. We'll be at Westminster. Meantime, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next. [Church:] Here's an amazing story. In the United States, a boy who was reported missing in Alabama 13 years ago has been found safe. Julian Hernandez was 5 years old when he disappeared in 2002. His mother had legal custody of him, but police believe his father abducted him and took him to live in Ohio, where they were reportedly using different names. Julian, who is now 18, was found when he was applying to college. His father, Bobby Hernandez, is now under arrest and facing charges in the abduction. A shift to weather now. Heavy snow is expected to hit eastern China. We have Derek Van Dam to talk to us about that. How bad is it likely to be? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] It's interesting, because it's in a part of the world that doesn't normally see a lot of snow, especially this time of the year. Beijing has just been awarded the Winter Olympics in 2022, and their average snowfall in that area is literally just one centimeter. So we could get ten centimeters in the mountains just outside Beijing, the capital of China there. Rosemary, take a look at this. Some graphics to show you just to give you a setup on what the weather is doing across eastern China. And it has been rather rough and it's all thanks to an area of low pressure that continues to bring heavy rainfall, especially just south of Beijing. I want to show you some of the footage coming out of that region, because the snowflakes are massive. We have very large snow. This is often indicative of when temperatures are hovering slightly above freezing. This ac again, it's this low pressure system and enough cold air to transition that precipitation over to the frozen variety. So if you're located in Beijing, expect kind of some unpleasant weather going forward over the next 24 to 48 hours. The bulk of the snow fall, 10 to 25 sent meters of the snow, with temperatures around freezing in Beijing. I don't expect much of it to stick on the ground. I'm going to transition quickly to a phenomena that just occurred. We've just had the northern lights that have created some impressive scenes. That moved across the earth's atmosphere and creating scenes like this. In Idaho, this is a time lapse of beautiful northern lights and you see that shading of red? Extremely rare as the electrons are excited by oxygen in the atmosphere. [Church:] Wow. That is something. [Van Dam:] Beautiful. [Church:] Derek Van Dam, many thanks to you. Appreciate it. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Rosemary Church. Do stay with us. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. It's time for our politics now. There's the Red Sox versus the Yankees. There was Ali versus Frasier. Balboa versus Creed. And now, Trump versus Cruz. The Republicans hit the debate stage again tonight and with fewer candidates in primetime. We are primed for an exclusive showdown between the national frontrunner and the Iowa frontrunner. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash is in North Charleston, South Carolina, surveying the debate stage. Dana, Donald Trump told our own Erin Burnett last night that he would not throw the birther attack at Cruz tonight. But then, he told people at a rally in Florida the exact opposite. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] That's right. And as we know, because we've been through this now many times, a lot of what they anticipate is going to depend on what they're asked. So, that could change everything. And just before coming on with you, Jake, I was talking a Cruz aide who said that when it comes to him and his approach, he's going to stand up for himself whatever it takes. [Bash:] Ted Cruz was rallying this South Carolina crowd as the story broke that he may have failed to report borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars from his wife's employer Goldman Sachs during his 2012 Senate run. When he was done, Cruz quietly huddled with aides to discuss his response, a rare glimpse of crisis management that goes on inside every campaign. Clearly not wanting to let the issue fester, Cruz then walked over to cameras [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] Hello, everyone. Welcome to South Carolina [Bash:] for an unplanned press conference. [on camera]: Senator, how do you explain to your supporters that you got a very large loan from your wife's Wall Street bank in order to fund your upstart insurgent Senate campaign? [Cruz:] Well, the premise of your question is not right. Heidi and [I -- Bash:] You didn't get a loan? [Cruz:] The premise of your question is not right. Heidi and I, when we ran for Senate, we made the decision to put our liquid net worth into the campaign. [Bash:] He said, as part of that, that Cruz has got a loan from Goldman Sachs, borrowed against their stocks and assets. [Cruz:] If it was the case that they were not filed exactly as the FEC requires, then we'll amend the filings. But all of the information has been public and transparent for many years. And that's the end to that. [Bash:] Not so fast when Donald Trump sees Cruz as his stiffest competition right now. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I hear it's a very big thing. I hope he solves it. I think he's a nice guy and I hope he gets it solved. [Bash:] Trump's nice guy remark is a vestige from when Cruz refused to engage with Trump. Those days are over since Trump won't let up on questioning whether Canadian-born Cruz is eligible to be president. [Trump:] He got a little problem. You know, he got to make sure you can run. You got to make sure you can run. A lot of lawyers say you can't run if you do that. You can't be born in Canada. [Cruz:] This issue did not seem to concern Donald until a little over a week ago when suddenly he was trailing in the polls in Iowa. [Bash:] That after Cruz went after Trump for what he called New York values. Trump, Mr. New York, wasn't going to let that go hitting back with tales from 911. [Trump:] The way they handled that attack was one of the most incredible things that anybody has ever seen. When you want to knock New York, you've got to go through me. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Guest Anchor:] and thank you so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Congrats to your son and to you as well. [Unidentified Female:] You're so welcome. [Keilar:] And we're following a lot of news, so let's get to it. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] President Obama is the founder of ISIS. They must love him. He's the founder and she's right there with him. [Unidentified Male:] The press' coverage of him is so unfair. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] He wants America to work for him and his friends. [Trump:] Aren't e-mails a wonderful thing? [Unidentified Male:] Gold rush for Team USA. Phelps is now 4 for 4 at the Rio games. [Unidentified Female:] Simone Manuel became the first African-American swimmer to win Olympic gold. [Unidentified Male:] Simone Biles, the greatest gymnast ever. [Unidentified Female:] This was all about the gold for the red, white, and blue. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Alyson is off. Brianna Keilar is joining me. What a great week. Thanks for being here. [Keilar:] Of course, my pleasure. [Cuomo:] Appreciate. All right. Up first in the election, Donald Trump now says he was being sarcastic when he falsely claimed President Obama and Hillary Clinton are the founders of ISIS. He said it in a tweet this morning while watching this show. However, he kept doubling down when people were trying to let him say he was being sarcastic about it. It has raised concerns about the campaign, and we'll take you into those. [Keilar:] Meantime, e-mail questions continue to haunt Hillary Clinton's campaign. The latest on ties between the State Department and the Clinton Foundation. Is this a relationship that caused a conflict? Let's begin with CNN's Athena Jones. She's live in Washington for us. Good morning, Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Brianna. Here we are ending another week that has been dominated by the outrageous statements of the Republican nominee. As Chris just mentioned, now on Twitter just a little while ago, Trump seemed to walk back his latest favorite line of attack against the president and Secretary Clinton, saying, that he's just being sarcastic. This after repeating this over the top dig again and again all day yesterday. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I call President Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders. [Jones:] Donald Trump refusing to back down from his latest controversy. [Trump:] Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, these are the founders of [Isis. Jones:] Despite growing concern within the Republican Party about the effect his rhetoric could have on vulnerable congressional races. [Trump:] All I have to do is stop funding the Republican Party. I'm the one raising the money for them. In fact, right now I'm in Orlando. I'm going to a fundraiser for the Republican Party. So if they want to do that, they can save me a lot of time. [Jones:] Sources tell CNN that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus denied he was considering shifting funds from Trump's presidential bid to down ballot races, but he did speak to Trump about his tone. This after Trump spent an entire day repeating a false claim that President Obama literally is the founder of [Isis. Trump:] He's the founder of ISIS. Barack Obama is the founder. [via telephone]: I meant, he is the founder of ISIS, I do. He was the most valuable player. I give him the most valuable player award. [Jones:] Back in February during a CNN town hall, Trump placed the blame for the rise of ISIS squarely on the Iraq war. [Trump:] The war in Iraq started the whole destabilization of the Middle East. It started ISIS. It started Libya. It started Syria. In all fairness, Bush made the decision. [Jones:] The Republican candidate also making waves this morning for saying he would allow American terror suspects to be tried at the military tribunal in Guantanamo Bay. [Trump:] Well, I know that they want to try them in our regular court systems, and I don't like that at all. I would say they could be tried there. That will be fine. [Jones:] As for his rival, Trump continuing to raise questions about the nature of the State Department's relationship with the Clinton Foundation. [Trump:] Aren't e-mails a wonderful thing? Right? What a great invention. When you go home, I'm not going to do it because if I mention it, they'll play it down. So I'm not going to mention it. [Jones:] Meanwhile, Clinton hitting Trump's economic plan, accusing the billionaire of using his campaign to benefit the rich. [Clinton:] He called for a new tax loophole. Let's call it the Trump loophole. [Jones:] With less than three months until Election Day, Trump already entertaining the possibility of losing in November. [Trump:] At the end, it's either going to work or I'm going to, you know, I'm going to have a very, very nice long vacation. [Jones:] Now Trump campaigns in Pennsylvania. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton is stepping up the pressure on him to release his tax returns. She plans to release her 2015 tax returns soon. Her running mate, Tim Kaine, and his wife will be releasing the last ten years of their returns. She's also releasing a new web video today featuring top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and former GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, and Senator Ted Cruz all calling on Trump to release his returns Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, thank you very much. Let's bring in Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, special counsel to Donald Trump himself. Always a pleasure, Counsel. Thank you for being here. Congratulations on the birthday of your son. Got to celebrate the good things. [Michael Cohen, Executive Vp, Trump Organization:] Big 17, right. [Cuomo:] That's big. Your boss, Donald Trump, tweets this morning, says I'm watching the show. You guys are missing my sarcasm. When I say founder of ISIS, President Obama, I'm being sarcastic. But he has spent the last couple of days insisting that he's not being sarcastic. Bill O'Reilly, Hugh Hewitt, giving him opportunities to say exactly that. What you mean is that Obama is responsible for their growth. No, no, no, they're the founder. So what are we supposed to believe when he says something like that? [Cohen:] I think the best thing is if Mr. Trump called in, had a conversation with you himself. [Cuomo:] Any time. Any time. The offer is open. [Cohen:] There's nobody better to answer Mr. Trump than Mr. Trump. [Cuomo:] The question is, should people have doubts about whether or not you can take him at his word? [Cohen:] I think you do take him at his word for everything. [Cuomo:] But that's how he got into this situation. No, I mean founder, I said founder. [Cohen:] I watched your show yesterday with Mayor Giuliani. What he was talking about is how the mainstream media wants to pick on every single word. Again, I think Mr. Trump will answer this question better than anybody else. I think it should be left for him to answer. [Cuomo:] We'll talk. I know you want to talk about the Clinton e- mails. Just to make a point [Cohen:] I'll tell you what I'd really like to talk about is her [Cuomo:] We'll talk about that as well. When she said short circuited, we're all over it for days. When she calls something a mistake instead of apologizing, we're all over it for days. [Cohen:] But we're talking about when someone says that they short circuited, that's about themself. Mr. Trump is claiming that, you know, President Obama and Secretary Clinton are the founders of ISIS. What he's referring to, and he's talked about it so many times is, of course, the fact that ISIS grew and grew out of control and is now a threat to our national security. [Cuomo:] But he muddied it. At the town hall, he blamed Bush for ISIS. In 2007, h, said to Wolf, we should get out of Iraq right now, which is now a strategy that he's criticizing in President Obama. So he's been all over the place on this. [Cohen:] Well, I'm not so sure. I think he's [Cuomo:] You're very sure now. I just told you. [Cohen:] That doesn't mean I believe that either. [Cuomo:] You want to see it, 2007 with Wolf, here it is. [Trump:] How do they get out? You know how they get out? They get out. That's how they get out. Declare victory and leave. Because I'll tell you, this country is just going to get further bogged down. They're in a civil war over there, Wolf. There's nothing that we're going to be able to do with a civil war. They are in a major civil war. [Cuomo:] Get out, that's what he's criticizing [Cohen:] But I don't think you saw the beginning. What he was talking about is economically it is a disaster to the United States, spending trillions of dollars that we do not have. [Cuomo:] Fine. That's a rationale for getting out. Now he's saying it was a big mistake. [Cohen:] But the clip is not in its entirety. It's a little unfair because, yes, maybe three or four seconds of that clip proves the point, but it doesn't prove what you're saying. [Cuomo:] Getting out was either right or wrong. He says it was wrong. There he said it was right. [Cohen:] The question I believe was about the fact that economically it was destroying this country. What Mr. Trump has always said is make America great again and putting America first. We can't afford to be the protectors of the world. They should pay us back, which is what he was always talking about. Take the oil. He was talking about, you know, yes, get out because we were losing soldiers. Our American children, our soldiers, our money is all being depleted and wasted on protecting a country that probably really didn't even want us there. [Cuomo:] Money is always a consideration in these things. We always refer to blood and treasure. Sometimes there are certain things that are more important than money. Those are decisions a president has to make. The question is [Cohen:] Not when you're $20 trillion now in debt and you have a Secretary Clinton who's sitting there and wanting to in her new plan talk about a $1.2 trillion increase to our already existing deficit. It's insane. [Cuomo:] And the test for both of these candidates is what do you want to do and how are you going pay for it. Part of assessing that is when you tell me something, can I say, all right, that's what it is. Michael just said what it is. I know. [Cohen:] You mean Mr. Trump. [Cuomo:] That's what this founder thing is about. At the town hall with Anderson, he said Bush is to blame for ISIS. Now he says Obama is the founder of ISIS, which is several things. One, false. He's not the founder of ISIS. Everybody knows that. Two, it is inconsistent with what he has said in the past. And third, and this would be the worst implication, is that by saying Barack Hussein Obama is the founder of ISIS, it feeds into a narrative that Trump has been part of before, which is trying to undermine the credibility of President Obama as a patriot, as an American. [Cohen:] Let's also not forget who it was that was the original birther in the movement. It was the Clintons during the last campaign. They're the ones that started the entire birth certificate issue. [Cuomo:] If that were true, I'll give it to you for the sake of the argument. There's plenty of argument to be had there. Does that make Trump doing it right? [Cohen:] I don't know [Cuomo:] If somebody else was doing it, does it make right? [Cohen:] When Mr. Trump first started speaking about the birther, it was a reporter that asked, what do you think about it? I don't know if he is or isn't. [Cuomo:] You know he loved it and he never backed off. Now he won't talk about it. [Cohen:] He's not the one who advanced it. The media advanced it because it came from Donald Trump. I think only Mr. Trump can answer and will answer for his tweet. [Cuomo:] He's welcome on the show. He's said he won't come on to talk to me. [Cohen:] I don't think that's true. [Cuomo:] You don't think what's true? [Cohen:] That he won't talk to you. [Cuomo:] Then why hasn't he come on? [Cohen:] He's been busy doing other things like campaigning. I like your explanation. I take your explanation as true. I hope we can schedule it very soon. I'll work on it as soon as I see him. [Cuomo:] Thank you very much. So you want to talk about economics. Let's do so. What do you hear in the Clinton plan that you think is worthy of criticism and that shows Donald Trump is a better choice for president? [Cohen:] First of all, Hillary Clinton has never created a job for anyone other than her daughter through the Clinton Foundation. This e-mail scandal is something I believe that the media, while you'll tell me that you have spent an enormous amount of time on it, I think you've spent more time on the gentleman that was climbing Trump Tower than they did on these e-mails. This goes to the heart. She talks about temperament. Mr. Trump has exactly the temperament that the United States of America needs right now in order to put it back together. She hits all the buzz words last night. Her speech writers are fantastic. The problem though is it lacks authenticity and lacks any sense of reality. She talks about we're going to create jobs. This woman has never created a single job in her entire life. Donald Trump, tens and tens of thousands. His economic group that he's put together, millions of jobs around not just this country but around the world. We also talk about [Cuomo:] Is it a straight line analogy to say he created jobs in the private sector, therefore he knows how to do it in the public sector? It's very different. [Cohen:] Why is it different? [Cuomo:] One, you're doing it on a curve of profitability and [Cohen:] America needs to be profitable. How else are we going to reduce our debt? [Cuomo:] Understood, but government is not run like a business. You do a lot of services through government because the private sector won't do them because you can't make money doing them. [Cohen:] What about publicprivate partnerships? [Cuomo:] Very good. [Cohen:] Something Mr. Trump is also extremely well versed at. [Cuomo:] How is he well versed at publicprivate partnerships? Just so people understand. [Cohen:] He's been involved in publicprivate partnerships. Even the ferry golf project is a publicprivate partnership as his [inaudible], which, of course, he's famous for. Going back to her speech writers, she talks about Mr. Trump is negative, Mr. Trump is pessimistic. We're really not that bad. She starts to talk about her dad that owned a lace company. Fifty percent of the people she's talking to out there in the public, they don't own their own company. Actually, they may not even have a job at the present moment despite our 4.9 percent unemployment rate, which I have to agree with Mr. Trump emphatically upon, it's absolutely inaccurate. When you travel the country and you speak to people, they don't have the jobs. [Cuomo:] It's not inaccurate. You're saying that it doesn't tell the whole story. [Cohen:] It does not tell even part of the story. [Cuomo:] The number is what it is. [Cohen:] The number is made up. It's made up in order to make people feel good. [Cuomo:] Hold on a second. The number is not made up. [Cohen:] It is made up. [Cuomo:] You can argue that you should look at labor participation or you can look at underemployment, fake. [Cohen:] There's an old expression. Numbers don't lie, people do. It's how they manipulate the numbers in order to make the American people feel good. Why? Because she thinks it's going to then say, well, we're going to continue with the Barack Obama policies, which I believe have failed this country, and that's going to be her ticket into the White House. She starts talking about Mr. Trump's temperament. Again, he is exactly what this country needs. [Cuomo:] How and why? [Cohen:] Because he's a natural born deal maker. That's what this country needs. Our NAFTA is a disaster. We need to start making money from being the United States of America one way or the other. Just as everybody else. [Cuomo:] But is she wrong when she suggests that he is negative in saying that America is in a terrible situation? [Cohen:] America is in a terrible situation. Our infrastructure [Cuomo:] Do you think America is the greatest country in the world? [Cohen:] Absolutely, but we have so much potential to be so much more and we have to be more. Because if America is not great and America is not strong, the world is not strong. We're a moral country. [Cuomo:] So you think America is the best country in the world, but you don't think it's great? [Cohen:] OK. That's not what I'm saying. [Cuomo:] I think message matters. Not for us so much, right? You're counsel, I'm a journalist. But when you're president of the United States, the message you put out matters. We were in rough shape when President Reagan said we're a shining city on a hill. Why? He wanted to put America at its best. Bring people together. [Cohen:] You can't drop pixie dust on the American people's heads and tell them this is their fairy land. We are a great country. We have tremendous opportunity and possibilities. But we are not taking advantage of it because we don't have the leadership, and we need to be better, not just for ourselves but for the whole world. When America's strong, the world is strong. [Cuomo:] True. [Cohen:] Because that's who we are as a country. We need somebody, an outsider, who's not, you know, going to bow his head to foreign leaders, who's not going to allow special interest donors to control him. No one will control Donald Trump. [Cuomo:] A little cozy to Putin for a guy who doesn't want to bow his head. Don't you think [inaudible] on Putin? [Cohen:] Donald Trump and Vladimir Vladimir Putin is not a donor to Vladimir Putin. And by the way, we better get along with Russia because we need Russia in order to defeat ISIS and in order to stabilize the world. We can't go back to cold war situation where they're bad, we're good. We've become a global world. We're not just the United States of America anymore. We are involved in the world. We need Vladimir Putin in order to help. [Cuomo:] Michael Cohen, Counsel, always making a strong case for Donald Trump. Appreciate you on [New Day. Cohen:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] Please tell the boss he's welcome on the show whenever he wants. [Cohen:] When I see him this morning. [Cuomo:] Thank you very much, sir Brianna. [Keilar:] Open invite, that's right, Chris. New e-mails shedding light on the relationship between the Clinton Foundation and the State Department under Hillary Clinton. Was it too cozy, and could this damage Clinton now? We will be hearing from a Clinton supporter next. [Mike Dewine, Ohio Attorney General:] Personnel involved in this investigation. Five search warrants have been executed, four crime scenes have been worked. As the sheriff just told you, some additional searching is being done. Let me mention for a moment the crime scene. Those crime scenes we told you were finished being worked early in the morning yesterday, but they are still being maintained and secured by the sheriff. This is at our request. And we believe that because of the seriousness of the case that this should happen so that we could preserve that crime scene if we need to go back and take a second look or if we need to go back looking for specific information. Eighteen pieces of evidence are now at the state crime lab at BCI. Those are being looked at by our DNA people as well as looked at for other other purposes. Let me make a kind of a statement about the nature of this case. This was a preplanned execution of eight individuals. It was a sophisticated operation. And those who carried it out were trying to do everything that they could do to hinder the investigation and their prosecution. And I just state that because, as the sheriff has indicated, we would anticipate that this could be a lengthy investigation. This is not your case where someone got mad at somebody else, they shot them, there's a witness, two witnesses. It is very, very, very different type case. So let me also say that while we will continue to provide you with information in regard to what we are doing, as I just did with the tips and the interviews and the 18 pieces of evidence. What we are not going to be able to do is to provide you results. That may frustrate you, may frustrate members of the public. But our goal, we have to keep our eye on the goal. And the goal is to do everything within our power in this investigation to find these people or this person who has done this. We will not be telegraphing or telling the bad guys everything that we know. So we will continue to have briefings. We will continue to have information going out, but as the sheriff indicated, I think this could very well be a lengthy investigation. This is not, while we use many of the tools that you see on TV, and we have great ability today, with tools that we did not have 10 years ago or 20 years ago or 30 years ago, a lot of what is going on here is just basic old-fashioned police work. I would also mention that we would ask for anyone who has information about this to contact us. Jeff Ruby has grace enough Mr. Ruby has been gracious enough to offer $25,000 reward. I would again emphasize that. That money will be made available for someone who does bring us the key information that leads to convictions in this case. More than happy to respond to any questions. [Unidentified Reporter:] Mr. DeWine, were any drugs found at the crime scene? [Dewine:] I'm not going to comment on that. I'm sorry? [Unidentified Reporter:] You said that guy. How many killers do you believe there are? [Dewine:] I don't know if it's a bad guy or bad guys. It could be one, two, three, four I don't think we know at this point. [Unidentified Reporter:] How many guns were used in these murders, sir? [Dewine:] I'm not going to talk about that. [Unidentified Reporter:] What 18 pieces of evidence you have? [Dewine:] OK, we're not going to talk let me just do this again. And I know you all have to do your job and I think you boys found me to be pretty accessible. I do not intend to give out one piece of information that in any way will endanger the prosecution of this case or in any way will slow down what our job is, the job that the sheriff and I are sworn to do which is to protect the people of the state of Ohio. It is in the interest of the people of the state of Ohio that we find this murder error these murders as quick as we can. So much as I would like to be able to answer every question you have, and much as the sheriff would as well, we're simply not going to do it. [Unidentified Reporter:] Were the Rhodens involved in illicit or illegal activity? [Dewine:] I'm not going to comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is there any threat to public safety? Can you make a statement to the community at [Dewine:] Well, I think the sheriff has said it very well. And I'll let him get in here and say it again. But there's only been one family that's been targeted. We've already expressed to that family, many members of that family our concern. And the sheriff I'm going to let the sheriff talk about that from maybe a security point of view and a public safety point of view. [Unidentified Reporter:] Was the family all shot with the same caliber? [Dewine:] Let's let him finish that. [Sheriff Charles Reader, Pike County:] As far as public safety concern and the citizens of Pike County, I've spoke with the family. It's very evident that they were a target of this horrible crime. Me and the attorney general spoke with them. I cautioned them that they were a target and I told them to be armed. For the other citizens of this county, I don't believe that there is an issue. I've taken the precautionary measures to contact the other sheriffs. In the past days, we've had over 100 persons in this area including extra deputy sheriffs, investigators, state patrol, patrolling the roadways in that area, out of county people patrolling county lines. We are very accessible. Anything out of the ordinary needs to be reported to local law enforcement so we can check it. I can tell you, if you are fearful, arm yourself. If you feel that you need to protect yourself or family, do so. And contact the local law enforcement to come and respond to it. I cannot guarantee myself we have almost 30,000 citizens in Pike County covering 797 road miles and 444 square miles. I took an oath to serve and protect my county and I will do so to the best of my ability. But I cannot promise any one of those 30,000 that I can be there to stop anything. We will be available. Anything suspicious report and I will make sure that someone, including myself is accessible to be there. [Dewine:] We had a question here. [Unidentified Reporter:] All the same caliber [Dewine:] I'm not going to comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] Has this investigation expanded beyond Ohio? [Dewine:] OK. We got one here then we'll go back there. No. We don't know whether it was one or more people who were involved in this. [Unidentified Reporter:] What did they do [Dewine:] I'm sorry? [Unidentified Reporter:] What did they do [Reader:] This was very methodical. This was well-planned. This was not something that just happened. This was something that planned. A family was targeted. Most of them targeted while they were sleeping. [Dewine:] Let me just say, if I said it said it incorrectly, I want to correct myself if I said that. Because it was well-planned out, because it was premeditated, because they calculated this, what they were going to do, obviously anybody who is planning something will do everything in their power to make it difficult for those investigators to find the information. What I did not say or did not mean to say, may have said it, is that they've hindered the investigation. I did not mean to say that. What I meant is, anybody who plans this out, clearly it's not like the person who does it spur of the moment, who comes up and shoot someone. They thought this thing through whoever did it. And they executed it, it was well-planned out and thought out what they were going to do. [Reader:] The other thing I would like to say is in the end of this, we have to provide this to a prosecutor. So this person or persons can be prosecuted. We will not have a second chance. We have to do it once and we have to do it right. We have to be methodical. We have to be vigilant. We have to work around the clock and we have to get the things that we need. So in the end, the prosecution has what they need to do their job as well. [Unidentified Reporter:] Has this investigation taken you beyond Ohio, neighboring states perhaps? [Dewine:] No comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is it still correct to say that you do not have any suspects at this point? [Dewine:] No comment. I would not read anything into that. No comment. [Unidentified Reporter:] Are the surviving family members getting extra protection? [Reader:] I have spoke with the Rhoden family. We are very accessible to them. I am not going to go into detail what we are doing and what we are not doing with that family. Anything that they need will be provided by my staff or someone they reach out to. I got no comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] No, you said you got [Dewine:] No comment. [Unidentified Male:] We talked to a pastor, pastor of some of the victims as well as the best friends of the Rhodens, Dana Rhoden specifically. The speculation is that they were stalked. Does that speak to this being preplanned? The methodical nature of this? Is that were they stalked? [Dewine:] I won't comment about the word stalking. It clearly was planned and executed. [Reader:] And the person that you spoke with is not part of this investigation. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is there any useful CCTV? [Dewine:] I'm sorry. [Unidentified Reporter:] Have you found any useful film [Dewine:] No comment. [Unidentified Reporter:] You said four crime scenes, five search warrants executed. Can you comment on where that fifth search warrant was executed? [Reader:] Not at this moment. Those search warrants will eventually be filed. OK. And once they are filed they'd be available. [Unidentified Reporter:] Filed with federally or county? [Dewine:] It will be with county. [Unidentified Reporter:] Why be so tight-lipped about the investigation if there's people wanting to help out? [Dewine:] We want people to help out. We again say to the public, there's somebody out there who knows information. Even if you think it may not be that helpful, but it might be helpful. We ask them to come forward. We preserve the secrecy of their comments to us, information to us. We will run down everything they give us. So again, we are pleasing today to the public and also mentioning the fact there's a $25,000 reward for people who give us information that leads to a conviction. [Unidentified Reporter:] Sheriff, is there a drug problem in this area? [Reader:] There's a drug problem in most areas around here and I would say there's a drug problem here. [Dewine:] There's a drug problem throughout the state of Ohio. [Unidentified Reporter:] In your searches of the crime scene, have you found evidence of marijuana grow operations? [Reader:] I'm not going to comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] We saw a lot of [Reader:] Ma'am, again, I have got a team of 38 people going to every crime scene and they're scouting the woods looking for evidence that may be in those parts of the crime scenes. If they locate those, they will mark them, contact an agent, an investigator. Working together, they'll go and they'll collect that evidence and do with it what we need to. [Unidentified Reporter:] Are you looking for a specific type of weapon? [Reader:] I'm not going to comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] Sir, because the people need to be armed especially you said that you would recommend people to be armed, do you mean literally guns or just a broad sense of protection? [Reader:] I'm talking in the broad sense of protection. OK. There's two different people. We have a county with citizens that are concerned because we have a family that was targeted and lost eight family members. I've specifically told the Rhoden family that I would be armed. And I would use what extent they have to, to protect their selves and their family. And if anyone, any citizen in this county feel that they are in jeopardy of serious physical harm or death, then they can take those same measures. [Unidentified Reporter:] What about the surviving victims? The 4-day- old baby, the 6-month-old, the 3-year-old. Where are they right now? [Reader:] I will not comment on that. [Unidentified Reporter:] Can we get the genders of those three children? [Reader:] Excuse me? [Unidentified Reporter:] The genders of those three children? [Dewine:] I don't know if that's been released or not? [Reader:] I won't comment at this time. In the future, when we find that out, I'll provide it. [Dewine:] Yes. We can provide that. [Reader:] What? Absolutely not. Not at this time. [Unidentified Reporter:] Know when those will be completed? [Dewine:] No. It's my understanding that seven have already been completed. The eighth will be completed tomorrow. [Unidentified Reporter:] How about ballistics reports or anything like that? [Dewine:] That's in our BCI crime lab. We're looking at pieces of evidence from a DNA point of view and a ballistics point of view. We're going to be able to tell you the process. We're going to be able to tell you what we're doing. We're not going to be able to tell you the results. I know that's frustrating. I get it. [Unidentified Reporter:] Was law enforcement familiar with the Rhoden family prior to this event? [Reader:] Yes. We have a small county. We're familiar with most people. [Unidentified Reporter:] In terms of a criminal sense or that you just [Reader:] I won't comment on that. I have never been involved with that family in a criminal nature and I've been in law enforcement locally for 20 years. [Dewine:] I continue to brief the governor. The governor has expressed a real interest in this. Has called me. I initially called him. He continues to call me and I continue to give him a briefing. [Unidentified Reporter:] Have you been able to identify which was the main target of the eight people [Dewine:] Look. Look. [Reader:] All eight people that were murdered. [Dewine:] Yes. They were all murdered. They were all murdered execution style. So they went after all of them. [Unidentified Reporter:] Is there any sort of funding setting up an account or anything [Reader:] That I'm unaware of. [Dewine:] Yes. We have a victim program in the attorney general's office that we administer. We are reaching out to the families of the victims to make them aware of whatever possibility there is to access money in the future. It basically has to be unreimbursed. So it would be expenses that were not reimbursed by insurance or something else. The other thing that we do, we had, as the sheriff did and the county did, people at the church who are victim rights advocates who are used to dealing with people who are grieving and who are members of the families of victims. And that will continue as long as family members want any of that. [Unidentified Reporter:] The pain is evident in this community, speaking to the local residents. Can you talk a little bit, expand about the emotional aspect for you as investigators, the emotion here felt in this community or the ruthless nature of these killings? [Reader:] I'm a member of that community. It is very emotional to find out that eight people of your community were murdered, OK? And that emotion is widespread throughout this county. All I can do is ensure that we're working around the clock, that we're working in conjunction with multiple agencies so that we can search and find who is responsible for this. [Dewine:] Let me just mention from a personal point of view. I've been in Pike County many, many, many times over the last few decades. This is a wonderful county with wonderful people. Beautiful place to raise a family. So I my heart just goes out to the family members, but also to the whole community. This is something that very few people fortunately ever have to experience in a small county like this to have eight of their fellow citizens murdered in a calculated manner. It is just it is just horrible. So my commitment to the people of Pike County is that from the attorney general's point of view and BCI point of view, nothing is more important that's going on in the state. We will continue to have dozens and dozens of people here. We will be with this investigation and with the sheriff until we find out who did this. Thank you all very much. [Reader:] Thank you. [Dewine:] I'm sorry. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Pamela Brown in for Poppy Harlow. You see there, officials wrapping up a press conference there in Piketon, Ohio, talking about this investigation and the manhunt for suspects after eight members of one family were killed at four separate crime scenes. Many of these family members killed in their sleep. The attorney general calling this a preplanned execution. CNN's Nick Valencia has been following the investigation from Ohio. Also with us CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes. Tom, first to you. There's still a lot of unanswered questions in the wake of this press but what struck out to me is they repeatedly said this was preplanned, well-planned, methodical killings. What would lead investigators to believe that and where do they go from here? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] I think, Pamela, they would go to that conclusion based on the four separate locations and just the methodical nature of how these were carried out. You know, as the sheriff mentioned, it's not like someone went to commit a murder at a particular location and others were there so he or she shot the rest of them just to kill the witnesses. And this was four separate locations. And that methodically kill people in their sleep with the exception of the three younger members of the family. I think just the sheer methodical nature of it is what's leading them to believe that it was well planned and preplanned. [Brown:] So we heard the sheriff come out again and say we believe this particular family was targeted. He couldn't rule out any other safety concerns for members of the public, but he made it clear we believe this family was targeted. How might that help investigators sort of hone in on who was responsible for this? [Fuentes:] Well, I think if they take out the random nature of it and look at why would somebody target that family, that investigation will include every member that's deceased in the family, but every extended member of the family because it could be a message to somebody else if there was a drug deal or a fraud case or some other activity, some reason that there's a vendetta. The vendetta may not even been against any of these individuals, it may have been against someone else and they were threatened with we're going to kill your whole family if you don't do whatever it is they wanted them to do. So that's probably why. The fact that there's four separate crime scenes, it's not like everybody in the neighborhood was randomly killed and so you have multiple families. You know, and I think that's why. This family had members that were spread out at four locations. And whoever killed them went to those locations. They're going to have to wait until they get the all of the bullets recovered from all of the bodies and try and determine how many different guns were used, how many at each location to see how many shooters they may have had among other things. What caliber of weapons, what they'll be looking for, then try to trace weapons like that. Also the crime scene forensic investigation will be to try to find DNA that doesn't belong to the family members because skin particles, hair follicles from the shooter or shooters would have fallen off also at the scene. So they're going to have to do DNA analysis on every member of the family, anybody they can find that have been in those homes for, you know, weeks and months and then see if they can find DNA that doesn't match any of those to see if it could possibly be matched to a future suspect. So there's just so many angles of this. And again the complete background on every member of the deceased family and as well as the extended family members to see what activities they've been involved in, were they being threatened. This will include phone records, computer searches, you know, an extensive, extensive investigation because of the number of people involved. [Brown:] And that investigation very much under way. Very much under way right now. We know 18 pieces of evidence have been taken to a lab. That DNA looking for DNA to see, as you point out, Tom Fuentes, if it might belong to someone else. Not the family members. I want to bring in Nick Valencia who was there at that press conference. He's been covering that story. Did we learn anything new, Nick? [Nick Valencia, Cnn National Correspondent:] Pamela, we just got new information Pamela, we just got new information in the matter of the last seconds. Actually the local sheriff coming out just after that press conference ended, addressing some information that was reported by a local affiliate here. He confirmed that three separate marijuana grow operations were found at three of the different crime scenes. Four crime scenes together. Whether or not this makes it drug related or not, he wouldn't commit to saying that. But again this new information coming in the last couple seconds here, that three different grow operations were found on that property. It's about a 30-mile wide property. A completely rural area that you heard in the press conference, the road leading into that into that residence, into those residences, is still blocked off. So we haven't been able to go there. But there's been intense speculation over the course of the last couple of days here among the community that this may have been drug related simply by the ruthless nature of this. You have eight members of one family executed. The most ruthless of course being that mother with her 4-day-old baby sleeping next to her, shot and killed while she was sleeping next to that baby. Now perhaps fueling further speculation we understand that these grow operations, these pot grow operations being found on that in that area where these shootings took place. We did hear from a local law enforcement source and again at that press conference as well that police were familiar with the Rhoden family. Whether it was a criminal familiarity or with something else, that led us to dig into court records and find in Pike County court records that Dana Rhoden, one of the victims, had several criminal arrests. Domestic violence arrest, resisting arrest. Other minor violations like traffic violations. There was another brother of the family who's not listed among those victims who had several drug violations and drug arrests. Now authorities are not saying the motive. They're not saying whether or not they have a suspect or suspects. Simply saying that they've interviewed more than 50 people over the course of the last couple of days and that those interviews are ongoing. They talk about collecting 18 crucial pieces of evidence, some of that being tested by local DNA officials, looking into that. But you heard there, Pamela, they were very tightlipped. We asked them some very pointed, direct questions and they were unwilling to respond. The sheriff, though, did say that there was a drug problem in this area and that's what we've been hearing from locals. Big heroin, big methamphetamine problem here in Pike County Pamela. [Brown:] And obviously the community still on edge as these killer or killers are still on the loose. The sheriff made it clear this family was targeted. What are authorities doing for the surviving family members? I imagine this is not only are they grieving the loss of their loved ones, but this is so frightening for them. [Valencia:] Well, they've asked them to take added precaution to arm themselves. That's the language we heard from the local sheriff here. This is a county that believes very strongly in the Second Amendment. We talked a lot to locals here. They have conceal and carry permits. In fact we're at a local restaurant earlier where folks, who were not part of the Rhoden family were saying that they were arming themselves as well. Others, however, not as concerned because we hear that detailed information that this was a sophisticated operation, a preplanned execution that was methodical. And those who were involved were singling out this family. We spoke to the best friend of Dana Rhoden earlier this morning. She said that they that she believes that this family was stalked. Dana Rhoden leaving work at about 11:00 p.m. on Thursday night. The shooting happened at about 7:30 a.m. on Friday morning. Anyway that's when the first 911 call came in. So the pastor for some of the victims of the family also told us that. In a very emotional interview that we had with him yesterday saying that he believes that this family was stalked. Now investigators would not go so far as to say that they belief the family was stalked. But, I mean, putting the pieces together here, Pamela, they were saying that this family has been singled out. As far as a concern of public safety to this area, it really is, they were very concerned about the extended relatives, the cousins, the friends and family of the Rhoden family because they were singled out by this killer or killers. [Brown:] And I want to bring this sound from the Ohio attorney general talking about these three marijuana grow operations you discussed, Nick. Let's take a listen to that. [Dewine:] Let me go ahead and I think it's OK for us to confirm that we did find marijuana in three locations. [Unidentified Reporter:] Near the crime scenes or at the crime scenes? [Dewine:] At the crime scenes. [Unidentified Reporter:] Like bags of marijuana? Grow operation? [Dewine:] Grow operation. Thank you all very much. [Brown:] So, Tom Fuentes, what might that mean in this investigation? [Fuentes:] Well, again, if they were in some type of criminal conspiracy, they might have competitors, they might have people that they're working with, their colleagues, they could have double-crossed someone or someone double-crossed them. There's all kinds of possibilities if that's what's involved here. But, you know, we'd have to learn more about this growing activity, how big of an operation was it, how much money we they earning from it. Was it just for personal friends and family consumption? You know, the sheriff didn't go into enough detail to describe whether this was a big criminal venture in the state of Ohio or not. That'll be something we'll have to learn in the future. [Brown:] Right. For now it's all speculation. Really quickly, Nick, you had mentioned that some people who knew the family believed that they were stalked. Is there any other indication before these deaths that they told family members, friends that they were afraid for their lives, that they believed they were being stalked or was it just that just the timing that one of them got off work at 11:00 p.m. and the killings happened after that? Nick Valencia? OK. I think we lost Nick. By thank you so much, Tom Fuentes, for bringing your analysis. Nick Valencia there bringing us the very latest from Piketon, Ohio. Of course we will continue to monitor this story Go ahead. Tom Fuentes, you wanted to add something? [Fuentes:] The term stalk, you know, that often implies a stranger stalking someone or a relationship situation. I think you might have a better term of saying surveilled if a person wanted to kill him, wait until he goes home, and then follow him home to make sure that happens. That would be more of a surveillance operation than stalking might not be the exact term to use for that. [Brown:] Right. But I think also beyond that, you know, I'd be curious to know if there were any indications that this family, you know, believed they were being followed or that they were someone was threatening them for whatever reason. I think that obviously would be a key part of this investigation whether you call it surveillance [Fuentes:] Huge, yes. [Brown:] Or stalking. Yes. All right. Tom Fuentes, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on and bringing your law enforcement analysis. We appreciate it. We'll check back in with you. And coming up right here in the NEWSROOM, you're looking live right here just about at Paisley Park. A very special guest joins me live. Rock idol Gene Simmons of KISS pays tribute to Prince. I'll get his thoughts on Prince's legacy, his favorite performances and what he thinks should happen to all his unreleased music. Stay with us. We'll be back. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] You haven't been called. Go back to Univision. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump kicked out one of America's top Hispanic journalists from his new conference but only for a little while. [Errol Barnett, Cnn Anchor:] Plus, after another rollercoaster day on Wall Street, Asia stock markets may be leveling out. [Church:] Later, raw sewage spilled into Hawaii's Waikiki beach but is it not stopping people from swimming. [Barnett:] Hey, there, everyone. A big welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and around the world. We're your anchor team for the next two hours. [Church:] And I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us. This is CNN NEWSROOM. Stock traders are breathing easier in Asia after two big days of losses in the stock markets. China's central bank is trying to help prop them back up, cutting interest rates and reducing the amount of cash banks are required to hold. [Barnett:] At this stage, markets have closed in Sydney, Tokyo and Seoul, though you may see fluctuations in numbers as things settle. Gold in positive territory, in green. Yesterday, we saw so much volatility. But after the move by the Chinese Central Bank to help stabilize things in Shanghai, it has calmed the region. Let's take a look. Do we have the numbers out of Shanghai at the moment? There it is. It is positive up around 2.6 percent. Not as much volatility as we saw yesterday, probably because of the moves of the Chinese Central Bank. [Church:] That is very positive, considering it closed yesterday at 7.6 percent. So good to see. U.S. markets are looking to recover from their six-day losing streak. The Dow Jones Industrial Average spent most of Tuesday in positive territory, up more than 440 points at its peak, but the rally fizzled late in the day with the Dow closing down nearly 205 points. [Barnett:] The European markets are hoping to extend their gains when they open next hour. You see on Tuesday, the FTSU was up 3 percent. The Xetra Dax was up nearly 5 percent higher. And the Zurich SMI was up 3.5 percent. [Church:] Let's go to CNN's Asia-Pacific editor, Andrew Stevens, joining us live from Hong Kong. Andrew, it will be interesting to see what happens on European markets once they open. But overall, how have Asian markets responded to China cutting its key interest rate after two days of turmoil. Is all the positive movement due to that intervention from China? [Andrew Stevens, Cnn Asia-pacific Editor:] I think it is. It is helping things and helping sentiment getting away from those massive volatile swings we have seen. Shanghai seems to be holding those gains, which is important. They are not big gains but they are gains. And that is what the central authorities want to see. They want to see positivity coming back into the markets. It is positive throughout Asia. At this stage, though, can't say that this is over, that this is a sign that things are sort of getting restored back to normal. Far too early to say that. But at the moment, certainly positive move Rosemary? [Church:] And, Andrew, Wall Street bucked the upward trend Tuesday. How is it likely to respond when markets open Wednesday given China's intervention here? [Stevens:] Extraordinary what happened on Wall Street. Before the open it was pointing to a 600 point gain helped partly by the fact that China came out with these announcements and it closed down 1.3 percent. Gives you an idea of the state of mind of investors. Fear is ruling the minds at the moment. But very, very difficult to tell, to be honest. It will help that China has stabilized at least today and Asia is look better. Europe may come back a bit given it had big gains yesterday. But it's not just China they are worried about. Is it going to raise the interest rates? There is a lot of uncertainty still and that is causing the volatility. Difficult to say what Wall Street will do by the end today. [Church:] We'll wait for Wall Street to open and what happens on the European markets. Andrew Stevens reporting live from Hong Kong. Thanks to you. [Stevens:] Thanks, Rosemary. [Barnett:] We turn to U.S. politics. We begin at a press conference at a campaign stop in Iowa that turned into a heated debate between presidential candidate, Donald Trump, and a TV journalist. [Church:] It started when Jorge Ramos, at the Spanish-language network, Univision, tried to ask a question about immigration policies. [Trump:] Sit down. Sit down. Go ahead. No, you don't. You haven't been called. Go back to Univision. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Sit down, please. You weren't called. Go. [Jorge Ramos, Reporter, Univision:] I have the right to ask a question. [Trump:] Yes, in order. Yes, go ahead. [Barnett:] Well, that was awkward. As you say there, a security guard escorted Mr. Ramos out of the room. Ramos has been critical of Mr. Trump's comments on immigration. The anchor was allowed to come back to the event to ask his question, which led to this heated exchange. [Trump:] Yes. Good, absolutely. Good. Absolutely. Good to have you back. OK. [Ramos:] So here's the empty promises. [Trump:] OK. [Ramos:] Cannot deport 11 million. You cannot deny citizenship to the children of this country. You cannot [Trump:] Why do you say that? [Ramos:] You cannot do that. [Trump:] A lot of people think No, no. Excuse me. A lot of people [Ramos:] Here's the full of empty promises. [Trump:] OK. [Ramos:] You cannot deport 11 million. You cannot deny citizenship to the children of this country. You cannot build [Trump:] Why do you say that? [Ramos:] You cannot do that. [Trump:] A lot of people think No, no. Excuse me. A lot of people No, no. I build buildings that are 95 can I tell you what is more complicated is building a building that is 95 stories tall. OK? [Ramos:] You say [Trump:] I think so. I'm going to bring jobs back. [Ramos:] I've seen the polls. The Univision [Trump:] How much am I suing Univision right now? No, no, no. Tell me, do you know the number. No, no, no. Tell me. Tell me. Do you know the number because you are a part of the lawsuit. How much am I suing Univision for? [Ramos:] The question is [Trump:] Wait, wait. It's $500 million. [Ramos:] I'm a reporter. [Trump:] And they are very concerned about it, I have to tell you. I'm very good at this stuff. Yeah, go ahead. [Ramos:] You are losing [Trump:] I don't think I will. [Church:] As we mentioned, Ramos has been trying for months to get an interview with Donald Trump. After the event, he talked with his network Univision and Ramos called it a first. [Ramos:] Never in my life anywhere in the world have I been ejected from a press conference or an interview. This is a first time in the U.S. and with a presidential candidate. One would think if he is doing this to me, a U.S. citizen and a journalist, what can happen to other immigrants in this country who have not had the luck that I have had. Nothing, never, anywhere in the world has something like this happened to me. [Barnett:] One thing to keep in mind is Trump's brash attitude with the media, it hasn't hurt his standing in the polls at all. That's why he has the nickname of the Teflon Don. He just keeps firing back at those who oppose him. CNN political reporter, Sarah Murray, has more on that. [Sarah Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] The GOP front runner today battling with Jeb Bush, calling him a mess over his defense of the term "anchor babies." Trump furiously tweeting, "A clumsy move to get out of his anchor babies dilemma, adding, "Asians are offended that Jeb said that anchor babies applies to them." But on the trail today Bush striking back, needling Trump as a candidate full of fury but lacking in substance. [Jeb Bush, , Presidential Candidate & Former Florida Governor:] There's a lot of good talkers running for president [Bush:] Look, talking is good. It's important to be able to communicate. I got that. But I think it's more important to solve problems. [Murray:] The latest exchange, a signal of how the battle is coming down to a war of words between the two top candidates. But Bush wasn't Trump's only target. Last night, he bashed President Obama's plans to host a state dinner for the president of China say for he was in the White House [Trump:] I would not be throwing him a dinner I would give him a McDonald's hamburger, we'll give him a state dinner and he has sucked all of our jobs [Murray:] Even refusing to rule out a trade war with the world's second-largest economy. [Trump:] You have to do that and bring it back to normal. You have no choice. [Murray:] Trump rounding out the takedowns by reuniting his grudge against Megyn Kelly, re-tweeting, "Someone who called him a bimbo," and saying, "I liked the "Kelly File" much better without Megyn Kelly. Perhaps she could take another 11 day unscheduled vacation." FOX News CEO Roger Ailes, calling on Trump to apologize today, saying, "Donald Trump surprised and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing." [on camera]: Donald Trump continued on the war path on Tuesday night in Iowa, going after Jeb Bush, going after Marco Rubio, even going after Secretary of State John Kerry. Sarah Murray, CNN, Iowa. [Church:] Earlier, I spoke with Republican strategist and founder of NewRepublican.org, Alex Castellanos, about why Donald Trump continues to dominate the polls. [Alex Castellanos, Republican Strategist, Founder, Newrepublican.org:] The reasons Republicans are turning to Donald Trump is his strength, which is also the scary side of Donald Trump, his kind of craving for power. Americans and Republicans think their country is falling apart and in decline. They want someone who is equal to our fears, someone big, and that's Donald Trump. So I think, you know, that's what you saw tonight. He's not taking any guff from any news media type, like Ramos. He is telling you what he's going to do. He's a political strongman. When countries are desperate, they turn to the political strongman. I don't think that's a good thing. [Barnett:] I do think it's interesting many Republican commentators try to differentiate between Trump supporters and the regular Republican voters. Trump characterizes his supporters as the silent majority, a new Richard Nixon used back in the '60s and '70s in reference to those opposed to the massive counter-culture movement. Do you think Trump supporters are a silent majority? Who is this wing of the Republican Party? [Castellanos:] I think it's a very pessimistic, anxious group. It's older, whiter, more male. And it's frustrated. It's not only frustrated at the governing elite. They think they are losing their country, and the governing elite is not doing anything about it. They think it's a dangerous moment. If they don't act now, as Trump said, we may lose the country we love. It's not a majority in the Republican Party. This may be the summer of Trump, but we vote in the winter. [Barnett:] Alex Castellanos speaking with me earlier. He also compared Trump to a unicorn, a kind of politician we haven't seen before. Next hour, you will hear more of my conversation with him. [Church:] Two NATO servicemembers have been killed in Afghanistan. NATO says they were shot by two men wearing Afghan military uniforms who opened fire on their vehicle at a compound in Helmand Province. [Barnett:] Coalition servicemembers returned fire, killing the attackers. Afghan and NATO officials say they are reviewing this incident. [Church:] We'll take a short break here. But still to come, attack on a high-speed train. We are learning more about that desperate struggle last week in which passengers overwhelmed a heavily armed gunman. That's still to come. [Sciutto:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Back to our national lead, the breaking news, severe flooding on three rivers in the Midwest the Mississippi, the Missouri, the Meramec, threatening several populated areas along the rivers there. Evacuations under way, there are buildings and homes inundated. Missouri Governor Jay Nixon spoke moments ago about the devastating flooding in the region. Let's have a listen to what he had to say. [Gov. Jay Nixon , Missouri:] It's very clear that the Missouri is in the midst of a very historic and dangerous flooding event. The amount of rain we've received at some places in excess of a foot has caused river levels not only to rise rapidly but to go to places they've never been before. Over the weekend, Missouri experienced widespread and deadly flash flooding. And just this morning, we were informed of additional three flood-related deaths. This brings the total number of fatalities to the storm to 13, 12 of which were caused by vehicles being swept from flooded roadways. Now that the rain has moved out, the threat has changed. But it is not by any means over, especially for communities along the rising Mississippi River and its tributaries here in the St. Louis region. Water levels in some locations are predicted to exceed the historic crest during the great flood of 1993, which caused significant and widespread devastation. [Sciutto:] We spoke earlier with CNN meteorologist Tom Sater who said the trouble here is there may be more rain on the way, a story we're following closely in the coming days. Stay with CNN throughout the evening for the latest on flooding from the Midwest. Now, back to our politics lead. Heading into the New Year, pretty much anyway you slice it, people in this country are mad as hell at Washington. According to a new CNNORC poll, 75 percent of Americans say they are dissatisfied with the way our leaders are running our government. Most or at least somewhat angry with the way things are going in the U.S. Republicans, most likely to feel that way, especially, and almost unanimously, at 97 percent if they support Donald Trump. CNN's senior White House correspondent Jim Acosta, he's traveling with the president in Hawaii. Jim, the public is divided over whether President Obama has delivered on his promise for change, either positive or negative change. How is the White House responding? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Yes. Clearly, looking at this poll, Jim, not feeling the aloha spirit about what is taking place in Washington, Jim. You know, President Obama is heading into his final year in office, facing an angry public that is divided as ever. According to our CNNORC poll, as you might expect, given some of the heated campaign rhetoric interest the campaign trail this past year, and that's what the White House thinks this is about, Americans are outraged with the way America is being run back in Washington. You mentioned the dissatisfaction with Washington, look at this 69 percent say they are either very angry or somewhat angry with the direction of the country and despite the president's hope, as a candidate back in 2008 to heal the bitter political divide in Washington, our poll finds Americans are pretty much split on what Mr. Obama has achieved in the oval office. Most Republicans believe he has brought significant change in the country but, look at this 37 percent say that change has been for the better while the exact same number, 37 percent, say that change has been for the worst. Now, our poll did find one area where the public is optimistic, feeling good about the president's handling of his job, and that is on the economy, 52 percent say they like the way the president has handled the economy, 47 percent say they disapprove. So, all in all, Jim, heading into his final year in office, the president has potential to be remembered for his handling of the economy more than anything else. And as we all know Americans vote with their wallet. So, this is a potential boost for Democrats heading into 2016 despite all of the anger out there, which is palpable and very much present in our new poll. [Sciutto:] Now, I don't know if this qualifies as silver lining, but there is someone who Americans are more disapproving of or many people, the Americans are more disapproving of, and that's Congress. [Acosta:] That's right. The White House can always count on Congress being more unpopular than President Obama. That's been the case throughout his seven, now eight years in the Oval Office. Look at these numbers. The approval rating for Congress, satisfaction with Congress is just barely into the double digits. That is way below where the president is right now. [Pinsky:] Time for "Click Fix," where my guests tell me what is trending on their Twitter, Facebook and Instagram feeds. And, Sam, you are up. And, I think you got we got teen mob. We have hot mom and now we have [Schacher:] Now, we have a Tequila mom? [Pinsky:] Tequila mom. [Schacher:] This is an outrageous story from guess? [Pinsky:] From where? [Catherwood:] From Florida? [Schacher:] Thank you. Sorry, Floridians, there is something in the water. OK. So, this story was actually [Pinsky:] It is in Florida at Broward County. [Schacher:] This was in Pembroke Park. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Schacher:] And, they are hoping the police say that they are hoping that this surveillance footage goes viral. So, they can hopefully catch this woman. They are assuming is a mom, a mother. And, what she did is she took her daughter [Pinsky:] Daughter. [Schacher:] Yes. to this liquor store. They are assuming that the little girl, 7 years old. She points at the Tequila that she wants. It is a rather big bottle then leave. The daughter then tries to pick up this very large bottle. It proves to be too large for her. So, then, the little girl then goes for a smaller bottle and after then she soon you will see that she will take the smaller bottle. Place it behind her back, and she slowly tries to back out of the store. And, then she eventually does completely back out of that store. It is so sad. [Pinsky:] The mom is all about distracting the clerk. [Schacher:] The mom is distracting the clerk, talking to the clerk, bought a $2 bottle of liquor. [Pinsky:] Like an airplane bottle. [Schacher:] Yes, and they leave. So, we have no idea where this daughter and this mother are. [Catherwood:] Is it worse that it is tequila, like if they were stealing gum honestly, like if they were stealing chips or something would it be [Martin:] food or something. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] And, it would not be constant with tan mom and taught mom [Catherwood:] Tequila mom. True. [Pinsky:] All right, Areva, what do you got? [Martin:] I have a really good story about police. So, lately whenever dash cam recordings go viral. [Pinsky:] Good one. [Martin:] It is usually a bad thing. This is a good cop. [Schacher:] Yey. [Martin:] But, I have dash-cam video and audio of an Ohio State Trooper, who came to the rescue of a truck driver, that had careened down a 60-foot embankment. Take a look. [Unidentified Male Officer:] Come on, keep breathing for me. Keep breathing. Keep breathing. Do not you die! Do not you die on me! Do not you die on me! Come on! Come on! Come on! One, two, three, four, five, six, sevem eight, nine, ten. There you go. There you go. There you go. Good. Stay with me. Stay with me, all right. Stay with me. He is breathing again. [Martin:] This guy for 12 minutes, Dr. Drew, performing CPR on this trucker, and the trucker made a recovery. A full recovery. [Pinsky:] Wow. [Martin:] And, this trooper was given a certificate of recognition for his heroic action in saving that trucker`s life. [Schacher:] Awesome. [Martin:] Way to go, pops! [Pinsky:] It is one of the worst feelings in the world, when you are out there by yourself with somebody, who is in extremist and you are waiting for the emergency relief systems to come in, the managers. You are praying for a helicopter. [Martin:] You can hear the passion in his voice as he is telling him stay with me. [Pinsky:] I have been there. I have been there. And, I keep begging for a helicopter. And, you know, you hear the ambulance in the distance, slowly coming. No fault to the emergency response team. It is just you are out there first and you can be [Catherwood:] I hope that trooper is single, right? He will be out there. [Pinsky:] Mike, what do you got? [Catherwood:] So we know, Pat Robertson has a lot to say when it comes to homosexuality and the bible and everything. [Pinsky:] There we go, again. [Catherwood:] But, now we are hearing from Tennessee Pastor Ben Bailey. Check this guy out. [Ben Bailey, Tennessee Pastor:] Friend, let us realize the God of this book, the God of the bible. He has a definite standard and it is not the liberal mindset that we see today. Like it or not, this book is going to be the final judge. This book does not condone things like women preaching. Look, if I am out to please God, we do not find things like that in the bible. God does not approve of homosexuality or gay marriage. The scripture says in Romans 1:26 through 28, that that is vial, unnatural. It is an abomination that under the old testament deserved stoning. [Schacher:] Wow! [Catherwood:] So, the attorneys reached out to Pastor Bailey. He had this to say. "Do I believe Christians should be stoning homosexuals today? Of course not. Do I believe homosexuality is a sin? Absolutely. How should Christians feel about Christians feels about homosexuals? While we abhor the sin. We want to love them and help them. So, that they can turn from sin and find salvation in Jesus Christ." [Schacher:] Was that your preacher? [Catherwood:] Well, I guess. [Pinsky:] And, is that where we got those comments? OK. Those are his response on us reaching out to him. [Schacher:] Wow! [Pinsky:] Back after this. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Dr. Ben Carson just drew a big old line in the sand. He says a Muslim should not be president. Last night, you know, the word in the prompter is backtrack. I wouldn't say that. I'd say he kind of qualified saying, well maybe he could support a Muslim for president if he or she swears to put the Constitution ahead of their religion, like every elected official has to, by the way, and rejects Sharia, as if all Muslims live under Sharia. So what are Carson's rivals doing about this rhetoric? We have Amanda Carpenter, CNN political commentator and former communications director for Senate Ted Cruz, and CNN political commentator Kevin Madden, who is a Republican strategist. Kevin, I start with you. Alisyn and I were just discussing how to do this segment [Kevin Madden, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. [Cuomo:] And the notion is the CNN debate was a formative event in this race. It changed the field. It changed who's at the top and who's coming up on them. Could this be the next formative event because you have one big group of appeal chasing the frontrunners with totally different positions on tolerance? [Madden:] Yes, I don't know. I look, I don't I don't look at campaigns as really events as much as I look at a processes. So I think it was part of the process. I think this is going to bring the kind of scrutiny to the Ben Carson campaign that, as we've seen with some of the way they've handled it, he's clearly not ready for. And I think other campaigns are who are looking at Ben Carson like he's holding on to this like 25 percent of the of the Republican electorate right now, they're more than willing to watch him, you know, have to explain this because, ultimately, they want those voters to fall to him. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Huh. Amanda, there have been a bunch of GOP contenders who have come out and either condemned or backed away from what Ben Carson has said, including Ted Cruz, John Kasich, Jeb Bush. Lindsey Graham was quite forceful. He said, I think Dr. Carson needs to apologize. But Donald Trump has taken a different tact. He sounds as though he's given support to Ben Carson. Let's listen to what Donald Trump said about this last night. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Ben was saying there are difficulties. And I think everybody knows what those difficulties are. And people want to be politically correct. But there have been difficulties. And a lot of people agree with Ben. [Camerota:] Look, Amanda, this is what Ben Carson's people and Donald Trump keep saying is, we're not going to be politically correct. This is just about political correctness. How do you see it? [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I don't think Donald Trump has a choice. He was arguably the highest profile birther in America over the last five years. I mean I think everyone forgets the fact that he was on cable TV all the time demanding President Obama produce the birth certificate. So when someone stands up at a New Hampshire rally and asks him a question like that, gosh, Donald Trump is playing footsie with this issue at every venue possible. So I don't see there's any way he could bush back on that question. And I'm happy to see him get the scrutiny. I'm happy to see Ben Carson get the scrutiny because, quite frankly, this isn't the first objectionable thing he's said. [Madden:] Right. [Carpenter:] He's all over the map on so many issues. In the debate he's talking about competing minimum wage. He's talked about installing federal monitors in classrooms to make sure there's no liberal bias. He said people should voluntarily opt out of Social Security to make the system more solvent. He needs some scrutiny because the second, you know, number two status that he's enjoyed this far has not been earned. [Cuomo:] Well, Kevin, you end you did the end run on me there on the event versus process thing. Let me come at it a different way though. [Madden:] Yes. [Cuomo:] Do you think this issue may tighten up the difference between Carson and Trump and the rest of the field? At least with Fiorina, who gave an incredibly intelligent and inclusive answer about what the role of faith should be for its leaders. Do you think we may see a contraction based on this? [Madden:] Yes, I look, I think it's I think it will take place over time. And Ron Brownstein made a point earlier that I agree with. I think there's a bit of a fissure right now within this within this field. There is two candidates and Trump and Carson who seem to be defining their candidacies based on what they're against. I ultimately believe that is destined to fail. The other part of the campaign, which is the other part of the field, which is, they're very focused on promoting their candidacies based on what their for and what their vision for America is. One that's a unifying vision. People may disagree with it, but they are they are absolutely defining their candidacies that way. I think ultimately one thing after the other, as Amanda pointed out, there are a number of issues that are going to add up for Ben Carson where people are going to have very serious doubts about his readiness, about his judgment as a potential president and ultimately it will I think the rest of the the support will come back to the rest to the to that other half of the field. [Camerota:] Well, but, I mean, Amanda, very quickly, doesn't this also hurt the rest of the field because there's people like John Kasich who are trying to have a substantive policy discussion but keep having to address these conflagrations? [Carpenter:] Well, certainly. And the way that Donald Trump and Ben Carson have controlled the media narrative is unfortunate for so many other candidates. But I want to jump on a comment that Chris mentioned about whether we're going to see a contraction in the field. Well we immediately saw the field contract yesterday with the departure of Scott Walker who said in no subtle terms that he's doing this to unify the anti-Trump, you know, and anti-Carson, too, I'm sure he meant, vote. He dropped out so that there could be some coalescing around some kind of unifying candidate that probably has a more positive vision for America. So that's already happened quite dramatically. [Camerota:] All right. There you go. [Madden:] Yes. [Camerota:] Amanda Carpenter, Kevin Madden, thanks so much. Great to get your perspectives on all of this. [Madden:] Great to be with you. [Camerota:] Michaela. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] The front man of U2 showing he has a heart of gold. Bono fights for a good cause. You're going to find out what it is and why it is so important to him when NEW DAY returns. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] The big clean-up begins. Cities along the East Coast this morning struggling to return to normal after the monster winter storm. A lot of people this morning expecting a messy commute. We will tell you what you need to know ahead. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] One week to Iowa. The candidates out in force trying to sway voters with just seven days until the first real test. Tonight, the Democrats sound off on a CNN town hall event. How will it shake up the race? Good morning. And welcome to EARLY START. I'm Christine Romans. [Berman:] I'm John Berman. Nice to see you. It is Monday, January 25th, 4:00 a.m. in the East. And millions of Americans digging out this morning from one of the biggest snow storms the eastern U.S. has ever seen. A whole lot of people facing a daunting commute with officials warning of icy roads, not to mention reduced bus, train and plane service. This morning about 1200 flights have been canceled so far. At least 16 people have died due to the storm and that figure is likely to rise. The snowfall totals came in at record levels or close up and down the East Coast. Glengarry, West Virginia, got the worst of it with 42 inches. New York, 26.8 inches. And you know what, New York wasn't even expecting nearly that much. [Romans:] No. [Berman:] The second biggest snowstorm in the city's history. Washington about 22.4 inches. Commuters in the New York are looking at a tough morning. This morning the MTA says it will have service restored only on the seven busiest branches of the Long Island railroad. CNN's Ryan Young is at Penn Station with more on the New York cleanup. [Ryan Young, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, 26.8 inches fell here in New York City. And you look all around the city, you can see the big burns of snow every single where. In fact, one of the places we're standing is here outside Penn Station. That's where the Long Island rail was shut down for some time. We do know 80 percent of the service will resume Monday morning for those commuters. 300,000 people use that rail line. It's all a part of the city getting itself back to normal. Now we drove in from New Jersey. One of the things that we noticed is, most of the roadways were clear. And in fact, it was very easy to get around most of the major intersections of the city. But all along the side streets, people were dealing with what you know that they were dealing with, which is that heavy inches of snow all over the place. It's going to be a long cleanup effort all up and down throughout New York City. That's something that we'll be watching and paying attention to John and Christine. [Berman:] All right, Ryan. What about the nation's capital? Hit very hard. Roads still being plowed in Washington, D.C., Virginia, Maryland. Federal government offices and schools in the region all closed today. The D.C. Metro system will be running but on a reduced schedule. For the latest from Washington, let's bring in CNN's Jennifer Gray. [Jennifer Gray, Ams Correspondent:] John and Christine, day two of the big dig is beginning today and we have a lot of snow still to clean up. The crews have been out all night long on the roads trying to get them clear and I can tell you, Pennsylvania Avenue even has a stack of snow on top of it. However, some of the major roads, a lot of the major arteries are getting plowed, are getting cleared, but even in the downtown area, some of these roads are still not. So that's part of the reason school was canceled again today. City of D.C., government office as well as the federal government closed down today as well. It's just going to take time to get the city back up and running. On top of that, we had a beautiful day on Sunday. Blue skies, temperatures got above freezing. We had a little bit of melting going on so it is going to be very dangerous, the morning commute. We're going to have a lot of black ice and so again that's another reason why they cancelled school as well as those government offices. So it is going to take a while to get the city back up and running. We've been talking about these incredible snowfall totals. Dulles ranked number two as the snowiest snowstorm ever. Reagan ranked number four and so the storm definitely lived up to the hype. This was epic here across the nation's capital. Still a quiet scene in D.C. for the next couple of days John and Christine. [Romans:] All right. Thanks so much for that. Philadelphia lifted its snow emergency overnight giving drivers a few more options with their cars once they clear off the nearly two feet of snow. Still public schools are closed which the mayor says will give the city the chance to restore roads to a blacktop. And traffic is moving along the Pennsylvania turnpike this morning after a collision between two tractor-trailers brought the roadway and about 500 vehicles to a standstill over the weekend. CNN's Sara Ganim is in Philadelphia for us and have more. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] John and Christine, the Pennsylvania Turnpike director apologizing after what he calls a tragic situation. Motorists struck for more than 20 hours on the Pennsylvania Turnpike during a seven-mile backlog caused by tractor-trailers that got stuck in the snow. A review underway. Meanwhile in York, Pennsylvania, an airplane hangar collapsed under the weight of the snow after the state got somewhere between 20 and 30 inches in some areas. Here in Philadelphia, where they got 20 inches of snow, the fourth largest storm on record, schools will remain closed today as city officials clean up, hauling away snow into dump trucks then bringing it to snowmelters to get rid of it. And as you can see students and kids who have been cooped up all weekend inside because of the blizzard, releasing some of that buildup energy here on the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. Sliding down the rocky steps, enjoying the storm now that it is over, enjoying what is left as city officials continue that clean up here in Philadelphia John and Christine. [Berman:] Oh, man. That looks like a lot of fun actually right there. [Romans:] Having fun, right? [Berman:] All right. So what is in store for today? When will this all melt? Let's bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Good morning, John and Christine. [Javaheri:] Let's send it back to you. [Berman:] All right, Pedram. So it's not going anywhere. We want to take a look at it from outer space or at least as a drone flies over it. [Romans:] Gorgeous. [Berman:] Technology. This is a drone flying over I don't know. Is this Staten Island? [Romans:] Staten Island, I guess. [Berman:] Staten Island, very, very pretty. It looks so nice when it's not getting in the way of your commute or your walk where you don't have to shovel it. [Romans:] It's beautiful when it's not at the end of your shovel. You're right. [Berman:] Exactly. [Romans:] Gorgeous. All right. Be safe out there, everybody. Time for an EARLY START on your money this morning. The weekend's blizzard is going to be a costly one. Early estimates for the cost between $350 million and $700 million. That includes lost spending as people hunkered down at home, lost wages, restaurants missed out on revenue, and snow cleanup costs money. For example, cleaning up snow in New York City costs an estimated $1.8 million per inch. So that adds up. Some good news, though, this is the first big snowstorm of the year. A whole season of wild weather wild winter weather is what really could make a dent in the economy. Experts say this isn't even close to the economic damage we saw during that cold wave. Remember in 2014, the cost of that up to $15 billion and first quarter GDP, actually it hit GDP, remember that, because of the storm? Because the cold weather lasted much longer and affected a larger area. This is very late in the season. The first big snowstorm for the northeast. Very late in the season. But $1.8 million an inch in New York City. Think of that. [Berman:] That's a lot of money. [Romans:] Sure is. All right. A pivotal day in Iowa. The CNN town hall. Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, on the same stage for the last time before Iowans cast their votes in just one week. We are in Des Moines in just moments. [Gov. Rick Snyder , Michigan:] To you, the people of Flint, I say tonight as I have before, I am sorry and I will fix it. [Cuomo:] But it hasn't been fixed. That was Michigan's governor apologizing, talking to the people of Flint, for the enormous health crisis that's been going on for years. Lead-contaminated water. Not the only problem facing Michigan. In Detroit, teachers are staging sickouts, 83 public schools closing for the day because of what the teachers say are desperate situations. President Obama heading to the Motor City today. We have Senator Debbie Stabenow, Democrat from Michigan, joining us now. It's good to have you, Senator. Very hard times in your home state. President Obama going to Detroit to talk about the automotive resurgence there. [Sen. Debbie Stabenow , Michigan:] Right. [Cuomo:] Is that a little off message, considering the grave hardships in that state? [Stabenow:] Well, first ever all, Chris, we have seen a great turnaround in the auto industry, and that's the good news. But what is happening in Flint is really outrageous. And you're right on. It's not done. It's almost been two years. And since the very beginning, when people complained about the smell, the taste of the water, EPA did testing; and the governor attacked the EPA for being wrong. Then a Flint pediatrician found out there were higher lead levels in children. They attacked the pediatrician. And it was only, finally, after there was great public attention on it, that they even took this seriously at all. And today, you still can't drink the water. You can't bathe your children. One gentlemen said, you know, you can't take a shower in bottled water. I'm still trying to make sure every low-income mom who's mixing baby formula is not doing it in that dirty water, even though I've got a commitment since last fall to make sure every mom has ready to feed formula, there's been no sense of urgency on behalf of the state to make sure that moms know this. So this is really outrageous. [Cuomo:] Well, look, you know, it's easy to say now, right? Now it's all over the place. Now it has to be owned. The governor saying he's sorry. The problem is that you have all these lawyers and people getting together to sue, because you should have known. It should have been there, and you have President Obama going to talk about the automotive resurgence. Isn't it true that, not until GM said, "We can't use this water. It's rusting our parts" was there anything addressed publicly. And only then, GM got switched to a different line, and the Flint people had to keep still drinking the same water. How do you justify something like that, Senator? [Stabenow:] You don't, Chris. There's no way to justify any of this. And I have to say, in this particular case, every single person who made a decision, every single decision was made by the governor in this state government. Every single one. And you're absolutely right on this. Now, there were people that put forth the testing information this summer to try to get it out there. The pediatrician, others talking about it, all of us that were going to them and saying what do you need? There's a problem here, let us help. No sense of urgency whatsoever. Now, right now, even though that we're glad the president is in Michigan, but I'm going to be leaving after talking to you to go meet with the point person he's put in charge from Health and Human Services and the mayor of Flint so that we can focus on what we can do federally, but it doesn't take the place of the fact that the state government has the legal and moral responsibility. They just announced over a half-a-billion-dollars surplus in the state. And there's not a major commitment to making sure dollars go to fix this quickly. And it's I continue to be stunned as we look at the slow walking of the state on this. [Cuomo:] Look, it's always easy to point fingers, especially in the aftermath. [Stabenow:] There's a lot to point right now, I have to tell you. [Cuomo:] I understand that. But, you know, also, the federal government had a big hand in this. They did testing early on. They came up with obviously wrong conclusions. The question... [Stabenow:] They came up with right conclusions, and the state rejected it. [Cuomo:] No, but in the time line in the time line, you had the feds saying that the water was OK to drink. And let me tell you, if the feds did believe it wasn't safe to drink, I don't know why they didn't make that information public. But let me ask you. When did you find out, Senator? When did this come to your desk? [Stabenow:] This came last summer as I was talking with community leaders. We went to the state. Everyone assured us and assured the people in the community that this was safe. And then meeting with the pediatrician in September when it became clear to me that, in fact, higher lead levels were there for children, I immediately went into action to make sure that low-income moms were not mixing their baby formula with this water. I went to the U.S. Department of Agriculture to get a commitment early to be able to bring in extra dollars for ready-to-feed formula. In the fall the state said that everybody had ready-to-feed formula who wanted it. They had no sense of urgency. They weren't doing any outreach on this. I spent the entire fall trying to deal with what is the only thing that can be done to mitigate what is happening to these children, and that's better nutrition. Because once the lead is in your body, it never leaves. [Cuomo:] Right. But that's look, that's the best you can do. Lead poisoning is horrible; it's pernicious. We all understand that. You've got to change the pipes. That's what everybody's saying right now. [Stabenow:] No question. [Cuomo:] You switched them back onto the Detroit water system. The federal government did not declare this a disaster. It's an emergency but not a disaster. So that means they're not going to get as much resources. You have to change the pipes. It's really expensive. You can't even put floors on your schools. Despite the automotive resurgence, the money is not getting to where it needs to be, is it? [Stabenow:] Chris, we have a situation where state government is controlling all of those issues you're talking about. We'll back them up and support them. But the new pipes, they can make the decisions. They fund and control the drinking water revolving loan fund. You're absolutely right. It needs to be new pipes. Unfortunately, right now, this is something that is supervised, owned, operated, administered by state government, as it does as it is in most states. We want to support them. This is not about just passing the buck. It's about getting to the place where decisions are made so we can fix this for the families of Flint. So I'm going to be there. We're all going to be there to do everything we can to help. But if the state will not step up and do what needs to be done financially for this community, it's not going to happen. So we've got to push for a sense of urgency and more than just lip service and handing out bottled water. You're absolutely right. In the end, it's about the pipes. It's about the pipe going to the home, not just the main line. And it's a major infrastructure effort that needs to go on to fix this. [Cuomo:] Well, to be sure, Senator, it's got the attention of everybody who matters now, certainly the media. This is not going to go away. We'll be there every step of the way. A state U.S. senator has got a big voice and big jurisdiction. We look forward to seeing what you do. We'll stay on this. [Stabenow:] Absolutely. Absolutely. [Cuomo:] Thank you, senator. [Stabenow:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] Good luck to you and the people of Michigan. [Stabenow:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] Mick. [Pereira:] The family of a freed American prisoner are eagerly awaiting his return to the U.S. after being released by Iran. One his close friends joins us with reaction, next. [Cooper:] The view from the road tonight in northern Virginia. Brian Todd on the way to an overturned truck, a very dangerous situation. Obviously, if you don't have to be out tonight, please stay inside. We'll update you on all of it shortly. There is more breaking news tonight. A brand-new Fox News national poll shows Donald Trump holding onto the lead over his Republican opponents. The new poll has Trump at 34 percent against nationally and Ted Cruz in second with 22 percent followed by Marco Rubio with 11 percent. Now, the rest of the field is in single digits. At the same time Trump is railing against "the National Review." The magazine, the conservative magazine is the subject of his latest twitter rant calling it a quote "failed publication." The reason for his ire is plain to see on the cover, a special issue of "the National Review" that just came out. The headline simply "against Trump." Inside the magazine, there is a scorching editorial that calls Trump a threat to conservatism. The issue also features essays from 22 voices comments conservative voices each detailing why Trump they believe is a menace. I'm joined by two of those voices. Syndicated columnist [Michael Medved, Conservative Radio:] Between Cruz and Trump with a gun to my head, I would vote for Trump. I think Cruz is even worse. And for some of the same reasons. But Trump brings all kinds of baggage of his own. What I meant there is that Trump is no one's classic idea who is a conservative of what a conservative should be. Our conservative heroes are people like Reagan or Jack Kemp or William F. Buckley, founder of "the National Review." [Medved:] Trump is a guy of a tremendous inherited wealth who has a reputation for being bullying, and vulgar, and crude, and materialistic, and negative which is exactly what liberals have been saying against conservatives for all these years. I don't think we should be giving the left a great big gift, by confirming all of their worst stereo types of what it means to be on the right. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Sam, I want you to be able to respond because we know where Donald Trump stands on this. The twitted out earlier, "The late great William f. Buckley would be ashamed of what happened to his prize, the dying National Review." I mean, are you worried this coalition of conservatives could hurt Donald Trump at the polls? [Sam Clovis, Co-chair/policy Adviser Trump Campaign:] Absolutely not. I read all of the articles in there and Mike and Nona are people that I've had a great deal of respect for over the years. [Mona:] Thank you. [Clovis:] I've read a lot of their material. And I think that what we saw here and I was a bit amused to be honest. I felt like it was a bunch of 10-year-olds stomping their feet because they couldn't get their way. I mean, Donald Trump is not like any politician we've had in this country in history. And this is the thing I think most people are struggling with. And I don't blame them. I don't blame people who have been conservative warriors out there for all of these years, that Michael and Mona are right there with them. I don't blame them for looking at this and saying, "This isn't like anything I've ever seen, therefore I don't understand it, therefore it must be bad". That seems to be the logic that's here. And I think what is really troubling to me and I don't mean this as any admonition at all, is that I cannot believe that we have so many people that are so out of touch with what's going on in this country. And I would just advice anybody who has written an article for the National Review and particularly in those 22 articles that were published, to go to a Donald Trump rally and look and see what you see there. You're not seeing anything like we've ever seen before in the history of this country. And I just wish people would take time to get out there and do their homework, get down there and get in touch with what's going on in this country. People are angry. People are upset. [Cooper:] Mona... [Clovis:] And there's a reason they are upset, is because conservatives have not advanced the ball one inch since Ronald Reagan was president. [Cooper:] Mona, let me ask you to respond to that. Is this something you simply just don't understand and therefore have labeled bad? [Mona Charen, Contributor National Review:] This is a turning point for the Republican Party and for the conservative movement, why? Because in response to the Obama presidency, you know, the greatest sin of the Obama presidency was really the executive over reach, the expansion of the powers of the state and in particular, the powers of the executive. And what does Donald Trump promise? He promises that he will do exactly the same thing, but except for a different constituency. That is the exact opposite of what conservatism should and does and has stood for. We stood for limited government. We stood for modesty about the power of the state and adherence to constitutional limits on the power of the executive. And Donald Trump alas seems to be utterly unfamiliar with that whole tradition. [Clovis:] Mona, I would like to respond to that because I really think that what is interesting here is that I've been out there for 30 years myself. I've been out there fighting. I served in the military, I become just rabid conservative and I'm an orthodox conservative. I'm Russell Kirk consecutive. So I understand the principles and all of the things that are going on here. But what success have we had in limiting government? Donald Trump made it for good. [Medved:] Let me answer that. [Clovis:] Donald Trump has made the pronouncements, that he will bring the executive branch back inside the constitution. How does that sound like a person who is going to be a dictator? [Medved:] I'll what it sounds like... [Charen:] Actually, he has... [Cooper:] Michael, go ahead and answer. [Medved:] It's not a question of being a dictator. It's a question of favoring big government solutions, which Donald Trump does. When he talks about creating a deportation force to deport 11 million Americans that is a huge expansion of government. [Clovis:] Not 11 million Americans, Mike. It's not 11 million Americans. [Crosstalk] [Medved:] It's 11 million people but how will you do that without growing government? When you talk about creating a trade war and interfering with free trade, that is a big government solution. It is not a conservative solution. I don't want President Clinton. I don't want President Sanders, I want a Republican president next time and Donald Trump is one of our worst bets for achieving that goal. [Clovis:] That's your opinion, mike. I'll tell you right now that's fine with you. You can be there. But let's look at the vote count on February 1st and then let's look at the vote count on February 9th. And then on when we get to South Carolina and then to Nevada and then onward, let's check the vote count, let's see what the score is then. [Medved:] And it's exactly that vote count that we're hoping to influence. [Cooper:] Sam Clovis, Michael Medved, Mona Charen, I appreciate all your... [Clovis:] I still like you guys. [Medved:] I like you, too, Sam. [Charen:] We like you too. [Cooper:] Still a lot of love in the room. Coming up, we'll the latest on the massive winter storm that has more 85 million people in his past this weekend when "360" Continues. [Ashleigh Banfield:] Smack, junk, dope, big H, black tar heroin has so many different street names, but whatever you call it, heroin is causing hellish scenes across this country every day. Is this tragic photo the new normal? A young mother OD`s on heroin behind the wheel of a car, syringe still in hand, baby boy crying in the back seat. [Banfield:] It`s heroin rearing its ugly truth across America. But can we fight back? Dozens of young women are emerging from the shadows after a frat brother is accused of a string of violent sexual assaults against University of Wisconsin co-eds. Now police have his sinister journal that details sex fantasies, killing, and actually names names. Is it the smoking gun? And close to a dozen women have accused Donald Trump of unwanted sexual advances. Trump says they`re all liars and he`s threatening to sue. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] Total fabrication. [Banfield:] So why hasn`t he followed through on his threats, especially since he`s sued hundreds and hundreds of people before? Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. Welcome. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE. We`re on top of some breaking news in that nationwide manhunt for Michael Vance, Jr. New tonight, one of Vance`s former bosses says that he fears he`s one of the people on the accused killer`s hit list. Here`s what Luke Reeve`s told HLN affiliate KOCO why he believes that`s the case. Reeve said they were close. They were close friends. But when his fiancee`s 13- year-old sister reported that Vance touched her during a sleepover, he says that enough. He called the police. Vance did not end up being charged in that incident, but Reeve said Vance vandalized his property, sprayed orange graffiti all over his car in retaliation. And now he says his family is in protective custody because U.S. Marshals feared they might just be a target. Vance is accused of shooting six people, including two people who he shot dead and tried to butcher. Two police officers, as well, were shot in Oklahoma. He`s been on the run ever since. He shot two civilians, too. And he posted much of this on Facebook Live after the shooting. Take a listen to what these witnesses saw during that shootout between Vance and the officers. [Unidentified Male:] I thank God for Wellston PD and them two officers. If it wasn`t for them, I think we all would probably be dead. It was just back and forth, back and forth, aiming and shooting at everybody. Two bullet holes, that`s going to be an [Ak. Unidentified Male:] Intense. It`s like being in a small war without a gun. That`s no good. I got bullets coming behind me and bullets coming at me because he`s over here, the cops are behind me, so I had to like a snake and get on out from [Banfield:] I want to bring in Scott Mitchell, the host of "Mitchell Talks." He`s covering this story in Oklahoma City. Scott, the sheriff there says there`s not necessarily a written hit list, but they know of it somehow. But do we know if there are other targets besides this potential former boss? [Scott Mitchell, "mitchell Talks":] Ashleigh, we can assume the answer is yes. Apparently, he had a number of folks, it`s been reported, that he was after, and it appears that they`re taking these threats very seriously, law enforcement is. [Banfield:] Well, the funeral for the two people who were murdered, the aunt and uncle of this fugitive that`s tomorrow. So you can only expect his [Mitchell:] Well, lots of precautions. First, Luther schools have been dismissed for the day. So that makes it easier for them to guard the place where they`re going to have their funerals, called the Luther auditorium. So there will be family members there. But we can assume and we also have sources who say the police presence in Luther tomorrow will be massive. [Banfield:] And what about this notion that, you know, while he was on the run, he spoke about being shot and bleeding, and now we`re hearing from the police that he was shot twice. Do they think he is able to survive those bullets? [Mitchell:] Well, that`s the question everybody wants to know. Sources tell me there were two gunshot wounds to his shoulder. Now, you talk about four days. If he`s not received assistance, medical assistance, infection could set in. He could be bleeding badly. We just don`t know. It`s safe to assume that he`s in a bad situation medically, if he`s still alive. [Banfield:] Scott Mitchell, we`re going to keep on this story. You report back to us the minute you hear anything new. The tipline`s up on the screen. This is a dangerous man. I`ll remind you again, if you see him, he`s considered armed and dangerous, very dangerous. The police say stay away, don`t get near him, may be armed with an AK, and he has shown he is prepared to use it. Got another story for you tonight, heroin. This is a drug that is virtually haunting America. The latest very public and disturbing example tonight is coming from the ironically named town of Hope, Indiana, population 2,100, and this is one of them. In this photo just released by police, 25-year-old Erica Hurt there she is just a few weeks out of rehab, there in her hand the syringe as she is slumped behind the wheel of her car. What you`re not seeing is what`s in the back seat. Her baby is crying. Her 10-month-old baby boy is crying while she`s still gripping the syringe, out of it. Erica`s own mother put the tragedy into perspective. [Unidentified Female:] Heroin is the devil. It is the devil. Yes, heroin addicts, including my daughter they choose to take that first hit. But then that drug takes their soul. [Banfield:] Heroin is the devil. Police say they released this photo not to embarrass, not to humiliate, but as a wakeup call, a tough-love public service announcement aimed at stopping this epidemic. But it is certainly something we have seen all too often. Take a look. [Unidentified Female:] In Ohio, this picture going viral and highlighting the dangers of addiction. [Unidentified Male:] It`s an epidemic. It`s everywhere. We got people that are dying. [Unidentified Female:] A couple sprawled out along the sidewalk. They say that they are breathing, possible overdose. Wife and husband were high on heroin. Meaning my mom? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Unidentified Female:] How? [Unidentified Male:] On drugs. Maybe my son`ll think about this, see what it did to his family, see what it did to his mother. [Unidentified Female:] Screaming, the 2-year-old is seen tugging at her mother`s limp body. [Banfield:] It is necessary to take a closer look at this, especially this latest case from Indiana and the ballooning heroin problem nationwide. Ray Caputo is a reporter for News 96.5 WDBO radio. Ray, thanks for being with us. What do you know about the baby in the back of that car? How long was the child in the car with the mother in that condition? [Ray Caputo, Wdbo:] Well, the good news, Ashleigh, is that it wasn`t a very hot day. It was actually a crisp fall day. So it was in the upper 50s. The child was in the car for probably about a half an hour, at least. We know it took some time before when paramedics and police actually arrived on the scene to actually get Hurt to come to. They had to give her two doses of Narcan. So that child was in the car most of this time, and the kid had to be traumatized. I mean, could you imagine? [Banfield:] Ten months old, still in a carseat, I`m assuming, at 10 months old. Where is that baby right now? [Caputo:] The baby`s in the care of the young woman`s mother. In fact, she was on the scene pretty quickly, and we heard some video from her. She`s not too happy about this. But she is defending her daughter in the sense that she says that her picture shouldn`t have been posted all over social media, and she`s a little upset about that. But the child is doing OK and the child in the care of his grandmother. [Banfield:] Yes, I just saw a mugshot of Erica Hurt. That`s the kind of thing that`s public record. But when it comes to Erica, is she behind bars right now? What`s her status? Where is she? [Caputo:] She`s behind bars. She was on probation when this happened, for forgery. So when she got caught, you know, in this predicament, she was taken in for a probation violation, but she`s also been additionally charged with possession of drug paraphernalia, and of course, child neglect. [Banfield:] I want to hold that thought for a minute. Brad Lamm is an addiction specialist and himself a former heroin user. Brad, it`s great that you`re here because there are a lot of questions. When we see that Erica Hurt was just a couple of weeks out of rehab, had her baby in the back seat of the car and just needed a fix, no matter what she`s behind the wheel, she has a baby and she still had to have that fix. Can you explain this to me? [Brad Lamm, Addiction Specialist:] Well, here`s something that a lot of people don`t understand, Ashleigh. So there are more than two million Americans that are addicted to opiates right now. And people often confuse detoxing with treatment. People will say, Oh, my daughter has been through treatment five or six times, when in fact, they`ve just been through detox. So it`s really important to even educate yourself about the loved one you have that`s addicted. What have they really been going through because long-term treatment does work, but just detoxing off the drug will likely send you right back into the drug because your body has not only a physical craving for it but a psychological [Banfield:] That`s the addiction part of it, and it is a vise. I get it. Heroin is like a vise that seizes your entire soul and your physical body. But the question I have... [Lamm:] "Vise" makes it sound like yes. [Banfield:] I mean, like a vise, I mean like a gripping vise. I don`t mean like a bad habit vice, I mean like a vise that grips you. And here`s the question. Look, I`m of a certain age, and when I was young, heroin was a bad word. It was for street urchins who were dying in the gutter in New York or the scene of a Hollywood and So Brad, your Skype line is a little bit shaky, but I think one of the words that dropped out that our audience absolutely needs to know is you were talking about opiates. And I think the pill, you know, epidemic, as well, where people get hooked on the pills. They`re very expensive. We have a graphic that shows the cost of some of these drugs. And I want to put it up there so people know why maybe heroin is so alluring because it`s as little as 5 bucks for a hit. What you`re seeing there is not a lie. As little as $5 to get high on heroin, compared to $45 for a gram of coke, 20 bucks for an Oxycontin, roughly 10 bucks for a gram of weed. And these are all estimated prices, but that should give people a rough estimate of why perhaps heroin is getting so much popular. And there`s something else, Brad, I want to show our viewers because if you don`t think this is a deterrent, if you see the faces of drugs and what 10 years can do to someone who is abusing heroin this is the kind of thing you would think Amy at 35 years old, looks like she did in 2013, and look at her 10 years prior at the beginning of that string. That is what happens with just 10 years of drug addiction. And there are strings and strings of people just like this. Here`s Herbie, who goes from 1998 to 2014, aging what looks like about 30 years. And these are the and look at the injuries on his face all the way through in the mugshot. These are the kinds of things you would think would be deterrents, and they`re not. And Brad, if I still have you, if you can hear me, you would think a 10- month-old baby in your back seat is a lot more of a deterrent than the faces of drugs. [Lamm:] It`s not a deterrent because opiates [Banfield:] I want to update our viewers on some stories that we`re breaking right now on tracking justice here on PRIMETIME JUSTICE. In California, a woman is suing a long-time doctor for USA Gymnastics for sexual assault. The gymnast, who isn`t named in the civil suit, is claiming that coaches Bela and Martha Karolyi famous coaches turned a blind eye to Dr. Larry Nassar`s abuse. It is the second suit filed since September. USA Gymnastics is denying the allegations. In Nebraska, a former doctor could get the death penalty after a jury found him guilty of stabbing four people to death in two separate incidents five years apart! Among Anthony Garcia`s alleged victims, an 11-year-old boy. Prosecutors say Garcia testified or targeted the families of two professors at Creighton University, one who had fired him, another who kept him out of the medical school`s residency program. And across the U.S., that heroin epidemic we`re talking about seemingly getting worse by the day. What this drug can do to you, what it can make people do, as others simply roll tape on their tragedy. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] Good answer. Will Smith there. All right. We have so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM right after this. All right. Hello again, everyone. Thanks so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. The third Democratic presidential debate is tonight, but the gloves have already come off. The party is in an uproar after the Sanders campaign filed a lawsuit against the DNC for barring Sanders' team from using a national voter database. The DNC shut off access after a Sanders' team member admitted to browsing through Clinton's secret files on the database. All sides reached an 11th hour agreement last night, but the DNC chairwoman defended the party's action on CNN this morning. [Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Chair, Democratic National Committee:] We did reach an agreement with the campaign. They finally gave us the information that we'd been asking for so we could begin to assess the depth of the breach where their staff looked at inappropriately and were unauthorized material that was the proprietary information of the Clinton campaign. And we've been asking them for that information for two days. They had refused not only to provide us with the answers to those questions, but also refused to participate or not agreed to participate in an independent audit so we could get to the bottom of how deep the breach was. They have now done that. Unfortunately, when the Sanders campaign after this window opened through a glitch from our vendor, their staff took advantage of it in a sense, went into the unlocked door of the house and rummaged around, took things that didn't belong to them, and then, actually, accused the homeowner of violating the terms of an agreement when they had unauthorized access to the house and took things that didn't belong to them. It was pretty outrageous. But, like I said, I'm glad that we were able to reach an agreement. [Whitfield:] CNN's Athena Jones is at the debate site in New Hampshire. So, Athena, what did the Sanders' team feel like they benefitted from this encroachment? [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Fred. Well, that's the essential question here. Just what did these staffers we understand it was more than one staffer by the campaign, by the Sanders' own account, that accessed this data. But the question is, was it inadvertent? Was there nefarious intent? The national digital the national data director for the Sanders' campaign who has now been fired for accessing the data said that he did so just to see what was the extent of the exposure of the Sanders' campaign voter files because of this security breach. He said that the campaign reached no material gain from his actions. And yet two other sources, two Democratic sources who have spoken to CNN, people who are familiar with the program, familiar with the investigation, says that these Sanders' campaign staffers may have gleaned information that's key to the Clinton strategy. We're talking about information including voter turnout projections in the key early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. We also understand this team of four staffers did searches involving other early states like Nevada, South Carolina, and about 10 states that vote in March. That's a big busy month for primaries, including Florida and Colorado. Now going back to Iowa and New Hampshire, we understand that these the staffers did several searches to look for voter to measure voter enthusiasm and voter support. The Clinton campaign scores the voters they come into contact with by how likely they are to come out and caucus for Hillary on caucus night or cast a primary ballot for her. Those get high scores. Lower scoring voters are the ones who are more persuadable. So this is the kind of information that could be very, very helpful to the Sanders' campaign if they were trying to figure out who to contact in these final weeks heading into those caucuses and those primaries. I should tell you, though, Fredricka, the Sanders' campaign says that no modeling, no lists, no voter contact lists were exported. No material gain has been reaped here. So you've got two sides to this story here, Fred. [Whitfield:] All right. Athena Jones, thank you so much. Appreciate that. So as the Democrats get ready for the big night tonight, the first poll taken since the CNN Republican debate is out. It's the first measurement of which candidate might have gained the most from the event. And in the poll from FOX News, Trump is still the big frontrunner, getting 39 percent support. Ted Cruz, second, with 18 percent. Marco Rubio, 11 percent. Ben Carson then with nine points. And everyone else is at 3 percentage points or less. The survey largely syncs with other national surveys taken before the debate, showing Trump with a large double-digit lead over Cruz and the rest of the field lagging behind. So several Republicans are also out on the campaign trail today, including Jeb Bush and Donald Trump. They've been going at it quite a bit ever since things got rather heated at this week's GOP debate. Bush is still lagging in the polls, and today, in New Hampshire, he called Trump a jerk. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Just one other thing, I've got to get this off my chest. Donald Trump is a jerk. [Bush:] You can't you can't you cannot insult your way to the presidency. You can't disparage women, Hispanics, disabled people. Who is he kidding? This country is far better than that. And the idea that he's actually running for president and insulting people is deeply discouraging, to be honest with you. [Whitfield:] Meanwhile, Ted Cruz spoke at a rally just outside of Savannah, Georgia, where he talked about how he thinks the country is in a crisis. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] We're here this morning because our country is in a crisis. This is not a typical time in politics. We are bankrupting our kids and grandkids. Our constitutional rights are under assault each and every day. And America has receded from leadership of the world and has made the world a much more dangerous place. [Whitfield:] Let's go to CNN politics reporter, Jeremy Diamond. He is at the Donald Trump campaign event that will be taking place there in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. So Trump is expected to speak there at 3:00 Eastern Time. So, Jeremy, we talked a little bit on the phone. It doesn't seem that he is really compelled to be silent about his willingness to get into a war of words with other candidates. How's that for diplomacy? [Jeremy Diamond, Cnn Politics Reporter:] That's right. You know, certainly, I think that we can expect to see Donald Trump hitting Jeb Bush again today. You know, he went on a little bit of a Twitter tirade yesterday against Jeb Bush. We've seen this whole week Jeb Bush has been going after Donald Trump. It's kind of a renewed effort from the Bush campaign to say, listen, we're tired of taking hits from Donald Trump, we're tired of just trying to ignore him. We're just going to go after him. And so that's what we're seeing from Jeb Bush. Now I think he may be starting to get under Donald Trump's skin. You know, Donald Trump for a while had stopped going after Jeb Bush, saying that he had bigger fish to fry, essentially, and this week, you know, we're seeing Trump at it again. Jeb Bush, Donald Trump, the fight is back. So we'll have to see if it comes back here to Iowa today. [Whitfield:] Yes, and I mean, Trump's showing, he's bristling, even during that, you know, debate, that he seems irritated. Yet we know this FOX poll puts Trump on top after the GOP debate. But Jeb Bush is only at 3 percent. So you really do have to wonder, why, you know, Donald Trump even feels compelled to criticize Bush, to counterpunch or throw the first punch, whichever way you want to look at it. [Diamond:] Absolutely. I mean, you know, it's interesting, because the one candidate who's closest to Donald Trump in the polls is Ted Cruz. And Donald Trump and Ted Cruz have decided to kind of embrace each other, continuing their mutual detente here, where they're not attacking each other, they're kind of riding it out, and both rising in the polls as we've seen in this latest FOX News poll. But I think that it goes to Donald Trump's brand. You know, he can't not hit back when somebody hits him. So Jeb Bush is going to attack him this week and Donald Trump, it's getting under his skin and he needs to hit back. You know, that's what his supporters like as well. So I think that we may see that again from him today. [Whitfield:] All right. Jeremy Diamond in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, thanks so much. All right. And this just into CNN. Russian president Vladimir Putin says he is ready to use, quote, "more military means in Syria if needed." Putin's remarks came during a gala reception at the Kremlin. He touted what he sees as progress in Russia's military campaign in Syria and indicated that Russia has even more military force it can unleash. Former CNN Moscow bureau chief Jill Dougherty joining me now on the phone from Moscow. So, Jill, why did Vladimir Putin feel the need to say this, or what does he mean that there are more military means to unleash? [Jill Dougherty, Former Cnn Moscow Bureau Chief:] Well, I think, you know, put it in context, it was a tough talk because he's talking to the security agency people. It was Security Agency Workers' Day, this gala reception, so of course he was going to come up with something that sounded very strong. And he did say, we're not using everything we have there. Our capabilities are not limited to this. And we have additional means and we'll use them if necessary. You know, they have been they already have a big operation, this air operation in Syria, and they have brought in more defenses as time has gone on. They now have air defenses in there, they have missiles, the S-400 missiles, they have fighter planes, not just the bombers that they've been using to hit ISIS and other targets to help the Syrian army. So I think what he's saying is, you know, a bit of bravado, telling them that they're doing a good job and that our military is on the case and we can certainly bring in more. You know, they were caught pretty much a little off defense when the Turks shot down that Russian warplane and just back in November. And they realized that a lot of their planes were going out without fighter jets around them to protect them. So now they brought in they have the S-400, as I mentioned, and fighter jets. And he notes a little bit of a shot over the bow, I'd say, to Turkey, as they continue their really bad relationship right now with Turkey. And just, basically, a little chest thumping and saying, we've got more where that came from. [Whitfield:] All right. Jill Dougherty, thank you so much from Moscow, appreciate it. All right. Coming up, a teenager who killed four people in a DUI crash had vanished. He had argued that he suffered from affluenza, brought up with wealth with no limits. Now he and his mom are missing. That story, next. [Bloom:] It takes a real grinch to put on a Santa Claus mask and then go rob a bank. And that`s exactly what happened at the Memphis City Employees Credit Union last week. It takes him a couple of seconds to get down to business. You can see the suspect walk up to the teller and offer her a candy cane. He also offers a candy cane to another customer. Oh, gee, what a nice guy, that seems great, right? And then, he comes back to the counter and we see his true grinchy nature shining through. He hands the teller a note and tells her that he`s robbing her. Joining me again, Wendy Patrick, Yodit Tewolde, and Danny Cevallos. All right. Here`s what we know about the suspect. He is a black male, 5`9", 150 pounds. He was wearing that Santa mask, a red shirt, black pants, black shoes, and police are still looking for him. So Danny Cevallos, is it time to say that people just can`t wear masks out in public anymore? [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Yeah, Lisa, I don`t know where you get your information from, but that`s clearly a white male, white beard, about 300 pounds. The identification is way, way off. If this goes to a lineup, this guy is walking, I can tell you right now. But I agree, Lisa, we live in an era where we need to stop with the Halloween shenanigan and the Santa Claus shenanigan. If you walk into a bank, we should be able to see who you are because, listen, banks get robbed. It`s a scary job. [Bloom:] Yeah, absolutely. And you know, Wendy, this is just so wrong. It is so wrong to put on a Santa mask and rob a bank, right? I mean, what about the kids? What about our image of Santa? Is nothing sacred? Can we not have just one nice thing Santa Claus? Should there be some kind of extra punishment for this guy when he gets caught for wearing the Santa mask? [Patrick:] You know, Lisa, this thief stole both cash and cheer. The Christmas spirit was just quashed in that bank. And what`s really sad about this scenario is Halloween and Christmas give criminals a license to wear costumes and not be looked at twice. This man took advantage of that opportunity. So absolutely, no doubt it will be used as an aggravant of when, I`m not gonna say if, when we find this thief. [Bloom:] An aggravant, an aggravating circumstance. Threw the book at him. And I would say this is something you don`t see every day, but there are actually more Santa Claus crimes than just the one we`re talking about. A guy dressed up as Santa was actually caught with a bunch of drugs. And another crime, he had a truck and he had molly, ecstasy pills, marijuana. He was arrested in Jacksonville, Florida last week. Isaac Geiger was arrested with possession of drugs and intent to sell and resisting arrest. Danny, Danny, what are we gonna do with these guys? [Cevallos:] Look, I don`t know. Delivering presents worldwide I guess is a stressful job. I don`t know why people turn to a life of crime. I don`t what we`re going to do. I mean, we can`t really get rid of the Christmas spirit entirety because of a few bad I guess naughty apples. But look, it`s a problem. You know, grown people, maybe we shouldn`t be in costumes. [Bloom:] Listen, it`s tough covering crime stories. They are also heavy and sad. At least, nobody was hurt in either of this just so we can make our corny holiday jokes. Thank you so much. Sharing a snap chat story has a New York cop in hot water. The plot line behind this picture that has a lot of people, especially the family in it, fuming. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you for watching, everyone. Nice to have you with us. Stay tuned; "WOLF" starts right now. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 10:00 a.m. in Las Vegas, 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 8:00 p.m. in Damascus, Syria. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. We start with the presidential race here in the United States with the Republicans and the Democrats switching battlegrounds. The Republicans hitting Nevada, the Democrats looking ahead to South Carolina. Three of the five remaining Republican hopefuls there in Nevada today. That's the short-term focus. Long-term, it's the March 1st Super Tuesday primaries. Meanwhile, on Democrat side, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they're getting ready for their battle in South Carolina, and the next test of how African-American voters are going to break. We'll get to that a little bit later this hour. But first, let's check the pulse of the Republican race for the White House right now. Donald Trump is riding high after his 10-point win in South Carolina. In a stop in Atlanta, he ticked off the groups that gave him the win. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidates:] So, we won with everything. We won with highly educated, pretty well educated and poorly educated, but we won with everything. Tall people, short people, fat people, skinny people. Just won. [Blitzer:] Florida Senator Marco Rubio collected his best finish so far, a second-place finish in South Carolina. Now, he's taking his message to Nevada. [Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] We will win this election because of the people left in this race of the people left in this race, no one can unite this movement or this party faster than I can. And we have to unite. If we're still fighting with each other in September and October, we're going to lose. If we're still divided, we're going to lose. There aren't enough of us. [Blitzer:] We're following the action in Nevada today ahead of Tuesday's caucuses. Our National Political Reporter Maeve Reston is in Elko, Nevada for us. That's where three of the campaigns are hitting the ground today. Why so much emphasis made on Elko? [Maeve Reston, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Well, Elko is one of the biggest cities in rural Nevada. And, of course, that will be really critical to whoever wins here on Tuesday. This is a caucus state. And if these candidates can come in and sweep up some delegates in these rural areas, that's what they want to do. So, literally, within a one-block radius, we have Ted Cruz here today. Marco Rubio has a strong crowd inside. It's about to get speaking in there. And Donald Trump, the voters here were expecting to see him, but he's sending his son instead, today. [Blitzer:] Maeve, talk a little bit about what happened in the GOP contest in the Nevada caucuses. Back in 2012, when Mitt Romney won the state, what lessons can the current candidates learn from that? [Reston:] Well, this really is the wild west out here, Wolf. You know, you had only 33,000 voters show up to caucus in the Republican caucus in 2012 when Romney won here. And he won by virtue of a really strong ground organization. So, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, they were all hoping to do the same thing this election year, but Donald Trump has kind of swept in with his momentum, not as much organization, and it really feels like Trump country out here. We've been driving these rural counties for the last week, and almost every Republican voter that we've met is saying that they're supporting Trump. So, the question tomorrow night is whether or not the organization of these other campaigns, Cruz and Rubio, who clearly are competing for second here, can overtake that momentum, turn their people out, and hope for, you know, less of a big turnout for Donald Trump here tomorrow night. [Blitzer:] All right, Maeve Reston in Nevada for us. Maeve, thank you. Later, by the way, in "THE SITUATION ROOM," I'll be interviewing the Ohio governor, John Kasich. He's one of the five Republican candidates still standing. We'll talk about the results in South Carolina, the upcoming votes in Nevada and beyond. That's later today, 5:00 p.m. Eastern. Meanwhile, Ted Cruz, he finished a close third in South Carolina but stands second in the current Republican delegate count. He's also in Nevada today trying to gain support ahead of tomorrow's caucuses. Let's discuss a little bit more about what's going on. Joining us, our CNN Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash and our Chief Political Analyst Gloria Borger. Cruz has got to make his case. A disappointing third-place showing in South Carolina. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] He does. And, you know, I think that he was disappointed with evangelical voters, and I think he's got to start appealing to evangelical voters. He understands that Donald Trump is way ahead there. He's got some money to spend. He's been organized. He's got a really well-organized campaign. So, I think Cruz will continue to make his case, that he's the constitutional conservative and the values candidate. I mean, the one area we saw in those exit polls that Cruz does badly is on shares your values. I mean, that Trump does badly. Cruz does well on that. [Blitzer:] When they say values, they mean, like, the social issues, right? [Borger:] Exactly, exactly. [Blitzer:] Yes, marriage, gay marriage, [Borger:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] stuff like that. [Borger:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] Stuff like that. [Borger:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Abortion rights for women. The Jeb Bush decision to suspend his campaign, effectively dropping out of the race, the supporters, the money, where are they heading? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Well, the Rubio campaign is trying to get them big time. Not everybody has really decided where they're going to go, if they're going to go anywhere else. I'm sure most of them will, eventually. But that is really the race right now. John Kasich would probably like to have some of them. They tend they are the more establishment Republican supporters and donors. And that is the key right now. But I think to your point about Ted Cruz first of all, I don't think a lot of them are going to go for Ted Cruz or Donald Trump. I mean, Donald Trump is self-funding. [Borger:] Yes. [Bash:] But to your point about Ted Cruz, you know, as the night was going on and on and on, on Saturday night, the one thing that the Rubio campaign was starting to push already is, Ted Cruz doesn't have a lock on the south. Never mind a lock, I mean that he didn't get any delegates. Nobody got any delegates in South Carolina, except Donald Trump which is pretty astonishing. [Blitzer:] He got all 50. [Bash:] But yes. [Borger:] Right. [Bash:] Which is really remarkable. But Ted Cruz has spent a lot of time going through I mean, campaigning in the so-called SEC primaries, the ones that'll happen on March 1st. He's did a bus tour there in August when everybody was thinking, what are you doing? [Borger:] Right. [Bash:] So, I think that there should be and is a lot of focus on those March 1st states and it will tell us a lot about Ted Cruz's viability. the reason why that's important is to figure out whether or not Marco Rubio can be the only guy left standing, effectively, against Donald Trump. [Borger:] Can I say something, to add to what Dana is saying about the donors? I was talking to a bunch of donors over the weekend [Blitzer:] Bush donors? [Borger:] Jeb Bush donors. And, first of all, they say, Jeb Bush hasn't sent any kind of a signal to anybody. He's taken some time off and he's not going to send a signal. There is this kind of Shakespearean fight that we've seen between the mentor and his student, you know, Bush and Rubio. So, there still are some hard feelings. So, people aren't flocking to one candidate or another. Somebody said to me, many will go to Rubio. Obviously, Rubio campaign says they've gotten a lot. But in Texas, for example, there may be some donors who decide to go to Cruz. And also, Kasich is making a play for some for some Jeb Bush donors. [Blitzer:] We just got a clip in. This is Senator Rubio. Dana, listen to this. He was asked about Ted Cruz's so-called dirty tricks that are that he supposedly is playing out there against some of the other Republican candidates. Listen to this. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] I'm saying, someone at some point, there has to be some level of accountability. Otherwise, they're running an operation where you're sending a message to the people that work for you, go out and do anything you want. And if you get caught, we'll just apologize, but we'll keep doing it. That seems to be what's happening here. [Blitzer:] It seems to be what's happening here, he says there. This whole notion of dirty tricks, what was going on maybe in South Carolina, or Iowa for that matter, potentially could be plaguing Senator Cruz. [Bash:] It could be. Potentially, it was one of the things that hurt him in South Carolina. And the Rubio campaign is really going after him. I mean, you and I both were at a rally that Marco Rubio was having in South Carolina, when one of his top aides started to hand out a piece of paper that showed a clearly photoshopped photo of what appeared to be Marco Rubio shaking Obama's hand. And the Rubio campaign clearly thinks that that is a negative for Ted Cruz which is why their campaign, and the candidate himself, keeps pounding away on this dirty tricks notion. Because they think that it opens up a wound that hadn't been there before, for Ted Cruz, and that he was coming across successfully as a true conservative, as somebody who was above it all and outside, kind of, a political the whole political idea of doing things the way that people in Washington do it. Well, he's trying to poke a hole in that. [Borger:] You know, and so, his strength is values. [Bash:] Yes. [Borger:] And part of values is ethics. And if they can weaken him on that, that would be a good thing for them. And, by the way, they're joined with Donald Trump on this [Bash:] They are. [Borger:] who keeps calling Ted Cruz, what, sleazy and a liar and everything else. So, Donald Trump is on Rubio's side in this. And this way, he can attack Cruz, be on the side of Donald Trump, and avoid for, what, maybe another week or two, attacking Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] What do you make of Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, being quoted in "The Washington Post," saying he's given some political advice to Donald Trump? [Borger:] It doesn't surprise me, actually. I think these fellows go back a long way in New York. Trump says he's strong on ISIS and fighting terrorism which is the number one issue in the Republican Party. However, I do recall that Rudy Giuliani actually ran for the presidency and didn't [Bash:] Yes. [Borger:] do so well. And so, maybe it's more foreign policy advice and less tactical advice that he's that he's giving. [Bash:] And it's a perfect example of how Donald Trump just there are different rules that apply to him because one of the main reasons Rudy Giuliani didn't take off is he had, historically, not had strong enough position against abortion. [Borger:] That's right. [Bash:] You can certainly say the same thing against Donald Trump. He said it in the clip that plays over and over again but it doesn't matter. [Blitzer:] He says his position has evolved [Borger:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] all these years later. All right, guys, thanks very much. Don't forget, this Thursday, the five remaining Republican candidates meet in the next Republican presidential debate. It's in Houston, Texas. I'll be moderating. The debate begins 8:30 p.m. Eastern Thursday night only here on CNN. Up next, with a win in Nevada, Hillary Clinton prepares for the next vote in South Carolina. Will she change her strategy? And the fight between the FBI and Apple heating up again over the San Bernardino shooter's encrypted cell phone. What would a win for Apple mean for you? [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Correspondent:] All right. There it is. The Vatican and American flags mounted to the American charter jet called Shepherd One. Not the Vatican's plane. It's a chartered jet, hence, the name American on the side. Inside, an Argentine pope in America for the first time, coming from Italy and now going to Philadelphia. A very nice trip so far for Pope Francis. We had a moment just shortly ago where he was climbing the stairs. For all the concerns about security and protection, were the stairs that proved the most challenging thing for the Holy Father. The wind's blowing. He's got that long vestment. He's got the sciatica, he's got the bag in his other hand, there he is all alone on the stairs, nobody is rushing up to help him. He's got the top of his vestment blowing over his head. It was a little nerve racking for a second. We try to play it off lightly. We don't want to scare anybody. But when he gets to the top. Here's a beautiful thing about this man, Jorge Bergoglio, now Pope Francis. We can't see him, right? But when you do get a chance to see his reaction, he is laughing. We can only imagine what he was thinking to himself. Maybe the real Holy father has been telling this Holy Father that it's been too easy for you thus far. Don't forget, these are tough trips. So he made it into the plane. He's now getting some rest. He's going to have a quick trip to Philadelphia. Boy are they waiting for him. This place is turning out perhaps like never before. There's a lot of security. There's a lot of anticipation. So let's start our coverage. We have people everywhere on every angle. CNN international correspondent Miguel Marquez is live at Independence Hall. The Pope is going to be there. What do we know? [Miguel Marquez, Cnn International Correspondent:] The cradle of democracy he will come to today. Washington was big politics, and New York was big city. This is going to be big, big crowds. They're already gathering here. You guys excited? People holding up sign, harmony, many of the themes the Pope has been talking about here. In the next couple days there will be millions to see him. [Pope Francis:] The lord will be with you. [Marquez:] Pope Francis departing for his final stop on his U.S. tour this morning after touching so much hearts here in the Big Apple. Now, the people's Pope off to the city of brotherly love. Philadelphia where he's expected to draw a crowd surpassing a million people. Like he did at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, the Pontiff will start his Philly trip by celebrating mass at the city's cathedral, the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul. The Pope will then visit Independence Hall, the birth place of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. Here, Pope Francis is expected to deliver one of his biggest speeches on immigration and religious freedom to an estimated 40,000 people. [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] The excitement is really building here in Philadelphia. We had a great sendoff in New York but in a certain sense the party has yet to begin. [Marquez:] The Pope is ending his day at the World Meeting of Families. The largest gathering of Catholic families from around the world. [Unidentified Female:] This is a once in a lifetime and for the city [Marquez:] Pope Francis will also lead his closing ceremony on Sunday, his last mass on U.S. soil. The pontiff expected to draw up to two million people, making his Madison Square Garden mass of 20,000 seem in attendance seem punitive. God is in the city, he said Friday, urging them to always remember the forgotten, the sick, the needy. A sentiment he displayed as he walked into the arena blessing children with special needs. Their parents in tears. [Pope Francis:] Don't forget to pray for me. [Marquez:] Over 100,000 people bore witness to the leader of the Catholic church in his nearly 40-hour New York tour. People ecstatic to be in his presence even if for a fleeting moment like the tens of thousands that line the streets of Central Park. Now, what you're looking at here, a shot right across the street from Independence Hall, the National Museum of American Jewish History, we've established a camera up there. So you can get a sense of me and all my friends, thousands are here. How exciting is this? There will be tens of thousands here at Independennce Hall, and then tonight, for the vigil, for the for the festival of families, about 500,000. For the big mass tomorrow, for the festival of families, really the anchor event for the Pope's trip to the U.S., about two million people are expected, Chris. [Cuomo:] Well, we can feel the enthusiasm. Thank you for introducing us to those great people there, Miguel. We'll check back with you. We know we see the Pope's plane taxiing. He was just waving out the window saying good-bye to New York for the last. He's on his way here to Philly. On the phone right now is Philadelphia's mayor Michael Nutter. He's going to meet the Holy Father at the airport in just about 30 minutes. Mayor, I have advice for you, you were watching the Pope climb the stairs, the wind was high as it is down here right now. He had a little trouble with his vestments. We know he was struggling with his sciatica, so make sure you got people there to make sure he's OK when he comes down those stairs, mayor. [Mayor Michael Nutter, Philadephia:] Absolutely, we have a lot of love for him. And we're going to take care of him very well here in Philadelphia. We're excited and looking forward to his arrival. [Cuomo:] How have the preparations gone and what do you expect in terms of turnout and tone? [Nutter:] Well from a preparation standpoint, Philadelphia is geared up and ready to go for some time. We've been planning on this visit for probably now two years, having known that we were the host city for the World Meeting of Families. And then subsequently when Pope Francis announced that he would be coming. So from a final standpoint, everything is a go sign. In terms of people there will be a lot of people here. Everyone is not RSVP'ing or calling the office to let me know if they're coming or not, but we are expecting a lot of people in Philadelphia. You'll see the incredible shots of hundreds of thousands of folks out on the Ben Franklin Parkway. Certainly, as far as numbers in Independence Hall, as well as, of course, anticipating the papal parade, which we have a couple of them and the concert tonight. It's just going to be a fantastic weekend in Philadelphia. [Cuomo:] Where does this rank in significance in terms of big things that have happened in your city? [Nutter:] Well, this will be the largest it's certainly the largest and most impactful event in Philadelphia in modern history. There's no question about that. In terms of the number of people, the presence of the Pope. The first World Meeting of Families ever to take place in the United States of America, taking place in Philadelphia. The Vatican picked the city because we're the biggest city that does big events well. So it's huge for all of us. [Cuomo:] Now, nothing is purely positive. There's been pushback about how hard it is to get around. People may be staying away or going down the shore. The cost has been an issue. What's your take? [Nutter:] Well, actually, none of those are not real issues. The World Meeting of Families organization is reimbursing the city for any additional costs. So there is no cost issue. That was worked out in the contract. In terms of people, you know, access, the city is free and open, obviously as we saw in both New York and Washington, D.C., I mean, you have to have, you know, bike rack and prevent vehicles from being in certain areas. None of those issues are issues here in Philadelphia. Folks are excited, they're looking forward to the visit. We're about to board the bus to go and meet the plane. So this is happening right now. [Cuomo:] Right. I know you're hearing those criticisms, we'll always chase the money. We'll see how that shakes out. But when he gets here, Mr. Mayor, he's going to be talking about very traditional value issues within the Catholic Church. But really they'll resonate beyond any faith. What do you hope the Pope touches on? [Nutter:] Well, we know he'll talk about immigration and religious freedom. Obviously, there's a mass on Sunday. The Pope has demonstrated time and time again that he'll talk about what he wants to talk about. That's going to be an exciting moment for all of us just to hear from him, the speech that he made with the joint session of Congress [Cuomo:] Well, I've been with you before, mayor. I've seen you handle tough situations. But this is a moment for you today as well when you meet the Pontiff. Have you been practicing what you want to say? How it's going to go, what's your moment going to be like? [Nutter:] I've had the fortunate occasion to meet Pope Francis twice now. Once last year and once this year. What I usually do is check in with my mother first, ask her what she thinks I should say. She's done me well each and every time. So of course, first is, your holiness, welcome to the great city of brotherly love and sisterly affection, we'll go from you. [Cuomo:] Yes, I had to learn that second part. We had the governor on before, I didn't know the sisterly affection. [Nutter:] Yes. [Cuomo:] Philadelphia, are you going to expand the actual name of city or just the meaning? [Nutter:] That's our motto in Philadelphia and we live by it every day. [Cuomo:] I know you do. This is a great place to people, you're great to us. We know the Pope's going to get a warm welcome. Mr. Mayor, as always, thanks for talking to us, joining us on "New Day." enjoy the moment you're going to have. We'll all watch you on TV soon. He's coming. He just took off. [Nutter:] I can't wait. Thank you very much. All right. Bye-bye. [Cuomo:] Take care, Mr. Mayor. Let's get back to Alisyn. There's a lot of other news this morning as well. Alisyn. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn:] OK. let me tell you some of our top stories because House Republicans are trying to figure out who will lead their caucus after Speaker John Boehner's bombshell announcement that he will step down next month. Democrats see the move as proof of a fractured GOP [Allen:] Amid the tears and the rain, fans of Brazil's Chapecoense football club gathered Saturday to honor their team. 19 players and 19 staff were among the 71 people killed in a plane crash in Colombia Monday. The team was its way to a major tournament. "WORLD SPORTS'" Don Riddell has more from Chapeco, Brazil. [Don Riddell, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] They left as heroes, they returned in coffins. The Guard of Honor for the Chapecoense football players. But the last few yards were the hardest. Reflecting the emotion of the day, dozens and dozens of caskets returned in a torrential downpour, as the visceral sight of so many bodies finally made the nightmare real. This is a small-town club which had punched well above its weight, capturing the hearts of a nation. The supporters had an intimate relationship with the team, sticking by them through the good times and the bad, but nobody could have ever imagined it would end like this. There isn't anybody in Chapeco who hasn't been touched by the tragedy, but it's been hardest for the families. Their grief was uncontrollable. But many found solace with the supporters, connecting with them possibly for the last time at this stadium. For Osmar Machado, the grief is crippling. He's told us that he wanted to commit suicide after learning of his son's death. Defender Filipe died on his father's birthday. The widow of the beloved goal keeper Danilo emotionally took his picture and placed it in the goalmouth where he stood for every game. The club must now draw on the strength of its supporters to rebuild the team. And their rich history will no doubt live on in the future. Part of that tradition was evident today. The awful weather conditions couldn't have been more appropriate. Everyone knows that Chapecoense played their best football in the rain. Don Riddell, CNN, Chapeco, Brazil. [Allen:] Fighting continues between government troops and rebel forces in Aleppo, Syria, backed by airstrikes and artillery, regime forces continue to advance in rebel-held districts. Reports say they have now regained over half the area once controlled by rebels in eastern Aleppo. Civilians fleeing the battle are often caught in the middle, facing dangers from both sides. Senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen filed this report from a government-controlled village south of Aleppo. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] As the Syrian government continues to push its offensive in and around the Aleppo area, we've been hearing about the tens of thousands of people who have already been displaced. And many people wonder, where are these people going? Well, some of them are going right here. We're inside a former cotton factory that's disused and is now being used as a place for many of these displaced people to go. Now a lot of these folks here describe harrowing experiences over the past couple of days as they were trapped inside the eastern districts of Aleppo that of course are under siege by the Syrian military and many of them say that in the past couple of days they haven't had very much in the way of food, of water, of course many of them very traumatized and very weak as well. [Unidentified Child:] We were afraid that we would starve to death. We were also scared because heavy bombs were falling. [Unidentified Male:] I wanted to leave with my kids 15 days ago, but the rebels shot at me and said, hey, you bastard, do you want to join the regime? [Pleitgen:] Now if you look here you can see how some of these people have been living since they were able to get out of the eastern districts of Aleppo. You can see some of the mattresses there. We always have to stress that over the past couple of days, of course it's December right now, the weather here has been very, very bad. And so that's something of course that has additionally made life very difficult for some of the folks here. And if we look around, we can see just how many children are among those who also have been brought here to this shelter for displaced people. Again, many of them in very bad condition. Many of them, of course, very traumatized. And many of them also weak. One of the things that they are getting here is a warm meal for the very first time in a long time. You can see here some of the groups here are trying to hand out some bread, also some salad as well, just to make sure that these people are able to subsist over the next couple of days as of course they wait and they hope that maybe they'll be able to return back to their houses as a force. At this point in time, that government offensive is still very much going on. We have also been hearing a lot of fighting in and around the Aleppo area. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Jibreen, Syria. [Allen:] You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back. [Berman:] New gains this morning for the Taliban in Afghanistan. The militant group moving ever closer to reclaiming Helmand Province. That's the largest region in the country and a strategic location along the border with Pakistan. An area heavily fought over now for years including by U.S. troops, many of whom died there. Let's go to CNN's senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh in Kabul with some CNN exclusive reporting this morning. Nick, what are you learning? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, John, you know, so many assurances from U.S. and NATO officials that the Afghan will be able to hold ground once U.S. troops and a majority left here. But that isn't the case in Helmand. A vital province, so much money potentially available there for the Taliban if they get their hands on the opium trade and they're losing territory fast here, the Afghan Army, partially because of defections. We spoke to two Afghan soldiers who had in fact changed sides, saying they weren't getting the resources and assistance they needed and their commanders to keep fighting for the Afghan Army and joined the Taliban instead. But I say, too, the Afghan officials very clearly say they don't think that a key city in Helmand will fall, Lashkar Gah. In fact the Defense minister offered to resign if it did. Here's what he said. [Mohammad Masoom Stanekzai, Acting Defense Minister Of Afghanistan:] Will not fall. [Walsh:] At all? [Stanekzai:] At all. [Walsh:] If it does, would you resign, or if it did? [Stanekzai:] It will not fall. If it fall, there is no doubt I will resign, but sure, it will not fall. [Walsh:] A pretty stark admission, frankly, that is something so key that if it did fall in Taliban hands, he'd have to reconsider his position. U.S. officials feel similarly confident but I have to say talking to police in Helmand, they say that city along with much with Helmand heavily pressured by the Taliban, they're on the advance here. Many concerned it could be worse in the months ahead, John. [Berman:] All right. Nick Paton Walsh for us in Kabul this morning. Thanks so much, Nick. [Kosinski:] And Donald Trump is angry. Maybe we should put a breaking news banner on that. The billionaire scrambling to keep up with Ted Cruz calling this weekend's contest in Colorado unfair. That's next. [Pope Francis, Leader Of The Catholic Church:] Good morning. [Unidentified Female:] Pope Francis set to speak before Congress in just hours. [Unidentified Male:] Papa Francisco. Papa Francisco. Some on the right will like what he says. Some on the left will like other things that he says. I'm very concerned that a religious leader, the head of the church, is being recognized as a head of state. Eight hundred and eighteen tons of concrete block. [Unidentified Female:] Security for the Pope's visit is a top concern. [Unidentified Male:] Thirty-seven miles of barriers and fencing. [William Bratton, Nypd Commissioner:] In addition to protecting the Pope, we'll be protecting the crowds also. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] People fall un-in-love with me. Certainly, that can happen. [Unidentified Female:] He is boycotting FOX News. [Unidentified Male:] I don't think this is divorce. I think it might be a momentary separation. [Trump:] I am so tired of this politically correct crap. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Thursday, September 24, 6 a.m. in the east. Alisyn and Mick are in New York. And we are at the U.S. Capitol building. Pope Francis will once again make history. He will be the first pontiff to address a joint meeting of Congress. One advisor calls today's speech the big one of the Holy Father's D.C. visit. Now, if his comments at the White House about immigrants, climate change, specifically, global warming, poverty are any indication, it may leave some Republicans squirming, but his words may also put Democrats in an awkward position. Here's the big question: will someone come back at the Pope? Let's begin our comprehensive coverage with CNN's chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, joining me now. Good morning, Jim. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. We've talked a lot about the Pope's character, right? Mild- mannered, politically deft, humble. But today is really a day he takes the gloves off, at least rhetorically. He's going to be diving into some of the most divisive political issues here, particularly during a presidential race: immigration, abortion, religious freedom. We've talked a lot about how a third of the members of the Congress are Catholic. But certainly, this message for all faiths, certainly both parties and really a message, today, for all Americans and delivered, crucially, in English. [Sciutto:] This morning, Pope Francis making another historic stop on his whirlwind U.S. tour, this time speaking before Congress on Capitol Hill, a first for any Pope. [Rep. John Boehner , Speaker Of The House:] And there's one thing we know about this pope. He's not afraid to take on the status quo. Or not afraid to say what he really thinks. [Sciutto:] House Speaker John Boehner and Vice President Joe Biden, two of the most prominent Catholics in Washington, will be seated right behind the Pope, who may touch on divisive political topics such as same-sex marriage, abortion, even the Iran deal. At the White House Wednesday, a preview of sorts as the pontiff tackled immigration. [Pope Francis:] As the son of an immigrant family, I am happy to be a guest in this country, which was largely lived by such families. [Sciutto:] He also spoke out strongly on climate change. [Pope Francis:] Climate change is a problem which can no longer be left to future generations. When it comes to the climate of our common home, we are living at a critical moment of history. [Rev. Edward Beck, Cnn Religion Commentator:] For him, these are issues of the gospel, because they affect people, especially the poor. And he sees himself as a man on the side of poor. [Sciutto:] In keeping with his style, the Pope has decided to forego a lunch with members of Congress. Instead, after his address, he will go to Catholic Charities where he'll meet with some 200 homeless. The Pope will arrive on the Hill about 9 a.m. He'll begin his address at about 10 a.m. But really, Chris, almost as quickly as he can, he'll be leaving the surroundings, the confines from the Capitol to go meet with homeless people. That is this pope. He's most comfortable when he's connecting with real people, people in need. And this is a pope of gestures. That has a message, as well. Because this is the message he has for the church. It's a message that he has for Catholics but really citizens of the world, and certainly both parties of Congress. Get out there, help people. There are people in need. [Cuomo:] He's going to talk politics, but he is no politician. He calls himself a missionary of mercy. And that's why he wants to be around those who need us the most. Jimmy, thank you very much. Very big day for us as journalists but also as Catholics. Prominent Catholics from both sides of the aisle, including Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, who's the one who gave this invitation to the Pope, they're going to greet Pope Francis when he arrives. What else can we expect from this very significant event? CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny, live on the east front of the Capitol, awaiting Pope Francis's arrival Jeff. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. We are on the east front of the Capitol, as you said. Just to give you a sense of perspective here, we are between the Capitol building and the Supreme Court. You can see right behind me here, this is the House of Representatives. This is where Pope Francis will crazy that joint meeting of Congress. The first time ever a pope will do this. He'll arrive in about three hours. He will be greeted right here by Speaker John Boehner, who did extend that invitation to the Pope really more than a year ago. He'll also be greeted by Vice President Joe Biden, the first Catholic U.S. vice president. Interesting, in that room today, in this House of Representative chambers, more than 30 percent of members of Congress are actually Catholic. Six of nine Supreme Court justices are Catholic. And four of those justices will be on hand for the address today. As we said, there is definitely some discomfort from some Republicans who think the Pope is going to be too tough on them, on climate change, on the environment. Some Democrats are a little nervous about his message on abortion. But Speaker John Boehner, he's urging all of his members to listen with an open heart. He said this is not a day for politics. And so many members of Congress I have spoken to about this, Chris, they say that the Pope's teachings do not necessarily fit into today's liberal box or conservative box. So they're going to be listening to him as though it was a State of the Union address. There will be applause. There will be some members standing up. It is going to be not a raucous setting but inside this House of Representative chambers, it is going to be a moment to listen to him speak. But there is going to be a lot of activity out here in about three hours when that papal Fiat drives up through the capital here; and he's met by Speaker John Boehner and Vice President Joe Biden Chris. [Cuomo:] Well, Jeff, there's no question that, for the Pope and for the Catholic Church, issues like being a steward of humanity and of the environment and poverty and tolerance are a part of the catechism, part of the teaching. But make no mistake: we both know this is definitely about politics today. So let's bring back Jim Sciutto. And bring in senior political reporter Manu Raju and CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash. It's good to have you all here. Dana, I'll start with you. Is it even an issue what Republicans and maybe even Democrats might say in response to the Pope that would create a hostility or attention? Do you believe that's a possibility that someone could come at the Pope? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] During the actual speech? [Cuomo:] No, not like throwing tomatoes. To this environment, that wouldn't be out of bounds. Yes. Like afterwards, like you have a Chris Christie moment, not just saying that he's not infallible when it comes to politics, where they're like, "Ah, he should be quiet." He shouldn't tell do you think anybody would be that bold? [Bash:] Yes. Afterwards? Afterwards? Sure, of course. I think that there definitely are members of Congress who have no qualms about saying that they disagree with what he said and that he should, you know, stick to religion and not delve into politics as he has. I cannot imagine a situation where there is not an overwhelming sense of, you know, happiness and of respect during the actual speech. I mean, everybody to a person should understand that this is historic and welcoming. [Cuomo:] And also, tone is so big in politics, right, Manu? [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Yes. [Cuomo:] So the content of this global warming, right there, full stop, you have a division in Congress. People who believe that. It's not 5050. But you have those who say it's just not true, but tone is everything. [Raju:] Yes, it is. [Cuomo:] And what we hear from those who are close to Pope Francis in preparation for this. As we saw yesterday, it's not just what he says; it's how he says it. He's coming from a positive place, a good place. That's going to matter, right? [Raju:] And I think the members will respond respectfully. It's actually interesting that the leadership on both sides have told the members not to express their appreciation or their disapproval of his remarks in any sort of way that would present. They sort of told their members don't stand up and cheer like the State of the Union address. Try to act respectfully. But of course, this is a pretty partisan place, so we'll see if members actually abide by that. But I do agree with Dana. I mean, I don't think you'll see members actually express their disapproval during the speech. But afterwards, you'll probably hear a lot of Republicans speak skeptically, particularly about his message on global warming. [Cuomo:] All right. Now we have the politics of it. Very important. But the practicality's even more important. Jimmy, what do you know in terms of D.C. is all about security. They know how to do this. But there are some special considerations here. We saw them yesterday. It's a very fluid situation. How do you feel about it today? [Sciutto:] They've described it as inauguration of the State of the Union all wrapped up into one. This is, as you know, a secure town by its nature. But I've never seen it like this. [Bash:] Never. [Sciutto:] I mean, the level of security when you go to whole streets are closed. They talk about they had a $15 million budget just for fences, right? To keep people back, these bike rack fences to keep people back. And of course, people are bursting at the seams, because they want to get closer to this guy. It's a particular challenge for this guy because of his personality. He does not like to stand at a distance from his people. And you saw that yesterday when he was doing that little loop around the White House. He was in his Popemobile. You could almost feel him wanting to reach out. That's a challenge, and they want to they want to allow him to be himself. No, not just here, but as he goes to New York. But one thought occurred to me as Jeff Zeleny was speaking, is that you know, when the papal Fiat arrives that sounds like some sort of decision from on high, but his car. You know? [Cuomo:] The best product placement maybe ever... [Bash:] Right. [Cuomo:] ... is that Fiat. I can't wait until the story comes out about how many they sold after the Pope came. Because people are like, "I want that." So you know, there's this presumption that global warming, boy, that's going to get the Republicans. So a big-shot Democrat I see yesterday says that to me yesterday. I said, "How are you going to feel when the Pope looks you in the eye and says, 'You have a duty, the natural right to protect the unborn'? How's that going to feel?" What do you think hurts more politically, global warming or protect children? [Bash:] Well, I think I think now Democrats and Republicans each have something to kind of feel a punch in the gut on when it comes to the Pope. But the difference now is that Democrats, especially those who are Catholic, they're used to feeling like that. They're used to having an issue with the Pope politically on abortion and, more recently, on gay rights. So, that is something that, you know, they kind of had to deal with. So if you heard from Democrats for years, "Well, we love the Pope were it comes to religion. We're going to differ on politics." Now, it's the Republicans turn to do this, which I really think is interesting. But one other point that I want to make, which I think is fascinating, that the House speaker who is not only Catholic, he grew up going to mass every day. He's one of 12. His parents owned a bar and sent all 12 of them to Catholic school. He's been asking for the Pope. This is the third Pope he's asked to come here. And he finally, after 20 years, along with Nancy Pelosi, also a Catholic, got him to come. [Cuomo:] Why? Just because he's a Catholic? What does he think the significance is? [Bash:] Well, I think it's because he's a Catholic. But also because he's said for him personally, and he has said personally it's incredibly significant. But because he believes that he is somebody who can kind of get the country's spiritual house in order in a way that, you know, really no one else on the planet can. So watching that, especially with John Boehner who really doesn't tend to get excited about things. And just seeing the way that they've may have come out with all kinds of videos and explanations. And he wrote kind of an essay online about what this means. It's been fascinating to see. [Cuomo:] One of the decoding things, Manu, will be privatization in the Pope's message. Yesterday he was very heavy on global warming. Why? Well, our thought is that that is where he agrees. And he's not here to breed division, right? So if he agrees with Obama on that, President Obama, it makes sense that that would be a big inflexion point on him. But it stands to reason that's probably not the most important thing to the Pope. So when he's here today, if you had to stack it, priorities wise, what do you think the list of issues are? [Raju:] It's very interesting, because he's done different things to show that he has different priorities. Like yesterday, in addition to talking about global warming, he met with the Little Sisters of the Poor, of course, who launched that Obamacare lawsuit against the birth control mandate, sort of showing that he's with them on that issue. So it will be interesting to see the different things that he picks out that may aggravate both sides on certain issues but not try to go out and really poke people in the eye. You know, that goes back to the interesting thing, you talked about tone. So we'll see how he does it. [Cuomo:] Do you think the big ticket is tolerance? Or do you think that the big ticket is how money, how capitalism, how, you know, the stewardship of finance is done by those in power? [Raju:] I think it's probably the former. It's hard to see him come here and realize, if he's going to criticize capitalism, he's not going to many find allies, even on the Democratic side. [Cuomo:] Do you think he wants allies? Do you think he cares? [Raju:] I think he does, to some extent. He wants to be received well. I mean, he doesn't of course, he wants to send his messages. But he also realizes that he's in a place where, you know, this is a very historic moment. It's the first time a pope has ever addressed a joint session of Congress. He wants to be remembered pretty warmly here. So I'll be really surprised if he says something that would really alienate most of the crowd. [Sciutto:] You know, on that issue of tolerance, not just for the poor and different groups, refugees from Europe, this kind of thing, points that he's hit on. But we've heard that there's going to be a gentle scolding to members of Congress to talk to the other party. You know, imagine that in this city. He said it to the bishops yesterday, you know, that just because you're getting opposition doesn't mean you respond in kind. Although I will give you one little bit of pushback on this. Is that his significant phrase is "hacienedo un lio," making a ruckus. He likes to get in and do a little social disturbance of things that are controversial. So we'll see how it plays out today. [Bash:] And the one thing I will add is that John Boehner has said that the only thing he knows is that the Pope will speak in English and will not use a teleprompter. They know nothing else about the content of the speech. [Raju:] I think we'll know that John Boehner will probably cry, though. [Bash:] A lot. I said if you're doing a John Boehner drinking game with the crying, 10:06, you're drunk. [Cuomo:] Always good when the Pope is speaking. All right. We're going to have much more of Francis's visit ahead. CNN is going to bring you special coverage, of course, of the actual address to Congress. It begins at 9 a.m. Eastern. And NEW DAY is going to be live at the United Nations tomorrow, another big moment for Pope Francis as he gives an address at the General Assembly. Alisyn, back to you. [Camerota:] OK, Chris. Great work. We'll check back in with you. But we do have some other stories to tell you about, including this breaking news, just terrible this morning out of Saudi Arabia. More than 300 people killed and hundreds hurt during this stampede at the Hajj pilgrimage near the holy city of Mecca. CNN's Becky Anderson is live in Abu Dhabi for us with all the breaking details. What happened, Becky? [Becky Anderson, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, this is the latest that we're hearing from the Saudi civil defense, that 310 people are dead and 450 are wounded. This a massive rescue and recovery effort now under way in the city of Mina. Authorities tell us 4,000 rescue personnel have been deployed, along with more than 200 ambulances to help out. The hospitals in the region of Mina now receiving dozens of patients. Mina is a huge settlement of more than 100,000 tents. This is temporary accommodation for visiting pilgrims. And to just set some context for this, a reminder of the enormous numbers of people involved in this pilgrimage, at least two million, some say upwards of 3 million, expected to attend this year, and that doubles the population of Mecca. And in the past, Hajj has been blighted by stampedes and crushes, the worst back in 1990, when almost 1,500 people died in a crush in a tunnel leading to Mina. Today is the ritual of the stoning of the devil, where people throw pebbles at a wall. That symbolizing their rejection of evil. And this particular day of Hajj has seen several tragedies. The most recent was almost a decade ago, 350 people killed on a bridge which is notorious for bottlenecks. And that did prompt a tightening of security, because of course, there are massive logistical and safety concerns for Saudi authorities who are hosting these millions who descend on Mecca Michaela. [Pereira:] They're going to have to look at what went wrong here to lead to such a high death toll. All right, Becky, thank you. Watch that for us. Some more breaking news for you out of the Middle East, in Yemen. At least 29 people killed, dozens more injured after a bombing at a packed mosque in the capital of Sanaa. Worshippers had been attending services for the holy Muslim day of Eid-al-Adha when the blast occurred. No group has claimed responsibility for that attack. [Camerota:] Back here at home, this morning Donald Trump remains the Republican frontrunner, but his lead is slipping slightly, according to a new Quinnipiac poll. The numbers show Trump at 25 percent. That's down from 28 percent, while Ben Carson and Carly Fiorina's numbers on the rise. This as Trump announces he's boycotting FOX News for treating him unfairly, he says. Trump also lashing out at his rivals, calling on Rand Paul to exit the race. And calling Hillary Clinton, quote, "shrill," he claims her claim is coming down like a really sick rocket. We'll break all this down ahead. So how will Trump respond to everything that's happened this morning? Well, we'll find out when he joins us live on NEW DAY at 7 a.m. Eastern. What questions would you like to ask him? You can tweet us using the hashtag #Trumpon [Cnn. Pereira:] What is a sick rocket is what I'd like to know. [Camerota:] I'll ask. [Pereira:] We've got to show you a really horrifying situation. Devastating explosion and fire rocking a neighborhood in Columbia, Maryland, last night. Look at this. The blast was so powerful that it destroyed at least six homes. A gas company employee apparently suffered burns and injuries. A second victim was hospitalized for smoke inhalation. Obviously, fire officials are investigating the cause of that explosion. We'll update you when we can. [Camerota:] OK. Well, there is a slow-moving storm to tell you about. It's expected to be a super soaker, as they call it... [Pereira:] Let's get out the galoshes. [Camerota:] Please do. For parts of the East Coast. It's going to happen through the weekend. So where will it hit? Let's get to meteorologist Chad Myers for a look at the new fall forecast, Chad. [Chad Myers, Cnn Meteorologist:] Wow. Yes, I'm afraid North Carolina beaches may not be the place to spend your money this weekend, unless you want to go surfing. There will be big high surf, but there will also be significant rip currents there, guys, so keep that in mind. Look at this. Look at the southeast, because it's going to stay cloudy and rainy. Atlanta is going to get to 73 today. New York is going to be 81. So much, much warmer in the north because you'll see sunshine. The southeast doesn't see any sunshine. In fact, the southeast doesn't see sunshine for the entire weekend. That's why it's going to stay cooler and wet. And we will see spots across North Carolina, part of the Piedmont, maybe, with 4 to 6 inches of rainfall. We'll watch that. That will not be great for leaf peeping, but the good news, we don't have a lot yet of color here across parts of the southeast. The color is in the northeast. And we expect that all the way through September. Early October, we will begin to see the leaves come down from Vermont and New Hampshire. But if you're going to do some leaf peeping, the Colorado Rockies, the northern parts of the upper part of Michigan and also, the New England states look good this weekend guys. [Pereira:] All right. I love that you're doing the leaf-peeping forecast for us. Eighty-one degrees. I think Pope Francis will like that when he arrives here in New York City. All right. Another Republican candidate in hot water for making comments about religion. This time, Mike Huckabee, challenging President Obama's Christianity. We'll tell you what he said, next. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] The signs of devastation still remain as a community tries to move on. In April this year, two earthquakes a 6.2 and then a 7.0, hit Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, within just a few days. [Ryota Kiokoro:] You have to have a lot of other experts involved to really plan for disasters. So, post-disaster. OK, we survived it. Most people survived. What happens when your whole infrastructure is devastated? How do we get people home? [Ripley:] Home, it's what so many people here lost and what 2014 Pitzker prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban is trying to rebuild. [Shigeru Ban, Architect:] I think the victim has had terrible experiences, mentally and physically. They must move into somewhere comfortable. [Ripley:] With the warmth of natural wood and a flood of sunlight, Ban's temporary houses are able to bring dignity to disaster. [Unidentified Female:] I was expecting metal doors and cold material when we moved into the temporaryhousing, but it was all built by wood. It was beyond my expectation. I was crying when I got in here. I was happy to be able to live in a place like this. [Ripley:] His approach with each project is to utilize readily available materials while creating designs that volunteers can easily build. Using prefabricated wooden panels, Ban and his volunteers have been able to construct ten new homes. [Ban:] Humans need to eat, but we also need a place to stay to make a step forward. Because we have a place to live, we can make a step forward to the future. [Ripley:] For Ban, he will leave the future of his temporary buildings up to the people who use them. [Ban:] Many of the commercial buildings made by developers to make money in concrete, very temporary because some other developer buys the land and destroy the building with a new one. So, even the concrete building can be very temporary as long as the buildings are made to make money. But even the building as long as people love it, it becomes permanent. [Lu Stout:] Now, it is the end of an era for Blackberry. The company will no longer make its own phones. Instead, it says in future, partners in Asia, including a new Indonesian joint venture, will make smartphones with the Blackberry name. Now, the company insists that there will continue to be Blackberry branded devices and Blackberry will continue to design, develop, and manage the software running on those devices. Now, this was once a common site: a business executive glued to his Blackberry. The devices were, of course, nicknamed Crackberries. They were among the first smartphones to catch on with regular users thanks to that iconic design that included a physical QWERTY keyboard. In a time before touch screens, this was an easy way to type out detailed messages on the go and it enjoyed a high profile, thanks to famous fans like President Obama. For a time, it was the go-to handset for executives, politicians, celebrities. And it wasn't just about email. Blackberry Messenger, or BBM, attracted a huge fan base of younger users. It was WhatsApp before WhatsApp. Now, the phones are undoubtedly Blackberry's most iconic products. So what's next for the company? Now, as we said earlier, it will still provide software for phones made by other partners, but we haven't seen those devices yet. There's also security. Blackberry security is well regarded. Blackberry said in a statement, this move will let it focus all efforts on providing state of the art security software for devices and the enterprise of things. And that covers a range of services from setting up secure communication systems for the U.S. government to developing security systems in cars. And that is News Stream. I'm Kristie Lu Stout. But don't go anywhere. World Sport with Alex Thomas is next. END [Cooper:] As we pointed out, 28 survivors are still hospitalized tonight. They've been shot. All but six of them are being treated to the hospital behind me the Orlando Regional Medical Center. One of them is a 20-year-old woman named Patience Carter. She was in Florida on vacation, her first time here. She wrote an incredibly moving poem about the shooting and what she saw and how she feels about surviving when so many others didn't. She read her poem from the hospital today. We think it's important to hear it. [Patience Carter, Orlando Shooting Survivor:] The guilt of feeling grateful to be alive is heavy. Wanting to smile about surviving but not sure if the people around you are ready. As the world mourns the victims killed and viciously slain, I feel guilty about screaming about my legs in pain because I could feel nothing. Like the other 49 who weren't so lucky to feel this pain of mine. I never thought in a million years that this could happen. I never thought in a million years that my eyes could witness something so tragic. Looking at the souls leaving the bodies of individuals, looking at the killer's machine gun throughout my right peripheral, looking at the blood and debris covered on everyone's faces, looking at the gunman's feet under the stall as he paces. The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy, it's like the weight of the ocean's wall is crushing uncontrolled by levees. Like being drug through the grass with a shattered leg and thrown on the bag of a chevy, it's like being rushed to the hospital and told you're going to make it when you laid beside individuals who lives were brutally taken. The guilt of being alive is heavy. [Cooper:] The guilt of feeling lucky to be alive is heavy she said. We wish Patience Carter strength in days ahead. Our chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta joins us now. He's have exclusive access inside the hospital over the pass a couple of days. I mean it's remarkable to realize just sort of how many people are working on people like Patience and on other survivors. I mean, it takes so many people, there's so many multiple wounds at times. [Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] From the moments they literally entered the hospital, there have been dozens of people involved, the doctors and nurses all sorts therapists and, you know, the psychological impact, what you're hearing is survivor's guilt combined with post traumatic stress. This can be individualized. People respond in the situation so differently. It could be very powerful and it could be surprising even to the person who experiencing, if they don't quite now how to describe it at first. And what's also interesting is sort of being around these community for sometime is even people outside of the club, people who just live in this community can also have a competitive survivor's guilt. You know, they lived when others did not, typically in situations where people are targeted, for example, something like this versus natural disaster, survivor's guilt is going to be more common. [Cooper:] You know, to be fair. You and I have been in a lot of places where a lot of terrible things have happened. And I often get a lot of questions from friends but also tweets from people saying, well, how can people in their moment of grief, you know, appear so calm and talk, how can Patience have the strength to read that out in a press conference. How can a mother who just lost her son smile while she's talking about her son? And, I mean, we all react to grief different. I mean... [Gupta:] I don't know. [Cooper:] But like there are a lot of people who are lot more composed than I'm able to be. [Gupta:] Yeah, I don't think I should do it. You know, when I see some of these parents for example are talking about their children. I think part of it is a sense of empowerment you know you feel so you've lost all control. [Cooper:] And they want people to know about their loved ones. You know when somebody dies violently, you don't want to just remember how their life ended, you want them to know how they lived their life. [Gupta:] That's right and they feel like they can be that that messenger and also again with these survivor's guilt, the part of it is also honoring the people who died. You have such self-preservation when you're being targeted like this, that you want to save your own life but then you start to think about it, reflect, could I have done more to save other people's lives as well? Doctors and nurses people here, that's part of their role as well you know the doctors have been describing how they behaved when these patients started came in how the patient came in. One of the doctors spoke quite a lot about this. Take a listen. [Dr. Kathryn Bondani, Orlando Regional Medical Center:] Our first patient was relatively stable, awake and talking to us, and we thought maybe they're all going to be like this and that would be great. And then we quickly got two or three more that were very critical in nature. We quickly got about five patients and that was a lot for us and we thought maybe that was going to be it and then they started ling up in the hallway. They weren't being brought in by ambulances. There was no paramedics coming in and giving us support and dropping them off they were being dropped off in truckloads and in ambulance loads where our amazing nurses and techs were putting them on stretchers and rolling them in to us and telling us that another patient is here, another patient is here, another patient is here. And quickly our trauma bay became folding capacity and we had to move people out. [Gupta:] You know, beside the words that she's saying, you can hear sort a little bit of that cathartic nature of what she's saying as well getting some of this out there, but Anderson they were bringing patients in, in pickup trucks, typically you get some sort of advance notice, A that are patients are coming... [Cooper:] She can figure out how the triage things... [Gupta:] Triage. [Cooper:] ... the priority. [Gupta:] They give you some idea about the pattern of injuries are they really had no idea I mean the last time I think you and I saw something like again was in a war zone. [Cooper:] Right. [Gupta:] For something patients just show up and so it was that sort of feeling for a period of time but they were empowered to be able to do something about it and I think that's a lot of how they get through this psychologically again. [Cooper:] Right, and for many of these doctors, I mean but obviously never seen unless they had military training, they've probably never something at this level. [Gupta:] Right and the number of wounds I mean these patients had, just because of multiple gunshot wounds. But also, you know, we talk about the bullets, the way they behave once they get on the body, they tumble, they loss someone can be shot one or the body which is where you focus your attention, but all of a sudden the bullet has travel causing damage throughout the body. And the patient may look OK, blood pressure is OK and five minutes later they're completely unstable. So it's a lot of monitoring, a lot of diligence but they have to spend besides just operating and taking care of them. [Cooper:] Yeah, well Sanjay it's great that you have some access, appreciate you can talk to us, thank you very much. Sanjay Gupta. Just ahead, we'll continue to remember the victim's brother of nursing student Amanda Alvear share his memory, she posted a Snapshot video right when the gun fire started. It's the last images her family has of her. They also learned about her brave actions before she died when we continue from Orlando. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] So, was it the pledge of allegiance? Or will there ultimately be a declaration of independence? I'm Jake Tapper. This is THE LEAD. The politics lead. Donald J. Trump reaching yet another new high in the race for 2016, as the GOP gets his loyalty in writing on a piece of paper that, let's be honest, it's about as legally binding as a case argued by my cousin Vinny. The national lead. She says, for her, it is a heaven or hell decision. The Kentucky clerk says she's fighting to protect the sanctity of marriage, she's now in jail for refusing to issue marriage licenses over her opposition to same-sex unions. Should she be forced to do what she is paid to do? The world lead. His name was Alan Kurdi, the little boy in the image that sent a shudder throughout the world, his death now magnifying the horrifying risks families are taking to escape a hopeless situation and the failure of leaders around the world to save him and tens of thousands more. Good afternoon, everyone. I'm Jake Tapper. Welcome to THE LEAD. We're going to begin today with the politics lead and of course with one Mr. Donald J. Trump. We were reminded again this week by team Jeb, helpfully, that Donald Trump once identified as a Democrat. But now Trump stands proudly and brashly at the top of the polls as a Republican. And today it was all about making sure Donald Trump doesn't pull a hat trick and join a third party. Earlier this afternoon, Trump pledged his loyalty to the GOP in writing. This all comes as a brand- new Monmouth University poll out a short time ago shows Trump more popular than ever with Republicans nationwide, with almost a third of Republican primary voters in his corner. Dr. Ben Carson, another political outsider, is now relatively quietly in second place nationally with 18 percent. CNN chief political correspondent Dana Bash was there for today's big announcement at Trump Tower. And she brings us this report. [Dana Bash, Cnn Senior Congressional Correspondent:] After what sources say were several intense weeks of private consultation and cajoling... [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] There is your pledge. [Bash:] ... the Republican Party chair got Donald Trump to pledge allegiance to the [Gop. Trump:] So I will be totally pledging my allegiance to the Republican Party and the conservative principles for which it stands. And we will go out and we will fight hard, and we will win. [Bash:] Sources say getting Trump to promise not to run as an independent has been a leading Republican goal since the bombastic billionaire refused to do so during the last debate. [on camera]: What changed over the past several weeks, since you didn't want to raise your hand? [Trump:] I think the thing that changed is the fact that I went to number one place very quickly after I signed and after I, in this building, notified everybody that I would be running for president. So I think the biggest thing is that I went early to number one, and the RNC has treated me with great respect, so that was very important. [Bash:] As Trump's popularity rose, so did Republican angst that if he didn't get the nomination, he would run as an independent, siphoning votes from the GOP, making a Democratic White House win much easier. RNC chair Reince Priebus slipped into the Trump Tower for a 15- minute meeting to seal the deal, then slipped out, no comment. That the Republican chair flew to Trump's turf speaks volumes. Why did you have Reince Priebus come here? He didn't go to the other 15, 16 candidate, but he came here. [Trump:] Well, the chairman asked if he could come up. You saw him. He was here a little while ago. And I was greatly honored that he did come up, frankly. [Bash:] To be sure, the pledge has political benefits for Trump, too, who was getting hammered as a fake conservative. Making this promise could help expand his support among the party faithful, and avoid problems in South Carolina's primary, where the promise is required, but the pledge is not legally binding. Even sources close to Trump admit he doesn't have to the stick to it. Meanwhile, Jeb Bush was in New Hampshire getting hammered by a voter on Trump's big issue, illegal immigration. [Unidentified Male:] We're pissed off. Right now, there's an era of appeasement. Let them come in. Let them stay. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Here is what I don't think is practical, rounding people up, dividing families up, creating real chaos. [Bash:] And Bush responded to Trump saying the Spanish-speaking candidate should only speak English. [Bush:] Part of it is, you would laugh because it's so bizarre, but it's hurtful for a lot of people, and Mr. Trump knows this. He's appealing to people's angst and their fears, rather than their higher hopes. [Tapper:] And Dana now joins us live from Trump Tower. Dana, Jeb Bush has also sent in his pledge with something of a zinger. Tell us about that. [Bash:] That's right. Shortly after Donald Trump finished his press conference, Shortly after Donald Trump finished his press conference, Jeb Bush tweeted out a handwritten note with his signature, saying that he has voted Republican since 1972. There's so many layers of kind of, as you said, a zinger to that, not the least of which is that Jeb Bush has been spending all week, as we have been reporting on this program, really hitting Donald Trump hard as not a real conservative, as a Democrat in disguise. So this allows him to kind of get at that theme, while reminding people that he, Jeb Bush, has always been a Republican. Never mind the rest of the Republican field pretty much, at least those who are doing pretty well. [Tapper:] Dana, this kind of pledge, as you know, is unprecedented. What does it say to you that this ceremony today even had to happen, and that the RNC chair flew to New York City? [Bash:] I have to say, Jake, it's still kind of hard for me to believe I'm standing on Fifth Avenue in New York, where the Republican National Committee chair flew for what was about a 15-minute private meeting to get this pledge signed by somebody who says he's a Republican. The fact that he needed to do this obviously, they sent the pledge to all of the candidates, but, look that was kind of part of I think this sort of choreographed dance here to try to narrow and push Donald Trump into a corner, and try to get him to sign it. He did it, but he did it by having Reince Priebus come to him and come to his turf. I have really never seen anything like it. I'm sure you haven't either. [Tapper:] No, I haven't. Dana Bash, thank you very much. Also leading in politics today, a former aide to Hillary Clinton, an I.T. guy who actually set up Hillary Clinton's controversial private e-mail server, now says he plans to duck questions in the investigations of her use of the unsecured e-mail server for State Department business by pleading the Fifth. That is refusing to testify on the grounds that something he says could possibly incriminate him. Let's bring in CNN's Elise Labott. Elise, the Clinton camp says they wanted him to testify. [Elise Labott, Cnn Foreign Affairs Correspondent:] They wanted him to testify to Congress, Jake, and they also wanted him to testify to the U.S. government who is asking questions. We understand from Yahoo News, he was also refusing to answer their questions, and avoiding talking to the FBI and investigators. And the campaign says he has nothing to hide, and Hillary Clinton says she has nothing in her use of the private e-mail, didn't break the law, but she could be damaged by the former State Department's refusal to testify, fearing possible self-incrimination. [Labott:] As a top Hillary Clinton aide headed behind closed doors to testify to Congress about Benghazi, Clinton's private e-mail server continuing to rile Republicans. Now a key aide who set up the controversial server and its security telling congressional investigators he won't talk to him. His lawyer writing to the House panel investigating the Benghazi attacks, acknowledging, though, the quote "Current political environment makes it controversial, his client will not testify or hand over documents." The committee's chairman was not subtle. [Rep. Trey Gowdy , South Carolina:] I know in the past why people have invoked their Fifth Amendment privilege. But you will have to ask him why he did. And you're free to glean whatever inference you want from the fact that he did. [Labott:] The Clinton campaign said they encouraged all aides to talk. [Brian Fallon, Clinton Campaign Spokesman:] With Mr. Pagliano, we encouraged him as well, because we don't think he has any reason to not be transparent about the help that he provided from an I.T. perspective, but unfortunately it's his choice what to do. [Labott:] Hillary Clinton insists her use of a private server didn't break the law, but by pleading the Fifth, Pagliano raises the specter of criminal action, even if out of caution. His resume shows his close ties to Clinton. Before joining her at state, Pagliano was information technology director for Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Clinton's chief of staff at State spent the day behind closed doors, interrogated by the Benghazi committee. Cheryl Mills wanted her deposition made public to avoid what she called selective Republican leaks, her request denied. [Gowdy:] We have not had a public fact-finding interview with a single witness and we're not about to treat her any differently. [Labott:] The controversy a distraction for Clinton, who is facing daily questions on the campaign trail. [Hillary Rodham Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I never sent any classified material nor received any marked classified. [Labott:] Possibly giving an opening to Vice President Joe Biden, who is stepping up appearances, as he inches closer to deciding whether to challenge Clinton for the Democratic nomination, today meeting with Jewish leaders in Florida to defend the administration's Iran deal. As we speak, it's been more than seven hours since Cheryl Mills is behind closed doors with the Benghazi committee. That deposition is expected to continue for several more hours. The government watchdog Judicial Watch today released documents showing Clinton and her staffed actually pushed the State Department for personal devices that could be use for top-secret nomination. That actually boosts Secretary Clinton's claim she did not handle classified information on her private server, but, Jake, it's this constant drip of information about the e-mails that is distracting Hillary Clinton from the issues she really wants to focus on in this campaign. [Tapper:] Elise Labott, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Let's bring in today's big 2016 political panel, CNN political commentators Amanda Carpenter and Paul Begala. Amanda, welcome. You just joined the CNN family. We should disclose, for both of you, Paul, you advise a pro-Hillary super PAC. Amanda, you used to do part-time work for the Cruz campaign, although right now you endorse no one. You're just shopping around for a conservative. [Amanda Carpenter, Cnn Political Commentator:] That's right. I want a conservative to win. [Tapper:] So, Paul, let me start with you. The story that Elise just told us, saying that just on its face, Hillary's former I.T. guy, former Clinton aide saying he's going to plead the Fifth, not just to the Gowdy committee in Congress, but also according to Yahoo News to the DOJ and State Department, that doesn't sound very good. [Paul Begala, Cnn Political Analyst:] No. That's what I think what political consultants would call suboptimal. Right. But here's the thing. October 22, Hillary Clinton is not going to plead the Fifth. She is going in front of that committee. And pop your popcorn. Pay your cable bill, ladies and gentlemen. That is going to be the thing to watch. I'm told from reporting that her campaign didn't want this guy to plead the Fifth, but he has a legal right to do so. It's politically problematic, but it's legally his right. But this will come it won't just be drip, drip, drip, as Elise said. It's going to come down to October 6, woman on I was going to say mano a mano, but you know what I mean. This is going to be important. The committee was formed to investigate Benghazi, tragic murder, horrific murder of four diplomatic Americans. That's where the investigation. Now they're off into Hillary's e-mails. And even the chairman of the committee when he was asked, what does that have to do with Benghazi, he said actually not very much. [Tapper:] Amanda, let me have you respond to this, because this is the argument that a lot of Democrats and a lot of Clinton supporters say. And two-thirds of Democrats, according to a CNN poll, don't care about this issue. What do you say to people who say this is a witch-hunt, this has nothing to do with the murders of the four Americans at Benghazi? [Carpenter:] Well, listen, there's obviously a question of national security implications when it comes to the e-mail server, but I'm going to make a prediction. Hillary, nobody in her campaign or who worked for her will go to the jail, but because of this they're not going to the White House either, because what it comes down to is that with this and so many other issues, Hillary Clinton put her personal interests above the interests of our country and national security. That's something she can't get around, and people see that. So I don't think Republicans need to go too far in the weeds with the mechanics of the e-mail scandal. Keep the eye on the target, and that is that she put herself before country. [Begala:] They should listen to Amanda. I don't agree with her argument, but they always go too far. Patrick Healy in "The New York Times" has a piece today that could have run any day for the last 20 years. Republicans always rescue my friends the Clintons, because they always go too far. Remember, I worked for President Clinton. There was 140 hours of sworn testimony by Republicans in Congress on the Christmas card list. This so far hasn't even risen to the level of the Clinton Christmas card list, but just forgive me if I seem jaded. So far, my friend Hillary and her husband are undefeated, untied and unscored upon on these Republican witch-hunts, which she will remain. [Tapper:] I forgot about that one. That's a golden oldie. [Begala:] Remember that, 140 hours? Yes. [Tapper:] Let's turn onto the Republican race. Amanda, I want to ask you, Jeb Bush not doing well in this latest Monmouth University poll. He has dropped by four points. He's now in single digits. He's now tied for third place with Ted Cruz. Take a listen to Jeb Bush this morning on "Good Morning America." He fired back at Trump after Trump slammed him for speaking Spanish on the stump. [Bush:] This is a diverse country. We should celebrate that diversity and embrace a set of shared values, and Mr. Trump doesn't believe in those shared values. He wants to tear us down. He doesn't believe in tolerance. [Tapper:] Doesn't believe in tolerance, but he also signed a pledge, Jeb Bush, saying that he will support whoever the nominee is. How do you, then, if Donald Trump wins the nomination, I'm going to support Donald Trump, who doesn't believe in tolerance? [Carpenter:] Well, listen, Newt Gingrich ultimately endorsed Mitt Romney last time around. But when I see Jeb Bush say stuff like this, I say, you have just cut a commercial for the Democrats to run in the general election should Trump win. I don't know why he went out that far. Jeb seems to be flailing at every turn, not thinking strategically, not thinking ahead, and I'm not surprised he is doing so poorly in the polls. [Tapper:] I have heard Republicans say why aren't the Republicans doing this? Will Hillary Clinton sign a pledge to support the nominee, even if it's a socialist? [Begala:] Of course, of course, of course, absolutely. It's never an issue. It's interesting, though. It's so interesting to me. Obviously, I'm for Hillary, but I don't have a preference among the Republicans. Jeb has underperformed. That Monmouth University poll, his favorable among Republicans only is 41, OK? People are saying Democrats should have a freak-out? Hillary's favorable among Democrats is between 70 and 80, depending on the polls. So my gal is at 70 to 80 and we're supposed to freak out? Jeb is at 41 in a favorable, 8 in the vote. That is the story of this election so far, is just how poorly Jeb... [Tapper:] It's a great race. And I'm so glad that you guys are going to be here. Amanda, welcome. Paul, good to see you. And thank you so much. [Begala:] Yes. I'm so glad you're here, Amanda. [Carpenter:] Thank you. [Tapper:] We're fewer than two weeks away. You can catch the next Republican presidential debate right here on CNN. That's going to be coming up on Wednesday, September 16, at the Reagan Library. I will be moderating it, believe it or not. I'm looking for your questions for the candidates, so you can tweet them or Facebook them at me, use the #CNNdebate. In our world lead, a crisis growing by the day, desperate migrants and refugees begging for help, battling with police as one photograph captures the attention of the world. That story is next. [Costello:] The Republican National Committee is wrapping up its three-day meeting in Florida today where Donald Trump's top adviser Paul Manafort is working overtime trying to convince GOP insiders that the frontrunner is more than bombast and headlines. Listen to this audio of a closed-door meeting obtained by CNN. [Paul Manafort, Trump Campaign Convention Manager:] Trump is an outsider and that's why many of you don't know him, but when he's sitting in a room, he's talking business, he's talking politics in a private room, it's a different persona. When he's out on the stage, when he's talking about the kinds of things when he's out on the stump, he's projecting an image that's for that purpose. The part that he's been playing is evolving into the part that now you've been expecting but he wasn't ready for. [Costello:] CNN's Phil Mattingly is live in Hollywood, Florida for the final day of that meeting between RNC members. Good morning, Phil. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Donald Trump has made a series of changes at the top of his campaign over the last couple of weeks, and those changes were represented down here in Hollywood, Florida, not just in the personal attendance of those new advisers but also in their message, a message that Donald Trump is starting to shift, is willing to pivot and isn't necessarily the candidate that you see on stage every day at his rallies. Now this best may not play well with the general electorate but it does play well with the members that were here. 168 RNC committee members. Members that have largely been under attack by Donald Trump over the last couple of weeks. Members that are not only skeptical of his candidacy but also downright angered by it. Even that was an area that Paul Manafort tried to assuage. Take a listen. [Manafort:] Is Donald Trump running against the Republican National Committee? The answer is he is not. He is concerned about what he considers to be the transparency issue where the voters are voting for something and the rules might be something else regarding the selection of delegates. He's not trying to change the rules in this process. He's winning. He's not interested in changing the rules. But he believes that starting the conversation is good to do in this timeframe because this is when we're all facing the issue. [Mattingly:] Now, Carol, Paul Manafort making clear that while Donald Trump probably isn't going to stop attacking the system or even the RNC in the near future, his comments are related to the next election cycle. Now I spoke to a number of RNC officials and members that were in this meeting and a lot of them came away intrigued by what the campaign was offering. They said it was a data-driven presentation, a presentation that was more about the general election than what it was about winning the primary. But mending the ties between the Trump campaign, the candidate, Donald Trump, and the RNC is extremely important if Donald Trump does lock up that nomination and here is why, Carol. The RNC has become the data center for the Republican Party. They have the contact information. They have the digital information. They have everything really built inside that any candidate would need to run a general election against Democrats and over the last couple cycles have largely dominated the data game and debate. If Donald Trump wants to incorporate that infrastructure, an infrastructure he absolutely will need to win in a general election he needs the RNC on board. That's why you heard his advisers work very hard to not only tell the 168 RNC members here that Donald Trump wants to play a role in the future with them but also talk to RNC officials, make very clear that even what he says on the stump might be offensive, don't worry, when it comes to the general election he seriously wants to work with everybody here Carol. [Costello:] All righty then. Phil Mattingly reporting live from Hollywood, Florida, this morning. Let's talk about all of this with CNN senior political analyst and senior editor of the "Atlantic," Ron Brownstein. Welcome, Ron. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Good morning, Carol. [Costello:] OK. So Paul Manafort told me the members of the establishment that Donald Donald Trump's personality was one thing but his character was another and there are two Donald Trumps and down the line we're going to hear more of the other Donald Trump. [Brownstein:] Yes. Yes. Well, look, it's a question Republicans have been asking from the beginning and really been asking on two fronts, both policy and persona. How much of this is real and how much of this is basically filling a market niche or an audience that he thought was out there for an agenda and a style? And I think on both fronts the answer has to be somewhat mixed. I mean, there are issues where he has been consistent for many years. For example his skepticism about free trade. On others, you know, he is a long way from where he was in 2000 when he was considering running for the Reform Party nominee on a much more liberal agenda. And as for style, I mean, you've got to think that this is a little amped up, but he has been someone who throughout his career at least on the public stage has been willing to really push the envelope. Certainly how did he come to, you know, attention in the last decade before this was pushing the birther argument. So the idea that there's a completely different Donald Trump I think is not really going to hold up, but the thought that he could dial back what we have seen somewhat, sure. If he is the nominee, and you've got to think he's going to be a little different. [Costello:] Well, I got to tell you that Ben Carson had a hard time explaining the two Donald Trumps. He had as hard a time as I did in my first question to you. [Brownstein:] Yes. [Costello:] Ben Carson was on Trevor Noah the other night and Trevor asked Carson why people were so captivated by Trump's persona rather than the real Trump, that other Donald Trump. And this is what Ben Carson said. [Dr. Ben Carson, , Former Presidential Candidate:] Just like the Roman Empire, you know, their societies crumbling down around them. Where do they want to be? At the coliseum watching lions rip people's heads off. [Costello:] So there you have it. [Brownstein:] Bread and circuses. Look, you know, the other thing that's different here, you know, that Paul Manafort talks about Ronald Reagan having high negatives in 1980. Certainly Bill Clinton emerged from the 1992 primaries with the highest negatives at that point and was able to substantially reduced them and of course go on to win the general election. There are several things that are different here. The biggest one is just the sheer amount of media attention is so much greater. Donald Trump has been tattooed to a much greater extent than earlier candidates by his comments, by the things he has said and done to activate the portion of the Republican coalition that passionately supports him. The things he has done to get that support have really raised a lot of deep concerns in other groups, African-Americans, Hispanics, millennials, socially liberal whites. It is going to be I think virtually impossible to completely erase those. You know, those things don't go away. He can try to change the message and modulate the persona if he becomes the nominee and he may not be facing the kind of negatives that he is today. [Costello:] Well [Brownstein:] But the idea you can wipe all of this off like an Etch-a- Sketch isn't real. [Costello:] Right. Right. And I think I think Paul Manafort realizes that because listen to what he said about Hillary Clinton's negatives. [Brownstein:] Yes. [Manafort:] Clinton's negatives are serious because they're character negatives. People don't trust her. They don't like her. They think she's a liar. They think she just think only for her interest. The Clinton corporation. All of the issues that go to character. Trump's negatives deal with his personality. People don't know yet what to make of him. Some of the stump speeches he's given. Some of the style he has. Some of the ways in which he's presented the issues. But it's his personality that people have trouble with. [Costello:] So can Trump go on the stump and say hey, you know, that was just an act, I didn't really mean those things? And if Hillary Clinton said the same thing she couldn't get away with that because it's her character? [Brownstein:] It's an interesting Yes, it's an interesting argument, but it may be a distinction without a difference, right? I mean, you know, Donald Trump, it's not just the style, it is that voters are concerned that the ones who don't like him are concerned that he's simply just too erratic to be president. You just don't know what he's going to do from day to day. Doesn't seem to operate with boundaries and it isn't only style that is his problem. It is what he has said and what he embodies. I mean, there are many Americans who view him as simply embodying values that are antithetical to what they believe the country is. Now there are those who support him. The problem he's got is I think that, you know, what he's done to activate his portion of the Republican coalition has alienated at this point voters who are a clear majority of the country, and so he's got a big hole to climb out of at a time when I think the oppressions are more deeply formed than they were for earlier candidates like Clinton and Reagan. Not that he can't improve it, but he's shown himself to be a very agile, political operators, but the idea that he can simply make all of this go away, the Etch-a-Sketch, that Eric Fehrnstrom talked around in 2012, I just don't think that is a plausible notion. [Costello:] Ron Brownstein, thanks so much. [Brownstein:] Thank you. [Costello:] Still to come you're welcome. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, Mick, Paul, and Elton remember Prince. We'll take you live to London next. [Keilar:] The Olympic trials are underway and opening ceremony in Rio less than six weeks. Brazil has been plagued with a series of issues that could threaten the games. CNN senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, is live in Rio. Nick, we have heard some major ones, Zika and security, that are dominating the conversations surrounding the Olympics. What can you tell us about this? [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It is remarkable, Brianna, at this stage to have so many issues mounting and questions unanswered. Let me try and pick through some of them for you. First of all, the most recent shock we have had that one of the key elements behind ensuring a clean game, free of doping, the Brazil Anti-Doping Board will be testing the athletes throughout. They had their certification taken away by the World Anti-Doping Agency just before this weekend. So real doubt they may be ready to function in the Olympics. What does that mean for doping? That's one detail. But there's a broader as well. Concern over the pace of which infrastructure is being completed. One key subway extension that's supposed to go from the beaches behind me to the Olympic Park to cut the visitors through the traffic, get to the games quicker. That will only be ready four days ahead. A tight schedule there. There is the broader backdrop of security. Athletes here who are training having been mugged in some of the most busy tourist areas, one at gunpoint. The board of security for visitors, they promised a lot of security officers on the street, maybe 100,000. But there is another issue that may impact the government's ability to deliver on that. That's the financing of Rio state itself. They suddenly, 10 days ago, had to declare a state of emergency because of what they called a financial calamity. They got an emergency bailout, nearly $1 billion from the federal level here. But there are concerns about what that is doing. The ability for Rio, which should be providing a sort of relaxed, wonderful atmosphere it is famous for, for those athletes coming to the game, it is going to be the back drop. The games are going to happen. Is everything going to be in place in the way that everybody had hoped Brianna? [Keilar:] Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much for that overview in Rio. For more on the games and the controversies surrounding them, I'm joined by Sidney Levy. He is the chief executive officer of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio. There has been a series, Sidney, of problems. Nick Paton Walsh said an athlete was mugged in broad daylight in a very touristy area. You would expect that may not happen. Perhaps a sign that security is very much a challenge. One of the hospitals, which is one of the five where athletes could be treated, was actually stormed by armed gunmen about a week ago. That's a big challenge. How do you make sure that athletes and spectators are safe? [Sidney Levy, Chief Executive Officer, 2016 Olympic Games, Rio:] It's our job to protect the athletes and the people. That's what we have to do. We bring 85,000 people, from the federal police, from the army, to take over Rio and protect everybody. We did that for the world cup with hundreds of thousands of people. We did that when the pope visited. There were two million people in Rio in the streets and nobody got mugged. We are going to do it again. It is our job to protect everybody. [Keilar:] Do you think people are making too much of these concerns? Do you think that they should not be as concerned as they are, or are you really taking these concerns at face value? [Levy:] Of course, we do extreme measures for games. It is not normal measures. The games are an extraordinary event and because of that we do extraordinary measures. That's what you do. [Keilar:] I want to ask you, were some pictures we were showing there of polluted water. I know there are some areas where there is even sewage. That was supposed to be taken care of. Now, there is investigations into whether money was sort of siphoned off, wasn't used to clean up the areas where there will be sailing events. What can you tell us about that? [Levy:] We ran two tests in '14 and '15, same dates exactly, and it was very good. There was not a single athlete sick or anything. We will do that again. We have five competitions and we're tracking them every day. It is our job to protect the health of the athletes. We are pretty comfortable we can do that. [Keilar:] Speaking of the health of athletes, Zika is a major concern. You have some athletes, like golfer, Rory McIlroy, and this is significant because it now going to be part of the games. But he has pulled out of competing because he worries about Zika. What measures do you take to make sure athletes and spectators are aware of this problem and what they can do to try to avoid the risks? [Levy:] Mosquitoes die in the winter. We are now going into the winter. It is proved that the number of attacks by mosquitoes during those months drop dramatically. The chance to get Zika during the games is one to one million. We are pretty sure it is not going to be a threat. [Keilar:] Some of these problems I've described have detoured people from saying I am going to Rio. It is a beautiful place, a huge tourist destination. Some people have said, I don't think I am going to these Olympic Games. You see ticket sales depressed. Is there a strategy to try to boost that before the games get going? [Levy:] The Olympics is just a wonderful movement, a peace movement where Israelis and Palestinians have breakfast at the same table. Rio is a wonderful city where everybody should come. You have to come. We all do things together, just like last time. You have to come. You cannot wait. [Keilar:] Once in a life time. You do have a tough job, sir. Sidney Levy with the Rio Olympics 2016. Thank you so much for being with us. [Levy:] Thank you. [Keilar:] Coming up, Russian agents reportedly intimidating U.S. diplomats by entering their homes and rearranging their furniture. Bizarre, scary claims from secret State Department memos, next. [Don Lemon, Cnn Tonight Show:] Donald Trump takes aim at another rival. This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. The mogul to be your next president has spared no one from Hillary Clinton, to Jeb Bush, to Rand Paul. Now, it's Joe Biden's turn. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] I think they match up great. I'm a job producer. I've had a great record. I haven't been involved in plagiarism. I think I would match up very well against Biden. [Lemon:] That is what he told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt. He is here tonight and one of the moderators of the next debate right here on CNN. Plus, the year of the outsider from Donald Trump to Bernie Sanders. We're going to talk to Dan Rather and Frank Bruni. And also this exclusive story that will shock you. A Texas woman is pulled over by police and allegedly strip searched right in the middle of a gas station parking lot. And you won't believe why. But I want to begin with the day in Trump. Donald Trump just released a new no holds barred campaign ad targeting President Obama as well as Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton. Take a look at it. Joining me now Dan Rather, host of AXS TV is the big interview, and New York Times columnist, Frank Bruni. Do you know how nerve racking that is to have you watch me do my [Dan Rather, Axs Tv:] Oh, I would know till you're rocking it all. [Lemon:] Hey, let me ask you this, Mr. Rather, have you ever seen anything like this in all of your years of covering politics like this republican? [Rather:] I have not. I'm fund of saying I've been to Goat Roping's and space shots and then covering presidents of campaigns for a long time. I have never seen anything like this. And the fact is, neither has anyone else. You know, it is for better or worse historic time in that no party in the history of the country has ever had this many candidates running for their party's nomination. [Lemon:] I know you're not a betting man. But what are the odds if he becomes the nominee? [Rather:] Donald Trump? [Lemon:] Yes. [Rather:] It's been shortly that I'm frequently wrong as you know about things but I said in the beginning, Trump is going to be he run stronger and longer and a lot of people thinking many republicans fear. He definitely tapped into something. And I know that the other candidates see him as sort of a sun powered perpetual motion all-American [inaudible] machine. But a large section of his party doesn't seem that way. I doubt you see useful betting. If you had to bet the rent money, and I hope you don't, you wouldn't bet that he gets the nomination. [Lemon:] Yes. [Rather:] But I do hope that he'll go pretty deep into the primary caucus process. [Lemon:] Yes. Frank, you know, Donald Trump didn't think that the debate went so well. What did you think about the debate, did anyone stand out to you? Did you think it was fair? [Frank Bruni, New York Times Op-ed Columnist:] I think a couple people benefited from it. John Kasich benefited from it, for sure. You know, if he got a little more time, Chris Christie might have I think Marco Rubio benefited from it. But I don't think anyone can benefit that much when there are 10 people on stage. You know, there is all this controversy that six people are being relegated or seven people to a different stage. Even with 10, no one could really make that much of an impression. I do think that Trump did himself some harm. It may be able a little bit of harm. It may not be showing up in the big way in the polls yet. But I think bit by bit, day by day, week by week, you are going to see him fade. He really are. [Lemon:] One of my mentors used to tell me to bloom where you're planted. And I think Carly Fiorina did that, even though she was in the so-called second tier debate or what have you, but she said, I'm going to be here and I'm going to make this work. She made it work for her. [Bruni:] She's a fiercely eloquent woman. I remember years ago, I did a profiling to her when she was running against Boxer for the Times Magazine. I spent a whole week with her. And I remember the first speech I went to. I thought, well, I had no idea she was this good of a communicator. She was this fiercely eloquent. She's got other problems and right now, she's having her moment. Whether that moment will last, big, big question. We shouldn't make too much Dan and I were talking about this beforehand. Any 24-hour period feels significant, but we shouldn't make too much of it. [Rather:] Well, Dr. Carson also helped himself. [Bruni:] Absolutely. [Rather:] I'm not saying enough to go all the way but he certainly helped himself. [Lemon:] Yes. And he showed humor. He said, I was thinking that. I wasn't going to get, you know, another chance to speak. And he... [Rather:] But he also said on when he went up to stage he's actually separated a Siamese twins. [Lemon:] Yes. [Rather:] Maybe in the best line of it of the debate. [Lemon:] Yes. We're going to have him on with us soon and I can't wait to have a very respected man. But, Mr. Rather, I want to ask you about this about Jeb Bush. He has a lot of money behind him. But he's really having a hard time when he comes to connecting what some of the voters especially in the polls. He is tied for sixth place in CNN's Iowa poll, second place behind Trump in the latest New Hampshire's State poll. Is he in trouble? [Rather:] I think it's too early to say he's in trouble. But he should be worried because he comes off all too often as at least slightly bored or perhaps as a man whose shoes hurt him. And speaking of being of time, a strong communicator. I don't mean to spare him at all. He's a former governor... [Bruni:] Jeb Bush is unfortunately shocked candidate, right? [Lemon:] Listen. He has done, in many people's estimation, a poor job of answering questions, 1979, this was Ted Kennedy when you asked him why he wanted to be president, right? [Bruni:] Actually Roger Mudd. [Lemon:] Mr. Roger Mudd asked it. And then he fumbled the answer. Did that remind you of that? [Rather:] Very much so. And I think it's right on point. When Ted Kennedy was going to run against the incumbent President Jimmy Carter, he sat down for a lengthy CBS News interview with Roger Mudd. When Roger asked him, you know, why did you want to be president, it was hum, hum, hum, he didn't have an answer. Now, rightly or wrongly, fairly or unfairly, I think that Governor Bush strikes a lot of people, including a lot of people who were inclined to like him as in that mode, who are saying, well, why is he here. Also, when he speaks, whether it's true or not, it appears to be can same-old, same-old, sort of plain vanilla kind of talk and he doesn't crack through. Whereas with Trump, like him or don't like him, he comes off with galore along the loop patience with all of these candidates standing up there and that's a big difference. [Lemon:] We miss those "Ratherisms." But is he correct in that it's hard to even to let me just is he saying nicely that Jeb Bush is just deadly doll up there? [Bruni:] People are not seeing in Jeb Bush in Jeb Bush the passion that I think they want to see in a candidate. It's what they saw in Carly Fiorina in that pre-debate debate. It's what they see in Trump for better or worse, they see fire. They see passion. Jeb Bush is going to have to figure out how to communicate that if he wants to get the nomination. [Lemon:] I want to get this in order. But I want to talk you about the Iowa state fair. CNN's Iowa poll has Trump leading. But in 2012, it was Rick Santorum leading who won. Before that is was Mike Huckabee, is Iowa a good bellwether you think for whoever is going to eventually win this race? [Bruni:] No. I think it's increasingly it's not a good bellwether. I think it's becoming it's becoming a less good bellwether all the time. I think we are all in the media page and much attention to it because it's convenient and easy. [Rather:] I agree. In one point about where Jeb Bush stands at the moment, he has the most money of any candidate and Trump is not a special case for the moment. And the good book says the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong. But as reporters who have been cynical we say that is the way to bet it. And Jeb Bush is playing a long game. He has the money to do it. He has the unlimited resources. He has an extensive staff and he's active in every state in the country. So, it's too early to count him out. [Lemon:] Let's turn to the democrat. Now, Frank, I want to ask you about Hillary Clinton about turning her private server over to the FBI issue is dogging her on the campaign trail. Is this big trouble for her politically? [Bruni:] She's got a very real and enduring problem and this week is a great example. So, she went out there and she gave a very thoughtful policy speech. College debt, how to relieve it, what the government should do. A lot of particulars. A lot of bells and whistles. No one talked about it. All anybody could still talk about was the e-mail server. Until this gets behind her, no one is going to hear anything else. And the problem now is she's not in control of this narrative. There is an investigation going on. She can't just make a speech, issue a few press releases and hope to move on. Events are out of her control right now. [Lemon:] There's also the Bernie Sanders department who got her, the Bernie Sanders factor. He's drawing really huge crowds. He's now ahead of her in the New Hampshire State poll. I mean, and he's like I said, big crowds. He's got... [Bruni:] He's not going to get the nomination, but he makes her look weak. [Lemon:] OK. Dan. [Rather:] Well, any candidate running for any office who'd rather walk through a border fire fire gasoline suit. They're not being able to control the narrative. And this is a very important point to make. That Hillary is no longer in charge of the narrative. And she has out there, it's in the distance, but you have vice president Biden, up and throwing in the bull pen. John Kerry is loosening up. And now, just tonight, I saw for the first time that I've been around for a few days, numbers that Al Gore might be thinking about getting into the race. [Lemon:] I was just you just took my question. Al Gore and there's Joe Biden. [Rather:] Yes. Well, way too early to count Hillary out. Speaking of long game, she has finances, she has organizations, she is playing a long game. But too early to say that she's in deep trouble. But if you think there has to be concern in the Clinton camp. Not being able to control his narrative. [Lemon:] And as you said, the party is this a sign, Frank, the party is not solid on her, if Al Gore is considering and Joe Biden is considering as well? [Bruni:] I don't think the party is asking themselves are we solid on her. I think they're asking themselves, are going to be burned if we put too many chips on her. And they're asking themselves that more and more every week. But they don't have a great alternative yet. [Lemon:] What do you guys looking forward to the debate on the 16th? We saw the last debate and how that went, what do you looking for to first you, Mr. Rather. [Rather:] Well, might the same thing I was look I was looking for in the first debate that is who distinguishes themselves. And talked to Frank, I think Marco Rubio will help himself. Dr. Carson will help himself, you know, who helps himself. The secondly, is there anybody to take Trump on. Right now, most of the rest of the party of the other candidates is saying he's going to he take position, he's going to burn himself out. Going to flame out at some point. Which he may indeed do, but now they all grows a little later. So, did anybody take Trump on? The third thing looking for is a bit more substance. I'm not being critical. The talks have been debated all I thought they pulled it off very good. They got off rather quickly. But how tough is the questions? How good are the good questions and for us more important, how good all the follow up questions. [Lemon:] Come on. You're fashioned that. I thought you're going to say, the third one I can't remember. You guys are talking about, right? [Rather:] Listen, at my age and state, that's always a threat. [Lemon:] Thank you. Always a pleasure to have you, gentlemen. Thank you so much. [Rather:] Thank you. [Lemon:] Good to see you. [Bruni:] Thank you. [Lemon:] Thank you very much. Coming up, expect fireworks from Donald Trump at the next GOP debate right here on CNN. When we come right back, I'm going to ask one of the moderators of that debate. Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, what he thinks of Trump. Plus, a shocking story of law and disorder. My exclusive interview with a Texas woman who says deputies strip searched her in the middle of a gas station parking lot. And wait until you hear why. [Keilar:] Russian intelligence officers are breaking into homes of U.S. diplomats, harassing their children and, in one case, even killing a family pet. These are the bizarre and scary claims outlined by the "Washington Post." We have CNN political analyst and "Washington Post" columnist, Josh Rogin. He broke this story. This is a list of things you detail in this very interesting column. What else are staff members reporting? [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] Sure. Over the last two years, Russian intelligence and security services have been harassing U.S. diplomats not just in Moscow but in Europe. Some of the things are silly, like going into your house in the middle of the night and rearranging all your furniture and turn on all the lights and then go away. [Keilar:] Like a fraternity prank. But a lot is serious. [Rogin:] Exactly. Some is much more serious. They followed Ambassador Michael McFaul's children to school, and so closely that the children were aware of it. In the first term of the Obama administration, they went into the House of the U.S. defense attache and killed his dog. These incidents have been going on for a while, but since the 2014 invasion of Ukraine and the U.S. sanctions that followed, the Russian FSB has been increasing its harassment and intimidation of U.S. diplomats to unprecedented levels. [Keilar:] And it's not like the Russian government is trying to keep this a secret. They're out there about this. They're defending it. [Rogin:] It's kind of crazy. John Kerry raised it with Vladimir Putin directly in his trip to Moscow in March. I asked the Russian embassy about it. They didn't deny it. They said the U.S. caused the downturn in relations and that these sanctions have consequences. They call it reciprocity. But U.S. intelligence and diplomatic officials assure me what they're doing to us is more serious and more dangerous than what we're doing to them. [Keilar:] What is their aim with this? [Rogin:] It's twofold. One, they want to disrupt U.S. officials doing their jobs in all these countries. If you go out and you're reporting on what the Russians are doing in Europe, they want to stop you from doing that. And they'll do that by scaring you. Two, they want to register their displeasure with U.S. policy. They want to make it clear, if we hit them with sanctions, they'll hit us by harassing our diplomats. It's a tit-for-tat game that reminds everybody of the Cold War. [Keilar:] And it comes from the top, right? [Rogin:] Well [Keilar:] Is that the expectation? Is that what you think? [Rogin:] It's not a coincidence that we sanctioned Putin's friends and the businesses that are close to him and, right after that, then the harassment of U.S. diplomats all over Europe increases significantly. There is a relationship between what we're doing to Putin and his friends and what his intelligence services are doing to our diplomats in the field. [Keilar:] I know the U.S. government is tracking what's going on. What are they doing to make sure these staff members are safer? [Rogin:] It's interesting. The State Department has done a lot. They set up meetings to train all diplomats who are headed to Europe that this is going to happen to them, how to report it, how to respond. But in the end, they've made a decision, they had a debate about it, not to do these same things back to the Russians. That leads some in Congress to say that we're not doing enough. That there have been no consequences for Russia. And I can tell you the U.S. ambassadors to these countries are still complaining, especially to the Obama administration, that they want them to do more. [Keilar:] A fascinating column. I urge our viewers to take a look at it in the "Washington Post." Josh Rogin, thanks so much. [Rogin:] Thank you. [Keilar:] And just in to CNN, House Democrats releasing their own version of a probe into the 2012 Benghazi terror attack that killed four Americans, and blasting Republicans for embracing, quote, "conspiracy theories." We'll have the details next. [Sesay:] Well a travel is a mess across Indonesia. Thanks for the erupting volcano. [Vause:] Metrologist Derek Van Dam joins us now from the CNN. Hey, Derek you throw your family through the volcano? What happened? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] No, not in the volcano, they're being impacted by the volcanic ash. Let's clear that up. [Vause:] I'm sorry, I misunderstood. [Dam:] Yeah. They're actually stuck in an island to the Southern East of Bali, a small island called Sumba. And like so many others their waiting for that domestic flights to flight into the Denpasar of the international airport, so they can fly internationally back home. So many other people over 700 people or flights rather have been stranded at the Nigeria Raleigh International Airport in Denpasar over the seven sections of Bali. Look at the satellite imagery and you can see Mount Rinjani, the volcano responsible for this ash drifting across this region but lately the winds have been a little bit more favorable, more of a north to north east to the direction across this area but it just too close for comfort for the airline industry and that is why they have cancelled so many flights in Denpasar's airport continues to remain close. So why it's so dangerous for airline industries? Here is a jet engine, volcanic ash, all of this is pulverize rock and glass and eventually the ash particles melt forming a molten glass that eventually solidifies and cools on the turbine blades of an engine. That will restrict the airflow eventually causing catastrophic failure for a jetliner. So very, very dangerous. Now John and Isha, think about these, airplanes fly typically between 45 and 50,000 feet in the air. Well that's not the only thing we're going to talk about of that altitude. Take a look at this rare, red Aurora Borealis. If you can roll the video, you'll see something phenomenal not I mean, people get to see in their lifetime. Look at that spectacular shot coming from Idaho. Back to you. [Vause:] It's pretty picture. [Sesay:] That's awesome. [Van Dam:] Not bad. [Vause:] OK. Thanks Derek. [Sesay:] Thank you Derek, I hope the family is OK. [Van Dam:] Thank you. [Vause:] Hope [inaudible] home. Now this is important, listen up this is... [Sesay:] This is news carry on. [Vause:] Hope we get this right. [Sesay:] OK. [Vause:] Look that this [inaudible] into that big story out of Hollywood, Gwen Stefani and with Blake Shelton are not directly dating. [Sesay:] You know even know who they are, do you? [Vause:] I have no clue, but this is coming from that from that from E! Entertainment television which you can find on the cable channels. [Sesay:] So let me give you some back story folks. In August, Stefani announced she was splitting with her husband, Gavin Rossdale, the former no doubt vocalist, has three children with him. And then in July, Shelton and fellow country music singer, Miranda Lambert, announce they were splitting. Now... [Vause:] Hang on Isha, who was going to out with who? Hang on. [Sesay:] I draw you a picture. [Vause:] OK. I'm looking for it. [Sesay:] What you need to know is that Shelton and Stefani are mentors on the American singing competition show "The Voice" and now they are together. If you are a fund of the show this is big news. [Vause:] OK. [Sesay:] They both seems like really, really lovely people. [Vause:] Do you mean that, right. [Sesay:] And Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert that's the ex were at the country music association awards on Wednesday... [Vause:] Together are they dating back together at the music award. [Sesay:] Listen to Miranda. [Vause:] OK. [Unindentified Male:] Miranda Lambert. [Sesay:] See Lambert one female vocalist of the year. [Vause:] Has split up that for... [Sesay:] If Shelton was nominated but yes, they've split because Shelton is know with Gwen Stefani. [Vause:] OK, but they'll together at the music awards. [Sesay:] Yes. [Vause:] OK. [Sesay:] That's confusing. And Shelton was nominated as well but he went home empty handed. [Vause:] OK. Now Justin Timberlake he performed [inaudible] with Chris Stapleton but they've never been married or dated or everything. Stapleton went on [inaudible] win male vocalist of the year. So that ended with the entertainer of the year ball that went to the flyer. I know they were any of that work. Thank you for watching I'm John Vause. [Sesay:] And I'm Isha Sesay. We'll be back with another hour of news after very short break. Stay with us. You're watching CNN. [Hannah Vaughan Jones, Cnn International Anchor:] Zimbabwean president will get to stay in the country. We'll have all the details and hear from opposition leader, Morgan, Tsvangirai, this hour. Also, a grim clue is found in the search for missing submarine. We are live in Argentina for the very latest. Plus, a very Trump Thanksgiving, we'll check in on how the U.S. president is spending his holiday. Robert Mugabe is out of power, but the military says his safety in Zimbabwe is guaranteed. A spokesman for the Defense Forces told CNN, they've reached an agreement with Mugabe and his wife to grant them immunity. It means they can stay in Zimbabwe without facing any charges. Mugabe has been accused of masterminding attacks from the opposition in the 1980s in which up to 20,000 were killed. He is also in the past been accused of corruption. Well, Former Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa is set to replace Mugabe as the interim president on Friday. Mnangagwa himself has promised a new opening for Zimbabwe as a democracy, something the leader of the opposition doubts as he told our Christiane Amanpour. [Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwean Opposition Leader:] Knowing Emmerson Mnangagwa, his character you will have to work very hard to change his character so that he can define the future of the country and define his future as a Democrat, as a reformer. That I doubt, but at the same time, he knows that he cannot continue on the same path Mugabe has traveled, and still expect the nation to respect him. [Jones:] We'll bring you much more from that interview with Morgan Tsvangirai later on in the show. But in the meantime, let's go to our Farai Sevenzo, who is in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, for us. Farai, is Emmerson Mnangagwa, the man who will be next president, is he capable of shedding his crocodile skin in leading this country to any sort of prosperity? [Farai Sevenzo, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, you know, there's been an injection of energy in the Zimbabwean leadership since Robert Mugabe stepped away a day or so ago. It is Emmerson Mnangagwa's wish that to invite investors to bring jobs, jobs, jobs, to use his words. And of course, you must remember, though, that he is a man who has a fearsome reputation and he has already began to try and change that. He's talked a lot about God, about how God has been looking out to Zimbabwe. He keeps on referring to God in his first speech yesterday, which lasted about 12 minutes long. But this is what we are going to find out about the poorer areas of Harare mainly end these struggles. And we met several young people who told us what they thought of the new man. [Sevenzo:] This is [inaudible], one of Harare's oldest townships. Robert Mugabe and [inaudible], the founding fathers of the ruling ZANU-PF have lived here. Now, it's a stronghold for Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, and life here is about survival. The jobs are informal, mechanics, market women, barbers, and a great deal of unemployed teens hustling. [on camera]: It's knowledge [inaudible] opposition area ideals. This is where Robert Mugabe's people did their "Operation [inaudible]," which means clear out the filth. And they raised people's houses on the [inaudible], but the aim really was to smash the newly formed Movement for Democratic Change opposition support base, which is all over here. [voice-over]: Maxford is one of those who had his home destroyed in 2005. The father of three used to be a bank manager. Now, he like so many others have no job. [Unidentified Male:] All these years, I have been working in the bank for 19 years as a manager. [Inaudible]. [Sevenzo:] He is desperate for a chance to vote for change, freely and fairly. [Unidentified Male:] We must hear both of them. Mnangagwa and Tsvangirai, they must come together, work together, bring the reforms [inaudible]. It's unfair [Sevenzo:] Unfair because people are so euphoric and right now incoming President Emmerson Mnangagwa has the edge. The boys at the barbershop are optimistic. In fact, Nasha, George, Maesa and Arthur, can't even believe they are allowed to speak to us. [on camera]: He is saying if Mugabe here if they'd be seen like this, they would be beaten out for talking to us. [Unidentified Male:] It's only that people wanted change. [Inaudible] that things will change. [Inaudible]. [Sevenzo:] Everything is back to normal. [on camera]: These school girls tell us they also believe the future has suddenly brightened with Robert Mugabe's departure. Still it's in areas like these who are ignored and proud, where the real test of change will be measured. [Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible]. [Sevenzo:] And there you have it, Hannah, people believe they really do believe, Hannah, that there is a new Zimbabwe on the horizon, and they are talking in positive, optimistic tones about what this might bring about. And I guess, if the new man doesn't take all of this into account that the new freedom people have tasted in the last week that they have the right to assemble and talk and criticize, and give their opinions, right of free self-expression. Then, of course, the young, these kind of people, were not forgiven. [Jones:] Mnangagwa himself has urged calm amongst the Zimbabwean people. He's urged people to step away from any violent retribution. This comes on the same day that we've learned that Mugabe, his family, his wife, in particular, they have protected themselves and secure their own immunity from prosecution. I'm wondering, though, if they in the country, what will be their fate in the course of public opinion? [Sevenzo:] Well, look, their fate in the course of public opinion, Hannah, has long been destroyed especially if you look back at the events of the last week. Grace Mugabe, Mr. Mugabe's wife, is despised and that is an understatement. It is believed I mean, another thing that these young people told us on the street is that she was sent by God to do this, to be so basically bellicose and belligerent. Everybody around her forced the situation. But, of course, when we talk about Grace and Robert Mugabe, there are several ministers who have fled the country because they were a part of [inaudible], what Emmerson Mnangagwa called, you know, the G40 [inaudible] yesterday in his first speech to the Zimbabwean people. And they are [inaudible] and they are basically, the idea that if they are looters and criminals as the army alleged, if they are not put on trial, people will be watching very closely why that is the case. Of course, Mr. Mugabe and Mrs. Mugabe escaped, and I'll tell you that is, because the ZANU-PF still works. Emmerson Mnangagwa is a very strong loyalist to his party and of course, whatever touches Mr. Mugabe in terms of prosecution, will also touch him because he's been with him for the last four decades. [Jones:] It will be interesting to see after elections potentially next year whether Mugabe's fate will still be the same that has been announced today. Farai Sevenzo live for us in Harare. Farai, we appreciate it. Thank you. Argentina's Navy has uncovered a grim clue in its search for a missing submarine. A Navy spokesman says a sound heard near the sub's last known location may have been an explosion. He says it was short and violent, and he says it was detected on the same day that the submarine last made any contact. That was more than a week ago. Experts are warning if the ship is still intact, it will be running out of oxygen. Crews from a dozen nations have pitched in to help search for the 44 sailors on board. Meanwhile, the crews' families have been gathering at the base where the submarine was headed in Mar del Plata in Argentina. And Stefano Pozzebon is there for us as well. Stefano, they say no news is good news, and this news of an explosion must be the one thing that the families around you would have been dreading the most. [Stefano Pozzebon, Journalist:] Yes. Absolutely, Hannah. That was the news that was feared for these people for well over a week. Let's just think about the moment that they might going through or because they were informed that just after the San Juan lost contact with its home base here Mar del Plata, the families were informed that was happening. A full eight days gap they were informed that the Navy was bringing forward the first possible, the strongest possible effort together with several other countries to bring those relatives, those crew members home. And this morning they were informed that there has been detected a noise was detected on the morning that the San Juan last remaining contact with its home base here and that noise is consistent an explosion. So, the situation is definitely a very darker, tragic tone here in Mar del Plata Hannah. [Jones:] And Stefano, we can see just from speaking to you now that the weather conditions where you are, are particularly bad, and we've also being showing our viewers some footage of the ongoing search as well. This is a massive search area and under the most treacherous of conditions. [Pozzebon:] Yes, absolutely. We have a couple of days on Wednesday and earlier, the weather gave a little bit of a break and allowed even better searching operations. We were informed, for example, on Tuesday, even an end on Wednesday, the Navy was hoping to locate the San Juan thanks to this break in the serious stormy conditions. [Inaudible] the bad weather is increasing here in Maraguada and definitely in the searching operation, Hannah, which is several hundreds of kilometers, southern, in a more colder waters [inaudible]. We are talking about an area that is larger than the country of Spain. [Inaudible] as deep as 2,000 meters below sea level. So, really serious and difficult working condition for the fleet that is trying desperately working around the clock to locate this submarine before it's definitely too late Hannah. [Jones:] Stefano, thank you so much for updating us on this story. We appreciate it. Still to come on the program tonight, President Donald Trump thanked the U.S. troops on the Thanksgiving holiday, but also suggest Americans should thank him for putting the country on a better path. And from an ISIS training site, child fighters to a thriving school the Syrian kids, a report from Northern Syria where life is beginning to be rebuilt. Please stay with us. [Berman:] All right. Breaking news this morning: United Nations human rights body has ruled that WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is being arbitrarily detained. Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London since 2012, trying to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning in a rape case. Now, despite this U.N. finding, British police say they will arrest Assange if he steps outside those embassy doors. So, what really changes here? Let's go live to London and bring in CNN's senior international correspondent Nima Elbagir. What's the situation here, Nima? [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We are waiting, John, to hear from Mr. Assange himself. This finding though will certainly escalate the controversy surrounding the allegations of sexual assault and rape that face Julian Assange. His lawyer had been speaking out before this finding, saying that if the U.N. panel of experts didn't find in Julian Assange's favor, that he was willing to submit himself to arrest. Of course, now we know the U.N. supports his team's claims he was arbitrarily deprived of his freedom. In fact, they go further. They criticize the Swedish prosecutor's office saying that they didn't exercise due diligence. Britain has not come out very strongly, John. They say that they will formally contest the panel of experts' findings. They say it is Julian Assange depriving himself of his own freedom. He is free at any moment to walk out down those steps behind me, but they will arrest him. They will exercise their responsibilities under that European arrest warrant that the Swedish authorities have filed. This, though, will give some moral weight to his claim throughout that that Julian Assange is a political dissident. Others that the U.N. panel of experts has found that he was arbitrarily detained. Of course, Aung San Suu Kyi and the former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy. Julian Assange is expected to speak later this morning and we'll bring you that as soon as we have it, John. [Berman:] Maybe get new rhetoric, but doubtful it will get him new freedom. Nima Elbagir for us in London, thanks so much. [Romans:] Saudi Arabia says it is prepared to a ground operation against ISIS in Syria if the United States and its allies agree to initiate one. That announcement comes one day after the U.N. suspended a new round of international peace talks. Meanwhile, Syrian government forces backed by Russian airstrikes are advancing on the rebel-held city of Aleppo and they appear poised to retake it. [Berman:] Top national security advisors are pressing President Obama to expand the fight against ISIS into Libya. According to a "New York Times" report, the president is resisting, and said he wants to step up airports to help Libya formed a unity government. The Pentagon is considering air strikes and command raids on ISIS targets in Libya, but the president has already ruled out a large scale ground operation. [Romans:] All right. Let's get an early start on your money this Friday morning. Asian markets, stock markets mostly lower. European stock markets a bit higher. U.S. stock futures are ticking up here. It all could change, though, in just a few hours. Today is the monthly jobs report. CNN money predicts 197,000 jobs added in January. The unemployment rate steady likely expected to stay steady at 5 percent. There is a chance it could tick down. Applications are soaring at George Washington University. The school ditched the SAT requirement last year and guess what? Applications spiked 28 percent. That's about 6,000 more students compared with the prior year. GW says it saw more applications from African-American and Hispanic students, and also from students who would be the first in their family to go to college. Experts say SAT requirements discourage low income and minority students from applying. George Washington University is the latest school to go test optional. More than 30 schools have dropped the requirement in the past year. All right. Planning to skip work on Monday because of Sunday's big game? You won't be alone. Get this 16.5 million may miss work the day after the Super Bowl. That's according to a survey by the Workforce Institute. Ten and a half million workers have already asked for the day off in advance, which is what I recommend. And among those who manage to make it to work, 7.5 million of them will show up late. [Berman:] That is bogus. It's a 6:00 start. He does it in 6:00 start? It's 6:00 start. [Romans:] My friend took the day off because he thought it might be the Patriots. [Berman:] You took the day off. He's not here? [Romans:] No, he took the day off because you thought it was the Patriots, but it isn't. So, he kept the day off anybody. [Berman:] When the Red Sox lost the World Series in 1986, I was a freshman in high school. I could not go to school the next day. I didn't take it off. I could not go. There's a difference. [Romans:] Are you kidding? [Berman:] I was really sad. [Romans:] Oh, John. It's just a game. [Berman:] It's not just a game. I don't know what you're saying. All right. EARLY START continues right now. Sparks fly at the Democratic debate in New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. Hillary Clinton with a decidedly new angle here in this election. Just a few days to go before New Hampshire. We'll break down the biggest moments ahead. [Romans:] All right. Good morning. [Berman:] Welcome to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Romans:] I'm Christine Romans. It's Friday, February 5th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East. There's so much to get through this morning, breaking overnight: Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, they came out swinging pretty hard. This is their first one-on-one debate, which itself created a different feeling, especially from Hillary Clinton. Three days after barely winning Iowa, five days before facing daunting odds in New Hampshire, she clearly decided she could not wait another day to fight back. CNN politics reporter Eric Bradner was at the debate in Durham, New Hampshire. He has the very latest. [Bradner:] John and Christine, we are days away from the New Hampshire primary, and the gloves were off. Bernie Sanders hit Hillary Clinton accusing her of being influenced by Wall Street for taking speaking fees and for taking campaign contributions. Hillary Clinton got angry. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I really don't think these kinds of attacks by insinuation are worthy of you. Enough is enough. If you have something to say, say it directly, but you will not find that I ever changed a view or a vote because of any donation that I ever received. [Whitfield:] All right, Pope Francis is calling on his church to be more tolerant of nontraditional families including same sex couples and divorced Catholics. This week, he put out a paper called on love in the family. He writes, quote, "A pastor cannot feel that it is enough simply to apply moral laws as if they were stones to throw at people's lives." Just a month ago, Pope Francis commented on the U.S. presidential race, and took a not so subtle dig at Donald Trump. Joining me right now to talk about what this means for the church and its 1.2 billion Catholics around the world is CNN religion commentator, Father Edward Beck. Good to see you. OK, lots to talk about today. So this 265-page paper. [Father Edward Beck, Cnn Religion Commentator:] By the way, here it is. Look at that. [Whitfield:] There it is there. A lot to read. [Beck:] Good bedtime reading. [Whitfield:] You say it does not highlight changes, but instead it is calling attention to things that are of great importance to the pope. [Beck:] Fred, you know what's so great about it and people are reacting to, it's treating the faithful like adults. Vatican 2 documents talked about formation of one's conscience and that that's the highest moral barometer for making certain decisions within one's life and in the church. But then after that we didn't talk about it much. What this pope does in this document is to say that you are the arbitrary, you the faithful who are in the midst of difficult situations sometimes need to look at your life, enter a process of discernment, talk to your pastor, talk to other faithful Christians and come to decisions for yourselves. So what's so great, he's respecting one's dignity and capacity to discern for themselves where they need to be in the midst of these issues. [Whitfield:] Let's breakdown some of those things. Divorced Catholics, in his view should be allowed to take communion. The pope saying this, quote, "The divorced who have entered a new union should be made to feel part of the church," end quote. Traditionally doesn't, continuing on with his statement, doesn't being part of the church include communion? [Beck:] Yes. What he's saying is if you are divorced and you have remarried and haven't been able to get annulment for some reason that maybe for you, you can enter into this process and communion can be possible. You go to the priest and say look, I can't get annulment for these reasons, my children or ex-spouse isn't cooperative. But yet I really believe in the church, want to be more part of the church. You can with your conscience, in speaking with your pastor and other faithful say I believe I can go to communion because I want to be one with this community even though I can't reach the ideal now of having a sacramental marriage in the church. So it is really saying everybody has a shot here, but not everybody reaches it perfectly all at once. He talks about John Paul II used to talk about law of gradualness. It means kind of we're on the way. You're not always there right away, but if you're in process, maybe that's good enough. [Whitfield:] The pope also addressing homosexuality, particularly at a time in this country where so many states are helping to fuel this argument and debate over so-called religious freedom bills. This is the pope in his words. Quote, "Every person regardless of sexual orientation ought to be respected in his or her dignity and treated with consideration." He then goes on to say, quote, "At times the way we present our Christian beliefs and treat other people has helped to contribute to today's problematic situation." So this pope, he is not afraid of injecting himself in global dialogue, in this case, U.S. particularly some national dialogue with this topic as just the latest example. Why does he do this? [Beck:] That's right, Fred. He does it because he believes we need to be part of the conversation. So he says discrimination against gays is never acceptable. That may say something to states currently dealing with that issue. But many gay people said he didn't go far enough because he says in this document same sex unions cannot be equated with traditional marriage between men and women. You say tolerate the gay people. Gay people say we want more than tolerance, we want equality. The pope is saying we want you to be part of us, want you to be part of our community, but we cannot put your unions on the same status as male, female, men, women, marriage because you can't procreate. Transmission of life is necessary for marriage. So there is disparity between what gays want, some gays, and what the pope is saying. [Whitfield:] All right. Thank you so much. Father Beck, good to see you. Appreciate it. [Beck:] You too, Fred. [Whitfield:] Stay with us. Next hour of NEWSROOM starts right now. Hello again, everyone. This is the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. At this hour, two landmark events in the race for president. Out west today, Democratic caucuses in Wyoming are set to start in just one hour. We have live pictures right now of people assembling there in [inaudible]. [Harlow:] Rebel groups fighting the Syrian government will soon get nearly $100 million in new U.S. assistance. That word today from a State Department official. And just yesterday in a significant escalation in the war against ISIS. President Obama, who was elected on a campaign pledge to involvement overseas, he's committed a small number of U.S. ground troops to Syria. Our Chris Frates has more. [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Poppy, about two dozen Special Operation forces are heading to Syria, bringing U.S. troops that much closer to the front lines. [on camera]: President Obama secretly told Ash Carter a few months ago he wanted faster progress in the war against ISIS in both Syria and Iraq and to come up with a plan, a U.S. official says. Now the president has ordered a small number of Special Operations soldiers into Syria to help local forces fight [Isis. Josh Earnest, White House Press Secretary:] The president does expect that they can have an impact in intensifying our strategy for building the capacity of local forces inside of Syria to taking the fight on the ground to [Isil. Frates:] The teams, no more than 50 troops total, could include members of the elite Delta Force and Green Berets, as well as Navy SEALs. Their mission, to provide ammunition, communications and intelligence and supplies to Arab and Kurdish forces on the ground. Until now, the president had long said he would not put troops in combat, especially in Syria, and the White House insists that's still true. [Earnest:] These forces do not have a combat mission. This is not in any way an attempt to diminish the risk that they will face or the bravery that they will need to summon to carry out these operations. [Frates:] Secretary Carter did not discuss the ground troops while meeting servicemembers in Alaska Friday night, but did say ISIS is one of the biggest threats. [Ash Carter, Defense Secretary:] We've got to beat ISIS. We're going to beat ISIL. These guys are evil and they are you know, we are, as I said, the noble and they are the evil, and we are the many and they are the few. And fundamentally, we are the strong. So we will beat them. And we're doing that now and figuring out how to get better at it. [Frates:] Special Operations forces are expected to be sent from Iraq, across the border into northern Syria. The U.S. will use F-15 and A-10 jets launched from an air base in southern Turkey, all part of an effort to help anti-ISIS forces take back ISIS's self- proclaimed capital city of Raqqa. But make no mistake, Poppy, Obama wanted to avoid troops on the ground where they'll likely end up in combat situations. And today, the State Department announced the U.S. will give about $100 million in new aid to the Syrian opposition. The money will provide support to local officials, first responders, and other civil needs. And since 2012, the U.S. has given almost $500 million total in aid to the Syrian opposition Poppy? [Harlow:] Chris, thank you very much. Coming up next, Jeb Bush on a mission to reassure his donors. [Jeb Bush, , Presidential Candidate & Former Florida Governor:] It's not on life support. We have the most money. We have the greatest organization. We're doing fine. [Harlow:] The internal memo revealing his strategy going forward. Will it be enough to re-energize his campaign? Back in a moment. [Lemon:] We are following breaking news tonight, it's outside of Chicago and you're looking at the live pictures, it's outside this Trump event. It was supposed to be an event. He didn't show up. He canceled it. But there were protesters and supporters there. Donald Trump responds to the violence. The protesters at his postponed rally tonight. And we want to go live to CNN's Jeff Zeleny. He is on the streets of Chicago for us right now. So Jeff, wow, what a crazy evening here. I'm sure you heard Donald Trump at the top of this broadcast. Tell us what you're seeing right now. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well Don, one thing I was struck by tonight, just walking among the protesters here, was the diversity of these protesters. You know Chicago very well. I used to live here as well. And I was struck by the diversity. We had black and white, Hispanic, Asian, young and old. A lot of families came out. It was a very organized protest, and orderly protest, at least outside. We of course have seen the images inside. But what I was struck by, this was a community protester. As I was walking with some of these protesters, they were saying that this is a historic moment for Mexican-Americans to rise up against Donald Trump. And I was walking with a gentleman here who lives in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago, the biggest Mexican-American neighborhood in Chicago. And he said that this is Chicago's duty to rise up and stand up to Donald Trump. So it's different from other Trump events that I've been at throughout the summer and the fall. We've seen a lot of Black Lives Matters protesters. This was different tonight. At least outside. This was different. This is the City of Chicago that was at least some people in the City of Chicago, rising up. And it's interesting. It's on the eve of the St. Patrick's Day parade tomorrow in Chicago, Don. And it's interesting if you think about, you know, generations ago, the immigrants who came here to this city were seeing a similar thing here now with these Mexican-American immigrants. Chicago is such a diverse town, which certainly has, you know, has problems of its own. But tonight, I was really struck by just how Chicago centric, how diverse this crowd of protesters were, Don. [Lemon:] Thank you, Jeff Zeleny. [Zeleny:] And you can see behind me now, Chicago police are largely leaving and again very orderly at this point. There were some clashes before was Trump supporters leaving some things. But all the police now, dozens of police are now leaving the area. [Lemon:] And most of most of the protesters and supporters are gone, right, gone about their business, Jeff. [Zeleny:] Absolutely. The streets are be quiet now, just a few people hanging out. But the protesters, you know, are leaving and it is going to be another parade tomorrow, that great Chicago St. Patrick's Day parade. Very different than this, but also, so, so connected here... [Lemon:] Yeah. [Zeleny:] ... as we think about the bigger picture here, this tapestry of diversity. [Lemon:] Where they will turn the Chicago River green tomorrow as they do every year. It's their tradition. Thank you, Jeff Zeleny... [Zeleny:] Thanks as well. [Lemon:] ... on the streets of Chicago. Joining me now, Phil Musser, Republican Political Consultant, Kayleigh McEnany, Conservative Columnist for "Above the Law," CNN Political Commentator Bob Beckel, the author of "I Should Be Dead, My Life Surviving Politics, T.V, and Addiction," and Political Contributor Van Jones. OK. Here we go. So what do you all make of what we saw tonight at this Trump rally? Kayleigh, you first. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Cnn Political Commentator:] Look, this is proof tonight that Donald Trump can do the right thing and he will still be criticized. Tonight, he did exactly what he should have done. He shut down the rally. He didn't want violence. He said so repeatedly in your interview with him and the statement he released, at the very end of it, he said, "Please go in peace." He did the right thing this evening. And instead of the story being 10,000 protesters showed up, disrupted the First Amendments rights of Donald Trump and Trump supporters. And then all the damage damages on the screen right now, you're not seeing people in Donald Trump shirts causing the rock in... [Lemon:] But Kayleigh... [Mcenany:] ... you were saying the protesters. [Lemon:] ... let me say this. I don't who is criticizing him? I haven't heard anybody criticize Donald Trump tonight. [Mcenany:] Many pundits on this very network have criticized Donald Trump. And in fact on the last show, one of the pundits said that Donald Trump wanted the violence that happen this evening. That's just not true. And I can tell you this, if 10,000 Tea Party activists had showed up at a Bernie Sanders rally and acted this way, those same pundits would be criticizing the Tea Party and would be calling out anyone who called on Bernie Sanders for being responsible for that. [Lemon:] Van Jones, do you believe that to be true? No Van Jones. Bob Beckel, do you believe that to be true? [Bob Beckel, Cnn Poltical Commentator:] No, I tell you, what strikes me first of all is that their four of the most important days, campaign days for Marco Rubio and John Kasich and now Donald Trump once again is dominating the entire new cycle. The I think they did the right thing by turning the things out. It didn't seem like to me that they were very prepared for it despite the warning. But you know, the interesting thing about it is. Is it, I think Trump supporters will get angry about this in a way that may very well ironically turn out more Trump voters in Florida and Ohio. [Lemon:] Of course. Of course, I mean, it always happen that's way that something always happens in Donald Trumps favor. It just the way of political... [Beckel:] It's amazing. [Lemon:] ... we are all right now. So Van Jones, you heard Kayleigh saying, you know, Donald Trump is being criticized for not on this show, maybe another shows, maybe she's right. I don't think the headline from the story has been written, at least when it comes to live media because we're busy covering it as it happens. We're busy covering the game, or the horse race so to speak. So what do you make of what happened tonight? [Van Jones, Cnn Poltical Contributor:] Well, I do think that certainly Mr. Trump should be commended for calling a rally off. But his words which were just celebrated by Kayleigh in saying go in peace. If those words are to be commended, then the rest of his words also have to be examined. And I was shocked I know he's probably watching right now. I just I want to say to you Mr. Trump as a father, I don't think you would have accepted that explanation from Ivanka or even from little barring. If you are in a situation where you say, nobody has been hurt at your rallies. And yet we have videos of somebody being cold cocked at your rallies, that's not acceptable. If that's a death it's not acceptable. You say there are violent protesters swinging at people at your rallies. But there's not one video showing that, because video after video of non-violent protesters being beat up. If that a death, that's not acceptable. You say that your words, that saying go in peace, I should be I've given so much credit. But you don't take any responsibility for the impacts of your words saying you want people to go out in stretchers. I am speaking to you sir ss possibly the next president of my country. The president of a country my children have to grow up then. And I don't see you taking responsibility. What I would say is this. With great power comes great responsibility. And it is in fact true that some of the people who came there came there to be disruptive. And they have to take responsibility for that. But you also have to take responsibility for the fact, no one is disrupting Cruz rallies, no ones disrupting Rubio rallies, no ones disrupting Kasich rallies. [Lemon:] But Van I think what you are saying... [Jones:] ... is that for some reason... [Lemon:] Van I have to said that... [Jones:] ... to your rallies. [Lemon:] I have to say that, people do disrupt other rallies. It just does not turned violent in the way that it does with Donald Trump rallies. And maybe people don't disrupt as much but I have seen other examples of rallies that are being disrupted. [Jones:] But it doesn't turn as violent. [Lemon:] Phil Musser, I have to ask you. What responsibility does Donald Trump have when it concerns the protesters or the violence at his rally? [Phil Musser, Republican Political Consultant:] Look, Donald Trump did the exact right thing here guys. I mean, I'm taking off the Republican hat, I'm taking up the strategist hat. This could have turned into a Molotov cocktail. Where people could have been really hurt and killed. This was a situation where there was obviously an organized plan to disrupt this event in a massive whole scale way. And he did exactly the right thing. As a leader, he made the exact right call because our country is at a time and a place where the wrong kind of spark could turn into just a massive conflagration of fire. And here we are in March with Donald Trump drawing rallies in 25 to 35,000 people. Remember the election is in November. [Lemon:] Not to cut you off, but I have to ask you this. [Musser:] Yeah. [Lemon:] I have to ask you think. If you said that, you know, in this spark. My question really was, what responsibility does he have? But you're talking about that he did the right thing. As Van Jones as said. He should be commended for calling up the rally. OK? [Musser:] And we get that. [Lemon:] So what responsibility does he have? If you say, any little thing can spark something. He has no responsibility in that- any little thing can spark something at all? [Musser:] I think anyone who is in the public arena has a responsibility to speak to the higher angels in our country and to the degree that words matter I think you started to see a tone and a move toward inclusion from Mr. Trump. He talks about a way to bring people together and honestly that's going to be where that's going to be where we go, right. That's got to be where we go Don. [Beckel:] Listen I can't stay silent during the state, what Don asked Trump if he would say at his rallies, let us have peaceful organization here. Let's try not to react negatively to demonstrators and he refused to do that. He said, it didn't say, we'll do it. Now what in the world is wrong with doing that? That guy he think he's got good politics for this stand point, but he was given an opportunity by Lemon to say, yes, I will say, this is the wrong thing to do, the wrong way to react and he didn't do it. [Jones:] And one thing I just want to say it, I don't understand, there was a video, it showed a man being cold cocked. Today Donald Trump had the opportunity to say, "Listen, I don't want that people called cook at my rallies", in fact he said the opposite, that the other thing that we have reported on, this was the most it happened in the most diverse neighborhood in Chicago at one of the most diverse campuses in the country. And so you're talking about going into a situation where people have learned how to live together. Haven't you saw people of all different colors. I don't understand why he did not take the opportunities the day to say, very clearly before he came to Chicago, I don't want that guy getting called cocked, in fact he said it was appropriate. That I think is irresponsible on his part. [Lemon:] Kayleigh, I know... [Mcenany:] And Van, shouldn't he yeah, he never said it was appropriate for someone to cold cock another person and reference to that.... [Jones:] That exactly, it that's what he said. He said the guy wasn't appropriately. [Mcenany:] Its worth well someone told once at you you have by the way, by the way, someone throw a punch at you, you have the right to step. [Jones:] No one threw a punch at the guy who called cocked a guy. [Mcenany:] You have it, right? No, no one did. [Jones:] But nobody did that. [Mcenany:] And Donald Trump doesn't know about that specific instance. Let me point out Van, you criticized Donald Trump for going to the University of Illinois. The University I commend him for going into and bringing his message to a certain place. But instead it was disrupted. Go look at moveonthat.org's website a liberal group, they put out a statement today that says, that Trump supporters need to be on notice. That's quite threatening. They need to be on notice that we can no longer peacefully congregate to hear this man speak. We can no longer bring in people to hear what he has to say. We have to be on notice that we might be thwarted from entering a rally, because there are 10,000 violent protesters organized by the left. [Lemon:] Kayleigh, are you sure he didn't know about this statement? Hang on, hang on guys. Kayleigh, are you sure he didn't know about this incident, because I asked him about it and he seem to be saying that this guy responded appropriately. Are you actually sure about that? [Jones:] That's the quote. [Mcenany:] There are a number of incidents that happen. I don't know that he knew you were talking about that specific one, Donald Trump has been very clear, violence is unacceptable. He did make the copy of it, that someone punches you, you have a right to self defense in the country to punch back. [Jones:] But no one punch. No one punch. [Lemon:] No one punched the guy in the audience. [Jones:] But Kayleigh. [Lemon:] The policeman... [Mcenany:] And that incident Don, Don, let me be clear, that incident was wrong. And that guy was wrong and Donald Trump had... [Lemon:] But he didn't say that. [Mcenany:] ... said repeatedly, violence is wrong. [Beckel:] No he has not said that. [Mcenany:] Even no one incident you were talking about. [Beckel:] Kayleigh? [Jones:] That's not true Kayleigh. [Mcenany:] Yes, he has. He said. [Beckel:] You show us where he has said that. [Mcenany:] He said four times during that interview that violence is wrong. He said four times in that violence is wrong. [Lemon:] He said I don't condone violence. He said I don't condone violence. [Beckel:] You're in hanging in an awful lot on this go in peace when you don't, your not willing to talk about the things he said before this which with Bernie Sanders, and so I think... [Mcenany:] If you think Bob Beckel that those, comments do you think Bob Beckel that his too off to hand remarks caused what happened tonight? You think those two off the cuff remarks caused the violence we saw this evening? [Beckel:] Sure. [Mcenany:] That is a ludicrous to say but for those statements... [Lemon:] Hold on. [Mcenany:] ... it caused the violence of lack this protester. [Beckel:] And spend a lot more than true. [Jones:] And Kayleigh this is yeah, and look, I we're entering a very dangerous territory of the country. And I think we need to take a look here. I don't want anybody going to a Donald Trump rally and doing anything violent to anybody. I don't I've not yet seen a video tape of anybody doing that though. I also want, people, if they do go and they protest peacefully like women who stood their silently with this, you know, Muslim women silent sign, I don't want them to be yelled at and punched on the way out which we've also seen. I want Donald Trump to be able to speak. I think left of protesters, you have a right to protest but you don't have a right to prevent someone from giving there address, fine, protest at the beginning and then go out and or let yourself be arrested, but you can't prevent people from speaking. That's also wrong. So we got to be able to talk about this but at the end of the day, none of those protesters are going to be president of the United States. Donald Trump could and I do think it is important for him to take responsibility and I can't imagine that if they were your kid, any of my conservative friends, wouldn't want a better tone from Donald Trump. And these questions of stretchers and being punched. [Lemon:] And we have to be honest too and when we we're having conversations. You can't be intellectually dishonest and you can't spin things especially when you talk about violence in the potentials for people to get hurt. Phil, I want to give this one to you, some of the protesters were channeling, Bernie, Bernie, Bernie. Bernie Sanders has just put out this tweet he says, we do things a little different in this campaign, we bring people together, Bernie and #Bernie in Illinois. Should Bernie Sanders tell his supporters not to disrupt rallies for Donald Trump? [Musser:] Yes, I mean, I think, I don't think there's a lot of utility for. you know, I think Van makes a valid point, you know, there is this rally tonight shouldn't be characterized or cast as something that Donald Trump created or is Donald Trump's fault, I mean this was clearly an organized effort by a large number of left as Cruz to disrupt this big event. I think generally if we see more of that as we go into this campaign through the primaries in the fall, it's going to be cataclysmically bad for the process. It's going to be further divide our country and it's going to have no positive good outcome. So yeah, I think I don't think any political leader should be calling for their followers to kind of purposefully disrupt and, you know, interrupt the other candidates rally. [Beckel:] What why do you assume it is left Wingers, by the way? I mean I'm in the liberal, with you had a reporter for CNN in the street saying that he saw people a lot of mixed races, a lot of older people. I mean the idea, that you're trying to do is make this into occupy Wall Street is what your trying to do, but the fact the matter is, when that Muslim woman was beat up going out, Donald Trump could have said, don't ever let that happen from any of my supporters again. That was terrible. [Lemon:] All right, stand by, I want you guys to take a listen to what President Obama just said about Donald Trump tonight, it was an awesome Texas as his was before the big clash, so that postponed that rally. Listen to this. [Obama:] We're shocked that there someone is banning anti-immigrant sentiment here or anti-Muslim sentiment, we're shocked. How can you be shocked? This is the guy, remember who was sure that I was born in Kenya. Who just wouldn't let it go? And all the same Republican establishment, they were not saying up. As long as it was directed at me, they were fine with it. They thought it was a hoot. They wanted to get his endorsement. And then now suddenly, we're shocked. [Lemon:] Phil Musser is a Republican political consultant, I want to ask you what in that way that President Obama put it. Is this the Republican Party? Is the Republican Party should say reaping what it has sown as President Obama says. [Musser:] No, I mean, I think that's completely out of context, I mean Obama is basically doing a stand-up comedy act, you know, in front of a friendly audience in Houston and we're trying to juxtapose it over what could be a serious and potentially high of threatening event on the streets of Chicago tonight. There's enormous, you know, anger on the populist left and the populous right in this country and we're seeing that play out in the context of these primaries both with respect to Sanders and with respect to Trump. And so, you know, that's anger that it needs to be reconciled in the American political process and the American political system and that's what's underway over the next four days, you go back to Bob's, point, I mean, it really look, we're four days away from the 15th of March which is really the most important thing with respect to the future of the Republican Party and the choices we face. And we're talking about nothing related to that, which is really what I thought what we were going to talk about tonight before this happen. [Lemon:] Well, that's a big news. Hey we haven't seen. [Musser:] I understand. [Lemon:] I think it just ever, so... [Musser:] I get it, I get it, I get it. [Lemon:] All right everyone stay with me, when we come right back, more on our breaking news. Donald Trump cancels his Chicago rally tonight in amid protest inside and outside the arena. We'll be right back. [Kosik:] Welcome back. Bill Cosby now set to go on trial more than ten years after first being accused of sexual misconduct. A Pennsylvania judge ruling there is enough evidence to move forward with a criminal case against the disgraced entertainer. Cosby faces three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. If found guilty, he could face 30 years in prison. More now from our Jean Casarez. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Alison and George, we can say with certainty that the criminal case against Bill Cosby is now proceeding to trial. That decision was made yesterday by a magistrate judge here in Pennsylvania. And the preliminary hearing is extremely important because it's the first time that we see the prosecution really show their evidence. The defense can cross-examine, but the point is, is there probable cause that Bill Cosby committed a sexual assault against Andrea Constand, the accuser? The defense was extremely aggressive yesterday. They wanted Andrea Constand to take the stand. They believe by cross-examining her, they would be able to show this was consensual, so there wouldn't be probable cause. But in Pennsylvania, at this point, you don't have to do that. So, the prosecution put the detective on the stand that took her statement back in 2005. And the case involved one incident at the home of Bill Cosby. Prosecutors say that Andrea Constand said she went over there one night, January or February in 2004. She was not feeling well because she was changing careers. She couldn't sleep at night. Bill Cosby said, "I can help you take the edge off." He went upstairs, came down with blue pills. She said in her statement that he gave them to her, she took them because he said they were herbal, had her drink some wine. And about 20 minutes later, she couldn't even stand up. Her vision was blurred. She had to lay on the sofa. She said she remembers enough to know that she was sexually assaulted. The defense and cross-examination made a very big point that Andrea Constand had gotten together with Bill Cosby before. She'd gone to his home before. She'd gone out to dinner with him. She went to Foxwoods Casino to meet him after a performance and actually went to his room. They were really trying to show this was consensual. Bill Cosby, when he walked into the courtroom yesterday, I was sitting in the second row. He was being led in. He stumbled right into my court bench, and it really rocked the bench. They say he's legally blind. The defense does. This really showed he couldn't see where he was going. But once he was seated, he was extremely professional. Not the comedian this country has grown to know, but very serious, spoke with his attorneys just a little bit, listened to the judge. Now he has waived his formal arraignment to take place on July 20th. He signed the waiver. The judge said to him, "You voluntarily have signed this." He said, "Yes, thank you, judge, I'm waiving the formal arraignment." And with that, this case proceeds now to trial [Howell:] Jean Casarez, thank you. The head of the TSA in the hot seat on Capitol Hill this morning. Peter Neffenger set to be grilled by the House Homeland Security Committee about three-hour wait times at airport security check points. Thousands of passengers complaining about missing flights and connections. The TSA is expected to offer up a couple of near-term solutions like an automated baggage bin system and real-time data to keep air travelers informed out wait times at security. But those ideas are not expected to have an impact any time soon. The House Committee is considering legislation to correct the problem. [Kosik:] Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Dylann Roof. That's the man accused of killing nine parishioners last year at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Attorney General Loretta Lynch says the nature of the crime and the resulting harm compelled her to make the decision. Federal prosecutors urge Lynch to okay capital charges, saying that Roof has shown a lack of remorse for the murder. [Howell:] Got to talk about Kansas. Breaking from overnight, tornadoes tearing through parts of that state. Look at this. [Kosik:] That's incredible. [Howell:] Look at that huge twister. I mean, the power of mother nature. One of three twisters that touched down simultaneously near Dodge City, Kansas. There are reports of several injuries, along with the damaged homes and overturned cars. As many as nine tornadoes were reported from this storm that ripped through that state. [Kosik:] Those storm chasers so close to that storm. It's incredible. I don't know how they do it. [Howell:] I've been near those storms, and it's so dangerous in the sense that you just have to make sure you're going the opposite direction, that you can get the pictures. [Kosik:] Well, I would say don't try this at home. [Howell:] No, no, don't do that. [Kosik:] All right. A big change coming to Twitter, but will it be enough to turn the company around? We're going to get an early start on your money, next. [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] Overnight nearly 150 of the 224 passengers killed on board arriving in Russia. Mourners of the mostly Russian victims gathering at St. Petersburg Airport where the air jet was supposed to end its journey. Aerials of the crash site show mangled wreckage, strewn across nearly eight square miles. But Egypt's prime minister says there are no indications that anything out of the ordinary was about to happen on this aircraft. Egypt's civil aviation minister adding, there are no reports that the airline had faults. Checks done before takeoff did not reveal anything, and no one received any S.O.S. calls. Still, questions linger as to why Flight 9268 hurled to the ground in the remote part of Egypt, in clear weather, an area plagued by a violent Islamic insurgency. [Peter Goelz, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] You can certainly see whether there were any sign of a bomb or a missile striking the aircraft. They leave very distinctive markings. And that should be able to be eliminated very quickly. [Damon:] The co-pilot's ex-wife telling Russia state-run news he complained before the flight to their daughter, wishing for a better technical condition of the plane. Most passengers were found with their seat belt on, according to Egypt's military, suggesting the pilot asked them to buckle up. And Alisyn, concrete answers lie within those two black boxes recovered from the scene on Saturday, but extracting that data is going to potentially be difficult. It depends on how much damage was actually done to them. We are hearing that it is not that significant. So hopefully, that information will come out sooner rather than later. Because in past cases, it has taken weeks, if not months, to recover data from these boxes. [Camerota:] Yes, let's hope it's much sooner than months, Arwa. Thanks so much. Here with more analysis are CNN aviation correspondent and host of "Quest Means Business," Richard Quest; as well as Jim Hall, former chairman of the NTSB. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being here. Richard, I know you were monitoring that Metrojet press conference. What jumped out at you about what officials were saying? [Richard Quest, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Well, really, the comments that it was not technical; and it was not human error, but it was external forces or external reasons. I just don't see at this point that they can make such a claim. It's an extraordinary claim to make, but it's not surprising that the airline would be saying that at this particular point. The reality is, until there's been a forensic examination of the wreckage to see if any explosive residue, or at least a full data readout of the black boxes, we simply don't know. All we know is that, at a particular point, the plane basically fell out the air and lost all of its air speed. The reasons why are simply not known. [Camerota:] Jim, you've investigated scores of these airline tragedies. Do you agree with the Metrojet officials that this could not be mechanical? [Jim Hall, Former Ntsb Chairman:] Oh, it's too early to make that determination. Certainly, this looks very much like some sort of midair event that could have either been a mechanical event, center wing tag explosion such as TWA 800, or it could have been the result of an explosive device placed on the aircraft. [Camerota:] But not but I mean, which way are you leaning? It sounds as they say it was external forces. What does that mean? [Hall:] Well, I think that the situation here is that you're going to have to have a criminal investigation looking at the possibility of a criminal act here as you proceed. But with the black boxes intact, the Russian investigators should be able to provide information fairly quickly in regard to leading us in one direction or another. [Camerota:] Richard, one striking graphic juxtaposes the debris field from MH-17, which was shot out of the sky over the war-torn UkrainianRussian border, and then what happened this weekend. And, you know, the debris fields look strikingly similar in terms of the size of the debris, Richard. And yet we have heard, I mean, not to get too graphic, that some of the bodies were found to still be in their seatbelts. So what do you see, Richard, when you compare these two debris fields? [Quest:] OK. Well, let's not be too distasteful. The reason they're in their seats, I mean, yes, it could be the captain had requested that because of technical difficulties. But the flight was only 21 minutes into its journey. So the seatbelt sign could have still been on anyway. And anyway, most passengers do tend to leave their seatbelts loosely fastened, because they're asked to do so. If you take the debris field, it tells us the plane broke up, but it doesn't tell us why. Now, this could be a straightforward break at the tail, and that could happen because of aerodynamic forces on the air frame that simply are outside the envelope and pull the plane apart. Certainly, if something dramatic happens, this sort of the leap to then go to explosives I agree with Jim, fully, in that whenever I hear of a plane incident in the cruise, one of the first things you think about is explosion, whether from fuel or from explosive device. That's the nature, because it is the safest part of flight. But what causes this breakup is what will need to be investigated. I'm surprised they haven't said where they're going to read the black boxes yet. They've had them now for nearly 24 hours. So I'm surprised we haven't actually heard out which country, where they're going to be read and where we can expect to get the information. It shouldn't take that long. [Camerota:] Jim Jim, does that make a difference whether they're read in Russia, whether they're read in Egypt and how long it will take? [Hall:] Well, I know the Russians have the capability to read out these boxes in the same amount of time that we could at the National Transportation Safety Board at the United States. They have very good equipment. The concern there is being sure that the information on the black boxes is accurately reported. Certainly with the background of the position that the Russian government took in regard to MH-17. [Camerota:] Jim, one last question for you. I want to put a map of this region. You can see there are travel warnings. In the red are travel warnings, not to fly to or, I believe, even over some of these air space. Iran, Iraq, Ukraine, Libya, Sudan. Then there's travel alerts that feature Turkey and Egypt. Now, Turkey and Egypt are popular tourist destinations for Americans. How are we supposed to interpret what we're seeing here with these alerts and warnings? [Hall:] Well, I think that travelers need to be very cautious and aware of what carriers they're flying and what routes they're flying. Until, hopefully, some of this some of the problems that we've seen going on in the Middle East are dealt with. [Camerota:] Richard, if somebody has a ticket to Egypt today, what are you recommending they do? [Quest:] Oh, it's the usual things: ensuring the airline that you're going on you're satisfied with. And are a well-funded, well-run airline. Remember, many of those alerts that you're talking about, Alisyn, they are flight restrictions below a certain level. So if you take, for example, the NOTAMs relating to the Sinai Peninsula that were issued by the U.S., the U.K., Germany and others, they all related to flight levels below 25,000 or 26,000 feet. Because that was where it was believed you couldn't they didn't have sophisticated enough weaponry. The problem is, if those activities, those military activities such as eastern Ukraine, they get surface-to-air missiles that can get to the upper altitudes. And that relies on intelligence. And there's no getting away from it, Alisyn. It is a mess. IOTA, ACAO, they've tried to deal with this, but it is a mess. There is no unified system that's is satisfactory for alerting airlines. [Camerota:] OK. Troubling note to end on. Richard Quest, Jim Hall, thanks for all of your expertise. Let's get over to Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. We turn now to presidential politics. Advisers for multiple Republican candidates are meeting to lay out their demands for changes in future debates. The campaigns are seeking more control over the process in the wake of harsh criticism for last week's CNBC debate. Athena Jones is live in Tampa with all the details for us on their demands Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. This is significant, seeing these campaigns unite, not just against the TV networks but also against the Republican National Committee, which has been negotiating the debate terms on behalf of the campaigns. This, of course, comes after so many campaigns were mad about the way the CNBC debate was handled last week. As you mention the bottom line is the campaigns want more control over the debate format. They say they want more substantive and more focused debates. Now, not all of the campaigns were there. Carly Fiorina's campaign was not represented. Also not there, the RNC. That's because they weren't invited. But Ben Ginsberg, a prominent lawyer and debate negotiator was there to take help facilitate the discussion. Take a listen to how he summed up some of the campaigns' main concerns. [Ben Ginsberg, Republican Attorney:] Campaigns have been able should be able to get information about the details of the debate far sooner than they have so far this cycle. So if you have that transparency and accountability, you can talk to the sponsors about formats and opening and closing statements and the way they put up graphics on the screen and even who the moderators are and the types of questions. [Jones:] Now, we're told the meeting lasted just over two hours and that it was collegial, though the campaigns didn't agree on everything. Here are some of the demands they plan to make for future debates: a two-hour time limit for each debate. A chance for every candidate to make opening and closing statements. A minimum of 30 seconds per candidate. They also want editorial control of the graphics that are put up on the screen while the candidates are speaking. And they want equal speaking time for each candidate. The campaigns also agreed that they would hold a group conference call with the debate sponsors before each debate. One more point I want to make, Ben Carson's campaign manager, who organized this meeting, said that these this new plan will not affect the FOX the FOX Business Channel debate coming up just over a week from now. It will all begin with the next CNN debate in December Chris. [Cuomo:] That raised eyebrows. You know, is that about some type of preference or is it just about timing? We'll be on that this morning. Athena, thank you very much. Also this morning, President Obama is doing something he's repeatedly opposed: putting boots on the ground in Syria. How many? What will they do? What will they not do? All crucial questions. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr live in Washington with more. What do we understand, my friend? [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. Well, as you say, the president announcing late last week, less than 50 Special Operations forces on the ground in Syria there, expected to be there within the month. What are they not doing? They are not going to be a game changer in this war against ISIS. Every military official I've spoken to agrees to that point. Their job: advise, assist, coordinate. They will obviously have a key role in gathering intelligence on the ground, because for the first time they will be there. But already, even as we see this, there are moves being made to expand all of this yet again. What is coming next? Well, the Pentagon already saying that they are looking at putting an additional group of Special Operations forces out in Syria and Iraq to conduct raids against high-value targets. What else is on the list? Apache gun ship helicopters. That will allow U.S. troops much closer to the ground to fire on targets and, yes, maybe even forward air controllers. U.S. troops out in the field, helping the local forces on the ground pick out targets. What the Pentagon is saying is that one of the key goals they have is to make the opposition forces able to get to the city of Raqqah in Syria, ISIS's self-declared capital. But a lot of skepticism. This could be a very long road ahead Alisyn. [Camerota:] All right, Barbara. Thanks so much for all of that reporting. Well, a stunning comeback for Turkish President Erdogan's AKP Party. It regained full control of parliament, less than six months after losing the majority it had held for more than 13 years. Millions of voters turned out to support his platform, that one-party rule is the only way to fight this two-front war with ISIS and militant Kurds. [Pereira:] Police are urging parents to check their children's Halloween stash this morning after several reports were filed of sharp objects found inside candy over the weekend. Five children in Kennett Square, Philadelphia, apparently received wrapped candies containing needle-like objects, while an Ohio girl bit into a candy bar containing a disposable razor blade. Fortunately, none of the children were injured. Police believe this seems to be on the up and up, that these weren't hoaxes. They are investigating, obviously, to find out exactly what went wrong and how far and how widespread this went. [Camerota:] My gosh. I thought that when candy was wrapped, we'd gotten past that, being worried about it. Kids, when it was homemade, you had to check it. But wrapped, you'd think of course, they can slip a needle in there, apparently. [Pereira:] Upsetting. [Camerota:] Wow. [Cuomo:] Luckily, none were in any of the 100 pieces of candy that I ate. [Camerota:] Good. I'm glad you checked it out for your kids. That's selfless. [Cuomo:] Yes. Wanted to make sure. [Camerota:] Wow. You are a good dad. [Cuomo:] So far, so good. All right. So if you cannot take the heat, get off the debate stage. That from Donald Trump. No stranger to critiquing debates himself, he's singing a different tune. We have team Trump in the NEW DAY house with a take on the field, the debate changes and this perceived fear of FOX News. [Allen:] And welcome back to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. Here are our top stories. The Dutch prime minister says the Netherlands wants no part in the political campaign of Turkish ministers in their country. The statement comes after Dutch officials refused to let the Turkish Foreign minister's plane land for a rally for Turkey in Rotterdam. Turkey fired back by sealing off the Dutch embassy in their capital Ankara. U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday fired the legendary federal prosecutor Preet Bharara. He was fired for refusing to resign on Friday along with more than 40 other U.S. attorneys who were forced out. CNN has learned President Trump's aide called Bharara on Thursday, but Bharara wouldn't answer because of rules forbidding such contact. A 26-year-old man who recently lost his job was discovered just outside the White House late Friday while President Trump was inside. It was the first-known intrusion of the complex since Donald Trump took office. Officers say the man had jumped the White House fence and had made a personal letter to the president. Opponents and supporters of South Korea's ousted former president rallied in Seoul Saturday yet again after a court on Friday upheld her impeachment. Park Gyun-hae has been mired in a corruption scandal and many of her critics want her arrested. A handful of U.S. states are filing court challenges to the revised travel ban from President Trump. And much like the first order Muslim American leaders are criticizing the ban. But some Muslim Americans are coming to the president's defense. CNN's Martin Savidge has our story. [Martin Savidge, Cnn National Correspondent:] Talat Rashid and Dr. Waqas Khan faced an anger and ugliness they had never seen before thanks to Donald Trump. [Talat Rashid, Trump Voter:] I have some of my close friends that turn their back on me. [Savidge:] Pakistani Americans and Muslim, the backlash wasn't against their faith but their politics. [Dr. Waqas Khan, Trump Voter:] I supported Donald Trump. [Savidge:] Rashid campaigned for Trump and twice got to meet him. Kahn and Rashid even went to Trump's inauguration. All of which earned them scorn from fellow Muslims. [Khan:] I had to receive comments like I never knew you were a racist, you're anti-Islamic, you're a traitor, a brown guy trying to be white, brownie, all these slurs. [Savidge:] Trump's campaign rhetoric particularly about Muslims bothered many people including Saleem Sheikh. He's friends with Rashid, attends the same Bowling Brooke mosque, and is a lifelong Republican who voted for Hillary Clinton. [Saleem Sheikh, Clinton Voter:] I was quite concerned about some of Mr. Trump's statements at the time. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. [Savidge:] How could you support a man who seemed to be so anti-Muslim? [Khan:] When the statement about the Muslim ban came out, I was kind of offended to be very honest. But then I took a deep breath and I looked at the message behind the statement. [Savidge:] The message Rashid and Khan heard wasn't of discrimination. Instead, they heard Trump identifying a problem they see in their own faith. One they say American leaders and even many Muslims up until now haven't openly faced. Violent, radical extremism. [Khan:] The main war is between is within Islam, it's not outside Islam. And the first war that we have to win is the war that the reformists or the moderate Muslims have to win against the radicals. [Savidge:] Terrorism, the men say, is a byproduct of that war. And Trump is taking action against some Muslims to protect all Americans. Still they admit the first travel ban was a mistake. [Rashid:] Yes, I think that was too much. I mean, I did not agree with him in the beginning. [Savidge:] You think it's better now? [Rashid:] It's a little better now. It is. But again, you know, his message is he is not it's not his hating all the Muslims. He is just trying to protect this country as a president. That's his job. [Savidge:] Saleem disagrees, saying the best way to protect America is not by shutting people out. [Sheikh:] I'm a very patriotic American citizen. So I want to look and see America as being number one in the world. But I think it can do that by reaching out to the people. [Savidge:] Like many of Donald Trump's supporters, Rashid and Khan say that kind of thinking is too idealistic in today's frightening world. [Khan:] America's national security should be beyond any politics. It should be beyond any religion. That should be our top priority, being an American. [Savidge:] As you heard, all three of those men are from Pakistan. And Pakistan's not under any travel restrictions currently from the Trump administration. And I asked them maybe it should be considered. After all, there are questions about Pakistan's connections to the Taliban. And there was the fact that Osama bin Laden was found in Pakistan. All three men were unanimous, no, they said. There's no need. Martin Savidge, CNN, Naperville, Illinois. [Allen:] A Florida man accused of setting a convenience store on fire reportedly wanted to, quote, "run the Arabs out of our country," end quote. Officials say Richard Lloyd told them he thought the owners were Muslim and that he was doing his part for America. He's been charged and officials are investigating whether it was a hate crime. The store owners are actually of Indian descent and the fire did not cause much damage to their store. One of the biggest shopping malls in Germany was closed Saturday over fears of a possible terror attack. Police say they received concrete indications there was a plan to attack this mall here in the western city of Eessen. Police questioned two men and raided at least one apartment in a nearby town. Germany is on high alert after attacks last year, some of which have been claimed by ISIS. Security analysts say hackers targeted European governments and thousands of cyber attacks last year. Now as some nations get closer to crucial elections, intelligence agencies are fighting back. They are guarding against espionage and those trying to influence voters. Our Nina Dos Santos was given rare access to Europe's cybercrime center at The Hague. [Nina Dos Santos, Cnnmoney Europe Editor:] Deep inside one of Europe's most secure buildings behind a bomb-proof facade and unbreakable doors, agents at Europol are tracking the digital footprints of the world's most dangerous hackers. CNN has been given a rare insight into the EU's fight against illicit online activity. But there are limits as to what and who we can film as the head of the agency's cyber crime center explains. [Steve Wilson, Head Of European Cybercrime Center, Europol:] This is where we have staff from 15 different countries all working together in relation to the cyber crime investigations. Unfortunately because of the needs of the investigations that are ongoing in there I can't take you in. [Dos Santos:] Secrecy is paramount. Cutting-edge technology just as crucial. From forensic labs to mining date from hardware, to signal blocking rooms used to extract the most infectious computer viruses. [Wilson:] I'm going to take you in, I'm sure you're [Dos Santos:] Now with key elections in some of those states this year, online espionage and extortion has increased thanks to the availability of hackers for hire. [Wilson:] They'll be using advances processors today to exploit, things that have never been seen before, that are unknown to the security companies. The use of this type of tactics is extremely difficult to detect. [Dos Santos:] The trend in Europol's cyber investigations soaring 200 percent since 2013. [Rob Wainwright, Director, Europol:] I think cybercrime is probably our longest term of enduring security challenge that we face in Europe. It is a concern for all of us in democracy, that's evidence. What we are seeing, however, is a cyber criminal infrastructure online that is supporting state-sponsored attacked and large scale cyber criminal activity in very similar ways. [Dos Santos:] The prime suspect, Russia, which Germany says probably infiltrated its parliament's computers in 2015. Among the targets, NATO, which is facing 500 attempted breaches a month. Russia has denied that it's behind these attacks but the EU is on high alert. [Julian King, Eu Security Commissioner:] We have seen an increase of about 20 percent in the attacks against the commission. Sometimes I think they are seeking to extract information, but there are also attacks which are clearly designed more generally to put a question mark over the correct functioning of the commission in this case or other institutions that have been attacked elsewhere across the European Union. [Dos Santos:] For those delving into the Web's darker side, they are finding a world where the front line is no longer physical. And the armies are online. Nina Dos Santos, CNN, in The Hague. [Allen:] Well, this is something we have been talking about for the past few days. March 14th is "My Freedom Day." CNN is partnering with young people around the world for a student-led day of action against modern-day slavery. Driving "My Freedom Day" is a simple question, what does freedom mean to you? [Unidentified Female:] Those who have freedom forget how important it is. And I think it's the right to express yourself without interference, whoever or wherever you are. [Unidentified Male:] Freedom means being able to express myself in every aspect of my life without fear of prosecution and retaliation. [Unidentified Female:] Freedom to me is having no limitations. It means if you have the opportunity to create a vision for your life. Freedom is also the opportunity to chase your dream and aspirations. [Allen:] We want to hear what freedom means to you, too. So post a photo or video using the #myfreedomday. And you might see it right here on CNN. Well, as you know, "Saturday Night Live" has not shied away from criticizing the new president. Ahead how the comedy show imagined the president would handle an alien invasion. Plus, winter does not want to leave the eastern part of the U.S. just yet. Parts of New York are under a blizzard watch. How much snow to expect, next? That's a live picture of New York right there. We'll hear from Karen Maginnis. [Curnow:] Welcome back. I'm Robyn Curnow. "Time" magazine has named its 2015 Person of the Year and it's German chancellor Angela Merkel. The magazine praised her leadership during Europe's refugee crisis in a climate of sharply divided views. Let's get more from Alexandra Field in London. Hi, there, Alexandra. This really wasn't much of a surprise. What else did they say when they tapped her? [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, it really wasn't much of a surprise, specifically when you look at "Time" magazine and they call her Europe's most powerful leader. They point to a number of different stories that have unfolded over the course of the year that have really brought her front and center on the international stage, whether it was her leadership of Europe's economic crisis or here more recent handling of Europe's refugee crisis. Again, it's her policy that's led [Field:] hundreds of thousands of refugees to find shelter in Germany. Of course, these policies have not been without conflict, without controversy. Frankly, the policies have drawn the ire of some. But "Time" really underscores the point that they have chosen her as their Person of the Year because of her ability to lead. And they put it this way, quite frankly, you can agree with her or not but she is not taking the easy road. And for that it seems that "Time's" editors felt that she deserved this honor. [Curnow:] OK. Well, let's talk about who came second, the leader of ISIS. "Time" said they had no problem potentially giving him this accolade. They felt that he but they felt that he didn't really deserve the top prize. I mean, tell us about that. [Field:] Right. You can appreciate the editorial lead. That would certainly be a difficult division to put this man's face on the cover of a magazine. You run the risk, of course, of glorifying or glamorizing in some way. But the point of Person of the Year is really you talk about people who have had a profound global impact. And this is somebody who has had a real global impact that the magazine does lay out in a way that they sort of tick through, talking about ISIS'abilities to perpetuate attacks across the world, leading to the death of 1,200 civilians, the magazine notes, outside of Syria and Iraq alone. And with Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as the leader of ISIS, they felt that his reach had really been well documented through this horrible series of attacks that have unfolded throughout the year, which is why they have put him in what they called this second place position. But, Robyn, what's interesting, is that if you take a look at the poll online, where readers were able to select who they would choose to have as the Person of the Year, Baghdadi wins pretty handily and then he is followed next by Trump and then Vladimir Putin. [Curnow:] OK. And "Time" magazine did say when this was announced that they had put bad guys on the cover before, saying that Hitler had once been given the honor of being Man of the Year. So controversial choices sometimes. Alexandra Field in London, thank you. Being gay in Cuba no longer means an automatic prison sentence. The country is slowly becoming more adapting and accepting. And it's partly because of help from the daughter of the president. CNN's Will Ripley joins us live to tell us more. Hi, there, Will. You just came back from Cuba. You're in New York. Tell us about a story you filed and how you noticed these fascinating new changes. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. I spent two weeks in Cuba reporting, Robyn. And I really wanted to look into life for LGBT people in Cuba. Because remember, this is an island nation, where in the '60s and '70s, people who were gay were sent to labor reform camps and even as recently as 10 years ago if you publicly displayed any homosexual act, you could go to prison. However, lately, thanks in part to President Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, the country has been making a real push towards LGBT equality. But I spoke to some people who say the country still has a long way to go. [Ripley:] The show goes on at 2:00 am, Havana's drag queen cabaret, lip-synching six nights a week as cocktails flow and crowds grow. Cuba's underground gay scene slowly becoming mainstream, this new club the latest to openly cater to LGBT customers. "Now there's a boom. All the bars want to have drag queens," says Kitty Om, who began performing in secret 21 years ago. She takes us to a tiny dressing room packed with female impersonators. Some do drag full-time. "Ten years ago," she says, "we might have been scared to perform or even to meet in certain places." A decade ago, Cubans could still go to prison for public displays of homosexuality. In the 1960s and '70s, the Castro regime persecuted sexual minorities, sending some people to labor camps. Today, President Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela Castro, runs the National Center for Sex Education, Cuba's only state agency advocating for LGBT rights. Kitty Om says she's a health promoter, conveying the state- controlled safe sex message during her shows. But critics say the Cuban government overlooks a huge problem in the LGBT community. Sex workers catering to foreigners can earn more in a single night than a Cuban doctor makes in a month. Several men we spoke to say gay for pay is one of many issues ignored by Cuba's mainstream LGBT activists. Riko Pen Nunez says it's still complicated to be openly gay on the Communist-run island. "For example," he says, "if I walk down the street right now holding my partner's hand, it would not be taken well. People would stare, make comments." He says his family accepts him but all of his ex-boyfriends have left Cuba. He says those who stay are still forced to lead "una doble vida," a double life. "My dream is to get married, to have kids," he says, "to have the same rights as someone who's straight. But here, it's complicated." He dreams of equality and the end of homophobia that still permeates Cuban society, a dream even the most optimistic LGBT advocates say is likely decades away. It really has been a dramatic turnaround by the government, though, with the former president, Fidel Castro, actually expressing regret for the way that gay people were treated in the past, calling it, quote, "a great injustice" Robyn. [Curnow:] Yes, significant. I just want to you touched on it briefly in your piece there, prostitution. Why is it so prevalent? [Ripley:] Well, it really peaked during the economic crisis in Cuba back in the 1990s, when the Soviet Union imploded and a lot of financial assistance stopped. It was very, very difficult times in Cuba. And prostitution became in many ways a legitimate means of earning an income. On a single night, as the piece mentioned, a sex worker catering to men or to women can earn well more than what a Cuban doctor or a lawyer or any professional would earn in an entire month. And so what you have a very, very large sex business going on, both gay and straight. And even though the government is trying to, you know, somehow provide more inclusion and more equality for LGBT people, they're not touching on this prostitution angle in part because it's such a necessary form of income for a lot of people there. [Curnow:] OK. Very good point. Great piece. Important piece. Will Ripley in New York, thanks so much. Well, that does it for is here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow. I'll be back in just over an hour. In the meantime, "CONNECT THE WORLD" is next. END [Kristie Lu Stout:] No to a peace deal: Colombians vote against a plan to formally end a decade world with FARC rebels. Donald Trump's tax trouble. We look at how the Republican is playing down a New York Times report that shows a near billion dollar write off. And robbed at gunpoint: robbers in Paris steal jewelry worth millions of dollars from Kim Kardashian West. The Colombians are not sure what's next for the country as voters reject a peace deal between the government and FARC rebels. The deal ended more than 50 years of conflict and the decision has left the nation, as the president put it, without a plan B. And now the rebels and the government have to go back to the drawing board. And many of those who were against the deal say it didn't provide jail time for an armed group that committed murder and rape. It's estimated some 220,000 people were killed and as many as 5 million were displaced. And for just over half of those who voted, FARC's past crimes were just too much to forgive. Now, CNN's Sasha Darlington is in neighboring Brazil. She joins me now live from Rio. And, Shasta, this result was so shocking, It's been called Colombia's Brexit. I mean, what led to this outcome? [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] That's exactly right, Kristie. I mean, this comes as a complete surprise, even to those Colombians who voted against this peace deal, and that's because as in the Brexit vote that we saw in Europe, the polls ahead of the referendum had been showing the supporters of the peace deal really winning by a comfortable majority. After all, this was going to bring an end to a 52-year civil war, the longest running war in the Americas. In the end, again, everyone was taken by surprise. Colombians rejected the deal by this major razor thin margin, we're talking about 50.22 percent versus 49.78 percent, a few tens of thousands of votes. This is, of course, as you mentioned, because so many people just haven't gotten over the decades of violence that saw 220,000 people killed, some 5 million displaced. It's a major blow to the Colombian president, Juan Manuel Santos. This comes after almost six years of negotiations and just a week after this very high profile signing of the deal that was kind of assumed that it would go ahead. The deal was with Santos, with the FARC rebel leader who is known as Timochenko,. The UN secretary-general was there, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, and presidents from across the region. Now that it has been rejected, this is what we heard from President Santos. [Lu Stout:] OK, unfortunately we don't have that sound available, but just to figure out what's next. We have this no vote to this landmark peace deal, right. President Santos has made these remarks. This was a deal that took years to make. Is there still going to be a truce here? What's next for Colombia? [Darlington:] Basically, as President Santos himself said, there isn't a plan "b." However, both Santos and the FARC leader, Timochenko, said they are committed to peace, so the first step is Santos is sending his chief negotiator back to Havana, Cuba, where the original deal was hammered out, where Timochenko is standing by. The problem is, they had this whole timeline of events that were supposed to follow this vote with the rebels coming out of the jungle, trading in their arms, really beginning to get integrated into normal Colombian life. And, of course, the FARC creating a political presence. Well, the big question is, will they go ahead with that, it's very unlikely that the rebels will be handing over their weapons if Colombians just voted no against the peace deal. So they have to sit down and see if they can come up with terms that are more digestible to Colombians. The main stumbling block has been this provision that basically rebels won't see jail time, that they will so quickly get this fast tracked to a political presence, so what will they be willing to give up? They have been pretty defined on those points. We'll have to see going forward, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] All right. CNN's Shasta Darlington reporting on what's next after that shocking vote and result there in Colombia. Thank you, Shasta. Now a battle is under way in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz. The Taliban claimed that they launched an attack from four different directions. The Afghan military is defending the city and western forces are ready to help as this tweet shows on your screen, saying update U.S. enablers, including air power, are in position and prepared to assist in Kunduz as needed. Now, the Taliban captured Kunduz for a brief time last year. Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is following developments in Afghanistan from here in Hong Kong. He joins us now. And Ivan, I understand fighting is still underway. What's the latest? [Ivan Watson, Cnn International Correspondent:] That's right. The battle has been raging throughout the day since this predawn offensive, this coordinated offensive carried out by Taliban militants who have taken to publishing videos purportedly filmed of their militants in the streets of Kunduz. They've been distributing these videos to show some of the gains they've made into the city. Now, Afghan government officials told us, yes, they are, in fact, fighting back against the Taliban, against this offensive, fighting both on the ground and in the air, Kristie, using some of the new helicopters from this fleet of MD530 Cayuse Warrior helicopters that have been supplied over the course of the last year to the western-backed Afghan military. A spokesman for the Afghan police in Kunduz vowing to us by phone that Kunduz will not fall as it did just a little bit more than a year ago when the Taliban mounted a similar offensive on this strategic northern city Kristie. [Lu Stout:] That's right. This attack, it comes one year after the Taliban briefly captured Kunduz. So one year on, have they changed, are they now better able to launch attacks? [Watson:] Well, some of the arguments I've heard from at least one western official is that this time around the Afghan security forces are more prepared, whereas they were routed in the assault that took place a little bit more than a year ago. This time they are fighting back. But there are real concerns here, Kristie, that the civilian population will and is being caught in the middle. We've been getting eyewitness accounts of large numbers of people trying to flee the fighting in Kunduz. We're also getting and accounts from an Afghan lawmaker from that city who is monitoring the turmoil from Kabul and she's raising the alarm there are many people trapped inside between the warring factions that cannot escape, she says, because the exit routes have been cut off by the Taliban militants themselves and that raises a specter of people very much being caught in the middle not able to escape. We've been supplied a few photos showing the deserted streets, people terrified of setting foot outside of their homes for fear of being caught in the crossfire as this battle continues to rage, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] Many, many civilian lives are at stake here. So, this is yet another test for Afghan forces. Can they fend off the Taliban from Kunduz? Can they keep the city secure? [Watson:] Well, that's a big question here. And certainly when Kunduz fell, albeit for just a few days, almost exactly a year ago, that was seen as a big blow to the Afghan government, to the entire western project in Afghanistan to prop up this government, because it showed that the government couldn't hold on to a city. Now, in the statement where the Taliban claimed responsibility for this offensive, Kristie, they also claimed that they were encircling the capitals of two turbulent southern Afghan provinces, Uruzgan and Helmand Province, indicators of the advances they have made over the course of the last year. The U.S. military has told me that the Afghan security forces are suffering 20 percent more casualties at this time this year than they were suffering last year. And if this city falls again, it will be a blow not just to the Afghan government, Kristie, but also to the U.S., which has invested billions and billions of dollars in propping up the Afghan government, the Afghan security forces, and has invested U.S. lives on the ground, as well, in what has been without question the longest U.S. foreign war in American history Kristie. [Lu Stout:] Ivan Watson reporting there on the Taliban attack on Kunduz and the counteroffensive which are still under way. Thank you, Ivan. Now, in Syria, medical care is already something in desperate need and now violence has hit two locations: a hospital inside a cave in the Syrian city of Hamaa has been forced to close after being attacked. And in the past hour, a suicide bomber targeted the city causing injuries. In Aleppo, Syrian media report that troops control the area around the bombed al-Kindi hospital and now one of the largest rebel groups in the city says it will not surrender. Nic Robertson is in Istanbul. He's been monitoring the situation. He joins us now. And Nic, the Syrian army on Sunday issued that report saying that it would leave the eastern part of Aleppo, it would guarantee safe passage to rebel fighters and rebel fighters have responded to that. What are they saying? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Correspondent:] At the moment, the main rebel group, or the one that says it's the largest rebel group in that eastern rebel-controlled part of Aleppo, is saying, no, they are not going to put down their weapons, they're not going to buy into this offer from the Syrian government. We've been through this before. A month or so ago, the Syrian government, backed by the Russians, said that they would create humanitarian corridors in and out of the city that would allow the civilians to go out on a number of routes and the armed rebels to leave. Well, the rebels would put down their weapons, but they would be able to leave. Now, this seems to be a rehash of that again and they are saying absolutely not. The UN says the situation in Aleppo is utterly desperate in the rebel-controlled area. 275,000 people short of fuel, that means they can't cook bread, a staple, short of water, because the water pumping station that supplies has been damaged, short of electricity, as well. The government has made gains in the northern part of that rebel-controlled area around a hospital, called the al-Kindi hospital, that is strategically important for the government. It's also cost the rebels ammunition, military equipment in terms of defending that area, and that's equipment that they can't replace because they are now surrounded and cut off. So the UN says the situation there is deeply worrying, deeply troubling, and that the health care system in that eastern rebel-held area of Aleppo is close to collapse only one hospital functioning. And that in part, according to the UN and others, is because Syria, backed by the Russian air force, is targeting, or appears to be targeting, is hitting on multiple occasions, hospitals, sometimes the same hospital again and again, as we saw over the weekend, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] As the fighting rages on and the human suffering continues in Aleppo. Nic Robertson reporting for us. Thank you, Nic. Now, the UN's aid chief says that the violence in Syria has reached a level of savagery that no human should have to endure. So, you might be shocked to learn that the government has recently released a tourism video bizarrely set to the music from Game of Thrones. Becky Anderson has more. And a warning, you might find some of the images here graphic. [Becky Anderson, Cnn Correspondent:] A city in ruins. This is what we've come to associate with Aleppo. Entire city blocks destroyed. Graphic images of survivors of barrel bombs. The all too familiar images of Syria's second largest city after five years of civil war. But from Syria's tourism ministry, a totally different narrative of the city. This video appeared on its Facebook page showcasing the green boulevards, swimming pools and century old architecture of western Aleppo. All set to the familiar soundtrack of a popular American TV show. The regime controlled Western Aleppo is home to about 1.5 million. While life for the more than 250,000 living in the rebel-held east seems a world apart with devastation on almost every corner. It's a divide seen throughout many parts of Syria. This video was tweeted out by Sana showing another side of the same city which has been at the center of the country's civil war. Mocking the perception of Aleppo as one of the world's most dangerous cities. The disconnect between the horror on the ground and the rhetoric put forward by the Syrian government in supporters like Russia is so glaring that for some, it's becoming absurd. A sentiment perhaps best captured by U.S. secretary of state John Kerry. Expressing his frustration over the broken cease-fire deal at the U.N. general assembly. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] I listened to my colleague from Russia, and I sort of felt a little bit like they're sort of in a parallel universe here. [Anderson:] But it's not the first time the Syrian government has been accused of misrepresenting life in the war-torn country. This video from the tourism ministry showing the Mediterranean resort of Tartus, made headlines in August with its sleek productions and techno soundtrack. One of their latest videos shows a Christian festival in the city of Maaloula, recaptured from rebels just last year. Echoing the constant line that government-held Syria is a safe place for minorities. Damascus says it's not trying to lure foreign visitors with these glossy productions. Rather, they say they're targeting Syrian tourists. But for international onlookers, these scenes might seem tasteless from a regime accused of killing hundreds of thousands of its own citizens. But Syria remains a country of contrast, where lives for some citizens seem night and day from the reality for others. Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi. [Lu Stout:] You're watching News Stream. And still ahead, Donald Trump's campaign hits back against some leaked tax records. Why his camp says a multimillion dollar loss shows his business genius. Plus, a category 4 hurricane is barreling through the Caribbean. Our meteorologists, they are tracking this very dangerous storm and we'll tell you who is in its path. And one of the world's most famous reality stars robbed at gunpoint in Paris, where celebrities are gathered for fashion week. We'll have a live report later this hour. [John Berman, Cnn:] All Right. John Berman here all night long. We are covering the White House Correspondents' Dinner. Dinner in fact is over. Dessert has been served. The dishes cleared, the coffee gone. At this point, we are just waiting for the President to speak, also Larry Wilmore. We've been showing you video. We'll give you a little glimpse of that in just a minute. Meanwhile, we're joined by our panel here to discuss what we can expect. Liz, you know, comedy is your business. [Unidentified Male:] Well, yes, it is. [Berman:] Comedy is your business. You know, running the country is the president's business. [Lizz Winstead, "the Daily Show":] It's also my business. A lot of people don't know. [Berman:] Hang on. Let's take a look. The White House Correspondents' Association put together some clips of some funnier moments over the last few years with President Obama. Let's watch. [Matt Lauer, Nbc News Anchor:] Mr. President, you weren't so clear though on who was who. [Barack Obama, Unites States Of America President:] We cannot sustain oops. Was that my... To pull our economy oh, goodness. Sorry about that, guys. [Unidentified Male:] And it hasn't all been smooth talk. [Obama:] Let me be absolutely clear. Israel is a strong friend of Israel's. You're absolutely right that John McCain has not talked about my Muslim faith and you're absolutely right that is not some... [Unidentified Male:] Christian faith. [Obama:] My Christian faith. On this Memorial Day as our nation honors its unbroken line of fallen heroes and I see many of them in the audience here today. If you've got a business, you didn't build that. When they first told us what R-S-P-E-C-T respect meant to hear? I've now been in 57 states. I think one left to go. Unless there is a hardship exemption as they've done in Massachusetts. Eau Claire is a big important state. Thank you, Sicily. Sioux Falls. I've been in Iowa too long. I'm sorry. [Unidentified Male:] Every president has a verbal crutch. This one was obvious. [Obama:] So let me be clear, that. Let me be very clear. I just want to be clear. I want to be absolutely clear. Let me be clear. Let me just be clear. So let me be as clear as I can be. [Lauer:] Mr. President, you weren't so clear though on who was who. [Obama:] Well, Tim, I think that well, Tim, first of all... [Lauer:] You're saying Tim. I know it's Matt Lauer. But I believe me, I completely understand. [Obama:] Matt, I'm sorry. Good morning, Matt. [David Gregory, Nbc News Anchor:] It's David today. [Unidentified Male:] And then there was me. [Obama:] Garrett, I've you know, I haven't looked at the latest polling around the world. I don't know, Garrett. I haven't but I think it's fair to say that, no, Garrett. [Unidentified Male:] When even fashion choices are scrutinized including this one... [Jeanne Moos, Cnn National Correspondent:] Critics summed it up in two words, mom jeans, a sweet pair of mom jeans. Nice mom jeans, Obama. [Unidentified Male:] You can never quite get a break but you will always have the audacity of taupe. [Rep. Peter King, New York:] He should be addressing the country on such a serious matter, and he looked like he was on his way to a party at the Hamptons... [Unidentified Male:] And scrutiny knows no borders. From the broadcasters among us, Mr. President, assume the microphone is always on. [Obama:] The young lady seems like a perfectly nice person. She's getting her award. What is he doing up there? [Unidentified Male:] Why would he do that? [Obama:] He's a jack ass. This is my last election. [Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev, Fmr. Prime Minister Of Russia:] Yeah, I understand. [Obama:] After my election I have more flexibility. [Medvedev:] Yeah, I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir. [Unidentified Male:] Presidents play games and you, Mr. President, have game, even when you don't. If you have a way of shaking it off. [Berman:] All right. It was a video of President Obama doing many different things including dancing over the years to the president himself. Let's go back at the live pictures from the hall. I believe we're about to hear from president Obama. Let's see it. Here he is. [Obama:] Good evening everybody. It is an honor to be here at my last, and perhaps the last White House Correspondents' Dinner. You all look great. The end of the republic has never looked better. I do apologize. I know I was a little late tonight. I was running on CPT, which stands for jokes that white people should not make. It's a tip for you, Jeff. Anyway, here we are, my eighth and final appearance at this unique event. And I am excited. If this material works well, I'm going to use it at Goldman Sachs next year. Earn me some serious Tubmans. That's right. That's right. My brilliant and beautiful wife Michelle is here tonight. She looks so happy to be here. It's called practice. It's like learning to do three-minute planks, and she makes it look easy now. But, next year at this time, someone else will be standing here in this very spot and it's anyone's guess who she will be. But standing here I can't help but be reflective, a little sentimental. You know, eight years ago I said it was time to change the tone of our politics. In hindsight, I clearly should have been more specific. Eight years ago, I was a young man full of idealism and vigor. And look at me now, I am gray, grizzled, just counting down the days until my death panel. Hillary once questioned whether I'd be ready for a 3:00 a.m. phone call. No, I'm awake anyway, because I've got to go to the bathroom. I'm up. In fact, somebody recently said to me, "Mr. President, you are so yesterday. Justin Trudeau has completely replaced you. He is so handsome. He's so charming. He's the future." And I said, "Justin, just give it a rest." I resented that. But meanwhile, Michelle has not aged a day. The only away you can date her in photos is by looking at me. Take a look. Here we are in 2008. Here we are a few years later. And this one is from two weeks ago. So time passes. In just six short months, I will be officially a lame duck, which means Congress now will flat out reject my authority, and Republican leaders won't take my phone calls. And this is going to take some getting used to. It's really going to be it's a curveball. I don't know what to do with it. Of course, in fact, four months now congressional Republicans have been saying their things I cannot do in my final year. Unfortunately, this dinner was not one of them. But on everything else, it's another story. And you know who you are, Republicans. In fact, I think we've got Republican senators Tim Scott and Cory Gardner. They're in the house, which reminds me, security, bar the doors. Judge Merrick Garland come on out. We're going to do this right here, right now. It's like the Red Wedding. But it's not just Congress. Even some foreign leader, they've been looking ahead, anticipating my departure. Last week, Prince George showed up to our meeting in his bathrobe. That was a slap in the face. A clear breach of protocol. Although, while in England I did have lunch with her Majesty the Queen, took in a performance of Shakespeare, hit the links with David Cameron. Just in case anybody is still debating whether I'm black enough, I think that settles the debate. I won't lie. Look, this is a tough transition. It's hard. Key staff are now starting to leave the White House. Even reporters have left me. Savannah Guthrie, she has left the White House press cops to host the "Today" show. Nora O'Donnell left the briefing room to hospital "CBS This Morning". Jake Tapper left journalism to join CNN. But the prospect of leaving the White House is a mixed bag. You might have heard that someone jumped the White House fence last week, but I have to give Secret Service credit. They found Michelle, brought her back. She's safe back at home now. It's only nine more months, baby. Settle down. And yet somehow, despite all this, despite the churn, in my final year my approval ratings keep going up. The last time I was this high I was trying to decide on my major. And here's the thing, I haven't really done anything differently. So it's odd. Even my age can't explain the rising poll numbers. What has changed? Nobody can figure it out. Puzzling. Anyway, in this last year, I do have more appreciation for those who have been with me on this amazing ride. Like one of our finest public servants, Joe Biden. God bless him. I love that guy. I love Joe Biden. I really do. And I want to thank him for his friendship, for his counsel, for always giving it to me straight, for not shooting anybody in the face. Thank you, Joe. Also, I would be remiss. Let's give it up for our host, Larry Wilmore. Also known as one of the two black guys who's not Jon Stewart. You're the South African guy, right? I love him. I love Larry. And his parents are here, who are from Evanston, which is a great town. I also would like to acknowledge some of the award winning reporters that we have with us here tonight. Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber. That you all for everything that you've done. I'm just joking. As you know, "Spotlight" is a film, a movie about investigative journalists with the resources and the autonomy to chase down the truth and hold the powerful accountable. Best fantasy film since "Star Wars". Look, that was maybe a cheap shot. I understand the news business is tough these days. It keeps changing all the time. Every year at this dinner somebody makes a joke about Buzzfeed, for example, changing the media landscape. And every year "The Washington Post" laughs a little bit less hard. It's kind of a silence there. Especially at "The Washington Post" table. GOP Chairman Reince Priebus is here as well. Glad to see that you feel that you've earned a night off. Congratulations on all of your success, the Republican Party, the nomination process. It's all going great. Keep it up. Kendall Jenner is also here. And we had a chance to meet her backstage. She seems like a very nice young woman. I'm not exactly sure what she does, but I am told that my Twitter mentions are about to go through the roof. Helen Mirren is here tonight. I don't even have a joke here, I just think Helen Mirren is awesome. She's awesome. Sitting at the same table I see Mike Bloomberg. Mike, a combative, controversial New York billionaire is leading the GOP primary and it is not you. That has to sting a little bit. Although it's not an entirely fair comparison between you and the Donald. After all, Mike was a big city mayor. He knows policy in-depth. And he's actually worth the amount of money that he says he is. What an election season. For example, we've got the bright new face of the Democratic Party here tonight, Mr. Bernie Sanders. There he is. Bernie, you look like a million bucks. Or, to put in terms you'll understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27 each. A lot of folks have been surprised by the Bernie phenomenon, especially his appeal to young people. But not me. I get it. Just recently a young person came up to me and said she was sick of politicians standing in the way of her dreams. As if we were actually going to let Malia go to Burning Man this year. Was not going to happen. Bernie might have let her go. Not us. I am hurt though, Bernie, that you've been distancing yourself a little from me. I mean, that's just not something that you do to your comrade. Bernie's slogan has helped his campaign catch fire among young people. "Feel the Bern." "Feel the Bern." That's a good slogan. Hillary's slogan has not had the same effect. Let's see this. Look, I've said how much I admire Hillary's toughness, her smarts, her policy chops, her experience. You've got to admit it though, Hillary trying to appeal to young voters is a little bit like your relative who just signed up for Facebook. "Dear America, did you get my poke? Is it appearing on your wall? I'm not sure I'm using this right. Love, Aunt Hillary." It's not entirely persuasive. Meanwhile, on the Republican side, things are a little more, how shall we say this, a little more loose. Just look at the confusion over the invitations to tonight's dinner. Guests were asked to check whether they wanted steak or fish. But instead, a whole bunch of you wrote in Paul Ryan. That's not an option, people. Steak or fish. You may not like steak or fish, but that's your choice. Meanwhile, some candidates aren't polling high enough to qualify for their own joke tonight. The rules were well established ahead of time. And then there's Ted Cruz. Ted had a tough week. He went to end Indiana, Hoosier country. Stood on a basketball court and called the hoop a basketball ring. What else is in his lexicon? Baseball sticks. Football hats. But sure, I'm the foreign one. Well, let me conclude tonight on a more serious note. I want to thank the Washington press corps. I want to thank Carol for all that you do. You know, the free press is central to our democracy and, nah, I'm just kidding. You know I've got to talk about Trump. Come on. We weren't just going to stop there. Come on. Although I am a little hurt that he's not here tonight. We had so much fun the last time. And it is surprising. You've got a room full of reporters, celebrities, cameras, and he says no. Is this dinner too tacky for the Donald? What could he possibly be doing instead? Is he at home eating a Trump steak, tweeting out insults to Angela Merkel? What's he doing? The Republican establishment is incredulous that he is their most likely nominee. Incredulous. Shocking. They say Donald lacks the foreign policy experience to be president. But in fairness, he has spent years meeting with leaders from around the world, Ms. Sweden, Ms. Argentina, Ms. Azerbaijan. And there's one area where Donald's experience could be invaluable and that's closing Guantanamo because Trump knows a thing or two about running waterfront properties into the ground. All right, that's probably enough. I mean, I've got more material. No, no, no. I don't want to spend too much time on The Donald. Following your lead, I want to show some restraint, because I think we can all agree that from the start he's gotten the appropriate amount of coverage befitting the seriousness of his candidacy. I hope you all are proud of yourselves. The guy wanted to give his hotel business a boost and now we're praying that Cleveland makes it through July. Hmm. As for me, and Michelle, we've decided to stay in D.C. for a couple more years. Thank you. This way our youngest daughter can finish up high school. Michelle can stay closer to her plot of carrots. She's already making plans to see them every day. Take a look. But our decision has actually presented a bit of a dilemma because traditionally presidents don't stick around after they're done. And it's something that I've been brooding about a little bit. Take a look. [Unidentified Female:] The Obamas are staying in D.C. for two years after the president leaves office. [Chuck Todd, "meet The Press":] He's about to go from commander in chief to couch commander. [Obama:] [Beep] you, Chuck Todd. What am I going to do in D.C. for two years? [Joe Biden, Unted States Of America Vice President:] You've got a real dilemma, Mr. President. [Obama:] I can't golf every day, can I? [Biden:] Which do you like better? These, or these? [Obama:] Joe, they're the same. [Biden:] They capture different moods. [Obama:] Joe, I need some focus here. I'm sorry, what's that? [Biden:] I said, Mr. President, you have to be practical. And look, you can drive again. You're going to need a license. You love sports. Why don't you volunteer to work for one of the teams around here? [Obama:] Is this the Washington Wizards? I understand you're looking for some coaching help. Let's just say I coach my daughter's team a few times. Hello. Hello. [Unidentified Female:] 34. [Obama:] Finally. So I'm going to be in D.C. for a while, and I thought I'd take up driving again. [Unidentified Female:] What's the name? [Obama:] Barack Hussein Obama. [Unidentified Female:] Thanks. Yikes. Well, since you don't have a driver's license, you're going to need a birth certificate. [Obama:] Really? [Unidentified Female:] Really. [Obama:] It's real. [Unidentified Female:] Is it? [Obama:] It's real. [Unidentified Female:] But is it? [Obama:] Oh, Michelle left her phone. Let's see here. She's got Snapchat. Obamacare is great and it's really working. Sign up now. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Michelle Obama in hot water after posting this video earlier today. [Unidentified Male:] Obamacare is great and it's really working. Sign up now. [B. Obama:] No? [M. Obama:] No. [B. Obama:] Did you get a lot of views at least? [M. Obama:] Honey, enough, enough. Why don't you just talk to somebody who has been through this? I got to go to soul cycle. [B. Obama:] She's right. I know who I need to talk to. Hey, it's Barack. Listen, can we get together? Now, that is a great move. [John Boehner, Speaker Of The House:] Yeah. [B. Obama:] So, got any advice for me? [Boehner:] So now you want my advice? First, Snap sending me all of these lengthy requests. And second, here's the beauty of this whole thing. You've got all the time in the world to figure this out. You can just be you for a while. If you know how to do that again. [B. Obama:] So I can just be me. And I can wear my mom jeans in peace. I hate these tight jeans. [Boehner:] That's good. Yesterday, I had a beer at 11:30 in the morning. And you know, McDonald's now serves breakfast all day long. [B. Obama:] You know, Michelle is going to be in spin class, so she'll never know, right? [Boehner:] Let it go. And it won't be long, you'll be able to walk right out of the oval office singing " Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee- ay." And you'll have plenty of time to work on your tan. And you know what? I finally got the grand bargain on a sweet Chevy Tahoe. Look here. Look here. Yeah, you want on? [Blitzer:] On his 347th round of golf for the year and it's totally great. And, Gloria, not a problem for anybody. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] I can't think of a reason to care, Wolf. Believe me, I've tried. [B. Obama:] There you go. I am still waiting for all of you to respond to my invitation to connect to LinkedIn. But I know you have jobs to do, which is what really brings us here tonight. I know that there are times that we've had differences and that's inherent in our institutional roles. That is true of every president and his press corps. But we've always shared the same goal to root our public discourse in the truth, to open the doors of this democracy, to do whatever we can to make our country and our world more free and more just. And I've always appreciated the role that you have all played as equal partners in reaching these goals. Our free press is why we, once again, recognize the real journalists who uncover the horrifying scandal and brought some measure of justice for thousands of victims throughout the world. They are here with us tonight: Sacha Pfeiffer, Mike Rezendes, Walter Robinson, Matt Caroll and Ben Bradlee Jr. Please give them a big round of applause. A free press is why, once again, we honor Jason Rezaian, as Carol noted. Last time this year we spoke of Jason's courage as he endured the isolation of an Iranian prison. This year we see that courage in the flesh, and it's a living testament to the very idea of a free press, and a reminder of the rising level of danger and political intimidation and the physical threats faced by reporters overseas. And I can make this commitment that as long as I hold this office my administration will continue to fight for the release of American journalists held against their will. And we will not stop until we they see the same freedom as Jason had. At home and abroad journalists, like all of you, engage in the dogged pursuit of informing citizens and holding leaders accountable, and making our government of the people possible. And it's an enormous responsibility. And I realize it's an enormous challenge at a time when the economics of the business sometimes incentivizes speed over depth, and when controversy and conflict are what most immediately attract readers and viewers. The good news is there are so many of you that are pushing against those trends and as a citizen of this great democracy, I am grateful for that. For this is also a time around the world when some of the fundamental ideals of liberal democracies are under attack and when notions of objectively and of a free press, and of facts, and of evidence are trying to be undermined or in some cases ignored entirely. And in such a climate, it's not enough just to give people a megaphone. And that's why your power and your responsibility to dig and to question and to counter distortions and untruths is more important than even ever. Taking a stand on behalf of what is true does not require you shedding your objectivity. In fact, it is the essence of good journalism. It affirms the idea that the only way we can build consensus, the only way that we can move forward as a country, the only way we can help the world mend itself is by agreeing on a baseline of facts when it comes to the challenges that confront us all. So this night is a testament to all of you who have devoted your lives to that idea, who push to shine a light on the truth every single day. So, I want to close my final White House correspondents' dinner by just saying thank you. I'm very proud of what you've done. It has been an honor and a privilege to work side by side with you to strengthen our democracy. With that I just have two more words to say, "Obama out." [Blitzer:] All right. President Obama delivering his final address at his final White House correspondents' dinner. In some ways, it was like, you know, the end of the "The Godfather" movie, right, settling all the score, knocking off the heads of all the five families. He hit everyone in this speech. Starting with Hillary Clinton right out of the gate, Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, the media, CNN, went after each and every source he could. And came out strong, you know, Liz, your immediate take? We're about to hear from Larry. One more few words of your review. [Winstead:] I thought he was at 110 coming out of the box and then I just didn't I wasn't particularly I wouldn't put it up in his top. [Blitzer:] All right. We're now going to hear from Larry Wilmore, the host of "The Nightly Show," his job and never an easy one, following the president of the United States. [Larry Wilmore, Host Of The Nightly Show:] Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, thanks for keeping that applause going all the way, too, I appreciate that. Well, welcome to "Negro Night" here at the Washington Hilton, or as Fox News will report, "Two thugs disrupt elegant dinner in D.C." That's how they do us, right? Nice to be here, though, at the White House correspondents' dinner, or as you know they're gonna call it next year, "Donald Trump presents a luxurious evening paid for by Mexico." I'm very scared of that. But thank you so much. It's an absolute honor to be here tonight. I want to thank the president, the first lady, Carol Lee, and the White House Correspondents' Association for hiring me, and Mitch McConnell for not blocking my nomination. Seriously, you gotta give Mitch McConnell credit. At this point, he could block LeBron James. He's unbelievable. But to say a little bit about me, so, I am a black man who replaced a white man who pretended to be a TV newscaster. So, yeah, in that way Lester Holt and I have a lot in common. I know it's not too soon. And I have to admit it's not easy to follow the president, man. You got some jokes. Mr. President. The president's funny. Stay in your lane, man. You don't seem me going around president-ing all the time, right? I'll go around passing health care, and signing executive orders, pardoning turkeys, not closing Guantanamo. Oh wait, maybe I did do that. But I have to say, it's great, it looks like you're really enjoying your last year of the presidency. Saw you hanging out with NBA players like Steph Curry, Golden State Warriors. That was cool. That was cool, yeah. You know, it kinda makes sense, too, because both of you like raining down bombs on people from long distances, right? What? Am I wrong? What? Speaking of drones, how is Wolf Blitzer still on television? Ask a follow-up question. Hey, Wolf, I'm ready to project tonight's winner, anyone that isn't watching "The Situation Room." All right, fine, I like Wolf, but Vice President Joe Biden is here, nice to see you, vice president. That's great. I heard Joe's retiring, moving back to Delaware, which is good. He won't have to answer any more difficult questions like, "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?" But I have to say, about the first lady, it's so nice to have dinner with you. She is the epitome of grace, class and poise, isn't she? She really is. Not to be confused with future first gentleman Bill Clinton, whose three favorite strippers are named Grace, Class and Poise. Don't make that mistake. Don't make that mistake. It's the late show, Mr. President, I can do these jokes. And let me just say, Mr. President, the office has taken its toll on you. You look terrible, Mr. President. No, you do man. I mean look at you, your hair is so white, it tried to punch me at a Trump rally. President's hair is so white it keeps saying "All lives matter." All right, fine. Fine, I get it. I get it. No, but man, you came in here looking like Denzel. Now, you're going out looking like Grady from "Sanford and Son." I know it's a dated reference but you're dated, Mr. President. All I'm saying is that in less than eight years, Mr. President, you've busted two time-honored stereotypes. Black does crack, and apparently once you go black, it looks like we are going back. Thanks, Ben Carson. I gotta be careful picking on you, though, Mr. President. You know, couple years ago during this dinner, you were like killing Osama bin Laden. Remember that? Who you killing tonight? Can't be print journalism; that industry's been dead for awhile now, right? Sorry. I'm just kidding. Shout out to the print media. No, really, you have to shout, they're like all over 70 now. The followup was nice, wasn't it? Yeah. Oh, by the way, you guys, Black Lives Matter is here tonight. I'm just kidding. Relax, white people, they're not here. It's just a joke. Just relax, just relax. But I'm impressed with the people in this room. There are so many rich, powerful people in this room. You know, it's nice to finally match the names to the faces in the Panama Papers. It's very nice. Will Smith is here from the upcoming movie "Suicide Squad." Yeah. By the way, not to be confused with the new Jeb Bush documentary, "Suicide Watch." Groans are good. Groans are good. Anthony Anderson is here from the hit show "Black-ish", "Black-ish", yeah, which was also my nickname in high school, unfortunately. That's what they called you in Kenya, too, didn't they, Mr. President? C-SPAN, of course, is carrying tonight's dinner live, which is ironic because most of their viewers aren't. It's true, guys. C-SPAN is the number one network among people who died watching TV and no one's found them yet. No, but it is good to be on C-SPAN. Glad I'm not on your rival network, "No input, HDMI1." That was for me, that was for me. CNN is here tonight. I've been watching CNN a long time. Yep, used to watch it back when it was a news network, I did. What, is it all CNN here tonight? I don't know about you guys, but I can't get enough of that CNN countdown clock. Now we can see exactly when they hit zero in the ratings. And not to throw any shade, but Fox News is the highest-rated cable news channel among viewers who have no idea what "shade" means. [Anderson Cooper:] Good evening. We expected a fiery Republican debate tonight in South Carolina and got it and more. Welcome to special edition of "360." The voting starts in just a few short weeks in Iowa, and New Hampshire and then South Carolina. The chances for any candidate to make a big move or take an opponent down the peg or dwindling which made tonight in North Charleston, South Carolina a prime opportunity. Tonight, along with the political aid team, we'll look at which Republican took advantage of it and show you how it played with undecided Republicans and how it might play in the general election. We'll talk to the candidates, we're going to check the facts, all that and more, but first a look at the key moments from a very key evening. [Neil Cavuto, Gop Debate:] You were born in Canada to an American mother. So you were and are considered an American citizen. But that fellow next to you Donald Trump and others have said being born in Canada means you are not natural born, and that has raised questions about your eligibility. Do you want to try to close this topic once and for all tonight? [Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] Well, Neil, I'll glad we are focusing on the important topics of the evening. You know, back in September, my friend Donald said that he had had his lawyers look at this from every which way and there was no issue there. There was nothing to this birther issue. Now, since September, the constitution hasn't changed, but the poll numbers have. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] There are other attorneys that feel, are very, very fine, constitutional attorneys, that feel that because he was not born on the land, he cannot run for office. Here's the problem. We're running. We're running. He does great. I win, I choose him as my vice presidential candidate and the Democrats sue because I can't take him along for the ride. I don't like that, OK. The fact is and if for some reason he beats the rest of the field he beats the rest of the field into some see they don't like. They don't like that. No, they don't like that he beat the rest of the field because they want me. But and for some reason, Neil, he beats the rest of the field, I already know that Democrats are going to be bringing a sue. You have a big lawsuit over your head while you're running and if you become the nominee who the hell knows if you can even serve an office. So you could go out and get a declaratory judgment, let the court decide... [Marco Rubio, Presidential Candidate:] I hate to interrupt this episode of court T.V. but the real... [Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate:] I'm very happy to get a question this early on. I was going to ask you to wake me up when the time came. [Maria Bartiromo, Gop Debate Moderator:] Senator Cruz, the "New York Times" is reporting that you failed to properly disclose $1 million in loans from Goldman Sachs and Citibank. During your Senate race, your campaign says it was inadvertent. A million dollars is inadvertent? [Cruz:] Well, Maria, thank you for passing on that that hit piece on the front page of the New York Times. You know, the nice thing about the main stream media, they don't hide their views. The New York Times, a few weeks back, had a columnist who wrote a column saying, "Anybody but Cruz" and then actually another that same columnist wrote a column comparing me to an evil demonic spirit from the movie it follows that jumps apparently from body to body possessing people. So, you know, the "New York Times" and I don't exactly have the warmest of relationships. Now, in terms of their really stunning hit piece what they mentioned is when I was running for Senate, unlike Hillary Clinton, I don't have masses of money in the bank, hundreds of millions of dollars. When I was running for Senate just about every lobbyist, just about all of the establishments opposed me in the race in Texas. And my opponent in that race was worth over $200 million. He put a $25 million check up from his own pocket to fund that campaign. And my wife, Heidi, and I, we ended up investing everything we owned. We took a loan against our assets to invest it in that campaign to defend ourselves against those attacks. And the entire "New York Times" attack is that I disclosed that loan on one filing with the United States Senate that was a public filling but it was on a second filing with the FEC. Both of those fillings were public. And yes, I made a paperwork error disclosing it on one piece of paper instead of the other, but if that's the best hit, the New York Times has got, they better go back to the well. [Rubio:] Unfortunately, Governor Christie has endorsed many of the ideas that Barack Obama supports, whether its common core or gun control, or the appointment of Sonia Sotomayor or the donation he made to Planned Parenthood. Our next president and our Republican nominee cannot be someone who supports those positions. Governor? [Chris Christie, Presidential Candidate:] You know I am I stood on the stage and watched Marco and rather indignantly, look at Governor Bush and say, "Someone told you that because we're running for the same office that criticizing me, will get you to that office. It appears that the same someone is been whispering in old Marco's ear too. [Cooper:] Oh, there's a lot to talk about the candidates make their way to our microphone. Joining us is Chief Political Analyst, Gloria Borger, Chief National Corespondent John King, Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, also Political Commentator Ana Navarro, Jeffrey Lord, Amanda Carpenter, Kevin Madden. Ana is a Bush supporter, Rubio friend. Jeffrey is Trump supporter and former Reagan advisor. Amanda is a former Communication Director for Senator Cruz. And Kevin is a former top 2012 Mitt Romney advisor. Let's just get initial impressions of the debate. Nia? [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yeah, I thought Ted Cruz probably have the strongest night. He had the most applause lines and most laugh lines. Even when he was attacked, he, you know, he had attacked question, he would sort of laugh at first. And then, I think sort of go into. I thought a very, very confrontational exchanges with Donald Trump. I thought he put the citizenship issue to bed. I do think he had a bit of a tough go there when he was talking about New York values. And Trump came back at him in talking about 911. In some ways, I think, we now can see who the strongest candidates are. Donald Trump had a great night, up of his best debate night. Ted Cruz, also fantastic. I thought Christie was really great, and I think for Marco Rubio, we're starting to see the limits of Marco Rubio's candidacy. He is kind of the the kind of candidate, I think, who gives good lines in a debate but there's not much there, there. Oftentimes he sounds like he is delivering, just talking points. [Cooper:] It did feel on this for a moment, Ted Cruz had walked into that New York values, then we saw him clearly had something prepared to say in response to that invoking 911 in the spirit of New York. [John King, Cnn Anchor Inside Politics:] Cruz and Trump knew this was going to be their debate because of their tensions. And so, Trump was ready to play the 911 card about New York values very effective. You could tell Cruz's face at end of it, into the debate state, let it go, don't try to get... [Cooper:] He did not response. [King:] Just let it go. However, nationally, Cruz Trump got the better of Cruz in that thing. But the people of Iowa and South Carolina think a little differently. So, let's see how it plays to the states. We're going to have a conversation tonight about how it might have played in the national debate. What happens on the national state? So might play a little differently if you go state by state. So let's see how that goes. But clearly, look, they came few weeks ago, they were in a bromance. This last week they became frenemies. Tonight, I think they're enemies. And we know there will be enemies now until Iowa votes and we'll see what happens because they have the most stake as the two guys on top. I think the interesting that an under card who in the establishment Jeb doubt, you know, Jeb Bush tried to get in on the issue of strength, and both Christie and Rubio gave essentially the same answer but with more passion. And I think that's one of the things people are watching and most like. I'm not sure how that would shake out. And John Kasich seemed out of step throughout the night in many places, talking about jobs and everything. But if you talk and his people in New Hampshire, they said very happy, because they said that's what comes up in his town halls and he's trying to protect the only place where he's running decent and right now it's New Hampshire. So, again, we look at things and how they fit in the context of the debate. These guys are trying to play state by state chess and what they're what they're looking for might be a little bit differently than how we're scoring this. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] I think everybody sort of played to form. I mean, the fights that they had were the fights really we anticipated. The interesting thing to me in looking, as Neil was saying, in looking at Marco Rubio, it seemed to me an awful lot like every response was robotic or canned. And now that we're used to seeing Marco Rubio, you might want to see a little more spontaneity than you saw tonight. And I don't think that really plays well. I think Trump had his best debate. And I think this will be very good for Trump, if we look at the national... [Cooper:] Definitely more comfortable as a debater this time around. We're going to take a short break. Coming up next, Republican voters and more of our analyst saw this as well. Did anyone change their minds tonight or maybe you made a choice based on what they saw tonight? Gary Tuchman did a Grandal viewing party tonight, he joins us. Also Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe is going to join us. He was brought up, during this debate. He heard the comments that his former student Ted Cruz made about him. We'll talk to him about that. We'll be right back Well, before the break, Gloria said that Donald Trump had a good night on stage night in South Carolina. Extremely a lot of viewers no doubt agree. Here is one key moment for him. Take a look. [Trump:] There are other attorneys that feel, a very, very fine, constitutional attorneys, that feel that because he was not born on the land, he cannot run for office. Here's the problem, we're running, we're running, he does great. I win, I choose him as my vice presidential candidate and the Democrats sue because we can't take him along for the ride. I don't like that, OK? The fact is, and if for some reason he beats the rest of the field, he beats the rest of the field into some see they don't like that. They don't like that. No they don't like that. He beats the rest of the field because they want me. [Cooper:] Let's go back with our panel. And I'll start with you. How did you think the evening went? [Ana Navarro, Republican Strategies And Commentator:] You know, I may break into hives on national T.V. for saying this but I think that Donald Trump had a very good night tonight. I think it's the best debate he's had of all of them. I think I don't not agree with Nia, I don't think that Ted Cruz put an end to the eligibility and citizenship question. I think the question still lingers. I think Ted Cruz was good but I think he has a problem. Which is, this was a longer answer debate, it was 90 seconds and Ted Cruz totally misses the point of less is more, and feels he has to go up to the 90 seconds maybe to past it. And he just throw so much into an answer that it gets long-winded and convoluted and very hard to follow. You know, I did not see the kind of crossfire. I was dispensing from the three big dogs feeding out of the same bowl, Chris Christie, Jeb Bush and John Kasich. I think they went after some of the other folks on the stage a little bit more. And I think pretty much everybody frankly other than Ben Carson for whom I need a translator act in order understand what he is saying, had a pretty good night tonight. [Cooper:] Jeff. [Jeffrey Lord, Fr. Reagan W.h. Political Director:] Yeah, I think that Donald Trump did have a very good night. I mean you could just tell he was very passionate. [Navarro:] You're always saying Donald. You think that Donald Trump have a very good life. [Lord:] But he was passionate, very engaged. He was talking about trade which is a subject that he is familiar in, and this is in his will house as he says. So I thought he did very well. One of the things that I have to say surprised me is that Governor Christie said that he didn't support Justice Sotomayor. He did in fact, I just happen to written a column about this a week or so ago, and I found the headline in the New Jersey paper. What he said was, "She wouldn't have been his choice if he repent that President. But now that he heard the hearings he supported her". So he just, you know, was out there giving a deliberate, you know, representation of something that wasn't so. So I think that will catch up with him. And one other thing, I thought that Jeb Bush had a good line about Hillary when he talked about the FBI investigation. [Cooper:] White house to court house. [Lord:] White house to court house. And you saw the applause that came from there. And I think earlier in the week I saw our friend Van Jones on here saying there is an open revolt in the Democratic Party over Hillary. And I suspect that, you know, these things were tied in together and there is more to come in. [Cooper:] Amanda, do you think your former boss put to that the eligibility issue? [Amanda Carpenter, Fr. Communication Director For Sen. Ted Cruz:] You know, I think it was a good answer. It was a good mix of facts, sarcasm and humor. And he really did have to give a full fledged answer because that's been such a big deal. That isn't something that could go away with the pity quote. He tried upon Youtube response. These deserve some more time on the debate date. And he was very comfortable talking about it. I think there is an interesting debate style contrast which means Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, Cruz is very comfortable on stage even when... [Cooper:] And he was also using humor, I don't lose more than normal bed but really effectively about tonight. [Carpenter:] Yeah. He is very comfortable in his own skin, kind of owning the presence on the stage, whereas Rubio had some very good moments but he was almost too scripted and came up a little nervous. I kind to like the cadence because it seems like he knows his facts but when it's always like that, there's a sense of nervousness. [Cooper:] Kevin. [Kevin Madden, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I disagree with that respectfully. I think that Cruz made a strategic mistake in how he went about the broader issue. I don't think at all he has put it to rest. By bringing by talking about it in a legal way and trying bring in Donald Trump's own history with his with Donald Trump's mother. I think all that did was really prolongness. So I think a lot of the folks that are going to see this, the atomized version of this debate. It's going to be that exchange between those two candidates. And I think it's going to be on way that's simply prolong and Donald Trump is going to continue the use it, to try and draw Ted Cruz into distracting it off of his core message. It would have been better off if he just hit it and moved on and talked about the bigger issues that brought him to the top of the polls in Iowa like immigration, like national security. [Cooper:] We're going to talk more about this in a second. I do want to just got another quick break, and we also going to talk to Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe about the citizenship issue, and his perspective which Cruz talks about on the debate for tonight. We'll be right back. Welcome back. We've been talking about the Donald Trump-Ted Cruz does stuff over Cruz's Canadian birth. Here's a short portion of the exchanges. [Cruz:] Well, Neil, I'm glad we are focusing on the important topics of the evening. You know, back in September, my friend Donald said that he had his lawyers looked at this from every which way. And there was now issue there. There was nothing to this birther issue. Now, since September, the constitution hasn't changed but the poll numbers have. And I recognized, I recognized that Donald is dismayed that his poll numbers are falling in Iowa but the facts and the law here are really quite clear. [Trump:] You just saw the numbers yourself. NBC Wall Street Journal just came out with a poll headlined Trump way up, Cruz going down. I mean, so don't so you can't I didn't like the Wall Street Journal, didn't like NBC but I like the poll. And frankly, it just came out. And in Iowa now, as you know Ted, in the last three polls I'm beating you. So, you know, you shouldn't misrepresent how well you're doing with the polls. You don't have to say that. In fact, I was all for you until you started doing that because that's a misrepresentation, number one. Number two, this isn't me saying that I don't care. I think I'm going to win fair and square, and I have to win this way. Thank you. Laurence Tribe and numerous of Harvard said there is a serious question as to whether or not Ted can do this, OK? There are other attorneys that feel and very, very fine constitutional attorneys that feel that because he was not born on the land he cannot run for office. [Cruz:] Well, listen, I have spent my entire life defending the constitution before the U.S. Supreme Court and I'll tell you I'm not going to be taking legal advice from Donald Trump. [Trump:] You don't have to, take it from Laurence. You don't have to. [Cruz:] Well, I will tell you all. [Trump:] Just take it from your own professor. [Unidentified Male:] I got to you one thing... [Cruz:] If the chances of any litigation proceeding and succeeding on this are zero and, Mr. Trump... [Trump:] Wrong, that's wrong. [Cruz:] ... is very focus on Larry Tribe. Let me tell you who Larry Tribe is. He is a left wing judicial activist Harvard Law professor who was Al Gore's lawyer in Bush versus Gore. He is a major Hillary Clinton supporter and there's a reason why Hillary supporters are echoing Donald attacks on me. [Cooper:] Well before going, Professor Tribe is on the phone with us. Let's get some quick thoughts from our panel about this particular exchange. [Lord:] He doesn't answer the question because he can't answer the question. The fact to the matter is, there are people out there. We've talk about that a man on risk. There are people out there. We've talked about Congressman Alan Grayson who say they will in fact sue. So I mean... [Cooper:] But Anybody can sue but doesn't mean it has legitimacy. [Lord:] Right, right. I mean I what all Trump is saying here is that somebody will do it, and somebody will do it for sure. I don't think it's going to get anywhere. I'm no lawyer, no constitutional lawyer but I and I don't think it's been [inaudible]. I think he is a natural born citizen. But the question is, will this become a political liability in the case of, you know, headlines over a lawsuit and all of this kind of thing. That much, I think, is true. [Borger:] So look, I think Cruz is, you know, Cruz's point that the constitution hasn't changed but the polls have, it's exactly what it's what about and it's obvious to everybody who is watching this, you know, play out and it's working for Trump. [Navarro:] Here's the problem to that answer though. That, you know, Ted Cruz is right. The constitution did not change in the last six months but neither did Donald Trump and his New York values, who he was talking up to six months ago. [Borger:] Exactly. [Navarro:] ... posting for pictures and trying to be his BFF forever. [King:] This is a conversation Donald Trump wants to keep going for 17 more days to keep Ted Cruz's number down in Iowa. Even if Cruz wins, the Trump wants to be right behind him so he can say essentially it's a tie. And if Trump can't keep him down and passive and beat him, then Ted Cruz, you know, needs an Iowa win to that doesn't mean he is out race but an Iowan for Ted Cruz would get him off to the start he is looking for. This is not a six-month conversation or a six-year court challenge or, yes if Ted Cruz is the nominee, no question that Democrats will sue. We'll deal with that if we get there. For Donald Trump, the value of this 17. [Borger:] And he's a politician because this is exactly what a politician would do. And Donald Trump who says his not a political, there's a great political move for him in the short term. [Henderson:] Yeah, I mean if you look at those, the recent Des Moines register poll, 85 percent of likely caucus goers, or GOP caucus goers didn't think this was an issue, it didn't bother them. But 15 percent said, "Yeah, this didn't bother them". And if you think about other margins there in Iowa where, you know, it could be 100 votes. As it was last go round, I was with Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum this could work. I do think Ted Cruz was smart to kind of say, "Listen, if you really want to get into the weeds of the constitution, maybe Bobby Jindal himself even though he's not in his race anymore wouldn't be eligible either. Marco Rubio might not be eligible either. If you talk to some legal scholars about this and of course dragged Donald Trump into it as well. So, he kind of made it seem like, you know, it was sort of like a conspiracy theory. I was not [inaudible] so that was a smart move on his part. [King:] You can't do it in the Republican primary, you can't. But a better national argument would have been, you try this against Barack Obama and now you try it against me, Mr Trump. But you can't do that in Republican primary. [Unidentified Female:] Yeah. [Madden:] He's in disparate need of a more efficient answer on this and he has to get back to his core message. I know he said this earlier but, this is a critical time where we are in the closing argument stage where when folks get to the caucus, they want or they don't want to remember your last plea was, "Trust me, I'm eligible for the presidency". And don't pay any attention to that loan from the bank. So, he has to get back on message now. And I thought on the I actually thought on some of the issue on the bank issue, for example, he was more efficient than he had been in the past days and he did moved quickly to address it and move on. [Cooper:] And try to put it on Hillary Clinton is saying look... [Madden:] And he use it as exactly. He used it to draw a contrast with Barack Obama in a much more effective way. He's got to get more efficient in the [Unidentified Female:] What is it Yes, I don't know what the attention is... The answer to Marco Rubio gave on the citizenship [inaudible] question. [Cooper:] Yeah. I do want to bring in I want to bring in Professor Tribe who was a topic of conversation. Professor Tribe, thanks very much for joining us on the phone. I do want to read what your former law student, Cruz, said about you. He said your left wing judicial Activist Harvard Law Professor Al Gore's lawyer in Bush versus gore, and a major Hillary Clinton supporter. He didn't mention that you're also his former professor at the university, that he went to the Law School of Harvard. What did you make of being brought up in that way tonight and also do you think Cruz does need to answer? Does a court need to answer this eligibility issue? [Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law Professor:] Well, I think Cruz certainly needs to answer it. I agree with those of your guest who said they hasn't really put it to bed. If he did put it to bed he is certainly sleeping alone because real serious scholars think there's a serious question. It's just obvious. I think what's really interesting is that he is much more interested in kind of playing games, sticking daggers into people who are criticizing him, often untrue daggers. I mean, it turns out I'm not a Hillary Clinton supporter. I didn't endorse her in 2008. I didn't endorse her this year. But it makes a good talking point. But most of what he said is nonsense. I mean all of these examples about Rubio and Jindal are simply distractions. He said the constitution, you know, I think he said hasn't change since September of course not. But the question is how you interpret that document. It isn't a joke, it isn't funny, it matters a lot. Regardless of whether he is or he's not kicked off from ballot because of his birth outside the United States. I mean, his whole approach... [Laurence Tribe, Harvard Law School Professor:] But, the question of how you interpret that document, it isn't a joke. This is funny. It matters a lot. Regardless of whether he is or is not kicked off some ballot because of his birth outside the United States. I mean, his whole approach on issues where he likes the result of a very rigid view of the constitution is that it hasn't changed since 1788 not only in the last six months. It's a rigid document. It always means what it meant before. Well, in 1788, I assure you, natural born citizens did not mean simply citizens from the time of birth. All the laws he talks about since 1788 that have said you don't have to get naturalized if it turns out that you were a citizen at, you know, if your parents sometimes they required in these laws both parents other times they require just the father. You don't have to get naturalized. But they weren't talking about this odd phrase natural born citizen. [Tribe:] ... as whole in the constitution. We don't know quite what things... [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Well professor, you're essentially saying that there's two kinds of ways to interpret the constitution, one is as a living, breathing document that changes with time and can be interpreted. And you're saying, if you believe it to be that, then Cruz stands on pretty firm footing. [Tribe:] Right. [Cooper:] But, if you believe the original intent, if you believe it to be what the founders actually wrote, then he doesn't. Can you explain those interpretations? [Tribe:] You got it. You got it, Anderson. And the fact is I'm one of those people that Cruz has long criticized. When he says I'm a judicial activist, what he means is that I believe its meaning isn't static. Over time we come to new understandings, we have new experiences and the meaning changes somewhat. We have a constitution that is formerly been amended only 27 times, but it certainly means something very different in words like equality which is never been amended to include women but now we understand it does include women. The odd thing is that if you read the constitution the way Ted Cruz has always insisted on reading it in a way that it doesn't help gays, or women, or a reproductive freedom, then, and that's, you know, that's kind of the originalist view, then he loses and he loses the lawsuit, which could easily occur. I mean, if some secretary of state refuses to put his name on the ballot if he's the nominee there's no way out of it other than just have Cruz or that we have Republican National Committee sue the secretary of state. And that issue would then have to go all the way to the Supreme Court. But the fact is, you know, it's a serious cloud. It has to be taken seriously. It's not just a matter of coming up with great talking points or winning some debate. I think he does a disservice to the constitution and the country when he thinks he can slide his way, slip slide his way around this serious constitutional issue. [Cooper:] Professor Tribe, I appreciate you being on. I would have loved to have sat in your class when you were teaching Ted Cruz. You must have had fascinating discussion. [Tribe:] It was even more fascinating when I was teaching Barack Obama or John Roberts. But, we'll talk about that another day. [Cooper:] I would like to very much. Put cameras in your classroom and put them online. It will be great to watch. Professor Tribe, thank you so much. As we wait to hear from the candidates themselves, let's get some quick thoughts from our panel and also about Professor Tribe. Talk about because it is interesting, and perhaps that's one of the dilemmas that Cruz has in answering this that, I mean, his interpret the way he interprets the constitution by those by that way of interpreting it, it doesn't really back up what he is saying. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] The moral of the story, Anderson, is if you're running for the president of the United States don't tick off your old law professor. [Ana Navarro, Cnn Political Commentator:] This is isn't the last time... [Lord:] Because he will come on CNN and right and explain in some depth. I happen to be an originalist as they say. He is perfectly right in his analysis of this. So, to the political point at hand, what is Ted Cruz going to do? [Amanda Carpenter, Former Communications Director For Sen. Ted Cruz:] Well, I find it funny that Laurence Tribe now wants to be an originalist when it comes to the constitution when it comes to the question of Ted Cruz. [Cooper:] Well, he doesn't know. [Carpenter:] But, he's trying to switch around the box Cruz into saying something differently. Listen. The easiest answer to the question in my mind, I don't need the Supreme Court to tell me that the sky is blue and that this month is January, but now Donald Trump on Ted Cruz marching into the Supreme Court is settle this question, to most people agree that Ted Cruz is a natural born citizen. What I like about Cruz's answer during the debate was that he explained that Donald Trump's cookie conspiratorial view would not only disqualify, Ted Cruz that it's disqualified Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Marco Rubio. That is Donald Trump's view of the world. That is not in line with what we believe in American and not inline with the truth. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Congress could vote on this, right? Congress could vote and say... [Carpenter:] They could pass a resolution. [Borger:] ... that Cruz is a natural born citizen, right? Except that he doesn't have a lot of friends in the senate. [Carpenter:] They did that in the senate once John McCain... [Borger:] For John McCain. [Carpenter:] And it's a matter of whether we beat Hillary Clinton or not, I think he said the senate... [Borger:] So, John McCain is now raised questions about.... [Carpenter:] I think he's having some fun, right now. [Cooper:] Yeah. [Lord:] That's what we call the Irish Revenge fans. [Borger:] I think John McCain... [Lord:] That a revenge best served cold. [Ana Navarro, Cnn Political Commentator:] I remember that that the difference between John McCain and Ted Cruz is that John McCain was born in a U.S. territory. [Unidentified Male:] Right, U.S. military right. [Navarro:] From U.S. military base, Ted Cruz wasn't. So the issue the legal issues are different. I think Ted Cruz have got to stop talking about the legal issues and I think he has to say exactly what Marco Rubio said. Let's discuss who is more qualified to be commander-in-chief. If he becomes the nominee, we'll cross that bridge when we get there. [John King, Cnn Anchor, Inside Politics:] But, Trump is going to keep talking about it. He believes he's being effective. And look, this is what the lawyers say settle law. You know, there has never been a case and Ted Cruz wishes there had been a case. He wishes someone had denial today, he was just someone had taken John McCain to court. You know, or John McCain have gone to court himself because if you remember, at the beginning of the campaign, the man I know this person I do, they didn't take some steps where Cruz, you know, have said, "Oh, I am a Canadian citizen, well I am, I renounce that. [Navarro:] Yeah, that's right. [King:] You know, because they knew this was going to come out to some capacity. So, he can do that and they did do that. So, the clear of it so, nobody can say, he's a dual citizen or where are your loyalties, but he can't hold up a piece of paper and say the Supreme Court has said I'm fine because it doesn't exist. [Cooper:] Who do you think had the best night tonight? [King:] I don't think you can answer that question. It's not an open it's not a direct question like that because they all have different interests. [Cooper:] Right. [King:] I think Trump is a leader nationally and is someone who is way ahead in New Hampshire and at least in a tie or statistical tie or very close in Iowa had a perfectly fine night. He has not had great debates in the past. He's always had sort of flat debates and then dropped the bomb either right before or right after. He had a pretty good debate tonight. We can pick moments where he wasn't so great but it's a pretty strong debate. Cruz, I think ahead of, again, speaking to his audience had a good debate. The others, I disagree about Rubio and I think later when the debate after we came on the air, Rubio had a Cruz Rubio-Cruz did have a pretty feisty exchange. We'll see how that plays out. [Borger:] I'm going to revise and extend. [King:] With 11 or 12 candidates on the ballot and with some candidates needing Iowa badly, other candidates not so much in worry on New Hampshire, it's a difficult question to answer. I though I agree with this conversation earlier that a lot of, you know, if you look at the conservative conversation online, everybody is like, why is Ben Carson still in this race? [Navarro:] Yeah. [King:] However, he's got 9 percent or 10 percent in Iowa right now. They think about his answers. We need to go back to right and wrong. We need today our Christian values. He is talking to his people. He's not going to be the republican nominee, but if he can hold those people he is a factor in the race. [Cooper:] That he's been in our 8:00 hour, that 10 percent when Ben Carson, you know, when and if he drops out that's a big block that would could you should go to Trump or to Cruz. [Borger:] Cruz because of the evangelical support that, you know, and... [King:] They're very evangelical. [Borger:] ... where most of his supporter is not with Ted Cruz. Another interesting thing, which is I thought Jeb Bush had a pretty good night. [Lord:] Yes. [Borger:] But, it was almost as if it didn't matter, right? I mean, he had a pretty good night and he went on the attack when he needed to. He said, you know, this is a serious job on the issue of tariffs with China. I think he did a very good job taking on Donald Trump on that. I know that suppose to his area of expertise. [Cooper:] You know, speaking under Cruz and Rubio, there was another key moment where they clash over immigration among other things. Let's play that. [Marco Rubio, Presidential Candidate:] Ted Cruz used to say you supported doubling the number of green cards, now you say that you're against it. You used to support a 500 percent increase from the number of guess worker, now you say that you're against it. You use to support legalizing people that were here illegally, now you say you're against it. You use to say that you were in favor of birthright citizenship, now you say that you are against it. And by the way, not just on immigration. You used to support TPA, now you say you are against it. I saw you on the senate floor flip your vote on crop insurance because they told you it would help you in Iowa. And last week we all saw you flip your vote on ethanol in Iowa for the same reason. That is not consistent conservatism. That is political calculation. When I'm president I will work consistently every single day to keep this country safe, not call Edward Snowden as you did a great public servant. Edward Snowden is a trader. And if I am president and we get our hands on him, he is standing trial for treason. And one more point. Every single time that there has been a defense bill in the senate, three people team up to vote against it, Bernie Sanders, Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. [Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] I appreciate you dumping your oppo research folder on the debate. [Rubio:] No, it's your record. [Cruz:] But, I will say... [Rubio:] If you think they like each other? [Cruz:] At least half of the things Marco said are flat out false. They're absolutely false. So, let's start with immigration. Let's start with immigration and have a little bit of clarity. Marco stood with Chuck Schumer and Barack Obama on amnesty. I stood with Jeff Sessions and Steve King. Marco stood today standing on this stage, Marco supports legalization and citizenship for 12 million illegals. I opposed and oppose legalization and citizenship. And by the way, the attack he keeps throwing out on the military budget, Marco knows full well I voted for his amendment to increase military spending to $697 billion. What he said and he said in the last debate, it's simply not true. [Unidentified Male:] All right gentlemen... [Cruz:] And as president, I will rebuild the military and keep this country... [Unidentified Male:] All right, and we have to... [Cooper:] Oh, that was an exchange. [Borger:] So I take I revised and extend my remarks and because I think that this was the best moment for Marco Rubio. [Lord:] And it's an important... [King:] The consistent conservative is they're trying to get at Cruz. One of the conversations in the race is Rubio's doing fine in the maybe Rubio is doing fine or just as well as Bush, Kasich, Christie, et cetera. [Cooper:] Let's listen to Dr. Carson. [King:] Sure. [Ben Carson, Presidential Candidate:] I felt very, very comfortable with all the issues. I always want to have more time to go into depth, but, you know, you take what you can get. [Unidentified Female:] You were not asked to weigh in on one of the sort of most intense moments of the night, questions about whether Ted Cruz is eligible to be president. What do you think? [Carson:] Of course he is eligible. You know, he's he was born to an American mother and, you know, this happens constantly, hundreds if not thousands of times a day. I have a son who was born in Australia but he is an American citizen, natural born. [Unidentified Female:] So, do you think Donald Trump is barking up the wrong tree? What do you think the reason is that he is doing this? [Carson:] To raise doubt, of course. That will be the only reason. And he admitted it himself. He said, you know, Ted's numbers were getting better that's why he did it. [Unidentified Female:] And to be fair or to be actually clear, Ted Cruz is doing better in Iowa and it's a large part at your it hurts you because you have been going down in Iowa. He has been doing better but you still don't want to jump on the Trump band wagon on this? [Carson:] I don't see any reason to and if you have been observing carefully my numbers are certainly creep back up in Iowa and I think you're going to see them continue to do that over the next few weeks and everybody should be pretty surprise at the end of the result. [Unidentified Female:] On that issue, your finance director left today. What's the state of your campaign? [Carson:] State of the campaign is better than ever. It is absolutely spectacular. You know, he was not interested in creating further controversy. That was the reason for his departure. [Unidentified Female:] Spectacular when your poll numbers are dropping, what is so good... [Carson:] Well, they're actually on the way back up. Have you analyzed them lately? [Unidentified Female:] What do you think is the night with tonight's that will help you... [Carson:] I think it will help. [Unidentified Female:] How so? [Carson:] Because it continues to reinforce the fact that foreign policy is not a problem for me. And that's something that people worried about and that, you know, all the things that they are worried about, domestic terrorism, things like that the more people hear me the more they recognize that I know certainly as much as anybody else on this. [Unidentified Female:] If you don't continue... The evangelical support in Iowa right now, do you find is there any way for you to get in on that, to... [Carson:] Well, let me just... [Cooper:] You're hearing comments from Dr. Carson. I mean, it's interesting whether this is just spin or whether he actually believes it that the more people hear from him on foreign policy the better things it get. [Lord:] I think the first line that went through my mind was for "The Wizard Oz" pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. There's a problem here. [Navarro:] Yeah. [Lord:] He's not aggressive. [Kevin Madden, Republican Strategist:] I have never seen a candidate make more negative declarations against himself on an issue like Carson does on national security and foreign policy. At a time where national security and foreign policy is competing with the economy... [Cooper:] And you have no doubt that's behind his slide. [Madden:] It is. And look, I think he had some really good moments tonight. I don't think he had a bad debate. I think he had some strong moments that reinforced people's willingness to like him and relate to him but his number are not going to recover. [Cooper:] Because he then and you pointed this out I think when we were, I don't think if you're on error take commercial break that his likeability is still very high. It's just that... [Madden:] You haven't seen favorability or likeability decline, but his numbers of support, I don't I think he had a really hard problem getting over that final question that many voters ask themselves when they go through your presidential contest which is, can I picture this person in the Oval Office and I picture them as president. He never really overcame that some of the doubts that voters had about him. [Navarro:] I have to tell you, I don't get the Ben Carson thing at all. But, you know, he's just raised $23 million in this last quarter which was incredibly impressive while he is confusing Hamas and Hummus, while he saying the additional pyramids were grain silos, while we're all watching his campaign fall apart in front of our eyes and yet he is still there on the main debate stage when other that are much more seasons are not and he still raising $23 million and selling his book. [Lord:] He has a constituent. [Madden:] And that favorability at some point, he may not be a candidate in this race but he will be a force still as John pointed out. That 10 percent that he's going to hold is going to be a monolithic block that could go with another voter should he... [Navarro:] Yeah. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] He was just did Ted Cruz a big favor tonight, right when he said, listen, this is silly. He's a natural born citizen just like my son who is in Australia. So, I think, you know, we might see the beginning of a new bromance here. [King:] So, if you travel in small town America way before this campaign, way before this. You go into an evangelical church in small town America almost all of them have bookstores. You go into the church and if you go to church over here, there's a bookstore that's an education center and Dr. Carson's books have been front and center for years. They know him. They like him. They believe him and he was authentic. I think Kevin is just right. They have turned away form him because they don't think he is up to the commander-in-chief test. So that doesn't mean they don't like him, they don't respect him and they don't like him in debates saying, you know, today on Christian values and stand up for right and wrong and let's not stop being politically correct and let's get Washington out of our lives. They love that. [Borger:] But, after San Bernardino when you saw the issue of terror go up and up and up in both Democratic and Republican Parties, you saw the beginning, I think, of Carson's numbers starting to go down not because of anything he did, but because of this question you're talking about of the commander-in-chief. [Navarro:] He's also been off the trail for weeks at a time doing on a book tour. [Carpenter:] Yeah, which is right? [Navarro:] He's barely been in Iowa. [Carpenter:] And it had a very hard time staying relevant in the presidential race giving the other personalities getting the other people going into polls and going into this debate everyone was looking at Donald Trump versus Ted Cruz. Going out of it, I think the bigger conversation is going to be Ted Cruz versus Marco Rubio. And I think this is incredibly important because it so rooted in substance. That truckload of attack that Rubio dumped on Cruz was incredibly manipulative. I do not think it will look nearly it's good in the morning light tomorrow when people go through the fact checks than it did tonight. With that said, I like of reviewing their senate records just because they both have externally important records. There is vote, there is substance you can look at. And the senate has been such a great place to fight the Obama agenda with the extraordinary expansion of federal power. Really, it's the only place that someone can. You can't do that from a governor's mansion. And so I think there's going to be we're going to become experts on the senate. You know, Chris Christie will hate every minute of it and it will be good for everyone [Navarro:] Amanda you're so good because you're like the only person that would argue that, you know, emphasizing the fact that they are both rookie senators is actually... [Carpenter:] Yeah. [Navarro:] ... as opposed to being in the field of the state... [Cooper:] Our Gary Tuchman spend the night watching television watching people watch T.V. He's with about 120 Republicans that are watch party not far from the debate venue. I want to go to him. Gary, what did the people in the audience see and hear tonight? [Gary Tuchman, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, Anderson, this wasn't the scientific sampling but it was a large sampling in this movie theater. Normally Motion Pictures, but today politics. Hello, everybody. Did you enjoy the debate, first of all? There are a lot have gone home to go to bed because it's been a long time, but these are people who have stuck around and because this is a very important state. The first primary after New Hampshire on February 20th, Republican February 27th, the Democrats, we want to see how these people felt. A straw poll was taken and I was cut the folks about who won the debate. Not about who do you support but who you think won the debate. According to you, the people at the Cinnabar Theater in Charleston County, South Carolina in the first place with 38 votes was Donald Trump. In second place, 36 votes, Ted Cruz. Third place, 28 votes, Rubio, Marco Rubio. And then no one else came close according to this audience, Ben Carson, six votes, Jeb Bush, six votes, John Kasich, two votes and Chris Christie, despite a lot of applause launch from the live audience to short drive from here got zero votes from all 120 people in is this theater. Now, back here, you have some of the prudent Trump supporters who gave them the victory. What's interesting, this is the third time we have been to this theater. The first time we came here, two debates ago it was Ben Carson who got the most votes. The second time we came here, it was Ted Cruz and now Trump. What is your name? [Sherry:] Sherry. [Tuchman:] Sherry, you have a big thumb. [Sherry:] I know. [Tuchman:] Yeah, it's red and white, too. [Sherry:] Yeah. [Tuchman:] Why do you think Trump did a good job? [Sherry:] I think he just did great about laying it out about, you know, the unfair trade deals we're making and how we're losing jobs because of the tax rates. [Tuchman:] What do you think he have to do to impress some other people here who don't like Trump very much? [Sherry:] I think the price you just read up more. Maybe go to his website, donaldjtrump.com. [Tuchman:] Oh, advertising the website. Who supported Cruz here? These are the Cruz supporters. You may not have agreed with that? Real quick. Did Cruz did a good job? [Unidentified Male:] He did. He's dependable and he's credible and I believe everything he says. [Tuchman:] All right, well, you can see, these are loyal Republicans. That's the important thing. They like different candidates but they are all we ask before them, any of you support the Democrat to the presidential election? Oh, we got a person over there. Anyway, most of this people are very loyal Republican. Anderson, back to you. [Cooper:] Gary, did anybody change their mind over the course there's a bit about who they are supporting? [Tuchman:] Anderson is asking me right now has anybody changed their mind while they were here? The candidate you walked in is not the candidate you support today? Anybody change their mind? Yell if you change your mind. Nobody here changed their minds Anderson just cemented their views. [Cooper:] All right. Gary, thank you and please thank everyone for sticking around for us. We really do appreciate it. We are expecting to hear momentarily from Donald Trump himself. Our Dana Bash is we believe is going to be talking to him in just a moment. So this is obviously the time when the candidates now try to make their way into what's called the spin room. And I guess they do actually call the spin room. It's one of the most honest things in politics. Good luck where they go to tell how great they did during debate. I mean do you think at this stage there are a lot of people who still are ready to or able or willing to change their minds? [Borger:] Well I think in the Republican primaries now, you do have a group of undecided voters. And we've seen that in recent polling in Iowa. You have people who say they are uncommitted and I think that there are people who are changing their minds. The closer you get to a primary or caucus the more people focus on it. And so what you look at oops... [Cooper:] Let's just listen in. [Borger:] ... here we've got Dana. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Very good I thought it was a great night. I had a lot of fun. [Dana Bash, Cnn Correspondent:] You got very good you are getting pretty good reviews. Can you explain why you think this was a different night from the past? You've been getting good reviews. Can you explain why you think this felt different than in the past? [Trump:] Well I think we've had all good debates I mean I think every one of them was good that's why I'm leading, if i didn't have good debates I wouldn't be leading. But a lot of people said this was my best debate. And I don't know if it was or not but I felt very, very good. [Bash:] Let's talk about New York values. Do you think Ted Cruz explained what New York values were when he was asked about it? [Trump:] No I don't think he did and i think he insulted a tremendous number of people. And you can't insult New York is in front of me. I mean, you know, with what we all put up with the World Trade Center and that whole thing and the death and travesty of the World Trade Center and then to come back like we came back. I just don't think we should be hitting on New Yorkers and I think he realizes he made a mistake but we'll find out. [Bash:] On the birther issue he talked about your mother. When you heard him talk about your mother what was going through your mind? [Trump:] Well, I have a great mother. I had a great mother who born in Scotland. And but she had to be here and she was a citizen. So it's a very simple thing I was born in Queens, Jamaica, Queens. [Bash:] And when you hear him talking about the fact that he believes that this is not an issue and won't be an issue. [Trump:] Big issue. The reason it's a big issue and to me this is a bigger issue than his financial, you know, his million dollars, his financial dealings. This is a very big issue because even if there is a 5 percent chance or a 2 percent chance. And you've been seeing the same people as I have, you probably interview them we have many lawyers that feel that he can't run because of the fact that he was born in Canada. And was a Canadian citizen until 15 months ago. I mean he was Canadian citizen I don't know how you can be a Senator and a Canadian citizen. [Bash:] What is your strategy here? I mean you admitted that you didn't go there on this issue until he started doing better in the polls. Are you trying to just sow seeds of doubt? [Trump:] See you understand on the polls I'm doing much better that he is, and actually I'm beating him by a lot so I didn't think it was appropriate when he said he is like doing better. He is not doing better. And even the last Iowa polls. [Bash:] No,no,no, I just mean what you said in the debate. [Trump:] I thought that his answer was, you know, it was a false answer and everybody knew it in the room. And on top of that we just came out as you know NBC, Wall Street Journal just came out, the poll. And the headline is how well Trump is doing so he shouldn't be using false poll numbers, you know, I don't use them and he shouldn't be using them. [Bash:] But on the issue can I just follow up... [Unidentfied Female:] You always call yourself a counter puncher Ted Cruz really took the gloves off today are you going to be going after him harder now? [Trump:] That doesn't matter I think I did a good job tonight. I think everybody saying if you look at Drudge if you look Time Magazine, if you look at everyone of the online polls, I won the debate and won it easily. A lot of people think this was my best debate. I don't know. I really don't care. [Bash:] Can you explain the vice president comments? [Unidentfied Female:] You know what New York values are or do you think he was pondering... [Trump:] I don't know if he knows what New York values are. But I mentioned a couple of things. Number one, Fox is in New York. Fox tends to be on the conservative. And I mentioned the great name of William F. Buckley was a proud New Yorker. Plenty of conservatives in New York. And of course if you look at somebody that did little changes, Ronald Reagan was a Liberal person fairly Liberal and he became quite conservative. And, you know, people change but I thought it was inappropriate when he hit New York. [Bash:] Did you mean to offer him... [Trump:] I think a lot of people were upset with him today when he took that stance against New York when we went through such tragedy so recently with the World Trade. [Bash:] Did you mean to offer him the V.P. slot if you become the nominee? [Trump:] No not at all. I was just doing that as a joke. I said it is a joke but you couldn't do it, I mean look he has a serious problem. We'll find out what happens but he has a serious problem. I honestly think he should go for declaratory judgment. But his law professor is the one that says he's got the serious problem but beyond that and you have had him on your shows there are many, many lawyers, great constitutional lawyers that say he can't run for president. So look he's going to have to solve that problem. [Bash:] What is your angle here? Are you trying to associate doubt, is that what's happening? [Trump:] Bromance is over because he hit me. I don't hit him. I hit him after the fact and so I guess the bromance is over. I know there is no reason for him to go that aggressive but he started to talk about New York in a very negative way. And I thought it was inappropriate. [Unidentified Female:] Are you trying to sow the seeds of doubt in voters' lines? [Trump:] Well there is doubt. It's not a question of doubt and it is not a question of seeds. There is a doubt. And if it was a 1 percent chance and it is much more than that. But if there is a 1 percent chance you just can't run. He cannot solve the problem like him but you can't run. If there is a 1 percent chance and there is a lot more than that. OK. Well, right now I'm going to do "Morning Joe" and we are going to be at 6:30 in the morning and I am heading out to Iowa and then I am doing a nice rally in Iowa and then we're going the New Hampshire and we're all over. [Bash:] The Cruz campaign says that they have the winning ground game in Iowa. Why do you think you do? [Trump:] Well I have to see I mean let just wait to see. I mean in February 1 we are going to see what happens. Then new poll that came out yesterday is you know I am winning in Iowa. [Bash:] But do you think you can actually get the people to go to caucus if the different thing it is not easy there? [Trump:] I have the most people showing up. I mean I have the most people showing up I have I think by far the most spirit, and you see in this room. Everybody said I won this debate tonight and I want to handle it. [Bash:] Can I ask about you the audience? Your campaign manager thought that maybe the audience was stacked to get against you. It wasn't exactly a pro wasn't didn't sound like a pro Trump crowd. How did you feel being on the stage? [Trump:] It's totally pro. I thought they were great. The audience and I, thought it was fantastic. In South Carolina, I'm winning the polls by a tremendous amount. This has been a great state for me and I think... [Bash:] So you thought the audience was pro Trump? [Trump:] I think the audience was great tonight. [Off-mic] ... especially with the New York answer. I mean the audience gave me a standing ovation. What? [Unidentified Female:] Why do you think that people are going to caucus when they never have before? [Trump:] Well we are going to have to see. I mean we have great job. I'm spending a lot of time in Iowa and I have friends from Iowa. I think they are going to go out, I think they are going to caucus, I think we are going to do very well. [Unidentified Female:] February 2 if for somebody you do not do in Iowa. Are you going to have enough momentum or you can [inaudible]? [Trump:] I'm right to the end. [Bash:] How do you... [Trump:] Let's put it this way. I'm leading every national poll. I'm leading every state. Now including Iowa. In fact the real clear poll just came out. All the averages where I'm leading and I am sure if I wasn't you would tell me. So I'm leading every single state and I am leading every national poll. I think I'm going to do very well. We're going to find out. [Bash:] And you are the front runner, obviously. What do you what... [Trump:] And, by the way, you know what the key is? We're going to make America great again. That is the key. [Bash:] Can you tell me as the leader of the Republican party? [Cooper:] Donald Trump talking about his perception his view. Hey Dana, can you hear us? If you can, what did you make of what Trump says? [Bash:] Hey there. Hey, I hear you now, Anderson. [Cooper:] What would you make of what Trump said? [Bash:] He's a happy man, as you can see. If you can hear me, yes, I mean clearly he is a happy man, sort of surprised me that he thought that he had the audience with him because particularly on the exchange that he had with Ted Cruz on the issue of Cruz's citizenship. He didn't seem to have the audience. But you know, he's Donald Trump and he always when it comes to people being with him or without him. He always makes sure that people think that he's got support everywhere as we've seen. [Cooper:] Yeah. [Bash:] But, look, I mean, he's riding high. And that's the bottom line. And I think anybody who says that he is not a threat to the establishment and not a real potential winner in Iowa and New Hampshire and beyond they're in denial. [Cooper:] Yeah, Dana, standby. I want to bring in our panel. I think... [Carpenter:] It is to continue the birther discussion. You know, I thought it was interesting I caught in that conversation he kind to set offhandedly. I don't know how Ted Cruz is a U.S. senator. Well that news to me. I want to disqualify Cruz as senator as well I just wanted to qualify Marco Rubio as a senator. I mean this gets cookier and cookier as time goes on. [Navarro:] Marco Rubio unlike Ted Cruz did not have double citizenship. Remember that Ted Cruz di not renounce That's the point that he was trying to make. If he is good at anything, Donald Trump is that, you know, sowing the seeds of discord and planting questions. [Cooper:] Planting but barreling forward with it. No matter what. [Lord:] He plants the seed and keeps on going. Just never look back. That's exactly him. [Cooper:] Right. [King:] I mean he is he likes you as he plants the seed. [Navarro:] And he doesn't know he was bringing up... [Borger:] But you know, I think on the New York values point, it was such a clear win for Donald... [Lord:] Yes, right. [Cooper:] Yeah. Without a doubt. [Borger:] ... I mean Cruz is talking about, you know, in New York they're socially liberal, they're pro-abortion, they're pro-gay marriage, there focus is on money and the media. His wife works for Goldman Sachs, albeit out of Texas. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] All right, so we have some pictures for you. We're watching closely to see if we can see the woman of the week here, Hillary Rodham Clinton. This is her plane. The nose of her plane. Trying to see get a sneak peek of her. We have not seen her yet in Philadelphia. This is the first time she has arrived. And just a quick reminder she obviously is this is all for her so tomorrow night it's her big night when she speaks in prime time and it is her daughter who has been here. We've seen glimpses of her, especially as her dad spoke last night so lovingly about her mother. Chelsea Clinton will be introducing her tomorrow. So, I'm going to keep one eye on that plane and guys just get in my ear if we want to go back to that picture. [Baldwin:] But for now, shall we move on? Let's talk about Fox News host Bill O'Reilly who is being criticized after appearing to defend the living conditions of the slaves who built the White House. He was specifically responding to the first lady's speech Monday night here at the DNC where she said she wakes up every morning in a home that was built by slaves. And this is how Bill O'Reilly responded. [Bill O'reilly, Fox News:] Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So Michelle Obama is essentially correct inciting slaves and builders of the White House, but there were others working as well. [Baldwin:] Let's go there. Michael Smerconish is with me, CNN political commentator and anchor to "Smerconish" here on CNN. Also with us, Bakari Sellers, CNN commentator and former Democratic member of the South Carolina House. Bakari, let's call him out let's call him out. [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Commentator:] Well, I mean it's easy to just label this as being ignorant. It's easy to label this as being below what most journalists hold to be the bar. But I think it is deeper than that. I think it's the fact that many times African Americans in this country don't get their life valued. There is a question about human decency. There is a question about human dignity. And in that clip, Bill O'Reilly didn't display any of that. I think any it's not an appearance to defend slavery. What he did say was that slaves were well fed which is beyond the pale. And it is not as if he gave the appearance of anything. He was speaking in a way that was disrespectful to the legacy of many people who came to this country in shackles and actually were tormented, who died, were beaten. And if they had any other choice, no, Mr. O'Reilly, they wouldn't be there building the White House. They would be living free. And I think the fact that he can't understand that, that he can't wrap his head around those words of dignity and decency, I really have no use for him at all. [Baldwin:] Strong words from you. From you, just the politics of it all. The first lady's speech, you know, she's a tough one to criticize and yet are you surprised this came of it? [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor "smerconish":] No. I think if you put Bill O'Reilly, Fox News and the worth slavery in the same sentence, you've got a twitter sensation. It was awkward. I don't get the well fed reference. You know I think we've all become expert today in learning what kind of labor built the White House. I like the historian who said it was a mansion built in the south during slavery. Of course there was slave labor involved. I think awkwardly he was fact checking her and concluded that she was correct but I don't understand the fed basis for that reference because there seems to be no historical support for it. [Baldwin:] OK. Let's move on. I'm done with that. Let's talk about Mayor Michael Bloomberg who is speaking this evening. I think it goes I think it goes Biden, Bloomberg, Kaine, Obama. You're excited to hear from him, why? [Smerconish:] Are you not giving a shout out to my suspenders? [Baldwin:] Oh, my gosh! [Smerconish:] What's the deal. You put me on with Bakari. [Baldwin:] Shame on me, I take your jacket off. [Sellers:] You're officially you're officially the most handsome person [Baldwin:] I need a defender, sorry, I'm in the zone I'm in the zone baby. [Smerconish:] I upped my game because of Bakari sitting here next to me and like you're ignoring it. I am excited about Michael Bloomberg. [Baldwin:] Tell me why Mr. suspenders, tell me why. [Smerconish:] Because Gallup says 43% of Americans are Independents. They're not D's, and they're not R's, they're I's, I happen to be one of them. Now if you say OK, to whom does the independent community look for leadership? I don't know. It's a short list but he is on it. And I like this guy, I would have liked to have seen him get into this race. And I think that he's put on that stage, yes, because he's an A-lister who is endorsing Hillary Clinton, but also because you got the Gary Johnson factor out there. Johnson at 13% or so in the polls. And I think this is deliberate to make sure that movement doesn't go too far. [Baldwin:] It is white middle-aged men, many of whom in this country who do not have college degrees where Hillary Clinton is not doing well with. Maybe he can help pull that in. Maybe Tim Kaine tonight. You, you love you some President Obama. You're not shy about that. [Sellers:] I'm not shy about that at all, I mean we're two skinny guys with funny names right. So I think that Barack Obama is definitely in the White House right now, going through scribbling on that pad. [Baldwin:] He's probably ripping up part of it and re-writing [inaudible]. [Sellers:] after Donald Trump made those comments that showed that he wasn't prepared to be President of the United States. I think the President is going to have a lot of fun with this speech. I think the energy is going to be amazing. I think he's going to take us somewhere. But I also think that the President doesn't want to have the second-best speech in his house. Because Michelle Obama took it to another level. And if he doesn't come with his A-game, then Sasha and Malia are going to give him just pure trash over the next few days. So it's a really high bar. I'm excited for it. I think tonight's going to be a great night. I have a really low bar for your friend, Michael Bloomberg, so I think he can beat expectations. [Smerconish:] Did they want my salt shaker off the table? [Baldwin:] He may need your suspenders actually. [Sellers:] They need your suspenders tonight. [Smerconish:] They would look good on Michael Bloomberg, OK. They'd look good on you Bakari for your speech tomorrow night. [Sellers:] I might rock them. [Smerconish:] Think about it. [Sellers:] I might rock them. [Baldwin:] All right gentleman, we'll have a sartorial conversation at the commercial break. Bakari and Michael, thank you very much. Watch this guy, Saturdays 9am and 6pm. Thank you so much. Forgive me suspenders my goodness. Straight ahead though we have to be serious and talk about a very pivotal moment for the time then-Governor Tim Kaine, the massacre of the mass shooting in Blacksburg, Virginia at Virginia Tech. We'll talk with a father whose son was injured. He took four bullets during that shooting. He says Kaine was the first official to come to his son's bedside. That personal story coming up. You're watching CNN's special live coverage from Philadelphia. [Howell:] Welcome back to NEWSROOM. I'm George Howell. In the U.S., lawmakers in several southern states have recently debated bills that address the rights of gays, lesbians and transgender people. And one bill in the state of North Carolina has now become law. CNN's Nick Valencia looks at the major impact so far. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] It's Saturday in Raleigh, North Carolina and this is a midday drag show, a fundraiser for LGBT awareness. [Unidentified Male:] [Inaudible] on is Candis Cox. [Valencia:] Candis Cox is the woman of the hour. [Candis Cox, Transgender Woman:] But the most important thing for me, personally, is that every time I close my eyes and I say a prayer and I ask my God as a person of faith how he feels, he doesn't seen to have a problem with it and my parents have no problem with it and their opinion matters to me. [Valencia:] Cox is transgender. [Cox:] And Black trans women in North Carolina needs things that this in my back, though, not in my eye. [Valencia:] He says she's one of the tens of thousands of transgender people in North Carolina affected by the Public Facilities Privacy and Securities Act. It's a new state law that requires trans people to use the public restroom related to the gender on their birth certificate, not how they identify. [Cox:] This law affects us because it puts us in danger and it is open discrimination. It's no different than the Jim Crow laws that we had here in the south. [Adam Daniel, Candis Cox Husband:] [Inaudible] you look [inaudible]. [Valencia:] At home, Candis and her husband, Adam Daniel, say, now that she'll be required to use the men's room, they worry she'll be physically assaulted or worse. [Paul Stam, State House Republican Pro Temp:] I would say most of the attention is because the people do not understand what the bill actually does. [Valencia:] State House Republican Pro Temp Paul Stam is one of the bill sponsors. Stam says the law is not about limiting the protections of the LGBT community, but rather not giving them special rights. [Stam:] We have lots of accommodations in the bill for those in special circumstances, but we're trying to protect the reasonable expectations of privacy of 99.9 percent of our citizens who think when they're going into a restroom or changing room or locker room that they will be private. [Valencia:] And he is a boy. [Cox:] Yeah, [inaudible] junior counselor. [Valencia:] 19 surgeries, two trips to Thailand and more than $100,000 later, Cox is post-op transgender. Though her birth certificate says she's a man, she's with the trans community recall passable as a woman. But she says that doesn't make it any easier. [Cox:] We're all literally the same and we're all fighting for the same thing. We all just want to be accepted. And we want to know that we're not going to be discriminated against. [Valencia:] Nick Valencia, CNN, Raleigh, North Carolina. [Howell:] We now move onto Israel and the issue of medical marijuana. A family is using the controversial drug to treat their son's chronic health conditions and it's their last hope after other treatments fail to bring the toddler any relief. CNN's Oren Liebermann has this report for us. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] For two and a half-year-old Lavie Parush, moments of joy are all too brief. Diagnosed with severe epilepsy and cerebral palsy from birth leaving him with brain damage, he suffered seizures dozens a day. Now, they're nearly all gone, with just a few drops a day of medical marijuana, cannabis oil mixed into his food. [Asaf Parush, Lavie's Father:] We saw a difference immediately and then after a few weeks, we didn't see any seizures at all. [Liebermann:] Other medicines didn't work, his father says or worse, caused severe side effects. Lavie has now been on medical cannabis for a year and a half. This cannabis oil was developed in Northern Israel. The oil is high in CBD, the pharmacological ingredient in cannabis, and low in THC, the psychoactive ingredient of the drug that makes you high. There's little research on the effects of medical cannabis on babies, but Parush has all the results he needs. Lavie hasn't had a seizure in months. [Parush:] This is kind of when we feel that. [Liebermann:] He takes the CBD oil daily, and a second oil of THC only when Lavie is having a bad day. When you give Lavie a drop of THC, that's the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, it makes him high. [Parush:] In the beginning, we were pretty anxious about it, I guess, but then we thought, "Well, what are we seeing?" You know what I mean? We're seeing this kid that was before, he was in distress, and now he isn't. [Liebermann:] At home, Parush and his wife play with Lavie and his little sister, Gefen. The difference in development is stunning. She is 10 months old, a third of Lavie's age, and yet she can hold toys and play with their parents and so much more. This, Asaf Parush fears, will always be too much for Lavie. Instead, he just hopes one day to hear his son say, "Dad." Oren Liebermann, CNN, Northern Israel. [Howell:] We turn now to weather around the world, but in portions of the United States, it is a lot colder than it should be for April. Our meteorologist Karen Maginnis is at the World Weather Center. Karen, what's happening? [Karen Maginnis, Meteorologist:] Yeah, it is colder and it's snowier and it's blusterier, if you can have a word as that, but we've got a snowfall on the way stretching all the way from the Great Lakes into the Eastern Great Lakes and then finally across New England. We've got back to back storm systems, both are very fast moving, so it's high impact, short duration. And that's cold comfort, no pun intended, as you take a look at when it will be, right around 60 or 65 miles per hour, right around 100 to 110 kilometers per hour and we'll start to see the next wave of this move on in towards Monday. The snowfall is going to be fast and furious. There, you see in some of the coastal areas of Massachusetts and into Rhode Island in Connecticut, we're mostly seeing it as wet weather, but Western Massachusetts, the snowfall was already gone, also Washington, D.C. Dallas reported some snow flurries just about an hour or so ago. Well, there was the first wave, we've got another one right behind of the clipper system that actually develops and deepens as we go into the next 48 hours, and those temperatures are going to reflect the cold air that's going to be in place. Take a look at New York City, not until midweek where we expect those temperatures to start to creep back up again, but it will be the wind. It will be the blustery conditions, we are looking at snowfall totals, maybe in Boston, four to eight inches certainly possible. Take a look at this video coming out of China and it's a combination of speed, poor visibility, as well as the slippery roads. There were 56 vehicles involved in this deadly crash that claimed the lives of two people and sends about 30 people to the hospital. Take a look at this again. Just suppose to show you that on those slick roads, you never can be too careful. This happened in the past 24 hours, two fatalities associated with that. And then New York, I mentioned this for two reasons because of this broad area that we'll watch for tropical development. But also in the past hour, there was a report of an earthquake, 6.9 magnitude, about 20 miles deep, but, George, no tsunami warnings have been issued. That is no tsunami warnings issued for the basin. [Howell:] And that is important to make a point out. Karen, thank you so much. We'll stay in touch with you to continue following that as well. Next here on CNN NEWSROOM, hear what Donald Trump's thought about running for president more than 10 years ago. That's right, more than 10 years ago. Stay with us. [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, again. You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with us. I'm Ana Cabrera, in for Poppy Harlow. And we begin with yet another bombshell in the scandal surrounding comedian Bill Cosby. Including revelations of affairs with young women, that he admits to drug use, pay off in return for silence. All of this coming straight from Cosby himself. It's including in a 2005 deposition that was first obtained by "The New York Times" and later by CNN, and it stems from a civil lawsuit filed by one of his accusers, Andrea Constand. Now Constand is one of dozens of women who have now publicly accused Cosby of sexual assault over the past several decades. She eventually settled in this case. CNN has reached out to Cosby's publicist who said at this time they have no comment. CNN's Jean Casarez has been going through this deposition, is joining me here now with more. Jean, it's 1,000 pages long. What are you learning? [Jean Casarez, Cnn Legal Correspondent:] That's right. [Cabrera:] Pull out the most important stuff for us. [Casarez:] Well, you know, we're still looking because there's so much here but I think the headline is that he admits in 2005 as to five at least five women having consensual contact involving drugs and women. But I think one thing that might be surprising to some, maybe not, but he readily admits it, that he was so very scared of his wife in all of this. We've got something we want to show you from the deposition. He said and this is the attorney for the accuser at that point. "So it would be OK with you if the story was printed in any newspaper other than the "National Enquirer" so long as it wasn't a tabloid? No, Cosby says. "You didn't want that story to come out at all? Isn't that correct?" Exactly, Cosby says. "And why didn't you want that story to come out?" "I didn't want Mrs. Cosby to know about it and I didn't want it to I didn't want more embarrassment than had already hit." He also admits in this that he never went the entire way with women. That he believes sexual intercourse was concerning because somebody could fall in love with him. He didn't want that. It was sexual games, it was playfulness, but he does admit that he paid the women in certain ways. And he was very apparently intent on how to do it so once again his wife wouldn't find out. Let's look at this. He says, "Describe cash payments for school sent surreptitiously so Mrs. Cosby would not know about them. And when the check was written to, you sent cash to, then there was a check that came from William Morris? Did you then send a check to William Morris? Yes. And did that come from your personal account or from the business? That's from my personal account. So was the purpose of that to disguise yes. I have to finish my question. Was that to disguise that you were paying the money to yes. And the reason you were doing was preventing who are you preventing from knowing that? Mrs. Cosby." And so, Ana, he says that he thought Mrs. Cosby wouldn't know and this is in regard to Andrea Constand also, that if he would pay for school, he was helping someone. That's what Bill Cosby has been all about. [Cabrera:] He was a wonderful man in that way. Right. [Casarez:] Helping people, mentoring people. And he also admits that that's how he would find the women that he wanted to have sex with, by mentoring them and acting like he cared a lot more than he admits in here that he really did. [Cabrera:] Again, he was under oath in this deposition and he says some things that are extremely disturbing. But he doesn't actually admit to rape or even sexual assault in any way? [Casarez:] No crimes at all. And I guess the defense would say he answered the questions with specificity. He answered the question. He didn't lie. He told the honest truth, no matter how bad it was for him. [Cabrera:] All right. Jean, stay with me. I want to bring in criminal defense attorney, also our HLN legal analyst Joey Jackson. Also joining us criminologist, behavioral analyst and CNN contributor Casey Jordan. Joey, to you first. How damaging is it for Cosby to have this new information out now? [Joey Jackson, Hln Legal Analyst:] Well, it's entirely compellingly damaging. If there are any other adjectives certainly I could use I'd say those two, Ana. But there's two courts, of course, as we know. There's the court of public opinion and then there's that other court where you actually air cases and they are heard in front of judges and juries. And so as it relates to the court of public opinion, I believe this further fuels what everybody believes now or is being led to believe by Cosby himself and that is he was taking advantage of people who look up to him. And I think it's further troubling in the court of public opinion because of the disparate really positions you're in. Whenever you have someone, whether it's a mentor-mentee relationship, a student-teacher relationship, it's not equal. And so certainly you look up to people and you certainly as a result of that want and believe that they are well meaning and then you further introduce the issue of drugs, Quaaludes, that have been introduced to the process and it's damming as to how he could even do this or contemplate doing it. And then, Ana, of course, there's the other court we discussed which is the actual judicial court with judges and juries. And I just think, based upon statute of limitations issues, from a civil perspective, that is suits that relate to money damages or from a criminal perspective that is holding him accountable and being prosecuted and, you know, really affecting his liberty, I think those statute of limitations, to the extent that they're gone, he's largely immune at this point from prosecution. Last point, Ana, and that is of course we know that there's a pending defamation claim and that's joined by three different women. We know that there is, of course, the other claim by Miss Huff in California. But even still with the defamation claims, I think I'm doubtful as to whether they would succeed for a variety of reasons. Defamation really is to affect your reputation. Did it impair your reputation? I think we could all agree that the person with the reputation problem is him. People now, Ana, are largely believing that the victims who came out, their stories have a lot of merit. [Cabrera:] Right. Right. And, Casey, last hour I spoke to Cosby accuser Barbara Bowman. And I want you to read her quote for how she described Cosby, calling him a classic narcissistic psychopath behavior and what this deposition she says revealed. What do you think? [Casey Jordan, Cnn Contributor:] Yes, I would agree. And if you read the information from the deposition and it is over 1,000 pages but even the snippets that have been pulled out by the "New York Times" are jaw-dropping. He it isn't even that he's owning it, he's just jocular and dismissive and unapologetic. As you read it, you go, how could he be so clueless? This is a little bit beyond he said-she said. He's admitting he got Quaaludes and gave them to women like he would buy them a drink. This was just a normal thing for him to drug women, doesn't don't all men do that? He bragged that he's really good at reading body language. And if it wasn't consensual, of course he would know. These women didn't seem to be leaving his room upset or anything like that. So it's the cluelessness of which he almost owns everything, without denying it. He never admits to rape because, in his mind, it's not. [Cabrera:] So you think he believes what he's saying? [Jordan:] That is the most fascinating part of it. It's almost like she's self-inculcated his in this very, very kind of misogynous, women are just these mindless sheep that need me, they need mentoring, this idea that when Miss Constand complained, she told her mother, her mother confronted Cosby and said she doesn't want to talk to you and I can't believe you would do that to a young woman. He was like, well, I think if I paid for her college, everything would be OK. And then he started sending her checks. And the interesting thing is, he paid her personally. And when he was asked, what if your wife found out that you were sending checks to this young lady to pay for her tuition, he said, well, I would just say, I'm helping her. [Cabrera:] I'm helping somebody. [Jordan:] I'm helping her out. [Cabrera:] Right. [Jordan:] So the idea that you have sex with somebody, they complained and then you pay them off, to him it's just par for the course. [Cabrera:] Jean, does this new information, the deposition, open any legal doors? [Casarez:] Well, this is sworn testimony, under oath. It was 10 years ago so it's a ways away. But in all the civil cases, I'm sure that the attorneys for the victims are going to want to get this in because they're statements against his interest. [Cabrera:] Right. [Casarez:] Right? Against him. And as far as a criminal case, we know there's one investigation ongoing in Los Angeles. We don't know if there'll be criminal charges. [Cabrera:] Right. [Casarez:] That would be huge, of course. But of course, the prosecutors are reading the thousand pages right now. You can imagine. [Cabrera:] Right. Joey, that criminal case that Jean just mentioned, in California, apparently it has allegations connected to 2008. In an incident this woman, Chloe Goins, says happened to her at the Playboy mansion. Does this deposition help her case in a criminal court of law? [Jackson:] Well, here's the issue. In the event that cases brought forth and potentially it could be very helpful because now you're into the area of his prior conduct which could be admitted in court, Ana, under theories of common plan of scheme, intent, purpose, motivation. The question really about that case, however, is whether it gets to court. Why? Because apparently the allegations concern August 9th, 2008. Cosby's people, number one, say he was never in California at the Playboy mansion, at any party at that time. And number two, there's the question as to whether it's time barred in light of the six-year statute of limitations that exist in California. Apparently she went to the police in January 2015, which it would have exceeded that time and so we'll see whether or not there is some other exclusion as to how or if the police and the prosecution would like to move forward on that matter if there's enough evidence to do so. [Cabrera:] All right. Joey Jackson, Casey Jordan, Jean Casarez, our thanks to all of you. And still ahead, a slightly rare scene caught on camera. A shark attacking a surfer. And you'll hear from this surfer who kicked and punched his way to safety. Plus a shark expert will weigh in on the best ways to survive such an attack. That's next. [Keilar:] This week's horrifying attack in Ataturk airport in Istanbul is being traced back to a troubled part of the world not always associated with ISIS. The three suicide bombers are said to be from Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and a section of Russian known as Dagestan. Dagestan in the Russia's northern caucus region. It drew attention more recently after the Boston bombings because Tsarnaev brothers briefly lived there. And that is where the alleged mastermind of the Istanbul attack is from, a militant nicknamed Akhmed on-armed. Joining me now to talk more about this, an ISIS'presence in Turkey is James Jeffrey. He is a former U.S. ambassador to Iraq and Turkey. He is now a visiting fellow at the Washington institute. And Ambassador, is there anything about this region specifically that makes it a hot bed for terror or place where ISIS is recruiting some of it's really some of its most vicious soldiers? [James Jeffrey, Former U.s. Ambassador To Iraq And Turkey:] Yes. Well, first of all, under Stalin and Soviet Union, these Islamic areas of the Soviet Union were under constant oppression. The Germans tried to recruit during World War II from these areas. And subsequently, we have seen in Crimea and other areas and not to speak about the war in Chechnya in the 1990s and then again a decade ago, Moscow has cracked down repeatedly on these areas but it really hasn't been able to calm them. It relies on local strong men. There's a very strong Islamic flavor there. There is influence from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere. So it is another breeding ground for terror as we have seen. And there are a lot of recruits who are active with ISIS and Syria right now from that region. [Keilar:] ISIS recruits. It's frequent that we hear about them coming in and out of Syria or Iraq. A lot of them passing through Turkish airports. Recently you had Turkey stepping up the airport monitoring. Do you think this attack was retribution for that? [Jeffrey:] It certainly is. Turkey have crosses like some agreed to a very expanded U.S. operations here and some special forces out of Turkey in to Syria and particular against ISIS. And Turkey itself has partially closed the border to ISIS. Turkey has been involves in artillery duels with ISIS along the southern border. So it's a much more active Turkish role against ISIS. Turkey has other fish to fry. Kurdish PKK insurgence and the Assad regime. So its attention has not been fully on ISIS. That's going to change after Istanbul. [Keilar:] It's interesting, you know, some people in Foreign Service, the Foreign Service community will say that Turkey sort of talks out of both sides of its mouth a little bit. It allows the border to be porous so that ISIS fighters have gone over and taken on Assad. And yet at the same time these allows U.S.-led airstrikes to come out of Turkey. How do you think this attack on the airport is going to change how they treat the border? [Jeffrey:] They will try to tighten up the border. The problem, Brianna, is that Turkey is absolutely committed or has been to the struggle against the Assad regime for all kinds of religious, regional and geopolitical reasons. And the people who are fighting Assad come from all over the Middle East and all over the Muslim world and they don't carry I.D. fighters. I'm an ISIS fighter. I'm an al-Nusra Al Qaeda fighter. I'm with Islam or one of the other groups. They basically look like scruffy young men passing across the border. And it is very hard to determine who is going to support which group. And if Turkey cuts it to all groups, then the fight against Assad will end almost immediately. That's the conundrum Turkey is in. [Keilar:] So they may nominally tighten the border. But we are talking about a 500 mile border. And as one person described to me, it sort of like Nebraska. This is something that without these physical barriers, it's pretty much impossible to really tighten up. [Jeffrey:] Well, I know the border well. I have traveled along it. And right now the U.S. and Kurdish Syrian allies are about to cut off much of it at a place called [Keilar:] Yes. And when I said Nebraska, I meant to make that clear, that it is the landscape. It really It is not particularly mountainous as a physical obstacle to transport across the border. Former ambassador James Jeffrey, thank you so much. [Jeffrey:] Thank you. [Keilar:] And coming up, dangerous amounts of algae. It's so thick it's being compared to guacamole. It's blanketing Florida beaches. It's causing a state of emergency. We have CNN's Jennifer Gray live. [Jennifer Gray, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, Briana. This is unbelievable. Look at it. It's very thick goop. And it's in all the rivers and canals in this part of the state. It is a huge problem and residents are furious. They want answers. Of course we'll have a full report coming up after the break. [Costello:] No surprise here. Classes are canceled today at Villanova after a night of celebrating one of the most thrilling finishes in the history of the NCAA tourney. Andy Scholes was there. Aren't you exhausted? [Scholes:] Oh, I am beyond exhausted, Carol, but I'll tell you what. You know, I've been to a lot of sporting events. I've been to a lot of basketball games. I've never seen a finish as exciting as we got to see last night. It was just incredible at the end of that game. The emotions. Let's take a look at how it all went on. You know, Michael Jordan was on hand cheering on his Tar Heels in this game. They were down three with under 10 seconds to go when senior Marcus Page hit an incredible job to tie the game. But there were four seconds left on the clock and Villanova would get the ball off the court and Kris Jenkins would hit the game winner at the buzzer. First three-pointer to win a game ever in the championship game. It's going go down as one of the best shots we've seen in the history of college basketball. Villanova stuns North Carolina, 77-74. Their first championship since 1985. And I caught up with the hero of the game moments after that legendary shot. Tell me about what was going through your head when that ball came out of your hands? [Kris Jenkins, Villanova Forward:] You know, every time I catch to shoot, I'm fortunate enough to get a shot off. I think they're all going in. So when Ryan Arcidiacano found me on that side, that side was no different, I went two steps and let it go. [Scholes:] What are you thinking right now? Do you believe what just happened? [Jenkins:] I want to be Charles Barkley. All of those guys up there picked against us. So I just want to say hello. [Scholes:] As was the scene on campus of Villanova when Jenkins hit that shot. Everyone went into a frenzy, jumping up and down, throwing their drinks in the air. And, Carol, that party will continue later today. They're going welcome the team back to campus at 5:00 p.m. for a nice celebration. And I'll tell you what, Carol. You know, Kris Jenkins has such a great story. We've been talking about all week. He was actually playing against his adopted brother in this game, Nate Britt, who plays for the Tar Heels. [John Berman, Cnn:] All right. Breaking news in the Russia investigation tops the hour about what Jared Kushner told Congressional investigators, what he may have neglected to mention and where that could leave him. This leaves us with plenty to get to, starting with CNN's Evan Perez. Evan, what are you learning? [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, John, Jared Kushner told Congressional investigators that he didn't communicate with WikiLeaks and didn't recall anyone in the Trump campaign who did. And we now know from disclosures this week that Donald Trump Jr. sent an e-mail to Kushner and others in the campaign last year to pass on information that he learned from WikiLeaks. And Kushner then forwarded that e- mail to Hope Hicks, one of the closest aides to then-candidate Trump and now the Communications Director at the White House. Now, what this latest revelation does is that it turns up the heat on Kushner to go back to Capitol Hill for more interviews and perhaps to explain himself. We heard yesterday from the leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee who sent a public letter to Kushner's lawyer saying that Kushner had failed turn over documents that they know exist. And that includes information about WikiLeaks. The letter said that others had provided documents showing, "September 2016 e-mail communications to Mr. Kushner concerning WikiLeaks, which Mr. Kushner then forwarded to another campaign official", John. [Berman:] Donald Trump Jr. communicated with WikiLeaks. Donald Trump Jr. e-mails Jared Kushner, told him that he was communicating with WikiLeaks. [Perez:] Right. [Berman:] Jared Kushner forwarded that e-mail on. And Jared Kushner testified he did not recall whether or not anyone in the campaign had communicated with WikiLeaks. So what is the Kushner camp saying about this tonight? [Perez:] Well, Abbe Lowell, Kushner's attorney calls this "classic gotcha question." He says in part of the statement, "In over six hours of voluntary testimony, Mr. Kushner answered all questions put to him and demonstrated that there had been no collusion between the campaign and Russia." And Lowell, by the way, also disputes the Judiciary Committee's letter accusing Kushner of not turning over documents. And he also says that the Judiciary Committee should ask other Congressional committees for the transcripts of Kushner's interviews with those committees and that they should ask the White House for documents that exist after Donald Trump was inaugurated. Because they say Kushner has no authorizations to release those documents, John. [Berman:] All right. Evan Perez, thank you so much. So, now that the other shoe has dropped, some perspective is like a giant hiking boot or is it a ballet slipper in what might come next. Joining us, Maggie Haberman, Ed Martin, Bakari Sellers, Alice Stewart, Philip Bump, and Jeffery Toobin. Jeffrey, I want you to go first to you, how big of a problem? [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Chief Legal Analyst:] You know, can we just say that Donald Trump Jr. And Jared Kushner have become the poster children for the evils of nepotism? I mean, you know, the problems that they have gotten themselves into by being, at best forgetful and if not outright lying are really astonishing this early in the administration. I mean, yes, Jared Kushner can say for the 17th time, I forgot, I didn't get around to it. I didn't remember this e-mail. I didn't remember to fill out the form accurately. And it may yet be true. It's very hard to prove that someone who says I didn't remember or I forgot or I didn't get to it is lying. But it is getting ridiculous how many times Jared Kushner has to revise what he said under oath. [Berman:] Maggie Haberman, who by the way has worn her voice out reporting so hard, she can barely speak anymore. [Maggie Haberman, Cnn Political Analyst:] You speak for me. [Berman:] I want you to clarify. [Haberman:] Yes, you will. [Unidentified Male:] Please, God, no. [Berman:] I want you to clarify one point here. In Trump world, back in the campaign, it was sort extend in the White House. When you forward an e-mail to Hope Hicks, is it just forwarding that e-mail to Hope Hicks or is there some expectation that she shows it to someone else like, say, then-candidate Trump or President Trump? [Haberman:] No look, I don't want to speak completely speculatively about this, because we don't know. But typically speaking, things would get forwarded to Hope Hicks and she would show them at minimum to a supervisor. She would show them to Cory Lewandowski. She would show them to Paul Manafort when he was there and took over. She would show them to Donald Trump, who she traveled with almost constantly. I think that we are reaching a point of this. And I think this is going to be very difficult for a lot of people. But it certainly has been difficult for Jared Kushner where over and over again the explanation is either that they forgot or this didn't go any further. It's not how it worked. It was a very small campaign. It was a very small campaign. And there were a small group of people who were talking to each other all the time. And that's why when you have seen people throughout try to silo themselves off. And yes, I know my voice sounds great. It's been difficult, I think, for people to process when we watched how this campaign functioned. [Berman:] So, Ed, it is now your chance to speak for yourself [Ed Martin, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. [Berman:] here. Are we to believe, you know, do you believe the explanation that Jared Kushner got this e-mail forwarded to Hope Hicks yet had no recollection of it? [Martin:] Yes, look, I mean, if you've never run a big campaign, I've only run my own campaign and a few others. You don't know the intensity, the scrutiny and all that. I think it's completely normal for people that aren't political, they were not politicians, they weren't campaign types to be doing things in ways that look now, especially when you have a special counsel like, oh my gosh, how could you say you forgot? I mean, I think it actually is completely understandable. And frankly, for I think the American people, you look up and you say you're asking all about the Russians, I mean, Sessions' joke makes people laugh. I mean, I read in normal America. [Toobin:] It makes people at the federal society laugh. [Martin:] No, it makes people laugh generally, trust me. [Toobin:] Oh, you think that it was a real knee slapper, wasn't it? [Martin:] Yes, I think so too. [Bakari Sellers, Cnn Political Commentator:] The biggest problem with Ed's excuse, in many excuses, is that the Trump campaign started from a zero-sum game. And they said, we didn't have any contact with the Russians at all. And we found out they did. And then they say, oh, we didn't have any collusion although we may have spoken to the Russians. It was on the sidelines, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then we find out that maybe they were sliding in our DMs asking you about what was going on. And then we find out that maybe [Martin:] That wasn't the Russians, no it wasn't. I mean, I was [Sellers:] WikiLeaks is not the Russians? [Martin:] No, it's not the Russians. [Sellers:] You're dying on that hill. And so then we have meetings [Martin:] No. [Sellers:] we have meetings about adoptions. And then we realize that maybe it's not about adoptions, maybe it's about dirt on Hillary Clinton. And so there are a lot of hills for Ed and many others to die on. However, the fact remains that Martha Stewart, and I keep going back to this, because I advice my client on this on a daily basis, Martha Stewart, did not go to jail for insider trading. Martha Stewart went to jail on a 1001 violation, which is lying to federal investigators. That is what the hill that excuse me, that Donald Trump and his and many of his people are going down right now. [Alice Stewart, Cnn Political Commentator:] I'll say, I agree with Ed. I've been on very, very small presidential campaigns where you're dealing with a small close-knit group of people. Everyone is doing the job of 12 people and you're getting 100 and 100 and 100 of e-mails every day, and I could completely see where Jared would have gotten an e-mail and not remembered it, and but forwarding it on. But the difference is, this isn't an e-mail about how many yard signs should be getting to more in Iowa. This is about Russia. This is about WikiLeaks. And this would have been something that he would have remembered. And I think to Bakari's point, what's going forward may not be whether or not he misremembered this on whether he may not have forward it on. But what he says and truthfully moving forward, that's going to catch up a lot these people. [Berman:] Phil. [Philip Bump, The Washington Post:] Yes, I know. I mean, I think that's the last point's key. I mean, this isn't John Smith in debut could, well, you know, has a comment. This is WikiLeaks. I mean, the Trump campaign was talking about WikiLeaks constantly. This was, you know, this was in September. This was after all the leaks were the DNC leaks were already out after the convention. So this is something that was clearly brought to their attention. And not only that, but this is Jared Kushner being asked about this, this year after we already know that these things were all problematic. And he should have been prepared to answer questions and known. [Berman:] After he's already lawyered up. [Bump:] Exactly. [Berman:] After he's already [Bump:] That's exactly right. [Berman:] his own memory and his own documentation of what happened. This is answer he still gave. Jeffrey Toobin, back when we were reading Abbe Lowell's response for Jared Kushner, I saw you nodding. It didn't seem like you were buying what Abbe Lowell is selling. [Toobin:] Well, Abbe Lowell has had a very busy week, you know, he represented Robert Menendez and won a great victory, which, you know, was a hung jury, but certainly a victory for the defense. But, he, you know, what can he say? I mean, the only thing he can say is, well, we did our best and, you know, we'll go back and we'll do it again. And, you know, we we're not he wasn't lying, he was just trying his best and he may have forgotten something. And, you know, perhaps it's true. But and it's very hard to disprove when someone says they don't remember, which is why Richard Nixon said on the White House tapes, advising his cronies, you can always say you don't remember. But, you know, it doesn't mean they can't remember. It might mean they're lying. [Berman:] Well, I remember. We need to take a break right now or somebody get in big trouble. Guys, thank you very, very much. Next, I'm going to speak to General Michael Hayden, former NSA and CIA about how several roads in the Russia probe seem to lead back to Jared Kushner or at least through Jared Kushner. And later, President Trump's conspicuous silence on the sexual misconduct allegations against Roy Moore while calling out Democratic Senator Al Franken for his issues. [Blitzer:] Welcome back to the Republican National Convention here in Cleveland. The mayor of Cleveland, a Democrat, Frank Jackson, is speaking right now. Interesting that he has decided to welcome all these Republicans to his beautiful city. The Republican governor of Ohio has decided he is not going to be attending this convention. That's caused quite a bit of stir among Republican circles. But this is the Democratic mayor of Cleveland who's speaking right now. Hillary Clinton's e-mail controversy, the Benghazi killings, will almost certainly be major lines of attack during this Republican convention. So, how will the Democrats respond? What else will they be doing this week? Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the chair of the Democratic National Committee. She happens to be here in Cleveland with me right now. [Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, , California & Chair, Democratic National Committee:] Just a coincidence. [Blitzer:] You're supposed to be in Philadelphia getting ready for the Democratic convention, but you and a whole team from the DNC have come here to make Hillary Clinton's case. [Schultz:] Yes. The Democratic National Committee and Hillary for America have come for this entire week to the Republican National Convention to make the case that everything you'll hear on this stage, the American people know that we are better than this, better than the divisive, unqualified, unprepared, racist, bigoted Donald Trump throughout this campaign. And we're going to focus on making sure that we can draw that contrast leading into our convention next week. [Blitzer:] And the Republicans, the RNC will be well represented, in Philadelphia next week. [Schultz:] I'm quite sure. [Blitzer:] This is a relatively recent tradition over the years. Democrats show up, like you, your team [Schultz:] I went in 2012 as well. [Blitzer:] Yeah, and the Republicans will be in Philadelphia next week. So, how are you going to respond? Because we're going to be hearing tonight a lot about Benghazi, Hillary Clinton's failures, Hillary Clinton's failures in Libya, Hillary Clinton's failures with her private e-mail server. Those are going to be major themes, there's no doubt about that. [Schultz:] Well, what there's no doubt about, as I said, is that Donald Trump is the most divisive, bigoted, unprepared, unqualified major party candidate that has ever run and needs to get nowhere near the White House. And that's the contrast that we're going to draw. Whatever is said on this stage tonight and through this week, Donald Trump can't run away from his horrific personal and business record. [Blitzer:] Hillary Clinton's, you know, numbers as far as honesty and trustworthiness, they're not very good either. [Schultz:] Donald Trump has been bankrupted several times, has abandoned employees, has discriminated against his own employees, has caused thousands of students from Trump University to face economic hardship by his fraudulent university. The list goes on and on of Donald Trump and how he's cheated everyone he's ever dealt with. [Blitzer:] Presumably, Benghazi, the e-mails, Libya, other failures of Hillary Clinton will be major themes this week in Cleveland. What will the major themes going against Donald Trump in Philadelphia at the Democratic convention next week? [Schultz:] Well, we're certainly going to outline why Hillary Clinton is the most qualified and prepared candidate for president of the United States that we've had, and that she's going to continue to help us move forward and help the middle class and build on the economic progress we've made, but that will be a stark contrast to the divisiveness, to Donald Trump, who has said throughout this campaign that he would ban an preventing Muslims from coming into the country. He began his campaign, Wolf, if you remember, by declaring Mexicans rapists and drug dealers. He said that he would consider developing a database to register Muslims. I mean, this is a man who has really no concept of what American democracy or any concept of the constitution and fairness. [Blitzer:] Bernie Sanders has come aboard. He's endorsed Hillary Clinton. [Schultz:] Yes. [Blitzer:] He says he's going to campaign for her. He wants to make sure that Donald Trump is not the next president of the United States, but a lot of the supporters are not yet on board. They have no great love, many of them say, for Hillary Clinton. Some of them saying they're going to vote for a third-party candidate or they're not going to vote at all. [Schultz:] Well, I think the overwhelming majority of our supporters of both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are cong together. We were thrilled to have Senator Sanders join us endorsing Hillary Clinton last week. His supporters are already being incorporated into our campaign as organizers and as neighborhood team leaders and field staff. And we are a united party. We'll be united, unlike where here in Cleveland you have the governor, and for example, none of my south Florida Republican colleagues are here. I'm actually the only federal official from Florida here in Cleveland at the Republican National Convention because my three colleagues had no interest in being anywhere near this convention or associating themselves with Donald Trump's toxic brand. [Blitzer:] A lot of Republicans have decided they didn't want to attend, including Governor Kasich. [Schultz:] That's right. And both former presidents and Republican nominees from recent times. [Blitzer:] We'll look forward to Philadelphia next week, as well. [Schultz:] Thank you. Thank you. [Blitzer:] Debbie Wasserman Schultz, thank you for joining us. [Schultz:] My pleasure. [Blitzer:] We'll show live pictures. Anti-Trump protesters here in Cleveland marching towards the convention center. Our reporter is in the crowd. We'll go there next and update you on that and more when we come back. [Banfield:] Beautiful Florida newlywed allegedly hires a hitman to kill her husband. But what she doesn`t know is that the so-called hitman is a cop. And when she`s caught in the middle of the sting, she pretends to break down in tears after she`s told about the deed being done- like, he`s dead, all of it caught on video. I want you to watch this. And keep your eyes, as well, on the other officers who are there because they`re all trying to play along on the sting. [Unidentified Male:] Is your husband Michael? OK, I`m sory to tell you, ma`am, he`s been killed. [Dippolito:] Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! [Unidentified Male:] He`s been killed, ma`am. [Dippolito:] Oh! Oh! Oh, no! [Unidentified Male:] Try to calm down. [Dippolito:] No! Oh! Oh! Oh! [Unidentified Male:] Just calm down. I need you to [Dippolito:] Oh! Oh! Oh! [Unidentified Male:] Is there anyone [Dippolito:] Oh! Oh! Oh-! [Unidentified Male:] Witnesses say they saw a black male runing for here. I can`t let you see him, ma`am. Ma`am, I cannot do this right now. [Dippolito:] Oh! Oh! [Unidentified Male:] I need you to take her to the station. [Banfield:] I`d feel so bad for her, if, in fact, that were true. But here`s the deal. Did you see those guys, the guys behind the cop that gave her the news going, like- [Dippolito:] Oh, my God! [Unidentified Male:] He`s alive. [Dippolito:] Come here, please. Come here. Mike, come here! Come here, please! Come here! Why not? [Banfield:] That is never good. Ms. Dippolito was convicted of this crime back in 2011. But all of that got reversed on appeal because of a technicality, and now that case is back in court, heading for a retrial. But the key video that you`re watching, this one right here, "Oh, I`m so upset," Dippolito reacting to the fake news that her husband`s dead. He`s alive. That is not something that the jury is going to be allowed to hear. How do you feel about that? Dalia Dippolito`s her attorney has some opinions on that, Brian Claypool. He`s live with me. And Mason Brodie also has some feelings. He`s Dalia`s ex-husband`s, Michael Dippolito`s, attorney. Hello to both you. And thank you for being here. Brian, I`m going to start with you. It`s hard, I`m not going to lie, it is really hard watching that video. And I think it`s hard for me to think about you because that is a real uphill climb, knowing that that video exists. But there`s so much more, as well. How do you defend her? [Brian Claypool, Attorney For Dalia Dippolito:] First of all, Ashleigh, don`t judge a book by its cover. When I first saw the video, I thought the same thing everybody else across the country is thinking, wow, did she really do this? But I got to tell you, what the state prosecutors want everyone to believe is, that that video is the final chapter of the Dalia Dippolito saga. What we`re going to do in this trial though is give the jury chapters one through ten. And that is a police department that was more fixed on generating fame and notoriety for the members of the police department than it was for safeguarding her constitutional rights. [Banfield:] Okay. That`s a fair argument. Jason, what do you think about some of this video actually being suppressed, like that stuff we just showed, the whole crocodile tear drama, drama that wasn`t true? The jury is not going to see it. [Jason Brodie, Divorce Attorney For Michael Dippolito:] Yeah, it`s amazing they`re not going to see all that stuff, but the state believes that they have enough evidence without that video that they can convict her. They don`t want to run the risk. [Claypool:] That`s not true at all, Jason. The judge threw it out. [Brodie:] . and then having it overturned. [Claypool:] State fought it. The state fought to keep that in. We kept it out, and the reason why is, because the police department already had probable cause to arrest Dalia Dippolito, and instead what they did instead of arresting her, they went out and created fictional drama for a T.V. show. [Banfield:] Okay, all right. So to that point, I want to play this because I said before, there were hours and hours and hours of undercover video, and I`m about to play another piece. It doesn`t go well for Dalia. This is that time when those cops that do this for a living and know they have to cover their you know what`s, give you lots of options to back out of the plan. And here`s how that went. Take a look. [Unidentified Male:] If it`s not done by Wednesday them I`ll call you. If it`s done by Wednesday, the only thing you`re gonna hear from me is to collect, alright? Which is why I said that between now and when it`s done, you know, you`re not gonna have an option to change your mind. Even if you change your mind. [Dalia Dippolito, Accused Of Trying To Have Her Newlywed Husband Killed:] There`s no changing. No, there`s no like, I`m determined already. I`m positive, like 5,000 percent sure. Like, I was stressing when you told me you were gonna come up here and then I`m like looking at the time and I`m like what the [beep] he`s not coming, he`s not this, you know, like all this stuff or whatever. Like no, when I say I`m gonna do something, I`m gonna do it. Like as soon as you told me listen. I need the money from you I went. I grabbed it right away. Like we were good to go. Like with me, you`re not gonna have a problem, you`re not gonna have an issue. [Banfield:] Ouch, 5,000 percent, I`m 5,000 percent sure. Brian Claypool, 5,000 percent sure, and you`re saying this is all about drama? Are you saying that she was pretending? Because in the first trial, that was the defense. This is all an act. She thought she was acting. She thought everybody was part of the show. Her boyfriend or lover was an actor. Is this still the defense for the round two? [Claypool:] That`s not the cornerstone of our defense, Ashleigh. What our defense is that Dalia was pressured by the confidential informant, Mohamed Shihadeh. He was the confidential informant. He was pressuring her to go through and get videotaped with the undercover officer, Widy Jean, because he had been threatened and pressured by the Boynton Beach Police Department, unless he went through with this. Remember, Ashleigh, the first phone call made by the informant to the police station was, hey, I think this woman might want to hurt her husband, but it`s not a serious deal and I don`t think it`s a big deal and I don`t want to be involved. People don`t realize that. [Banfield:] Jason, does that make sense to you? [Brodie:] Ashleigh, if this is at all true, tell me why when she was sitting in that interrogation room, they showed her Mike was alive, why at that point didn`t she say this was fake? Why at the time that she was going through all the interviews and making phone calls she made a phone call from jail to Michael. Why didn`t she say Michael, why don`t you tell them this is all fake. Why don`t we tell them? Why didn`t she during during the entire divorce case. [Claypool:] Jason. [Brodie:] . we were representing Michael hang on a second, Brian. I`ll let you speak. Brian, stop. How come during the entire divorce case, right from involvement in this case from the beginning in 2009 did she never say this? [Banfield:] I`m going to have to leave it there. I gave you both hearsay on this. But this is going to be litigated and there is going to be more coverage in it. I hope both of you will come back and talk to me about it. [Claypool:] Thank you, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] And I`m just glad no one is dead so I can laugh about the video. Because otherwise, that would be one real ugly tragedy. So thank you, guys. Appreciate it. Brian and Jason, thank you. Take care. [Claypool:] Thanks, Ashleigh. Thank you. Have a good evening. [Banfield:] You too. Hey, school is supposed to be a safe place, especially for kids with special needs. Especially when teachers are around watching over. But it looks like the exact opposite happened here. This is really unpleasant stuff, but you are going to find out what kind of justice exists for the little girl on the floor, with special needs, in a minute. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] The nation's busiest airports. Passengers at LAX running past security and on to the tarmac. All for nothing? Plus, Trump set to set the record straight on his immigration plan. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] On day one, I'm going to begin swiftly removing criminal illegal immigrants from this country. [Costello:] But what about that deportation force? [Reince Priebus, Chairman, Republican National Committee:] He is reflecting on it and his position is going to be known. [Costello:] And more death on the streets of Chicago. [Diann Aldridge, Victim's Mother:] They said they want their mom and their mom won't be in their lives anymore. [Costello:] Police charge two men for the murder of Dwyane Wade's cousin. [Unidentified Male:] When will enough be enough? [Costello:] Let's talk. Live in the CNN NEWSROOM. And good morning, I'm Carol Costello, thank you so much for joining me. A false alarm triggers a major security breach at one of the busiest airports in the country. This was the terrifying and chaotic scene as passengers run for their lives amid rumors that an active shooter had opened fire overnight at the Los Angeles International Airport. Police say it was a false alarm, but that did not stop panicked passengers from breaching restricted areas and actually spilling on to the tarmac. Let's get right to CNN's Paul Vercammen. He's live with more. Hi, Paul. [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. In all, 281 flights were delayed, either arriving or departing. There were 27 diversions and also two cancellations, and it all started with one report in Terminal 8 at Gate 82 of a loud noise that sounded like gunfire. [Vercammen:] Chaos overnight at Los Angeles International Airport, reports of an active shooter sending travelers running out of several terminals. [Unidentified Male:] We just saw people sprinting the other way. I was in the bathroom, and all of a sudden there was a flood of people that came running into the bathroom saying there was a shooter. I mean, everyone is in a huge panic. [Vercammen:] Panicked passengers using emergency exits to get away, some ending up in restricted parts of the airport. The scare leading to a full ground stop of air traffic as police searched the airport. LAX later confirming that the source was likely a loud noise. The false alarm causing a ripple effect of headaches for travelers. Massive gridlock on the freeways leading into LAX and passengers back inside the airport now facing delays as airlines work to get things back on track. The scare at LAX comes just two weeks after a similar incident caused widespread chaos at New York's JFK Airport. Both incidents highlighting how on edge travelers are following recent terror attacks abroad. And I just spoke with airport police, they were saying that they still have no idea what that loud noise was and as for the emergency exits, how did they get on to the tarmac, most of those were fire exits. Is this showing a weak link in the security system? They say, no, they have cameras on those exits, it was just one of those things that happened during this mass hysteria Carol. [Costello:] So, Paul, you have all of these passengers panicking and running. Running on to the tarmac. What was security doing during this time? [Vercammen:] Everything they possibly could to quell this. They said that they were victimized by bad word of mouth and social media. People were re-tweeting these false reports, and it just sort of took off. They had officers fanned out all over the airport. What happened was so strange that it started, as we said, this is a horseshoe shaped structure airport. It happened down at Terminal 8, it skipped to where I am now to Terminal 4 and then across all the way diagonally, as far as you can go, to Terminal 1. It just spread like wildfire. And this seems to be an incident where it really wasn't social media, it was anti-social media, as people were whipping up the most sensational things that they could think of and talking about all of this as gunfire. [Costello:] Unbelievable. Paul Vercammen reporting live from LAX this morning. Donald Trump is promising a major speech on his immigration plans and even his closest allies are desperate for some clarity, many of them struggled this weekend to explain Trump's apparent softening on the hard line stance that's embraced and celebrated by most of his hard core supporters. CNN's Sara Murray live in Washington with more on that. Good morning. [Sara Murray, Cnn Politics Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. While when even your running mate can't articulate what your position is on an issue that's really a cornerstone of your presidential campaign, that's how you can tell that there's a lot of confusion, and that is certainly where Donald Trump's immigration policy stands now. He is expected to clear this up on Wednesday in an immigration speech. What we'll be watching for is whether he just changes his tone on immigration or whether he is backtracking on a central tenant of his campaign. His pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We are going to get rid of the criminals and it's going to happen within one hour after I take office. Believe me. [Murray:] Donald Trump announcing he'll deliver a highly anticipated immigration speech Wednesday in Arizona after all. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager:] If you want to be here legally, you have to apply to be here legally. [Murray:] The Trump campaign insisting the proposal won't amount to amnesty or include a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants. [Conway:] We all learned in kindergarten to stand in line and wait our turn. [Murray:] But as questions mount about whether Trump is softening his hard line position from the primaries. [Trump:] At least 11 million people in this country that came in illegally, they will go out. [Murray:] Even his allies appear unclear on his stands. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] What about the millions in this country right now? [Gov. Mike Pence , Vice Presidential Candidate:] Well [Tapper:] What happens to them? [Pence:] I think Donald Trump will articulate what we do with the people who are here but I promise you [Tapper:] But he ready has articulated. [Murray:] The GOP chairman even saying deporting all 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. is complicated. [Priebus:] He's reflecting on it and his position is going to be known. [Murray:] This as Trump plans a Labor Day weekend trip to a predominantly black church in Detroit, part of his ongoing effort to woo minority voters. [Trump:] African-Americans, Hispanics, vote for Donald Trump. What do you have to lose? It can't get any worse. What do you have to lose? [Murray:] The Republican nominee sparking controversy over the weekend for politicizing the death of Chicago Bulls star Dwyane Wade's cousin, tweeting, "Just what I have been saying. African-Americans will vote Trump." An hour later, Trump offered his condolences. This tweet just the latest example of Trump facing criticism for touting his political positions in the wake of tragedies. [Trump:] It's horrible. And it's only getting worse. I say vote for Donald Trump, I will fix it. [Murray:] And Trump continue to blame the Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton for minority hardship and racial tension. [Trump:] They've run the inner cities for years and look what you have. They're like war zones. How quickly people have forgotten that Hillary Clinton called black youth super predators. Remember that? Super predators. [Murray:] Both Trump and Clinton campaigns using their opponent's own words against each other. [Trump:] What the hell do you have to lose? [Murray:] Now Trump is trying to keep the pressure on Hillary Clinton this week on the airwaves. His campaign is going up with a $10 million new advertising buy that's going to be in nine battleground states, but it's not focused on immigration, Carol, this one is focused on the economy. [Costello:] All right. Sara Murray reporting live from Washington, thanks so much. So let's talk about this now, with me now, Trump supporter Betsy McCaughey, and Greisa Martinez, advocacy director for the United We Dream Network. Welcome to both of you. Betsy, I'd like to start with you. Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, says Mr. Trump's updated immigration plan does not involve a deportation force for the 11 million undocumented people in the United States. That was Mr. Trump's signature issue, so why is he pivoting if he's pivoting? [Betsy Mccaughey, Trump Supporter:] I don't believe he's pivoting, but I would say he's prioritizing, as all leaders do. Top priority, removing hardened criminals who are illegal aliens. Number two, building the wall to stop the flow of drugs and drug trafficking gangs into this country. And [Costello:] Well, going back to the deportation force for just a second because I want to concentrate on that. So what is his what is his stand on that, Betsy? [Mccaughey:] Well, he met with Hispanic leaders a week ago. He has met with many members of Congress about this which [Costello:] Right. So what's his plan? [Mccaughey:] It would require congressional action. And let me point out [Costello:] He would want to get the deportation force OK'd by Congress before he implemented it, is that it? [Mccaughey:] Obviously. There are three branches of government. Creating and funding a deportation force would require action by Congress. There's no question about that. [Costello:] So, Greisa, in your mind, is this a more humane way to do things? [Greisa Martinez, Advocacy Director, United We Dream Network:] You know, I choose facts above Trump fiction, and the fact is, that Trump has been going after me and my family since day one of his candidacy and he has promised mass deportation. Now his campaign might be saying and his surrogates like this morning might be saying that there's no pivot, that is the same thing, but the reality is, that it's not. And he has been saying from day one that he wants to deport people like myself, he wants to take away the birthright citizenship of people like my sister, and, you know, he also stands alone. The majority of the American public believe that my mother and I deserve a pathway to citizenship, and so it's erratic and not very understandable like most of his campaign and his policy positions. [Costello:] Before we go on, like, Mr. Trump is going to give his big immigration speech in Arizona, and I just want to read you the stats from what voters are thinking within the state of Arizona. Mrs. Clinton is leading Mr. Trump with Hispanic voters in Arizona by 37 points. So, obviously, what Mr. Trump is selling on his immigration isn't really flying among at least Hispanic voters in Arizona. Betsy? [Mccaughey:] Yes, I would like to address that. First of all, people who come here legally want the law enforced, whether they are Hispanic or Chinese or Italian, wherever they come from, they respect the rule of law. They waited in line themselves, and they expect everyone else to do that. I received an e-mail yesterday, as I often do, from a woman in Florida who was very upset. She took her mother to the emergency room, her mother's on Medicare, and she told me what I hear every day, that the emergency rooms are scrimping on people on Medicare because the emergency rooms are so overwhelmed with illegal immigrants. And the signs on the emergency room door [Costello:] So [Mccaughey:] Just let me finished. Say that illegal immigrants must be treated. So the fact is, as sympathetic as I am to anyone who needs health care, the fact is that the nation cannot take care of the entire world. And the cost of illegal immigration [Costello:] So you're saying to Greisa to get out? Is that what you're saying? [Mccaughey:] I am saying that people who come here illegally should not be eligible for all the benefits that American citizens [Costello:] Are you saying that Greisa should get out? [Mccaughey:] Yes, I am saying that. I am saying that people who came here illegally should not benefit from and both Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton originally said that illegal immigrants would not receive health benefits. Now both of them have switched. The Obama administration is spending billions on health benefits for illegal immigrants. [Costello:] OK. So hold off there. Hold off [Mccaughey:] And Mrs. Clinton has flip-flopped [Costello:] What's the answer, Betsy? Please, you just told her she should be out of the country, so let her respond. [Mccaughey:] That's right. I did. [Martinez:] Betsy, I I'm appalled by what you just said on national television that people like myself and like my mother and dreamers all across the country should leave because that puts you in the minority. 84 percent of the American public believe that I belong here, and they know the gifts that we bring to this country and so you have just defined yourself as a Trump Klan member, someone that believes in the xenophobic vision that Trump has for this country. And the reality is that in November you're going to lose and that vision is going to lose because the American public, and as a Latina, I know what is important to our people, and that is safety, that is economic opportunity, and that means the ability to live happily and safely in your home. And the things that you just laid out are the complete opposite of that. [Mccaughey:] Well, Greisa, I'm very sympathetic to you, but I don't identify myself as anything but an American and I would hope that if you were here, you would identify yourself as an American. The fact is that we need to have the rule of law here, and in addition, if we want real economic opportunity, we need to make sure that the people who are already here get jobs before we have open borders and try to take care of the whole world. We cannot do that. [Costello:] Mr. Trump just tweeted, and I just want to read it to you, Greisa, just to get your impression of this. Mr. Trump tweeted. "Look how bad it is getting. How much more crime, how many more shootings will it take for African-Americans and Latinos to vote Trump." And he said, "Trump equals safe." Just your reaction to that, Greisa. [Martinez:] I mean, it's a continuous of 15 months of campaigning that is ripping our community and our country apart. It's sound bites and pieces that are not coherent, that are not deep policy conversations. That of which we expect of a presidential candidate, and it continues to lay out who he really is, a xenophobic zealot that believes that this country is unsafe and not great, and from all of the sacrifices that my parents have made to come to this country to raise four daughters, two of them are U.S. citizens, that is such an affront to the vision that America has about ourselves. So I will not be sorry for Mr. Trump when he loses in November, and I will ensure that that happens. [Costello:] And, Betsy, I will say, what proof do you have that the majority of those 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States are committing crime or the majority of crime? [Mccaughey:] There's absolutely no suggestion that the majority of the people who have come here are committing crimes. No one would suggest that and that is exactly why Donald trump that's exactly why Donald Trump has said the first priority will be to remove hardened criminals, build a wall, and stop the gangs and the drug trafficking from coming in here. That's exactly why he's made the distinction that you're using now to try and label him a flip-flopper. He is making priorities. The real flip-floppers are the Obama administration and Mrs. Clinton, who promised Americans illegals would not get health care benefits and now they are getting them. [Costello:] To put things in perspective, Betsy, since President Obama took office, 2.8 million people have been deported from this country. In 2015 alone, 235,000 people have been deported. So there are illegals being deported from this country already. [Mccaughey:] Good, good. No one suggested that wasn't happening. [Costello:] You just did. [Mccaughey:] No, I didn't. I said that Donald Trump would make it a top priority. [Costello:] OK. [Mccaughey:] Because we see people like Kate Steinly being murdered by illegal immigrants who are given one chance after another to get out of jail and commit another crime. [Costello:] All right, I have to leave it there. Thanks to both of you. Betsy McCaughey, [inaudible] Martinez, thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM, she lived in the shadow of a famous cousin, but died in a horrific explosion of violence as she pushed her baby in a stroller. Her story and the arrest of two suspects just ahead. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. Making headlines in our national lead today, one person dead, one injured, several others in jail after a dramatic confrontation between the FBI, Oregon state police and armed anti-government activists at a wildlife refuge that began late last night when Ammon Bundy and several of his supporters were pulled over on the highway and arrested. These militia members have been occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for 26 days, protesting what they describe as government overreach on federal lands. Let's get right to CNN's Dan Simon live outside the refuge in Oregon. Dan, what do we know about the person who was killed? [Dan Simon, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Jake. The person who was killed was a 54-year-old Mormon rancher from Arizona. But before we get into it, before we talk about the arrest, I want to tell you that the situation still remains very tense. You still have a number of armed occupiers at the refuge. And at this point, it's anyone's guess how this is going to end. Now, in terms of the arrest, it's clear that authorities wanted to do this in a way where community bystanders could not be hurt. Well, that much they accomplished. Of course, you have the one occupier who was killed. Authorities say this did not have to happen. [Simon:] More than three weeks after armed militia took over a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, a deadly shootout between militia members and the police. [Greg Bretzing, Fbi Special Agent In Chiarge, Portland Division:] Yesterday, the FBI with our partners took the first steps to bring this occupation to a conclusion. [Simon:] Group leader Ammon Bundy and seven others were arrested Tuesday night after the FBI and Oregon state police pulled them over on their way to a meeting with community residents. Bundy's brother, Ryan, was shot and suffered minor wounds. But a spokesman for the armed occupiers, LaVoy Finicum, was killed. [Sheriff David Ward, Harney County, Oregon:] It's time for everybody in this illegal occupation to move on. There doesn't have to be bloodshed in our community. [Simon:] Bundy's father says his son called him from the back of a police cruiser moments after the shootout. [Cliven Bundy, Ammon Bundy's Father:] My son, Ryan, had been shot in the arm. LaVoy Finicum, they cold-blooded killed him. They said he was out, had his hands in the air. They said he wasn't armed, he wasn't any threat and they cold-blooded just killed him. [Simon:] Authorities say Ryan Bundy and Finicum did not obey orders to surrender and shots were fired. The armed group took over the refuge on January 2nd in part to protest the sentencing of two ranchers and make a stand against what they called government overreach when it comes to federal lands. [Ammon Bundy, Protest Leader:] They continue to ignore us and push us to the point where we felt we had to make a stand to defend our rights. [Simon:] Finicum previously told reporters he was willing to give his life for the cause. [Lavoy Finicum, Protester:] There are things more important than your life and freedom is one of them. [Simon:] The sheriff says he'd been trying to work with the group to find a peaceful solution, but in the end, he just couldn't meet their ultimatums. [Ward:] We don't arm up and rebel. We work through the appropriate channels. This can't happen anymore. This can't happen in America and it can't happen in Harney County. [Simon:] Well, we don't know how many armed occupiers are left, but clearly, law enforcement is a bit anxious. We just saw a number of vehicles speed down this highway. I should tell you that this road right here remains closed to the public, so clearly something may be in the works, but we don't know, of course, what law enforcement is going to do or how this is going to end Jake. [Tapper:] All right. Dan Simon, stay safe. Thanks so much. It causes serious birth defects and there's no vaccine. The dangerous mosquito-borne virus that's spreading with new cases now in the United States. So, can it be stopped? What should you do? That story next. [Cooper:] The timing of the attack on Pulse Nightclub during gay pride month has many people on edge for obvious reasons. The massacre has prompted the FBI to issue intelligence bulletins to gay clubs in the Orlando area, the aim to just heighten awareness. Were told there's no credible specific threat of an imminent attack. The fact is though past attacks on gay nightclubs haven't been proceeded by threats. When hit strikes tends to catch victims off guard. Randi Kaye tonight looks back. [Randi Kaye, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] This was the scene back in 1973. The Upstairs Lounge, a gay club in New Orleans, Louisiana in June that year, an arsonist poured lighter fluid on the stairs leading to the club then rang the doorbell. Flames swept inside some fled others got trapped by windows covered in bars. The bartender reportedly helped 20 people escape but unintentionally locked the fire escape door so the fire wouldn't spread, trapping everyone else inside. [Ronnie Rosenthal, Survivor:] Everybody was screaming. Everybody was just like so confused. Several people had jumped out of windows hurt fatally or hurt. [Kaye:] 32 people died. By the time firefighters got inside, bodies were piled up at windows, many left unclaimed, victims who had never come out to family members. Family members were then too embarrassed to bury them. Police reportedly never actively pursued the case, no one was ever charged in the attack. In 1980, a New York City gay bar became a target, the suspect reportedly aimed and fired his oozy at men standing in line at the Ramrod Bar. One man died instantly another died at the hospital others were left bleeding and wounded on the sidewalk. [Jim Levin, Gay Activist:] They say that we should wait, we should just be quiet, moron people. [Kaye:] Before the shooting, the gunman reportedly said, "I'll kill them all, the gays, they ruin everything." The suspect was found not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect and put in a secure psychiatric hospital. He died last year. In Roanoke, Virginia, the Back Street Bar came under attack in September, 2000. [Unidentified Male:] He was randomly shooting, he was that that simple and, you know, several people were hit and I guess everybody was scramming to try to get out of the way. [Unidentified Female:] The suspect had conversations yesterday along the lines of wanting to find some gay people and shoot them. And his arm was up like this. The gun was pointing down and he just started firing. [Kaye:] One man was killed, six others we're wounded. "The Washington Post" reported that the suspect always hated his last name which happened to be gay and the taunting that came with it. He was sentenced to four life terms. In Seattle, the Neighbors Nightclub was another terrifying scene. A man had chosen the busiest night of the year, New Year's Eve, to set fire to the club as revelers rang in 2014, flames appear just after midnight. [Unidentified Male:] And we saw a smoke, we can feel the heat and make in the ceiling. [Kaye:] Staff and clubgoers got to fire out quickly and everyone more than 700 people escaped. The suspect claimed he didn't remember setting the fire, but the judge concluded he had done it because he disliked gays. A friend had reportedly told investigators that the suspect had once said homosexual people should be exterminated. He was sentenced to ten years in prison. Randi Kaye, CNN, New York. [Cooper:] We watched Randi's reporting, given to what happened here, you might be tempted to say, will hate endures. And yes, it does, what happened Sunday morning is the latest proof. But here's what's different in 2016. Take a look at this photo, It's taken Sunday at the Los Angeles, gay pride parade, just hours after the killings at Pulse. That's the chief of LAPD standing next to the mayor who's holding a sign of "Support for Orlando" and there at the gay pride parade. Joining me now on the phone is Andrew Sullivan, contributing editor at New York Magazine. It is different now, Andrew when you think about the generations of gay people who've been attacked at gay clubs, gay clubs which used to be raided by police, and it was the only place gay people really can congregate, and it was illegal for them to congregate and even dance together. To you, what is the progress? What is the difference? [Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine, Contributing Editor:] Well, someone, if you think of still well in 1969, you had a bunch of cops raiding and rushing a bar in order to arrest the gay people inside it. And in 2016 you have a bunch of cops rushing a bar to save the gay people inside it. And that's a, you know, that's a huge difference. Also as we know, what happened to those people in the Austin fire or in the shooting in New York in 1980. They were quickly forgotten. No one talks about them. People almost embarrassed. Sometimes their families wouldn't even pick up the body. And now we have a recognition at least that we are human beings, and especially in a moment like this, and in a place like this. If you take, you know, when you think about it, when you think about this young Latin men and I saw their pictures and read their profiles that the people who'd been murdered, when you think about their lives and you realize that of all the places they could have felt safe, this was probably the safest place they knew. And this man went into that almost sacred space and laid waste to them in the most horrifying way because they're gay or they were gay or he thought that they were gay. And yeah, go on. [Cooper:] I think a lot of people who are not gay or lesbian in this country or even around the world may not understand the role a gay bar can play and young gay person's life in particular. And I think we all are as gay people, we all remember the first gay bar we have already went to and then suddenly being in a place where you could look somebody else in the eye without fear of attack, where you saw yourself in their eyes and them returning your stare. And you could meet people. Some of my closest friends are people I met in gay bars when I was much, much younger. It there is a role that these bars play in particularly in young gay people's lives. [Sullivan:] Yeah, I mean, I met my husband on the dance floor, I mean, we meet each other there, and when we grow up, and then we come out, when we come of age from the experience that first liberation, that's where we feel it. That's where we feel the freedom, sometimes for the first time, sometimes around people that we don't have to hide anything from. And so, I think there were a lot of gay people are experiencing this week and I feel it kind of sinking in, if that they come into that sanctuary and they destroyed it, well, they robbed it of its innocence. And you know, that's to me we're not going back there. I hope we all go back there and stay there. But it means something horrible has been done to our psyche and to our community. And it breaks a lot of people's hearts to understand that we in the people would then suddenly trying to politicize it, or exploit it in some way. It's just, it just the poem and just look at the faces of people who were the victims of this. [Cooper:] The other thing I think some people may not understand, is why, why do you need a gay bar to go to, to meet other people and have a sense of safety. And I keep thinking coming back to trying to explain to people, you know, how many times do you actually see gay people on the street holding hands with each other? How many times do you actually see gay people in an airport, kissing each other goodbye or hello just like everybody else? Even as far as things have come in this country, there are still many places were we have to edit ourselves in public spaces on the streets. [Sullivan:] Yes, and of course there's always the threat of some violence hanging in the background if you are to do that and these places are definitely its safer places to do that. And that is a huge thing as well here, although again it's night and day compared to 20 years ago or 30 years ago, it's really is. [Cooper:] Sure. [Sullivan:] But that makes this all the more poignant and also of course, this man himself was clearly had some complicated issues with sexuality. This is not easily fit into the template of a sort of radicalized ISIS members attacking random people. This is someone also obviously dealing in some way with his own demons. And now way that this was someone that was on that part of us, some within us to destroy this out of and the source was again people don't focused on the source of that is religion. It is what our faith has been telling us about our worth and equality as gay human beings. And especially fundamentalist is wrong and I obviously the vast, vast, vast majority of Muslims do not feel in any way like this about gay people. That the ability of a few to use religion in this way to attack a group of people, specifically to the this group of people, and this is an attack on gay people and on homosexuality itself. We've got to come to terms with the religious origins of some of the hatred and tackle it in our own community in our state community and churches and definitely within Islam itself. [Cooper:] I was talking to a council woman here who was saying that, you know, there was a church service where faith leaders who previously had not spoken and, you know, positively in any way about gay and lesbian people were embracing gay and lesbian people, and she saw that is a sign of progress. We've seen politicians who've traditionally have not spoken in a positive way about gay and lesbian Americans and the fought for against, you know, a gay equality and equality for that and marriage equality, coming forward, being very public. Do you think that's a good thing? [Sullivan:] It has to be a good thing, Anderson. I mean, anything that gets people to see the humanity of these people. Sometimes it is a horrifying fact that it takes to see human beings gunned down in their own safe space to realize, "Man, these people are human too." Of course the deaminization of these people is wrong and of course things I've said in the past, was done in the past, does isn't, wasn't as sensitive to them as human beings, it needs to be corrected. So I, you know, you could and your right to hold people account their past but we have to also welcome them if they're truly allies again in the struggle. [Cooper:] Andrew Sullivan, it's always good to talk to you. I appreciate you being with us. Thank you. Up next, another tragedy, another grieving family just down the road from here at Disney World. The latest when 360 continues. [Whitfield:] Outdoor retail store, L.L. Bean, is caught in the middle of some political drama. The granddaughter of the founder is a Trump supporter and that prompted an anti-Trump group to call for an L.L. Bean boycott. CNN's Jason Carroll has the story and Donald Trump's tweets on the feud. [Unidentified Protester:] L.L. Bean. [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspodnent:] Boycott L.L. Bean? Not if the president-elect has anything to say about it. Donald Trump tweeted, "Thank you to Linda Bean, of L.L. Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L. Bean." That, after an anti-Trump movement, called Grab Your Wallet, added the outdoor retailer to a list of companies it says consumers should boycott for supporting Trump. [Linda Bean, Board Member, L.l. Bean:] I think it's very much a case of bullying. It's bullying me. It's bullying the companies that I own. [Carroll:] Federal Election Commission reports show Bean donated $30,000 during the 2016 campaign to a political organization backing Trump. L.L. Bean is urging the boycott organizers to reconsider, saying in a statement released over the weekend, "No individual alone speaks on behalf of the business or represents the values of the company that L.L. built." Adding that, "L.L. Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters, or make political contributions. Simply put, we stay out of politics." Trump, not the only one coming to the company's defense. Independent Senator Angus King, of Maine, where L.L. Bean is based, says "The boycott efforts are misguided." King tells CNN, "L.L. Bean is a nonpartisan company. I have known them and worked with them for virtually all my adult life. They take no role in politics." Linda Bean says there is a political double standard, insisting her cousin's contributions to President Obama's campaign did not produce the same response. [Bean:] Definitely, a double standard. And they're victimizing both these guys won. Obama won and Trump won. My cousin's candidate, my candidate [Unidentified Show Co-host:] Your cousin [Bean:] but I'm the one that's being targeted and vilified. [Carroll:] And Benn says those call federal government home run her to step down from the board should not hold their breath. [Bean:] I never back down, if I feel I'm right. And I do feel that they're bullies. That's all they are. A small kernel of hard-core bullies on the west coast in California trying to control what we do, what we buy, what we sell in Maine. [Carroll:] Trump's support for Bean is raising some questions about the president-elect's support for her family's company. Former FEC general counsel, Larry Noble, says Trump's tweet might have gone too far. [Larry Noble, General Counsel, Campaignl Legal Center & Former Fec General Counsel:] He's willing to use the power of the presidency to get what he wants at any given moment regardless of whether or not the president should be doing that. [Carrol:] Jason Carroll, CNN, New York. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] All right, still ahead, a war of words is brewing between Congressman John Lewis and Donald Trump. The president-elect criticized the civil rights icon over, quote, "being all talk and no action." We'll discuss, next. [Hala Gorani, Cnni:] Tonight, Turkey mourns dozens of people killed at a peace rally but who is the person responsible for this act of terror? Then charges here in Britain in what police say an uncle and nephew were plotting. Plus a big meeting at the Vatican to tackle two tough issues as [hal] order for the Pope, climate change and human trafficking. And later Donald Trump reads a phone number out loud. Only problem he says it is the direct line to one of his Republican rivals. [Gorani:] Hello everyone, I'm Hala Gorani, a lot going on this evening. We're live at CNN London, and this is the World Right Now. Yesterday the murderous attack, today the grief in Turkey after a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people, and injured 100 more in Suruc on the border with Syria. The emotion was palpable as funerals took place in the nearby city of Gaziantep with mourners weeping, and you see them there chanting besides the coffins of their loved ones. Meanwhile the Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu says one suspect has been identified and they say they are checking that person's links both domestically and internationally. They did say initially that the evidence so far gathered pointed to ISIS. The town of Suruc is just a few kilometers from the Syrian city of Kobani. So for Turkey and the other countries in their region no matter what their networks of supporters sympathies the question is fast becoming how to prevent these ISIS attacks. The U.S. has been leading a coalition air campaign to fight the group in Iraq and Syria with it has to be said varied levels of success. However on a trip to Jordan to visit coalition forces the Nation's Defense Secretary spoke about that very fight, listen to what he had to say. [Ash Carter, U.s. Defense Secretary:] At the moment we have tremendous air power and we do not have the ground power that we need in all places where [Gorani:] Ash Carter is there underlining the importance of having of course ground forces combined with the air power. Let's get more. Pentagon correspondent, Barbara Starr, joins me now live from Washington with more. What's being said at the Pentagon right now about this anti-ISIS campaign because of course you see some setbacks for the group but overall they're still holding onto a lot of territory here. [Barbara Starr, Pentagon Correspondent:] They are indeed Hala, I think you're seeing two campaigns essentially. In Iraq still Iraqi forces very challenged to get on the road, get moving, and get some of these key pieces of territory, like Ramadi, Fallujah, and Mosul back. [Starr:] There is no question the Iraqi's have a long way to go on that. Northern Syria right now however slightly different and very much very interesting. The Kurdish forces are on the move towards Raqqa, the capital, the self- declared capital of ISIS. And they are just several miles north of Raqqa if you will. That is making the whole border area much more fraught. ISIS feeling the pressure from the Kurds approaching them in Raqqa. The feeling is that they are reaching out back towards the border, engaging in this new round of violence against people there. You know inflicting just horrors on the Kurdish population there. Perhaps lashing out trying to separate the Kurds and Turkey from their government. Trying to engage in just mindless unreasonable violence perhaps. But the impact certainly is to make Turkey very concerned at the very time the U.S. is pressing the Turks to get more control over that border to keep ISIS fighters from moving from Turkey into Syria. ISIS is even under more pressure pardon me, Turkey is even under more pressure of course from [Isis. Gorani:] Right but Turkey as you know of course and as our viewers will know has long been accused of not being enthusiastic enough and there's anti-ISIS fight, quite the contrary perhaps even preventing some of the flow of aid to Kurdish controlled areas inside Syria. Is the feeling at the Pentagon now that what happened in Suruc, just a few km from Kobani might change some minds in Turkey as to how to approach all of this? [Starr:] Well they hope at the Pentagon the Turks will be able to get the political will essentially to tighten up that border. They want to see the flow of foreign fighters stop, see the flow of illicit goods, arms, that sort of thing stop from moving across the border. Will this one attack, as absolutely awful as it is, will it lead to a fundamental change remains to be seen I think. The feeling at the Pentagon in Washington is it is going to require some additional political will by the Turks. I think if you talk to a lot of people in the Turkish government, they feel perhaps they're doing as much as they can right now. [Gorani:] All right, thanks very much. I know that for many it's not enough especially the Kurdish fighters. Barbara Starr, thanks very much from the Pentagon. Now to an alleged terrorist plot foiled authorities tell us right here in Britain. Now they say a man planned to kill U.S. military personnel in this country then leave town with his uncle so they could both join ISIS in Syria. They are both facing charges today. Senior International Correspondent, Fred Pleitgen has been following that story. So Fred, what do we know about this case? [Fred Pleitgen, Senior International Correspondent:] Well both suspects have been named; one of them is 22 year old Shazib Ahmed Khan, who's actually the uncle even though he's younger than the other suspect whose name is Junead Ahmed Khan. [Pleitgen:] And as you said both of them have been charged with allegedly wanting to go to Syria to join ISIS there but Junead has also been charged with allegedly plotting to kill American service members here in Britain. And the talk was of a car accident style attack. Now it's not clear whether or not that means faking a car accident and possibly getting service members to stop and then killing them. Or actually hitting them with a car which is of course is something that's happened here in the past before. If you think back to 2013 and the British Soldier, Lee Rigby was killed. There was apparently also talk of killing them with a knife and possibly using a suicide vest as well. And apparently Junead Ahmed Khan also said that he would think about killing British service members but preferred to kill Americans. Both of them were arrested north of London, in Luton on the 14th July and they remain in custody. There was another guy who was arrested with them as well who's in his 30s but he was released without charges. [Gorani:] Right, no charges. Let's talk a little bit about the latest statistics because the region there's so much concern and presumably surveillance of some of these plots that authorities say they foiled is that there are men willing to travel to ISIS controlled territory. What are the latest numbers? [Pleitgen:] Men and women as well. And as you know David Cameron just recently joined started what he calls a five year plan to try and eradicate people who want to go to ISIS, a big campaign that he talks about. But there have been some 700 people here from Britain who have actually gone to Syria to join radical groups. Not just ISIS but of course ISIS as well. There's some 43 young women and girls who have gone to join ISIS. And one of the interesting statistics is that 338 people have been arrested until May of this year. So between 2014 and 2015. [Gorani:] Wanting to travel there to those areas. [Pleitgen:] Well on terrorism related charges. [Gorani:] Right, OK. [Pleitgen:] That's up from 254 only a year before. So certainly this is something that is a big concern to this country of course, to many other countries as well. But judging from this plot this certainly is something that is cause for concern here. [Gorani:] All right, we'll continue to follow that. Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much. Now to something completely different; Pope Francis. The Pontiff appears more determined than ever to tackle two major world problems; climate change, and human trafficking. For weeks now he's been trying to put pressure on governments around the world to take action on both issues. He renewed that push earlier at a two day Vatican conference of mayors and governors. He said he wants a commitment both at the local level as well as internationally, listen. [Pope Francis:] [As translated]. The United Nations really needs to take a very strong position on this issue. Particularly the trafficking of human beings that are caused by this environmental situation and the exploitation of people. [Gorani:] Pope Francis, let's bring in our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, she joins us from Rome. First of all Delia why put these two issues together in the same conferences is my first question; human trafficking and climate change. Two very big problems but why together? [Delia Gallagher, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yes the Vatican calls them interconnected emergencies and for the Vatican their reasoning is this. [Gallagher:] They say that extreme weather conditions are caused by social, economic and environmental instability. And that that instability then lays fertile ground for forced migration or human trafficking. So that is their reasoning why they're putting these two together. For Pope Francis I think it can be summed up in two words, the poor. These are both issues which affect the poor mostly and that is Pope Francis' main concern. In fact he said it to the mayors and local leaders today that they were the ones who were on the ground most able to be in touch with their constituencies and those who are most marginalized and that that was their job to reach the consciousness of those who Pope Francis calls on the peripheries. Hala. [Gorani:] All right, and now what kind of impact is Pope Francis hoping to have on these decision makers, these policy makers? I mean how will the Pope then I suppose measure success with regards to these initiatives and trying to put pressure on politicians? [Gallagher:] Well what the Vatican has been doing is a kind of two pronged approach. One at the international level with regards to the UN, the Pope mentioned it today saying that he had great hope in the Paris Summit in December. He hoped that they would address the issue of human trafficking and he hoped that they would obtain a fundamental basic agreement on sustainable development. So, he is very clear and very outspoken. Has had a number of conferences and high level meetings with people at the UN to try and achieve those goals. At the same time he's working at the grassroots level to encourage really those mayors and leaders at a local level to, as I said, reach out to those people that they are in contact with. He said, you need both, you know it's not good enough. He says the holy [sea] can give nice speeches but you're the ones who are on the ground and able to affect those who are most needy. Hala. [Gorani:] All right, Delia Gallagher, thanks very much, live in Rome. I was just quickly looking up the Pope Francis tweet that got so much attention; something along the lines of the planet we live on is becoming more and more a pile of filth. I'm paraphrasing, didn't have time to actually put it up. But essentially you can really sense even through the tweets, even though what he says on the social media platform just how much the environment and climate is important to him and also human trafficking. Well here at CNN we're also putting the spotlight on that issue. The actress and activist Jada Pinkett Smith brings us unprecedented access to victims and officials as she investigates human trafficking going on inside the United States. It's part of her new Freedom Project documentary, Children for Sale. You'll see a sneak peek of it later in the show including Pinkett Smith's interview with one girl who says she was sold for sex in the U.S. when she was just 14. A lot more to come tonight. Investigators are learning more about the man who opened fire in Tennessee and they may be zeroing in on a motive. We'll have the latest in the search for answers next. And later, are we, the media, fuelling the rise of Donald Trump? I'll put that question to a political roundtable in about 20 minutes. All that and much more on the World Right Now. A motive may be coming into focus for last week's shooting rampage in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Writings and internet searches suggest Mohammad Abdulazeez had become radicalized. Meantime flags outside the White House and U.S. capital were lowered Tuesday for the four marines and one sailor who were killed. CNN U.S. Justice Correspondent, Evan Perez is gathering information on this story. He's in our Washington Bureau and joins me now live. Tell us a little bit more about what investigators have uncovered in this case, Evan. [Evan Perez, Cnn U.s. Justice Correspondent:] Well, Hala, some of this radicalization seems to at least go back to 2013. [Perez:] There's some writing of the suspect, Mohammad Abdulazeez that have been looked at by the FBI and it makes reference some of the writings make reference to Anwar al-Awlaki the Yemeni American cleric who the U.S. says was a leader of al-Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula. And according to what we're gold the writings make reference to the fact that the suspect, Abdulazeez agreed with and supported some of Awlaki's teachings. And then if you look at this more recently on his phone they found signs that he was searching on the internet for the meeting of martyrdom and he seems to be obsessed with this idea that perhaps using martyrdom as a way to a tone for some of his sin s for abusing alcohol and drugs which we know was something that he was struggling with, along with mental health issues. The FBI have not firmly established that the radicalization explains what happens here. However they do believe that you can't just explain this from his mental health problems. A lot of people have mental health issues and they don't go around carrying out mass shootings like this. [Gorani:] Sure, we see it with all those types of shootings in the U.S. but I guess one of the big questions Evan is; did this individual was he in touch, was he contacting anyone outside of the United States? Did he get any orders or was he coached into doing this. Are they closer to answering that question? [Perez:] They at this point they still, and you know we're still very early in the investigation, but certainly by now they expected that they would have found some kind of communication if there were any. It doesn't appear that he was in touch with anybody directly, communicating with anybody, getting instructions on any of this. They are still looking at his visits to Jordan last year, he spent about seven months there living with his uncle we know. And we now know that the uncle is in the custody of Jordanian officials who are questioning in. They want to know more about who he might have seen while he was there so they're still not done that part of the investigation. At this point though this looks like somebody who's self-radicalized coming up with his own with his own version of radical Islamist teaching or theology and then carried out this attack perhaps inspired by those things. [Gorani:] All right, Evan Perez, thanks very much in Washington. [Perez:] Thanks. [Gorani:] Now to most it's barbaric of course but to some it's a traditional practice. What's clear is that the victims of female genital mutilation can be found in countries across the globe. A shocking new report found that in one borough right here in London almost one in 20 women is actually a victim. A warning that some may find Atika Shubert's report disturbing. [Atika Shubert, Cnn International Correspondent:] Summer sun shines on some of London's cutting edge architecture just south of the Thames River in Southwark Borough. But newly released data shows a dark side to this part of London. FGM also known as Female Genital Mutilation has made its way here with the migrants who have been affected. The numbers are shocking anti-FGM campaign group Equality Now says that one in 20 women here in Southwark Borough are estimated to have undergone FGM, the highest prevalent in Britain. The data comes from an estimate of the number of women from FGM prevalent countries now living in the U.K. It's said to be practiced in 29 countries, mostly in Africa and UNICEF estimates that over 125 million of women and girls had had these types of procedures worldwide. Isatou and Ronata are two survivors of FGM originally from Gambia now in London; they spoke to us last year. [Isatou Kramer:] The worst part of it is when you have to go and squat. You know they've made a little hole underground and you have to go and squat it in so the blood can come out. I find that really disgusting because there's other kids next to you as well crying when you go out there you just think that's normal you know. And then you just find out that this may be wrong, no child should ever have to go through that. [Shubert:] Since September 2014 Britain's National Health Service is now required to register all cases of FGM it finds. So far nearly 4,000 cases have been newly identified, an average of 500 a month. This year in an unprecedented case, the U.K. issued a protection order to prevent to young girls from being taken out of the country for fear they were destined for a circumcision ceremony abroad, something Isatou and Ronata vow will never happen to their daughters. [Ronata Beraud:] I was like there's no way anyone's doing that to my daughter and if they do I'll make sure they go to prison for it. And at first it's like oh you guys are like you've taken up the culture here so much, you're African, this is our culture, we found it here and we have to continue it. And I was like no mum, not with me. [Shubert:] The data on FGM survivors is still being collected but these numbers are one way campaigners say to shine a light on an issue that's been kept in the dark for far too long. Atika Shubert, CNN, London. [Gorani:] Coming up when the World Right Now continues a look at the business world. And Toshiba's CEO resigns in disgrace following a billion dollar accounting scandal. We'll tell you how investors are responding to the news, next. Welcome back; it's a down day on Wall Street. Down more than 200 points at 17,894. A look at the NASDAQ and the S&P, also a negative day, take a look at the indices. And across Europe, it was also arrows pointing downward for the major indices with the [inaudible] down more than one and one tenth of a percent. The CEO of Japanese Conglomerate, Toshiba, has resigned after it was revealed the company cooked the books for seven years. Hisao Tanaka stood down after an independent committee found the company overstated profits by $1.2 billion. Eight board members including the vice chairman have also resigned. Toshiba shares have dropped around 20% since the company disclosed accounting irregularities in April. However they reacted differently today. For more on this I'm joined by the host of World Business Today, Maggie Lake, live from New York. So Maggie, first of all this these numbers are staggering but investors actually breathed a sigh of relief today; tell us why. [Maggie Lake, Host Of World Business Today:] Yes, a little confusing isn't it Hala. And first of all this is extraordinary. We're not talking about one quarter or one rogue person. [Lake:] This was a systemic issue that went on for seven years and evidently most of the senior managers knew that. I mean it's not often you see headlines like that. Let's put up that stock price though and show the reaction that's a bit confusing on the surface. And shares actually rose today 6%. It appears that investors are perhaps hoping now that the very top senior managers have stepped down; eight in total with the submission that the company finally perhaps putting this chapter behind it. But Hala, I'm not so sure that there is reason to celebrate here. When you look at this independent investigation I mean it really shows a systemic problem. And there's a quote from the people who carried out the study and take a look at what they said. That there existed a corporate culture at Toshiba where it was impossible to go against the bosses will. These managers set unrealistic expectations they knew couldn't be met and most of the employees felt that they had no choice but to go along with. A lot of people think that this calls into question or raises a lot of important questions about the corporate culture in Japan. I mean is this limited to Toshiba? Also very important questions about where were the auditors? Where were the safety checks that are supposed to be put in place? Yes this came to light because of questions by regulators but where were they for seven years? So I'm not sure that at all that this is the end of the story. I think there are a lot more questions that are going to need to be answered here for investors to be able to have confidence in what they're putting their money in. [Gorani:] Yes, and so many questions. I mean first of all seven years as you just mentioned there. It means for seven years at the highest levels of this giant multi-national corporation that there was essentially fraud going on, lying quarter after quarter about earnings and profits. I mean how long did they I mean they must have known that at some point this was all going to crumble right? I mean it's like any scheme at some point you're uncovered. [Lake:] That's right but it's impossible to get out of that situation isn't it once you start that ball rolling. We've seen that almost in every fraud case or pyramid scheme or ponsi scheme we've ever seen, so perhaps not a surprise that they themselves didn't disclose it. I think the question is you know if you if you were to see that happen say in London and New York, I mean there would be a criminal investigation, there would be handcuffs, there would be a trial. I mean presumably there will be one but when we've asked people do you think anyone's going to jail for this the answer we are getting is probably not. If you look at what happened with Olympus for example. There will be fines but there was no jail time served. So again I think that this is a country that's going to have to take a hard look at what's happening, who's watching, and what are the repurcussions if you have fraud at this level. Should someone be serving jail? Should something more happen? I mean even the Finance Minister Hala admitting that this is going to call into question the credibility of Japanese companies. So they are taking this very seriously but it seems a lot more needs to be done to change things at that very core cultural level. Whistleblowers, something not very common in Japan. [Gorani:] All right, Maggie Lake in New York, thanks very much. Staggering business story there. The latest World News headlines just ahead. Plus he keeps racking up the sensational headlines but is the media too eager to feature Donald Trump? We will devote at least one more segment of this show to that very question. Our political panel is up next. And a young girl who says she was bullied and then exploited. The story of how she ended up under the control of a sex trafficker in the United States. A look at our top stories. Funerals have taken place for the victims of Monday's bomb attack in Southern Turkey. At least 31 people were killed when an explosion [inaudible] for a rally in the town of Suruc. Turkish Prime Minister says one of the suspects has been identified and that a connection with ISIS appears likely. Also among our top stories; Pope Francis is calling on the United Nations to do more to stop human trafficking. He spoke earlier at a Vatican conference of mayors and governors from around the world. He says the UN must make it a top priority to prevent the exploitation of the world's most vulnerable. Two British men are in custody today on terrorism charges. Authorities say the pair living north of London intended on joining ISIS in Syria and that one of them was planning to kill an American serviceman in the U.K. Polls opened Tuesday in Burundi for its controversial election. President Pierre Nkurunziza is seeking an unprecedented third term. His decision to run sparked weeks of violent protests and upheaval in the African nation. Donald Trump is taking his is taking his feud with fellow U.S. Republican Presidential candidate Lindsey Graham to a whole new level. Speaking to hundreds of people at a rally Trump actually read out a phone number that he said people could use to reach the South Carolina Senator's private cell phone. And that wasn't all he said about Graham. Listen to this. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Wow, they can talk all they want. I mean I got a little dose of it, I was coming up and I see your senator, what a stiff what a stiff. Lindsey Graham. [Trump:] By the way by the way he's registered zero in the polls. Zero, he's on television all the time. [Gorani:] Well that wasn't Trump's only controversial moment of the day. He hit back at the Des Moines Register who had called on him to drop out of the race. Trump describes the piece as "a sophomoric editorial." Dana Bash has more. [Dana Bash, Cnn International Correspondent:] In a brutal editorial Iowa's biggest newspaper, the Des Moines Register is demanding Donald Trump "pull the plug on his bloviating side show" calling him a feckless blowhard who can generate headlines, name recognition, and polling numbers not by provoking thought but by provoking outrage. His Republican competitors agree. [Lindsey Graham:] He's becoming a jackass. [Trump:] I have respect for Senator McCain. [Bash:] Trump is still not apologizing for criticizing John McCain's war service but did come closer than before. [Trump:] I supported him, I raised a lot of money for his campaign against President Obama. And certainly if there was a misunderstanding I would totally take that back. But hopefully I said it correctly. [Bash:] Even for the bombastic Trump who appears to crave controversy the bipartisan backlash from his weekend remarks about McCain's five years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam was intense. [Trump:] He's not a war hero. He's a war hero `cause he was captured. I like people who weren't captured OK. Perhaps he's a war hero but right now he's said some very bad things about a lot of people. [Bash:] Still a new national poll shows Trump isn't just leading the crowd of GOP Presidential field but leading big at 24% with second place Scott Walker, and third, Jeb Bush, trailing by double digits. But that same survey may signal trouble for Trump. He got 28% on three consecutive nights. But on Sunday after his controversial comments his support dipped. McCain himself is determined to take the high road but McCain's son Jack, a fourth generation McCain naval officer currently on active duty didn't hold back about what he thinks. [Jack Mccain, Naval Officer:] My father, he's a public figure, he's a politician he's open to attack. But Prisoners of War in general; I mean Donald Trump has to understand that he's running for to be the Commander in Chief of the United States Military. If an individual gets rolled up, becomes a Prisoner of War, then is he going to abandon them simply because he doesn't like people that are captured? [Gorani:] There you have it. You heard Dana Bash you heard in Dana Bash's report there how all those controversies are not hurting Trump in the polls but what role does the media coverage of him play in this? Let's discuss this with CNN Political Analyst, Josh Rogin. Josh, first of all it seems like day after day Donald Trump is trying to find a way to trump himself from the day before. I mean now he's reading out Lindsey Graham's cell phone number to a crowd of people and it seems at least according to some accounts, that that was actually Lindsey Graham's cell phone number. [Josh Rogin:] Yes, I can confirm that was Lindsey Graham's personal cell phone number. It won't be his personal cell phone number going forward he's going to have to change it now. You know that moment was so quintessentially Trump for two reasons; On the one hand he's reading out his cell phone number to make a succulent point that Lindsey Graham had come to him and asked for his help. [Rogin:] And now was trashing him in the press. So he's trying to paint the other Republican candidates as hypocrites. At the same time he's just messing with Lindsey Graham and he feels personally insulted when Lindsey Graham called him a name. So he's getting back at him by inconveniencing him in a major way in having the entire world call his cell phone number all at one time. So this is what Trump is doing. [Gorani:] But what's it what is he how is he continuing then to score in the polls in the way that he is? He is appealing to at least according to the latest Washington Post ABC poll, 24% of Republican, all Republican [leaning] voters. [Rogin:] Yes I think there's two things going on here; one is that you know the media attention and the polls are reinforcing right. It's a virtuous or some would say a vicious cycle right. The more attention he gets, the more people he gets to be aware of him, the more response he gets in the polls. The other thing he's doing here is he's tapping into a sentiment in a segment of the Republican party of people who haven't really been approached. Who haven't really been connected with by the other mainstream candidates. I talked to Ted Cruz today about an hour ago and I asked him about Donald Trump and he refused to comment at all. Now that's for two reasons, Ted Cruz doesn't want to pick a fight with Donald Trump but it's also because candidates like Ted Cruz are trying to tap into that same group. We're talking about what Trump calls the silent majority, but they're not really silent and they're not really a majority. They're a group of republican voters that John McCain has called crazies, the people that Trump is appealing to and that is a big part of the electorate and those people are active in the primaries. And Trump in making this calculation go ahead. [Gorani:] No, no I was going to say you mentioned Ted Cruz but other candidates are now engaging with Donald Trump directly. They were kind of staying out of it up until the McCain comments we heard from Jeb Bush, we heard from Scott Walker. So they on this one, after Donald Trump said McCain is not a hero, his exact quote was "a like people that aren't that weren't captured OK." They're seizing they're sensing an opportunity here to attack him on this particular issue. [Rogin:] Well yes they're taking a risk. I mean we have a phrase in Washington when you wrestle with the pig you get dirty and the pig is happy, right. So these candidates are all inching out into this into this dangerous zone of attacking Trump. When they see an issue like the veterans they think that's safe. It's very hard for anyone to attack somebody for defending a veteran. So that one they feel OK on. But when you get into any of these other issues whether it be immigration or the border or whatever it is you won't see that because there's more upside for Donald Trump and only downside for these candidates for getting into a fight with a guy who has a bull horn and who has all this media coverage. So for right now what the smart Republicans are going to try to do is they are going to try to take small hits at Trump when they can but basically stay out of his way, hope that his campaign implodes and hope that they're left standing there when it does. [Gorani:] And is it partly because of the media coverage? I mean you talked about the virtuous or vicious cycle here but there is an element of a cycle at play here where of course the more coverage you get, the more attention you get, and you at least get the opportunity to appeal to more and more potential voters. [Rogin:] Right. There's also a gap, right. There's this six month gap between where we are now and when people actually start voting. So if you're if you're game is to stay in it for the long haul and to really build your support organically and build infrastructure and be in the strongest position you can be in December, in January, in February when people start voting. Then your best play is to sort of take a measured low profile or at least a medium profile at this time. You see all the big candidates really doing that. Trump doesn't have to play that game `cause in the end he's not really gunning for you know to come out with the greatest momentum at the end. He might as well take his biggest shots now, he knows he'll probably flame out, he knows he probably won't make it to the general election. He's got nothing to lose therefore he can take big risks now. And that's the advantage that he has, that's what the media likes, that seems to be what the people who are getting polled like. That's not a long term strategy. That will eventually as we saw in the 2012 cycle with candidates like Michelle Bachman and Herman Cain will eventually reach a crescendo and then will start on the downturn. And that's where Trump really falls off. But by that point the damage to the Republican party and the other candidates might already be done. [Gorani:] And someone lastly with a very long term strategy is Hilary Clinton. What is going through her mind do you think right now as she watches this I mean some of her comments it's a sideshow, you know what is she thinking right now? [Rogin:] She's thinking this is a gift from heaven. I mean the entire you know if you look at Scott Walker or Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio their game is to care about their candidacy but also to care about their party, right. They want whoever wins the Republican primary to win the election so they aim most of their fire at Hilary Clinton, not much of their fire against each other. Right, for Hilary Clinton this is allowing the Republican party to just feed on itself, to really implode from within. It's the best case scenario for her. All she has to sit through is sit back and watch it happen, it's a really good thing for her. [Gorani:] Yes. Josh Rogin a columnist at Bloomberg and also one of our contributors. Thanks very much for being on this show this evening. [Rogin:] Any time. [Gorani:] This is the this is the World Right Now. Still ahead we focus on the problem of human trafficking. We've been talking about it a lot. It was discussed at the Pope's Vatican conference. Well hear one girl's story on how she became a victim and what hope there is to help prevent the exploitation of children. Also coming up, he's back home on safe ground but what did Champion surfer Mick Fanning, have to say about his near miss with that shark? Stay with us for more. In the documentary Children for Sale: the fight to end human trafficking, actress and activist Jada Pinkett Smith investigates how human trafficking is happening inside the United States. It's part of our effort here at CNN to report on modern day slavery wherever it happens. And in the clip we're about to show you she interviews a young survivor who was sold for sex. She says she was lured in by someone she thought was her friend. [Jada Pinkett Smith:] Sasha Ray was born and raised in Florida. By the time she 14 she was constantly being teased at school. [Sasha Ray:] What I got picked on a lot about was being black. I have really, really dark skin I guess. [Pinkett Smith:] She felt alone at home and at school. Sasha Ray says that's why when an older classmate offered friendship she jumped at it. [Ray:] I thought she was like my best friend `cause I could like tell her anything. One day she asked if you know I want to skip school, want to fun you know. So we went to this barber shop. When I was there she introduced me to these guys. [Pinkett Smith:] Sasha Ray's new friend had just led her to the man who would eventually become her trafficker. [Ray:] We talked about how I was going to make money, how it was going to be easy we didn't have to depend on no-body. Andy it was all sounding good and stuff so I fell for it. [Pinkett Smith:] Was there any kind of grooming process like when this first started. Or is it something that just happened and you and he was just expecting you to learn on the way? [Ray:] [inaudible] and I when we got closer he felt like he got closer to me. He usually did it out the back of the barber shop. And he even had people that worked with the post office mailman come in. A mailman came in and paid their money to him, came back there to me. [Gorani:] Well be sure to watch the CNN Freedom Project Documentary Children for Sale. It premieres at this hour tomorrow the hour we're in so we're going to be taking the evening off. But do tune in to that documentary at 8pm London time, 9pm in Berlin on CNN. Let us take a closer look at this problem and what is being done to stop it. I want to bring in Kevin Hyland, the United Kingdom's first independent anti-slavery commissioner. He's with us from Rome where he's been following the Vatican conference addressing human trafficking. Thank you sir for being with us. First I was looking at some of the numbers in the United Kingdom alone; up to 13,000 potential victims of slavery in the U.K. How could you define the problem of modern day slavery in a country like the United Kingdom? [Kevin Hyland, Independent Anti-slavery Commissioner:] Yes well that number is obviously truly shocking. And these are people who come from around the globe. They're people who are sometimes duped, promised that they'll earn lots of money, promises that will never actually come to reality. And when they come to the United Kingdom they're force into sometimes prostitution, forced labor, or sometimes sent out to commit crime or even get involved in issues like selling charity bags for gangs who are making millions of pounds that they're then returning to the criminal groups who operate sometimes within the United Kingdom but very often overseas. [Gorani:] And Mr. Hyland you mention that there were 151 convictions for slavery related offences for last year. And if we're talking here about 13,000 potential victims of slavery there's a big disconnect between the two numbers. Why is that? [Hyland:] And you're absolutely right about that and that's one of the issues that I'm really focusing on as the anti-slavery commissioner is those numbers. That we start with a number of potentially 13,000 victims. The numbers that are known to the authorities in the United Kingdom come down to 2,700 and then the numbers that end up in prosecutions are less than 150. So I'm really concerned about that and I think what it is is there isn't the resources allocated to this either nationally within the United Kingdom or internationally. This needs to be responded to as a crime where there's an issue of safeguarding. But it's organized criminality and a very serious crime. So I need to make sure that the resources that are required are being focused on this. But then also when the victims are identified that they are properly supported and that their accounts are recorded and those who commit these crimes are pursued and prosecuted, because at the moment that's not happening either in the United Kingdom or I don't think Internationally. [Gorani:] And why not? Is there I mean are authorities, police authorities, and I know you were in law enforcement previously before becoming the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner for the United Kingdom, is it that or is it fear on the part of those who are the victims of human trafficking who don't speak out, who don't seek help from police or authorities, or the government. What is it exactly here getting in the way of trying to make a real difference? [Hyland:] I think we should never blame the victims. This isn't down to the victims in any way shape or form, they are victims and they need to be supported. I think that the response is in some ways not coordinated properly. I think there aren't enough resources on this. If we look at other crimes that are involve what are commodities, drugs and guns, there are a lot of resources placed into the investigations of these types of crimes. But in this crime, the commodity is a human being, a human life. So across the United Kingdom and internationally there aren't the same level of resources allocated to investigate these crimes. But also there is a process of understanding. Again as the anti-slavery commissioner my role is about raising awareness, improving the training, and working internationally to coordinate across the United Kingdom but also internationally so that the intelligence flows are improved and that we can actually look in countries of source to look at how we can implement prevention. So when the crime does occur that we've got a coordinated response that goes right to the heart of the issues. Some of the areas I'm working in are like in Africa where I'm looking at. [Gorani:] In Nigeria I was going to sorry to jump in. [Hyland:] . some of the issues around. [Gorani:] . where you say Nigeria is a top priority I just wanted to get to Nigeria as we're running out of time. Nigeria top priority to tackle trafficking or people there. Why is the problem so significant there? [Hyland:] Well, in the United Kingdom, Nigeria has been in the top one or two countries for a long time and if we actually look at the issues there the research I conducted and the research by the International Organization of Migration shows that 98% of the women trafficked into Europe come from one state. And that goes back to some of the trade back in the 80s when women were involved in legitimate trades but criminals have muscled in on you know on prostitution and forced labor crimes. So I'm working very much with the Nigerian authorities, Civil Society, the church across Nigeria, but also looking at how we in the United Kingdom can assist in improving not just the response with the United Kingdom but internationally to actually prevent this crime from happening. But as I say throughout to support victims when they do become victims of these awful crimes. [Gorani:] All right, Kevin Hyland, well we can only wish you good luck. It's a tough job you have. The UK's first independent anti-slavery commissioner joining us from Rome. Thank you very much. And coming up when we return. Was it an inside job or is it just Karma for promoting something that you shouldn't necessarily be proud of? As members of the website Ashley Madison worry about their personal information in the hands of hackers we ask is Ashley Madison at risk of being sued by its users? And champion surfer, Mick Fanning, is back on [inaudible] speaking out again about that near miss with a shark seen around the world. Quite the home coming to remember for a surfer, Mick Fanning. The three time World Champion is back in Australia after a shark attack that stunned the world. Fanning says the encounter could take months to recover from but he is amazed to be home in one piece, listen to this. [Mick Fanning:] To walk away from you know a shark attack with not a scratch on you it's like it's a miracle really. You know I spoke to different people, I actually had dinner with a guy who had been attacked three times and you know it was just like yes, I dunno you just count your lucky stars and if there is someone up there looking after us, thanks. [Gorani:] There you have it. There's more fall out today by the way from the hack of extra-marital affair website, Ashley Madison. So if you're one of the 1.2 million estimated users here in the United Kingdom and you are worried news of your affair could come out, there may be some legal avenues to go down. Let's bring in our Samuel Burke with news you can use. Hi Samuel. [Samuel Burke, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Hi there, Hala. Well 1.2 million is really a drop in the bucket. We've been reporting over and over again about Ashleymadison.com. And we keep on talking about the threat from these hackers to publish information but Hala the unfortunate news is that the hackers have begun publishing the information that's according to research security research, Brian Krebs who's very well respected. [Burke:] And we now have this confirmed from the company that owns Ashley Madison.com. In a statement they said the following confirming information about these records being published "using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, also known as DMCA, our team has now successfully removed the post related to this incident as well as all personally identifiable information about our users published online." So what this security researcher is saying that a very small amount of information was published, and they were able to bring it off the internet. If that all sounds like bureaucratic speak it's quite interestingly actually. Basically that Copyright Act is usually what's used to bring down songs or music videos that people publish and they don't have the rights to. But in this case the legal maneuver is that companies use is to say if somebody publishes your information whether it's very private photos you have or conversations you've had with somebody else about having an affair well that information belongs to you. It's a copyright and so they're bringing that information down. But again, some of this information has already been published online. [Gorani:] And it was removed though or can it be found somewhere else? I mean presumably it's easy to replicate and post it somewhere else, right? [Burke:] It's been removed. We haven't been able to find it again for ourselves at CNN. But again, once something goes up the likelihood that it can then be found again goes up infinitely and we have to remind people that the hackers said that every day that this company Avid Life Media doesn't take down these websites, again it's not just Ashleymadison.com but also cougarlife.com and establishedmen.com. Every day that this company does not take down the websites that you're seeing right in front of you on your television set right now they say that they will continue to post more and more information, personal records, possibly even financial records of the people who use these websites. [Gorani:] Well we for for a I was going to say research purposes we did go onto Cougerlife.com. I didn't complete the registration because it required an email and I wasn't about to give my email. But it does really ask many questions, you know. And you have to I presume then verify your membership and provide some sort of credit card et cetera. But say you're one of the unfortunate people whose data was stolen. Can you sue? What can you do? You can talk to lawyers about this? [Burke:] Yes well I have to say you know some of these websites make you chuckle the names and everything but the truth of the matter is if you add up all the websites that we've just been showing, it all adds up to about 40 million users and certainly no laughing matter for them. And the lawyers that we've been speaking with say look the laws have changed more and more to put make it so that there can be more liability for these companies of data breaches, so there are going to be people suing more than likely. [Gorani:] All right, Samuel Burke, thanks very much in New York. I'm Hala Gorani, Quest Means Business is next. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] Donald Trump is now saying he is hardening his immigration plan, just one day after he said he is softening it or appeared to be softening it. We are digging in what Donald Trump really thinks about immigration. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Plus, the battle over bigotry. Explosive charges. A blistering speech from Hillary Clinton laying out what she sees as Donald Trump's ties to racism. He responds, calling Hillary Clinton a bigot. Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. I'm John Berman. [Romans:] I'm Christine Romans. It is Friday. It is 31 minutes past the hour. OK. Overnight, everything changed when it comes to Donald Trump's immigration plan or changed back or didn't. At this point, it's quite frankly difficult to tell. But it is all playing out here with the interview on CNN. The question is, does Donald still believe that all 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States need to go, by force if necessary? Until last week, he said yes. But then he seemed to say no. Some could stay. We will work with them, he said. A softening it was called. But now in an interview with Anderson Cooper, Trump is back to saying undocumented immigrants will have no path to legal status unless they leave the country first. CNN's Jason Carroll is breaking it down for us this morning. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] Christine, John, the Trump campaign trying to sort through the muddled message on immigration. The Trump campaign has been very specific saying that Trump has been consistent when it comes to his point of view, saying that he always said no path to citizenship. No amnesty. But what is clear is that the message is unclear and the only one who can clear it up is Donald Trump. Listen to how he tried to clear up the message last night with Anderson Cooper. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] If they haven't committed a crime, is there a path to citizenship? [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] No, there is not a path there is no path to legalization, unless people leave the country well, they come back in, if they come back in, then they can start paying taxes. There is no path to legalization unless they leave the country and come back. [Carroll:] So, that's what he told CNN's Anderson Cooper, but he's also made other conflicting statements in other interviews on the subject of immigration. [Trump:] They'll pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes. There's no amnesty, as such. There's no amnesty. [Sean Hannity, Fox News:] Right. [Trump:] But we work with them. Now, OK, when I look at it and everybody agrees we get the bad ones out. When I go through and meet thousands of people on the subject, and I've had very strong people come up to me. Really great, great people come up to me. They said, Mr. Trump, I love you. But to take a person that's been here for 15 or 20 years and throw them and the family out, it's so tough, Mr. Trump. I've had it all the time. It's a very, very hard thing. You're going to have to send people out. I would get people out and have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal. They've got to go out. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] But how do you do it in a practical way? You really think [Trump:] They've got to leave. You're going to have a deportation force. [Carroll:] I spoken to a number of Trump supporters who said if Trump softens his position on immigration, Trump is going to end up losing their votes. One supporter in particular told me that one of the reasons why he likes Donald Trump so much is because he is plain spoken and clearly this is a subject where he is not as clear as he needs to be. Once again, the only one who can ultimately clear this up is Donald Trump. The campaign hoping will finally be able to do that when he delivers his policy speech on immigration next Wednesday in Phoenix Christine, John. [Berman:] All right. Jason, thanks so much. To be clear, Donald Trump's latest position to Anderson Cooper last night was that all 11 million undocumented immigrants have to go before they come back to get status. That is the new latest old position but it's the one we know right now that he told Anderson about. Now, his shifts on immigration are drawing fire from Jeb Bush whom Trump beat for the Republican nomination, while attacking Bush's stances on immigration. Some of the positions Trump held at least temporarily the past week seemed to echo those of Bush. This was before he changed again. One example, back when Trump was advocating deporting all 11 undocumented immigrants, Bush advocating letting some stay as long as they meet a long list of criteria. Now in a radio interview, Bush says this is all a game to Trump. [Jeb Bush , Former Presidential Candidate:] Well, I can only say that whatever his views are this morning, they may change and they were different than last night and they'll be different from tomorrow. So, I can't comment on his views because his views are they seem to be ever changing depending on what crowd he's in front of. He sounds like a typical politician, by the way, where you get in front of one crowd and say one thing and then say something else to another crowd that may want to hear a different view. All the things that Donald Trump railed against, he seems to be morphing into it's kind of disturbing. [Romans:] All right. On top of everything having to do immigration, there is the battle over bigotry. Hillary Clinton delivered a blistering speech in Nevada, laying out what she sees as Donald Trump's connection to racist speech, action and policy. But in the interview with Anderson Cooper, Trump basically said I know you are, but what am I. Hillary Clinton is a bigot, he says. Listen. [Cooper:] You called last night Hillary Clinton a bigot. Previously, you called her policies bigoted. You directly called her a bigot. [Trump:] She is a bigot, because when you look at what's happening to the inner cities and you look at what's happening to African-Americans and Hispanics in this country where she talks all of the time, she's talking look at the vets, where she said the vets are being treated essentially just fine, that it's over exaggerated what's happening to the vets not so long ago. [Cooper:] How is she bigoted? Bigoted is having hatred toward a particular group. [Trump:] She's selling them down the tubes, because she's not doing anything for those communities. She talks a good game. [Cooper:] So she has hatred or dislike of people? [Trump:] Her policies are bigoted are bigoted her policies are bigoted because she knows they're not going to work. [Cooper:] But you're saying she's personally bigoted. [Trump:] She is. Of course, she is. Her policies and she comes up with the policies, and others that believe like she does also, like she came out with policies over the years. This is over the years, a long time. She's totally bigoted. There's no question about that. Look at what [Cooper:] But it does imply that she doesn't she has antipathy, she has hatred toward [Trump:] I think she I think she is extremely, extremely bad for African-Americans. I think she's been extremely bad for Hispanics. You look at what's happened with her policies and the policies of President Obama and others. Look at the poverty, look at the rise in poverty and look at the rise in violence. [Cooper:] But hatred is at the core of that or dislike of African- Americans? [Trump:] Well or maybe she's lazy. [Berman:] All right. Now, this all started from Donald Trump because Hillary Clinton had scheduled what her campaign billed as a big speech directed at Donald Trump charging him essentially of racism and arguing he has handed the Republican Party over to a paranoid fringe element. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is following the Clinton campaign. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] John and Christine, Hillary Clinton has delivered a lot of speeches about Trump, but here has never been any quite like the one she gave Thursday here in Reno. She questioned Donald Trump's connection to the alt-right movement, that is this growing movement on the Internet largely, white supremacist and others. She says it is a divisive, dangerous radical movement, and it's unprecedented for a presidential candidate like Donald Trump to be involved with. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Nominee:] Now, of course, there's always been a paranoid fringe in our politics, a lot of it rising from racial resentment. But it's never had the nominee of a major party stoking it, encouraging it and giving it a national mega phone until now. [Zeleny:] Now, during her speech, she cited specific examples from Bob Dole during his 1996 convention when he said racists should leave the party. She talked about George W. Bush, who embraced Muslim after 911. She even talked about John McCain who criticized those who question President Obama's faith back in 2008. She said that Donald Trump simply is a different kind of Republican. She said this is a different type of conservatism. She called it dangerous. And she asked Republicans to look inside themselves and join her campaign. The question, of course, is she a credible messenger to them? Will they actually follow her lead? John and Christine? [Romans:] All right. Jeff Zeleny in Reno for us. A new Clinton campaign video is also accusing Trump of racism, connecting Trump to the Ku Klux Klan, charging him with being slow to disavow the support of white supremacist like former KKK leader David Duke. In a tweet, Trump responded she should be ashamed of herself. And late last night, he rejected the support of racist voters. [Reporter:] Do you want white supremacists to vote for you? [Trump:] No, I don't at all, not at all. And I will tell you, this is not about hate. This is about love. We love our country. We want our country to come back. We want our country to be strong again. [Berman:] A federal judge set a deadline for the State Department to deliver some of Hillary Clinton's e-mails uncovered by the FBI with the clock ticking toward Election Day. The State Department must hand the e-mails over to the conservative legal group Judicial Watch by September 13th. The order is limited to documents related to the Benghazi attacks. [Romans:] All right. Time for an early start on your money. The world hanging on every single word from one powerful woman, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen this morning, speaks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at a confab of central bankers. Look for hints of the timing of the next interest rate hike. In the U.S., stocks fell in anticipation of those remarks. The health care sector lost nearly 1 percent yesterday. That's thanks largely to EpiPen maker Mylan who is under fire for raising the price of the life-saving drug more than 400 percent since 2009. And the ex-pharmaceutical CEO Martin Shkreli, he is now defending the price increase. He made headlines last year when his company raised the price of a drug 5,000 percent overnight. He blames the health care system for Mylan's price hike. That echoes the sentiment of Mylan's CEO who announced yesterday that company would take steps to make the drug more affordable. Those measures include a $300 savings card, increase in financial assistance. That came under fire and people said why not roll back the price increase? Why a card to give people you know, a little bit of It is still a higher price than people paid a few years ago. [Berman:] But they know what it's like to be in PR firestorm right now. They sure do. [Romans:] Oh, yes. [Berman:] All right. Overnight, aftershocks in Italy get anything the way of the rescue efforts and recovery efforts after the devastating earthquake in the mountainous region there. We're going to go live for an update, next. [Cabrera:] This week on "Beyond the Call," a police officer in Miami comes face to face with man trying to blow up an underground gasoline storage tank. Their violent confrontation was all caught on camera. CNN's Ed Lavandera shows us what happened. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] On an October night in Miami, Dominic Jean tried setting fired to an 8,000-gallon underground storage tank at this gas station next to the Miami International Airport. Surveillance shows the smoke smoldering as Jean grabs a gas pump and starts dousing the ground. [Ofc. Mario Gutierrez, Miami-dade County Police Department:] It scared me because I thought, wow, we're going to die. [Lavandera:] That's Miami-Dade County police officer, Mario Gutierrez, who happened to be patrolling the area, racing in, jumps out of his car, hits the emergency shut-off to the gas pumps, then finds himself standing over a simmering time bomb, unsure if the gas tanks would explode. [Gutierrez:] There would have been a massive chaos. They would have thought it was terrorism. Who knows? They wouldn't have been able to talk to me because I would have been nothing but vaporized. [Lavandera:] Gutierrez tried stopping Jean with a taser but it doesn't work. Jean starts wildly trying to stab Gutierrez with a knife and a screwdriver. [Gutierrez:] He came for my throat and I blocked it. [Lavandera:] Gutierrez falls to the ground. Jean viciously swings at him more than 20 times. [Gutierrez:] That was a fight to the death and only o person was going to walk away from that. [Lavandera:] Gutierrez was stabbed about a dozen times but he's able to briefly kick the man off just long enough to grab his gun, firing five times, killing Jean on the spot. [Gutierrez:] I never heard the gunshots. All I heard was the clinking of the shell casings hitting the ground. [Lavandera:] It only lasted 30 seconds, but dealing with the emotions hasn't always easy. [Gutierrez:] I felt like like I failed. I was I need to know that I put up a fight, that I fought this guy, because I didn't remember. I don't no recollection of it. So that really bothered me. [Lavandera:] These days, Officer Gutierrez patrols the Miami airport alongside his hero. [on camera]: So who are these guys we're going to go see? [Gutierrez:] You'll see, one, Juan Leon, who saved my life. [Lavandera:] It was Officer Juan Leon who found Gutierrez laying on the ground bleeding that night. [Ofc. Juan Leon, Miami-dade County Police Department:] When I pulled up, I knew he was he trouble. His brown shirt was completely covered. It was just red. [Lavandera:] Leon raced his friend to the hospital just in time to save his life. [Gutierrez:] He's my brother. He's my brother. [Lavandera:] That's the unbreakable bond of officers on the front lines. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Miami [Cabrera:] Tough story to watch. Amazing video, but he's OK. NEWSROOM continues right now. Top of the hour. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Anchor:] International Correspondent Nick Paton Walsh. He is in Rio. And, Nick, let's start here with these brand new details about what unfolded at a gas station. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Brianna, this is just breathtaking, to be honest. A police source is saying that when the athletes got to this gas station, that they were drunk. That they tore a sign off one of the walls there, effectively vandalizing it. But then, the staff there and those athletes came to some sort of accommodation where they agreed when the police arrived that charges weren't necessary to be filed against them. So, a scene there that doesn't necessarily sound like the altercation we've heard from a separate source that may have occurred there. There's been a suggestion in a key Brazilian media outlet here, Globo, which released to CCTV. You may see shortly that, in fact, they urinated in a side alley way there. The CCTV that's being released does purport to back some of that up. But we're, on a broader scale, here talking about a fairly small ultracation at a gas station here in which the police source says no weapons were actually drawn. But somehow this scuffle or dispute merited, it appears, certainly if you listen to the Brazilian side of story here, an enormous excuse to be made up by Mr. Lochte who referred to how he was actually a victim of an armed robbery perpetrated by men disguised as police. Now, we have not heard from Mr. Lochte or his attorney. We've asked for comment from him. Mr. Lochte, as of yesterday, was sticking by his original story, although subsequent interviews have suggested discrepancies in that story. But there is now a fairly consistent picture we're hearing from Brazilian authorities, backed up by the search and seizure warrants released by a court, nonetheless, here yesterday. A police source also telling us they believe the investigation has shown that there was not actually a robbery there. You'll see this CCTV increasing, I think, calls for a better explanation from Mr. Lochte and the swimmers. And possibility also, too, from U.S. Olympic officials. Now, the first suggestion is there may have been discrepancies in this when the story emerged early this week. But people are now, of course, asking at what point did the U.S. Olympic Committee know there may have been a problem with this story? When did Brazilian authorities present them with that information. And if they were misled for a lengthy period of time, what reprimand, potentially, might there be against the athletes? A lot of questions to be answered today. I should point out, again, we have not heard from Mr. Lochte or any of the other three swimmers, Mr. Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger and James Feigen. We haven't heard their side of the story. And the last time we did, they said they stuck to what they originally said. Now, two of them, Mr. Bentz and Mr. Conger, are, we understand, currently with or may have just left police, giving their first statement to them. But, my god, has this story moved on incredibly quickly. Brazil always keen to, perhaps, undermine the original narrative, that this was armed robbers dressed up as police because it does make it very dangerous, frankly, [Keilar:] And I wonder what you think, Nick, because Ryan Lochte actually posted an Instagram video today. And he was joking around with someone. This was at the same time that Brazilian police are casting you see, he's doing the, sort of, facial distortion thing in a in a selfie with someone else. What about the optics of this? [Walsh:] Well, I mean, look, he's probably trying to show a lighthearted face about all of this. At the end of the day, if the story at the gas station is true, then they you know, they're, sort of, clowning around or, perhaps, being mildly offensive to those who actually worked there. But they're not guilty of any major crime necessarily. And they seem to have smoothed it all over there. The question you have to ask now is, at what point did Brazilian police know all about this? And did they have a report or did they just dismiss it as being, you know, something that happens in the small hours of a Sunday morning here? But we've also heard from a Brazilian Olympic official today who, too, has, without going into the details of what they think happened, talked about how, you know, young men, in a city like this, successful, great sportsmen, do something silly. Let's move on. These things happen in life. So, I think people will try, perhaps, and but [INAUDIBLE.] But we have a remarkable international incident here of search and seizure warrants, athletes taken off planes, and all it seems, at this stage, because of the difference in the story the swimmers told, which was a pretty dark embankment, frankly, of a crime scene here in Rio De Janeiro, the host city of the games they were competing in and what Brazilian authorities said actually happened. It has been remarkable to watch it unfold but, also, in retrospect, I wonder how easy this all would have been to avoid? [Keilar:] Yes. And that story that Ryan Lochte told initially was that someone cocked a gun and put it to his forehead. I mean, just the fearfulness of that image for sure. Nick Paton Walsh in Rio. [Walsh:] How could you make that up? Absolutely. [Keilar:] Yes, exactly. And then, it seemed like he changed his story. So, we're trying to get to the bottom of this. And this report really helps. Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much, in Rio. I want to get the latest in who knew that we would be going here for information on this. But we want to get latest from the State Department. Their spokesman, John Kirby, joins me now live. John, are thank you so much for talking to us about this. Is the State Department involved in any way here? [John Kirby, Spokesman, U.s. State Department:] Well, look, there's not a lot I can actually say about this case. We're certainly monitoring press reports and aware of what we've seen through the media. This is really an issue for the parties to talk about and not for the State Department. As you know, though, we take the safety and security of American citizens abroad very, very seriously, wherever they are. And that includes at the Olympics. And we have consular officers at that are stationed throughout Rio to try to help Americans who are in need. But I'm really not allowed to go in any more detail than that. [Keilar:] Are you in touch with any of the swimmers or their families or coaches? [Kirby:] Well, again, for privacy considerations, Brianna, I'm really not at liberty to discuss this issue in any more detail. I'm sorry about that but there's just a real limit to what we can say. [Keilar:] OK. So, in a situation like this where someone and certainly these are people of prominence. But someone maybe gets into issues abroad, is there, sort of, an automatic response from the State Department proactively touching base or do you rely on someone asking for assistance? [Kirby:] So, in general cases, again not speaking to this and we have consular offices all over the world and trained officers that are that are equipped to handle all kinds of different requests from Americans who are in need overseas. And that is, as I said, in the case in Brazil. It's certainly the case in Rio where have a consulate. And we have people there that are that are equipped and trained to deal with cases like this. Sometimes it is based on request for assistance, people come to us and say, hey, I need some help. Maybe I'm in some legal trouble or something like that. Other times, if it's the result of a natural disaster or something where we obviously know there are potential American citizens in need, you know, we'll reach out the best we can. We don't always have, in every case, great information about everybody that's in a foreign country at any given time. [Keilar:] I do want to ask you about something else while I have you here. [Kirby:] Sure. [Keilar:] As you know, of course, Russia has confirmed it is using an air base in Iran to launch attacks in Syria. [Kirby:] Right. [Keilar:] What's the official U.S. position on this and how does this complicate efforts to work with Russia to halt the fighting in Syria? [Kirby:] Well, our position is the same as it has been, Brianna, and that's that there can't be a military solution to the civil conflict in Syria. And, regrettably, the regime continues to try to find the military solution and they have been supported in that effort at various times and at various levels by the Russian military. What we've long said is that what we need here is a political solution. Russia is a member of the international Syria support group. What we'd like to see is that the focus be less on trying to find military answers and more on trying to work with us on the proposals that Secretary Kerry has proposed to try to get the cessation of hostilities to be enforceable throughout the country. That's where the focus needs to be. Not on more military solutions. Not on more bombing in and around Aleppo. That is just doing nothing but putting more civilians in harm's way. You probably saw that video and the images of that young boy today. [Keilar:] Yes. [Kirby:] It's absolutely heartbreaking. Absolutely heartbreaking and absolutely unnecessary, if we can work towards getting these proposals in place and stopping the violence. [Keilar:] So, you've seen that photo and that's something [Kirby:] Yes. [Keilar:] that's gone viral. I mean, it's just [Kirby:] Absolutely. [Keilar:] it just gets you right here. It's so disturbing. [Kirby:] Yes. [Keilar:] I think it's this uni sort of a universal image, I think, for so many people. What is your hope? I mean, it's terrible. But it's also something that, sort of, shakes people and reminds them, look, this is happening. [Kirby:] Yes. [Keilar:] This is happening to small children. What is your hope that it affects? [Kirby:] For that little boy as I understand, that little boy is about five years old which means that for every day he's been alive, he's known nothing but conflict and war. And there's a whole generation of young people in Syria now who have who are dealing with this and will live with this for the rest of their lives. What we want and what we're trying to get to is a Syria that can inclusive and peaceful and stable and secure. But it can't be so with Bashar Al Assad still in power. And so, again, Russia is a part of the international Syria support group. Russia signed onto the U.N. Security Council resolution that calls for a political transitional government process here to get to a government that's more responsive to the Syrian people so that Syrian children don't have to live in this kind of violence and this kind of uncertainty. And not to mention that the that little boy and the destruction of Aleppo, but now you have millions and millions of Syrians who have fled the country to try to find safety outside the borders. We want them to be able to come home and have a peaceful life there in Syria. And that's what the State Department, what Secretary Kerry, what the president is so focused on. We've got to find this political solution. We've got to work through this diplomatically. [Keilar:] It is just so jarring to see these images as we're showing them to our viewers. We know they're disturbing but they're so important to see, I think. And it really is [Kirby:] Yes. [Keilar:] a lot of times, it is once you, sort of, realize what the children are going through, that people really start to take note of the tragedy that has been going on now for far too long. And we certainly [Kirby:] It is a [Keilar:] appreciate you. [Kirby:] It's a very human tragedy. And as a father, myself, it's extraordinarily difficult to look at an image like that. But it is as you said, it's a very stark reminder of the stakes [Keilar:] Yes. [Kirby:] there in Syria and why it's so important to end the violence and find a diplomatic solution forward. [Keilar:] Yes, people see their little kids in that little boy right there. State Department spokesman, [Kirby:] Absolutely. [Keilar:] John Kirby. Thank you very much. [Kirby:] You bet. [Keilar:] For more on the legal fallout to all of this, back now to this issue with the American swimmers in Rio, I want to bring now legal analyst and writer for "Sport Illustrated," Michael McCann. And so, Michael, we appreciate you being with us. This is such a bizarre story. You have a Brazilian police source telling CNN that they believe there was no robbery which is what we thought at first, right? We thought that these guys had been held up at gunpoint for their wallets. So, if that's the case, if this didn't happen, how much trouble could the swimmers be in? [Michael Mccann, Attorney:] Well, Brianna, they could be charged with lying to the police. They could be charged with filing a false police report, obstruction of justice, maybe trespass and possibly vandalism as well. If there was a physical altercation with anyone, there could be assault and battery. There are a litany of potential crimes, although it remains to be seen if they'll be charged with anything. My gut is that this will be resolved diplomatically, rather than through a protracted legal process. [Keilar:] OK. So, you're and when we've heard about what the other side of this story is, that there was a urination on the side of the gas station, some people have said, oh, that sounds silly. I mean, it sounds also stupid that they would do that. But the stupid thing would be, if true that they fabricated this story, that's really the issue here. It's, sort of, the I guess the cover-up of whatever it was that happened. They wouldn't face anything for that, for giving false statements? [Mccann:] It could. And it's look, it's a crime in Brazil. It's a crime in the United States. It's a crime anywhere to give false statements to the police. For good reason because you could direct the police on a search and have them arrest the wrong person, someone who's innocent. You could direct the police on a search that wastes their time, their energy, where they could be stopping crime and preventing other crime. So, it is a big deal. I think the question is, sort of, how will the State Department and we heard a spokesman earlier on the show talk about not really answering how this will play out. But the State Department here is a crucial actor to try to prevent charges from being filed. Try to create an amicable solution, maybe an apology, for instance, a public apology would work. Something along those lines. [Keilar:] OK. And so, you mentioned what John Kirby was saying which was that he really can't say anything specifically about this. But what is your expectation about it sounds like you think it would be the State Department is pretty involved in trying to broker something here. [Mccann:] Yes, I would imagine the State Department's very involved, at this point. They are the key actors here. They can help the swimmers get legal counsel, local legal counsel, who really know the process. And also, reach out to Brazilian authorities and try to say, look, maybe they did something stupid. Maybe they lied about it. It's it is a big deal and not try to discount it. But, at the same time, try to say, the Olympics were very successful. Let's try to resolve this in a way that doesn't have a protracted international controversy. We'll see what happens though. [Keilar:] One of the guys involved here, of course Ryan Lochte, one of the best swimmers in the world. What kind of mark does that leave if this does move towards an apology, if it is true that they fabricated their stories, what kind of mark did that leave on his Olympic performance and also that of these other guys? [Mccann:] Well, I think it really would be a sad ending to what has been an amazing Olympics for the United States, for Lochte and others to possibly be involved in a cover-up or lying to the police. Again, let's see what happens. Let's I don't want to say they did something wrong until we know that for sure. But if it turns out that they, in fact, were untruthful, it would be embarrassing to Lochte, but also really to what has been a great Olympics for the United States, that this would maybe over shadow. So, it could hurt his endorsement income, for instance. And he's someone who has been on television. It could hurt his ability to be on T.V. in the future, I imagine. But, on the other hand, you know, he's someone who, I think, has a reputation for being you know, I don't want to say controversial. But in the news, he might be able to navigate through this. But it's certainly not a good thing. [Keilar:] Yes, he's definitely idiosyncratic. We will definitely say that about Ryan Lochte. He has a reputation for that. Thank you so much. Michael McCann with "Sport Illustrated." He's a legal analyst there. We appreciate it. [Mccann:] Thanks, Brianna. [Keilar:] Now, still ahead, we will dig into political headlines, like Hillary Clinton versus Donald Trump on law and order and the effect that the Trump campaign shakeup could have on this race. [Costello:] Millions of "Star Wars" fans are quite simply freaking out right now. Han Solo, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and a melted Darth Vader mask. All this and a whole lot more appeared in the new and long-awaited "Star Wars" trailer. Here's a look. [" [Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Trailer) Costello:] I'm mesmerized by that, Nischelle Turner. It's just simple It's kind of cool, right? [Nischelle Turner, Cnn Contributor:] Kind of? I mean, it's all the way cool. I'm ready, Carol. I was talking to Michaela and Brian Stelter on "NEW DAY" just a little bit ago. Michaela said, you know, I was on the fence until I saw the trailer. I wasn't. I was ready before I saw the trailer and now that I've seen it, I'm even more so. You know, it really did I think it was genius, No. 1, for them to release this trailer during Monday Night Football because it kind of gave an added excitement and also brought more eyeballs to the table. But it's already been viewed, this trailer, over 9 million times. People are really going gaga if I can say that gaga over the release of "Star Wars [Vii:] The Force Awakens." I guess the fans are awakened if I can say that [Costello:] They're not selling tickets already, are they? [Turner:] They are. They started selling tickets last night online. A lot of the websites crashed because there was such interest. They are back up and running today, but you can see just the amount of people that have gone, trying to buy these tickets pre-sale. There's 58 days until the movie opens, but still there are so many tickets that are sold out already. They're actually already showing up on eBay. People are trying to resell them for hundreds of dollars. [Costello:] I can't believe that. Why do you think people are so I mean, I watched "Star Wars", the original "Star Wars", because I'm old enough to watch the originals and I loved it, but it's cheesy if you watch it now. So, why are people so emotionally connected to these characters? [Turner:] Well, because for movie lovers like me, it's because we love the movie, we love the franchise. You know, what this movie is doing is actually blending the old with the new. I mean, we did see in the trailer we saw Han Solo, we saw Princess Leia, and we And so that gives us the excitement of that. We saw Chewbacca. Who we did not see is Luke Skywalker. So everyone wants to see We know that Mark Hamill's in the movie. We were talking about this earlier as well. He is in the movie. We did not see him in the trailer. So the big question is, where is Luke Skywalker? We also saw John Boyega, who you see right there, he plays Finn. We saw him with the light saber, we saw him go up against Kylo Ren, who basically is going to be the new dark side, we think, because we saw him talking to the helmet, saying I will finish what you started. So we're wondering Is he a Jedi? There's so many questions, there's so many things that need to be answered in the film. [Costello:] Luke Skywalker is in the melted Darth Vader mask. [Turner:] Oh, Carol. [Becky Anderson:] The sky is the limit, right? Well, not quite. Restrictions on personal electronics on flights to the U.S. from 10 international airports in the Middle East and Africa is rolled out. We are live in Dubai and Washington and in London as the UK considers a similar ban. We'll break down what this all means for travelers and for the airlines. Also ahead... [James Comey, Fbi Director:] The FBI, as part of our counterintelligence mission, is investigating the Russian government's efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election. [Anderson:] As U.S. intelligence agencies ramp up their allegations against Russia. We get the take of an ex-Soviet spy on the new cold war. Plus, from armed struggle to peace negotiations we look at the life and legacy of the Irish politician, Martin McGuinness. It is just after 7:00 in Abu Dhabi. Hello and welcome to Connect the World. I'm Becky Anderson for you. Well, no one really seems to know what's going on. A lot of people are going to be caught up in it, though, and some are wondering if it will even work. Yep, there is a new ban flying out of the White House. And this time, it is not about who you are, but about what you own. In just four days from now, anybody taking any direct flight to the United States from any of these eight Muslim-majority countries will be stopped from taking many of their electronic devices to their seats. Now, they'll have to go in their checked luggage instead. So, how do you know tell if you're allowed your stuff? Well it's bigger if it's bigger than a cell phone and it uses a battery, the answer is almost definitely no. And we're hearing that Britain could be about to bring a similar ban. So why is this happening? Well CNN's Muhammad Lila is down in Dubai for us. Dubai caught up in all of this, of course, and John Defterios has the bigger picture with me here in Abu Dhabi. Let's start with you, Muhammad, what's in the fine print here and what's behind all of this. [Muhammad Lila, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Becky, one of the ways to understand this electronics ban is that it's not targeting specific people, but what those people are carrying with them on to certain aircraft. So, for example, it doesn't matter where you're from, what nationality is, what passport you hold or religion is, if you are getting on a plane from one of these affected airports with a direct flight to the United States, you won't be able allowed to carry any electronic device onto that plane's cabin if it's larger than a smartphone. Now, in terms of the number of airports, there are 10 affected airports involved, including, Ishould say, some of the world's busiest. For example, the Dubai airport right behind me, bills itself as a major transit hub, one of the busiest airports in the world, certainly in this region. While the Dubai airport is affected by this as is the airport in Abu Dhabi, other airports affected include Istanbul, Amman, Jeddah, and Doha. So, we could talk about thousands of people in these flights that are flying on direct flights to the United States every day that will be affected by this electronics ban. Now, we could talk about the confusion that this creates at check-in. We could talk about the lack of productivity that this means, as well as the security of the electronic devices. Now, the Trump administration says this is in response to a very specific terror threat that they've received, but the only problem with that is that there's no expiration date given on when this electronics plan will be lifted. So, effectively what this means is that this electronics ban is indefinite for now at least until the Trump administration decides otherwise. [Anderson:] So, Muhammad, I hope you can hear me, you look as if you're having slight problems with your earpiece. But if you can hear me, how is this ban briefly going to be implemented? [Lila:] Well, that's the big question, right. I mean if you think about the last travel ban that the Trump administration tried to implement, it was accused of being very haphazard and it wasn't organized and the rollout was very confused. Well, in this case they're offering, the Trump administration says, there will be a 96-hour implementation period. So, the directive was given today on Monday. What it means is that by Thursday or Friday, certainly by the weekend, all of the airlines are expected to be complying with this. And for those that don't, the Trump administration has threatened to withdraw the travel certification. In other words, if those airlines don't comply, their travel rights to operate those direct flights to the United States will be withdrawn. So, certainly, there's a very big threat there involved as well. [Anderson:] Muhammed Lila is down close to Dubai International Airport. John is with me here in the bureau. You've been hitting the phones to all the big players all day, John. How are they responding? [John Defterios, Cnn Emerging Markets Editor:] Well, we've had a variety of responses, Becky. But before we jump into that, I think we have to look at the very wide scope of it all. They've had eight hours to digest the information. They have 96 hours to comply. So, the hard deadline, if you will, to the sources I've been speaking to, is Saturday. Let's see the pace of implementation here, both Etihad and Emirates say they'll all the time and go into place on Saturday, that's the same for Turkish Airways. Egypt Air said they'll be ready to go on Friday. Now, the early movers are royal Jordanian. They said it goes into effect today. Then I spoke to the head of sales and marketing. And he told me, look, we're lacking some information. There's a lot of confusion, more questions raised from the statements from the TSA, the Department of Homeland Security than answers. So, they pulled the extra information off of their website. Saudi, which is based is Jeddah, has a flight a day to New York. They said they will start implementation on Wednesday. But to give you a sense of the challenge, Qatar Airways, who I spoke to at least five or six times during the day said, look, we feed passengers in, say for example from India, or Pakistan. Perhaps they get on the flight with the laptop because the authorities in those airports aren't aware of what's going on. We want to have a situation set-up so we can take that laptop or another electronic device and put it into the hull of the plane and still not have to take them off the flight. Trying to do that within a 96-hour window is not simple. So, it gives you a sense of the chaos that could be covered here. But the carriers not wanting to lose passengers because of this, what they see as a last-minute implementation of a very difficult task here with electronic bans. [Anderson:] I mean, Muhammad pointing out that these airports are global hubs. The airports are incredibly important to the economies of this, the Gulf region. We've been talking about the idea of what happens to somebody in transit here. And we have very little information, like you say. What happens to people who fly from one place, say Pakistan into Dubai or Doha or Abu Dhabi and then on? It's really not clear. [Defterios:] No, it's not clear. So, the reality is if you're a carrier that's flying from any of those countries that have been identified, you have to make sure you adhere to the directive coming from those two agencies in the United States. But Muhammad brought up a very good point. They thought it was never- ending this directive. I talked to sources at Emirates Airlines in the last two hours. They've repeated the email to me saying we see it as a directive that goes through October 14, 2017, for about six and a half months right now. But this raises other questions, Becky. And some political issues as well. First, two temporary travel bans. That scared off a lot of passengers. If you look at the Emirates details they sent to me today, they said that the pace of bookings from the very first travel ban, the second travel ban and now the electronic ban has slowed down by 35 percent. They're not saying revenues right now, but the rate of bookings that they're watching very carefully have slowed down. So they're saying one hurdle, two hurdles. Now this is the third hurdle. And this is a political issue. You know all about it, because that's the open skies agreement. You know that President Trump has been lobbied by the major U.S. carriers to do something about what they see as unfair competition by the Gulf carriers. Nobody is saying it right now, but it's a question mark being raised. Why is this being implemented at this stage after those two temporary bans? [Anderson:] All right, that's the view, then, from this part of the world there will be those who say this stinks of protectionism. We have, though, been told this is a credible threat and a reaction to that. Let's get the wider picture for you now, including as I just mentioned, that there is some news out of Britain right now. Downing Street, considering a similar ban to that coming from the White House. CNN's Samuel Burke is at the center of that. He's joining us on the phone because he is on his way out to Heathrow Airport as we speak to get reaction from them. And Rene Marsh is in Washington for us. Stand by Rene. Samuel, tell us more about what the British government is mulling here. [Samuel Burke, Cnn Money:] Well, Becky, government sources are telling us that the UK could follow the United States in preventing passengers on direct flights from some of these countries in the Middle East and Africa, just like the United States, on carrying almost all types of electronic devices. And in fact, the source telling us that a decision may be announced later today, Prime Minister Theresa May has been privy to the same information and intelligence as U.S. officials, Downing Street source is telling us that when you step back and look at this. And indeed if other European countries follow suit after this, this could be a huge sea change in how people travel. Think about how it changed after they banned liquids flying to the United States and some countries. And now imagine how that could all change if people are not allowed to bring on their devices. And keep in mind, people have become accustomed to traveling depending not only on working on these devices during these flights, but also using them once they get there, whether it's using Uber, to communicate with people would be a seismic shift in how people have become accustomed to traveling the year 2017. [Anderson:] That's Samuel on his way to Heathrow Airport with the British leg of this story. Rene, what do we know about this intelligence behind this ban of personal electronic devices out of 10 airports, which are from Muslim majority countries? And why are no U.S. carriers affected? [Rene Marsh, Cnn Correpsondent:] All right, so the Department of Homeland Security is saying officially that this move was prompted by intelligence, that suggests that terror groups are continuing their efforts to build unetectible explosives that could essentially slip past airport security and be smuggled on to a commercial airliner. That is what the Department of Homeland Security is saying is really pushing this move. CNN's Barbara Starr is reporting that another U.S. official says that the ban on some of these electronics is believed at this point, just believed to be related possibly to al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP. But as you know, Becky, the intelligence community has been tracking this threat concerning AQAP for quite some time. So, this official is saying that perhaps it's that longstanding concern coupled with a recent U.S. special forces raid in Yemen that essentially led to where we are today. Again, just back-story on AQAP, they have been very active in their effort to build these bombs with little to no metal in its content. And that would make it very easy to slip past a metal detector and on to a commercial aircraft. So as far as the reasoning goes, the government is not giving a lot of detail, but they are saying this is based on their intelligence assessment of terror groups continuing to try and build these advanced bombs. And very briefly, Rene, I've heard criticism in this region today that this smacks of protectionism given that this is to all intents and purposes, skewed at the well it's not skewed, it is a directive for airlines from this region where I am in the Middle East rather than for U.S. carrier who might be traveling from this region. Is there any intel on that? [Marsh:] Right. So to answer your questions, which I didn't yet, you're right there are no U.S. carriers that are impacted by this. And the reasoning, we are told, is because there are are no U.S. carriers that do these direct flights that we're speaking about here. And the other issue is, we're told, that there is a level of confidence in airports here in the United States that they TSA has the checks and balances that are necessary to detect some of these very highly advanced explosives. We are told that the concern is, the insider threat at some last-point of departure airports overseas, as well as whether they have the proper controls in place to detect explosives before they actually get on to an aircraft. So, that is the line of reasoning that we are getting here from the federal government. [Anderson:] Fascinating. All right, it's a preasure. Thanks out of Washington, Rene and Samuel Burke on the phone with with you earlier on. On his way to Heathrow with the British leg, as I say, of this story. Still ahead on Connect the World, the director of the FBI says he has no information to back up an explosive claim by President Trump. And that is not all. The details from Washington and from Moscow for you up next. [Andrew Stevens:] Welcome to News Stream. As the U.S. and South Korea hold military drills, North Korea responds by firing short-range projectiles off its coast. President Obama kicks off an historic trip to Cuba. And once an upwardly mobile star, Xiaomi's growth is slowing, but the smartphone marker tells me why it's not worried. South Korea says the north fired five short-range projectiles off the east coast earlier Monday. It's just the latest in a series of recent provocative maneuvers by Pyongyang. Well, Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Seoul with more on this story. And I guess we shouldn't be too surprised, Paula, given there are drills going on with South Korea and the U.S. at the moment. [Pala Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] That's right, Andrew. This is actually quite predictable behavior from North Korea. Every year they are worried by these massive joint military drills between the U.S. and South Korea. They look at them and they believe that the allies are working towards an invasion of North Korea. Now, Washington and Seoul say that's not the case. They say that they are defensive in nature, that's their line every year. But certainly tensions are high each time these drills are carried out. Of course, tensions are much higher this year than we have seen in the past. And we will expect more of these projectiles to be fired up until at least April 30th, which is when these drills finish between the U.S. and South Korea. But we have been seeing an uptick almost daily really in what North Korea has been doing. Either its rhetoric or it's military or nuclear strength, shows of this strength. And so certainly no one is expecting the tensions to ease before those U.S.South Korea military drills calm down. [Stevens:] Not expecting the tensions to ease, but could they ratchet up, I mean, go beyond what we are seeing at the moment, the short-range projectiles into something bigger and potentially more dangerous, more provocative? [Hancocks:] Well, it is certainly possible. If you take a look at what we have had this year alone. In January there was a nuclear test. In February, that satellite launch which was widely seen as a long-range missile test. And then with UN sanctions, of course, against North Korea punishing North Korea for those two previous events. And then as I say, that daily uptick in rhetoric or in shows of strength. Now, we heard from South Korean officials saying they believe another nuclear test could be imminent. They at least say North Korea is ready for number five. They say that really all they need is the political green light and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made it abundantly clear that he wants more nuclear tests. So, I don't think officials certainly here in South Korea would be surprised if Pyongyang carried out another nuclear test so close to the previous one Andrew. [Stevens:] So, Paula, what is the mood if you would like? How does South Koreans react to news when they see this sort of action once again from the north? Do they just get on with their lives or is there an underlying sort of tension, fear if you like, in South Korea? [Hancocks:] Not that you would see. It certainly is business as normal in South Korea. And when it is these short-range projectiles, there's less concern among officials as well as on the street. Certainly it's the long- range ballistic missiles that everybody is concerned about. Obviously, the short range projectiles, that they are a threat to Japan or South Korea, if used against those countries. But this threat has been around for decades. And so it is nothing new for those countries that are neighboring North Korea. Of course, when it comes to an international ballistic missile test or something like that, that is when the international community really sits up and takes notice. But for the majority of South Koreans, they would barely even notice this short-range projectile, as it just happens so often and has done for decades Andrew. [Stevens:] OK. Paula, thanks very much for that. Paula Hancocks joining us live from Seoul. Now, as those joint U.S.-South Korean military drills continue, our Ivan Watson got exclusive access to an American nuclear powered ship that's taking part in those drills. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Somewhere in the sea east of Korea, F-18 fighter jets catapult into the sky, launching off a deck of a U.S. aircraft carrier the John C. Stennis. [on camera]: This carrier strike group is here as part of annual joint military exercises with South Korea. This takes place every year and it makes the North Korean government furious. They argue that this could be a precursor to a military invasion of the North. [voice-over]: Nonsense, says the admiral in charge here. But he says the presence of the largest war machine in the U.S. military arsenal is designed to send a message to North Korea. [Rear Admiral Ronald Boxall, U.s. Navy:] The provocations and things that you see from North Korea, we hope that our actions here as routine operations help to deter any escalatory actions. [Watson:] North Korea routinely shows up its own military muscle. Some experts argue you have to show strength when dealing with this regime. [Daniel Pinkston, Korea Expert, Troy University:] If you show weakness in the domestic political system in the North Korean authoritarian like North Korea, you`re eliminated. And that`s how it works in the international system. If you are weak, they will bully you and take advantage of you. They only respect power. [Watson:] The problem is, this annual show of force, which includes simulated amphibious assaults carried out by U.S. and South Korean marines hasn't stopped North Korea from testing nuclear bombs. In fact, Pyongyang recently fired salvos of ballistic missiles twice in just eight days, in violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions. Just days ago, Kim Jong-un gave orders for scientists to develop the technology to launch a nuclear warhead on the tip of a ballistic missile. Even those who preached power concede Pyongyang is committed to expanding its nuclear arsenal. [Pinkston:] They put so much effort and they`re very dedicated to having those capabilities. So, if they`re not reliable, they`re going to keep working so they`ll be reliable and that they can use them if they needed to use them tomorrow, or next month or next year. [Watson:] And so, the saber-rattling continues. In addition to this strategy of containment and deterrence, experts say the U.S. and its allies are very likely training for other possible scenarios, such as how to take out North Korea`s growing arsenal of nuclear weapons. If it looks like Pyongyang is about to use them. Ivan Watson, CNN, aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier John C. Stennis. [Stevens:] And those drills are likely to continue for another six weeks or so. Let's turn now to Cuba. It has reached a crucial moment in its relations with the United States. The President Barack Obama is now the first sitting American president to visit the island nation in 88 years. Cubans and U.S. officials both hope the visit will help push the Cuban government to further open up its economy. But change, both social and economic, have been slow in that country. Let's bring in CNN's Patrick Oppmann now. He joins us live from Havana. Hugely symbolic that not only the president but the president's family, including his two daughters, going to Cuba. What sort of reaction has there been to the visit so far, Patrick? [Patrick Oppmann, Cnn International Correspondent:] And that's really no mistake, Andrew. You know, it would have a different tone if it was just the president. And really I think priority number one is not just engaging with the Cuban government, but engaging with the Cuban people. And that's why we have seen President Obama do things like do that skit with a Cuban comedian before arriving here. And they are looking for these moments where they can really break the decades-old image of the United States that's been propagated by the Cuban government of this evil empire that wants to take over our country, the imperialists. You know, you still have lots of propaganda posters around Havana talking about how the United States has committed genocide with the economic sanctions against Cuba. And to see President Obama much younger than Cuba's leader, who of course has, like many, many Cubans African ancestry with his family, with his daughters, reaching out to the Cuban people in these events. You know, even walking around Old Havana yesterday where it was pouring rain. You could just see this is so important. They brought umbrellas. And they wanted to have these moments where they can see the Cuban people. Of course President Obama will go to a baseball game tomorrow. And there is no more beloved sport in Cuba. And so there will be more of these opportunities for him to circumvent the Cuban government and have direct contact with the Cuban people. [Stevens:] Of course there still is the trade embargo by the U.S. on Cuba. The president has been able to loosen that in some ways through his own executive power. But can he offer anything concrete to the Cuban leaders, to Raul Castro, in return for some sort of easing on human rights or on trade? What can he actually do in a concrete manner, Patrick? [Oppmann:] Well, let's take human rights first? And that's something the United States would very much like to see in just hours before the president arrived, there was a demonstration where protesters were arrested en masse. The Cuban government has said again and again really since December 17 that they will not change any domestic policies. And they're talking about human rights there, and so it is very sensitive, because the Cuban government of course feels that the United States is still trying to do regime change in Cuba where the United States says they just want freedom of speech and the right to assembly. In terms of trade, you know, it is advancing slowly. But it advancing. We're hearing hotel chains will once again manage American hotel chains will once again manage hotels in Cuba. That hasn't happened since the revolution. There is a huge contingent of not only business people. But Cuban-American business people who have decided that despite the past, now is the time to return and rebuild their country. So, President Obama will certainly be pushing the business issues, which they feel is also an important avenue to bringing change to Cuba right now, Andrew. [Stevens:] Yeah, certainly a massive entourage accompanying the president. And one suspects, Patrick, that change in Cuba is now going to be very, very rapid. Patrick Oppmann in Havan, thanks so much for that. Now, Belgian authorities have a new person on their radar. They say he is connected to the Paris attack suspect that they finally captured on Friday. The latest on that investigation when we come back. Stay with us. [Lu Stout:] Nevada's GOP caucus results are yet another sign of how Donald Trump's momentum appears to be building. But what's fueling the surge? Now Jacob Parakilas is the assistant head at U.S. and Americas program at Chatham House, it's a London-based think tank. And he spoke to Max Foster a short time ago about the billionaire's lead. [Jacob, Parakilas, Chatham House:] I think Trump is drawing in people who wouldn't necessarily participate in the political process. It's been observed time and time again that there is an undercurrent of anger, or an overcurrent of anger, even, that's running through this primary. And I think Trump is appealing to people who feel disenfranchised from the existing political process. And they want to see someone who has no connection to the existing political establishment. [Foster:] If we look at the numbers, they are still coming in, aren't they? We are watching them very closely, because it's all about second place right now, in Rubio and Cruz. As long as those two are fighting it out amongst each other, it is good for Trump, isn't it? But it's very important who comes second. [Parakilas:] It is. And at the moment it looks like Rubio by about a slightly over a percentage point. But the problem is that as long as Trump continues to rack up victories by a margin of 15 percent or 20 percent, he has a very good cushion going into the Super Tuesday primaries. And beyond that, the delegate proportional method goes from proportional to winner take all. So, if Trump can continue to sort of maintain this momentum, he may start winning the very, very large pots of delegates, because the number assigned so far have been relatively small compared to the 1,237 that you actually need for the nomination. But at the point where Trump has notched up victories in states all over the country, states with different demographics, it is going to be very difficult for one candidate, let alone four, to make the case against him. [Lu Stout:] Now, there are a lot of states ahead and a lot of ground to cover. Now, CNN's John King has this look at the Republican race. [John King, Cnn Correspondent:] A long way to go to the 1,200 plus you need to clinch the nomination. But again, he's three for four so far. And momentum matters in politics. Let's look ahead to Super Tuesday. A dozen states fill in. We give Ted Cruz Texas here. Looking for other states. You know, the Rubio people, this is hypothetical now, folks, the Rubio people say maybe they'll win Minnesota. For the sake of the argument let's give it to them. Donald Trump second, and Ted Cruz third and Kasich fourth. Even that, if Rubio wins that, Donald Trump still starting to pull away. So, you look at the end of the night, maybe a couple other states and here to the competitive. But, Anderson, this is the state of the republican race right now. Donald Trump has won three of the first four states. In any past campaign people would be saying, wow, that's unstoppable. Is he unstoppable? No. But if you have a continued race where the reaction tonight was, Kasich goes after Rubio, Cruz goes after Rubio and nobody goes after Trump, the Trump campaigns feels very strongly that maybe they'll lose Texas on Super Tuesday. They are going to compete, trust me. But maybe they'll lose Texas, maybe they'll lose one or two other, but they believe by next Tuesday night we're going to be talking about a big Donald Trump lead in the delegate. [Lu Stout:] John King there. Now, if you want to crunch the numbers just like John King, just head to our website. You can find the current delegate estimates. You can check out the calandar of upcoming key states on the road to the White House. It's all at CNNpolitics.com. And we are hosting the final Republican debate ahead of those crucial Super Tuesday contests. You can watch that live on Friday 9:30 in the morning in Hong Kong, 10:30 a.m. in Tokyo right here of course on CNN. Now, the full scope of the devastation in Fiji is just beginning to be realized after the most powerful storm on record in the southern hemisphere ripped through the country. The death toll now stands at 42. And workers are scrambling to reach the hard-hit outer islands. Now, the prime minister says that there are people out there who are without food, water, or shelter. Now, one young woman survived by hiding in a cupboard with her family. Now, the power had gone out. And she tweeted from her phone in the dark. She said this, the house is leaking and everyone is crying. Planning where to hide when the entire roof comes off. Now another said, quote, everybody is safe and in the cupboard with a mattress against us. No roof. Barely any house, but alive so far, thank god. Now, daylight broke and the extent of the damage was revealed. And she tweeted this, quote, can't even begin to comprehend how we survived. Every room in the house is shredded to bits. Now, earlier I spoke with this young woman, Kaila Takara and asked her to describe the moment she felt her house being torn apart. [Cayla Tikaram, Survived Cyclone Winston:] Oh, god. It was so terrifying, because we were at one side of the house and then we could hear the roof tearing off. So we had to run through the house as the roof was tearing off to the other side. And we the doors were still open and slamming around the place. And it just looked like one of those things you see in movies where everything is just torn out and flying above you and everything was just going crazy. It was one of those totally out of body, it couldn't be real, kind of experiences. And it was absolutely terrifying. Nothing, I think, anyone in Fiji ever wants to live through again. I've heard stories. I was talking to some of my neighbors and people in the community afterwards and they were saying that during the eye of the cyclone they had to just run through the fields and try to run to neighbor's houses. And stories of people running through the streets yelling out for help because their house had been ripped away and things like that. So, it is definitely terrifying for a lot of people. [Lu Stout:] And as the cyclone tore apart your home and swept through Fiji, you were sharing the details in real-time on social media, on Twitter. And I'm wondering just what gave you the strength and what compelled you to put aside your fear of what you were experiencing in that moment to share your story with the world? [Tikaram:] I don't know if it was me putting aside my fear. I think it was more me being extremely terrified. I was really lucky we had reception, because we live on a hill. And so me just being able to could hear everyone else in the other parts of the world kind of the reassurance that people were out there was great. And I was really lucky to have that, because then I still am that we have this means of communication available to us. And I know so many people who were on their phones. [Lu Stout:] And we are very fortunate right now to be having this conversation because we know that power lines, communication lines are very, very patchy at the moment in the wake of Cyclone Winston. A final message from you how can the international community best help the people of Fiji right now? [Tikaram:] Oh, god, that's a big one. Well, just really go out of their way, you know, try to get supplies here. We need I know a lot of organizations have been saying that they need money, but as as I can see where I live, in the really, really rural part of Fiji and isn't anything getting through out here. So, you know, we really just need food, clothing, support, infrastructure, small building tools, as many things as we can possibly get over here would be absolutely brilliant. [Lu Stout:] Now Cayla is also helping to track down survivors in Fiji who are struggling to contact relatives overseas as lines of communication have been cut off. You're watching News Stream. And we'll be back after this short break. [Lemon:] So, Liz and John are back. John, I want to give you. I want you to give me you thoughts on Trump's handling of the abortion questions this week. Why is he struggling to have a consistent answer on those? [Phillips:] Well first of all, it was a stupid thing to say. He shouldn't have said it. He's a Presbyterian from New York and he's running and state that has a lot of social conservatives. So it's not an issue the Presbyterians from New York spend a lot of time talking about. And frankly, it was a bit of pandering and pandering usually never gets you anywhere. Republicans see through it, so my advice to him on this issue, is that on the Melania Trump issue it's a bad week, shake it off, try to mitigate the damage, move on to New York which is a bigger state and win there. [Lemon:] Do you believe that, you know, he said his Presbyterian but as a presidential candidate, he should probably have a concise and consistent answer on this particular issue. Do you think he's pro- life? [Phillips:] Well look, I mean I'm from California. And culturally those of us from California and New York don't talk about abortion the same way people in the Deep South do or people in Midwest do. It's just not something that comes up all the time. So it's not surprising to me that it's not a subject that he's passionate about in the sense that if he's elected, he's not going to go to a warrior on social issues. I don't think his going to go to war and abortion. I don't think his going to go to war on gay marriage. I think Ted Cruz frankly would. He certainly who talking about who has better stripes as a social conservative that's definitely Ted Cruz. But I don't think that wins in a general election. [Lemon:] Liz, do you want to weigh on this, so I can move on. [Mair:] Yeah. I think it's really interesting that we just had two Trump's surrogates back to back basically say he's not going to do anything to rein an abortion in this country which is consistent with Trumps historical position. I mean if you go and you look at where he's been on the issue of abortion. He's been in favor of abortion as he says as far as it goes which presumably means right up to the point of delivery. He has no opposition to partial birth abortion, he's made that very clear interviews. And, so I think what we're really seeing here is the real Donald Trump. And maybe he gets credits for being authentic, but he's certainly tying himself up in knots trying to be authentic well also saying what people what they want to hear. [Lemon:] Hey Liz. [Mair:] And it basically this sounds like a liberal who's trying to speak conservative as a second language in doing it really, really poor. [Lemon:] I want to ask you about... [Mair:] And that's what we expect. Yes. [Lemon:] I want to ask you about women. On the same subject. On women, his numbers are sinking with women this week. [Mair:] Yup. [Lemon:] Do you think these comments are catching up with him? [Mair:] I think every thing's catching up with him. I think women ultimately women are people who, yeah I think many of us have been hit on by people who kind of bear a lot of hall marks of Donald Trump over the years. You know, the guy he's a lot of bluster. He's actually not that hot maybe he's got a lot of money but that's about the only thing. That's interesting about him... [Lemon:] I got 20 seconds. [Mair:] ... and trying to solve. Realistically we're used to saying no to that guy. We're not going to date him. We're certainly not going to vote for him. So that's what's going on here. [Lemon:] John, I think we should probably just be quiet. Thank you. Have a great weekend. I'll see you guys soon. I appreciate you coming on. We'll be right back. [Bolduan:] Just 25 days until the Obama presidency heads to the history books. The president sat down for a lengthy interview with his former senior adviser and CNN's senior political commentator, David Axelrod. They talked about the 2016 election and Obama had very interesting and probably surprising assessment. Listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] In the wake of the election and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. What I would argue is that the culture actually did shift, that the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse. I am confident in this vision, because I'm confident that if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could have mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it. [Bolduan:] There's that. Let's discuss. Let's bring in our panel, Joseph Borelli, New York City councilman who supported Donald Trump throughout the campaign; and Danielle McLaughlin, a Democratic strategist and attorney. Guys, great to see you. Danielle, when you hear President Obama saying that his hope-and- change vision, if I had run again and articulated this vision, I would have been able to get a majority of the American people to rally behind it. Is he right? [Danielle Mclaughlin, Democratic Strateigst & Attorney:] One thing we need to be clear about, I don't think it was a dig on Hillary Clinton. I think what Obama was talking about was something that we didn't do as Democrats and that was tie our vision of a one America, I think civil rights which joe might call identity politics but we call civil rights, tied that to an economic investigation Americans could believe in. Civil rights are economic rights fundamentally. I think hope is something we all as humans can aspire to and agree on. I think the vision that Trump put forth making America great again, I think people who didn't vote for him wondered what part of America's history he was referring to, because for women, for minorities, for a lot of Americans, this is the time where we have had the most freedoms, the most access to justice, the most economic power, and I think that was the comparison Obama might have been making. [Bolduan:] I appreciate the comparison that you think he was making but how could it not be on some level a criticism of Hillary Clinton? He did compliment Hillary in how she handled and how she ran her campaign but she was the one running the campaign so he clearly thought she should have run on a different vision. [Mclaughlin:] Right. Clearly, she didn't win and there were three key states where she didn't win. I think there's been a lot of talk within Democratic circles and generally, we should have done a better job with quote unquote, "regular Americans," that message didn't get through and that's what we need to think about going to 20 and, of course, to 2018. [Joseph Borelli, Cnn Political Commentator:] The president said a lot of things in that interview. Some of them are very accurate and some are not. I think he was correct in taking a dig at Hillary Clinton and [Bolduan:] You did see it as a dig? [Borelli:] I did see it as somewhat of a dig. Face the facts, she was a very fundamentally imperfect candidate who lacked any type of messaging that appealed to middle class voters. Barack Obama was a great campaigner, a better campaigner than Hillary Clinton. I think it borderlined on cockiness and arrogance to say that had he been the candidate he would have been able to articulate it better and win. Let's not forget, a big part of this election was also a referendum on his eight years in office and whether the country wants to continue going down that path. So it's both a dig and cockiness on his part. [Bolduan:] I do remember, and we all do, quite well, that President Obama was on the campaign trail almost as much as he could. He was on the campaign, the first lady was on the campaign for Hillary Clinton, so it was not that he was running again but he sure was running, trying to run on his name for her. [Mclaughlin:] No question. No question. We saw the crowds, we saw that people spoke to him and he spoke to them. You think about his approval rating, he's about 54percent, on average, and the incoming president is about 44percent. So strategically, Democrats made mistakes, no question about it. The fact Clinton had been in the public eye for 30 years, there was this amount of baggage that seemed to trouble her, obviously. [Bolduan:] She couldn't overcome it. [Mclaughlin:] No, she couldn't overcome it and, of course, we had embarrassing leaks and other things that, frankly, no Republican had to deal with. I'm not making excuses but there are certainly parts of this election that definitely disadvantaged her as a candidate. [Bolduan:] I want to play more of this interview. It was a 50-minute interview he sat down with David Axelrod. These are only some of the select highlights. It is a fascinating conversation. If you have time to listen to it in full. Here's what the president said about his future, his post-presidency. Listen to this. [Obama:] I have to be quiet for a while. And I don't mean politically. I mean internally. I have to still myself. Now, that doesn't mean that if a year from now or a year and a half from now or two years from now, there is an issue of such moment, such import, that isn't just a debate about a particular tax bill or, you know, a particular policy, but goes to some foundational issues about our democracy, that I might not weigh in. [Bolduan:] I find this take fascinating. He is still going to be in Washington, because their daughter will be graduating from high school, so he's sticking around. What does that kind of involvement look like a year plus from now? Does that concern you? [Borelli:] It shouldn't be concerning to anyone but him. I think he's the one who is most worried about what his legacy looks like both from the fact that any time during his eight years when he wasn't able to get legislation passed he issued executive orders, some 250 or so. And you are going to see Donald Trump dismantle a lot of the things he touted. Also, you have to realize he was not a great president for the Democratic Party and that's part of his legacy as well. Look across the country, you see the Democrats control the state Houses and governorships of only six states now. They have half the number of total governors they had. They lost so many state legislative seats around the country that this has been billed as something that the president has failed to do, failed to unite Democrats across the country. [Bolduan:] He's talking about his legacy. That is not surprising, of course. Presidents in their [Borelli:] And he's young. A very young man. [Bolduan:] They focus on their legacy. Someone else focused on President Obama's is Newt Gingrich. Danielle, obviously, a leading Trump supporter and advisor in the transition. He said this about Obama's legacy over the weekend on FOX News. [Newt Gingrinch, , Former Speaker Of The House:] I think President Obama is beginning to figure out his legacy is like one of those dolls that, as the air comes out of it, shrinks and shrinks. He's in a desperate frenzy. What he's actually doing is he's setting up a series of things to distract Trump, which will make his liberal allies feel good about Democrats and hate Republicans when Trump rolls them all back. [Bolduan:] A deflating doll and in a desperate frenzy to save his legacy. Do you think Obama's legacy is at risk here? [Mclaughlin:] There's no question what Donald Trump is coming in to do is in many ways antithetical to what President Obama tried to do the last eight years. There's no question doing things he wants to preserve. We looking at banning drilling in Antarctica, we're looking at these other, some of these other immigration. He's in a big rule-making phase to protect what he can. I don't think there's any president who leaves the White House for the last time who isn't concerned about what his successor is going to do and I think Obama is no different. He's young, as you say, joe. I think he'll be out there. And frankly, Democrats need him. Democrats need him to pull people together, to go out into all of America and to explain to the electorate why Democratic values and why our solutions to the problems we all face are the ones that will benefit all Americans. [Bolduan:] Some of the lessons Barack Obama talked about in his interview, Democrats need to get back out there. He even talked about in city councils, school boards. [Borelli:] Obamacare was pinned on the town dog catcher candidate in some states. [Bolduan:] Great to see you, guys. Thank you so much. [Mclaughlin:] Thank you. [Borelli:] Happy Boxing Day. [Bolduan:] Happy Boxing Day, as we would like to say, on this fine day. Programming note, catch CNN's special report, "The Legacy of Barack Obama," tonight at 9:00 eastern. Still ahead for us, Russia now on the hunt for any clue as to what brought down a military jet. Officials are ruling out terrorism, but then, what brought down this jet with 92 people onboard? Details ahead. [Barnett:] Welcome back. Israel has growing concerns over Russia's military buildup in Syria. The country's been staying out of the Syrian conflict but says its red lines now have the potential of being crossed. [Church:] There are worries that Russian weaponry could end up in the hands of Hezbollah. Oren Liebermann has more on the story from Jerusalem. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn International Correspondent:] Israeli F-15 fighter jets maneuvering in the skies over Israel, the American-built fighter jet giving the country a technological and military edge in the region. But now a new presence in the Middle East, the advanced Russian Sukhoi Su-27 in Syria, according to U.S. officials, and other Russian military arms threatening that edge. Satellite pictures of Latakia inside Syria show a rapid buildup of an air force base with lots of Russian military equipment moving in. [On Camera] Netanyahu and Putin, they've talked recently and have visited recently and yet there is a cause for concern and a cause for friction between these countries and these interests. [Jonathan Spyer, Director, Rubin Center:] Absolutely. It relates to the provision by Russia of weapons systems to some of Israel's most determined enemies. In 2006, it was Russian Kornet missiles that reaped a terrible harvest, so to speak, of Israeli armored vehicles in Southern Lebanon. [Liebermann:] In Northern Israel, we've seen Israeli infantry and tanks in military exercises. But Israel's policy has been to stay out of the Syrian war, happening right across the Golan frontier. Yet Israel says it has red lines and will not allow advanced military equipment, like Russian S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, to fall into the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon or other militant groups. Foreign media reports that Israel has, in the past, struck weapons shipments headed for Lebanon. [On Camera] What is Israel's primary concern here with regards to Syria and Hezbollah in Lebanon? [Spyer:] Israel has been, in the course of the last four years, determined to prevent the provision of certain weapons systems from Syria to Hezbollah. And to achieve that, Israel has required complete air control, mastery of Syria's skies, to operate when and where it wants, anywhere over the skies of Syria. [Liebermann:] Analyst Jonathan Spyer says Israel and Russia are not on a collision course but with the two militaries so close, he says the two countries will have to work together to ensure a collision won't occur. Oren Lieberman, CNN, Jerusalem. [Barnett:] Now weather across the Balkans has been calm and quiet for much of the summer, but that is all about to change in the region. [Church:] Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri is here to tell us more about what sort of change is in store there. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, we're watching the storm track really pick up and move farther to the south, meaning more storms across the Balkans and of course the migrant angle something we've touched on so much with all the crossings that have occurred and the weather for the most part has been pretty tranquil but we've seen fatalities continue over that region. So this is a concern now of going into the autumn months and eventually the winter months, as we're a couple days away now as the seasons transition over. So the satellite and the water vapor satellite here really does a good job, guys, because you look at the right corner of your screen across the Balkans, easy to pick up. It's the mid and upper level moisture in the atmosphere shows you where storms are centered. We have some dry air back behind the storm but pretty potent storm system pushing off to the east and producing a strong thunderstorm. And in fact the migrant route's in place. The land route, one of the areas of concern over the next couple days as heavy rainfall cruises over this region. A storm really looks to stall over the area for a couple of days as well. And notice the current wind speeds. Anywhere from 40 to 60 kilometers per hour right over the heart of this region. So any sort of small boats again trying to cross this stretch of water we're talking very choppy situation when it comes to being down across the southeastern corner of Europe. Again the storm meanders this region, bringing in some heavy rainfall in the next couple of days and this pattern continues toward the latter portion of the week with the heaviest rain right across the Greek isles. We're talking upwards of perhaps 200 millimeters in a few spots. And typically in the summer months you're talking about the jet stream well to the north. So the storms track across the northern portion of the continent as we transition into autumn and winter that drops in farther to the south and we're talking about much more active pattern across this region. So your temperature trend across the area going to be cool, around London, going up to about 18 degrees in Prague. A sea-saw battle from the teens as well. But the temperatures again going to cool off towards the latter portion of the week. But want to leave you with this image because we know the 35th Annual Beijing Marathon was taking place on Sunday. The air qualities. Would you guess of course the 175 AQI which is in the unhealthy category. We know of at least six heart attacks and one official even having a heart attack across this region in Beijing. The air quality, when you're running off, and as you guys might know here, as your oxygen intake goes up tenfold when you're running. So often we say stay indoors, but with the marathon it was continued across this region, a lot of injuries. 30,000 people participated. [Barnett:] Unfortunate. But you know the air is bad. [Javaheri:] And the air is bad. [Barnett:] Knock you out. [Javaheri:] And it's a very big event. So, you know, people ran with masks, as you saw in that image. [Church:] Yes. My goodness. [Barnett:] Yes. All right. [Church:] All right. [Barnett:] Appreciate the update, Pedram. [Church:] Thank you, Pedram. [Javaheri:] Thanks. [Barnett:] We can report on yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean. Four migrants, all of them risking their lives to make the trip to Europe. We'll get you the newest information on this after the break. [Church:] And hear how the U.S. is stepping up to help Europe as it grapples with a deepening migrant crisis. [Baldwin:] Welcome back. You're watching CNN. I'm Brooke Baldwin. Some news just into us here. It appears Mitt Romney is giving up hope of finding someone to launch a third party bid against Donald Trump. A source familiar with Romney's thinking tells CNN that the 2012 Republican presidential nominee is not actively recruiting anyone else now for this third party bid. As we've been talking about, you know, he reportedly had reached out to Nevada Senator Ben Sasse and Trump'former rival Ohio Governor John Kasich. They have both said no. So let's begin there with CNN's chief political correspondent Dana Bash and "Washington Post" political reporter Ed O'Keefe. So, Dana, hello. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] Hi, Brooke. [Baldwin:] A piece of this reporting, a never Trump adviser acknowledged to and I think this is Jim Acosta's reporting, that their efforts, the never Trumpers, that it's looking grim. [Bash:] Right. [Baldwin:] Is this the end of never Trump? [Bash:] I don't necessarily think it's the end of never Trump, but it's the I should actually, in answering that question, make clear that never Trump has been shrinking dramatically since it became clear that Trump was going to be the nominee. People who we never thought would be anywhere but the never Trump camp are now shifting and that what these conservatives, and I've been talking to many of them for weeks if not months, but in the past couple of weeks were hoping to do, as you said, is push a third party idea. But their big problem was they haven't been able to find a candidate. [Baldwin:] Everyone's saying no. [Bash:] Everyone is saying no and that continues to be the case and so, you know, the end of this road appears to be pretty close, if not here for them. [Baldwin:] Ed, would you like to chime in before we move on to Ivanka Trump? [Ed O'keefe, Political Reporter, "the Washington Post":] I think the only the only element of the so-called never Trump movement at this point that really has a shot at doing anything to slow or blunt Trump, if you will, are the conservative activists who have been elected delegates to the convention who might try to use the different rules committee [Baldwin:] Yes. [O'keefe:] And credential committee meetings that happen before the convention begins to either tweak the party platform, make a last- ditch effort to allow somebody else's name to be put into consideration, or make other changes that at least require Trump to make some concessions. But this idea of finding a white knight to ride in, I think that died, frankly, back in the spring when Mike Bloomberg decided there was no way to do it. He's one of the few Americans who has the billions and the bandwidth to do it and he said it just isn't possible. [Bash:] And the one thing I will add to that, Brooke, and I, of course, agree with my friend Ed on no white knight, but there are tactics that they still insist that they're going to use, like trying to convince fellow grass roots conservatives who simply don't trust Trump as a conservative, to write somebody in, to basically have a protest vote. Obviously most of them are not going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but to have a protest vote, focus their efforts on the Senate and the House [O'keefe:] Yes. [Bash:] Which is still not a great thing for Donald Trump if you need to, you know, rally the base behind you, as every presidential candidate needs. [Baldwin:] Get everyone together. Yes. Yes. Let's move to Donald Trump's oldest daughter. She is speaking out. She's coming to his defense. Ivanka Trump is calling "The New York Times" much talked about expose from over the weekend of her father and his alleged mistreatment of women. She's calling it disturbing. [Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's Daughter:] I was bothered by it. But it's largely been discredited since. So most of the time when stories are inaccurate, they're not discredited. And I will be frustrated by that. But in this case, I think they went so far. They had such a strong thesis and created facts to reinforce it. [Baldwin:] You know, looking at you and watching all of that it's like, I don't know if it's I mean she's so extraordinary, Ivanka Trump, right, that that's sort of one piece, or the fact that you have to hear Donald Trump's oldest daughter saying, you know, essentially, my dad isn't a groper. [Bash:] You know, in any other year, in any other cycle, for any other candidate, having a candidate's daughter come out and say, my father's not a groper, would mean that there is a five-alarm fire going on inside the campaign. But for Donald Trump, it's not good. It's clear that it shows that he needs to work on female voters for the general election. [Baldwin:] Yes. [Bash:] But it's not the end of the world for Donald Trump because he's been through this kind of thing for months and months during the primary. It's a different electorate. It's a different kind of vote that they need. They need to pull over independent voters and women who don't necessarily vote in primaries, who didn't necessarily vote for him if they did. [Baldwin:] Right. [Bash:] But are more tend more to vote Republican. I mean that is clearly a problem. And the fact that she had her come out and they had her come out or she chose to come out and say, I'm a feminist and I don't think my father is bad for women, pretty pretty intense. [Baldwin:] I agree with you. [Bash:] Yes. [Baldwin:] I agree with you. And, finally, Ed, on, you know, Trump ending his self-funding promise, you know, reached this deal with the RNC. Tell me more about that. [O'keefe:] Yes. It looks like a deal that will allow them to raise almost $500,000 in some pops from individuals that would go to his campaign, to the RNC, potentially to some other accounts and down ballot races. This is tradition, what goes on, between a presidential nominee and his or her party. The Democrats have already set up similar accounts. It hadn't happened on the Republican side. They've been desperate to do it because they need the cash and they believe they can raise a lot of it quickly now. Trump is going to have to rely on at least some outside financial support. He can't bank roll the whole thing. And this looks to be further evidence that the party is now beginning to coalesce around him. And another reason why, as Dana pointed out, if you have certain members of the party saying focus on the House, the Senate, the statehouses and don't worry about the presidency, that there is potential there's a potential that tens of millions of dollars could be left away from the RNC and Trump as they try to take back the White House. [Baldwin:] OK. Ed O'Keefe, Dana Bash, thank you so much. Up next, would Donald Trump rewrite the U.S. foreign policy playbook? The presumed Republican nominee definitely raising some eyebrows, saying he would have, quoting him, "no problem" speaking with the leader of North Korea. Now a top member of Congress is using Trump's plan as a punchline. We're going there. Also, more than two years after they vanished, a significant development today involving one of the more than 200 Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists. Where she was found alive. [Harlow:] Staying with our top story tonight, the tragic fire, in Oakland, California, that is left at least 30 people dead. We are waiting for a news conference from officials in Oakland. It is expected to be really any moment. So we will bring that to you live as soon as it begins. Again, 30 people dead at least in this Oakland warehouse fire, much more of that ahead. Meantime, in Syria, Syrian regime forces have been pounding bombarding Aleppo for the past 24 hours in a bid to try to drive out rebel forces and gain control of the City. Air strikes and mortar rounds pounding eastern Aleppo nonstop reducing buildings to rubble, sending some 30,000 people in just days out of the City. All while international leaders try to hammer out some sort of diplomatic resolution to what has been a bloody civil war in Syria that has ride on and on for years. The United Nations now estimates 600,000 people have been killed in this civil war in Syria. Our Senior International Correspondent Fred Pleitgen joins me live tonight from Aleppo. You are on the ground. You are inside the besieged city, you are seeing this all firsthand. It is the children, Fred, as we showed in your piece on this program last night. It is the children who are bearing the worst of this. [Fred Pleitgen, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah. They certainly are, Poppy. And you know one of the things that we always have to keep in mind is that as night falls here in Aleppo, we can see and we can hear all of the shelling going on, we can hear aircraft in the air, also dropping bombs, as well. All you can do is just imagined how bad things must be for families that are still trapped inside these besieged areas, especially, of course, for the children. You know, earlier today we managed to get to one area that was recently taken back by the Syrian government, it was absolutely destroyed and, again, there were many of those displaced people inside there. Trying to cling on to hope and also trying to cling on to any sort of belongings they could find. Here's what we saw. [Pleitgen:] Driving through a destroyed wasteland, that until recently was one of the main battlegrounds in Syria. Aleppo's district was in rebel hands until last week when government forces moved in with crushing fire power. 13-year-old Udai shows me where a rocket landed next to his house and describes the fear he felt as the war raged. We were very, very frightened Udai says. Normally we would hide in the basement, but luckily that night we slept on the first floor, because that is when two rockets hit right over here. Udai's little brother Abdul Karim is clearly traumatized by the horrors he has witness and still weak from living under siege for weeks with almost no food and water available much of the time. As the rebels lost their grip on this place, many residents fled trying to escape with their lives and not much more. Now, they're coming back, some haven't seen their houses for years. Halid Chavelo left in 2012 when the rebels took this district. Now he is trying to salvage any belongings in what's left of his apartment. I am very sad, because everything is either destroyed or ransacked he says. We found these pictures under the rubble. Even the walls are destroyed but we'll come back here and rebuild. The battle for Aleppo is far from over. Syrian government forces clearly have the upper hand. Taking about half the rebels' territory in the past week alone and continuing to push their offensive with massive fire power. Like in so many districts that have been taken back by the Syrian military, there is massive destruction in this part of eastern Aleppo, but there's no denying the shift in momentum in favor of the Syrian military and also the boost in morale that many of the soldiers have gotten. Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al Assad said they believe they could capture all of Aleppo, Syrian most important battleground very soon. The rebel headquarters was right here, he says. So the loss of this district was a big blow to them. You can see how our shelling pounding them and that shows that their morale is collapsing. Rebels left behind makeshift cannon when they fled here last week. So far the opposition hasn't found a way to shore up their defenses in the face of this massive and possibly decisive Syrian government offensive. And Poppy in the past 30 hours that we've been on the ground, we've seen absolutely no let up in the shelling. I'm not sure if you can hear some of the rounds that are being fired behind me as we speak right now. In the past couple of days alone, the rebels have lost about 60 percent of the territory that they once held here in Aleppo. Certainly if you speak to some of those people that we saw their in that report, those displaced people very few of them believed that a political solution is something that will happen or something that is even possible especially with the momentum going the way it is right now despite of course the efforts by the international community, Poppy. [Harlow:] It is absolutely heartbreaking. Fred Pleitgen, thank you for the reporting. And thank you to you and your entire team, your producer, your camera men. We know you are putting your own lives in danger to bring us this live from Syria tonight. Thank you very much. We're also waiting as I said that update from Oakland, California. Tonight the scene of that horrific warehouse fire, the confirm death toll much higher, that originally thought, at least 30 people dead. We will bring you that as soon as it begins, also breaking news tonight on the hotly contested Dakota access pipeline, those protesters winning major battle. In all of this we will tell you what happened, straight ahead live from North Dakota you are on the CNN NEWSROOM. [Sciutto:] We want to update you now on breaking news. Ohio Governor John Kasich expected to leave the Republican presidential race, giving Donald Trump a clear uncontested path to the nomination. CNN's Wolf Blitzer sat down with Trump just a moment ago. Here's how he reacted to that news. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] As we're speaking, I know you're very happy that Ted Cruz has dropped out. CNN has confirmed John Kasich, the Ohio governor, he's dropping out as well. You're the only one left right now. [Trump:] That's good. That's good. You're just telling me for the first time about John and that's good. I think John is doing the right thing. [Blitzer:] Ohio, you know, is an important state. No Republican has ever been elected president of the United States without winning Ohio. [Trump:] Well, I think John will be very I've had a good relationship with John. [Blitzer:] He's got a lot of government experience in the Congress and as a governor. [Trump:] I think John will be very helpful with Ohio, even as governor. [Blitzer:] He says he doesn't want to be a vice president. [Trump:] Well, that could be. He's said that. [Blitzer:] Would he be someone you're interested in vetting? [Trump:] I would be interested in vetting John. I like John. I had a good relationship with John and gotten along with him well, but whether he's vice president or not, I think he'll be very, very helpful with Ohio. [Blitzer:] Do you think the general election campaign has already started, you versus Hillary Clinton, that for all practical purposes, Bernie Sanders is out? [Trump:] Well, I think what has happened, there's been a little flip, and I'm even surprised by it. I thought that I'd be going longer and she'd be going shorter. She can't put it away. Like a football team that can't put the ball over the line. I put it away. She can't put it away. So I thought I'd be out there and she would be campaigning against me. Yeah, I'll be campaigning against her while she's campaigning. [Blitzer:] The general election campaign from your perspective starts today. [Trump:] Essentially, it started, I mean yeah. [Sciutto:] Joining me now is CNN chief political correspondent, Dana Bash. Dana, Kasich is out. Is he going to endorse Donald Trump? [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] My source, who I just got off the phone with, close to John Kasich, says not immediately. He's going to have an announcement, as you were talking about earlier in the Ohio. We understand he is obviously not going to continue to run, but he's not going to today immediately in the same breath say that he's going to support the only candidate left in the race now, which is Donald Trump. [Sciutto:] You heard Donald Trump say there that he'd be interested in vetting Kasich as a vice presidential nominee. Is that something John Kasich, you could see him accepting? [Bash:] He has said really explicitly he does not want to be vice president. He has said he would be a terrible vice president, that he's got a good job. He's the sitting governor of Ohio, and that was based on anybody being the top of the ticket, not just Donald Trump. So he's really ruled that out. We've seen in history other people rule out the idea of being a running mate and then they have changed their mind. But I think the fact that you heard Donald Trump say that he believes that, regardless, Kasich would be helpful in Ohio, that was an important notion because Ohio is incredibly important, historically, but it really will be for Donald Trump, and so he does need Kasich to be on board in some way, shape or form [Sciutto:] The Never Trump movement obviously taking a hit with the two potential contenders or competitors at the convention, they are now out. You do have some people digging in their heels. [Bash:] Yeah. [Sciutto:] But you also have some people already changing, and one of them being Bobby Jindal. Do you see the Never Trump movement surviving through the convention? [Bash:] Not as a movement, a cohesive movement, as we've seen, I don't think so. It's possible that sort of a smaller satellite version of it will exist, but I have been talking to Republicans all day who are split. Some saying we've got to support the Republican because we just don't want Hillary Clinton or the Democrat in the White House, but others just as adamantly, really senior Republicans, Jim, who are lifelong, diehard conservatives, saying I'm just going to write somebody in. I will not vote for Donald Trump. Do you think you're going to change their mind, there's no way, I've asked, and the answer is absolutely not. So those people are going to say and have been saying they'll focus on the down-ballot races in the Senate and House, and, you know, Donald Trump is going to have a harder time bringing them around. I would I would never say never, but I've never seen this kind of split before. [Sciutto:] Six months still to change his mind. [Bash:] That's right. [Sciutto:] Dana Bash, thanks very much. [Bash:] Thanks, Jim. [Sciutto:] You can watch Wolf's entire interview with Donald Trump today on "The Situation Room," beginning at 5:00 eastern time, right here on CNN. Bernie Sanders is celebrating his win, a surprise win in the Indiana primary, but it barely puts a dent in Hillary Clinton's delegate lead. Clinton picks up 39 delegates, even though she lost in Indiana, and Sanders gets just five more, 44 delegates. To win the nomination Clinton needs just 18 percent of the remaining delegates. Sanders would have to win 101 percent. Of course, not possible. Jeff Weaver is with the Bernie Sanders campaign and is the manager, and joins me now from Burlington, Vermont. So even Senator Sanders admits he faces an uphill climb, but he's staying in the race. Why is he staying in the race? [Jeff Weaver, Campaign Manager, Bernie Sanders Presidential Campaign:] Well, because the math that you just laid out in your intro is just not correct. That includes what are called super delegates, who don't vote until we get to the convention. If you look at pledged delegates, the delegates that are allocated based on the primaries and caucuses, neither candidate will arrive at the convention with the number of pledged delegates you need to secure the nomination. That means whoever is nominated will be nominated at the convention with the assistance of super delegates, who are unbound and not voting until we get to the convention. I know CNN puts this number up there, but it's just not an accurate reflection of where the race is, frankly. [Sciutto:] Let me ask you this. [Weaver:] And the race is Go ahead, sure. [Sciutto:] Are you saying that Sanders is in this to the convention? He's going to take the campaign all the way to the convention? [Weaver:] He has said that repeatedly, and I'm just articulating what he's said many times himself. [Sciutto:] But let me ask you this. On super delegates, of course, they can switch. How many super delegates have switched from Clinton to Sanders in the last month? [Weaver:] Well, let's look, it's not about the last month. Let's play this out. Let's [Sciutto:] How many in all? [Weaver:] Disenfranchised voters all across the country, including in California. [Sciutto:] He's had a string of wins and he should have gotten more support from the super delegates. [Weaver:] He's had a string of wins coming up, and at the end of this, when the super delegates take a look at which candidate can best beat Donald Trump, and that is clearly Bernie Sanders. The polling is consistent and unwavering over a couple of months now. Bernie Sanders beats Donald Trump by a larger margin than does Secretary Clinton. He's a much better matchup against Donald Trump, in large part because of his strong support among Independent voters who Democrats will have to bring into coalition in order to win the White House and ballot and the candidates up and down the ballot. [Sciutto:] Donald Trump, of course, the presumptive nominee. Has no competition now as we get closer to the convention. Are you concerned that an extended fight within the Democratic Party is going to hurt Democrats' chances of beating Trump in the general? [Weaver:] Well, that's an old myth I think which was exploded in 2008, ironically enough, by Secretary Clinton herself when she went all the way to the end of the process. Then-Senator Barack Obama became the nominee and did quite well in the fall, so that is an old myth in politics. The truth of the matter is, unlike the Republican process we've seen, the Democratic party process has been one that's largely been focused around issues, issues like raising minimum wage, universal health care, dealing with income and wealth inequality in this country, and that having that debate ongoing is very, very healthy, in fact, for the Democratic party. And you saw exit polls in Indiana where, 3-1, Democrats in exit polls said they thought this contest was in fact energizing the Democratic party rather than dividing it. [Sciutto:] Has Sanders influenced the kind of campaign that Hillary Clinton is running in your view? [Weaver:] Well, certainly, the issue positions that the secretary has staked out have moved over time. They have gotten much closer to Senator Sanders. You know, she has consistently supported the bad trade deals, she called the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the TPP, the gold standard of trade deals, and then got in the race and said, well, now I'm against it, you know. She moved on the Keystone Pipeline, which she had not spoken out about. He was out against it on day one and she ultimately came out against it. You know, she was for a $12 minimum wage and he's been for 15 and now she's trying to move towards 15 herself. So on issue after issue there's been a lot of movement on the part of the secretary. And it's important that Democrats make sure that if she's the nominee, that she stays with those positions and doesn't try to move back to the center. [Sciutto:] There owes an odd commonality between some Sanders supporters and some Trump supporters, frustration with Washington, et cetera. Are you concerned that Donald Trump could attract some Sanders away from a Democratic nominee who see themselves as outsiders, who feel that the system just isn't working? [Weaver:] Well, I mean, I've been all around the country with the Senator. Clearly, a lot of frustration out in the world about Washington, about a rigged economy, about a corrupt campaign finance system, so that that exists, but let's be clear, the difference on the substance of policy between the Democratic candidates, whether it's Secretary Clinton or Senator Sanders, and Donald Trump are quite stark frankly. He doesn't want to raise the minimum wage. He thinks wages are too high in this country. You know, he's adopted a lot of far right positions in order to secure this nomination. So I'm pretty confident that the Democratic nominee, whoever that is and obviously we think it's going to be Senator Sanders will be in a good position to take on Trump and to keep voters who have supported Senator Sanders throughout this process. But let's be clear, if Secretary Clinton is the nominee, it's really incumbent upon her to reach out to these voters, particularly the millions of young people who have come out, and talk to them about why she is going to address the needs that they feel and the issues that Senator Sanders has raised during the campaign. [Sciutto:] Jeff Weaver with the Sanders campaign. Thanks very much. That's it for me. Wolf will be back at 5:00 eastern in "The Situation Room" with that interview with Donald Trump. For our international viewers, "Amanpour" is next. For our North American viewers, Anderson Cooper's live interview with Hillary Clinton is coming up. [Anderson:] Well, shot here of Spain's El Clasico match as it's known between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The new Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane mastered an unlikely win in his first El Clasico in charge of the team. Unlikely? Well, let's find out why. Another El Clasico to talk about for years to come. You're watching CNN. This is Connect the World with me, Becky Anderson. And if you saw the match, you'll know what we are talking about. If you didn't, let's get more on the match out of Spain in a moment. First to what is clearly becoming a classic performance in the English Premier League. Yes, I am talking about the team known as Leicester and their unlikely title bid. The Foxes have won over Southampton, stretching their lead in the Premier League to 7 points over the second placed team Tottenham Hotspur who were held to a 1-1 draw by Liverpool on Saturday. My goodness. And what a lot to talk about. Let's talk about the Premier League, and let's talk about Spain's El Clasico match. Joined now by CNN's Don Riddell. Let's talk with the Leicester start with the Leicester Foxes. It's really starting to look like these guys are going to go all the way. Is there any stopping them at this point? [Don Riddell, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Well, there doesn't seem to be, does there? I mean, seven points clear with just six games to go, four more wins, Becky, will land them the title. And let's just wind the clock back 12 months, because one year ago today, Leicester were at the bottom, the very bottom of the Premier League. And here they are on the brink of what would be the most extraordinary, the most unlikely, the most historic triumphant, arguably the greatest achievement in all of football. It really is quite incredible what they have achieved. Getting to a stage of the season where their critics said, you know, but when the pressure gets to them they won't be able to hold on. Well, that doesn't seem to be the case. Five of the last six games have been won by 1-nil score lines. So, not necessarily the most attractive of wins. But they have very attractive football this season. They've really energized their supporters. They have got a lot of neutrals gunning for them as well, or supporting for them, too, and here they are so close. Spurs really did miss the opportunity yesterday to put a bit of pressure on them when they could only draw 1-1 at Liverpool. And even if Leicester's rivals, like Spurs, are able to keep winning for the rest of the season, it doesn't just look like Leicester are going to slip up. And it really is quite remarkable what they are doing. 1-0 against Southampton. Their doubters I think are running out of reasons to continue doubting that they really can on and do this. [Anderson:] Yeah, I don't know about you, Don, but at this point I think they could be forgiven for not playing the most attractive of football. Like, you say, you could get 5,000 to 1 at the beginning of the season, couldn't you, on these guys winning the title. I mean, this even if you are not a football fan, these are the little guys. And like you say, so many people who don't support Leicester, of course, rooting for them as well. And you use the term gunning for them. And I think you were thinking about The Gunners there, the Arsenal. I don't think any of the Arsenal fans are gunning for them at the moment so far as winning is concerned, because Arsenal still hanging around of course as well. Let's talk about El Clasico. Did anybody expect Real Madrid to win that one? [Riddell:] No, not really. And for so many reasons. Of course, Barcelona were at home. They were unbeaten in 39 games. They have been by far and away the best team in Spain this year. And when they played Real Madrid in Madrid at the end of last year this season, they thrashed Real by four goals to nil. So really nobody thought that Madrid were going to do anything in this one. But they were very persistent and patient. They won by 2-1 with a late strike just five minutes to go, Christiano Ronaldo completely unmarked at the far post and he made the most of it to give Real the win. Now, in the grand scheme of things this season certainly with regards to La Liga, it probably isn't going to make that much difference. Barca are still six clear of Atletico Madrid, seven points clear of Real and of course only handful of games remaining. But I think psychologically this result could be important. You mentioned earlier it was Zidane's first win in the Clasico as manager. I think this will give Real Madrid a huge amount of confidence for the rest of the season. And crucially for Barcelona we are now at the business end of the season. They are playing Atletico in the Champion's League on Tuesday. Their manager Luis Enrique said they looked disoriented towards the end of that game in the last 15 minutes. That is not what you would have expected from such a huge experienced and very successful team as Barcelona. And he needs to investigate what went wrong there and ensure that they don't make those kind of mistakes for the rest of the season. [Anderson:] Great weekend of football. Don Riddell in the house with all the details for you. Don, always a pleasure. Thank you very much, sir. To the U.S. presidential election now and the race for the White House is ramping up. On the Democrat's side, two key primaries on the rise that could give Bernie Sanders an edge. And frontrunner Hillary Clinton now accusing the Sanders campaign of some brittle tactics. CNN's Chris Frates is in Wisconsin which holds its primary on Tuesday. He filed this report for you. [Chris Frates, Cnn Investigations Correspondent:] Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigning hard in Wisconsin in the northern city of O'Claire today. But before either candidate even hit the ground here in Wisconsin, they were throwing mud at each other. The Clinton campaign, accusing the Bernie Sanders campaign of projecting three different dates to debate in New York and April saying, this, quote, "The Sanders campaign needs to stop using the New York primary as a playground for political gains and negative attacks against Hillary Clinton. Now the spokesman for the Sanders campaign, Michael Briggs firing back hard with his statement today. Saying, quote, "Unfortunately, the dates and venues she has proposed didn't make a lot of sense. The idea that they want to debate in New York on a night of the NCAA finals with Syracuse and [inaudible] is ludicrous. We have proposed other dates, which they have rejected. We hope we can reach agreement in the near future." Now it's important to remember how this all started, after Bernie Sanders had a big weekend sweeping wins in Washington, Alaska and Hawaii, he challenged Hillary Clinton to a debate in her adopted home state of New York. For about a week, Hillary Clinton was rather non-committal then yesterday he campaign saying that they are trying to work out the dates with the Sanders campaign and then today, the Clinton campaign going after the Sanders campaigns saying that they're playing games with these dates. The Sanders campaign, of course, denying it and the reason why this New York primary is so important, many people expect that Bernie Sanders would be able to win in Wisconsin, to be able to close the gap in delegates that he has. He is lagging about 240 delegates. He needs to upset her in New York. There's a huge cash of delegates available in the empire state, about 250. That's second only to California. If Bernie Sanders can pull a win there and upset Hillary Clinton in her adopted home state, he comes very close to closing that gap against Hillary Clinton. So Sanders and Clinton hashing out when they are going to have this debate is very important. Where and when can have a big impact of that April 19th primary. We're going to continue watch that. Here in Wisconsin, Chris Frates, CNN. [Anderson:] Well, clearly another big weekend in American politics. Republican candidates are focusing on wooing delegates in North Dakota this weekend. Now, the state only offers a small number of delegates, I've got tell you. They are crucial in tightening this race. Here is why. The state does not hold a presidential primary or caucus, meaning there is no public vote. Instead, party leaders select total of 28 delegates to attend the national convention in July. Now, the key here is that the delegates do not have to commit to any candidate before the convention. They are effectively free agents and could make a major difference if no candidate secures enough delegates needed to clinch the nomination. A brokered convention isn't totally without precedent, but it is certainly a departure from any election in the past few decades. CNN's Tom Foreman delves into what that could mean, or would mean at least, for the candidate's chances of winning the White House. Have a look at this. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] There is a reason they call it a floor fight if no candidate can get that magic number of delegates necessary to clinch the nomination before the convention begins. Now, let's look at the delegate count right now. Donald Trump is the closest, but if he doesn't get that number before the convention starts or let's say you actually get to the convention and you have a floor full of people out here who have Trump signs but on the first vote he does not get enough to get the nomination squirreled away, well then we have a real problem because a floor fight is underway at that point. Why? Because after the first vote many of these delegates become unbound meaning they can vote for whomever they wish, not necessarily the person chosen by the people back in their state. So, people who are holding Trump signs may suddenly could be holding Cruz signs or maybe Kasich signs or maybe signs for somebody else altogether. Every state has its own rules. The convention will have its own rules when it starts and it won't always be clear which rules override other rules and you can bet all three of those campaigns will be doing all they can to twist arms out here, to bend the rules and to push the referees to try to get an advantage. And it could get very bitter and very nasty, but there is a reason the party does not want that to happen, overwhelming reason. Look at this from the Pew Research Center. These are the numbers. In the Republican Party if the nominee is chosen on the first ballot 64 percent of the time that nominee will go on to win the White House. Second ballot or later only 50 percent of the time. And these numbers, by the way, are even worse for the Democratic Party. There is a real cost to be paid by a party that goes into its convention undecided. [Andreson:] And remember to join us here on CNN all day Tuesday, complete coverage of what is this critical Wisconsin primary. And as Donald Trump crisscrosses Wisconsin he helped focus his talks there around a central theme: money, specifically how trade deals don't benefit the United States or provide the jobs that Wisconsin needs. But now Trump says he alone has the business chops to eliminate trillions in U.S. debt. Head to CNN.comPolitics for more on what is Trump's ambitious claim and for what economists think about it. Your world news headlines are just ahead. Plus, an old dispute reignited. We're going to get the latest on the deadly fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan over disputed territory. [Costello:] The police shootings in Tulsa and Charlotte have prompted swift and very different responses from Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Clinton, who admitted not a lot is known yet about what happened in these incidents, called for communities and police to respect one another while working together on reform. For his part, Donald Trump raised eyebrows by calling for what many believe was a broader use of stop and frisk. That policy used by the New York City Police Department and other police forces to reduce crime was declared unconstitutional by a New York federal judge three years ago who said it violated the rights of minorities. This morning, Trump seemed to qualify his comments. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] I was really referring to Chicago with stop and frisk. [Unidentified Male:] OK. [Trump:] They asked me about Chicago, and I was talking about stop and frisk for Chicago and where you had 3,000 shootings so far this year. Three thousand from January 1st. And, obviously, you can't let the system go the way it's going, but I suggested stop and frisk. And some people think that's a great idea and some people probably don't like it. But when you have 3,000 people shot and so many people dying, I mean it's worse than some of the places we're hearing about, like Afghanistan, you know, the war-torn nations. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Trump:] And I mean this it's more dangerous. [Costello:] OK, that part about Afghanistan is not true, but let's discuss stop and frisk, shall we? Lynn Sweet is the Washington bureau chief for "The Chicago Sun Times, and Jason Johnson is the politics editor for theroot.com. Lynn, you are from Chicago. Well-versed in Chicago. Mr. Trump said he has suggested he didn't say to who but he suggested that stop and frisk would work in the city of Chicago. Would it? [Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief, "chicago Sun-times":] He doesn't know what he's talking about in that he has never visited any of the neighborhoods in Chicago. He has no relationships with law enforcement community in Chicago. As it happens, by coincidence, tonight, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has been trying to solve this horrible crime situation in Chicago, is giving a major address on it with some more ideas that he has. So there's no possible way that donned Trump is putting out a solution. Stop and frisk is three words. Carol, it takes more than that to try and figure out why Chicago is having the trouble it's having with these this very serious problem of shootings. And that's my point I'd like to make. [Costello:] Right, well let's let's [Sweet:] Donald Trump can come to Chicago, as Hillary Clinton has, and go into neighborhoods and try and figure out that there might not just be one answer to this problem. [Costello:] Well, Donald Trump went on and he expounded on "Fox and Friends" this morning. He said stop and frisk is, police can walk down the streets, Jason, and they can stop people who look suspicious, who they suspect have a gun, frisk them. If they have the gun, they can take away the gun. And, you know, there's a problem with gun violence in the city of Chicago. So why wouldn't that work, Jason? [Jason Johnson, Politics Editor, Theroot.com:] Well, it's unconstitutional, Carol. I mean if it's unconstitutional at one place, it's unconstitutional somewhere else. And also this idea that your the problems with stop and frisk aren't just that it ends up being abusive to minorities, but it actually I've always thought it's somewhat dangerous for the police as well. You're asking police to basically consistently confront people, men and women on a regular basis, under the suspicion that they may have committed a crime or may have a weapon. It's provocative. It's incendiary. I think it's counter to basic police work. And think about what we just saw happening right now. In Charlotte, in North Carolina, that was a situation where people saw somebody with a gun. He had a right to have that gun. And that man was still shot in an open carry state. So it's a bad idea, but I'm not surprised because the use of Chicago at this point has become sort of a dog whistle for racial problems in the black community and that's why you hear a lot of candidates referring to it. He didn't really care about policy, he just wanted to mention Chicago. [Costello:] On the other hand, Hillary [Sweet:] Well, we have invited. Yes, please go on. I'm sorry. [Costello:] Yes. No, no, I know you have invited Donald Trump to Chicago. So has the very famous rapper that I talked with. And so far Donald Trump hasn't taken him up on his invitation. I wanted to talk a little bit about Hillary Clinton because she admitted that she doesn't have all the answers, right, but she said she fell back on, you know, we have to come up with some national policy for how police handle these situations and she said there needs to be better community policing. But we've all heard those solutions before, Lynn. [Sweet:] This is a hard one because you can't criticize openly President Barack Obama in saying that this is happening on your watch. After the Ferguson shootings, Carol, as you know, Barack Obama's Justice Department started a lot of study of nationally of what to do. They had a police commission that they formed. Hillary Clinton said back in July that the problem was that the local police departments are not practicing what the best recommendations are to prevent this. So I think this is a harder needle for Hillary Clinton to thread because she doesn't want to say that the Obama Justice Department has been studying this. They do police studies ever since Ferguson and you still have this problem. She doesn't want to go against the president in saying that they haven't solved the problem. [Costello:] Right. [Sweet:] By the way, Obama says it's our job to start the work even if we can't finish it. [Costello:] And yet these problems persist. I want to go I want to talk about the birther controversy just one more time because Donald Trump sat down with a local reporter in Columbus, Ohio, and that reporter asked Donald Trump what me him change his mind about the birther thing, what made him say that President Obama was born in the United States. And Donald Trump answered that question. Let's listen. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] Well, I just want to get on with, you know, we want to get on with the campaign. A lot of people were asking me questions and, you know, we want to talk about jobs, we want to talk about the military, we want to talk about ISIS and how you get rid of ISIS. We wanted to really talk about bringing jobs back to this area because you've been decimated. So we really want to get just back on to the subject of jobs, military, taking care of our vets, et cetera. [Costello:] So, Jason, he says he just wants to move on, you know, and it sounds as if it was all about political expediency and is Donald Trump sounding more and more like a politician as time winds down to Election Day? [Johnson:] Yes. And as time winds down to the debate next week, Carol. Here's the thing. As somebody who had his time wasted at this ridiculous bait and switch press conference that Donald Trump had as an advertisement for his hotel last week when he was supposedly going to end birtherism, all I can say is this, he probably still believes that President Obama wasn't born in the United States. It's a ridiculous question. It's this insane Scooby Doo logic that somehow people figured out that Barack Obama fooled everybody, was born in another country, but the mainstream media hasn't figured it out yet. The fact of the matter is, Donald Trump, this is one of many different things that he says references to Chicago, birtherism, that he uses to appeal to a certain segment of the population that's always been hostile to having an African-American president, and he's not going to deny it. And even if he does publicly deny it somewhat, like he did at the press conference, it's like Marshawn Lynch, he's just saying it so he doesn't get fined. He doesn't really change his mind on the issue. So birtherism's still going to be there. [Costello:] All right, I have to leave it there. Jason Johnson, Lynn Sweet, thanks to both of you. The next hour of CNN NEWSROOM after a break. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Confirmation hearings begin today for President-elect Donald Trump's pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos. Her critics say, she has no experience with the public school system and should be disqualified as a result with no prior experience as an educator or legislature either. So joining us now is of Devos's supporters Andrew Campanella. He's the president of National School Choice Week and he has worked with Ms. DeVos for several years at the American Federation for Children. Andrew, thanks so much for being here. [Andrew Campanella, President, National School Choice Week:] Thank you for having me. I appreciate it. [Camerota:] So let's start there. Ms. DeVos did not go to public school herself. None of her four children go to public school. Of course, that's her prerogative. That's There's not a problem with that. But her critics say that, how then can she know in any sort of fulsome way what's going on in the public school system. Let me read to you what Senator Warren says about this nomination. "There is no precedent for an Education Department secretary nominee with your lack of experience in public education. While past nominees for secretary of education have served as teachers, school system leaders, and governors, and came to the Department of Education with deep executive experience in public education, you have held no such position." What's your response? [Campanella:] Well, this is person Betsy DeVos who has worked for more than 25 years to improve education. Just because someone doesn't necessarily worked inside a system, but instead works on the outside, works full-time to try to improve education for children by putting kids first, giving parents more choices for their children's education doesn't mean they're unqualified in any way, shape, or form. You know, Alisyn, across the country, parents are told every single day in too many schools that they don't know what's best for their kids because they're not educators. But in reality, parents know their kids the best and that is the message of National School Choice Week which is coming up next week with 21,000 events across the country. Education is about kids and their parents and working with teachers, getting the best education possible. [Camerota:] Yeah. Look, that sounds wonderful. What parent doesn't want more choice? What parent doesn't want to be involved in their kid's education? The problem in reality, Andrew, is that what the critics say is that, if you divert attention and resources away from public schools then public schools end up getting short shrift. There's 99,000 public schools in the country and that they sometimes pay the price for things like charter schools, et cetera. [Campanella:] Well, I think there's a huge misconception here. And that is that school choice is somehow meaning that we're going to abandon public education. The reality is that school choice means all options that parents have or want to have for their kids education, that includes traditional public schools, public charter schools, which are public schools, magnet schools, also public schools, online academies, those are public schools and of course private schools and home schooling. So school choice is all options, not just private schools. [Camerota:] Right. But you know, the critics of what you're saying say that what ends up happening is the public schools go broke. Here's is Randi Weingarten. She is of course the president of the American Federation of Teachers Union. She says, "What this pick means of Betsy DeVos is far from ensuring that every child has the option of a great public education-the many who have it now will lose it. That's been the experience of 25 years of privatizing, it helps very few, and many students now go to schools that have faced years of austerity and disinvestment." [Campanella:] Well first of all, I wish that folks who are involved in education would be optimistic. I'm optimistic about education in America. I'm that optimistic that more American parents than ever before are actively choosing the right schools for their kids. The result of that is higher graduation rate, increased parent's satisfaction, higher college acceptance levels, increased life time earnings for these kids, these parents have chosen schools and education and environments for them. To your question about traditional district schools, research shows us over and over again that the more choices available to families, the better traditional district schools get. [Camerota:] One last point here and that is that Ms. DeVos is wildly wealthy. Her family she comes from a family of billionaires which is fantastic for her. However, she has also made lots of political contributions, including to four of the committee members who she will now be going in front of. How is that draining the swamp? [Campanella:] Here's the thing, Alisyn. That's politics. It's Washington. Go to a parent across the country. Ask them, what did they want when it comes to education? They will tell you, they want their child to be in a school that is challenging, motivating and effective. And those options and the need of parent is what's going to be on display next week during School Choice Week where we shine our spotlight on all of the options parents have or want to have for their kids education. They don't care how much money somebody donated to an elected official. They want their kids to be prepared so that they can live their own American dreams. That's really what this discussion needs to be about. [Camerota:] And we will see what happens today when the confirmation hearing begins. Andrew Campanella, thank you very much for being here. [Campanella:] Thank you. [Camerota:] Chris? [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Ethics questions are swirling around Trump's choice for HHS secretary. Did Congressman Tom Price use his job and influence to make money off stocks? We're going to look at the potential conflict and its ramifications, next. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] We've got so much more straight ahead in the NEWSROOM. It all starts right now. Happening right now in the NEWSROOM, Donald Trump is making a bold prediction. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] When it's all said and done, I will win, win, the Hispanic vote. [Whitfield:] The presidential candidate will speak to thousands about immigration in a matter of hours. Plus a report that two commercial airline pilots posted pro-ISIS content on their Facebook pages. And later, Serena Williams taking the Wimbledon title for the sixth time. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello and thanks again for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, it's a big day for Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump. First, there is a stop at a libertarian conference in Las Vegas. Then he's off to Phoenix for a rally on immigration that is expected to draw thousands. Meanwhile, protests like this one in Los Angeles Friday continue over Trump's controversial remarks about people crossing the border from Mexico. But today on CNN, a Trump executive says those remarks are misunderstood. [Michael Cohen, Executive V.p. Trump Organization:] What Donald Trump said in his speech was not directed to Mexicans. That's a gross distortion by the press, by the liberal media, that wants to take Donald Trump out of this race. He did not say Mexicans, and he certainly did not say Latinos. He said Mexico. He was referring to the Mexican government. What he then did is on probably more than 10,000 speeches and meetings with both liberal media as well as print and television. He went ahead and explained exactly what he meant. That it's the Mexican government, not Mexicans. That wasn't enough. [Unidentified Male:] I understand that. [Cohen:] He put out statements. Let me just finish this. He put out statements that explained it, but they still don't want to hear it. And so Donald Trump is not backing down. He doesn't back down to anyone. [Unidentified Male:] But Michael, Michael, I know and I want to get to that, too. I don't consider myself part of any liberal media. I just want to get to the facts. And the facts suggest that proportionately those who are here in this country illegally are committing less crime than native-born Americans. That's what the "Washington Post" was getting at when they called out Mr. Trump and they said this just isn't true. [Cohen:] Well, tell that to the family of this young girl that was killed. The bottom line is, this is not an issue about one person, though in all fairness if you look to see the tragedy that took place in Charlotte, what a great result that that had for Charlotte and the American people. And let's hope that the same thing happens for this beautiful young girl that was killed in San Francisco. This is a time for immigration reform. And that's something Mr. Trump feels strongly about. [Whitfield:] All right. So you heard Mr. Cohen say Trump's remarks were not directed at Mexicans. You be the judge. Here is that speech from last month. [Trump:] When Mexico sends its people, they're not sending their best. They're not sending you. They're not sending you. They're sending people that have lots of problems and they're bringing those problems with us. They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists, and some, I assume, are good people. [Whitfield:] All right. Let's bring in CNN political reporter, MJ Lee. All right, so Donald Trump and his people are saying his comments are being misinterpreted so as he visits Vegas and then onto Phoenix, how much will this be about clarifying his comments or reiterating his comments? [Mj Lee, Cnn Political Reporter:] I think Donald Trump is expected to only reiterate his comments today, Fredricka. I don't think there is going to be a clarification or an attempt to take back anything that he has said so far, even amid all this controversy. When I spoke with Trump officials earlier today, they made it clear that the main message that he is going to be driving home is how do we stop illegal immigrants who come into the country from killing U.S. citizens? That was the exact words that campaign officials used when they were trying to describe what Mr. Trump's message would be in Arizona today. I think that to say that this has been just a controversy would be an understatement. I think that there are many immigrants in the country, particularly those of Latino background, who are very offended by the comments that he has made. And I think with the two events today, Mr. Trump will only be re-emphasizing the earlier remarks. In fact, yesterday when he spoke in Beverly Hills, he really doubled down on the message that he has been repeating over and over again. Let's take a listen. [Trump:] We're housing people from all over the world that other countries don't want. They're sending criminals to us. And we're putting those criminals in jail. Oftentimes after they've killed somebody or hurt somebody. [Lee:] So the word "criminals" I think is one that we're going to be hearing a lot from Donald Trump today Fredricka. [Whitfield:] OK, while in Arizona, Phoenix in particular, he is expected to appear with the sheriff there, Joe Arpaio, who is famous in his own right for his own anti-immigration kind of sentiments. Will they be speaking kind of in concert? What is this relationship and how is it going to be displayed? [Lee:] I think that you're right that especially for the people of Arizona, they know this man. They know Sheriff Arpaio as being someone who has taken very anti-immigration stances in the past. I think that it does sort of help reiterate Trump's comments about illegal immigration from the last couple of months. I think whether the two of them are going to be on stage together at the same time or whether they will end up being separate speeches I'm not sure, but the fact that are going to be at this event together will send that message. [Whitfield:] All right. MJ Lee, thanks so much. And of course, remember for all the latest news on the race for 2016, go to cnnpolitics.com. New details about a deadly attack targeting ISIS in Afghanistan, former Taliban leader, Hafiz Saeed, also thought to be an ISIS leader in Afghanistan and Pakistan, has been killed in a U.S. drone strike. The Afghanistan intelligence agency says Saeed was one of 30 other insurgents killed in the strike on their compound in Eastern Afghanistan. A spokesman says the leader, who was killed, is not the man with the same name who has a $10 million U.S. bounty on his head. Egyptian authorities are now trying to find out who set off a car bomb outside the Italian Consulate in downtown Cairo this morning. The blast killed at least one person and injured nine others. It also caused significant damage to the consulate. Had the attack happened on a week day, the area would have been teaming with people. No one has yet claimed responsibility. Australian authorities are worried that two Indonesian airline pilots may have been radicalized by ISIS. That's according to an intelligence report obtained by the news web site "The Intercept." That report details the social media behavior of the two men. Authorities are concerned that they could post security threats because of their knowledge of aviation and security procedures. Both pilots have Facebook pages which post pro-is materials. The one of the men denies that he is a member of ISIS. Indonesia's national police chief tells CNN their investigation shows the two pilots are not directly involved with ISIS, but he also said they often post about ISIS on Facebook, and they are sympathizers. Indonesia's Foreign Affairs Ministry says it's asked the country's security agencies for more information about the pilots. The Australian federal police told CNN it doesn't comment on intelligence matters. All right, joining me right now from New York, a former Navy SEAL, Jonathan Gilliam, who is also a former FBI special agent. Jonathan, this all sounds very alarming especially since you're hearing acknowledgement being an ISIS sympathizer but not necessarily an ISIS member, what do you make of all this kind of information? [Jonathan Gilliam, Former Fbi Special Agent:] Well, first off, Fred, we have to look at the terminology that's being used, an ISIS member? What is that? I mean, you don't get a membership card to be an ISIS. You don't go to ISIS boot camp to be a fighter. You're a sympathizer. You're somebody who understands what the ideology, the fundamental Islamic ideology that ISIS follows and you subscribe to that. [Whitfield:] Doesn't it sound rather alarming and you're a pilot and you've got a whole lot of peoples' lives in your hands? [Gilliam:] It doesn't get any more alarming than that. The only thing that they could add to that if they had some kind of license to carry explosives on their planes, I mean, that's, you know, it doesn't get any worse than that right there. Those two individuals should be pulled straight off those planes, never to fly again, and they should be highly investigated. I mean, they should dig into everything. All their contacts, who they're contacting because there are no way that these two individuals just are fans of ISIS. It goes way deeper. [Whitfield:] So would it be the situation or the case that the Australian government or even Indonesian government feels like they don't have the authority to take them from their piloting duties because of this information or is there a more international or global I guess field or entity that could make that kind of decision? [Gilliam:] Well, when you work in certain areas, those areas come with certain types of responsibility and overwatch. And when you have proven to the world that this group has declared war on most western countries and on anything that's not Islamic, and then they've shown throughout history that they're not opposed to using planes, they should take this very seriously. These individuals are allowed to fly in these airplanes by the governments. I mean, they go and they get a job with the airline industry, but they have to be vetted and cleared to go and fly these planes. You can't just allow anybody who has any type of ideology to jump inside an airplane with 200 something people in it that basically it's a flying bomb. [Whitfield:] OK, and then now we are just learning that ISIS is claiming responsibility for or I'm sorry. ISIS supporters, I'm being told, is claiming responsibility for that consulate attack there in Cairo, Egypt. So what is your response when you hear that? What duds that mean, ISIS supporters versus members of ISIS? I mean, this language or these semantics is getting very complicated, isn't it? [Gilliam:] It is because we're allowing it to be. I mean, look, Fred, we're talking now about an explosion and sympathizers, right? We were just talking about two airline pilots that were sympathizers. The fact is, people that subscribe to the fundamental Islamic ideology that ISIS, al Qaeda, all these different groups subscribe to, it's one ideology. There might be different divisions. One may want to do shootings. One may want to do explosions. One may want to crash planes into buildings. It's one ideology. We need to stop differentiating between all of them and we need to stop looking at trying to pick between a sympathizer, somebody who's a supporter and somebody who's an operator. They're all operators, whether they're directly or indirectly related. Look at Germany back during World War II. You had direct people involved in the fighting, you had indirect people that supported it and allowed to it happen. It's the same thing here. [Whitfield:] Yes, and just for clarity, my CNN producer is telling me that's the language ISIS supporter. Just like you, I think we all wish we knew a little bit more about what that really means. Jonathan Gilliam, thanks so much. Appreciate it. [Gilliam:] You got it. [Whitfield:] And we'll be right back. [Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] And an NBC"Wall Street Journal" poll shows Clinton with an 11-point advantage. Both polls were taken after that leaked tape of Trump bragging about grabbing women begging the question now, how is that affecting the race? We'll be discussing all of that this hour. And Trump continues to beat his drum of fear declaring this election rigged, dishonest and saying the media is distorted. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] The election is being rigged by corrupt media pushing false allegations and outright lies in an effort to elect Hillary Clinton president. But we are going to stop it. We are not going to back down. [Whitfield:] Those comments just as a ninth woman has stepped forward accusing Trump of sexual assault saying he grabbed her and kissed her at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Meanwhile. The Clinton campaign has its own controversy to deal with ahead of Wednesday night's debate. WikiLeaks released what appears to be hacked transcripts of Clinton's paid speeches to Goldman Sachs. Both candidates are off the trail and preparing for their debate today. But their surrogates are speaking out and this morning Former New York City Mayor and Top Adviser to Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, was on "STATE OF THE UNION". He addressed Trump's claims of a rigged election. [Rudy Giuliani, Former New York City Mayor:] When he talks about a rigged election, he's not talking about the fact that it's going to be rigged at the polls. What he's talking about is that 80 percent to 85 percent of the media is against him, that when you at the "New York Times" and you pick it up every morning, on the top of the paper, there are three stories that are anti-Trump. Some of them, totally baseless, some of them silly. And then at the bottom, you get a little something about WikiLeaks or same thing with "the Washington Post". I mean they're way out of control. The "Daily News", clown outfits of Donald Trump. [Jake Tappen, Cnn Host, "state Of The Union":] OK. But Mr. Mayor, I understand that that... [Giuliani:] So that's what and you know that please, let me finish. You let Nancy Pelosi go on for like two, three minutes without interrupting her. Now, the reality is that he makes it clear. He pushed right at you at the press. He makes it clear who he thinks is rigging the... [Tapper:] Then why does he call for people to go to elections, to go to polling places to be election monitors? Why does he say, "If I lose Pennsylvania, it was because that it's stolen?" Pennsylvania, a state that hasn't win Republicans since 1988? [Giuliani:] There are a few places and not many in the swing states. There are a few places where they've been notorious for stealing votes, Pennsylvania, Chicago. There've been places where a lot of cheating has gone on over the years. I know that from my own knowledge of bussing people in from Camden. When I ran for mayor of New York City the first time, some people voted eight and 10 times. The second time, I had fire fighters and police officers outside checking on the buses. So we take down the number of the bus, the bus had voted ten times, and then we wouldn't let the bus vote, again. So when I asked Randy Levine, who is now president of the Yankees who did this for me, I said how much of the cheating did we stop? He said, I think we stopped about 75 percent of it. We're still going to have to give up about 25,000 votes. I'm sorry, dead people generally vote for Democrats rather than Republicans. [Tapper:] So, he's not talking about elections being stolen except in some cases when he is talking about elections being stolen? [Giuliani:] I would he wants me to tell me that I think the election in Philadelphia, in Chicago is going to be fair. I would have to be a moron to say that. I mean, I would have to dislearn everything I learned in 40 years of being a prosecutor. [Tapper:] The Republican Party of Philadelphia would disagree with you. They looked into the allegations from 2012 and they said that there was nothing irregular with what happened. There are yes, there were areas where people only voted for Obama just like in Utah. There were places that only voted for Mitt Romney. [Giuliani:] Maybe there are situations in which it's right. I remember a case where I was associate attorney general where 720 dead people voted in Chicago in the 1982 election. [Whitfield:] CNN Correspondent Chris Frates is joining me now to discuss the response from both the Republicans and Democrats on this. What are you hearing? [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Fred. Well, look, Donald Trump continues to push this idea that the election is somehow rigged despite not providing any evidence to support his charge. And just this afternoon, he tweeted, "The election is absolutely being rigged by the dishonest and distorted media, but also at many polling places." But the facts just don't bear that out. For instance, a 2012 investigative project by "News21"looked at over a decade of data and found just 10, 10 cases of voter impersonation at the polls on Election Day. Now, meanwhile, Democrats are using Trump's claims about a rigged election to paint him as a panicked candidate trying to delegitimize the results before he loses the election. [Sen. Tim Kaine, Vice Presidential Candidate:] Especially in the last couple of days, Donald Trump has kind started to go wilder and wilder I think after by all accounts losing the first two debates. He's started to make wild claims, kind of scorched earth claims, about the election being rigged, et cetera. So, we have to keep putting out a message and we need to call on everybody to speak out about the fact that we run elections and we run them well here. He shouldn't be engaging in those scare tactics. And so, we're needing to push that message and we ask the GOP leaders also to stand up for the integrity of the electoral process. [Frates:] And indeed, Republican leaders have spoken out on subject including Trump's own running mate, Mike Pence. [Gov. Mike Pence, Vice Presidential Candidate:] We will absolutely accept the results of the election. Look, the American people will speak in an election that will culminate on November the 8th. One of the great, great traditions of America is the peaceful transfer of power. [Frates:] Now, Republican Speaker Paul Ryan's office also weighing in on this putting a statement yesterday saying, "Our democracy relies on confidence in election results and the speaker is fully confident the states will carry out this election with integrity." So in a bitterly divided election year, many Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on at least one thing, Fred, and that's despite what Donald Trump says, the polls are not rigged. [Whitfield:] All right, Chris Frates, thanks so much from Washington. Meantime, we're awaiting a press conference coming up in about an hour involving a lawyer for one of Donald Trump's accusers. A former candidate on "The Apprentice" is expected to address the media, at least the attorney is our understanding. This as a ninth woman now has come forward accusing the Republican candidate of unwanted sexual advances. Sixty-year-old, Cathy Heller, says the incident happened nearly 20 years ago at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. CNN's Jessica Schneider joining me with more on this. So Jessica, you've actually spoken to Ms. Heller and what more did she tell you? [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Yeah, Fredricka, Cathy Heller told me she was alarmed by this uninvited kiss and aggressive behavior from Donald Trump. She said it happened at a Mother's Day brunch at Mar-a-Lago in the late 1990s. Her mother-in-law introduced her to Donald Trump and then Cathy Heller tells me this happened, she said, "I put my hand out and said hello and he grabbed me. I was standing and had heels on and almost fell back. He pulled me toward him, he was very strong." She tells me that's when he kissed her. Now, she says her family saw what happened but they didn't dwell on it. It was, though, about 1.5 year ago that she started telling friends about this just as Donald Trump was rising to political prominence and then, of course, last Friday when that "Access Hollywood" tape came out, she realized that she wasn't the only one that this happened to, and she decided to share her story. Fredricka? [Whitfield:] And so, what has the Trump campaign said since her accusation went public? [Schneider:] Well, the whole campaign, including Donald Trump, they've been responding furiously to all these accusations. But as for the Cathy Heller claim, Jason Miller, the Senior Communication Adviser, has released this statement. He said, "The media has gone too far in making this false accusation. There is no way something like this would have happened in a public place on Mother's Day at Mr. Trump's resort. It would have been the talk of Palm Beach for the past two decades. The reality is this, for the media to wheel out a politically motivated democratic activist with a legal dispute against the same resort owned by Mr. Trump does a disservice to the public and anyone covering this story should be embarrassed for elevating this bogus claim." Now two responses to that from Cathy Heller. First of all, she admits she is a Hillary Clinton supporter. She's donated to the campaign. She said it's not a legal dispute with Mar-a-Lago. She's been in ongoing talks with her family to get initiation fees back. In the meantime, Donald Trump has been talking about all these accusations on the stump for the past few days. Here's a look at what he said yesterday in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. [Trump:] Total lies that you've been seeing. Total lies. But we're going to stop it. We're not going to back down. And, remember this, it's a rigged election because you have phony people coming up with phony allegations with no witnesses whatsoever ending up from 20 years ago, 30 years ago. [Schneider:] So that was on Saturday. And this morning, Donald Trump has also been furiously tweeting those same allegations that these allegations against him are fabricated and false and that the election is rigged. Fredricka? [Whitfield:] And then based on your account when you talked to Ms. Heller thought, Ms. Heller was claiming that her family was eyewitness to her accusations. So when will they or in what capacity would their version of events come out? [Schneider:] Well, she's hesitant to put her family on a spotlight. I spoke with her yesterday. She said, yes, in fact, her extended family was there, her husband, as well. She says they don't want to get they don't want to talk about this. She says she's a little bit nervous about talking further. However, I did talk with her friend, Susan Klein, who she told this to 1.5 year ago. She recounted it for me as well. So she has substantiated her claims with other people, but of course, CNN is working to further collaborate her story. Fredricka? [Whitfield:] All right, Jessica Schneider, thank you so much. Appreciate it. All right, still ahead, what appears to be another batch of hacked e- mails released by WikiLeaks, this time detailing what Hillary Clinton told executives at Goldman Sachs. [Briggs:] Two new security incidents at the White House this weekend. First late Saturday night, the Secret Service detained a man who claimed to have a bomb in his vehicle. No confirmation yet whether any device was found. President Trump was at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida at the time. Earlier Saturday, an unarmed man was arrested for jumping over a bicycle rack in front of the White House. He old authorities he was trying to deliver a document. [Romans:] All right. Police still searching for a credible clue this morning seven days after a 15-year-old Tennessee girl was abducted by a teacher at her high school. Elizabeth Thomas' alleged kidnapper, 50-year-old Tad Cummins is believed to be armed and dangerous. Police said they have received 250 tips from 24 states but none of them helped locate the girl. Thomas and her captor were last tracked by investigators to Decatur, Alabama. [Briggs:] More than 400 homes evacuated in Boulder, Colorado because of a wildfire that appears to be human caused. Another 800 homeowners put on notice. They may have to flee if the wind shifts direction. Now over 60 acres of woodland already scorched near the University of Colorado. The fire only 50 percent contained as of last night. Much of Colorado battling through drought conditions along with Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico and Nebraska. [Romans:] Hope they can get that under control. All right, Disney's live action version of its classic "Beauty & the Beast" saying hello to some big dough. [Unidentified Female:] There goes the baker with his tray like always. [Romans:] That's Emma Watson. She's starring as Belle. [Briggs:] She's lovely. [Romans:] She broke the record for the biggest March debut of all time. The biggest March debut of all time, earning $170 million. That's also the best opening weekend of 2017 so far. Even more impressive, the film raked in $350 million worldwide this weekend. The remake of a 1991 remake of the classic Disney story and they've really hit it out of the park on this one. I know we're talking about [Briggs:] I begged my 5-year-old to go see it with me and she said no. [Romans:] She said no? I begged my three boys to go. They looked at me like I'm crazy but I think we are going to go. [Briggs:] I can't wait to see it. [Romans:] I think it's not just little girls who love it. I mean they've really [Briggs:] I think the beast is a little scary for some of the little ones but it looks like a fantastic film. Well the suspense building for a pivotal congressional hearing into Russia's meddling in the election. But will Russia be paying attention? How officials in Moscow are responding, next. [Ed Lavandera, Cnn Correspondent:] jail time that Ethan Couch faces here is minimal. Prosecutors here in Texas say they want to move it into the adult system in case he violates his probation again, he could face much stiffer punishment. The prosecutors and the law enforcement here in Texas say still voicing their displeasure with the sentence that Ethan Couch received back in 2013 for the drunk driving deaths of four people back in 2013 and obviously the case and the defense of affluenza and his attorneys arguing that Ethan Couch had lived a life of wealth and privilege and, because of that, didn't know the consequences and right and wrong and clouded judgment, all of that defense kind of boiling into this situation that has made this such a controversial and hot-button story as the investigators here continue to track and awaiting the arrival of Ethan Couch and his mother back here in Texas Ed Lavandera, CNN, Dallas. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Sr. White House Correspondent:] All right. Thank you, Ed, for that report. As we reported earlier in the show, CNN has learned that federal and local security officials are tightening security in high-profile locations tied to New Year's celebrations. One threat specifically mentions three cities: Los Angeles; Washington, D.C., and New York. And with me now to talk about this is Congressman Gregory Meeks of New York's 5th District. He is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Thank you so much, Congressman, for being with us to talk about this very important topic, as everybody is getting ready to revel. They don't want to worry about their safety but obviously it's on their minds after the kind of year that we have had. Do you know anything more than what we just heard about tightened security in New York and in these other cities? [Rep. Gregory Meeks , N.y:] Well, I will tell you that New York is prepared. In fact, on my trek to the studio right now in New York, if you go up and down 5th Avenue, you will see large units of the New York City Police Department and diverting traffic and preparation for New Year's Eve is taking place now. And it is not only what you see it's what you don't see that is also taking place. So, I think that, you know, any threat, whether it is a threat that has been deemed real or not is taken seriously and, clearly, I believe that people will be safer in New York City, because all kinds of preparations are taking place, as should be. [Keilar:] So you are confident that as people are heading to Times Square, all they need to worry about is ushering in the New Year. Is there anything that you want to say to them as we have heard they are going through double magnetometers to get in this year, certainly something that should make them feel safer but is there something that you would like to say to them as they consider going out on New Year's Eve? [Meeks:] First, I want to say that welcome to New York City. And New York City knows how to bring in a New Year. Go out and enjoy and have a good time, that you're in good hands with the New York City Police Department and all of those that have been trained there. Secondly, though, you know, you see something, you say something. You know, don't presume anything that is innocent. You know, if you think something looks suspicious, make sure that you say something to someone, because you are part of this law enforcement team; working collectively together, we can try to make sure that we're all safe. But I can tell you that the New York City Police Department along with the Homeland Security has been working and sharing information and doing things of the nature to make sure that we are all safe. As I said, if you walk around the streets of New York City today, you will see a number of police officers but it is not only what you see, it's what you don't see that is also taking place to make sure that everybody will be safe bringing in 2016. [Keilar:] I know that the threat assessment is going beyond the U.S. at this point and I want to ask you about something that you may have been briefed about as a House member. In Belgium, there were two people arrested yesterday on suspicion of being involved in a plot to attack various sites in the capital there during New Year's celebrations. Do you know anything more about a possible ISIS connection here? [Meeks:] Well, I think that it's still being investigated and there's still information that's being shared now. I think they're coming out of what took place in Paris, in Europe, the information sharing between different countries, because, as you know, the borders are porous and people go back and forth and between the French government and the Belgians and others and the United States, the information sharing and working collectively together is even stronger than it was before. And so these kinds of plots that were uncovered will continue to be uncovered. And the kind of investigations that are taking place afterwards to see what are the direct links or indirect links to ISIS or daish or whatever you want to call them, what they are because,, of course, the concern right now is individuals who are radicalized without having to travel to Syria or any places where you have the direct contact with daish. So there is thorough investigation that is taking place now, thorough communication and working collectively together between countries and law enforcement agencies and they will get to the bottom of whether or not the individual that was arrested in Belgium were part of an ISIS plot or not. [Keilar:] OK. So basically Belgian authorities at this point are still trying to determine the link to ISIS? [Meeks:] They are. There are still investigations going on to try to find just you know, you got to go through all of the computers, you've got to make sure who is linked where and how they were radicalized, because there is various ways that you can be radicalized and I think that that kind of investigation is continuing. And we will know something shortly. [Keilar:] All right. Congressman Meeks, thank you so much and Happy New Year to you, as we look towards 2016, just two days away. [Meeks:] Happy New Year to you and come on to New York, it's a great place to bring in the New Year. [Keilar:] It sure. It sure is. All right, thanks, Congressman. And up next, we're going to have more from Missouri. I'll be speaking live to a mayor from one of the devastated cities to see how he's handling this emergency, how his community is handling it. Plus we'll get the forecast to see who else is in flooding danger. Stay with us. [Kimberly Dozier, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] Well, it shows that even though ISIS is under siege militarily inside Syria and Iraq, they can still command some of these attacks and inspire far more. They knew that this military confrontation and loss of territory was coming. And U.S. intelligence officials tell us that as far back as two years ago they started deploying operatives to places like Europe, clandestine networks across the African content, and possibly even in the United States. The idea being when they needed to draw attention elsewhere, they would activate these cells or lost communication with these cells they would act on their own to keep is' name in the headlines. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Bob, the U.S. is supporting efforts in Syria and Iraq to take back territory from ISIS, their so-called caliphate. What does ISIS need with the land? If they can carry out attacks or inspire these attacks around the world even as they're losing ground, we're told by military officials here, what does the land matter to them? [Bob Baer, Cnn Intelligence & Security Analyst:] In a sense, it doesn't matter much. The caliphate will go away. They need land to have a caliphate. But the problem is these cells, like the cells in Baghdad, it's very easy to make these truck bombs. This thing was devastating. It was 150 dead, hundreds more wounded. The problem is Iraqis have is you can make these things in a big garage. It's very easy. They're very good at it. They make the detonators work. Bangladesh, ISIS-inspired probably. They don't need direct communications, if you can get weapons. The problem is what we're seeing across the world is a backlash, a backlash the fall of Fallujah, Ramadi. This is the politics of despair. People identify with the Sunnis in Iraq and Syria. They're striking out where they can. It's a sign of weakness. On the other hand, they can cause a lot of bloodshed on the other hand. [Berman:] Fascinating, talk about Iraq, Nic, coming on the heals of what is considered to be a success in Fallujah, the Iraqi forces in Fallujah were able to take back Fallujah from ISIS, yet this terror attack happened in the Iraqi capitol and the prime minister has shoes thrown at him just weeks after he helped retake Fallujah. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Yeah. What ISIS is doing with this particular attack in Baghdad, it's very pertinent to the Iraq part of the picture for them. They chose a Shia neighborhood. They are Sunni. They're trying to create as much of a sectarian division as absolutely possible. Now, the prime minister is a Shia and he those were Shia people throwing shoes and rocks at him. There are divisions within the Shia community. That there's nothing ISIS would like better than that. Would they would really like is to create a situation in Iraq that is so polarized in a sectarian basis there's no way that a Shia-led government in Baghdad can run the Sunni west of the country. And in their minds, they would be the ones sweeping in to try to take control and manage. There will come a point that the Iraqi government if it can't work with the Sunni tribes in Fallujah and Ramadi and the other places will have a big weakness in the West. ISIS, you know, in their minds is not going away. They're absolutely losing territory. They are lashing out in the ways that they can. But to a degree what we're seeing is the maturation of their ability to use this caliphate that is central to their raise. If they don't have the caliphate, if we can take the land back, then that is a massive, massive blow to themselves. They can no longer call themselves caliphate. But they're lashing out through the maturation of the networks so they've inspired in other parts of the world. That's the dangerous part of this, of course. [Berman:] Kimberly, what are your military sources telling you right now about future efforts about the so-called capitol of their caliphate and Mosul and Raqqa? [Dozier:] They're having to work slowly because they're working through partners, but the other thing that they're doing is slowly choking off each area, rather than going directly for them. Preparing the ground it's called so that ISIS by the time they get the full onslaught of Iraqi forces in Mosul or in Raqqa they will be starved out and under pressure and having infighting within their own organization, at least that's the plan. I think what people forget, though, is that ISIS itself has an apocalyptic vision which require is it at some point to lose the town which is about northeast of Aleppo by about 30 miles and that then, according to ISIS'beliefs triggers a victory for them where they go they fight for Jerusalem and then supposedly their caliphate expands. So, what we see as a loss, they're seeing as a signal for future victory. [Berman:] Nic, Bob, Kimberly, thanks so much. Want to turn to politics right now. And the list of possible running mates for each major candidate right now. Just moments ago, something extraordinary, Donald Trump, the candidate himself, floated several names of possible vice presidential picks. Which one is the most likely? We'll discuss. [Costello:] Former Quarterback Johnny Manziel in court, oh, just about 25 minutes ago. He's facing domestic violence charges. Let's check in with Andy Shoals. What happened? [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Anchor:] Hello, Carol. This was not an arraignment today. Manziel did not enter a plea. This was just a bond hearing. The judge laying out the conditions of Manziel's bond, which he posted yesterday. The judge had just two conditions for him. One, was that he could, in no way, contact or be in the presence of his ex-girlfriend, Colleen Crowley. The other was that he could not be in the possession of a firearm. Now this was Manziel's mugshot from yesterday. Now he actually tweeted about the mugshot last night, saying, "just thankful that I had a shirt on this time." Referring to when he was arrested in college for fighting and possessing a fake I.D. Now that mugshot in 2012, Manziel did not have a shirt on. Manziel has since deleted that tweet. And Carol, the judge did not set a date for Manziel's next court appearance. So when this continues, we don't know quite yet. [Costello:] This he doesn't seem to be taking this very seriously, Andy. [Scholes:] Well you know, Johnny Manziel is a mystery right now. A week ago we saw him in a bar in Columbus, Ohio watching the first round of the draft on television by himself, because he was on his way to his second Justin Bieber concert of the week. So it appears right now that he hasn't been taking this seriously. But today in court, he did answer all the questions that the judge had for him. And he might now, for the first time, Carol, actually be taking this seriously... [Costello:] Well because he could face jail time, right? [Scholes:] Yes, the maximum punishment for the misdemeanor assault charge is one year in jail. So we'll have to wait and see. I mean, there have been talks of a deal being cut before they ever come back to court. So that is a possibilit [Y. Costello:] And the incident, the incident that led to his court appearance, right? He allegedly broke the eardrum of his former girlfriend. [Scholes:] Yes, that's what she told police. She said that he hit her so hard that her eardrum was ruptured. And then that same night, he threatened to kill both him and her. That's what Colleen Crowley alleges. Johnny Manziel's lawyer meanwhile, says he expects him to be acquitted of the misdemeanor assault charge. [Costello:] All right, we'll see what happens. Andy Scholes, thanks so much. I'll be right back. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] Yes. There are too many people. Marco doesn't show up to the United States. He is representing the people of Florida, which, by the way, that poll just came out today. And I'm way up in Florida. Well, he has a very bad record of finances, if you look at what happened with his houses, with his he certainly lives above his means. There's no question about that. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] Catch that? Hard to miss. Marco Rubio clearly in his sights as a target, the senator's finances, his immigration plan, his work in the Senate, his experience, not a coincidence, because we all know Donald Trump looks at those polls. Take a look at these numbers. This is how Marco Rubio is performing in the latest polls. Take New Hampshire, everyone just about at the same standing, except for Rubio. He has tripled his support there since September. CNN political reporter Sara Murray is here with me. She was at that event with Donald Trump earlier today. And you were to me, today, he was on a warpath. [Sara Murray, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] He definitely was on a warpath today, Brooke. Look, Donald Trump does not like to not be the number one guy in the polls. So, today it was like he couldn't decide who he wanted to go after, so he just went after everyone. Take a listen. [Trump:] You look at Marco Rubio, very, very weak on illegal immigration. You look at Ben. He's very weak on immigration. And he wants to get rid of Medicare. I mean, Ben wants to get rid of Medicare. You can't get rid of Medicare. Jeb, he lacks the quality that you need. We're talking about everybody in the world is ripping us off. You need a very strong person with tremendous energy. [Murray:] So, weak on immigration, weak on Medicare, low energy, it's almost like he's just throwing the kitchen sink at these guys and there's good reason for it. Donald Trump looks at the people he's attacked in the past. He looks at people like Rick Perry, people like Scott Walker who are no longer in the race and says these attacks are effective. I should keep working at it. [Baldwin:] He doesn't like not being number one. I'm sure he will be looking at the ratings for "Saturday Night Live" after this next weekend. Today, he's meeting with Lorne Michaels. What did he say about that? [Murray:] He says she's excited. He says he's not nervous when he's preparing for "SNL," but he's excited to meet with Lorne Michaels today. They are going to start going over the scripts, picking their scripts. And, look, Donald Trump is amazing at self-promotion. There's a reason he's excited to do "SNL." He likes being on TV. He likes being in front of the camera. The reason we see so many Republicans doing it is this is a smart way to reach out to younger voters. It will be very interesting to see if he busts out a Jeb Bush impression there. He would not do it for us today. [Baldwin:] Speaker of, this is what he said about "SNL." [Trump:] This evening, I'm meeting with Lorne Michaels and the whole staff and we will start the preparation. We will pick our skits. Am I nervous? Not too nervous. Not too nervous. But we will do a good job and we're going to have a fantastic show. We're going to all have a lot of fun. My Jeb impression? No, I don't want to do that. I don't like showing a person sleeping at a podium. [Baldwin:] Ouch. [Murray:] He is holding at least one thing back. I get we're just going to have to check out "SNL" for that one. [Baldwin:] OK. Sara Murray, thank you. Not everyone is laughing, by the way, as we just were talking about here ahead of a big appearance this weekend at 30 Rock. And earlier on CNN, we actually heard from a man who knows certainly a thing or too about "Saturday Night Live," comedian turned Senator Al Franken. [Sen. Al Franken , Minnesota:] I think it will be an entertaining show. I watch the show whenever I have the chance. I thought Hillary did great on it. I have known her for 20 years. She's really she's actually a really funny person and is going to make a great president. [Baldwin:] Of course, Donald Trump might take issue with that last statement there. Not everyone is amused at Trump's upcoming appearance on "SNL." There's a growing chorus of voices protesting his hosting the show Saturday. One of the loudest voices, California Congresswoman Loretta Sanchez, a senior member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. She joins me, along with Matt Wilstein, entertainment writer for The Daily Beast. So, to both of you, welcome. And, Congresswoman, let me just begin with you. What specifically are you and other members of Congress asking of NBC or "SNL" or Lorne Michaels? [Rep. Loretta Sanchez , California:] So, "SNL" has had plenty of presidential candidates on before. The problem is that they are allowing Donald Trump the entire time. They are asking him to he's going to host this. And that hasn't happened in the past by a presidential candidate. And we believe that it's an affront to Latinos in particular, Mexicans and Mexican Americans, my parents in particular, because of all of the negative things that Donald Trump has said about us. [Baldwin:] But doesn't "Saturday Night Live," Congresswoman, have a right to book whether it's one little sketch and Hillary Clinton making a cameo or Donald Trump for the entire hour-and-a-half, have a right to book Donald Trump, just as you certainly have a right to speak up and not tune in? [Sanchez:] Well, in the same way that I believe in free speech and the First Amendment, you're correct from that standpoint, except for you're not allowed to go into an auditorium and yell, fire, fire, fire. And in the same way, believe it's up to "SNL" to understand that when they put a Donald Trump in front of people and he says these type of derogatory comments, that has a direct relationship to what is happening out in everyday lives of Latinos. For example, back in June, when in Boston a Hispanic male was beat up almost to the point of death, and the person who beat him up said to the police, well, Donald Trump is right, these illegal aliens are just not supposed to be here. So it's very detrimental as we try to hold our community together and they try to move along in the normal course of American life to have an instigation of that type against us. [Baldwin:] Matt, I promise I'm coming to you. But let me just follow up with that, because I know a lot of people, Congresswoman Sanchez, absolutely agree with you, although I did speak with a Latino woman just recently who would disagree with you coming from within the community. She loves some Donald Trump. This was Myriam Witcher. [Myriam Witcher, Trump Supporter:] I'm Hispanic and I vote for Mr. Trump. We vote for Mr. Trump. Yes, Mr. Trump, we love you. He's our man sent from heaven. He's a very, very beautiful human being. Beautiful heart. A lot of love and compassion. If you can read or hear about the charities he's doing, this is something that touched my heart. [Baldwin:] I realize that is one woman's opinion, but she's a big Donald Trump supporter. And I'm wondering, though, with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus making very, very frustrated over NBC having Donald Trump that you're actually going to have people tune in. I can imagine people at "SNL" loving this right now. [Sanchez:] Well, I happen to like the "SNL" show. Quite honestly, I don't stay up that late. I'm either working... [Baldwin:] You have better things to do. [Sanchez:] Gone to sleep. So, over the years but, certainly, there have been sometimes when "SNL" and its skits have gone overboard. But, in particular, we are upset that Mr. Trump is hosting this, rather than just being a skit. It is enabling him, after he has said these derogatory comments. And NBC Universal said to us early on, we're not going to stand for this. So we are simply pushing back at "SNL" and saying, uh-uh, this is not correct and you're endangering Latinos when you do this type of a thing. And that's our concern. Our concern is about people living their everyday lives and trying to be good Americans. [Baldwin:] OK. OK. Matt, I woke up and read your piece in The Beast first thing this morning. And you walk through a lot. But let me just ask you first, have you heard anything from NBC? Do you have any sort of scoop as far as how they will cast Donald Trump in these sketches, anything? [Matt Wilstein, The Daily Beast:] NBC is staying awfully quiet about everything surrounding Donald Trump's appearance this week, including not reacting at all to these calls for him to be removed. I mean, to me, that indicates that they are not going to budge one bit on keeping him on air as host of the show this weekend. And they are not giving away much in terms of what he's going to do, but we do have about 11 years ago when he hosted the first time as a precedent to look back and he was, for most of that show, Donald Trump as Donald Trump. And I don't see him venturing outside of that too much this time, including that Jeb Bush impression which is hard to imagine hum taking on a character besides himself. [Baldwin:] I know. We will have to see. But you do point out in that appearance in '04 he had a very different relationship, what did you write, with not only the media, but the American people. This will be very different. [Wilstein:] Well, he was very different figure then. Obviously, he was then just at the beginning of his time as host of "The Apprentice." He didn't have any serious political time under his belt. And he hadn't made a lot of the, frankly, xenophobic comments that are now making people so angry. [Baldwin:] Right. All right, Matt Wilstein, thank you. Congresswoman Sanchez, who will not be staying up late this Saturday night to tune in, I appreciate both of you very, very much. [Sanchez:] Thank you. [Wilstein:] Thanks. I will be watching. [Baldwin:] OK. Jeb Bush, by the way, will be live on "THE SITUATION ROOM WITH WOLF BLITZER" in just a couple of hours. Do not miss that interview, 5:00 Eastern here on CNN. Coming up, what happened? Was it a midair blast? Satellite data, black boxes, evidence on the ground offering new clues into this mysterious midair heat flash in the downing of a Russian passenger plane. We have new developments on that next. Also, you have to pay attention to this, the massacre here that never happened. This is incredible. CNN looks back on the shocking case of a teenage boy admitting to planning a deadly attack, killing his family, killing students, going so far as to build practice bombs. This attack plot was foiled, so why were most of the charges here dropped? Don't miss this CNN in-depth investigation. Also ahead, Facebook and Instagram, video games, listen, it's no secret teenagers spend a lot of time on some sort of screen. But you might be shocked about how much time they spend on an average. We have crunched the numbers, the impact of what that could mean for them coming up. [Bolduan:] A truck driver is lucky to be alive after a horrific accident and exPLOsion caught on tape. Two tractor trailers collided and burst into flames on the New Jersey Turnpike. The driver jumps from his cab. You can see his leg is on fire. Australian tourists took video of the whole thing as they also ran to help the man. That driver is still in the hospital being treated for his burns. Those good Samaritans, Jacqui and Anthony Wilson and Simon Byrne, are joining me now. Unbelievable to see all this. Thank you. It's great to meet you all. Simon, when you see this video, it's hard to believe that anyone survived. You were right there. Walk us through what you saw. [Simon Byrne, Rescued Driver:] As soon as the trucks collided and blew up, we slammed on the brakes. I ran out toward the cab and was not expecting anybody to come out. The flames were 30, 40 feet high already. All of a sudden he jumped through the flames and landed on the ground and started running towards me. My sister started running down when she saw him come out as well. Then it was trying to get the planes out. [Bolduan:] Amazing. Jacqui, we can see you in the video running towards him. At the moment the truck driver jumped out, his leg on fire, what did you think? [Jacqui Wilson, Rescued Driver:] My first priority was to get the flames out and run down and help him. He had a belt on and his jeans and shoes and socks. We thought if we don't get the jeans off it's going to engulf him. Get his jeans off and just try to hold his hands and he was saying I had had nowhere to go. We were trying to get the flames out. [Bolduan:] Anthony, what was the driver saying throughout al of this? When you guys all got to him? [Anthony Wilson, Rescued Driver:] He was telling Jacqui he had nowhere to go. He was on the left-hand side of the barrier. Sort of in shock. We're all in shock when it happened. Sort of jumped in and ran. [Bolduan:] Absolutely. When you see this part of the video, I don't think you can see this, but you came upon a very dangerous situation. You can see other cars passing by throughout all of this. Why did you all decide to stop? [Byrne:] I mean it happened right in front of us. We were the first car. You see a massive accident like that and check to see if you can do anything. You got to try to help him. The other guy just wanted to get out of there. It's a very dangerous situation. The truck kept on exploding. They kept going up every 10 [Bolduan:] I'm bet you never expected to be heroes and come to their safety, right, Simon? [Byrne:] Yeah. I've been here 20 years and my sister and brother-in- law, I just brought them back from D.C., for a visit. So we were coming back from D.C., they haven't seen each other in six years, so we had a great couple of days in D.C. And then we're 20 minutes from home and this happened. So it was an experience. [Bolduan:] To say the least. After all of this and when you see this video once again, what do you make of it? [Byrne:] Well, we weren't thinking at the time that we're pretty lucky it didn't explode when we were standing next to it. We were one lane away from the truck. [Jacqui Wilson:] The main concern for all of us is that the truck driver is OK and I have heard he's speaking from hospital saying he has got burns on 25 percent of his body. So he's someone's father, someone's husband, he's got family. So I would I like to think somebody would do the same thing, a family member of mine, if they were in trouble. [Bolduan:] It's amazing. And so thankful, I'm sure that man is so thankful today that you were all there. You all stopped and helped him out. It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Thank you so much. [Byrne:] Thank you so much. [Jacqui Wilson:] Thank you. [Anthony Wilson:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] Thank you. We also have some very big and very good news coming for the Bush family. Jenna Bush Hager, the daughter of former President George W. Bush and first lady, Laura Bush you see them right there Jenna Bush Hager gave birth to her second child yesterday. Poppy Louise Hager is her name, named after her grandfather. Former President George H.W. Bush's nickname from when he was a child is Poppy. Congratulations to the Bush family on that little addition. Absolutely adorable. Coming up for us, the Iowa State Fair is a political rite of passage, bringing together the best of fried foods, butter sculptures, and White House hopefuls. The big question there speaking of Bushes can Jeb Bush regain his momentum there? [Berman:] In a last-minute move, the Obama administration is moving to increase funding at schools attended by low-income schools. It would move nearly a billion dollars to schools of families of low-income families and increase federal control of spending. The money could be diverted from budgets of more-affluent schools. The policy has its critics, including some Republicans. It appears the Education Department is pushing to get it through before noon on Friday before Donald Trump is sworn in. The woman chosen by the president-elect to take over the Department of Education is set to appear at her confirmation hearing this afternoon. Betsy DeVos is seen, by some, as a controversial choice. Critics are concerned about her lack of experience in public schools and her support for voucher and charter school programs. She has supported charter schools for a long time, charter public schools. In her opening public statement, she'll give, she says, "If confirmed I'll be a strong advocate for great public schools. But if a school is troubled or unsafe or not a good fit for a child, we should support a parents' right to enroll their child in a high-quality alternative." Joining me is a supporter of Betsy DeVos, Eva Moskowitz, the founder and CEO of Success Academy Charter Schools and a former New York City councilwoman. A very active person in this field. Thanks for being with us. [Eva Moskowitz, Founder & Ceo, Success Academy Charter Schools & Former New York City Councilwoman:] Thanks for having me. [Berman:] You voted for Hillary Clinton. [Moskowitz:] I did. [Berman:] Let's say that right now. [Moskowitz:] I did. [Berman:] You are supporting Betsy DeVos to be education secretary. [Moskowitz:] I am. [Berman:] Why? [Moskowitz:] Because she is a leader. And we need transformational change. Two-thirds of our eighth graders cannot perform at the basic level in math and reading. Two-thirds of our eighth graders. We have a national crisis on our hands, and we need leadership, talent, ability to attract talent, to rethink our way out of this crisis. [Berman:] Now critics say this. Critics say that Betsy DeVos is being appointed to run the agency which oversees public education. Yes, critics say, she wants to demolish public education in some ways. Take money away from traditional public schools. Provide vouchers, which would allow, in theory, people to spend public money, taxpayer money on private schools. What's your answer to that? [Moskowitz:] I think whenever there's a nomination who has a strong ideas and viewpoints, a lot of scare tactics are used. The truth of the matter is that Betsy, like many Democrats, are supporters of charters and choice. And my belief and Betsy's life is just like more affluent parents or religious parents have a choice, why shouldn't every parent get to choose what is best for their children? I have three children. My husband and I want to make those choices for our children. Every parent in America wants to make those choices. [Berman:] Do you see any limits to vouchers? Obviously, you support charter schools. There's a different between charter schools and vouchers. [Moskowitz:] There is. And I believe we don't know what exactly is going to work for parents. I have three children. One school wouldn't work for all three of my children. So, we've got to have more great options, including improving district schools. In some communities, the district schools are great. And that's great. But in many communities, the district schools are not delivering for children, academically, they're also not safe places for children. And I think Betsy is going to be a strong advocate for quality. [Berman:] Look, I think across political spectrums, people want to see safe schools. There's not much of a debate in terms of safety. The debate [Moskowitz:] Except they've gone on and on and on being unsafe. And people have kind of turned a blind eye to those schools. I think she's going to shape things up. She's going to take her passion for schooling and parent choice and make a really significant difference for the country that's behind [Berman:] The Michigan experiment. Many say that what happened in Michigan with charter schools she supported hasn't worked out all that well. [Moskowitz:] You could take the schools right here in New York City. They're not doing so great. We have 90 percent of the schools not succeeding. Whose fault is that? I don't think you can blame one individual for the poor quality of schooling. This is a national problem. It cuts across socio economic lines, and we have to fix it fast. [Berman:] Eva Moskowitz, thanks so much for being with us. I appreciate your insight on this discussion. [Moskowitz:] Thanks for having me. [Berman:] All right. According to the hour, right now, "put your big-boy pants on." That's a quote from the Republican lawmaker, Shawn Duffy to Democrats who are boycotting the inauguration. You are looking at live pictures of where that inauguration will be. One of the Democrats, who will not be there, will not be sitting on those steps on Friday, joins us live next. [Blackwell:] The breaking news this morning. An appeals court has denied the Justice Department's initial request to immediately restore the president's travel ban. [Paul:] Here's what that means. That the president's travel ban will remain on hold for the time being. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has asked for both sides to file legal briefs before the court makes any further decisions on that motion. We're going to be keeping you updated obviously throughout the morning, but we do know that those legal briefs, all of them due by Monday afternoon. [Blackwell:] Yes, we know that protests have a way of attracting cameras, but those lashing out at President Trump's policies reflect only one side of the national movement. [Paul:] A lot of Americans, they're behind Trump 100 percent. CNN's Jason Carroll found some in Wisconsin, a state that was key to the president's election night. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] When you look at the reason why Donald Trump unexpectedly flipped the state of Wisconsin, look no further than this bar right outside of Milwaukee. It caters to a lot of Harley-Davidson employees who come from the plant just a few miles away. The patrons have plenty of praise for the president and find little tolerance for those protesting against him. [Kim Gamroth, Trump Supporter:] Get over it. He's in. He's in. And just stop it. Stop it. [Carroll:] Kim Gamroth owns this bar and says her feelings mirror those of many in the community, a community that voted for Trump over Hillary Clinton by nearly 2-1. And Donnie Balusik is a Trump supporter. Balusik says he worked at Harley-Davidson for more than 40 years before he retired and was also a small business owner. [Donnie Balusik, Trump Supporter:] It cost me a good business, I guess. Like a bar like this. You know, all of a sudden, certain people moved in an area and the white people move out. [Carroll:] You mean certain people, people who look like me? [Balusik:] Or well, look, neighborhood changed, like 90 percent in less than two years, white people won't come in, and I had to sell it. [Carroll:] I wonder going forward, does it give you with a an unfavorable view of black people, Mexican people? [Balusik:] Yes, it does. I'll be honest with you, I'm very prejudiced. And a lot of people know that. [Carroll:] Balusik says his point of view is unedited. One that he says few people like him share publicly. [On Camera] Do you believe that a lot of other people who feel the way you do also voted for Trump because they feel the way you do? [Balusik:] They do, trust me. [Carroll:] Jennifer Murray and Kim Gamroth say they don't share Balusik's views and that they welcome all who come to the bar no matter their race, but they support Trump and are happy with what they've seen so far. [Jennifer Murray, Trump Supporter:] He is backing up what he had said, you know, which is finally standing up for America, for the citizens of America. [Gamroth:] For small businesses or for everybody who voted for him. He said what he was going to do and he's doing it. [Carroll:] They also hope the president will keep pressuring U.S. companies to make more products in the United States. Lane Davidson, for example, assembles bikes in the United States but makes many parts overseas in countries like Mexico. Ross Winklbauer, the head of the local steel workers union, is encouraged by Trump pulling out of the Transpacific Partnership which he says was not good for U.S. workers, but he's personally troubled by the administration's immigration ban. [Ross Winklbauer, Local Director, United Steelworkers:] The green lady, the Statue of Liberty, you know, welcome. And I just believe that's the way it should be. [Carroll:] Patrons such as Donnie Balusik are on board with what Trump has done so far and hope he continues to fulfill his promises. [Balusik:] I hope he gets another four years after this one. It's got to be better than the Democrats. [Paul:] Jason Carroll, thank you so much. [Blackwell:] All right. Still to come, a couple who escaped war-torn Aleppo and came to the U.S. They are now speaking out against President Trump's travel ban. We'll have their story, next. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Clinton turf protests. Like what's on your screen right now. This is actually a good example. This is just blocking a highway. We saw worse examples. There were pockets of problems. People chanting, "Not my president." Hopefully, temporary blowing off of steam or proof of a larger movement at hand. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Athena Jones, live at the White House Athena. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. These are two men who have said some not-so-nice things about each other, to put it mildly. So it could be an awkward meeting this morning. President Obama has spent months saying that he didn't think President that Trump would become president. Well, now, he is set to become president, so the focus shifts to this peaceful hand-over of power. We know the president has talked about how much he appreciated the way that George W. Bush's team handled the transfer at that time, in 2008 and 2009. It was smooth; it was professional. He's instructed his team to follow that example. And he also talked yesterday in the Rose Garden about the need for the country to come together. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Now, everybody is sad when their side loses an election. But the day after, we have to remember that we're actually all on one team. This is an intermural scrimmage. We're not Democrats first. We're not Republicans first. We are Americans first. [Jones:] Americans first. A few echoes from about from Obama's 2004 speech about red states and blue states. And we know the White House has said that it's too early to say how Trump's election will affect President Obama's top policy priorities. But we also know that Trump ran on a promise to undo much of Obama's legacy. So we expect him to get to work right away on repealing and replacing Obamacare, also reversing some of the president's executive action on things like immigration and regulations. He also says that he wants to withdraw from things like the nuclear the Iran nuclear deal, the Transpacific Partnership trade deal and the Paris climate accord. We've also gotten indications from Congress already that TPP, that trade deal is likely dead. There's a lot to discuss, and there's a lot that could change under a Trump presidency. After Trump meets with President Obama here today, he and Vice- President-elect Pence head over to meet with House Speaker Paul Ryan Chris. [Cuomo:] You know, look, in most ways the campaign is the easy part. You get to say whatever you want. Now, you have to do it. Athena, thank you very much. And Donald Trump has only two months before he has to fill thousands and jobs and assume the presidency. The inauguration is in 71 days. So how's he going to fill those top cabinet posts? Who are those big names that are being floated? It's a good assignment for CNN's Sunlen Serfaty, this favorite parlor game of who's being considered for the cabinet. What do you know? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] It sure is, Chris. There are so many possibilities. And we know that President-elect Donald Trump has really, with his team, been hunkered down and huddled up behind closed doors, going through all the potential candidates for all these top jobs in a Trump administration. And many of the names just won't surprise you, because many are that are being considered are pulled from his circle during the campaign and now might fill out his cabinet positions and his new inner circle in the White House. [Serfaty:] On day two as president-elect, Donald Trump now looking to turn his promises into policy. Beginning with his call for unity. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] Now it's time for America to bind the wounds of division. [Serfaty:] Words echoed by President Obama and Hillary Clinton, both pledging a peaceful transition of power. [Obama:] We are now all rooting for his success in uniting and leading the country. [Hillary Clinton , Former Presidential Nominee:] We must accept this result and then look to the future. Donald Trump is going to be our president. We owe him an open mind and the chance to lead. [Serfaty:] Trump now in the throes of building his administration. [Kellyanne Conway, Trump Campaign Manager:] We have to get ready to form a government. [Serfaty:] Potentially rewarding some of his top supporters, RNC chairman Reince Priebus one prospective option for Trump's chief of staff. [Reince Priebus, Rnc Chair:] I haven't thought about it. And right now I'm chairman of the party. I'm excited about that job. [Serfaty:] New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has led his transition team, also being eyed for top posts. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani under consideration for attorney general or secretary of homeland security, while Newt Gingrich is being floated as the prospective secretary of state. Other possible cabinet picks: Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions for defense secretary, billionaire businessman Carl Icahn for treasury secretary, and retired Army General Michael Flynn for national security adviser. When Trump takes office in January, he'll have extraordinary power to push through his agenda with Republican majorities in both Houses of Congress. [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] He heard those voices that were out there that other people weren't hearing. And he just earned a mandate. [Serfaty:] And certainly new attention is being looked at what candidate Trump said during the campaign trail about what his first 100 days in office would potentially look like. He made several broad, sweeping proposals. Things like cleaning up Washington, protecting American workers, and restoring the rule of law, but, of course, he made very specific promises throughout the campaign, as well. Things like repealing Obamacare, renegotiating some of these trade deals and perhaps the biggest promise of the Donald Trump campaign, of course, building that wall along the Mexican border. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Absolutely. Sunlen, thank you for all that. So thousands of people taking to the streets, mainly in Hillary Clinton territory to protest President-elect Donald Trump. They set fires; they blocked traffic in some major cities, and they were chanting not my president. CNN's Deborah Feyerick is live outside of Trump Tower in New York with more. What was the scene there, Deb? [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, Alisyn, we can tell you it was really surprising just how quickly the crowds grew. They started with a couple hundred people and then expanded to thousands. All of them marching in various cities across the country. Here in New York City, they marched up Fifth Avenue against traffic, shutting down traffic for quite some time. And you could tell in the crowd there's a lot of anger, but there's also a lot of fear. People are fearful that advances made over the last couple of years will, in fact, be turned back. And that basic human rights that they value, those in the crowd, those are being threatened. And in that crowd, along with the fear, there was a deep sense of disbelief. [Unidentified Female:] Not my president! Not my president! [Unidentified Male:] Not my president! Not my president! [Unidentified Female:] Not my president! Not my president! [Feyerick:] Protests breaking out in at least 25 cities. [Unidentified Male:] Hey, ho! Donald Trump has got to go! [Unidentified Female:] Hey, ho! Donald Trump has got to go! [Unidentified Male:] Hey, ho! Donald Trump has got to go! [Feyerick:] Hundreds of demonstrators stopping traffic in Los Angeles on the busy 101 Freeway. While thousands more protested on the streets of L.A., burning Trump's head in effigy. Police arresting dozens of protestors across the country. In Chicago, thousands marching down an eight-lane highway to the site of Donald Trump's hotel. The disappointment of some voters turning to anger. [Unidentified Male:] Hillary had more votes. More human beings voted for Hillary. This isn't fair. This country needs you to stand up and walk into the Supreme Court and say one vote equals one vote. [Feyerick:] In New York, at least 5,000 people, including pop star Lady Gaga, protesting outside Trump Tower. [Unidentified Male:] You saw this incredibly qualified woman to be president being superseded by a man who has no qualifications at all for the office. [Feyerick:] Thousands more targeting Trump's newest hotel in Washington, D.C., just blocks from the White House. [Unidentified Male:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Unidentified Female:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Unidentified Male:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Feyerick:] The march turning to peaceful demonstrations and vigils. Most of these protests erupting in major cities where Hillary Clinton won. Like Portland, Oregon. [Unidentified Male:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Unidentified Female:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Unidentified Male:] No Trump, no KKK. No racist [Usa! Feyerick:] And Denver, Colorado. [Feyerick:] And along with chants of "not my president" and "dump Trump," there was, "Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go." Speaking to those in the crowd, you heard a lot of comments being made, people disagreeing with Trump's views on women, on immigrants, on minorities and especially the sort of hateful rhetoric that characterized this whole campaign season Alisyn, Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Deb, thank you very much. A lot of people are angry. This is going to take time. No question about it. All right. We have a great guest for you, no better person to get perspective on what's going on with Donald Trump than Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, special counsel to Donald Trump. Maybe there will be a new title soon. We'll discuss that later in the interview, because you'll probably duck it. Congratulations to you. [Michael Cohen, Evp, Trump Organization:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] It's good to have you here. Good luck going forward. You'll remember the very first interview that I did on CNN with you, you said to me, when there were 17 individuals on the stage, "Where do you think Donald Trump is going to, you know, fare out at the end of the day?" And I said not only is he going to win the primary, you'll remember, I said he's going to win the election, as well. And I just felt that confident at the time that he's the right man for the time. And something you've been consistent with, and I also think there's a little bit of an explanation for some of the trouble you get yourself into, is your passion about who Trump really is. Full disclosure: most of the time Michael calls me, it is to correct an assertion that you believe is an unfair portrayal as Trump, because you you knowledge of him as person, not politician. So, for instance, we're now facing this question about Trump. Which Trump do you get? Some suggest it's a Jekyll and Hyde. Is he the guy that's going to say, "I'll get business back to work. I'm going to be there for you. Whatever you need, I'll figure out how to get it. That's what I do." Or someone who seeds division. So when he goes with the president today, how do you think President- elect Trump presents himself to President Obama? [Cohen:] Like a president should. And I think he's going to demonstrate class. He's going to be incredibly respectful, as I'm sure President Obama will be. And I actually believe in the future that they will have a better relationship that people believe. [Cuomo:] You've got a lot of friends. Not all of them are Trump supporters. When people say to you... [Cohen:] I've lost a lot of friends. [Cuomo:] Look, this is an ugly process. You know that. But he comes out as president-elect. He says, "Enough. Time to heal, bind the wounds. I have to be president for everybody." That's what you want to hear from a president. The trick here is that Donald Trump is blamed by many for creating those wounds, enhancing that division. So, which is it? What's your answer? [Cohen:] When you say that he's being blamed for it, I'd throw the blame, truthfully, on the liberal media. And I believe that they've distorted his words from the moment that he came down the escalator all the way up and through the election. I think that there's an inherent bias towards the Republican candidate. And I think Donald Trump was, unfortunately, the recipient of that bias. He is going to, without exaggeration, heal the divide. He wants to heal the divide. His message was never, let's make America great again for special interests. Let's make America great for Republicans. No, it's for all Americans, because whether you're Republican or Democrat, and I'm a registered Democrat. I've said that, obviously, on every show. For every American, he wants to make sure they have a job. He wants to put America first. He's going to be the president for every single person, regardless of race, religion, creed, color. And that's why I even started that National Diversity Coalition. It was to combat the negative rhetoric that the liberal media was portraying of Mr. Trump. Because, you're right. I know Mr. Trump better than the media does. They get a ten-second snapshot of him. I have ten years of shoulder to shoulder with the man. I've seen his compassion. I've seen his heart, and I know what I know what he's thinking. And I know what he wants to do for this country. [Cuomo:] There's no question, in my mind, that the president-elect deserves the opportunity that the election delivered. Even Hillary Clinton said yesterday, he's going to be the president. Have an open mind. Let's see what he does. I also think the relationship between President Clinton, Secretary Clinton will heal in time. And I do think that that animus that the media has created between the two or that they've created between each other as basically combatants for a position, I think that will also resolve itself. But how you fight matters, also. And I get the whole theory that Trump says what he has to say to get where he wants to get, and you know, he takes the game he finds it. But you know how I feel about media bias. The president-elect has to own what he said in the past, because when people are saying to him, "I'm gay. I'm a Muslim. I'm an "other," as was defined in this election. And I think you don't like me." He's going to have to find a way, if he wants to unite this country, to make people feel that he's not the source of the problem. How does he do that? [Cohen:] Well, obviously, he will create the solution and he's created the solution even in the Trump Organization, which is a, obviously, a great indicator on how he's going to be as a president for this country. Take, for example, the gay community. You think that there aren't people that are gay who work for the Trump Organization? There's no animus and bias. There's no hatred towards this community. He employs them. As it relates to Hispanics, as it relates to Muslims, as it relates to African-Americans. I mean, in all fairness and I've said this on other shows he's been called every negative word in the American dictionary and then in other dictionaries, as well. I think he's a sexist, misogynist, racist. [Cuomo:] But didn't he earn a lot of that criticism for what he said. [Cohen:] I don't believe he earned it. I think that he made statements and, again, he's not a politician. Now he is, clearly. But he speaks off the cuff. He speaks from his heart. And it was never coming or supposed to come out as a animus towards a group, when he was talking about we need to stop the Syrian refugee influx, because we don't know who they are. That's not being an Islamophobe. That's not anti- Muslim. That's pro-American. [Cuomo:] He also say he has a problem with Islam. I'm all about a clean slate. [Cohen:] And by the way, there is a problem, but it's not Islam. Right? It's what it is, radical Islamist terrorists. [Cuomo:] It's anger and disaffection. [Cohen:] What happens is he's not scripted, he's not reading off the script. He doesn't have 20 different people figuring out what's the right way to say for the largest group of people. The American people have decided who they want, who they believe, who they trust will be able to take America off the path that we're currently on. [Cuomo:] What does he say to those protests? I don't want to overstate their significance. These are big cities. They're Clinton territories and a lot of kids. And we don't understand the population of these protests and what it means going forward. But what does he say to those groups of "others"? Self-identified "others" now, because this was an election that was largely decided by white people, specifically white men. [Cohen:] Well, that's not really true. I saw some numbers yesterday that Mr. Trump captured over 30 percent of the Hispanic vote. [Cuomo:] Yes. [Cohen:] Even yesterday I spoke with a gentleman who I had had some rough conversations with in the past, who represents a very large group of Hispanic coalitions. And we made peace yesterday, and I've actually asked him if, in fact, I do go to Washington, I do want him to be involved and engaged, because of his representation to the Hispanic community. There is no animus towards the Hispanic community at all. First of all, when I first spoke to him, he had said, you know, "There could be animus even by you." I said, "How? My grandmother was born in Argentina. My grandmother was, you know, Spanish." So how? I don't understand. You're imposing upon me... [Cuomo:] It's what was said during the election. But hopefully, there's a fresh start. I just heard you say something. [Cohen:] There will be a fresh start. And that is what I would say to the protesters. Please, give him a chance. Wait to see before you make your decision. The American people have decided. That's our democracy. What are you protesting? It just doesn't make sense. Let him be the man that I know that he can be, and he'll prove himself... [Cuomo:] He's won that chance. He deserves it. Let's see what happens. You just said something. "If I go to Washington." We're trying to figure out who is going to go. [Cohen:] I haven't been asked. [Cuomo:] You haven't been asked? How have you not that can't be true. You would be the first person that he would want by his side. [Cohen:] I agree with that. But I have not been asked. [Cuomo:] You would be on the political side, not the governmental side, right? [Cohen:] It would depend on the role that they're asking me to play. It has to be a role that I feel comfortable with. [Cuomo:] Is there a chance? [Cohen:] That he'll ask me to go to Washington? [Cuomo:] Oh, there's absolutely a chance he'll ask you. [Cohen:] Will I go? One hundred percent. [Cuomo:] Then who runs the company? [Cohen:] The children. Don, Ivanka, Eric. There's a large executive team that's there, that's been with Mr. Trump for decades. [Cuomo:] And are you guys working on how to make people satisfied that there's enough of a separation from the president to the company. [Cohen:] We're going to do it legally. It's going to be placed into a blind trust. The children, Don, Ivanka, Eric, they're really intelligent. They're really qualified. That's why he really didn't run in 2012. Because they were younger by four years. And they didn't have, I guess, the experience maturity that he felt he wanted to leave a $10 billion company to. Now he does. He's very comfortable with them at the helm and the people that will surround them. So, will we be able to appease everybody? The answer is no. No matter what the man does, he can't appease everybody. But everything will be done legally. He's not interested in the company anymore. He said it yesterday in front of a whole group of people. He's interested in fixing America. He wants to make America great, again. He wants to put Americans back to work. He wants to fix the economy. He wants to create jobs. And he wants to ensure national security for everyone. [Cuomo:] Michael Cohen, I look forward to seeing what your future is. Congratulations. [Cohen:] Hopefully, it will be in Washington. [Cuomo:] Well, let me know. [Cohen:] I sure will. [Cuomo:] Let me know first. [Cohen:] You can break the story. [Cuomo:] Be well, Michael Cohen. And congratulations, again. Coming up in our next hour, another big Trump player. Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, again, one of the top advisors, rumored to be in the cabinet, not just on the political side. What does he have to say about the way forward? Coming up Alisyn. [Camerota:] Chris, the white working class voters leading Donald Trump to victory. What motivated them the most? We have the author of the "New York Times" best seller, "Hillybilly Elegy." He's going to join us, next. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] You`re only a day away from Friday. We`re happy to see you take 10 minutes for CNN STUDENT NEWS. From the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, I`m Carl Azuz. Our first story takes us to the U.S. state of Michigan. The National Guard has been activated there. A state of emergency has been declared. It`s all related to the water supply in the city of Flint. About 100,000 people live there and some of them have been exposed to increased levels of lead in their tap water. This is serious. Lead poisoning can cause developmental and behavioral problems in children. It can lead to lower IQ levels. It`s irreversible. And what started out as a way to save money in the struggling city has put parts of the population at risks. A preliminary investigation did not blame the city council or the mayor of Flint, but it put the blame at the state level, with Michigan`s Department of Environmental Quality. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] This neighborhood says it all, 15 percent of homes in Flint, Michigan are boarded up. There`s a 40 percent poverty rate, high unemployment, and it`s consistently at the top of the nation`s list of most dangerous places. This 33 square mile city doesn`t even have a grocery store. And now, they don`t have clean drinking water. For 18 months, researchers believe the water flowing through taps across Flint has been tainted with lead. In an attempt to cut costs, city officials stopped getting pretreated water from the city of Detroit in 2014, and instead began using water from the nearby Flint River. The problem is that the Flint River is 19 times more corrosive than Lake Huron, Detroit`s water source, according to researchers at Virginia Tech. And the city wasn`t treating it according to federal law. Lead pipes began to corrode, leaking into the water. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha is a pedestrian at Flint`s Hurley Children`s Hospital. [Dr. Mona Hanna-attisha, Hurley Children`s Hospital:] It is a well-known potent neurotoxin. There`s tons of evidence on what lead does to a child. [Ganim:] After hearing her patients complain about water that looked and smelled and tasted funny, she decided to investigate. Using publicly available data on lead levels in children in Flint, she found that the percentage of lead in cases doubled, even tripled in some places after the water switch. Here`s how this happened: the corrosive Flint River water goes from the plant to the water mains to the service lines to homes. In Flint, the water mains are made of iron, which turns some of the water brown. And half of the service lines and pipes in Flint homes are made of lead. For at least a year, city and state officials denied anything was wrong. The former mayor, Dayne Walling, publicly drank the water to make a statement. But a 2011 study had also warned that the Flint River was corrosive and needed to be treated. In late September, officials finally recognized what experts had been saying, the water in Flint was toxic. By October, the city reverted back to using the Detroit water supply, but the damage was done. [Gov. Rick Snyder , Michigan:] I do apologize for it with respect to our role in this issue. [Ganim:] The state`s director of environmental quality stepped down, and Walling lost a reelection campaign that centered around the issue. [Dayne Walling, Former Flint Mayor:] In retrospect, I regret all of it, all the way back to seeing the city move to a different drinking water source. You can`t put a dollar amount on the devastation to our community, our kids, and it was completely avoidable. [Azuz:] The Government of Hong Kong Special Administration Region of China is taking a step toward clamping down on its ivory trade. Buying and selling ivory is currently allowed there, said to be the world`s largest market for ivory. The valuable material comes from the tusks of elephants. It`s durable, attractive, easy to carve. It`s been used to make everything from jewelry to figurines, to piano keys, but it`s also led to the decimation of some elephant species by poachers, people who illegally killed the animals for their ivory. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Wildlife conservationists are applauding an announcement by the Hong Kong City Government that it will ban the legal trade of ivory in this island city. The international trade of ivory was banned in 1989, and despite that, there are more than 400 licensed ivory traders in Hong Kong. The dealers insist they`re following the rules. They`re only buying and selling from a stockpile of ivory from elephants that were killed before 1989. But the conservationist group Wild Aid conducted a year-long investigation during which they alleged that some of these dealers must be laundering ivory that was poached from Africa after 1989, ivory that may also be smuggled in and outside of Hong Kong, against international law. Now, the government of Hong Kong says it still needs to draw off legislation for this proposed ban. Activists say every minute counts because at the current rate of poaching, the elephant, the living mammal to walk the earth in the wild could be extinct within a generation. Ivan Watson, CNN, Hong Kong. [Azuz:] Well, we always welcome international viewers to the show. And we look for your request at CNNStudentNews.com. Heard from Shape of Belgium on Wednesday`s transcript page. SHAPE American Middle School is there. It`s great to see you. From Seeley Lake in western Montana, hello to the Blackhawks. Seeley-Swan High School is on the roll. Wrapping things up in Mount Airy, North Carolina. Near the border with Virginia, the Bears are watching from Mount Airy Middle School. We`ve mentioned California schools six times so far this school year. We`ll be doing more. It`s the most populous state, and football fans there are getting a new team to cheer for. Well, not exactly new. The Rams have been around since 1936. They started in Cleveland, Ohio, spent most of their time in Los Angeles, California, and left that city in 1994 to play in St. Louis, Missouri. So, what`s happening with the team now is a sort of homecoming. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] NFL football is returning to Los Angeles. One city`s victory is usually another city`s loss. [Crowd:] L.A. Rams! L.A. Rams! [Sidner:] This year, the St. Louis Rams will now become the Los Angeles Rams. And if there were any confusion over why the team left St. Louis, the NFL commissioner cleared that right off. [Roger Goodell, Nfl Commissioner:] We felt that we needed to have the kind of stadium and kind of project that had the vision, that had the facilities that would really bring a new kind of fan experience to the NFL and to Los Angeles. [Sidner:] But that is not all. Two other NFL teams got golden opportunities. [Goodell:] This agreement also allows the Chargers to relocate to Los Angeles as well. If they do not exercise that option, the Raiders would have the option also to move to Los Angeles, or to move to Los Angeles with the Rams. [Sidner:] The San Diego Chargers and the Oakland Raiders have been trying to get their respective cities to pony up and pay for a new stadium with public money. But that hasn`t happened. If one team opts for L.A., it will play in the same stadium as the Rams in Englewood, California. L.A. Rams fans couldn`t be more thrilled to have their team back. [Unidentified Female:] They never should have left. They belong to Los Angeles. And that`s why I get so upset when I think about any other team coming here. [Sidner:] For St. Louis Rams fans, the new deal is a bitter loss. [Unidentified Male:] C`est la vie. I don`t know. They will get another team. One that wants to be here, right? [Unidentified Female:] I think that we`ve given them all we have. And if they don`t want it, then move on. [Sidner:] And they are moving on, relocating this year to Los Angeles. But they`ll be in a temporary stadium. Their new stadium, the commissioner says, won`t be completed until 2019. Sara Sidner, CNN, Los Angeles. [Azuz:] Get ready to break out the ice scraper, or just break the ice scraper. This used to be a car. It was parked overnight near Lake Erie in Buffalo, New York, and a blast of arctic air plus 47-mile-per-hour winds, plus water from the lake equals a car-cicle. And there`s a sheet of ice all around it. So, it would be hard to drive even if you could get it started. The owner says it`s probably damaged and that he`ll get rides from his folks until it thaws. Of course, he could always try to sell it, even though it`s an eerie sight. It`s been thoroughly winterized, it`s got snow tires and ice clean grill, a snow roof, plenty of spoilers, perfect seals, lots of fresh coolant and ice cold air-conditioning, but it`s going to need some anti-freeze. I`m Carl Azuz and that`s CNN STUDENT NEWS. END [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] President-elect Donald Trump is telling us exactly what he thinks of the CIA's assessment that Moscow meddled in the election with the intent to help Trump win. Here is the president-elect earlier today on FOX News. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of The United States:] I think it is ridiculous. It is just another excuse. I don't believe it. [Chris Wallace, Fox News Anchor:] Do you think that CIA is trying to overturn the results of the election or somehow to weaken you in office? [Trump:] Well, if you look at the story and you take a look at what they said, there is great confusion. Nobody really knows. Hacking is very interesting. Once they hack, if you don't catch them in the act, you're not going to catch them. They have no idea if it is Russia or China or somebody. It could be somebody sitting in a bed someplace. I mean, they have no idea. [Wallace:] Why would the CIA put out the story that the Russians wanted you to win? [Trump:] I'm not sure they put it out. I think the Democrats are putting it out because they suffered one of the greatest defeats in the history of politics in this country. [Harlow:] He didn't offer evidence to support that. What he meant by Democrats putting it out. Let's get more on that in just a moment because if Trump's team thinks they can blame this on the Democrats, the only problem is key Senate Republicans are also promising a full investigation. [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] It is clear the Russians interfered. Now, whether they intended to interfere to the degree that they were trying to elect a certain candidate, I think that's subject of investigation. [Harlow:] And expect the words "Russia" and "Putin" to come up with a lot when it comes to be the man reported to be Trump's favorite right now in his secretary of state search. Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson has close ties to Moscow. Such close ties that he was awarded an order of friendship award by the Russian president just a few year ago. That prompted this clip from Republican senator Lindsey Graham. Quote to the "Washington Post." I don't know the man much at all. But let's put it this way. If you received an award from the kremlin, an order of friendship, then we're going to have some talking. I want to get straight to Ryan Nobles outside of Trump tower in New York. And Ryan, Trump was specifically asked if he has certain skepticism toward the intelligence community as a whole. [Ryan Nobles, Cnn National Correspondent:] Yes. He was, Poppy. And he didn't go all the way to say that he does have that skepticism. But he certainly eluded to that fact. Then he was asked whether or not he wants to continue to receive daily intelligence briefings. There are reports right now that he is receiving the briefings once a week. When Chris Wallace pressed him on that, asking why he wasn't receiving the press briefings more than once a week, this is what Trump had to say. [Trump:] Well, I get it when I need it. [Wallace:] But is there some skepticism? [Trump:] First of all, these are very good people giving me the briefings. And I said if something should change from this point, immediately call me. I'm available on one minute's notice. I don't have to be told, you know, I'm a smart person. I don't have to be told the same thing in the same words every single day for the next eight years. Could be eight years, but eight years. I don't need that. [Nobles:] And Democrats, of course, seizing on Donald Trump, saying he is smart enough and doesn't need to receive these intelligence briefings every day. They say this shows a lack of understanding of the responsibilities that Trump has in front of him as he becomes the next commander in chief. But right now, Poppy, he seems to be skeptical of the intelligence community. He even told Chris Wallace he is prepared to bring his people in once he becomes president of the United States. And perhaps that leads to a different direction at the CIA Poppy. [Harlow:] Perhaps. When we look at the secretary of state selection, we know they're getting closer and closer and likely to be announced I don't know when. I think that really is the question. Because Rex Tillerson is the man leading the pack right now. But when do you think we'll get official word from team Trump? [Nobles:] Well, the transition put out on their official twitter handle this morning that the announcement won't come until next week. Now, next week is kind of an open question. On a Sunday, does that mean tomorrow, beginning next week, or could it be a week from now? [Harlow:] Right. [Nobles:] It could come any day, frankly. And actually, Donald Trump himself tweeted about the speculation related to Rex Tillerson. His tweet read, whether I choose him or not for state, Rex Tillerson, the chairman and CEO of Exxon Mobil is a world class player and deal maker. Stay tuned. And Trump was asked about that. About Tillerson and Tillerson's role and the criticism that he has received. A lot of these attributes about Tillerson. The fact that he has close ties to Russia, the fact he is a CEO of a major oil company. Those are all things that Trump views as attributes and it is one of the reasons, Poppy, that he is seriously considering him as the next secretary of state. [Harlow:] Right. And he said he's made the deals all over the world. He knows these leaders. That'd be a great qualification, says Trump. Other Republican senators have a lot of questions. Ryan Nobles, thank you very much. Let's go to our political panel and commentators now. Trump supporter Jeffrey Lord is with us. Also Ryan Lizza, a Washington bureau correspondent for the "New Yorker." Jeffrey, let me begin with you. The early reaction to Tillerson as a possible secretary of state pick has not been the most supportive. I mean, you've seen it. Not just from Democrats. It is from Republicans, too. This morning, you had Senator Marco Rubio of Florida tweeting this. Being a friend of Vladimir Putin is not an attribute I'm hoping for from a secretary of state. If Tillerson is the pick, walk us through what you think this confirmation process is going to look like because you've already got two of 52 Republican senators saying, not so sure. [Jeffrey Lord, Cnn Political Commentator:] Actually, Poppy, there were a book and a movie about this in the late '50s and early '60s. It was called "advise and consent." it is about the nomination of somebody for secretary of state by presumably a liberal president who nominated an athlete Stevenson-type in the day to be secretary of state and there was too controversy over it. These things happen. And I have to tell you, Poppy, as somebody who worked in Washington a long time, worked in the White House and on Capitol Hill, Washington has a this is something of a tribal ritual. They pick somebody out there. They put them under the glare, which is fine. I mean, all these nominees for anything should answer questions. That's fine. But there is sort of, you know, burn the witch at the stake aspect of this. And this smacks just a little bit of what that might be. And I would just suggest with respect to the senators, if they're [Harlow:] Do you think [Lord:] If they're going to Sure. If they want to question his relationship with Vladimir Putin and Russia and Russian influence, yes. But again, I would say, broaden the investigation. Let's see what I mean, you don't have to be a Russian to hack. I mean, there could be a hacking in the American electoral system from other sources right here in this country. Investigate that. [Harlow:] That is what our intelligence agencies, the best of the best have been doing, and the CIA concluding, and others, you know, as far back as October [Lord:] The FBI I mean, I just [Harlow:] But Jeffrey, I can't get into a debate over that right now. I hear your point. I'm telling you what our reporting is. Ryan, to you on this issue of the CIA's reporting, that Russia's meddled in the election. When you look at the Trump team and how they are responding, we heard from the president-elect just there. And also now, let's hear from Reince Priebus, his incoming chief of staff. The MOM seems to be, it is not true. It is not true. It is not true. Listen. [Chuck Todd, Host, Meet The Press:] Does the president-elect believe that Russia was trying to muddy up and get involved in the election in 2016? [Reince Priebus, Incoming White House Chief Of Staff:] Number one, you don't know it. I don't know it. There's been no conclusive or specific report to say otherwise. So that's the first thing. The second thing I would tell you is that you don't have any proof that the outcome of the election was changed. Forget about who did the hacking. [Todd:] Do you want to know? [Priebus:] Someone did the hacking. You don't [Todd:] Does president-elect Donald Trump want to know? [Priebus:] What specific of course we want to know. [Todd:] He wants an investigation on Capitol Hill? [Priebus:] Of course listen, I don't know what investigations he wants. [Harlow:] It was a much longer, Ryan as you know, back and forth between the two of them this morning on "Meet the Press." But he's saying, what's your source? What's your evidence? Talking about intelligence officials. At the same time, the president-elect on the interview on FOX this weekend said, I blame the Democrats. But he didn't put a source out for that. [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. Look, Reince is right. There is some ambiguity about what happened here. And in October, the intelligence agencies did put out a statement that was general about Russian hacking in the election. What was new this week is apparently, they told some members of Congress that the intention of that hacking, which they have never been firm on, was, in fact, to support Trump's election. That's a pretty serious allegation. That's a big deal. And look, I understand why president-elect Trump is concerned about this, because it affects his mandate. It will affect his legitimacy in some sense, if it is proven that the Russian government instituted a massive propaganda campaign to help elect him. So the only this issue is way too important to have anonymous, sourced commentary from members going to the hill and briefing members of Congress. This, I mean, to me, this screams out for a comprehensive investigation. Get to the bottom of it. [Harlow:] That's [Lizza:] Put it behind us. Look, he is going to be the president no matter what. It's not like there is a case for someone else as president. Whatever problems there were in the election, he's the president-elect. But we need to know as a country whether one of our major adversaries hacked our system and propagated a propaganda campaign. Whether it helped him or someone else, it is much bigger than Donald Trump. We need to and so I think Reince is right. We don't have all the information. And going forward, we need to have it. [Harlow:] So that is being called for, deeper investigation. As you both know, we have this bipartisan group of senators. Chuck Schumer, Jack Reed, John McCain, Lindsey Graham, calling in this joint statement that says, in part, we have the obligation to inform the public about cyber-attacks that cut to the heart of our free society. Democrats and Republicans must work together in the Congress to examine these recent incidents. Jeffrey Lord, your reaction to that and what you would like to hear from the president-elect about that. Given that this is, you know, prominent Democrats and Republicans calling on this together. Do you want to hear more supportive words from the president-elect about such an investigation? [Lord:] I want them to come up with the evidence. If they've got evidence, let's produce it. I mean, Chairman Priebus was [Harlow:] But they were saying, let's dig in. We need to dig in more on this. [Lord:] OK. [Harlow:] Do you want to hear the president-elect say, you guys are right, go for it? [Lord:] I would hope the president-elect would say, OK, dig in. Because the other week, he talked about fraud in voting are illegal immigrants voting, non-citizens voting. This is all part and parcel of the same thing. At the end of the day, it doesn't make any difference whether it is a Russian hack or a non-citizen of the United States actually physically voting. You are influencing the U.S. election system. And either way, if we're going to have an investigation, do it. Let's get it on. Let's really dig into it. [Harlow:] Ryan. [Lizza:] Yes. [Harlow:] Go ahead. [Lizza:] No, I was just going to say, look. From what I have seen, there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud. We do have the intelligence community saying publicly that the Russians had an intelligence operation against [Lord:] Not by name though, Brian. [Lizza:] But fine. If there is going to be an investigation into voter fraud, do it. But this issue is far too important to get bogged down in defensive politics because you think it is going to damage Donald Trump's reputation. This is bigger than him. This is our electoral system, Jeffrey. I know there is [Lord:] I understand. [Lizza:] instinct to defend your guy. But Jeffrey, as an American, you and every Republican, every Trump defender, every Democrat should want to get to the bottom of Vladimir Putin interfering in our election. [Lord:] I do. [Lizza:] If Jill Stein had been elected [Lord:] You're an illegal immigrant voting, you are interfering with our electoral system. I agree with you. [Lizza:] Do you think that's the same thing, Jeffrey? [Lord:] Of course it is. [Lizza:] Really? You think [Lord:] Of course it is. [Lizza:] Propaganda campaign from a foreign adversary is the same as illegal immigrants voting in an election? [Lord:] If you are influencing the election by showing up to vote when you have no right to vote, yes, you are doing exactly the same thing. [Harlow:] What Ryan is asking you is the magnitude of the threat. [Lord:] Poppy, that's [Harlow:] Are they equivalent? [Lizza:] Jeffrey, you're throwing out peripheral issues. This is our country, Jeffrey. [Lord:] Ryan, you are trying to defend [Lizza:] Jeffrey, I'm not I'm not defending either party. I'm defending American democracy, Jeffrey. We have a foreign power [Lord:] Me, too. [Lizza:] that our intelligence agencies are credibly telling us interfere in our election. Every Trump supporter on TV gets their back up and gets defensive. It is not an attack on Trump. It is not. It is an attack on American democracy. [Lord:] Foreign citizens voting in this country is an attack on American democracy, just like Russia. [Lizza:] Where is the evidence of that, Jeffrey? Where is the evidence because that that is an important issue? Tell me the evidence. [Lord:] the government accountability office reported back in 2005 there was evidence of this. [Lizza:] It is 2016, Jeffrey. The issue before us is [Lord:] Right. [Lizza:] Russian interference in the election, not a 2005 report. [Harlow:] I have to get a break. You'll both be back with me. It is important. We'll keep debating. You'll be right back. Thank you very much. Coming up, we have a big hour ahead. Counting down to a very special, non-political event. Our tenth annual CNN heroes: all-star tribute. Our Deb Feyerick is live on the red carpet. Hey, Deb. [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, there, Poppy. Well, it is star studded event. A lot of people here. Celebrities who are honoring people who are making a difference in the lives of a lot of people. We'll have all that after the break. [Paula Newton:] We can't give credit to the real Silicon Valley, but there they are, ringing the closing bell, Silicon Valley, a new show on HBO. Of course we are part of the same family here at Time Warner and what a day it was on the Dow. It is on a roll. Yes, I'm surprised, too, as it pushes higher above the 18,000 mark. It's Tuesday, the 19th of April. [Newton:] Tonight, if you can make it here OK, I won't sing it for you; you can make it to the White House. Voters go to the polls in old New York. And there's a slump, at Goldman Sachs as earnings fall 50%. And Yahoo! is hoping for a purple patch. Its Q1 results due out any minute now. I'm Paula Newton and this is "Quest Means Business." Tonight, it's up to you, New York. Voters in the empire state are casting their ballots in the Republican and Democratic primary recalls. Now, the front-runners Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, desperately need wins after what are a string of losses. Now both Clinton and Sanders have strong ties to the state, of course. Clinton represented New York in the U.S. Senate, and Bernie Sanders grew up right here in Brooklyn. Clinton is hoping to win here that her win here will end Sanders chances to capture that nomination. Now on the Republican side, New York native, Donald trump leads polls by double digits but his campaign is in the middle of a shake-up and controversial comments on abortion have alienated some voters. Now shortly after casting his own ballot, Donald Trump played down his campaign's recent stumbles. [Donald Trump, Republican Party Presidential Candidate:] I think the campaign's been doing well. Many, many senators, governors, they're all gone. We have tremendous support and, you know, having Ben Carson and having Chris Christie and so many others supporting me, senator sessions. We have amazing support. But I'm really honored and putting in that vote today was really something terrific. Have a good time. Thank you. [Newton:] Now think about it. Just one month ago the front-runners enjoyed towering leads. Then the Sanders surge bit into Clinton's lead. Sanders has won 7 of the last 8 contests. This is where the Democratic delegate race now stands. As you can see there a little skyline of New York but New York's rules favor Clinton. And this is why only registered democrats can vote in that primary. And that shuts out the independent voters Sanders has relied on in the past. On the Republican side, Ted Cruz delegate count has crept up slowly over the last month, it's unlikely any Republican candidate will pick enough delegates though to avoid a contested convention. And the same organizational strengths that powered Ted Cruz to recent wins will help the Texas senator at a contested convention come July. Mark Preston is executive editor for CNN politics, he joins me now live from Washington. Mark, again, looking at this race, we are in New York, obviously, an all-important race on two fronts. And New York isn't used to this. Usually by this time these things are sewn up. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] They are sewn up, they are settled and both parties' nominees or presumed nominees are looking towards the November election. But as we're seeing now on the Democratic side as you said Bernie Sanders has surged on. But he still has a steep hill to climb. Right now he would need to win 73% of the remaining delegates in order to secure the Democratic nomination. [Preseton:] Now, there is some funny math involved in that. In fact there is a bloc of voters here in the U.S. that tend to be U.S. politicians, governors, senators, U.S. House of Representative members who are supporting Hillary Clinton. They are not bound to Hillary Clinton however. And Bernie Sanders is hoping a win in New York tonight, Paula, could help build momentum for him in these closing months. As you said, though, Donald Trump too another native son. A big win tonight could give him the momentum heading into the closing months of this election, as well, as he's trying to get to 1,237 and avoid a contested convention in Cleveland, Ohio. [Newton:] Yes, and both races still very contested to use the word as we keep talking about these conventions but they're in completely different places. Mark, if we take Hillary Clinton in the first instance, she even used language like this today saying, look, we hope we can do it here in New York because that really will propel her forward. Is the math in her favor? Even if the momentum isn't? [Preston:] Momentum is not. Math absolutely is. And at the end of the day, the math will always win out. The problems for Hillary Clinton right now is that the fact that she is not able to win over key constituencies which include white voters as well as young voters, these are what are fueling Bernie Sanders right now is certainly troublesome for Hillary Clinton as she looks towards the November general election. Bottom line is that Democratic race is not over. But it's certainly given Bernie Sanders enough oxygen to try to push a more liberal message on Hillary Clinton that she will have to moderate as she tries to appeal to a wider swath of general election voters when we get into the November general election. [Newton:] And we just were looking at the poll numbers there and of course Clinton's in the lead but just to remind everybody the delegates are assigned proportionally so Bernie Sanders is still going to get some. If we move on to the Republican race, you know Mark, it's been so interesting to watch Trump here in his home state, of course, and yet, there is quite a battle going on within the Republican party. They have called it everything from a civil war to a war that's really going to end the lead to the end of the Republican party. How much has this race already moved on from New York and really moved on to the convention floor? [Preston:] Well, you know, in many ways if you look where Ted Cruz is you know today, he is in Philadelphia. Now, the State of Pennsylvania is voting next Tuesday, not tonight. Seven days from now. He's already in Pennsylvania. Bernie Sanders himself on the other side, of course, is in Pennsylvania. We have seen John Kasich who's clinging on to try to win the Republican nomination was in Pennsylvania and Maryland. So it just goes to show you that this game is not just about New York. But it's about trying to gate little momentum out of New York going into the next states. But Donald Trump who has certainly done very well as he noted earlier when you ran that sound clip he's been able to bring over very conservative members and the likes of Chris Christie who is considered a moderate here amongst Republicans. Still needs a big win here in New York. 95 delegates on the line. Donald Trump in order to secure the nomination, Paula, needs to win 62% of the remaining delegates. However, a big win tonight could help him next week where we're going to see five other states where like-minded Republicans live specifically mid-Atlantic region all the way up the east coast up to the states of Connecticut and Rhode Island. So a big, you know, a lot certainly on the line tonight for Donald Trump. [Newton:] Yes, Our Mark Preston there setting up this race perfectly yet again. Mark, we'll let you get back. I know results will be coming in in a few hours and we'll continue to follow that story here on CNN. Now my next guest knows what it's like to campaign for president. Steve Forbes ran in the Republican nomination in 1996 and 2000. He's the chairman and editor in chief of "Forbes Media" and he joins me now here in New York. It is quite a day in this state. I want to start with some comments that you've already made about the Republican Party and this campaign. You say it's been absolutely pathetic. Why? [Steve Forbes, Chairman & Editor In Chief, Forbes Media:] Because until very recently most of the candidates did not lead with a kind of an optimistic pro-growth agenda to get the American economy back on track. Quite a contrast to what Ronald Reagan taught us back in 1980 when he led with a radical tax cut program. People were skeptical of it but he won the election, got the mandate and enacted most of it and helped the economy, American economy, back then get real growth again. So they did not Donald Trump I don't agree with him on a lot of positions but he did lead with a couple of issues and made those front and center as the focus of debate and the other candidates did not respond in kind. So they left the field to him. [Newton:] Yes, in fact, you say he's led a very shrewd campaign. Whether or not you agree exactly with what he's saying. By the way are you ready to endorse him or not? Are you endorsing anybody right now you haven't so far. [Forbes:] No, no I still feel like the dating game. Still waiting. [Newton:] Still on the sidelines. OK just waiting for that date. You know, what you have said about Trump, though, again, that shrewd campaign. And yet, we want do get to the math about this. You know, Donald Trump may still not become the nominee because, again, on that convention floor, it may be taken away from him because he still doesn't have the threshold of delegates need. How do you feel about that? I mean, in terms of the way the Republican Party has run this. [Forbes:] Well, right now, normally, after his victories earlier in the process, he would have the field cleared but even though he has one third of the Republican Party or voters in these primaries firmly in his corner, stick with him through thick and thin, he's also got one third who are really against him. So he's got to battle now which previously nominees haven't had to do to get the one third still fluid. He'll get most of that in the state of New York but he's going to have to do it in the remaining primaries. Pennsylvania will be the focus a week from now but after that, a key primary is going to be Indiana where if you do well you're going to get all of those states delegates. So he's got do some speeches on some topics instead of just tossing off a comment, do what he did a few weeks ago at APAC when he talked about Israel and the Middle East and what we should do. He's got to do more of that on areas on foreign policies, taxation, regulation and education and the like to show people he's ready to step up his game. [Newton:] You know, in terms of what you've counseled him to do, you said tone it down but you're also looking at a lot of the policy things that have been floating around. What advice would you give him right now and would you put money on him becoming the nominee if he takes it? [Forbes:] He has to be favored because if he does well in some of these remaining primaries, my home state of New Jersey for example is winner take all. So if he wins the plurality of votes there, he'll get 51 delegates doesn't have to share them anybody. And the key thing is he's got his core voters so he doesn't have to worry about them. So he doesn't have to do the one liners anymore even though they're very funny and we all will watch it whether we support him or not. But he's got to step up his game and show people that he's thought through these issues, that he's putting together a team of advisers and that he can put together a government. Reassure those who are either slightly against him or maybe slightly leaning towards him. You know, emotion does not count casting that ballot. What he has to do is get people who are not on his side and give them a comfort level enough to say I'll take a chance on this guy. [Newton:] OK. Answer my question, though. Would you put money on him becoming the nominee at this point? [Forbes:] If I knew, I would be in Las Vegas making bets to get on my rich list. [Newton:] Well that's an interesting way to dodge the question. I mean look - [Forbes:] Well, it's not a dodge. It is not a he should win. It's for him to lose. So you have to say, yes. He is the favorite right now. But Cruz is starting to improve his game. He's coming out more on the flat tax and some other issues. He knows that he's got to be messenger, I mean, in terms of having a message, not just being a messenger. To ramp up his game I think he's doing in states like Indiana but right now, you have to give the slight edge to Donald Trump. [Newton:] And in giving that edge to Donald Trump, I mean what do you think he's been able to tap into? You ran as a successful business person, an outsider to Washington. Do you think that that is really what the Trump supporters want here? They just are done with politicians. [Forbes:] They're done with politicians. We've had seven years of economic stagnation which we haven't had experienced at all since the 1930s. But also, Donald Trump was well-known to the American people before he entered politics. He did not have to introduce himself which most candidates even though they may be somewhat national figures it's not a parliamentary system we have here. Most of the candidates are fairly unknown until they begin a national campaign. But being on "The Apprentice" T.V. show and the like Donald Trump was already known. He was seen as an authoritative figure, as they like to say he was the only one who could fire people who didn't work for him. But he was looked up to as an authority figure so he had a following even before the campaign so when the criticism came, people felt well I already know this guy and so the normal rules of politics didn't apply. [Newton:] Didn't apply to Mr. Trump. A very quick question, they're wrapping me here. If he does not win the nomination, would you counsel him to go for a third party run? An independent running for the White House? [Forbes:] No. For one thing he couldn't get on all the state ballots. We have 50 different rules for 50 different states. If he wanted to do that he'd have to be working now to get on the ballots of states like Texas. It's a cumbersome process you can't do it at the last minute. [Newton:] Gotcha. OK. Mr. Forbes, please come back an interesting conversation with you. [Forbes:] Look forward to it. [Newton:] We'll continue to watch interesting results come in this evening. Appreciate it. [Forbes:] Thank you. Thank you, Paula. [Newton:] Now Republican candidates need to appeal to evangelical voters. We've been saying that for some time. Democrats need though the support of labor unions after voting in New York, Hillary Clinton travelled to Washington to build up her credentials with those all-important union workers. [Hillary Clinton: U.s. Democratic Presidential Candidate:] The Republican front-runner for President actually says wages are too high in America. Now, I have said before I do not know who he's talking to. Because Americans deserve a raise. Yet, Republicans and governors [applause] and their legislators across the country are waging a relentless assault on workers' rights. [Newton:] Joining me now, Philip Levine, is the Mayor of Miami Beach. He has come though to New York and the weather is cooperating. We've had a good welcome for you here. He's campaigning for Hillary Clinton. Welcome, appreciate your time here. [Philip Levine, Mayor Miami Beach:] I think I brought the great weather here today. [Newton:] You can't take credit for everything. Spring in New York is usually like that. In terms of being out there in the trenches campaigning for Hillary Clinton, there is a huge enthusiasm gap that we have been watching transpire here. What do you do to close that gap, especially even if Ms. Clinton does wrap it up tonight? [Levine:] I agree with you Paula. The enthusiasm gap is incredible. I mean Secretary Clinton just has garnered so many more American voters than Bernie Sanders. I mean, the fact she has 2.4 million more Americans have voted for her than Senator Sanders clearly is an enthusiasm gap and I don't know how Senator Sanders is going to be able to close that gap. You know, it's funny when I hear about the math coming out, you know, and talking about various states that Senator Sanders has won and we give him credit, every state's important. Every vote is important. But Secretary Clinton has she's won Florida, Ohio, Texas, Nevada. You know? It goes on and on and on, Louisiana, Georgia, he wrote off the entire south saying it doesn't represent the Democrat Party. So clearly he has an enthusiasm gap Senator Sanders, but I hope that you know obviously when Secretary Clinton gets this nomination his people will, of course, support her going for the general election. [Newton:] It was an interesting way to turn the tables on me but I'm not going to let you off the hook with that. I mean look, she's not getting crowds of 30,000 people the way Bernie Sanders does and a lot of the votes that she got were months ago. When people now, the national polls as you know, you just saw them like I did, show a very tight race between Sanders and Secretary Clinton. Even if Secretary Clinton locks up the nomination, don't you want Bernie's voters out there on the streets for the Democrats for that national election? Some of them might stay home. [Levine:] 100%. And I think we are going to get those people to support. Just think about it. And I listened to Steve Forbes and I have all the respect for him and his run for presidency. And he's very similar to Donald Trump who will probably get the nomination. They both represent inherited wealth. And I don't believe We have Donald Trump out there who wants to build a wall, whose approval ratings I think with women or disapprovals are something like 70 something percent but at least he's doing better with women than he's doing with African-Americans or Hispanics. I think we're going to find that the Democratic Party is going to come together because they know that Secretary Clinton has had 25, 30, 35 years in supporting these people and making sure that they have better wages. You listen to her in Washington, she wants to rebuild the infrastructure. That's so important. That creates jobs, investing in our country today is what it's about. And I think we are going to see all of the Democratic Party come together when they know what the choice is going to be which will be Secretary Clinton. [Newton:] OK. Mayor Levine, though you still need those Democrats to come out and vote if she does become the nominee and I've spoken to Democratic voters in the city and they say they can't help that feeling like they're watching an episode of "House of Cards" with two people conniving to get back into the White House. How do you actually put her front and center to really be that earnest candidate that everybody wants to back? [Levine:] Well you know what I think she is, and I think it's all about the issues. And I think Secretary Clinton the people know Paula. The one thing that they know about Secretary Clinton is she's tough, she's resilient and she'll get the job done. And that's what's most important to Americans today. They're so sick of all these politicians that literally go into office and they have no ability to get things done. Secretary Clinton has a history of getting things done. And remember something, we are interviewing right now for the CEO of the United States of America and when you look at the field out there, she's the right one because she'll show up every day and she'll move the needle and that's the most important thing and people trust that she'll do that. [Newton:] Mayor Levine, can't thank you enough. I think the weather is going to hold throughout the evening as we look at results and we look forward to watching this campaign with you. Appreciate it. [Levine:] Thank you so much Paula. [Newton:] Thanks. Now, we just have some breaking news into CNN. Intel says it will cut some 12,000 jobs around the world. That's 11% of the chipmaker's workforce. It's part of the company's restructuring to focus on cloud computing and what it calls the internet of things. It has been a successful strategy thus far. We will continue to keep to an eye on that but elsewhere on Wall Street, a rise in oil prices pushed stocks higher while disappointing corporate earnings pushed them back down again. I mean that was a tidy increase though. Netflix shares ended the day down about 13% and IBM off almost 6%. Now the Dow managed to end the session as we were saying above 18,000 for the second day in a row and it has seen a stunning recovery since February when it fell below 16,000. I mean hard to believe that was just a few weeks ago. Joining me now from the floor of the Exchange, Ben Willis, the senior trader at Princeton Securities. I mean Ben, I got to tell you, I don't see the fundamentals propelling this market at this point. Are you guys just crazy with spring here? I mean what is going on what's fueling this market? [Ben Willis, Senior Trader, Princeton Securities:] These are not fundamentals. The best way to take a look at this market is risk off. The markets have traded on a risk off mentality since the lows you mentioned in February, meaning short covering. [Willis:] We've had record short interest in the marketplace and what we continue to see is a sector move of short covering and whether or not that was from the oil which really started this direction meaning the small oil stocks that have been under pressure and fears that they were going into bankruptcy, we saw in February a move to short cover. That's exactly what we saw happen in the oil markets today. There was a huge expectation of a trade on the short side expecting oil to fall below $35 a barrel after Doha. When it did not happen that risk off trade started to happen and you saw a squeeze in the oil patch. The rest of the market if you take a look at some of the high short interest stocks those are the stocks that have been performing to the upside. So that's not investors going to work. Those are traders taking risk off if you will. So that being said, it's been a sector by sector risk off. That is a bullish indicator but it's but the numbers you're seeing are not based on a bullish sentiment, if you will it's based on fear and covering that fear. [Newton:] And point taken. It's important that we really highlight and are transparent about the technical moves in the market but if I hear you correctly does that mean we are going to pay for this a few weeks down the road? Because even you know banks like Citi have come out and said they don't like the fundamentals going forward. [Willis:] Well very interesting today, Merrill Lynch Bank of America came out and said for the 12th consecutive week they have seen their smart money poll selling stocks. Just to be clear, I am bullish on the United States stock market. This market is being moved from the fundamental side if you will because of the Central Bank intervention. That's not something that investor's trade on fundamentals. They have been forced into indecision. Janet Yellen and crew could not make a decision so the American investor are sitting on trillions of dollars not investing in the marketplace. So what I'm saying again is the move to the upside that you're seeing in some of the indices is based on traders saying there's too much risk. They need to take off, they've already sold those stocks short. In other words, sell high, buy low. The buyer and you're seeing that right now it's not an anticipation of buying low and being able to sell them higher. That money is sitting on the sidelines but, again, that is a bullish indicator not a bearish indicator. [Newton:] Well we'll see going forward, especially when, again, we get more indication from the Fed Reserve as the next weeks and their meetings continue. Ben thanks so much, always appreciate the update. [Willis:] Thank you. [Newton:] And some more numbers just in to CNN. It is a busy earnings season. Yahoo! Has just reported first quarter earnings and they beat slightly on revenue but were largely in line with Wall Street expectations. Now the company's stock is up slightly in after hours' trading. It comes as Yahoo! Is examining bids from potential buyers and we'll have a full breakdown and analysis later in this hour. Now, in a moment, IMF Chief Christine Lagarde warns the possibility of a "brexit" is already damaging the U.S. economy. [Costello:] Checking some top stories for you at 57 minutes past. It is history in the skies. For the first time in more than 50 years direct commercial air service from the U.S. to Cuba resumed today. This is a JetBlue flight. It took off from Ft. Lauderdale. Renee Marsh, our correspondent, is on board. That plane, as we understand, just landed in Cuba. So history is made. Renee Marsh of course will be reporting from Cuba a little later on, on CNN today, so stay tuned. Brazil's suspended President could be ousted in a final Senate vote today. She's accused of mishandling the budget. But she calls her impeachment a power grab by her rivals. Her former Vice President, already the acting President, will take over permanently. R&B singer, Chris Brown facing charges, assault with a deadly weapon, following a 14-hour impasse with police at his suburban L.A. home. Police say the incident started when a woman called 9-1-1 claiming Brown threatened her with a gun and told her to leave. Brown refused to let police inside until they got a warrant. And he posted videos on social media saying he was being unfairly demonized. He eventually surrendered to police. His lawyer was tweeting overnight the allegations are false. Right now watches and warnings are in place as a tropical depression takes aim at Florida's Gulf Coast. The system expected to strengthen into a tropical storm later today, and could make landfall Thursday night. In the meantime, North Carolina's outer banks expected to get drenched with several inches of rain. A second tropical depression is sitting off the coast of Cape Hatteras but now moving back out to sea. This Thursday, CNN Films will premier "Holy Hell." A look into a spiritual group known as Buddhafield. The film takes an up close and personal look at the group's leader who attracted hundreds of followers to his controversial moment or movement, rather. Take a look. [Unknown Woman, Buddhafield Member:] He was contemporary. He wasn't some little old man with a gray beard sitting in a dodi. He was wearing Speedos and Ray Bans, you know? And he was dancing, and he was doing contemporary music. He spoke four or five languages. He was amazingly humorous, witty. [Unknown Man, Buddhafield Member:] Very playful, like a child. He could do something, I'm like, "oh my God, I can't believe he just did that!" He could dance, he was artistic, he was all those things we all wanted to be. He was unlike anyone I'd ever met before. He encouraged me to drop all my ideas of what I thought I was supposed to be. I finally felt like I was on the right path. I attended every meeting, every group outing we would take, and even went to Michelle's weekly, individual hypnotherapy sessions called "cleansings." I really felt like something important was happening in my life. [Costello:] Don't miss this inside look into the Buddhafield's journey for enlightenment and the consequences that followed. "Holy Hell" premiers tomorrow night on [Cnn, 9:] 00 p.m. Eastern. Thank you so much for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. "AT THIS HOUR" with Berman and Bolduan starts now. [Jonee Fonseca, Israel`s Mother:] Hi. Say hello. [Unidentified Female:] 2-year-old Israel Stinson loves to talk and laugh. About a month ago, Israel was rushed to the hospital during an asthma attack. He was transferred from UC Davis to Kaiser Permanente in Roseville where he was declared brain dead. His parents are fighting to keep him alive. [Fonseca:] Israel, you`ve got to stop fooling everybody. How long is it going to take, huh? [Unidentified Female:] This is the moment they say they knew he wasn`t brain dead. What appears to be a slight flinch to his mom`s tickles. In the determination of brain deaths, it`s not a simple yes or no. But Israel`s parents are holding on to hope waiting to hear this little voice once again. [Pinsky:] Oh, my god, that is so bad. But in fact physicians have declared 2-year-old Israel Stinson brain dead. The toddler`s parents insist he`s alive. They posted this home video on YouTube, claiming it proves their point. [Fonseca:] Israel, baby, mommy`s here. I`m going to tickle you one more time. Do it one more time. Do it one more time. There you go. There you go. Israel. His blood pressure is going up. Oh, you can hear mommy and you can feel mommy, huh? Israel, you`ve got to stop fooling everybody. How long is it going to take, huh? I know you`re going to come out of this, baby. [Pinsky:] Wow. Back with Anahita and Leo, joining us vin Skype, Gina Louden, Host America Trends, on U2 America, she is a prolife advocate. Anahita, you and I have been here before you and I. Whether it`s Jahi. Was Jahi`s last name? [Sedaghatfar:] Jahi Mcmath. [Pinsky:] Jahi Mcmath or bobby Kristina Brown. Listen, I went over and over this. When somebody`s brain is gone, it is gone. Why is it different than if I pull the heart and lung out and just had it as a physiological prep. Why do people not understand this is a prep just like that. [Sedaghatfar:] For two reasons, I think people want to believe in miracles and then you look at videos like that where the child or individual react to touch, people think it`s the brain, but it`s not a brain, it`s a reflex. [Pinsky:] It`s the autonomic nervous system, it`s the body that is disconnected from a brain that is dead. A pediatric specialist that works at the California hospital, where Israel is being treated, talked to a local CNN affiliate. Here it is. [Fonseca:] It can look like twitches, it can look like muscle contractions, but unfortunately those are just reflexes. They`re not coming from the brain because in brain death there`s a cease of function. Unfortunately, it`s irreversible. It`s very sad. [Pinsky:] It`s very sad. Leo, it`s irreversible. What bothers me is, if I were working on that case I would see my job as getting those parents to the place of acceptance. Them hanging on to something that will never happen, as it never happened in the history of mammalian biology will never happen. Has never happened in the history of humanity, to allow them to sit and suffer with that for god knows how long, it would be I couldn`t stand it. [Terrell:] Well, look Dr. Drew, I hate to disagree with you but you`re wrong. Not medically, but legally. Because that`s why this family is in Federal Court. There are some states, and as a lawyer I`m looking at this, there are some states that say as long as there`s a heartbeat, that child is alive. [Pinsky:] So if I took the heart out and a lung out and put it in a jar, then we`re fine? We`re fine then? [Terrell:] I`m not going to challenge you medically, but I`m saying legally, that`s why that baby is still in the capacity she`s in right now because a court has said no. As long as she has a heartbeat, they can pursue this. and that`s in New Jersey and that`s the law. [Pinsky:] Gina Loudon can you tell me what`s your opinion on this. What is a lie from what is not a lie? I understand that there`s legal protection of life, I`m all for that, but this is a physiology prep. [Gina Loudon, Pro-life Advocate:] Well, brain death, as I understand it, is not a clinical diagnosis but rather a medical opinion. I understand they have had three of those and this is a tremendously complicated situation. But Dr. Drew, this is a little bit personal for me. I actually adopted a little boy who had down syndrome, he was on a feeding tube, he had failure to thrive. And they told me when I adopted him I was signing a death certificate just so he would have parents on his death certificate. [Pinsky:] Gina, I have to interrupt you. That is fantastically different than somebody coming and saying that is a dead person. That is somebody who is going to die, in their opinion, as opposed to somebody who is dead. There`s an infinity difference between these two states. Infinity. [Loudon:] But the bottom line, Dr. Drew, and there are states that agree, and as your lawyer pointed out, the bottom line is it should be up to the parents. It is not up to the state to decide [Pinsky:] You know what, I`m sympathetic to that. I`m sympathetic to that. I like the way Gina framed this. It`s about parenting rights, right? [Terrell:] It`s parenting rights and the law. You cannot your medical experience and expertise cannot trump the law. The law is very clear. [Pinsky:] But here`s my problem. OK. You kind of missed it last time I stated it. The problem is getting these parents who were entitled to their parenting privileges I believe in protecting those but the job of the professionals should be to get them to the point of acceptance of managing reality on reality`s terms. Otherwise what are we doing, guys? Are we going to spend all of the medical resources we have on brain preps? Is that what we`re going to do. [Terrell:] You give the assumption that there`s universal consensus on your opinion throughout this country. If so, why does New Jersey allow this to happen. [Pinsky:] I`m not saying they`ll be a universal opinion on what this is, I mean brain-dead. [Sedaghatfar:] Three doctors examined this child. They went to three different courts in California, state courts. All the courts agreed that the doctors used the right procedures, they followed the proper law and they all determined that this poor child is brain dead. I think that`s the bottom line. Now, it will be interesting to see what this Federal Court does, because I think it will be ground breaking if this court actually mandates this hospital and these doctors to perform these surgeries, to give him a feeding tubes, to give him medications. I think that will be groundbreaking. [Pinsky:] It`s so that he can be transferred. [Terrell:] So he can be transferred to New Jersey. [Pinsky:] I bet they allow it [Terrell:] Why wouldn`t you allow it? It`s the law. I`m confused. The law says in New Jersey, let`s be clear. The law says as long as there`s a heartbeat, the child is alive. [Sedaghatfar:] They`re trying to get the court to tell these California doctors to perform the surgeries, give the medications so that the child can be transported. That`s the issue. [Terrell:] what`s wrong with that? What`s the problem with that? I hope it`s not about money. Let`s face it, it sounds like money. It smells like it`s about money. [Pinsky:] I love what Leo is talking about, the universal truth. Listen, we are asked as physicians to make decision-making based on available resources every day. That`s part of our responsibility is to make sure that we aren`t wasting resources. How is this not wasting resources? But I understand. But I understand, I want to protect the patient parent privilege. My goal would be to get the parents to deal with reality. Every medical decision has a cost whatever the hell. I`m behaving like people who respond to Donald Trump now. See how that works. He`d be a good negotiator. But the point is forget it, let me go to break. [Sedaghatfar:] Dr. Drew [Pinsky:] You got me. [Simpkins:] I`ve never seen that. [Pinsky:] We will hear from Israel`s parents. They`re locked in a battle in the courts over the fate of their son. And still to come, disturbing video of a mother allegedly attacked by police with pepper spray. Who`s right, who`s in the wrong. We`ll have more after this. [Blitzer:] We're closing in on the first votes of the night out of the critical state of Florida. We're going to get our first sense of who's in the lead, who may be struggling on this high-stakes Super Tuesday. I want to go over to Sara Murray. She's over at Marco Rubio campaign headquarters right now in Miami. What's the latest over there? [Sara Murray, Cnn National Political Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, what sources are telling me is that even if Marco Rubio does not pull out a victory tonight, even if he loses here in Florida, he is going to face immense pressure to stay in the race, at least officially. And this is part of a delegate strategy. What people who are opposed to Trump and even some Rubio supporters want is they want a way to ensure that Marco Rubio's delegates are still bound to him. And they say if he ends his presidential bid, these delegates go unbound, they could potentially support Donald Trump at the convention. Now, this could put Marco Rubio in a little bit of an awkward position, but one person who is familiar with the discussion says he's already under an enormous amount of pressure to consider this route. This is as people are beginning to realize that if they want to stop Trump, the only way to do is going to be at the convention Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Sara, thanks very much. Let's go over to John King over at the magic wall. You're looking at the all-important delegates. And I know there's an effort to stop Trump from getting to that 1,237, that magic number he needs to be guaranteed the nomination. [King:] And Marco Rubio's Florida, and John Kasich's Ohio are critical to that. To Sara Murray's point, pressure on Marco Rubio to stay even if he can't win. But, Wolf, if the margin is big tonight, there's also a lot of conversation in the Rubio campaign that he would get out. Here's the state of play as we are right now. Donald Trump with 100-delegate lead over Ted Cruz. Rubio and Kasich far behind. What happens tonight? Can Donald Trump in this scenario run the board? If he wins all five of the big states tonight, Wolf, he will inch way out here. Not unstoppable, but much harder to stop. If he's out here at the end of the night if he runs the board, Donald Trump would need in the 42 percent, 43 percent of the remaining delegates to clinch, very doable, especially if you have a wounded Kasich probably out of the race and a wounded Rubio probably out of the race. But that's why this would be so important. Because it's 99 winner- take-all, if Marco Rubio could take this, you see Donald Trump goes back already. Then if John Kasich can take his home state of Ohio, again, 66 delegates, winner-take-all, boom, look, Donald Trump then is back behind the halfway point. The expectation is, though, that Kasich, maybe close race there. Most of the polls heading in suggested that Donald Trump was going to get the state of Florida. It makes such a big difference in the math. So if you're the Cruz campaign, you're looking to pick up delegates in Missouri, pick up delegates in North Carolina, pick up delegates in Illinois. What the Cruz campaign hopes for, let's make it in Missouri, is take one of those states and actually eke out a victory, essentially split the delegates with Trump, but get a little bit more. Let's say the night ends something like this. Number one, would Rubio stay? If Kasich is the new establishment favorite, even only with one win, does he still stay in the race? That's one calculation. Number two, at this point, Donald Trump, let's say he's right around 700 at the end of the night, needs then about 47 percent of the remaining delegates. Is that doable? Yes. The big question will be Cruz certainly would claim momentum if he picks up delegates and maybe gets a win tonight. Kasich wouldn't go anywhere. So, then we do have a three-way race, do we have a four-way race going forward? Donald Trump would need about 47 percent of the delegates in the remaining contests. This is the conversation is, maybe they could stop him then, but, Wolf, it's, you know, he ends up out here and not across the finish line, you going to take it away from him? [Blitzer:] Let's say he gets that 40 percent number you were talking about. How long or 47 percent how long would it take him to clinch that nomination? [King:] It would really depend on is he running the board? Does he win in Arizona and Utah next week, and does he win big? Is he winning in New York, and New Jersey, and Maryland? Does he get there early? Most people think it's going to take a while, especially if you have a close race with Cruz. The misconception is that all of these Republican states become winner-take-all. That's not the case. A lot of them have a hybrid formula where if you win by a decent margin, you might get them all, like Trump did in South Carolina. He won them all, even though it's not a winner-take-all state. It would really depend on how many candidates in the race, what are the margins, and is he splitting delegates or winning states? A while. Not as long as the Democratic race, but it would take a while. [Blitzer:] Could go on. All right, John, thanks very much Anderson, over to you. [Cooper:] Yes, Wolf, the clarity that so many people had hoped to find tonight, the question is, will there really be that? Because Marco Rubio, everybody is saying, look, he has got to win in Florida. It's obviously his home state. But he has never said, yes, I will drop out. He could very easily, if he doesn't win tonight, say, I still want to stay in, in the hopes of being part of the effort to stop Donald Trump. Same with John Kasich if he doesn't win. He's always said he's got to win in Ohio, but perhaps he would change his mind. Mary Katharine? [Mary Katharine Ham, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think there's a great chance at more clarity tonight. But I like that Gloria has been arguing for a little bit of chaos. It's just fun times. [Cooper:] You like chaos. It's not very conservative of you, though, is it? [Ham:] You know, I live on the edge, Anderson. [Cooper:] OK. [Ham:] No, but if this is Ides of March, I think yon Cruz has a lean and hungry work here. He can make some inroads here. He can make the argument that I can go forward. Rubio is right that the map was better for him moving forward, but if he can't do Florida, then that doesn't matter. And Cruz will say, I can take this guy on one-on-one. And then the question becomes, can the establishment and the conservatives get together, the only thing than could unite us is Trump, and get behind this guy? Because the never-Trump contingent is real. Even in some of this exit polling, you're seeing 30, 40 percent saying, "I would consider a third-party ticket." [Cooper:] Kayleigh, can you see some of these folks staying in, even if they clearly can't get the nomination? [Mcenany:] I could see it. But I just think it's demonstrative of why people are so frustrated at the Republican Party, because if you have Rubio stay in, when it's very evident he's not a viable contender for the presidency, it looks like he's trying to gerrymander the will of the people and stop the people from voting on a certain candidate. And I understand he had every right to stay in, of course he does, this is a personal decision. Nevertheless, it still seems like this is an attempt to keep Donald Trump from getting the nomination, which I don't think will play very well at all. The point is Marco Rubio can't even win his home state, and every time the establishment endorses a candidate, be it Jeb Bush, who was their first choice, falls precipitously. Rubio falling precipitously. Now, if they pivot to John Kasich, I predict the same: he'll fall precipitously. [Cooper:] And Mayor Nutter, I mean, for a party, for the GOP, where so many of the voters feel betrayed already by their leaders, I mean, if Donald Trump is in the lead and there is this cabal that meets to come up with an alternative, that's just going to inflame them. [Nutter:] Well, Anderson, I mean, as I think we've all said, the race may not be determined tonight but there will be more definition. And this idea I mean, I've run for office; and this idea that you just keep running to stop someone else just seems very strange to me. I mean, there are rules here. Everyone knows what the rules are. They're all laid out. They didn't just start. At some point in time, you know, the race has to shrink for the candidates. You're running still to win. And this idea that somehow in football, I'm running to be the blocker, to stop someone else, I mean, the voters see right through that. And I mean, look, the rules are the rules; and you just deal with it. [Borger:] Rules can be changed. [Press:] I think at some point we've said this before. At some point people have to realize the only way to stop Donald Trump is to stop him with one candidate, not with three candidates. And if we do end up, as Gloria said, with three different lanes, you know, then Donald Trump is just going to keep winning these states with 35 or 40 percent. [Cooper:] But as you said, Gloria, the rules can change. [Borger:] The rules can change and, you know, I don't know who's going to get on that rules committee at the convention, but it's going to have to be on television and out in the open, because this would be about the worst thing you could do. [Cooper:] The idea that Donald Trump wouldn't have people on the rules committee at the convention, that seems hard to imagine. [Borger:] But he will, because it's going to be determined by the number of votes you get in each state. And it's complicated and arcane and ridiculous, but he will have people on that. The thing that I'm having a hard time getting my head around is that the establishment is now trying to figure out a way to rally around the man they loathe, right, Ted Cruz, the man who shut down the government, whom they really don't like, and Manu Raju has just done this amazing story for us on CNN.com, where you have people in the Senate urging Ted Cruz to apologize to Leader Mitch McConnell, because Cruz called him a liar. It's like, "You have to apologize to Daddy before we can actually endorse you." Right? And that's what's going on. [Gergen:] I think why we're heading to crisis in the Republican Party, Anderson, is we've had brokered conventions in the past. A lot of brokered conventions in the history of the political party. This is the first time we are looking at a brokered convention in the age of primaries. The primaries really took over in the 1960s. Since then, one person has won and just gone on and taken it, except in "76, and Ford went ahead and took it. But this will be a time when the establishment really is trying to stop somebody who's the voters' first choice. Not only has a plurality but the voters" first choice. In the past, we've never had the voters in a brokered convention. And that's what makes this such a wildcard. [Henderson:] And Trump keeps talking about that. In our debate, his opening statement was about the millions of voters, and his closing statement was the same thing. [Gergen:] Right. He said, "Be smart and unite." [Cooper:] We are just minutes away from the first votes of the night out of Florida. It's going to be our first real glimpse at how the TrumpRubio grudge match is unfolding in the crucial states. Super Tuesday results ahead. [Sciutto:] Welcome back. Tonight, police are searching for a motive after one of their own was shot and injured by a gunman. This attack taking place in Las Vegas. According to investigators, two officers were in their patrol car at a red light when the suspect approached and fired several rounds with a semiautomatic handgun hitting and injuring one of them. This was the second time in just three days that Las Vegas police officers had been shot in the line of duty. Nick Valencia is OUTFRONT. [Unidentified Male:] Shots fired. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] A gunman ambushed his two Las Vegas police officers sitting in their mark cruiser at a stoplight. The attack leaving one officer injured, his partner able to chase down and arrest the suspect. In Fox Lake, Illinois, hundreds bid farewell to a fallen veteran police officer, shot and killed. The hunt for the suspects continues. A sheriff's deputy is laid to rest after being shot execution style 15 times while filling up his vehicle at a gas station near Houston, Texas. That's just in the last two weeks. This year, at least 24 officers across the country have been shot and killed in the line of duty. By comparison, as of this date last year, 36 officers had been shot and killed. According to the non-profit officer down memorial page. While the numbers are down, officers are feeling increasingly vulnerable says, CNN law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander. [Cedric Alexander, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] There's some real challenges out there in this country right now. It's a very tough time to be a police officer at this moment. [Valencia:] Deaths at the hands of police like this shooting in San Antonio where the suspect appears to have his hands in the air and the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore have led to the creation of groups like Black Lives Matter. [Deray Mckesson, Black Lives Matter Organizer:] The only charged rhetoric of the movement has been about, I'm holding officers accountable. It has been about fair police contracts and independent investigators and body cameras. [Valencia:] Activists and organizer DeRay McKesson says, blaming the Black Lives Matter Movement is only misdirected anger. [Mckesson:] It has been specifically about ending violence. [Valencia:] Even so, chants like this from a march last month in Minnesota [Black Lives Matter Demonstrator:] Pigs in a blanket, fry 'em like bacon. [Valencia:] And ominous graffiti like this in Arkansas and Texas are putting more and more cops on edge. [Sheriff Ron Hickman, Harris County, Texas:] We have heard black lives matter. All lives matter. Well, cops' lives matter, too. So, why don't we drop the qualifier and say lives matter? [Valencia:] Many police departments across the country are changing their tactics going from one police officer in a patrol car to two, even still cops everywhere are feeling the risk. And while the rhetoric from the Black Lives Matter movement may not be to blame for the recent wave in police killings, certainly, cops across the country are starting to notice the current climate Jim. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Anchor:] Nick Valencia in Atlanta. OUTFRONT, CNN political commentator Van Jones, and in New York, former NYPD officer Bill Stanton. Bill, I wonder if I could start with you. Two Las Vegas officers shot in just the past week, two, in fact, in three days. You have other shootings in the line of duty in Texas and Illinois. We have heard from police officers. You heard it there in Nick's piece, police do feel under assault. In your view, do they have the right to feel do they have the data to feel they are a target? [Bill Stanton, Former Nypd Officer:] Not only is there data, but they are watching with their eyes and they're listening with their ears. Pigs in a blanket don't shoot. There's a growing culture of anarchy and violence, hate crimes towards cops. So, yes, all law enforcement personnel need to be a little bit more careful. [Sciutto:] Van, I want to ask you, because you saw this anti- police chant in Minnesota. You see graffiti in Arkansas. We also know there's a lot of emotion here after cases of Michael brown and others. But you do see groups that seem to be justifying, even instigating violence against police. And I wonder if you see that as well. Is that a danger? [Stanton:] Are you speaking to me? [Sciutto:] I'm speaking to Van, I'm speaking to Van. [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, first of all, any time anybody loses their life, whether it's a police officer or a young unarmed African-American or anyone else, the whole country should mourn. We do. But I think it's really unfortunate and ridiculous to say that people who are going around killing police officers have anything at all to do with these protests. First of all, numbers should matter. Statistics should matter. We actually have fewer police officers shot this year than last year. [Sciutto:] Van, to be fair to be fair, I wasn't identifying the violence against police with Black Lives Matter. I was just showing that in this very emotional environment, you do have groups who are taking it a step further. They are talking about violence against cops. [Jones:] What did you say? [Stanton:] Isn't it interesting that you made that correlation? [Jones:] Because you made it. [Sciutto:] Bill, I will come back to you. I want to hear from you. Let Van answer. [Jones:] Because we have an officer specializing now and just smearing this non-violent movement anytime he gets on the air. But my point is simply this. There is zero correlation between people who are speaking out saying they want less violence. You can be and this movement is against police murdering civilians and civilians murdering police. That is a consistent position. The problem that we have right now is that now numbers don't matter. We have fewer police officers being shot. Also, that one little segment of those protesters who said that despicable thing, there have been thousands of protesters where nothing like that was said. And so, I think we have to not smear the entire movement because of one tiny part of a march where people said something despicable. That's not representative of the movement for police reform. [Sciutto:] Bill, I want to ask you, nationally you look at the numbers and the fact is despite this impression of danger, police deaths are down. They are down 16 percent from this time last year. Does that show you don't the numbers show you can argue the numbers show that those fears are on the statistics, that those fears are overblown. [Stanton:] Yes, all right, Jim and Van, let's talk numbers, shall we? Yes, those numbers show a lower amount of police murdered. But never have I seen in many, many, many years where the public has there are certain fringe groups have a vitriol, a hate for cops where the whole we will go back to Ferguson. The whole "hands up, don't shoot" was actually based on a lie. We're seeing it in New York, in Chicago, in Texas, where cops aren't killed in the line of duty. Cops are killed by execution. That's what's changing the narrative here, at least from my optic. [Sciutto:] Van, I want to give you a chance to respond. To be clear, it's not to tar the brush of the Black Lives Matter movement. It's to say, you know, are the emotions so raw right now that you do have this danger that that inspires some groups, granted, you know, at the extreme, to push back and feel that they to push back and call for violence against cops? [Jones:] There may be some of that unfortunately in our country, we have had that for a long time. You can go back to Al Capone. You can go back to Bonnie and Clyde. You can go back to a lot of people, criminals, extremists who have targeted our police. And they are wrong for doing that. I want to be clear. To the extent there's emotion, it's not because of the marches. It's not because of the so-called rhetoric. It's because of the videotaped evidence of some of our police officers doing things that are shocking to people. I hope we're not saying that people should see shocking things on TV and not protest. You are saying we don't have the First Amendment right to petition for redress the grievances? I hope you are not going that far. [Stanton:] No, Van, don't worry your hopes will not be fulfilled. I don't look if a cop does a bad shooting or does excessive force, guess what, in my opinion, he is not a cop. He's a criminal. He will be arrested. We have seen cases where there are bad shootings. And those cops are arrested and become criminals. So, if we're going to go to numbers I mean, the numbers of bad cops and bad shootings is below 1 percent. That's a big brush that people are painting when they say cops are bad. Cops every day go out, save lives, millions of contacts, no bad reports. [Sciutto:] We're going to have to leave it there. I think what we do see there is common ground in this emotional issue. There's certainly common ground there. We will keep the conversation up. Bill Stanton, Van Jones, thank you for joining us tonight. And OUTFRONT next, neighbors described the people in this Atlanta home as a model family. So, why are two brothers accused of trying to it kill their parents and burn down their own house? And they were both raised by successful parents in the national spotlight. Ahead, our report on Ivanka Trump and Chelsea Clinton's unique friendship. [Unidentified Female:] Ben Carson taking on the media for focusing too much on his past. [Dr. Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] The burden of proof is not going to be on me. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] He has pathological disease. It is a serious statement, as I understand it. You can't really cure it. [Carson:] There's no question I'm getting special scrutiny, because you know, there are a lot of people who are very threatened. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] One of us is a candidate of the establishment. The other candidate is prepared to take on the establishment. I'm not voting for Hillary Clinton. Let me be clear: I'm supporting Bernie Sanders. [Unidentified Male:] Jeremy Mardis, he didn't deserve to die like that. [John Berman, Cnn Berman:] A 6-year-old boy shot and killed by two marshals. [Unidentified Female:] He was just an innocent little boy. [Col. Michael D. Edmonson, Louisiana State Police:] It was the most disturbing thing I've seen. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota and Michaela Pereira. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Itis Monday, November 9, 6 a.m. in the East. So Ben Carson is coming after the media. In his most aggressive stance of the election, he says he has nothing to prove, and he's not going to provide any additional information about the gaps in his personal narrative. The question is, should the questions stop. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Leave it to Donald Trump to stir the pot. Fresh off "Saturday Night Live" hosting gig, Trump says he's, quote, "alarmed" by Carson's stories of a violent childhood. And he insists that all of this media scrutiny could spell the beginning of the end for his chief Republican rival. Let's bring in CNN national correspondent Suzanne Malveaux. She's live from Washington with all the latest. Good morning, Suzanne. [Suzanne Malveaux, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning, Alisyn. Well, it's pretty clear the GOP candidates, they want to get some things out before tomorrow's Republican debate in Milwaukee. For Dr. Carson, it is about going from defense to offense regarding stories about his past. For Rubio it's providing more information about his finances. And for Trump, it's about getting in digs at both of them, hoping that their troubles will stick. [Carson:] The burden of proof is not going to be on me to corroborate everything I've ever talked about in my life. [Malveaux:] Over the weekend, Dr. Ben's Carson's attacks on the media intensifying, the GOP presidential contending unleashing a firestorm of verbal attacks on reporters who challenged his stories about his past. [Carson:] Show me somebody, even from your business, the media, who is 100 percent accurate at everything that they say. Well, you said this when you were in kindergarten. Give me a break. [Malveaux:] Recent reports in "Politico" and "The Wall Street Journal," calling into question aspects of Carson's life story published in his book. "Politico" wrote that Carson's campaign changed their version of a story about receiving a full scholarship from West Point. The military academy doesn't charge tuition. In response, Carson's campaign clarified that he never applied nor was granted admission to West Point. [Carson:] I said it was offered. I didn't say I received it. [Malveaux:] Carson saying he's facing harsher scrutiny than any other presidential candidate, because he's seen as a threat. [Carson:] I have never seen this before. And many other people who are politically experienced tell me they've never seen it before either. [Malveaux:] GOP rival Donald Trump calling it the beginning of the end of Carson's campaign. [Trump:] When you say, though, hitting your mother over the head with a hammer, when you're talking about hitting a friend in the face with a lock, padlock, and you know, you're talking about stabbing someone, that's a serious statement when you say you have a pathological disease. Because as I understand it, you can't really cure it. [on camera]: Look at this guy. [Malveaux:] Meanwhile, Trump was all laughs as host of "Saturday Night Live." [Trump:] Enrique. [Beck Bennett, Cast Member, Nbc's "saturday Night Live":] I brought you the check for the wall. [Malveaux:] Garnering the highest ratings the show's had in years. And "SNL" didn't pull any punches. The cast tackled most of the criticism regarding Trump, including accusations of racism, his immigration policy and questions around President Obama's birth certificate. We also learned this weekend in Jon Meacham's new book. Here it is, 836-page biography of George H.W. Bush, that Trump was interested in the V.P. slot. Now Trump was on "STATE OF THE UNION." He clarified that, said it was the other way around, that a senior adviser came to him and said that he'd be great. But it didn't go much further than that Chris, Alisyn. [Cuomo:] How much further does it have to go? Thank you very much for the reporting. Let's discuss. We have senior politics editor for "The Daily Beast," Jackie Kucinich; CNN political commentator and political anchor at New York One, Errol Louis. Let's keep going with Donald Trump. So what was our feeling about how he did this weekend? Errol Louis, did you think it was worth it? Do you think it was different? What's the plusminus? [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] It was probably worth it for him. I didn't think it was all that funny, just in the sense that I don't think the cast really went at him. The jokes weren't that interesting. So, you know, that's comedy, of course, is personal. I personally didn't find it funny. [Camerota:] Why do you think that they pulled their punches? I mean, if you're saying they pulled their punches, is it because he wasn't approving some skits? I mean, why didn't they go after him more? [Louis:] That I just don't know. I mean, when they went after Sarah Palin really hard. You know, so there's not some sort of a partisan bias here. They went after Sarah Palin really, really hard. Trump if you think that they have a liberal sensibility, not their kind of guy, they just happened not to go after him. I think, though, that it didn't do much for him. I'm trying to I'm trying to imagine somebody who didn't know about Donald Trump. He has very high name recognition. Didn't know about him, and based on seeing this would say, "Hey, I like that guy." I don't know if that's what it was intended to accomplish, but there's almost no way it could have accomplished that. So it was a fun evening for Donald Trump. The people who hate him will continue to hate him. The protesters outside I'm sure were very happy, and life goes on. [Camerota:] Jackie, what do you think? I mean, the protesters outside couldn't be happy because they didn't get what they wanted, you know? They didn't want him on at all. But what do you think that this means going forward for his campaign? [Jackie Kucinich, Senior Politics Editor, "daily Beast":] I don't know that it has any deeper meeting. It was interesting the whole skit where they made fun of his entire platform. It raised an eyebrow. Because he had one line, where he said, you didn't even tell us how you were going to do that. It's like, if you ask, it's just magic. It falls into place, which has been a criticism of him. That he doesn't really have any meat on the bones or any details of how he says he's going to get all these things done. So you wonder if that's going to be fodder for someone who might want to attack him later down the line. [Cuomo:] Right. In truth, the onus is not on the cast of "SNL" to hold him accountable for how he's going to take care of it. You know, we struggled with it enough here. They were trying to make jokes. All right. So Ben Carson, Errol, let's put it this way. Is this even a question as to whether or not when somebody's central narrative about how they became who they now are comes into question, that they have to answer those questions? [Louis:] Well, one would hope so. In this case, Ben Carson, and you know, great interview that you did with him, he doesn't want to ask any questions. He wants to turn and sort of attack the question and attack the questioner and ask people where were you in 2008? You know, I started thinking back. I was part of the team that had to go out to Chicago and sort of look into President Obama's background and went to his church and all this kind of stuff. But all of that stuff is so irrelevant. I mean, just as you say, if your biography is all about what you did, and you were very detailed about it; and you say it again and again and again, it is the job of the press to sort of ask you some of the details. And the fact that nobody can corroborate several of the key stories is something he's going to have to answer. Now, he doesn't have to answer because we're asking. He has to answer because that narrative then starts to fall apart. [Camerota:] Jackie, you know, he has turned this around and said that this is an illustration of how the media is going after him and what's wrong with the process. So let me play for you what he said yesterday in Puerto Rico to reporters about how sick this process is. [Unidentified Female:] Vetting is a normal part of the process. Did you not expect this? [Carson:] I have always said that I expect to be vetted. But being vetted and what is going on with me, "You said this 30 years ago. You said this 20 years ago. This didn't exist." You know, I just I have not seen that with anyone else. [Camerota:] That was interesting. That wasn't the one that I was hoping for where he talked about how the process was sick. Let me know if we have that. [Cuomo:] Blame the media. [Camerota:] I blame the control room. Let me know if we have that. But what about that, Jackie? Is he being vetted more than other people? [Kucinich:] No. That's crazy. No, that's ludicrous. He doesn't have a legislative record. He has this book that he has based his entire it's his autobiography; it's how he tells his story. So why wouldn't the media, why wouldn't any of us want to fact check that? Because it is the central part of his candidacy. It's why people trust him. So that deserves to be looked into. And the idea that, you know, going back into someone's past is off limits, I mean, how many times have we gone into the Clintons' past, into we were looking at when Joe Biden was talking about running, into what he did with the crime bill. I mean, this is part of the process. George Bush's I'm sorry, Jeb Bush's governorship, this is all fair game. This is part of the process. Welcome to the big leagues. [Cuomo:] Well, the problem is, is that we've said many times on this show, everybody is saying, this happens, especially with the GOP on the right side, they came come off the media, make the media an enemy. In truth, all politicians do it when they're under siege. I feel this is different, Errol. I think that the media has become made an opponent in a way that is going to damage our ability to cover this election going forward, because I wasn't surprised that Alisyn took heat for the interview. That's the nature of the game. It was the fact that she was asking questions at all that she was getting attacked. Not like "I didn't like your attitude. I didn't like how you did it. You wouldn't let him go. You were rude." None of that. It was, you shouldn't even be asking. And I think that it has traction with that base right now. [Louis:] It's entirely possible. I mean, I think Dr. Carson will probably find out that, even after he answers the questions, that it won't damage his standing. That you know, answering the question... [Cuomo:] It may help it. [Louis:] Yes. I was a little wrong about this, it was 50 years ago. Just tell us the truth. [Cuomo:] He raised $3.5 million because of the heat of all this. [Louis:] I don't doubt it. But I mean, I do think you know, so much cannon probably should ask him the question, what exactly do you want people to do? Do you want people to just never check anything you've said and just clap for you and let you sort of give a speech, and then we'll just have an election? Is that what you think politics is? Because he's new to the game. Maybe that's what he thinks it's supposed to be. [Cuomo:] Jackie makes a very strong point. Carson is largely a creation of his only personal life, you know, his genius as a surgeon, his fate, the way he came after President Obama. [Camerota:] His transformation that he talks about from angry... [Cuomo:] That is what makes him so likable and desirable by people. That's the weird part about this for me. Of course that's going to be what we come after, Jackie. I mean, when you have ever seen this not happen? [Kucinich:] Well, right, and I'm sure you'd have some on the right that say that, you know, maybe the media doesn't check the elect the same way. And you know, maybe that's a fair criticism in some cases. But when it comes to the presidency, it really is a gauntlet. And every you know, we check every "T" and every "I." That's just how that is the process. That is what happens. But, you know, this attack against the media is a time-honored tradition on both sides that, hey, Ben Carson raised a lot of money. And I'm sure in the short term this is going to help his campaign. Down the road I would be surprised if you can attack the media all the time and all the way to the White House. [Cuomo:] Well, look, one of the differences go ahead. [Camerota:] Let's be honest. It makes it somehow easier to say that he attacks the media and that the media is after him. It's an attack on journalism. Let's just call it what it is. An attack on journalism. Journalists ask questions. That's the process. And if you don't like journalism, we should talk about that with presidential candidates. We will have that opportunity to do so. We will have the opportunity to ask all the questions that you guys have posed, because Ben Carson's business manager and friend, Armstrong Williams, will be here with us later. Also we'll have Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie. [Cuomo:] All right. Michaela. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Meanwhile, an emergency meeting is going to be held today at the University of Missouri to deal with mounting racial tensions on that campus. The school's football players refusing to play until the university's president resigns or is fired. CNN's sports correspondent Coy Wire joins us live with the latest on what's happening at Mizzou. [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Correspondent:] Good morning, Michaela. Students on campus are making some brazen moves so that their voices are heard, and it's working. They've even caught the attention of Missouri's governor, Jay Nixon, who says racism has no place at Mizzou, and the students' concerns must be addressed. Now with the members of the football team taking a stand, the spotlight on Missouri's racial incidents is burning brighter than ever. [Wire:] The University of Minnesota [SIC] governing body just hours away from a special meeting to address the campus unrest as its racial climate comes to a boil. Missouri football's African-American players joining the deafening call demanding Mizzou president Tim Wolf resign over the way they say he's failed to handle matters of alleged racism and discrimination at the university, the athletes tweeting they would boycott football activities until Wolf is removed. Their coach, Gary Pinkel, tweeting this photo with his players, arms locked in unity with white students, "The Mizzou family stands as one. We are united. We are behind our players." One grad student even beginning a hunger strike against the school's president. [Unidentified Male:] My body is literally shutting down. And with each passing moment and each passing day, it gets a little worse. But that's not what I like to focus on. Black students are not being heard. On campus. From those in power. [Wire:] Wolf giving no indication he intends to step down but meeting with several university officials Sunday night, hours after releasing a statement that read, in part, "It is clear to all of us that change is needed. My administration has been doing a tremendous amount of reflection on how to address these complex matters." Tensions on campus brewing for months, escalating since September after protesters say Wolf failed to respond to several alleged incidents of racial abuse, including students openly using racial slurs. Missouri's next football game is Saturday against BYU. The football team brought in over $30 million in revenue last year. So we'll see now if the bold actions from these players will be the impetus for positive change where many on campus feel it's needed Alisyn. [Camerota:] Absolutely, Coy. Thanks so much for all that background. Meanwhile, this story. Questions continue to swirl about what led two police officers to fatally shoot a 6-year-old boy during a police chase. The officers are expected in court today as the Louisiana community mourns that young victim. CNN's Nick Valencia is live in Marksville, Louisiana, with the latest. This is such a terrible story, Nick. What have you learned? [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Such a tragedy, Alisyn. Alisyn, good morning to you. Nearly a week since the fatal shooting of that 6-year-old, Jeremy Mardis, two outstanding questions remain. Why would police follow the boy's father into a dead end? And why would they use lethal force? That 6-year-old, Jeremy Mardis, was buckled into the passenger seat of his father's car when police opened fire, hitting him at least five times in the head and chest, fatally killing him. Now, those officers, as you mentioned, are expected to make their first court appearance later today. We have been looking into the history of those officers, and at least one of them has a troubled history. Thirty-two-year-old Derrick Stafford was indicted on two counts of aggravated rape back in 2011. A year later, those cases were both dismissed. As far as we can tell, neither Norris Greenhouse Jr., one of those marshals charged with the murder of the 6-year-old, nor Derrick Stafford have never been convicted of a crime. But perhaps to make this case even more bizarre, a source with knowledge of the investigation tells me that Norris Greenhouse Jr., that marshal, actually knew the victims prior to the shooting. How well he knew the victims and the extent of their relationship. Investigators will be focusing a lot on that. Meanwhile, later today in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, the funeral for that 6-year-old little boy is expected to happen at 1:30 p.m. here local Alisyn. [Camerota:] OK, Nick, thanks so much for all of that. Later this morning, we will speak live with the superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, who's very involved in this case about what he knows. [Cuomo:] All right. So an official says the U.S. is 99.9 percent certain a terrorist bomb broke down Flight 9268. The FBI is in talks to help with the investigation. But as of now, no plans to send a team to the region. Meanwhile, Russian officials have arrived in Egypt conducting security checks at Sharm el Sheikh Airport themselves. [Pereira:] President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meeting today at the White House for the first time in more than a year, looking to move past their very public dust-up over the Iran nuclear deal. They are expected to discuss increasing U.S. military aid to Israel and the nearly two-month wave of violence between Palestinians and Israelis. [Camerota:] The destruction in this video is shocking. Take a look at this. It's a massive sinkhole. It opened up in an IHOP parking lot Sunday in Meridian, Mississippi. The hole is about 50 feet 50 feet wide, 600 feet long. It swallowed more than a dozen cars. [Pereira:] That's insanity. [Camerota:] That is insanity. [Pereira:] That's not even a sinkhole. [Camerota:] A sink highway. [Pereira:] The earth opened. [Camerota:] Yes. No one was hurt, I'm happy to report. [Pereira:] That's amazing that nobody was walking to her car as it was happening or sitting in the car or on the phone or anything. That's drone footage, obviously, and it shows incredible... [Camerota:] Whoa! [Pereira:] I don't think I've ever seen anything like that. [Camerota:] We report on sinkholes all the time but not to this level. [Pereira:] That's stupefying. [Cuomo:] What's constricting is they have to figure out what do you do now? Because that crevice instability is there. You've got that building there. We never follow up on these stories about what they do after. [Pereira:] Right. Two Louisiana police officers facing second- degree murder charges for the shooting death we told you about a moment ago of a 6-year-old boy. Why did they open fire on that young boy's father's car? We're going to take a closer look at the story when NEW DAY continues. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn:] All of this has a global manhunt is also underway for this man, Salah Abdeslam, a 26-year-old French citizen, born in Belgium. One of his brothers reportedly died in the attack. And another one of his brothers was arrested in Belgium then released. Six of the Paris attackers spent time in Syria, that according to CNN affiliate BFM T.V. details are also emerging about some of the attackers who were killed in the attack. Bilal Hafdi or Hadfi, the stadium suicide bomber was a French citizen who had been living in Belgium. 25-year-old Ahmed Almuhamed that may not be his real name but he is another of the stadium suicide bombers and was among a group of Syrian refugees who arrived on a Greek island according to French official. At least three of the suspects behind the deadliest night of the attack of the Bataclan concert hall were homegrown terrorists from France. But there are four boxes there that remain a mystery. And for more on the suspects and the efforts to sign the terrorist, let's bring in International Diplomatic Correspondent Nic Robertson. And then also joining us is Mubin Shaikh. He's a former counterterrorism operative. He's a former jihadist reformed and the author of "Undercover Jihadist." So, Mubin, I'll ask you to stay put for a moment as I turn to Nic who's live in Paris. What do we know about the very aggressive search for those who may be still on the run who perpetrated what happened on Friday night or those who were behind the success of it? Those who orchestrated it. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] Well, Salah Abdeslam is the one man that's believed that may well have been involved and either directly firing a weapon on some of the restaurants on the streets around here or he was driving a car for his brother who detonated a suicide explosive. This is the man who made a getaway to try to get back to Belgium. He's a French born man living in Belgium. That's the most recent information the police have. The arrest warrants in France and Belgium are out for him. He's whereabouts. So now the Belgian authorities at this appeared to be close to or perhaps trying to nab him on a raid today that wasn't successful. So he is still on the run. And more information is being loaned about some of the suspects. We don't have a picture yet of Ismail Omar Mostefai. He was 29 years old, lived in a just outside Paris in a relatively well-off neighborhood. He was radicalized about four or five years ago, was on a watch list of the French but went off to Turkey in 2013, presumed gone to Syria, snook back in to the country. But the real search for those for more information about the search, if you wil, for the ringleaders behind this were in Syria, that seems to be beyond the reach of the French at the moment, I mean the best of it they've been able to do will put those S right down on [inaudible] last night, but that's really unlikely to get put their hands, if you will, on people like Abaaoud who I believe that have been among the ringleaders and organizers in Syria of this attack here in Paris. [Banfield:] Who has a touch close ties as we mentioned to Abu Bakr al- Baghdadi, the head of ISIS. Nic, standby for a moment. Mubin Shaikh, if I can get you in on this. So many people are so concerned about these recent threats. The newest tapes that are being released threatening Washington D.C. saying that anyone who's involved in the coalition is now right for one of these kind of attacks. But it isn't quite the same and I wanted to get your sense of why America is different than say Europe when it comes to the kinds of conditions that many of these homegrown killers, murderers, terrorists are living in Europe that may have brought about the radicalization. Why it's different than America? [Mubin Shaikh, Former Counterterrorism Operative:] Well, I mean it's I would put North Americas, particularly Canada and America, into the same category. We don't really have the level of marginalization and discrimination that is prevalent in France. Number two, we don't have the geographic proximity to all these other countries. It's very easy for individuals to, you know, to be able to get on a bus and drive across several European countries picking up weapons along the way, acolytes along the way. So there are many situational differences between Canada and U.S.. You know, we don't engage in I mean, there is open invitation to Muslims, involvements of Muslims in the public space. That's just not as prevalent in France. [Banfieild:] And so, Nic, jump in on this if you will because I'm not speaking most about France's disappointment, I'm speaking mostly about the Brussels' neighborhood that, you know, the Muslims there do remain poor and more marginalized without as much education, without as much opportunity as they do in America. But if that what people are speaking up there that that's in essence what foster the incubation of these killers? [Robertson:] Ashleigh, if you're asking that to me, that's that is sort of the firsthand one perhaps assumption that by living in sort of own place of areas particularly here, you're talking about Molenbeek just on the edge of Brussels. It's an area that the police have found how to operate and it's an area that I filmed in and I found very difficult to film and because outsiders aren't welcome there and that makes it really hard for intelligence services to know what goes on a death oasis, if you will. People living there and perhaps so if France isn't great of freedom to plan and plot things that the authorities weren't know about. But if I can bring us back to Ismail Omar Mostefai, one of the attackers here in the Bataclan where the night club, where the concert was being played, and this is the guy that doesn't fit the stereotype. I was out in the town where I lived yesterday, Chartres, is one of the most beautiful towns in France. It's a tourist attraction. It's got staggeringly beautiful cathedral [inaudible] for Catholicism in France is relatively middle class. I went out to the neighborhood, the very street where this attacker, this killer, Mostefai, came from. It's a relatively middle class neighborhood. There's no graffiti on the wall, there's no rubbish piled up in the streets, kids were scooting [inaudible] scooters. People were gathering up the leaves that have fallen on their driveway, putting them in bags, a middle class neighborhood. So, I think we have to look further and harder beyond the sort of normal characterization that when it comes to expect to get to the roots of this precise problem. [Banfield:] Well, I find it fascinating. Mubin, you're mentioning the fact that it's just not as easy to get here. You got to be on a plain to get here and since 911, America has done a lot more to make that a safer environment. But you're right, the vulnerability is still there. Nic Robertson, Mubin Shaikh, thank you both for your insight and your expertise on this. Coming up next, his video game console factor into this tech, faster into the plotting. Is this how terrorists are keeping their communications under the radar? And then coming up in just under 30 minutes, the Eiffel Tower is set to light up for the first time since the deadly terror attack on Friday. CNN will bring that to you live because it is lighting up in a very specific way when it happens. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Correspondent:] Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world, I'm Poppy Harlow, joining you live tonight with my colleague, Ashleigh Banfield from Paris. This is at the scene where here I'm standing at the Plaza Republique, a legendary square here in Paris. Behind me, you have hundreds of Parisians gathered I don't know if you can see it but they're they've lit and they're setting off this beautiful Chinese lanterns that are going into the night sky here as does descends on Paris. You know, they called this square, the square that belongs to all in this city for all, and this is a population that is defiant that is not willing to be beaten by terrorism that it come outside and gathered in mourning, vowing to defeat the terrorists that attacked this city on Friday night. The Eiffel tower which I believe we can show you will be lit up like the French flag in just about 20 minutes time. You can see it right there. Back to the investigation and some of the big questions facing investigators right now, how did ISIS terrorists plot these coordinated attacks in Paris? You heard the President of Paris, Francois Hollande, to say a lot of this started in Syria, it was organized in Belgium and carried out with complicity right here in France completely undetected. CNNMONEY Technology Correspondent, Laurie Segall is with me and Laurie, what has developed in the last 24 hours that I find astonishing? Is it some people are pointing to this Sony PlayStation 4 as potentially being utilized by terrorists. How can that be? [Laurie Segall, Cnnmoney Technology Correspondent:] Yes, pretty unbelievable. You have the Belgian and Interior Minister say that the PS4 is becoming huge problem because more and more terrorists are connecting on there. And I'm hearing this more and more, Poppy, and how they're doing it is they create these private groups, they can have long conversations for a very long time when they're playing "Call of Duty". There are about a hundred million users, so people, you know, Sony, it is very difficult to actually monitor this. They can also use these services to plan out attacks, to have voice communications that are difficult to monitor and even practice some of these attacks in a virtual world. You're seeing a new level of sophistication. And I want to get into this idea of encryption, because we've all known that ISIS is very good with social media. They are good with Twitter, they are good with Facebook, but now they are really kind of migrating to a lot of the encryption apps that are popping up, what's app, it offers end to end encryption which make this makes this communications a little bit more secure. I actually spoke to Chris Inglis, he is a former NSA Deputy Director, and he talked a little bit about this problem. Listen what he said, Poppy. [Chris Inglis, Former, Nsa Deputy Director:] Encryption is one of many ways that an adversary, whether that's a criminal, a terrorist, or a rogue nation, one of many ways that they might use to hide their activities, you know, their coordination activities, and I saw dozens of times more than that likely across my career where that in fact was an obstacle for us. And we've all learned that we don't want to touch catch terrorists at the cockpit door. That's a dangerous proposition. [Segall:] You know, it is just looking at this kind of war happening online and the way people are communicate communicating. It's kind of like we're in this new territory, and I will say this, this is a hacktivist group online called Anonymous and now what they are saying is they are going to go up against ISIS, I've been in touch with senior members who have told me that they are actually trying to breach an ISIS server and trying to gain intel, if you've ever seen this old play out online, Poppy. [Harlow:] It's certainly a whole new level of warfare and it is terrifying. Laurie Segall, thank you very much for that reporting as always. Coming up next. One of the terrorists here in Paris, we know how he got here. He slips through posing as a Syrian refugee, and the question now that so many are grappling with, "Are there more like him hidden among the thousands of refugees desperately making their way to Europe for help?" Next. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Jake, this all started on Saturday night, when Bolton, the officer there on your screen, spotted a car parked illegally. He approached the car, and according to police, that's when he was confronted by the passenger. He reportedly broke up a small-scale drug deal, about $20 worth of marijuana found in that car, as well as a digital scale. The suspect opened fire on the police officer, shooting him multiple times. Local residents in the area heard the commotion. They rushed to the scene and used Bolton's radio to try to phone in 911 dispatch to let them know what happened, but it was simply too late. Bolton was rushed to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He is the third Memphis police officers to die in the line of duty in the last four years Jake. [Tapper:] Nick, tell me about the suspect's alleged driver. My understanding is that he's turned himself in, but has not been charged with anything? [Valencia:] Sometime on Sunday afternoon, that driver who was in the car turned himself into police voluntary. We spoke to his attorney a little while ago, and he said that his client's information during that interrogation with police was instrumental in leading to the arrest warrant for 29-year-old Tremaine Wilbourn. That driver, we should mention, still has not been charged. The attorney is maintaining that driver's innocence Jake. [Tapper:] Nick Valencia, thank you so much. Now to another city where federal agencies are assisting the local police, Baltimore, which is facing an almost unprecedented level of violence. The city has requested federal help for quell the crime wave there. Here's a look at the homicide rate from just this year; 191 people have been killed in 2015, 116 of them in just the past three months, 42 people killed in May. That's the month after Freddie Gray died in police custody. July saw 45 deaths from violence, making July the deadliest month in Baltimore since 1972. And in the first few days of August, there were at least two more deaths in that city. A total of 10 special agents now from the FBI, DEA, ATF, the U.S. Marshals and the U.S. Secret Service will be helping Baltimore's cops, two from each agency. With all the talk about whether Vice President Biden will enter the race for the White House, what does the current occupant of the residence think about the possibility of handing over the keys to his number two? That story next. [Romans:] In just hours, the family of an African-American Louisiana man killed by police will hold a news conference at city hall in Baton Rouge. Graphic cell phone video capturing the moment police shot Alton Sterling in front of a convenience store. Now, authorities say officers responded when an anonymous caller reported that a man selling CDs outside of a store had pointed a gun at someone. Witnesses say the officers tried to taser the suspect but when the shot didn't disable him, they tackled Sterling. [Unidentified Female:] Oh, my goodness. [Cpl. L'jean Mckneely, Baton Rouge Police Spokesman:] This is an ongoing investigation. We're going to review the video. We're going to review the audio. We have witness, nonbiased witnesses here. We're going to bring them down to our station and interview them. [Mignon Chambers, Shooting Victim's Sister:] I really want to know really what happened about the situation because my brother didn't deserve it. [Romans:] Clearly, we froze that video just before the shots were fired, just very disturbing to watch. Late last night, more than 100 people gathered outside of the store protesting the shooting. Some carried signs chanting, "Black lives matter, and hands up, don't shoot." [Howell:] The University of Tennessee has settled a lawsuit filed by six women who claim they faced a hostile environment, that is after they filed a sexual assault allegation against student athletes there. According to documents obtained by ESPN, the school will pay the women more than $2.5 million. The university is not admitting guilt in the settlement. [Romans:] Sandy Hook families finally getting their day in court. Depositions are set to begin today in their lawsuit against the gun manufacturer Remington. That's the company that made the Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle Adam Lanza used to killed 20 first graders and six educators in the 2012 massacre. Now, the suit claims that the rifle was meant for the military and too dangerous to sell to civilians. [Howell:] Never forget that story. [Romans:] No. [Howell:] Severe weather, it is slamming parts of the Midwest. Take a look at the video of a tornado that was forming in Holloway, Minnesota. My goodness, damaging winds throughout the state. More than 110,000 customers in the central part of Minnesota, to the Twin Cities, left without power overnight. And then check out this video tweeted by a Minneapolis resident, showing an overwhelmed sewage system erupting in the neighborhood. [Romans:] What a mess. [Howell:] My goodness. [Romans:] All right. Nineteen minutes past the hour. Happening right now the Olympic star who shot and killed his girlfriend being sentenced for the crime. What will Oscar Pistorius' punishment be? This is happening in a Pretoria courtroom right now. We go there live. [Costello:] Utah will be among the most fascinating states to watch on November 8th. The reddest of states is purple right now, and may just turn blue on Election Day. The Trump camp is worried. It is sending Mike Pence to Salt Lake City today. Keep in mind it is highly unusual for such a high-powered surrogate to campaign in Utah because Democrats usually concede that state. Not so this year. Clinton's camp has sent staffers to Utah to whip up support. So let's talk about that. With me now is Thomas Burr, Washington correspondent for "The Salt Lake Tribune." Welcome, Thomas. [Thomas Burr, Washington Correspondent "the Salt Lake Tribune":] Hey, good morning. [Costello:] Good morning. So, Mike Pence is very popular in Utah. Mr. Trump is not. So, how important is Pence's visit? [Burr:] You know, the fact we are talking about the vice presidential candidate on the Republican side, visiting Utah 13 days for the election is very telling, I guess, of the campaign right now. Yes, Mike Pence has visited Utah a couple times before, actually, in this campaign and last time was with Governor Gary Herbert and other leaders in the state, this time, not so much. [Costello:] What do you mean? Because, you know, you mentioned Pence was there before. Senator Mike Lee welcomed him, a very popular Republican senator in the state of Utah. But things have changed. And tell us how they have changed, especially with Senator Lee. [Burr:] Yes, absolutely. So, when Senator Lee has never supported Donald Trump actually in this campaign, has kept you know, silent on who actually he's going to vote for at the end of the day. But Mormons in general which make up about 60, 65 percent of the state, have not been very supportive of Donald Trump either and right now, all polling looks like Evan McMullin, independent candidate from Provo, born in Provo, Mormon is actually leading or around the same points as Donald Trump. Hillary Clinton, a few points behind. But right now, you look at the state and you say, well, this is actually it could go independent for the first time since 1960. Independent candidate could carry electoral votes. [Costello:] That would be kind of thrilling for Utah in a way. Because you know, we have never really talked about Utah, right, because we always assume it's going to go Republican. [Burr:] I know, Carol. You can bet me $1,000 last year that Utah would be a swing state and I would have given you favorable odds. [Costello:] So, what is your prediction? Can Mr. Trump turn things around? Should Mr. Trump be in the state of Utah rather than Mike Pence? Would that help? [Burr:] I don't think Mr. Trump visiting Utah is going to help his campaign. Mike Pence is probably the best surrogate he could send to try to whip up support there. At the end of the day, we will see. Again, Utah hasn't voted for a Democrat since 1964, since LBJ ran the table on all the states. And right now, if you say, will Evan McMullin, this independent candidate, be able to pull it out, I don't know. Hillary Clinton sent five new staffers there this week to try to whip up support. They're sending a lot more mailers. They're running TV, radio ads. They are really, you know, doing their best. But the fact that Donald Trump is actually having the Republican nominee, is having to defend Utah, is just fascinating. [Costello:] Oh, come on. We want your prediction. Who's going to win Utah? Come on, make a prediction. [Burr:] I don't know. I'm not good at this betting game. I'm telling you. [Costello:] Thomas, you disappoint me. But thank you so much for being with me this morning. Thomas Burr thanks. Coming up in the "Newsroom," Obamacare under fire as premiums soar and insurers back away. Will the program eventually flat-line or can it be fixed? We will talk to the man who built it next. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, Everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. And welcome to LEGAL VIEW. Oh, to be a fly on the wall in the White House right now, but also at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York City because there are two pivotal meetings taking place at those two locations right now. On your left, the gathering at the Oval Office between President Obama and Senator Bernie Sanders, walking the colonnade. The one-on-one potentially winding down after this walk just 45 minutes ago. Aides telling CNN the president is nudging Senator Sanders towards accepting Hillary Clinton as the Democratic Party's nominee. But he will not directly ask him to exit the race. And then meantime in New York City, the presumptive GOP nominee has brought together a large number of the RNC's top campaign donors. The money men. Trump is looking to firm up his fundraising operation. The meeting marking the first time that this group has all been gathered in one place, but certainly not the first time conversations about Donald Trump and raising money for an election has been raised. And there is a lot to debate about that. All of the Democratic super delegates that Bernie Sanders would like to flip, the guy he's meeting with right now in Washington has to be pretty much tops on his list. But, President Obama has the opposite goal, to gently flip Bernie Sanders instead into the Hillary Clinton camp now that Secretary Clinton has a lock on the nomination and Senator Sanders' progressive revolution has reached at best what could be called a cross roads. Senator Sanders' fourth conversation with the president in just the past month comes hours after the president reflected on the bruising inherent in primary season and the healing that he is sure is about to follow. The president spoke to Jimmy Fallon, in fact, for a "Tonight Show" segment that will air this evening. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] My hope is, is that over the next couple of weeks, we're able to pull things together. And and what happens during primaries, you get a little ouchy. Everybody does. You know, when Hillary and I ran in 2008, you know, your staff and supporters, they're popping off and somebody's reading, did you see what that [Jimmy Fallon, Late Night Talk Show:] Yes. Yes. [Obama:] And then and they start spinning stuff up. [Fallon:] Su re. [Obama:] So there's a natural process of everybody recognizing that this is not about any individual, but this is about the country and the direction we're going to take it. And I think I think we're going to have a great convention and we'll do well. [Banfield:] May have been taped Wednesday, but it's going to air tight. And CNN White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski joins me now with more on the visit of Secretary Sanders. I'm always fascinated to watch the colonnade walk. Is there anything in the tea leaves that we can get from that? But, effectively, this is not really a surprise what's happening, but take me inside. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Right. I think I think it was interesting that the president used the word ouchy there. You have to wonder how ouchy this meeting is going to be. But but you used the word gently nudging and I think that's really operative. I think it's telling in that the White House won't even publically say at this point that Hillary Clinton is the presumptive nominee. I mean even after that speech she gave. The White House emphasizes and emphasizes again respect. Respect for the process. Respect for Bernie Sanders and especially all of those supporters who might have a really hard time letting go but ultimately who the White House wants to support Hillary Clinton. So, yes, we were really interested to see that video, too, walking through the colonnade. And you think, you know, this is now the place that Bernie Sanders will not inhabit. That has to feel very, you know, difficult for him to walk through with the president, all eyes of the world really on him right now and on this meeting. But you could see how relaxed it seemed to be, and cordial. They were laughing together and now that meeting is underway, should last probably another 20 minutes or so, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] So then it's not the first meeting, high level Democratic meeting. Senator Standers is busy in Washington today. [Kosinski:] Yes, and it's interesting now to start to hear from some of the top Democrats. I mean he's going to meet with Senator Harry Reid later. But we've also heard today from Nancy Pelosi and aids close to them saying that they too they want to hear Sanders out. They don't want to strong arm him into stepping out before his decision making process is over. Everybody kind of knows where this is going. Everybody knows what everybody is thinking, but nobody wants to push him and be unduly rough in this process because unity is what they're after. So the president, Reid, they want to talk to Sanders about what he wants moving forward, as well. What does he want in the Senate, for example? What does he want to see as the Democratic Party comes together? They want to involve him and engage him in the process, even though he now won't be the nominee, Ashleigh. [Banfield:] All right, Michelle Kosinski following this story for us live at the White House. Thank you for that. I want to just go north from Michelle all the way up to New York City. It's where Jeremy Diamond from CNN is staking out a very different kind of meeting in Manhattan. Donald Trump meeting with to GOP fundraising officials from all 50 states. I am fascinated by this story for a million and one reasons, but also because the story, up until today, and I don't know if it's going to change, has been so many of these donors are so hands off, so worried about this particular controversial candidate that they've been keeping the purse strings tight and considering the down ballot races instead. If the money is going to fly, it's going to go towards the Senate races, which are contested, and not necessarily top ticket candidate. Are you hearing differently? [Jeremy Diamond, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, that's certainly the thinking of some donors. You know, they're thinking, you know, if they can't support Donald Trump, they'll at least, you know, put some money towards the down ballot races that Republicans are up against in some tight battleground states. But, you know, Donald Trump is bringing along some of the top ticket GOP donors in the field. You know, he is rallying some of the top you know, Woody Johnson, for example, who was a big Jeb Bush donor's finance chairman and some of the other top tier GOP donors here. We actually just saw several GOP donors and Donald Trump's chief operating officer, Eli Miller, walk into the building here at the Four Seasons. Governor Chris Christie, who has also been a key figure as far as building that bridge between Donald Trump and the more establishment donor wing of the Republican Party. So this is going to be kind of one of those meetings of the minds where Donald Trump is going to try and ease some of the concerns that these donors and the fundraising team have and also kind of forge a path ahead, kind of figure out what the plan is to be able to raise the millions and millions, hundreds of millions of dollars needed to compete in a general election. Donald Trump just yesterday in an interview said that he, you know, sees no reason to raise over a billion dollars, which is kind of the watermark that was established in 2012 and what Hillary Clinton is expected to raise. So, certainly Donald Trump trying to form a plan here, trying to ease some nerves that donors may have. But we'll have to see what happens actually inside of this meeting. Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Jeremy Diamond live on the sidewalk waiting for those to exit so he can ask some questions. Thank you for that. We'll tap into you throughout the rest of the day to find out what you can find out. And I just want to remind our viewers at this time that that unease that Jeremy's alluding to, much of it has come from the kinds of comments that Donald Trump has made along the campaign trail and most recently about the judge, the federal judge in his Trump University case, alluding to the fact that his Mexican heritage he's a U.S. citizen but that his Mexican heritage may in fact be a problem for him to continue sitting on the bench. There's been no motion for recusal, let's be clear, from the Trump camp, ever. No lawyer has ever asked that judge to recuse himself. There's been nothing filed. But, publically, these statements have been made and it has made a lot of people in the Republican Party very nervous. Not the least of which the head, you know, of the House that the speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, said that those comments are just racist, so textbook racism. And then this morning the speaker of the House had something different to say about that as well. Have a listen. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] Do I think that these kinds of antics are distracting and and give us a campaign that we cannot be proud of? Yes. I've spoken very clearly about it. [Banfield:] So there you go. These are fresh on the minds of those who may be walking into these meetings with Donald Trump. And, look, there's also that comment Donald Trump has made himself about $1 billion may not be necessary. He may be just relying on me, the media, to do a lot of that bidding for him, to give a lot of that coverage for him. You don't have to spend a whole lot of money on political ads when you've got the CNN putting your news conferences on the air. So that will be some kind of dynamic that those fundraisers are going to have to or those donors are going to have to assess. And wouldn't you want to be the fly on the wall. All right, just ahead, we're going to continue to do politics, but we also have this remarkable story. We have some new documents from the prosecutor in the Stanford rape case, and they reveal that the rapist actually lied to the judge in that case. What he didn't want the judge to know about his past, what the judge found out and what the prosecutor said about it is next. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] scared me a little bit. Welcome back. Snowfall and extra cold temperatures are gripping the eastern half of the country this morning. Chad Myers, we need to prepare ourselves. [Chad Myers, Ams Meteorologist:] You know, I guess, 15 would be the lowest anywhere in the New York area would get, D.C., the big story is the snow coming on Thursday and Friday. It is the first biggie of the year. I don't use that term lightly. Temperatures will be cold. This is the setup. We get the cold temperatures, wind chill New York City right now 15, D.C. 9, Philadelphia about the same. The cold air that's in place will allow a low pressure back over here to run up the east coast as a nor'easter on Thursday and Friday afternoon. Will it be cold enough to snow? In most cases, the answer is yes. We are still 37 in New York City on Thursday afternoon. Probably colder by Friday. I believe the heaviest snow will be in the Poconos, the Allegheny's, all the way down to the Blue Ridge Parkway. There are spots. The model is now five days out. There are spots on the models, both European and American, we talk about those all the time that could put down 18 to 24 inches somewhere along I-95 across maybe the beltway, maybe through Philadelphia, maybe the Poconos. Still too early to tell whether this goes this way or this way. But if it does, one way or the other, there's a lot of snow coming down for big cities John. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] All right, is the purple stuff where it's going to be the heaviest? I just need to know, asking for a friend. [Myers:] If the models are slightly left, the snow is here. If the models are slightly right, it's here. [Berman:] It's like a hot dog of snow. All right, Chad Myers, thank you so much. Appreciate it. The search for 12 Marines missing is expanding this morning after two military helicopters seemed to collide on Friday during a training flight off the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The search is widening along the north shore and extending at least 8 miles out to sea. Coast Guard officials say an oil slick was spotted and that some debris has been collected consistent with the types of aircraft they're now looking for. The Marines have now been identified and their families are still holding out hope for a safe return. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Guest Anchor:] And a valiant attempt but ultimately a failure for SpaceX. The private space company tried to land this rocket on an unmanned platform in the Pacific Ocean. It toppled over, exploded like it got solid footing there. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said ice buildup may have been the problem. The rocket successfully put a weather satellite into low orbit. The company has been trying and trying to bring those rockets back safely so they can use them once again. [Pereira:] So close but no cigar. [Harlow:] No. [Pereira:] As the Democratic nomination continues to tighten, Clinton and Sanders intensifying their attacks. Is Hillary Clinton no longer the inevitable Democratic candidate? We'll take a look at that, ahead. [Baldwin:] Tonight, a moment in history, Hillary Clinton, the first woman ever to be nominated for president by a major party. A lot of people pointing out, you think about little girls across the country and really around the world waking up today and thinking about what this might mean for her or her future, her goals. Listen, whether you are left, right or somewhere in between, it does set a long-awaited precedent. One woman is reminding us that Hillary Clinton is standing upon the shoulders of generations who came before her. Mayor Lovely Warren, the first woman to serve as mayor of Rochester, New York, placed this sign in her city at the grave of Susan B. Anthony. She was, of course, a crusader for woman's rights, and above all, the right to vote. Let me read the sign for you. It reads: "Dear Susan B., we thought you might like to know that for first time in history a woman is running for president. 144 years ago, your illegal vote got you arrested. It took another 48 years for women to finally gain the right to vote. Thank you for paving the way." Mayor Warren joins me. Also with us, Doug Elmets. He, too, is focusing on the significance of this moment. He is actually a Republican, served in the Reagan administration, and he is speaking tonight at the DNC. So tonight is special for two very different reasons. So nice to meet both of you. [Lovely Warren, , Mayor Of Rochester, New York:] Thank you for having us. [Doug Elmets, , Former Reagan Administration Official:] Thank you. [Baldwin:] Ladies first. Let me just ask you, what propelled you to put this sign next to her grave and what kind of what have people written on it? [Warren:] Well, we just put it up on Tuesday after on the day that we cast our vote. I cast my vote. [Baldwin:] As a delegate. [Warren:] As a delegate. For me, it was really about the fact that I have a daughter, 6-year-old daughter, and my grandmother instilled in me that we always had to pay it forward, that we always never forget where we came from. Susan B. Anthony paved the way for me to become the first female mayor in Rochester. And I wanted her to know that she also paved the way for Hillary Clinton to now be the designated candidate for the Democrats. Also it is my sincere hope that she will be the next president of the United States, and the first female. I think that that's so very, very important for all of us. [Baldwin:] Your 6-year-old daughter. Does she understand what's happening? Does she understand why mom has to be in Philadelphia? [Warren:] We with be she does. I take her with me to different events in our community because I want her to understand what public service is really all about, the sacrifices of people that came before us, people like Susan B. Anthony, people like Shirley Chisholm, like my grandmother, who took us back to South Carolina, my family and my cousins and I to let us know we can never forget where we came from, the fact that some were share croppers. And the fact that allowed me to be the first attorney in my family and first politician in my family as well. Coming up in the next week, my little cousin will be the first doctor getting his white coat. [Baldwin:] My goodness! [Warren:] Coming from share croppers to that. [Baldwin:] Your family! How about that? How about that? To you, sir. You are an "R" in a sea of "D"s. You're like a unicorn around these parts. You first voted for Ronald Reagan. This is the first time in 40 years you are voting for a Democrat. Why? [Elmets:] When one looks at the options, the options are clear. Hillary Clinton is more prepared to be president than probably anybody in a generation. Compared to Ronald Reagan who, frankly, I believe is a petulant, unbalanced reality TV star [Baldwin:] Donald Trump. [Elmets:] Donald Trump. There's no question about it. [Baldwin:] Before tonight and you'll be speaking to everyone you'll be watching around with your Republican friends saying, I'm voting for Hillary? [Elmets:] That's the reality. There are many Republican friends I have who believe that it is party over country, that they're willing to really go to the grave with that orthodoxy. I just don't buy in to that. I think that at this point in history, we have two options, and Hillary Clinton is the best of the two. [Baldwin:] We're just watching on the other side of the screen, Carole King rehearsing. She's performing as well. Is it just because it is Trump? Because a lot of people I'm wondering are just going to sit this one out. Republicans who just can't check that box for him but can't check the box for Hillary Clinton either. [Elmets:] Well, I candidly think that Hillary Clinton is well qualified to be the ambassador the world, for the United States, and really to our children as well. My hope is that I will be able to convince other Republicans that it's OK. Even if they aren't willing to get out in front like I am, that it's OK to support Hillary Clinton because, in reality, her positions are much closer to many of the Republican Party positions than Donald Trump's are. Frankly, the Republican Party has been hijacked by Donald Trump. It's become the really party of Trump. When one looks at the platform from the Republican Party last week, you've got to be astonished by the anti- gay, anti-immigrant, anti-women positions. Those are positions that the American people hold. [Baldwin:] Doug and Lovely, thank you so much. We'll look for you on the big stage tonight. Thank you so much. [Elmets:] Thank you. [Baldwin:] Coming up next here, legendary Grammy-winning R&B star, producer, writer, Baby Face. He co-wrote a special song for the Hillary Clinton campaign that they are rolling out. We'll talk to him live, next. [Blackwell:] Donald Trump has a new general election strategy, and just like his campaign, it's unconventional. He wants to try to paint traditionally blue states red, including California. It's not seen a Republican win since the 1980s. Listen to what he said in Fresno last night. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] No other Republican, let's say Ted Cruz won or let's say any one of them won, they wouldn't even come here for dinner, because they are told that as a Republican you have zero chance, OK? I really believe we're going to win it. I think we have a real chance to win it. And you know what, I view it strategically also, because if we don't win it, they are going to spend one hell of a fortune in fighting me off, that I can tell you. [Blackwell:] Let's talk about that part of what he just said. Let's bring Katrina Pierson, national spokesperson for the Trump campaign, and Angela Rye, CNN political commentator and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus. Good to have both of you this morning. Katrina, I want to start with you. How much of this is a real belief and strategy to win California, or is Donald Trump just trying to drain the coffers of the Democratic nominee? [Katrina Pierson, National Spokesperson, Trump Campaign:] No, I think Mr. Trump does believe he can win California. I think we've seen from the beginning of this campaign that Mr. Trump has been underestimated from the beginning. There are a lot of independents and a lot of Democrats that do support Mr. Trump, and we've seen now that he's been able to break records even on the Republican side. [Blackwell:] So, Angela, we know that there are some states along the rust belt that the Democrats will have to fight for that are typically Democratic states. If we go out to the west coast, are Democrats concerned that Donald Trump can take California? [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think to Katrina's point, he had been underestimated, and it's unfortunate on the Democratic side and really for the other really Republican candidates who he beat that he has been underestimated. The reality of this is we have to fight a 50-state battle. Howard Dean when he was chair of the DNC made it very clear that we need to play in all 50 states. What playing in 50 states looks like is up to each presidential candidate to decide. What I will say to you is, if Donald Trump continues down the same vein that he's been going down in terms of his rhetoric, which sparked all types of protests yesterday in California where he says he wants to play, and if he ever introduces a substantive policy agenda that matches the violent rhetoric that he's continued to spew and the vitriol and bigotry behind it, I don't think we have anything to worry about at all. I think Californians just like the rest of Americans are much smarter than that and won't buy into that type of hateful rhetoric. [Blackwell:] Katrina, let me come to you with what happened yesterday in San Diego. We have pictures up now. And we have had Democrats and Republicans all morning long who have gone back and forth for on whom the onus is for what we saw here. Does Donald Trump have a responsibility to come out and denounce what we saw here? We saw a tweet here saying thanks to the police department for controlling the thugs. I think we have it. We can put it up where he says "Fantastic job on handling thugs who tried to disrupt our very peaceful and well- attended rally. Greatly appreciated." Does that help? [Pierson:] It absolutely helps for a couple of reasons. Most people in this country don't believe that it's bigoted and racist to enforce current United States laws on immigration. But more importantly with regard to California and the protesters, Mr. Trump has already come out several times and condemned the violence at these rallies, but we've also figured out it's not Trump people. These are paid agitator in many cases that are escalating. We are seeing people debase public property, violence against police officers. [Rye:] Who pays them, Katrina? [Pierson:] You can go to Craigslist, Moveon.org. Bill Ayers was out at the Chicago rally talking about it. [Rye:] Katrina, that's ridiculous. [Blackwell:] Hold on for a second, Angela. [Pierson:] George Soros funded some of these. It's all on the Internet. Ads have been placed by these organizations. They've been tweeting about it. [Blackwell:] You're saying that there are ads on Craigslist to hire protestors. [Pierson:] Yes, and Moveon.org. And they have tweeted about it from the beginning, taking credit for having these protestors out there. [Blackwell:] Angela, to ahead and respond to that. [Rye:] Sure. A couple things, one is, it's ridiculous. Moveon.org, I don't have any basis for this, so let me be careful. I'm actually someone who comes on air and is careful to be sure I have fact-based arguments and not propaganda. [Pierson:] As am [I. Rye:] No, you're not, Katrina. That's why you got called out by Wolf the other day because you're really not. But here's what I will say. [Blackwell:] Let her finish. [Pierson:] No, I'm not going to sit there and let her go on. [Blackwell:] Katrina, I asked Angela to stop for to you speak. And now I'm asking you to stop for Angela to speak. Angela, go ahead. [Rye:] So what I was going to say is of course there are people who are based and rooted in progressive organizations that are encouraging people to get out and be heard and to fight against this type of conduct. There's a young man who was outside protesting yesterday that wore a shirt that says "I just look like an illegal immigrant." At the rally where they're protesting, Donald Trump, of course he was in town for two reasons. He wants to win California, but he also wants to win that civil suit where he defrauded hundreds of people for attending Trump University. He calls the federal judge in the case a hater and then he says he's a Mexican. How curious is that that this guy who has all kinds of vitriol towards Mexican people has now called this man out as a Mexican. I watched a Trump supporter agitate these protesters. I've heard people who attended the rally yesterday say Trump supporters literarily were going around the block to agitate people. I watch a man in a Kobe Bryant jersey flip someone off and then shortly thereafter get arrested. Let's be honest, if people are getting paid, I don't know who they're getting paid by. I'm sure hundreds of these people if you talk to them they will tell you they're out there speaking up for their rights. They're tired of being oppressed and they're tired of the victim blaming coming out of this campaign. Those are the facts whether you like them or now. They are the facts. [Blackwell:] Angela, what about those people who came to protest? We know the police came there and tried to allow the people at the event to leave safely and peacefully but were agitated by some of the protesters who were there. So this is on both sides. And let me say, we don't know the political affiliation or the alliances of the nearly three dozen people who were arrested. We don't know if they were all Democrats or all Republicans. [Rye:] Or mixed. It was both. And I think that here's the reality of this. You see a scene at one point where there's a man and he's been at several events saying free hugs. His sign is free hugs. There's a white guy in front of him that is throwing punches at the other side. So you can assume, again I won't do that, but it's very clear that tensions are high on both sides. And at some point someone who wants to president should act presidential and stop being immature and be accountable for this hate speech. [Blackwell:] Katrina, I want to give you an opportunity to respond. [Pierson:] Thank you. If you have to be escorted out of a political rally, that tells you everything you need to know about the protesters. And they don't need to be agitated. These individuals were not agitated. And, yes, they were paid. And those signs do have "La Raza" on there. They wore Bernie Sanders t-shirts. And you don't have to accept that. The video is out there and has been playing since this whole thing started. And yes, it is Moveon.org and other progressive organizations and some funded by the government, particularly those in California. This is out there. It's been covered in the media. It has been fact based and it is proven. You can reject it all you want. [Blackwell:] Katrina, you have evidence that the protesters were paid by the government? [Pierson:] These organizations, yes, these organizations have been paid to go out there and protest these rallies. And CNN should really do a special on that and really open the eyes of the viewers. [Blackwell:] If you've got the evidence, e-mail it to me. [Pierson:] I will do that right now. [Blackwell:] All right, Katrina Peterson, Angela Rye, we have to wrap it there. We went longer than we should have. But I thank you both for being with us. I'll look for that e-mail, Katrina. [Pierson:] You got it, Victor. [Blackwell:] All right. [Rye:] You're going to be waiting a long time. [Paul:] All right, talking about those tense scenes like we were just seeing in San Diego, those are scenes keeping officials awake at night in Cleveland. We're talking to the president of the Cleveland city council about how that city is hoping to prevent violence at this summer's Republican convention. Also the United States as a, quote, "rouge nation" under Donald Trump as one person said, and the prospect of pot use in the White House, we're talking about it all with two leading libertarian candidates for president. [Hala Gorani, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live at the Houses of parliament in London on a historic day, and so it begins. It's nearly 300 days since Britain stunned Europe and the world and voted for Brexit. A few hours ago, it started that tricky divorce from the European Union with a letter, but now the hard work really begins. Nic Robertson has the story of the day. [Theresa May, British Prime Minister:] The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] With these words, Prime Minister Theresa May, beginning Britain's divorce from the European Union, a 44-year embrace over. [May:] Leaving the European Union presents us with a unique opportunity. It is this generation's chance to shape a brighter future for our country. [Unidentified Male:] Have you come back to take back control, Ambassador. [Robertson:] In the minutes before Britain's representative to the eu handing over the formal letter of departure to the E.U. Council president. His vision of separation less rosy than May's. [Donald Tusk, European Council President:] There is nothing to win in this process and I'm talking about both sides. In essence, this is about damage control. [Robertson:] The six-page letter he received, signed by May under the watchful gaze of Robert Winfall, Britain's first prime minister, outlines Britain's desires for constructive engagement, respectful and sincere cooperation, put citizens first, secure a comprehensive agreement, minimize disruption and give certainty, pay attention to the U.K.Ireland relationship and the peace process in Northern Ireland, protect shared European values, begin technical talks on detailed policy as soon as possible. [May:] I have been clear that we should seek to agree the terms of this future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal within the next two years. [Robertson:] But even in an approach, both sides are already at odds. The E.U. demands withdrawal first, only then discuss the future partnership. [Tusk:] There's no reason to pretend that this is a happy day, neither in Brussels nor in London. After all, most Europeans, including almost half the British voters, wished that we would stay together, not drift apart. [Unidentified Female:] Scotland's future should be in Scotland's hand [Robertson:] May's woes won't end with the E.U. Scotland's first minister lambasting her for ignoring Scotland's 62 percent vote to remain and calls for independence, tweeting, "Today, the PM will take the U.K. over a cliff. With no idea of the landing place and Scotland didn't vote for it and our voice is being ignored." [May:] We are one great union of people and nations with a proud history and bright future. And now that the decision to leave has been made, and the process is under way, it is time to come together. For this great national moment needs a great national effort, an effort to shape a stronger future for Britain. [Robertson:] And now comes the long, hard slog, to deliver on that promise deal for all, a brighter future. May's own future, and her place in history, depend on the outcome. Nic Robertson, CNN, London. [Gorani:] Well, that vote last June has also triggered forces within the United Kingdom. Not everyone wanted to Brexit, obviously, but in Scotland, a vast majority of people wanted to remain with Nicola Sturgeon calling for a second independence referendum. Angus Robertson from the Scottish National Party spoke after Theresa May and he did not hold back. [Angus Robertson, British Member Of Parliament, Snp:] The prime minister says that she thinks Brexit will bring unity to the United Kingdom, it will not. On this issue, it is not a United Kingdom and the prime minister needs to respect, respect the differences across the nations of the United Kingdom. If she does not, if she remains intransigent and if she denies Scotland a choice in our future, she will make Scottish independence inevitable. [Gorani:] All right. Let's bring in Alex Salmond, the former first minister of Scotland and now an MP in Westminster. You also had your say in parliament today. [Alex Salmond, Former Scottish First Minister:] Of course. But that exchange with Angus Robertson was fabulous, talking about Scotland's rights as a nation. Theresa May said, well, my constituency [inaudible] we should remain as well. As if one on hand Scotland's history as European nation was somehow equivalent to an English parliamentary constituency dear to the prime minister's heart, it's that misunderstanding of this prime minister not understanding Scotland as a nation regards itself of having right of self- contamination, which is going to be her undoing in Scotland. [Gorani:] You support a second referendum post-Brexit? [Salmond:] Yes, I do because Nicola Sturgeon put this in the manifesto last year, if Scotland gets dragged up against the will of the Scottish people, there should be a referendum from the Scottish parliament. She won 47 percent of the vote, landslide victory. She's first minister. She's got the backing of her parliament and absolutely entitled to put forward that position. [Gorani:] But the British government has to agree to it. This isn't something that's just up to Scottish people to vote on a second time and Theresa May saying, essentially, not now. Now is not the right time. [Salmond:] Which, of course, is, you know, self-determination, like justice delayed is self-determination, denied. British prime ministers do not have a great track record of trying to turn down rates of self-determination of other nations. In times gone by, the United States of America, more recently David Cameron once told me there would never be a Scottish referendum, had to change his mind when the will of the Scottish people became clear. And Theresa May's position may crumble, maybe not this week or next month, but it will crumble because you cannot withstand against the accepted right of a nation. [Gorani:] I get that, but unless the negotiations go well and all Britons feel like this is headed in the right direction, we're getting a good deal out of this, in the end Brexit wasn't the disaster that many predicted that could happen? [Salmond:] Well, if that does happen, and Theresa May if she's got a great Brexit deal, which she will put to this parliament and every other parliament, 27 of them across Europe, another chance, why shouldn't that stage in 18 months to two years' time, the people of Scotland get the same opportunity to match up the BrexitBritish deal against the prospective of an independent Scotland within a European context. [Gorani:] Right. But from her perspective and perhaps from the perspective of many in the government Scotland had an opportunity, they voted to remain part of the United Kingdom, we're not going to do this every two years. [Salmond:] Yes, just a couple of [inaudible], you're well aware this government, the majority, wasn't counting through its manifesto commitment towards small business. Nicola Sturgeon is counting through a manifesto commitment to the Scottish people and Theresa May is absolutely wrong to attack another politician for carrying forward a manifest of commitment backed by a parliament. The bottom of this, is Scotland's rights as a nation and way, way beyond the rights of the Scottish National Party, there is a fundamental understanding of Scotland as a nation has the right of self-determination and the days of British prime ministers standing in the way of that for a long time, these days are over. [Gorani:] But it just does feel and I hear this a lot from SNP and MPs and others that they feel like they're not getting the it's a question of respect almost. Didn't consult us when you decided how to go ahead with Brexit before triggering Article 50? You're comparing a nation, Scotland, which for hundreds of years was a nation with your constituency as somehow those two things are equal, is that fair to say? You don't feel respected? [Salmond:] Certainly true that, you know, David Cameron used to tell me, had a respect agenda towards Scotland as far as I can tell Theresa May has disrespect agenda. It's true that she could have headed this off. If she had said to Nicola Sturgeon when she put forward the compromised proposal from Scotland, OK. Single market, we'll try to get you to stay in, doing a special deal for Ireland, let's do a special deal for Scotland. She could have headed off this confrontation, but she chose not to. [Gorani:] OK. [Salmond:] I notice this morning that staring down at Theresa May as she was signing a letter was a picture of Sir Robert [inaudible], Britain's first ever prime minister in the 18th century, if the way Theresa May is going in the terms of the treatment of Scotland, she might be the last British prime minister. [Gorani:] I guess, international viewers are many ask me this, is it really possible that Britain will break up, I mean, as a result of Brexit. Northern Ireland wanting one thing, they still want full access to the E.U. Scotland might hold a second referendum. Is it possible that this Brexit deal will be the undoing of the United Kingdom as we know it? [Salmond:] Well, as I pointed out, the prime minister today, this is not just Scotland, [inaudible] in deadlock. The Welsh are extremely dissatisfied. Scotland is moving for a referendum, the English split 5050. So all around us she has created an atmosphere of disunity. I think she should mend her ways and above all start treating Scotland with a bit of respect. [Gorani:] Alex Salmond, thank you very much. Always great having you on the program. Theresa May's 15-minute speech spoke of the historic nature of the day, there is no denying that, as Britain begins the tricky divorce process. But the prime minister was keen to stress that Brexit doesn't mean Britain needs to renegotiate its values. Listen. [May:] This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back. Britain is leaving the European Union. We are going to make our own decisions and our own laws. We are going to take control of the things that matter most to us. And we are going to take this opportunity to build a stronger, fairer Britain, a country that our children and grandchildren, are proud to call home. That is our ambition and our opportunity. That is what this government is determined to do. Mr. Speaker, at moments like these, great turning points in our national story, the choices we make, define the character of our nation. We can choose to say the task ahead is too great, turn our face to the past and believe it can't be done, or look forward with optimism and hope, and to believe in enduring power of the British spirit. [Gorani:] All right. There you have it. The prime minister calling for unity, this time everyone has to work together to make Brexit work. Alastair Campbell was Tony Blair's former press secretary during his time as the U.K.'s prime minister here with me now not happy that Brexit was essentially happened last June and now Article 50 is triggered. Is it inevitable? [Alastair Campbell, Tony Blair's Former Press Secretary:] I don't believe it is. Enough people think it's a disaster, including members of the cabinet, by the way, certainly most of the people in that place think it is, even if they're all tripped into the cabinet to vote for it. [Gorani:] Members of the cabinet of Theresa May. [Campbell:] Members of the cabinet think it'a calamity and they're in there [Gorani:] Can you name names? [Campbell:] I won't. I might one day. I might one day. I know members of the cabinet who think this is a complete disaster. Most of the business community thinks it's a disaster. Millions of people think it's a disaster. The other thing is I think that the public are going to very quickly realize that the things they know already the promises that were made, being utterly broken. Extra money for the health service will be able to stay in the single market. We'll get great trade deals straight away, none of this is going to happen. We're going to end up with probably a little less European immigration and maybe get rid of the European quota. Stay for a few years if there's a transitional [Gorani:] All right, this has been your position for a while, but when you think some members of the cabinet believe it's a calamity, why do they believe it's a calamity? In the end, this is the way the U.K. is headed. [Campbell:] Well, maybe it is. It doesn't mean it's not a calamity? [Gorani:] But why? What are the reasons for that? [Campbell:] The same reasons that they gave during the campaign. [Gorani:] Which were? [Campbell:] Which were about the economy, which were about whether the gains that we're going to get from this are going to be outweighed by the losses and they are. They know that. Theresa May probably knows that deep down. So I think that we're in a situation now where we're in kind of a "Lala Land," where they they're all they're still saying we've gone through the phony war now. The hard reality is going to kick in. [Gorani:] Right. [Campbell:] And they're not going to get a deal. David Davis, on the record, we will get the exact same benefits as though we were still in the [inaudible], they're not going to get them. [Gorani:] Right. And when you say "Lala Land," you mean fantasy land, not the Hollywood musical. [Campbell:] I wish it was a musical or play. I mean, they are in fantasy land and they actually think if they say it loudly enough, our ridiculous right wing newspapers scream it loud enough from the front pages every day, the people will believe this is one inevitable and going to be good. It's not inevitable and it's definitely not going to be good. [Gorani:] So Before I ask you how it's not inevitable, there is there was a poll conducted a few months ago, Britons were asked once again, do you still support Brexit several months later, and the majority still did. So it's not the case that most Britons think it's a disaster. I mean, public opinion still supports Brexit. [Campbell:] Let's not get too carried away with the polls. I'll tell you something, I do loads and loads and loads of events and at the moment, I always start them by asking any audience, are you broadly optimistic or pessimistic first about Brexit and then about Trump. Trump and Britain is a 100 percent virtually pessimistic. Brexit most of the things that I'm doing is between 70 and 90. [Gorani:] Are these events in London? [Campbell:] Around the country. I was in a school in the midlands last week, 16 and 17-year-old, and any government, any government that governs against the interest of its young people is a government doomed to fail in my view, and the 16 and 17-year-olds, 150 of them, one of them, wanted us to come out of the European Union. [Gorani:] So anecdotal evidence. [Campbell:] It's anecdotal but there are so much of it. Listen, the other reason I think this is going to change, MPs, these guys, are going to be going to their constituencies. We know that the Brexiters will come on here and they'll say I have people coming up the whole time saying this is great, freedom day and all this nonsense, in the papers the whole time. They are going to get businesses large and small. They're going to get the academics. They're going to get the university sector. They're going to get virtually every sector is going to be saying to them, what on earth are we doing? That is beginning to happen and I believe that what she's done today is now going to get accelerated, I really believe that. [Gorani:] Article 50 has been triggered. The prime minister herself has said there's basically no turning back from this. How could you even [Campbell:] That's not true. [Gorani:] Practically [Campbell:] But you would have to essentially have all 27 remaining members agreeing to allowing Britain back in and if Britain does hold another referendum is I accept that what she's done today is the massive concession of one of the biggest bargaining chips of the lot. She's now entered negotiations. I still believe that there will be a desire within the European Union for the U.K. to stay in at some point. And I also genuinely believe that British public will change their mind, and let's remember, Theresa May is capable of changing her mind. Until June 23rd, she was a remainer. She is now hard Brexit. We have to persuade her to change her mind. We have to persuade Jeremy Corbyn to get more active and to get more engaged, and actually start to leave the Labour Party. We have to persuade people in Northern Ireland. You had Alex Salmond on here. She talks about bringing the country together. I'm not going to support something I don't believe in. We're talking about the potential breakup of the United Kingdom because of a hard Brexit policy for which frankly I don't consider her to have a mandate. [Gorani:] All right. We'll see how it turns out. We have two years of this. [Campbell:] We have a lot longer than that. [Gorani:] At least in the initial phase. Thanks very much, Alastair Campbell for joining us. Great to have you on. The reaction from Europe, by the way, was swift. The German Chancellor Angela Merkel has called for fair and constructive negotiations with the U.K. Meanwhile, the European Commission president says the British people will come to regret leaving the E.U. Here's what they had to say. [Angela Merkel, German Chancelor:] The British government has now officially declared its intention to leave the European Union. We Germany, but also the other partners of Great Britain in the European Union, surely did not hope for this day. We're losing a strong and important member state. But, of course, we respect British voters' Democratic decision. [Jean-claude Juncker, European Commission President:] This as I said earlier a sad day because the British have decided by writing to leave the European Union, a choice they will regret one day. But I'm feeling fine tonight because we have this kind of dialogue and because we are talking about the European future and, in fact, although we have our weaknesses and our failures, we should consider Europe is the best place on Europe to live. [Gorani:] All right. Let's bring in Richard Quest, who's been following this story closely all day, host of "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" at the top of the hour. [Richard Quest, Cnn International Host, "quest Means Business":] Do you remember it was you and I sitting in this configuration. [Gorani:] Do I remember? [Quest:] Nine months ago. [Gorani:] We were on the air, I personally was on the air 11 straight hours, personal record. Did it feel like a momentous historic I mean, the thing is when there were other events I've seen more people, gawkers, more people interested in the coverage, this time it feels different. Yet it is a historic day. [Quest:] This is a deeper moment. Not that sort of momentum with a lot of brass bands, this is a very deep philosophical, structural issue that's going to shift the tectonic plates of European politics for the foreseeable future because let's forget about the U.K., the other issue on the other side of the water, because we're focusing it from here, is can the E-27 remain united or will there be a divide in rule? Will they start fractioning off? Will they start fracturing and eventually fall apart? [Gorani:] But before we get to that Angela Merkel was quite clear, the U.K. would like to discuss a trade deal in conjunction, in parallel with other divorce issues, how to actually separate, how to consciously uncouple. However [Quest:] The reality [Gorani:] However she has said no. We need to consciously uncouple and then we'll talk about the trade. [Quest:] There will be some form of trade. [Gorani:] Some form of, but we're not talking very active negotiations. That's a difference. [Quest:] Well, Michele Bonnier is suggesting that there can be formal negotiations on the divorce, informal negotiations on the trade relationship, so if this succeeds, then this can become formal. [Gorani:] Sure. Yes, absolutely. But that's not immediate and that's not what the U.K. wants, ideally because they might get to the end of the two- year period and not find themselves in a position of being able to sign a trade deal. That wouldn't be great. [Quest:] There won't be a great trade deal. I mean, when I say great trade deal, a big trade agreement. That will take many years to negotiate. What you're talking about here is a basic free trade agreement that sets out goods, a policy that sets out services, and, to use that horrible phrase, transitional arrangements that sees everybody over the hump. [Gorani:] With lot of these E.U. rules and regulations still in place in two years. [Quest:] No question about it. [Gorani:] There is no other way. [Quest:] No, but I love the great repeal bill that's about to be put in parliament here specifically says the European decree goes into British law so there is no uncertainty about what the position is. [Gorani:] Got it. Richard Quest, see you at the top of the hour. Thanks so much. [Quest:] Thank you. [Gorani:] It's a historic day for London, but was also a day of remembrance, one week ago a terror attack unfolded just meters away from here on Westminster Bridge and parliament. Earlier today a vigil was held for the victims. Take a look. Police along with religious leaders and community groups held a moment of silence beneath Elizabeth Tower. They then walked across Westminster Bridge, met police members, paid tribute paying tribute to their fallen colleague, Officer Keith Palmer, three others were killed in the attack. Dozens were wounded. Some of them still in hospital and critically hurt. Day of reflection as well, one week ago today. Much more on this historic day still to come. On the program, we will speak to two British MPs about Article 50 and what may lie ahead as the country begins a pain staking divorce from the E.U. [Whitfield:] All right. Welcome back. We are just nine days before the New York primary and just four days before CNN's highly anticipated Democratic debate in Brooklyn. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are making their final pushes. And both are staking claim that New York is their home state. CNN correspondent Sarah Ganim went to the heart of the battle, Brooklyn, to get opinions from people there on the democratic candidates. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] Bernie with his undeniable Brooklyn accent. [Sanders:] But I am very proud that I was born here in New York City. [Ganim:] And Hillary, the former New York senator parking her campaign headquarters here. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I am thrilled to have a chance to be here in Brooklyn. [Ganim:] Battling it out over who has stronger New York ties. [Sanders:] Born in Illinois, that's not a crime. [Clinton:] I love New York. [Ganim:] But a true Brooklynite. Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams says neither of the candidates are in touch with real issues that some New Yorkers face. [Eric Adams, President, Brooklyn Borough:] A real New Yorker is willing to represent the full parts of New York. Communities like Brownsville, they have been left behind. [Ganim:] A lifelong Democrat, Adams says he hasn't endorsed either candidate and won't be attending the debate on Thursday being held in his borough at the Brooklyn Navy yard. [Adams:] Why are we focusing on places that is a success story? Why not go to the heart of areas that needs to be successful, Brownsville is that. [Ganim:] Brownsville is one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in New York City. The crime rate is above 40 percent, more than a third of people live in poverty. It has the highest concentrated public housing in the city, a breeding ground for gang violence. It's here we met Adams, in front of an elementary school where a mother of 12 was shot and killed, caught in the crossfire of gang warfare. [Adams:] She covered the body of her children, and she was shot and killed. And it's really representative of the Brownsville across America. The debate should be in Brownsville. [Ganim:] His message is resonating with the people here. [Adams:] And not in the middle of downtown where everything is fine. It should be in communities that have been ignored and denied for so many years. [Ganim:] Gene Barkly says he was once into drugs and a life on the street in Brownsville. Life is hard here, and he wants the candidates to see that. If the candidates were to come to Brownsville. [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Ganim:] What would you want them to hear from the people who live here? [Unidentified Male:] See, if they can stop the shooting and the crimes, number one. If that was stopped, a whole lot of other things would stop. [Ganim:] With the April 19th primary approaching, Clinton and Sanders have been crisscrossing the city all weekend vying for the state's 291 democratic delegates. Clinton stopping at Brooklyn landmarks like the famed junior's diner, a favorite on the campaign trail. Sanders holding a rally in front of his childhood home trying to close the gap. You don't think they're trying hard enough here. [Adams:] No, they're not. No, they're not. I know they're going to the boardwalk, they're walking through Harlem, they're sitting in black church. Those are traditional things. They cannot be afraid to come to Brownsville. Sit down in the public housing, have a town hall right here, have a debate right here. That's the right statement. [Ganim:] So, Fred, on debate night instead of attending with other prominent Democrats in Brooklyn, Eric Adams says he is going to hold a watch party in his native of Brownsville with people who live in the housing projects, people that he believes need to have more attention paid to them leading up to this primary. [Whitfield:] All right. Sarah Ganim, thank you so much, in New York. Appreciate it. All right. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are facing off in that fight for New York. But Clinton has another hurdle to overcome. Her encounter with a New York subway turnstile. And "Saturday Night Live" was all over it. We'll show you that next. [Amara Walker, Cnn:] Hello and welcome everyone to the INTERNATIONAL DESK, I'm Amara Walker at the CNN Center. We begin with the growing migrant crisis in Europe. Hungarian police have arrested four people in connection with 71 bodies found inside an abandoned truck in Austria. [Walker:] Austrian police say they were probably refugees from war torn Syria. The truck was found Thursday on a highway that links Budapest in Hungary to the Austrian capital. Now Austrian authorities say a BulgarianHungarian people smuggling ring is suspected. Let's get the very latest now, our Phil Black standing by live in London with more on the bodies recovered in Austria. Phil, this is just horrific to say the least and now we're talking about 71 bodies including children. [Phil Black, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yes, that's right Amara. It's clear the Austrian officials themselves are quite disturbed by the nature of this discovery and by the number of people that they found ultimately in the back of that truck. [Black:] Initially yesterday when they first opened it up saw the horrific sight, they thought 50. Now they know, they've moved the truck, counted the bodies 71 in all. 59 men, 8 women and four children as well. Some of them very young children. So it's clear that if you look at the size of the truck try to imagine that number of people it would have been a crush, it would have been a frightening experience. It would have been very difficult, very uncomfortable, and ultimately for those people fatal. And it's perhaps no surprise to hear that the Austrian authorities believed these people died because they simply ran out of air. Their number one theory at the moment is that they suffocated. They don't know when exactly, the time of death they say is crucial to the investigation going forward but they believe that that truck was sitting by that roadside for a full 24 hours with those bodies inside before someone asked questions, opened the door and actually made that discovery. They believe that it left Hungary on Wednesday morning and so that is where they have tracked they think the owner of the vehicle, people who may have driven it at various times. And according to the Hungarian police they now have four people in custody there Amara. [Walker:] Yes and Phil, what more do we know about arrests that have been made and do they believe that the people that have been arrested are part of a larger smuggler ring? [Black:] They thing they have someone who owns the truck in name at least, people who may have driven it at one time. But in the words of the Austrian authorities they believe that these are people who are very low ranking members of a much bigger, wider, people smuggling operation that has links to both Hungary and Bulgaria as well. A much bigger operation. And they say bigger in the sense that more ambitious in terms of this attempt to move so many people in this way. They say this is unusual. They're aware of these movements, they're aware of these people smuggling operations. But they say they usually do them in smaller vehicles with smaller number of people, not on this scale Amara. [Walker:] All right, Phil Black, many thanks to you for that live report there in London. I want to turn to Arwa Damon who is in Hungary right now. And Arwa you have been tracking this really difficult and arduous journey that these refugees have been taking hoping to get to the heart of the EU. What are they finding when they get to the border with Hungary? [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, we can show you that pretty much right now. This is a holding area that has been set up just on the other side of the border with Serbia inside Hungary. And this is where the refugees are held. The problem is there is no shelter here and up until a short while ago, until a small non-profit appeared called Solidarity for Migrants, [Walker:] All right it looks like Arwa Damon's signal is breaking up there but we did get the just of the story that it's been really tough for the migrants who've been arriving there at the Hungary who are trying to get to the heart of Europe. We'll pick that up when we can. We're going to turn to new numbers now from the United Nations which paint an astounding picture of the scope of this crisis. The UN says more than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean just this year. Most of them landing in Italy or Greece, and that has already surpassed a number of people who made that crossing in all of last year. In 2014 the total was 219,000 and all of them are taking a major very risk a major risk. Since January more than 2,500 people have lost their lives or been reported missing trying to cross the Mediterranean to get to Europe. And adding to those grim statistics at least 84 people drowned when two migrant vessels sank off the Libyan coast. One went down on Wednesday, the other on Thursday. About 200 people have been rescued, many people still missing. Our Ben Wedeman monitoring that part of the crisis from Rome. Ben, yet another tragedy in the Mediterranean, what can you tell us about this one? [Ben Wedeman, Cnn International Correspondent:] All I can tell you at this moment is that these numbers are very approximate. 84 is what we were told by a spokesman from the Libyan Red Crescent but the number may well be as high as 200. [Wedeman:] Now these two boats went off the town of Zuwara in Western Libya, a town where a lot of these migrants depart from crossing the Mediterranean and in this instance they're usually ending up in Italy. But they didn't get very far. In fact the Italian coast guard, the Italian navy had no information about this incident. At this point, we understand it's only the Libyan Coast guard that is dealing with this disaster and apparently they've run out of body bags for with for all the people they've pulled out dead from the water. Now they say they've also managed to rescue more than 200 people but as I said these numbers are likely to rise. And of course this comes just two days after on Wednesday a Swedish Coastguard vessel came across a boat in the Mediterranean with several hundred people on board. They entered that boat, they went into the hold of it and they found what appears to be at this point 52 people dead in that hold. Now initially it was reported that they died of suffocation but we're hearing from the Italian News Agency that many of them also appear to have been stabbed and beaten as well. So in addition to the sheer danger of drowning at sea some of these human traffickers are clearly so brutal that they don't hesitate to kill the people who have paid them to cross the Mediterranean. [Walker:] The brutal encounters you talk about it's also incredible Ben when you say that they run out of body bags. Let's also talk about Europe's response to this. We know Italy and Greece and the likes are extremely overwhelmed by this influx of refugees but when you talk about the response it seems like it's been mostly reactionary. We've seen and heard about the search and rescue operations but when it comes to the route of the crisis, that's what the world has really been failing to deal with. [Wedeman:] Yes, and I think that was the point Arwa was trying to make before we lost communications with her. Is that yes of course the Europeans are doing what they can, perhaps they could be doing quite a lot more. But for instance the Italian navy, the coastguard and other naval forces of the European Union are operating fairly close to the Libyan shores to try to rescue as many people as possible. But at the end of the day unless somebody, some country, some world force can for instance resolve the Syrian civil war that's been going on for 4-12 years that's left almost 300,000 people dead, it's destroyed an entire country and we're just talking about Syria, not getting onto Iraq, Yemen, Somalia, Afghanistan. Until those problems are resolved people will come to Europe however they can. [Unidentified Male:] We are immigrating and of course illegally its known and we sank in the sea. The boat was in bad condition and people died with us. The Libyans saved us, may god bless them. We have been forced into this route, it's called the route of death. It's now called the grave of the Mediterranean Sea. [Wedeman:] And a grave indeed it is and it's ironic that we're in fact even they're calling themselves migrants. Migrants are like birds that migrate from the south to the north in the summer. But these are people who aren't migrating, they are fleeing they're escaping. As I said incredibly awful wars, disruption, a destruction, invasion, oppression, dictatorship and they're not coming to Europe simply for vacation, they're coming to save their lives and the lives of their families. [Walker:] That's absolutely right, these are refugees we're talking about who are fleeing persecution and wars like you say. Ben Wedeman with the very latest from Rome. Ben, many thanks to you on that. And this is the INTERNATIONAL DESK. Next, new details of a killers meticulously planned attack on two T.V. journalists. Also we are watching Wall Street. Can U.S. stocks extend their two day winning streak? All that and more here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK. [Cooper:] We've been talking tonight about Pennsylvania. There's breaking news tonight about involving the Keystone State. We just learned that ads from Trump campaign will start airing this weekend in five battleground states including Pennsylvania. As Paul Begala mentioned earlier, his super PAC is pulling advertising in Pennsylvania and two other states because in this words, Hillary Clinton was so far ahead in them at this point. No doubt it's welcome news to the Clinton campaign. This however is not new fallout from her e-mail issues and a big step today from the FBI. More and all of that from our Joe Johns. [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton campaigning today at a Philadelphia voter registration event. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] When Donald Trump speaks, he speaks about fear. He speaks about such negativity and such pessimism. [Johns:] But her e-mail controversy still casting a shadow over her campaign. The FBI releasing a new report to Congress detailing why it recommended no charges be filed against the former secretary of state over her use of her private e-mail server. The report also includes notes taken by the FBI during witness interviews. The report is classified but it does keep the controversy alive for Clinton while offering Trump another talking point against her. [Trump:] Hillary Clinton lacks the judgment, as said by Bernie Sanders, stability and temperament and the moral character to lead our nation. [Johns:] The Clinton campaign saying they prefer the report be released publicly rather than forth selectively released by someone with political motives against Clinton. Meantime, Clinton is polling very well in key battleground states like Virginia. A new "Washington Post" poll finds Clinton ahead of Trump by eight points there, 51 percent to 43 percent among likely voters. In fact, Clinton is doing so well, her super PAC Priorities USA is pulling ads in Virginia along with crucial states Colorado and Pennsylvania for much of September. [Unidentified Female:] Priorities USA action is responsible for the content of this advertising. [Johns:] The group telling CNN Clinton's early success in those states means they can focus their attention and cash in states where it's more need. In Philadelphia today, she was working hard to turn out African-American voters in record numbers. [Clinton:] We want you all to register to vote. We have places to register because we don't want you on the sidelines come November. [Johns:] Clinton courting the black vote a day after vying for white working class voters alongside Vice President Joe Biden in Scranton, Pennsylvania, trying to hold on to the battleground state that has gone to Democrats in every presidential election since Bill Clinton won it in 1992. [Clinton:] Friends should not let friends vote for Trump. [Johns:] And the Clinton campaign is already putting together its transition team, announcing former Colorado senator and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar will lead it. Joe Johns, CNN, Philadelphia. [Cooper:] And we're back with the panel. When you look at these polls in battleground states, I mean, right now Donald Trump is not doing as well as Hillary Clinton is, do you think the Democrats are getting a little cocky on this? I mean, there are more than 80 days left to go. [Mcenany:] I think they are certainly, because, you know, as we'd mentioned previously in this panel is that Hillary Clinton's voting base is going to be made up of minorities, they need minorities to turn out. They also need millennial's to turn out. Those two groups are tailor-made for Trump's message because those two groups have suffered the most under this economy. They still face double digit real unemployment. They have depressed wages. In Chicago, there are have been more than 2,000 homicides... [Cooper:] I mean there was just a piece in the "Times" today, and again, you can think the "Times" is, you know, ridiculous as Trump does or not, but, you know, they look at what outreach the Trump campaign is doing to African-Americans and there were a lot of African-American conservative groups who he hasn't reached out, even pastors, who, you know, there they had a meeting a long time ago, got a lot of press coverage, but going to a conservative African- American church and making a speech, things like that which is a traditional kind of retail politics, he's not doing. [Mcenany:] And I think that's something that he needs to break into in these next 80 days. [Cooper:] You would like to see him do that? [Mcenany:] Absolutely. We know that he has Mark Burns, a phenomenal African-American pastor and Darryl Scott, but he needs to go and reach out to this broader community and bring this message of the economy and safety. We know there have been more than 2000 homicides in Chicago. That is startling. His message is tailor-made... [Cooper:] But it was interesting, Tara, I mean the "Times" used the example of him going to Detroit. [Setmayer:] Right. [Cooper:] Basically flew in there. [Setmayer:] Yup. [Cooper:] Had a, you know, a big rally... [Setmayer:] Yup. [Cooper:] ... in a largely white area, left without kind of going to any inner city area where, you know, he could have stopped into a barbershop or something get... [Setmayer:] Yeah. There were many blown opportunities. A year ago, Donald Trump had an opportunity, I think, to get maybe 20 percent of the black vote because people know who he is, they respect him as a businessman and I think that there hasn't been great economic growth actually, it's been horrible for black America under Barack Obama in the number of areas. So I think they were right for it. Donald Trump blew that. And not only is he not going to get anywhere close to that, we saw the polling is 1 percent maybe up to three possibly. That's abysmal. In Detroit that would have been a perfect opportunity for him. There are plenty of black-owned businesses, plenty of areas in Detroit, with Detroit trying to make a comeback that Donald Trump could have gone and given and used his, "business prowess" that he brags about all the time to show why his business and free enterprise and empowerment zones and things like policies like that, that could be beneficial for the black community. Talk about school choice. He didn't do that. And not only that, he has given zero money to his National Diversity Council. He has no problem parading black faces out in front of him and pastors that want to get their faces on television, but he does the campaign has given no money whatsoever, no investment in that. Donald Trump had an opportunity to speak in front of the NAACP conference which is right in Cincinnati. [Mcenany:] Right. [Setmayer:] When we were our convention was in Cleveland, he said no. He didn't go to the NABJ conference, which is the largest great gathering of black journalists in this country. They didn't even bother to get a phone call back. Not to the urban league. He's done zero media for any major black media outlet. And here we are 80 days plus before the election, you think you're going to just swoop in and convince people? It's not going to work. [Cooper:] [Inaudible] just in terms of focus groups and stuff? Paul. [Begala:] Yeah. These are public polls. In Ohio and Pennsylvania, Trump is polling zero in the Africa-American, zero, now there's a three point margin of error so it could be minus three. Like somehow we could have like white people pretending to be black just to hate on Trump. He's polling nationally in Wall Street Journal Poll one, among African-Americans. So I guess as a strategist you got to hunt where the ducks are. And I understand and why he did it. Look what Hillary did. She went to Scranton, right, which is not her part of Pennsylvania. She's going to win Pittsburgh and Philadelphia and the suburbs, right? She went to Scranton, which is the heart of blue collar, you haven't tease them, but that's the heart of blue collar older white men is from. Joe Biden with her, she's going for those votes that are at Trump's space. [Quinn:] She's reaching out, literally into Biden's old home and was kind of around the kitchen with voters. And we all know that's not Hillary's best moments, but she's pushing herself. [Cooper:] If Trump doesn't like to do those traditional kind of I mean, its big stadium events which again, during the primary it obviously worked very well for him and he seems most comfortable in that. [Bump:] Yeah, that's exactly right. I mean he did he hadn't had to do them, right? He didn't really have to transition into becoming a normal politician which was good for him. I mean he's he doesn't want to be a normal politician. I think the core question here is can Donald Trump who's been under the media scrutiny constantly since June 16th of 2015, can he now convince people that he is something different than what they have come to understand for the past year and a half. [Cooper:] Or is it or it is too late. Right. [Bump:] Or is it too late with 80 days left. [Quinn:] But you know what else I think it speaks to is, it just kind of a lack of interest or curiosity. Doesn't Donald Trump want to go out and meet the Americans? Go to communities he hasn't been to before? Speak to the people he says he wants to help? [Cooper:] Well, you can be I mean, you can make the same argument about, you know, any politician I mean, have does Hillary Clinton really want to go out... I mean, maybe she does, I don't know but. [Begala:] You actually do learn things. [Quinn:] Yeah. [Cooper:] No, I'm not saying you don't learn things. Of course, you learn things, but do they really want to do it? [Quinn:] I actually think Hillary loves... [Lavalle:] And actually for so long, she has no she's not in touch with you. [Quinn:] I sat with Hillary in these events and she and those kind of 20 person roundtables, she's engaged. [Cooper:] Right. That's what people... [Quinn:] She's questioning. In fact, a fact. [Cooper:] We've got to take another break as we await for Donald Trump to take the podium. Apparently he's running late. There are one of the questions going to be looking at, are there states in this country that are dealing with people trying to impose Sharia Law? This is something that a Trump adviser, General Flynn, actually said on this program last night. I was sort of surprised when he said it because I've looked into this and every time I've look into it, I couldn't really find what they were looking at. He was talking about Florida and Texas last night. We'll get a reality check on that and as we wait for Donald Trump's speech. [Bolduan:] Breaking news on the search for Malaysian Airlines flight 370. Tonight, new evidence that the piece of debris discovered off the Coast of Africa could be from MH370. A source telling CNN that a second code found on the debris is consistent with Boeing's 777 and MH370 is the only unaccounted for 777 in the world. U.S. intelligence suggests a deliberate act from the cockpit took the flight off course. But tonight, there are new questions about a security breach that could have taken place on that flight. Kyung Lah is OUTFRONT. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] The washed up debris still brings pilots no closer to a consensus on the greatest mystery of their profession. [Ret. Captain Ross Aimer, Ceo, Aero Consulting Experts:] There's all kinds of theories. Everybody has a different theory. [Lah:] U.S. intelligence agencies believe it's likely the plane was deliberately steered by someone in the cockpit. But retired united airlines pilot Ross Aimer flew the 777 and trained pilots on the jet at Boeing. He says the debris launched a new round of speculation among his fellow pilots. Among the theories, a section of the aircraft known as the EE Bay or the electronic's bay may have been breached. [on camera]: What's in the electronics bay? [Aimer:] This was basically the brain and heart of an aircraft. In case of a 777 which is a very highly electronic aircraft, all the electronics that control the entire airplane are in that electronic bay. So, this is the most important part of this aircraft. Other than the engines. So, every pilot that flies a 777 knows how to get down there. [Lah:] It's designed for maintenance access. But here, you can manage all flight systems taking total control of the plane. We're not going to show you where the access is on the aircraft. But we will show you what's widely available on the internet. In this aviation video viewed tens of thousands of times online, you can see in the bay various electronics, wires and green tanks. The concern floated by some pilots, they say Boeing manufactures and delivers a 777 with an unsecured access door. Most of the airlines add a lock and the access is hidden. So, only crew and perhaps some aviation enthusiasts would know how to get in. That's why a breach aboard MH370 is something the pilot says is possible but unlikely. Investigators around the world found no immediate red flags from anyone on board. More likely believes Aimer a catastrophic fire or even that one of the crew, perhaps Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah or co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid were somehow involved. [Aimer:] One of the things that investigators do, they never leave any stone unturned. They look at just about any possibility. [Lah:] And pilots say, they want to know, they need to know what happened to MH370, not just to solve this mystery but for the field of aviation, because Kate it is after the accident investigation is over that aviation learns and is better able to prevent the next one Kate. [Bolduan:] It's an excellent point. Kyung, thank you. OUTFRONT for us tonight, Chris Swecker, he's the former assistant director of the FBI's criminal investigative division and CNN aviation analyst Miles O'Brien. Miles, as Kyung was pointing out in her report, you brought up the possibility that someone could have broken into the electronics and equipment bay in your PBS documentary. Now, we're not going to show the video of the entrance to that hatch. But is this security vulnerability a real threat on all 777s? [Miles O'brien, Pbs "newshour" Science Correspondent:] Yes. Well, here is the thing. The 777 ships from Boeing with an unlocked door to that E and E bay, which is the brains of the aircraft. It's a computer fly by aircraft. So, if you can get in there, you essentially own that aircraft, as it were. That door is located in the cabin area and it ships to customers unsecured. There's no regulation by the FAA or any of the other agencies that have jurisdiction over aviation requiring that door to be locked. Now, some airlines have unilaterally ordered lock kits from Boeing to do that. But we shouldn't have to rely on airlines to unilaterally make this decision. This should be a locked door, period. It's a tremendous security Achilles heel on my view. [Bolduan:] It sure seems like it. And Chris, it seems like this hatch provides access to every major system on the plane. How serious should folks be taking this? [Chris Swecker, Former Assistant Fbi Director, Criminal Investigative Division:] Well, Kate, if this is, in fact, true, it's an unacceptable vulnerability. And I would be shocked if the intelligence services out there, especially the FBI and others, weren't aware of this vulnerability. And let's hope that if it exists, they're quietly working on the fix immediately. [Bolduan:] Immediately. Well, that's a big question. So, Miles, does this theory in any way rule out the possibility that one of the pilots was responsible is responsible? Because as you said, it's not in the cockpit. It's outside of it. [O'brien:] Well, certainly, if you are a pilot in the cockpit already, you don't need the E and E bay to control the airplane. You have all the controls you need right there in front of you. But we know by looking at this, it's almost guaranteed to be some sort of deliberate action. Human hand involved. So on your suspect list, you would you look at the crew. The captain and first officer, the most likely people to do something like this. [Bolduan:] Because Miles, someone can't just walk in there and come upon that hatch and even if they got in there, you need expertise to know what to do. Right? [O'brien:] You do. You want to have somebody who has experience as an aircraft and power plant mechanic, for example, who had worked on jet airplanes. But this is a big enough room where you could stow away in it. It also has a door unlock as well which goes into the forward cargo hold. So, there's all kinds of possibilities for a stowaway scenario. I'm not saying that's what happened and MH370. But I do know this is a vulnerability and in this aircraft. And it needs to be addressed. [Bolduan:] It sure does. Chris, U.S. intelligence has said as we've been reporting someone in the cockpit deliberately caused the plane to fly off course. It doesn't necessarily mean for nefarious reasons. But you think that one of the pilots is responsible. Why? [Swecker:] Well, we don't know when that assessment was done. But I agree with it, because in any investigation, you have to anchor it with what you know. Theories are interesting. But what you know is what you work with. And you work out from there. And what we know is that the plane communication systems were deliberately disabled. We know that the plane changed course dramatically and headed off in several different course changes. And there's a general consensus from what I have seen in general source reporting that that had to be done deliberately. That points to one of two people really at this point, the pilot or co-pilot. [Bolduan:] They are still a long way from establishing that as they only have possibly likely found one piece of debris from that plane so far. Miles, Chris, thank you both so much. And tonight, CNN investigates the mystery of MH370. Don't miss our special report vanished, that's tonight at 9:00 Eastern. And OUTFRONT next, Donald Trump accused of being incoherent talking tough on immigration one minute then saying this to CNN. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I would get people out and I would have an expedited way of getting them back into the country so they can be legal. [Harlow:] You've heard from the candidates and the pundits, but what about the voters? We traveled across the key swing states to hear firsthand from the voters. For our special report airing tonight, "Your Money, Your Vote" here's what he heard in Ohio. A state so critical no candidate has won the White House without winning Ohio since 1960. This neighborhood in Cleveland, Ohio, was one of the strongest for President Obama in 2012. Mitt Romney did not get a single vote from people living in these homes, not one. People living here have been struggling economically for a long time and they still are, so the question is will they come out in droves for Hillary Clinton the way they did for President Obama. [Unidentified Female:] Hillary. [Unidentified Male:] Hillary is the best candidate. [Unidentified Female:] That's a no-brainer. [Harlow:] There have been decades of economic despair and a dwindling faith that politicians will help. [Jeff Crosby, Cleveland Peacemakers Alliance Youth Mentor:] I think the Democratic platform is saying the same thing we have heard for about the past 50 years. [Harlow:] Over and over. [Crosby:] Over and over. [Harlow:] Since the war on poverty was declared. [Crosby:] Yes. [Harlow:] Jeff Crosby used to be in gangs. That landed him in prison. Now he's working to keep kids from the same life he lived. [Crosby:] It's one of the highest crime areas in Cleveland. [Harlow:] This is. [Crosby:] Yes. About ten gangs over here. Oh, what's up? You good? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Crosby:] I think the Democratic Party is taking us for granted. The Republican Party literally ignores us except for Trump. Trump is striving to make inroads, but he is a polarizing figure. [Unidentified Female:] I just don't trust Donald, that's all. [Unidentified Male:] Because he got money, that ain't everything. [Sierra Lesley, Cleveland Voter:] I'm willing to vote for a clown before Donald Trump. [Harlow:] Really? [Lesley:] Yes. With a red nose. I do agree with Republicans sometimes, but I don't agree with nothing that Donald Trump stands for. [Harlow:] And that brings us to the second part of this Ohio chapter, 200 miles south. [on camera]: We're in Pike County, Ohio and this place matters a lot. Not for the number of votes here, but because of what it represents. It used to be solidly blue, but it's been moving more and more red. In 2012, this was the closest county in the country. Mitt Romney won here by a single vote, just one vote. It's 96 percent white, largely blue collar, and unemployment here is high. These are exactly the voters Donald Trump has been speaking to. So if his message isn't resonating here, he's in trouble. [Unidentified Male:] I'd say right now you're looking at a coin toss. [Harlow:] A coin toss among union workers who until now have been solidly blue? Have you ever seen anything like Donald Trump say he's the one to bring these jobs back? He's the one to build up your industry. [Unidentified Male:] Donald Trump is saying that. That's total propaganda. Where's his merchandise made? What does he have to offer to American industry? Nothing. [Harlow:] Many here do believe Trump and see him as their best shot as getting ahead. Since 2000, Ohio has lost nearly a third of its manufacturing jobs. [Unidentified Male:] He's got a lot of things that is amazing that he was telling us he can do for us. [Harlow:] Angie Shanks runs a real estate firm here. [Unidentified Female:] It needs more jobs, better paying jobs. [Harlow:] You voted for President Obama in 2008. [Unidentified Female:] Yes, I did. [Harlow:] But her faith in the Obama administration has faded. [Angie Shanks, Pike County, Ohio Voter:] I think Trump is a businessman and the country is a business and needs to be run as a business. [Harlow:] When we met Angie, she was leaning towards Trump. Now, after the "Access Hollywood" tape surfaced, she's reconsidering. [on camera]: You're a lifelong Democrat? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Harlow:] So you're voting for Hillary this time around? [Unidentified Male:] No, I'm not. [Harlow:] No? [Unidentified Male:] My dad was a coal miner. They put the coal miners out of work. [Harlow:] We left Ohio asking this question, why does economic pain from one town to the next push some people left and others right? We should note this was filmed before that 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape of Donald Trump surfaced so we called back all of the Trump supporters we interviewed. Nearly everyone with the exception of just a few are still supporting Donald Trump and planning to vote for him. You can see much more tonight on our special report tonight "Your Money, Your Vote" 7:30 p.m. Eastern right here. Quick break, we're back here in a moment. [Harlow:] Now, this week's "Before the Bell". Here is Alison Kosik Alison. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Hi, Poppy. It's a big week for Wall Street but everybody wants to know, will the post-election explosion in stock prices continue? The Dow is on cruise control, hitting record highs next week. The NASDAQ and the S&P 500 set new records as well. But one big event may stand in the way of the red hot stock market. The Federal Reserve wraps up its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Investors put the chances of a rate hike at 95 percent. That's significantly higher than it was a month ago. A strong jobs report, solid GDP numbers, and a bunch of other positive economic signs make an increase all but certain. More readings come out this week. We're going to get a look at retail sales and a report on consumer prices. Outside of Wall Street, Donald Trump is set to give a big speech on how he will step away from his businesses. Some early plans were leaked last week but we're going to get more details on Thursday Poppy. [Harlow:] We will indeed. Alison, thank you very much. We appreciate it. Don't forget, the new CNN Money Stream app is here. It's your favorite business topic all in one feed. Every story, video and tweet handpicked for you. Download it now on your iPhone and you're Android. We'll be back. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] And good morning. I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. The end is in sight, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, making their final pitches to voters in key states. Clinton is laser-focused on Florida, making three stops there today. Trump and Mike Pence starts their day in Pennsylvania where they'll give a joint address on Obamacare in about an hour. And Trump will be in Clinton's sites today as she tries to pivot away from the FBI e-mail probe of one of her top aides. Her strategy, paint Trump as dangerous for women. And she'll get an assist from none other than Alicia Machado, the former Miss Universe, who said Trump made derogatory remarks about her weight and ethnicity, will introduce Clinton at one of those Florida rallies today. Team Clinton is also dropping this new ad using Trump's words about women against him. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] Putting a wife to work is a very dangerous thing. When I come home and dinner's not ready, I go through the roof. Grab them by the [Billy Bush, Host "access Hollywood Live":] And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. [Costello:] CNN, tracking all of this for you this morning. CNN's Jason Carroll is in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, where Trump speaks next hour. And Brianna Keilar is keeping her eye on the candidates' final pitch to voters. Brianna, let's start with you, good morning. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Good morning to you Carol. Today, for Hillary Clinton is all about the woman vote. She is going to be talking about women and girls, as you mentioned. She will be in Dade City, Florida. And she'll have Alicia Machado introducing her. We of course remember Alicia Machado. She came up after the first debate. And Donald Trump ended up in this sort of back and forth with her in the following days, for days and days. She alleged that he had called her "miss piggy." That he had called her "miss housekeeping" and this focus coming in tandem with that ad that you just showed. This is perhaps one of the most scathing ads that the Clinton campaign has used against Donald Trump, using his own words. So this is her focus today. As they try to change the narrative a little bit. There's so much focus right now on the e-mail issue, her aide, Huma Abedin's e-mails that were on her estranged husband, Anthony Weiner's laptop. They're trying to change the topic of conversation from that. [Robby Mook, Clinton Campaign Manager:] Director Comey felt it was incumbent upon him to announce that the FBI had some information he'd never even looked at, but they won't reveal connections to Russia. We know that the Russians, based on what 17 agencies have all agreed on, that the Russians stole e-mails from the DNC. They stole e-mails from our campaign. And it was James Comey at the FBI, who was trying to block that information from getting released. So, we just want all this information out there on both candidates. So why is it important to hold back information about Russians and it's not important to hold back information about a Democrat candidate for president? It is mind-boggling. And Director Comey needs to answer to this. [Keilar:] So, that's Hillary Clinton's campaign head, Robby Mook, who is talking about something else that the FBI is looking into, Carol. And that is ties between Donald Trump's world and Russia, specifically these hackings that have happened that the Obama administration say is the Russians. That the Russians are behind the hackings into the DNC systems and the Clinton campaign systems, but what we've also learned is there have been some bigger issues or some other issues that the FBI and Intel officials have been looking at. One in particular, that the Democrats behind Hillary Clinton are really hooking on to is this alleged chatter between a Russian bank, alleged e-mail chatter, I should say, between a Russian bank and a computer device at the Trump organization. Now, they also, we've learned from Intel officials, in various reports, a big report going into "The New York Times," that there could be an innocuous reason behind that. It could just be a spam situation going on. But these are the things that the Clinton campaign really wants to rev up. She had momentum and she lost some of that with this story about Huma Abedin's e-mails. [Costello:] All right. Brianna Keilar reporting live from Washington for us this morning, thank you. Donald Trump will continue to hammer away at Obamacare today. In just an hour, he and Mike Pence will deliver a joint address on the policy. CNN's Jason Carroll is covering that in Pennsylvania. Good morning. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And good morning to you. Sort of a twofold message here this morning. First of all, on Obamacare, and then on those Clinton e-mails, when it comes to Obamacare, Mike Pence, going to be doing some of the heavy lifting this morning, talking about many of the issues we've heard before out on the campaign. Donald Trump speaking about criticizing Obamacare, saying it needs to be repealed and replaced, talking about rising premiums, their estimation that in places like Pennsylvania and in Arizona, their estimation that premiums are going to rise way beyond 25 percent. And also, Carol, this other message that Pence will deliver when he speaks in just a few moments which is going to be about coming home, bringing Republicans home, now that we are in the final stretch. Trump for his part, going to be talking a lot about those Clinton e- mails. He has a new line of attack bringing children into the equation. [Trump:] You know I have a son named Baron. And I want to tell you, she is a terrible example for my son and for the children in this country that I can tell you. Hillary is the one who broke the law over and over and over again. [Carroll:] You know what's interesting about that, Carol, I'm sure you remember this when it comes to the issue of candidates and children. Hillary Clinton, for quite some time now, has been running an attack ad that some of her supporters are saying is very effective, showing children sitting and listening to much of the rhetoric from Donald Trump talking about women, talking about a disabled reporter. So interesting now that Donald Trump has flipped this script, if you will, and now is bringing children into the equation, saying that Hillary Clinton is the one who is a bad influence on children. Also, want to circle back on something about Mike Pence and coming home, bringing Republicans back into the fold. The top ranking Republican, House Speaker Paul Ryan, recently saying that he did, in fact, cast a vote for Donald Trump. You know, these two had been sort of at each other's throats in some ways throughout this campaign. So Paul Ryan, one of those coming home. But then you've got someone like John Kasich, who admitted that he did not vote for Donald Trump. He has not come home. Instead, he wrote in a vote for John McCain. Carol? [Costello:] All right, Jason Carroll reporting live from Pennsylvania. Thank you. So there's a lot to talk about this morning. With me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia, and Carrie Johnson, "NPR" justice correspondent. Welcome to both of you. [Larry Sabato, Director Center For Politics, University Of Virginia:] Thanks Carol. [Costello:] OK, so let's start with the strategy of Hillary Clinton's, Larry. She's pulling out all the stops. And by all the stops, I mean, she's really hammering away at the female vote. Good strategy? [Sabato:] Oh, absolutely. That is her ticket to the White House. Assuming she has one. She's unlikely to carry men. Probably, Trump will by undetermined percentage. But women have been supportive of her candidacy the entire year and we really are headed potentially for the largest gender gap in American history because she does draw so well among women. She needs to reinforce this at every opportunity and that's what she does on the trail and that's what her advertisements do. [Costello:] So, Alicia Machado is going to introduce Hillary Clinton, Carrie, in Florida today. So, is Hillary Clinton trying to bait Donald Trump by, you know, inviting Alicia Machado to her rally? [Carrie Johnson, "npr" Justice Correspondent:] Well, Carol, as we saw in one of the debates, it appeared to work before. If it worked before, it may well work again. Although Donald Trump, as you've reported, has been spending a lot of his time on the trail lately, talking about this renewed FBI activity surrounding Hillary Clinton's e-mail. He talked about it again and again and again yesterday. And I don't expect at this point, for that talking point to let up from his camp and people close to him as well. [Costello:] But, Larry, she's even turning this FBI controversy into a male versus female issue by calling James Comey, by saying that James Comey, you know, there's a double standard when it comes to investigating or talking about an investigation into Hillary Clinton's e-mails and talking about possible ties between Donald Trump and Russia. [Sabato:] Yes. Well, the term double standard is one that most women would recognize and respond to. More generally, though, Carol, she has taken a very aggressive stance against the decision that Director Comey made. And frankly, she should because that decision has created what I call the Comey effect. And it has indeed energized the Trump forces. It has brought some wayward reluctant Republic partisans back to Trump. Comey, intentionally or not, I don't think he necessarily intended it, has hurt Hillary Clinton's campaign. I don't blame her for responding but you know, it's time to move on. She needs to get back on the offensive on a wide range of issues. She's made her point. Most Democrats get it about Director Comey and his decision. And now, she has to go back to the themes that put her in front for most of this election campaign. [Costello:] So that's why, Carrie, that Donald Trump is using this new line, he wants to bring Republicans back home, which seems so warm and fuzzy, but could it be working in light of what James Comey said about Huma Abedin's e-mails? [Johnson:] Carol, as somebody who has covered the Justice Department for a long time, I can't remember a situation when Democrats and Republicans, veterans of the DOJ, have banded together. And they've banded together to send a letter condemning the comments by FBI Director James Comey. These are very high-level people who served in the George W. Bush administration with Comey. They're quite unhappy with his desire or his move to send this letter to Congress, 11 days before the election. Now, the White House has come out and said they do not believe the FBI director was trying to influence the election in any way. But that talking point has been quite persuasive among former prosecutors and high level justice officials. And controversial even within FBI circles too. [Costello:] So Larry, it appears that the polls are tightening. And you know, you could look at one poll, and it will say one thing and another will say something else. But the polls are tightening when you put them all together. So you were predicting a big Hillary Clinton win. Are you still? [Sabato:] Well, I think she is very likely to win simply because she has much easier path to 270, many credible paths to 270, and Trump really does need to thread the eye of five or six or seven needles at once which is very difficult to do. You know, if there's an upset for Trump, I know number one on the list for me is going to be the decision by Director Comey to send that letter, that vague letter to Congress inviting all kinds of speculation. It really has made a difference for Donald Trump, whether the director intended it or not. It has had an effect. So is Clinton still a favorite? Yes. But you're absolutely right. The polls have tightened, especially since that announcement because Comey has helped to bring wayward Republicans home to Trump. They haven't liked him, many of them. They have resisted voting for him. But now they focus on Clinton and her problems. And they find him acceptable enough to vote for. [Costello:] Larry Sabato, Carrie Johnson, thank you so much. Still to come in the "Newsroom," Paul Ryan and Donald Trump don't see eye to eye, but one thing's for sure. Ryan is backing the Republican candidate at the ballot box. We'll tell you what he said. [Kosik:] A new cease-fire now under way in Syria. You are looking at live pictures right now from Aleppo. You see it foggy but peaceful, something we have not seen in a long, long time. The new cease-fire part of the deal brokered by Turkey and Russia, including a return to peace talks after more than five years of war. Turkey's president calling the deal an historic opportunity that shouldn't be squandered. But Russian President Vladimir Putin acknowledging the path is fragile. So, what's the latest on the ground in Syria? CNN's Ian Lee joins us live now for more. Good morning, Ian. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Alison. We have been talking to people on the ground in Syria. So far, the cease-fire seems to be holding. There have been reports of some sporadic fighting, but by and large, it is quiet today. The cease-fire is three parts. First, the cessation of hostilities between both sides, Turkey and their allies, Russia and Syria regime and their allies. The second part is creating a way for dialogue, so if there are any violations, they can be taken care of without the collapse of the ceasefire. The third part is negotiation. They hope in a month's time, they'll be able to go to the negotiating table and hash out some sort of a peace deal and put an end to this war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. But most noticeably missing from this is ISIS, Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, which is the al Qaeda affiliate, formally known as Jabhat al Nusra, and also the YPG, which are Kurdish fighters who are part of the Syrian democratic force, which is backed by the United States. [Kosik:] You know, Ian, President Assad did make some news yesterday. He talked about President-elect Donald Trump saying there is optimism on his end about a Trump presidency. Talk to me more about that. [Lee:] Let me read you that statement of what he said. He said, "Part of the optimism could be related to the better relations between with the United States and Russia. If there's good relations between these two great powers, most of the world, including small countries like Syria will be the beneficiaries of this relationship." Basically, up until this point, the United [Kosik:] All right. CNN's Ian Lee, thanks so much. [Johns:] Alison, new this morning, the United Kingdom criticizing Secretary of State John Kerry for his comments on Israel earlier this week. A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May says it is not appropriate to go after the political composition of the democratically elected government of an ally. May's office goes on to say, "While it considers the settlements construction illegal, they are far from the only problem in the conflict with the Palestinians." Kerry on Wednesday went after Israel's government as the most right wing in the state's history and portrayed the settlements as the biggest obstacle standing in the way of peace. [Kosik:] France is raising its so-called terror tax to help support victims. Citizens will pay almost $1.70 more on their property insurance policies. The cash goes directly to a fund set up for victims of terror attacks that recently hit the country. More than 200 people have died in France in attacks over the last 20 months. Eighty-six people died this summer in an attack in Nice, while 130 people were killed there in November 2015 attacks in Paris. [Johns:] A record-breaking drug bust in Australia. Take a look at this. Authorities seized over 1,000 pounds of cocaine. It happened as police tracked a local fishing boat from central Sydney en route to Parsley Bay eight miles away. Officers moved in, when the drugs were being loaded off of the boat. The raid is a result of a two and a half years investigation. Police say the cartel was local, but had international connections. Fifteen men were arrested in that operation. [Kosik:] All right. Time for an early start on your money. Global stocks are mixed this morning as markets enter the last trading day of 2016. And before you ask, I'm going to tell you, the Dow will not hit that elusive 20,000 mark today. U.S. futures are higher after closing lower yesterday. Despite some of a lack luster end to the year, stocks, though, have enjoyed a great run in 2016. The Dow, the NASDAQ and S&P, they're all on track for solid annual gains. You look at the Dow now, it's up about 14 percent this year. Mortgage rates rose for the ninth straight week yesterday. Now, the steepest increase in three years. That's according to mortgage provider Freddie Mac. So, why the hype? Well, mortgages are tied to bond market rates which have spiked since Donald Trump got elected. But I'm going to give you a little perspective here. Even with the jump, the average rate in 2016 was the lowest on record for the past 45 years. So, keep in mind the Fed is on a trend to raise interest rates incrementally. But even before the Fed went ahead and raised rates this month, interest rates were going up a little bit. [Johns:] Yes, the 20,000 mark looks like it's not happen this year anyway. [Kosik:] Well, probably not this year. But never say never for next year. [Johns:] You got it. Security being stepped up in a big way right here in New York ahead of the big New Year's eve festivities in times square. New steps taken to protect millions ringing in 2017. [Hala Gorani, Cnn International Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani live from CNN London. Thanks for being with us this Tuesday. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Donald Trump has made a career out of firing people on reality television, and from the oval office, the president sent a clear sign he will not tolerate dissent there either, by dismissing Attorney General Sally Yates. She's a holdover of the Obama administration. She only had a few hours left on the job, but she said she would not defend Trump's executive order, banning travelers from seven predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. The White House calls that move a betrayal. Listen. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] You don't believe in the president's agenda, and I think every one of the cabinet members, every one of the appointees understands that they serve at the pleasure of the president. We talked about this at length during the transition. This isn't about joining the government to execute your ideas or your initiatives. The president was very clear during the campaign, whether it's economic security or national security, that he has an agenda that he articulated very, very clearly to the American people. And that hold on. Thank you. And that it is his job to lay that vision out and that the people he appoints and nominates and announces as staff members or cabinet level members or agency heads, their job is to fulfill that. If they don't like it, they shouldn't take the job. It is the president's agenda that we are fulfilling here. [Gorani:] All right. Very clear there from Sean Spicer. Every day, this daily briefing has been very much scrutinized. Speaking of the travel ban, after four days of chaos, security chiefs explained how they're implementing the controversial order. Dual citizens may enter the U.S. using their passport from the country not on the banned list. Those under the ban would be turned away before boarding departure flights. As constitutional law takes the spotlight as well, there's a lot going on, because Donald Trump beyond all this talk about the travel ban will announce his picks for Supreme Court justice in about five hours. Sources tell CNN, it's down to two. When I say picks, those are the two, quote, "finalists," an administration source told CNN. Neil Gorsuch and Judge Thomas Hardiman, both will be in Washington tonight. Let's discuss all of this. Our CNN politics reporter, Tal Kopan is in Washington for us. Let's first talk about the firing of Sally Yates. She only had a few hours left on the job. She was dismissed, relieved of her duties, according to the White House, and replaced. Jeff Sessions, of course, the new attorney general, confirmed today. What was the point of essentially so publicly dismissing her, do you think? [Tal Kopan, Cnn Politics Reporter:] I'm not sure that, you know, it was a choice of publicly or not publicly, what happened was it became public that she had issued this memo that she would not defend the executive order. And once that got out, I don't think there would have been any way to dismiss her, not publicly. And so, you know, in some ways, she sort of forced the administration's hand, and that's sort of what has been talked about by some in the administration is, well, why didn't she just resign? You know, there's a sense that perhaps she wanted this to be known publicly, before she actually stepped aside. But, you know, keep in mind, it's a very common question, one that she was actually asked in her confirmation hearing, and Jeff Sessions, Trump's sort of attorney general in waiting was asked during his confirmation hearing, which is, what would you do if you were asked to defend something that you found to be unconstitutional? And she said she would stick with her view of the constitution, and she appears to have lived up to that, according to what she did yesterday. [Gorani:] All right. And let's talk a little bit about what to expect there from the announcement by President Trump this evening. One of two men, we're talking about, Neil Gorsuch here, verry young men, by the way, Gorsuch is 49, Thomas Hardiman, the other reported potential pick, 51 years old. Both conservative on social issues. What is the expectation this evening? [Kopan:] Well, yes, I mean, you mentioned that they're young. That's the way to get the most out of your Supreme Court pick, because these are lifetime appointment. So we've seen these picks trending younger, because then you can get years of their viewpoint on the court and with only nine members, you know, one perspective is huge. Keep in mind with Scalia's death, we've got a 4-4 split right now on the Supreme Court. So Trump's pick will sort of restore whatever the balance was when Scalia was on the court. It's likely to be a conservative. But it's someone who's going to sort of bring the court back to where it was under Scalia with one swing vote. So the attitude from the White House has been trying to pick someone they think can get confirmed. With everyone in Washington gearing up for potentially a second appointment down the road somewhere in Trump's term, that could replace one of the liberal justices, now that would swing the court widely. So what we expect to see tonight from one of these two men is a bit of a safe pick, someone who's conservative, but isn't likely to ruffle feathers quite as much, with everyone in Washington keeping an eye on whether he gets another pick down the road in a year or two. [Gorani:] All right, certainly. I mean, these picks, I imagine, of course, Democrats do not have a majority. What is the strategy here in terms of one of these two men, as far as you think the Trump administration is concerned, to try to get the chances on their side for a confirmation? [Kopan:] Well, keep in mind, the one thing in the Senate in terms of confirmations that still requires 60 votes is the Supreme Court nominee. So, Republicans only have 52. They're going to need Democrats in order to confirm this nominee. They think they'll get them. There are definitely moderate Democrats, including some who live in states that Trump carried, who are up for re- election the next cycle, which makes them particularly susceptible to a little lobbying. And if the pick is you know, a lot of these confirmation battles have come down to, is the person qualified? You may not agree with their perspective, but are they qualified? That's often how Supreme Court nominees are judged. And with these picks, it's a little bit hard for some of these moderate Democrats to really make a case against voting for them. They'll be put through the ringer, but Democrats may still try to obstruct at all cost. There's still a lot of hard feelings about President Obama not getting his pick for this seat confirmed, for months. So there's going to be some raw tensions and we're probably going to see some serious maneuvering on both sides threatening to eliminate the 60-vote threshold, threatening to filibuster all night. There's going to be a lot of so forth back and forth posturing, even before we get to a vote. [Gorani:] Well, certainly. We're going to have a lot to cover there. Abby Phillip of "The Washington Post" is able to join us finally. Abby, Sean Spicer, the press secretary, said don't call it a ban, even though the president yesterday tweeted about the ban. We're talking about the partial travel ban against one of seven against a list of seven countries and a total suspension of the Syrian refugee program. There are those waivers being processed. Some visa holders are being allowed in, a few Syrian refugees, as well. What are some of these exceptions? [Abby Phillip, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, I think what we're seeing right now is the sort of slow walk back of portions of this executive order between last Friday and today. On Saturday, there were a lot of reports of visa holders and green card holders not only being prevented from entering the United States, but being prevented from boarding flights that landed in the United States, even if they were connections. And that has changed. You heard today, both Sean Spicer and Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly, talking about how the law was not actually intended to impact those people, but that is different from what was happening over the weekend. And I think a similar thing is happening with the language around the executive order. Not calling it a ban is something that is contrary to both what Sean Spicer himself said yesterday at an event in Washington, and also what the president said in a tweet yesterday, as well. So I think the White House is trying to soften the impact of the executive order and soften its public image after a few days of negative coverage. [Gorani:] And this dismissal of Sally Yates, the acting attorney general, was this to be expected, Abby? [Phillip:] Well, you know, I think after Sally Yates made it clear that she was going to object to the executive order, it was only a matter of time before Donald Trump would eventually replace her. I mean, as an Obama appointee and as a political appointee at the Department of Justice, she's subject to the whims of the president. That's just how these things work. So it was just a matter of time before she learned her fate. It just so happened that it was a few hours later. But the issue isn't that she was leaving, but rather, how she was dismissed, and the way in which the president and Sean Spicer this morning, called it a betrayal. I mean, that's really sharp language and it's something that is kind of a departure from what we usually hear, even when political appointees are dismissed for political reasons. [Gorani:] Right. Well, she made a dramatic exit and more just crazy news cycle days, like this one. Tal Kopan, thanks very much. Abby Phillip at "The Washington Post," thanks so both of you for joining us. Earlier, I spoke to former U.S. deputy attorney general, George Terwilliger. I asked him how unusual it is for a president to fire an attorney general. [George Terwilliger, Former U.s Deputy Attorney General:] Well, it's pretty unusual. It doesn't happen very often. But, you know, in the United States, the way our government works, the executive branch is unitary. So there's one boss and it's the president. When the president gives a directive, it's the responsibility of the people who work for him to carry that out and if they can't carry it out, are a crisis of conscious of some sort, then their job is to resign and leave. Miss Yates just did so in a very noisy manner. [Gorani:] Right, but aren't there three branches of government? Will the executive now meddle in the judicial every time they feel like officials are not advocating for the president? [Terwilliger:] No, not at all and in fact, this very case points up what the difference is. The job of the attorney general and the Justice Department here is to go into court in an adversary court system and represent the views of one side. It's not the attorney general's job to be an umpire between the president and the executive branch and its legal opponents. [Gorani:] Why do it less than 24 hours before the confirmation of President Trump's nominee for attorney general? [Terwilliger:] It just worked out that way. [Gorani:] All right, so, it couldn't wouldn't it have been made sense to just wait the half a day until Jeff Sessions is confirmed. He felt like it was necessary. [Terwilliger:] Yes, and I agree with that. You can have a subordinate official as important as the acting attorney general of the United States, a position I served in, to turn around and say, no, Mr. President, I'm not going to carry out your directions. [Gorani:] All right. And the reason she was acting attorney general is because Jeff Sessions had not been confirmed yet [Terwilliger:] That's correct. [Gorani:] to take his post. [Terwilliger:] That's correct. [Gorani:] Let's talk about the executive order, though. You have so many legal challenges being mounted now saying that banning even temporarily the citizens of seven countries is not constitutional. [Terwilliger:] It's so important to break down what these disputes are actually about and without going into a great deal of detail, some of the disputes are legal. Is this constitutional or is it not constitutional? But mainly, these are policy disputes and policy disputes aren't to be litigated. Policy disputes are adjudicated in the court of public opinion and in the public world between Congress, the president, and the two political parties in the United States. [Gorani:] But there can be legal challenges. [Terwilliger:] There can be legal challenges to some of it and of course, it will take a long time for those things to wend their way through the courts. The fact that one judge or another does something initially isn't going to be the bottom line. [Gorani:] And typically, an executive order, if it is legally challenged, I mean, is that that also, too, must be rather unusual, right? [Terwilliger:] It's somewhat unusual, but it's really not the order itself that's being challenged, it's the carrying out of the order and the affect that it has on people. [Gorani:] All right. And this could go to any court level? I mean, it could be at a lower level, it could also possibly go up to a federal level. [Terwilliger:] It could work its way all the way up to the Supreme Court. [Gorani:] Even the state of Washington is suing I mean, how does that work? Because that sounds just so to our international viewers, something also extremely unusual, for a state to sue the White House. [Terwilliger:] Yes. And I don't think that's going to get very far, because our constitution has a supremacy clause in it, which makes the federal government and the U.S. Constitution supreme to the laws of the states. [Gorani:] OK, so what's the point? [Terwilliger:] I'm not sure. [Gorani:] OK. Is it just a symbolic move, do you think on ant part of Washington State? [Terwilliger:] Perhaps. It could be political. [Gorani:] And the Supreme Court nominee, we're expecting an announcement there. But I guess people from the outside looking in will say, so Donald Trump, obviously, is the president of the United States. He's the chief of the executive. He is the commander-in-chief, the Republicans have a majority in Congress. He will and has named an attorney general and will name a Supreme Court justice nominee. Where is the checks and balances here? [Terwilliger:] Well, the checks and balances are going on right before the eyes of the world right now. Many of the checks and balances in our system, as in many democracies, are essentially political in nature, not legal. So we have the opposition party in Congress holding up confirmations, asking hard questions. We have debates about legislation and we have debates about policy, including immigration policy. And in the end, the people decide because if two years from now, they don't like the way things are going, they can change who they vote for and who has a majority in Congress. [Gorani:] Because in two years, mid-term elections take place, and you could see a change in the majority on Capitol Hill? [Terwilliger:] You could. [Gorani:] George Terwilliger actually held the same post as Sally Yates before she became acting attorney general. And that was deputy attorney general that was under the Bush administration, there with his views on some dramatic events unfolding in the nation's capital. A lot more to come this evening, as Canadians mourn the victims of the deadly mosque attack in Quebec. We're learning more about the man police say carried out the massacre. And controversy swirls around President Trump's planned visit to the U.K. Parliament is readying itself for a debate about it. Stay with us. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Strike on Syria. President Trump makes his first major military move as commander in chief. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Tonight, I ordered a targeted military strike. [Tapper:] But is it just the beginning? [Nikki Haley, U.s. Ambassador To The United Nations:] We are prepared to do more. [Tapper:] U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley will be here with the very latest. And what now? Mixed messages from the Trump Cabinet on the path forward. [Rex Tillerson, U.s. Secretary Of State:] I would not in any way attempt to extrapolate that to a change in our policy or our posture relative to our military activities in Syria. [Tapper:] As Trump's critics in Congress demand a serious strategy. Plus, staff shakeup? Reports of bad blood running through the West Wing, as Trump's top advisers battle for power. [Kellyanne Conway, Counselor To The President:] Donald Trump as a businessman and certainly as president of the United States surrounds himself with a diverse group of people who have very strong opinions. [Tapper:] Is Trump about to tell someone, "You're fired?" And the best political minds will be here on what happens next. Hello. I'm Jake Tapper in Washington, where the State of our Union is fraught with tension. The United States is flexing its muscles on two fronts in the days following President Trump's airstrikes in Syria. A coordinated diplomatic campaign towards Russia is under way by the U.S. and the U.K. British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson has canceled his visit to Moscow to quote "coordinate international support for a cease- fire" at the G7 meeting on Monday. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, however, will go on the trip amidst renewed tensions between Washington and the Kremlin. Meanwhile, a show of American and military might in the Pacific, as a Navy strike group moves towards North Korea. Defensive officials say the aircraft carrier is being sent in response to recent provocations by the hermit kingdom. This all happens amidst a violent weekend across the globe, two churches bombed in Egypt on this Palm Sunday, killing dozens and injuring hundreds more. Swedish police have just arrested a second suspect in the truck attack in Stockholm this week that killed four people. An Uzbek man was already in custody. Violent clashes in Venezuela, meanwhile, as thousands fill the streets there to protest their socialist government. And, of course, continued violence in Syria, including renewed bombing by the Assad regime and coalition forces. It's a very busy morning around the world. Let's welcome the United States ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley. Ambassador Haley, thanks so much for joining us. You said on Friday that the United States is quote "prepared to do more in Syria." But I want to understand what the threshold might be for additional military action. Would it be the use of chemical weapons or could even a conventional attack on civilians be the trigger? [Haley:] Well, Jake, what I can tell you is what happened this week was really one of the president's finest hours, to sit and watch all of the conversations and how he listened to each and every member of his security council and asked all the right questions. He wanted to know exactly what the facts and the evidence was. He wanted to know what the options were, what the risks were, and the political strategy and solution side of it. And after all of that, he made a very, you know, strong decision. And I think it was one that was very good for the world. What I can tell you now is, this is how he responded to the chemical attack in Syria. I was trying to give warning and notice to the members of the Security Council and the international community that he won't stop here. If he needs to do more, he will do more. So, really, now what happens depends on how everyone responds to what happened in Syria, and make sure that we start moving towards a political solution, and we start finding peace in that area. And so I think a lot of people need to step up. The United States is going to continue to watch and be active. And we'll see what happens. [Tapper:] So, further military action is possible. But I guess what I'm wondering is, the chemical weapons attacks have been going on since 2013, but far more Syrians have been killed by conventional weapons, barrel bombs and the like. Might that also be a trigger? I mean, President Trump clearly said that the use of chemical weapons is what crossed the line for him. But is that the only line? [Haley:] Well, I can tell you that his focus was on the fact that innocent victims were hurt by a terrible regime that was attempted to be covered up by Russia or, you know, make excuses for Assad by Russia. And he said he wasn't going to put up with it. And to see the images, to see the pictures, and to see the horror of that act, knowing that it was a violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, knowing it was a violation of multiple Security Council resolutions, he said, enough, we're not going to watch this anymore. [Tapper:] So but this is a departure. And while I'm not second-guessing the decision, you know, as I said, it's not the first chemical weapons attack. It's not the worst chemical weapons attack. And, in fact, during the campaign, President Trump warned against getting involved militarily in Syria. Take a listen. [Trump:] It's not that big an area. The airspace is very limited. So, now you have what, do we start World War III over Syria? [Tapper:] So, he was worried about starting World War III over Syria. Why is that no longer a concern? And why was the 2013 chemical weapons attack, which, as you know, was deadlier, not a trigger for him in terms of the principle of action in Syria? [Haley:] Well, he wasn't president in 2013. And I can tell you... [Tapper:] But he opposed it. He opposed action. [Haley:] But I don't know what his thought process was then. I can tell you what his thought process was this week, which was, he is not going to condone chemical weapons use ever. And so what you saw was, he wasn't just going to say it. He was going to act. And what we have seen at the United Nations is a huge sigh of relief. They're just so thankful that the United States led on this issue. And we called out Russia, because we needed to. We put Iran on notice, because that we need to get that influence out of there. And we told Syria, we are not going to watch this anymore. And so what the president chooses to do, I hope that what Iran sees and Syria sees and Russia sees is that this is a president that's not afraid to act, and that he does expect to move towards a political solution. And they have to show genuine willingness to do that. [Tapper:] He's not concerned anymore, though, about this being a potential quagmire or about this potentially starting World War III? [Haley:] I can tell you that, of the conversations I had this week, he knew what the risks were, he knew what the situation was, he looked at the history of the situation, and he decided. And I think his decision was right. And I think you can see that from the international community. They all fully support it. [Tapper:] On Thursday, the secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said there is quote "no role for Assad" in governing Syria. Take a listen. [Tillerson:] Assad's role in the future is uncertain, clearly. And with the acts that he has taken, it would seem that there would be no role for him to govern the Syrian people. [Tapper:] So, 10 days ago, you said that getting Assad out of Syria was would no longer be a priority for the United States. Obviously, since then was the chemical weapons attack. But I'm trying to figure out, is regime change in Syria now the official policy of the United States? [Haley:] So, there's multiple priorities. It's getting Assad out is not the only priority. And so what we're trying to do is obviously defeat ISIS. Secondly, we don't see a peaceful Syria with Assad in there. Thirdly, get the Iranian influence out, and then finally move towards a political solution, because, at the end of the day, this is a complicated situation. There are no easy answers. And a political solution is going to have to happen. But we know that it is not going to be there's not any sort of option where a political solution is going to happen with Assad at the head of the regime. It just if you look at his actions, if you look at the situation, it's going to be hard to see a government that's peaceful and stable with Assad. [Tapper:] Well, of course, it's hard to, but is it the position of the Trump administration that he cannot be ruler of Syria anymore; regime change is the policy? [Haley:] Well, regime change is something that we think is going to happen, because all of the parties are going to see that Assad is not the leader that needs to be taking place for Syria. So, what I think you're seeing is, this isn't about policy or not. This is about thoughts. And so, when you look at the thoughts, there is no political solution that any of us can see with Assad at the lead. And so I and I don't think that that's something for the United States to decide. That's something the entire international community has decided, that it's going to hard-pressed to see Assad in that leadership role. And so you're going to see the president is going to very much watch this. We are all going to keep calling out the international community and asking them to push for a political solution. We're going to continue to call out bad actors when they do something like this. And you're going to see this administration act when they think it's appropriate. [Tapper:] You have talked about the possibility of further military action. As you know, President Trump used to believe that congressional approval was needed for any kind of military strike in Syria. I know you're a big fan of his tweets. Here's one of his tweets from 2013 quote "The president must get congressional approval before attacking Syria. Big mistake if he does not." If you're confident that the Assad regime was behind this chemical weapon attack, and the possibility of further military action is there, should the Trump administration lay out the evidence, come to Congress, and get the specific authorization to use force? [Haley:] Well, it depends on the action. But I can tell you that he worked very closely with the leaders in Congress, all of the Cabinet members. You know, first, you have to give huge kudos to General Mattis and the military for how they handled this so flawlessly. He really worked with I know General Kelly was on the Hill. The vice president was on the Hill. I mean, they very much stayed in communication with leaders of Congress. And I think that's what you're going to see this administration do is, there are the only surprises are going to be to the international community. But we're going to focus on working with everybody. We see this very much as a team. The president has very much acted like this is a team with all of his Cabinet members, but also with members of Congress. And so I think that he's going to continue to work with them when it comes to actions like this. [Tapper:] Is it fair to say that the president will keep Congress informed, but there's no plan right now to seek an official authorization for use of military force? [Haley:] It's fair to say that he has very much said that he wanted to keep Congress informed, and a part of what was happening as it was happening. But you would have to ask him on the congressional thoughts. I haven't had that conversation. [Tapper:] Speaking of Congress, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Friday that he would look favorably on stepped-up sanctions against Russia, stepped-up sanctions against Iran, and others who support the Assad regime in Syria. Does President Trump want tougher sanctions on Russia and Iran? [Haley:] I think it's conversations that we'll be having and have started to have going forward. But I think you have to look at the situation. Here was, you know you saw this terrible tragedy on innocent people, a lot of them children. And the first reaction from Russia wasn't, how horrible. It wasn't, how could they do this? It wasn't, how did this happen? It was, Assad didn't do it. Assad didn't do it. Why was that the reaction? And so all of that is in play. That's why you're seeing the investigation on Russia. That's why you're seeing the fact that we know the evidence on Assad. We've seen it. We've been we know exactly what happened. And so we're calling them out. But I don't think anything is off the table at this point. I think what you're going to see is strong leadership. You're going to continue to see the United States act when we need to act. We're going to have the backs of our allies. But we also need to see our allies have our backs, which very much happened in the United Nations this week, especially led by our British counterparts. And you're going to see us continue to make sure that we're doing everything we can for the safety of the United States people, but also for the safety internationally. We think this was not only a national security issue. This was an international security issue. And I think the president wanted to make that known and make that response well-pointed-out. [Tapper:] Ambassador Haley, stay right there. We're going to take a quick break. We will be right back. [Eleni Giokos:] It's not been a Super Tuesday for the stock markets, the Dow closed just a few points higher about an hour ago on Wall Street. It's Tuesday the 15th of March. [Giokos:] Tonight, decision day for the Republican Party. The first exit polls from the Presidential primaries are due out any moment. Housing the cost of a catastrophic conflict, Syria marks five years of bloodshed. And a lesson Valeant effort shares in the drug maker plunge 50%. I'm Eleni Giokos and this is "Quest Means Business." A very good evening to you. Tonight it's the Republicans day of reckoning. Marco Rubio and John Kasich are making their last stands in their home states of Florida and Ohio. Now if Trump wins there it would drastically raise the chances of a contested convention. Marco Rubio has long pinned his hopes on winning in the sunshine state. But polls show Donald Trump holds a commanding lead there. The race in Ohio is much tighter. Governor John Kasich, leads the polls by just a few points. And on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is looking to build on last week's surprise win in Michigan. He's hoping his record on trade will help him in the manufacturing heavy states of Ohio, Illinois, as well as Missouri. Timothy Naftali is a Presidential historian and author, he served as director of the Nixon Presidential Library. He's now the Director of New York's University Tamiment Library, and he joins me now in studio. Sir, thank you very much for your time. [Timothy Naftali, Director, Tamiment Library, New York University:] My pleasure. [Giokos:] We are seeing so many dynamics playing out on this Super Tuesday but what's interesting to note is the stance on trade. It's the stance on protectionist policies. Have you seen this before? [Naftali:] No, in fact what you're seeing now is a challenge to a 30 year orthodoxy about free trade among the leading candidates in both political parties. Hillary Clinton Hillary Rhoda Clinton does support free trade but she's on the defensive because Bernie Sanders has made real inroads by attacking her on free trade. On the Republican side, the leading candidate, if you look at what he's promising to do in foreign economic policy, he's going to start trade wars with China and Mexico, at least his rhetoric suggests that he would. So what we have for the first time is a very, very strong protectionist streak in the American political dialogue. [Giokos:] Of course the likes of Bernie Sanders of course speaking to the Blue Collar workers. The issues in the manufacturing sector are very real. [Naftali:] Very of course they're very real because when you have globalization it affects some parts of the country differently from others. But here's the key for a lot of folks watching this. This is a rust belt. The campaign right now is in Ohio, it's in Illinois, parts of Missouri. This part of the country is not necessarily pro-free trade anyway. Will this rhetoric continue after Super Tuesday number three and that's what we're looking to see. The other thing that's really important I believe is the extent to which whatever happens tonight Trump will win more delegates. The question is will other people drop out. If Rubio loses in Florida he's already indicated he might not drop out but his chances decline drastically. [Giokos:] And this is home state essentially. [Naftali:] Well if he can't be a favorite son in his home state it's hard to argue that he should even be a vice-presidential candidate. The case for Kasich gets better this day if he wins Ohio and he might. So Trump will emerge with more delegates but not necessarily the triumph he will not necessarily triumph today. The question is to what extent will the anti-Trump movement continue. And that anti-Trump movement is not protectionist. [Giokos:] Well Tim, you know I mean the world is watching us. And this is what we heard from President Barack Obama a little earlier, and he was saying that what are we portraying to the rest of the world. We actually have one of those clips, let's take a listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] This is also about the American brand. Who are we? How are we perceived around the world? There's a reason that America has always attracted the greatest talent from every corner of the globe. There's a reason that "Made in America" means something. It's because we're dynamic and diverse and inclusive and open. Why would we want to see that brand tarnished? [Giokos:] But it's happening. And this is the thing. What message is the U.S. sending to the rest of the world, to the investor community? [Naftali:] Well, it's reminder that democracy is messy. But last weekend, the Trump rallies crossed an important threshold. It was the most dangerous moment in American political history since 1968. And fortunately, some of the candidates called him on it. Some of them talked about the importance of using first amendment rights peacefully. But not enough people have stood up and said violence has no place in the American political arena. [Giokos:] Tim, we're running out of time, very quickly what are your expectations, what do you think we're going to see later on today? [Naftali:] So I'm a historian by training, so I'm careful. But let me put it this way. I believe that the polling on the Sanders side may have underestimated his support, he may actually surprise people in Ohio and Illinois. On the Republican side, it looks like Kasich will win. In which case Trump has a hard time getting a majority of delegates before Cleveland. [Giokos:] Timothy, thank you very much for your time, much appreciated. Timothy Naftali. All right, so economy is the top issue for voters across the country. And trade is particularly crucial in many of the states voting today. Donald Trump is hoping to capitalize on that. In an opinion piece he wrote, "American's politicians have enabled jobs theft in every imaginable way. They have tolerated foreign trade cheating, while enacting trade deals that encourage companies to shift production overseas." Now Donald Trump has repeatedly said the U.S. is losing manufacturing jobs to Mexico and of course the republican frontrunner kicked off his campaign referring to some Mexican immigrants as rapists. Now, that prompted Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim, to drop a planned T.V. project with Trump. Slim's right-hand man warns if Trump reaches the White House, there could be a storm on the global stock market. Arturo Elias Ayub is CEO of Strategic Alliances for America Mobile, Samuel Burke asked him how it felt as a Mexican businessman to hear a Presidential candidate call his countrymen rapists. [Arturo Elias Ayub, Ceo Strategic Alliances America Mobile:] Obviously we feel hurt. [Samuel Burke, Cnn Money Correspondent:] Hurt? [Ayub:] And obviously we don't like the leader of the free world talking like that about Mexico or about anyone else. [Burke:] You see how well Donald Trump is doing in the primaries in the United States. And as a Mexican, specifically a Mexican businessman, what do you feel? [Ayub:] Honestly, I think not only as a Mexican but as a citizen of this world, that the U.S. is the strongest country in the world. That you guys have a very strong leadership. I will say stronger now with President Obama. And i think the U.S. needs a very professional, a very smart, responsible leader. And I don't think Mr. Trump has any of those. [Burke:] Do you think that a President Donald Trump might have a negative effect on your business? [Ayub:] I think it will have a very negative effect on business all over the world, including the U.S. I think if he wins the presidency, he will we will see a storm on the markets everywhere. As a citizen of the world, I will be very concerned if America doesn't have a very responsible leader. [Giokos:] As Syria marks five years of civil war -David Miliband says Europe's leaders have an opportunity to act and show that globalization has a conscience when it comes to refugees. Mr. Miliband will join us next. Stay with us. The United Nations called Syria the biggest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our time. The brutal conflict has now raged on for five years and the grim milestone comes as Russian forces begin their withdrawal. Still, even with Russia out and talks under way in Geneva, a path to peace is by no means clear. A half a decade of war has so far claimed 270,000 lives and left more than a million wounded. Around 11 million people have been displaced and that's around half of Syria's pre-war population. According to an estimate by the group Frontier Economics, Syria has lost out on $275 billion worth of growth. Should the war carry on into the next decade, that figure will balloon into the trillions. Now joining me in the "C" Suite is David Miliband, he's President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee. David, thank you very much for joining us. [David Miliband, President And Ceo International Rescue Committee:] Thank you, good to be with you. [Giokos:] We're looking at staggering economic numbers, we're looking at massive refugee figures as well on the doorstep of Europe. What do you think needs to be done going forward? Because we're dealing with a symptom of war, essentially. [Miliband:] I think the problem has to be tackled at source as well as at symptom. So the source is that countries in the region, notably Jordan, and Lebanon, but also Turkey, aren't able to cope with the flow of 4 or 5 million refugees that they've got. And Europe needs to be a far better job first of all registering and welcoming the refugees, secondly checking whether they are in fact refugees because only those who qualify should be allowed to stay. And thirdly sharing out the refugees around Europe. Because Germany and Sweden can't be expected to deal with that alone. [Giokos:] And you know refugees stuck at the border of Greece and Macedonia. [Miliband:] Well unilateral measures by different European countries or candidate members for the European Union in the case of Macedonia are never going to address the roots of a problem that requires a concerted European response. And the figures you gave show that Syria was a middle class country. $275 billion worth of growth, they had to have some wealth to start with. And we are finding, we're a humanitarian charity, we run operations inside Syria, in the neighborhoods states, in Europe. The refugees have run out of money. After five years of war, those who came have run out of the money that they had. Those who are coming now have run out of their savings inside Syria. [Giokos:] So the E.U. Commissioner of Migration is talking about getting 6,000 people to be assimilated within Europe every single week. Is that doable? Because we haven't actually seen these kind of figures coming through. [Miliband:] It's certainly practical. I mean if you think about the U.S. as an example, that was the U.S. was accepting about 160,000 Vietnamese every year in the early 1980s. The E.U. is now a continent of 500 million people, it's a practical scheme as long as you're willing to first of all put the resources into quick screening so you get the right people. And secondly that you do the basics of refugee integration right, which means teaching people English, getting them into work, getting them on the path to citizenship. [Giokos:] We're in the middle of Super Tuesday, right. We know what the [Miliband:] You noticed, even on this program you noticed. [Giokos:] Even on this program. It's important because some of the rhetoric coming through from the candidates are very much against immigration, against assimilating the likes of refugees. And in fact we've seen very low numbers being pushed into the U.S. What should the U.S. be doing right now? [Miliband:] I think the U.S. has had its leadership role supplanted frankly as a as a home for refugees. Just a few miles down the water from here, the Statue of Liberty says bring me your poor and huddled masses. And the U.S. has taken 2,500 refugees from Syria since the war began. So the U.S. is blessed by its geography and is able, frankly, to choose the refugees it has. The security fears are addressed by an 18 to 24-month vetting process of all agencies of U.S. government. And really the U.S. needs to step up in the way that Canada has, frankly. The new Canadian government, 25,000 refugees. It puts into the shade the kind of effort that the U.S. is making. And this is a country that's shown how to make refugee resettlement work. Albert Einstein founded the International Rescue Committee 80 years ago, he's a refugee, Madeleine Albright, a refugee. We all know the story now that Steve Job's biological father a Syrian refugee. This is a country that's made refugee resettlement work and it really needs to show how it can continue to do so in the future. [Giokos:] Peace talks current underway in Geneva. Russia pulling out. What is your prognosis going forward because if you look at the economic impact, even if we are able to find a conclusion on the peace talks, you're talking about a country that economically has been destroyed. It's not as if you can say, well refugees go back home. [Miliband:] No, the phrase "ravaged by war" applies in spades in Syria. 85% of the lights are out on the satellite footage across Syria. Anyone who's seen the situation there can't afford to come here and say complacently, yes, I'm optimistic. But there's been a pause in the fighting. And the Russian withdrawal is a reminder that they had a marriage of convenience with Assad. Their concern is the stability of the state. And it seems to me essential that the opportunity that's being created is somehow consolidated. And that's going to take some real leadership, not just globally but also in the region from countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran as well. [Giokos:] David, thank you for your time. Sir, much appreciated. [Miliband:] Thank you. [Giokos:] All right, so now this week on CNN we are investigating the human rights abuses that permeate one of the world's biggest industries: tea. It's part of our Freedom Project, shining a light on modern day slavery. In the second part of the series, Muhammad Lila has been embedded with police in New Delhi on a mission to rescue a 14-year-old girl being held for more than a year by an alleged trafficker. [Muhammad Lila, Cnn Correspondent:] [Manju Gore] lives on a tea plantation, in a life of poverty. A few years ago she was tricked by a human trafficker with promises of more money and a better life in the city. She managed to escape. But she tells us her sister is still in the hands of a trafficker. For help she's come here, the headquarters of a Save the Childhood Movement. A charity that rescues children from captivity. As they plan the raid, time is critical. They have to move fast, making call after call. Desperately trying to find out where the trafficker is hiding. But every call, every desperate tap on the phone, everything leads to a dead end. So there's a problem right now. We thought we knew where the traffickers were keeping [Manju's] sister. But it looks like right now we don't. As the minutes turn into hours and all hope looks lost [Lila:] Suddenly, out of the blue, a big break. [speaking foreign language] A lucky phone call leads to the trafficker's address. So we just got confirmation of where the trafficker is right now and we're going to go and see him. Nobody what's going to happen is we climb the narrow staircase in this decrepit apartment building. Police are hoping to make an arrest and [Manju] moves quickly room to room, desperate to find her sister. As police move to the rooftop downstairs, we turn a corner and find this. It looks like we've found a couple of other girls that are also victims of trafficking. And there's somebody hiding in the room right here. Huddled against the wall, three young girls, terrified, all from villages in a state of Assam. This is the man police trot out for the cameras, accusing him of trafficking girls from tea plantations, promising them a better life, but then abusing them and selling them off as domestic labor. For [Manju,] this rescue is bittersweet. Hoping to find her sister, but finding other girls instead. [Dolly Joshi] has rescued hundreds of girls from modern day slavery. As police take the suspect, she drives with us to the police station. What was your reaction when you saw these girls? How did you feel? Sir, Sir, we're with CNN, can we ask you a question? This is what happens when we confront the man they accuse. Answer my question, Sir. Were you taking advantage of them? [speaking foreign language] Police take him inside for questioning and charge him with bonded labor and cruelty to a child. As the sun sets, the suspect agrees to tell them where [Manju's] sister has been working. Two long hours later, [Manju's] sister [Arki] emerges, met with a smile and a hug that means the world. [speaking foreign language] And just like that, with police by their side, the two sisters are together again, walking arm in arm, taking their steps together in freedom. For the CNN Freedom Project Muhammad Lila, in Delhi. [Giokos:] Incredible story there. And coming up, Valeant Pharmaceuticals are not operating on all cylinders, and that's according to the company's CEO, as it suffers a dramatic day in the markets. That coming up next. Stay with us. [Cabrera:] United Airlines is now changing its policy after backlash from that viral video. Surely you've seen it showing a passenger being dragged off a flight. Lawyers for Dr. David Dao say he suffered a concussion, a broken nose and other injuries after this happened. This is when he was forcibly removed from a United Airlines plane in Chicago. United later saying Dao's seat was needed for a commuting crew member. Well, here's United's new statement just this weekend saying, "we issued an updated policy to make sure crews traveling on our aircraft are booked at least 60 minutes prior to departure and this ensures situations like Flight 3411 never happen again." CNN's Rene Marsh reports on what's next for the injured passenger. [Rene Marsh, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] Attorneys for David Dao, the man dragged off of a full United Express flight fired a warning shot saying they will probably sue. [Thomas Demetrio, Attorney For David Dao:] If you are going to eject a passenger, under no circumstances can it be done with unreasonable force or violence. [Marsh:] Dao was released from the hospital but suffers a long list of injuries, including a concussion, broken nose, injured sinuses, he lost two front teeth and he's set to undergo reconstructive surgery. After the incident, Dao appeared dazed as he rambled "just kill me." [David Dao, Passenger, United Airlines:] Just kill me. Just kill me. [Marsh:] His attorney explained. [Demetrio:] He said that he left Vietnam in 1975 when Saigon fell. And he was on a boat and he said he was terrified. He said that being dragged down the aisle was more horrifying and harrowing than what he experienced in leaving Vietnam. [Marsh:] Dao's daughter said watching the video made her family even more outraged. [Crystal Dao Pepper, Daughter Of David Dao:] What happened to my dad should have never happened to any human being regardless of the circumstance. We were horrified. [Marsh:] The attorney also blamed the city of Chicago and its officers. While a lawsuit has not been filed yet, they've signaled it's the direction they're going in asking a court to order the airline and Chicago Airport Police to preserve evidence, including surveillance video of passengers boarding the flight, the cockpit voice recordings, and personnel files. [Justin Green, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] This happened in the absolute worst city, Chicago. It's famous for being a very good place to sue a corporation and it's the last place on Earth that United Airlines would want to defend the case. [Marsh:] Well, CNN has obtained an e-mail the airline sent to passengers offering reimbursement for the flight. It says customers are eligible for vouchers towards future flights if they release the airline from lawsuits. Well, after CNN reported this, a United spokesperson later told us that it didn't mean to send passengers e- mails with that language, and then told us that no person on board that flight would have to agree to such terms. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington. [Cabrera:] Thank you, Rene. What a mess for United. Hopefully it results in something for travelers. Let's talk more about the United Airlines controversy and what may be coming next. Joining me on the phone, consumer advocate and former independent and Green Party presidential candidate, Ralph Nader. He's also the author of "Breaking Through Power, It's Easier Than We Think." Ralph, thank you for joining us. [Ralph Nader, Former Presidential Candidate:] You're welcome, Ana. [Cabrera:] I know in the 1970s you actually helped to set the precedent for airlines to compensate passengers bumped from a flight. So what's your reaction to this video we have seen over and over again now of Dr. Dao being dragged off a plane? [Ralph Nader, Former Presidenteial Candidate:] Well, first of all, I don't think Southwest Airlines would have done that. And I think the first step is to punish these misbehaving airlines who charge you for everything but breathing, the reservation changes, baggage fees, upper bins, buying a ticket at the ticket counter, buying a ticket on the telephone. United and others charge for that. Southwest doesn't. So that's one market approach. In other words, favor the airline that is responsive. The second is that existing legislation it's now being drafted by people like Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut. Passenger rights bills have been floating around Congress going nowhere for years. And I think this tragedy with Dr. Dao is going to build up grassroots support for passenger bill of rights because the existing contract, which nobody can read. We're all told we've agreed to it the minute we bought a ticket. [Cabrera:] There's that fine print always, right? [Nader:] Yes. It's like 64 pages single-spaced, the United Airlines contract of carriage with 37,000 words. So, that's a one-sided contract. That has to be changed by a passenger bill of rights in Congress. So the proverbial contact to your senator and representative. [Cabrera:] I think a lot of people would agree with what you just said in terms of the outrage of all these extra fees, and what seems to be worse customer service. But I've also read that United did have the legal right to force Dao off this plane, right? [Nader:] Yes. The way a dictator has legal rights when they rig the laws. It's a one-sided contract. That's why Dr. Dao has a cause of action, as you describe. He's going to get a big settlement or a big verdict. He'll never have to work again. But the important thing is that these one sided contracts, standard form contracts from the fine print, they can never be allowed to be so dictatorial because we have no bargaining power. We don't even see it. We don't even negotiate it. The minute we buy a ticket, we're stuck with it. And that's why Congress has got to put in a passenger bill of rights to balance out the rights between passengers and the airlines, especially since it's all down to four major airlines now, the competition is getting less and less domestically. [Cabrera:] So going back to this contract of carriage that you've been talking about. I understand that a few years back, your group actually tried to make a change, faircontract.org. You tried to convince the FAA to change the rules. So, what happened? Why didn't it worked? [Nader:] Well, our project, faircontracts.org, it told the FAA, look, you're regulating the airlines and part of regulations is to make sure it is a fair recognition of rights of passengers. And so you can take this monstrous 64-page contract and fine print and make it fairer. Put it up to a public comment so people around the country can comment on it on the internet and then require these airline contracts of carriage to be fairer and the FAA wouldn't do it. The FAA is a very weak regulator. [Cabrera:] So do you think that now we all have these cell phones that that's provided an opportunity, an outlet that's given travelers more power in this situation because we have videos like the one we just showed? [Nader:] Very much, Ana. And that is costing United Airlines obviously. It's costing the passenger sales, its stock is fluttered. Its reputation and brand name is not what it was and that sends a signal to all the other airlines. I mean, you just don't do that. You can get people off the airplane by just providing cash and keep going up $500, $800, $900. There always some people not in a hurry, they'll take the next plane and have a financial windfall. What United did was they tried the voucher game, you know, vouchers, fine print, expiring in one year on another airline trip. People don't cater to that. But if it offered cash and is free to do, then it wouldn't be a problem because millions of passengers have gone off planes in financial windfalls since my Supreme Court win in the 1970s that set up this system. Millions of passengers have it works like a dream. But they have to keep increasing the incentive for enough passengers to give up their seats for the overbooked passengers to take the seats, and then take the next flight. [Cabrera:] So, you just talked about one solution and in fact I think Delta might have been listening with you or with you in some kind of mind melt today because Delta Airlines just announced that it will pay passengers now up to $10,000 to give up their seats to completely avoid situations like United has faced this week. Beyond that, do you think we're going to start to see other airlines offering other types of benefits after this controversy? [Nader:] Yes. The best benefit, Ana, is cash. People understand that. [Cabrera:] Back to the cash. [Nader:] You see, when they get a voucher, too many qualifications and conditions and time limitations. Cash does the job. [Cabrera:] All right. Ralph Nader, thank you so much for joining us. [Nbader:] You're welcome. [Cabrera:] Nice talking with you this evening. It is a silent menace making it harder for us to breathe and easier to get sick. Ahead, how climate change could already be impacting your health. And, the Vice President, visiting South Korea just hours after a failed missile test in North Korea. What he said in Seoul and the options for handling the threat posed by Pyongyang. That's ahead. [Sesay:] The Trump administration has set its sight on prosecuting WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. Assange is out of reach right now inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London. The U.S. wants him arrested and charged for publishing classified U.S. materials. CNN's Pamela Brown has our report. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] U.S. authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks Founder Julian Assange. U.S. officials familiar with the matter tell CNN that the Justice Department probe of Assange and WikiLeaks dates back to 2010 when the site first gained widespread attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former U.S. Army intelligence analyst, now known as Chelsea Manning. Prosecutors have struggling with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange, but now they believe they've found a way to move forward. During President Barack Obama's administration, Attorney General Eric Holder and officials at the Justice Department determined it would be difficult to bring charges against Assange because WikiLeaks wasn't alone in publishing documents stolen by Manning. Several newspapers, including "The New York Times" did as well. The U.S. view of WikiLeaks and Assange began to evolve after investigators found what they believe was proof that WikiLeaks play an active role in helping Edward Snowden, the former NSA analyst, disclose a massive cache of classified documents. WikiLeaks has defended itself as accomplishing in the public's interest and compares itself to media organizations. As we know, Assange is sitting in the Ecuadorian embassy in London. So this move is seen more to be a political message now more than anything we're told. Pamela Brown, CNN, Washington. [Vause:] North Korea went into it United Nations on Thursday to warn that any hostilities on the Korean peninsula would be the fault of the U.S. And Pyongyang accused the United States of engaging in a decapitation operation to overthrow the regime of Kim Jong-Un. [Sesay:] After decades of relative calm, Beijing is now worried another armed conflict is about to break out on its doorstep. In response, the Chinese military is on high alert. Barbara Starr has the details. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] China has put some bombers capable of carrying cruise missiles on a high-alert status, a U.S. defense official tells [Cnn. Col. Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] The reason they have their bombers on alert is they can respond should there be a kinetic strike against North Korea. [Starr:] The U.S. also has seen an extraordinary number of Chinese aircraft being brought up to full readiness through intensified maintenance, all preparing for what the U.S. says is a North Korea contingency, but officials can't say what that contingency might be. [Leighton:] They see that possibility, if North Korea were to implode, as their biggest geopolitical worry. [Starr:] As tensions rise across the region, the "USS Carl Vinson" strike group is expected to arrive within days. Its planes will conduct visible flight operations. U.S. submarines will be able to remain covert under sea conducting surveillance of North Korean communications if ordered. A joint U.S.-South Korean exercise named Max Thunder now underway, the second-largest air exercise held on the peninsula. All aimed at ensuring the security of South Korea and the 28,000 U.S. troops there. No letup in the militaristic rhetoric from Kim Jong-Un's regime. North Korea's state newspaper issuing a dire threat saying, "Our preemptive strike towards U.S. and its followers will be the most merciless strike aiming for complete destruction." And at the underground nuclear test site where the world awaits a sixth North Korean nuclear test, a curiosity. The latest commercial satellite imagery shows a volleyball game in progress. [on camera]: No one can say how long the Chinese alert status will last, but U.S. officials say they still believe North Korea could conduct a nuclear test at any time. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. [Vause:] We'll stay on that region a little longer. Ivan Watson is in Seoul, South Korea; and David McKenzie is in Beijing. David, there was a time when Beijing described the relationship with North Korea as being as close as lips and teeth. We've seen those days are over. But the question, how far is China prepared to go to rein in North Korea. [David Mckenzie, Cnn Senior International Corerspondent:] That's a good question. That's what the U.S. administration is trying to push China to turn the screws on Kim Jong-Un's regime to try and slow the development of nuclear weapons they could face towards the U.S. allies or the U.S. itself eventually. But there has been this shift in recent years. In years past, you did have this very close both political and trade relationship between the two countries. Now it's a little different. Kim Jong-Un has repeatedly ignored the pleas from Chinese leadership to stop the nuclear program. That's a big slap in the face for Chinese President Xi Jinping. So there's a lack of trust between the two allies. But you will probably not see China going the full move towards cutting off trade with North Korea. That could be a way for them to really put the pressure on, because they don't want the collapse of Pyongyang regime of Kim Jong-Un because that would really cause a major headache for China. So they're walking a tight rope right now John? [Vause:] If they're not going to go all the way with trade, that raises the question about how far are they to go militarily. There's an assumption in the U.S., especially the White House and the Pentagon that China has put its military on alert and that's directly related to the situation in North Korea. If it's not related to the situation in North Korea, is it simply a show of force or is there something else going on that we just don't know. What are the options? [Mckenzie:] It could be something we just don't know. At this stage, the ministry of defense is not responding to our queries about that state of high alert according to U.S. officials. From a political perspective, there's no real reason China would be setting up its bombers, certainly not to bomb North Korea, its ally. Who else would they want to bomb in this scenario? I think China is looking to keep this far away from a military operation as possible. And until we get really word from the Chinese, which is unlikely, we'll have to play this kind of speculation game, which appearance at some level, what the U.S. officials are doing. They are looking, both with their comments about the carrier strike group in the region and otherwise, to try to push the pressure on Pyongyang. China's trying to diffuse it. [Vause:] David, in Beijing, thank you. Let's go to Ivan Watson in Seoul. Ivan, the U.S. president finding out that words matter and words about history matter even more. There seems to be unhappiness after President Trump told "the Wall Street Journal" that Korea was once part of China. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] That has rubbed a lot of Koreans the wrong way and it's gone all the way up to the foreign ministry which on Thursday said it was reaching out to both the U.S. and China about these remarks through diplomatic channels, going on to say according to a foreign ministry spokesman here, quote, "The international community unequivocally acknowledges that Korea was never a part of China in its thousands of years of history, and no one can deny the facts." A day later here, Friday, in Seoul, the foreign ministry spokesperson saying there still hasn't been a response from the Chinese or the Americans about this request for clarification. Meanwhile, take a listen to what seem people here on the streets of Seoul had to say about this claim that the U.S. president reportedly made. [Unidentified Female:] It is unreasonable to say that. It is nuts. Nonsense. I was furious to learn the news this morning. He lacks understanding of the Korean peninsula. [Unidentified Male:] I don't know what President Xi actually said, but I think Trump has misunderstood Korean history. [Watson:] John, it's election season here. This is something that candidates are talking about, too. You've got some of the candidates over my shoulder here on those posters. One of the front-runners in the polls was asked about this last night, and he said, if he's elected president, first, he'd have to clarify whether or not Xi Jinping actually claimed that Korea was once part of China. But he went on to say if he has a meeting one on one with Donald Trump that he will, quote, "explain history to President Donald Trump and correct this mistake." Where the frustration? Well, Korea is a relatively small country sandwiched between China and Russia. This was a country that was occupied by Japan for decades during the early 20th century and is fiercely proud of its independence and doesn't like heads of state incorrectly reporting what happened in history to this country John? [Vause:] It could be something as simple as a mistake in translation or a misunderstanding or it could be a deliberate attempt maybe by the Chinese president to mislead Donald Trump. We don't know. Maybe we'll find out. Ivan, thank you. Ivan Watson there in Seoul. Also, before Ivan, David McKenzie, in Beijing. Appreciate it. [Sesay:] Quick break here. Just ahead, a look from the front lines of the fight against ISIS. [Unidentified Cnn Correspodnent:] There, in the distance, is the reason the fighting so hard in these dense winding streets to hold the Iraqi police and military back. That is the mosque. [Vause:] Much more from inside Mosul after the break. [Harlow:] Russia appears to be the number-one suspect in the hacking of a Pentagon e-mail service. The attack happened about two weeks ago on an unclassified e-mail server used by 4,000 employees at the Pentagon who work for the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The server is still down and there's a lot of talk about who could have carried this out. I want to talk about it more and the significance of it with Robert Knake, a former White House cybersecurity director, and now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Looking at this first, the U.S. military describes this as a very sophisticated, a stealth spear fishing hack. Walk us through what happened and why it is different this time, why it shows more precise capability from the hackers. [Robert Knake, Senior Fellow, Council On Foreign Relations & Former White House Cybersecurity Director:] What we saw in this specific incident was an incredibly sophisticated set of tools that had never been seen before. Tools that allowed the attacker to get into the network, to find the information they want and to extract it in a very, very short amount of time. What we've seen is the in networks for three quarters of the year. They were able to get in, get the information they wanted and get out in a very, very short amount of time. I'm told days. [Harlow:] Wow. A senior defense official told CNN exactly what you just said, that this hack exposes sort of a new vulnerability from what they've ever seen in the past. You are highly confident this is Russia. We don't know for sure yet. But that's what you are leaning towards. I wonder if you could take us into what retaliation looks like for something like this. [Knake:] For something like this, I think retaliation is probably unlikely. This is the kind of [Harlow:] Why? [Knake:] It's what people might call tit for tat spying in the great game. This is what country adversaries like Russia and the United States did to each other in the Cold War and now it's taking place over the electronic networks. It's not the kind of thing that crosses the red lines that the president has laid out on cybersecurity. It's not economic espionage, not stealing secrets from corporate, not doing any of the things that he's laid out as requiring a response. [Harlow:] But what it does show is that new capability and vulnerability. So aren't you just waiting for that to happen, for that to hit the line for what it called for or spark retaliation? [Knake:] If the Russians are behind it, what would be the response if they used it against a target like critical infrastructure, if they used it to access systems, take down a power grid, disrupt communications, to mess with our financial markets? They use the capability for that and, yeah, it certainly crossed that line. In this case, I think the response is to take a hard look at how DOD markets are protected and they are some of the best protected markets in the world but in this case they were hacked and exploited. [Harlow:] Take us behind the scenes of who comes in, then. You're saying don't focus on retaliation. The focus should be on our vulnerabilities and where the weakness was or is, frankly. Who do you bring in to solve that? [Knake:] What they have done is they have shut down this network for ten days and that means they are going to have to rely on other networks and their capabilities which were not touched by this attack and then they are going to figure out how this happened and once they figure out how it happened they will share that information with the rest of the department of defense and the rest of the government and hopefully with the rest of our partners in the private sector. So that they can prevent this kind of attack from happening again. There is, I think, good news here, the fact that this was caught. I think that we're going to see a lot more of these incidents being caught and making news whereas in the pass we might not have known that something this sophisticated was taking place. [Harlow:] That's a good point. Robert Knake, thank you very much. [Knake:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Coming up, last night's GOP debate, the most watched in primary history. I'll have the highlights for you ahead. What the candidates said and big winners and losers of the evening. That's straight ahead. Coming up as well here on the program, a jewelry heist in the south of France in the vacation home of a Formula One race car driver. We are learning the thieves may have used sleeping gas during the brazen burglary. That's next. [Cuomo:] There's a lot of uncertainty going on after Brexit, but certain things are certain. The British government is in turmoil after this vote to leave the European Union. Many in the pro- Brexit camp are fending off accusations that they won on the strength of promises that they now can't deliver on. Let's discuss with Ray Finch, a member of European Parliament for the U.K. Independence Party. He joins us from Brussels. What do you make, sir, of this baseline concern that the campaign for Brexit harnessed the anger and frustration of people by making promises that now fall short? [Ray Finch, European Parliament Members, U.k. Independence Party:] First thing, good morning, Chris. What is it is there are people that are expecting everything right now. There are always negotiations in any period and there are always periods with uncertainty in those negotiations.I, for one, am absolutely convinced and confident that we will have a situation where Britain can move forward safety, prosperously, and friends with our European neighbors. [Cuomo:] What is the concern, though, when you hear Farage say, as you know, so big a part of the campaign for Brexit was look at all this money we'll be able to dedicate to the NHS to our National Health Service and then for him to say well, I never said that. I don't know what we'll do with the money but we'll have money now to play with a featherbed that we didn't have before. That was a pretty fundamental underpinning of the persuasion campaign. Now it seems like he won't be able to deliver. Fair criticism? [Finch:] Well, first thing, Nigel Farage isn't in a position to deliver. The delivery will be by the conservative government. However, you're misrepresenting, I feel, perhaps, in this elite, what Nigel actually said. He said we can spend more money. We can spend some of these savings on the NHS. And it's not just going to be, you know, the actual money we send to Brussels, it will be all the other things that can come with that. And we will be able to spend more on the NHS. We will be able to spend on the things that matter to the United Kingdom and to its people. There is no question of that. However, as with all things, it is a sense that you need time to work it all out, and that's all it is. [Cuomo:] Do you believe there is a plan because time is always useful is you know what to do with that time? [Finch:] Yes, yes, there are plans for if you're sitting there playing poker, do you let the other chap see your hand? No, you don't. [Cuomo:] But it's not poker anymore. You've won the game and people want to see what your cards are, right? You won the bluff game, the other side folded. You won with the referendum, now we need to see your cards and know what the plan is because the reverberations are so widespread. [Finch:] No, no, no. Unfortunately, Chris, this isn't the case. We now have to work with the European Union to get the best possible deal, both for the United Kingdom and for the European Union, as well as the wide of the world because, as you're aware, the U.K. is the world's fifth biggest economy and if we don't get a deal that's right for Britain, everybody suffers. We need to make sure we get the deal that's right for Britain because then everybody benefits. [Cuomo:] Are you concerned about people coming to the reality that you were number five with the European Union. You'll now be negotiating deals on your own merits behind the European Union. That, literally, there is a little bit of a moving down the queue, so to speak. [Finch:] Ha, you're going back to where Mr. Obama President Obama, and I do apologize threatened us and said we'd be at the back of the queue. Frankly, that's wrong. We are the fifth biggest economy in the world. The E.U. spent eight years on a failed attempt to do a deal with India. We can do deals all across the world in much quicker time. We know that, you know that, I know that. What we'll be is a much more agile partner with our partners all around the world and that can only be good for everyone. [Cuomo:] Mr. Finch, when do you expect to see a settling down of this and to see the pound sterling to recover? As you know, it's even down in trading today. [Finch:] Well, as you're aware, Chris, obviously when a currency goes up or down it favors different people. At the moment, with it dropping, it's favoring our exporters and I'm sure our exporters are very happy. At some point, you know we all know that for the last two years the pound's been more or less on a downward slope. Of course, at some point things will change round and as people believe that the pound is undervalued then they'll start to buy it again and then the pound will go up. The real the real one that you have to worry about is the E.U. What will happen to the Euro now, now that we have stopped paying so much money or we will stop paying so much money into the E.U.'s coffers? The Euro is the currency that's going to be, actually, in trouble, not the pound. [Trump:] Let's assume that somebody else becomes president. Wouldn't that be horrible? Wouldn't that be horrible? So let's assume somebody else becomes president. Let's assume a very low energy person, very, very low energy, so low energy that every time you watch him, you fall asleep. Let's say he said, Hillary. Yeah, Hillary too. So let's say Jeb becomes president. Not good. Not good. [Lemon:] Breaking news tonight here on CNN. Thousands turn out tonight in Mobile, Alabama at a pep rally for Donald Trump. Joining me now is John Brabender, a senior strategist for Rick Santorum, Rick Wilson, republican strategist, and Douglas Brinkley, CNN presidential historian. Good evening to you, gentlemen. I said earlier, I never thought I'd be glued to my television on a Friday night watching Donald Trump and here we are. So, John, you know what, you're a campaign guy. You're advising Rick Santorum, who was on CNN earlier today. You know, how challenging is it for Santorum, and anyone, if they're running against a Donald Trump? [John Brabender, Senior Strategist For Rick Santorium:] It's challenging for all of them because if nothing else, Donald Trump is entertaining. We like watching him. He makes us laugh. The question is should he be president? If you I'm a republican consultant. But if I was running the democrats and you gave me Ellen Degeneres, I think I could probably get her the democrat nomination over Hillary because she ideologically fits who they are, she would be funny to watch and so forth. But that's not the same as saying that he should be president. The other problem is he's difficult to attack. We saw that when Rand Paul tried it, when Rick Perry tried it, and Lindsey Graham tried it and it backfired on them. So this is very challenging for all these candidates. [Lemon:] Hey Rick, he didn't talk much about Hillary Clinton. I mean, he's talked more about President Obama. [Rick Wilson, Republican Strategist:] Well look, I mean he tonight was a lot of the usual stuff he does. But I think he believes as a lot of people do, that we're in a phase now where Hillary Clinton may be a declining stock in this market and we may be looking at something else. So he is trying to frame up against an opponent, particularly that he knew that the audience tonight would be very responsive too because Barack Obama's numbers throughout the south are about as low as they can get mathematically at this point. [Lemon:] Hey Rick, real quickly. I want to ask you this. He talked about doing interviews regularly. He mentioned CNN, he mentioned Fox, he mentioned MSNBC with jeers and some jeers from the crowd. Should other candidates be doing the same sort of thing if they want to be relevant? [Wilson:] Absolutely. You know, Don, we've have this discussion a couple times Don. I've actually encouraged two of the other campaigns to get more engaged in terms of, you know, if you're going to be on a spectacle, you're going to be in a contest where people are playing this by ear and running, calling audibles on every play, you've got to be in that game too and be more accessible and start to fill up some of the vacuum that Trump tends to fill with being on the phone with folks all the time. And you got to also play by the same rules. You guys already know what Marco Rubio or Rand Paul or Ted Cruz call in and not have them, you know, only be in a studio or only be in a package piece. [Lemon:] Well if they want to call in, they're welcome to call in to this show. Hey you know, I want to ask you this, Douglas and I want you to put this in historical context for me before. But let's listen to the sound bites. Because he's talking about Jeb Bush, Jeb Bush talking about anchor babies. This is the first time he really took on Trump. Listen to this. [Unidentified Male:] Sir, do you regret using the term anchor babies yesterday on the radio? [Jeb Bush, , Presidential Candidate:] No, I didn't. I don't. I don't regret it. [Unidentified Male:] You don't regret it? [Bush:] No, do you have a better term? [Unidentified Male:] I'm asking you. [Bush:] You give me a better term and I'll use it. I'm serious. Don't yell at me behind my ear though. [Unidentified Male:] Sorry about that. ... language anchor baby is that how... [Lemon:] OK, so Douglas, historically I think the last time I remember any term that really set people off, I think it was welfare queens. They probably were more. What do you make of this whole incident in the historical context? Or Donald Trump playing the birther card about Barack Obama. [Douglas Brinkley, Cnn Presidential Historian:] I think there's a lot of what they used to call the 19th century no nothingness, no nothing party was anti-mormon, anti-catholic, anti-Jewish. I mean here tonight in California I mean, in Alabama tonight watching this, you think about that George Wallace with segregation now and segregation forever, plays well with a certain audience. But is that the brand the GOP wants to have represented. In other words, Trump did well tonight. He had a lot of momentum. [Lemon:] Do you think it's on that level though? Do you think it's on the same level as segregation now? [Brinkley:] I do. I think it's basically Mexicans go home. That's the code language what's going on with the wall and that's what anchor babies is all about. It's deeply offensive to Mexican Americans and it's going to kill the republicans with the Latino vote. It doesn't mean it's not entertaining. Demagogues are often entertaining, but there's too much the China bashing, Japan bashing, the Saudi Arabia bashing, going after all of our allies. Basically, it's nativism on steroids and it's tracking right now. It's going to be awful hard for Jeb Bush to go after Trump. I'm not quite sure how he does it effectively because Trump is a master at media manipulation. [Lemon:] Donald Trump talking more about immigration now, listen. [Trump:] And you know, when I announced that I was running for president, I brought up the subject of illegal immigration. And I took a lot of heat, that I can tell you. Rush Limbaugh actually said, incoming. He got more incoming than anybody I've ever seen. And two weeks later, everybody was apologizing to me. They saw that I was right between what happened in San Francisco to incredible Kate and her family is such an incredible family and Jamile and so many people have been so badly hurt the other day in California last week. A woman, 66 years old, a veteran, was killed, raped, sodomized, tortured and killed by an illegal immigrant. We have to do it. We have to do something. We have to do something. [Lemon:] So when he brings up immigration, he often will bring up crime, as he did there. Douglas Brinkley said it's nativism, do you think it's a scare tactic. Do you think it's a scare tactic for voters? This is for John. [Brabender:] Sure. Well, you know, first of all, I found it more entertaining that Trump took that much credit. At some point, we're going to have to do random drug testing for all these presidential candidates because they all think they were the first of topics that we've been discussing for a long time. People are missing the entire point right now. It is not about Donald Trump. It's about the large number of people who are enthused about somebody because they think he's authentic and they've been greatly disenfranchised and so that's why he's doing so well. The other important thing that you got to watch for is his 15 minutes of fame were supposed to be up after the debate. But now he's in 16, 17, 18 minutes. So people like Bush and others have decided they're going to ratchet up and go right after Trump. And as far as I'm concerned, the real race is now beginning. [Lemon:] But Douglas, OK, if you look at history will show and correct me if I'm wrong, that the people you know, we're we've got eight years of a liberal administration so the pendulum is swinging the other way. But isn't it the people who are upset and who are more angry and who feel that they have something more to fight for, don't those people often go out and vote more so than the people who are in power? [Brinkley:] Well, it's true. Donald Trump is bottling up lightning. There's no question about it right now and there's a lot of ways you remember when Ross Perot talked about a lot of this. She got 19% of the vote in 1992 against Bush and Clinton. There's a real third party feeling in the country. I think Donald Trump is attracting a lot of independents and he gives a great speech, but it's a problem for the Republican Party if he's the nominee because he alienates so many people that aren't part of the hard right. I do think thought after McCain and after Romney, the conservative wing, if you like, the nativist wing of the Republican Party is demanding that they have a player in the game and it's really Trump or Ted Cruz and it's been interesting that Trump and Cruz have kept a bit of an alliance to all these. They're standing up to the GOP establishment. [Lemon:] Hey, I got to go. Rick, I'll give you the last word. Fifteen minutes of fame, can that turn into four years? [Wilson:] You know, I think that 15 minutes of fame are still I think he's still on the clock. And I think this is really going to become a contest between a Republican Party that believes in limited government conservativism or Republican Party that believes in sort of a native stateism. [Lemon:] Rick Wilson, Douglas Brinkley, John Brabender, thank you gentlemen, have a good weekend. [Brinkley:] Thank you. [Wilson:] Thanks Don. [Lemon:] Coming up next, two of Donald Trump's biggest fans, the Stump for Trump Girls are as fired up as ever. There they are. They are next. [Harlow:] It is being called a nationwide epidemic, and for voters in New Hampshire, they rank it as a greater concern than even the threat of terrorism. In part two of a CNN series "Primary Concern: Heroin," Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells the story about a Massachusetts police chief who refuses to throw addicts in jail. [Gupta:] It is a mystery, why exactly in this tiny fishing community of Gloucester, Massachusetts, has heroin addiction become an epidemic. It could be the long and lonely winters. It could be the stigma of addiction, and lack of resources for treatment. Whatever the exact cause is unclear. One thing Gloucester has is pills. Lots and lots of pain pills. [Chief Leonard Campanello, Gloucester Police:] A lot of this addiction came from a very legal and very accepted way to deal with pain. And that's a big problem. [Gupta:] Now, chief of police, Leonard Campanello, tells me we could leave the station, walk anywhere, up the north shore and come back with heroin in just ten minutes. [Campanello:] We're finding it in teenagers, all the way up to legislatures, police officers, sons, daughters, you know, family members. This has no boundary. [Gupta:] So, the chief decided on a radical approach, probably best described as the opposite of a war on drugs. He used Facebook to make an offer to the citizens of Gloucester. [Campanello:] If you're a user of heroin or opiates, let us help you. We know you do not want this addiction. We have resources here in the city that can and will make a difference in your life. Do not become a static. [Gupta:] We won't arrest you. We will help you. He had no idea if it would work, if anyone would listen. He didn't even know if it was legal. [on camera]: Did you hesitate? I mean, did you have any concerns about this sort of strategy or putting it out there so boldly? [Campanello:] No. I think the worst thing they could do was fire me. [Gupta:] Did you talk to your wife or anybody else before you hit "send"? [Campanello:] No. This was, you know, plausible deniability for everybody sometimes. [Gupta:] I want to give you an idea of how this remarkable program works. We're here at the Gloucester Police Department. If you're someone who's addicted to heroin, you would walk through these doors over here and right away, you would notice something is different. First of all, would you pick up the phone and tell them that you're here because you're a heroin addict. And that would start the whole process of getting an angel assigned to you. But also, take a look over here, your needles, your sharps container, your paraphernalia, your drugs, they go over here. When you start to walk through these doors now, you're not going into the police station to get arrested but to get help. [Campanello:] When we first started this program, it was an end of the war on drugs. As we started thinking about it, was it really ever a war on drugs? Was it a war on addiction? And I think that we made a statement at least for our Gloucester residents that seems to have resonated in a lot of different places that we are back to working for people who need help. So, they will come in here. [Gupta:] And the people are showing up. So far this year, almost 300 people have come through the doors and are now in treatment. And the patients aren't just from Gloucester. Unable to get the help he needed in California, Steven Lesnikoski got on a plane and came knocking on the chief's door. [Steven Lesnikoski, Recovering Heroin User:] I showed up here at 3:30 in the morning and the officers, they treated me with respect and dignity and like I was a normal human being, not any kind of stigma that society has attached to addicts and I got the help that I needed. [Gupta:] The story that led Steven here was all too familiar pills. [on camera]: Did you break your ankle? [Lesnikoski:] No. I tore my Achilles heel. [Gupta:] It was very painful I imagine. [Lesnikoski:] Yes, it was pretty painful. I couldn't walk for a couple of weeks. I was I don't have a cast, but, you know, I had to prop my leg up and that just kind of persistently got worse. I was prescribed Vicodin painkillers for that. [Gupta:] How long after you first got that prescription to Vicodin before you were taking heroin? [Lesnikoski:] Eighteen months. [Gupta:] Eighteen months? [Lesnikoski:] Give or take a month or two, less than two years. [Gupta:] I want to make a really important point. These are FDA- approved doctor prescribed pills. This is heroin. They both virtually have the same effect on the brain. The most typical course is someone starts with pills like this, they get caught off, they turn to heroin, which is an illegal drug but it works fast. It gets you high and it is very, very cheap. We now know that 20 percent of heroin users started off with pills like this. The question always arises I think with these sorts of programs, does it enable people to keep doing heroin because they think, look, I'm not going to be criminalized, I've got a safety net, I can keep doing this? [Prof. David Rosenbloom, Boston University:] Nobody wants to keep doing it. They want to get better. They haven't had the help to get better. This is a chronic, relapsing condition. People need help lots of times. We have, as a society, told them that if they relapse, they fail. We send all the wrong messages. So, people don't want to continue to suffer. [Gupta:] The chief knows this because he lives this. [on camera]: You were a plains-clothed narcotics detective for sometime. You saw this people. I mean, you still see this people, but you really saw them up close, people who are addicted to heroin who were living that life. [Campanello:] We had a mom that was a heroin addict for years. She had a 2-year-old son in her care. We routinely did search warrants if we knew that she was selling out of her house. We came in one night, and in the corner was a crib, and it was the 2- year-old and walked over just to check if that kid was all right. And he immediately put his arms out and grabbed me around the neck and he would not let go. And he stayed like that for three hours. And so, here is this guy coming in, you know, back in the day when, you know, armed to the teeth, ready to go, ready to sniff out drugs with a team of law enforcement who spent the night, you know, cradling a child, and that stuck with me for a very long time in terms of, you know, where is that child now? You know, the atmosphere that they grow up in, can something be done to stop this next generation? And where do we stop? [Gupta:] Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN, Gloucester, Massachusetts. [Harlow:] An eye-opening series. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much. We'll have part three coming up in the next hour. Straight ahead, though, fresh terror threats aimed at the West. We'll tell you where and how imminent the threat is. Stay with me. [John King, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome to INSIDE POLITICS. I'm John King. Thanks for sharing your day with us as we await an early but defining moment of the Donald Trump presidency. A busy first week of executive actions turns this afternoon to a signature Trump issue, immigration. The president, we are told, will order federal resources directed to perhaps his most memorable campaign promise. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I would build a great wall. And nobody builds walls better than me, believe me. And I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will have Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words. [King:] Also on tap, executive action to add border patrol agents, step up enforcement of immigration laws and to abolish so-called sanctuary cities. The immigration focus will continue tomorrow, we are told, when the president will detail his controversial plan to restrict refugee flows into the United States and to ban U.S. entry for residents of several majority Muslim nations. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] In the Cold War we had an ideological screening test. The time is overdue to develop a new screening test for the threats we face today. I call it extreme vetting. I call it extreme, extreme vetting. [King:] Plus, in a very, very busy first full week, the president says he's closing in on a Supreme Court pick. And, again, he's putting fellow Republicans in a tough spot by repeating his false claims that he lost the popular vote because millions of undocumented immigrants voted illegally. [Rep. Paul Ryan , House Speaker:] Look, I've already commented on that. I see no evidence to that effect and I've made that very, very clear. [King:] With us to share their reporting and their insights, CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Margaret Talev of Bloomberg, Nia-Malika Henderson of CNN and Reid Wilson from "The Hill." So let's start next hour the president, we might even actually see him leaving the White House this hour, near the top of the hour. He goes over to the Department of Homeland Security and he is, again, in his first week, using the power of the pen, his executive actions to keep this one particularly it was a signature campaign promise. [Margaret Talev, Bloomberg:] Yes, jobs, jobs, jobs, and build a wall. Everything else is extraneous, right? These are the core central messages of the campaign, and that is at least the process that's going to begin today, but really it's just beginning today. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] It is beginning today. And this is the part of the immigration and roll-out. It's also part of him seeing now firsthand the government that he is now controlling. He has visited the CIA. Now he'll be visiting the Department of Homeland Security in northwest Washington, a few miles or so from the White House. So he's getting a sense of this you know, the establishment, the government he's inheriting. But immigration is something that he campaigned for mightily, but we're going to hear a lot of talking about the wall and, as it comes up, who is going to pay for it. He said Mexico, but and how much it is going to cost here. So I am told this is part of a a few step process. The refugees will be coming potentially tomorrow or later on, but today is about directing this DHS, his agency now, to build this wall. [King:] But to Jeff's point, we don't know exactly how much it will cost. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Right. [King:] We do know, and there's a Mexican delegation coming to the White House today. And we do know the Mexican government has said, no way no how [Henderson:] Yes. [King:] That they're going to pay for it. But we don't know how much it will cost. We don't know how much it will take. We also don't know Donald Trump talks about a wall all the way [Henderson:] Right, a great wall. [King:] A great wall the way across. [Henderson:] A beautiful wall. Yes. [King:] A lot of the governors don't want that. [Henderson:] Yes. Yes. Imminent domain issues. [King:] And his own homeland security secretary has said, I'm not sure it would be that effective. [Henderson:] Yes, environmental issues. I think we've seen great theater from Donald Trump over these last couple of days. You know, the idea of sitting at a big desk and signing orders and essentially proclaiming what he wants to do. It sort of fits with what Donald Trump's idea of the presidency is, what it should look like. And now it's about the details, right? It's about how much this wall costs, how he actually gets it done, and whether it actually addresses the problem. I mean if you think about who's coming over. Now a lot of those folks are from central America. A lot of them turn themselves in at the border. And it's not the it's not what it used to be in terms of people climbing over. [King:] Right. [Henderson:] And also there are a lot of there are more border agents there than there have ever been. But, listen, this was his promise, and we'll see what it looks like, and we'll see how the actual governors in these different states and the Congress reacts. This is never something that they really liked. They had wanted to do different things in terms of immigration reform. But, listen, he's the president now. [Reid Wilson, "the Hill":] And one of the big differences within the Republican Party is there is a schism between how border states Republicans feel about immigration and how Republicans in the rest of the country feel about immigration. John McCain and Jeff Flake in Arizona are not immigration hardliners. They are, you know, they're they're much more for a sort of comprehensive reform because their states are the ones that deal with it. Their states are the ones that are engaged in billions of dollars in cross-border trade with Mexico. And making any of this harder making any of that sort of international exchange harder is going to have a negative impact on Arizona, on Texas, on California, on New Mexico and states that actually share a border. [King:] But if you're a Trump voter, this was one of his biggest applause lines during the campaign. You see him in his first week keeping this promise. So he's if you're a Trump voter, you're happy the president's doing this. But we do see some conservative grumbling on the dreamer issue. The younger younger, you know, undocumented who were brought here when they were very young by their parents, so essentially carried across the border before they could make that decision themselves. During the campaign, the candidate Trump talked about rounding them up. He sounded much more compassionate lately. Here's what he told "Time" magazine about a little more than a month ago. "We're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud. That got brought here at a very young age. They've worked here. They've gone to school here. Some were good students. Some have wonderful jobs. And they're in never never land because they don't know what's going to happen." He sounds compassionate there. Speaker Paul Ryan has said no way are you going to round these people up and throw them out. But a lot of conservatives say, why hasn't the president, as promised during the campaign, also repealed President Obama's executive orders that allow them to stay? [Zeleny:] It's a great question. I still remember it was one of the early interviews that he did when he was running. It was in the Iowa caucuses, I believe. He told our friend Chuck Todd at NBC News, he said, Chuck, they all have to go, and we'll figure it out later. That was a stunning thing that saying even these children would having to go. Margaret and I were both in the White House briefing yesterday. someone asked the question about these dreamers. And Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, said, look, he is going to focus first and foremost on people who pose a threat to this country and then work on the dreamers later. So this is not a priority. So there is some grumbling out there on this issue specifically. [Henderson:] Yes, and the numbers he's given on that are something like two to three million. Of course we know Obama did deport something like two million people. Got the nickname disparaging nickname deporter-in-chief among many Hispanic groups. But it is true that I think there is a part of Donald Trump's base, particularly people who are active on conservative radio, people like Laura Ingraham, who are very disappointed with what seems to be his soft pedaling and back pedaling on this issue. [Talev:] But, you know, the wall is, to some extent, a shiny object that's distracting from really the much more far-reaching stuff that we're expecting in the coming days. [King:] Right. [Talev:] These major shifts in terms of visa policy, refugee policy, the U.S. role in the world, sort of in that sense. That's a big deal. Also really interesting to watch will be what sort of leverage Donald Trump has to pay for this wall. He's already kind of sat down this marker, forced Mexico to say, I'm not paying for the wall. You pay for the wall if you want the wall. What leverage does he have? Is it the NAFTA negotiations? Will it be tied to that? How is it that he intends to either get his way or split the difference and claim victory at home and then the Mexican leadership [King:] Right, that's one of the many questions. Implementation of the wall. Some people prefer, you know, using cameras. Others think that there's the [Talev:] Right. [Henderson:] A virtual wall, yes. [King:] Land issues. There's some tribal lands in play here. That will end up in the courts without a doubt. [Talev:] Yes. [King:] As he tries as they try to expand the wall. And also he was he's very he says today he's going to end sanctuary cities. Candidate Trump was scathing in his criticism of San Francisco and other cities that he says are protecting the undocumented, especially when they commit crimes. The California governor, Jerry Brown, among the Democrats who says, Mr. President, you can issue orders in Washington, but we will fight you. [Gov. Jerry Brown , California:] We may be called to defend those laws, and defend them we will. And let me be clear, we will defend everybody, every man, woman, and child who has come here for a better life and has contributed to the wellbeing of our state. [King:] So this is not going to be easy. [Wilson:] No, Jerry Brown ate his Wheaties yesterday before the state of the state address. He laid out a lot of sort of areas of opposition to the Trump administration on immigration, on health care, and on well, I mean, pretty much everything else that the Trump administration has promised so far. California has set itself up as the Vanguard against or the bulwark against some of Trump's most aggressive moves, especially on immigration. Just before that speech, he swore in Xavier Becerra, the now former congressman who's the new attorney general, specifically to take on the Trump administration on everything from immigration to climate change and anything else that might be subject to federal rules. To Margaret's point earlier, though, one of the sort of longer term impacts that Trump is going to have beyond even his presidency is going to be NAFTA. What does NAFTA look like in the long run as he sits down to renegotiate this thing? He's always talked about getting better deals for the United States, but he has never defined what provisions of any of these particular trade deals he actually objects to, whether it's the TPP or NAFTA or trade agreements that Congress has passed earlier. [King:] The details. [Henderson:] Yes. Yes. [Zeleny:] We talk so much about who is the leading Democrat, who is the leader of the Democratic Party. Well, as Reid just said, Jerry Brown, the governor of California, he's not in this building here, but he may have the biggest imprint in terms of what the Democratic Party is doing to fight back against Donald Trump. And they have hired Eric Holder, from the Covington & Burling firm here in Washington to represent California and other states who will join in on this. So that is going to be a fascinating thing to watch in the next four years. And Xavier Becerra is in a great position to emerge as a, you know, a leader in this party as well. [King:] Right, and Jerry Brown likes a good fight. [Zeleny:] He sure dos. [King:] And so he'll have his platform. Let's move to the well, we don't know all the details of the tomorrow part, which began in the campaign as a the Muslim ban. That candidate Donald Trump, remember him reading the statement, I Donald J. Trump or Donald J. Trump will propose. Now they've modified it some. We are told what he's going to do is to suspend the refugee program for at least for months and indefinitely suspend Syrian refugees coming into the United States. Again, he's going to face a constitutional fight on this, and there are a lot of people around the world who say this is just sort of a clever way of essentially implementing a Muslim ban. [Talev:] Yes. [Zeleny:] Without question. [Talev:] Yes. [Zeleny:] And it's you know, it is scaled back from what he first proposed in December of 2015 in South Carolina, but it is essentially that. So the White House has been very cautious about details on this. There's a lot of chatter out there. I am told that they are not yet certain on the final proposals on this, but it is so controversial in every way. But I saw something that the Pentagon tweeted out this morning. It was a soldier it was a Marine, excuse me, and it says from refugee to Marine, and it showed someone in a uniform. And for all the talk here about how agencies aren't supposed to be sending out messages on social media, that was a powerful message from this Pentagon, this Defense Department, showing that refugees are in our armed services. [Henderson:] Yes. And the other idea of, does it even address the problem? [Zeleny:] Right. [Henderson:] I mean if you look at the past couple of terrorist attacks that have happened here, they've been essentially self-radicalized citizens who, you know, may have traveled abroad, but, you know, kind of fell into it through online, you know, portals or whatever. So it's not it's not clear that what he's going to do is going to actually address this problem. [Zeleny:] Right. [Wilson:] One of the fascinating elements that's happening sort of under the radar right now is the states and city governments are trying to find a new way to relate to the federal government. We saw a lot of states during the Obama administration, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, suing the Obama administration at every turn. Now they're trying to figure out how to work with the Trump administration and this is one of the issues on which there is still some difference between the states and the feds. There are a number of states that are suing the federal government, now Donald Trump's administration, but the lawsuit began under Obama's administration, to try to essentially remove themselves from refugee resettlement programs. So this is this is a big area of divide that's going to continue over [Henderson:] Yes. And there's some evangelical Christians who think, you know, taking refugees in is part of the expression of their Christian faith. So there's some of that divide too. [Talev:] Well but and we may see [King:] But you sign papers. You sign papers. You have bold actions. And then it's going to take us weeks and months, court cases, maybe even years actually for some of this stuff to filter in, to find out exactly what it is and what it does and how it works. Up next, there is zero evidence, none, that three to five million undocumented immigrants illegally voted for Hillary Clinton, but that fact is lost on one very important person, the president of the United States. [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Host:] Tonight: tax authorities around the world are leaping into action, as millions of leaked documents allege money laundering, corruption and tax evasion, all the way up to the pinnacle of wealth and power. We uncover the details with the investigative reporter who helped expose this story. Plus: as Greece deports its first boat load of migrants back to Turkey, I ask the head of International Organization for Migration, is this really the right solution? And the mayor of Paris tells me why Europe can never surrender to terrorists. [Anne Hidalgo, Mayor Of Paris:] The basis for our societies, for all our modern democracies, is humanism. And this is really what we are holding at the heart of our thinking. This is our main weapon against terrorism. [Amanpour:] Good evening, everyone and welcome to the program. I'm Christiane Amanpour in London. It's one of the biggest data leaks in history, 11.5 million documents, blowing the lid off some of the world's most powerful people and their offshore billions. The files from the Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca were passed to a major German newspaper and shared with other journalists. Offshore accounts aren't illegal but often they can be used to hide from tax authorities and launder ill-gotten gains. Mossack Fonseca calls it theft and denies any wrongdoing. Quote, "Nothing we've seen in this illegally obtained cache of documents suggests we've done anything illegal and that's very much in keeping with the global reputation we've built up over the past 40 years of doing business the right way, right here in Panama." Now in total, 12 national leaders are among 143 politicians, their families and close associates, who have been implicated. The Kremlin has denounced accusations that the documents reveal an alleged $1 billion money laundering ring involving close associates of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin calls that "another series of fibs." Another cache puts FIFA back into the spotlight. And tonight the U.S. Justice Department and tax authorities in several nations from Australia to the United Kingdom say they are looking into these revelations. Now Gerard Ryle is the director of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which is the organization that received and investigated the leaks and he's joining me now from Washington. So welcome to the program. Can I ask you how you got this? Is it classic whistleblowing? Or what can you tell me about this cache that you got? [Gerard Ryle, Director, International Consortium Of Investigative Journalists:] Well, the cache was actually obtained originally by a German journalist called Bastian Obermayer from "Suddeutsche Zeitung," newspaper in Germany. He got it from an anonymous source, who claimed to be basically concerned about what he or she saw in the documents. And of course, the documents started as a trickle but turned into a flood, a torrent in the end. [Amanpour:] So is the source from Mossack Fonseca? [Ryle:] Well, it's an anonymous source. The person claimed that their life was in danger if they ever became known as the source for this material because, of course, there are so many powerful people that are being revealed here. [Amanpour:] So before we get to the people, do you have any doubt and then tell me about your role in helping shepherd this into the light do you have any doubt about what has been uncovered? Are you 100 percent convinced of the accuracy and authenticity? [Ryle:] Yes, we're convinced because there was a smaller leak before we managed to get these documents. There was actually a smaller leak of documents from Mossack Fonseca. And in fact, that leak was given to the German government. In fact, the German government bought the information and then, subsequently, other governments around the world, including the British government and the U.S. government, were offered those documents. We were lucky enough to get access to that material. We cross-referenced that material with this material. And of course, it all matched perfectly. And the other thing you've got to I guess understand here is that it's almost impossible to make up 11.5 million documents. And of course when we went around the world to confront the people who were named, they all confirmed that, in fact, yes, the documents were real. [Amanpour:] So it is a huge amount. And people are wondering whether more is going to come out. But more to the point, let me just ask you to sort of parse this idea of potential illegality. So obviously, as you know and everybody knows, offshore accounts aren't always illegal. Do you do you believe and do you have actual, you know, sort of evidence that these accounts and these revelations show illegality? And if so, where? Where can you direct us to that? [Ryle:] Well, there's no doubt that illegality is occurring here. Mossack Fonseca may be correct when they say that they are an innocent party here. But you've got to remember that Mossack Fonseca don't always even know who the end client always is. In fact, it's only when the end client turns out to be on a sanctions list, for instance, that they actually find out that that's the client they're dealing with. They claim that, in fact, their clients are the major banks and the major accountancy firms and the major law firms around the world that are using their services. And it's clear from the documents that Mossack Fonseca don't always know who the ultimate beneficial owner of these companies are. [Amanpour:] So let me run by a few of the responses that have trickled out today. So from the Kremlin, as we've already said, they deny it and they say it's just another part of this web of lies about President Putin, basically saying, "To us, it's clear, that the main goal of such reports was and is our president, especially in the context of upcoming elections." Now on the other side of that political fence, Petro Poroshenko, the president of Ukraine, has tweeted, "Having become president, I'm not participating in management of my assets, having delegated this responsibility to consulting and law firms." What's wrong with that? [Ryle:] Well, I guess, in some of these cases, for instance, in Poroshenko's case, he did not declare that he had the offshore company. So that's an the issue if you're an elected politician. With Putin, there's no doubt that these people are very close to Putin. One of them is the godfather of his child. And one of these offshore companies is the owner a ski resort where Putin's daughter got married. And we're seeing some very strange figures in the documents, where loans of hundreds of millions of dollars are actually given to people and there doesn't appear to be any repayment of these loans. And you also see loans that are given in U.S. dollars but then repaid in rubles. Now if you were going to invade Crimea, you would know that the ruble is about to go down. So it's a very strange way of doing business. And I certainly think that these documents, if nothing else, they raise an awful lot of questions. [Amanpour:] Well, questions that some would like to see answered. For instance, the president of France. Let's just say let's just play what he said. [Francois Hollande, President Of France:] It's thanks to those who come forward that we now have this information. These whistle-blowers are doing work that is useful for the international community. They take risks and they need to be protected. [Amanpour:] So that's the president of France's belief. So what stands out for you? Or rather, what do you think the consequences of this are going to be? [Ryle:] Well, I think the biggest consequence here is that this is a massive blow to secrecy. And the offshore world really only has one product and that is secrecy. And when you take away that product, then they no longer have anything for sale. But I think for years and years, have been getting away with the secrecy. And we're also seeing in the documents, that every time the governments and authorities try to crack down, they're finding new ways to get around those obstacles or barriers. [Amanpour:] Gerard Ryle, so much more to talk about and we'll follow it and we'll come back to you. Thank you so much indeed. [Ryle:] Thank you. [Amanpour:] Now it's claimed in the Panama Papers that offshore funding is literally fueling the Syrian War for instance, with illegal sale of jet fuel to Assad's air force. That war has triggered mass migration that Europe is struggling to deal with. And some 200 migrants were returned to Turkey from Greece under new E.U. laws that go into effect today. Most of those were meant from Pakistan. In Germany, a handful of Syrian refugees arrived by plane, which is also part of this E.U. resettlement agreement. Just days ago, the Turkish president told me that closer cooperation on this issue is already working. [Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Of Turkey:] With the timely sharing of the intelligence, with a joint cooperation with Greece, we can see a significant drop in the amount of refugees trying to cross over to the European continent. [Amanpour:] But it's also come under a lot of criticism. Is this deal workable or even legal? William Lacy Swing is director general of the International Organization for Migration and he joins me from Switzerland. Welcome back to the program, Ambassador. Is this something that your organization approves of? Do you believe it's humane and, indeed, legal? And workable? [William Lacy Swing, Director General, Iom:] I would have to say that we share some of the same concerns that [Swing:] others on your program have expressed, including our traditional partner, UNHCR as well as Amnesty International. There are a number of concerns, the primary one being whether there are going to be the legal protections that these people should be provided, who are in desperate straits. There's a whole mechanical quality to it. You have to do simultaneous measures at the same time, resettlement to Europe, relocation and none of these are going very well. I'm concerned, also, there's a large group of non-refugee migrants there, who are not covered by any international legal framework, who have sort of been left out of the picture. And we're concerned to see that they get their vulnerabilities and needs addressed at the same time. So I think we're in a difficult situation. Europe should have seen this coming. We've had unbroken conflict and disaster from the Western Bulge of Africa to the Himalayas and, clearly, particularly with the war in Syria, now in its sixth year, one should have known that people were going to move out of desperation. [Amanpour:] So what should Tell me how. Because everybody says, yes, it's all very well for you to say it but we've got a million migrantsrefugees who have already entered Europe over the last 12-plus months. How would that have been manageable? [Swing:] Well, you have a million migrants in Lebanon, which has a population of only 5 million. It could have been manageable if the union had functioned as it was expected to do. I think when Chancellor Merkel made a very courageous and visionary decision to open borders to these poor people, I think one could have assumed that most of the 27 others would have followed. In fact, only Sweden and Austria followed. So in effect, the whole burden was left on one or two countries. [Amanpour:] And that doesn't sorry to interrupt you but we have only a certain amount of time. That doesn't look like it's changing. And in fact, a lot of those countries have closed their borders now. I want you to comment on some of the things that your own organization has said, that we need to manage this, because you have, quote, "the right wing taking power with opportunist politicians creating careers out of this." And another of your organization's officials have said, you know, sending all illegal migrants back to Turkey will, quote, "strengthen criminal groups and push refugees into the hands of [Isis." Swing:] Well, in effect, restrictive policies are achieving the opposite objective. It, in fact, is giving the smugglers and the traffickers a lot more room to maneuver. It's kind of a subsidization, if you will, of smuggling, which is most unfortunate. But I think in Europe now, we've got to see them overcome refugee amnesia, from the period of 1951 when we were created, to take European refugees abroad; systemic paralysis and I think also to get used to being a continent of destination rather than just a continent of origin peopling the world. On the other hand, I think we need to take a longer-term look at this. Out of this could come some positive things. They are pushing their way toward a more comprehensive, long-term migration and asylum policy. They are putting their relations with Turkey on a longer-term footing. And let's hope that most of them will become, officially, refugee resettlement countries with respectable annual quotas. Those would be positive outcomes. But right now, we're still a good ways away from that. [Amanpour:] And, finally, you know, we reported that most of those who have been deported today were Pakistani men and not the sort of Syrians who everybody's been focusing on. How do you see the sort of nationalities or the breakdown of the deportees proceeding? [Swing:] Well, I don't have exact figures on it but it is certainly a mixed group, primarily Syrian but there are also probably Afghans, Iraqis, perhaps, as you say, some Pakistanis. And we've kind of forgotten about the flows across the Central Mediterranean, which are coming out of impoverished areas and areas in conflict in Africa, which is still an issue that needs to be resolved. And European Union has made a strong effort in that regard. [Amanpour:] Ambassador Swing, thank you very much indeed for joining us tonight. And coming up, the mayor of Paris takes on two of the greatest global threats right now. Anne Hidalgo talks terror and climate change when we come back. [Kristie Lu Sout:] And let's begin with breaking news from Scotland. First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has announced she will seek approval for a second referendum on Scotland's independence She told a press conference in Edinburgh that Autumn 2018 would be the earliest point such a referendum would take place. Now, this comes as the British prime minister prepares to pull the trigger on Brexit. A crucial vote will get underway in the British parliament today. And if passed, Theresa May could begin divorce proceedings with the European Union as earlier as Tuesday. Now, let'go straight to Phil Black. He joins us live outside of parliament in London. And Phil, what more can you tell us about what the Scottish first minister said in that press conference which is still under way. [Phil Black, Cnn International Correspondent:] So, Kristie, the Scottish first minister says it's important for Scotland to have a plan for her to do what she believes is right and so that is why, she says, she has signaled her intention to go to the Scottish Parliament next week and get permission for yet another referendum on Scottish independence, keeping in mind that the last time Scotland voted on this was back in 2014, not that long ago where the decision to stay with the United Kingdom won by 55 percent to 45 percent. That was supposed to be a once in a generation vote. But, of course, since the Brexit vote, the Scottish First Minister, her government, well, they have consistently said that this changes things. This is not what the Scottish people voted for last time around and she's insisted that she has a clear electoral mandate from the Scottish people to proceed with yet another referendum if she believed that it was in Scotland's interest to do so. Today, she said, yes, that is indeed the case. Throughout her justification there was clearly the belief that she feels Scotland has been excluded from all consideration in the Brexit process so far. She said the decision for a hard Brexit. One that wouldn't keep Scotland, or the UK, within the European single market had been made without her, she said, but it tells its own story and especially the fact she she as first minister did not yet know precisely when the Article 50 would be triggered so the Scottish first minister said she will go to parliament next week, and indeed her preferred timing, although it's not locked in, would be from autumn next year up until spring the following year, that's Spring 2019. The goal, she says is to have vote at a point when the Scottish people have an idea what the Brexit terms would look like, but also giving Scotland time to declare intention before Brexit actually takes place. Let's dip in now to the first minister Nicola Sturgeon as she continues to speak now. [Black:] So, the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon there explaining why justifying if you like, why she is pushing for yet another referendum on Scottish independence to be held by her own preferred timetable, some time either late next year, late 2018, or in the first half of 2019. Now, what she was also talking about there was the process of making that intention a reality, because it's not just up to her, she will go back to the Scottish parliament where she controls a minority government to seek its approval for such a move, but ultimately permission must be granted by the British government here in London for yet another referendum to be held. And we know that the prime minister Theresa May's view on all of this is that it is unnecessary, that in her words it's a distraction, that Scotland has already voted on this as recently as 2014, and it should not happen again soon, particularly at a time now when Britain is so focused on the exit process from the European Union. And think about this from the British prime minister's point of view. She is suddenly in a situation where not only is she on the one hand juggling, managing the extraordinarily complex process of Britain withdrawing from the European Union, she must now also deal with the potential for the break-up of the United Kingdom itself, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] And your thoughts on the forecast of a second referendum for Scottish independence. As you point out, it wasn't that long ago, it was September 2014, when we had that first referendum for Scottish independence. That was rejected 55 percent to 45 percent, but a lot has changed since then. Brexit, the rise of populist politics. What do you think is the public sentiment today in Scotland? [Black:] So you're right. Back in 2014, 55-45 Scotland voted to stay, which was considered something of a decisive victory for the remain vote back then, if you like. The Scottish first minister has always said, however, that in the event of what she has described and what her government described in their recent election manifesto is significant and material change that that could be revisited. And specifically reference the possibility of Scotland being pulled out of the European Union against its will. And, really, the referendum vote, the Brexit referendum vote, did reflect those sorts of circumstances in the sense that 62 percnet of Scottish voters voted to stay with the European Union, but the UK as a whole, and particularly the vote in England, said or voted in favor of Brexit. Ever since then, the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has insisted this does change things, that [inaudible] referendum highly likely. However, she has been focused on trying to secure some sort of compromise, some sort of arrangement that would accept Scotland and Britain comes out of the EU, but Scotland could perhaps in some way maintain access, for example, to the European single market, which Nicola Sturgeon believes is so important to Scottish trade, business, the Scottish economy generally. Since then, she has clearly become of the view that Scotland and her government have been excluded from all considerations when it comes to the Brexit process, has not been notified, has not been the suggestions for compromise have not been in her view I think given the consideration that she believes they are worth. And so now this brings us to this point where after a lot of suggestion she is finally declaring her intention to hold yet another Scottish referendum. How that goes down with the Scottish people themselves, well, that is in a sense much less clear because up until very recently the opinion polls have suggested that the there is no clear majority of political will desiring yet another vote on this, let alone a clear majority of people who want independence. The Scottish first minister has today justified her call for yet another referendum in the face of not having that sort of popular will behind her by saying she believes it's important to do the right thing to give the Scottish people a voice, a real choice about what sort of country they want to be in an environment where she believes Scotland's options, its choices are being significantly taken away Kristie. [Lu Stout:] We know that Britain is on the verge of triggering Brexit. And right behind you in the houses of parliament we have British lawmakers debating the withdrawal bill. How do you think that announcement from Nicola Sturgeon is going to affect the tone of that debate today? [Black:] This will no doubt be met with great annoyance by the British government and the Prime Minister Theresa May and the fact that Nicola Sturgeon has got out ahead of the government, if you like, and declared her intention to hold this referendum not just before Article 50 can be triggered, but even before the British government has the approval of British parliament to trigger Article 50. Now, it expects to have that approval by the end of the day, probably late tonight. The very simple bill that the British government has been pushing for that says you have British parliament's authorization to begin the Brexit process. It hopes to have that clear the House of Commons and again of the House of Lords later today. That process has been complicated, because the House of Lords added a couple of amendments to the bill. The British government is pushing for those to be stripped away. Assuming all of this happens, it means that Article 50 could, in theory, be triggered a is soon as tomorrow. We don't know that that's going to happen. The only sense of timing we have is the prime minister's own deadline which says by the end of March. Now, just when she chooses to declare this, there will be a lot of things to consider her, both in terms of domestic politics and also European politics as well, trying to get the timing exactly right in such a way that she is able to showcase and declare this truly history moment, the beginning of the process of exiting the European Union, one that doesn't clash with elections and other significant events on the European continent as well. And now she'll also have this to contend with also, not just Nicola Sturgeon's declared intention to ask for yet another referendum, but as she said this now goes to the Scottish Parliament next week, so there will be a lot of focus on that as well. The British Prime Minister Theresa May is going to try and choose a moment to declare Article 50 that is free of those sorts of distractions. Nicola Sturgeon has simply made it much harder for her to do that today, Kristie. [Lu Stout:] That's right. With that announcement from Nicola Sturgeon, the stakes and the level of difficulty here just got higher. Phil Black reporting live for us, thank you. Now, there is uncertainty in Eat Asia after the dramatic downfall of South Korean President Park Guen-hye. Now, she was removed from office in a corruption scandal involving some of the country's top business and political elites. Now, let's take you to Seoul now. Our senior international correspondent Ivan Watson is there. He joins us now. And Ivan, after her ouster, what is next for Park Guen-hye? And who will enter the Blue House next? [Ivan Watson, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, that's a good quetion, because the Blue House, the official presidential residence is effectively empty right now. There is an acting president in this country, but there not really be a resident there until elections are held and they are expected to take place somewhere around the date of May 9th, about 60 days after Park Guen-hye was stripped from office. She left the Blue House and symbolically really ended her post and all the privileges of president after being impeached, after being stripped of her powers Sunday night under cover of darkness. She was greeted by crowds of supporters. And she issued a statement via a spokesperson that was surprisingly unremorseful, arguing that the truth would come out in the days and weeks and perhaps months ahead. She will likely face criminal prosecution as an ordinary private citizen now. I asked a senior lawmaker in the national assembly, Kim Young-woo, who is also the chairman of the national defense committee precisely about this situation, this historic and unprecedented situation that South Korea now finds itself in. [Watson:] Who did you feel seeing the former president leaving the Blue House? [Kim Young-woo, National Assembly Defense Committee:] It's a very sad scene and maybe including me, most of the Korean people felt very sad about that situation. But seeing her kind of smile, well, I don't understand how she could make smile on that very serious situation. It means, maybe, she do not accept the constitutional court's verdict. [Watson:] Are you worried about the leadership vacuum in Korea right now? [Kim:] Of course I'm worried about leadership vacuum, because without president, we cannot have a summit meeting with foreign countries, and it is very big matters in terms of diplomatic dialogues. [Watson:] And do you feel like your North Korean neighbor is more dangerous right now during this time of political transition in your country? [Kim:] I think it is more dangerous because with leadership vacuum we cannot react very rapidly. [Watson:] This is a tough time for South Korea. [Kim:] Very tough. As we know North Korea, Kim Jong-un, acxtually he's crazy and she killed his own brother in public, in another in foreign countries, so that means he can do everything no matter what he wants. [Watson:] Kristie, the lawmaker was referring to the airport assassination last month of Kim Jong-nam, the half brother of the current North Korean leader. The Malaysian government has openly accused North Korea carrying out that murder. North Korea vigorously denies it. Now, North Korea comes into play in this impeachment and the removal of Park Guen-hye in that it celebrates it. It called it a victory for justice, which perhaps gives you a sign of how much the Pyongyang regime disliked Park Guen-hye, who was as conservative politician, who was quite tough on the North Korean government. In the upcoming elections as of now, again, with nearly two months to go, one of the leaders in the polls, if he declares his candidacy, is Moon Jae-yin. He is a left-wing liberal lawmaker and that side of the political spectrum in South Korea has traditionally been much more open to negotiation and diplomacy with the North Korean regime Kristie. [Lu Stout:] So much political turmoil and uncertainty after the ouster of Park Guen-hye. Ivan Watson reporting live from Seoul, thank you. Now, turning now to the growing rift between Turkey and several European nations, the Dutch consulate in Istanbul is closed on Monday. It's warning Dutch citizens to stay away from protests. Over the weekend, the Netherlands blocked two Turkish ministers from holding political rallies there. The Turkish president responded in anger, calling the Dutch government, quote, Nazi remnants and fascists. Now, protests broke out in both countries. Now, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is trying to drum up support among Turkish citizens in Europe. In fact, next month the country votes on constitutional change that would expand to get the president power. To help us understand what's at stake here and also to get the pulse of the mood in Istanbul, Jomana Karadsheh joins us now from the Turkish city of Istanbul. And Jomana, as a result of the scenes of that played out in The Netherlands over the weekend, how much anger is there across the country there in Turkey? [Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, you know, Kristie, this is a very divided country, a polarized society, but it's not everyone agrees with the president, with the government, but it seems that many here feel that that episode that unfolded over the weekend in The Netherlands is an insult humiliation and humiliation for Turkey. Now we haven't seen much in terms of street protests since those initial protests took place in Ankara and here in Istanbul outside the Dutch diplomatic missions. But at the same time, we are seeing this war of words, this diplomatic crisis between the two countries seems to be escalating at this point. Today, the the foreign ministry saying that it has summoned the Dutch charge d'affaires. This is the third time since Saturday that the deputy chief of mission, because the ambassador is outside the country, has been summoned by the foreign ministry. And they say what they did today was they have officially condemned the events of this weekend and they say that they have handed him two diplomatic protest notes as they were described, one about the treatment of the Turkish minister of family affairs and saying that, you know, the way she was treated really defied diplomatic norms. And so that they are asking for a written apology. And the second one has to do with the status of Turkish citizens who they say were mistreated by Dutch authorities. They say they the police, they accuse the police and security forces of using excessive force in dealing with the protests that broke out in The Netherlands where they say that at least seven Turkish citizens were injured and 14 others were detained. And they are asking for legal action against the security forces involved in these alleged incidents. So, it would seem, Kristie, right now we're not seeing that anger not really translating no protests anymore on the streets but Turkish officials don't seem ready as of yet to put this behind them. [Lu Stout:] Got you, so no protests on the streets, but the animosity is still there. Jomana Karadsheh, reporting live for us from Istanbul, thank you. The Turkish Dutch rift, it appears to be tied to larger global issues and CNN's senior international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson joins me from London with that. And, Nic, is this proof of how this year's crucial election campaigns can flare into international incidents? [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Correspondent:] There's a lot at stake here for Turkey. We thought we heard Jomana there talking about humiliation for the Turkish people. President Erdogan is trying to consolidate power in his hands at the moment. And it was to that end that he sought to have his foreign minister and minister of family issues speak at rallies in The Netherlands over the weekend. And that is what has come into confrontation here. The Dutch obviously saying they weren't comfortable with that happening, that they denied permission for the foreign minister, the minister of foreign affairs [inaudible] from Germany and into Holland not obviously it has emerged it is now clear that the Dutch were expecting that to happen. So, what this rift that has emerged here, it does come at a very delicate time for The Netherlands, it does come at a time when they have elections this week. And elections upon which immigration, Muslims in the country, are an election issue. So, it is a sensitive time there in The Netherlands, it is a sensitive time in Turkey as well. But bigger picture here is Europe is becoming increasingly uncomfortable with what they happening on Turkey, a country that on the one hand says it wants to join the European Union, on the other hand is putting the power of the parliament, transferring that to the hands of the president, President Erdogan, you know, has closed down 140 media organizations, has arrested 41,000 people since last summer, has turned 100,000 people out of their jobs following the coup last summer. This makes a lot of European governments uneasy about the direction that Turkey is going in. So the underlies all of that. But at the same time, Turkey is very important to Europe at the moment. The issue of ISIS in Syria. Turkey is an ally against ISIS there. It provides the air base there for the U.S. forces fighting inside Syria at the moment. Incerlik Air Base. And it provides counterterrorism assistance for European nations. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, recently talked about the borders of Europe, that being with Turkey, the front line against radical Islam at the moment. And, therefore, you know, Turkey has an important role of assistance to play with the European Union. So all of these things are in play at the moment, but perhaps most of all it is a very important time for President Erdogan, he does want to win this vote. And the incident that happened in The Netherlands over the weekend, and the broader context, reflects badly on him internationally, perhaps, less so with some of the population back in Turkey, but this is why it's becoming so heated and such an issue. [Lu Stout:] Nic Robertson, reporting for us. Many things indeed for that analysis there. Now, you may have heard parents complain about teenagers spending too much on social media, but one school thinks time online can change the world. We're going to show you how its students are using it to help fight slavery. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. Topping our World Lead today, new details on the satellite that North Korea launched over the weekend. North Korea is celebrating calling the launch a complete success, but U.S. officials are saying not so fast. A senior defense official tells CNN that the satellite is, quote, "Tumbling in orbit," which would mean the satellite is incapable of functioning as it is supposed to function. Whether the launch was a success or not, it is sparking fears and angering neighbors. In just hours, President Obama will hold emergency talks with the leaders of South Korea and Japan, preparing for the worst case scenario that North Korea could be developing a nuclear-capable missile that could hit the United States. Let's now go to our CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, at the Pentagon. Jim, tests are ongoing to learn more exactly what North Korea launched into space. What's the latest intel? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] The senior defense official tells me that the satellite is now tumbling in orbit. As explained to me, it's in an unstable orbit, which means it can't perform any useful function. A similar launch in 2012 by North Korea, the same thing happened. Now, that doesn't mean that there weren't worrisome signs in this launch because in effect they got something into space. That's the first two stages of an ICBM launch. What they haven't proven is the ability to have a re-entry vehicle, which would in effect be a missile and strike whatever target you're going after. So they haven't got to that stage and haven't been able to launch a successful satellite, but still this launch is concerning to the U.S. and its allies. As you saw in North Korea, certainly there both the government and the public still celebrating. [Sciutto:] North Koreans took to the streets celebrating the missile launch with an exuberant daytime rally and a massive nighttime fireworks show. Their excitement mirroring that of their leader's, North Korean state photos showing an elated Kim Jong-Un. The second successful satellite launch in recent years, causing U.S. and western leaders to express outrage and condemnation. [Samantha Power, U.s. Ambassador To The United Nations:] Pyongyang claims it launched what they call a peaceful earth observation satellite, but nobody is fooled. [Peter Cook, Pentagon Press Secretary:] We are in a situation now where we have at the U.N. Security Council not just the United States but Russia and China condemning this action. [Sciutto:] Beyond the angry words, the west has limited tools to respond. Economic sanctions are difficult because the west has virtually no trade with North Korea. Most effective new sanctions would further block access to world financial markets by North Korean leaders. Still China, North Korea's closest ally and trading partner has resisted cutting off economic support such as fuel and food, fearing a collapsed state. Faced with those difficulties, the U.S. is now considering a military response. CNN has learned that the launch has accelerated talks to deploy terminal high altitude aerial defense missile system to South Korea. That could be in position within weeks. The U.S. system today deployed only as close in the region as Guam could apply pressure to Pyongyang but also to Beijing. [Joseph Cinncione, Ploughshares Fund:] South Korea wants to do it, has protection against any North Korean missiles, but this really concerns China. They don't want to see increased South Korea, U.S. military action on the peninsula, on their border. [Sciutto:] Today, the Pentagon said the missile system will be focused solely on North Korea. [Cook:] This is a defensive system put to place to deal with the threat posed by North Korea. We don't believe it should pose any sort of concern to the Chinese. [Sciutto:] China doesn't necessarily believe that reassurance. In fact they summoned South Korea's ambassador to protest over the deployment of that missile system, Jake. They're making their feelings very clear. [Tapper:] Jim Sciutto, thank you so much. Here on the ground in New Hampshire, political insiders think this race is much closer than polls show. Could Hillary Clinton even eke out a victory? [Dave Briggs, Cnn Anchor:] As questions about conflicts of interest continue to haunt the Trump administration. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Dave Briggs. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] And I'm Christine Romans. Nice to see you all this morning. [Briggs:] Good morning. [Romans:] It's 30 minutes past the hour. This morning the Senate Intelligence Committee holds its first public hearing on Russian meddling in U.S. elections. Republican Intel chairman Richard Burr and the top Democrats on the committee, Mark Warner, vowing an impartial, bipartisan investigation. Burr and Warner laying out their plans side-by-side at a news conference. They say there are 20 witnesses on their list starting today with cybersecurity experts and focusing on alleged Russian efforts to spread disinformation and fake news during the campaign. [Briggs:] They said its plans stand in stark contrast to the deepening stalemate on the House side. Ranking Intel Committee Democrat Adam Schiff says he'll meet today with Chairman Devin Nunes. This just days after Schiff called on Nunes to recuse himself amid growing accusations of possible collusion between Nunes and the White House. Here's Congressman Schiff on CNN yesterday. [Rep. Adam Schiff , Ranking Member, Intelligence Committee:] The chairman is going to have to find a way to lift this cloud, otherwise we're going to need someone else to preside over this. I think we really do need someone else to preside over this if we're going to do this credibly. [Briggs:] For the latest now let's bring in CNN's Manu Raju on Capitol Hill. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Reporter:] Good morning, Christine and Dave. Really a study in contrast between the House Intelligence investigation and the Senate Intelligence investigation, at least at this point. There's gridlock on the House side amid a partisan fight over Devin Nunes, the chairman of the committee, and whether he should go forward as leading that investigation. Democrats are accusing him of being too close to the White House. They do not like the way he briefed the president last week on surveillance information that he obtained through a secret source. Nunes saying he's not going anywhere. He's going to continue moving forward. The question is, how? On the Senate side, leaders are saying they are moving forward in a bipartisan manner. And I asked them this yesterday. Will you actually look into this issue of Russia collusion with the Trump campaign and do you believe that there's nothing there as the White House has suggested over and over again? Here's what they said. [Sen. Richard Burr , North Carolina:] We would be crazy to try to draw conclusions from where we are in the investigation. I think Mark and I have committed to let this process go through before we form any opinions. And I would hope that that's what you would like us to do. As much as we'd like to share minute-by-minute even the snapshots we get as a team going through it are not always accurate when we find the next piece of intelligence. [Raju:] So really leaving open the possibility that there could be some collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians. Of course, the White House has said it's a hoax, there's nothing there. They said this is nothing but made-up fake news. But the Senate Intelligence Committee taking it seriously enough that they want to make that as part of their investigation, where they're also going to interview Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, potentially Michael Flynn, the former National Security adviser, as well as Paul Manafort, the former campaign chairman, as well as 20 people total that they are planning on interviewing right now. We'll see which one of those becomes public because there's a lot of interest right now about those possible ties that may exist Christine and Dave. [Romans:] All right. Thanks for that, Manu Raju. We're learning that when Jared Kushner appears voluntarily before the Senate Intelligence Committee, he plans to describe his role in meeting with Russians during the transition as that of a point man looking for a back channel to the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. A source familiar with what went on tells CNN neither of Kushner's meetings with the Russian ambassador or the chairman of a state-owned bank were about sanctions or about Kushner's real estate business. [Briggs:] Another big setback overnight for the 2.0 version of the president's travel ban. A federal judge in Hawaii granting the state's request for an indefinite suspension of the ban. Judge Derrick Watson converting a temporary restraining order issued two weeks ago into a preliminary injunction, blocking the travel ban executive order. Watson ruling the ban likely violates the Constitution by disadvantaging Muslims. Hawaii's attorney general praised the decision, calling it, quote, "an important affirmation of the values of religious freedom enshrined in our Constitution's First Amendment." The Justice Department can now appeal Watson's ruling to the Ninth Circuit. [Romans:] All right. Ivanka Trump is about to become an official employee of the federal government. The president's oldest daughter will serve as an unpaid assistant to her father with an office in the White House and top security top secret security clearance. This new job means she is required to file financial disclosure forms and she will be bound by ethics rules. The White House releasing a statement saying, "We are pleased that Ivanka Trump is chosen to take this step in her unprecedented role as first daughter and in support of the president. We get more this morning from CNN's Jim Acosta. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Dave and Christine, the White House confirmed that the president's daughter Ivanka Trump will be serving as an unpaid employee here with the title of assistant to the president. Ivanka Trump for her part released a statement saying she decided to take on the official government role to avoid any questions about conflicts of interest, adding, quote, "I have heard the concerns some have with my advising the president on my personal capacity while voluntarily complying with all ethics rules. "And I will instead serve as an unpaid employee in the White House, subject to all of the same rules as other federal employees. Throughout this process I have been working closely and in good faith with the White House counsel and my personal counsel to address the unprecedented nature of my role." This may raise question of whether Ivanka Trump will be violating federal nepotism rules as her father is a president and her husband is also a White House adviser. The president's lawyers maintain the law gives him broad discretion to name his own team of advisers Dave and Christine. [Briggs:] Jim, thank you. FBI director James Comey staunchly defending his agency as always nonpartisan. Comey is speaking out at the Intelligence and National Security Alliance Leadership dinner. He's been the target of criticism for his handling of the Hillary Clinton e-mail investigation and over the FBI's probe of possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. But Comey says he is not afraid of political backlash. [James Comey, Fbi Director:] I've never been prouder of the FBI. What makes it easy is we're not on anybody's side ever. We're not considering whose ox will be gored by this action or that action, whose fortunes would be helped by this or not. We just don't care and we can't care. We only ask, so what are the facts? What's the law? What's the right thing to do here? [Romans:] James Comey there. A rare sight in D.C., Dave. A prominent speech from Melania Trump yesterday. [Briggs:] Yes, of course. [Romans:] She usually stays in New York, her son Barron still in school in New York for the rest of the school year, but she made these remarks to the State Department. The first lady calling for women's empowerment and for celebrating diversity. Her remarks are often a stark break from some of the campaign rhetoric we heard from her husband. [Melanie Trump, First Lady Of The United States:] We must continue to work towards gender empowerment and respect people from all backgrounds and ethnicities, remembering always that we are all ultimately members of one race, the human race. [Romans:] So Melania Trump has been seldom seen in and around D.C. since the inauguration and taxpayers are taking notice. A new petition on Change.org that's called "Make Melania Trump's Stay in the White House or Pay for the Expenses Herself" has more than 246,000 signatures this morning. The New York City police commissioner says it costs about $150,000 a day to protect Melania Trump and her son Barron, and that's on top of Secret Service costs. I think a lot of people who watched that speech yesterday, and she has to host with the president, the senators who came the night before so she was it was kind of a rare midweek appearance by the first lady in the White House. [Briggs:] Yes. Seems a bit reluctant to really embrace the role, but on that Change.org petition, I think at the heart of it is Donald Trump's criticism when just a private citizen of President Obama. [Romans:] That's right. [Briggs:] And how much they spent on vacationing and even when they traveled separately, he and Michelle. There was a lot of critical tweets about that, about how much that's costing taxpayers. So a bit hypocritical there. [Romans:] All right. President Trump's 100 day in office will be Saturday, April 29th. On that same day, the government could shut down if Congress does not pass a spending bill. It is the next big money fight ahead on Capitol Hill. And there are four things that could stymie efforts to avert a government shutdown. First, funding for the border wall. If Republicans include that, Democrats will oppose the bill. Second, the proposed boost to Defense spending, funded by cutting other programs. This tinkers with the very smallest part of the federal budget so look for a fight there. Third, Planned Parenthood. The health care bill would have stripped funding but that failed. If Republicans reintroduce the idea it could be a non-starter for Democrats. And finally the Gorsuch confirmation. If Republicans are forced to change the rules to push him through, one budget expert tells us it's a leading indicator for a government shutdown. The most recent government shutdowns were painful. They were in 2013 and 1995. One thing is clear from those experiences a shutdown is a waste of time, it was a waste of money. It can also hurt the economy. Plus it will stall this president's already shaky agenda. [Briggs:] Yes, that Gorsuch confirmation I think is the real story to watch as we see, can anything be bipartisan? Because there's been agreement on Supreme Court justices the last, what, four or five. [Romans:] Yes. [Briggs:] It's done pretty smoothly. [Romans:] Yes. [Briggs:] And this one might show the gridlock that is over there. [Romans:] Merrick Garland are the two words that Democrats are [Briggs:] You're right about that. That is the name who they keep bringing up. Breaking overnight. An agreement in North Carolina to repeal House Bill 2. That's the widely a measure widely criticized as anti- LGBT. The bill leaves bathroom regulation up to the state and goes before the North Carolina legislature in a matter of hours. If HB2 is not repealed today the NCAA is prepared to pull all of its events out of the state through 2020. That deadline at noon today. LGBT groups already slamming the repeal compromise, though, as a bad deal that leaves discrimination in place. Governor Roy Cooper says the agreement is not perfect but does begin the process of repairing North Carolina's reputation. Billions of dollars in economic damage because of this bill and the NCAA is a big one. They've hosted more NCAA games than any state in the country. [Romans:] Yes. All kinds of companies have been our saying this is a bad idea. [Briggs:] The NFL, the NCAA. Sports at the center of that story. [Romans:] All right. 40 minutes pas the hour. As the intelligence community intelligence committee, rather, prepares for its first public hearing today into Russian meddling, how is the Kremlin reacting? We are going to go to Moscow next. [Quest:] It's a crucial week for relations between the United States and China. A number of world leaders are preparing to visit the US, of course. It's also the United Nations. Few are more anticipated in Washington than the Chinese president, Xi Jinping. President Xi will first stop over in Seattle. When he's there, he'll be meeting with executives from top US tech firms. Now, that's going to be fascinating meetings, because they're eager to gain access to China's one billion consumers, but at the same time, Western businesses are also very concerned at what they see as cyber security issues from China. And it's this dichotomy, on the one hand, as well as warming up to China despite Beijing's heavy-handed approach to regulation and censorship. So, this is how many major companies are actually adapting and responding to the visit of President Xi. Start off with Rupert Murdoch. Now, Rupert Murdoch has been introducing himself to a Chinese audience. He's launched a Weibo account, and Weibo is the Chinese equivalent of Twitter. Murdoch quickly hit 45,000 followers. He's posted that he's met President Xi, talked about opening up China to foreign media. "Leaving great Beijing airport, remind you of abandoned, third-rate US infrastructure hopeless planning and wrong priorities." "Wonderful Chinese food in Beijing, now back to boring diet in New York." "Leaving for New York to be with my two beautiful Chinese daughters." Amongst the others, of course, Warner Brothers, owned by CNN's parent company, Time Warner, Warner itself has been busy and has inked a deal designed to make Chinese language movies. It's going to partner with Chinese Media Capital, and the chairman of Warner Brothers says he hopes that the partnership "will enhance the cultural exchange between China and the rest of the world," so says the CMC chairman. If that wasn't enough you've got Murdoch, you've got Warner Brothers, you've also got politicians. George Osborne, the British finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, he has been to Beijing and says Britain and China are on the verge of a golden decade of cooperation. And to do that, he's announced plans to build the West's first Chinese-designed nuclear plant and then, crucially, he is going to guarantee give a government guarantee on the financing of it. Let's put all this together and talk to Ian Bremmer, who joins me. Good evening, sir. [Ian Bremmer, President And Founder, Eurasia Group:] Richard. [Quest:] How are you? [Bremmer:] Very well. [Quest:] You're the president and the founder of the Eurasia Group, but you know that. [Bremmer:] I do. [Quest:] So. Xi comes here, to the United States [Bremmer:] Yes. [Quest:] and there are these everybody's trying to get their nose into the trough of business on it. [Bremmer:] It's true. And yet, the industrial espionage against the United States and its companies, the cyber attacks against the US are only growing. The US is talking about sanctions against China, and American firms are saying, actually, we want to do as much as possible with the Chinese individually. That the fact in China, you can't do that. In China, the companies are aligned with the government. The United States, not true. It actually means China has an easier time with strategy. [Quest:] Right. China has an easier time with strategy, but then what does this what's the strategy for the West, particularly if you've got people like George Osborne going there to get a nuclear reactor and to guarantee the financing of it? [Bremmer:] What West? There's no West. There's the United States and there's Britain and there's Britain and there's Germany, and everybody's sort of trying to cut their own deal. It's every Western country for itself, and the United States government. Remember, the Chinese announced the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. We said we weren't going to join it because it wouldn't have Western standards. We told our allies, don't join it, and the Brits and the Germans and the French and everyone else lined up [Quest:] Except? [Bremmer:] Except Japan and the United States. They all signed up. Doesn't help us any. So, there's no West. Our allies aren't engaging with us. Our companies aren't engaging with us. Puts the US government in a very challenging position to really respond to what we see as encroachments on US national security. [Quest:] Right, but, well, if that's right, then surely the US companies may be selling classic marks, they may be selling the rope that's going to hang them. [Bremmer:] Indeed. But the average American CEO lasts less than five years. The average American shareholder's interested in the next quarterly returns. The Chinese government's very aware of that. I mean, you look at a company like Apple, they're making tremendous money in China right now, it's the most explosive market [Quest:] And yet, they announced, of course, that they've discovered you joke about that, but they've announced that they've discovered malware in some of their iPhone software that's coming from China. Shocking. [Bremmer:] Because, of course, over the long term, the Chinese government wants to ensure that they're the ones that are actually filtering a Chinese internet, they're the ones that are seeing what Chinese consumers are going to buy. [Quest:] Right. But do you believe that this cyber security issues is taken up at the highest level in this summit, or is it glossed over? [Bremmer:] No, no, no. It's going to be taken up, and I actually think there will be an announcement, there'll be a deal. I think that you'll see the Americans and the Chinese, both of whom want to show we have good relations, and they'll say, you know what? We're not going to engage in integrity attacks against each other's critical infrastructure. It's going to sound like Obama and Xi will both say, look, we're taking it seriously, we're really engaging. And the reality is, it's not going to stop the Chinese for one second in terms of continuing to grab intellectual property in industrial espionage against American firms. American firms will continue to say we want to be in the Chinese market, we can tolerate this until we can't. So, we are kicking the can down the road. It's going to be a larger problem, as we'll see. [Quest:] Thank you, sir. [Bremmer:] My pleasure, Richard. [Quest:] Very busy day. [Bremmer:] Good to see you. [Quest:] Very busy day. Thank you. And we need some breaking news to tell, thank you. Some news just into [Cnn:] Scott Walker, the governor of the US state of Wisconsin, has decided to drop out of the race for the Republican nomination to be president. Now, we're expecting a press conference from Walker in about 90 minutes from now. He'll confirm he is no longer running for the Republican nomination, or he'll probably put it I think they put it more in terms of they're suspending their campaign. It's all to do with where the money goes. Anyway, Scott Walker is out of the race, and we will or he will be out of the race, we I'm getting ahead of myself, there. But I'll buy you a cup of coffee if that if the announcement's anything different than that. When we come back, the chief executive of General Electric is calling on the Indian prime minister to make it easier to do business in his country. We'll be talking about that after the break. QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. [Quest:] Well, it's loud, raucous, and it is Bruce Dickinson there singing "The Flight of Icarus," 1983 hit by the English heavy metal band, Iron Maiden. Unlike the Greek mythology of Icarus, which nobody wants that to have anything to do with aviation, Mr. Dickinson really does fly. And he flies professionally. He served as the pilot of the bands official plan, Ed Force I. On their recent tour "The Books of Souls," Dickenson flew the group, crew and equipment around the world on their custom Boeing 747, which incidentally he had to recertify since he was only certified for the 75 and the 73 and he's certified for the 74. He's also the chairman of Cardiff Aviation, an MRO aircraft maintenance company. It's currently working with a company, Air Djibouti, providing the airline with operational management. In Dickinson's own words, he calls it an airline in a box service. For this country, Djibouti, on the eastern coast, where they're now providing an airline literally readymade, from training crew to renovating aircraft. Bruce Dickenson joined me earlier and I asked him how Air Djibouti's business model can prosper against the bigger Gulf carriers. [Bruce Dickinson, Chairman, Cardiff Aviation:] The whole point about Djibouti is we're a nice comfortable niche sitting there. It's got some very strategic aspects to the country, which if you look at the geography of the place, it's a vital western interest. And of course there is a lot of western personnel going to and from Djibouti, it's secure, it's safe. It's financially stable. There's a lot of good things going for it. To answer your question about the Gulf states. Djibouti is terrific because it has a relatively small catchment area. But where do they want to go? They want to go to London. They want to go to Paris. If you want to go to London or Paris, you have to go via somewhere else. There's only one flight a week from Paris direct to Djibouti and it costs an absolute small fortune. So we've got a nice little niche there. The real niche of Djibouti though is not necessarily just passenger traffic. I mean, we're under no illusions that we're going to worry Emirates or Etihad or Qatar anytime soon. That's not the reason why we're doing it. We're doing it because the place needs an airline. There is a market. There are people who do want to go direct, point-to-point, to places in Europe. And at the moment you can only do it by doing something else. But the real market is freight. The real market is freight, sea air cargo. Djibouti is the number one cargo destination for pretty much all Chinese goods into Africa and into the Middle East. And they're building a massive free port and container terminal. So the real reason why we're going to develop Air Djibouti and why it will grow will be freight, because freight is where the freight arrives in Djibouti. It doesn't go by sea to the Gulf. It doesn't go anywhere else. It sits there in Djibouti. [Quest:] You alluded at the beginning of this before we actually started the interview, but why you think your aviation love, passion, whatever we wish to call it, and your music love and passion, why you think they are particularly complementary? [Dickinson:] Well, I know a lot of musicians who are pilots. And vice- versa, a lot of professional pilots I happen to know who are musicians also. There's something about the three-dimensionality of both mediums. And there's also something about the creative aspects of both things. I mean, I've got to say, for my sins, for the last three or four years, I've been doing some business and corporate speaking, something I call corporate stand-up. But one of the big questions is creativity. And people want to know how do you be creative in business? I said, well, I've been being creative, song writing, all my life. So I think naturally about creative things. To me, creating a business idea is very much like creating a song. It starts off from one little idea and then you just daydream what happens next, and eventually you have to put it into a process. And eventually you have to make it fit and make it real. But we started, for example, a maintenance company, and it's still working away happily, fixing Boeing and Airbus airliners and we've done all kinds of work for major customers like EasyJet and people like that in Wales. People said, but you're a pilot, why are you starting a maintenance company? I said, it's really simple. If you want to sell lawnmowers, what should you do? They went, I don't know, open a lawnmower shop? I said, no, you buy a patch of grass and wait. Some people come along and say, you need to cut the grass, you say, I can sell you a lawnmower. It's the same sort of thing. It's same weird lateral thinking. And I applied the same logic to our airline business, which is, why have you got a maintenance company? Because eventually people will bring you airplanes that they don't know what to do with. At which point you can say, we can make money for your airplane. At which point you get a cheap airplane. You do everybody a favor. It's a good deal for everybody, but at the same time you don't have to commit a massive expense to that airplane. Why do airlines go bust? Answer, because they own airplanes. [Quest:] We will have a Profitable Moment after the break. [Kristie Lu Stout:] OK. Let's break away from New Day. As you heard just then, Donald Trump, he has been fending off a barrage of attacks from his presidential rivals Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, they just took turns going after him on Thursday night's Republican presidential debate. Now, I want to bring in Mark Preston for more of this. He is the executive editor of CNN Politics. He joins us now live from Washington. And Mark, a lot to get to, but first, let's get to talk about this debate. The insults, the vulgarity and of course the attacks. How did Donald Trump, in your view, how did he handle the relentless attacks on that stage? [Mark Preston, Executive Editor Cnn Politics:] Well, he responded in typical Donald Trump fashion. He attacked right back. As we saw in Phil's report right there, Donald Trump went directly at his rivals personally. He went after Marco Rubio, because Marco Rubio is not a terribly tall person, calling him Little Marco. He turned to ted Cruz and called him Lying Ted. What he was doing was what we have seen throughout this whole entire campaign with Donald Trump is that his defense is a very strong offense. And when he does that, it's not necessarily on policy positions, what he does is he tries to attack his rivals on all fronts whether that is he may disagree with them say on immigration or on taxes, but he really goes to the gutter in many ways and goes after them personally. And we saw that on full display last night here all across the United States. [Lu Stout:] And Mitt Romney also going after Trump in a speech he made earlier. And there's talk that Romney's team is looking into the possibility of blocking Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention. Now, we need some background here for our international audience. Mark, what is a brokered convention and could it work? [Preston:] Well, Kristie, this is now the intrigue of what's happening here in American politics about who will be the eventual Republican nominee. Now, we have been reporting here on CNN International for the last few days that power brokers here in Washington are trying to find a way to block Donald Trump. We saw Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee come out and give a scathing speech, something we have seen necessarily in modern day American politics where you have the former presidential nominee going directly after the front-runner for the current Republican race. What Mitt Romney is talking about and what he laid out in his speech yesterday was to try to deny Donald Trump from getting the requisite number of delegates. And for our viewers around the world, that means votes, basically, to become the Republican nominee. And how you do that at this point, is that everybody who remains in the race, he has three rivals in the race, you keep them in the race and you try to get them to go out and to win contests all the way until the convention in Cleveland, Ohio in July. By doing that, you potentially could stop Donald Trump from getting the 1,237 delegates or votes needed to become the nominee. And what would happen, then, Kristie, is that it would go into what's called a contested convention at this point, because unfortunately for the Republican Party, there are no real power brokers anymore, it doesn't even become a brokered convention, it becomes a contested convention. They have a vote on the first vote, a secret ballot vote. Donald Trump doesn't get enough votes. And then it goes to a second vote. And when the second vote happens, all bets are off and then that's when you see Republican establishment types trying to rally behind one candidate to try to take out Donald Trump. [Lu Stout:] And this is extraordinary, because this is like a Republican civil war. Donald Trump is effectively under attack from his arrivals and GOP party veterans. They say that he is a liability who could lose the election. How much truth is there to that? [Preston:] Well, look, there is certainly some truth to that because Donald Trump is nuclear hot. But we need to take a step back and show at least acknowledge, that Donald Trump has been able to drive out record numbers of voters, Republican voters, over the past couple of months to participate in this primary process. In many ways, the Republican establishment's efforts or expected efforts to try to thwart a Trump candidacy could cause an even further civil war. It could even get uglier because it could disenfranchise perhaps millions of voters who have voted for Donald Trump. So, what we saw last night on stage at that debate was really the disintegration of the Republican Party right now. And there is a lot of concern. Now, Kristie, I have to say this, if there is not a contested convention, there is also a talk about running a third party candidate against Donald Trump, another Republican, to at least give safe haven to candidates who are running for lower level offices who do not want to be associated with Donald Trump, but need to at least back some kind of candidate in the presidential election. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, this election is getting a whole lot more complicated. Mark Preston, thank you for talking us through all the points. Until next time, take care. Now, turning now to the Democrats. Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, thye are making their 11th hour push for votes ahead of four contests this weekend. Now, meanwhile, Clinton is facnig more questions over her private email server, especially now that the former State Department staffer who helped her set it up is cooperating with the feds. Now, senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Correspondent:] Bernie Sanders had a message today for Democrats: the primary isn't over yet. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate:] What a fantastic turnout this afternoon. Thank you so much. [Zeleny:] He had the campaign trail to himself from Michigan to Nebraska to Kansas, hunting for delegates in his uphill fight with Hillary Clinton. After basking in the glow of Elton John and Katy Perry Wednesday night at one of the Clinton's campaign biggest fund-raisers, she spent the day out of public view as questions about her email returned. A former aide was granted immunity and will talk to the FBI about the private server she used as secretary of state. It became instant fodder today for Republicans. [Trump:] Assuming she's not arrested for the email situation, which is so terrible. [Zeleny:] Again and again, Clinton has defended how she handled classified information. [Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate:] It is just not something that is going to have any lasting effect and I'm not at all worried about it. [Zeleny:] But the Justice Department inquiry still hangs over her campaign. Sanders once again steered clear, but he wasted no time going after other parts of her record, starting with the Keystone Pipeline which would run straight through Nebraska. [Sanders:] There is a candidate out there running for the Democratic nomination was a little bit wobbly about the Keystone Pipeline. [Zeleny:] And on trade, he called her positions a disaster for Michigan. [Sanders:] She was very, very wrong, and millions of families around this country have been suffering as a result of those disastrous trade agreements. [Zeleny:] He told CNN he has to time for Democrats who say he should tone down his rhetoric against Clinton. [Sanders:] In many ways, Democrats can say what they want. We're in this race to win it. I don't run negative campaign ads, but I do think it is appropriate that in a campaign you distinguish your differences with your opponents. [Zeleny:] He is fighting to win the Nebraska and Kansas caucuses on Saturday and Maine on Sunday. [Sanders:] On the other hand, maybe Nebraska is not quite so conservative as I've been told. [Zeleny:] Still, it's an uphill climb for Sanders. In pledged delegates, he has 405 to Clinton's 606. But when you factor in super delegates, Clinton's support soares: 1,074 to 426. Senator Sanders says he has no intention of lightening up on Hillary Clinton and certainly not leaving this race. By the end of the weekend, he believes he will have three more states in the win column: Nebraska, Kansas, and Maine. The Clinton campaign does not disagree. Jeff Zeleny, CNN Lincoln, Nebraska. [Lu Stout:] Now, both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders have scheduled events Friday in the state of Michigan. It is all in preparation for their showdown on Sunday. Now, the candidates will face off for the first time since Super Tuesday in Flint, Michigan. And remember to tune in for the Democratic presidential debate 9:00 a.m. on Monday in Hong Kong. It's at 1:00 a.m. Monday London time. Now, turning now to Spain where authorities say that they have confiscated 20,000 uniforms and supplies intended for jihadi fighters. The operation targeted a business network that officials say supplied military equipment to terrorists. Now, Spain's interior ministry says the uniforms were being shipped to areas controlled by ISIS and al Nusra in Iraq and Syria. The shipping containers were labeled as second-hand clothes. Now, photos showing the body of a Syrian toddler washed ashore in Turkey made world headlines last year. The tragedy of Alan Kurdy, it came to symbolize the plight of Syrians fleeing along war. And our reports say a Turkish court has found two people guilty of refugee smuggling in connection with the boy's death. Alan and his older brother, they were among 12 people who tied after their boat capsized on the way from Turkey to Greece. Those convicted have been sentenced to more than four years in jail. Now, in North Korea, the latest moves by Kim Jong-un are putting neighbors on edge. After the breakwe go live to Seoul for a look at how South Korea is getting ready to respond. Plus, the political season is in high gear in China. We take you to Beijing for a look at what's in store for this year's National People's Congress. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Wind gusts record in Cape Canaveral over 100 miles an hour. Hurricane Matthew right now steady at a category three. That means it packs winds of a maximum 120 miles an hour. But the wind is just part of the trifecta of problems. You have the wind, you have the storm surge, and you have the rain. Jennifer Gray knows that as well as anyone. She's our meteorologist. She's in Palm Bay. She's been getting hit hard there all morning. What's it like now? [Jennifer Gray, Cnn Meteorologist:] Yes, we have been getting hit hard, really hard, right before the sun came up. Now we are finally starting to feel like things are getting better. You still get the very strong gusts. They weren't as strong as they were a couple of hours ago. When we were standing out talking to you and we had gusts pounding us hat 80 miles per hour or even a little bit more. Now those gusts aren't quite as frequent. The sun has come up. You can see the clouds just racing across the sky here in Palm Bay just outside of Melbourne, and the eye wall came very, very close to us, within just a couple of miles. And it's crazy to say, but that made all the difference when you're talking about the proximity of this powerful storm, and the coastline. With that eye wall staying just offshore, it spared us winds that could have been 100 miles per hour, which is which can cause much greater damage than winds of about 80 miles per hour. And then unfortunately, just to our north, Cape Canaveral, as you mentioned, recorded winds of about 100 miles per hour-plus. And it battered Cape Canaveral for quite a while. They are still in the thick of it as we're talking. And then that eye wall only about 30, give or take, a few miles away from Daytona Beach. So, quickly, within the next two to three hours, Daytona Beach will be feeling the brunt of the storm. And then it will continue northward from there. Chris you are right, south of that eye and south of Melbourne, people are breathing a sigh of relief. They are saying, OK, things are getting better. But this is far from over. Daytona Beach, Cape Canaveral, still in this. And anywhere up the coast, up in through Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, by tomorrow, and it is going to be a nasty one. Chris? [Cuomo:] All right, Jennifer, parts north of where you are just need to look at their screen right now. That is your future. That's Daytona Beach. The winds picking up here where we are in Jacksonville and we still have a long way to go. The governor's office just sent word, the I-10 corridor runs eastwest here in Florida is clear right now. If you need to leave, now is the time. Heed the local warnings. Boris Sanchez is in Daytona Beach. He has had to move several times this morning because of the wind effect. How is it now? [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Chris, we're going to have to move again soon. We've started to have to dodge debris that's coming in from the street here. This is a piece of roofing insulation that almost hit our camera guy just a few moments ago. It's just a mess out here. The wind continues to just pound this area. I'm sure some of these palm trees are going to start falling over at some point. I've seen them bend pretty far. And you can see behind us there are still people driving through this. I can't imagine why. The dangers in these kinds of hurricanes are numerous. You not only have these extremely strong winds but you have the debris that they throw around, power lines that get knocked down. You also have extreme flooding. We're at the shore here. The ocean is just on the other side of our hotel. And with the storm surge in this area supposed to be higher than seven feet you can expect flooding in these neighborhoods. You pair that with the debris that's in the street, the power lines that are in the street, a very high chance of a fatal incident here in Daytona. You also have to deal with the pounding rain as the wind continues to gather speed behind me. It is going to continue to get worse here as the eye wall draws near. Again, Chris, I can't believe I'm saying this, but there are people in the street right now. I'm not sure who this guy is, but I've seen several cars pass since we've been standing here. I saw one guy walking around earlier. It is just so, so poorly thought out to be out in these kind of conditions, especially when they are going to get worse. So if you are out on the street, I mean, the best thing you can dos get inside and find a safe place to be right now before this eye wall gets closer and closer to Daytona, Chris. [Cuomo:] You're right to keep putting the word out there, Boris. It is stupid to be out in these conditions right now. You're not just endangering yourself, you're endangering the first responders who are going to have to come and get you if there's any trouble. Boris and I are basically blind on the ground. We can only see what's around us. But on your screen we have cameras of other parts of Daytona Beach. There's a camera shooting on the beach right now. You can see just how violent the action is with this current band of weather that is feeding this hurricane Matthew. The camera shaking there. It's locked down. Who knows how long it will stay up. And what you have to see is, what's at play is this three different effects the wind, the storm surge, and the rain. This is called a wet storm, hurricane Matthew, which means it's that storm surge that is going to have the most devastating impact. And the rain amount of volume and the wind kind of work in concert with it to create this trifecta problem for those people who are in structures that aren't safe enough to take this type of beating. Here in Jacksonville, the added concern with the St. John River is that there are a lot of crossovers here, bridges, 40 miles an hour, they're done. Sustained gusts are getting close to that right now. I'm looking at an American flag. It's just been pinned facing westward for the last hour because the storm is getting closer. The bands are coming. The wind is here, which means you make the wrong move, then you're going to have to live with it, because you're not going to be able to get anywhere in a place like this. This river has two-and-a-half more feet of high tide in it. Without any storm surge it's already cresting at the top of this promenade. That means these areas will be flooded. Let's check in right now with Dr. Rick Knabb at the national hurricane center. We understand there's a new advisory, doc? What is it? [Dr. Rick Knabb, National Hurricane Center:] Yes, good morning, Chris. We've just issued and intermediate public advisory. So this doesn't have a full update on the five-day forecast, but we have updated the position and the intensity and the motion, still 120 miles per hour, the maximum sustained winds, category three, major hurricane moving northnorthwest at 13 miles per hour. And we'll update the track forecast at 11:00 a.m. The warnings are still in effect, hurricane warnings for a good chunk of the east coast of central and northern Florida, and then Georgia and South Carolina. No changes to the prototype storm surge, the warning areas that we're concerned about that are in play here because even if the center of circulation never comes onshore, the center of action is going to be on the coast and at some points inland, and I'm really worried that folks are letting their guard down because they think, well, the center's offshore and the track stays offshore so I'm not going to get hit. And that is not the message we want to be sending. This is going to be really, really close to the coast. Following a path almost the same shape as the coastline itself, and it could come ashore, or it could come close enough that storm surge and inland flooding in addition to the hurricane force winds have a great potential to take lives if people don't follow evacuation instructions. There's still time to do so in many locations, especially in Georgia and South Carolina. [Cuomo:] Doctor, I was saying to you when I was back in New York, boy, I hope we're wrong about this. I hope we're wrong. And one of the things that's unusual about this is the duration that we're dealing with as this things makes its way up the coast and a coast line unfamiliar with hurricanes. So I'm starting to see online from people in and around here in Jacksonville, they're saying, all right, it's rainy, it's blowy, there's going to be a little built of damage, but it's not that bad. I would love for that to be the case for the rest of the day, but is that being overconfident way too soon? [Knabb:] Yes, the weather is just starting to get bad in Jacksonville. We're just beginning to get to the phase in which you're getting winds of tropical storm force in the first coast region. So it's only going to get worse from here. The center of circulation is still way to your south and southeast. As it moves northward, the winds will get stronger, the rainfall will get heavier and more persistent, and the hurricane will start pushing ashore the ocean. There is a significant life-threatening danger of storm surge flooding in the first coast area. Areas like Ponte Vedra Beach, St. Augustine, Jacksonville Beach, and even the possibility of the storm surge getting into the St. John's River, that is a very real threat here. And it's only going to be a very short time before the winds get so strong that the authorities will close bridges and people can't get out anymore. So the weather is only starting to get bad. And it's going to be bad for a while. [Cuomo:] Upwards of 300 people lost their lives in Haiti. Obviously it's a very different place than the United States, certainly Florida. We don't know about the Bahamas. And here we don't know yet. Very few localities have been able to go out and do any type of impact assessment. So really we don't know what has happened here other than what we see around us. And doctor, as you know, that's the only reason I'm out here right now. There's nothing enjoyable about this, but we're out to help local authorities understand the current situation, and, frankly, to be out here to feed other people's curiosity so they don't have to be. But in terms of when you're looking at this. This word that it's big a slow but still a far way to go, that still is the status quo as far as you're concerned? [Knabb:] Absolutely. And we want to talk especially to folks in Georgia and South Carolina where the winds of tropical storm force haven't gotten there yet, and we're hearing concerns that people aren't heeding the evacuation instructions. But we're hearing a lot of talk about how historic this storm is, how unusual it is to have a hurricane this strong in this area. But part of the history of this hurricane might be how many people died. And if you're in an area where you've been told to evacuate and you haven't evacuated yet and they're telling you there's still time to go, you need to leave now so you're not in our report afterwards in one of the lists of the fatalities that is greatly possible due to storm surge and inland flooding. Water takes the most lives in tropical systems in the [U.s. Cuomo:] Dr. Rick Knabb, thank you very much. We'll be back in touch. Alisyn, the governor just said the I-10 corridor, which is the main artery here to get out of Jacksonville and the area surrounding is open. Now is the time to go. I hope to God we're wrong about all this and that it stays the way it is and everybody's OK and it was just that we got the assessment wrong. That will be great. But we do not know that anywhere close yet. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Well it doesn't look like you're wrong because on the split screen here that we're seeing, on the right side is Daytona Beach. That's where the hurricane is hitting right now, and it sure looks different than how it looks, Chris, in your location Jacksonville. In Daytona Beach, it is just an incredible scene. I mean, it looks like the camera is under water, there's so much rain and so much wind. And the reason that we know so much about this hurricane and its track is because of the work of our next guest and his team. Richard Henning is a meteorologist, and he is the flight director for NOAA's hurricane hunters. What you're seeing on the right side of your screen is them flying into hurricane Matthew. You can see their plane, their little prop plane bouncing around in the outer bands of the hurricane. And they do that so that they can gather data. Richard, let's see if our technology works at 45,000 feet. Are you up in the air in a plane right now? [Richard Henning, Noaa Meteorologist:] Well, good morning, Alisyn, and good morning to all your viewers. Yes, we've been flying an eight- hour mission in the NOAA Gulfstream 4 aircraft. It's an unusual piece of technology. What we do is we actually fly across the top of the storm and across the environment that surrounds the storm, about a 4,000 mile track that took us several hundred miles out into the Atlantic and across the top of the storm. And now we're actually in the Gulf of Mexico. And the whole idea is we drop what we call dropsondes, which are weather instruments that fall from our aircraft. They fall by parachute. They take about 15 minutes to reach the water, and the whole time they're transmitting data, the important meteorological data on winds, pressure, temperature, all the things that a computer model would need to help forecast the track of the storm. Just like you would have a weather balloon except instead of the balloon going up, the dropsonde goes down. And again, we sample the environment around the storm, and this data is fed directly by satellite to the computers that the national hurricane center uses to forecast the track of the storm. [Camerota:] So Richard, you are up in the air. You're 45,000 feet up, and you say that you're in the Gulf of Mexico because that's where you're gathering all the atmospherics around the storm. We're watching the video of one of your colleagues who flew directly into the storm. I know you've had that experience. Can you just tell us what it is like in this little propeller plane when you fly through those outer bands of a hurricane? [Henning:] Yes, we have two different aircraft that we employ at NOAA. We have our Gulfstream G-4 which is the aircraft that I'm flying in right now. And then we have a P-3 Orion, which is a four engine turboprop plane that actually does the real dirty work flying into the teeth of the storm down at 10,000 feet. That's the one that actually penetrates the eye wall and gets the really nasty ride. We get a lot of turbulence up here at 45,000 feet because this is where all energy from the storm flows out. It's called the outflow region of the storm. So it gets pretty turbulent up here, as well, but not nearly as turbulent as we get going through the eye wall down at lower altitudes in our other aircraft. [Camerota:] Oh, my gosh. Richard, I mean, honestly just watching the video is sending a shiver down my spine. For anybody who's ever been in turbulence on a commercial flight, the idea that you're on a little prop plane there going through the eye wall is so intense. So, Richard, what have you learned, now that you've been flying around and dropping these instruments, what have you learned about hurricane Matthew that makes this one different? [Henning:] Well, one of the most important things that we saw tonight is that the storm is always changing, that the structure of the storm continues to reorganize itself. The folks around Cape Canaveral, the Melbourne area, caught a little bit of a break with the storm making a slight turn to the right that spared them the worst of the eyewall. But, these storms are they can be very tricky. And they can veer back to the left and reorganize. And so, this is still a very, very dangerous storm with winds well in excess of 100 miles an hour. And the folks in the warn area out ahead of the storm in the Jacksonville area, and obviously the folks in Georgia and South Carolina have to pay very close attention to the emergency management warnings, being issued by their communities, because this is potentially a very deadly storm. If it were to make direct land fall on the coast, and there's really nothing to prevent that from happening. It could very well cross the coast. Central Florida looks like it's been spared but the folks down the road may not be so lucky. [Camerota:] Well, Richard Henning, thank you so much for ting the time to talk to us on NEW DAY. We know you have your hands full and our meteorologists are relying on the data that you are gathering at 45,000 feet right now so thanks so much. We'll check back with you throughout the day. [Henning:] All right. [Camerota:] OK. So once again, there you see what's happening in Daytona. It is a mess. It's very intense, all of the winds and rain there, that's what's headed in your direction, Chris. [Cuomo:] And actually, as you were talking to the storm chaser there, the path of the storm has shifted west. And obviously every time it moves west, it's bad for Florida, because that means that the outer edge of the eye is now closer and that means more intense rings are now closer to aspects of Florida. So, let's collect in in Daytona where those dramatic pictures of Hurricane Matthew present are coming from. And let's check in with the police chief, Chief Chitwood, there in Daytona Beach. Chief, we told you we would be doing the public service with you, of getting the word out. They're seeing people out on the roads. People have this understanding that they think it wasn't a bad$, as they expected. But the truth you want people to know is you have no idea how bad it's been because you can't do an impact evaluation of anything and it's still far from over. Chief? [Chief Michael Chitwood, Dayton Beach Pd:] That's exactly correct. We're out here now with the city manager. We're up on A1A on the beach side. The winds have picked up tremendously. You know we have some rooftops that have been ripped off. Some trees that have been snapped. Gas stations have been overturned. There's, you know, we're looking at it now. We have not gotten the worst of it yet. You cannot preach enough that you have to stay indoors, stay hunkered down. The worst of the storm is about to begin here for the next four or five hours. Do not get out on the roadways. The winds are gusting at about 100 miles an hour. [Cuomo:] We're looking at really rough surf in St. Augustine right now showing it to the audience. Obviously as a, you know, something that serves as a reminder of what is potential areas there of Daytona Beach. Are you pretty sure that people there? [Chitwood:] We're about 75 percent have evacuated, even as we're out here driving around. You can see there's quite a few homes where there are cars in the driveways. There's a few hotels, and a few condos. So, there's some people that are still here. They just have to remain inside until we give the all-clear. And like I said it's the next four or five hours are going to be really, really crucial for us. You c really see how the conditions have deteriorated. You can probably see about 50 yards in front of you from the wind and the rain and the sand. [Cuomo:] I've been checking on my phone while we're hear in Jacksonville and looking at it, and, you know, Alisyn, my co-anchor, really explained it well. It doesn't look like underwater shot right now coming from that beach. And it's going to be sustained for several hours. And that's what the real concern is for you. The duration, because during that window, you won't be able to go out and get people and that's when the impact will be its worst. [Chitwood:] We're almost there right now. And I think one of the things all concerned me is you just said that t eye jogged a little bit west. Which means that's going to give us a greater impact here in Daytona? [Cuomo:] And how are you going to be in terms of safety? Do you have to stay out there? Do you have a place where you could get back to just hold down operations until you get a window of opportunity? [Chitwood:] That's exactly what we're going to do. We've got the city manager out. We wanted to take a quick assessment then we'll be heading back to the emergency operations center and hunker down until the worst passes by. [Cuomo:] You know, and obviously you can't get out there. We're really not stationed everywhere. I mean, CNN's got people all up and down the coast, but has anybody given you any good information about if there's been any impact on homes or what it's like in areas outside the downtown area yet? [Chitwood:] Just from us being out. And we were out in force for about 3:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m., we didn't see much of an impact to homes. Minor flooding, some trees down, power outages. But now as we're out here riding you can see there is some roof damage. You can see that there's power lines down the street. You can see that the worst is about to happen here. [Cuomo:] All right, Chief. You know you can use us when you want to get the word out about information people know. And be safe. We'll check back with you soon. [Chitwood:] Thank you. [Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn, we're just starting to get a band here. Tropical storm level is 39 miles an hour. That's an assessment level for emergency services. That's when they start saying that they can't go out and do their evaluations. That means in Jacksonville, you're now starting to enter a different era of urgency and we're still hours away from the worst. [Camerota:] Absolutely. I mean, I think you're about ten hours away from the worst according to our meteorologists. So, Chris, we'll check back in with you in a second. But I want to bring in Craig Fugate. He's the head of the Federal Emergency Management Administration, FEMA. Mr. Fugate, thank you for taking time to join us this morning. What concerns you the most at this hour? [Craig Fugate, Fema Administrator:] Well, my concern has been the concern we've had all along. That's going to be storm surge. I want people to understand, you know, we're going to start getting reports out of south Florida. It wasn't that bad. Some power outages, some minor damages and people are going to think this storm isn't that powerful. They were not impacted by hurricane force winds. They did not see significant storm surge risk. We've known all along that was going to be a bigger risk for north Florida and southeast Georgia. So, people may say, hey, it didn't look that bad. Bad is happening right now right off of Daytona. And it's going to continue to move up the coast. We need people to move to high ground if they haven't. Some places like the police chief said, it's too late. Stay where you're at. Hang on until the storm passes. [Camerota:] Yes, I mean, this is making a beeline to Jacksonville. Our Chris Cuomo is. And it's going to work its way all the way up the coast before that. And there you can see on your split screen there what's happening in Daytona. That is what is in store for millions of people. Mr. Fugate, I know that the president signed a declaration of emergency for Florida, as well as Georgia, South Carolina. What did that mean? What does that change? [Fugate:] Well, it just means we did the paperwork. We already started moving lots of people and resources in anticipation of the impacts to support the governors. We already had our teams in place. We had equipment and supplies, this is our documentation now to be able to release that to the states as they need it to deploy into the areas of impact. But again, people are looking at wind. People are looking at power outages. That is not the principle life threat. The principle life threat is still storm surge and it could be much worse. They don't call Jacksonville the river city for nothing. So, flooding can occur not only on the coast but well inland on the St. John's River, Saint Mary's and other tributaries as this storm moves into northeast Florida, and southeast Georgia. [Camerota:] So, what do you want people in Jacksonville and the surrounding to know? I mean if they're still there, and they have not evacuated what are they to do? [Fugate:] Move to high ground. You know, I have family live there. They all went down to my cousin's house in central Florida to get away from the storm. Too many people up there have not been through a hurricane. They've been through tropical force winds. The last time we had major hurricane impacts was back to 1964 Hurricane Dora and that hit south of Jacksonville. This storm's going to put more water than they've ever seen. You have to go back to the late 1800s to see the potential impacts. So, a lot of people say I don't live beach, it's not a problem. In that part of the country, you live near rivers and creeks, very low lying that water can go in tens of miles. You need to move to higher ground. You don't have much more time. As you're already seen, Daytona Beach it's probably too late for some people. They just need to stay where they are. [Camerota:] But in Jacksonville, it's not too late. You're saying people still have a chance to move right now. [Fugate:] Yes. I mean, we're still seeing, starting to see those gusts coming in. It's going to start getting up tropical force. But time is running out. And the only thing that I can really see right now from this storm track is it hasn't gotten any better. People are saying well it's weakened. It's not a category 4. They don't understand how deadly and dangerous the water is going to be. They focus too much on the wind. They think the wind won't be that bad. I'm telling you, the storm surge is what we got to keep focused on. And people need to be moving to high ground. For some people it's too late where you can still, move to higher ground. You only have hours left before the full brunt of the storm is in that area. [Camerota:] And, Mr. Fugate, you say you have thousands of people poised and ready to help. What will they be doing tomorrow? [Fugate:] Well, they won't be tomorrow. We're starting today working further south. Urban search and rescue teams and other teams are on standby. As the storm moves north, we're going to basically be following it supporting the state. Their priorities will be getting back in areas doing life safety rescue missions and also assessments. Utility crews will also be following the storm north. So, it will be one where as conditions improve further south we'll be supporting the state if they need assistance. But as we get in to the areas of heavy impact, we're ready to support commodities rescue teams, communications, the things that states may need in the immediate response, but when you when you also factor in the states have called out their national guard. They do mutual aid. They have a lot of resources. Our job is to support. But we're ready to go starting today if needed. [Camerota:] It sounds like you all are positioned in the right place. Craig Fugate, thank you very much for taking time to warn people, and tell us where you are. We appreciate it. [Fugate:] Thank you. [Camerota:] All right. We'll be tracking the storm, obviously, as it continues to hit Daytona there. NEW DAY will take a very quick break. We'll be right back. [Gorani:] The U.S. and Iraq are now investigating reports of many civilian deaths in western Mosul after a U.S.-led coalition airstrike struck in the same area amid the ongoing fight against ISIS and caused, according to eyewitnesses, up to 200 killed. What we do know is that an Iraqi official says at least 112 bodies have been pulled from the rubble. Let's get straight to Mosul. Joining me now from the line is Sabah Al Noman. He's the spokesperson for the Iraqi Counterterrorism Unit. Thanks for being with us. We're talking about an airstrike or airstrikes around March 17th that may have killed up to 200 civilians. What is the latest casualty number that you can share with us? [Sabah Al Noman, Spokesperson, Iraqi Counterterrorism Service:] OK. Thank you very much. The investigations about this accident is still going on. A higher command [inaudible] are visiting the place which they destroyed. Until now, it's not clear that it's because of the airstrikes, and there's no any hole because of the airstrike. When we are investigate and checking the house, it was fully exploded by the ISIS. And the people, they are arrested and taken hostage inside this building, on this house. And also, in front of the house, there, the enemy parking a very long oil tank, which exploded and causing this large number of accident. [Gorani:] Right. [Al Noman:] Until now, the bodies, about 61 bodies, and we hope there's no more inside the house. And we're still finding if there's more bodies in the end of the house. [Gorani:] How many are civilians? You're saying 61 bodies. It's different from the number that we've been given from an Iraqi official. Of the 61 bodies, how many were civilians? [Al Noman:] Well, we had a survey earlier to count the whole number, but we success to evacuate about 61 bodies. And the civilian, still finding if there is more bodies inside the destroyed house. We hope there is no more bodies inside that, but we are still checking if there is more bodies inside this. [Gorani:] But how many of them were civilians, children, women? [Al Noman:] There is no accurate number about how many civilians were inside this house before it's destroyed by an exploded oil truck. There is no accurate number about how many civilians inside this building. [Gorani:] Yes. But you're saying it's not even a certainty, according to you, that it was a coalition airstrike. Then what else would have caused so much damage? The whole building was destroyed and a tanker blew up. [Al Noman:] Well, according to the used damage that we found, it's not caused by airstrike. Even the investigations still going on, there is no any announcement until now because we are waiting for the end of this investigation. But according to the area and according to the situation that we found, the explosion is not by airstrike. Still, there is no hole because of the airstrike. The used damage is because of an exploded building. And also in front of these houses, there was a long oil truck. It's exploded by ISIS. And also, the airstrike, they did some airstrike according to information from the Iraqi intelligence but not in this area, in another area. [Gorani:] OK. So you're saying, in this particular case, it may not have been an airstrike. But there had been some reports that potentially it was, but we'll wait for the result of the investigation. Meantime, Sabah Al Noman, the Iraqi Counterterror Unit spokesperson joining us from near Mosul. Thank you very much for being on CNN. Now, back to our story about Russia, the government called Sunday's protest illegal then jailed the opposition activist, Alexei Navalny. But Navalny is not the only Russian opposition figure who says he's been targeted by the Kremlin. This video shows Putin critic, Vladimir Kara-Murza on the right, through the crosshairs of a gun. It appeared on the Instagram page of one of Putin's allies a year ago. Fast forward to last month and Kara-Murza is taken suddenly and critically in Moscow, complete organ failure. His wife said he had a 5 percent chance of survival. Vladimir Kara-Murza is now recovering but says he believes he was poisoned, not once but twice, pointing the finger firmly at the Kremlin. A spokesperson for Putin rejected the claim, telling the CNN, quote, "It's pure nonsense to make any connection of this unfortunate case with President Putin," unquote. Let's get more from the man himself, Vladimir Kara-Murza. He's in Washington where he's getting medical treatment and joins me now live. Thank you for being with us. First, I'd like to ask you how you are doing. You say you've been poisoned twice; you were near death twice. Your wife, herself, said you had 5 percent chance of survival just a few weeks ago, and here you are. How are you feeling? [Vladimir Kara-murza, Russian Activist:] Hello, Hala. And it's good to be with you, and I really mean this in more ways than one. And I'm recovering. It's going to take a while until full recovery. Last time, it took me more than year. This time, I'm expecting probably something similar, but I'm trying to resume some of my work. I'm trying to be active as I can. And, of course, I'm very, very grateful and very fortunate to be here. As you mentioned, doctors did say that it was about a 5 percent chance that I will make it, both times, in 2015 after the first poisoning and last month, so it's certainly very good to be here. And as soon as I'm feeling able to, I'm going to return to my work and resume my work and my activities in the Russian opposition, of course. [Gorani:] So you're going back to Moscow, that's your plan, even though, you say, you were the target of an assassination attempt twice? [Kara-murza:] Well, Russia's my home. Russia's my country. I feel that the work that we do is important. You've seen you've just covered them on your show a few minutes ago those mass protests that we had across our country just yesterday 82 cities, tens and thousands of people, mostly young people. This is very important, by the way. Mr. Putin has been in power for 17 years, almost a generation. And these people, these college students, these high school kids in many cases, that went out to the streets of Russia yesterday to protest against this regime, against its corruption, against the impunity for such behavior under the current government, this is the Putin generation. These are the people that are being born and raised under Vladimir Putin, and he is losing them because they're fed up with the voicelessness. They're fed up with corruption. They're fed with authoritarianism and the lack of free and fair elections. They're fed up with the lack of future and lack of prospects. And frankly, I think it is our responsibility before those people to continue the work we're doing. And, of course, I have no intention of giving up or running away. I will return to Russia when I'm physically able to, once I fully recover because doctors are strongly advising that I need to get fully recovered after the second poisoning in two years before I can get back to work. So I'm probably going to listen to them this time. [Gorani:] Right. But what do you [Kara-murza:] Last time, I returned just a few months after [Gorani:] Can I ask you, I mean, tangibly, on the ground, what is it that you want to try to achieve in Russia? I mean, at this stage, we've seen instances, for instance, Denis Voronenko, a former Russian lawmaker murdered in broad daylight in Ukraine. What is worth taking such a risk for, in your opinion, and how do you plan on achieving it? [Kara-murza:] Well, this, this travesty of a crackdowns and repressions and threats, this is what Mr. Putin and his regime would like the world and everyone to see. And, in fact, as you know, Mr. Putin and his regime have long enjoined to equate themselves with Russia. And one of his top aides, Vyacheslav Volodin, who is the current Speaker of the Parliament, was recently on record saying there is no Russia without Putin, something, which is, in my view, insulting towards our country. But, unfortunately, too many people in the West, including political leaders in the West, have been falling into this trap, if I may so, and have been equating Putin and Russia when, in fact, Russia's very different. Russia's very diverse. And these young people, this young generation, that came out to the streets yesterday and that continues to become more and more actively involved in political and civic life, this is also Russia. In fact, this is the Russia of tomorrow. And I think our main work should be and, in fact, is focused on this new generation. The movement that I have the honor of representing, Open Russia, which is a pro-democracy movement founded by Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the main focus of our work certainly is the young generation. It is the young people across the country. And all our projects are directed to this young generation. All the events we hold across Russia, the public debates, the discussions, the film screenings, the lectures, you know, everything we can do to try to maintain and expand that space for public discussion that is being increasingly repressed and shrink under this regime, several human rights and legal support projects that we engage in, the media project that we try to support despite the official propaganda and the official censorship that is being placed in Russia in the mainstream media, in the largest reach media under Mr. Putin for many, many years. All of these projects and all these initiatives are directed at umpiring and consolidating the young generation of democratic activists in Russia. [Gorani:] So can I ask you about the young generation [Kara-murza:] The people who take this responsibility [Gorani:] So I just wanted to jump in because you mentioned these protests. They were bigger than, I think, many people expected, when they drew big crowds. There were hundreds of arrests, et cetera. Were you surprised at the size of them? [Kara-murza:] Well, not really because I travel widely around Russia, outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg, in many, many regions. And everywhere I go and everywhere we hold events, there are people who are rejecting this regime, who reject everything it stands for, you know, its autocracy, its corruption, its isolation and aggression with regards to the outside world, and who wants to see Russia become a normal, modern, democratic European country. This is the new generation of Russia. [Gorani:] But yet Vladimir Putin, he's rather popular if you look at his actual popularity rating inside of Russia. [Kara-murza:] Well, you know, frankly, there's nothing but smile that can be a reaction to these things. Of course, these are the Kremlin claims, right? And when you've been in power for 17 years, when you have shut down and silenced every single large, independent media outlet, when you have removed your opponents from the ballot in many cases, put your opponents in prison, and in other cases, unfortunately, deprived your opponents of life as happened with Russian opposition leader Boris Nemtsov who was killed two years ago just in front of the Kremlin when you've done all that and you maintain a relentless propaganda in the media, and when you try to scare people by keeping them in prison or exile, I don't think it's really meaningful to talk about any kind of popularity or any kind of opinion polls. I think the real worth of all of these was actually shown yesterday. When you see those tens and thousands of people across Russia protesting against the Putin regime, and nobody came out in support of the Putin regime. The only institution he has in his defense are the riot police and the National Guard. And if you really were that popular, let me ask you, why would he need to rig elections one after another? Why would he need to silence independent media? And why would he need to jail or exile or kill his opponents, if he really were as popular as he claims to be? [Gorani:] I just want to ask you a last question on a personal note. Obviously, you have kids, you're married. First of all, have you figured it out what poison was used to try to kill you? And secondly, what do you tell your family before heading back to Moscow when it's clearly risky for you to do so and it almost cost you your life twice? [Kara-murza:] Well, as far as the poison, the doctors have stated in the official diagnosis that it was an undefined toxin. They haven't determined what it is. They did say it was some kind of a toxin, but we don't know exactly what. And, of course, you know, Russian domestic security services have had this laboratory for poisons and toxins for many, many years I should say, many decades and they've really been sophisticated with this. There are some toxicologists who are working on my blood samples to try to see if they can find out. And, of course, if they do find something out, we'll definitely let people know. But for know, we know it was an undefined toxin to led to a multiple organ failure and left me in a coma within hours. And I'm very grateful to the doctors who saved my life twice in Moscow in the last two years. In terms of the personal cost, I mean, of course, we have known for a long time that it is a dangerous vocation to be in opposition to Mr. Putin's regime, and so many people have paid, you know, for it with their freedom or with having to leave the country or with their lives, as Boris Nemtsov and so many others. But I think what we're doing is right. I think what we're doing is important because Russia is our country. And I think this regime, the regime of Vladimir Putin, is robbing our country and our young generation of future and of prospects. And if we're serious about this, we have to continue our work, yes, at great personal risk. And, of course, my family is worried and my wife is worried. But, you know, I'm very fortunate to have this woman in my life. She understands, she knows who she married. And I think not "I think," I know that I will resume my work. I will go back and I will continue then what we're doing. And I know that one day, Russia will be free because the Russian people, just as any other people, is deserving to live under rule of law, under a democratic system of government where human rights are respected. And I have absolutely no doubt that this is the future that awaits our country. [Gorani:] Vladimir Kara-Murza, thank you very much for joining us in Washington. And we're glad that you're getting healthier. [Kara-murza:] Thank you very much. It's good to be with you. [Gorani:] So thank you so much also for making time for us. Thank you. And don't forget, you could check out our Facebook page. We'll post some of our interview with Vladimir Kara-Murza. You will find it at facebook.comhalagoranicnn. We'll be right back. [Howell:] Welcome back. In Iraq, November was a particularly bloody month in the fight against ISIS. The U.N. says nearly 2,000 Iraqi troops were killed across the country, nearly triple the number of military casualties reported in October. Almost 1,000 civilians were also killed just last month. For more on these figures and the war against ISIS, CNN producer Salma Abdelaziz joins now live from Irbil. Thank you for being with us this hour. Let's break this down to explain exactly why we're seeing such high casualty numbers. [Salma Abdelaziz, Cnn Producer:] George, these numbers are staggering, 2,000 soldiers killed, 1,000 civilians killed in just a matter of a month. We're seeing these high numbers now for the first time. The Iraqi army had not provided us with any figures since this conflict began in October. What this paints a picture of is a grueling battle. The Iraqi army has now entered Mosul. They are now fighting house to house to retake that city from ISIS, which is deeply entrenched. We're hearing from the Iraqi army that ISIS has used hundreds of car bombs. They have set up snipers on the rooftops of homes and they're even using residents as civilian shields. And in this densely populated urban environment, U.S. airstrikes can simply not be used as much because they could create more civilian casualties. So it's a very difficult battle now. And we saw firsthand just how that's affecting the civilian population. Just a week ago, we were at a triage point that's just on the outskirts of Mosul. And we saw family after family coming in with shrapnel wounds because mortar rounds from ISIS had landed close to their homes. We saw families fleeing their homes because they said we are caught in the crossfire and we do not feel safe. And this battle is expected to take many more months to come, George. And we can expect to see a high civilian death toll but also a high soldier death toll from the Iraqi military in these many more months to come George. [Howell:] Salma, I'd like to talk just a bit more about that. You touch on it, the situation with civilians. There are so many people who are just trying to get out of harm's way. Talk to us about the situation that they are dealing with and what it's like to flee, to get out of harm's way, and then to try to find a place where you can get shelter, safety, because it is creating sort of a humanitarian issue. [Abdelaziz:] Well, George, let me start by explaining to you why this humanitarian issue is the way it is in the first place. When Mosul started, the Baghdad central government asked all the civilians to stay in their homes. That's over 1 million residents. They said please stay put, we're going to fight this fight while you remain at home. What that's meant is that this battle is happening on their doorstep. That means people are exchange gunfire; mortar rounds are landing, as I said earlier, right outside their doors. And on top of that, you also have an issue of services. Half a million residents right now in Mosul have no water, according to the United Nations. When we went to the liberated areas, these are areas that the Iraqi military says are secure and clear of ISIS, there was no running water, there was no power, there was no hospitals nearby to provide medical care to anybody who's been wounded in those mortar strikes. So it's a very bleak picture. And eight agencies in the United Nations say they expect it to get worse as this battle carries on. As we said, it's become very slow. It's become very meticulous. And ISIS has really taken advantage of the fact that it has had two years to prepare for this. And it's really dug itself deep, dug its heels into that civilian population and is using them in the worst possible ways, as we said, as human shields even, to protect themselves. And so this is a great deal of concern for the Iraqi military. They're trying to take as many precautions as they can as they move forward. But as one U.N. official told me, ISIS is not fighting that way. They will do anything they can to protect themselves, to keep themselves alive in Mosul. And that means taking advantage of the civilian population George. [Howell:] And as you point out, so some have, you know, found a way to get out of harm's way but there are many who are just waiting at home and waiting it out. Salma Abdelaziz, thank you so much for your reporting and we'll stay in touch with you. Outgunned and surrounded, rebels in Aleppo, Syria, say that they have a new alliance to take on regime forces. It appears to be a last- ditch effort, though, aimed at repelling a crushing government assault. Syrian regime forces and their allies have pushed into Eastern Aleppo; backed by airstrikes and artillery, they have encircled rebel positions and are now in control of more than 20 percent of the city's east. CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more now from Damascus. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Correspondent:] Another day, more violence in Aleppo. The youngest suffering the most, this video from the Syrian civil defense showing rescuers saving a child after a suspected airstrike, the fighting claiming at least 45 lives on Wednesday alone, according to monitoring groups. Over 30,000 people mostly children have been displaced since government forces launched a large scale offensive making sweeping gains in the east of Aleppo, the U.N. says. In Rome, efforts continue to try and broker some sort of truce and the delivery of humanitarian aid to the besieged area, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry meeting Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. [John Kerry, U.s. Secretary Of State:] And so hopefully, if the humanitarian situation can be dealt with in Aleppo more effectively. And if indeed we could create a framework for the passage of people out of Aleppo so that Aleppo itself might be able to be relieved from this agony. That could open up the space to perhaps be able to start some kind of conversation in Geneva. [Pleitgen:] Even as its air force pounds rebel positions, Russia said it's still committed to a political solution in Syria. SERGEY LAVROV, RUSSIA'S FOREIGN MINISTER, In a desperate effort to fend off Syrian government troops, rebel factions in the besiege areas of Aleppo have announced a new alliance named the Army of Aleppo. But their fight remains desperate in the face of an offensive that is already cost the opposition much of the territory it held in Aleppo for years Frederik Pleitgen, CNN, Damascus. [Howell:] The fight there continues. This is CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back after this. [Michael Holmes, Cnn Anchor:] And a warm welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. [Lynda Kinkade, Cnn Anchor:] Hello. And I'm Lynda Kinkade. It is 1 AM on the US East Coast. That's 6 AM in London. Thanks for being with us. Now, we start this hour with breaking news in the US. The US Justice Department has just filed an appeal to reverse a US District Court's judge's suspension of President Donald Trump's travel ban. Now, that appeal has been filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which will hear the case. [Holmes:] The three judges, who might hear that case, were actually appointed separately by former Presidents Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. CNN US justice reporter Laura Jarrett is with us on the phone now from Washington. Laura, you've been going through this. Tell us the main points of it. [Laura Jarrett, Cnn Us Justice Reporter:] Well, Lynda and Michael, this is a strongly worded legal filing. Just after midnight here on the East Coast, the US Justice Department moved for what's called an emergency stay of the sweeping decision out of Seattle that temporarily halted the enforcement of President Trump's travel ban on a nationwide basis. And in this legal filing, the Justice Department says that blocking the travel ban "harms the public and second guesses the president's national security judgment." The thrust of the argument here being made by the Justice Department are two different prongs. The first one is that the plaintiffs in the case, which were the case was brought by the Washington State Attorney General and Minnesota. They're saying the plaintiffs don't have standing to sue here. They haven't been harmed in a way that allows you to get in the court. The second argument is that the president's authority in this area is sweeping and quite broad. And so, he can basically do what he wants in this area of immigration in an unreviewable way. The court doesn't have an authority to review him. So, it's a pretty strongly worded legal filing we're seeing right now from the Justice Department. [Kinkade:] And the Justice Department is, of course, calling for it to be immediate. How quickly could it happen? [Jarrett:] Well, it's hard to say. It was just filed less than an hour ago and it's unclear yet whether the other side, Washington State, will have an opportunity to respond. There is a motions panel set up in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that can hear these types of cases by phone. And so, they may do it very quickly, as early as tomorrow. [Holmes:] The other wording, as we go through this, as you say, it does talk about the president's national security judgment second guesses the president's national security judgment. But, also, it says that the ban contravenes the constitutional separation of powers. What does it mean by that? [Jarrett:] The idea there is that Congress gave the president the ability to do this. And by a different branch of government, in this case the judiciary branch, intervening in that authority, they're saying, is improper. They're saying the president is able to do this because Congress let him do it. [Kinkade:] It certainly is a fascinating outcome. We will see whether there is a decision tomorrow. Laura Jarrett, great to have you with us. Thank you so much. [Holmes:] It's only really just getting underway now, this fight one way or the other, and it could end up in the Supreme Court as we've been hearing. Troy Slaten joining us from Los Angeles, legal analyst, criminal defense attorney. I'm guessing you've had a quick read of part of the language. You'll have heard Laura there, what's your take on this? [1:05:00] [Troy Slaten, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Well, I'm a little bit surprised that it took the United States Justice Department this long to file this appeal. They should have this ready to go a while ago and that leads me to believe that there was some sort of disagreement within the Justice Department as to what was going to be their basis for asking for a stay of this temporary restraining order. [Kinkade:] What other options do they have? [Slaten:] What options did the Justice Department had? I mean, really nothing. The president was saying you need to do this and the Justice Department well, as far as they had several options as to what their legal argument was going to be. I don't think they really had a choice as to whether or not they were going to file for this stay on the temporary restraining order. [Holmes:] So, what you're saying is that you get the sense that they weren't really ready with an argument early enough. What do you make of the argument that they're saying that the district court ruling barring enforcement of ban contravenes the constitutional separation of powers, harms the public by thwarting enforcement of an executive order issued by the nation's elected representatives and so on? Is that a good argument? [Slaten:] It is. I think that the two arguments that they made are very good and they're really the most common arguments that you would make sort of in a situation like this. The first argument being whether or not the plaintiffs, being the State of Washington, even has standing to bring this type of lawsuit. And a standing, for all the folks at home, is really a threshold issue. It's whether you have a right to go to the courthouse steps to make this argument. So, the Justice Department is saying that they're not even a proper party because they're not the individuals, they're not the entity that would be harmed by this. And the other argument is also a very strong one. It's true, the president of the United States has plenary power in this area. The United States Congress, under the Constitution, has the right has the authority to regulate immigration and they passed laws giving the president of United States the authority to implement those laws with regard to the Customs and Border Protection, the CBP, and it's interesting that the Department of Homeland Security very quickly reacted when the court in the Ninth Circuit, Judge Robart issued this temporary restraining order. The Department of Homeland Security said immediately we're going to obey that. And now, this just causes so much confusion into the entire system. But I think that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is going to act very quickly to either implement a stay or sustain the restraining order. [Kinkade:] So, what is the process now. Three judges from the Ninth Circuit will look at this argument. What considerations do they need to make? [Slaten:] They need to decide whether or not the plaintiffs, here the State of Washington, has a reasonable likelihood of success and whether or not they would be irreparably harmed if this temporary restraining order stayed in place. And I think that, you know, looking at the precedent for the Ninth Circuit, some people in legal community call it the Ninth Circus, it's a very liberal circuit. It's the most overturned by the United States Supreme Court. And two of the three judges were appointed by Democratic presidents. As you mentioned, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama appointed two out of the three. The other being by President George W. Bush. [Holmes:] So, one imagines that the confusion could just continue all the way to the Supreme Court. Would it be a situation that the ban is implemented, the court in Seattle gets it paused, "so, OK, everybody can come again." If the Ninth Circuit upholds the government side of things, the ban goes back on and everyone has to stop again. And then, there is another appeal and it works its way up to Supreme Court. People aren't going to know whether they should get on a plane or not. Is that fair? [Slaten:] Well, I mean, of course, it's not fair to those wanting to travel. [Holmes:] I mean, is that a fair sort of statement of what's likely to happen. It's on, it's off, it's on, it's off. [Slaten:] Absolutely. But because it is a matter of such importance, the Ninth Circuit is going to act on this quickly. They know that the world is watching. So, I imagine that we could get a decision possibly today, Super Bowl Sunday, and the Ninth Circuit has procedures for dealing with emergency appeals like this and they could come up with their decision any moment. And if whatever party doesn't like it, it's likely to appeal it to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court could take it up rather quickly. [Holmes:] And it could end up in a 4-4 tie. [Kinkade:] Yes. That's going to be a bit of a mess too. [Slaten:] So, in that case, if it's a 4-4 tie, the lower court decision stands. [Kinkade:] Right. So, the Seattle ruling at present would stand. [Slaten:] Well, no. Whatever the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeal's decision is what stands. [Kinkade:] Right, right. [Holmes:] Wow. Troy, thank you so much helping us understand that. Of course, we've got to assume that the justices won't be watching the Super Bowl and will be focused on this. [Slaten:] Hopefully. [Holmes:] Yes. Troy Slaten in Los Angeles, thanks so much. [Slaten:] Thank you. [Kinkade:] Well, President Trump's travel has sparked nationwide protests, almost before the ink was dry on his executive order. Those demonstrations include outside the Florida resort where Mr. Trump is spending the weekend. [Holmes:] CNN's Jessica Schneider is in Palm Beach, Florida and has the latest for us from there. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn National Correspondent:] Out here at Mar-a- Lago, a day of legal wranglings, a Twitter tirade by President Donald Trump and also protesters. Take a look at some of the remnants out here. At one point, several hundred people making their march as close as they could get to Mar-a-Lago. A mostly peaceful protest, but very similar to the ones that we've been seeing over the past two weeks and the past three weekends. These people wanting to get their message directly to the president or as close as they could get now that he's down here and what they're calling the winter White House. As far as President Trump goes, he took to Twitter numerous times over the day sticking to his contention that his executive order as it pertains to that immigration ban was lawful, was constitutional and even slamming the federal judge on Seattle several times. In fact, Donald Trump taking to Twitter, I'll read you a few of his posts, saying "The judge opens up our country to potential terrorists and others that do not have our best interest at heart. Bad people are very happy." And earlier in the day, President Trump tweeting out this. "The opinion of this so-called judge which essentially takes law enforcement away from our country is ridiculous and will be overturned." Jessica Schneider, CNN, Palm Beach, Florida. [Holmes:] Now, those tweets that Jessica mentioned there were ridiculed to Washington's governor as beneath the dignity of the presidency. Earlier, before the appeal was filed by the US Justice Department, Gov. Jay Inslee spoke about the importance of the legal challenge his state brought against the president's executive order. [Jay Inslee, Governor Of The State Of Washington:] President can tweet till the cows come home, but the fact of the matter is he is bound by this order. It is a legally binding order and he is going to have to follow it. That's the way our system of checks and balances work. And he asked this question about lawyers. His lawyers are telling him the facts. They're telling him that this is the way America works because, in America, when an executive does something that's unconstitutional, thank goodness we have a federal judicial system that can rein that in and that's what this judge did. And by the way, this was a judge this insult of him this was a judge appointed by a conservative Republican George W. Bush. He was confirmed with a 99 to 0 vote in the Senate. This is the way democracy is meant to work. [Kinkade:] Well, that travel ban has set off a wave of protests right across the world, even near Mr. Trump's front door. [Holmes:] They've been marching in West Palm Beach, Florida, not far from his Mar-a-Lago resort where he is spending the weekend. Supporters of the president and the travel ban also spotted in the crowds. And in Washington, hundreds walked from the White House to the US Capitol on Saturday with a banner saying, no ban, no wall. [Kinkade:] Protesters also gathered in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. An American there says she's speaking out because this is not what her country stands her. [Unidentified Protester:] Being an American, I care about my country and I care about how we are portrayed and are seen from other countries. And I think that we need to be careful of what we're doing right now. We have French organizers on our team who've been of a huge help. And it's been amazing. If you see the crowd, people keep coming. So, I think people are ready to fight back and to organize. We're not mourning anymore. We're organizing. [Kinkade:] Well, after the breaks, new protests against President Trump's travel ban. [Holmes:] More on how the Trump administration is defending that ban. Just ahead, also tensions rising between the US and Iran. [Kinkade:] Next, how Iran is responding to new US sanctions. [Blitzer:] Day one of the convention that at least for a few minutes resembled the old-fashioned kind of convention, a rules battle, a demonstration on the floor. Joining us now, Senator Mike Lee of Utah, who was right in the middle of it all. What happened there, because you looked pretty angry when the debate was unfolding? [Sen. Mike Lee , Utah:] This was a lost opportunity. It was an opportunity for the party to unite. Unity happens when people with different viewpoints are respected and we're able to discuss our disagreements. [Blitzer:] What was your goal in seeking that vote? [Lee:] It's really very simple. We just wanted a roll call vote on the rules. [Blitzer:] Why? You knew that Trump had the votes in the end, right? [Lee:] Look, this one isn't about Trump. For some people, it is. It's much bigger than that. It's about our rules. The first order of business in any convention, any convention, at the Republican Convention, as far as I know, in any political convention, is you adopt the rules. There was disagreement going out of the rules committee about the rules package that was adopted. There were a lot of delegates who for various and sundry reasons wanted a roll call on that. That's all we wanted. And they shut that down. It's unfortunate, because we need these people. The people who feel differently about the rules, for whatever reason, are the very same people the Republican Party will need come November to help us win elections, at the top of the ticket, the bottom of the ticket and everywhere in between. [Blitzer:] Because they said you needed seven states, the majority of the delegates in seven states, in order get the roll they said you said you had nine. They did some checking and then you had five or six. You didn't meet the requirement. [Lee:] Yes, we believe we had 11 states that had submitted the requisite number of signatures from their delegates. And then they came back and said three states had withdrawn their petitions. Even if that were true, that would still leave us with eight, more than the threshold of seven that we needed for a roll call vote. I'm not sure what to make of that. But I will say this. This was a lost opportunity. When people have the opportunity to be heard, they are more likely to work for the party, work for the party's nominees for various offices, whether it's president or congressional seat or senatorial seat or something else. And this was a missed opportunity today to have this vote. [Blitzer:] Now, where do you stand on Donald Trump as the Republican nominee? Will you vote for him? [Lee:] Look, I'm a lifelong Republican. I have never voted for anyone for president for any party other than the Republican Party. I have yet to endorse Donald Trump. I have expressed concerns about that. I don't want to rehash those now. But this is an opportunity for Donald Trump to win over the party, win over voters like me, conservatives like me, who would like to have their concerns resolved, who would like to be invited into a discussion. [Blitzer:] Because Paul Manafort, the Trump committee chairman, he said to me there's going to be an opportunity in January of next year for the rules committee to meet looking ahead to 2020. That's what you were really anxious, to change the rules looking ahead, so a conservative would get the nomination, to close the primaries and the caucuses to only registered Republicans and not outsiders. Right? [Lee:] Sure. Sure. This discussion is about not only this year, but also 2020 and 2024. [Blitzer:] Was that your real goal, 2020? [Lee:] Well, we have lots of goals. There's lots of things that we needed to discuss in connection with the rules. The one thing we wanted to know is, where are the delegates on this issue? It's the delegates at the end of the day that get to decide that. We knew that there would be a voice vote. We knew that it would be difficult to discern who had won the voice vote and who hadn't. That's why we asked for simple roll call vote. I have to ask the question, why on earth did the RNC choose to create this toxic environment through four hours of delay and then come back to us after that and say, well, a few of them, after the RNC had lobbied several of these states for several hours, they have now withdrawn their petitions? Why did they have to do that? Why not just allow for the vote? What are they afraid of? At the end of the day, we would be a better, stronger party if we allowed these votes to occur. [Blitzer:] And so I just want to be precise. Going ahead in 2020, you want the caucuses and the primaries to be closed only to Republicans and not let independents or maybe even Democrats register and vote? [Lee:] I at least want those states that choose to keep their primaries closed to be recognized for that, to be rewarded, and to have a delegate bonus as a result. [Blitzer:] And that was one of the purposes? [Lee:] That was one of the purposes. [Blitzer:] There was an argument that some had made that you were really doing this for Ted Cruz, looking ahead. You're a Ted Cruz supporter, right? [Lee:] I am. I am. Ted Cruz withdrew from this race months ago, a long time ago. [Blitzer:] Donald Trump is going to be your nominee, though, right? [Lee:] I think he is. [Blitzer:] You think? [Lee:] Almost certain that he is. And, look, he will be a stronger nominee... [Blitzer:] Is there anything you can do even at this last minute to prevent him from being the Republican nominee? [Lee:] Probably not. Probably not. But, look, he's almost certainly going to be our nominee. And because that's the case, he's going to need to get as many people into his tent as he can. And that means uniting the party. That means helping people to feel like they have been disenfranchised today at this convention, the same people that they will need as part of a grassroots network to get out the vote for him in November, he needs those people in his tent. Let us have a vote. I don't think this is about Donald Trump, though. I don't think Donald Trump did this. I don't blame this on Donald Trump. I blame the RNC. [Blitzer:] Was this a Reince Priebus... [Lee:] I don't whether it was Reince himself. But the people who are running this convention made a decision, rather than have a vote, rather than respect the fact that I believe 11 states had submitted the necessary petitions for roll call vote let them have a roll call vote. [Blitzer:] So, are you going to stay here for the next three days? [Lee:] Yes. Look, I'm here. I'm here as a delegate from Utah. I'm going to stay. I'm going to participate. [Blitzer:] And when will you decide whether or not you will vote for Donald Trump? [Lee:] Well, that's up for me as a voter to decide. [Blitzer:] It's still up for grabs? [Lee:] Sure. [Blitzer:] There's no chance you are going to vote for Hillary Clinton? [Lee:] No, there is not. [Blitzer:] Is there a chance you could vote for Gary Johnson, a third- party candidate? [Lee:] Look, I don't know. Right now, I'm a delegate to the Republican National Convention. And it's always my instinct to want to support Republican candidates. [Blitzer:] One final what would it take for you to vote for Donald Trump? [Lee:] Great question. I would love to see Mr. Trump come out with an aggressive reform agenda, one that focuses on the structural protections in the Constitution. Some of the structural protections, which I discuss in my book "Our Lost constitution," including principles, federalism and separation of powers, the notion that most government decisions are supposed to be made locally, at the state and local level. Instead, they have been taken to Washington. And within Washington, too much of that power has been sucked into the executive branch, where an administrative regulatory system costs the American economy, mostly America's poor and middle class, $2 trillion a year. If he started talking about restoring federalism and separation of powers and about what he would do to do that, I think he'd be very appealing to a whole lot of conservatives like me who have yet to hear that kind of aggressive, consistent messaging from him on a conservative core principle. [Blitzer:] The Mike Pence selection didn't impact you? [Lee:] I think Mike Pence is a great choice. I would love to hear more messaging like we hear from Mike Pence out of Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] Senator Lee, thanks very much for joining us. [Lee:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] Just ahead, we will get the latest from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The police chief there is standing by to join us live. There are new developments. We will be right back. [Harlow:] All right. Investigating an explosion of any type requires a lot of patience, meticulous gathering of evidence. That's where the ATF or the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Post-Blast Investigative Training Comes in. You can imagine what they're going through right now, given all that has transpired in New York City in the last 24 hours. CNN will take you inside of the ATF Lab, where they learn what they look for after an explosion. Watch. [Unidentified Male:] Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. Fire in the hole. When we go to a scene, whether it's an explosion or a fire, you know, we don't go in with any preconceived notions. I can talk to you and tell you what it feels like. But until you see actually see it firsthand, you really don't understand. The training that we are putting on here, dealt with giving the first responders and investigating agencies the tools that they need to be able to conduct an investigation. When the items are sifted and collected for evidence, they're categorized. Are they something that is common use, or if not, they may be part of the actual explosive device. Collecting evidence, you know, to be sent to the lab for processing. It also can give you an idea of what type of explosives may have been used. [Unidentified Female:] Once it is submitted to the laboratory, we take all of the information we gather from running it on these different instruments, and all of that data together allows us to determine what the explosive is. In addition to looking for the explosives, we're looking for components. Anything we can link the suspect to the device or the device back to the suspect. [Unidentified Male:] The end result is we all want to figure out, number one, is a criminal event and if it is a criminal event who did it? [Harlow:] Just giving you an eye into some of what goes into looking at these devices. I should note that's the ATF is the FBI right now is the lead on this. We know this pressure cooker found last night on West 27th Street is at Quantico. Right now, let's bring back to my panel, Bob Baer, former CIA Operative with me. Bob, obviously, the fact that this was not detonated gives them so much information. Not only fingerprints but what the wiring tells us, what instructions were followed from, say, Inspire Magazine or something else, we just don't know, to build it. As they disassemble this, what are they looking for? What are the key things they're looking for? [Bob Baer, Former Cia Operative:] They're going to be looking how the phone was rigged up to the black powder if that's what it was. They're going to be looking for wiring. They're going to be looking for, you know, the cell phone itself. Is it prepaid? I imagine it was. But at this point, if I were doing the investigation, what I'd look for is where the prepaid cell phone was and in other cells in the vicinity. If somebody had a cell in their other pocket, for carrying the pressure cooker, you would show that tracking. And it's amazing what, you know, these people will continue to use two cell phones and keep one in the pocket, or if it was bought in New Jersey, for instance. They can tell so much about this. I mean, you know, any time you use a cell phone, you're leaving an incredible trace behind you, which is which be found efficiently. They know how to do this now. [Harlow:] Juliette Kayyem, to you, when you're looking at what appears to be as our Shimon Prokupecz has reported, the same individual on 23rd Street and 27th Street within a matter of minutes last night, and what sounds like clear surveillance video showing the face, walk us through what's going on right now in terms of the delicate balance that they're walking, between, you know, apprehending this person, but also seeing are they connected to a wider web before they take this person down. [Kayyem:] Well, their priority is apprehending these persons. The only question now is, what's the safest way to do so? And the best possible circumstance, the NYPD and FBI would are going to sort of cross reference the facial recognition. Look through all of their files, cross reference with the JTTS, Joint Terrorism Task Force, there's any other databases. There's probably over two dozen to scrub the facial recognition against. And that their hope is that, they keep this it internal, not that they want to keep the public out of it but only because the safest way to get someone is surprise, right? Because what you don't but if you end up, as we had to do here in Boston, sort of crowd sourcing it, the people who your looking for may end up turning it around and getting violent as they tried to escape or get out of the city, as we saw here. So there's no ideal situation in these circumstances, but what you're trying to do is minimize the harm to anyone else. And determine who this person and then any other people. But they want to catch him. There's no question about it. There might be a larger network but they're not going to survey him for too long. The fear being that he would go underground and you miss him. [Harlow:] All right. And I want to bring Shimon back in here, as well, who broke this news for us, and Tom Fuentes. Shimon, to you, you haven't seen this video but it's been described to you by a number of law enforcement officials. They have a clear view of this person's face, anything that they said to you about what stands out about this person? [Prokupecz:] I think they're kind of surprised by how they were able to identify him and see him. [Harlow:] Really? [Prokupecz:] And I think there was some surprise. I think some folks sort of, you know, the whole thing with the two men that walk over to the duffel bag, I think some have chuckled at that. There is some thinking behind that but... [Harlow:] In what way, what do you mean they chuckled? [Prokupecz:] I think they just think it's perhaps an odd kind of coincidence. Like no one really thinks these two men were involved. [Harlow:] Why is that? [Prokupecz:] I think I don't know. I think it's based off their investigation, you know. We also say like, Evan Perez had spoken to a couple people about this, too, described the video to him. On it sort of in its initial appearance, you know, perhaps they thought maybe the other two men were involved. But I think, law enforcement has pretty much moved away from that. And again, there so much that has been going on today and so much that they've found out. I think they've made so much progress. So I think that's, you know, sort of their that's where they are right now in sort of their thinking. [Harlow:] As they try to identify this person, they may already identify them, we don't know. Tom Fuentes, talk me through with the experts at the FBI, who is lead on the investigation now, what they're doing in terms of the facial recognition technology is so great at this point in time, that they could take a snapshot of that surveillance video which are the clear image of the face according to Shimon, and they've run it in their database, right? And they see, you know, do they find any matches? Do they find any hit? [Fuentes:] Well, maybe, but that facial recognition software is not perfect and specially, it can be thwarted if the individual wearing glasses, and wearing or has facial hair, wearing a hat pulled down. It obliterates some of the reference points on the face, that facial recognition measures, to try to match one face to another individual's face. And the more of a frontal view you have, the more accurate it will be, if the person is clean shave and no sunglasses, no hat, but we don't know all of that at this point. So it can be helpful, it's just not foolproof. So as I said, I'm a little bit unclear on if they have an actual identity of the individual and are looking for him now, or maybe already have that person and are surveilling that person to see if he leads to other co-conspirators. I'm a little unclear if they've gotten that far at this point in the investigation. [Harlow:] Tom Fuentes, stay with me. Juliette, Shimon, Matthew Horace with ATF, we got to get a quick in here much more on this major development in our breaking news, straight ahead after this. [Cooper:] Everything happening in this convention hall right now, all of the speeches you're going to be seeing tonight leading up to one pivotal speech. We are getting closer to Hillary Clinton on stage accepting her historic presidential nomination, more with the panel right now. Paul, in terms of how Secretary Clinton prepares for a speech like this, what do you know about her process? Patti? [Doyle:] Well, for a speech like this, weeks ahead of time it is written by committee, basically. You've got a lot of hands dabbling with a lot of ideas and a lot of suggestions, but in the very end it's usually Hillary and her speechwriter, in her room, in her house, in her suite. Really, she hand writes notes on the margins. They talk it through. They work it out and nobody gets the final draft until she's about to give it. I wouldn't be surprised if she's tinkering with it right now. [Begala:] Compared to her husband who I worked for, somewhat more disciplined. [Unidentified Male:] He's still tinkering on his Tuesday night's speech. He still wants to finish his 1988 speech. [Begala:] She's just a much disciplined, focused person and she doesn't have Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Clinton's oratorical speech, she just doesn't. But I do think that there's a simple authenticity in her very walky, very sort of clear-minded, her credo, I believe. Patti knows her better than I do, but 25 years on her, she loves this quotation attributed to John Wesley, Christian Methodist, the founder of her religion, John Wesley says this. Do all the good you can. By all the means you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can. If I had a nickel for every time Hillary quoted that to me, I wouldn't need the super PAC. That's her philosophy. [Unidentified Female:] Will she use it tonight? [Begala:] Bet you a dollar. [Doyle:] Bet you a dollar. [Begala:] What do you think? She just use it all of the time. [Doyle:] Yeah. [Begala:] That's her view of life. [Cooper:] I want to pick on some... [Doyle:] Tim Kaine incorporated that. You know, Tim Kaine also incorporate. [Unidentified Female:] Right. [Doyle:] He used it in... [Axelrod:] Well, and I think he has the same sort of motivation, different, you know, he's Catholic, but he has the same sort of deep faith. I want to pick up on something Michael said, there aren't there are hardly any opportunities in a presidential campaign in which you get an unfiltered opportunity to speak to an audience this size. This is really it. [Unidentified Male:] Yup. Yeah. [Axelrod:] The next time this many Americans will see Hillary Clinton at once it will be in debate. [Unidentified Female:] Yeah, that's right. [Axelrod:] When you don't have a clear shot, and so that's why this is so important. You don't get too many chances to do this, and this is her chance in her own words, in her own way to speak to a large number of Americans and you wanted the most of that opportunity. [Borger:] And let's not forget the historic moment. I mean, she is going to be the first woman to accept the nomination of a major party at a major convention in the history of the United States. [Unidentified Female:] Yeah. [Jones:] Which means a lot of those millions of people that are watching are young people. [Unidentified Female:] Yeah. Right. [Jones:] You've got a lot of parents. You've got a lot of grandparents, you got a lot of uncles and aunts saying "Put the screen down. No, no, put the screen down, watch this." [Smerconish:] I'm sorry. We were all so caught up on Monday in Debbie Wassermann Schulz and whether she was going to come out with the gavel and come on we love that stuff, right? Those of us at this table, but in the grand scheme of things I think that was inconsequential. Tonight matters. It's the super bowl of this presentation. [Henderson:] Yes, yes and I don't care when she implores some humor right? I mean even you saw it last night with Barack Obama when he talked about Donald Trump. It was in some ways humorous. Humor is not her thing [Cooper:] Governor Tom Wolf from Pennsylvania has just been introduced. Let's listen in. [Gov. Tom Wolf, , State Of Pennsylvania:] Thank you. As governor of Pennsylvania, it has been an honor to host you here in Philadelphia this week. Two years ago I ran for governor on the fundamental belief that society can only succeed when we build prosperity and share it broadly. You know, this wasn't a lesson I learned in politics. It was a lesson I learned in business. After serving in the Peace Corps and earning a PhD at MIT, I surprised my family and friends by coming home to Central Pennsylvania to work in the family business, a building materials company where I started out driving a forklift. Eventually I bought the company along with two of my cousins, and we became one of the largest suppliers of kitchen cabinets in North America. One of the keys to our success was that we recognized that in business you were only as good as the people you have in your company, and thus, you had to treat everyone like they mattered. Why? Because, in fact, they do matter. Now, I understand that not all business people see it this way. When we contracted with a vendor we paid that vendor. Donald Trump, he stiffed hundreds of small businesses from plumbers to painters, ruining their companies as he saw to enrich himself. At our company like at many others all across this country, we treated our employees with respect. When they had kids, we celebrated them and we gave new moms paid leave. Donald trump said that pregnant workers were an inconvenienced so it's no surprise that he has put forward no plan for paid family leave. Finally, another important part of our business model was that we had a profit-sharing plan. We knew our employees thank you. We knew that our employees contributed to our growth. So in addition to good wages, good family-sustaining wages and really good benefits, we shared between 20 percent and 30 percent of our profit with our employees directly. Just to give you an example, in 2013 which was a turnaround year for our company, all of our workers, hundreds of them received an average, on average, $5,000 each in profit sharing that they could use for college tuition, a well-earned vacation or they could spend it on anything else they wanted. How about Donald Trump? He runs his businesses so that they only help who? You guessed it. Donald Trump. In his six, six bankruptcy filings, he used the process to protect himself and even enrich himself while his employees were left out of luck. We didn't do what we did because we were looking for awards. We did it because it was the right thing to do for our workers and we did it because it was great for our companies' bottom line. It was smart business, plain and simple. We were a stronger, more successful business because we were all in it together. Hillary Clinton believes that, too, and that's why as president, Hillary Clinton will reward companies that share profits with employees, not just executives. Under her proposal, companies will get tax credits worth 15 percent of the profits they share with their employees. The credits would last two years and would be larger for smaller businesses because Hillary believes that if you work hard you should share in your company's success. She will also fight to raise the minimum wage. She will ensure equal pay for women and guarantee up to 12 weeks' paid family leave, plus affordable child care. That's fair, it's smart and it's great for our economy because it's good for workers and it's good for businesses. At this moment, when we need to restore the fundamental American idea that if you work hard, you can get ahead and stay there, we need a president who recognizes that an economy that doesn't work for everyone doesn't work at all. We need a president who believes that our society can only succeed when economic prosperity is shared broadly. We need Hillary Clinton. Thank you very much. [Cooper:] Coming up now is former governor Jennifer Granholm from Michigan. She [inaudible] this crowd four years ago at the Democratic National Convention. Let's see if she can do it again for Hillary Clinton this time around. [Jennifer Granhold, Former Michigan Governor:] All right, Democrats. I actually want to speak tonight to those Americans who feel you've been left behind. The Americans who believe you've been cheated, who believe that those at the top don't care about you. Now I know a little something about this because I was governor of Michigan, the epicenter of America's manufacturing rise and its painful fall and its resurgence. Michigan built the automobile and the automobile built America, but when the manufacturing industry fell on hard times so did Michigan. So did many of your states, and we were angry about it. About jobs going to low-wage countries, about unfair trade, but we were also determined, determined to build the industries of the future. We said we wanted advanced manufacturing. We wanted new jobs, so we started this hard process of moving in that direction, and then in 2008 we elected a democratic president to work with us, and you know what he did? He saved the American auto industry. Right, and then that renewed auto industry paid America back in full and that is what we can do together. Now I, like many of you, am a fierce democrat, but I know I know there are Democrats and Republicans all across this country who want to create jobs in America. Liberals and conservatives, public sector and private industry because we are not in this alone. We are all in this together. One candidate gets that and one candidate, as Joe Biden said last night, doesn't have a clue. Some people are worried. Some people are angry. I get that. But the answer is not to tear our country down. It's to build our country up. Not to build walls that keep out the rest of the world, but to keep building the industries and universities that the rest of the world which is they could get into. Hillary Clinton gets it. And that's why she has huge plans to create good-paying jobs in America. Imagine that. Imagine that, actual plans. I must have missed that night at the Republican convention. Detailed plans, people, written down. Plans with numbers that add up. You want to see them? You can actually see them. Just text JOBS to 47246. Now, last week, we heard about Trump's hopeless vision of our country, and then he said, "I alone can fix it." So imagine Donald Trump's version of the Constitution? "I, the person, in order to form a more perfect union" or centuries later, "I shall overcome," or "Ask not what I can do for my country, ask what my country can do for me." Donald, Donald, you're so vain. You probably think this speech is about you, don't you now? Here's what I know. We have got to stop Donald Trump. Our great country spans a continent, but we are all connected to each other no matter where we live. So when a miner in Virginia has the dignity of a new job in the advanced steel industry, we all have dignity. When the engineering student in the Sunshine States builds the solar panels of the future, we all succeed. When the autoworker in Detroit builds the electric vehicle that drives us forward, we all win, right? Whether you're in Michigan or Maryland or Missouri or Montana. And this, too, when Flint's water poisons its children, it hurts all of us. These are our children. We are all Flint, right, Philadelphia? Our next president knows that a nation is a village, that we are one family. And in a family, no one gets left behind. Not the steelworker in Pennsylvania. Not the farmer in Iowa. Not the dreamer in Nevada. Not the factory worker in Ohio. As our next president says we are stronger together. We're stronger. How? We're going to keep America great. How? Together. And we're going to work our hearts out to elect Hillary Clinton president. How? Together. Let's do this, brothers and sisters. Together. [Cooper:] Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan. Coming up now, just as last night, we saw former mayor of New York, Michael Bloomberg, an independent reaching out to independents as possibly other Republicans. Two Republicans tonight now speaking, Doug Elmets, a Reagan administration official. Let's listen. [Doug Elmets, Fmr. Reagan White House Official:] It's an honor to be here. Candidly, it's also a shock not because of the momentous nature of this event or the size of the crowd. It's a shock because unlike many of you, I'm a Republican. 40 years ago, I cast my first vote for president, voting republican that day like I would do time and again. I haven't just voted Republican, I worked in President Reagan's White House. I recently led an effort to place a statue of Ronald Reagan in California's Capitol. I am here tonight to say, I knew Ronald Reagan. I worked for Ronald Reagan. Donald trump, you are no Ronald Reagan. President Reagan famously said "Tear down this wall," Trump says "Build the wall" because that will make America great again? Reagan saw nuance, and Trump sees the world as us versus them, where somebody with brown skin or a foreign-sounding name is likely to blame for our troubles. Reagan knew that a leader needs diplomacy to steer a safe, prosperous course forward. Trump is a petulant, dangerously unbalanced, reality star who will coddle tyrants and alienate allies. I shudder to think where he might lead our great nation. Fortunately, I don't believe he'll get that chance. While Hillary holds many policy positions that differ from my own, her qualifications are indisputable. Hillary knows that our strength of a nation lies in uniting, not dividing. This year's Republican platform is the most alarming I've ever seen. It's laced with anti-immigrant, anti-gay, anti-women positions that do not represent the views of most Americans. That is why this year, I will vote for a Democrat for the first time. To my fellow Republicans, if you believe like I do, you believe loyalty to our country is more important than loyalty to party, if you want a president with good judgment, a steady hand, and a temperament to represent our nation to the world, and our children, I ask you to join me in voting for Hillary Clinton as president of the United States. Thank you. [Cooper:] This is Jennifer Pierotti Lim. She's a with an organization "GOP Women for Hillary." [Jennifer Pierotti Lim, "republican Women For Hillary":] One of my first memories is standing outside our Richmond, Virginia polling place with my dad to hand out campaign literature in support of our chosen candidates, our chosen Republican candidates. When it comes to campaigning, I've done it all, phone banked voters and knocked on so many doors. I bet a lot of you do did the same. One difference though, I campaigned exclusively for the GOP until this election. I voted Republican my entire life. I believe in the bedrock values of the Republican Party, liberty, equality and the belief that there are individual rights that cannot be taken away. These are values to be proud of. And because the Republican Party has abandoned those values this year, this Republican is voting for Hillary Clinton. In Donald Trump's America, it doesn't matter what I've accomplished as an attorney and policy expert. All that matters is how attractive I am on a scale of one to 10. Trump's loathsome comments about women and our appearances are too many to repeat and too crass to repeat. They are too important to ignore, though. Trump can discount our accomplishments, he can disrespect our abilities, but come November, he cannot disregard our votes. There are some who will say I am voting for Hillary Clinton because she's a woman. People who say that dismiss my voice and Hillary's long record of public service. And I know there are some who are contemplating staying home this November. Your voice can help define the next chapter of American values, American policy, American leadership around the world, for better or for worse. I'm here tonight to ask all of you to join me to not only oppose Donald Trump, but to support Hillary Clinton. Because we're not just Democrats and Republicans, we're Americans. Thank you. [Cooper:] Coming up next, Sheriff Lupe Valdez from Texas the only female Hispanic sheriff in the United States. She was previously an officer in the U.S. Army, which became the captain after that. Jennifer Loudon, a widow when Chicago police officer killed in 2010. [Sherriff Lupe Valdez, Dallas County, Texas:] Good evening. I am the youngest of eight children born to migrant workers. When I told my father that I was going to join the police, he got angry. You see, he and my older brothers had been beaten by the police for no legitimate reason, but I stuck with my decision. Years later, whenever I visited, he'd show my badge off to all his friends. He saw the good I was doing, and he was proud of me. And I am proud of my fellow officers. When my officers when my officers report for duty, they have no idea what might come up that day. When they respond to a domestic violence call, they don't know whether a victim or an abuser with a gun will meet him at the door. When they stop a vehicle, they have no idea whether the driver is racing to the hospital to deliver a baby or fleeing the scene of a crime. They don't know whether the next 911 call will be their last, but they keep answering the call. They keep putting their lives on the line. They are doing the best they can to protect our communities. We put on our badge every day to serve and protect, not to hate and discriminate. We lost five officers in Dallas. They were killed as they were protecting citizens protesting the police. It's been a tough time for law enforcement communities all across America who have lost officers to violence. I've been trying to make some kind of sense out of it, but violence is not the answer. Yelling, screaming and calling each other names is not going to do it. Talking within your own group in your own language only where our groups understands leads nowhere. We have to start listening to each other. My deputies work hard to reach out to the community we serve. We attend all sorts of events, Ramadan, Cinco de Mayo, Juneteenth, Pride, veterans' parade, Irish festivals, you name it. We show up, and some of my officers are uncomfortable at first, but the only way to serve your community is to know your community. Last Sunday last Sunday after working in the morning, I went in uniform to meet my partner for lunch at a nice restaurant. As I handed the server my credit card, he smiled and said that at least four tables had offered to pay for our meal. My girlfriend and I both teared up. There wasn't a single person in that restaurant that I personally knew. The people of Dallas that even know, that even though our men and women in uniform are hurting, we never stop doing the job. Please help me in honor of all of American's fallen officers with a moment of silence. I am privileged to introduce to you some of the family members of our fallen officers, Wayne Walker, Wayne and Barbara Owens and Jennifer Loudon. [Wayne Walker, Mother Of Officer Moses Walker Junior:] Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. For 19 years, my son, Moses Walker, protected us as a Philadelphia police officer. Every morning, for 19 years, Moses put on his uniform. One morning on the way home from the third shift, he was shot and killed. At Moses' living room, I found a pile of wrapped Christmas presents. It was in August, but Moses, he always thought ahead. He bought gifts for relatives, for single parents, for strangers down on their luck. One of these presents didn't even have a name on it. I still have it. Moses didn't live long enough to give all of the gifts he had to give. While we're here, we must do the good we can. Absolutely, we have to believe that we're stronger together. Thank you. Thank you, John. [Barbara Owens, Mother Of Derek Owens:] We hear a lot about the problems in big cities. Our son Derek Owens joined the Cleveland police force to be part of the solution. His wife worked mornings, so he was the one who combed his daughter's hair. His friends joked and said he made it harder for the other dads because he did such a good job. After Derek was killed, we heard from so many people about his positive influence. One woman said that when she was a troubled teenager, Derek saw in her what she couldn't see in herself, and because of him, she's a better mother. Thank you. This was just one of the many stories we heard. Derek has left a legacy of service, integrity and love, and we we never want the sacrifice of Derek and all of the other fallen officers to ever be forgotten. Thank you. [Jennifer Loudon, Thor Soderberg's Wife:] My husband and best friend, Thor Soderberg joined the Chicago police to help people. Once, he'd got a call about a boy who had stolen a belt. The boy only had a rope to keep his pants up. Thor negotiated and the charges were dropped. He also paid for the belt. He did not want that boy to start his life with a record. Thor knew that every interaction he had mattered, that every word he spoke and yes, even every arrest he made defined what it meant to serve and protect. He knew effective policing required treating people with kindness and respect, especially when he was most often called to their worst moments. When I lost Thor, I had no idea it was possible to lose so much and an entire lifetime much less than a single moment. And I know that in light of recent events, some of us have lost faith. But I want all Americans to know about Moses, Derek, Thor and all the officers out there who every day risk their lives protecting all of us. Let us honor all of the fallen officers who weren't named here today, but acting as our officers did, helping others, bridging communities and building peace. Thank you. [Harlow:] Just days before the South Carolina Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton picking up a major endorsement this afternoon from the Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, backing her, also saying she is the right candidate to be the first female, president. Listen. [Sen. Harry Reid, , Senate Minority Leader:] I think the middle class would be better served by Hillary. I think that my work with her over the years has been something that I've looked upon with awe. When she was the first lady, she started the trend toward doing something about health care. She understood the issue well. She was the front on health care during that administration. I also think that she's the woman to be the first president of the United States that's a female. [Harlow:] Let's talk more about this with Susan Page, "USA Today" Washington bureau chief. Thank you for being with me. [Susan Page, Washington Bureau Chief, Usa Today:] Great to be with you. [Harlow:] Your reaction to him getting behind her and specifically what he said to Manu. [Page:] This is a real scoop, so congratulations to CNN for that. We had no idea that he would endorse. This is a sign of the Democratic establishment saying we don't want to have an extended contest here. We're going to line up behind Hillary Clinton. It's significant also because Harry Reid has good relations with Bernie Sanders. Historically, they have been although, Bernie Sanders hasn't technically been a Democrat, he has been a part of the caucus. It's not as though it's someone we knew would be anti-Sanders endorsing Hillary Clinton. He is someone Democrats now are looking at this race and the Republican race and seeing Donald Trump on a path to win the nomination. They don't want a Democratic contest that is going on and on and all the way to the convention if the Republicans are on a path to wrap up their nomination battle much sooner than we thought they might. [Harlow:] Right. Well that's a good point, juxtaposing it with that. During the town hall last night, hosted by our Chris Cuomo, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders both spoke about this call that Sanders has made for Clinton to release those transcripts from the paid speeches she has made especially from front of Wall Street banks. Listen. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, , Vermont & Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I am very happy to release all of my paid speeches to Wall Street. Here it is, Chris. There ain't none. [Sanders:] I don't do that. I don't get I don't get speaker's fees from Goldman Sachs. It's not there. So I'm happy to do my best in releasing any of the speeches. Won't be very shocking. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] Will you agree to release these transcripts? They have become an issue. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] Sure, if everybody does it, and that includes the Republicans. Because we know they have made a lot of speeches. But, look, what is this about? This is about whether I have the best plan to go after Wall Street, whether I have a record that already demonstrates my willingness to take on Wall Street and financial interests. And there's no question about that. I did it before the '08 crash. I have done it since. In this campaign, I have been absolutely clear. And a lot of people have said I have the most effective comprehensive plan to make sure that Wall Street never wrecks Main Street again. [Harlow:] It's interesting because you have sort of seen her evolve on this issue. She's also saying, even though my competitor is asking for it, I want all the Republicans to do the same. What do you think? Does this really resonate with voters? [Page:] You know, this is one of Bernie Sanders's best issues. It's an issue that keeps on giving to portray her as being captured by wall street, taking lots of money from wall street at a time when the concern about income inequality and weather rich people are getting richer while the middle class gets squeeze is his fundamental core message. So this is an issue I think is his most damaging issue with Hillary Clinton. And you see that she is playing defense, saying if the Republicans put out their transcripts I'll put out mine. I don't think that's a defensible position. I think before this campaign is over she will be forced to put out those transcripts. [Harlow:] Here's what else she said, Susan. You didn't hear it there but it's important in terms of context. She pointed to President Obama who she has been embracing much more closely, and said, look, President Obama got the most in terms of financial contributions to his campaign in 2008 than pretty much anyone else. I think perhaps Mitt Romney topped him. And she said look he has been the hardest on Wall Street and Wall Street reform. She has a point there. [Page:] Yeah, well, that's true. But look at the change in time from then. That was in 2008. Barack Obama was running for that nomination at a time before the crash of the financial markets, before Americans saw their own financial underpinnings brushed aside under the Great Recession, and before we saw this incredibly growing concern about income inequality. I'm not sure the situations in 2008 and 2016 are analogous. Again, this is really playing she is playing more effective defense on this issue than she was before, but she is still on defense. [Harlow:] Interesting point. Susan Page, nice to have you on. Thank you so much. [Page:] Hey, thank you. [Harlow:] More on our breaking news, next, President Obama right now in the White House vetting a Republican. You heard it right, a Republican. You see him right there. The governor of Nevada. Potentially, the replacement for Justice Scalia's empty seat on the nation's highest court. Despite Republicans vowing not to even consider who the president pick, this fight erupting and it's taking a brand-new turn right now. That's next. [Blackwell:] I want you to take to San Francisco, where a man is facing multiple charges after police say he carjacked and officer's SUV with the weapons still inside. Listen to this. They say he then led them on an hour-long chase around the city and across the bridge. And again, this is in their own stolen SUV. Katie Utehs with affiliate KGO tells us how it all went down. [Katie Utehs, Kgo:] Bound at the wrists and ankles on the Bay Bridge, San Francisco police officers took no chances of this man getting away again. Police say he had already stolen one of their patrol vehicles and led them on a chase across the city. [Deputy Chief Hector Sainez, San Francisco Police:] Shortly after he attempted to car-jack another motorist on the lower deck of the bay bridge. [Utehs:] Catching one of their own SUVs. [Unidentified Male:] I don't know if that was one of us or the vehicle. [Utehs:] A unique challenge. [Unidentified Male:] Could any officer drive an SUV turn your hazards on so they can know you're not the other guy. [Utehs:] It started with a call for a man with a knife at Lyon and Chestnut Streets. He made an escape. [Sainez:] He was able to make entry into the officers' marked patrol vehicle and actually steal the vehicle from the officers which still had the keys in the ignition. [Utehs:] Across the city to the bay bridge, he crashed into cars. Police say they are still tallying the damage. They tried to stop him at the gate near their station on Treasure Island. The deputy chief says two officers fired multiple rounds but it didn't slow him. [Sainez:] He drove at a high rate of speed onto the sidewalk and attempting to elude capture. [Utehs:] All as people were headed out for their day. [Laterious Rogers, San Francisco Resident:] I was standing there at the bus stop. [Utehs:] Between 9:00 and 10:00. [Rogers:] To be on an island and it happens, only one way on and one way off, it's kind of scary. [Utehs:] Traffic backed up across the bridge because the SUV slammed into two cars at the westbound on-ramp and it injured one person. The suspect and two officers are being treated as well. [Rogers:] Very frightening to know you have people in the world who would, you know, really take the people who protect us for granted. [Utehs:] Officer weapons were in the SUV when it was taken. [Sainez:] Those firearms are secured with secondary locking system. So, unless you're familiar how to access those weapons, you would not know how to access those weapons. [Utehs:] Police are reviewing their policy and as well as the officers who fired during the pursuit. [Blackwell:] All right. Again, our thanks to Katie Utehs with KGO for that report. Christi? [Paul:] All righty. Well, Russia claims it is ready to help fight this battle against ISIS. It sounds like a good thing, doesn't it? Here's a thing there is a catch. We'll talk about it. Also at the top of the hour, Clinton and Sanders and O'Malley taking the stage together in Iowa. Look at whether any of the Democrats had a defining moment. [Blackwell:] But, first, CNN has announced the top ten heroes for 2015. And we'd like you to meet another of them. Her name is Monique Pool. And she helps save our environment by saving sloths. Watch this story. [Monique Pool, Cnn Hero:] Saving the sloths for me is not just about saving the sloths. It's about what they stand for. It's about losing habitat. It's about importance of environmental protection for everybody. [Blackwell:] And that's just a bit of it. If you want to watch more of her story and others, go to the CNNHeroes.com. While you're there, you can meet, of course, all ten of the top heroes and vote once a day, every day, for your favorite candidate. All ten will be honored at "CNN Heroes: An All- Star Tribute" hosted by Anderson Cooper on December 6th. Only one would be named CNN Hero of the Year. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn International Guest Anchor:] Welcome back to THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. Let's get a check of headlines this hour. Donald Trump is just hours away from announcing his vice presidential pick. We're already getting a good idea of who it may be. Sources say Indiana Governor Mike Pence appears set to get the nod. They say Trump has been moving closer to Pence and the governor has been told to prepare for his call. The Trump's campaign said a short time ago that no final decision has yet been made. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Moscow seeking greater cooperation with Russia on the Syrian peace process. And there is a potential deal in the works involving joint air strikes against ISIS and the Al-Nusra front. But Defense Secretary Ash Carter is expressing skepticism. It's been another busy day of political comings and goings in the United Kingdom as new Prime Minister Theresa May shakes up the conservative government. One of the major casualties is lead Brexiteer, Michael Gove, who has just been removed as the justice secretary. Investigators in Southern Italy are still trying to figure out what caused a deadly train crash earlier this week. Two train collided head-on on Tuesday, killing at least 23 people and human error may be to blame. Will Ripley reports from the village of Andria. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Police are closely keeping watch over the scene of this horrific crash at this olive grove in Southern Italy, where a mangled pile of metal and a few partially intact train cars are all that remain of this really awful accident that took 23 lives. However the investigation is now shifting from the scene here to a multiple manslaughter investigation. We are told there is a team of five magistrates who are on the case. So far they have announced that three people are officially under investigation. These are workers at two local train stations, Corato and Andria. They are suspended, which is standard procedure as officials look into whether it was human error or a technical problem that led to this crash. Horrible stories coming out. A mother who was found holding her young child, both of them died. But also stories of hope, a 6-year-old boy, Samuelle, who is still in hospital with his family. He was traveling with his grandparents. They didn't make it, he did. He celebrated his birthday in his hospital bed, still unaware, we're told, that his grandparents died. There were four crew members, two on each train. Three of them were killed, one did survive. Police say at some point they do expect to talk to that person. Meanwhile, a huge show of support from the community, which has overwhelmed blood donation centers to try to help the 50 people who were injured, eight of them still in serious condition, we're told. But also from as high up as the Italian president, Sergio Mattarella, who along with many others is expressing his condolences as these families prepare to bury the dead, funerals beginning on Saturday. Will Ripley, CNN, Andria, Italy. [Ward:] His death was streamed live on Facebook by his fiance after he was shot repeatedly by a police officer during a traffic stop. Today, Philando Castile is being laid to rest. His mother urged mourners to pray for peace. The shocking images of the 32-year-old's death spurred nationwide protests across the United States. Mourners also gathered in Dallas for the funeral of Police Sergeant Michael J. Smith. He was one of five officers killed by a sniper last Thursday. They were working to protect a peaceful protest against police violence when they were attacked. Racial tensions in the United States are nothing new. But concerns over police violence and profiling have flared in recent years. CNN brought together people on all sides of the debate for a moving, honest conversation, police officers, victims' families, and mothers who fear for their children's safety. Here is CNN's Poppy Harlow. [Carlos Zamarripa, Brother Of Slain Dallas Officer:] He would want peace. He would want good to come out of all of this. [Popply Harlow, Cnn Correspondent:] Two families impacted by last week's violence, coming together. Stressing the need for unity. [Enrique Zamarripa, Father Of Slain Dallas Officer:] This has to stop. By taking another person's life won't make the person come back. [Quinyetta Mcmillon, Mother Of Alton Sterling's Son:] Violence to violence will never be the answer to nothing. And I think we all come together to say that we want peace. We want peace for both families. [Harlow:] Activists and law enforcement all joining a candid conversation about whether policing in America is inherently biased against blacks. [K.l. Williams, Kinloch, Missouri Police Chief:] I have spoken to police officers who have told me that they believe that black people are genetically predisposed to be criminals and it is their obligation to control these people by whatever means are necessary. [Garry Mccarthy, Former Superintendent, Chicago Police Department:] The history of African-Americans in this country started with slavery then it moved to black codes, to segregation. Who was it who was enforcing those racist policies? It was the white police officer. So that narrative exists in the community based on the history and it's factual. [Harlow:] Questions over how to comply with police dominating the CNN town hall. Many fearful and distrusting. [Monita Bandele, Senior Campaign Director, Momsrising.org:] Instructing our young people day in and day out that there's something in their behavior that brings on the abuse is tantamount to telling women that there's something that we do that causes street harassment and rape. We have to change the culture. [Mark O'mara, Criminal Defense Attorney:] We should not have a racial divide in this country anymore but we do. So I say to him, you do put your hands on the wheel. You do be careful and maybe you do still have to be extra careful because you're black. [Charles Blow, Cnn Political Commentator:] Can we just take a moment as America and register how profound and immoral it is to say, this is the only thing that will keep you safe, is that if you pack this toolbox and take it with you everywhere you go, and it's not how everybody has to behave. But it's how you have to behave, because of you who are, and the do not see you as the person that I love but as the person they should fear. [Harlow:] A heart wrenching moment as one mother shares her fear for her son. [Sharay Santora, Hairstylist:] Every moment he's not with me, I fear for his life. I keep hearing you tell me to tell my son what to do. My 14-year- old is sitting right there. You tell him he needs to be more respectful. You tell him he needs to be more compliant to your rules and your laws because I've told him, and obviously it doesn't matter, because you're telling me I'm not telling him enough. [Harlow:] Then this officer comforts her. [Dimitri Roberts, Former Chicago Police Officer:] I'm sorry that we have not fulfilled our civil duty and our responsibility to you and this community and your children. And I'm sorry, and I just want to take a moment and say to you, I'm sorry. [Ward:] That was Poppy Harlow. Racial tensions can sometimes seem to be America's oldest and most entrenched national challenge. So what can be done? Let's bring in Dr. Cornell West, he is a professor at the Union Theological Seminary and a Princeton University professor. He's also a prominent author. I would love to start by asking you, you've been quite critical in an op-ed piece today for Britain's "The Guardian" newspaper about President Obama's handling of this crisis. Where do you think he has got it wrong? [Cornell West, Professor, Union Theological Seminary:] Well, I think you cannot avoid the vicious legacy of white supremacy and the shaping of the American empire and the shaping of the American experiment and democracy. So that unfortunately he's rarely wanted to take it head on. He only hits it when he's cornered and he gives a fine speech, his pretty words. But you have to be able to look the problem in the face, the tradition in the face, and say, OK, in regard to police, you are going to make sure black life has the same value as any other life, which means police will be accountable. There will be civilian boards. When police commit murder, they'll go to jail. Zero police go to jail. Hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of black people who are shot. So it's very clear that you make it a priority that the issue of justice, not black people are some interest group, black people are some constituency. I'm the president of all America, no. Are you concerned with justice? That's what we've been calling for. That's what the legacy of Martin Luther King and Fannie Lou Hammer was all about. I want all elites no matter what color to be accountable in regard to justice for the least of these, which begins with black and indigenous peoples, poor whites, brown and so forth. [Ward:] But what do you think needs to happen? I understand exactly what you're saying in terms of calling for justice and calling for accountability. But some of these wounds really appear to be deeper than that. Do you think there's a sense that America needs to go through some deeper healing beyond just making sure that these policemen go to jail? I mean, is it as simple as that that you send them to jail and everybody will kiss and make up and skip into the sunset? [West:] No, no. I'm not saying that police accountability means that you have a kumbaya. I'm saying that sends the message that the lives of black people have value. Now, unfortunately the American empire living in the moment spurs to decline in culture decay so you got agreed and indifference that are in the driver's seat, especially corporate greed, indifference toward the plight of poor people no matter what color. But the joy of the present moment is, there is a moral and spiritual awakening. Because what you're pointing to, I think rightly so, is a moral and spiritual issue. Young people of all colors are part of the black lives movement. Young people of all colors are fundamentally concerned about the greed and indifference. It's not just in the United States. It could be precious Palestinians under the Israeli occupation. It could be Jews being mistreated in France. It could be [inaudible] people in India. This is an international movement that's the kind of democratic awakening concerned about those who are suffering. But it's unfortunately it tends to be too much a matter of the younger generation. Those of who of us who are older need to get in on this revival because the elites at the top, be they Donald Trump, neo-fascist catastrophe in the making, Hillary Clinton, neo-liberal disaster in the making, elites at the top are out of touch. [Ward:] They may be out of touch, but I just want to ask you, there are vast swaths of Americans who feel that Black Lives Matter is a racist group, that it's problematic for a number of reasons. How do you reach out to them, how do you persuade them? [West:] The Giulianis and others in the world who say Black Lives Matter is inherently racist are simple reinforcing the same kind of indifference towards the lives of black people. They're saying, in fact, when they say all lives matter, in the past they rarely acknowledged that black lives matter. That's why "all lives matter" rings shallow and hollow. We know all lives certainly ought to matter. This is the legacy of Martin Luther King again. But of course, Martin Luther King, would have been the first one to say, in the history of America, slavery, Jim Crow Jr., Jim Crow Sr., lynching, black lives have rarely mattered in the same way that white lives matter. So when you say it's inherently racist, it's just another mode of avoidance, another mode of denial, but unfortunately, we have black leaders, black politicians, neo-liberal ones, from the White House across the board, that use lip service that don't follow through on the ground in terms me of letting folk know that black lives matter. That's one of the reasons why he can fly over Baton Rouge and go to Dallas. Baton Rouge, you had black folks suffering. In Dallas you had police families suffering. All of those individuals precious. But it was clear where the priority was. That's what many of us are tired of. That's why we continue to try to speak the truth and bear witness. That's why we're going to stay in the streets and continue to go to jail. That's our tradition. That's what the love supreme of John Coltrane is all about, to make sure you make justice real for the least of these, the wretched of the earth. [Ward:] That's what I wanted to ask you. Where does the Black Lives Matter movement go from here? It has to many people been tarnished by the Dallas shootings, how does it move forward in a productive way? How can America start to move forward? [West:] Well, I think I can't speak for the larger Black Lives Matter movement, I'm just a small part of it. But we keep the love at the center of justice, what love looks like in public. We keep the justice at the center of it. We sympathize genuinely with the lives of any innocent people, police or whatever. But we also acknowledge that loving black people is something we are not ashamed of and it is nonnegotiable. That's where the Black Lives movement for me continues to go. But that's what the struggle for black freedom has always been, my dear sister, going all the way back to Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Martin King, Fannie Lou. We've always said our movement is tarnished by various acts of various people. But we continue because we are committed to something that is grand, something that is transcendent, something that stays in contact with the humanity of everybody, in every corner of this globe. That's why it's a beautiful thing to be in a struggle for justice, even in these sad moments in the American empire. [Ward:] OK. Keep the love at the center. We'll certainly remember that. Thank you so much, Dr. Cornell West. We want to take you now back to Annandale, Virginia. As we mentioned, Hillary Clinton is holding a campaign rally there. A potential vice presidential pick, Tom Kaine, is joining her, the state's governor. Analysts consider him to be a safe VP option. We'll continue to monitor this. For now, a short break. We'll be right back. [Berman:] Terrifying moments for passengers and crew members onboard a British Airways jet in Las Vegas. Flight 2276 was powering up for takeoff at the McCarran International Airport when the left engine burst into flames. Look at that. This is how one passenger described what happened. [Jay Jennings, British Airways Passenger:] We were just getting speed to take off and just heard a big thud, I opened up the cover of my window and just saw flames on the engine. We suddenly start. We sat still for about a minute. Just waiting to hear what to do. And then we just heard the captain says it's an emergency. Evacuate. [Reporter:] How scary was it? [Jennings:] It was pretty scary. Yes. Like, I mean, yes, it was more shock than anything. I don't know, yes, it was pretty scary stuff. [Berman:] What an interview, as he's being wheeled into the ambulance there. There were 159 passengers, 7 crew members onboard. Fire officials say 14 people suffered minor injuries requiring transport for medical car. Most of those injuries happened as passengers slid down emergency slides to exit the aircraft. Fire officials tell CNN that the flames from the engine never breached the cabin. Still terrifying. No word yet on what caused the fire. [Romans:] City officials in Baltimore today are expected to approve a settlement with the family of Freddie Gray. It means the city accepts all civil liability in the arrest and death of 25-year-old Gray, who suffered a spinal injury while in police custody back in April. Now, this proposed settlement doesn't acknowledge any wrongdoing by Baltimore police, six officers will be criminally tried separately in connection with Gray's death. [Berman:] More than a week after Illinois police officer Joe Gliniewicz was gunned down, three suspects are still at large. Police investigators are following nearly 200 leads. At a news conference, authorities said that the gun Gliniewicz's gun was found at the scene. They also said three people seen on surveillance video were involved in the killing. That's a big change. Since Friday night, I was talking to authorities there, and they said they were on the verge of a breakthrough based on a surveillance video. But that doesn't seem to be the case. [Romans:] Wow. All right. Sixteen minutes past the hour. The heat wave has been baking parts of the Midwest and the East Coast. It's about to end. Let's get to the meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. [Pedram Javaheri, Ams Meteorologist:] Good morning, Christine and John. Look at the temperatures from Tuesday. Record temps shattering some records that have been standing for 94 years. Central Park, 97 degrees. Previous record from 1919 was 93. Very easy to pick on how far we're above the normal. For about 20 degrees above the normal. And, of course, much of this September, a September to remember, the temperature trend generally into the 90s, when he should be into the upper 70s, peaking in Central Park at 97 degrees yesterday. Good news is we do have a front that is cruising across the Midwest, sparking some showers and thunderstorms around Missouri, northern Arkansas, with it, cooler air gets here some time later this week and the jet stream also take a nosedive. So, we kind of really set this cool pattern at least for a little bit beginning Friday into Saturday. Some showers and thunderstorms possible Thursday night into Friday around New York and Boston. But look at the trend, 90 to 78. You have been dropping below average. How quickly things change by 72 degrees by week's end. And New York City also taking a dramatic drop in temperatures there into the Upper 70s by week's end, with your high temps, today still staying pretty toasty, about 90 in New York, 94 in Washington, D.C. guys. [Romans:] Ninety in New York. [Berman:] It hasn't rain since 1987. My lawn has no hope. [Romans:] The lawns look horrible, look horrible. [Berman:] Yes. [Romans:] All right. Eighteen minutes past the hour. Thousands of migrants pouring into Europe, government split over what to do, the European Union meeting right now. Major speech about what the priorities of Europe should be as this crisis unfolds. Live team coverage, next. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, more bleak and virtually zero at this point in time, John. It looks like the ceasefire was almost literally blown up with that aid convoy. Remember, it was supposed to do two things. On the one hand, it was supposed to offer some respite and some calm for the many people in Syria who have been suffering from this violence for just a very long time. But it was also supposed to get aid to the many places that are besieged and other places that need help very, very quickly. Now, there was aid for 78,000 people in that convoy that was attacked. All of that, of course, is now destroyed. Also, the local head of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was killed, as well. It's unclear at this point in time whether it was an airstrike or whether it was some sort of ground fire that did the damage to that convoy. The U.S. certainly believes that it was an airstrike and, therefore, they say there were no coalition planes there. That it must have either been the Russians or the Syrian Air Force. We don't have any comments from the Syrians yet. The Russians say they're investigating, John. [Berman:] All right, Frederik Pleitgen for us. Thanks so much. This, of course, as thousands and thousands of Syrians still waiting for aid the aid that never came. Thanks, Fred. [Romans:] All right, let's get an EARLY START on your money this morning. The Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting today. Investors don't seem to be worried about any kind of a surprise interest rate hike. Dow futures ticking up right now. Stock markets in Europe and Asia are mixed. Oil is down. Scoring a good paying job right out of college is great but having a successful career longer term can pay off big time, and the average grads at these colleges are proof of that. A new study by PayScale shows the top five schools ranked by graduate pay at least 10 years after graduation. Number one is Maritime College, a school in the State University of New York system. Grads there make $147,000 and many of them are maritime engineers. Number two is Harvard I haven't heard of that one followed by MIT, then Claremont McKenna College and Princeton. Grads from those schools all making $135,000 or more. The report also ranked pay by degree. Fifteen of the top 20 highest- paid degrees have one thing in common. They are focused on engineering. I'm not surprised by that. For that past, I don't know, maybe five or six years I've been doing reports like this it's always engineering. Science, technology, engineering, math. [Berman:] Etruscan art. [Romans:] Estrucan art no. [Berman:] Underrated when it comes to earning potential. [Romans:] No, no. I loved art history but [Berman:] That's why we're on at 4:00 a.m. All right, breaking new details on the suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings. He is charged with trying to kill police. Officials wondering did he act alone? Breaking developments "NEW DAY" starts right now. [Unidentified Male:] This is the guy, this is the guy. [Jim Scuitto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] The prime suspect in the New York and New Jersey bombings is in custody. [Unidentified Male:] We are looking to see if this man has been operating alone. He was hiding in plain sight and you would have never known it. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We do not, and never will, give in to fear. [Trump:] He will be taken care of by some of the best doctors in the world and he'll probably even have room service. [Gov. Andrew Cuomo , New York:] Welcome to America. You have a right to counsel and you have a right to hospitalization. That is our system. [Clinton:] This is a sobering reminder that we need steady leadership in a dangerous world. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Camerota:] Good morning, everyone, welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Tuesday, September 20th, 6:00 in the East. Up first, we have new details emerging about the man suspected of setting off that series of bombs in New York and New Jersey. A trail of clues leading authorities to capture Ahmad Kahn Rahami within hours of releasing his photo. A New Jersey bar owner recognized him after seeing his picture on [Cnn. Chris Cuomo, Cnn Anchor:] So the big questions that remain are was he alone, did he have help, was he part of a larger organization? He certainly didn't have an exit plan. The bombing suspect was captured only miles from his home. After a gun battle with police he is now charged with attempted murder of police officers. We have every angle covered for you. Let's begin with CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez. Morning, Evan. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. Now, the man the FBI believes was behind at least 10 bombs at four locations in New York and New Jersey was uncooperative in the first few hours after his capture. But investigators are beginning to put together a picture of what may have driven the 28-year-old to carry out these bombings. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hello everyone, I'm John Berman. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Poppy Harlow. Thank you so much for joining us. Take a look at this. Take a look at this room because this is where we could see the biggest battle yet over the Trump campaign's alleged ties to Russia. Foxy now, really, Democrats threatening to block the confirmation of deputy attorney general nominee unless he is willing to guarantee a special prosecutor to investigate Russia's election hack. [Berman:] Now, this comes as President Trump has endorsed his party's replacement to Obamacare. This is what he wrote this morning. He wrote, "Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation." Note the words "our and wonderful." He is owning this completely for the first time. He is also saying he's willing to negotiate, at least a little. That may be essential here because he needs to win over members of his own party, skeptical Republicans. We've already heard from a number of them this morning on key question. How much will the plan cost? One question Democrats are asking, how many people might lose coverage. We're covering both of these really big stories as they unfold before our eyes. We want to begin with these what promise to be contentious hearings on Capitol Hill. Manu Raju is there for us. Manu? [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Congressional Reporter:] Hey, John and Poppy. I'm right outside this Rod Rosenstein hearing. He's of course nominated by Donald Trump, the president, to be the number two at the Justice Department under Jeff Sessions. Now, normally, this would be a type of hearing that does not get a lot of attention but the reason why today it is, is because Sessions last week, of course, recused himself from overseeing any campaign related investigations about any ties between the Trump campaign into Russia. And now that he's recused himself, that means the number two in the department will oversee that investigation. Now, if Rosenstein gets this position and if he's confirmed, he will be in charge of that investigation. The question is, will he agree to a special prosecutor. That is what Democrats plan to push him on. Dick Blumenthal, the Connecticut Democratic senator, said yesterday that he would do everything in his power to try to delay, stall and frustrate this nomination unless he makes that commitment to back a special prosecutor. But the Republicans so far are resisting the idea of a special prosecutor, including Senator Orrin Hatch who I just talked to on the way into the hearing saying, he thinks it's a little overboard for Democrats to be pushing this idea right now. Other Republicans, also aligning themselves with him on that key issue. So the Democrats do not get the support to stall this nomination over the issue of a special prosecutor. Dan Rosenstein is likely to get his job. He's someone who served in both administrations. He's someone who is confirmed for a U.S. attorney job in 2005 by the Senate unanimously. So, typically, he'd have a lot of support but because of the issue of Russia, that affecting this confirmation hearing. That's why there's going to be a lot of contentious potentially contentious back and forth between Rosenstein and the senators at this hearing just moments from now. [Harlow:] For sure and Sessions' recusal changed the entire game for this guy. He's getting a lot more air time than a week ago. [Berman:] This was supposed to be a bland, boring confirmation hearing. [Harlow:] Yes, not anymore. Manu on the Hill, keep watching it for us. Thank you so much. Another question of the hour this morning, does the president have confidence in his own FBI director? Anyone? Anyone know? We can't seem to get a straight answer on that from the White House, despite asking three times. In just hours, they will face that question again from the press because Press Secretary Sean Spicer will face reporters for his first on-camera briefing in more than a week. [Berman:] Yes, this comes after the revelation that the FBI director James Comey was incredulous as he read the president's wiretapping accusations against former President Obama. CNN's Sara Murray, she has been the one asking these tough questions with evasive answers. Sara joins us now from Washington. Sara, what are you hearing now? [Sara Murray, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Good morning, John. Well, the president may be completely convinced that former President Obama wiretapped his phone when he was a presidential candidate. But the FBI director doesn't really sound like he's buying it and that is setting the White House and the FBI up potentially for a clash. Now, I asked Sean Spicer yesterday whether the president still has confidence in his FBI director. Listen to what he said, or didn't say. [Murray:] What's the president's view of James Comey right now? Does he have the president's full faith and confidence to stay on as the FBI director? [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] Well, I'm not I don't think we've only heard unsubstantiated anonymous sources make those claims. I don't think Director Comey has actually commented on anything that he's allegedly said. So, I'm not going to comment on what people say he might have said. I think the director is more than capable speaking for himself. [Murray:] So, you see, he wouldn't say whether the president does have full confidence, and it will be interesting to see today whether the president and the FBI director did speak, whether Sean Spicer is willing to go a little bit further on this. And it's also worth noting that we haven't exactly seen Republicans coming out of the woodwork to defend that the president on this wiretapping claim. Now, one person who did spring to his defense was his Homeland Security Secretary yesterday. Listen to what he said about the president's wiretapping allegations. [John Kelly, Homeland Security Secretary:] If the President of the United States said that, he's got his reasons to say it. He's got some convincing evidence that took place. [Murray:] So, you see, he says that the president must have convincing evidence. And it's worth noting, we did press administration officials on that yesterday as well. What was the evidence for President Trump saying his phone had been tapped? They were not able to supply anything. Back to you guys. [Berman:] All right, Sara Murray in Washington. This is exactly why this hearing, we're going to get on Capitol Hill any second right now, is so crucial because Democrats are going to press for answers about Russia, about the wiretaps from the man that Donald Trump wants to be the deputy attorney general, the very man who will oversee these investigations. Let's talk about this with our panel. We have David Gergen, CNN's senior political analyst, former adviser to four U.S. presidents, Alice Stewart, a CNN political commentator, Republican strategist. She's also a former communications director for Senator Ted Cruz. Maria Cardona is a CNN political commentator, a Democratic strategist, also with us CNN legal analyst, Laura Coates, a former federal prosecutor. David Gergen, Democrats are going to fight today on Capitol Hill. They're going to fight for this hearing of the deputy attorney general nominee, a guy who actually by all accounts they like and he was supposed to, you know, get in with smooth sailing. But now, senators including Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut say, they're not going to let him in unless he agrees to appoint a special prosecutor. What are Democrats after here? [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] This case right now is being tried in a court of public opinion. Democrats want to be on top. This is really all about gaining public support, putting pressure on the Republicans. There is no I think it's inconceivable that the nominee for deputy attorney general will give a guarantee today that he'll appoint a special prosecutor. It's inappropriate. He doesn't have all the evidence yet. The Justice Department is supposed to make an independent decision about whether to get a special prosecutor or not. They can get requests in from Congress, but it is up to the Justice Department to make that independent decision. He may well be the person who has to make that decision. And to give an answer today, when he hasn't seen the evidence would just be inappropriate. He has to wait until he gets there. [Harlow:] So, here's why Senator Blumenthal believes that's not the case. Listen to him, just this morning. [Sen. Richard Blumenthal , Connecticut:] When Elliott Richardson was designated as attorney general during the Watergate era, he was required as a condition of his nomination as attorney general to say he would appoint a special prosecutor, and he did. [Harlow:] So, Laura, parse through that for us. [Laura Coates, Cnn Legal Analyst And Former Federal Prosecutor:] Well, the reason they're talking about the Watergate scandal and Watergate era is a whole different world. I mean, theoretically now about why he asked for special prosecutors. But the main thing now is, a special prosecutor essentially says, we have no faith in the Justice Department to be able to objectively oversee an investigation which sounds very odd if the whole basis for a confirmation hearing is to say that we give you an unfettered trust right now in your ability to do just that. So, he's in a very unique position. Remember, this isn't a deputy attorney general nominee who was the person that Eric Holder called to investigate Iran cyberattacks. He worked with Kenneth Starr. He handled the Whitewater issues. This is somebody who across, you know, party lines has been known to be objective. So to now require of him to admit that he will no longer be able to be that, once he takes office, puts him in a very, very precarious position. [Berman:] Speaking of precarious positions, let's talk about James Comey. The FBI director who you know, I suppose coincidentally was a former deputy attorney general himself. You know, Alice Stewart, Kellyanne Conway said something interesting. This gets to the idea that there's this feud between the FBI director and the White House, the FBI director incredulous that President Trump accused President Obama of wiretapping him. Well now, Kellyanne Conway said if Director Comey has something to say, perhaps he can just issue a statement or be more explicit. "We know he's not shy." You know, Alice, those seem like loaded words from Kellyanne Conway. Do you think that it's time for James Comey to speak up? [Alice Stewart, Cnn Political Commentator And Republican Strategist:] I think there were a lot of people that were concerned when they saw the tweets come out about accusing President Obama of wiretaps. And I think Comey was right to be concerned about that but whether or not he should be the one to come forward remains to be seen. And look, if I were him, I wouldn't want to know unequivocally that I have the full faith and confidence of the president because General Flynn had that and he was gone a few days later. So, I think, from his standpoint, I think it's right to sit back and let the information present itself, but I do think it's important that if the president is going to make such a claim, I think it's important to put some more information out there because I think a baseless claim like this without the information to back it up just puts this the center of attention when there are actually some good news they could be talking about which is repealing and replacing Obamacare. And unfortunately, this is taking center stage. [Harlow:] On the same week they're going to try to get these mark-ups done and get something even all the Republicans can it up just puts this the center of attention when there are some good news they could be talking about which is repealing and replacing Obamacare. This is taking center stage. On the same week that they're going to try to get these mark-ups done and get something that even their own party all the Republicans can most of them at least get on board with. Maria Cardona, I can't help but want to get your reaction to Alice's assertion that now Comey should sort of sit back versus maybe hold a press conference, maybe send some letters. What do you think? [Maria Cardona, Cnn Political Commentator And Democratic Strategist:] Well, a couple of things. First, I agree with Alice that more information needs to be put out there about these allegations. But guess who needs to put that more information out? President Trump who is the first one who made these allegations based on what we know so far absolutely nothing. So, if according to Secretary Mattis, if he really believes that Trump has some sort of basis to have made these allegations, then Trump is under the obligation to be the one to share what basis that is with the American people. Because barring that, you know, everybody is turning to him and saying, what is wrong with you? You know, you are lying yet again, and you are putting sort of the full faith of the American government on trial here. And so, I actually do also agree with others, frankly Kellyanne Conway. And that's going to be very rare. That you know, this is Comey, it's rare that he is shy because we saw during the Hillary Clinton investigation, he wasn't shy there. So, what's keeping him from making what he said apparently to those in private to say it publicly, if he is really concerned? If he is incredulous about the allegations that the president made as he should be, then he should come out publicly and say so. [Berman:] David Gergen, we've got something between a chuckle and a guffaw from you during that answer. And I'm curious why. I mean, it can't be easy these days to be James Comey. [Gergen:] Oh, no. And I am not sure whether President Trump has confidence in James Comey. But it's very clear James Comey does not have confidence in President Trump. And their relationship has deteriorated badly. It's hard to see how he stays on indefinitely, but I think one thing Donald Trump cannot afford to do now is to fire James Comey. No matter what he feels about him, it would be extremely controversial to knock the guy out because in effect it looks like you're trying to muscle the investigation. You're trying to control the investigation, putting one of your own people in there and that sort of thing. That is not a good idea. [Harlow:] All right, guys, so the big fight right now outside of this trying to get their deputy AG confirmed for Republicans is within their own party on Obamacare. Jason Chaffetz comes out. He was on CNN this morning talking about trying to push the plan in the House. Let's listen to what he said, the sacrifices that Americans need to make on this. Listen. [Rep. Jason Chaffetz , Utah:] We're getting rid of the individual mandate. We're getting rid of those things that people said that they don't want. And you know what, Americans have choices. And they've got to make a choice. So maybe rather than getting that new iPhone that they just love and they want to go spend hundreds of dollars, maybe they should invest it in their own health care. They've got to make those decisions themselves. [Harlow:] So, I mean, Alice, this gets to the sort of the classic Republican argument between access and coverage. They may have access, but it is sort of on them. Was that the right analogy to make? Those are the headlines right now. You can have your iPhone or health care. [Stewart:] I don't think it's to that extreme. I do think with regard to the plan that we've seen, I think having it more of a marketplace where there's more individual choices I think is important, as well as the pre-existing conditions. Look, we knew this was going to be a difficult fight. We knew that there were going to be some tough conversations made. But I think the good thing here is that now we do have some a plan on the table. We can have conversations and people can see it. They can read it. And they can reach out to their Congressmen and let their feelings be known and work on this out in the open as opposed to what we saw with Obamacare that was shoved down our throats in the darkness at the last minute. I think it's important to get it out there and have conversation amongst everyone and get input from people across the country. [Berman:] Maria Cardona, you are nodding your head. [Cardona:] Yes. You know, first of all, to be clear, when the Affordable Care Act passed, it passed very transparently. There were tons and tons of hearings on this, including Republican input. 200 more than 200 amendments were accepted to the Affordable Care Act that came from Republicans. So, let's just put that to rest because it was transparent. And speaking of transparency, we don't even know how much this new bill is going to cost. They are going to go into the mark-up process without understanding what is this going to cost the American people? CBO has not scored it. They're not going to wait for that. I think the American people at least should understand what is this going to cost them. Because right now, what we know is, according to Jason Chaffetz, this is going to be an issue where Americans are going to have to choose. And, frankly, I'm sorry Congressman it is not between buying an iPhone and getting health care. It's going to be between paying your mortgage and getting health care. Those are the differences between, you know, what Republicans are saying and what Democrats understand are what needs to be the priorities. Republicans don't seem to understand what Americans are going through when they actually have to make real choices in terms of paying their bills. [Harlow:] We've got to leave it there. But to be fair, a lot of people face huge premium hikes because of the existing plan as well. So that's a challenge on the Democrat side still [Cardona:] A small percentage of the 20 million people who have current health care coverage. And yes, we should fix it. [Harlow:] All right. Some of those were very, very big hikes. Thank you very much. We'll have you all back. Coming up for us take a look. You're looking at live pictures of the hearing where lawmakers are grilling the man who just got a whole lot more important. The man who would lead the investigation into Russia's hacking of the election and any potential ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Lawmakers are going to drill him at any moment. We'll bring you that live. [Berman:] Unless he appoints a special prosecutor. We'll see what Democrats are demanding. Plus, we are getting to see the House Republican plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. But some Republicans are calling it Obamacare-lite. Is there a battle brewing within the GOP? Then, what a difference five weeks makes, the new travel ban from the White House suggesting now that more countries could be added to the list. [Paul:] It's good to have your company this morning. I am Christi Paul. [Blackwell:] I am Victor Blackwell. Good morning to you. [Paul:] Breaking news for you. An active manhunt right now in Ohio, a gunman has shot 15 people at a nightclub and police confirm one person has died. [Blackwell:] The shooting happened about five hours ago. This was near the Cameo Nightclub in Cincinnati. Officers were on the scene acting as security at the club before the shooting happened and they were there as it happened and of course, they responded because they were so close. The captain described the scene as very chaotic with a possibility of more than one shooter but no more than two. [Paul:] Now authorities say some of the injured were able to drive themselves to area hospitals, and CNN is told all of those victims are being treated. No word so far on the extent of all their injuries, but this is a story that is constantly updating for us this morning, so we will keep you informed as we get more word throughout the morning. [Blackwell:] Vice President Pence says they are going back to the drawing board. The Trump administration turning to tax reform next after failing to repeal Obamacare. [Paul:] Yesterday in West Virginia, the vice president said Congress, quote, "was not ready to roll back the Affordable Care Act." He blamed Democrats and even acknowledged a handful of Republicans who caused the GOP bill to be pulled without a vote. Now Vice President Pence also said he was grateful to House Speaker Paul Ryan for his efforts. Two dark storm clouds now loom over the Trump administration, though, you got the failure of House Republicans to repeal and replace Obamacare, and the FBI investigation into Russia's meddling in the election, and possible ties to Trump associates. [Blackwell:] South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham trying to fend off questions from voters angry of a vote even drew some boos there watch. [Sen. Lindsey Graham , South Carolina:] Here's what I think about health care Obamacare is a disaster and it's going to collapse. [Blackwell:] Yes more than a few boos there. The senator spoke at a town hall where he told constituents that politics should not muddy the waters. Our Polo Sandoval was there Polo. [Polo Sandoval, Cnn Correspondent:] Hey, Victor and Christi. Good morning. Senator Lindsay Graham came here at Columbia, South Carolina. He listened to constituents but he also fired back. There was a moment during the nearly one and a half hour long town hall in which a woman near the front row essentially accused Senator Graham and some of his fellow Republicans of quote "obstructing" this ongoing investigation into possible ties between Russia and the Trump organization. Senior senator South Carolina responding very quickly. Take a listen. [Graham:] I think that's a bunch of garbage when it comes to me. I don't think I have obstructed anything. I think I have been more than on the case when it comes to Russia. I think I have stood up for the idea that I am not going to sit on the sidelines and watch the Russians try to undermine our democracy. But I'm not going to so I don't agree with you. [Sandoval:] Russia dominating the conversation yesterday but so did this latest attempt to repeal Obamacare. Many of the constituents that we heard from here in South Carolina, many of them liberals and moderates that were in attendance at the town hall saying that they were relieved that this law will remain in place until lawmakers can come up with a better solution that we heard from Senator Graham yesterday saying that they likely won't be taking that issue up again instead possibly moving next to tax reform. Thank you, Christi. [Blackwell:] All right. Polo, thanks so much. Jack Kingston CNN political commentator and former Republican congressman is joining us this morning. Good morning to you. I want to play one more bit of the town hall yesterday from Senator Graham. Let's watch. [Graham:] I don't think one party is going to be able to fix this by themselves. Here's what I think should happen next. I think the president should reach out to Democrats. I should reach out to Democrats. And we should say let's take a shot at doing this together because it ain't working it doing it by ourselves. [Blackwell:] That's the senator talking about Obamacare. I want to talk separately about what they want to do or at least what he says he wants to do and how it's going to be done, and first one word, fix. Is that what is next? Fixing Obamacare and they are done potentially with a repeal? [Jack Kingston, Cnn Political Commentator:] I don't know if we are there yet, but if they can't replace and repeal and replace then absolutely it has to be fixed because it's not sustainable as it is, and even Bernie Sanders has said that the premiums and the deductibles are too high. So we have to go back into it, and that's one thing that I think Democrats and Republicans would agree on. Get the premiums down. Get those deductibles down and make sure you have quality health care choices for all. But, you know, I want to say one thing though. It's not like the Senate can't just start working on this thing. There's a lot of fingers that are being pointed to the House, you had every senator ran on repeal and replace as well, so they can introduce their bill this week if that's what they want. [Blackwell:] Yes, we look back to 2009, and the building of Obamacare there was Senate legislation, there was House legislation, both moving through. Let's move on to what we are learning from the negotiations over this attempt to repeal and replace. President Trump said he was disappointed by the conservative Freedom Caucus. A senior White House official says this. I'll put up on the screen. "I think the Freedom Caucus made a mistake in the end. This is a president who wanted to work with them and he is dismissive of them now." Can the president should he considering that these these representatives are in districts that he did very well and discount the more conservatives of the party in the House and work with the moderates to try to get the Democrats on as well? [Kingston:] You know, you really can't because in the House of Representatives everybody is an independent contractor, and who is against you one week might be with you the next week, so you have to really they all have their own constituencies and their own empires if you will, so you're not going to cower them into submission but just because somebody was your enemy last week doesn't mean they're not going to be your friend the next week. So you have to work with each other. But the thing that I heard from my friends in the Freedom Caucus is that they were not included in this process early enough. They did give the president credit later on but they felt like particularly on the House leadership side they should have been at the table in November, in December and earlier January. [Blackwell:] Yes it's obvious that the different factions weren't on the same page not just on policy but on the approach, and it appears now that we are hearing from the speaker, from the president, from the vice president that there is no consensus on what is going on happen next. I want you to listen to Paul Ryan, President Trump and Vice President Pence. [Rep. Paul Ryan , Speaker Of The House:] We are going to be living with Obamacare for the foreseeable future. I don't know how long it's going to take us to replace this law. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I think we have to let Obamacare go it's way for a little while and we will see how things go. [Mike Pence, Vice President Of The United States:] We will end the Obamacare nightmare and give the American people the world class health care that they deserve. Until then I can promise you, President Trump is never going to stop fighting to keep his promises to the American people, and we will make America great again. [Blackwell:] So is this administration going to let it run for a while or is he going to keep fighting to repeal it? [Kingston:] You know, I think they are going to have to do both. They are going to have to let it run for a while but what I hope is that Paul Ryan will get the moderates and the conservative Republicans in a room and he'll say, you guys got to work something out. But at same time [Blackwell:] All right. Jack Kingston, we will talk next hour. [Kingston:] Thanks, Victor. [Blackwell:] Yes. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] We are continuing to follow the active search in Cincinnati, Ohio. At least one gunman, possibly two had shot 15 people at a nightclub there. One person has died. We have more for you. Stay close. [Church:] Tennis star Maria Sharapova shocked the sports world admitting she failed a drug test at the Australian Open. [Barnett:] The five-time grand slam winner said she didn't know it had been added to the banned substance list on January 1st. Take a listen to what she had to say. [Maria Sharapova, Tennis Player:] I made a huge mistake. I've let my fans down. I let this sport down that I've been playing since the age of 4 that I love so deeply. [Church:] The International Tennis Federation put Sharapova on a provisional suspension, pending the outcome of its investigation. And Nike announced its suspending its endorsement deal with her while that investigation continues. [Barnett:] The host of CNN's "Open Court," Pat Cash," joins us on the phone, to talk about this from Indian Wells. Pat, the tennis world seems shocked by this admission. What is your response to Maria Sharapova admitting she failed a drug test? [Pat Cash, Cnn Host, Open Court:] It's one of the unfortunate things that Maria, I think by and large, people regard her as a fair athlete who competes very hard. And she just put her hand up and admitted that she made a bit of a mistake. Didn't do her homework and didn't realize that a medication she had been using for a number of years had been put on the banned list. Performance- enhancing substance. It's unfortunate this is the case. [Barnett:] In her press conference, she admitted to using this substance, I believe it's pronounced Maldonium, as well as other meditations for the past decade, because of a family history of diabetes and other things. It was placed on the banned list. She did receive an e-mail in December, detailing it was, in fact, banned. But in the press conference, said she didn't click the link. She didn't open it. Athletes take the sport very seriously. Are you buying the excuse that she didn't click the link and didn't know? [Cash:] I think there would be few people that wouldn't say she is a fair player. And what's the interesting thing is that it's on the banned list because it is performance-enhancing. There's been people who have been using it to gain advantages over their opponents. Not just tennis, specifically. Olympic athletes. They realize that this is a substance that actually does help. It's performance-enhancing. I think it clears up questions. And Maria said this is what's going on. It's hard to believe, in many ways, who is that fit and that healthy, has these so-called underlying issues. She does need to clear her name. She needs to disclose some things, certainly to the authorities. And I think to the general public to really clear her name. I think she deserves to be given the Benefit of the doubt. I would. [Barnett:] She is known for playing by the book and being a professional. It makes this admission more alarming. Pat Cash, on the line with us, a Wimbledon champ from 1987, two-time Australian Open finalist and host of CNN's "Open Court." Thanks for your time today. [Cash:] You're welcome. Thank you. [Church:] Tuesday could be a turning point for Republican and Democratic candidates in the U.S. presidential race, with caucuses and primaries in four states. [Barnett:] Michigan is holding a primary with 69 Republican delegate and 130 Democratic Delegates up for grabs. [Church:] Also in contention, 17 so-called super delegates. They are Democratic delegates that are not pledged to a specific candidate, regardless of how the state votes. Donald Trump and Ted Cruz are hoping for a two-man race after Tuesday's primary races. But Marco Rubio says he is not dropping out. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the latest on the Republican presidential candidates. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] Should we do the pledge? Raise your hand. I swear I'm going to vote for Donald Trump. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] Donald Trump and Ted Cruz making the remaining nominating fight looking like a two-man battle. [Trump:] I would love to take on Ted one-on-one. [Serfaty:] To reassess their campaigns. [Sen. Ted Cruz, , Texas & Presidential Candidate:] If you're not able to win primaries, if you're not amassing delegates to get the nominee, every candidate has to reflect, meet with their team and say, do we have a path? [Serfaty:] Cruz's path getting a boost, after banking wins in Maine and Kansas, picking up more delegates this weekend than any other candidate. [Cruz:] We've beaten Donald Trump seven times in states all across this country, with wide geographic diversity. [Serfaty:] But the math and the momentum are still on the front- runner's side. Trump with wins in Louisiana and Kentucky, leading with 398 delegates. Cruz, 302. Rubio, at 149. And John Kasich, far behind with just 37 delegates. Trump is hoping for another big Super Tuesday showing. [Trump:] We're going to have a couple of good ones tomorrow, I hope. [Serfaty:] The big prize tomorrow night, delegate-rich Michigan. The polls there showing Trump leading by a large margin. [Trump:] I've been to Michigan a lot. I think we're going to do well there. [Serfaty:] That, as the candidates keep their eyes on some big prizes up for grabs on March 15th, including Florida, where Rubio faces a do-or-die situation. [Trump:] That guy, he couldn't be elected dog catcher in Florida. [Serfaty:] Rubio is barnstorming Florida, looking to keep his hopes alive. [Sen. Marco Rubio, , Florida & Presidential Candidate:] I'm the only one left that can unite us but I'm the only one that can grow it. [Serfaty:] Outside groups opposing Trump are hoping to stop him from picking up a win, by launching an assault on the airwaves, depicting what a Trump presidency might sound like. And featuring ads with veterans slamming Trump's lack of military service. [Unidentified Male:] Don't let Trump fool you. Look into his record and stop Trump now. [Church:] That was Sunlen Serfaty reporting. Michigan is viewed as Sanders' best chance to cut into Clinton's front-runner status. [Barnett:] Look at this new Monmouth University poll. It shows Clinton holding on to a double-digit lead over Sanders there in Michigan. Both of those campaigns crisscrossed the state on Monday. Sanders criticized Clinton on free trade agreements and defended his opposition to bailouts in the recession. David Swerdlick joins me now to talk more about the race for the White House. He is the assistant editor of "The Washington Post." Thank you, sir, for talking with us. [David Swerdlick, Assistant Editor, The Washington Post:] Thank you. [Church:] Let's start with the outlook for if two Democratic candidates. We saw a much more aggressive Bernie Sanders in the debate Sunday. He is clearly feeling the pressure. How much longer would you expect him to stay in the race? And what does he have to prove in primaries going forward? [Swerdlick:] He's going to stay in the race for a while. He has had momentum in recent months. He has come in with more fund-raising, more crowd support, more enthusiasm on his side than most people expected when this race started. Now, his campaign is seen as more of a movement. The problem for him is that he has not won the big states. And he is really starting to trail behind Secretary Clinton in terms of the delegate count. He is trailing behind her in pretty much all of the states, where you have a diverse electorate. He has had success in primaries and caucuses in states like his home state of Vermont, like Kansas. You get to state where's the electorate is significantly African-American or significantly Latino, he has not fared well. And states that are more diverse, really reflect the makeup of the Democratic primary voting base. [Church:] And Clinton's challenge is to win over more white voters by consolidating Democrats outside of the African-American south. Can she do that? [Swerdlick:] I think she can. Democrats traditionally get from the high 30s to low 40s in percentages of the white vote in general elections and also in general election campaigning. She expects to get the same amount of the vote has John Kerry did, as President Obama did. A heavy turnout with voters of color is probably going to be what the Democrats are looking from Secretary Clinton. [Church:] Let's go to the GOP side. There are reports that some Marco Rubio advisers are telling him to get out of the race before the Florida primary on March 15th. The numbers show Donald Trump will likely win that state. It's Rubio's home state. Should he stay in and risk being damaged politically? Or get out now? [Swerdlick:] It's hard to answer that. You see the logic on both sides. At this point, he's come far enough that it makes sense for him to say he's committed to this race and campaign and fight for his home state. Even though, he's trailing Donald Trump by eight points in the polls. He doesn't want to concede to Senator Cruz, who has come on strong. If he wants to run for president down the road, if he wants to run for governor of Florida, there is an argument to be made. And it certainly make sense that some in his camp would be saying, let's get out now and avoid a humiliating defeat to Donald Trump in Rubio's home state of Florida. [Church:] Trump and Cruz would be happy with that outcome. We'll watch it closely. David Swerdlick, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it. [Swerdlick:] Thank you, Rosemary. [Barnett:] A long way from being wrapped up. Anything can happen. Keep in mind, CNN will have a full week of extensive political coverage ahead. It begins with Tuesday's four-state contest, Hawaii, Idaho, Mississippi and Michigan. For Republicans, 150 delegates at stake. That's throughout the day and into the night right here on CNN. [Church:] Donald Trump is known for being combative. And his rallies are no different. Just ahead, we'll look at how he and his supporters respond to people who show their dissent at his events. [Barnett:] Plus, details on one of the largest-ever U.S. air strikes against a terror group. As many as 150 militants killed. Stay with us here on CNN NEWSROOM. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] Oh, if he didn't get that waiver there would be a lot of angry people. Such a popular choice. [Alison Kosik, Cnn Anchor:] Hmm, President-elect Donald Trump warning Congress he wants the waiver that's needed for his nominee to run the Defense Department. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] Or he says there will be angry people. Plans for a brand new Air Force jet one Air Force One, rather, up in the air. The president-elect saying the price tag just doesn't fly with him. [Kosik:] President Obama's last national security address as commander- in-chief, messages seemingly meant for Donald Trump without ever mentioned his name. Welcome back to EARLY START. I'm Alison Kosik. [Howell:] And I'm George Howell. Thirty-one minutes past the hour and the president-elect, Donald Trump, on one hand promising to unify the nation, on the other warning Congress against blocking his pick for Secretary of Defense. Trump hit those themes in his "thank you" tour, his latest rally in the battleground state of North Carolina. Trump also introducing his nominee onstage there, Defense Secretary James Mattis. He noted that the retired general will need a special waiver in order to take that position and he almost dared Congress not to give it to him with the crowd. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty has the very latest now from North Carolina. [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn National Correspondent:] Good morning, George and Alison. President-elect Donald Trump holding his second "thank you'rally here in Fayetteville, North Carolina where he brought a much different tone than we've seen. He was much more restrained and much more disciplined, quite different from that first 'thank you" rally he had only last week where that rally almost evolved into an airing of the grievances. This rally all about staying on message, apparently, for President- elect Donald Trump, where he pushed a heavy national security message in this military community only a few miles away from Fort Bragg where he formally rolled out his nominee for Secretary of Defense. [Trump:] I'm proud to formally announce today my intention to nominate Gen. James "Mad Dog" Mattis as the next Secretary of Defense for the United States of America. [Gen. James Mattis, Defense Secretary Nominee:] I look forward to being the civilian leader so long as the Congress gives me the waiver and the Senate votes to consent. [Trump:] He'll get that waiver, right? He's going to get that. Oh, if he didn't get that waiver there would be a lot of angry people. [Serfaty:] And both Gen. Mattis and Donald Trump there alluding to this legal battle that they have ahead in Congress that Mattis needs to obtain this special waiver from Congress in order to be considered for this job. The fact that Mattis has only retired from the military for three years and there is a statute on the books that requires officers in uniform to be out of uniform for seven years. So Trump sending a little bit of a warning sign a threat to Congress you better get this passed through. Now, meantime, Donald Trump will take to the road tomorrow to Des Moines, Iowa and he holds another one of these "thank you" rallies on Friday in Michigan George and Alison. [Kosik:] OK, Sunlen Serfaty, thank you. Now, Republicans are using a short-term government spending bill to speed up its nomination of Mattis. Now, they're adding language to the stopgap funding measure that imposes time limits on the debate over whether to grant that special waiver that Mattis needs to become Defense Secretary. They want him cleared to take over the Pentagon when President-elect Trump is inaugurated. Now, the federal government runs out of money midnight Friday. The House votes on the spending bill Thursday. [Howell:] The Boeing company responding to Donald Trump's tweets slamming the price for a new Air Force One jumbo jet, saying that it came out of left field. Trump's tweet that "costs are out of control" it went on to say that more than $4 billion and demanded "cancel order". Boeing officials say they have no idea where that $4 billion figure came from. They say the Pentagon hasn't even decided yet on what bells and whistles to add to the plane nor has there been a decision on whether to buy two planes or to buy three planes. The aircraft maker says that it can lower costs but only if the Pentagon eases these specifications that it requires. [Kosik:] So we've learned that Donald Trump used to own shares in Boeing but he sold that position along with the rest of his stock portfolio. Trump transition spokesman Jason Miller told reporters yesterday that Trump actually dumped all of his stock holdings in June. A financial disclosure submitted in May showed Trump owned stock in about 100 companies including Boeing, Apple, Microsoft, GE, and Pepsi. So in total, the shares amounted to $10 million, just a tiny fraction of Trump's billion-dollar net worth. But here's the thing, verifying whether Trump actually sold the stocks, that's going to be difficult because he's not required to file another disclosure until May of 2018, but Trump has repeatedly warned of a stock market bubble. Now, if he did cash out he missed some big gains. The S&P 500 is up about four percent since he was elected and the S&P is up 5.5 percent since he allegedly ditched the stocks in June, so he missed out on some money. [Howell:] The President of the United States, Barack Obama, checking off an important box on his to-do list, giving his final national security address speaking to troops at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida to do so. The White House saying that that speech was planned before Donald Trump won last month but that the address was not meant as a message for the president-elect. Still, there were times where Mr. Obama sounded like he was speaking to, well, an audience of one. White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski has more now from Tampa. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, George and Alison. Right, this was a broad defense, an explanation of President Obama's policies against terrorism and on national security over the last eight years. But it also serves as almost a warning to the next administration that you need to be extremely careful with these intricate complexities of national security, otherwise you could make problems worse. And when you think about it this is how this administration continues to communicate with the next one. The president continuing to hit the same points and set up these contrasts between his policies and some of the things that Donald Trump has said. For example, at the president's continued attempts to close Gitmo, calling it a blot on our national honor. His opposition to enhanced interrogation techniques or torture, saying that adherence to the rule of law is not a weakness but, in fact, is our great national strength. Also on the Muslim issue, arguably the most controversial part of Donald Trump's campaign platform listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The United States of America is not a country that imposes religious tests as a price for freedom. We're a country that was founded so that people could practice their faiths as they choose. The United States of America is not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special I.D. card or prove that they're not an enemy from within. We're a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination, an arbitrary rule, here in our own country and around the world. [Kosinski:] This was not the fiery President Obama that we saw on the campaign trail. This was the lawyerly President Obama making a careful case for why he believes his policies are the ones to carry forward and looking long-term. It could almost be summed up in once sentence that he used that he takes the fight to terrorist everywhere not through invasion but through a network of partnerships George and Alison. [Howell:] Michelle Kosinski, thank you so much. A lot to talk about this morning and to do so let's bring in CNN POLITICS reporter Eugene Scott live here on set with us. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Yes. [Howell:] Eugene, a pleasure to have you. [Kosik:] Good morning. [Scott:] Thanks. [Howell:] Let's talk about what we just heard there in Michelle Kosinski's reporting. We're talking about two people who couldn't be more different. The President of the United States the diplomacy that he has used to reach agreements like the Iran nuclear agreement to limit their nuclear capabilities very different than that of the man that is set to replace him. Let's listen to how the president talked about that specific deal, given the fact that come January 20th there will be change. [Obama:] Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions, and ends conflicts, and stops the spread of deadly weapons. It would make life easier for them, it would be a tragic mistake for us. [Howell:] So, the American people will soon see a big shift. Some people like the style of Barack Obama, maybe half the nation. The other half likes the style of Donald Trump and it will be a new direction. [Scott:] Very much so. When I looked at that speech what I saw was the president defending attacks against him that argue that he's not a strong president. His idea is that being intentional, being strategic, and being tempered is actually the most effective way to be successful in this war, opposed to being very aggressive and loud. It's very interesting to see that he made the statement that this is a long-range war, as we've already seen, but he made it very clear it's not going to wrap up as quickly as we had thought wars should generally wrap up. [Kosik:] All right, from war to business and style. Trump's style clearly taking people by surprise in the morning. I'm talking about Boeing. I want to show you this tweet that he put out early yesterday morning. "Boeing is building a brand new 747 Air Force One for future presidents, but costs are out of control, more than $4 billion. Cancel order!" OK, so then he comes out at Trump Tower and he says this. [Trump:] Well, the plane is totally out of control. It's going to be over $4 billion. It's for Air Force One program and I think it's ridiculous. I think Boeing is doing a little bit of a number. We want Boeing to make a lot of money but not that much money. OK, thank you. [Kosik:] All right. Boeing later said they were caught by surprise but this is kind of that somewhat folksy style of looking out for the U.S. taxpayer. But he's kind of singling out this company, almost shaming Boeing. How what is this about his strategy and how effective is it? [Scott:] Well, I think it's put Boeing on the defense in having to communicate that these planes are so expensive not because they want to trick them out, but the White House and the Pentagon have specifications in place to keep the president and his cabinet, and whoever he's traveling with as safe as possible. I think some of those details could be explained more in some of these security briefings that perhaps Trump is missing. But I think what we need to do is ask more questions regarding what would he do for future presidents if this contract gets canceled? [Kosik:] Right. I mean, one thing to keep in mind. George W. Bush flew in his plane for hours after 911 [Scott:] Right. [Howell:] Yes. [Kosik:] and that plane has to be able to sustain that. All right, Eugene Scott, thanks so much. [Scott:] Thanks for having me. [Howell:] Eugene, thank you. President-elect Donald Trump taking credit for bringing a $50 billion investment and 50,000 new jobs into the United States, but here's the question. Was that deal already in the works before Donald Trump was elected? We'll follow the story next. [Costello:] In Turkey, three police officers are dead and at least 217 people are wounded after an explosion at a police station. It was the second bombing targeting police in eastern Turkey in the last 24 hours. It's prompted the nation to raise its level of alarm. Turkey's prime minister says Kurdish militants are responsible for the attack. I'd like you to stop what you're doing just for a minute so you can take a look at this picture. It's a powerful image. You know, we hear about the ongoing battle in Syria and the fight against ISIS all the time but we don't often hear about the people who are living it and barely surviving it. That picture of a dazed, shell shocked boy named Omran in the back of an ambulance. I can just say it's sparking outrage and sorrow across the world. He's sitting in that ambulance as the chaos continues around him. Just waiting for somebody to come get him. Waiting for somebody to help. CNN's Nima Elbagir joins me now with more on the story and the story behind the image. Good morning. [Nima Elbagir, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We spoke to one of the men who helped rescue little Omran and who actually took the still image of him sitting in the ambulance. And he was able to describe to us what was going on behind what you see there. He said it had taken nearly an hour to dig Omran out from under that rubble and in that moment when you see him sitting in the ambulance, he still didn't know whether the rest of his family had survived. He didn't know whether anyone would be coming to get him. And as he reaches to touch his face, I think this is the moment that broke so many people's hearts, that a 5-year-old boy could touch his face, come away with blood on his fingers and not respond. But still be completely impassive. And the young man that we spoke to, the activist we spoke to said that he thought Omran was in extreme shock. But he also said something which broke my heart. He said but Omran is as old as the Syrian conflict itself, he is 5 years old. And so this is probably all that he has known. And so while he is also incredibly traumatized, he also doesn't know anything else other than the sirens and the air strikes and the air strikes and the rubble. His mother and older brother are in critical condition. And because of the situation in Aleppo, they have had to be smuggled out of Aleppo and they're seeking medical care elsewhere. And those survivors that you see digging in the rubble, they were extraordinarily brave because so often, as we've heard described in these attacks, these are double tap attacks so the bombs are dropped and then they return again sometimes. I also want to say, Carol, to anyone out there who's watching this, they can go to CNN.comimpact. There's so many ways there that they can reach out and try and help Omran and the thousands of other Syrian children who are trapped in these conditions. [Costello:] Any word on who is responsible for the bombing? [Elbagir:] Well, we were told by this activist that it was a combination of regime and Russian planes. And today at the U.N. the Syrian envoy will be trying to get those very same people, the Syrian government and the Russians, and others around the table to try to pull together a cease-fire. [Costello:] Nima Elbagir, just heartbreaking. The next hour of NEWSROOM after a break. [Harlow:] Welcome back. A top advisor to President Trump said he will not release his tax returns, even after the IRS audit he cited during the campaign is complete. [Unidentified Female:] The White House responded that he is not going to release his tax returns, we litigated this all through the elections, and people didn't care. They voted for him. Let me make this very clear, most Americans are very focused on what their tax returns will look like while President Trump is in office not what his look like, and you know full well that President Trump and his family are complying with all the ethical rules, everything they need to do to step away from his businesses and be a full-time president. [Harlow:] Trump is breaking a campaign promise that he repeated time and time again, let's go back in history. [Trump:] Not releasing tax returns, because as you know they're under audit. [Unidentified Female:] Every president since the '70s has released their tax returns. [Trump:] The only ones who care about my tax returns are the reporters. [Unidentified Male:] It depends on the audit. [Trump:] Not a big deal. When they ordered this complete, I would release my returns. I have no problem with it. [Unidentified Male:] I think Donald Trump has every intention of releasing his tax returns, once a routine audit is complete. [Trump:] So the answer is I release, hopefully before the election. I release and I would like to release, by the way you learn very little from a tax return. [Harlow:] Now you will not see them. Nothing in the IRS rules by the waive that prevents anyone from releasing their tax returns even while they are under audit. My panel is back to debate and joining us Democratic strategist and Clinton supporter Maria Cardona and super delegate and Paris Dennard the member of the National Diversity Coalition for Donald Trump, thank you guys all for being here. One point of fact, it's not true that the American people don't care about the tax returns, a poll was just done by CNN and ORC, 74 percent of people say yes, Trump should release his tax returns, 23 percent say no. Doesn't mean they don't care about their own, of course they only care about their own a little bit more, but they want to see the president, Paris, to you. What do make of Kellyanne Conway arguments that the American people don't care? [Paris Dennard, National Diversity Coalition:] Well, I mean, listen, I am a Republican, I support President Trump and I don't think, I personally don't care, I think that I agree with Kellyanne, I'm more concerned about my taxes, my family is concerned with their taxes more so than Donald Trump's personal taxes, because we know he is wealthy, we know he is not going to be bought up or paid for by anybody. He is his own man. That is why [inaudible]. [Harlow:] How do we know that? Let's talk about what else you learn from a tax return, because every president since Jimmy Carter has released their tax returns. Only Gerald Forbes is the last one not to, you learn for example charitable contributions, you learn about any possible business ties, to say questions about whether he has any ties to Russia. So we're not going to know that otherwise. [Dennard:] We also know that the president has no conflict of interest. [Harlow:] No we don't. We so don't know that. [Dennard:] The constitution said there's no conflict of interest when you're president. [Harlow:] I'm not going to debate the constitution for this entire panel, but the [inaudible] law says which is a different part of what you're referring to the law that says, the president can make a lot of money while he is the president. He can run businesses, et cetera. There's another part of the [inaudible] law that says that you cannot have any influence or what so ever from foreign governments. And that can be seen as influential if you have business ties to them. [Dennard:] Right and he said if he does make any money. That will be donated to charity. [Harlow:] that is through his hotel. Maria Cardona? [Maria Cardona, Hillary Clinton Supporter:] This is something that we have seen throughout the campaign, he doesn't care about this. And yes, he lied saying that he was going to release his tax returns, but we know that he is the candidate that has said and talked about things that are just the biggest lies in modern history. [Harlow:] Maria, you may have believe what he said he would release them, you don't know this lines. [Cardona:] Absolutely not. My own opinion, I don't think he ever had the intention to release his tax returns. That is fine. Let's all accept that he is not going to release his tax returns, right? They already told us. The American people do care about it for I think very good reasons, because we don't know what is in there, we don't know what possible conflicts are in there, I think the emolument's clause is something that a lot of experts has said, the moment that he took the oath, he was in violation of the emolument's clause. There are a couple of good government groups that have already filed suit. So we'll see what happens. But this, I think, underscores one of the reasons why, this is a man who is taking office with one of the lowest approval ratings that we have seen in recent history. [Harlow:] I will get back to you, Ryan listen, as we know the New York Times, that big front page story a few months ago, he released his 1995 tax returns, do you expect now giving these statements that we'll see more of that? [Lizza:] I mean maybe. I think Trump has had to give his tax returns to various entities over the years, especially when he was in the gambling world, so there are copies theoretically out there that aren't just under his control. I don't know, but if anyone wants to leak them, go to the New Yorker.com, we are secure. A server called strong box and you can unanimously give those to me. I hope they don't. I think the American people as you pointed out, do want to see them. I mean we would love charitable contributions, we know about any foreign sources of income. To me one of the questions it raises is through the entire campaign, he promised he would do this once the audit was over. And a lot of people went on our air and on other shows and said don't worry. He is going to do this when the audit is over, trust us. What are all those people going to do now? For his vice president, he is made liars not just out of himself by breaking this promise, but all of those people who defended him and said he would two this. So I think this is going to be an interesting moment now to all those same folks go out and say we didn't mean it? If any of you have every read or well that is a dynamic that is not healthy in a democracy. [Harlow:] Kirsten. [Powers:] Yes, I think that, that is right and I think it is like giving him a benefit of the doubt and say he didn't lie, let's just say he change his mind. What about keeping your word, what about the fact that you did tell people that you were going to do this, and now the reason he is not doing it, we are being told is because nobody cares, I mean you do need to take seriously that you made a promise to do something and to stop saying that nobody cares when every poll actually shows like 23 of the country actually do care. And Kellyanne said something along the line. You know they're complying with all the ethical standards. How do we know that? Like how can we possibly know that? [Cardona:] There's an investigation that says there's nothing to indicate that he has done everything that he said he was going to do to separate himself from his business. [Harlow:] What do the American people sitting home, it's Sunday night for them, they're sitting down at the dinner table and they're saying what do I do with this information? How does this help me moving forward? What should they take away from? [Drucker:] I think we need to understand that there was one candidate in the race that released 30 years of tax returns and one candidate in the race that released none. And the guy that released none won the election. There are plenty of Republicans... [Harlow:] Saying he was going to release them. [Drucker:] Yes, but they didn't care enough, you know the American people care about a lot of things and there are plenty of Republicans that I have talked to that would prefer him to release his took returns and voted for him anyway and would vote for him anyway again. And so I think there is a couple of issues here, there is the issue of whether or not our democracy is healthier and the system is healthier if you have candidates release tax returns so we can understand where their financial ties are and things of that nature, especially with Trump and his worldwide business ties, there are plenty of questions there, but there's also the political element. American voters tend to make judgment based on their choices. [Harlow:] You remember your colleague Selena Zeto wrote this line, that I will never forget and of course I can't exactly quote it right now, during the campaign and it said, something to the point of Trump supporters take him seriously not literally, those who oppose him take him literally not seriously. Is there a bit of that here? [Lizza:] Maybe, there's no way for any of us to know what single issue the voters decided was okay with Trump and what wasn't. Your argument is greatly complicated by the fact that there are 3 million people more that voted for Hillary Clinton. So if you believe the election... [Drucker:] The system is decided by the states that matter than the Electoral College. [Lizza:] You're saying a majority supported one element of one of [Drucker:] This only matters in a political context of winning the election. [Lizza:] I'm just saying if you're going to use the election as decisive as any single piece of candidate's platform, it's not a great argument of one of that candidate actually got more votes. [Powers:] This is new argument that I find kind of insidious, frankly. [Harlow:] That the people don't care? [Powers:] It is just that people voted for him anything he does is ok. I do not remember this from Barack Obama when president that every time he did something, if Democrats just said, he won the election. [Lizza:] He said in the campaign he would release the taxes after the audit was over. So if you're saying that this is a referendum on that, the referendum is I support Donald Trump, because he is going to release them after the campaign. [Drucker:] If you are the president of the United States and you won without releasing your tax returns, of course you're not going to release your tax returns. That doesn't mean it is the right thing to do. [Lizza:] Why of course? [Harlow:] Yes, why of course? [Drucker:] Because any candidate who wins the presidency always assumes that whatever I did must from worked. That is how they all operate. [Harlow:] Final thought, because I think the question becomes many people will, you know, be asking why not release them once the audit is over? Is there anything to hide? [Dennard:] Poppy, I think you're absolutely right, and I think we need to dial back this conversation and look at what the question was pose to Kellyanne, that was in response to this online petition [Harlow:] Which has 200,000 signatures and she said in response to that petition, the White House response is, we're not going to release it because of this petition. I may have to quote right here. The White House response is he is not going to release his tax returns. [Dennard:] But it's in context of that petition. She did not say after the audit is done the president is not going to release his tax returns? [Harlow:] Do you think this wasn't a period statement, not releasing them, period. End of story? [Dennard:] That is the way I interpreted. We have not heard from the president himself about this situation. But this is in response to their petition. [Harlow:] Thank you all very much. We appreciate it, Paris Dennard, Maria Cardona, Kirsten Powers, David Drucker, and Ryan Lizza. Coming up for us, the White House today defending false statements delivered in press secretary Sean Spicer's first official briefing. [Kellyanne Conway, Press Secretary:] You're saying it's a falsehood and they're giving Sean Spicer, our press secretary gave alternative facts to that. [Harlow:] Alternative facts, alternative facts are the number one things trending on twitter today, we're going the dive into all of it straight ahead with Brian Stelter. [Vanier:] Hi, everyone. Welcome back. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Cyril Vanier, with your headlines. Now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he plans to meet with President-elect Donald Trump soon to discuss the Iran nuclear deal, something both men have criticized. Mr. Netanyahu tells CBS's "60 Minutes" that he's optimistic that after years of strained relationships between the U.S. and Israel, it will improve once Donald Trump is in the White House. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:] I know Donald Trump. I know him very well. And I think his attitude his support for Israel is clear. He feels very warmly about the Jewish state, about the Jewish people, and about Jewish people. There's no question about that. [Lesley Stahl, Co-host, 60 Minutes:] With Trump, do you think that Israel will not be as at odds with the United States as you have been under the Obama administration? [Netanyahu:] Yeah. We had differences of opinions with I had differences of opinion with President Obama and most well-known, of course, is Iran. [Stahl:] Was it personal between the two of you? [Netanyahu:] No. No. I don't think so. I think that suppose we had the greatest of personal chemistry, OK? So, what? You think I wouldn't stand up against the Iran deal if I thought, as I did, that it endangers the existence of Israel? Of course, I would. [Vanier:] A few hours from now, Israel begins taking delivery of the most-advanced Stealth fighter jet in the world, the F-35 Lightning. U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter will be there for the ceremony. And as CNN's Ian Lee explains, the American warplanes eclipses the capability of anything else in the Middle East. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Jets screech across the summer sky. Israel's surprise attack destroyed hundreds of Egyptian planes in hours. Their air superiority shortened the 1967 war to just six days. The new sound of air domination in the 21st century, say Israeli generals. The F-35 Stealth fighter will be the most-advanced plane in the region. Israel ordered 50. The initial two arriving Monday, making Israel the first country outside of the United States to receive Lockheed-Martin's fighter. The price tag, more than $100 million. Lieutenant Colonel Yotam will lead the squadron. His identity concealed for security, we're told. [Unidentified Colonel:] The F-35 Stealth capabilities widen out operational theater. It allows us to bring into action many abilities that are needed from the air force for superiority. [Lee:] As it looks around its neighborhood, Israel perceives many threats. The Syrian conflict is on its doorstep. Hezbollah in Lebanon rearming since the last war with Israel in 2016. Russia's S-300 and more advanced S-400 surface-to-air missiles systems, introduced to support President Assad's military efforts. The advantage of the F-35, Israel hopes, is that it can fly virtually undetected. [Unidentified Colonel:] The F-35 is built to deal with threats on the ground. It deals in the best possible way with everything that lies in the region of interest of the IDF outside of the borders of Israel. [Lee:] But the plane has faced growing pains, includes problems with software, the engines and weapons. This retired Air Force brigadier general has seen this before. [Unidentified Brigadier General:] When you're developing new technology, you suffer from problems and you fix it. [Lee:] But he insists, this plane is a game changer. [Unidentifeid Brigadier General:] They idea that you are the first state, the first air force in the area that gets it, it's a lot to your reputation. [Lee:] A reputation that Israel hopes will make any rival think twice. Ian Lee, CNN, Jerusalem. [Vanier:] Venezuela's government is replacing the country's highest bank note. Venezuelans have just 72 hours, just three days, to trade in the 100 bolivar bills for coins. President Nicolas Maduro announced the switch in a televised statement on Sunday. He said the purpose is to prevent mafias from smuggling the bills outside the country. And another move by the Venezuela government has parents outraged. Two weeks before Christmas, nearly four million toys are off the shelves. Rafael Romo explains why. [Rafael Romo, Cnn Latin-american Correspondent:] Boxes upon boxes of toys stacked up to the ceiling in this spacious warehouse. It's not the North Pole. The warehouse belongs to Venezuela's largest distributor of toys. All of this merchandise was confiscated by the Venezuelan government. Venezuela's chief of consumer protection said the government confiscated nearly four million toys. The government accuses them of hiding them to sell at highly inflated prices during the Christmas season. [Unidentified Male:] We have found the case of hording of four million toys, so the children of our community's neighborhood and government committees will, for sure, have their toys for Christmas thanks to our laws. This is like reinforcement for Baby Jesus. [Romo:] Venezuelan tradition says that Baby Jesus, not Santa, brings the toys. [on camera]: According to authorities, the operation targeting the toy distributor began Thursday. But law enforcement officials were still at the warehouse over the weekend. The toys, the government says, will now be made available at under-market prices to families with children in impoverished neighborhoods. [voice-over]: Some consumers are calling President Maduro the Grinch that stole Christmas. Now many stores won't have any toys for the Christmas season. Business leaders go further, saying this is nothing less than thefts. [Unidentified Male:] This is against our rights and due process. This is part of the constant attacks that we business people have endured in Venezuela over the last 15 years, which have caused a loss of 60 percent of all companies in Venezuela. [Romo:] And while many children in poorer neighborhoods will get some of the toys, for other families elsewhere in the country, their only hope now rests with Baby Jesus. Rafael Ramos, CNN. [Vanier:] We're going to take a short break. Coming up after that, ocean coral bleached white and dead. This summer's heat wave caused it to happen at an astonishing rate. It's impact on communities that depend on the sea may be very severe. Plus, the murder trial of an accused church shooter is rocking Charleston, South Carolina, and the church's new pastor speaks to CNN. [Costello:] The NFL season kicks off with patriotism and protests. And the national anthem played, some players kneeled, others raised their fists or locked arms. To highlight the problems of racial injustice and police brutality, tonight all eyes are on the player who started it all. 49ers quarterback, backup quarterback, Colin Kaepernick takes the field against the new L.A. Rams. Christine Brennan joins us now to talk about this. Good morning and thanks for being here. [Christine Brennan, Cnn Commentator:] Sure, thanks. [Costello:] So I think probably the strongest protest was the New England players raising their fists, right? [Brennan:] Yeah, you could say that. Although you have the four Miami Dolphins who were kneeling opposite the sideline where the Seahawks were all linking arms. So maybe that game, Carol, Miami and Seattle, might have had the most action in it. But yes, there were, there were protests and pockets of protests if you want to say that. Or unusual, different kind of displays of as opposed to just standing at attention for the national anthem throughout the day yesterday. Of course still a vast minority of the players in the NFL. But on 911 of all days, which of course, I think created all the interests that we're discussing right now, of course. [Costello:] Oh yeah, it happened on 911, a place where we really want to pause to remember America you know and, you know11, its finest moments. And of course, our first responders and do you think that this these protests will eventually go away? Or is this just or is this here to stay throughout the season? [Brennan:] You know I think we're going to see it for a while. And my sense, Carol, is that what happened yesterday was a bit of a pause because, as you were just alluding to, this was of course September 11th. And people, even if you wanted to protest maybe, hey this is where we'll link arms, we won't take a knee. And that's what happened with Seattle for example. So I think we're going to see more of this. We've seen it in soccer with Megan Rapinoe, the U.S. Women's star. We've seen it in some high schools and colleges just a little bit. I think we're going to see more. Whatever you think, whatever your opinion is personally; for it, against it. Obviously the NFL has, I think, said it best, they're threading the needle right now by saying, "well we ask our players to stand and we encourage that." The NFL has also said, "we completely respect their right to freedom of expression and to do what they want." Let's see how that plays out over the next month or two if this continues. [Costello:] I know The Today Show, Matt Lauer asked Roger Goodell what he thought about Colin Kaepernick's initial actions. Here's what he said. [Matt Lauer, Host, The Today Show:] Are you proud of Colin Kaepernick for taking this stand? [Roger Goodell, Commissioner Of The Nfl:] Listen, I support our players speaking out on issues that they think need to be changed in our society. We don't live in a perfect society, Matt. Our players have strong views about things. So I support our players speaking outward against that. But that's what the focus should be on. The changes he wants to see in our society. [Costello:] So Roger Goodell seems kind of conflicted there, doesn't he? [Brennan:] Yeah, wise though to play both sides, kind of against the middle. I think what we're going to see a lot, Carol, in the next few weeks is these athletes who are taking a knee, people are going to ask, start asking questions about what they're doing in the communities, what kind of donations they're giving. I think that's also a very valuable part of this conversation. [Costello:] OK what do you think's going to happen tonight when the 49ers take the field? [Brennan:] Well I think Kaepernick will probably be taking a knee. I don't know for a fact, but my guess is that's the case. Of course, it's not 911, it's the day after. So that might be a positive in that sense. But I think he's going to be consistent and continue to do something, as in taking a knee or sitting. [Costello:] All right, Christine Brennan, thanks for being with me this morning. [Brennan:] Thank you. [Costello:] You're welcome. Still to come in the Newsroom, fire erupts at the Florida mosque once attended by the Pulse Nightclub shooter. [Stelter:] Editors have the power to inform, but that also means they have the power to misinform. Deceptive editing is at the heart of two unrelated stories right now, and both examples have been exposed by conservative news sources. One involves the State Department. But the first one involves the new documentary called "Under the Gun" executive-produced by Katie Couric. This week, Couric said she took responsibility for a highly misleading edit. Let me show you the scene and you can decide for yourself. This is Couric interviewing a group of gun rights activists. Notice what happens after she asks her question. [Katie Couric, Journalist:] Let me ask you another question. If there are no background checks for gun purchasers, how do you prevent felons or terrorists from purchasing a gun? [Stelter:] Eight seconds of silence, making the activists look ignorant, they didn't have an answer. But the truth is that they responded to her question right away. Now the NRA wants Katie Couric fired. You can see the tweet right there. Meanwhile, gun control groups are rallying to her defense. Here's the head of the Brady Campaign thanking her for standing up to bullies and telling the truth. Let me bring back Elizabeth Harrington, staff writer for "The Washington Free Beacon," and David Zurawik, media critical with "The Baltimore Sun." Elizabeth, "The Free Beacon" has led the way on this story. First, the director came out and said she regretted how this went. She said she was trying to add that pause there in order to let people think about the question. But that seemed like B.S. to me. And then this week, Couric took responsibility for it as well. Are you satisfied by what the director and by what the executive producer have said? [Harrington:] No, I don't think so, because what Katie Couric said is that she raised objections to this initially. [Stelter:] While it was being edited, right. [Harrington:] Right. And then once the editor said, oh, well, we only added this pause for dramatic effect, she was, like, OK, that's fine. Well, it's not fine. It's totally misleading. And the eight seconds in fact, this gun rights group defended themselves very well against the question. And it's really so misleading and a blatant lie to show that eight-seconds pause without anything. So, it's a documentary. She shouldn't be saying, oh, well, this makes this more dramatic, then this is the way we should go. No, she should stick with the facts and what actually happened. [Stelter:] Obviously, it is a point of view documentary. But, David, is there any way to defend that kind of edit that was made? [Zurawik:] Absolutely not, Brian. Really, if I vented the contempt I have for that dishonesty in the documentary format, I think I would drop over right now from a stroke. It's outrageous. And that what you call the B.S. explanation, absolutely. That was so bad. I couldn't believe it. We wanted the listener to pause and think about it. Please. And the lie upon lie. Dishonest documentary makers are one of the lowest forms of life in media. There's no defense. [Stelter:] We were talking earlier in the hour about Donald Trump attacking the media and how conservatives tend to be skeptical. Well, there's reason for them to be skeptical, and something like this seems to perpetuate that narrative. Let me turn to one other editing controversy. This one involves the State Department. There's been something going on for years. This goes back to 2013 about a news briefing involving the U.S. and Iran's secret nuclear talks. A portion of the video of that briefing was deleted at the request of an unnamed State Department official. And now Republicans are demanding an investigation. This is something, David, that FOX News was involved in. It was James Rosen asking the question back in 2013, and FOX has been hounding the government for answers. We might not agree with FOX on everything, but this is an example of FOX really getting to the bottom of this and getting answers, isn't it? [Zurawik:] It's absolutely true. And James Rosen has done that before. We mentioned him in the earlier block about how they went after him for his reporting on the State Department. Even beyond that, that's outrageous. Since the start since, as we mentioned also, since 2010, this administration has tried to control FOX in a way, cut it from the herd,. Delegitimize it is really what they tried to do. And I will tell you what, though, is troubling to me about this in a deeper sense... [Stelter:] Tell me. [Zurawik:] ... is that this is the historical record in a way. This is the historical record of a government agency. You don't you don't just try to punish FOX. You are cheating the American people when you start cutting things out of that official video of that. And then for their explanations, and we still they are still telling us, oh, we don't know who did it. We don't know. We can't we don't have the means or whatever to find that out. That's outrageous. [Stelter:] Right. [Zurawik:] They could find it out now, and somebody should be held accountable. Really, this is part of the and I hate to say it, because it sounds like I'm attacking but the Obama administration war with the press, this is part of it. Whether you like the ideology of that channel or not, it's part of the press. You don't do these kind of things with it if you're the executive branch. [Stelter:] Yes. [Zurawik:] The founders didn't know about video, but they knew about the executive branch and the First Amendment and the free press and the importance of it to democracy. [Stelter:] I'm out of time here, unfortunately. But, David Zurawik, Elizabeth Harrington, thank you both for being here talking through these stories with me. [Harrington:] Thanks. [Zurawik:] Thank you. [Stelter:] When we come back here, a moment to return Muhammad Ali and his relationship with the media. We will be back in a moment. [Robyn Curnow, Cnn Host:] Ahead at the [International Desk:] Hillary Clinton, will she be the first American woman to be a major party's presidential nominee? A rape victim's words stir an outpouring of emotion on social media. And I'll talk to an athlete who is skipping the games because of Zika. [Curnow:] Hi, there. Welcome. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center. Hillary is to make history, as she, the first U.S. presidential candidate. She might have enough candidates, enough delegates to clinch the Democratic nomination, making her the first woman in U.S. history to lead a major party's ticket. On the Republican side, the party is facing the reality of having Donald Trump as its nominee. Republicans are trying to balance support for the Trump while dealing with a backlash he's creating. While the two parties have their presumptive nominees, perhaps tied up, primary season is not over. Several key states are holding primaries right now on the last Super Tuesday of the election. Well, let's begin our coverage with Clinton. She may have be about to clinch her party's nomination but she's not celebrating just yet. Chris Frates explains. [Hillary Clinton, Former Secretary Of State, Presidential Candidate:] According to the news, we are on the brink of a historic, historic, unprecedented moment. [Chris Frates, Cnn Correspondent:] Overnight Hillary Clinton clinched enough delegates to become the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. [Clinton:] We're going to fight hard for every single vote, especially right here in California. [Frates:] But she is not claiming that historic milestone just yet. Instead, focusing on getting her supporters to the polls in the final six states holding contests today. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Vt., Presidential Candidate:] In case you haven't noticed, there are a lot of people here tonight. Thank you. [Frates:] Clinton's rival, Bernie Sanders, is insisting that the primary contests aren't over yet, his campaign releasing a statement arguing that super delegates can change their minds before the July convention. Saying, quote, "It is wrong to count the votes of super delegates before they actually vote at the convention this summer." The senator not acknowledging Clinton's triumph at a rally in San Francisco but softening his rhetoric when asked about the possibility of endorsing her. [Sanders:] Let's assess where we are after tomorrow before we make statements based on speculation. [Frates:] Clinton is hoping to bring Democrats together quickly after this long and bruising primary season. [Clinton:] I'm going to do everything I can to unify the Democratic Party, an I certainly am going to be reaching out to Senator Sanders and hope he will join me in that because we have got to be unified going into the convention and coming out of the convention. [Frates:] Clinton is poised to get a major boost from President Obama, who sources say could endorse her as early as tomorrow and is itching to take on Donald Trump. [Curnow:] Chris Frates reporting there. Now to the Republicans and Donald Trump's brash and unconventional campaign, which has brought him to the brink of the Republican nomination. Now he's facing a backlash of his own from his own party over criticism of a judge. Jim Acosta has that story. [Donald Trump, Republican Presidential Candidate:] I don't care if the judge is Mexican or not. I'm going to do great with the Mexican people. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Sr. White House Correspondent:] Donald Trump is refusing to back down or apologize for his attacks. [Trump:] I don't care about Mexican. But we are treated very unfairly. [Acosta:] Calling for Judge Gonzalo Curiel to recuse himself from a civil fraud case involving Trump University. [Trump:] When you have thousands of students saying that the place was great, it was a great school and they loved it, this should be dismissed on summary judgment. [Acosta:] His attacks on the judge. [Trump:] I'm building a wall. He's a Mexican. [Acosta:] are causing an uproar and unifying the GOP against his controversial rhetoric. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Fla:] And that judge is an American and Donald shouldn't keep saying that. It's wrong that he keeps saying it. And it's inappropriate, wrong, offensive. I hope he'll stop. When I ran for president, I told everyone that this is what would happen. [Acosta:] On a conference call with staffers and surrogates, sources say Trump told them to keep up criticism of Judge Curiel. [Jason Osborne, Donald Trump Supporter:] When Donald Trump today on the call explained his side of the story, it made complete sense. He said here are the facts of the case and we need to continue to attack the bias that is going on out there. [Acosta:] Even Trump's most prominent supporters are blasting his attacks, including Newt Gingrich that's rumored to be on his V.P. short list. [Newt Gingrich, Former House Speaker:] This is one of the worst mistakes Trump has made. [Acosta:] But the former House Speaker dialed back his criticism last night. [Gingrich:] I thought he did a very good job of narrowing down his complaint, which I think, by the way, if you look at the record, is totally legitimate. We're both big boys. He is doing a great job overall. I deeply disagreed on one item. [Acosta:] Former rival, Ben Carson, also walked back his criticism blaming the media, as Trump frequently does. [Dr. Ben Carson , Former Presidential Candidate:] People assume on the basis of something that is said what a person believes when they could just ask him. [Curnow:] That was Jim Acosta reporting there. Republican leaders are forging ahead with their party agenda even as Trump's comments dominate the headlines. House Speaker Paul Ryan is announcing a series of policy rollouts today, they include fighting poverty and education reforms. Ryan and other Republican leaders want to present a positive image of the party and lay out an agenda for the next president. Well, Phil Mattingly joins me now from CNN New York. And the question is, can Ryan and the Republicans really seize control of the agenda? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] It is just unlikely, Robyn. And I think if you talk to House Republican members if they're being candid, they will acknowledge that the person at the top of the ticket defines where the party goes in the policy side of things. And I think this is why you initially saw Paul Ryan's reluctance to endorse Donald Trump. Paul Ryan has been working on what he is rolling out today, there's a six-plank agenda that House Republicans will be rolling out over next couple of weeks, conservative, principled issues that the party has been working on behind closed doors on the policy side of things for years. Donald Trump is on the polar opposite end on a lot of those issues and that's why you saw Paul Ryan wait to endorse Donald Trump. He eventually came around. But the reality is, if Donald Trump doesn't feel like talking about the House Republican issues, if he doesn't feel like talking about these agenda items, these agenda items essentially wither on the vine. Now one thing Paul Ryan's advisers had told me, these are the types of issues that they think a President Trump would sign into law. They're going to keep working as a party of ideas not just an opposition party. But the reality is as we have seen every single day, Robyn, what Donald Trump says and does dominates the news, dominates the cycle and really dominates the Republican Party. [Curnow:] Yes. And it's just one tweet that can change the whole conversation, can't it? Well, let's just talk about these toxic comments Trump made about the judge and how Democrats are using this. They're actually demanding that Republicans either condemn his comments or rescind their endorsements. I mean, that's politicking. But still, is that something some Republicans might be thinking? [Mattingly:] I think, Robyn, here's an interesting way of looking at it. I've talked to a couple of donors, now and obviously these aren't the politicians themselves but these are the types of people that have worked and donated in Republican politics for years, decades even, who have said they were either right about to give money to the Republican National Committee Donald Trump co-campaign account and are now not going to or already have and don't feel like giving any more money. Now the difference is politicians who have already been out and decided to support Donald Trump, for them to go back on that word is a very, very difficult position to be in. You don't want to be a politician accused of flip-flopping. The main issue is here that Democrats aren't going to stop with this. And what you have seen with these judge attacks right now, the Judge Curiel is from Indiana. Robyn, there's a contested Indiana Senate race. The Democrats are now hammering the Republican nominee in that state about. There's they're doing the same thing in Nevada, the same thing in Florida, the same thing in Ohio. And what you are seeing right now is all of the candidates that are up for re-election in the Senate, there's 24 seats the Republicans have to defend in a very slim majority for which they have to hold onto are all being attacked on this while I don't expect and I haven't heard that anybody's going to rescind their endorsement up to this point, the reality is that they're going to be faced with these types of questions, these types of attacks every single day until November. [Curnow:] Until November. Well, let's talk about what's happening with Hillary Clinton. Our editorial note this morning leads with, "Make sure your daughters watch TV today," because this is we are on the cusp of a historic win. That said, Hillary Clinton very clearly saying she is not popping the champagne yet. [Mattingly:] Well, I think there's a couple things you have to look at. One, there's six contests today. And they want to win those contests or they at least want to win California and they should win New Jersey. California's a very close race right now. The last thing the Clinton campaign wants is for people to call the race, call Hillary Clinton the presumptive nominee and then Clinton supporters decide not to go out and vote today in California. If Bernie Sanders wins California, and if you look at the polling over the last couple of weeks, it's absolutely a possibility, all that does is give him a reason to keep fighting. That's the exact opposite of what the Clinton campaign wants. Frankly, it's the exact opposite of what a lot of Democrats want right now. What they would like is for Clinton to get a great turnout in California today, to win California, to win New Jersey, to make tonight crystal clear, not only is she by numbers the presumptive nominee but also by recognition of the entire party establishment, the presumptive nominee. One wild card here, Robyn, I think you have to keep an eye on over next 24, 48 hours, President Barack Obama, he's made clear through his aides that he's likely to endorse Clinton as early as tomorrow. The could be a game-changer if Bernie Sanders decides to fight on. But if Hillary Clinton wins California, that really takes any rationale for Bernie Sanders to continue his campaign from going and that's why you have seen the Clinton campaign be a little tepid in their response to the official acknowledgment that she is the presumptive nominee, at least according to the Associated Press. [Curnow:] Yes. And according to sources speaking to some of our CNN reporters from the White House is that President Obama is quite eager to jump into this race. Thanks so much, Phil Mattingly. Appreciate it. And you can watch the results roll in on this final Super Tuesday of primary voting in the U.S. All-night coverage on CNN starts at midnight in London, 1:00 am in Central Europe. Calls for a California judge to be removed from the bench are growing. People are furious that a sentence he issued last week to a man convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on a college campus. Our Isha Sesay has the story. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Correspondent:] A terrible crime compounded by its aftermath: outrage over a sentence some feel is too lenient. The case highlighting questions of liability, punishment and American society's attitude towards sexual assault. On Thursday, former Stanford student Brock Turner was sentenced to six months imprisonment after being convicted on three felony assault charges. The prosecution had sought a sentence of six years. The woman was unconscious at the time she was assaulted on the university campus. The incident occurred after a party during which both had consumed excessive amounts of alcohol. Turner will also be placed on the sex offender's register for life. His victim spoke out in a statement read at sentencing. Earlier, CNN's Ashleigh Banfield read part of the statement on the " [Legal View." Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn:] "One day, I was at work, scrolling through the news on my phone and I came across an article. In it, I read and learned for the first time about how I was found unconscious, with my hair disheveled, long necklace wrapped around my neck, bra pulled out of my dress, dress pulled off over my shoulders and pulled up above my waist, that I was butt naked all the way down to my boots, legs spread apart and had been penetrated by a foreign object by someone I did not recognize. "I learned what happened to me the same time everyone else in the world learned what happened to me." [Sesay:] Brock Turner's father has further fueled anger surrounding the case, penning a letter to the judge, in which he states, "His life will never be the one he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. "That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life." Social media reaction has been vitriolic, with many questioning why Turner's father would depict his son as a victim of the incident and the prosecution has also condemned the apparent leniency of the sentence. District Attorney Jeff Rosen said, "The sentence does not factor in the true seriousness of the sexual assault or the victim's ongoing trauma. Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape. Rape is rape." While Brock Turner denies he committed rape, his victim only became aware of the assault when she woke up in the hospital and was asked to sign papers marked "rape victim" before being allowed to shower. Stanford University has expressed regret over what happened. But in a statement, claimed it had done everything in its power to ensure justice in the case. "This was a horrible incident and we understand the anger and deep emotion it has generated. There is still much work to be done, not just here, but everywhere to create a culture that does not tolerate sexual violence in any form and a judicial system that deals appropriately with sexual assault cases." Isha Sesay, CNN, Los Angeles. [Curnow:] Well, you saw Ashleigh Banfield in Isha's piece there. She dedicated most of her show yesterday on CNN yesterday to read the rape victim's own words. Well, Ashleigh joins us now from New York. Hey, there, Ashleigh. This was a very powerful statement, tough words to hear, tough words to read. [Banfield:] Yes. I think tough, tough words to write. And the reason that we read them was because I've never read a victim's impact statement like this. And, Robyn, I have been covering trials for 30 years. And this one was so profound, so insightful and had the potential of impacting so many people that I thought, we have a platform to do this, we have a platform to get this out from just the courtroom. It's already happening on online. It's critical journalism to let people know what consent is and is not from the viewpoint of the people who suffer the most and when I say suffer the most, the victims suffer the most. I know people think Brock Turner's suffering because he's lost his college swimming scholarships and accolades and is going to a county jail for six months, probably three with good behavior. But make no mistake: this victim's impact statement tells you who the real victims in these cases are and how they can be stopped from becoming victims. [Curnow:] So you gave voice, she gave voice to herself in terms of telling her story in that. The outrage online, the support towards what you did yesterday on CNN, why do you think it's hit a chord like it has? [Banfield:] I can only say because of her words. When we made this decision to go forward and put as much of this letter on the air as physically possible, I mean, to read it silently, Robyn, I'm sure you did it, it takes 40 to 50 minutes. To read it out loud would have exceeded the hour and so we had to excise it as best we could without changing her context. But it struck a chord because of what she wrote, not because of me or because it was on CNN. It struck a chord because her story is gripping and she has articulated it since best by saying, I don't want people to know who I am because I'm every woman. The fact that I'm anonymous puts your daughter's face on that letter, puts your sister's face on that letter, puts anyone you know, it puts their face on this letter. And so her words were what were gripping. There was no production. There was no video. There were no sound bites. There was no analysis until long after we'd finished reading her statement and it was gripping because she is gripping. She's articulated this issue, this crisis in this country and other countries that no documentarian, no journalist, no lawyer, no activist nor no other victim, up until this point, no other survivor has been able to do in the manner in which she was able to do and that's why she deserves and still deserves a bigger platform. [Curnow:] Why do you think the judge, those words didn't impact the judge as much as many people would have liked them to? And with that in mind, there's been a petition. What kind of legal impact would there be because of the outrage on the outcome of this case? [Banfield:] The petition may make people feel better or feel engaged in a process, because that, too, is showing dissatisfaction within the larger community. But when it comes to recalling a judge, who, by the way, Robyn, is actually up for re-election today but he's unopposed; therefore, he won't appear on a ballot but he will appear on a ballot in the general election in November. But for a recall to actually happen, it doesn't come from change.org. Change.org will get the message out very broadly but it's his own constituents who have to do that, to the tune of about 80,000 signatures and, prior to that, there's an option for them to gather 600 signatures to start that ball rolling. But, ultimately, no number of change.org signatures in the world or in California or in, you know, that particular community can do it unless his constituents do it for themselves. And that may or may not happen. Just depends on how far-reaching this statement and this issue becomes. And thank God for this woman's bravery and brilliance for writing this statement. [Curnow:] Ashleigh Banfield, thank you. [Banfield:] Thank you, Robyn. [Curnow:] You're watching CNN. Coming up, these jets are heading for Syria to bomb ISIS targets. We'll go to our correspondent at the front of America's around-the-clock bombing campaign. And Zika virus is a big concern for many heading to Brazil for the Olympics. It's enough for one athlete to sit out the games rather than put his family at risk these days. We'll talk to him after the break. [Randi Kaye, Cnn Anchor:] New developments today as to how the body of a little girl known only as Baby Doe ended up along the shore at the Boston Harbor. More than 50 million people shared this composite photo of the little girl believed to be around 4 years old. The Brown-eyed child with no name, no family to speak of, experts believe she may have been deliberately placed on that shoreline. For more on this, let's bring in forensic scientist and CNN contributor, Larry Kobilinsky. Leggings that she was wearing and the blanket that was with her, what can that pollen actually tell them? [Larry Kobilinsky, Forensic Scientist & Cnn Contributor:] Well, we have a clue to her origin. There's limited information as to right now. Her height, her approximate age, hair color and eye color. Now, through the investigation of pollen found on these items that you mentioned, the zebra blanket and polka-dot leggings, they analyzed different types of pollen and know the distribution of these pollen species and what they have decided is she originated from the greater Boston area so she is not a missing child from the West. She's from that area. [Kaye:] So just to follow up, they could determine if that pollen that's on that was found on her was from that area and she didn't come from somewhere very far away? [Kobilinsky:] That's correct. It's interesting, they did the same kind of analysis with to determine that it took over many, many years and now they are, again, looking at different pollen. They look different under the microscope so it's very easily identified and they need a database of where pollen is found and it's not just the finding of 39 different species of pollen but the relative proportions. And that's why they are focused in now on the metropolitan area around Boston. [Kaye:] So if Baby Doe was actually placed on that shoreline, what do investigators then assume about the timeline? Can they figure out anything from that, how and when she got there? [Kobilinsky:] Well, as you know, it was first thought that she was floating in the water. Now they think that's not the case. They do know that we're talking about advanced decomposition. So the postmortem interval is probably known to the medical examiners. It's impossible for us to say because we don't know how extensive the decomposition was but I think they have a rough idea of when she was placed in that bag and on Deer Island, on the shore there. [Kaye:] Larry Kobilinsky, thank you. [Kobilinsky:] Sure. [Kaye:] President Obama, we know, likes his tunes and he actually crafts his list on Spotify. The commander-in-chief is giving us a peak at what he's looking at during his vacation on Martha's Vineyard, including 20 of his daytime and nighttime faves. Among the highlights, Dylan, special friend of the first family, Beyonce, and Al Green. Listen to the sampling. Quite a mix there. Here to go through all of it with us, Yahoo! music editor, Lyndsey Parker. Lyndsey, Obama has some pretty eclectic taste, wouldn't you say? What did you make of his selections? [Lyndsey Parker, Music Editor, Yahoo!:] You know, I'm actually really impressed. A lot of times you would think the president is going to do this all-American summer play list and it's going to be the Beach Boys and the things that you would expect and he has left-field choices in there. He has Aquaville River. I'm sure they will gain more viewers with this publicity. Frank Ocean, Florence in the Machine, and what I think is cool is that not only is it eclectic, but it shows this was created by an actual human. I actually think he sat down with Spotify and really picked out his favorite songs. He's so good on social media, unlike any other politician we've ever seen. And I was listening to the daytime music in my car and I thought it was a good mix. [Kaye:] There you go. The president is certainly no stranger to the music scene. He's often had Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen campaign for him and play at campaign events for him as well. What else do you think he's incorporated into his presidency? [Parker:] Well, Beyonce, of course, performed at his last inauguration. That was a pretty major thing. A joke aside, it's funny that this was a Spotify play list and not a title play list because jay-z is the title. But obviously he's just he's into music and that I think that makes him seem personable and cool and young. I think it makes him seem approachable. For better or worse, people are going to pay more attention to what he puts on Spotify than a speech he gives or a policy he's making. It's a great way to reach out to the masses. Even regardless of whatever your political affiliation is. [Kaye:] Absolutely. This is purely a hypothetical question. I want to say that loud and clear. If Donald Trump if Donald Trump somehow becomes president, what would you expect to see on his play list? [Parker:] Cut your hair by pavement? I'm just kidding. Probably a lot of money songs. "Money" by the Beatles, you know, some songs that are big big and rich, maybe? Anything but big and rich. Definitely, some commerce themed. Actually, love and money is the theme to "The Celebrity Apprentice" show, maybe some Clay Aiken. [Kaye:] There you go. Lyndsey Parker, thank you very much. That was fun. Appreciate it. [Parker:] Thanks for having me. [Kaye:] Still ahead, why there is speculation that Al Gore could be the next wild card to enter the race for president. And next, they are two of the most notorious killers in American history, sentenced to die for the nightmare home invasion in Connecticut. But now they won't be put to death, and you'll hear why, ahead. [Costello:] Former prison worker, Joyce Mitchell, says she's not the monster everyone thinks she is. Mitchell who has confessed to aiding killers break out of prison this summer broke her silence to NBC News, describing from behind bars how because of depression and troubles at home she got caught up in a complicated web with two convicted killers who she eventually helped to escape. She also talked about how she sneaked in tools for the killers. [Joyce Mitchell, Former Prison Worker:] I give them the star bit, four full size hack blades, I gave them a chisel and punched. That's all that I gave them. [Matt Lauer, Nbc News:] That's a lot. [Mitchell:] It is. [Lauer:] So, you'd go in during the day. You'd see at least Mr. Matt in the tailor shop. [Mitchell:] Yes. [Lauer:] And he would say to you, hey, we breached the wall of our cell. We got out of the wall. We're back in the crawl he would let you know this? [Mitchell:] Yes. He actually had told me at one point, in one spot, that they had found a tool box, and Mr. Sweat picked the lock and they found power tools in it. [Lauer:] What was your reaction when you were hearing these stories? Wasn't it all so astonishing to you that they were getting out of their cells at night? And they were going behind the walls of the prison? [Mitchell:] They were waiting until after, I think it's the 11:00 bed check, and then they would go. [Costello:] Patrick Johnson joins me now. He's the former warden at Chittaqwa County jail. Welcome thank you for being with me this morning. [Patrick Johnson, Former Warden:] You're welcome. Thank you. [Costello:] Just how she describes it, Joyce Mitchell, it's bizarre, isn't it? [Johnson:] It really is. And nothing from the interview really surprised me this morning. I thought she tried to transfer a lot of her blame on being depressed and having problems with her husband and her relationship and that a lot of people who go through depression do similar type things and don't act rationally. But the bottom line is, she's responsible for everything she did. She made those decisions and she should be held accountable for them. [Costello:] Well, on one hand she said she was flattered because, you're right, she was having problems with her husband and she thought her husband didn't have love her. So she was flirty with the prisoners. Then she used to bring them baked goods, like brownies and cookies, which is also kind of strange to me. Do prison guards usually bring cookies and brownies to inmates. [Johnson:] No, they don't. That's a red flag when they start asking for favors from staff, whether they're corrections officers or whether they're support staff. She should have reported that immediately to her supervisors. She said she didn't know who she could trust inside the prison. She's the one who wasn't being trustful. She was the one bringing these products into the facility. The other thing on one hand, she was flirting with them and flattered her and she obviously liked it at some point. And then of them said he was going to kill her husband and maybe harm her family. Then she became afraid for her family and that's why she agreed to deliver these tools to these president but that doesn't law make sense to me. It doesn't make sense. At that point you know, she was in pretty deep and enforcement officials and the [Costello:] Patrick Johnson, thanks for your insight. I appreciate it. I'll be right back. [Berman:] Our breaking news tonight, Donald Trump says he doesn't have to earn house speaker Paul Ryan's support because he has the voters. In an interview with ABC News and George Stephanopoulos, the presumptive nominee said quote "this is what the people want." Meanwhile, Trump is in all likelihood about to get a major education on the state of the world and possibly get his hands on classified information. As is tradition, the White House says it expects intelligence officials to brief Trump after he is the official nominee. Trump's foreign policy plan such as they are have included bombing the hell out of ISIS and making America great again. His information about foreign policy, remember back in August, Trump said on "Meet the Press" most of it comes from watching TV. [Chuck Todd, Nbc Host, Meet The Press:] Who do you talk to for military advice right now? [Trump:] Well, I watch the shows. I mean, I really see a lot of great when you watch your show and all of the other shows and you have the generals and certain people that [Todd:] But is there a go-to for you? [Trump:] Probably there are two or three. [Todd:] Every presidential candidate has a go-to. [Trump:] Probably two or three. I like Bolton. He knows what he is talking. Jacobs. [Todd:] You mean Ambassador John Bolton? [Trump:] Yes. [Todd:] You mean Colonel Jack Jacobs? [Trump:] Yes. Colonel Jack Jacobs is a good guy and I see him on occasion. [Berman:] All right. Joining me now chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto. So, Jim, exactly when is Donald Trump going to be briefed, and what type of information is he expected to receive? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] These briefings, they take place after the nominating convention for both the Republican and Democratic nominee once it's clear that they are the nominee. And generally they'll get information about threats to national security. They'll get the information, but they don't get what the intelligence community calls sources and methods in effect how that information was gathered. That tends to be the most secret intelligence reserved for the highest level security clearances. And at least at that point neither nominee will have that level of security clearance. [Berman:] It is interesting. So they won't name names. Who will do the briefings? [Sciutto:] Director of national intelligence James Clapper. He doesn't do it himself but he has said he's already appointed a nonpolitical intelligence agent to do this. Of course, the most senior intelligence directors, they are appointed by the president. In this case, of course, a Democratic president. So he has chosen someone in the service, a civil servant who is not a political appointee. [Berman:] You mentioned politics there. Are politics at play? Will both candidates receive exactly the same information? [Sciutto:] They say they have a commitment. Clapper said this publicly. A commitment to getting both a Democratic and Republican nominee the same. Now what will happen so they both get it after the nominating convention at a certain level once the election happens and you have a president elect, then they get a more intensive briefing. That's what happens because it's clear that person is going to be the next president. [Berman:] That's a whole different ball game. All right. Jim Sciutto, thanks so much. [Sciutto:] Thank you. [Berman:] All right. Back now with New York City councilman and co- chair of Trump's New York campaign Joseph Borelli and Tara Setmayer and Michael Smerconish. Tara, you worked on Capitol Hill. You know what these intelligence briefing are like. Do you think Donald Trump is prepare, for what's coming next? [Setmayer:] Absolutely not. Honestly, I don't think Donald Trump would pass a security clearance if he were trying to get a top secret clearance given his history and reckless things he's said and a lot of his questionable financial dealings. I question whether he would even pass a security clearance. But, you know, this is a guy who repeats conspiracy theories. He talks about national enquirer stories as if they are fact. And so we are going to trust him with the secrecy and importance of intelligence briefings? This is something people need to consider. So this is one of many concerns of people like me about Donald Trump in this position. [Borelli:] How are we how is she questioning the fitness of Donald Trump to receive classified information in a briefing given to every presumptive nominee since 1952 when the presumptive Democratic nominee is under federal investigation for not being responsible with classified information. [Setmayer:] He just repeated a conspiracy theory about John F. Kennedy's assassination and a [Borelli:] And she potentially leaked actual classified email which is far more worse. [Setmayer:] We're not we're talking about Donald Trump, not Hillary Clinton. And I agree with you on her. [Berman:] First of all on the Hillary Clinton thing, CNN has been talking to officials who say right now there's no evidence that Hillary Clinton willfully violated any law. But they will question her and that could change. But right now that's where that situation stands. Councilman, you know Donald Trump's son, you know. Is he capable of discretion? You hear the snickers out there saying he can't keep a secret. Do you think he would be able to? [Borelli:] Yes. I think so. I mean, I think the weight of the office is really taking hold in him. He realizes that he is in a position now that he has never been in before. He can't speak off the cuff as much as he probably like to as much as probably has been beneficial to him in the primary season. Look. The weight of the office is great. And we can't just assume that all these nominees can digest the weight of national intelligence on the day they sworn in. This [Berman:] Michael, the quiet man speak over here. The commander in chief test for any presidential candidate is a big deal, right? Is it different for Donald Trump? [Smerconish:] This is what the peaceful transference of power looks like. And so, if this is what the protocol demands, then Donald Trump ought to get the briefing. And frankly, it will probably make him a more intelligent candidate. So perhaps we'll all benefit from the conversation that will result. [Setmayer:] Well, he can definitely use the briefing. If anyone read the editorial interviews he did with "the Washington Post," it was scary how completely incoherent his understanding of the world is and foreign policy. You know, he was asked questions about how he would defeat ISIS or different questions about nuclear weapons in Europe, he deflected and started telling one of the editorial board members about how nice you look today. I mean, these are things that he has up to this point demonstrated absolutely no ability to retain that information. And so, yes, I question whether he takes this seriously or not. The weight of the office is very serious. And he has done nothing to demonstrate that thus far. [Berman:] Michael, quick. Ten seconds, any last word. [Smerconish:] Bottom line, he's got to get briefing. It's in everybody's best interest he be equipped because he could win this thing. [Berman:] All right. Guys, I appreciate it. A very spirited discussion on a Friday night. Thank you guys. An intelligence mission carried out by President Obama and his team that happened five years ago now this week. The mission that killed Osama bin Laden. In just ten minutes, we are going to take you behind the scenes to hear details, really [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] Once the SEAL team arrived in Abbottabad, the president and his advisers crowded into a smaller room across the hall where they could watch a live drone feed of the raid. Why did you come into this room, sir? [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Well, this is where we actually had a live view of what was happening. And so as you can see, it's a pretty small conference room. We were all jammed up in here. One of our key guys was sitting here. I was sitting here in my windbreaker. Gates was there and Hillary. And we were essentially watching what was happening in real-time. [Berman:] All right. Stay tuned for the AC 360 special "we, got him President Obama, bin Laden and the war on terror. That's coming up at 8:30 eastern time. And just ahead, we are going to straight to the belly of the beast, the monster wildfire that has burning out of control in Canada. The blaze is growing. Thousands of people have fled their homes this week. They're now being forced farther south by these flames. [George Howell, Cnn Newsroom Show:] Bombings in five cities in Thailand, deadly explosions at rock resort towns, officials trying to figure out why. We have a live report with the latest. [Zain Asher, Cnn Newsroom Show:] Also ahead, Donald Trump's falsehood. The republican candidate for president claims that Obama literally literally founded [Isis. Howell:] Making history in Rio, Simone Manuel ties for gold and breaks a barrier for African-American women. Live from CNN world headquarters in Atlanta. Welcome to our viewers from around the world. I'm George Howell. [Asher:] And, I'm Zain Asher. Thank you for joining us. [Howell:] Good to have you here. [Asher:] Glad to be with you. CNN Newsroom starts right now. All right. We are following breaking news out of Thailand where at least four people are dead after multiple bombings, multiple explosions. World Thai police now say at least 11 blasts have hit five locations over the past day or so. [Howell:] The attacks happened in a number of tourist spots and police say there is no evidence at this point that they are linked to international terrorism. Let's go live to CNN's Kristie Lu Stout, live in Hong Kong with the latest following the story. Kristie, what more do we know from security? [Kristie Lu Stout, Cnn News Stream Anchor:] George, Thai police are saying that the explosions that have rocked Thailand are not acts of terror, but what they are calling local sabotage. The Thai deputy spokesman says this that there is no evidence that what happened is linked to international terrorism. A number of explosions have brought the country, as you said 11 bombings across five provinces since Thursday. We know at least four people have been killed, 34 wounded. Now, let's break down where these blasts took place, including some major tourist destinations. The Island of Phuket. Two explosions took place there Friday morning. One at Patang Beach and another at Bang La Street, one person is suffering from minor injuries. In Hua Hin, a very popular tourist resort in Thailand, two explosions on Thursday evening an additional two explosions on Friday morning. Last night, 21 people were wounded. A number of them were foreign visitors. A Thai female vendor was killed. This morning, more bombs went off at 9 a.m. at Hua Hin near the Clock Tower, it's a local landmark there. One person is dead as a result of that. And in Surat Thani city, two explosions Friday morning, the fatality was a Thai national, a female Thai municipal worker. Surat Thani city is just south of Bangkok, it's not a major tourist destination, but it is a transit point for tourist going to Koh Samui and also in the province. There were additional explosions in Phang-nga province and in Trang province which killed one person. And, George, it's not known if all these bombings are connected. All of this is taking place just a week before the one-year anniversary of the bomb attack in Bangkok at the Erawan Shrine. And Thai police earlier today, they add that the latest bombings are not linked to what happened last year. Back to you. [Howell:] Good to have that context, Kristie. But what has been the security response so far? [Stout:] Well, we've heard from the Thai Ministry of Interior, they announced that increasing security across tourist hot spots and public transportation stations, police are on alert for more explosive devices. I've also seen reports on social media, businesses in Hua Hin and Phuket are shut down. And we've also learned that travel warnings are in place. The governments of Spain and the U.K. are advising travelers to avoid public places in Thailand. Back to you. [Howell:] Kristie Lu Stout, live for us in Hong Kong following the story. Kristie, thank you so much. We'll stay in touch. Moving on now to Syria, people there are suffering the destruction widespread. In the city of Aleppo the U.N. says it is working with Russia now to find a workable humanitarian pause in that key city. [Asher:] Right. And the White House said it received an open letter from a group of doctors in Aleppo, these doctors were desperately pleading for help because the situation is so bad. Here's our Elise Labott with more. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] Aleppo's last remaining doctors, just 15 who remain in the besieged city are issuing a desperate plead of President Obama, begging for a lifeline, and slamming the U.S. for failing to stop the horrific bombing. Writing in an open letter, quote, "We have seen no effort on behalf of the United States to lift the siege or even use its influence to push the party to protect civilians." Russian air strikes helping regime forces have decimated Aleppo. Hospitals are frequent target. The doctors write, "Last month, there were 42 attacks on medical facilities in Syria, 15 of which are hospitals in which we work." "Right now, there is an attack on a medical facility every 17 hours. At this rate, our medical services in Aleppo could be completely destroyed in a month, leaving 300,000 people to die." "What pains us most as doctors is choosing who will live and who will die." [Lina Murad, Syrian American Medical Society Board Member:] Imagine, you know, you're trying to work in a hospital with no clean water, no electricity, no medical supplies and all those civilian victim, you know, coming over. [Labott:] The doctors' urgent appeal comes as the U.S. is investigating another poisonous gas attack in the al-Zibdiye neighborhood of Aleppo. Chilling footage shows victims in the hospital as aid workers sift through the rubble. This man describes smelling gas and gasping for breath. The raid, despite a Russian pledge to stop military action to allow for desperately needed humanitarian aid. Last week, President Obama acknowledged the challenges of trying to solve the conflict in Syria. [Barack Obama, United States Of America President:] I've been wrestling with this thing now for a lot of years. There is not a meeting that I don't end by saying, is there something else we could be doing that we haven't thought of? [Labott:] But Aleppo's doctors warn, we do not need tears or sympathy or even prayers. We need your action. That will come too late for this first responder, notorious for pulling a baby out of the rubble, and who colleagues say died. The White House says it is working around the clock to try and get an agreement with Russia to end the violence and allow life-saving humanitarian aid into places like Aleppo. But the doctors on the front line tell us by failing to stop the violence by Russia and the regime over the last six years the United States shares some of the burden of responsibility. Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department. [Asher:] On to some other stories that we are following. A British teen who left the United Kingdom last year apparently to join ISIS in Syria is now feared dead. Kadiza Sultana, and two other the school girls who flew from London to Istanbul, Turkey, they are expected to have crossed the border in Syria within days. A family have then says that some weeks ago, relative received news of Sultana's death in Raqqa. Raqqa if the de factor capital for ISIS. Reports of Sultana's death have not been independently confirmed. [Howell:] Here in the United States, Donald Trump and politics has been calling the U.S. President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton co- founders of ISIS during a campaign stops in Florida this week. It is important to point out factually speaking that is not the case. [Asher:] All right. But Donald Trump though is not backing down. He keeps going at it. Here is our Jim Acosta with more. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] It's fast becoming a go-to line of attack for Donald Trump, that President Obama and his former Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, gave birth to ISIS. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] I call president Obama and Hillary Clinton the founders of ISIS. They're the founders. In fact, I think we'll give Hillary Clinton the you know if you're a sports team, the most valuable player, MVP. You've got the MVP award. [Acosta:] Trump rationale is that the president's withdrawal from the Iraq war created the conditions on the ground for the terror groups rise to power. [Hugh Hewitt, Radio Hugh Hewitt Show:] He hates them. He's trying to kill them. [Trump:] I don't care. He was the founder. The way he got of Iraq was the that was the founding of ISIS. [Acosta:] The problem is, Trump once advocated a speedy pull out from the war, too. [Trump:] You know how they get out? They get out. That's how they get out. Declare victory and leave. Because I'll tell you, this country is just going to get further bogged down. [Acosta:] Trump first called Mr. Obama an ISIS founder at a rally last night in Florida where he also referred to the president as his full name and slamming the White House over his handling of Russia. [Trump:] Now we'll find out. But this was taken during the administration of Barack Hussein Obama. OK? [Acosta:] Continuing that soft on terror theme, Trump also alleged that the Clinton campaign was aware that the father of the Orlando nightclub shooter was at a rally for the democratic nominee this week. [Trump:] They knew. But how would you how did you like that picture? Him sitting, 49 people killed and that guy is sitting back there and of course he likes Hillary. [Acosta:] Top Trump campaign surrogate blame unfair media coverage. But former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani insists Trump will still take part in all three presidential debates despite his relationship with the press. [Rudy Giuliani, Former New York City Mayor:] He will do all three debates. The negotiations which the federal commission has always allowed between the candidates... [Unidentified Male:] Absolutely. [Giuliani:] ... is going to happen. [Acosta:] At a rally outside of Orlando, Trump once again refer to President Obama as the founder of ISIS. At one point, he even said the president made a mistake by not leaving behind a relatively small force in Iraq. But that also runs counter to what Trump said back in 2007 when he said the U.S. should declare victory and leave. Jim Acosta, CNN, Kissimmee, Florida. [Asher:] And aside from all of that which you just saw there, more tense moments for the Trump campaign. The Confederate flag, take a look this, this is a flag that, by the way, some people consider to be a very racist symbol here in the United States. This flag was briefly displayed at a Trump event in Kissimmee, Florida, this is on Thursday. But the Civil War era banner did not stay up for long because police told its owners to take it down and to remove it and then they ended up stopping it out for the stars and stripes the traditional American flag. [Howell:] The Democratic Party has been dealing with a major cyber- attack. And as it turns out it's worse than first thought. A report from the New York Times says hackers got into the private e-mail accounts of dozens of members of the party and the Clinton campaign. The U.S. has not publicly named the culprit but the White House says experts who investigated that cyber-attack believed that Russia is behind it. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi agrees and compare this cyber intrusion to Watergate. Listen. [Nancy Pelosi, U.s. House Minority Leader:] This is an electronic Watergate. This is an electronic Watergate. This is a break-in. The Russians broke in. Who did they give the information to? I don't know. Who dumped it? I don't know. But I do know that this is a Watergate- type electric break-in. [Asher:] And as the hacking controversy lingers, Hillary Clinton is trying to stay on message. He's definitely trying to stay focus with her attention on the economy. [Howell:] And during a campaign event in Michigan Thursday, she tried to make it clear to supporters that her economic plan is better than Donald Trump's. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has more for us. [Hillary Clinton, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] Stronger together. Let's go out and build the future. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton offering an upbeat view of the economy. [Clinton:] I want you all to work with me, to build the kind of progress that America deserves to see. [Zeleny:] It's a starkly different picture than the one Donald Trump painted earlier this week in Detroit. [Clinton:] He talks only of failure, poverty, and crime. He is missing so much about what makes Michigan great. [Zeleny:] The economy is at the heart of a bruising tug of war between Clinton and Trump. She made clear she feels the pain of working class voters. [Clinton:] How can you not be frustrated and even angry when you see nothing getting done? A lot of people feel no one is on their side and no one has their back. [Zeleny:] Even while bluntly admitting trade deals she supported have hurt American workers. [Clinton:] It is true that too often past trade deals have been sold to the American people with rosy scenarios that did not pan out. [Zeleny:] Trade is the pillar of Trump's populist argument against electing a second President Clinton. [Trump:] Hillary Clinton has supported the trade deals stripping this city and this country of its jobs and its wealth. [Zeleny:] But she warns against Trump's isolationist solutions. [Clinton:] Mr. Trump may talk a big game on trade, but his approach is based on fear, not strength. [Zeleny:] She also coined a new phrase to use against Trump and his plan to lower corporate taxes. [Clinton:] He called for a new tax loophole. Let's call it the Trump loophole because it would allow him to pay less than half the current tax rate on income for many of his companies. [Zeleny:] They are fighting over some of the same terrain, that's why Clinton made her pitch in a factory in Malcolm County, home of the fabled Reagan democrats. [Ronald Reagan, Former U.s. President:] Well, I want to ask those of you some people call Reagan democrats to join with me and come home with me today. [Zeleny:] Trump believes those voters offer his best shot for winning the rust belt and the presidency. We talked to former Michigan Governor James Blanchard today. He says that times and candidates are different. [James Blanchard, Former Michigan Governor:] There's still a lot of people with fond memories of Ronald Reagan. But he was measured, optimistic, positive. That's a stark contrast to what we've got now here with a sad, sad deranged spectacle really. [Zeleny:] Above all, Clinton is hammering home to voters increasingly including republicans the election is a choice. [Clinton:] Now, there is a myth out there that he will stick it to the rich and powerful because somehow he's really on the side of the little guy. Don't believe it. [Zeleny:] And Clinton also called on Donald Trump to release his tax returns. He's the only presidential nominee since Richard Nixon to refuse to do so. Aide close to her campaign tell me that she will do so by Friday, her 2015 tax returns in addition to the 37 years she's already released. Her running mate Tim Kaine will also release 10 years of returns trying to keep the pressure on Donald Trump and to highlight the fact that he is still hiding how much he pays in taxes. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Michigan. [Asher:] All right. Coming up next on CNN Newsroom, Michael Phelps isn't running for president. But, you know, maybe he should. This guy simply will not lose. He keeps racing in those gold medals, we'll have the latest from Rio, just ahead. [Cooper:] Well, for all the news that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton made today, they each went into the day with some well-known and very long running issues surrounding them, a kind of moving backdrop to every daily story everywhere they go. Awhile back, Gary Tuchman asked Trump supporters whether he's ongoing issues affect their view of him. Today, we talked to well, he talked to Hillary Clinton supporters about hers. [Gary Tuchman, Cnn National Correspondent:] For anybody coming to see Hillary Clinton in Reno, Nevada, there was no escaping the issues that have complicated her candidacy. [Unidentified Speakers:] We're not with her. We're not with her. [Tuchman:] A small but loud group of Trump supporters made sure of that. But it only strengthened the resolve of many of the Clinton supporters. [Jakki Ford, Clinton Supporter:] She's withstood all of the punishment, you know, put upon her for the last 30 years and I support her strongly. I believe in strong, smart women. [Tuchman:] The continuing Clinton campaign controversies, the e-mails, the Clinton Foundation. Among these strong supporters the overwhelming consensus, she did nothing wrong. [Unidentified Male:] It's very annoying the way they go on and on and none of it's true. [John Clevenger, Clinton Supporter:] I think they're looking for something. I don't really think there's anything there. And I'm not worried about it. [Tuchman:] But even if there is no fire, whose fault is the smoke? These supporters are more flexible about that question. [Alan Sanchez, Clinton Supporter:] We're all humans. We make mistakes. And she's made some mistakes. She's not the perfect person but we're not all perfect. [Tuchman:] Some even acknowledge their trust was a bit shaken. [Rod Sumpter:] Those of us that educate ourselves with regards to Hillary Clinton and all of her efforts over the years can overcome that distrust because we know who she truly is. [Clinton:] Thank you. [Tuchman:] One thing Hillary Clinton is right now is someone who avoids news conferences. For almost nine months. These supporters tend not to fault her for that. [Christine Cremu, Clinton Supporter:] The lack of the press conferences doesn't speak to me as fear. It speaks to me as smarts. [Tuchman:] In what way? [Cremu:] Because she wants to keep her environment controlled. That's a smart politician, in my view. [Tuchman:] Would that be considered maybe a paranoid politician? [Cremu:] Depends on your view. Perhaps. [Tuchman:] That's not yours? [Cremu:] No, of course not. [Tuchman:] And we had one final question for these Clinton supporters. [Clinton:] He says he wants to make America great again but more and more it seems as though his real message seems to be make America hate again. [Tuchman:] A final question on the day Hillary Clinton skewered Trump for, "A steady stream of bigotry." Donald Trump has just called Hillary Clinton a "bigot." When you hear that, what do you think? [William Barnes, Clinton Supporter:] I think he's talking about Donald Trump, not about Hillary Clinton. If I ever saw a bigot, it's Donald Trump. [Cooper:] Gary Tuchman joins us now. Gary, did you talk to anyone who expressed concern to you that Hillary Clinton could lose the election because some of these controversies? [Tuchman:] Anderson, I talked to a lot of Hillary Clinton supporters today and if any of them thought she could lose solely based on the controversies, they weren't admitting it. There was a lot of optimism among Hillary Clinton supporters because of the polling since the Democratic convention. However, there were a number of people I talked to today who feel the election could be much closer than they think it should be because of the controversies. Anderson. [Cooper:] All right, Gary Tuchman. Gary, thanks very much. Back with the panel. When it comes to, Paul, attacks on the Clinton Foundation, I talked to Secretary Clinton, she called in last night, she said there's smoke and no fire. But, I mean, isn't just the appearance of conflict is in that something that kind of feeds into the untrustworthy narrative about her, the concerns that some voters have? [Begala:] I don't think there's an appearance. I think that there's look, she's had mistakes, she's had problems. I think the e-mail thing was a mistake and I said it at the very first day it broke. I said everybody in the government have got e-mail. This foundation does such good work. In the whole wide world, there's 17 million people who get antiretroviral drugs to keep them alive with AIDS in the whole world. 11.5 of them get them because of the Clinton Foundation. The majority of children who get ARV drugs keep them alive with AIDS. Get them through the Clinton Foundation. This is a terrific charity. By the way, Mr. Trump himself gave over $100,000 and he was asked... [Cooper:] But certainly in some voter's minds when they hear, you know, some rich person who gets to have a meeting with Secretary Clinton through the foundation... [Begala:] The A.P. found I think 85 people who got meetings including Elie Weisel, Muhammad Yunus and other Nobel Peace Prize winners, Melinda Gates. 85... [Cooper:] Yeah, but there were some rich people with like visa issues or... [Begala:] But so what? People should get their visas taken care of. But there were 7,000 donors and 85 got meetings. There's a lot of paying without any playing. [Cooper:] I just don't know how many who get their visas fixed Secretary Clinton herself. [Begala:] I don't think she fixed visas herself. I think what they do the press loves to do this. Well, she took money from the Saudis, right? But she didn't. She was busy working but the foundation did. Well, of course, they take money from the rich and they use it to help the poor. This offends Republicans who think the world should work the other way around. Donald Trump, for example, takes from the poor and gives to himself. [Cooper:] Andre? [Andre Bauer, Trump Supporter:] They want to know that they don't have to donate, whether they donate 10 percent to the church, whether they donate 10 percent to the Clinton Foundation, they want to know that they can see their president. And they see foreign governments that have no interest in most of these issues giving money to the Clinton Foundation. They see a bunch of Clintons that say, we left the White House, so we were destitute. They brought in $250 million personally. Magical in 13 years, their net worth's over $110 million now? There's a quid pro quo here. Make no mistake about it. If the Democrats weren't scared about it, she wouldn't have that press conference today. [Begala:] Are you more troubled by Trump University or the Clinton Foundation? [Bauer:] I'm more troubled about a Clinton Foundation... [Begala:] Are you really? [Bauer:] She was secretary of state and she was seeing people that directly gave to her foundation. [Begala:] I got a bridge to sell you, brother. [Cooper:] One at a time. [Bauer:] There was no national security at risk. [Begala:] This case fraud case is pending against the Trump University. [Basil Smikle, Clinton Supporter:] Exactly what I'm including here in the state of New York with the attorney general and I have [inaudible] disclosure trouble with the Clinton Foundation. And I can attest the work that they are doing... [Bauer:] Nobody debates the work. Everybody... [Smikle:] No, no, no. Hold on. Hold on. There is real work that this foundation is doing. [Bauer:] Nobody's questioning that. [Smikle:] There are a lot of people questioning that because there are Trump supporters that are saying that this foundation is a fraud. [Cooper:] Does it weaken Donald Trump and his ability to go after it, the fact that he gave more than $100,000 to the Clinton Foundation? So if it was pay to play, was he paying to play? [Hughes:] I think it would have weakened it if he would have actually met with her and said I also demand a meeting with it. I think he... [Cooper:] Well, he did. He had her come to the wedding. [Hughes:] Not for $100,000. [Cooper:] No, no, no. He said he paid money to her and she came to his wedding. [Hughes:] Right. So that just shows what a puppet master he can be. But I think [inaudible]. Let's look at Loria University, let's look at Haiti, let's look at the $30 million that was raised in Haiti. You have protesters still today outside of the Clinton Global Initiative. I think you're going to hear more of this that they were promised buildings and businesses and ports and none of that came through. There's a lot of problems with the Clinton Foundation with that money that actually went through the people donated that never got to the ground. [Cooper:] But I guess my question on the donation from Trump is, if this was a shady system, what does it say about him that he's donating and I guess knowledgeably taking part... [Hughes:] Because there was some work that was good to it. And obviously, they were friends. And I'm sure he wrote that check out of good faith for his friendship with Hillary Clinton. [Tara Setmayer, Cnn Political Commentator:] Sure he did. He said that he was a businessman and that he would cave money for access. [Hughes:] Would you ever want the person signing the front of the check or the back of the check... Because right now you have Donald Trump signing the check, giving the money. She's the one accepting it. [Setmayer:] Just being intellectually honest about it, that's all, with the Donald Trump stuff. Yes, there are problems with the Clinton Foundation... [Hughes:] Did you just accuse me of lying? [Setmayer:] I just said be intellectually honest about what happened with Trump and Hillary Clinton and his support of her. Not only her, Chuck Schumer and a lots of other liberals and progressives that he supported which are completely anathema to what we as conservatives believe in. He financed those people. So, let's be intellectually honest about it. [Cooper:] Guys, guys, no one's listening. If I mean, when you talk over each other, I don't mean no one's listening to you guys, but when you talk over each other nobody can hear you. That's my point. Sorry. That was my inside voice. But you know, when the RNC says to the Clinton Foundation and to Secretary Clinton, why is it OK why are you going to stop taking foreign donations once you're president but why was it OK for you to take foreign donations for the foundation to take foreign donations when you were secretary of state? [Begala:] Right. They're trying to respond to the pressure. I think it's a shame. I think that they set up very strict rules when Hillary became secretary of state, right? President Obama and his [inaudible] put in a whole bunch of rules... [Cooper:] But even that, they served fudged on some of the foreign donations. They didn't report them as much as they can. [Begala:] Again, they take from the rich and help the poor. I'm scared to death about some of the cut-backs. [Bauer:] They don't travel on their dime except to go to foundation work. In Southwest Airlines doesn't go to Central Africa. I'm sorry. [Setmayer:] But they go the state they go to Long Island to the Hamptons, though. And the Clintons have no problem taking their private plane to the Hamptons. [Begala:] Look, this is just a it's a horrible story. Look, when I was working for Bill Clinton against President Bush Sr., he set up the points of light foundation. Every single day inside the White House, he promoted that he had a point of light every single day. We never looked into it, nor did the press. The next campaign we ran against Bob Dole. He runs the U.S. Senate, his wife runs the American Red Cross. Lots of people donate there. We never looked into it, neither did the press. The press has this thing where they get with the Republicans oh, I'm serious. It's a double standard that the Clintons have to face. [Cooper:] I will point out today, I have both been accused by Donald Trump of backing Hillary Clinton and now also... [Begala:] Well, I'm just saying nobody did the stories about the Bushes and Doles. They're honorable people. [Cooper:] As long as I'm attacked by all sides I'm happy. We're going to take a break. We're all going to talk to each other during the break and get it out of our systems. More of "360" exclusive interview with Donald Trump. Ahead, he made a lot of news. Bring it altogether for you, next. [Romans:] An intense search underway right now at a Disney World hotel to find the 2-year-old boy dragged into a lagoon by an alligator. Now, police say it is unlikely they will find that child alive. A family of four visiting from Nebraska. It has been an unimaginable few days in Orlando. First, Christina Grimmie, a popular singer from the NBC talent show "THE VOICE" she was gunned down after her concert Friday night. She died a few hours later. We've just learned that Sunday's nightclub shooter scouted a Disney venue ahead of his attack on the club. Police say the shooter visited the Disney entertainment and shopping complex known as Disney Springs. That was at the beginning of June during this year's "Gay Days" celebration. So what does this mean for tourism in the area? Well, more than 63 million people visited Orlando in 2014, making it the most visited destination in the country. Fifty-two million visit the Disney World complex each year. Disney operates four theme parts and 27 resort hotels in Orlando. All this is happening just a Disney gets ready to open its highly anticipated Shanghai location half a world away, tomorrow. All right, a political firestorm in the wake of the Orlando nightclub massacre. Donald Trump accusing President Obama and Hillary Clinton of being weak and ineffective in the fight against terrorism. The presumptive Republican nominee even insinuating the president is somehow sympathetic to Islamic extremists, as he renews his call for a ban on Muslim immigrants. The president reacting by calling Trump dangerous, with Clinton accusing her Republican rival of trying to destroy American values. Even Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan, saying that the presumptive nominee's Muslim ban is not the religious test we should have in this country, but a security test would be better. CNN politics reporter, Eugene Scott, live from Washington this morning. Good morning again, Eugene. [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Good morning. [Romans:] I want to listen to a little piece of sound from Hillary Clinton, speaking in Pittsburgh yesterday listen. [Hillary Clinton , Presumptive Presidential Nominee:] Donald's words are especially nonsensical because the terrorist who carried out this attack wasn't born in Afghanistan, as Donald Trump said yesterday. He was born in Queens, New York, just like Donald was, himself. So, Muslim bans and immigration reforms would not have stopped him. They would not have saved a single life in Orlando. [Romans:] Remarkable, really, the response yesterday. The president, Hillary Clinton, even Paul Ryan speaking yesterday that a religious test, a religious ban, not appropriate here. [Scott:] Yes, very much so. Voters on both sides of the aisle are really looking for solutions to this issue. I think this incident in Orlando just really deeply affected everyone on various sides of the political spectrum. And everyone, I think, involved at that level knows at the top political level knows that the best way to approach the situation and to find solutions is to address the facts. And so, there's going to be a lot of fact-checking when you have political candidates pushing back on ideas or promoting ideas that actually aren't accurate. And we saw that, not just with Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama, but also with Paul Ryan. [Romans:] Interesting that I want to look at the Bloomberg poll general election Bloomberg poll that just came out, too brand new polling late yesterday. Support for the president and Hillary Clinton, 49 percent. Donald Trump, 37 percent. Gary Johnson that's the Libertarian candidate nine percent. This is from June 10th through the 13th. Give me a sense here about how Donald Trump is trying to retake the top of the polls, at least, here? How he tried to retake momentum with this terror attack in Orlando? I mean, it really plays to his strengths, politically speaking at least. You know, plays to his strengths. He wants to appear strong and decisive about terrorism coming home. [Scott:] Very much so. As much criticism as he has received from both sides of the aisle for this Muslim ban, that's an issue that resonates very well with his base and his supporters. And so it's not a surprise that he's leaned in on that again and was first and eager to jump out addressing this issue, or attributing it to terrorism before all the facts were out. The challenge with that, even though that has worked well for him in the past and that's what his supporters like to hear, that's just not true right now, at least the specific fact regarding that the shooter was an immigrant. We now know that that is not true. And so he's going to have to find a way to stay on message but for it to be factual because if he does not he's going to continually be called out, not just by Hillary Clinton and the president, but by Republican leaders in his party, as well. [Romans:] This is interesting reporting, though, that the shooter talked about the United States bombing "my country". That plays into Donald Trump's worldview here that this person was an American citizen but didn't relate to or wasn't really American. [Scott:] Yes, this is not a new approach by Donald Trump. We've seen for years. I mean, one of the main attacks that he had against President Barack Obama was that he was not American in a traditional sense, or as American as other Americans were. That's going to be deeply problematic moving forward as Hillary Clinton seeks to reach to immigrants. Reach out to people who have a higher view of diversity and embrace American values as a place for other people to come in. [Romans:] All right, Eugene, nice to see you this morning. [Scott:] You, too. [Romans:] Thank you for getting up early for us. Interesting perspective. [Scott:] Thank you. [Romans:] Thanks a lot. All right, horror at Disney World. A toddler dragged into a lagoon by an alligator as his parents are standing right there. "NEW DAY" picks up the story next. [Savidge:] Good morning, nice to see you. I'm Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield. Donald Trump may be courting battle ground voters this weekend, but Trump already may be looking past The White House and on to the possibility of building a media empire. Well, it's an idea that at least some say may be gaining steam. The Atlantic writes, "What if Tuesday, November 8th marks not an end for Donald Trump and associates, but the beginning of phase two in launching an effort of some kind of media juggernaut that challenges Fox News for supremacy on the right across all platforms." And this from an op-ed in the LA Times that is saying, "Trump has therefore recruited Ailes and Bannon to lay the groundwork for his backup plan. A new career as a right wing media personality." This is fascinating stuff. So, let's talk about this with historian and professor at Princeton University and co-author at L.A. Times, Op-Ed, Julian Zelizer, plus CNN Senior Media Correspondent and host of "Reliable Sources" Brian Stelter, and senior political analyst and senior editor at The Atlantic, Ron Brownstein. Julian, let me start with you. How feasible is this? Because it just when I read this, it was like, holy cow. Do you see this as a real end game for Donald Trump? [Julian Zelizer, Historian & Professor, Princeton University:] Well, I'm not sure it's all planned out, but I'm sure it's in the works. This is a response to his bringing on an executive from Breitbart News. It's a response to the fact he comes from the world of the media through his reality show, and he has crafted a campaign that resolves around the media, and he is in a difficult position in terms of the election. And we really do believe that if he loses, this would be a very viable path forward. How he does it, we don't know, a TV station and online presence, but this would be a natural way to continue with the political campaigning that he seems to enjoy. [Savidge:] Ron, are we planting a seed here or when you look at who is currently running the Trump campaign, ex Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, Breitbart News chief, Steve Bannon, does this possibility make more sense? [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Well, it does. I mean, it's a reminder to me how much Trump and Trumpism is a reflection of a civil war and a shift in the balance of power inside the Republican Party. You can go down a long list of issues on which he's reversing decades in some cases of Republican priorities on global engagement, on trade, on entitlements, and I think it is also a reminder his base is the media. There are very few elected officials in the Republican Party who kind of sign on to the full range of Trumpism as it's defined. Its core support, its core institutional support are media institutions in the conservative coalition. And so I think it could be very logical and very ominous for a Mitch McConnell or Paul Ryan if Donald Trump is not elected president. That the fusion with Breitbart would continue and become the institutional voice in the Republican Party for this set of ideas which guarantees conflict with their existing power base. For example, the Chamber of Commerce, how would the Chamber of Commerce react to a Trump Republican Party after this election that is a very open question? [Savidge:] And the reason this sort of struck me with an aha moment was the fact that I've been out on the campaign trail and spoken to a lot of Trump supporters, if he does not win, of course, you've got this huge d dissatisfied audience and these are the people he could immediately appeal to. Brian, you know, if this is indeed Trump's plan, it's one thing to talk about it, but starting a network from the ground up, that's incredibly difficult thing to do. [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] It's getting harder and harder every single year. Cable operators the people deliver CNN in to their home right now. They don't want new channels. They are actually trying to get rid of small channels. It would be hard for Trump to get on cable. It would be hard for him to launch a Netflix style streaming service. Sarah Palin tried that a couple of years ago and it folded within a year. But even the CEO of the company that ran Palin's streaming service said he believes Trump could be incredibly successful doing this, raising $5 or $10 a month from Trump supporters and creating an online channel. It would be difficult, but it is feasible. Both "Vanity Fair" and "The New York Times" have reported that yes, Trump advisors have at least informally looked into the idea of some sort of media investment. I think this all gets to the broader question of what does Trump do if he loses, where does he go? I don't think anybody expects him to just go quietly into the night the way Al Gore or John McCain did after they lost. So what does he do and how does he empower his supporters? [Savidge:] This is another reason why this seems to make some sense. [Brownstein:] I think it's a very interesting point Brian makes because there is no question there is an audience in the Republican coalition for the set of views that Donald Trump has put forward. He's demonstrated there is a big piece of the Republican coalition response to this mix of anti-immigrant, anti-global and really pro entitlement. It's that older white blue collar coalition. There is very little institutional support. There are very few elected officials that will be advocating Trumpism after Trump if he loses. Not only could this be a media play in the sense of making money. I mean, this could be the kind of the corner stone of an effort to continually shift the party in that direction and speak to those voters. It's not clear what other institutions in the Republican Party other than a few hosts on Fox would continue to raise the Trump torch after the election [Stelter:] So you're saying Trump 2020 would start [Zelizer:] Trump comes to this with a lot of expertise in the media. She did not have that. So he knows how this institution works. He is very good at it. Say what you will about the rest of his campaign, he has proven himself to be effective. He would be going into some kind of operation like this with a lot of knowledge and savvy. [Savidge:] Right. I believe, you know, who would fear this most is Paul Ryan and the establishment Republican Party. They're the ones who would have the most difficult time with this. [Stelter:] Just wonder just to be devil's advocate here for one moment. Marty, you and I have great jobs on cable news. Does Donald Trump want to be a television host if he loses the election? It might fell kind of small. I'm throwing it out there. [Savidge:] I suppose he is the head of the network, but it's not like he's the entire voice all the time. I presume he'll hire people who are like minded [Stelter:] Sean Hannity. [Savidge:] and he spreads a message through surrogates. [Brownstein:] To Julian's point real quick, if Donald Trump loses this election, he will have lost this election and kind of the mix of views that he has put forward will have shown to be short of a majority of the country. So think of this from the point of view of the Republican Party after an election potentially in which Trumpism falls way short. You could then have a voice continually pushing the party in that direction after its electoral limits had just been demonstrated. That is a very kind of ominous prospect. But again, one that speaks to portion of their coalition will make it harder together manage that aftermath if in fact Donald Trump loses and this is the way he responds. [Savidge:] You know, Brian, we were talking about the problem of getting on cable. This is actually getting on the internet. On top of this with Breitbart, he's already got a multiplatform bed so to speak. [Stelter:] Yes, that's absolutely true. Certainly if Donald Trump wanted to launch a Facebook live channel today he could do it tonight over at Trump Tower, he'd have millions of viewers on his channel. He wouldn't make a lot of money off of it, but he would have influence from it. It comes down to what does he want? If he does not win the election, does he care more about making a profit or having political power? Does he want to think ahead towards 2020 or 2024? The choices he makes after November 8th if he losses will tell us a lot about what he wants in the years to come. [Zelizer:] Look what he's done with Twitter. He's used Twitter to build a whole campaign around it. So we shouldn't under estimate the way he can see opportunity in parts of the media that are not being fully exploited. [Stelter:] This is all only if he does lose. We'll see. [Savidge:] Right. Right. We'll see. Brian Stelter, thank you very much. Julian Zelizer and Ron Brownstein, great conversation. Talk to you again, thanks. Still ahead, the International Olympic Committee now setting up a disciplinary commission to investigate Ryan Lochte and his three other teammates following that controversy in Rio. What one of the swimmers is now revealing about what happened. It's pretty interesting. Stay here. [Ward:] Welcome back to the program. Well, it was a dance party like no other as Rio said goodbye to the Olympic Games on Sunday, with the Maracana Stadium turning into a street carnival after 16 days of action. It was the games of magic and mayhem, from punch-ups at petrol stations and stripteases protest to Triple Crown champions and smashed world records. But what kind of long-term impact will the games have? Well, joining me now to discuss this is sportswriter David Goldblatt whose new book, "The Games of Global History of the Olympics" traces every aspect of the world's biggest sporting event. David Goldblatt, thank you so much for being with us. I guess to begin with, if you had to say in a nutshell, what distinguished these Rio Olympics from previous games? [David Goldblatt, Sports Writer:] Oh, the sheer scale and complexity of the problems that it tried to deal with. The fact that, you know, Brazil is a democracy and therefore all of its faults were aired incredibly widely. And I think that the Rio Olympics are going to be remembered for the moment when people seriously began to question whether the claims of the Olympic movement and its hosts to leave legacies and be economically beneficial really cannot caught the eyes anymore. [Ward:] And what do you mean by that, exactly? In what sense? [Goldblatt:] Well, let's look at, you know let's take the case of Rio somewhere in the region of $10 billion has been spent? And what does it actually been spent on? An Olympic village that will be turned into a gated community for high-end consumers. You know, a golf course that is a real estate scam for selling condominiums. A new metro that takes rich people from Ipanema to rich people in Barra, while the vast majority of the city who desperately need new public transport in the Zona Norte are getting absolutely nothing. I failed to see what the long-term infrastructural legacy is for the people of Rio as a whole. The contractors, of course, have done fabulously well. [Ward:] So when you do you look at this as a general problem with the Olympics or as something specific to Rio? Is there an issue with the legacy that Games leave behind in developing countries? [Goldblatt:] Absolutely. This is a problem with the Games as a whole. Brazil has given its own particular twist. But, you know, the same kind of problems that we see at Rio, you know, we saw them in Athens. We see them at Beijing. We saw them Sochi was more corrupt. Atlanta scrubbed the city center of the poor more thoroughly. Athens left more white elephants. The problem is not just Brazil, it is the entire model of hosting the Olympic Games. [Ward:] On a lighter note, what did you take away as a high note of the Games? [Goldblatt:] Rafaela Silva, the woman from the judoka, from the favela scoring Brazil's gold medal was a pretty extraordinary moment. [Ward:] And a low note? [Goldblatt:] Oh, the booing by the Brazilian crowd of the poor French pole vaulter, not merely in the competition, but when he got up to take his silver medal. [Ward:] So what do you think going forward, given some of the issues that you've highlighted for us, what do you think needs to change in the Olympic system? Can there be a reform? [Goldblatt:] The composition of the International Olympic Committee needs to change. You know, the people who are actually making the decision clearly have absolutely no conception about how to judge the probacy or quality of Olympic bids. I mean, anyone who would read Rio's bid document and believe that they were going to clear up 85 percent of the city's sewage given their track record beforehand really cannot be taken seriously as a judge of these things. We need to make it cheaper. There need to be less sports. There needs to be, you know, a commitment to really raising the level of sporting participation and host cities demonstrating that they can do that rather than choosing iconic architecture. Perhaps above all, we need to think about hosting the Olympics in more than just one city so that we can spread the pain and the joy. [Ward:] But there are these seminal moments during every Olympic Games. I mean, what was your take away when you look at this Ethiopian runner, for example, sort of holding his hands up in this gesture of defiance as he crossed the finish line? There is a sense that politics and sports, it all kind of overlaps in the Olympics. [Goldblatt:] Of course. I mean, the politics and sports overlap which is why we need to think about this politically in terms of who is actually benefiting from these things and what the trade-off between extraordinary sporting and athletic moments. And I absolutely recognize the value and the place for those, but one has to ask, you know, what do 72,000 people in Rio, who were displaced to make this Games happen think about it? What do the cleaners who are not being paid while doing 15-hour shifts think about it? What do the people who volunteered and didn't get meals think about it? There is a cost to staging these things, and we need to respect the people who host it. The people who are really paying the price and make sure they get a good deal as well. [Ward:] Last question, just quickly. You spent an entire career covering the Olympics. What is so special about the Olympics? [Goldblatt:] Nothing. You know, we live in a fragmented, but globalize world. We have a very rare opportunity to actually look at ourselves as global humanity in all its diversity and complexity. We need those moments. And most extraordinarily, you know, the Olympics does it through a normal linguistic form through sport. Very little else can capture so much of the planet and bring it together. Quite what we show and what we learn about ourselves in the process is another matter. [Ward:] And I would be remiss if I didn't ask you on that note, the Paralympics poised to be something of a disaster this year. Only 12 percent of tickets sold. What's going on there? What's happened? [Goldblatt:] Well, I think you've got a situation where you know, the reason why London 2012 was so fantastically successful in the Paralympics is, you know, you would have 20, 25 years of disability politics and disability Paralympics sport in this country pressing the case, changing attitudes. So that when the Games were held here, you had a very receptive public, a fantastically receptive media, brilliant organizers. And Brazil's disability politics and attitude to disability are in a very different place from where we were in London in 2012. [Ward:] Indeed. David Goldblatt, thank you so much for being on the program with us. [Goldblatt:] Thank you for having me. [Ward:] Well, coming up, we imagine a forest that offers a glimpse into the past of Europe. Poland's primeval woodland is a vision of what the world once was. But is its future under threat? Find out after this. [Whitfield:] All right. Three days after being extradited from Mexico, Tonya Couch, the mother of that affluenza teen, could be looking at 10 years behind bars for helping her son flee the country. Tonya Couch is back in the United States with bail set at $1 million. She faces charges of hindering the apprehension of a felon. Her son, Ethan, was serving probation for the DUI deaths of four people in Texas. Ethan Couch is still in custody in Mexico because his lawyers filed to seek protection and block deportation. The two led U.S. Marshals on a manhunt that ended after authorities traced their cell phones to a resort town in Mexico. I want to bring in my legal guys, Avery Friedman, a civil rights attorney and law professor in Cleveland, and Richard Herman, a New York criminal defense attorney and law professor, back with us from Las Vegas. All right, good to see you guys, again. All right. First to you, Avery, what an incredible case, huh? Tonya Couch selling their $343,000 family home a few months ago. So how would any kind of pre- planning, if there was such a thing, influence how this case moves forward? [Avery Friedman, Civil Rights Attorney:] Well, I think it would make a big, big difference, Fredricka, because she sold the house, by the way, last August. And it seems to me that if there was a plan to take off and head for Puerto Vallarta, they would have done that in August. They did it in December. So I'm not sure that there's a connection, but in any event, they took off, they knew both the mom and Ethan, the kid, knew that there was a hearing before their PO, the probation officer. I'm not sure actually how she hindered in the apprehension because they caught both the kid and the mom in the same way, by monitoring the cell. They found out they ordered a Domino's Pizza. They found out where they were, as soon as they found out, they got Mexican officials and they were both arrested. Mom was sent back. The kid is fighting deportation. I'm not sure why the mom didn't do that. But that's kind of where it is right now. She's heading back to Texas on, as you mentioned, a $1 million bond. [Whitfield:] Right. And so, Richard, it is confusing as to why they both wouldn't, I guess, have made the same kind of legal moves so that neither could be you know, could be taken out of Mexico, but even then, back to that, how is it that he, Ethan, has this kind of protection so that he would not be extradited when Mexico and the United States do have, you know, an extradition agreement? [Richard Herman, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Fred, remember when we were little we played that game time bomb where you wound the thing up and you passed it around in a circle and eventually it goes off? Ethan's mom [Whitfield:] Hot potato. I remember it as hot potato, maybe. OK. But go ahead. [Herman:] It's just a matter of time. He's coming home. The mother has to come home. They can't stay in Mexico. We have treaties with Mexico. He's coming home and here's what he's going to face when he comes home. He's going to face maybe 120 days if this case gets moved to adult court or an expiration of his probation when he hits 19 years old. That's it. As for the mother, she's a first-time offender here. As a reset, the facts may be a little favorable to her. She is not going to get 10 years in prison. I'd be flabbergasted if she got a year in prison. [Whitfield:] Really? [Herman:] I think she's going to get only 12 days. And you know, that's how this case is winding up here. [Whitfield:] As highly publicized this has become and the kind of outrage that has followed, whether it be his, you know, 10 years' probation or whether it be fleeing the country with your mother? [Herman:] Well The judge who gave him the probation, that's where the outrage should be. But if he comes home and the case gets removed to adult court, he's going to get hit with 10 years further probation. [Friedman:] That's not going to happen. [Herman:] So you're going to have this moron ends a kid is going to violate that. And when he does, he'll be subject to 10 years of prison per death. So the story's not over. [Whitfield:] OK. Avery? [Friedman:] Yes, yes. The part I agree with is, he's under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court. I don't know how prosecutors are going to get this to an adult case where he's subject to criminal justice. This is a juvenile case. On April 11th of this year, the probation expires. He's done. So bottom line, this kid, again, has pulled it off. This is a family with obviously little if any values that they've instilled in him, but it doesn't matter. He's responsible for it. I think mom does have some trouble if they can show that if law enforcement can show that they hindered this investigation. But, you know, Fredricka, I think this is going to be a tough one and, you know, if they can establish it, I think she's got big trouble. [Whitfield:] All right. Richard, last word? [Herman:] I don't think so, Fred. I think that the society has looked at this and looked at this spoiled brat kid, who actually was whatever he was drinking or whatever he was doing, he killed four people and he got a slap on the wrist. [Whitfield:] Right. [Herman:] You want to focus anger, you look at the judge who sentenced him to that probation. And they should go back into that scenario and see what influences may have impacted that judge's decision to give this kid probation. [Friedman:] Don't agree. [Whitfield:] All right. All right. Gentlemen, we'll have to leave it there. Hey, have a great, happy new year. Thanks for being with us twice today. What an extra treat. We love that. All right. Richard, Avery [Friedman:] Happy new year. [Whitfield:] Thank you. Bye-bye. All right, next, an unprecedented measles outbreak and antibiotic- resistant superbug. And bad news for bacon lovers. The top stories that affected your health this past year, next. [Burnett:] Right now, Trump supporters protesting in Colorado, angry with the Republican Party after Ted Cruz won all of the state's delegates without voters getting to vote. Trump says the system is rigged. [Trump:] The people didn't know in Colorado that their vote was being taken away from them. And let me tell you have some angry people in Colorado right now. And if you want to know the truth, it's a beautiful thing to watch because they're 100 percent right. [Burnett:] That was earlier today at a rally. The Republican Party in Colorado, here's what happened, they decided last year not to have a presidential primary. They said they wanted to save money instead party insiders selected delegates at a state convention. And as this controversy boils over, Republicans in Wyoming vote tomorrow and Wyoming is strange in its own way. John King is OUTFRONT with tonight's big number. And John, Wyoming, are the rules more clear or it is strange in his own way? [John King, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, let's take a pick, Erin. You see Wyoming is already colored for Ted Cruz because he's already won nine delegates at county conventions tomorrow is the state Republican convention, statewide gathering. Fourteen of the state's 29 delegates to Cleveland will be elected tomorrow at that convention. Now, those delegates may but they are not required to support a candidate. They can run as uncommitted if they want or they can say I'm running to represent Trump. I'm running to vote for Cruz. Ted Cruz will appear at that convention tomorrow, Erin. He's believed to have a big advantage. I just want to say this. We'll see how the results play out tomorrow. This process the state party tells us has been in place since 1974. So, for 42 years, they've been doing it this way. You may not like it. Pretty hard to say it is rigged when it's been on the books for 42 years. [Burnett:] Right. Well, it may have been rigged for a long time again. [King:] It's an interesting definition of glide, Erin. Let's look, Trump can get there. He's the only Republican candidate who can get there before the convention. I wouldn't call it a glide. Here's where we are right now. Donald Trump at 758, Ted Cruz at 538. So, 200-plus delegate advantage here. I want to go through this quickly for you. But let's assume Trump has a big night in New York. Ninety five delegates. Let's say he gets 75 or more. Let's say, the rest of the voting in the mid-Atlantic in the Northeast, let's say Trump has a very big April. Right? Wins 75 percent of those delegates. That starts to stretch him out. Now it's projected, if Trump is running strong, meaning in New Jersey, he gets them all, in West Virginia, he gets all or most of them all. He moved out here. Cruz gets some in the West, but Trump wins some more in here as well. Then we get to the last one in California, with Trump running strong in April through May and then to the big one in June, if he gets 70 percent in California, Erin, he would be at about 1211, 1211. I gave Ted Cruz Indiana in this scenario. Let's switch in and give Donald Trump Indiana if he could pull that up and have a very strong April, May into June. Here's Trump at 1222. That's when you'll think, wow! Why didn't I get some of those Colorado delegates? Wow! Why didn't I make the trip out to Wyoming if he gets here? This is at his very strong. But very hard to deny Donald Trump if he gets to Cleveland with 1222 or somewhere in that ballpark, Erin. Let me show you a weaker scenario. If Trump is still winning all these states but not getting 75, 80 percent of the delegates, he starts to fall back a little bit. And in this scenario, let's say Ted Cruz could somehow pull of California at the end with Trump getting some of the delegates. Then Trump is back 1100, 1115. At this point, the Never Trump Movement thinks they can stop him. In this scenario, here's what's interesting. A lot of people think it's going to go something like this. A little bit of a weaker Trump in April, May, and June, but he still wins California about 55 percent or 60 percent, and it's somewhere about 100 short. 1131, you need, 1237, this is when it gets really interesting, Erin, because they would have to negotiate with all of those uncommitted non-pledged delegates. Could they get 100 of them? That would be a dicey proposition. Not impossible but not a lot tougher than if he ends up pretty close to 1200. [Burnett:] All right. Thank you very much, John King. That's going to be one exciting ride. [King:] Fun. [Burnett:] Well, yes, fun. Sean Spicer, chief strategist and communications director for the Republican National Committee. Some might say fun. Sean, to you probably maybe not, the appropriate word to use. Donald Trump though saying, he is going to glide to the nomination. Possible? [Sean Spicer, Chief Strategist, Republican National Committee:] Yes. Sure. I think John did a good job of laying out the numbers in the states coming. And it is possible sure, but it is also possible that Senator Cruz does well or that Governor Kasich picks up some more. But that's why we go through the process. I think what's really interesting. You know, when you look at this year compared to at least the last few cycles, more and more voters are having an opportunity to participate in this process than ever before. States that have never been important in this primary process are extremely important. We're talking now about states like California and New Jersey on June 7th. Those are states that normally haven't mattered. In 2008, John McCain was a presumptive nominee in March. My state of Virginia, we didn't get an opportunity to have a really robust discussion because, you know, Senator McCain already clinched the nomination. Governor Romney had clinched it in April. And that cut out a lot of states. So, frankly, overall I think this is a very positive process that's involving more states, involving more voters. I think that's a positive thing for the party in that net. [Burnett:] That is the best spin I have heard yet on turning all of this into something positive, that more people get to have a say and care. And there is something to that. Sean, Donald Trump though is very angry. And as you know, he is taking this to the campaign trail, even tonight in Hartford. And here he is late today talking about your party. [Trump:] We have a rigged system. The Republican system is rigged. [Burnett:] He has called out the chairman of the RNC by name as you know, Sean. The chairman has responded. Are you worried that the RNC, which is supposed to be neutral, is starting to look anti-Trump? [Spicer:] Not at all. And I think, you know, whether, the guest you had earlier, I think most people have been involved in the process and in the system understand that each of these states writes their own rules. Talks about the process for the allocations selection of delegates. As John King noted earlier, Wyoming which will have its major contest tomorrow has had its system in place since the 1970s. Look, I don't think it is a surprise that the people who belong to the Republican Party write the party rules in each of these states. That's like saying that the people in the Kiwanis Club shockingly write the rules of the Kiwanis Club or the people in the neighborhood belong to an HOA, write the rules of that HOA. I'm not really sure what all of the concern is, but I know that it's difficult that there are 50 states and six territories and the District of Columbia. I know it's not easy and sometimes it's complicated to understand. But that's why, you know, campaigns take this so seriously. And so it's part of the process. It has been part of the process for a century. It will continue to be part of the process. And frankly, the Republican Party is more Democratic than the Democratic Party because we don't have the so-called unelected party boss superdelegates that aren't accountable to anybody. [Burnett:] Being more Democratic than a party that isn't Democratic may not be the best argument out there. And I only say that, I know it sounds being facetious. But as you point out Sean, the rules are different in every single state. They are complicated. They change without people, general, regular voters being aware of it. To most Americans just hearing, look, the rules are the rules, it doesn't seem right, right? It's a democracy. Every vote is supposed to count equally. Do you need to do more to justify the system to regular voters? [Spicer:] Well, first of all, we're, you know, we're conservatives. We're Republicans. We believe in states' rights. The last thing that we should as conservatives and Republicans want is a one-size fits all Washington approach to how we vote. A caucus seems like a really good idea in Iowa. A primary seems like a good idea in Wisconsin where the chairman is from. It should be up to the states and territories to decide for the grassroots members of that party, in that state or territory, the District of Columbia to decide how they want to select their nominees. I think that's the beauty of what we as Republicans and conservatives support is we believe that states and territories should make those decisions at the grassroots level, not in Washington. So, I think we should be proud of it. Now, to your point, I think we at the RNC have not seen an open convention or the possibility of a real open convention in 40-plus years. It's incumbent upon us to really get out there and explain those rules, explain where they are. And I think we have continued to do that. We're going to do more of that to brief people, to put things out. We started a website, ConventionFacts.GOP that starts to explain the system. I put a memo out today, it's on my Twitter fed [Burnett:] Right. I saw it. [Spicer:] at that GOP where we talk about, how, what's coming up. And so, I do think that from a process standpoint we need to do a better job of explaining it. But I think we should be very proud of the fact that all of these states and territories, it's the grassroots members of the party in each of these places that gets an opportunity to write their rules every four years, put them out there for all to see, and let the campaigns have at it. [Burnett:] OK. All right. And they are doing that. Thank you, Sean. I appreciate it. Good to talk to you. And next, breaking news, here it is. Bernie Sanders' tax returns. We're going to share it with you next including something that is standing out. It's rather interesting. And why are Democrats booing their own candidates? [Clinton:] You know, let me tell you why. You may not like the answer, but I'll tell you why. [Burnett:] And moments ago, Bill Clinton just saying Bernie Sanders' supporters would shoot every third person on Wall Street. Yes, he just said that. We'll be right back. [King:] Welcome back to Inside Politics. Pictures here, the president of the United States getting aboard Air Force One at Joint Base Andrews just outside of Washington, D.C. He is on his way to Wisconsin, one of the big blue states he turned red last November that propelled Donald Trump to the presidency. Mr. Trump returning this afternoon to blue-collar Kenosha to say thank you and to sign an executive order aimed at delivering on his "Buy American, Hire American" campaign promise. All on track is the case you'll hear from the president later this afternoon. But a little more than a week from the 100-day mark, President again turning to an executive action there in Wisconsin because not one major Trump initiative has passed the Congress. ObamaCare repeal failed miserably. Tax reform and infrastructure still on the drawing board. And like climate change, subject to big internal administration fights. Even a down payment on the promised border wall is in doubt as Congress scrambles when it returns next week to pass a spending bill to keep the government running. That lack of legislative process beginning to take an early toll on the president's already tenuous political standing. Look at this, just 45 percent of Americans now view this president as a man keeping his promises. That's a giant 17- point drop from two months ago. With me today to share their reporting and their insights, Nia-Malika Henderson of CNN, Dan Balz of the Washington Post, John Yang of the PBS NewsHour, and the Washington Post's Ashley Parker. What do we make of this? The president getting out of the road. It's an important [inaudible], 12 days from a 100 days. More executive actions though Dan. He cannot say we repealed and replaced ObamaCare. He cannot say we passed the Trump infrastructure plan. If you look back at the Obama presidency, the George W. Bush presidency, the Bill Clinton presidency, all had at least one marked key legislative achievement in the first 100 days. This president it looks like unless he pulls a rabbit out of a hat will have none. [Dan Balz, The Washington Post:] Yes and it's you know, it's the most significant failure of the first 100 days that he has to recognize. I mean, through the executive actions, and they are limited in what they can do and they take time as he's found out with the border with the travel ban, you can point a direction. And he's clearly tried to do that. He's done on foreign policy in the last few weeks. He's done it on others. But in terms of a big legislative agenda, he has been, he has been he's come up short on that. And he's going to have to reckon with how he turns that around in the second 100 days. [King:] And how does he deal with the challenge that any president has to deal with. You're trying to balance your agenda, deal with different challenges. He won Wisconsin, he won Michigan and he won Pennsylvania in part because he promised he was going to be tough on trade. It was China he reeled on it all of those states including in Wisconsin where he will be today. But now the president says, listen, China is helping me with North Korea. This is no time to start a trade war. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] I didn't soften my stance. Look, China came to the United States, the president who is I really developed a very good relationship with. I think he's a terrific person. He understands it's a big problem. He's working on it. Now, what am I going to do? Start a trade war with China in the middle of him working on a bigger problem frankly with North Korea? And so I'm dealing with China with great respect. [King:] Will the blue-collar voters who made him president, who maybe had traditionally voted Democratic who decided to vote Republican, will they give him that grace? [Inaudible] OK, he's got a big real problem so I have to wait. [Ashley Parker, The Washington Post:] It's an interesting question. You saw in that interview, you also saw him in a tweet say much the same thing. You know, on the one hand he's being very honest sort of openly admitting he was using currency manipulation in China, on trade policy as a bargaining chip with North Korea. On the other hand, I think it fixes some of the authenticity and honesty that voters appreciate in the sense that they're willing to let him make a deal. On the other hand, I think he does need to keep his promises and especially on an issue like trade. This is a promise that involves other countries, but has felt acutely at home in people's pockets. And at the end of the day that is always what people end up voting on. Whether they turn on him or a bit if he doesn't deliver, I think that's a risk. [John Yang, Pbs Newshour:] And you see that partly today, what they're doing today with the executive order, trying to turn to things the blue-collar workers would appeal to blue-collar workers. But if you scratch the surface of this executive order and a lot of others, there's not much there, there. Today's executive order on buy American is something that could be accomplished with a phone call to the commerce secretary. But they've chosen this sort of symbolic action of signing an executive order because it looks like something's happening. It looks like action is being taken. [King:] And it's essentially another study. Look around the government, find out why agencies sometimes use loopholes to buy other products. Report back to the commerce secretary as you know. That's again that's how government works sometimes, but it is not what Donald Trump the candidate promised when he said I'm going to go to Washington and I'm going to change it. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes. I mean, it's not during the swamp, it's not big and bold. It's not immediate action in the way that Bannon talked about as well, that they would come to town immediately and shake things up. I think it's very much a surprise. I mean, if you look at sort of the after hours of that election where Hillary Clinton loses, huge upset, there was so much thinking in terms of what this Trump administration would do. He would have the Congress, both Houses, and you thought I think we all thought there would be sort of immediate things that happened and some successes. But you look at what congress how it's made up, only 52 edge for Republicans in the Senate and sort of a feuding fractions of the Republican Party in the House. It's not going to get any easier. I think in some ways he is obviously talking to his base. They do see these actions and sort of motions, but not a lot of movement on this. [King:] And if you look historically, we could show you some few numbers of presidential approval rating at this point in their first 100 days. Donald Trump at 39 percent approval rating right now. Just look at the chart whether you're looking at Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, all of them significantly higher than this president. And one of the interesting things is will they do ObamaCare repeal when they come back from congressional recess? Republican [inaudible] consensus there. What about tax reform? What about infrastructure? We'll try to link those two. The Democrats think this president is weak. Right now, listen to Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader on this issue of China. He knows the president is in trouble. He wants to keep him in trouble. [Sen. Chuck Schumer , Minority Leader:] The president makes a promise, signs an empty executive order that won't help the life of a single American worker. Smiles at the cameras and goes right back to helping out the special interests and leaving America's workers out to dry. [King:] He is weak at the moment, close to the 100-day mark. But I keep remembering the campaign when candidate Trump was counted out, when candidate Trump was low in the polls, when people said candidate Trump can't do this. Is there a formula or are they working on a formula, do they have a plan to, OK, it took us a while to get used to Washington to figure out how this town works but now we're going to do "x"? [Parker:] Well, one that it's interesting, there's been sort of a question in Washington and even among some of his allies as, you know, why is he doing this. For instance, rally in Wisconsin instead of doing rallies where he either went out and tried really hard to sell health care for instance or tax reform or infrastructure or whatever it is he turns to. I think part of the plan that goes a little unnoticed that there is sort of a cosmic emotional play for Donald Trump which is that he is better when he is going out into the country, doing this campaign style rallies and getting that adulation from his base. So this may not make a ton of sentence from a strategic standpoint. I think they feel like if the president is in a good mood it can often help them get other things done. [King:] The staff is keeping [inaudible]. It's an interesting to note. They it's an interesting point. Feeling good doesn't necessarily get things done. Now, we'll see as this plays out. The president will have those events [inaudible] for you right here this afternoon if he goes to [inaudible]. Up next, it's a congressional seat last held by Trump cabinet member Tom Price. Before that, held by Newt Gingrich. Can a Democrat really win a big special election right now, today in Georgia? [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] We have new video of the intense firefight from the ISIS attack that killed U.S. Navy SEAL Charles Keating IV. This footage was obtained exclusively by "The Guardian". And it was taken by Kurdish forces as ISIS fighters tried to storm an Iraqi town. It is not clear whether Keating died before or after this video was shot. We do know the decorated combat veteran was part of an elite force sent in to rescue U.S. military advisors who were with the Kurds when the attack begun. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] North Carolina's governor not backing down over his state's transgender bathroom law. The Justice Department says forcing transgender people to use the bathroom that matches their birth certificate is discrimination. The federal government is giving the state until Monday to back off, threatening to sue in full federal school aid. Governor Pat McCrory calls that Washington overreach. [Camerota:] Now to new revelation in the death of the Prince. We're learning details about the frantic effort to get Prince help in the hours leading up to his death. CNN's Stephanie Elam is live outside of Prince's Paisley Park Estate, outside of Minneapolis with more. Tell us what you're learning, Stephanie. [Stephanie Elam, Cnn Correspondent:] Alisyn, it's a case of chance to help Prince too late. One lawyer that we talked to saying that this was an intervention being waged by people in Prince's camp and that Prince was aware of it. [Elam:] The night before he died, Prince's representatives making a desperate call to Dr. Howard Kornfeld who specializes in treating people who are addicted to pain medication. [William Mauzy, Attorney For Andrew And Dr. Howard Kornfeld:] He set into a motion a plan to deal with what he felt was a life-saving mission. That mission was to get Prince to a doctor in Minnesota on Thursday morning. [Elam:] Unable to travel from California immediately, Kornfeld sent his son Andrew who works at his father's treatment facility on an overnight flight to Minneapolis. Andrew arrived at the Paisley Park estate Thursday morning with two of Prince's associates, anxiously searching for the singer, but discovering him unresponsive. [Mauzy:] One of the staff members started screaming. Andrew heard the screams and went to the elevator where he saw that Prince was unconscious. 911 [Dispatcher:] Rescue units for a medical at Paisley Park. Person down not breathing. [Elam:] Andrew Kornfeld now identified as the 911 caller telling the dispatcher, quote, "The person is dead here and people are just distraught." This as a former lawyer for two of Prince's dead siblings says they revealed he battled an addiction to Percocet decades before his sudden. He says half brother Duane Nelson told him he used to get the drug for Prince to help him calm down after shows, adamant he was not just a recreational user. [Unidentified Male:] He mentioned it to me in the context of how stressful it was for him having to fulfill that need and how hard it was for him. [Elam:] Now, CNN could not independently confirm the lawyer's accounts here from these two half siblings since they have both already passed away, but he did say that the other sibling, Lorna Nelson, also said that Prince abused, but she never was involved in getting the drugs for him, John. [Berman:] So interesting. All right. Stephanie Elam, thanks so much. We're going to talk much more about the struggle that Prince had with painkillers ahead. Such an interesting discussion. But, first, Donald Trump he is in the middle of a search for a running mate right now. Wasting no time as presumptive nominee, he has a short list. He says he's looking for something very specific. We'll tell you what that is, next. [Costello:] Bill Cosby returns to court today. His lawyers could ask a judge to throw out two key pieces of evidence in his sexual assault case. Cosby is now charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. His accuser, Andrea Constand says Cosby drugged and then sexually assaulted her in 2004. CNN Correspondent, Jean Casarez live in Norristown, Pennsylvania with more. Good morning. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Well the satellite trucks are lined up and that's because Bill Cosby is going to be here. He usually comes about 30 minutes before the hearing begins. It begins at 1:00 today but he will be present inside that courtroom. And I think what we're all waiting for is a trial date going to be set? Because this is the criminal case. This is the case that we heard can seat will be before a jury. That can, if convicted, can land Bill Cosby in prison. So will that date be set for when that trial begins? They're now looking at what will and will not come into the trial. Which Bill Cosby has filed two motions now, two pieces of evidence, as you said, they want to be kept out. First of all, remember in 2004 Andrea Constand, the accuser in this case, she was an employee at Temple University. She got to know Bill Cosby. She said that he was her mentor. She also alleges that he sexually assaulted her in his home in 2004. There were not criminal charges brought in 2005 but she did tell her mother at that point, one year later. Her mother, from Canada, got on the phone to Bill Cosby and said, "what did you do with my daughter?" There were a number of phone calls, but the last one, her mother recorded. There is still that audio tape to this day. We've seen a transcript of it and it's where Bill Cosby says, I'd like to pay for her education, I'd like to meet you both for a meeting, and in regard to that pill you're talking about, I'll let you know later what it's all about. [Costello:] All right, Jean Casarez reporting live for us this morning, thank you so much. And thank you for joining me today, I'm Carol Costello. AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan after a break. [Howell:] Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM. It is good to have you with us. I'm George Howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. On to North Korea now. A U.S. think tank says satellite images suggest that nation may be preparing for another nuclear test. The report comes as the leader there, Kim Jong-un, leads a rare ruling Workers Party Congress in Pyongyang. CNN's Will Ripley has more on this important political gathering being closely monitored by people around the world. [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Right now we're walking through Pyongyang towards the April 25th House of Culture. This is the venue for the 7th Workers Party Congress. It was also the venue for the previous congress back in 1980. We saw a massive caravan of coaches that we believe are carrying the 3,000 members of North Korea's ruling elite, the Worker's Party who are here, to unanimously show their support for the Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un. I say unanimously, because here in North Korea, there is no political dissent. It's just not an option. She says, "we all say the Koreans are so fortunate to have such great leaders starting from the late president right up to the martial Kim Jong-un." This is as close as we're allowed to get. More than 100 news organizations invited here. And we can't go inside the congress. It speaks to the fact that the North Korean political system is quite nebulous, it is not transparent to say the least. And they say this event here is to rally support and help him push forward his plan for North Korea, which is a two-pronged approach of developing the country's nuclear program while also growing the North Korean economy. Now, there are some observers on the outside who say you can't have your cake and eat it, too. You can't have a strong economy and also continue to develop nuclear weapons. But Kim Jong-un's government is intent on proving them wrong. And it's part of the reason why you see so much international press here. One thing I've noticed in two years of coming here is how much activity there is. Cars in the streets, people are more well dressed. It seems as if the economy is growing, but you wonder how long it can last given these heightened sanctions and their trickle-down effect in the coming months. Are you worried how the sanctions are going to affect your life? He says, "We've been under heavy sanctions since the end of the Korean War in the '50s. We're not afraid of stronger sanctions because we're used to them and we've survived." Now as we monitor this once in a generation meeting of the Workers Party Congress, we wonder what the supreme leader is going to announce. Will there be a major shift in economic policy? Will there be a fifth nuclear test or news of improvements to the North Korea nuclear arsenal? Many around the world oppose the rise of Kim Jong-un, but here in Pyongyang, you won't hear a single person speak badly about their supreme leader and why would they speak badly about him when he holds absolute power in this country, power that inside this building is only expected to increase perhaps dramatically in the coming days Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang, North Korea. [Howell:] Now in Turkey, a prominent journalist there survived the courthouse assassination just hours before he and a colleague were sentenced to at least five years in prison. You're watching here video of the gunman being apprehended. The journalists were charged after publishing images purporting showing government agents taking arms to Syria. The target of the assassination later spoke about his ordeal and blamed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. [Unidentified Male:] Today we know that the reason for the threats we have been receiving for weeks and the bullets fired from that gun today are due to the fact that we have been shown as targets by the highest office in the state, the presidency. And inevitably we say this, the concern that the instructions given by the highest office of the state has played a role in this ruling will forever remain. [Howell:] Now the case has drawn fire from rights groups and raised fears about freedom of the press inside Turkey. The two journalists are free pending appeal. France and the United Kingdom are condemning Thursday's deadly airstrike on a refugee camp in Northern Syria. The French foreign ministry is calling for an impartial and independent investigation. More than 2 dozen people were killed when warplanes bombed the camp near Syria's border with Turkey. CNN's Jomana Karadsheh reports many of the victims, they were women and children. [Jomana Karadsheh, Cnn Correspondent:] They've escaped those homes but in Syria there's no escaping the violence. The anguished screams of women and children in this makeshift camp in Idlib province near the Turkish border bombed on Thursday. The United Nations says the attack could be a war crime. No one knows who did it or why. Reports say it was unidentified jets that dropped the bombs that claimed the lives of dozens of refugees, many of them women and children. But for these Syrians, trying to pick up what's left of their devastated lives in this camp, they blame the regime and its allies. [Unidentified Male:] They are all killers. Bashar al- Assad, Iran and Russia, all are killers. See here? There are no young men here. All are women and children. There is not a single one over 12 years old. They are all killers. This is Hassan the Satan, not Hassan Nasrallah. [Karadsheh:] Syria has denied targeting the camp. On that same day, about 250 kilometers away, it was a surreal scene, a different reality. The Russian orchestra performing in the ancient Roman city of Palmyra, touting the Russian and Syrian victory there recently after pushing ISIS out. The U.S. said there was no justifiable excuse for the attack on the camp in Idlib, which came a week after the bombing of a field hospital in Aleppo that killed 50 people. That attack, an escalating bloodshed in Syria's second largest city, shifted the world's focus back to the conflict; world powers rushed to try and salvage the crumbling cessation of hostilities agreement. An American- and Russian-brokered 48-hour truce between regime and opposition forces in Aleppo went into effect on Thursday. With ISIS and other extremist groups not part of any negotiations, it was during that cease-fire that Al Qaeda's affiliate, Jabhat al-Nusra, grabbed several towns and villages south of Aleppo from the regime. Dozens of militants and regime forces killed in the fight. For the civilians in Syria, with shaky cease-fires in this complex and grinding war, nowhere is safe Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Amman. [Howell:] As Jomana mentioned, the U.N. says the attack on the refugee camp may constitute a war crime if, indeed, it's found to have been done deliberately. The secretary-general's office is also warning those responsible will not evade justice. [U.n. Secretary-general Spokesman:] The secretary-general reiterates his call on the Security Council to send a strong message to all warring parties that there will be serious consequences for grave violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. Those responsible for yesterday's seemingly calculated attack against civilians in the camp in Idlib, which could constitute a war crime, must be held accountable. [Howell:] Moving on to Rome now, Pope Francis campaigned for migrants while calling out Europe over the crisis. He urged E.U. nations to tear down walls while accepting a prize from the union for his efforts on unity. As our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, reports, the pope borrowed from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to make his point. [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] Some tough words from Pope Francis to European leaders who have come here today to give him an award for his efforts at peace and solidarity amongst European countries. At a time when the European Union is facing challenges to its unity and questioning its values, for example, on immigration, Pope Francis challenged leaders, saying, "What has happened to you, the Europe of humanism, the champion of human rights, of democracy and freedom?" And he took to task those countries which he said were considering putting up fences here and there. Let's take a listen to some of what the pope had to say. [Pope Francis:] The present situation does not permit anyone to stand by and watch other people's struggles. On the contrary, it is a forceful summons to personal and social responsibility. In this sense, our young people have a critical role. They are not the future of our people; they are the present. [Gallagher:] And taking a page from Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous "I have a dream" speech, Pope Francis said he dreams of a Europe, a Europe in which young people can breathe the pure air, he said, of honesty, can have stable employment and families. "I dream of a Europe," Pope Francis said, "in which being a migrant is not a crime" Delia Gallagher, CNN, Rome. [Howell:] This is CNN NEWSROOM. Still ahead, President Obama calls for greater scrutiny of Donald Trump's record. What the U.S. president said about the Republican presumptive nominee next. Plus: wait until you hear from some civic-minded young people who can't vote yet but demand that their voices be heard. Stay with us. [Andrew Stevens:] We have breaking news from Germany. Germany investigators believe the Tunisian suspect police are now searching for in relation to the Berlin terror attack was linked to a pro-ISIS network operating in Germany. Well, the ringleader of an ISIS recruitment network was arrested back in November, police say they taught Arabic and radical Islamic beliefs to those willing to go to Syria. Now, police are in a race against time on a hunt for a Tunisian national who is believed to be connected to Monday's attack. The man is in his early 20s. They found his papers inside the cabin of this truck, one that was used as a lethal weapon plowing through a crowd Christmas market killing a dozen people and injuring almost 50 others. Well, authorities are warning that he may be armed and dangerous. The truck is thought to have been hijacked on its way from Poland, its driver found dead in the passenger seat. Well, CNN's Hala Gorani tells us where the investigation stands right now. [Hala Gorani, Cnn Correspondent:] An urgent manhunt under way across Germany. Police warning that the driver who carried out Monday's deadly attack may be armed and dangerous, and cautioning that there could be more than one perpetrator at large. The desperate search intensifying after German authorities acknowledged Tuesday that they initially detained the wrong man, releasing the man who they picked up after forensic evidence failed to connect him to the scene. This as ISIS claims they inspired the attack, calling the driver their soldier, although investigators have yet to uncover any specific links to terrorist group. [John Kirby, Spokesman, U.s. State Department:] We don't have enough information right now to back up the claims by ISIS that they inspired or directed or in any way involved in this. We think it's prudent for the Germans to treat this as a plausible terrorist attack. [Gorani:] The day of the attack the Polish driver of the black semi- truck was on a planned run from Italy to Germany, delivering steel before losing contact with his employer. Authorities believe that the truck was hijacked about four hours before plowing into the Christmas market. The driver's body, shot at close range, found in the passenger seat. [Unidentified Female:] People go here to have a good evening. To have they drink wine and eat eat something and stay here and with friends or family. And then they are dead. [Gorani:] Thousands of mourners, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, filing into the famous Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church Tuesday to pay respect to the victims. Merkel's re-election bid complicated by the assault as she faces growing concerns over her government's generous acceptance of nearly 900,000 asylum seekers over the past year. Despite the fact that initial reports about the driver being a refugee were wrong, far-right leaders in Europe are already casting blame on the German chancellor for the attack. [Stevens:] That was that Hala Gorani reporting. We'll be speaking live with Hala in Berlin in just a few minutes. Just a few minutes ago, I spoke with CNN Terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank and asked him why German officials are sure this time that the suspect they're looking for is, in fact, the right person. [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] They're moving heaven and earth right now to try and take him into custody, to locate him, to stop him from carrying out more attacks. We have seen this before as well, Andrew. Remember the Charlie Hebdo atttack back in January 2015, one of the attackers, Said Kouachi, also left his ID papers behind in his get away car. In that case, well, it turned out to be actually the real attacker in that case. And of course we are hearing that there was a struggle inside of the cab of the truck between the perpetrator and the truck driver. And it could have been during that struggle that these identity papers fell out. Presumably if you're going to go on the run and try and invade security services, the last thing you want to do is leave your identity papers behind. If he wanted to go that route, he could have gone a whole nine yards and left a long note to explain exactly why he did this. So, they're treating this as if it's the real deal. Of course just yesterday they released somebody that for many hours they've thought was the actual perpetrator. So, they could be very cautious in this investigation, very cautious in what they tell us in terms of definitive conclusions. But, yes, they are really interested in finding this individual very, very quickly. They believe this is a matter of saving lives at this point. [Stevens:] Paul Cruickshank there, CNN's terrorism analyst. Well, let's go now live to Hala Gorani. She joins us from Berlin. Hala, the place not saying much officially at this stage, but we have been able to speak to contacts within the security forces tehre. What are they telling us about this the new information about the driver, the person they think may be linked to this attack? [Gorani:] Right. Well, they're saying they believe he is connected, this suspect, to this wider network. And this is extremely significant, because it means that even though they arrested, detained and charged with terrorism offensive the leader of the network that facilitated, for instance, the transfer of fighters to ISIS controlled territory in the Middle East, that means this particular individual, if he's, indeed, connected to the attack, slipped through the net and this is something that is very dangerous for this country, because it means that an armed and dangerous man with ISIS connections and sympathies is on the loose, it's as simple as that. So, they are really racing against the clock. They've identified him as a Tunisian national, born in 1992, so a young man, 24, 25 years old. Have they were they aware of his existence before but did nothing to stop him? I mean, this could be also an embarrassment for police. So, we're waiting for more information about whether or not they had information on this particular individual, if they were ware of the existence, if they knew, for instance, that he had ISIS sympathies, and then several months later it emerges that he's connected to this attack. These are are all open questions. But this, once again, highlights the danger of some of these Islamist ISIS networks that are operating in Europe, that because ISIS itself as a group, even though that it's weakening a bit in the Middle East, is still very much a pull for some of these fighters, is able to inspire and in some ways operationally assist in the carrying out of these terrorists attacks, such as the one authorities say they believe took place on Monday, Andrew. [Stevens:] And this particular network the Tunisian is being linked to, that was police raided them and actually arrested several members of it, right? [Gorani:] Yeah, they did. [Stevens:] They did, an Iraqi national, in particular, nicknamed Abu Wallad, a 32-year-old man who is makes no secret of the fact that he supports ISIS. He's been charged with terrorism offenses. There have been others, the Turkish national, people with duel nationality as well, just a collection of individuals, who authorities say are, or were, I should say, very active in promoting ISIS ideology, but also helping people travel back and forth between ISIS-controlled territory and Europe and very, very much intent on helping this terrorist group organize and carry out the attacks in this country. So, it does tell you something interesting, which is if you do detain and neutralize the leader of the network, that you have others sympathetic to the cause who maybe very closely or perhaps even more loosely connected to the group who are able to carry out these attacks. And that has to be very scary in Germany, but in other parts of Europe, Andrew, because as you know, attack happened in France, they happened in Brussels, now we're seeing one in Germany. These are countries that are all connected, it's easy to travel from one country to the another. And so what is a wonderful thing for some people, which is that this, you know, continent is open and free and a lot of people love that, well, there's that one negative aspect to it, which is it's also easy for people with very bad intentions to connect with each other. And in this particular instance, it could be the case. Although it seems as though this network, this sort of inter-regional, rather than European, you know, it still is possible for some of these fighters and individuals to travel more freely from Europe to the Middle East. So, there you have it,these are all open questions and we're waiting for more information from the police, but we hope to get that so that we're clearer on exactly who this individual is. And to your point, something like 800 Germans have traveled to the Middle East to fight for ISIS. And it's understood some probably a third of them have been able to return to Germany, so they are in Germany at the moment. Hala, I want to ask you about what has been happening today in Berlin. What developments have been going on? [Gorani:] Well, this happened on Monday, today is Wednesday. Obviously, we're seeing some skips by appear, so it appears as though they're starting to clean up that area where the truck rammed into the market stalls and killed all these people, 12 people, including the person in the cab of this truck. So, there is an effort at cleanup, but it's still very much a somber and solemn mood. There's still these memorials and candles and flowers and people are, you know, still very sad and in a state of shock and greed. I think, though, at this point they really just want information about where the person responsible for this is or the people responsible for this are, because they really want to be able to wrap this up. It's a very tense and scary time for this country knowing that you have someone out there on the loose who might still want tod o some damage. And it is a question, as Paul Cruickshank said, of saving lives at this point. [Stevens:] And someone now we think linked to ISIS in Germany. Hala Gorani in Berlin, thank you very much. We will be checking with Hala regularly and our other correspondents and experts as this story continues. We will be following it minute by minute. I want to move on right now, though, to another big story in Mexico. Investigators there looking for answer after a massive explosion ripped through a fireworks market on Tuesday, at least 29 people lost their lives in this conflagration. You're looking at there. Dozens more were wounded, many of them severely burned. Our Sara Sidner has more. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Mexican authorities still searching for what exactly set off this massive fireworks explosion that left dozens dead and even more injured. A horrifying sight in the town of Tultepec. Shooting flares ripping through the stadium-sized market place about 25 miles north of Mexico City. This towering gray cloud seen for miles. Images from above capture the chaos, showing emergency vehicles arriving on the scene, people running for their lives. Many of the injured escaping with severe burns, including three children. [Unidentified Female:] To tell you the truth, I do not know how I ran out of here. Everything was so horrible. [Sidner:] After battling the blaze for hours, firefighters on the ground confirming the fires are now contained. But the devastation left behind is staggering. Vehicles and metal charred. The marketplace bustling with holiday shoppers now reduced to rubble and ash. And this isn't the first time this pyrotechnics market has been rocked by fire. This latest catastrophe marking the third time fires ravaged this location in the last decade. [Stevens:] Sara Sidner reporting there. And just to remind you we are following fast moving developments this hour in the hunt for a a Tunisian terror suspect in Berlin. Police are following every lead. The man they're looking for is now believed to ahve been, or to have linked the man is now believed to have been or linked to an ISIS recruitment network that is operating within Germany. The police found his papers inside the cabin of a truck that was used to plow through a crowd of shoppers on Monday evening. In all, 12 people lost their lives, about 50 were injured. The man is in the early 20s. Police say that he could be armed and dangerous. You're watching News Stream, still ahead we'll be live in Berlin again for the latest on that terror investigation. Plus, enveloped in small parts of China and choking on a pollution cloud. We have got the latest from our weather center. [Harlow:] Welcome back. I'm Poppy Harlow, live in Paris. Our continuing coverage of the aftermath of the tragedy of the terror attack that rattled this city last. Staff and students at Cal State Long Beach University in the United States right now mourning the loss of one of their own. 23-year-old Nohemi Gonzalez was killed in these attacks last night. She was out having dinner with her other friends who are studying abroad here, like so many do a Friday night. ISIS claims to have carried out the coordinated six attacks. Nohemi was a junior at University. She was in Paris for a semester abroad. She was studying design. CNN's Paul Vercammen joins me now with more from Long Beach. We just heard, Paul, the president, [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, they describe her on this campus as buoyant and jovial and really a superstar in design. The mood on the campus right now, Poppy, tragic, sad, heartbreaking, just some of the words they used. And then they began to describe Nohemi. And as a design student, she was actually a senior, they corrected that. Apparently extremely gifted one of her professors just telling me off-camera seconds ago, so talented that everybody in the department knew her. And not only was she gifted but she was sharing. She was a mentor. He talked about how close-knit this family is and how they worked long, long hours and how Nohemi was a positive influence on everyone and excited about going off to Paris. Another member of the faculty telling me that from what he understands, they had gone out for a night on the town, so to speak, going to dine out, fresco on the cafes, long beach state people with them and they had simply sat down with the unimaginable happened. They heard gunfire. And, Poppy, let me give you just more of a characterization of just how dynamic of a student that Nohemi was. She engaged in this global competition put on by Biomimickry. She and three of her colleagues and we might have a photo of this for you, there were some 70 entries from 22 countries around the world and Nohemi's group finished second in the competition. And we get some indications to the kind of person she was. Clearly involved in sustainable agriculture, healthy foods and more. What she designed, according to the competition, was called poly- snack. And it was basically a biodegradable bag that contained fruits and nuts and after you ate it, you were able to go ahead and plant something and that was a very complex project, one she was rewarded for internationally, Poppy. [Harlow:] You know, Paul, you hear the numbers, 129 dead, 352 injured, and now all of the individual stories, this just one of all of those brutally, brutally murdered in this attack yesterday. Paul Vercammen live for us in Long Beach. Thank you very much. And coming up later in the program, we will have a full list for you of the victims who have been identified at this hour and a little bit more about each of them. So stay with us for that. Meantime, the U.S. department of homeland security says, it has no active intelligence to suggest that any attacks are eminent in the United States. However, cities including New York City are increasing security out of precaution. Extra police officers have been deployed to protect potential targets like Times Square and also the statue of liberty. U.S. officials working around the clock this weekend in touch with their French counterparts on this investigation. And as we learned earlier, from Julie Kayyem, the FBI now has jurisdiction in this in because an American has been killed in this attack. Joining me from Washington, CNN justice correspondent Evan Perez, also with him, former FBI deputy director, Tom Fuentes who is with us from China. Evan, let me begin with you. Just speak to that a little bit, the fact that now that we know that there has been an American casualty. The FBI will have a more integral role in this investigation, if you will. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right, Poppy. We expect, now that the FBI is going to be working a lot more closely with the French authorities to try to figure out exactly what happened here. They have a criminal investigation now that is ongoing. They expect that the French will be able to brief them a lot more readily, a lot more, you know, as soon as they have information because now the FBI has jurisdiction. And one of the things that is already happening is I was told just last night the FBI convened a conference call with special agents in charge around the country. And one of the things that the deputy director of the FBI told them to do was simply to go back and review all of their cases. They want to make sure that this is an opportunity to go back and check to see whether anybody who is on their radar who possibly might use this event as a trigger to go out and do something. This is something that they did. They are treating this almost like what happened after the garland attack. If you remember two attackers tried to shoot up a prophet Muhammad contest in Texas and that caused the FBI to start doing 247 surveillance on a lot of suspects around the country. We ended up having a couple dozen of arrests as a result of that. And so, we expect now that there's more activity from the FBI. They are shaking the trees, as one official calls it simply because they want to make sure they don't take any chances, Poppy. [Harlow:] Absolutely. Evan, thank you very much. And Tom Fuentes, to you, as you look at this, from your perspective, as former assistant director of the FBI, you know, it's sort of unreal to think that ISIS has claimed responsibility for three attacks in the last three weeks, downing of the Russian jetliner, Beirut, the coordinated attacks this week, and now in Paris here. Do you believe there's a reason we're seeing these play out around the world and not in the United States at this point in time? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, I think, Poppy, partly because the other countries, particularly in Europe, have more of ISIS than anybody, you know. They have had tens of thousands of individuals go to Syria and join and learn to fight, and learn to use weapons and then return back to their countries in Europe, and then they can train others there. So you have French nationals and others in those countries who are, you know, able to be trained by the people who have come back from the battlefield, you know, to try to train themselves. We don't have as many in the U.S. and yet it's overwhelming here. So it's a matter of time it could happen here. You know, the FBI director has already stated that the bureau has active ISIS investigations in every single one of our states, all 50 states. [Harlow:] Right. [Fuentes:] So in a sense, it's a matter of time. [Harlow:] That's a scary, scary thought. Tom Fuentes, do you believe that, as we look at the evolution of ISIS, you know, today, obviously with the G-20, and you had U.S. secretary of state John Kerry meeting with other leaders and also Russia's foreign secretary Sergey Lavrov coming out and sort of laying out their plan or their hope, if you will, for the future of Syria and what should happen to the Assad regime in Syria. We'll see it leads to elections that carry outlined there. But do you believe anything can change in terms of ISIS expanding ability and threat until the situation in Syria is handled? [Fuentes:] I think, even if the situation is handled, that may take another couple of decades to do so. I think it is still not going to stop the entire problem. You know you can contain a virus, like Ebola, we don't talk about Ebola anymore, but you cannot contain the ideology. The ideology goes on. And I should add that attacks in Paris and Belgium were planned for the week of 911. And it was the police and the FBI working with them throughout Europe that foiled those plots just days before the U.S. embassy in Paris was going to be attacked. We never heard anything about those arrests because, of course11 coverage, which was obviously extensive, and for good reason. So this has been going on in Europe for decades. It's not a new phenomenon. It's just expanded phenomenon. And what used to be Al- Qaeda that is really kind of morphed into ISIS. The people that might have originally followed Al-Qaeda now follow ISIS. And in a sense, it doesn't matter. They'll follow somebody else if they're out there, you know, spreading the ideology, spreading the hate, and spreading the word that they should attack and kill in their own country. [Harlow:] But then you are saying you can't contain ISIS. We heard the president this week say ISIS has been contained, meaning on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq. Tom, is it a mistake to try to fight ISIS on the battlefield in Syria and Iraq rather than fighting them on the streets of cities across the globe? [Fuentes:] We don't think it's a mistake, Poppy, but we have had two presidents in a row say that we're not going to allow Al-Qaeda or extremists Islamic groups to have a place to do their training, to have a spot to expand their training academies, you know, meaning Afghanistan and Iraq. So we eliminated that. But now, one-third of Syria, one-third of Iraq are giant training grounds, more prolific than existed in the past and thousands bin Laden would not have been able to accommodate the thousands of people that showed up to train in Afghanistan at his camps back in the late '90s compared to what they can do now all over Syria, all over Iraq. So until the present caliphate eliminated you're going to have training grounds. And again, it's still ideology. Only takes a handful of people to do these kind of attacks. [Harlow:] Tom Fuentes thank you very much for joining us. We are going to take a quick break. We will have much more of our live coverage from Paris right after this. [Blitzer:] CNN has obtained exclusive images of Russian strikes on Syrian rebels trying to oust President Bashar al-Assad whose embattled regime is now being propped up by Vladimir Putin. And with the help of Russian warplanes and cruise missiles, Assad's forces are making critical gains right now. Our senior international correspondent Nick Paton Walsh is right near the Turkish-Syrian. Nick is joining us live. Nick, these are some very dramatic images. Tell us about them. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Probably some of the most substantial change of the battle field we've seen in the last year. Vladimir Putin wants to won the geopolitical side of this war but his forces, his airstrikes are assisting the Syria regime as they march toward Aleppo. A huge task to take the rebel areas, tens or hundreds of thousands of people living in the skeleton of that city but these images we obtained show how intense the fighting is against moderate Syrian rebels, some receiving help from the U.S. on the front lines today. [Walsh:] This is what it's like on the receiving end of the Russian back defensive south of Aleppo. The moderate rebel fighter now lying flat, sent us these pictures saying it was the worst assault he'd ever seen, aided by drones that they also target. "The Russian strikes seem to hit civilians most, not us rebels," says this fighter before listing the several villages they've lost in recent days. These eyes in the sky seem to be speeding the regime advance. The fabled tow missile, an anti-tank rocket supplied by rebels often by the U.S. hitting regime army. It helped rebels take ground fast recently but many more were needed for them to hold it now. Syrian state TV showing while their president briefly visited Moscow, how they were advancing, ramming it home where in the south is now theirs. These images helping suggest why 50,000 civilians may now be on the move. One rebel caught this frontline volley on a body camera. Such high-tech intimacy in a fight that can seem so brutally medieval, where a new power is changing the balance but not lessening the old threat to those helpless caught in the middle. Now if that battle for Aleppo does get underway, we are talking about an unprecedented humanitarian crisis. The probable tactic of the regime will be to surround that rebel-held area and as they say in the past, staff and force surrender of those inside of it. Many looking to meetings on Friday between various foreign ministers including the U.S. and Russian and Syrian to see if there is any diplomatic headway that might be able to slow this down but I think the chance of that being accepted by all parties in this pretty remote. We're looking to the battlefield now, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Awful situation, indeed. Nick, thanks very much. Nick Paton Walsh reporting for us. Breaking news coming up next, Joe Biden's long-awaited decision. The vice president announcing he will not make a bid for the White House but vowing he will not stay silent, either. What role will he play in the presidential campaign? [Vanier:] Welcome back. Donald Trump is at odds with the U.S. intelligence community six weeks before his inauguration. The president-elect's team has mocked a CIA report that Russia tried to steer the election toward a Trump victory. This is what they said. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. The election ended a long time ago in one of the biggest electoral college victories in history. It's now time to move on." A source says that a review of foreign hacking ordered by President Obama will not actually look at whether Russian interference affected the outcome of the election; rather, the source says, it is solely about lessons being learned. More now from CNN global affairs correspondent Elise Labott. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] President-Elect Donald Trump's comments, questioning the quality of the intel provided by the intelligence community about Russian hacking, could set up an adversarial relationship with a commander in chief, who's going to rely on the intelligence community to make monumental decisions about U.S. national security. If it's an isolated incident, it could be worked out. It seems as if President-Elect Trump is very sensitive to any charges that he didn't win the election fair and square when, in fact, the intelligence community is really only looking at whether Russia did try to interfere in the U.S. election. And about 17 intelligence agencies did conclude that they did with high confidence. If there's a larger question about whether Donald Trump does not have confidence in the intelligence community, in the intel that he's getting in his daily briefing, that could set up a much larger issue. Now the investigation that the Obama administration is engaged in is not about whether Russia affected the outcome of this election. Administration officials tell me it would be impossible to know what swayed a voter. The investigation is really about looking at past practices of all foreign states, not just Russia, but other foreign actors, perhaps in 2008, 2012 and in the 2016 election, to see what kinds of techniques they used in their hacking, in cyber attacks, to use that as a lessons learned for the next administration. But it would also give credence to any measures that the Obama administration could take on its way out the door. Officials tell me that there are a wide range of measures being considered against Russia, such as sanctions, other types of cyber measures that we probably wouldn't know about. But if this incontrovertible proof is made public, it would be [Labott:] very difficult for President-Elect Trump, once taking office, to question that. And if President Obama does impose measures and Donald Trump overturns them, that could he could face a lot of heat from members of Congress, not just Democrats but Republicans, who are very skeptical about Russia and say they're going to lead investigations. As one senior administration official said, there would be a real price to pay once the president-elect takes office Elise Labott, CNN, Washington. [Vanier:] And a spokesman for the Republican National Committee also doubts that Russia meddled in the election. [Sean Spicer, Rnc Communications Director:] I don't think, Donald Trump doesn't think, no one thinks that a foreign entity should be interfering with the U.S. elections, bottom line, full stop, I said it. Now let's get to the next thing. What proof does anyone have that they affected the outcome? Because I've heard zero. OK? So show me what facts have actually shown that anything undermined that election. Donald Trump won with 306 electoral votes, 2,300 counties, 62 million Americans voted for him. So what proof do you have or does anyone have that any of this affected the outcome of this election? [Vanier:] The Kremlin, for its part, is also brushing off the claims, saying, in part, these are not new conclusions. And, again, it seems like naked blaming, having no evidence to be based on. Also it may look like another attempt to try to influence the president-elect by imposing a certain negative image of our country. More on the Trump transition now. Donald Trump's likely choice for secretary of state is sparking some concern over his ties to Russia. CNN's Ryan Nobles reports on Rex Tillerson, a major name in the oil industry, who may be America's next top diplomat. [Ryan Nobles, Cnn Correspondent:] It's looking more and more like President-Elect Donald Trump is leaning toward ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson as his secretary of state. CNN's John King reporting that Tillerson left a meeting on Saturday at Trump Tower, feeling confident that he would be named to the post; Trump telling Chris Wallace from FOX that Tillerson's global business interests and his ties with countries around the world make him a very strong candidate. [Unidentified Male:] Let me ask you about Rex Tillerson. [Donald Trump , President-elect Of The United States:] OK. [Unidentified Male:] Out of ExxonMobil. Why does a business executive make sense as the chief diplomat? [Trump:] Well, in his case, he's much more than a business executive. I mean, he's a world-class player. He's in charge of, I guess, the largest company in the world. He's in charge of an oil company that's pretty much double the size of his next nearest competitor. It's been a company that's been unbelievably managed. And to me, a great advantage is he knows many of the players and he knows them well. He does massive deals in Russia. He does massive deals for the company, not for himself, for the company. [Nobles:] Now some of those same attributes that Trump views as positives have some concerned, including Republicans like Senator John McCain. McCain told me that he would want answers from Tillerson about his ties to Russia and his view of the world as it relates to the country before he gives him his vote in a confirmation process. Republicans hold only a four-seat majority in the U.S. Senate. So Donald Trump will likely need almost all those votes if he is to get Tillerson confirmed Ryan Nobles, CNN, Baltimore. [Vanier:] Our favorite meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, joins us now with more on severe weather around parts of the globe. We're going to start with severe winter weather in Japan. And finally, Walter White is back from the dead. "Breaking Bad"'s infamous meth cook was resurrected by Bryan Cranston as "Saturday Night Live" poked fun at who else but Donald Trump and his cabinet picks. [Beck Bennett, Comedian, "jake Tapper":] We have some breaking news tonight. President-Elect Trump has just made his choice for head of the DEA, the federal drug enforcement agency. And it's a high school science teacher from New Mexico named Walter White, who joins us now. [Bryan Cranston, Actor, "walter White":] Hello, Jake. [Kate Mckinnon, Comedian, "kellyanne Conway":] Walter is amazing. He came highly recommended by Steve Bannon. " [White":] Oh, yes. Steve's the best. We've had some times. " [Tapper":] Where did Mr. Bannon find you? " [White":] In the comments section at Breitbart. And I'm really surprised he tracked me down because I've kind of been off the grid for a while. " [Tapper":] And you're a high school science teacher? " [White":] Yes. [Tapper":] Now do you know anything about drug enforcement? " [White":] Oh, trust me. I know the DEA better than anyone, inside and out. [Vanier:] All right. You also saw "SNL's" Kate McKinnon here in her impression of one of Trump's top advisers, Kellyanne Conway. She's quickly become a favorite with viewers over the past few weeks. I don't know what Kellyanne Conway thinks of the impression. We know that Trump doesn't like his character. [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] Yes, we already do know that very well. I'm sure she nails it though. [Vanier:] All right. He's Derek Van Dam. I'm Cyril Vanier. You've been watching CNN NEWSROOM. We're back after the break with your headlines. [Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] OK, got to go. NEWSROOM starts now. And good morning, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Ramping up and counting down. With just one more day to the final presidential debate, Donald Trump is swinging for the fences. He's ripping fellow Republicans who balked at his claims of a fixed election just three weeks to the day before Americans head to the polls. And Melania Trump breaks her silence and talks to CNN's Anderson Cooper. She discusses and down plays her husband's lewd and sexually aggressive comments caught on tape. [Melania Trump, Donald Trump's Wife:] They were kind of a boy talk, and he was lead on, like egged on, from the host to say dirty and bad stuff. [Costello:] We'll have more on Melania Trump's interview in just a minute, but let's begin with CNN's Senior Political Reporter Manu Raju. He's in Vegas for tomorrow's big debate. Good morning. [Manu Raju, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Good morning, Carol. Now, Donald Trump attacking Paul Ryan, renewing those attacks against the House Speaker saying that the House Speaker actually may be motivated against him to preserve his own political future. This is all part of Donald Trump's efforts to paint the political establishment and the rules of the election against him and saying that he is a victim of an unfair system. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] They even want to try to rig the election at the polling booths. People that have died 10 years ago are still voting. Illegal immigrants are voting. [Raju:] Donald Trump ramping up his unfounded claim that the election is rigged. [Trump:] You look at what's going on in St. Louis and many other cities. There's tremendous voter fraud. [Raju:] His willingness to accept the election result if he loses now in question. [Kellyanne Conway, Donald Trump's Campaign Manager:] Mr. Trump would if there is absent overwhelming evidence of any kind of fraud irregularities. [Raju:] Trump frustrating many Republican leaders who have rejected his allegations of rigging. The Republican nominee also intensifying his feud with House Speaker Paul Ryan after he said he wouldn't defend Trump. [Trump:] Maybe he wants to run in four years or maybe he doesn't know how to win. Maybe he just doesn't know how to win. I mean, who can really know? [Raju:] Trump taking his race against the establishment and Hillary Clinton a step further in Wisconsin. [Trump:] It is time to drain the swamp in Washington, [D.c. Raju:] Trump proposing a package of ethics reforms aiming to tackle corruption in Washington, including tighter restrictions on members of Congress and White House officials taking on jobs as lobbyists. [Trump:] This will go a long way to ending our government corruption. [Raju:] A proposal sparked by his accusations that the FBI and State Department engaged in a criminal conspiracy. [Trump:] This is felony corruption. [Raju:] After newly released documents suggest a top State Department official pressured the FBI to declassify an e-mail about Benghazi that was on the private server Clinton used while Secretary of State, possibly in exchange for offering to help station FBI agents services. [Mark Toner, State Department Deputy Spokesperson:] The allegations of any kind of quid pro quo is inaccurate. There was no quid pro quo. [Raju:] Clinton is not commenting. She's been off the campaign trail for days preparing for tomorrow's final debate. Clinton's campaign now setting its sights on historically conservative states as she widens her lead in the polls, deploying her daughter Chelsea, Michelle Obama and Bernie Sanders to Arizona in hopes to turn that red state blue. Now, the Obama administration has been on the defensive over whether or not the FBI and State Department engaged in any sort of quid pro quo to clean up Hillary Clinton's e-mails over her private e- mail server. Now, John Kirby, the State Department spokesman, was on "New Day" earlier this morning pushing back. [John Kirby, State Department Spokesperson:] Not only is there no proof, it's absolutely not true. Completely false allegation. It just didn't happen that way. Now, what did happen, half of what you said is right. Pat Kennedy did call the FBI and tried to get a little bit better understanding about why they wanted one particular e-mail classified "Secret." We didn't see it that way. We didn't think it needed to be held classified, but the FBI held firm their position and the e-mail remained classified. And, you know, that e-mail, redacted, is on our website. You can go look for it yourself, but there was no bargain sought by the FBI. There was no bargain rendered. [Raju:] Now, the question is now whether or not the Clinton campaign can move past this. One way they're trying to do that is trying to focus intensely on red states going forward. They're spending $2 million in Arizona, as well as $1 million in Indiana and Missouri to help the Senate Democratic candidates there in those states. But the question, Carol, is if these problems over her e- mails sort of continue to linger, how much will that hurt her honest and trustworthy numbers, and how much will that hurt Democratic chances to take back control of Congress. Carol. [Costello:] All right. Manu Raju reporting live from Los Vegas this morning. To another firestorm, Melania Trump tried to put that one out in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. She broke her silence on that damaging tape that captured her husband making lewd and sexually aggressive comments about women. She says the crass 2005 conversation was just boy talk, but that the damage to the campaign is the goal of the media. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn:] He described it as locker room talk. To you, I mean, you sort of alluded to that as well. Is that what it is to you, just locker room talk? [M. Trump:] Yes, it's kind of two teenage boys. Actually, they should behave better, right? It was not [Cooper:] He was 59. [M. Trump:] Correct. And sometimes, I said I have two boys at home. I have my young son and I have my husband, so but I know how some men talk and that's how I saw it, yes. I was surprised, of course. But I was not surprised that the tape came out. I was not surprised about that. [Cooper:] Why? [M. Trump:] Because, as I said, these many people from the opposite side, that they want to damage the campaign. And why now? Why after so many years? Why three weeks before the election? [Cooper:] Your husband has said, maybe, that he felt the Clintons had something to do with it or the media. What do you think? [M. Trump:] Well, it was the media. It was NBC. It was "Access Hollywood." It was left wing and left-wing media, and you could see that. And the way it comes out is everything was organized. Every Friday. Every Friday, something comes out, so they play, they play, they play and it was hour after hour. I watched T.V. It was hour after hour bashing him because they want to influence the American people how to vote, and they're influencing in the wrong way. [Cooper:] The information about your husband's 1995 taxes were released right before the first debate, then this came out just days before the second debate. You're saying that's not a coincidence? [M. Trump:] No. That was all organized, yes. They planned that way because they don't want to talk the opposition doesn't want to talk about WikiLeaks and the e-mails and Benghazi and all the rest of the stuff. They don't want to talk about it, so they said, let's do something so we will hurt his campaign. [Cooper:] "The Washington Post" was leaked the tape and they released the tape. NBC had it for they said they had it for several days, and they were reviewing it, but you believe that it was that NBC could have released it you think they knew about it long ago? [M. Trump:] Yes, they know they knew a long time ago. And I'm sure they did. And "Washington Post," when did we hear or read any great stories from about my husband or about me. The true stuff? The facts, the real stuff. Or "New York Times"? We never read. They're bashing, bashing, bashing. [Cooper:] You feel they've been very unfair? [M. Trump:] Yes. [Costello:] All right. So let's discuss all of this right now. Lynn Sweet is with me. She's the Washington bureau chief of "The Chicago Sun-Times" and CNN political commentator David Swerdlick is with me. He's the assistant editor for "The Washington Post." Welcome to both of you. So, Lynn, my viewers just heard from Melania Trump. Her interview, did she help Donald Trump? Neutral? Did she hurt him? [Lynn Sweet, Washington Bureau Chief, The Chicago Sun-times:] Well, Carol, she didn't hurt him, but I don't think she maximized the opportunity in the interview because I don't think viewers wanted her to talk about the to be a media critic and her views on how the tape came out in the media isn't what I think the role of Melania Trump could have been. She could have told us about the Donald Trump we don't know. She could have told us about the man that is better than his public images in this case. The man that we don't know. She didn't take advantage of her unique situation of a spouse to try and bring more information to the table. I would think that's the way she could try and change the story line more than piling on and talking about things that she would have no knowledge of, such as how and why the decisions were made about the tape which people have reported on. So when she talks about a media conspiracy, I don't think she helps her husband as much as she could have by talking about the man we don't know. [Costello:] Right. But I think that her comments do resonate with Trump's core supporters. You know, I just got back from Ohio. I talked to some of Trump's well, he hasn't really told me who he's voting for, but I talked to a union guy who talked about Trump's comments on tape when he was on the bus with Billy Bush and, frankly, he doesn't care. Listen. [Bryan Rice, Vice President, Usw Local 1200:] If you look back when I was a young man and I got divorced, for five years, and if somebody had video or pictures or something the way I was at one time, I'll admit I wasn't a model man. So I don't hold what somebody did years ago against him, you know, because we've all I've matured as I've gotten older, but there's things that I've said and done that would be terrible if my children or grandchildren heard them, you know. I mean, it's not the way you want to treat women, but I do know how men talk in a locker room. [Costello:] So, David, thoughts? [David Swerdlick, Assistant Editor, The Washington Post:] So, Carol, I agree with Lynn that Melania Trump could have spent more time in that interview talking about the private Donald Trump, the man that she knows. That would have helped more perhaps for his campaign. That being said, I thought she came across as comfortable, credible. She came across as someone who sincerely supports her husband even now. That being said, you know, the one thing that didn't come across as credible was this idea that Billy Bush egged Donald Trump on. Donald Trump did not have to be dragged kicking and screaming, right, into that conversation. It would have been a more effective interview if it had come out a week ago, not yesterday, but the prior Monday, right after the "Access Hollywood" tape had come out and if Donald Trump had been sitting next to her. I think that would have done more good for the Trump campaign to signal to their core supporters, like the gentleman who you just showed in that clip, that all was well with the Trump campaign, that they were focused on the issues, that they were a united front and moving forward. A week went by with Trump lashing out at the media, lashing out at women accusing him of sexual assault. That has not done any favors for his campaign and it's reflected in these polls. [Costello:] Well, I will say that many voters told me in Ohio that all of this sex stuff is deflecting from Hillary Clinton's weaknesses, like the controversy that just came out that man Manu Raju was talking about. They're concerned about that e-mail controversy, especially in light of the BFI notes that appear to show a State Department employee tried to influence the Bureau on Clinton e-mails. So shouldn't the media and this is what voters told me, shouldn't the media be talking about that, Lynn? [Sweet:] Well, we are. You know, there is and another way to get even more attention on the Clinton e-mails is for Donald Trump to be disciplined enough to devote his speeches to Hillary Clinton and the WikiLeaks e-mails instead of talking about baseless charges about a national rigging of an election system. So he is a powerful messenger and he knows that. And instead of blaming the media for not doing enough or this or that, a presidential candidate has a powerful platform. He decides not to use it by going off on his tangent of a baseless charge of a rigged election system. And as far as coverage goes, if you look at it large, if somebody wants to know about WikiLeaks, you go to the internet, there are a lot of stories being written. There is a trove of information on these e- mails and, by the way, everyone listening, you can go to wikileaks.org and look for yourself. Just type in some names, type in Hillary Clinton, type in debate, type in people in the news and the e-mails pop up. [Costello:] All right. I have to leave it there. Lynn Sweet, David Swerdlick, actually, stick around because we're going to continue the conversation after the break. But right now, I want to take my viewers out to the White House. This is a live look from the south lawn where the Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is arriving for meetings with President Obama. These all caps off tonight with the President's final state dinner. Mario Batali will be in the kitchen, Gwen Stefani will be performing, so it should be quite the shindig. Also to come in the NEWSROOM, so much for shying away from Trump's voter fraud warning. Looks like Mike Pence just doubled down. [Sesay:] Hello, everyone. Hurricane Hermine is barreling across the U.S. with at least 25 million people in its path. The storm made landfall along Florida's gulf coast within the past hour. It is drenching that state with some very heavy rains. Florida's governor calling it a life-threatening storm. Flooding is a major concern. Hermine's strong winds are bringing down power lines along the way. In the state capitol Tallahassee more than 70,000 customers are without electricity. Thousands of Venezuelans flooded the streets on Thursday trying to get the president kicked out of office. Protesters blame the collapsing economy on his government and are demanding a recall vote. National Guard officers fired tear gas at some of those protesters while the opposition protested, a pro government rally was happening nearby. The president was there and pressed his supporters to be ready in case of a coup. Back to the U.S., American football player Colin Kaepernick has again refused to stand during the U.S. national anthem. He knelt on one knee, instead, as you see there, at a pre-season game against the San Diego Chargers. And another man dressed in black knelt beside him. That man has been identified in local media as Safety Eric Reed. Kaepernick was booed by some crowd members when he took the field. He says the act is a protest against racism. Our Paul Vercammen is in San Diego for more on the game and fan reaction to Kaepernick's protest. [Paul Vercammen, Cnn Correspondent:] Colin Kaepernick continued his protest here in San Diego. And when he lopped on to the field with his helmet off, he was booed. [Vercammen:] And he was booed for the rest of the game. When the anthem started, he was standing and he dropped down to one knee. Then when the anthem ended, there was a cheer by the San Diego fans, but then they resumed their booing of Kaepernick. He got the ball first for the 49ers and he was booed every snap ever since. After the game, the fans gave Kaepernick mixed reviews. [Unidentified Male:] Free country. He can do what he wants. I don't think it's very respectful. I think it's somewhat ignorant. But it's his right to do with what he wants. I don't think he respects the country. The military fights hard for this country so he has the right. I do understand where he's coming from, but I just don't respect it. [Vercammen:] It was military night inside the stadium. There was a lot of pomp and a lot of circumstance. The fans were enjoying the game. But there was a cluster of them that seemed to enjoy more than anything booing Colin Kaepernick. Reporting from San Diego, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you. [Sesay:] Our thanks to Paul there. And at another NFL game, Seattle Seahawks player Jeremy Lane sat during the nationality anthem. It's not clear yet if it was an act of protest. Not clear at all. Now, fire and explosion destroyed a SpaceX rock on Thursday. The rocket was meant to carry a satellite into orbit for Facebook to boost Internet access. Mark Zuckerberg says he's deeply disappointed, but will use other technology to connect people. No one was hurt in the explosion which is being investigated. Scary stuff. Health officials have found the first mosquitoes carrying the Zika Virus in the continental U.S. They were identified in the Miami Beach area in Florida. That's where several people have been infected. Medical experts already have measures in place to on control and trap mosquitoes in the area. The Centers for Disease Control is urging pregnant women to avoid travel there. More than 300 honeybees have been killed in the state of South Carolina by mistake. It happened when authorities air sprayed for mosquitoes carrying Zika. Authorities say they used what they were supposed to spray, but some beekeepers say they were not notified of the spraying. Next here on CNN NEWSROOM L.A., Brock Turner is about to leave jail early after serving just half of a six-month sentence. We'll tell you why and what's next for the former Stanford student. Plus, a top U.S. university addresses its history of slavery. What Georgetown is doing for the descendents of some slaves. The details are coming up. [Baldwin:] We have some breaking news right now out of Colorado where the jury has reached its first verdict in the sentencing phase James Holmes trial. Let me bring in Ana Cabrera who is live in Denver. What have they found? [Ana Cabrera, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, the bottom line, Brooke, we now know James Holmes could still possibly receive the death penalty. There are three phases of the sentencing hearing or this small trial that is expected to take about a month. And they just finished phase one in which the prosecution had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt aggravating factors in the murders of the 12 people that James Holmes' convicted of already. And so, what they did was they come back with their verdict saying the prosecution proved four aggravating factors this moves now into the next phase. It's the defense's turn to put on a case of mitigating factors or reasons why they believe James Holmes' life should be spared and that he should be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. They will probably present character witnesses, including family members, friends. We know that the jurors will hear from a fifth grade teacher of Holmes and they likely really emphasize Holmes' mental illness. Remember, during the initial guilt phase of this trial, we heard from several mental health experts who all agreed that Holmes suffers severe mental illness. Now, the jury did not believe that that mental illness made him insane at the time of the crime which is why he was con convicted of murder but that could play a key role here in the sentencing phase. Now, this next phase that is crucial because the jury will then determine whether the mitigating factors that the defense presents outweigh the aggravating factors that they just felt and found him guilty on. And if the mitigating factors outweigh, the aggravating factors, that's when they criticized that Holmes should be sentenced to life in prison without parole. If they don't find that to be the case, it moves to a third phase in which we'll hear from the victims who and their impact statements, prosecution trying to make their case for a death sentence. And, again, that will ultimately be the end of this case when they move through that phase and will decide on life in prison or parole. So this just keeps moving along, Brooke. [Baldwin:] OK. You are all over this, Ana Cabrera. I really, really appreciate the update there in the sentencing phase one. Ana, thank you very much. We are going to take a quick break. When we come back, we showed you just a bit of that news conference out of Texas involving the death of Sandra Bland. This was after she was arrested for resisting arrest according to law enforcement there. She was placed in a jail cell. They found her dead. The sheriff says it was suicide and they have just now presented multiple pieces of evidence, even photos from her autopsy that they say are indeed consistent with suicide. Those details next. [Stelter:] Welcome back to RELIABLE SOURCES live from the Venetian in Las Vegas, home to Tuesday's presidential debate here on CNN. Now, at our last debate in Vegas,CNN did something unique, placing special cameras all around the theater to live-stream that event in virtual reality, a first for any network. Now it seems like every big news outlet is experimenting with V.R. And early adopters say it will revolutionize all of media, while others are left asking, what the heck is it exactly? I'm going to try to answer that question for you in today's episode of "NewTube," our continuing series on the future of digital media. It could be the biggest leap in capturing our world since the photograph. This is virtual reality. Now, when you hear V.R., you might imagine people wearing headsets, turning their heads, and waving their arms. You might think it's a joke. But when you actually see it, when you try it, you stop laughing. All around the world, engineers are fine-tuning technology that immerses you in a 3-D 360-degree experience. Giants like Facebook are betting big that we will all be strapping goggles to our head and flailing around in the next few years. And Oculus is the company leading the way. [Palmer Luckey, Founder, Oculus V.r:] I think that virtual reality has the potential to be the most connecting technology of all time. [Stelter:] Twenty-three year-old Palmer Luckey created Oculus as a teenager working in his parents' garage. [Luckey:] I got into V.R. not because I was looking for the next likely financial return, but because I was a science fiction enthusiast who was entranced by the idea of virtual reality and using V.R. particularly for video games. [Stelter:] In 2012, Luckey used Kickstarter to try to keep his project afloat. [Luckey:] Make a pledge and help us change gaming forever. [Stelter:] And he ended up raising nearly $2.5 million. [Luckey:] We were one of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns at the time, not because a bunch of Hollywood studios or a bunch of electronic mega-corporations came in and said, this is our next feature we're going to use to sell people new TVs. It's because people said, we really want that. [Stelter:] Last year, Facebook brought his startup for $2 billion. [Mark Zuckerberg, Founder, Facebook:] I had seen V.R. before, but this was by far the best experience I had ever seen. It was teleporting to some other place just by putting on a headset. I was seeing the next great technology platform that's going to define the way that we all connect in the future. [Stelter:] Hold on. Give me a minute here. If you're like me, hearing other people talk about virtual worlds living inside goggles is not very compelling. That's actually an implicit problem with V.R. and reporting about it too. It's the "see it to believe it" problem. So this is the best I can show you. Watch the first time I ever played games inside Oculus Rift. [on camera]: It's like being in a child's playroom. Knocking on a ball. Dropped my hands. Someone firing at me. I'm firing back. So, I can point at the other player that's where are you? Are you next door? So, I'm grabbing a slingshot. And as I pull it back with my other hand it's actually really hard to put into words. [voice-over]: Palmer has had more experience choosing the right words. [on camera]: How do you describe virtual reality? [Luckey:] Virtual reality has that power to really allow you to do anything. Anything you can imagine doing in the real world, you can do, plus the whole set of experiences that are not possible in the real world. [Stelter:] Right now, V.R. is mostly about gaming. But you can hear where Luckey is going with this, moves in V.R., live news events in V.R., even face-to-face meetings. [Luckey:] You can take people from opposite sides of the world and put them into the same virtual room together. Once you can do that well enough, you really remove the need for people to travel and burn tons of jet fuel to get around the world. You remove the need to have massive conferences where you expend huge resources just to get people in the same room talking to each other. [Stelter:] So, will his dream come true? Well, Oculus is not the only player in this virtual space. Sony has Project Morpheus. HTC has Vive. And then there's Microsoft's HoloLens, V.R. startup Magic Leap, and Google Cardboard, a cheap headset that uses your cell phone as the display. But virtual reality doesn't always come cheap. The Oculus Rift system is expected to cost $1,500. [Luckey:] I think our biggest challenge is driving the quality up and the cost down. [Stelter:] The public might reject V.R., the same way it rejected 3-D TV, but Oculus has the potential to change the very definition of a screen, because, when you're looking at virtual reality, you forget you're looking at a screen at all. [on camera]: We invented photographs, and then radio, and then television, and then the Internet. Do you believe V.R. is the next in that line, a whole new medium? [Luckey:] I think V.R. is interesting because it's not only its own new medium. It's also capable of emulating all prior mediums. Within the next few years, we would probably end up having a meeting in virtual reality. And what is great is, you could be in New York and freezing in the city and I could be sitting on a bench in Southern California or in the smog of Los Angeles. But, to us, it doesn't matter. We're both wearing V.R. headsets and we're feeling like we are right now, here in the same place. [Stelter:] I think I'm going to ask for a V.R. headset for Christmas. I will see you back in New York next week. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] New this morning, busloads of migrants in the thousands arrive in Austria. The pictures and the stories we have of their emotional journey into Western Europe, escaping conflicts in Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan, and what a way for the rest of them. [Unidentified Male:] It is our position and the position of the clerk of Rowan County, Kim Davis, that those licenses are void. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] A defiant, determined, Kentucky court clerk, Kim Davis not backing down after being jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples and it is happening as a presidential candidate is coming to her defense. [Unidentified Female:] Are you sorry? Do you want to apologize to the American people for the choice you made? [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Well, it wasn't the best choice and I certainly have said that. I will continue to say that. [Paul:] A contrite Hillary Clinton apologizing over e-mails. It's not the apology her critics were looking for, though. Good morning to you. It's Saturday. I hope you had a little R&R on the calendar. I'm Christi Paul. [Blackwell:] I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to be with you. I want you to start by looking at these images. Look at these pictures and the video we have coming in, thousands of refugees arriving in Austria this morning. They are tired, they are hungry, but as you saw in that little girl's face, there was a smile there. They are greeted by cheers, people just cheering on the side of the road there in Austria, a far cry from their desperate situation over the past few days, waiting for days and days at a Budapest train station. Hungarian authorities refused to let them go without the proper documents. But finally, trying to walk to Germany because they had no other options, some buses picked them up. CNN'Arwa Damon has been on this journey with them and listen to her experience here. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] The Hungarian government, the Hungarian security forces have been very hostile toward these refuges and a lot of them had horrific situations inside one of the camps and one of the main reasons they didn't want to go into the camps. Along this trek, they have managed to get real exposure to the kindness of some portions of the population of the Hungarian population. [Blackwell:] The refuges are some of the thousands streaming into Europe from the conflict zones every day. Let's go to Fred Pleitgen now, he is at the AustriaHungary border. Fred, what's the scene like there now? I see that the crowds there behind you? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, it's a remarkable scene, Victor, because what just happened is that several busloads of these people just made it across the border from Hungary. You can see how many people are still marching towards this location here. I'm on the Austrian side right now. The people you're seeing streaming in here, they are all coming off buses on the Hungarian side of the border. The Hungarians have picked up several thousand of them with buses and brought them to their side of the border and dropped them off here and they walk to the Austrian side. We have seen remarkable scenes because they are exhausted and many traveling for months and a horrible time going through Hungary and many were camped out there in front of the Budapest train station where they barely had any food or water and they certainly had no shelter. And they were just camping out there on the ground until they got so frustrated that they started just walking towards Austria, which is a more than a hundred miles away. They said we are going to walk there and that would have taken a long time. Finally, the Hungarian government relented and they are arriving here and getting ready to go on the buses you see over there and the buses will take them from a train station from there on, they will choose whether to stay in Austria or go to Germany, which is a place many of them want to go to. Certainly very emotional scenes as even people who are so exhausted that they almost fell asleep standing, just had smiles on their faces as they walked over that border Victor. [Blackwell:] Good to see that after what we have seen over the past week or so. Fred, any indication of what is to come, beyond the immediate triage, what Austria, what Germany, the other countries hosting these refuges, what they have in store for them. [Pleitgen:] First of all, they will bring them to temporary shelters. They will go to the next rail station and either going to a shelter around here or they are going to go on to Vienna and Munich and when they go on to Munich they get processed there immediately at the railway station and brought to another temporary shelter. And then the German government will find places for them in Germany in various locations, both in the southeast which is the main entry point into Germany, but also in other places around the country. And then they enter into a process where their asylum applications is checked by the authorities and depending on whether or not that is successful, then, at some point, they will be recognized as asylum seekers and be allowed to move around and get work in Germany and basically start a new life there. It is quite a long process, bureaucratic process, but certainly one that, for them at least now, is somewhat predictable Victor. [Blackwell:] At least there is now a process through which they are going through after days, some waiting on trains, some waiting at the train station, now this process has begun. Fred Pleitgen there for us at the AustriaHungary border, thank you so much. Later this hour, we will be joined by Bob Kitchen from the International Rescue Committee. He is going to talk more about the refuge crisis and what else is in store for them. [Paul:] Turning to the U.S., controversial Kentucky clerk, Kim Davis, is going to be meeting with the presidential candidate, Mike Huckabee. Tuesday he will visit the woman who was jailed and still in jail, in fact, after she refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. This is, of course, in defiance of the law. Meanwhile, Davis says any marriage license issued in her absence is invalid and that did not stop these couples celebrating. CNN's Alexandra Field in Grayson, Kentucky with that story. [Alexandra Field, Cnn Correspondent:] Christi, Victor, Kim Davis' attorney says her conscience is clear. She is willing to wait it out in jail. She has no plans to resign from her position as the Rowan County clerk and she is ready to fight her fight. [Field:] The six times the charm for William Smith and James Yates, partners for ten years. They were cheered by their supporters after finally getting their marriage license following five other tries in Rowan County, Kentucky. [Unidentified Male:] Each time, we were rejected and each time we were told it was Kim Davis' decision. The last time we came, it was really, really hard because we had protesters outside and as soon as we rejected, we had our hearts broken. [Field:] Kim Davis couldn't reject the couple this time. The Rowand County clerk was sent to jail after a federal judge in Kentucky held her in contempt of court for refusing to issue licenses to same-sex couples, despite a court order to do so. [Unidentified Male:] She can't violate her conscience so if that means she's going to be here for a longer period of time, she's prepared to be here. [Field:] Davis remains defiantly opposed to authorizing same-sex marriages even as she sits behind bars. [Unidentified Male:] If our government can bully you then they are going to make everybody bow down to what they want to do. If we don't take our country back, we are the one who puts them in there. They work for us. [Field:] Davis rejected an offer from the judge to get out of jail if she agreed to authorize her deputies to issue the licenses or not interfere with the process. Five of those deputies are now giving out licenses that don't bear her name. [Unidentified Male:] She needs to have her name and her authority off of the license. It could be issued under the authority of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. [Field:] Davis' attorney says a marriage license without her name on it is not valid, but lawyers for the couples disagree, which means everything to William Smith and James Yates. [Unidentified Male:] We are very happy. We are elated, actually, that we got our license this time. [Field:] Davis had ordered her six deputy clerks not to issue any marriage licenses after the Supreme Court made its historic ruling earlier this summer allowing same-sex couples to marry nationwide. Those six clerks were all called into a courtroom. The judge asked if they could accept his orders to issue those marriage licenses. Five of the six clerks agreed. The lone hold-out was Kim Davis' son Christi, Victor. [Paul:] Thank you very much, Alexandra. We appreciate it. Let's bring in CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney, Danny Cevallos now. Danny, good to see you. Davis' attorney says those licenses are invalid without her signature, any concern that she is right? [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] It's an interesting issue and probably a case of first impression, but the arguments by the clerk here is that she is the elected county clerk and that these licenses must bear her name, in addition to the county seal. But I think that a court would ultimately determine that the Office of the Clerk is who is issuing the license, not necessarily the actual clerk, that is, the human, whose name is on the license. And just looking at my own cases and dealings with clerks of court, clerks of court routinely have deputy clerks who issue documents and they may bear a signature, but that significant is often just a stamp or some other facsimile. The reality is the actual person who occupies that office doesn't personally stamp and review every single document that goes through the office. It is a government office and that government office issues the licenses. So it is an interesting legal argument by Miss Davis. I don't know that it is one that will ultimately prevail. [Paul:] In an interview after she was elected back in November, she told a "Moorhead News," I'm quoting here, "I promise to follow the statues of this office to the letter." And we know well, I guess, first of all, you have to wonder if she is going against her own pledge at this particular time, but we know her attorney and court papers argued that issuing same-sex marriage licenses irreparably violates her conscience. Help us understand here. What are her rights when it pertains to her religious liberties and freedoms, compared to federal law? [Cevallos:] Miss Davis occupies two positions when it comes to speech. One is as a citizen of the United States, but the other is also in her position as clerk, where she essentially speakers for the government. So her argument is that she, as a person, cannot execute her duties because of her personal beliefs. But her opponents say, it's a pretty strong argument, once you are an elected official, you are, in many ways, an arm of the government and you are there to perform official government duties and I've reviewed the Kentucky statutes. And it appears that the country clerk is responsible for issuing marriage licenses. There doesn't appear to be anything in there that that disagrees with their personal views and there are many, many government jobs that if we had people refusing to do them because of whatever their personal beliefs were, then the offense result could be chaos. Imagine if all kinds of different elected official decided, well, these some of the duties I feel like I can perform and these are the duties against my personal beliefs. It would create chaos, I think, if this were county officials could just stop doing their job. [Paul:] You wonder where the balance is then, I suppose. Danny Cevallos, don't go too far. Stick around here. Just to let you know, later this morning, Davis' attorney is going to be joining us coming up and we have some questions for him as well. [Blackwell:] We will have Danny come up in the next segment to talk about these new reports this morning that former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton paid a State Department staffer to maintain a private e-mail server at her home. Well, now that former staffer is planning to invoke the Fifth Amendment when he is questioned by a congressional committee. Why? We will have that discussion in just a moment. Plus, police across the nation are on edge after a spike in recent cop killings. We have got a live report on speculation, at least, about what is behind the attacks, and the challenges that law enforcement officers are facing. [Unidentified Male:] There are some real challenges out there in this country right now. It is a very tough time to be a police officer at this moment. [Nic Robertson, Cnn International Diplomatic Editor:] That's the one that the U.N. Security Council resolution 2254 which said that there should be a transition from power from President Assad. They want to see the White House get behind that. But they are concerned because they feel that Trump is mercurial and don't have at the moment a high degree of certainty of where he's going next on this. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Anchor:] The U.S., Nic, is saying that Russia is complicit in this chemical weapons attack. From a more global perspective how are countries including American allies now viewing Russia after this? [Robertson:] You know, I think there would be a certain element of satisfaction or relief, if you will, to a degree, because, again, the concerns run deep about where the White House goes moving forward. But if you remember, when President Trump came to office you had the British Prime Minister Theresa May when she was in Washington in late January saying, yes, by all means deal with Putin, but check and verify. This is a man not to be trusted and this has been the view from the European allies. So, when they hear Nikki Haley at the U.N. essentially dismissing the anger that's been portrayed by the Russian ambassador to the United Nations and overall, you know, President Trump, Rex Tillerson, secretary of state, essentially dismissing Russia's claims of this gas attack hasn't been properly investigated, you know, Syria couldn't possibly be involved in it, just a completely negate that and wash that away with these airstrikes which says, we're not listening to you, essentially, you're wrong you're lying. That is giving a certain amount of relief to the allies in Europe who are very concerned about where Trump was going over relations with Putin and therefore the strong European resolve over Russia's actions, annexing Crimea, getting involved in Ukraine, the worries about what they see is doing inside Syria, or after all, Europe is getting overrun, wash across by refugees coming out of Syria. So, they are relieved in part. But, again, we have to come back to that point: what happens next? Everyone is saying it and that's the view from here as well. [Keilar:] Nic Robertson in London thank you so much. Victor? [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Now to this Russian warship that's on the move to a Russian naval space in Syria a military source tells Russian state news the ship is armed with cruise missiles and it's entering the same waters where U.S. ships launched that volley of Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase. Is it a Russian show of strength or a sign of something worse? All right. Let's talk now with Jack Barsky. He's a former KGB spy and author of a book "Deep Undercover." Jack, good morning to you. [Jack Barsky, Former Kgb Agent:] Good morning. [Blackwell:] So, let's start here with the Admiral Grigorovich that's moving into the Mediterranean. We know that cruise ship missiles are on board. We know that Russian forces are helping to beef up the Syrian air resources. What do you make of this? Is this just a show of force or does this suggest that something else is coming? [Barsky:] Of course, it's a show of force. Syria has been an ally since I can remember, in my late teens and early 20s has been an ally of the Soviet Union, who's one of the good guys, so to speak. And Assad's there was Assad's father and now Putin is strongly allied with the son. So, the concern really is that we're not facing just Syria, and we're not dealing with just the Middle East, but we're not sitting across the table with what is currently our main adversaries which is Russia but sort of getting close to being across a firing line and that, I am deeply concerned with. [Blackwell:] I understand you told one of our producers that through Russians eyes, this strike appears to be emotional. Talk about that, if you would. [Barsky:] Well, again, I just heard a few commentators say the same thing. It's because Donald Trump during the campaign pretty much gave a completely different view of the world and I'm still trying to figure out what is going to be the Trump doctrine, and he's sort of changed on a dime and he said this himself. He was emotionally impacted by what he saw. That's not how we do policy. That's not how we you know, deal with the world as a whole. I'm concerned with that as well. [Blackwell:] Yes, and as we look ahead to this meeting, we know that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is headed to Moscow next week mean toing will be, I believe on Wednesday. It's difficult for us because of some inconsistencies and contradictions determine how the U.S. will approach this meeting. But from your perspective, how do you expect the Kremlin will approach this meeting with Secretary Tillerson? [Barsky:] I hope the Kremlin will continue to probe. Is there some consistency to our policy? Is there is there really a line in the sand that they can't cross? Ultimately, they are not suicidal. You know, neither would the Soviet leaders in the past. They want to survive, but they also want to win the game. So, we need to be have a very consistent approach that isn't just short term, but long term and I'm hoping that Mr. Tillerson is going to pursue that kind of line of thinking. [Blackwell:] So, when you say that there is some they want to win the game and not suicidal, you believe there is some diplomatic option on the table, that there is some room for, for some deal making? [Barsky:] There should be. And I can only remember and this is pretty much still very strong in my memory when Ronald Reagan stepped on the scene, the Soviet leaders and that trickled down through the ranks of the KGB were scared out of their mind, and they really respected Ronald Reagan's strong approach to the relationship with the Soviet Union. But, that did not preclude sitting down and having a conversation as adversaries rather than enemies. [Blackwell:] Very quickly before we go, I want to you listen to Senator Marco Rubio and what he said about Russia and this chemical attack. Let's watch. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Florida:] The Russians are complicit in these war crimes. They were at that facility and had personnel stationed at that airbase. They had to have known there was sarin gas being loaded on to those planes. [Blackwell:] With your knowledge of Putin, do you think that's plausible the Russians knew that this was going to happen or was potentially possible? [Barsky:] It's possible, but the Russians, if they were complicit, it was with a wink and a nod. It was with having the ability to use plausible deniability. What the senator there has said is speculation. And I wish we should get off of the, you know, speculation and deal with facts. I don't think the facts will ever come out on this one. [Blackwell:] All right. Jack Barsky, thanks so much for being with us. [Barsky:] You're welcome. [Blackwell:] Brianna? [Keilar:] When President Trump ordered air strikes on Syria, he join a list of presidents that had used them to send a warning or punish an enemy. Ahead, we'll look at what those major missile attacks accomplished. [Tapper:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. More on our world lead now. German police say they have detained a man who might be linked to the Berlin Christmas market attack that left 12 dead. A prosecutor says the 40-year-old Tunisian's phone number was found an the attacker's cell phone. Meanwhile, Dutch police say it's likely that the terrorist, Anis Amri, traveled through the Netherlands before finally reaching Italy, where police killed him in that shoot-out in Milan. ISIS claimed it inspired the Berlin attack, prompting the ISIS-related Web site to release video of Amri pledging his allegiance to the terrorist group. But, on the battlefield, ISIS might be suffering major losses in Syria and in Iraq. A senior military official telling CNN as many as 50,000 ISIS fighters have been killed since the war against the terrorist group began. Just days before leaving office, President Obama is trying to make a final push against ISIS by sending more than 200 additional U.S. troops into Syria. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr filed this report. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] U.S.-backed fighters near Raqqa, Syria, preparing to attack, hoping to drive ISIS out. CNN cannot independently verify this new video. Getting to Raqqa has been a top U.S. military priority. Now Donald Trump is inheriting an ISIS war that just got even more dangerous for U.S. troops since his tough campaign talk. [Donald Trump , President-elect:] We got to get rid of ISIS quickly, quickly. [Starr:] The first of 200 additional U.S. troops authorized by President Obama to go into northern Syria will begin moving in and out of the area in the coming days, a U.S. official tells CNN. But the region is so perilous, American troops will only stay for a few days at a time. Training local forces no longer a main focus. U.S. troops will have orders to help Turkish and Kurdish troops, who are close to outright war between themselves, focus on ISIS. The Pentagon is concerned that as the Turks approach the down of al- Bab, they fight Kurds instead of ISIS and they turn towards Manbij, a hard fought victory for the U.S. backed forces. It is Raqqah to the south that the U.S. wants everyone to head for. The Turks want U.S. support, even air strikes. The U.S. ground forces could call those strikes in for Turkish President Erdogan. [Unidentified Male:] We are talking to them about how to help them in their efforts. [Starr:] One U.S. official tells CNN the U.S. troops will not initiate combat but may well find themselves in a combat situation. The Pentagon believes the risk is vital to stop future ISIS attacks in the West. [Unidentified Male:] We know that central to external operations plotting is the city of Raqqah. And that's why we need to get down there and isolate that city as fast as we can. [Starr:] U.S. officials say there are specific buildings in Raqqah where they believe top ISIS operatives may be hiding. U.S. drones and communications intercepts are gathering intelligence on those targets, waiting to strike them when civilians are not there. The big unknown, will Trump hand over the Raqqah fight to Russia and the Syrian regime? [Unidentified Male:] If you pull completely out, you watch focus drift away from defeating ISIS and capturing recapturing Raqqah and eliminating the terrorist threat that emanates from that city. [Starr:] So what could President Donald Trump do differently about ISIS than President Obama? Well, he could, in fact, turn some of this fight, if you will, over to Moscow, but it is not clear that Moscow shares the same priority about getting to Raqqah, and the U.S. intelligence community believes Raqqah is a threat to U.S. national security because of the ISIS plotters. Jake [Tapper:] It's a big question. Barbara Starr, thank you so much. Republicans may have the White House and a majority in Congress come January 20, but that doesn't mean it will be smooth sailing. We'll look at the battles awaiting lawmakers in 2017 next. [Vause:] President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drug has led to a deadly crackdown in the Philippines. The country's national police says nearly 6,000 people had been killed since July 1st. Just over 2,000 of those deaths happened during police operations. More than 3,000 were extrajudicial or vigilante-style killings. Philippines' Vice President Leni Robredo, a former human rights lawyer, has been often critical of the president's war on drugs. She is resigning her cabinet post as housing secretary, while remaining as vice president. [Leni Robredo, Philippine Vice President:] It is not as if we are against the war of drugs. We do agree with the president that it has reached a level wherein the government must really do something about it, where government has to be really creative in coming up with ways on how to solve it. But, you know, doing it this way, we think it only makes the problem more complex. [Vause:] Daniel Berehulak joins me now via Skype from Bangkok in Thailand. A photojournalist with "The New York Times." He photographed 57 homicide victims in over just 35 days in the Philippines for covering the government's war on drugs. Daniel, thanks for stopping by. I will get to some of your images in a moment. But you were in the Philippines for a month. You are covering the story. What was your impression overall of who is being killed and who is actually doing the killing. [Daniel Berehulak, Journalist, The New York Times:] The impression that I got and the reality was that most of the victims were in of course the neighborhoods. And talking to this people in these communities, most of them were at the hands of the police. In official police operations and as you mentioned, there are over 3,000 unsolved homicides which these people believe are linked to the vigilante killings, who they feel being perpetrated by the police also. [Vause:] And the Filipino police said since July, they've been to more than five million homes as part of this crackdown. So that in mind, tell us what happen to 34-year-old Florjohn Cruz who was killed at home. [Berehulak:] Florjohn was home one evening fixing their transistor radio for his mother when a group of masked men stormed into his living room and within ordered his mother out, within three minutes Florjohn was dead. Neighbors heard that the police yelled out that Florjohn was fighting back and within a short period of time they heard gunshots and Florjohn was shot dead in the middle of his living room. [Vause:] I think he admitted to using drugs in the past, but had since given it up. [Berehulak:] He has since surrendered, exactly. So this anti-drug campaign that President Duterte is out on is not only targeting drug dealers or drug addicts, they are also targeting people who do believe that they were getting some kind of amnesty. Over 700,000 people have surrendered over in the Philippines. And so the feeling that this people have and of course communities that no one that, you know, echoing the rhetoric of the president which is that they feel like they are being slaughtered, which is [Vause:] Sorry to interrupt, Daniel. But tell us of the funeral of Jimboy Bolasa. [Berehulak:] That was probably one of the toughest days to photography and to watch. It's a photograph of a young girl grieving, Jimji, who is 6, grieving for her father, Jimboy, who was weeks before abducted by vigilantes, masked man from in front of the house. His neighbor was also abducted and within 45 minutes their bodies were found tortured and with bullet wounds under a nearby bridge. [Vause:] Right. Also, we know that this war on drugs has led to thousands of people being locked up. The jails overcrowded. We look at one of your photographs of that right now, but I want to hear your reaction. The office of the Filipino president criticize your story on Monday saying it's totally one sided. What's your response? [Berehulak:] Well, this is the actual reality on the streets. Some people call it and see it in a very, very different way. They believe that what's going on is a war and these deaths are legitimate actions. The statistics that they are actually questioning statistics that the actual Philippines national police gave us. [Vause:] And we're just looking at that photograph in a jail which wall-to-wall people. There's no room, obviously, for anybody to even more in there. The deplorable conditions. Daniel, thanks so much for sharing that with us. [Berehulak:] Thanks so much for having me. Thanks, John. [Vause:] Sure. You may remember Jonathan Hancock, the American marine Iraq war veteran. We talked to him here on NEWSROOM last week. He was finishing up a walk across the United States. Well, he has completed that journey on Monday. He walked into Camp Pendleton in California 5800 miles from where he started in Maryland. The trek began September 11 last year and brought Hancock face to face with some snakes, wolves, even a mountain lion. He also, though, reconnected with Marine Corp brothers and made new friends with the families of fallen vets. He did it to heal himself and to raise awareness of the struggles that war veterans are facing and now he's done. Thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. "World Sport" is up next. And I will be back with another hour of news from all around the world. You're watching CNN. [Carl Azuz, Cnn 10 Anchor:] First topic today on CNN 10. We`re breaking down American and Russian tensions over what`s happening in the Middle Eastern country of Syria. I`m Carl Azuz. It`s good to have you watching. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in the Russian capital yesterday. He`s meeting with his Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The main subject: Syria`s ongoing civil war. Last week, dozens of Syrians were killed by a chemical weapon, a poisonous gas. The U.S. blames Syria`s government for launching the attack and though Syria denied it, American ships later fired missiles at a Syrian air base, the base where the U.S. says the chemical attack was made from. This was the first time that America targeted a Syrian government position. Previously, it had only gone after ISIS terrorist positions in Syria. But here`s where it gets more complicated Russia supports the Syrian government and its president, Bashar al-Assad. And the U.S. does not. So, America is trying to influence Russia to end its support for Syria`s leader. [Rex Tillerson, United States Secretary Of State:] We want to create a future for Syria that is stable and secure. And so, Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role. Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group which we believe is not going to serve Russia`s interest longer term. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Faced with new Russian threats, the U.S. military not backing down in the skies over Iraq and Syria. We`re on a KC-10 tanker plane refueling the fighters pounding [Isis:] Of course, there`s some tension since the Russians have announced they don`t want to communicate with the U.S. anymore in the skies over Syria. That`s why crews like this one take great care when they fly into Syrian air space. [voice-over]: Stopping the communications significantly increases the risk of mid-air collisions over this crowded air space where U.S. coalition and Russian planes operate very close to one another. Russia made the move after America hit a Syrian airfield with cruise missiles last week in response to a chemical attack on a Syrian village killing around 90 people. Washington blames the Assad regime, Russia`s main ally in the civil war there, even as Syria denies being behind the attack. But America doesn`t want the turmoil to affect the ongoing effort to destroy Despite the current tensions with Russia, the U.S. says that the fight against ISIS has to continue full steam, especially with American and allied forces on the ground and in harm`s way. [voice-over]: A sentiment echoed by commanders leading the air war against [Isis. Brig. Gen. Charles Corcoran, U.s. Air Force:] We can`t take our eye off the ball. It is it is ISIS. That`s why we`re here. So, you know, our national leadership decided to do something about a problem that they saw and and if we`re asked to help out with something like that, we`re obviously ready to do it. But, right now, ISIS is the game. [Pleitgen:] So far, the U.S. says there have been no incidents involving Russian planes over Iraq and Syria and they hope, despite Russia`s rhetoric, that it stays that way. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, aboard a KC-10 refueling jet over Iraq and Syria. [Azuz:] But one big question in all of this: why does Russia support Syria`s leader? Well, for one thing, the presidents of both nations see terrorist groups like ISIS as a threat. For another, Russia wants an ally in the Middle East so it can have an influence in the region. The third reason, Syria is a strategic location for Russia. Its only naval base in the Mediterranean is in western Syria, and Russia`s military presence is felt throughout that country. [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] It`s a fair question to ask why any country would want to get its military involved in something like this. The answer when it comes to Russia is because they already are. Look, here`s Syria and all of these dots represent all the places where the Syrian military has bases, and where some of the rebel forces have bases as well. But right in the middle of it all, here are four big Russian bases out there and there are Russian troops spread around in other areas as well, thousands of them. We don`t have an accurate count but we do know its runs into the thousands and that means that there are also Russian jets and Russian helicopters and Russian troop transports and Russian radar system and air defense systems. Take a look at this, if you want the sense of it. The middle flag over there on the far side, that`s this ground right here and if you look down in this quadrant, this area right here, in 2014, it looked like this and in 2015, like that a brand new, state of the art base built for the Russians and by the Russians. This is a permanent facility. They`re not just visitors there. They intend to stay and they want to stay in this region, because just like the United States likes having influence in the Middle East and considers that important, the Russians do, too. Syria is a longtime Russian ally and the Russians are making it clear they have no intention of going anywhere even if a few jets quite close to them, it blown up along the way. [Azuz:] Ten-second trivia: What is the state motto of New York? Excelsior, Into the Future, Crossroads of America, or Dirigo? Excelsior, which is Latin for "ever upward" is the state motto of New York. A few U.S. states currently offer free community college for high school graduates. New York just became the first state to offer free tuition at two- and four-year colleges. It`s a scholarship program called the Excelsior Scholarship. It was part of the newly passed state budget and the state government says more than 940,000 households across New York would qualify. But there are some conditions. For one thing, if students want to attend the public state or city college for free, they have to be residents of New York and their families have to earn less than $100,000 a year. That limit would increase to $125,000 in the years ahead. Students on the scholarship would have to attend school full time unless they have stabilities, and though their tuition would be free, they`d still have to pay for books, fees, and room and board if they live on campus. That can all add up to more than $15,000 per year. Recipients would have to live and work in New York after they graduated. If they took two years, they`d have to stay two years. For a four-year college, they`d have to stay four years. The state doesn`t want students getting the free education and then leaving to live somewhere else. Students could lose their scholarships if they don`t maintain the necessary GPA to stay in school and graduate on time. The governor`s office estimates the program will cost taxpayers $163 million for the first year and that`s before the program is fully implemented. Ten hours and thirty-nine minutes per day, that`s how much time American adult spend on average staring at a screen. Don`t get mad at me. We`re only 10 minutes. The statistic comes from a Nielsen company audience report from last year. It includes time spent on tablets, smart phones, computers, games, TVs. And for those who can`t step away, it could be considered toxic. [Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Cnn Chief Medical Correspondent:] How do you know you have a problem and you need a digital detox? Well, if you`re watching this right now, you`re probably tech-savvy. You`ve got lots of different devices and you maybe somebody who is in a need of a digital detox. It`s when these devices start to control your life as opposed to making them easier. The area we find this impacts your life the most and this may surprise you but it`s in fact your sleep. You find that people who are using their devices so close to bedtime creates an arousal in your brain that is so profound that it makes it much harder to go to sleep. It also affects your circadian rhythm overall. That`s your sort of normal rhythm between lights and night, and when that is disrupted, it just throws off your whole sleep schedule. One thing you don`t realize is that simply by reading an email or reading a text message in the middle of the night, it can take your brain from zero to sixty very, very quickly and that brain is a very, very hard brain to slow down. One golden rule that most sleep experts agree on is that if you do get woken by the phone or by something else and you`re awake, get up and walk around. Don`t come back and lie in the bed until you`re truly ready to go to sleep. So, take a break. Put on the "out of office". Put the cellphone away. It could help you live to a hundred. [Azuz:] Would a tunnel for ships rate a perfect "10 Out of 10"? It depends on whom you ask. This is a proposal in Norway. If it`s built, it would be a world first for ships. It`s be more than a mile long, 121 feet high, 86 feet wide, it`d cost about $314 million to build. According to Wired.com, some say it wouldn`t be worth that, especially in good weather when ships could sail around. Others say it would, especially in bad weather when they couldn`t. So, it`s more of a hard sell for a soft sail, and a soft sell for a hard sail, and a boat face for both sell that may or may not sail or tunnel its way in the history. Hey, for a romantic cruise, they could market it as the tunnel of love boat. That`d be sweet. I`m Carl Azuz. We`re setting sail on another edition of CNN 10. END [Berman:] All right. Live pictures right now from Portland, Oregon. You can see there in the background those are police and a police line. The reason they're there is there has been well, what started as peaceful demonstrations, some 4,000 people on the streets of Portland upset about the results of the election, turned into what police are calling riots overnight. Several hundred people left causing some damage, lighting things on fire, breaking windows and cars and store front. We're told several arrests have been made. We just spoke to Sergeant Wilson from the Portland Police Department who told us that they were using measures like, you know, paint guns and pellet guns, none lethal methods, smoke grenades to try to disperse the crowd. [Kosik:] It's certainly looking a lot calmer than it did just a short time ago. [Berman:] Yes. [Kosik:] Yes. We were seeing a lot of destruction happening. You know, dragging garbage cans across, lighting fires, certainly not seeing that now. [Berman:] Yes. 20 minutes ago that was the scene. So we're going to keep our eye on that. As we keep our eye on Portland, we're also going to talk about the future, the future Trump administration. Donald Trump holds his first meeting with his transition team today. This amid the news that Steve Bannon of Breitbart who chaired Donald Trump's campaign at the end is being considered to be chief of staff. Really want to talk about that. Joining us now from Washington CNN political commentator, Symone Sanders, who was a former Bernie Sanders press secretary, Paris Dennard who has been supportive of Donald Trump throughout the campaign, CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, columnist for the "Washington Post," and here with us, CNN Politics reporter, Eugene Scott. Good morning to you one and all. Josh, I want you to remind our viewers who Steve Bannon is and why he is controversial. [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] Right. Well, you know, you really couldn't have two more different candidates here. On the one hand, you have Reince Priebus, the head of the RNC who just spent a year and a half trying to keep the party together. And it wasn't easy and he had mixed results. And then you have Steve Bannon, the executive chairman of Breitbart, an organization dedicated to destroying the Republican establishment. That's his stated public goal. OK. And that's been a lot of what's been going into the way that Trump ran his campaign. So you can't really have a much more and he's been, you know, running a site that promotes racism and anti-Semitism and all that other stuff, by the way. So you can't really have more of a stark choice here. And the White House chief the staff position is the most powerful position. Some ways more powerful than Cabinet level secretaries. And if Trump chooses Steve Bannon, that will be a clear sign that forget about reaching out to Democrats. That he's not even going to have a honeymoon with the Republicans in the Congress. Steve Bannon is a man dedicated to burning it all down and if he is able to do that from the Oval Office, that will be quite something to watch. [Kosik:] Paris Dennard, can you give us an idea of what is going on behind the scenes in the soon-to-be Trump administration as to how they're coming to this decision of who's going to be chief of staff? [Paris Dennard, Trump Supporter:] Absolutely. Look, by law, both campaigns had funds set up from the federal government to help with the transition process because after 911 because what happens is you need to have time to put together the administration and get it going so that you don't have this gap of time where there's no leadership. [Kosik:] Paris, I'm talking about the decision between Bannon and possibly Reince Priebus. What's going through their minds and let's say choosing just between those two. [Dennard:] Right. And so to that point, they take this very seriously. Because by law that they have to do this. Now what Bannon is, he is an effective leader. He has effectively led his organization Breitbart. He has effectively done a great job as it relates to the last few months of the campaign getting Mr. Trump to President-elect Trump. Reince Priebus, who's the chairman of the RNC, has been an effective leader this last year like previously stated in leading the RNC and getting Mr. Trump to be President-elect Trump. And so it's a very serious decision on who can help manage the White House, manage the messaging of the White House and the personnel of the White House. And as Andy Card, my former chief of staff when I worked for President George W. Bush for four years, he said make sure the president eats well, sleeps well and gets the information that he needs at the right time. And so whether it's Bannon, whether it's Reince Priebus or somebody else on the list that we don't know, it's going to be somebody who's going to be an effective leader because Mr. Trump now President-elect Trump has the expertise and experience as being a business leader and finding the best talent to do what needs to be done to keep the ball moving forward and to advance his agenda. [Berman:] So, Paris, you know, I know Andy Card. And Steve Bannon could not be humanly more different than Andy Card. I mean, but, you know, Andy Card was the epitome of a Washington and political insider who worked in many, many administrations. [Dennard:] Right. [Berman:] Knew how Washington work. Knew how to get things done. Which is something that some people say that Donald Trump needs. Now other people will say he won the campaign by being an outsider and a bomb thrower. [Dennard:] Absolutely. [Berman:] You know, and so that's Steve Bannon. But, Symone Sanders, Steve Bannon, also because of his association with Breitbart, also because of the ads that he pushed at the end of the campaign that's been many people with anti-Semitic themes there, that also sends a message that people right now looking for signs of healing. Signs of reaching across the divide. Steve Bannon isn't reaching across that divide, Symone. [Symone Sanders, Cnn Political Commentator:] No, and actually Steve Bannon has no interest in reaching across that divide. Look, I have friends that work at the Republican National Committee. People that came in post-Trump. People that came in after Trump had been elected as the Republican nominee. And they are definitely concerned. There were real tensions between the some of the campaign folks specifically the Bannon crew and people at the Republican National Committee. And clearly the folks at the Republican National Committee would want nothing more than Reince Priebus to jump in and serve. But there are real tensions and real concerns I think across the board. I mean, when you look at the Democratic side, folks like myself, other people in the party, Democratic leadership, we are looking and watching and waiting to see what Donald Trump will do. There are many people that have called again for healing. Said to give Donald Trump a chance. I need Donald Trump President-elect Trump to tell us, show us what exactly he's going to do and picking Steve Bannon is a clear signal, is the clearest sign we could have from him of what kind of White House administration he's going to run. [Kosik:] Eugene Scott, your quick thoughts on the possible choice of Steve Bannon as chief of staff? [Eugene Scott, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Well, I mean, I think we have to remember that Donald Trump was elected by a broader group than we thought. We also we always thought he would just get mainly white working class voters but he got most white men and he got most white women. And many of these people are more centrist than Steve Bannon is so for him to go in the direction of Steve Bannon would please a part of his support base, but it won't please many people who are really truly hoping to work with people who are more left than people who backed Donald Trump. [Lemon:] Also really the first [Dennard:] Again, this is just rumor and speculation. That's the nature there is no guarantee. This is rumor and speculation. [Berman:] It's more than rumor and speculation. I mean, you're right. He certainly hasn't made the hire and until he does, we don't know for sure. But it's more than rumors and speculation in the sense that these are sources from within the transition team telling us directly, making sure that we know that Steve Bannon is being considered there. This is something that they made a point of telling us and not just us, but other news organizations. Guys, stick around. A lot more to discuss coming up. [Kosik:] And ahead on EARLY START, the fight for Mosul. A senior ISIS commander killed in combat by a coalition airstrike. We are live on the ground in Iraq as the fighting intensifies. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] We just heard from Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate for president, during her appearance at a journalist conference in Washington. She took several shots at Donald Trump, saying it's her message each and every day to talk about Trump's controversial comments. Let's get a different perspective. Joining us from Florida, Dr. Ben Carson, a top adviser to Donald Trump. Thanks very much, Dr. Carson, for joining us. [Dr. Ben Carson, , Senior Advisor, Donald Trump Presidential Campaign:] Absolutely. [Blitzer:] She says America is better than Donald Trump. You heard what she told those Hispanic and African-American journalists. I want to get your response. [Carson:] Obviously, it's an attempt to make this whole thing about Donald Trump. If we can always be talking about him and his short comings, we don't have to talk about her and her short comings. We don't have to talk about the economy. This is something that is very important to the American people. We don't have to talk about terrorism. We don't have to talk about how ISIS was formed because of her policies and Barack Obama's policies of withdrawing and allowing that vacuum to form. There are a whole host of things I am sure they would prefer not to talk about. It's much easier to try to talk about Donald Trump. But this is about so much more than Donald Trump, so much more than Hillary Clinton. We're talking about the future of this country, this direct of this country for our children and on our grandchildren. They do not want to talk about that. [Blitzer:] I want to talk about the economy in a moment. I want to get your reaction, your response to what the former acting CIA director, Michael Morell, did today. Wrote an article in "The "New York Times," endorsing Secretary Clinton, describing Donald Trump this way let me put it up on the screen. He said, "Donald J. Trump is not only unqualified for the job, but he may well pose a threat to our national security. In sharp contrast to Mrs. Clinton, Mr. Trump has no experience on national security. Even more important, the character traits he has exhibited during the primary season suggest he would be a poor, even dangerous commander-in-chief." He spent 20-plus years, served Democratic presidents, Republican presidents. He said he can no longer remain silent and wrote this arm. Your reaction? [Carson:] My reaction is that he has also involved with the secretary of state during the Benghazi thing. And he was not critical of her in a situation where we had those Navy SEALs on top of that compound firing away, helping their colleagues escape. And I know in the back of their mind, they were saying, help is on the way, because we've always supported our troops. We've always supported our staff. We left them. We said it's too dangerous. What precedent does that set? What does that tell our military people in the future? You get in a scrape, you're on your own? That's not a good message. That's somebody who I think would not be a fit commander-in-chief. [Blitzer:] So you are saying Hillary Clinton would not be a fit commander-in-chief. But you are raising questions now about Mike Morell, a career professional, rose through the ranks in the intelligence community. You are suggesting what, that he's partisan, that he's not responsible? [Carson:] That he supports yeah, he supported her throughout that whole endeavor. If he was truly someone who was concerned about America, about our defense and about our image, I think he would not have participated in that. [Blitzer:] He had two CIA contractors who were killed in that Benghazi operation, terrorist attack. I assume he's very, very intimately involved if all that of that. And all of the congressional reviews, basically, did not condemn if at all, as far as I know. [Carson:] Well, whether they condemned him or not, he was a part of it, Wolf. You can't get him out of it. He was in it. He knew what was going on. He knew I mean, this is really quite, quite clear. So why was he not concerned about that if he's so concerned about the defense of our nation? [Blitzer:] I am sure he is very concerned. ISIS also right now in this article very concerned about Donald Trump and his relationship with Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Listen to what he writes, among other things, about that, he says, "In the intelligence business, we would say that Mr. Putin has recruited Mr. Trump as an unwitting agent of the Russian Federation." Now, those are very that's a very powerful accusation. [Carson:] Yeah, but, Wolf, there's going to be all kind of accusations flying from both sides, things that aren't accurate and things that again are trying to make this about Hillary Clinton, about Donald Trump. It's not about them. And I think a lot of the American people recognize that. That's why you are seeing some of these large enthusiastic crowds, even though there are a lot of people telling them things to the contrary. They see hope. They want a future for their children. They want economic freedom. They don't like the fact that we are going on $20 trillion deficit. They don't believe people who say the economy is humming along beautifully because they have eyes and ears. They can see for themselves that it's not. [Blitzer:] Let's talk about the economy. 255,000 jobs created last month, 30 months in a row if now more. 15 million jobs created since the Great Recession that President Obama inherited when he took office. You remember, in 2009, the U.S. was losing maybe 800,000 jobs a month, 900,000 jobs a month. Unemployment is right around 9, 10 percent. It has clearly improved dramatically since then, wouldn't you agree? [Carson:] I don't know about the "dramatically" part. There has been some improvement. I'm happy for that. That's good. But I want you to understand that this is the first time in a seven or eight-year period of a president that we have consistently had less than 3 percent growth. I don't believe that has ever happened in the history of the United States. People say it's the new normal. There is nothing normal about it. It's these policies, these excessive regulations tamping down the ability of people to use their God-given abilities to create in this country. It's excessive taxation. It's things that allow the government to grow and control our lives, when the American people don't need somebody controlling their lives. [Blitzer:] You remember, the economy, if you take a look at the economy, where it was when he took office, the Dow Jones was 7,000. Now it's about 18,000? That's a pretty dramatic improvement. If you ask people who remember what it was like at the end of 2008, the beginning of 2009, that Great Recession we were all having, what it's like now, there has been a dramatic improvement, even though it's by no means perfect. [Carson:] It's been a dramatic improvement for you, Wolf, for me, and all of Hillary Clinton's Wall Street buddies, but it's not a dramatic improvement for the average American family who's lost 2,000 in annual income over the last few years. So it's not even. And what we need to do is be looking for things that will spread the wealth to all of the people, not just the selected few. [Blitzer:] Let me get your reaction, because the latest uproar involving Donald Trump and the House speaker Paul Ryan, as you know, so far, Donald Trump has failed to endorse Paul Ryan. He's got his own primary election coming up next Tuesday. Certainly, hasn't endorsed John McCain or New Hampshire Senator Kelly Ayotte. You told me on Wednesday you thought Trump would be on board, especially with Paul Ryan. You still believe that? [Carson:] Yes, I believe he will come on board with them. You know, it's much to do about nothing. All those people that you just mentioned are working on the same team, working towards the same goals, and they will continue to work together. In terms of what one says one day versus one day versus another day, it's not important. What is important is that they're continuing to move in the right direction. [Blitzer:] By the way, we're just getting word in fact, I'm just learning right now that tonight when he's in Green Bay, Donald Trump, Green Bay, Wisconsin, he will, we are told by two sources, he will go ahead and endorse Paul Ryan. You fully anticipated this. Did you think he was going to do it before the primary or after the primary? [Carson:] I don't I don't really know. What I do know is that Paul Ryan is a good man. He works extremely hard. And he's very concerned about the direction of our country and the future. And Donald Trump feels exactly the same way. There's no way that they cannot be working together. [Blitzer:] And do you feel the same way about John McCain and Kelly Ayotte? Should Donald Trump endorse both of those Republicans if they face tough re-election bids? [Carson:] I think it would be a wise move, absolutely. [Blitzer:] Dr. Ben Carson, as usual, thank you so much for joining us. [Carson:] Thank you. Have a good weekend. [Blitzer:] You, too, please. Coming up, Colorado, a key battleground state that could help Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton win the White House. So why is Hillary Clinton suspending some political advertising in that state? We will ask the governor, John Hickenlooper. He's standing by, live. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back to THE LEAD. We have more breaking news for you now, this time about 2016 election. U.S. government officials have been reluctant to publicly the Russia agencies or Russian government as the definitively the culprits behind the widespread hacking of political organizations here in the United States. But that just changed. The U.S. government is formally now naming names. CNN chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto is in New York and brings us the story. Jim, U.S. officials have been debating whether to do this for a while. Today, the Obama administration formally said they're, quote, "confident" that Russia is behind DNC and other hacks. What changed? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, Jake, one, you want to get the intelligence right and get that level of confidence. Fact is, though, as you know, officials have been telling us on background for sometime, and even in some public comments pointing their fingers, if not directly, with a lot of hints at Russia. So they have seemed to have had the intel for some time. Then it becomes a policy decision. I've been told this debate has been going on in the administration for some time. One of the factors has to be, frankly, the overall decline in the relationship. You look at Syria, you look at Ukraine. Not a lot of benefit to holding back right now. There's also a positive reason for this. Meaning that we're getting very close to the presidential election here and they want to make it clear to Americans that they know where this is coming from, who is directing it, and at the same time to give confidence to Americans that even though this is happening, and this was in the statement, that the U.S. system is big enough, it's resilient enough that even with these hacks, the election will go on and you can be confident in the results. [Tapper:] I guess the next question, Jim, is will there be consequences for United States or for Russia for this action, of publicly naming and shaming Russia? [Sciutto:] Well, in the menu of options when there is a hack like this, publicly naming and shaming is to some degree a consequence. It's something that the U.S. has used in the past with great degree of conservatism, only when they know it for sure. They've used it with China, publicly naming and shaming China. They used it with North Korea after the Sony hack. You speak to U.S. intelligence officials, law enforcement officials, they'll say that when you publicly name and shame, when you catch someone red-handed that those countries often pull back, remains to be seen if that's going to be the case with Russia. You have other options, the possibility of economic sanctions that hasn't been decided yet. You also have the possibility of offensive action, right? But that's something the administration is very reluctant to do because they are worried about a tit for tat that could escalate into something much bigger. [Tapper:] All right. Jim Sciutto, thank you so much. Donald Trump did something he hasn't really done much of this entire campaign, or at all. He said he was sorry. What for? That story next. [Cabrera:] Democrats have been looking for a long-shot win in the red state of Georgia, pinning their hopes on a 30-year-old who has never held office in his life. Jon Ossoff was a few percentage points shy of avoiding a runoff in the Georgia district that has gone staunchly Republican since the late 1970s. This comes as state Democrats struggle to get on the same page. The Democratic Unity Tour getting off to kind of a rough start. I want to show you how a Kentucky crowd reacted to the introduction of Senator Bernie Sanders and then new DNC chairman, Dan Perez. Watch. [Unidentified Female:] You guys, we have two minutes left. OK? So maybe you came because you're curious about the new DNC chairman and the future of the Democratic policy. [Cabrera:] OK, Jon, there seems to be two crowds in that video. The Sanders crowd chanting "Bernie," and you heard the response when they were introducing the DNC chair. Keeping in mind, Senator Sanders questioned whether you're a real progressive, which side of that room are you on? [Jon Ossoff, , Georgia Senate Candidate:] Well, maybe it's because I'm a little new to the scene, Ana and thank you for having me but I'm not interested in ideological labels or purity tests. I'll tell you where I stand on the issues, and then I'll let the pundits decide how to label me. I want to cut wasteful spending to prioritize research and development, infrastructure and higher education. I'm pro-choice and pro-LGBT rights. I'm pro-campaign finance reform. I think we need a tough, smart foreign policy that takes it to our enemies without getting bogged down in foreign land wars. I'll leave it to you to figure out where I stand on the ideological spectrum. [Cabrera:] OK. So tell me this, would you vote for Nancy Pelosi if the Democrats were take the majority? [Ossoff:] I haven't given it an ounce of thought. [Cabrera:] Why not? [Ossoff:] Because I'm focused on winning an election here in Georgia's sixth district, not a potential leadership contest in the U.S. House of Representatives that's at least a year and a half away. [Cabrera:] But that's how Democrats get things done, right, if you're to be part of that governing body. [Ossoff:] And there's a lot of time between now and then. There's plenty of time for Democrats to work out what's going to happen at the national level. What I can tell you is that here in Georgia's sixth district, there's unprecedented unity and it's not just Democrats. It's independents and Republicans interested in fresh leadership that moves beyond partisanship. [Cabrera:] Let's talk about leadership. Keith Ellison offered a pretty surprising critique of the former president, President Obama, saying that President Obama was responsible for Trump's win. Listen. [Rep. Keith Ellison, , Minnesota:] Barack Obama could have been a better party leader. And I think that the fact that he wasn't has put his legacy in jeopardy. We lost a lot of statehouse seats. His true legacy is in danger. And I don't think he can say he wasn't part of those losses. I mean, who else? [Cabrera:] Jon, do you agree? Was President Obama responsible? [Ossoff:] Well, Mr. Ellison was a leader in the DNC and it's his role to think about national strategy. But Democrats, Republicans, independents here in Georgia's sixth district are not interested in relitigating. Intraparty fights or intrigue in Washington from [Cabrera:] How do you avoid the errors of the past, then, if you don't reflect? [Ossoff:] Well, it's always useful to reflect on the past. And what I am doing, having reflected on the past, is focusing like laser on economic development, bringing more jobs and investment to the community, and shared values in the community that bring people together, instead of focusing on divisive issues and the kind of politics that drives people apart. [Cabrera:] Health care is a big domestic policy. Would you have voted for Obamacare in 2010 if you were a member? [Ossoff:] Well, given that it brought critical consumer protections, that now I think have been widely recognized in Congress is essential to young people, women, folks with pre-existing conditions, I think I would have supported it. I can tell you this, there is plenty of room for improvement. There's so much interest in looking backwards. I don't think that voters and the American people are interested in looking backwards. I think they are interested in looking forwards and looking forward we need to fix what is broken in Obamacare and keep what works. [Cabrera:] Let me ask you about foreign policy. Do you think the U.S. should directly negotiate with North Korea? [Ossoff:] Well, I think diplomacy should be fully exhausted before there's any discussion of war. So whether that means by lateral talks or talks mediated by third parties that can get the message across, I don't think it's wise [Cabrera:] So what President Trump said on the campaign trail, that he would negotiate directly with Kim Jong-Un, do you think that's a good idea? [Ossoff:] I think we should engage in diplomacy with every country on earth and when we're talking about war, this is not a game. This is millions of lives at stake. This is U.S. Servicemen and women who could be killed in action overseas. This isn't just pundits talking politics, who is up, who is down in any given day. Diplomacy should be exhausted before we go to war and I don't think any administration has the right without congressional approval. [Cabrera:] So do you agree or disagree with the action that we saw the president take in Syria without congressional approval launching the military strikes? [Ossoff:] Well, what we're talking about, enforcing against the chemical weapons against civilians, if U.S. Intelligence confirms that the Syrian military struck civilians with swift, punitive strike to enforce that international norm was a reasonable response but anything further should require Congressional approval and we shouldn't get drawn in to a ground war that can't be resolved with ground military power. [Cabrera:] Jon Ossoff, thank you. Great to have you on. [Ossoff:] Great to be on. Anytime, Ana. Thank you. [Cabrera:] Thanks. Coming up next, today is April 20th, 420, and in the world of marijuana users20 rally in Denver. And while pot is legal in Colorado, police say there is still a thriving black market. Don't miss this. [Tiger Woods, Professional Golfer:] You know, it's hard to comprehend right now. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn:] Tiger Woods talks about pulling off one of the greatest sports comebacks of all time. [Christine Romans, Cnn:] At least eight people are dead after tornados ripped through the south from Texas to Alabama. [Sanchez:] And the White House says Congress isn't smart enough to understand President Trump's tax returns. [Mayor Pete Buttigieg 2020 Presidential Candidate:] I'm a proud son of South Bend, Indiana, and I am running for president of the United States. [Romans:] Mayor Pete Buttigieg just launched his 2020 race for the White House, a busy weekend and a busy morning ahead. Good morning, everyone, welcome to "Early Start," I'm Christine Romans. [Sanchez:] Great to be here with you, Christine. I'm Boris Sanchez in for Dave Briggs. It's Monday, April 15th, 4:00 a.m. on the East Coast. And we start with an absolutely stunning comeback [Romans:] It's amazing. [Sanchez:] yes, for the man who once dominated the sport of golf. Tiger Woods clinching his fifth Masters at his 15th major title at age 43. He overcame scandal, serious back problems and a tightly packed leader board, to win by a single shot. It was Tiger's first major title in 11 years, his first green jacket since 2005. CNN's Don Riddell, has the story form Augusta. [Don Riddell, Cnn Correspondent:] Christine, Boris, can you imagine being world famous at something, but your kids really have no idea, they can't imagine it. They have to take your word for it or watch it on video because they never experienced it for themselves. Well, that was the case for Tiger Woods kids, Sam and Charlie. And that was one of the reason why he wanted to pursue see this comeback to see what he was capable of, but also they could be a part of it too. And that is why the scene on the 18th green on Sunday afternoon at Augusta was just so special. We all know it was historic. We all know it may well be the greatest sporting comeback of all time given everything that he has been through. But to see Tiger scoop up his kids and embrace them in the same that he hugged his dad here in 1997 when he became the youngest Master's champion at the age of 21. That was so special and so emotional for so many people watching it. It has been an extraordinary triumph for Tiger Woods. When you think about everything that he has been through, this is a man who once dominated his sport, who transcended it, but since 2008, it has been so difficult. There was the scandal, the public humiliation, the fall from grace, then all the health issues, the back problems, the multiple surgeries, the spinal fusion operation. Ranked 1200th in the world, just a year and a half ago, Tiger Woods was telling us that it was painful just doing anything, riding in a golf cart. He didn't think he would necessarily be able to compete again and contend for majors. And now here we are, and the pursuit, for Jack Nicklaus' 18 major title, he's back on. Finally Tiger's come from 14 to 15. What does the future hold? Well, I'll tell you this, there's three more majors this year and the two American ones are on courses where Tiger's already won, Best Page and Pebble Beach and the open championship at Royal Portrush, nobody has an advantage there because they haven't played a major tournament there since the 1950s. This is not necessarily the end of a comeback, this could be the beginning. Good luck managing the hype and the excitement ahead of the PGA championship next month. This golf season just got so much more exciting. I can't wait for the next one. Christine, Boris, back to you. [Romans:] All right. Thank you for that. Let's just savor this one before we get ahead of ourselves here. Tiger Woods certainly savoring that victory. He sat down one on one with our Andy Scholes and he talked about how it felt to win against the odds. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Correspondent:] Tiger, you said before it's a miracle that you can even still play golf considering the back surgeries, 11 years, nearly 4,000 days since your last major. Did you ever think this day would come, and how does it feel? [Woods:] Yes. I did think it would come just because of what I did last year. You know, I had a chance to win the open championship, I led going on the back nine on Sunday, I gave Brooks a little bit of a run at the PGA first and second tier. I knew it was in me. You know, did I know it was going to be this week, no, but I had good feeling that the way I was chipping the golf ball that I was going to be in the mix. [Scholes:] You joked before that your kids think of you as the video game golfer, because they had never seen you win a major. Your kids, your mom, your girlfriend were there waiting for you on 18, what was that moment like when your son Charlie jumped in your arms? [Woods:] Surreal. You know, I did the same thing with my dad and now I'm the dad with my son doing the same thing. So, it's amazing how life has evolved, it changes. That was 22 years ago when my dad was there and then now my son is there. My daughter was there. My mom was there. My mom was there 22 years ago, and the fact that she is still around, still kicking, still fighting, goes to show you her resiliency. It's just it's hard to comprehend right now. I mean, honestly, I have to [inaudible] a few hours out of winning the tournament, I'm still trying to enjoy it, and trying to figure out that I won it. I know I have the green jacket on. But it still I think it's going to take a little bit of time for it to sink in. [Sanchez:] Really an incredible story. We could talk about Tiger all day. But we have to shift to Washington now, where the fight to obtain the president's tax returns is intensifying. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders coming up with a new line of attack. She is arguing that members of Congress are not smart enough to examine the president's returns. [Sarah Sanders, White House Press Secretary:] I don't think congress, particularly not this group of congressmen and women are smart enough to look through the thousands of pages that I would assume that President Trump's taxes will be. My guess is most of them don't do their own taxes and I certainly don't trust them to look through the decades of success that the president has and determine anything. [Sanchez:] Well, the Congressional Research Service says there are 10 accountants in this Congress right here on your screen, the list includes two Senators, eight house members. Senator's comments come after the House, Ways and Means Committee chairman, Richard Neil, ratcheted up his demands for access to the president's tax returns. He sent a new letter to the IRS commissioner over the weekend and he stressed that the law gives Congress a right to see the president's tax returns. If the IRS doesn't respond by his new April 23rd deadline, the dispute will likely end up in federal court. [Romans:] Sarah Sanders also tackling whether the Trump administration is still mulling the idea of releasing some immigrants to so called sanctuary cities. She told ABC's this week, it's up to Democrats in Congress to work with the president to take action. [Sanders:] This is not the ideal situation. The ideal solution is real simple. It's for Congress, particularly Democrats in Congress to sit down with the president, do their jobs and help us stop this awful crisis that is taking place at our border. It can't be denied or ignored anymore. They can either deal with it at the border and stop it from getting worse or they're going to have to take on some of that burden in their communities if that becomes an option. [Romans:] House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, firing back, he told CNN's Jake Tapper, migrants shouldn't be used as pawns in a game of political retribution. [Rep. Jerry Nadler , Chairman House Judiciary Committee:] The president has no right to spend money appropriated by Congress for other purposes to ship immigrants all over the country. He shouldn't use them as what he imagines as retribution to political opponents in various areas. It's another misuse of presidential power against the law. [Sanchez:] Congresswoman Ilhan Omar says death threats against her spiked since President Trump tweeted about a speech that she gave last month. In the Friday tweet the president wrote quote, we will never forget over a clip from a speech that Omar gave last month to the council on American Islamic Relation. Now, in that speech, she described the events of 911 as quote, some people did something, end quote. The clip posted by the president edited parts of the speech into footage of the Twin Tower attacks. In a statement, Omar accused the president of fostering right wing extremist violence. She said quote, violent rhetoric and all forms of hate speech have no place in our society, much less from our country's commander in chief. We are all Americans, this is endangering lives, it has to stop. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders denied that President Trump was encouraging violence. Listen. [Sanders:] The president is absolutely and should be calling out the congresswoman for her not only one time, but history of anti-Semitic comments, the bigger question is why aren't Democrats doing the same thing? It's absolutely abhorrent the comments that she continues to make and has made and they look the other way. [Sanchez:] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered Omar her support in a statement. She wrote, the president's words weigh a ton and his hateful and inflammatory rhetoric creates real danger. President Trump must take down his disrespectful and dangerous video. The speaker says she has spoken with the House Sergeant at Arms about Omar's personal safety. [Romans:] President Trump heading to Minnesota today for what the White House describes as a tax day event. It comes as Trump world and the rest of Washington remain on high alert for the release of the Mueller report. Members of Trump's inner circle used the Sunday talk shows to set the table for some of their talking points on the findings. CNN's Sarah Westwood has more from the White House. [Sarah Westwood, White House Correspondet:] Boris and Christine. The White House is bracing for the release of special counsel Robert Mueller's report. Attorney General Bill Barr, is set to deliver a redacted version of that report to Capitol Hill as soon as this week and the Attorney General has said that there are no plans for anyone at the White House to assert executive privilege over parts of that report which could have led to more of it being redacted. And the White House is maintaining that it wants to see as much of the report released as is allowed by law. There will be somethings like grand jury information that won't be included in the final report, and White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Sunday, that she expects that document which she has not read to match Barr's public summary of that document, which included Mueller's findings according to Barr that there was no evidence of collusion with Russia. Take a listen. [Sanders:] I don't think it is going to be damaging to the president because the entire purpose of the investigation was whether or not there was collusion. Mueller was crystal clear in the fact that there was no collusion. [Westwood:] That was Sanders speaking on Fox News Sunday and President Trump will be heading to Minnesota today for a tax day event while the White House and the rest of Washington waits for the release of the Mueller report. Trump and his allies have argued that the release of Mueller's findings should be the end of inquiries into alleged collusion with Russia, into alleged obstruction of justice. But House Democrats plan to continue their oversight into these and many other areas in the months ahead. Boris and Christine. [Romans:] All right, Sarah, thank you for that. All right. The president again, you know, battling the Fed again, throwing protocol and propriety out the window and battling the Fed over his as his there's opposition going to his picks on the central bank's board. Trump tweeted this on Sunday, if the Fed had done its job properly which it has not, the stock market would had been up 5,000 to 10,000 additional points and GDP would have been well over 4 percent instead of 3 percent with almost no inflation. There's no way for the president to know where the stock market would be if there were those hypotheticals here. The comment comes as two picks for open season on the Feds board, Herman Cain and Steven Moore had been heavily scrutinized. Cain's bid appears to be dead on arrival, he just doesn't have the votes. Last week, four Republicans said they would not vote to confirm Cain to the Fed board. Meanwhile, Moore has been criticized for reversing his opposition to low rates. Both are currently undergoing a background check. White House advisers said Trump wants to nominate people who share his economic views. The president has repeatedly attacked the Feds, specifically Chairman Jerome Powell over those rate increases last year. Last month, the Fed officials voted to keep interest rates a steady, instead they will not raise interest rates this year. The last Fed rate hike was in December. This is an independent body and it's designed to be that way. It's meant to be isolated from the political whims in Washington. You certainly don't want a Fed board that is going to, you know, have easy money to keep a president happy. [Sanchez:] Right. [Romans:] Because that could cause problems further down the road. I mean, it's just I can't even imagine the discussions that are happening behind closed doors there at the Fed these days. [Sanchez:] I imagine a lot of it has to do with the fact that we're headed to an election and the president ran on the economy. [Romans:] Absolutely. [Sanchez:] He wants the economy really strong going in to 2020. [Romans:] Absolutely. [Sanchez:] There was a raucous crowd greeting the newest Democrat running for president. More from Mayor Pete Buttigieg's rollout, coming up. [Robyn Curnow, Cnn:] Hi, there. Welcome to the INTERNATIONAL DESK. I'm Robyn Curnow at the CNN Center. Well, this hour, we're tracking Pope Francis as he is set to celebrate a second mass on his momentous trip across Cuba. [Curnow:] He arrived just a short time ago at Holguin in Eastern Cuba and he'll speak in the city's Revolutionary Plaza. These are live pictures you're looking at now. Holguin is in the home region of Fidel and Raul Castro and it's also considered the cradle of Catholicism in Cuba. There is still much more on Pope Francis' agenda and Chris Cuomo has more on the papal travel plans. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn Correspondent:] Anticipation builds in the U.S. Pope Francis comes to the nation's capital Tuesday. He'll be the first pontiff to ever speak to Congress directly. While climate change and capitalism are expected talking points, some see his visit as a push toward fully lifting the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Controversial enough for one congressman to boycott. [Unidentified Male:] I'm not sure if he's worried about alienating people. He'll be encouraging but he speaks the truth. [Cuomo:] Next, a trip to New York and the United Nations, where the growing refugee crisis is expected to be on the docket. Il Papa's visit will end in Philadelphia where families will be his focus. [Pope Francis:] See you in Philadelphia. [Cuomo:] The U.S. tour coming on the heels of his historic visit to Cuba over the weekend, at a time when the Communist country is undergoing some change. Latin America's first pope praising the two nations for normalizing relations. And the tens of thousands in Havana's Revolution Square Sunday a message of hope and faith. [Pope Francis:] [Speaking Spanish]. [Cuomo:] Calling on Cubans to serve one another, not an ideology. Signs of underlying political tensions as anti-government protesters are arrested after approaching the Popemobile. Pope Francis meeting privately with former leader Fidel Castro to discuss the environment and global economy. Then later, meeting once again with younger brother, Raul Castro. Ahead of the visit, the U.S. announcing further loosening of travel and business restrictions with Cuba. But on the streets of Havana, some hopeful, some doubtful that they'll ever see any positive impact on their lives. "In the short run, I haven't seen any kind of change," says this man. "Maybe later but not yet." "It's a necessary change that both countries need," this woman says. "We need." [Curnow:] Well, that seemed to freeze at the end there. That was CNN's Chris Cuomo, reporting from Cuba. Our Patrick Oppmann is based in Havana for CNN and there's a real understanding of the importance of this visit. Hi, there, Patrick. This pope has got quite a rock star reception, hasn't he? [Patrick Oppmann, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. I covered the previous two papal visits and I never remember people screaming in the streets, "Que Papa mas chevere," "What a cool pope," certainly something that you don't hear about any head of state or most of them. And this pope, though, has been greeted with hugs, with people bringing their children up to him to bless and kiss. And just a general excitement that I haven't seen here in many years of covering Cuba. You know, you see the crowds in Holguin. Thousands of people and they're not coming out because they have been ordered to, as so often happens here in Cuba, it really seems that they're coming out because they want to. That's how we saw so much enthusiasm yesterday and today as he continues his journey on into Holguin and gets a little bit more of that rock star treatment Robyn. [Curnow:] Indeed. A cool pope, as you say. Let's talk about this meeting between Francis and Fidel, so much of this trip has been about contradictions, contrast, hasn't it? [Oppmann:] Absolutely. And immediately after delivering mass yesterday, Pope Francis went just outside of Havana, where Fidel Castro has a compound that is usually almost impossible to enter. But this is the pope and he had said he wanted to meet with the former Cuban leader and that's what happened. We're told for about 30 to 40 minutes he brought gifts with him, including a somewhat unusual gift: masses and sermons that had been delivered and recorded by the Jesuit priest who had taught Fidel Castro in school here in Havana and, of course, was one of the Spanish priests deported after the revolution took power. Fidel gave the pope a book that he had contributed to about religion that was actually one of the first indications that there was going to be some opening to religion in the country and then, you know, it is always somewhat unusual and interesting to see so many photos like we did yesterday of Fidel Castro's family because they've almost rarely been almost never been acknowledged in Cuba. Fidel Castro's always been projected the image of a man that lives for the revolution, in time for anything else but of course he does have a family. He has a wife and they were shown yesterday. And it's also interesting and perhaps worth noting that his wife, Dalia Soto, is there, wearing white. We see her wearing a very smart looking white dress but it's also a bit of a protocol breach, Robyn. As you know, you don't wear white around the pope unless, of course, you have a special dispensation that's only granted to Catholic queens. So she doesn't quite fit there. But I'm sure the pope was all too happy to overlook the little breach of protocol that occurred. [Curnow:] Clearly I didn't get that memo, either. All right. Thanks so much. Patrick Oppmann, our man in Havana. Thanks a lot. Now, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin in Moscow. They're discussing Syria at a time when there's evidence of increasing Russian military build-up inside the country. Our Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem. But first, let's go to Matthew Chance in Moscow. Hi, there, Matthew. We're getting new reports on how much of a military build-up there's been in Syria and also just give us a sense within that context what was said at this meeting. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes. That's right, Robyn. We certainly are. Although, I have to say as a preface to this, that the Kremlin deny they're significantly boosting their military presence in Syria, merely that they're increasing their shipments of weapons to back the Syrian government in their battle against what the Russians say is ISIS and the other rebel groups. But U.S. officials have confirmed to CNN that they have observed an increase in Russian military hardware on the ground. We have got a list of some of those items here: 25 tactical aircraft that's fighter and attack aircraft, including 15 helicopters, nine tanks, three surface-to-air missile systems and approximately 500 personnel. So a significant presence of Russian military on the ground in Syria, certainly you see compared to what the country has hosted over the past several years. Of course, Russia has long had military advisers in Syria, it has a naval facility at Tartus as well, which is staffed and its weapons shipments to Syria often come with technical experts to train the Syrian army in using them properly. But this seems to be a significant uptick in the amount of military personnel and hardware on the ground. In terms of the meetings that are taking place today behind closed doors between Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, Benjamin Netanyahu here to get assurances from the Russians that any of this military hardware will not find its way into the hands of Hezbollah, for instance, the Lebanese militia, not have an impact on Israel's security. Vladimir Putin stressing that that is not the intention and that, you know, Israel's security is very much a joint interest for Russia. Take a listen to what he had to say. [Curnow:] Matthew, it doesn't look like we have that sound bite. But just stand by. We'll come to you again in a minute. I want to ask you a question about the wider context. But let's go to Oren. The prime minister took some top IDF generals along with him. This is an indication of just how seriously he takes these developments in Syria. [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Absolutely. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took with him the IDF chief of staff and the Israeli military head of intelligence. And you're right, that that attests to how seriously Netanyahu sees Russian forces in Syria and how much that could affect the region here. Now, it seems as if and analysts say that Netanyahu wants to make sure he's on the same page as Putin. Netanyahu's not worried about Russian forces as they are. What he's concerned about is advanced military equipment falling into the hands of Hezbollah or other militant groups. It's been nine years since the last war between Israel and Hezbollah but there is still very much tension along that border and we have seen some back-and-forth across that border. So Netanyahu trying to get some sort of assurance that that isn't going to happen, that that those Russian arms won't fall into Hezbollah's hands. But there's another reason that Netanyahu would want to meet with Putin or has met with Putin, and that's because Israel has said it has red lines. It will not allow the transfer of weapons shipments through Syria into Lebanon. And according to foreign media reports, in the past, Israel has struck weapons shipments. But to do that, Israel has relied on its air force edge over the region and if it's not coordinated, if there's no coordination here with Russia, there could be tension, there could be friction and there could be a collision. So analysts say Netanyahu's meeting with Putin, trying to avoid that collision, trying to make sure these two leaders and these two militaries are on the same page. [Curnow:] Yes. Trying to avoid inadvertent confrontation. Oren, I've also got another question for you. But for Matthew, how should this meeting be seen, particularly in the wider context of tensions between Russia and the U.S. and even tensions between Israel and the U.S.? [Chance:] Yes, well, I mean, obviously, it plays into that. Look. I think we have to look at what's driving Vladimir Putin, what's driving Kremlin policy at the moment when it comes to its intervention in Syria. It's clearly not meant as a way of undermining Israel's security and that's why the Kremlin has been so open to a meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu to give the assurances, I expect, although we haven't heard anything about the outcome of these meetings yet. But I expect they're to give assurances of the kind that Benjamin Netanyahu is looking for, that this is not meant to have an impact on Israel's security. I mean, you know, Russia's playing a broader political game when it comes to its battle with the West for influence in the world. There are low oil prices, there are sanctions against Russia but it's still saying, look, you know, look, we are a country that has to be dealt with when it comes to international diplomacy. Syria is a longstanding ally of Russia, it's its last toehold, its only toehold, perhaps, in the Middle East and it's very reluctant at Russia to let that influence go in this country and it believes very much that if Syria falls, if the government of Bashar al-Assad falls, then so does Russian influence in the Middle East. And so that's what is driving Kremlin policy, I think, at this point. [Curnow:] OK. Thank you, Matthew. And Oren, based on what Matthew has just been saying, if this build-up continues and there is more and more proof of an escalation, in a sense, that could give Moscow its most significant military foothold in the Middle East in decades. What does it mean for Israel? [Liebermann:] Well, Matthew's exactly right, that this these two militaries and countries aren't at odds. So as long as these two leaders are on the same page and coordinate, there shouldn't be a build-up of friction and of tension. The question is, what else if anything else is Moscow and is Putin trying to do in Syria? So as long as there is that coordination and that's what it looks like this meeting is about creating, it wouldn't be a concern for Netanyahu. It wouldn't be a concern for Israel. The question there remains, what else is are these forces there for, if anything else, and Netanyahu, the intelligence officer who went with him, the head of military intelligence, will be trying to figure some of that out over the coming weeks, months and perhaps even longer. [Curnow:] Oren, Matt, thanks, guys. Appreciate it. Volkswagen shares are tanking and its CEO is apologizing. And the automaker is ordered to recall hundreds of thousands of cars. We'll tell you why. That's next. And calls for Republican Ben Carson to bow out of the U.S. presidential race after his [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] If you know someone who should be a CNN hero, let us know, CNNHeroes.com And make some great memories out there today. We're so grateful for your company as always. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Anchor:] Thank you very much for watching. There's much more ahead in the next hour of CNN's NEWSROOM. We turn it over to our colleague, Fredricka Whitfield. Hey Fred. [Whitfield:] I love you Christi, Martin. You all have a great day and a great morning. [Paul:] You too. [Whitfield:] Very busy. [Paul:] Yes. [Whitfield:] We've got a busy afternoon ahead straight ahead. Thanks so much. It is 11:00 Eastern hour. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. NEWSROOM starts right now. Extremely busy weekend for presidential candidates as well especially for Republican contenders with just four days to go before the next GOP debate right here on CNN. Take a look right now at live pictures from Iowa where Republican Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Rand Paul and frontrunner Donald Trump are campaigning today. They're going to tailgate parties outside Iowa versus Iowa state football game. In other politically key states, Ben Carson is hitting the trail in South Carolina, and John Kasich and Carly Fiorina are stumping in New Hampshire today. The candidate pool did shrink by one, just yesterday when former Texas governor Rick Perry said he was suspending his campaign. And then, take a look right now, live pictures out of Columbia, South Carolina, and this is where Democrat Bernie Sanders will be campaigning. He is conducting a number of town halls today in South Carolina. Right now, Benedict College, a historically black university, is where he will be for this town hall. That's scheduled to get under way at any moment now. All right. That's where we also find senior political reporter Nia Malika Henderson. So Nia Set the stage for us. Bernie Sanders will be there at the historically black college and university there at Benedict. Why this college? And what will his message be? [Nia Malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Well, this college is really a must stop campaign stop for anyone who wants to reach out to the African-American community. Think back just in March, Barack Obama came through here and he had a really packed rally talking about education reform. He campaigned here. Very frequent visitor to Benedict College as well as Hillary Clinton in that neck and neck race for voters in South Carolina. What we do know is that Bernie Sanders is struggling to get traction with African-American voters. Hillary Clinton has really devised a southern strategy, a firewall that really is built on support from African-Americans. If you look more recently at polls of voters here in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton is getting about 70 percent support of African-American voters. If you think about Biden, he's getting about 20 percent. Bernie Sanders, not very well known here. He's at 3 percent. Today, he's going to be on stage talking about [Whitfield:] So, Nia, we also know that Bernie Sanders' message has been, you know, government belongs to the people, not necessarily billionaires and, that he says he wants to end outsourcing. But I wonder his message today, particularly at this HBCU, is he targeting his message primarily to the African-American audience when he takes the stage there? [Henderson:] You know, we see him do some of that because if you remember, he did face some criticism from the Black Lives Matter crowd, a movement that is very much interested in criminal justice reform. He has since hired a press secretary who is African-American and she typically introduces him and talks about issues like criminal justice reform, like raising minimum wage, like affordable college. These are issues, I talked to people in the crowd, those are the kind of issues that they want to hear today. I imagine he will tailor his message to the crowd but he's also going to take questions. Normally when I've been at Bernie Sanders' town halls it's all Bernie. He talks maybe for about an hour, almost in like a lecturing style. Today he said he's going to take questions. That will be a different kind of feel for this event. Also different is there's not much Bernie Sanders signage on the stage. There's a giant American flag, there's a giant South Carolina state flag and there's Benedict College signage as well. They have purposely done this. They know that as of now people don't really know Bernie Sanders. They see this as an introduction of Bernie Sanders to African-Americans. They hope that his message resonates. And they'll just have to see. It could be the beginning of a long fight. They know it will be tooth and nail with Hillary Clinton who has done much better outreach to African-Americans. [Whitfield:] All right. So Nia Malika Henderson, thank you so much there at Benedict College there where at any moment Bernie Sanders will come out and he'll hit that stand, that podium right there. And when he does talk, we'll take as much as we can live. Thanks so much Nia. All right. Republican front-runner Donald Trump is campaigning in Iowa today. He's expected to tailgate at the Iowa state football game in the next few hours. A new Quinnipiac poll shows that Trump leads in that state with 27 percent. Ben Carson climbing to 21 percent, Ted Cruise is third with 9 percent followed by Jeb Bush at 6 percent. And Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, who led in Iowa back in July, has now fallen to tenth place. CNN political reporter Sara Murray is following Trump today. So with four days to go before the next debate, you know, is the main focus of criticism, you know, from the other GOP candidates? [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] Yes, the interesting thing about today is, you know, we're going to have Donald Trump basking in the glory of leading in the polls here in Iowa, and then a lot of other guys who want to knock him off of that pedestal. One who has been particularly vocal about that is Senator Rand Paul who is campaigning in Iowa yesterday and said it's time to go to combat with Donald Trump, who he called a fake conservative. So I imagine we're going to hear more from that today when all these guys are at the tailgate. And we'll [Whitfield:] And then Ben Carson putting up another strong showing in these latest polling numbers. You know, is it his message, is it his personality? Is it that he said he doesn't want to engage, you know, in a tit for tat kind of fight with Donald Trump? Is that what's driving his popularity? [Murray:] When I talked to voters in Iowa and they talk about Ben Carson, they sort of see Trump and Carson as both Washington outsiders who speak their mind. But Ben Carson really aligns more with the values, particularly in a place like Iowa, which has a strong evangelical population. They see Ben Carson, they saw him at a prayer breakfast, they see that he was a doctor. And when you dig into these polls, his numbers about trustworthiness, whether he shares the same values as you, they're just through the roof. And I think that's a lot of what we're seeing behind Ben Carson's rise right now. He's sort of the more morally palatable alternative to Donald Trump. [Whitfield:] Ok. And of course, Donald Trump trying to ride that wave of momentum particularly after getting off the late night with Jimmy Fallon last night. We've got a little bit of that coming up straight ahead and we'll dive into that. Sara Murray, thanks so much. Appreciate it. And don't forget. Of course, it's days away now, CNN will air the next Republican presidential debate that's Wednesday starting at 6:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. And there are new details now, today for the hunt for the Arizona freeway sniper. Police have detained someone they're calling a person of interest. Oscar de la Torre Munoz was taken into custody less than 24 hours ago and charged with possession of marijuana. But he has not been charged in connection with the highway shootings. Over the last two weeks, 11 vehicles have been struck by bullets or projectiles of some sort on or around the Interstate-10 area which runs through heart of Phoenix. Joining me right now on the phone is Bart Graves, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety. So thanks so much for being with us. Help us understand, what does this mean, this person of interest; that this person was detained but the charge involves marijuana possession. Where is this investigation going? [Bart Graves, Arizona Department Of Public Safety:] Well, he is someone that we wanted to talk to regarding this case and others. He is not our prime suspect. He is just someone that frankly the media's been focused on. But we did spend a lot of time with him yesterday. We did not charge him specifically with these crimes, the I-10 shootings. But he did have some other problems in the criminal justice system. So I think it's an outstanding warrant that we booked him on. [Whitfield:] Sorry to interrupt but what makes him particularly interesting as it relates to the shootings? [Graves:] Well, that we we have been getting a lot of tips, and a lot of leads. It's fair to say that some of those resulted in us locating him and talking to him. So it is our hope and police work that one lead points to another so that's why we talked to him. [Whitfield:] And then there were at least a couple of reported shootings or some sort of projectiles hitting vehicles this week that didn't necessarily fit the pattern of the earlier strikes. What are the parallels that you see, and what are the concerns that you have as to whether it is the same person or persons responsible or if there may be some copycat out there? [Graves:] Well, I think Director Milstead was quoted in the local paper here as saying that we have three different scenarios we're looking at. We're looking at a couple of weekends ago bullets, actual bullets being used fired at some vehicles. And then pellets being used since then and that's, I think, what you're referring to this week. A road rage incident that occurred where shots were fired over the Labor Day weekend. Three different scenarios that we're working and investigating right now. And we, frankly, don't know if this is the result of one person or not. [Whitfield:] So how do you allay the fears of motorists, those who are trying to avoid I-10 altogether or those who simply can't? It is part of their regular commute. [Graves:] The director's been very clear about this is a personal decision of whether people want to use Interstate 10 or not. The Phoenix Metroplex is a sprawling, constantly crawling urban area and people have to because of the growth of suburbs in the West Valley, people have to use Interstate 10 to get to south 10 if they're working or school or wherever. So we're finding that a lot of people are still using Interstate 10. We're not seeing a huge decrease in traffic. Our concern, and they calling us with tips about unusual behavior they see on the road, and by the road, and we're checking all of those out no matter how inconsequential these people think it may be, they're calling us anyway. And that's what we've encouraged them to do. [Whitfield:] All right. Bart Graves, thank you so much. Keep us posted. I know you have had a lot of work to do as this investigation is ongoing thank you. All right. Still ahead, a former tennis star, James Blake, body slammed by an officer in a sting operation gone wrong. CNN's Boris Sanchez has the details on the officer who did this Boris. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Fred, James Blake has a serious message for the NYPD. You'll hear his response to this incident, plus the officer who took him down is now facing even harsher scrutiny. We'll explain, next. [Blackwell:] Michael Phelps says he means it this time that his Olympic career is over. [Paul:] Endorsements aren't, I'm sure. After this after this Olympics. Andy Scholes is with us. [Andy Scholes, Cnn Sports Anchor:] Yes. You know, guys, this is a little bittersweet watching last night. You also will see Phelps win his fifth gold medal in Rio but a little sad because we may never see an athlete as amazing as Phelps ever again. Phelps picking up his 23rd gold medal of his career and his final race last night. He swam the butterfly leg of the four by 100 meter medley relay. And at 31 years old, Phelps defied the odds at these Olympics, dominating what is a young person's sport. You know, a group of fans in the crowd they were chanting at Phelps, four more years after the race, but the most decorated Olympian of all time. It was pretty clear this was his last lap in the Olympic pool. [Michael Phelps, Most Decorated Olympian In History:] I'm just ready for something different. My swimming career might be over, but I have the future ahead of me to kind of turn the page and start whatever I want. It's not the end of a career. It's the beginning of a new journey. And just looking forward to that. [Scholes:] Team USA also made Olympic history last night by becoming the first nation to win 1,000 gold medals in summer games. The women's four by 100 meter medley relay team were the ones to put America over the top. They beat Australia to the wall by almost two seconds in that race. Now if we look at current medal count Team USA opening up a pretty big lead. They got 24 golds. In second place is China. All right. Gymnast Simone Biles expecting to add to the American gold rush later today. She's looking for her third gold medal of the games as she's going to take part in the final of the individual events which begin today. Biles a favorite to win today's vault final but she actually did not qualify for the uneven bars today which is today's other event. American Madison Kocian had the best qualifying score, making her the favorite to win that. And finally, guys, it looks like the Olympic officials have finally given up on trying to clean the green water [Paul:] Oh no. [Scholes:] They're actually going to drain the nearly one million gallon out of the pool used for water polo and synchronized swimming. The diving pool however which turned bright green with algae last week is being treated with chemicals. And the divers actually say that the green water it helps them. They say it gives them a little contrast, you know, when they're flipping through the air. They can tell [Paul:] Really? [Scholes:] They can tell where the pool is compared to the blue sky. [Blackwell:] That makes sense. [Paul:] Yes, it does make sense. But you know what? If that's the biggest problem they have in Rio after everything that was anticipated... [Scholes:] Absolutely. [Blackwell:] Yes, I think that's the truth. [Paul:] ... how about it? Andy, thank you so much. [Blackwell:] All right. [Paul:] All right. [Blackwell:] Milwaukee as we said this morning on edge following a deadly police shooting. Multiple buildings after that. And police cars set on fire. The violence erupted after an officer killed a man police say was armed with a hand gun. We're going to talk more about that breaking news in a moment. [Blitzer:] France is moving quickly right now to try to enhance security in the wake of the crash of EgyptAir Flight 804. Sixty-six people were on board. The flight originated at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. The French interior ministry now says it's a necessity to reinforce security at the airport. Joining us now from Bahrain is Nathalie Goulet. She's a member of the French senate, the head of the commission of inquiry into French and European jihadi networks. Thanks so much for joining us. Have you been presented any evidence that this was indeed a terror attack? [Nathalie Goulet, Member Of The French Senate:] Not yet. Absolutely not. We have no evidence yet. Absolutely not. [Blitzer:] What is your working assumption? What is your working assumption? [Goulet:] Well, first, we have to be cautioned, but then regarding the security of the French airport, I would like to underline that first of all we are under heavy state of emergency since November. And I think that we increase the level of security in the airport. That is a it's a very strong assessment. [Blitzer:] As you know there were there were reports that last year maybe 40 or 50 or 60 airport employees were removed from their security clearances because they supposedly had jihadi connections and at the time they had access to planes. Tell us about that. [Goulet:] Well, you know, airport is like a little town, you know. For Paris airport, you have almost 80,000 people. And [Blitzer:] Well, do you believe that the security situation at Charles de Gaulle Airport right now is very, very strong or could it be better? [Goulet:] It always could be better. You know, I was listening to the previous man who was talking with you and said that we always can improve more regarding security. But at the same time, nobody wants to slow down the traffic. So we have to increase the control, but at the same time, the traffic is increasing too. So it will be very challenging. We saw that also in Brussels and this time we really don't know what happened. So we have to be really cautious about any kind of conclusion. But at the same time, that could be a good approach [Blitzer:] Nathalie Goulet, a member of the French senate, thanks so much for joining us. Good luck. [Goulet:] Bye. [Blitzer:] One part of the investigation will be centered on the Charles de Gaulle Airport. Of the 86,000 workers there, as we just mentioned, as many as 85, 85 had their security clearances revoked recently for various reasons. Joining us now from New York is Miles O'Brien. He's our CNN aviation and science correspondent. He is the CNN he is the PBS, I should say, aviation and science correspondent for the PBS "News Hour." Also joining us, Phil Mudd, CNN counterterrorism analyst, former CIA counterterrorism official. Guys, thanks very much for joining us. Phil, what do you think is best who is best equipped right now to investigate this crash? [Phil Mudd, Cnn Counterterrorism Analyst:] You've got parallel investigations. You've got to have flight investigators looking at the physical property of the aircraft. People like me from the intelligence business don't know much about that kind of thing unless you have a missile involved, which we didn't appear to have in this case. You have to have people like TSA involved in looking at the physical security in Paris and looking at screening procedures at the Transportation Security Administration. The intelligence guys, people like me back at the CIA and the FBI, are looking at people. That is flight manifests [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. Live pictures there from Rome. Just coming up to 7:30 on a Friday morning and waiting for the Pope's plane to take off because he is on a historic trip to Latin America right now. He will spend the next five days in Mexico. That's starting on Friday night. But before getting there, the pope will stop in Cuba to meet the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, the first such meeting ever, and the Vatican has worked for the past few decades trying to mend ties with other churches since they split nearly a thousand years ago. And in Mexico, which has the second-largest Catholic population in the world, the pope would like to talk about immigration. That's a contentious issue during this U.S. presidential race. Pope Francis will also visit the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Senior Vatican analyst, John Allen, joins us now from Denver, Colorado. We're also going to keep a close eye on that airport in Rome for the pope's plane, which I believe has a call sign of Shepherd One. So, John, this meeting at Havana's airport between the pope and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, before we get to the significance of that, just the logistics, why are they meeting there? It seems kind of an odd place, doesn't it? [John Allen, Cnn Senior Vatican Analyst:] Well, there are a relatively few news story that one can say a millennium in the making. This is the closest we'll ever see. Of course, the split between eastern and western Christianity goes all the way back to 1054. In terms of why Havana, it is one part dumb luck and one part design. But the dumb luck is that Patriarch Kirill, of the Russian Orthodox Church, was already scheduled for a trip to Cuba when it was announced that Pope Francis was going to be going to Mexico, which meant, logistically, it was feasible for the two to intersect in Havana. The design part is that, as you indicated, there has been work to try to make a meeting like this possible for decades. And part of the ballet here was you could really do it Rome because that was like a win for the pope. You couldn't really do in Moscow because that would look like a win for the patriarch. You had to come up with some neutral site. And because the relationship between Catholics and Orthodox has been so weighted down by European history, doing it outside of the West in some neutral venue made a great deal of sense. So for both of those reasons that's why they're meeting at the airport departure lounge there at Jose Marti International Airport in Havana. [Vause:] So 1000 years in the making. Clearly, they'll have a lot to talk about, you'd imagine. But they're talking about this communique, this declaration, this joint declaration. What exactly is that all about? [Allen:] Look, part of that is going to be focused on the past. There is, of course, a lot of bad blood on both sides of this relationship. The Russian Orthodox have many resentments over what they perceive to be Rome's imperial ambitions in the Christian world. Catholics are sometimes criticized. Some of the Russian recalcitrants to engage in inimical relations. But I think, to a great extent, the joint declaration that Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill are likely to sign is probably going to be focused on the present. I mean, let's not forget that both sides, in announcing this historic encounter, pointed above all to the fate of persecuted Christians in the Middle East as one of the urgent issues bringing the two religious leaders together. Both the Catholics and the Russian Orthodox have believers, the faithful on the ground in places such as Iraq, Syria, in what Christians call the Holy Land, that is Israel and the Palestinian territories. And particularly in Iraq and Syria, those Christians are in the firing line these days. They tend to be in the front ranks of the victims of ISIS. Both sides want to mobilize the resources of their two churches to try to be of assistance to those Christians. So I think, in many ways, although the weight of the past will hang over this meeting, I think it's the burden of the present that's really the engine driving the train. [Vause:] And obviously, this is a stopover on the way to Mexico. Once in Mexico, there's a lot of issues for the pope, but he'll also be visiting a prison there, which I found quite interesting. Typical Pope Francis. But these are the things that he does, and it's a dangerous thing to do in Mexico. [Allen:] Yeah, of course. He's going to be visiting a prison basically 48 hours after an appalling riot broke out in a prison in another part of the country, in Monterey, leaving dozens of people dead. And it's a reminder that prison overcrowding, and tensions in those overcrowded prisons, particularly among rival members of drug gangs, is a chronic problem. And in addition, that is merely one of several sorts of issues of social justice we expect Francis to be picking up along his itinerary. You mentioned in the set up to our conversation, certainly something Americans will have their eyes on, on the 17th, when he goes to Ciudad Juarez and walks up to the border between Mexico and the United States. He'll be about 65 yards away, right across the Rio Grande, greeting several hundred immigrants from Mexico, from Central America, who are now in the United States. And obviously, in the context of a highly charged immigration debate amid the presidential primaries in 2016, it's a gesture with clear political significance. But if there's one thing we have learned about Pope Francis over three years, this is not a pope shy about wading into political waters when he thinks there's a moral and humanitarian point to make. [Vause:] Yeah, absolutely. John, thank you. John Allen, our senior Vatican analyst there in Denver. And we are still waiting for the pope to arrive on the tarmac there for this historic meeting with the head of the Russian Orthodox Church. He's running a little late, but this meeting has taken about a thousand years to put together, so I guess they can wait a little longer. Thanks, John. And more now on the prison riot that John mentioned there in Mexico. It happened at Topo Chico Prison just before midnight on Wednesday in the northeastern part of Monterrey. Family members gathered outside the prison in the overnight hours, desperate to find out if their loved ones were still alive. 49 people killed, dozens injured, five of them seriously. The violence comes just ahead of that visit by Pope Francis. This latest deadly riot appears to be another symptom of an overcrowded prison system rife with corruption where inmates are often the ones who are in charge. Ioan Grillo is a journalist and author of "Gangster Warlords." He specializes in drug trafficking. And he joins us from Mexico City. Ioan, this riot, it seems to reflect the bigger war across Mexico between major drug cartels. [Ioan Grillo, Journalist & Author:] Yeah, when you go to the prisons, you see surreal things. And I've been going to many prisons across Mexico and Latin America, and you see the prisoners control wings completely and divide up among the cartels and gangs. I've even seen people having guns, Uzis and grenades inside prisons. So this fight and this violence is no surprise. What is concerning is when you have the military and police storm in as well, it's hard to know how many of the people were killed by criminals, or how many could have been killed by police or soldiers as they went to quell the situation. [Vause:] So you have a situation in many prisons there in Mexico, where these drug cartel leaders are essentially in charge, and they're mixing with the general prison population, which can also include women? [Grillo:] Yeah, and we've seen very crazy and very sad things in this very prison, in fact. There's accusation some female prisoners were being used as sex slaves. But often inside these prisons, you see women going in quite freely. Sometimes the girlfriends and wives of inmates, sometimes prostitutes go into the jails. I've seen a crazy thing in one jail in Mexico where one of the heads of the prisoners was killed and, afterwards, we went into his cell, he had a pool table and a disco sound system in his cell. And he had a big, massive poster on the wall of Al Pacino from "Scarface." [Vause:] So in many ways, the guards and the authorities are not in control day to day of the prison, because, obviously, the prisoners, for the most part, stay inside the jail? [Grillo:] The guards are often very terrified. Often the guards are corrupt. They're receiving money. And it's obvious from the things you see in the prisons, prisoners with cell phones, prisoners with guns, prisoners with dogs in some prisons. But the guards are very terrified as well. Imagine a situation where you're a guard in one of these prisons and the prisoners can say to you, if you do not help us, we're going to kill you, or we'll go to your home and kill your whole family. There was a case in a prison in northeastern Mexico where various guards finished their shift and, afterwards, the cartel kidnapped them and murdered them all. So they're living with fear. Corruption isn't a strong enough word for it. It's really capture of these institutions by criminal gangs. [Vause:] Very quickly, last question, last month, after el Chapo, the notorious drug lord, was recaptured, the Mexican president said that the people there, they could trust their security institutions. That would seem to be a bit of a stretch? [Grillo:] Absolutely. The recapture of "el Chapo" Guzman was necessary. You can't let a criminal of his caliber be on the street and show that criminals can beat the system. But the security conditions in Mexico are still very rotten. There's still a very long way to go before the people can feel secure in the street that the police can protect them from criminal gunmen. [Vause:] Ioan, thank you for the insight. Good to speak with you. [Grillo:] Great to be here. [Vause:] Still to come here on CNN NEWSROOM, investors in Asia running for cover again as the stock market rout rolls around the world. Also, Bruce Springsteen, in his own words. For the first time, the boss puts pen to paper, writes his life story. Much more on "Born to Run" when we come back. [Nancy Grace, Hln:] Breaking news tonight. Mom of three Missy Bevers, at Creekside church 4:00 AM to teach aerobics, murdered in the church, surveillance video catching the killer in what appears to be police SWAT gear arriving just before Missy, murders her and leaves, face hidden. Missy`s father-in-law brings blood-stained clothes to dry cleaner`s after she`s killed. DNA testing now as police still trying to nail down the husband`s out-of-town fishing trip alibi. Bombshell tonight. In the last hours, it is revealed Missy dies from multiple stab wounds to the head and chest, the killer packing not one but multiple murder weapons. New police info, Missy goes off camera where the killer is waiting. She`s murdered, and neither ever seen on video again. Was the killer waiting in the aerobics room to ambush the young mom? [Unidentified Male:] According to a newly released search warrant, Missy Bevers was last seen on video inside the church walking towards her killer. [Unidentified Female:] Police believe this figure in a SWAT team uniform ambushed Missy when she arrived for her early morning boot camp class. [Unidentified Male:] Police now say the suspect is caught on video walking around the church with a hammer. [Grace:] That`s Crimewatchdaily.com. Did a gorgeous model hire a hitman to kill her husband`s ex-wife and then feed the ex-wife`s body to a woodchipper? Tonight, we obtain secretly recorded tape of the model planning the murder, woodchipper and all. [Unidentified Male:] You`re the one that wants to have her killed. [Unidentified Female:] I don`t want her killed! [Unidentified Male:] You mean, like, making it look like maybe a home invasion? [Unidentified Female:] I`m going to, like, have an orgasm in my car just thinking about it. [Grace:] Movie superstar Charlie Sheen sued for sex battery after a dentist`s visit. The star visits dentist, leaps from the dentist`s chair, grabs the dental assistant`s breasts, punching her in the chest, tries to rip off her bra. And that`s not all. Claims she lungs at the dentist, repeatedly stabbing the dentist`s chair with a knife, the dentist`s walls covered in Charlie Sheen`s spit as he screams, I`m going to f-ing kill you. Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight. Mother of three Missy Bevers, at Creekside church, 4:00 AM to teach aerobics, murdered in the church, surveillance video catching the killer in police SWAT gear. He arrives just before her, murders her and leaves. Her father-in-law bringing blood-stained clothes to the dry cleaner`s just after she`s killed. DNA testing right now. Bombshell tonight. Missy Bevers, it is now revealed, is killed by multiple stab wounds to the head and the chest. Does that include the face? The killer packing not one, but multiple murder weapons. New police info, Missy goes off camera where the killer is waiting. How did he get out? He`s never caught on video again. Was he waiting in her aerobics room to ambush her? All of this shedding new light on the murder of this young mom. This as police still trying to nail down the husband`s out-of-town fishing trip alibi. But let`s don`t put the cart before the horse. Let`s start at the beginning. What we are learning tonight is the reveal. Missy Bevers is killed not by a bludgeoning death, but by stabbing, puncture wounds all around her chest and her head. Now, if the perp is stabbing her in the chest, does the perp stab her in the face? And isn`t it true, Pat Lalama, managing editor, "Crime Watch Daily," the police are making no secret about it. They`re not revealing everything. We managed to get this out of police search warrants that have just been released. What I`m saying is they are very clear, Pat, that they`re not releasing information. They`re saying it`s a tactical decision. For instance, where on her face was she stabbed? They accidentally slip up and say tools, T-O-O-L-S. We know there was more than one weapon. What are we learning, Pat Lalama? [Pat Lalama, "crime Watch Daily":] Well, we also know, Nancy, it is revealed in the search warrant that you talk about, that she struggled. They believe she actually struggled through the course of this heinous murder. And they do say tools. They do refer to a hammer that the killer is swinging about all throughout the church and breaking windows and doing damage to doors. But then they do talk about tools next to the body. That`s what we know at this point. [Grace:] OK, let`s see what we`ve got from the search warrant, Liz, if you could put up those tears. Justin Freiman, what they say they`re not giving it hold that, please. They`re not telling us everything, but we`ve deduced a lot. Video shows Bevers walking toward where [sic] the suspect`s location. See, the suspect is already back there. Neither the suspect or the victim are never seen on the video again. Victim later found deceased. It is in her workout room? Bevers multiple puncture wounds, puncture wounds, very clearly hold on, Justin. Joe Scott Morgan, certified death investigator, professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott if you could just leave that up for me, Charles? Puncture wounds. Puncture wounds. That`s not bludgeoning. Multiple puncture wounds head and chest with tools the suspect carrying. What does that say to you, Joe Scott? [Joseph Scott Morgan, Certified Death Investigator:] What it says to me, Nancy, is the fact that we see in the images this individual is carrying what`s commonly referred to as a claw hammer. That means that we have these two claws coming back that you normally dislodge nails with. I`ve seen this many times where people will actually take the hammer and use the clawed end. This will create an actual puncture wound. This is easily identifiable utilizing the technology we have relative to tool mark evidence. [Grace:] Got it. [Morgan:] So this is very key. [Grace:] Yes, it is. Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, veteran trial lawyer Randy Kessler, Atlanta, Misty Marris, defense attorney out of New York. OK, Randy Kessler, they say very clearly that there are tools, in the plural. The killer is packing more than one weapon. Now, if you look at that video Liz was just showing you before I went to you guys, you see a weapon in the left hand and the fingertips going along the wall as the person walks in the right hand. That only means one thing. The other weapon is concealed in that jacket. Now, what does that mean to you? [Randy Kessler, Defense Attorney:] What does it mean? I mean, what are we talking about? There was a murder. This still doesn`t explain whether the person was there not trying to burglarize the place and just happened upon her... [Grace:] Could you please think a little bit more deeply? [Kessler:] What does it say? [Grace:] I mean... [Kessler:] We know there was a murder. [Grace:] I`ll tell you what it says. Justin Freiman, what it says this. This was not just a burglary that went wrong. The person goes in packing at least two weapons. They`re walking around with a hammer, but when the cause of death is puncture wounds, that`s not what you get from a hammer. There`s another weapon involved. When you go into a burglary, why are you packing knives, unless you plan to do a murder? This is targeted. That`s what it means. It`s not brain surgery, for Pete`s sake. [Justin Freiman, Nancy Grace Producer:] Right. Well, police are being very careful not saying exactly what the wounds look like or exactly what caused them because they say that`s something only the killer will know. I think they want to use that to their own advantage. [Grace:] OK, I want to talk about that, Pat Lalama, managing editor, "Crime Watch Daily." They do police do say exactly what Justin just reiterated, that they are not giving any more information about the wounds themselves. Why? We know now from getting our mitts on that search warrant that she was stabbed in the chest and the head. Is there something about the stabbing on the face? Was she stabbed in the eyes? Was she stabbed about her face or her mouth in specifics? What about it are they not telling us that only the killer would know, Pat Lalama, about the stab wounds? [Lalama:] Well, something about those particular tools. And where do those tools take us. They`re clearly leaving it making it a sin of omission on purpose so we that don`t know because that killer does know, and they`re on to something, for sure. [Grace:] Another thing, Lisa Pineiro. They say that the killer goes by, and that Missy then goes toward where the killer is. It sounds like the killer is waiting in her aerobics room to ambush her. [Lisa Pineiro, Investigative Journalist:] Yes, it does, Nancy. And you know, if you take a look at that aerial shot of the church let`s just kind of walk through where we think everything may have happened. So we`re told now in the search warrant that Missy entered in the front of that church. And that is the part there that kind of faces the highway. Now, her body was found in the southwest corner of the church, which is this lower corner closest to the highway. And so based on the surveillance video, we can sort of safely assume that if she was when you`re facing the church, if she turns to her right to walk over to that southwest corner we know that the killer broke in all the way on the other side of the church or on the back of the church. She would never have known. She would never have seen the broken glass. He or she could have walked around the back side of the church and up that hallway and right there to that southwest corner where her body was found. [Grace:] Got it. Got it. OK, here`s the other thing. Justin Freiman, the reality is, we also have learned there has been a search warrant for her cellphone, her iPad. Explain what`s going on there, Justin. [Freiman:] That`s right. They specifically say they want to find out who she was in communication with before andor during the incident. So they want to find out, because was she telling somebody that the class was moved indoors? Who knew where the class was going to be and who knew where her whereabouts? That`s going to be very important information. [Grace:] Unleash the lawyers, Randy Kessler and Missy Marris. OK, now that I`ve laid it out for you I basically had to Q&A with myself, Randy Kessler, no offense. But Misty Marris, now that we know that the perp has come in with not one but two or more weapons that totally debunks the theory that this was just a burglary. [Misty Marris, Defense Attorney:] Nancy, all I see here is a suspect. I don`t see a killer. I don`t see them interacting on the video. [Grace:] You think she committed suicide? [Marris:] I don`t think she certainly doesn`t sound like a suicide, but who`s to say... [Grace:] Put her up. [Marris:] ... that this man wasn`t, again, maybe committing a crime, maybe there for a burglary. The tools that he has looks consistent with a burglary. He`s opening those doors. I don`t even see them interacting on the video. I`m not assuming he`s the killer. [Grace:] OK, you know what? Let`s just follow through with your theory, Misty. So you break into a church at 4:00 AM to take what? The children`s bulletins? The Sunday school books? What do you think you`re going to get? [Marris:] Nancy, we all know that there could be some valuables in a church. [Grace:] What? [Marris:] That`s really not the issue. [Grace:] What? [Marris:] The issue here is... ... we have a suspect! [Grace:] The issue is that there`s nothing to steal in the church. Even the husband said it. [Marris:] Haven`t you ever put some money into the basket during during... [Grace:] Yes, on Sunday, and then they take it to the bank. They don`t leave the money there. [Marris:] Nancy, we don`t know what this man was looking for, if he thought there were valuables... [Grace:] OK, you know what? I`m chasing my tail trying to talk with you about this. Ben Levitan, telecommunications expert, we know her car is still in impound. Tonight, the bombshell is she dies from stab wounds to the chest, to the head. We know the perp killed Missy head on by stabbing her in the chest. Are the stab wounds to her face? Why is it so critical, Ben Levitan, that they get access and can break into her iPhone and her iPad? Why is it so important? [Ben Levitan, Telecommunications Expert:] Well, Nancy, you`re absolutely right, I can`t tell you how many cases we find today that people are having an ongoing dispute by text message with someone who they eventually end up having a conflict with. If we could get into her cell phone, we could determine if she was having some sort of conflict. The other thing that`s important here, Nancy, this is a very rural town, 21,000 people. There`s only three cell towers in the vicinity of the church. As you said before, we could the police have probably done a cell phone dump, and they will be able to know every cell phone that was in the area of the church at this hour, 4:00 AM on a Monday. And that should tell you exactly. If the suspect carried a phone with them, Nancy, we`ll know who that was. [Brown:] There is no sure fire resume for a vice president. But this year, one qualification may be more important than others and that's ethnicity, especially being a Latino. The Spanish vote could be decisive in this election, and both parties want those votes. For Democrats, Julian Castro's name comes up over and over as a possible running mate. CNN's Tanzina Vega asked him about it. [Vega:] You are rumored to be Hillary's V.P. pick. Do you feel like a lot of that focus is mostly on demographics or on policy? [Julian Castro , Housing And Urban Development Secretary:] Number one, I've said over and over, I don't believe that will happen. I will let the speculation belong to other folks. I've been proud to support Secretary Clinton, but I'm just going to just keep doing what I am doing and making sure that I am doing a good job. [Brown:] On the Republican side, the name you will hear is Susana Martinez, second term governor of New Mexico and former prosecutor. A glittering resume in a swing state that has made her a top choice for V.P. Tanzina Vega joins us me now for more on this. Tanzina, do you really think Latinos, people like Julian Castro, will vote for their running mate is Hispanic, Hispanic like Julian Castro? [Vega:] I think we have to give Latinos a lot more credit than assuming they will just vote on demographic lines, right? Julian Castro's story, his personal story is one that I think resonates with a lot of Latinos, especially with Mexican Americans. He has Texas roots. His grandmother was an immigrant from Mexico looking for a better life. His mother was a well known social activist in San Antonio. He himself was the mayor of San Antonio. And in terms of policy, he has been pretty progressive recently on a lot of these issues. He's put forth new recommendations and guidelines for people with criminal records, they are looking for housing, usually had tough time in the past. And on top of that, he has made homelessness a top item in his agenda, and also been progressive when it comes to LBGT rights. So, I think, you know, when you look broadly at the issue, there are lots of reasons for people to have an interests on Julian beyond specifically his demographics. But I do think that's an important point. [Brown:] Let's look at the tweet that has so many people talking. From Donald Trump Thursday saying, "Happy Cinco de Mayo. These taco bowls are made in Trump Tower Grill. I love Hispanics!" From your view talking to people, did he further alienate Hispanics with that tweet? [Vega:] This tweet fell very flat with the Latino community. This was something that at best was considered pandering and at worst was considered insulting to a lot of people in the Latino community. You know, the fact of the matter is, people have not forgotten for the most part a lot of the rhetoric that Donald Trump started his campaign with, which included calling Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers. And so, eating a taco bowl is not going to change that, unfortunately. [Brown:] And do you think, though, hypothetically, if Donald Trump does pick a Hispanic as a running mate, that could influence some of those Hispanics who right now wouldn't vote for him? [Vega:] No. The majority of Latinos in the United States are Democrats, first of all. So, really, you know, we saw this with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. Neither one of those candidates really were able to galvanize the Latino vote and they were, you know, candidates who are running for president of the United States. So, I don't think it really makes a difference as much for the Latino Republicans, which they do exist. I mean, there are Republicans that are Latino. But that's really not your core vote and core constituency. I don't think you are going to see a lot of Latino Republican candidates, whether it is a V.P. pick for Donald Trump or the two running for president who really use identity politics as a way to connect with the Latino vote. [Brown:] And you have a really interesting piece on CNN.com, and in it, you write about the lack of Latino leaders. Do Hispanics want or lead a national leader in your view? [Vega:] I think part of the challenge with getting a national leader, when we think of it, it is a monolith, it's one of the most diverse communities out there. We got people from all different parts of the world, you have Mexican-Americans. You have people who have been here for generations. You have Puerto Ricans. You have Dominicans. I mean, the list is very long. You have people who speak Spanish as a first language, people who don't. So, sort of the idea that there is one figure that could embody that, all those layers of complexity and all those different types of people I think it is a real challenge. I think we are also in a moment right now where we're seeing this with the Black Lives Matter movement, for example. You know, there isn't really a desire to have a figurehead like there were back in the '60s, when people had, you know, civil rights leader sort of leading the charge. I just think that that's really something that's palatable. I think what you are seeing now is a lot of development in terms of local politicians and people who are getting groomed like Castro for potentially bigger positions. [Brown:] Really interesting perspective and context there. Tanzina Vega thank you so much for that. And you can see more of Tanzina's interview with Julian Castro at CNN.com. We appreciate it. Well, this election cycle, nothing is certain. I think we can all agree with that, right? Well, coming up, we're going to look wild cards that could sway the election in November, as Trump and Clinton ramp up their attacks. Stay with us. [Vause:] Welcome back, everybody. Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico have broken up a violent crowd of protesters outside of a Donald Trump rally. Officers fired smoke and pepper spray after a number of people threw rocks and bottles and broke through a police barricade. At least one person was arrested and several police officers were hurt. [Sesay:] Inside the arena Trump rallied his supporters with many chanting build that wall. [Vause:] Several anti-Trump protesters were removed by security. [Trump:] We have a chance to be something so special as a country and really, we want to take care of everyone. We want to take care of those protester that's got ripped out of here. I mean, we want to take care of them and very gently taken out. But we want to take care of everybody. We want to be inclusive. We want to include everybody, folks. We have to. We're a group that's very well unified. [Sesay:] Meanwhile, Trump is now very close to clinching the Republican nomination after winning the Washington primary. He has about 76 percent of the vote. Ted Cruz and John Kasich were still on the ballot even though they've dropped out of the race. [Vause:] CNN now estimates Trump has 1,229 delegates. Just eight shy of their 1227 number to win the nomination before the convention. [Sesay:] All right. Away from politics for a moment. And Bill Cosby will stand trial for felony assault charges in Pennsylvania. The 78- year-old comedian is accused of drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee. [Vause:] She's one of more than 50 women who alleged sexual misconduct by Cosby. CNN's Jean Casarez has more. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] We can now definitely say that the criminal case against Bill Cosby is proceeding to trial. The preliminary hearing, a very important hearing determined by the magistrate judge that the prosecution had probable cause that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004 when inviting her to his home. He gave her blue pills, had her drink wine, and then sexually assaulted her. The defense very aggressive in the hearing. You can see that they're going to say that any sexual activity was consensual, that they had a romantic relationship and that alcohol was not used that night, if she wanted to say no, she could have. Bill Cosby is waiving his next formal arraignment but both sides will now begin to exchange discovery and this case will proceed to trial right here in Pennsylvania. Back to you. [Vause:] And Jean Casarez, thank you for that. Civil rights Attorney Areva Martin is with us. Segun Oduolowu is a pop culture contributor to "Access Hollywood" Live. So, Areva, just walk us through the legal procedure. What comes next? [Areva Martin, Attorney And Legal Affairs Commentator:] Next? [Vause:] Yes. [Martin:] Actually the trial. The judge today set a July trial date. But as we heard Jean say, there's going to be this exchange of information between the prosecution and the defense. And we should expect a lot of motions filed by both sides. The prosecution wants to get the testimony in of some of the other women who've come forth and made similar allegations against Bill Cosby and the defense team wants to keep that testimony out as well as they want to concentrate on that deposition testimony. That deposition testimony from 2005 involving the civil case for Constand is critical to the prosecution's case and the defense lawyers are arguing that it should be in-admissible in the trial. [Sesay:] Go ahead. Let's listen to one of the defense attorneys for Bill Cosby speaking outside of court today. We learned we gleaned a lot about how this is going to unfold. Let's take a listen. [Brian Mcmonagle, Bill Cosby's Defense Attorney:] It was presented that after, and I stress after this so-called incident the complainant continued to contact Mr. Cosby. The complainant accepted a dinner invitation from Mr. Cosby. The complainant returned to Mr. Cosby's home. And ultimately, after returning to Canada, the complainant asked for tickets to a concert that he was performing at, went to the concert and presented him with a gifts. [Sesay:] So Areva, this is about tearing down Constand's credibility. [Martin:] Absolutely. And building the case of a romantic relationship. We've heard the attorneys say that consensual sexual encounter happened on that particular night, that she had an opportunity, Constand had an opportunity to say no and she didn't. And so if you can show that there were phone calls, there were subsequent dates, if there was subsequent contact between Cosby and Constand, then the argument about a romantic relationship, you know, starts to make more sense and starts to have more credibility. [Vause:] Segun, we should say Bill Cosby pleading not guilty to all of this and the trial will be under way. But given everything that we've learned about Bill Cosby and all the details, regardless of the outcome of this trial, can Bill Cosby fall any further from grace at this point? [Segun Oduolowu, Entertainment Journalist:] He could fall into prison. [Vause:] I mean, in the eyes of most people. [Oduolowu:] Well, honestly, it's a very tough question because if they find him not guilty there are going to be people that jump up and say vindication, we told you all along. I mean, you can go to any grocery store, barber shop, any place where people are, just walk outside on the street and people will say, I don't think he did it. And then some people would say, I think he's despicable. Personally I'm in the despicable camp. I think that he did it. I really do. And the fall from grace, and I say it hurts a lot of people because the TV character of Bill Cosby, Dr. Huxtable, that's what we put our faith in. That's what we thought the man was. But this tactic by the defense, it feels almost Hollywood in nature. They are shaming and using the media to they call her the complainant. They don't use her name. They do as much as possible to say that, oh, there were gifts that there was, it was consensual. If you are drugged and someone takes your power to say no, I don't care if she walked into that room with every expectation of having sex with Bill Cosby. If he took her ability to say no away, then yes, he's a rapist. And I don't think it should be this difficult for people to understand or the court of public opinion. As I said, what they're doing is a smear campaign. I mean, this is Hollywood at its finest. [Vause:] This is pretty typical defense tactics. [Martin:] Oh, it's absolutely typical. And whenever someone is charged with rape we often hear that there was consensual relationship between the parties. And I have to disagree with Segun. Of course there are a lot of people who believe Bill Cosby is guilty and they believe it because of the 40-plus, almost 50 other women that have come forward, but our criminal justice system presumes you are innocent until proven guilty. And he has a constitutional right to confront the person, in this case Constand, making the allegations against him and to put on the most aggressive defense that he can. That's what happening here. [Oduolowu:] Doesn't it turn your stomach, Areva? He's walking in withholding on to someone's arm like he's blind. Just last year he was doing stand-up shows. Okay? So, this whole facade of oh, I'm frail and I'm an old man now. This is 2005. This was 11 years ago. [Martin:] But you are ignoring I don't think we can ignore what happened after this incident. I understand what you're saying about someone's power being taken away from them if they're drugged. That's absolutely a crime. And if that happened he should be found guilty. But on the other hand, it's not typical behavior for someone that has been sexually abused to continue to have the level of contact that we're hearing about in this case. [Oduolowu:] That's not true, Areva. Whoa, whoa, whoa, Areva, abused women stay with their abuser. Come on. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Come on! [Martin:] There are lots of cases where that doesn't happen. [Oduolowu:] Come on! Prostitutes stay with pimps. [Sesay:] To that point of how the defense we know is going to play this and try to tear down Constand's credibility. How did the prosecutors respond? How did they counter that because they know it's coming. [Martin:] Absolutely. And what they're going to have to do is try to establish, that yes, she may have had some inconsistencies with respect to her statement but that she was abuse, that she wasn't able to control what happened in that situation and that women often continue to have contact with their abusers. So, we may see psychologists testifying. We may see other experts testifying about the mentality and the actions of someone that's been in an abusive situation. But I think we have to allow all of the evidence to come in. I think it's premature to assume that Cosby is going to be found either guilty or not guilty because we haven't seen what's going to come in. And we know that deposition testimony, without it I don't think the prosecution has a chance of getting a guilty conviction. [Oduolowu:] But why? Why? In that deposition he says, I bought Quaaludes, drugs, illegal drugs to give to women for the purpose of sex. Why do we need more evidence than that? [Martin:] Because that's what the criminal justice system looks like. We cannot convict someone because of something they may have done to someone else. If I'm being charged for attacking [Oduolowu:] So, a monster is not a monster? [Martin:] The fact that I attacked you isn't relevant to whether I attacked her. And we have to stay focused on the facts in this particular case. Just because Bill Cosby is a celebrity doesn't mean that justice for him should look any different than it looks for any other defendant. [Sesay:] You talk about staying focused on this case. We know that there are outstanding civil cases. Any impact in any crossover? [Martin:] Well, obviously if he is found guilty that will be more fuel to the civil case that are going forward. Some of those cases are barred by the statute of limitations, but there are some active civil cases in California and we know there are some active cases in Boston. And if there is a guilty verdict in this case I think it will help those civil plaintiffs in their cases, maybe help them get to larger settlements sooner. In my cause, this case is to go away. [Oduolowu:] Is this what our legal system has come to, that we just suspend disbelief and common sense? Like there are people on Twitter there are people on Twitter [Martin:] No, no, no. We don't suspend [Oduolowu:] In between commercials people on Twitter are coming at me well, in between commercials people on Twitter are coming at us saying how can you say that he's guilty and everyone has the right to a fair trial. My question my statement to all of those people is let him babysit your kids. Thrust him. Let him go date your aunt. Do you trust him? Do you trust this man [Martin:] The justice system, we can't have a dual system for celebrities and non-celebrities and this is [Vause:] I'm not so sure that the level of guilt or innocence comes down to [Martin:] He's entitled to be presumed innocent until he is found guilty. [Oduolowu:] But do you but do you believe do you believe as a lawyer, as a human being, do you believe this man is innocent? [Sesay:] But that does not matter in the court of law what she believes [Martin:] I think he's entitled to the most incredibly aggressive defense that his dollars allow him [Oduolowu:] We watched a murderer in O.J. Simpson walk free. [Vause:] OK. [O.j. -- Martin:] Bill Cosby, not [O.j. Vause:] Areva, absolutely. [Oduolowu:] Worse than O.J., 50 women. [Sesay:] We thank you for this very spirited, very spirited discussion. [Vause:] Again, Bill Cosby and his defense team maintain his innocence. [Sesay:] And he has denied all wrongdoing. [Martin:] Remember our criminal justice system, that's the status today. [Vause:] Let's just reaffirm that one. Segun [Sesay:] We'll have you back. Thank you. [Martin:] OK. [Sesay:] All right. Time for a quick break. Next on CNN NEWSROOM. Chaos on the streets. As protesters get violent outside a Trump rally. But it was a winning night for the Republican presidential candidate. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I think I'm going to do very well with Hispanics, but we're building a wall. He's a Mexican. We're building a wall between here and Mexico. [Cuomo:] Donald Trump says not only is the judge a Mexican, who's against him, but a Muslim would be, too. That's where Trump is about the judge overseeing fraud suits against Trump University. Trump claims the judge, Gonzalo Curiel, is biased because of his heritage. So how do people of that heritage feel about it? We have a group of Hispanic voters. What do they think? I know you are going to think they are all dead set against him because of this, right? No, that's wrong. We have people here who are considering voting for him, do want to vote for him, so let's get to the discussion. Let's get a show of hands. How do we feel? Is this relevant? Does everybody agree this is relevant? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Unidentified Male:] I don't think it's relevant. [Cuomo:] Not even relevant, because, sir? [Unidentified Male:] Let's focus on the issues, focus on the economy, focus on national security. [Cuomo:] Focus on a microphone. Everyone gets a chance to speak. Don't censor him. [Frank Aguilar, Supports Donald Trump:] Focus on the economy, on jobs, on national security and on protecting America. That's we have to focus on. [Cuomo:] But does it matter that in describing why this judge is against him it is on the basis of his ethnicity? If this man were to be president of the United States, should there be a sensitivity to this kind of thing? [Aguilar:] Yes, there is, but, however, remember, he is was given some funding from the Clintons over the past several, two or three years. Is that a political issue? It could be, but this is not relevant, my opinion. [Cuomo:] Tell people who you are and who you're thinking of voting for. [Aguilar:] My name is Frank Aguilar from Union City, New Jersey, and I'm voting for Donald Trump for a change. [Maria Valentin, Supports Bernie Sanders:] Well, this is simply an indefensible attack on the judiciary. A motion for summary judgment just to make that clear, would mean that there isn't sufficient evidence to move forward in this case, and in a case like this, where you have so many people, this is a class action suit. Who have already testified as to the fact that they've been defrauded [Cuomo:] Seven thousand plaintiffs were on the classes right now, twelve people have opted out. [Valentin:] How can you grant summary judgment on a case like this? When he loses the case, he conveniently turns around and claims discrimination and racism. It's it's beneath a presidential candidate, pure and simple. [Cuomo:] But there are people who we hear who say, wait a minute, if I'm of Mexican descent and this man seems to be hostile towards Mexicans because he's building a wall, maybe that be influence me. It seems like a human instinct. Are you dismissing that completely? [Valentin:] I'm dismissing it because when you look at the facts of this particular case. There is ample evidence to show that a motion for a summary judgment would have erroneous. It would have been misapplied. We don't question the decisions made by the numerous white judges in the country. And I think that this is, again, just an example of Donald Trump's demagoguery. He's not trying to make America great again. He's trying to make a xenophobic and racist again. It's wrong and beneath a presidential candidate. [Cuomo:] Tell people who you are and who are thinking of voting for? [Valentin:] I'm Maria Valentine and I'm a registered Democrat and I voted for Bernie Sanders, but I will support the Democratic nominee against Donald Trump. [Fernando Uribe, Independent Voter, Undecided:] Chris, thanks for having me on. My name is Fernando Uribe. I'm from New Jersey. I'm an academic. One of the things I pride myself on I look at this rationally and pragmatically. [Cuomo:] No place here. [Uribe:] I'm a registered independent. [Cuomo:] You could never host this show. I want you to know that. [Uribe:] It's unfortunate. OK. [Cuomo:] So how do you see the situation? [Uribe:] It's unfortunate because what's going on with this issue with Donald Trump, it's another miscalculation on his regard in terms of his momentum moving forward in this campaign. What we've seen for months now with him is this sort of calculated attacks against his opponents with his own party and obviously against Senator Sanders and primarily against Secretary Clinton. What's going on now is just another miscalculation on Donald Trump's part. I think what he needs to do, again, as an independent, I would advise him to do is to sort of get away from, trying to delegate this in the court of public opinion. Let his attorneys deal with this within the laws of the land prevail and then move from there. The convention is next month in Cleveland. He needs to focus on a platform, defining his issues and really defining what makes him a better choice than ultimately Hillary Clinton. [Cuomo:] Maria, why is it so easy to hear from a couple of members of the panel that, I don't care what he says about me essentially. Why not? Why wouldn't someone care about this, and do you? [Marilyn Alverio, Supports Hillary Clinton:] It's disheartening. I'm Marilyn Alverio and give in Glastonbury. So this is my second time on the panel, so great to be back, but this is a huge misstep for the kind of comments that come out of Donald Trump. And I think what I'd like to say today is that the Republican Party needs to understand that Latinos are paying attention. We are following this the comments that can be ludicrous comments that come out of this gentleman's mouth. And so the fact [Cuomo:] He says he's going to bring jobs. That's all that matters and Latinos will wind up wanting that. [Alverio:] We absolutely do not believe that. I don't believe him. [Cuomo:] I believe you, frankly. I want you to know [Alverio:] But the bottom line is that he lies continuously. He throws sensational comments out there to get the attention of the people. It's almost like entertainment. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. Wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. The Democratic presidential ticket about to hold its first post- convention campaign event in Philadelphia. Hillary Clinton, who accepted the nomination last night and her running mate, Tim Kaine, beginning a 102-day push to the November eighth election. The event today kicks off a major bus tour through Pennsylvania and Ohio, two key battleground states. Donald Trump kicks off the post-convention spirit sprint, I should say, to November in another key battleground state today. We're talking about Colorado. Our Senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny is over at the Clinton-Kaine event at Temple University in Philadelphia. Our CNN National Correspondent Jason Carroll is in Denver just ahead of the Trump appearance. Jeff, talk a little bit about the message, the importance of these two states, Pennsylvania and Ohio. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Well, Wolf, now the real of three-month march to the election day is on here. A hundred and two days exactly from today. And what the Clinton campaign is trying to do is really expound on their themes of their convention. We saw so many signs here in Philadelphia that said, stronger together. She's hoping that she and Tim Kaine indeed are stronger together. But the reality is the scripting that we've seen over the last week is now going to be replaced by the political reality here, is that she is locked in a very tight race with Donald Trump. So, her campaign, along with Tim Kaine, is focusing on Pennsylvania and Ohio. Twenty electoral votes here in Pennsylvania, 18 electoral votes in Ohio. They are going to be talking about the economy as they make their way across the bus here in Philadelphia on to Harrisburg, finally on to Ohio. And really drawing a contrast with Donald Trump and his outsourcing activities. They're going to be visiting factories, talking to voters along the way here. But, Wolf, the reality here is once those balloons of course were cleaned off the convention floor, the hard work of the next three months is at hand here. And the Clinton campaign knows it has work to do, in terms of the campaign specifically. Donald Trump still ranks higher than her in poll numbers on the economy as well as other measures Wolf. [Blitzer:] Stand by. Jason Carroll is out in this Colorado. Jason, Donald Trump certainly has been in attack mode this week, especially with all of the criticism leveled against him during the Democratic convention in Philadelphia. Do you expect him to keep up that pressure today once he speaks at his rally? [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Without question, Wolf. Expect him to keep up those attacks, to step up the pressure. If any indication of what we heard yesterday in Davenport, Iowa, we're expected to hear more here today in Colorado Springs when his town hall gets underway. Basically, what the Trump camp is saying, after you've listened to everything that was said during the convention, the DNC convention, is that Hillary Clinton, the president, Democrats in general, they're feeling, basically, out of touch. Out of touch with what real Americans feel and what they think about the country. In terms of feeling, they feel as though that most Americans feel that they are not safe. Quoting Donald Trump, "They don't feel safe going to the theater. They don't feel safe getting on an airplane. They feel as though the president painted a rosy picture of the country, one that does not exist." You know that yesterday, Hillary Clinton made it very clear that Donald Trump is someone is a man who is very easily baited into tweeting. Well, that certainly didn't stop him from tweeting several times throughout her speech. Much of what he has to say read pretty much like this. Let me read a few of them to you. Crooked Hillary Clinton mentioned me 22 times in her very long and very boring speech. Many of her statements were lies and fabrications. Here's another one, Wolf. Crooked Hillary said that I couldn't handle the rough and tumble of a political campaign. Really? I just beat 16 people and I am beating her. And, Wolf, also just within the past hour, I checked Donald Trump's Facebook page. He basically said that Hillary Clinton leading the country would be worse. It would mean, quote, "more higher taxes, rampant terrorism and more corruption." So, this is what he's saying about this candidate. Basically, what this is coming down to, it's an election not just about who is the better candidate to lead the country, it's about which vision of America that you believe in. The Trump camp is betting that most people, most voters, will believe in the vision that he is painting Wolf. [Blitzer:] Jason Carroll in Colorado covering the Trump campaign. Jeff Zeleny at Temple University in Philadelphia with the Hillary Clinton campaign. We're going to be having extensive live coverage of those rallies coming up. We'll get back to them shortly. Hillary Clinton's message last night was that now the sky's the limit and that she's the one who has had the steady hand to handle the most important office in the world. Here with us right now, our Senior Political Reporter Nia-Malika Henderson, and John King, our Chief National Correspondent, the anchor of CNN's "INSIDE POLITICS." John, the first of these three presidential debates, those are going to be the big events coming up over the next couple of months. Still, what, 59 days away from the presidential debate on September 26th. And now, we see this Pennsylvania and Ohio bus tour. The strategy going forward now to build up momentum going into what will clearly be those critical debates. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] Think about it, Wolf. Think about the contrasting messages, the contrasting tone, the contrasting ideas we heard in Cleveland and Philadelphia. Imagine when Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, they're just a few feet apart on the stage having this debate face to face. So, I think all Americans are waiting for that. And I think given how close the race is right now, if it stays that way, these debates will be highly consequential. So, what happens between now and then? You just showed the map of where the Democrats are going. If Hillary Clinton can hold Pennsylvania and win Ohio, Donald Trump is not going to be the next president of the United States. So, where do you go? You go into small towns that have that economic anxiety. Look at Youngstown, Ohio, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, blue collar workers, white working class voters, where Hillary Clinton is struggling right now. She needs to make the case that Donald Trump, as she tried to in the speech last night, he talks the he wants to be says he's your voice but what would he do? He has no plans. He doesn't care about you. She's touched on the outsourcing by the Trump the Trump companies, the ties, the suits and all of that. Last night, looked for that to come up a lot at the outsourcing. But also look for her to try to make the case, as she did last night. She said, we Democrats have not spent enough time listening to you. That empathy for people who are anxious economically, struggling economically, critical to the Democrats. [Blitzer:] Nia, as you remember, that first CNN-ORC poll after the Republican convention in Cleveland saw a 10-point swing. Donald Trump went from five points down to five points up. On CNN's "NEW DAY" earlier today, Tim Kaine, the Democratic vice presidential nominee, spoke about the message from the Democrats going forward. Listen. [Sen. Tim Kaine , Vice Presidential Presumptive Candidate:] And with respect to Donald Trump and the things that he's proposing and the way he treats others and the vision he has for this country, it'll it's going to be very easy for me to point that out, consistent with them laying out why we're so different and why a Clinton administration is going to be one that's focusing on positive results for people. [Blitzer:] The Clinton campaign, they're expecting a considerable bump out of their convention as well. Isn't that right? [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] That's right. You saw Donald Trump give something of a bump there. He has been talking about his lead in the polls, at least according to our CNN poll the ORC poll I think shows him up like six points or something. So, we'll see what happens with Hillary Clinton. I mean, you saw her there really reach out to a broad range of people. On the one hand, try to hold onto the Obama coalition. But then, also try to reach out to independent voters1 and Republican voters. They think in talking to the Clinton campaign, they think they did their campaign a lot of good. They expect to see a polling bounce. But, again, I think we'd have to check in August and September and then leading up to the election to see how this thing plays out and see if it see if it even lasts. And then, I think we just have to see what they're doing in these different states, what states they are targeting, what kind of ground game each of them have, what kind of ads they're putting up on the air. We saw, I think, from the Hillary Clinton campaign really go up early, spend millions of dollars in a lot of these swing states. And now, you see Donald Trump trying to catch up with a message, essentially saying, don't keep the car and the keys in Hillary Clinton's hands because look at where the country is now. I think one of his best lines has been, how is the status quo working out for you? And I think that's a theme that we're going to hear him keep on hammering. [Blitzer:] Let me play a clip for you, John. This is a moment from last night's Philadelphia convention, Chelsea Clinton introducing her mother. [Chelsea Clinton:] My earliest memory is my mom picking me up after I had fallen down, giving me a big hug and reading me "Good Night, Moon." From that moment to this one, every single memory I have of my mom is that regardless of what was happening in her life, she was always, always there for me. [Blitzer:] You and I have been covering the Clintons going back to 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for president. Spent some time in Little Rock, Arkansas. How do you think Chelsea did? [King:] I first met Chelsea when she was 11 so it's remarkable to see her as this poised, young woman now. She just had a baby five and a half weeks ago. It's pretty remarkable. Look, a lot of people compare her speech to Ivanka Trump's speech. Ivanka Trump also introduced her father. Ivanka is the more polished public speaker. Ivanka had some politics in her speech. Chelsea didn't want to do that. She's trying to humanize her mom. She was always there for me. This is what they're trying to say. They're trying to say, you may think Hillary Clinton's been around a long time. You may have this perception of her as a calculating politician but she's there for you. She Chelsea Clinton did it and some others speakers, too. She's with you when the crisis happens but then she calls back and checks in. Chelsea was saying, you know, even though she was busy professionally, my dad was governor, she made my soccer games. She made my ballet recitals. Part of a very consistent theme to try to humanize Hillary Clinton a little bit, soften the edges, but also say, when she starts something, she sticks with it. That was a key point of this convention and Chelsea was party of the testimonial, if you will, that Hillary Clinton is a doer not a talker. And when she starts something, she takes it to the finish. And sometimes she loses but she gets back up. So, Chelsea Clinton played an incredible part, wolf, trying to take the rough edges off but also get into the tenacious, the fighting part of Hillary Clinton. [Blitzer:] It's interesting, Nia, that both of these women Ivanka I think is 34 years old, Chelsea I think is 35 years old. They are very poised, very smart, good speakers. I think they were friends or at least good acquaintances in New York. [Henderson:] Yes, probably not anymore. [Blitzer:] I don't know about I don't know what's going on now. But both of these women are going to be out there on the campaign, affective spokeswomen for their for their parents. [Henderson:] I think that's right. And, in some ways, they're both spokespeople for the liberal agenda, right. I mean, if you remember Ivanka's speech, I mean, she, in some ways, sounded like a Democrat, talking about a paid maternal leave. I think that surprised people a lot. But she, I think, Donald Trump at least sees her as sort of an ambassador to women voters, a group of voters that he is not doing well with, as it is right now. So, we'll see what they'll do. Again, they both just had babies, if I recall, quite recently. So, we'll see how they're able to juggle that and also get out and be surrogates for their parents. And I think they're pretty affective surrogates. Chelsea Clinton, I think she has a master's in public health. She is a real walk just like her mother. And it'll be interesting to see how she's deployed in these next months in this campaign because it's very much an all-hands-on-deck affair for the Democrats. For I think for Donald Trump, he has to rely on his kids in some way because not a lot of the Republicans are rallying to his side in a way that Democrats are rallying to Hillary Clinton's side. [Blitzer:] John, let me play this clip. Donald Trump last night reacting to what he heard this week at the Democratic convention. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I wanted to hit a couple of those speakers so hard. I was going to hit one guy in guy, in particular, a very little guy. I was going to hit this guy so hard. His head would spin. He wouldn't know what the hell happened. [Blitzer:] I want your reaction to that because this is Donald Trump. He's caused a little stir with those words. [King:] But most people think by little guy he meant the former New York city mayor, Michael Bloomberg, who, a fellow New Yorker like Donald Trump, fellow businessman like Donald Trump, who pealed the skin off Donald Trump. Essentially saying, I'm a New Yorker. I know a con when I see it. This guy's a fraud. This guy's lying to you. Don't go there. Look, I laughed when you played that clip. And this was a key part of Secretary Clinton's speech last night. She said, that's what people do. They laugh at Donald Trump. They laugh at some of these things because they are provocative. They are controversial. She Secretary Clinton was trying to make the point, it's not funny. He's the candidate for president and that's not presidential. That does not show presidential temperament. That is not the person you want, you know, when you have to make a big decision about policy or being on a big on the global stage at some big moment. And this is a key part. Again, it's a key part of Donald Trump's appeal. He's authentic. He says what comes into his head. Voters think he's unvarnished and unfiltered. He's not beholding to anybody. So, it has worked for Trump so far. Clinton is trying to say, no, no, no, no. This guy he's essentially trying to say he's a clown. He's not a president. He's a performer. He's not a president. And this will be the debate for the next 120 days. She is trying to disqualify him by saying, you might laugh at that, but you don't want to laugh at your president. [Blitzer:] All right, John and Nia, I want both of you to stand by. There's more analyst coming up. We're keeping a close watch right now, Hillary Clinton getting ready to speak any moment now live. She's at Temple University in Philadelphia with Tim Kaine. We're going to bring you her remarks once they start there. You see Tim Kaine. He's already on the stage. They've got a big crowd over there at Temple University in Philadelphia there. Hillary Clinton and Bill Clinton, they're on the stage as well. They're getting ready to say a few a few words. They're going to be introduced. Let's take a quick break. Much more right after this. [Blitzer:] Paris investigators are now looking into the possibility that one of the attackers came into Europe as part of the refugee wave coming out of Syria. That news has lead to a quick reaction by some governors in the United States to block the states from taking in more refugees. Ohio and Mississippi just became the ninth and tenth state to make that announcement. Our Martin Savidge is joining us now. Martin, how many states are we talking about? It is clearly escalating, thus desire to avoid allowing more Syrian the refugees into the United States. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, it's escalating as the day goes on. It started off with three and now at 10. I know the states where we are at so far, and the governors said no more refugees, Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois and Massachusetts. On the fence is said to be Iowa. The governor is asking for more transparency. And the governor of North Carolina has set up a press conference later today to talk about the very subject, and he may go on the list as well. The number of Syrian refugees in the country so far, at least according to the Department of Health and Human Services that tracks the refugees, says that, in 2014, they were roughly 132 Syrians, but the numbers have gone up some in 2015. But it's the president of the United States that has committed to accepting 100,000 Syrian refugees. Keep in mind there are roughly four million that are said to have fled the fighting in Syria. So it is that number that is clearly alarming to many of the governors in light of what they have seen going on in Paris this past weekend. And it should be noted that all of the governors in the states are Republicans Wolf? [Blitzer:] Good point. Thanks very much, Martin. And I want to bring in two specialists to help us to appreciate what is going on, and joining us from London, the former United States ambassador to NATO, Nicholas Burns; and in Washington, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger. Gloria, the president says it is un-American to turn away the refugee, and America has welcomed the refugees and immigrants into the United States. Ben Carson, one of the presidential frontrunners, is weighing in, saying this is not a time to allow the Syrian refugees in because ISIS could be infiltrating the waves. Where do we go from here? [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] It has become a political issue that clearly divides the Republicans and the Democrats. Saturday night, at the debate, the Democrats did not say anything about slowing down the refugees from Syria. And Dr. Carson wants to block funds for programs that allow for Syrian refugees. You have, as Martin was saying, these 10 Republican governors, and the list is going to grow. There are some presidential candidates who want to only allow in Christian refugees, which is something that the president also made reference to today. So this is a bone of contention in a presidential campaign in which immigration is already a very big issue Wolf? [Blitzer:] Nick Burns, you were once the undersecretary for political affairs. Can the governors do this? Let's say the president of the United States says we will accept 20,000 refugees in the next few months, can the governors say, you won't send them to Ohio or some of the other states? [Nicholas Burns, Former United States Ambassador To Nato:] Well, this is an issue for the president and the speaker of the House to work out. Congress controls the purse strings. The administration proposes refugee number. By the way, I think what the administration's position is, is that the U.S. should take 10,000 and not 100,000 Syria refugees- [Blitzer:] 10,000 by the end of this year. [Burns:] And 100,000 refugees from all over the world, just to correct that number. But we have a long tradition of Republican presidents, as well as Democratic presidents standing up to take the refugees. And as Secretary Hillary Clinton said the other night in the Democratic debate, of course, job number one has to be security. You have to vet the people. It does take time. You have to establish who they are. You have to put their name through criminal databases and international security bases. We have to do all of that. But this nation, our nation has never shut its doors in the last 70 years, since the close of the World War II, and we should not begin now when you have 12 million Syrian homeless, when the Europeans are doing so much more than the United States. [Blitzer:] Gloria, the president spoke out at the news conference in Turkey at the end of the G-20 summit, and I want to play a clip and hear your reaction to this. [Obama:] We have always understood that it is a long-term campaign. There are going to be setbacks, and there will be successes. The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback. [Blitzer:] And now, the critics say it is a lot more than a setback. They are pounding on him right now that his strategy has not worked. [Borger:] Right. And what the president spoke about was an intensification of his strategy, and not a rethinking of his strategy. I think that this needed to be in some ways, Wolf, a larger moment than it was. If you are in Paris, this is your 911, and this is not a setback. And when you are president of the United States, he spent a lot of time today talking about his political opponents, and talking about how the strategy needed time to work, and talking about the intensification, and not talking a lot about resolve or American leadership, which is what I think that people wanted to hear. He talks about leading a coalition often, with France, with Arab allies, and that is what I wanted to hear more from him about today. [13:45:] [Blitzer:] Nick Burns, this is clearly a turning point what happened in Paris the other night, and I assume that you agree, right? [Burns:] I very much agree with that. The U.S. has had a policy in place to essentially contain the Islamic State. It is not going to work. And we have to transition to a defeat strategy. That does not mean American combat troops on the ground. But what it does mean, Wolf, is I think Gloria is exactly right, the world is looking for the United States to lead a huge coalition. And we need to do that. We have that opportunity. The president, to his in his defense, needs some help. In Britain, today, I was reminded by a British friend that the British government is not conducting air strikes in Syria because the parliament has not given permission. You know, Wolf, some of the Arab states on the front line, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, no longer on the front lines with us against the Islamic State. Turkey, where the president is now, they are the most complicated of all. They have been bombing the one group that is fighting the Islamic State, the Syrian Kurds. So the president needs help from the allies, but he needs to lead in a more assertive way. He is obviously capable of doing that. And that is where the focus of the United States should be right now. [Blitzer:] And I spoke recently with Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, and asked him why the British is not involved. He said politics basically. They don't have political authorization to do so. Nick Burns, thanks very much. Gloria, thanks to you, as well. As France steps up its campaign against ISIS, we're ask the question, are the air strikes actually working and can the coalition change the dynamics in the war against the terrorists to prevent another tragedy like we witnessed Friday night in Paris? We'll talk about that, get new information when we come back. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor:] Terror across Paris. It is a city under siege. At least 43 people are dead in multiple attacks across the French capital. According to our affiliate BFMTV, there were at least six shootings in various locations and three explosions at a soccer stadium. That appears to be a suicide bombing attack. And at this moment, police are just storming a concert hall where at least we don't know the exact number. It could be 100 or more or less being held hostage. France has now closed its borders. French police are urging all Paris residents to stay inside. This entire situation as we are covering it for you live at this hour is incredibly fluid. It began just a few hours ago when shots rang out across the city. [Burnett:] France's President was inside the soccer stadium where explosions broke up the game. The game kept playing as they tried to figure out what was happening. The President of France was evacuated to a safe location. He's spoken to the people of France and the people of the world saying he's closing the French borders. President Obama also speaking out tonight. [Pres. Barack Obama , United States:] Once again, we've seen an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. This is an attack not just on Paris. It's an attack not just on the people of France but this is an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share. We're going to do whatever it takes to work with the French people and with nations around the world to bring these terrorists to justice and to go after any terrorist networks that go after our people. [Burnett:] Prominent ISIS supporters on social media are praising the attacks at this moment though ISIS has not formally claimed responsibility. We begin our coverage tonight with CNN producer Pierre Buet, he is on the ground outside of that concert hall where there's a hostage situation right now. They are storming the hall. Pierre, what do you know? [Pierre Buet, Cnn Producer:] I can't confirm that [Burnett:] And Pierre, you talk about seeing a few hostages at this time. You know, we know there could have been many, many people inside that theater. You have not seen very many people come out. Is there any sense that you can give us as to whether, from where you are standing right now, people have been able to survive and escape? [Buet:] Yes. Thankfully, I have seen about 100 to 150 hostages, civilian people are being evacuated about half an hour ago and just a bit more than 15 minutes ago. So, I'm hoping that most of the people that were inside this building are now outside of this building and that what I'm seeing right now are the last of the civilian hostages being evacuated. I don't know how many are left inside. All I can say is there were a great number of them who have already been evacuated outside the building. [Burnett:] All right. Pierre, please stay with us. As Pierre sees more as we said, this situation is developing so rapidly. We're going to go back to you, Pierre. I want to right now go straight to Patrick Klugman, the Deputy Mayor of Paris. Deputy Mayor, thank you so much for being with us. It's a horrific evening. What can you tell us about this siege right now? [Patrick Klugman, Paris Deputy Mayor:] Well, first, it's an unknown situation to the population of Paris. So far we have this state of emergency. The city is under siege, as we say. And we know that a search by the police is over at that [Burnett:] And Deputy Mayor, it is horrific and hard to imagine, the thoughts and feelings of everyone watching around the world are with you tonight as they were with the United States in 911 and I think many are moved to tears to imagine what is happening. I know you say that the siege now is over. But it does sound like you say that the death toll and these horrific acts is going to go significantly higher? [Klugman:] Yes, we expect that there may be a lot of dead people tonight in Paris what we know already. And also what we know is higher than we've ever had in Paris. So it's a terrible, terrible situation. It's really a tragedy that we are facing. And experimenting. So I don't know what more to say. And of course, tomorrow will be another day but we don't know if it will start again tomorrow or not. Nothing says that this sequence is over. We just know that at the Bataclan it's over and we don't have so far information about who were inside, who were how many people were inside, how many people were how many people get escaped. So a lot of confusion, a lot of sadness already. And I think we are preparing to face a very odd situation in Paris. [Burnett:] And Deputy Mayor, I know that you're talking about this, the frightening reality that of what we don't know, that you as the deputy mayor, you know the siege is over. You don't know how many are alive. You don't know how many are dead. It's such a terrifying moment. Do you have I'm sorry. Go ahead. [Klugman:] Yes. As you know, there have been six to seven locations of attacks in the center of Paris and outside of Paris. So, the information is really hard to get and to be very clear for all the citizens for information and for the population. Of course, by tomorrow, we'll know more. The highest person of the police officers, of the security department, of course the military interior, prime minister and president but so far what we have is very confusing because it was spread over the Paris territory, six to seven locations of attacks. Of course, inside and outside of the soccer game, we received the attack at the soccer game. So it's really too many information. Not an expected but never seen before. [Burnett:] Do you, sir, think that there, you talk about six to seven attacks and just how it's impossible to know at this point how many are dead and what is happening. Do you have any sense I mean, that requires an incredible amount of coordination? Do you have any sense of who did this and also whether it is over or not? [Klugman:] Well, again, there are many clues and evidence that shows that, of course, it is terror attacks. [Burnett:] Deputy Mayor, thank you so very much for taking the time to talk to us. [Klugman:] Thank you. [Burnett:] I know you sound very broken up, as I'm sure anyone listening to you feels. Thank you very much. Deputy Mayor Klugman. [Sruthi Gottipati, Witness:] Is outside the concert hall right now joining me on the phone. The concert hall of course, is where this massive siege just occurred. You just heard the deputy mayor say, that siege is now over but as the Deputy Mayor of Paris was unable to tell us how that ended, how many more people lost their lives. Obviously you can see a lot of people escaping. They do not know how many people were inside at this time, how many people lost their lives. What are you able to tell us? What did you see? So basically I'm a few minutes away from where the concert was happening. I'm on this little street which is just off this boulevard. Basically, I can see all of these emergency vehicles which are coming up to this cafe which has become the sort of makeshift staging area where they are taking injured people inside this cafe. So I can see people being carried out in stretchers into this cafe right now. [Burnett:] Do you have any sense, from talking to people about what happened inside that hall? I mean, this siege had been going on of course for several hours. [Gottipati:] We actually can't speak none of the journalists can speak to the injured right now because they are being carried, you know, on to the stretchers and inside the cafe right now. So none of them are actually walking out of it. The emergency vehicles are being taken directly inside the cafe so we are not able to speak to them. But earlier on about 30 to 40 minutes ago, I could see people who are screaming and running down the street, and running away from where the concert was happening. And I got to speak to a couple of them and they basically told me that they just heard what sounded like these fireworks going off and then they started like crouching down on the ground and tried to hide and made a run for it. [Burnett:] Sruthi, were you able to tell from your reporting and I know the deputy mayor says this is almost impossible to do. So, I know there isn't a firm answer but of course you're talking about six to seven attacks across Paris. At the concert hall where you are, there were hundreds inside that the terrorists were trying to kill. We don't yet know formally how many were killed, how many escaped. Do you know what they were saying about how many terrorists were inside that hall? [Gottipati:] No, I do not have that information at all. So, I don't know how many people were inside. Even the people who were inside the concert, I wasn't sure exactly what was happening. They just heard a lot of screaming and shouting and they thought they heard what was, you know, fireworks which was obviously gunfire. But I don't know I don't think they saw anyone. They just ran out. Many of these people actually ran to a bar which was next to the concert and from there fled down the street and that's where we saw them. [Burnett:] Sruthi, thank you very much. And I want to let our viewers know now, as this fluid situation develops, we told you the siege is over in the club. One of those six or seven locations of attacks across Paris. We're working to confirm right now an AFP report from the agency France press that 100 people about 100 people were killed inside that concert hall. As I said, we are working to confirm that number. We have 100 people, I'm sorry, total. But we are working to confirm that. As we get more information, we'll going to bring that to you. I want to go now though to our Chief International Correspondent Christiane Amanpour in London tonight. Christiane, obviously you know so many people who are there tonight in Paris. The deputy mayor saying he thinks the numbers can go up significantly from the 42 that he knew of at that time. This is something that Paris has never seen the likes of before. [Christiane Amanpour, Cnn Chief International Correspondent:] That's right. I mean, it's a really catastrophic attack on a major metropolitan city in Europe. It's worse if it is more than 50 or so, it's worse than what happened here in England on 77. It comes at a time when authorities in parts of Europe, including Paris and including London, have said publicly that they know that they are facing huge threats. The head of MI-5 here about 10 days though said that there one of the most unprecedented levels of spread and fear of blowback of ISIS attacks in recent memory or at all regarding the ISIS'threat. And on Paris, they had been on the alert for a while now because they are hosting this massive climate change conference which starts in just about two weeks from now. And they have started a huge amount of extra police, of secured roads, of securing borders and putting more border checks in place for that and to that end, we were in Paris. I was in Paris right near that Bataclan area, near the Place De La Republique today and I was interviewing elsewhere in Paris, on the Mayor Anne Hidalgo who is obviously taking, you know, a front and center leadership role in the crisis tonight. [Burnett:] Yes. [Amanpour:] Earlier today, I was interviewing her about the threat around the climate rather about the climate meeting. But what's happened is that this is a whole new level of threat with ISIS, the idea that so many French have gone over there. Americans, British people, people from North Africa, people from all over Europe who are able to come back with passports and are able to, you know, conduct these hit-and-run attacks as now that's what ISIS threat in Europe is shaping up to be, these Kalashnikov attacks, these hit-and-runs rather than something massive like 911. [Burnett:] Yes. All right. Christiane, thank you very much. And I do want to just let everyone know here, obviously, the incredible scale of coordination across Paris, six to seven attacks, it's hard to understate overstate the importance of this. And I want to, again, go with the numbers here that we are trying to confirm from AFP that around 100, around 100 people killed in that concert hall. Just that concert hall alone. Of course, the deputy mayor of Paris as you know just on this program has said 42 others were dead. So, if that number is right, that would be well over 100 people slaughtered in this horrific terror attack. Jim Bittermann is in Paris tonight. And Jim, what can you tell me? [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Erin, I'm about 100 yards or so away from the Bataclan but it's close as you can get because it's all been the area has been sealed off by the police and army troops that are here with assault rifles drawn. And they are not allowed to let anyone any closer to confirm any of those reports that you have been hearing about. And I think we'll just have to wait until the prosecutor or someone else from the Paris, from the authorities here, come out to the press and tell us exactly what is going on. But it does appear that the attack at the Bataclan, the concert theater is over now but the question is exactly what did happen inside and exactly how many people did lose their lives in there? And there is also something that has just come across from the respectable newspaper there, that's reporting that there were seven separate and simultaneous attacks at different locations this evening. So something was completely and highly coordinated and I think that's something that the police found themselves a little bit overwhelmed with when they had all of these attacks going on at the same time Erin. [Burnett:] And Jim, let me ask you about what we heard French President Hollande speak to the French nation and to the world saying there's a state of emergency in France, saying that he is closing the French borders. What measures are the French authorities taking tonight and I have not heard, when is the last time or has France ever done anything like this in terms of closing the borders? [Bittermann:] I don't think France has ever done anything like this. As the President ordered the border sealed the whole neighborhoods would be sealed off and we've certainly run into that already this evening and he said that there would be searches just at will, when soldiers or police see somebody that they think is suspicious, they are going to stop them and search them. So it's extraordinary measures. The President, when he spoke, was vividly shaken by this. I think it's something that is really just overwhelmed the officials here because it's just kind of a coordinated attack that they've never had to deal with before. [Burnett:] And Jim, we have also reported that the attack at the stadium, at least our understanding as of now, there were at least three separate explosions at that soccer stadium. They are reporting that that was a suicide attack. Obviously the situation in the club where you are outside right now was a hostage situation. Do you know anything about these other attacks? Were they all suicide attacks? What can you tell us? [Bittermann:] Well, the other attacks seemed were all with assault rifles and there were at least two restaurants that were attacked and I'm not sure exactly where the of that seven figure but there are clearly there's something on it. But in any case, the other attacks appeared to not have involved explosions. The explosions that were heard at the soccer stadium, apparently one was by a suicide bomb, they found apparently parts of the suicide bomber's body as well as explosive devices and a short while ago and here at the Bataclan, the concert hall, in fact, we heard the police radio saying, you know, be careful for suicide belts, be cautious of suicide belts, that some of the gunmen might have been armed and had explosive belts on their bodies. So it's a situation that I think is a little bit unclear at this time but I'm sure we'll know more as the evening wears on. [Burnett:] Jim Bittermann, thank you. Jim is going to stay with us. As he said, he's about 100 yards outside that club. The Bataclan club. AFP reporting right now that the French President Francois Hollande, is en route right now to that club and we are reporting around 100 people were killed inside that club. We do not know how many were inside altogether. We don't know the situation of how they died. But the reporting right now, around 100 people lost their lives in that club alone. One of seven locations in attacks across Paris. I want to show you the video right now that we have just coming in of the S.W.A.T. team storming that club. I'll talk you through this. We don't have audio with this but this is the S.W.A.T. team storming that club. Okay. So this is what exactly happened, as I said, we don't know how many people were inside. Hundreds perhaps. We know that many people were able to escape. And again AFP reporting, we are now reporting around 100 of them lost their lives inside that club. We do not know how. We do not know how many. We understand it was terrorists with assault rifles. I want to go to Pamela Brown now in Washington. Pam, you've been working your sources. And what are you learning? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, I can tell you, Erin, just about every official I've spoken with in the counterterrorism community, intelligence community, they are alarmed by the methodology, the preplanning that went in to these coordinated attacks at six to seven locations, we're now learning. And the concern, Erin, among officials is that this may not be over, though it does appear to be contained right now at those locations we've seen in other terrorist attacks which is Mumbai several years ago, attacks that happened through over the course of several days. That is something that is in the minds right now of counterterrorism officials. That concern is very much there. There was an inner agency conference call, video conference call today led by the White House that is still ongoing. This is with all of the major agencies here in the U.S., including the CIA and the FBI to make sure that there is adequate information sharing and situational awareness and also make sure that there are no threats here and the United States. I'm told, that at this point there is no indication of any threats. But officials want to know, Erin, if there are any U.S. citizens that may have been targeted in Paris involved with this in any way. And that's the information they are looking for. Is there any nexus for the United States, either through the potential terrorists or through were there any victims, United States citizens that were victims. That is information that officials are still waiting on. It's been very hectic. The information coming in from the French has been slow, understandably, because it's been such a chaotic situation and the hostage situation at that theater was just recently resolved. So they are waiting to get some more information but I can tell you, cities across the United States right now, Erin, on heightened alert, specifically New York and L.A., other major cities are boosting patrols at sensitive sites just as preparation. Though again, there are no credible threats at this hour. Everyone just wants to be extra cautious. [Burnett:] Pam Brown, thank you very much. I want to go to Tom Foreman. Tom, you know, the deputy mayor of Paris just on this program talking about six to seven attacks. Le Monde now reporting that it was formally seven. The deputy mayor was talking about how it was the police were not, you know it's messy. They were not prepared for so many simultaneous attacks. Who in a sense would be? What can you tell about where these attacks happened? [Tom Foreman, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, I know right now, what we really know about the only three that seem to be very big, they were all north and one was east of the traditional tourist areas that you would know about. That's the river winding through Paris. Let's go in to the Bataclan theater, which is the one that we have been talking about most recently here. This theater is a very short walk from the old offices of "Charlie Hebdo" and it is generally surrounded very tightly by these other places around here. Take a look at this. This is a picture that was tweeted out by the base player in this California rock band that was playing there tonight. They are called the Eagles of Death Metal. The man who tweeted this out named Marc McFettridge, he was the base player. This was shortly before the concert began tonight. Beginning from a witness and from looking at the records here. This theater holds about a thousand people, maybe 1500 at the most if it's full. But again, this is what it looks like from the street there and, of course, a very different scene tonight. So that's what was happening at that theater. Now, not terribly far away from there either by foot or by car, you go to this restaurant, Le Petit Cambodge which is over in the 10th this month. The first one is in the 11th. They're basically districts of France. This is a place that would be frequented by a lot of young people in a very densely populated neighborhood there. Let's back off from this picture. That's an older one where it looks sort of a close-up. There you can see, it looks like more typically. It is not necessarily a tourist place but it's featured in some tourist guides as a nice place to go to. So, we don't really know who would have been there but that was one of the locations. And then if we move off to the stadium further to the north, this is a very modern stadium. It's capable of holding about 80,000 people. From what we know, none of the attacks appear to have taken place inside the stadium but very close outside the stadium. So that obviously is a huge target if a suicide bomber had been inside. But we'll learn more about that and presumably, Erin, we're going to find out more about all of these other locations or suspected locations where it doesn't appear the attacks were nearly as effective as they were in these three Erin. [Burnett:] Tom Foreman, thank you very much. I want to bring in our panel now, former CIA Operative Bob Baer, our terrorism analyst Paul Cruickshank and the former counterterrorism analyst with the Department of Defense Jim Arkedis along with Republican Congressman Ed Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee who has been getting briefed this evening. Let me start with you though, Paul. What are you hearing? The Deputy Mayor of Paris saying, they don't know whether this is going to continue, whether they will have more of these attacks happening over the next hour, over the next days. What are you hearing from your sources? [Paul Cruickshank, Cnn Terrorism Analyst:] Well, there is a significant concern that there could be more attacks in the hours ahead, that this is not over yet through the night or even tomorrow or in the weeks ahead. No terrorist group has yet claimed responsibility for this. I think we can expect a major claim from a terrorist group. A lot of people are going to be looking at ISIS, given the number of French who have gone over to Syria and Iraq to fight with the group and a number who have come back. There's been a huge concern in France over the last year since the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, since the attack against the Kosher market, about the terrorist threat, particularly the ISIS terrorist threat. Really disgruntled and unprecedented terrorist threat. Every week they are getting new intelligence on new plotting Erin. [Burnett:] Chairman Royce, have you been briefed? What are you able to tell us right now? [Royce:] Well, first, I should tell you, our sympathies are with the people of France. What I can tell you is that there are 185 fighters in France who have returned from Syria and one of the concerns we've had for some time now is the request by ISIS that their fighters carry out attacks on soft targets in France. Three French jihadists who were is fighters recently appeared in a video and called for these attacks and ISIS formally does this on a regular basis. So, the concern here is that this is targeted to civilians, soft targets. It's not like al Qaeda where they were targeting institutions and this is a new form of warfare, certainly we've seen the likes of it in Lebanon recently. Again, targeting apostates, as they call it. [Burnett:] Bob, what is your understanding here when we're talking about six to seven attacks which the deputy mayor said are highly coordinated? They don't yet know anything else. They said they've got no formal claim of responsibility. They don't know more about the perpetrators that we're aware of at this hour. What does it say to you that in a city that was attacked in January in such a horrific and spectacular way is now facing this sort of an attack this coordinated? [Bob Baer, Former Cia Operative:] Well, Erin, what concerns me is the French were on high alert. Clearly they were looking at all communications. They were rounding up anybody who was a radical, interrogating them, and yet a military size force was able to get in a military-style attack and took down these targets. It all happened, as far as I can see, within 30 minutes. It's the kind of tactics you learn in Syria and Iraq. I would say offhand, we'll find out later, that these attackers have been in combat of some sort. They take on first responders. They don't try to hide from them. They don't try to hold buildings. And as ISIS will do, they will get as many casualties as they can, as quickly as they can before the hostage rescue teams come in and sure it looks like ISIS to me. [Burnett:] Jim? [Jim Arkedis, Former Counterterrorism Analyst, Dept. Of Defnese:] At this point, I think we're jumping the gun a little bit if we're going to assign responsibility. As Paul said a second ago, I think it's important to wait for a claim of responsibility. As we know in January, the attacks were linked to al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which is a group in Yemen and does have affiliations with core al Qaeda. What we've seen with this coordination is really an improvement of whomever conducted this attack has taken the time to collect operatives, to train, to acquire of weapons, assemble the devices and plan the attack. And this didn't happen overnight. So, as we investigate the attack further, there should be a lot of attacks that come out of it. [Burnett:] Bob, how do you think they communicated it? If you're talking about military-style assault, you're saying these people, in your view, likely experienced some sort of combat. Would every single conversation have happened in person? How would they have gotten the weapons they got? This is not the United States where getting assault rifles is relatively easier. [Baer:] Assault rifles are very difficult to get in France. Of course, they are illegal there. They have to be smuggled in from places like Albania or Eastern Europe. This many explosives are unavailable to the public. They're unavailable in France, to the public. I would imagine these guys, if they communicated, it was probably on the dark net, in coded and encrypted communications, peer to peer. Now, this is all speculation at this point. [Burnett:] Yes. [Baer:] We're going to learn a lot more by tomorrow. And they just stayed off telephones. They've learned. They've read Snowden. They understand what the French can do. You don't call each other on the phone. And I think they are getting better from the "Charlie Hebdo" attack. I can't emphasize enough how shocking this attack is. Even in the Algerian war, there was never this sort of violence in France ever that I can remember in modern times. [Burnett:] Paul, this is something that is stunning. I sit here as an American with a feeling like 911, with so many innocent people attacked, going about their Friday evening as a deputy mayor said, on a Friday evening in their time to relax. I mean, it is impossible to truly overstate the significance of what is happening in Paris right now. [Cruickshank:] You're absolutely right. This is really staggering. They have closed the borders. There's a state of emergency we haven't seen scenes like this since the Second World War in Europe. And this is not just a one-off event. I think we can expect a lot more of this in Europe in the future. Unfortunately, this really is just the beginning. More than 6,000 European nationals are traveling to Syria and Iraq, many joining ISIS, 1,500 back in Europe. I speak to intelligence officials. They are completely overstretched. They cannot monitor everybody all the time and that's why they are taking some of these emergency measures now in France. It's going to be a lot of concern moving ahead and there have been a lot of warning signs for some time. I mean, back in January, in Belgium, they plotted a major plot, a gun attack, a bomb attack when they went in and also raided in eastern Belgium. That was an ISIS-directed plot. ISIS increasingly getting involved in the terrorism business as we've seen over the last weeks and days. And so, this is a very worrying new direction, both the Europeans and also for the United States. [Burnett:] Chairman Royce, I would imagine this is very, very frightening for the United States intelligence. French intelligence, among the best in the world, we all know that. We know that from reporting on the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks, and not only were they the best of the best then, they were then more prepared and more ready for an assault than arguably anywhere in the world and yet this has just happened and they are admitting that they are overwhelmed and unable to fully process six or seven simultaneous attacks. [Royce:] And one of the greatest challenges has been the sheer number of fighters that have gone from France in order to fight with ISIS, for example. We have some 390 that they know of that are fighting on the front lines. But as I indicated earlier, many have come back, 185 that they have been able to track have come back in to France. We have 250 fighters from the United States that have gone to fight in Syria as jihadists. And so again, we have a similar challenge here in the United States in terms of those who try to find their way back and take the demands seriously that the is leadership is making. And that demand is to carry the attack to apostate civilian populations, attack soft targets, attack women and children, civilians. And that's why our hearts go out to the people in Paris tonight. [Burnett:] I want to let everyone know the deputy mayor of Paris has just told our show, told CNN that 118 people, Paul, is now the number in the Paris club and the latest number he's giving us. Of course, that number could change. That is the club that they stormed, the Bataclan, that 118 people were murdered there. That number has gone up. [Cruickshank:] And that's just in one of these seven attacks. And I think the final death toll could be truly staggering in the worst terrorist attack in Europe was still that attack in Madrid, 191 killed in the train bombings in 2004, but I think concern that the death toll in Paris tonight could exceed even that. Certainly, the coordinated nature of this, suicide bombers, gunmen with Kalashnikov, hostage takers, we haven't seen this spectacular terrorist attack in Europe ever, you know, in modern times. If this is ISIS, it will be a huge victory for them. I think you can expect a propaganda video. One of the things they've been telling their recruits is to film everything with GoPro cameras and if it is ISIS, we could be in store for a really horrible propaganda film that may be released by the group. [Burnett:] All right. Paul, thank you very much. I want to just for everyone joining our program right now, anyone joining in the United States and around the world, bring you up to speed on this horrible breaking news situation. Terror across Paris tonight. At least 118 people killed in a series of attacks across the city. We know that number of 118 from the deputy mayor of Paris applies to just one location, a nightclub. We know at this time that there were about six other locations. We did not know how many people have lost their lives at this time. Officials do expect this death toll to climb. There was an apparent suicide bombing at a soccer stadium. More than 100 hostages were just set free from the concert hall. So, 100 people have been set free, 118 at this time died in that location. These are police who stormed that location just moments ago. Witnesses who were able to escape that nightclub describing what they say looked like a bloody battlefield. And in an unprecedented move this evening, France has now closed its borders. Police also urging all residents in Paris to stay inside. ISIS supporters now praising the attacks on social media, but there has been no one claiming responsibility at this time. The U.S. President Barack Obama has spoken out to the American people and people around the world, calling this an outrageous attempt to terrorize innocent civilians. Jim Bittermann is in Paris for us tonight. Jim, we're just getting that death toll from this club of 118 people from the deputy mayor. What more are you able to tell us as the situation unfolds? [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, Erin, I've gotten a little closer to the club now than I was before and I can tell you that this is a really grim scene out here. There are probably several hundred people waiting around for news just like we are about what exactly happened here. We understand that President Hollande himself may be on his way and we've seen a couple of what could be advanced guards of police on their way. It is a it is a grim scene and we can't really see what has happened in the inside. It's if those numbers are correct, it's just an act beyond imagination and we'll just have to wait until we hear from the authorities to see what is going on. But the police are taking no chances. We just saw a car turned around at gunpoint by one of the police officers, a car that was coming too close to the area where they have sealed the neighborhood and the young policeman pointed his weapon at the guy in the car and said turn around and the guy immediately did so. But if he didn't, I was sure that he was going to shoot. It really is a very tense scene out here because no one knows exactly to what extent there may be something else out there. And as reported earlier, there were seven attacks tonight, almost simultaneously. So, this is a high-degree of coordination. A number of attackers were involved in this. So it's still a very tense situation. [Burnett:] Jim, in terms of the attackers, do you know anything about their status tonight? Have they all been killed? Do you know? Do they know at this time? [Bittermann:] No, I don't think they know. I think that's why the police are so much on their guard because they may face another attack here at some point. We heard a couple of rumors about other attacks but none of those have been confirmed and I'm not sure that there's anything more than just rumors, but it speaks as to how tense everybody is, that these sorts of things are happening. We're seeing an ambulance going right to the scene and there's just been a pretty steady stream of ambulances coming and going from the scene. So, that death toll could well be increased. [Burnett:] Jim, thank you very much. Jim's going to continue to report from there outside the Bataclan nightclub in Paris. I want to go now to Deborah Feyerick here in New York as the rest of the world responds to this, alerts rising everywhere, including here in the United States. Deb, what do you know? [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] Well, what we know is here in the New York City, NYPD, is deploying many of it is resources from its counterterrorism teams. They're sending them to crowded areas. This is not because of any intelligence that there are threats against the U.S., but obviously police here are responding to what is going on in Paris. You know, I can tell you this is law enforcement's greatest fear. This coordinated chaos, simultaneous attacks, hitting soft targets. This is what police have been warning about since September 11th, these soft target attacks. Think about it. They hit a sports stadium, a theater, a restaurant, a shopping area all almost impossible to protect and to guard against. And so they knew where they were going. The mayor, the deputy mayor very emotional, as you spoke to him, Erin, basically saying, look, these attacks right now, they are contained but you could hear him choke up when he said, we don't know if these attacks could begin tomorrow. And that's what is so terrifying about it. You've got that carnage that has happened on the streets of Paris, carnage that obviously police departments around the country and around the world are fearful of. But you don't know whether in fact it's over in the short term. Clearly, not in the long term. And so, that's why you're having this increased state of alert with France closing it is borders and with the police departments really ramping up to make sure they are aware of what is going on. [Burnett:] All right. Deb, thank you very much. I want to bring back now Paul Cruickshank, Republican congressman, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Ed Royce, Jim Arkedis, terrorism analyst of the Department of Defense formerly, and Bob Baer, former CIA operative. Paul, these numbers are continuing to rise and as we have to emphasize, we don't know what the final situation will be here and as authorities in Paris are emphasizing to us, they are not confident that this is over. [Cruickshank:] They are not confident that this is over. I mean, the sheer scope of this is really staggering. That the coordination of it, it all happening very quickly, and I think all of that pointing towards this being an attack by an established terrorist group, by a group that would have planned this, would have trained the people involved at several places in the Middle East where the training could take place. But all eyes will be on Syria and Iraq which has emerged over the past few years as a major terrorist safe haven. I think if it is linked to Syria in any way, there's going to be a lot of pressure on the international community, on all of our leaders to act, to rid this terrorist safe haven in Syria and Iraq now. President Obama today saying that ISIS has been contained in Syria and Iraq and their momentum has been stalled to some degree. But, of course, they've been getting more [Burnett:] This happened just hours after he said that. [Cruickshank:] more and more in the international terrorism business we've seen a string of attacks linked to them. In Turkey, a hundred killed, suicide bombers. In Tunisia, on a beach, 30 British tourists killed. The double suicide bombing in Beirut. We've seen plots thwarted across the border of Europe. The international community is going to have to deal with this, ISIS [Burnett:] And, Bob Baer, talking to your sources in the intelligence community, what are you hearing? [Baer:] People are telling me that are in Iraq now that ISIS for some time has been trying to what they are called recycle gunmen in to Europe as they get recruits in Europe, the ones that are trained, they send them back. This is coming from the Kurds. They are combat trained, as I just discussed. They want this operational window has to go down in 30 minutes. They have been teaching them how to respond to the police, to draw the police off in to one part of town so they can hit the other targets. This may have happened in Paris. But again, the importance for the group like ISIS or al Qaeda or the rest of them is training on guns. You simply don't go in to the center of a large city with a well-trained police force and not have people who have not been in combat. You have to have actually fired a bullet in anger and I think this is what we're seeing in Paris. And this is what the FBI has been warning us about and this is what the FBI is scared about, Americans coming back to this country will do the same thing. It's a lot easier to get weapons here in the United States. And as Chairman Royce said, it's our biggest worry. [Burnett:] And, Chairman Royce, the issue also here again, we have to emphasize that France was prepared, was expecting further terror attacks, was as ready as a country could be. They did not know this was come being. It involved multiple locations. It involved a lot of people. It involved explosives. It involved assault weapons. Is there a great fear that something like that could happen in the United States when they say they are not worried, they don't hear any chatter, there is chatter happening somewhere that he that they cannot see? [Royce:] Well, in the case of France, they had thwarted five previous attacks and in this case, obviously, they were not able to get the intelligence despite the effectiveness of their intelligence apparatus. So, yes, this is a concerned and this goes to the original criticism of the full year that was spent with ISIS developing in Raqqa, Syria, and beginning to take cities one after another, Fallujah, Mosul, without any response from the United States. We did not use our air power back when ISIS was on the open desert road, despite calls from many calls from us in Congress, to use our air power to eliminate ISIS when it was a clear target. And my concern is that as a result of them taking so much territory, they have been able to recruit worldwide on the Internet, bring fighters in, train them because they now have a terrorist state basically where they can train them to use bombs, they can train them how to use automatic weapons. And then ship those fighters out. So it's very much a concern. [Burnett:] Paul, you also are going to have your questioning. We know that France, in terms of Syrian refugees, have accepted far fewer than other countries in Europe, I believe what, about 20,000, a de minimis number compared to countries like Germany. But you're going to have all of Europe now evaluating those refugees, whether they're going to take them, whether they're going to shut their borders. [Cruickshank:] We have to remember, these refugees are fleeing the same terror that we've just saw [Burnett:] Yes. [Cruickshank:] in Paris tonight. They want to get out of Syria. They want to get out of Iraq. They want to get out of Libya. They want safety for their families. There have been hardly any cases of refugees being terrorists or getting involved in terrorist activity, maybe a couple of cases. But they are fleeing the same terror we saw in Paris tonight, Erin. [Burnett:] They are. But the attitude in Europe, will that change? [Cruickshank:] The worry is that may be a reaction. You know, a reaction, sort of anti-Muslim reaction, and then you could get a vicious sort of cycle that feeds radicalization in countries like France where there are 5,000 people watching in one way, shape or form at the moment because of suspected ties to Islamic extremism. [Burnett:] So, Bob Baer, what are intelligence operatives doing right now, right now they are concerned this is not over, that more attacks could happen in the next few hours, in the next days, how when they did not see this coming are they going to be able to try to stop those if they are indeed in the works? [Baer:] Well, Erin, the FBI is all over the net. Anybody who expresses radical views gets a visit from the FBI. They are looked at and end up on a no-fly list. But as the FBI told me over and over again, it's what we can't see that worries us and again, the easy availability of weapons in this country and people returning. I mean, our police, no police force in this country is prepared for military style assault including Washington, D.C. and New York we're just not we're not prepared for it. [Burnett:] Chairman Royce, is that fair to say? [Royce:] Oh, I think there is every effort to make certain that we are prepared but as you can see on the streets of Paris tonight, regardless of the amount of preparation, once they have the ability to train, once they have a sanctuary where they can test out bomb making capabilities and automatic weapons, they are now prepared to come back and carry the war to the infidelities, if you will. That's the way they look at it. And so this, again, takes us back to the failure of having a strategic plan to take down is early on, especially from the air when we had the opportunity or arming the Kurds, which we did not do despite their repeated requests for direct armament. You had 190,000 Kurds still don't have the weapons they need to take on [Isis. Burnett:] All right. And I just want to hit pause there for a moment, go to our Rene Marsh, our aviation correspondent. We've been reporting, Rene, on French President Hollande closing the country's borders, an unprecedented move from modern France. What are you learning about what that means now? [Rene Marsh, Cnn Aviation Correspondent:] As far as airport activity, at Charles de Gaulle airport, we are not getting any word that that airport has shut down. I spoke to several airlines that say they are still planning flights there. However, we do have an update from American Airlines. We know that there was a flight from Dallas that was scheduled to go to Paris tonight. They decided not to board that flight as they evaluate the situation. I just got off of the phone with a representative from the airline. They tell me they have cancelled one flight from Dallas to Paris. There are four other flights American Airlines has scheduled to fly to Paris, however, they are in a holding pattern. The airline says it is gathering information to make a decision on what to do next. That could mean cancelling the flights. That could mean delaying them until tomorrow. It's really unclear at this hour. But we're seeing several airlines with service to Paris collecting as much information as they can to make the determination will they cancel flights, will they offer refunds to customers but still fly there, but allow customers to bow out if they don't feel like they want to take the trip or will they delay. This is the case for American Airlines. We have calls out to several others, but this is the definitive information we've received so far from one American carrier. [Burnett:] Rene, thank you very much. Just looking right now online, the front page for "Le Figaro", one of the main Paris publications, the headline there "War in the Middle of Paris." I want to go to Maxime Dupuis right now, reporter for Euro Sport. He was inside the stadium at the time of those explosions which we now understand to be, perhaps suicide bombs there at that stadium. Maxime, what can you tell us happened? [Maxime Dupuis, Witness To Explosions At Soccer Stadium:] Good night. What I can tell you is, we're in a situation, Erin, in Paris, in the stadium, because we were tonight at the center of everything and we knew nothing because we heard two explosion at the beginning of the game and sometimes in the stadium, there are little noise like this. So, nobody seemed to there was no problem from nobody and during the whole game, there was this feeling that everything was OK. Only at the end of the game that the speaker told the person in the stadium that there was incident outside. So, there was no panic. And the people that left the stadium, obliged some of them to come back on the field, to stay, because there was some [Burnett:] When you first heard the explosion, Maxime, we understand there were three explosions, that the game continued as people were confused as to what exactly was happening. What [Dupuis:] Yes, I only heard two explosion, really big at first but as I solute, in Europe in the stadium in football, people will come to the stadium, a bomb, not just, I don't know the English word, like during the bodies makes noise. So, it's not a huge problem. We don't know what it is, but we only hear two sorry, two explosions and the game continued because I think it was the best solution because there were 80,000 people in the stadium. At halftime if you say, OK, there is a bomb outside, exit the stadium, there will be a panic. You know, several years ago in a big game in Belgium, there was 39 people dead because of panic. It's really up to take the decision to say, OK, we continue the game. I think inside the stadium, people were safe and when the game finished, there was no panic. So, it could have been worse when people came back in the stadium because there was a little bit of panic outside. So, I think it was a good solution. [Burnett:] All right, Maxime, I appreciate your being with us. I want to go back to Paul. French President Hollande approaching that club and is now speaking out saying they will fight and they will be ruthless. [Cruickshank:] There will be a remorseless response here not saying who against in this point but remarks he just made, there will be a remorseless response from France against those responsible for this. Clearly, if this is linked to ISIS in Syria and Iraq, in some kind of way, I think we can expect a massively stepped up French response. They are sending an aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Mediterranean to beef up presence there. They have been hitting ISIS both in Syria and Iraq. [Burnett:] Could this change the Syrian war as 911 did for the United States during the war and Afghanistan, could this change the Syrian war? [Cruickshank:] If this is linked to Syria and not is, I think there is a wakeup call for the Western world, that the Western world cannot allow this safe haven in Syria and Iraq to continue. It's too dangerous for all our security. We just cannot have this attack repeated month after month in Europe, in the West. I think it really could change everything when it comes to the Western response to the Syrian war, if indeed, it is ISIS that is responsible. Clearly, a lot of suspicion this is some kind of ISIS attack because they are getting increasingly into the international terror business and they've been promising and threatening exactly this kind of attack. [Burnett:] Right. Yes, at this moment I want to make sure everyone knows there is no formal claim of responsibility for who perpetrated these horrific attacks. We understand there were six to seven across Paris in these attacks. We don't have a death toll at this time. More than 118 is the number we have. We know that number will be going up. We do not know what happened to those attackers. There are so many questions we do not know right now the answers to. I do want to make sure everyone knows whose watching, of course, the State Department is asking all Americans affected by the terror attacks to contact the bureau of consular affairs if you're in France. They want to account for all Americans. We're going to have those phone numbers. You see them on the screen. Please reach out and make a call to those numbers if you are there in Paris. Our live coverage of the terror attacks continues right now with Anderson Cooper. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] long-term with respect to the electoral college the electoral college is a vestige, it's a carryover from an earlier vision of how our federal government was going to work that put a lot of premium on states and it used to be that the Senate was not elected directly, it was through state legislatures. And it's the same type of thinking that gives Wyoming two senators and with about half a million people and California with 33 million get the same two, so there are some structure structures in our political system, as envisioned by the founders, that sometimes they're going to disadvantage Democrats. But the truth of the matter is, is that if we have a strong message, if we're speaking to what the American people care about, typically you know, the popular vote and the Electoral College vote will align. And I guess part of my overall message here as I leave for the holidays is that if we looked for one explanation or one silver bullet, or one easy fix for our politics, then we're probably going to be disappointed. There are just a lot of factors in what's happened, not just over the last few months, but over the last decade that has made both politics and governance more challenging, and I think everybody's raised legitimate questions and legitimate concerns. I do hope that we all just take some time, take a breath, this is certainly what I'm going to advise Democrats, to just reflect a little bit more about how can we how can we get to a place where people are focused on working together, based on at least some common set of facts? How can we have a conversation about policy that doesn't demonize each other? How can we channel what I think is the basic decency and goodness of the American people so it reflects itself in our politics as opposed to it being so polarized and so nasty. That in some cases, you have voters and elected officials who have more confidence and faith in a foreign adversary than they have in their neighbors. You know? And those go to some bigger issues. You know, how is it that we have some voters or some elected officials who think that Michelle Obama's healthy eating initiative and school nutrition program is a greater threat to democracy than our government going after the press if they're issuing a story we don't like. I mean, that's an issue that I think we've got to wrestle with and we will. People have asked me, how do you feel after the election and so forth? I say well, look, this is a clarifying moment. It's a useful reminder that voting counts, politics counts. What the president-elect is going to be doing is going to be very different than what I was doing, and I think people will be able to compare and contrast and make judgments about what worked for the American people. And I hope that building off the progress we've made that what the president-elect is proposing works. What I can say with confidence is that what we've done works. That I can prove. I can show you where we were in 2008, and I can show you where we are now, and you can't argue that we're not better off. We are. And for that, I thank the American people and more importantly I thank, well, not more importantly, as importantly I was going to say Josh Earnest, for doing such a great job. For that I thank the American people, I thank the men and women in uniform who serve. I haven't gotten to the point yet where I've been overly sentimental. I will tell you when I was doing my last Christmas party photo line, many of you have participated in these. They're pretty long. Right at the end of the line, the president's Marine Corps band comes in, those who have been performing and I take a picture with them, and it was the last time that I was going to take a picture with my Marine Corps band, after an event, and I got a little choked up. I was in front of Marines so I had to like tamp it down, but it was just one small example of all the people who have contributed to our success. I'm responsible for where we've screwed up, the successes are widely shared with all the amazing people who have been part of this administration. OK, thank you everybody. Mele kalikimaka. [Jake Tapper, Cnn:] Welcome to THE LEAD. I'm Jake Tapper. We are going to start with the breaking news. President Obama leaving the press room right there. He said that he told Vladimir Putin to cut it out. In his final press conference of 2016, President Obama blaming Russia for interfering in the U.S. elections and holding Russia responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee as well Clinton campaign chairman, John Podesta. Let's go right to CNN's Michelle Kosinski. She is at the White House. Michelle, the president said there was evidence of Russian hacking before the election, but this is really the first time he has spoken so fully about the charge. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yes, and I think as we expected he didn't say very much about this proportional response, that we know the government has been working on, but he went sort of more into the thinking, and also this warning that he said he gave Vladimir Putin back when they met face to face when Russia was suspected in these hacks, in September. Listen to some of what he said there. [President Obama:] In early September, when I saw President Putin in China, I felt that the most effective way to ensure that that didn't happen was to talk to him directly, and tell him to cut it out, and there were going to be some serious consequences if he didn't. [Kosinski:] OK, now that warning and there will be consequences, obviously that didn't stop this process of selective leaks, of continued hacks that we know from intelligence officials still continue to this day. So obviously that warning of consequences was ineffective and the president didn't really address that aspect of it, but I think what he tried to do throughout this press conference was explain his behavior, his choices in great detail, and also defend them, and we saw a defense of how he handled the hacking initially. We saw a defense of the FBI and how they acted, a defense of the timing of the release of that information, and also an extensive defense on how the U.S. has handled the situation, the absolutely wrenching situation ongoing in Aleppo. Listen to some of that. [President Obama:] Part of the goal here was to make sure that we did not do the work of the leakers for them by raising more and more questions about the integrity of the election right before the election was taking place, at a time, by the way, when the president- elect himself was raising questions about the integrity of the election. [Kosinski:] So there you heard his defense of the timing, of naming Russia, of the political forces involved. Of course, you know, how that happened, how it all played out ultimately is the open debate that's raging right now. I mean, there has been criticism of how that happened coming not just from Republicans, from Democrats. So the president wanted to lay out why they felt in fact he spelled it out in those words. He said that he felt that he did what he should have done, how his administration handled it. He feels that his administration allowed the intelligence community to do their jobs, and he kind of left it at that. He also didn't want to wade too far into other, you know, really difficult issues right now like the electors, who might not vote, cast their votes for Donald Trump. The criticism of the FBI and coming from Democrats that that may have contributed to the outcome of the election. So there are things that, you know, as expected, he didn't want to go into too much detail on, but you saw him here wanting to fully take this opportunity at length to explain his decisions. And once again maybe for the last time try to make the case to the American public of why he felt he was doing, you know, the best under the circumstances, and trying to protect them Jake. [Tapper:] All right, Michelle Kosinski at the White House, thank you so much. Now to how the U.S. came to point fingers at Russia. Sources now confirming an internal message sent from CIA Director John Brennan that the FBI and U.S. intelligence, the National Security director, as well, sorry, the director of National Intelligence as well as the director of the CIA. That all of them including the FBI Russia tried to undermine U.S. politics and this is important, this is significant, and that one of their motivations was to try to help Donald Trump win the election. Joining me now CNN chief national security correspondent, Jim Sciutto. Jim, there has not been unanimity on what the motivation of Russia was. The news that the FBI now agrees with CIA Director Brennan that seems significant. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Well, it is. I think one point to make is that there was less disagreement than some reporting and then some GOP lawmakers have been saying, speaking to multiple officials both in the intelligence agencies and in law enforcement. This is what is new today. The CIA Director John Brennan feeling the need in effect to write the entire CIA staff an internal message that said the following, "There is strong consensus on the scope, nature and intent," that word, of course, as Jake noted key of Russian hacking. What is the intent? What they assessed the intent to be? Let me add this caveat. You never know intent for sure, that's looking into the minds of President Vladimir Putin and people who work for him. But their analysis is based on what they know that there were multiple intents here, one, just undermine the political process, so doubts here in America about the presidential election. But in addition to that weaken Hillary Clinton through these releases of emails and internal communications and thereby help Donald Trump. My understanding from speaking to multiple intelligence officials is that early on, even Russia may not have judged that Donald Trump was going to win this election. But as he continued to improve his chances, there is a perception, a judgment and assessment inside the CIA that they believe Russia went, in effect, all-in for Donald Trump. Again, that's their assessment with the necessary caveats that they can't know for sure but another thing here. There have been reports out there, also been charges you might say from lawmakers that the FBI and the CIA are disagreeing that the CIA is alone in making this assessment, that the intention may very well have been to help Donald Trump. In fact I'm told by people on both sides of the river that, is from law enforcement and intelligence agencies that that disagreement is overblown. They maybe nuances there, but in general, they find that very plausible and the CIA believes it has more and more evidence that that was indeed the case. One final note I would just make, Jake, I've spoken to a lot of people inside the agencies. There is enormous frustration and anger among intelligence agents and analysts and the CIA, and a number of things, attacks on them. Questioning of the work that they do, charges that they are politicizing the intelligence here, going in for Hillary Clinton, say by making this assessment. Enormous frustration there. They're trying to do their job and what you're hearing in this communication from the CIA director to them, listen, we're on the same page. Don't believe what you hear about disagreement between us and the CIA. We like what you're doing. We respect what you're doing, unnecessary message based on the anger and frustration I'm hearing from inside those buildings. [Tapper:] Very interesting. Jim Sciutto, thank you so much. Let's bring in our panel now to talk about the president's press conference. We have with us "USA Today" columnist, Kirsten Powers, Republican pollster, Kristen Soltis-Anderson, CNN senior political analyst, David Gergen also joins us as well as CNN senior political commentator, David Axelrod. And let me start with you, Kirsten. The president coming out making a very strong defense of himself, of his administration, of the decisions he's made and very specifically criticizing not just the Russians, but things that Donald Trump, the president-elect, has said and done regarding Russia. [Kirsten Powers, Cnn Political Analyst:] Yes. Well, and he also was pretty critical I think of the media as well. He felt the media didn't do their job covering the issue appropriately. That the media went overboard in covering things that were he referred to what was in the WikiLeaks emails basically sort of routine information that was embarrassing, but wouldn't necessarily shouldn't have been getting the sort of front page coverage that it was getting and basically saying we put the information out there and you guys didn't do enough with it. And I think that I actually agree with him on sort of the coverage of the more salacious or silly stuff that wasn't relevant. I don't necessarily agree on the other side. I think it's really the job of the people in power to sort of make issues for people, for the press to follow them and highlight them for being important. That's how things often get covered, and that's how people often know what's important. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] And, Kristen, President Obama citing a poll that suggests that 37 percent of Republicans in the United States have a favorable impression of Vladimir Putin. I believe that's a higher favorable rating among Republicans than President Obama has, and his point being was that Donald Trump, the president-elect, has been cozying up for want of a better word, praising Putin. [Kristen Soltis Anderson, Washington Examiner Columnist:] Well, this is we have become a very tribal nation. And so, when people are listening to these poll questions, they're responding from sort of partisan instincts. You've seen not only improvements in the favorability toward Vladimir Putin but for WikiLeaks, where three years ago, Democrats more favorable to WikiLeaks than Republicans, those numbers have completely flipped. Republicans now are slightly more positive toward WikiLeaks. And I think a lot of this was in part aided by much of the discussion before the election about the need for this election to be taken seriously and be treated as legitimate, and now, Republicans, having won the election are feeling a little bit like well you told us we needed to accept these results. Now, we're being told this election was illegitimate. And I think that's some of the emotional response you're seeing with them now saying, maybe we like Vladimir Putin and maybe we like WikiLeaks. But it's not all Republicans and you'll see in some of the confirmation hearings for the secretary of state, et cetera, some of these Republican senators who still hold a very hawkish view on Vladimir Putin, very opposed to what Russia is doing, some of these conflicts between existing Republican senators and the new president- elect potentially coming out. [Tapper:] At one point, President Obama talking about whether or not Putin knew about these hacks, suggested that, of course, he did. Take a listen to that. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] The intelligence that I've seen gives me great confidence in their assessment that the Russians carried out this hack. Not much happens in Russia without Vladimir Putin. [Tapper:] Let me go to David Axelrod now. And, David, did anything President Obama say surprise you? It seemed to me that he was very aggressively linking Donald Trump and the Russians and I don't know that that's going to help make the case to the country, which you know, some of whom did vote for Donald Trump, the president-elect, that this Russian hack should be taken very seriously. [David Axelrod, Cnn Senior Political Commentator:] Yes. You know, I think that, first of all, on the previous point about the poll, I think the point he was trying to make is not that a third of the Republicans are soft on Putin, but the point that Kristen made, which is that we have become so polarized, that even on something like Putin, partisan tribal instincts kick in and you see these great shifts and what he was making the case that we shouldn't do that. I actually thought, Jake, that he was trying not to be, to condemnatory of Donald Trump, but he was making a point that Trump, throughout the campaign, has or throughout this issue has minimized and dismissed this, and there's a danger in that. His overarching point it seemed to me was this was an incursion on our national sovereignty. This is not a Democratic issue or a Republican issue. Setting aside of what the intent or motivation was, it was an alarming intrusion on our political process by Vladimir Putin, and that should be a source of concern to everyone. And on this point, Jim Sciutto mentioned earlier how dismayed the intelligence community, I assume the FBI is about the characterization of their roles in this. I thought one important part of this press conference was the president's stout defense of those people who do that work. He was talking about the FBI and he said, they work hard, they save lives. It's important for the president of the United States to stand up for our institutions, and I think the president was trying very hard to do that in this press conference. [Tapper:] David Gergen, let's talk about that last point, because obviously the FBI just in the last 4 hours has really been under fire by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in a room full of donors faulted James Comey for the letter and her per what she perceives to be his interference in the election, costing her the election, and then John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign chairman, today in "The Washington Post" laying out in an op-ed how he thinks the FBI is really performing in a subpar manner and its behavior during the election was indefensible in John Podesta's view. And as David Axelrod pointed out, President Obama, a strong defender of the FBI today. [David Gergen, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] He was a very strong defender of the FBI, and I think, Jake, his whole press conference underscored just how dramatic a change we are having in American government. Ever since the end of World War II when one president has succeeded another, the two presidents, the old one and new one almost always agree on the nature of the threat we face as Americans, but disagree sometimes on the means of dealing with it. In this case, President Obama has a completely different view of the threat we face from Russia than Donald Trump does. He lay squarely on the Russia, at the Russian's feet, blamed for what's happening in Aleppo we wouldn't have this slaughter were it not for the Russians bringing in armaments and saving Assad, and then on the whole question of this election and the hacking. You know, the Russians are squarely behind that, and here we've got Donald Trump coming in with a completely different sense of reality, you know, in effect going we want to cozy up to the Russians. Vladimir Putin can be our friend. He's the strong man I admire. I admire him and, by the way, now, 37 percent of the American people follow along with Trump and say that, too. We're in new territory here on so many different fronts, and I think it makes the Trump presidency not just fascinating but it also makes it, you know, very, very, people makes people feel very uneasy in Washington in places like the FBI and the CIA, where they want to do their jobs and they fear they have a president who comes in, who is coming in, who is hostile toward them, who has a very different sense of reality and they don't know where that goes. [Tapper:] Of course, at home you might be forgiven for wondering if Russia did all of this as the U.S. intelligence agencies and President Obama allege Russian officials did. What is the United States going to do about it? President Obama did briefly address that. Take a listen. [Obama:] I told Russia to stop it, and indicated there will be consequences when they do it. Our goal continues to be to send a clear message to Russia or others not to do this to us because we can do stuff to you. [Tapper:] Let's bring in CNN international correspondent Clarissa Ward who is now live in Moscow. And, Clarissa, President Obama saying there will be consequences for Russia's actions. Has Moscow reacted to that threat yet and do they worry at all, given the fact that they are so overjoyed, according to your reporting and others, with the election of Donald Trump? [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, there's been no official response yet, and I wouldn't hold your breath in terms of any major shift in the Russian party line which has been this is ludicrous, this is nonsense, prove it or move on. It's indecent, was the word the Kremlin spokesperson used today to describe these constant accusations. But I think you also heard President Obama during that press conference really illuminating the two main reasons that it is so difficult to respond to Russia and to respond to President Putin in particular. The first one being that naming and shaming don't work. Naming Russia doesn't work because Russia just denies it, whether it's hacking, whether it's when the little green men first appeared in Crimea, you might remember president Putin initially denied there was anything going on there. Shaming, we've seen clearly doesn't work as in Aleppo particularly, in that example. So, there's a sense that you have a tough situation on your hands as a U.S. president, when you're trying to respond to something like this, because you can't name, you can't shame and the second difficulty becomes that because Russia is engaging in what is essentially hybrid warfare, you can't really respond in a conventional way and you certainly can't respond in a public way. And unlike President Vladimir Putin, who doesn't really have to answer to his voters, I think the U.S. president does feel some pressure from the American people to answer to them to explain what is being done to punish Russia or to retaliate or to ensure something like this never happens again. And what President Obama was essentially saying there is, you can't really do that in this type of situation. So, he then says, I can't illuminate for you, I can't tell you exactly how I'm going to respond, and I'm sure that's bound to leave some people feeling was that a weak answer, is it a copout? Why won't he name President Putin directly? Why won't he say exactly what's going to be done in terms of retaliation? So, it just struck me it illustrates some of the ways in which it is so difficult to respond to the unique set of threats that Russia and President Putin present to the U.S., Jake. [Tapper:] And, Clarissa, while I have you, let me ask you with your senior international correspondent hat, as somebody who has covered what's going on in Syria, from the front lines of Syria, President Obama said that he feels responsible every time he sees images from Syria, whether it's children being killed by sniper fire or anyone being slaughtered. But that ultimately, he said I understand the impulse to try to do something, but then ultimately when it came to a decision and finding a decision on what to do about Syria and the civil war, finding a solution that was sustainable and realistic and good for the United States, that he ended up where he ended up and he doesn't know that it's successful, but he doesn't know that he would arrive at a different decision. Having covered what's going on in Syria, what was your response when you heard him say that? [Ward:] I think my response was, it's clear that President Obama, that this does weigh on him heavily. He has said this a number of times, that it keeps him up at night, that he does feel some sort of responsibility. I think maybe privately he might acknowledge that there was a window at some point where the U.S. probably could have done more, where the U.S. potentially could have saved more lives, but what we've seen the president do over and over again is try to present Syria as a situation where there were only two options open to the U.S. do a little bit of not that much, which is what the U.S. ultimately went for, or go full scale boots on the ground, hundreds of thousands of troops invasion. Personally, from what I have seen on the ground, from what I have heard from allies who were supporting the rebels, I do believe there was a middle ground option, although I do not think anyone would argue that there have ever been any easy answers in Syria. But certainly we've seen President Obama repeatedly try to present this as it was a choice between what we did or a full scale invasion and I still think I did the right thing by doing what we did. Obviously, he's interested in preserving his legacy, but I do think you heard there as he talked about the ways in which he's haunted by what is happening in Syria that he is aware history may not be so kind, that it may be a stain on his legacy, Jake. [Tapper:] Clarissa Ward in Moscow. And, David Axelrod, let me go to you, to comment on that, because, obviously, there are no easy answers about Syria, but do you accept that President Obama largely tries to present this as the two choices, either not really do much of anything, which is what's going on right now, or full scale invasion, and he kind of leaves out the fact that there were other options, including more fully arming Syrian moderate rebels, creating a no fly zone, trying more emphatically to get Arab nation troops on the ground there. What's your insight? [Axelrod:] Well, first of all let me say, just knowing him as I do, when he says he anguishes over this, I know that to be true. I don't think there's anything that impacts him as a human being more than children. I remember when the Newtown slayings happened and he emailed me, he said this is the first time I cried in the Oval Office. And, you know, when any whenever a child is in distress or a child is being wronged, that's something that really does get to him. And I think he does anguish about this. But he's also someone who tends to ask the question, then what? The question that wasn't asked when the invasion of Iraq took place, so and you heard him articulate it here. I don't think he was particularly defensive today. He was laying out his reasoning and history will judge whether it was right or it was wrong. But his reasoning this would have sucked us into conflict that would have grown and would have enveloped us in the way these past conflicts did and the country could not afford that, couldn't stand that. And, you know, whether he would disagree I'm sure there was a viable middle ground and that again will be debated by history. But I don't think anyone should conclude that he was looking for a way not to solve this problem I think that he desperately wanted to find a seclusion. And if you talk to people around the White House, this is something that does haunt them. [Tapper:] And, David Gergen, let me ask you as somebody with experience in many White House, as it does seem as though presidents and historians judge themselves harshly when it comes to inaction in situations such as this, I'm thinking specifically right now about President Bill Clinton and Rwanda. But ultimately, the public doesn't not hold them responsible, because the public doesn't really have much interest in getting involved in foreign wars or better or worse, often for worse when it comes to these innocent lives being slaughtered. [Gergen:] That's a very good point, Jake. It's certainly true that George W. Bush will be remembered far more for going into Iraq than President Obama will be remembered for staying out of Syria. [Zain Asher, Cnn Anchor:] All right. Another end to the trading day there. What you're seeing is really sort of lack of momentum of Wall Street despite public economic data and rising oil prices as well. We'll have big earnings due out this hour as well. Our Paul La Monica is standing by at the stock exchange. It is Wednesday, August 3rd. Tonight a firefighter is killed at the world's busiest airport after a jumbo jet crashes upon landing. We'll be live in Dubai for you. Also ahead, top Republican donors are just ditching Donald Trump, they are now in fact supporting Hillary Clinton. And South Africans go to the polls amid calls for economic change. Hello everyone, I'm Zain Asher and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. All right, amid the past 24 hours of controversy after controversy, Donald Trump has in fact just started speaking at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida. Let's listen in. [Asher:] All right. Donald Trump speaking there at a rally in Daytona Beach, Florida. Basically, really sort of laying it to Hillary Clinton. Saying that Clinton should get an award for the founder as the founder of ISIS. We haven't heard anything yet in terms of the controversy surrounding the Trump campaign, especially when it come to him not supporting Paul Ryan as of yet. We'll keep an eye on this rally for you. In the meantime, some other stories that we were following. It was a deadly accident that could have before far, far worse. One firefighter is dead after a Boeing 777 skidded off the runway and burst into flames at Dubai's International Airport. Look at these pictures, the smoke, billowing flames, you can see it there. All 300 people aboard Emirates Flight 521 made it off alive. Some people calling this a real miracle. We do know 13 people did suffer minor injuries though. Pictures from the scene show the plane lying on its belly, look at this, its belly with the top of the fuselage, if you look closely, pretty much burned off. Isa Soares has more. [Isa Soares, Cnn Correspondent:] A terrifying moment for passengers flying from South India when their plane, a Boeing 777 300, crashed upon landing at Dubai's International Airport. Dramatic images show the Emirates plane catching fire, an explosion then ensues and thick smoke billows from the aircraft. The plane is then seen crumpled on its belly. On board 282 passengers and 18 crew. Amazingly all are safe and accounted for. The majority of the passengers are from India. Many others also from the U.K. Now the cause of the accident still not known but theories are abound. CNN's aviation expert believes the incident may have happened after landing, or landing gear didn't work. These are all theories that are being investigating by Emirates. Isa Soares, CNN. [Asher:] All right. Let's talk more about the accident. CNN's Jon Jensen is at Dubai airport. And he joins us live now. It has been a few hours since this accident. Have we had any more of a clearer picture on what caused this? [Jon Jensen, Cnn Correspondent:] No. At this point we sure don't. There was a press conference earlier tonight where the chairman of Emirates said that they have all of the data that they need. But it just could take some time for the 300 or so survivors of this very dramatic wreck at Dubai International Airport. Moments of real good fortune. But also tonight we learned there was one real moment of tragedy here in the UAE. Officials here confirming that an Emirate firefighter died while fighting the blaze on the runway. He is already being called a martyr, a national hero. And we understand that his funeral could take place as soon as tomorrow. Meanwhile, the airport is back up and running. We were there a couple of hours ago when the first planes started taking off and landing again. But again, Zain, we are still no closer to that answer of why this plane skidded and burst into flames in the first place. [Asher:] What has been the reaction therefrom passengers? [Jensen:] Well, we have seen some reports of passengers who got off the plane and they were, obviously, very thankful that they made it off safely. A number of passengers came from India. The flight originated in the western part of India for a two or three-hour flight. And of course the reports that we've seen. They were all very thankful. Some called it a miracle. We weren't able to actually speak with any passengers ourselves. We do know that the passengers that did make it off were all safe and accounted for. There were only 13 minor injuries on the plane. Keep in mind this is a fairly common route from Western India to Dubai. There are a number of Indians and South Asians that live in the UAE. That work in the UAE, that go back and forth. The conditions at the airport, Zain, I was there a few hours after the incident. It's just a normal hot day in August. There was a little bit of wind, some sand in the air. But these are conditions that these pilots having done this route so many times are very accustomed to. So many, many more questions right now than answers as to what happened to this plane, Zain. [Asher:] All right, Jon Jensen, live for us there. Thank you so much. As Jon was actually just mentioning, flights leaving Dubai International Airport were delayed and incoming flights were diverted. At this hour the airport is operating with only one runway right now. Arriving flights are being given priority over departing flights. The airport is in fact the world's busiest for international travelers. And it's the main hub for Emirates. The airline flies more Boeing 777 than any other airline. The plane is actually considered one of the safest in the world. It has a very, very good safety record. Six Boeing 777 have been written off over 21 years in service. Two of those were MH 370 and MH-17. Boeing says it has a team standing by to assist, to help in the investigation. Joining me now, CNN aviation analyst, Mary Schiavo. She served as the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation. So, Mary, you have investigated many, many aviation disasters, many aviation accidents. Give us a sense of what sort of thing could cause a plane to crash upon landing? [Mary Schiavo, Cnn Aviation Analyst:] Well, we have two pretty good clues already that have come out of the information that's available. One is that supposedly the air traffic control travel did alert the incoming aircraft and they asked them to check that their gear was down. Now, whether they do that all the time is routine. That does not happen in most places. You don't get that warning. But there was some communication about a gear down check. Which could indicate one of two things. They were having a problem with the gear. Now there's lights, there are warnings in the cockpit if the gear does not come down and lock. So they would have known that if they were having a problem unless there was some kind of problem with the warning system to tell them it was not down and locked. And then a weather check tells us we did have a wind shift. Typically, it is called wind shear, but we don't know the magnitude of it yet. But the wind changed just as the plane was coming in literally from an easterly to a westerly direction. There is a lot of debate whether they had a tail when or a sudden change in the wind. And so if they experienced wind shear and were trying to do a go around they would take their gear up. But not until they got a positive rate of climb and full power out of those engines. Because this is a dangerous part of flight. So those are some of the clues that are coming out at this point with the available information. [Asher:] And I'm wondering if you can actually just pull up some of the images of the aftermath of this crash. If our producers can just pull up the images. Basically what you see is thick black smoke billowing in the air. You can see this part of the fuselage completely burned off. A frightening situation, Mary, for any passenger. Just explain to us when you look at these images, how on earth is it possible that no one, at least none of the passengers, was seriously hurt? [Schiavo:] You know, and this is the second similar situation to this. There was a 777 that crashed in San Francisco about three years ago. Now there were a number of passengers that were seriously hurt and two people were killed. But the same thing, the plane burned in the similar pattern but people were able to get off. And again, these planes have to be and have to pass design proof that people can get off of that plane in 90 seconds or less. It is required. It's required of all aircrafts of major aviation nations and has to be tested. So that's a kudo to it. And here the engine came off. But they're designed to come off in a particular way to do less damage to the aircraft. And here the engine came off and over the wing. And it would do that if it is still producing thrust. Designed not to hurt the plane more than necessary if the wing comes off. So kudos to the aircraft for also helping save lives. [Asher:] So, you know, this is obviously, every passenger's absolute worst nightmare, especially for people who fly a lot. When you look at the images, if you're a passenger and you're involved in a situation like this, a nightmare scenario for everybody, what are you supposed to do and what are you not supposed to do? [Schiavo:] You're supposed to get off as fast as possible [Asher:] And not panic as well. [Schiavo:] And not panic. But people stopped to get their luggage. They did it in the Asiana crash in San Francisco. They did it here. While they think it doesn't slow things down, it does. And you know, it's human nature. I don't fault people. They are afraid. They just do what their naturally do. I have to get my things and go. But it's really important to get to the nearest exit as soon as possible. Don't block it. Get off. Help others if you must, but get out. And that's what spells the difference between living and dying, because it's the smoke that kills more people than anything else. [Asher:] That's very good advice. Don't stop and think, oh, I've get your laptop, got to get my backpack, et cetera, et cetera. Just get off. Mary Schiavo, live for us there. Thank you so much, appreciate that. [Schiavo:] Thank you. [Asher:] The votes have been cast. Now the counting begins. We'll look at the hotly contested elections in South Africa and what it could mean for the country's economy. That's next. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Anchor:] You are looking at pictures of the president arriving at Joint Base Andrews after a weekend in Florida, a weekend that included him accusing President Obama of wiretapping his phones during the campaign, an allegation President Trump provided no evidence to support. Both his predecessor and former director of national intelligence say it's simply not true. But the White House wants an investigation. Press Secretary Sean Spicer saying this morning, quote, "Reports concerning potentially politically motivated investigations immediately ahead of the 2016 election are very troubling. President Donald J. Trump is requesting that as part of their investigation into Russian activity, the congressional intelligence committees exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016. Neither the White House nor the president will comment further until such oversight is conducted." All of this amid new reports of rising frustration between the president and his staff over the continued talk about ties to Russia. I want to bring in, CNN's White House correspondent Athena Jones. She is live near the president's Mar-a-Lago estate. So, Athena, what are you hearing about those conversations between President Trump and his team regarding their handling of these Russia reports? [Athena Jones, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Pamela. Well, this is interesting. There was an animated discussion in the Oval Office on Friday. This was captured on camera. You could see the president's chief strategist Steve Bannon, he's also a top adviser, speaking animatedly to several people in the Oval Office. And we've been reporting since yesterday that according to multiple sources, the president was angry on Friday, as he prepared to leave the White House and come down here to Florida. He was described as showing increasing flashes of anger over his senior staff and that includes also his press team and his communications team and their handling of all these stories about Russia ties or about Trump aides having ties or contacts with Russian officials. Particularly angry about the fact that the stories about Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his contacts, his meetings with Russia's ambassador overshadowed what he saw as rave reviews from his speech to Congress on Tuesday night, that speech to a joint session that was well-reviewed. A lot of people saying he acted presidentially and it garnered some good headlines. And he was also mad about nonstop leaks that he feels are undermining his administration. One source speaking of the president on Friday said that he, quote, "nobody has seen him that upset." Well, just the last few hours, we have new reporting from my colleague White House producer Kevin Liptak who said the president's angry mood followed him down here to Mar-a-Lago, according to two people who have spoken with him at his resort in the last 24 hours. They say that in conversations, in casual conversations, the president has continued to express his frustrations with his team and his frustrations with their handling of the Russia story. Now, the president didn't direct that anger at any particular aid, but he griped that his staff had failed to contain the Russia story. The president also angrily raised the wiretapping issue unprompted in his conversations with friends at the club. He didn't specify what information he was basing his accusations on, but he told those members what you said in the lead in to me. He told those members he expected an investigation to prove him right. So, a very frustrated president right now. We are also seeing we have confirmed reports of staff members feeling facing intense moments. Some people leaving meetings in tears Pamela. [Brown:] And we see here on the other side of the screen from where you are, Athena, we see Marine One leaving with the president, as well as Steve Bannon, en route to the White House. Athena Jones, thank you so much for your latest reporting there. And I want to bring in my panel now. Kimberly Dozier is CNN global affairs analyst and senior national security correspondent for "The Daily Beast." Also with us, CNN political analyst Josh Rogin, he's also a columnist for "The Washington Post." And Brian Stelter, host of "RELIABLE SOURCES" and our senior media correspondent. Great to have you all on. Brian, first to you. You have some brand new reporting. What are you hearing? [Brian Stelter, Cnn Senior Media Correspondent:] Following up on what Athena was sharing about President Trump's mood this weekend, I was just speaking via e-mail with Christopher Ruddy, the CEO of Newsmax. It's one of the conservative news outlets that's been covering Trump. Ruddy is a member at Mar-a-Lago. So, he was with Trump twice on Saturday. According to Ruddy, he's never seen the president this angry, at least not in a long time. He described the president's mood this weekend as pissed. So, that's backing up the reporting from Athena Jones and Kevin Liptak about what the president has been saying to his friends and associates this weekend in Mar-a-Lago. Now, he said, where is the president getting this information about this idea of a wiretap against him? There's no evidence for it at all. So, Ruddy said he does not know for sure. Trump wouldn't say what the source was. But what he was describing lines up exactly with what Breitbart published on Friday. You know, our own Jeff Zeleny, Jake Tapper, others have said that it seems that the president's source for this was the conservative radio host Mark Levin, and then a Breitbart news story about these wiretap ideas and about this broader idea of the administration undermining him. So, here's what Trump said to Ruddy, quote, "This will be investigated. It will all come out. I will be proven right." So that's what Ruddy wrote for newsmax.com. Now, following up with me tonight, Ruddy was saying Trump seemed, quote, "so confident it was true and seemed to know the whole trails of the FISA actions and was recounting them to me." So, the message from Ruddy, the takeaway from his conversations this weekend was that the president truly does believe that he was the victim of this attempt by the Obama administration to tap into his phones, that he believes it will come out eventually and that he is pissed about what's going on. [Brown:] And so, all of this still, you know, you have the question of where was he getting his information from to tweet out this accusation and White House staffers have been asked that. Deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was asked about the president making such serious claims without citing any evidence. And here's what she said. [Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Deputy Press Secretary:] As you're always telling us to take the media seriously well, we are today. We're taking the reports that places like "The New York Times," FOX News, BBC, multiple outlets have reported this. All we're saying is let's take a closer look. Let's look into this. If this happened, if this is accurate, this is the biggest overreach and the biggest scandal. [Martha Raddatz, Abc/"this Week":] The president of the United States is accusing the former president of wiretapping him. [Sanders:] I think that this is again something that if this happens, Martha [Raddatz:] If, if, if. [Sanders:] I agree. [Raddatz:] Why is the president saying it did happen? [Sanders:] Look, I think he's going off of information he's seen that has led him to believe that this is a very real potential. And if it is, this is the greatest overreach and the greatest abuse of power that I think we've ever seen in a huge attack on democracy itself and the American people have a right to know if this took place. [Brown:] Josh, we should point out it's not true that "The New York Times" and other outlets reported that Obama wiretapped Trump. So, what do you make of this what you just heard there? [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst:] Well, the president is clearly very upset about the ongoing investigation into his campaign and administration ties with the Russians. He's latched on to this report as evidence of the conspiracy between the FBI and the Obama administration, and he's demanding he's put together a bunch of dots that it have not been supported by any evidence or proof and he's going with that. And he's now, he's created a situation where we all have to sort of figure it out. And the first people that are going to figure it out are the House Intelligence Committee who are investigating the underlying accusations of collusion and now have to sort of investigate the investigation. So, in one fell swoop, the Trump White House has taken these unsourced, sort of anonymous, piecemeal reports, brought them to the fore, forced us all to sort of deal with them and then muddied the waters because no matter now what the investigation comes up with, they will be able to sort of point back to this and say, well, this was some sort of conspiracy between the Obama White House and the FBI. And again, that's not really based on anything, but it creates doubt and that maybe the point of this. [Stelter:] confusion benefits people in power, creating confusion. But this is a complicated story no matter what. There were news reports months ago from "Heat Street" and "The Guardian" and BBC that perhaps some of Trump's associates, several Trump associates were going to be ensnared in a FISA order, so that perhaps their communications or their bank records were obtained by the U.S. government, at that time the Obama administration. Trump, of course, going several steps further, saying that Obama was personally listening to Trump's own phone calls. There's nothing ever reported to indicate that. But because there are those reports from months ago that it sounds are going to Ruddy, Trump had heard about it, you can understand sort of a sick game of telephone how this has become confused, where, yes, there has been an investigation going on and, yes, the Obama administration was looking into this, and maybe some of Trump's associates were pursued in months ago. But then, it becomes something different, it's translated by Trump this weekend into something that has no evidence whatsoever. [Rogin:] And we should also note that James Clapper denied today that there were any FISA warrants and there's also reporting that by some outlets that FBI Director Comey is asking the Justice Department to publicly state that what Trump is claiming was true. [Brown:] Right, we're trying to get that. We don't have that reporting confirmed here on CNN yet. But, Kim, I want to read this tweet from Congressman Ted Lou, a Democrat from California. He says, "Mr. President, if there's a wiretap at Trump Tower, that means a federal judge found probable cause of crime, which means you are in deep blank." And so, essentially, what the congressman is saying is either the judge thought there was enough evidence to have your phone wiretapped, or the other option, the other alternative would be that Trump was simply wrong in making this accusation against the former president of the United States. Does he have a point? [Kimberly Dozier, Cnn Global Affairs Analyst:] Well, it does raise the question as to whether President Trump understands how the process works, understands what it takes to get a wiretap on an American citizen. But what this has effectively done is change the scandal from did the Trump campaign collude with Moscow against a sitting president to did a sitting president repeat the sins of Nixon and try to keep Trump from taking the White House. And that is going to work with his base and that's going to be something that we in the media have to chase, deal with and try to smack down, and ultimately the documents that would prove this isn't true are classified or don't exist and it would be up to Donald Trump to unclassify, declassify them because he has the ultimate declassification authority as the president if there's any sort of resolution to this. [Brown:] So, clearly, Brian, he has not been happy with the Russia headlines that followed his State of the Union Address that was widely praised. But does a tweet like that, or do these tweets basically accusing the former president of wiretapping his phone, which would have been part of this FBI investigation hypothetically into Trump associates, does it keep Russia in the headlines essentially, opposite of what the president wants? [Stelter:] Right, you're right. It sort of does keep this entire issue in the headlines. But I think Kim is on to something really crucial here. We can't underestimate the potency of this story that President Trump has presented and that Mark Levin presented on the radio on Thursday, saying this was a silent coup, and then Breitbart advanced on Friday, and that the president himself on Saturday. The idea here, the story line here that it's Obama's fault, that this is all Obama's fault. That you should blame the former president for trying to take down Trump. That is a very compelling story line. I mean, look at the millions of page views for those stories on conservative websites this weekend. That's incredibly compelling as a story if you are inclined to buy into it. If you want to believe that the former president is trying to hurt the new guy. So, yes, it does keep Russia in the news, but it presents a really compelling talking point for Trump loyalists who believe their candidate, their man is being torn down right now. [Brown:] All right. Brian Stelter, Kim Dozier, Josh Rogin thanks for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it. [Rogin:] Thank you. [Dozier:] Thank you. [Brown:] And coming up on this Sunday, this father and his son's tragic story may present the president's best argument against sanctuary cities. [Sara Sidner, Cnn Correspondent:] Who do you blame besides the actual person who killed your son for the death of your son? [Jamiel Shaw Sr., Father Of L.a. Teen Slain By Undocumented Immigrant:] Anybody who supports sanctuary cities. [Whitfield:] All right. Welcome back. Live pictures of President-Elect Donald Trump's motorcade making it to the tarmac there in Palm Beach, Florida where his plane awaits him. He will soon be making his way to New York to continue meeting with the transition team after this holiday weekend. All right. Remember this iconic image right there? That is how Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban castaway was rescued 16 years ago, is remembering now former Cuban leader Fidel Castro. It was that moment when Elian Gonzalez, just five-years-old he was ripped from his Florida relative's home and forcibly removed and the return to his father in Cuba. That same little boy now an adult at 22 years-old is praising Castro calling him a father figure and a friend. Contrastly in Miami, crowds are cheering Castro's death. And that's where we find our Boris Sanchez live for us Boris. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. Hey there, Fred, perhaps no story encapsulate with the vision between the exile community here and the community in Cuba in terms of reaction to Fidel's death and Fidel's legacy than Elian Gonzalez's story. That saga as you know was front and center here for many, many months. People here are not necessarily inclined to support Elian Gonzalez. We see him as an objective voice in describing Fidel's legacy but Elian certainly sees him as you said as a father figure and someone to, you know, look up to as a world leader and a towering icon to many in the third world. I want to play for you some of the sound from Elian Gonzalez reflecting on Fidel's life right now. [Elian Gonzalez, Former Subject Of International Custody Dispute:] He is a father, who like my father, I wanted to show him everything I achieved, that he would be proud of me. That's how it was with Fidel. If I learned something and wanted to show him and there are still many things I want to show him. [Sanchez:] Elian Gonzalez here in Miami is not nearly as beloved as he was when he was a child. A lot of them has to do with the fact that they see him as kind of a propaganda tool of the Castro regime. As I said before, see him as an objective voice. They see him as a hypocrite, honestly. People that I had spoken to think that it's not really in line with what his mother, who risked her life, lost her life in the see trying to get him out of Cuba would have wanted for him. As you can see behind me, there is still an active demonstration going on. People chanting Fidel, you tyrant, take your brother with you. Earlier, they were chanting, "Throw them in Cuba, throw them in Cuba." "Trump, Trump, throw them in Cuba." So, obviously the demonstrations, the celebration here in Little Havana will continue for some time. I should tell you that there Fred, this is significantly less than what we saw yesterday and the night before. But it is still at a motive moment for exile over here in Miami. [Whitfield:] All right. Boris Sanchez in Miami, thank you so much. All right. North of my Miami in Palm Beach, the tarmac right there where Donald Trump's plane is soon to be taking off. The President- Elect wrapping up his Thanksgiving weekend heading back to New York for meetings. We'll have much more straight ahead. [Whitfield:] Violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem is continuing to escalate today and we're just hearing of a fourth alleged knife attack today in Hebron. Israeli Defense Forces say a Palestinian assailant stabbed an Israeli soldier in his upper torso and that attacker was shot. Earlier this morning, three other alleged Palestinian attackers were shot and killed in separate incidents. Israeli officials say the Palestinians had knives and went after border police and an Israeli civilian. Palestinian news agencies mentioned no knives when reporting on the violence. And this is video from the incident in Hebron. CNN correspondent Oren Liebermann is at our bureau there in Jerusalem. So explain what happened. Actually, you're at a rally right now. What is that rally all about? [Oren Liebermann, Cnn Correspondent:] This is a peace rally that came together in recent hours, perhaps even just in the last 24 hours, a joint peace rally between Israelis and Arabs. Peace is something right now that is sorely lacking. But take a look at this rally behind me. There are some 300 or 400 people. And this crowd is still growing. There are people here holding flags that say, peace now and Jews and Arabs together against hatred, Jews and Arabs together against racism. There's a sign that one that says, '67 says 1967, a Palestinian nation next to an Israeli nation. Let me bring you over just here over to the side here. Holding two flags here, the Israeli flag next to the Palestinian flags. This is a peace rally, as violence has spiraled here in the last two weeks into its third week. But this rally doesn't change the reality of what's happening on the ground. Four attacks today, the last one just a short time ago, where the IDF says a Palestinian attacker in Hebron stabbed the soldier. That soldier opened fire and shot the Palestinian attacker. That is the fourth such incident today. Two more similar to that. There's one account early this morning of an attack that is disputed by both sides. Israeli police say that a Palestinian attacker attacked an Israeli settler in Hebron. The Israeli settler was armed, opened fire, and killed the Palestinian. But a disputed account from Palestinian eyewitnesses who say the Palestinian was unarmed and the attack, the killing from the settler was unprovoked. So the peace rally here, a growing crowd here. The question, when will peace truly come Fredricka. [Whitfield:] All right. Oren Liebermann, thank you so much. All right, a teen beaten to death in a secretive church in upstate New York. The alleged culprit, his parents and their fellow church members. Details, next. [Mann:] Welcome back. This is what's happening in the world right now. The Greek parliament is working late into the night, debating a package of tough new austerity measures in Athens. A vote is expected sometime soon. Sunday is the deadline for Greece to strike a deal for a third a bailout from its European credits and the austerity package is very similar to the one rejected by Greek voters just last weekend. Pope Francis is in Paraguay this hour. He touched down just moments ago on the las leg of his Latin American tour. He's been visiting a notoriously dangerous Bolivian prison earlier in the day, but now you're looking at live pictures as he's welcomed in Asuncion. The Pope, who is Argentinian born, is the South American is in the South American continent, rather, to emphasize the plight of the poor. The Director of the Office of Personnel Management in the U.S., Katherine Archuleta, has resigned a day after she announced that a computer data breach of government computers was vastly larger than originally feared. Hacksters had breached a sensitive personnel data base and stolen the person data of 22 million U.S. government employees. South Carolina has removed the controversial Confederate flag from its capitol grounds. It follows opposition that swelled after last month's message of nine black massacre, rather, of nine black church goers in Charleston, South Carolina. Meanwhile the FBI has determined that Dylann Roof, the man accused of shooting those nine people studying the Bible in the church, should not have been able to legally buy the gun used in the killing. Let's cross live to Columbia, South Carolina. CNN's Nick Valencia joins us now. Nick, it's hard to explain to people at any distance from the U.S. South, but there's so much passion and so much politics wrapped up in that flag. What was it like to be there today to see it come down? [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] You could certainly feel the gravity of the situation, Jonathan. It is a monumental moment, not just for the citizens of South Carolina, but for the history of the United States. I was speaking to one man, a 47-year-old black man, who says that he's had to live through this controversy every day of his life and there's no way to put that into words. All of this accelerated by what happened in Charleston just a few weeks ago, nine innocent church-going members during their Wednesday night Bible studied being massacred by a 21-year-old gunman. That accelerated the conversation about bring the Confederate flag down. It's a flag that has flown on the state grounds since 1961 and just 15 years ago was moved from the top of the capitol to the Confederacy Soldier Monument just being me. Just hours ago, just after 10:00 am Eastern is when that flag came down, being permanently removed. It will now be housed in a Confederate Relic and Military Museum a few blocks away from here. I spoke to the director about what happens next for that flag, and he tells me that they have until January 1st under the joint senate resolution to decide exactly how they're going to exhibit it. And it's an important thing for that museum because they are accredited, so it matters how they display it. It, it's no nothing to underscore the, the emotion surrounding this. So many people here in the South still believe that that flag should fly. They believe that it stands for Southern heritage. I was speaking to one Confederate flag supporter who said that it stands for his ancestors and how they fought against an army that invaded from the North. Still others and I believe the general consensus here, Jonathan, is that this flag is a painful part of South Carolina's history and one that they want to forget about. Jonathan. [Mann:] Nick Valencia, live in Columbia. Thanks very much. [Hala Gorani, Cnn International Correspondent:] Europe is hoping for the best but planning for the worst. [Unidentified Male:] The Commission is prepared for everything. We have a Grexit scenario prepared in detail. [Gorani:] Economist Roger Bootle won the Wolfson Prize in 2012 for his practical guide for leaving the Euro, modeling it around a potential Grexit. [Roger Bootle, Author "the Trouble With Europe":] The first thing is that Greece needs to make a declaration that what used to be Euros in banks in Greece and other amounts are now some new currency. Let's call them drachmas. [Gorani:] For this to work the government also needs to close the banks and have them place capital controls, which is already happening in Greece. [Bootle:] The purpose of that is to stabilize the financial system, to Bootle the money up within the domestic economy. [Gorani:] Then Greece needs to allow its currency to devalue, starting from a 1:1 ratio with the Euro. [Bootle:] The whole point of this is actually to get the exchange rate to get the new currency to fall. That's where salvation, solution for the Greek economy will come from. [Gorani:] Devaluation would actually make Greece more attractive to the outside world. [Bootle:] For foreigners, the rest of us and the rest of the world, we'll be encourage to buy Greek goods and services, including tourism. [Gorani:] However, that devaluation will have negative consequences inside Greece, at least in the short ter. [Bootle:] At first ordinary Greeks will be worse off, they'll feel worse, and they very well may be demonstrating in the streets and creating a real problem. The difficulty for the authorities is to hold their nerve. [Gorani:] Greece won't be able to instantly print drachmas. So in the meantime, Euros will still need to be accepted and other forms of payment will evolve. [Bootle:] And they'll invent all sorts of other ways, people do, when there's a shortage of currency. In some countries people have used cigarettes as a form of currency. They run a form of credit. It's quite possible the government will issue IOUs, and those IOUs will circulate. It's possible even that banks will sort of evolve their own currency. [Gorani:] Desperate and unprecedented moves that could, if Greece fails to get a deal, be implemented any day now. Hala Gorani, CNN, London. [Mann:] Writer James Angelos believes the Greeks brought some of the crisis on themselves. His new book is "The Full Catastrophe: Travels Among the New Greek Ruins." And he joins us now live from New York. Thanks so much for being with us. Let me ask you first of all about the news of the day. There seems to be a proposal from the Greek government that's very similar to what its creditors are offering. Is this nightmare over for the EU? Is the possibility of a Grexit now in the past? [James Angelos, Author, "the Full Caatastrophe: Travels Among The New Greek Ruins":] No, there's still a lot that remains to be seen. It will very likely the proposal will very likely pass to the Greek parliament this evening, tonight. Largely with support because the support of the opposition parties in Greece is assured. The parties, the more centrist parties that want that have been arguing for a deal with Europe for a long time. So it will pass through Greece, but it still remains to be seen whether the German electorate will sign off on it, and also it has to also pass through the German parliament. And it also remains to be seen whether Greece will receive substantial debt forgiveness, which is one of their demands. [Mann:] We just spoke a short time ago with the Finance Minister of Lithuania, who was saying a key issue is trust, whether other countries will trust the Greeks. And that's why I'm so grateful that you're will us because your book is all about that in a sense. And in one episode that really stands out is your visit to the island of the blind. Tell us about it and what kind of lessons it offers. [Angelos:] Well, that was that was a trip that I took at the end of 2011 to Zakinthos, an Ionian island where allegedly there was a scandal going on involving a local politician and a local doctor. The politician was handing over fraudulent benefits to for blindness for people who could see, allegedly in return for votes. And what this showed was this sort of transactional nature of Greek politics, how the political patronage system worked on the smallest level. So that, you know, I visited an old woman in her kitchen on Zakinthos, and she explained the system to me like this. She said, if you have a godfather, you get baptized. And if you don't have a godfather, you don't get baptized. And in her language what that meant was you need, you need - in order to get a favor you need somebody in a position of power to give it to you, and that was a politician. So it was easier to countenance, it was easier the way this sort of political patronage system vested people at the bottom end of the scale sort of also allowed people at the top end, like the Defense Minister of the country, to engage in far more damaging practices. [Mann:] Has that culture of corruption changed? [Angelos:] There have been strides. A lot has changed in Greece, and a lot of the money that allowed it to happen also has sort of dried up. So there, there has been progress. What remains what needs to happen is that tax evasion needs to be cracked down on, and particularly tax evasion among the wealthy. One reason Syriza was elected in Greece was 'cause there was a perception in Greece, and I think an accurate one, that the previous government was going after small-time tax evaders before it was cracking down the the, the more, the, the larger fish, as they say in Greece. So people with offshore accounts in Switzerland, the so-called Legarde list of people with off with accounts in Switzerland, powerful people, politically connected people, wealthy people. And it took a very long time for the government to do anything about that. And still so there was a perception in Greece you know, why come after us before you go after yourselves really, your own, your own political peers. [Mann:] So what is that.? What lesson does that offer for the governments of Europe who are trying to figure out whether it they can trust the Greek government today? [Angelos:] I think well the Greek government that it's hard. You'd be hard pressed today to find Greeks who believe that the system, the previous political system, doesn't wasn't rotten. People unanimously agree Greece needs change. And, you know, one reason this government also was elected was because they promised to change, especially to go after the sort of the powerful and the well-connected in the country. Now I think that needs to take place is the, the I mean the creditors have used their leverage over Greece to try and influence, to try and push through a lot of necessary changes. But at the same time, what has also happened is that they depth of the austerity has, has contributed to the economic contraction in Greece to the extent at which, you know, people have perceived themselves to be under what a lot of Greeks often call economic occupation. And, and so they've sort of started to focus on over pushing back against what they perceive as this foreign control over the country. So it's a very complex situation for the average Greek. [Mann:] And not over. James Angelos. The book is "The Full Catastrophe." Thanks so much for talking with us. [Angelos:] Thanks for having me. [Mann:] As negotiators from Iran try to finalize an international agreement over that country's nuclear program, hardline protestors back home are filling the streets for Al-Qud's Day. Frederik Pleitgen has more. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn International Senior Correspondent:] Death to Israel. Thousands of hardline protestors chant at this massive demonstration in Tehran. Al-Qud's Day is supposed to show Iran's support for the Palestinians, but it mostly turns into a general bashing of Israel and the U.S. This year, however, with the nuclear talks in the decisive phase, some protestors offers more constructive opinions. [Male Protestor:] We welcome international relations, this man says, but they have to be fair and balanced, like a good business partnership. We might want to normalize ties with the U.S., but we're not desperate. [Pleitgen:] And he adds "We want relations with the U.S., but they must be genuine. Experience tells us America never sticks to its end of the bargain. We're prepared to die for our principles." The Al-Qud's Day demonstration is dominated by Iran's conservatives, from generals of the Elite Revolutionary Guard to former hard line president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, enthusiastically cheered on by the crowds. The protestors portray the nations negotiating with Iran, known as the P5+1 group, as Israel's lackeys, even as the majority of Iranians want a nuclear agreement with the West. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, says he's skeptical of the nuclear talks, but has ordered all Iranians to support the country's team in Vienna. [Unidentified Female:] Our negotiators should go for a deal that respects our leaders redlines, this woman says. It is our hope that this deal would be in the best interests of our people and the Muslim world. [Pleitgen:] And she says talks should go on for as long as necessary. "We won't be held in contempt. Sanctions could go on forever. We won't accept a deal that is forced." Iran's hardliners are walking a fine line these days, maintaining their public condemnation of Israel and America, just as their government attempts to strike a deal that could fundamentally alter Iran's relations with the West. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Berlin. [Mann:] This is The World Right Now. It is a nightmare scenario for most parents. A teenager alone and vulnerable on the streets of Rome. We'll tell you why it's reality for thousands of children. Stay with us. [Barnett:] The tension has escalated on the Serbian- Hungarian border. Frustration boiled over between migrants and police Wednesday after Hungary put up a razor wire fence to stop the influx. Look at this. [Kinkade:] Absolutely tense scenes there. Some migrants gave Hungarian authorities to open the gates or they would try to break through. You can see the group followed through on that. Police responding with tear gas. [Barnett:] Now, some migrants who are waiting in Hungary at the border are now heading for Croatia along a new route. From Croatia, they head through Slovenia, then Austria, and then into Germany. That's the final destination for most migrants. [Kinkade:] But they could face another threat, landmines. Aid groups warn thousands of mines are still buried from the Balkan wars. The Croatian government says the mine fields are clearly marked. [Barnett:] Let's go ahead and take a look at some live pictures coming to us from the Serbian-Hungarian border this morning. It's just past 8:20 in the morning there. And as you see, people continue to be camped out. Not a lot of tensions we saw from the video earlier, but certainly there are still crowds there. Let's go ahead and bring in our senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman. He is live there at the Serbian-Hungarian border. And, Ben, as we look at all this, if the wars back home weren't bad enough for the refugees, they're now dealing with being stranded. And some of them potentially faced with landmines. It's unbelievable. What are you seeing happening there this morning? [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Well, what we're seeing is many people are reassessing what their options are at this point. After these clashes yesterday in which well over a dozen refugees or migrants were actually arrested by the Hungarian police. Many people are wondering if indeed it's time to reconsider routes. In fact, I've got a little leaflet here that was being handed out by some officials here. It shows the route from Greece coming up to Hungary where it says simply "closed," with an alternate route going to the West through Croatia, through Slovenia, towards Austria. Now, a lot of the people here I've spoken with are unsure really if there's any point in going that way because it's widely believed that even though Croatia has indicated a willingness to welcome refugees and migrants Slovenia, which of course is on the road to Austria, but many of these people want to go to Germany, Sweden. If Slovenia could let them through they could find themselves on the Croatian-Slovenian border with the same situation they have here. As far as what's going on today, we've seen a much smaller crowd at the fence that separates Serbia from Hungary. The fence that was knocked down yesterday rather the gate that was knocked down yesterday seems to have been put back in place. Concertina wire strung across the road. There are now Bulgarian-Serbian police here as well. So it doesn't appear at the moment that there's going to be a repeat of yesterday's clashes. And as I said, I think a lot of people at this point are reconsidering the possibility of going through Croatia rather than hoping, waiting for the Hungary border to reopen Errol? [Barnett:] It's quite fascinating to watch unfold. The Hungarian government has dug their feet in. They face criticism. But officials tell us, when I spoke to a government spokesman this week, in fact, that it is more important in their view to enforce the rule of law, to bring things in order rather than just to let everyone through on humanitarian grounds. I would imagine for the migrants and some refugees there that would be infuriating. But perhaps they're too exhausted to express that. What is the sentiment toward the Hungarian government specifically? [Wedeman:] Well, I think one shouldn't assume they're too exhausted to express their frustration because we saw them do that yesterday. And in fact, keep in mind that many of these people come from Syria where for several years there's been a brutal war going on. These are tough people and not easily silenced at this point but they are frustrated. They're frustrated by the fact that many of them have come because they saw that Germany was welcoming refugees, that perhaps they saw that this was an opportunity to get out of the hopelessness of life in Syria during this brutal war or an endless life in a refugee camp in Turkey or in Jordan. So this was their opportunity. And many of them thought finally they would reach safe ground where they could live a life in dignity and of course now they find themselves within the confines of Europe almost there. But this gate behind me is what is stopping them. And definitely there's a lot of anger but not desperation because these are people who are tough. Some of them have come from as far away as Afghanistan. And they're not about nobody everybody will tell you that going home is not an option, turning around and sort of giving up and returning to their homes is something they simply can't do because, in many cases, those homes, in fact, their entire towns and cities barely exist anymore Errol? [Barnett:] It is remarkable when you consider the horrors that so many of them have run from with only the possessions in their hands and their children with them. Calm scenes at the border now. We hope it remains that way. Ben Wedeman, live for us at the Serbian-Hungarian border, thanks. [Kinkade:] Still to come on CNN NEWSROOM, we'll have more of the "Hits and Misses" from Wednesday's fight night, CNN's Republican presidential debate. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] Show us the proof: that is the word now from the Trump team as leading senators from both sides of the U.S. political divide ask for an independent probe into alleged Russian election hacking. And making it official: Electoral College voters get ready to seal the deal Monday officially making Donald Trump the 45th President of the United States. But there is an effort to get some of those voters to change their vote. And in the meantime, North Korea's leader, not known for keeping his opinions to himself, is withholding judgment on the president-elect. We will examine why he may be holding back still ahead. Live from CNN World Headquarters in Atlanta, welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm George Howell. CNN NEWSROOM starts right now. [Howell:] It is 2:00 am on the U.S. East Coast. Russian hacking: the U.S. president-elect's chief of staff isn't so sure about it, at least not yet. This despite the fact that the CIA, the FBI and the director of the U.S. national intelligence all say that they are increasingly convinced Russia hacked the Democratic emails all in effort to try to influence the U.S. election. Reince Priebus says top intelligence officials should lay out their findings against Moscow publicly. Listen. [Reince Priebus, Republican National Committee Chairman:] It sure would be nice to hear from everybody. I mean, if there is this conclusive opinion among all of these intelligence agencies then they should issue a report or they should stand in front of a camera and make the case. [Howell:] Republican Senator John McCain and three other senators sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They are asking for a select committee to look into these allegations of hacking, McCain slamming the U.S. response so far. [Sen. John Mccain , Ariz:] We need a select committee. We need to get to the bottom of this. We need to find out exactly what was done and what the implications of the attacks were, especially if they had an effect on our election. There's no doubt they were interfering and no doubt that it was cyber attacks. The question now is how much and what damage and what should the United States of America do? And so far, we have been totally paralyzed. This is serious business. If they are able to harm the electoral process, then they destroyed democracy, which is based on free and fair elections. [Howell:] Senator John McCain, saying they destroyed democracy; following the story live, CNN's Matthew Chance, in the Russian capital this hour for us. Matthew, good to have you. The drumbeat continues to pick up momentum on this side of the globe. How are these allegations being perceived there in Russia? [Matthew Chance, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It's interesting; the reaction from the Kremlin has been pretty consistent really since the beginning of October, when these allegations first surfaced at the height of the U.S. campaign. And it's just been one of categorical denial and the last statement that I saw, which came late last week from the Kremlin, is they said it was indecent that the United States should keep coming up with this allegation without providing any proof at all. They said they should provide that proof or they should stop talking about it. And so you get the sense that the Kremlin is getting quite irritated at this point by the consistent flow of allegations that are coming from the United States' side. At the same time, I think and that view, by the way, is being affected very much on state media. At the same time, when you speak to ordinary Russians about this, the majority of them get their news from state media and so they see this as an attempt to besmirch Russia in the eyes of the incoming U.S. administration by its enemies. But there's another sense in which many people think, well, isn't it great that Russia has the power to be able to put its thumb on the scales of the U.S. presidential election potentially? So there's sort of a twisted national pride amongst some Russians I have spoken to that this could have happened, even though, as I say, the official position is that there is complete denial and a call for evidence. [Howell:] You talk about the power there of cyber when it comes to Russia, the possibility of hacking in this election. But if you could, explain to our viewers, Matthew, the sophistication of Russia's ability when it comes to cyber. [Chance:] Well, the truth is we don't know the full capabilities of Russia, just like we don't know the full capabilities of the United States and other countries that have significant cyber warfare capabilities. But what we do know, I think about Russia, is that it has started a process of what we call weaponization of information, which is something we haven't really seen to this extent ever before. They've got a whole complicated multilayered network of, you know, hacking of fake news, of trolling on the Internet, of, you know, just various other things that they are using in conjunction with each other to try and change the narrative when it comes to, in this case, United States elections but with other issues as well. The big difference, remember, in this alleged intervention in the U.S. election compared with other hacking scandals is that, you know, espionage, the gathering of information from U.S. political institutions is one matter. Actually then, weaponizing that information and releasing it in a partisan way is something that is new and it's something that's very, very disturbing to all of those watching the elections in the United States. [Howell:] Matthew Chance, following the story, live for us in Moscow. Matthew, thank you for the reporting. Russia adamantly denies that it interfered with the U.S. elections but concerns about cyber hacking are not just confined to Washington, D.C. Ukraine and other Eastern European nations are also worried about Moscow possibly meddling as well. We get more on that from CNN's Ivan Watson. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] War games in the stony fields of Eastern Europe, as U.S. soldiers train in Latvia; 25 years ago, this was part of Soviet Union. Today, Latvia is part of the European Union and also a U.S. military ally in [Nato. Watson:] These are live fire exercises. That's why I've got to wear all this extra protective armor. Military commanders say they're trying to show that they are a force of deterrence and their number one threat, Latvia's much bigger neighbor to the east. [Unidentified Male:] The war games are really a response to Russian activity in 2014 [Watson:] He's talking about Russia's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula after Russian forces drove Ukrainian troops out of this corner of Ukraine in 2014. Russian's land grab frightens people in former Soviet republics like Latvia, where there are still bitter memories after a half-century of Soviet occupation. [Unidentified Male:] Our main aim is to protect and protect our sovereignty and [Watson:] But there are two sides to this tension. We traveled from Latvia across Lithuania to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave in Europe that's cut off from mainland Russia. In Soviet times, this was a heavily militarized place, closed off from the outside world. Kaliningrad was recently thrust back into the spotlight after Russia deployed nuclear-capable missiles here. Russia's top diplomat defended the move, arguing it's the U.S. that's threatening Russia. [Sergey Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister:] Well, it's our territory. But the plans of the United States, not only to well, they quadrupled, they think, the money allocated to support military deployment in Eastern Europe. Then they moved NATO infrastructure next to our borders. [Watson:] Kaliningrad is still the headquarters of the Russian navy's Baltic fleet and Moscow has been flexing its own muscles, performing military drills in the region. In 2014, Western governments punished Russia's actions in Ukraine with economic sanctions. They've contributed to a broader economic crisis in Russia that's got everyone we talked to worried about the future. "Of course I feel bad when they always blame Russia for everything that's gone wrong in the world," says Konstantin Smirnov. This confrontation, he tells me, is not good for anyone. Rival militaries maneuvering along opposite sides of increasingly tense borders in a land that still bears scars from the last time armies fought here. The countryside around Kaliningrad is dotted with dozens of old German churches like this one, abandoned and in ruins after the Soviet army invaded and conquered this land, reminders of what happened the last time tensions spun out of control in this part of Europe Ivan Watson, CNN, Kaliningrad, Russia. [Howell:] Ivan, thank you. And a programming note for our international viewers joining today, all this week, CNN will have have special coverage of Vladimir Putin's Russia, from allegedly meddling in the U.S. elections to annexing Crimea and its role in the Syrian conflict. Be sure to join us for "Reports on Russia: Flexing Its Muscle on the Global Stage," here on CNN. So the election in the United States it did happen; Americans did vote but officially Donald Trump has yet to win the presidency. That all changes today because that is because 538 members of the U.S. electoral college will meet Monday in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. They will be casting their ballots. Trump won the majority of electoral votes in last month's election, even though he lost the popular vote to Hillary Clinton by about 3 million people. The electoral college vote is typically a formality. It's typically a rubber stamp, if you will. But this year, there has been a drive to get Republican electors to change their votes and it is drawing much more attention to this process. CNN's Kyung Lah reports the electors are being targeted with some intense messages. [Kyung Lah, Cnn Correspondent:] The threats keep coming to Christopher Suprun, from raping his wife and daughters with a knife before killing him to warnings on social media to messages on his cellphone. [Unidentified Male:] You'd better get yo'shit straight. We coming after you. [Christopher Suprun , Texas Elector:] People have put out my home address. They put out my home phone number. We're now in a place, where, oh, you're not going to vote the way I want? I'm going to kill you. [Lah:] All because Suprun is a Republican Texas elector in the Electoral College. He's a so-called faithless elector, a conservative lifelong Republican will not vote for Donald Trump, even though the GOP easily won Texas. Why not vote for Donald Trump? I mean, isn't that what you're supposed to do? [Suprun:] If I'm a rubber stamp, that's exactly what I'm supposed to do. This is, unfortunately, the first time I think we've needed to use it as a nation. But it's time to pull the brake. [Lah:] He claims that goal of stopping Trump has made him the target of a smear campaign. Suprun says he was a Dale City, Virginia, volunteer paramedic at the Pentagon on 911. He said Trump supporters are alleging he was never there11. [Unidentified Male:] These electors are charged with a constitutional responsibility. [Lah:] The electoral vote is something we usually never pay attention to. But 2016 has been anything but usual. [Unidentified Male:] Bottom line, he hasn't won yet. The only vote that matters when it comes to president has not happened yet. [Lah:] Brett Kiafalo, Democratic Washington State elector formed The Hamilton Electors the day after the election, now trying to urge Electoral College members across the country to block Trump from 270 votes. For that to happen, 37 Republican electors must flip. Suprun is the firset Republican to publicly flip but Kiafalo says he's heard from others. [Brett Kiafalo , Democratic Washington State Elector:] We believe that there's a large group of people who are staying silent out of fear or maybe because they haven't made a final decision. But we do believe there's dozens of Republican electors who are seriously considering not voting for Donald Trump. [Unidentified Male:] The callers will announce the votes. [Lah:] But even if that remote possibility happens, the House of Representatives controlled by Republicans elects the president. He's still going to win. [Suprun:] He's still going to win. [Lah:] So isn't this all pointless then? [Suprun:] Not if you're trying to vote your conscience. Not if you're trying to do the right thing and bring up the issue. I have been hoping he would become the president we all want him to be. But he keeps proving me wrong. [Lah:] Kyung Lah, CNN, Dallas. [Howell:] Kyung Lah, thank you. Still ahead here on NEWSROOM, China and Donald Trump spar yet again over his tweets. What China did this time to rile up the U.S. president. Plus: hundreds of people have been evacuated from Eastern Aleppo. But thousands more are still waiting and it is getting tougher for them to survive the hunger and the freezing temperatures. [Unidentified Male:] Would you mind putting out your cigarette please? [Bland:] I`m in my car, why do I have to put out my cigarette? [Unidentified Male:] It`s at that point that his irritation rises to the level where he asks her to get out of the car. Step out of the car. [Bland:] You do not have the right to do that. [Unidentified Male:] I do have the right. Now step out or I will remove you. There`s nothing on that video that indicates to me that he had probable cause to ask her to get out of the car. I said, get out of the car. [Bland:] Why am I being apprehended? [Unidentified Male:] I`m giving you a lawful order. [Hostin:] Welcome back. I`m Sunny Hostin in for Nancy Grace. We`ve been talking about the mysterious death of Sandra Bland while in police custody, and then, of course, this dashcam video that has recently been released. I have with me again Lisa Lockwood. She`s a former police detective and author of "Undercover Angel." Lisa, in looking at this video, can you tell us whether or not Bland was arrested for simply being rude to the police officer? Because the bottom line is as a former prosecutor myself, I don`t think it is a crime to refuse to turn out your cigarette. So what was she being arrested for? [Lockwood:] So at that point, when he got her out of the vehicle, she was not under arrest. She was not cuffed. He said get out of the vehicle. Yes, under arrest as far as taking away her liberty at that point, but not under arrest when she was cuffed. The decision to cuff her was when she started mouthing back, and he said, you know what, I`m going to go ahead and put her in custody. That`s allegedly when she did the kicks and that sort of thing, and now he`s got his probable cause. But as I said before, he had a choice at that point to say you`re under arrest for failure to signal and we`re going to go to the station and we`re going to take care of bond and go from there. He escalated something in such a way where his use of force caused her to react in the way she did. And now he has this new probable cause, so to speak. [Hostin:] In your view, Lisa, was this a good arrest or a bad arrest? [Lockwood:] This was an unlawful arrest as far as we didn`t get to see her actually kick him. I didn`t see any of that on the video. But certainly, if a person is in pain and they`re moving and trying to move the cuffs or if their head is on the ground, certainly you go into a fight or flight type of situation. She just wanted to get comfortable as far as everything I`ve seen up to this point. [Hostin:] Thanks, Lisa. I think many people are now, of course, sort of conflating the two videos. The video of Sandra Bland`s arrest, this dashcam video, and then, of course, what happened at the jail. I want to bring in Dr. Michelle Dupre. She is a forensic pathologist. And let`s talk about what may or may not have happened in the jail cell. Bland`s sister is saying that the preliminary autopsy results show deep tissue bruising to her back, because, again, while she was being arrested, this officer jammed his knee, allegedly, into her back. Could that have played any role in her death? [Dupre:] Sunny, it`s probably not likely. If the injury was not very significant to cause injuries at the time, it`s probably just a bruise. But we would really not know that until we did a complete autopsy. If the autopsy found that, then they would certainly list that as a contributing factor, but it`s unlikely. [Hostin:] Now, what is also a lot of questions I`m getting, at least on Twitter and people are asking about, she allegedly committed suicide using a liner from inside of a garbage can as some sort of noose. In your experience, is it possible for someone to use a trash bag to kill themselves? [Dupre:] Sunny, absolutely. Oftentimes, we think that a person has to be even completely suspended. You can actually sit on the ground and hang yourself. So using a liner from a trash bag is entirely possible. [Hostin:] And that is interesting, because we`re being told, we`re hearing, that her feet were still on the ground, touching the ground when she was found. Another question that I`m getting is how do you get DNA from the trash bag, because that surely is going to be a part of the investigation. [Dupre:] Yes. There`s many ways we can do that. We can get it from fingerprints, actually, we can get it from touch DNA, or we can also get it from any skin cells that might have been sloughed off on the trash bag. or any type of bodily fluids that were left on the trash bag. [Hostin:] Thank you so much, Dr. Dupre, for joining me. I also want to bring in Seth Meyers. He`s a clinical psychologist. Another topic of concern here is why would a woman who appears very forthright and alive during this dashcam video, during this arrest, why would she three days later after fighting for her rights kill herself? Many are saying in her family she had no signs of depression. [Meyers:] Let me say this. If someone successfully suicides, there is always rehearsal behavior in advance. And I`ll explain what that means. Or there are symptoms that you see leading up to it. So there are things like writing a suicide note, giving things away that have personal meaning. Mentioning to friends they feel overwhelmed. So you know, somebody doesn`t just commit suicide out of the blue. There`s often signs of extreme depression, sadness, not being able to show up for work, not being able to do your usual daily activities. Suicide does not happen out of the blue. [Hostin:] Is it possible then that she had been very depressed and contemplating suicide, and yet nobody in her family knew about that? [Meyers:] It`s absolutely possible that someone commits suicide without anybody knowing, because there is so much shame most people have around saying, listen, I feel that life is so unmanageable, I can`t do it. A lot of people will swallow those feelings, keep them to themselves, to really save their own pride. [Hostin:] Can we show a video that we have from Sandra Bland`s Facebook page in which she does discuss having some depression? [Bland:] It`s been two long weeks and I have been missing in action, but I`ve got to be honest with you, guys. I`m suffering from something that some of you all maybe dealing with right now. It`s a little bit of depression as well as PTSD. I`ve been really stressed out over these past couple of weeks, but that does not excuse me not keeping my promise to you all by letting you know that somebody cares about you, somebody loves you, and that you can go out there and do great things. But I want you guys to know that I`m a human. And so if there are any of you dealing with these same things, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, it`s okay. It`s okay to talk about it. [Hostin:] That`s video from Sandra Bland`s Facebook page in which she does discuss having depression, but we also know she was just about to start a new job. So Seth Meyers, clinical psychologist, what does that tell you? [Meyers:] It is so interesting. Now, in 2015, people are using social media to convey to others what they are going through emotionally. I do threat assessments in Los Angeles, and I can tell you one of the questions that I ask is let me have access to your social media accounts. Let me see what you`re posting. Because people will post threats about hurting other people. People will post information about feeling depressed, suicidal. So I guess the question is, are they posting this as a cry for help? Sometimes. [Church:] A popular piece of technology is at the center of a murder investigation in the United States. A prosecutor in Arkansas wants access to recordings from an Amazon Echo device that was in a House where a man was killed. [Vanier:] But Amazon is pushing back, refusing to turn over some of the data connected to the murder suspect's account. And the case is renewing the debate about technology and privacy. [Danny Cevallos, Cnn Legal Analyst:] People are concerned because it's something that actively listens 24 hours a day. But there are a lot of things technology and data has been convicting people for a long time. The information in your computer can be subject to a search warrant and all kinds of crime exist on computers or your phone or anything else. The thing that makes this a new sort of era is that no one turns on the Echo, it is always listening. And when you activate it, it sends that information to be translated out in the Cloud, the data, it returns back to your home and then it acts on those commands. And that's what has people concerned. [Church:] Now the defendant's attorney is applauding Amazon. She says there is nothing useful on that device. So, Attorney Areva Martin joins us from Los Angeles with her take on the case. I want to start with, for a lot of us with this in our homes, it's disconcerting to know and learn it is listening all of the time. It is like a recording ongoing in our homes. That's disconcerting. But how is this any different to when there's an investigation and they want data from a phone to help find out what happened in this case? [Areva Martin, Attorney:] The district attorney says it is no different than having a legal search warrant for your phone or computer records. And Amazon's position is not supported by the law or the legal precedent. And now the district attorney has to make a decision. The warrant has been issued. Amazon has been willing to release account information, but not the recordings on the Echo. So, the district attorney in this case will have to decide if it's going the go into court and challenge Amazon and ask a court to intervene and force Amazon to release the data. [Church:] And how likely is it that that would happen? Because obviously, from a pure business point of view, Amazon has to take a stand and say, no, we won't be handing this over but if this does proceed, legally, they would be forced to, right? [Martin:] We saw this happen in the San Bernardino case in the terrorist case of 2015 when the iPhone was involved and law enforcement wanted to force Apple to unlock the iPhone, and they resisted. A third party got involved and unlocked the data in that case. These cases provide a challenge for big tech companies like Amazon and Apple. They want to protect their clients and want their clients to feel a sense of privacy with the data on the Cloud, and that comes up against law enforcement who says we may need the information to solve a crime like in this case in Arkansas. And the courts will have to decide, is it an individual's right to privacy versus the government's right to have access to what could be vital information for a crime such as murder. [Church:] Given your background, of course, where do you think this is going? How do you think this will end up? [Martin:] Ultimately, I think the courts will intervene in a case like this, and Amazon and tech companies will be forced to turn over this information. This information is really no different than that information that is stored on a computer, telephone records, other information, which the government, upon the showing of probable cause, has the right to access. Whether it's your home, car, computer or, in this case, your electronic personal assistant, I think, ultimately, the government is going to have access to that information. [Church:] Of course, what we're seeing play out here is that technology is moving way past what we have there in the law. So, something has to be done. Are there moves afoot to do something to create laws and restrictions and regulations so that it is easier for courts to sort through this? [Martin:] Rosemary, what you said is 100 percent accurate. The technology is moving so quickly the law is having a hard time keeping pace with it. But ultimately, I think these decisions will be pretty easy. Information like this that's stored on electronic personal assistants will be subject to the same subpoena disclosure requirements as computer information, telephone information and similar information. For us, as consumers, we have to decide, when we bring a device like this in our home, we should be aware that information is being stored on the Cloud. And it's not just a subpoena from law enforcement, but also potential hacking that can happen with this information. So, our convenience has to be weighed against our desire to keep information private. And I happen to be one of those lucky people who received one of these devices for a Christmas gift. And millions of people across the country and world will have to decide what do we want to say to our personal assistant and in saying it what are we subjecting ourselves to in doing so? [Church:] A very good point. I have one as well, and this has been an education to me and, I'm sure, many other people across the world who have access to these. We have to work out what we're doing. [Martin:] Right. All right, a pleasure to talk to you, Areva Martin. Thank you so much joining us from Los Angeles Thank you. [Church:] where it is nearly 11:00 at night. Appreciate it. [Vanier:] We're going the take a short break on CNN NEWSROOM. But first, we want to update you on the breaking news, the death of Actress Debbie Reynolds. The 84-year-old was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday when it turned out she was having trouble breathing. [Church:] A day earlier, Reynolds lost her daughter, Carrie Fisher. The "Star Wars" actress died after suffering a cardiac event. Reynolds' son told us, "She spoke to me this morning and said she missed Carrie. She's with Carrie now." You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Rosemary Church. [Vanier:] And I'm Cyril Vanier. We'll be back with more news right after this. [Vause:] U.S. president Barack Obama warns any plans to scrap his diplomatic achievements would be a win for terrorists. It appeared to be an indirect message to his successor Donald Trump. CNN's Andy Rose reports. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I was just told that was going to be the last "hail to the chief" on the road, and it got me kind of sentimental. [Andy Rose, Cnn Correspondent:] In his last planned speech on national security Tuesday, President Obama touted anti-terrorism victories. [Obama:] We should take great pride in the progress that we've made over the last eight years. That's the bottom line. No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland. And it's not because they didn't try. [Rose:] And struck a very different tone to the campaign trail talk of his soon-to-be successor regarding who is and isn't welcome in the country. [Obama:] The United States of America's not a place where some citizens have to withstand greater scrutiny or carry a special I.D. card or prove that they're not an enemy from within. We're a country that has bled and struggled and sacrificed against that kind of discrimination. [Rose:] At times the current commander-in-chief seemed to be attempting to leave sign posts for President-elect Trump when it comes to international diplomacy. [Obama:] Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds international coalitions. It would make life easier for them. It would be a tragic mistake for us. [Rose:] The president emphasized that while the danger of terrorism is a long-term one America must stay true to its values in order to defeat it. I'm Andy Rose reporting. [Vause:] A President Donald Trump may change the military relationship the U.S. and some nation Asian nations. Ivan Watson shows us the winners and the losers. [Ivan Watson, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] In his campaign to become president Donald Trump raised some serious questions about the future of U.S. Defense cooperation in Asia. So let's take a look at the security umbrella that the U.S. has spread over this sprawling region ever since World War II. The U.S. has signed collective defense agreements with six regional allies Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. The treaties say an attack on one of these countries would be a direct threat against the U.S. and it would be obliged to respond. To support these treaties U.S. Pacific Command has some 380,000 troops and civilian personnel, around 2400 aircraft, and approximately 200 warships. They are deployed across a network of forward bases to better respond to potential crises including the island of Guam, which is home to 300 different military commands. For more than half a century the U.S. has also deployed troops at bases in Japan as well as in South Korea. But in his campaign Trump suggested this might be about to change. [Trump:] At some point we have to say, you know what, we're better off if Japan protects itself against this maniac in North Korea. We're better off frankly if South Korea is going to start to protect itself. [Watson:] So who stands to gain if the U.S. pulls back on its commitments in Asia? First of all, North Korea. With its massive army, it periodically tests nuclear weapons and its frequent long-range missile launch tests, which are a direct threat to the U.S. and its allies. And then there's North Korea's traditional ally China, which has a standing military of more than two million active service members. In recent years it laid claim to virtually all of the South China Sea, and it has expanded its military presence there. And don't forget Russia. With its Pacific Navy fleet headquartered in the port of Vladivostok. For decades the U.S. has provided security guarantees across this vast region. Now both allies and rivals will be closely watching to see if that's about to change. Ivan Watson, CNN, Washington. [Vause:] When it comes to math, science, and reading, Singapore's students are the best in the world. Japan ranks second while world powers like China and the U.S. place lower on the list. The findings are part of an international education survey given every three years to 15-year-old students in dozens of countries. You can view more of the survey on our Web site at CNN.com. Time for a quick break. "STATE OF AMERICA" with Kate Bolduan is up next for our viewers in Asia. And next here on NEWSROOM L.A., Angela Merkel has taken heat for her controversial open-door policy toward migrants. Now she wants to pull back the veil on some Muslim women. Quite literally. Also a mother's heartbreak four years after her child was killed at a grade school massacre. What she is now doing so other parents will not have to go through the same thing. [Blitzer:] The stories are horrific, public beheadings, corpses on display, and floggings from minor offenses. That is life in the ISIS-controlled city of Sirte in Libya, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch. But that may be changing. As senior international correspondent, Nick Paton Walsh, reports, U.S. Special Forces are now shoring up the fight against ISIS. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] This is the eye in the sky for America's quietest war on ISIS. In Libya, an especially adapted spy plane. [on camera]: These flights part of a growing effort by U.S. intelligence agencies to learn as much as they can about ISIS in what many consider to be its most dangerous stronghold so close to Europe. [voice-over]: Buried in the rock of the remote Sicilian island of Pantelleria, it's run by a handful of Americans. They fly over South Africa's coast, records show, likely Hoovering up electronic chatter, video, from above the failed state, a tenth of whose coastline ISIS now control. And down here is where it matters. The long isolated road between the Libyan city of Misrata and the ISIS stronghold of Sirte. [Paton Walsh:] This day it is all bad news. ISIS using a suicide bomber to help in an advance, the furthest yet. Fighters tell us that Americans are also on the ground here. [on camera]: Along this road, we see reinforcements pouring down here. And one witness aid they saw what looked like four armored SUVs containing Western-looking soldiers. [voice-over]: They're never about what we see. One Libyan official later revealed that a dozen troops operate out of a nearby air base. The Pentagon confirming U.S. troops are, quote, "meeting with Libyans," but wouldn't give details. This man saying he managed to save his family as ISIS moved into their hometown. This was the scene they left behind. These chaotic militia are all that stands between ISIS and one of Libya's biggest cities. Hours later ISIS sent another suicide bomber in an armored car. It flew Misrata into a state of emergency flooding it with casualties. Scenes they thought they'd seen the last of once they defeated Gaddafi are back again. Over 100 injured and nine dead. On a scale the hospital can barely cope with. Relatives kept out, can only hear through the glass of news. [on camera]: The most severely wounded brought out now, a steady stream of casualties, quite unlike anything the city is used to, along with that sense of ISIS never really having been so close or so threatening. Funerals now too common, they say. This for a man killed in the first of two suicide bombings, leaving his wife pregnant with their third child. "A martyr, he is a friend of God," they chant. After five years of war, it barely jars other routines. America is for now here as little as it can be and ISIS is winning. The wait for outside help measured in sons lost. It really couldn't be much more urgent, Wolf, that fight for Libya. John Kerry is saying that they will arm if they get a request from, quote, "the legitimate government of Libya." The problem is and this goes to the heart of the chaos in that country there are three different groups who claim they have the right to rule Libya right now. John Kerry has one particular group in mind. They're the latest to arrive on the scene. But it is that political confusion and chaos that let ISIS get a grip in the first place and that grip is growing Wolf? [Blitzer:] Nick Paton Walsh, thank you so much for that excellent, excellent report. Coming up, putting a price on battling Zika. The funding bill hitting the White House against lawmakers up on Capitol Hill right now, all while cases of the virus continue to rise. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] It's 6:00 on the dot and we are just one hour away from the polls opening in the South Carolina Democratic primary. Good morning, everybody. We're so grateful for your company as always. I'm Christi Paul here in Atlanta. Missing Victor Blackwell who is in Columbia, South Carolina leading our coverage of the Democratic primary. Good morning, Victor. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] Christ, good morning to you. Yes, we are just an hour away from polls opening here in South Carolina. Big contest is on the Democratic side this week, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, of course, fighting for every last vote. And so far Clinton is leading by a wide margin in the polls here. She spent most of the week in South Carolina campaigning hard, of course. This afternoon she's in Alabama before heading back to South Carolina for the watch party tonight. Now after a concert and a rally in Columbia, last night, Senator Bernie Sanders already looking ahead to Super Tuesday campaigning in Texas and Minnesota today. CNN senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny following their campaigns. Jeff, good morning. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Victor, the South Carolina primary is now upon us. The Bernie Sanders campaign is hoping more than respectable showing, but they certainly are not counting on a win. He has not spent much time here this week. He's been across the country in Ohio, Illinois, and Minnesota. He's going to spend tonight in Minnesota as well. Looking ahead to those Super Tuesday contests next week. But in South Carolina, it gave him a chance to test his message. It gave him an opportunity to see that he can reach out to a more diverse part of his Democratic electorate. He did not spend as much time here as some of his advisers on the ground have hoped he would. But at this point, it's all a matter of mathematics. He noticed that to keep going in this contest he needs to do well next Tuesday to surprise the Clinton campaign in some states. We'll see if he does that here. But South Carolina is feeling so different than it did eight years ago when it was Hillary Clinton who is outside the state not remaining on Election Day when Barack Obama, of course, won this contest. Bernie Sanders looking beyond South Carolina for that next wave of races next week Victor. [Blackwell:] Jeff, thank you so much. Hillary Clinton is expected to win here in South Carolina. She's hoping it's a decisive win, large margin. But of course, Bernie Sanders is hoping that the margin won't be too wide. We've been on the ground here in South Carolina and I've been around speaking with voters in Columbia to find out who they plan to vote for and why. Watch. If you've chosen a candidate for the primary tomorrow, who's that candidate? [Unidentified Female:] I'm voting for Hillary Clinton. [Blackwell:] Tell me why. [Unidentified Female:] All right. I think if she says she can get things done, she has experience on a lot of different levels. [Unidentified Male:] Experience, nice balance of progressive values and foreign policy experience. [Blackwell:] Are you leaning in a direction? [Unidentified Male:] Yes. [Blackwell:] Toward whom? [Unidentified Male:] Hillary. [Blackwell:] Why? [Unidentified Male:] I just like her. I think she's the best person for the office. She can walk right in and take over. She's used to everything. [Unidentified Female:] I don't have no choice. [Blackwell:] Tell me why? [Unidentified Female:] She's helping with the black people, the issues that black people are facing with. [Kareemah Dennis, South Carolina Voter:] I just feel like in this moment, it's Bernie's time. I love what he says about the prison reform and reforming our economy and I honestly believe that Hillary did not speak adamantly about black lives matter issues until Bernie brought it into the forefront. [Leah Lake, South Carolina Voter:] I think she represents wants to represent all Americans, and she has been working since a young adult for minority minorities, for women, for the rights of unborn children, and I think she would be fair and have some wisdom because of her experience. [Lawrence Dixon, South Carolina Voter:] Hillary, you know what I'm saying, she seems like she basically had Obama's back. You know what I'm saying. That was good enough for me. When you've got his back, I've got yours. [Blackwell:] All right, let's bring in Philip Levine, mayor of Miami Beach and a Hillary Clinton, and Justin Bamberg, South Carolina state representative and a Bernie Sanders supporter. Good to have both of you with us. I just want to let people know at home, if you saw that there was an imbalance there, we just went out and spoke with ten people randomly who were willing to stand in front of the camera and tell us who they are voting and all but one said either Hillary Clinton or they didn't have a choice. So those are the answers we got. Let's start with the final number out tonight. Hillary Clinton is expected to win. How important is the margin? [Mayor Philip Levine, Miami Beach, Florida:] Well, I think she's going to do very, very well. Of course, the margin is important, but we're seeing this margin all across the country. We're seeing it in Florida. We saw some polls. It's important. As a matter of fact, I think I met every single one of those people you interviewed the last couple of days. No question about it. [Blackwell:] And so the margins for Bernie Sanders, of course, he wants it to be as narrow as possible. How important is that margin for him? [Justin Bamberg , South Carolina State Representative:] The margin is important but only to a certain degree. There's only one candidate that has to win South Carolina and it's not Bernie Sanders. He just has to show that he can perform fairly well and that he is a competitive candidate. If you look back a couple of months, Bernie Sanders was polling at 6 percent. South Carolina is about closing the gap. I think he will do that. [Blackwell:] Can he get within 10 or 15? [Bamberg:] I would like to see him within 10 or 15. Whether that's the case is going to depend I think on voter turnout. [Blackwell:] Let me stay with you and voter turnout and Bernie Sanders. Bernie Sanders struggling to make inroads into minority communities, the black community here, of course, a large portion of the Democratic electorate is African-American here. Why is he struggling here, and if he continues to struggle here, will he continue to struggle across the south of the primaries continue? [Bamberg:] Well, I won't say he's necessarily that he's, quoteunquote, "struggling." I think he has had some difficulty due in part to the Clinton name recognition and recognition in the state. You know, Bernie Sanders is from Vermont. Not many people have even met anybody from Vermont down here. What you've seen is over time the more people have gotten to know Bernie Sanders, the more they've heard his message, the more voters he is pulling in. I really want to put out the key part here is that there are still a lot of undecided voters in this state. I think that is what this race is going to hinge on here in South Carolina. [Blackwell:] You know what I learned last week when I was here for the Republican primary is that so many voters here make up their mind when they get into the booth. [Levine:] I'm sure. [Blackwell:] They take a moment then. Of course, we've heard from Senator Sanders and now we've heard from "The New York Times" the call for the release of the transcripts of those speeches to Wall Street. Let's put up a portion of those "The New York Times" op-ed. I think we have it. I'll read it here, "Public interest in these speeches is legitimate and it's the public not the candidate who decides how much disclosure is enough. By stonewalling on these transcripts Mrs. Clinton plays into the hands of those who say she is not trustworthy and makes her own rules. Most important, she is damaging her credibility among Democrats who are begging her to show them that she'd run an accountable and transparent White House." Is all this damaging her credibility? I mean, you know she has a trustworthy problem. If there's nothing there, why release them? I think it's absolutely ridiculous. I mean, just think about it. This is the "New York Times," the dig [inaudible] media. They planted three false stories about Hillary Clinton that she was under investigation, not true. Front page that her personal server was illegal. Not true. She was doing favors from the State Department for the foundation. Not true. Why doesn't "The New York Times" go to Donald Trump and say why don't you release all your transcripts from your board room, all your bankruptcies? You know, Senator Sanders, why don't you release the transcripts when you were out there campaigning for the DSEC with Goldman Sachs and you're on a beautiful yacht and talking about Wall Street. Why don't you release these things? It's also amazing, Victor. It's a double standard. She's been in the public office, public life for 40 years. The fact of the matter is, can you imagine releasing transcripts as innocent as they are. We have a $1 billion Republican attack machine. You're going to read I went to the bank one day to make a deposit. They're going take that and say, Secretary Clinton was at the bank, she was making deposits Let me hear from Justin. Justin, your thoughts on these transcripts. [Bamberg:] Well, you know, here's the thing. When you're running to be president and you're running to lead the citizens of this country, you know, if people have concerns, I don't see any harm in actually addressing them. You know, people look at Bernie Sanders and if you look at one of the recent polls, age group 18 to 29, 100 percent of them said Bernie Sanders is honest and trustworthy. You know, one of the concerns that voters have about Hillary Clinton is which version of Hillary Clinton are we going get? Are we going to get the 2008 version or are we going to get the early 1990s version or are we going to get the 2016 version before Bernie Sanders actually started to pick up speed or the most recent post Bernie Sanders has support versus Hillary Clinton. So you know, if there's no harm, no foul there, I don't see a problem with releasing them, but that's going to be her decision. [Blackwell:] Let me get your response to what we saw from Robert Reich, and let's put up the segment of the Reich endorsement. Robert Reich, Bill Clinton's former labor secretary overnight endorsed Bernie Sander's campaign. I think that's far too small for the screen. He said he'll support Hillary Clinton if she's nominated, but he believes, and I'm paraphrasing here, that Bernie Sanders is the candidate that he's going to support and he's the candidate for the Democratic Party this cycle. That has to be a blow to the Clintons. [Levine:] No. Secretary Clinton has so many endorsements from all across the country [Blackwell:] But this is a Clinton cabinet member. [Levine:] But think about it, she's gotten so many cabinet members that endorsed her. Two years ago, she was the most popular secretary of state in American history. All of a sudden now when she is running for president, of course, everyone's on it. But you know what I think the media should do? I think the media should look at Donald Trump. They should look at Bernie Sanders, ask them to release various papers. Go to Marco Rubio and ask him to release his employment records. I forgot. He's never had a job. I mean, come on. I mean, seriously. [Blackwell:] This is a Clinton cabinet member who says he will support Hillary Clinton, but he thinks that Bernie Sanders should be the person who gets the nomination. [Levine:] Well, you know what, everyone has their opinion. I think Senator Sanders has done a great job and really growing the narrative and bringing more people under the tent. I think the Clinton people believe that in the next two or three months, we are going to see that this gap is going to show that Secretary Clinton is going to win the nomination and we hope to have Senator Sanders support. [Blackwell:] All right, Philip Levine, Justin Bamberg, thank you both. All right, the GOP mud fight as we've seen it grow over the last 48 hours continues. Marco Rubio and Donald Trump taking their debate night battles on the road, but will it win over any voters. Plus, the former president of Mexico compares Trump to Hitler. [Rubio:] What we are dealing with here, my friends, is a con artist. He is a con artist. First of all, he runs on this idea he is fighting for the little guy. But he has spent his entire career sticking it to the little guy. His entire career. All right, every business that he has ever run that's gone bankrupt. This guy bankrupted a casino. How do you bankrupt a casino? [Berman:] Moments ago, Senator Marco Rubio going after Donald Trump harder than he ever has. Eight months, barely mentioning his name, until the entire event which was mostly about Donald Trump. We should tell you, Donald Trump will respond with his own news conference. He says he has a big announcement to make. Joining us again, David Gregory, former host of "Meet the Press"; Kayleigh McEnany, a political analyst and a Donald Trump supporter; and Doug Heye, who has done many things in his life, and has many leather-bound books. [David Gregory, Veteran Journalist & Former Moderator, Meet The Press:] Certainly late. We'll find out if it's too late. It's certainly overdue, as a political practice points. I actually want to underline something Amanda said a couple of segments ago that was really important. It is good political practice, as ridiculous as it is to read the tweets from Donald Trump start trolling him and good style and political practice for Rubio to say I'm going to meet him on his level, a taunt and fight with him and trade insults to show that I can stand up to this bully, and then pivot and make his case to voters. He has to try to reach Trump voters who might be sort in their allegiance and begin to show his own base of support where he wants to consolidate, Cruz, Kasich or just sitting out, that he has got the fight to take this to Trump to win it, kind of on the schoolyard level, but also to win it on substance. [Bolduan:] You talk about, we saw that this morning and that all started last night. I want to play one exchange, and there were plenty, that having encapsulates this new fight, this new fire, coming at Donald Trump. That he is spending off. Listen to this. [Rubio:] I also think that if you're going to claim that you're the only one that lifted this into the campaign that you acknowledge that, for example, you're the only person on the stage that's been fined for hiring people to work on your projects illegally. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] I'm the only one on the stage that has hired people. You haven't hired anybody. [Bolduan:] Folks not named Trump folks, who are not for a man named Trump, they've been waiting for this fire to come at him, Kayleigh. As a Trump supporter, where do you see the fight going from here? [Kayleigh Mcenany, Conservative Columnist & Commentator:] You know, he is going to be attacked, just what we saw last night, only the beginning. We saw Rubio attacking him on the campaign trail. That's going to continue and continue and continue. As long as Donald Trump is the front front-runner and he'll continue to be the front-runner. Nine of the 12 Super Tuesdays, ahead in Massachusetts, likewise, ahead in southern states, with different demographics. He'll be attacked. We know this about Donald Trump. Whenever he is attacked, he succeeds. When Jeb Bush attacked him in Las Vegas, everyone said Jeb Bush had the greatest night of his life. So if history is any indicator, attacking Donald Trump is just going to mean you falling in the polls and stifling and tripping up on the campaign trail. [Berman:] What about that, Doug? We've learned in this campaign so far is that the debates have mattered. The debates have changed the trajectory of this race. I mean, mar after he had that issue in New Hampshire. Donald Trump had that dust up in South Carolina, and he still won South Carolina, but his lead was not by as much as it had been. So is there enough time for this to sink in before Tuesday and you know, will it have the effect that a lot of the pundits think it will have? [Doug Heye, Cnn Contributor:] Obviously Donald Trump has been impervious to most political realities that we've known over the last millennia, but it may be late in the game but I don't think it's too late yet. Republicans have gone through three stages with Donald Trump. First was don't attack him, he is not serious. Don't attack him, he won't last too long. It won't work. And then the third was don't attack him, it's too late. It's not too late. What has to be done is exactly what Marco Rubio has been doing, but it can't be a one attack and move on. It has to be sustained, because we know whether it's at the upcoming press conference or something else later in the day, Donald Trump is going to create another outrage that's going to get us all talking about something that has nothing to do really with the problems that we're facing in this country or anything to do with substantially with this campaign. If you're Marco Rubio, you keep going on the attacks and you don't let up. It may work, it may not work. But it has to be sustained. [Bolduan:] David, final word. Do you think this is now effectively after last night a two person race, but it being Donald Trump and Marco Rubio, even Ted Cruz would like to say it's a two person race and his name is in there? [Gregory:] Yeah, I don't think we can say that yet. There is a lot of momentum within the party, within the party establishment, among donors, and Marco Rubio has helped, and even true in the media as well, pushing towards Rubio. But Super Tuesday will tell us a lot about particularly in Texas, whether Cruz still has some strengths moving forward. I also agree with Doug on this. This is not just about throwing the kitchen sink at him. It's about substantive attacks, electability, temperament, insults, where he is thin, Donald Trump is thin on policy prescriptions. On whether he is consistent on some of his views, policy in the Middle East more generally, that's how you get to the larger point he is not for real. He is a con artist. You have to deconstruct him in a way that would make him look less goods among his supporters. I think to the point that I made, a lot of work to be done to achieve that. [Bolduan:] David Gregory, Kayleigh, Doug, great to see you guys. Thank you so much. [Gregory:] Thank you. [Mcenany:] Thank you. [Heye:] Thank you. [Bolduan:] And right now, on the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders is holding a live rally in Minnesota as he races to the finish trying to win over more supporters ahead of Super Tuesday, more specifically, ahead of South Carolina. The big primary there this Saturday. Get this. He is now getting some help from top Republican donors and hitting Hillary for her Wall Street speeches. [Berman:] Plus, Mitt Romney now part of the 2016 race in his Twitter war with Donald Trump, before, during after the debate. He continues to say Trump has no good reason to keep his tax returns private. Trump says he can't do anything while the IRS is auditing him. What does the IRS say about this? New developments ahead. [Lemon:] A big ruling in North Carolina will affect exactly who can vote on Tuesday, who can vote on Tuesday. Here to discuss this, Reverend Dr. William Barber, president of North Carolina NAACP. I'm so glad you're joining us this evening to discuss this, a very important matter, Reverend. So you have been fighting voter suppression down there including thousands of people stripped from the voting rolls. You had a big victory tonight. What did the judge ruled? [Reverend Dr. William Barber, President, North Carolina Naacp:] The judge ruled a temporary restraining order saying that these purges all thousands of these people had to be returned to the rolls and allowed to vote and all of this activity had to cease across the state of North Carolina. This is heavy. It's a first case of its type for this challenge, this kind of purging where a group allied with the GOP simply sends out a bunch of mailings, if they come back undeliverable, then they go in and they challenge them in bulk form. And they challenge these voters and people find out in the newspaper that their voter registration has been challenged. [Lemon:] Reverend, there's been a lot of talk about the black vote being down. How much of that is a lower degree of enthusiasm for Hillary Clinton, or how much is the stuff that we have been reporting on here about a lack of polling places in black areas, not opening polls on Sundays and things like that? [Barber:] Well, first of all, let me just say to everybody vote in North Carolina tomorrow is the last day of early voting. We have same-day registration and early voting that we won in the courts, and if you need any information, call 1888-our-vote. Don, in our state, the GOP keeps scheming and the court keeps speaking. We have a lot of enthusiasm here. We've had 60 marches to the polls. Students have marched to the polls, but at the same turn, we have 158 fewer polling places in the 40 counties previously covered by the Voting Rights Act than we had in 2012. And some places, where we would have say, 16 early voting sites the first week, we only had one, and this is because the GOP sent a letter out to their local Boards of Election told them to implement rules that reflected GOP values, and not so much the spirit of the law and the constitution. So we're battling, Don, against voter suppression, but people are fighting. People are coming back, and now the numbers are ticking up because early voting sites have been added. There are more sites now, HBCU campuses, and this victory will help in a major way. So it may not be there may be more to that not lack of enthusiasm, or it just made people cannot get to the polls. I want to talk about this before I let you go. It's not just in North Carolina, there's federal judge in Ohio, issued a temporary restraining order against Trump friend and advisor, Roger Stone and his group called, "Stop the Steel." That group was mobilizing to send poll watchers into minority Democratic areas. Judge James Gwen's order says it prohibits hindering or delaying a voter or perspective voter from reaching or leaving the polling place, challenging or questioning voters or perspective voters about their eligibility to vote or training organizing or directing others to do the same, interrogating, admonishing, interfering with or verbally harassing voters or perspective voters. Questioning voters under the guise of the purported exit polling or citizen journalist'operations, organized and encouraged by Defendants Stone and Stop the Steal. So with these kinds of voter suppression efforts keeps African- Americans from turning out, do you think it's going to will it motivate them now? Well, I believe so. I've been preaching a message, we better vote and then when people are working this hard to take something, it must mean you have power. It must mean you can make a difference. We're organizing thousands of poll watchers. We have 12,000 faith centers that are organized to turn the vote out. We are mobilizing. We put out more than 450,000 robo calls, more than 500,000 pieces of literature in terms of voter registration, and we are telling people do not be intimated. "The Washington Post" did a story I think yesterday, said this traces back to what the clan did in the early 1900s, and to intimidate people, and suggesting, look, stand your ground. We've been through worse. We've seen worse. We have we won the right to vote through lynching and people being beaten, bloodied, and killed and surely we can stand up to somebody, who said they are going to come knocking you. Let them come and watch us vote, but understand we're not going to be moved. We're not going to be intimidated and we are going to vote. [Lemon:] Tonight in Arizona, Democrats won a third case, Reverend, against the voter suppression efforts. You've been fighting the good fight for voting rights for a very long time. Did you think that back from the very beginning that you would still be facing these kinds of tactics now in 2016? [Barber:] You know, Don, that's the sad irony of it. One of the latest that was challenged in this purge is 100 years old and she found out in the newspapers. This is a woman who came through Jim Crow. Our lead plaintiff in our case against House Bill 589, the monster voting bill, Jim Crow is 93 years old. But you know, Don, I think about my mother. My mother integrated public schools. She's 83 years old. She still goes to work every day. She looked at me one day and said, son, I never thought I'd have a child August 13th, 1963, two days after the march on Washington, who would be facing some of the same kind of challenges we faced them. But then she got that squint in her eye that black mamas get, she said, but you all better fight. You better not turn around. So my mama told me, Don. And so we've been people told us we were going to lose. They told us we couldn't beat them. They spent $6 million of our taxpayer money trying to take the right to vote and [inaudible] the right to vote. But people went to jail, we stood and we went to courts and we won and we have to use this victory by voting. So I tell folks, mama said, you better vote. [Lemon:] You always listen to mama. Listen, I went to the barbershop today and a barber said, I like your hair short, and I said my mama likes it when I have more hair on my head, I don't care if it looks bad or good. She wants it. Mama said, and mama's always right. [Barber:] That's right. [Lemon:] Thank you, I appreciate it. When we come right back, what's going to happen when this long, ugly race is finally over, will the losers step aside gracefully, or will that be just the beginning? [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. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Guest Anchor:] A Kentucky clerk said she will stay in jail for as long as it takes after refusing to approve same-sex marriage licenses. I'm talking to a state senator who supports her about what happens next. You're live with me in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hello and thanks for joining me. I am Martin Savidge in for Fredricka Whitfield who had the day off. We begin now with the desperate migrant crisis in Europe where thousands of refugees, some fleeing war-torn countries have finally arrived at the Austrian border. Families walked for up to nine hours on a highway from Budapest on Friday. They began this trip after the Hungarian government stopped the train bound for Austria. But overnight, the government deployed a fleet of buses to take them to the border. This exodus of refugees is expected to continue and most seeking asylum in Germany and the United Nations is desperate to find a solution. The U.S., one of the countries helping out will most likely take in at least 3,000 Syrian refugees by the end of this month. That's according to the State Department. Joining me now on the phone is CNN's Fredrick Pleitgen, who is at the border where the refugees continue to arrive. Fred, is the Austrian government providing any kind of shelter or aide for these people as they arrive? [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, they certainly are, Martin. In fact it's quiet remarkable the amount of aid that's being provided. There are buses that are coming from the Hungarian side of the border. They have to walk across the border to get on to Austrian territory and once they get there, they are provided with water. They are provided with food. There are medical facilities. It really is actually quite remarkable to see the amount of aid that has been donated in a very short time span. Because the Austrian authorities didn't know that this big influx of refugees were coming until early this morning. It's a Saturday morning here, but immediately the community sprang into action and started a major donations drive. I am seeing people handing out food to people that have just gotten here. It's quit cold here now in this part of Austria. I can see the refugees with thick jackets on. One of the things that the officers are trying to do is get them on trains as well as possible to make sure that they're able to continue the journey to Vienna and other places as well. It's heartwarming scenes after the people have had over the past couple of days in the journey across much of Eastern Europe and to see that they're getting attention and most importantly that they're being welcomed here with the smile by the local population Martin. [Savidge:] Yes, that's good news, Fred. Germany seems to be the destination they're headed too. Explain why that is. [Pleitgen:] Well, I think that it's a mix of reasons for why people want to go to Germany. They have heard that Germany is very powerful. They have also heard that Germany does take in a lot of people. It's also very important. There have been so much debate over the last couple of months with the countries and treating the whole migration crisis that's happening more as a border control issue and they have to build up fences on the borders. How do we keep the people out? Whereas the German government has done a pivot recently and say that we want to welcome them. The new number that the German government has put out it says that up to 800,000 could come to Germany this year alone, and that's at least the ones that come from Syria and Iraq would have good chances of staying there. That's something that many of these people have heard as well that leave the countries that they can stay in. Therefore that's certainly one of the factors that drive them to say that this is where we want to be. And the other thing quite frankly is that they're going to get a good facility and live under good circumstances there. That's certainly also something that many people say that draws them to want to try to Germany. [Savidge:] All right, we will see if that goodwill holds up. Fredrick Pleitgen, thank you very much joining us from Austria. The young Syrian boy who's become that symbolic face of the refugee crisis in Europe was laid to rest yesterday. We're going to warn you that this picture is disturbing. The 2-year-old was found face down on a Turkish beach. He drowned at sea while crossing the Mediterranean with his family. Yesterday his body was brought back to his native home of Kobani, Syria where he was buried with his older brother and his mother. So an increasingly desperate situation unfolding there in Europe as we've seen and joining me now is the former U.S. ambassador to Syria and to Israel, Edward Djerejian. He is currently the director of the Baker Institute at Rice University in Houston. Many of these immigrants that we are seeing, these refugees are fleeing violence from Syria since that civil was began more than four years ago. Could the international community have taken action long before now that tried to have this evolve into a full blown crisis or prevent that rather? Can you hear me, sir? [Edward Djerejian, Former U.s. Ambassador To Syria:] Yes, I believe the response to your question is yes I think what we're seeing is a failure of world leadership in resolving the critical crisis in Syria that has now spread to Iraq with ISIS. It's been now four years as you stated that the Syrian conflict has taken over 280,000 lives. Most of the almost half of the refugees that you referred to in Europe, there are about 320,000 approximately half of those are Syrians escaping the war. You showed the iconic photo of the young boy that's captured the imagination of the world, but I also noted a statement by a 13-year- old Syrian boy in Europe that was migrating there with his family, and he said we don't want really to go to Europe. We want to go back to our home in Syria. Please stop the war in Syria so we can go back. The real solution is to resolve these conflicts in Syria and Iraq in order to stem the origin of this access. Of course, there are other refugees from Afghanistan, Somali, but it's the crisis in the east that's the cause of what we're seeing in Europe. [Savidge:] I don't think that the United States or the public is to desire or wanting to get involved militarily into Syria any more than they are. So I am wondering is the other answer for more countries like the U.S. to step forward and say we will take these migrants in. Come here? [Djerejian:] Well, the United States has a policy of receiving approximately 75,000 migrants and refugees per year. As you know some senators have put forward a proposal to increase our intake of some of the 65,000 refugees from Syria, but it's limited. The entry levels of the refugees into the United States have been limited to that type of number. [Savidge:] And so where does this go. Do you just see this saying that you come to us and encourage them to leave the refugee camps along the border? It seems that this is only going to get worse. [Djerejian:] Look at it again structurally the Europeans have welcomed the migrant laborers because they need labor. The demographics of population growth in Europe are declining and so a country like Germany does need labor. They have had a tradition if you will of welcoming laborers for economic reasons. But now with these political crises in the Middle East, it is becoming humanitarian crisis. I don't see it ending in the near term. When you look at the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey almost 2 million in Lebanon, and almost a third of the population in Lebanon and Jordan about 700,000, those refugees also are going to be seeking some of them exit into Europe and elsewhere. So unless there is a solution to the horrible conflicts that we're witnessing in Syria and Iraq and the rise of ISIS and instability in these countries and failed leadership. I mean, when you get down to the source of it, it's the failed leadership of these governments in the Arab countries that have not provided the basic services and security and economic growth for the people that have caused extremist groups like ISIS and al Qaeda to cause the havoc in these countries. Bashar Al-Assad, the president of Syria, he fired on his own people and virtually ignited the civil war there. Conflict resolution is the structure solution. In between that far bridge, the community and international community has to come together and coordinate on refugee relief. [Savidge:] Ambassador Djerejian, thank you very much for your insights. We hope they do come together and love to see an end to that conflict. Thank you. Authorities maybe closing in on Mexican drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. It appears that his own son may have exposed his location on social media. El Chapo escaped from a Mexican prison through an underground tunnel back in July and has not been seen since. Nick Valencia joins us now with more on that. Nick, this is a story that we started to instantly talk about. He made the goof, and who knows where it could lead. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] It could be on purpose. It could be a very calculated move by his son. But so far a $5 million reward and investigators have not lead to the capture of the world's most notorious drug trafficker. This tweet on the account believed to be that of El Chapo's son could provide a new include to the drug lords whereabouts. [Valencia:] Is this the newest photo of one of the world's wanted fugitives. Joaquin El Chapo Guzman's son would like the world to think so. This week posted on a Twitter page believed to belong to the son of the drug cartel king pen. This caption, "Comfortable here, you already know with who." Flanked by two identified men whose faces are covered by oversized emojis, the photo appears to show 29-year-old Alfredo Guzman sitting at a restaurant with a man whose mustache resembles that of his fathers. It's clear from some of the comments many hoped it is him. These men give more to Mexico than the rotten government, one user writes. Another writes, be safe, my hero. The location tag on the photo says Costa Rica. CNN contacted Costa Rican authorities who said, "We are aware of the pictures that has surfaced, but we believe the Costa Rica they're talking about is not in our country, but a town in Mexico. There are no current investigations targeting Mr. Guzman in Costa Rica." There's a fishing town about 30 minutes south in Sinaloa, Mexico and the same state in Mexico where El Chapo was born. A spokesman tells CNN we're aware of the photo and looking into it. Here we go. It was nearly two months ago that Mexican authorities announced that the world's most notorious drug trafficker escape from Mexico's maximum security prison using this tunnel. [on camera]: The tunnel stretches for more than a mile carved out the earth here in a modified train track for the mini motorcycle. It's electricity lines. It's difficult to breath down here, a lot of dirt and dust. This is for the ventilation system. It's a tight, tight space down here. For a man known as El Chapo, I am sure that he had more than enough room to work with. [voice-over]: El Chapo has been on the run ever since with no signs of his whereabouts. If the Twitter photo actually is of the Mexican drug lord, the post is nearly as bold and brazen as his escape, the drug kingpin son seemingly mocking authorities and showing his father hiding in plain sight. Whether it was to brag, a mistake or to throw investigators off the location of El Chapo there's no telling if El Chapo's son meant to leave that location tag on the photo. In the past he has bragged about the life style that he leads. This now maybe the first clue that we see if this is El Chapo. A lot of people do think that is. [Savidge:] Yes, that's waving a red flag at authorities. Nick, thank you very much. Next, a clerk in Kentucky spends her weekend in jail after refusing to issue a marriage license to same-sex couples. A state senator joins me to talk about what he plans to do about it all. Stay here. [Lemon:] Back now with my panel. Hi, panel. Welcome back. Someone on twitter said, Don, get control of your panel. That is easier said than done, especially when you are dealing with this group. Just so you know. The only thing I can do is sometimes say, we have got to go or cut the mike. And then people go you won't let them talk. Well, that's the only control I have because they yell over me. OK. So I'm going to continue talk about April. I don't mind it. Come on, you know. I'm thick skin. So April Ryan, we are going to continue, but I want to expand this and talk about Bill O'Reilly on FOX coming under fire for this comment on "FOX and Friend" where he mocked Representative Maxine Waters' hair while she was delivering a speech on the floor of House of Representatives. Here it is. [Rep. Maxine Waters , California:] We are saying to those who say they are patriotic but they turned a blind eye to the destruction that he is about to cause this country you're not nearly as patriotic as you are. [Unidentified Male:] So what does that mean? Though, we have been listening all morning. [Bill O'reilly, Fox News:] I didn't hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig. If we have a picture of James it's the same. [Unidentified Female:] No. OK. I have to defend her on that. [O'reilly:] You're all wrong about this. [Unidentified Female:] I have to defend her on that. She is you can't go after a woman's looks. I think she's very attractive. [O'reilly:] I didn't say she wasn't attractive. I love James Brown. [Lemon:] So he did apologize. [Rye:] So? [Lemon:] An extremely intelligent accomplished, respected woman, why reduce her to that, Paris, and talk about her hair? Because Symone brought up the, you know, the disrespecting for woman of color. Here is another woman of color. Why do that? [Dennard:] I think, Don, we should first start we always go to the race card. And I don't think that's relevant. I don't think this is a racial thing at all. There are plenty of racists in this world. [Sanders:] Paris. [Dennard:] And we should be sure that when we call somebody a racist or we say that that they are, that they actually are. So I just think that we need to stop that. Now, let me finish. [Lemon:] Paris, let me say this. I got to say this. I'm going to let you finish. But even all the white guys in the studio are side eyeing you right now. They are all like -. [Rye:] He needs to be side eyed. [Lemon:] But go ahead, Paris. Let him finish. Let him finish. [Dennard:] No, let me finish. I think what it is, is he did. Bill O'Reilly said what he said was in jest and he said it was damn. He apologized for it. And if you play the rest of the clip, he did go on to say that he likes Congressman Waters. [Lemon:] Said she was old school and she believes what she says. [Dennard:] And it is old school because the title of his book is "old school." So the whole segment was about that. But he is also said she's a woman who isn't a phony. She believes what she says. And she is someone who is genuine. [Lemon:] Yes. He did say that. He's right. [Dennard:] He said it was damn and he apologized for it. [Lemon:] Go ahead, Angela. [Rye:] OK. So let me help you. In case you got this, this was Bill O'Reilly's first racist moment, he has a record of saying racist comments. Let me bring you back to July. Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. That is in response to Michelle Obama saying that her kids are playing on the White House lawn which was built by at the hands of slaves. This man has a pattern in practice of calling black men thugs, of making fun of Congresswoman Waters' hair? He's intimidated by her. Don't do it, Paris. Don't do it today. Don't do it today. The Bottom line is -. [Dennard:] Does President Obama call us thugs. [Rye:] Bill O'Reilly is a racist. [Ferguson:] President Obama did call people thugs. [Lemon:] All right. We are talking about Bill O'Reilly. Go on. [Rye:] You guys, stay going down a rabbit hole that is irrelevant. Your boy is a racist. He needs to be fired. His apology isn't sufficient. Race baiting is when you continue to utilize why can't you ever just hush? Race baiting. [Lemon:] Let them get in. OK. But here's the thing. I have not listen to my knowledge and I could be wrong. I have never heard Bill O'Reilly talk about anybody else there. Because I'm sure there are a lot of people there. And maybe the lady, I don't know if she does, she may have some hair extensions on "FOX and Friends." There are sure a lot of women who are on that very network that have some wigs or some -. That's what ladies do. [Rye:] I don't have a wig. [Sanders:] Not all of us. [Lemon:] I'm just saying. [Ferguson:] Don [Lemon:] There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Why bring that up? I've never seen him bring that up about a white woman. That's all I'm saying. [Ferguson:] Here is what I will say. If you're going to say that Maxine Waters these comments that Bill O'Reilly made and they were damn comments. And I'm glad he apologized for it. They were stupid. Obviously, they were off the cuff. And obviously, he realizing that a mistake. But if you're going to throw out the race card every single time and say he should be fired and everything else, then should Maxine Waters resign for demanding that we impeached Donald Trump before he would ever done anything when he was elected president? Isn't she a racist for saying at the white guy that was elected president who had done nothing wrong but get elected should be impeached? If you want to be taken seriously, as Maxine Waters saying still credible, she is not very credible when you are calling for the impeachment because you didn't get your way of the president of the United States of America when you are -. [Lemon:] Listen, that if fine. That's another conversation, though, about her creditability. [Ferguson:] No, but it is part of this conversation, Don. [Sanders:] Why are we questioning Main Waters' credibility who is a former -. [Ferguson:] She called for the President to be impeached when he had done nothing. [Sanders:] That's a whole another question. Donald Trump has some questionable things. Why did you automatically go to question the creditability of a black woman? [Ferguson:] It is a double standard. That's my point. If you're going to hold Bill O'Reilly let me explain this. If you're going to hold Bill O'Reilly here, you have at least to hold Maxine Waters at the same level. [Dennard:] Ben, stop talking. You don't want to be labeled a racist. [Ferguson:] That's a double standard. I'm used to that here. [Sanders:] I didn't say anything about Bill O'Reilly being a racist today. [Rye:] He is. [Sanders:] Actually my point that I was going to make is and he has definitely done some very racist things, but what I was going to say was is that he automatically went to what Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a woman, what she looked like. And how many women in their jobs in their personal lives and professional lives can identify with being talked about for what they look like and not the creditability of things they're saying? And my point to you is that it is not only just dumb. It is sexist. It is incorrect. [Ferguson:] I said it was dumb. [Sanders:] It is unacceptable, and it should not be tolerated. [Ferguson:] But you can't if you this is a double standard I'm talking about. [Sanders:] No, you can't tell me what I can do. That's the crazy thing. [Ferguson:] If you are going to hold people to describe moral ground, then, how do you not hold Maxine Waters to the same standard? [Rye:] Because she was the victim. She was the victim. She was the victim today and moreover there was another FOX analyst that said she needed to put the crack pipe down. [Lemon:] All right. Listen. Ben, the president has called for people to be locked up. He has called for people to step down. He has called for people to be fired. OK. So, that's a different thing. Maxine Waters called for the President to be impeached. That's politics. [Ferguson:] You don't just brush that off. [Lemon:] If she said Donald Trump's wig looked like howdy dudey, that would be a different thing because she is talking about Ben, will you let me finish? Let me finish. Let me finish. Bill O'Reilly, I don't know if he is racist or not. I have no idea. I don't know what the comments. I will let you guys decide to that. But he was talking about her personal appearance. Even he has said it was dumb. And to say that you cannot say that it didn't come off as sexist because he didn't I don't know if he's ever said that about a man. I don't know if anybody would say that about a man. [Ferguson:] Don, let's be honest. Have you ever done a segment about all of the people that have made fun of Donald Trump's hair? Did any of them -? [Lemon:] Donald Trump had made fun of his own hair. Donald Trump has made fun of his own hair. [Ferguson:] My point is it is a double standard. [Lemon:] Ben, it's not a double standard. [Ferguson:] Sure, it is. [Lemon:] He goes on television and makes fun of his own hair. He lets Jimmy Fallon rustle through his hair. He talks about how real his hair is. His doctors showed that he has propecia for his hair. [Ferguson:] Again, double standard. [Lemon:] So I mean, he talks about his own hair. Why is that a double standard? He is making fun. If Maxine Waters had said I talked about her own wig and that would be different story, but she doesn't. I do that. He brought something into the conversation that shouldn't be brought there. We will take a break. We will be right back. [Dennard:] We don't even know if it's a wig. [Camerota:] As U.S. world leaders as world leaders, I should say, work to build a coalition to fight ISIS, two prominent Republican lawmakers are calling for the U.S. to deploy more ground troops to the region. Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham join us from Iraq this morning. Senator Graham is also a Republican presidential candidate. Gentlemen, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY all the way from Irbil, Iraq. It's great to see you. Senator Graham, let me start with you. Tell us what we know that neither of you are fans of the current Obama administration strategy to fight ISIS. Senator Graham, what have you seen on the ground in your past few days and what are you specifically calling for now? [Sen. Lindsey Graham , Presidential Candidate:] OK. Some progress. I think Ramadi, which is in Anbar province, can be taken back from ISIL. And I want to congratulate General McFarland and the Iraqi security forces. But otherwise, Mosul, which is a very large city in Iraq is still in ISIL hands. There's no strategy regarding Syria. We had a major city in Libya, a city in Libya, the home of Khadafy fall into ISIS hands. It's all about Syria. There is no credible regional strategy. There's no ground component to destroy ISIL in Syria. If you don't destroy them in Syria where the caliphate is headquartered, you never fix Libya or Iraq. So just a lack of strategy. American leadership and foreign policy is in freefall. [Camerota:] Senator McCain, I know that you agree with your colleague and friend, Senator Graham. So President Obama would say that the strategy in Syria, the airstrikes, they say the airstrikes are working. But you both are calling for more ground troops. Am I right about the number 20,000 that you think would do the job of getting rid of ISIS in Syria and Iraq? [Sen. John Mccain , Arizona:] Well, the first thing we need is what's agreed by Hillary Clinton is a no-fly zone in Syria so we can protect the people from barrel bombing, have a place where the refugees could go and stop the slaughter that is driving so many millions of people into refugee status. The second thing we need to do is probably have some kind of coalition of largely Arab countries to go to Syria and take out ISIS. Look, it's this simple. We're going to fight them there or we're going to fight them in Washington, D.C., or Phoenix, Arizona. And they are metastasizing. Lindsey just mentioned Libya. They're metastasizing all over the Middle East. And we do not have a regional strategy. We think some number of troops, along with this coalition, would be the way to take out ISIS. And to also make sure that Bashar al-Assad leaves power, as well, since he is the butcher that has killed 250,000 of his own people. [Camerota:] Senator Graham, I've read that you are proposing a 100,000- strong force, provided by Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. This weekend, former secretary of defense, Robert Gates, said that will not work. Let me play for you what he said. [Robert Gates, Former Secretary Of Defense:] You hear people talk about sending combat formations from Arab nations into Iraq to fight ISIS. That's just not going to happen. First, they are not going to send their troops, not willing to send their troops. [Unidentified Male:] Right. [Gates:] But second, the Iraqis probably wouldn't allow them to come anyway. [Camerota:] So Secretary Graham, what makes you think that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia want to send 100,000 troops? [Graham:] Clearly, you're not listening to what I'm saying. I've never suggested we send an Arab army into Iraq. I'm suggesting we need 10,000 American troops to help the Iraqis destroy ISIL in Iraq. [Camerota:] OK. [Graham:] We have 3,500. At this pace, they'll still be ISIL will still be in Iraq. I'm suggesting that we create a regional army to go into Syria, because there's nobody left in Syria to destroy ISIL. If we don't destroy ISIL in Syria they're going to hit the American homeland. And the Arabs feel threatened by ISIL as much as we do. And they don't want Assad in power, because he's a puppet of Iran, their mortal enemy. For two years, I've been saying that what we're doing is not working. You've got radical Islam running wild. The theocracy in Iran, which are religious Nazis the ayatollah's a religious Nazi is controlling four Arab capitals. At what point do we realize that this is not working? You better do something quick or we're going to get hit at home. That's my takeaway. [Camerota:] OK, but Senator Graham, let me just stick with you for a second because do you have some suggestion that Egypt and Turkey and Saudi Arabia would be willing to send a force like that into Syria? [Graham:] With American leadership, yes. We were talking to the now king of Saudi Arabia before he became king, and he told John McCain, who he admires greatly, "You can have our army. You've just got to deal with Assad." The emir of Qatar said, "I'll pay for the operation." But they're not going to just fight ISIL and let Damascus fall into the hands of the Iranians. Assad has to go. I mean, all I can tell the American people is we have two goals similar to the Arabs in Turkey: to destroy ISIL, which is a threat in common to all of us, and to weaken Iran, which is a grave threat to the region and, I think, the world. And this coalition could be formed with American leadership. Our foreign policy is in free fall. Nobody is going to follow us until we change our strategy. [Camerota:] OK. So Senator McCain, Secretary Gates is wrong, in other words? You have gotten an indication that those nations would be willing to send their troops? [Mccain:] Wait, wait, wait. [Graham:] Iraq. [Mccain:] Secretary Gates obviously misunderstood, because he said he said Iraq. Secretary Gates has been one of the strongest critics of a lack of any coherent strategy anywhere in the Middle East, especially Iraq and Syria. If America leads, others follow. Right now you see Saudi troops on the ground in Yemen because of the threat of the Iranian-backed people that have taken Yemen. The Paris attacks should have awakened all of us. If our answer is not the correct one, then fine. We'd be glad to debate it with anybody. But to say that business as usual is working is deceptive and dangerous to the security of the United States of America. [Camerota:] OK. Senators McCain and Graham, always great to get your perspective. Thanks so much for joining us. Let's get back out now to Chris in Paris. [Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn. We just heard President Obama speaking, addressing the COP-21 here, the Conference of Parties. This is the 21st annual U.N.-sanctioned discuss about the climate. He says, even though it's COP-21, this is really the last best chance to make the changes that are necessary. Now, we didn't get you to play you his whole speech. You can watch it online. But we are going to give more time to this discussion. Because it won't just be governments. It has to be private and public. And a big part of the private investment here is going to come from a man named Bill Gates. We all know him, and now you'll get to see him on your screen. He's ready to do an interview with Christiane Amanpour and me. We're going to be talking to him about what can it be achieved at a COP-21? What the real chances are for progress and what needs to happen to make climate change that some generation of Americans will look at in the rearview mirror. So stay with us. We're going to talk to him, coming up on "NEW DAY." [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Do some people need to get off? [Vause:] Now that's something you don't see every day. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton riding the New York subway. She took it for one entire stop. And she was more than a dozen reporters, surrounded by Secret Service as well. Like many New Yorkers, though, it took Secretary Clinton multiple swipes at the turnstile before her metro card granted her access to the train. Clinton and her Democratic challenger, Bernie Sanders, are looking for big wins in this New York's upcoming primary, and as CNN's Jeff Zeleny reports, the attacks and the tension are escalating. [Clinton:] I will take Bernie Sanders over Donald Trump or Ted Cruz anytime. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton taking the high road today, for a moment at least, as the Democratic race devolves into a war of words. [Clinton:] Let's keep our eye on what's really at stake in this election. [Zeleny:] At stake is the New York primary, which Bernie Sanders is fighting hard to win, firing off some of the most personal attacks yet of the campaign over who's qualified to be president. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] The American people might wonder about your qualifications, Madam Secretary, when you voted for the war in Iraq, the most disastrous foreign policy blunder in the modern history of America. [Zeleny:] In Philadelphia today, Sanders unleashed a laundry list of grievances. [Sanders:] Are you qualified to be president of the United States when you're raising millions of dollars from Wall Street, an entity whose greed, recklessness and illegal behavior helped destroy our economy? [Zeleny:] Sanders said Clinton started it by diminishing his qualifications. She said he did. It's a rough and tumble New York primary, raising questions about unifying the Democratic Party. [Clinton:] I ran a very contested campaign against then Senator Obama and it went all the way to the end. We worked really hard. He got more delegates. And so I endorsed him. [Zeleny:] This map on the wall at Clinton campaign headquarters in Brooklyn is a daily reminder of their lead in delegates. Sanders is vowing to take the fight to the convention. A move that doesn't sit well with Clinton campaign manager, Robby Mook. [Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton Campaign Manager:] The stakes are so high. Nobody wants nobody in our party wants to see Donald Trump or Ted Cruz become president. And I think people will very quickly unify behind our nominee. [Zeleny:] But it is different. I mean, she was a Democrat her entire life and if he's not been a Democrat, what incentive does he have to help unify this party? [Mook:] Well, that's up to Senator Sanders. He's going to have to make a decision about the role that he wants to play. [Zeleny:] Would it be a mistake for the party to keep litigating this into July into Philadelphia? [Mook:] Well, I think to the point that it's obvious that a candidate has a majority of delegates and will win the nomination at the convention, I do think it will be time to come together. But we're not there yet. [Zeleny:] Not there yet. And a long way to go. 12 days remaining before the New York primary. How this race plays out between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, if they keep escalating their war, it will make it more difficult to unify the party. That's what some Democrats are concerned about. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, New York. [Vause:] Singer-songwriter Clay Aiken ran for a U.S. congressional seat in North Carolina in 2014. These days he's actively supporting Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign. He joins us now here in Los Angeles. Clay, thank you for coming in. It's nice to have you here in Los Angeles. Last month you declared your support for Bernie Sanders. You wrote this Op-Ed for the "Huffington Post." You said you liked Hillary Clinton, you expected that she would actually end up getting the party nomination and then you went on to write, "I think she's more qualified than anyone who has run for president in decades, and I agree with her on most issues. I just wish she could embrace some of the more progressive ideals that Senator Sanders talks so enthusiastically about. She needs to be better. She needs to learn from the Bern." What I took away from that is that seems very, very different from what a lot of Bernie Sanders supporters because from them there seems to be a lot of real anger directed towards Secretary Clinton. Why is that? [Clay Aiken, Former U.s. Congressional Candidate:] Well, listen, I'm a Democrat first. [Vause:] Yes. [Aiken:] And I think that the Democratic nominee, whether it's Bernie Sanders or Hillary Clinton, is who I want to see in the White House in January of next year. I think a lot of people who support Bernie Sanders, and I'm one of them to some degree, appreciate the fact that he's not a normal politician, that he is more willing to do things and say things that normal politicians will not do. He didn't take advantage of the Hillary Clinton e-mail scandal. [Vause:] The e-mail scandal. Exactly. [Aiken:] Which a lot of typical, seasoned politicians would do, but it's a very honest move on his part. And I think a lot of people who support him appreciate that about him. When Hillary Clinton has, over the course of this campaign, up until now, used somewhat typical political attacks at Bernie Sanders, saying he's running one of the most negative campaigns in the history. [Vause:] Right. [Aiken:] I mean, I don't know where she was in 2008, but that was pretty nasty. [Vause:] Sure. [Aiken:] You know, certainly saying that he wanted to get rid of people's healthcare, get rid of their Obamacare. I think that probably upsets a lot of people who are Bernie Sanders supporters. [Vause:] Sure. OK. Does it worry you that the race on this Democrat side, which has been pretty tame up until now, has really escalated in, I guess, the nastiness, if you like, with the attacks as happened really, really quickly, could this actually hurt the party in the long run when it comes to November? [Aiken:] I mean, do I think it will hurt the party in the long run? [Vause:] Yes. [Aiken:] Probably not, when you look in comparison at what's happening on the Republican side. [Vause:] Sure. [Aiken:] Absolutely we still look quite tame compared to that circus. That said, you know, I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter who's also perfectly willing to be objective and say I don't think that it was necessarily the most responsibly move to, A, say that Hillary Clinton is not qualified; she certainly is. I still believe the most qualified. I also don't think that it's necessarily responsible for the Sanders campaign at this point to start saying that it should be up to the super delegates to decide when a few months ago they didn't want super delegates to decide. So I still believe that Bernie Sanders should stay in the race as long as possible. I'd like to see him stay in the convention and get some concessions out of the platform committee. [Vause:] Which seems to be the strategy here. [Aiken:] Yes, and I think it's very important to have his part of the discussion. [Vause:] OK. It is getting feisty out there. Former President Bill Clinton, he was out campaigning for his wife. There was this heated exchange with a protester from the Black Lives Matter group. They're angry over a 1994 crime bill which he signed, and they say it put more non-violent offenders in prison for longer periods of time. Let's listen to some of that exchange. [Bill Clinton, Former United States President:] I don't know how you would characterize the gang leaders who got 13-year-old kids hopped up on crack and sent them out on the street to murder other African- American children. Maybe you thought they were good citizens. She didn't. She didn't. [Vause:] You know, we haven't seen Bill Clinton like that for a long time. But does something like this help Hillary Clinton or does it hurt Hillary Clinton? [Aiken:] I don't think it does necessarily, either. [Vause:] Right. [Aiken:] I think that you know, I just came from the "Idol" finale tonight. [Vause:] Right. [Aiken:] Came right over, watching that, being there, kind of remind you about the spirit of competition in a way, and the closer you get to success, to winning, the more almost desperate you become. For Bernie Sanders, he's gotten further than I think maybe even he expected. For Hillary Clinton, she's finding herself in a race that's a lot closer than she ever planned. And so we're seeing her get frustrated, certainly Bill Clinton is starting to get frustrated, at how much of a fight Senator Sanders and his supporters are putting up. [Vause:] Yes. [Aiken:] You know, he had some protesters at that rally, and he probably got very frustrated that here we are in the mid to late April and we're finding that Hillary Clinton hasn't wrapped up the nomination. [Vause:] I mean, this is the point, isn't it? Because at this point in the campaign, by April, the Clinton campaign thought that they would be resting, raising money, getting ready for the general election, but yet Sanders keeps hanging in there, even though his path to victory isn't a really difficult one. [Aiken:] And I think that's something that's very important for Secretary Clinton to continue to address, is the fact that there is a faction and a part of the Democratic Party that wants these progressive ideals embraced, that wants her to continue to move to the left on things like trade, like she's done after in the wake of Michigan. She did that to change her stance going into Ohio. I think she needs to continue to embrace that. I think attacking Bernie Sanders at this point is probably not responsible because she's going to have to get those folks to vote for them in November. [Vause:] Yes. We need a Kumbaya come November. [Aiken:] Yes. [Vause:] Clay Aiken, thank you so much for coming in. [Aiken:] Thank you. [Vause:] And before Clay went into politics, he had a very different claim to fame, "American Idol" season two runner up and now millions of fans are saying goodbye to the talent show that changed TV. Also ahead. Police taking on a high-speed car chase right here in Los Angeles and the driver really put on a show. [Romans:] The world is getting its first look at Otto Frederick Warmbier, the University of Virginia student being detained in North Korea. In a videotaped press conference released by Pyongyang, the 21-year-old Warmbier apologizes to all North Koreans, saying he was lured into his criminal act by the United States. CNN's Will Ripley tracking the latest developments live from Beijing for us, and Will, you have been there, you have talked to some of these people who've been detained before. It's very hard to know what is real and what is scripted, and what the North Koreans are trying to do by showing this sobbing college student on television. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] Yes, you're right, Christine. We certainly don't know if Otto Warmbier was making this televised confession under duress. This 21-year-old college student's hostile act against the United States allegedly was trying to steal a political banner from his hotel and pack it in his suitcase. But the North Koreans, in information they supplied to CNN, are saying that this was motivated by the CIA in cahoots with his university and his hometown church. Both the university and church deny this, but Warmbier was seen making this really emotional, dramatic confession. Watch. [Otto Frederick Warmbier:] I wish that the United States administration never manipulate people like myself in the future to commit crimes against foreign countries. I entirely beg you, the people and government of the DPRK Korea, for your forgiveness. [Ripley:] Warmbier, now, yet another detained that North Korea can use as really a valuable political pawn at a time when they're about to face even stronger sanctions as a result of their nuclear test and satellite launch earlier this year Christine. [Romans:] Just such an odd story. I'm sure his family's working hard and the American people trying to figure out how to get him how. Thank you so much for that. Will Ripley for us in Beijing. Fifty- seven minutes past the hour. Let's get an early start on your money this morning. We're seeing a global slump in stocks right now. Dow futures are down, oil dipping below $33 a barrel. Take a look there at stock markets in Europe they are lower. Also losses in Asia overnight. The U.S. stock market slowly trying to claw back all those losses from earlier this year. The Dow now down at 4.5 percent for the year. That's the best performance of the three major averages. The Dow had been down more than 10 percent just a couple of weeks ago for the year. There are some winners, though, among the Dow 30. If you have 401K or exposure to blended funds you could be benefitting from these that have gained. Verizon up more than 10 percent this year. Walmart at more than 8 percent, 3M also posting solid gains. Exxon Mobil rising nearly 5 percent despite oil's big drop. All right, last trading day of the year. We'll see if they can pull out a gain. A brand new CNN poll showing which presidential candidates have the best chances going into Super Tuesday. "NEW DAY" has those brand new polls right now. [Rubio:] Donald is not going to make America great. He's going to make America orange. [Trump:] He's not cool, he sweats too much, and I don't want him negotiating for us. [Rubio:] Donald Trump refused refused to criticize the Ku Klux Klan. [Trump:] You wouldn't want me to condemn a group that I know nothing about. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] We don't need to make America great again. America has never stopped being great. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] We're looking to the future, not looking back. [Clinton:] I will stand up and fight for you. [Rock:] I'm here at the Academy Awards, otherwise known as the white People's Choice awards. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] The glitz, the glamour, the controversy. [Rock:] Want the black actors to get the same opportunities and what else? That's it. [Announcer:] This is CNN breaking news. [Camerota:] Good morning, everyone. We do have a lot of news for you. Welcome to your NEW DAY. It is Monday, February 29th, 6:00 in the east. Chris is off this morning. John Berman joins me here. Great to have you. And Michaela is in L.A. covering all of the Oscar excitement for us. Mic will be back with you in a minute. But we begin with breaking news in the 2016 race. A new CNN national poll shows Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton pulling way ahead of their challengers heading into Super Tuesday tomorrow. Trump and Clinton now widely expected to become their party's nominees. Donald Trump continues to expand his commanding lead with roughly half of Republican voters supporting him. Marco Rubio is second with 16 percent. That's more than 30 points behind Trump. And, Ted Cruz with 15 percent. If you add up all of Trump's competitors, they still cannot match him. [Berman:] Yes, that is the key point. So much for a winnowed field and consolidation. [Howell:] Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. In the Syrian province of Darazore, more than 400 people have been killed or executed during the past five days. [Allen:] A London-based activist group says the casualties are part of ongoing clashes between Syrian forces and ISIS militants. The group says about half of those killed were Syrian soldiers. [Howell:] Looking back over the past six years, thousands of people have died in Syria's savage war. More than four million Syrians have fled the conflict, which is considered the biggest humanitarian crisis since World War II. Peace talks are set to resume next week. But as Becky Anderson tells us, there is disagreement about who will be at the negotiating table next week. [Becky Anderson, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a war everyone agrees must be stopped, but nobody agrees on how. Twice, international peace talks have failed. Already, it's not looking like third time lucky. [Unidentified Male:] There's a lot of work still to be done. What we want to ensure is that this time it will not likely be delivered to a serious talk about peace and not talk about all. [Anderson:] With days to go, the United Nations still hasn't issued invitations, saying it's up to major powers like Russia and the U.S., both supporting different sides, to agree on who is attending. But despite a last-minute meeting, there's still no clarity. In particular, a new Saudi-backed opposition council says it won't accept any other opposition groups attending. [Unidentified Male:] There will be no negotiation in any way whatsoever if this there is any other addition. We will not go to negotiate. This then is settled and we will not succumb to pressure. [Anderson:] So who might be at the table? The negotiations are U.N.- mediated bringing together the Syrian government and the deeply divided opposition. That includes political and fighting groups backed by Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and France, and veteran secular dissidents who oppose Islamist rebels. Major world powers like Russia, the U.S., Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Iran will also attend. Everyone agrees that terror groups like ISIS and al Nusra have no part to play, despite their huge influence on the battlefield. And just to illustrate how complex and delicate this is, for some, even the presence of one of the strongest rebel militias is problematic. [on camera]: Having shocked the world by parading prisoners as human shields last year, the army of Islam is among those that Saudi Arabia wants to send to the talks in a war where human rights groups say all sides are committing atrocities and war crimes. If a guest list is finally agreed on, there is sure to be some difficult compromises involved. Becky Anderson, CNN, Abu Dhabi. [Allen:] As we have been reporting the last couple of weeks, the war in Syria has led to severe malnutrition there in some regions. And the ongoing fighting has made food delivery quite dangerous. Peter Maurer joins me now from Davos with the latest. He is the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Peter, we appreciate your time. First of all, let's talk about the cities that are in peril as far as the people that don't have access to food. [Peter Maurer, President, International Committee Of The Red Cross:] Well, indeed, this is a very serious situation and we have said it for many years now. There are besieged areas in Syria, areas which are out of reach of humanitarian organization. It's not only the three or four cities which have been in the headlines in the last couple of days and weeks, which are of concern to us, but a much broader area and a much more people who are in dire need and how are suffering from the most fundamental humanitarian assistance. We have difficulties negotiating our access, delivering our food, delivering our humanitarian supplies, and this is true for Madaya, Fakai, for all the cities, but for a much larger part of Syria today, a huge challenge. [Allen:] Yes. Because ISIS stands in the way of many of these placing. How in the world do you negotiate with a group like that? [Maurer:] Well, our ICRC is used to negotiate with all parties on the ground. We have been successful in certain parts of Syria always to carve out humanitarian spaces. We all know that this is not the reality as it should be. Mutual and impartial organizations should have unconditional access to populations in need. We have to negotiate each and every square foot of access in Syria, but we have been able, even with radical groups, to find consensus around Aleppo, around Homs, recent in recent days, around Madaya, but delivery is a huge problem. And once again, the problem is much bigger than just the couple of cities that I mentioned. [Allen:] Well, we didn't know that there were more cities involved. These people are in dire situations. It's hard to believe that there's anyone still trying to live their life out in Syria, what we've seen in the past few years. We appreciate you talking to us and, of course, the efforts of the ICRC. Peter Maurer, for us, thank you. [Howell:] One race is tightening. The other looks like a blowout. [Allen:] We take a look at the latest polls of Democrats and Republicans. A little more than one week to go before the first vote is taken in the Iowa caucuses. [Howell:] Plus, a boy in China deemed unadoptable just met his new parents. A special report on their emotional meeting straight ahead. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn:] Welcome to all of you in the United States and around the world. I'm Fareed Zakaria. [Zakaria:] We'll start today's show by asking what the world thinks of America's frolicking presidential campaign. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] He's the founder of ISIS. He's the founder of [Isis. Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Donald Trump is not qualified to be president and he is temperamentally unfit to be commander-in-chief. [Zakaria:] I'll talk to guests from South Africa to Russia, Israel to Britain. Then, who are Donald Trump's voters? I'll talk to the author of a haunting memoir, Hillbilly Ellegy, who grew up in the coal mining region of Appalachian, among the white, mostly working class people who are at the heart of Trump's support. And one of the world's richest men is pouring his fortune, not into putting his name on buildings and hospitals and colleges, but into ideas. The ideas that will shape the 21st century. Nicholas Begruen will explain. Finally, and a novel use of drones that's taking off online, using them to safe lives instead of end them. But first, here's my take. In recent days, I have had a dream. That America has a real Republican Party. A party offering a serious, right of center alternative to the Democrats. Such a contest of ideas would improve the public debate and offer Americans a real choice, not the cartoon campaign we have today. Donald Trump had the opportunity for a reset this week and managed to derail it with his talk of Second Amendment people, but forget the detour for a moment. Trump's much heralded speech laying out his economic policies was an incoherent mish-mash of populism, hypocrisy and pandering. When did the Republican Party's intellectual decay begin? According to the conservative writer David Frum in his book "Dead Right" it began in the Reagan years. Recall that Ronald Reagan had viciously attacked Jimmy Carter for racking up deficits and debt. In fact by the end of Reagan's two terms, the national debt had tripled. You see Republicans came to recognize that whatever it might say the American public in fact did not want cuts in government programs. Since then most Republican presidential candidates have promised the public huge tax cuts without any real spending restraint to pay for them. The result of course has been massive deficits. Republican economic plans nowadays are simply not serious. In the primaries, the three main candidates of the party of fiscal discipline, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and Donald Trump presented plans that added $8 trillion, $10 trillion or $11 trillion in tax cuts over the next decade according to the non-partisan tax policy center. Even the much respected Paul Ryan's plan, largely adopted by Trump now, has a $2.4 trillion hole in it. These vast gaps are papered over with magical assumption so higher growth and the usual vague calls to end waste, fraud and abuse in government. Trump's plans are a replay of these dishonest tactics. He say he will cut taxes big league, but of course never pays for them, assuming the usual bogus growth numbers to make them look better on paper. He promises vaguely to cut regulations, suggesting at a rally this week he could do so by as much as 75 percent, which is so absurd that I don't think even he believes it. Imagine instead of all this, a Republican Party that firmly believed in limited government, local control and social conservatism, and propose policies that were true to these beliefs. Imagine it presented a serious plan that rationalized America's unwieldy and corrupt tax code, simplified brackets, cut rates but paid for it by eliminating loopholes, deductions and credits. Imagine a Republican Party that focused less on tax cuts for the rich, but improved access to the market for the poor and middle class. For example, a party that not propose not to eliminate Obamacare, but to reform it using stronger market mechanisms, allowing greater competition and price transparency across the country. Imagine a party that presented specific plans to cut regulations that hamper the formation and growth of small businesses, and encouraged large companies to hire more and make new investments that encouraged states to get rid of the ever expanding licensing requirements that are put in place to keep out competition. Political systems need debate and choices. America would benefit greatly if the Republican Party were to become a substantive market oriented right of center party. For now, this remains a dream. For more go to CNN.comfareed, and read my "Washington Post" column this week. And let's get started. People in the United States often ask me what the world thinks of this wild presidential election season. Well, I'm about to let you hear for yourself with four guests from around the world. Donald Trump has minced no words about this. He doesn't really care about the rest of the world or what it thinks of him. He wants to of course make America great again. Russia, though, is one of the few foreign countries whose people tell pollsters they like Mr. Trump and that's where I'll begin my introductions. Pavel Felgenhauer is in Moscow. He's the columnist for Russia's independent Novaya Gazeta newspaper. Chemi Shalev is the U.S. editor for Israel's Haaretz. He joins us from Tel Aviv. Ferial Haffajee is in Johannesburg. She's a leading South African journalist, and editor and Gideon Rahman is FT's chief foreign affairs columnist. He's with us from London. Ferial, let me start with you. What do people make of what's going on in South Africa? [Ferial Haffajee, 2014 Winner, International Press Freedom Award:] So, Fareed, do you know the South African term? It's sort of a national term of empathy or sympathy, and I think that's what I hear most often about the American election. For me it seems like South Africans are slightly incredulous that it might be possible that you could go from a figure like Barack Obama, who's very, very well-loved here, to somebody like Donald Trump. Equally incredulous, we've watched statements about the war for Mexicans, the ban on Muslims coming to the U.S. and then today statements about IS. And that's the key theme I see running through it. So Donald Trump hugs our headlines, Hillary Clinton not putting in a great showing across our media and social media. [Zakaria:] Chemi, when one looks at Israel, there was a kind of aborted love affair that seemed to be to take place between Trump and either the country or its prime minister. He tried to support it very you know, he's talked about how strongly he supports it. Tried to come Israel and then cancelled when the prime minister when Bibi Netanyahu seen indicated perhaps he wouldn't meet with him. What's going on there? [Chemi Shalev, U.s. Editor And Correspondent, Israel's Haaretz:] Well, first of all, I think the default position, not only for the prime minister, but probably of a majority of Israeli public opinion would be to support the Republican candidate no matter who it was. And if it was anyone I think perhaps most of the 16 candidates who were running against Donald Trump, you'd probably have a 7030 majority. Mainly because Barack Obama is not very well-loved in Israel. But Trump has thrown his banner into the works. And the polls indicate even a slight majority for Hillary Clinton. He's been all over the map on issues concerning Israel. I think people are starting to catch the drift of, you know, the reservations in America from him. I did hear one interesting comment and that is that somebody said that there's very something very comforting in Trump for Israelis because we had always assumed that among Western democracies we have the most insane system and the most insane politicians. But now it turns out that it's a worldwide phenomenon, including what's going on in Europe in the recent Brexit vote. [Zakaria:] Gideon, when you when Brits look at Trump, do they see it as a version of Brexit, in other words the people who supported Brexit were also in a sense nationalists, in a sense, seemed hostile to foreigners? [Gideon Rachman, Chief Foreign Affairs Columnist, Financial Times:] Well, I think there are definitely some parallels. The constituency that Trump is putting together in the United States, the disaffected white working class, people that are worried about immigration, capitalizing on anti-elite sentiment, I think those were things that drove this rather unexpected vote for Brexit in the UK. That's I think the tone of Trump is much wilder even than the Brexit campaign in the UK. So it was quite interesting when Nigel Farage is one of the more right-wing politicians here in Britain and was the leader of the Brexit campaign, when he went to the Republican convention, he said it was for the first time in his life he felt left-wing watching the kind of antics of the Trump-led troops at the Republican convention. [Pavel Felgenhauer, Columnist, Russia's Novaya Gazeta:] Well, I would say primarily that Trump is popular here in Russia because Barack Obama is deeply unpopular. So I mean, anyone who's attacking Obama would be seen nicely by the Russian population. Obama is seen as a person who organized the sanctions after Russia took over Crimea and these sanctions together with the growing price of war cause very badly for Russian population. We have a shrinking economy, household incomes, and everyone believes, I mean, not only the Kremlin but actually the masses of the people believe that this is all Obama's fault. And Hillary Clinton is seen as a kind of surrogate, a continuation of Obama. And Trump is saying the right words about he's ready to maybe recognize Russian annexation of Crimea, maybe will give Russia or the rest of you Ukraine as the kind of dependency, as part of Russian recognized influence. So he's believed to be maybe the good guy. [Zakaria:] Thank you all. We'll come back. What I'm going to ask you next is what does the world think of America today and its current president. [Rosemary Church, Cnn Newsroom Show:] Trapped. The U.N. warns as many as 200,000 children are caught up in the fight for Fallujah. [Donald Trump, U.s. Presidential Candidate:] I have never received such bad publicity for doing such a good job. [Church:] Lashing out. Donald Trump rips reporters for his questions on his fundraising for veterans. Also ahead, new questions about the safety of the Summer Olympics, amid reports of real sewage, trash and body parts in Rio's waterways. Hello and welcome to our viewers all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church. Thanks for joining us as we kick off the second hour of CNN Newsroom. ISIS militants are threatening the lives of innocent men, women, and children in a major battle in Iraq. The U.N. estimates about 50,000 people are trapped in Fallujah as Iraqi forces try to retake the city from the terror group. Civilian and children make up nearly half of the figure. And then n Syria, deadly air strikes have hit the rebel-held city of Idlib but it's not clear who is responsible. CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has the details. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] Syria's youngest caught in the line of fire in Idlib. Rescue crews worked desperately. A small body pulled from the wreckage. At least 23 people were killed in air strikes, one hitting near a hospital. The Russians deny they conducted the strikes. Across Syria and Iraq, civilians are caught in the middle, as is tries to defend its turf. In Fallujah, the last major ISIS stronghold in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, Iraqi forces are pushing from the south and east. Iranian backed militias from the north. The U.N. says there are heavy civilian casualties as ISIS carelessly uses them for protection. [William Spindler, Unhcr Spokesperson:] There are also reports of several hundred families being used as human shields by ISIL in the center of Fallujah. [Starr:] Iraqi and militia forces not yet in the city center, there are thousands of boobie traps and mines laid by ISIS. [Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] If they are being used as human shields as the U.N reports indicates, that means that they have absolutely no way out. And they are going to be pawns in the struggle between ISIS and the Iraqi government as well as the Shia militias and it is going to be one of the worst scenes that we can possibly imagine. [Starr:] It's significant the Iraqis are staying to fight in Fallujah and not running away as the battle intensifies. [Steve Warren, Anti-isis Coalition Spokesman:] We think that the state of play is much improved from a year ago. You know, a year ago, here in Iraq, the barbarians were at the gate. Baghdad was actually threatened. And in theory, was in direct danger of being invaded by these animals that we call ISIL, now we have driven them back. [Starr:] But from the top U.S. commander, continuing caution. [Joseph Votel, U.s. Central Command Commander:] I am being very pragmatic in this as I think we will continue to work through more obstacles and we will continue to see some setbacks, but I think we'll also see some continued progress. [Starr:] There is another complication, Iranian backed Shia militias are also in the fight to retake Fallujah, a Sunni town. A lot of concern that sectarian violence could break out. Barbara Starr, CNN, The Pentagon. [Church:] And senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen, who recently came back from Syria and he joins us now from London. Fred, let's talk about those deadly air strikes in Idlib. Because of course we don't know who is responsible but many are pointing the finger at Russia. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Yes, certainly. And the reason for that, Rosemary, is that it was in the past the Russians who were mostly the air force that would operate in the area around Idlib, it's actually fairly close to where the Russians have their base in Latakia. And one of the things that the Russians had been trying to do, is they had been trying to strengthen the position of the Syrian military. They are in that area, therefore a bombing, for instance, target Al- Jabhat Al-Nusra which is Al Qaeda's wing in Syria. But also some other rebel groups as well. One of the things that U.S. was saying, they've been accusing the Russians of bombing mostly moderate rebel groups rather than ISIS. The Russians for their part deny this. Now as far as these air strikes in Idlib that happened two days ago are concerned the Russians vehemently denying that it was them. They say that not only they were not conducting any sorties in that area. In fact, they didn't any planes in that area of operations is what the Russians said. So far, it's absolutely unclear who may have been behind that. The U.S. coalition or the U.S. backed coalition usually doesn't operate very much in that area around Idlib. And the other air force that could have been here would have been the Syrian government's air force, the Syrian military, unclear however, at this point in time who may have conducted those air strikes. But they certainly are very intense air strikes, and speaking to people there on the ground in that area, even though Jabhat Al-Nusra was not part of the actual cessation of hostilities in Syria. That area had been fairly quiet for the past couple of weeks, but certainly very, very intense, very deadly for the folks there on the ground, Rosemary. [Church:] Yes, and as we mentioned, Fred, you just got back from Syria, paint us a picture of what people are going through on the ground there? [Pleitgen:] Well, yes, you know, it's interesting, because what you have had in the past in Syria there was little hope for any of the people. I spent most of my time in the last time in and around the Damascus area. And that's actually one of the places where this cessation of hostilities at the international community has brokered, where that's holding. And where it does hold, it is actually a big benefit to the local civilian population there. For the very first time, they're able to go out, go about their business not in fear of getting hit by mortars or by air strikes from above. So certainly it's a benefit for them. The big problem right now, and it's certainly something that's weighing very heavily on people is the lack of any sort of political progress. You have had the head of the opposition negotiating group quit. Mohammed Al-Lusha saying there had been no progress and blaming the government. The government of course, for its part, blames the opposition for the lack of progress. But that really is the big question. They don't get out of this political impasse, that they make a headway on terms like reconciliation, the freeing of political prisoners. Getting aides of the sieged areas which is still a major problem. The U.N. is now talking about air dropping aid, which is really the last resort for them. As long as there isn't any progress on these fronts, the fighting could come back very intensely at any point in time, in some places like Idlib, like Aleppo, it already is, Rosemary. [Church:] All right. Our Fred Pleitgen joining us there from London, where it's just after eight in the morning. Many thanks to you. A warning, an image in our next story may be difficult to watch. It involves a Mediterranean migrant crisis. And the U.N. refugee agency says since the start of the year more than 2500 people have drowned while trying to cross into Europe. At least 880 migrants died in the past week alone in a series of shipwrecks. And here is a look at one of the youngest victims. This baby's lifeless body was pulled from the sea last week. Now we don't know the child's gender, age or nationality, but the German humanitarian group says it decided to publish this photo to raise awareness. Well, French rail workers are striking to protest labor reforms, reports say the strike is expected to hold 40 percent of high-speed TGV trains and up to two thirds of services on other lines. The walk-out is the latest in a series of moves against a bill that gives employers more flexibility to hire and fire workers and weakens the power of unions. The U.S. State Department is issuing a travel alert warning Americans of the risk of potential terrorist attacks across Europe in the coming months. There isn't a news specific threat, but the State Department wants travelers to be on guard and alert. More now from CNN's Elise Labott. [Elise Labott, Cnn Global Affairs Correspondent:] The last time that the State Department issued a continent-wide travel warning for Europe was in late March after the Brussels attacks. But now, State Department saying that with the large amount of tourists traveling to Europe this summer, this presents a target of opportunity for terrorists groups like ISIS, who may be planning attacks at public locations, especially those that are hosting large events. Where lots of tourists could be traveling. Now, they are singling out the European soccer championships in France and also the Tour de France, in June and July, and they are also singling out the Catholic Church's youth day in Krakow, Poland in late July. Officials says they don't have any particular or credible information about plots at any of these events, but they say these are the kinds of events that terrorists could be looking for where large amount of people are gathering. And they are just calling for Americans to be vigilant, to make sure that they are aware of any security precautions and to just be aware of their surroundings. Official say that they are not discouraging Americans from traveling to Europe, they just want them to be on alert. Elise Labott, CNN, the State Department. [Church:] Donald Trump is on a fierce offensive against the media over how they've covered his donations to veterans. He called a news conference Tuesday to clear up questions about millions dollars he's raised, but it turned into an all-out assault against reporters. It's the latest example of how hard Trump hits back at any critics. Jim Acosta has more. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] It was supposed to be a day for Donald Trump to salute the nation's veterans and highlight the $5.6 million he's raised for their causes. [Trump:] This is a check for a million dollars. [Acosta:] Trump ticked off to more than 40 groups he claims of receiving donations. Some in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. From the Fischer House Foundation to the Bob Woodruff Family Foundation and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. But clearly furious after months of questions about exactly where the money is going, Trump engaged in some verbal combat of his own, against a target he has attacked before. [Trump:] You know my opinion of the media. It's very low. [Acosta:] The news media. [Trump:] Instead of being like, thank you very much, Mr. Trump, or Trump did a good job, everyone is saying who got it? Who got it? Who got it, and you make me look very bad. [Acosta:] So, Trump took aim at the reporters asking the questions. To follow up on that, you keep calling us the dishonest press, it seems as though you are resistant to scrutiny, the kind of scrutiny that comes with running for president of the United States. [Trump:] I like scrutiny but you know what? When I raise money... [Acosta:] You raise money for veterans... [Trump:] Excuse me, excuse me. I've watched you on television, you're a real beauty. What I don't want is when I raise millions of dollars, have people say, like this sleazy guy right over here from ABC, he is a sleaze in my book. [Acosta:] Trump went to say he never wanted any credit for helping veteran's causes. [Trump:] I don't want to have credit for it. Now, actually though, what I got was worse than credit, because they were questioning me. [Acosta:] But it was Trump who launched this fundraising drive as a major media event, rivaling a GOP debate in Iowa that he was skipping. [Trump:] We actually raised close to six to be totally honest. [Acosta:] The presumptive GOP nominee also fired off on the questions being raised about Trump University, the real estate school he founded that's being sued by former students who say it's nothing more than a fraud. Newly released documents in the case reveal some of the programs aggressive sales techniques, including a playbook that focus on how to market more expensive courses to students. Trump has questioned the motives of the judge handling the case, noting his ethnicity. [Trump:] So what happens is, the judge who happens to be, we believe, Mexican, which is great. I think that's fine. [Acosta:] When asked why he highlighted that the judge's heritage, Trump didn't answer the question. Why mention that judge is Mexican? [Trump:] You know what, because some of men are principle. And most of the people that took those courses have letters saying they thought it was great essentially. [Acosta:] As Trump told reporters today his combative style isn't about to change, even at White House press conferences. [Trump:] That is going to be like this, David, if the press writes false stories like they did with this. [Acosta:] Trump also wrote off the odds of a third party challenge in the upcoming general election describing libertarian candidate, Gary Johnson, as a fringe candidate. Jim Acosta, CNN, New York. [Church:] Now, outside that news conference, at Trump tower, a small group of veterans protested, they say Trump has repeatedly over stated the amount of money he's raised and they accused him of using them as political props. Take a listen. [Perry O'brien, Miliray Veteran:] I think what Donald Trump doesn't understand is, veterans are not for sale. We are not interested in making a deal when it comes to the safety and security of our brothers and sisters who still serve in uniform. [Church:] And democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton says Trump does not deserve much credit for making the donations. [D) U.s. Presidential Candidate:] He has bragged for months about raising $6 million for veterans and donating a million dollars himself. But it took a reporter to shame him into actually making his contribution and getting the money to veterans. [Church:] Joining me now from Los Angeles is CNN senior reporter for media and politics, Dylan Byers, great to talk with you. Now of course, Donald Trump targeting political reporters, calling them dishonest. We've seen it before from other politicians, but is Trump taking this to a different level? [Dylan Byers, Cnn Senior Media And Politics Reporter:] Yes, he absolutely is, you know, anti-media rhetoric has been a feature of Donald Trump's campaign for the 10 months that he has been running. He always rails against the dishonest media scum. He's even targeted specific reporters. But what we saw today really took it to a new level. He was unable to sort of withstand even the most basic level of scrutiny about the amount of money he's raised for veterans. And you know, this was an issue that may have just sort of fizzled out and been forgotten, had it not been for pressure from various media outlets including the Washington Post and CNN and others, and the fact that he was so resistant to this questioning and seemed to be so angered by the fact that the media didn't, you know, just sit around and laud him for raising $5.6 million, was really telling about what his attitude toward the press is. At one point during this press conference he was asked is this what we have to look forward to if we are in, you know, a Trump presidency? Is this what your relationship with the press is going to be like? And he said absolutely. He was unequivocal about that. He said he would continue to attract to attack the press. So this is a flavor of what's to come for at least the next five or six months. [Church:] And attacks on the media helped Trump of course in the race for the GOP nomination, but is it likely to play out in the general election. Will he still benefit his supporters seem to love it, don't they? [Byers:] Well, that's a you know, this is a really great point. Because of course the primary audience is very different from a general election audience. There's no question that his base holds very little stock in the media. They don't trust the media, they don't like the media. They don't feel like the media represents their concerns. And they feel like they have been abandoned by this sort of liberal coastal elite. When we're talking about the general election audience, we're talking about people who do sort of care what the media reports, who do believe that there are legitimate questions that Donald Trump needs to answer. And that he can't just sort of shake them off by going against the media and trying to scapegoat the media or inoculate himself from the media simply by saying that we're all a group of, you know, distrustful and dishonest liars. So, yes, it's very curious to see why he is continuing to strike this stance, even as he heads in to a general election against Hillary Clinton. You would think that it would be far more to his advantage to try and court the media a little bit more as he had done before he started running for president. [Church:] And of course, CNN's Jim Acosta confronted Trump and suggested he was resistant to scrutiny. Had we ever seen a presidential candidate as resistant as this? And will voters even care or could it become his Achilles heel perhaps? [Byers:] Well, it's so soon to say if it will become his Achilles heel. But you're absolutely right, we have not seen presidential candidate who has been so resistant to the media. Usually what happens, we've always seen republican candidates who are able to go against the media and that's sort of red meat for their base. But at a certain point, candidates run up against the accountability issue, when it comes to tax returns to fundraising to money to their past, to statements they've made. Statements they've made now that may contradicted statements they've made in the past. You found candidates in the past, whether it's Mitt Romney or John McCain, running up against this where they do feel like they have to answer the media's question, and they sort of buckle under pressure. If there is one thing we know about Donald Trump doesn't buckle under pressure. You know, he is very much calling the shots from this regard. He is very content to sort of charge straight through the media inquiries and go after us and really make this less of a story about his own controversies and more of a story about Donald Trump verse the media. And again, that plays very, very well to the base. [Church:] All right. Watching it very closely. Dylan Byers, always a pleasure to chat with you. Thanks so much. [Byers:] Thanks for having me. [Church:] Well, meantime, the libertarian presidential nominee is showing Trump a little love. However, sarcastically, Gary Johnson appeared on CNN's New Day to pitch his socially liberal and fiscally conservative brand of politics. And when Chris Cuomo ask him about Trump, Johnson showed he is not worried. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn'c New Day Show:] Are you ready for Donald Trump once you're in this thing and he recognizes you to give you a punch in the nose for calling him a racist? [Gary Johnson, U.s. Libertarian Presidential Candidate:] I think that they have already started coming. So, Donald. [Church:] Get it. As we said a little while ago, Trump is dismissing Johnson, calling him a fringe candidate, which Johnson tweeted, "strangely enough, that is what he was called just a few months ago." Well, still to come in the race for the White House, Clinton versus Sanders, the democratic front-runner announces a last minute change of strategy in California. To Asia now, and the Philippines controversial president elect is taking his own shot at journalists. At a news conference Tuesday, Rodrigo Duterte said reporters killed in the Philippines were often corrupt and he said, quote "just because you are a journalist, you are not exempt from assassination." Duterte was asked how to protect press freedoms after a crime reporter was killed in Manila last week, a journalist union called Duterte's comments appalling. Deadly flooding is taking a toll on parts of Texas and a lot more rain is on the way. We will take a look at some of the record breaking totals. Plus, North Korea's latest missile test may have failed, but U.S. officials are just as worried as ever. We will explain. You are watching CNN Newsroom. Back in a moment. [Jason Carroll, Cnn National Correspondent:] And what we are understanding is that apparently this officer, Ben Fields, sheriff's department deputy, called to the school. And he is also an SRO officer. Called to the school there after this the student in question refused to leave the classroom. Why she refused to leave the classroom, and was it because she was on the cell phone and refused to get off, that is some of the things that the investigators are still looking at. When the teacher asked her to leave the classroom, and she refused, and administrator brought to the classroom and asked her to leave the classroom, and once again, she refused. Then the officer was brought in and asked her to leave the classroom and she refused. And now you have seen the action that we have seen and gone across the social media. And that officer in question, Ben Fields, has been placed on the administrative duty pending the outcome of an investigation. We know at this point that law enforcement there, and the sheriff's deputy is going to be holding a press conference at some point at 4:00. And there is a picture of him there, Wolf. In terms of the background, we have been looking into that as well, and it is a mixed bag. Last year, awarded the Culture of Excellence Award. This is for outstanding work there in the community. And so clearly, he does have a number of people there in the community, students as well, who support him as well. But then, when you look at the social media, Wolf, you will hear from a number of students who said he had a reputation of being rough handed with the students there. And these are things that are going to be looked at as the investigations are moving forward. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] They certainly will be. All right. Jason, thanks very much. And Hillary Clinton has tweeted about this very disturbing video. She says "There is no excuse for violence inside of a school. #assaultatspringvalleyhigh is unacceptable. Schools should be safe places. Signed H." Which means she personally verified that is her tweet. Joining us for more on what's going on, the Colombia, South Carolina, Mayor Stephen Benjamin, is on the phone. Mayor, thank you for joining us. I know that you are outraged by the video, and so many people are. Based on the understanding, what happened here? What led up to this? [Stephen Benjamin, , Mayor, Colombia, South Carolina:] Well, the account that your reporter laid out seems to be following the account that I have received as well. You know, this is incredibly disturbing, Wolf. Obviously, I want to make sure that people understand that this is not a city of Columbia police officer, and outside of our jurisdiction. However, I want to say that we can't and we won't accept this behavior from any law enforcement officer. We need to make sure that the sheriff has called for the independent investigation into the FBI and the Department of Justice, and that is the right way to go. And we have to get to the bottom of the incident, and make sure that justice is served. These incidents do real damage to the progress that so many law enforcement agencies have been trying to make over the last several years. And we have several hundred police officers at the police department who work their butts off everyday running towards danger to keep the community safe, and the action of one officer can do incredible damage to the reputation, and we have to be dealt with it swiftly and transparently and decisively. [Blitzer:] And it was not a Columbia, South Carolina, police officer, Colombia, South Carolina, police officer. He was a deputy sheriff from Richland County, which is the county in which Columbia is. Have you ever seen anything like this before in the history of Columbia, South Carolina, an incident like this in one of your schools? [Benjamin:] Well, Wolf, I have the experience of running a law enforcement agency, and director of the second largest law enforcement agency 15 years ago. We have the responsibility of training, hiring, and firing officers in the past. This is, I think, it actually belies a much larger question about the presence of law enforcement officers in schools, the utility of the school resource officers. The officers need to be there at the gates to make sure that the students are safe from any type of madness that we have seen occasion our schools. But we have to make sure that we are not criminalizing behavior that you might have participated in as an adolescent or might have as well that kids don't develop a criminal record, and wind up in the school-to- prison pipeline. So much work to be done here. And we have taken a lead here in the city with Justice for All reform, and enhancing the training for officer, and the accountability, and the transparency, and the police department, and we think that there are lessons that all of us can take from this incredibly sad incident. But again, I think that the painful moments give us a chance to recommit ourselves. I have heard the story of the second student also arrested. And I think that when you see the injustice occurring, you have to stand up to speak out. And that student deserves some accolades for that. [Blitzer:] And what is the why was this second student arrested? [Benjamin:] My understanding is, according to what your reporter just said, speaking out and disturbing the schools. [Blitzer:] Is that enough to arrest a student? [Benjamin:] It is tough. And I will say this, Wolf, every single meaningful social movement in the history of this country has been led by young people, young people who recognize some injustice that has to be corrected. Young people standing up and speaking out on this issue of exactly how policecommunity interactions ought to be handled in a burgeoning democracy are the spear. And so we have to follow up with real good structural reforms that we do law enforcement in the country. Our police department is leading this. The African-American Mayors Association and the Conference of Chiefs are leading in the peaceful training and conflict resolution training, and including transparency and accountability. People don't expect the officers to be perfect, because they are human beings like the rest of us, but they do expect us to be professional, and expect, obviously, when people make mistakes, and grave mistakes for people to with be held accountable. And the hope and prayers is that the sheriff's deputy gets a fair hearing in court, but he is held accountable at the end of the day. [Blitzer:] And one final question, Mayor. How old were these two girls? [Benjamin:] My understanding is they are both seniors. That is my understanding. [Blitzer:] Seniors, so 17 or 18 years old, presumably. All right. Mayor, thank you for joining us. And Stephen Benjamin is the mayor of Columbia, South Carolina. And good luck to you, Mayor, and the folks there. [Benjamin:] Thank you. [Blitzer:] We will stay on top of the story. We'll take a quick break. Cedric Alexander, we will speak him, the former president of the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives. You'll hear what he has to say. There he is right there. Stay with us. Much more right after this. [Dr. Drew Pinsky, Hln:] Tonight, Donald Trump, no matter what he says or whom he offends, could he really become president? The stump for Trump sisters are here with me. Plus, this teen was killed by a cop. Is his death different from the others? I will speak to the family`s attorney. It all starts right now, though, at the "Top Of The Feed." Donald Trump bombarded by supporters at the Iowa state fair this weekend, where he took children, of course, for a ride on his $7 million helicopter. Then, today, he showed up for jury duty in New York. Take a look at this. [Donald Trump, 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate:] I will be doing jury duty on Monday morning. [Unidentified Female Supporter:] Donald! [Unidentified Male Press:] Donald! Donald Trump! Donald! [Unidentified Female Reporter:] I think he was the only potential juror this morning, who rolled up to the Supreme Court as here in lower Manhattan in a black stretch limousine. [Unidentified Male Speaker:] 2016 all the way, Donald. It is going to be a landslide. [Carol Costello, Cnn News Anchor:] Trump holds on to his commanding lead and significantly. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn News Anchor:] A brand new poll from Fox News, showing him well ahead in the national poll. [Trump:] Mr. Trump, you are not a nice person. [Unidentified Female Supporter:] We do not need one. [Trump:] That is true, but actually I am. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Reporter:] As for Trump, it was a claustrophobic chaotic spin through the fairgrounds. [Murray:] And, you can see here, everyone is trying to get that hand-on- hand, up close and person moment with Donald Trump. [Trump:] Let us get a picture with everybody real fast. [Unidentified Female Reporter:] He did take a bunch of kids onto his helicopter. [Trump:] Let us give them a helicopter ride. OK? [Unidentified Male Supporter:] I got fist pumped by Donald Trump. Next president of the United States! [Pinsky:] Joining us, Sam Schacher, "Pop Trigger" on Hulu.com; Areva Martin, attorney and legal consultant; Mike Catherwood, my "Love Line" and KABC radio co-host. He is also the host of "Chain Reaction" on GSN. Omarosa, former contestant on Trump`s "The Apprentice," and Ryan Sorba, Chairman of The Young Conservatives of California. Sam Sam, he keeps leading in the polls. Are people taking him seriously, finally? [Samantha Schacher, "pop Trigger" On Hulu.com:] Here is the thing, I think that America and Americans, they have this gross they love to be entertained. OK? They love reality show characters, and they are somehow combining that. They do want this unfilteredness. And, that is exactly what Donald Trump is giving them. But, I also think that, that is his strategy. I mean he goes on, and he talks about him going to jury duty. We see this here but at the same token, he has been summoned for jury duty five times that he never went before, but now it is convenient for him. [Pinsky:] Well, apparently allegedly, he did not get, Mike, the previous five summons, because he has his name on so many buildings [Schacher:] OK. [Pinsky:] they sent them to previous buildings, and he did not get them. [Michael Catherwood, Host Of "chain Reaction" On Gsn:] Yes. I buy that. [Pinsky:] That is what they are saying. [Catherwood:] I am buying it, because I am nobody with nothing. And, I do not get my jury summons, because it goes to some other address, you know? [Areva Martin, Attorney And Legal Consultant:] Oh come on. Come on. [Pinsky:] Areva, are you hearing that? [Martin:] Now, he does own half of Manhattan. So, it is possible that he did not get the original summons. But this guy is brilliant at turning everything into a media show about him. And, that is what he did with this jury duty. He shows up in a black stretch limousine, and he does not park where everyone else parks. He parks in front of the courthouse. Meets all the media, and he makes this about Donald Trump. [Pinsky:] Omarosa hold up. What is that Omarosa? You were trying to say something there. [Omarosa Manigault-stallworth, Former Contestant On Trump`s "the Apprentice":] I was saying was he supposed to show up in a Prius. I mean he is Donald Trump. [Schacher:] But, it was a "No Parking" zones. [Pinsky:] He has a limo. [Catherwood:] Not all billionaires ride around in limos with their, you know, in helicopters with their names on it. [Manigault-stallworth:] I mean [Catherwood:] I am not in any way being pejorative to Mr. Trump. That is how he wants to live his life and he made his money his own way. But, you know, there are billionaires who do not necessarily have to have a conspicuous consumptions. [Pinsky:] And, Ryan, where are we? What does it say about us that we are captured by this guy? I will ask two questions; that and does he have a liability of women? I think I am hearing a little push back from women these days. [Ryan Sorba, Chairman Of The Young Conservatives Of California:] I think that he is going to have the same liability with women that he is going to have with Hispanics. I think that if people disagree with him, that he is going to have a liability with those folks. If they agree with him and if they are fed up with the current system in which we got a bunch of republicans in office. They do not actually do anything and just cow tow to the right, then they are going to [Pinsky:] Well, let me interrupt you. [Sorba:] love Donald Trump. [Pinsky:] Is it not the case that the RNC is the reason that he is being sort of pushed aside? If the committees the party organization, both democratic and republican are as bureaucratically encumbered as our government? [Sorba:] I believe that is true. I mean the RNC is the reason that we are having a problem right now with messaging. It is not Donald Trump`s fault. Donald Trump is saying what the GOP should have been saying all along. But the GOP is filled with a bunch of social climbers. They just want to be popular. They just want to be in power. [Pinsky:] Well, hold on. [Sorba:] They keep cow towing. [Pinsky:] OK. Areva, your answer to that. [Martin:] I am just excited to hear and I assume you are republican, right? [Sorba:] Absolutely. [Martin:] I am glad to hear the republicans critique themselves. We agree. The party is in a mess right now. So, for the democrats, we are excited to hear you critique your own party. [Pinsky:] Omarosa, let me I want to read something for that Donald said back in 2011 in a radio show in Albany. Here is the quote. "I have a great relationship with the blacks. I have always had a great relationship with the blacks." [Martin:] Oh, blacks. [Pinsky:] Is that I mean [Manigault-stallworth:] No. That quote has been called to question, Dr. Drew. [Pinsky:] Well, the question but the question is, though, is that illustrative of the kind of bluster that he pushes through without thinking about the impact. And, what he is saying and again, with women, is he going to have trouble because of his use of language? [Manigault-stallworth:] Let me address this quote first. That question that quote has been called to question, first of all, "The blacks." [Pinsky:] OK. [Manigault-stallworth:] First of all, he has a great relationship in our community. I do not know about anyone else`s experience, but my experience is that Donald Trump can get along with just about anybody, and he relates to everyone. There are people who are rooting for him, because he has tapped into something that most people underestimate, and that is the power of citizen cynicism. And, people have become very cynical. [Pinsky:] That is interesting. Well, to that point, joining me via Skype is two of Mr. Trump`s biggest supporters, Diamond and Silk. Ladies, what has he tapped into here? What is it about him that is captured your imagination? [Lynette "diamond" Hardaway, Donald Trump`s Supporter:] Well, look, he resonates with the average Americans. We are African-Americans, we stand with the silent majority. [Rochelle "silk" Richardson, Donald Trump`s Supporter:] Yes. [Diamond:] And, he resonates with us. He speak our language. He tell it like it is, and that is what we like about him. [Pinsky:] But, it seems to me that there I could not imagine somebody more divorced if terms of his experience and the kind of life he leads than the rest of us and yet when he speaks, it seems to get through to the average person many times. Is that right? [Diamond:] Because he use the common sense approach, Dr. Drew. He use a common sense approach. We, American people are tired of all of this political the political babble gabble. Just give us the common sense approach to solve these problems. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] We need a solution. [Silk:] That is right. [Diamond:] That is what we need. [Silk:] That is what we need. [Diamond:] And, that is why we look at him. That is why. [Silk:] That is right. [Pinsky:] And, yet he does not really give us any specifics yet. [Schacher:] That is what I am concerned about. [Pinsky:] But, he makes us feel like he is going to take care of it. [Diamond:] They will not give him an opportunity to give us specifics. You see what happened on the last debate. Give him a chance to spill it out for you and he will. [Silk:] That is right. [Pinsky:] And, yet, Ryan, you would say that he ought to not give any specifics because that will tie him up. And he needs to be just very vague at this stage, I think it is. [Sorba:] I think he needs to be vague and I think he needs to anchor the debate far to the right. So, that when it comes to the art of making a deal, he has some wiggle room. I mean when you go to sell a car, you put 20-grand on the ad, but you are willing to take 18. That is what Donald Trump, I think, is doing right now. He is anchoring the debate far to the right. And, when he goes to make a compromise he is going to get exactly what he wanted all along. [Pinsky:] Let us hear from our audience. Yes, sir. [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] Yes. I find myself to be a Trump supporter. I like the way he says stuff. You can hold him accountable for what he says, because he says it loud and clear and precisely. [Pinsky:] And, usually well, Areva. [Martin:] We just do not know what it is he is saying. [Schacher:] Right. [Martin:] These ladies said, he has not had an opportunity. He is on every they said he does not [Unidentified Male Audinece Member:] Oh, we do not know [Martin:] Let me just say this. They said he does not have an opportunity to tell us the specifics. He is on every television show every day for hours. He is getting more airtime than any other candidate. [Pinsky:] I think that but Areva, to be fair. I think they were talking about the debates that he did not really get his chance at the debates. But, what are you hearing from him? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] I like the specifics of what he is talking about. [Pinsky:] A war? A war? [Unidentified Male Audience Member:] The immigration the border patrol and better jobs for Americans. I like those subjects. He is saying it loud and clear. [Catherwood:] Here is the the reality is, is that, you know, regardless if someone is coming from the left or the right, if you are going to run for president, even at this preliminary stage, you definitely have something to lose, by alienating your base, by you know, maybe not being able to then further your political career. Donald Trump is in the very dangerous and very admirable position of having absolutely nothing to lose. [Pinsky:] You are right, and listen [Catherwood:] If he gets buried after this primary, so be it. He has never been more famous. He is never going to make more money. [Pinsky:] And You are right. And, people love the idea that he is not incumbent or somehow bought and sold by any special interests. People like that. [Martin:] People has a problem with that argument, Dr. Drew. He says he is not bought and sold. Everyone else is beholden to billionaires. But, yet, he is a billionaire that is buying the race because he is a billionaire. That argument is so illogical. [Pinsky:] But it is illogical and yet he is saying he is doing it on behalf of the people and speaking the people`s language, not the billionaire`s language. [Schacher:] But, there is one thing that Donald Trump knows how to doand that is how to sell. And, right now he is selling himself. [Pinsky:] And, also, I think the people the elder the older population, like the Medicare age, this sounds like a president to them. They remember when people used to talk like this. And, the rest of us want somebody who just says, I am going to take care of things. I think that is all he is saying is I will take care of this. I promise you, and people believe it. [Catherwood:] People [Pinsky:] We are going to continue. We got to take a break. Later, the public outrage where is the public outbreak about a Caucasian a white teen killed by police? That young man unarmed killed by police. We will talk about it next. [Stevens:] Welcome back. Now we're about an hour or so away from an election result that could signal a possible lurch to the left in British politics. After a humiliating defeat in the general election in the United Kingdom last May, the opposition Labour Party is set to announce its new leader and a surprise candidate has appeared as the favorite. Jeremy Corbyn is a 66-year-old veteran socialist who has been a member of parliament for more than three decades. Well, for the latest, let's go to our London correspondent, Max Foster. Max, how likely is it that Jeremy Corbyn is going to be the new Labour leader. [Max Foster, Cnn International Correspondent:] Looking at all the polls, it's very likely, indeed. Obviously, we have to wait until the moment, and that's about an hour away, as you were saying. But he's just arrived and it felt like a rock star welcome. He was surrounded by supporters, certainly surrounded by the media because this was the guy who was the outsider going into this leadership contest and is now the frontrunner. He's firmly from the left and there's been a huge number of new supporters to the Labour Party since he's been leading in the campaign. Hundreds of thousands of people have signed up to join the Labour Party. So he's certainly reinvigorated the Labour Party, also a very divisive figure within the Labour Party. But he's redefining really what the Labour Party is about, what the opposition is about here in the UK and that's become a political debate generally here in West Minster where I am right now. So the announcement will be made in the hall behind me in just over an hour. But there's a comparison being made here and it's around what's going on in U.S. politics, as well. So Donald Trump, the other end of the political spectrum, but also selling himself to the non- establishment political voter. So here is a comparison of the two. [Stevens:] OK, Max, I think we're going to get to that story just before we get to that, Jeremy is a socialist [Foster:] Yes we seem to have [Stevens:] Max? [Foster:] I'm not able to hear you properly there, Andrew, but effectively what's happened here is there was an outsider from the left and all the other candidates are really from the center of the party or slightly to the left, they're establishment figures, former ministers, current shadow ministers. And Jeremy Corbyn came in, really, and pushed forward by some people is just, you know, the outsider. But he's tapped into something, which is, I think, conviction politics, answering questions. He's also tapped into a disillusionment perhaps in establishment politics and also into the youth vote where lots of the young people have felt disenfranchised in politics altogether. And what he's doing is just come out from nowhere, selling himself as an individual who believes in his policy and young people have signed up to Labour as a result of that. But a similar thing is happening in America and from a very different political figure who is, of course, Donald Trump. Two countries, two contests, two very different candidates. The man on the left, Jeremy Corbyn, is an idealist, socialist, strict vegetarian, and he wants to become the leader of the U.K.'s Labour Party. The man on the right, Donald Trump, pragmatist, billionaire, TV personality. He wants to win the Republican nomination for president. Whilst the might seem miles apart in political terms, they're both maverick, anti-establishment figures. And if you believe the polls, they're both in the lead. [Jeremy Corbyn, Candidate For Labour Party Leader:] First of all, apologies that not everyone can get in the town hall tonight. [Foster:] And if you haven't heard of Jeremy Corbyn before, well, neither had many people in Britain before this summer. Now this bearded 66-year-old packs out every venue he speaks out. [Corbyn:] People have had enough of the politics of abuse and the politics of control. This is about the politics of democracy. [Foster:] And he seems to have gained a big following amongst millennials. [Unidentified Male:] A lot of young people have become disengaged with politics and I think he's someone that young people can relate to. It's not the politics of envy, it's not the politics of fear, it's the politics of hope. [Foster:] In the U.S., Donald Trump's plain-speaking style also has popular appeal. [Unidentified Male:] The main reason why I support Trump is because he is not politically correct I'd say. He's loud, he's boisterous and I want hear somebody with a little depth to say yes. [Foster:] Observers say both Trump and Corbyn are tapping into the same emotions. [Philip Stephens, Chief Political Commentator, "financial Times":] I think what's given these parties and these individuals momentum is the austerity that followed the 2007-2008 financial crash. And the belief that's flowed from that that globalization, international capitalism, is basically there for the rich, for the 1 percent. [Janet Daley, Columnist, "sunday Telegraph":] The governing class has become a professional club and there is a tendency to think maybe this is some sort of conspiracy against the people. [Corbyn:] For this process of austerity is enriching the richest. [Foster:] So could these two outsiders go all the way? Will we ever see President Trump welcoming Prime Minister Corbyn to the White House? [Stephens:] I think the idea of Corbyn as prime minister in Britain is preposterous. I also think perhaps I'll be proved wrong, the idea of Donald Trump as president of the United States is preposterous. But they can damage, deeply damage the existing establishment parties. [Foster:] How ever far they get in their campaigns, Donald Trump, Jeremy Corbyn, and others like them are putting a passion and a polarization back into politics. Corbin is offering a new type of politics. Donald Trump is sort of doing the same thing as well. They are at completely opposite end to the political spectrum, Andrew, but they do seem to be tapping into a similar thing, which is energizing both their campaigns. [Stevens:] Absolutely. That dissatisfaction, disaffection with the mainstream political class. Max, thanks so much for that. Max will be joining us again in just over an hour from now. We will have an announcement, we hope, of the leadership of the Labour Party. Interesting times on the UK political scene. Stay with us for that. Let's turn now to the turmoil in Northern Ireland where the Good Friday Agreement, which was signed in 1998, a signature example of conflict resolution, but 17 years later, the power sharing agreement is teetering on the brink. Allegations that the provisional IRA was involved in a murder this month has caused politicians to resign their posts. Both British and Irish prime ministers are urging calm. Phil Black has more. [Phil Black, Cnn International Correspondent:] The name for this violent period always sounds like a bitter understatement. The troubles. Decades of brutality, more than 3,000 people killed. This was one of its darkest days, Bloody Sunday, January 1972. British soldiers fired on a crowd in Derry killing 13 people. The troubles were really a long war fought over identity and over territory. On one side, the Republicans, overwhelmingly Catholic, who wanted Northern Ireland to join the Republic of Ireland. Their enemies, the loyalists. Mostly protestant who believed Northern Ireland should remain part of the United Kingdom. Paramilitary groups on both sides pursued their goals with violence and intimidation. But the Irish Republican Army, the IRA, stood out for its bombing campaign, targeting civilians and the British government. They tried to get then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher bombing a Brighton Hotel in 1984. They also missed her successor John Major after firing mortar round at Downing Street in 1991. [On Camera] Throughout all this, there were attempts by some British and Irish governments to find a solution, but they went nowhere. Until the mid '90s when both sides began to take the view that military victory was impossible. [Voice-over] U.S. President Bill Clinton's personal involvement gave momentum to difficult talks that ended in 1998 with that historic Good Friday Agreement. This deal would see Republicans and loyalists renounce violence and govern together. [Tony Blair, Former British Prime Minister:] This may be the day when, finally, after all the false dawns and dashed hopes, peace replaced war. [Black:] In the year since, Northern Ireland has seen reasons for optimism. Much reduced violence. Former enemies governing and laughing together. Republicans and royalty extending hands. But decades of distrust haven't been wiped away altogether. The power sharing arrangement has frequently lurched in the crisis. The IRA's reluctance to give up its weapons caused the suspension of self- governments for several years. Now it is allegations the IRA still exists, which could bring it all down once more. Northern Ireland police have suggested members of the IRA might have been involved in a murder last month. The police haven't provided any evidence. And Republicans long considered the IRA's political allies, say it isn't true, that unionist politicians insist it is now impossible for both sides to govern together. [Unidentified Male:] The continued existence on the IRA structures, on the arrest that followed has pushed the evolution to the brink. [Black:] This could prove to be Northern Ireland's most serious political crisis since the peace deal. But it's also being reined in by one powerful factor. Few people want things to go back to the way they were. Phil Black, CNN, London. [Stevens:] Now that the Iran nuclear deal appears to be reality, Iranians are daring to be optimistic. When we come back, we'll take a look at the mood among Iran's people as well as its leadership. Stay with us. And coming up a little later, it reads like an "X Files" version of David and Goliath, but there's nothing mythical or fictional about one family's fight with the U.S. military over Area 51. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM, live from Los Angeles. I'm Isha Sesay. The headlines this hour [Sesay:] At least 247 people have been killed in Italy's powerful earthquake. That death toll has just gone up within the past couple of hours. Rescuers have been racing to find survivors in the rubble. Small towns in the epicenter are the hardest hit and more than 1,000 people are displaced. [Witness:] I took my wife by the hand and in the dark we tried to find our way out. I felt debris under my feet. I felt rocks, pieces of broken furniture and overturned furniture. It was very difficult to get out of the House. [Sesay:] Very frightening. We'll get the latest on several aftershocks, which are creating challenges for rescue workers. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam joins us now. Derek, what are you seeing? [Derek Van Dam, Ams Meteorologist:] Well, Isha, the aftershocks keep coming and that's exactly what we would expect with this size of an earthquake. In fact, just within the past few hours, a magnitude 4.7 after shock took place. That wasn't even the strongest aftershock, which was actually a 5.5 that took place almost immediately after the original earthquake happened at 3:36 a.m. local time central Italy. Now, I want to show you this because that was a lot of information here. Let me try and break it down for you. This is typical with this strength of an earthquake. What we typically see is the frequency of earthquakes or I should say after shocks continuing at about the same pace. It's the intensity of these after shocks that start to decrease over time. You can see the seven-day stretch at the bottom portion of the screen. Going forward, we'll continue to feel slight tremors. Let's say magnitude 2 to magnitude 4 and the frequency will continue. But it's those the intensity that should start to fall away. But that doesn't want to we don't want to diminish just how important and how critical these aftershocks can be, because the infrastructure has been weakened. It has been compromised significantly. Take these before and after pictures to give you an example. This is built in the 1300s and I want you to see one particular feature here that is taking place. I find this absolutely fascinating. It's almost frozen in time. This clock tower, 3:36 a.m. If you recall, that was the moment when the earthquake took place. You can see that slight lean with the clock tower. Here is the before image. You can see how clean the roadways are. And we'll go back to the after image and just show you the destruction that this magnitude 6.2 earthquake actually caused. Here is another interesting angle, as well. You can see the rubble that crashed into the city streets, trapping some of the vehicles there. This is a Google image of the exact same corner. They're going on be cleaning up for this for days to come. Speaking of cleanup, let's talk about the weather taking place in that area. Fortunately, they are trying and the temperatures are not too hot and they're not too cold. So if there are still people presumably trapped amongst the rubble, survival times will be increased because the weather is favorable, at least for the time going forward. Temperatures really in the middle 20s. So there's a little bit of life here out of a dark situation Isha? [Sesay:] Yeah. And we'll take it. We'll take a little bit of light. [Van Dam:] Absolutely. [Sesay:] Derek Van Dam, appreciate it. Thank you. [Van Dam:] Thanks, Isha. [Sesay:] The U.S. Republican presidential candidate, Donald Trump, is hammering home his America first message with the help of British nationalist, Nigel Farage. The Brexit champion appeared at a rally in Mississippi on Wednesday as Trump urged voters to re-declare American independence. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] The multi-national banks, the media celebrities, the big donors try to scare the British people out of voting for change. The same thing is happening right here in the United States. It's happening. All the people benefiting from our rigged system don't want things to change. [Sesay:] Joining us here in L.A., CNN Ron Brownstein, senior political analyst and the senior editor for "The Atlantic." It is so good to have you here, because there is so much to make sense of. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] Yes. [Sesay:] The Trump campaign inviting thee former leader of the U.K. Independence Party, Nigel Farage, a man who been accused of racism and xenophobia, he was on the stage beside Donald Trump. Before we analyze, let's hear to some of what he had to say. [Nigel Farage, Former Leader, United Kingdom Independence Party:] If I was an American citizen, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if you paid me. [Farage:] In fact, I wouldn't vote for Hillary Clinton if she paid me. [Sesay:] I'm counting on you, Ron, to explain the Trump campaign calculation. [Brownstein:] Yeah. You know, first of all, it is a reminder that Donald Trump is part of a kind of a global trend toward these blood- and-soil nationalist parties that are consistently relying primarily on working class voters who feel both economically and culturally marginalized. There is a similarity in the agenda. But there is something striking about bringing in here at precisely this moment when Donald Trump, after revising his Muslim ban, is making one of the biggest shifts or flip-flops by backing off his call for mass deportation. At precisely the moment that his campaign that an America first argument is not the pathway to victory, they bring in the embodiment of it. [Sesay:] You mentioned his flip-flopsoftening on the immigration policy [Brownstein:] Softening. Flip-flop is the word. [Sesay:] on immigration policy, let's play some of what he had to Sean Hannity, of FOX News, as he spoke to him on Wednesday. [Sean Hannity, Host, Hannity:] Originally, you had said they're all out and there was a big brouhaha. But you're saying that if somebody can prove that they've been here but here is the big question, though, no citizenship? [Trump:] No citizenship. [Hannity:] Everyone agree with that? All right. [Trump:] I'll go a step further. They pay back taxes. They have to pay taxes. There's no amnesty. There's no amnesty. [Hannity:] Right. [Trump:] But we work with them. [Brownstein:] Extraordinary, right? [Sesay:] Extraordinary pivot. But one with political risks. [Brownstein:] But if you go back and you look through the Republican primaries and the exit polls, they asked people what to do here illegally. In every case, except for two, only minority voters supported mass deportation. They provided a majority of his votes. Supporters of deportation provided a majority of his exit polls. So for him now to say, I didn't mean it, I'm going to move closer, which is not that far at all from where Jeb Bush was or John Kasich, which was yes, we're got to let people say but not give them citizenship, which the Democrats would do in a bill that passed the Senate in 2013. That was a stand Donald Trump ridiculed on his way to the nomination. But he's brought in a team that can add, and when they look at where he is, he is stuck somewhere around the low 40s nationally, and the voters in between where he is and where he needs to be, are not supporters of mass deportation. They're also more likely to view it as racially biased. So he's trying to make one of the most head- turning pivots in modern American politics. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] How many days left? 75? [Brownstein:] And counting. It's like Christmas. [Sesay:] Without chocolate. [Brownstein:] Exactly. [Sesay:] Ron Brownstein, always a pleasure. [Brownstein:] Thank you. Thank you. [Sesay:] Thanks for the analysis. New polling in key battleground states shows Trump gaining ground. A CNNORC survey of voters in Arizona gives Trump a five-point edge. Hillary Clinton leads by one point in North Carolina, well within the margin of error. CNN's Tom Foreman reports those numbers don't tell the whole story. [Tom Foreman, Cnn National Correspondent:] We know Donald Trump is reaching out, trying to get a hold on minority voters out there. If you look at these two states in our latest poll, you get an idea how much work is ahead of him. Out here in North Carolina, African-Americans accounted for one out of five votes in 2012. In this election cycle, 88 percent are going for Hillary Clinton now. Donald Trump is almost off the map here with 3 percent. Gary Johnson has more than twice the support as he does in that state. If you move out here to Arizona where the Latino vote is the big question out here, 57 percent going for Clinton right now. Trump down here at 20 percent. His big pitch to everyone is to say, look, I will be the guy who will bring back the economy and that will mean jobs for everyone. And in both of these states, most voters have faith in his ability to handle the economy, but minority voters believe Hillary Clinton will actually do a better job. On another front, we've talked about the education gap and that's still quite profound. Look at the details from this. Among college graduates in North Carolina, 55 percent want Clinton. 36 percent want Trump. White, non college grads, he absolutely crushes here in the vote. And if you move out to Arizona, same effect. Fairley close here among college graduates. She still has a substantial lead, but then among white college graduates, non college graduates, 62 percent to 31 percent. [Sesay:] Thanks to Tom Foreman for that breakdown. Now that the Olympics are over, a big decision is looming over Brazil's president. An impeachment trial begins in the next few hours for Dilma Rousseff. Stay with us for details. [Carl Azuz, Cnn Student News Anchor:] Here to explain news events from around the world, I`m Carl Azuz for CNN STUDENT NEWS. Thank you for watching this September 1st. We`ve got a story out of South America starting things off. The leader of Brazil was officially impeached yesterday. Brazilian lawmakers voted 61 to 20 to remove President Dilma Rousseff from office. In 2011, Rousseff became Brazil`s first ever female leader and she was reelected in 2014. But the country`s economy had slipped into a recession by then and a major corruption scandal involving many Brazilian lawmakers including dozens from Rousseff`s own political party took a tool on the president`s popularity. Rousseff was not accused of corruption herself and she insisted she committed no crime. She called the procedure against her a coup. But Brazil`s senate found her guilty of breaking laws concerning the country`s budget. The country`s interim or temporary president, Michel Temer, will serve out the rest of Rousseff`s term. More than 10,000 people, that`s how many migrants and refugees that Italy says it helped rescue in the Mediterranean Sea this week alone. This is part of an ongoing migrant crisis in Europe, said to be the largest migration to the continent since World War II. Several European countries are struggling to keep up with the number of people arriving and applying for permission to stay. Lawmakers are debating how many migrants to accept and how to insure security. Many of the refugees and migrants themselves have fled war, poverty, terrorism and political instability. They`re moving over three main paths. First, the Eastern Mediterranean route: more than 162,000 migrants and refugees have come from war-torn Middle Eastern countries like Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq and they`ve headed toward Southeastern Europe. The Central Mediterranean route: more than 70,000 people, mainly from the African countries of Nigeria, Eritrea, Gambia. They`re moving through North Africa in their way to southern Europe. And the Western Mediterranean route: more than 2,500 people, many from Western African countries, traveling through northwest Africa. Their journey is often incredibly dangerous. At least 3,165 people have died in the Mediterranean Sea this year. You`ll see how overloaded and under-equipped many of the boats are in this report by CNN`s Ben Wedeman. [Ben Wedeman, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It is an unprecedented number of people reaching the Italian coast. Between late Sunday and Monday midnight, more than 6,500 people were picked up off the Libyan coast by the Italian coast guard, and others. After that, on Tuesday, 3,000 people picked up in 20 separate operations and they will be brought to Italy. Now, among them are two twins, just five or six days old. Now, they have been transported by helicopter to the main hospital in Palermo, Sicily. There, the doctors say, despite the fact that they arrived with suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and hypothermia, that at least there, we have some good news. Their condition is improving. [Azuz:] The great elephant census is out. It`s a massive project looking at the population of the world`s largest mammal across the African continent. It found that a large percentage of African savannah elephants is gone. The reason: mostly poaching when people illegally kill animals. Why? The tusks of elephants are ivory. The material is illegal to sell in many countries, but small amounts of it are worth thousands on the black market. So, the slaughter of elephants is hard to stop. From Botswana, CNN`s David McKenzie took flight with the researchers. [David Mckenzie, Cnn International Correspondent:] Getting ready to fly in Botswana`s far north. Elephant ecologist Mike Chase has spent years counting savannah elephants from the sky. [Mike Chase, Elephant Ecologist:] Never before have we ever conducted a standardized survey for African elephants at a continental scale. [Unidentified Male:] All right. Start counting, nice speed, nice height, well done, Tammy. [Mckenzie:] Hundreds of air crew counted elephants in 18 countries across the continent over two years. [Unidentified Male:] Elephant seventh, seven elephants. [Mckenzie:] Flying the distance to the moon and then some. There were results more shocking than anyone imagined. [Chase:] We spent thousands of hours of counting, flying over areas where elephants historically occurred, but no longer present in this habitat. [Mckenzie:] Killed for their ivory in seven short years up to 2014, elephant numbers dropped by a staggering amount, almost one-third. Across Africa, their numbers are crushing. If nothing changes, the elephant population will halve in less than a decade. In some areas, they will go extinct. [Chase:] In some landscapes, we saw more dead elephants than live elephants. I don`t think anybody in the world has seen the number of dead elephants that are seen over the last two years, the great elephant census. For me, this becomes a lot more personal. [Unidentified Male:] We continue to check 22. [Mckenzie:] To fight the war, Botswana has mobilized the army. With more than 700 troops guarding its northern border. Patrol spent days in the bush on foot, armed with a shoot to kill policy for poaches. They`re up against a sophisticated enemy. [on camera]: They`re looking for any sign of poachers. If they come across them, they`re often highly organized groups of about 12 people. Two of them could be shooters often, and those shooters are frequently foreign special forces. [voice-over]: Mike Chase`s research proves that if we can`t protect elephants, they will learn to protect themselves. [on camera]: You can hear him snoring. Is that a he or she? [Chase:] He. He`s in his prime, about 30 to 35 years of age, and it`s these young bulls that have propensity to move dramatic distances and met their trans-boundary conservation corridors. [Mckenzie:] But their satellite tracking shows that the elephants used incredible levels of intelligence to avoid poaching hot spots in neighboring countries, retreating to the relative safety with Botswana. [on camera]: It`s quite incredible being this close to this animal. [Chase:] It is. It certainly is. [Mckenzie:] We call this bull "Promise", for the promise that Mike Chase has made and perhaps we all should to save this magnificent species. [Azuz:] Since 1824, an invention by Louis Braille has helped countless blind people around the world. Braille is a system of printing and writing. It uses between one and six raised dots positioned in individual cells and identified by touch. But since the rise of touch screens and how people get and share information, developers have had to figure out ways to improve accessibility. And it`s not just about a voice reading out words from text. What about a voice describing photos for people who can`t see them? That`s one of the projects of an engineer at the world`s largest social network. [Matt King, Facebook`s First Blind Engineer:] When I first signed up for Facebook, trying to get in, like how to try to find my list of friends, it felt like work. [Laurie Segall, Cnn Senior Technology Correspodnent:] King is Facebook`s first blind engineer. His job is to make the site easier to use, for the visually impaired. [on camera]: You`re helping bring this experience to so many folks who don`t have that ability. So, what exactly are you doing here that`s helping that? [King:] I`ve been working a lot on our Messenger product. Another thing that I`ve been helping with is the system for describing photos to people who are blind. [Segall:] With over a billion users, Facebook now has a team focused on building accessibility tools. That team created an empathy lab to showcase different ways people use the product. The tech might be in its early stages, but the implications for someone like Matt are far- reaching. [King:] The stuffs that we`re taking today, in a direction of being able to describe photos to people who are blind by using artificial intelligence, this baby stuff is moving in a direction of a world where nobody is left out. It`s like you`re telling people who are blind, look, we care about you. We want you to be part of the global community. We want you to excuse me, sorry we want you to be you matter. Your life matters and being conducted with other people matters and we`re going to do everything we can to make that possible. [Azuz:] In the Middle Eastern country of United Arab Emirates, Dubai is home to the world`s tallest building, the largest shopping mall by area, and now, reportedly, the largest indoor amusement park. It`s as big as 28 football fields. It took three years and more than a billion dollars to build the privately owned park. And one of its roller coasters is actually too big to fit under one roof. Analysts say it`s part of a plan to bring more visitors to Dubai. And while all the rides have their ups and downs and can cost a lot to roll out and keep on track, it`s the amusement of tourists that`s the theme of parks being built. That`s your 10-minute ride to today`s news. I`m Carl Azuz. Hope to see you tomorrow. END [Costello:] All right, a quick look at what's going on down in Norwalk, Iowa, right now. you can see Donald Trump is on the stump. We expect that Sarah Palin will join him shortly. We're going to keep an ear on this and an eye on it and we'll take you back to Iowa as is warranted. Let's talk about Michigan, though, because there are two crises that are thundering through that state and threatening the very quality of life for tens of thousands of children. Today in Detroit, more than 80 schools have been forced to close. Desperate teaches are calling in sick to call attention to decaying schools and a system that could be inching towards financial collapse. They're trying to send an SOS to President Obama, who will be in town. A short time ago we learned he'll have lunch with Detroit's mayor. That should be interesting. The other crisis already demanding the president's attention, though, the governor, now vowing to fix it, the tap water in Flint, contaminated with lead and posing the greatest danger to young children who could develop a lifetime of problems. Let's begin, though, with Detroit's embattled school system and CNN's Jean Casarez. Good morning, Jean. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. You know, we spoke with the school district and they have been scrambling this morning to notify parents around Detroit that there would be no school. And we're standing right in front of Martin Luther King High School. As you can see, parents must have gotten the word. We haven't seen one student dropped off this morning. But it's 88 out of 97 schools and the district tells me they're still trying to get the numbers of how many students that effects. And last week when we were here, parents weren't exactly in favor of the sick out because they have jobs they have to go to. And all of a sudden, they have child care issues. They have to have someone to stay with their child while they try to get to work. But the conditions here in Detroit, that is what the sick out is all about. And we saw it firsthand last week. Floors that were buckling, gymnasiums at schools that were closed, swimming pools that were not filled with water. The answers, they say, is for a gym teacher, for instance, to try to make alternatives so children can get some exercise. Well, last night at the State of the State Address, Governor Rick Snyder talked about this situation. He said that Detroit Public Schools are in a crisis and the time to act is now. [Gov. Rick Snyder , Michigan:] All of us, from state and local officials, education to charitable and civic leaders, parents to concerned citizens, need to work together quickly. The challenges are well known. The alternatives are defined. Now is the time to get something done. Great schools are critically important, both to the city of Detroit and the entire state of Michigan. Let's address this decades' long crisis now. [Casarez:] Now here's the challenge. The challenge is, Detroit Public Schools are in $515 million worth of debt because of short-term bond interest, because of providers not being paid, and it's just added up. And they have to take money from the students to be able to pay for that debt and they can't fix the schools. And we do want to tell you, not all of the schools are in that dire of a condition. And the school district really made that apparent to me last week. But many are. And they have to make the tough choices of what schools to fix, how to do it, and in what order. But, Carol, the reality is, the mayor has ordered all the schools to be inspected by the end of April. The first school to inspected is now under an investigation by OSHA, the Michigan Division of OSHA. And today we understand the mayor will speak to President Obama about the Detroit Public Schools and the crisis that they are in, in this community. Carol. [Costello:] All right, Jean Casarez reporting live from Detroit, Michigan, thanks so much. Now to the Flint water crisis. Michigan's governor also said he was sorry about that. He said he would fix it. But worried residents, especially those with children, say the damage is done. CNN's Sara Ganim is live in Flint, Michigan to tell us more. Good morning, Sara. [Sara Ganim, Cnn Correspondent:] Carol, we're here along the Flint River. This is really how all the trouble began two years ago, because this river water is highly corrosive and it wasn't properly treated when it was flowing through the pipes to people's homes. Those pipes leeched lead and other hazardous metals into people's water supply and that's how they all began to get sick. Now, last night the governor of Michigan, Rick Snyder, asked the Michigan lawmakers to put $28 million towards handling this crisis for the people of Flint. He also apologized for how state and local officials handled it. Take a listen to what he said to the people of Flint last night. [Gov. Rick Snyder , Michigan:] Government failed you, federal, state and local leaders, by breaking the trust you placed in us. I'm sorry most of all that I let you down. You deserve better. You deserve to know the truth. And I have a responsibility to tell the truth. [Ganim:] Now, Carol, critics say that $28 million is not nearly enough. Doesn't even come close to even the most conservative estimates of what it would take to actually fix the problem here in Flint. Congressman Dan Kildee telling us this week that the EPA estimates it will take between $50 million and $75 million just to replace the pipes in Flint that are now damaged and still leeching chemicals into metals, I should say, into the water. That doesn't include things like early childhood education, nutrition, better healthcare for the people who have been effected by this lead poisoning here in Flint. Now, last night, yesterday, the mayor of Flint, Karen Weaver, met with President Obama over the federal response to this issue. And today, Obama's administration is sending a team from the Department of Health and Human Services to be here on the ground in Flint with the people managing the federal response. But the residents here, Carol, are still very angry. They still believe that on many levels they were failed. They were failed by their local government, their state government, their federal government and they say all of this help, it just seems to be coming so late, almost two years after they began drinking this corrosive water. Carol. [Costello:] All right, Sara Ganim reporting live from Flint, Michigan. Up next in the NEWSROOM, Trump on the campaign trail, on the heels of getting that endorsement from Sarah Palin. Would Trump consider Palin for a cabinet position? [John Berman, Cnn Early Start Show Shost:] Will national security advisor Michael Flynn survive the day? New controversy surrounding one of the key aides to the president. [Christine Romans, Cnn Early Start Show Shost:] North Korea now confirming a missile test with a new weapon expanding its arsenal. How will the Trump administration respond to the first big test from Pyongyang? [Berman:] The president's travel ban goes back before a judge today. How will the Justice Department proceed? They want to get that ban back in place. Good morning everyone. Welcome to "Early Start." I'm John Berman. [Romans:] It's nice to see you this morning John. I'm Christine Romans. It's Monday, February 13th, 4:00 a.m. in the east. First, silence from the White House as pressure builds on embattled National Security adviser Michael Flynn. The retired general is under fire for speaking to the Russians about sanctions before President Trump was sworn into office then misleading the administration about those conversations. We are told Flynn has no plans to resign and has no expectation of being fired. But an official tells CNN there's, "a lot of unhappiness about this and acknowledge Flynn's future in the White House is no sure thing." And Democrats are piling on. [Sen. Al Franken , Minnesota:] Either he was lying about not having discussed that or he forgot. [Jake Tapper, Cnn:] You don't believe your smile says you don't believe that he forgot? [Franken:] I don't think you want a guy who would forget that. [Berman:] Some of the most glaring words coming from the White House are the ones not coming in support of General Flynn. White House policy director Stephen Miller seems to go out of his way to withhold official support this weekend. [Chuck Todd, Cnn:] The White House did not give you anything to say other than that on General Flynn? [Stephen Miller, White House Policy Director:] They did not give me they did not give me anything to say. [Todd:] So you cannot say whether or not [Miller:] Asked and answered, Chuck. [Todd:] the president still has confidence in his National Security adviser. [Miller:] It's not for me to tell you what's in the president's mind. That's a question for the president. That's a question for the chief of staff. Asked and answered, Chuck. [Berman:] He did not offer any words of support for General Flynn there. It was notable. Let's get the latest on this from a different perspective sort of from the other end of that phone call or those phone calls with General Flynn from Russia. I want to bring in CNN's Matthew Chance live from Moscow. Matthew, this is all had to do with phone conversations that apparently General Flynn misled the public, perhaps lied to Vice President Mike Pence about. [Matthew Chance, Cnn Corrrespondent:] Yes, I mean it's quite possible. I mean from the Russian point of view here. The phone conversations took place. They're not denying that. They're acknowledging that fact in fact, that Flynn and the Russian ambassador to the United States had that conversation back in December. But what the Kremlin was saying categorically is the first of all, sanctions were not discussed. And so they're saying that issue was not talked about during that phone conversation or the series of conversations between Flynn and the ambassador to the United States. They also are saying the outcome of the conversation this is what they were asked about whether the outcome of the conversation had any affect on the response of Vladimir Putin about to the sanctions that were imposed by President Obama in the last few weeks of his administration when it came to hacking. Remember, Vladimir Putin sort of famously didn't respond and he didn't expel 35 diplomats [Berman:] A lot of intrigue. Matthew Chance for us in Moscow. Thank you so much. [Romans:] Global diplomacy will be a large part of the agenda this week for President Trump. On Wednesday, he welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House. Netanyahu has been full of praise for this president even though Mr. Trump has sent mixed signals lately about Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank. Today, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visits the White House. The president's travel ban and his pledge to re-negotiate on NAFTA, just two of the obstacles facing the two leaders. Let's get more this morning from CNN's Athena Jones. [Athena Jones, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, John and Christine. The president has another week of diplomacy ahead starting with a meeting and press conference today with Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Now, after the inauguration last month, the president said that one of the top items on the agenda when he meets with the Prime Minister would be NAFTA. Re-negotiating NAFTA was one of the president's central campaign promises. Of course, doing so will necessarily require the participation of Mexico and Mexico's president Enrique Pena Nieto is not yet clear when that cancelled meeting with that president will be rescheduled. But these two leaders can certainly get started on that today. It's worth noting that Prime Minister Trudeau has a very different view on people fleeing danger and persecution than does the president. He was one of the leaders the world leaders who responded to the president's travel ban late last month on twitter by tweeting that "refugees are welcome in Canada regardless of their religion." And that travel ban was a big topic as the White House figures out its next steps in the wake of that Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that keeps in place a temporary hold on the ban. President Trump telling reporters over the weekend that he could file a brand new executive order as early as today or tomorrow. He didn't commit to that timeline and the interviews of his aides gave on Sunday seemed to suggest that that new order might not be quite so imminent. But of course, this White House has been full of surprises. Anything can happen so we'll just have to wait and see what they might decide to announce today or tomorrow. John, Christine. [Berman:] Athena Jones, thanks so much. The federal judge in Seattle who first halted the president's travel ban will hear from both sides later today. Judge James Robart wants to know how the White House plans to proceed now that the Ninth Circuit has upheld the restraining order on the travel ban. The Department Of Justice essentially has two options [Romans:] Democrats and immigration rights activists are raising concerns about a series of sweeping ICE raids in recent days. Hundreds of immigrants had been rounded up from New York to Los Angeles and fear is running rampant in the immigrant communities. ICE Officials say these raids are routine and have been planned for weeks. It's not something President Trump been taking credit for them. He's tweeting he is merely keeping a campaign promise to remove gang dealers and drug dealers from the country. [Berman:] New false statements with no evidence from the White House on the issue of alleged voter fraud. Senior policy adviser Stephen miller claimed people were bused from Massachusetts to New Hampshire to vote illegally in the presidential election. Again, there is no evidence of that at all. Nevertheless, Miller told George Stephanopoulos that is why Donald Trump did not win New Hampshire. [Miller:] Voter fraud is a serious problem in this country. You have millions of people who are registered in two states or who are dead and who are registered to vote. [George Stephanopoulos:] You can't make hold on a second you just claimed again that there was illegal voting in New Hampshire. People bused in from the state of Massachusetts. Do you have evidence to back that up? [Miller:] I don't think anybody George, go to New Hampshire. talk to anybody who worked in politics there for a long time. Everybody is aware of the problem in New Hampshire with respect to bringing in voters and with respect to [Stephanopoulos:] I'm asking you as to what I've seen hold on a second. I'm asking you as the White House senior policy adviser, the president made a statement saying he was the victim of voter fraud, people being bused from Massachusetts. Do you have any evidence? [Miller:] And the president was. If this is an issue that interests you, we can talk about it more in the future. [Berman:] Again, no evidence of that whatsoever. President Trump praised Miller for his performance. The president went on twitter specifically to do so. New Hampshire Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen was less impressed. She wrote, "As everybody knows, Stephen Miller has no evidence of voter fraud in New Hampshire. This has been debunked. Donald Trump did not call for a recount." [Romans:] All right, new developments in the North Korean missile launch this weekend. North Korea claims it successfully complete the launch of a new type of medium-range ballistic missile. The government sent for news agencies as the test firing was guided personally by Supreme Commander Kim Jong-Un. It's an early test from North Korea for this Trump administration. And now the U.N. is stepping in. I want to go live to Seoul right now with the very latest from CNN's Paula Hancocks. Very early in the young presidency of Donald Trump. The young leader of North Korea, certainly acting aggressively here. [Paula Hancocks, Cnn Correspondent:] Well Christine, this is the first missile launch that we've seen from North Korea in almost four months. There has been remarkable restraint from Pyongyang after the U.S. elections since Donald Trump became U.S. president. We were waiting for it though and this was an intermediate range missile. So not the intercontinental ballistic missile that Kim Jong- Un have threatened on January 1st that could potentially hit mainland United States. But still, an intermediate range missile that has show improvements we hear from the Joint Chiefs of Staff here. It's basically in the way that it's being fuelled. In the past, it was liquidly fueled. We now understand from the JCS that it's solid fuel which effectively means they can launch it faster. There's less preparation time and they're able to launch it in a mobile fashion as well. So, we are seeing improvements in the technology that Kim Jong-Un is testing at this point. And we see from North Korea television these images of the North Korean leader looking absolutely delighted with this missile launch which they have claimed as a great success. Of course, what we're waiting for now is to see what kind of response we will get from the U.S. President. He had the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meeting with him in Washington and visiting him whilst this launch happened. We actually heard a stronger response from the Japanese Prime Minister so we'll have to wait and see. Christine. [Romans:] All right, Paula Hancocks for us this evening there in Seoul. Thank you so much for that Paula. Well, a wild night at the Grammy Awards. Who took home top honors as we stop the show? [Berman:] Adele Adele. [Romans:] Stop the show. [Berman:] Sorry was that I tease that I gave it away? Adele did everything. I know that because it's the only people are talking about this morning. I gave it away didn't I? [Cooper:] Well, Hillary Clinton is expected to speak shortly tonight, any minute, in fact. Her first remarks since her concession speech. We'll bring tm to you when she does. In the meantime, Donald Trump, as you know, takes pride in embracing a whole string of adjectives about himself, starting with un unconventional, unpredictable, unprecedented, reveling in uncreating uncertainty, or creating uncertainty. No doubt those characteristics served him well on the campaign trail. But the global stage, as the most powerful person in the world, he's got some unsettled because Donald Trump has wasted no time in breaking with convention. CNN's Jim Sciutto tonight joins us with more. So, Trump has broken with traditional protocol in the ways he's contacting foreign leaders. What have you learned? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] No question, and some of this substantial protocol. I spoke with a diplomat from a very close U.S. ally today who said in the wake of Trump's victory, they had to reach out to multiple contacts inside the Trump camp before they can figure out who to speak to, to arrange a call with their head of state. They finally did, it was more than a day after their victory when they were after later in the queue than some other not so close allies. And, you know, there's a little bit of diplomatic pique there maybe, but there's also genuine confusion about who these major allies and foreign powers need to speak with in the Trump administration. In addition to that, Anderson, the Trump team has still not contacted the State Department for help in these contacts, and that is not just to just get the two leaders on the phone, say. But it's for the option of having briefings with the State Department with the president-elect before you have these phone calls to know what the key issues are before you begin those first key conversations. [Cooper:] Does I mean, does this have U.S. allies genuinely nervous? [Sciutto:] There's it's early I would say for them to be genuinely nervous. There is certainly confusion but about who to contact in the campaign. But also just based on the candidate's statements during the campaign, there is genuine substantive confusion about what a Trump foreign policy looks like. You have the first meetings with the Japanese prime minister, that is tomorrow. Japan is going to have the question, did you mean it when you said you want to nuclearize Asia? That you consider Japan and South Korea, for instance, having nuclear weapons, breaking with decades of U.S. policy? NATO allies, particularly those in Eastern Europe, are going to want to know how much Donald Trump wants to stand up to Russia. They also want to know, did he mean it when he said the NATO alliance is obsolete because these are countries depending on the NATO alliance for their security against what they see as real and immediate Russian threat? So, those are hard questions that these countries and their close allies are going to want to have answered. [Cooper:] Yes. We're going to take to "GPS's" Fareed Zachary about this later on, in the next hour. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. Back with the panel. Maggie, this was some of your reporting about the difficulty some have had in trying to get in contact with Donald Trump. That's again, something Donald Trump pushed back in "The New York Times" about today, saying essentially he's talked to plenty of foreign leaders. Not really responding to the idea they're hard to reach. [Haberman:] Right. This is a technique Donald Trump used throughout the campaign and will clearly use throughout the transition and I assume his presidency which is saying something that actually the story didn't actually say. Right. And then get people to argue over, as opposed to what was actually said. So, what we said, not that he didn't talk to people but that they had an unconventional time reaching him, such as dialing up Trump Tower cold. "Reuters" confirmed this on their own. There was some report on someone, I think in Australia, getting Trump's cell phone from a golfer who knew Trump. I mean, this is not normal protocol. And the concern is not just protocol for protocol sake. It's that these are not secure lines. It's what kind of conversations taking place on what phones? The Clinton campaign spent a lot of time to figure out what the protocol was going to be for how she would handle calls from world leader. They're not only campaign that has ever done that. Again, this is not just a campaign that wasn't expecting to win, but they are still kind of stumbling into how to do this going forward. [Cooper:] Maria, is that what it is? I mean, obviously, you're a Democrat not Trump supporter. Is that what it is? The sort of unexpected position that they now find themselves in sort of playing catch up? Or is there a larger problem? [Maria Cardona, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, I think that's part of it. And I think, you know, to be completely realistic, given that nobody there, at least, you know, Trump himself has never been in government, I think we should give him a little bit of time to figure this out. I can't believe I'm saying this. But [Cooper:] Do you want to go over to this table? [Cardona:] Hang on. But I think the concern is that what we are seeing now isn't just sort of disarray because you need some time to figure things out. I think the bigger problem here is that because he likes to be unconventional, that really does foment uncertainty in the world stage, and with these world leaders. Well, if he's unconventional about how to get even in touch with him, what is it going to mean for the relationships that he's going to need to continue to move forward on the global stage and on the global arena? And I think furthermore just quickly about the issue we were talking about earlier, unconventional is one thing. But bringing in your son- in-law and the whole lot of conflict of interest that Trump himself has, I think that is the biggest concern for the American people and people that are looking at this as like and you guys were worried about Hillary Clinton and the conflict of interest, are you kidding me? Look at what's before you. We don't know what's in his taxes. We don't know what relationship he has with all of these foreign governments that he now perhaps owes tons of money too, and he's going in the position to make laws, regulations and implement who knows what kinds of executive decisions that could benefit them. [Cooper:] And I can imagine some Trump supporters here and saying, you know what, maybe a little fear on the part of folks overseas, our allies overseas, or, you know, kind of uncertainty, maybe that's OK to kind of keep them on their toes? [Navarro:] Well, I think the operative word there is allies. These are supposedly our friends. So, hopefully, they shouldn't feel uncertainty or fear. I wish he would spend more time combating Putin, combating ISIS, combating Kim Jong-un than he does combating "The New York Times." I mean, this is a guy who has been in office now, has been president- elect for seven days and has been tweeting repeatedly about "The New York Times." Stop being obsessed about a newspaper in the United States. They're not your enemy. There's people who are hacking into our electoral system that are our enemy. And you need to start focusing on that. Look, I actually welcome the idea of a son-in-law coming into the White House. I prefer him to a white supremacist, anti-Semite. [Cardona:] But you're getting both. [Navarro:] I think you need, no, he's orthodox Jewish. I think you need a Trump whisperer. I think you need a Trump manager. I think Jared Kushner, and everybody know him, tells me he's a very smart guy, very grounded, discrete, focused and serious. I think he's got his father-in-law's ear. And if he can advise Trump, restrain Trump, discipline Trump and contain Trump without Trump realizing he's being restrained, contained and disciplined, that's a very good thing for America. [Cooper:] Well, also, the reporting is that is part of the role that Steve Bannon played in the campaign, sort of trying to get Donald Trump to not tweet some things and successfully do that. Although, obviously, he brings with him a lot of other things. But Ana raises an interesting point about Donald Trump's obsession with media coverage and watching television and watching cable news, obviously, reading "New York Times" and reading all the reporting most presidents, at least that I can remember in modern times, have not done that. President Obama talked about not really watching on a daily basis, you know, cable news. I think George W. Bush didn't either. At a certain point, does Donald Trump stop doing that? Can he stop doing that, Jeff? [Lord:] Sure, I think he can. [Cooper:] Really? Really? [Navarro:] When or without needing medication? [Cardona:] Wow [Lord:] The one thing I would say is presidents do President Obama was, whether he watched it or not, was obsessed with FOX News. He was obsessed with talk radio. Bill Clinton was obsessed [Cooper:] Well, right, they are critical of it. But they're not listening to it constantly. [Langley:] They are not responding to it. [Cooper:] I mean, to have the president elect tweeting about the "New York Times," tweeting about [Lord:] Right. But I think that this is part of his appeal to be perfectly candid. I think that [Cooper:] You don't see it as a slight character flaw for a president? A potential danger that your focus I mean [Lord:] No, no, seriously. [Cooper:] I know a lot of famous people. I don't know of anybody who watches as much news about themselves and follows, probably has every magazine they are ever been on the cover of. [Lord:] I think it helped him to do that. I think it helped him structure his campaign and what he was going to talk about and et cetera. [Langley:] Plus, he was trapped on a plane a lot of the time honestly, you know, when he was going to all these states. He really was trapped on a plane and watching it. [Cooper:] Plenty of candidates are and they are reading. [Langley:] This is true. I think he's going to become so busy he will have to stop watching quite as much television but it is very important to him [Cooper:] to be in touch. I get that. [Navarro:] He's got 4,000 appointments to fill. He's got a chaotic transition is going on. How the hell can he not be that busy now? [Cooper:] I think Monica's point is really interesting and Maggie follow-up on it. He I mean, Jeffrey, I think you mentioned this yesterday. Twitter is a way for him to feel in touch with people. There's large rallies, which according to reporting, or the "New York Times," he wants to continue those. Let me finish. It is a way for him to feel in touch with people and I guess watching the shows is as well. [Haberman:] It is a way for him to feel that people are hearing from him directly. It's even just being in touch with people. People felt he was talking to them in this campaign. That's what Twitter did, that's what those rallies did. He communicated regardless of what people think about the message he did communicate very specifically to people. [Cooper:] Let her finish. [Haberman:] I'm coughing so much. I'm barely getting through the sentence. [Cooper:] Ay, yi, yi. [Haberman:] But it was also a way for him to get around the mainstream media. What I think he's not figured out, I was thinking about this last week and I thought about it again when Monica was talking, I don't think he realizes yet what his days are going to be like. The days of the president are very, very different than the days of a candidate, which is basically being on a plane, and going from rally to rally. However many he would do a day, toward the end, it was a lot, it was not always like that. They are trying to impress that your life is about to change dramatically. So, what he's doing right now doesn't necessarily reflect what we will see later. I just think the reality of the job will catch up to him at some point. [Cooper:] You know, it's interesting, we're about to hear from Hillary Clinton. This will be her first remarks don't know exactly what she's going to say. We're going to bring them to you and monitor them also if she's not talking in topic. Do you expect her I mean, what role do you see her taking on? [Cardona:] That's a great question, I think, she's going to continue to be involved in all of the issues that she has cared deeply about her whole life. Issues having to do with women, having to do with kids. Perhaps some kind of global work. I'm sure she will be continuing to work with the Clinton Foundation. Her voice will continue to be heard on a lot of things. [Cooper:] So, you think this foundation continues a pace as it has been. [Cardona:] Absolutely. That is my thought. [Cooper:] Especially now because there's no conflict of her [Cardona:] That's exactly right. And the tremendous work that the Clinton Foundation has been doing from day one in terms of saving lives, I think is something that should be something that continues from a global perspective. [Cooper:] Ana, for those who oppose Donald Trump, you were a never Trumper, what is the role you see for those people whether they're Democrats or Republicans, do they is there a time where they are waiting to give Donald Trump a chance and see what happens? Or does the resistance continue throughout? [Navarro:] Both. Look, I think on the one hand, he's now the president of all of us. And if he fails, we all fail. And the cost of failure is really scary. If he fails on national security, if he fails on detecting a terrorist attack, American lives could be in danger. It is a scary, scary thought. So, we should all be hoping that he succeeds, that he has a good administration, that he can create jobs, that he can stabilize the economy, that he can do good for the country. That being said, if he doesn't, if he continues doing things like appointing perceived white supremacists, if he continues not speaking out on the division, the racial attacks that are going on in the streets of America all over the country, then hell yes, we've got remain vigilant. We're not going to remain silent just because he's now president. I want him to be a good president but if he's not a good president, I have every right like an American, every one of us does, to protest, to be vigilant, to hold him accountable, to make sure that he is the type of president that we as an American people deserve. [Langley:] Anderson, two things. I've talked to people at the transition today and they are speech soon that does address the fears, the protests and that kind of thing, because he does need to come out and say I am going to be a president for all people. I understand there are a lot of fears. [Cooper:] But he did say the night he won. But you are saying more substantive. [Langley:] Yes, I think the pressure is building upon him to come out and say something. And I do know, in particular with Jared Kushner, that he is but he was one of the ones that helped draft a lot of his speeches during the campaign, that he's actually working on something that will discuss with his father-in-law that addresses that. A second thing is in addition to what you said about the economy, not just national security but on the economy and wanting to bring jobs. You know, yesterday you had IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, a female CEO of an iconic company, send him a letter to say I am willing to help you, make this country stronger. And so I think it is going to be interesting now to see if he then touches back with the CEOs in the business community that are willing to give him a chance. And I had lunch with a bunch of CEOs yesterday. And they said to me that Jared Kushner was one of the people that gave them hope, because they think he is a very calming influence on Donald Trump. And he is a bright guy. [Cardona:] If he does do that. If he does do the speech which is something that I mentioned he should do from the get go because even though his speech the night of the election was very magnanimous and very gracious. Five minutes of nice words does not make up for 15 months of insults which is what a lot of these communities of color and women in general have felt his campaign was what his campaign was all about? And then bringing in someone like Steve Bannon just kind of rub salt in the wounds. If he is able to do that and he does it an incredible way, I think that it's a very good first step but emphasis on the first step. He has to make sure that he follows-up his words that he wants to be the president of everybody, not just those who brought him to the White House with actual actions. [Langley:] There you see question I ask as if, well will he speak about Steve Bannon and the Alt-right and all that and I got the feeling no that... [Unidentified Female:] I'm sure that won't happen... That one he said... [Lord:] What I think he needs to do and the greatest contribution, one of the really big contributions he can make here, is stop this division of people to do communities of color and this that and the other thing. We're all Americans here. And I do think the as I've said many times that we have been divided repeatedly, repeatedly into different groups and it only produces bad results. [Navarro:] OK, let me respond to that. Look, those are really pretty words and I appreciate you say them and I actually think you say them genuinely because I know you. But here's a problem. He unleashed this. He was a dividing factor. He inserted it into the rhetoric. He has been talk about the division and dividing us into the Mexicans and non-Mexicans and immigrants and Muslims for the last 18 months it is now his responsibility to put Humpy-Dumpy back together. [Cooper:] Hillary Clinton is taking the first public remark tonight since conceding the election. She is in Children's Defense Fund event tonight in Washington. She's just taken the stage right now. Let's just listen in, see what her remarks are on. We don't have really have much guidance or any guidance on what she's going to be talking about. Let's just listen in. [Hillary Clinton , Fmr. Presidential Candidate:] Oh thank you. Thank you, thank you. Oh, it is so wonderful to be here, with all of you on behalf of the Children's Defense Fund. I was listening backstage as Marion went through the 45 years that we have known each other and even reminded me of some things that I have not recalled. Namely that this event was the very first event that my husband and I went to after he was elected president. And so it is especially poignant and meaningful to me to be here again with all of you. And I want to start by congratulating the terrific young people that we are celebrating tonight. You will hear more about each of them because each has faced painful challenges, violence and poverty, abandonment. But they never gave up. They never stopped reaching, never stopped dreaming and yes they have beaten the odds. They call Troy the little poet who could. He's an artist on the basketball court and a flourishing writer in the classroom and he dreams of becoming a film maker. Bethany lived in one foster home after another. But with the help of a wonderful teacher and her own determination, she is thriving and hopes to become a doctor so she can care for others. Carlos, left a difficult childhood in Guatemala, made to it America all by himself. Then he took a second journey making it all the way to college where he is studying to become an engineer. Janet's secret weapon is her beautiful voice and her musical talent. Music had helped her overcome every obstacle that life has thrown in her path. And Ujavelle, persevered through domestic violence at home and bullying at school and found her voice producing a student television show at school and now she has set her sights on becoming a the journalist. [Cooper:] We're going take a quick break, we're going to keep monitoring Secretary Clinton, bring you any news that she may make tonight, bring that to you. Coming up next, my conversation Megyn Kelly and her new memoir, the Fox News anchor opens up about her controversy with Donald Trump during the campaign and a lot more. [Allen:] And welcome back. U.S. President Barack Obama took issue with Donald Trump's speech at the convention this week saying the idea, America is on the verge of collapse is not true. Friday speaking with CBS news Mr. Obama said people should not give into fear. [Unidentified Male:] Mr. President when Donald Trump spoke to his convention he talked about the security threats. He painted a very dark picture. Now there has been a terrorist attack in Germany. Doesn't that suggest he's right about the darkness? [Barack Obama, U.s. President:] No, it doesn't. Terrorism is a real threat. And nobody knows that better than me. One of the best ways of preventing it is making sure that we don't divide our own country. That we don't succumb to fear and we don't sacrifice our values. And that we send a very strong signal to the world and to every American citizen that we're in this together. [Allen:] Hillary Clinton has chosen Virginia Senator Tim Kaine to be her running mate in this presidential election. CNN's Jeff Zeleny takes a look at Kaine's political background. [Sen. Tim Kaine, U.s. Presumptive Democratic Presidential V.p.nominee:] Are we ready for Hillary? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine new partners on the Democratic ticket. [Kaine:] Do you want a you're fired president or a you're hired president, right? [Zeleny:] It may be an antiestablishment year but Clinton's running mate is an insider. A U.S. senator from Virginia and a former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. [Kaine:] And if I have anything to do with it we'll win again. [Zeleny:] By selecting Kaine, Clinton is betting that experience in government not sizzle is the best way to defeat Donald Trump. [Kaine:] Elections are just the beginning. The real work starts tomorrow. [Zeleny:] He's neither flashy nor a show boat. A seemingly safe pick and steady hand, just what Clinton told Anderson Cooper she is looking for in a vice president. [Hillary Clinton, U.s. Presumptive Democratic Presidential Nominee:] I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen. That's the most important qualification. [Kaine:] I'm Tim Kaine. [Zeleny:] So who is Timothy Michael Kaine? A decade ago as governor of Virginia he introduced himself in the Democratic response to President Bush's State of the Union address. [Kaine:] I worked as a missionary when I was a young man. And I learned to measure my life by the difference I could make in someone else's life. [Zeleny:] It was that stent as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras that shaped and now distinguishing him. He learn fluent Spanish and still speaks it today, which makes him a different kind of attack dog against Trump. [Kaine:] If you're a Latino, he's going to trash talk you. [Zeleny:] Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas. [Kaine:] The best decision I ever made was moving to Richmond to marry my wife Anne 26 years ago. [Zeleny:] He built his political career in Virginia rising from city council and mayor of Richmond to lieutenant governor and governor. [Kaine:] Thank you all so very much. [Zeleny:] He is 58, ten years younger than Clinton. Known well inside the party but not beyond. [Kaine:] I'm not the one with the biggest profile, I'm not the one that's the best known. [Zeleny:] He signed on with Clinton early. This time around endorsing her in 2014 more than a year before she declared her candidacy. For an original Barack Obama supporter, it was a chance to make up for lost time. [Obama:] Give it up for Tim Kaine. [Zeleny:] His politics are more moderate than the liberal strange driving today's Democratic Party. He's a Catholic. Outwardly moved by Pope Francis' visit to Capitol Hill last year. His views on abortion are more conservative than most Democrats. As he explained in this interview. [Kaine:] I'm personally opposed to abortion and the death penalty. And I've lived my life that way. Law is what it is and I'm going to carry out the law. I'm going to protect women's legal rights. To make their own reproductive decisions. [Zeleny:] He's also spoken out forcefully against the administration for failing to seek congressional approval to fight the Islamic state. [Kaine:] The war against Isil was just, it's necessary, its noble but it's illegal. There's been no congressional authorization for this war. [Zeleny:] It's an open question whether Kaine fits the mold of today's red hot politics yet his selection could help soften Clinton's partisan edges. [Kaine:] When it comes to our leadership in the world, trash talk ain't enough. We need a bridge builder and we've got a bridge builder in Hillary Clinton. [Allen:] Jeff Zeleny reporting there. In British politics new Prime Minister Theresa May is off to a running start. She wrapped up meetings with German and French leaders it's taking on the opposition at home. Our Robin Oakley has more for us from London. [Robin Oakley, Cnn Correspondent:] Britain's second woman prime minister took just two days to slash and burn David Cameron's cabinet and assemble her own team. Larry the Downing Street cat was almost the only established figure to keep his place. Week two, the phase is only quickened. Keen to show post-Brexit Britain would still play a world role, this is made took charge Monday of a debate back in back in Britain's Trident nuclear missile system. Would she be prepared to press the button to cost maybe 100,000 lives? [Theresa May, Britian Prime Minister:] The whole point of a deterrent is that our enemies need to know we would be prepared to use it. [Oakley:] First box ticked. With the help of 140 opposition labor MPs who voted with her while their learder Jeremy Corbyn defined his party's official policy and condemned nuclear weapons. [Jeremy Corbyn, Labour Party Leader:] Questions to the prime minister. [Oakley:] Wednesday came the next test the political bear pit of question time. Prime ministers must dominate to survive. 23 of Corbyn's MPs have voted no confidence in him, so many have resigned post that he'd to get those that remained to double up on some jobs. Unwisely the Labour leader asked a question about unscrupulous employers and she skewered him. [May:] There are many members on the opposition benches who might be familiar with an unscrupulous boss, a boss who doesn't listen to his workers. A boss who requires some of his workers to double their workload. A boss and maybe even a boss who exploits the rules to further his own career. Remind him of anybody? [Oakley:] Her performance certainly reminded her own conservative MPs and the media of somebody. Another box ticked. But leaders must carry conviction on the world stage too. The Britain Brexit decision has not pleased E.U. leaders who don't want destabilizing delay. The Britain's Brexit decision hasn't pleased E.U. leaders who don't want destabilizing delay. So that evening it is off to Berlin to see Germany's chancellor. The new prime minister promised an orderly departure from the [E.u. Theresa May, British Prime Minister:] Two women who if I may say so, I think get on with the job and both wants deliver the best possible results for the people of the U.K. and the people of Germany. [Oakley:] The body language was promising, so was the message. [Angela Merkel, German Chancellor:] On this I think that a good preparation is important and this is also in the interest of the E.U. and we will wait for Great Britain to enter the application and trigger the article. [Oakley:] Mrs. May had bought some time where it mattered most. But before Brexit, French President, Francois Hollande had warned darkly that it would bring consequences. So on Thursday, Paris, having previously urged to immediate negotiations, Mr. Hollande too now agreed Britain needed time to prepare. But he still wanted talks as soon as possible. FRANCOIS HOLLANDE, FRENCH PRESIDENT, The new prime minister has had a dream start. British officials were happy too, with a continental trip that has opened communication channels. But the key sticking point remains. The E.U. won't open its markets to a Brexit Britain that refuses to accept free movement of people. Mrs. May remains at among that she will deliver on her promise to restrict immigrant entry. For now, long pass. Robin Oakley, CNN, London. [Allen:] We return to our top story after this, the shooting rampage in Munich, Germany. Just who was this 18-year-old gunman? [Paul:] Now, to China. Look at this new video we are getting in, after another round of explosions today. This is at the same site where that massive blast killed 85 people earlier this week. That is the smoke billowing into the air today. Well, the overnight explosions were followed by what a remarkable story here, another rescue. Yes, a second survivor has just been pulled from the rubble. Will Ripley is at the site since the first explosion on Wednesday. Will, first of all, can you tell us more about what you might know of this latest survivor that was rescued? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. There have been several rescues I'll tell but moment. I have to say the air quality has gotten noticeably worse the last few minutes or so, we have all put on our masks. You can see workers here handing them out to people who don't have them. There are concerns since some fires have reignited at a blast site which is a couple of kilometers that way. Concerns that there's toxic smoke may be drifting toward the populated areas. It's the reason why this emergency shelter here was evacuated earlier today and a lot of families and children were bussed to what's considered a safer location closer to downtown. I do want to show you the video of the firefighter who was rescued and interviewed today. This is a 19-year-old first responder with a really incredible story. He was on the scene with his crews fighting this fire on Wednesday when the huge explosion happened and he was actually laying on the charred ground for 31 hours before he was rescued. Listen to what he tells us about what he remembers. [Zhou Ti, Firefighter:] I only remember the first blast was very loud. I was on the ground, hands covering my head. I don't remember what happened after that. [Ripley:] And then in addition to that, there was also a man, a 50- year-old, who was rescued today. We are still working to get more information about him and there was a pregnant woman who actually went into premature labor during the explosion and she has given birth and we are told her child, while premature, is doing OK and expected to survive. The death toll did rise sharply. Officials say 85 people are confirmed dead. And look at this, this is really heart breaking. Look of these names of these white boards here are people who family members are coming here looking for. These are the names of the missing. The official number of missing is only in the dozens, but you can see along this wall, Christi, just how many people are writing messages, an indication that perhaps the numbers here, the number of missing, the number of dead, could take a very grim turn in the days to come. [Paul:] Goodness. Will, thank you so much, for bringing that all to us. We appreciate it very much. [Blackwell:] Wow. Sex, lies, and questions of a cover-up. We got to tell you about this bizarre love affair that's pushing two state lawmakers into the national conversation with calls for them to step down. Also, disturbing evidence out of Syria and Iraq that ISIS fighters are now using chemical weapons against the Kurds. We'll have the latest from the Pentagon. [Berman:] Coming up at the top of the hour, a truly mind- bending CNN special report, "The Secret Life of G.I. Joe." Last September, investigators north of Chicago were trying to figure out who killed the police officer known likely as G.I. Joe Gliniewicz. By October, they say they discovered thousands of erased texts revealing disturbing information about the man everyone had considered a hero. [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] The messages that interest investigators the most are the ones that suggest Fox Lake's hero law enforcement officer may have tried to arrange a hit on the new Village Administrator, a woman named Anne Marrin. When you read the text, you saw he wanted to put a hit on the Village Administrator, what was your reaction to that? [Unidentified Male:] Holy crap. [Brown:] Commander Filenko is talking about a Facebook message from early April of 2015. In it, Gliniewicz writes to a woman, "Being forced to retire by new village administrator. Work life has been a living hell the last two months. Close to entertaining a meeting with a mutual acquaintance of ours with the word white in their nickname." Investigators claim "White" is code for a high ranking gang member. Authorities say, when they interview the woman, Gliniewicz was messaging, she says that lieutenant told her, he wanted a gang member to make a hit on Marrin. [Berman:] Pamela Brown joins me now. So Pamela, when did investigators start suspecting the Gliniewicz's death might actually be a suicide? [Brown:] The very first week, John. FBI, investigators, others, started having doubts but he was actually murdered by these three men that he radioed in about because of some inconsistencies at the crime scene. There were signs of a struggle because his equipment had been dropped, but yet his uniform was in perfect condition. His body didn't show signs of a struggle. In addition, phone records show that he was at the scene of where he died nearly 30 minutes before he actually radioed in to dispatchers. And so they were wondering, what was he doing in that time? Then they looked through his personnel file and there was a several accusations where he had drinking problems, there was a sex assault lawsuit, but really the game changer here, John, for them to reach this decision of suicide, was when they looked at those deleted texts. They saw that he wanted to put a hit out on the Village Administrator, that he was stealing money from the explorer account, this is a group of teens that he was training to be law enforcement officials. And that he'd set up a sham marriage for his son. Clearly this is not the man that they thought he was. [Berman:] Yeah, I guess not. And clearly the investigation not over yet. Pamela Brown, thanks so much. Cannot wait to see this special. Such a fascinating story. I know we covered it here on "360." That does it for us. A lot going on tonight. Thank you so much for watching. We'll see you again at 11 p.m. Eastern for another edition of "360." And CNN's special report "THE SECRET LIFE OF G.I. JOE." Starts right now. [Cooper:] There's more breaking news tonight. Jimmy Feigen, the fourth U.S. swimmer involved in the Rio gas station affair is on his way out of Brazil. Meantime, USA Swimming has weighed in on scandal involving Feigen, Ryan Lochte and two other swimmers saying they don't condone, "lapse in judgment and conduct" that led us to this point. Yesterday, Brazilian police said Lochte's account of being robbed at gun point isn't true, that he and the others actually vandalized the Rio gas station. Lochte has now apologized for his behavior. Nick Paton Walsh has the latest. [Nick Paton Walsh, Cnn:] Gold medalist, Ryan Lochte took to Instagram today saying he apologizes, "for my behavior last weekend for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking focus away from the many athletes," fulfilling their Olympic dreams. Lochte and three of his teammates stopped to the gas station in Rio early Sunday, surveillance video appear to support police accounts. But at least one of them vandalized the station, urinating outside and damaging property. The man then get into that taxi and were confronted by security officers off camera, money reportedly changed hands. Lochte had publicly described the encounter as an armed robbery. [Ryan Lochte, U.s. Olympic Swimmer:] They pulled us over. They pulled out their guns. They told the other swimmers to get down on the ground and then the guy pulled out his gun. He cocked it, put it to my forehead and said get down. [Walsh:] The police say the American swimmers reached an agreement with the armed guards to pay for damages while the gold medalist has now apologized and entirely changing his story. "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country with a language barrier," he posted, "and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave." [Mario Andrada, Rio 2016 Spokesman:] We obviously, accept his apology. [Walsh:] The International Olympic Committee chiming in, as well. [Andrada:] It's clear that the Brazilian population was kind of felt humiliated. [Walsh:] Lochte has been back in the U.S. for days. One of his teammates board [inaudible]. And Brazil Rio's Mayor saying he feels "pity and contempt for all of them." James Feigen was not allowed to leave Brazil until he paid nearly $11,000 to a national sports charity. Civil police say Feigen and his lawyer agreed to the donation during a court appearance. Jack Conger and Gunnar Bentz returned to the U.S. just this morning. The two were being pulled off their original flight by Brazilian authorities Wednesday. They were given their passports back only after giving statements to police. All of this as the U.S. Olympic Committee tries to clean up the mess left behind in a statement, it said, "The behavior of these athletes is not acceptable nor does it represent the values of Team USA." But the USOC also stopped short of saying its athletes lied, their security guards, "displayed their weapons, ordered the athletes from their vehicle and demanded a monetary payment," the statement reads. [Cooper:] And, Nick joins us now from Rio. So how is this apology from Lochte being received there in Rio? Because, obviously, there were a lot of folks who were very offended there. [Walsh:] Well, we had clear reaction from the USOC's apology about the men's conduct, which was OK, thank you, apology accepted to some degree. The broader issue here is that armed robbery is no joke in this city, Anderson. As you well know, you know, this is a country plagued by petty crime which often leads to murder to some degree. So, the idea that you might try and exaggerate what happened to you to justify some vulgar behavior about the same gas station is deeply offensive particularly at a time when Brazil is very much on edge to make sure its image is as burnished as possible for these games. At the same time, we have this very messy moment where it really comes down to who felt what as firearms were, "on display" and this negotiation happened about paying money to calm the situation down. At the end of the day, Ryan Lochte has done a big disservice to his reputation here. Frankly, I think, it comes down to had he not given that interview suggesting he was really held at gun point with the pistol to his forehead this whole issue wouldn't have turned into four or five days worth of international diplomatic wrangling, but its occupied most people's attention at the end of the games here, it's highlighted the crime that Rio wished wasn't so much part of its daily radar and it's really taken attention away from the sport damaging the image of Team [Usa. Cooper:] Yeah. Nick Paton Walsh. Nick, thanks very much. Joining us now is CNN sports analyst and "USA Today" columnist, Christine Brennan. I understand, Christine, you're getting some new information from sources about possible disciplinary actions for Lochte. [Christine Brennan, Cnn Sports Analyst:] That's right, Anderson. I've been working the phones and talking to people who are involved with the decision making of this is the U.S. Olympic Committee and USA Swimming. And it is I am certain that Ryan Lochte will be suspended. He has not been suspended yet. And that decision may not even come for a few days. They've got to get obviously everyone back, talk to all these people, not just one athlete, not just Michael Phelps with the marijuana picture and that's a three-month suspension by USA Swimming. There are a lot of people to talk to. But Ryan Lochte and all the other swimmers, I am sure, will be suspended. It may well be USA Swimming doing the suspending and the USOC also suspending or they may actually do it together as one. But there's a lot yet to come. There is no doubt that discipline will be strict. It will be tough on them. The U.S. Olympic Committee is very angry and USA Swimming. We saw it in their statements. They are unhappy that the games were basically hijacked for almost a week by this drunken rampage of these three Americans, obviously, late early actually on Sunday morning. [Cooper:] Now, after this apology from Lochte, do we know what kind of impact this may have or is having on sponsors? [Brennan:] We know we've been trying to reach sponsors. They've been going quiet. One of them, interestingly said, Anderson, that they're going to follow the lead of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Well, I am certain that the U.S. Olympic Committee is going to end up suspending Ryan Lochte or in concert with the USA Swimming, as I mentioned. So if you're following the lead of the USOC then that tells me that you're not happy and you may well want to eventually drop him. So we don't know yet for sure. We also know that the apology may have helped. I had one person tell me that the only way for Ryan Lochte to not have a lifetime ban would be to apologize. They were waiting for that apology and they have now, of course, received it, but it was a bit of an explanation and an apology, hedging on some things and I'm not so sure that everyone's happy about that, either, so. [Cooper:] Right. [Brennan:] Throw all of that in the mix, Anderson, there's a lot going on. [Cooper:] Yeah. I mean, he didn't really cop up to kind of details of, you know, what he actually did. This $11,000 payment that one of the swimmers, not Lochte, agreed to pay to a Brazilian charity as part of the deal to avoid prosecution, what more do we know about that? Because I understand it went to a good group which is actually has connections to the Olympics and to judo. [Brennan:] Exactly. It helps children who are learning judo here in Brazil. My sense, and as a PR situation, really, to me, this whole story has become all about public relations. We're never going to know exactly what happened. [Cooper:] Right. [Brennan:] There's going to be a he said, he said going on the whole time. We know that. But my sense is if these other swimmers want to start doing some good work, they'll also be doing that. [Cooper:] Yeah. [Brennan:] And Ryan Lochte, who again, for those few days basically nothing, we understand the legal side of it, but this is in the court of public relations and at this point, I think Ryan Lochte should be probably thinking of doing some of those things, as well. [Cooper:] Yeah. Well, extremely, a lot of kids in need and a lot of communities in Brazil. So, he could do a lot of good. Christine Brennan, thanks so much. Up next, more breaking news, a new Zika warning from the CDC for popular vacation destination right here in the United States. Plus, an update on that little boy, dazed, confused, bloodied after surviving an air strike in Syria. Some welcoming news about how he is doing. Of course, so many others' stories have yet to be told when we continue. [Whitfield:] From political scandals to the growing refugee crisis, 2016 was a momentous year. CNN's senior international correspondent Clarissa Ward takes a look at the top 10 international stories. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] We begin our top 10 with Brazil, a country whose rollercoaster of scandals and triumphs made news the world over. A mosquito born Zika virus outbreak leading to a spate of rare birth defects. Then, a political crisis that rocked the corridors of power. [Unidentified Female:] The Senate removed Dilma Rousseff as president. [Ward:] All this a backdrop to Brazil's moment in the sun. [Unidentified Male:] The whole world will be watching Brazil as it hosts the Olympics. [Ward:] Which despite a few setbacks was widely considered a success. [Unidentified Female:] The Turkish military announcing it has taken over the country and imposed martial law. [Ward:] In the dead of night, machine gunfire rings out as a coup attempt takes over. And almost as quickly as it began, it was over. The president survives the coup attempt, but some 290 others would not. Seeking retribution, President Erdogan would go on to detain and dismiss tens of thousands of people. A diplomatic thawing sees a U.S. president touch down on Cuban soul for the first time in 88 years, infuriating Fidel Castro. Eight months later. [Unidentified Male:] Breaking news out of Cuba, Fidel Castro has died. [Ward:] For some, grief for the loss of a revolutionary. For others, celebration for the death of a ruthless dictator. Cuban exiles thrilled as they remember a tyrant who imprisoned and executed his opponents and brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. A global migrant crisis worsening by the minute, 65 million people now displaced. [Unidentified Female:] 2016 has been the deadliest year ever for migrants and refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean. [Unidentified Male:] Among those rescued, this five-day-old infant peering out of his pink blanket. [Ward:] Wars, terror, poverty, seeing migrant camps across the world swelling to unsustainable levels, one camp in France bulldozed to the ground. [Unidentified Female:] What is this life? Have mercy on us, have mercy. [Unidentified Male:] I wanted to tell you are not alone. [Ward:] Coming in at number six, seismic stations around the world pick up on the unmistakable signs of North Korean aggression. But this time it is different. [Unidentified Female:] North Korea exploding its most powerful nuclear warhead ever. [Unidentified Male:] The equivalent of at least 10,000 tons of TNT detonated deep underground. [Ward:] The question now, will the next warhead be mounted on a missile. [Unidentified Male:] When you have this many tests, you are eventually going to get it right. [Ward:] Unimaginable acts of terror in the name of ISIS leave a bloody trail beyond the borders of Iraq and Syria. [Unidentified Female:] Two explosions rocking the main terminal at Brussels airport. [Unidentified Male:] Across town in the center of the city, a bomb exploded on a metro train. [Ward:] Those three suicide bombers killed 32 people. Three months later, another airport is hit. Three men wearing explosive vests carrying AK-47s exiting a taxi curbside, shooting at panicked travelers before blowing themselves up. And 44 people would never make it out of that Turkish airport. [Unidentified Female:] About six to eight gunmen have taken over this bakery restaurant in Dhaka in this more affluent, posh area of the city in Bangladesh. [Unidentified Male:] Military commandos moved in. The siege ended with 13 hostages saved but 20 others dead at the restaurant. This is CNN breaking news. [Unidentified Female:] We are following breaking news out of France. [Unidentified Male:] More than a mile of carnage as the truck drove down the beachside promenade killing as many people as the driver could. [Ward:] A day of celebration for French independence ending with the slaughter of 84 people. While the so-called soldiers of ISIS waged war in cities across the world, back in Iraq, the land they once laid claim to was being taken back. [Unidentified Female:] The Iraqi city of Fallujah we understand has been eliminated. Iraq's victory is claiming victory in Ramadi. Breaking news in to CNN. In Iraq and offensive to retake the key city of Mosul from ISIS is now underway. [Unidentified Male:] One came right at me. [Ward:] CNN's own team would later make it inside the city limits of Mosul and very nearly would not make it out. [Unidentified Female:] We realized we're trapped, our MRAP takes a direct hit. We need to move but every time we try, gunfire drives us back. [Ward:] Arwa Damon and her team would spend 28 hours trapped. An estimated 1 million civilians are still within this embattled city. Across the border in Syria, another hellish landscape unfolds. It's biggest city, Aleppo, the epicenter of this horror. [Unidentified Female:] This is what hell feels like. [Unidentified Male:] The Syrian's regime's latest aerial assault. [Unidentified Female:] Gallon drums filled with explosives and shrapnel shoved out of helicopters. [Unidentified Male:] They say nine people still stuck under that rubble. [Ward:] A dazed and shell shocked boy pulled from the wreckage of his home would become the bloodied face of Syria's suffering. [Unidentified Female:] He hasn't cry once. This is Omran. He is alive. We wanted you to know. [Ward:] Coming in at number two, Russia flexing its military muscle at home. [Unidentified Female:] Vladimir Putin moving nuclear capable missiles to the border with Poland and Lithuania. [Ward:] And on a global stage. [Unidentified Male:] The U.S. is blaming Russia for bombing a humanitarian convoy in Syria. [Ward:] Moscow using its superior arsenal to turn the tides of war in favor of Syrian president Bashar al Assad. [Unidentified Female:] He told us that Russian and regime forces target hospitals cynically and deliberately. [Ward:] The diplomatic vacuum between the U.S. and Russia intensified with activations of hostile acts still shrouded in mystery. [Unidentified Male:] A series of cyber-attacks on Democrats indicate Russia is trying to sway the election for Donald Trump. [Ward:] And in our number one slot this, the surge of populism across the west as voters rejected the establishment. Many feeling ignored by politicians and left behind economically. [Unidentified Male:] This is CNN breaking news. The people have voted to leave the European Union. Dare to dream that the down is breaking on an independent, United Kingdom. [Ward:] It was a vote that took the world by surprise. One of the main forces behind Brexit, anger over immigration. [Unidentified Male:] They should go back to where they came from before we rip their heads off. [Ward:] And of course, in the U.S., where president-elect Donald Trump capitalized on the issue. [Donald Trump, President-elect:] Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States. [Ward:] The rejection of globalization resonating with voters. [Unidentified Male:] CNN projects Donald Trump wins the presidency. [Ward:] Will the march of populism continue? With elections in France and Germany coming up, 2017 promises to be an interesting year. [Whitfield:] Interesting, indeed. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much. We are just minutes away now from the first college football playoff game of the year, the Peach Bowl. We will go live to the site of one of today's games for a preview next. And with today being New Year's eve, we are taking a look at celebrations around the world. Apple partnered with Instagramers to capture the celebrations, these images coming from India. We're back in a moment. [Grace:] Prom season approaching all over America, but not for gorgeous 16- year-old Maren of Jonathan Law High. This honor student girl stabbed dead in the hallway of her very own suburban high school. By whom? Her would-be junior prom date, angry, because she says no to the prom. In the last hours, a sweetheart deal? Is the so-called prom killer set to walk free and did this teen girl victim warn the school before her murder and they did nothing? [Unidentified Male:] Police say high school junior, Maren Sanchez, was attacked by a classmate. She was slashed in the neck, chest and face. They say the attack happened at a stairwell at her school around 7:00 in the morning. [Grace:] Straight to Steve Kalb, reporter with the Connecticut Radio Network. Steve, thank you for being with us. Could we start at the beginning? What happened? [Steve Kalb, Connecticut Radio Network Reporter:] The report goes like this. Apparently, it was Christopher who asked Maren if he could take her to the prom. She said no. He was upset, came back and it was the next day and slashed her and stabbed her and killed her. Then, went to the school and said was asked and said, I did it, arrest me. [Grace:] Everybody, you are seeing shots of this young girl, this teen girl, honor student who turned down an invitation to the prom. Tonight, we are learning not only is there a sweetheart deal in the works for this guy, could essentially walk free in less than half the time the law calls for. But not only that, did she tell a guidance counselor that she was afraid of him, that he`d been acting erratically and was focusing a lot of his anger on her? And they did nothing? Steve, joining us from Connecticut Network, what do we know about that? [Kalb:] What we know is that she informed the school that, in fact, she was concerned. The school is now one of those being sued in a complaint because they told his parents, they told Christopher`s parents, the guidance counselor did, but didn`t do anything else. Christopher was out of school for a week, and then came back. And apparently all of the checks that were supposed to be in place to ensure that nothing happen to her, at least from the appearances at this point, fell through. [Grace:] Stunned. I mean, you take your child to school, you watch them go in the door, you assume they are safe. And here, this little girl had told the school she was afraid of Plaskon, afraid of telling him no. and they did nothing? And she is stabbed dead, a bloody death, lying in a pool of blood right there in the school hallway? This is what her family says. [Edward Kovac, Maren Sanchez`s Cousin:] Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening with her friends and classmates. Instead, we are mourning her death and we are trying as a community to understand the senseless loss of life. [Elizabeth Feser, Milford Superintendent Of Schools:] Vibrant, very, very involved in Jonathan Law High School, an incredible contributor, someone who is loved and respected by both her peers as well as her students. [Grace:] To Joseph Scott Morgan joining us tonight, Certified Death Investigator, Professor of Forensics at Jacksonville State University. Joe Scott, you have studied the injuries and the mortal knife wounds to her. What did you learn? [Joseph Scott Morgan, Certified Death Investigator, Professor Of Forensics At Jacksonville State University:] This is a slashing, Nancy. This is an excruciatingly painful, painful death where she was left to bleed out in a stairwell. She`s slashed across the surfaces of her face, the anterior neck and also her chest as well. She essentially bled to death, exsanguinated. This is not a quick death. She would have been left to lay there and essentially, the life just leeched out of her body, in this environment which our children are supposed to be safe. [Grace:] Justin Freiman, help me understand why he is getting to plead Alford. In other words, he has gone into court, Justin, and he is neither confirming nor denying that he did this thing, and the judge is considering sentencing him to less than half of what he could get on this. Let me tell you something. Justin, it would be a cold day in H-E-double L, that I would take an Alford Plea, and I`ll tell you why, Justin. Because later on, when you want to use that guilty plea to a similar transaction, there`s no record that they ever said under oath, I did it. I plead guilty to it. What they do, Justin, is they go in court and they go, I neither admit nor deny that I did it, but I will accept a sentence. That`s what they do. It`s the easy way out. Once in awhile you have to do it but it`s not a good idea. So not only is this Plaskon guy not ever having to admit he did anything wrong, he`s showing no remorse whatsoever, he`s going to get less than half the time behind bars that he could get? Is that what the judge is really thinking of? [Justin Freiman, Nancy Grace Producer:] That`s right, Nancy, and you are correct. All he does is say, I`m not going to fight the charges. So that`s it. What they`re asking for the prosecution is supposed to be asking for 25 years behind bars, which is the very low end. But, with the time he`s already served, which is about two years and only having to serve there about 60 percent before coming up for parole, he could actually be out in as little as 13 years. [Unidentified Male:] Cops say this boy, Christopher Plaskon, a former boyfriend, viciously stabbed the beloved high school student to death in front of students in the school hallway, all because she allegedly turned him down to be his date to the junior prom. It`s 7:15 a.m., Jonathan Law High School, kids pouring into the halls. Our affiliate, WTIC, reports court records reveal Plaskon was bitter after being jilted by Maren. His friends telling cops he was fuming and wanted her to pay, reportedly saying he wouldn`t mind if Maren was dead or hit by a bus. [Grace:] That is from "Crime Watch Daily". [Lu Stout:] Now, for nearly two years boats dragging high tech detection devices across the Indian Ocean have failed to find any trace of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. And on Sunday, one of these sonar vehicles searching the ocean floor was lost after colliding with an underwater volcano. Now the vehicle is called a toefish was being pulled by this search vessel, the Fugro Discovery. Now Australia's transport and safety bureau says the Fugro Discovery won't be able to resume search operations for another 12 days. No, it has been five years since the Arab Spring uprising spread into Egypt. But there won't be any celebrating in Cairo's Tahrir square. Ian Lee reports on the aftermath of the uprising and the dashed dreams of millions of Egyptians. [Ian Lee, Cnn Internaitonal Correspondent:] Arab leaders quaked at the sight of Tahrir. Millions of Egyptians took to the square, a force for change demanding a better life. That was 18 days in 2011. The masses returned to do it again in 2013. Shortly after the new government cracked down, police arrested Yousef during a protest, charged with threatening national security, he says. We are concealing the university student's identity. He is afraid for his safety. [Yousef, Torture Victim:] They electrocuted me with two wires to the chest and the back. I was screaming in pain. My torturer said the electricity was weak. Plug it into is the AC. The shock sent me and two guys holding me back a few meters. [Lee:] Yousef languished in prison for over a year. How did you deal with the torture? [Yousef:] I cried hard. I felt extremely weak, impotent and crushed. I broke a piece of glass and felt that I wanted to end all of this. I wanted to die. [Lee:] CNN can't independently verify Yousef's story, but Egyptian human rights lawyers say his it is not unique. [Ragia Omran, National Council For Human Rights:] The use of extreme force, violence, torture violations in prisons and especially in police stations. It has gone up on the rise. [Lee:] One report detailed police abuse in 2015. In it, nearly 500 people died in police custody, 700 cases of torture were documented. In the lead up to the anniversary of the revolution, activists tell us the government is cracking down on any perceived threats, including making arrests as well as raiding cultural centers and private homes. [Timothy Kaldas, Tahrir Institute For Middle East Policy:] There is a message to anybody that would consider protesting, that it won't be tolerated this time around. [Lee:] Egypt minister of interior defended his tactics as legal on state [Tv. Magdy Abdel Ghaffar, Egyptian Interior Minister:] Questions are being raised now about some practices that violate human rights. Well, they are necessary because of the reality we live in. We are facing a ferocious wave of terrorism that Egypt hasn't witnessed in modern history. [Lee:] Among the wave of terrorism, ISIS in Egypt has killed over 1,000 people, including hundreds of civilians. But Yousef sees the government's tactics at counter productive. The government gives the terrorist organizations a kiss of life. The youth join these groups as a result of the government's oppression and terror. They don't give the young people a way to vent their anger. Five years on, for many the hope of Tahrir has been replaced by despair. Ian Lee, CNN, Ciaro. [Lu Stout:] And that is News Stream. END END [Cuomo:] Probably ultimately unhealthy. The soft science is that kind of talk that you're talking about. Stick with the facts, show what he does and what he doesn't do. People will decide. [Unidentified Male:] We can't even stick with one thing. There's a new thing every moment. [Cuomo:] Stick with us. We'll get to all of it. [Camerota:] Thank you. And thanks to our international viewers for watching. For you, "CNN NEWSROOM" is next. For our U.S. viewers, NEW DAY continues right now. [Donald Trump , President Of The United States:] Documents and papers that were illegally I stress that illegally leaked. [Rep. Nancy Pelosi , Minority Leader:] The president is flirting with danger. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Florida:] There is going to be a bipartisan investigation. [Trump:] People attempt to cover up for a terrible loss Democrats had under Hillary Clinton. [Unidentified Male:] We want to get to the bottom of these activities. [Unidentified Female:] There are so many aspects of Andrew Puzder's record that are concerning. [Manu Raju, Cnn Correspondent:] Puzder withdrew the nomination to be labor secretary. [Camerota:] Are other cabinet nominees in trouble? [Trump:] I'm looking at two-state and one-state. [Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli Prime Minister:] Like you, Mr. President, I think that if we work together, we have a shot. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota. [Cuomo:] Good morning. Welcome to your NEW DAY. Up first, two House Republicans are asking the Justice Department's inspector general to investigate leaks of classified information following the firing of former national security adviser Michael Flynn. [Camerota:] The president defending the man that he ousted, calling him, quote, "wonderful" and saying that Flynn was treated very unfairly by the media. There's another high-profile exit from Mr. Trump's cabinet. All this as the president is breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy on the Middle East. We are in day 28 of the Trump presidency. Let's begin our coverage with CNN's Joe Johns. He is live at the White House. Good morning, Joe. [Joe Johns, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Alisyn. Just so much has happened. They're looking for a new labor secretary this morning, as well as looking to settle on the name of a new national security adviser. It's been a brutal week for this new administration and it's not over yet. [Trump:] General Flynn is a wonderful man. I think he's been treated very, very unfairly by the media. As I call it, the fake media in many cases. [Johns:] President Trump defending the man he just fired, national security advisor Michael Flynn, and slamming the intelligence leaks that exposed Flynn's lies to Vice President Pence about his communications with a Russian ambassador. [Trump:] I think it's very, very unfair what's happened to General Flynn, the way he was treated, and the documents and papers that were illegally I stress that, illegally leaked. [Johns:] One crisis after another frustrating the president's own party and now threatening to affect their agenda. [Mccain:] Of course I'm concerned. All of us should be concerned. [Johns:] But some Republicans are towing the president's line, showing more interest in the legality of the leaks rather than Flynn's ties to Russia. [Unidentified Male:] We need to find out who the leaking moles are. [Johns:] The chairs of the House Oversight and Judiciary Committees both demanding the inspector general launch, quote, "an immediate investigation into whether classified information was mishandled." [Sen. Marco Rubio , Florida:] The Senate Intelligence Committee is undergoing we met again yesterday. There's going to be a bipartisan investigation. All of this is going to be in the context of that. And we're looking for facts; and we're looking for evidence; and we're looking for details. [Johns:] Meanwhile, a small bipartisan group of the Senate Judiciary Committee is calling for an expanded investigation, asking the Department of Justice and the FBI for a briefing and the release of transcripts of Flynn's conversations with Russia, as Democrats call for a larger independent investigation. [Rep. Nancy Pelosi , Minority Leader:] The American people have a right to know. [Johns:] But key Republicans continue to resist. [Mccain:] On the Flynn issue, I think that we need to ask questions first and find out what is the scope of that before the investigation needs to be expanded. [Johns:] The turmoil over Flynn's resignation also overshadowing the high-profile visit from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. [Trump:] Thank you very much. [Johns:] The president breaking with decades of U.S. foreign policy, abandoning a two-state solution to Middle East peace. Mr. Trump no longer insisting on the creation of a Palestinian state and making clear he isn't giving Netanyahu a blank check. [Trump:] As with any successful negotiation, both sides will have to make compromises. You know that, right? [Johns:] And in yet another blow for the Trump White House, the president's embattled pick for labor secretary, Andrew Puzder, withdrawing his nomination, a day before he was set to get a Senate hearing, over eroding support and because of his business record and personal character issues. On top of all this, we're still waiting to hear the extent of which the administration will revise or rewrite the controversial travel ban that so far has been tied up in the courts. The president today holds a listening session with members of Congress Chris and Alisyn. [Cuomo:] Joe, appreciate it. Joining us now is Republican Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio. He's the founding chairman of the House Freedom Caucus. We've got important stuff to talk about, about the potential future for healthcare. And then we have the news of the moment. The president putting out word that he believes that Michael Flynn is a wonderful man and that it was the media treating him unfairly. He just fired this man, compelled his resignation. Does this tape by the president concern you about what you still don't know about that situation? [Rep. Jim Jordan , Ohio:] Well, Chris, a couple things. One, staff can't mislead people they work for. So I understand that and why Mr. Flynn was is no longer working at the White House. I get that. Second, let's let the Intelligence Committee do their work, get the initial facts out there. If further investigation is warranted, then we'll do it at the Oversight Committee. And I'm open to that. Certainly supportive of that is that's what the facts point to. No one's ever accused me on not being tough on my own party. So let's do that, but let's also as they said yesterday let's also look at this leak issue. Let's get all the information for the American people. But let's start first with the Intelligence Committee. They're the ones with jurisdiction. And let's get the facts from them and then we can proceed. [Cuomo:] Now part of the facts here already need to be highlighted because there is political speculation going on on the side of let's look at the leaks. He keeps putting out that why was Michael Flynn wiretapped? We do not know that Michael Flynn was wiretapped. But it keeps being said by people who want this investigations into the leaks, and it deserves to be called out. Also what deserves to be called out and I'm interesting to see if you agree with this. You want to look at the leaks, Jason Chaffetz, but you do not want to look at the underlying substance that lead to the leaks. [Jordan:] No. I'm open to all of that, but let's proceed in a deliberative way here. Let's let the intelligence committees get the fact. If, in fact, then the Oversight Committee wants to do more, I'm willing to do that. Like I said before, we certainly did that in the last administration, and I've never been one who's been accused of not being tough on our own party. You can ask former Speaker Boehner about disagreements we had. So I'm willing to do that. But let's proceed in a deliberative manner to get the facts from the American people, including how this leak happened. How classified information was given to the press. How that is out there and as you point out the wiretap and everything, what was behind all that, as well. [Cuomo:] I don't know if there was a wiretap. We've always had leaks and that's not something that's new and certainly this president... [Jordan:] Just because we always had it doesn't make it right. [Cuomo:] That's true, but... [Jordan:] Let's get to the bottom of it. [Cuomo:] Politicians are way too selective on when they are outraged about it. [Jordan:] I'm not. [Cuomo:] You had a president who celebrated WikiLeaks, mentioned him as much as he could. Now he's got a problem with leaks. But that's politics. You said let's do this in an all deliberative fashion. But Benghazi, you accomplished half a dozen probes by five different committees. The formation of a select House committee, 33 hearings, $7 million on Benghazi. This you want to take it? [Jordan:] Yes, there was that was after the Intel Committee, the Foreign Services Committee, Foreign Affairs Committee. The Oversight Committee had hearings for a long, long time before Speaker Boehner called for the select committee. It was years after. So we did the deliberative process. But when you get to a point where Ben Rhodes is misleading the American people, and we know Secretary Clinton misled the American people, that's what warranted calling for the select committee. [Cuomo:] And you know that the White House is saying that there was misleading facts here. You have the president who's blaming the media for a firing that, by all accounts from inside his own staff, he was behind. You have just as many discrepancies of fact here. You have, arguably, as broad or broader implications of national security... [Jordan:] And Chris... [Cuomo:] ... when you don't seem as urgent about it. [Jordan:] And Chris, no. I'm going to take the same approach we took with the example you brought up in the Benghazi affair. We're going to take the same approach. Let the standing committee begin to do the work. Let's get the facts. If the Oversight Committee needs more work, we'll do that. If at some point there's a requirement, or it looks like a select committee, I'm open to that, as well. But let's proceed in the same manner we did for that situation. [Cuomo:] Which was that when you started to sniff out that there was political resistance to getting to what you saw as the truth, you blew it up and went to a bigger situation. Here, we already have Rand Paul, who holds himself out as an independent spirit among Republican- inclined people. And he says can't waste time having Republicans investigate Republicans. You guys are in control of all of these committees. The idea that it would be done divorced from partisanship is hard to see, given the lack of curiosity from Republicans about the Flynn situation thus far. [Jordan:] There's not a lack of curiosity on my part. And as I've said many times, I'm willing to look at the facts, and if it means sometimes going against your own party, I'm willing to do that. But let's do this in the right way the American people deserve. Let's get all the facts on both. What happened, the underlying situation with Mr. Flynn and on the leak situation, as well. [Cuomo:] But I'm saying we just haven't seen the political capital being expended here that would give confidence that you guys want to do it. I had Chris Collins on here to explain away your leadership, being absent about the Flynn resignation, saying they have Valentine's Day breakfast with their spouses. Now of course, he was joking, but it's because the whole thing was a joke. Nobody said anything, because this was a president and they're still in the same party. [Jordan:] I'm not viewing it as a vote. I'm viewing it as a very serious issue, both what happened with the communications and the leak itself. And I think we should get to the bottom of it and proceed in a straightforward fashion and if further investigation is warranted and the select committee is warranted, I'm open to that, as well, but let's proceed like we should and get the truth. [Cuomo:] Should the transcript be put out? [Jordan:] I'm open to that, too. Let's see, but I mean, again, we want to make sure that it's put out in the right way and redacted if there's serious classified information there. So I'm open to that, as well, but let's proceed through this in deliberative fashion. Let's get to the truth on all accounts. [Cuomo:] Now, as we segued into talking about, Obamacare, because I'll take you at your word about how we proceed on Michael Flynn. We'll see what you guys do and don't do. And we'll take the scrutiny from there. But look at what we're talking about right now. The president may say the media developed this. We both know that's not true on the face of the facts. This is about what Michael Flynn did, how it was dealt with within the White House; and how it became exposed. But we're not talking about getting people jobs, about a tax agenda and about all the things that were supposed to be done that, frankly, waved in the Trump presidency. So how much of a distraction is this coming from the White House? [Jordan:] Chris, we talked about it yesterday. We had a press conference where the House Freedom Caucus, conservatives in the House and Senate, unveiled what we think should happen to Obamacare, repeal it and replace it. [Cuomo:] But it's not prominent dialogue coming out of the White House. That's my point. [Jordan:] Well, that's because you guys are talking about the Flynn situation. We could just as well be talking about what we did yesterday, which was this press conference on a key issue. One that the American people elected us to do: repeal a law that's a complete disaster, where the American people were repeatedly lied to about what this law was going to do. Like your plan, keep your plan. Like your doctor, keep your doctor. Premiums will decline. Premiums will decline $2,500. Deductibles will decline. Web site will work, web site's secure. Emergency room visits will decline. They actually went up. We were also told those co-ops that were formed were going to be wonderful. Eighteen of those 23 co-ops have already went bankrupt. Everything they were told about this law was a lie. [Cuomo:] Right. [Jordan:] And now we've come forward with a plan to repeal it, the past the same legislation we passed a year and a half ago, put that on President Trump's death, just like we put on President Obama's desk. And then the plan that Senator Paul and Senator Sanford put forward, which is free market and patient-centered healthcare that will actually lower costs for all families, that's what we want to put in place. That's what we had a press conference on yesterday. So we could be talking about that versus what you want to talk about. [Cuomo:] Well, I want to talk about it as a qualification, because it's a matter of national security. Because if you flipped parties in this situation, and you had a Russian spy ship off the coast, you had them buzzing a U.S. Navy ship, you had them launching a missile, and the president of the United States as a Democrat said nothing, you'd be going nuts. And on top of that, we had what Mike Flynn did. Misled the vice president about it. Was kept out of the loop. There are plenty of questions, but let's stick to this issue, because it does matter to the American people. There is a report out there that says if you repeal the things you need to, to put in the plan you want to, you're going to have your own cost overrun issues. Estimates go anywhere from about 20 to 25 percent of premium increases. Because you're removing a lot of revenue mechanisms. How are you going to keep costs down in your new iteration of health care for Americans? [Jordan:] Chris, we want a marketplace to form again. Right now, there's been so many communities across this country, and there's only one insurer in the Obamacare exchange. We want a marketplace to form again. The only way you can do that is to repeal all of Obamacare and then put in place the kind of insurance market that will actually bring down costs. Right now we don't have a market out there. [Cuomo:] What does that mean? [Jordan:] Every other industry, whether you encourage health savings accounts. You allow interstate shopping for insurance. You would allow, actually, plans that are much more high-deductible plans that don't have all the mandated coverages in them, so that certain people can shop for the kind of plan that... [Cuomo:] Health savings accounts, that made plans cheaper; and high deductibles are what you're trying to avoid. [Jordan:] Well, not high deductibles. I mean I mean a catastrophic plan. But you put it in a market that will allow those kind of things to happen. That's what's going to bring down costs. Right now there are so much mandated coverage in every single plan. Some people don't need all the coverage at this time, but they have to buy a plan that drives up the cost. [Cuomo:] Pre-existing conditions weren't getting covered. Caps were closing people out of treatment that they needed. Those protections, those protections are not just popular. They were important. [Jordan:] They are important, and they are part of the plan that Mr. Stanford and Mr. Senator Brock brought forward. We say it in a responsible way. If you had insurance you can't get kicked off. But you can't wait and say, "I've never had insurance," and then something bad happens to your family. And oh now, you have to ensure me? That's not going to work either. That drives up the cost for all family. So our plan says if you've been responsible, you can't get kicked off and there's no lifetime caps on the coverage you can get if you had insurance and you maintain insurance. [Cuomo:] But that's going to be a tricky opposition to sell people about when you become sick and you need something, maybe you can't get it because of your previous choices. But I get you. I get you. These are complex questions. We're going to have to talk them all out. And to your point, to start this interview, it deserves attention. You will get more time on NEW DAY to discuss this conversation than you will anywhere else. I promise you that. [Jordan:] I look forward to it. [Cuomo:] All right, Jim, thank you very much. As we get more details, please Congressman, come back on. Let's hash this out. [Jordan:] You bet. [Cuomo:] Alisyn. [Camerota:] Are you giving away lunches? [Cuomo:] Not to you. Got to give to get. [Camerota:] Exactly. Unless it's a set. [Cuomo:] One white apple. You're all taken. [Camerota:] I do like a free lunch. Democrats demanding answers about Michael Flynn's communications with a Russian ambassador before President Trump took office. Some lawmakers think there's more here than meets the eye. A member of the Judiciary Committee tells us what they are looking at next. [Paul:] New this morning, another close encounter between Russia and the U.S. military in the Baltic Sea. This time, a U.S. reconnaissance plane was barrel rolled by a Russian jet in true, some say "Top Gun" style. [Blackwell:] But Russia's defense ministry released a statement and here's part of it. Western media reports about SU-207 flying dangerously close to U.S. RC-135U in skies of Baltic seas are not consistent with reality." All this comes after Russian jets flew within a few feet of the U.S. military ship in the same region earlier this week. CNN's Brian Todd has details. [Brian Todd, Cnn Correspondent:] Some call these moves striping runs without the firing. U.S. officials still furious over the buzzing of an American navy ship by Russian combat jets. America's top diplomat calling the incident in the Baltic Sea reckless, provocative. [John Kerry, Secretary Of State:] Under the rules of engagement, that could have been a shoot down. So, people need to understand that this is serious business, and the United States is not going to be intimidated. [Todd:] In wave after wave, Russian ships buzzed the USS Donald Cook, at certain points coming within 30 feet of the ship. [on camera]: No margin for error, right? [Rear Adm. Terence Mcknight , Former Strike Group Commander:] That's correct. I mean, you are talking feet. We're not talking yards, or miles. We're talking feet. And, basically, if this pilot sneezed or looked at different, and the plane went another way, bang, it could have hit the ship. [Todd:] The Russian jets were not armed. Russian officials are defending their actions tonight, saying these fly-byes were in accordance with international rules. But analysts say we're in a very dangerous period. [Olga Oliker, Center For Strategic & International Studies:] It's absolutely the worst it's been since the end of the Cold War. [Todd:] The USS Cook was operating in international wars, but only about 70 miles off the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, where the Russians have military ports. That, plus the capabilities of the American Aegis destroyer likely got under Vladimir Putin's skin. [Mcknight:] This ship has the most advanced radar capability in the fleet of the United States Navy. It can not only detect missiles, but it also can shoot down missiles. And this is probably what irritated the Russians, not only that it was operating out in the sea, but also close to their shores. [Todd:] Putin is being as aggressive as ever, using his ramped up military to threaten his neighbors, provoke the U.S., push every envelope, all with the clear message, we must be respected. [Oliker:] Putin's narrative is one of strength, right? So, at home, he got us off our knees. Internationally, it's, we are capable of standing up to the United States and other countries to assert our interests. [Todd:] The danger, of course, is a miscalculation or mistake that caused us a provocation. And U.S. officials are now worried about a possible intelligence breach. During those fly-bys, this helicopter came very close to the USS Cook. It was probably taking high-res pictures of the radar, weaponry and communications on board to give to Russian commanders and defense contractors. Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. [Blackwell:] Bernie Sanders live on "STATE OF THE UNION" today, along with Governor John Kasich. [Paul:] Yes, the candidates sitting down with "STATE OF THE UNION" later this morning. Dana Bash giving u a preview of her interview, next. [Becky Anderson:] Left out in the cold. Refugees face harsh winter conditions, fleeing their homes in hopes of a better future. But the doors to Europe are starting to close as public opinion chills. We're going to get you the latest reports from Sweden from Norway and from Jordan in the Middle East throughout this hour. Also ahead tonight... [Frederik Pletigen, Cnn International Correspondent:] Far south, is the biggest gas field in the world with around 1,800 trillion cubic feet of reserves. [Anderson:] Iran is expanding its refining facilities despite low energy prices. We'll get a behind the scene tour of the country's most modern gas facility. Plus, boycott of Donald Trump. U.S. Republican presidential front runner says he won't participate in the next televised debate. Find out why a little later. [Announcer:] Live from CNN Abu Dhabi, this is Connect the World with Becky Anderson. [Anderson:] A very good evening from here at just after 8:00. We start on a continent that is seeing its worst refugee crisis since the Second World War. But Europe's attitude appears to be hardening towards those crossing its borders. Now, in the past 24 hours, Germany's government backed a new law making it easier to deport foreign criminals after migrants were accused of attacking hundreds of women on New Year's Eve. And Denmark passed a bill allowing the government to seize valuables from asylum seekers to finance their care, a move many politicians openly say they hope will deter others from coming. With all this as leaders debate whether a borderless Europe can survive with Slovakia's prime minister saying the bloc is committing, quote, ritual suicide with its slow response. And rights groups warning of an erosion of basic European freedoms. Well, we begin tonight with our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon in Sweden where the killing of a worker at a refugee center is provoking anger. Arwa joining me from Malmo. And the stabbing occurred on the same day, Arwa, as police in Sweden demand more resources to stem rising violence, apparently they say, linked to the migrant crisis. What is the response there, firstly, to this attack? All right, looks as if we have lost Arwa. Some communications problems there. Let's move on. We'll get her back for you. Many who fled the Syrian war remain housed in refugee camps in neighboring countries. And for them, a harsh winter is adding to the misery away from Europe to Jordan where Jomana Karadsheh reports from the Zaatari camp. [Karadsheh:] It's cold, it's grim and unforgiving. This is winter in Jordan's refugee camp. This family has lived through three winters here. For them, the season means time for traditions from home. They sing this song for Syria. Syria, don't forget us, we will return. Hope is still alive, they sing. But these are just words. They don't think they'll ever see Syria again. This 18-year-old would like to go to Europe or Canada. Living here is not a life. It's an existence, she says. They say they won't risk their children's lives to reach Europe. Instead, they'll wait to be resettled by the United Nations. [Andrew Harper, Hnhcr:] The Syrians don't necessarily want to go to Europe. They to want return back to the villages, their towns, their homes. Europe is an alien concept for them. They're scared. For them to put their lives at risk, to put their children's lives at risk to make this journey, wouldn't it be far better to provide the support to countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to help these countries do what they want to do, which is provide the protection? [Karadsheh:] Around 80,000 Syrians live here in this refugee camp. Over the past three years, it has evolved into a city of sorts with markets, restaurants and schools. There are weddings that take place here daily and 50 to 60 babies are born here every week. This camp is the only home this nine-month-old has ever known. When her father and his family fled, they thought it would be for a few months. That was in 2012. Of course, we expect to return, even if this baby is 60, we will continue to hope, he says. With no end in sight to the conflict back home, people old and young can only wonder how many more winters like this they'll have to endure. Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, Zaatari Refugee Camp, Jordan. [Anderson:] Well, that is Jordan. Back to Europe for you where we are witnessing a hardening of attitude towards asylum seekers and migrants. Our senior international correspondent Arwa Damon is in Sweden as we were suggesting where the killing of a worker at a refugee center there provoking anger. Arwa, hopefully on the phone for you now from Malmo. What do we know about the circumstances of this attack on a young social worker, Arwa? And what's the response locally? [Arwa Damon, Cnn International Correspondent:] Wel, there hasn't been a lot of new details that happened divulged at this stage. We do know that she was a volunteer at this asylum center, that it's seen that she was [inaudible] in the asylum center there around 7:00 or 8:00. We don't know their nationality. One of the [inaudible] 15-year-old teen is the one who was responsible for stabbing and killing her seemingly, perhaps, in sort of an argument broke out. Is is for now being called an accident as opposed to an act of terrorism. But it's really going to underscore the need for more security and also this increase in unrest within the asylum seeking community itself. It is to a certain degree a by-product of overcrowding at these various different asylum centers and the challenge of finding housing and accommodations for everybody. And also the duration that people are having to wait before they are moved on into more permanent accommodation. All of this, of course, is a byproduct of the shear volume of numbers that Sweden has taken in, 163,000 in 2015, which does make them the highest number of asylum seekers per capita when it comes to European nations. Now, there is frustration understandably, of course, there is anger surrounding all of this, but there still remains within Sweden a very hospitable attitude towards these asylum seekers who are coming in, although there is a sense among the police force that it is trying to beef up its own ranks that they do need additional support from the government, they do need to have more offices on the ground, because so many of them have been diverted to secure asylum centers. So many of them have been diverted to do border checks, border control where there used to be none, to check people's IDs at train stations. And so that is leading to gaps in security in other parts of the country as well. And there's also this sense amongst a fair number of Swedes that we have been talking to of, you know, we're very happy that our country is being this generous, but we shouldn't be the only ones. Other European nations need to also start pulling their weight, Becky. [Anderson:] All right, Arwa Damon is in Sweden for you. And all this hour, we will be focusing on the global migrant and refugee crisis and how it is reshaping the world to Norway a little later in the show. Well, a man in Denmark has been diagnosed with the Zika virus. Doctors believe he contracted the mosquito-born illness on a recent trip to Latin America. He is expected to leave the hospital today. Brazil is considered ground zero for Zika, which is spread by mosquitoes and is now reported in at least 25 countries in Central and South America. The virus in pregnant women has been linked to a serious birth defect. Well, health officials in some countries are asking women to avoid getting pregnant. Shasta Darlington joining us now from Recife in Brazil. And we spoke at this time last night. How, as this story began to get traction, how are women reacting to this concern and suggestion from authorities? [Shasta Darlington, Cnn International Correspondent:] You know, Becky, we're seeing all sorts of reactions. I think starting with the pregnant women and the women who have recently given birth to babies with microcephaly here in Brazil and here is this region, which as we've said is really ground zero, there's a lot of disbelief. A lot of women are saying I never had the symptoms of Zika virus, how could this be. The problem really is that the virus itself is mild. The symptoms are a rash, headache, maybe a mild fever. And up to 80 percent of cases are asymptomatic. So, if these women aren't tested when they have the virus, in many ways it's they'll never know whether or not they had it. So, you have people blaming whether everything from vaccines to maybe dengue fever. There's a lot of confusion and fear and panic. And more than anything, fear and panic. So when you go to the maternity wards, you see mothers lining up fearful for getting these tests. Will they discover that the developing heads of their babies still inside their wombs, are they small? You know, it's just what we hear and see here is outright panic. And it's not surprising given that we just had new figures out today showing that since the Zika virus was detected in Brazil in the first half of last year, more than 4,000 cases of microcephaly have been reported. These are real people, real families, real babies. They're going to have to deal with this reality. And the comparison, of course, is in 2014 there were just 140 cases of microcephaly. So, this is very rare. And this is ground zero. We're going to see the spreading throughout the Americas. The World Health Organization said they expect the virus to reach every single country in the hemisphere except for Canada and Chile where frankly it's too cold for the mosquito that transmits it, Becky. [Anderson:] Yeah, and we've seen it moving with people across continents as well. We were discussing some 24 hours ago about the deployment or possible deployment of the military in order to try and sort of help sort things out. Is it any clearer what their role would be, if anything, at this point? How authorities feel that they might cope going forward? [Darlington:] Yeah, Becky, you know, this isn't actually a new strategy. Here in Brazil, dengue fever is endemic. They have been using army troops for years now. And what they do is they've been trained and they go door to door with health officials, and they're looking for that standing water that's the real focal point. It's where the mosquito, Aedes aegypti multiplies and thrives on more than half of the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes are actually breeding in the homes of residents. So, they go door to door, they look for the standing water. They educate the public, hand out pamphlets. They are also now handing out repellent to pregnant women. It's a great idea. They say they are going to have 200,000 troops doing it. The problem is what we have seen up until now doesn't show that it's worked. The health minister himself said that last year they had a record number of dengue cases in Brazil despite the use of these troops. So, how this is really all of a sudden going to work in the face of Zika is an open question. They have obviously got the fear factor in their favor. People are scared. So, combined with the use of these troops and the greater public becoming more educated, they are hoping to make some progress there, Becky. [Anderson:] Shasta Darlington in Brazil for you. Shasta, thank you. Still to come tonight, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani drums up investment in Europe. And one of his advisers tells us how his country is open for business. That's next. And Donald Trump is dominating political talk once again in the United States. This time it is over his decision to boycott the next televised debate. You're watching Connect the World with me Becky Anderson out of Abu Dhabi this evening. 12 minutes past 8:00. Taking a very short break. Back after this. [Blitzer:] While Donald Trump's open battled with the parents of a fallen American soldier has captured headlines, there more comments that bear more scrutiny, like this one about Russia and Ukraine. [Trump:] He's not gong into Ukraine. Just so you understand. He's not going into Ukraine. And you can mark it down and you can put it down and you can take it anyway you want." [George Stephanopoulos, Abc News Anchor:] Well, he's already there, isn't he? [Trump:] Well, he is there in a certain way. But I'm not there yet. Obama is there. And frankly, that whole part of the world is a mess under Obama. [Blitzer:] Joining us now from New York is Fareed Zakaria, host of CNN's "Fareed Zakaria, GPS." Fareed, Donald Trump tweeted this clarification, "When I said in an interview that Putin is not going into Ukraine, you can mark it down, and I am saying if I am president. Already in Crimea." And he says that the people of Crimea would rather be with Russia anyway. What message does it send when a presidential nominee of a party needs to come back, clarify his remarks on such a sensitive and volatile issue? [Fareed Zakaria, Cnn Host, Fareed Zakaria, Gps:] Well, Wolf, every time it is demonstrated that Donald Trump is plainly ignorant about some basic public policy issues and well known facts, he comes back with the certain bravado and tries to explain it away with a tweet or statement. And he did it on the Brexit, and the nuclear Triad, and also he thought that Tim Kaine was the governor of New Jersey. And this and so now it is amusing to watch how he is going to be pulling it off this time, and what is he going to be arguing, and he adds that the press hates him, and there sis a term for this kind of thing, and this is the mode of a bullshit artist, entertaining, and if the guy is trying to sell you a condo or a car, but for the president of the United States, it is deeply worrying. [Blitzer:] Evidence to suggest that he is right when most of the people who are live in Crimea, annexed by Russia, would prefer to be part of Russia than Ukraine? [Zakaria:] There is evidence for that, but it has never been the way in which we changed the borders since the end of World War II. It is important to understand that the argument that Donald Trump is putting forward about Crimea is the same argument that Adolf Hitler made about the Czechoslovakia and also, the argument of the Austrians, that these people want to be part of Germany, so I will go in and invade the country anyway. You don't change borders without some process that is, you know, legal, that is Democratic and that does not involve force. And the fact that maybe, and we are not sure, but maybe if you are from Poland and Crimea, maybe more people want to be part of Russia than Ukraine does not tell us much. The Germans in Slovakia probably wanted to be part of Germany, but it did not justify Adolf Hitler's move. [Blitzer:] Is he right about NATO, saying that most of the 28 NATO allies do not pay up their responsibility, they don't meet the financial obligation of being a NATO ally? [Zakaria:] Well, he is right. They don't pay enough, and they should pay more, and it is no an obligation that is written into the charter of NATO, and agreed upon NATO policy to spend 2 percent of the GDP on defense. But this is crucial. NATO is an automatic treaty in which an attack on one is an attack on all. That automatic guarantee is what has kept the peace in Europe since 1945 in a land where years before you had wars and devastation, and you is had peace, because the United States has said automatically and no matter what, we will come to your defense, and that is what works. And to change it, to say, well, if you are invaded, I will take a look at the books and decide how much you spent on defense last year, and on the basis of that, maybe I will and won't, is a very different kind of foreign policy. [Blitzer:] Fareed, thank you for joining us. [Zakaria:] Pleasure. [Blitzer:] And coming up, the U.S. has now launched new air strikes against ISIS targets in Libya. We'll bring you the latest developments in the grueling battle to defeat the terrorist group. New information coming in. We'll be right back. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. You made it to Saturday. Take a nice deep breath. I'm Christi Paul. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Victor Blackwell. It's good to be with you this morning. [Paul:] We want to start to quick politics here. Hillary Clinton's new running mate. That's in a moment, actually. [Blackwell:] First, though, we want to update you on the shooting rampage in Munich. You just saw part of that news conference. [Paul:] This is new video that we want to show you here as people are laying flowers and candles near the shopping mall where nine people were killed yesterday. The mayor of Munich has declared today a day of mourning. And right now, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting with her security cabinet. They are discussing this attack. This is obviously the topic of their discussion. Right now Munich, police are holding a police conference though as you just saw. Officials saying there was no indication the attacker was linked to ISIS. CNN's Will Ripley is live in Munich. Will, so now we know that he does not have, as far as they can tell, any connections to ISIS, but what else do we know? [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Christi, Victor, we know for sure, according to police that he did act alone. Even though there were rumors flying yesterday up to three gunmen, it was an 18-year-old with possibly illegally obtained.9 millimeter-handgun able to cause this, a scene that the next day is still closed off. An entire city of 1.5 million people on lockdown for seven hours. So many questions about why this teenager of German and Iranian descent would look up documents to carry out a rampage, targeting children and foreigners. [Ripley:] German police say the sole suspect in the Munich shooting took his own life. The chief calls the chaos caused by the 18-year-old German-Iranian his hardest day in 40 years of service. [Hurbertus Andrae, Munich Police Chief:] The events of yesterday, of this night makes us sad and speechless. Our thoughts are especially with the victims. [Ripley:] An intense exchange with who appears to be the shooter turned up on social media. The suspected attacker seems to have a disturbed mental state insulting Turks and other foreigners. Shots rang out Friday at a popular shopping center. Witnesses describe the gunman targeting children. [Unidentified Female:] Killing the children. Nothing but children were sitting to eat. [Ripley:] Another apparent target, foreigners. This witness says he actually aimed mainly or only at foreigners as I could see it because all the dead bodies that I've seen on the ground and the young man who passed away next to me, they were all foreigners. The response massive. Special Forces from Bavaria, reinforcements from other German states. Authorities locked down the city searching for the gunman, urging people to stay inside and avoid public areas. Restaurants and other businesses closed. Public transit shut down. For President Obama, a new attack, a familiar message. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] Our hearts go out to those who may have been injured. It's still an active situation, and Germany is one of our closest allies, so we are going to pledge all the support that they may need. [Ripley:] This attack the latest in a series of recent tragedies in Europe. Last week 84 people died in Nice, France, when a man ran a 20-ton truck through Bastille Day crowds. Earlier this week, a 17-year-old Afghan refugee with an ax injured several people on a train in Southern Germany. ISIS claims responsibility for both attacks and is calling for more bloodshed. [Paul:] I want to thank Will Ripley for that. We will continue obviously to monitor what the mayor is saying and we will bring you more as soon as we get it. In just a few hours, Hillary Clinton will be speaking live in Miami introducing her vice presidential candidate, Tim Kaine. She made the announcement on Twitter saying this, "I'm thrilled to announce my running mate, Tim Kaine, a man who has devoted his life to fighting for others." Some are calling Kaine a safe choice for the Clinton campaign saying their joint ticket provides a stable alternative to the unpredictable Trump campaign. That's one perspective. Here's what we know about Tim Kaine. The Virginia senator is one of only 20 people in American history to serve as mayor, governor, and senator, and he's co-sponsored the Iran nuclear agreement review act. Here's something else you might not know. He plays the harmonica. A little bluesy there. He's actually pretty good at it. Yes. [Blackwell:] Let's bring in CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. In addition to his harmonica skill, Jeff, what else do we know about him? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Victor, I'm not sure if we will hear that harmonica here today when he take stage here in Miami with Hillary Clinton to be introduced for the first time as her running mate. Almost certainly we are going to hear Spanish. He is a fluent Spanish speaker. It's one of the reasons that Miami was chosen for this announcement. At Florida International University where some 60 percent of the student body is actually Hispanic. It's a critical slice of this electorate for Hillary Clinton in a critical battleground state. But last night, Tim Kaine got the call from Hillary Clinton at 7:32 p.m. After that, she called a few others who were on the finalist list. She asked Tim Kaine to join her ticket. He said yes. He'll join her today. [Unidentified Male:] Are we ready for Hillary? [Zeleny:] Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine, new partners on the Democratic ticket. [Senator Tim Kaine , Virginia:] Do you want a "you're fired" president or "you're hired" president? [Zeleny:] It may be an antiestablishment year, but Clinton's running mate is an insider, U.S. senator from Virginia and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee. [Kaine:] And if I have anything to do with it, we'll win again. [Zeleny:] By selecting Kaine, Clinton is betting that experience in government not sizzle is the best way to defeat Donald Trump. [Kaine:] Elections are just the beginning. The real work starts tomorrow. [Zeleny:] He's neither flashy nor show boat, a seemingly safe pick and steady hand, just what Clinton told Anderson Cooper she's looking for in a vice president. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I want to be sure that whoever I pick could be president immediately if something were to happen. That's the most important qualification. [Kaine:] I'm Tim Kaine. [Zeleny:] Who is Timothy Michael Kaine? A decade ago as governor of Virginia, he introduced himself in the Democratic response to President Bush's state of the union address. [Kaine:] I worked as a missionary when I was a young man. I learned to measure my life by the difference I can make in someone else's life. [Zeleny:] It was that stint as a Jesuit missionary in Honduras that shaped and now distinguishes him. He learned fluent Spanish and still speaks it today, which makes him a different kind of attack dog against Trump. [Kaine:] If you're a Latino, he's going to trash talk you. [Zeleny:] Born in Minnesota and raised in Kansas. [Kaine:] The best decision I ever made was moving to Richmond to marry my wife, Ann, 26 years ago. [Zeleny:] He built his political career in Virginia, rising from city councilman and mayor of Richmond to lieutenant governor and governor. He's 58, ten years younger than Clinton. Known well inside the party but not beyond. [Kaine:] I'm not the one with the biggest profile. I'm not the one that's the best known. [Zeleny:] He signed on with Clinton early. This time around. Endorsing her in 2014, more than a year before she declared her candidacy. For an original Barack Obama supporter, it was a chance to make up for lost time. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States Of America:] Give it up for Tim Kaine. [Zeleny:] His politics are more moderate than the liberal strain driving today's Democratic Party. He's Catholic. Outwardly moved by Pope Francis' visit to Capitol Hill last year. His views on abortion are far more conservative than most Democrats as he explained in this interview. [Kaine:] I'm personally opposed to abortion and the death penalty and I've lived my life that way. Law is what it is. I'm going to carry out the law and protect women's legal rights to make their own reproductive decisions. [Zeleny:] He's also spoken out forcefully against the administration for failing to seek congressional approval to fight the Islamic State. [Kaine:] War against ISIL is just, it's necessary, it's noble, but it's illegal. There's been no congressional authorization for this war. [Zeleny:] It's an open question whether Kaine fits the mold of today's red hot politics. Yet his selection could help soften Clinton's partisan edges. [Kaine:] When it comes to our leadership in the world, trash talk ain't enough. We need a bridge builder and we've got a bridge builder in Hillary Clinton. [Zeleny:] So Tim Kaine is viewed as a governing partner should they win the White House in November. I talked to a top senior Clinton adviser last night to say, what really led her to pick him in the end. They said simply a comfort level. She liked his experience but simply, they said, he is someone she would like to have around the west wing, someone she gets along with, trusts, and is loyal. So they appear today in Miami on the stage together this afternoon and then, of course, that Democratic Convention begins in Philadelphia next week. [Blackwell:] All right, Jeff, what more are we learning from the Republicans, their reaction to this pick? [Zeleny:] Of course, Republicans are responding, Donald Trump in particular is responding saying, look, this is a couple of insiders. This is a guy who has been in elected office most of his life. So pretty typical response. More interestingly though perhaps is the response from some progressive and liberal groups. They believe that Tim Kaine simply is not liberal enough. They think he's too moderate on many issues like Wall Street reform, some other things. So there will be definite discussions at that Democratic Convention next week. He's certainly not a Bernie Sanders liberal Democrat. But that's probably why Hillary Clinton selected him Victor. [Blackwell:] All right, Jeff Zeleny in Miami for us. Jeff, thanks so much. Don't miss the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Our live coverage begins Monday at 4:00 Eastern right here on [Cnn. Paul:] An explosive new report could offer clues in the mystery of the crashed MH-370 flight. Yes, we're still talking about this because we're just learning of the possibility that this could have been a premeditated plot of mass murder and suicide. Our Matt Rivers is following that for us. [Matt Rivers, Cnn Correspondent:] That's the big question after a "New York" magazine report claims that the pilot of MH-370 flew a simulated flight just one month before MH-370 disappeared. That simulated flight closely resembles the suspected flight path of MH-370 itself. I'll have those details coming up. [Blackwell:] Another blow to this year's Olympics, with the Rio Games now just less than two weeks away fears of terrorism and a doping scandal dominating the conversation. Now authorities are scrambling to keep the games safe and drug free. We'll tell you how. [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] Look, I was not offended by this. I thought it was at a Democratic debate in front of Democratic viewers and voters. I thought it was actually pretty funny. I think even the most ardent conservative Republicans would have to watch what is going on our side and laugh at the very least. I think what Bernie did well last night was he I don't think he was attacking secretary Clinton, but I think he did, you know, go after her in ways that we haven't seen him do thus far. You know, correcting her on her really preposterous distortion of his record, whether on the auto bailout. This is a pattern for Hillary Clinton where she takes something that he's done and omits actual important facts. When Chelsea Clinton said he was going to dismantle Obamacare, for example, I thought that was silly. To see Bernie Sanders coming back at her and saying, wait a second, that's not my record on guns, on the bailout, on Obamacare. I thought that was healthy. I thought it was good for Bernie Sanders. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Scottie, you heard Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders insist they could beat the Republican front runner, Donald Trump, in a general election campaign. How will Republicans watching this debate from your perspective as a Trump supporter? [Scottie Nell Hughes, Chief Political Correspondent, Usa Radio Network:] I think it was interesting the RNC released their talking points all about Hillary, not discounting anything that Bernie said, fact checking what Hillary said. I think the Republicans are convinced that Hillary will be the contender. Last night's debate was a clue in to how one of our guys will have to handle Hillary. Some of the tough push back that Bernie did to Hillary, yet no charges of sexism. It will be interested to see if you will see that same standard put together when you have a Republican candidate charges against her in one of these debates, they will say, he is sexist, that's why [Blitzer:] Hold on. Hold on. Hold up for a moment. We will continue this conversation. But I quickly want to go to an unrelated story. Peyton Manning, quarterback, is holding a press conference in Denver right now announcing his retirement from the Broncos after the Super Bowl win. Let's listen in briefly. [Peyton Manning, Quarterback, Denver Broncos:] a state dinner at Saint Elmo's in Indianapolis after a win. My battles with players named Lynch, Lewis, Thomas, Dawkins, Urlacher, Polamalu, Harrison, Woodson and Reid. With coaches like Fisher, Ryan, Belichick, Kippen, Phillips, Rivera, Cornell, Capers, Lewis, the late Jimmie Johnson, and so many more. I always felt like I was playing against the middle linebacker or that safety or that defensive coach, Reggi. Sitting on the bench next to me and perfecting a fake handoff to James. I will miss Thomas telling me he loved me and thanking me for coming to Denver after every touchdown I threw to him. I will miss putting in a play with Tom Moore on Sunday. On Friday, I will miss picking out the game balls with my equipment guys and talking football with the broadcast crews after the game and afterwards recapping the game with my dad and checking to see if the Giants won and calling Eli. I will miss the hand shake of Tom Brady. And I'll miss the plane ride after a big win, with 53 teammates standing in the aisles laughing and celebrating during the whole flight. I will miss playing in front of so many great fans, both at home and on the road. I will even miss the Patriot fans in Foxboro and they should miss me because they sure did get a lot of wins off of me. This is important, football fans everywhere need to know how much they meant to me over the years. Fans, you were at the core of what makes this game remarkable. I received more letters from you than I can count. Fan letters that have touched me, made me think, act. I was made mistakes and learned it is a platform that has given me a voice that can echo well beyond the game. Football has taught me not to be led by obstructions and set backs but instead to be led by dreams. Due to good genes, I'm smart enough to know those lessons can enrich who I am and where I go from here. I'm totally convinced that the end of my football career is just the beginning of something I haven't even discovered yet. Life is not shrinking for me. It's morphing in to a new world of possibilities. Pundits will speculate that my effort and drive over the past 18 years were mastery and working to master every aspect of the NFL game. Don't believe them. Because every moment, every drop of sweat, every bleary eye night of preparation, every note I took and every frame of film I watched was about one thing, the game. I look back at my NFL career, I know without a doubt I gave everything I had to help my team, walk away with a win. Other players were more talented but there was no one who could out prepare me. Because of that, I have no regrets. There's a scripture reading, II timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, finished the race." I fought the good fight, finished my football race and, after 18 years, it's time. God bless all of you and God bless football. [Blitzer:] A very emotional Peyton Manning, only 39, spending half of his life as an NFL quarterback, 18 years, fresh off of a super bowl win announcing his retirement as an active player. There you see the management and team, the Broncos, wishing him only the best. Peyton Manning, only one of the great quarterbacks of all times in the NFL. Scottie, I know you are a big football fan and I want you to weigh in on this moment. You saw him choking back tears. He got emotional, which is understandable at a moment like this. [Hughes:] Absolutely, Wolf. I will be honest, I'm in the studio and all of us are watching and are involved Peyton Manning, the year he won the national championship the year I was graduating. He has been a son to Tennessee here. A lot of emotion in Tennessee and we hope maybe he will come back and help our school teams. This means a lot to us. He made Tennessee proud in his civic and what he has given to us and how he promoted his football life. This is a big day for us in Tennessee and we are proud of everything he has done. [Blitzer:] All of us who are NFL football fans appreciate the great quarterback skills that he has showed all of these years. 18 years as a great quarterback in the NFL. He went through a lot as we know. We wish him the best. Scottie, stand by. More politics to discuss. We will turn the table and move back to that issue, the race for the White House. Donald Trump, Ted Cruz in complete agreement on one key issue, they both want Marco Rubio to drop out of the race. What are they doing to narrow the field? And what about Marco Rubio's strategy to strike back? We will assess when we come back. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Presidential Candidate:] I don't think that there is any doubt we're going to win here in New York. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I love my protesters. We have the biggest crowds and the most loyal people. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] We're not interested in behaving like union thugs, and Donald Trump needs to learn that. [Gov. John Kasich , Presidential Candidate:] We've got to have a good president. [Trump:] The Republican system is a rigged system. [Cruz:] He's unhappy that he's losing at the polls. [Trump:] Folks, those days are over. [Unidentified Male:] It's official. This is 73. [Unidentified Female:] A stunning victory. The Golden State Warriors make NBA history. [Announcer:] This is NEW DAY with Chris Cuomo, Alisyn Camerota, and Michaela Pereira. [Camerota:] Look at that beautiful sunrise. Good morning, everyone. Welcome back to your NEW DAY. Chris and I are in Brooklyn at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the site of tonight's CNN Democratic debate. Michaela is in the wind-free studio. Well played, my friend. [Cuomo:] Although I would love to see her hair out here. [Camerota:] Me, too. A major break tonight for Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders. The rivals coming face-to-face for the first time in more than a month, and it will be the last time before Tuesday's primary. Both candidates drawing big crowds at dueling rallies last night, so will the heated rhetoric that we've seen on the campaign trail be on display tonight? [Cuomo:] Meantime, a win of sorts for Donald Trump, not the kind of issue he wanted out there in the first place, but his campaign manager will not be prosecuted after allegedly grabbing a reporter's arm. This as Trump ramps up his attack on the Republican Party. Now, Texas Senator Ted Cruz making waves as well, accusing Trump's campaign of acting like thugs, while also showing his softer side at a CNN town hall last night. There are a lot of angles, and guess what? We have them all covered the way only CNN can. Let's begin with senior Washington correspondent Joe Johns, inside the debate hall here in Brooklyn, not next to the water with the wind whipping, Joe. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] Yes, feels pretty good, Chris. Look, this is the big stage where it all happens at a critical time for both of these candidates. Hillary Clinton has been leading in New York by double digits for weeks and weeks. But if you had any doubt about the support in New York for Bernie Sanders, you could look no further than that enormous rally he held last night in Greenwich Village. [Clinton:] I am so glad to be back in the Bronx. [Johns:] Rivals Hillary Clinton and Senator Bernie Sanders both hosting dueling New York rallies ahead of tonight's CNN Democratic presidential debate. [Unidentified Male:] Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! Bernie! [Johns:] Sanders revving up a massive crowd estimated by organizers to be above 27,000 in Washington Square Park. Sanders receiving a rock star welcome with celebrities before he aggressively went after Secretary Clinton. [Sanders:] Our differences with Secretary Clinton go beyond how we raise money. It goes to an issue which the media doesn't cover. That is our disastrous trade policies, which are costing us millions of jobs. [Johns:] Clinton making the case to voters in the Bronx, urging them to back her over Sanders. [Clinton:] I was honored to be your senator for eight years, and if you will give me the honor of your vote on Tuesday, we will continue to make life better. [Johns:] And keeping her attacks on the Republican hopefuls. [Clinton:] One of them denigrates New York values. Mr. Trump wants to set Americans against each other. He wants to build walls. I want us to build bridges. [Johns:] Tonight's high-stakes debate comes as the heated war of words between Sanders and Clinton intensifies. [Sanders:] I have my doubts about what kind of president she would make. [Johns:] And accusations from the Sanders campaign that the primary process is weighted in favor of Clinton. [Jane Sanders, Bernie Sanders's Wife:] It's not a democratic way to carry out an election. [Johns:] In the closing hours before the debate, the appeal to New York's diverse population of voters continues, Bernie Sanders will be speaking before the National Action Network headed up by reverend Al Sharpton and Hillary Clinton spoke there yesterday, Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Joe, thank you very much. An impressive New York homecoming for Sanders, telling a huge crowd to be bold and, more importantly, to show up at the primary on Tuesday. We got to speak with Sanders just moments before he took the stage at what could have been his most important rally to date. And the question for him was, why is this the time for decisive action? [B. Sanders:] We, in this critical moment in American history, need a vision to address the many crisis [SIC] that we face. It is time to think big. It is time to think boldly. It is time to make this country to become what I think most of us know it can become. [Cuomo:] In the crowd tonight, the people were saying the status quo is not enough; incremental change is not enough. Why? [B. Sanders:] Because the crises are so severe that just moving along little step by little step is not enough. Look, we've got a middle class that's been declining for 30 years. We have grotesque levels of income and wealth inequality. We have a campaign finance system which is corrupt. We have a criminal justice system which is broken. We have climate change, which is threatening the existence of the very planet, this very planet if we don't transform our energy system. Those are issues of unbelievable consequence. We need bold action now. [Cuomo:] The pushback is that progress is incremental, and perfection can be the enemy of progress. [B. Sanders:] That's not what the debate is about, Chris. The debate is about whether we're going to have millions of people starting to exercise their democratic power, stand up and fight back to a political system, which is now controlled by a small number of wealthy campaign contributors. That's really what it's about. Do we go along with the same old, same old establishment politics and establishment economics? Or do we revitalize American democracy, bring millions of people into the process, and start doing what the American people want and not what big money interests want? [Camerota:] With Bernie Sanders vying for an upset in New York, he just received his first endorsement from a U.S. senator. Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, he joins us now from Washington. Good morning, Senator. [Sen. Jeff Merkley , Oregon:] Good morning, and it's great to be with you. [Camerota:] Great to have you with us. So you are the first senator to endorse Bernie Sanders. Why did you wait until now to do so? [Merkley:] Well, certainly, the timing is just right for Oregon. The ballots go out in about two weeks. We vote by mail, so the ballots will be on peoples' counters for kitchen counters for about three weeks, and then we'll get to weigh in on the national debate. [Camerota:] Senator Sanders, as you know, was in the house for 16 years. He has been in the Senate for about nine years. So why do so many of your Senate colleagues why are they endorsing Hillary Clinton rather than Senator Sanders? [Merkley:] Well, certainly, when when most of them made their endorsements early in the campaign, they didn't anticipate that we would have a viable competition. So I have a little bit of an advantage in that sense of having planned to make my endorsement at the point that it was relevant for my for my home state. And I'll tell you, the way that his message, his bold, strong call for action to restore a healthy political system and an economy that works for middle-class America has gained traction and the hearts and grassroots across America in a very powerful and sweeping way. [Camerota:] So Senator, yesterday we saw these dueling rallies here in New York. Senator Sanders had one with about 27,000 people in Washington Square Park. You just saw a piece of it in our reporter's package there. But many of those people, it's been argued, are independents or they are young, maybe first-time voters. So how does he translate that enthusiasm into a win on Tuesday? [Merkley:] Well, certainly, those folks are the ones who are going to talk to their friends. They're going to be knocking on doors. They're going to be calling on others to act. And here's the thing. These big issues facing our nation, whether it is the ability to have a living wage job or is taking on climate change, young Americans are very cynical about where we've headed, and they want to see us change directions. It's Sanders who was out there early and forcefully, calling for us not to build a pipeline for tar sands in Canada. He was there forcefully, saying, "Let's not drill in the Arctic." Forcefully saying that, if we're going to save the planet from global warming, we have to leave 80 percent of the fossil fuels in the ground. And he did the same on trade, that if we're competing with folks directly, who are earning less than a dollar an hour, of course the factories are going to move overseas. And more than that, it undermines the leverage of the rest of workers in America, because when you go to your boss and say, "We need a little more on our benefits or a little more pay to get by," they will say, "Well, too bad, because we might follow the other companies to go to Malaysia or Vietnam," as anticipated in the TPP. And so these bread-and-butter and big moral issues facing us, saving the planet, it's Sanders who has forcefully articulated a vision. Now, I've got to say, we are fortunate to have two very serious, very capable candidates with great minds and great hearts. Either one of them is going to be 100 times better than the candidate coming out of the Republican circus. [Camerota:] Senator, I want to ask you about something that one of the speakers said at Bernie Sanders's rally last night. His name is Dr. Paul Song. He is a health care activist. He's also the husband of CNN's Lisa Ling. And he used profane language in describing Medicare that some thought was aimed at Hillary Clinton. So let me play that for you. [Dr. Paul Song, Health Care Activist:] I agree with Secretary Clinton that Medicare for all will never happen if we have a president who never aspires for something greater than the status quo. Medicare for all will never happen if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores who are beholden to big pharma and the private insurance industry instead of us. [Camerota:] In case you couldn't hear that well, he said, "if we continue to elect corporate Democratic whores." Dr. Song then did apologize for that language afterwards. He said, "I'm very sorry for using the term "whore" to refer to some in Congress who are beholden to corporations and not us. It was insensitive." But I think the point is that is it up to Bernie Sanders obligation to shut down some of that overheated language when it happens at his rallies? [Merkley:] You know, it's completely inappropriate, and I hope that both candidates, when their supporters go over the edge, really into the realm of insult rather than analysis and dialogue and policy, that they will pull people back. We saw early on where Bernie Sanders said, you know, all of these attacks on Hillary Clinton that are based on e-mails, totally inappropriate, not relevant. He really took the higher road there. Hillary at various moments has taken the higher road. We want to see our candidates really present their visions in a clean way. Both of them are incredibly capable and very shortly, whoever wins, they're going to have to go arm in arm. And I think that they will, but they must do that, go arm in arm into the battle in November. [Camerota:] Senator, as you know, Donald Trump has been railing against the system, the system of delegates. And he says that the system is rigged; it's not democratic. Well, interestingly, Jane Sanders, Bernie Sanders's wife, was on with our Brooke Baldwin yesterday, and she echoed that sentiment a bit. Let me play you what she says about the system. [J. Sanders:] You have to admit the way that they're doing things in terms of super delegates, in terms of how delegates are put out there, it doesn't make a lot of sense to the average person. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn Anchor:] You're not saying, yes, it's rigged? [J. Sanders:] No, we're saying it's wrong. [Baldwin:] Wrong? [J. Sanders:] We're saying it's not a democratic way to carry out an election. [Camerota:] I'm sure that Jane Sanders would not appreciate being compared to Donald Trump. She'll be on our program coming up a little later on, but is she right? Is there something terribly wrong with this system? [Merkley:] Well, it's very ironic, isn't it, that the Democrats have super delegates and wish they didn't; and the Republicans don't and wish they did have them to straighten things there out. The rules are reshaped after each election to create a better system for the future and the circumstances of the races change and it seems out of sync. I must say that I've had 20 town halls since January. People come out and are saying, "Really, all these super delegates? I mean, that much concentration at the top, does that really fit the profile of the Democratic Party?" And I've got to say, they have a great point. [Camerota:] Senator Jeff Merkley, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Great to have you. [Merkley:] You're very welcome. [Camerota:] Coming up on NEW DAY, as I said, Bernie Sanders' wife, Jane, will join us live in our next hour, so stick around for that. All right. We are just hours away from the main event. Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton face-to-face in a CNN Democratic presidential debate right here in Brooklyn. Tune in tonight at 9 p.m. Eastern only on CNN. Take it away, Chris. [Cuomo:] I will. Let's turn to the Republicans now. Senator Ted Cruz showing a softer side at the CNN town hall last night but also going after Donald Trump's team, calling them thugs in the war for delegates. Meantime, it appears the legal trouble involving Trump's campaign manager is going away. CNN's Sara Murray live in Pittsburgh with more. What do you have? [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Chris. That's right. The Trump campaign is sort of going through a pivotal moment where they're transitioning to a more traditional campaign. They're staffing up. They're doing more D.C. outreach. And now they have another distraction off their plate, a victory of kinds as they find out that their campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, will no longer face charges for battery. [Murray:] Sources confirm to CNN Trump's campaign manager will not be prosecuted for battery, following this altercation with former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields back in March. Fields, who could seek defamation charges against Corey Lewandowski, tweeting, "Office of prosecutor asked two weeks ago if I'd be OK with an apology from Corey. I said yes, but haven't heard back about it." On the campaign trail, tense moments outside a Trump rally in Pittsburgh, as hundreds of angry protestors clashed with Trump supporters. Police in riot gear tried to keep the peace. Inside, the frontrunner intensifying his war with the [Gop. Trump:] It's a rigged system, folks. The Republican system is a rigged system. [Murray:] And doubling down on claims his party is conspiring to block him from the nomination. [Trump:] The bosses and the establishment and the people that shouldn't have this power took all of the power away from the voters. [Murray:] Republican Party Chairman Reince Priebus firing back. [Reince Priebus, Republican Party Chairman:] The rules are not being changed in order to injure or benefit anybody. They are what they are. [Murray:] At CNN's town hall, Trump's main rival, Ted Cruz, railing against Trump's tactics and accusing his supporters of threatening delegates. [Cruz:] They're acting like union boss thugs. Well, I spoke yesterday to the chairman of the Republican Party in Colorado. Trump supporters put out his home address, put out his phone numbers. He got thousands of phone calls. He got death threats. Trump supporters were telling his supporters to go to his house and bring their guns. Look, violence doesn't belong in democracy, and the Trump campaign encourages it over and over again. [Murray:] And on a lighter note, Cruz's wife shared how the couple met. [Heidi Cruz, Wife Of Ted Cruz:] It really was love at first sight. [Murray:] But it was their 5 and 8-year-old daughters that stole the show. [T. Cruz:] Caroline's Daddy-daughter picnic at school, which featured all the dads running and playing games, and... [Caroline Cruz, Ted Cruz's Daughter:] My favorite. [T. Cruz:] ... your favorite was that she got to dress up Daddy in, like, this pink boa and these, like, big goofy-looking underwear and... [C. Cruz:] And that's why that was on the videotape the whole time. [T. Cruz:] Uh-oh. [C. Cruz:] And now and now it's a class video that they're sending out to all the parents. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Oh really? [Murray:] Now, Donald Trump is back to his late-night Twitter habits. He took to Twitter last night to say that Colorado did change their rules. Remember, this is a state where Ted Cruz spoke at the convention and he swooped up all of the delegates there. It's pretty clear Trump is not letting go of this idea that the system is stacked against him Chris. [Cuomo:] All right. Thank you very much. Appreciate it. We're going to be dealing with the state of play on the Republican side and the Democratic side, but this another big story this morning, actually two of them. You're going to love this. Mick, let's get back to you in the studio to deliver us some history. [Pereira:] You're going to love this, because you probably felt some vibes coming from the left coast of this country. The West Coast was popping. This is what people are buzzing about, the other big story. A Hollywood ending. The Lakers' Kobe Bryant's final game after an illustrious 20-year NBA career, and not only that, he gets 60 points, taking a career high 50 shots in last night's game. Topped it off by hitting that game- winning shot. Now, he had to share the glory with the now winningest team in NBA history, the Golden State Warriors winning their 73rd game of the season. Steph Curry didn't even play in the last quarter, and they still were able to rule like that. That was incredible. Some are saying this could be the greatest season the NBA has ever had. Alisyn, I know you have commentary. [Camerota:] You know, I do. I have so much to say about it, so I'm just not going to say anything. Yes. We don't have time. We're going to get back to politics now, Michaela, but thank you for that, those great highlights. [Cuomo:] Highlights? It's history! [Camerota:] History in the making. So Ted Cruz accusing Donald Trump's team of threatening delegates. How is the Trump camp responding? We'll ask one of his closest advisers. That's coming up. More history. [Paul:] It's always good to have your company. I'm Christi Paul. [Blackwell:] I'm Victor Blackwell. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has demanded the resignations of 46 U.S. attorneys. Now, such a purge, some are calling it, it is not unusual at the Justice Department, but sources tell us many of the prosecutors learned of their fate only through a news release. [Paul:] The White House has pledged a full court press to sell the Republican plan to repeal Obamacare, and Vice President Mike Pence is hitting the road to do just that. Later this morning, he'll meet with business leaders in Kentucky. Also on hand, the state's governor who says changes need to be made. Now, as the White House tries to sell this plan here, this health care plan, it is facing growing opposition from medical groups. In fact, the American Medical Association sent an open letter to House leadership about the American Health Care Act. [Blackwell:] It read, quote, "While we agree there are problems with the Affordable Care Act that must be addressed, we cannot support the American Health Care Act has drafted because of the expected decline in health insurance coverage and the potential harm it would cause to vulnerable patient populations." Earlier, I spoke with the president of the American Medical Association, Dr. Andrew Gurman, and asked him about his concerns about the GOP's health care plan. [Dr. Andrew Gurman, President, American Medical Association:] We need to understand that people who don't have health insurance lives sicker and die younger. So, our concerns are based on our worry that people will, in fact, lose health insurance coverage. Some of the numbers released by the Kaiser Family Foundation compared the subsidies that are available under the Affordable Care Act as opposed to the proposed legislation. And let me give you a couple of examples. Someone who is 27 years under the Affordable Care Act would get a subsidy if his or her income qualified for that, would get a subsidy somewhere between $2,500 to $4,500 depending on where they live geographically. Under the proposed legislation, there is no geographic adjustment. The subsidy would be $2,000. Now, if you're 27 years old and relatively healthy, you might be able to find an insurance policy for $2,000, $3,000, even $4,000 that would cover at least your basic needs. But if you're 60 years old, the subsidies under the Affordable Care Act would be between $9,500 and $13,000, whereas under the proposed legislation, it would be $4,000 doesn't matter where you live. [Blackwell:] Beyond your group, AARP, the federation of American hospitals, American college of physicians and other groups, oppose the bill as written. Here's how White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer characterized the president's reaction to that opposition. Let's watch. [Spicer:] This isn't about trying to figure out how many special interests in Washington we can get paid off. It's about making sure that patients get the best deal, that lowers prices and costs. So, while I have respect for some of the work that some of these Washington, D.C.-based associations do, at the end of the day, this is about patients and about the input from doctors who are on the front line of seeing patients and talking about the care that they're able to give or not to give to people. [Blackwell:] Your response? [Gurman:] Well, he talked about input from doctors. This doctor on behalf of the American Medical Association has concerns on behalf of patients that they're going to lose insurance and thereby live sicker and die younger. [Blackwell:] Sean Spicer also called for your group and groups like yours to share your ideas, shares your thoughts and make sure there's input on the bill. Has the White House, have congressional Republicans reached out to the AMA, have you reached out to them beyond this letter to be a part of the process putting this bill together? [Gurman:] The AMA has been very active in interacting with congressional leadership for quite some time in preparation or leading up to this bill. I don't know if we've had any interactions with the White House. But we certainly have spoken with congressional leadership and will continue to do so. We stand ready to engage and try to make this work for our patients. [Blackwell:] Dr. Andrew Gurman, president of the American Medical Association thanks so much for being with us. [Gurman:] Thank you for having me on. I appreciate it. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] Well, the vice president is headed to Kentucky today and his trip is meant to sell the GOP's new health care plan to the public. But the White House is struggling to get some members of its own party onboard. And the governor of Kentucky appearing with the vice president today says that he's not really a fan of the current plan. [Gov. Matt Bevin , Kentucky:] Senator Paul has ideas of things he thinks it needs to be a lot stronger. He's not as impressed with what has currently been offered, as some who have currently offered. Truth be told, I'm not either. So, I'm with him. I think there are things that need to be done. [Blackwell:] Now, he later leased a statement saying he had an encouraging conversation with the White House about the bill. It would be great to hear what that encouragement was from the White House. Question, how can the Trump administration unite the party and deliver on its promise to repeal and replace Obamacare? Here to discuss is CNN political commentator Paris Dennard. Paris, good morning to you. [Paris Dennard, Cnn Political Commentator:] Good morning. [Blackwell:] So, there are some congressional Republicans who believe that the president is making it harder to pass this bill, because he seems to be open to moving up the date and this may get into weeds of ending the Medicaid expansion here which Republicans who put this bill together say that it's crucial to keeping this bill, or getting it passed. Is the president making it harder to pass the replacement and the repeal process? [Dennard:] No, I don't. I think this is one of the key things that we have to remember about this president in particular. Donald Trump, as a candidate, always talked about the fact that he was a great negotiator. That he was someone who could bring people together at the table and come up with the best deal. Remember, he always talked about I'm going to get the best deal for the American people. So, I've always said he might make a lot of Republicans upset. He might make a lot of Democrats upset because at the end of the day, he's not an ideologue. He's someone who wants the best deal for the people. That's why he's a president that's open to both sides. That's why you have an administration who is not afraid to go to Kentucky where you have a sitting senator, a junior senator, speaking against the plan, and the governor who seems to be not 100 percent on board with it. But that's part of the process. And it's a great opportunity for the Republican Party. Republicans in Congress to work with this White House to break with the plan that's going to be more that's going to be beneficial to the American people and a better plan. I think at the end of the day, that's what Republicans want and that's what this Trump administration wants. The president wants a better plan for the American people. [Blackwell:] Now, you say that this may upset some of the Republicans in offering potentially moving up that day to end the expansion. But more than upset Republicans, this could this could kill the bill, the first phase of this three-leg stool that we heard from Paul Ryan. Is the president going to have the freedom to negotiate? Are Republicans on the Hill willing to allow this president to negotiate, if, as you say, that is his strongest asset here? [Dennard:] Yes, you know, this is a make or break moment for the Republican Party. We have long talked about repeal and replace. I advocated for review and revise. But the line is repeal and replace. And if we do this, we have to replace it with something. We can't leave people out there in the cold. And so, this is an opportunity for the Republican Party and the Trump administration to come together and say, listen, we're going to first listen to the American people and get this right. And in doing so, you have to compromise. Look, Democrats, when they passed Obamacare, the more extreme liberals were upset because it didn't have everybody covered or pieces that they didn't like, and still don't like. And conservatives and Republicans on the far right might be upset with the plan we have right now. But you have to compromise but you have to agree to come together. You might not get every single thing that you want, but I think if we can get most of it and assure people, that is what the goal should be. So, the ideologues have to put that aside and decide what is best deal for the American people and that's what I believe President Trump wants to do. [Blackwell:] Paris, quickly, why is the vice president going to make the case today instead of the president? I mean, 2009, when Barack Obama was pushing the Affordable Care Act, they didn't send Joe Biden out the door first. [Dennard:] Look, I think when you look at someone like vice president pence you have someone who has excellent relationships with the Hill. He has been a sitting he was in the Congress and he was a governor. And so, it makes sense to put him in a position to go talk to another governor because he was a former governor. It's a brilliant strategy to place someone's strengths. The president is going to be behind the scenes doing negotiation, we saw him yesterday meeting with congressional leaders, the chairs of committees. That is his strong suit. [Blackwell:] Now, it seems that the argument that you just made that it makes sense for the president to be behind the scenes, but Mike Pence has the congressional relationships it would make more sense based on your description of the strengths for Mike Pence to be working behind the scenes. And this is billed today as a pitch to the American people for the president to be out in front of a rally of supporters there in Kentucky because we know that's what he enjoys. [Dennard:] Well, this is more than just a rally. This is an opportunity for him to listen to the governor and listen to people at the company that they're going to be visiting and getting it from the people that are there. As a former governor going to speak with a current governor, he understands the issues that go on as you govern. Look, there are people like Governor Kasich and governor in Arizona who have to get expansion and they're very conservative. And so, this vice president understands the delicacies that goes on at a state level, and that's why I believe he's going to attempt to do that. And that's why when it comes to congressional relationships and really negotiating and bringing people to the table, that's what you saw from the president in the past few days because that is what he's going to do to be an effective leader for this country to give us the best deal we can to having a more affordable health care plan. [Blackwell:] Paris, thanks so much. [Dennard:] You're welcome. Thanks for having me. [Blackwell:] All right. Wednesday night, join Wolf Blitzer and Dana Bash for a live town hall with Health and Human Secretary Tom Price. He'll answer questions, maybe questions you have about the new GOP health care proposal, Obamacare and what comes next. That's Wednesday at 9:00 Eastern, right here on [Cnn. Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] Well, Syrian President Bashar al Assad calling U.S. troops in Syria "invaders". And twin bombings just rocked the city of Damascus. Dozens of people are dead, hundreds are wounded. We're going to get you the latest with a live report, ahead. Do stay close. [Curnow:] OK, I wanted to return to Martin Savidge and the breaking news out of Florida. The search for a child dragged away by an alligator at a Disney World resort. Hard to imagine I'm even saying those words. A devastating wrestle between a father and an alligator, and the child still missing. [Martin Savidge, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes Robyn, this is supposed to be of course the happiest place on earth. That's how often Disney World is described. Tonight is a very different scene that's playing out. It's about a half mile away that the search effort is now being conducted on The Seven Seas Lagoon. This all transpired around five hours ago. A little after nine o'clock in the evening local time. A family of five, they had come from Nebraska and were playing along the waterfront right beside the Grand Floridian Hotel. It's an upscale, beautiful, large hotel, one of a number that are on the properties of Disney World. And while the two year old, according to authorities was playing near the water's edge, the alligator that was said to be anywhere from four to seven feet in length came up and grabbed the child. The father was nearby and immediately dove into the water and wrestled with the alligator and fought to try to retrieve his own child, but he alligator was able to get away and the child went with it. So right now there are at least 50 officers, Sheriff's Department, Fish and Wildlife, as well as we are told an alligator trapper out on the water or on the edge of this lagoon. It is quite a substantial body of water, to try to locate the child. They are up against a number of problems of course: one a wild animal, they are also up against the darkness, and they are also up against the underbrush that is along the shoreline there. All of that making this extremely difficult, and as more time goes by, the Sheriff's authorities will tell you the outcome is not projected to be good here. The family is being cared for, but they know that with every passing moment the odds of finding that child alive are less and less. The Sheriff of 35 years says he has never known or seen anything like it. Alligators are common, but this sort of thing is definitely not, Robyn. [Curnow:] OK Martin Savage thanks so much. And US president Barack Obama has clearly had it with Donald Trump and his reaction to the Orlando terror attacks. He met with reporters on Tuesday at the White House and not mentioning his name, blasted Trump over his ideas on immigration and terrorism. Chief Political Correspondent Dana Bash filed this story. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and this kind of thinking can be. [Dana Bash, Cnn Chief Political Correspondent:] A rhetorical explosion, rare for any president, especially one who prides himself on keeping calm. [Obama:] we now have proposals from the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States to bar all Muslims from immigrating to America. In your language this singles out immigrants. And suggests entire religious communities are complacent in violence. Where does this stop? [Bash:] Tearing into Donald Trump with visible anger and disgust. [Obama:] That's not the America we want. It doesn't'reflect our democratic ideals. It won't make us more safe; it will make us less safe. [Bash:] The power of his words amplified by the stage crowd, a Commander-in-Chief coming out of a counter terrorism briefing standing with his top military office, a four-star general. [Obama:] We've gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear, and we came to regret it. We don't have religious tests here. Our founders, our constitution, our Bill of Rights are clear about that. And if we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalize people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect. [Bash:] And what really got him going, the GOP refrain that he is weak on terrorism because he refuses to use the term radical Islam. [Obama:] There has not been a moment in my seven and a half years as President where we have not been able to pursue a strategy because we didn't use the label radical Islam. Not once has an advisor of mine said man, if we really use that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around. Not once. So someone seriously thinks that we don't know who we're fighting? [Bash:] All that as the candidate Obama endorsed delivered a more measured version of the same message. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] He is fixated on the words radical Islam. Now I must say I find this strange. Is Donald Trump suggesting that there are magic words that once uttered will stop terrorists from coming after us? [Bash:] Hillary Clinton continues to use Trump's response to the Orlando massacre to define him as too volatile for the White House. [Clinton:] Yesterday morning, just one day after the massacre, he went on TV and suggested that President Obama is on the side of the terrorists. Now just think about that for a second. Even in a time of divided politics, this is way beyond anything that should be said by someone running for President of the United States. [Bash:] Dana Bash, CNN Washington. [Curnow:] Donald Trump is firing back at Mr. Obama. He says the president can't effectively deal with Isis and terrorism if he can't even utter the words radical Islam. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] And I watched President Obama today, and he was more angry at me than he was at the shooter, and many people said that. One of the folks from television said boy, has Trump gotten under his skin. But he was more angry, and a lot of people have said this, the level of anger, that's the kind of anger he should have for the shooter, and these killers that shouldn't be here. [Curnow:] Well the Orlando terror attack is putting renewed focus on LGBT rights in Florida. CNN's Anderson Cooper challenged the state's Attorney General, Pam Bondi on Tuesday. Take a listen to this [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] I want to ask you, I saw you the other day saying that anyone who attacks the LGBT community will be gone after with the full extent of the law. [Pam Bondi, Florida Attorney General:] That's absolutely right. [Cooper:] I talked to a lot of gay and lesbian people here yesterday who are not fans of yours, and who said that they thought you were being a hypocrite that you for years have fought; you basically have gone after gay people. Said that in court that gay people simply by fighting for marriage equality were trying to do harm to the people in Florida, to induce public harm I believe was the term you used in court. Do you really think you are a champion of the gay community? [Bondi:] Let me tell you. When I was sworn in as attorney general, I put my hand on a bible and was sworn to uphold the constitution of the state of Florida. That's not a law that was voted into our state constitution by the voters of Florida. That's what I was defending. It had nothing to do; I never said I don't like gay people. That's ridiculous. [Cooper:] But do you worry about using language accusing gay people of trying to do harm to the people of Florida when doesn't that send a message to some people who might have bad ideas in mind? [Bondi:] Anderson, I don't believe gay people could do harm to the State of Florida. [Cooper:] But you argued that in court. [Bondi:] My lawyer argued a case defending what the Supreme Court allowed the voters to put in our state constitution. [Cooper:] Right. And you were arguing that if there was gay marriage, if there was same sex marriage, that it would do harm to the people of Florida. That it was constitutional to put that in the constitution Are you saying you did not believe it would do harm to Florida? [Bondi:] Of course not. Of course not. [Curnow:] Well the state's attorney general says more than 69% of Florida voters decided that state's constitution should ban same-sex marriage. Still ahead on CNN, Reeva Steenkamp's father delivers an emotional plea to a South African court which is deciding the fate of his daughter's killer. We'll hear why he says Oscar Pistorius has to pay. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Hours and days. Thanks so much for joining us AT THIS HOUR. "Legal View" with Ashleigh Banfield starts right now. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield. We're continuing our breaking news that comes out of Dallas. And the facts and information are pouring into CNN, all of this amid immense sorrow and grieving in not only Dallas but right across this country. Let me get you the facts as we know them. Right now, the families of five police officers who were murdered, shot in cold blood last night on the streets of Dallas, those families are in shock. Not only that, seven other officers treated for their bullet injuries after being fired upon by what we believe to be one person, Micah Xavier Johnson. This, the first victim the first victim to be identified with a photograph as well. It's quite remarkable, just the carnage that was able to be exacted on the streets of Dallas last night. But the police there and officials believe it may just be the work of that one person, Micah Xavier Johnson. And what we are learning about that murderer is startling. This is the photograph that we have been able to find. It comes via his FaceBook page. And we've also been told by those who live near him that this is, in fact, him. But the details about him and his life are sketchy and they are rare as well to find. What we can tell you is that he lived with his mother in a nice neighborhood, an outskirt of Dallas, Mesquite, Texas. And he has a background that might lead you to believe he was a hero. He's one of our nation's veterans. And he was in Afghanistan. I want to take you to our justice correspondent, Evan Perez, who's been digging up this background information. [Banfield:] I when you reported that, I thought I misheard you, that this is one of America's veterans. He fought in Afghanistan. And there's more of a background to him. Take me through what we know, Evan. [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right, Ashleigh. Barbara Starr was able to confirm with military sources that he did serve in the Army Reserves. And we don't know at this points whether or not he still is in the Army Reserves. It appears that he was a junior officer. He did not rise to the level of an officer. But he did have, obviously, from being in the military, he did have some training with weapons. And that might explain certainly what the suspicion was last night when he was able to kill all those officers. It appears that he is the only gunman. Last night, as you know, the police there in Dallas thought that they were dealing with two or perhaps more gunmen. That's certainly what witnesses thought. You could understand with the chaos and with the sound of gunshots bouncing off those tall buildings there in downtown Dallas that that's what they thought they were dealing with. But after several hours of where he was holed up on this at this community college garage, right there at the scene of the shooting where he where he killed all those officers, after several hours of talking to police negotiators, they were able to draw out some of his motivations, or at least what he claimed what he was trying to do there. He said that he had some kind of vendetta against white people, certainly against white police officers. He said he was angry about the Black Lives Matter movement. He claimed he wasn't at all affiliated with that movement or with any others and he talked [Banfield:] Evan, actually, I'm going to interrupt you only for a moment. You mentioned that he was angry with the Black Lives Matter movement, but then went on to say that he was angry about those black lives that have been lost in these recent police shootings. And, in fact, I want to go live right now, some pictures we're getting out of Dallas, Texas. There is a prayer meeting of sorts. It's organized by the people who organized the march last night. I believe this may be Pastor Dominic Alexander with the Next Generation Action Network. They called this hastily organized news conference. Let's listen. [Unidentified Male:] But, however, we will do our part with authorities to ensure that a proper investigation is conducted. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the victims affected yesterday, in addition to the families of the victims of everyone in America that have experienced the loss of a loved one that do not deserve to die. As we always stated, that the time has come to find solutions. Together we can work to heal America. All right, we're not going to be taking any questions. [Rev. Dr. Jeff Hood:] My name is Reverend Dr. Jeff Hood. That's r-e-v-d- r-j-e-f-f-h-o-o-d I was one of the primary organizers of the protest yesterday. I can tell you that 40 hours ago, when we decided to go out on a limb and see if we couldn't get a protest together to respond to Baton Rouge and St. Paul, never in our wildest dreams would we have imagined, first of all, the type of crowd that showed up last night. Second of all, never in our wildest dreams would we have imagined that five police officers would be dead this morning. I can tell you what my experience was. I can tell you that when we showed up to Belo Garden, we were trying to figure out how to put an event together for a very large group of people. We were consulting different people on different routes to take during the march. Ultimately what we settled on was consulting with the Dallas Police Department to determine where we were going and we were in constant contact with them. As for the rally, we were interested in creating a space where anger could be let out. We were interested in creating a space where people could grieve. We were interested in creating a space where people could network, to face head-on the problem of police brutality in our country. We believe that there is no question that that rally did those things. We left that rally in a non-violent fashion. The rally was non- violent. There was never a moment where I felt like there was even a hint of violence. So as we proceed forth from Belo Gardens, we went up Main Street. We took a right on what I believe is Accert. We came back around right there on Main Street Garden Park and came back down, all the way down to the courthouse. We turned around there at the courthouse after a couple of people said a few words, a couple of ministers. And the whole time I'm sitting there with one of the police sergeants and we're talking about how great of a protest this has been, how non- violent this protest has been. And we keep pushing and we pass Austin Street. And I might have gotten 15 or 20 feet past the intersection of Austin Street when I heard, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop. Intercession. Immediately, when I heard the shots, I looked up and I saw what I believed were two police officers that went down. I I didn't know what to do. The first thing I did was I grabbed my my shirt, because I was close I felt like I might have been shot. So I was feeling around. The sergeant ran towards the shooting. I ran the opposite direction. I was concerned about the 700 or 800 people behind me. I was screaming, "run, run, active shooter, active shooter, run, run!" And I was trying to get folks out as fast as I could. I had a cross in my hand. That cross very quickly became a shepherd's crook, a shepherd's staff, and I was getting folks out. During that moment, I lost track of my wife. I didn't find her again for three and a half hours. There were a lot of people who had similar stories last night. Ultimately, I spent those three hours talking to people, asking the question, why? Why? Why is this happening? The only answer I know now and the only answer I knew then was, turn to love. We've got to turn to love. We've got to stop shooting. We have got to turn to love. I ended the night by myself in tears devastated that there were five families that weren't going to find their loved one. This is a devastating time for the city of Dallas. It's a devastating time for us as activists and organizers. We cannot bring about justice through violence. We cannot bring about love through violence. If we continue to turn to violence, we are going to continue to see heartache and devastation. We know that the eyes of our nation and perhaps even the world are upon Dallas at this very moment. This is a city of love. This is a city where people learn to stand up for each other. And our words from here on out will be what it has always been, teaching people to love each other and pursue justice for the rest of their days. I'm going to be open to taking questions. [Unidentified Male:] No questions. [Hood:] Yes. [Unidentified Male:] No questions. [Hood:] I would like to I would like to I already said I would take I already said I would take [Banfield:] All right, I want to take you up to Washington, D.C., right away, where the attorney general, Loretta Lynch, is about to address the instance in Dallas. Let's listen. [Loretta Lynch, Attorney General:] At least five police officers were shot and killed. Several more were injured, along with two civilians, as they sought to protect a peaceful protest in Dallas, Texas. Our thoughts and our prayers and condolences go out to the families of those who have lost loved ones. The Department of Justice, including the FBI, ATF, the U.S. Marshals Service and the U.S. Attorney's Office on the scene is working closely with our state and local counterparts and we intend to provide any assistance that we can to investigate this attack and also to heal a community that has been severely shaken and deeply scarred by an unfathomable tragedy. This is an unfolding situation. We will be providing additional information when it is available and appropriate. But more so, this has been a week of profound grief and heartbreaking lost. The peaceful protest that was planned in Dallas last night was organized in response to the tragic deaths of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. Now, we've opened a civil rights investigation in Louisiana and we are providing assistance to local authorities in Minnesota who are leading the investigation there. And today, we are feeling the devastating loss of Dallas area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson and four other fallen whose names remain unreleased as we await notification to all of the families. Now, after the events of this week, Americans across our country are feeling a sense of helplessness, of uncertainty and of fear. These feelings are understandable and they are justified. But the answer must not be violence. The answer is never violence. Rather, the answer, our answer, all our answer must be action. Calm, peaceful, collaborative and determined action. We must continue working to build trust between communities and law enforcement. We must continue working to guarantee every person in this country equal justice under the law. And we must take a hard look at the ease with which wrongdoers can get their hands on deadly weapons and the frequency with which they use them. And we must reflect on the kind of country that we want to build and the kind of society that we are choosing to pass on to our children. Above all, we must reject the easy impulses of bitterness and rancor and embrace the difficult work, but the important work, the vital work of finding a path forward together. And above everything, we must remind ourselves that we're all Americans, and that as Americans, we share not just a common land but a common life. Not just common goals, but a common heart and soul. And those we've lost this week have come from different backgrounds, different neighborhoods. But today, they're mourned by officers, by residents, by family and friends, by men and women and children who loved them, who needed them and who will miss them always. They are mourned by all of us. To the families of all who've lost their lives in this series of tragedies, we share your pain and your loss. To our brothers and sisters who wear the badge, I want you to know that I am deeply grateful for the difficult and dangerous work you do every day to keep our streets safe and our nation secure. Our hearts are broken by this loss. The Department of Justice will do all we can to support you in the days ahead. To those who seek to improve our country through peaceful protest and protective speech, I want you to know that your voice is important. Do not be discouraged by those that would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence. We will continue to safeguard your constitutional rights and to work with you in the difficult mission of building a better nation and a brighter future. To all Americans, I ask you, I implore you, do not let this week precipitate a new normal in this country. I ask you to turn to each other, not against each other, as we move forward. Let us support one another. Let us help heal one another. I urge you to remember today and every day, we are one nation, we are one people and we stand together. May God bless the families and the loved ones of all who were taken from us this week and comfort their grief with his everlasting grace. May God bless the United States of America. Thank you. [Banfield:] The attorney general of the United States of America, Loretta Lynch, with a brief statement to the nation about what happened in Dallas last night. It should be known this is a woman who heads a Department of Justice that is currently investigating police officers and departments around the country for civil rights violations and accusations as such. And all of this comes together with what happened last night and what happened in the last few days as well. Let me just remind you, she mentioned Alton Sterling's death in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, an African-American who was shot by two white police officers, and then, of course, she mentioned Philando Castile in Minnesota, a black motorist who was shot by an officer who has yet to be identified, but there are racial undertones it has been alleged in that shooting as well. And then the Dallas Police, who indicated to us through their chief, that the murderer last night, who trained his weapon on not only seven officers who are dead today or five officers who are dead today, but seven officers who are injured, and two civilians who are injured, that that person, Micah Xavier Johnson, told them he did it for several reasons. He told them he was upset about Black Lives Matter, about recent police shootings, that he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. He was told that he wasn't affiliated with any groups and that he did this alone. The house on your screen right now is in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, about 20 minutes' drive up the freeway in Mesquite Mesquite, Texas. By all accounts from what you're seeing, a pretty nice neighborhood. This is the home of Micah Xavier Johnson. Neighbors saying he lived there with his mother. Neighbors also saying he seemed like a bit of a recluse. That they would see him sometimes at the post office or the mailbox, but that he kept to himself mostly. And yet another neighbor at least suggesting that he had seen Micah Johnson with other white people at other times. But certainly the indications from the man on the left-hand side of your screen to the officers who were negotiating with him before he was taken out, before he was killed, that his intention was entirely racially motivated, to take out white police officers in particular and white people. It should also be noted there was a technique that was used to actually neutralize this mass murder. And it was a technique that many of us have never heard of before and to our knowledge has never been used before. A robot was dispatched with an extended arm and ordinance on the end of it to blow up Micah Johnson and end his life before he could end any others. I'm going to go back to Evan Perez, our justice correspondent, standing by. Just like you to unpack a little bit about what we just heard from the DOJ, from the head of the DOJ, from the Attorney General Loretta Lynch, Evan. [Perez:] You know, Ashleigh, she has really been trying to strike a balance, frankly, because as you mentioned, her department, the Justice Department and the FBI, have been doing these investigations around the country of police departments that are that allegedly discriminate in their policing tactics. And you have all these shootings, these police involved shootings, that they've been investigating, including the one just this past week that they launched into the shooting there in Baton Rouge. And now they're also assisting with the one outside of St. Paul, Minnesota. At the same time, she's been going around the country, Loretta Lynch has been visiting police departments, trying to highlight police departments that in the view of the Justice Department are doing the good thing, are doing the right thing. By all accounts, Dallas is one of those cities that is doing the right thing. It's an irony here that this man, this shooter, decided to target police officers in Dallas because we're told that they're actually a great example of community policing, a police department that reflects racially and ethnically it reflects the community it protects and serves. And she's gone around in 13 cities. She just wrapped up that tour. She's been trying to highlight that stuff simply because she knows that there is this tone surrounding some of these police involved shootings around the county. She's been very, very worried out it. I think I think people at the Justice Department and at the FBI have been very concerned that certainly the Justice Department is not only doing investigations of police, but also highlighting the positive things about policing. Ashleigh. [Banfield:] Evan, if you could stand by for one moment. There's still you know, there are a lot of people who are still waking up across this county. It's 9:2 1 a.m. on the West Coast and finding out what happened in the wee hours of the morning last night. By all accounts, there was utter chaos on the streets of Dallas. And I want to now talk with someone who was right in the middle of it, at the scene, with her children, taking part in those peaceful protests on the streets of Dallas before it went horribly awry and shots rang out. Sharay Santora is live with me now from Dallas. Sharay, you're a former Marine. You're a mother of two. And you were there in what I've heard you describe as a loving, peaceful protest where police were walking along side of protesters and that it's exactly the way it should have been. Take me from that moment. [Sharay Santora, Witness To Dallas Shooting:] One thing that you learn in the Navy is no not panic in moments of sudden things happening. And from the beginning, when we when my children and I made it to downtown Dallas to join the rally, there was nothing but love. The cops lined the street. They were taking selfies and hugs and, you know, hand shaking people who were involved in the rally. And it took us nearly 45 minutes to park to be able to join. It was very peaceful. It was very loving. We congregated in front of the courthouse. A few people said words. And it it was so much love involved and so much solidarity involved that what happened literally a minute later was so unsuspecting. It was so sudden. And it was very tragic. We my children and I were at the front of the crow. I decided to slow down a little bit and let us hover toward the middle of the group. When the first shots rang out was during a moment of quiet and everyone got still and kind of looked around because it sounded like fireworks. And then the second reports came and we knew something was wrong. We saw the minister running back down the street with his cross yelling, you know, move out of the way, run, there's an active shooter. No, don't stop, don't look, there's an active shooter, run. And we cleared the area. And we were clearing the area, Dallas P.D. was running toward the shots that were being fired. The cops were coming down the street. And I just feel so blessed to have made it through this. And it's just such a tragic thing to happen in such a moment that was going so well and there was such a great stand for Dallas. [Banfield:] Sharay, can I can I ask you as a a veteran yourself, as a former Marine, a distinguished service member, how the news is falling on you that the murder, whose carnage you witnessed last night, is a fellow serviceman? [Santora:] When I heard that news, it was a bit shocking and not shocking in the same moment. We're at a time right now where people are angry and they don't know what to do. And we've been dealing with this anger for a very long time. Thankfully, the people who joined together last night, we came together in love. And we didn't know where to begin, but we knew if we just began by filling a space and letting people know that we're here, we're loved, we're upset, we're angry, we're hurt, that was a very good and positive way to show people how to grieve and giving people an outlet. But for those people who are angry and don't know what to do and who are fed up, things happen. I don't condone it. I won't say I fully understand it. But it happened and now we have to deal with it. [Banfield:] And I guess to that message, Sharay, the the message that you, as one of your protesters, and all your fellow marchers last night had was a peaceful message to try to come to some sort of consensus about communication between the black community and policing authorities around the country. I think everybody is in understanding that there needs to be a solution on both sides. And then that message is obliterated by a man who murders five people and shoots nine others and says to the negotiating police that he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. Do you feel as though your message was obliterated last night? And is there a lot of repair that needs to be done so that the equal messages can still have voice? [Santora:] Though there is a lot of work that needs to be done, the message still stands. If you were there, you got to see people, black, white, brown, yellow, we saw people of what we assume of Middle Eastern dissent who were in full garb with, you know, with their heads wrapped. We saw old people, young people. We saw couples. We saw disabled people. And we all came together to fight and to show love for one cause. And we deal with negativity every single day, but that doesn't stop what we stand for and what we fight for. And as sad as it is, and my heart reaches out to those families. And so many of us were saying in that moment, not only were we praying for everyone involved, praying for our safety and the safety of the officers who were protecting us, many of us said immediately, they were here for us, we're going to be for them. My children and I, we're going to be at those funerals because they were there to protect me and my children. They lost their lives protecting me and my children. And we need people to understand that bad things that happen shouldn't stop the love and it shouldn't stop us moving forward and trying to find an answer to everything that's wrong right now. [Banfield:] Just one last question for you, Sharay. It's a personal question. Since you were there last night with your children, how are they today? [Santora:] They are shaken. They are upset. They are frustrated. My son doesn't really know how to feel. Unfortunately, we've gone through this multiple times in the past few years. The Trayvon Martin situation really hit close to home for us. And since then, he has been more watchful of things that are going on around us, and so has my daughter. We went home last night. We had a family discussion. And they watched cartoons until they fell asleep just in order to get a sense of their childhood back and to be at peace and to be able to fall asleep with something other than the sounds of gunshots and sirens in their ears. [Banfield:] Yes, I I think we all feel that way. I mean, honestly, we all want a different sense of normalcy back. Sharay Santora, thank you very much for your time. Thank you also for your military service to this country. And God bless as you try to heal in that community. [Santora:] Thank you. [Banfield:] Sharay Santora joining us from Dallas, one of the marchers in the peaceful protest last night that erupted into gunfire and death. Coming up next, drastic situations call for drastic measures. When negotiations with the gunman brought down, officers used a robot armed that was armed with explosives, and they took him out before he could kill again. We're going to talk more about that extreme tactic in just a moment. And we're also showing you going to show you a live picture right now of the White House, where the president has ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff. We're also awaiting additional words from the president. He is not there right now. He is overseas. He traveled for a NATO meeting. He's in Warsaw, Poland. And in the wee hours of the morning, about 5:00 this morning Eastern Time, he gave a live news conference and addressed the carnage in Dallas right away. This on the heels of an address yesterday where he also talked about the killings of Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota. The flag over the White House lowered to half-staff. [Unidentified Female:] I stand here because I love my nephew, but I also stand for the other young teenagers that have gotten shot down in the streets like dogs. [Feyerick:] And that is the aunt of a 19-year-old man shot and killed by Chicago police. It's putting the department under scrutiny once again. Police say an officer fatally wounded a 19-year-old Antonio LeGrier and 55-year-old Betty Jones, a mother of five, while they were responding to a domestic disturbance call involving the 19-year-old. Chicago P.D. now says Jones, her death was a tragic accident. Her childhood friend spoke out this afternoon in anger. [Jacqueline Walker, Friend Of 55-year-old Shooting Victim:] It hurts me all over that the family is going through this tragic day that's going on, police shooting without asking. Why you got to shoot first and ask questions later? It's ridiculous. You know, somebody needs to do something about this, this is ridiculous. What about the tasers? Taser them down, don't shoot innocent people. [Feyerick:] And our Ryan Young joins now from Chicago, outside the house where the two victims lived and were killed. Ryan, tell me about the crowd and tell me about the mood. [Ryan Young, Cnn Correspondent:] Deborah, you know, we've been doing this for about an hour and a half now and you really feel the pain of people who are in this area. They are upset about this and they want to know what happened. They want to know why the officers had to open fire. If you look behind me, you can see the crowd now has kind of go it down in size because some started marching off, some people were doing a chant a little earlier. But if I'm going to walk you this way, you can see some of the family members actually who are on this porch who are standing here. They just addressed the crowd a few minutes ago. They were saying they were very upset. They wanted to know from police why this happened, why did they have to shoot first, like you heard in the sound bite. People want to know why a taser couldn't be used in the situation. If you look in the same area right there, the green dot that's right there above the ledge, that's one of the evidence markers we can see where the bullet went through the door. This family actually stood in front of the door and said this is where the bullets came through the door and killed a mother of five and grandmother. Of course, police were responding to a 19-year-old who had a bat in his hand and his father had called 911 asking for help, when police arrived, apparently fired several shots into this area. The family saying that the 19-year-old was hit seven times, they wanted to now he was shot so many times if I had a bat in his hand? Did anyone try to talk him down, did anyone tried to stop him the time before the shooting started? Obviously, this community is already upset and they already don't trust police. And you have a lot of questions being asked. And, of course, we talked to some people [inaudible] remembers earlier, who just beyond belief in terms of upset about what's going on in the city. [Janet Cooksey, Mother Of 19-year-old Victim:] Antonio was a good child, the child that wanted things. He always say, "Momma had millions because you know what? I'm going to work hard and study hard." And he was a honor student. Seven times my son was shot, one in the buttock, that showed he was turning away. He was turning away but I got to turn today for him and I have to be there. This needs to stop. No mother should have to bury her child. [Young:] So just really raw emotion out here at this point. Sometimes you're walking around us and we're really seeing people pouring their hearts out. They're crying, they're showing pictures of their family members. In fact, there's a picture that's being shown. We're going to walk up a little bit just to see we can get an edge of that picture right here. This is what's going on right now in terms of people showing these pictures of their family members, of their loved ones, wanting a change. And you can see this picture that's being held out right here, right now. For the last two hours or so people have been standing out here just asking and begging for there be changes in the Chicago Police Department, changes in the city. A there's something that lot of people can understand obviously with shootings that happened in this city, the questions about the police department. But obviously, when you see family members coming together like this and community support, you can understand that there's a lot of raw emotion in this community right now. [Feyerick:] Yeah. There's no question about it, Ryan. And, obviously, police officers when they are responding to a call from a family about an emotional disturbed person with a bat, you have to wonder what kind of training the officers have in terms of how they use force and under what circumstances, clearly all of that will be under investigation and review by an internal police investigators. Ryan Young, thank you so much. We'll be right back. [Young:] Thanks. [Cooper:] The death toll is rising again from that massive explosion at a chemical warehouse in China's port city. At least 50 people have now lost their lives. More than 500 others are hospitalized. CNN's Will Ripley is there for us tonight. What's the latest, Will? [Will Ripley, Cnn Correspondent:] It is understandable, Anderson, that people here in Tianjin are fearful of an explosion. When you see the kind of damage that it did to this car and to this building sitting more than a mile away from the blast site. There is a bio-chem team on the ground here right now. And what they're trying to figure out, it's how much air pollution and water contamination is there. Because this is a city of almost 13 million people. And the chemicals that there are they are mixed together they're still trying to figure out. The fact that they could launch a projectile, like that, they could blow the windows out of so many buildings here in the city. People are very fearful, and they are fearful of what they're breathing in. There was a huge smoke plume off in the distance yesterday. Just beyond those buildings, you can see today, it's no longer visible. But we can still taste and smell the chemicals in the air, Anderson. [Cooper:] You can still smell them, that's incredible. How is the Chinese government responding to this? [Ripley:] President Xi Jinping has been promising a transparent and open investigation into what happened. But we are seeing indications that that is not necessarily the case. A lot of social media posts critical of the Chinese government have been deleted. And even video of an incident yesterday where we were accosted while reporting outside of a hospital by a group that included civilians, but also security officers in uniform. That has been censored by the Chinese government as well. So, it appears as if they're wanting to give people answers, but perhaps not, not, not answers to everything. At least that's the suspicion on the ground here. [Cooper:] All right, Will Ripley. Will, thanks very much. A troubling question now is ISIS using chemical weapons? The United States is investigating what it believes are credible reports that ISIS fighters use a skin burning mustard agent in an attack against Kurdish Peshmerga in northern Iraq earlier this week. Now, this comes from several U.S. officials all of whom stress more intelligence is being gathered to find out exactly what happened. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins us now. So, about this attack how particularly, how does the U.S. believe that ISIS could have obtained chemical weapons? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] This is an extremely powerful chemical agent. It dates back to World War I. Outlawed, in fact, after World War I. These Kurdish fighters, who were attacked with it, they show breathing problems with also evidence of a blistering agent, blisters on the skin. That's a telltale sign of mustard gas. And two explanation as to how they could have gotten it. They could have either overrun weapons caches, old Iraqi, or old Syrian weapons caches on either side of the border. Or U.S. officials say it's possible they've developed the ability to make mustard gas and put it on the end of a, mortar shell. Both of those explanations are bad, obviously. [Sciutto:] It would be significant increase, expansion in the ability of ISIS to carry out attacks on the battlefield. [Cooper:] Yeah, I mean, if in fact this is confirmed. I guess then another question is, how does it change the equation for U.S. coalition against ISIS for U.S. intelligence services operating in the area, for instance? [Sciutto:] What U.S. officials say in terms of a battlefield weapon doesn't change the calculation on the battlefield too much. Of course, ISIS is going to be overpowered by U.S. coalition air strikes et cetera. But it's a weapon of fear. Like terrorism, like the beheadings. And that has an enormous effect on the battlefield. And then, of course, if the U.S. considers putting U.S. troops on the battlefield, that's something that General Odierno, the outgoing Army chief of staff, mentioned yesterday, that he would recommend. This, of course, would add to the dangers that they would face on the ground. [Cooper:] Jim, I appreciate the update. Jim Sciutto. Just ahead, thousands of federal air marshals were recruited since the 911 attacks to keep everybody safe in the skies. The question is how well can they do that when they say they're stressed out, chronically sleep deprived and in some cases taking pills and drinking? Details ahead. [Harlow:] The White House announcing President Obama will visit the Pentagon tomorrow. He will meet with his national security team. Of course the focus will be the continuing war in the battle against ISIS. It's what a spokesman calls an update. No major policy shift is expected to come out of this meeting tomorrow but it is his first visit to the Pentagon since the terror linked attacks in Southern California and, of course, the terrorist attacks in Paris. Peter Beinart is with me, CNN political commentator and contributor to "The Atlantic." You have a fascinating new piece in "The Atlantic" talking about not just strategy. We know that the military strategy from Republicans and Democrats is so different, but the philosophical divide between the two when it comes to the terror threat we face right now. Let's read part of this talking about the president's address in the oval office on Sunday night. "He gave the address to convince an increasingly fearful nation that he takes the terrorist threat seriously. But he doesn't, at least not in the way his political opponents do." What is the biggest philosophical divide here? [Peter Beinart, Cnn Political Commentator:] You know, George W. Bush compared violent jihadism to Nazism and communism, as this kind of epic threat that had mass appeal around the world. Marco Rubio talks about the same thing. He says we're at war with an entire with a civilization. [Harlow:] Right. [Beinart:] I don't think Barack Obama believes that. [Harlow:] He won't use those words. He won't use radical Islam. [Beinart:] Right. But I also think that he believes that actually violent jihadism is a weak ideology, not an ideology that has a lot of inherent appeal. After all communism and fascism at their height in the "30s, a lot of people actually believe they could bring more economic prosperity than capitalism during the great depression. Nobody believes that ISIS has a vision for prosperity for anyone. I think Obama believes that the only hope that ISIS has really is to feed off the hostility that people in the Muslim world have towards the West because of their interventions and because of things like what Donald Trump is doing, and that if we avoid that, then we allow ISIS" weakness to expose itself. [Harlow:] What do you think, Peter, if you can answer this. [Beinart:] Yes. [Harlow:] Informs his thinking in that fashion that is so different from his Republican opponents. Even Hillary Clinton is more hawkish than he is in terms of strategy. But what is it about Barack Obama's sort of history. [Beinart:] Right. [Harlow:] That has caused him to think [Beinart:] You also see this in the way he discusses the conflict with Putin. [Harlow:] OK. [Beinart:] I think Obama has a great deal of faith in the inherent strength of liberal democracies as a far more attractive project and generally believes that if liberal democracies don't screw things up by doing things like the Iraq war, self-inflicted wounds, our natural strength over our totalitarian competitors shows itself through. The Republicans are a little bit more you saw this during the Cold War, too. Conservatives tend to be much more afraid that the West was fundamentally weak and that ideologically our competitors might be stronger. They had a more apocalyptic vision of the Soviet threat and they do now vis-a-vis ISIS as well. [Harlow:] So talking about Hillary Clinton, given the fact that now 44 percent of Americans think that the biggest threat is terror and that there could be relatively an attack very likely, are the words they use in the United States, in the next few months, how does Hillary Clinton, if she makes it to a general election, differentiate herself enough on that front from this president? [Beinart:] Well, I think her instincts are actually quite different. I think Hillary Clinton is much more naturally hawkish than Barack Obama. I think he was very influenced by the experience of the Iraq war. She was much more influenced by the experiences of the 1990s, the successful Gulf War, the interventions in Bosnia and Kosovo. She has a higher comfort level with military force. I think the thing that she, and we all have to be concerned about, is even if going after ISIS is a good idea [Harlow:] But why would she have more of a comfort level having voted the way she did and looking at Iraq? [Beinart:] Because I think that by the time the Iraq experience happened, she was later on in her political career. People tend to be most influenced by things that happen earlier, in the formative stages. I think for her the formative foreign policy experience was our successful military interventions in the '90s. She was very close to Madeleine Albright, the architect of the Kosovo war. [Harlow:] Sure. [Beinart:] Obama wasn't influenced by that. Iraq was his seminal experience and that, I think, helps to explain the difference between them. [Harlow:] So as he watch, as we all will be, the debate, the GOP debate on Tuesday night, it is all about national security. What are you looking for, for some of these other candidates aside from Trump, to break out and break through on that front? [Beinart:] What I'm looking forward is for people to talk about the day after. It's one thing to say you can bomb ISIS into oblivion. You actually can't. Even if you had a ground force that was strong enough to defeat them, we have to talk about the day after ISIS. Remember, what got us in trouble in Iraq was not overthrowing Saddam. It was we had no plan for the day after. If we don't have some plan [Harlow:] And look at Libya and look at what we're going to do with Syria. [Beinart:] Right. We can drop a lot of bombs and we can even arm a lot of people. They might even defeat ISIS. But unless we are thinking now about what Syria and Iraq look like afterwards, we could find ourselves back in a very dangerous situation. [Harlow:] Do you think that voters want that answer, too? Or do they want the now, now, now, I'm strong, we'll bomb them? [Beinart:] You know, I think good leaders have a responsibility for the good of the country to talk about that now because ultimately we will we've suffered a lot from not doing that kind of long-term thinking. [Harlow:] Peter Beinart, fascinating piece in "The Atlantic." [Beinart:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Thank you. Good to see you. [Beinart:] Thank you. [Harlow:] Coming up next, politics aside, are the biggest leaders in business here in America? Well, how are they going to pay their workers going forward? It is a massive debate in this country, the fight over minimum wage. I had a chance this week to talk to the CEO of Target, one of the biggest retailers in this country. He will join me next. [Brian C. Cornell, Ceo, Target Corporation:] In each and every market we're paying competitive wage that attracts great talent. So I think it's critically important and it's something we think about all the time. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman. We have breaking news. A fire fight involving U.S. troops in Afghanistan. We want to get straight to CNN's chief national correspondent, Jim Sciutto. New details. What are we learning? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] This was a joint U.S.Afghan counterterror operation, took place in southern Afghanistan in Helmand Province near the town of Marjah. During that operation, one U.S. servicemember was killedAfghan operation, so those casualties could be a mix of U.S. and Afghan. During that operation, a medevac helicopter came to evacuate the wounded and a mortar round went off nearby that helicopter. The concern being that that mortar round damaged the helicopter, may have damaged the rotor blades so they're checking its ability to fly. U.S. military making clear that helicopter was not shot down. No one injured on board the helicopter, but prior to that there was a fire fight and one U.S. servicemember was killed in that fire fight. It's a reminder, John and Kate, there is still a war going on in Afghanistan. There are still thousands of U.S. troops there and they are still going on counterterror missions. There's been a lot of talk about how their role has changed. That they've retreated to their bases, only doing security force protection, but the fact is they're doing counterterror operations as we saw today. Those operations can be dangerous and deadly. [Bolduan:] A very harsh reminder of that. Jim Sciutto, thanks very much. Let's bring in CNN military analyst, Major General James "Spider" Marks, for more. General, thanks for joining us. [Maj. Gen. James "spider" Marks, Cnn Military Analyst:] Sure, Kate. [Bolduan:] This comes on the heel of just about two weeks ago, six U.S. servicemembers were killed in a suicide bomb attack that the Taliban claimed responsibility for. This joint operation we're talking about today, U.S.Afghan forces in a firefight with the Taliban. As Jim was talking about, this helicopter possibly being hit by mortar fire. What does this tell us, what does this tell you about the state of play right now in Afghanistan? [Marks:] Clearly what we're seeing is several things. Number one, counterterror are mission for the U.S. remaining forces that are in Afghanistan. Clearly, there are other coalition forces and clearly we are doing this in concert with the request of the Afghan government and as we continue to train and grow the Afghan military, this is all being done together. The second thing is that what this really tells you is the decreased size of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan was probably done at a timeline and a schedule that was not coordinated with the ability of the Taliban and al Qaeda in Afghanistan. Bear in mind, since 91111. So we have seen an increased rise in terms of Taliban capabilities and a decreased presence of the United States. So this is a challenge because we don't have sufficient forces to push back on the Afghan on the Taliban in al Qaeda, and as a result we don't have increase in the capabilities of the Afghan security forces. That's the challenge we see right now. [Berman:] Perhaps explains why the president made the decision to extend the current troop levels through the year. 10,000 U.S. troops will remain in Afghanistan until end of 2016, half that past that. Perhaps they'll determine any more reductions will be dangerous. Thanks, General. [Bolduan:] You saw that picture in bottom of your screen. President Obama is minutes away from making a very big announcement on new executive actions he'll be taking regarding gun control. You're looking right here, live look at the White House East Room where the president will officially unveil these new measures. We'll bring this to you live as soon as it begins. [Berman:] The administration has already laid out some key parts of this plan, including expanding who would be considered a gun seller, which could increase the number of background checks, at least some. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is at the White House for the announcement. Michelle, any new details this morning? [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yeah, we know this announcement is going to be a room packed by people affected by gun violence. In fact, the person who will introduce President Obama is one of the parents from this Sandy Hook massacre from three years ago. Back when the president tried to do executive actions, more than two dozen of them. They couldn't go very far, obviously. Back then. the president said he's gone as far as he can within the law. It's up to Congress to do more. Well, months ago he and his team decided to scrub the law, as they put it, and find any additional leeway to make changes. We already knew going in that whatever he was going to do was going to be kind of on the margins of the margins of what the law would allow it. Those limits are really evident when you look at what they want to do here. What they're trying to enact. I mean, for the background checks, it's not even really a change in the law. I mean, it will have the effect of expanding or wanting to expand how many people register and then how many buyers of guns will have to go through background checks but it's really a clarification, based on a legal designation of who is a private gun seller versus who is in the business of selling guns. Enforcement is another question. I mean, they have penalties if you don't register and if these background checks are not done, but how is the federal government going to make these people register? How are they going to know if people don't? Those enforcement questions with every one of these actions that the president is announcing today John and Kate? [Berman:] Is it will be interesting to see if he addresses any of those details or at least White House staff does. Michelle Kosinski, thanks much. [Bolduan:] Let's bring in CNN senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin. You heard Michelle lay out what we know. Obviously, the devil is in the details, what details the president will offer. What's clear, the limits the president has here, that he can do with these executive actions. He and his advisers adamant that he is within his presidential authority, that he is not irresponsibly bypassing Congress. Do you think he's on firm legal ground from what you see? [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] I do think he's on firm legal ground. I also think it is not that big of deal. [Bolduan:] Because he can't do much. [Toobin:] The law, which was passed by Congress, says you have to register as a firearms dealer and perform background checks if you are engaged in the business of selling firearms. The question is, what do the words "engaged in the business" mean? What the White House is doing today and the Bureau of Tobacco and Firearms is saying is we understand the definition to include people who may not previously have been thought to be firearms dealers. If you sell firearms for profit, if you sell firearms in their original packaging, these are indications that are you a firearms dealer, even if you sell small numbers of firearms. You're going to have to perform background checks. That's the gist [Berman:] As you pointed out, the pageantry in the White House in the lead up to, it the pageantry doesn't match up to it. [Toobin:] It doesn't. The politics are a little peculiar because Republicans are saying he's exceeding his authority. [Berman:] Some. Some are. If you read more deeply, a lot of conservative writers are saying, what the president's done here is, perhaps, helpful to, you know, gun advocates because he's created outrage or among gun owners who want to keep the laws from changing, at the same time, and getting nothing in return for it. He's not making any significant changes. [Toobin:] That may be. I'm sorry. Go ahead, Kate. [Bolduan:] To Jeffrey's point, there are at the very same time, folks who already saying, they're going to challenge this. There are going to be legal challenges to this, which makes me think, what will this look like? [Toobin:] I'll tell you how this will work. This is a criminal statute and it's a law that there have been prosecutions of individuals for failing to register as firearms dealers. So, what how this would play out is if one of these people who is newly covered under the law was charged by federal authorities with failing to register or selling guns in violation of federal law, they could go to court and say, Judge, throw this case out because the federal government is misinterpreting the law. All of that would take at least a year to go forward. [Bolduan:] Correct me if I'm wrong, I don't think the administration has covered how many more people would be covered under this clarification of the law. [Berman:] Not only that, but I don't know they're going to enumerated specifically on paper exactly how they're expanding this. Isn't it possible they keep it deliberately vague? [Toobin:] Not really. Just today the BAFT put out a pamphlet, "Am I a Firearms Dealer." It's a detailed [Bolduan:] Like you said in the original packaging. [Toobin:] Right, all those qualities. As with anything legal, there are going to be questions that are not easy to answer. I think it is true that BATF is putting out guidance about how to tell who's who. [Bolduan:] Jeffrey, one of the things that is challenging and confusing about gun laws is you have federal gun laws and then state by state gun laws. What does this mean for the state by state gun laws that vary widely? [Toobin:] It means nothing. The federal government cannot tell states what to do. One of the things we've learned in the course of lots of research of gun laws is that there are states like New York and Massachusetts where it's very hard to buy a gun. So, much of the crime that takes place in the northeast where gun laws tend to be stricter come from guns that were purchased in Georgia and North Carolina, places where it's Virginia much easier to buy a gun. Guns, of course, handguns, are very portable. [Berman:] Another place where gun laws are stricter, both places where we've seen mass shootings. [Toobin:] As is often pointed out by gun rights advocates. [Berman:] This is more of a political question than it is a legal question. The question then is why do this? Is the answer because the president in the last year of his term wants to be seen as doing something, anything? [Bolduan:] Anything? [Toobin:] Absolutely. He's probably say that himself. I think he is he has said, look, I recognize that the best thing I could do is get new laws passed about gun. After Sandy Hook he tried very hard and he couldn't even get it through Democratic Senate. [Bolduan:] You made the point [Toobin:] Democratic Senate, he couldn't get it through. So, I think your point is accurate, but I also don't think it's any real secret. I think the president is saying, look, I'm going to push my authority as far as it will go, but, you know, we have a system where Congress makes the law. [Berman:] The ironic effect of that and Kate was just showing me an article every time the president has tried to crack down on guns, any time the rhetoric has been heated up, gun purchases [Bolduan:] More people buy guns. [Toobin:] That's right. The term you often hear from gun buyers is, I'm worried about confiscation. The federal government is going to come confiscate my guns. [Bolduan:] And top Republicans don't help that rhetoric. Donald Trump just saying yesterday, this is one step closer to taking away guns. [Toobin:] This is so far from confiscation. This is trying only to make it somewhat more difficult to buy a gun in the first place, but taking guns away, it has absolutely nothing to do with that. [Bolduan:] A lot more to discuss. Thanks, Jeffrey. Important programming note for you. Moments from now, President Obama will be addressing the nation, announcing his actions on gun control. We'll bring that to you live. We'll have full coverage of that. We'll see what more detail comes out from President Obama in just a few minutes. [Berman:] And another important programming note. This Thursday, President Obama joins CNN's Anderson Cooper for a live town hall on gun violence in America. That's at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on CNN. We do have other news for you today. Word this morning that the Republican establishment is plotting a Trump takedown. And a new question, WWMRD, what would Mitt Romney do? [Bolduan:] That doesn't roll off the tongue well. [Berman:] It sort of does. Reports he's talking behind the scenes. [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] As investigators hunt for answers in the San Bernardino attack, new questions right now about what the fed's can do, what the federal government can do when it comes to digging into this couple, these mass murder's past, their digital past specifically. The NSA just last month, just four days ago before the attack, ended its controversial bulk data collection surveillance program. That program began after the 911 attacks and would allow the government to review and analyze five years worth of phone records for the couple involved in the San Bernardino attack. Now they cannot collect that much data. The operation came under fire two years ago after former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, leaked key details of it. Investigators are working under a new set of rules and stipulations to try to examine these killers' communications. They say this couple tried to erase their digital footprint. We know from our Pamela Brown's reporting, they smashed cell phones and they removed computer hard drives. Joining me now is CNN military analyst and NSA former deputy director and Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighten; also is Rod Beckstrom, former director of National Cyber Security Center. When you look at this, you want to be very clear here, what we know is that this program changed four days before this attack and now what is legally allowed is two years, Cedric, of bulk data collection, not five. It's also critical because the wife, Tashfeen Malik, just came to the United States two years ago. Does that make a critical difference in what investigators can gather here, the two versus five years? [Col. Cedric Leighton, Cnn Military Analyst:] Usually, most of the things that you see are going to be that immediate period before a terrorist attack. It you're conducting a law enforcement investigation, you are going to go back from the time of that incident and you will go into their past as much as you can. So if you only have two years of data that you can collect, that may limit the far past, and it won't eliminate the immediate past. It just depends on how much they moved around during that two-year period, whether or not there was travel, and also the types of communication modes they used during that period. [Harlow:] I want you both to listen to GOP presidential candidate, Donald Trump, and Governor Chris Christie. They are both in favor of mass surveillance. Here's what they said over the weekend about it. [Chris Christie, , New Jersey Governor & Presidential Candidate:] It's so wrong for Congress and the president to pull back on surveillance capability with the NSA. So wrong did demoralize communications at end of this last year. The fact is that we need to strengthen our intelligence, strengthen our law enforcement community, and just work as hard as we can to try to intercept this. [Donald Trump, , Presidential Candidate & Ceo, Trump Organization:] You have people that have to be tracked. If they're Muslims, they're Muslims, but you have people that have to be tracked. And we better be I use the word vigilance. We have to show vigilance. We have to have it. If we don't, we're foolish people. [Harlow:] Rod, does the curtailing of this program, the NSA bulk data collection program, does it hurt those efforts? [Rod Beckstrom, Former Ceo, Icann:] You know, referring to the other commentator, I think that two years is an awful lot of data. It's still available here, most likely through the phone companies. Plus, if Mrs. Malik was living overseas until two years, suspected at all, there could be phone records from those previous activities. So I think it's extremely unlikely that this change is going to lead to any denigration in the quality of investigation that can be done. [Harlow:] Cedric, Pamela Brown reported on the smashed cell phones, hard drives, but also was telling me earlier in the program about how good the fed's are at this. How good the cyber security experts are at retrieving data even from smashed phones. What can they get? [Leighton:] They can get a lot of things. It also depends on how those phones were smashed. If the data that is resident on the phones themselves is destroyed, that becomes a bit of an issue. But most of the time when people smash phones, they are not zeroized the data. The data needs to be zeroized before it can be considered to be unreadable. And the fed's are good at getting into data that is destroyed in a physical sense. They can also get into data that is deleted in an electronic sense. There are lots of ways they have. And Pamela Brown's report is exactly right. They do some good work and can find most traces in a cyber forensic fashion that normal investigators would not with be able to find. [Harlow:] Gentlemen, thank you very much. Much more to talk about here. We'll have you both back. Cedric Leighton, Rod Beckstrom, thank you. Next, a neighbor of the San Bernardino shooter reportedly says she did not report the couple's suspicious behavior. Why? Because she was apparently afraid of being labeled a racist. In the era of "See Something, Say Something," where should society draw the line? And where is the legal line? We'll debate that, next. [Natalie Allen, Cnn Anchor:] Fiji is getting hit by a monster storm that could become the strongest ever recorded in the island. We're tracking cyclone Winston, we'll bring you the very latest. The British prime minister gets the deal he believes will stop his country from leaving the European Union. Now he just needs to persuade a lot of British people. Also a pivotal weekend of the U.S. presidential race why what happens for Clinton and Sanders in Vegas and the rest of Nevada is unlikely to stay there, you know, the saying there. All right, hello everyone to "CNN Newsroom", I'm Natalie Allen. Thank you for joining us. And we start this hour with a story developing in the South Pacific where a cyclone equivalent to a category five hurricane is still building strength and beginning to rake across the islands of Fiji. A short time ago with the Fiji's Red Cross Operations Manager told me what the aid group is doing to keep people safe. [Eseroma Ledua, Fiji's Red Cross Operator's Manager:] Victims of- the population evacuated to Red Cross centers that are open and are manage by the district offices unit. Different districts, direct calls of officers and volunteers supporting what they are currently doing in attending to evacuees that might need support in terms of blankets and also dry clothes to keep them warm tonight. But in terms of our preparedness, the meteorological society together with our branches, currently on watch and await approach since the lunch time today. We are currently waiting for the weather to ease a little bit so that at least we can look at what are some areas that are affected and also people to be assisted. [Allen:] That's was an hour ago, the Red Cross with us there. The country is now under a curfew because Derek Van Dam is here to tell us it's bearing down right now. [Derek Van Dam, Cnn Weather Anchor:] It is. [Allen:] This is a huge cyclone. [Van Dam:] That's right Natalie. The ferocity of how quickly this storm developed strength into a strong category 5 equivalent Atlantic hurricane it is impacting the island nation of Fiji right now. Viti Levu, the largest island within the nation that also houses the capital of Fiji, Suva, this is the area that is bearing the brunt of the storm. I want to show you something from NASA's Himawari satellite ah this actually a Japanese satellite. But what you're looking at is satellite interpretation of the storm. Now there some very important things that I'd like to point out with the eye wall of this storm as it passes just to the north of Suva just the capital of Fiji. It is starting to deteriorate and disorganize the center of the storm. So, to me, officially that means that it is interacting with land and that landfall has occurred. That's very important because with a direct hit like this we would expect the strongest of winds to have occurred when that eye wall passed over land from ocean. Now, take a look at my weather graphics and we'll get a little bit more information. Here's Suva, it's roughly about 80 kilometers to the south of the southern portions of this eye wall. Remember the eye wall of a tropical cyclone is where we find our strongest, most ferocious winds and it is easily said that winds in excess of 200 to perhaps even 250 kilometers per hour with higher wind gusts near the center of the storm. So this will be a catastrophic storm for the Fiji islands as we start to pick up the pieces over the next 24 hours. Again our satellite loop indicating our storm has made landfall. A very intense storm as we zoom right into the center of it. A lots of convection and thunderstorm activity with this as it continues to march in a westerly direction. We don't expect the storm to intensify further than this now that it has impacted with land, but comparing this to previous tropical cyclones it was only Evan back in December 2012 that also impacted this region. Fortunately, from that particular storm no deaths because, this particular nation is very susceptible but also ready and prepared for storms of this magnitude. The other concern here is this is a mountainous nation and that means any heavy rainfall will filter down to the lower elevations meaning landslides, mud slides and flooding will also be the other concern. So, let's just recap the concerns and what is taking place now in the island of Fiji. The Fiji islands, I should say Natalie. Strong winds in excess of 200, 250 kilometers per hour, flash flooding, mud slides, coastal storm surge for the lower elevation. This is a dire situation and it deteriorated very quickly. [Allen:] Yeah, in the past 24 hours you said it's extremely strong and that 900,000 people could be impacted. [Van Dam:] Nine hundred thousand people the population of Fiji. [Allen:] All right. Thank you Derek, we'll keep in touch with you for the next few hours. [Van Dam:] Absolutely. [Allen:] Well, we want to turn now to the U.K. In about two hours, British Prime Minister David Cameron will show his cabinet the deal he made to keep his country in the European Union. But even though he vows to campaign for his heart and soul as he said, this could be a tough sell. A close ally, the country's justice secretary reportedly plans to campaign for a British exit from the E.U. Mr. Cameron insists the deal would give the U.K. special status in the U.E. and should be approved. [David Cameron, British Prime Minister:] Britain will be permanently out of ever closer union, never part of a European super state. There will be tough new restrictions on access to our welfare system for E.U. migrants. No more something for nothing. Britain will never join the Euro and we've secured vital protections for our economy. And a full say over the rules of the free trade single market while remaining outside the Europe. I believe that it is enough for me to recommend that the United Kingdom remain in the European Union having the best of both worlds. [Allen:] The cabinet is just the first hurdle. If it approves the deal, the British public then would vote on it in a referendum. CNN Money Europe editor Nina Dos Santos has more on that and how intense negotiations in Brussels led to this point. [Nina Dos Santos, Cnn Money Europe Editor:] After two days worth of very lengthy and at times rather tense negotiations, David Cameron finally won the package of reforms that he feels is enough to take back to the British people and try to campaign and convince them to stay inside the European Union when eventually he gets around to calling that's referendum. Many people hoping it may well be during the month of June. Now, this is the 35 page document that has been released after these meetings for the taking place over the last two days at this summit in Brussels. It includes safeguards for the city of London. Also states on some Britain's sovereignty and putting to bed finally that question of whether Britain would keep the pound or decide to join the Euro zone. Currently countries inside the European Union are in theory, supposed to sign up to join the single currency, but that question is being put to bed too. One of the most contentious issues that European leaders had to deal with was the issue of an emergency break applied to migrants who are seeking benefits inside the U.K. Some eastern European countries had been asking for a much shorter period of time for that emergency brake to be put on. David Cameron and then managed to come to a compromise of seven years and also was crucial here in this package is that it just applies to the U.K. It is not supposed to set a dangerous precedent for other countries inside the block to decide to open up the treaties and negotiate on their own terms for similar concessions. But the issue is that this doesn't entirely put to bed the question of whether the U.K. will stay inside the EU. It now has to go to the British people. It has to go to David Cameron's own cabinet that could be more hostile to somebody's packages. And this is why Martin Schulz, the head of the European Parliament said that he thought this was just the start of a process when I asked him earlier. [Martin Schulz, Head Of The European Parliament:] My feeling is no is the answer. It is now the end of a process David Cameron has launched. He said, I won the new deal of the United Kingdom with the European Union. It means with all the other member states building the European Union. He got now the new deal and it's still up to British voters to vote if this is enough or not. [Dos Santos:] So, that's the president of the European Parliament, another one of these key institutions that part of the machinery that will be helping Mr. Cameron try and coming up with a reform package that really he can campaign for. What we keep hearing here from Brussels is that nobody wants the U.K. to leave the European Union. It's the second biggest economy inside the European Union. Forty-four percent of the U.K.'s trade is with the EU, so there's a lot at stake here. But the key question here is how the U.K. and part of the U.K.'s current government views documents like these. Are these reforms that David Cameron has managed to secure in Brussels after all these hours of negotiation going to be enough to convince his own government and then to convince his own people? It will take months from now to decide that. Nina Dos Santos, CNN Money in Brussels. [Allen:] Well, stay tuned here to CNN. We expect to hear from British Prime Minister Cameron in a little less than two hours time when he has called a cabinet meeting. We'll bring you that live along with analysis from London. That'a 10:00 a.m. London time. We turn to the race for the U.S. presidency and the countdown for two critical voting states. Democrats hold their caucuses in Nevada on Saturday. Polls there indicating the race between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders is too close to call. Meantime, polls open in just a few hours in South Carolina for the Republican primary there. Donald Trump is leading in the state but not by as much as he has been. Well, here's how the poll numbers look on the Republican side. A CNN poll of polls shows 34 percent of South Carolina voters who were surveyed support Trump, Ted Cruz has 20 percent, this margin was wider a few days ago. Marco Rubio comes in third followed by Jeb Bush, Ben Carson and John Kasich. Nationally, the top three choices are still Trump, Cruz and Rubio, and their numbers are roughly the same as the South Carolina poll. The bottom standings are a bit different on the national level with Kasich ahead of Carson and Bush. Well, as the Republican candidates take on each other, the frontrunner Donald Trump has a bone to pick with a tech giant Apple. At a campaign event ahead of the South Carolina primary, he turned Apple's battle with the U.S. justice department into a rallying cry. Here's CNN Politics Reporter Sara Murray. [Sara Murray, Cnn Correspondet:] Twenty-four hours after taking on the Pope, Donald Trump is taking on one of America's biggest companies. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] First of all, Apple ought to give the security for that phone, okay? What I think you want to do is boycott Apple until such time as they give that security number. [Murray:] His suggestion to black list the tech giant coming as the company refuses to unlock an iPhone that belonged to one of the San Bernardino killers. [Trump:] How do you like? I just [inaudible] it. [Murray:] Trump's latest move a signal he has no plans to water down his bombastic style after a blistering week on the trail in South Carolina. [Trump:] This guy Ted Cruz is really a liar. I'll tell you why- [Murray:] In fact, he's using his final hours before Saturday's primary to go for the jugular. [Trump:] I'll tell you what was good. Even Marco Rubio said he's a liar. And when a politician says another politician is a liar, I never heard that before. I felt so good. [Murray:] But he's also left explaining why he voiced support for the Iraq invasion in 2002 after spending months claiming he was an early opponent. [Trump:] The first guy that ever asked me about Iraq was Howard Stern. I said, I don't know yeah, I guess so. Then I started looking at it before the war started I was against that war, I was against that war. [Murray:] Meanwhile, Ted Cruz is fighting his own two front war, trying to gain on Trump and send off Marco Rubio. [Marco Rubio Presidential:] And I need your support tomorrow so I'm asking for your help. [Murray:] Cruz swiping Rubio over national security. [Ted Cruz, Presidential Candidate:] You know two debates ago when I stood on the stage and saw three Republican candidates, including Marco Rubio standing up there and saying, sure, we should drop women. I remember thinking, are you guys nuts? [Murray:] And casting him as a shape shifter on immigration. [Unidentified Female:] Marco Rubio burned us once. He shouldn't get the chance to sell us out again. [Murray:] While the top tier goes to battle, others are looking to land their closing arguments with a softer touch. [Unidentified Male:] And I'd really appreciate one of those hugs you've been talking about. [Murray:] Jeb Bush even welcoming his family on the campaign trail for his closing argument. [Barbara Bush, Former U.s. First Lady:] Jeb has been a great son, great father, great husband, married well, and is one of my four favorite sons. [Jeb Bush, Presidential Candidate:] I swear to God when we were on the bus she we were walking down, she whispered in my ear, you really are my favorite. I don't understand. [Allen:] Sara Murray reporting there. Well, as far as Donald Trump asking for a boycott of Apple until it cooperates with the government, a senior Apple executive said the tech giant is in fine company based on other people Trump has attacked. The executive said the company is fighting on behalf of its customers. Well, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders are in a near dead heat ahead of Nevada's Democratic caucuses that happens Saturday. The latest CNNORC poll shows Clinton with a narrow lead over Sanders among likely caucus goers in the silver state, 48 percent to 47 percent and how is that for close? Clinton is leading nationally but Sanders has narrowed the gap to six percent as points. Clinton is up 48 percent to the Vermont senator's 42 percent. With such a close race expected in this first contest in the western U.S., Sanders and Clinton spent Friday making a last-ditch effort to lure voters. And Clinton scored a big endorsement ahead of South Carolina's Democratic Party which happens in a few days. Our senior Washington Correspondent Jeff Zeleny has more now from Sparks, Nevada. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washinton Correspondent:] It's shaping up as the Vegas prize fight of politics, on the eve of the Nevada caucuses, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders in a deadlocked Democratic race. They're drawing cheers and jeers. Like when Clinton suggested that Sanders is a Democrat come lately. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] Maybe it's that Senator Sanders wasn't really a Democrat until he decided to run for president. He doesn't even know, you know, lastly Democratic presidents did. And I, you know, well, it's true. It's true. You know it's true. [Zeleny:] Flying across Nevada today, Sanders says he's counting on one win at a time. [Bernie Sanders, Presidential Candidate:] I hope we have a very large, very, very large voter turnout tomorrow. [Zeleny:] The candidates are trying to break through the distractions of Las Vegas. [Clinton:] Now, you get there. You got to get there at 11:00 a.m. You can't sleep in. Sleep in, you know, the next day. [Zeleny:] Working to get out the vote for Saturday's caucuses, particularly targeting Latino voters. [Unidentified Female:] [Foreign Language Spoken] [Zeleny:] In South Carolina today, Clinton picked up the endorsement of Congressman James Clyburn and influential seal of approval for next weeks primary there. [James Clyburn, U.s. House Democratics:] The future of the Democratic Party and the United States of America will be best served with the experiences and know-how of Hillary Clinton as our 45th president. [Zeleny:] Eight years ago Clyburn declined to endorse, a decision that enraged Bill Clinton. Clyburn recounted the anger in his 2014 memoir. He said the former president called him in the middle of the night saying if you bastards want to fight, you damn well will get one. The endorsement could complicate Sanders attempt to win over black voters. In a new interview with B.E.T., he suggested Hillary Clinton was embracing Obama for one reason. [Sanders:] Everything the president does is wonderful. She love the president, he loves her all that stuff. And we know what that's about. That's going to a win support from the African-American community where the president is obviously popular. But you know what, I have enormous respect for the president. He's a friend we've worked together. I think he's done a great job in many respects. But, you know what, like any other human being, he is wrong on certain issues. [Zeleny:] Now, Nevada was once seen by Hillary Clinton supporters as a place where she could rebound her candidacy. It is increasing the [inaudible] laboratory for how she will take on Bernie Sanders in the long term. She said he's promising free this, free that, free everything. The problem for her is though his supporters seem to like that and seem to be answering his call for that political revolution. Jeff Zeleny, CNN Sparks, Nevada. [Allen:] There's another election we're watching. The results of Uganda's presidential election should be in soon. Will be incumbent extend his 30-year rule? We'll have a live report from Africa coming up here. [Amanpour:] Welcome back to the program. It is painfully apparent the American politics is mired in extremes, whether on religion, immigration or indeed climate change, it seems many American politicians are willing to go places where few others in the world would dare to tread. But if there's a single truth of American politics, it is that money talks. One man trying to use his billions to bring what he calls common sense back to politics is Tom Steyer. In the course of just a few years, he has made himself a must-see donor for any Democrat seeking major office here in the United States. When I spoke to him earlier today from the climate summit in Paris, he told me the fight there is David versus Goliath. Tom Steyer, welcome to the program. [Tom Steyer, Billionaire And Climate Activist:] Christiane, it is wonderful to be here. [Amanpour:] Well, I'm sure you didn't expect me to ask this as my first question as you're there for the climate conference but you are a very heavyweight Democrat with a lot of activism and money behind causes for your party. I wonder what you make of what some may feel verges on hate speech by the leading Republican presidential candidate last night, Donald Trump, when he said "ban all Muslims" from coming to the United States. [Steyer:] Well, I think that when people are upset and worried, that is the time when you have to make sure that you stick to your deepest values and that you represent best what America stands for. And I think that President Obama stood up and did that in his speech. And I think that for Americans, who have had the dubious pleasure of hearing Mr. Trump sound off in various ways that none of us really appreciate, we have to realize that he has a right to free speech, however much we deplore what he has to say. But in times when people are worried, the key is not to lose your head, not to go to the places that he chooses to go but, in fact, to realize that is the time when your deepest values have to come into play. [Amanpour:] But are there limits to what people can say under the most stressful of circumstances? Is it like, for instance, shouting fire in a crowded cinema, when you say "ban all Muslims" at a time of war with ISIS? [Steyer:] Let me say this is not the first time in this campaign when Mr. Trump's speech has denigrated entire groups of people and, in fact, tried to, you know, make them less than fully human and have less than full rights. So it's not surprising this is the continuation of a trend. But I think that actually he is somebody who's seeking a lot of attention. The more we ignore him, the more desperate he'll become. [Amanpour:] Let's transition from that to what you're doing in Paris right now because obviously there was this terrible terrorist attack. And yet, the city, the country has received so many hundreds of world leaders, also people like yourselves, activists who want to do something for the environment. Let me ask you about the right thing economically because you divested from your fossil fuel investments. The Koch Brothers have a huge amount invested in fossil fuel energy. They're on the skeptical side, as is Donald Trump and the rest of the Republican crowd, by and large. What can you tell people about the economic benefits? Because they all say, hang on, this is going to penalize us and cut jobs and harm our economy if we do, you know, something different on climate change. [Steyer:] Well, Christiane, you're absolutely right. The go-to move for our opponents is to claim that any progressive energy policy is a job-killing energy tax. And let me say, that's the reason I'm in Paris. I'm in Paris, along with Governor Brown, leading a delegation of California business people to show the world that that statement by our opponents is false. The fact of the matter is the places that have progressive energy legislation like California are growing faster than the United the rest of the United States of America. So we have created jobs in the last few years faster than the U.S. We've grown faster than the U.S. And our analysis is, to date and going forward, moving to progressive energy policies creates net jobs, raises people's income and lowers their energy bill so that I have not seen any justification for the other side's claim. And we have spent a ton of time and effort to make sure that what we're saying has been true to date and will continue to be true. The fact of the matter is, from our point of view, it's inevitable that we will create hundreds of thousands of clean energy jobs. And the questions will be, will they be good-paying jobs and will they be distributed throughout society? And I believe that they will be. [Amanpour:] Let me get back to politics again. You have been a supporter of Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side in the past. You've held fundraisers for her. But you haven't actually come out and endorsed here this time around. Why not? And do you think you will? [Steyer:] Well, what we're trying to do is take advantage of the presidential election process to push candidates from every party, including Ms. Clinton, including every Democrat and every Republican, to come out with what their program and plan is to get us on a sustainable economic path. And what we've defined that as, at least to get 50 percent clean energy by 2030. So we're asking every candidate, including Ms. Clinton, to be specific because I think the time to talk about the science is over and we think the time for good intentions is over. What we want is specific plans. So right now, we're waiting to see how that turns out. We believe that every candidate is going to have to talk at length about energy. We believe that ultimately every candidate, including Republicans, is going to have to accept the science and start to talk about solutions. [Amanpour:] And finally, as you know, around the world, people look at American politics and they gasp at the number of billions of dollars that get poured into not just presidential campaigns but just about all campaigns these days. You are, again, a very rich person who puts your money to the causes you believe in. On the other side of the aisle, as we've spoken about, the Koch Brothers do the same. Do you think, though, that the amount of money, combined with politics, has a good effect or a corrosive effect? [Steyer:] Well, we have been consistent in saying that we believe that the Citizens United decision that unleashed corporate money into politics by the Supreme Court was a tragic mistake. And you know, we feel, in general, that this way, where people are using their money to support their self-interests, is something scary and corrosive. We're not speaking up for our personal self-interests. We're going to be as transparent as possible. I'm going to go on CNN to explain what we're trying to do or any other place that people want to hear me. And, in general, we feel that, from our point of view, our advantages are we're speaking the truth, we think the overwhelming weight of evidence is on our side and the American people are smart. And if they get a chance to hear both sides, they will come to the right conclusions. We think this is David and Goliath. We think we have a slingshot and five rocks. And we think that that's going to be what carries the day because, in the end, the truth is going to win. [Amanpour:] You're talking about the climate now, right? [Steyer:] I'm talking about energy and climate, yes. [Amanpour:] Tom Steyer, on that note, thank you so much for joining us from Paris. [Steyer:] Christiane, it's a beautiful rainy day here in Paris. Thank you very much. It's nice to hear your voice. [Amanpour:] When we come back, we imagine standing up to bigotry and fear, words that ring true through history. That's next. [Don Lemon, Cnn:] There is something different about this case. Zachary Hammond was white. [Pinsky:] Is this shooting being ignored because there is not a racial issue? [John Cardillo, Wjno Radio Host And Former Nypd Officer:] Yes, most definitely. Absolutely, without a doubt. [Segun Oduolowu, Host Of "wired In With Segun" Podcast:] Forget the color. Deal with the boys in blue. [Rolonda Watts, Host Of "rolonda On Demand" Podcast:] There is no need for deadly force, and there is an unarmed person killed again. [Martin:] Unarmed teens and when you cannot figure out a better way to arrest someone or to deal with the situation other than to use lethal force, we are in trouble in this country. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Martin:] We are in trouble. [Pinsky:] Zachary Hammond, we are talking about; he was shot and killed by a police during a marijuana sting. First of all, I am shocked that there is such a thing. [Sedaghatfar:] Marijuana sting. [Pinsky:] In a fast food parking lot. Police say Zachary tried to run over an officer with his vehicle. The officer shot him twice in the chest. The family`s private autopsy found Zachary was shot in the back. They were moving away from him when he was shot. Back with Anahita, Rolonda, Mike, Areva and John still on Skype. Joining me on the phone, I have Eric Bland. He is the attorney for Zachary Hammond`s family. I guess we have a lot of questions for you. Tell us about this private autopsy in the findings. [Eric Bland, Attorney Of Zachary Hammond`s Family:] Dr. Drew, we felt it was necessary because the narrative that was being delivered by the Seneca Police Chief as well as by the coroner was exactly what you said, that he was shot Zachary was shot in the chest. And, it did not put context in where the bullets were entered. The bullets entered according to the second autopsy, which entered into his body on the left rear shoulder and his left side back chest; which was indicative of the officer is shooting him from the back. And, Dr. Drew, where I grew up, you shoot somebody in the back, you are a coward. You are not a hero and you get charged with murder. [Martin:] That is right. [Bland:] And, unfortunately Unfortunately, in this situation, the solicitor views the police officer as a hero, and you have to judge his conduct. Not subjectively, but what would a reasonable officer have done under these circumstances. And, we do not need to look any further that there was another officer who had his gun drawn on the passenger`s side of the vehicle. And, that officer did not perceive a threat. That officer did not see a weapon. That officer did not perceive it. Zachary and the girl on the passenger`s seat were disregarding police instructions, and he did not discharge his weapon. So, that was a reasonable officer. But the officer that shot Zachary, shot him from the back. He had time to reflect, had time to make other choices and decided to use deadly force on an teenager who weighed 121 pound and was not the focus of that sting operation. [Pinsky:] Thank you, Mr. Bland. Now, John, you, yesterday, told us that you felt the vehicle was a weapon, even though this kid did not have any firearm. He was using his vehicle as a weapon as far as you were concerned. [Cardillo:] Yes, I mean, this happened to me, at Burnside Avenue in the Bronx. I pulled over a vehicle an in a split second, the guy took off by me as I was at his pickup. He had a piece of trim hanging of the vehicle. It hooked into my gun belt. And, my weapon coming out of my holster into his face. That is the only thing I got him to stop that car. Had he not, I would have been hit by vehicles on the other side of the street and killed. A vehicle is a weapon. I also want to comment on the officer on the right side not shooting. That was brutal. Zach Hammond was driving the vehicle. He was depressed. The passenger was not. So, that officer was correct not to shoot. Fired to stop threat. And, I really do not have problems I want to wait for the big boot. [Pinsky:] All right, John I got to interrupt you. I will get an input from out audience. Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Well, the cops were wrong for killing Zachary. That is for sure. Can I get an amen? I was also a victim of police brutality. [Pinsky:] What happened? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I am a white girl. OK? From Long Beach [Catherwood:] What? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I know, shocking. [Pinsky:] And, what happened to you exactly? Let us get to that. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] OK. I was tased. I was tased in the throat from about 3 [Pinsky:] Were you talking back to the cops? [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] I was not. And, I was charged with police brutality and a resisting arrest, but I was just in my little heels, and a dress. They came in. They arrested my mom. I watched them handcuffed my sister, and push her over the couch. She had a little tiara on. [Pinsky:] OK. All right. Now, Mike, you have been handled similarly by the police, but you say it is when you [Catherwood:] I have always been terrible. I was always being a really bad guy. [Sedaghatfar:] So, you deserved it as much as [Catherwood:] I mean, listen, that itself so subjective to say what level of force a policeman can use on you and what is right and what is wrong? But, I definitely was pushing buttons. I mean I was not complying. [Pinsky:] Now, that you are sober, you are not drunk, you are not hanging out with a bunch of screwballs. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] Magically, you do not have any trouble with [Catherwood:] No, that is a very You know, it is very poignant to say like when I was committing crime every single day of my life, which I was, I was at least possessing drugs every day. And, then, now now that I do not, I do not commit crime, I just do not have any animosity nor do I have any of that awkward feeling that have when you even encountered cops, which I used to have? Even just the sight of cop, I would be like, "Ugh." [Pinsky:] Yes, ma`am. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] So, what is going on is absolutely wrong. I disagree with it, but I think the biggest problem was in our community especially in America is that of the lack of understanding and the fear that is being placed between citizens and cops. [Pinsky:] So, what do we do about it? [Sedaghatfar:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] We need to come to a conclusion, where we can sit down and we understand each other. We are working off the fear. Cops are fearful. Citizens are fearful. We are at a point of misunderstanding. And, I think that is the biggest point because cops are terrified. They have a hard job. We have a hard job living with being in fear of being shot, being arrested at any point. But, we need to just come to a conclusion and talk about what is really going on. [Pinsky:] Now, Anahita, you wanted solutions. That is what you called for the last segment. [Sedaghatfar:] Right. [Pinsky:] I do not feel that fear. I feel bad for the police. [Sedaghatfar:] Right. [Pinsky:] I feel bad that horrible things are happening. It is hard to deny that. [Sedaghatfar:] Right. [Pinsky:] But how do we get people, the citizens to feel positive about the police? Would not that be [Sedaghatfar:] Well, that is a good question. I wish I had the answers. I do not, but I think we need to start thinking about that, Dr. Drew. [Watts:] I think we can start [Sedaghatfar:] And, I think that is the [Watts:] Go on. Go on. [Sedaghatfar:] No, and I think that is the point. I think even having this discussion and throwing ideas out there. [Pinsky:] Now, it is [Ok -- Sedaghatfar:] It is a good start. Well, because we are talking about solutions. [Pinsky:] Rolonda. [Sedaghatfar:] I am not just complaining about the problems. [Watts:] You know, I think sometimes, what they say, God is in the details. It is the little things that we do. And, I have had to catch myself. I have had some prejudicial thoughts about cops. I will admit. But, if you see a police officer, say "Hello." [Pinsky:] Yes. [Watts:] Or just to stretch yourself beyond just the regular old regular same old fear factor. "Thank you for doing your job today, officer." Buy him a cup of coffee. Any little thing I know. I know it sounds corny and Kumbaya. I know. But it makes a big difference. [Pinsky:] Mike. [Watts:] And, if nothing else, it puts positivity out there in the first place. [Catherwood:] There was a time and a place. There was a time and a place All right. You are right, you are not on T.V. There was a time and a place in this country when the most populated cities had maybe a million people. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] And, most people did not really encounter more than a couple hundred people in their life. And, it was very easy for the police and the citizens to have a very open working relationship. You know, in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and other a lot of other cities, many of other cities, that is practically impossible. And, the police because of it, suffer because they do not have the ability to have that kind of intimate relationship with the citizens that they patrol and vice-versa. We do not really know policemen. [Pinsky:] And, that is the fear again. Yes, ma`am, you have a comment. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Yes, I just wanted to say to officer John, thank you for your service. However, I mean, something has to be going on in this man`s head that he must feel so unsafe the fact that he can sit on national television and say, you know, he wants the brutality that he went behind it. But, it is him, and the cops with Sandra Bland, who I think verbatim said, "I will light you up. I will light you up." Like those cops like what you are saying you want solutions, they are not the solution. They are the problems. [Pinsky:] Mike Well, let us start with that. [Watts:] But, not all. And, you know, here I go. I am sorry. But, not all of the cops are the rogue cops. So, one little bit at a time just helps build the relationship a little bit. [Pinsky:] And nor I would not classify John as a rogue cop. [Watts:] No. But, you know but they are out there. [Sedaghatfar:] How about even trying to screen out bad cops? Not all cops are obviously bad. How come we do not have, you know, more mechanisms to screen them out? [Pinsky:] And, Mike hang on a second. Mike, you and I have seen a friend of ours get lit up by the cops. [Catherwood:] Yes. [Pinsky:] He deserved to be [Catherwood:] He was being a terrible person. [Pinsky:] Absolutely. That is the only way they could have control him. He would have killed him. [Catherwood:] I believe the cops said, "If you, giant mother F`er, I am going to cook your balls. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Catherwood:] And, he was [Watts:] Who is this friend? [Sedaghatfar:] Who is this? [Catherwood:] That is a deep dark secret. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] This is the problem that I have with all of this is that it is not a side taking thing. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, I just heard you say that there is no fear from you. [Pinsky:] Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] There is probably no fear from you because you have not had to live this. [Pinsky:] Well, no, I have. It is not true. I have been abused by cops on two different occasions. And, then, one lied about what happened in court. And, I was confused by it. I did not think all cops were bad. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, I am saying in the sense of every day. Certain communities [Pinsky:] Let me say, I have white privilege and I am a male. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] Right. [Pinsky:] It is bad. All the way through in terms of what I do not perceive. I am sure of that. So, let me cop to that for sure. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] OK. So, this is the problem I have, and I am listening to you. And, it seems like, if you never I mean I do not live in south central, but I have family that lives in south central. And, I just witnessed a murder the other day. It was not by the cops, but it was still what happens in that community, which I understand why the cops are fearful piggybacking on what she said. [Pinsky:] Yes. Yes. [Unidentified Female Audience Member:] But, it is really hard, if you are not living it, to really get what is going on, you know? [Pinsky:] I agree. And, we have to leave it there. I think that is an excellent place to leave it, because that is an excellent reminder to those of us like myself that may be a little confused by at times if we are not living all the time to stay tuned. I get criticism on Twitter on tweets about me sort of making too much of exactly what she said. And, I cannot make too much of it, because I am a privileged white male, that I should make a lot of it. Exactly what she is saying. That is a got the great point. We are going to leave it there. Next, Kris Jenner calling out Caitlyn over a very public transition and the conflict thing they have, after this. [Sciutto:] Tonight, two high school football players caught on camera violently tackling a referee during a game are now speaking out. They say their coach told them to do it. Why? Because they claimed the ref used ethnic and racial slurs against them. The ref denies the allegations. Jean Casarez is OUTFRONT. [Jean Casarez, Cnn Correspondent:] It was a brutal act caught on camera. Two San Antonio high school football players who each blind-sided a referee are now speaking out for the first time saying they intentionally did it. Victor Rojas and Michael Moreno say their assistant coach told them to attack the ref for making bad calls and for allegedly using racial slurs. [Victor Rojas, Tackled A Referee:] He told one of my Hispanic friends, he told him, speak English, this is America. He told him that. And then [George Stephanopoulos, Abc:] Did you hear that or did one of your friends tell you that? [Rojas:] No, I heard him. And then to the African-American in our team, he told him the "N" word. [Stephanopoulos:] And you heard him? [Rojas:] Yes, sir. [Stephanopoulos:] And you heard him say the "n" word? Did you? [Michael Moreno, Tackled A Referee:] Yes. I heard him when he had called him, Moses, a friend of us, you know, the "N" word and it was just really [Stephanopoulos:] He says that's a lie. [Moreno:] That's not. It's the honest truth right there. [Casarez:] Allen Goldberg, the attorney for referee Robert Watts disputes these allegations. [Alan Goldberger, Robert Watts' Attorney:] Mr. Watts denies using any inappropriate remarks. The allegations of the students are taking on a character as if it was somehow, some kind of excuse. [Casarez:] Video from the September 6th game shows Rojas charging at referee Robert Watts, hitting him from behind and knocking him to the ground. Seconds later, Moreno pounces on top of him, diving into him, spearing him with his helmet. Moreno says, John Jay High School assistant coach Mack Breed spoke to him directly before the attack. [Moreno:] While on the side line, he pulled me and another player over and he told us, and I quote, "You need to hit him." [Casarez:] Rojas says he got his orders from another fellow team mate. [Rojas:] A player came over and told me the coach said, "Do it." [Stephanopoulos:] The coach told you to do it? [Rojas:] Yes sir. [Casarez:] Coach Breed who is currently on paid administrative leave could not be reached for comment. The players are now suspended for their entire season and say they know their actions were wrong. [Rojas:] I would apologize for things that I made. [Moreno:] Everyone sees me as this thug, you know, or gangster. You know, I did this because I'm a bad guy. Like, that's not who I am. Like underneath the helmet and the pads, you know, I'm really a great kid. [Casarez:] So the Marble Falls Police Department continues its investigation into all aspects of this. The Northside Independent School District in San Antonio says it is cooperating in every way. At this point, the students are on disciplinary leave. There is a hearing that they are awaiting the results on from an internal investigation so they are going to the alternative school. Once the investigation is finished, it is the district attorney that will determine if criminal charges are filed. And, Jim, the school district tells me they have no idea that these students were flying to New York today, a school day, for the interview. [Sciutto:] Jean Casarez in New York. Paul Callan, he's CNN legal analyst. So the players claim the coach told them to do it. Does that change their responsibility at all? [Paul Callan, Criminal Defense Attorney:] Well, legally, it doesn't. I mean, if the coach told them to shoot somebody and they did, they would be guilty of a crime. However, in the context of a football game, my son, who played high school football and tells me that if the coach tells you to do something, and you're a high school kid, you do it. It's a quasi- military organization in terms of the way it's run and anybody who has played high school football knows, you do what the coach tells you. [Sciutto:] Clear chain of command there? [Callan:] Well, I think they've got a good defense here. Maybe technically what they did was wrong, but if the coach said that, it's the coach who is guilty, not the kids. [Sciutto:] How about the allegation that the referee used racial slurs and ethnic slurs. Does that take away culpability at all? [Callan:] Well, I think it does in the sense that in any disciplinary hearing, that's going to be taken into consideration if in fact it was said and it would reduce the punishment. But remember, the ref is adamantly denying racial slurs. And the other thing we haven't heard is how severe are his injuries? These are the things the district attorney will be looking at. And, boy, he's in a tough spot. If this guy is seriously injured, is he going to charge these local high school football players with an assault or the coach? [Sciutto:] Yes. [Callan:] Tough decision by the prosecutor. [Sciutto:] And a lawsuit as well, I imagine, down the road. [Callan:] That's right. [Sciutto:] Paul Callan, thanks very much as always. OUTFRONT next, Carly Fiorina just moments away from taking the stage in Greenville, South Carolina. Her first appearance since Wednesday's debate. We're going to bring you that live. [Blitzer:] A deal between the United States and Russia on Syria appears to be in the works at this hour. The secretary of the United States, John Kerry, arrived in Moscow earlier today. He's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They're expected to discuss a possible agreement to share intelligence and targeting data for air strikes in Syria. We'll see if that emerges. Joining us is Colonel Chris Garver, the spokesman for Operation Inherent Revolve, the U.S.-led coalition against ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Thanks for joining us. What, if anything, can you tell us about this new initiative, the new effort for the U.S. and Russia to work together to expand this war against ISIS and destroy ISIS jointly? [Col. Chris Garver, Spokesman, Operation Inherent Resolve In Iraq & Syria:] Wolf, as you know, Secretary Kerry is negotiating that right now. We'll let him do that. What I can tell you is the coalition is focused on defeating ISIS. And anybody else that wants to come in fighting ISIS as well will be welcome to do that. We've seen Russians in the past who said they were here to defeat is, but we've seen them do other things as well. If you're going to come into the coalition, you're going to work with us, we'd want you to be 100 percent focused on fighting [Isis. Blitzer:] The media wing, as it's called, of ISIS claims a high- ranking ISIS commander, an individual by the name of Umar el Shashani, was killed in fighting near Mosul, a city of almost two million Iraqis that ISIS still controls, that he was killed four months ago. Actually, four months ago, the U.S. thought they had killed him in Syria. Is this guy dead? [Garver:] Well, we certainly hope so. That was certainly the target of the attack, as it was, four months ago. But because of what happened, clearly, we're being very conservative in our assessment. We won't to make sure before we announce it we know for sure. We're still working through that assessment piece right now. But it will have a significant impact on the ISIS-led operation the ISIS fight around that area, around the south side of Mosul if we, indeed, did get him. [Blitzer:] Mosul, a key target for the coalition right now. ISIS took over Mosul two years ago. They've been in control ever since. This is the second-largest city in Iraq. How does it look for the liberation of Mosul? Is that operation by the Iraqi military, back by the U.S., going to begin this year? [Garver:] The operation is on going, Wolf. We've been shaping the fight in Mosul with stripes for several months. The Iraqi forces conducting that attack are in route now. They just took the Kiara Air Base over the weekend. We'll turn that into a platform from which they can launch the attack into Mosul. We definitely will see the operation continue forward. The Iraqis are making good progress. We're seeing them fight well on the ground, and they're defeating Daesh, defeating ISIS, as we call them, Daesh. They're defeating ISIS as they fight them on the ground. So we're looking forward to the fight in Mosul itself. [Blitzer:] Besides the U.S., who else is launching air strikes against ISIS in Mosul, in that area? [Garver:] Well, there are 16 members of the coalition that are providing strikes inside Iraq. So you've got the British, the French, a wide variety of the coalition members that are here, contributing nations to the coalition that are conducting those strikes inside Mosul. And the Iraqi air force itself is attacking inside Mosul as well. [Blitzer:] I just want to be precise. The French, the British, the other partners that the U.S. has, their warplanes are involved, they're actually engaged in air strikes against ISIS? Is that right? [Garver:] Absolutely. We're all tied together in one coalition air operation. So they all participate as part of that. And we appreciate their efforts in what they bring to the coalition. [Blitzer:] So when do you think Mosul will be liberated? [Garver:] That's the question right now. The prime minister has said he wants to do that by the end of the year. We're going to do everything we can to help make that come true. [Blitzer:] Colonel Chris Garver, spokesman for the anti-ISIS coalition, U.S.-led, in Iraq, thanks for joining us. [Garver:] Thank you for having me, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Coming up, the Republican National Committee is working on its outreach to Latino voters here in the United States. We'll talk to the new director for Hispanic communications. There she is. We'll talk with her right after this. [Isha Sesay, Cnn International Anchor:] Hello, and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Isha Sesay. [John Vause, Cnn International Anchor:] I'm John Vause. Great to have you with us. The U.S. state of New Hampshire has kicked off the first of many presidential primaries leading up to the November election and the first results are in. Dixville Notch and two other small towns cast their ballots just after midnight local time, about an hour or so ago now. [Sesay:] Well, just nine votes are counted in Dixville. John Kasich beat Donald Trump 3-2 on the Republican side. The rest of the votes went to Democrat Bernie Sanders. [Vause:] That would be four. Over in the town of Milford, Ted Cruz led Republicans with his nine of the 21 votes which were cast. And Hillary Clinton beat Sanders 2-1 on the Democratic side. Ted Cruz obviously doing well there because it's close to Canada. In the Republican race, it looks like New Hampshire is Donald Trump's to lose. The latest CNN-WMUR poll has him holding almost a third of Republicans in the field of eight candidates. [Sesay:] But about 30 percent of Republican voters, a very large number, 30 percent, still undecided there in New Hampshire. And as Jim Acosta reports, the race for second place there is still very much up in the air. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] We have to get rid of the Bushes of the world. [Acosta:] Just one day before the New Hampshire primary, the battle for the Republican nomination has descended into name calling and taunts between Donald Trump and his favorite target Jeb Bush. [Trump:] Then he said, see, I'm the only one taking on Donald Trump. I'm not afraid of Donald Trump. I'm the he's like a child. He's like a spoiled child. [Acosta:] But the former Florida governor is no longer ignoring the attacks. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Donald Trump, you're the loser. [Acosta:] Bush is throwing counterpunches in what may be a last-ditch effort to slam the brakes on Trump's fast-moving campaign and save his own. [Bush:] It's a long list of things that Donald Trump says that disparages people. I find it remarkable that as a candidate for president he would think that that's evidence that he's a strong person. He's not. [Acosta:] The two men are at war on Twitter. Trump tweeting, "Everybody is laughing at Jeb Bush. Spent $100 million and as at bottom of pack, a pathetic figure." And Bush swinging back, reminding voters of Trump's attacks on John McCain, a former New Hampshire winner. Bush tweeted, "You aren't just a loser. You're a liar and a whiner." Trump told Wolf Blitzer, Bush is losing his nerve. [Trump:] He's a sad person who has gone absolutely crazy. I mean, this guy is a nervous wreck. I've never seen anything like it. [Acosta:] Their brawl comes as a new CNN-WMUR poll shows Trump still way out in front. One key question heading into the primary is how much damage was done to Marco Rubio after his shaky debate performance over the weekend. [Sen. Marco Rubio , Presidential Candidate:] Here's the bottom line, this notion that Barack Obama doesn't know what he's doing is just not true. [Gov. Chris Christie , Presidential Candidate:] There it is. [Rubio:] He knows exactly what he's doing. [Christie:] There it is. The memorize 25-second speech. [Rubio:] Well, that's the reason why this campaign [Christie:] There it is, everybody. [Acosta:] Chris Christie says it proof that Rubio is not ready for primetime. [Christie:] When the lights get that bright, you either shine or you melt. We cannot afford to have a president who melts. [Acosta:] Rubio had no regrets. [Rubio:] People keep you know, there's in the present anyway, why do you keep saying the same thing about Obama trying to change America? I'm going to keep saying that a million times because I believe it's true. [Acosta:] Also unclear is how well John Kasich and Ted Cruz will do. They are also fighting for second place and Cruz appears to be downplaying expectations. [Sen. Ted Cruz , Presidential Candidate:] We never viewed any of these states as a must win. We are here in New Hampshire competing for the votes. And at this point, it's a turnout game. [Acosta:] The trump campaign is sounding much more confident about New Hampshire than about Iowa. Campaign manager Corey Lewandowski tells CNN Iowa was about information voters about the caucus process, whereas New Hampshire is about getting people to the polls. Lewandowski noted you're not hearing Ted Cruz post about his ground game here in New Hampshire anymore. Jim Acosta, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire. [Sesay:] So much to discuss. For more on what could happen to the Republican field, we're joined now by Republican consultant John Thomas, one of the wise men without his partner, and editor-in-chief of conservative blog, PolitiChicks, Ann-Marie Murrell. Thank you so much. And welcome, Ann-Marie. Good to have you with us. [Vause:] We're short with a man. I'm sorry. [John Thomas, Republican Consultant:] You did. [Sesay:] I know. I know. We need another woman today. [Thomas:] We'll get back together, I'm sure. [Sesay:] You'll be OK. You know, got to put to you what happened earlier on in the evening at the Donald Trump rally where some offensive language was used to describe Ted Cruz. I want to listen to the moment. Let's play for our viewers. And Ann Marie, I'd like you to weigh in. [Trump:] You heard the other night at the debate. They asked Ted Cruz a serious question. Well, what do you think of waterboarding? Is it OK? And honestly, I thought he'd say absolutely. And he didn't, he said, well you know, he's concerned about the answer because some people she just said a terrible thing. You know what she said? Shout it out because I don't want to say [Vause:] OK. You're not allowed to say and I never expect to hear that from you again. She said, I never expect to hear that from you again. She said he's a [Sesay:] It's hard to fathom that this is a race for the White House. [Vause:] But you heard the cheers, right? So, Ann-Marie, as a Ted Cruz supporter. [Anne-marie Murrell, Editor-in-chief, Politichicks.com:] Yes. [Vause:] So when you hear that, and you hear him talk about your guy like that, what's the sort of reaction out there among especially Ted Cruz supporters? [Murrell:] As a Ted Cruz supporter, as a woman, as a person, as a human being. [Vause:] Yes. [Murrell:] I wouldn't want my candidate ever, ever to talk like that. And it's funny, you were talking about one of your family members, John, that might lean toward Trump. I'm not going to out anybody here. But you know what, just because you say what's on your mind doesn't mean you need to say everything that's on your mind. And he blamed it on the woman in the audience. So he didn't have to take responsibility for that necessarily. [Vause:] But he does. I mean, he [Murrell:] He does. [Sesay:] Yes. Of course. [Thomas:] You know, the press [Vause:] But this is his shtick, though, right now. [Thomas:] He called somebody a jack you know, he called somebody. [Vause:] Right. [Thomas:] You know, he's cussed people, too. Not obviously as quite as vulgar. [Vause:] Yes. [Thomas:] But I think this really reinforces that Trump supporters like that he says what he thinks. And they're angry. And I think Donald Trump also is frustrated that Ted Cruz has mirrored all of his positions to date. You know, and whatever Donald Trump says, if I'm going to build a wall, Ted Cruz says, I'm going to build a bigger wall. [Murrell:] Well, he said that in 2012 before Donald Trump was ever in the political realm at all. So to be fair, he's been [Thomas:] Right. [Murrell:] He's been pushing for immigration and reform for [Thomas:] But he didn't leave off with his campaign and [Vause:] And Trump put it on the map, much more than Ted Cruz ever did. [Murrell:] Well, he yelled it. And that's it. [Vause:] Because Cruz has been running away from the issue of immigration because it's a difficult one for him. [Thomas:] And I think also the candidates are looking to draw a contrast between who's tougher. In the debate, Ted Cruz showed a measured approach, saying, well, perhaps I'd consider waterboarding. Not really sure. And Donald Trump says, I would you better believe I'll waterboard. [Vause:] Yes. And you're absolutely right. Because measured responses are not popular, nuance is not popular right now. [Sesay:] Right. Nobody wants nuance. [Vause:] Especially on the Republican side. Also on the Democrats side, I think. Now you mentioned the debate, we had that Rubio moment in the debate where he repeated himself a couple of times, wouldn't get off his talking points. In the last couple of hours, another I guess verbal malfunction if you like from Marco Rubio. Let's listen to this. [Rubio:] We are taking our message to families that are struggling to raise their children in the 21st century. Because as you saw, Jeannette and I are raising our four children in the 21st century. And we know how hard it's become to instill our values in our kids, instead of the values they try to ram down our throats. In the 21st century, it's become harder than ever to instill in your children the values they teach in our homes and in our church, instead of the values that they try to ram down our throats in the movies, in music, in popular culture. [Vause:] And did you pick up what was going on about there? [Thomas:] Yes, I did. [Sesay:] Message [Thomas:] I counted the first 10 seconds. [Sesay:] Yes. [Vause:] Maybe even in the third. And sorry. This is a problem for Marco Rubio is that he's reinforcing a narrative here, right? [Thomas:] Sure. And the problem he has right now is this undermines his authenticity. And the fact is, he's a very authentic candidate but he's one of his greatest assets is that he's disciplined and on message. And now the candidates are turning around on him. What I find ironic is that Chris Christie, who lobbed that grenade right at Marco's face, is also [Sesay:] Exactly on the same [Thomas:] He is the governor and the former U.S. attorney. That's he's, you know, one-note Johnny. And so it's kind of hypocritical. [Sesay:] What do you make of it? [Murrell:] It's also I've got a lot of sympathy. I'm tired right now. I mean, I get tired just getting up and putting makeup on these days. These guys are on the campaign trail. They are fighting. They're giving their message over and over and over. They're pouring out their heart, the life's blood, they're putting their families through this. They are tired. It's hard to be perfect. [Vause:] Stop being so nice. [Murrell:] It's hard to be perfect. [Vause:] Stop being understanding here. [Thomas:] Well, well, I think Anne-Marie is right. But, you know, we live in a sound bite world, right? [Sesay:] Yes. We do. [Thomas:] With 15-second clips. [Vause:] Sure. [Thomas:] And these candidates understand that they don't get a long dialogue with the voters and so they better repeat the same message so it breaks through. [Murrell:] And no one is better than Donald Trump about that. [Vause:] That's true. [Murrell:] Because he's thinking of the sound bite. [Vause:] He is. [Sesay:] What are your expectations for your candidate coming out of New Hampshire? Because nobody is talking about him. Everyone is talking about Rubio and they're talking about Trump. [Murrell:] Yes. Well, right now Rubio and Cruz are kind of neck-and- neck. Everybody thought Donald Trump is going to win in Iowa, too. And the one thing we don't know about this entire primary is we don't know anything about this primary. Donald Trump did he lobbed a grenade into the middle of politics. And anything can happen. [Vause:] I'm just wondering, since Iowa, Ted Cruz has been dogged by allegations of dirty tricks and winning the caucus. Now whether you agree with it or not, has that hurt him more than helped? Obviously the win in Iowa has not helped him as much and has the allegations of dirty tricks so that it negated any momentum he got from Iowa. [Murrell:] I don't think so at all because anyone who actually look into all of the allegations and everything that happened, I was watching live when it was happening on CNN when they were when they broke the story that Dr. Ben Carson was allegedly going to take time off. They were talking about it like it was a breaking news story. And then everyone started live tweeting it right after. [Thomas:] Yes I think Ann-Marie's right. [Murrell:] And yet [Thomas:] It really didn't affect the outcome of what happened in Iowa. I think Ted unfairly, quite frankly, hasn't received the bounce that someone should out of Iowa. And so right now, Ted has been very smart. He's managed expectations going into New Hampshire. The interesting thing is, in Iowa the evangelical vote is two-thirds self- identified evangelical. In New Hampshire, it's less than one-fifth. So this isn't Ted Cruz's state. So if he does well tomorrow which he may, it's a big boost. [Sesay:] How well does he have to do? [Thomas:] Top if he comes in top four, it's a really good night. South Carolina, he should have a great night because of the evangelical base. [Sesay:] OK. [Vause:] Thank you both. [Sesay:] Always a pressure. [Thomas:] Thank you. [Sesay:] Ann-Marie, lovely to have you with us. John Thomas [Murrell:] It's good to be here. [Sesay:] We'll reunite you with your other half soon enough. [Thomas:] Noted. [Sesay:] Thank you. [Vause:] OK. With a strong lead, Donald Trump's campaign has not tried to build a so-called ground game in New Hampshire. [Sesay:] His army of volunteers is small compared to those of other candidates. But as Sara Murray reports what Trump supporters lack in numbers, they sure do make up for in enthusiasm. [Sara Murray, Cnn Politics Correspondent:] It's Donald Trump lands his first victory of 2016 in New Hampshire Tuesday, even he says it won't be because of his ground game. [Trump:] You know, personally I think the debate tonight is more important than the ground game because in New Hampshire, the people, they like you. And they're going to go out and they're going to vote and they're going to go back. You know, there's not so much of a ground game. [Murray:] That's not stopping Trump's team from putting it on display. [Unidentified Male:] Do you mind if we if you're a supporter of Mr. Trump? [Murray:] After barring reporters from campaign offices in Iowa [Unidentified Male:] I've been told to turn all media away. [Murray:] OK. [Unidentified Male:] We have no comment on any matter. [Murray:] Trump shifted stances in the wake of his second place finish, allowing reporters to tag along with volunteers. [James Radcliffe, Trump Campaign Volunteer:] All right. Last one on the street. By far, we have the most organized, the most passionate team. The fire is lit in our bellies, and we're going for it every day. [Murray:] The team is led by campaign manager and longtime New Hampshire operative Corey Lewandowski. He has experience in the nitty-gritty of voter registration. But his efforts to ramp up Trump's ground game appear to rest on a flimsy foundation. [Unidentified Male:] We're Donald Trump volunteers and we're going around. [Murray:] According to campaign finance reports, Trump has spent little on data or voter targeting, a cornerstone of rival campaigns. For eight months, Marco Rubio's camp has been knocking on doors and making phone calls, laying the ground work for late breaking voters. [Kathy Bove, Rubio Campaign Volunteer:] New Hampshire listens and they wait and wait to make up their mind. [Murray:] Right. Is it driving you crazy the number of people who are still undecided? [K. Bove:] Yes. [Marty Bove, Rubio Campaign Volunteer:] Yes well, not really because I'm used to it. [Murray:] Just days before the primary, Trump was still soliciting volunteers. Meanwhile, John Kasich's campaign brought in several out-of-state helpers, putting them up in farm houses and supporters' living rooms and dispatching them daily. [Susan O'brien, Kasich Campaign Volunteer:] By the end of the day, I was really tired. [Murray:] All to persuade New Hampshire's coveted independents to vote for Kasich. [Unidentified Male:] I hope you will join me of supporting John Kasich for president on February 9th. [Murray:] As other camps put their trust in turnout efforts, Trump is still betting on celebrity, adding the kinds of retail stops he regularly skipped in Iowa, and pressing voters to show up for him or not at all. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] A lot of these politicians say, it's not important who you vote for, but you have to go through the process. I feel differently. If you're not going to vote for me, do not vote. [Murray:] Now in spite of Donald Trump's ground game challenges, the keys of the New Hampshire primary process, as well as the large number of independent voters, can still work in his advantage here on Tuesday night. And a number of rival campaigns tell me that even if Trump is struggling on the ground, they still expect him to win in the Granite State. Sara Murray, CNN, Manchester, New Hampshire. [Vause:] And much more politics ahead here on NEWSROOM L.A., including former U.S. president Bill Clinton slamming some Bernie Sanders supporters for online attacks against his wife. [Bill Clinton, Former U.s. President:] She and other people who have gone online to defend Hillary and explain, just explained, why they supported her, have been subject to vicious trolling. And attacks that are literally too profane, often, not to mention, sexist, to repeat. [Blitzer:] Back-to-back breaking news coming into THE SITUATION ROOM. We just learned that a trip by President Trump is now being called off because of fear of protest. Let's get the latest from our CNN White House reporter Jeremy Diamond. He's on the North Lawn of the White House. What are you learning, Jeremy? [Jeremy Diamond, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Hi, Wolf. Yes, an administration official just told me moments ago that President Trump was scheduled to go to Milwaukee to visit a Harley- Davidson factory on Thursday. That trip has now been canceled after Harley-Davidson decided that had it wasn't comfortable hosting the president amid a flurry of protests that have been planned for the president's what was supposed to be the president's visit to Milwaukee on Thursday. The company apparently told Trump administration officials that it wasn't necessarily what the president was planning to do there, where he was potentially going to sign some executive orders on American manufacturing, but it was really the presence of protests, protests planned because of the president's immigration ban. So, we're seeing the continued effect here snowballing as the president looks to continue to implement his agenda. He's hitting roadblocks once again, in part because of this controversial immigration executive order, Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right. Good reporting. Jeremy Diamond over at the White House. You know, Dana, it's pretty extraordinary. Not even two weeks into this presidency and already a trip like this, which normally would have been a routine trip for a new U.S. president to go to Wisconsin, meet with Harley-Davidson workers, executives, all of a sudden fear of protests resulting in Harley-Davidson telling the White House "Not a good time to show up." [Bash:] Right. And you're talking about what was supposed to be the core of the Trump message and the Trump presidency, which is jobs and jobs in places that he says presidents before and Democrats before have forgotten. Harley-Davidson, an American company in the state of Wisconsin, which President Trump won, first time a Republican won there in three decades since 1984, and was going to go talk about manufacturing. And American manufacturing. The fact that the company said, "You know what? It's just not going to be a good scene for you. Don't come," is the first real-world example of how this whole disaster of the travel situation has stepped on what was supposed to be his core message, which is jobs, jobs, jobs, getting America working again, and you know, that's it. That is really the reason why people in Wisconsin, in Michigan voted for Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] Yes, Ron, you want to weigh in? [Brownstein:] Yes. Well, I say I think it goes even deeper than the executive order, although that's certainly the flashpoint right now. I mean, I tweeted the other day asking, is it would it be possible for Donald Trump, President Trump to go to any major city without experiencing major protests? I mean, the core divide that we saw in this election was geographic. Hillary Clinton won 88 of the 100 largest counties in America. He dominated in smaller midsize cities and rural areas. But the actions of the presidency in the two weeks have deepened the divides, I think, that we saw in the election. You know, in Gallup poling the other day, he reached 50 percent, a majority of Americans saying they disapproved of him after eight days in office. For President Obama, he didn't reach that dubious milestone until about 600 days. For George W. Bush it was about 1,200 days. Ronald Reagan, I believe, around 700 days. So what we're seeing is kind of an intense polarization that is reflected in this decision, but also, I think will have a real impact on Democrats on Capitol Hill. Not so much on President Trump or Republicans, but Democrats in many ways are will be scrambling. I think are scrambling to keep up with their own coalition, which has shown a visceral reaction against many of the initiatives that the president is pursuing. [Blitzer:] And Ron, let me just repeat the news for viewers just tuning in. This according to our Jeremy Diamond, our White House reporter, an administration official tells him the president will not head to Milwaukee for a visit at a Harley-Davidson factory on Thursday which had been scheduled. The company deciding it wasn't comfortable hosting the president amid plans of protests in Milwaukee. This according to an administration official. We've covered new presidents for a while, you and me. Have you ever seen anything this early in an administration unfolding like this... [Brownstein:] No. [Blitzer:] ... protests and controversy one would call it even chaos as a result of that travel ban executive order? [Brownstein:] No. Look, there's never been anything like this. First of all, there's never anything like the protests the day after the inaugural where essentially 1 in every 100 Americans protested in the streets. And then to have a repeat performance the next weekend at airports, which are not an easy place to get to, around this issue. And, you know, tens of thousands of people again in the streets. And then again, this underlying reality in public opinion. There are a lot of people who are very enthused about the change that Donald Trump is pursuing, and we continue to see that in stories when people go into the heart of Trump country. But there is no question that he has stirred a deeper backlash at the outset than any president, I think, in modern times reflected in both the magnitude of these protests, which capture the intensity, and the underlying reality that in a Gallup poll he is already at 50 a majority disapproval, eight, nine days into his presidency when it usually takes years for most presidents. Bill Clinton was the previous shortest ever, at about 160 days. Donald Trump got there in eight. [Bash:] I just want to add that I think Ron certainly makes a very good point about the fact that the cities tend to be where the anti-Trump voters were. But Milwaukee has been historically... [Brownstein:] Yes. [Bash:] ... a Republican sort of oasis when it comes to cities in Wisconsin. I mean, it is where Scott Walker is from, the suburbs around there, and, you know. And also it's not just that's true politically, but also a company like Harley-Davidson, it's not I'm not saying it's partisan, but I have been to Harley-Davidson, you know, factories and so forth in Wisconsin with Republican after Republican. They are used to hosting Republican politicians. So, the fact that they even thought this is not a good thing, I think is quite telling. [Blitzer:] And it is extraordinary, this early in a new administration, to see something like this unfold. And as you point out, especially on a gut issue which he campaigned on: manufacturing here in the United States. [Bash:] Manufacturing in the United States, and as something as symbolically American and as American as it gets, which is Harley- Davidson, right? [Blitzer:] Very quickly, Laura, on the two finalists, if you will, on the Supreme Court nominee, we're going to hear about that 8 p.m. Eastern later tonight. They're both conservatives, but are there major differences? You've studied them studied them. [Coats:] Well, one of the major differences between the two is one is far more prolific on the area of abortion and pro-life issues. [Blitzer:] Which one? [Coats:] That's Gorsuch. And he, in fact, has written a book on kind of the sanctity of life. And the real issue with those two distinctions is the fact that, you know, we have in the past had with Justice Souter somebody who wasn't as well-written on the areas of abortion and intended in fact, became one of the biggest disappointments for conservatives and changed and actually voted in favor of upholding Roe v. Wade. So that lack of information about his views on whether or not he would indeed seek a reversal on Roe v. Wade is a very critical issue for someone like Donald Trump. [Blitzer:] Do you see differences between them, Joan? I do. Judge Gorsuch is much more in the mold of Justice Scalia. He's got a very clear conservative approach to the law that he's written a lot about. He's much more of an intellectual thinker. He's much more consistent in what he's done. Judge Hardiman, I think it's a little bit more of a mixed bag on terms of case-by-case approach. But as we've said all day, he will bring something different to the court if President Trump were to name him, just because he comes much more from a blue-collar world than the sterling sort of privileged world of Judge Gorsuch. And we will have coverage, of course, 8:00 p.m. Eastern later tonight, when the President is in the White House, in the east room, formally making this announcement. I want to show our viewers some live pictures coming in from Minneapolis, Minnesota. There you see some live pictures. People protesting the travel ban imposed by the President. This is not Milwaukee, this is Minneapolis. Other protests elsewhere around the country as well. We'll continue to watch all of this. Up next, the President's top political strategist, Steve Bannon. He's already a lightning rod for critics of the Trump administration. Is he the most powerful person in the White House? [Romans:] President Obama is in Laos. Earlier this morning he spent just over an hour taking questions at a town hall for young Southeast Asian leaders and taking Congress to task for failing to act on his key trade priority. For the latest from Laos, we turn to White House correspondent Michelle Kosinski. Good afternoon, Michelle. [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] Yes, the President was able to talk up the TPP today, as he does now, virtually, everywhere he goes. I mean, when you take a look at it, this huge trade deal with Asia. This is supposed to be the jewel in the crown of the President's rebalance to Asia something that he thinks would be great for U.S. businesses, as well as U.S. workers. There are even some Republicans in Congress who agree with him on that but Congress hasn't been playing along and he had some words for them, too listen. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] You know, we're in a political season now and it's always difficult to get things done. Congress isn't doing much right now. They're all going home and talking to their constituents, trying to get re-elected. So after the election I think people can refocus attention on why this is so important. [Kosinski:] So what about the President and the election? A White House source tells us the President is eager to get out on the campaign trail and we did see him do that one event with Hillary Clinton, and then a couple of private fundraisers. So what does the President do about it, then? September is difficult. There is one event planned for this coming week in Philadelphia and another New York fundraiser, but because of the trip that we're on, as well as a trip to the U.N. this month, that makes things difficult in terms of campaigning. So that leaves October and we can expect the pace to pick up. I mean, we're told that the President looks at the huge stakes involved, he looks at the poll numbers. He wants to get out there and talk up the fact that he believes Hillary Clinton is the only candidate qualified to be president. There have been reports that he's going to spend virtually the entire month of October on the road, on the trail. We're told that that's not really going to be possible because of other things he's busy with. He's not going to be able to be out there really full-time but we can expect to see many more events involving the President. Back to you guys. [Romans:] All right, Michelle Kosinski for us this morning in Laos, traveling with the President, thank you. [Berman:] All right, you know what we need to do now? [Romans:] What? [Berman:] Take a look at what's coming up on " [New Day". Romans:] Oh, yes. [Berman:] Alisyn Camerota joins us. [Romans:] Good morning. [Berman:] Hello, Alisyn. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn:] Hey, guys, good morning. I'm here in producer row. This is the behind-the-scenes of the show. This is the brain trust of everything that happens on the show, so they've just told me what's coming up at the top of the hour and I will share it with you. We're going to talk about Donald Trump's plan. What he says he will do in his first 30 days in office that will defeat ISIS, and we'll get the military's reaction to that. Also, we'll talk about what's going on at Fox News. There's this huge settlement that Roger Ailes has made to one of his former anchors, and Greta Van Susteren left. So we have some new reporting on what's going on inside there and we will bring it to you when we see you at the top of the hour. [Romans:] Alrighty. [Berman:] All right. Hopefully, we get more exposed brick also. Very big [Romans:] And ducks flying across it. Did you see the duck in the I don't know. OK, thanks, nice to see you. [Laughter] What are they laughing at? [Berman:] I don't know. You're very funny. [Romans:] They sometimes do. [Berman:] You're charming in the morning. [Romans:] Did you see the ducks? [Berman:] Yes, I did see the ducks. [Romans:] OK, all right, sorry. All right, one big name charming is that are you making fun of me? [Berman:] You are. [Romans:] All right, I'll tell you what's charming. An impressive all- time high for one stock. Ten thousand dollars' worth of this stock five years ago could now buy you a new car. We'll tell you what it is when we get an EARLY START on your money, next. [Obama:] I just want to emphasize the degree to which we are in serious times and this is a really serious job. This is not entertainment. This is not a reality show. [Brown:] It's not a reality show, but the president could have a starring role anyway. The White House says President Obama will, quote, "be out there quite a bit," campaigning for the Democratic nominee. So could he make the difference in a close election? Let's talk about it with CNN's Stephen Collinson. Stephen, how important is the president in this race? [Stephen Collinson, Cnn Senior Politics Reporter:] I think the president's approval rate is very important for the Democratic nominee simply because whoever that is, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders, is trying to pull off a historically very difficult feat, and that's winning the White House for a third consecutive term for their party so if the president is about 51 percent as he is now, that really helps the Democratic nominee. If he was down at 42 percent or 41 percent as he has been at sometimes during his presidency, it would make it much more difficult to make case that a Democrat should win the White House. And I think what's also important is that President Obama is very, very popular still among Democrats, and I think that gives him a role once this divisive primary between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders wraps up. And bring in the party together, and uniting the party, and to get out on the campaign trail and tell Democrats why, for example, they should vote for the nominee, if it's Hillary Clinton especially. [Brown:] And Hillary Clinton, by the way, said this. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I told my husband he's got to come out of retirement and be in charge of this because, you know, he's got more ideas a minute than anybody I know. You got to put people back to work. [Brown:] So for the Dems, you have two presidents who could campaign for their party. For the Republicans on the other hand, you have former presidents and nominees who want nothing to do with Trump. Will that matter? [Collinson:] Well, I think Bill Clinton obviously we know what a good campaigner he is. He played a very big role in the Obama reelection campaign in 2012, and I think helped move a needle for President Obama. For Donald Trump, inasmuch as it shows the Republican Party is this united, that these big former, you know, presidents and nominees and big party figures are not coming out to campaign for him, I think that's a disadvantage but it may actually not affect Donald Trump as much as it would have a more conventional politician. The DNA of the Donald Trump campaign is that he's this outsider, this anti-elite, anti-establishment campaign, and so even if he had been embraced by the grandees of the party, I think it would be questionable just how much he would use them simply because they they don't seem to gel with the message that is at the root of his campaign, Pamela. [Brown:] Yes. There's certainly a divide there in the Republican Party. For President Obama, if he goes on the campaign trail on behalf of the Democratic nominee, to what extent is that about protecting his own legacy and his number one achievement of course Obamacare is surely in jeopardy if Donald Trump were reelected or were elected, I should say? [Collinson:] Sure. I mean, the president has an ulterior motive in this. There's so much of his legacy that could be undone by a Republican president whoever it is. You mentioned Obamacare, for example, which has you know, he's been fighting for the last six years to preserve Obamacare. And this is just the latest example of that. His legacy on climate change and global warming measures could also be a risk under a Republican president. It would take the stroke of a pen for a Republican president to strike away those executive orders on immigration that the president passed last year, so it really does matter for the president to have a Democrat succeed him and I think there's a historical irony here in many ways. You know, President Obama campaigned in 2008 against Hillary Clinton. He wasn't too complimentary about the legacy of Bill Clinton during that campaign, yet he's relying on his former rival to secure his own legacy when he no longer has the political power to do it himself. So it's a very interesting twist. [Brown:] And could there be risks for the Democratic nominee if President Obama campaigns for them if, say, the economy tanked or there was another terrorists attack in the U.S.? Could that hurt the Democrats? [Collinson:] Sure, anything that hurts the president's approval rating and perception that is he in charge and is doing a good job will be a very bad occurrence for the Democratic nominee. We just have to look back to 2008. The election between Barack Obama and John of McCain was fairly close until the worst of the economic crisis struck and sort of August and September of that year. It made it much more difficult for John McCain to make the case that he would be a safe pair of hands and the Republicans could do a good job and that he would be the best person to take over the economy and the Obama campaign really capitalized on that. So it's going to be a nervous few months definitely for the White House and whoever the Democratic nominee becomes. [Brown:] And certainly an interesting few months ahead of us. Stephen Collinson, thank you so much. And you can read more of Stephen's article at CNNpolitics.com. And coming up, live in the CNN NEWSROOM on this Mother's Day, an exclusive interview with the billionaire Trump supporter who insists to skirmish between the presumptive Republican nominee and House Speaker Paul Ryan is all just part of art of the deal. [Tom Barrack, Real Estate Investor:] It's like going to a dog park and you have two gigantic pit bulls and one fire hydrant. And the way they start the conversation is they both walk up to the fire hydrant and give it a little bit of their own. [Blitzer:] We're counting down to tonight's CNN Republican presidential debate here at the University of Miami. Florida may be senator Marco Rubio's home state, but senator Ted Cruz says he's competing hard to win Tuesday's primary here in Florida. CNN correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is covering the Cruz campaign for us. She join us joining us right now near the debate stage. Sunlen, Trump says he wants to face Senator Cruz one on one. The senator wants the same thing, doesn't he? [Sunlen Serfaty, Cnn Correspondent:] That's absolutely right, Wolf. Ted Cruz's goal is really to push this race into a face-off with Donald Trump exclusively. Put simply, he has been calling more or less on John Kasich and Marco Rubio to get out of the race. A subtle message to them but a direct message, no doubt. So a big goal for him here at this debate hall will be to present himself tonight as the most viable alternative to Donald Trump among all of them up there on the stage. It's been interesting to see Ted Cruz out on the campaign trail leading in today almost exclusively focused on Donald Trump. Laser focused on drawing contrasts with him, only mentioning Rubio and Kasich in the vein of calling on their supporters to come to his campaign. He invites those supporters to come to his campaign. Certainly sets up an interesting dynamic tonight. It will be interesting to see his approach, how he really treats Rubio and Kasich when he has more or less called for both of them to drop out, Wolf. [Blitzer:] As you know, Sunlen, Donald Trump likes to hit Ted Cruz for being unpopular, even among his Republican colleagues in the U.S. Senate. Cruz today has a new response to that, right? [Serfaty:] That's right. And his response came in the form of rolling out the endorsement of Utah Senator Mike Lee. This is his very first Senate endorsement. So it certainly is notable, and in part a response to that talking point of Donald Trump, hoping to put that talking point to death, so to speak. And Utah Senator Mike lee appeared here in the spin room at the debate stage and talked about the party unifying behind Senator Cruz. Here's what he had to say. [Sen. Mike Lee , Utah:] I'm sending the signal that it's time to unite, that the time has finally come. The time is finally at hand when we as Republicans need to unite behind one leader. [Serfaty:] And interesting that Mike Lee was asked directly should Marco Rubio drop out of the race if he does not win here in Florida on Tuesday. He did not mince words. He said yes, he should, and that he should come to senator Ted Cruz's campaign. So interesting that that message is coming from all facets, even the new ones of the Cruz campaign Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Sunlen. Thank you. Joining us now, our chief political analyst, Gloria Borger, our chief national correspondent John King and our senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Gloria, Trump wants a softer tone tonight. A, is that really doable? And why would he want a softer tone? So far these debates, even if he doesn't necessarily win, they've done pretty well for him. [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] Well, the answer to your first A question is not sure it's really doable but he does want a softer tone because I think he understands that it could make him look more presidential. He's the prohibitive frontrunner right now. He could be the nominee after Florida and Ohio. He's got to start looking presidential. The question that I have is once he is attacked, and he will be attacked on this stage, I don't know if Donald Trump has it in him not to punch back. He's a guy who always says, if I'm attacked, I'm going to punch back. And then the third question I have is the people who attack him, how are they going to do it? Because they cannot make themselves look smaller. That's what happened to Marco Rubio last time on the stage. I don't think Marco Rubio wants to make that mistake again. [Blitzer:] Yes. We might be hearing more of "Lying Ted" and "Little Marco" if you will and all of that. But this is an opportunity for Cruz tonight as well. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] It's an opportunity for Cruz. He wants, as Sunlen just said, to say I'm the only guy who's got a chance. I'm the only guy who's within 100 delegates. I'm the only guy who has proven he can beat Donald Trump in a handful or half a dozen states. That's what he wants to say. The problem for him is you have Kasich and Marco Rubio who are making their last stand in this debate essentially because their states, Ohio for Kasich, Rubio here in Florida, are up on Tuesday and they're making their last stand. And they understand the stakes here. Kasich needs to win at home to survive. Rubio needs to win at home to survive. He hasn't said he would get out but let's be realistic. If he doesn't win at home, the money is going to dry up. And so and Trump knows the stakes. Florida and Ohio, Wolf, that's 165 of the 367 delegates at stake on Tuesday. Plus if you're winning in Florida and Ohio, and you're probably also winning North Carolina, you're probably also winning Missouri. Because you're winning two diverse states like that. So Trump understands this is a chance not mathematically but psychologically to lock it up and to send a message to the establishment, I win. So if you're Kasich has not attacked Trump but he needs to win Ohio so I think he'll be more assertive. I'm not saying he's going to go after Trump tonight but he needs to be more a part of the debate tonight. And Rubio, I agree with Gloria, he doesn't want to get back into the hands and other arguments, but he this is his last stand. And when you're backed up against a wall, you tend to be aggressive. [Borger:] And I think Trump may attack Kasich even though he wants to have a more presidential tone because Kasich is very close to him and in some polls above him in Ohio. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Yes, and he's been doing that already basically saying that Kasich is an absentee senator. I think if you look on the airwave you can see that the super PACs, Rubio's super PAC is going after Kasich, for instance, and then Trump is obviously going after Marco Rubio saying that he's the absentee senator for Florida. So I think the stakes are high for all of these folks tonight. You have Rubio coming in essentially saying whoever wins Florida is going to be the GOP nominee. Polls show him lagging. Can he have one debate performance [Blitzer:] Does he have enough traction now to win Florida on Tuesday? [Henderson:] You know, I think that's the big question. And can a debate performance, however phenomenal it might be, is that enough to catapult him 16 points ahead of Donald Trump if you believe the polls. [Borger:] In the last in the last round of primaries last Tuesday night, there was a shift for Rubio. And it used to be that the late deciders were heavily going to Marco Rubio. That is not the case anymore. The late deciders were going to Ted Cruz and John Kasich more than Marco Rubio. And that may be an indication of things to come. Once you lose momentum like this, it's really hard to get it back. [Henderson:] Yes. [Borger:] It's not impossible. It's tough. [Blitzer:] There's early voting here in Florida, John, as you know. [Borger:] That's right. [Blitzer:] And a lot of people have already voted. So we'll see they haven't released the results of that. We'll see if there's a difference between the early voters and the same-day voters. [King:] And imagine if you're Marco Rubio and you come up just short. [Borger:] Yes. [King:] And Jeb Bush gets a bunch of those early votes because Jeb Bush was in the race until just recently and had a very aggressive early voting program because it is part of the culture political culture here in Florida. Imagine if Marco Rubio falls a couple of thousand votes short and you look and you see a big chunk of Jeb Bush votes that grossly outnumber that. But that's the way the system works and you've got to play by the rules in the system that you're in. [Blitzer:] Nia, if Trump wins here in Florida, in Ohio, and it's winner take all in both of those states, is it basically over? [Henderson:] You know, it's hard for the other folks to make an argument that they can overtake Trump and that they should be the GOP nominee. I think the sort of second best option for these folks is do they stay in and deny him the nomination. That seems to be the strategy of Kasich at least. Doesn't seem to necessarily be the strategy of Marco Rubio at this point, who looks like he's got a do- or-die situation here in Florida. But, you know, they're running out of options, they're running out of time to stop Trump and they tried. They've dumped a bunch of money on him in these super PAC ads but so far he's still rolling. [Borger:] You know, there's a lot of talk of what I call Crubio, you know, sort of a joint ticket effort. And I don't I don't know if that's possible at all. And I also believe it's just as possible that Trump, who has said he would like someone with a political experience, Trump could say, OK, you guys don't like me, let me tell you, I'm going to pick so and so as my vice presidential nominee and kind of blunt that. You know, Trump is all about the art of the deal. Well, if other folks are negotiating, I think he can, too. [Blitzer:] All right. [Henderson:] I think that's right. [Blitzer:] Let's take a break. There's more. We're counting down to this Republican presidential debate here on the campus of the University of Miami. Much more when we come back. [Cabrera:] Welcome back. When republicans vow to repeal and replace Obamacare, they expected they face major criticism from democrats. They weren't wrong there, but earlier, I spoke with Democratic Governor Dan Malloy of Connecticut who said there was nothing that could convince him to support this republican effort. [Dan Malloy, United States Governor From Connecticut:] It will take insurance away for millions of people. It will gut Medicaid; it will cause people to lose their lives; it will cause hospitals to close; it will cause other clinics to close. In on I'm in my 60s. If I was to go to the marketplace under this plan, I would have to pay probably about $8,000 more for my coverage. That's what they're doing, folks. Everyone wake up and understand that this is repeal and replace with the emphasis on repeal and really not replace. What they're going to do is make you sicker. [Cabrera:] So, democrats aren't the only ones who don't like it. Philip Klein, managing editor of the Washington Examiner and author of "Overcoming Obamacare: Three Approaches to Reversing the Government Takeover of Health Care". Phil, thanks for joining us. So, you wrote an opinion piece earlier this week, and you said, "Calling this new reform plan conservative just because republicans created it is a farce." [Philip Klein, Washington Examiner Managing Editor:] Well, basically, this plan keeps a lot of Obamacare's regulations in place. These are the same regulations that have driven up the cost of insurance, leading to the skyrocketing premiums that republicans have been attacking for years. It also replaces Obamacare subsidies with very generous new subsidies. And yet, despite doing making all of these nods to Obamacare, it still leaves itself vulnerable to attacks from democrats such as you just heard that they're throwing millions of people off of health insurance and gutting Medicaid. So, it is in a sense, the worse of both worlds, if republicans had actually adopted a true free market plan, they'd be being attacked like from democrats just as they are now, but they'd be on more a defensible ground. They'd be able to point to a plan that spends a lot less and that drives premiums down that really creates a free market and that really expands choice. [Cabrera:] So, let's just take a slice of what you just spoke of and that is driving premiums down. To do just that one thing, what is the solution if what is already out there isn't working, and what has been proposed by republicans in the House, Republican Speaker Ryan, isn't working according to what you just said? [Klein:] OK. Well, it's very clear. Obamacare's premiums are high because they force everyone to buy very comprehensive health insurance. Now, they say that's good because it provides more benefits, but what if you don't need that comprehensive health insurance? You're still paying a very high price to purchase more insurance that you need. And that's what's driving young people out of the insurance market and causing Obamacare to collapse. So, the solution is an additional government control. It's throughout those regulations to allow people to purchase the insurance that they want. If they want more comprehensive insurance, they could pay for it. If they don't and they just want a basic plan that covers them and protects them from financial ruin in the case of a major catastrophic illness, then they should be able to purchase that. That's what conservative health care has always been; that's what republicans promised; that's what Paul Ryan is claiming this bill does, but it simply does not. [Cabrera:] So, what would it take to get more conservative on board the plan? [Klein:] I think that what you're going to have to do is try to attack the regulations, and if not, another option is to move it up the date where they're claiming that they're going to repeal this thing. Because the other part is that under the bill, as written, it doesn't really start to unwind the real spending until 2020, which is a Presidential Election year. And so, many conservatives are skeptical that when I was heating up, that they're going to somehow repeal a law that they have been afraid to repeal now. [Cabrera:] Now, the Congressional Budget Office still hasn't issued the report on how much this repeal plan would cost. That's expected to happen soon. Does that change the game at all or is it just another speed bump for a bill that Speaker Ryan seems determined to push through the House? [Klein:] I think it's going to be problematic because it's going to re- enforce the conservative criticisms that I set up top, because it's going to show that it's still going to be very costly, because there is $100 billion in various grants to states. They're dolling out probably hundreds of billions of dollars for all of this spending for the new tax credits that they're issuing, and also, because they're repealing most of the Obamacare's taxes, that's going to deprive them of tax revenue. [Cabrera:] It's not simple, is it? Philip Klein, thank you for joining us [Klein:] Thank you, Ana. [Cabrera:] And sharing, really, the one side of this whole argument as we explore all the different pieces to a complicated thing, which is health care in America. Thank you again. Coming up, real love and robots. Can humans find love in a machine? Laurie Segall will take us inside a sex robot factory whose founder says " [Cooper:] More breaking news tonight, the Egyptian government says it will allow NTSB investigators to take part in the Metrojet 9268 investigation. This would make them the first American investigators to be directly involved. Also tonight U.S. officials believe they now know what kind of explosive was used to take down the Airbus, as well as how it got on board and how it was detonated. Our chief national security correspondent Jim Sciutto joins us with the latest. What are you hearing from U.S. officials? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Correspondent:] Anderson, what they're doing now is building a more detailed working theory. This is without the hard forensic evidence you normally have with an investigation like this, access to the wreckage, to the bodies, the voice recorder, but U.S. intelligence officials more convinced that a bomb with a timer may have taken this plane down, that it was more than likely snuck on board by someone with access to that plane rather than a passenger, and based on a flash caught by a U.S. satellite as well as photos of the wreckage and other clues, that a military grade explosive, something like a c4 would be needed to cause a blast like this. To be clear, this is far from a conclusion or a final assessment, but they are trying to piece together the pieces of this puzzle from afar here. [Cooper:] Do we know what steps the Egyptian government, Egyptian security took immediately after the crash? [Sciutto:] They say they took serious steps immediately after the crash, that they interviewed and investigated every person who had access to this aircraft before that flight, including all the staff from SS Air, that is the company that serviced and catered the plane, this according to a Sharm el Sheikh airport employee familiar with security operations there. Egyptian officials say they also took control of all the cameras, all the sensors and related information at that air force even before announcing the crash that had taken place, but they have not made any arrests from the interviews or from that video footage they've watched. [Cooper:] And this news that the NTSB will be able to join the investigation, do you have, know more details about this? [Sciutto:] This is potentially a big deal. Our Rene Marsh first reported this, that Egypt has accepted a long-standing offer from the NTSB to travel to Egypt, to visit that crash scene and take part in the investigation. This could be key, because it gives you what U.S. intelligence has been lacking so far, that is access to forensic evidence, access that could allow for a more definitive judgment. For instance, if you're talking about a bomb, if you could test the wreckage for explosives residue, that will give you the answer. Was it a bomb and what kind of bomb was used. That's the step needed to be taken now so that U.S. intelligence can give a definitive answer on what happened here. [Cooper:] Jim, I appreciate the details, Jim Sciutto. Up next, we'll check in with a group of voters in South Carolina and find out what they want to hear from the candidates tonight in Milwaukee. [Unidentified Male:] Prince inspired, influenced, wrote for, produced, nurtured so many other talented performers, many of whom would become stars in their own right. [Stevie Wonder, Musician:] He could play classical music if he wanted to, he could play jazz if he wanted to, he could play country if he wanted to, he played rock, he played blues, he played pop, he played everything. [Unidentified Male:] What was the seventh grade Prince like? What did he look like? What was he like? He was so good. But not only was he a great keyboard player, but also, as I found out later, he was a great guitar player. He was one of those people that are very few that he can pick up any instrument and play it but play it better than you do. [Pinsky:] Two days after Prince was found dead, the lead singer for the band L.A. Guns said this on stage. [Phil Lewis, Musician:] We were all into that Prince, right, "Purple Rain". It was so cool. You had all your heavy [bleep] and then you had the pop [bleep], and there was Prince doing his own [bleep] thing. The problem is right now, and I don`t want to be racist about it, but black people are all one-dimensional. We need more Princes, man. Less [bleep] rappers, and more people like Prince. There, I said it. [Pinsky:] Back with Diana, Erica, and Andrew. Joining us, "Headkrack", hosts "Dish Nation", and "The Rickey Smiley Morning Show". All right, Andrew, so go ahead, you`re reacting already. Go ahead. [Gouche:] I can`t believe he actually said that. You know, that`s to say, all black people are one-dimensional. [Davis:] And it`s such a gross mischaracterization of black music. You have the Kendrick Lamars who chronicle their lives growing up in Compton, in the hood, if you will, who also talk about social injustices. You have the Commons, you have the Frank Oceans who have been linked to homosexual relationships, as was Prince, but he also raps and sings and produces and writes. You have Childish Gambino who NBC fans know from the show "Community". Did you guys know that he moonlighted as a rapper? [Pinsky:] Andrew`s still trying to figure out how he`s one-dimensional. Wait, I`m one-dimensional? [Gouche:] Well, I`m trying was he talking about just rappers? [Pinsky:] I think he was. I`m going to show you some other stuff he said. Shortly after the comments, he tried to clarify himself on Facebook, and of course people are using language like that, they usually dig deeper. So, it`s since been removed, but these excerpts are via metalsludge.com. All right don`t expect there will be a new Prince any time soon, but damn sure there will be countless rappers spouting the money and hoes moronic nonsense that does the black community no favors. I`m sure there are plenty of multi-dimensional brilliant musicians out there, but you`re not likely to hear about them on mainstream black media. So he`s sort of blaming mainstream black media, which is mainstream media. More Prince, less rappers, there, I said it again. Carry on. So there he is. What do you say? [Gouche:] Well, I kind of understand the spirit of what he`s saying because I feel like the music business isn`t what it used to be. It`s not I don`t know that an artist like Prince could flourish today, because there`s no artist development. We live in such a microwave society now, and, you know, these shows where you can come on and be nobody and at the end of a couple months, you`re famous. So there`s no maturation process that helps you grow in your craft. They`re not doing that anymore. So I kind of get it, because I feel that way to a certain extent. Not to the extreme that he said it [Pinsky:] The way he said it. Yes. Let me get some thoughts from Headkrack. Go ahead. [Headkrack, Television:] I mean, I don`t necessarily feel like what he said was racist, but I would give him the gold medal in ignorance. I mean, to just over-generalize like an entire race of people just based off of what your personal opinion is, I think is a little off kilter. And being a member of radio and television, I can honestly say as it relates to hip-hop a lot of times, you only do see one side of the spectrum. For every guy like I mean I don`t want to throw no rappers under the bus, but there is one side that really gets represented more than others. There`s people that you should hear about, like Rory and Earth Gang and Bodega Brothers and guys like Logic who have an underground cult following but you don`t see them on the mainstream, and these are guys really trying to help push the culture further. You get Kendrick Lamar, and you get to see him on a larger stage, but there are so many more that represent well, and I can understand with an untrained eye why you would feel like it`s one- dimensional. [Pinsky:] I think it`s so fascinating to see a guitarist whose music is based strictly on black music, the derivative of black music from the South, is no homage to that, but a little bit of focus to the one- dimensionality. [Gouche:] Our memories are short, too. I don`t know how old that guy is, but he`s probably not old enough to even remember and appreciate where what he`s doing came from. [Pinsky:] That`s what I`m saying. It`s derivative of [Gouche:] But it`s not just rock, it`s everything, you know. It`s funny because I`m just a year not even a full year younger than Prince, so I remember how a lot of things used to be, but what I always say, I never want to be that guy I didn`t want to be the condescending old guy that`s talking down on the generations that came after me [Pinsky:] But? Here comes something. [Gouche:] but I get it, you know? But at the same time, because a lot of those old guys, they don`t want to change, and all of this is a progression. Music evolved, everything evolved. What Prince did in the `80s was not who he was now, you know? And somebody just asked me, do you think that his music was not as good? But his music was where he was then, where his life was then, and his fans [Pinsky:] History will be the judge of this, to be fair. I`m running out of time, Andrew, but I want to ask some questions since you knew him so well, before I let you go. There`s all this talk about his hip pain. Did you know anything about that? [Gouche:] I had heard a lot of conversations about it. [Pinsky:] Did anybody know did it have a name, a diagnosis, anybody? [Gouche:] Not that I know of. When you were around Prince, when you were working for him, it`s kind of being in a band, it`s kind of, speak when you`re spoken to. And if he wants to engage, then you engage. So I didn`t ask questions. [Pinsky:] Erica, did you hear anything? [Davis:] I have heard that he was suffering from a hip injury. I`m sure it was from dancing on top of pianos, and that he became a Percocet abuser, and we talked a little bit off air about whether or not it`s the doctor`s fault for prescribing the pills or is this the talent`s fault or the abuser`s fault, rather, but I had heard that he was abusing or misusing Percocet and had been going to the drugstore often. [Pinsky:] Right. As I said yesterday, I just have to say, we can`t confirm or deny whether it was Percocet or any other opiate, but it doesn`t matter. Whether it`s Percocet or Dilaudid, or heroin these are all dangerous medicines that doctors prescribe routinely. I get very worked up about this. Stop worrying about what the name of the pill was he used. He may have been on an opiate, and when doctors prescribe opiates and then add a sleeping pill or a benzodiazepine to it, it kills people. So, this may have been a misadventure where we`re robbed of another young person. Now, there may be some underlying whatever, we`ll find out I guess at the autopsy. Whatever the hip pain was, my understanding was, because of his Jehovah`s Witness status, there may have been some concerns about operations, but I have questions there too. Why not, what they call autologous transfusion, where he stores his own blood and then gives it back to himself? Maybe it`s because there is a possibility he could have needed more. Did you hear anything about that, Andrew? You`re leaning in. [Gouche:] No, I just heard all the stories about, because he was a Jehovah`s Witness, they didn`t believe in blood transfusions. [Pinsky:] All right you guys, thank you very much. I appreciate it. I`m just very upset about this. Whenever I start thinking about a healthy person needlessly taken from us, we were all gypped, he was gypped. It`s very sad. Next up, a homeless woman, five children. She has five children, she became homeless, all five murdered allegedly by their abusive father. Tonight she is blaming the state for having done nothing to save them. Back after this. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, I'm Wolf Blitzer. It's 1:00 p.m. here in Washington, 6:00 p.m. in London, 8:00 p.m. in Jerusalem. 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, new information on the bombings in New York and New Jersey. Police are now asking for the public's help to find these two men. Police say they just want to talk to these two men. They're believed to be connected with one of bombs allegedly placed on the streets of New York City by Ahmad Rahami. It's the pressure cooker bomb that was placed on 27th Street. That bomb did not explode. Let's bring in our Justice Correspondent Pamela Brown. Pamela, who are these men? Why do police want to talk to them? [Pamela Brown, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] That's right. Well, Wolf, they are surveillance video, according to investigators, that shows these two men seeing a bag on the street, on 27th Street, in the hour that that bomb went off on 23rd Street. Opening up the bag and taking out a white plastic bag with the bomb inside of it. And then, placing that on the sidewalk and walking away with the luggage. We see in the surveillance video here. And so, right now, the FBI is just calling these two men witnesses. Investigators reiterated that earlier in a press conference, saying there's no reason to believe that they're suspects but they want to talk to these two men to see what they know. And also, they need that luggage that the men walked off with as evidence in this case. Investigators also said that when they opened the bag and took out the explosive that was in the white trash bag, that they looked incredulous. So, again, two important witnesses in this investigation that the FBI has yet to locate. And the FBI needs the public help in identifying them and locating them Wolf. [Blitzer:] Because the poster that they put out simply says, seeking information, unknown individuals, explosive device, New York, New York. What about the prosecutors? What are they saying about the planning and the preparation for Ahmad Rahami who's now been charged federally as well as in New Jersey? [Brown:] Well, the criminal complaint that came out really has a wealth of details about the pre-meditation and the planning that went into this. And investigators allege that the bombing suspect actually was igniting an explosive in a backyard just two days before the bombs were placed. And this was all captured on cell phone video that belonged to a relative of the bombing suspect. And the FBI says that in that video, you see the suspect setting off this explosive. There is billowing smoke. There is laughing in the background. And then, the suspect walks back into the frame. And the complaint also says that back in June, the suspect was ordering bomb materials, bomb-making materials on eBay, that were being shipped to a business where he apparently worked. And then, that continued throughout the summer. And also, the surveillance video is crucial in this investigation, showing the bombing suspect going into Manhattan through the Lincoln tunnel two hours before the bomb was placed and then leaving several hours later. I can tell you, Wolf, what has stuck out to investigators is the fact that the bombing suspect did very little to cover his tracks. In fact, according to the criminal complaint, 12 fingerprints were recovered from that pressure cooker that never went off on 27th Street, and investigators say those fingerprints belong to that bombing suspect Wolf. [Blitzer:] All right, Pamela, thank you. Pamela Brown with the latest information. I want to bring in CNN's Senior Law Enforcement Analyst Tom Fuentes. He's a former assistant director of the FBI. When you saw this announcement they put out, what, four days into this investigation, why did it take so long for the FBI to show the pictures of these two individuals? Saying these are witnesses. They may have good information. They clearly want to inspect that bag that they found. Why did it take so long to put their pictures up? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Correspondent:] Well, I think they thought that maybe they'd be able to find them or hear from them before now. They would've been looking for them the first night, Saturday night, when it came out that two individuals had removed the contents of the duffel bag. It turned out to be the pressure cooker bomb in the white plastic bag. They would be immediately looking for them because there was a possibility that maybe they were standing around on a street corner chatting when Rahami brought that duffel bag up and set it on the sidewalk. They would have been able to describe him right away even before they ever had anybody's videos, including Rahami's. So, they would have been key witnesses right from the beginning of this. Why they waited this way, I'm sure they had a reason other than, you know, hoping they would come in or hoping they might hoping that they not be frightened and make it look like, you know, that they might get arrested and thrown away in jail. [Blitzer:] They were hoping these two guys who knew they found that bag would just say, you know what? Maybe we have information. Maybe there are fingerprints on that bag that would be useful to the FBI investigation. Let's just go and report ourselves [Fuentes:] Exactly. [Blitzer:] and say we found this bomb. We didn't know it was a bomb but we saw the suitcase. We saw and we took the suitcase. I originally thought, when I heard about these two individuals who found this, you know, big bag in which that bomb was inside in a plastic bag. I said, well, maybe they were two homeless guys who just, you know, wanted to take the bag for whatever reason. But let's show the viewers the picture. These do these two guys do not look like homeless guys. They're pretty well dressed, casually dressed. They're walking around the streets of New York City. So, clearly, these are not two homeless men. [Fuentes:] No, don't they don't appear to be at all. [Blitzer:] At least they don't appear to be. They appear to be two guys and what's also what's intriguing to me, I know that the law enforcement, they're saying they just these guys are just wanted witnesses, just want to question them, just want to get their eye- witness accounts. So, when I read the poster that they put out seeking information, unknown individuals. FBI's asking for the public assistance on locating these two unknown individuals. Closed-circuit television recordings indicate that these individuals allegedly located a piece of luggage on the sidewalk, removed and improvised explosive device from the luggage. And then, left the vicinity, leaving the device behind but taking the luggage. And then, described where this all took place. But what sort of jumped out at me and you're an FBI expert. You served in the FBI for how many years? [Fuentes:] Thirty. [Blitzer:] Thirty. You were a former assistant director. At the end of the notice, it says, if you have any information concerning this case, please contact the FBI's toll-free tip line, 1-800-callFBI. Your local FBI office. But these words sort of jumped out at me. Tell me if this is routine or not. Or the nearest American embassy or consulate. Do they routinely put that in, if they're just looking for guys in the United States? [Fuentes:] Well, they do, in some cases. And one reason for that, this weekend would be that you have thousands of visitors in New York from another country on a regular, on a daily basis. And thousands more that had come in last week for the United Nations' festivities. And, you know, having worked the international operations, run the operations my last five years at the bureau and been on the board of Interpol, I would hear this all over the world, that individuals from all over the world fear their police. They fear that if they go to the police, they don't want to be witnesses. They don't want to be anything because they might get thrown in jail and be never heard of again. So, there's that international fear and that's why put a comment in there. If you're worried, contact your consulate or if you are from another country, contact your embassy. You know, so that they can be involved in helping ensure that you're protected and your rights are protected. So, it's a cautionary note for outsiders to not fear U.S. law enforcement. [Blitzer:] Because what sort of what sort of jumped out at me also was it's been four days since that whole incident on Saturday. And maybe these two guys left the United States by now and maybe they're someplace out of the country. And if people outside of the country know these guys, recognize. We're being watched around the world right now. You can contact your nearest American embassy for consulate. Lots of questions. And, once again, the police are saying these guys are witnesses. They just want to question them. Right now, they're not seen as suspects or anything along that. They want them to voluntarily come to the police and report what they know and especially hand over that bag. [Fuentes:] Right, because even if they're totally innocent, they might have seen Rahami. They might have, at the time, had a description or now, they might have more information that Rahami got in the car and they can describe the vehicle. Rahami was with other individuals. So, they could still have great information of value even though they weren't involved. [Blitzer:] All right, Tom, thanks. Stay with us. There more we have to discuss. But from Capitol Hill right now, I want to continue this discussion on the investigation. Illinois Republican Congressman Adam Kinzinger is joining us. Congressman, thanks very much for joining us. [Rep. Adam Kinzinger , Illinois:] You bet. Thanks. Thanks for having me. [Blitzer:] You're a veteran. You're a military veteran. You served in Afghanistan. You served in Iraq. Do you believe, based on everything you've read, everybody you've heard, everything you know, that others may have been involved in helping Ahmad khan Rahami plot this terror attack? [Kinzinger:] Sure, I think it's very possible. Now, obviously, I'll leave that to the FBI to come to the conclusion. They're the best. I don't have the expertise they do. But it's going to be one of two things. Obviously, you either have these two individuals. They may have been innocent, somehow remove this pressure cooker device and walk away or they may be associated. So, that's one possibility. But then, there's other question of his repeated trips to Afghanistan. And I actually heard on CNN the other day a great analyst say, you know, bomb makers usually are missing fingers, unless they learn from a professional how to make bombs of this caliber. And he went to Afghanistan a number of times. Did he have help in Afghanistan learning how to make bake IEDs? So, again, there's a lot to find out. But I think, regardless of whether he acted alone or whether it was with a big group, in the 21st century now, it really, I think it's important for law enforcement to know how somebody was radicalized. But radicalization is radicalization, period, whether on the Internet or a phone call from Baghdadi. [Blitzer:] He went to Afghanistan several times. He was born in Afghanistan. His family was from Afghanistan. He came to the United States as a young boy. He became a naturalized U.S. citizen. But what's more intriguing, and you tell me if you agree, he also went to nearby Pakistan, at one point spent almost a year in Pakistan, in Quetta which is a hotbed of Taliban activity. How important is that? [Kinzinger:] I think it's really important. I mean, you know, somebody from Afghanistan, you can expect to return home, maybe see family, for periods of time. But going to somewhere where there's a hotbed of Taliban activity in Pakistan for a year, the question is, what was he doing there? You know, was he just working a job and wanted to spend some time in Pakistan? Or was he building relationships with the Taliban? And learning, you know, how to do this and how to eventually be radicalized. And that goes to the broader question of, was it just him that the Taliban or Al Qaeda or whoever may have trained him, sent him back to act alone or was this repeated multiple times into what we have as, basically, a terrorist cell, which these two men may or may not be part of. That's up to the FBI to determine. But if there's a broader cell, that is something we need to know because we need to wrap up the rest of the cell and find out where other cells exist, too. [Blitzer:] We just got, Congressman, and I'll put it up on the screen, a new image, a new picture. Mike McCall, the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, put it up. That's the bloody journal that was found at the scene of one of these bombings in which this individual wrote out. Ahmad Khan Rahami, the alleged terrorist who's now under arrest, wrote out all sorts of allegiances, if you will, praise for Anwar Awlaki, for example. The Al Qaeda leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike. American born. About four or five, six years ago. Also wrote about the Boston marathon bombings. What's intriguing, also, is that one of the attempted bombings was in Seaside Park, New Jersey where there was a Marine Corps 5K run that was about to begin. It was delayed but that bomb went off before the race started, otherwise there could have been a lot of casualties. When you see this when you see the information about the bloody journal that Congressman McCall is now displaying and you hear all of these allegations, what goes through your mind, as someone who served there in Afghanistan? [Kinzinger:] Well, it's it shows pure hate. You know, I think we have to be careful to take ramblings of a journal and try to say, well, this guy was mentally unstable because of this, which I've heard some people kind of imply. First off, maybe not. It doesn't really matter because even if he pledges allegiance to one terrorist group and also pledges allegiance to another, that both happen to be fighting each other, the fact is those groups would be happy to bring him into their fold. They'd be happy to teach him the art of terrorism. And they'd be happy to send him back into the West with American passport as he's an American citizen, to do harm. So, I think in the 21st century, it's so important for us to just get out of this idea that the only kind of terrorist that we ought to be worried about are the ones that are recruited directly by Al Qaeda. Because in the era of information, you don't have to have face-to-face conversations anymore. Just a Web page that clicks somewhere and trips something in your mind is enough to be a very dangerous terrorist. [Blitzer:] Let me read to you a little bit because Mike McCall, the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, and holding up the image of the bloody journal, as he called it. He read from it, and I'll read a couple sentences. This is from Mike McCall. He said, this is a copy of Mr. Rahami's journal, a journal that was found on his person. And when taken into custody, he talks about the sound of bombs he heard on the streets. He praised Osama Bin Laden. His brother talked about Anwar Awlaki. He talked about the Fort Hood, Texas terror attack. He talked about pressure cooker bombs and pipe bombs in the streets as they plan to run a mile. He talks about god willing the sound of bombs will be heard in the streets. Gunshots to your police. Death to your oppression. You consider your slaughter on Amaju Hadine, be it in Afghanistan, Syria, Palestine. And then he went on and on. That's from Mike McCall. So, clearly, there are indications in this journal that was found on Ahmad Khan Rahami's person, if you will, when he was arrested that would indicate at least some sort of inspiration from Al Qaeda? [Kinzinger:] Yes, at least inspiration. And when he talks about hearing the bombs, maybe more. I mean, what you have definitely in the least is a man that was burning with jihadist anger against a country that granted his citizenship and gave he and his family so much. And despite all that, despite, you know, having a job and getting things taken care of for him in New York City, because of this depth of radicalization, he desperately wanted to kill Americans. Whether that lasted a long time or whether that was a change at the end. This is something that's going to be a larger problem in the future. But I think it's important for us to look at this very calmly, to react, to find out what tools law enforcement needs to defeat terrorism in their home ground. But, ultimately, as Americans, we cannot let this shake the foundation of who we are because we are the most powerful country in the world and we've faced down demons before and won. [Blitzer:] Congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, thanks very much for joining us. [Kinzinger:] You bet, thanks. [Blitzer:] Let me just quickly button this up with Tom Fuentes, the former FBI assistant director. This is new information we're getting from the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee. What does it say to you? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Senior Law Enforcement Analyst:] It says to me he's a terrorist. There's no if, ands or maybes that he was inspired by a collection of the jihadi groups. Al Awlaki, being al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula, Yemen, who had been putting out all of this information until he died, and it's still out there. it's still out there to be looked at. But also possible allegiances to the Taliban, whether in Afghanistan or the Taliban in Pakistan, and they are separate organizations. So it's a multiple set of groups putting out this propaganda. Even without ISIS, that apparently inspired him and that he was follows. Just an anti-U.S. desire to kill people. [Blitzer:] Any he spoke about the Fort Hood terror massacre, about the Boston Marathon terror massacre. [Fuentes:] Right. [Blitzer:] So, clearly, there was an element of copycat as well in this in this terror attack. Stay with us. There's other news we're following. Much more on the breaking news. But two communities here in the United States right now in turmoil after police shootings killing black men. So how can relations between police and African-Americans be improved? I'll ask North Carolina Congressman and member of the Congressional Black Caucus Alma Adams. There you see her. She's standing by live. Plus, take a look at this. Live pictures of a Donald Trump rally set to get underway in Ohio. Will he have something to say about these recent shootings? We're standing by. We also right now, the U.S. attorney in New York is speaking out about the bombings in New Jersey and New York. I want to listen in. [Preet Bharara, U.s. Attorney, New York:] Keeping New York safe. But I want to note the city also has a new FBI assistant director in charge in the form of Bill Sweeney, who only has a few weeks in his current position, who worked nonstop with the NYPD and the Joint Terrorism Task Force to investigate, capture and now charge the alleged bomber. From the moment the bomb went off in Chelsea Saturday evening, until Rahami's capture in Linden, New Jersey, on Monday morning, it was just about 39 hours, and that, as many people have already said, is an amazing feat. All we should all be immensely thankful and grateful to the tireless and seamless work of the FBI, NYPD, the JTTF, the Linden Police Department, among countless other law enforcement agencies who got us to the finish line there. I also want to take the opportunity to acknowledge and thank the work of the investigators and prosecutors in my own office who have worked on this investigation around the clock. They, like many of the agents and officers of the JTTF, have barely slept since Saturday and they're continuing to work hard on the investigation. They are assistant U.S. attorneys Em Lovovay, Sean Crowley, Anthony Andrew D'Dipolipus, Nick Lewing, and their supervisor is John Cronyn and Sean Buckley, as well as our investigators, George Corey, Charlie Valani and Kevin Song. Thanks to their work yesterday evening, we filed a four-count criminal complaint in the southern district of New York against Rahami, charging has with acts of terrorism, including use of weapons of mass destruction, bombing of a place of public use, and destruction of property by explosives for the Chelsea bombing. Federal charges were also brought against him in New Jersey, as well as for the bombs as well for the bombs Rahami allegedly planted in Seaside Park and Elizabeth, New Jersey. The first case to proceed will be the federal case brought yesterday in Manhattan federal court. We have filed a writ for Rahami with the U.S. Marshal's Service and we expect that he will soon be brought into this district. The charges we unsealed last night lay out the considerable evidence that the FBI and NYPD was able to gather in a short period of time. And the evidence we believe shows that this was a premeditated act of terrorism. That evidence includes 12 fingerprints recovered from the undetonated bomb from the 27th street location in Chelsea, including on the pressure cooker, duct tape and the triggering cell phone. Surveillance video of Rahami allegedly near the 23rd Street bomb 27 minutes before the explosion. Surveillance video of Rahami walking with a suitcase near 27th Street just minutes after the explosion four blocks south. License plate readers showing a car tied to Rahami's residence entering Manhattan through the Lincoln Tunnel about two hours before the explosion and leaving Manhattan about two hours after. And also a handwritten journal found on Rahami at the time of his arrest talking about, among other things, jihad, pipe bombs, a pressure cooker bomb, and the sounds of bombs heard in the street, as well as laudatory references to Anwar al Awlaki and Osama bin Laden. This weekend, as you all appreciate, the American way of life was attacked and everyday routines were shaken by explosions in Chelsea and in Seaside Park. The response to these misguided acts of terror has been classically American. And what we have come to expect in our city from New Yorkers, care for the victims, calm in the midst of chaos, and swift law enforcement action. Now thanks to that response, Rahami will faces federal terrorism charges in a court of law. So now let me turn to what we came here to talk about, showing in some ways the diversity of our docket. You know, sometimes law enforcement does us so proud as we saw this week. [Blitzer:] All right, so there he is, the U.S. attorney in New York, Preet Bharara. He's explaining the charges that have been leveled against Ahmad Khan Rahami, the alleged terrorist who planted bombs in New York and New Jersey. Tom Fuentes is still with us. He went into some specific details, what they found in the journal. We heard from Mike McCaull, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee as well, references to Anwar al Awlaki, the al Qaeda in the Arabian peninsula leader who was killed in a U.S. drone strike, the American born terrorist from al Qaeda also. Bin Laden himself. References to Fort Hood, Texas. The terror attack references to the Boston Marathon. These are serious charges that have been leveled against this individual. [Fuentes:] Right, and that's why he went into such detail to describe what goes into those charge, what the predicates were and that they're requesting that Rahami be brought to Manhattan and housed in the federal lockup because they want those charges to supersede the local charges, which are serious enough, the shootout with the police there. But, in this case, the more serious charges are the terrorism charges. [Blitzer:] Because he's been charged in New Jersey, locally [Fuentes:] Right. [Blitzer:] With attempted murder of a police officer, which is a very serious charge as well. Several other counts in New Jersey. But what you're saying is the federal the federal charges would take precedence over the local charges? He would then be brought to New York where he would await trial on the federal charges? [Fuentes:] Right. Right. He's making the request that the marshals go pick him up and bring him to Manhattan and that's because he's hoping that the New Jersey officials will just acquiesce and say, yes, take him. Take him [Blitzer:] Normally they would acquiesce him. [Fuentes:] Yes. [Blitzer:] Yes. All right, Tom, stay with us. There's a lot of news we're following. We're taking a quick break. We'll be right back. [Harlow:] Beyonce's new hit song "Formation" you have likely heard it. And also you probably saw her super bowl performance as well. They are both still catching a lot of buzz. The song's music video incorporate imagery of hurricane Katrina, also protests over officer involved shootings. Look. Well, when Beyonce performed that song at the super bowl, her back up dancers were dressed as black panthers. That certainly sparked debate as has the video. And now some police officers are calling for a boycott of her upcoming concerts saying they will not provide security day. Let's talk about it all. Sergeant Danny Hale is with me. He is president of the Nashville fraternal order of police. Also with me, 'Philadelphia Daily News" columnist, author and radio host Solomon Jones. Gentlemen, thank you both for being here. And sergeant, let's begin with you and this question. What is your criticism of Beyonce, that song, the video? There are no antipolice lyrics. We did see in that clip there is graffiti on one wall that says stop shooting and a young man dancing in fronts of a line of police there. There have been other artists, black and white, who views their lyrics, their music to criticized police. Walk me though your thinking in this one. [Sgt. Danny Hale, President, Nashville Fraternal Order Of Police:] Well, first of all, thank you for having me. [Harlow:] Sure. [Hale:] Secondly. I never said anything about the video per se. It has pop every now and then. My only complaint is when I watched the halftime show actually I had to watch it later because I wasn't this the room at the time. But for them to put that the Black Panther movement up on some type of pedestal is the thing that bothered me the most. As far as her video out of New Orleans, you know, she is an artist, that's the cool thing about being in America, she can do what she chooses to do. I just felt that we needed to take a stand because 15 police officers were killed across the United States by during the Black Panther movement at that time all the way into the '80s. And two of those officers were right here in Nashville, Tennessee. And my whole thing, is I never said the word boycott. I have always said, you know, for our folks, said please, you know, don't volunteer to do this. Ultimately the chief of police is going to have to mandate because we are not going to bring 60,000, 70,000 folks in the national Tennessee in an unsecured environment. I mean, there will be security all the way from the federal to the local level. It just so happens the local police have the crux of the security detail. [Harlow:] So I'm clear, you're saying not advocating a boycott but what I am telling my officers is don't volunteer to do it if you were offended? [Hale:] And that is correct. And that's my only complaint. I felt like we needed to take a stance. And you know, I'll be honest with you. I hate that it came about this way, but I appreciate the conversation. Actually, I have talked to different people and different lifestyles for the past week that I probably wouldn't talk to normally. [Harlow:] So, Solomon, I mean, let's weigh in on this. Not only are you a journalist, you were once a police dispatcher. Where do you fall on this? [Solomon Jones, Columnist, Philadelphia Daily News:] I think it's ridiculous. I think it's ridiculous to demonize the black panthers. You know, let's look at why they were wearing Black Panther re gala. It's the 50th anniversary of the black panthers. The Black Panthers is actually an organization that started in response to police brutality in the black community 50 years ago. And many of the things they did had nothing to do with that sort of outward resistance to police. What they did was they started a breakfast program. They helped kids with literacy. They helped kids with their school work. You know, you don't hear that in the story of the black panthers. What you do hear is the propaganda around them deciding that they wanted to defend themselves. As far as police volunteering, police do not volunteer to do security here in Philadelphia. They volunteer for overtime. And so that security is paid for. They are paid for their time. They are paid to do their job. For example, here in Philadelphia, police do security in Apple stores and Apple pays for that overtime. So the whole notion that this is not some kind of boycott, I take exception to that because I ink it absolutely is. And I think that they just need to call it that so that we can address it for what it is. [Harlow:] I want you both to listen to Hillary Clinton last night addressing the issue of race during CNN's presidential town hall. Here's what she told one audience member about understanding the problem of systemic racism. [Unidentified Female:] Recently I've started wearing my hair natural, and I've noticed a difference in the way some people address and look at me. In the wake of things like Ferguson and black lives matter and the recent black lash against Beyonce for her formation video, there have been a lot of racial tensions recently in our nation. So my question to you is what do you intend to do to help fix the broken racial relations in our nation? [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] Well, Kyla, first of all, thank you for being so candid and brave to stand up and say this about yourself because I think it really helps to shine a spotlight on what are one of the many barriers that still stand in the way of people feeling like they can pursue their own dreams, they can be who they are, they can have the future that they want in our country. And I believe strongly we have to deal with systemic racism. We have serious challenges, and I think [Harlow:] There you have it. I want both of your reactions. Sergeant Hale, you first. [Hale:] Well, to that issue, my opinion is, you know, I normally don't agree with Mrs. Clinton on anything. But for her to say for her to put out there that, yes, you have the right to do whatever you choose in America, absolutely, she's correct. Now, is there are there still racial issues? Why, certainly. I live in a day-to-day life in Davidson County, Nashville, Tennessee, and I know that there are problems. To get back to Mr. Jones' issue that we are out here in a boycott situation and we get paid for this and get paid for that, that's absolutely correct. We work sideline jobs, but we don't have to volunteer to work sideline jobs. That's just that's our you know, for our economic health for our families. And also you look at another thing, when these messages come out, everybody tends to forget that the men and women that are out here protecting society, that the men and women that are out here protecting the rights of citizens, yes, they do make mistakes, but also they have families. Their families are worried about them out there on a daily basis. So when you go into a hostile environment, which don't get me wrong we were trained and paid to do and we are going to do. The cool part about this whole narrative is Miss Knowles is going to come to Nashville on May the 5th. She's going to have a great show and she'll be dealt with in a professional manner. [Harlow:] I have one minute left. Solomon, your thoughts. [Jones:] Yes. You know, it's not a volunteer situation. They volunteer to do overtime. They volunteer to get paid. So I just want to make sure that that is clear. It's not a volunteer situation. The other thing is that they are paid to uphold the law, to protect and serve. And if Beyonce dancing around is a hostile situation, well, that's a problem. Then we need to get some new police officers in to deal with real hostile situations. That's not a hostile situation. She is free as an American to express herself. She's done that. And I think that her 14 million followers on twitter and 61 million followers on Instagram are paying close attention to what happens with this situation. [Harlow:] Important discussion to have. Thank you both for having it with us and our viewers. Sergeant, thank you. Solomon, thank you. Back in a moment. [Hale:] Thank you very much. [Jones:] You're welcome. [Cabrera:] Now to the war on terror and something you will only see here on CNN. US Intelligence sources telling us that ISIS and other terrorist groups may have figured out a way to bypass the high-tech bomb screeners at American airports. It's a deep concern to the FBI and one reason the Trump administration decided to put strong restrictions on how laptops and other large electronics enter the U.S. from a number of countries in the Middle East and Africa. The CNN Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr has more details. [Barbara Starr, Cnn Pentagon Correspondent:] U.S. officials have grown increasingly concerned about the threat against aviation that they are seeing, not just from ISIS, but also al Qaeda in Syria and al Qaeda in Yemen. [voice-over]: U.S. Intelligence and Law Enforcement Agencies believe that ISIS and other terror groups have developed innovative ways to plant explosives in electronic devices that can fool airport security screenings. The concern is heightened because there is U.S. Intelligence suggesting that terrorists have obtained sophisticated airport security equipment to test how well the bombs are concealed. CNN has learned this new intelligence once a significant part of a decision earlier this month to band laptops, tablets and other electronic devices from the passenger cabin of planes flying directly to the United States from ten Middle Eastern and North African airports. Demanding instead that they be stored in checked luggage. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] Elevated intelligence that were aware of indicates terrorist groups continue to target commercial aviation and are aggressive in pursuing innovative message to undertake their attacks to include smuggling of explosive devices with these various consumer objects. [Starr:] Officials have told CNN there was credible and specific intelligence that ISIS would try to attack aviation assets. And a hint from a top U.S. commander about why the accelerated effort on the ground in Syria is against the group. [Lt. Gen. Stephen Townsend, Commander, Operation Inherent Resolve:] There's an imperative to get isolation in place around Raqqa. Because our intelligence feeds tell us that there is a significant external operations attack planning. [Starr:] Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen AQAP has for years been actively trying to target commercial airliners destined for the U.S. looking for ways to create bombs that contain little or no metal content to evade airport security measures, including hiding explosives in the batteries of electronic devices like laptops. And in February 2016, a wake-up call. When a laptop bomb, according to Somali authorities, was used to blow a hole in this Somali passenger jet. The plane landed safely despite the attack claimed by the al Qaeda affiliate al- Shabaab. CNN has learned the explosives were hidden in a space created by removing parts of the DVD drive. The Transportation Security Administration gave CNN a statement noting that while they will not discuss specific intelligence, they continue to monitor all the threats that they see and that they will change security procedures as they see fit. Barbara Starr, CNN, the Pentagon. [Cabrera:] All right. Thanks to Barbara. Still to come here in the newsroom, Senator John McCain sounding off on President Trump's team and possible ties to Russia. He says talking is one thing, plotting is another. You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. [Harlow:] Welcome back to NEW DAY. Don Lemon with me. Good morning. [Lemon:] Hi, Poppy Harlow. [Harlow:] You awake? [Lemon:] How you doing? Almost I'll be awake around 10:00 and the show will be over then. [Harlow:] There you go. I'll be sleeping. President Barack Obama sitting down for a fascinating interview with his former senior adviser and CNN senior political director and CNN commentator David Axelrod. They talked about, of course, the 2016 election and what the president plans to do after January 20th. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] I have to be quiet for a while. And I don't mean politically, I mean internally. I have to still myself. Now, that doesn't mean that if a year from now or a year and one-half from now or two years from now there is an issue of such moment, such import, that isn't just a debate about a particular tax bill or a particular policy, but goes to some foundational issues about our democracy that I might not weigh in. [Harlow:] For more on this interview let's bring in CNN historian Douglas Brinkley. Good morning to you, merry, merry. I hope you had a good holiday. I'd love your [Douglas Brinkley, Cnn Presidential Historian:] I did. [Harlow:] I'd love good I'd love your take on that because he actually said he's going to take Michelle, the first lady, for a long, nice vacation. They all deserve it. [Lemon:] Yes. [Harlow:] But he's absolutely leaving the door open. This is clearly not going to be like George W. Bush. He is saying, basically, that if there are things that I fundamentally disagree with you're going to hear from me. [Brinkley:] Well, that's right, Poppy, and he gave it about two-year or year and one-half framework when he might intervene. In the meantime, he has to fundraise, build his Obama library in Chicago. That's a huge enterprise. And he's also going to write a memoir. He'll probably get about $20 million for writing a book. I once spoke to the president about his memoir and we were talking about Ulysses S. Grant, who has done a great book that was about Grant and the Civil War. But he found no president had ever done the kind of memoir that he wanted wants to write. A book like Dean Acheson's "Present at the Creation" or George Kennan's memoir, kind of a Pulitzer prize-winning book. So I think he's going to do that and then spend some time golfing at Rancho Mirage, reconnect with Hawaii and as he said, find himself. It's hard to detox, to come down really after eight years of having to live in a kind of hour-by-hour crisis mode. [Lemon:] Yes, and he spoke about, you know, he's going to golf in his retirement, I think in Hawaii. He said that to our troops. Listen, as the first African-American president, of course, tolerance is really important for this president. He's confident of his vision of America, one of tolerance and diversity. Of course, diversity important as well. But he suggested, though, which I thought was interesting, David, that if he ran again that he could win. Listen to this. [B. Obama:] In the wake of the election and Trump winning, a lot of people have suggested that somehow it really was a fantasy. What I would argue is, is that the culture actually did shift. That the majority does buy into the notion of a one America that is tolerant and diverse. I am confident in this vision because I'm confident that if I if I had run again and articulated it, I think I could've mobilized a majority of the American people to rally behind it. [Lemon:] If you if you watch that interview if you'd been watching politics play out over the last almost two years or so you would say that we are divided. He doesn't think so. He says mostly he believes America speaks with one voice and that is one of tolerance and diversity, and that the culture did shift. Do you agree? [Brinkley:] To a degree I do but look, basically what he just said is saying Hillary Clinton ran a bad campaign. [Harlow:] Yes. [Brinkley:] If I was in there I could've won. And look, he was amazing at the close of the campaign. It was we were using that big word unprecedented yet again. That Barack Obama coming in there and giving speeches in North Carolina and Michigan and getting behind Hillary Clinton. So, very likely, he could've beaten Donald Trump in the Midwest he'd won two previous times. So I think he just feels that very strongly and recognizes that a lot of white Americans voted for an African-American two times and they would have voted a third if they could have third time if they could have. [Harlow:] You know, one thing that we're certainly seeing now is, you know, questions about where this one president at a time practice has gone. You know, all the way back in 2001, George W. Bush, then president-elect, said this. "We have one president and we'll have one president, and the current president is President Clinton, and our nation must speak with one voice." Then you had President Obama abiding by that as well in 2008 before he took over when asked about things like the Gaza War. He said basically I defer to the sitting president. That has been turned on its head with President-elect Trump from the call with the Taiwanese president to what he tweeted about Israel and the United Nations' decision at the end of last week and Netanyahu. You know not to mention the China drone. What does this mean for sort of this practice moving forward and does it confuse our allies and our adversaries? [Brinkley:] I think it's very confusing and I think it's very wrong- minded of Donald Trump to be doing this. Look, there are different strategies of transition but one you don't want to do is be a big- mouthing, big-footing a sitting president, basically saying ignore anything America does or says for the next month because I'm coming in new management in town and just don't listen to President Obama. I don't think Donald Trump, four years from now if he didn't get reelected or even eight years, would appreciate somebody coming in and acting that. But we've seen this is Donald Trump's style. He does things differently. I find it troubling but it's nothing I'm not going to be able to stop him from doing it. [Harlow:] Yes. Sean Spicer, his incoming White House press secretary, said look, this is a man who does not hold back and he's getting things done. That was his take. Douglas Brinkley, nice to have you on. Thank you. [Brinkley:] Thank you. [Harlow:] It has been quite a year, right? [Lemon:] To say the least. [Harlow:] It's been a year like no other. We are taking a look back at all of it all week. Up next, we will bring you the top 10 stories in the political world over 2016. [Lemon:] To say the least. [Sciutto:] Donald Trump fell eight points in today's CNN poll. Nevertheless, he is doubling down on his reaction to those anti-Muslim remarks from a supporter. This morning on NBC's "Meet the Press," he refused to concede that even President Obama is a Christian. [Unidentifed Male:] Can you imagine supporting or being comfortable if a Muslim ever became president of the United States? [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] I can say that it's something that at some point could happen. We'll see. You know it's something that could happen. Would I be comfortable, I don't know if we have to address it right now. But I think it's certainly something that could happen. [Unidentifed Male:] You said you had no problem putting [Trump:] Some people said it already happened, frankly. Of course, you wouldn't agree with that. [Sciutto:] Now another Republican is saying that Muslims do not belong in the White House. Here's presidential hopeful Ben Carson. [Unidentifed Male:] So do you believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution? [Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] No, I do not. I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that. [Unidentifed Male:] Would you ever consider voting for Muslim for Congress? [Carson:] Congress is a different story. But it depends on who that Muslim is and what their policies are. [Sciutto:] As it happens the U.S. currently has two sitting Muslim congressmen. They are democrats Andre Carson from Indiana and Keith Ellison from Minnesota, who just released this statement to CNN citing the first amendment. It reads in part "For Ben Carson, Donald Trump or any other Republican politician to suggest that someone of any faith is unfit for office is out of touch with who we are as a people. It's unimaginable that the leading GOP presidential candidates are resorting to fear mongering to benefit their campaigns." And this "And every Wmerican should be disturbed that these national figures are engaging in and tolerating blatant acts of religious bigotry." Joining me now to talk more about this is Attorney Brian Morgestern, he's a political strategist and Ellis Henican, he is a political columnist. Brian, I want to begin with you. Very strong words that these are "blatant acts of religious bigortry." Do you agree with that charaterization? [Brian Morgenstern, Political Strategist:] I could be spared the faux outrage from the left who routinely says that Christian politicians who embrace their faith are basically unfit for office. Hillary Clinton just a few weeks ago said that Republicans' views are akin to Islamic terrorists. It was Hillary Clinton supporters in 2008 who started the rumor that Barack Obama was a Kenyan Muslim. I mean, look, you can believe that it's the wrong thing to say but the faux outrage. Pease spare me. [Sciutto:] I would disagree that it's faux outrage. I've spoken to Andre Carson. We have the statement from Keith Ellison there. They're both elected members of Congress. They don't seem to be faking it to me. To be fair, the comparison you're making not entirely equivalent. Because the comment was talking about Muslims being fit for elected office in a country of many faiths. [Morgenstern:] Right. [Sciutto:] How does that not equate with bigotry? [Morgenstern:] Because the problem is when liberals say that conservatives who embrace their faith are unfit for office, they're doing the same thing but they refuse to acknowledge that. They think the door only swings one way. If you believe in religious liberty, which is a great thing to believe in, you should actually believe in it, you know, in different circumstances and not just when it helps you politically. [Sciutto:] Ellis, I want to ask what do you think? Do you think that these comments or non-comments in many cases, refusals to criticize certain anti-Muslim remarks does that account to bigotry? [Ellis Henican:] Well, yes. It's horrible no matter who says it, Jim. Listen, there are certain charms of having inexperienced people run for high political officer, right? We've got some of these in this race. God, they say some dumb stuff. Don't they? It's hard to know whether Ben Carson just wasn't thinking. Whether Donald Trump really believes that or thinks it's a good way to pan to a certain part of the base. But my god, it's just so goes against everything that we believe as a people. But I guess this is the year for that and so we're likely to get some more of it. [Sciutto:] Is there political benefit to that, Ellis, because you have Republicans, let's not make this an issue of Republican or Democrat but you have had, Republican presidents George W. Bush, nine days after 911, he made a point in his address to Congress, to say that this is a not a problem with the Muslim faith. Muslims, Arabs are our friends. You had John McCain in 2008, actively challenged a questioner who questioned President Obama's faith. Is there not, if you're running for office in a multi-cultural, multi religious denominational land like this to challenge that kind of thinking? [Henican:] Listen, both things have happened at one, right. It's not 2001 or 2008 anymore. We do have to learn to live in a more diverse culture. At the same time that diversity, Jim, it has produced a lot of anxiety out there. I got to tell you, I think a big part of the engine that's propelling Trump is that exact anxiety. He's been very focused in playing at it, I would say. [Sciutto:] I want for sake of argument to discuss this, to just toss quickly to a comment from Donald Trump in an interview with our Jake Tapper this morning on "State of the Union" on this issue. Let's have a listen. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] This man said "we have a problem in this country. It's called Muslims." Now, you're not responsible for what he says. But this is raw, unvarnished, ignorant bigotry. You're a leader, you're the front-runner in the Republican race. Do you not have a responsibility to call out this hatred? [Trump:] Well, you know, we could be politically correct if you want. But certainly, are you trying to say we don't have a problem because I think everybody would agree. I have friends that are Muslims. They are great people, amazing people and most Muslims like most everything, these are fabulous people but we certainly do have a problem. You have a problem throughout the world. [Tapper:] What's the problem? [Trump:] Well, you have radicals that are doing things. It wasn't people from Sweden that blew up the World Trade Center, Jake. [Sciutto:] Brian, you heard Donald Trump's comments there. Is that what this is about purely Islamic extremists, the danger of terrorism or is there something broader? [Morgentsen:] Well, I think that is the real issue. I think that when Donald Trump didn't speak up when that commenter said something stupid. Again, I don't blame Donald Trump for that either but it would have been helpful if under the circumstances he had corrected him and said no, no, the problem is violent Islamic terrorism not Muslims at large. It's easy to get caught up in generalizations which is the real problem here. It's radical Islam. Not Islam. It's illegal immigration that Trump talks about, not immigration in general. When you allow the muddy water to exist as opposed to drawing sharp distinctions, which are very important ones, you end up offending people. So that's why he is constantly on TV speaking out making sure that people are getting the correct version of his message as opposed to the distorted generalizations. [Sciutto:] Ellis, I have to ask you, Ellis, because Muslims hear something different from these comments. They just don't hear talk of the very real threat of Islamic extremism in this country, they hear their faith being painted with a broad brushed and they're just not folks on the street, it's Islamic members of congress such as Keith Ellison there, for instance. Do you think it's fair to say that Donald Trump, Ben Carson is just talking about Islamic extremism or are you concerned that there an attempt to appeal to part of the base who has negative, bigoted view of Muslims? [Henican:] Listen, there's an audience for this garbage. I mean, there's no doubt about that. In the same way that Mexicans feel like hey, was he talking about me when he says how many of us are rapists and criminals and drug dealers. Definitely, listen, politics operates on several levels at once, right. You're talking to your supporters who understand the code words. If you're good at it, you will avoid trouble with the others. These folks are just frankly just a little too amateurish about it to play one game without [tripping off] to another game. [Sciutto:] I want to thank you for your thoughts on this. Please stick with us because we want to hear what you think about the new CNN poll for the 2016 Race, Donald Trump down, Carly Fiorina is up. But first, we just got this picture in from Cuba. This is Pope Francis meeting with Fidel Castro. It's a historic moment, as there is a handshake. We'll talk more about that ahead with Chris Cuomo, who is live in Havana. We're back in just a moment. [Lemon:] Big wins in New York for Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, changing the dynamics of both the Republican and the Democratic races. Back with me, Jamie Gangel. Jaime, you basically just co-hosting the show with me tonight. [Gangel:] I'm so happy to be with here. [Lemon:] Bob Beckel is here, John Brabender and Matt Lewis. Bob has had a lot of time on and so as John as well. OK. So, listen, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are one step closer to becoming the presidential nominees of their parties. But, what happens in November if this is a match up? Meghan McCain says, well, she thinks that Bernie supporters can actually throw their weight behind Trump instead of Clinton. [Meghan Mccain, Fox New Channel:] Well, Bernie Sanders is the cult leader and he has bunch of cult followers and I saw people tweeting last night saying that they would vote for Trump over Clinton. Don't underestimate how... [Unidentified Female:] Not for Hillary, I think. [Mccain:] I was going to say something inappropriate, but how angry Hillary Bernie Sanders supporters, the young millennials who have really bought into this, really bought into this cult, how angry they're going to be at her. [Lemon:] OK, Mr. Beckel, let's assume for a moment that Trump wins the Republican nomination. You have said there is no way that Trump can win the general election. But, I mean, do you think Trump can get some of Bernie's supporters? [Beckel:] Well, if they're drunk enough. I mean, I was I don't listen, the chances of anybody who supports Bernie Sanders, whether black, women, Latinos, millennials, they're not going to do it. I mean, it's just it is so I mean, I don't know, you're a smart guy. You understand politics. Whoever gave you that lead out of the last break was crazy. I mean, tell the writers to get that off. I mean, you did I don't want to see you caught with that. [Lemon:] I you're I wrote it myself, Bob. [Beckel:] ... go to the hospital before they gave their vote for Donald Trump. [Lemon:] Well, I'm going to say that Jamie raise your hand. Jamie Gangel is going to, you know, and will defer. So, I mean, differs. She thinks that it's possible, at least hears that is possible. [Beckel:] I'm a big fan of Jamie Gangel, but I'm not going to give her the political analyst yet. And I think for her sake, she's a brilliant person, stay away from politics. [Lemon:] Let her speak her own mind here. Let her have her say, go ahead, Jamie. [Beckel:] I was trying to give her an out, man. [Gangel:] Bob, I love you. We've known each other a long time. So this is just anecdotal. [Lemon:] OK. [Gangel:] But I will tell you that in the last six months out on the campaign trail, talking to civilians, I cannot tell you the number of times when I would say to someone, "Who are you going to support?", they said, "Donald Trump". And then I would say, "Well, if it's not Donald Trump, who would you support?", because frankly, I was trying to figure out where in the Republican field they would go next. And inevitably the answer was, Bernie Sanders. I apologize, Bob. I apologize. [Lewis:] Listen, there is something to that, right? So they're both consummate outsiders. I mean, even they're both in the populous thing, they're both against, you know, adventurism. They're both against free trade. And they're both tapping into the working class white angst and frustration out there. And you can blame immigration as Trump does. You can blame globalization as Trump and Sanders does. Nobody blames automation, which actually is a big part of the story. But there is something out there. I don't know that they're going to actually end up showing. I think they're more likely they'll stay home. [Lemon:] Right. [Gangel:] So that's it before I get really in trouble with my old friend Bob, that they'll hear. I will say, those are anecdotal stories and I truly believe that what's much more likely is that those folks will stay home. They won't vote for anyone. [Lemon:] So, John, here's what I have to say. I would tell anecdotal stories about what people would say to me about Donald Trump, especially after interviewing him, looking over their shoulder and then saying, "You know, John I like that Trump guy", and it has, you know, transferred to them actually going out, people actually going out to vote for him. So my question, John, is, are Democrats underestimating how angry these young millennial voters are just as they underestimated Donald Trump's appeal? [Brabender:] Yeah. And I did. And I think a lot of Republicans did. The truth of the matter is, where at least I've come to believe is that, Donald Trump is not about Donald Trump. It's about the people who are supporting Donald Trump and they're channeling through him. He's their megaphone, their lobbyist because they would never be able to afford a lobbyist. And they like the fact that he irritates people that are on this show, and that he irritates the establishment. And they just see that as he's authentic. And because of that, they are going to be there for him, come hell or high water, in November. And I disagree with Bob. I think that Hillary will lose from jail. [Beckel:] Listen, keep this number in mind, 62 percent negative, that's never happened. He couldn't win a rigged election in Cuba. I mean, it's just not going to happen. [Lemon:] Well, these negatives are high as well. [Beckel:] Yes, they are, but they are movable. Trumps are not movable. I mean, you know, cracking a buildings. I mean, come on. [Brabender:] Trump went through a lot more incoming than Hillary has come through so far. And I think that her unfavs are going to a lot higher, quite frankly. [Lemon:] You mean, in this election? [Beckel:] She, for 25 years, she's been the incoming. [Brabender:] Yeah. But not to what she complains about Bernie Sanders and, you know, it's like going to Tea Parties there, you know. Not the kind on our party, you know, where they wrap up each other. I mean, the truth of the matter is, Hillary's had a pretty easy ride. We haven't spent a lot of time about whether she is going to go to jail or not. And at some point a lot of this is going to be talk about that. [Lemon:] So, Bob, listen, I know that if you can, you know, separate yourself from what you actually believe is going to happen and just become a political someone who has seen the process before. Let's just say that these voters, it does happen. How much will it hurt Hillary Clinton if these voters stay home? [Beckel:] Well, not much. I mean, a lot of these voters are not going to be really tough anyway. I mean, will it hurt her? Maybe in Michigan a little bit, maybe in Illinois a little bit. But, I just don't see the coalition of Trump voters who are going to go they'll stay home. They won't vote for Hillary Clinton, no question about that. But the idea that Trump voters would vote for Sanders, or Sanders vote for Trump. I mean, you know, you're talking about a Cold War here. I mean, would the Russians vote for the Americans? No. I mean, they got I'm not trying to I am being a political analyst and I'm telling you, this ain't going to happen. [Lemon:] So, listen, Donald Trump though has already drawn a comparison between himself and Bernie Sanders. He says, "Bernie wins and wins and wins, and then the pundits say he can't win just like they do about him." So is he already trying to appeal to these voters take it away whoever you want to. [Beckel:] Yeah, I mean, why not? Why not? [Lemon:] OK, Matt? [Lewis:] Listen, I don't think he's trying to appeal to the voters, but I think what he's trying to do is make this a bipartisan argument in a sense that it's not it's the American people feel like the game is rigged. And the American people feel like we're not winning. And that we're having these horrible trade deals, and that we're getting involved in. And that the elites are controlling things. And I think he's making that a bipartisan argument and there is, I mean, I think that resonates. That resonates. [Lemon:] That was very similar in a weird way because Donald Trump speaks out against Wall Street. Bernie Sanders speaks out against Wall Street. I mean, you know, they separate from... [Lewis:] Donald Trump could hit if Donald Trump runs against Hillary Clinton, he could hit Hillary from the left on a lot of things. And frankly, his arguments against Hillary would be very similar to Bernie's arguments against Hillary. [Lemon:] Thank you, everyone. Bob, I got to go. [Beckel:] No, that's fine. That was fine. Just wait until the fall. We've got plenty to think. [Lemon:] All right. When we come right back, President Obama's chilly reception in Saudi Arabia, why he bill back by some 911 families is causing trouble with America's ally. [Blitzer:] Donald Trump once again rewriting the political playbook after the Republican presidential debate, the last one scheduled before the very important Iowa caucuses. The question now, what will be voters, people in Iowa, the Republican caucus goers, think about all of this? Joining us now is Kathie Obradovich, columnist for the "Des Moines Register," a newspaper in Iowa. Kathie, thanks very much for joining us. What has been the reaction out there among Republican caucus goers? [Kathie Obradovich, Columnist, Des Moines Register:] Well, I think people are that Donald Trump is passing up on a last opportunity to talk to a really big audience here before the Iowa caucuses. Of course, there has been a really, I think, tight battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz, and it's gotten to be a nasty battle as well, and you know what they say, be there or be talked about. Trump is also missing an opportunity to answer become to the attacks that probably will come from the other candidates on that debate stage. [Blitzer:] He says what he wants to do, instead is having a different event at the same time in Iowa to raise money for Wounded Warriors. How is that going to play? [Obradovich:] Well, you know, I think that I said this for a long time, that the only thing that really hurts Donald Trump in the polls is if everybody turns off their camera and ignores him, right? That's not going to happen. He is still going to get a place in the spotlight. He is going to be out front and center and, of course, doing something for charity as opposed to being part of the political fisticuffs on this debate. I honestly don't think that missing this debate is going to actually hurt Donald Trump. I do think it's unfortunate for the voters. [Blitzer:] Ted Cruz, as you know, has challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate. Just the two of them for 90 minutes with or without a moderator. How will that play? We just heard the RNC, the Republican National Committee spokesman, Sean Spicer, say that would not be authorized for the RNC and should not take place. [Obradovich:] Yeah. I don't think that's the only reason it won't happen. You know, I think that Trump right now has a lead. There's not really any Benefit to him to give Ted Cruz an opportunity being one-on-one with Donald Trump on stage, and I also think that Ted Cruz is an excellent debater, and Donald Trump has his own style as well. I just don't think that Trump has any up side to letting something like that happen. [Blitzer:] So basically, what's your assessment right now? A two-man race in the Iowa caucuses? Either Trump is ahead or Cruz is ahead. The last polls we've seen, Trump a little bit more ahead. What's your assessment? You've been covering this story now for a long time. [Obradovich:] It sure looks like a two-man race, Wolf, also I have to say I am waiting for the "Des Moines Register's" Iowa poll, the gold standard, to come out this weekend and we'll see what our pollster has to say about that. You know, for the last month or so it really has looked like a two-man race, and a fight for third place as well between Ben Carson and Marco Rubio. We always talk about there being three tickets out of Iowa, and on the Republican side, you know, we sort of know pretty much where those tickets might be going. We just don't know what order. [Blitzer:] Yeah. Dr. Ben Carson told us at the top of the hour he is going to surprise a lot of people in Iowa. He said, "I am predicting it right here on your show." We'll see it that happens. If he comes in third, obviously, he moves forward to New Hampshire a week later. All right, Kathie, thanks very much for joining us. [Obradovich:] Thanks, Wolf. [Blitzer:] Up next, Bernie Sanders in the White House today, visiting the president of the United States in the Oval Office. There is was, walking into the West Wing of the White House. What did they talk about? Is he ready to be more aggressive in his battle against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination? We'll speak to his campaign when we come back. [Sesay:] The trial of a former Nazi S.S. guard is set to resume in the next few hours in Germany. [Vause:] The 94-year-old is charged as an accessory to the murder of at least 170,000 people at the Auschwitz concentration camp. Here's Nick Glass. [Nick Glass, Cnn Correspondent:] The railway line into Auschwitz, the last journey for over a million people murdered by the Nazis. The gas chambers were built well out of sight in the whiteness beyond. [Glass:] 71 years after liberation, we're running out of witnesses. Everybody's old men and women. Auschwitz was the only camp where prisoners were tattooed, were given a number. One by one, they were escorted into court in the northern German city of Detmold. Erna DePriee is 92. She was just 21 in Auschwitz, after two months, forced to move camps, leaving her mother behind. The last thing her mother had said to her was, you will survive and tell what happened to us. The man on trial is 94, a little fragile on his feet and intent on avoiding all eye contact. Reinhold Hanning was 21 when he became an S.S. guard at Auschwitz. He denies complicity in mass murder. For the last five years or so, the German justice system has actively sought to widen responsibility for the Holocaust. John Demanyuk, a guard at another extermination camp. In 2011, aged 90, he was convicted by a German court of being an accessory to murder. Oscar Gorning, who worked for Auschwitz as a bookkeeper at the age of 21. In 2015, aged 94, he was sentenced to four years in prison for accessory to murder. He admitted moral guilt and pleaded for forgiveness. His case is still under appeal. Back then, this was the terrifying end of the line. As one survivor remembered, chimneys spewing fire and an unbearable smell of burning human flesh. Three other cases from Auschwitz are still pending, two men, and one woman, all of them camp guards. The trials are likely to be the last of their kind. Lyian Schwartzbaum is 94. He was the youngest on the left in the old photo. He lost his parents and his uncle at Auschwitz. He and the accused, Reinhold Hanning, are the same age and, as he put it, soon to face our final judge. He simply wants Hanning to tell the truth. Nick Glass, CNN. [Chris Cuomo:] You know, targeted market cap, Carol. It's not big enough that way, not in terms of his [P.r. Carol Costello, Cnn Anchor:] Well, I'm glad you cleared that up for us. Thank you so much. [Costello:] NEWSROOM starts now. You guys have a good day. [Cuomo:] No love. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] You, too. [Cuomo:] No love. Just a lump of coal in human form. [Costello:] I'm sorry. NEWSROOM starts now. And good morning, I'm carol Costello. Thank you so much for joining me. Closing arguments set to begin in just a few minutes in the trial of Dylann Roof. He's the man accused of carrying out the Charleston church massacre. On Wednesday, jurors got a firsthand account of what unfolded during that night of terror from one of the survivors. Polly Sheppard recalls diving under a table when bullets started flying. She says Roof pointed a gun at her and asked this chilling question, "Did I shoot you yet?" Shepherd's tearful 911 call was played out in court. A warning, some of you might find this disturbing. [Polly Sheppard, Charleston Church Massacre Survivor:] Please answer. Oh, God. [Unidentified Female:] 911, what's the address of the emergency? [Sheppard:] Please. Emanuel Church. There's plenty people shot down here. Please send somebody right away. [Unidentified Female:] Emanuel Church? [Sheppard:] Emanuel AME 110. [Unidentified Female:] And there's people shot? [Sheppard:] Yes. He shot the pastor. He shot all the men in the church. Please come right away. [Costello:] Nick Valencia live in Charleston with more for you. Hi, Nick. [Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Carol. Court is expected to begin in just about 30 minutes. It has been an emotional week of testimony as shooting survivors have recounted in horrific detail what they witnessed last year. For his part, Dylann Roof has been emotionless, expressionless, showing no remorse for what he's accused of. [Dylann Roof, Accused Of Shooting In Mother Emanuel Ame Church:] Well, I had to do it because somebody had to do something because, you know, Black people are killing Black people every day. [Valencia:] Before his trial began, Dylann Roof confessed saying he was willing to plead guilty to all charges on the condition that prosecutors remove the death penalty. They refused. In the closing week of the trial, prosecutors punctuating their case by painting Roof as a cold blooded calculated killer, obsessed with White supremacy and hateful of Blacks. They say Roof hoped to start a race war when he walked into the historically Black Emanuel AME Church in Charleston on June 17, 2015. He prayed with the Bible study group for nearly an hour before removing a.45 caliber Glock handgun and fatally shooting nine people. Evidence presented by prosecutors include this video showing Roof shooting target practice and parts of a 2,000-word manifesto calling Black people stupid, inferior to Whites, and violent. He says the Trayvon Martin case triggered his decision to kill, saying no skin heads, no real KKK, are taking action. Someone must, quote, "I guess that has to be me." The first witness brought to the stand was Felicia Sanders, a shooting survivor, forced to take a break from recounting her gut-wrenching testimony. The last witness, 72-year-old Polly Sheppard, describing how she hid under a table, praying as bullet casings fell around her, until Roof told her he'd let her live to tell the horrific story. [Sheppard:] He's still in the building. Please help us. [Valencia:] Newly released audio from her 911 call capturing the panic inside. [Sheppard:] There's so many people dead, I think. Oh, my God. [Unidentified Female:] You said there's so many people dead? [Sheppard:] I think they're dead, yes. [Valencia:] Roof listening expressionless and emotionless, showing no remorse. The defense rested its case without calling a single witness. Late yesterday, they did try to get two mental health experts to testify on Dylann Roof's behalf but a judge denied that motion. Carol, there's been a lot of drama surrounding Dylann Roof's defense. Up until about two weeks ago, the 22-year-old said that he wanted to defend himself. He did an about-face but only during this phase, the guilt phase of the trial. We do expect Roof to represent himself during the sentencing phase Carol. [Costello:] All right. Nick Valencia reporting live from Charleston, South Carolina. So let's talk about this. With me now, CNN Legal Analyst Paul Callan. Welcome, Paul. [Paul Callan, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Good morning. [Costello:] So they'll do closing arguments, right? The case will go to the jury. The jury will probably come back with a guilty verdict, unless something astounding happens. [Callan:] Well, something happens, something very bizarre. [Costello:] So then what will happen next? [Callan:] Well, then we'll go into the penalty phase, which is really the heart of this case. I mean, obviously, he's guilty. He's admitted his guilt from the beginning, and we've seen it proven in a most compelling way. But now the issue is more difficult for the jury. Should he be put to death, or should he be allowed to spend the rest of his life in prison? And even some of the victims' families in this case have said they oppose the death penalty for these brutal killings. So it's really going to be a very, very interesting penalty phase, I think, as we're coming up, Carol. [Costello:] It defies logic that Dylann Roof will escape the death penalty just because of the emotional testimony. We played a bit of that 911 call from Polly Sheppard, the only survivor from inside that church. Dylann Roof allowed her to live so that she could tell the tale of his horrific deed. I just want to play our viewers some more of that 911 call. Here it is. [Sheppard:] He's coming. He's coming. He's coming. Please. [Unidentified Female:] OK. Ma'am, are you able to if he's coming, I need you to be as quiet as possible. Is there something you can hide under? [Sheppard:] I'm under the table. [Unidentified Female:] Did you see him at all? [Sheppard:] Yes. He's a young 21-year-old White dude. [Unidentified Female:] OK. [Sheppard:] Please, and we've got some people very hurt. Please. [Unidentified Female:] Yes, ma'am. And you said were you able to see the gun. Do you know what kind of gun it was? [Sheppard:] No, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know anything about guns. [Unidentified Female:] OK. That's OK. And where are the weapons now? [Sheppard:] He's got it in his hand. He's reloading. [Costello:] Oh, my goodness. So Dylann Roof gets up to convince the jury that he doesn't deserve the death penalty. How does that go? [Callan:] Well, it's astounding. Although something very interesting is happening in this case, he's representing himself during the penalty phase. Now, lawyers say this is a huge mistake. And there's been a lot of worry about it, that maybe it will be reversible error and the verdict will be thrown out. I happen to think it's probably a very smart move on his part. And I only say that because if he's trying to convince [Costello:] You mean a deliberately smart move or an accidental smart move that he's doing? [Callan:] Well, it's hard to say, but the reason I say this is because, with him standing up in front of the jury for the entire penalty phase, they'll get a very, very close look at him as a human being. And if, in fact, he suffers from some sort of deep and obvious mental illness, that will become clear throughout the penalty phase. Remember, his only hope is that the jury thinks he's so crazy, he doesn't deserve the death penalty. And what better way than for him to be standing in front of them every day, you know, demonstrating the extent of his mental illness. [Costello:] So during the penalty phase, often, family members of the victims take the stand to tell about the emotional toll this has taken on them. So Dylann Roof will be questioning them? [Callan:] Yes. And I have to tell you, this is the most horrific scene in a courtroom you can imagine, with the killer questioning family members of the victim. I've seen it happen in courtrooms, sometimes a rape victim being questioned by the rapist, but the law allows it. And I'm just cringing thinking of how bad the scene is going to be. [Costello:] So might Dylann Roof take the stand himself? [Callan:] Yes, he could take the stand himself. When he's representing himself, he testifies in what the lawyers call narrative format. He just sits there and tells his story without anybody asking him questions, and then the prosecutor cross-examines. [Costello:] Well, he has a celebrated defense attorney. His name is David Bruck. He's tried a number of famous death penalty cases. He's adamantly opposed to the death penalty. So will he just sit by and watch this unfold? [Callan:] It's hard to say how this is going to unfold because, remember, Dylann Roof wanted to fire him initially and represent himself during the liability or guilt phase of the trial, and he changed his mind. Dylann Roof could change his mind again, and this attorney could wind up playing a major role. So I think you have to take this on a day-to-day basis. You're dealing with an extremely strange person who, obviously, is mentally ill. The only question is, how mentally ill is he? [Costello:] Paul Callan, thanks so much. [Callan:] OK. Thank you. [Costello:] In other news this morning, evacuations in Syria finally underway. A new ceasefire in Aleppo is holding, at least for now, but the constant airstrikes have taken their toll. Hundreds of thousands of civilians have been killed, and there is still fear that many people won't make it out alive. [Unidentified Male:] [Speaking in foreign language] [Costello:] That is the voice of an orphan in Aleppo. This is what he's saying, quote, "This might be the last day you will hear my voice and see me. I am 10 years old. I have been living in an orphanage for the past two years. I lost my mom and dad two years ago from airstrikes. I am sending this message to those concerned with human rights and the rights of children and to the entire world. I hope you get us out of Aleppo. There are 47 children here, and they are all my brothers and sisters. We hope to get out of Aleppo and eat and drink. We love peace. We cannot go outside because of the airstrikes and shelling. We can't go outside because of that. Please get us out of Aleppo." Oh. More now from CNN's Senior International Correspondent Frederik Pleitgen. Hi, Fred. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Hi, Carol. Yes. And one of the things that the international community is now trying to do is trying to get those people who are still holding out in that little rebel enclave in Aleppo, trying to get them out. And it seems as though, from the first information that we're getting and from what we're monitoring, that at this point in time, it appears to be working. The first convoys have managed to leave eastern Aleppo, go through government territory, and then get into other areas that are controlled by the opposition. First and foremost, it's the weakest. It's the people who need the most attention, people who are wounded, people who are severely ill, people who need medical attention very, very quickly. Hundreds have apparently already come out. There were some hitches where one of the convoys was actually shot at and one person was killed. So for many of these people, it is certainly somewhat relief after they were so scared the past couple of days. And we managed to get some of the voices of those who are so afraid. Here's what they said. [Unidentified Female:] I don't know really what to say. Words can't go out now. I hope you can something to solve the expected massacres. Just yesterday, my the next door exactly, all the building collapsed. Many people were killed. Well, many people now are being killed and just kept in the streets and their buildings. No one can help them. [Pleitgen:] Countless stories from within the rebel-held territory in Aleppo, Syria. It is, by all accounts, an unmitigated humanitarian disaster. [Unidentified Male:] You may be thinking that this is an old video but it's not. It's a new one. And it's taking place right here, right now, on the day when they were supposed to be an agreement. [Unidentified Female:] To everyone who can hear me, we are here exposed to a genocide in the besieged city of Aleppo. This may be my last video. More than 50,000 of civilians who rebelled against the dictator al-Assad are threatened with field executions or dying under bombing. [Pleitgen:] Bana, a 7-year-old living in east Aleppo, with the help of her mother, has been tweeting. Her most recent message, a cry for help. Her mother, following up with a message of her own. Today, from a rooftop, sounds of conflict can still be heard. [Unidentified Male:] This could be my final appeal. Hoping it will find listening ears of the people making decisions around the world. Everybody who can, please speak to your government, to his country to put pressure to stop the aggression. To stop the killing. To stop the war. At least we know that we will defeat evil. We want to defeat them. We didn't want anything else but freedom. [Pleitgen:] So there you see, Carol, some of the voices of those who, we believe, are now being evacuated out of that rebel enclave that, after they're gone, will no longer be a rebel enclave and in fact, the Syrian government will then take full control of that city. And as for many of those who are leaving now, for many of them, of course, it's a very bitter moment. They never wanted to leave their district. They never wanted to leave Aleppo. And it's also a move into a very uncertain future because the place that they're going to, they don't know what's going to await them there. Just keep in mind, where they're going is a combat zone, as well. There's some heavy fighting in those other rebel areas, too, Carol. [Costello:] Frederik Pleitgen reporting live for us from Beirut, Lebanon. Thanks so much. Still to come in the NEWSROOM. President-elect Trump calls a meeting but his children steal the spotlight. Is it a conflict of interest taking shape even before Mr. Trump takes office? [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Welcome back, everybody. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Los Angeles. I'm John Vause. [Isa Soares, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Isa Soares in London. Let me up to date on the main news headlines this hour [Vause:] The joint U.S.United Arab Emirates raid in Yemen is raising questions about President Trump's approach to fighting terrorism. The assault killed 14 al Qaeda fighters, 10 civilians and a U.S. Navy SEAL. Chief U.S. security correspondent, Jim Sciutto, reports on what went wrong. [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Chief National Security Correspondent:] Tonight, new information that President Trump was actively involved in the decision making on the Yemen raid up until the final hours. On January 25th, four days before the mission, the president was briefed by national security advisor, Michael Flynn, and then again during a 10-person White House later dinner that evening. The dinner, at Mr. Trump's request, included his three closest aids, chief of staff, Reince Priebus, and senior advisors, Jared Kushner and Steve Bannon. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] He, then, on that evening, had a dinner meeting where the operation was laid out in great extent. [Sciutto:] Like many high-risk military missions, the planning was months in the making. The initial proposed plans were first sent to the Pentagon on November 7th during the Obama administration and one day before the election. Department of Defense lawyers and legal experts then reviewed the details before approving the plan and sending it to the National Security Council on December 19th. Next, it was reviewed by defense, state and the National Security Council. But one final delay, waiting for a moonless night to help conceal U.S. Special Operators. That would not come until late in January after the swearing in of Donald Trump. The new president gave final approval on January 26t h, one day after the White House dinner, three days to mission launch. [Spicer:] This was a very, very well thought out and executed effort. [Sciutto:] The raid targeted a suspected al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula compound in Yemen. U.S. Navy SEALs and UAES Special Operators encountered AQAP fighters as they approached the compound. According to the Pentagon, the fighters, including some females, positioned themselves along rooftops on adjacent buildings, pinning down U.S.-led forces. Aircraft conducted an airstrike, leading 23 civilian deaths, according to an NGO. The al Qaeda fighters used heavy arms, killing Navy SEAL William Ryan Owens. An Osprey was damaged as it tried to land to rescue the wounded. Special Operators took intelligence materials from the compound, including computer hard drives. [Spicer:] When you look at what was gained to prevent the future loss of life here in America, and against our people and our institutions and throughout the world, in terms of what these individuals could have done, I think it is a successful operation by all standards. [Sciutto:] Tonight, Obama administration officials are disputing the Trump administration claim this was a raid in Yemen approved by President Obama first. They say, one, that's not true. Two, that's not the way things are done, that a raid like this, with this sensitivity on the ground, would not be approved, in their words, weeks or months in advance. Jim Sciutto, CNN, Washington. [Soares:] Allegations of Russian fake news campaigns are popping up throughout Europe. We'll take you to Prague where the fight is going full tilt. [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn:] Breaking news, 13 days away from the Iowa caucus. The governor of Iowa no longer staying neutral saying he wants the front-runner Ted Cruz defeated. [Gov. Terry Branstad , Iowa:] And I think that Ted Cruz is ahead right now, but we are doing is we are trying to educate the people of Iowa. He is the biggest opponent of renewable fuels and he actually introduced a bill in 2013 to immediately eliminate the renewable fuel standard. He is heavily financed by big oil. So we think that once Iowans realize that fact, they might find other things attractive, but I think it would be very damaging to our state and that's the reason why he hasn't been invited to this because he hasn't been supported renewable fuels and I believe it would be a big mistake for Iowa to support him. And I know he is ahead in the polls. But the only poll that counts is the one they take on caucus night. And I think it could change between now and then. I think this event is an important, significant step to helping educate the voters in this state and this it state is where it all begins. [Baldwin:] CNN politics reporter M.J. Lee is in Altoona, Iowa, where Donald Trump is holding an event in just a bit. But to hear from Governor Branstad where he is no longer remaining neutral, what's behind this? [M.j. Lee, Cnn Politics Reporter:] Yes, Brooke. I mean, these are pretty remarkable comments coming from the state's Republican governor precisely because the Republican governor here usually doesn't take sides before the primary process has begun. It's really hard to overstate just how important the ethanol issue is here in Iowa. I spent a lot of time on the road in Iowa over the last couple months speaking to voters and there are a lot of people who told me, look, because of Cruz's stance on ethanol subsidies and his opposition to ethanol subsidies, I simply can't support him for president. Obviously, something that Donald Trump, one of Ted Cruz's biggest rivals here in Iowa, has really seized on. I spoke to one voter who said he's likely to support Donald Trump in the Iowa caucuses. And he was actually surprised to hear the state's governor take a stance on this, but that frankly because he himself feels so strongly about the issue, he was actually happy to hear the governor let other Iowan voters know we should not support Ted Cruz and here's where he stands on ethanol subsidies. [Baldwin:] M.J., thank you very much. I know we will have much more on the "the LEAD" with Jake Tapper coming up next. Also more on Trump's mystery announcement later tonight. Thank you. Abducted by terrorists, held as slaves, shocking numbers just out from the United Nations revealing exactly how many Iraqis are now living as ISIS slaves, 3,500 and most of those women and children. Some not even teenagers yet. Forced to match militants slaughter families before they are sold as sex slaves or awarded to ISIS fighters. And it doesn't end there. This report goes into horrendous detail of executions, executions by firing squads, beheadings, amputations, burning alive and even bulldozing. Let's go to Istanbul. Our senior international correspondent there, Arwa Damon. And Arwa, before we get to the news of this I don't know the word is this report. You have this incredible information about the salaries of ISIS fighters. [Arwa Damon, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Right. And that is according to a document that was allegedly leaked to one of the activist groups called Aleppo 24. And according to this document, ISIS has, and I'm reading straight from it, decided to slash these salaries because of the exceptional circumstances experienced by the Islamic State saying no one will be excluded from this decision no matter what their rank. Another piece of information too, which is also very interesting, is that especially in Raqqah, ISIS is going to be controlling trying to control the level of power that is being consumed. Perhaps this is an indication of the pressure that they are feeling. But at the same time, ISIS does remain a very formidable enemy, as is detailed in this United Nations report. If we just look at the sheer scale of the numbers, 19,000 civilians killed in Iraq in less than two years. Much of that violence attributed to ISIS, yes. But this is also part of the violence that Iraqis themselves have been experiencing for quite some time now. When you were speaking there about those women and young girls that have been enslave d by ISIS, well, the vast majority of them are from the yasidi community and they were captured when ISIS swept into Mount Sinjar around a year and a half ago. Some people did manage to escape and many of us have spoken to them over the last year and a half. And they tell stories that literally just make your hair raise about how ISIS would line them up and fighters would choose which girl they wanted to take, how many of them were under age, forced into these marriages, effectively raped on a regular basis. And the ones that were able to flee despite having lived through this, they are the lucky ones. Imagine the 3,500 that still remain this their captivity. And also, highlighted in had this report is that the report has managed to verify claims that some 800-900 children, children have been abducted by ISIS in the city of Mosul and they are being forced into religious indoctrination, forced in to military training and various commanders that CNN has been speaking to that have been on the front lines in the fight against ISIS are saying that yes, they are coming across child fighters. [Baldwin:] Awful. It's awful. But we have to talk about it. We have to cover it. Arwa Damon, thank you so much. All right, to this. All this week we CNN anchor types are thrilled to be sharing our stories about the person who changed our lives. And today, it's my turn. He is my oldest friend. We go back to this awkward teenage years at the seventh grade. He is currently now famous for the bear hug with the president at the time when he graduated of the U.S. naval academy. We hang out. We went way back to our roots in Atlanta. I just can't wait to introduce you to this guy. Rashad Jones, yes, it is an old school pictures, coming at you, next. [Costello:] Today marks five years since US Navy SEALS killed Osama Bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan. And in a CNN exclusive, "We Got Him," airing tonight on AC 360, President Obama and key members of his inner circle talk to Peter Bergen about the raid that took down the 9- 11 mastermind. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] On decisions like this you're leaning in a certain direction. I had been inclined to take the shot fairly early on, in the discussions. But you hold back the decision until you have to make it. And in the end, what I very much appreciated was the degree to which we had an honest debate. One of the lessons I drew from that was that good process leads to good results. I could honestly say, by the time that I made the decision, that everybody had had their say. That we had all the information that we were going to be able to get. We had not looked at it through rose colored glasses. We knew the risks involved. We had prepared as well as we could. And it was in that way, emblematic of presidential decision making, you're always working with probabilities. And you make a decision, not based on 100 percent certainty, but with the best information that you've got. [Costello:] CNN National Security Analyst, Peter Bergen is with me now. The most amazing part is you were in the situation you were in the room where they were watching that video monitor... [Peter Bergen, Cnn National Security Analyst:] Yes. [Costello:] ... when the raid going down. What was that like? [Bergen:] Well President Obama came in the room and said this is the first time that he'd done something like this, sit down with a reporter in the situation room. And it's interesting that the situation room's really complex. So this famous iconic picture is actually not the real situation room, it's a smaller office off the side. But he kind of walked us through it. You know, the main situation room where they have the final meeting about whether to go or not. He got conflicting advice that could redates. Vice President Biden said, you know, urged caution. We learned from the President in this interview that he was leading towards doing the raid early on. Then we went into the smaller room where that iconic photograph was taken and he kind of walked us through what it was like. And obviously, he knew yeah [Costello:] Just looking at the President's face in that picture... [Bergen:] Yes. [Costello:] Did you ask him what was going through his mind at that moment, when he decided to say, "go for it." [Bergen:] You know, I mean, I think he that's a lonely place to be, right? Because in our system, Commander In Chief is, you know, it's not a group decision. And he, I think he he's a very careful guy. He weighed the pros and cons. He thought this was he was worried that the clock was running. I mean, you know, might the information leak, might Bin Laden leave? These were very real and accurate concerns. [Costello:] Hillary Clinton, she was also in the room, and since she is running for President, was she on the side of, "go for it?" [Bergen:] She was on the side for "go for it," as she tells us in the special that will air tonight. [Costello:] And were her reasons the same as President Obama's, or did they have differing opinions? [Bergen:] Well I think she would have come to the same conclusion. Don't forget she was Senator in New York, here on 9-11. She visited the World Trade Center the day after. For her, it was a very visceral, emotional thing. And she's tended to take hawkish positions in this administration. And she thought this was the right thing to do. [Costello:] You say highly emotional. I would think it would be very difficult to put your emotions aside and make this kind of decision when you're not a military person. [Bergen:] Well they had great faith in Admiral McRaven, who we interview at length in the special. He's a commander of Joint Special Operations Command. He came back to them, said, "look, we've rehearsed for three weeks. We can do this." So there wasn't a concern from a military point of view that this they thought that it would probably work out. The real concern was we're going into a country that we're normally allied with. It's you know, we're not informing them. SEALS could get we could get in a fire fight with the Pakistanis, with the Pakistani army, had a major facility around the corner, pretty much, from where Bin Laden lived. That was the concern. [Costello:] Well so, just quickly. After it was all over and the raid proved successful, did they all cheer? [Bergen:] No, there were no high-fives, there were no this is, it was a very serious I mean, they were, they were still worried about getting the guys out, really making sure it was Bin Laden who was dead. [Costello:] And that helicopter, yes, I know, that backed out. Peter Bergen, thank you so much... [Bergen:] Thank you, thank you. [Costello:] ... I can't wait to see the special. Peter's special, by the way, "We Got Him." President Obama, Bin Laden, and the Future of the War on Terror," airs tonight, 8:00 p.m. Eastern, only on CNN. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Carol Costello, AT THIS HOUR with Berman and Bolduan starts after a break. [Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President Of Turkey:] Hopefully once the polls are closed and votes are counted, Turkey will march toward the future by making the expected choice. I believe that my people have common sense and they will put the campaign that was carried out so far and walk to the future with common sense. [Kemal Kilcclaroglu, Ch Party Leader:] We led an extremely good campaign process. We embraced all our citizens. We did not deny anyone. We are voting for the fate of Turkey today. All our citizens will attend the ballot boxes and the responsible way to cast their votes. [Robyn Kriel:] Hello and welcome to a special hour of Connect the World. I'm Robin Kriel in Atlanta. Becky Anderson is standing by in Ankara, Turkey. But we are having problems reaching her. We will try to get her just as quickly as possible to follow the erupting story really in Turkey. It is past 6:00 in the evening in Turkey and the sun is slowly starting to head off. It could come to rise over a new Turkey tomorrow. We are just a few hours away from finding out if the millions of people who took part in today's historic vote chose to radically change the way the country is run, yanking powers away from parliament and handing vast new ones to this man, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who cast his vote in Istanbul earlier. Now, who runs this country and the way they get to do it matters to all of us, because Turkey is a big, global player in a lot of ways. Just before tonight's show, Becky Anderson went out to the streets of Ankara to see what all that could mean. [Becky Anderson, Cnn International Correspondent:] This is the AK Party headquarters, the seat of power of the ruling party that was co-founded by President Erdogan. You can see the big campaign banners. Now, up until now the president of the country couldn't officially be a member of a party, but that will change if the vote is for yes in this referendum meaning that President Erdogan can rejoin the party that he once co- founded. You can see the media setting up and getting ready here as well because this will be where the AK Party will hold its rally if it were to win Sunday's vote. A couple of blocks away and a less animated scene, perhaps that the headquarters of the CHP, the opposition party pushing no in this referendum. This is one of the thousands of polling stations across the country, this one set up at a primary school in downtown Ankara. Let's go and find out what's going on inside. In Turkey you can only vote in the city that you are resident of, so you have to be registered and your name needs to be on the voter's list. So bring their IDs and have their names checked before getting handed the piece of paper. Ivet for yes, Hair for no. You then go into the booths and stamp your preference before dropping it into the box. And have a look at this, this is the presidential palace behind me which you can see from across town. An imposing building, and what goes on there could forever change depending on the results of this referendum. [Kriel:] That's Becky Anderson from Ankara, the view in Ankara. A few hundred meters away is whtat's by far and away this country's largest city, that is Istanbul in Turkey. About one out every five Turks live there and part of that mix right now is CNN's Ian Lee. Hi, Ian. Obviously you can't speculate on the results, but what have you been seeing today? [Ian Lee, Cnn International Correspondent:] Hi, Robyn. We've been making it to polling stations across the city, three. And we were able to talk to a number of people. We saw a steady flow going in there and the one thing that everyone had in common was a strong opinion, whether it was yes or whether it was no. Those who said yes believe that a stronger president would provide a better economic opportunity, a stronger economy and also more security for this country. Erdogan for them is seen as a father figure, but those who are saying no believe that this is a slippery slope to a more authoritarianism. One woman I spoke with said that she believes that this is just years in the making. Another man said that this does not provide the multi-party, the checks and balances that he would want to see in a government. And so there are these strong opinions either way. But it does look like they're going out, they want their voices heard and whatever will happen we will find out later this evening. [Kriel:] Ian, given the military, and the attempted military coup in July of last year and the numerous terror attacks in Istanbul and Ankara, what is security like today? [Lee:] Security has been ramped up across the country for this referendum. Hundreds of thousands of security personnel were at polling stations all over for this referendum. When we went to one polling station you could see them very visibly, three, four police officers there to make sure everything went smoothly. There were reports of some violence down in the southern part of the country at a polling station, not sure if that was related to the referendum or if that was some other reason for that to happen. By and large, though, it seems like everything has gone fairly smoothly. Now, in the lead up to this referendum according to state media, dozens of people are suspected to be members of ISIS or were arrested. State media saying they were planning to do something on the day of the referendum, Robyn. [Kriel:] And Ian, what does the referendum mean to the country? Particularly where you are in Istanbul? [Lee:] That's a fundamental shift if this vote goes yes because you move, you shift the government from being a parliamentary system to a presidential system where the president is the executive. They would get rid of the prime minister. More power would lie with the president when it comes to the judiciary as well as the parliament, because he would be able to be a member of the party, thus, the head of the party and in Turkey's parliamentary system it's a list system, so the head of the party chooses who is on that list. So it would, some have said, that in this new system, if it does pass, the parliament would be more loyal to the president than the constituents, and that's been one of the criticisms that we've been hearing. [Kriel:] All right. Thank you so much, Ian Lee, live in Istanbul for us. We turn now to a new show of defiance by North Korea. The U.S. and South Korea say that Pyongyang tried to test another missile. It blew up almost immediately. CNN's Will Ripley is one of the few western journalists inside North Korea reporting right now. He looks at what the government could do next. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] Just hours after rolling its growing missile arsenal through Kim il-Sung Square, the U.S. and South Korea says North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un tried to take things one step further. U.S. pacific command detected an attempted missile launch at the crack of dawn Sunday. The U.S. says the missile failed within seconds. It was fired from Simpo on North Korea's east coast, home of the nation's submarine base and the site of another failed missile launch last week just ahead of the meeting at Mar-a-Lago between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The U.S. defense secretary releasing a brief statement saying the president and his military team are aware of North Korea's unsuccessful missile launch. The president has no further comment. The North Korean leader apparently undeterred by mounting international pressure unveiling two never-before-seen intercontinental ballistic missiles at this military parade on Saturday. Analysts say these missiles are most likely mock-ups, but they believe North Korea is working towards the real thing. What should the world think when they see these ballistic missiles rolling by? Is North Korea a threat to the world? "The Korean People's Army is fully ready to attack our enemies at any moment," he says, "if they try to attack us." Despite escalating rhetoric and U.S. war ships and submarines headed for the Korean coast, the nation's Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un did not test a nuclear weapon Saturday as many predicted. "I think we've done something bigger than a nuclear test," this man says. "We've shown the world something much bigger." Analysts say Kim Jong-un could push the button on North Korea's sixth nuclear test at any time. He's already launched more missiles than his father and grandfather combined, and even missile failures help North Korean rocket scientists gain valuable intelligence. Also on display for Day of the Sun celebrations, North Korea's conventional arsenal tanks, artillery, weapons pointed directly at tens of millions of people in South Korea. Even if North Korea can't match the firepower of the U.S., experts say they have the potential to do a lot of damage and kill a lot of people. What do you want President Trump to know about the North Korean people? "I think President Trump should try to learn more about North Korea and its people," she says. "We are never afraid of the American nuclear threat. We have our own nuclear weapons to counter those threats." Weapons North Korea and its unpredictable leader put on full display promising they're not afraid to use them if provoked. Will Ripley, CNN, Pyongyang. [Kriel:] Here's what the U.S. is saying about the missile test. While visiting Afghanistan, National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster maintained the administration's line that all options are on the table in dealing with Pyongyang, although they prefer a diplomatic solution. And the U.S. vice president, who is in South Korea right now, called the test a provocation. Mike Pence says that America's commitment to Seoul is stronger than ever. CNN's Paula Hancocks is in the South Korean capital and she joins us now live with more on the U.S. vice president's visit. Paula, thank you for your time. What else did the vice president have to say during his address in church earlier? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Robyn, he did meet some of the troops here in South Korea, the U.S. troops. There are about 28,000-plus that are here at any given time, and he said that the United States appreciates what they are doing given the threat that they are under, talking about the provocation that we saw this Sunday morning as he called it from North Korea, that failed missile launch. And we know he will also be meeting with some of the South Korean politicians on Monday. He'll be meeting with the acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn, and also the national security adviser, but of course he is going to be meeting with officials here in South Korea that aren't actually going to be in power within the a few weeks. It's a very tricky time for the vice president to actually be in South Korea. There's no actual president it's just an acting president that the former president Park Geun-hye was impeached and imprisoned over a corruption scandal and certainly it's difficult for many of the U.S. officials who have come over here to say too much because, of course, they're meeting, as I say, the acting president is not going to be in power in a few weeks. But what the South Koreans want is they want the U.S. to confirm the alliance, to reconfirm that they are standing side by side with South Korea. They want to make sure that they have that full commitment Robyn. [Kriel:] Commitment more like the vice president visiting. You've been covering South Korea for years now, Paula. You've seen this ramp up of tensions before. Warships being moved into the region, missiles being launched. What's different this time? [Hancocks:] Well, from the North Korean point of view, there's not a huge amount that's different. We have seen in recent years a huge amount of testing, more certainly in 2016, more frantic testing than we have ever seen in North Korea's history. Kim Jong-un certainly seems to be in a rush to perfect his nuclear missile capability. He's been very clear about that. He has said that this is his intention and he's been saying that consistently for some years. I think what's different now, certainly, for many people in the region, is a new U.S. president suspect is there going to be a different approach as the U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson promised there would be when he was here a matter of weeks ago and certainly we're seeing some uncertainty as to what exactly the North Korean policy is going to be. As you said, as the National Security Adviser McMaster said that all options are on the table. There is a more open discussion now about a potential preemptive strike on North Korea. Now, whether or not this is a strategic ploy by the United States, it is not clear, but it does raise tensions. It does raise concerns that there could be this unknown entity which really during the Obama administration was barely mentioned. [Kriel:] All right, thank you so much. Paula Hancocks, keeping an eye on the Korean peninsula for us today. Well, still to come, Turkey's involvement in Syria and its support for any Raqqa offensive will clearly be influenced by result of the historic referendum. We'll have more analysis on this later, and including the crucial role that Turkey's diaspora could play in this vote. [Cabrera:] Checking top stories. A deadly day at a Michigan courthouse. Officials say an inmate, Larry Gordon, was able to grab a deputy's gun. Then he shot and killed two bailiffs. He continued shooting, hitting a deputy and a woman. Then he even took some hostages. He eventually was shot and killed himself by additional officers who were there at the courthouse. Now, the lawyer for the Minnesota police officer who shot Philando Castile says there is more to the story than is being told. Lawyer Thomas Kelly says Castile wasn't just stopped for a broken taillight. He actually matched the description of an armed robbery suspect and that was a big part of this encounter. Now, Castile was shot last week and killed during a traffic stop. His fiance streamed the aftermath of the shooting on FaceBook live. We'll hear from Castile's family in just over an hour from now. Stay with us for that. And we also we've learned they've hired TV Judge Linda Hatchet as their legal counsel. Meantime in Louisiana, a new twist in the investigation into Alton Sterling's death. The East Baton Rouge district attorney has recused himself from the case citing a possible conflict of interest. We're also learning more about the store owner, whose surveillance camera is the one that captured all this on camera. CNN's Boris Sanchez is joining us live in Baton Rouge. And, Boris, that store owner has now filed a lawsuit against police. [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right, Ana. That lawsuit some very serious allegations in that lawsuit. I'll get to that in a moment. But you mention the East Baton Rouge district attorney, Hillar Moore, recusing himself from the case, essentially saying that he's simply too close to a family of one of the officers involved in the shooting, Blane Salamoni. He says that he and Salamoni's mom have gone over more than 400 homicide cases together and that Salamoni's father is part of the security detail charged with making sure that the district attorney is safe. So in order to avoid any public perception that perhaps he was partial in this case, he's simply stepping aside for this one. It's something he said that he warned officials very early on that was a possibility, that he would recuse himself. The other big thing that's making news is that security footage from the Triple S Mart where Alton Sterling was killed. Calls growing louder and louder for that footage to be released. And it's now central to that lawsuit filed by the owner of the mart, Abdullah Muflahi. He says that police illegally confiscated that security footage and his cell phone, both without a warrant, shortly after the arrest. He also says he was held for six hours, four of those in the back of a police car, without being able to call either his family or an attorney, obviously, which is a legal right here. Aside from that, we called the Baton Rouge Police Department to ask them about this lawsuit. They tell us they do not comment on pending litigation, although they did tell us that the security footage that they collected from the mart has been handed over to the Department of Justice, Ana. [Cabrera:] All right, Boris Sanchez, thank you, from Baton Rouge. Now on Wednesday, a special CNN town hall. Stay with us because these recent police shootings have the nation on edge. We're going to talk about what's really going on. Why are police and civilians in the line of fire? "Black, White and Blue; America in 2016." This is a CNN town hall hosted by Don Lemon. And, again, it's Wednesday night at 10:00 p.m. Eastern make sure you set your DVR if you can't watch us live only on CNN. Still to come, a rare move by a Supreme Court justice, trash talking a presidential candidate. Why some critics say Ruth Bader Ginsburg crossed an important line. [Don Lemon, Cnn News Anchor:] You know what's a great way to celebrate being elected President of the United States? Road trip. This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Donald Trump kicks off what he is calling his "Thank You Tour" in Cincinnati. [Donald Trump, President-elect Of United States:] We spend too much time focusing on what divides us. Now is the time to embrace the one thing that truly unites us. You know what that is? America. America. It's America. [Lemon:] Meanwhile, questions swirling about the incoming first family, particularly Ivanka Trump. Is she a good role model for girls and young women? We'll discuss all of that this evening. But I want to bring in Jim Acosta in Cincinnati. Jim? [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Don, true to form, Donald Trump did not pull any punches at this rally here in Cincinnati. And the equivalent of an election touch down dance, Trump railed against the news media and vowed to repeal and replace Obamacare and build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. But the big news of the night came when he announced his pick for defense secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis. Here's how Trump put it to the crowd here in Cincinnati. [Trump:] We have a great, great cabinet. I'll tell you. It's coming and wait till you see what we have next week. Are we doing a good job with our cabinet and our people? And I don't want to tell you, I don't want to tell you this because I want to save the suspense for next week. So I will not tell you. I refuse to tell you. Don't let it outside of this room. Do you promise? Raise your hand? Promise. So I will not tell you that one of our great, great generals, don't let it outside, right? And, of course, the press is very honest. So I'll never let this go. We are going to appoint "mad dog" Mattis as our secretary of defense. They say he's the closest thing to General George Patton that we have, and it's about time. It's about time. [Acosta:] Trump made that announcement despite the fact that earlier in the evening his own transition spokesman Jason Miller took to Twitter to deny that any decision had been made on secretary of defense. Trump has more stops on this so-called "Thank You Tour" planned for next week. Don? [Lemon:] All right. Jim Acosta, thank you. Here to discuss all of this, CNN Politics Executive Editor Mark Preston, CNN Political Analyst Kirsten Powers and Political Commentator David Swerdlick. That was kind of like a "Oops", right, for that announcement. But first, before we get to that, Mark, we have never seen a president-elect hold a thank you rally before. What's your reaction to the speech? [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Look, I don't think it was necessarily a thank you rally as it was a "Guess what, I won the rally." [Lemon:] He did say, "Thank you, America," right? [Preston:] Yes. Well, he did say thank you, America, but he went out and he definitely rubbed the nose in the dirt a little bit. But he did win. You know, and this has been the way he has run his campaign and certainly has been running his transition. And that's fine. I think that it's okay that he did it. Give him props for winning. I wouldn't suggest going forward that he would continue to carry this tone going forward. I think he did try tonight to be conciliatory but probably not the best strategic thing to do. [Lemon:] Kirsten. [Kirsten Powers, Cnn Political Analyst:] Yes. I'm in the same place. I think that I mean this was sort of flashback to the election. Clearly there has bee no pivot yet. And so we're sill seeing the same Donald Trump sort of doing his entertainments and getting his energy off of the crowds and taking things with the media, which, you know, I said in the last hour I think we deserve. And I don't know if you agree with that, Don. But I think the media did, you know at a bare minimum, he had to listen to us say that he was not going to win that he was never going to break through the blue wall and industrial Midwest and things like that. And he did ultimately win. And so if he wants to attack the media a little bit, we can handle it. [Lemon:] What do you think, David? [David Swerdlick, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think Mark's right that there was a slight aspect of, you know, how do you like me now, I won, type element to this. But on the other hand, I think there's a lesson to be learned. Maybe a little lesson to be learned from democrats and that's that you have to maintain eye contact with and keep the faith with the voters that brought you into office. I think democrats lost a little sight of that over the last number of cycles and that hurt them. [Lemon:] Yes. [Powers:] Yes. [Lemon:] I want to get all of your reactions to general James Mattis, his choice for secretary of defense. And again, he surprised everyone at this rally making that announcement when one of hl spokespeople said like two hours before, was it Jason Miller? [Preston:] Yes. That is, you know, the de facto decision had been made. And clearly a decision had been made. And, you know, but Trump put his spokesman in a very bad spot. But Trump should be lauded for this pick. Mattis is a soldier's general, somebody who is known as mad dog, you know, clearly for his military acumen and his desire to win, but also very learned, very smart, somebody who talks about the need to read and understand history and is a really a big proponent of that. He has spent the last three years out at Stanford at the Hoover Institution. I just think it's a smart pick for... [Lemon:] No. [Preston:] Having said that, he needs to get through a senate confirmation and get a waiver, but because he hasn't been out of the military for seven years. [Lemon:] I think it's interesting that, you know, everyone is going, "Why this guy?" You know, no ones I mean everyone people are not saying. The media is not saying that. People are not, you know, questioning why he picked this person. [Powers:] Right. Well, I think he's very respected. That's true. I mean he's considered sort of a warrior scholar. But there is an issue of putting somebody who's in the military in charge of the defense department, you know, that you don't have any civilian leadership over the military. And so that should be I think maybe getting a little more attention and then you have general Flynn running the, you know, retired General Flynn, running the national security apparatus in the white house. And so that to me is a little concerning and we need to look at it a little more. [Lemon:] What do you think, David? [Swerdlick:] Like everybody is saying. He's a respected general. He's had one or two minor controversies about some of the language he's used to describe warfare. But I think the issue with General Mattis as with General Flynn, as with whoever becomes the secretary of state is ultimately less about the resume of these individuals and about whether or not down the road when some hard decisions have to be made, whether or not they're going to still be on the same page with President Trump when it comes to things like whether we're going to stick with the Iran deal or how we're going to approach Russia. Policy is going to wind up being an issue and how everyone reacts to world events in realtime as we get into the Trump administration. [Preston:] You know, Don, to that point, Mattis is body who is not on the same page or in past his remarks have not been on the same page regarding Russia as we've seen from Trump himself. So it will be interesting to see what he's going to say. But Mattis also is not on the same page when it cops to the issue of torture. You know, when he sat down with Trump and Trump said, "What do you think of water boarding?" And Mattis said, "Give me a pack of beers and a pack of cigarettes so that I can get a lot more done." [Powers:] Yes. [Lemon:] Yes. [Preston:] I mean, that's a guy's kind of guy, a woman's kind of guy, like a military kind of guy. So you know, but here's to Kirsten's point there could potentially be up to five flag officers and Mike Pompeo who has never won at West Point serving in the Trump cabinet. That's a lot of the military folks. [Lemon:] Yes. [Powers:] Yes. I mean to me that's the thing that we just need to be looking at more and sort of asking Trump what is this attraction you have to all of these retired military people in your administration, because it's highly unusual. And also in particular with I think the department of defense which is supposed to be under, you know, civilian control. I mean he's Mattis is going to have get a waiver in order to get this job because you have to be I think ten years out. Isn't it? [Preston:] Seven. [Powers:] Oh, seven years. OK. Seven years out from serving. And so, you know, there's a reason that we do things this way. [Lemon:] What's your concern now at military states? So what's your concern? [Powers:] Well, the concern is that you have too much of, you know, a military perspective and not people who are looking at it from a nonmilitary perspective. I mean clearly the president will be, but I think that you want to have people who have a different way of looking at things. [Lemon:] Let's talk about unity, because Donald Trump spoke about the importance of it. [BEGIN VIDEO CLIP [Trump:] I've spoken to democrats and I said to them, look, we can't go on with the gridlock. It's gone on for so many years. It's gone on for so many years. They can't get together. We're going to get together. And I believe they want to get together. You know why? Because it's time and the people are angry. And they're going to get together. We're going to make joint decisions. We are and the nice part our victory was so great. We have the house. We have the senate. And we have the presidency. [Lemon:] David, this really was the first time that Donald Trump spoke as president-elect, not only to his supporters but also to more than the 2.3 million people who voted for Hillary Clinton. Did he win over anyone who didn't support him? [Swerdlick:] I'm not sure that he did, Don. There was nothing wrong with what he said there in that clip that you played. But I think that given how divisive the campaign was over the course of a year and a half, the us versus them tone of the Trump campaign day after day, there is an opportunity here that I think he could take and probably should take in the transition to give a speech not exactly like but similar to the more perfect union speech that a president or then Senator Obama gave in 2008 that really outlined his views on race in America. Trump doesn't necessarily have to give a strictly race speech but a speech that really speaks to people in the country who worry about his presidency who didn't support him and want to know. If he's going to appoint people to the Supreme Court who might potentially vote to roll back same-sex marriage, what would he do that? People of color, Muslims, other folks want to understand why his campaign was run in the w it was run and he has an opportunity during the transition or shortly after he's elected to do that. But eventually he's going to wind up. If he doesn't do something like that, he's going to wind up in a situation where folks may have a closed mind to what he's proposing. [Lemon:] And Kirsten, then there's your reaction to Trump supporters is to say, oh, you know, whining, you know, the liberals are clutching their pearls and they're upset because of Hillary Clinton. That's not exactly the full story, though, considering what happened. Or is... [Powers:] No. Look, I think there's a lot of us who are trying to understand the Trump voter. But there's not a lot of people on the Trump side that seemed to be understanding why other people might have different feelings... [Lemon:] Yes. [Powers:] ... and have really legitimate grievances with him. And so it would be nice if they would you know I mean I have to say, I don't think they're the most gracious winners, frankly, you know. And that they could stand to maybe at some point maybe it doesn't have to be at this minute but really look at them and consider that there are legitimate grievances. These are not people who are whining. There are real problems about things that were said, there are real concerns about Steve Bannon, for example, that need to be addressed. And you know, if he is interested in unifying then he needs to do that. If he's not interested in unifying and he just wants to shore up his base which he may decide that's what he wants to do and he just wants to keep his, you know, people fired up. But if he's going to say he wants to unify, then he's going to have take a different tack. [Preston:] I don't think it's that hard. I really don't. I mean I think that at some point to David, what David is saying, I think going out and giving a speech and talking about unifying and leaving out all these other little extra things that kind of cloud what the message that he may have been trying to deliver tonight. If he does try to stay with his base, that's going to be a losing strategy. I mean it will be a losing strategy. At some point, he's going to sacrifice some of his base in order to get things done in Washington. And quite frankly, he's going to need democrats. He doesn't have allies. Republicans aren't necessarily the allies of Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. But look, when he says he wants to get things done, I mean I take him at his word. I think we all should take him at his word. And he wants to get some things done. But the fact that matter is we are government's setup is that some of the things he wants to get done, democrats will try and stop and quite frankly they'll be successful in doing so. [Lemon:] Here's what Donald Trump said earlier on Fox tonight. [Trump:] Made some great selections and actually more than a few, but it's been really a well-oiled machine. We're doing well. We're getting fantastic people and actually getting very good reviews. People are respecting the process and what we've done. [Sean Hannity, Fox News Anchor:] Since you've been elected, some people have had a hard time dealing with it and poor kids on college campuses have their professors giving them cocoa and aromatherapy and pep therapy and coloring books and Play-Doh. They're apparently upset they couldn't deal with it. Anything you'd like to say to them that reassure there're sensitive feelings that it will be okay? [Trump:] I think they're going to be very happy. I think we're going to have a very safe, country, a very prosperous country. We're going to do things that are going to create jobs for their parents in many cases where their parents are going to be able to do a lot better, although most of their parents voted for me. So I think they don't have the problem. But we're going to have a very prosperous and safe country. [Lemon:] So the question that was the wrong that is exactly what should not be done. But his response was actually very good. [Preston:] His response is very good. That is a leading question. [Lemon:] It was a stupid thing to say. [Preston:] It was a stupid thing to say. And yes, we did see some of that afterwards, which by the way... [Lemon:] Right. [Preston:] ... was stupid afterwards, you know, following the election where some kids we're saying I can't take my exams. But that's what's wrong with the division in America right now. Where those are statements, they're not questions by journalist. And quite frankly, if we're going to come together as a nation then everyone is going to have to give a little bit. [Lemon:] And that's to your point to what you said that there are some very real, you know, feelings and as you said, you're going to win. You always say be a gracious winner, right? [Powers:] Right. Yes. Right. Which like I said, I don't think we're necessarily seeing a lot of that. I will give a little. [Lemon:] His response was very gracious I do think. [Powers:] He was very gracious there and he could have really gone to tell that. And particularly because what Sean Hannity was sort of talking about was political correctness... [Lemon:] Right. [Powers:] ... which is Donald Trump's favorite thing to talk about. So he wanted to. He could have really piled on there. [Lemon:] Yes. David, do you want to weigh in on this? [Swerdlick:] Just simply to say that, look, there's a kernel of truth to the point Hannity was making about democrats or non-Trump voters needing to sort of get their heads around the idea that Trump came out on top. But to Kirsten's early earlier point, you know, being dismissive, the way Hannity was being dismissive of folks that are genuinely concerned, genuinely have anxiety about the Trump administration, it's not helpful. And, you know, it's not just to me bad loserism or bad winnerism. There's something about it that is hypocritical. There was a ton of complaining on the part of conservatives and republicans in the early years or really throughout the Obama administration. So, you know, a little self-reflection I think is worth it on both sides. [Lemon:] David, I want to talk about what happened at Harvard University panel where... [Swerdlick:] Sure. [Lemon:] ... top Trump and Hillary Clinton advisors met. And one heated exchange, Clinton Advisor Jennifer Palmieri accused Trump of pedaling racism by providing a platform for white supremacists by hiring Steve Bannon. What's your reaction? [Swerdlick:] So, you know, we've talked a lot about Steve Bannon. I'm still in this position where I might look, I think it is very fair to say that Breitbart, his website traffics in anti-Semitic stereotypies, traffics in stereotypes about people of color, Bannon has been a divisive figure, you know, whether Bannon himself holds these views, I think it's still sort of up for debate. And I'm trying to reach into it as much as I can. To Jennifer Palmieri's point, look, they have a point that the Trump campaign was very divisive and I think some of the responses that were reported out by Kellyanne Conway, for instance in that same Harvard forum, that democrats didn't do a great job of messaging also as a point. And, you know, you could go back and forth on this endlessly. Democrats need a shake-up bill. Whatever they're saying now, they need to move forward and think about 2018 and 2020. [Lemon:] Time to move on. [Powers:] Yeah. [Lemon:] You think, right? [Swerdlick:] Well beyond. [Lemon:] Yes. Do you think the Clinton campaign is still in denial? [Powers:] Yes, they're definitely in denial. And I think if you read about what happened there, they're totally in denial. Because that's a piece of it, what Jennifer Palmieri is talking about, that there's a much bigger problems. And as much as I think democrats would like to make themselves feel better and say the only reason he won was because of racism. It's just not true. You know, a lot of these voters are people not a lot but a certain number of voters were people who voted for Hillary before. You know, these are people, you have union people. So democrats have to look at this and say, "What happened? How did we use to dominating the states? How did this used to be our voters?" And now, you know, we have you Bill Clinton arguing we need to go there and Robby Mook is saying we'll never get to voters again. What happened? We need to understand that. And I think if you just constantly yelling racism, it's not going to get to the bottom of the problem. [Lemon:] One thing, though. I think that, you know, you're right on that, but it's not just democrats. There's also some republicans, some people who were anti-Trump who feel... [Powers:] Right. [Lemon:] ... the racism thing as well played a big role. [Powers:] Yes. [Lemon:] And that you said it's not entirely it, but it did ay a role. [Power:] Right. It played a role. But I don't think. Here's the question. What if had been Joe Biden? I think Joe Biden very well could have beaten Donald Trump. So there's something about Hillary Clinton's candidacy and something about how they ran the campaign that also plays into this. [Lemon:] Exactly. Yes. All right. Thank you. Another fascinating conversation. Thank you guys. When we come back, will Ivanka Trump have a role in her father's White House? And is she a role model for girls and young women? [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] They took in large numbers. They're having problems like they never thought possible. [Chris Cuomo, Cnn:] Is that true? A question many are asking following President Trump's suggestion that a non-existent attack may have occurred in the Scandinavian country. The president now says he was referencing something that he saw on T.V., a "FOX NEWS" segment about an alleged migrant-related problem with crime in Sweden. Let's get the facts. We've got Azita Raji, the former U.S. ambassador to Sweden. You are in San Francisco. It is early there. Thank you for getting up, but I know that that is a demonstration of the importance that you feel this question surrounds. So, let's talk fact. Refugees came in. Sweden's been letting in more migrants per capita than just about anybody in the world and, as a result, their crime rate has skyrocketed. Is that true? [Azita Raji, Former U.s. Ambassador To Sweden:] It's partly true. The crime rate has not skyrocketed and Sweden has taken a large number of refugees, as you pointed out. However, it's also important to point out that Sweden has been, historically, a very diverse country very much like our own and it's these population this population has been very well integrated and has led to the high-ranking and innovation that both the Sweden Sweden and the United States have. So, when you look at the link between crime and immigration it has been disputed many times. There is no link, in fact. There was a study that just came out by from the University of Buffalo that showed data from census data and crime reports. In 40 over 40 years from 200 cities that, in fact, showed absolutely no link between immigration patterns and crime. So, I think that when we talk about these immigration patterns we need to use the facts that are available. There's absolutely no data to support that. [Cuomo:] Well, it is a fact that Sweden has as many or more rape reports than any country, let alone in Scandinavia or even in greater Europe, so how do you account for that? [Raji:] Well, I'm going to let the Swedes and the Swedish government speak to that, but my understanding is that, as you pointed out, there are rape reports. That is because people are encouraged to come forward to file if there is an incident. But again, that has nothing to do with immigrants. I'm not saying that immigrants don't commit crimes. Some do and some don't, but there is absolutely no correlation. In fact, the study that just came out showed that in communities that have a higher rate of immigration migrants that actually some crimes are at a lower reported at a lower rate. That take place at a lower rate, rather. [Cuomo:] And there is a factual corollary that the victims of these allegations also wind up being within the same class of migrants or refugees, meaning that the crimes they commit, they usually commit against their own. That's not unusual for any population. But, we still wind up in the same situation. You were the U.S. ambassador to Sweden. In the U.S. there is fear. We don't want the problems here that we see everywhere else in the world and that's why the president's suggestion, while maybe counterfactual or also known as wrong, does stoke the fear here. And people say I don't care if it's just one case, Azita, I don't want it here. What do you say to them? [Raji:] Chris, you're absolutely right and fear is the keyword. We don't want to have policies that are based on fear. There's absolutely no evidence that supports that what you just stated. And we want to have evidence-based policies that are based on claims that are that are substantiated. And you know, I'll give you one example. Over the last three years, Sweden has taken about 200,000 people. This is in a country with a population of 10 million. If, proportionately, we took the same number of people in this country that's about six or eight million people. Based on that we should be reporting terrorist attacks in Sweden every week. You see no such thing. Sweden is one of the most safe and prosperous countries. They are ranking last year they were the second most innovative country in the world. Actually, we were number three or number four, according to a global innovation index. And there's just if we want crime happens because there is a lack of opportunity. This country is based on immigrants, it's based on opportunity. And when you have communities where there's no education, a lack of opportunity, a lack of access to the labor market, then maybe the rational choice might be for some people to resort to crime. But I'm not I don't think that there's a correlation between that and immigrants. [Cuomo:] The [Raji:] It's not substantiated anywhere. [Cuomo:] The person who decides to dig into this a little bit will learn that Sweden did have to change its policy of how many it absorbs and there is an implication there that they were getting overwhelmed there. That the needs of the community and the social services and the safety concerns made them change their policy and take less. What do you say about that? [Raji:] Well, to be sure, when you take such a large number of people at a very in a short period of time that presents a great deal of challenges and challenges in terms of where to house them, how to educate the children, and so forth, and how to absorb and integrate that population. That is not to say that that is linked to a concern to crime. And I would also further say that that is a long that is a short- term challenge for any country, in this case for Sweden, but a long- term economic opportunity and it should be seen that way. These are people that have, in many cases, higher education degrees. They have talents. They have different stories innovative ways of looking at solutions at problems. And immigrants have to have a great deal of hope and courage and ambition to leave their countries to go to another country to be willing to start all over again. Those are the attributes of successful entrepreneurs and we have seen that in our own country where entrepreneurs are proportionately create businesses at a higher rate than our own citizens. [Cuomo:] All right. Azita Raji, I wanted to talk to you about what is right now because there's really no reason to believe that there's any true diplomatic strain over this. If that changes I'll bring you back on and we'll discuss what could be as a result of all this, but thanks for helping us clarify it. [Raji:] Thank you very much, Chris. [Cuomo:] Brooke [Brooke Baldwin, Cnn:] All right. So, how do you President Trump's supporters think he's doing? We're on day 32 now into the Trump administration. He went back on the campaign trail to get the base fired up again first, on Friday, then over the weekend in Florida. Is there anything he can do to shake their trust? That's next. [Harlow:] Welcome back. In the coming days, Roanoke, Virginia will lay to rest two of their own, a photographer at WDBJ television. His name is Adam Ward. He and reporter Alison Parker were out on a story Wednesday morning when their lives were cut tragically short by a gunman. The killings captured on live television left a nation stunned in horror and disbelief. Over the next few days, we saw Alison's father coming to the cameras, sometimes barely making it through an interview without breaking down. Alison's obituary, a ringing testament to the type of person she was reading in part, she loved her job and had such a bright future ahead in the field of journalism. She will be missed by everyone she touched and she lived life to the fullest in her short time on earth. Just this afternoon, in interfaith healing and memorial service was held to honor both of them. Colorful flowers have been placed with cards in front of their station WDBJ, cards offering condolences and sympathy, candles burning in honor of the fallen journalists. And it is to that end that I would like to dedicate the next 30 minutes of this show to Alison and Adam. I had the opportunity to sit down with Alison's parents earlier today. Her mother, Barbara, speaking to the national media for the first time. Here is the first part of our conversation. Thank you both so much for being with me today. [B. Parker:] You're very welcome. [Andy Parker, Alison Parker's Father:] Wish this were under different circumstances, but thank you. [Harlow:] We all do. Let me begin with you, Barbara. What is your favorite memory of Alison? [B. Parker:] Oh, there are so many. She came into the world lighting up the room that she that she walked into. And she was full of mischief. I remember one time that we thought we had her in a place that she couldn't do anything as a child, and I came in and she had found a red Magic Marker and drawn all over the coffee table in our living room and the carpet and the kitchen floor. But you couldn't be mad because this little golden girl smiling that she'd done this wonderful piece of art. And she's always been like that. She she was full of love and life, and she was a geek at heart. Which is the greatest compliment I can ever give anyone. [Harlow:] Barbara, tell me what is your last memory of Alison? Because I know it was just her birthday, and you had just taken this amazing family trip to literally her favorite place in the world. [B. Parker:] My last memory is on on Tuesday, I was at work. And she would always call after work on her drive home. She would call and she's always say, just checking in. And she said, "I'm so tired after that trip," because her schedule was so unusual. And on our vacation, we slept in and we laughed and we ate more than we should, and we had such a lovely time. And then she had to go back to the unusual schedule that she had. But she just she always had a smile, regardless. Regardless of the circumstance. And we I think that Alison and I had a very, very unique relationship. Unusual by any standards. If she was going shopping and she always said when I'd come up to Roanoke with her, she said, when you come up here, I end up spending money. Because we would go shopping for her wardrobe that she would wear. And I could tell her spot on what looked perfect on her and what was the right thing for her to wear and she knew it. And she respected that and would she always wanted me there when she was buying her clothes. [Harlow:] Tell me about her drive as a journalist. Because I think all of us in the business and everyone watching, it marvels at all she achieved by age 24. What drove her? [Andy Parker:] She just you know, I think that's just the way she came into this world. She everything that she did everything she touched, everything every activity that she picked up, she excelled at everything. I mean she you know, she wanted to be the best. I mean, she was just extremely competitive. And whatever she did and maybe she you know, maybe she got that from me, from dad. Because if I pick up a sport or if pick up an activity, and as we'll talk about later, you know, now with this mission, you know, I want to be the best. And I've always been that way. And it just sort of was instilled in her that, you know, you got at it. And you know, thankfully, she was just gifted, I mean, beyond belief [Barbara Parker:] She was. [Andy Parker:] She tutored calculus at James Madison University. And you know, how many journalism majors can tutor calculus? I mean, it was that kind of thing. I mean, she was an incredible athlete, she was an incredible whitewater kayaker. But she just was not satisfied with just, you know, doing something. She wanted to be the best. [B. Parker:] She wanted to be the best. And when she set out to do something, she meant that. She she wanted to be the best and never lose a race, never mess something up, she meant it. She wanted to be the best and never lose a race, never mess something up. She wanted everything she did to be perfect, and she was driven to do that. [Camerota:] We do have some breaking news for you right now because President Donald trump has just arrived at the Smithsonian National Museum of African-American History and Culture. It, of course, is Black History Month. Joe Johns is live at the White House to walk us through what we're seeing here. Joe, tell us about this visit. [Joe Johns, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Well, we have been told this morning that the president was to be accompanied at the museum with, among others, HUD secretary nominee Ben Carson, and his wife, Candy Carson, and we were given some other names, including Alveda King, who is the niece of the slain civil right leader Dr. Martin Luther King, as well as Senator Tim Scott. So a whole list of people there. We're told Ben Carson's family, including his grandkids, expected to be there also. This was a visit to the museum that was apparently set up by presidential aide, Omarosa Manigault, and apparently the second time trying. We're told it was penciled in on Donald Trump's schedule before he was inaugurated mid-January-ish and it was nixed, we're told, according to a source, by the Secret Service citing security concerns. So this is an opportunity for the president to get to this very popular attraction in Washington, D.C., that only opened back in September of last year to some fanfare. And since then it's taken in about a million visitors. And very hard to get a ticket. So the president and a group of African-American folks from here in Washington, D.C., all going to the museum. And don't know if we're going to hear from the president, but he's there. Back to you. [Cuomo:] All right, Joe. Let's bring in CNN political director David Chalian. Politically, what does the trip mean? What issues are supposed to be raised? Do we have any indication of how the White House wants to use this? [David Chalian, Cnn Political Director:] I you know, I don't think the White House is going to use this more than for the optics of the trip. As Joe mentioned, this was something, though, not fully confirmed on the schedule, was planned for mid-January pre- inauguration. So that did not happen. And getting this trip done during Black History Month, after his wife was there with Bibi Netanyahu's wife, is a good time for him to go and make this trip. Also to, as you know, he made comments last week in his press conference about his performance with the African-American community in the election, and pushing back on any charges that he is racist. He was pushing back against that accusation in the press conference last week. So having this trip here of the president going to this very popular new attraction in Washington during Black History Month to me seems they're just sort of optically moving through it. I don't think that we're going to necessarily hear from the president. [Camerota:] We just saw some video of when the first lady, Melania, visited there with Prime Minister Netanyahu's wife. And, again, as you say, I mean this museum, it took 13 years to build and create. So these are some of the first visitors. Well, it opened in September, but, still, first, obviously, high-profile visitors. It's always interesting, David, to hear how decisions are made at the White House and who has the president's ear, and this one was Omarosa. [Chalian:] Yes, who we know has been advising him throughout the campaign and now into the administration on outreach to the African- American community and others. She's a part of the communications and press staff now at the White House. You see her sometimes sitting along that side row of staffers when Sean Spicer gives his briefings in the press briefing room. And, listen, you guys know, nothing ends up on the president of the United States' schedule haphazardly or that isn't deemed important enough to be there. There are tons of request for the president's time. The fact that he's giving his time to make this trip and to obviously then bring all the accompaniments of the office along with him [Cuomo:] Right. [Chalian:] To see the trip, that's no small thing. [Cuomo:] Well, absolutely it is not small thing. And I hope that it's not just about the optics. There's so many issues that came up during the campaign, Joe, that still demands voice. You know, Chicago is not the sum total of all things that matter to African- Americans. And it is an opportunity for the president to use the trip to then make some statements about what he wants to see in his own agenda, and what he wants people to focus on in terms of priorities. I mean it could be used for a lot of different reasons, couldn't it? [Johns:] Absolutely that's true. And the president has talked a number of times about rebuilding the inner cities, which he has describes in some terms that some African-American leaders disagree with. So I think it's significant to see Ben Carson traveling over to the museum with him, even though Carson has yet to be confirmed by the Senate. He is one of the people who would lead the charge on some of the president's issues, including rebuilding the inner cities when he gets around to that. [Camerota:] As you guys are speaking, Chris and I are monitoring this feed from inside the museum. And it doesn't look like our camera is completely set up and ready to go. But we did just see Sean Spicer scurry by obviously on the way to either find the president or get into the right position. Yes. So, you know, we've been talking this morning about how the president decides what he's going to speak out about most vociferously, David. Obviously this past weekend there was bad news for Jewish community centers around the country. There was a spate of bomb scares, hoaxes called in there. And then Ivanka Trump, President Trump's daughter, who herself converted to Judaism, tweeted out just how important religious tolerance is and our faith centers. Do you think that we'll hear from the president responding to what we're seeing about the anti-Semitism across the country? [Chalian:] We may. I mean we did get a very strongly statement worded statement from his press secretary last night. We haven't heard the president himself in his own words quite that way. But Sean Spicer put out a statement last night that indicated where the president's thinking is on this. So it would not surprise me terribly if we do eventually hear from the president on this himself because what we have heard from him when he was questioned about it twice, two days in a row last week, he strangely did not issue a statement that was as forceful as his press secretary or his daughter issued last night. Instead, he sort of took at as personal umbrage, a personal upfront that he was being asked about this. in some ways suggesting that he was responsible sort of what his response was [Cuomo:] Right. [Chalian:] And talked about his election victory. But we may hear from him. And now, you know, Hillary Clinton tweeted, you guys put it up a little earlier. This is the first tweet since President Trump's been president that she has directly, specifically referenced the president and gone to the president with a suggestions. She's been supportive of the women's march, against the travel ban, but this is the first tweet since he's taken office where she basically says, step up, Mr. President. [Cuomo:] The president's walking in right now. We just saw his advance team. We're waiting for him to come into focus here. Let's see what we see. [Camerota:] We just saw here we go, photographers. We saw some of his Secret Service detail. But, again, everybody seems to be OK, so people are and there he is. There is the president now, along with Dr. Ben Carson behind him and [Cuomo:] His daughter, Ivanka, joins him here. As we [Camerota:] Omarosa. [Cuomo:] As we heard, the first lady was there with Bibi Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel's wife. She's not making this trip again. Omarosa is there. And they are getting a tour of the exhibits. Let's see if we can hear anything. [Unidentified Male:] Because I wanted people to realize that we can't understand Jefferson without understanding slavery. But even more importantly, we talk about slaves. I wanted to talk about Peter, Lucy, William, try to humanize everything. And so, for us, this whole museum is about humanizing stories of people that have been left out of history, and making sure that you don't think about migration, slavery. You think about the individual who lived their lives. And so, for us, this was an opportunity to tell these stories. And we have wonderful material from Jefferson, but also Right. You know Benjamin Bennett from this area. Absolutely. You know Some of the land that we live These are actual shackles. [Unidentified Female:] He made the conference, too. He made the conference. [Unidentified Male:] We also wanted to say, here are the [Donald Trump, President Of The United States:] Fantastic, right? [Unidentified Male:] You know, I come down here sometimes and just say their names, I was telling Mr. Trump [Cuomo:] All right, so we were listening to Lonnie Bunch. He's the director of the National Museum of African-American History and Culture. And then the man you just saw discussing the entire exhibit with the president is David Skorton, he's the secretary of the Smithsonian. Joe, it was interesting the way Lonnie was explaining what he wanted to communicate with these stories of slaves. He said he didn't want people to just think about the slave migration as numbers but individual people and their stories and their journey. [Johns:] Right. And just talking over the weekend with so many people who have been to the museum. I, in fact, tried to get passes just yet with my kids. It is a real experience that's described by many as sort of exhilaration going in, and a real sense of depth and almost sadness in places coming out. [Cuomo:] Joe Johns, appreciate it. David Chalian, thank you very much. [Camerota:] Yes. [Cuomo:] It will be interesting to see what the president takes away from this, and what he talks to the rest of us about, and the world. CNN "NEWSROOM" with Poppy Harlow is going to pick up right after the break. Thank you for spending your morning with us. [Camerota:] See you tomorrow. [Dan Pfeiffer, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think her ultimate goal in this debate is to lay out not just what she would do as president but why she's the right person. She needs to connect her very extensive policy experience and agenda with the larger mission of the campaign. If she can do that, I think this will be a successful debate for her. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Everyone watching basically knows Hillary Clinton but everyone watching does not necessarily know Senator Bernie Sanders. He's got a different mission tomorrow night. [Ana Navarro, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think he's introducing himself to the nation. Hillary Clinton has to talk policy and has got to get the policy right. She's known as a policy person. But she also has a likability issue. The biggest problem she's got right now is trustworthiness. She needs to be able to connect with the audience, not only in the room but also through the TV set, which is a totally different challenge. Bernie Sanders needs to prove that he is more than just a 74-year-old Socialist from Vermont. [Blitzer:] Should he attack her tomorrow night? Should he be sort of quiet about the differences that they have? What should be his strategy? [Van Jones, Cnn:] First of all, he's got to make a big switch. He's been doing 90-minute speeches in front of 20,000 fans. How do you go from 90-minute speeches to 90-second answers? That's tough for anybody. So he has got to make that switch, just realize I'm not in front of a bunch of adoring fans. I have got four people against me out there that I'm going to have to debate. We don't know if he can debate. Then he has to make a decision. Can he actually draw a contrast without looking like the designated Hillary hater who's going to hurt the front-runner? He's got a bunch of adjustments to make tomorrow night. We've got to see. [Blitzer:] He's a debater, trust me. I've known Bernie Sanders. He's not a shy guy. He can debate. And I sense if the going gets tough, he'll get tough. [Kevin Madden, Republican Strategist:] I think it's it will be less about him being tough and going after Hillary. I don't think that's probably what's going to score him many points in a Democratic debate. I think he has to take this stump speech, this populist stump speech and introduce it to, as Ana said, to a whole new bunch of voters that hadn't heard about him before, that don't live in Iowa or New Hampshire. This is a real chance for him to shine on that stage and offer what and I think, to Van's point, too, this implied contrast that what you have is inauthentic, unreliable, progressive in Hillary Clinton. And I am an answer to a lot of your dreams and aspirations that you have for the party on some of the big issues like taking on Wall Street, like changing the national security posture of the Democratic Party, so things like that. [Navarro:] I think that, unlike in the Republican Party, where we've had outsiders who have never debated on a stage like this before, all of these folks are seasoned veterans, seasoned politicians. Some of them are former senators. God knows all they do is debate. So I think we're going to see very seasoned debaters there. [Blitzer:] She was secretary of state for four years, Hillary Clinton. You think that when it comes to national security, foreign policy, international affairs, she might have an advantage. But Bernie Sanders, like Barack Obama eight years ago, is going after her pretty bluntly, pointing out she voted to go to war against Iraq. He opposed that decision, which he now says was a mistake on her part. [Pfeiffer:] I think Hillary Clinton is beyond just being secretary of state, she's a phenomenal debater. She was excellent in the 2 dozen debates we did in 2007, 2008. [Blitzer:] That's when you were working for the president. [Pfeiffer:] When we were working for President Obama. And what I think the challenge for her is going to be is to be able to not just give policy answers but latch those policies to a larger rationale of her candidacy. Foreign policy will be a challenging one because where she's broken with the president on more intervention in Syria is an unpopular position in the Democratic Party and probably in the country writ large. The only place where it would really work would be in the Republican primary. So that's a vulnerability for her. [Jones:] But I think that Hillary Clinton needs just one or two moments where she's just human. If she just we know she's going to just kill everybody on the policy points. She's taken a more hawkish position. She can defend herself on that. You have to find a moment where you just tell a story, where the rationale point you're making is correct but it's got to be put in a human context. It can't be this lofty nonsense. It's got to be, listen, my mom went through hell to raise me. And I get it. [Unidentified Male:] But it has to not look scripted. It has to be [Blitzer:] And they're going to go after her for supposedly flip- flopping in recent weeks and months on sensitive issues. [Madden:] Yes. I think that's the core vulnerability that she has. And I think it goes to both Van and Dan's point, which is, on points she wins in these debates but doesn't have these big moments of strength. And I think when she's calculating as a politician, she takes the right positions that are right with her base. But does she show a moment of heart, a moment of strength? That's going to be what's really tough for her. [Blitzer:] We'll see if she does it. I know she's been practicing, rehearsing. Let's see what happens tomorrow night. Don't go too far away, guys. We have a lot more coming up. Two candidates get most of the headlines. But guess what? There are five people who will be on that stage tomorrow night. They're dreaming of winning the White House. Can the three lesser-known candidates break through the noise, become the threat to the top two? Much more right after this. [Blitzer:] Pope Francis is in one of the poorest parts of Mexico today. After spending the week in Mexico City, he's in Chiapas State, in the southern part of the country today. This part of Mexico is heavily populated by indigenous people. Just a while ago, he celebrated mass in indigenous languages. Rosa Flores is there in Chiapas for us. Rosa, last year, the pope apologized to the peoples in South America for what he called crimes by the Catholic Church, and today, he addresses similar issues in North America. What was his bottom line message today? [Rosa Flores, Cnn Correspondent:] You know, he focused on the environment, Wolf. He focused on his encircle on the environment, mentioning that among the poorest of the poor, is Mother Earth. And then he said, he looked at all of the people in the crowd, and said, you know, you, the indigenous, have been used and abused by just so many for centuries, including many elites. Take a listen. [Pope Francis:] Some have considered your values, culture and traditions to be inferior. Others, intoxicated by power, money and market trends have stolen your lands or done things which contaminated them. How sad this is. [Flores:] He also said that in modern day, we use and abuse the earth as well. And that we have a lot to learn from the indigenous people Wolf? [Blitzer:] Rosa, the trip is certainly without isn't without controversy. On Wednesday, the pope scheduled to say mass in Juarez, near a fence separating the U.S.Mexico border. This was met with some criticism here in the United States, especially from some political types, like Donald Trump, for example. What kind of reaction though is it getting on the Mexican side of the border? [Flores:] You know, people in Mexico see it very differently, Wolf. They think about the 80,000 people who have died in the drug war since 2006. They think about those routes, those smuggling routes that smuggle not only drugs, but also people, and about the $19 to $29 billion that the American consumer pays for drugs. So it's very personal for people in Mexico. And many are offended by what Donald Trump has said from the beginning of his campaign, calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. It hits people here in the heart. So what they're hoping to hear from Pope Francis are words of hope and mercy. [Blitzer:] Rosa Flores covering the pope's visit to Mexico. Rosa, thank you very much. Up next, just when you thought the presidential race here in the United States couldn't get anymore intense, a U.S. Supreme Court vacancy is stirring things up out there on the campaign trail. Our panel is standing by to take a closer look at how the Supreme Court fight is affecting the race for the White House. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] Still so many questions about this man. Do not know definitely or definitively who this man was, if he was or was not a refugee. Is that surprising that, at this point, they still don't have those answers? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] No, Victor. I think the problem here is that the fingerprints that were on file that they think they recovered from this individual come back to someone that the French arrested in 2013 who was reportedly born in Casablanca, Morocco, a 20-year-old. And now how did that person get back in the country and is this the same person? So, I think, right now, the authorities are trying to verify the identity of the individual, if that is true, or if he was coming through refugee, you know, systems in Germany and on to France. So I think they still have a lot of questions about the identity. [Blackwell:] And there are great concerns about the entrance of so many tens and hundreds of thousands of refugees coming into Germany specifically. Angela Merkel, the chancellor there, has recently proposed to make it easier to deport asylum seekers who break laws. We saw yesterday those protests in Cologne after the attacks on New Year's Eve. Are we seeing the beginning of a crackdown on refugees? [Fuentes:] I think possibly there is a political price that is being paid by the fact that a couple of refugees have turned out to commit terrorist acts out of the tens of thousands of refugees who are legitimately trying to, you know, come to other countries, whether it's in Europe or the U.S. for safety. So I think that that is the problem. But the rising sentiment against many of the refuges, the rise in even Muslim populations in general has started to have a backlash in Europe. Now, going back a couple of years there is a lot of sentiment against letting anybody come into those countries and we have heard a little bit of that in our political process here in the U.S., so that is the problem, that you let in tens of thousands of legitimate refuges that are that are seeking safety, seeking asylum and then, you know, there are going to be a couple of slip through. And even if they weren't intended to be terrorists when they joined the refugee system or entered the system, in some cases, they radicalize later, as do our own homegrown home-born people radicalized later in life. [Blackwell:] No question, especially after the attacks, those 120 reports of groping or sexual assaults on women on New Year's eve in Cologne, that the people there and the people around the world want those 31 suspects, 18 of them asylum seekers, reportedly, to be brought to justice. But what consideration is given to this crackdown on refugees, if that is what we are seeing? That the consideration that that is playing into ISIS'narrative, that the West does not want you because you are Muslim? [Fuentes:] Well, that is the speculation and there have been postings, I think al Shabaab put out a recent video basically saying that, you know, you're not going to be fit in you're not going to fit in, I mean, in the new country and you're not going to be wanted and you're going to come up under oppression because you're a Muslim and the way others have come under oppression in the past. And I think that there is some play into the narrative that is coming out, that, you know, is trying to make a divide between, you know, the non- Muslim and the Muslim populations of countries in the West. [Blackwell:] All right. Tom Fuentes with us throughout the morning. Tom, thanks so much. [Fuentes:] You're welcome. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] OK. Now let's take you to Paris and the Place de la Republique where we find Jim Bittermann as they get ready for the memorial where thousands are gathering to remember the historic day last year when millions marched together in solidarity against the attacks at "Charlie Hebdo." What are you seeing this morning, Jim? [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, in fact that ceremony took place the official ceremony took place about an hour or so ago. There were several thousand of people here at Place de la Republique including dignitaries, the President Hollande was here as well as the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo. They unveiled a plaque to the dead. Not only from "Charlie Hebdo," the 17 who died in the "Charlie Hebdo" attacks and subsequent attacks, but also the attacks on November 13th that killed 130 people. So this memorial today was planned as kind of a commemoration of both of those tragic events. I just would like to bring in here Christi Melissa Bell who is a foreign affairs editor for "France 24." Melissa, you were here a year ago and there has been an awful lot of things happened in France since then. How do you think the French are reacting to all of this and how are they taking it on board? [Melissa Bell, International Affairs Editor, France 24:] I think there is still a great deal of shock. I don't think France has gotten over or even begun to digest this year that started with this extraordinary blood bath and ended with one that almost dwarfed where it happened earlier on in the year. I think it will take some time for the French to come to terms with it. Of course the Americans had an experience of a large-scale terrorist attacks many years ago. When it happens to you for the first time on your own soil and particularly the November 13th attacks when so many people are so randomly attacked and those attacks happening at the same time across different points in the city that was tremendously shocking to the French. And it will take the country a long time to come to terms with what went on and of course, even as the French come to terms with this psychologically, the investigations continue. And even now, one year on from "Charlie Hebdo" and two months on from the November 13th attack the people who ordered these attacks, the people who are them, who are possibly believe the French investigators in Syria, still haven't been named or found or caught. And I think this is another of the things that the French is starting to come to terms with. [Bittermann:] It must be very disturbing, I would think, to know that there are some people out there that are possibly planning something else. [Bell:] And always this fear that anything can happen any time. We were reminded of it just a couple of days ago in Barbes when a man walked into a police station armed with a kitchen knife and a fake explosive belt it turned out. The sense that anything can happen any time and this is a city under attack. For so many years we have been carrying out interventions as though they were carried out surgically far away. Now that these things are come in the sense I think it will take a long time for the country, first of all, to get over it, but also to come to terms with the idea that in a sense the risk is always there. [Bittermann:] Thank you very much, Melissa Bell. Back to you, Christi. [Paul:] Jim Bittermann, we appreciate the update. Thank you so much. Next on NEW DAY U.S. B-52 bomber bombers flying over South Korea. This is in a show of force against North Korea. We are taking you to live to North Korea for that story. [Blackwell:] Plus, the man accused of ambushing a Philadelphia police officer in the name of ISIS. He goes to court. We will analyze the charges he is facing and discuss the case. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] There will be retribution, there will be a price to pay. We are going to renegotiate the horrible NAFTA trade deal, probably the worse deal ever made in terms of trade. [Don Lemon, Cnn Anchor:] It is the top of the hour. You're watching CNN TONIGHT and we're listening to Donald Trump giving a campaign speech in Everett, Washington, also on the heels of finding out that he's going to be meeting with the Mexican President tomorrow, giving his immigration speech here also in Arizona. Again, Donald Trump speaking, making an appeal to African-Americans specifically right now. Let's listen in. [Trump:] Thank you. The destruction that NAFTA started will be finished off if the Trans-Pacific Partnership is approved. It is a disaster, a disaster for our country, a disaster for our workers. We won't let it happen. We cannot let it happen. These are very, very quiet protesters, I will say. I will say one thing, when Bernie Sanders had his protesters out, they had a lot more energy, they really. Much better. They were much better. They felt it a little bit deeper in the heart. But that's just the beginning of what we're going to do for the American worker. On taxes, we're going to provide massive tax relief to all working people and lower the tax rate on small business from 35 percent to 15 percent. Low and middle income parents will also be able to fully deduct the average cost of child care from their taxes, a very important thing. On horrible, horrible regulations, which are taking over our country, I'm going to direct every agency and department head in my government to identify all needless and job killing regulations and they will be removed. We will have a temporary moratorium on new regulations to allow our economy to grow. I mean, our economy is a disaster, to allow our economy to grow. Economic growth for last quarter has been revised downward to 1.1 percent, a number that you can't even imagine. Just so you know, if China goes to 7 percent or 8 percent, it's almost like a national catastrophe. And what they do is they devalue their currency, they do lots of other things and they suck more blood out of our country and we allow them to do it, folks. And they get back on track and we keep going down. Not any longer. And believe me, we have the cards, they don't. We have the cards. We have all the cards. Meanwhile, our trade deficit in goods with the world is now nearly $800 billion. Think of that. Almost $800 billion trade deficit for the year. You really say to yourself, "Who negotiates these deals?" I know, I know. Political hacks and politicians negotiate them. No longer. We will further bring back our jobs by unleashing an American energy revolution, lifting restrictions on oil and coal and natural gas and all sources of American energy. This will create millions of jobs and lower the price of energy and your electric bill and every other bill for the American household. We are also going to secure our border and stop the drugs from pouring in and destroying our country. [Lemon:] OK, Donald Trump speaking tonight in Everett, Washington, talking about what he's going to do tomorrow, and he's going to lay out his immigration plan, just now saying securing the border. Of course, he's going to be talking about... [Trump:] Tomorrow night in Arizona, big speech on immigration. We'll be talking about that, Arizona, tomorrow night. [Lemon:] I just want to listen for a second... [Trump:] The Seattle Area recently experienced the largest number of heroin-related deaths, think of it, in 20 years. The largest number in... [Lemon:] All right. So Donald Trump saying that he's going to give his speech tomorrow night in Arizona. But before that, he's going to meet with the Mexican president. Pretty big deal that he's announcing meeting with the Mexican president. Back with me now, Mark Preston, Corey Lewandowski, Angela Rye, Lanhee Chen and Ryan Lizza. Again, he just mentioned that as we were coming. So I wanted to make sure we got all of it. This is a pretty big deal. Give us some context. [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Director:] Huge deal. I mean, look, he's now controlling the narrative of the campaign again. The narrative is back in Donald Trump's court. He is taking a big leap by going down to Mexico. There is some peril in it but I think for his supporters, it is going to help fuel them to look at Donald Trump, take his willingness to cross the border and meet face-to-face with somebody who he says is going to help pay for a wall at the same time that that president says that's not going to happen. So, this is a huge development. We're 70 days out right now. It's unprecedented. I don't think we've ever seen this certainly in our lifetime and Donald Trump is now again controlling the narrative. And Lanhee Chen, again, he said this is a many people think that Mark said this is a very smart move but it's also a risky move as well? [Lanhee Chen, Cnn Political Contributor:] Yeah. I mean foreign trips are always kind of filled with potential potholes. And hat's why they're usually planned over the course of months, that's why you usually script them very carefully. You want to make sure that whatever the foreign leader is going to say is consistent with your message. But look, none of this is how Donald Trump has run his campaign so far. So we shouldn't be surprised that he's stepping out in faith, I guess, in doing this. And part of it is probably to address what some perceive is the commander-in-chief deficit, right, to go out and say, "Look, I can meet with foreign leaders. We can have this conversation as well." [Lemon:] Corey Lewandowski, you said to me usually trips like this are planned much more farther in advance than this. There may have been some talk about it. But, again, this is a shift. I know you're former campaign manager, but this is a shift in the way this campaign is being run and, again, as Mark said, this is an enormous deal that he's doing this. [Corey Lewandowski, Cnn Political Commentator:] Well, it is, obviously. And to your point, you know, any time you have the opportunity as a candidate for the presidency to meet with a foreign leader, it shows your gravitas, your ability to work across the aisle and across the political world that, you know, if you're elected president, you're going to have those relationships in place. Obviously, you know, the relationship with Mexico as a trading partner is very important. We understand that. Donald Trump has made it paramount on this campaign to renegotiate NAFTA, to build a wall on the Mexican border to prevent illegals from coming across the southern border. So as he looks forward to the next 70 days in the election 10 weeks from tonight, what he's doing is setting the groundwork for a long relationship with the Mexican president so that as elected president, he'll have that relationship in place. [Lemon:] All right go ahead. [Angela Rye, Cnn Political Commentator:] At least we know that that's what he's hoping. I think the challenges are that his rhetoric hasn't matched, you know, some diplomatic effort reaching across the border to the Mexican president, desiring some type of strong partnership. In fact, it flies in the face of that. The way that the Trump campaign has even talked about undocumented people, calling them illegals, calling them even worse, drug dealers and rapists is also a part of the problem. I think one of the things that Corey mentioned earlier about the four things that Donald Trump will say during the speech tomorrow, you talked about the felons and the convicts and the number of people that it's a constant talking point of the campaign, the number of people who've been released. We forget often in this country that immigration is a civil issue, not a criminal issue. And so the people who have been released from ICE Detention are people who have served their time, they're own parole, they have they've paid their dues, they paid their debt to society and I think it flies in the face of another thing where Republicans struggle and that is the feeling disfranchised even at the polls. So you're constantly dealing with people as if once a criminal, always a criminal, and we need to get them out of here even though they've served their time. [Lewandowski:] What did you say to be fair though was that if you are a convicted felon and you're here illegally, the day I'm sworn as President of the United States, you'll be shipped back to the country that you're from. So if you are convicted of murder likely so Kate Steinle's family or Jamiel Shaw's family, those people who are in the country illegally, that ends, you are no longer being interned in a U.S. prison system. You're going to be sent back to your country and that's the way it's going to work. [Lemon:] Ryan Lizza let's bring in Ryan Lizza from the New Yorker, our correspondent from the New Yorker. Ryan, my question is, Mark Preston said this is Donald Trump is controlling the narrative. This is the way this campaign is being run now. Does it matter who gets there first? Is this a misstep for the Clinton campaign and a good one for the Trump campaign? [Ryan Lizza, Cnn Political Commentator:] I think whether it's good for the Trump campaign depends on the outcome, right? I mean, he has basically turned the president of Mexico into an adversary. He has said that this guy is going to that Enrique Pena Nieto is going to pay for our border wall, right? And he's going to go down there and I think most observers are going to wonder after the meeting, well, what did he get out of the meeting, right? This isn't just a traditional meeting with a traditional ally where you kind of shake hands and say hello and have a cup of tea. This is Donald Trump going to the person who he has made a core campaign promise of, saying that this person in his country is going to pay for a wall that's going to cost tens of billions of dollars and he's going to do it by seizing remittances that they Mexican send back to his their country or increasing tariffs on Mexican goods. Well, the press is going to ask the President of Mexico, "So, what do you think of this border wall idea? Are you willing to pay for it?" The President of Mexico right now has an approval rating in the low 20s. Donald Trump is not a popular person in Mexico for obvious reasons. Do you think that the president of Mexico tomorrow is going to miss an opportunity to confront Donald Trump when he's dealing with scandals at home and low popularity? So, I mean, you know, maybe Donald Trump is a secret genius and this is a very smart trip but it seems like it has high, high chance high risk involved here. On the other hand, getting into a fight with the president of the Mexico might not be the worst thing for Donald Trump. [Lemon:] OK. That's where I'm going. So let me pose this to the panel, to you and the panel. I want to get this out. And this is the statement from the Mexican president. It says, last Friday, the president sent invitations to both candidates, which were well- received by both of the team campaigns. There is no confirmation to the meetings at this point. So, his is a Mexican president. Now, Donald Trump has confirmed that he is going. Why would he send this? Why would he send invitations to both candidates if indeed, you know, he's got low you know, he's got a low approval rating? Donald Trump isn't the most... [Preston:] Well, he has his own issues back home, right? So if you're a leader and you're trying to get your approval rating up, you certainly want to show your voters, your constituents that you're working, you know, across that board or to try to make your country better. So, it's actually it's a very smart move I think on the Mexican president's part with any indication. [Lemon:] Yeah. [Preston:] You know, what's worth noting though is that Mexican citizens don't vote in this election, right? U.S. citizens do. So even when Donald Trump goes down there, if he does come back and the Mexican president says, you know, the meeting was a joke and we'll never pay for the wall, Donald Trump could perhaps turn that around and be rah, rah, rah, you know, America first, America first, and that could potentially help his campaign. [Lemon:] I want to get to I need to get to Phil Mattingly quickly, Phil Mattingly who was there in Washington at this rally. Phil, Donald Trump is still speaking. He's arousing applause. There were a couple of protests here. How is this message going over at this rally? [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] He's been pretty consistent tonight, Don. And he mentioned obviously the immigration speech. You played that a little bit. But for the most part, it's been a very consistent, on message speech, the type that we heard really over the last couple of weeks, staying very close to the prepared script that we got. I will say, Don, over the course of the last 35 or 40 minutes, word did start to trickle out to the audience about the trip to Mexico, a lot of kind of raised eyebrows, a lot of intrigue as to what it might mean going forward. But as I mentioned earlier, Don, there is a lot of focus on what tomorrow night's speech will be about immigration. Not a lot of focus on that tonight but definitely looking forward. His supporters are very focused on what he'll have to say tomorrow in Arizona. [Lemon:] All right, Phil, just thank you very much. And just quickly, I would I had assume that this would be in lieu of the Arizona announcement that he would do it from there, that he's going to do the announcement from Arizona. [Lewandowski:] That's right. He's still going to make the speech in Arizona. He's going to talk about the four principles that he has talked about. And what he's also going to do obviously is recap that speech, the conversation that he had with the president of Mexico at the time and that's going to give additional color and it will continue to drive the narrative going into what is traditionally a quiet Labor Day weekend. All the news will be focused on Donald Trump again. [Lemon:] All right, thanks, everyone. Stick around. When we come right back, Donald Trump's trip south of the border tonight. That is our breaking news. It is a bold move but will voters buy it? [Hala Gorani, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. Welcome to a very special edition of the program, THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. We are live from The Hague in the Netherlands. It is 9:00 p.m. local time. I am Hala Gorani. Polling stations will begin to close. Voting is all but over and ballots are being counted in the crucial elections which the world is watching. We are moments from the first exit poll. We'll bring you that as soon as we have it. This is no ordinary vote, of course. The outcome could reshape the political landscape not just here in the Netherlands, but potentially the European Union. It is the first big electoral test since the election of Donald Trump in the United States. The prime minister here has a lot at stake. You see him on the left voting earlier today. He is seeking re-election. He and his party want to form the next coalition government once again. But riding a wave of populism is sweeping across western democracies as the far right candidate, Geert Wilders and his party. He's anti-immigration, anti-Muslim and anti-E.U. All right, I understand we have our first exit poll results. VVD, the party of the incumbent Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, is coming out on top. I will wait for the exact ranking of the parties according to the Broadcaster NOS. These are results that have not been certified by our polling methodology but that are being broadcast on the national broadcasting network here in Holland. I will ask my producer to hand me the figures to see exactly where we are in the ranking as far as the party of the prime minister. It appears the party of the prime minister, VVD, of Mark Rutte, according to ONS, the national broadcaster and their exit polling methodology has come out first and the party of Geert Wilders, the fire brand politician, anti-immigration, anti-E.U., anti-Islam candidate has come in second. I'm seeing pretty good results for D66, the Green Party as well. VVD clearly on top according to some of the figures I'm seeing here. All right, Dutch politics is splintered. There are 28 parties running in this election. As we have been telling people most are watching just two. It's the prime minister's Freedom and Democracy Party, which has come out on top according to the exit polling, and Geert Wilders' PVV Party, which so far is second. We have also the Christian Democrats performing pretty well. Actually almost on par with Geert Wilders's party with the same number of projected seats, and again the Green Party doing pretty well as well. Both leaders, by the way, as I mentioned, the prime minister and Geert Wilders cast their ballots today. Before we get to a more precise breakdown in what appears to be a significant victory for the incumbent prime minister, here's what the two main candidates told voters today. Listen. [Mark Rutte, Dutch Prime Minister:] The fact that they are enlarging problems instead of solving them, having a political leader who wants to take away the Koran from Muslims in the Netherlands who wants to close our mosques, and who is basically talking about not taking the necessary positions to take the country forward. Populism, there is nothing wrong with it. The populism is not addressing the real issues of the people. Only making them bigger instead of solving them. [Geert Wilders, People's Party For Freedom:] Whatever the outcome of the election today, the genie will not go back in the bottle and this revolution will take place whether today or tomorrow. [Gorani:] Well, there you heard from the two main candidates. We have an exit poll done for the Dutch national broadcaster, NOS. It's just come out. Here it is in graphic form. It projects that the Freedom and Democracy Party is first. This is the party of the incumbent Prime Minister, Mark Rutte. The Labour Party, second. The Labour Party was projected to perform not as well as it did last time. Geert Wilders, his party coming in third according to the exit poll from the national broadcaster, NOS. As with any exit poll it may not be precise enough to predict the final outcome. It was not commissioned by CNN. Right now we don't have necessarily a clear leader but this is the nature of Dutch politics, of course. It is a very fractured political landscape. Atika Shubert joins me now from the headquarters of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's Party for Freedom and Democracy known as VVD here in The Hague. OK, according to the very initial results, Atika, is there some sense of relief at the party headquarters of the current prime minister? [Atika Shubert, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Absolutely. As soon as the first these are again preliminary exit poll results, but as soon as they came out there was a cheer from VVD supporter, who were gathered here tonight. This is clearly shows they seemed to be ahead at this point. But again, it is preliminary and from the Dutch broadcaster so we do have to wait and see some of those extra numbers. What is surprising from these numbers is that sort of three-way tie between Geert Wilders far right party, the Christian Democrats Party and D-66, a much more left party. So it does seem to be a very broad base spread out across a number of parties here. But the winner so far at least in this preliminary round here appears to be VVD breaking ahead. Again, there are still, in fact, some polls that may be open in The Hague and Rotterdam. These numbers could change but for the moment, VVD is looking strong, the party of the incumbent prime minister. [Gorani:] All right. As you speak to party officials and they tell you essentially, I'm sure based on the preliminary results there is a sense of satisfaction, to what do they attribute this to, Atika? [Shubert:] I think there is a number of different things that his supporters and his assistants have been talking to. One, they have been hammering home a few messages the economy. The economy has grown in the last year by 2.1 percent after an austerity program he put into place. It looks like we are having a light function here in the press area. In addition to that, they made a push at the end particularly with the Turkish diplomatic crisis saying the prime minister came out very strong, took a tough line with Turkey and showed he could be tough but fair on immigrant communities here including the Turkish community. That really may have boosted his odds at the ballot box. A lot of voters I spoke to said, you know, that was the event that made up their mind, the game changer because he acted like the prime minister they wanted him to be. We'll have to wait and see what the big issues were, you know, after this night is over and they combed through all the data. I think it's found to be a number of factors, but those are the ones that when we spoke to voters, impressed them the most. [Gorani:] Atika Shubert, thanks very much. There at the party headquarters of the party of the prime minister. I'm joined now by Sarah de Lange, a professor from the political science department at the University of Amsterdam. Thanks for being with us. All right, first of all, just to update our viewers, we have in the first place quite firmly in first place the party of the prime minister. Then we have a tie for second place according to the exit polls. PVV, the party of Wilders, the Christian Democrats, and then we have D66, the centrist party there as well. We have a competition lower down the line. What does that tell us about this? [Sarah De Lange, Department Of Political Science, University Of Amsterdam:] Well, the results are completely in line with the polls that we have seen in the past days, which have shown that there is massive fragmentation in the Netherlands and that all the parties have limited support. It is very clear who is the leader after these elections, it is Prime Minister Rutte. But who he will govern with remains uncertain. [Gorani:] He is the leader. There was a possibility according to earlier polling that he may not come first, but it appears as though he came in first with quite a margin as well. [Lange:] Yes, we have seen in the past weeks that Geert Wilders, his main rival, was sliding in the polls for a variety of reasons. In addition to that we had an incident this weekend where Prime Minister Rutte really reacted firmly towards Turkey interfering in Dutch democracy which might have given him the edge in elections today. [Gorani:] Now the Labour Party, though, didn't do well at all, projected to having essentially maybe possibly even a third of the seats of the prime minister's party. What's going on there? [Lange:] Well, the Labour Party is doing even worse than predicted in the exit polls. Its leader has not been particularly visible in the campaign. Its supporters have been dissatisfied with the way in which the Labour Party has governed with the liberals. Making too many compromises especially on social policies. [Gorani:] What do you make of Wilders, though, coming in basically tied for second place? I mean, this isn't a stellar performance he could have registered, is it? [Lange:] No, we have seen in the past couple of elections that support for Wilders is very high in the polls. It doesn't materialize on Election Day. One reason is during a government's term the voters like to stress their dissatisfaction by supporting an outsider. Once Election Day is there strategic consideration about the government composition also come into play and negatively affect his support. [Gorani:] Why is that the case here? Because in other countries when you have more extreme parties you may see less support in the polling. People don't necessarily admit to wanting to vote for a particular candidate. When Election Day comes they will slip it in the ballot box and vote for their preferred candidate of the party. Why is it the reverse in the Netherlands? [Lange:] In the Netherlands, it's become very easy to express your support for a populist party since the murder of [inaudible] in 2002. Very few people feel uncomfortable expressing their support in, for example, the polls. [Gorani:] OK, that's interesting. So now the big question now, of course, is going to be if these exit poll numbers hold it seems as though the prime minister, the incumbent, is in a pretty comfortable position? [Lange:] Yes. Historically the exit polls have been very accurate in Netherlands, only being off by 1.5 percent per party. I think that Prime Minister Rutte can be declared the winner of these elections. [Gorani:] All right, and now if he is Wilders won't be part of any government, right? Because every party has said pretty much we are not going to do business with Wilders. [Lange:] Wilders is not in the running to be part of the coalition. First of all, he is not the leader so he won't take the lead in the negotiations. There is no reason to include him at the moment because an alternative coalition can be formed with D66, the Christian Democrats and the Green Party if necessary. [Gorani:] Do you think last question we are attracting a bit of attention which is good because people have been very passionate about this election. Turnout was much higher this time than in 2012. The big interest worldwide in this has been we saw Donald Trump elected. We saw Brexit happen. The Netherlands were the first kind of test of 2017. Were we going to see the populist wave continue here or will it stop here? Has it stopped here? [Lange:] I don't think it has stopped. It's very important to realize that the dynamics of European politics with coalition governments and multi- party systems are very different from that in the U.S. or even in the U.K., which is a majoritarian system. [Gorani:] But still, though, the fact that we didn't see the potential number we could have seen for Wilders, does that tell us anything at all in terms of future contests? [Lange:] I don't think so. The dynamics of the French elections which are up next are different because these are presidential elections. I think we'll see Marine La Pen in the second round of the French elections even though Wilders has not performed as effective. [Gorani:] Sarah de Lange of the University of Amsterdam, thanks very much. Very initial numbers came in. Took us a little bit of time to shake them out, but it looks as though according to the exit polls as we told our viewers the party of the incumbent Prime Minister Mark Rutte has performed better than expected and it's first in the polls. [Lange:] Yes, exactly. [Gorani:] Biggest party, thanks so much. This election wasn't just about two parties. We are in the Netherlands, after all. Dozens were on the ballot. One candidate who caused a stir was the young leader of the Green Party. I will look at his performance as well. How did the Green Party do? All right. We are looking at half the support of the VVD of the party of the prime minister. So not bad at all. He's a young 30-year-old. I spoke to him earlier today before the polls closed and asked if he thought his party was disrupting Dutch politics. Listen. [Jesse Klaver, Dutch Green Party Leader:] We tried to disrupt Dutch politics in a positive way. [Inaudible] disrupting politics for many years but it is based on fear and hate. We have a message of hope, optimism and change. We tried to build a campaign that's more than a campaign, more like a movement. We have tried to attract a lot of young people to get involved in democracy and in politics. [Gorani:] Geert Wilders. You are of Moroccan extraction through your father, right, and Indonesian and Dutch through your mother. So you are the very incarnation of an immigrant success story technically speaking. Even though you are second generation. [Klaver:] Yes. [Gorani:] How do you think that helps or hurts you in Dutch politics? [Klaver:] It doesn't hurt me. I think it will help me because I understand what Dutch society is like. We are very multicultural. We have different cultures living here together. We have a very diverse background. I think I know what's happening in Dutch society. I think that's important for the leader of the country. When I talk to the voters, it's not only the voters who will vote for the Greens, but also with voters who are voting for Geert Wilders or other right wing parties. When you start the conversation it will begin with immigration, Islam, refugees. Within two, three minutes the conversation will turn, and it's about housing, income, the health care bills. [Gorani:] Is it not also about identity? Many Dutch people have said this is about, this election is about deciding who we are as Dutch citizens. What's the answer to that? [Klaver:] We are tolerant and a free country. I believe that we are an emphatic society and the way that conservatives like [inaudible] is a populist who try to define the country by Santa Clause or Christmas, eastern x or the national anthem, that's not who we are. Who we are is based on the values this country is built on for many decades. [Gorani:] All right. Another party on the list today was Nida Progressive Muslim Party based in Rotterdam. Now these are some of the smaller parties that are hoping to make it on the national stage just as we are learning from the exit polls that the big established party of the prime minister has come out on top in this election. Now I spoke to their founder, Nourdin El Ouali, about Geert Wilders and his anti-immigrant message. [Nourdin El Ouali, Founder, Dutch Nida Party:] He doesn't bring any solutions. He really problem he's good. He is the champion in telling people what the problem is. He has a simple recipe. The problem is the other. It's the foreigner, the migrant, the Muslim. That's his only policy, but he doesn't bring solutions. [Gorani:] His solution is ban Koran, close the country to Muslim immigration. He's saying what his solution is. [El Ouali:] Well, that's not a solution because we have [Gorani:] Close mosques as well. [El Ouali:] Yes, true. He has this kind of ideas, which are dangerous ideas because we have a constitution in this country that guarantees equal rights and all the freedoms, just like in your country, freedom of religion and so on and so forth. So his ideas are not democratic ideas but really extreme ideas that don't fit in an open democratic liberal society. [Gorani:] What is this election about? It is a lot about identity, right? It's a lot about what it means to be Dutch. What does it mean to be Dutch? [El Ouali:] True. [Gorani:] Today. [El Ouali:] But if you ask me what is this election about? I would say it's about ecology. It is about poverty. It's about work and things like that, and health care. Yes. It's true. It's about mainly about Dutch identity. I think it's an idea of people feel that our values are under pressure, and I agree with that [Gorani:] What do you agree with? [El Ouali:] Well, that our values are under pressure. The story is that they are under pressure because of this new groups, migrants, Muslims, so forth and so on. But the real real challenge [Gorani:] I have to stop you there because what I find interesting is you say you do agree with the notion that some of the traditional Dutch values are under pressure because, what, of recent waves of migration? [El Ouali:] No. My point of view is a different one. That's the point of view of Wilders and also our prime minister. [Gorani:] I was a little puzzled when you said that. [El Ouali:] Our values, our Dutch values are reflected in our constitution. You said what kind of solutions this politician wants. They are under pressure and the threat is even bigger. The threat isn't coming from outside. It is in our parliament. [Gorani:] I see. [El Ouali:] So this kind of idea has really put the pressure on our values and people like me opposed to that because we say we are Dutch citizens. Yes, we have a migration, but right, diversity isn't a problem. It's enriching us. [Gorani:] All right. One point of view there. He's a city counselor in Rotterdam. And by the way, in Rotterdam, the lines there were long in polling stations. We understand according to the national broadcaster that some of the polling stations are staying open later, past 9:00 p.m. local in order to allow all the people who are already in line to cast their ballots. But breaking news this hour. We want to bring you exit poll numbers done for the Dutch national broadcaster, NOS. They have just come out. Here they are. They project that the Freedom and Democracy Party is first, the party of the current prime minister. The Geert Wilders party is in a three-way tie with the Christian Democrats and you see as well the D66 party. So first for the prime minister incumbent, Mark Rutte. Then you have a three-way tie between the parties of Geert Wilders, the Christian Democrats, the CDA, and the party D66. Now, remember of course, this is an exit poll. It is not as precise as the final results will be. I will stress again this was not commissioned by CNN. It is being broadcast by NOS, the national state broadcaster in the Netherlands. Let's bring in a political cartoonist gauging the exit poll numbers because we always like seeing the lighter side of things. [Tjeerd Royaards, Political Cartoonist:] Sure. [Gorani:] So let's talk about your work. You are going to have a lot to draw and a lot to think about. [Royaards:] It's a crazy world right now. Not only in the Netherlands, but with populism on the rise in Europe and in America as well. That's been a lot on my mind and on the mind of a lot of cartoonists I think. [Gorani:] What do you make of the result? Because it looks according to this exit poll as though the incumbent prime minister though he's done worse than last election came out first. [Royaards:] Yes. So two things I noticed is that one of my biggest fears and a lot of progressives with me was that the PVV of Geert Wilders would become biggest which he hasn't and the progressive greens have actually risen a lot. So it's interesting to see the three-way tie for the second largest party. [Gorani:] There is some fresh blood in this election, right. You mentioned the Greens, Jesse Klaver. He's 30 years old. He's called the Justin Trudeau of Dutch politics. There is a passing resemblance, by the way. [Royaards:] Yes. [Gorani:] Have you ever drawn him? [Royaards:] No, not yet. [Gorani:] Maybe you should start today. [Royaards:] Yes. [Gorani:] So what you're going to do so we explain to the viewers is you draw on an iPad, right? [Royaards:] Yes. [Gorani:] You're going to basically I don't know if we can get a shot of this or not. You're going to draw your take on the results of this election and we'll show that later in the program. You will present it to us and we'll talk about it and discuss. OK, thanks so much. We'll see you later in the program. Get to work. Still to come this evening, don't drag the big microphone with you. We'll continue our coverage of the Dutch election. A member of the Liberal Party Democrats, the D66 Party is my guest. Stay tuned for that. We'll have more on breaking news from the Netherlands. We'll be right back. [Bolduan:] It was a major league malfunction of game one of the World Series. The New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals all tied up, heading into the fourth, and then FOX viewers saw this, the blue screen of death, which turned to black on [Tv. Bolduan:] An apparent power outage hit the broadcast truck, taking out the back-up generators, is what we're hearing, and the game came to a screeching halt. Technical crew, you see right there, running around behind the scenes. And so it was only 1:20, and it probably felt like a year to the viewers. It was also 20 minutes before folks heard the FOX announcers once again. And so what the hell was going on behind the scenes. And somebody who would know is Kate Lunger, vice president of CNN special events. What did you think, Kate when you heard and saw this happen? [Kate Lunger, Vice President, Cnn Special Events:] I received a manager are from one of the big tech plans and something about the back-up plan. I said, what are you talking about. And he said, are you watching the World Series? So, of course, I turned it on in the hotel room, and the first thing I said was, oh, holy cow. [Berman:] You said, holy cow, and I don't believe that begins to capture [Bolduan:] I have never heard you say holy cow. [Lunger:] Family, family. [Berman:] And I don't know if people appreciate the scope of what goes on in a control room during a situation like this. [Bolduan:] You have angry people saying awful things on a good day. Give me a sense of how loud and how cruel the things that were being shouted here. [Lunger:] I can't say this on TV, but I will say, everyone has contingencies for this, back-up power and back-up anchors, who have no feed to go to, and people are like, what is going on? And then people screaming, because they don't know what is going on and they don't know how to fix it, and all the engineers can do They can check the power and the cables, and all of that. [Bolduan:] And then they start to plug and unplug cables, because you don't know. [Lunger:] You don't know. [Bolduan:] This is live [Tv. Lunger:] And there are is hundreds of millions of miles of cables. It's hundreds of millions of miles, probably at a game like this, and they are going everywhere and you have back-up power that is a redundant system that did not kick in. I woke up this morning thinking, OK, we have three back-up transmission plans. Do we need back-up power it really makes you crazy. [Berman:] You got nervous by it? [Lunger:] Yes, you get nervous by this and then you start to think about, well, we can plan for what we can plan for, because it is live TV and stuff happens. [Bolduan:] Stuff happens. [Lunger:] But it does not make you feel good when you see other people have to go through that. [Bolduan:] No kidding. Great to see you, Kate. [Lunger:] Good to see you guys, too, not behind the scenes. [Bolduan:] Exactly. [Berman:] When things are going well. [Lunger:] Yes, exactly. [Bolduan:] Thanks, everyone, for joining us [At This Hour. Berman:] "Legal View" with Ashleigh Banfield starts now. [Ashleigh Banfield, Cnn Anchor:] Breaking news, everyone. I want to get you down to Columbia, South Carolina, where Sheriff Leon Lott is announcing what's going to happen to that school resource officer after that telling video was released of a 16-year-old being slammed out of a desk. [Richard Quest, Cnn Anchor:] And there we leave our colleagues at CNN in the United States from CNN as we continue to update you on the very serious news that we're getting from Paris. Now, CNN's French affiliate BFM-TV is reporting that a police officer has been killed in a shooting, and two other people have been injured. One of the others is believed to be also a police officer. The assailant and the attacker has reportedly been shot dead in the crossfire. It's all happening at the Champs-Elysees, which is, I mean, you'll be aware, is right in the center of Paris. You can see the picture there which shows just the size and scale. You can see the Arc de Triomphe over in the distance. I believe we have Melissa Bell no, Melissa's not with us yet, our correspondent in Paris. Now, the size and scale of this operation, as you will well understand, is absolutely enormous. This is the equivalent I mean, one can put it as being an incident happening on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, Fifth Avenue in New York, Regent Street in London. You could pick any major thoroughfare in any capital or major city in the world, and this gives you an idea of the seriousness. But there is an added element here. France goes to the polls in the presidential election this Sunday for the first round in the election. Now, you're seeing multiple pictures there of the scene. We don't know what happened. We don't know the scenario that has led to this, other than, BFM-TV is reporting, a police officer has been injured and another has been killed. Cyril joins us from the CNN Anchor Cyril Vanier, right. Cyril, you know this area very well indeed. Give us a feeling for what would have been happening at nearly 10:00 on a Thursday night in Paris. [Quest:] A touch of problem hearing you, Cyril. We will sort that out very quickly indeed, I'm hoping. The concern will be, obviously, in all of this, whether, once again, this is the nature of a lone wolf attack, whether this is a random attack, or whether this passage is something far more serious as being an organized full frontal attack. And let's remember why. First of all, we have Charlie Hebdo, which happened in Paris, the attack. Then we have the ISIS attack or a terrorist at the Stade de France with other multiple explosions that took place in Paris. Then you have the appalling truck that plowed through tourists in Nice in the south of France. And you have a series of arrests, which have taken place in recent weeks, in Paris of those who are either ISIS or ISIS sympathizers or those who are known to have had terrorist connections. Putting all this together, and you start to see why what we are witnessing in Paris tonight is of the gravest seriousness. The attacker in Paris has been shot dead. A policeman has also been killed. And the entire center of Paris, as you can see, is in a lockdown situation with one dead and one wounded. On Sunday, the first round in the presidential election takes place. It is the most bitter election that has happened in many a year with more than a dozen candidates. And crucially, neither of the two traditional parties look like they are going to win, or at least not win the first round. That looks like it is going to be won possibly the independent Emmanuel Macron or possibly by Marine Le Pen, the far right wing National Front candidate. Whoever, of course, the top two, whether it's Le Pen and Macron that are the top two, they both go on to the second round which is in May. Olivier Royant is the editor-in-chief at Paris Match. Olivier, can you hear me? [Olivier Royant, Editor-in-chief, Paris Match:] Yes, I can hear you. [Quest:] Right. Describe the scene. What is happening in Paris tonight? [Royant:] Apparently, about one hour ago, two people were shot in the middle of the Champs-Elysees. They opened fire on a policeman. It's very difficult to say right now if it is an act of terrorism or an organized crime attack. Apparently, there is still a police operation going on. What happened, right now, one policeman is dead and one other policeman is very severely injured and one of the gunmen was killed. What is not very clear right now is there is the possibility there is a second shooter, and the second gunman went somewhere. Maybe in the parking. Maybe in the Marks and Spencer store in the middle of the Champs- Elysees because there are many policemen there. There are snipers on the roofs, and the police operation is still going on. [Quest:] Olivier, of course, we do not know whether this is terror related or criminal. I know that's a fine distinction, arguably, but you know what I mean, is this a crime that's gone wrong or is this a terrorist assault at a most sensitive time. [Royant:] There was already an organized attack on the Champs-Elysees earlier this year. So, that's why they are not showing the option right now. But the question is, is it the following operation as we saw in Marseille? We know there will be a very important vote in France three days from now. What happens in Marseille, is there a second act of what happened in Marseille, they arrested two terrorists in Marseille, and maybe the second half of this operation. We don't know yet. [Quest:] But the extraordinary thing, Olivier, is that bearing in mind the various attacks in France, including oh course as you say, the operation in Marseille to which I referred to a moment ago Paris must have been on the highest alert tonight. [Royant:] I was there three hours ago. I was exactly at this place three hours ago. I must say there are many policemen in this area. I mean the two gunmen, who were shooting in there, it's like the 32nd company of security. They are at this time, at any moment you have dozens of policemen in the Champs-Elysees. These people were already on the highest alert. The Champs-Elysees is one of the most important area to protect in France, because it is the most visible. You have people, you have tourists, you have thousands of tourists at any time of the day or night. They're taking pictures of themselves in front of the Arc de Triomphe. And this is an area that is already on alert. There on the highest alert, because I must say, it is one of the most protected area in France. [Quest:] Olivier, this is almost an impossible question, forgive me for asking it, but I've got to go there. Doesn't an event like this tonight so close to Sunday's vote, does it have an effect, do you think? [Royant:] There could be an effect, yes. One of the main themes of the election was about terrorism security. And you know that there are already at this point, three days before the election, about 30 percent of the voters who don't know what will be, what kind of vote they will be casting on Sunday. So, there's a tremendous amount of uncertainty around this election. And after what happened in Marseille two days ago and what's going on today, yes, there may be a big debate. And you have to understand that there are very few people policeman killed in France. In 2015, there were only six policemen killed in mission. This is a very important event. And tomorrow the French people will wake up with one policeman killed. This is an emotion among the people. [Quest:] Olivier, we're very grateful that you've given us that perspective tonight, thank you, sir. I know you have other duties to attend to with your own publication. Olivier Royant, the editor-in-chief of "Paris Match," putting that into perspective. Our correspondent Melissa Bell is with me now. Melissa, I know that balcony where you're standing. I know it well. But for viewers who are not as familiar with the CNN bureau, perhaps you might start off telling us where you are and put it into perspective for where the scene of the crime is. [Melissa Bell, Cnn Paris Correspondent:] We are of course, Richard, on this balcony immediately looking over the Champs-Elysees. I'm just going to show you the scene down there right now. Still a massive police operation under way. The helicopter continues to swirl overhead. You can see dozens of police vans out there at the location of that incident. It was just over an hour and a half ago now. We heard what had sounded like gunshots, assumed it was fireworks. Very quickly of course, the Champs-Elysees was entirely closed down. And we now know what's happened since we had it confirmed by France's interior ministry. We now though that a car pulled up outside one of those police vans that patrol the Champs-Elysees, of course day in and day out. We still remain under a state of emergency in this country as a result of the terrorist attacks. The Champs-Elysees, as you were hearing a moment ago, one of the most carefully, closely patrolled parts of France and of Paris in particular. It is always full of hundreds of tourists and locals milling up and down the street, full of cars as well, pull of police vans. It was outside one of those police vans Park halfway up the Champs-Elysees there that this car pulled up and began shooting at the police. We now have had confirmed the fact that one policeman was killed. Two others were wounded. And that assailant of course was taken down. Those are the facts as they've been confirmed to us tonight. As I say, we heard the gunshots when they happened and assumed at the time it must be fireworks. Of course, France on high alert, as close as we are to this presidential election. As you were hearing a moment ago, these images of the Champs- Elysees, shutdown, lockdown with this massive police operation, are bound to play into that national dialogue that continues up until that vote on Sunday. [Quest:] I mean, wherever way, and we can speculate to our hearts' content, whichever way this goes, if it becomes terrorism in the ISIS sense, that has an effect on the election. If it's just sheer brute criminality, a robbery gone wrong, wanton violence, that has an effect. If there is an immigration element to it, that has an effect. Whichever way this goes, Melissa, you know, one politician or other stands to gain. [Bell:] And one politician in particular springs to mind, of course, Richard, the far right's Marine Le Pen, who has portrayed herself not only as the one who would put an end to immigration, as the one who would take on Islamist extremism, but as the law and order candidate. So, you're right, whichever way this plays out and whatever the nature of this attack here tonight that we now know to have happened on the Champs-Elysees, this will almost certainly play into her hands in the last few days of campaigning. As we head into what was already looking like a crucial election with huge amounts of French people still undecided about how they're going to vote. We have yet to know which of the two it is. Was this was crime? Was this terror-related? The police have said as much, they say they are looking into both possibilities and they have not ruled out either. But I just like to point out, that it had been a while since we had seen a major attack here in France. What we have seen with startling regular regularity have been much smaller scale attacks. And the last two, both Orly attack of just a couple of weeks ago, and the one in the Louvre when a man armed with machetes had attacked police the soldiers on patrol. The last [Quest:] Melissa, forgive me, I'm interrupting you, I'm going to the White House where the President of the United States is with the Prime Minister of Italy. Let's listen to see what they are saying. [Reporter:] Prime Minister, you talked just a moment ago about your commitment to NATO. President Trump would like to see all NATO members contribute 2 percent of their GDP to NATO. Your contribution is slightly less than 1 percent. Will you commit to committing 2 percent of your GDP to the alliance going forward? Thank you. [Donald Trump, U.s. President:] First of all, I love the question you asked the Prime Minister. I look forward to his answer. Because I'm going to be asking him that same question very soon. Well, first of all, our condolences from our country to the people of France. Again, it's happening, it seems. I just saw it as I was walking in. So, it's a terrible thing. It's a very, very terrible thing that's going on in the world today. But it looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say? It just never end. We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant. I've been saying it for a long time. As far as North Korea is concerned, we are in very good shape. We're building a military rapidly. A lot of things have happened over the last short period of time. I've been here for approximately 91 days. We're doing a lot of work. We're in very good position. We're going to see what happens. I can't ask answer your question on stability. I hope the answer is a positive one, not a negative one. But hopefully that will be something that gets taken care of. I have great respect for the President of China, as you know we had a great summit in Florida, in Palm Beach, and got to know each other. And I think like each other. From my at some point, I liked him very much, I respect him very much, and I think he's working very hard. I can say that all of the pundits out there are saying they never have seen China work like they're working right now. Many coal ships have sent back, many other things have happened. Some very unusual moves have been made over the last two or three hours. And I really have confidence that the President will try very hard. We don't know whether or not they're able to do that. But I have absolute confidence that he will be trying very, very hard. And one of the reasons that we're talking about trade deals and we're talking about all of the different things, but we're slowing up a little bit, I actually told him, I said, you'll make a much better deal on trade if you get rid of this menace or do something about the menace of North Korea. Because that's what it is, it's a menace right now. So, we'll see what happens. As far as Iran is concerned, I think they are doing a tremendous disservice to an agreement that was signed. It was a terrible agreement. It shouldn't have been signed. It shouldn't have been negotiated the way it was negotiated. I'm all for agreements, but that was a bad one. As bad as I've ever seen negotiated. They are not living up to the spirit of the agreement. I can tell you that. And we're analyzing it very, very carefully. And we'll have something to say about it in the not too distant future. But Iran has not lived up to the spirit of the agreement. And they have to do that. They have to do that. So, we will see what happens. Thank you very much. [Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister Of Italy:] Thank you, Mr. President. [through translator]: first of all, allow me to join president Trump's words about what happened in Paris, words of condolences and closeness to the French people. And this is a very delicate period for them, it's just two days from the election. As far as the question is concerned, the commitment has been made. It was made during a NATO summit. And we are used to respecting our commitments. [Quest:] So, as you can see, two major stories taking place at the moment. You've obviously got the Prime Minister of Italy along with President Trump at the White House, a reminder, President Trump just said giving his condolences to the people of France, and then going on to say, looks like a terror act. He said, what can you say, it never ends. Cyril Vanier joins me now the CNN center. Those words, when taken with what we know to be the history of terror attacks in France at the moment. The President's right. [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, and I'll tell you a lot of French people, and I lived there my whole life until a couple of months ago, a lot of French people agree with that. And in no small part due to the fact that all political leaders of all stripes recently have been saying it's going to continue. At least to some extent. There is no zero-risk policy that we can implement. Now, of course, this has been one of the major topics of the campaign, heading into this first round of voting in the French presidential election. That's something our viewers have got to bear in mind, those two things are coinciding, the attack plus a heated moment in French politics. And a lot of people are thinking, Yes, it is not going to end. As a result, some people have been adapting their style of life. The Champs-Elysees was believed, by many Parisians, to be one of the obvious targets for would be terrorists. [Quest:] Stay with me, because you're watching CNN's coverage tonight of the events taking place in Paris. And of course, as you might expect from the world's news leader, we have full coverage. Cyril Vanier, who has lived in Paris all his life is with me at the CNN center. Hala Gorani is also with me to put it in context. Melissa Bell is in Paris overlooking the Champs- Elysees. Ladies and gentlemen, jump in when there is something you've learned to contribute. Don't necessarily wait to be asked. Hala, what are you hearing from Paris? We'll come to you, Melissa, in a second. Hala, what are you hearing from your sources? [Hala Gorani, Cnn Correspondent:] So, what we're hearing is that a French interior ministry spokesperson is actually speaking to CNN and giving us some sense of what happened. It appears as though someone in a car pulled up to a police van, emerged from the car, and fired at the police van with a, quote, automatic weapon. We don't know if it's an AK or some other automatic weapon. And killing one police officer, wounding two police officers, according to this source. This is at the 102 Champs-Elysees level, this is a part of Paris, obviously, anyone who's visited the city knows it very well. It's a central, obviously, tourism and tourist spot, you know, you have movie theaters and restaurants. All of that, by the way, sealed off right now, Richard. Now, police responded and killed the attacker. So hopefully this is a contained incident. We're looking at [Quest:] Hala? [Gorani:] Yes? [Quest:] I'm told you've got to go, you may not know this yet, you've got a train to catch. You're on your way to Paris. [Gorani:] Indeed, and in fact, because I want to put this in context before I head out. I also want to put this in context, there is an extremely important, probably the most important European political event this year, and that is the French election, presidential election on Sunday. This incident is going to heighten tension. It's going to make people more nervous. They already are extremely nervous in France. And this is going to become once again a political issue. Most often embraced by the far- right candidate, Marine Le Pen, who is equating this general climate of insecurity with mass immigration and the radicalization of France's Muslins. This is something she certainly will bring up. There's a big political event on television. And that's all happening within the context of a very important political race on Sunday, and then two weeks later for the runoff, Richard. [Quest:] Off you go, and catch the last Eurostar, Hala, traffic will be dreadful in London tonight, travel safely to Paris. Melissa Bell, you are already in Paris, overlooking the Champs-Elysees. I mean, I'm guessing at this moment, Melissa, nobody can I mean, it's tempting to say, look, this is obviously terror. This is obviously a classic terror attack, but that might be naive of me to suggest that with such certitude. [Bell:] What we tend to find in these moments, and we've seen these sorts of attacks continue with great regularity over the course of the last few months, even if they've been smaller in their scale, that we saw over the course of the last couple of years, Richard, is that the authorities are very careful about calling it terror. They've already said we are not ruling anything out, this could be terror, this could be criminal. Now just to pick up on what Hala was saying a moment ago, we are of course, in this election period. We're really just a couple of days away from this crucial vote, and already two of the candidates, you were talking earlier about the way this would play into the narrative of some of those who portray themselves as the candidates of law and order, Marine Le Pen for the far-right, of course, but also the Republican candidate, Francois Fillon, both are on stage tonight with all 11 candidates for a big candidate debate. Both though have already found time to tweet about what's happened, paying respect to the dedication of the men and women who police France's streets, and paying their condolences, of course, for the policeman who lost his life tonight. So already this is an issue that is being seized on by the politicians. This is something that is going to be talked about a great deal over the next couple of days. We are talking, let me remind you, Richard, about an election in which a third of French voters have yet to make up their minds. What we're seeing on the Champs-Elysees tonight, and I just like to show you the latest pictures, you can see the police operations still under way down there. A huge police presence. Not just at that end of the Champs- Elysees but also at the other, which you can't see there on those pictures. The police operation continues, very impressive images here tonight of a Champs-Elysees completely deserted of anything other than police presence. This image is what's going to play into the election over the course of the next couple of days, Richard. [Quest:] I'm going to let you make a few phone calls, Melissa, but don't go too far away, please. Will come back to you. Sajjan Gohel is on Skype, the international security director of the Asia Pacific Foundation. Hopefully you are with me to talk about there you are. So now I see you. Look, early days, but what do you think? Organized terror, or crime? [Sajjan Gohel, International Security Director, Asia Pacific Foundation:] Certainly, when we see an incident in Paris, we're reminded about the attack in 2015, the marauding plot that was orchestrated by ISIS. It's important to remember there have been a host of plots since then across France, not just in Paris. ISIS has specifically mentioned the country. And there have been also, which is a worrying dynamic, is there have been a lot of plots against the police in particular. In fact, ISIS has openly talked about making the police a target. And we've seen some that have been disrupted by the French authorities, unfortunately there have been others that have succeeded. There are other groups in France. There are other concerns, the far-right, for example. But we have to wait and see what this is. I am concerned it could be another ISIS plot. [Quest:] Right, but if you bear in mind that two days ago, the authorities arrested two men in Marseille, in what the authorities say was an imminent and violent attack or planning an imminent and violent attack, do you see any connection with what might have been a frustrated attack elsewhere, linking to what we're seeing in Paris tonight? [Gohel:] Again, if it's connected to ISIS, then they're using this tactic called just terror. Which is nothing sophisticated or elaborate. It is simply an opportunity to carry out an attack, one in a symbolic location, like the Champs-Elysees. One which would carry a lot of media attention, and the oxygen of publicity. And one which involves targeting the police. We've seen so many plots recently. Most recently in fact, the incident at Westminster where a British police officer, a farmer was killed. France itself has had plots where their officers have been targeted. Unfortunately, this looks like another incident. [Quest:] Right, but professor, look, I mean, on this point, and let's just develop it a fraction further if we may. And I accept that we don't know and there's an element of speculation in what we're talking about, but that's the nature of the beast here. Charlie Hebdo was a well-planned, horrifically but well-executed attack. The same could be said for the statue at Place and the Jewish supermarket that also is in France. And then you end up with the Nice truck, the Berlin truck, the Westminster truck. And if we look at what's happened here, there couldn't have been much option other than death for the assailant who got out a gun, got out of a car, got out with a gun and started shooting at the police. [Gohel:] Right. And that's what's being described as what they call an Inghimasi attack. That's not a suicide attack. Inghimasi technically means to plunge into the enemy, to kill as many people as possible. That is an ISIS trait. They don't believe in necessarily acting as suicide bombers but to kill as many people, preferably police officers, and then die in a hail of bullets. Some of the plots you mention, sometimes the actors were different. Charlie Hebdo involved Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. The Paris marauding attack was certainly ISIS itself. But that was a directed plot. Sometimes what you're seeing is encouraged, assisted plots, where you have individuals online communicating with those that are inspired by ISIS or heed the call. Give them encouragement, direction as to what kind of targets to go after. Sometimes it's the simpler target that's harder for the authorities to disrupt. Because it's just one or two individuals, less leakage of information. [Quest:] Stay with me, professor. I do need you with me. We've also got Melissa Bell. But I want to go to Cyril who's at the CNN center. Marine Le Pen has tweeted, "My sentiments and solidarity to our armed forces, targeted again." Now look, Frenchman that you are, you know Paris, it's your home, it's like the back of your hand. What will the French people be thinking tonight? Mass generalization, but you know what I'm asking. [Vanier:] Yes, Richard, I'm going to get to your question in a second, but first of all an answer to your previous question of whether this was a criminal attack or a terrorist attack, we now know that the French counterterrorism prosecutor's office is opening an investigation into this. This is at least the beginning of an answer coming from the French authorities. That means [Quest:] Cyril, stop there. Stop there, sir. I'm going straight back to Melissa Bell in Paris. This is breaking news. Melissa, what do you know that you need to tell us? [Bell:] What we now know, and this is a question that we've been asking ourselves ever since this began, Richard. Was this terror related? Did the man who pull his car up outside that police van and began shooting before he himself was shot by the police, although not before he killed a policeman, was it terror-related? Was this a criminal act? We now know that it was terror-related, France has opened a terror investigation, which is in the French legal system how they confirm to us that that is their belief, that this was terror-related. We now have that answer, which adds another layer of course to this narrative that's going to play into the French presidential election in just a couple of days. As I was saying to you earlier, we've heard from Marine Le Pen, from the Republican candidate Francois Fillon. Paying tribute to the authorities. This was always going to be about law and order. It's now become about terrorism once again. [Quest:] All right, Melissa, thank you, stay there. Stay with me. When you've got more. So, you were just alluding to what Melissa has just reported. That this is because of the way the French prosecutor has opened a terror-related investigation. So, the question still remains, what will the, for want of a better word, the man and woman on the Leon omnibus make of what's happening in Paris tonight? [Vanier:] France is a very a lot of the candidates running right now are very polarizing. Marine Le Pen is the candidate who has positioned herself to gain politically from this kind of event. She will go on radio and TV and has been doing so incessantly four months saying, "If I had been president over the last few years, not all but a number if not many of these terrorist attacks would have been averted thanks to my policies." She has an array of policies she says would cut down the number of terrorist attacks, linked to the fact that she wouldn't allow a certain number in certain categories of immigrants into the country. Link to the fact that she would have stripped people who have a dual French and other nationality of their French nationality. Linked also to the fact that she would have deported some foreign some immigrants who have a criminal background. She would have deported those people. She goes and looks at the history of the last 2 12 years of terror attacks in France and she sort of picks out some of the cases where she says those would have been avoided because those individuals would not have been under the country under my policies, had I been president. [Quest:] Cyril, stay with me. Perhaps stating the obvious here, but the U.S. State Department has advised Americans to avoid the Champs-Elysees, tweeting, "If you're in #Paris, monitor local news, #Champs-Elysees has been closed, authorities are telling people to avoid the area after a shooting." Somewhat after the horse has bolted, one might suggest. Thierry Arnaud is anchor and correspondent for BFMTV. He joins me on the line. Can you hear me, sir? [Thierry Amaud, Anchor And Correspondent, Bfmtv:] Yes, I can, Richard, how are you? [Quest:] Well, obviously, that's more of a question to ask yourself tonight. What do you make of what's happening? Terror? So, according to the prosecutor's office, an investigation into terror. Please, how does this play into what is the bitterest, most hard fought presidential election in recent memory? [Amaud:] Well, first of all, the timetable being what it is, Richard, if it is indeed terrorism, it would have been also clear to assume that the alleged terrorist would have the presidential election in mind. The first round of the presidential election is coming this Sunday. Tomorrow is the last official day for campaigning. And obviously, the Champs-Elysees is the symbol of France known worldwide. So, it is clearly the intention of whoever committed these attacks, if indeed they are terror attacks, to try and bring terrorism back to the front page. I should add also that a couple of threats were made on Tuesday. A couple of individual alleged terrorists as well, were on the verge of committing several imminent attacks, and with presidential candidates as targets. Yesterday evening I was in Marseille attending the rally of Marine Le Pen. I can tell you I've never seen such security around a political candidate in France. There were tens of police vehicles, hundreds of police around this particular rally. It was already before this attack there was already a tense atmosphere around this presidential election. [Quest:] We've just seen a picture we've just been looking at a picture, I don't know if we've still got it, of the Champs-Elysees. Which is which I'm calling up again from our director, because it shows I mean, this picture of the Champs-Elysees, with the Arc de Triomphe in the distance there we go. Fill of police vehicles. Four days or two or three days 96 hours or whatever it is before an election this is absolutely devastating for the national psyche in France tonight, isn't it, Thierry? [Amaud:] It is certainly very worrying. We're at the peak of the presidential campaign, as you rightly point out. As we speak, Richard, which makes the whole event even more surreal to some extent, there is a television broadcast tonight on the French public television where every presidential candidate, and there is 11 of them, is being interviewed live for 15 minutes, one after the other. And they are basically asked to comment on the ongoing events. It is obviously not a very comfortable situation for them to be in. But it was certainly the purpose of what happened tonight, to put them in this very difficult position, and to put fear into the French electorate as well. [Quest:] Thierry, thanks for joining us from BFNTV. I know you have duties to attend to for your own for your network covering what is obviously the largest story. I'm grateful you took the time to talk to us tonight. Christine Ockrent, is with me. A French journalist, is also on the line with me. Christine, you're making the point tonight that Paris isn't under siege. And I take your point. But at the same time, surely you can't deny the very serious images that we're seeing tonight. [Christine Ockrent, Journalist:] Of course, Richard, and I'm watching them as you're commenting on them. Obviously, as my friend just said, the apex of the presidential campaign. And you have all our presidential candidates having to comment upon this latest attack, which is supposedly a terrorist attack, and quite obviously one as well. But the strange mood in the country, having been under the state of emergency for more than 16 months now, people have somehow gotten used to seeing the military with machine guns in the street. And obviously, there's a great deal of concern about security. But it is not as if the whole country is under siege. That's the point I'm trying to make. Remarkably, people are keeping very cool. It's an important point to stress. [Quest:] They're keeping their cool in the face of a series of attacks of which tonight is one, where they seemingly have little ability to prevent. And that's really the issue tonight, isn't it? [Ockrent:] Yes, indeed. But there was they have been obviously many terrorist attacks which have been prevented, and one such attack was prevented days ago in Marseille, which the conservative candidate was having a meeting. And so, the investigation has been opened on what just happened at the Champs-Elysees tonight. Is it related to what these two guys in Marseille were actively preparing? Is it another individual acting on his own? It's too early to tell. But obviously, this latest event in the Champs-Elysees tonight is indeed adding to the extreme tension surrounding this forthcoming presidential election. [Quest:] Christine, thanks for joining us in Paris. It is just after half past the hour. Allow me to remind you of the main news this evening. One policeman has been killed, another seriously injured, and several more people have been injured, in an attack in the French capital, Paris, tonight. According to the authorities, the Champs-Elysees in Paris is closed, as they work out exactly the details of what has taken place. The American embassy in Paris is warning Americans to stay away from the Champs-Elysees at the moment. At the same time, the candidates for the presidential election have been tweeting their reaction to this attack, reacting to the Paris shooting, Marine Le Pen has tweeted, "My sentiments and solidarity to our armed forces, targeted again." We have full coverage of this as it's continuing tonight. Cyril Vanier is with me from the CNN center, and professor Gohel, joining me by Skype. Professor, the announcement by the prosecutor, that they are investigating the potential for this to be terror, obviously doesn't mean it is terror. But it is giving but to an expert like yourself, what does it tell you? [Gohel:] Well, it's a significant development, that they've been able to announce this so quickly. The thing is they will now want to look at was this connected to the plot that was disrupted in Marseille recently. And they will also perhaps want to look at, is this now part of a series of plots designed to hit France, especially at this very sensitive time politically with the upcoming presidential elections? Because it does appear that the aim is to create panic, fear, uncertainty, and we have seen terrorism in the past actually decide the outcome of elections. I'm thinking of the 2004 Madrid train bombings in which those in the government at the time were expected to win and they ended up losing the election because of the way they handled that particular attack. [Quest:] Stay with me, professor. Let me remind you what the French spokesmen say. Jim Bittermann is with me. Jim, the police say a car stopped in front of a police van. A man emerged from the car, opened fire with an automatic weapon. One policeman was killed, two injured. The police returned fire and killed the attacker. We're looking at a map of the scene of the crime. No word if the attacker was a man or a woman. Tell me where you are and what you are seeing. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Richard, we've just been pushed off the Champs-Elysees. The Champs-Elysees is right behind me. I'm on a perpendicular street here which gives on to the Champs-Elysees. We're expecting that perhaps a government minister or two may be headed this direction, and for that reason they may be providing plenty of security. As you reported, there were three police officers involved in this, one who was killed and two who were injured. And the attacker apparently stopped parallel to this police van. It's not unusual to see police vans along the Champs-Elysees, they're here all the time. At 102 Champs-Elysees, which would be up the street here. And in fact, the gunman got out and shot. We talked to a couple of eyewitnesses, one of whom said he heard several shots fired and that everybody panicked and ran for cover, as did he. And more than that, he didn't really know. So, the fact is, until the police give us some more information what's interesting of course is that the prosecutor's office, the terrorism prosecutor's office, has opened an investigation, they're classing this as a terrorism incident. And from that I think we can deduce that this was some kind of a targeted attack on the police officers. [Quest:] OK. So, this nature of the attack, and our guest from the BFN TV was saying earlier, the timing, when you have all the candidates with 15- minute presentations on national television tonight, 90-odd hours, as you were telling me earlier today, before the first round, Jim, it beggars belief perhaps to assume that it is anything other than an attack on the presidential election. [Bittermann:] I think that's correct. And, you know, one of the things that we heard earlier this week was the thwarted attack down in Marseille. And that was directed, apparently, at the political campaigns. The political campaigns were warned just under a week ago, it was actually last Friday, the political campaigns were warned that there might be people out and about wanting to attack the candidates themselves. And photos of the two men who were arrested in Marseille were circulated among the security forces of the various candidates. There certainly was suspicion here that somebody was trying to disrupt the presidential campaign. This could be part of that plot. Certainly, that's what the police will be looking into, I think. [Quest:] All right, Jim Bittermann, who is in Paris, he's just on the side of the Champs-Elysees. The pictures tonight are absolutely I suppose they are devastating on one level, bearing in mind there is an election taking place. Just look at the magnitude of that picture that we're showing you tonight. The Champs-Elysees, a sea of flashing blue lights, as thousands of security forces, police and military and the like, deal with what is seemingly an attack on the democratic process, a policeman being shot in cold blooded murder, let's call it for what it is, it's cold blooded murder. The guy got out of a car, went up to the police, shot several of them, shot one of them dead, injured another, and then was killed himself in return fire. So, having just put it in such stark terms to you, who benefits politically? I don't mean they make hay from this. I'm just talking about the natural order of the political process where one party versus another will have policies that the electorate will find more appealing as a result of tonight. [Vanier:] You're absolutely right to ask it, Richard. To what extent do French people believe that it is possible to prevent all these terror attacks? Insofar as they believe it's possible to prevent these attacks, they will want to go for the candidate who is the law and order candidate, and Melissa Bell was telling us that's very much Marine Le Pen, and that's true. But there are a lot of French people, and I lived there all my life until a few months ago, who just see this as something that's very, very difficult indeed to prevent. Whether it's the center left, the center right, or pretty much anyone across the political spectrum, those attacks are going to happen, because it's not an outside force that you can prevent just by putting soldiers at the border of France and its neighboring countries. That's what makes it so difficult to protect, police, prevent. The other question is to what extent the French people believe this is preventable. There is a lot of criticism heaped on President Hollande, but it doesn't have a lot to do with terrorism, it has to do with the economic conditions in the country. [Quest:] Professor, please answer Cyril's question. To what extent is this preventable? I know we don't know who is responsible, who the assailant was, is this immigrant related, or as we've seen on many occasions, to use the rather unfortunate phrase, home ground terror? [Goehl:] It's a multifaceted problem. I was hearing some of the French commentators that you were talking to earlier, they were giving important analysis. What was particularly sad about it is they were describing this as effectively the new normal, this is something that France has got used to. One of the problems has been that the attacks and the plots are more simple. They're not necessarily very sophisticated. And therefore, the ability to execute them rapidly has become easier for the terrorists. It's uphill treadmill for the authorities. The other problem is that a lot of these terrorists are going through the Schengen zone, going through various countries unhindered, without any restrictions. That makes it really hard to try and get a picture as to how they're communicating, how they're traveling, and also the other expect is they're using encrypted data to get a message out from one individual to another. And unfortunately, the other aspect is that France and Belgium have very much become the hub for ISIS operations. Many of the plots we've seen that get a lot of attention like the marauding attack in Paris, but there are other incidents that don't get a lot of attention. But there is a continuing terrorist activity going on in France, most are disrupted, one or two get through, like what happened today. [Quest:] Thank you, professor. Cyril, did you have something to tell us? [Vanier:] Richard, pursuant to that conversation, I think a lot of the political impact of this is going to depend on who the assailant turns out to be, and what his specific or her specific circumstance turns out to be. Why do I say this? If the person was for instance a first generation immigrant or a dual national or the person is somebody from another European country who just crossed the border undetected into Paris to carry out this attack, then marine le pen is going to be able to point to her policy platform that she has been touting for month s in no uncertain terms and say, look, that person would have been deported under my policies, or wouldn't have been able to get into France in the first place because I would have had more effective border patrol, or would have been stripped of his or her nationality and wouldn't have become French. If that is the case, that can definitely help Marine Le Pen. [Quest:] Cyril, stay with me. The editor in chief of "Paris Match," you were telling me that you were in this part of Paris earlier this evening. What are your sources telling you now about what the latest thinking is of what's taken place tonight? [Royant:] I think what we are witnessing tonight is what happened at the Louvre museum a month ago, which means one of the main messages and ISIS was to target uniformed forces and to make people act on their own, with a knife or with a gun or with a rifle gun or with a Kalashnikov. We've known for months now the uniformed forces, policemen, the military, are being targeted. The media were targeted by ISIS earlier with "Charlie Hebdo." we had police protection for a year. Now the first target was a policeman, the scenario tonight looks like what happened at the Louvre a month ago. This seems to be unpreventable. I was at the Champs-Elysees at 6:00 p.m. tonight. Now everybody, when they enter a store, they're sick. [Quest:] The prime minister has just tweeted, paying homage to the policeman killed on the Champs-Elysees, thoughts are with his family, solidarity with his injured colleagues, and those close to him. Remember, of course, with London, Westminster, the murder of a police officer is an eternally grave matter. It hits people very hard. And I think, as you were telling me earlier, this is a very rare occurrence in France at the moment. I'm not sure Olivier is still with me. [Royant:] Yes. Richard, I was telling you in 2015 there were only six policemen being killed. Every time a policeman is being killed, it's a major event. You have to understand that all these policemen, they know under tremendous pressure over the last year and a half because of the state of emergency. They didn't take holidays, it didn't go on vacation. These people have been working almost uninterrupted for all these months. They are tired, and of course being the target of terrorists is a major situation now. [Quest:] Right. Another tweet has been coming from a presidential candidate tonight. The leftist candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon tweeted, "my thoughts are with the policemen dead and injured and their families." This is interesting because Melenchon comes off the fence here. "Terrorist acts will never remain unpunished, accomplices not forgotten." Coming from Melenchon who has stormed in from the left, managed to rail his way to potential victory or at least getting into the next round. What do you make of that tweet tonight? [Royant:] I think that you have two kinds of candidates in this election. You have the candidates who have experience, for example Francois Fillon is able to present himself as a former prime minister. He has been mandating the army and the police. On the other side, Macron is a former policeman. People outside of the system, like Marine Le Pen or Melenchon, the populist forces in this campaign, they have no experience of dealing with terrorism. So, their position is to say we from Marine Le Pen, we should reduce immigration. The moment she's elected, she says she will stop illegal immigration. I think for Jean-Luc Melenchon, it is a difficult problem because he has no experience in government. It will be an obvious point to [Quest:] The only thing I would say on that point, here in the United States, no experience in government has clearly not been a bar to reaching the top position. But your point is very well-taken, Olivier, thank you. Stay with us if you can. I do understand you have your own reporting to do for "Paris Match," we are very grateful. Jim Bittermann is with us. Jim, you're just off the Champs-Elysees. Tell us exactly where you are and who you've got with you. [Bittermann:] We're just off the Champs-Elysees. We've been cleared by police off the Champs-Elysees. I have somebody who is the head of security for the Garland perfume store. I'll have to speak to him in French and translate. [speaking in French to security head of store] At 8:45, he was in the store and heard a couple of shots. He saw people running away. He in fact closed the store right away. And then allowed people to come in, if they wanted to, to be safe from whatever was happening outside. He heard there was some shots fired, and he basically heard the helicopters as well. So, he knew something was going on. I'm asking if there's going to be any difference in the security now. He said that for some time now they've been in this emergency situation, and they've been taking extra care, checking bags and whatnot as people come into the store. [Quest:] Jim? Jim, don't let him oh, too late. [Bittermann:] He just left, I'm sorry. [Quest:] I wanted to know how he factored it into the election, obviously, of what's happening. That was fascinating. That was fascinating to hear, because once again, we are getting a window into one of the world's principal capital cities that is being rocked once again by an attack, which one perhaps presumptively assumes could be terror. [Bittermann:] I think you can't say it any other way than that, Richard. The fact is, once again this is going to make the people on the streets nervous. This street, people certainly feel a fair amount of confidence, there are so many police and armed patrols up and down the Champs-Elysees, it's the heart of Paris, certainly the commercial heart of Paris. For that reason, people feel more secure here. Now, after this, a gunman pulls up in a car and attacks people themselves, it will have a jarring effect, I'm sure. In terms of the elections, it's hard to say how this will play out, but it does play into the hands of those people who advocate tighter security and control. And as Cyril was saying, the idea that if it turns out this this gunman was an immigrant, asylum seeker or someone like that, it will really play into the hands of the far right. Almost all the candidates have been very tough on security, not all of them. Some of the far-left people have not been that tough on security. But most of the candidates have been saying things, that the police need to be supported and the state of emergency needs to be continued, and that sort of thing. I think they're all expressing solidarity this evening when they heard that a policeman had been killed and two others injured. [Quest:] France, one of the peculiar things about France from a government and indeed from an economic point of view, more so than other European countries, is the centrality of Paris. Economically, government-wise, just in terms of the sheer size of the city vis-a-vis other cities. And so much more of France revolves around the capital, one might arguably say in Germany with Berlin or more arguably than Spain with Madrid. [Bittermann:] Reporter: exactly, Richard. This is not only the economic capital, it's not only the cultural capital, it's not only the political capital. It's all of these. An attack in Paris attacks all those things at once. When you had the world trade center in New York, it was an economic hit, it was against the capitalists of the world or whatever. But in any case, here, if you strike at Paris you're able to hit all the various aspects of human life, because this is such a central clearinghouse. The French, out in the provinces away from Paris, complain about this all the time, that Paris is such a center that all the trains go through Paris, only recently have they created PGVs that go across the country. It's very much a centralized country, and as such, an attack here makes the capital very, very vulnerable, Richard. [Quest:] Jim Bittermann, thank you, Jim. I'll leave you to get on with your news gathering duties and find more people who have seen something and who can give us more insight. So, at the CNN center, Paris is your home or at least it was until you moved to the southern United States. Forget the analysis. Give me your gut reaction. What do you make of it, what are you thinking as you see your city in turmoil tonight? [Vanier:] My gut reaction, I have to work pretty hard at keeping the journalism and the gut reaction separate. When I was told to come on set here, even as I was doing that and putting on the earpiece, I was also getting in touch with my wife who just traveled to Paris today. That's not just my story, that's the story of everybody who has a relative in Paris, everybody who lives in Paris. How many times individual to do that over the last 2 12 years, check whether my sister is OK, whether my dad happens to be there, when there was an attack at Orly airport, my dad was traveling, he was supposed to take a flight from that airport, 30 minutes before or after, he would have been maybe close to that incident where a policeman was shot at. So2 years, living in Paris, and it's not just Paris, it's France, because many attacks have taken place beyond the limits of the capital. It has just grown and grown. There's this tidal wave of attacks. When you're French, you know it's not a matter of if there's going to be another attack, it's a matter of when. It's what your gut tells you and it's what the officials tell you, the interior minister, the prime minister, they all say look, be ready because we're going to have more attacks, we've given police extended powers, we're under a state of emergency, but there will be more attacks. You were asking earlier about the politics of this and how this impacts the election, are French people blase by now as some of our guests, I believe it was Jim saying earlier, because they've seen so many of them, it's the new normal? Or is there a cumulative effect that really pushes their vote in one specific direction? [Quest:] I've got both Cyril and the professor Goehl, professor, stay with me please, but Cyril, a question to you, look, is it possible, voting for Marine Le Pen carries in some people's view a certain stigma, National Front, the right wing, fascists, the legacy of her father, anti-immigration and so on. But in a secret ballot after an event like tonight, is it am I out of the bounds of possibility to suggest people go into that ballot box, vote for somebody like marine le pen, thinking, well, I never thought I would do it but she might be the only answer for me tonight? [Vanier:] No, absolutely. It's not outside the bounds of possibility. It's a definite possibility, in fact. She is the prime candidate, if you want, to get votes out of this, because she has been campaigning along these lines, these law and order lines, these shut down the country lines, I'm going to protect you from all dangers including terrorism. She's been doing this not just for months. I mean, intellectual honest forces us to say this has been her thing for years. [Quest:] Cyril, stay with me. Professor Gohel, European leaders, they've got enough problems with politically and strategically, Brexit and the like, but security is the number one issue. Tonight, every European prime minister and president will be saying, there but for the grace of god go I, or my country, and are worried they are next. [Gohel:] 27 countries in the European Union. 26 if and when Britain eventually leaves. Each country has their own dilemma, they have their own nationals that have gone abroad to train with ISIS and Iraq and Syria. Some countries unfortunately have been more in the firing line and suffered the potential blowback, France being one of them. Also, Belgium. And Germany to a lesser extent, countries like Sweden and the United Kingdom. This is a European-wide problem. And unfortunately, it is something that the terrorists themselves are exploiting with the advent the new media, enabling them to communicate, traveling through the Schengen zone, which doesn't have any border restrictions, which is a European ideal, to make borders irrelevant. These are challenges that Europe unfortunately faces. [Quest:] Professor, thank you, Cyril, thank you, Cyril, stay with me. The pictures we're looking at now are obviously from the Champs-Elysees. Investigators, well, we believe, I'm not confirming, but it seems like it's a jolly good guess that this was the assailant's car, and you can now see the forensic staff taking a minute, covered in overalls, minute inspection of that vehicle. It's not confirmed but it's believed that is the vehicle that the assailant, the attacker jumped out of before firing at the police, killing one police officer, injuring another, and other people nearby before one of the policeman returned fire killing the assailant. We know no more than that tonight. Other than France once again faces the specter of terror. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn:] Happening now, breaking news Paris shooting. A gunman fires on a police van with an automatic weapon killing one police officer, injuring more before being taken down by police. What was the motive? The president's promise President Trump voices optimism on a new Republican move to repeal and replace Obamacare in an effort to avoid a government shutdown next week. Will congressional Republicans be able to deliver? High alert as U.S. and South Korean troops conduct drills. North Korea warns of a merciless preemptive strike that it claims would reduce America's military to ashes. Why is China now putting its war planes on high alert? And the Trump factor President Trump is silent so far on the stunning downfall of his long-time friend, Bill O'Reilly. After the president's strong defense of the former Fox Host against sexual harassment allegations, what are the political implications? I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in "The Situation Room." [Unidentified Male:] This is CNN breaking news. [Blitzer:] We're following breaking news a deadly shooting in Paris now being investigated as a possible terror attack. Officials there say a car pulled up next to a police van and open-fired with an automatic weapon. One police officer was killed. At least two others injured before the shooter was killed. Over at the White House, meanwhile, President trump just expressed condolences to France and said the shooting, quote, "looks like another terrorist attack." The president also criticized Iran, which he says is not living up to the spirit of the nuclear agreement. And he expressed confidence that China's president is working to contain what Mr. Trump calls the menace of North Korea. Also tonight, the Kim Jong-un regime is making new threats against the United States, vowing and I'm quoting now, "complete destruction that will lead the country in ashes." We're covering all of that much more this hour with our guest, including Congressman Ruben Gallego of the House Armed Services Committee and our correspondents and expert analysts are also standing by. Let's get straight to Paris, though, first on the breaking news. Our CNN International Correspondent, Melissa Bell, is on the scene for us. Melissa, this is an unfolding this is unfolding right now on on the city's busiest streets. Tell us the latest. [Melissa Bell, Cnn Correspondent:] The Champs-Elysees is still completely cut off, just over two hours after this attack took place. A lot of the details of what happened have been cleared up by authorities, you know. Since then we heard what we now know were these gunshots from up here on the CNN terrace overlooking, as you say, what is one of the busiest avenues in France, also one of the most heavily policed. Now, we are still under a state of emergency here in France as a result of the terrorist attacks of the last couple of years. The Champs-Elysees is, in particular, this iconic avenue in Paris, is always heavily policed. What we now know is that one of the many police vans who patrol this street, it was just outside of one of those police vans but that attacker pulled up in his car and opened fire, tragically killing one of those policemen, Wolf. Those are the facts. We now know also that France has opened an anti- terror investigation. The clearest indication so far, the French authorities believe this was terror-related. [Blitzer:] Melissa, the French elections are this Sunday the national elections. This clearly could have an impact. Explain the the possible impact. [Bell:] We are just a couple of days, as you say, from a presidential election that is likely to prove not just fundamentally redefining the future of France but that it was already proving extremely unpredictable. The specter of the far right has really hung over the race over the course of the last few months in the shape of Marine Le Pen, the far right leader. She has already tweeted out about this. She's really been presenting herself as the law and order candidate. Now, you have this extra layer of a terror investigation being opened. That also plays in to her narrative. The nature of who this suspect were and was and particularly, what his motivations were are going to be extremely important over the coming hours. And clearly, this election campaign, in which so many French voters, historic numbers, Wolf, of French voters have yet to make up their minds, is now going to be dominated in the last 48 hours by the images of the Champs-Elysees closed off tonight and by the death of that policeman at the hands of this attacker. What were his motivations, who was he? If it turns out that indeed this was terror-represented, Marine Le Pen is likely to really kind of use that in the run-up to the election and is likely to play into what was looking already like an extremely uncertain vote. [Blitzer:] Yes, we'll be watching every step of the way together with you. Melissa Bell in Paris for us, thank you very much. I want to bring in our Chief National Security Correspondent, Jim Sciutto. Jim, you're picking up some additional information. What else are you learning? [Jim Sciutto, Cnn Correspondent:] Wolf, it does appear that this assailant was previously known to French authorities, specifically, to the GDSI. That's the General Directorate for International Security in France, among whose duties is counterterrorism. That's not to definitively say that this was a terrorist attack because they are still investigating that. But it does appear that his identity was known prior to this. That, of course, is telling because this has been the case with many of these attacks. If you remember Charlie Hebdo, the Kouachi brothers who carried that attack out as well as some of the attackers to the Paris attacks in November 2015, prior known to French authorities, and the reason that's possible there is that they have so many Jihadis or suspected Jihadis or people tied to them, numbering in the thousands, which make it just impossible, frankly, for the French authorities to track all of them. Again, not a definitive answer they've opened a terror investigation. They don't know for sure the motivation of this. But we are learning that he was known prior to this attack to French authorities. The other point I would make, Wolf, is this, the police, sadly a frequent target of of these kinds of attention and certainly the Champs-Elysees, there have been a number of threats focused on the Champs- Elysees and amongst following the Paris attacks. [Blitzer:] You you were there in Paris during the November 2015 attacks. You were throughout the city. What does it tell you as someone who has covered these attacks in Paris that the police were specifically targeted today? [Sciutto:] It's a frequent target of groups like this. Again, if we leave if police find information to back up that this was an attack motivated by terrorism, but they are frequently frequently a target of attacks like that police authorities, official buildings, et cetera. And it does get to the wider point of the challenge that France has here. We've heard of a number of thwarted plots in advance of these presidential elections. But the trouble with counterterror and the same is true here in the U.S., you often don't hear about the plots that are thwarted. And there are many in both countries. Sadly, the ones that you do hear about are the ones that get through. And it is impossible as they say. The police have to be right all the all the time. And attackers like this only have to be right once. [Blitzer:] Jim Sciutto reporting for us. Thank you. President Trump, meanwhile, spoke about the situation in Paris just a little while ago during a news conference with Italy's visiting prime minister. Let's go to our Senior White House Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, you were there at the news conference. The president did comment on this incident in Paris. Tell us what he said. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] Wolf, he did indeed. The president in the east room offering his concern and condolences for the people of Paris, and perhaps getting out slightly ahead of the French authorities, he did not mince words. He said it looked like a terrorist attack. [Donald Trump, U.s. President:] First of all, our condolences from our country to the people of France. Again, it's happening it seems. I just saw it as I was walking in. So that's a terrible thing and I'd say very, very terrible thing that's going on in the world today. But it looks like another terrorist attack. And what can you say? Just never ends. We have to be strong and we have to be vigilant. And I have been saying it for a long time. [Zeleny:] So certainly, the president there, getting that early information, that early word. It was the subject of at least a bit of the discussion there with the Italian prime minister, who he was meeting with today at the White House, Wolf. [Blitzer:] He also spoke about North Korea, the president, Jeff. He mentioned what he called unusual moves going on right now. Tell us about that. [Zeleny:] Wolf, this was very. [Unidentified Male:] This is CNN breaking news. [Amara Walker, Cnn:] Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Amara Walker. [Michael Holmes, Cnn:] And I'm Michael Holmes. This is "CNN Today." And we continue our breaking coverage of the shocking police shooting on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees. And here is what we know right now. [Walker:] The French interior ministry says one police officer has been killed and two others wounded in a brazen attack. The ministry says a man got out of a car on the boulevard and opened fire on a police vehicle with an automatic weapon. [Holmes:] Officers returned fire. They killed the attacker, the motive for the shooting not clear at the moment. But the interior ministry says what is clear police were targeted. This attack coming just three days, of course, before the first round of voting in the French presidential election. [Walker:] CNN is gathering the latest developments in covering this breaking story from all angles. Senior International Correspondent, Jim Bittermann, is on the streets of Paris getting information and reaction. We also have correspondent Melissa Bell in Paris at our bureau, which overlooks the Champs-Elysees, and Cyril Vanier, working the story here from CNN center in Atlanta. We are going to start with Jim Bittermann, who is there on the scene. Describe what's happening around you and just walk us through again what happened and what we know right now because an anti-terror investigation has been opened. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn International Correspondent:] Absolutely, Amara. That's the clearest sign that we've got that, in fact, this is a terrorist incident. Basically, we've been pushed back. The press has been pushed back off of Champs-Elysees. I'm on a side street that gives on to the Champs- Elysees. And the police are in force out on the Champs-Elysees. I think we might have a shot of what it looks like out there. Basically, somewhere around 9:00 this evening, a car with a one gunman in it pulled up alongside of a police van. Police vans are always parked along the Champs-Elysees. That's a very frequent site pulled up alongside the police van, and got out with a semi-automatic weapon and started shooting. It was at 102 Champs-Elysees, which is just about around the George Sink, if you know Paris or the George V metro stop. And one policeman was killed. Two policemen were injured in that attack. And the gunman was killed by other officers in the police van. In any case, it was panic all around at that point according to the eyewitnesses we've talked to. Basically, a number of people heard their shots. There has been enough terrorist incidents in this city that I think people now immediately take cover. I talked to the head of security for the Guerlain perfume store, which is just down the street. He said he heard the shots. And he immediately told his employees to come into the store. And he also lowered the security barrier so that the the store itself was safe and then opened it once again to allow people to seek shelter inside the store as people fled the the Champs-Elysees. And this this time of night on a Thursday night, the the Champs would have been very crowded with people just out shopping and going to restaurants and what not. Right now, it's totally dead. They have evacuated the entire avenue, all the restaurants, all the shops and offices. I just talked to some people who had come down, they were trapped up in their offices and didn't want to leave until they were given the all-clear from the police. And they were given the all-clear. They're now just now leaving several hours after this all took place. Amara? [Holmes:] Yes, Jim Bittermann there on the streets of Paris. Let's go now to correspondent, Melissa Bell, who is at CNN Paris, which overlooks the Champs-Elysees and and a clear view of that famed boulevard. You know, we're we're obviously talking about the the the death of this police officer, the shooting that went on. But there is a political angle to this, the elections a matter of days away. And and if it does turn out to be a terror attack, that that's going to perhaps have an influence, do you think? [Bell:] Not only the fact that the authorities have now opened this anti- terror investigation, which clearly plays into the narrative of the far right candidate, Marine Le Pen, the fact that this is no long just a law and order issue, but one that authorizes believe could have to do, could be linked to terrorism, will clearly play into her hands as we head into this absolutely crucial vote, and may I remind you, a vote ahead of which there are record numbers of undecided voters here in France. Now, those images that you've seen over the course of the evening, still this police operation continues on the Champs-Elysees. These very dramatic pictures of the most iconic avenue perhaps, not just in France, but in the world being entirely cordoned off for these last few hours, are going to be a massive part of the political debate over the next couple of days, no doubt. We've already heard from the main candidates tweeting out their condolences to the family of the officer who lost his life his life here tonight. No doubt, this is something that we're going to hear an awful lot more about. Now, another factor will be and for the time being, there is lots of speculation tonight about the identity of the attacker, whether or not he was known to authorities. If it turns out that he was under active surveillance by French authorities, something that we call here in France to be [Speaking in French]. If he was indeed if he had that status, that will again play into Marine Le Pen's narrative in a massive way simply because for the last few days, she's been hardening herself on these issues, even further suggesting that all those who are under that form of active surveillance should simply be thrown out of the country. So this is something to keep a close eye on over the coming hours. In any case, this is likely to play heavily in the national debate over the next couple of days. [Walker:] Melissa Bell in Paris, Jim Bittermann as well. Thank you to both both of you for that. We have a lot to talk about this hour. We're going to take a short break and come back with more. Welcome back, everyone. We are following breaking news on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees. One police officer has been killed, two others wounded in a brazen shooting. [Holmes:] Now, this happened as the sun set on the city's iconic boulevard. Officials say a gunman got out of a vehicle and opened fire on a police vehicle. Other officers in the area fired back. They killed the attacker. The gunman's motive right now is unclear. [Walker:] Cyril Vanier is joining us here in studio now. He lived in Paris his entire life. He's been there for previous attacks. You've covered those attacks as well. But I wanted to first get your personal reaction to this. I mean, again, you just moved here a few months ago. Your wife just landed in country. Obviously, you must have been very concerned. And what really struck me about what you said earlier was that it's almost like you've become accustomed to expecting these kinds of deadly incidents to occur in your country. [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, you have because it's it's not a matter of of whether it's going to happen again. It's a matter of when it's going to happen again. And it's not your gut tells you that. The last two and a half years tells you that because there's been just such a waiver of attacks. It's been relentless, you know. Every time you think you're out of the woods for a few weeks, it happens again. And either it's in Paris or it's somewhere else in France. And you look at the breadth of of of targets, you know. They have targeted they, being terrorists, have targeted journalists. They've targeted soldiers, policemen, people who go to football games, people who just sip a cafe at a terrorist in Paris. So who's that? That's everybody. They've targeted our clergymen inside churches, people who go see the national day fireworks, you know. So who's safe? Nobody. So first of all, nobody is safe. Second of all, it's relentless. And third of all, even all the way up the chain of authority in France from the president down to the prime minister, they're telling you this is going to happen again. [Holmes:] All right, we'll just leave it there for the moment, Cyril. We'll come back to you. The French President Francois Hollande is about to speak. Let's listen. [Francois Hollande, President, France:] At 9:00 o'clock precisely on the Champs-Elysees, an attack took place aimed at police officers. And the car, which was in wich they were and one policeman was killed. Two others were wounded. A passerby was also affected. The assailant was himself neutralized by other police officers. Our entire district has been cordoned off. Those present were evacuated. And we are absolutely convinced that the trails of which can lead us in the inquiry will identify terrorists. The attorney general's office against the terrorism has been apprised of the events. And they are establishing motivation and complicity of everybody involved. I have the counselor of France tomorrow at 8:00 o'clock. And everything has been done to mobilize the security forces and police force, gendarmerie, right from very top are involved. And that has, in fact, been the case for a couple of months now. And we are at the highest possible state of tension and particularly during this electoral campaign. I think everybody will understand at this moment that my thoughts go to the families of the policemen who were killed, the nearest and dearest also of those who were wounded. National tribute will be paid to these police officers who have been so cowardly massacred. We have to all realize that our security forces are involved in a very, very difficult job. And they are very exposed. We can see that again this evening and that the support of the nation here is absolutely total. And I should like to reiterate all the commitments which I have made to the police force and to gendarmerie because what we're talking about is protecting the nation, the security of our citizens. And everything must be done to make sure that these forces of law and order can obviously do their job, respecting procedures and the rule of law, and with the trust of the entire nation. This is the message which I wish to communicate this evening. And this is not only about the police force. It is about all our citizens. They are protected. They have to be. They will be, and all the measures which can be taken along those lines. But the basic principle, which has to be reiterated each time is the trust and solidarity and support of the entire nation for the force of law and order. That is my thought today as well as my imminence sadness for those people who gave their lives and their families, put them on the line. And I also want to reiterate my determination our determination to fight against terrorism with renewed force. Thank you. [Holmes:] Francois Hollande speaking there and praising the security forces the French security force saying we all have to realize that our security forces are involved in a very difficult job and are very exposed. [Walker:] Yes, our Jim Bittermann has been listening as well standing by. Are you there, Jim? Yes, I just wanted to get your reaction to what he had said because Francois Hollande was saying. [Bittermann:] Yes, I am. [Walker:] .yes, he was reiterating what exactly happened. Then he also mentioned that a passerby was affected. Is that new information? [Bittermann:] Well, we'd heard that earlier that there might have been someone else who was wounded passing by the scene. And that confirms that what the president had to say just then. I found it a little bit sad that we've heard a lot of this before from the President Hollande when there have been other attacks here. On the other hand, something like this, it's difficult to imagine how one can protect oneself. Even the police can't protect themselves from this kind of an attack. It's a random attack, when someone drives up with a semi-automatic weapon. One of the things I also noticed about what he had to say is that there are 50,000 police on the streets. This is not what President Hollande said just now. But in fact, they've put 50,000 police on the streets because of the upcoming elections. And as a consequence, they feel at least that they're doing their utmost to protect not only the electors, the people who are going to cast their ballots, but also the candidates. Last week, notices went out to the candidates that, in fact, they should take extra precaution. Pictures were were circulated of two men who were later arrested in Marseilles. And the connection was made to between them and the political campaigns. That, of course, is something that is very worrisome here. One of the other things the president said, he expressed the need for solidarity. And in fact, those arrests of those two men, the solidarity it was solidarity that brought about those arrests because one of their neighbors thought they were acting in a suspicious way and called the police. And after that, they were caught. So in a way, he was touching on some themes that have been predominant here. But clearly, this is going to bring it all back to mind, especially as far as the candidates are concerned and most probably, as far as the voters are concerned. Amara? [Holmes:] Jim, you've you've lived there, you know, for decades. You know this country very well. When you when you think back on, you know, everything from Bataclan to Nice through even smaller attacks at the Louvre. How are Parisians, people would live there in France how are they taking it in stride? Is there a sense of of fear, of of dread? Or is there a more stoic attitude taken and we just get on with it? [Bittermann:] Well, I would say stoic to an extent. But you know, after a while, when you've had a number of these attacks, it's hard to be stoic. The fact is that there have been so many attacks here that people do sort of take it in stride to a certain extent. And they see the police on the street, the army on the street. But when they see the police being attacked and the army being attacked we have army soldiers attacked at the Louvre several months ago, you have to you wonder to what extent an individual is actually safe. There's a certain sense, I think, too, that this is very random. And if you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, maybe you you may get hit. But if you're not in that particular place at exactly at the wrong time, then you're safe. So there is that that feeling, you know, kind of feeling that, in fact, it's a it's a fatalistic feeling almost, maybe it has something to do with the Catholic nature of the country. But in any case, it's it's an idea that as long as you're not in harm's way, you're OK. And so I think that that is the way a lot of people think especially here in Paris. Out in the provinces and away from here, I think things always look worse. The farther away you are from events, the worse they look. And so I think that, in fact, for people in the provinces seeing what's going on in the nation's capital, it probably is a lot more scary than it is for some of the Parisians. Some of the people I just talked to this evening who are evacuated from their buildings were quite blase about it. They were on their way home and without showing any signs of any kind of fear, panic or anything like that. Michael? [Walker:] They're carrying on. Jim Bittermann, thanks for that. I want to bring in Melissa Bell who's standing by as well. And I just wanted to pick up on some things you were talking about earlier. I mean, this is a country that's been under a state of emergency for some time now, I believe since 2015. Leading up to these elections, what, just three days away, these national elections, has there been a heightened sense of vigilance? [Bell:] Yes, absolutely, because the fact is that authorities have put 50,000 soldiers and policemen on the streets of France precisely to keep the French public safety, is their words in the run-up to this poll to ensure that both rounds of the presidential election went over smoothly. And of course, just a few days ago, we saw that there's arrests in Marseilles, that flat was raided in which those explosives were found and those weapons and ammunition as well. We were told that the men had been plotting what was believed to have been an imminent attack, and that he they've been stopped sort of in the nick of time. So there is the sense that France is living day-to-day in the state of emergency. And yet, life goes on. You know, it was over two hours ago now when these gunshots were fired when the shooting happened. We heard the gunshots. But of course, we assume they were fireworks. So even in these tense times, even with all these extra security on the streets of Paris, you do go about your ordinary life. And you don't expect the worst to happen. We now know, of course, precisely what it was that we heard. We now know that it was the sound of the man who had pulled up outside the police van, shooting at the police and the man then being killed, not before one of those policemen sadly, of course, was killed. And just going back to what you were talking about a moment ago, what we have seen over the course of the last few attacks, the smaller-scale attacks, I'm thinking been particularly, all the attack of a couple weeks ago when a man went into Orly Airport and tried to seize the weapon from a female soldier before being shot by authorities, I'm thinking also the Louvre attack just a few weeks ago, when a man with machetes attacked the soldiers. We've seen increasingly small-scale attacks targeting specifically security forces. [Holmes:] Melissa Bell in Paris there in our station at CNN Paris there overlooking the Champs-Elysees where this attack has taken place in just the last couple of hours, once policeman dead. We'll take a short break. We'll be right back. On Paris' famed Champs-Elysees, a live picture for you there, looking down that famed boulevard, iconic image at the end, the Arc de Triomphe. One police officer has sadly been killed, two others wounded on Champs-Elysees in a brazen shooting. [Walker:] And obviously, as you can see, the area has been cordoned off and the surrounding areas evacuated as this investigation is getting under way. All of this happening as the sun set on the city's iconic boulevard. Officials say a gunman got out of a vehicle and then opened fire on a police van. Apparently, it was an automatic weapon. And the officers fired back, killed the attacker. The gunman's motive at this time right now is not clear. Joining us now is Stefan de Vries, journalist there in Paris. Stefan, can you hear me? Just give us a sense of what you've been seeing from your vantage point? [Stefan De Vries, Journalist, Paris:] Well, of course, the security measures have been very high already for over two years following the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in the Kosher Supermaket in 2015. So we're used to a huge amount of police forces and also soldiers in the streets of Paris. And what we're seeing now tonight in Champs-Elysees is basically a result of this very tight security because the police's presence on the premise is very, very quickly in huge numbers. So yes, Melissa Bell, your correspondent always said, we're well somehow already used to these kinds of situations. Of course, we don't know yet for sure what really happened tonight. But it still shows that that the danger has not gone and that Paris is still under threat. [Holmes:] Stefan, just stand by, just we're getting information from CNN Terrorism Analyst, Paul Cruickshank, who who's reporting that the Paris attacker was known to French security services for radical Islamist activities. Now, that's according to a source close to the investigation. He was shot dead as we know. It was the subject of what's called fiche S surveillance file, was on the radar of French domestic security service, the DGSI. And the investigators believe this was in all likelihood a terror attack. And they do believe it was just one attacker. Stefan, I'm wondering what do you make of of the tactic. And we did see at the Louvre attack army soldiers being targeted. But it is an interesting tactic rather than go shoot a group of unarmed civilians and perhaps get a higher death toll, taking on security services who who can and did shoot back. [De Vries:] Yes, absolutely. The police are a clear target of of terrorists. We already had an incident about a month ago at the Orly Airport in south of Paris. These these two officers, police officers, were clearly targeted. The suspect got out of the car according to the police information and shot started directly shooting at the police officers. So it is known that the police is a clear target. Of course, their presence in huge numbers in the Paris streets, it becomes much more difficult for terrorists to plan a large-scale attack as we've seen in November 2015 in the Bataclan, for instance, because the intelligence services are very closely monitoring any possible attacks. And as we've seen this week, two men were arrested in Marseilles in the south of France because they were planning terrorist attacks on candidate - presidential candidate in the election upcoming election next Sunday. So the the intelligence services are working, of course, round the clock. And it becomes much harder for terrorists to to pick just a random target or the large-scale target. And they target police officers as we've seen tonight. [Holmes:] Stefan de Vries, multimedia journalist there in Paris, appreciate you talking with us, Stefan. Thank you. [Walker:] Let's head back out to the streets of of Paris where our Jim Bittermann has been following this story. And Jim, I just wanted to ask you about this new piece of information that we got, that this Paris attacker was on the radar of French security forces, that he was the subject of fiche S surveillance. What exactly does that mean? What what does it tell us? [Bittermann:] Well, they the security forces here, the intelligence forces have a system of classifying people that they think are suspect and should be kept under surveillance. That's the fiche S, so it means file S basically. And there are several levels of the fiche S. Some is some levels are higher than others and and in fact, require more surveillance and more continuous surveillance. But basically, it means that a person should be under the watch of the security forces, that they should be reporting, for example, to people if he's if he's suspected that he is going to go into action at some point. They'd like to know where these people are. If they're not reporting, then they should be looked for. They should be hunted down or investigated. And in any case, if he was indeed a fiche S and I guess it's now pretty much confirmed that he was, the gunman should have been under surveillance to some extent. And this will bring out, what, like it did before here, it's going to bring out some price from the public and from politicians as well about why, if he was under a surveillance and if the police knew about this person, why he was could possibly have pulled this off tonight with a semi-automatic weapon why why he was free. Having said that, some of these folks who have been caught over the year, they have been shot, basically have been pretty good at evading capture. And so it's difficult to track various people down. The two that were arrested in Marseilles, for example, who were apparently planning to carry out something on the political campaigns, they were under surveillance for some time. But they had been gone underground and the police didn't know exactly where they were. And it was only through a neighbor who thought they were behaving suspiciously and called the police said they were able to track them down. And they eventually got arrested. So the surveillance can can be tight. But in fact, it can't be complete. And that basically, I think we probably saw this happen tonight with this gentleman who is now dead, who is out of fiche S. [Holmes:] Yes. And and Jim, we've actually heard this before, haven't we, with previous suspects. [Walker:] Yes, many times. [Holmes:] .where where they have been on the radar. They've known to be having Islamist tendencies. They might have gotten into trouble before. But it boils down to manpower, doesn't it? If it's going to take you 15 or 20 police officers to properly monitor one person, you're just not going to be able to keep an eye on everyone you suspect could be trouble. [Bittermann:] Well, exactly right, Michael. And I one of the things that we've been banning about the figure that the interior ministry put out about the number of police on duty because of the elections 50,000 police on the streets. Well, there are 60,000 polling places. So there are more polling places than there are police. So it's it's something that just you can't have more police than I think police out on the streets now. But you also can't provide complete protection 247. Michael? [Holmes:] Jim Bittermann there in Paris. Thanks so much, Jim. We'll check in with you in a minute. [Walker:] All right, let's turn now to security management consultant and security expert, Glenn Skoon, who's joining via Skype from the Hague in the Netherlands. Thanks so much for your patience for us to get getting to you. I just wanted to get your reaction to this because again, as Michael was saying, this is something that we have heard many times before I think with the Bataclan attack, the Charlie Hebdo attack. The suspects, the perpetrators were known to police. Some of them were already under surveillance before the attacks happened. And now, we're hearing that this perpetrator in this attack along the Champs-Elysees was also under surveillance. What does this tell you as investigators believe that this was indeed a terror attack? [Glenn Schoen, Security Management Consultant:] Well, it certainly looks like a terrorist attack. And we have more than 8,000 people who have a fiche S in France. So it gives you an idea of the scope of the challenge that they're dealing with at the moment. And I think when we look at this particular incident, I think one of the major impacts it's going to have is that officials in the United Kingdom and Germany will probably be following this very closely because in connection with the arrests made on Tuesday in the Marseilles region and this incident this evening, it appears to be whether or not these people were acting independently or as part of a bigger effort, it's the first time that this type of movement and most likely it is an Islamist group and most likely, will be tied again to ISIS sympathies, although we've seen other groups at work. It means it's the first time that they're targeting an election process or at least seeking to influence it. And I think therefore as we look ahead, we now have most likely elections coming up on 8 June in the United Kingdom and in September in Germany. This incident will have a much greater impact even though it was a small set and however tragic for the few people involved. Even this this smaller incident in comparison to some of the ones before is going to have a fairly large impact. [Holmes:] And and Glenn, it does speak to that that sort of adage, I suppose, that the the good guys have got to be right every time and the the bad guys only have to get it right once. So so that's just so hard to keep an eye. I mean, I I couldn't believe the number you said thousands of people under this surveillance warrant, can't possibly cover them all. It speaks to the challenges. What what then the answer, how and especially, as as as we're saying before, he's attacking security. It's not like he's evading security. He's he's looking for them. [Schoen:] Absolutely. Well, you're spot on. And and when we hear this number of 50,000, it's been bandied about in the press, that's essentially the extra forces that have called in on top of tens of thousands already dedicated to securing the election effort. And this incident, given where it's set and who is targeted and the venue, I think we're going to have an extra challenge here in that of course, a lot of this policing power the last few weeks under a national security plan has been directed very much, not just at the voting booths set for Sunday, but also of course, where the rallies are going to be, the political candidates, the candidates' homes, convoys, journalists' studios where they they are speaking. So this actually you're right, stretches it even further in terms of the the field of potential targets that have to be covered for upcoming Sunday. [Walker:] Yes, obviously, a lot of security concerns as we head into this election day. Glenn Schoen, we're going to leave it there. Appreciate you joining us. And we're going to take a short break here on "CNN Today," back after this. Welcome back, everyone. As we follow this breaking news on Paris' famed Champs-Elysees, one police officer has been killed and two others wounded in a brazen shooting. It happened as the sun set on the city's iconic boulevard. [Holmes:] Yes, officials say gunman got out of a vehicle, went directly to a police van and fired. The police officers who were there fired back. They killed the attacker. And our source close to the investigation told CNN the suspect was on the radar of French security services for, quote, "radical Islamist activities." [Walker:] And French President Francois Hollande spoke a short time ago. He said he is convinced the attack was terrorist-related. We want to bring in Cyril Vanier, who has been following the story with us as well. Just, you know, your personal reaction we didn't get to that because you were saying that your wife is in Paris. Is she OK, first of all? [Vanier:] Yes, she's fine. My sister is in Paris. She's fine. And my reaction is that of anybody who lives in Paris. The first thing you do when you find out this is happening, usually, the alerts pop up on your phone, as they did for me today, even though I'm here in Atlanta. First thing you do is you you go through your mind. You go it's a mental checklist. Do I know anybody who was likely to have been in that area at that time? [Walker:] And you've been through this many times before. [Vanier:] Yes, and you have been. And social media is actually very useful because they go through that checklist where they tell you so and so is safe so and so is safe. And that's that's actually been very useful. But you know, it's it's really hard to separate the emotions from the journalism on this one because the cumulative effect is so big that when you see it flash across your screen even if you're in the newsroom and reporting on it in your capacity as a journalist, you you also have this emotional tie to it at home. It is home. It's home. And it's unending. And it's not stopping. And the question everybody wants to have an answer to is can we stop it. Is it is it possible, first of all? And if it is possible, then then how? And and how do we do it? [Holmes:] And that and that comes back to the the politics, too, with the election coming up. And and it's almost unsavory to talk about. But who does this favor. [Vanier:] Yes. [Holmes:] .in terms of candidate? And any candidate who says I can keep you safe, well, can they? [Vanier:] Yes, that's a very good question. I think the polls will tell us the answer to that question on Sunday. There is one candidate who has been saying that for months. And it's Marine Le Pen. And in a sense to her credit, she has been just saying this for political expediency. She's been saying this for a long time. It plays to her policy platform, which is I want to have more control over the borders. Now, this is an important issue bearing in mind that some of the assailants in previous attacks were people who had come from other countries, across, for instance, the Belgium border and had been unchecked because this is part of living in the European Union, right? Those borders are open. So let's look carefully at the assailant and what we find out about the assailant, either in the coming hours or in the coming days here because if it is indeed somebody who came from another country, it definitely plays to Marine Le Pen's platform. She's saying I'm going to close those borders. Well, no, sorry, I beg your pardon, not going to close them, but I'm going to patrol them. I'm going to control them. I'm going to police them, OK? And that argument is obviously going to be amplified if we find out that something came from outside the country. [Walker:] Yes, but. [Vanier:] That's just one of many possibilities. [Walker:] .yes, it's a good point you bring up. I mean, the question is will this boost Marine Le Pen and her platform as she's been saying over and over that I will protect you with this anti-immigration, anti-Islam platform. But in terms of what happens next, I mean, this country has been under a state of emergency for some time. What does that mean in effect? I mean, it gave it gave more powers to police. But in general, for the psyche of the French people, did it help them feel safer? [Vanier:] Well, there is one counter oh, the the state of emergency, does that help French people feel safer? I'm not so sure because the attacks have been relentless. The attacks since that has been put in place. I I've lost count. But who's been attacked since that happened? Policemen, people who went to watch the National Day fireworks, clergymen who were in churches, now, people, whether they are tourists or Parisians walking up and down the Champs-Elysees, in other words, everybody. And Jim Jim Bittermann, who was very accurately tapping into the, I think, the French psyche a moment ago saying to some extent, people have developed or have become to some extent, inured to it because it's part of life. It has been part of life, you know, as as dramatic as it is to say that, for the last two and a half years. So you have to expect that that's going to happen again. Even the president and the prime minister have been saying this will happen again. [Holmes:] And the prime minister, I think, alluding earlier that that state of emergency will probably be extended, which is not a surprise given this. Cyril Vanier, we'll check in with you in a moment. Meanwhile, let's go to Jim Bittermann who is out on the streets of Paris. You know, Jim, keep going back to this thought of, you know, a a terrorist who wants to create terror will normally, especially in a place like the Champs-Elysees, normally teeming with people, would mow down as many civilians as he could. But he actually targeted people who could shoot back. [Bittermann:] Well, it's very targeted. And you know, this is the, I guess, about the third or fourth attack like this that we have had eventually in the last few months and over the years even more than that, where soldiers or police have been attacked. We had the one in Orly. We had the one Louvre. So there've been a number of attacks where the attackers have gone straight at the security forces, apparently, fully aware of the fact that they were probably going to get killed in return. And that's exactly what happened tonight. One of the things that, just to pick up on what Cyril was saying just a minute ago, the fact is that, yes, people are are really inured to things. But it does lead to some pretty amazing inconveniences. I was just talking to a gentleman. Unfortunately, he doesn't want to appear on camera. But he was saying that his family is trapped in a building just down the street here. And the security forces are not allowing them to leave the building where they are, even though the event I think is pretty well over. The police have drawn back their forces here. But I think that there is this feeling that they don't want to let anybody out on the streets until they've made a thorough check. And we saw squads of police going up and down the avenue just a little bit ago, looking for anyone who might be, you know, hiding, I guess, or have some some suspicious nature about them. But I think at this point, I think things have have pretty well calmed down here so that there'd be some of these people who will be able to get to where they want to this evening. It's now close to midnight here. And people are cut off from their cars as a night club just behind our camera position here the night club is starting to empty. And the young people are coming, trying to get across the police lines. And they're being turned away. They can't get to their cars, which are on the other side of the Champs-Elysees. Michael, Amara? [Walker:] And and Jim, just a little bit more about the moment that all of this happened, the shooting broke out, and I guess the the fear that followed. And you talked about witnesses that you spoke on with in a store, owner or a merchant who allowed people to seek shelter inside, can you tell us about what you've been hearing in terms of what people how people reacted when this happened? [Bittermann:] Well, I think there was general general panic when things got started here, when things started, when the shots started being fired. According to several of the witnesses I talked to, people ran off the Champs-Elysees, ran into shops and what not. And some of the shops almost immediately closed their their heavy-metal grates and and doors. One of the things that I should say is that to some extent, they have been through this before, not always with terrorism events New Year's and and during the World Cup and any other sort of major events here when there are a lot of people on the Champs-Elysees, sometimes things get out of control. And the shopkeepers who are open have the habit of immediately shuttering their shops and keeping people out. But I think in this case, especially given the nature of what happened this evening, it was the head of security at the Guerlain perfume shop here who said, in fact, he he opened things up so that people would take shelter inside at least until it was sorted out exactly what was happening because it was, for those who were close to it, it was a pretty pretty loud exchange of fire. Elsewhere on the Champs-Elysees, as I think Melissa was mentioning earlier, the fact is a couple explosions on the Champs-Elysees, there's fireworks going off here, not all the time, but it happens. It's not the kind of thing you really take notice of that much. But this was different I think for the people who were right on top of it. The place where this happened is up right at the George Sink the George V metro stop, if you know Paris, which is really a sort of the midway point of the of the Champs-Elysees across from a very famous restaurant that a lot of actors and actresses hang out at. So it was right at the heart of the Champs-Elysees. And I think while Thursday night is not the big night here, I'm sure there were thousands of people along the avenue out and about tonight who could have easily been hit as I guess one passerby did, according to President Hollande. [Holmes:] And and again, targeting security, not somewhere like that famous restaurant very interesting stuff. Jim, we'll check in with you momentarily. Cyril Vanier here with us, a proud Parisian. And you know, I'm just wondering, when you when you look at the the election coming up, is something like this are there a lot of votes to be swayed when it comes to security? Or are people pretty much on track now with who they like and don't? [Vanier:] Yes, it's an interesting question. There are a lot of votes to be swayed, period, the degree of uncertainty heading into the first round of voting is very high a lot higher than it typically is at this stage in the election cycle. So there are a lot of people who still don't know who they're going to vote for. So they are definitely votes up for grab. That's the argument in favor of your question. The argument against that, however, is that people have been seeing this cycle of terror attacks for two and a half years now. [Holmes:] Yes. [Vanier:] So it's not new. So it's not like you all of a sudden have this game-changer event that happens. [Holmes:] Right. [Vanier:] .just before the election and it makes people reassess their politics. So so it is something that's been factored in, I think, to people's politics for quite a while. [Walker:] Well, then what are the main issues that they're they're voting on? Obviously, security is one. But there are other things that will factor into people's decisions when they go to the polls. [Vanier:] Yes, I would say unemployment and the economy. And that's true in any election in any country. But it continues to be true. France has unemployment hovering at around 10 percent. People want an answer to that. For the first time, since the second world war, people are feeling that they're not going to have a better life than their parents. So the country is not headed up. And I think there is this general amorosity that's one of the biggest things I think that pervades all issues in this election. And then, of course, security is one of them. And that's also in Marine Le Pen's policy platform that's tied to immigration. Security and immigration are two sides of in the same issue as far as she's concerned. [Holmes:] Stand by, Cyril. It's great to have you here with your perspective. Want to turn now to Pierre Moscovici. I I hope I said that right in Washington the European commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs, a former French economy minister. Thank you so much for being with us. And you know, sympathies for what has happened in Paris. Just wanted to get your your reaction to it and what could be done about it going forward. [Pierre Moscovici, European Commissioner, Economic And Financial Affairs:] Well, as all Frenchmen, and I'm French even if I'm here in Washington, I feel deeply moved. I feel that we need to pay tribute to this policeman who was killed, to be nearby those who are wounded, and that we must really support our police force and and be capable of being nearby them. And then the president has said that he would have a council on defense tomorrow, that all security measures would be taken for the election time, and which is Sunday. But you know, it's a constant fight. France has already suffered from too many attacks. The level of protection is high. But our country is a target. We must always be mobilized and saying that we will defeat terrorism, that we won't be defeated by him. I said terrorism because there is more than a rumor today that it is a terrorist attack. And I think that ISIS has already said it came from them. [Walker:] Like and like Michael was asking you, I mean, how does this country move forward? How do you prevent something like this from happening again? Like you said, this has happened a handful of times unfortunately, even just looking back a couple of years. And are these kinds of attacks preventable when you say France is constantly a target? [Moscovici:] They are preventable. There there have been a lot of attacks which have been prevented and even one this week who could have happened against a candidate or a meeting of a candidate. There have been dozens of attacks which have been stopped before they took place. Our police forces are exceptional. They are fully mobilized. We also need to do more about information. And we do more and more about that. We are very efficient on that. When you are in that of situation, of course, there are risks. They exist. We know that. But we must always I wouldn't say live with it, but overcome it, be stronger than the risk. Keep on living. And we must also and that's the most important thing fight terrorism where it it it takes birth. And that is why we need also to be as involved as we are in Syria and in other places. [Holmes:] Before just before I let you go. [Moscovici:] Financing of terrorism. [Holmes:] .understood. Just before I let you go, just very quickly, you're a former member of government. Do you see this as potentially an attempt to influence the French elections? [Moscovici:] It is really hard to say from where I am. END [Poppy Harlow, Cnn Anchor:] Top of the hour 10:00 a.m. Eastern. I'm Poppy Harlow in for Carol Costello. So glad you're with us. President- elect Donald Trump said that there would be new addition to his administration today and tomorrow and we are learning about the first one. A source familiar with the decision confirms that Trump has offered the post of ambassador to China to Iowa Governor Terry Branstad. The position, likely of course, to be pretty challenging as the president-elect has railed against U.S. trade deals with China and accused China of manipulating its currency. Trump, also this morning, being named "Time" magazine's "Person of the Year," pushing back though, against the headline, president of the divided states of America. In fact, he says his most ferocious republican critic is still being considered for the coveted Secretary of State position. Listen. [Matt Lauer, Host Nbc "today":] Let me go back to Mitt Romney. Is he still under consideration? [Donald Trump, Presidential-elect:] Yes, he is. [Lauer:] Does he have a chance to become Secretary of State? [Trump:] Yes, he does. I mean, I have spoken to him a lot. We have come, a long way together. We had some tremendous difficulty together and now I think we have come a long way. But the answer is yes, he does. [Lauer:] So this isn't about some case of stringing him along as revenge being a dish best served cold for the comments he made during the campaign? [Trump:] No, it's not about revenge. It's about what's good for the country. And I'm able to put this stuff behind us. [Harlow:] Our Jessica Schneider is live this morning, outside of Trump Tower, turned into the transition headquarters. Good morning, Jessica. [Jessica Schneider, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, Poppy. You know, the most anticipated pick from Donald Trump being Secretary of State. He's saying that he will likely announce his pick next week. But of course, all eyes have been on Mitt Romney for many weeks now. He's emerged as one of the leading contenders. He sat down with the president-elect twice, most recently at a dinner at Jean-Georges' restaurant, just a few blocks from Trump Tower. And after he emerged from that dinner with Donald Trump, he said that he was quite impressed by Donald Trump's electoral victory and this morning, Donald Trump saying that the two men have come a long way in their relationship. Donald Trump has come a long way in how he feels about Mitt Romney, of course, Mitt Romney calling Donald Trump back in March, a phony and a fraud. But despite that, in the past few days we have seen several other names emerged, people like General David Petraeus, also Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, who Donald Trump this morning called a great man, of course, the former Governor Jon Huntsman. So, who will Donald Trump pick? Donald Trump says he's not trying to string this out. He's not looking for revenge. He just wants what's best for the country. And in that vein, he says he's even consulted with the current president, President Obama, about some of his potential picks. [Lauer:] I was fascinated to read in your interview that you say you actually talked to President Obama about some of your possible appointments. [Trump:] I do. [Lauer:] And the people you would surround yourself in the White House. Can you tell me specifically who you mentioned to President Obama that you are considering appointing? [Trump:] Well, I don't think that would be fair to him but I have asked him what he would think of this one and that one. I have asked him what he thinks are the biggest problems of the country, what are some of the greatest assets going forward, and we have a very good dialogue. And I must tell you, you know, I never met him before this and I never spoke to him before this. I really, I do like him. I love getting his ideas and I may differ in many cases, I differ very greatly. [Lauer:] Right, just real quickly though [Trump:] I would say, that yes, I take his recommendations very seriously and there are some people that I will be appointing and in one case, have appointed where he thought very highly of that person. Yes. [Schneider:] Donald Trump giving some insight into his conversations with President Obama. But the White House not commenting on any of those discussions and not indicating who President Obama may have suggested to Donald Trump he picked for one of these cabinet appointments. But Kellyanne Conway, saying this morning, that we could expect more announcements today, perhaps two ambassadorships. We have mentioned the Iowa governor will be U.S. ambassador to China. Donald Trump has picked him, possibly EPA and Homeland Security as well. Poppy? [Harlow:] Jessica Schneider, this morning live outside Trump Tower, thank you so much. We obviously have a lot to discuss. Let's bring in our panel. Domenico Montanaro is the political editor for "NPR," Jay Newton-Small is a contributor for "Time" magazine, and Josh Rogin is CNN political analyst and columnist for "The Washington Post." Thank you all for being here and Domenico, let me begin with you to really big headlines here, Romney still in the running for Secretary of State. Obviously, Trump putting what he said apparently during the campaign behind them and the fact that Donald Trump is not only seeking President Obama's advice, he's actually putting it to action with some of these picks. Who do you think the president approved of the Donald Trump has already named? [Domenico Montanaro, Lead Political Editor, "npr News":] Well, I'm not sure at all. You know the White House hasn't commented about that at all. But I do think that there are these two Donald Trumps. And I think that sometimes people get so surprised that they see Donald Trump who might reach out to President Obama, somebody who for five years, he had said you know questioned whether or not he was born in the United States. And now seems to value his advice. I think that's one lesson in getting to know people rather than judging them immediately in some caricature form way which is something that we have seen throughout this campaign. But there are two Trumps. We heard Kellyanne Conway, I was in the room for that Harvard meeting for the campaign managers at the Institute of Politics last week and you heard Kellyanne Conway say look, he's transactional, folks. And I think that you have seen that throughout this campaign and you will likely see that as he's president. And you've seen that with some of these business interactions too, where he's tried to way in, to try to bring jobs to the country, even in very small micro managing kinds of ways. [Harlow:] Jay, one of the things I find fascinating is in two different ways here. Donald Trump is doing something that will infuriate or has infuriated his base, right? That is one, as Kellyanne Conway has even attested to, keeping Mitt Romney in the running for Secretary of State. The second thing would be, utilizing the advice of a man, the current President, Barack Obama, who he called "the worst President in U.S. history." Is this the transition from Trump the candidate to Trump the president-elect, soon to be, Trump the president, realizing you have to have cooperation here. It can't all be us and them. [Jay Newton-small, Contributor, "time Magazine":] Poppy, I think, you're absolutely right. And you see Donald Trump really trying to bridge not just to the establishment Republicans but also to Democrats, in reaching out to President Obama in interviewing some Democrats for cabinet positions, or at least even meeting with Democrats. We don't know if they're actually being interviewed for cabinet positons. But he's for example, met with Tulsi Gabbard, who is a Democratic congresswoman. He's supposed to be meeting with Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, in the next couple days. And so, you do see him beginning to reach out and trying to bridge the divide and as you said, "Time" magazine just named him "President of the Divided States of America." This is something that he has to deal with, something that he has to be able to bring America together and represent both the angry base that elected him but also the rest of the country, 2.5 million of people who voted actually for the opponent who voted for his opponent. [Harlow:] Josh, I want to get your take on Trump tapping according to our Dana Bash and Jeff Zeleny, Iowa's Governor Terry Branstad as the ambassador to China. Obviously, the governor was very loyal to Donald Trump throughout the campaign. We know Trump likes that. But at the same time, this is someone who has a long history with China you know, and also, someone who knows frankly, President Xi. What do you make of this pick and how tough this job is going to be given all that Trump has said about China? [Josh Rogin, Cnn Political Analyst And Columnist "the Washington Post":] Yes, I think this is a really fascinating pick. As you mentioned, the governor has known Chinese President Xi Jinping since 1985. When Xi was a rural agricultural officer for some back water part of China nobody heard of, and showed up in Iowa and they stayed friends and they visit each other. And they have had him over for dinner recently. And you know if we are going to have this contentious relationship with China, it seems like we are going to, seems that's the direction President-elect Trump wants to go. It's invaluable to have someone in Beijing who has that personal relationship. China is basically a dictatorship. President Xi Jinping has consolidated power. Nobody has aligned into this guy. So, the fact that we will have an ambassador in place, who can pick up the phone and call him, I think could make a real difference, both in a crisis situation, but also in a negotiation. [Harlow:] And Domenico, the first job he will have is likely to try to smooth things over after the president-elect took that phone call from the President of Taiwan. How does he do that? [Montanaro:] I mean, that's really fascinating, the fact that Bob Dole was somebody who had to kind of be an emissary. And we have seen sort of conflicting reporting whether or not this was, hey, it was just a call, sort of dismissing the importance of it. And then, to learn that it was had some time in the making, I think it does reflect on the personal relationships that Donald Trump values. If he knows you, if he trusts you, then you have a way in. If he doesn't, then you have seen some of that vindictive side, some of that thin- skinned side of Donald Trump and that is going to be weighed out. And I think we should expect that you will see both of those things come out at various points in a Trump presidency. [Harlow:] All right. I'm just being told that Governor Pat McCrory just arrived at Trump Tower there, about to head up in the golden elevators, obviously after a disappointing loss for him. Guys, as we watch and see who else might come out and who else might talk, as you said, Jay, that we are expecting possibly Rahm Emanuel as well. I mean to meet with President Trump. Look, the vice president former Vice President Al Gore met with Donald Trump about climate change, something that Trump has called a hoax created by the Chinese Rahm Emanuel. Not only the mayor of Chicago, also formerly the chief of staff and someone who has said you know I don't care what your administration is doing, Chicago will stay a sanctuary city. [Newton-small:] Yes, so it's really interesting. He's got a really diverse cast of characters here. And I think that you know thus far a lot of his cabinet picks have been pretty much loyalists. There have been some establishment picks, Nikki Haley from South Carolina, for U.N. ambassador, for example, who was a critic of Donald Trump. But most for the large majority of the picks, have been people who have been very loyal to him, like Jeff Sessions as A.G., Michael Flynn, as national security advisor. And so, it will be interesting now to see as he really rounds out his cabinet, is he going to build a team of rivals, is he going to gather together Mitt Romney, who was highly critical of him. Is he going to include a Democrat in his cabinet? [Harlow:] He's kind of indicating he is going to. [Newton-small:] He has been in recent days, really sort of saying he does seem to plan to do that. And it makes it's really refreshing, I think. It's a really good idea to have lots of diverse voices in the cabinet. I mean, get lots of opinions that are not necessarily ones that agree with you because that's going to give you the best kind of decision making. And so, we hope to see that. We have to wait and see who he actually names Secretary of State at the end of it. It's been such a long sort of tortured process. [Harlow:] Yes. [Newton-small:] But I do think that you know it is a much more diverse cabinet than a lot of observers expected early on. And it will be really interesting to see if he includes a Democrat in that cabinet. [Harlow:] Yes. Domenico Montanaro, Jay Newton-Small, Josh Rogin, thank you all very much. We appreciate it. Coming up, dueling messages on the war on terror, Donald Trump and President Obama both delivering speeches yesterday on exactly that. Different messages though, different tactics on how to keep America safe. We'll debate it, next. [Allen:] Welcome back to our viewers in the United States and around the world. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM live from Atlanta. I'm Natalie Allen. [Howell:] I'm George Howell. First, to Syria. People there are holding out hope the latest ceasefire will hold. This is Aleppo. More calm now than we have seen before. Some of the worst violence of the civil war has taken place right where you see it. It was Russia and Turkey who orchestrated the new peace deal between thee Syrian regime and various rebel militias. But many were excluded from the talks. And notably, the U.S. had no part to play either. [Allen:] Joining me via skype is analyst, CNN military analyst, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona. Thanks for joining us, Colonel. And happy new Year to you. [Lt. Col. Rick Francona, Cnn Miltiary Analyst:] And to you. [Allen:] This isn't the first time that parties have agreed to peace efforts in Syria. There were several reached in Geneva, there was a U.N. resolution last year. Any chance this agreement could hold? [Francona:] Well, this is different this time. The conditions that led up to this agreement have changed. If you look at the situation on the ground in northern Syria, the rebels have been dealt severe blows, not the least of which, the loss of Aleppo. With them willing to demonstrate whatever power it takes to subdue the rebels, I think they realize they better make whatever deal they can get. With the regime in control of Aleppo, they are in position to move south pretty much squeeze the rebels in that pocket between Hama and Aleppo. It looks grim for the rebels and I think they realize that and I think they realize maybe they need to sit down and talk to the other side. They are looking at the results of the U.S. election and know January 20th there will be a new administration. Mr. Trump has said he is not in favor of overthrowing regimes in the middle east so they are not sure what backing they will have when the new administration comes into power. They are more in a position to talk. On the other side of the equation you have a government feeling momentum. They have been successful. It is good everybody is willing to sit down and go to the table but the rebels are definitely in the lesser position here. [Allen:] Right. You are right, Russia along with the regime, pounded Aleppo and you would think Russia may have the impetus to help make this stick. One of the challenges, though, of course, that always got in the way of earlier efforts is there are so many difference factions involved. Almost all of them are on board this time but how challenging it will be to hold the groups accountable and make sure they stick to the terms of this agreement. [Francona:] We run into the same problem we always have. It is a definition of who falls inside and outside of the agreement. This time they are being more inclusive with people inside the agreement. However, you have ISIS completely out of the agreement and you have the former al-Qaeda affiliate who are fair game for attacks. The other groups are inside the agreement. It may be a little better for holding this time, but you are still going to see a lot of Russian attacks. The definition is a terrorist, Syrian government believes anyone who has taken up arms is a terrorist. The Russians are in the same vain, as well. They are going to continue to mound the rebels and calling them terrorists. They only strike ISIS when there is a threat to the regime. Although I have some hope it may hold better the key is they agreed to meet at the table in Kazakhstan after 30 days. That could be a breakthrough. I think the rebels are in a weak position but they are sitting down and talking, and if we can stop this bloodbath that is Syria, that's a positive. [Allen:] We're going to appreciate very much your hopeful note. Ad we will be following it as we push into the new year. Thank you, military analyst, Colonel Rick Francona. Thanks, Rick. [Francona:] My pleasure. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] When you think of the global impact of Syria's conflict, it has been staggering. It has drawn in world powers, militias and jihadists, and triggered a massive refugee crisis. The incoming U.N. secretary-general calls it a cancer on a global scale. It is fast approaching the sixth year. That grim anniversary comes in March. United Nations envoy estimates 400,000 people lost their life and more than 11 million people forced from their homes because of the fighting there. [Allen:] Amid the graphic images of death and destruction we have all seen, the most heart-wrenching scenes involving the most vulnerable, smallest victims. CNN's senior international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, looks at a generation of children who have known nothing but war. [Clarissa Ward, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] You have seen so many images by now of children covered in dust, children's lifeless bodies being lifted from the rubble and occasionally even an image that gives hope, a moment of optimism, a baby rescued from deep in the rubble after a massive bombing. In March of 2011, a group of young boys in the city spray-painted anti-government graffiti on a wall. They were arrested and disappeared for two weeks. When they returned home, their families found that their bodies were scarred from torture, allegedly at the hands of regime forces. And that really provided the spark that ignited a series of protests. Not just in the city but across the entire country. About a year later, you had the Hula massacre, which was up with of the most horrific incidents in the Syrian civil war, when roughly 100 people were killed by government soldiers and half were believed to be children and those images served as a real rallying cry, not just citizens inside Syria, but to Muslims and people across the entire world. In the summer of 2012, the rebels began their siege on the city of Aleppo. That's when you saw children get being victims of war, caught in the cross fire, killed by stray bullets, snipers, rockets and rebel and government forces continued to fight on an on for weeks, sometimes over a matter of a hundred feet. But the real horrors came for children when the barrel bombs began. Conflict took an uglier turn in 2013 when the government used sarin gas. I don't think that anyone can forget seeing the images of the children's bodies wrapped in these white shrouds and since then it seems there's been no end to the depravity. We have seen children who have been starved, who have been forced to eat grass because the sieges going on across the country. We have seen a young child beheaded by a rebel group in one of the more gruesome incidents this war. We see children now being groomed to be child soldiers, to be killers, to be suicide bombers by groups like is. And we have seen millions of children, pouring across Syria's borders into neighboring countries, into Europe. And of course, we have seen the iconic image now of one boy who didn't make it, who speaks for so many other little boys and girls who have not made it. Sometimes you have a photograph that will capture the world's imagination for a moment and everybody will suddenly feel the suffering of Syria for a moment, and then it passes, and then life goes on, as it always has. I think, in many ways, children have come to symbolize the horrors of Syria, and also the impotence of the international community and the failure to stop it. [Allen:] It's been difficult to watch. But we haven't gone through it. They have. [Howell:] Yes. [Allen:] Can't imagine. If you are interested in helping Syrian families that need food, shelter, medical assistance, there are several ways you can help. Go to our website CNN.comimpact. We have a lot of information there. [Howell:] Moving onto Germany now. Prosecutors there say they have released a Tunisian man detained on suspicion of links to this person, the person suspected in the Berlin market attack, Anis Amri. They say further investigation shows the 40-year-old man could not have been his contact. [Allen:] Officials say the truck rampage that killed 12 people could have been worse had it not been for the automatic braking system on the truck that plowed into that crowd. They say the system sensed impact and applied the brakes. The clock is ticking down on 2016, isn't it? New York is planning enhanced security measures for the traditional Time's Square New Year's Eve celebration. 7,000 officers will be deployed, multiple layers of screening. And for the first time, dozens of trucks will be posted around times square. They say there are no specific threats related to terrorism. The preparations aren't all about security checks. Check this out. The planners ran a confetti test for the moment 2017 arrives. Looks like it is going to work. [Howell:] So Russia asked for the evidence of hacking and the United States is giving it up. How Moscow managed to allegedly meddle in the 2016 election. Stay with us. [Christine Romans, Cnn Anchor:] After more than a year of mocking Mexican immigrants, Donald Trump will meet with Mexico's president just hours ahead of his highly anticipated immigration speech. [George Howell, Cnn Anchor:] ISIS vowing revenge for the death of one of its most important leaders. How this notorious terrorist was struck down. Good morning and welcome back to EARLY START, I'm George Howell. [Romans:] Nice to see you today, George. I'm Christine Romans. It's 30 minutes past the hour on the last day of August. Breaking overnight, Donald Trump announcing he will meet today with the president of Mexico. That surprise meeting will happen just hours before Trump delivers that big immigration speech tonight to lay out details of his immigration policy real details. A sit-down between Trump and President Enrique Pena Nieto is surprising, to say the least, given Trump's repeated vows to wall off Mexico to wall off the Mexican border and make Mexico pay for it. Last month, Pena Nieto told CNN there is no chance Mexico will pay. [Enrique Pena Nieto, President Of Mexico:] There is no way to have Mexico pay the wall but any decisions inside the United States is a decision of its government. [Unidentified Male:] But under no circumstances would Mexico pay for that wall? [Nieto:] There is no way that Mexico can pay a wall like that. [Romans:] Trump has also drawn fierce attacks in Mexico and in the wider Hispanic community for his sometimes heated rhetoric against illegal immigration. CNN's Phil Mattingly is traveling with the Trump campaign. He's got the latest for us. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning, George and Christine. We knew there was going to be an important speech, an important moment in Donald Trump's campaign on Wednesday, we just didn't know it would involve a visit to Mexico. Now, Donald Trump's immigration speech scheduled for Wednesday in Arizona is still on. What was unexpected was his visit to Mexico to meet with Mexican president Enrique Pena Nieto. The president's office saying they extended invitations to both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump and the meeting will be private. Donald Trump also has that speech, as well, where we have all been waiting for the specific details of that immigration policy. In Everett, Washington on Tuesday night he mentioned the stakes for that speech. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] There is no better evidence of the fact that Hillary Clinton's immigration policy, which brings in illegal immigrants and well, is that a true statement. It brings in illegal immigrants and refugees to take jobs from our hardworking African-American and Hispanic citizens, and they want those jobs. Instead of providing free health care and jobs to millions of refugees from around the world, that we have no idea even where they come from, we should rebuild our inner cities and provide jobs to struggling Americans that have been struggling for years and years. [Mattingly:] Now there are still a lot of logistical issues to figure out for Donald Trump's trip, no question about it. The Secret Service being pushed hard to figure this out in such a short period of time. And I'm told inside Trump's team there's concern about this idea. A lot of unknown variables when you're meeting with a world leader but, that said, those supporting this idea, including Donald Trump, making very clear this is the type of moment a big, bold moment a big, bold statement that they believe should help him show that he is ready to operate at the highest points of the world's stage. Certainly an unexpected twist, though guys. [Howell:] Phil Mattingly, thank you. So let's talk more about Trump's very big day with "CNN POLITICS" digital managing editor Zach Wolf, live for us in Washington this morning. Zach, good morning. So, before Donald Trump makes this very important speech on immigration he will meet with the president of Mexico. They will talk about a topic that gosh, wouldn't you just love to be a fly on the wall when this topic comes up about the wall that Mexico, as Trump says, will pay for. Let's listen to Donald Trump talking to our own Anderson Cooper about that wall. [Trump:] We are going to build a great wall. The wall is going to be paid for by Mexico. People are not going to be able to tunnel because we're going to have tunnel technology. We're going to have all sorts of things on this but there's going to be a real wall. We're going to have a strong border, we're going to have a tremendous wall. We're going to have a wall that Mexico pays for, which will be very easy because they are making a fortune with us. The wall is peanuts compared to the money that they make. [Howell:] So that is Trump's political line. Does that line change at all when he is face-to-face with the president of Mexico? And if it were to change how would that affect his base? [Zachary Wolf, Managing Editor, "cnn Politics Digital":] You think maybe he won't put it quite that way when he's sitting across from the president of Mexico but [Howell:] Who knows, though? [Wolf:] It's a private meeting, yes. Who knows what he'll say. It's hard to imagine these two men emerging from this meeting with some sort of agreement. They're not negotiating something. It's hard to imagine the Mexican president emerging and saying oh yes, I will pay for the wall after all. So there is, I think, a lot of risk here for Donald Trump. He can't, you know he can't the one good thing, I think, for him is that he can go down and meet with the president of Mexico and seem, I guess, presidential. Fly to a foreign country, meet with somebody with whom he has disagreements, and sort of give this air of I'm ready for this. Afterwards,I think, you know they don't control what the Mexican government is going to say or do, so it's we'll see what happens. It's not unlike his immigration plan which has seemed to be changing and evolving the campaign strategy here by going down to Mexico so quickly is just so interesting and incredible, really. [Romans:] For those of you who haven't devoured your "Wall Street Journal" this morning there's a really interesting opinion piece in the Op-Ed section basically saying Trump's immigration shift is a winner and here's why. "Older whites cheering for walls and deportation don't represent most of the GOP, let alone the country." And the ambiguity that Donald Trump has been sowing about his actual policies is really to show other people, the majority, that hey, I'm not really going to do some of those things that I was saying I was going to do. But, Donald Trump, Jr. Donald Trump's son the candidate's son telling Anderson last night that no, his father is not softening on immigration listen. [Donald Trump, Jr., Evp, The Trump Organization:] He wasn't softening on anything. He didn't change his stance on anything. What he did was, and what he's done all along is, he's speaking with the people. He's not lecturing them like most of the politicians you see today, he's actually having a conversation. He basically surveyed the room and asked hey, what are your thoughts on this? I want to take that because I want to take into account what the people say. [Romans:] He went on to say, Zach, that he wanted to E-Verify, the want to deport felons, they want to do a whole bunch of stuff that actually is being done right now. There are some groups who've called President Obama the deporter in chief because he's in the most recent year he had a quarter of a million removals and I think 60 percent of those were criminal aliens. [Wolf:] Yes, this is one of the things where Trump has built his entire campaign around this pledge for a wall and immigration reform, it's bigger than just the border. There are all these people living here, undocumented immigrants [Romans:] Right. [Wolf:] 11 million of them. It's not like you can just send them over the border overnight. He acknowledged that and Trump acknowledged that in that same interview with Anderson Cooper. So while he's saying everybody has to go home, the timeline on that gets a little squishy. The details of this are very important and key. And when you build your campaign around such a simple pledge, the details kind of they have a tendency to be harder to figure out. [Howell:] Donald Trump's message to African-Americans and the quote has been "what the hell do you have to lose with a vote for Trump". Maybe turning that, what does he have to gain when it comes to not only that outreach but, also, what does he have to gain by going to Mexico? Could he, in fact, turn the tide with people who may have question? May have had a hard time considering voting for Trump? [Wolf:] That's true, and he's giving another speech later in the week in Detroit where's he supposed to court the African-American vote. It was interesting in the clip you played earlier. He said, specifically, the undocumented immigrants who are coming here and taking jobs, he said, from African-Americans. So it's all part of this change in tone, I guess, if not to woo in minority voters, which I find it hard to believe that he will be able to do that, maybe to make more moderate white voters feel a little bit more OK about supporting him. [Howell:] It is interesting to point out, even in Everett, Washington when you look back there at the crowd that, again [Romans:] Yes. [Howell:] he's speaking to a crowd, there are no African-Americans in the audience, from what you can see behind him. And, you know, I worked Seattle. There's not a high population of African-Americans. But Donald Trump is said to meet later with some African-American groups. [Romans:] That's a really good point, too, because when you look at that crowd and where he was in the venue. Also, those are people who are building airplanes [Howell:] Yes. [Romans:] for Asian companies Asian airlines. You know, TPP he's against TPP but they are selling planes, the country is, that would benefit and be able to buy more planes, one would think, because of trade deals. All right, so nice to see you. Thanks, Zach. [Howell:] Zach, thank you. [Wolf:] Thank you. [Romans:] All right, 39 minutes past the hour. Donald Trump says the U.S. is losing to Mexico but the two countries are very close very close trade partners. Mexico is the third largest trading partner for the U.S. Exports to Mexico, $267 billion last year. Imports, $316 billion. Now that means it's a trade deficit but it doesn't mean that the U.S. is the loser. It means the country the U.S. is buying more from Mexico than it's selling to Mexico, though it does factor into GDP. When you have a huge trade deficit it can take a little bit off of GDP but it also creates jobs. The top products going back and forth are machinery, vehicles, oil, gas, plastics, ag products. Mexico is the second largest supplier of ag products to the U.S. The top categories are fresh vegetables and fruit, at more than $4 billion each wine, beer, snack foods. These trade channels were opened up by NAFTA, something Trump has spoken out against, with hundreds of billions of dollars trading hands each year. Trump will likely be speaking about his trade plans, of course, with the Mexican president. And the P.R. offensive from U.S.-Mexico trade associations is at 6 million American jobs today. Six million depend on trade with Mexico. [Howell:] Wow. We're following a story about a top terrorist who was killed in an airstrike. The significant blow against ISIS and that groups vow to have revenge, next. [Cabrera:] Janice Dickinson says she feels, quote, "no vindication in Cosby's admission that he obtained drugs with the intent of giving them to women he wanted to have sex with." The supermodel who claims Bill Cosby raped her in the early 1980s spoke with CNN's Erin Burnett about the new revelations and the stars who continue to support him. [Erin Burnett, Cnn Anchor, Outfront:] Here's a little bit more of what Whoopi said. [Whoopi Goldberg, Co-host, The View:] In America, still, I know it's a shock, but you actually were innocent until proven guilty. He has not been proven a rapist. [Cabrera:] Janice, when you hear that, what do you think? I mean, how does someone at this point prove something? [Janice Dickinson, Cosby Accuser:] I can't I can't answer anything about Whoopi Goldberg. You know, I mean, she's a talk show host. You know. I don't know if she's ever been raped or drugged or bought off. I don't know. I can't I can't answer that. [Cabrera:] We'll bring in Boris Sanchez, he's been following this story for us. Boris, what are you what more can you tell us? [Boris Sanchez, Cnn Correspondent:] Ana, it's so interesting to see that range of reactions from these alleged victims. Janice Dickinson obviously very distraught while Victoria Valentino, another alleged victim, said she was elated that the details in that 2005 deposition came out on Monday. That deposition, the strongest evidence so far. For more than two dozen women who say the 77-year-old comedian drugged and raped them. Now while Cosby has steadfastly denied those claims, many are essentially walking away from him. Disney removing a statue of Cosby from their Hollywood Studios theme park. Not commenting on that decision. Also two networks, bounce TV and centric, removing reruns of "The Cosby show" from their air. Not everyone walking away from him, though. You saw Whoopi Goldberg defending him on "The View" yesterday. Also on that show, former "Cosby Show" co-star Raven- Symone said she needs more evidence before she can make a judgment. [Raven-symone, Co-host, The View:] I don't really like to talk about it that much because he's the reason I'm on this panel in the first place. He gave me my first job. But at the time, you know, you need the proof. And then I'll be able to give my judgment here or there. [Sanchez:] Cosby again has denied all the accusations against him. His attorney has said they will not be putting out a comment. His publicist also saying they don't plan on giving a statement. [Cabrera:] All right. Boris Sanchez, reporting, thanks so much. For more, I want to turn to Mel Robbins, who is CNN commentator, legal analyst. Now I want to focus on possible charges because so many people are asking, when is he going to face his day in court? And, of course, the statute of limitations has expired in so many of these cases. Is it possible he could still face criminal charges? [Mel Robbins, Cnn Commentator:] Absolutely possible. In fact, let's just focus on New York and the state of California. In the state of New York if a victim comes forward and alleges that she was raped by Bill Cosby and has a story that the police and that the prosecutors feel that they can prosecute and move forward on, she has to allege that it happened from 2006 forward. If that happens and it's a good case and they can they think they can prove it, he will be charged. In California, 2004, and here's something really interesting, there is a woman, Chloe Goins, who says that she was raped by Bill Cosby at the Playboy mansion. It's under investigation by the LAPD. It falls within the statute of limitations. And if you're interested in this, tune in at noon because her attorney is going to be on with Ashleigh Banfield talking about that case. So he is by no means out of the woods. And I just want to address with those ladies set on "The View" because I'm disgusted. There is a difference between the burden of proof in a criminal case and the burden of proof with commonsense. When you have 24 women that come out and say the exact same thing over and over and over and have nothing to gain because they can't prosecute him, they can't bring a civil claim because the statute of limitations has run, they've got nothing, absolutely nothing to gain. And so to say that you still need more proof when Bill Cosby actually corroborates that he had a plan with women, that he had drugs for women, it is absurd and it's offensive. I can't believe what I'm hearing. [Cabrera:] Well, we do want to say Bill Cosby has denied all of these allegations and he has yet to face any criminal charges so [Robbins:] But he may. [Cabrera:] He is, you know, not has not been proven guilty in a court of law at this point. But you say it's still possible [Robbins:] In the court of commonsense. [Cabrera:] And it's still possible he could face charges moving forward because there are also a number of other states that have no statute of limitations. And if what some of these women are saying is true, that there are many more cases they know of, that hasn't been made public, you never know where those cases are. But there is another case that is still pending right now. The case of Judy Huff. Now this is in California, which has stature of limitations. She claims when she was 15 years old, she was sexually assaulted by Bill Cosby at the Playboy mansion. This is back in the 1970s. But yet her case is pending. It just came forward in December. Why is her case not, I guess, limited by the statute of limitations? [Robbins:] Well, so there's three different statute of limitations in the state of California. There's those that apply to rapes that are perpetrated against women who are 18 years or older. And that statute of limitations is 10 years. Then there is the statute of limitations for minors. That is up to your 40th birthday, you can bring a claim. Well, clearly since this happened in the '70s, she's certainly older than 40 years old. There's a third. And the third is, if you have a triggering event when you're an adult that makes you remember an attack that happened when you were a child and you have a certified psychologist in the state of California that can testify to the fact and will sign an affidavit that says, she's been in therapy, she only just remembered it, that I will put my professional opinion on the line and sign an affidavit that says this is something that happened that she's now remembered, you have a new statute of limitations of, I believe, it's three years. But I'll have to check. But just a couple of years from the memory of it happening. [Cabrera:] Of the trigger. [Robbins:] And that's what happened. She's saying that when all of these women started coming forward, she went into therapy, she remembered that it happened to her as we hear the details about the blue pills and about the drugging and more and more people come forward, that's raising up these memories and validating it, and that's what she's basing her claim on. And so I would frankly be surprised given the number of women that have come forward and given the fact that it's only 2006 moving forward in New York, 2004 moving forward in California, if we don't see somebody come forward making new claims. [Cabrera:] All right. Mel Robbins, thanks for breaking it down for us. And it will be interesting. This is one to watch for sure. Tune in tonight at 9:00, CNN's special report "NO LAUGHING MATTER, INSIDE THE COSBY ALLEGATIONS". Hillary Clinton under heavy scrutiny for shrugging off the media in the first few months of her presidential bid. But she did sit down in an exclusive interview with CNN's Brianna Keilar. And Clinton says the media just isn't her priority. It's the people who could put her in the White House. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I'm not running my campaign for the press. I'm running it for voters. I totally respect the press and what the press has to do. But I wanted and was determined to have the time that I needed to actually meet and listen to people. You know, I had not been involved in domestic politics while I was secretary of state. And I just wanted to get my own feel, my own time face to face with people. And I learned a lot, Brianna. [Cabrera:] Joining me now, CNN's senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny and CNN senior political reporter Nia-Malika Henderson. Nia, let's start with you. Clinton says she wanted to connect with voters first. Fair enough. And she's saying she's going to start doing more interviews. Does this still provide fuel to critics who say she still isn't being transparent enough? [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Absolutely. And you saw the Republicans with a flood of statements after this interview basically saying that she's still obfuscating on some of these issues, whether it was the e-mails. They were sort of complaining about her dodging certain answers that were very directly asked by Brianna there. So, yes, this doesn't put a lot of complaints about Hillary Clinton from Republicans to rest. I think the question is, does it change any minds in terms of that Democratic constituency that she's going after in this primary race. She's obviously going to be out there more and more. Certainly donors have been pushing her to get out there more. I talked to a couple of those folks who didn't like this initial sort of strategy that she had. I think we'll see her more and more but the more she does this and I think obviously folks in her campaign know this, the more she does interviews, there are going to be more questions and more attacks and more ways in which Republicans will try to press her. [Cabrera:] Jeff, Clinton also talked about the controversy around her use of personal e-mail while she was secretary of state. Listen. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] So can you tell me the story of how you decided to delete 33,000 e-mails and how that deletion was executed? [Clinton:] Well, let's start from the beginning. Everything I did was permitted. There was no law, there was no regulation, there was nothing that did not give me the full authority to decide how I was going to communicate. Previous secretaries of state have said they did the same thing. And people across the government knew that I used one device, maybe it was because I am not the most technically capable person, and wanted to make it as easy as possible. [John Vause, Cnn Anchor:] Benjamin Netanyahu has his own plans for construction. Israel announcing thousands of new homes will be built in the West Bank. [Isha Sesay, Cnn Anchor:] And later, diversity comes to the Academy Awards. But is this just a one-year fluke or a sign of real progress? [Vause:] Hello, everybody. Thanks for being with us. I'm John Vause. [Sesay:] And I'm Isha Sesay, this is NEWSROOM L.A. Donald Trump's campaign events resounded with chants of "build that wall." And soon, the rallying cry will be one step closer to reality. A White House official, confirms Mr. Trump will take executive action Wednesday, directing federal resources toward building a border wall with Mexico. [Vause:] And Mr. Trump is said to unveil another aspect of his America First Policy. A Congressional source says, he will restrict Visas and refugees from countries including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen. [Sesay:] Mr. Trump's continued insistence of widespread voter fraud is taking attention away from his Presidential actions. Maybe, on purpose. [Vause:] The White House is getting a lot of pushback on the President's false claims. Here's Jeff Zeleny. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] The White House is standing by President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claim that millions of people voted illegally in the November election. [Sean Spicer, White House Press Secretary:] The President does believe that. He stated that before. I think he stated his concerns of voter fraud and people voting illegally during the campaign. And he continues to maintain that belief based on studies and evidence people have presented to him. [Zeleny:] Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, doubling down on the President's claim, but repeatedly unable to point to evidence that backs up the charge that has been debunked by Republicans and Democrats alike. You said that the President believes that there was voter fraud. I wonder if you believe that. You were at the Republican National Committee at the time, and Chief of Staff, Reince Priebus was the Chairman of the RNC at the time. Do you believe there was widespread voter fraud? [Spicer:] This is my job is not, look [Zeleny:] How can he be comfortable with his win, if there was three million votes? [Spicer:] He's very comfortable with his win. [Zeleny:] Maybe he didn't win. [Spicer:] No, he's very comfortable with this win. It's electoral based system, he got 306 electoral votes. 33 of 50 states voted for him. I think, look, Jeff, I've asked and answered this question twice, he believes what he believes based on the information he's provided. Yes ma'am? [Zeleny:] What does that mean for democracy, though? [Spicer:] Thanks, Jeff. Ma'am? It means that, I have answered your question. [Zeleny:] Have you? The allegations of voter fraud which Trump has repeatedly made before ticking off has surfaced again, after the President repeated that claim Monday night while meeting with Congressional leaders at the White House. [Spicer:] I think we knew he won very handily. He is very comfortable with his win. [Zeleny:] But he doesn't sound like it. He won the electoral college but lost the popular vote by nearly three million. He charged that three to five million people voted illegally, a claim as unsubstantiated as when he first made it after the election. But now it carries the weight of the presidency. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said if Trump believes it, he should disclose his proof and ask for an investigation, telling CNN's Manu Raju such allegations erode the President's credibility. [Lindsey Graham, United States Senate Republican:] I would urge the President to knock this off. This is the greatest democracy on earth. You're the leader of the free world. And people are going to start doubting you as a person. [Zeleny:] From the White House podium, Spicer left open the door to launching an investigation, but repeatedly brushed aside questions from reporters. [Spicer:] There is no investigation. It says it said I've said it was possible. Anything is possible. It was a hypothetical question. My point to you is that to ask us on day two he made a comment last night on something he has believed and said for a long, long time. [Zeleny:] Even as he gets to work laying out his agenda, Trump is still on a quest to prove his legitimacy. The exchange came on the fourth full day of Trump's presidency, overshadowing his executive actions to revive the keystone pipeline and clear the way for the Dakota access pipeline. Two more reversals of the Obama administration. The President said today he is closing in on his first Supreme Court nomination to replace the year-long vacant seat of former Justice Antonin Scalia. [Donald Trump, United States Of America President:] We will pick a truly great Supreme Court Justice. [Zeleny:] The President discussed his Supreme Court appointments or his leading list of contenders with four top Senators; Republicans and Democrats. He is planning on making his announcement early next week. It's one thing his aides hope will move him beyond all this controversy of the voter fraud he is still talking about privately. Jeff Zeleny, CNN, The White House. [Vause:] Joining us here in Los Angeles; Talk Radio host, Ethan Bearman; and Shawn Steel, Member of the California Republican National Committee. Let's just keep with Jeff Zeleny's reporting on what Donald Trump has been saying about voter fraud. I want to play for you what Senator Bernie Sanders said, the Democratic Presidential candidate had to say about this. And he said that this is a lot more than an issue of ego. Listen to this. [Bernie Sanders, United States Senate Independent:] But what I fear about that statement, and what is something we should all worry about. Is when Trump talks about three to five million people voting illegally, he is sending a message to every Republican Governor in this country to go forward with voter suppression. [Vause:] Ethan, is this sort of some kind of invitation to those Republican Governors to ramp up voter suppression? [Ethan Bearman, Talk Radio:] Well, this clearly been an issue in the United States with some of the voter I.D. laws being struck down by the courts. And I think that Bernie Sanders Senator Sanders, actually, has an interesting point. Look, we need to make sure that the integrity of the election is valid. Meaning, people who aren't allowed to vote can't vote, but we need to give Americans every opportunity to vote. And I actually think that our system can be made better by expanding the opportunities to vote. [Sesay:] Shawn, South Carolina Senator, Lindsey Graham; blasted President Trump for repeating these unfounded claims. And he's warned Mr. Trump that this is going to erode his ability to govern this country if he does not stop it. Do you agree? [Shawn Steel, California Republican National Committee Member:] Not at all. I don't agree with much of Lindsey Graham has to say on anything. [Vause:] You would agree with Bernie Sanders, though. [Steel:] Bernie Sanders, actually, is an expert on voter fraud because he is such a victim of it, coming from the Democrat National Committee. So, he knows how to get screwed and he knows how to smile about it. So, I don't have a lot of respect for the guy. The real issue here on voter fraud is that it really needs to be talked about. It needs to be investigated. It needs It's not something that is completely vacuous. It's not something that's completely made up. [Sesay:] But it has been investigated? [Steel:] Investigated by the usual suspects. [Vause:] Why won't the White House investigate it then? [Steel:] Well, you know what, I saw that Mr. Comey got his job renewed in the FBI. And I think if there're serious voter fraud situations, that's a national issue. I think the FBI will be looking at that. So, I'm not saying that there isn't any at all. But John Fund from The Wall Street Journal, has written several books about voter fraud going; listen, the Democrats have been stealing votes since Tammany Hall, long before you came to this country, 150 years ago. So, the Democrats are experts on stealing vote, particularly in the urban areas. That's just a fact. [Vause:] You see their investigation, but the White House doesn't want one. OK, let's move on because there is some very big news tonight. In the coming hours, we can expect Donald Trump to make good on that promise to build the wall on Mexico. He tweeted this out a short time ago, "big day planned on National Security for tomorrow. Among many other things, we will build the wall." So, Shawn, I mean, this is one of his key campaign promises. A lot of people will be watching to see how all of this plays out. And also, a lot of Muslims, not just here in the United States, but around the world will be watching to see if there is that ban on Muslims entering the country. [Steel:] Two issues; building the wall, border security in the South, is something that legislation from Congress. Bush signed 11 years ago, but it was never been employed and used. Obama completely shut it down on purpose. Bush didn't do it wholeheartedly. So, we're taking an 11-year law, plus, the funding that was granted 11 years ago, and finally putting it into play. That's really not really news, it's something that should have been done that most Americans want. In terms of explicit anti-Muslim behavior coming from the Federal Government, nobody is going to support that. Nobody believes in a plural pluralistic society like America has. Remember, we have the most integrated nation in the world. There is no nation comparable to the United States with the various hues, and languages, and diversity that we have. And that's something to be proud of. So, there is not going to be a hex on Muslims, per se, because that would be unconstitutional. [Sesay:] And the language we heard from President-elect Trump on the campaign trail, which many people would say was decidedly anti-Muslim. [Steel:] You mean you mean, extreme vetting? That's not [Bearman:] He talked about actually stopping all Muslims from coming back to [Steel:] He backed away. He's not [Bearman:] Another example of he'll say whatever he needed to during the campaign, which included the big beautiful wall which will now be a fence in some areas. [Steel:] I hope it's a beautiful wall. [Bearman:] But the point is, is he said whatever it took to get elected, and that's what happened. And so, now, look [Steel:] Are you accusing him of being a politician? [Bearman:] Exactly, which everybody claimed he wasn't. I'm going to say, right now, if there is a Muslim registry; I'm Jewish, I will register as a Muslim in this country to stand with my brothers and sisters who are Muslims, who are here legally, who are peaceful, who want to participate in our pluralistic society. I will not stand idly by. [Steel:] I almost hate to agree with you. But I can't think of a single Republican conservative, and I know a lot of them that supports a Muslim Registry. [Vause:] General Foran, I say, has proposed the Muslim Registry, and he is advising Donald Trump right now. [Steel:] Well, I tell you, that's a very isolated point of view. But nobody wants a [Vause:] That he cut to presidency? Yes, he is meeting with Donald Trump. [Steel:] Thousands of people have the President's ear. And probably he's listening to it right now, because he likes watching [T.v. Sesay:] Ethan, what message does this send to the world about who America is? What America is at this point in time under a Trump presidency? [Bearman:] It shows that we're withdrawing from the world. And I think that's actually a very dangerous message. When the United States withdraws from the world, it leaves a power vacuum. We're no longer the beacon of liberty, which is what we're supposed to be. And when we withdraw, bad things happen. I mean, bad people like to fill those vacuums. And I want us to be that pluralistic society, that beacon of freedom and liberty. And so, if we withdraw that, that light goes dim. [Steel:] I disagree. I think the fact that he's meeting with the Prime Minister of England, the President of Mexico [Sesay:] Talk about the tax for the wall. [Steel:] Well, you know, he's coming here, and he seemed to be in good spirits about it. Maybe he'll write his first check to Trump. I don't know. And Prime Minister Trudeau. So, he's very much, and he's talking to world leaders constantly. He's not withdrawing from anything. And if anything, I think the American credibility is going to increase in the Middle East. [Bearman:] He just withdrew from the TPP, which I actually supported him on. But he is talking about withdrawing [Steel:] Which the teamsters liked too. [Bearman:] He attacked, NATO. He is questioning the validity of our North Atlantic Treaty Organization. [Steel:] I think I you know what, he doesn't like a bunch of parasites having Americans pay for their protection. [Vause:] See, this is the part, is that when Donald Trump makes a point, quite often there is something there. Like NATO, yes, those countries are not dedicating their defense budgets like they should be to the four percent level; only three or four countries in NATO. So, there is a point. But the criticism of Donald Trump is he then takes it too far; calling NATO obsolete. [Steel:] Read his book. It's a classic art of deal making. He makes a position. It may be strident. And then the other party is really shocked and amazed, and ultimately, it goes halfway. That's exactly what Trump wanted. [Sesay:] But it's not business. It's diplomacy. It's politics. [Steel:] It's called negotiations. Everything in life is negotiations, including diplomacy. [Sesay:] But when you are the President of the United States, would you not agree that words matter? And when you put statements let out like that, you destabilize the world on many levels, including financially, economically? [Steel:] I think it's called disruption. And I think Americans wanted to disrupt the President, and they're tired of the way the Congress is acting, they're tired of the way world leaders have acted. And yes, what Donald Trump is doing is crazy, as a fox. [Bearman:] And he has taken the word bully pulpit too literally, and taken it as a bully pulpit. I mean, that's the problem [Steel:] People really need to get a good bully pulpit pounded on their head. That's what Americans love. Sorry, but that's the truth. [Vause:] The problem with, you know, many of the issues is that there is a lack of clarity. And is there a Muslim Registry? Is there not a Muslim Registry? And there's confusions [Steel:] There isn't. [Vause:] Well, we don't know that for certain. Because [Steel:] I do. [Sesay:] Wow! [Steel:] I'll put money on the table. I can tell you it's not happening and it won't happen. [Sesay:] Based on? [Vause:] Will there be a ban on Muslims entering the country? Because, you know, you said [Steel:] I hope so, there'll be vetting. [Vause:] that there'll be vetting. There, you know, doubling restrictions for the refugees [Steel:] What is wrong with that? [Bearman:] Totally. [Vause:] But there are there are many people out there, right now, in this country who are Muslims, who are terrified. They don't know what is going to happen next. And they want some kind of definitive statement from their President, because he's their President as well. And right now, you talked to Muslims in this country, and they say they feel ostracized. They feel isolated. You know, they are [Steel:] John, that's not true. These are professional these are professional organizations like CARE, which is pro-Hamas, pro- terrorists, speaking on behalf of Muslims in America. I'll tell you, most of the Muslims in America, are Americans and they got day to day issues and they're not afraid of anything. [Sesay:] Shawn, you can't say that. That's not true. [Steel:] They're a lot better from the places they came from. I guarantee you the people in Minnesota, who are Somalians are so much 8,000 times happier being in Minnesota than they are back in Somalia. [Sesay:] But that doesn't mean they are not worried. And you can't say that people don't have concerns within the Muslim American Community. Because they do. [Steel:] Show me some metrics. Show me some evidence. I don't see it. I hear talk. It comes from discredited Muslims, self-appointed discredited Muslim leaders who are extremists themselves that have an agenda that are tied in to terrorism in the Middle East. I don't trust the information. [Sesay:] No. Just an anecdotally, I can tell you. Just anecdotally, I can tell you about Muslim Americans who are upset and who are concerned. [Vause:] OK. [Sesay:] Are their views not valid? [Steel:] Well, I got mine too. I got Mohammed Khan. Whose yours? Name them. [Vause:] OK. Well, one of the other big controversial executive orders was signed by Donald Trump, and that was essentially to sign the go ahead for the Keystone Pipeline and also the Keystone of the North Dakota Pipeline as well in North Dakota. Donald Trump signed this, after President Obama essentially put a ban on it because of environmental reasons. Now, after the order was signed by President Trump, protesters gathered outside the White House. Native American groups they spent months in North Dakota trying to stop the Pipeline, because they say it would disturb sacred sites as well as pollute their water supply. Michael Knudsen, Joins us now from Bismarck, North Dakota. He's a Logistic Coordinator for the Standing Rock Medic Healer Council. Michael, last week the organizers of the protest up there in North Dakota; they asked the water protectors to leave the site and head home. Will that still happen now? Or will there now be renewed protests? [Knudsen:] A lot of our a lot of our structures and the supplies that we have here. And we definitely respect the standing rock's two tribe's request for people to clean up the camps before floods or any kind of, you know, melting would happen. But we are also very committed as medics and health care providers to stay as long as water protectors are at camp and in the area because we are kind of the closest health care providers to the camp. What's happening now is that for months now, Highway 1806, which is the fastest route to Bismarck, which is the closest advanced hospital, is still closed. And so, we're still here at camp, and we're asking for that highway to be opened so that people can get medical care. [Vause:] What basically are the options now left for these groups which have been protesting? Because when Obama was president, he clearly was against the pipeline. He ordered the Army Corps of engineers to take a look and essentially to re-assess the situation. Now, Obama's out of office, you have Donald Trump. Does this now present itself as like a legal challenge? Is that basically how this now needs to play out? [Knudsen:] You know, I think that the legal aspect is really important. The environmental impact statement should still be going through. Obviously with Trump's, you know, memorandum, he is asking that be expedited. We'll see what the Army Corps says in response to that. But honestly, we all knew that this was a very real possibility, and we expected based on Trump's statements during his campaigning, that he wouldn't be our ally. He wouldn't advocate for indigenous rights or environmental protections. So the question really is, you know, what's going to happen to demonstrators who are still, you know, at a camp or across the country, demonstrating against Trump's policies, and what will that mean under this administration. And even under the Obama Administration, we've seen escalations in the violence, you know, the police violence and the state violence against, you know, peaceful demonstrators. We haven't seen a lot of regulation from the Obama administration. We don't expect that the Trump administration will take measures to make sure that people's rights to express themselves and free speech are protected. So at least as a medic collective, we're committed to providing care to demonstrators who are experiencing real physical and mental trauma at the hands of those who oppose, you know, our right to demonstrate. [Vause:] OK. Michael, we'll leave it there. But thank you for being with us. Michael Knudsen there in Bismarck, North Dakota. [Sesay:] Back to Sean and Ethan here in the studio. We need to take a listen to some of what President Trump had to say during his meeting with Auto Executives on Tuesday. Take a listen to what he had to say as he promised to cut regulations. [Donald Trump, President Of The United States Of America:] I'm going to have friends that want to build in the United States. They go many, many years and they can't get their environmental permit over something that nobody ever heard of before. And it's absolutely crazy. And I am, to a large extent, an environmentalist. I believe in it. But it's out of control. [Sesay:] To a large extent. He is an environmentalist. [Vause:] I'm just curious. [Steel:] I think he likes the environment because he likes to breathe the air and drink the water. So that kind of makes us all pro- environmentalists. Look, we've seen [Vause:] That's a pretty basic definition. [Steel:] We've seen some people that have taken this environmental activity and regulation and control into a religious zeal that has become declares any body of water in the United States a marshland. Therefore, under the control of the EPA. That created a lot of fake stories in the past. Remember how coal dust was supposed to be spoiling the atmosphere throughout the states and creating what was called acid rain? That never existed. That was unscientific, unverified and blown out, not talked about anymore. But there is [Bearman:] Yes. Totally untrue. [Steel:] There is dozens and dozens of stories like that that created by some environmental strange person and university never had a real job in his life. [Sesay:] So you think [Steel:] And the problem is, they're completely shown unscientific over the years. And now they're in charge of the nut house. And that's what Donald Trump is trying to restore some [Bearman:] That's entirely untrue. And on top of it all, we have unregulated chemicals unlike Europe, which takes the precautionary principle with chemicals. [Steel:] You want to be like Europe? [Bearman:] We did on the topic of chemicals, at least, yes. We have unregulated chemicals, Atrazine polluting our waterways. We have Glyphosine, a brand-new report came out showing the liver damage that happens at the low dosage extended period exposure to the [Steel:] We're the healthiest society. [Bearman:] We're not the [Steel:] They're bringing us water. [Bearman:] And cancer rates are off the curriculum because of the [Vause:] Cancer rates are through the roof. [Bearman:] Yes. And because of all these issues which actually President Obama even ignored as well that we need to address. And that is the unregulated chemicals that are polluting the water, the food, the air and everything else. And that's going to go all the way to the wayside. [Steel:] Typical scare mongering. [Bearman:] It's not [Steel:] Americans are living longer and healthier. The trouble is we have so many healthy old people. [Vause:] The age expectancy for the white male in the United States actually declined for the first-time last year. [Steel:] That's [Vause:] They're not living longer. [Steel:] That's that's actually true for one segment of society. A lot of it has to do with they're not working, they're cold, they've forgotten American. And that was that community, along with not just white males, but a forgotten male and a forgotten female that got Trump elected, ironically. [Bearman:] One more really important note back the pipeline. This is more than 200 years now of violating treaties with Native Americans that this president is going to continue just like all of the previous presidents. [Steel:] We don't know that yet, we don't know yet. [Bearman:] So far so good. I mean, it doesn't look like he is going to respect. [Vause:] Real like the pipeline. [Steel:] Nobody nobody argues against keystone. Keystone's a rational, a good approach. [Bearman:] Nope, I do not argue. I do not argue against keystone. [Sesay:] We'll be going to leave it there. I know we will reconvene in the days ahead. Ethan Bearman and [Vause:] Sean Spicer? [Sesay:] And Sean Spice [Vause:] Sean Spicer, thank you. Oh, my goodness. [Steel:] I'm not really Spicer. My man. [Vause:] I just promoted you. Thanks, guys. [Sesay:] Wonderful to have you both in this. Thank you. Thank you very much. All right. Quick break now. Israel approves new settlement housing. We'll tell you why all the past condemnation, by that matter. [Vause:] Also a big victory for Iraqi forces against ISIS in Mosul. We'll hear why the next part of their fight could be much more difficult. [Lu Stout:] Coming to you live from Hong Kong, you are back watching News Stream. Now, Hillary Clinton's campaign calls it, quote, a new low in the contest for the U.S. Democratic presidential nomination. The Democratic frontrunner's team is responded to remarks made by rival, Bernie Sanders. He said on Wednesday, that Clinton is not, quote, "qualified to be president, accusing her of taking tens of millions of dollars from special interest groups through a group that supports her." Now the attack follows Sanders' win in the Wisconsin primary, though he still faces a steep climb. Now, Clinton only needs to win 36 percent of the remaining delegates to get there. Now, Sanders has to capture more than double that. Now, let's bring in our senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar for more on this. And Brianna, tell us more about this bitter battle that is brewing between Sanders and Clinton. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Correspondent:] Hi, Kristie. Bernie Sanders said what he said about Hillary Clinton, that she isn't qualified to be president at a rally before about 10,000 people in Philadelphia. I'll tell you, I was at this rally, this was like red meat to his supporters. They were eating it up. Bernie Sanders clearly not responding kindly to the Clinton campaign's new strategy to go after him more aggressively. [Sen. Bernie Sanders, 2016 Democratic Presidential Candidate:] I don't believe that she is qualified. [Keilar:] Bernie Sanders lashing out at Hillary Clinton. [Sanders:] I don't think that you are qualified if you get $15 million from Wall Street through your super PAC. I don't think you are qualified if you have voted for the disastrous war in Iraq. [Keilar:] The war of words between the two presidential Democratic candidates escalating. Sanders claiming... [Sanders:] She has been saying lately she thinks that I am, quote, unquote, "not qualified to be president." [Keilar:] But Clinton's campaign denies she ever said he wasn't qualified. [Clinton:] The presidents who are successful know what they want too, and they know how to do it. [Keilar:] Clinton is pointing to an interview Sanders did with the "New York Daily News," where he struggled to identify how his administration would break up the big banks, elaborating in an interview with Chris Cuomo. [Clinton:] I was, I think, a little, you know, surprised that there didn't seem to be a lot of substance to what he was saying. [Keilar:] Clinton now taking this line of attack on the campaign trail, that Sanders is unprepared to be president, and even questioning whether he's a Democrat. [Clinton:] He himself has said that he never was. He never ran as a Democrat until he started running for president. [Keilar:] Now, the spokesman for the Clinton campaign tweeted shortly after Bernie Sanders said what he did, Kristie, "Bernie Sanders, take back your words about Hillary Clinton." And it's interesting to note both of these campaigns at this point are fundraising off of this back and forth. It's also important to note, this is the most contentious that we have seen the Democratic side of the presidential race, that real testiness is something that has been reserved pretty much for the Republicans. [Lu Stout:] Yeah, the gloves are off certainly in the Democratic race now. And meanwhile, the battle for New York, Brianna. We know it's a home state for both the candidates. Who at this point has the upper hand there? [Keilar:] Right now the polls show Hillary Clinton with the lead. And it is her home state, but it's also where Bernie Sanders was born. This is Hillary Clinton's adopted home state. This is where she became a senator after Bill Clinton left the White House and she was no longer first lady. There are so many pledged delegates at stake: 247. So, this is a giant piece of the pie. For Bernie Sanders, it is so important that he win New York if he is going to have a path to the White House. And for Hillary Clinton, is it a absolute must? No, but it would be terribly embarrassing if she were to lose her adopted home state. [Lu Stout:] All right, Brianna Keilar reporting live for us. Thank you, Brianna. Now, on the Republican side, Donald Trump is the heavy favorite in New York. He hit on some familiar themes during a campaign speech on Wednesday night. [Trump:] We are going to have a strong border. We are going to build the wall. It will be a real wall. A real wall. Who is going to pay for the wall? Who? By the way, 100 percent. [Lu Stout:] And the latest count shows Donald Trump would need to win 60 percent of the remaining delegates in order to get to the magic number, 1,237 and clinch the nomination. Ted Cruz would need to win 88 percent, John Kasich would need to win an unwinnable 125 percent. Now, business is booming at a small factory in central Mexico thanks to Donald Trump. It's turning out masks of the billionaire. Rafael Romo went to check it out. [Rafael Romo, Cnn Correspondent:] It's a factory bustling with activity with workers pouring liquid plaster onto molds, painting, refining and creating all kinds of different designs. [Unidentified Male:] It's a very manual process. [Romo:] This mask factory in central Mexico has been busier than ever in the last few months. And it's all thanks to the unexpected popularity of not a Mexican, but an American presidential candidate. Take a look at the strands of artificial hair neatly placed and quaffed by this worker. [Unidentified Male:] We weren't making this mask with actual hair, and some of our customers asked for it, and it has to be the hair. so, this is the deluxe version. [Romo:] You've probably already guessed. It's Donald Trump's mask and this factory executive believes demand will only grow in the next few months. [Unidentified Male:] We think maybe because of the polls that he will be the candidate. [Romo:] The last shipment of the Donald Trump mask came out of this factory two weeks ago. It was 10,000 masks, 80 percent of them were sold in the United States and the rest here in Mexico. There's only one mask beating Donald Trump's in sales, that of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, the drug lord captured in January after a spectacular tunnel escape from prison last summer. The mask that comes with the prison outfit has been flying off the shelves. [Unidentified Male:] Yeah, totally sold out. We sold El Chapo masks in customs in all Mexican territory in all America U.S. territory and we sold in Australia, for example. [Romo:] Wait, wait, wai, El Chapo masks being sold in Australia? There is still a chance for Trump to compete with El Chapo, but only if he can win the Republican Party's presidential nomination. The great irony, making a fortune off of two highly controversial men whose only thing in common is dominating the headlines. Rafael Romo, CNN, Hutapec, Mexico. [Lu Stout:] Now, Myanmar's longstanding democracy icon has a new official role. And we'll explore what powers it gives to Aung San Suu Kyi and the newly elected government. Now, leaving your house without a wallet can be a problem, but not if you have a smarphone in Beijing. Find out how are you can go only with payment apps after the break. [Cuomo:] All right, let's get it going, Keilar. USA, USA, USA. This is the night Team USA swimming the top of the medal stand, but will there be more? Lilly King, Ryan Murphy taking gold, setting Olympic records. Michael Phelps back in the pool. Let's look at the listings right now, the standings. The U.S. at the top, 19. Gold count very tight, though, obviously China tied. So tonight all eyes on the women's gymnastics team final. Let's discuss with CNN's sports correspondent and former Atlanta Falcon and Buffalo Bill, I believe, Coy Wire. And CNN sports analyst, Christine Brennan. Can't find better-looking people in the business. So, heading into tonight, Christine, what are we looking for, what are the stakes? [Christine Brennan, Cnn Sports Analyst:] Well, I'll tell you. You mentioned gymnastics and this American team qualified 10 points ahead, Chris, of its closest rival. This is a sport of tenths of points, and maybe one point 10 points. So they are dominant, they're expected to win. It would be a huge upset if the U.S. does not win the women's team gold. And then back in the pool, Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps, two names everyone knows, going for gold. I think that Ledecky said hey, I've got more in the tank. I think she'll do it. I think Phelps looked pretty good. It's competitive in both cases, they're going to be close. Not those big Katie Ledecky victories, it's going to be close. But I have a feeling Phelps and Ledecky will both do it tonight in the pool. [Keilar:] And Coy, as we are looking Christine said, if they don't win gold it's going to be a huge upset. You even have gymnasts from other countries like Russia saying USA's unbeatable at this point. They're really competing for second place. But what are you specifically looking for as we go into this team, all-around, for the women's gymnastics team? [Coy Wire, Cnn Sports Corespondent:] Well, personally, I want to see Simone Biles. I mean, this girl is four foot, eight, and I mentioned yesterday with you guys the thing that makes her so dynamic is not just her raw athleticism, it's her mentality. She's not afraid of anything. She's doing things that other gymnasts are afraid to try because they fear it would be career-ending, so that's outstanding. You know, that's the one person -I also I want to see Laurie Hernandez. She's a Mexican-American competing here for Team USA. They call her the human emoji. She's full of energy and life and it's one of the great things to watch when you're watching gymnastics is that passion and enthusiasm as well, Brianna. [Cuomo:] So, how do they rate to that amazing team from the London Olympics that the U.S. had? What were their nicknames? [Keilar:] The Fierce Five. [Cuomo:] The Fierce Five. How do they compare, Christine, and why or Coy? Either one of you take it. [Brennan:] Well, we're both nodding our heads. They compare favorably, Chris. I think this is the best team ever. I think with Simone Biles I don't know what you think, Coy, but Simone Biles leading the way. Aly Raisman, Gabby Douglas, you've got the reigning Olympic all-around champ from four years ago back on this team. This team is just stacked. It is just packed to the rafters with talent. I think it's the greatest U.S. team ever but check with us tomorrow because obviously they've got to do the deal. They've got to win the gold. [Keilar:] And Coy, we don't know what their name is yet, right? Aren't we going to find out? What do you think it should be? [Wire:] Yes, will it be "Fiercer Five"? I mean, we'll see. One thing that was a highlight from last night. Did you guys see Ryan Murphy, the Olympic swimmer 100-meter backstroke and he fulfills a prophecy from the age of eight years old. He goes out, he gets the gold medal for Team USA, he sets the Olympic record. No American had ever swam under 52 seconds in the event. And here's what he said. He wrote a letter to his mom with a photo drawing of himself. He said, "I hope my swimming life continues and I become an Olympian when I grow up. I hope I will break the world records. I want to be the best swimmer in the world." And here we are, guys, 13 years later and Ryan Murphy wakes up one of the best swimmers in the world. Great story. [Keilar:] It said that postcard said "the end", right? Well, that was last night, the end. [Cuomo:] I like it. I loved it for him because he got to do what the Olympics is all about. He did it in the moment that counted. He got the gold. I am nervous, though, about the girl's team tonight. So much expectation expected to win. [Keilar:] A lot of pressure. [Cuomo:] I don't know. I think I hate I don't like when you go into it and everyone expects you to do well, you know? Hey, Christine, did you see the Michael Phelps stare down face? I actually believe he was just focused and he wasn't mad dogging [Keilar:] I think he was really P.O.'d, that's what I think. [Cuomo:] that guy, le Clos. Do you think he was mad dogging the guy or do you think he was just trying to stay focused? [Brennan:] No. No, no, he is just staying focused. He's focusing on no one else but himself. [Cuomo:] Now, see? [Brennan:] If there were 10,000 people in the arena or just by himself, that's so. When's he competing [Cuomo:] See? Brianna and Coy went the other way on me. And then Coy screwed up his face [Wire:] I agree. [Cuomo:] and looked at me and tried to intimidate me off the point, Christine, but I didn't bend, I didn't bend. [Keilar:] Oh, and Coy [Wire:] Hey, I think we're seeing raw emotion. Yes, Brianna? [Keilar:] Coy, your hair looks fantastic today. Tell us about this. [Cuomo:] You don't have any hair. [Wire:] Yes, I know. Christine and I were saying how I look I'm in one of the Beyonce videos. Hair's blowing in the breeze out here. We're truly enjoying it. [Brennan:] He's a lucky guy, that's all I've got to say. But hey, behind us, no complaints. [Keilar:] Who gave you this haircut that we're seeing on Twitter? [Cuomo:] Who shaved your head, brother? [Wire:] OK, so Ibasically every bald reporter's dream, I got it yesterday. I got my head shaved by five-time Olympian, U.S. water polo, Tony Azevedo. You've got to see in this right now. He shaves my head but the best part is I had a ketchup packet in my left hand there. I did the old dumb and dumber Jim Carey you know, where I pretend like he cut my head. And I go like this and you should have seen the look on his face. Maybe we can show the video to you later on, live or something. But I'm going to have my head on a swivel all day because he's coming out for me, but a great time. This guy is fascinating. He grew up here in Rio, five-time Olympian, speaks three languages, includingPortuguese. He said that he and the U.S. water polo team are going out and they're going to shock the world. [Keilar:] That is hilarious. All right, Coy and Christine, thank you so much. I'll be giving Chris a haircut later after the show, of course. [Cuomo:] I just got one. My birthday cut. [Keilar:] Happy birthday, by the way. [Cuomo:] All right. [Keilar:] So, in just minutes we will be talking with the most decorated women's gymnast in U.S. history, Shannon Miller. [Cuomo:] There's a lot of news from the election and from around the world, so let's get right to it. [Unidentified Female:] Fifty former GOP national security officials signing a letter to stop their party's nominee. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] She is the candidate of the past. [Kate Bolduan, Cnn Anchor:] Hello, everyone. I'm Kate Bolduan. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] I'm John Berman. Breaking news, the White House today feeling the Bern like it hasn't since the British set it on fire in 1814. [Bolduan:] Too soon? [Berman:] Probably. We have live pictures from the White House right now. Look at this. Bernie Sanders set to arrive any second now for a highly anticipated Oval Office meeting with President Obama. The president wants unity. Hillary Clinton wants unity. The question is, what does Bernie Sanders want? [Bolduan:] Regardless of the answer, Bernie Sanders is still in campaign mode and forging ahead to next week's primary in D.C. He has a rally scheduled there tonight but will he come with a new message after today's meeting as we look at the White House. CNN's Michelle Kosinski is live at the White House. First question is why have they still not cut back those trees, Michelle, when it really blocks our shot when we want to see what's going on? [Michelle Kosinski, Cnn White House Correspondent:] A very good question. You can really feel the excitement. It's almost like a state visit or maybe even more than that. There's a crowd of the world's press gathered, all eyes are focused on that western gate. We know he's arriving here any minute, which is quite early for his meeting, but Bernie Sanders tends to do that. Remember, he was here back in January for another lengthy meeting with the president, and that kind of came at an awkward time as well. He had been criticizing the president's key trade deal, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The president seemed to refer to certain candidates, including him, as bright, shiny objects, but they came out of that meeting talking about how productive and constructive and cordial and respectful it was. This, of course, is a much different scene and publicly the White House has been saying it's all about respect, respecting Sanders and his supporters who, of course, the White House would like to see ultimately supporting Hillary Clinton. So the White House says that the president wants to congratulate Sanders, wants to talk about how to build on the progress he's made on the issues, and how to keep on engaging in the debate moving forward. Privately, we know the president wants to hear him out. And they're going to forge a path forward. And this meeting is expected to last about an hour. The big question though is, how long is Sanders staying in the race. And we shouldn't expect the White House necessarily to hold off endorsing Hillary Clinton. But because they're so interested in maintaining this respect, they might do something a little softer first, maybe some kind of a release on social media before we see that big campaign-style event that would be a full endorsement with President Obama and Hillary Clinton. [Berman:] Michelle, we got this breaking news just in. We've just been told that Bernie Sanders is on the White House grounds, along with his wife, Jane. The meeting with the president has not started yet, so obviously, they arrived perhaps somewhere else besides where we're looking right now, and arrived as you so correctly note early. The meeting not scheduled to start for 15 minutes. We will keep you all posted when we hear that meeting has begun. Our thanks to Michelle Kosinski for that. [Bolduan:] While the big meeting is at the White House, what is Hillary Clinton doing to win over the legions of Bernie Sanders supporters, and can she? She thinks so. Here is what Clinton told Anderson Cooper. Listen. [Hillary Clinton, , Presidential Candidate & Former Secretary Of State:] I do intend to reach out to his supporters. We have a lot of same goals. Now, we may have approached it somewhat differently, but our goals are the same. [Berman:] All right. Want to talk about this more now. We're joined by CNN's senior Washington correspondent, Jeff Zeleny. Jeff, Kate Bolduan is a big fan of your work, and she noted you covered the unity event between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton way back in 2008. You have vast experience on the issue of party unity. What is the Clinton team intending to do right now? What is the Sanders team intending to do? [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] John and Kate, I remember that day very well, actually. There was so much tension on that airplane between then-Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton, of course, flying to Unity, New Hampshire. It was such a forced marriage almost, but they went through, they got through with this. And I remember talking to people at that rally, Hillary Clinton fans, who said, look, we're not going to support Barack Obama, we can't do it. It was very divisive. I remember writing that story for "The New York Times," where I was at that time, and we thought, wow, are these people ever going to come together? Well, the reality is this is a process. I think that's what we're seeing right now unfolding today. Bernie Sanders, yes, he's been running as an outsider, but he also is a member of the Washington establishment, whether some of his supporters like that or not. He's been on Capitol Hill for a very long time. He is falling into line today. I think it may take several days. He is likely to not step aside until after the D.C. primary next week, but all indications we are getting is that he is he knows that he lost his primary but he did very well, won 22 states. That's what we're seeing happening today. But give him his due. He wants to meet with the president here. He'll be going up to Capitol Hill and, frankly, that's where Democrats want him, on Capitol Hill, not out there on the campaign trail. [Bolduan:] So tell me, Elizabeth Warren, she's back in the headlines. You're picking up new details on when she might be coming out to finally back Hillary Clinton as everyone has been not everyone but as especially Hillary Clinton and Democrats have been waiting to see when and if that would happen. [Zeleny:] I talked to someone who is close to her just not that long ago and they said she's waited a year and a half, so she's not exactly missing out by not doing this urgently, giving this endorsement. She wants to meet with Senator Sanders herself, and that could come later this afternoon when he's on Capitol Hill, or it could come in the coming days. There's nothing scheduled, I'm told, at this time or at least they're not advising us there is. But she is going to offer her endorsement and then go right back into attack mode. She is sort of becoming the leading Democrat to attack Donald Trump and try to tie him to all the Republicans who are running for Senate, for the House, for other races. Look for that endorsement at some point. It's all but a foregone conclusion she's going to do that. She wants a little bit of cover. Once the president endorses, I believe she will probably go after that here. A lot of her grassroots fundraisers and others won't be thrilled with this because they share a lot of supporters. But the reality is it's her only option. She's already been campaigning for the Democrats and she will endorse at some point. [Bolduan:] Jeff Zeleny, great to see you, Jeff. Thanks so much. [Zeleny:] Good to see you guys. Thank you. [Bolduan:] Let's bring in Democratic Congressman Raul Grijalva, from Arizona. He was the first member of Congress to endorse Bernie Sanders. He's joining us from Capitol Hill. Congressman, thank you so much for joining us. [Rep. Raul Grijalva, , Arizona:] Thank you very much. Appreciate the invitation. [Bolduan:] Thank you. Have you spoken to Bernie Sanders? What's his state of mind right now? [Grijalva:] Well, the last opportunity we spoke was on Sunday and that was when we were in California. Then I came here to D.C. I'm looking forward to some discussions today after he finishes his meetings with the president and Senate and House leadership on the Democratic side, and I think that's appropriate. I think that the theme is unity, how do we bring the party together. And I think those conversations will have a lot to say as to what the next steps forward are for both Bernie and his campaign. [Berman:] Congressman, we just learned that Bernie Sanders, the Senator, has arrived at the White House for his meeting with President Obama, along with his wife, Jane. That meeting should kick off any minute. You wrote an op-ed, among other things but you said you know Bernie Sanders will do the right thing. What is the right thing, Congressman? [Grijalva:] I think the right thing right now is to I think part of the right thing is to understand that Bernie got into this race to fundamentally bring his themes and his message that I support very much to the American people, and he did great. He didn't he raised money differently from anybody else and away from PACs. He challenged the establishment, both of our party and of political leadership in this country. And he's going to go to the convention with 45 percent of the delegates pledged to him. I think that's significant. It's historic. And where theme and message became the key thing. So I think I really believe that DNC and the Democratic leadership in this country and certainly the Clinton campaign have to accommodate, have to integrate, have to deal with the platform and the message, and validate to some extent the themes, the message, and the candidacy of this man. And I think that that's what I mean by a two-way street. Bernie [Bolduan:] In that two-way street, when you're talking about the two- way street and the right thing, does it also include him exiting the race? [Grijalva:] Well, I think that's a decision Bernie is going to make. You know, I have been circumspect about an answer to that simply because I think the man needed his space. It's been a grueling campaign and he and his family needed time to think. I think Bernie is coming to conclusions, and part of it will be how we keep alive the movement that he generated because it has great value to the Democratic party and to this country, and how do we do it in such a way where our party not only inherits that movement but makes it a focal point and integral part of everything that moving forward. [Berman:] Congressman [Grijalva:] I think Bernie wants to do that. [Berman:] The president is giving him space. Hillary Clinton has given him space. You've given him a few days. But what does your heart tell you? Do you hope at some point in the near future, and I mean days, not months, do you hope he endorses Hillary Clinton? [Grijalva:] Yeah, I hope it's a seamless transition where the issues that we fought for and that Bernie fought for and the delegates are both respected, dignified, and give their place. If all that happens, then I think that transition will occur and it will occur rather quickly. [Bolduan:] Congressman, do you still have reservations about Hillary Clinton? [Grijalva:] You know, I approach this race and I will be very honest with you, I approach this race not a lesser of two evils. I didn't approach the race that way. Hillary did something historic, and first woman nominee of a major party, that's historic and important to this nation's history and tots present, and she's a capable person. The themes we raised about economic justice, environmental justice, racial justice and equity in this country are themes that we're going to continue to be strong about because, you know, the legacy of this campaign is not that Bernie is going to get off the stage but that there's a movement here and that's going to continue to influence the party. And I hope that we'll be able to influence, if it's a Hillary administration, influence that with those same themes and messages. It's not a lesser of two evils. The evil is looming, and that's Trump. And if there is an underlying, unifying factor in this whole thing for both Bernie supporters and Hillary supporters is the specter of having a Trump presidency that would be devastating to this nation. [Berman:] Congressman Raul Grijalva, thanks so much for being with us. We appreciate your time today, sir. Thank you. [Grijalva:] Thank you for the invite. Appreciate it. [Bolduan:] Thanks. [Berman:] We continue to keep our eye at the White House, outside the White House. Despite the fact we know Bernie Sanders is already there and not likely in that picture right now. He's arrived with his wife, Jane. [Bolduan:] I just enjoy the suspense. [Berman:] It's nice and scenic. [Bolduan:] To try to guess who is walking in between the leaves. [Berman:] He's due to meet with the president any minute, if it hasn't started already. And his wife, Jane, is with the Senator as well. So that is interesting. 11 minutes after the hour right now. Never-Trump never stopping. A new rebellion perhaps looking to change convention rules to stop Donald Trump from getting the nomination. Is this a real, genuine option? We'll discuss. [Bolduan:] Seriously, is it? Plus, he's the governor of a crucial swing state and the state that is hosting the Republican convention. Moments ago, Trump's former rival, Governor John Kasich, opened up about whether he will support Donald Trump, and Trump has taken to Twitter. [Cabrera:] You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Ana Cabrera. North Korea is threatening all-out war. That's a quote. If it's provoked by the U.S. The nation appeared to show off some new missiles that might have the ability to strike targets in the U.S. and Europe. President Trump tweeted this week, "If China won't reign in North Korea's nuclear program, the U.S. will." And he sent the U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to the region as well. CNN's Will Ripley goes inside North Korea for a look at life under the reclusive leader Kim Jong-un who controlled just about everything and everyone in that nation. Watch. [Will Ripley, Cnn International Correspondent:] I've been to North Korea 11 times over the last few years. And every time you come here you hear that tensions between the U.S. and North Korea are high. But I have to say that this is the most tense that I have seen it during any time that I've visited the country. Whenever I come here, I always get a sense that there are two very different worlds, the world inside North Korea and the world outside. Inside, everything in this society revolves around the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and before him his father and grandfather. This is a society that is built up around its leadership. They hold their leaders up to the highest possible esteem. And it's very much in contrast with the view from the outside world that North Korea is erratic, unpredictable and moving on a dangerous path as they continue to nuclearize. In some ways, Pyongyang resembles many other cities, as an increasingly modern skyline, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has made it one of his initiatives to build more skyscrapers and public amenities in the city. In other ways, though, it's radically different. You hear music playing on loud speakers throughout the city all day. In the morning to wake people up. In the evening to put them to bed at night. There is patriotic music, people are marching, they're practicing for the huge mass celebrations that they often do for national holidays or to celebrate the achievements of their leader. And of course North Korea is one of the only places in the world where no matter who you ask, at least publicly you will never hear political dissent. Everybody will say that they are 100 percent behind their supreme leader. But given that Kim Jong-un has absolute power in this country, what else would they say? [Cabrera:] And that was CNN's Will Ripley on what North Korea is like on a typical day but today of course not typical. It's a national holiday and the military paraded troops, tanks, rockets and missiles through Pyongyang, and past the country's leader Kim Jong-un. Let's bring in somebody who's a bit of an expert on the region. My friend here on the desk, former Australian prime minister and president of the Asia Society Policy Institute here in New York, Kevin Rudd. Mister Prime Minister, great to have you with us. Thanks so much. First, I just want to get your reaction to the video we've seen now, this parade with these missiles that they showed in the missile cases of sorts for this intercontinental ballistic missile. [Kevin Rudd, President, Asia Society:] Well, I think we need to understand the fact that the North Koreans have been holding parades for a long time. And there have been missiles in those parades for a long time as well. So let's put it into a bit of context. Yes, these casings or mockups of missiles as you see them on parade. [Cabrera:] You think they're mockups? [Rudd:] Well, there's always a debate between the experts and others as to what's real and what's a mockup. But usually they are mockups. But to the extent to which they reflect substantial capabilities, yes, there are two sets of casings about two new developments in intercontinental ballistic missiles. The first there appears to be the presentation of a submarine launched ballistic missile. And also an interesting demonstrating what's called their ability to use solid fuel as opposed to liquid fuel. That meaning if you got solid fuel, fire the missiles, it means that they can be fired straight away. With liquid fuels, it takes awhile to load propellants which give satellite an opportunity to identify what you are doing. [Cabrera:] So what we're seeing, if they do indeed have missiles that would go into these capsules, those would be the solid fuels which would make them more quick to be able to use. [Rudd:] That's the key in point. I mean, let's wait for all the technical experts to pore over. [Cabrera:] Yes. [Rudd:] And give us the definitive. That ain't my box of tricks. [Cabrera:] Gotcha. [Rudd:] But I think that's what they're signaling to do. [Cabrera:] OK. [Rudd:] But let's put it all into context. North Koreans are masters at let's put it, international political stage. [Cabrera:] They know how to put on the show. [Rudd:] Yes. Yes. This is their version of Hollywood. [Cabrera:] Now I'm curious if you are looking at this whole situation right now and seeing something different than we've seen at other times of heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Is it different to you? [Rudd:] I think so. It's to do with things other than what we have seen at the parade. It's to do with, A, the fact that they have done five nuclear tests. They got a lot of nuclear materials to put into bombs. Last year or so they've done 37 missile tests. Then moving more to what I've described as deployment stage. And then the open question is, when can you miniaturize the nuclear material, put it on the end of a warhead? [Cabrera:] Yes. [Rudd:] And land it with reasonable accuracy. Other than South Korea or Japan, Guam, or elsewhere? That's the key question. But the pace of that has been increasing which is why the United States and President Trump have been right to react firmly to this. [Cabrera:] So you think that tough talk is a good thing. [Rudd:] Well, look, who can influence the outcome here? Probably three countries really, North Korea themselves, the United States and People's Republic of China. And so the United States is seized with the gravitas of this, which is it is a real and emerging existential threat. The ability of the North Koreans to target and land a missile with a nuclear warhead. Under a leadership which is at best unpredictable. So the question there is what do you do about it? The administration's policies as I see it is got its subjective being nuclearization, it's applying maximum pressure in order to bring that about and that's both military pressure like you see with the Carl Vinson deployment but also diplomatic pressure on the Chinese. [Cabrera:] Right. [Rudd:] In order to induce a strongest set of measures out of Beijing in order to cause substantive behavior change in Pyongyang. [Cabrera:] And that is the key. How do you best influence the Chinese or leverage the Chinese? Right? Because I have been talking to different experts on this issue. Everyone points to China as maybe the key players of this three-way relationship, the U.S., North Korea and China. We know that China is the lifeline as far as the economy in North Korea goes. North Korea needs China but does China really need North Korea? [Rudd:] Well, what the Chinese want is not for North Korea to collapse. What they want is not for there to be an immediate unification with the South. The way you roll that back into your description of the three players is really like going back to school and putting Venn diagrams on the on the board and seeing which of these they can fit. U.S. interest, Chinese interest, and then you've got those of North Korea itself. And can you find interlocking points of interest? From the U.S. point of interview, I think what President Trump has done successfully through the Mar-a-Lago summit is demonstrate to President Xi Jinping that for the U.S. this is a bottom line concern for him and to the U.S. national security policy establishment. It's not just business as usual. For the Chinese, you see some increase in the tempo of their language and behavior towards the DPRK. But the big question will be, if the North now proceeds with another nuclear test, or another set of missile test, what will the Chinese then do? And that's when the debate opens up about can they begin to take measures to reduce their level of oil exports to North Korea? [Cabrera:] They have said this week that that's what they would plan to do, that they had warned North Korea that that could happen. [Rudd:] Well, already they have turned back coal imports from North Korea, and that's consistent with previously agreed U.N. Security Council sanctions. But as for new measures, the oil thing will be a big play. It's happened once before temporarily way back in 2006 for a few days. For the Chinese to do this more comprehensively would actually go to crude oil, refined petroleum, jet fuel, aviation fuel, the sort of things which actually go to turn the wheels in North Korea. [Cabrera:] That's interesting. Real fast, before we let you go, too, I'm curious of what you make of some of the the sort of friendly rhetoric we're hearing out from President Trump which seemed to be a major flip-flop from what he was saying about China specifically on the campaign trail. You know, he had this the summit at Mar-a-Lago with the president of China. And since then he's talked about how they had good chemistry, that they this week had a good phone call. He seems to kind of be chummy in some ways. Do you think he's trying to deploy this positive reinforcement strategy, saying nice things about China, maybe they will want to do what the U.S. wants them to do? [Rudd:] I think a lot of people was critical of the President Trump in the lead-up to the Mar-a-Lago summit. Frankly the outcome from U.S.'interest point of view and ally interest around the world has been pretty positive. That's kind of my assessment. We are looking at China's relationship for 35 years in various capacities over years. And what I'd say is this. President Trump with North Korea and denuclearization as the core objective, is now I think seeking to maximize what he can do with Xi Jinping to bring about material change. If that means a better line of political communication and post Mar-a-Lago, well, that's to the good. Does that mean bringing about substantive changes in Chinese behavior towards the North Koreans? That's what he's seeking to do. We're at the beginning of what I describe as a longer process. There will be spikes in this, for example, if the North Koreans do proceed in the not-too-farthest future to launch to conduct another nuclear test or a series of missile tests. But the key objective as I see it right now of American diplomacy across the various means available to them, military and diplomatic and political, is to bring about substantive change now in Chinese behavior. [Cabrera:] Right. [Rudd:] And surprising, President Trump is trying to keep the phone lines open. [Cabrera:] All right. We'll see what happens. Thanks so much, Kevin Rudd. Great to have you on. [Rudd:] Good to meet you. [Cabrera:] Really nice to meet you. All right. I want as we heard to break right now take you to Berkeley, California. These are some live pictures. You can see clashes are happening between pro and anti-Trump supporters. And those who don't like what the administration is doing. They are clashing. You can see law enforcement trying to get in the middle there, break some of those heightened tensions on the ground up here in the U.S. At least four people have been arrested we are told. We're working to get more information here and we'll bring it to you as we get it. Up next, two police incidents on opposite sides of the country both on tape and both causing a firestorm over police behaviors. We'll show you much of this in a moment. But first, Ebola, Zika, bird flu, recent outbreaks of these deadly diseases have claimed thousands of lives. And the worst might be yet to come. CNN's new original film "UNSEEN ENEMY" looks at where the next outbreak might come from and what we can do to stop it. [Dr. Larry Brilliant, Epidemiologist:] Over the last three decades there have been about 30 newly emerging diseases that have the potential to be pandemics. If we do nothing, it's not a matter of if there will be a global pandemic, it's just a matter of when and which virus and how bad. [Unidentified Male:] The world changes around us at increasing speed. We cause a lot of that change. Migrating to cities, stripping the earth of its resources and altering primeval jungle. [Berman:] This morning, CNN has an exclusive inside look at the civil war raging in Syria. Now Russia announced in March that it would withdraw its troops from that war-torn country. CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen found a very different picture on the ground. Fred. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] Hi. Good morning, John. Yes, no, it was really interesting to see. It seems as though the Russians have indeed taken some of their combat jets out of Syria, but at the same time it also appears as though they've moved a lot of hardware in. They have a lot of troops on the ground. They have fighting vehicles on the ground and even anti-aircraft weapons. Here's what we saw. [Pleitgen:] This is the Russian intervention the world has come to know, but Russia's footprint in Syria seems to be far bigger than just combat jets. There are thousands of troops stationed at its main air base, disciplined and highly motivated. We caught up with this first lieutenant during his boxing practice. "I'm glad to serve my country here," he says, "and I'm not afraid. What is there to be afraid of in Syria?" The west has criticized Russia, saying its air strikes target mostly moderate anti-Assad rebels. The Russians claiming they bomb only ISIS and other terrorists groups. But while Moscow says it's withdrawn most forces from Syria, on an imbed we saw what appeared to be several basis in western and central Syria with a variety of attack helicopters. Also, a brand new base in Palmyra for its demining crews, with dozens of fighting vehicles and even anti-aircraft missile systems. On top of its own assets, the military spokesman says his forces closely cooperate with Bashar al Assad's troops. "We receive a great deal of information from the Syrian general staff," he says. "They are on the ground and close to the rebels. As for the military technical cooperation, of course we help them as well." None of this seems to indicate a full Russian withdrawal from Syria any time soon. And for many in the government held part of Damascus, that's just fine. Violence still rages in most of the country. Reconciliation seems nowhere in sight and neither is an end to Russia's involvement in the conflict. So as you can see there, there's a lot of Russian equipment on the ground. A lot of very sophisticated Russian equipment on the ground. More than most people would have thought. But the thing that also really surprised us was the ease with which the Russians are able to move through Syria. It really doesn't look as though they're a guest here in this country. It looks as though they really are a full- fledged partner on the side of Bashar al Assad. Chris. [Cuomo:] Fred Pleitgen, thank you very much. Syria not in the immediate news cycle right now, but it's going to come back in and it's important to remember the state of play. OK, so a big part of reporting on the election is, of course, dealing with the war of words, but also following up on what matters. Whether it's Hillary Clinton, with Wall Street speeches and whether they will be released. We stay on that. Donald Trump, now, you remember back when Fox had the debate and he skipped it because he said he was going to raise money for vets, raised over $6 million, vowed to donate it to various groups and there was questions, then and there are questions now about where that money went. CNN investigative correspondent Drew Griffin doing digging for us on this once again, had Trump's campaign manager on recently, asked him if they would help with this. He says the money is accounted for. We've given all that and then some. And it will be delivered over to the media. What did you find? [Drew Griffin, Cnn Investigative Correspondent:] I found the same thing that you found, Chris. A lot of promises from the Trump campaign about where this money went, but not a lot of answers. And it just shouldn't be that hard, number one. In the big scheme of things it's not that much money and the accounting is not that difficult to do. Independently, we've tried to go around the Trump campaign, asked these veterans groups what kind of money they got or were promised. Very few of them, though, Chris, have been willing to talk to us at all, let alone confirm what they got. So here is what we have in terms of accounting for this $6 million, all according to the Trump campaign as of their last accounting. $2.9 million has been distributed, according to Trump's campaign, to 27 different veterans groups, $1 million personally donated, we're told, by Donald Trump himself. But that leaves $3.1 million, or roughly half of the money, yet to be accounted for. And despite those promises, we still don't have an accounting. [Cuomo:] Now, let's give benefit of the doubt here. What could unaccounted for mean? Could it mean that people pledged and then didn't put up? Does it mean money was distributed, they're just not sure where? Is there any good explanation? [Griffin:] I don't see a good explanation. And we should say that money has been distributed. And veterans groups that would talk to us were very appreciative of the money that was donated to them. But we've got $6 million, half of it accounted for, half of it not. We've been asking for four months now from this campaign, where did it go? We asked this of charities all across the nation. As you know, Chris, it's not hard to do. So we're just asking again. Trump campaign, please tell us where the money is, where it's going. [Cuomo:] Well, it matters. It matters because it involves veterans and it's about the follow-through of a campaign, so we'll stay on it. Drew Griffin, thank you for doing the work. [Griffin:] Thanks, Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn, over to you. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] OK, Chris. Donald Trump now publicly fighting with a prominent evangelical leader. That could cost him so votes, or not. We'll talk to the man who is Trump's target, next. [Unidentified Male:] You might not care if Donald Trump says Muslims must register with our government because you're not one. You might not care if Donald Trump says it's OK to rough up black protesters because you're not one. But think about this, if he keeps going and he actually becomes president, he might just get around to you. [Keilar:] That is a new web video from the John Kasich campaign targeting Donald Trump. And if the language sounds familiar that's because it invokes a famous warning about Nazis. I want to bring in our panel to talk about this. Donna Brazile, Sean Spicer, Bakari Sellers and S.E. Cupp. Sean, to you first on this, if Republicans, for instance, Kasich, in this in this instance if Republicans are successful in this line of attack, are you worried that Donald Trump will just turn around? He has hinted last week, you know, a third party run isn't out of the realm of question. Are you worried about that? [Spicer:] I'm not. I think Mr. Trump has made it clear. We've had conversations with him. He understands the importance of staying a Republican. He signed a pledge. He understands that any break in the Republicans will help Hillary Clinton get elected and that's something that he won't stand for. But I think getting to the video look, it's no surprise we at the RNC really invoke Reagan's 11th commandment. We believe that our candidates should be focused on expressing their vision and why they want to be president of the United States. And focusing their attacks on Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee. [Brazile:] That's the only thing that keeps the Republicans together. Look, xenophobia is very popular right now in the Republican Party and Donald Trump is the leader of the choir. And as long as he's able to get the kind of support that he's getting by raising his voice and demonizing people, Donald Trump is going to continue to lead within the Republican Party [Cupp:] You've got a lot of Republicans come out against what Donald Trump has said. And I think it's pretty irresponsible to paint the entire party as xenophobic. He's got 35 percent of the vote. That means 65 percent of the party is not with Donald Trump. Look, I think attempts to paint Donald Trump as a Nazis or a fascist [Sellers:] Well, the video is good. I thought the video was really good. I thought that Kasich we're talking about him this morning. People are talking about him across the country. You know, his name hasn't been one that has been on the rise lately. But Donald Trump does use [Keilar:] Are you worried, Sean, that [Brazile:] ...rich, white men too. [Keilar:] I was going to say I think he actually has. But Donna you hear what Donna is saying. You hear what Hillary Clinton is saying. She's painting all Republicans with this... [Sellers:] The Donald Trump brush. [Keilar:] ... Donald Trump brush. [Spicer:] No, I don't. And you know why? Because, look, when you look at every Battleground Poll everyone of our candidates beats her head to head not just nationwide but in key battleground states. So, we can talk about that but the reality is that if I were a Democrat, if I were Donna or Bakari, what I would be concerned about is that they have put all their eggs in one basket and that basket is broken. Hillary Clinton's unfavorables are so off the charts it's unbelievable. She has no trust. She flip-flops in every set of issues. They have a set of rules for themselves that they follow. That's true. And the fact of the matter is that the [Brazile:] Sean, the Republican brand the Republican brand is unfavorable. Donald Trump is unfavorable. Look at your candidates. [Spicer:] Right now Hillary Clinton loses every day [Brazile:] Look at [Bakari:] I think that Sean I think Sean can't say with the straight face most Republicans can't say with the straight face that Donald Trump will beat Hillary Clinton [Spicer:] Donald Trump will beat Hillary Clinton. [Sellers:] But we know [Brazile:] No, no. I'm not Mitt Romney. I don't have I don't have I've got $10.00. But look, the truth is is that we don't have a nominee in the Democratic Party. [Spicer:] Yes, you do. [Brazile:] No, we don't. [Spicer:] ... give me a break. [Brazile:] No, no because [Capp:] You're saying Martin O'Malley can pull it out, right? [Spicer:] Yes. [Brazile:] You know what [Sellers:] You have a chance. [Brazile:] We're having a we're having a different kind of debate and discussion in the Democratic Party. Bernie Sanders [Spicer:] You're going through the motions. [Brazile:] Good. Because that's good. That improves democracy. That strengthens our debate within our party and that gives us a very strong viable candidate when our process is over. [Keilar:] Let's talk about [Brazile:] Sean, one of the three candidates will become the 45th president of the United States. [Keilar:] Let's talk about some of the other candidates. It is Cruz not Ben Carson who is now Donald Trump's chief rival in Iowa. There is an important poll that came out this week and it shows that Ted Cruz is really I mean, look at him. There he is at 23 percent, really close to Donald Trump, splitting Donald Trump and Ben Carson which is where we've seen those two men align there. Do you think that it's for Carson and he's even said this he thinks it's the terrorism issue that is making voters say maybe not. Maybe he's not the guy. Maybe he doesn't have the experience. [Spicer:] I think there's a lot of volatility right now that's going to exist both in New Hampshire and in Iowa. And you're going to see people go up and down. I just and that's historically always been the case. I think we're going to see more volatility between now and when Iowa goes to their caucus February 2nd. And New Hampshire goes to their primary February 9th. There's going to be more volatility. That shouldn't surprise anyone. That has always been the case. Fully expect it to be the case this cycle. [Keilar:] What do you think about the terrorism issue and how this is affecting the polls? It seems it seems like it's really shaking it up. [Cupp:] It is. And any time foreign policy is front and center, I think it benefits Republicans. Most of the country thinks Republicans are better able to handle issues like terrorism and foreign policy issues. So that's, I guess, a good thing for our side. But for folks like Ben Carson who have zero experience with any of this and I'm sorry he can take as many field trips abroad as he wants, he's not going to get the the requisite experience that he needs. This is clearly turning some voters who previously liked him off and onto someone like Ted Cruz. [Keilar:] With Ted Cruz's rise I mean, I've heard Democrats in the Clinton campaign they're not as worried about Marco Rubio. They're not as worried about Ted Cruz. Would you like to see Ted Cruz [Brazile:] You know, I haven't talked [Keilar:] I have. [Brazile:] Ted Cruz Ted Cruz is [Sellers:] That's right. [Brazile:] ...strong support and strength. He has the support of the evangelicals. And you know what? He's the guy who's organizing in the Deep South right now. So, Ted Cruz is clearly onto something. [Keilar:] Donna, Sean, Bakari, S.E., thanks to all of you. And thanks so much for spending your Sunday with us. And go to CNN.comSOTU for extras from the show. I'm Brianna Keilar in Washington. "FAREED ZAKARIA GPS" starts next. [Ron Brownstein, Cnn Senior Political Analyst:] ... time in American history, less than half of the country. A lot of the people supporting Trump feel, demographically, the country is slipping away from them. And that justifies an "any means necessary" kind of approach to politics. So that, I think, explains the intensity of his support. But I also think it is limiting. Because I think, still, most Americans believe that the kind of "us against them" language and approach that he is pursuing is not the way to hold together what I call the kaleidoscope society that we are becoming. So you know, the intensity of this report is real. The big question, as we said before, is whether what he does to intensify his hold on his base also limits his potential reach within the Republican electorate within the country at large. [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Ron, Errol, happy Thanksgiving. Thanks so much. [Errol Louis, Cnn Political Commentator:] And to you. [Camerota:] Good to see you guys. All right. We're following a lot of news this morning. Let's get right to it. [Unidentified Male:] Hands up! Don't shoot! Hands up! Don't shoot! [Camerota:] For a second night, demonstrators taking to the streets. [Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] You can't shoot someone because they slashed a tire. [Dan Herbert, Attorney For Officer Van Dyke:] He truly was in fear for his life. [Unidentified Male:] This was originally presented as an act of self-defense. And that was a lie. We are moving closer to a major war in the Middle East. Tensions are rising in the wake of Turkey shooting down a Russian warplane. Turkey does have a right to defend its airspace. [Unidentified Female:] Russia is looking at ways to retaliate. [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] We are resilient in the face of those who would try to do us harm. [John Berman, Cnn Anchor:] Law enforcement on alert across the country this holiday weekend. [Unidentified Female:] Three million people expected to attend the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning. [Obama:] Be vigilant. If you see something suspicious, say something. [Michaela Pereira, Cnn Anchor:] Good morning. And welcome to a very special Thanksgiving day edition of CNN NEWSROOM. Breaking overnight, angry protesters hitting the streets in Chicago over disturbing dash cam video of a white police officer shooting six times 16 times at a black teenager, killing him. Four more dash cam videos are now out, raising questions about the city's police department's handling of that investigation. [Camerota:] So the mood in the city is tense, as the Chicago Police Department warns its officers of a potential ambush against them in response to the death of Laquan McDonald. Let's get right to CNN's Ryan Young. He is live in Chicago with the very latest. Tell us what's happened there in the past few hours. [Ryan Young, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, Alisyn, we've heard people chanting "16 shots" as they not only were marching through the streets but at several points were running through the streets. In fact, they came from the South Side of Michigan Avenue and went up to the North Side, even blocking off major intersections, and they say more is coming. [Young:] A second night of unrest in two major cities as hundreds of protesters returned to the streets. From Chicago to New York, demonstrators marching in frustration over the shocking death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Police arresting several protesters in New York City, their passion spilling into the Macy's flagship department store in the heart of Manhattan, their voices raging. In Chicago, demonstrators staged a sit-in, blocking a major intersection, some trying to take police officers' bikes. This as newly-released dash cam videos obtained by "The Chicago Tribune" captured the moment before and after 37-year-old Jason Van Dyke shot McDonald 16 times last October. This is Officer Van Dyke's own vehicle dash cam. While out of focus, you can see McDonald cutting across the front of his police car and passing a nearby Burger King. Moments later, after six seconds after getting out of his vehicle, Officer Van Dyke begins to shoot the teen as he walked down the street, wielding a knife, continuing to fire even after McDonald fell to the ground. Just minutes later, this dash cam from another police officer's car shows McDonald lying on the street, the other officers at the scene never opening fire. Van Dyke's attorney says the officer was in fear for his life and said the videos don't show a complete picture, saying McDonald was... [Herbert:] Harassing business owners, waving a knife for about 18 minutes on a busy street. Him stabbing a squad car windshield that was manned with two police officers inside there. [Young:] Late Wednesday night, President Obama reacting to the deadly shooting saying he was, quote, "deeply disturbed" by the footage and is grateful to his hometown "for keeping protests peaceful." Now, there's a Christmas tree at the famous Millennium Park. And some protesters went inside a barricade and started trying to pull the lights off the tree. That was stopped before their efforts finished taking the lights off that tree. But everyone is wondering what will happen on Black Friday. We know famous Michigan Avenue, the Magnificent Mile, which is just behind me. That's where several protestors say they will come up here and disrupt Black Friday Michaela. [Pereira:] All right. Stay with CNN and our coverage in Chicago to see how things go today. Hopefully, people will remain calm. We have breaking news overseas, Turkey's president ratcheting up rhetoric in the heated dispute with Russia over the shoot-down of a Russian warplane. Erdogan vowing that he would do it again if Russia should invade their airspace. Ian Lee is live in Istanbul with the very latest for us Ian. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] What we're hearing, Michaela, was just about 15 minutes ago, we're hearing from the Turkish president, speaking to parliament saying that, in fact, if they could go back in time and have this incident play out all over again, that they would shoot down that airplane, saying that they warned it up to ten times, over the course of five minutes. They've released that audio to the media, showing that they were warning that plane, although Russia denies that. But this also is heating up in Syria, as well. In this area where the plane went down, Russia carried out at least 12 airstrikes against rebel fighters. We're also hearing that there's an offensive on the way or underway right now where they're shelling the area with mortars and artillery. This could be part of the retribution for downing that plane, going after Turkish interests inside Syria. But we're also watching what Russia could do to Turkey's economy. Russia is the second largest trading partner with Turkey. Billions of dollars in tourism comes to Turkey every year from Russia. Also, Turkey imports 60 percent of its gas from Russia. Now we're hearing from Russia that they are putting the squeeze on Turkish imports of food products. About 15 percent, Russia says, of the of the produce that comes into Russia is not does not meet Russian standards. So there's a lot of measures going on here, although we also heard from the Turkish president that he hopes that cool heads can prevail and that this will not ultimately destroy the relations between the two countries. Absolutely, Ian. All right. Thank you for all that background. Well, that American band that was playing in the Bataclan the night of the attacks is speaking out for the first time. This as French President Francois Hollande meets with Vladimir Putin today, attempting to convince the Russian president to focus his airstrikes on ISIS targets alone. Let's go live to Paris and bring in CNN senior European correspondent, Jim Bittermann. Good morning, Jim. [Jim Bittermann, Cnn Senior European Correspondent:] Good morning, Alisyn. And in fact, this long visit is part of a diplomatic marathon by President Hollande. He's trying to drum up support for a really tight effort amongst the various allies, as well as the Russians against ISIS and in favor of getting rid of Bashar al-Assad. Now, the Russians won't go along with that. They all along that they want al-Assad to remain in power in Syria. So that's going to be a major area of contention for the two. And of course, this Hollande effort is because of that the shootings that took place here in Paris, the terrorist incident two weeks ago that killed 120 people here in Paris. Most of them at the Bataclan theater, which is where is where the Eagles of Death Metal were playing. And they've been speaking out to "Vice" magazine what about what the experience was like. [Matt Mcjunkins, Band Manager, Eagles Of Death Metal:] There was a woman in front of me, who, it was scary, because she was bleeding you know, she got shot like right here, you know, on her upper side. And there was nothing to do except for there's this guy. I don't know, you know, he was holding her, and he was keeping pressure on her. And she had a friend who was doing the same thing. And this guy was just trying to, like, keep her comfortable. [Bittermann:] Just a horrifying scene there, Michaela. [Pereira:] Terrifying and horrifying. And so powerful to hear that account from those young men. We we send them thoughts of comfort, certainly. Jim, thank you so much. Joining us to discuss so many things, CNN military analyst and former joint chiefs of staff deputy director, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Also here, CNN contributor and co-author of " [Isis:] Inside the Army of Terror," Michael Weiss. Good to see you. Sorry it's on this occasion. It always seems to be heavy topics when we have the two of you. Happy Thanksgiving. Obviously, we need to talk about the ongoing rhetoric and ramping up almost like escalation, Cedric. We just hear that President Erdogan of Turkey address his parliament saying, "Look, if the Russians did this again, we would react the same way again." Russia is saying Russian President Putin is saying Turkey has yet to apologize. And I don't know if they should hold their breath for that, it would appear. Is this going to escalate? [Col. Cedric Leighton , Cnn Military Analyst:] I'm afraid so, Michaela. And happy Thanksgiving to you. This is a huge mistake on the president in my point of view because ratcheting up the rhetoric and seeing that this doesn't happen again really doesn't allow for cooler heads to prevail. [Pereira:] Right. [Leighton:] What they really need to do, I think, is they need to look at what happened here. There are a lot of lessons to be learned just from a pure military perspective. You know, how do you do these things? How can you avoid this kind of an incident? And that's the kind of thing that they should be talking about. This political rhetoric is not helping things at all. [Pereira:] Let me ask you real quickly. We understand that Russian jets the pilots say or the navigator said that they were they didn't get a communication or warning. They also said they were only in the airspace for some 17 seconds. I want to ask you, what would be the military protocol in a situation, and in an incursion, if you will, like that? [Leighton:] Normally, you don't shoot the plane down. [Pereira:] Yes. [Leighton:] If you go into airspace for 17 seconds, that's way too little time to actually have somebody attack you. It's also way too little time for you to intercept that aircraft. So the normal military protocol is to warn the aircraft away. And then basically go back channel and tell the other side that they've violated the airspace and that they shouldn't do it again. Now, I know that the Turks are going to say that they have had this happen, you know, multiple times before. And that, you know, they've warned this aircraft specifically ten times. But this does not allow under international rules, it does not allow them to do what they did. [Pereira:] Peel back the veil a little bit and help us understand contextually what what's going on behind the scenes here, between these two nations. Why would Russia be in an area that ISIS wasn't necessarily operating in as part of the coalition effort? They didn't need to be there. Turkey fires after just 17 seconds in their airspace. Something else is going on. [Michael Weiss, Cnn Contributor:] Well, Russia is not part of the coalition. And Russia, although it claims to be bombing ISIS, has actually dedicated most of their fire power to non-ISIS targets. As even ISIS in its latest propaganda magazine has said. They said Russia has intervened to go after the Salpla the U.S. allies of Salpla rebels, which is to say awakening anti-ISIS rebels. In fact, the targets that Russia had been bombing in that sort of Latakia-Idlib mountain pass were Turkmen rebels. Now, the Turkmen rebels are almost certainly backed by Turkish intelligence. [Pereira:] Right. [Weiss:] So Turkey is taking this very, very seriously. But I'll be honest with you. I'm very surprised it's taken this long for these two leaders to come to blows if you look at the history of this Syrian conflict. Two years ago, Turkey forced down a Russian cargo plane in Ankara, transporting military equipment to Bashar al-Assad. About 2012, a Turkish F-4 reconnaissance plane, which had temporarily, possibly penetrated Syrian airspace, was shot down by the Assad regime. Now, the rumors in Turkey and I was there at the time were a Russian technician had actually fired the shot, because of course, Russia has many advisors and people who are helping the regime suppress this revolution. [Pereira:] Yes. [Weiss:] Look, there's another component to this, too. Right after this incident took place, a search-and-rescue helicopter the Russians sent crash-landed. And then while it was sat on the ground, it was blown up with the Tow anti-tank missile. [Pereira:] Right. [Weiss:] Now, the group that blew it up is called the First Coastal Division. They're a group of Syrian rebels backed by whom? The CIA and Turkish intelligence. They coordinate out of a military commander center in Turkey. So NATO has got skin in the game, as you say. [Pereira:] Right. [Weiss:] I mean, this is this does involve the United States, whether we like it or not. And, you know, Article V, an attack on one is an attack on all. [Pereira:] Right. [Weiss:] Unfortunately, a rhetorical attack on one is not a rhetorical attack on all, because Putin has said that Turkey is an accomplice to terror. He is accusing them of backing [Isis. Pereira:] So here's the question, then. Given the fact that you have Putin, that's not part of the U.S. coalition, kind of a coalition of his own, and you have Turkey with President Erdogan, who clearly has his own battles that he is looking to protect and fight. [Weiss:] Right. [Pereira:] How does the end game of defeating ISIS play into all this? This becomes a much trickier proposition. [Weiss:] Well, look, I mean, truth be told, these are two countries that have shown the least willingness, the least eagerness to go after ISIS. With respect to Turkey, their main concern is the Kurds. It always has been and always shall be foreign policy in Turkey is filtered through the Kurdish question. Erdogan has spent more of his firepower attacking the PKK, the Kurdish Workers Party in the Qandil Mountains of Iraq. And also on occasion now going after their Syrian affiliate or sister party, the PYD, which has been doing the heavy lifting against ISIS on behalf of the coalition on the ground in northern Syria. I mentioned already that Russia has really little interest in attacking ISIS but rather U.S.- and Turkish-backed rebels. So this is a very this is a cocktail of problems. [Pereira:] It is not even a good cocktail. [Weiss:] Not even a good cocktail. [Pereira:] Which I'm we all could use one of those right about now, talking about all these things. We know President Hollande will be flying to Russia to meet with President Putin today. We will wait to see what comes out of that meeting. There is hope that maybe there can be some consensus from there. We'll talk about that at a later time. Our thanks to Cedric and to Michael. We wish both of you a safe and happy Thanksgiving Alisyn. [Leighton:] You, too, Michaela. [Camerota:] OK, Michaela. Well, with the terror threat keeping much of the world on edge, President Obama trying to reassure Americans that the U.S. government is, quote, "taking every possible step to keep the country safe, ahead of the busy holiday weekend." [Barack Obama, President Of The United States:] Right now, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland. So, as Americans travel this weekend to be with their loved ones, I want them to know that our counterterrorism, intelligence, homeland security and law enforcement professionals at every level are working overtime. [Camerota:] President Obama met with his national security team to review their security procedures and efforts to track threats. [Pereira:] St. Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey out of surgery this morning after being shot twice in the head. ESPN is reporting the operation took some nine hours but the third-year player expected to survive. Bailey was apparently sitting in a car with his cousins and two minors in Miami Gardens, Florida, Tuesday night when someone in another vehicle pulled up and opened fire. His cousin was also shot. The minors were unharmed. Earlier this month, the NFL suspended Bailey for four games for violating its substance abuse policy. [Camerota:] OK. It may be Thanksgiving, but of course, it's also a huge weekend for bargain hunters. Some of you will be stuffing your carts with those Black Friday deals. Will there be deals or will there be rip-offs? CNN business correspondent Alison Kosik is here. [Pereira:] That's why you took tomorrow off. You're going to go shopping. At 4 a.m. [Camerota:] I really never do it, because I don't know. Are there really great deals? [Alison Kosik, Cnn Business Correspondent:] Those door busters you can really get. But what's interesting is Black Friday really isn't what it used to be. I mean, it doesn't even kind of rank in the top three as the biggest shopping days of the year, believe it or not. It's because what it's really turned into is Black November. I don't know if you've noticed, maybe, your e-mails. [Camerota:] Yes. [Kosik:] You get discount after discount in November. But it still is a huge weekend, a long weekend for retailers, make no bones about it. The National Retail Federation thinks that 136 million people will be shuffling through stores, starting today through Sunday. And speaking of today, a lot of stores are actually open today on Thanksgiving. Let me run down through them. At 4 p.m. today Eastern Time, The Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy opening their doors. Best Buy will be welcoming customers at 5 o'clock Eastern, and at 6 o'clock, Sears, Kmart, Macy's, Target, Wal-Mart all opening their doors. Speaking of Wal-Mart, kind of had a hiccup. They were supposed to start their online Black Friday sales at midnight. During the first hour, couldn't make couldn't buy anything. [Pereira:] The website crashed? [Kosik:] The website crashed. Now it's up and running. Not a really good start for Wal-Mart. They're hoping that people get out there and shop at 6 p.m. today. [Pereira:] What about Cyber Monday? Is that we're feeling a little lazy. [Camerota:] If you're in a food coma and you can't get off... [Pereira:] For 48 hours. [Camerota:] ... then what? [Kosik:] OK, Cyber Monday which really isn't all that either. But believe it or not, Cyber Monday in many respects can trump Black Friday. Because because you can sit at home. You can sit at your desk. And you can go ahead and just shop online, exactly. But do it smart. I say if you're going to buy some clothing, buy several sizes. You know, you can try them on at home and then hopefully return them. [Camerota:] Good thinking. [Pereira:] A professional shopper. [Camerota:] Thank you. [Pereira:] Happy Thanksgiving to you. [Kosik:] You, too. [Pereira:] So, racial tensions are simmering in Chicago. Another night of protests as new videos of the deadly police shooting emerge. We're going to discuss that ahead. [Banfield:] Have breaking news to report to you now in the Freddie Gray case. The Maryland Court of Appeals ruling that Officer William Porter can be forced to testify against five fellow police officers who were also charged in the Freddie Gray case. You will remember that Porter's December trial ended with a hanged jury. So he needs to be retried. But then those five others do too. I want to discuss this major development with Miguel Marquez. He's been following the case and also with me CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. All right first to you Miguel. Just to sort of help me get my head around the scheduling that this is going to create. That the scheduling mess is the least of Porter's worries. [Miguel Marquez, Cnn Correspondent:] It is the least of his worries. Now he is could testify against five other police officers, certainly in two cases. There were two separate rulings in this from the Court of Appeals today, in one of them, the one dealing with Officer Goodson and Alicia White. [Banfield:] He worked with them. [Marquez:] He worked with them on that day that Freddie Gray was arrested. He came across them specifically. He had interactions with them. And that's where his testimony could be most damaging to those other officers. With regard to the other three officers, he could testify in those cases. It's not clear what the prosecution would do. Clearly though this does strengthens the prosecutions hand enormously in getting him to testify and possibly testifying against other officers. [Banfield:] How they're going to retry him, whether is it the front of the line so he gets the first crack at the case again... [Marquez:] That's the big question. The court will probably by beginning today or very soon the court in Baltimore will have to revisit that and have a schedule. [Banfield:] So this is where I have the issue Joey Jackson because there's this little thing called your Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination. That little tiny thing that's constitutional and if he testified five times in other cases before he's tried how on earth can even use immunity to protect him in his own trial? [Joey Jackson, Cnn Legal Analyst:] Well let's break that down. The first thing is, think about of the implication of this. This is a court ordering a defendant, who has a pending case, who's going to be retried to testify. So his attorneys are arguing it implicates the right that you talked about against self incrimination. What's the response by the prosecution and what did the court say that they have it released of formal opinion they said it's to come but here's their thinking, if you're offered immunity to the extent that anything you can't say cannot be used against you, it does not implicate your right against incrimination. Now we can argue that point. And here's what the argument would be. Think about how it would impair his right to a fair trial. These trials of every public and you mentioned testifying five times. If he testifies one time against Officer Sergeant White who was the supervisor, if he testifies against one time against Officer Goodson who was the driver, what does that do to public perception? What does that do to when a jury pool would view and evaluate him? And you can argue that he testified for four hours in his trial already and he gave a lot of statements already. But still to the extent that he'll be viewed and potentially could viewed by a jury in a different way it implicates his right to a fair trial. I think it is a problematic ruling but it's a ruling by the highest court in Maryland. [Banfield:] I'm very uncomfortable only because look, he's not Joe Schmo off the street, it is televised. So offensively it's going to be televised. And I hope they will at least consider putting that in front of the queue and retrying him first before he testifies... [Marquez:] That maybe what happens. [Banfield:] Yeah, we'll keep an eye on him. [Jackson:] And they have discretion not to go forward again with him either. That will be up to them, the prosecution. [Banfield:] Well, all right, there's a lot more reporting that we still have to get on this. So Miguel and Joey, thank you to both of you. [Jackson:] Thank you. [Banfield:] And then there this other case that's hanging out there as well. Hulk Hogan, perhaps the biggest wrestling star in WWE history. But now in the courtroom and on the stand for a second day in a sex tape trial, he is suing the website Gawker and just like in the ring he is promising to slam his competitor. [Cyril Vanier, Cnn Anchor:] A temporary ban on refugees. President Donald Trump promised to protect American borders during the campaign and now he is delivering. Plus, Theresa May did a lot of talking after her meeting with Mr. Trump. How she may have changed his mind on NATO. And he gave us The Elephant Man and so many other great performances. Legendary British film star Sir John Hurt passed away. Hi everyone. Thank you for joining us. I'm Cyril Vanier in Atlanta, and CNN Newsroom starts right now. President Donald Trump is taking swift and sweeping action against refugees and immigrants. He says it's to keep radical Islamic terrorists out of the United States. Let's take a look at what changes with the executive order that he signed on Friday. People from seven predominantly Muslim nations are barred from entering the U.S. for three months. The target countries Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The orders also suspends the U.S. refugee admissions program for four months. Syrian refugees for their part are barred from the U.S. indefinitely. And people holding certain visas will now have to undergo in-person interviews in order to renew them. All right. Jim Acosta is joining us now, senior White House correspondent. Jim, Donald Trump campaigned on controlling boarders and a tougher vetting of people coming into the U.S. He's delivering on that promise. [Jim Acosta, Cnn Senior White House Correspondent:] That's right, Cyril. He is. But make no mistake, these are some very sweeping actions coming from the new president. He signed this executive order earlier in the day over at the pentagon. We just got our hands on the executive order. This is it right here. But the actions are fairly dramatic. He is talking about suspending visas for people coming into the United States from seven countries that have links to terrorism, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Somalia are among those seven countries. Those visas have been suspended for 90 days as part of this action. They're also implementing what they're referring to as extreme vetting methods for people coming into the United States from terror-prone parts of the world. That would include biometric scanning, more lengthy interview process. It's going to be a much more draconian step that's being taken here as part of that extreme vetting process. And then I think that the part that is really going to send shock waves around the world, and that is the suspension of the U.S. refugee program. This is for political refugees, religious refugees coming into the United States. That program is suspended for 120 days while they get these new measures up and running. And permanently ended by the Trump administration is the Syrian refugee program which was bringing in people from that part of the world under the Obama administration. That program now ends and so you will not have Syrian refugees coming into this country as part of this executive order. So it is a very sweeping decision coming from the president. [Vanier:] Jim, you mentioned religious refugees. During the campaign, Donald Trump raised a lot of eyebrows and got a lot of criticism for advocating a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. To what extent is this executive order a Muslim ban? [Acosta:] Well, all the countries listed in that temporary ban on those visas coming into the country for 90 days, those are all Muslim majority countries. And so, you have critics already coming out and making statements about this, Senator Kamala Harris from California, she's a brand-new senator but she's been talked about as a potential 2020 candidate and the next election if you can believe it we're still talking about that. Even though Donald Trump has just entered the white house. But she said make no mistake in a statement tonight, this is a Muslim ban. The senate minority leader Chuck Schumer put out a statement saying that there are tears rolling down the cheeks of the statue of liberty. So Democrats are really up in arms about this. But as you said, this is something President Trump campaigned on repeatedly throughout the election. He is delivering on that promise. But we're going to have to find out what the details are in the coming days. The White House issued this executive order, put out this paper statement to everybody detailing somewhat what is in here but there's still lots of open-ended questions that the White House did not sit down with reporters and give us a briefing. That is something you would have seen in the previous administration. We did not get that today. So, lots of questions about what the president decided to do with his executive order, Cyril. [Vanier:] And look, Jim, just before I let you go to be clear, different categories of immigrants refugees are barred from entering the U.S. different periods of time while procedures are reviewed. That's what it says in the executive order. Is it possible in your mind that, you know in, two, three, four months things will be back to business as usual once that review is complete? [Acosta:] It's possible. It is possible. We just don't know at this point. And one thing that we should point out about this 90-day suspension of visas coming in from seven countries that have ties to terrorism, those seven countries may not be all of them. We've been talking to White House officials this evening who said that there may be more countries added to this list. And so, make no mistake. This is a very aggressive action that's being taken by the Trump administration. They talked at length during this executive order, at the top of this executive order about 911. Something that occurred 16 years ago. And so, President Trump campaigned during that election cycle as someone who was going to crack down and ramp up the war on terrorism, the war on ISIS. And this is just the beginning of that process, I think. [Vanier:] All right. Jim Acosta, senior White House correspondent. Thank you very much for your time. [Acosta:] Thank you. [Vanier:] And CNN's U.S. security analyst Juliette Kayyem served who served in the U.S. Department of Homeland and Security under President Obama told me earlier that the U.S. has never seen anything quite like this. [Juliette Kayyem, Cnn's U.s. Security Analyst:] This is a order or series of executive orders by President Trump that are using national security in 91111. In fact, 911 is referenced three times in the executive order to justify sweeping refugee ban, immigration ban, country-specific ban that we've never seen proposed before, that we've never seen anything quite like it in the United States. It's a pretty historic moment and not in a good way I would say for the United States today. [Vanier:] Did the vetting process for the immigrants or refugees deserve to be tightened in any way? [Kayyem:] Well, look, I think any vetting or immigration process is constantly changing having served in the Department of Homeland Security, the agency that does this work. You're constantly trying to make things better, make them tighter, quicker, more efficient, as well. So there's no question that any of these programs could get better, but the idea that you end it in the process of trying to reform it would never have crossed I think anyone's mind either in the Bush administration or the Obama administration. For one, it is, you know, obviously the statement it makes to the world about who the United States is and who they'll accept. But the other is the terror threat even assuming that that's what this is about, the terror threat is not country-specific at this stage. France certainly knows that. Belgium knows that. Germany knows that. We know that a lot of the terror threat is actually coming homegrown and we've seen it in the United States. [Vanier:] But have there been instances where either refugees or immigrants posed a terror threat or helped a U.S. national who posed a terror threat? [Kayyem:] No, there's not. So they said the only case that you have actually in the last couple of decades is of course the San Bernardino case where she came in on not on a refugee visa but actually on a marital or fiance visa, the wife of and the couple that killed in San Bernardino. So that's one case out of millions. [Vanier:] So how many people are we actually talking about? Well, here's a look at the number of immigrants that the U.S accepted last year from the seven countries targeted by the executive order. A little more than 12,000 refugees coming from Syria. More than 9,000 each from Iraq and Somalia. Much smaller numbers as you can see from Iran, Sudan and Yemen. And just one person from Libya in 2016. And one more number for you to remember, about 110,000 refugees came in in 2016. That, of course, was under the Obama administration. When this program resumes, the Trump administration has signaled that it is willing to take in less than half of that, 50,000. The three-month ban on refugees provoked several angry responses. A statement from New York mayor Bill de Blasio said, "These policies do not reflect the values of the United States or of New York City. We must continue to embrace refugees in need who are victims of terror not terrorists. We must protect and celebrate religious pluralism. In this great city of immigrants, we will remain true to our values and always welcome all who yearn to breathe free." This reaction now from Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai, "I am heart broken that America is turning its back on a proud history of welcoming refugees and immigrants. The people who helped build your country, ready to work hard in exchange for a fair chance at a new life." And this from the Iraqi Mutual Aid Society which aids refugees from Muslim countries, "By halting immigration and refugee resettlement from targeted countries, the administration would be splitting up families who have parents and children in the process of approval for immigration and refugee resettlement." On the same topic, Google is warning its employees from the affected countries to stay in the United States. CNN obtained an internal advisory that was said in a frequently asked questions format. One question asks, "I'm a national of a listed country and in the U.S., should I cancel my travel abroad?" Google says, "Please do not travel outside of the U.S. until the ban is lifted." You see it there. Another question asks, "What if I have urgent international business travel plans?" Well, Google answers pretty unequivocally saying, "Please cancel your trip as you will not be able to reenter the U.S. until the ban is lifted." Joining me now, J.D. McCrary, executive director of the International Rescue Committee that helps resettle refugees here in the United States. You have about a decade of work under your belt working with refugees. What's your reaction to what we heard on Friday, the executive order suspending the arrival of all refugees for a period of time to the U.S.? [J.d. Mccrary, Executive Director Of The International Rescue Committee:] It is an unfortunate day for the United States. America has shut its door and betrayed its very founding of welcoming the stranger and being a cornerstone of refuge for the world's most persecuted. [Vanier:] But you understand the security concern that drives the executive order which is to vet the procedures until such time as the government is confident that all people who are going to be coming in will be people who are safe for the U.S to welcome? [Mccrary:] Correct. But the truth is that vetting process was already well-established and had a long history of working very effectively. [Vanier:] So, you've dealt with this issue. You know about the requirements to accept refugees into the U.S. Have you, at any stage, ever felt well, this deserves some tightening? We should take a closer to look at these people. [Mccrary:] Absolutely not. We are welcoming mothers and children and fathers and they are the very people who are fleeing the persecution that the president outlined today that we are trying to avoid. These are folks who have also been through that and are seeking a safe refuge to start over here in America. [Vanier:] But if you look at what happened in Europe, for instance, and there was a flow of refugees coming in particular from but not only from the Middle East from, Syria, going to Europe. And we know because ISIS said as much that terror groups wanted to use that opportunity to get some of their people infiltrated into Western Europe to carry out attacks and strengthen their networks. Do you understand the concern there, that that could happen in the U.S? [Mccrary:] That is correct. But it could not happen in the U.S. because there is a path to Europe that does not involve the extensive vetting that American refugees go through before they arrive here into the United States. [Vanier:] So you're saying they're already essentially much better vetted when they come here. [Mccrary:] Much more so. Much more so. We know exactly who they are, we know exactly where they're from, we know exactly what they've been through. They have been their names, their contact information, all of their data has been put through every security and in law enforcement database that the United States has. It is impossible to make it all the way through the vetting process and wish to cause harm in the United States. [Vanier:] What are you hearing from the refugees? [Mccrary:] They are very concerned. They're very concerned for their families. Specifically the Syrians, for instance, they have families in Syria, in the refugee camps, in Turkey, in Lebanon, in Jordan. They may also have family in Europe and they're all spread out through the process as well. So they're very concerned that they may not see their families ever again. [Vanier:] Now, certain categories of refugees are to be prioritized under the new refugee policy of this administration, and that's the religious minorities. That means essentially that's going to ensure that Christians from the Middle East are prioritized over Muslims. Is that something that concerns you? [Mccrary:] It's not that Christians don't face persecution as well, but the entire United States system is based on need. And the most vulnerable people, the most vulnerable families, the most vulnerable individuals in any specific situation are then offered the opportunity for refuge. So it's unfortunate to pull out a specific religion, a specific ethnicity, a specific nationality and prioritize them over someone else who is also in desperate need. [Vanier:] All right. J.D. McCrary, thank you very much for your voice. We needed to hear from the refugee community and from people who work with them. [Mccrary:] Thank you. [Vanier:] When we come back after the break. U.S. President Donald Trump hosts British Prime Minister Theresa May. What the two leaders had to say about Russia and NATO ahead. [Hala Gorani, Cnn Host:] Tonight, Israeli police are hunting a killer after a gunman unleashed a hail of bullets at a pub in Tel Aviv. Also this hour, where there is smoke, a Dubai hotel is still smolders this hour, a day after fire ravaged a skyscraper. And the end of an era and the start of much bigger families. China welcomes the arrival of the two-child policy. Hello, everyone. I'm Hala Gorani. We are live at CNN London on this first day of 2016. Welcome, everybody. This is THE WORLD RIGHT NOW. [Gorani:] A manhunt is underway this hour for a gunman who opened fire outside a pub in Tel Aviv. At least two people are confirmed dead. Seven more are wounded in the attack, four of them seriously. Now we have some security camera footage that gives us a view inside from inside the pub onto the terrace. You can see people ducking for cover as the attacker fires off rounds. And here's more surveillance video, this time from a grocery store nearby. We have to tell you, CNN does not know how these videos were obtained. But you see the suspect there at one point. He was, in fact, putting vegetables in a backpack, we understand, according to sources, and then walked out of that grocery store and we believe at that point started shooting. There you see it, shooting at the terrorists of that pub. Police are swarming the neighborhood, searching for that shooter and any clues to whether this is terror-related or a criminal act. All right. Joining me now on the phone from Tel Aviv is Meghan Robertson. She's a senior producer with the "Huffington Post" and was in the area when this attack took place. What did you see and what did you hear, Meghan? I'm sorry. Micky Rosenfeld, I understand, the police chief can join me now. Mr. Rosenfeld, can you hear me? [Micky Rosenfeld, Police Chief:] Yes, I can here you. Good evening. [Gorani:] Ar. Thanks for being with us, Micky Rosenfeld. Let me first ask you about what we know about the suspect. We understand the manhunt is still underway, correct? The person has not been apprehended? [Rosenfeld:] We are continuing to search almost half an hour in the Tel Aviv area, in the city Tel Aviv and the nearby [Gorani:] All right. I think we've lost Micky Rosenfeld, who's a spokesperson for the police department there in Tel Aviv. We're having a few technical problems, as you've certainly noticed, but Ian Lee, I understand, can join me now live. Ian, if you can hear me. [Ian Lee, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes, Hala. We as were can pick up from what Micky was just saying, is that the police are going really house by house, street by street, looking for the suspect, as one spokesman said, they flooded Tel Aviv with security personnel looking for this gunman. We've seen the security footage in the moments leading up to it, where he is in the supermarket, appears to be shopping. Then when he's leaving, he places his bag on the shopping carts, pulls out that gun and sprays the neighboring pub and sidewalk, killing at least two people. But the important thing is, looking at that video, you can see he leaves behind that bag. We're also hearing that he left behind a clip to the gun. These will be crucial pieces of evidence for the police going forward, trying to determine who this is and what were the motivations behind this. But the police still are staying they don't know if this was a criminal incident or a terrorist attack. But tonight a lot of heavy security in Tel Aviv. But despite that, they are telling residents to go about their daily lives, just to be a little bit more on alert Hala. [Gorani:] But there is still a manhunt underway, correct? Are there concerns that this individual might attack again? [Lee:] That definitely is a concern. And right now it is Shabbat; people are going to the synagogue to pray, coming back from there. There is increased security around those areas just as a precaution. They're not saying what it is either way, criminal or a terrorist attack, but definitely you do have a gunman on the loose. We do not know if he has had any help. The police haven't said anything about anybody helping him. So it is still a very dangerous situation with this man on the street. But the police, as we have been seeing all day, are really just flooding the area, looking for this gunman. [Gorani:] All right. We're still hoping to get Micky Rosenfeld back, who's a spokesperson for the police department. Sadly, we lost him there but we're going to try to redial him, I understand. Let me ask you a little bit about some reports on Israeli television, that relatives of this suspect contacted television and contacted journalists in Israel, saying I recognize this individual. He's a troubled individual. He has a violent past and he has a record. What can you tell us about that? [Lee:] That's right. We've been hearing it from multiple Israeli TV channels and newspapers, saying that this is a man from the northern part of Israel. These newspapers, these TV reports are saying that it is an Arab Israeli that carried it out. But we heard from the minister of public security, who has come out and said that they don't have any information about who it is, they also asked the media not to speculate about who carried out this attack and to let them come out with this information. They promised to be transparent with it. But right now they're asking the media, especially local media, where we've been watching it, and there have been quite a few theories. They're asking them just to hold back a bit on who it is and what the motivations are. [Gorani:] All right. But we are hearing police, though, of course, they're saying the investigation is ongoing. In fact, the manhunt is ongoing. They don't even have the suspect in custody, is my understanding. The question being, is this a terrorist attack? Is this a criminal attack? In fact, Ian Lee, if you could stand by, we can go back to Micky Rosenfeld, who's a spokesperson there for the police. He's joining us live now on the line. Micky Rosenfeld, let me ask you first about this manhunt. How close are you, do you believe, to apprehending a suspect? [Rosenfeld:] At this moment in time, the different police units that are in and around the Tel Aviv area are focusing on trying to find the individual who carried out the incident today. Obviously camp terrorist units are searching literally door to door, house to house search in order to see exactly which areas he could be in. This afternoon's attack, unfortunately, two Israelis have been killed. And therefore it's our main priority to get hold of the suspect and continue to carry out an intensive investigation, how he made his way inside the Tel Aviv area, what his motives were and how he got into the area. [Gorani:] Does he still have his weapon or did he live it on the site of the attack? [Rosenfeld:] That's all part of the ongoing investigation. What we can confirm is that shots were fired from an automatic weapon. We're also looking at the CCTV footage from a number of different cameras, a number of different angles in order to try and get more information of the suspect, the profile, what he looks like and what his exact profile is. So that's something that we're focused upon. At the same time, you have to remember that, here in Israel, the Sabbath came in. And a lot of people are in synagogues this evening in the Tel Aviv area. So we heightened security to make sure that there wouldn't be any further incidents around the synagogues. And at this moment in time, our units are continuing searching the different neighborhoods in Tel Aviv. [Gorani:] And I'm asking this question because of course it's there's a difference between a suspect on the loose and a suspect on the loose with an automatic rifle, in this case. You're not able to tell us if he's still armed? [Rosenfeld:] As far as we can tell, we're not taking any chances whatsoever. As far as we know, the man is still armed. As far as we know, he's hiding somewhere in the Tel Aviv area. We've also set up roadblocks around the city of Tel Aviv [Gorani:] Are you classifying this as a terrorist attack or a criminal act? [Rosenfeld:] I'll try the afternoon assessments were made and police units were searching. It's not 100 percent clear but there's a strong possibility that we're talking about a terrorist attack, although we haven't ruled out the criminal-related perspective. But as time goes by, as we're looking into the information and the different perspectives, there's a stronger possibility that it could be a terrorist attack. [Gorani:] Let me ask you about these reports on Israeli TV and also in some Israeli newspapers, that the father of the suspect contacted police, saying, "This is my son. He stole my gun. I recognize him." Can you confirm that? [Rosenfeld:] Obviously I'm not going to go into the details of what's going on in the investigation. Our forensics today were at the scene to find out what type of ammunition was used. Those details we did confirm in order to look and see what type of weapon which was used. All the other details are under a gag order. We're continuing to work on the ground level to make sure that Tel Aviv stays safe this evening. [Gorani:] And lastly, can you confirm that there's an intensive police operation in Northern Israel and Wadi Ara, where some reports suggest the suspects is from? Can you confirm that? [Rosenfeld:] I don't have any further details on that. We're focusing at this moment in time only on Tel Aviv in order to prevent any further incidents from taking place. We need to find that suspect, get a hold of him and question him and to his clear motives and make sure that things get back to regular and quietly over the Sabbath in Tel Aviv. [Gorani:] Micky Rosenfeld, the spokesperson there for the police department, he's joining us live on CNN with more on this attack that has left two people dead at a pub in Tel Aviv and seven people injured, four of them seriously. Thanks very much for joining us with the latest on that as the manhunt, by the way, is still unfolding. This suspect is not in custody. Mickey Rosenfeld saying they're there, assuming he is armed and they are leaning toward calling this a terrorist attack. We'll get you more on this story when it becomes available. But let's turn our attention now to Germany, where tensions are easing up in Munich today. That's because officials say the risk of an imminent terrorist attack hitting the city seems to have faded. But yesterday was very a different story. Armed police swooped in and shut down busy train stations just minutes before midnight on New Year's Eve all because of intelligence relating to a, quote, "concrete threat of a massive ISIS-linked attack." Fred Pleitgen joins me now here in our London studio with more. Yesterday when we saw those tweets from officials in Germany, it sounded like something was imminent. [Frederik Pleitgen, Cnn Senior International Correspondent:] It was a lot more urgent [Gorani:] So was this bad intelligence or did the attack that was planned not take place? [Pleitgen:] That's the big question right now and certainly something that German authorities are not able to answer at this point in time. The interior minister of Bavaria said, you know, was this a false alarm? Did you overreact? He said, no, I don't think that we did. But he said that with the timing the way it was, with the number of people that were on the streets, with, obviously, the timeframe being one where they had the info that something was going to take place at midnight, they felt that they've done the right thing. At this point they're simply not clear or they're not sure whether or not they might have thwarted an attack or whether or not this might have been a phantom. [Gorani:] All right. Let's talk about something that happened in France today in Valence. Apparently there was some sort of an attack on soldiers guarding a mosque. [Pleitgen:] A mosque, yes. This is part of a larger French operation that obviously started after the Paris attacks, where they started guarding religious sites with security officers, mosques, synagogues, churches and other sites as well. And apparently in one of these places in the town of Valence in the Alps there was a man who drove his car into a group of soldiers on a parking lot of a mosque there and then reversed and tried to run over the soldiers again. And that's when they opened fire on this man and anywhere between one and four soldiers were injured in all of this, none of them severely [Gorani:] But the suspect is -? [Pleitgen:] has been shot in the arm and in the leg. [Gorani:] and he's in the hospital. [Pleitgen:] He's in the hospital. They haven't been able to question him yet. So it's unclear whether or not this is part of a wider plot or what exactly this man's motives were. [Gorani:] All right, Fred Pleitgen, thanks very much for that report. In entertainment news, singer Natalie Cole is dead at the age of 65. The daughter of Nat King Cole, she's a Grammy award or was a Grammy award-winning singer. She rose to fame in the 70s as also a songwriter. She suffered ongoing health issues. She had a kidney transplant in fact six years ago. She died on Thursday evening near [Kinkade:] Welcome back. Pope Francis is simplifying the process for Catholics how want to annul their marriages. The changes are expected to speed up a process the pope has previously called "long and burdensome." It's all part of the pope's push for the Catholic Church to become more welcoming. Let's bring in our Vatican correspondent, Delia Gallagher, for more on all of this. And Delia, it seems in short that the annulment of marriage will now take less time and cost less. What is the Vatican doing? [Delia Gallagher, Cnn Vatican Correspondent:] That's right, Lynda. Those were the two major complaints, let's say, about the annulment process. It could take anywhere from one to five years to get an annulment. And the cost involved could be from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand dollars. So what the Vatican announced today is that the pope says the process should be free with the exception of some nominal charges for administration because there are, of course, people who work in the church tribunals. The way the annulment process happens is it starts at the local level in what they call a diocese in a tribunal there. And what normally has happened is that there are two grades of [Gallagher:] let's say, trying to decide and judge what the verdict will be. So those two tribunals, both needed to independently look at the case. What the pope has done, in order to streamline the process, is get rid of one of those tribunals. So the process will obviously be shortened now by saying that the verdict of the first tribunal of the case of the annulment can stand. In addition, the pope has added a kind of fast track which is put under the direct responsibility of the bishop in cases, which he says are more evident, where it is obvious that the annulment should be granted, for example, the brevity of the marriage, if there was coercion at the time of the wedding, if there was an extramarital relationship, for example, at the time of the wedding. So those are a couple of the major changes that the pope has instituted today to help streamline this annulment process Lynda. [Kinkade:] So, Delia, when will these changes all come into effect? And isn't it expected that this will lead to an increase in couples who are struggle with their marriages to seek an annulment? [Gallagher:] It comes into effect on December 8th. That is the beginning of the Year of Mercy that Pope Francis has wanted for some time, to bring people back into the church. The thing about annulments is it's not really directed at people who are necessarily married, it's directed at people who are already divorced and who want to get remarried in the Catholic Church. Because the problem is you can't get remarried until you have an annulment. This topic has been discussed for the last year, quite hotly debated here at the Vatican and will be discussed again in October, about giving communion to people who are in this situation, that they have not bothered to get an annulment because, again, they thought it was costly and time- consuming. But they're in a new relationship and in some cases they want to get married again in the Catholic Church. So these people are in a kind of irregular situation. They are not allowed to receive communion at the moment and the debate is should we give them communion, should we not give them communion? By making these changes to the annulment prices, they are able to get around this because they say you can now get an annulment; annul your first marriage, which, in some cases, happened 10-20 years ago, then you are free to have another Catholic marriage and then you can receive communion. Receiving communion, of course, is important because it's a sign of your good standing, as it were, with the Catholic Church Lynda. [Kinkade:] OK, Delia Gallagher, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you for that update. Still to come here at the INTERNATIONAL DESK, Hungary is struggling to deal with a massive flux of refugees. They want to head west to Germany and Austria which is now pledging to improve conditions for asylum seekers. We'll have the details on that at the IDESK, just ahead. Also ahead, the dentist who killed Cecil the lion is back in the public spotlight. What he faced on his return to work when we come back. [Keilar:] Four people are injured and a suspect is dead following a terrifying machete attack in an Ohio deli. Investigators haven't confirmed a motive for the attack but they also haven't ruled out terrorism and they say it's possible that the attacker was a so- called lone wolf. CNN national correspondent Deb Feyerick has been following this story. What's the latest here, Deb? [Deborah Feyerick, Cnn National Correspondent:] We can tell you, Brianna, that one of the reasons the Columbus Police Department reached out so quickly to the FBI is because there were certain red flags that were raised that caused significant concern. First of all, this was a lone individual, a machete was used, and it seemed to be a random attack in a public place. [Feyerick:] The attack happened at the Nazareth Middle Eastern restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. [Unidentified Female:] Some guy pulled out a machete and started stabbing people. I ran out with my kids. [Feyerick:] A man with a machete attacked and injured four people, one of them critically. [Unidentified Male:] it was the table right in front of me. He just started attacking people. [Karen Bass, Witness:] I thought it was a personal thing and then he just started down the row hitting everybody with something. I don't know, there was people were bleeding. [Feyerick:] Officials say the attacker is 30-year-old Mohamed Barry. He's of Somali origin and has a drug-related criminal record. The FBI is looking into Barry's recent travel and any potential links to jihad. The restaurant is owned by an Israeli Arab Christian. Hany Baransi tells the "Columbus Dispatch" the attacker was apparently inside the restaurant asking an employee about him. [Hany Baransi, Owner:] I understood that he left, came back 30 minutes later and attacked a person and then start slicing up people down the booths. [Feyerick:] People inside the restaurant fought back, some of them throwing chairs. Another confronting the suspect. [Sgt. Richard Weiner, Columbus Police:] Nobody inside from the people that we've spoken to, whether it be some of the patrons or the employees, nobody said that they knew him. [Feyerick:] The suspect fled, driving off with multiple police cruisers chasing. [Unidentified Male:] Trying to get out of the vehicle. He's getting ready to go again. He's moving in. [Feyerick:] Police say they got the suspect to stop. He tried escaping out of the passenger door with his weapons. [Weiner:] He had a machete and another knife in his hand and he lunged across the hood at the officers. Another officer in a cruiser fired a couple of shots at him and put him down. [Feyerick:] One person initially critical was rushed into surgery and is now listed in stable condition. And the FBI is investigating this as a possible act of terrorism, but they haven't ruled out the possibility that it could also be a hate crime Brianna. [Keilar:] All right, Deb Feyerick, thank you for that report. I do want to dig deeper on this now. Very disturbing story. We have our law enforcement experts here to discuss this. We're joined by CNN justice reporter Evan Perez and we have CNN law enforcement analyst Tom Fuentes, he is a former FBI assistant director. Do we know anything else, Evan? Are investigators learning anything more about the motivation behind this? [Evan Perez, Cnn Justice Correspondent:] Well, one of the more interesting things about this is the fact that about 30 minutes before this attack, Brianna, the attacker, Barry, went into the restaurant and apparently asked about the owner. Apparently the restaurant is decorated with the Israeli flags. The owner is Israeli, but he is an Arab Christian, and so one of the possibilities that investigators are pursuing is that the attacker thought that he was attacking a Jewish- owned business, an Israeli Jewish-owned business. It turns out it was an Arab Christian business that he was attacking and it may have just been a case of mistaken identity. So that's one of the avenues and one of the reasons why they're looking at this as possible terrorism. [Keilar:] So where does that leave investigators, Tom, between looking at this as a hate crime or as a lone wolf terrorist act? [Tom Fuentes, Cnn Law Enforcement Analyst:] Well, in the beginning, Brianna, they're not going to have a theory to go on. I mean, they don't want to be, you know, tainted in any direction so they're going to obtain the Internet records, the phone records, talk to friends, neighbors, work colleagues of his and try and find out if there's any indication of what the true motive was. So for now they're just investigating trying to see what it is. As Evan said, it could be that could qualify as a terrorist act, it could qualify as a hate crime or it might be a garden variety psychopath and we have plenty of those running around. [Keilar:] Yes, certainly we've seen that. All right, Tom, Evan, thank you guys so much. And coming up, investigators are digging into a chilling new video that shows a sophisticated laptop bomb moments before it was planted on an airliner. How did the explosive get through airport security? [John Berman, Cnn:] And late word that vice president Joe Biden has just received the biggest green light you can get for a presidential run. CNN senior Washington correspondent Jeff Zeleny broke the story. He joins us now by phone. Jeff, the president and vice president had lunch today. And the vice president left with a whole lot more than dessert. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] No question, John. I mean, President Obama has always said this will be, you know, Joe Biden's own decision on this. But I am told that he gave his blessing to a potential run. Did not try to talk the vice president out of his pursuit of the presidency. It is important to point out the vice president has still not decided. But this lunch today was far from one of the regular scheduled lunches. They talked about the 2016 campaign, but also about the messages and from what is happening out there in the country now, economic messages, economic policies. So the president did not try to walk him back at all. He, I'm told he gave his blessing to run. And of course now it is up to the vice president if he decides to do it. [Berman:] Not an endorsement. To be clear, not an endorsement, but a blessing to run if Joe Biden decide to do it. And if you can believe it, the meeting between the president and vice president, not the only meeting today that is stirring speculation. Jeff Zeleny, I understand there is a meeting going on at the vice president's residence, right now. Also of note, that include two of the president's most trusted advisers. [Zeleny:] That's right, John. Two of the president's top advisers, really some of his longest serving political advisers, Bob Bauer, who has been his election lawyer for years. And Anita Dunn, who is the communications director in the White House to help sort of craft his presidential campaign. Those two are among a few others meeting right now with vice president Biden in the naval observatory, his official residence in Washington. They have not yet signed on to any type of Biden campaign. But they're among the people that the vice president is talking to, as he decides to, if he is going to run or not. And again, everyone we speak to throughout, so-called Biden world, is still saying he has not yet made his decision. But John, he is on trying to get as much information as possible. Of course, he met with Elizabeth Warren over the weekend, the same type of meeting. But this meeting tonight signifies that if he would decide to run, there are people from the Obama inner circle who would no doubt be there to help him. [Berman:] And these are Obama people meeting with Biden tonight talking about how to run, not whether to run. Jeff Zeleny, our senior Washington reporter with big breaking news on two fronts involving Joe Biden. But wait, there is more. Our chief national correspondent John King has the details on that. He joins us now along with CNN political commentator, Patti Solis Doyle, who ran Hillary Clinton's 2008 campaign and served as chief of staff for Joe Biden's presidential efforts so she knows a couple of people who might be involved in this. Also CNN political analyst Carl Bernstein, best-selling author of "a woman in charge, the life of Hillary Rodham Clinton." John, I want to start with you because if you are talking about meeting with Joe Biden with the president, Joe Biden meeting with Obama advisers right now, talking politics, I understand, John, you have news about meetings with fundraisers. [John King, Cnn Chief National Correspondent:] And John, just and more evidence that this is going to continue, and this is not exploded into the next level. Elizabeth Warren meeting was the first stroke. The blessing from the president which is gold to Joe Biden is the second stroke. The meeting tonight, part of what I am told is next series of meetings. The vice president meeting with people who put campaigns together whether it is the legal work, whether it is communications message. After Labor Day, some fundraisers will come in. Some other state party leaders and other national party leaders consulted. Most of these in political meetings. But the president also has a series of social events scheduled around things like Rosh Hashanah, for example where political donors, political activists around the country will be invited in for social events in which the vice president will have some time to just put his arm around him and have a quick conversation with them, maybe a cocktail with them. So, in a series of social events and a series of officially designed political meetings, the president throughout the early week of September will continue consultations. John, the goal is to decide by the end of the month. Again, everyone insists as Jeff told you, no final decision has been made. But what we are hearing from people close to the vice president, those actually in the meetings with him. Not people hearing second, third, fourth hand, is that he tells that he is more and more comfortable with the idea of running. I am told he has told people he very much wants to run. But he wants to spend the next several weeks trying to get a sense of terrain. Everyone, can he beat Hillary Clinton? Can he at least make it a good race? Number two, does he want to run anyway? Is this something he wants to say? And then number three, can he put the pieces together? [Berman:] You are seeing a blueprint right now. It is more than a trial balloon. It is more like a trial rocket ship. Patti, you know, this latest reporting on the lunch, that President Obama gave his blessing to Joe Biden to run. Now, you know, the president, I don't think it is surprising he would give his blessing to say, you know, Joe, if you want to run. Run. But what we are seeing today with the leak of this meeting, with the leak of the blessing, with Josh Earnest on the White House podium saying what a great guy the president has always thought Joe Biden is, this is more than a blessing I think? [Patti Solis Doyle, Former Campaign Manager For Hillary Clinton:] Well, look. The vice president is a great guy. And clearly there is a lot of affection and a lot of love between the president and vice president. And of course, the president was going to give him all the room he needs to make his decision. [Berman:] But there are ways to say that we had lunch. And there are ways to say we had lunch. And this seems to be beyond that. [Doyle:] Right. So the next step is will he decide to actually run. And if he decide to actually run, then, the president and the White House are in a bit of a pickle, you know. Do they endorse? And if they endorse, who do they endorse? And if there is going to be an endorsement? What's the timing of that endorsement? It is happen early on, where they can make a difference, help him raise money, help her raise money, or do they let it play out a little bit. So, you know, it will be interesting to see. [Berman:] The president will be in a pickle. So will Hillary Clinton which we will talk about in just a second. Before we bring her up specifically, Carl, you have been reporting, you have been hearing people close to Joe Biden saying that if he decide to run, he could say, look, I only want to do this for one term. I want to be a within term president because of his age. Do you think it is an advantage to make that statement going into a campaign? We have heard of that in the past, a candidate speculating they might do that. They never seem to actually go ahead with it. [Carl Bernstein, Journalist/author:] I think he has until if he were to win the nomination to do it. There is probably no necessity to do it now. The time to really do it would be if he had the nomination where in the mind of voters, who are little uneasy about his age. He could do it. But then I know he is thinking about it because some of the people I talked to a couple of weeks ago, when I first reported it. But the real factor that is driving so much of this, is the distrust within the party now about the viability of Hillary Clinton's campaign. She is on very shaky ground within her own party by people who are disappointed in the Democratic Party, with how she has run this campaign, with her difficulty with being straight forward and truthful about the matters of the server. And that's what's brought on so much of this along with Donald Trump. [Berman:] So John, if you are Hillary Clinton, and the Clinton campaign is watching this, I mean, you have known that, that Joe Biden was thinking about it a while. But over the last four days, this has just gone to a whole new level. [King:] It certainly has. It's gone to a whole new level at a key moment. Number one, in an odd way, this could in the long run, if Joe Biden doesn't run or if he runs and can't beat Hillary Clinton in an odd way help her in the sense that what we were talking about two weeks up until Joe Biden started to dominate the conversation. That was the rise of Bernie Sanders who would come within striking distance of Hillary Clinton in a couple of the key early states. Now, he sort of on pause, while we talk will Joe Biden get in. But Hillary Clinton, Carl laid it out right, there are serious vulnerabilities and there is just a conversation about potential vulnerabilities. Remember, and Carl and Patti have both been through this. Some of this isn't quite, probably not, fair to Hillary Clinton, but when you an investigation, and you have the justice department involved, and you have the same lawyers coming out of the woodwork that a lot of senior Democrats saw back in the Bill Clinton days, they get nervous because trust me. I covered the Clintons in those days and the White House in those days. And the investigations never turn out as you expect it. There is always been some kind of surprise. Now, is that fair to Hillary Clinton? Probably not. But it is a fact and it is a history. And if you are an older senior Democrat, when the lawyers get involved, and you see that David Kendall profile on the front page of "The New York Times," you get a little nervous, John. And so, what does she have to do now? Keep to keep campaigning. She has to get out there and keep talking to voters. She is probably going to have to keep talking to the media. She has a key date on October. The vice president will make decision by then. But she has a key date in October before the select committee on Benghazi to give her public testimony. Jerry Brown the governor of California I think said it quite right this past weekend. She can't just, you know, shoot and make this email story go away. It is like a vampire. It keeps coming back. Got to put a stack in the heart. [Bernstein:] Another aspect, John, is that people in the Democratic Party, including her, you know, her really loyal supporters, believe that she has played into the hand of the Clinton's enemies and the party's enemies. And that is what has shaken so many people because, one again, it looks to these fundraisers, looks to these party leaders as if the Clintons have succumbed to their own worst instincts. And that is why there's so much talk. And Patti Doyle knows an awful lot about what happens in the situation. [Berman:] Patti, let me just, before I let you respond, let me just show you a poll. This is Quinnipiac poll in Florida. It happened last week. It shows that Donald Trump is beating Hillary Clinton in Florida in the most recent polling there. But the Joe Biden is beating Donald Trump. In other words the Biden is doing better than Hillary Clinton is right now in Florida. So you are starting to see voters are responding to the polls say there is something going on here. [Doyle:] Look, I will relent that Hillary Clinton has not had a great summer. It has been a very rocky summer. But I just do not buy that Joe Biden is thinking about running because of Hillary's emails. I think look, the last sitting vice president that did not run in an open election I think was Dick Cheney. And thank goodness for that. But Joe Biden has done a great job as vice president. He has incredible relationship with the Congress on both sides of the aisle. He is beloved in the party. It would be strange for him not to be seriously considering [Berman:] But he is winning at 20 percent net favorable right now if Hillary Clinton did? Do you think that Joe Biden be considering -? [Doyle:] I think that the reason he has now taken a serious look has much less to do with Hillary's emails and much more to do with the health of his son. [Berman:] It is going to be an awkward cocktail party. Next time the Obama been Clinton invite and get together. John King, Patti Solis Doyle, Carl Bernstein, thank you all so much. Appreciate your time. Other big news today, the market meltdown. Why it might not be over yet. And what you can do about it. Richard Quest, thank goodness, has all the answers. Also, Donald Trump says he has a 14-point plan for dealing with illegal immigration. See what happens though when he is grilled on the specifics. Univision and Fusion anchor Jorge Ramos weighs in. And later, the American heroes who saved a lot of lives when they took down a terrorist gunman on the speeding train, new details emerging about their act of bravery and who this would be killer might have been connected to. [Gorani:] A reminder of a breaking news story from the United States this hour. A jury has found Dylann Roof guilty of the first 12 counts in his federal trial. The self-declared White supremacists confessed to gunning down nine people at a Charleston, South Carolina church last year, a traditionally African-American church. He could face the death penalty. The judge, by the way, as we speak, is still reading off the other counts. In fact, I'm hearing now that Dylann Roof is guilty on all 33 counts. As I mentioned there, guilty of the murder of nine African-Americans at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Dylann Roof, breaking news, guilty on all counts. Let's move on now to this story. If you have Yahoo account, you're going to probably want to listen up. It's probably also time to change your password. The company has announced a massive security breach. It happened back in 2013, and more than a billion accounts were exposed. The breach may be one of the largest ever and is thought to be separate from a hack that Yahoo revealed just three months ago. Let's get more from Samuel Burke. He's in the studio with us. So, first of all, I didn't realize there were a billion Yahoo accounts. That was news to me as well as new of the hack. What happened? [Samuel Burke, Cnnmoney Business And Technology Correspondent:] Well, what's absolutely astonishing about this, Hala, is this hack actually occurred in 2013, and Yahoo, much like us, is just now finding out about this. This is a company that clearly has not invested enough money in cyber security according to experts, and the proof is in the pudding. Just look at what the hackers made off with. You have names, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, passwords, and dates of birth. Now, what they didn't get away with was information like data from bank accounts and credit cards. Now, Hala, you're probably saying, oh, good, it's a good thing they didn't get that stuff. That's [Gorani:] I'm not saying that at all. [Burke:] Well [Gorani:] That's horrible. [Burke:] No, but it [Gorani:] Now, why did it take three years to figure it out? [Burke:] But listen, it's counterintuitive in the sense that you can change your credit card number, but you can't change your date of birth even though some of us try from time to time. [Gorani:] Unfortunately. [Burke:] So listen, that information is what people use to get into other accounts. So that is really the biggest fear here, not that they're going to get into your Yahoo account, but they use that information to get into other accounts. [Gorani:] But isn't it too late to change your password now if the breach happened in 2013? Isn't it a bit late? [Burke:] Well, that is what's so alarming. There are steps that you can take, though, to make sure they can't keep on still getting into the Yahoo account and other accounts. So Yahoo is going to force people to change their e-mail addresses. They're suggesting that you delete old e-mails. You know, lots of corporations adopted that policy after the SONY hack. And if you only remember one thing from this report, Hala, use two-factor authentication. Whether it's your credit card, your bank account, or your e-mail, change that setting now. That gives you a unique code sent to your cellphone anytime you log in from a new computer. That way, if the hackers have your password, it doesn't matter. They can't get into your account because the hacker is not going to have your cellphone in all likelihood. [Gorani:] OK. So if you log in, the two-step authentication is that a notification is sent to your phone. [Burke:] You use it right? All right. [Gorani:] Well, yes, I do. In fact, I do because I do receive an e-mail and a text whenever I log in from another device. [Burke:] OK. Yes, Facebook, Twitter [Gorani:] Right. [Burke:] Gmail, I use it on all of those things. And really everybody should be using it because, again, the code comes only to your cellphone when it sees, OK, you're on a new computer. First, you type your password and then you get the code. So the hacker can't get the code because the hacker doesn't have your cellphone. [Gorani:] That's definitely a good idea. So let's talk a little bit, though, about what to do in the future. You have the two-step authentication. Is that enough, though? I mean [Burke:] Well, let's [Gorani:] it seems like nothing is keeping us safe from hackers. [Burke:] Nothing is 100 percent and really, what we're moving toward in the future, hopefully sooner than later, is using your thumb print more often, using your face. It's hard to imitate people's face. So we are looking at a society without passwords and Lord knows, it could not come soon enough. [Gorani:] Yes, absolutely. And by the way, there's that big Verizon deal. What's up with that? [Burke:] Verizon still says they're going through with it. As of now, they haven't cancelled it in spite of the fact that two biggest hacks of all time have happened to Yahoo have been announced with Yahoo since Verizon made that offer. [Gorani:] It's a little scary that it took three years for us to learn about it. [Burke:] Three years. [Gorani:] Thanks very much as always. Samuel Burke with us on this Thursday. Now, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, the TSA, Samuel, has what appears to be a depressing Instagram post. An abandoned giant teddy bear meant to warn travelers about oversized luggage. Look at him. They said, quote, "He was abandoned by his owners at LAX" after the airline and TSA determined that he was just too big to be screened as carry-on luggage. But now, the TSA says the traveler was not a despondent child but a YouTube prankster, and it was stunt to see if he could get the giant bear on the plane. They say the prankster bought a ticket for the bar. [Burke:] As if travelling could get any worse with that depressed bear by the trash can when you're about to be stripped searched at the airport. [Gorani:] All right. Now you know. Now you know, don't travel with a giant bear. Samuel, thanks. "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next. I'm Hala Gorani. I'll see you tomorrow. [Hillary Clinton, Presidential Candidate:] We have unfinished business to do. [Donald Trump, Presidential Candidate:] I'm asking you to dream big. You will get the change you've been waiting for. [Clinton:] Let's make sure that we send a loud, unmistakable message that love Trumps hate. [Trump:] I didn't have to bring J Lo or Jay-Z. I'm here all by self. [Unidentified Female:] We have to think about the future and that is why I'm with her. [Trump:] We will make America great again. [Christi Paul, Cnn Anchor:] All right, so glad to have you with us here in the Newsroom in D.C. I'm Christi Paul. [Victor Blackwell, Cnn Anchor:] I'm Victor Blackwell. [Paul:] And we are overlooking some beautiful site today. [Blackwell:] You got the White House right behind us here, beautiful, beautiful set for you this weekend, the final Saturday of the 2016 presidential campaign. The race for the White House of course ending in just three days from now. The prize, you see it right us here, 1600 Pennsylvania avenue. That's where either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will call home. [Paul:] This race is getting closer in the home stretch though, as you know. Both campaigns in full force this weekend. I want to take you live a live look at Tampa, Florida, where Donald Trump is going to kick off his first of four stops in four different states today. Florida, Colorado, North Carolina, and Nevada. And he is set to speak at any moment. When he does we will certainly bring it to you. But you can see he hasn't stepped up to the podium just yet. [Blackwell:] Let's take a look at Hillary Clinton and her surrogates, where they will be going to the battleground states. She will start in Florida and then north to Pennsylvania. You see Bernie Sanders, the vice president, Joe Biden, the vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine, and Chelsea Clinton out on the trail as well. All day we've got live a political experts and reporters, part of our team coverage. We're standing by in the battleground states. [Paul:] And we should talk about the fact that in the next in the latest CNN poll of polls Trump and Clinton seem to tie in Florida. [Blackwell:] Yes. [Paul:] Big state. And that's a must-win state for both. [Blackwell:] Yes. CNN national correspondent Jason Carroll is live there at a Trump event in Tampa. He's expected to be on the stage soon. So we'll go to Jason Carroll in just a moment. I've got a producer in my ear. Let me come to you, Phil, and what we're seeing from these candidates as we go into the last stretch. [Phil Mattingly, Cnn Correspondent:] Yes. You guys talk about Florida, and Florida is crucial for this really good reason. Obviously 29 electoral votes. Donald Trump has to win Florida really to have any kind of pathway whatsoever if you look through. And he has a narrow pathway to begin with. But Florida is a place where his team has felt good, but his team has also made very clear if Donald Trump does not win Florida, Donald Trump will not be sitting in that house behind you on January 20th, period, end of story. So that's why you see Donald Trump in Florida today. That's why you see Hillary Clinton in Florida today. Now, the interesting element I think we've all been trying to dig out in Florida is what does the early vote data tell us, what does the polling tell us, all of that sort of issue. If you look at early vote in Florida right now, you talk to the Clinton campaign, they feel good about where they are. But if you compare it to 2012, while Democrats do have a lead in the early vote, they are far behind where they were in 2012. Trump advisers, Republican operatives point to that and say this is good news for us. The big question, though, and you guys have been talking about it a lot this morning, the Hispanic vote. They believe it is coming out at levels, and the early vote seems to imply this, it is coming out at levels that is significantly higher than we saw in 2012. And while we've seen a down tick of some sort in the African-American vote both in Florida and North Carolina and other places, if that Hispanic vote is coming out like Democrats think that it is, in Florida that could be the ballgame. We talked about Nevada earlier. We've seen that Hispanic vote come out in a big way. That could be the difference maker. That could be the story. But if you look at it right now, all the polling, all the early voting, it looks like Florida is absolutely still a toss-up. [Paul:] All right, sounds good. Let's talk about North Carolina as well because that is, as it's been called, a must win state for both of these candidates. Both of them have their eyes obviously on that key battleground. And we're talk about 15 electoral votes are up for grabs there. [Blackwell:] Let's go to our Gary Tuchman who is watching the race from such an important state as we know for both campaigns, but the Trump campaign especially. Gary? [Gary Tuchman, Cnn Correspondent:] Victor and Christi, good morning to you. And yes, North Carolina, a battleground state, incredibly important. Election nights are also about mathematics in addition to who is going to become president. The mathematics are not kind to Donald Trump if he doesn't win here in the state of North Carolina. It's hard to see path to the White House if he doesn't win this state. Hillary Clinton doesn't need to win this state. And if she does, if we find out early in the evening Tuesday if she has, it would not look good for Donald Trump. So that's why this is an incredibly important state. The people here realize it. And Election Day in many states including North Carolina is not just Election Day. It's the last of the Election Days. They've been voting here for over two weeks in early voting. But this is the busiest day. This is a library in Charlotte, North Carolina. I have just counted. There are 435 people in this line waiting outdoors. How long have you been waiting, sir? [Unidentified Male:] I've been here [Tuchman:] Getting his watch out. Nice watch, by the way? [Unidentified Male:] Thank you. About an hour and 45 minutes. [Tuchman:] Hour and 45 minutes and he's not near the front of the line just yet. So these are very dedicated people waiting to vote. I've done some math. There's 11 machines inside. If every voting experience I'm sorry about that, sir. [Unidentified Male:] No problem. [Tuchman:] If every voting experience takes five minutes, you're talking about a three-and-a-half hour wait. Can you wait three-and-a- half hours in this line? [Unidentified Female:] Absolutely. [Tuchman:] Important for you to vote? [Unidentified Female:] Yes. [Tuchman:] You feel that way? [Unidentified Female:] Definitely. I'll will wait five hour if I got to. [Tuchman:] It's good you're in North Carolina and not North Platt, Nebraska, where it's much colder right now. It's actually cold for North Carolina. It's been in the 40s, but people are very dedicated. They're willing to wait. In 2012, 61 percent of the people who voted did early voting. And authorities here in this state, here in the Tar Heel state, say it will be higher this year. And you get an idea, 435 people in line waiting to vote. Early voting comes to an end at 1:00 eastern time today. But anyone in line will be able to stay and vote. So they could still be here until 3:00, 4:00, 5:00. Victor, Christi, back to you. [Paul:] Interesting. All right, hey, Gary, thank you so much. Of course they have to keep it open so they can vote because if they didn't we would have accusations of some impropriety happening. [Blackwell:] Yes. And we saw there the poll of polls there, Hillary Clinton ahead by four points there. But any really reliable [Paul:] Metric? [Blackwell:] Yes, any metric, any equation of putting 270 together for Donald Trump includes North Carolina. So he will have to do well there on Election Day and this last day of early voting there. Again, our thanks to Gary Tuchman. [Paul:] We want to get you back to Florida. We were talking about how pivotal Florida is. Jason Carroll is there right now. Good morning, Jason. [Jason Carroll, Cnn Correspondent:] Good morning to you, Christi. There's been so much talk about early voting. Let's talk about early voting here in the state of Florida. It ends today in many counties here in the state, so you can imagine why there's such a huge, huge push for Trump supporters to get out and vote. That's what we're hearing today from some of the surrogates who have already taken the stage. Trump expected to speak just in a few minutes. The campaign is really encouraged by what they say are early signs of many early voters coming out in support of Donald Trump. The Democrats, though, on the other side, very are encouraged by what they says is a huge uptick in Latino voters here in the state for Hillary Clinton. Trump for the most part though staying on message with his attacks on Hillary Clinton, really hitting her hard on the issue of the Clinton Foundation, her e-mails, her trustworthiness, bringing that into question. These are issues that really resonate with the base. However, at one point he did go off track just for a little bit when he mentioned all of the celebrities support that Hillary Clinton has been receiving from folks like Jay-Z and Jennifer Lopez. Donald Trump saying, look, I'm out here doing this by myself. He's got his surrogates out there campaigning for him as well. One surrogate that won't be out there for him, Governor Chris Christie who was expected to campaign in New Hampshire this weekend, but after two of his former aides were convicted during that bridge-gate case on charges of charges of conspiracy and fraud, Chris Christie now not campaigning for Donald Trump this weekend. But this crowd more than happy just to have Donald Trump speaking in just a few moments. Christi? [Paul:] All right, and when that happens we will certainly bring it to you live. Jason Carroll, we appreciate it so much. Thank you. [Blackwell:] All right, some important shifts in the CNN electoral map. First for Donald Trump, first for Hillary Clinton. We'll show those to you. And the question here, can Clinton hold on to this lead to reach 270 on Tuesday night? Stay with us. [Keilar:] We have some breaking news about the upcoming Republican debate here on CNN, and you really want to listen up, because the debate rules have just been updated. And I want to bring in CNN politics executive editor Mark Preston to explain this. So how have what are the changes? [Mark Preston, Cnn Politics Executive Editor:] Well, Brianna, you know, we've done a lot of thinking about the current state of the race right now and the data that we're using to decide on inclusion for the top- tier debate that's going to take place on September 16 at the Reagan Presidential Library. After much thought and looking at the data that is currently presented to us, we decided to amend the criteria a little bit. So let me just lay this out there. There are a lot of numbers. But to put it very simply right now, we are only looking at three national polls currently, compared to nine polls that have been added into the criteria from the beginning. So somebody who could be doing well in August or certainly into September would not, you know, be able to benefit from that. So what we've done is we've decided that if you are in the top ten of polls recognized by CNN, from August 7 until September 10, but yet you were not captured in the original eligibility window from July 16 to September 10, then you would be included in the debate. [Keilar:] So this is an amendment, and basically, it seems like the idea is that the data normally, you would have a lot more polls in this period of time around Labor Day. And there just haven't been those polls, so it seems like the data in this post-debate period isn't really capturing the real picture of the current race, right? And it seems like right now, looking at this amendment it might be Carly Fiorina who would see the impact here. [Preston:] Let's get a little historical perspective. If you go back to this time in 2011, which would be the year right before the presidential race, we had 15 polls that were released between the first of August and mid-September, which is basically our eligibility window. If you look go back to 2007, the year before the presidential race, with 16 polls, right now, we're only looking at three, and certainly, when we created the criteria back in May, that's what we were doing on a historical perspective. Now, if the eligibility window were to close tonight, Carly Fiorina would be included. But I do have to emphasize, at this point, we don't know the final podium positions, because this window is going to stay open until September 10. And we could see people rise; we could see people fall. But really, you could see, potentially, more than 10 people on stage. [Keilar:] A key point, though: if you're looking at someone who may be on sort of the bubble right now, under the unamended criteria, they would be in that top ten. But maybe they wouldn't under the new criteria. They don't get subjected, right? If there's a Chris Christie or, say, a Rand Paul right now, that's what it would look like, they'd be on the bubble. It's not like they would not be on the stage, right? [Preston:] Again, if they get the window... [Keilar:] If it were closed today. [Preston:] If the window were closed today, you're absolutely correct. However, there certainly are going to be more polls that are going to be released into September 10. Now, I do have to note part of our thinking in all this, though, is that from our talking to other news organizations and to other polling outfits, is we didn't think that they were going to be enough polls that would give us a clear data point to really make a sound editorial decision. So that's why we did so. So yes, I mean, really emphasize, we don't know who's going to be onstage. We won't know that until the 10th. But the candidates are still going to have to campaign very hard up to then. [Keilar:] The idea being that it should reflect the current picture of the race. [Preston:] And not be punitive to those who have performed well through the summer up through to this debate. [Keilar:] All right, Mark Preston, thank you so much for explaining that. We really appreciate it. We are following several new developments now as the 2016 presidential campaign grows nastier and more personal. Jeb Bush just launched his sharpest attack so far on Donald Trump. It's a new video that features Trump's own words. And CNN political reporter Sara Murray has been following all of this and is here to give us a look Sara. [Sara Murray, Cnn Political Correspondent:] Yes, the battle between Donald Trump and Jeb Bush is growing even more heated today, with the candidates taking to social media to do some good old-fashioned mudslinging. [Jeb Bush , Presidential Candidate:] Waiting. [Murray:] Floundering in the polls, Jeb Bush firing off his harshest attack so far, using Donald Trump's own words against him in this YouTube video. [Donald Trump , Presidential Candidate:] My views are a little bit different than if I lived in Iowa. [Tim Russert, Former Host, "meet The Press":] Partial birth abortion. [Trump:] I'm very pro-choice. [Murray:] And targeting Trump on the campaign trail. [Bush:] You look at his record of what he believes, he supports Democrats. This is not a guy who's a conservative, and using his own words is not a mischaracterization. They came out of his own mouth. [Murray:] So much for the low energy candidate. [Trump:] Jeb Bush is a low-energy person. For him to get things done is hard. He's very low-energy. [Murray:] Bush trying to show he has a sharp edge, retaliating against Trump for an onslaught of attacks via Instagram, the latest showing Bush complimenting Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. [Bush:] We recognize the commitment of someone who has devoted her life to public service. I want to say thank you to both Secretary Clinton and to President Clinton. [Murray:] Trump also hitting his opponent on Twitter today, calling the latest shot from Bush yet another weak hit by a candidate with a failing campaign: "Will Jeb sink as low in the polls as others who have gone after me?" The escalating public battle between Trump and Bush all as Dr. Ben Carson quietly surges. The retired neurosurgeon suddenly tied with Trump in Iowa, rallying the state's evangelical voters. [Dr. Ben Carson , Presidential Candidate:] We have to stop listening to these people who tell us that we cannot talk about God, we cannot talk about our faith. [Murray:] Carson's rise costing Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, whose support is collapsing in Iowa, a key state for his path to victory. Walker spending his day clarifying whether the U.S. should build a wall along the border with Canada after facing ridicule for saying it was a legitimate idea. [Gov. Scott Walker , Presidential Candidate:] I've never talked about a wall to the north. I'm certainly not now. [Murray:] Now amid all of this Republican infighting today, we're seeing something else. Signs of outreach to Hispanic voters. Some of Bush's toughest attacks against Trump today were in Spanish. And for Trump, he may be looking to repair his standing with Hispanics, too. Today he met privately with the CEO of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. [Keilar:] All right. Sara Murray, thanks for that report. We are awaiting a new CNN interview with Donald Trump, I should tell you. Right now, I want to bring in Eric Fehrnstrom. He was a senior adviser to Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. And first, Eric, I think you heard the announcement there about amending the debate rules here. So that really what happens is, the pre-debate polls don't outweigh the post-debate polls that we've seen so few of at this point. This could possibly open the door up to Carly Fiorina being on the next debate stage. What do you think about that? [Eric Fehrnstrom, Former Senior Advisor To Mitt Romney's Presidential Campaign:] Well, I think it's a good decision by CNN to be flexible in those rules, because the way they had constructed them weeks or months ago would have excluded, potentially, Carly Fiorina from the debate stage. And I think everybody agrees that she turned in a pretty good performance in that first debate last month and that she deserves to be on the stage with top-tier candidates. [Keilar:] I do want to get your reaction to this fight that we're seeing going on right now, this back and forth between Jeb Bush and Donald Trump. Do you think that this kind of counterattack from Jeb Bush is going to resonate with voters? [Fehrnstrom:] Well, this TrumpBush feud started as a war of words. Now it's escalated to online video, and I think we all know where this is going to end up. And that's on TV and living rooms in Iowa and New Hampshire. Look, I think it's a positive development for Jeb Bush. Right now in the national polling, Trump is getting around 30 percent of the vote, which means that 70 percent of the Republican electorate is looking for someone else. There's going to be an anti-Trump candidate that emerges from the field, and I think Bush wants to be that person, obviously. And for the story to be framed as Trump versus Bush, as opposed to Trump versus the rest of the field, is good for Jeb Bush. Ultimately, this race is going to come down to voters deciding whether they want an experienced candidate like Jeb Bush who has a record as a governor of a big state, or if they want an outsider like Donald Trump, who takes pride in his shoot-from-the-hip style. [Keilar:] Well, if they do want an experienced candidate, on that note, I'm sure that you've seen this "National Review" report. It says some major Republican donors are underwhelmed by the field so far, including Jeb Bush, and that they're holding out for your former boss, Mitt Romney. Do you think those donors could change his mind, get him into the race? [Fehrnstrom:] No. Mitt Romney has made his decision. He is not reconsidering it. He is friendly with many of the Republican candidates who are running. He feels there's a good sizable crowd of candidates for Republican voters to choose from. And you know, Brianna, last week, he tweeted out a photo of himself on the beach with one of his grandchildren. And he said something to the effect that these are the important things in life that need to be treasured. So he's very content watching from the sidelines in the company of his family. [Keilar:] OK. But before he last I just have to press you on this a little bit, because he last said that he wasn't going to run in 2016 after some consideration. But between his last run and that moment of consideration, I remember he was asked, "Are you thinking of running again?" He said something like, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." And then he went ahead and considered it. Are you sure we can take it to the bank that he will not consider getting in again? [Fehrnstrom:] Yes, of course, there was a period of time at the beginning of this year where he was being encouraged by his supporters to take another look at the race. And he went through that exercise, and ultimately, he decided that it was time to pass the torch to another generation of Republican leaders, and that's exactly what he did. And he has no plans to revisit that decision. [Keilar:] All right. You can't blame him. A little beach time with family sure is nice. Eric Fehrnstrom, thanks so much for joining us in [The Situation Room. Fehrnstrom:] Thank you. [Keilar:] Coming up, CNN's Don Lemon just spoke with Donald Trump. He got more reaction to Jeb Bush's latest attack, and we'll have that in just a little bit. We're also following some new revelations about what the Chinese and Russians may be doing with stolen information from computer break-ins. Are they unmasking U.S. spies? [Cuomo:] All right. So, past controversies back in the headlines for Hillary Clinton. The parents of two Americans killed in the 2012 Benghazi attacks just filed a wrongful death and defamation suit against Clinton. How is this going to affect the whole specter of what Benghazi means in terms of this election? Let's discuss this with the former Democratic governor of Michigan and senior adviser for pro Hillary Clinton super PAC, Jennifer Granholm, and CNN political commentator and former lieutenant governor of South Carolina, Andre Bauer, who is supporting Donald Trump. We also want to talk about this letter that came out to 50 national security experts from your party, but this lawsuit, this plays on heart strings not just on the legalities involved. Wrongful death, whatever you did wrong was the approximate cause of the death of somebody. So, it's a high standard of proof even though it's not criminal, it's civil. Do you think this lawsuit is a political tool? Or do you think that this could win in a court of law, Andre? [Andre Bauer, Cnn Political Commentator:] I'm not schooled in law. That's probably a better question for the governor, but it's a difficult situation no matter how you slice it on the families, on the voters. It's just a tough thing to talk about. I engaged one time in the Khan situation, no matter what the facts are, you kind of throw those out the window because the emotions in the loss of a child. [Cuomo:] So what's the point of the lawsuit? How do you rebut a charge like this, governor? You have obviously it's Patricia Smith and Charles Woods, Sean Smith and Tyrone Woods were the two who were lost at Benghazi. What do you do with a lawsuit like this? [Jennifer Granholm , Former Governor Of Michigan:] Well, I do think first of all, of course, she is going to say that she the families obviously are really important and understandably be sympathetic toward their loss, but there have been nine congressional panels that have looked at this specific question of her wrongdoing and have cleared her of that, so there's a high burden for those who are suing on that given the amount of discovery, the amount of findings that have already occurred through non-partisan or bipartisan panels. [Cuomo:] The wrongful death part is really where that analysis would lay to bear. The defamation suit I'm assuming is a function of the suggestion of the families that Hillary Clinton told them when she met them that it was the video tape that was to blame for that incited this attack and that later on she denied that. When it came out to the parents, then you lied to us. She says, no, your recollections the recollections of those family members must be off. They're saying that was defamatory, that she's lying about them. What about that claim? [Granholm:] Yes, I think that too is a high bar you have to reach because there are others who side with her in terms of what she actually said, including the other families' victims who may not be members of this particular lawsuit. I think it's a tough, it may be a tough case. You know, no one can doubt that the pain of these fami1ies is very real and they want to seek some kind of closure. So, you can't blame families for trying what they can, but I do think legally this is going to be a tough one. [Cuomo:] And then you have a similar situation now in terms of political impact with these 50 former national security advisers. In truth, I don't know how this will play because I never heard of anything like this before where members of a party in mass like this I don't know how they got 50 people together this way come out and say not only does Donald Trump not know foreign policy, he doesn't seem interested in knowing about it and that he might be the most reckless U.S. president ever. How do you deal with that? [Bauer:] I would disagree. If you look at Hillary Clinton, she has 40 years of bad judgment and Donald Trump is a change maker. He is running against Washington. I know when I became lieutenant governor, declassified all lieutenant governor employees. You should have seen the chaos, because they aren't used to change. And, look, he's talking about he's talking about being a big boy. These other countries that entered into NAFTA, now, they're not paying their fair share, it's time the burden is paid by everybody, not the U.S. government. We can't continue as good stewards of the taxpayer dollar to pick up the tab for everybody else. So, I'm glad he's engaged in these conversations. Lot of folks say, oh, you shouldn't talk about that. I think it's wrong as a leader not to say, wait a minute, you're not doing what you said you do and we are and we need do something. [Cuomo:] So, you dismiss out of hand 50 of your party's top foreign experts saying this is the wrong guy? [Bauer:] I don't want to ever dismiss anybody, but I think again you're seeing Washington kicking and screaming lot of folks in his own party, because he is saying, look, we're changing Washington. It's broken. It's not working and he ran against the Republican Party establishment from the get-go. So, it's not anything new. The establishment is not going to support him now, they didn't support him before. [Granholm:] Chris, I think that everyday you are seeing more and more evidence of conservatives backing away from him. I'll be curious to see today for example the fallout from the economic speech. Granted, he went after and absorbed the same tax bracket that Paul Ryan had put out. Gotcha. On the estate tax, though, this is a really interesting one, to me, because he claims to be a blue collar billionaire. And yet.2 percent of Americans pay the estate tax because you have to have $11 million of worth before that even kicks in. How can you I get the billionaire part. But the blue collar part, that makes no sense. [Cuomo:] Well, it plays to people's idea of keeping what's theirs, you know? Your family worked hard for this money. They built their family farm or they built their family fortune, whatever it is or whatever they have and now, the state gets to come in and take more of it after their dead and more of it? [Granholm:] Except he has been trying to woo the Bernie Sanders people. The question of income inequality plays itself out incredibly in this estate tax question. You want Waltons of Walmart to keep all of their money where they have this the Walton family, whatever the statistic is has more than 90 percent of the country or something like that. I mean, why would you continue to keeping this particular provision, getting rid of that particular provision. What does it mean for him and for those who are on his committee that have advised him? How many of them would benefit from it? I think it will be interesting to see how that plays out, too. [Cuomo:] How do you defend the last point? [Bauer:] I think that's a great point actually. I didn't think about it like that as far as the Bernie Sanders' folks. I think that he philosophically believes it's wrong. I don't think that he put it out there to try to get votes because he could have just done it after he got elected. I think it's an overall look, if you work hard in this country, you sacrifice, you shouldn't have to sell everything when you die when you transfer it [Granholm:] Not everything. [Bauer:] Well, a lot of times that's what happened because the assets in the business, it's not like they're sitting on the money in the bank. So, I think it's an overall what he believes the fiduciary responsibility of the government is and the fairness of taxation. [Cuomo:] Interesting points. We'll keep spinning it out as we hear more of the details in the economic plan and this big news that came out today of this lawsuit and this 50 experts coming together. Thank you for all of that. [Granholm:] You bet. [Cuomo:] Appreciate it. Brianna? [Keilar:] Chris, Florida may just be the biggest of all battleground state battles and winning it could be a ticket to the White House for either Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. This focus on Florida in our special battleground series, ahead. [Wolf Blitzer, Cnn Anchor:] All right. We're only a few seconds away from the top of the hour right now. Three states that are closing. We're going to be able to make our first projections in this race for the White House. Critically important night. It's Super Tuesday. And look at this, CNN can now project that Hillary Clinton is the winner in Georgia, is the winner in Virginia as well. Hillary Clinton is the winner. Bernie Sanders we projects wins his home state of Vermont. Hillary Clinton wins two states, Georgia and Virginia. Bernie Sanders wins Vermont. Let's go to the key race alert right now. Hillary Clinton as we reported, Hillary Clinton wins Georgia and Virginia. Just want to be precise based on our projection, based on the exit poll information. The other information we're getting, Bernie Sanders wins his home state of Vermont. We have a key race alert now. Exit poll results that we're getting in. The exit poll results in Virginia, first of all, in Georgia, take a look at this. Based on early estimates, Georgia, Donald Trump 40 percent, Ted Cruz 24 percent, Marco Rubio 23 percent. In Virginia, Donald Trump 34 percent, Marco Rubio 31 percent, Ted Cruz, he's down at 16 percent. These are exit poll results based on early information we're getting in from the exit polls. We have early leaders as well in Vermont. The early leaders in Vermont, look at this, on the Republican side, Donald Trump and John Kasich. They are both early leaders in Vermont. So, let's once again recap where we stand right now. Hillary Clinton wins Georgia and Virginia based on our projection. The other result, Bernie Sanders wins his home state of Vermont. As far as the exit polls, our conservative number, these exit polls are estimates. Estimate they're based on our early survey of voters as they left their polling location. The final outcome may be different. We can expect those numbers to change throughout the night. Let's go to Jake. [Jake Tapper, Cnn Anchor:] Thanks, Wolf. Those are big, big, big projections. Hillary Clinton did not win either Virginia or Georgia in 2008 against then-Senator Barack Obama. Jeff Zeleny, big victories, if you consider these projections to be what's going to happen, what we're going to find out. They have to be feeling pretty good at Clinton campaign headquarters in Miami. [Jeff Zeleny, Cnn Senior Washington Correspondent:] No question, Jake. We heard cheers are up just a few moments ago when both Georgia and Virginia were called for Hillary Clinton. You can hear them here right behind me again. And you're right, we're going to be talking about that throughout the rest of the campaign, how she compares this time to 2008. And you're right, she won Virginia. She won Georgia. So that is a key win and moment for her. Combined, they have 197 delegates. Of course, it's important to remember she doesn't get all of them. She will split them with Bernie Sanders. It's so, so important. In Virginia, of course, key battleground state in the general election as well. So, that is why this campaign believes Virginia is even more important Jake. [Tapper:] All right, Jeff Zeleny at Clinton Campaign Headquarters. Now let's go to Sanders' Campaign Headquarters at Essex Junction, Vermont, where we find Brianna Keilar. And Brianna, we're also projecting, CNN projecting that Senator Sanders will win his home state of Vermont. And you're there with the Sanders Campaign Manager Jeff Weaver. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Correspondent:] That's right. I certainly am. And obviously, Jeff, this is very good news. You expected this win. How do you feel about this, and also the other states that you're hoping to close in on tonight? [Jeff Weaver, Sanders Campaign Manager:] Well, I think, you know, we're very gratified with the people of Vermont to support the senator. They know him the best. And it was clear they were going to, you know, support him overwhelmingly. I think the win here will be very impressive. You know, I think looking forward, I think we're feeling good about Massachusetts, and Colorado, and Minnesota and Oklahoma right now. We'll see how the night unfolds. But we're feeling very good. [Keilar:] His wife, Jane, said that she's hoping to split the delegates and split the state. Basically that means a sweep through the states that you just named. Are you as optimistic as she is? [Weaver:] Well, look, I mean, even foreclosing those states is just part of the delegates. So, you know, that's the way this proportional system works. It's going to be after tonight is a long road ahead of us. [Keilar:] How far are you prepared to go here? [Weaver:] We're going all the way to the convention. All the way. [Keilar:] Nothing will stop you from that? [Weaver:] Absolutely not. We'll see you in Philadelphia. [Keilar:] All right, Jeff Weaver, thank you so much with the Bernie Sanders campaign. Jake, back to you. [Tapper:] All right. Brianna Keilar. And Dana, it's so interesting. Everything has flipped when it comes to Hillary Clinton and what states and what groups she wins. In 2008, she was a candidate who won the white vote. And then Senator Obama won African-Americans, Latinos. And now not only is she getting the opposite in terms of the voters she appeals to, but now she's winning the states that she lost in 2008. [Dana Bash, Cnn Anchor:] No. It is so true. And it is because she is going after the Obama vote. She's trying to follow in the footsteps of her former rival. And it is probably hard for a lot of people who worked for Obama at the other end of the studio, to wrap their heads around. But it is really fascinating. One thing I will say is, of course, Bernie Sanders should be very happy about winning his home state. If he didn't, that would be a very big story. But unfortunately for him, the maximum he can get is 16 delegates, 26 super delegates. And the other states as Jeff Zeleny was pointing out, it will be split a little bit. But it's a treasure trove of delegates just in the two that she's projected to win tonight, Virginia and Georgia. [Tapper:] Right. A good moral victory for Bernie Sanders, Wolf. But not so much when it comes to the delegates compared to Hillary Clinton winning Alabama. I'm sorry, winning Virginia and Georgia. [Blitzer:] Good point. Jake, thanks very much. I want to review what's going on now with these key race alert on the Republican side. A very exciting contest. Let's go, first of all, to Georgia right now. These are CNN exit polls. Look at this, Donald Trump at 40 percent. Ted Cruz 24 percent. Marco Rubio 23 percent. That's in Georgia. The Republican primary. In Virginia, Trump is ahead, but slightly, 34 percent according to our exit poll for Trump. Thirty one percent for Marco Rubio. Ted Cruz at 16 percent. In Vermont, take a look at this. It's an important race as well. Early leaders, we can tell you the early leaders are Donald Trump and John Kasich. Who is doing very well in Vermont as well. Again, these are exit polls. I just want to remind you that they are estimates based on our early survey of voters, as people left their polling locations. The final outcome may be different. We can expect those numbers to change throughout the night. Anderson. [Anderson Cooper, Cnn Anchor:] Wolf, thanks very much. When we look at those Republican numbers, I mean, again, seems to be a good night certainly for Donald Trump. It's interesting to watch the battle between second and third place. [David Axelrod, Cnn Senior Political Commentator:] Well, that's the key. And Trump has slight not just his own number, but the way that Cruz is vying with Rubio in Georgia. The notion that Rubio might do well in Virginia. You know, this he wants these people to stay in the race and divide his opposition. And this kind of result encourages that. One thing that's interesting, you know, there are two stark kind of predictors of vote, on the democratic side races, becoming pretty significant indication of how states are going to go. You saw a couple of states here with large African-American populations being called early for Hillary Clinton. On the Republican side, it's education. And income. And so in states with larger numbers of highly educated voters, Rubio tends to do better. In states with larger numbers of non-college educated voters, Trump seems to do better. [Cooper:] We also saw in Virginia, anger and dissatisfaction not quite as high as in some of the other states. Whether that is also translating to Rubio [Gloria Borger, Cnn Chief Political Analyst:] And also, Rubio does better in sort of suburban areas. Trump does better in rural areas. You know, the thing that I think [Cooper:] We should point out, he does better, it's still not winning. [Borger:] Right. [Cooper:] And also, turnout, whether that enthusiasm on the Republican side has continued. [Borger:] Exactly. [Cooper:] Whether we see that echoed tonight as we have in other nights and how it relates to what we're seeing on the democratic side. Because one of the arguments Bernie Sanders has been making all along for his revolution is that he's bringing out, he's got the enthusiasm momentum, he's got all these folks coming out to the large rallies. [Nia-malika Henderson, Cnn Senior Political Reporter:] Yes. And it hasn't worked out [Cooper:] But we don't see it on the election. [Henderson:] It hasn't worked out in any of these states. In Iowa, young voters were down, I think in New Hampshire, votings down for like 15 percent. Same thing in Nevada, down 40,000 voters there. South Carolina [Axelrod:] South Carolina is down a third over 2008. [Henderson:] Yes. Over 2008. I think up slightly from 2004. So, yes, he hasn't really made good on that promise to build a revolution. [Michael Smerconish, Cnn Anchor, "smerconish":] Two e-gaps, I refer to the mass. One gap is the enthusiasm gap that seems to benefit the Rs thus far in terms of turnout. The other is the experience gap. And simply stated, Democrats favor it and Republicans are repulsed by it. [Cooper:] Right. Which is very interesting. And we're seeing that again on the exit polls. [Van Jones, Cnn Political Commentator:] Yes. I just think with regard to Sanders, I don't think he's saying he has more enthusiasm than Barack Obama in 2008 than for any human ever born, maybe Elvis and Michael Jackson. I don't think he's comparing himself to that. I think he's comparing himself to Hillary Clinton. And I think there's no argument that when you have 10,000 people coming out for Bernie Sanders, I haven't seen that happen yet for Senator Clinton. So, I think that he has a case to make, that where there is energy in this party, it's with him. And I think that we should [Cooper:] Again, you can make the argument we haven't seen that on election night, because there was so much enthusiasm, more voters would come out for him. They haven't. [Jones:] Well, and this is the big question for the Sanders insurgency. Is this a regional, demographically land-locked phenomenon? So, only in places where you have young white people in the north can you pull this stuff off. Or is there potential for this thing to be broader. And right now, listen, you can't tell just by looking at South Carolina, frankly, you know, because you know, Clyburn himself is an iceberg against which no ship can survive a conflict. But tonight you will know more tonight. Tonight you will know if this phenomenon can go beyond that land-locked place where it seems to be. [S.e. Cupp, Cnn Political Commentator:] But to Michael's point, about the excitement and enthusiasm, I think he's right on. He's right on. Bernie is in a very tough spot. In no world is Bernie Sanders inexperienced. Right? He's been in elected politics for decades. But he has allowed himself to be defined that way because it allow him to say, I'm an outsider still. If he keeps pushing how experienced he is, he loses the enthusiasm with the Democrats, where, you know, that authenticity, that outsiderness. So, he really, he can't play it both ways. But it would have been great if he had hit back against that narrative, that he isn't experienced enough to compete with Hillary. Of course he is. [Kayleigh Mcenany, Trump Supporter:] I think it's important to point out that the Sanders phenomenon and the Trump phenomenon have something very important in common. And that's real family income in this country has not increased among the bottom half of the distribution since 1960. Trump is speaking to that same message, too, when he talks about bringing jobs back from abroad. When he talks about taxing Mexican imports, putting a tariff there. This is the same sort of frustration that is propping up Sanders and also propping up Trump. Which is why it's interesting in Iowa to hear voters to say I'm deciding between Trump and Sanders. There is a little bit of rationale there to what they're saying. [Paul Begala, Democratic Strategist:] There is. And until we can move median family income, this is going to continue. [Mcenany:] Yes. [Begala:] I mean, I don't mean to depress the establishmentarians in our world. But Bernie Sanders is going to look like the chairman of Goldman Sachs in 10 or 20 years. Donald Trump is going to look like Caesar Chavez. Because when people are pinched like that they look for a quick answer. But there is a difference. There's an enormous difference, set aside from my distaste for Trump's style of politics. And that is Republicans are at war with their own party. They do hate their establishment. They hate them. Democrats like their establishment. Never happened before. They love the president. They love Hillary. They love Bernie. They love Nancy Pelosi. [Cooper:] How it did translate into the race movie forward when it gets down to the two front-runners in each party? [Begala:] Into the general election? [Cooper:] Yes. In the general election. Right now, Trump is bringing new people in. He's increasing turnout. Sanders and Hillary are not in my party. That's what I said last week. That's keeping me up at night. But we have a secret weapon that will boost turnout to record levels, and his name is Donald J. Trump. Maybe Bernie and Hillary aren't doing it right, but Donald will do that for my people, believe it. [Mcenany:] I've really want to point out this myth that Donald Trump can't bring the party together. The CNN poll that was released two days ago has showed that only 25 percent said they wouldn't vote for Trump, same number said for Cruz and Rubio, they wouldn't vote for those candidates in the event that they became the nominees. So, it is a myth by and large that he cannot bring this party together. [Begala:] We've seen he's been praised by both David Duke and Louis Farrakhan. [Cooper:] Wait, is that a Super PAC commercial? [Begala:] It is. I'm working on the script. [Cooper:] You're working on that one, aren't you? [Jones:] Just one more myth I just want to point out as you mentioned in that poll. We keep forgetting to mention that at least in our poll, Bernie Sanders is actually a better candidate against a Donald Trump. And a better candidate against the Republican field than is Hillary Clinton. Now, we can argue that that would change immediately if he was even gone after in a tough way. But that's also really important. So, I think there is enthusiasm there. I think the electability argument is more complicated than we pretend that it is. It's important to keep that in mind tonight. [Borger:] I think both of these candidates, if it turns out to be Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are very polarizing. And I think each would bring out the other person's base to vote. And so, you know, you may say that Donald Trump will unite the Republican Party, but if Hillary Clinton is not uniting the Democratic Party now, which she is not, I agree with [Cupp:] Trump actually has a secret weapon, an added benefit that Hillary doesn't. I think so many blue collar working older white voters have been left behind by the Democratic Party. [Borger:] Reagan Democrats. [Cupp:] I mean, union guys who are for Trump. [Borger:] Right. [Cupp:] Right? He can actually forget bringing out Republicans. And I think there's a bunch of Republicans who will never vote for Trump, but he can probably make up for them with maybe some disillusioned, disaffected Democrats who feel as though the party has left them behind. [Axelrod:] You know, Mitt Romney got an enormous percentage of the white there's a limit to what you can bring out. If the in a time of [Cupp:] Even in the David Duke Yes. [Cooper:] I want to toss it back to Wolf. We'll come back to our panel in a moment Wolf. [Blitzer:] Anderson, we're waiting for more states to close. Four states, they will close the polling at the top of the hour. Alabama, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Massachusetts. We're getting more numbers right now as well. They're coming in. We'll share all of this with you right as soon as we come back. [Holmes:] Welcome back. Foreign-born workers in the U.S. are hitting back against U.S. president Donald Trump and his harsh stance on immigration. A Day Without Immigrants protest shut down businesses across the U.S. on Thursday. Many employees refusing to go to work or spend money. Restaurants were especially hard hit. The National Restaurant Association says almost a quarter of U.S. restaurant workers are foreign born. Lawmakers in Washington felt the pinch as well. Three dining options at the capital were closed along with eateries at the Pentagon. Even a steakhouse in the Trump International Hotel in Washington had a limited menu and reservations. [Soares:] Well, the protests come as Mr. Trump says his new executive order on immigration will be issued next week. And he's not the only world leader promising a crackdown. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has a hard line stance against immigration and a lawmaker from his party says it plans to detain migrants while their asylum requests are processed. Human rights groups said the proposal would be illegal. Take a listen. [Marta Pardavi, Head Of Hungarian Helsinki Committee:] Detaining every asylum seeker from the moment of arrival in Hungary until their case finally considered would be absolutely illegal. It's very clear under Hungarian law and also under human rights law that automatic detention, indefinite detention does not comply with the rule of law. It would be arbitrary detention, in fact. [Soares:] Well, let's get more on this Hungarian ruling party's plan. I'm joined now by Zoltan Kovacs. He's the international spokesperson for the Hungarian government. Mr. Kovacs, thank you very much for taking the time to speak to us here on CNN. Talk us through the plan by your government to detain all asylum seekers. Why go this far? [Zoltan Kovacs, International Spokesperson For The Hungarian Government:] The reason is very simple. For the past years, maybe decade, asylum seekers, illegal migrants as a matter of fact, have basically misused not only the Hungarian but the European asylum system for their benefit. And that means that applying for asylum or applying for any kind of legal status is basically used to gain access to the freedom of movement within the European Union. And we believe it's completely unacceptable that illegal migrants, asylum seekers, enjoy better conditions or the rights which are only for European citizens. And also keep in mind that just lately in the couple of weeks the European Union is stepping up and introducing stricter rules for its own citizens who are in possession of visas and documents according to the agreements with the United States and other international organizations. So we are going to check, say, European citizens leaving and entering the European Union, the Schengen borders. And it's impossible that illegal migrants and asylum seekers enjoy more rights or, you know, the freedom of entering the European Union without any kind of check in. [Soares:] OK. So what happens to asylum seekers under this plan? You know, while they wait for the application to be processed where do they stay? [Kovacs:] Well, we have already provided for the past year, basically, the possibility to enter Hungary, therefore the European Union, legally. The so-called transit zones. So according to the plans, we've discussed in the Cabinet we are going to introduce a regime which is going to ensure that everyone who would like to enter the European Union are going to be provided shelter and everything that is required by international law. But up until there is a final verdict in that case they should remain in the transit zones and will not be able to move freely within Hungary and therefore within the European Union. [Soares:] You said shelter. What kind of shelter? Did you say they were able to move they are able to move freely or not? [Kovacs:] No, they will not be able to move freely because that would be against Hungarian and international law. We believe that, again, you have to be a legal migrant to be able to move, in possession of visas and documentation in a given country or in the European Union. I believe that's the case in the United States. [Soares:] Well, I'm sure you heard just before we came to the Hungarian Helsinki Committee basically say that your plan is basically illegal and violates international law. Do they have a point here? [Kovacs:] Well, that's not a new claim. So-called civil societies, NGOs who are interested in a completely different scenario and ideologically are against what we do and they believe that the illegal migration itself is good and should be incited, we believe that, you know, they have criticized and went against the measures we have introduced for the past year and a half including building the fence which we don't like but was necessary to stop illegal border crossings along the Hungarian-Serbian and the Hungarian-Croatia borderline. And it just turned out that building the fence, though it's not a nice thing, is completely in line with European law and international law because European law under the Schengen criteria requires member states to do everything at their disposal to stop illegal border crossings. [Soares:] I think their point was the fact that you would detain them en masse and they wouldn't be able to move. But let me ask you this, Prime Minister Orban is well known for pretty much taking go ahead. [Kovacs:] If I may interrupt. I mean, each and every case has always been the case is going to be considered individually. And as a matter of fact it's not Hungary who is trying to introduce something on the level of groups or en masse, it's the European Union. [Soares:] Yes. [Kovacs:] We believe that indeed will be completely legal actually to talk about quarters and distributions without each and every case being considered individually. [Soares:] But let's look at the bigger picture, your prime minister, you know, takes a pretty tough position when it comes to migration. His right to defense. Yourself said it there, we have been looking at pictures of that on the border with Serbia. And then as well as the refusal to accept EUI, the silent protest. Is it fair to say that looking at your government's policies that your prime minister simply does not want any asylum seekers and refugees in Hungary? [Kovacs:] Well, in general if you like the bigger picture we don't believe that Europe's future is dependent on Europe should be relying on migration as a source of renewal or addition to population issues. We believe governments, Hungarian governments and member state governments should be more for their own citizens actually to have more kids to be born. But that's a philosophical difference and a big difference based on principle. We believe that otherwise we believe that all member states should be doing everything at their disposal to follow the existing rules in the European Union. And again what you see at the borders of Europe, at the Hungarian border, the Mediterranean Sea, are basically against the existing European legal environment. So states [Soares:] Yes. [Kovacs:] They like it or not, willing or unwillingly, are violating European law today. [Soares:] Zoltan Kovacs, thank you very much, sir, for joining us here on CNN. Michael? [Holmes:] Isa, thanks. Well, the head of Samsung under arrest on corruption charges in connection with the scandal that brought down the South Korean president. Jay Y. Lee is accused of bribing the then president Park Geun-Hye to gain support for a merger which would have given Lee a tighter grip on Samsung, South Korea's biggest conglomerate. Paula Hancocks joining us now live from Seoul. All right, Paula, let's walk through the arrest and exactly what it is he's accused of. What's believed he has done? [Paula Hancocks, Cnn International Correspondent:] Well, Michael, it was a couple of days ago that the prosecutors wanted to have this arrest warrant issued. They have to apply in advance then Jay Y. Lee has to come in front of a judge and make his case as to why he doesn't need to be arrested. The judge in this occasion did not agree. Last month they actually rejected the arrest warrant. But this time they said there was a new charge the prosecutors have brought against him. New evidence and they believed it was necessary that he was kept in detention whilst this investigation continues. So the charges that prosecutors have at this point are the likes of bribery, perjury, concealing criminal profits, embezzlement and hiding assets overseas. Now Samsung denies any wrongdoing. Jay Y. Lee denies any wrongdoing. There was a fairly swift response from Samsung. Their statement saying, "We'll do our best to ensure that the truth is revealed in future court proceedings." So the basic crux of it is that prosecutors allege he gave money to the government and to a confidante of President Park Geun-Hye who is at the center of this massive corruption scandal to try and gain favor. Something he denies Michael. [Holmes:] Yes. And just quickly, we're talking about the biggest company in South Korea. How damaging might this be to Samsung and for that matter, the government? [Hancocks:] Well, certainly from a brand point of view it is not going to help them. From the day-to-day running of the company, he is the overall head. Each different affiliate of Samsung has its own chief executive. So you're not going to expect anything to come grinding to a halt. But certainly it's very damaging for a company that only last year had that embarrassing exploding phones fiasco. So certainly it's not welcomed. [Holmes:] All right. Paula, thanks so much. Paula Hancocks there in Seoul, South Korea. And do stay with us. We'll be back right back with more news after the break. [Camerota:] The race for the Democratic presidential nomination heating up over policy with the New York primary just a week away. [Hillary Clinton , Presidential Candidate:] I started co- sponsoring the DREAM Act back in 2002 or 2003. And I consistently did that. Senator Sanders, by contrast, was supporting vigilantes, the so-called Minutemen on the border. [Sen. Bernie Sanders , Democratic Presidential Candidate:] Secretary Clinton and her State Department worked to export fracking throughout the world. In my view, that is unacceptable. [Camerota:] Joining us now to talk about all this is former New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, who was favored to succeed New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg but lost to a progressive outsider known as Bill de Blasio. Quinn is a Hillary Clinton supporter and knows all too well the challenges Hillary Clinton faces now in New York. Great to see you, Christine. Thanks for being here. [Christine Quinn, Former Nyc Council Speaker:] Of course. [Camerota:] Are there they say they are talking about policy, both Clinton and Sanders. But are their attacks getting too barbed? Is their tone nastier than a simple policy discussion? [Quinn:] Well, look, I think it's very clear that Senator Sanders knows that it is basically impossible for him to win this nomination. Secretary Clinton [Camerota:] Does he? Because he said he still has a path. He's eating into her delegate count and he has a path. [Quinn:] The math is clear. There is no way for him to get enough delegates and I think that is why you see Senator Sanders really taking the low road and why you see him, you know, coming out with these attacks that are really largely baseless and very barbed, and I think that is often unfortunately what happens when a candidate see it is road coming to an end. [Camerota:] I mean, of course, he says that her attacks aren't fair. He said particularly about how he supported vigilantes. He said no I do not support vigilantes. That is a horrific statement, an unfair statement. [Quinn:] I think Secretary Clinton was clearly laying out the distinctions between her long time kind of unparalled record of support for true comprehensive immigration reform that really builds on the history of this country and this state as a state of immigrants. And the senator's record on immigration, which is nowhere near hers in really committing to really making this country open to everyone. [Camerota:] So, do you see similarities between Hillary Clinton in this contest against Bernie Sanders, who, of course, is running to the left of her and what you went through with Bill de Blasio, who was running to the left of you. And if so, what lessons can you share with Mrs. Clinton? [Quinn:] Well, you know, President Obama recently said and I think you sum it up right, that women candidates have to do everything male candidates have to do but have to do it backwards and in high heels. And there is no real debating that women candidates are often held to a higher standard. [Camerota:] Why is that? Why is it harder for women candidates? [Quinn:] Well, I think, you know, that is a question that deserves a long sociological answer on the history of women in the United States. But the truth is we are held to a higher standard and that is the reality and that is in fact what Secretary Clinton has fought against and succeeded against her entire career, and not for herself. But to open up a path for women and girls around the world to make sure that, that isn't the case for them as they get older and they seek to fulfill their dreams in politics or whatever field is their calling. [Camerota:] Vice President Joe Biden talked about this very thing yesterday. He did this online interview. And he talked about the appeal, to him, of a female candidate. Listen to this. [Joseph Biden, Vice President Of The United States:] This country is ready for a woman. There's no problem, we'll be able to elect a woman in this country. [Reporter:] Would you like to see us elect a woman in this country? [Biden:] I would like to see a woman elected. [Camerota:] So he'd like to see a woman elected, Christine, but he's not using Hillary Clinton's name. I mean, why is he being vague about that? [Quinn:] Well, look, he's the sitting vice president of the United States, right? And I think it would be inappropriate for him or the president for that matter to come out and make a choice in the Democratic primary. That is not what sitting presidents or sitting vice presidents do. But there is only one woman running for president of the United States and vague is not usually a word used, God bless him, with Joe Biden. So, I don't think he was vague at all. I think he was crystal clear. Probably a little beyond what he might even have been, but that's the glory of Joe Biden as well. And I think again, just as Vice President Biden predicted with marriage equality, he was correct, we would have it in the country. I think he's making a similar prediction that we will have our first female president of the United States and this election, and that persona will be Hillary Clinton and the country will be so much better for it. [Camerota:] And yet, isn't it interesting to hear young women who talk about the idea of just voting for someone because they are a woman seems to them to be sexist? They think we're past that. [Quinn:] Well, look, I don't think anybody should vote for anybody for one reason. I'm not voting for Hillary Clinton just because she's a woman. Is it thrilling and exciting to me the idea of making history and I like to think of myself as young woman? Of course it is. But there are so many reasons to vote for Secretary Clinton. You can't touch her record. No one else can. From fighting for healthcare from before it was on the agenda. From taking women's rights issues to the international stage. It was she who said for the first time ever on the world stage that women's rights were human rights, and then later as secretary of state said LGBT rights were human rights. No one had taken those kind of issues onto the international stage the way she has. And let's not forget, as New Yorkers. She was by our side after September 11th. She never left us. She kept fighting. She made sure our first responders had healthcare. And that's the kind of fighter she's going to be in the White House and that's how she'll succeed for New Yorkers and for everybody and that is why she's going to win big on Tuesday. [Camerota:] Christine Quinn, thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Nice to have you in studio. [Quinn:] Thank you very much. [Camerota:] Let's get over to Chris. [Cuomo:] All right, Alisyn. The son of a former California lawmaker freed from prison. His manslaughter sentence drastically reduced by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, a family friend. The question, was the victim's family cheated out of justice? His parents join us, next. [Newton:] Donald Trump, a Republican running for U.S. president, is defending himself over his latest controversial comments. Now this weekend he said Arizona Senator John McCain wasn't a war hero because he was captured in Vietnam. [Barnett:] Now he has not apologized for those remarks. He has tried to pivot away from them, though, Monday on FOX News. Listen to this. [Donald Trump , 2016 Presidential Candidate:] Well, I'm going to say this. I have respect for Senator McCain. I used to like him a lot. I supported him, I raised a lot of money for his campaign against President Obama. And certainly if there was a misunderstanding I would totally take that back. But hopefully I said it correctly and certainly shortly thereafter I said it correctly. I would like him, however, to do something with the 15,000 people that were in Phoenix about illegal, you know, immigration. They are being decimated. These people are being decimated. And I would love to see him to a much better job taking care of the veterans, Bill. [Barnett:] The strange thing is this is the only thing both parties agree on right now. Fellow Republicans are lashing out against Trump saying his comments were offensive. Democrats, too, saying that, and praising, you know, John McCain's war record. [Newton:] Yes. Absolutely. Most agree, look impeachable. Now senior political correspondent Brianna Keilar has more now on this entire controversy from Washington. [Brianna Keilar, Cnn Senior Political Correspondent:] Donald Trump touching off a political firestorm this weekend by insulting former Republican presidential nominee, John McCain. [Trump:] I supported him. He lost. He let us down. But, you know, he lost. So I never liked him as much after that because I don't like losers. But but, Frank, let me get to it. He hit me [Frank Luntz, Moderator:] He's a war hero. [Trump:] He's not a war hero. [Luntz:] He's a war hero. [Trump:] He's a war hero [Luntz:] Five and a half years as a [Pow. Trump:] He's a war hero because he was captured. I like people that weren't captured. OK. I hate to tell you. [Trump:] Do you agree with that? He's a war hero because he was captured. OK? You can have and I believe perhaps he's a war hero. But right now, he said some very bad things about a lot of people. [Keilar:] Almost immediately Trump's remarks drew scrutiny. [Trump:] I like the people that don't get captured. And I respect the people that do get captured. [Keilar:] McCain, a Navy pilot during the Vietnam War, was shot down, held prisoner and beaten for more than five years in Hanoi, even refusing early release. Still, Trump has not backed down claiming in a "USA Today" op-ed that his comments were misconstrued by the media. Trying on the "Today" show to turn his criticism of McCain to issues like the V.A. scandal. [Trump:] I'm not a fan of John McCain. He's done a terrible job for the vets. [Keilar:] McCain himself took the high road this morning. [Mika Brzezinski, Host, Msnbc's Morning Joe:] Does Donald Trump owe you an apology? [Alisyn Camerota, Cnn Anchor:] Well, it's being called the most important speech of Donald Trump's political lifetime, certainly. It is drawing both positive and negative reviews this morning, even from Republicans. Some say the message was too dark and negative. Others say that it reminded them of Reagan and Nixon. So here to discuss and get his impressions, Newt Gingrich, former presidential candidate, of course, and house speaker who endorsed Donald Trump for president. Mr. Speaker, thank you very much fro being here. What were your impressions? [Newt Gingrich , Former Speaker Of The House:] Good to be with you. I thought it was a very comprehensive speech. I thought it was very deliberately designed. It started when he, at the very beginning, says, my fellow Americans he doesn't say Republicans and he built on that, and he had a series of parts of the speech that were designed, I think, to appeal to African-Americans in the inner city, to appeal to the LGBTQ community, to appeal to a number of people. He didn't automatically say it would have been a traditional Republican speech. [Camerota:] Such as what were the parts of the speech that you think could have brought in new voters to him? [Gingrich:] Well, I think it's pretty clear that he's very likely both he and Mike Pence, are very likely to campaign in places like South Side Chicago, Baltimore, the places he mentioned, Detroit, and really make the case to the African-American community that 2,000 shootings in the first half of this year in Chicago are just plain unacceptable. That having 3,400 people killed in South Side Chicago since Obama became president is just unacceptable. And, that having their kids go to a school that doesn't work in Detroit, only five percent of the fourth graders can read. So having a Republican prepared to take seriously the lives of the poorest and least served Americans could be almost a revolutionary moment. [Camerota:] He's getting credit for working in the outreach to the LGBT community, but he said, I vow to protect you from foreign ideology and oppression. Is that a bold position, I'll protect you from foreign terrorism? What about domestic policies and rights here? [Gingrich:] Well, I think that's got to be part of the same conversation. But I don't think it's I think it's a fairly big step in the Republican Party to move in the direction that he was describing. And as you'll notice, it got very strong support on the floor of the convention, more than would you have thought. Romney could not have said this four years ago. He wouldn't have had the personal authority to say it, and the party wasn't ready for it to be said. [Camerota:] Some people think it was too bleak. That he painted too bleak a picture of where we are in America. Crime is down in America. Violent crime is down. The economy is picking up [Gingrich:] It is not down in the biggest cities. [Camerota:] Violent crime, murder rate is down. It is down. [Gingrich:] Then how come it's up in Chicago, up in Baltimore, and up in [Camerota:] There are pockets where certainly we [Gingrich:] Your national capital, your third biggest city [Camerota:] But violent crime across the country is down. We're not under siege in the way that we were in say, the 80s. [Gingrich:] The average American, looking at Dallas policemen and look at the states he listed. The Average American, I will bet you this morning, does not think crime is down, does not think they are safer. [Camerota:] But we are safer, and it is down. [Gingrich:] No, that's your view. [Camerota:] It's a fact. [Gingrich:] I just no. But what I said is also a fact. The average American feels when you can walk into a nightclub and get killed, when you can go to a party in a county government building and get killed, people don't think that their government is protecting them. When you have Baltimore, when you have policemen ambushed in Dallas your view, I understand your view. The current view is that liberals have a whole set of statistics which theoretically may be right, but it's not where human beings are. People are frightened. People feel that their government has abandoned them. 25 million Americans have dropped out of the middle class, according to Gallup. [Camerota:] Yes, well that's the economic figures that you're saying, though, unemployment has ticked down. But what you're saying is but hold on, Mr. Speaker, because you're saying liberals use these numbers, they use this sort of magic math. This is the FBI statistics. They're not a liberal organization. [Gingrich:] No, but what I said is equally true. People feel it. [Camerota:] They feel it, yes, but the facts don't support it. [Gingrich:] As a political candidate, I'll go with how people feel and I'll let you go with the theoriticians. But the same thing comes down the whole pattern of things Trump's talking about. The fact is, statistically, five percent of the fourth graders in Detroit can read. Ninety-five percent of the fourth graders are being cheated by the teacher's union and an incompetent system. [Camerota:] As a leader, is it important for the leader, somebody who wants to be the president of the free world, to paint a more optimistic future? Not a bleak [Gingrich:] We have a very optimistic future. He's painting a bleak president. [Camerota:] What did he say optimistically about the future? [Gingrich:] Said we're going to solve all these things. [Camerota:] How? [Gingrich:] By having the kind of leadership that cuts through the red tape, cuts through the boloney, and gets things done. [Camerota:] People contrast it to Ronald Reagan, and so let me just play for everyone a portion of Ronald Reagan's 1980 speech at the RNC, back in 1980, and the different tone that he took than Donald Trump. Listen to this. [Ronald Reagan , Presidential Nominee:] Everywhere, we've met thousands of Democrats, independents, and Republicans from all economic conditions, all walks of life, bound together in that community of shared values of family, work, neighborhood, peace, and freedom. They're concerned, yes. They're not frightened. They're disturbed, but not dismayed. [Donald Trump , Presidential Nominee:] The first task for our new administration will be to liberate our citizens from the crime and terrorism and lawlessness that threatens our communities. [Camerota:] How about that? When Ronald Reagan said, they're concerned but not frightened, they're disturbed but not dismayed [Gingrich:] I love dealing with you guys. I was in that campaign. I can get you a passage where Ronald Reagan says, a recession is when your brother is unemployed, a depression is when you're unemployed, recovery is when Jimmy Carter is unemployed. He spent half his time pounding on Jimmy Carter. [Camerota:] But in terms of the bleak picture, wouldn't it be nice to hear, Americans are concerned but they're not frightened. They're disturbed but not dismayed isn't that a rosier picture? [Gingrich:] I think that was a rosier time. You tell me if you were a mother living in South Side Chicago and you couldn't have a picnic outside because you're afraid of drive-by shootings, you don't think that's bleak? You're a middle class person in a small town in West Virginia where Hillary Clinton has just announced she wants to destroy your industry. You don't think that's bleak? [Camerota:] One more thing I want to ask you about, and that is for some clarification about what he said that seems to have shifted from his Muslim ban. Last night, he said, I want to immediately suspend immigration from any nation compromised by terrorism. [Gingrich:] There's going to be a direct fight first of all, there's going to be a direct fight over Syrians. The Clinton position is, we're willing to risk American lives by bringing in Syrian refugees about whom we know nothing. [Camerota:] Not nothing. We've talked about they are vetted [Gingrich:] Vetted how? We have no records. First of all, the largest number of refugees are male. The afghan refugee who just killed somebody, who tried to kill people in Germany was male. The Tunisian was male. [Camerota:] Many, many women and children are coming in. They first go through the [U.n. -- Gingrich:] The 2,000 men who sexually assaulted 1,200 women in Germany at New Year's were male. [Camerota:] So when he says, any nation compromised by terrorism, he means just Syria or he means any nation [Gingrich:] I think, look, you start with the easy one. The fight is over Syria. What is Hillary's rationale for expanding the number of people from an area which is totally infested by ISIS in which ISIS cheerfully says every day, we're going to send some of fighters as part of the refugees? We don't have the data inside Syria to know anything. That's just a fact. We don't have the intelligence penetration, we don't have any police cooperation, we don't know anything about these people. [Camerota:] So that's what he meant when he said any nation compromised by terrorism? He meant Syria? [Gingrich:] I think the focus, the fight he'd be glad to pick is on Syria. [Camerota:] Former Speaker, Newt Gingrich. Thanks so much for being on NEW DAY. Always good to have you here. All right. Now that the RNC is wrapped up, we are going to head to Philadelphia for the Democratic convention. Next week, Hillary Clinton's vice-presidential pick could be announced as early as this morning. So, will she try to steal Trump's thunder with her pick? We'll explore that when we come back.